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06/01/2009

Etats-Unis - Robert McCann quitte Bank of America

Choc culturel : Robert McCann, qui dirigeait les 16.850 personnes de la division courtage de Merrill Lynch, a annoncé sa démission de Bank of America (BofA), l'établissement repreneur ayant indiqué en octobre que le futur poste de responsable du «global wealth and investment management» serait attribué à une autre personne que Robert McCann, qui était vice chairman et president of global wealth management. Son successeur devrait être son principal adjoint, Dan Sontag, ajoute The Wall Street Journal.Certains analystes et concurrents se demandaient comment la culture d'économie de coûts prévalant chez BofA pourrait s’accommoder des habitudes dépensières de Wall Street que personnifient les courtiers de Merrill chargés des relations avec des clients haut de gamme.
06/01/2009

Chine - La CIC préfère le cash

Zhang Hongli, vice-président exécutif du fonds souverain China Investment Corp (CIC, 200 milliards de dollars) a déclaré selon Xinhua qu'à présent #le cash est roi# et que #dans la mesure du possible, la CIC ne va pas procéder à de nouveaux investissements# compte tenu de la détérioration de la conjoncture mondiale, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.
06/01/2009

France - AMF : Gérard Rameix confirme son départ

Le secrétaire général de l’AMF Gérard Rameix a officiellement confirmé son départ à La Tribune afin de prendre du «recul». Cette information avait d"abord été publiée par lesEchos.fr le lundi 5 janvier.
06/01/2009

France - L?AMF publie une instruction sur la valorisation des instruments financiers

Le 30 décembre, l"Autorité des marchés financiers a publié une instruction (n° 2008-06 du 9 décembre) concernant la valorisation des instruments financiers détenus par les OPCVM, les OPCI et dans le cadre de mandats de gestion. Elle s"applique à l"ensemble des sociétés de gestion de portefeuille et aux prestataires de services d"investissement exerçant le service de gestion de portefeuille pour le compte de tiers."Aux termes du I de l"article R. 214-19 du code monétaire et financier, «Les organismes de placement collectif en valeurs mobilières doivent pouvoir à tout moment valoriser de manière précise et indépendante leurs éléments d’actif et de hors-bilan». Cette valorisation précise et indépendante doit permettre au prestataire de services d"investissement de respecter le principe d"égalité de traitement entre les porteurs d"un même OPCVM, énoncé à l"article 411-11 du règlement général de l"AMF, quelles que soient les circonstances de marché. Conformément au iii du b du 2° du I de l"article R. 214-13 du code monétaire et financier, les instruments financiers à terme non négociés sur des marchés réglementés «font l’objet d’une valorisation effectuée par l"organisme de placement collectif en valeurs mobilières, qui ne se fonde pas uniquement sur des prix de marché donnés par la contrepartie» et qui satisfait aux critères mentionnés audit article», énonce l"AMF dans l"article 2 de l"instruction. Sont par ailleurs précisées les procédures de valorisation et les conditions de recours à un modèle de valorisation.
06/01/2009

France - Immobilier/OPCI : 100 millions de plus-values nettes pour la Poste

Selon l"Agefi, le transfert de six plates-formes de tri à un OPCI géré par BNP Paribas REIM a permis à la poste de dégager une plus-value de 101 millions d’euros nets d’impôt en 2008. «La Poste restera aussi actionnaire de l’OPCI à hauteur de 22,4 % à travers sa filiale Poste Immo, qui porte le gros de son patrimoine immobilier», le solde du capital étant détenu par une demi-douzaine d’investisseurs institutionnels français.
06/01/2009

Royaume-Uni - Philips intente un procès à Hewitt

Philips Electronics UK et son fonds de pension Philips Pension Trustees Ltd ont indiqué à IPE avoir déposé une plainte contre le cabinet de consultants Hewitt Associates et l’ancien directeur de ce dernier pour l’Europe. Ils reprochent à Hewitt des erreurs de valorisation de certaines prestations dans le cadre des services actuariels fournis entre 1995 et 2000.
06/01/2009

France - Des fonds pour investir dans ses passions

Elite Advisers propose aux investisseurs oenophiles d’investir dans les grands vins sous forme de parts (pour une mise minimum en direct de 125.000 euros), à travers le fonds «Nobles Crus» lancé en 2008, rapporte Les Echos. Elite Advisers prévoit le lancement d"un fonds thématique par an. Cette année, le thème sera les diamants, puis les voitures anciennes et les montres de collection, indique le quotidien.
06/01/2009

United States - Fortress may be withdrawn from public trading

Shares in Fortress Investment Group rose sharply on Monday in the wake of rumours that the firm may be withdrawn from public trading, the Financial Times reports. Fortress was the first private equity and hedge fund firm to hold an IPO two years ago.
06/01/2009

United States - Robert McCann leaves Bank of America

There have been shockwaves as Robert McCann, who supervised 16,850 employees in the brokerage division of Merrill Lynch, announced his resignation from Bank of America (BofA), the establishment taking over Lynch which announced in October that the future position of head of global wealth and investment management would be given to someone other than McCann, who was vice chairman and president of global wealth management. His successor is expected to be his immediate number two, Dan Sontag, the Wall Street Journal reports.Some analysts and competitors were asking how the prevailing culture of cost savings at BofA can accommodate the spendy Wall Street attitudes typical of the Merrill brokers who handled relationships with high net worth clients.
06/01/2009

United Kingdom - Philips files a lawsuit against Hewitt

Philips Electronics UK and its pension fund Philips Pension Trustees Ltd have told IPE that they have filed a lawsuit against the consulting firm Hewitt Associates and its former director for Europe. They accuse Hewitt of errors in the valuation of certain services rendered under an actuarial contract between 1995 and 2000.
06/01/2009

World - Hedge funds face more hard times

Hedge funds have had a difficult start to the year, after many of them suddenly had to suspend or freeze redemptions at the end of 2008, the Financial Times observes. Funds from GLG Partners, RWC Partners and Oceanwood Capital all introduced last-minute restrictions at the end of last year. The Finnish fund Ilmatar also announced on Monday that it will be shutting down.
06/01/2009

Spain - Santander in plans to reshuffle real estate funds

The Santander group has held an extraordinary general assembly of shareholders in four of its six real estate funds, Cinco Días reports. The objective was to approve a new business model for the next five years. The group is seeking to find a profitable use for its real estate assets totalling EUR400m.
06/01/2009

Italy - UniCredit may merge with Mediobanca

Il Sole - 24 Ore reports on 6 January that shareholders in UniCredit and Mediobanca are studying the possibility of a merger between the two banks. A decision will be made in the next six months, and will depend largely on UniCredit’s 2008 results, which will be published by mid-March. ?If UniCredit proves that it has found new strength and has plugged the holes in its investment bank, it could be said that the most dire phase of the crisis has past, and that plans for a UniCredit-Mediobanca merger will be more difficult to realise. Otherwise, the marriage will be virtually inevitable (...),? the Italian newspaper considers.
06/01/2009

World - Hedge funds lost 23% in 2008

According to the HFRX index from Hedge Fund Research, hedge funds lost an average of 23% in 2008, marking their first decline since the data series began in 1998. The Börsen-Zeitung reports that to date, their worst monthly result was a performance of 2.7% in 2004. Due to the Madoff scandal, Credit Suisse/Tremont has been obliged to revise its figure for losses from hedge funds in November to 4.2%, six times the losses initially announced.
06/01/2009

Germany - Fortis Investments moves out of Dusseldorf office

The Börsen-Zeitung reports that Fortis Investments is closing its Düsseldorf office and concentrating all its activities in Germany in Frankfurt. Eight employees are leaving the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia for the Hessian financial centre. The move will result in a considerable reduction in overhead costs.
06/01/2009

World - Stress shortens investment horizons

Investors under stress have a tendency to see less far into the future, and to shorten their temporal investment horizons, Michael J. Mauboussin of Legg Mason Capital Management claimed at a round table held on 11 December, from which extracts were published on the management firm’s website. ?Although they recognise that they should think in terms of a longer term, their stress encourages them to concentrate on what is happening here and now,? the document says.In a difficult environment such as the one which we are now experiencing, there is a chain reaction: the environment provokes stress; the investor shortens his or her temporal horizon, and modifies the portfolio more frequently; the investor undergoes more losses than he would otherwise suffer, according to the theory of loss aversion; and this increases the risk premium which the investor expects for new investments, which drives down the price of assets.
06/01/2009

Germany - Morgan Stanley launches a ?traditional? securities fund

Morgan Stanley Bank has announced that it has been granted a sales license in Germany for the Traditionelle Werte Fonds, a German-registered product whose promoter is HansaInvest. The fund, which uses the Morgan Stanley IQ derivatives platform, but which is not a structured product, is composed 70% of savings and current accounts at banks, savings banks, and German co-operative banks. The management team concentrates on the five products which offer the highest interest rates in Germany; in addition, these establishments are required to be covered by a deposit guarantee fund.Meanwhile, 25% of the fund is invested in shares in real estate funds, while the remaining 5% are invested in gold or in Gold Bullion Securities.Front-end fee for the product is limited to 1%, and management commission is 0.85%.
06/01/2009

Austria - C-Quadrat: EUR50m in subscriptions in December

The Austrian independent management firm C-Quadrat has announced that it registered net subscriptions in December of EUR50m for its C-Quadrat ARTS range of funds, which are primarily aimed at retail clients. For the year 2008 as a whole, net subscriptions totalled EUR154m, which represents an increase of 12% compared with the previous year. This is the best year in terms of subscriptions since the creation of the range, which now has total assets under management of EUR687m, according to a statement.
06/01/2009

World - Asset managers turn to corporate bonds

High-grade corporate bonds are set to outperform other asset classes in 2009 after being oversold last year, more than half fund managers and market strategists surveyed by the Financial Times have forecast. In contrast, government bonds were the least-favoured asset class.
06/01/2009

Spain - UIRE acquires Pórtico building from Marsans

The German management firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has purchased the Pórtico office building in Madrid (20,700 square metres, 400 parking spaces) from Grupo Marsans, for an undisclosed amount. The property, which will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland, is leased until 2016 to the Spanish travel agency under a sale and leaseback agreement.
06/01/2009

United Kingdom - Assets in retirement savings plans down by GBP65bn

In 2008, assets in corporate retirement savings plans for companies of the FTSE100 index fell by GBP65bn, which represents five years of contributions, and a loss of 17% for the year, according to a study by Deloitte cited by Professional Pensions. The consultant finds that these plans had a total deficit as of the end of 2008 of approximately GBP130bn.
06/01/2009

World - Hedge funds will shrink by 80%, according to BarCap

The global hedge fund sector will contract by 70% to 80% this year, Barclays Capital estimates, as cited by Financial Times Fund Management on 5 January. The firm predicts that assets in the hedge fund industry could fall to a total of USD300bn.
06/01/2009

Germany - KanAm Spezial grundinvest posts 6% returns

The Munich-based management firm KanAm announced on Monday that its institutional real estate fund KanAm Spezial grundinvest posted an increase of 50% for its real estate portfolio in the fiscal year ending on 30 September, for a total value of EUR473.5m. It made two acquisitions in Paris and one in Amsterdam, in addition to which a construction project in Rotterdam was completed, and the fund bought its first hotel property in Switzerland. The occupation rate for the portfolio remains at 100%.The Spezial grundinvest fund, launched on 25 January 2005, has earned returns over three years of 19.3%, of which 6% was in the past year (compared with 6.1% in 2006-2007), and has paid out an unchanged dividend of EUR5.15 per share.
06/01/2009

United States - Prosecutor calls for Bernard Madoff to be jailed

The US federal prosecutor’s office on Monday demanded that Bernard l. Madoff be imprisoned for arranging last month for his brother, sons, and a pair of friends in Florida to receive watches, jewelry, and articles of value worth more than USD1m. The Wall Street Journal reports that with the gifts, Madoff and his wife violated a freeze on all their assets ordered by the SEC as part of a civil procedure.
06/01/2009

Europe - Redemptions stabilise

European funds (excluding money market funds) have undergone net redemptions of EUR416bn between June 2007 and September 2008, according to data from Lipper FMI, cited by Financial Times Fund Management on 5 January. With market effects taken into account, assets plummeted by 28% to EUR3.2trn. EPFR Global estimates that assets in European funds fell from EUR248bn to EUR188bn in 2008. Nonetheless, there are some signs of stabilisation, the newspaper observes. Subscribers to equities funds outnumbered those selling their shares every week in the seven weeks until 19 December, according to EPFR.
06/01/2009

United States - Some ETFs managed to make money despite conditions in 2008

As a general rule, ETFs lost money last year, since they replicate the evolution of the markets. However, in the equities ETF fund class, the ProShares UltraShort S&P 500, which uses short positions and leverage, posted performance of 61%, the Wall Street Journal reports. In bond funds, the iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund and the SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury ETF gained 34% and 24%, respectively, according to Morningstar.
06/01/2009

China - CIC prefers cash

The Xinhua news agency reports that Zhang Hongli, executive vice president of the sovereign fund China Investment Corp (CIC, USD200bn) has declared that ?cash is king,? and announced that ?as far as possible, the CIC will not make any new investments? at the present time, due to the deterioration of global conjuncture, according to the Wall Street Journal.
06/01/2009

United States - JD Capital closes Tempo Master Fund

The Wall Street Journal reports that the HF manager JD Capital Management LLC, founded by J. David Rogers (formerly of Goldman Sachs) has decided to liquidate its multi-strategy hedge fund Tempo Master Fund, which lost 40% in 2008 and which at the end of 2007 had assets of USD1.3bn. JD Capital is still managing a volatility fund launched in June, whose assets total about USD100m.

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