According to BarclayHedge, the 2,262 hedge funds which have published their results as of 8:20 CST on 22 May have posted an average loss of 0.50% in April, but they nonetheless show returns of 4,99% since the beginning of the year. Only five strategies remained in positive territory last month, with the strongest performance (3.61%) for the 5 equity short bias funds, which are also the only ones to show a loss in the first four months of 2012 (of 13.58%).The best returns in January-April were for equity long bias (287 funds), with average gains of 7.97%. In the “specialties,” however, the healthcare & biotechnology strategy (21 funds) shows even higher returns, with 8.14%.

Plusieurs entreprises se préparent à s’introduire en Bourse, en Asie, rapporte Les Echos. Le joaillier britannique Graff Diamonds et la structure qui gère la formule 1 viennent de lancer leur processus d’entrée aux Bourses de Hong Kong et Singapour. Le groupe de matières premières Felda Global Ventures, qui vient de signer un partenariat avec Louis Dreyfus, se prépare de son côté à entre en juin à la Bourse de Malaisie. Les projets en Europe sont également nombreux mais tous ne pourront pas se faire, compte tenu des turbulences sur les marchés,souligne le quotidien.

The index provider Dow Jones Indexes and the Parala company will this Wednesday, 23 May launch a new index, with an original methodology which takes into account macroeconomic factors to weight the components of the index. The Dow Jones Parala Global Sector Macro Allocation Index, which includes 19 sectoral sub-indices of the Dow Jones Sector Titans, has a top-down approach, which initially will systematically analyse market and economic trends to determine its allocation. Among the macroeconomic factors taken into account by the index are short-term interest rates, spreads, returns from dividends, commodity spot prices, US industrial production, and the consumer price index for developed countries. This data taken as a whole makes it possible to overweight or underweight the underlyings of the new index as compared with their weighting.

A growing number of institutional investors are taking an interest in emerging market debt, but few genuinely appreciate the risks related to this strategy. This is the point of view embraced recently by the head of emerging markets at Standish, Alexander Kozhemiakin, at a press conference held by BNY Mellon in Paris. Institutionals too often tend to underestimate the risks related to emerging markets. “In developed countries, where governments are crippled by problems related to reducing their debts, emerging markets clearly represent good opportunities,” Kozhemiakin explains. “However, investors need to make sure to understand why less rich countries have a lower GDP than rich countries, and why they have not been able to develop as fast as they should have.” His colleague, Colm McDonagh, head of emerging markets at Insight, sounds similar. “Emerging markets are a fascinating asset class, but it must be invested in with discernment. I would not touch a Chinese business, for example,” he says. The head of Standish takes it a step further. “If you consider a country like Russia, for example, I would not touch corporate debt, due to the fact that corruption completely wipes out the potential for profit. However, I would gladly invest in government debt.” In other words, a lack of transparency and political risks remain major obstacles to investment in some emerging markets such as China and Russia. Nonetheless, the two heads also claim that the interest shown by institutionals in emerging markets is still far from being concretised in allocations. McDonagh suggests that allocation to emerging markets could be up to 30% of an institutional portfolio. Such an allocation would not be extravagant, if one wants to believe that emerging markets will account for about 50% of global GDP in ten years. Allocation to emerging markets needs to be diversified, so as to select the best picks, however. With this in mind, McDonagh is betting on corporate bonds, most of them still investment grade, but he also expects to include higher-risk categories in the next few years as the market gains more depth.

In an environment well-suited to “real assets,” the German firm DWS is currently highlighting its expertise in the area of equities in the agricultural sector as a whole, known as “agribusiness,” which represents assets of about USD4bn at the firm. This strategy, which among others, includes several sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav DWS Invest, is operated by a spinoff company, Global Thematic Partners (GTP), based in New York, whose total assets are about USD13bn. The managers remain the same as at the inception of that company (in September 2006) by DWS, and returns over the past three years have been about 20% per year. Since the beginning of the year, funds in this strategy have earned slightly under 4%.Ralf Oberbahnscheidt, managing direcrtor and head of agribusiness at GTP (founded in 2010), on Tuesday explained at a presentation in Paris that DWS agribusiness funds do not use derivatives. The eligible universe (liquidity, capitalisation, purity of criteria) is composed of about 500 businesses worldwide (out of a total of 800), while the portfolio contains 75 to 85 shares selected with a bottom-up approach; it is not too concentrated, the manager claims. Currently, 30% of its investments are concentrated in emerging markets, where there are the most market inneficiencies. The effective turnover rate for businesses in the portfolio is limited to 30% per year, but with adjustments to positions, it may be as much as 90%.

The European Union may assign EUR230m from its budget to incite private capital to invest in strategic infrastructure projects, the Danish EU presidency announced on 22 May. An agreement has been reached betweem European governments and the European Parliament to launch the operation, considered a pilot phase of in the issue of European bonds to finance the project, known as the Project Bond Initiative. The multiplying effect of EU funds would allow for up to EUR4.6bn to be unlocked, the Commission explains. The objective is to raise capital from pension funds, insurers and other private investors.

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) on 22 May announced that it is continuing its initiative to create a label for covered bonds, which should be officially launched during fourth quarter 2012. The planned label would meet demand from participants, issuers, investors, and regulators, for improved standards and transparency on the market. The label, which defines a clear perimeter for the asset class, foregrounds the main characteristics of covered bonds, with the objective of improving their transparency and liquidity. The association is inviting issuers of covered bonds to participate in the project.

At a time when SEB Asset Management and Credit Suisse AM Immobilien have recently announced that they are throwing in the towel and liquidating the SEB ImmoInvest and CS Euroreal funds, real estate funds with assets of EUR6bn each, Deka Immobilien is making a show of its good health, with an announcement on 22 May that from 1 January to 15 April, its three open-ended real estate funds (Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and WestInvest InterSelect) have purchased four properties for EUR750m, and have sold seven for EUR640m.Deka Immobilien has also announced that it has invested EUR53.7m in the office property City Green Court in Prague, sold by the Swedish developer Skanska. The 17,300 square metre property, with platinum LEED certification, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa. The transaction brings the percentage of Czech properties in the portfolio of the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund from 1.5% to 2.1%.

The German asset management firm Credit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien has announced that total redemption demands for shares in the open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal (EUR6bn in assets) accumulated between 9 and 21 May totalled a volume of about EUR3bn, far higher than initial estimates, while available liquidity totalled only EUR1.6bn.This is the reason for the firm’s decision to liquidate the fund over five years, by 30 April 2017 (see Newsmanagers of 22 May), as the level of outflows would have obliged the management team to sell too many assets and thus to sacrifice the quality of the portfolio, a letter to shareholders says.

Henderson Global Investors is engaging with investors on the launch of two Real Estate Debt Funds for the institutional market. Both funds aim to capitalise on the broad retraction of European bank lending and will have a common focus on premium real estate with strong sponsorship.The Henderson High Income Real Estate Debt Fund will invest in both senior and defensive subordinated real estate secured debt. Investments will predominantly be newly originated and secured by high quality leased real estate in well established markets at leverage of up to 75% LTV. Over an up to seven year investment horizon, the fund will target a gross IRR of between 8% and 10% largely to be provided by coupon income.Meanwhile, the Henderson Senior Secured Real Estate Debt Fund will invest in senior ranking and conservatively structured real estate loans at leverage of up to 60% LTV. The loans will again be newly originated and secured by premium property in the most well established locations. Over an up to seven year investment horizon the fund will target a total gross return of between 5% and 6% per annum.

The number of mediation requests in the UK for investment products fell 4% during the 2011-2012 financial year to 31 March, according to the most recent annual report on mediation. The number of requests related to investment products and pensions totalled 14,862, their lowest levels since 2008, when requests peaked at 26,565. Requests for portfolio management remained highly stable at 1,152, compared with 1,148 previously. Requests concerning pensions, however, rose 28%, to 3,454.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 22 May announced that it is lowering its credit rating for Japan by 2 notches to A+. The ratings adjustment is for “a borrower which is considered solid but likely to be affected by changes in the economic situation.” The agency has also maintained its negative outlook on the Japanesee rating, which has been in place since 2011. «The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,» said Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch. Fitch points out that Japanese government debt is set to peak at “239% of GDP by end-2012, by far the highest for any Fitch-rated sovereign.” This percentage is much higher than those observed for euro zone countries in financial difficulty, such as Spain (80.9%, according to the most recent statistics from the European Commission), Italy (123.5%), and Greece (160.6%). In addition, debt levels are increasing rapidly, up 61 percentage points since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008-2009. This trend, which was aggravated by reconstruction needs following the devastating earthquake of 11 March 2011, is not likely to reverse itself, as the Japanese government is planning to finance more than half of its 2012-2013 budget through issues of new bonds.

Chez GL Events, les outils d'épargne salariale existent mais restent limités. En 2007, le groupe a signé avec ses partenaires sociaux un accord de participation (obligatoire dans les entreprises de plus de 50 salariés) portant sur l’ensemble des filiales françaises. Le calcul de la participation se fait selon la formule prévue par la loi comme étant le seuil minimum. Les salariés ont, par ailleurs, accès à un PEE comprenant une offre relativement simple : cinq FCPE multi-entreprises gérés par Amundi (un monétaire, un garanti, un obligataire, un diversifié, ainsi que le fonds solidaire, qui constitue une obligation légale dans tout PEE). GL Events n’a pas encore mis en place de Perco, mais la directrice des ressources humaines, Patricia Ardillier voit un certain intérêt dans ce dispositif. « Dans une entreprise de croissance comme la nôtre, la passerelle offerte entre le compte épargne temps et le Perco pourrait être très intéressante », estime Patricia Ardillier. Mais lorsqu’on se bat contre des concurrents plus gros et plus anciens, il faut savoir gérer ses priorités.

Selon nos informations, au cours du premier trimestre 2012, l’Institut Pasteur a procédé à la sélection d’un gérant actions euro large cap dans le cadre d’un fonds dédié de 60 millions d’euros. Les fonds patrimoniaux de l’Institut Pasteur sont gérés par plusieurs établissements financiers spécialisés, dans le cadre de conventions de gestion avec l’assistance d’un consultant, Amadeis. L’allocation d’actifs retenue, dans une perspective à long terme, correspond à un équilibre entre les actions et les obligations. Pour rappel, en 2011, il avait aussi été décidé d’investir 23 millions d’euros au travers d’un FCP dédié sur des actions de la zone euro ISR.

Le groupe de private equity CVC a confirmé la vente d’une partie du capital du circuit de Formule 1. Waddell & Reed, Norges Bank et BlackRock ont versé 1,6 milliard de dollars en numéraire pour une participation de 21%. CVC, qui possédait 63,4% du circuit, restera l’actionnaire de référence. Le circuit de Formule 1 envisage d’entrer à la Bourse de Singapour le mois prochain

SwissLife Banque Privée annonce le lancement d’un département dédié aux fondations et aux associations. Il sera piloté par Cécilia Montfort, qui rejoint la banque privée en tant que directrice grands investisseurs associations-fondations & institutions. Depuis 2007, elle occupait le poste de directeur du département associations et fondations au sein de la Banque Transatlantique (groupe CM-CIC). «La création de ce département Fondations et Associations s’inscrit dans le cadre de notre développement stratégique et répond à un double objectif : accompagner les fondations et les associations dans l’optimisation de leur gestion financière et conseiller nos clients privés dans leurs réflexions philanthropiques», commente Tanguy Polet, directeur général de SwissLife Banque Privée.

Les ministres réunis cette semaine à Downing Street sous l’égide du premier ministre David Cameron auraient accepté de recentrer leur stratégie vers la relance de la croissance plutôt que vers l’austérité, selon des propos de Nick Clegg, vice-premier ministre, cité par le journal. Le gouvernement pourrait ainsi utiliser la garantie de l’Etat pour réaliser d’importants projets d’infrastructures.

Un rapport du Congrès local du parti communiste chinois cité par le journal ferait état de l’intention des autorités de porter le PIB chinois par tête à 20.000 dollars dans les cinq prochaines années. La ville souhaite porter de 2,9% à 3,3% du PIB le budget consacré à la recherche-développement sur la période afin de stimuler l’innovation.

La croissance annuelle en Chine pourrait ressortir en-dessous de 7% si le gouvernement ne met pas en place d’autres mesures de soutien à l’économie, selon le journal américain qui cite Chen Donqi, vice-président de l’institut de recherche économique du développement national et de la réforme. Ceci passerait par une baisse des taux d’intérêt et du ratio de réserve obligatoire des banques, ajoute-t-il.

La couronne suédoise a reculé de près de 3% contre euro depuis fin février malgré des perspectives économiques et budgétaires plus favorables

KKR aurait déjà amassé 2 milliards de dollars pour son second véhicule dédié à la région. Carlyle et TPG ne ménagent pas non plus leurs efforts

L'adjudication qui a lieu ce matin n'offrira qu'une protection du capital. L'écart de taux avec le reste de la zone euro s'accentue

L’offre existe déjà en France mais elle est peu développée pour des raisons réglementaires, fiscales et culturelles

Alors que les chefs d’Etat européens se réunissent ce soir, l’organisation appelle à plus de mesures nationales et européennes pour assurer un retour de la croissance.

Amundi prend 17,5% du gérant, avec lequel est conclu un accord de distribution. CalPers et la direction réduisent leur participation à 12,5 et 70%

Alors que se tient ce soir le sommet informel des chefs d'Etat européens, l'organisation plaide pour un processus de rééquilibrage de la croissance

La Bourse de Londres réfléchit au lancement d’un marché obligataire à destination des investisseurs particuliers en France mais aussi en Allemagne. Ce service est encore peu développé dans l’Hexagone faute d’enthousiasme du côté des émetteurs et des distributeurs.

Le département pointé du doigt est un acteur essentiel du marché des obligations adossées à des prêts hypothécaires résidentiels

La collecte du Livret A s’est élevée à 2,53 milliards d’euros au mois d’avril, portant la collecte nette sur ce livret d'épargne à 9,69 milliards sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année, selon la CDC. L’encours global du Livret A, dont le taux de rémunération est de 2,25%, se monte désormais à 226,6 milliards d’euros contre 216,9 milliards fin 2011 et 195,3 milliards fin 2010.

Le Premier ministre italien, Mario Monti, a indiqué que l’Etat allait rembourser entre 20 et 30 milliards d’euros de factures non-réglées au secteur privé d’ici la fin de l’année. Un texte va permettre aux entreprises de réclamer le remboursement des impayés publics via un système de crédit d’impôts, mais également de solliciter les banques en utilisant les factures publiques comme garanties.