La Banque de France promeut les RMBS
La titrisation déconsolidante de crédits immobiliers résidentiels permettrait aux banques de prêter davantage aux entreprises dans le contexte de Bâle 3.
La Bundesbank rapatrie son or
Selon l'édition dominicale du journal allemand, la banque centrale allemande à rapatrié l’an dernier à Francfort 32 tonnes d’or depuis Paris et 5 autres depuis New York. D’ici 2020, la Bundesbank prévoit des mouvements similaires portant sur 674 tonnes. L’Allemagne abritera alors sur son sol environ la moitié de ses réserves d’or.
La Chine juge la loi de finances américaine «discriminatoire»
Le ministère chinois du Commerce a jugé samedi la loi de finances américaine promulguée la veille par Barack Obama «discriminatoire» en raison d’une clause restreignant l’acquisition de technologies de l’information chinoises par les pouvoirs publics.
Jeffrey Lacker défend une réduction du QE3
Les signes d’une amélioration du marché du travail aux Etats-Unis plaident en faveur de la poursuite de la diminution des rachats mensuels d’actifs obligataires par la Réserve fédérale, a déclaré vendredi Jeffrey Lacker, président de la Fed de New York. Devant des journalistes, il a estimé que les statistiques du mois de décembre, qui avaient révélé une chute du nombre de créations d’emplois, étaient une «aberration».
Les Bermudes et Jersey ne sont plus «non coopératifs»
Selon un arrêté publié dimanche au Journal officiel, les îles Bermudes et Jersey sortent, avec effet rétroactif au 1er janvier 2014, de la liste des Etats et territoires non coopératifs (ETNC) en matière fiscale. Cette mesure implique la mise au point d’une convention d’assistance administrative avec la France, «permettant d'échanger tout renseignement nécessaire à l’application de la législation fiscale des parties».
Moody's sort la note irlandaise de la catégorie spéculative
Moody’s a indiqué vendredi avoir relevé la note souveraine de l’Irlande, à «Baa3», évoquant la récente accélération de la croissance économique du pays et sa sortie du programme d’aide international le mois dernier. La perspective attachée à cette note a également été relevée, à «positive». «Le potentiel de croissance de l'économie irlandaise, conjugué avec la consolidation budgétaire en cours, devrait faire baisser les ratios d’endettement du pays», souligne Moody’s. Trois ans après avoir dû se résoudre à solliciter une aide internationale, l’Irlande est sortie le 15 décembre du plan de renflouement financier de 85 milliards d’euros piloté par le FMI et l’Union européenne. L'économie irlandaise a enregistré au troisième trimestre une croissance de 1,5% par rapport au trimestre précédent, alors que le PIB n’avait augmenté de 0,7% au trimestre précédent.
La Suisse et l’UE négocient sur la fiscalité de l’épargne
La Confédération helvétique et l’Union européenne ont officiellement débuté des négociations pour réviser leur accord sur la taxation de l’épargne. La première réunion officielle s’est tenue à Berne aujourd’hui. L’UE souhaite un dispositif en ligne avec la révision attendue de sa directive sur la fiscalité de l’épargne et qui décourage l’évasion des capitaux détenus par les citoyens européens.
17/01/2014
French report to promote long-term savings
The Perrier report by the Institutional Investors conference of Paris Europlace, chaired by Yves Perrier, CEO of Amundi, with the co-operation of Boston Consulting Group, was presented on Thursday. It aims to restore the competitiveness of the Paris investment market. In order to better orient financial savings for a long-term horizon to financing the growth of the economy and restoring the competitiveness of the Paris market, Paris Europlace is proposing a stategy based on two pillars: 1 – Develop long-term financial savings in France By allowing long-term savings to benefit from more attactive taxation, especially for equities, employee savings and retirement savings; By adding retirement resources by strengthening the range of investment products to contribute to the long-term financing of the economy... 2- Capture more foreign capital, with a target of increasing foreign capital under management in France from 15% to 20% in 5 years By providing these sales rules for asset management products, which aim to improve transparency and investor protection, do not manage volumes in a manner contrary to the objectives pursued by increasing requirements in terms of transparency and information fo all savings products (on-book and off-book); By strengthening the ecosystem of the Paris market, particularly with increased control of market infrastructure.
17/01/2014
Asset management earnings at Goldman Sachs up by 5%
Net earnings of Investment Management activities at Goldman Sachs last year totalled USD5.46bn, up % compared with the previous year. Assets under supervision, which include assets under management in the strict sense as well as client assets invested with third-party managers, increased by USD77bn, or 8%, over the course of the year, to a total of USD1.040trn. Long-term assets under supervision, excluding money market funds, increased by USD81bn, including a net inflow of USD41bn, reflecting subscriptions in fixed income and equities, which were partly offset by redemptions in alternative management. Inflows at this level have not been seen since 2007.
17/01/2014
BlackRock: profits and net inflows up in 2013
For the year 2013, BlackRock has recorded net inflows of USD117.1bn for its long-term products, compared with USD48bn in 2012. In fourth quarter, these inflows totalled USD40.5bn. In detail, net flows from the Americas (United States, Carribbean, Canada, Latin America) totalled USD31.6bn in fourth quarter, while those from the EMEA region totalled USD6.5bn, and from Asia Pacific, USD2.4bn. Assets as of 31 December 2012 totalled USD4.32408trn, up 14% compared with a total of USD3.796trn at the end of 2012. Compared with the end of September 2013, assets were up 6%. BlackRock clients as of the end of December 2013 were 61% composed of investors residing in countries of the Americas, and 39% international clients. BlackRock has posted net profits in the past year of USD2.93bn, compared with USD2.46bn in 2012, up 19%. In fourth quarter, net profits totalled USD841m, up 22% year on year.
17/01/2014
Titrisation auto : les "master structures" ont un impact limité en France
On a observé au cours des douze derniers mois une utilisation croissante de structures «master» dans la titrisation du crédit automobile, des structures qui apportente de la flexibilité car elles incluent la possibilité d'émettre des notes supplémentaires à partir d’une structure existante. Selon Moody’s, l’utilisation de ces structures présente des aspects positifs et négatifs pour les transactions de titrisation française parce que, bien que ces structures fournissent des protections aux détenteurs de billets, elles introduisent également des sources supplémentaires d’incertitude, comme les changements potentiellement importants et rapides dans la composition du portefeuille d’actifs. En outre, le coût de l'émission future de la note n’est pas connu à la clôture, ce qui fait qu’il est plus difficile d'évaluer le coupon ou la marge de la future note. Bien que des facteurs structurels d’atténuation permettent de réduire l’exposition des détenteurs de billets au risque crédit, il reste tout de même des incertitudes quant à la date de remboursement.
17/01/2014
Syz & Co to launch a “double leveraged” version of its Market Neutral fund
Syz & Co will at the end of January or the beginning of February launch a “double leveraged” version of its Oyster Market Neutral fund, a beta-neutral long/short fund of European equities, Giacomo Picchetto, one of the managers of the fund, announced on Thursday at a presentation in Paris. The new product will be modelled on the first one, whose strategy is focused on anticipating corporate profit revisions. But while the Market Neutral fund weights its positions 1%, the new fund will take average positions of 2%. That will allow it to have higher volatility and higher performance. The fund, which is already reported to have taken in EUR40m, will be managed by the same team as the Market Neutral fund, composed of co-managers Giacomo Picchetto and Stefano Girola, as well as analysts Gionata Crivelli and Osvaldo Vitrone. The Market Neutral fund, which now has assets of EUR240m, has 155 positions. Its gross exposure is 119%, of which 22% are in short positions on its index. Since its launch in August 2009, the fund has earned returns of 18.5%, with volatility of 4.4%.
17/01/2014
Change of managers for a fund from ING IM
ING Investment Management has appointed Peter Heijboer as deputy to its sustainable European credit fund, ING (L) Renta Fund Euro Credit Sustainable, Citywire reports. In this position, he replaced the head of credit at the firm, Roel Jansen, who will focus on other portfolios. Heijboer will work with Alfred Meinema.
17/01/2014
Financial derivative products to escape FTT
Some financial derivative products may be exempt from the financial transaction tax (FTT), Reuters reports, on the basis of a document it has obtained. The exemption would aim to avoid penalising the sovereign debt markets. Several countries are concerned about seeing the institution of a financial transaction tax disrupt their debt markets, while the debt crisis appears to be fading. Documents explain that it is difficult to determine the moment at which derivative contracts will be taxed, whether it be its date of creation, the date of the transaction it concerns, or its date of expiration. The document procured by Reuters also plans to exempt the corporate bond tax, in orde to avoid “nefarious effects on the financing capacity of businesses, also taking into consideration difficulties in finding financing from the banking sector in the current climate.”Securitised debt, which some heads of central banks would like to promote in order to facilitate the financing of the economy, may also be exempted, the document continues.
17/01/2014
Real estate: Paris loses ground in Europe but remains a safe bet
Paris is a big loser out of the study “Emerging Trends in Real Estate: Europe 2014,” carried out jointly by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC. The rankings of the top 27 cities in Europe, carried out according to performance outlooks for 2014, places Munich at the top, and sees the French capital fall 8 places to 14th. “Investors are concerned by fiscal instability. In addition, the scale of debt and unemployment as well as social tensions do not improve the image of the city internationally. Paris nonetheless remains with London a unique investment unit in Europe,” says Geoffrey Schmitt, partner, responsible for real estate activity at PwC. This counterperformance is all the more notable in the first three quarters of 2013, which saw investment activites in Europe increase 10.5% to EUR110.9bn, and investment outlooks for 2014 are rising. The favourable European economic context will incite investors to take more risks, due to better access to credit and lower interest rates. “Refuge” cities are still considered to be major areas of attractiveness. Paris is falling, but remains a must for institutional investors. “Paris remains a genuine ‘must have’ in the portfolios of institutional investors. In addition, Asian and Middle Eastern investors will continue to deplout their investments in 2014 in the French capital, which is continuing to seek flagship assets, which Paris is not missing,” says Sigrid Duhamel, director of real estate at PSA Peugeot Citroën and president of ULI France.
17/01/2014
BNP Paribas IP to sell its Taiwan joint venture
The BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) adventure in Taiwan is entering a new phase. The asset management affiliate of BNP Paribas will sell 49% of capital which it holds in its joint venture in the country to its partner, the public financial group Taiwan Cooperative Financial. The joint firm, entitled BNP Paribas TCB Asset Management, was created in December 2010. In a statement, Taiwan Cooperative Financial has announced that it and BNP Paribas will be developing the future of their asset management activities in Taiwan “following their own strategies,” without providing more details. The operation remains subject to approval by the regulatory authorities.
17/01/2014
Institutional funds post inflows of nearly EUR10bn in November
Funds reserved for institutionals in November posted net inflows of EUR9.9bn, while open-ended funds in the same period saw outflows of EUR1.9bn, according to statistics released by the German asset management association (BVI). Taking into account inflows of EUR0.5bn to mandates excluding investment funds, the month of Novemner finished with net inflows of EUR8.5bn. Since the beginning of the year, institutional funds have inflows of EUR63.5bn, compared with EUR55.8bn in the first 11 months of 2012. Meanwhile, open-ended funds attracted EUR14.4bn, compared with EUR20.7bn in January-Noember 2012. More than 40%, or EUR4bn, of total inflows to institutional funds come from insurers, while EUR1bn come from retirement savings institutions.
17/01/2014
Threadneedle gains approval to launch its activity in Malaysia
Threadneedle is opening new horizons. The asset management firm, owned by the US group Ameriprise Financial, has received approval from the regulatory authorities to launch its asset management activities in Malaysia, International Adviser reports. The firm will now be able to offer Sharia-compliant services to institutional investors including sovereign funds, pension funds, corporate, insurance companies and charities. The group thus strengthens its presence in Asia, as it already has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Syed Elias Aljhabshi, senior adviser for Threadneedle in Singapore since September 2011, has been appointed as president for Malaysia. Meanwhile, Mohd Farid bin Kamarudin, director of operations in Malaysia, will now additionally assume the role of senior manager in charge of fixed income debt.
17/01/2014
BNY Mellon welcomes new members to its managed accounts platform
The US firm BNY Mellon has welcomed five new managers to its new managed accounts platform, Asian Investor reports. The new participants are BlackRock, Capital International, Henderson Global Investors, Lazard Asset Management and UOB AM. These five firms come in addition to the four house firms which are already present on the platform: BNY Mellon Asset Management Japan, Mellon Capital Management Corpproation, The Boston Company and CenterSquare. The platform, led by AJ Harper, will be available to high net worth clients ready to invest USD1m or more, a drop of water compared to the USD100m normally required from institutionals.
17/01/2014
Ultra-high net worth investors have 20% of their assets in real estate
Real estate assets represent about one fifth of the assets held by about 200,000 ultra-high net worth (UHNW) retail clients worldwide, according to a study by the real estate advising company Savills, in partnership with the high net worth specialist Wealth-X. The total value of real estate worldwide is about USD180trn, of which 72% are n the residential sector. Of the roughly USD70trn in investible properties, including about USD20trn in the commercial sector, more than half has been purchased by retail investors, companies and organisations. About 3%, or USD5.3trn, of global real estate is held by ultra-high net worth individuals. Their real estate assets average about USD26.5m each.
17/01/2014
Record year in 2013 for Swedish funds
In 2013, funds on sale in Sweden posted net inflows of SEK104.5bn (or EUR12bn), according to the most recent statistics from the local fund association, Fondbolagens Förening. Since 1994, the SEK100bn barrier was passed only once, the association notes. It was in 2009, when inflows neared SEK140bn. Inflows were supplied by balanced funds (+SEK55.6bn), equity funds (SEK42.6bn) and money market funds (SEK15.6bn), However, bond funds saw outflows of SEK7.6bn. Assets in funds on sale in Sweden saw an increase in assets of SEK430bn in 2013, to SEK2.481trn (EUR282bn), a record level. Of this total, about 55% is invested in equities. In December, Swedish funds have posted very high net inflows, of SEK39.4bn, of which SEK22.6bn are in equities.
17/01/2014
Nordea teams up with a US firm for a small caps fund
Nordea has teamed up with a firm based in Virginia to launch its first global small caps fund, Citywire Global reports. The fund, which will be launched in March, will be managed by Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Old Mutual. The manager will be Brandon Harrell.
17/01/2014
Hedge funds: women manage better than men
Female hedge fund managers have done better than their male colleagues for the second year in a row, according to the agency Rothstein Kass, specialised in the alternative management professions. In the period from 1 January 2013 to the end of November, hedge funds managed by women, which, it is true, represent only a very modest fraction of the sector, earned returns of 9.8%, while the benchmark nidex HFRX Global Hedge Fund has posted gains of only 6.13%. Even more interesting, in the six years from January 2007 to June 2013, hedge funds managed by women have posted growth of 6%, compared with 4.2% for the Standard & Poor’s 500, and a loss of 1.1% for the HFRX index. There are currently about 125 hedge funds managed by women worldwide, while the Rothstein Kass dedicated index has 80.
17/01/2014
Strong growth in assets for pension funds in Spain
Spanish individual pension funds have done well in 2013. According to statistics released by the research agency VDOS Stochastics, their assets have risen by 10.22% year on year, to a total fo EUR56.82bn as of the end of 2013, compared with EUR51.55bn as of the end of 2012. This growth was primarily driven by an increase in profits from portfolios, totalling EUR4.2bn, while net inflwos total slightly over EUR1bn in 2013. The mrket remains highly concentrated, since the top 10 financial groups manage 81,37% of total assets. With EUR10.5bn in assets under management and a market share of 18.47%, BBVA remains the top firm in the sector, followed by Caixa Bank (EUR9.2bn in assets) and Santander (EUR7.94bn in assets). In the rankings of the firms which have the strongest net inflows, Caixa Bank takes the top place, with EUR519.9m in net inflows. The bank finishes ahead of Renta 4 (EUR251bn in net inflows) and BBVA, which has poted EUR233.5m in net inflows.
17/01/2014
French Auto ABS transactions : "Master" Structures introduce performance uncertainty
Over the past 12 months, French auto originators have made increasing use of “master” ABS structures, which provide for the possibility of additional note issuances out of an existing structure. The use of such structures has credit positives and negatives for French ABS transactions, according to Moody’s.While these structures provide some protective features for noteholders, they also introduce additional sources of uncertainty, such as potentially large and rapid changes in asset portfolio composition. Moreover, the cost of future note issuance is not known at closing, which makes the benefits of excess spread harder to predict. While structural mitigants serve to reduce noteholders’ exposure to credit risk, there remains uncertainty in relation to the timing of repayments.
17/01/2014
Axa Real Estate purchases a property in Scotland
Axa Real Estate Investment Managers has completed, on behalf of the Caesar Fund, the acquisition of 3–5 Morrison Street, a core office building situated in Edinburgh, Scotland for £29.65 million (€35.7 million) from Climate Change Capital, the environmental asset management and advisory group. The building is located in the heart of Edinburgh’s Exchange District, the prime office destination in the city.
17/01/2014
Aberdeen sees outflows accelerate
In the fourth quarter of 2013, Aberdeen has seen an acceleration in net outflows, to GBP4.4bn, after GBP3.6bn during the previous quarter, and has seen its assets under management fall to GBP193.6bn, compared with GBP200.4bn as of the end of September. “Business flows reflected the continuing negative sentiment towards Asian and emerging markets generally, particularly later in the quarter,” commented Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Aberdeen. Global emerging market equities have seen net redemptions of GBP1.182trn, compared with GBP684m in the previous quarter, while outflows from Asia-Pacific equities totalled GBP6255m (+GBP665m in the quarter to the end of September). In general, equities saw an outflow of GBP3.106trn in the fourth quarter of the year 2013. Bonds also show losses, totalling GBP635m, as do money markets (-GBP537m). Only real estate has done well, with net inflows of GBP482m. Aberdeen states that “despite the difficult market conditions during the quarter, we built a good new business pipeline of approximately £2 billion which will be invested in the coming months across a range of capabilities including emerging markets (bonds and equities), Japanese equities, money markets and Nordic property.”
17/01/2014
Fidelity overhauls teams on two funds
Fidelity has overhauled the management of its Institutional UK Index-Linked Bond (GBP239m) and Global Diversified Institutional )GBP54m) funds, Financial News reports. Jeremy Church has been promoted to principal manager of the first fund, alongside Ande Weir. Joo Hee Lee will join Eugene Philalithis as co-manager of the second fund.
Syz & Co va lancer une version à « double levier » de son fonds Market Neutral
Syz & Co va lancer fin janvier ou début février une version « à double levier » d’Oyster Market Neutral, son fonds long/short à beta neutre sur les actions européennes, a annoncé jeudi Giacomo Picchetto, l’un des gérants du fonds, au cours d’une présentation à Paris.Le nouveau produit sera calqué sur le premier, dont la stratégie est axée sur l’anticipation des révisions de bénéfices des entreprises.Mais alors que le Market Neutral pondère ses positions à hauteur de 1 %, le nouveau venu prendra des positions moyennes de 2 %. Cela lui permettra d’avoir une volatilité plus élevée et une performance aussi plus importante.Le fonds, qui aurait déjà réuni une quarantaine de millions d’euros, sera géré par la même équipe du Market Neutral, composée des co-gérants Giacomo Picchetto et Stefano Girola, ainsi que des analystes Gionata Crivelli et Osvaldo Vitrone.Aujourd’hui, le fonds Market Neutral, qui affiche un encours de 240 millions d’euros, détient 155 positions. Son exposition brute est de 119 %, dont 22 % en positions vendeuses sur indice. Depuis son lancement en août 2009, le fonds a réalisé une performance de 18,5 %, avec une volatilité de 4,4 %.
Changements de gérants pour un fonds d’ING IM
ING Investment Management a nommé Pieter Heijboer en tant qu’adjoint sur le fonds crédit européen durable, ING (L) Renta Fund Euro Credit Sustainable, rapporte Citywire. L’intéressé remplace à ce poste le responsable crédit de la société Roel Jansen, qui va se concentrer sur d’autres portefeuilles. Pieter Heijboer travaillera avec Alfred Meinema.