Selon les calculs de VDOS Stochastics, les fonds espagnols affichaient au 24 décembre un encours de 144,54 milliards d’euros, soit 15,35 % de moins que fin 2009.En décembre, les actifs gérés ont diminué de 324 millions, du fait que les plus-values de plus de 1,59 milliard d’euros n’ont pas suffi à compenser des remboursements nets de presque 1,92 milliard d’euros.

Au 30 novembre 2010, le patrimoine global net des organismes de placement collectif et des fonds d’investissement spécialisés s’est élevé à 2.160,872 milliards d’euros contre 2.107,575 milliards d’euros au 31 octobre 2010, soit une augmentation de 2,53% sur un mois, selon les statistiques communiquées par la Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF) . Considéré sur la période des douze derniers mois écoulés, le volume des actifs nets est en augmentation de 20,79%.L’industrie des OPC luxembourgeois a ainsi enregistré au mois de novembre une variation positive se chiffrant à 53,297 milliards d’euros. Cette augmentation résulte de la combinaison de l’impact favorable des marchés financiers à concurrence de 37,034 milliards d’euros (+1,76%) et d’émissions nettes positives à concurrence de 16,263 milliards d’euros (+0,77%). La CSSF observe que la plupart des catégories d’OPC investis en actions ont pu enregistrer des gains de cours. Cette évolution s’explique par le fait que l’évolution majoritairement négative des marchés d’actions en raison des incertitudes des investisseurs face à la dette souveraine en Europe a été compensée pour de nombreux marchés par une appréciation du dollar par rapport à l’euro de plus de 6%. Au Japon, des résultats d’entreprises meilleurs que prévu ont provoqué une hausse d’environ 8% pour les OPC composés d’actions japonaises. Seuls les OPC en actions européennes ont subi des pertes. Sur les marchés des obligations d’Etat européennes, des nouvelles incertitudes liées aux tensions sur les marchés de la dette souveraine dans la zone euro ont contribué à l’augmentation de la volatilité des rendements et à une baisse des cours. De fait, les OPC à obligations libellées en euro ont subi des baisses de cours et des émissions nettes négatives. Aux Etats-Unis, les incertitudes liées à l’annonce d’une nouvelle phase de politique monétaire expansive ont déclenché une augmentation de la volatilité des rendements des obligations d’Etat américaines. Pour les OPC luxembourgeois à obligations libellées en dollar, la baisse des cours a été compensée par l’appréciation du dollar face à l’euro.

En 2010, seulement un quart des gérants italiens a réussi à battre son indice de référence, contre 43 % en 2009, rapporte Il Sole – 24 Ore. Les deux catégories de fonds qui ont le plus souffert sont les fonds monétaires et les obligataires court terme, dont seulement 10,7 % et 9,1 % ont battu leur indice. Dans le détail, la majorité des fonds analysés (60 %) affiche des rendements supérieurs ou inférieurs au benchmark compris entre 0 % et 2 %. Seuls 10 % se détachent de plus de 5 % de l’indice (13 en positif et 34 en négatif).

Les professionnels ne croient pas à la version officielle selon laquelle Klaus Kaldemorgen a volontairement renoncé à la direction administrative de DWS (274 milliards d’euros d’encours) pour se concentrer sur la gestion de fonds d’actions, indique le Handelsblatt (voir aussi notre article du 30 décembre 2010).Les proches du dossier imputent la mutation ou le départ de Klaus Kaldemorgen et d’autres dirigeants de la société de gestion (Andreas Feiden, parti chez Fidelity, Ingo Gefeke et Axel Schwarzer, qui quittent le groupe) à l’insuffisance des bénéfices de l’activité fonds d’investissement et au mécontentement des dirigeants de la Deutsche Bank qui auraient souhaité voir DWS se développer davantage à l’international. De plus, les fonds offerts au public de DWS ont accusé en 2010 des sorties nettes supérieures à 1,6 milliard d’euros.Le nouveau directeur général est Wolfgang Matis (54 ans), qui voulait prendre sa retraite. C’est un homme d’Anshu Jain, le patron de la division banque d’investissement de la Deutsche Bank. Et Anshu Jain est crédité des meilleures chances de succéder à Josef Ackermann, le président du directoire.

L’allemand AmpegagGerling Asset Management (groupe Talanx) ainsi que les fondations autrichiennes San Gabriel et T.R. ont notifié juste avant Noël aux régulateurs allemand (BaFin) et autrichien (FMA) avoir réduit leurs participations dans le gestionnaire austro-autrichien C-Quadrat Investment (près de 5 milliards d’euros d’encours).AmpegaGerling AM, qui souhaite conserver 25,1 % du capital, indique avoir réduit sa participation à 29 % contre 32,59 % acquise auprès de liquidateur d’AvW (voir notre article du 14 octobre).Pour leur part, San Gabriel et T.R., contrôlées respectivement par Thomas Riess et Alexander Schütz, les deux fondateurs de C-Quadrat, ont annoncé avoir vendu le 20 décembre une participation totale de 3,51 % du capital. Elles détiennent respectivement désormais 21,92 % et 21,359 %.Enfin, C-Quadrat Investment a pour sa part informé la FMA par un communiqué boursier qu’elle entend revendre sa participation de 25,1 % du groupe autrichien Ariconsult Holding aux autres actionnaires, qui ont un droit de préemption, pour un montant de 0,5 million d’euros. Cette offre est valable deux mois.

Eric Helderlé détaille pour Newsmanagers l'actualité d'une société de gestion sous les feux de la rampe avec ses 50 milliards d'encours. Des récentes nominations à l'après-Edouard Carmignac - son fondateur - en passant par le succès du fonds Carmignac Patrimoine et les limites de cet engouement, le directeur général de la maison de la place Vendôme n'élude aucune question...

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, a pension fund with USD9.7bn in assets, is seeking a total of Usd24m, which it lost on operations related to securities lending, from Wachovia, and therefore Wells Fargo, which acquired the firm, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pension fund says the bank reinvested the cash collateral in transactions which were not a part of the mandate it had been assigned, particularly with Sigma Finance, a structured investment vehicle.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Les Echos reports that US economists at the American Economic Association (AEA) would like to give some support to their credibility by setting up an “ethical code” to smooth relations between Wall Street and academic circles. At the annual conference, which will be held in Denver on 6 January, the executive committee of the largest global organisation of economists (17,000 professionals) will propose a new charter for its members which would require economists to make their consulting activities publicly known. The initiative comes a few months after the release of a documentary entitled “Inside Job” by Charles Ferguson, which revealed the sometimes incestuous relations between Wall Street and certain university professors.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Douglas A. Kelley, the court-appointed receiver for the business of Tom Petters, has filed several lawsuits against J.P. Morgan Chase and its affiliate One Equity Partners, seeking USD300m on the basis that they knew, or should have known, that money seized from the accounts of the fraudster were the proceeds of fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The amount sought represents the millions of dollars in these accounts as well as commissions earned from the acquisition of shares in Polaroid in operations related to a Ponzi scheme.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Gold gained nearly 30% in 2010, on the basis of its closing price on Friday, 31 December, after a fifth consecutive month of rising value in December. The metal has turned in its best annual performance since 2007, the news agency Reuters reports. The gold fixed spot price was USD1,410.25 per ounce on Friday morning, compared with USD1,405.50 at the previous fixing on Thursday afternoon. On the basis of these fixings, the price of the metal has risen 29.7% over the year, compared with gains of 28.7% on the free spot market.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 November 2010, overall net assets in collective investment organisms (OPC) and specialised investment funds in Luxembourg totalled EUR2.160872trn, compared with EUR2.107575trn on 31 October 2010, an increase of 2.53% in one month, according to statistics from the financial sector regulator (CSSF). Over the past twelve months, net asset volume has increased by 20.79%.The Luxembourg OPC industry has seen a positive variation in November totalling EUR53.297bn. This increase is a result of a combination of favourable impact of financial markets totalling EUR37.034bn (+1.76%), and positive net issues of EUR16.263bn (+0.77%).The CSSF observes that most of the OPC equities categories have seen increases in asset volumes. This development is due to the fact that the largely negative evolution of the equities markets due to investors’ uncertainties related to sovereign debt in Europe were offset for several markets by a rise in the dollar against the euro of more than 6%. In Japan, better-than-expected corporate results triggered a rise of about 8% for OPC of Japanese equities. Only European equities OPCs saw losses.For European government debt markets, continuing uncertainties about sovereign debt markets in the Euro zone contributed to an increase in the volatility of returns and a fall in asset levels. It follows that OPC funds denominated in euros saw declines in asset levels, and negative net issues.In the United States, uncertainties related to the announcement of an expansive new wave of quantitative easing triggered an increase in the volatility of returns on US government bonds. For Luxembourg OPCs of bonds denominated in US dollars, falling assets were offset by the appreciation of the dollar against the euro.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ESMA, the new European market authority, will be created on 3 January in Paris, with the aim of harmonizing national regulatory frameworks, Les Echos reports. It will become a force to contend with for national market regulators, including the British FSA. To this end, it has new competences beyond those of its predecessor, the European Committee of Securities Regulators (CESR). The most important of these is the ability to declare technical standards applicable to all markets in Europe.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 22 December, assets in the hausInvest fund, managed by Commerz Real, represented less than EUR9.98bn, compared with more than EUR10.81bn as of 1 October, Das Investment reports.This decline of nearly EUR1bn is due to rising equities and uncertainties related to the future of open-ended real estate funds. Despite the redemptions, Commerzbank is not planning a sales drive, says Markus Esser, spokesman for Commerz Real.HausInvest is the product born of the merger of the hausInvest europa and hausInvest global funds (see Newsmanagers of 25 March 2010).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } One week after selling two properties in Saint-Denis for EUR120m (see Newsmanagers of 24 December), Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has announced the sale of an office/commercial property in Hamburg for EUR44.6m to Aachener Grundvermögen Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH. The sale, like those of the two French properties, took place at a price higher than the most recent expert valuation.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal from Credit Suisse Germany, which has been closed to redemptions for several months (see Newsmanagers of 21 May 2010), on 17 December announced the sale for EUR184m of two properties in Paris: an office building located at 31 avenue Pierre I de Serbie, and a commercial property at 88 rue de Rivoli. The total sale price is higher than the most recent expert valuation.Credit Suisse also states that the fund on 14 December distributed EUR199.1m in dividends for the period to 30 September 2010, of which more than one quarter, EUR52.4m, were reinvested in the fund in the next three days.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sun is rising over the Rhine. Major transactions are still expected in the German private equity industry, despite its collapse in 2009, and the fact that the recovery of private equity funds has been slower than expected, the Financial Times Deutschland reports. But investors estimate that the time is not right, and nothing is changing in terms of fundamental trends. Germany is nonetheless a privileged hunting-ground for large funds, due to the excellent financial health of many businesses which may represent potential targets. In this environment, major market actors have all built up funds with very good volumes of spending money, with more than EUR11bn at Apax, more than EUR6bnat BC Partners and about EUR10bn at Blackstone.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Professionals do not believe the official version of the story, according to which Klaus Kaldemorgen is voluntarily giving up his position as administrative head of DWS (EUR274bn in assets) in order to concentrate on management of equities funds, Handelsblatt reports (see Newsmanagers of 30 December 2010).Sources familiar with the matter say that the transfer or departure of Kaldemorgen and other senior officers from the management firm (Andreas Feiden, who is moving to Fidelity, Ingo Gefeke and Axel Schwarzer, who are leaving the group) is due to insufficient profits for the investment fund activitie and to the fact that the heads of Deutsche Bank, would haveve wished to see DWS develop more internationally. In addition, open-ended funds from DWS in 2010 saw net outflows of over EUR1.6bn.The new CEO is Wolfgang Matis, 54, who had been planning to retire. He was a colleague of Anshu Jain, the head of the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank. Jain is credited with the best chances of succeeding Josef Ackermann, chairman of the board.

Eric Helderlé tells Newsmangers what's new at a rising star firm with EUR50bn in assets under management. The CEO of the company based in the place Vendôme in Paris isn't bashful about answering any questions, on topics ranging from recent appointments, the firm's founder, Edouard Carmignac, the success of the Carmignac Patrimoine fund, the limits of its popularity...

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Government Pension Fund – Global (GPFG), formerly known as the Petroleum Fund, has recently obtained permission to invest up to 5% of its assets (currently NOK3trn) in real estate, Handelsblatt reports. Previously, the fund was allowed to invest 60% of its assets in foreign equities and 40% in bonds, but the proportion in bonds has now been limited to 35%.The CEO of the GPFG, Yngve Slyngstad, soon afterwards announced the acqusition of a 25% stake in 113 properties in Regent Street in London from The Crown Estate, for NOK4.2bn (EUR513.8m). Further real estate acquisitions are planned in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, but no investments will take place in the United States before 2012.Slyngstad and Svein Gjedrem, governor of the Norwegian central bank, are currently in talks with the government to get an approval for the GPFG to invest in private equity.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, Spanish funds as of 24 December had assets of EUR144.54bn, 15.35% less than at the end of 2009. In December, assets under management were down by EUR324m, due to the fact that gains of over EUR1.59bn were not enough to offset net redemptions of nearly EUR1.92bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Luis Hernández, formerly of Cetelem as well as BNP Banque Privée, has been appointed CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Spain, following the merger with Fortis, Expansión reports, relayed by Funds People. He will be assisted by Jaime Hap, former CEO of Fortis Banca Privada, Alfonso Martínez Parras, head of sales, and Bertrand Léger, administrative director. BNP Paribas Wealth Management (200 employees, two thirds of whom come from BNP Paribas and the rest from Fortis) manages about EUR5.5bn. It has 4,500 individuals or families as clients, and has reduced its personnel by 65 as part of the merger. Hernández says that net inflows in 2010 totalled about EUR200m, which were offset by market effects, meaning that asset volumes remained stable.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Juan Carlos Acitores, European equities fund manager at Ahorro Corporación, has been recruited as head of sales at Threadneedle for the Iberian peninsula and Latin America.He joins the Madrid office of the British asset management firm, where he will work with Leonardo López, head of sales for Spain. He will report to Rubén García, head of distribution for the Iberian peninsula and Latin America.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, only one quarter of Italian managers succeeded in outperforming their benchmarks, compared with 43% in 2009, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. The two fund categories which suffered most were money markets and short-term bonds, with only 10.7% and 9.1% outperforming their benchmarks. Most funds analysed (60%) had returns 0% to 2% higher or lower than their benchmarks. Only 10% were more than 5% away from the index (13 in a positive and 34 in a negative direction).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the private banking sector in Switzerland is seeing limited demand for Sharia-compliant financial products. Pictet & Cie launched a thematic fund based on the methods of Islamic finance two years ago, and closed it last year. “There is an inexplicable scepticism on the part of Geneva private banks about giving a mandate to a consulting firm specialised in Sharia-compliant investment. As of now, no major institution of this type which is respected internationally is yet established in Switzerland, though they are in London and Luxembourg,” says John Sandwick, independent manager in Geneva, cited by the newspaper.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that a New York state judge, Harold Baer, on Thursday rejected lawsuits filed by hedge funds related to the financial disclosures made by Porsche in 2008. The judge thus strengthened hopes that the merger of Porsche and Volkswagen would go ahead as planned in late 2011. The 40 hedge funds, led by Elliott Associates and Black Diamond, which lost USD2bn in the takeover bid by the largest European auto maker for its specialist compatriot, may now be defeated, the newspaper notes. Porsche did not disclose its real intentions to the hedge funds, which had short-sold shares, provoking a “short squeeze” effect when the funds were required to buy back the shares in catastrophic conditions.

The euro has only a 20% chance of surviving in its current form for the next ten years, according to the British research institute CEBR (Centre for Economics and Business Research), which on 31 December published its ten major predictions for 2011.In its commentary on the euro, at the top of the list of predictions, the CEBR points out that Spain and Italy will need to refinance EUR400bn of their debt in spring, which could potentially create a new crisis in the euro zone. The euro may disintegrate at that time, even if European directors are capable of responding to such a crisis.“If the euro does not fall apart, 2011 could be the year when it weakens substantially, towards parity with the dollar,” says the CEO of the CEBR, Douglas McWilliams. “I think that the thing which will put an end to the euro will be the failure of most countries to adopt remedies that include the necessary constraints to make their economies competitive over the longer term,” the CEBR chief explains.The British think tank estimates that Germany will continue to play the role of a super-star in the Western world. It points out that the success of the German economy is partly due to the contribution of its immigrants, particularly from Turkey. However, Japan, whose debt now represents 200% of its GNP, may be facing a new financial crisis.The CEBR gives itself a positive verdict on its predictions for 2010, but admits that its sporting predictions were nearly all wrong. For 2011, the CEBR is nonetheless giving it another try. In football, it plucks for Manchester United for the British championship, and Real Madrid for the European title. New Zealand will beat Australia in the rugby world cup final, it says.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Hargreaves Lansdown has withdrawn the SVM global opportunities fund from its list of 150 recommended funds, pointing to its increased volatility since the beginning of the financial crisis, Money Marketing reports. The fund has very significantly underperformed its benchmark sector in the past three years, down 24.6%, compared with gains of 8% for the Global Growth sector.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that Gemini Investment Management is considering new funds which may be dedicated to South America and Africa. Gemini is also planning to launch alternative vehicles. Two funds may already be available in first quarter, the managing director of Gemini, Stuart Alexander, says. In November, Gemini launched the Gemini Most India fund in partnership with the Indian broker Motilal Oswal.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although “mirror funds” provide access to some of the largest hedge fund managers, La Tribune asks whether their returns are the same as those of the original offshore funds. HedgeFund Intelligence has undertaken a study of 62 offshore products and their clones. Across all strategies, the average difference in performance between the two types of fund is 3.38%, the newspaper reports. HFI states that there are nearly as many UCITS funds that ouperform as underperform the offshore products. “The difference in performance depends on the strategy replicated and on structuring costs,” explains Serge Darolles, deputy head of the Lyxor R&D team, and author of a study on the subject.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US financial services firm Raymond James Financial has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett, a brokerage firm based in Chicago, which also has a wealth management unit with USD1.9bn in assets under management.