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01/03/2012

March launches hedge fund

On 24 February, the CNMV issued a license for a Spanish-registered hedge fund launched on 2 February by March Gestión de Fondos. The March Patrimonio Renta invests in sight deposits or bonds maturing in less than 1 year, issued by credit institutions in the EU or OECD countries, public and private money market instruments, so long as they are liquid, and in public and private bonds. Forex risks may not exceed 100% of exposure, and the management team is not allowed to invest in other funds. The maximal exposure of the fund to underlying assets may not exceed 200% of assets, and use of credit is limited to 10%.The March Patrimonio Renta, which is benchmarked against the Euribor 12 month plus 50 basis points, offers daily liquidity.CharacteristicsName: March Patrimonio Renta, FILISIN code: ES0160922003Management commission: 0.5%Depository banking commission: 0.05%
01/03/2012

Banking confidentiality estimated to account for 8% to 14% of the value of a bank

Between 8% and 14% of a Swiss bank’s value depends on banking confidentiality, Agefi Switzerland reports. These are the findings of a university study published in the March issue of Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, covering a limited sample of four establishments (UBS, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Vontobel). Another finding is that banking confidentiality is mostly not appreciated for taxation reasons, but rather in order to protect individual privacy. The authors, one bank director and two professors in Zurich, find that the value of a management bank may be measured in the absence of banking confidentiality, and the value of confidentiality may be added to this, weighted according to the likelihood that confidentiality will be preserved.
01/03/2012

Chinese government opens internal market to foreign hedge funds

The local Chinese press reports that the Chinese government has in principle authorised foreign hedge funds to raise capital within continental China. The funds will be required to be registered in Shanghai, but will be required to invest outside China, Z-Ben Advisors reports.Asset management firms involved in this activity will be required to apply for a license, and a quota from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
01/03/2012

Invesco Perpetual recruits a US manager

Simon Clinch will be joining Invesco Perpetual as a US equity fund manager next month. He will report to Simon Laing, IPE.com reports. He was previously at J Rothschild Capital Management. Invesco has also announced the recruitment of Rob Barrett as head of institutional sales, based in London. Barrett previously worked at HSBC Global Asset Management, JP Morgan and UBS.
01/03/2012

Neptune raises questions about plans to move Prudential

The founder of Neptune, Robin Geffen, has raised questions about plans to move the headquarters of Prudential from London to Hong Kong. According to rumours that Prudential is not denying, the head of Prudential, Tidjane Thiam, is planning to leave London in order to avoid the inconveniences of Solvency II regulations. Geffen claims in a column in the Scotsman newspaper that such a move could legitimately make investors ask questions about the solvency of the group, and particularly about the future of its asset management unit, M&G.“That’s one way for the group to avoid European solvency ratios. Investors would be right to be concerned,” Geffen claims. Neptune holds a stake of less than 3% in the British insurer.
01/03/2012

Germany's largest fund is an ETF

The iShares Dax has become the fund available in Germany with the largest asset volume, Financial Times Deutschland reports. The fund had inflows in 2011 of EUR8bn, at a time when all other funds on sale in the country were undergoing net outflows of nearly EUR25bn. Thanks to the most recent rally on the markets, the fund has reached assets of EUR12.3bn, dethroning the largest open-ended real estate fund, Dekafonds, which had EUR11.5bn in assets as of the end of 2011.
01/03/2012

State Street lists three more SPDRs in Frankfurt

Since 29 February, three equity ETFs from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) have been available for trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform from Deutsche Börse. The new funds bring the total number of index-based funds listed on XTF to 939.CharacteristicsName: SPDR S&P Euro Dividend Aristocrats ETFISIN code: IE00B5M1WJ87Benchmark index: S&P Euro High Yield Dividend Aristocrats IndexTER: 0.30%Name: SPDR S&P UK Dividend Aristocrats ETFISIN code: IE00B6S2Z822Benchmark index: S&P UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats IndexTER: 0.30%Name: SPDR FTSE UK All Share ETFISIN code: IE00B7452L46Benchmark index: FTSE All-Share IndexTER: 0.30%
01/03/2012

Heavy outflows form hedge funds in January

The hedge fund sector underwent outflows of more than USD15bn in January, the largest since January 2009, when redemptions peaked at USD17.7bn, TrimTabs reports in its weekly bulletin.TrimTabs reports that although hedge funds earned 3.1% in January, they nonetheless underperformed the S&P 500 by 110 basis points.
01/03/2012

QFS offers a UCITS-compliant version of its macro currency strategy

The platform from Merrill Lynch has listed a UCITS-compliant version of the Currency Program from the US asset management firm QFS Asset and Risk Management. The product is the QFS Currency UCITS Fund, which invests with a quantitative process in bonds and currencies on the basis of fundamental data, with the objective of profiting from inefficiencies in conjunctural cycles.CharacteristicsName: QFS Currency UCIFS FundISIN code: LU0690450225Management commission: 2%Performance commission: 20% with high watermarkMinimal subscription: EUR1m
01/03/2012

Frequency of quarterly reports from businesses under debate

The quarterly publication of corporate results may have a negative impact on management and on the behaviour of shareholders, a report commissioned by the British government on risks related to investment for short-term profits has found, the news agency Reuters reports. The study, whose initial findings were unveiled on Wednesday, was launched after the acquisition of Cadbury by its US rival Kraft Foods last year. Some critics of the deal claimed at the time that it was driven by investors seeking quick profits. A clear majority of professionals surveyed for the study (insurers, shareholders’ associations, pension funds and individual investors) claimed atht the publication of quarterly results and intermediate reports on activities released by businesses were “useless or misleading.” The final conclusions of the study and its recommendations are expected in summer.
01/03/2012

Feri Trust targets German institutional clients

With the recruitment of Robert Kellermann, head of consultant relations at Pioneer Investments in Munich, Feri Trust is planning to create a new position for him as director of institutional clients for Germany. He will be in charge of cultivating relationships with existing clients and recruiting new clients.Jürgen Obermann, a board member at Feri Trust, points out that with the strategic reorientation of the Feri group, advisory activities have been separated from asset management, now a part of Feri Trust, which offers multi-asset class solutions as well as private equity, hedge funds, real estate and risk overlay management.With its parent company, MLP, the Feri group currently has over EUR20bn in assets under management or under advisory mandates.
01/03/2012

Insurers planning to increase alternative investments

The Solvency II regulations will have a decisive influence on asset allocations by insurers, and BlackRock has tasked the Economist Intelligence Unit with undertaking a survey of 223 European insurance firms. The results are counterintuitive: 32% of respondents are planning to incresae their allocation to hedge funds, and 32% are also planning to increase their exposure to private equity, despite heavier regulatory ratios. This contradiction is due to the fact that insurers need revenues to keep up with their liabilities, and alternative products are more liable to provide these steady revenues.33% of insurers are also planning to increase their investments in corporate bonds. In terms of government bonds, about one quarter of companies are planning to increase their exposure, while another quarter are planning to reduce it.
01/03/2012

AGI adds to fiduciary management team

From 1 March, Piet Molenaar, who had since January 2011 been CIO of the Stork pension fund, will be joining Allianz Global Investors (AGI), as head of fiduciary management for Benelux and Northern Europe. He will be in charge of developing complete solutions for pension and retirement funds, developing relationships with existing clients, and recruiting new clients. He will be based in Rotterdam, and will report to Andrew Hilka, head of pensions at AGI.Assets in fiduciary management at AGI total EUR13bn.
01/03/2012

Heavy institutional outflows at Henderson Global Investors

The British asset management firm Henderson Global Investors on 29 February announced that it has earned a net profit of GBP33.9m, compared with GBP77.4m in 2010. Pre-tax profits are nonetheless up 58% year on year, to GBP159.2m, largely due to the acquisition of Gartmore, which was completed on 4 April 2011 for a total of GBP365.4m, and which thus contributed to nine months of results for the fiscal year. Assets under management as of 31 December 2011 were up 4% to GBP64.3bn. The acquisition of Gartmore brought in assets under management of GBP15.7bn, which were nonetheless partially offset by divestments. The year ended with net outflows, largely in second half, of GBP6.4bn, of which GBP4.7bn were to institutional clients. The negative impact of markets and forex totalled GBP2.7bn.
01/03/2012

EFG International plans to sell private banking activities in France

The Swiss wealth management specialist EFG International on 29 February announced at a presentation of its annual results that it is in negotiations with potential acquirers for all or part of its private banking activities in France, as part of an initiative to refocus its private banking activities. In France, the private management activities of EFG International which will be affected belong to EFG Gestion Privée, the former wealtth management arm of the asset management boutique Sycomore, acquired in 2008. EFG International is also present in France with EFG Asset Management, which has recently announced that it is releasing four sub-funds of its Irish Sicav New Capital in France (see Newsmanagers of 24 January 2012). EFG International is also active in France in the structured products segment. The group has reported a net loss for the 2011 fiscal year of CHF294.1m, due to restructuring costs (CHF46m) and amortisations (CHF223.8m), compared with losses of CHF721.8m in 2010. Assets under management that generate revenues as of the end of 2011 totalled CHF78.4bn, compared with CHF84.8bn as of the end of 2010. Net inflows to ongoing activities totalled CHF0.6bn. Taking into account discontinued activities, EFG has reported capital outflows totalling CHF1.2bn.
01/03/2012
Gestion d'actifs

Les Caisses d'Epargne et Banques Populaires devront investir au profit de BPCE

D’après l’Agefi, les 19 Banques Populaires et les 17 Caisses d’Epargne devront investir au total 2 milliards d’euros en titres super subordonnés (TSS) au profit de BPCE afin que cette dernière puisse se conformer aux exigences de l’ACP. Les TSS, considérés comme du tier one mais pas comme du core tier one, porteront une rémunération avantageuse, autour de 11%. Ils auraient la faculté d'être convertis en actions ajoute l’Agefi. L’organe central se tourne donc à son tour vers ses banques régionales. Celles-ci verront peut-être dans les TSS un investissement plus rentable que leurs actions BPCE, qui ne versent pas de dividende. Pire, de sources concordantes, la valeur de ces actions BPCE va être dépréciée dans les comptes à fin 2011. A l'échelle des 17 Caisses d’Epargne, l’ardoise cumulée des dépréciations approche 1,1 milliard, avec pour certaines d’entre elles un résultat net quasiment réduit à zéro.
Gestion d'actifs
01/03/2012

Injections de la BCE : «fide, sed cui vide*»

Les données les plus récentes montrent que la provision de liquidités BCE a permis d’éviter un rationnement majeur du crédit au tournant de l’année. Mais est-ce suffisant ?
01/03/2012

Ben Bernanke reconnaît des progrès

Le banquier central a insisté hier devant le Congrès sur les signes de reprise de l'économie américaine et d’amélioration sur le marché du travail tout en se montrant toujours prudent. Dans ce contexte, la perspective d’un troisième assouplissement quantitatif s'éloigne.
01/03/2012

Michel Barnier propose de réglementer les fonds de pension

Le commissaire européen au marché intérieur et à la régulation financière devrait indiquer aujourd’hui dans un discours que la Commission européenne «va proposer un cadre réglementaire spécifique aux fonds de pension», indique le journal. Une réforme destinée à encourager les fonds transfrontaliers, à réduire les coûts des employeurs et leur offrir plus de choix.
01/03/2012

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi s’inquiète de l’opération de la BCE

Dans un entretien accordé au journal, l’ancien membre de la BCE, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, s’inquiète de l’effet des opérations de refinancement de la BCE sur l’incitation des banques à «se tenir sur leurs propres jambes». Les banques pourraient en effet devenir «dépendantes à des financements de la banque centrale» et être tentées de repousser la restructuration de leur bilan.

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