Au lendemain de l’annonce par Source que la Deutsche Börse cote 35 nouveaux ETF et ETC de cette filiale commune de Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs et Morgan Stanley, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) a présent deux ETF de droit luxembourgeois qui ont été lancés le 23 mars et entrent dans la catégorie #fonds alternatifs#. Il s’agit des db x-trackers II Euro Interest Rates Volatility Total Return index ETF et du Euro Interest Rates Volaitliy Short Total Return ETF dont les commissions de gestion se situent à 0,25 %. La banque dépositaire de ces produits dont la société de gestion est DB Platinum Advisors est State Street Bank Luxembourg. Le premier des deux ETF est conforme à la directive OPCVM III, mais la version #short# ne l’est pas. La volatilité des taux de la zone euro est mesurée par les indices développés par la Deutsche Bank en fonction d’un contrat à terme #roulé# trimestriellement sur un panier de cinq voaltilités implicites qui ressortent du prix de marché de cinq options sur des swaps de taux en euros (swaptions). Pour calculer l’indice, le forward return est multiplié par 20. Les indices sont calculés sur une base #total return# et se rémunèrent à l’Eonia.Au 22 avril, l’encours de db x-trackers se situait à 20,5 milliards d’euros.
L’indice Deutsches Hedge Fund Index (DH X) d’Absolut report affiche pour mars une performance de 1,02 % contre une perte de 1,02 % pour février. Sur le premier trimestre, les hedge funds allemands ont perdu 1,89 %. Le meilleur produit a été en mars le ERV MH A avec une performance de 16,17 % et le plus éprouvé a été le Alpha Strategien Futures MH avec une perte de 12,69 %. A titre de comparaison, l’indice Credit Suisse/Tremont en euros a signé pour mars une performance de 2,96 % pendant que le HFRX Global Hedge Fund EUR Index accusait une perte de 0,07 %.En ce qui concerne les fonds de hedge funds, ils affichent une perte de 1,40 pour mars contre 0,31 en février. La perte totale pour le premier trimestre s’est située à 1,54 %. Seul un produit a affiché un résultat positif dans cette catégorie, le DWS Hedge Invest Dynamic, avec une performance de 0,39 %. Le plus mauvais résultat de mars a été accusé par le HI Volksbank Global Trend avec une perte de 3,45 %. Le HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index a enregistré pour sa part une performance de 0,06 %.
Mercredi, ThyssenKrupp a finalement levé un emprunt d’un milliard d’euros au lieu des 500 millions initialement prévus, grâce à une demande très fournie. L’opération, rapporte le Handelsblatt, s’est fait sur la base de 6,75 % pour une échéance à 4 ans. A la mi-février, le groupe avait déjà placé deux emprunts pour 1,5 milliard d’euros au total.
La BaFin a accordé son agrément de commercialisation pour l’Allemagne du Credit Suisse Fund (Lux) Global Responsible Equities, un compartiment «développement durable» de la Sicav de droit luxembourgeois Credit Suisse Equity Fund (Lux) géré selon des critères d’investissement responsable et destiné tant aux particuliers qu’aux investisseurs institutionnels. Le fonds, qui affiche environ 60 millions d’euros d’encours, a été lancé le 15 janvier 2009 et il est assorti d’une commission de gestion de 1,92 % ainsi que d’un droit d’entrée de 5 % maximum. L’analyse de l’univers d’investissement est assurée par Global Ethical Standard Investment Services. La sélection de valeurs s’effectue en fonction de critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG) conformément aux normes des Principes pour l’investissement responsables des Nations-Unies (UN-PRI). Le gérant Markus Mächler et son équipe utilisent des critères aussi bien positifs que d’exclusion (armes, tabac, alcool, jeux de hasard, non-respect des accords internationaux). Le fonds peut être investi jusqu'à 10 % en fonds d’actions ISR, en ETF et en titres monétaires. L’objectif est de surperformer le Dow Jones Sustainability World Index sur une période d’au moins cinq ans tout en respectant les critères de l’ISR.
En 2008, les fonds de pension et les institutions de retraites européens ont continué à renforcer leurs structures de gouvernance. Selon une récente étude de Mercer, le nombre d’institutionnels disposant d"un comité d"investissement spécialisé a crû de 35 % l’an dernier. Dans près de 30 % des cas, le choix des gestionnaires d"actifs est totalement délégué par les administrateurs au comité d"investissement. Les institutionnels se montrent également plus dynamique sur leurs investissements. Un nombre croissant de régimes de retraite (16 %) souhaite désormais revoir leur stratégie d"investissement au moins une fois par an, contre tous les trois ans, habituellement, précise l'étude.
Gilles Glicenstein, responsable du métier gestion d’actifs de BNP Paribas depuis 2005 et directeur général de BNP Paribas Asset Management depuis 1999 est décédé à l"âge de 44 ans, annonce La Tribune. Gilles Glicenstein a eu un rôle moteur dans l'évolution structurelle de BNP Paribas AM (mises en place d'équipe de multigestion, de gestion structurée...) dans la réussite d’acquisitions tels que Fischer Francis Trees & Watts (FFTW), Overlay AM, ainsi que de plusieurs implantations sur les marchés émergents, rappelle le quotidien économique.
UBS va supprimer une cinquantaine d’emplois en France, sur un effectif global d’environ 500 personnes dans l’Hexagone,selon La Tribune du 22 avril. La gestion de fortune et la gestion d’actifs, avec CCR rachetée un an plus tôt, seront concernées. La banque d’investissement UBS Securities pourrait éviter le plan social, avec moins de 10 emplois supprimés.
Filiale d’UBS depuis un an, la Caisse Centrale de Réescompte (CCR) devrait se séparer d’une vingtaine de salariés, dans le cadre du plan de réduction d’effectifs du groupe, selon La Tribune du 22 avril. Les réductions d’effectifs de cette division résulteraient d’une externalisation des fonctions supports et administratives de back-office.
Gilles Glicenstein, responsable du métier gestion d’actifs de BNP Paribas depuis 2005 et directeur général de BNP Paribas Asset Management depuis 1999 est décédé à l"âge de 44 ans, annonce La Tribune. Gilles Glicenstein a eu un rôle moteur dans l'évolution structurelle de BNP Paribas AM (mises en place d'équipe de multigestion, de gestion structurée...) dans la réussite d’acquisitions tels que Fischer Francis Trees & Watts (FFTW), Overlay AM, ainsi que de plusieurs implantations sur les marchés émergents, rappelle le quotidien économique.
In 2008, European pension funds and retirement institutions continued to improve their governance structures. According to a recent study by Mercer, the number of institutionals with a specialised investment committee increased by 35% last year. Nearly 30% of the time, the choice of asset managers was entirely delegated by directors in the investment committee. Institutionals have also shown themselves to be more dynamic in their investments. A growing number of retirement regimes (16%) are now making an effort to revise their investment strategies at least once per year, compared with once every three years as it tended to be previously, the study says.
BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany to Credit Suisse Fund (Lux) Global Responsible Equities, a ?sustainable development? sub-fund of the Luxembourg-registered Sicav Credit Suisse Equity Fund (Lux), which is managed with respect for responsible investment criteria, and which is aimed at both retail and institutional investors. The fund, which has about EUR60m in assets, was launched on 15 January 2009, and carries a management commission of 1.92%, and a front-end fee of up to 5% maximum.Analysis of the investment universe is provided by Global Ethical Standard Investment Services. Stock-picking is undertaken on the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria which comply with the standards of the United Nations Principles for responsible Investment (UN-PRI). The manager, Markus Mächler, and his team will use positive as well as exclusionary criteria (arms, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, failure to respect international agreements). The fund may invest up to 10% in SRI funds, ETFs, and money market funds. The objective is to outperform the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index over a period of at least five years, while respecting SRI criteria.
The Deutsches Hedge Fund Index (DH X) from Absolut report for March shows returns of 1.02%, compared with losses of 1.02% in February. In first quarter, German hedge funds lost 1.89%. The best-performing product in March was the ERV MHA with 16.17% returns, while the bottom of the rankings was the Alpha Strategien Futures MH, with losses of 12.69%. By comparison, the Credit Suisse/Tremont index in Euros in March showed returns of 2.96%, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund EUR Index lost 0.07%.Funds of hedge funds show losses of 1.40% in March, compared with 0.31% in February. Total losses in first quarrter come to 1.54%. Only one product has posted positive returns in this category, the DWS Hedge Invest Dynamic, with returns of 0.39%. The worst results in March were for the HI Volksbank Global Trend, with losses of 3.45%. The HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index, for its part, shows returns of 0.06%.
Certificates are not the only products to be suffering from heavy outflows: the same is true for certificate funds, to such an extent that Union Investment (co-operative banks) on 31 March merged the Luxembourg funds UniZertifikate-Fonds A and UniZertifikate-Fonds net A, whose assets had fallen to about EUR1m, with the UniExtra Euro Stoxx 50, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The latter fund, which will be taking over the others, also registered in Luxembourg, also uses discount certificates to deploy its strategy. The fund had EUR12m in assets under management as of the end of February.
The day after Source announced that Deutsche Börse will be listing 35 new ETF and ETC funds from the joint venture of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has announced two new Luxembourg-registered ETFs, which were launched on 23 March, and which join the ?hedge funds? category. The funds are the db x-trackers II Euro Interest Rates Volatility Total Return index ETF and Euro Interest Rates Volaitliy Short Total Return ETF, whose management commissions are set at 0.25%. The depository bank for these products, managed by DB Platinum Advisors, is State Street Bank Luxembourg. The first of the two ETFs complies with UCITS III, but the short version is not UCITS-compliant. The volatility of Euro zone fixed income is measured by indexes developed by Deutsche Bank, based on a futures contract ?rolled? on a quarterly basis from a basket of five implicit volatilities derived from the market prices of five fixed income swaptions. To calculate the index, the forward return is multiplied by 02. The indexes are calculated on a total return basis, and pay the Eonia.As of 22 April, assets at db x-trackers total EUR20.5bn.
Expansión reports that the Spanish funds of hedge funds Banif fairfield Impala, Banif Optimal Low Volatility, Optimal Arbitraje Plus, BNP Paribas Alternativo Diversificado and Renta 4 Minerva have put their trust in Philip Falcone, and invested a total of EUR4.5m in funds from Harbinger Capital. Falcone has short-sold Spanish, American and British banks, including EUR500m short positions on Santander, Banco Popular, and BBVA.
The asset management firm Macromarkets will next week launch the Macroshares Major Metro Housing fund, whose shares will be traded on the electronic platform NYSE Arca, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The product, which has a 5 and one half-year maturity, uses as its benchmark the S&P/Case-shiller Composite-10 housing price index, which reproduces the prices of homes in ten major US cities. Subscribers’ money will not be invested in these properties, however, but in short-term US government bonds, to guarantee liquidity. Investors will be able to acquire ?up? shares if they think the index will rise, or ?down? shares if they predict the opposite. The number of ?up? and ?down? shares issued will be equal at all times. If the index rises, the underlying government bonds of ?down? shares will be transferred to ?up? shares, and vice versa.
Gilles Glicenstein, head of the asset management profession at BNP Paribas since 2005, and CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management since 1999, has died, aged 44, La Tribune reports. Glicenstein was a driving force behind the structural evolution of BNP Paribas AM (helping to set up a multi-management team, structured management, and others), and in successful acquisitions such as that of fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Overlay AM, and several operations in emerging markets, the financial newspaper reports.
On Wednesday in New York announced that it had ?mostly completed? a series of additions to its ?Asset Management Golbal Institutional Distribution? team, with the recruitment of 18 senior professionals worldwide, who will report to Mark Bourgeois, managing director and head of distribution for asset management.Nine of the new arrivals will have the title of managing director, including Jamal Al Naif, in Dubai (ex Citi), in charge of the Middle East and Africa; Richard Johnson in New York (ex Graham Capital Management) in charge of the eastern and central United States, and Remy Kawkabani in London (ex co-head ofd the private funds group at Credit Suisse), who will be in charge of Europe ex Switzerland. Dave McCann, in Toronto, will be leaving the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, while Mark Memmert joins the firm from Credit Suisse Investment Bank, and will be in charge of Germany and Austria, and will be based in London. Alex Ricchebuono, in charge of France and Italy, comes to his jbo in London from Investec Asset Management.The other three new managing directors are Filo Sedillo (ex Citi), in Sydney, Akira Takahashi in Tokyo (who was previously head of distribution for alternative products in Japan at Credit Suisse), and Conrad Yan, in New York, in charge of the Asia-Pacific region, who joins from AIG.
According to sources close to the firm, cited by Dow Jones, UBS has begun to lay off financial advisors from its wealth management branch whose annual production is below USD250,000. In total, the Swiss group is planning to lay off about 2,000 employees in wealth management in the United States. This is the first time that layoffs have affected personnel whose income is entirely commission-based.
Legal & General Investment Management (Holdings) Ltd (LGIM) has announced the recruitment of Hugh Cutler as head of distribution, to develop the asset management firm’s new strategy in the United Kingdom and abroad. Cutler joins from Barclays Global Investors (BGI), where he was co-head of the global strategic solutions group.
Qatar Holding has lowered its stake in Barclays, in which it is the largest shareholder, to 5.8%, from 6.4%, the Financial Times reports. The investor has sold 35 million shares in the UK bank as part of a ?volatility-driven portfolio management strategy.?
Christian Wrede, CEO of Fidelity for Germany, admits that fourth quarter 2008 was very bad, and that the European Aggressive dynamic fund was dragged down by concentrated investments in third quarter which performed poorly, Handelsblatt reports. However, Wrede is hoping to rebalance the fund range, which is heavily oriented to equities, in favour of money markets and bonds. Fidelity Germany, which has shed 10% of its work force and now has 200 employees, is now at an optimal size going into the next few years. Since the beginning of the year, net subscriptions have bounced back: They total EUR200m for retail investors, and EUR200m for institutionals. Assets are now in the neighbourhood of EUR7bn, compared with EUR16bn three years ago.
The Hamburg-based promoter of closed funds Lloyds Fonds last year raised EUR278m, compared with EUR452m in 2007, and its revenues have fallen to EUR48.1m, compared with EUR90.1m. Net results have fallen from a positive total of EUR20.2m in 2007 to losses of EUR4.6m last year. For 2009, the chairman of the board, Torsten Teichert, says he is convinced that, following cost reduction measures, the firm now has a profile that will put its break-even point at EUR150m in subscriptions.Meanwhile, Lloyds Funds has decided to concentrate on two core professions: transport (air and sea), and real estate. In other words, the management firm is pulling out of the ?second hand? life insurance, private equity, and renewable energy niches.Since 1995, Lloyds Funds has raised more than EUR1.9bn from 51,000 investors. The capital has been placed in 100 investments. The volume invested represents about EUR4.6bn.
A spokesperson for Sal. Oppenheim confirmed on Wednesday that the Luxembourg private bank has cancelled its plans to sell the German BHF-Bank. No motive for the change of plans was provided, but the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung speculates that offers from potential buyers were well below the vendor’s expectations. In addition, the candidates are reported to have had different views than Sal. Oppenheim about the subsequent evolution and positioning of BHF.
Wealth management at Credit Suisse has posted pre-tax profits of CFH646m, which represents a 25% decline from their levels in the corresponding period of last year.However, asset management has posted losses of only CHF490m, compared with CHF646m the previous quarter, and CHF544m in January-March 2008. These results include mostly unrealised losses related to investments of CHF387m, primarily in private equity, compared with losses of CHF9m in first quarter 2008, as well as losses of CHF21m related to share buybacks from Credit Suisse money market funds, compared with CHF566m in the corresponding period of 2008.
Credit Suisse group has posted assets under management as of the end of March of CHF1.1217trn, compared with CHF1.1061trn three months earlier (+1.4%), and CHF1.2975trn as of 31 March 2008 (-13.5%). Net inflows totalled CHF8.8bn, compared with net outflows of CHF12.6bn in October-December, and CHF5.2bn in the corresponding period of 2008.Of CHF11.4bn in net inflows for private banking in first quarter, about CHF9bn were due to wealth management. However, asset management has posted net outflows of CHF3.5bn, despite net subscriptions of CHF1bn for hedge funds.
According to Financial News Online, UBS Global Asset Management is one of the victims of the collapse of Weavering Capital. Last month, the asset management company wrote to investors in its Aleternative Portfolio AG about its 0.9% exposure, or around SFR2m, to Weavering’s Macro Fixed Income Fund, adds the Internet website.
The theoretical total value of all credit default swaps (CDS) in circulation, which is the sum of the gross overall amount of protection bought or sold, came to USD38.6trn as of the end of 2008, La Tribune reports, citing the ISDA, the association of derivative market professionals. This amount is down 29% in six months, and 38% in one year.
At the end of February, assets in guaranteed funds in Germany were up 22% in one year, to EUR30.3bn, while the number of such funds rose to 261 from 219, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The markets have made life very difficult for promoters of these funds, however, due to the combination of a particularly low rate on investments with no risk, which limits the risk budget, and high volatility. This situation also led Union Investment to call off plans to launch a range of guaranteed funds in December, which had been previously announced.
Financial analysts have under-estimated the intensity of the crisis for European businesses, Jean-Luc Buchaet and Pierre Sabatier, presidents of Pythagore Investissement and Prime-View, argue in La Tribune. They predict a 6% net margin in the best case for the DJ Stoxx 600 in 2009. Despite repeated corrections, the levels predicted are too high, the authors claim, particularly in the industrial sector.