Selon L’Agefi, BPCE s’apprête à rationaliser ses activités de capital investissement. De sources proches, le groupe devrait transférer la holding GCE Capital - héritée des Caisses d’Epargne et regroupant Masseran Gestion et Alliance Entreprendre - dans le pôle épargne de Natixis.Alliance Entreprendre et Naxicap (filiale de Natixis) conserveraient leur personnalité juridique et des équipes de gestion séparées, mais rapprocheraient leurs fonctions supports, indique le quotidien.Le pôle épargne de Natixis devrait ainsi récupérer environ 350 millions d’euros d’encours gérés pour compte de tiers.
Affiliated Managers Group (AMG), qui contrôle 27 boutiques d’investissement, a déclaré pour le troisième trimestre un bénéfice net de 34 millions de dollars contre 17,8 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier, ce qui porte le total pour les neuf premiers mois de 2010 à 76,6 millions de dollars contre 34,9 millions.Les encours au 30 septembre portaient sur environ 294 milliards de dollars et les souscriptions nettes du troisième trimestre ont représenté 5,5 milliards de dollars, dont 4,2 milliards pour la clientèle institutionnelle, 1,1 milliard pour les mutual funds et 0,2 milliards pour les particuliers haut de gamme.Par ailleurs, AMG a annoncé qu’au 1er janvier 2011 Sean M. Healey, president & CEO, succédera au fondateur William J. Nutt comme chairman. Bill Nutt, qui était chairman depuis 1993, restera au board comme administrateur indépendant.
Le conseil d’administration de Morningstar Inc a validé le 27 octobre le versement d’un dividende trimestriel en numéraire de 5 cents par action à partir du 14 janvier 2011 pour les actionnaires enregistrés au 31 décembre 2010.D’autre part, les administrateurs ont donné leur feu vert à un programme de rachat d’actions ordinaires pour un montant maximal de 100 millions de dollars.
Pour le troisième trimestre 2010, Morningstar fait état d’un gonflement de 16,4 % de son chiffre d’affaires consolidé à 139,8 millions de dollars contre 120,1 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Hors acquisitions et effet de change, le chiffre d’affaires a marqué une progression de 6,6 %.En revanche, le bénéfice d’exploitation et le bénéfice net ont diminué à respectivement 30,2 millions et 20,8 millions de dollars contre 33,7 millions et 22,5 millions.Sur janvier-septembre, le chiffre d’affaires s’est accru de 13,4 % par rapport aux neuf premiers mois de 2009 pour ressortir à 404,2 millions de dollars, dont 34,4 millions provenant d’acquisitions et 4,2 millions d’effet de change. Le bénéfice net a baissé à 59 millions de dollars contre 68 millions.
Les actifs sous gestion de Lazard s’élevaient à 143,6 milliards de dollars au 30 septembre, en progression de 16% par rapport au 30 juin et de 19% par rapport à leur niveau d’il y a un an.Lazard précise dans un communiqué publié le 27 octobre que la collecte nette s’est inscrite à 1,1 milliard au troisième trimestre et à 6,2 milliards sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année.Les revenus du pôle gestion d’actifs ont fait un bond de 32% au troisième trimestre à 208 millions de dollars. Sur neuf mois, les revenus se sont accrus de 48% au niveau record de 578,9 millions de dollars.Le groupe a publié un bénéfice net en hausse de 18% sur un an, à 62,1millions de dollars.
Selon la base de données de Morningstar, 733 des quelque 2.450 fonds britanniques correspondant aux catégories de l’Investment Management Association (IMA) gèrent moins de 30 millions de livres, ce qui est généralement considéré comme le plancher en dessous duquel l’exploitation d’un fonds n’est plus économiquement rentable, rapporte Fund Strategy.De plus, Morningstar suspecte que le nombre de petits fonds est en réalité encore supérieur parce que beaucoup d’entre eux ne communiquent pas le montant de leurs encours.
En décembre, Sonja Schemmann prendra son congé de maternité. A cette occasion, elle cèdera définitivement la gestion des fonds Schroder ISF European Equity Yield et Schroder ISFEuropean Dividend Maximiser à Rory Bateman, head of European equities, et Ian Kelly, gérant de fonds d’actions européennes et internationales, rapporte Fund Strategy.Ces deux spécialistes prendront aussi en charge jusqu’au retour de Sonja Schemmann les fonds Schroder Global Equity Income, Schroder ISF Global Dividend Maximiser et Schroder ISF Global Equity Yield. Quant au Schroder Income Growth investment trust, il sera confié transitoirement à Sue Noffke.
Selon Investment Week, T. Bailey est le premier multi-gérant à prendre position dans le fonds de stratégies internationales de performance absolue (Gars) de Standard Life, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à quelque 5,6 milliards de livres.Standard Life a modifié le prospectus du fonds Gars en septembre dernier, en introduisant une limite de 10% pour les investissements dans d’autres fonds, avec une possibilité de participation pour les multi-gérants.
Le bénéfice net enregistré par Nordea au troisième trimestre s’est inscrit en hausse de 32 % à 711 millions d’euros contre 539 millions pour avril-juin ; il a augmenté de 14 % sur les 626 millions de la période correspondante de 2009. Pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, il ressort à 1,89 milliard d’euros contre 1,87 milliard.A fin septembre, le total des actifs sous gestion a atteint un record de 180,2 milliards d’euros, contre 169,8 milliards fin juin et 149,2 milliards douze mois plus tôt. L’accroissement de 10,4 milliards d’euros par rapport au 30 juin est attribuable à l’effet de marché ainsi qu'à des souscriptions nettes de 3,3 milliards d’euros.L’encours de la division gestion d’actifs s’est situé pour sa part fin septembre à 116 milliards d’euros contre 110 milliards trois mois auparavant et 96 milliards au 30 septembre 2009. Quant au bénéfice d’exploitation de cette division, il est ressorti à 97 millions d’euros contre 92 millions au deuxième trimestre et 72 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.
Selon un proche du dossier cité par The Wall Street Journal, le gestionnaire londonien de hedge funds Man Group a l’intention de licencier 200 personnes sur les six prochains mois, ce qui est de plusieurs fois plus sévère que prévu après l’acquisition de GLG Partners en mai. Actuellement, le nouvel ensemble Man-GLG emploie environ 1.800 personnes.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In second quarter, ending on 30 June 2010, the Private Equity index from State Street posted returns of 0.65%, 157 basis points lower than in first quarter 2010, and 483 basis points lower than in second quarter 2009. Returns for Europe and the rest of the world were significantly lower than in the previous quarter, at -3.14% and -0.48% in second quarter 2010. In the period from third quarter 2009 to second quarter 2010, Private Equity as a whole posted returns of 19.2%, compared with the previous period. Mezzanine and Distressed Debt funds earned 27.9% in the same period and continue to post better returns than other investment strategies.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Via Agicam, AG2R La Mondiale (about EUR1bn in best-in-class assets) is planning to launch a multi-manager SRI bond fund “in close collaboration with Mercer,” pending approval from the AMF. The fund will have initial assets of EUR175m.The product will be organised around three mandates: one government bonds mandate, granted to BNP Paribas Asset Management, one corporate bond mandate managed by Standard Life Investments (SLI), and one mixed government bond and corporate bond mandate, which will be handled by Groupama Asset Management. In this context, Agicam will manage allocation to the three mandates, and more generally global risk for the fund, which will comply with regulations defined by the Agirc-Arrco Federations and will thus be eligible for subscriptions from complementary retirement institutions.The three managers of the mandates were selected after a request for proposals by Mercer. More than 20 European management firms known for their expertise were invited to offer their expertise in the area of SRI bond management.Philippe Dutertre, chairman of the board at Agicam, has told Newsmanagers that the SRI unit has attracted about EUR100m in investment since the beginning of the year, and now has about EUR1bn in assets, including an equities multi-management fund with EUR200m and two directly-managed funds, AG2R Actions ISR (EUR300m) and AG2R Obligations (about EUR500m).Exclusion is contrary to the values of Agicam and AG2R, says Dutertre, who argues that the best formula is to use a best-in-class approach in dialogue with issuers.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aviva Investors France (AIF) has been granted a sales license in Spain for the Aviva Investors Crédit Europe (EUR308m), Aviva Investors Valeurs Europe (EUR234m) and Aviva Investors Monétaire (EUR10.1bn) funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The financial stability board (FSB) on 27 October published a series of “Principles for Reducing Reliance on Credit Rating Agency Ratings.” The objective of the principles laid out by the board is to reduce mechanical dependency on ratings, and to promote improvements in independent valuation of credit risk and means to undertake due diligence. The board emphasizes that the principles call for a significant modification to existing practices in five major areas: prudential supervision by banks, institutional investor policies, interventions by central banks, margin requirements for the private sector, and information requirements for securities issuers. The board admits, however, that the desires changes will not happen “from one day to the next.” It is desirable to maintain a transitional period, so that interested parties may put their own risk management capacities in place in the mid-term, and limit the influence of ratings agencies. The FSB proposes to issue an interim report on the progress made for the G20 during 2011.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa on 28 October announced that in the first nine months of the year, earnings for life insurance, savings and retirement totalled EUR43.97bn, an increase of 0.9%. new business was down 0.5% to EUR4.63bn, with a decline in activities in the United States, France and Japan, partly offset by good performance largely in Central and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, South-East Asia and China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. New business (APE) in high growth markets was up 28%. Net inflows totalled EUR7.8bn (an increase of EUR0.6bn compared with the first nine months of 2009), largely a result of an increase in gross inflows. Value of new business was up 13% to EUR911m, largely due to an improvement in the activities mix, due to new products launched in the United States and Japan. Earnings for asset management at the Axa group, for their part, increased 6.2% in the first nine months of the year to EUR2.46bn, largely due to higher average assets under management (+6%). Assets under management total EUR877bn, up by EUR32bn compared with 31 December 2009, due to market evolution and favourable currency effects, partially offset by net outflows, largely to the institutional client segment. Assets under management at Alliance Bernstein as of 30 September totalled EUR355bn, compared with EUR346bn as of the end of 2009, with net outflows of EUR23bn compensated by market effects of EUR14bn and currency effects of EUR18bn. Assets under management at Axa IM, for their part, totalled EUR522bn as of 30 September, compared with EUR499bn as of the end of 2009, with outflows of EUR19bn but market effects of EUR31bn and currency effects of EUR12bn. Outflows at Axa Rosenberg totalled EUR26bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For third quarter 2010, Morningstar has reported a 16.4% increase in consolidated earnings to USD139.8m, compared with USD120.1m in the corresponding period of last year. Excluding acquisitions and currency effects, earnings were up 6.6%. However, operating profits and net profits were down to USD30.2m and USD20.8m, respectively, compared with USD33.7m and USD22.5m. In January-September, earnings increased 13.4% compared with the first nine months of 2009, at USD404.2m, of which USD34.4m were from acquisitions, and USD4.2m from currency effects. Net profits fell to USD59m from USD68m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors at Morningstar Inc on 27 October approved the payment of a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per action in cash from 14 January 2011 for shareholders registered by 31 December 2010. Meanwhile, directors approved an equities buyback program to buy back ordinary shares for up to USD100m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 27 October announced that it has decided to strengthen its transparency policy, and has published several key documents on its website, including transportation costs for members of the board of directors and top executives. The moves comes as part of new measures initiated 18 months ago by the Californian fund to win back investor confidence. Assets under management by the fund now total about USD218bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Lazard totalled USD143.6bn as of 30 September, up 16% from 30 June and 19% compared with their levels one year ago.Lazard says in a statement released on 27 October that net inflows totalled USD1.1bn in third quarter, and USD6.2bn in the first nine months of the year.Revenues for the asset management unit were up 32% in third quarter, at USD208m. In the first nine months of the year, revenues increased 48% to a record USD578.9m.The group has announced net profits up 18% year on year, at USD62.1m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Affiliated Managers Group (AMG), which controls 27 investment boutiques, has announced net profits for third quarter of USD34m, compared with USD17.8m in the corresponding period of last year, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2010 to USD76.6m, compared with USD34.9m. Assets as of 30 September totalled about USD294bn, and net subscriptions in third quarter represented USD5.5bn, of which USD4.2bn were for institutional clients, USD1.1bn for mutual funds, and USD0.2bn for high net worth retail clients. Meanwhile, AMG has announced that as of 1 January 2011, Sean M. Healey, president & CEO, will succeed the founder, William J. Nutt as chairman. Bill Nutt, who had been chairman since 1993, will remain on the board as an independent director.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On the whole, the private equity sector remains highly critical of the compromise reached Tuesday on the AIFM directive, Agefi reports. “There will be less money available for investment in Europe,” says Uli Fricke, chairwoman of the European association for the sector. She also claims that “the directive will make the bigger funds stronger and the smaller ones weaker.”
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment week reports that T. Bailey has become the first multi-manager to adopt a position on the global absolute return strategies (GARS) from Standard Life, whose assets under management total about GBP5.6bn. Standard Life modified the prospectus for GARS funds last September, introducing a limit of 10% for investments in other funds, and allowing multi-managers to invest in them.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a source familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal, the London-based hedge fund manager Man Group is planning to lay off 200 people in the next six months, which is several times worse than expected at the time of its acquisition of GLG Partners in May. Currently, the new Man-GLG ensemble has about 1,800 employees.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net profits at Nordea in third quarter were up 32% to EUR711m, compareed with EUR539m in April-June; they were 14% up on EUR626m observed in the corresponding period of 2009. In the first nine months of the year, net profit totalled EUR1.89bn, compared with EUR1.87bn. As of the end of September, total assets under management were a record EUR180.2bn, compared with EUR169.8bn at the end of June, and EUR149.2bn twelve months previously. An increase of EUR10.4bn since 30 June is due to market effects and net subscriptions of EUR3.3bn. Assets in the asset management division, for their part, totalled EUR116bn as of the end of September, compared with EUR110bn three months previously, and EUR96bn as of 30 September 2009. Operating profits for the division totalled EUR97m, compared with EUR92m in second quarter and EUR72m in the corresponding period of last year.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Based on data from Morningstar, 733 of about 2,450 British funds in the categories of the Investment Management Association (IMA) manage less than GBP30m, which is generally considered the lower limit beneath which operation of a fund is no longer economically profitable, Fund Strategy reports. In addition, Morningstar suspects that the number of small funds is actually even higher, as many of them do not disclose their asset levels.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In December, Sonja Schemmann will take maternity leave. At that time, she will permanently hand over management of the Schroder ISF European Equity Yield and Schroder ISF European Dividend Maximiser funds to Rory Bateman, head of European equities, and Ian Kelly, manager of European and international equities funds, Fund Strategy reports. The two specialists will also take over the Schroder Global Equity Income, Schroder ISF Global Dividend Maximiser and Schroder ISF Global Equity Yield funds until Schemmann’s return. The Schroder Income Growth Investment Trust will be temporarily managed by Sue Noffke.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RBC Dexia has appointed Cristiano Moruzzo as its new director of relationship management in Italy. He will be in charge of strengthening existing ties with management firms, pension funds, insurers and financial institutions in securities services, and developing the network of contacts. He will report to Paride Amiotti, managing director of RBC Dexia Italia.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cotizalia reports that King Juan-Carlos of Spain on 27 October received Laurence Fink, president & CEO of BlackRock, for a private audience. The meeting was justified by the Palace by the significant investments the American investor has made in Spanish businesses, with sizeable stakes in groups such as Telefónica, Santander, BBVA, Repsol, Iberdrola, Sabadell, Abengoa, Técnicas Reunidas and Gamesa.
PGGM, which manages around EUR 100 billion of pension assets of over 2.2 million current and former health and welfare employees in the Netherlands, launches its own dedicated managed account platform for hedge fund investments. It has entered a partnership with Lyxor Asset Management to facilitate the operations, technology and infrastructure of the managed accounts.The platform is private and exclusively accessible for clients of PGGM. It enables the organisation «to offer its clients access to hedge fund strategies in a responsible, transparent and liquid structure», says a press release. «In addition significant cost reductions can be achieved by omission of the common fund of fund structure for hedge funds». Jan Soerensen, head of hedge funds of PGGM, says: “This development fits within our strategy to have more direct control and oversight on investments as a leading responsible investor. Hedge funds have an attractive risk return but show little transparency as well. Now we can achieve full transparency and invest in hedge funds in accordance with our Responsible Investments Policy.”
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Though net profits at BBVA fell in the first nine months of the year by 12.2% to EUR3.67bn, profits for the Wholsale Banking & Asset Management division increased 9.2% to EUR730m. In third quarter, the BBVA launched eight investment funds, two dynamic management funds, and among guaranteed funds, four bond and two equities products. On 26 October, BBVA Asset Management also launched its eighth guaranteed fund of the year, the BBVA Solidez VIII BP, which guarantees 109.069% of its net asset value as of 22 December 2010 at maturity on 14 October 2014. Two new funds of funds were launched by Quality Funds (multi-management), the Quality Valor and Quality Selección Emergente. On 30 September, total assets under management in Spain represented slightly over EUR42.59bn, of which EUR25.57bn were for investment funds (a decline of 8.6% for the quarter) and EUR17.02bn for pension funds (+1.9%).