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09/06/2010
Fonds

Le hedge fund de Moore Capital souffre en mai

Louis Bacon, le gérant de hedge funds qui avait dégagé des gains annuels d’environ 20 % ces vingt dernières années, a vu son plus gros hedge fund, Moore Global Investments, accuser une perte de 9,2 % en mai, indique le Wall Street Journal, citant des investisseurs. Il s’agit de la pire performance annuelle de l’histoire du fonds. Le mois de mai a été le plus mauvais pour les hedge funds depuis novembre 2008 selon Hedge Fund Research, avec un déclin moyen de 2,3 %.
Fonds
09/06/2010

UBS: Swiss parliament refuses to hand over information to the United States

The Swiss parliament on 8 June rejected an agreement which would have delivered the names of thousands of UBS customers suspected of tax evasion to the United States authorities, and instead referred the bill to the Council of States, the upper chamber of the Swiss legislature. 104 members of the National Council, the lower chamber, voted against the proposal to accede to the United States demand for information about 4,450 clients suspected of evading US taxes, while 76 members voted in favour, after debates which were carried live on Swiss television. They also resolved that approval of the agreement, signed between the Swiss and US governments in August 2009, and challenged in January of this year by the Swiss courts, should be subject to an optional referendum. Under Swiss law, any citizen can raise a referendum on any law by collecting 50,000 signatures in 100 days.
09/06/2010

Thames River registers a Newcits fund in Germany

BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany to the UCITS-compliant fund of hedge funds Thames River Absolute Return, whose launch was announced by the British asset management firm Thames River (currently in the course of being acquired by F&C) on 14 January. The objective of the fund, a sub-fund of the Irish Sicav Thames River Traditional Multi Funds plc, is total annual returns of 5% to 10%, with ex ante volatility of 5%, and weekly liquidity. It replicates the strategy used for the Sentinel multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, and aims to outperform the global Barclays Aggregate Bond Index. The fund is managed by Ken Kinsey-Quick, assisted by James Rous (see Newsmanagers of 19 January). Assets total about EUR75m, or about GBP62.1bn, compared with GBP47m when the fund was launched.
09/06/2010

FCIC says Goldman Sachs is not cooperating

Agefi reports that the US Financial Crisis Investigation Commission (FCIC) is accusing Goldman Sachs of obstructing its enquiry. Goldman Sachs has submitted a total of 5 terabytes of documents, or 2.5 billion pages, according to the estimate of the 50-person FCIC, the newspaper reports.
09/06/2010

Hans Hoogervorst appointed chairman of IOSCO technical committee

The international organisation of securities commissions (IOSCO) on 8 June announced the appointment of Hans Hoogervorst as chairman of the technical committee of the international association. Hoogervorst, the president of the financial market authority of the Netherlands (AFM), and vice-chairman of the technical committee since 2009, will start in his new role following the IOSCO annual conference, which began on 7 June in Montreal. In this position he replaces Kathleen Casey, commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The vice-chairmanship will go to Masamichi Kono, of the Japanese financial services authority.
09/06/2010

Co-operative banks would also like to host money of richer clients

From 1 September, the German co-operative banks are planning to strongly develop their activities serving high net worth retail clients, says Stefan Schwab, head of the private banking group at DZ Bank. According to Schwab, it is not acceptable that the co-operative banks, with EUR15bn out of a potential market of EUR200bn, have a market share of only 1% to 2% in this segment, while they have a 30% market share in the general market, Die Welt reports. For the co-operative banks, high net worth clients start at EUR250,000 in financial savings. Schwab would like to launch an offensive on this territory against the major banks, such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, though he knows there is less chance of winning over clients of traditional private banks such as Berenberg and Metzler. Banks on the network will staff their branches with up to 300 specialists. In September, DZ Bank will open its first three locations in Hanover, Stuttgart and Munich. WGZ Bank, for its part, has been present for a long time in Düsseldorf, Koblenz and Münster.
09/06/2010

German institutionals turn their backs on foreign asset managers

The 2010 survey of institutional funds (Spezialfondsmarkstudie 2010), by the ratings agencies Kommalpha and Telos, based on a survey of 150 German institutional investors, finds that attitudes to local asset management firms are considerably more favourable than towards foreign firms. On average, professionals surveyed rely on the services of four German and two foreign management firms. Compared with previous studies, this is a net deterioration, as only 39% of institutionals say they work with foreign management firms, compared with 56% in 2008, and 71% in 2007. Though 41% of institutional investors say they are prepared to change management firms this year (compared with 52% in 2008 and 35% in 2007), 44% are planning to give top priority to German firms, while only 14% are planning to award mandates to foreign firms. This should lead foreign firms to critically reassess their strategies on the German market, Kommalpha says.
09/06/2010

Appointment at Convictions AM

The French asset management firm Convictions AM announced on Tuesday, 8 June, that it has recruited Chloe Picandet as an addition to its risk management team. Picandet, 31, started her career in 2002 at SGAM Alternative Investments, and then joined Systeia Capital Management, as a financial engineer and then as a deputy head of futures funds (FCIMT). In 2009, she participated in the creation of the fund manager Ossiam.
09/06/2010

BlackRock joins the French asset management association

On Tuesday, BlackRock announced that it has joined the French asset management association AFG, making it the first foreign asset manager to join the professional organisation via its local commercial affiliate, without having a local asset management structure in place. BlackRock currently has assets of about EUR11bn under management for French clients. The AFG now has 413 firms as members.
09/06/2010

Christophe Ricetti appointed head of financial communications at Natixis

Natixis has announced the appointment of Christophe Ricetti as head of financial communications for Natixis. He will report to Luc-Emmanual Auberger, director of risk and finance. Ricetti joined Natixis Securities in 1998 as a sell-side analyst for European banking sector equities, specialising in French, Belgian and Spanish shares.
09/06/2010

Legg Mason recruits a head from Allstate Financial

Laura Zimmerman, who has spent 14 years at Allstate Financial, most recently as chief strategy officer, is joining Legg Mason Inc (USD685bn in assets as of the end of April) as head of marketing & product for the group’s activities in the United States. She will be responsible for development and deployment of brand and marketing strategy, and investment and retirement solutions for the Americas division of Legg Mason. She will be based in Stamford, Connecticut.
09/06/2010

Short-selling: French government takes a cue from Germany

Les Echos reports that the finance commission of the French legislature is proposing to shorten the time period permitted between settlement and clearance of shares traded on regulated markets from three days to one day, in the most recent version of its report on draft banking and financial regulations, which will be examined tomorrow in a public hearing. The bill, which has the support of the government, would require all parties selling shares to deliver them within 24 hours of the execution of the order on the stock market. Most of the major western European countries have a three-day deadline for settlement and clearance. Only Germany has opted for a two-day deadline.
09/06/2010

Tax hike in the works for fund management firms

Senate Democrats unveiled a proposal that would more than double the taxes on private-equity, hedge-fund and certain real-estate managers, says the Wall Street Journal. The proposed law would tax «carried-interest» income, or the share of profits that fund managers receive as part of their compensation. This income is currently taxed at a 15% rate. The new law would raise the tax rate for investment partnership income to an effective 30% in 2011 and 33% in 2013.
09/06/2010

Latin America offsets outflows for Spanish management firms

The major Spanish investment fund and pension fund management firms, BBVA and Santander, have managed to compensate in Latin America for net redemptions they have suffered in Spain. They have attracted more than EUR25bn in Central and South America, and their local affiliates have assets under management that now exceed those in Spain, Expansión reports. BBVA Asset Management is the largest Spanish actor in Latin America, with EUR77bn in assets, followed by Santander Asset Management, with EUR55bn.
09/06/2010

Carbon traders seek anti-fraud regulations

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), an association of traders specialised in carbon emission rights, on 8 June published proposals to restore order in their markets. The association would like to see a single supervisory body for carbon markets throughout the European Union.
09/06/2010

Moore Capital hedge fund had a bad month in May

Louis Bacon, who has scored annual gains of about 20% on average over the past twenty years, shouldered losses of 9.2% in May in his biggest hedge fund, Moore Global Investments, according to investors cited by The Wall Street Journal. May was the worst month for hedge funds since November 2008, according to Hedge Fund Research, with an average loss of 2.3%.
09/06/2010

Central Europe SRI fund launched

Estonian SRI specialist Limestone Investment Management has taken a SRI fund which invests in central and eastern Europe to Swedish investors, says Citywire. The New Europe Socially Responsible Fund has an investment universe of 300 companies which actively seek to fulfill compliance with international norms on environmental, social and governance issues in accordance with the Principles for Responsible Investment. The fund also avoids investing in alcohol, etc.
09/06/2010

Redemptions from Italian funds in May

In May, mutual funds on sale in Italy saw net redemptions of EUR3.5bn, Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers, reports. Outflows were from equities funds (-EUR1.6bn) and money market funds (-EUR2.38bn). Hedge funds also saw outflows of -EUR55m. However, bond funds had net inflows of EUR343m, while flexible and balanced funds saw inflows of EUR173m and EUR49m, respectively. As of the end of May, assets in the industry totalled EUR444.5bn, lower than the EUR451.9bn level at the end of April. Groups with the heaviest net redemptions were Pioneer Investments (-EUR642.2m), Bipiemme (-EUR588.6m), and Anima SGR (-EUR586.7m). However, groups which did best in May, with the strongest net inflows, were Mediolanum (EUR185.1m), Banca Carige (EUR29.2m), and Azimut (EUR24.3m).
09/06/2010

Hedge funds lost 2.89% in May, according to BarclayHedge

The BarclayHedge hedge fund index, calculated on the basis of results from 948 funds which had published results as of 8 June, lost 2.89% in May. In the first five months of the year, performance totals 1.47%. The heaviest losses in May were for emerging markets strategies (157 funds), which lost 5.74%, equity long bias (91 funds), with losses of 4.46%). For January-May, the best results were for the distressed securities strategy, with returns of 8.07%. BarclayHedge also states that in April, hedge funds saw net redemptions of USD3.35bn, following net subscriptions of USD5.3bn in March. As of the end of April, assets were at their highest point for 18 months, at USD1.6trn.
09/06/2010

MCH Investment Strategies goes into third-party marketing

José Eustasio del Castaño Villanueva and Alejandro Sarrate Bruno have joined the six partners at MCH Private Equity (EUR500m in assets), to set up the brokerage firm MCH Investment Strategies, which the CNMV registered on 16 October 2009, and which will function as a third-party marketer (TPM). Funds People reports that the new entity will aim to select at most six managers with stable performance, each in different asset class, and represent them exclusively to institutional investors in Spain and Portugal. They have already signed agreements with three independent managers: Ferox Capital, Fulcrum Asset Management, and Odey Asset Management.
09/06/2010

Sasha Evers takes over as head of BNY Mellon for Spain

BNY Mellon has appointed Sasha Evers as director of its Madrid office, following the departure of Jaime Gil-Delgado, head of the Bank of New York Mellon for Spain. Evers will retain his position as CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Management Iberia (see Newsmanagers of 11 September 2008). César Valcárcel, CEO, has also been appointed head of sales for the Iberian peninsula for the asset servicing operation and customer relationship management.
09/06/2010

European institutional assets top EUR5trn

According to IPE.com, European institutional assets were EUR5.2trn at end-2009, up 8.3% from previous year. Due to its merger with BGI, BlackRock takes the lead in the rankings of the top 10 managers of European institutional assets, with EUR465.8bn under management, followed by Legal & General IM and Natixis Global AM. BlackRock is also the leader worldwide, with EUR2.334trn, ahead of State Street Global Advisors and Allianz Global Advisors. The largest French firm in the global rankings is Amundi, born of the merger of CAAM and SGAM, in eighth place, just ahead of its fellow French management firm BNP Paribas Investment Partners, which has absorbed Fortis Investments, IPE.com reports.
09/06/2010

Amundi soon to launch its first managed account on new Irish platform

Amundi has decided to stay a step ahead of the final touches being put on the new AIFM directive, with the launch of an alternative managed accounts platform in Europe. The platform, Amundi Hedge, previously based in Bermuda, will be domiciled in Ireland, Florence Remy-Brunelle, Business Development Manager at Amundi Investments Solutions, announced yesterday at the 2010 institutional management conference organised by the Edhec Risk Institute. Amundi is currently putting the final touches on a master/feeder fund structure, in the form of an Irish unit trust, and will be launching its first managed account, a CTA, on the Irish platform by the end of this month. Offshore funds will also be transferred to the new European platform, and investments in some underlyings of existing funds of hedge funds will be transferred to the platform. Amundi AI is also developing a partnership with Seeds Finance to design and manage custom alternative multi-management solutions, which will be reserved for institutional investors, with the triple objective of returns, liquidity and transparency, in a French-registered and secure framework. The first fund of funds in this framework, Newis Completude, was launched on 31 March of this year. Last but not least, Amundi is also planning to ride the recent wave of UCITS III-compliant hedge funds, and will give priority to products of this type, which are proving highly successful in Asia, and which give Europe a lead in financial management.
09/06/2010

Brooks Macdonald acquires Braemar group

The asset management and advising firm Brooks Macdonald on 8 June announced that it is acquiring the real estate and structured products specialist Braemar for GBP4bn. As of 31 March, assets under management at Brooks totalled GBP2.05bn. The firm, which has more than 160 employees, is listed on the AIM exchange. As of 7 June, its market capitalisation stood at GBP79m.
09/06/2010
Fonds

Les fonds italiens accusent des rachats en mai

En mai, les OPCVM commercialisés en Italie ont accusé des rachats nets pour 3,5 milliards d’euros, indique Assogestion, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion d’actifs. La décollecte a été alimentée par les fonds actions (-1,6 milliards d’euros) et les fonds monétaires (-2,38 milliards d’euros). Les hedge funds sont aussi dans le rouge, avec -55 millions d’euros. En revanche, les fonds obligataires ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 343 millions d’euros, tandis que les fonds flexibles et les fonds diversifiés engrangent respectivement 173 millions d’euros et 49 millions.A la fin mai, les encours du secteur ressortaient à 444,5 milliards d’euros, en repli par rapport aux 451,9 milliards de la fin avril. Les groupes ayant affiché les plus forts remboursements nets sont Pioneer Investments (-642,2 millions d’euros), Bipiemme (-588,6 millions d’euros) et Anima SGR (-586,7 millions). A contrario, les groupes ayant tiré leur épingle du jeu en mai en enregistrant les plus fortes souscriptions sont Mediolanum (185,1 millions d’euros), Banca Carige (29,2 millions) et Azimut (24,3 millions).
Fonds
09/06/2010
Fonds

La délégation de gestion se développe

Avec la crise et la hausse des coûts, la délégation de gestion, par laquelle une société de gestion demande à une autre de gérer un de ses fonds, se développe de plus en plus en Italie, observe Plus, le supplément «argent» de Il Sole – 24 Ore. Résultat, les acteurs finissent par se spécialiser soit sur la gestion pure, soit sur la distribution.
Fonds
09/06/2010
Fonds

Les hedge funds ont perdu 2,89 % en mai, selon BarclayHedge

D’après BarclayHedge, l’indice des hedge funds calculé à partir des résultats de 948 fonds ayant publié leurs résultats au 8 juin a baissé en mai de 2,89 %. Sur les cinq premiers mois de l’année, la performance ressort à 1,47 %. La plus forte perte de mai a été accusée par la stratégie marchés émergents (157 fonds) avec une chute de 5,74 %, devant l'équity long bias 91 fonds), qui perd 4,46 %.Pour janvier-mai, le meilleur résultat est enregistré par la stratégie distressed securities avec une performance de 8,07 %.BarclayHedge indique aussi qu’en avril les hedge funds ont subi des remboursements nets de 3,5 milliards de dollars, après des souscriptions nettes de 5,3 milliards en mars. A fin avril l’encours était à son plus haut depuis 18 mois, avec 1.600 milliards de dollars.
Fonds
09/06/2010
Fonds

BNY Mellon Global Real Return mise sur les thèmes d'avenir

En mars, BNY Mellon Asset Management lançait BNY Mellon Global Real Return (EUR), un fonds flexible à performance absolue, compartiment de la sicav BNY Mellon Global Funds (voir notre dépêche du 24/03/2010). Géré par Newton Investment Management Limited, l’une des boutiques de gestion de BNY spécialisée à la fois dans la gestion d’actions et d’obligations - tant globales que régionales - que dans la gestion flexible multi assets, le fonds bénéficie d’une liberté d’investissement sur un large éventail de classe d’actifs. Actuellement, le portefeuille est exposé à 55 % aux actions (principalement américaines, européennes et britanniques). «Nous avons une approche défensive de l’investissement en actions», souligne James Harries, gérant du BNY Mellon Global Real Return. Après avoir identifié des thèmes d’avenir, à partir de tendances fondamentales plutôt que de perspectives économiques, comme la sécurité, les soins médicaux, ou encore la démographie et l'écologie, l'équipe de gestion trouve des idées d’investissements dans des sociétés présentant «une bonne capacité d’autofinancement, des bénéfices stables et des rendements élevés», précise le gérant. A fin avril, résultat de la sélection de valeurs de l'équipe, les secteurs privilégiés pour la poche actions étaient la pharmaceutique, les télécommunications mobiles, les mines, les producteurs de gaz et de pétrole et les assurances dommages. Au sein du portefeuille, on retrouve des valeurs telles que Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Newcrest mining ou encore Roche et Novartis.
Fonds

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