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02/05/2013

Assets and profits up for AllianceBernstein

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of March, total assets under management at AllianceBernstein totalled USD443.2bn, USD13.2bn, or 3.1%, more than three months previously, and USD24.1bn, or 5.8%, more than as of 31 Mach 2012, the group has announced.Net subscrptions totalled USD2.6bn in first quarter 2013, compared with USD5bn in October-December, and net outflows of USD12.1bn in the corresponding period of last year. Net inflows to institutional management totalled USD3.3bn in January-March this year, compared with USD2.9bn in October-December, while retail inflows were limited to USD0.2bn, compared with USD5.3bn in fourth quarter 2012. For private clients, AllianceBernstein posted net outflows of USD0.9bn in January-March 2013 compared with USD3.2bn the previous quarter.Net distributable income at AllinceBernstein (the operating partnership) in first quarter increased ato USD114.5m, compared with USD71.7m in October-December, and USD87.3m in the corresponding period of last year.Net income at AllianceBernstein Holding (the publicly-traded partnership) totalled USD38.2m, compared with USD26.2m the previous quarter, and USD26.7m in first quarter 2012.
02/05/2013

Lyxor adds to cross-asset research team

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In April, Rob Koyfman, who had been head of macro and thematic trading strategy at Citi, joined the cross-asset research team at Lyxor Asset Management in New York. He reports to Jeanne Asseraf-Bilton, global head of cross asset research.Koyfman says on his LinkedIn profile that his specialities are macro analysis, the transposition of macro convictions on ETFs and equities, backtesting, transversal analysis of asset classes, and options.Before joining Citi in June 2010, he spent one year as a senior strategist at Caxton Associates, after six years at Goldman Sachs.
02/05/2013

Carlyle hires former head of Petroplus

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carlyle Group has recruited Marcel van Pecke, former head of Petroplus, to head its investments in the energy sector in Africa and Europe, the Financial Times reports. Van Poecke, from the Netherlands, had managed Petroplus when Carlyle controlled a part of it between 2005 and 2007. A team of five other managers will join the US firm this month. The team will raise a dedicated fund of about USD1.5bn.
02/05/2013

Madoff: Thema lawsuit against HSBC opens

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A lawsuit filed by the fund Thema International against HSBC began on Tuesday in Dublin, Agefi Switzerland reports. The fund, whose promoter had been Genevalor, is suing the bank on the grounds that it failed to fulfil its role as depositary, including verification of the existence of assets. Thema is seeking EUR1bn, according to Bloomberg. HSBC is facing 50 lawsuits related to the Madoff scandal in Ireland, and claims it has solid arguments in its defense. According to a lawyer for Thema, HSBC is responsible for losses, as it appointed Madoff as sub-depositary for the fund.
02/05/2013

State Street investor confidence index up in April

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The global investor confidence index released by State Street rose 5.5 points in April to 93.6 from March’s revised reading of 88.1. Driving this gain was a surge in confidence among North American institutions, whose confidence increased 10.2 points to 105.8 from the revised March reading of 95.6. In contrast, confidence among European and Asian institutions declined marginally. The European ICI registered a decrease of 3.9 points to 87.8, while the Asian Index fell 2.1 points to 85.2. “The North American ICI is now at its strongest level since May 2011. We would note that, at a sectoral level, flows favor defensive sectors, such as utilities, and this may signal some caution around both the natural resource sector, and global growth prospects more generally,” the authors of the study remark.
02/05/2013

Fund managers trade too much

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by the Economist, relayed by Fondsnieuws, the average turnover for investments funds has risen from 15% in 1950 to about 100% in 2011, which has resulted in a rise in transaction costs.The total expense ratios total 1.39% and 1.07%, respectively, for US small cap and large cap funds, but the average transaction costs total an average of 3.17% and 0.84%.Funds with the highest transaction costs were also the ones which had the worst returns.
02/05/2013

SSgA market indicator raised from “low aversion to risk” to “normal”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In first quarter 2013, the Market Regime Indicator (MRI) published by State Street Global Advisors was raised from a level of “low aversion to risk” to a “normal level.” This macroeconomic indicator developed by the Investment Solutions team at SSgA is used to identify the level of aversion to risk on several markets, and its levels help to determine investors’ appetite for risk. The MRI level is calculated on the basis of the implicit volatility of equities, the volatility of currencies and spreads on fixed income. “First quarter 2013 brought a succession of major political events. The devaluation of the Japanese yen, the Cypriot crisis, and the lack of political stability in Italy had a direct impact on the markets,” SSgA commented.
02/05/2013

Assets up for Popular funds as of the end of March

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment funds at Banco Popular as of 31 March posted assets of EUR7.5464bn, compared with EUR7.2719bn as of the end of December, and EUR7.4371bn twelve months previously, a quarterly report released on 30 April states.Assets under management in wealth management were up to EUR744m compared with EUR720.4m as of 31 December, but down compared with EUR837.5m as of the end of March 2012.Lastly, assets at pension funds increased by 1.3% in first quarter, to EUR4.9777bn, higher by 3.9% than as of 31 March 2012.Popular recorded a net distributable income of EUR104.22m, compared with EUR100.18m in the corresponding period of last year.
02/05/2013

Assets in funds at Bankinter up 20% in Q1

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A fall in returns on deposits have provoked an increase in net subscriptions to investment funds at Bankinter, where assets increased to EUR6.01bn as of the end of March, compared with EUR5.03bn as of the end of December. One year earlier, it totalled EUR4.84bn. The increase in assets under management is due to in-house funds from Bankinter Gestión de Activos (+EUR764m, to EUR4.349bn), and to products from foreign asset management firms (+EUR219m, to EUR1.663bn).Assets in private banking as of 31 March totalled EUR14.8bn, which represents an increase of 3.7% compared with EUR14.3bn as of the end of December. Lastly, assets in pension funds totalled EUR1.45bn as of the end of first quarter, compared with EUR1.39bn three months previously, and EUR1.31bn as of 31 March 2012.Net profits for the Bankinter group increased by 1.9% in January-March compared with the corresponding period of last year, to EUR50.4m, from EUR49.4m.
02/05/2013

MPL temporarily freezes redemptions for Traded Policies Fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Investment Week, Managing Partners Limited (MPL) has suspended redemptions from its Traded Policies fund “in the interests of current and future shareholders,” in the form of a temporary “gate.”The fund, which invests in a portfolio of traded life insurance policies (TLP), has generated annualised returns of 8.94% on average since its launch in July 2004.In November, the FSA announced that it would be prohibiting sales of TLPs to retail investors, as they are considered “high risk and toxic.”
02/05/2013

BlackRock accounts for 12% of net subscriptions this year

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since the Bank of Spain has recommended that financial institutions limit returns on savings accounts, flows have been redirected to investment funds, to the tune of about EUR8bn in first quarter. And, Expansión reports, BlackRock alone attracted EUR1.192bn, equivalent to 12% of net subscriptions to funds in Spain.This endangers the traditional supremacy of JPMorgan among foreign asset management firms, as BlackRock comes in with EUR6.289bn in assets (of which 55% are in traditional funds and 45% in ETFs) as of the end of March, while JPMorgan AM had EUR6.399bn. BlackRock alone accounted for 38% of the rise in assets under management by foreign firms.The other actors are far behind: assets at La Caixa were up by EUR879m, while Bankinter was up by EUR764m, Allianz Popular by EUR676m, and Santander by EUR556m.
02/05/2013

Record assets in foreign hedge funds in Spain

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms, assets in foreign funds in Spain reached a total of EUR58bn as of 31 March, which would correspond to an increase of 9.4% in first quarter, Funds People reports.This estimate extrapolates from the EUR42.363bn in assets declared by the 23 foreign asset management firms which disclose their flows to Inverco. They reported net subscriptions of EUR3.111bn, which would suggest an estimate of net inflows for all foreign asset management firms of about EUR4bn in January-March.The top three players in terms of net subscriptions in this period are BlackRock, with EUR1.161bn, Franklin Templeton, with EUR491m, and Swiss & Global AM, with EUR369m.The strongest increases in assets in first quarter were at Threadneedle, with 42.2%, to EUR593bn, Allianz Global Investors, with 34.9%, to EUR760m, and Swiss & Global AM, with 25.6%, to EUR1.292bn.
02/05/2013

BNP Paribas SS adds to its range of services in UK

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Securities Services has launched its global Dealing Services solution in the United Kingdom. The solution offers institutional investors access to a network of teams who handle the reception and transmission of orders as well as order execution. Services cover all asset classes. The solution is concentrated on the search for liquidity on all markets and for all types of assets.
02/05/2013

Axa IM appoints global head of compliance

Axa Investment Managers has announced the appointment of Garry Murdoch as global head of compliance.Based in London, he will be responsible for the coordination of the compliance teams internationally, working in close association with Axa IM’s legal and risk management departments, according to a press statement. He will report to Christian Gissler, global head of risks and controls, who has overall responsibility for a division which combines risk management, legal affairs, compliance, and lobbying.Garry Murdoch joins Axa IM from the Financial Services Authority where he was a technical specialist in the Asset Management Department, responsible for leading thematic projects and reviews on issues of relevance to the industry. Prior to this, he built over 17 years’ experience in compliance roles. He was director of international compliance at AllianceBernstein Ltd (formerly Alliance Capital Limited) where he managed the firm’s international compliance departments from 2002 to 2008.
02/05/2013

US MMFs reduced their exposure to the euro zone in March

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Exposure of US money market funds to euro zone banks in the month of March fell due to concerns on the part of investors about recent events in Italy and Cyprus, according to a statement released by Fitch Ratings on 30 April.As of the end of March 2013, allocations by US money market funds to euro zone banks represented 13.2% of assets under management in the Fitch sample, compared with 16% as of the end of February. Despite this decline, allocations to euro zone banks were up by more than 70% compared with the end of June 2012.
02/05/2013

Assets under management at Pohjola up 4% in first quarter

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management by the financial services group Pohjola, one of the largest in Finland, rose 4% in first quarter, to a total of EUR34.2bn, compared with EUR32.7bn as of the end of December 2012. Institutional clients represent EUR19.8bn, while OPCs represent EUR10.3bn, and the private bank has EUR4.1bn. The asset management unit shows a slight profit, but the cost/income ratio deteriorated to 58% in first quarter, still far from its objective of 45%.
02/05/2013

Net redemptions, but an increase in assets at Henderson in Q1

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although overall, retail funds showed net subscriptions of GBP188m after two full years of net redemptions, Henderson Group plc has posted net redemptions in first quarter 2013, including Phoenix Group, of GBP1.269bn. Net redemptions to institutional clients, excluding Phoenix, represented GBP1.248bn.However, due to positive market and currency effects, which represented GBP4.496bn for the group, of which GBP2.839bn were for retail products, assets increased by GBP68.877bn as of 31 March, compared with GBP65.65bn as of 1 January, of which GBP33.293bn, compared with GBP30.266bn, were for retail.
02/05/2013

FinEx lists the first ETF on the Moscow stock exchange

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds Europe reports that the FinEx Group has become the first firm to list an ETF for trading on the Moscow stock exchange with the FinEx Tradable Russian Corporate Bonds UCITS ETF, which has been listed in London for two months (see Newsmanagers of 26 February).The fund replicates the Barclays EM Tradable Russian Corporate Bond index.BNY Mellon is the custodian and administrator of the fund.
02/05/2013

Matthews Asia launches a small caps fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Matthews Asia has launched the Matthews Asia Small Companies Fund, a fund which invests in Asia ex Japan small caps, Investment Europe reports. The product comes as an addition to the range of Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS funds from the asset management firm.
02/05/2013

La BCE baisse son taux d'un quart de point

La BCE a abaissé jeudi de 0,25 point son taux refi, à 0,50%. Le taux de la facilité marginale de prêt a lui aussi été réduit, de 1,5% à 1%. En revanche, le taux de la facilité de dépôt reste inchangé, à 0%. Après la publication de mauvais indicateurs d’activité en zone euro pour le premier trimestre et d’une inflation largement inférieure (1,2%), à l’objectif cible de la BCE (2%), les marchés monétaires anticipaient une baisse des taux de 25 points de base. La plupart des économistes avaient aussi avancé à mai leur prévision d’assouplissement monétaire. Les observateurs estiment cependant qu’une baisse est loin de suffire à restaurer les canaux du crédit en zone euro, qui restent grippés, notamment dans les pays d’Europe du Sud. Les commentaires de Mario Draghi, à partir de 14h30, sur d'éventuelles mesures non conventionnelles destinées à régler ce problème, seront donc très attendus.
Photo : Bloomberg
02/05/2013

La Slovénie n’a pas besoin de soutien extérieur

Si l’endettement et le déficit public ont «augmenté sensiblement» en Slovénie, ils restent «toujours à des niveaux modérés comparés aux pays qui bénéficient de la même notation», indique le journal qui cite des propos de Kyran Curry, un analyste chez Standard & Poor’s. Le pays bénéficie d’un A- chez S&P, alors que Moody’s a relégué la Slovénie en catégorie spéculative.
02/05/2013

Le Bahreïn prépare une émission en dollar

Souhaitant profiter de rendements attractifs, le pays aurait mandaté BNP Paribas, Citigroup, JPMorgan et GIB Capital pour lancer une émission obligataire souveraine d’au moins 500 millions de dollars, selon le journal qui cite des sources bancaires. Une opération qui financera les dépenses de l’Etat du Bahreïn qui est l’un des seuls pays du Golfe qui affichera un déficit public cette année.
02/05/2013

La BCE fait face à la chute de l'inflation

Le taux d’inflation annuel dans la zone euro est tombé à 1,2% en avril contre 1,7% en mars dernier. Le marché attend une baisse des taux à 0,50% aujourd’hui.
02/05/2013

Dublin abaisse ses prévisions de croissance

L’Irlande a abaissé ses prévisions de croissance pour les trois prochaines années, invoquant la récession sévère que traversent d’autres pays européens. L'économie irlandaise progressera de 1,3% au lieu de la hausse prévue de 1,5% annoncée en décembre. En 2014, la croissance devrait atteindre 2,4% et 2,8% l’année suivante.

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