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06/03/2009

Royaume-Uni - Veritas AM : Antony Burgess prend la tête du pôle institutionnel

La société de gestion indépendante Veritas Asset Management vient de recruter Antony Burgess pour assurer la direction du pôle institutionnel. Il aura pour mission la distribution des hedge funds asiatiques et des produits d’investissement asiatiques et globaux auprès des investisseurs institutionnels internationaux et britanniques. Burgess était précédemment chez Capital International, où il est resté cinq ans et où il a notamment contribué au développement du pôle institutionnel sur le marché britannique.
06/03/2009

Suisse - Raiffeisen s?affirme comme troisième banque suisse

En 2008, bénéficiant de la crise financière, la banque Raiffeisen a progressé plus vite que le marché sur ses deux principaux segments, les fonds de la clientèle et l"épargne. Par contre, son bénéfice net s"affiche en baisse de 19,5%, à 564 millions de francs suisses. " Raiffeisen renforce ainsi sa position de troisième groupe bancaire suisse par la taille des actifs, derrière UBS et Credit Suisse et devant la Banque cantonale de Zurich (113,2 milliards de francs à la fin 2008)», note le quotidien.
06/03/2009

Suisse - Secret bancaire: vers un dialogue

Attaquée sur le secret bancaire, la Suisse a choisi selon Le Temps la voie d"un groupe stratégique, dont le mandat sera dévoilé ce vendredi. «Nous sommes prêts à dialoguer et allons proposer une plateforme de négociation», a indiqué le ministre des finances Hans-Rudolf Merz.
06/03/2009

Monde - Matières premières : l'OICV veut plus de transparence boursière

Selon l’Agefi, l’Organisation internationale des commissions de valeur (OICV) demande aux régulateurs nationaux d’améliorer leur compréhension des marchés de matières premières sans pour autant fixer de délai précis. Les autorités devront, par exemple, «pouvoir accéder aux positions d’un trader à la fois sur les marchés physiques et de futures, afin de leur permettre d’identifier «les concentrations de positions et la composition générale du marché»", indique notamment le quotidien numérique.
06/03/2009

Suisse - Secret bancaire/UDC : il ne faut rien lâcher

Dans un entretien à L"Agefi suisse, Jean-François Rime, conseiller national UDC (Union démocratique du centre), estime que «si certains veulent soudainement changer les règles du jeu, alors tout le monde devra s"y plier. Si le secret bancaire devait tomber, au moins que cela soit le cas partout. Je pense que la Suisse ne doit rien lâcher maintenant. Ce n"est pas le moment d"agir dans la précipitation et d"abandonner des avantages qu"on regrettera dans six mois». «Au lieu de paniquer», explique le conseiller national au quotidien, «il faut rappeler certains principes. Nous avons conclu, que ce soit avec l"Union européenne ou avec les Etats-Unis par exemple, des accords internationaux qui sont toujours en vigueur. Ces accords doivent être respectés par tout le monde. Certes, on peut trouver quelques lacunes à la taxation à la source prévue dans la directive sur la fiscalité de l"épargne. Mais ce système choisi, négocié et signé entre Bruxelles et Berne dure jusqu"en 2013. Il faudra, j"en conviens, le préciser sur certains points. Mais nous avons le temps de l"améliorer».
06/03/2009

United States - SEC orders freeze of Westgate CM assets

The SEC has instructed the US department of justice to freeze all assets of Westgate Capital Mangement and its director, James M. Nicholson, due to suspected fraud, Hedge Week reports. Nicholson is accused of having deceived investors with unlikely reports of the performance of his eleven hedge funds. A criminal investigation of Nicholson has been launched by the New York state prosecutor’s office. Nicholson was barred in 2001 from practicing as a broker, for giving misleading testimony to an investigation by the NASD, which has since become Finra.
06/03/2009

Germany - Commerzbank to sell fund of hedge fund activities

The Financial Times reports that Commerzbank has put its USD900m fund of hedge fund firm, Comas, up for sale. The German bank is already in negotiations with several groups, including fund of hedge fund managers and private family offices. The expected sale price for Comas is estimated at about EUR10m.
06/03/2009

Germany - Legg Mason adds to sales staff

Marc Homsy, sales director for Fortis Investments, has been recruited as director of business development at Legg Mason Investments. He will be in charge of developing sales in Germany and Luxembourg of open-ended funds, particularly direct sales to institutional investors, and via external networks. He will report to Klaus Dahman, head of sales Germany & Austria.
06/03/2009

Poland - Sarasin opens a Warsaw office

The Polish financial services authority has granted permission to Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd (Rabobank group) to open a representative office in Warsaw. The office has been opened under the name Bank Sarasin & Co Ltd SA Przedstawicielstwo w Polsce. Sarasin is planning to offer ?sustainable Swiss private banking? products to high net worth clients. The primary representatives of Bank Sarasin in Warsaw are Yves Sarasin and Daniel Raemy.
06/03/2009

Germany - Irregularities at Deka?

The asset management for the German savings banks, DekaBank, has announced that it has suspended two of its securities traders for undertaking irregular transactions, who caused the bank excess brokerage fees of EUR0.1-0.25m, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Die Welt reports that, according to some sources close to the firm, the traders made personal gain from these transactions.Two external auditing committees, one from Deloitte & Touche and the other from PwC, are investigating the bank’s transactions. The PwC committee is seeking to verify whether the Bundesbank’s suspicions of possible irregularities are justified that the irregularities may affect a portfolio totalling EUR1.6bn. For the moment, there are no results; the report is expecting to be ready in time for an annual press conference on 25 March. As a precaution, Deka has already revised its ?economic profits? for 2008 downward by about EUR100m.
06/03/2009

United Kingdom - New CIO for Pension Protection Fund

Ian McKinlay, formerly head of advising for asset management at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has been appointed chief investment officer of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), Professional Pensions reports. McKinlay had already been acting in this role as an external consultant from April to October 2008. The PPF currently manages assets of over GBP3bn.
06/03/2009

Ireland - Ethical committee to consider NPRF policies

The Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, has announced that the lower chamber of Parliament (Dáil Éireann) will soon found an inter-ministerial commission to study the possibility of establishing ethical investment directives for the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF), IPE reports. When the national pension fund was founded in 2001, it was decided that an ethical investment policy would not be appropriate or practical since it would be restrictive. But opinions have changed since, and the MPRF commission has introduced several environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidelines into the management of the fund.
06/03/2009

United States - Merrill Lynch sues Deutsche Bank

Merrill Lynch has field a civil suit against Deutsche Bank in New York, for poaching its treasurer, Eric Heaton. Handelsblatt relays reports in Bloomberg that Heaton resigned from Merrill Lynch in February, and immediately joined Deutsche Bank, without respecting a non-competition clause which would have required him to observe a gardening leave of one year. On top of that, eleven experienced managers are said to have been recruited by Deutsche Bank over the course of several months; they left the same day as Heaton. Deutsche Bank admits that it recruited only six senior managers from Merrill Lynch, including Eric Heaton and his brother David, the former head of asset management.
06/03/2009

United Kingdom - Profits at Aviva Investors contract

Aviva Investors has posted operating profits by IFRS accounting standards for 2008 of GBP114m, or 6% less than in 2007, and assets as of 31 December were stable at GBP236bn, while assets under management for the group were up 6% to GBP381bn.
06/03/2009

United States - SSgA recruits a head of sales from ING

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has announced the recruitment of James (Jamie) Kase as executive vice president, head of global sales and marketing. Kase was previously executive vice president of ING Investment Management in New York, and was in charge of distribution in the United States. In his new position, Kase will direct all aspects of sales and marketing in the United States, with a particular emphasis on institutional clients and intermediaries.
06/03/2009

Germany - Fidelity satisfied with 2008 results

Due to market effects, assets at Fidelity International on the German market (retail and institutional clients) at the end of December totalled EUR6.97bn (of which EUR1.1bn were for institutional clients and EUR2.2bn for retail clients), compared with EUR12.4bn twelve months earlier. However, the manager declared that it is satisfied to have been able to post net subscriptions of EUR60m, while net redemptions began in November, and, in January-February 2009, they totalled EUR315m. During this latter period, Fidelity has taken on five well-known businesses as clients.
06/03/2009

United States - Moody's to downgrade JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and BoA

Cinco Días reports that Moody’s is considering lowering the outlook for its rating of JPMorgan from stable to negative, in recognition of the fact that the firm, led by Jamie Damon, will lose less money than others, but will be burdened by Washington Mutual. The ratings agency is also planning to lower its ratings of Wells Fargo and Bank of America. In the case of the latter bank, with S&P downgraded last week, Moody’s appreciates the solidity of capital, but is concerned about higher-than-expected provisions to cover losses on credit portfolios and exposure to international markets. Meanwhile, Citigroup is trading at less than USD1 per share, and ranks 184th worldwide in terms of market capitalisation, behind a Malaysian company.
06/03/2009

Spain - Valórica introduces daily net asset value reporting for its macro fund

To adapt to evolving demand on the part of investors, the independent alternative management firm Valórica has announced that it has received permission from the CNMV to modify the bi-monthly net asset value reporting in place for its Valórica Macro fund, launched in February 2008, and introduce daily net asset value reporting, Funds People reports. The product posted performance of 8.7% in 2008, with volatility of less than 5%. Since the beginning of the year, the Macro fund has gained 1.6%, with volatility of under 2%.
06/03/2009

Germany - Fidelity, Franklin Templeton and Pioneer suffered in 2008

In 2008, foreign managers highly specialised in equities were affected particularly severely by the falling markets, Handelsblatt reports. Fidelity has seen a record fall of 44% in its German assets to a level close to EUR7bn. At Fidelity, more than 85% of assets are invested in equities; institutionals brought some improvement to results for the group, and net subscriptions represented EUR60m. The same is true at Franklin Templeton and Pioneer. The former suffered a decline of nearly half of its assets under management to EUR8bn, while net redemptions represented only EUR1.3bn. At Pioneer, assets fell 38% to EUR20.17bn, while market effects were responsible for nearly two thirds of this contraction.In total, assets under management at management firms belonging to the BVI association fell by about 14%.
06/03/2009

United States - Stanford dropped by defence lawyer

Thomas Sjoblom, the star defence lawyer for Stanford Financial Group, has notified the SEC that he will be withdrawing from the case, and has requested that he not be held responsible for statements he has made concerning Stanford Financial Group and its affiliates, the Wall Street Journal reports. The announcement of Sjoblom’s decision comes a few days after Stanford’s CFO, Laura Pendergast-Holt, came before a criminal court on charges of obstructing the course of justice and lying under oath. Sjoblom is thought to have been present at a meeting at Stanford, at which it emerged that the group had made investments which did not correspond to what had been disclosed to investors.
06/03/2009

Italy - Redemptions from OPCVM funds slow up

In February, OPCVM funds on sale in Italy saw net redemptions of EUR2.9bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of management professionals. This represents an improvement compared with the EUR4.9bn that flowed out of these funds in January.In February, money market funds returned to positive territory, with net inflows of EUR572m, though they suffered redemptions of EUR262m in January. But they were the only category to see a positive balance.Equities mutual funds saw outflows of EUR143m, while EUR1.7bn flowed out of bond funds. Hedge funds are also still in the red, with outflows of EUR611m, nonetheless a reduction in overall outflows compared with January. Since the beginning of the year, the category has seen redemptions of EUR1.8bn, bringing assets to EUR18.4bn.In total, assets under management in OPCVM funds on sale in Italy are down to EUR388bn, compared with EUR398bn. 50% of this amount is managed by four groups: Intesa Sanpaolo, Pioneer, Ubi and Arca.The two largest groups are also the ones which have suffered the largest redemptions, particularly Pioneer, which saw EUR1.9bn in outflows in February. Intesa Sanpaolo has undergone outflows of EUR770.6m.However, firms which show net subscriptions include Monte dei Paschi di Siena, BNP Paribas, Mediolanum, Generali, Azimut, Crédit Agricole Asset Management, Credito Emiliano, and Kairos.
06/03/2009

World - 28% of hedge funds vanished in 2008

Nearly one third of hedge funds (28%) disappeared from the HFR database between 1 January and November 2008, a new study by Olympia finds. ?This is a very significant increase compared with the aggregated estimate of 10% on the basis of statistics from the past 15 years,? says Corentin Christory, author of the study.This does not necessarily mean that fully 28% of all funds have closed. ?if a fund ceases to report information, it does not systematically imply that the fund has been put into liquidation. Some managers, for example, may cease to disclose their results if they deteriorate, and will wait until they return to an acceptable performance level before beginning to report again. Other managers may definitively cease reporting if they consider that they no longer need to give information about their performance,? Olympia explains.Historically, the liquidation rate is 40% to 50% below the attrition rate. ?It is, however, probable that in the current environment, the ratio will be small, and that most of the recent withdrawal of funds from the database is due to liquidations,? Christory remarks.Olympia states that the number of funds ceasing to report has increased strongly since September 2008, from an average of 66 funds per month to 138 funds per month on average since September.The most affected funds are those with the smallest volume of assets under management. The attrition rate falls to 22% and 10% for funds with assets of over USD50m and USD200m, respectively. The disappearance of funds also varies depending on their investment strategies. The most massacred category has been relative value, with 37% of funds disappearing, followed by credit (33%), long/short equity (26%), and global macro/CTAs (20%).
06/03/2009

United Kingdom - Net subscriptions down by one quarter at Skandia

Skandia has announced that its sales of unit trusts and mutual funds in the United Kingdom and abroad fell by one quarter last year to GBP1.71bn, compared with GBP2.27bn the previous year, and that assets have fallen in twelve months by 17% to GBP34.9bn as of 31 December. At the firm’s parent company, Old Mutual, assets at the end of the year were down 5% to GBP264.8bn, after GBP1.2bn in net redemptions, compared with GBP23.4bn in net inflows the previous year.Old Mutual has announced plans to combine all its long-term savings activities currently at Skandia, OMSA, US Life and in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a single entity, which will be based in London and led by Paul Hanratty.
06/03/2009

United States - Legg Mason removes all SIVs from money market funds

Legg Mason has announced that it has now removed all securities issued by structured investment vehicles (SIV) and other ?conduits? from the portfolios of its money market funds. Legg Mason and its funds have sold shares in five different SIVs for USD1.8bn in nominal value. This will result in net outflows of USD1.2bn for the management firm. Due to tax-related redemptions expected this summer, Legg Mason is expecting to have about USD1bn in cash, which will be used to pay off debt or other corporate projects. The transactions announced are expected to result in a net charge of USD367m in quarterly operating results.
06/03/2009

Italy - LCF Rothschild plans an acquisition

In Italy, assets under management by the Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild have fallen to EUR700m due to redemptions of about 25%, according to Stefano Rossi, head of the Italian affiliate. But the private bank is growing. In the country, Michael Cicurel, head of the bank, is planning an acquisition: ?We are planning to buy something, maybe in asset management, but at the moment it is difficult to find an appropriate entity.?
06/03/2009

Germany - BNY Mellon AS and BHF AS extend cooperation

Bank of New York Mellon Asset Servicing and the German firm BHF Asset Servicing GmbH (BHF-Bank, Sal. Oppenheim group) have announced a new agreement extending their cooperation to portfolio transition management, commission recapture, and futures compensation. The two partners will also extend their cooperation in global custody and subcustody, but each management firm will maintain its separate activities in the area of depository banking.
06/03/2009

Norway - Losses of EUR3bn for government pension fund

The Government Pension Fund - Norway lost EUR2.95bn in 2008, according to the most recent statistics from Folketrygfondet, cited by IPE.com. Assets have fallen to NOK87.8bn. The pension fund, heavily invested in equities, lost 25.1% in 2008.
05/03/2009

Allemagne - Les ETF assurent les deux tiers de la collecte nette de janvier

Les souscriptions nettes des fonds commercialisés en Allemagne ont porté en janvier sur 13,92 milliards d’euros contre 5,3 milliards pour décembre et 9,76 milliards un an plus tôt.Sur ce total, les rentrées nettes des fonds de valeurs mobilières se sont montées à 7,57 milliards d’euros contre 3,11 milliards le mois précédent et 5,75 milliards un an auparavant. On remarque que les trois grands émetteurs d’ETF ont collecté en net 2,06 milliards (Barclays Global Investors ou BGI), plus de 1,83 milliard pour ETFlab (Deka) et 1,1 milliard (db x-trackers, deutsche Bank). Soit au total presque 5 milliards d’euros ou 66 % du total. Et ces chiffres ne comprennent pas le résultat de ComStage, la filiale ETF de la Commerzbank...
05/03/2009

Allemagne - La Deutsche Bank recrute une grosse pointure chez UBS

Tom Cooper, qui dirigeait l’activité fusions-acquisitions d’UBS, rejoint la Deutsche Bank comme co-chairman des fusions-acquisitions à l'échelon mondial, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. L’intéressé sera subordonnée à Henrik Aslaksen et Brett Olsher, les deux patrons de la division fusions-acquisitions du groupe.

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