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12/10/2011

L’AFIC veut promouvoir les femmes dans le capital investissement

L’AFIC, l’Association française des investisseurs en capital, a annoncé, mardi 11 octobre, le lancement du Club AFIC avec Elles pour la promotion des femmes dans le capital investissement. Ce «think tank» a pour vocation d’encourager la mixité au sein des sociétés du capital investissement. Créé à l’initiative du Président de l’AFIC Hervé Schricke, et présidé par Sophie Paturle, administrateur de l’AFIC et associée de Demeter Partners, le Club AFIC avec Elles, qui réunit femmes et hommes du capital investissement, a d’ores et déjà planifié différentes actions destinées à observer la place des femmes dans le capital investissement, à faire évoluer les pratiques, à augmenter le nombre de femmes à l´entrée dans la profession et à faciliter leur accès aux postes à responsabilité au cours de leur carrière, précise un communiqué.Des études, des interventions auprès des écoles et universités ainsi que des rapprochements avec des réseaux et clubs de femmes feront également partie des responsabilités du club.
12/10/2011
Fonds

Les fonds ISR d'AXA IM évalués par Deloitte

Axa Investment Managers a fait vérifier la conformité de six fonds investissement responsable avec ses Principes d’Investissement Responsable par Deloitte. Les produits concernés sont AXA Euro Valeurs Responsables, Label Europe Actions, AXA WF Framlington Human Cap, Label Euro Obligations, AXA Trésor Court Terme, AXA Ethical Distribution Fund."Nous avons depuis plusieurs années formalisé les principes qui gouvernent notre philosophie IR. Néanmoins, en l’absence de normes externes dans ce domaine, nous avons souhaité qu’un tiers vérifie et valide la conformité des processus d’investissement et de la gestion de nos fonds IR avec les principes sur la base desquels nos clients nous accordent leur confiance. Le travail approfondi réalisé par Deloitte sur six de nos fonds IR apporte la transparence qu’attendent nos clients et contribue de ce fait à la crédibilité de nos fonds», explique Pascale Sagnier, responsable recherche pour le département investissement responsable chez AXA IM.Les experts de Deloitte ont analysé les principes utilisés pour gérer la composition des portefeuilles ainsi que les procédures et les mécanismes liés au processus d’investissement. Dans un deuxième temps, les consultants ont vérifié, fonds par fonds, la composition du portefeuille et les transactions réalisées au cours de l’année écoulée.
Fonds
12/10/2011

ECGS welcomes a new member

The European corporate governance and correspondence voting specialist ECGS has welcomed a new member, the Italian firm Frontis Governance, the ECGS announced on 11 October in a statement. In addition to Frontis, ECGS counts the Swiss firm Ethos the German firm DWS, the Dutch Shareholder Support and the French Proxinvest among its members. From 1 October, ECGS has changed its name to Expert Corporate Governance Service; it was previously European Corporate Governance Service.
12/10/2011

Asset management firms are recruiting

According to a survey by Financial News, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Ignis Asset Management, Russell Investments and Investec Asset Management are all recruiting staff. Other firms say they are not enclined to reduce staff but rather to hire at present.
12/10/2011

BBVA may sell financial products in South Korea

The Spanish firm BBVA (which controls the country’s second-largest asset management firm, BBVA AM), on Tuesday signed a preliminary agreement with the Korean firm Woori Finance Holdings, for a strategic partnership, Expansión reports, citing internal sources at BBVA.The alliance will allow the Spanish group to sell its financial products covering “non-Asian” markets in South Korea. Woori expects that the agreement will give it access to international and Latin American markets, where BBVA has a vast network.
12/10/2011

Spanish investors still in a bad mood

According to the confidence index calculated by JPMorgan Asset Management, which stood at -2.17 for third quarter, Spanish investors remained pessimistic in July-September for the ninth consecutive quarter. The fall of -2.17 for the index (compared with -1.18 in April-June) is the worst result since March 2009, Funds People reports.This negative attitude is largely motivated by the economic situation, with 92% of investors estimating that the crisis will not end for two years at least. The deterioration of the index is largely due to an increase in the number of people predicting that the markets will fall in the next six months, while investors predicting that the markets will rise are at an all-time low.
12/10/2011

Man launches a long/short fund of hedge funds

Man, the listed hedge fund provider, announced on October 10 the launch of Man Long Short Fund, a new long/short equity fund of hedge funds with scheduled monthly liquidity in a Registered Investment Company format. Man Investments (USA) LLC serves as the fund’s investment adviser and is part of Man’s Multi-Manager Business which has approximately USD12.7 billion in funds under management globally as of September 30, 2011.Man Long Short Fund, available only to the high net worth clients of the top-tier broker dealers and advisers with an investment minimum of USD50,000, provides a way to access up to 30 leading long/short equity managers.The fund seeks to capture 60% to 70% of the potential upside return of equities but more importantly only to participate in 30% to 40% of the downside.
12/10/2011

AXA IM asks Deloitte to audit its SRI funds

Axa Investment Managers has asked Deloitte to check the compliance of six socially responsible investment funds with its Responsible Investment Principles. The products concerned are the AXA Euro Valeurs Responsables, Label Europe Actions, AXA WF Framlington Human Cap, Label Euro Obligations, AXA Trésor Court Terme, AXA Ethical Distribution Fund. “For several years, we have formalised the principles which govern our RI philosophy. Now, in the absence of formal standards in this area, we wanted a single entity to verify and validate the compliance of investment processes and the management of our RI funds with the principles on the basis of which our clients place their trust in us. The detailed work undertaken by Deloitte on six of our RI funds brings the transparency which our clients expect, and with this contributes to the credibility of our funds,” explains Pascale Sagnier, head of research for the responsible investment department at AXA IM. Deloitte experts analysed the principles used to manage the composition of portfolios and procedures and mechanisms related to the investment process. In a second phase, consultants verified the composition of the portfolio and the transactions undertaken over the past year, fund by fund.
12/10/2011

BlackRock and Pimco lead on German market

According to statisics published on 11 October by the German BVI association of asset management firms, open-ended securities funds in the first eight months of the year underwent net outflows of EUR5.65bn. But this result conceals a considerable dispersion in results. The largest net inflows went to BlackRock, for iShares ETFs, for over EUR7.25bn, followed by Pimco Europe (AllianzGI), with nearly EUR6.42bn, and ETF funds from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), which took on about EUR1.55bn. However, ETFlab (Deka), an ETF specialist, has seen net redemptions of EUR1.03bn. Thanks to Pimco, Allianz GI is the only group to post net subscriptions in January-August, totalling EUR2.45bn. Deka (savings banks) has seen net outflows of over EUR6.82bn, while DWS/SB Advisors (Deutsche Bank) has posted net redemptions of EUR2.31bn. Lastly, Union Investment (co-operative banks) has posted net redemptions of EUR1.3bn.
12/10/2011

ETFs are the big winners in euro crisis

Die Welt reports that although the Dax index lost 20% in August, investors subscribed for a net total of EUR1.4bn in shares in the iShares Dax fund, and EUR500m in shares in the Dax-ETF from db x-trackers.The two products represent total assets of over EUR10bn, and are by far the preferred ETFs for subscribers this year. The newspaper also reveals that overall, German open-ended funds underwent net outflows of EUR5.4bn in August.
12/10/2011

Reform of derivative markets is behind schedule

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has expressed concern about the delays in many countries in implementing reforms to over-the-counter derivative markets. In a progress report published on 11 October, the international organisation points out that the G20 had set the end fo 2012 as the deadline to set up a new regulatory framework in this area. According to the FSB, the United States is currently the only country in a position to meet that deadline. The Dodd-Frank law, passed in mid-2010, will soon be brought into force by the two market regulatory agencies in the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the FSB states. In Europe, the two draft derivative market legislative measures (the MiFID II and Emir directives) have not yet taken the form of final proposals by the European Commission.
12/10/2011

Deutsche Bank revises growth outlooks for ETFs downward

Global ETF assets this year will grow by only 5% to 10%, down from the 30% growth predicted at the beginning of the year, Deutsche Bank has announced. In 2010 and 2009, assets incresaed by 27% and 40%, respectively. So far, assets under management as of the end of September totalled USD1.2trn, down 4% since 30 September 2010.Concerns due to the European and United States sovereign debt crises have provoked downward revisions to growth projections and increased uncertainty, an analysis by Christos Constandinides finds, Handelsblatt reports. These problems are slowing growth in the ETF sector in two ways. Firstly, the value of equities and other securities is falling, which reduces the assets managed by ETFs based on them. Secondly, investors have reduced their exposure. In first quarter, net subscriptions may have increased year on year, but they fell by 20% in third quarter.
12/10/2011

In Germany, professionals are buying, and retail investors are selling

In the month of August 2011, the investment fund sector has seen a net outflow of EUR4.1bn, according to statistics from the German financial management association (BVI). Open-ended funds finished the month with outflows of EUR5.4bn, but institutional investors placed EUR1.3bn in dedicated funds. Equity and diversified funds posted net redemptions of EUR4.1bn and EUR1.6bn, respectively. However, money market and bond funds profited from the weakness of the equity markets to post inflows of EUR1.4bn and EUR0.9bn, respectively. Assets under management as of the end of August totalled EUR1.7623trn, down 2.5% compared with July.
12/10/2011

BlackRock and Pimco lead on German market

According to statisics published on 11 October by the German BVI association of asset management firms, open-ended securities funds in the first eight months of the year underwent net outflows of EUR5.65bn. But this result conceals a considerable dispersion in results.The largest net inflows went to BlackRock, for iShares ETFs, for over EUR7.25bn, followed by Pimco Europe (AllianzGI), with nearly EUR6.42bn, and ETF funds from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), which took on about EUR1.55bn. However, ETFlab (Deka), an ETF specialist, has seen net redemptions of EUR1.03bn.Thanks to Pimco, Allianz GI is the only big player to post net subscriptions in January-August, totalling EUR2.45bn. Deka (savings banks) has seen net outflows of over EUR6.82bn, while DWS/DB Advisors (Deutsche Bank) has posted net redemptions of EUR2.31bn. Lastly, Union Investment (co-operative banks) has posted net redemptions of EUR1.3bn.
12/10/2011

First German micro-finance fund launched

Due to a modification to German investment legislation, the fund promoter Invest in Visions may now launch the first German micro-finance fund, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.The asset target is EUR100m, and minimal subscription is set at EUR100. Management commission will be 1.4%, and a commission of 20% will be charged on performance exceeding 4% per year, with high watermark.
12/10/2011

Mirabaud licensed as investment company

Mirabaud France has been granted a license from the authorities in France as an investment business with permission to undertake portfolio management activities, reception and transmission of orders, and investment advising, activities which had previously been exercised by Mirabaud Gestion, which will be disappearing in favour of Mirabaud France. The move will allow the firm to offer clients a way to entrust management of their accounts and custody for their assets to Mirabaud. Mirabaud opened its affiliate in Paris in 2003. Now, with 30 employees, including nine client managers and a dedicated team of wealth engineers, Mirabaud France manages assets of nearly EUR1bn.
12/10/2011

Over 5% of capital in SocGen held by Capital Research and Management

The Capital Research and Management Company, which acts as an investment adviser for mutual funds, has announced that its stake in the capital of Société Générale on 7 October 2011 passed the 5% threshold. According to the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the firm holds 40,613,168 shares in Société Générale, representing as many voting rights, equivalent to 5.23% of capital and 4.66% of voting rights in the firm.
12/10/2011

CDC establishes a socially responsible investment charter

The Caisse des dépôts (CDC) is in the process of putting the finishing touches on a responsible investment charter, Didier Janci, director of the research, strategic planning and sustainable development department at the CDC, announced on 11 October at the annual conference of the sustainable finance and responsible investment chair. The chair, under the supervision of the AFG and with the support of 15 asset management firms, brings together teams from the IDEL-Toulouse School of Economics and the economics department at the Ecole Polytechnique. The charter, which is now completing its internal validation process, establishes a framework for socially responsible investment and strategic allocation for all asset classes, Janci says. With the new initiative, the CDC has formulated a process which has already been going on for the past several years. The CDC, which has been a long-term investor since its creation, is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), to whose creation it actively contributed in 2005 and 2006.
12/10/2011

Paulson & Co anticipates redemptions

Paulson & Co, the US hedge fund firm managed by John Paulson, predicts that in the worst-case scenario, it may see redemptions equivalent to one fifth to one quarter of its assets by the end of the year, the Financial Times reports. But it adds that it would have no problem honouring those redemption demands, which would total about USD6bn.
12/10/2011

Stone Tower Capital opens an office in Europe

Stone Tower Capital LLC, a USD20 billion alternative credit asset manager, has announced the creation of Stone Tower Europe Limited, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, to enable the firm to expand its European operations and serve its growing investor base. The firm also announced the appointment of Tim Richards as managing director to oversee the firm’s European expansion, along with Alan Kelly, as a director.Tim Richards joined from LBBW Asset Management Ireland where he held the role of chief executive officer from 2007 to 2011. Alan Kelly joined Stone Tower in 2011 with responsibility for seeking investment opportunities and marketing Stone Tower’s services in Europe.
12/10/2011

Outflows continue from Swedish funds

In September, investment funds sold in Sweden recorded a total net outflow of SEK 7.3 billion, according to the latest statistics of the Swedish fund association. Equity funds had a net outflow of 14.6 billion whereas money market funds had a net inflow of 5.7 billion. Also bond funds and balanced funds recorded net inflows of SEK 0.8 and 0.6 billion respectively in September. The total fund assets at the end of September amounted to SEK 1,719 billion.So far in 2011, a net outflow of SEK 3.2 billion has been recorded for investment funds. Equity funds have had a net outflow of SEK 66 billion whereas all other fund categories have had net inflows. At the end of year 2010, the total fund assets amounted to SEK 1,964 billion, of which 1,190 billion was invested in equity funds. This means that the total fund assets have decreased by SEK 245 billion (12.5%) during the first three quarters of 2011.
12/10/2011

Inflows continue for SAM funds despite crisis

Robeco has taken the occasion of SRI week in Paris to unveil a series of funds from its Swiss affiliate Sustainable Asset Management, which is also known for its Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).Although assets in its products have suffered from the fall of the equities markets, and due to their fidelity to securities that promise good returns over the long-term, many of them are nonetheless still showing net inflows for the first nine months of the eyar. The SAM Smart Energy fund has EUR472m in assets (compared with EUR549m as of the end of August), but the fund with 60 positions has posted CHF180m in net inflows. However, the SAM Sustainable Water Fund EUR has seen net outflows, because a fund of fund has decided to reallocate its assets to the European banking sector and US companies. Assets total EUR672m in 75 positions, down from a peak of EUR742m as of the end of August.The SAM Smart Materials fund, which has EUR56m in assets, down from EUR63.6m one month earlier, has posted total net inflows of EUR10m to EUR15m. It has 51 positions.The SAM Smart Healthy Living EUR fund, which is focused on equities in firms which offer technologies, products or services in the food, health, physical activities and physical and psychological well-being industries, now has about EUR150m in assets, compared with EUR172.2m one month earlier. The portfolio, with 50-60 positions (currently 55) has attracted net subscriptions of about EUR20m since the beginning of the year.
12/10/2011

European mutual funds hit by worst redemptions since 2008

In August 2011, redemptions from European mutual funds (-EUR25.6bn) were the worst since October 2008 (-EUR 158.7bn) — the nadir of sales activity for the industry, according to Lipper’s latest Fund Flash. When one strips out money market activity (+EUR28.3bn), outflows even reach EUR 53.8bn. «The latest month is not only the worst month since October 2008 (-EUR 117.9bn), but also worse than most months that year, which averaged - EUR 32.4bn», Lipper comments.Investors’ fears were focused on equity funds (-EUR 31.2bn), but even bond funds endured panicked clients (-EUR13.9bn). Investors pulled money from High Yield funds (-EUR 9.2bn), € Corporate Bonds (-EUR3.6bn), as well as absolute return bond funds (-EUR 1.5bn).Apart from money market funds, apparently the most popular sector this month was German equities, but here ETFs — likely being used to short the DAX — accounted for EUR 2.4bn net sales. The only other equity sector to find some traction was Gold.Franklin Templeton’s fixed income products again attracted sufficient sales to put the group at the top of the group rankings with net sales of EUR 1.1bn, ahead of Standard Life (EUR 400m).
12/10/2011

PerTrac teams up with MondoAlternative platform

PerTrac, a software and services provider for the asset management and hedge fund sector, has signed a partnership with MondoAlternative, an Italian producer of databases that monitor more than 2,000 hedge funds (including Italian, European and Swiss hedge funds as well as UCITS hedge funds and investable indices). PerTrac subscribers will now have access to monthly rankings by MondoAlternative, and will receive a magazine every month dedicated to the Italian and European hedge fund industry.
12/10/2011

Outflows of nearly EUR54bn in Europe in August

Long-term funds in Europe, which include all funds except money market funds, have seen an outflow of EUR53.8bn in the month of August, according to statistics from Lipper. The only notable increase in the month under review, meanwhile, was for money market funds, which posted a net inflow of EUR28.3bn, reducing outflows for the sector as a whole to EUR35.6bn. For the third consecutive month, outflows have topped EUR20bn. Equities funds have seen an outflow of EUR31.2bn, while bond and diversified funds have seen net redemptions totalling EUR13.9bn and EUR3.7bn, respectively. Franklin Templeton leads for inflows, with net subscriptions of EUR1.1bn for the month, followed by Standard Life (EUR400m). Absolute return funds have seen a second consecutive month of outflows, totalling EUR2.4bn, bringing inflows since the beginning of the year to EUR7.1bn.
12/10/2011

Returns of over 11% for Chinese sovereign fund in 2010

According to the news agency Chine Nouvelle, the China Investment Company (CIC), the sovereign fund of the Chinese government, on Tuesday announced that it earned returns of 11.7% on its portfolio of international investments in 2010. This rate has remained unchanged compared with the 2009 results. Since its inception in 2007, the average return rate for the fund is 6.4%.
12/10/2011

Uram recruits two specialists

The Geneva-based asset management firm Uram, a specialist in commodities and energies, has recruited two people. They are Robert Galuba, who has spent 10 years as a manager and financial analyst at Lombard Odier, Bordier and HSBC, and Pierre Martin, who joins from Deutsche Bank, where he managed natural resource funds. The recruitments come at a time when Uram has recently lost one of its co-founders, Patrick Pittaway, Citywire reports. He co-founded the firm in 2007 with Dominique Casaï.
12/10/2011

Gottex appoints a new head of marketing for Asia Pacific

Gottex Fund Management has appointed Steven Lee Hyungwk as Marketing Director for the Asia Pacific region, Agefi Switzerland reports. Hyungwk previously worked at Wellington Management, where since 2001 he had been a member of the Marketing team. Hyungwk will be based in Hong Kong, and will play an active role in the development of activities in the Asia Pacific region, with priority given to institutional clients.
12/10/2011

Julius Baer under investigation by US Justice department

Two former advisors at the Julius Baer bank are under investigation by the US Department of Justice. The New York prosecutor has made accusations, obtained by the news agency AWP, that the two ex-bankers assisted US taxpayers to dodge taxes. The Zurich bank has told AWP that it intends to cooperate with the US authorities. The two advisors are alleged to have helped US taxpayers and others to conceal USD600m in offshore accounts, which allowed them to avoid taxes, according to the US prosecutor.
12/10/2011

S&P downgrades 10 Spanish banks; Fitch downgrades six

The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on 11 October announced that it is downgrading the ratings for six Spanish banks, including the Standander and BBVA groups. The ratings agency says it is pessimistic in the light of the “slowdown of the Spanish economy” and a “bear real estate market.” Fitch, for its part, has lowered its ratings for six banks. At S&P, the long-term ratings for Santander and BBVA are lowered from AA to AA-, with a negative outlook. The annoucement comes a few days after two Spanish sovereign debt issues were downgraded by Fitch Ratings. “The correction of imbalances in Spain will continue to negatively affect the financial profiles of Spanish banks in the next 15 to 18 months,” Standard & Poor’s estimates.

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