Man Group a passé un accord définitif, via ses filiales américaines, pour prendre le contrôle de la totalité du capital d’Ore Hill, une société de hedge funds et produits structurés crédit event driven basée à New York gérant 1,9 milliard de dollars. Le gestionnaire alternatif détenait depuis 2008 environ 50 % de l’entité américaine, le reste du capital étant aux mains de ses dirigeants et salariés. Cette acquisition des 50 % restants s’inscrit dans le cadre de la stratégie de Man d’internaliser ses capacités d’investissement. Ore Hill sera intégrée à la plate-forme GLG. Ben Nickoll et Fritz Wahl, les co-fondateurs d’Ore Hill, et Alok Makhija continueront à gérer les portefeuilles d’Ore Hill, précise un communiqué. Man Group a également publié ses résultats à fin mars. Ses encours sont ressortis à 69 milliards de dollars contre 68,6 milliards de dollars au 31 décembre 2010 et 39,4 milliards le 31 mars 2010. Au quatrième trimestre, la société devrait avoir enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 0,7 milliard de dollars. Les flux se sont principalement portés sur des fonds ouverts alternatifs et long only.
Directrice de la communication et de l'événementiel pour l’Europe continentale chez Invesco, où elle était entrée en 1998 (dans la distribution et le marketing), Heidi Rauen rejoint au 1er avril le groupe Klimek Advisors comme associée. Elle prendra la responsabilité des secteurs marketing et relations publiques pour la société irlandaise Klimek Advisors Limited ainsi que celle de tous les domaines d’activité de la société allemande, Klimek Advisors Fund Consulting GmbH.La société de Dublin est spécialiste du conseil stratégique, du marketing, des relations publiques et des relations presse pour les sociétés de gestion de fonds et de gestion de fortune en Irlande et à l'étranger, tandis que la société francfortoise est chargée de recruter des clients institutionnels pour des sociétés de gestion. Elle est de plus conseiller en investissement pour des sociétés de gestion dans le monde entier.
Après German Gonzales, qui a rejoint First State Investment International Ltd comme senior advisor fin 2010, l'établissement recrute deux autres spécialistes des infrastructures européennes non cotées, un directeur de la gestion, Tomas Pedraza et un autre senior advisor, Trygve Refvem, qui prendront leurs nouvelles fonctions dans quelques jours.Tomas Pedraza vient de Gas Natural/Unión Fenosa, où il était récemment membre de l'équipe de stratégie et de développement. Chez First State, il aura pour mission d’identifier des investissements potentiels et de gérer les acquisitions. Il est spécialiste des investissements en infrastructures dans la Péninsule ibérique.Trygve Refvem apportera son expérience dans les domaines du pétrole et du gaz ainsi que la distribution de ces vecteurs énergétiques. Il a été entre autres membre du directoire de Norsk Hydro et de Siemens Norvège.Quant à German Gonzales, un spécialiste des infrastructures et de l’industrie espagnole, il avait auparavant été entre autres à la tête des activités espagnoles de Dresdner Kleinwort et managing director d’Hidrocantábrico.
BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services a nommé deux directeurs d'équipe de relationship management. Jim Whitaker dirigera l'équipe «Amériques» alors que Mark Mannion sera head of relationship management pour la région Europe, Moyen-Orient et Afrique.
Selon le baromètre 2011 La Tribune-Bain Company, les banques privées américaines et suisses occupent sept des dix premières places du classement mondial. UBS, Morgan Stanley et Wells Fargo, sur le podium, totalisent plus de 3.500 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion, note le quotidien.La première banque européenne (hors Suisse), Deutsche Bank, arrive en sixième position, devant HSBC. Si BNP Paribas reste le premier acteur hexagonal sur le marché de la gestion privée avec 254 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion dans le monde au 31 décembre 2010, les actifs gérés par BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole et Société Générale représentent ensemble seulement 37 % de ceux de Morgan Stanley. La Tribune estime que des maisons indépendantes ont su tiré leur épingle du jeu. Pictet a enregistré l’an dernier une hausse de 19 % de ses encours, tandis que Julius Baer affichait une croissance record de 32 %.
Selon Wealthbriefing, la banque basée à Zurich Falcon Private Bank, propriété de la société d’investissement Aabar Investments, a nommé Gregor Hubler en qualité de responsable du nouveau bureau de représentation d’Abu Dhabi, dont l’ouverture est programmée pour le mois prochain.Gregor Hubler travaillait précédemment à la Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank en qualité de responsable des produits de gestion de fortune.
Chi-X Europe, plateforme de négociation alternative leader sur les actions paneuropéennes, et Russell Investments, concepteur d’indices mondiaux sur les actions ont signé un partenariat visant à créer une nouvelle série d’indices européens. Les nouveaux indices fourniront des expositions ciblées en intégrant les actions européennes les plus liquides et les mieux capitalisées.
As the Libor index is being called into question, banks which promote the Euribor index will launch a US dollar version of the index by summer, Les Echos reports. The index, which would be controlled by European banks, would allow them to guarantee their liquidity risks in the currency. Though the major contributors to the Libor are Anglo-American banks, the new benchmark rate would be based on at least 26 banks, of which 70% are European, as well as two or three US banks and a few Asian banks, which hold large reserves in US dollars.
Ten of Oyster’s sub-funds have been registered in the UK and are now approved for public distribution. Oyster is the investment fund family of the Swiss banking group Syz & Co. This move underlines the expansion of the Group’s activities in the UK. Established in London since 2001 through its asset management company Syz Asset Management LLP, SYZ & CO is also known in the UK thanks to its institutional asset management activity.The sub-funds registered include long-only funds, such as Oyster European Opportunities, Oyster European Small Cap, Oyster LatAm Opportunities, Oyster Japan Opportunities, Oyster US Value and Oyster European Corporate Bonds; and so-called “Newcits” funds, such as Oyster Credit Opportunities, 3A Dynamic UCITS Fund (GBP), Oyster ForExtra Yield (EUR) and OCEANO Absolute Return Institutional A GBP.
The American hedge fund management firm Elliott Advisors has reached an agreement with the Spanish Cosmen family to split up the transportation group National Express into two parts, separating its British and Spanish activities, Expansión reports. The move could facilitate an acquisition of the Spanish bus operator affiliate Alsa by Cosmen. Elliott owns 17.07% of National Express, while the Spanish family controls 17.08%.
The Skandia Property Fund, a real estate fund managed by Nigel Pickup at ING Real Estate Investment Management on behalf of Skandia Investment Group, has finalised the acqusition of two properties in St. Albans in the United Kingdom. The fund paid a total of GBP13.37m for the Centrium CT2 and Centrium CT3 office buildings.
BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services has appointed two directors for the relationship management team. Jim Whitaker will lead the Americas team, while Mark Mannion will be head of relationship management for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Following the Kobe earthquake in 1995, Japan returned to its former level of industrial production in a few months, demonstrating that the impact on the macroeconomy of such a disaster is not very persistent in developed countries, Philippe Waechter, director of economic research at Natixis Asset Management, explained on Tuesday. Beyond the human drama, the shock to the system could even have a positive impact on the economy, he says. The consequences for the rest of the world may not be major either, as the macroeconomic situation had previously been relatively positive until then. Countries which export to Japan are not expected to suffer, as none of them was excessively dependent on this market. The percentage of US exports which go to Japan is only 6%, while for Europe it is 2%, and for China, 8%. But this is not counting Fukushima. If the nuclear situation degrades for the longer term in Japan the situation may be different, Waechter estimates, adding that the consequences are more difficult to predict. In addition to an increase in aversion to risk in Japan and the rest of the world, such a situation could raise questions about the choice of nuclear as a source of power, which could have repercussions on demand for natural gas and coal, until an eventual transition to cleaner energies is complete. A nuclear drama would also have consequences for the price of foodstuffs, due to the risks that Japanese products would carry.
Following German Gonzales, who joined the firm as a senior advisor in late 2010, First State Investment International Ltd has recruited two other European private infrastructure specialists: a director of management, Tommas Pedraza, and another senior advisor, Trygve Refvem, who will begin in their new roles in a few days. Pedraza comes from Gas Natural/Unión Fenosa, where he was recently a member of the development strategy team. At First State, he will be in charge of identifying potential investments and managing acquisitions. He is a specialist in infrastructure investment for the Iberian peninsula. Revfem will apply his experience in the area of oil and gas and distribution of these energy sources. He has been a board member at Norsk Hydro and Siemens Norway. Gonzales, a specialist in infrastructure in the Spanish industry, was previously head of the Spanish activities of Dresdner Kleinwort and managing director of Hidrocantábrico.
Heidi Rauen, who was previously director of communications and event-driven management for continental Europe at Invesco, where she started in 1998 in sales and marketing, on 1 April will join the Klimek Advisors group as a partner. She will become head of the marketing and public relations sectors for the Irish company Klimes Advisors Limited, and for all areas of activity of the German company, Klimek Advisors Fund Consulting GmbH. The Dublin-based firm is a specialist in strategic advising, marketing, public relations and press relations for fund and wealth management companies in Ireland and abroad, while the Frankfurt company is in charge of recruiting institutional clients for management firms. In addition, she is an investment advisor for management firms worldwide.
Dreyfus Corporation, an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the launch of the Dreyfus Total Emerging Markets fund, which will be invested in equities, bonds, and currencies from emerging markets which present the best opportunities. To construct the portfolio, the management firm will call in the expertise of other management boutiques, such as Standish Mellon Asset Management Company and The Boston Company Asset Management, which are also affiliates of BNY Mellon Asset Management.
Former Gartmore star manager Guillaume Rambourg is looking for another role in fund management following the FSA’s decision not to take any formal disciplinary action against him, writes Investment Week.
Threadneedle has announced the appointment of James Wesley as director of institutional clients for the Australasia region. He will be based in Brisbane. He previously worked for Threadneedle in London.
“We will talk about everything,” responded the chairman of Unicredit, Dieter Rampl, before participating to the appointments committee at Mediobanca, when asked whether a merger between Pioneer and Eurizon was on the cards, Bluerating reports. For a decision as to the fate of the asset management firm of the banking group, there is “still some time to wait,” he added.
Since 2006, Puay Ju Kang has been head of the Asia-Pacific real estate team at Aberdeen (USD1bn in assets), after working for a Dutch pension fund and one of the Singapore sovereign funds. On a visit to Paris, she explained to Newsmanagers that the group has previously offered its variuos products exclusively in Europe. Now, the British management firm has begun soft marketing for a third fund of funds, which will be a Luxembourg-registered fund intended for sale in Europe as well as in Asia-Pacific and North America. The launch is slated for April. A first closing may take place at USD100m in second or third quarter, and the fund may easily reach USD300-400m in assets. It would be hard closed at USD600m. Puay explains that Aberdeen will avoid products from major management firms, and will concentrate on funds with USD500-600m in assets, whicha re easier to control, “because we don’t want to be passive allocators,” she says. It must be ensured that the management firms have the necessary execution capacities.
For the 2010 fiscal year, the Austrian-German management firm C-Quadrat on 29 March announced record net profits of EUR15.3m, compared with EUR5.7m, particularly due to a strong increase in performance commissions to EUR22.9m, from EUR7.6m, an increase in management commission revenues to EUR35.8m from EUR22.8m, and a steep rise in profits from partner companies ato EUR6.4m from EUR2.2m. In order to finance potential acquisitions, C-Quadrat is proposing to buy back a maximum of 100,000 shares from shareholders between 1 April and 10 June 2011, equivalent to 2.3% of capital, on the Vienna and/or Frankfurt stock exchanges.
Man Group, through its US subsidiaries, has entered into a definitive agreement to take full ownership of Ore Hill, a credit-focused, event-driven hedge fund and structured product manager based in New York. Man’s strategic relationship with Ore Hill dates from 2008, when it acquired a stake of approximately 50% in the firm. The remaining interest has been owned by Ore Hill’s principals and employees. Man’s acquisition of the remaining 50% of Ore Hill is in line with its strategic focus on internal investment management capabilities, and continues the build out of single strategies on the GLG platform.Upon completion of the transaction, while Ore Hill will remain as an investment adviser, the operations will be integrated into and managed as part of GLG, Man’s discretionary investment management platform. Ben Nickoll and Fritz Wahl, Ore Hill’s Co-Founders, as well as Alok Makhija, will continue to manage the Ore Hill portfolios. Ore Hill manages a series of hedge funds with funds under management of approximately USD800 million, of which previously Man has consolidated 50%. Upon completion, these funds will be fully consolidated into Man’s funds under management. In addition, Ore Hill manages a USD1.1 billion structured product. Man Group also published a trading update for the financial year ending 31 March 2011. Funds under Management at 31 March 2011 are currently estimated at USD69.0 billion (31 December 2010: USD68.6 billion). Q4 expected to see net inflows of approximately USD0.7 billion, reflecting USD5.3 billion sales (predominantly in open ended alternatives and long only) and USD4.6 billion redemptions.
Currently, Bankia is preparing a prospectus for its IPO, and is seeking institutional investors to acquire a stake in its capital, Expansión reports. The banking establishment, born of the merger of the Caja Madrid and Bancaja savings banks, has already contacted several mostly American fund managers. Among them, Fidelity and BlackRock have expressed willingness to subscribe to the IPO.
In June 2011, Bank Sarasin AG (Rabobank gorup) will open its fourth branch office in Geramny, in Cologne, the Swiss parent company announced on 29 March. Sarasin was the first foreign financial establishment to receive a complete banking license, in 2008, and has been profitable since its third fiscal year. After Switzerland, Germany is the largest private banking market for the Sarasin group, says Eric G. Sarasin, president of the board of directors of Bank Sarasin AG and head of the private banking division of Bank Sarasin & Cie SA.
Après les multiples dégradations des notes du Portugal et de l’Espagne, Moody's et Fitch dressent la menace d'une baisse de notation de plusieurs titrisations
Le gouvernement japonais devrait présenter un premier collectif budgétaire de 2.000 milliards de yens (17 milliards d’euros) afin de financer la reconstruction dans les régions sinistrées par le séisme et le tsunami du 11 mars, indique le quotidien. Le gouvernement devrait le soumettre en avril au Parlement. Un fonds d’urgence de 1.160 milliards de yens sera débloqué dans le cadre du budget pour l’année fiscale 2011/2012 pour un coût des dégâts estimé à 300 milliards de dollars. Mardi, le gouvernement n’excluait aucune source de financement, y compris une hausse des impôts ou la suppression d’un projet de réduction de l’impôt sur les sociétés.