p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Skandia has announced the arrival of Robin Tetlow as chief operational officer for operations in continental Europe (France and Italy). Tetlow, who will be responsible for operations and administrative management of investments, will be based in Italy. A former independent consultant to industry actors in the financial services industry, Tetlow joined Skandia in January 2011.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Via Reinet Fund SCA, the investment firm Reinet will participate in the creation of a global alternative management and advising firm, in partnership with William T. Winters, former co-CEO of JP Morgan Investment Bank, and RIT Capital Partners plc, which is led by Lord Jacob Rothschild, Agefi Switzerland reports. The new firm will be known as Renshaw Bay. Winters will be president and CEO of the firm, while Lord Rothschild and Johann Rupert, who controls Reinet, will become directors of Renshaw Bay. Winters will initially own 50% of the new business, while the remainder will be shared between Reinet, which is listed in Luxembourg, and RIT, an investment firm listed in London. Renshaw Bay, which will be based in London, will work with “sophisticated” investors to develop their risk parameters, investments, and trading vehicles.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Inverco association of asset management firms, average assets in 2,489 funds registered in Spain totalled EUR56m, compared with EUR63m as of the end of 2009, and EUR82m as of the end of 2007.Total assets of EUR138.08bn represented 16.3% of GDP as of the end of 2010, compared with 26.6% in 2007, and 31.7% in 2000.Assets in funds and total assets as a percentage of GDP as of the end of December were at their lowest levels since 1990, when they totalled EUR28bn and 2.2%, respectively.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that Deutsche Bank has frozen subscriptions with immediate effect to the ETN Power Shares DB Agriculture Souble Long, which earned 65% returns on one year, and reached assets of about USD146m. No motive for the move was given, but it may be due to the fact that the increase in assets and the number of contracts held ran a risk of exceeding the permitted limit.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 24 March, the 18 Geramn-registered sectoral ETFs from iShares based on the sectors of the Stoxx Europe 600, which were launched in 2006 by Indexchange (EUR350m in assets), are moving over from synthetic replication to physical replication, BlackRock has announced. At this time, the “swap” suffix will be replaced by the Roman numeral I.One week later, the funds will be merged into the corresponding ETFs already using physical replication (EUR1.5bn in assets).As of 31 May, the physical replication sectoral ETFs will be transferred to a German-registered Sicav (Investment AG), and converted into sub-funds of the new structure, with new ISIN codes. This will facilitate their registration and sale outside Germany.The operation follows iShares’ philosophy of using physical replication as a first priority, and not relying on synthetic replication except for asset classes which are difficult to access.These synthetic replication funds were launched before the legislative changes of mid-January 2011, which made physical replicated funds compliant with UCITS III.However, four sectoral ETFs from iShares based on the Euro Stoxx index will not be affected by the merger, while the iShares Stoxx Europe 600 Real Estate (DE), which was compliant with the European directive from the time of its launch, will be transferred to Investment AG at the end of May, with the other 18 sectoral funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by the German private sector banking association (BdB) on the basis of statistics from the Bundesbank, as of the end of 2010 there were about 27 million holders of securities accounts in Germany, with a total of EUR783bn in assets. Of this total, shares in investment funds represented EUR387bn, compared with EUR224bn for bonds, and EUR172bn for equities.German banks administer a total of about EUR2trn in securities, also including securities accounts belonging to insurers, businesses, public authorities and various institutions.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hans Joachim Reinke, chairman of the board, on 17 February announced that Union Investment is legally authorised to charge holders of shares in investment funds fees for consulting and analysis by external businesses, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The management firm is reacting to a warning addressed to it by the consumer defence organisation for the Northern Rhineland-Westphalia region.The consumer defence organisation also singled out two other management firms. It accuses Allianz Global Investors (AGI) of passing on the cost of the acquisition of new clients to investors. The third management firm challenged by the organisation is LBBW.The association is critical of the fact that asset management firms are passing to clients the cost of producing and distributing of half-yearly and annual reports and other publications.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mark Hoban, the minister in charge of financial matters at the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on 17 February unveiled the new architecture of the UK financial regulatory authority to Parliament. The authority will include three regulators, which will replace the current FSA. They will have the power to bar financial products from the market, and to warn invetors against some intermediaries.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays Wealth Managers France has launched the Barclays Equity Asia fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav, investing in Asian equities. The new fund is advised by Philip Niem, head of discretionary management at Barclays Wealth Asia, based in Hong Kong, and his team. Niem manages USD300m in assets with the same method used for the new fund. The objective for Barclays Equity Asia is to invest in businesses expected to profit from economic growth in China, India, and other surrounding Asian countries (excluding Japan), and to outperform its benchmark index (90% MSCI AC Asia ex Japan 10% cash) by 5% per year. Allocation by country is determined on the basis of the size of the economy, the balance of payments, growth in corporate profits and price/earnings ratio for the market. Niem will then select sectors which he estimates will outperform national GDP growth. Within these sectors, the head of discretionary management will select 40 businesses. Currently, Niem favours the banking sector in India, the consumer sector in China, and commodities. The Barclays Equity Asia fund, which has recently received a sales license from the AMF, now has total assets of USD30m. It will be sold via the Barclays Wealth network, as well as to funds of funds and institutional investors.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The online broker Fidelity Investments has celebrated the first anniversary of its partnership with BlackRock in ETFs, and increased the number of iShares ETFs available for free trading from 25 to 30.The five ETFs available to investors for free are the iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (HYG), iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (DVY), iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend Fund (IDV), iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate Index Fund (IYR) and iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Index Fund (ACWX).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With 12 new Luxembourg-registered ETFs from RBS, which were admitted to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse on 17 February, the number of products now listed now comes to 791.In addition to the four funds already announced, based on the Stoxx and Dax indices (see Newsmanagers of 17 February), RBS has launched eight more, four of which are based on FTSE indices, three on S&P indices, and one on the Topix.Commissions range from 0.30% to 0.65%.The twelve new products are the following: RBS Market Access EuroStoxx 50 Monthly Double Short Index ETF(LU0562665777), with a TER of 0,50%RBS Market Access EuroStoxx 50 Monthly Leverage Index ETF (LU0562665694) ; 0,30%RBS Market Access LevDAX X2 Monthly Index ETF (LU0562665348) ; 0,35%RBS Market Access Leveraged FTSE 100 Monthly Index ETF (LU0562666072) ; 0,50%RBS Market Access Leveraged FTSE MIB Monthly Index ETF (LU0562666239) : 0,60%RBS Market Access S&P 500 EUR Hedged Index ETF (LU0562681899) ; 0,30%RBS Market Access S&P GSCI Capped Component 35/20 2x Inverse Monthly Index ETF (LU0562665934) ; 0,65%RBS Market Access S&P GSCI Capped Component 35/20 2x Leverage Monthly Index ETF (LU0562665850) ; 0,65%RBS Market Access Short FTSE 100 Monthly Index ETF (LU0562666155) ; 0,60%RBS Market Access Short FTSE MIB Monthly Index ETF (LU0562666312) ; 0,60%RBS Market Access ShortDAX X2 Monthly Index ETF (LU0562665421) ; 0,60%RBS Market Access TOPIX EUR Hedged Index ETF (LU0562666403) ; 0,50%
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 March, Aegon Asset Management will launch its first multi-asset class fund aimed specifically at retail clients, the Aegon Strategic Assets fund. It is an absolute return product, whose objective is to generate returns of 10% per year, regardless of market conditions.The fund will consist of “real” assets, and will invest primarily in equities and bonds, with a preference for long-only positions.The Strategic Asset fund will be managed jointly by William Dinning, head of investment strategy, and Sean Flanagan, who belongs to the multi-asset class management team.Minimal subscription is set at GBP500, and the front-end fee is 5.5%. Management commission will be 1.5%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether some funds have overestimated the value of certain high-risk municipal bonds which are rarely traded, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The enquiry is part of an investigation into potential municipal bond market abuse.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The army of lawyers and consultants at work on recovering the money involved in Bernard Madoff’s USD19.6bn fraud will posket more than USD1.3bn in commissions, the Financial Times reports, citing new figures detailing the cost of liquidating the Ponzi scheme. The largest check will go to Baker Hostetler, the law firm where Irving Picard, the legally-appointed trustee, is a partner. He will receive USD603m for his work between 2011 and 2014, on top of a payment of USD128m already received.
L’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce devrait rendre public aujourd’hui un rapport indiquant que la Chine n’a aucun droit légal d’imposer des restrictions à l’exportation de neuf matières premières, indique le journal qui cite des sources diplomatiques et d’avocats proches du dossier. La Chine impose en effet des quotas sur le zinc, la coke entre autres qui sont sources de tensions avec ses partenaires commerciaux.
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances en euros des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de janvier 2011. Ces performances sont mises en perspective par le calcul de la volatilité et du ratio de Sharpe sur trois ans d’historique ainsi que du rendement depuis un an.
L’idée du président français, qui assure la présidence du G20, de lancer un premier «séminaire de devises» fin mars en Chine réunissant ministres des finances, banquiers centraux, et officiels internationaux afin de mettre la pression sur les autorités chinoises pour une réévaluation du yuan, tournerait court, indique le journal qui cite des sources proches. La Chine aurait en effet refusé lors de cette occasion de discuter du niveau des taux de change. Et le gouverneur de la banque centrale de Chine, Zhou Xiaochuan de rappeler hier que la Chine décidera elle-même du rythme d’appréciation du yuan, sans tenir compte des pressions étrangères.
L’armada d’avocats et de consultants qui ont participé au recouvrement des 19,6 milliards de dollars de fonds frauduleux de Bernard Madoff auraient touché plus de 1,3 milliard de dollars d’honoraires, selon le journal qui cite des chiffres officiels. C’est Baker Hostetler, où Irving Picard est associé, qui a le plus bénéficié de cette manne en touchant 128 millions de dollars.
Le département du Travail a indiqué jeudi que l’indice «core» PCI avait crû de 0,2%, sa plus forte hausse depuis octobre 2009, contre 0,1% en décembre. Cette avancée est principalement due à la hausse des coûts de l’habillement, du logement et du transport aérien. Le scénario d’une inflation toujours mesurée est maintenu en raison de la hausse des inscriptions au chômage la semaine dernière, limitant la croissance des salaires.
Selon une directive publiée jeudi par la Commission chinoise de régulation bancaire, les établissements financiers doivent se servir de leurs propres notations internes pour les gros investissements, que ce soit pour acheter des obligations ou des dérivés. «Ces règles visent à empêcher les banques de faire face à des risques systémiques qui pourraient provenir d’ajustement possibles de notations extérieures», a déclaré le régulateur.
Le Conférence Board a annoncé que son indice avait augmenté de 0,1% le mois dernier, à 112,3, après une progression révisée à la baisse de 0,8% en décembre. Les économistes attendaient une hausse de 0,2%.