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15/07/2009

Michael Huffington traine Carlyle en justice

The Wall Street Journal rapporte que l’ancien élu républicain de Californie Michael Huffungton, attaque devant un tribunal du Massachusetts The Carlyle Group au motif que le capital-investisseur avait occulté les risques du fonds hypothécaire Carlyle Capital Corp qui a fait faillite au printemps. Michael Huffington, qui avait investi 20 millions de dollars dans ce produit réputé «conservateur» et "à faible risque», met également en causse David Rubenstein, le co-fondateur de Carlyle chargé de la collecte des fonds.
15/07/2009

BlackRock perçoit 42 millions de dollars de commissions de la Fed

BlackRock va percevoir au minimum 42 millions de dollars de commissions pour la première année de gestion des trois véhicules (Madien Lane I, II et III) portant des MBS et d’autres investissements qui ont appartenu à Bear Stearns et American International Group (AIG), indique The Wall Stret Journal. Ces chiffres ont été publiés sur le site de la Fed de New York, qui a attribué les contrats à BlackRock. Ce dernier va également percevoir un forfait de 13,5 millions de dollars de commissions de conseil et de structuration.
15/07/2009

CalPERS attaque les trois agences de notation

Le fonds de pension CalPERS a intenté devant la California Superior Court de San Francisco un procès à Moody’s, S&P et Fitch pour lui avoir fourni des notations exagérément inprécises et déraisonnablement élevées («wildly inaccurate and unreasonably high») sur des véhicules d’investissement structuré qui lui ont occasionné des pertes de centaines de millions de dollars, rapporte the Wall Street Journal. CalPERS avait investi 1,3 milliard de dollars dans trois SIV (Cheyne Finance LLC, Stanfield Victoria Funding LLC et Sigma Finance Inc) qui avaient tous obtenu un triple A de la part des agences.
15/07/2009

Bank of America veut limiter la note avec Merrill

Selon la Tribune qui cite Bloomberg, Bank of America veut éviter de payer à l'État fédéral des milliards de dollars de commissions en contrepartie des garanties contre des pertes chez Merrill Lynch. De leur coté, les autorités soutiennent que même en l’absence d’un document légal complété, la banque abénéficié d’une garantie implicite de l'État sur 118 milliards d’actifs de Merrill. D’où l’obligation de payer une partie des 4 milliards de dollars de commissions.
15/07/2009

Gary Black quitte un Janus revenu dans le vert

Janus Capital Group a annoncé qu’il passera une provision de 12,1 millions de dollars au titre du troisième trimestre pour couvrir les indemnités dues au CEO Gary Black, qui vient de démissionner et qui est remplacé par Tim Armour, l’un des administrateurs, à titre intérimaire.Janus a par ailleurs fait état pour le deuxième trimestre d’un bénéfice net sur les activités conservées (continued operations) de 15,8 millions de dollars contre une perte de 818,1 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Au 30 juin, l’encours se situait à 132,6 milliards de dollars contre 110,9 milliards fin mars et 191,8 milliards douze mois plus tôt. Pour avril-juin, l’effet de marché a été positif de 20 milliards de dollars et les souscriptions nettes ont porté sur 2,3 milliards.
15/07/2009

BNP Paribas accroit sa participation en Ukraine

Selon la Tribune, qui cite l’autorité des marchés financiers en Ukraine, BNP Paribas contrôle désormais 81 % du capital UkrSibbank, quatrième banque l’ukrainienne du pays en termes d’actifs.
15/07/2009

Plus de plan de sauvetage pour State Street

Après avoir remboursé deux milliards d’euros que le Département du Trésor lui avait versé au titre du Capital Purchase Programme du TARP ((voir article Newsmanagers 22 juin), State Street, rapporte la Tribune, vient de racheter les bons de souscription d’actions accordés à l’Etat, pour un montant de 60 millions de dollars.
15/07/2009

Daimler cède des parts de Tesla à Aabar

L’allemand Daimler a annoncé lundi qu’il cède 40 % de sa participation d’environ 10 % dans l’américain Teslar Motors au fonds souverain d’Abou Dhabi Aabar Investment PJSC, qui a lui-même acquis le 22 mars 9,1 % de Daimler.Tesla est selon Daimler l’unique constructeur à distribuer en Amérique du Nord et en Europe un véhicule électrique conçu pour parcourir de grandes distances. La transaction doit permettre à Daimler d’accélérer la commercialisation de véhicules électriques dans le monde.
15/07/2009

L'organigramme de LFP-UFG en passe d'être finalisé

Comme Newsmanagers l’avait annoncé le 30 juin dernier,l’organisation future de l’entité issue de la fusion entre UFG et La Française des Placements sera connue le 15 juillet. Selon la Tribune du 13 juillet, les choses se précisent actuellement au niveau de l’organigramme. Xavier Lepine, président de l’UFG, occuperait la présidence de la nouvelle société et Patrick Rivière, vice-président de l’UFG, la direction générale. Quant à Alain Wicker, il serait président du conseil de surveillance de la société de gestion et vice président du conseil de surveillance du groupe. Olivier Johannet, le président de LFP Investissements, serait, de son coté, sur le départ.Enfin, Pascale Auclair resterait en charge de la gestion de LFP, qui représente un encours d’environ 30 milliards d’euros.
15/07/2009

IASB proposes revisions to accounting standards for financial instruments

The IASB, an organisation that establishes international accounting standards, on 14 July published a survey and report on the subject of the classification and evaluation of financial instruments. The IASB hopes to end criticisms which have been aimed at it since the outbreak of the financial crisis over the complexity of financial instruments whose partial valuation by fair value standards contributed to the financial turbulence. The IASB does not go so far in its statement, but does indicate that its proposals would significantly reduce the complexity of the treatment of financial instruments and calm the criticisms of investors. The accounting standards body is proposing, for example, to eliminate various methods of writing down the value of assets which are up for sale and assets evaluated at amortised cost. The IASB invites comments from all participants by 14 September, and hopes to finalise the proposals in sufficient time to allow businesses to take the changes into account in their 2009 bookkeeping. The changes also take into account injunctions formulated by the G20 and calls by the French authorities for the IAS 39 standard (applicable to financial instruments) to be revised by the end of the year.
15/07/2009

'Dark pools' attract larger volumes of assets and increasing concern

La Tribune reports that the NYSE-Euronext platform dedicated to block trading of shares appears to be attracting growing interest from investors. Fourteen new members have joined the ‘dark pool,’ which allows investors to trade shares discreetly, in compliance with all applicable regulations. Smart Pool, launched this February in partnership with JP Morgan, BNP Parbias and HSBC, has since posted a 90% growth in its activities.Market regulators are not particularly comfortable with these markets, however. According to the Financial Times, cited by La Tribune, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) is expected to hold a meeting with four dark pool operators today.
15/07/2009

CDS markets investigated by US Justice Department

Les Echos reports that the US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into credit default swap (CDS) markets. The Justice department is seeking to determine whether several major banks (JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs), all of which are shareholders in the Market company, may have profited from inside information in this capacity.
15/07/2009

Marc Dreier sentenced to 20 years in prison

The former lawyer Marc Dreier was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison for attempting to sell USD700 million fake promissory notes and defrauding clients, the Wall Street Journal reports. He will also be required to refund USD387.7m. The judge stated that he will support a request on the part of the prosecutor to seize USD746m in assets.
15/07/2009

Sales of government stakes in financial sector will take years

United Kingdom Financial Investments, the public holding company in charge of managing the UK government’s participations, announced on 13 July that the state’s stakes in British banks may take years to be sold off but by bits, La Tribune reports.
15/07/2009

Hedge fund directive: fund managers were too slow to react, says EFAMA

In an interview with Global Pensions, Jean-Bpatiste de Franssu, the new chairman of EFAMA and CEO of Invesco Europe, claims that problems with the controversial directive on hedge fund managers could have been avoided if EFAMA and other professional associations had declared their opinions earlier and taken a more proactive attitude to regulations, rather than waiting for regulators to establish the new framework. He says that both the range of funds to which the legislation applies (the European Commission bill applies to all non-UCITS funds) and the question of the responsibility of the custodian should be studied further.During his two-year term, de Franssu hopes to establish a level playing field for distribution of funds from asset management firms. He would also like to achieve the creation of a third-pillar retirement system which would allow employees to move freely throughout Europe.
15/07/2009

Number of ETFs listed on Euronext up 20%

As of the end of June, the number of ETF funds listed on Euronext came to 416 funds, listed 464 times, from 14 different promoters. The funds replicated 285 indexes covering several asset classes and/or strategies. In the first half, the number of ETF funds listed rose by 20%, with 71 funds launched and 3 closures. In June, Euronext admitted 21 products to trading, of which 17 were from CASAM (bonds, strategies and global), and 4 strategic products from ETF Securities. Daily trading volumes fell 10% from their levels in May, to EUR294m, while the number of transactions fell 12% to 6,736. The average spread fell to 45.51 basis points, from 55.96 in May.
15/07/2009

British asset management industry affected by crisis

The British management industry is still very heavily affected by the financial crisis. Heavy falls on the markets in fourth quarter 2008 will have a marked impact on the entire sector in 2009, the British Investment Management Association (IMA) in its annual report for 2008. Despite mergers and acquisitions realised last year, the British management industry remains fragmented, the IMA reports. In 2008, total assets under management in the United Kingdom at IMA member firms totalled GBP3trn, compared with GBP3.4trn as of the end of 2007. Of this total, GBP1trn (an amount which remains unchanged since the end of 2007) is managed on behalf of international clients, while GBP500bn (down from GBP570bn) are in offshore funds, and GBP362bn (down from GBP468bn) are in funds domiciled in the United Kingdom. The proportion of the equities market held by British management firms was down to 43%, from 44% the previous year. Profits for management firms fell to GBP9.4bn, from GBP10.2bn in 2007.
15/07/2009

Bank of America seeks to avoid payments to government over Merrill losses

La Tribune reports, citing Bloomberg, that Bank of America is seeking to avoid paying the US federal government billions of dollars in commissions in exchange for the government’s guarantees of losses at Merrill Lynch. The US authorities are claiming, for their part, that even in the absence of a completed legal document, the bank received an implicit government guarantee of USD118bn in assets at Merrill, and should therefore be obligated to repay part of USD4bn in commissions earned on the assets.
15/07/2009

BlackRock will get USD42m in commissions from Fed

BlackRock will receive at least USD42m in commissions for its first year managing three vehicles (Maiden Lane I, II and III) containing MBS and other investments previously held by Bear Stearns and American International Group (AIG), the Wall Street Journal reports. The figures were published on the website of the New York Fed, which awarded the mandates to BlackRock. BlackRock will also receive USD13.5m in advising and restructuring commissions.
15/07/2009

Gary Black leaves Janus with a positive revenue balance

Janus Capital Group has announced that it will take a charge of USD12.1bn for third quarter to cover indemnities due to Gary Black, its former CEO, who has resigned on Tuesday and has been replaced by Tim Armour, one of the group’s directors, for an interim period.Janus has also announced net profits on continued operations for second quarter of USD15.8bn, comaprd with losses of USD818.1m in the corresponding period of last year. As of 30 June, assets totalled USD132.6bn, compared with USD110.9bn as of the end of March, and USD191.8bn twelve months earlier. In April-June, market effects were positive to the tune of USD20bn, and net subscriptions totalled USD2.3bn.
15/07/2009

CalPERS sues three ratings agencies

The pension fund CalPERS has filed a lawsuit at the California Superior Court in San Francisco against Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, for providing it with “wildly inaccurate and unreasonably high” ratings of structured investment vehicles, which led to losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. CalPERS had invested USD1.3bn in three SIVs (Cheyne Finance LLC, Stanfield Victoria Funding LLC et Sigma Finance Inc), all of which were rated AAA by the agencies.
15/07/2009

Outstanding results for Goldman Sachs

Les Echos reports that Goldman Sachs posted the largest net banking proceeds in its history in second quarter 2009, at USD13.76bn. Net results totalled USD3.44bn. Fixed issuance activities posted record revenues of USD6.8bn, while equities markets revenues are up strongly, to USD3.18bn. Share issues exploded, to USD736m, compared with USD48m the previous quarter, while bond issues also increased to a lesser extent (USD336m, compared with Usd248m in first quarter. Only commercial real estate has continued to perform poorly, with losses of USD700m. Merger and acquisition advising has declined to USD368m, from USD527m the previous quarter. Revenues from asset management have also fallen to USD922m from USD1.6bn one year previously.
15/07/2009

Net subscriptions for funds in all segments in June

According to the Swedish fund management association Fondsbolagens Forening, Swedish funds posted net subscriptions in June for the seventh consecutive month. They totalled SEK12.7bn, which brings the total for first half to SEK40.1bn. All major segments of funds posted net inflows last month, with the strongest inflows (SEK5.8bn) for equities funds. Bond funds attracted SEK4.6bn, while diversified funds attracted SEK1.1bn, money market funds SEK0.7bn, and other funds (mostly hedge funds) collected SEK0.6bn. With the exception of money market funds, which saw net outflows of SEK14.5bn, all categories posted net subscriptions in first half: SEK42.5bn for equities funds, SEK7.3bn for diversified funds, SEK4.3bn for bond funds, and SEK0.6bn for funds in the ‘other’ category.
15/07/2009

Premier AM takes over 10 retail funds from Credit Suisse

On Monday, Premier Asset management took over the management contracts for two OEIC umbrella funds, containing ten Credit Suisse funds, from Aberdeen Unit Trust Managers. Total assets in these funds are GBP850m, which brings assets under management at Premier AM to about GBP2.3bn.At the same time, Premier AM has announced that as a part of its new strategic alliance with PSigma Asset Management, Bill Mott and his team will become investment advisors at Premier for the funds formerly known as CS Alpha Growth, CS Alpha Income, CS Income et CS Monthly Income, the last two of which were managed by Mott at Credit Suisse.The changes will take effect on 31 July; until that time, the funds will continue to be managed by Aberdeen. The other six funds will be managed internally by Premier, but it is likely that two of them, the UK 250 and the Smaller Companies, will later be outsourced to another management firm.Aberdeen will retain five British retail funds from Credit Suisse, which will continue to be managed by Aidan Kearney and Graham Bruce, both of whom formerly worked at Credit Suisse. The Global Income Plus fund, which was managed by Graham Ashby at Credit Suisse, will now be managed by the global equities team at Aberdeen, led by Stephen Doherty, as Ashby has joined LV Asset Management.
15/07/2009

db x-trackers ETF to replicate the S&P US Carbon Efficient index

db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has admitted an ETF to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) which replicates the S&P US Carbon Efficient index, which includes US large caps with comparatively low emissions of pollutants, and a carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions 50% and 60% lower than average, respectively. The objective will be to achieve performance approaching that of the S&P 500, Global Pensions reports. The index was developed by S&P in collaboration with Deutsche Bank and Trucost. The new ETF is expected to be of particular interest to pension funds.
15/07/2009

Fidelity International recruits Philip Warland

Philip Warland, senior adviser at PriceWaterhouseCoopers for investment management in London and Brussels, has been appointed head of public policy at Fidelity International, and will oversee the management firm’s contacts with the British and European authorities, Investment Week reports. Warland, who has spent 20 years at the Bank of England and was also director general of the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (AUTIF), will also be in charge of the firm’s contacts with stakeholders on the subject of policies concerning financial services in all European countries in which the Fidelity group is active.
15/07/2009

Credit Suisse distances itself from Morgan Stanley

In a clear allusion to a press statement from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH announcing the results of an audit of the open-ended real estate fund P2 Value, which revealed significant declines in the value of the portfolio (see separate article in today’s edition), Credit Suisse points out that the CS Euroreal fund, which reopened to redemptions on 30 June (see Newsmanagers of 26 June and 10 July) has completely different characteristics in terms of allocation by country, type of real estate assets, and age of properties in the portfolio.The fund management firm on Monday night emphasized that an audit of nearly 90% of assets in the portfolio in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (which will end on 30 September) revealed a need to correct the valuation of the fund slightly upward. Credit Suisse also points out that for 2009 as a whole, its projections of returns of over 4% have been confirmed (as returns have totalled 4.3% for the twelve months to the end of June). Lastly, the successful reopening of the fund to redemptions suggests that a wave of subscriptions may be expected, which would allow for “a targeted anticyclical extension” of the real estate portfolio.
15/07/2009

Audit spells bad news for P2 Value fund from Morgan Stanley

On Monday, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment announced that as a safety precaution, it will be freezing subscriptions to the P2 Value real estate fund, which has already been closed to redemptions since the end of October. The measure comes in the wake of the first results of an audit of the portfolio, which suggests that significant devaluations of assets in the portfolio are to be expected.According to professionals, the bad news was foreseeable to the extent that the fund (EUR1.66bn) was launched in November 2005, and the investment phase coincided with a period at which real estate prices were at their peak.The management firm states that gross and net cash positions as of 13 July totalled EUR212.94m and EUR119.64m, or 12.8% and 7.2% of assets.
15/07/2009

db x-trackers offers Euro Stoxx 50 ETF for free

On Tuesday, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) announced that from 20 July, it will be cutting its management commission for the Luxembourg-registered ETF fund db x-trackers DJ Euro Stoxx 50 to 0% from 15% currently. Thorsten Michalik, head of ETF activities, says the product has consistently outperformed its benchmark index by at least 50 basis points in the past three years. As this outperformance appears sustainable considering the tax regime applicable to income and dividends, and the possibilities provided by securities lending, db x-trackers will no longer charge fees for the fund. Db x-trackers will also be offering a fully hedged swap based on the ETF, effective immediately. The ETFs of the range use synthetic replication. As the counterparty for the swap is Deutsche Bank, the investor will bear the counterparty risks related to the swap. This risk is limited to 10% of net asset value (NAV). To reduce this amount, net asset value for most equities, commodities and currencies ETFs will now have their swap structured hedged by securities. The coverage will be equivalent to at least 108% of net asset value.
15/07/2009

Santander changes names of hedge funds affected by Madoff

The management mandates for the two largest hedge funds from Santander to have been affected by the Madoff fraud, Banif Fairfield Impala and Banif Optimal Low Volatility, have been withdrawn from Fairfield and Optimal and assigned to Allfunds Alternative, a joint venture from Allfunds Bank (Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo) and Goldman Sachs, Expansión reports. The Impala fund becomes the Select Global Managers, while the Low Volatility fund becomes known as the Manager Alpha Series. Allfunds Alternative already managed the third hedge fund on sale from Banif (the private bank of the Santander group), the Banif Allfunds Springbuck, which has not been affected by the Madoff scandal, and which has outperformed the two funds affected by the Madoff scandal.

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