L’économie britannique glisse sur une pente récessionniste
La Chambre du commerce indique que le gouvernement et la BoE devront prendre des mesures complémentaires pour éviter la récession
Le Qatar pousse ses pions en Europe
Un fonds d’investissement représentant les intérêts de l’Emirat vient de racheter la filiale de banque privée de KBC et s’apprête à reprendre Dexia BIL.
La Grèce sera contrainte de demander plus d’efforts aux créanciers privés
Pour que la dette grecque retrouve un niveau soutenable à 80 % du PIB dans quatre ans environ, il faudrait envisager une décote de 50 % sur sa dette
Les détails des recapitalisations bancaires sont attendus fin octobre
La France et l’Allemagne devront auparavant se mettre d’accord. Le sommet des chefs d’Etat européens est repoussé du 17 au 23 octobre
Recapitalisations : des détails fin octobre
Le sommet des chefs d’Etat européens est reporté du 17 au 23 octobre. Afin que l’Allemagne et la France puissent aplanir leurs divergences, les mesures concernant les recapitalisations bancaires devraient être annoncées fin octobre, juste avant le prochain G20.
Les dérivés OTC exclus de l'examen de Deutsche Börse/Nyse
La Commission européenne exclura le marché des dérivés de gré à gré (OTC) de son examen du projet de fusion entre Deutsche Börse et Nyse Euronext, sapant l’un des principaux arguments utilisés pour défendre l’opération, a relayé hier Reuters. Aux yeux des deux groupes, leur fusion ne présente pas de menace pour la concurrence étant donné que la majorité des transactions sur les dérivés s’effectuent de gré à gré.
Nyse Euronext lance un indice CAC International
L’opérateur boursier lance l’indice CAC International 25 pour donner plus de visibilité aux entreprises internationales cotées à Paris et tenter d’en attirer davantage. Parmi les sociétés de l’indice, Coca-Cola, Maroc Telecom ou General Electric. «Le lancement de cet indice répond à une très forte demande des sociétés étrangères avec lesquelles nous sommes en contact en permanence», explique Marc Lefèvre, directeur développement commercial et relations émetteurs listing Europe. Pour augmenter son panel de 60 sociétés internationales à Paris, la Bourse a lancé une procédure de cotation rapide qui permet aux sociétés cotées aux Etats-Unis d’utiliser la documentation SEC. Depuis 2008, douze entreprises ont choisi cette voie. Un certain nombre d’entreprises viennent à Paris pour une double cotation mais ne lèvent pas de capitaux. Nyse Euronext s’attend cependant à ce qu’une entreprise prévoyant de se coter à Paris et à Hong Kong lève «plusieurs centaines de millions d’euros» prochainement.
Chute du moral des investisseurs dans la zone euro
L’indice mensuel du moral des investisseurs de la zone euro a chuté en octobre à un plus bas de plus de deux ans, selon les données publiées lundi par l’institut de recherche Sentix. La crise de la dette dans la zone euro et le ralentissement des pays asiatiques sont les principaux facteurs à l’origine de ce recul, le troisième en trois mois. L’indice est ressorti à -18,5 en octobre après -15,4 en septembre. Il s’agit d’un plus bas depuis juillet 2009.
Dexia n’a pas d’impact sur la notation de la France
Le plan de sauvetage de la banque Dexia n’a aucun impact pour le moment sur la note souveraine de la France, la meilleure possible, avec une perspective stable, ont déclaré les agences de notation Moody’s et Standard & Poor’s, confirmant les propos ce matin du ministre de l’Economie et des Finances François Baroin sur iTélé. «Nous sommes l’une des meilleures signatures mondiales et nous le resterons», a-t-il dit, indiquant que les réformes structurelles et les efforts de maîtrise budgétaire du gouvernement garantiraient le triple A dont la France bénéficie actuellement. S&P a en même temps confirmé la note AA+ de la Belgique, à laquelle est associée une perspective négative, Moody’s ayant quant à elle placé vendredi le Aa1 belge sous surveillance avec possibilité de déclassement. Le groupe «a vocation à rester» coté en bourse, a déclaré lundi son administrateur délégué, Pierre Mariani, au cours d’une conférence de presse à Bruxelles.Il a ajouté que la situation sur le front de la liquidité s’est «tendue» après la suspension de la cotation du titre.
Le ralentissement des grandes économies se poursuit
La détérioration de la conjoncture se poursuit au sein des principales économies mondiales, particulièrement en Allemagne, en Italie et au Brésil, montrent les indicateurs avancés de l’OCDE publiés lundi. En recul pour le cinquième mois consécutif, ces indicateurs avancés se situent désormais sous le seuil de 100 -lequel distingue la hausse de la baisse de l’activité - dans la majorité des pays de l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques. Le Japon, les Etats-Unis, l’Allemagne et la Russie sont les seuls pays pour lesquels les indicateurs avancés restent supérieurs à ce seuil.
La croissance devrait être stable en fin d'année
Le produit intérieur brut français devrait être stable ou, dans le meilleur des cas, s’inscrire en légère progression en fin d’année, d’après les dernières statistiques de la Banque de France qui a réaffirmé sa prévision d’une croissance de 0,1% de l'économie française au troisième trimestre, sur la base des résultats de sa dernière enquête mensuelle de conjoncture.
Le programme de rachat d'obligations de la BCE se poursuit
Le programme de rachat d’obligations de la Banque centrale européenne se poursuit, a déclaré lundi Vitor Constancio, vice-président de la BCE, ajoutant que celle-ci n’aurait plus besoin du programme de rachat d’obligations une fois que les pouvoirs élargis du FESF seront en place. Il a également dit que l’instabilité avait atteint de nouveaux sommets, soulignant qu’il y avait des preuves de la contagion de la crise de la dette malgré les mesures prises pour la contenir.
Le prix Nobel d'économie aux Américains Thomas Sargent et Christopher Sims
Le prix Nobel d'économie a été attribué aux Américains Thomas Sargent et Christopher Sims pour «leurs recherches empiriques sur les causes et les effets en macro-économie», annonce un communiqué de l’Académie royale des Sciences de Suède. Les deux chercheurs ont particulièrement travaillé sur les relations entre les politiques économiques et leurs effets sur l'économie.
10/10/2011
Aviva warns over Chinese residential real estate
The head of real estate strategy at Aviva, Chris Laxton, has told Money Marketing that the Chinese residential real estate market is in a bubble market situation that may last five years. Laxton says that the Asia Pacific real estate fund from Aviva, with assets under management of about GBP318m, has no exposure to the Chinese market.
10/10/2011
ETFs take off on Swiss stock exchange
In January-September, trading volumes on the SIX Swiss Exchange are up 1.2% compared with the corresponding period of 2010, at CHF931.07bn.The ETF segment has done particularly well since the beginning of the year, as in September, for the second consecutive time, it has topped 100,000 transactions, with 106,164 trades. In the first three quarters of the year, the number of transactions is up 54.4% to 762,936, while the volume of these trades is up 51.8% to CHF79.22bn.
10/10/2011
Blackstone acquires Harbourmaster Capital
GSO Capital Partners, the global credit platform from the Blackstone Group (EUR34bn in assets) has announced the acquisition of the Irish management firm Harbourmaster Capital Management, a leveraged loan manager with assets advised and under management of EUR8bn, for an undisclosed amount.The team at Harbourmaster in Dublin will continue to be responsible for Harbourmaster funds, and will form a joint platform with the European activities of GSO in the area of leveraged loans to create new funds aimed at European investors. The platform thus created will have assets of EUR11.5bn, with a team of 40 professionals in Dublin and London.
10/10/2011
Crisis strengthens interest in sovereign funds
The list of countries planning to create government investment funds is growing on all continents, despite the market crises of this summer, Les Echos reports. Ratings agencies are encouraging the trend. Despite the falling markets, assets in sovereign funds have increased moderately, by 1.7%, in third quarter, to USD4.737trn, according to estimates from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. This is largely due to significant inflows of capital which some funds received (particularly in the Middle East).
10/10/2011
Accelerando Associates growing
Das Investment reports that the third-party marketer (TPM) and consultant Accelerando Associates, which has locations in Germany and Spain, will open a branch office in London by the end of the year, and will recruit new staff in Frankfurt and Valencia from January 2012. The announcement was made by Philip Kalus, founder and managing partner.
10/10/2011
Former Morgan Stanley manager to launch a hedge fund dedicated to Japan
The former managing director of Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, Alexandre Konmont, head of the Japanese equities strategy, will launch a fund dedicated to Japan, Bloomberg reports. Konmont, who left Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities in July this year, has since founded his own firm, Milestone Asset Management, which already offers a long-only fund. The recent volatility on the market, however, has led to plans to create a long/short hedge fund dedicated to Japanese equities, at a moment when Japan is inexpensive for the first time in a very long time.
10/10/2011
BNP Paribas to invest four times more in Asian hedge funds
Theam, a fund management affiliate of BNP Paribas, is planning to quadruple its investments in hedge funds dedicated to Asia next year to EUR200m, to take advantage of strong growth in the region, Eric Debonnet, who has been head of the alternative management team at Theam for a few weeks, told Reuters on 7 October. “In Asia, it is really urgent for us to extend our range,” says Debonnet. Theam manages about EUR1bn in 15 funds of hedge funds, for insurers, institutional investors and private banking clients. Debonnet, based in Paris, says that Theam is planning to launch a fund of hedge funds by the end of the year or early 2012. the firm is hoping to increase its assets under management to EUR3bn in the next three years, of which 20% will be invested with Asian managers, he says.
10/10/2011
European expert ETF market-maker sets up shop in Singapore
In order to further the continued growth of institutional demand for ETF products in Asia, the Dutch ETF-specialist market maker Flow Traders has set up an office in Singapore, with a team that will initially include four to five people, Asian Investor reports. Flow Traders currently employs about 150 people, distributed between Amsterdam, New York, and now Singapore.
10/10/2011
Surge Trading, a ghost of Madoff, closes its doors
Surge Trading, created out of the remnants of the stock-trading of Bernard Madoff’s business, last month entered a liquidation process, due to a failure to find a buyer or fresh source of financing, the Wall Street Journal reports. The founders of Surge paid USD25.5m for the market-making activities of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. But the operating costs related to high-frequency trading and a drop in market activity dragged the company down.
10/10/2011
DTAM founders part ways
The co-founders of the French asset management boutique Day Trade Asset Management (DTAM), Adrien Fuchs and Thierry Dumont, both former traders, have decided to part ways. Fuchs will buy out his partner’s 50% stake in the capital, giving him complete control of the firm. The amicable separation will not lead to any changes in the activities of DTAM, which received a license in 2002 from the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The firm, which has three staff, offers three funds, two of which are equity funds relying on the firm’s house specialty, day trading. Day trading, which literally involves buying and selling assets in the same day, exploits variations in price which equities undergo daily. The first fund invests in French equities, Day Trade Action France, while the second is a market neutral fund, Day Trade Equity Neutral. A bond fund, Saint Chamond Oblig Inter, completes the range. DTAM currently manages EUR20m, down from over EUR40m in July 2007. Negative market effects have wiped out assets, but the firm has also undergone the suspension of its fourth fund, a leveraged products, which had used Lehman Brothers as its prime broker, and which found itself caught up in the legal battle over responsibility of depositories (see Newsmanagers of 9 April 2009). The fund has not reopened, but Fuchs would like to be able to restart a fund using the same model. Among its other plans, DTAM, whose clients are mostly retail, would like to find a commercial partner. It is already working with TPM Investeam in the institutional segment.
10/10/2011
AllianceBernstein launches an investor blog
AllianceBernstein on 6 October announced the launch of a blog dedicated to its clients and investors, to inform them in real time about investment issues. The “Context” blog will deal with all asset classes, and will draw on the expertise of several heads at AllianceBernstein, who will regularly post on the blog, including Sharon Fay, head of equities and chief investment officer at Global Value, Doug Peebles, head of fixed income, and Greg Singer, director of research at the Wealth Management Group.
10/10/2011
Paulson loses money on gold
The fall of the gold markets in September brought a further deterioration to results for John Paulson, whose largest hedge funds had already taken a hard hit since the beginning of the year. Paulson’s gold specialist fund lost 16.4% last month, while the price of gold fell by only 11%, and the fund shows gains of only 1% since the beginning of the year, although the metal has gained 16%.The Recovery Fund has also lost 14% in September and 31% YTD, while the Advantage Fund lost 12.1% in the month of September, and has lost 32% in the first nine months of 2011, and the Advantage Fund Plus has lost 19.4% and 47%.Assets in the Advantage Fund from Paulson & Co, which totalled USD38bn a few months ago, have fallen below USD30bn, according to sources familiar with the matter. Investors have until 31 October to decide if they want to withdraw from the Advantage fund by the end of this year.
10/10/2011
PGGM's socially responsible investment portfolio posts good performance
At the Responsible Investor conference in Amsterdam, Alex van der Velden, head of equity strategy at the Netherlands management firm PGGM, has announced that the group’s responsible investment portfolio of EUR3bn has outperformed its benchmark by 17% since its launch three years ago, IPE.com reports. The portfolio aims for long-term financial returns, integration of ESG criteria, and shareholder engagement in a small number of firms.
10/10/2011
Manulife AM recruits a head of institutional sales
Manulife Asset Management has appointed James Chen, formerly of Goldman Sachs AM, as head of institutional sales for Asia, Asian Investor reports. He will be based in Hong Kong, and replaces Avere Hill, who left the firm in late January.
10/10/2011
Danish pension fund ATP won't accept French debt
ATP, the largest Danish pension fund (USD122bn), has announced that it has renegotiated its swap contracts, in order to avoid having to accept French government bonds as collateral, though these continue to have good ratings, according to the Bloomberg Risk Newsletter. The renegotiation also affects Italian bonds and bonds from other countries of Southern Europe. The fund will now only accept German, Danish and US government bonds.
10/10/2011
Strong increase in the percentage of corporate debt issuers rated in the speculative category in Europe
In Europe, corporate issuers rated in the speculative category as of the end of second quarter represented 24.3% of all corporate issuers, compared with 19.2% one year ago, according to an article published by Standard & Poor’s (“A Snapshot of the Corporate Ratings Distribution for the U.S., Europe, Emerging Markets, and Other Developed Regions.”) Out of 1,218 issuers, 922 were rated investment grade, while 296 were rated speculative. The agency says that the median rating in Europe in second quarter went from A- to BBB+. The percentage of issuers rated AAA, AA and A was 29.3% as of the end of June, compared with 55.4% at the end of June 2010. The percentage of issuers rated BBB< BB and B, meanwhile, has increased to 49.3% from 46.1% previously. Worldwide, the percentage of corporate issuers rated speculative grade has increased to 44.1% of all issuers as of the end of June, from 41.6% one year previously, for a total of 2,667 businesses, up from 3,379 rated investment grade.
10/10/2011
Hedge funds have had their worst quarter since 2008
In third quarter, hedge funds had their worst three months since the financial crisis began in 2008. On average, they suffered losses of 2.8% in September, bringing losses for the quarter to 5.5%, according to statistics from Hedge Fund Research, cited by the Financial Times. The funds which performed least well were those focused on equities in the energy and natural resources sectors, which lost more than 9% in September.