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10/02/2009

France - Banques Pop/Caisses d'Epargne : le périmétre de la fusion encore en débat

Selon La Tribune, malgré les appels pressants de l’Elysée, les Banques Populaires continuent a privilégier un rapprochement a minima de leurs organes centraux alors que Les Caisses d'Épargne, soumises à la volonté de l'État et « sont prêtes à réaliser une fusion complète ». «Les Banques Populaires ne veulent en tout cas pas que le Crédit Foncier soit dans le périmètre de rapprochement», précise notamment le quotidien. En revanche, «Natixis sera assurément dans le futur groupe», complète La Tribune.
10/02/2009

Allemagne - Universal Investment a enregistré des souscriptions nettes en 2008

Bernd Vorbeck, président du comité directeur, indique dans un entretien à la Börsen-Zeitung qu’Universal Investment a enregistré l’an dernier des souscriptions nettes de plus de 10 milliards d’euros, dont 3 milliards pour les fonds offerts au public. Cela a permis à la société de gestion spécialiste des services administratifs de maintenir ses encours à un niveau constant de 84 milliards d’euros.
10/02/2009

Etats-Unis - Blackstone se passera d'un patron des fonds de hedge funds

Selon le blog Deal Journal du Wall Street Journal, Bruce Amlicke, managing director et CIO de la division fonds de hedge fonds (62 professionnels de l’investissement) de Blackstone Alternative Investment Management (BAAM, 30 milliards de dollars d’encours), quittera pour motifs personnels ce poste auquel il avait été nommé début juin 2004 (il était précédemment global CIO de l’alternative investment solutions group chez UBS O’Connors. Il restera encore quelques mois à disposition de son employeur. Blackstone n’a pas l’intention de pourvoir à nouveau ce poste.
10/02/2009

France - Role of depository debated in Paris

In the midst of a scandal which concerns four alternative management firms which had Lehman Brothers as their prime broker, the depositories RBC Dexia Investor and Société Générale Securities Services oppose French regulations governing their responsibilities as asset custodians, La Tribune reports in its 9 February edition. ?The AMF has issued an injunction against RDIS and SGSS stating their responsibility to restitute securities, and the amount of assets frozen at LB. Without denying this, they appealed the injunction, which will come before a Paris appeals court on 18 February 2009,? the financial newspaper says.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - Preben Prebenson to become CEO of Close Brothers at the beginning of April

On Monday, Close Brothers Group plc announced the appointment, effective 1 April, of Prebin Prebenson as CEO, replacing Colin Keogh, who has been group chief executive since November 2002, and is retiring. Prebin Prebenson was previously group chief investment officer and a member of the executive board at the insurance firm Catalin Group plc, after the acquisition of the firm in 2006 by Wellington Underwriting, where Prebenson had been CEO since 2004.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - Gartmore plans to launch absolute performance fund in UCITS III format

Gartmore is planning to launch the European Absolute Return Fund sub-fund of its Gartmore Sicav in March. The sub-fund will be a UCITS III-compliant fund managed by Robert Guy and Guillaume Rambourg, who already manage the AlphaGen Capella fund, Funds People reports. It is a long/short fund with daily net asset value reporting, which will be limited to a capacity of EUR200m. The portfolio will include 50 to 100 positions, and net exposure to the market will range, in principle, from 0% to 50%, says Victoria Huerta, head of Gartmore for southern Europe and Latin America.The AlphaGen Capella fund stodd out in 2008 with losses of only 2.8%, at a time when the HFRI Equity Hedge Index, which represents the performance of similar funds, lost 26.24%.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - New Star to liquidate Heart of Africa fund

After freezing all activities at the fund in December, New Star is planning to liquidate its Heart of Africa fund (GBP29m in assets) and reimburse subscribers on 31 March, This is Money reports. Redemptions have left the equities portfolio with poor liquidity levels. Since its launch in November 2007, the fund, specialised in sub-Saharan countries and managed by Jamie Allsopp, has posted losses of 24%.
10/02/2009

France - EDRAM appoints Philippe Cormon as head of distribution for France

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) has announced the appointment of Philippe Cormon, whom it recruited in September 2004, as director of distribution, effective from Monday this week. He will be in charge of distribution in France, excluding institutional clients, and replaces Marie-Claire Marques, who has left the firm. Since September 2008, the distribution team for France, which has eight members, has been organised into four units, serving banks and management firms, multi-managers, corporate savings, and IFAs.On 31 December 2008, EDRAM had assets of EUR7.8bn.
10/02/2009

United States - Blackstone loses head of funds of hedge funds

According to the Deal Journal blog from the Wall Street Journal, Bruce Amlicke, managing director and CIO of the fund of hedge funds division (62 investment professionals) of Blackstone Alternative Investment Management (BAAM, USD30bn in assets), will be leaving the position for personal reasons. Amlicke was appointed to at the beginning of June 2004, having previously been global CIO for the alternative investment solutions group at UBS O’Connors. He will remain at the service of his employer for a few more months. Blackstone has no plans to replace Amlicke in this position.
10/02/2009

World - BNY Mellon adds two management firms to its multi-boutique network

BNY Mellon Asset Management has announced the addition of two new management firms to its multi-boutique network: the Australian Ankura Capital Pty Ltd (about AUD1bn in assets) and the British Blackfriars Asset Management (USD2.3bn). The first of these firms is specialised in Australian equities for local clients, and the second is focuses on emerging and international equities and bonds.Ankura Capital is planning to retain the entirety of its investment team, as well as its directors, who have been working together since 1995. Greg Vaughan will retain his position as CEO and director of investments. Blackfriars will continue to be directed by Hugh Hunter, its current CEO.
10/02/2009

Luxembourg - Regulator asks UBS to declare position in writing

In a statement published on Friday, the Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF) has announced that it ?has delivered the results of its enquiry into the various responsibilities, arising from an application of legal and regulatory texts, incumbent on the bank UBS (Luxembourg) S.A. in its role as depository for the fund LUXALPHA SICAV.? It adds that it ?has asked the bank to take a position in writing.? In another statement published the same day, the CSSF indicates that it met with UBS on 5 February ?to discuss the situation with Luxalpha SICAV ? American Selection and Luxembourg Investment Fund ? Equity Plus, two Luxembourg SICAV funds which were affected by the Madoff scandal. After these discussions, UBS and the CSSF agreed to cooperate to establish the relevant facts and to determine the course of action in this case jointly with all third parties affected by the events, in order to find a solution as soon as possible.?
10/02/2009

Italy - Libya may become largest shareholder in UniCredit

The central bank of Libya has agreed to buy a further EUR250m in convertible bonds issued by UniCredit, which may potentially make it the largest shareholder in the Italian bank, with more than 7% of its capital, the Financial Times reports. These developments come as UniCredit has lost the support of the charity Cariverona, which owns 6% of the establishment, but has announced that it will not subscribe to the bank’s current EUR3bn bond issue.
10/02/2009

Spain - 27% of local hedge funds freeze or limit redemptions

Of the 70 hedge funds formerly registered in Spain, there are only 57 left, of which six have toughened redemption conditions, and four have seen net outflows of more than 20% of their assets, Cinco Días reports. Funds which have set up obstacles to redemptions include Cygnus Utilities, which has instituted a longer waiting period, CAAM Multistrategia Alternativa, which has limited the amount of redemptions, Accurate Global Assets, which is paying out only a part of the redemption requested if the amount is large, and Foncaixa Privada Estrategia Hedge, which is paying out only partial redemptions.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - Strong increase in wealth management profits at Barclays

Barclays Wealth has posted pre-tax profits for 2008 of GBP671m, compared with GBP307m in 2007. Life insurance activities contributed GBP104m to these profits, before their sale in October 2008, in a deal which generated capital gains of GBP326m. Revenues, for their part, rose 3% to GBP1.32bn.Client assets, including deposits and investments, increased by 10% to GBP145.1bn, while net inflows of GBP3.2bn and the acquisition of the North American activities of Lehman Brothers compensate for negative market and currency effects, as well as the sale of life insurance activities.
10/02/2009

Germany - Universal Investment posts net subscriptions in 2008

Bernd Vorbeck, chairman of the board of directors, says in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung that Universal Investment last year posted net subscriptions of more than EUR10bn, of which EUR3bn were in open-ended funds. This has allowed the management firm specialised in administrative services to maintain its assets at a level of EUR84bn.
10/02/2009

Switzerland - Average coverage rate for pension funds is less than 100%

According to a study by the Swiss association of retirement planning institutions (ASIP) covering 362 pension funds with total assets of CHF318bn, the average coverage rate for these funds currently stands at 96.5%, and 60% of funds are under-financed, IPE reports. The average level of financing totals 97.8% for private institutions and 84.5% for public institutions, with 57% and 85% of these funds under-financed, respectively. The reserves built up between 2003 and 2006 have disappeared, the ASIP reports.
10/02/2009

World - Hedge funds gained ground in January, according to indexes

Barclay Hedge reports that the 611 hedge funds which had announced results as of 9 February had an average performance of 0.14% in January, with two strategies in particular in the red: equity short bias, which has lost 3.70%, but is represented by only 3 funds, and emerging markets, which has lost 2.19% (112 funds). The best performance was in the convertible arbitrage category, with gains of 5.81% for 14 funds.For its part, Hedge Fund Research (HFR) estimates that hedge funds gained 0.39% in January, after losses of 18.73% for all of last year. The emerging markets strategy has lost 1.72%, but short bias shows positive performance of 1.74%.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - FSA proposal to extend requirement to declare short positions

In a discussion paper published on Friday on its website (http://www.fsa.gov.uk), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) proposes an extension of the requirement to declare significant short positions to include all publisly traded British shares. The regulator is of the opinion that short-selling has some advantages, such as improving the efficiency of price formation on the markets and liquidity, which in normal conditions adequately compensates for its inconveniences. However, the FSA also sees advantages in increased transparency.The market consultation on the document will end on 8 March 2009, when the FSA is planning to publish a feedback statement setting out its conclusions for longer-term policy with regard to short-selling.
10/02/2009

Germany - db x-trackers lists five new ETFs

Deutsche Börse on Monday announced that listings on the XTF segment of its electronic trading platform Xetra now include 405 ETF funds. Deutsche Bank has added six new Luxembourg-registered x-trackers, of which one, the x-trackers II Global Sovereign EUR Hedged Index ETF, was in fact listed for trading on 21 January. The underlying index reproduces the evolution of government bonds denominated in local currency from 21 industrialised countries worldwide; the fund is hedged for currency risks between the Euro and the currencies concerned. The five new products are db x-trackers. They are the DJ STOXX 600 ETF (0,20% management commission), MSCI AC Asia ex Japan TRN Index ETF and MSCI Pacific ex Japan TRN index ETF (0.65% and 0.45%, respectively), and the CAC 40 ETF and CAC 40 Short ETF, whose management commissions are 0.20% and 0.40%, respectively.
10/02/2009

United Kingdom - Profits at BGI down 19% in 2008

For 2008, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has posted pre-tax profits down GBP139m compared with 2007 to GBP595m, due in part to GBP263m in ?selective support? for money market funds (up from GBP80m in 2007), on earnings down 4% to GBP1.84bn. Revenues from commissions fell 1% to GBP1.92bn.At the end of December, assets were down GBP4bn, to GBP1.040trn, with net subscriptions of GBP61bn (or GBP19bn more than in 2007), GBP234bn of positive currency effects, and GBP299bn in negative market effects. Assets managed by iShares (the ETF specialist of the group) at the end of the year totalled GBP226bn, compared with GBP205bn twelve months earlier, while assets in index-based products totalled GBP653bn, up from GBP615bn.
10/02/2009

France - CPR AM recruits CEO from Fidelity Gestion

Following the departure of Pierre Simonet from his position as CEO of CPR Asset Management, Jean-Eric Mercier will be joining CPR AM in this position on 4 March 2009. His appointment will be proposed at the next meeting of the board of directors at the management firm, an affiliate of Crédit Agricole specialised in quantitative management. Mercier previously held the position of president and CEO of Fidelity Investissements SAS and Fidelity Gestion in Paris. He was replaced in that position by Olivier Gourragne. Recently, alongside his responsibilities as chief executive, Gourragne was in charge of retail sales and also held the position of director of marketing and distribution via intermediaries.
10/02/2009

Switzerland - Reorganisation at UBS

In parallel with the announcement of its 2008 results, UBS has announced that it has created two new management positions for heads of wealth management and the Swiss bank, which will be occupied by Franco Morra and Jürg Zeltner, and one for wealth management Americas, which is given to Marten Hoekstra. The three new directors are board members at the group.
10/02/2009

Switzerland - Partners Group proposes unchanged dividend

The alternative management firm Partners Group will propose an unchanged dividend of CHF4.25 per share for 2008, at its general assembly on 30 April. In addition, the principles of good governance established by the Ethos foundation dictates that Robert Schenker can no longer be considered independent. He will resign from his position as director and chairman of the risk and audit committee at the general assembly. The candidate to succeed him is Peter Wuffli, the former CEO of UBS.
10/02/2009

United States - Partial settlement between Madoff and the SEC

The SEC reached a partial settlement in the civil case with Bernard Madoff, who is now banned from working in the financial sector again, the decision on what fine he will have to pay is left for later, The Wall Street Journal reports. Federal prosecutors in New York have until Wednesday to file a criminal indictment against Madoff, reach a plea deal or seek an extension to give them more time to build a case.
10/02/2009

Switzerland - Asset management profits at UBS down 8%

Pre-tax profits for the global asset management division of UBS have fallen 8% to CHF1.33bn. Excluding expenses related to the liquidation of Dillon Read Capital Management in 2007 and capital gains from the sale of a minority stake in Adams Street, losses would have been CHF501m, rather than CHF121m. In fourth quarter, pre-tax profits for the division fell 43% to CHF236m.UBS states that its global wealth management & business banking and global asset management divisions saw net outflows in fourth quarter of CHF58.2bn and CHF27.6bn, respectively. However, the trend has gradually improved, and the two divisions have posted net inflows for January.
10/02/2009

Europe - Burgundy on the starting blocks

Burgundy, a new alternative equities trading platform supported by Scandinavian banks and brokers, has appointed EMCF, which is owned by Fortis and Nasdaq OMX, as its settlement agent. The MTF platform is slated for launch in May.
09/02/2009

Allemagne - La KfW et les Lander doivent payer des primes de risque par rapport au Bund

L"Etat fédéral (Bund) est l"un des créanciers les mieux notés au monde, ce qui lui permet de ne payer qu"à peine une peu plus de 3 % pour du dix ans. En revanche, constate la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, la banque publique KfW, qui bénéficie de la garantie de l"Etat, doit payer environ 80 points de base de plus, ce qui est peut-être une affaire de liquidité des titres. De même, les Länder sont affligés d"une prime par rapport aux emprunts fédéraux (bunds), parce que la péréquation financière entre l"Etat fédéral et les Länder (Finanzausgleich) ne garantit que les recettes, pas les dépenses.
09/02/2009

Etats-Unis - Le plan de sauvetage des banques va être remanié

Selon les proches du dossier, le secrétaire au Trésor Timothy Geithner devrait annoncer prochainement que le gouvernement va devenir partenaire du secteur privé en achetant des actifs à problème des banques, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Le projet d’une ‘aggregator bank» ou d’une «bad bank» fait partie des quatre mesures principales du plan de sauvetage que Tim Geithner présenterait mardi et qui comprend de nouvelles injections de liquidités dans les banques, de nouveaux programmes pour aider environ 2,5 millions de propriétaires de maisons et d’un élargissement substantiel du programme de la Fed destiné à faire redémarrer le crédit à la consommation. La bad bank tirerait une partie de son capital d’amorçage du plan de sauvetage de 700 milliards de dollars destiné au secteur financier, mais l’idée est que la part la plus importante du financement provienne du secteur privé. Il est probable que l’Etat fournira des incitations, par exemple sous forme d’un plafonnement du risque lié à l’acquisition de ce type d’actifs.
09/02/2009

Allemagne - Bénéfice record pour la Deutsche Borse

Selon les informations de la Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, la Deutsche Börse est parvenue en 2008 à battre son bénéfice net record de 2007. Les transactions sur les dérivés ont explosé, ce qui a profité au marché à terme Eurex, ce qui a surcompensé la chute de 70 % du volume de transactions sur Xetra.
09/02/2009

Allemagne - La HVB supprime 2.500 emplois

La Bayerische HypoVereinsbank (HVB) a annoncé vendredi qu"elle va supprimer 2.500 de ses 23.000 emplois d"ici à fin 2010, dans le cadre d"un plan à trois ans du groupe UniCredit qui prévoit 9.000 départs. Dans la mesure du possible, la HVB essaiera d"éviter les licenciements secs, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ajoutant que la banque a identifié 2.750 postes susceptibles d"être supprimés, ce qui lui donne une marge de sécurité de 10 %. Il y aura entre autres des primes de départ volontaire d"un maximum de 230.000 euros pour les salariés âgés d"au moins 56 ans.

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