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24/07/2009

DWS "sous-délègue" la gestion de certains fonds asiatiques à Harvest Global

Deutsche Asset Management (Asia) ou DeAM annonce avoir conclu un accord avec Harvest Fund Management aux termes duquel Harvest Global Investments (HGI), filiale à 100 % de Harvest FM, prend en charge à compter du 1er septembre 2009 la sous-délégation de gestion des fonds DWS d’actions asiatiques et d’un fonds DWS Grande Chine. Ce partenariat prévoit aussi le transfert d’un certain nombre de gérants senior et de commerciaux à HGI, DWS restant le promoteur et le distributeur des fonds à l'échelon mondial. Michele Bang, qui était CEO de DeAM pour l’Asie hors Japon, devient CEO de HGI.Harvest FM est une joint venture dont DeAM détient 30 % et dont l’encours se montait fin juin à 29 milliards de dollars.
24/07/2009

Strong growth in assets under administration at comdirect

comdirect bank has announced pre-tax profits for first half of EUR41.5m, compared with EUR40.2m, excluding ebase, in the corresponding period of 2008. The number of clients has increased over six months by 59%, to more than 2.14 million, while the number of share custody accounts has more than doubled, to 1.42 million. Assets under custody have risen sharply by 57%, to a total of EUR31.86bn.Net profits totalled EUR30.96m, compared with EUR30.03m.
24/07/2009

DWS outsources management of some Asian funds to Harvest Global

Deutsche Asset Management (Asia), or DeAM, has announced that it has signed an agreement with Harvest Fund Management, by which Harvest Global Investments (HGI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvest FM, will be contracted beginning 1 September 2009 as manager of DWS Asian equities funds and one DWS Greater China fund. The partnership also will involve the transfer of several senior managers and sales staff to HGI. DWS will remain the promoter and distributor of the funds worldwide. Michele Bang, who was previously CEO of DeAM for Asia ex Japan, will become CEO of HGI. Harvest FM is a joint venture, in which DeAM controls 30%, and assets as of the end of June totalled USD29bn.
24/07/2009

Credit Suisse: private banking performed well in second quarter

The Credit Suisse group, which on 23 July reported net profits for second quarter 2009 up 29% on one year to CHF1.6bn, has declared in a statement that results are good for private banking and that asset management is returning to a more positive state. The private banking unit, which includes wealth management and corporate & retail banking activities, earned pre-tax results of CHF935m, a decline of 23% compared with the same period in 2008, but of only 6% compared with the previous quarter. The wealth management unit reported pre-tax results of CFH662m, a decline of 20% compared with second quarter 2008, but an increase of 2% compared with first quarter 2009. Net inflows to the private bank totalled CHF10.7bn, of which CHF8.5bn went to wealth management. Asset management activities, for their part, finished the quarter with positive results of CHF55m, compared with profits of CHF124m one year earlier, but losses of CHF490m in first quarter 2009. Assets under management totalled CHF410.7bn, down CHF102.9bn, or 20%, from their levels in second quarter 2008. But compared with first quarter, assets are up by CHF5bn, as positive market effects offset capital outflows and currency movements. Net outflows in the quarter totalled CHF4.1bn, of which CHF1.7bn were for multi-asset class strategies, and CHF1.4bn for alternative strategies.
24/07/2009

Criminal investigation of Corey Ribotsky

Sources close to the case say a criminal investigation has been opened in Brooklyn by the New York state authorities and the FBI into the activities of the hedge fund manager Cory Robotsky, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ribotsky, who claimed to have USD770m in assets under management, lied to investors both about the performance of the funds and about the participations these various funds held. The SEC is also investigating the case. For the moment, Ribotsky is not accused of fraud. He is thought to have invested partly in PIPEs (private investments in public equities).
24/07/2009

Queen's son-in-law to manage government's real estate portfolio

Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence, husband of Princess Anne, was appointed on 10 July as chief manager of the British government’s real estate portfolio, which includes a total of 122 million square metres, and is valued at GBP3.5bn, PropertyWeek.com reports.
24/07/2009

HSBC going into prime brokerage business

According to an internal memo obtained by the Financial Times, HSBC is planning to open its own prime brokerage unit, to profit from US investment banks’ traditional dominance in the market.
24/07/2009

Strong subscriptions to Lyxor commodities ETFs

In June, ETF funds from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) replicating commodities indexes registered subscriptions of USD176m, of 57% more than in May, Investment Week reports. Total assets in Lyxor funds stand at about USD1bn.
24/07/2009

SRI assets at CAAM total over EUR10bn

Crédit Agricole Asset Management Group (CAAM Group) on 23 July announced that its SRI assets now total over EUR10bn, of which more than EUR7bn are in open-ended funds. This makes the firm the leading provider of SRI management on the French market. “With total SRI assets that now exceed EUR10bn, CAAM Group confirms its determination to be a socialyl engaged financial actor, helping to orient savings to assist in sustainable development,” says Yves Perrier, president and CEO of CAAM Group, in a statement.
24/07/2009

Results down at BNY Mellon in Q2

Net profits for second quarter at the Bank of New York Mellon totalled USD176m (15 cents per share), compared with USD322m in January-March (28 cents per share), for a total of USD498m in first half, compared with USD1.05bn in January-June 2008. As of 30 June, assets totalled USD926bn, compared with USD881bn three months earlier, and USD1.113trn at the end of June 2008, which represents growth of 5%, and a contraction of 17%, respectively. Net redemptions in second quarter represented USD19bn (though assets under management increased by USD45bn), due to the cancellation of a USD14bn contract, which, at any rate earned a minimal profit margin of less than one basis point. In addition, the management firm has undergone net outflows from money market funds.
24/07/2009

Fortress plans acquisitions

The Financial Times reports that Daniel Mudd, who this week was appointed CEO of Fortress Investment group, is planning to spearhead an acquisition strategy, by which the hedge fund firm may acquire other financial sector businesses such as banks, insurers, traditional management firm, and other hedge fund management firms.
24/07/2009

Aberdeen AM France hopes to double in size

“France now represents about 3% of Aberdeen’s total assets under management,” Philippe Troesch, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management France, tells L’Agefi Weekly. “It will become a major part of the group. The objective is to double this percentage, and the size of our structure, in the next 3 to 5 years,” he continues. Aberdeen AM France was created on 1 July, when Aberdeen took over the management activities of Credit Suisse AM France, the newsmagazine reports. The entity has EUR3.7bn in assets under management.
24/07/2009

Revere Capital relaunches Bayswater Asset Management

The investment group Revere Capital Advisors, a specialist in emerging hedge fund managers, has relaunched the business entitled Bayswater Asset Management, co-founded in 2004 by Eva Xu and Daniel Schuessler, both formerly of Mellon Capital Management. Bayswater, Hedge Week reports, was obliged to close in August 2008. The business started up in 2004 with USD25m from Man Global Strategies; in August 2007, it found itself in control of assets under management of more than USD1bn, on behalf of institutional investors, funds of funds, and family offices. Since its closure, Bayswater has improved management risk controlling, but has remained faithful to its systematic global macro strategy.
24/07/2009

Roland Lescure appointed as CIO at Caisse dépôt et placement du Québec

Canada Newswire reports that the Caisse dépôt et placement du Québec has appointed Roland Lescure as its first vice-president and chief investment officer. “Mr. Lescure will be responsible for investment strategy for the Caisse, distribution of the overall portfolio, and research supporting investment activities. He will also supervise investments in liquid markets (equities, fixed income securities, currencies, and basic commodities), and will assume an advisory role in private investments and real estate. Mr. Lescure will begin in his duties this autumn,” the article states. Lescure is currently serving as CIO at Groupama Asset Management, Canada Newswire reports.
24/07/2009

Immoselect fund from Axa IM will remain closed for a longer period

Axa Investment Managers has announced that the fiscal year for the open-ended real estate fund Axa Immoselect concluded on 30 April, and a dividend of EUR1.85 per share will be paid to subscribers on 24 July. Returns were 3.8%, and distribution, which continues despite the closure of the fund to redemptions since late October, will be 3.1%. The amount necessary to pay out a dividend has already been taken into account in the calculation of the fund’s net liquidity, which as of 30 June totalled about EUR380m, thanks to subscriptions as well as sales of properties, with a profit, in Mannheim, Cologne, and Milan.Achim Gräfe, CEO of Axa Investment Managers Deutschland and manager of the fund, states that the management firm is planning to reopen the Immoselect fund to redemptions as soon as possible. He is expecting redemptions of EUR500m, and this amount of liquidity will have to have been accumulated before the fund can reopen. For this reason, Axa is working to increase liquidity in the fund, and Gräfen points out that external financing rates for the Immoselect fund are relatively low, at 13.8% as of the end of June, which in principle provides an opportunity to rely on external financial resources.Also, on 21 July, the portfolio gained a 90% participation in a firm which manages a shopping centre in Antegnate in Italy. This corresponds to an investment of about EUR145m, a commitment that dates back to January 2007.Currently, the fund has 47 properties in 10 European countries. In addition, it has stakes in 22 realty firms.
24/07/2009

Brutal audit for portfolio of Morgan Stanley P2 Value fund

On Thursday, the German asset management firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment announced that an independent audit of the portfolio of the P2 Value fund found a total depreciation of EUR231m, or 10.4%, in the market value of its assets. This corresponds to about 13.9% of assets in the fund, and the liquid value of one share in the fund was lowered on 23 July by about EUR7.50, to EUR53.74.The fund is reopening to subscriptions from this Friday, 24 July, but redemptions will continue to be frozen, as they have been since late October. The board of directors of Morgan Stanley REI will meet in September/October to determine whether liquidity levels are sufficient to allow redemptions to be reopened. Assets as stated on the firm’s website on Thursday totalled EUR1.66bn. After the correction, they will thus total EUR1.43bn.
24/07/2009

Audit wipes out a large part of performance for P2 Value fund

A downward correction of 13.9% to the value of the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Morgan Stanley P2 Value has wiped out a large part of the fund’s 18.3% gains between November 2005 and June 2009, according to the estimates of experts, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Walter Klug, CEO of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment, states that the fund is subscribed to largely be retail investors and not by institutional investors. The P2 Value fund’s 60% stake in the Tiranon tower in Frankfurt, which is home to the headquarters of the asset management firm DekaBank, has lost 12.7% of its value, which represents a loss of EUR45m, or one fifth of all total capital losses. In 2007, Deka sold the Trianon building to two Morgan Stanley funds, the P2 Value and Eurozone Office Fund, for EUR620m, earning capital gains on the operation of EUR150m.
24/07/2009

Investors call on SEC to enforce ESG management criteria

More than 50 professionals and businesses specialised in investment have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to require publicly-traded firms to provide information to their shareholders on an annual basis on a variety of environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions. The signatories of the initiative, all of whom belong to the social investment forum (SIF), a United States association which aimed to promote the practice and development of socially responsible investment, would like to see businesses publish coherent indicators of their sustainable development activities, following the most recent recommendations of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative). The signatories claim that the SEC should produce recommendations which would clearly reveal the necessity for businesses to inform the public about short- and long-term risks in the area of sustainable development. The 24-page document, addressed to the US market regulator, argues that there are a growing number of reasons that disclosure of ESG information should be obligatory. Investors are increasingly demanding this information, as revealed by the number of investors backing such resolutions at general shareholders’ meetings - an average of 25% in the past five years, compared with less than 10% in the 1990s, according to statistics from RiskMetrics. Outside the United States, governments and regulators - in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France - are requiring businesses to provide information on various aspects of their sustainable development practices; and last but not least, several studies reveal the close ties between respect for ESG criteria and financial performance.
24/07/2009

Banks reduce exposure to hedge funds

The BIS reports that German banks cut back their loans to offshore centres by 13% in the first three months of the year, to a total of USD207bn, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. These offshore centres include the Channel Islands and the Carribean, favourites places of domicile for hedge funds, as regulations are less restrictive there.
24/07/2009

Activist investors taking aim at smaller firms

According to a RiskMetrics study cited by the Financial Times, the number of battles engaged in by activist investors increased by 27% this year. But the size of target companies became smaller. In the United States, the average cap size of businesses targeted by these investors fell by USD275m to only USD75m in 2009.
24/07/2009

CESR to hold hearings on UCITS IV in early September

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) announced on Thursday, 23 July that on 1 September, it will hold an open public hearing on the UCITS IV directive. Among the major topics that will be covered during the day-long hearing are the template Key Information Document, conflicts of interest, risk management, and the question of depositories. The Council of the European Union on 22 July granted its approval to the UCITS IV directive. This is a mere formality, since the bill, which was passed in January this year by the European Parliament, is the result of a compromise between the two European institutions. It will, however, be interesting to see how the directive will be articulated in the context of other European regulations, such as the MiFID and Prospectus regulations, or the draft directive on alternative management (known as AIFM, for Alternative Investment Fund Managers). This latter bill in particular, which was drafted in the course of a few weeks by the European Commission without a consultation with market participants, has been the subject of considerable criticism, due to a lack of coherence in its correspondences with the UCITS IV directive in particular.
24/07/2009

Reporter for hedge fund directive will be French

European Parliament member Jean-Paul Gauzès, from France (European Popular Party) is expected to the the reporter for the directive on alternative investment funds, L’Agefi daily reports.
23/07/2009

La Suisse au cœur de la stratégie de Saxo Bank

Dans un entretien à L’Agefi suisse, le directeur exécutif de Saxo Bank, Lars Christensen, indique qu’il veut placer la Suisse au cœur de sa stratégie de développement dans le wealth management. «Le marché suisse du wealth management en ligne a un important potentiel de développement. Près de 25% des actifs gérés dans ce métier sous sa forme traditionnelle sont d’ailleurs déposés en Suisse. Pour ces raisons, la Suisse sera à la base de notre développement dans ce secteur. Il faut donc s’attendre à une expansion prochaine», explique Lars Christensen au quotidien.
23/07/2009
Fonds

Gottex subit encore des retraits, mais voit des signes positifs

Le gérant de fonds de hedge funds Gottex a continué selon Le Temps de subir des retraits au deuxième trimestre. Les encours ont reculé entre mars et juin de 3,6%, à 8,16 milliards de dollars. Le patron de la société, Joachim Gottschalk est prudent sur le court terme mais souligne plusieurs signaux positifs du côté des investisseurs institutionnels, qui sont en «grande majorité» restés investis après la réouverture des fonds fermés. «En outre, des signes montrent qu’ils pourraient revenir à la gestion alternative au deuxième semestre», anticipe-t-il.
Fonds
23/07/2009

Gottex compte sur les institutionnels

Selon L’Agefi suisse, le président exécutif du gestionnaire lausannois Gottex, Joachim Gottschalk, estime que les «premiers signes timides» d’un retour des investisseurs institutionnels sur le marché des hedge funds sont perceptibles. Joachim Gottschalk a déjà déclaré à plusieurs reprises que plus de 70% des investisseurs institutionnels, qui constituent l’essentiel de sa clientèle, restent investis dans leurs fonds de hedge funds. Au deuxième trimestre, les encours sous gestion de Gottex ont reculé à 8,07 milliards de dollars contre 8,46 milliards fin mars. A ce montant s’ajoutent 0,09 milliardsd’actifs réunis par la nouvelle plateforme Gottex Solutions Services (GSS) lancée en juin. Ces 8,16 milliards correspondent à seulement 52,3% des avoirs gérés il y a un an.
23/07/2009

Vontobel centralise son informatique à Zurich

Dans un entretien à L’Agefi suisse, Cédric Anker, le patron de Vontobel Genève qui pilote la centralisation de l’informatique du groupe à Zurich durant le week-end du 1er août, estime que «le groupe ne pouvait pas continuer à avoir deux systèmes informatiques, l’un pour Zurich et l’autre pour Genève, notamment pour des questions de gestion du risque. Ce projet complexe sur le plan technique, lancé il y a 18 mois, achève l’intégration de la banque genevoise, seize ans après le rachat de la Banque Tardy, de Watteville & Cie, dans notre groupe, qui compte plus de 1.200 employés. Avec un seul système informatique, nous améliorerons le service au client et nos coûts d’exploitation diminueront, à terme».
23/07/2009
Fonds

Dylan Ball remplace Martin Cobb aux commandes du FT Growth Fund

Martin Cobb ayant décidé de rejoindre le site Franklin Templeton de Toronto, la gestion du compartiment Franklin Templeton Growth Fund est reprise par le co-gérant Dylan Ball, qui sera assisté de Peter Moeschter et Heather Arnold, rapporte Citywire.Martin Cobb conserve la gestion des fonds Templeton global (Euro) et Templeton UK Equity.
Fonds
23/07/2009

ING Groep pourrait vendre sa banque privée

Selon le Wall Street Journal, qui cite des sources proches du dossier, ING Groep cherche des acquéreurs pour son activité de banque privée en Europe et en Asie. La vente n’en est qu’au début, et toute opération devrait prendre plusieurs mois. Parmi les acquéreurs potentiels de cette division, valorisée à plus de 1 milliard de dollars, pourraient figurer Credit Suisse Group, Standard Chartered, ainsi que des banques à Singapour et en Australie, selon les sources approchées.
23/07/2009

Julius Baer renforce son équipe commerciale

Marion Williams, qui était responsable des relations avec les assureurs-vie, les plates-formes, les fonds de fonds et les courtiers chez Threadneedle, vient d'être recrutée par Julius Baer comme associate manager, sales and business development, rapporte Investment Week. L’impétrante sera subordonnée à Stephen Moore, directeur commercial pour le Royaume-Uni. Elle devra promouvoir la gamme de fonds auprès de la clientèle britannique et mettre sur pied des accord de distribution avec des tiers.

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