Au 30 novembre, le total mondial des actifs gérés dans les ETF ressortait d’après BlackRock à 1.231 milliards de dollars soit 8 milliards de moins que fin octobre. Il reste néanmoins supérieur de 18,8 % à son niveau de fin 2009 (1.036,1 milliards de dollars).En revanche, le nombre d’ETF s’est accru de 13 unités en un mois, à 2.422 fonds, cotés 5.413 fois (contre 5.335 fin octobre), ce qui correspond à une hausse de 24,7 % depuis le début de l’année, avec 530 lancements et 51 radiations (lire notre article du 10 novembre). Depuis janvier, 28 nouveaux promoteurs d’ETF ont lancé leur premier produit tandis que trois autres se sont retirés du secteur et que 41 envisagent de lancer leur premier ETF.Il existe actuellement des projets de lancement pour 1.046 ETF.BlackRock estime que les souscriptions nettes des ETF et des ETP aux Etats-Unis et en Europe ont représenté 14 milliards de dollars en novembre et 145,5 milliards pour les onze premiers mois de 2010.Concernant le trio de tête, iShares (BlackRock) conserve une confortable avance avec 549,8 milliards de dollars d’encours et 468 ETF, pour une part de marché de 44,7 % (contre 556,1 milliards et 44,9 % fin octobre). State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) reste en deuxième position avec 171,1 milliards et 13,9 % du marché (170,7 milliards et 13,8 %), devant Vanguard, avec 141,2 milliards de dollars et 11,5 % du marché (135,2 milliards et 10,9 %).
Selon Financial News, Jeremy Lang et Bill Pattisson, gérants actions britanniques chez Liontrust jusqu’en janvier dernier, vont lancer trois fonds Ucits irlandais au 1er trimestre 2011. Les produits, dont un long/short actions mondiales, seront créés dans le cadre de leur nouvelle société Ardevora.
Aviva est devenue membre à part entière de l’association professionnelle britannique LLMA ( «Life & Longevity Markets Association»). L’association compte désormais onze membres. Outre Aviva, les autres membres sont Axa, la Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Legal & General, Morgan Stanley, Pension Corporation, Prudential, RBS, Swiss Re et UBS. Cette association qui regroupe des assureurs, des réassureurs et des banques, a pour objectif de favoriser l’émergence de nouveaux produits financiers destinés à gérer le risque de longévité. Cette association à but non lucratif compte en particulier élaborer des standards de produits de titrisation, des index de longévité et un modèle de valorisation pour la mortalité, tout d’abord à destination du marché britannique, particulièrement concerné par ce risque, mais à terme pour un usage international.
Schroders a annoncé, vendredi 10 décembre, le recrutement de Nicolaas Marais en tant que Head of Multi-Asset Solutions à compter du mois de mars 2011. L’intéressé est actuellement Global Head of Active Portfolio Management chez BlackRock dans le département «Multi-asset client solutions group.» Il deviendra membre du Comité Groupe de gestion de Schroders et rapportera à Michael Dobson, Chief Executive.
Le 10 décembre, HSBC a lancé sur le London Stock Exchange (LSE) le HSBC MSCI World ETF, un produit de droit irlandais qui utilise une réplication optimisée, c’est-à-dire qu’il investit dans une partie des quelque 1.600 valeurs sous-jacentes.Caractéristiques :Dénomination : HSBC MSCI World ETFCode Isin : IE00B4X9L533Total de frais sur encours : 0,35 %
Au premier trimestre 2011, le Fonds européen de stabilisation financière (FESF) va emprunter 5 milliards d’euros sur les 8 milliards prévus pour la premier trimestre, ce qui servira à financer des crédits à l’Irlande pour 17,7 milliards d’euros, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. De fait, compte tenu des exigences de sur-nantissement des agences, le FESF sera obligé de lever 25 milliards d’euros pour fournir les 17,7 milliards évoqués.
Selon La Tribune, Source, la plate-forme de distribution d’ETF, et Pimco ont signé un partenariat portant sur le lancement et la distribution d’ETF obligataires à destination du marché européen. Dès janvier 2011, les deux maisons distribueront les Pimco Source Fixed Income ETFs et l’offre comprendra des ETF de trésorerie de court terme et des produits de long terme sur différents sous-jacents.
Chaque mois, les statistiques de BlackRock confirment qu’iShares reste non seulement le plus important promoteur d’ETF en Europe, avec un encours à fin novembre de 94,2 milliards de dollars contre 98,2 milliards fin octobre. C’est également celui qui enregistre les plus fortes souscriptions nettes, avec 12 milliards de dollars pour janvier-novembre, sur un total de 41,2 milliards pour l’ensemble des ETF cotés en Europe.db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) continue pour sa part à collecter davantage que Lyxor Asset Management (société Générale), avec 8,4 milliards contre 5 milliards, mais reste en troisième position pour les encours avec 45,1 milliards de dollars (contre 47 milliards fin octobre). A fin novembre, Lyxor AM affichait en effet 47,3 milliards de dollars d’actifs, contre 49,9 milliards un mois plus tôt.Au total, l’encours des ETF européens au 30 novembre (1.052 produits cotés 3.577 fois contre 1.048 cotés 3.512 fois) se situait à 261,8 milliards de dollars contre 274,1 milliards un mois plus tôt. Depuis le début de l’année, les actifs gérés affichent une augmentation de 15,4 % (contre 20,8 % à fin octobre).BlackRock précise aussi que, depuis le début de 2010, six promoteurs ont lancé leur premier ETF tandis qu’un gestionnaire s’est retiré du secteur et que quatre autres prévoient de lancer prochainement leur premier produit.
Le 9 décembre, ProShares, a annoncé le lancement de ce qu’il indique être le premier ETF long/short sur l’indice RAFI (Research Associates, Fundamental Index), le ProShares RAFI long/short ou RALS qui a été admis à la cotation sur la plate-forme NYSE Arca. Cet ETF réplique la performance de l’indice RAFI US Equity Long/Short avant frais et commissions. Le taux de frais sur encours est fixé à 0,95 %.A l’occasion du lancement de ce produit, ProShares a mis en place un nouveau slogan de marketing, «ProShares, the Alternative ETF Company». De fait, explique la société, ProShares a été le premier promoteur d’ETF à effet de levier (inversés ou non) , domaine dans lequel il est le leader mondial. L’an dernier, ProShares avec lancé avec Credit Suisse un ETF 130/30.Au 9 décembre, l’encours de ProShares se situait à 25 milliards de dollars répartis sur 112 ETF.
La Société Générale a nommé Christoph Roos au poste nouvellement créé de Head of Swiss Insurance & Pension Funds Clients, département Cross Asset Solutions avec effet au 1er décembre. Christoph Roos s’occupera dans ses nouvelles fonctions du suivi et des conseils stratégiques aux clients institutionnels, en particulier assurances et caisses de pension en Suisse, a précisé la société vendredi dans un communiqué.Christoph Roos est passé de BNP Paribas à la Société Générale, où il s’occupait depuis 2000 de la direction du team Fixed Income Derivatives Sales. Il travaillera à Zurich et sera rattaché à Benoît Petit Head of Global Markets Suisse, et à Eric Viet, Head of Sales for Pension Funds & Insurance.
Le groupe suisse EFG International a annoncé le 10 décembre deux nominations au sein de sa direction. Alain Diriberry deviendra directeur général d’EFG Bank en Suisse, avec effet au 1er janvier 2011. Lukas Ruflin a assumé cette fonction depuis janvier 2010. Après avoir mis en oeuvre une nouvelle stratégie ambitieuse de croissance organique pour la banque, il se concentrera entièrement sur sa mission de directeur général adjoint d’EFG International. Quant à Alain Diriberry, il se consacrera à la gestion et à la croissance d’EFG Bank. Alain Diriberry était, depuis juillet 2008, directeur opérationnel d’EFG International et restera membre de son comité exécutif. Mark Bagnall succédera, le 1er janvier 2011, à Alain Diriberry en tant que directeur opérationnel d’EFG International, et prendra place au Comité exécutif d’EFG International. Mark Bagnall occupe, depuis décembre 2008, la fonction de directeur technologique d’EFG International à l’échelle mondiale. Il a été précédemment responsable de la technologie Clientèle privée et Gestion de fortune sur le plan mondial à Merrill Lynch (Londres et Genève).
Selon l’Agefi qui reprend les chiffres d’Eurekahedge, l’encours des fonds de fonds alternatifs basés à Genève a chuté de 60% à fin octobre par rapport à la semaine précédant l’arrestation de Bernard Madoff le 11 décembre 2008, il y a tout juste deux ans, pour s'élever à 14,8 milliards de dollars. Pour Drago Indjic, responsable de projet auprès du centre de recherche sur les hedge funds de la London Business School, interrogé par Bloomberg, «les fonds de fonds ne vont ni exploser ni imploser, mais lentement perdre de leur substance, mis à mort par des milliers de coups successifs», rapporte le quotidien.
Comme celle de toutes les maisons, la gestion d'actifs de Lombard Odier n'a pu être entièrement à la hauteur des attentes de ses clients pendant la secousse sismique qui a désorienté les marchés financiers. Mais, apparemment, la maison genevoise a su tirer les enseignements de cette expérience, surtout en adaptant son approche tactique.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 November, total global assets under management in ETFs according to BlackRock totalled USD1.231trn, USD8bn less than at the end of October. This remains 18.8% higher than their levels at the end of 2009 (USD1.0361trn).However, the number of ETFs increased by 13 over the month, to 2,422 funds, listed 5,413 times (compared with 5,335 as of the end of October), which corresponds to an increase of 24.7% since the beginning of the year, with 530 launches and 51 funds removed from trading (see Newsmanagers of 10 November). Since January, 28 new ETF providers have launched their first products, while three others withdrew from the sector, and 41 are planning their first ETF launches soon.There are currently plans to launch 1,046 ETF funds.BlackRock estimates that net subscriptions to ETFs and ETPs in the United States and Europe represented USD14bn in November, and USD145.5bn in the first eleven months of 2010.The top three asset management firms are iShares (BlackRock retains a comfortable lead with USD549.8bn in assets and 468 ETF funds, and a market share of 44.7% (compared with USD556.1bn and 44.9% as of the end of October). State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) remains in second place with USD17.1bn and 13.9% of the market (USD170.7bn and 13.8%), followed by Vanguard, with USD141.2bn and 11.5% of the market (USD135.2bn and 10.9%).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Wall Street Journal reports that the hedge fund Aurelius from Mark Brodsky bought junior debt from the Anglo Irish Bank at Usd20 cents on the dollar, and refused to sell it to the Irish government at the same price. It is hoping to make much more, as it has often done in similar situations. But this time, it is up against a government, and Dublin is all the less inclined to give in due to the pressure it is under from European governments. In the first half of 2010, Aurelius saw its assets under management increase from USD750m to USD2.5bn. In January-October, its returns were 12%, following more than 30% in 2009, and losses of only 4% in 2008. Aurelius was not the only hedge fund to pursue opportunities abroad: Balestra Capital, Hayman Capital Partners, North Asset Management and Pivot Capital Management did likewise.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aviva has become a full-fledged member of the British professional association LLMA (“Life & Longevity Markets Association”).The association now has eleven members. Aside from Aviva, the others are Axa, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Legal & General, Morgan Stanley, Pension Corporation, Prudential, RBS, Swiss Re and UBS.The association, which includes insurers, reinsurers and banks, aims to foster the emergence of new financial products which aim to manage longevity risks. The nonprofit association works to elaborate standards for securitisation products, longevity indices, and a model of valuation for mortality, primarily for the British market, which is particularly concerned by this risk, but eventually for international use.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Credit Suisse Private Banking has announced the opening of its first family office in Singapore. The group says in a statement that it has appointed Bernard Fung as head of family office services in Singapore. Fung, who will begin in the position on 3 January, will be in charge of development of family office activities for ultra-high net worth (UHNW) clients and their families. Before joining Credit Suisse, Fung was chief executive of Innotech Advisers, the investment firm and family office of Lord Sainsbury of Turville.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ahorro Corporación Financiera (ACF), a financial group consisting of 42 small and mid-sized savings banks, will lay off about 200 people out of total staff of 752, equivalent to 26.5% of its personnel, Cotizalia reports. The operation will take place through a general services outsourcing plan, according to sources familiar with the matter. It will not result in cold layoffs, as the staff concerned will be transferred to the outsourcing companies. In reality, total staff is already lower than the 752 recorded at the beginning of 2010, as there have been assisted departures, but no definite figure is available at present. ACF currently manages EUR6.4bn, 50% less than at the end of 2007.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss group EFG International on 10 December announced two appointments to its management. Alain Diriberry becomes CEO of EFG Bank in Switzerland, effective from 1 January 2011. Lukas Ruflin has held this position since January 2010. After setting up an ambitious new organic growth strategy for the bank, he will concentrate wholly on his mission as deputy CEO of EFG International. Diriberry will dedicate his time and energy to the management and growth of EFG Bank. Since July 2008, Diriberry had been chief operating officer of EFG International, and will remain a member of its executive board. Mark Bagnall will on 1 January succeed Diriberry as chief operating officer of EFG International, and will take a place on the executive board of EFG International. Bagnall has since December 2008 been chief technology officer for EFG International worldwide. He was previously head of private client technologies and global wealth management at Merrill Lynch (London and Geneva).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 9 December, ProShares announced the launch of what it says is the first long/short ETF fund based on the RAFI index (Research Associates, Fundamental Index), the ProShares RAFI long/short, or RALS, which was admitted to trading on the NYSE Arca platform. The ETF replicates the performance of the RAFI US Equity Long/Short index before fees and commissions. TER is set at 0.95%.For the launch of the product, ProShares has borught in a new marketing slogan: “ProShares, the Alternative ETF Company.” The firm explains that ProShares was the first provider of leveraged ETF funds (reverse or not), and is a global leader in this area. Last year, ProShares launched a 130/30 ETF with Credit Suisse.As of 9 December, assets at ProShares totalled USD25bn in 112 ETF funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese management firm Da Cheng International is planning to launch two ETFs on the Hong Kong stick exchange by Christmas. They will be the Da Cheng CSI Hong Kong Private-owned Mainland Enterprises Tracker and Da Cheng CSI Hong Kong State-Owned Mainland Enterprises Tracker. Asian Investor reports that the funds may be launched on 20 December. They will offer investors extended exposure to firms listed in Hong Kong.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In November, money market funds on sale in Sweden saw net outflows of SEK2.6bn, according to statistics from the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens Förening. The outflows were just barely offset by net subscriptions of SEK1.6bn to diversified funds, SEK485m for equities funds, SEK151m for bond funds, and SEK232m for hedge funds. For equities funds, investor interest was largely concentrated on North America and Asia. As of the end of November, the Swedish fund sector represented SEK1.869trn, of which SEK1.103trn were in equities funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financial News reports that Jeremy Lang and Bill Pattison, UK equities managers at Liontrust until January of this year, will launch three Irish UCITS-compliant funds in first quarter 2011. The products, including a global long/short equities product, will be created through their new firm Ardevora.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 10 December, HSBC launched the HSBC MSCI World ETF on the London Stock Exchange. It is an Irish-registered product which uses optimised replication, investing in some of the approximately 1,600 underlying securities. Characteristics Name: HSBC MSCI World ETF ISIN code: IE00B4X9L533 Total TER: 0.35%
“Currently, assets in our funds total EUR2.8bn. As of the end of 2009 they were EUR2bn. And the difference of EUR800m corresponds in reality to net subscriptions, as market effects were negligible,” Hervé Thiard, managing director of the Paris office of Pictet & Cie Europe, has announced.The situation for the Paris office of Pictet Funds is sufficiently positive for its director to have been authorised to recruit two more people, one sales person and one product support specialist, who will join the current six members of staff. Clients of Pictet Paris consist of 40% funds of funds, 20% private banks, and the remainder institutionals and professionals.“In 2011, Pictet is planning to pick up the pace of new product launches a bit, as the range has nealy matured. In the existing long-only products, we are now working to improve performance.” Some projects are also in the works. The new family of UCITS III-compliant hedge funds may additionally gain funds of funds, while single manager funds such as Corto and Mandarin may be complemented by, for example, an Asia ex Japan long/short product and a fixed income product.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The State of Illinois, whose unpaid bills run to USD4.5bn, is seeking the assistance of banks and asset management firms to pay off USD2.5bn directly to its creditors. The system generates about 12% returns for the lender, the Wall Street Journal reports.The local government has turned to Goldman Sachs, Fortress Investment Group, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and BlackRock, who had no comment on the reports. At least one other hedge fund management firm refused the job for reputational reasons. The merchant bank Trivergance says it was one of the first to participate in the program.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Egamo, the asset management firm from MGEN, which manages more than EUR2bn in assets, has won a discretionary management mandate from the Mutuelle Générale Environnement et Territoires (MGET). The amount of the contract has not been disclosed.“This is a result of two causes: that MGET has decided to outsource a part of the management of its assets, and the continued professionalisation of its financial assets and preparation for the introduction of the Solvency II legislation. In addition to this double need comes the choice of an operator who shares the mutualist values which MGET has defended for 64 years,” a press statement says.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The monthly statistics from BlackRock confirm each month that iShares remains not only the largest provider of ETFs in Europe, with assets as of the end of November of USD94.2bn, compared with USD98.2bn as of the end of October, but also that it has the largest net subscriptions, with USD12bn in January-November, out of a total of USD41.2bn for all ETFs listed in Europe.db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), for its part, continues to have larger inflows than Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), with USD8.4bn compared with USD5bn, but remains in third place in terms of assets, with USD45.1bn, compared with USD47bn as of the end of October. As of the end of November, Lyxor had USD47.3bn in assets, compared with USD49.9bn one month earlier.In total, assets in European ETFs as of 30 November (1,052 products listed 3,577 times, compared with 1,048 funds listed 3,512 times) totalled USD261.8bn, compared with USD274.1bn one month earlier. Since the beginning of the year, assets under management have increased 15.4%, compared with 20.8% as of the end of October.BlackRock also states that since the beginning of 2010, six providers have launched their first ETFs, while one management withdrew from the sector, and four others are planning to launch their first products soon.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German chancellor Angela Merkel and the French president Nicolas Sarkozy on 10 December in Fribourg, at a meeting of French and German ministers, rejected the idea of creating joint bonds for Euro zone countries, with the French president adding that it was not impossible to consider the possibility again in the future if European integration progresses. The idea of issuing European bonds is defended by the president for finance ministers in the Eurogroup, Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker, and supported by several Mediterranean countries. “On the question of Euro-bonds, I have said that the mutualisation of rates … would not help us much,” said Merkel. The coherence of economic policy has to be increased. “This does not mean mutualising risks,” she added. Sarkozy stated that “if this means creating debt for all of Europe, it would have the effect of making each government less responsible, when what we want is precisely the reverse.” “If one day there is more integration and a much more harmonised economic policy, could we talk about it again? Maybe. But in the current state of affairs, the position of France is precisely the same as the position of Germany,” he added.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in the Börsen-Zeitung, European commissioner Michel Barnier will soon present the main lines of the future UCITS V directive, with the ambitious objective of passing it in the second half of 2011.The bill will stipulate that bonuses should be based on long-term performance, and not incentivate the generation of short-term results.In addition, management and custody of assets will in the future be strictly separated betweem the manager on one hand, and the depository bank on the other.