UBS ferme son unité Asset Backed Securities aux Etats-Unis, rapporte la Handelszeitung dans son édition du 10 novembre, cela cinq mois après avoir débauché une «star» de la banque pour s’occuper de cette activité. UBS avait recruté Ken Cohen chez le gestionnaire de fortune G2 Investment Group en mai dernier, rappelle le journal et son équipe travaillait de manière profitable. UBS s’est refusé à tout commentaire.
Au 1er janvier 2012, Michel Juvet, directeur de la recherche depuis 1995 et membre du comité de direction depuis 1998, deviendra associé indéfiniment responsable de Bordier & Cie, une banque privée genevoise qui gère 9,5 milliards de francs suisses d’encours. Il a été nommé à cette fonction par les associés de la banque.
Les actifs sous gestion de la Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) s’élevaient à fin septembre à 75,3 milliards de francs suisses, soit un recul de 0,8% ou 571 millions de francs suisses par rapport à fin décembre 2010 dû à la baisse des marchés, a indiqué la banque le 10 novembre dans un communiqué. L’effet de la consolidation de la Banque Franck Galland & Cie SA au sein du groupe s’est traduit par un apport de 3 milliards de francs suisses. La collecte nette sur neuf mois s’est élevée à 600 millions de francs suisses.Le bénéfice brut des neuf premiers mois de l’année affiche une baisse de 3% à 360 millions de francs suisses.
Les entreprises non financières notées dans la catégorie investissement (investment grade, IG) en Europe, au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique (EMEA) verront leurs besoins de refinancement dépasser les 1.200 milliards de dollars (876 milliards d’euros) au cours des quatre prochaines années, selon une étude publiée le 9 novembre par l’agence de notation Moody’s (1). Les trois secteurs les plus concernés sont les télécommunications, l'énergie et l’automobile.Sur ce montant de 1.200 milliards de dollars de dette arrivant à échéance entre 2012 et 2015, les besoins des banques ne représentent que 32% (contre 37% en juin 2010), ce qui illustre la tendance graduelle à la désintermédiation et le recours croissant des entreprises aux marchés de capitaux, note l’agence. En outre, «la part de la dette bancaire diminue alors que les maturités s’allongent». Moody’s relève par ailleurs que la demande des investisseurs pour la dette corporate en catégorie d’investissement a légèrement diminué depuis le début de l’année. La fuite vers la qualité reste une tendance forte mais la moindre activité d'émission observée depuis le milieu de l’année montre bien que l’accès au marché est affecté par la crise de la dette souveraine et la détérioration de l’environnement économique. Cela dit, beaucoup d’entreprises disposent de matelas de trésorerie plutôt confortables. A la fin du deuxième trimestre 2011, les émetteurs corporate en catégorie d’investissement de la zone EMEA détenaient plus de 690 milliards de dollars de cash, soit une progression de 17% par rapport à juin 2010. (1) «EMEA Invesment-Grade Companies Face Higher Refunding Risks and Needs in 2012-15»
Cette année, les traders spécialisés dans les obligations à Wall Street verront leur bonus chuter de 35 % à 45 %, au titre de 2011, selon le cabinet Johnson Associates cité par La Tribune. La baisse pour l’ensemble de la profession est estimée entre 20 % et 30 %. La rémunération variable des traders actions subira une coupe moindre (de 30 % au maximum) que celles des courtiers en obligations, malgré la crise boursière. Selon La Tribune, les professionnels de la gestion de fortune verront au pire leurs bonus stagner, et, au mieux, augmenter de 5 %.
AllianceBernstein a indiqué le 9 novembre que ses actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient au 31 octobre à 424 milliards de dollars, contre 402 milliards de dollars courant octobre. Cette progression de 5% est liée à un effet marché positif et à une «modeste» décollecte, indique un communiqué de la société.
Les fonds de pension américains reprochent à leurs prestataires, BNY Mellon et State Street, de leur avoir facturé des coûts beaucoup trop importants depuis plusieurs années et leur réclament ainsi des centaines de millions de dollars de dédommagements, rapporte Les Echos. Un certain nombre des procès actuels et litiges ont débuté dès octobre 2009 à l’initiative d’institutionnels bien décidés à reprendre la main après la crise et à tailler dans tous leurs coûts. Conséquence, les grandes banques dépositaires ont commencé à diminuer nettement leur facturation des transactions sur les changes en 2010, de plus de 63% par rapport aux années précédentes selon «Pensions and Investments».
Amaury von Arnim, who has left Madrid to become COO of Pictet & Cie in Northern Asia, has been replaced as chief operations officer of the Spanish arm by José Monjardin Álvarez de Estrada. Monjardin becomes head of two professions: asset management (Pictet Asset Management) and wealth management (Pictet Wealth), Pictet Geneva has told Newsmanagers.José Monjardin, who had been COO for Banca della Svizzera Italiana (BSI, Generali group) in Spain, will become the boss of Gonzalo Rengifo Abbad (Pictet AM) and Luis Sánchez de Lamadrid (Pictet WM).
After four years as CEO of Santander AM España, Dolores Ybarra has been appointed as global chief investment officer at Santander Asset Management, Funds People reports.Ybarra replaces Elena Eyries, who has joined the wholesale banking division of Santander. She will now direct global teams for mandate management, multi-management, and macroeconomic analysis.As a part of the changes at Santander AM, José Cuervo has been appointed as global head of Latin American equities, and Alfredo Mordezki becomes director of Latin American bond management. Agustin Carles becomes head of the global macroeconomic analysis and strategy team.Louay Mikdashi becomes global head of the multi-management team, while José María Martínez-Sanjuán takes carge of multi-management fund selection, and Tom Caddick becomes head of multi-management fund management.
Businesses outside the financial sector rated investment grade (IG) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will see their refinancing needs increase to over USD1.2trn (EUR876bn) in the next four years, according to a study published on 9 November by the ratings agency Moody’s («EMEA Invesment-Grade Companies Face Higher Refunding Risks and Needs in 2012-15»). The three most affected sectors will be telecommunications, energy and automotive.Of this total of USD1.2trn in debt, to mature between 2012 and 2015, the needs of banks represent only 32% (compared with 37% in June 2010), in a sign of a gradual trend away from intermediation and increasing use of capital markets by businesses, the agency notes. In addition, “the percentage of bank debt is decreasing, while maturities are getting longer.”Moody’s also reports that investor demand for investment-grade corporate debt has decreased slightly since the beginning of the year. A flight to quality remains a strong trend, but any issue activity observed since mid-year shows that the market has been affected by the sovereign debt crisis and deterioration of the economic environment. That said, many businesses have more comfortable padding in their treasuries. As of the end of second quarter 2011, corporate investment grade issuers in the EMEA region had more than USD690bn in cash, up 17% compared with June 2010.
UBS is closing down its Asset Backed Securities unit in the United States, Handelszeitung reports on its 10 November issue, five months after recruiting a banking star to oversee the activity. UBS had hired Ken Cohen from the wealth management firm G2 Investment Group in May this year, the newspaper reports, and his team had been making a profit. UBS has declined to comment on the reports.
Assets under management at Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) as of the end of September totalled CHF75.3bn, down 0.8%, or CHF571m, compared with the end of December 2010, due to negative market effects, the bank announced in a statement on 10 November. The effect of the consolidation of the Banque Franck Galland & Cie SA into the group brought in CHF3bn. Net inflows in the first nine months of the year totalled CHF600m.Gross profits in the first nine months of the year were down 3%, to CHF360m.
On 1 January 2012, Michel Juvet, head of research since 1995 and a member of the board of directors since 1998, will become a partner with unrestricted liabilities at Bordier & Cie, a Geneva-based private bank which manages CHF9.5bn in assets. Juvet was appointed to this role by the partners at the bank.
Deutsche Bank and CortalConsors (BNP Paribas group) have signed an agreement, by which savings plans investing in shares in 20 ETFs from db-x-trackers will have no transaction fees from the beginning of November, for all monthly deposits of over EUR25.The partnership will initially last 5 years, and will be applicable to existing accounts as well as accounts to be opened in the future. The ETFs used for the offer rely on synthetic replication. For all swaps, the counterparty is Deutsche Bank.Among the 20 ETFs involved in the offer are products replicating the Dax, the EuroStoxx 50, the MSCI World and the MSCI Emerging Markets indices, as well as individual indices for emerging markets, commodities and currencies. The range also includes bond ETFs (money markets, Pfandbriefe and linkers).
On 7 November, ETC Index Plc listed 12 new German-registered ETCs backed by physical gold (see list) on the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse. Among the new products is the first ETC to track the price of electricity in Germany (db Strom ETC). The ETC segment on Deutsche Börse now includes 202 funds. Monthly trading volumes total about EUR900m.
Since 9 November, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse) includes 868 listings, with the addition of two Irish-registered ETFs from UBS Global Asset Management, the UBS-ETF MSCI ACWI Risk Weighted I (IE00B6VTQH62) and UBS-ETF MSCI ACWI Risk Weighted A (IE00B6VS8T94).The former fund is aimed at institutional investors, and has a TER of 1.10%, while the second fund, designed for retail investors, charges a TER of 1.27%.Both funds replicate the MSCI ACWI Risk Weighted Total Return Index, which includes shares in large and mid-sized companies in 24 industrialised and 21 emerging markets; the weighting depends on risk factors, with less volatile shares receiving a stronger allocation. The currency of reference for these funds is the US dollar.
Profits at Natixis in third quarter 2011 show a decline in revenues for the Savings unit of 4% compared with the same period in 2010, to EUR410m. In the first nine months of 2011, however, they are up 5% compared with 2010, to EUR1.335bn. Earnings in Asset Management, meanwhile, are down 3% comapred with third quarter 2010, to EUR341m, but up 4% to EUR1.062bn in the first 9 months of the year, compared with the same period in 2010.Assets in Asset Management totalled EUR525bn as of 30 September 2011, compared with EUR533bn as of 30 June 2011. Negative market effects (-EUR28bn) outweighed positive forex effects (+EUR17bn). For their part, largely as a result of bond products and alternative management via the centralised distribution platform NGAM, net inflows were positive at EUR3.1bn.In Europe, assets total EUR309bn, down 3% since the beginning of the year. The European market remains difficult, largely due to a serious decline on the equity markets, but inflows have become positive again to money market supports (+EUR1.1bn).In the United States, assets total EUR289bn, down 0.9% year to date.
Amélie Charles has joined the valuation department at DTZ Asset Management, in charge of managed assets in Germany, the asset management firm announced on 9 November. Since 2006, Charles has been employed in England, where she served as an autidor at KPMG, and then as a manager at GBR Phoenix Beard.The recruitment comes at a time when the firm is growing rapidly, and is a sign of the desire of DTZ Asset Management to consolidate its leading position on the third-party real estate asset management market.DTZ Asset Management, with 60 employees, now manages a portfolio of European assets of more than EUR3.6bn at its offices in Paris and Frankfurt.
Catherine Vialonga, chief investment officer, has told IPE that the French civil servants pension fund (ERAFP) is planning to diversify its portfolio with the launch of two new real estate funds, one of which will be focused on France, and the other wiollbe a Pan-Europe vehicle.ERAFP recently awarded a EUR40m real estate asset management mandate to AEW Europe SGP (see Newsmanagers of 9 November).
Cette année, les traders spécialisés dans les obligations à Wall Street verront leur bonus chuter de 35 % à 45 %, au titre de 2011, selon le cabinet Johnson Associates cité par La Tribune. La baisse pour l’ensemble de la profession est estimée entre 20 % et 30 %. La rémunération variable des traders actions subira une coupe moindre (de 30 % au maximum) que celles des courtiers en obligations, malgré la crise boursière. Selon La Tribune, les professionnels de la gestion de fortune verront au pire leurs bonus stagner, et, au mieux, augmenter de 5 %.
AllianceBernstein on 9 November announced that its assets under management as of 31 October totalled USD424bn, compared with USD402bn in October. This increase of 5% is due to positive market effects and a “modest” outflow, a statement from the firm states.
“Relieved from its debt burden, following its acquisition by Richmond Park Capital Holding Limited (RPCHL) in April 2011, Olympia Capital Management now benefits from improved financial flexibility, although profitability is yet to be restored,” Fitch Ratings says in its most recent report of the alternative management firm based in Paris. The ratings agency has affirmed Paris-based company Asset Manager Rating of ‘M2' for its fund of hedge funds activities. Fitch finds that OCM, which manages USD2bn in assets, half of which are in funds of hedge funds, is still faced with the challenge to enlarge its operations, against a backdrop of turbulent market conditions, in order to restore the company’s financial standing. The company has continued to refine its operational efficiency while selectively expanding resources, notably in the international client relationship domain, and renewing research staff. A new CFO was appointed in October. The agency notes that cost-cutting measures implemented over the past six months should fully materialise in 2012 financials.
High net worth clients are of interest to La Banque Postale (LBP), Agefi Hebdo reports, adding that in an effort to attract them, the firm is aiming to acquire a specialised IT system for handling operations for high net worth clients. LBP is also planning to internally develop free and delegated management offerings, as well as tax advising.
Thomas Groffmann, who since 2009 had been director of relations between Allianz Global Investors and multinationals in the area of international retirement solutions, was recruited on 1 November as COO for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe at BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland.Groffmann will handle finance, risk management, human resources, IT and outsourcing controlling, and will report to Dirk Klee, country director for the region concerned. He will also be appointed as a managing board member, and will become a member of the “COO forum” for BlackRock in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which is chaired by Kevin Ironmonger.
The financial crisis appears to have triggered major changes in the most recent annual rankings of fund administration and accounting services provicers from R & M Surveys.The eighth edition of the rankings, which evaluates the performance of banks active in the British institutional and retail asset management sectors, with total assets of about GBP3trn for onshore and offshore entities (Dublin, Luxembourg), puts BNP Paribas in first place, where the bank had been further down the rankings last year. JP Morgan has also seen remarkable growth, as the US group returns to second place, ahead of HSBC Securities Services, Northern Trust, BNY Mellon and State Street.The major factors behing these developments are valuation of derivative products, valuation of shares, and quality of support functions. Asset management firms are increasingly preoccupied by the slow response and vagueness of the valuation process for derivatives, R & M Surveys reports.
Aviva Investors a annoncé le 9 novembre l’ouverture d’un bureau à Utrecht et la nomination de Catrinus van Willigen au poste de Directeur général pour les marchés Belgique, Pays- Bas et Luxembourg (Benelux), dans le cadre de ses ambitions stratégiques de développement dans la région.Cette création de poste et l’entrée sur le marché du Benelux font suite à l’obtention des mandats de Philips Pensioenfonds et Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS), deux des vingt plus grands fonds de retraite néerlandais. Catrinus van Willigen a travaillé pendant 16 ans chez Robeco avant d’intégrer Aviva Investors. Dans sa dernière fonction chez Robeco, au poste de Vice-président exécutif, il était responsable de la création des relations stratégiques, du service aux institutionnels et des ventes croisées, tout en supervisant la gestion des comptes institutionnels.
The US Vanguard group has recruited Neil Cowell for the newly-created position of head of retail distribution for Europe, Money Marketing reports. Cowell previously worked at Standard Life, as head of retail distribution for the UK.
In Europe, defined-benefit pension funds are still omnipresent, but defined-contribution funds are growing most quickly. According to a survey by Cerulli («Quantitative update : European Defined Contribution Markets 2011"), assets under management in this relatively new sector on many European markets may reach as much as EUR2.8trn by 2015.In 2009, defined-contribution assets totalled EUR1.6trn, 39% of total European pension fund assets. In the next five years, the average annual growth rate for this segment may reach as much as 10.8%.Pension funds are working to improve these funds, with the introduction of a multi-asset class approach, and approaches which allow to modify the asset allocation as retirement approaches. However, the study finds, a very high number of European savings investors still do not have access to these solutions.Meanwhile, other savings vehicles which offer tax advantages are used, such as the PEA in France, or investment savings accounts (ISA) in the UK. These developments represent new opportunities for asset management firms which are not yet present on the pension fund market.
The consulting firm BearingPoint has announced the launch of Abacus/Solvency II, a specialised reporting solution for European insurers, which allowed them to collect, consolidate, validate and send their reports under Solvency II regulations in a “simple, effective and cost-efficient way.” Abacus/Solvency II is based on the IT platform of the bank reporting solution Abacus/DaVinci, which is used in Europe by many banking and financial establishments. The system makes it possible to produce all quantitative reports in the structures defined by the regulator (Quantitative Reporting Templates, or QRTs), which are currently established by the European Indurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and to update thee reports to take into account future regulatory changes and new requirements in this area. “BearingPoint’s objective is to establish ABACUS/Solvency II as a standard regulatory reporting solution for the insurance sector,” Jean-Christophe Gaury, head of France for the Insurance sector at BearingPoint, explains. The agency is essentially making an easy-to-use, accessible and multilingual interface at the disposal of the widest possible number of users in Europe.
The US Federal prosecutor’s office last week announced that it will not open an investigation to determine whether David Becker, former lawyer for the SEC violated conflict of interest regulations. However, the Wall Street Journal reports, the SEC is planning to put the formula selected in 2009 to indemnise victims of the Madoff scandal to a new vote, to free the matter of any bias or taint.Becker, who along with his brother was heir to a woman who has profited from the Madoff fraud, played a major role in the adoption of the reimbursement formula at the time. The ruling sets the total amount that may be claimed by victims as the amount they had invested, minus their withdrawals, adjusted for inflation.The inspector general of the SEC, David Kotz, has recommended that the ruling go to a new vote. He has already convinced the commissioners to change the system so that the SEC ethical office reports directly to the chairman, and that its recommendations be documented.