Directeur général de State Street Global Advisors en France, Marco Fusco entend bien accélérer le développement dans le pays de la filiale de gestion d’actifs de la banque américaine. Il confie au quotidien son souhait particulier de s’appuyer pour ce faire sur la marque SPDR de gestion indicielle. «La société n’a jamais eu la volonté marketing et commerciale de (la) promouvoir. Mais ça va changer» assure le quotidien.
Carmignac Gestion annoncera ce matin, lors de sa conférence trimestrielle, la nomination d’Eric Le Coz au poste de directeur général adjoint. Il coordonnera les gérants au côté d’Edouard Carmignac, alors que la boutique, sortie grande gagnante de la crise, est en décollecte en 2011.
L’inflation a repassé en juin la barre symbolique des 2% en rythme annuel, ce qui aura pour conséquence une meilleure rémunération du Livret A, qui sera porté à 2,25% dès le 1er août sans toutefois déclencher une revalorisation du Smic. Les prix à la consommation ont augmenté de 0,1% le mois dernier par rapport au mois précédent et l’inflation sur un an a légèrement accéléré à 2,1% contre 2,0% en mai, montrent les statistiques publiées mardi par l’Insee. La persistance des prix élevés de l'énergie a nourri la remontée de l’inflation globale: s’ils ont diminué de 0,5% par rapport à mai, ces prix restent en hausse de 11,5% en rythme annuel, et de 14,1% pour produits pétroliers. Le Livret A reste le produit de placement le plus répandu en France puisque l’Observatoire de l'épargne réglementée en recensait 59,5 millions fin 2010. Et son encours a nettement progressé ces derniers mois, pour atteindre 205,0 milliards d’euros fin mai, près de 10 milliards de plus qu'à la fin décembre.
L’inflation en Grande-Bretagne a ralenti contre toute attente en juin après un pic de deux ans et demi en avril-mai, en raison de promotions sur de nombreux biens électroniques et bien que les prix de l’alimentation continuent eux d’augmenter. Selon les données publiées mardi par l’Office national de la statistique, les prix à la consommation ont reculé de 0,1% d’un mois sur l’autre en juin, ce qui porte l’inflation à 4,2% l’an.
La PDMA, l’agence de gestion de la dette publique grecque, a adjugé pour 1,625 milliard d’euros de bons à six mois, à un taux de rendement en baisse de six points de base à 4,90% par rapport à la précédente opération du 14 juin. Le coefficient de couverture est de 2,88 contre 2,58 lors de la précédente adjudication.
Les Bourses européennes restent sous pression mardi en l’absence d’accord sur un nouveau plan d’aide à la Grèce .Dans la matinée, la directrice générale du FMI avait d’ailleurs déclaré qu’un deuxième plan d’aide à la Grèce n'était pas acquis. L’euro est désormais fortement pénalisé et s'échange autour de 1,3915 dollar après avoir plongé à un plus bas à 1,3838 contre 1,4037 lundi soir. Une nouvelle fois, des raisons techniques ont perturbé la diffusion de l’indice CAC 40, mais Londres lâche 1,55%, Francfort 2,11%. Milan qui a perdu plus de 4% en matinée, réduit ses pertes (-0,58%). Les valeurs financières, ont plongé en début de séance puis ont réduit leurs pertes. A Paris, Crédit agricole, qui avait perdu jusqu'à 5%, recule de 2,8%, BNP Paribas cède 2,2% et Axa 2,9%. Le taux du Bund allemand à 10 ans est tombé de 2,88% vendredi à 2,61% mardi en fin de matinée, le rendement de l’OAT française de même maturité étant passé de 3,36% à 3,38%.
Cible des marchés, l’Italie a placé ce matin 6,75 milliards d’euros de bons du Trésor à 12 mois. Le montant levé correspond à l’objectif fixé et la demande a été à peu près en ligne avec la moyenne, mais le rendement servir (3,67%) marque un renchérissement de 150 points de base par rapport à juin. La réussite de l’opération a tout de même permis de soulager les tensions sur les taux italiens, presques stables vers midi.
Le déficit des paiements courants de la France s’est creusé en mai à 5,5 milliards d’euros après 5 milliards en avril, en raison notamment de l’augmentation du déficit des échanges de biens, montrent les chiffres provisoires publiés mardi par la Banque de France. Le déficit des échanges de biens a atteint 7,7 milliards après 7,5 milliards en avril. L’excédent des échanges de services a parallèlement légèrement reculé à 0,9 milliard après 1,3 milliard.
La Banque du Japon a annoncé le maintien de sa politique monétaire, et revu à la hausse son évaluation de la situation économique, encouragée par des signes que la reprise économique est plus rapide que prévu après le séisme du 11 mars. Comme la plupart des observateurs le prévoyaient, la BoJ a conservé ses taux à leur très bas niveau, soit dans une marge comprise entre 0,0% et 0,1%. La décision a été prise à l’unanimité du conseil d’administration.
Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Philippe Dutertre, président du directoire d’Agicam revient sur la stratégie d’investissement sur le non coté de son groupe: Dans le domaine du capital investissement, qui constitue une niche en termes d’encours, nous avons investi dans 55 fonds ce qui, par transparence, recouvre un apport en fonds propres à près de 200 entreprises sur le territoire national, 100 000 emplois, un chiffre d’affaires de 10milliards d’euros et un bénéfice net de 1.2 milliards d’euros. Nous évaluons la performance de cette poche d’investissement non seulement à travers le TRI (taux de rentabilité interne), mais aussi à l’aune de son utilité sociale. Nous avons à ce titre investi récemment dans le fonds Citizen Capital afin d’encourager la diversité.
According to a study by Deutsche Bank, the db-X ETC platform (launched in March 2010) was the fastest-growing ETC promoter in Europe, Thorsten Michalik, head of both db-X ETC and db x-trackers, announced on 11 July.db-X ETC (currently 40 products) has seen an increase in its assets in January-June of EUR592m, for a total of EUR1.4bn as of 30 June. In other words, Deutsche Bank took on virtually all net subscriptions in the sector in Europe in the period under review.The German bank says that assets in the Physical Gold Euro Hedged ETC increased in first half by EUR263m, to a total of EUR620m.Among the ETFs from db x-trackers, the commodities product db x-trackers DBLCI-OY Balanced ETF has seen net subscriptions of EUR93m in January-June, for a total of EUR1.2bn.
As of the end of December, assets at asset management firms had risen by 8% in one year, to USD56.4trn, following an increase of 13% in 2009 and a contraction of 17% in 2008. Assets thus slightly exceeded their total of USD56.2trn as of the end of 2007, according to the ninth annual survey by the Boston Consulting Group (Building on Success: Global Asset Management 2011).The increase in assets under management is largely due to continued rises on equities markets, while net subscriptions have remained marginal.The sector has also brought its costs under control; these remained at 20% of assets last year. Net margins have increased to 33% from 31%, which remains well below an all-time peak of 39% in 2007.
As of the end of June, BlackRock reports, there were 2,825 ETFs listed 6,229 times on 49 stock exchanges worldwide, with total assets of USD1.4427trn, 0.3% lower than at the end of May (USD1.4466trn), but 10% higher than USD1.3313bn as of the end of December.The three leaders in the market remain unchanged, with iShares (BlackRock) claiming USD620.7bn as of the end of June, or 43% of the market, followed by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), with USD204.2bn and 14.2% of the market, while Vanguard takes third place with USD175.5bn and 12.2% of the market.
Hyposwiss Private Bank Geneva has announced the arrival of Marc Brodard on 1 November as its new CEO. He will succeed Declan McAdams, who has been elected to the board of directors, following the retirement of Yves Burrus.Since April 2007, Brodard has been director of the French-speaking ultra-high net worth clients division, covering Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa, at Credit Suisse.
According to the most recent edition of the monthly “ETF Landscape” magazine from BlackRock, as of the end of June, there were in Europe 1,185 ETF funds listed 4,050 times on 23 stock markets, from 40 issuers. Total assets came to USD321.2bn, 0.9% more than at the end of May (USD318.2bn), and 13.1% higher than at the end of December (USD284bn).The rankings remain unchanged, with iShares (BlackRock) holding USD116.3bn in assets (a market share of 36.2%), Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) with USD53.5bn (16.7%), and db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) with USD51bn (15.9%).In June, total net subscriptions represented USD3.8bn, of which USD1.6bn were for iShares, and USD1bn for UBS Global Asset Management, while db x-trackers underwent net redemptions of USD0.4bn.In first half as a whole, while net subscriptions totalled USD19.2bn, iShares posted the highest net inflows, with USD9.4bn, followed by UBS Global AML (USD3.9bn). However, Lyxor has seen net outflows of USD2.4bn.
The Columbus UK Real Estate Fund, advised by Columbus Capital Management (the real estate unit of Schroders), has acquired the remaining assets of Stockland Ventures Ltd for about GBP50m. The two office properties in the centre of London and a shopping centre in Eastbourne, Sussex, bring the number of properties acquired by the fund in the past 12 months to 16. Returns are about 7%. 80% of funds raised at the first closing are now invested; ten other acquisitions are in the negotiation stages, and could result in transactions in August 2011.The two London properties were acquired by AFH Investment, a 50/50 joint venture of the Columbus UK Real Estate Fund and the British Airways pension fund. AFH was founded in 2010 to acquire Austin Friars House in London; it is managed by Columbus Capital Management.The Langney Shopping Centre was acquired by a new joint venture of the Columbus UK Real Estate fund and London & Associated Properties plc.
Anil Kumar, a former partner at the consultant McKinsey, has pleaded guilty and confessed to passing confidential information to Raj Rajaratnam, the former head of Galleon Group. Rajat Gupta, a former McKinsey director, is facing a lawsuit filed by the SEC in connection with the case, but he denies the charges, the Financial Times reports. And Dominic Barton, global managing director, has pledged to take the necessary measures to “make the organisation stronger” in the future. He has told the Financial Times that the McKinsey brand has suffered, and that it might take it as long as two decades to recover from the scandal.
On 8 July, the Portuguese securities commission (CMVM) announced that on 7 July, it issued a license to create the Sporting Portugal Fund, a Fundo Especial de Investimento Mobiliário Fechado which will be managed by ESAF Espirito Santo Fundos de Investimento Mobiliário.The product is a closed fund, which like the Benfica Stars Club (see Newsmanagers of 30 September 2009 and 6 July 2010) aims to earn a part of the revenues and profits of the football club Sporting Clube de Portugal of Lisbon on its player trades. The fund will initially have EUR15m in assets. The construction of the fund, strictly speaking, is scheduled for 8 August.
In first half, the macro sub-index of the hedge fund index from Hedge Fund Research has seen losses of 2.1%, with declines of 1.8% in June and 2.2% in May, while in January-June, the S&P 500 gained 5%, the Wall Street Journal reports.Some big names in the segment are going through tough times: the Remington Investment Strategies fund from Moore Capital Management has lost 3.9%, the Macro Fund from Fortress Investment Group is down 3.6%, and the BVI Global fund from Tudor Investment lost 2.9% in June.However, the Master Fund from Brevan Howard gained 0.8% in June, and 4% in first half.
The CNMV has issued a sales license for three equities sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav Schroder ISF (European Equity Focus, Global Demographic Opportunities and US Equity Alpha), and for two fixed income compartments of the same Sicav, the Currency Absolute Return and the Euro Credit Duration Hedge.
Subscriptions to the future Barclays Renta 13 are open until 22 July, Funds People reports. The product is a fund which will invest primarily in cedulas hipotacarias (mortgage bonds) from Spanish issuers, and which promises returns of at least 3% per year over a 2 year, 5 month period. Minimal subscription is set at EUR600.
Funds People reports that the Belgian asset management firm Bank Degroof has registered a high dividend equities sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav, Degroof Equities International Selection, with the CNMV for sale in Spain.Currently, the fund is overweight in shares from the energy, materials, discretionary consumer goods and health sectors, with 60% of the portfolio invested in France and Germany.Management and administration commissions are limited to 0.1% and 0.135%, respectively, while assets are still below EUR125m. Once assets exceed that limit, the fees will be lowered to 0.05% and 0.105%. Distribution and depository banking commissions are 0.35% and 0.03%, respectively.
The British asset management firm specialised in real estate F&C REIT Asset Management (EUR8.5bn in assets) has announced the recruitment of an investment analyst from Comfort München, Florian Schlomberg, and of two asset managers, Jan Abel (ex Sitwa Asset Management) and Uwe Bacher (ex TAG Immobilien).
For 2010, WGF Westfälische Grundbesitz und Finanzverwaltung AG has declared earnings of EUR124.3m, compared with EUR28.7m, and profits of EUR12.5m, compared with losses of EUR0.4m last year.A one-time charge in 2008 for the sale of properties to three real estate funds has now been reabsorbed, as properties have successfully been sold to other investors. WGF, which is a specialist in real estate trading, is also a provider of closed real estate funds.
The Basel-based Baque Sarasin has announced that it will be opening offices in Cologne on 18 July, in the ultra-modern office building Kranhaus Süd, a former warehouse on the old docks. The new offices are the fourth location in Germany for the Swiss bank.Initially, the branch office will be staffed by five people, led by Michael Rivera, who joined Sarasin on 1 July from Deutsche Bank, where he was in charge of relationship management for ultra high net worth individuals.In Germany, Sarasin has had a full banking license since 2008; it already turned a first profit for the fiscal year 2010.
Intech Investment Management, an affiliate of Janus Capital, has announced that it has been awarded a USD1.3bn mandate for a customised version of its Enhanced Global Core ex Australia strategy, from the asset management firm AMP Capital Investors, an affiliate of the insurer AMP. The objective will be to outperform the MSCI World ex Australia index with equal or less risk, using a mathematical risk-oriented process, which has been in use at Intech since 1987.