In fourth quarter, ?results in asset management continued to be penalised by outflows of invested assets and by depreciations affecting certain asset classes (alternative management and ?seed money,?) the Société Générale group announced in a statement published Wednesday morning, in which it announces estimated results for 2008. The French bank states that its final results will be published on 18 February, and says that it expects to post a net result for the part of the group totalling EUR2bn for last year as a whole. In fourth quarter 2008, estimated net results for the part of the group are expected to be near zero, the firm notes, and provides more detailed estimates for each profession. ?In finance and investment banking, the Group is expected to post net results near zero for the quarter,? SocGen estimates.

In its client portfolios, Merrill Lynch is taking overweight positions on high quality corporate bonds, to the detriment of high yield and equities, AGEFI Switzerland reports.

La Tribune reports that, buoyed by the inauguration of Barack Obama and a lack of long-term outlooks for European growth, the US dollar hit a six-week high against the Euro on Tuesday, 20 January, at USD1.2895 to the Euro, and ?there is no reason not to thing that the dollar could rise as far as its recent peak at the end of November, at USD1.2390 to the Euro,? the newspaper reports.

In December, hedge funds posted performance of 0.64%, according to the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index, calculated on the basis of performance and assets in funds on the Lyxor platform (Société Générale group). This did not prevent results from being negative for the year as a whole, at -10.10%.In 2008, the alternative strategies that performed best were ?L/S Equity Short Bias? (+32.32%), ?CTAs Long Term? (+31.39%), and ?CTAs Short Term? (+10.07%). The least good performance was for the Credit Arbitrage Index strategy, which lost 51.27% for the year.Edhec confirms that CTAs have performed well (+15.65%) for the year as a whole. Excepting short selling (+31.7%), all other strategies posted losses, which remain nonetheless less severe than for the S&P. The worst results are for emerging markets (-33.8%), which have nonetheless gained 9.6% since 2001. Since January 2001, average performances are positive, and range from 2.2% to 8.8%.Edhec also notes that after six months of losses, the convertible arbitrage strategy managed to post positive returns (+1.70%) in December. The CTA strategy also posted its fourth consecutive month of gains (+1.45%). The positive orientation of the markets favoured equities strategies, such as equity market neutral and long/short equity. Event driven managed to reduce its losses, but remains negative (-0.7%).

M&G Investments has announced the arrival of Violaine de Serrant, who is joining the team in Paris as head of distribution. The recruitment is strategic for the asset management affiliate of the Prudential group, which is planning to capitalise on its experience with independent financial advisers in Great Britain to strengthen its presence in the French IFA market.De Serrant worked previously at Rothschild & Cie Banque, where she was head of development at Sélection R, in charge of selection and leadership of a sales team serving 60 IFA agencies.

Frank DiPascali Jr was the closest lieutenant to Bernard Madoff for more than thirty years. He was the head of trading for equities options, and the point man for investment-advisory clients, who were told he executed their trades, the Wall Street Journal reports. He is now a potential point man for the fraud investigation into Bernard Madoff - but he himself is not named as a suspect, whereas Madoff is facing criminal charges for securities fraud, and claims that he acted alone.

The Swiss banking group Syz & Co is changing the manager of the Oyster World Opportunities fund. The fund, previously managed by Rajeev Bhaman at Oppenheimer Funds in New York, will now be entrusted to Roberto Magnatantini at Banque Syz & Co, based in Geneva. ?The transition, which was long prepared for by teams at SYZ & Co, proceeded smoothly and transparently for investors,? says a statement.

Frank Keller, senior finance office private banking for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, has joined Banque Julius Baer as head of finance. He has left Singapore for Zurich, and in his new position will report directly to Boris Callardi, COO.

Matthieu Maurier has been appointed deputy director of the fund custody department at Rosbank, in which Société Générale is the majority shareholder. Maurier will be based in Moscow, and will be in charge of international commercial development for the department, and its integration into Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS). Maurier comes from the Société Générale group.

Mathieu Maurier has been appointed deputy director of the fund custody department at Rosbank, in which Société Générale is the majority shareholder, and which is led locally by Mikhail Bratanov. Maurier will be based in Moscow, and will be in charge of international commercial development for the department, and its integration into Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS). Maurier comes from the Société Générale group.

State Street has announced a 71% decline in its net profits to USD65m, or 15 cents per share, from USD223, or 57 cents per share, in the corresponding period of last year, the Financial Times reports. The results are worse than expected.

The German open-ended real estate fund Morgan Stanley P2 Value, which suspended redemptions on 30 October, initially for three months, will be extending the freeze on redemptions for up to 12 months more, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH announced on Tuesday. The suspension of redemptions for the CS Euroreal from Credit Suisse was also extended on Friday for only nine months. At the time that redemptions were suspended, the P2 Value had assets of about EUR1.7bn, but an increase in redemptions reduced liquidity reserves below the legal minimum of 5% of assets.

According to information obtained by Ignites Europe, Wildgen, a law firm representing investors in Madoff funds, is going to leave the Luxembourg association of banks and bankers, in order to avoid any conflicts of interest and preserve its independence.

The Financial Times reports that a former fund manager at New Star Asset Management, Patrick Evershed, is suing the asset management firm. He accuses his former employer of provoking his resignation. He will argue that he was persecuted.

American International Group (AIG) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Monika M. Machon as senior vice president and chief investment officer (CIO) in charge of portfolio management at the insurance company for all asset classes. Machon, who joined AIG in 1998, was previously global head of fixed income at AIG Investments, and chairperson of the board at AIG Investments Europe Ltd. She will report directly to Edward J. Liddy, chairman and CEO of AIG.Machon replaces Win J. Neuger, who will remain as chairman and CEO of AIG Investments, and will continue to serve as director of asset management activities for external clients. AIG is planning to sell off these activities.Meanwhile, Jeffrey J. Hurd, who is currently senior managing director, chief administrative officer and general counsel at AIG Investments, has been appointed senior vice president and head of asset management and restructuring, in charge of the sale of activities in asset management for third parties and the restructuring of asset management in the AIG group. He will also retain his current functions.

UCITS IV will be a ?dead directive? in Italy if the tax regime for investment funds is not reformed, says Fabio Galli, CEO of Assogestioni (the Italian association of management professionals), in an interview with Ignites Europe. Many foreign asset management firms which have created funds in Dublin or Luxembourg may consider repatriating them to Italy if the tax regime makes it possible.

Handelsblatt reports that Kevin Parker, head of the asset management unit at the Deutsche Bank group, has estimated that assets managed by the group declined by about 6% in 2008, to EUR500bn. He says this is due to falling markets related to the financial crisis. The Börsen-Zeitung, for its part, states that DB Advisors, the institutional management branch of Deutsche Bank, had assets under management as of the end of November of EUR165bn, which represents an increase of 6% since the end of June, despite the market turbulence.

Of the seven strategies put to the test two years ago in the ?talent hotel? created by Lupus alpha, three failed, two are still in a testing phase, and two succeeded, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. One of the successes is a commodities strategy combining options and direct investment. The other is a quantitative model which makes short-term predictions about the evolution of share prices. Currently, Lupus alpha is seeking new candidates to replace the managers whose formulas did not succeed. There are about 100 candidates for the three places.

Many banks are selling off their asset management activities to get hold of money and concentrate on their core professions, Handelsblatt reports. Independent managers with a healthy balance sheet such as BlackRock and Schroders, Aberdeen, Henderson, F&C and Invesco are potential buyers for these divisions, Kevin Pakenham, a partner at Jefferies Putnam Lovell in London, tells Handelsblatt. Legg Mason may also be a buyer, and Franklin Templeton has already announced that it is seeking opportunities for external growth.Benjamin Phillips, a partner at Casey, Quirk & Associates in New York, also cites private equity funds as potential buyers, or healthy banks such as JP Morgan US Bancorp, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Deutsche Bank.

The private equity firm Investor AB, controlled by the Wallenberg family, announced on Tuesday that it is planning to reduce its dividends for 2008 to 4 Swedish kronor per share from 4.75 kronor, on consolidated net losses of SEK36.74bn, compared with SEK367m in 2007. As of 31 December, the net value of its assets added up to SEK115.34bn, compared with SEK155.2bn one year earlier. Net liquidity at the end of the year stood at SEK9.41bn, compared with a net debt of SEK3.58bn.

L'écart de taux a reflué pour les très courtes échéances. Pour les plus longues, les titres français semblent pâtir de perspectives budgétaires défavorables

Le plan de sauvetage britannique favorise le tassement des marges des RMBS qui a déjà atteint outre-Manche jusqu'à 50 pb en l'espace d'une semaine

The Wall Street Journal rapporte qu’Arthur G. Nadel, qui dirigeait le gestionnaire alternatif Scoop Management Inc de Saratosa en Floride, n’a toujours pas refait surface. Il avait été déclaré disparu par sa famille mercredi. Son fonds aurait eu un encours de 350 millions de dollars.

Selon le Financial Times, Bank of America devrait licencier plusieurs milliers de salariés de ses activités de marchés de capitaux. Cette information intervient après l"acquisition il y a trois semaines de Merrill Lynch par BofA. Cette mesure devrait toucher environ 4.000 personnes, principalement à New York. Compte tenu de la puissance historique de Merrill dans les marchés de capitaux, nombre de salariés de BofA se doutent que leurs emplois sont sur la sellette. Mais la publication par Merrill de 21,5 milliards de pertes opérationnelles la semaine dernière a fait naître des interrogations sur les compétences de ses équipes.

Si State Street devrait annoncer ce mardi un bénéfice autour d"1 dollar par action au titre du quatrième trimestre 2008, contre 57 cents au début de l"année dernière, les ennuis ne vont pas tarder à arriver, prévoit le Wall Street Journal. En effet, alors que le gestionnaire avait relativement bien résisté à la crise financière jusqu"ici, State Street commence à souffrir sur ses activités clés. Par exemple, dans sa déclaration à la SEC vendredi, State Street évoque la perte de valeur de ses investissements conservateurs comme le monétaire, précise le quotidien. La société de gestion parle également de la présence de 5,5 milliards de dollars de moins-values latentes au sein de son portefeuille d"investissements, et de 3,6 milliards de dollars sur d"autres véhicules, qui émettent des créances de trésorerie à court terme (Asset- Backed Commercial Paper).

Selon La Tribune, bien que cours de BNP Paribas ait de nouveau atteint lundi un plus-bas historique de 25,85 euros, la banque veut séduire et elle compte sur le plan français de recapitalisation des banques et sur la baisse du dividende versé pour soutenir ses fonds propres. Le 18 février prochain, BNP Paribas pourrait toutefois annoncer un bénéfice 2008 de 3 milliards d"euros, en recul de 60% par rapport à 2007, estime le quotidien financier.

Selon l"Agefi, L’Ecureuil devrait afficher, au bas mot une perte consolidée de l’ordre du milliard d’euros en 2008 sans, toutefois que les ratios de solvabilité tier one du groupe et de la CNCE passent sous les 8 %."Un premier budget examiné en comité d’audit et en conseil de surveillance table sur un bénéfice net consolidé de 600 millions d’euros cette année», précise le quotidien numérique.

C"est en 2003 que Sigma Gestion a vu le jour. Cette société de gestion a été créée par le groupe Sigma, acteur du capital investissement fondé en 1993 par Philippe Cholet. La vocation de ce dernier était à l"origine uniquement patrimoniale. Mais à la faveur de la loi qui a donné naissance aux fonds d"investissement de proximité (FIP), Sigma a décidé de s"ouvrir à la gestion pour compte de tiers. Et son premier FIP a été lancé en 2004.Aujourd"hui, cinq ans après sa création, Sigma Gestion gère environ 55 millions d"euros, dont une vingtaine de millions en compte propre. Elle gère cinq FIP et trois FCPI, dont trois sont encore en cours de commercialisation (FIP Croissance Grand Est, FIP Sigma Gestion Fortuna et FCPI Croissance Pouvoir d"Achat). «Nous avons deux grandes spécificités», souligne Emmanuel Simonneau, président du directoire et directeur des participations de Sigma. La première est que la société de gestion s"est spécialisée dans les investissements dans le Grand Est de la France, autrement dit l"Ile-de-France, la Champagne-Ardenne, l"Alsace et la Lorraine. Un moyen de se différencier des confrères, souvent focalisés sur l"axe Paris-Rhône Alpes. L"autre particularité est «que nous avons mis en place des clauses de hurdle, qui signifient que si nos fonds n"obtiennent pas un mimimum de 25 % de plus-value au terme, hors avantage fiscal et net de frais, le souscripteur conserve la totalité des plus-values réalisées. Cette pratique est répandue pour les fonds gérés pour le compte des institutionnels, mais peu pour les FIP et les FCPI», explique Emmanuel Simonneau. Les produits de Sigma sont principalement vendus par le biais de CGPI, qui assurent 90 % des encours gérés pour compte de tiers. Après une collecte de 9 millions en 2007 et de 17 millions en 2008, Sigma se montre confiant pour 2009, malgré la baisse de moral des CGPI, et vise 20 millions de souscriptions, avec un véhicule supplémentaire sous forme de holding ISF. «Il faut souligner que nos produits présentent une certaine décorrélation par rapport au marché boursier», indique Emmanuel Simonneau, en insistant sur le fait que les FIP de Sigma ont toujours pour vocation d"être investis à 80 % dans les PME non cotées, ce qui n"est pas le cas de tous les produits de ce genre, souvent placés sur les marchés boursiers. Par ailleurs, Emmanuel Simonneau ne craint pas trop non plus les éventuels problèmes de sorties que pourraient connaître certains fonds dans le capital investissement. «Nos fonds étant jeunes, nous n"avons pas à sortir avant 2011. D"ici là, on peut espérer que la crise sera passée. Quoi qu"il en soit, nous sommes très prudents dans nos investissements, et réfléchissons toujours à la sortie dès le moment d"investir». En attendant, les fonds sont légèrement en négatif, «ce qui est classique les premières années, car le portefeuille non coté ne se revalorise pratiquement pas en cours de vie du fonds. En contrepartie, les frais de gestion, administratifs et juridiques viennent s"imputer annuellement sur la courbe de l"actif et donc contribuent à diminuer la valeur liquidative», détaille Emmanuel Simonneau. Sigma peut aussi tabler sur l"effet «avantage fiscal».

Selon Les Echos, les fonds gérés par la société de capital-développement Turenne Capital Partenaires viennent d’investir 4,3 millions d’euros dans la société Solem Finance, holding du groupe Solem basé à Montpellier. Ils prennent le relais de XAnge Private Equity et de CIC Capital Privé.

Selon L"Echo, la fonte de l’industrie devrait se poursuivre cette année. « Le nombre de fonds (10.000) devrait être divisé par deux d’ici la fin de l’année. L’industrie va subir un véritable carnage », estime Patrick Young, président de Derivatives Vision. « Les hedge funds se sont développés trop rapidement et on s’est retrouvé avec une série de gestionnaires incapables, bien éloignés des gérants du début. L’industrie doit se contracter », ajoute-t-il. On devrait observer un retour aux sources, la priorité étant donnée aux actifs les plus liquides comme les devises ou les indices sur actions. Les hedge funds devront aussi tourner avec moins d"effet de levier et s"attendre à une réglementation plus contraignante.