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11/06/2012

French regulator allows bond liquidity futures

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has announced that in a decision dated 10 May 2012, it has authorised a new market practice in relartion to bond liquidity futures. The decision lays out a framework for liquidity futures, including: independent requirements which providers must observe; conditions for their interventions in markets for securities from issuers; transparency requirements to maintain, including a requirement to make monthly declarations to the AMF. The AMF decision has triggered a series of consultations, and follows a request submitted by Paris Europlace as part of work to identify ways to bring more liquidity to the secondary bond markets. Some market actors had sought to establish bond liquidity futures, inspired by the ones which already exist on equity markets, which would be handed to an intermediate to manage with the goal of enabling actors to intervene freely on the secondary markets for their securities. The declaration form for bonds under a liqudity future, is available on the AMF website, under Issuers > Forms > Bond liquidity futures declaration form. It is to be submitted to the AMF in electronic form, to the following address: ReportingCLOblig@amf-france.org.
11/06/2012

“We would like to increase our presence serving international institutional clients”

After a good year in 2011 for the Avenir Finance group, particularly for its asset management unit Avenir Finance IM, which currently has assets of EUR650m, Cyril Lureau, deputy CEO of Avernir Finance, discusses the group's various projects, in France and internationally, with Newsmanagers. Avenir Finance, which is already present in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Monaco, is now setting out to conquer new and promising markets.
11/06/2012

European asset managers have significantly reduced their equity investments

Equity investments managed by major asset managers on behalf of European instutitonals have fallen 16.9% in the past 12 months, as exposure to equity markets is down GBP280bn, according to estimates by IPE. According to the IPE Top 400 Asset Managers 2012 report, European institutional asset managers had EUR5.1trn in assets under management as of the end of 2011, compared with EUR5.7trn one year earlier. Investments in fixed income have remained stable (EUR2.31trn), but investments in equities and other asset classes are responsible for a decline of about EUR600bn year on year. Despite continuing concerns over public debt issues in the euro zone, European institutional investors are exposed to government bonds from developed countries, with a total of EUR537bn invested in the region. Bonds as a proportion of total assets remain at about 45%, compared with 40% in 2010. Among the major European institutional asset managers, BlackRock leads with EUR581bn in assets under management as of the end of 2011, followed by Legal & General Investment Management and APG. There are three French groups in the top 10, including Amundi in fourth place (EUR210.72bn), BNP Paribas Investment Partners (EUR166.67bn), and Natixis Global Asset Management (EUR163.99bn).
11/06/2012

Growth on the menu for stock-pickers

When selecting stocks, equity fund managers are increasingly looking for quality, ie, sustainable growth based on solid competitive advantage that converts into high return on invested capital, Fitch Ratings says in a commentary published on 8 June. Over the six months since the publication of Fitch’s special report ‘Stock Picking in Equity Funds’, European growth stocks as defined by MSCI have outperformed European value stocks by 8%, which brings the three-year outperformance to 28%. Interestingly, while most investors do not expect positive returns from equity investments, European growth stocks have managed to deliver positive returns (+3%) over the past two years, unlike the broad MSCI Europe index and the value index (down 12%). «This performance difference is explained by the structural trends at play. Fitch previously identified four critical factors that have a direct implication for stock-picking: low growth prospects, the sovereign crisis, globalisation and disruptive innovation,» says Aymeric Poizot, Managing Director in Fitch’s Fund and Asset Manager Rating Group. «In this context, quality growth remains a scarce asset, while value managers are threatened by ‘value traps’, ie, stocks stuck at a discounted price.» As a consequence, stock picking processes are changing, with a greater emphasis on strategic analysis to identify companies with high return on capital and strong competitive positioning. Valuation criteria, which were the dominant factors between 2001 and 2008, now come second, to identify entry and exit points and adjust positions accordingly.
11/06/2012

European private equity association elects a chairman

The General Assembly of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA) has elected Vincenzo Morelli, partner emeritus and senior advisor to global investment firm TPG, as its chairman for the year to June 2013.For the past three years since its inception, Mr. Morelli has been chairman of the European Private Equity Roundtable (EPER).
11/06/2012

BlackRock launches eight ETFs of European govies

iShares, the publicly-traded fund platform from BlackRock, has created a range of eight ETFs replicating iShares Barclays Treasury Bond indices from eight euro zone countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Italy and the Netherlands), Cinco Días reports.The iShares Barclays Spain Treasury Bond fund includes 29 of the largest issues, representing 4.78% of the total, in the form of a bond with a coupon of 4.4% which will mature on 31 January 2015.
11/06/2012

WP Stewart lists a fund on Euronext Funds Service

NYSE Euronext on 8 June announced that it has admitted the WPSH EUR fund (LU0237484448) from WP Stewart Holdings Fund to trading on the Euronext Funds Service (EFS). The product, whose underlying index is the S&P 500 Dividend Included, has a TER of 0.83%. It becomes the 182nd fund to be listed on EFS.
11/06/2012

Spanish treasury finalises bill to transpose UCITS IV directive

On Friday, the Spanish Treasury submitted a draft royal decree for approval by the Council of State, which would modify law 35 of 2003 concerning collective investment institutions, and transposing the UCITS IV directive into Spanish law, Funds People reports.
11/06/2012

Facebook shares plummet

Since the IPO on 18 May, Facebook shares have fallen 29%, and shares in GSV Capital and Firsthand Technology Value, “business development companies” (publicly-traded private equity funds) which invested in Facebook ahead of the IPO, have lost 37% and 32% respectively, even though the investment represents only 7% and 3.8%, respectively, of their assets, the Wall Street Journal reports. At USD18.29, shares in Firsthand on Friday were trading at less than the cash holdings of the firm, which total USD19.33 per share. This means that by buying shares in Firsthand, investors are paying USD1 for USD1.04 in cash, and get all the companies in the portfolio for free.
11/06/2012

Goldman to sell hedge fund administration activities

Goldman Sachs is on the verge of selling its hedge fund administration activities to State Street, according to reports from the Financial Times. That would create a firm with assets of nearly USD700bn in assets under administration.
11/06/2012

AdvisorShars Active Bear ETF profits from bad news

A steep fall in the value of shares in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc last month (48%) brought profits for David Einhorn, the famous hedge fund manager. It was also good news for the AdvisorShares Active Bear ETF (USD280m), managed by John DelVecchio in Dallas, and Brad Lamensdorf in Connecticut, The Wall Street Journal reports. The fund, the only one of its kind, is catalogued by Morningstar as the only actively-manged, short-only ETF in the world. In other words, the ETF makes only negative bets, but does not use leverage, and the composition of its portfolio is published on a daily basis.
11/06/2012

Mark Mobius remains confident in emerging market equities

Mark Mobius, portfolio manager and executive director of the Templeton Emerging Market Group (Franklin Resources), in a presentation in Paris has emphasized all the advantages of emerging market equities: growth far higher than that from developed countries, ample currency reserves (which are gradually used to make acquisitions of assets in Europe), lower debt than in industrialised countries, inflation which has fallen steeply, and moderate valuations, at multiples of under 10.The star manager from Franklin Templeton, who as a general rule invests on a five-year horizon (his turnover rate is generally below 20%), claims two themes should be preferred: one the one hand, demography and consumer spending, and on the other hand, commodities, whose prices are mostly on an upward trend. Over the past 20 years, this applies to the CRB index as well as to copper, platinum, palladium, mickel, sugar, soy, corn, rice, wheat, gold and oil.The Emerging Market Group at Franklin Resources has assets of USD45bn in shares in companies which make at least 50% of their earnings in emerging markets. It also extends to local companies and to a small number of Western groups, including some locally listed affiliates of firms from industrialised countries.
11/06/2012

M&G recruits a BlackRock veteran for risk management

M&G Investments has appointed Michelle Scrimgeour as group risk director. She has 25 years experience of the fund management industry, all of which she gained with the group now known as BlackRock. Her most recent position was as co-head of fixed income business management and a member of the executive committee leading the USD1 trillion BGI/BlackRock Fixed Income division.Michelle Scrimgeour, who joins the company on 11 June, replaces Les Scrine, who has retired from M&G after almost 30 years of service. She will report to Michael McLintock and join the M&G Board.
11/06/2012

Swip applies quantitative strategies in equity management

As part of a redeployment of its equity portfolio (GBP{54bn in assets under management), which has already resulted in more than 20 job cuts, Swip is expected to favour quantitative portfolio construction, Money Marketing reports. “A certain number of British equity funds are in the process of transitioning to a quantitative portfolio construction methodology. The transition is being driven by the international equity team,” a Swip spokesperson says.
11/06/2012

Growth shares should be sought in euro zone

In an environment in which “not everything is necessarily negative in the euro zone, although uncertainty remains high, it may not be incongruous to seek growth shares in the euro zone,” Nicolas Walewski, founder and fund manager at Alken, claimed recently on a visit to Paris. Walewski cites the Italian banking sector. “The question is how to play the reduction in risk premiums. For Italy, it is largely the perception of risk which poses a problem. If this perception of risk decreases, the cost of the risk will be re-evaluated. From my point of view, the structural problems are not insurmountable. Unlike what we may observe elsewhere in Europe, the Italian banking sector is still excessively fragmented, which results in highly mediocre profitability. Some mid-sized banks are not even earning commissions. Many mid-sized banks are earning profits of 5% to 6%. They are getting 0.3 times owners’ equity,” he explained. This situation persists, although BNP Paribas made an “excellent deal” with its acquisition of BNL. But, with the crisis, “for six months there have been changes to the scenarios. Private equity funds in particular have identified enormous potential gains in productivity. Exposure to the Italian banking sector is thus highly attractive,” he concludes. Assets under management at Alken as of the end of April totalled EUR3bn, virtually unchanged compared with the end of December 2011. “Flows have been positive since the beginning of this year, and we are not seeing any redemptions either, but for all of our funds overall, net inflows are highly limited. This stability in asset levels has at least one advantage: it facilitates our management,” says Isabel Ortega, partner and director of sales at Alken.
11/06/2012

F&C recruits a head of institutional sales

F&C Investments (F&C) the London-listed GBP101 billion asset management group has recruited Mandy Mannix as head of institutional sales. Mandy Mannix is set to join F&C on the 1st July 2012 from CQS where she is currently global head of sales & marketing. She will report to Richard Wilson, head of investment & institutional business and will be responsible for the distribution of F&C’s investment capabilities and product offerings.
11/06/2012

Good first quarter for the Jersey fund sector

Assets under management in Jersey rose by 0.9% in first quarter, to a total of GBP21bn, according to statistics from the Jersey financial services commission. Net on-book assets under administration increased in the same period by 3.5%, or GBP6.8bn, to GBP189.4bn. The number of regulated funds rose 1.4% in first quarrter, to 1,412, their highest level since 2009. Meanwhile, the number of unregulated funds rose 8.4% to 166.
11/06/2012

Significant inflows to long/short UCITS funds from GLG

The GLG European Equity Alternative fund, which deploys a market neutral long/short strategy on European equity markets, has seen strong interest from investors. The UCITS-compliant version of the flagship GLG Euorpean Long Short index was launched in July 2011. The fund, which in August 2011 had USD80m in assets, as of the end of May 2012 had assets of USD735m, compared with USD150m at the endof December 2011. The fund, which earned returns of 7% in 2011, this year has posted returns of 7.30% as of 31 May 2012. As Olivier Dubost, managing director in charge of distribution for Man and GLG funds in France, explains: “The GLG European Equity Alternative fund is a European market neutral type long/short equity fund characterised by a low level of volatility (4.5% in 2012 and 6.7% since its launch in 2011). It remains the preferred means of access to our European long/short equity platform, composed of 30 professionals, led by Pierre Lagrange, and responds to sustained demand from institutional clients in Europe in particular.”
11/06/2012
Gestion d'actifs

Axa France a arrêté d'acheter des obligations espagnoles et italiennes

Axa France a arrêté d’acheter il y a quelques mois des obligations d’Etat espagnoles et italiennes mais n’a pas revendu les titres qu’il détenait déjà, a déclaré le directeur des risques de l’assureur, Jean-Christophe Menioux. Nous avons gelé nos investissements sur l’Italie et l’Espagne il y a quelques mois, comme nous l’avions fait il y a quelques années pour la Grèce, a expliqué Jean-Christophe Menioux lors d’une conférence. Il a toutefois précisé que le groupe n’avait pas vendu les obligations qu’il possédait déjà. Au 31 janvier 2012, il détenait en obligations d’Etat 15,1 milliards d’euros pour l’Italie et 8,1 milliards pour l’Espagne en valeur brute de marché. Axa avait, par ailleurs, déjà annoncé ne plus détenir de titre souverain de la Grèce. Le PDG du groupe, Henri de Castries, a de son côté répété n’avoir pas d’inquiétude quant à la situation de ces deux pays, comme il l’avait déjà affirmé par le passé.
Gestion d'actifs
11/06/2012

Credit Suisse a faim de croissance dans la gestion de fortune

La banque helvétique est à la recherche d’acquisitions dans la gestion de fortune, a indiqué au Finanz und Wirtschaft le responsable de la division de banque privée, Hans-Ulrich Meister. Selon ce dernier, l’expansion internationale est davantage une priorité que des acquisitions en Suisse.
11/06/2012

EQT proche du rachat de BSN Medical

Le véhicule d’investissement, partiellement détenu par les Wallenberg, est sur le point de racheter BSN Medical, un fabricant allemand de dispositifs médicaux utilisés dans les domaines du soin de plaies, auprès de Montagu Private Equity. Selon Bloomberg, l’opération avoisinerait 1,8 milliard d’euros.
11/06/2012

Tokyo réclame un durcissement des sanctions pour délit d’initiés

Dans le sillage de la première sanction pour délit d’initié infligée à un investisseur étranger, les autorités de marché japonaises (SESC) réclament un alourdissement des sanctions possibles afin de décourager ce type de fraude. Vendredi, la SESC avait épinglé le courtier américain First New York Securities, lui imposant une amende modeste de 185.000 dollars, pourtant la plus sévère de son histoire.
11/06/2012

Inquiétudes sur le rebond de l’activité commerciale chinoise

L’inflation chinoise est tombée en mai à son plus faible niveau depuis juin 2010, à 3%, après 3,4% en avril, et contre 3,2% anticipés par le consensus et qui donne des marges de manoeuvre à la Banque Populaire de Chine après la baisse de ses taux directeurs annoncée la semaine dernière. Par ailleurs, l’excédent commercial est ressorti à 18,7 milliards de dollars en mai gâce à une hausse des exportations de 15,3% (contre une hausse attendue de 6,8%), et des importations de 12,7% (contre une hausse attendue de 5%). Le consensus tablait sur un recul de l’excédent à 16,2 milliards, après 18,4 milliards en avril. Le ministre chinois du Commerce, Chen Deming, indique cependant ce matin dans un entretien accordé à l’agence officielle Chine nouvelle que «la situation commerciale reste relativement sombre après cela et, si nous avons de la chance, nous serons capables de maintenir une croissance annuelle d’environ 10%».
11/06/2012

La demande d’or par la Chine devrait progresser

Selon Bloomberg qui cite le directeur des activités de métaux précieux d’ICBC, la demande d’or de la part de la Chine devrait progresser d’au moins 10% cette année. «Les investisseurs chinois souhaitent augmenter leur détention d’or afin de se couvrir contre les risques, particulièrement les risques souverains» indique ainsi Zheng Zhiguang. Selon les prévisions du World Gold Council, la Chine devrait dépasser l’Inde cette année comme premier investisseur dans le métal jaune.
11/06/2012

3,5 millions de dollars pour déjeuner avec Warren Buffett

Un bon steak chez Smith & Wollensky à Manhattan coûte une trentaine de dollars, mais le même repas pris en compagnie de Warren Buffett s’est vendu aux enchères 3,46 millions de dollars. L’an dernier, ce même repas s'était vendu à 2,63 millions. Dix enchérisseurs ont participé à la vente, organisée chaque année sur le site internet eBay au profit de l’organisation caricative GLIDE.

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