Selon Les Echos, MCD et Sphéria Val de France, deux mutuelles interprofessionnelles, viennent de signer un accord de partenariat. Avec un objectif clairement affiché: fusionner début 2011, pour créer un nouveau groupe mutualiste.
Selon l’Agefi qui cite son président Frédéric Oudéa lors d’une conférence de presse à Londres lundi 21 septembre, la Société Générale entend toujours devenir «l’une des cinq principales banques européennes dans les trois à cinq ans». Bien que les pays d’Europe centrale et orientale soient la principale cause d’inquiétude du groupe en termes de coût du risque, les pays émergents sont une priorité dans la banque de détail. A ce titre, la Pologne et l’Egypte sont des pays nommément cités. La banque privée constitue l’autre axe de développement. Enfin, en banque d’investissement, Michel Péretié, le responsable de SG CIB, a rappelé vouloir atteindre la cinquième place en Europe.
Jusqu’au 23 novembre 2009, le Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, commercialise Formul’Action 2015, un fonds à formule à capital garanti (hors frais d’entrée) d’une durée de 6 ans. Géré par Fédéral Finance, sa performance est liée à celle des marchés actions de la zone euro. A l'échéance du 30 octobre 2015, les porteurs bénéficieront de 75 % de la performance moyenne de l’indice DJ Euro Stoxx 50, la performance étant calculée sur la base de relevés trimestriels. Caractéristiques Code ISIN : FR0010792705 Période de souscription/ Échéance de la formule : du 21 septembre au 23 novembre 2009/30 octobre 2015 Frais d’entrée : 2 % entre le 21/09/09 et le 30/10/2015 : 2 % + 1 % à compter du 23/11/09 Frais de sortie : 0,5 % entre le 23/09/09 et le 30/10/15 % + 1,5 % entre le 23/11/09 et le 30/10/15 Frais de gestion : 2 % Eligibilité : comptes de titres, assurance-vie, PERP Valeur liquidative d’origine : 100 euros Minimum à la première souscription : 45 euros
La Banque d’Orsay vient de lancer Orsay Arbitrages Actions, un FCP de droit français à objectif de performance absolue associant deux moteurs de performance : l’arbitrage sur fusions-acquisitions annoncées et l’arbitrage Long/Short actions en Market Neutral. Le nouveau fonds vise une performance annualisée supérieure à EONIA + 2 %, un objectif de volatilité inférieure à 5 % avec une liquidité quotidienne.Orsay Arbitrages Actions est géré par Frédéric Staub, qui a rejoint la Banque d’Orsay en 2008 en provenance du groupe BNP Paribas pour renforcer l’équipe actions, notamment sur le domaine du long/short.Caractéristiques Code ISIN : FR0000432767Frais de gestion : 0,80 % par an (HT, non soumis)Frais de gestion variable : correspondant à 20 % de la différence positive entre le rendement du fonds sur l’exercice et l’indice EONIA capitalisé +2
Lors d’une rencontre avec la presse, Olivier Roy, directeur général de KBL Richelieu Banque Privée, a annoncé qu’il n’excluait pas de réaliser une acquisition sur le marché. Alors que KBL Richelieu Gestion gère aujourd’hui 1,5 milliard d’euros au sein des OPCVM «maison» (contre 4 milliards d’euros à la fin de décembre 2007), Olivier Roy a précisé rechercher des sociétés disposant d’encours d’au moins 500 millions d’euros et pouvant atteindre plusieurs milliards.
Spanish equities funds have profited from the market rally in early March, and in the first eight months of this year, six out of ten funds show returns higher than the 23.53% posted by the Ibex index, Cinco Días reports. Some funds have earned up to 40% after commissions, which are about 2% of assets. Taking into account dividends paid by Ibex companies, only eight funds have done better than the 29% result for the index. The best returns were for leveraged funds such as the Foncaixa Bolsa España 150, which showed returns of 40.02% as of 31 August. The BBVA Bolas Ibex Quant, which may adopt maximal exposure of 195% to the Spanish market, has earned 34.11%. Some funds which follow a stock-picking approach have also outperformed the Ibex, such as the Manresa Borsa, Barclays Bolsa España and Barclays Bolsa España Selección funds.
Veritas Asset Management has announced that it will launch a long/short fund focused on China in early October, which will comply with the UCITS III directive. The Veritas China fund will be managed by star manager Ezra Sun, who is responsible for Asia strategies at Veritas. The fund will aim to generate annual returns of 15-20% in the long term. The capacity of the new product will be limited to USD500m. The objective will be to limit volatility to half of that of the Chinese equities market, as measured by the SMCI Zhong Hua index.
According to a survey by Open Europe* published on Monday, the AIFM directive will cost the private equity and hedge fund industries in the EU between EUR1.3bn and EUR1.9bn in the first year. The annual recurring cost is estimated at between EUR689m and EUR985m. On average, private equity and hedge fund firms estimate that their compliance cost could increase by 31.5% if the directive comes in to force. *The EU’s AIFM Directive, Likely impact and best way forward
The timetable for amending the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFM) is too ambitious, according to experts quoted by Ignites Europe. The proposed date for the first reading in the European Parliament, expected to take place in February 2010, is too soon.Speaking at last week’s Asset Management Conference in London, Peter De Proft, director general at Efama, said: «We are now moving towards having a general framework for non-Ucits funds; it is so important not to rush».
L’Agefi Switzerland reports that the OECD claims in its annual report on the European Union, published on 21 September, that “in many EU countries, uncertainties remain about the scale of problems with compromised assets remaining on banks’ balance sheets. There are continuing fears that banks lack sufficient capital to confront a possible further degradation in economic conditions.” “Systematic, rigorous and transparent stress testing is necessary to quantify the needs for owners’ equity at the various European banks,” the OECD states.
Despite the fact that the Treasury Department’s guarantee program expired Friday, money-market funds must continue to report holdings and valuation information to the SEC in certain circumstances, under an interim rule adopted Friday. If a fund’s net asset value per share falls below USD0.9975, it must notify the regulator and provide a portfolio schedule.
StartFragment--> Ignis Asset Management (EUR74bn in AUM) has announced the appointment of Rob Page to the role of Marketing Director. He will join the UK asset manager in early 2010 «to oversee a major drive to develop the Ignis retail brand». Rob Page joins from Liontrust where he was responsible for the promotion of funds to professional investors and advisers in the UK and Europe. Prior to this and until early 2008, he helped launch the New Star brand and was responsible for the group’s marketing and fund positioning. He is the eleventh person from New Star, bought by Henderson, to join Ignis AM. The asset manager has been hiring many people for the last months. Recently, it recruited nine people to develop Ignis’ European distribution business.
John McDonald, who was head of alternative sales & marketing at New Star Asset Management, has joined Impax Asset Management as head of sales & marketing. This is a newly-created position, which will make it possible to better coordinate the distribution of long-only products, hedge funds and private equity products of Impax (USD1.8bn in assets).
As part of its push to expand its retirement business, Putnam Investments on Tuesday will unveil 10 absolute return target-date funds, says the Wall Street Journal. Despite the name, the strategy does not guarantee an absolute return, but aims to hit a certain annual-return figure.
From 17 September to 30 September, the alternative management firm Salus Alpha is releasing its first arbitrage fund with daily liquidity which complies with the UCITS III directive, entitled Salus Alpha Commodity Arbitrage. No withdrawal penalties will be charged for subscriptions made in this initial period. The fund is licensed for sale in Austria and Germany. The Austrian-registered product, focused on commodities, is intended to allow investors to profit from differences in valuations between various markets or entire families of commodities, and to earn gains both in backwardation and contango situations on the market. In addition, the fund aims to take advantage of seasonal variations in demand for commodities. The Salus Alpha Commodity Arbitrage fund invests indirectly in commodities via derivatives (swaps and futures) on indexes such as the CAX (Commodity Arbitrage Index), which is listed in Vienna, and maintained by Alternative-Index GmbH, an affiliate of Salus Alpha. Front-end fees and management commission are 5.55% and 2.50%, respectively.
Banque d’Orsay has launched Orsay Arbitrages Actions, a French-registered fund which aims for absolute returns from a combination of two drivers of performance: arbitrage on announced mergers and acquisitions, and long/short equities market neutral arbitrage. The new fund will aim for annualised performance higher than the EONIA +2%, with a volatility objective of less than 5%, with daily liquidity. Orsay Arbitrage Actions is managed by Frédéric Staub, who joined Banque d’Orsay in 2008 from BNP Paribas, to strengthen the equities team, particularly in the area of long/short management.
Les Echos, reports that the global leader in commodities trading, the Swiss firm Glencore, has been in discussions since summer with China Investment Corp. (CIC), the Chinese sovereign fund with assets of about USD300bn. Some observers say that the two parties signed a letter of intent in August which laid out a framework for plans to team up. Glencore is in search of added sources of financing, and China has high demand for commodities.
L’Agefi reports, citing the chairman of the bank, Frédéric Oudéa, speaking at a press conference in London on Monday 21 September, that Société Générale is still hoping to become “one of the five largest European banks in the next three to five years.” Although the countries of central and eastern Europe are the main cause for concern for the group in terms of risk costs, emerging countries are a priority for the retail bank. To this end, Poland and Egypt are cited as particularly important targets. The private bank is the other major area of development. Lastly, in investment banking, Michel Péretié, head of SG CIB, also states that the firm hopes to reach fifth place in Europe.
Marc Renaud’s boutique Mandarine Gestion has managed to accumulate EUR700 million in assets since its launch 18 months ago, says Citywire. In February 2008 the group had just assets of EUR250 million. A sixth fund is soon to be added, adds Citywire.
Barclays is planning to launch an asset management business in Russia, building on its retail and investment banking activities in the country, says Financial News.
BNP Paribas is close to selling its 49% stake in ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management in China, in a step toward complying with Chinese mutual fund regulations, says Reuters. BNP Paribas currently owns three Chinese fund ventures, after taking over Fortis. China bars foreign investors from owning more than one fund venture.
York Capital Management is now offering for sale the York Event-Driven UCITS Fund, a product which provides access to York CM event-driven strategies, as part of the UCITS III-compliant fund product range from Bank of America Merill Lynch. York will manage the fund’s investments, while Merrill Lynch International will act as sponsor for the fund. The fund, managed by Jamie Dinan (founder and CEO of York), and Dan Schwartz (CIO), will employ a multi-strategy approach based on risk arbitrage, event equities, high-yield equities strategies, and credit. The York Event-Driven UCITS fund is open to subscriptions to institutional and retail investors in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain. Minimal subscription is set at USD1,000.
Fondsweb reports that the board of directors at JPMorgan Investment Strategies Funds II has decided to withdraw its JPM LifeCycle range of Luxembourg-registered target-date funds (2015, 2020, 2025, 2030 and 2035) on 18 September. The decision was motivated by the fact that assets as of 30 April were below the EUR20m threshold stated in the prospectus. In addition, outlooks for sufficient subscriptions to ensure effective management of portfolios were not adequate.
With the Deka-RentSpezial Plus 1 fund, DekaBank is launching a German-registered bond fund, which will mature at the end of August 2016, and which will invest in 25 bonds with the corresponding maturities. At the end of the first year, the fund will pay a coupon of 3.25% for each EUR100 share. From the second to the seventh year, Deka promises to pay at least 3% per year; however, if, on 31 August of the year which is underway, the Euribor 12 month is higher than 3%, the fund will pay a coupon corresponding to this rate at the end of the year. Redemptions will be for 100% of assets at maturity.
Political tensions between Switzerland and Libya are becoming costly for Geneva. Moammar Khadafi, is closing the local branch of the Libyan Investment Authority, the national sovereign fund, the Zurich Tages-Anzeiger reports, relaying reports in Private Banking, a professional magazine. LAP Swiss has managed a part of the Libyan African Portfolio (USD40bn) since 2006. The Libyan government is withdrwaing USD5bn. LAP Swiss owns stakes in several African countries, in the hotel, finance, communications, oil and gas production and air transport sectors. In 2008, according to statistics from the BNS, Libyan assets deposited at Swiss banks were reduced by CHF628m, to CHF5.12bn.
L’Echo reports that the finance minister of the Netherlands has been granted a further extension of two weeks to sell assets owned by ABN Amro and Fortis by the European Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes. The deadline has been moved back to 2 October. The sale of assets is a condition of the merger between ABN Amro and Fortis. Last week, Germany’s Deutsche Bank announced that it was backing out of plans to acquire some Dutch assets of ABN Amro, including an affiliate of ABN Amro, HBU.
Les Echos reports that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a warning about a potential decline of London as a market centre, in favour of other countries with more favourable tax policies. In a report published last week, ABI estimates that, if the government does not immediately revise its taxation regime, actors may be tempted to relocate to Ireland, Bermuda, the Netherlands, or Switzerland. Hiscox, which moved to Bermuda in 2006, and Brit Insurance, which will soon move its headquarters to the Netherlands, are two examples of firms which are making the move.
UBS est sous le coup d’une enquête du gendarme de la Bourse de Zurich, SIX Exchange Regulation rapporte l’Agefi. Il est question d’une «violation éventuelle des dispositions relatives à la publicité événementielle depuis 2007 jusqu'à fin 2008" et d’une «violation éventuelle de la directive corporate governance dans le cadre du rapport de gestion 2008". Dans le premier cas, la directive réglemente la diffusion d’informations pouvant avoir une incidence sur un cours de Bourse. Dans le second, la procédure oblige chaque émetteur à publier tout élément important concernant son conseil d’administration et son comité de direction. La Bourse de Zurich a refusé de détailler les motifs de l’enquête, précise l’Agefi.