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13/12/2010

Marginal decline in ETF assets in November

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 November, total global assets under management in ETFs according to BlackRock totalled USD1.231trn, USD8bn less than at the end of October. This remains 18.8% higher than their levels at the end of 2009 (USD1.0361trn).However, the number of ETFs increased by 13 over the month, to 2,422 funds, listed 5,413 times (compared with 5,335 as of the end of October), which corresponds to an increase of 24.7% since the beginning of the year, with 530 launches and 51 funds removed from trading (see Newsmanagers of 10 November). Since January, 28 new ETF providers have launched their first products, while three others withdrew from the sector, and 41 are planning their first ETF launches soon.There are currently plans to launch 1,046 ETF funds.BlackRock estimates that net subscriptions to ETFs and ETPs in the United States and Europe represented USD14bn in November, and USD145.5bn in the first eleven months of 2010.The top three asset management firms are iShares (BlackRock retains a comfortable lead with USD549.8bn in assets and 468 ETF funds, and a market share of 44.7% (compared with USD556.1bn and 44.9% as of the end of October). State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) remains in second place with USD17.1bn and 13.9% of the market (USD170.7bn and 13.8%), followed by Vanguard, with USD141.2bn and 11.5% of the market (USD135.2bn and 10.9%).
13/12/2010

Aurelius attacks Irish government over Anglo Irish Bank debt

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Wall Street Journal reports that the hedge fund Aurelius from Mark Brodsky bought junior debt from the Anglo Irish Bank at Usd20 cents on the dollar, and refused to sell it to the Irish government at the same price. It is hoping to make much more, as it has often done in similar situations. But this time, it is up against a government, and Dublin is all the less inclined to give in due to the pressure it is under from European governments. In the first half of 2010, Aurelius saw its assets under management increase from USD750m to USD2.5bn. In January-October, its returns were 12%, following more than 30% in 2009, and losses of only 4% in 2008. Aurelius was not the only hedge fund to pursue opportunities abroad: Balestra Capital, Hayman Capital Partners, North Asset Management and Pivot Capital Management did likewise.
13/12/2010

Assets in Pictet funds in France up by 40% since the beginning of the year

“Currently, assets in our funds total EUR2.8bn. As of the end of 2009 they were EUR2bn. And the difference of EUR800m corresponds in reality to net subscriptions, as market effects were negligible,” Hervé Thiard, managing director of the Paris office of Pictet & Cie Europe, has announced.The situation for the Paris office of Pictet Funds is sufficiently positive for its director to have been authorised to recruit two more people, one sales person and one product support specialist, who will join the current six members of staff. Clients of Pictet Paris consist of 40% funds of funds, 20% private banks, and the remainder institutionals and professionals.“In 2011, Pictet is planning to pick up the pace of new product launches a bit, as the range has nealy matured. In the existing long-only products, we are now working to improve performance.” Some projects are also in the works. The new family of UCITS III-compliant hedge funds may additionally gain funds of funds, while single manager funds such as Corto and Mandarin may be complemented by, for example, an Asia ex Japan long/short product and a fixed income product.
13/12/2010

Illinois seeks asset managers

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The State of Illinois, whose unpaid bills run to USD4.5bn, is seeking the assistance of banks and asset management firms to pay off USD2.5bn directly to its creditors. The system generates about 12% returns for the lender, the Wall Street Journal reports.The local government has turned to Goldman Sachs, Fortress Investment Group, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and BlackRock, who had no comment on the reports. At least one other hedge fund management firm refused the job for reputational reasons. The merchant bank Trivergance says it was one of the first to participate in the program.
13/12/2010

Egamo wins a management mandate from a mutual

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Egamo, the asset management firm from MGEN, which manages more than EUR2bn in assets, has won a discretionary management mandate from the Mutuelle Générale Environnement et Territoires (MGET). The amount of the contract has not been disclosed.“This is a result of two causes: that MGET has decided to outsource a part of the management of its assets, and the continued professionalisation of its financial assets and preparation for the introduction of the Solvency II legislation. In addition to this double need comes the choice of an operator who shares the mutualist values which MGET has defended for 64 years,” a press statement says.
13/12/2010

Aviva becomes member of British LLMA association

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aviva has become a full-fledged member of the British professional association LLMA (“Life & Longevity Markets Association”).The association now has eleven members. Aside from Aviva, the others are Axa, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Legal & General, Morgan Stanley, Pension Corporation, Prudential, RBS, Swiss Re and UBS.The association, which includes insurers, reinsurers and banks, aims to foster the emergence of new financial products which aim to manage longevity risks. The nonprofit association works to elaborate standards for securitisation products, longevity indices, and a model of valuation for mortality, primarily for the British market, which is particularly concerned by this risk, but eventually for international use.
13/12/2010

Merkel and Sarkozy reject E-bonds for the near future

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German chancellor Angela Merkel and the French president Nicolas Sarkozy on 10 December in Fribourg, at a meeting of French and German ministers, rejected the idea of creating joint bonds for Euro zone countries, with the French president adding that it was not impossible to consider the possibility again in the future if European integration progresses. The idea of issuing European bonds is defended by the president for finance ministers in the Eurogroup, Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker, and supported by several Mediterranean countries. “On the question of Euro-bonds, I have said that the mutualisation of rates … would not help us much,” said Merkel. The coherence of economic policy has to be increased. “This does not mean mutualising risks,” she added. Sarkozy stated that “if this means creating debt for all of Europe, it would have the effect of making each government less responsible, when what we want is precisely the reverse.” “If one day there is more integration and a much more harmonised economic policy, could we talk about it again? Maybe. But in the current state of affairs, the position of France is precisely the same as the position of Germany,” he added.
13/12/2010

Michel Barnier soon to unveil the major outlines of UCITS V

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in the Börsen-Zeitung, European commissioner Michel Barnier will soon present the main lines of the future UCITS V directive, with the ambitious objective of passing it in the second half of 2011.The bill will stipulate that bonuses should be based on long-term performance, and not incentivate the generation of short-term results.In addition, management and custody of assets will in the future be strictly separated betweem the manager on one hand, and the depository bank on the other.
13/12/2010

iShares continues to dominate ETF net subscriptions

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The monthly statistics from BlackRock confirm each month that iShares remains not only the largest provider of ETFs in Europe, with assets as of the end of November of USD94.2bn, compared with USD98.2bn as of the end of October, but also that it has the largest net subscriptions, with USD12bn in January-November, out of a total of USD41.2bn for all ETFs listed in Europe.db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), for its part, continues to have larger inflows than Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), with USD8.4bn compared with USD5bn, but remains in third place in terms of assets, with USD45.1bn, compared with USD47bn as of the end of October. As of the end of November, Lyxor had USD47.3bn in assets, compared with USD49.9bn one month earlier.In total, assets in European ETFs as of 30 November (1,052 products listed 3,577 times, compared with 1,048 funds listed 3,512 times) totalled USD261.8bn, compared with USD274.1bn one month earlier. Since the beginning of the year, assets under management have increased 15.4%, compared with 20.8% as of the end of October.BlackRock also states that since the beginning of 2010, six providers have launched their first ETFs, while one management withdrew from the sector, and four others are planning to launch their first products soon.
13/12/2010

M&G launches an inflation-linked corporate bond fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British M&G group on 13 December announced the launch of the M&G European Inflation-Linked Corporate Bond fund in France, which it describes as “the first European inflation-linked corporate bond fund available to retail and institutional investors.” Unlike the inflation-linked government bond market, the inflation-linked corporate bond market is quite small. Investors may buy bonds protected against inflation risks from companies such as Veolia, but the choice is very limited, says M&G, which predicts that eh market will grow, particularly if inflation rises again. The fund, launched in the UK on 16 September this year, offers access to a selection of bonds which are expected to perform well in times of high or rising inflation. It aims to protect the capital and income of investors against rising prices by generating performance exceeding inflation over the long term. Major characteristics Name: EUROPEAN INFL LKD CORP BD EUR A NET ACC ISIN code (A class shares): GB00B3VQKJ6 Minimal subscription: EUR1000 Front-end fee: 3.25% Annual management fee: 1%
13/12/2010

Changes in management at Hauck & Aufhäuser, act II

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After the appointment three months ago of Michael Schramm as a managing partner (see Newsmanagers of 17 September), the board of trustees at Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers KGaA (H&A) has appointed Jochen Lucht, COO since 1 February, to the position of managing partner, from 1 January 2011. He will also take over the position of CFO vacated by Wolfgang Weber, who will be leaving the bank on 31 December.Meanwhile, Volker van Rüth, the other managing partner “who is preferring to take on other professional challenges,” is also leaving H&A at the end of this year.The enlarged management committee will also include Hanns-Alexander Flemm, head of the investment bank, and Michael Bentlage, head of asset management, who also takes over as head of the IFA division.
13/12/2010

Fitch affirmsSEB Investment's Real Estate AM Rating

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Frankfurt-based SEB Investment GmbH’s (SEB AM) Asset Manager Rating at ‘M2', for its real estate investment operations."The rating affirmation reflects the company’s operational high quality and the depth of its disciplined due diligence and property management procedures», says the rating agency. However Fitch sees currently «an increased level of business risks resulting from the situation of SEB AM’s flagship investment vehicle, SEB ImmoInvest (largely retail-oriented; EUR6.3bn in net Assets Under Management (AUM), which had to suspend share redemptions for a second time in May 2010". The rating also factors in the continued uncertainty facing the entire open-ended real estate funds (OEREFs) industry in Germany. A new regulatory framework is currently proposed through the legislative process, to be enforced in early-2012, which could dampen investors’ interest for these investment vehicles - in effect increasing the risk on SEB AM’s business model and growth strategy, adds Fitch.
13/12/2010

Credit Suisse opens a family office in Singapore

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Credit Suisse Private Banking has announced the opening of its first family office in Singapore. The group says in a statement that it has appointed Bernard Fung as head of family office services in Singapore. Fung, who will begin in the position on 3 January, will be in charge of development of family office activities for ultra-high net worth (UHNW) clients and their families. Before joining Credit Suisse, Fung was chief executive of Innotech Advisers, the investment firm and family office of Lord Sainsbury of Turville.
13/12/2010

Ahorro Corporación to cut staff by more than one quarter

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ahorro Corporación Financiera (ACF), a financial group consisting of 42 small and mid-sized savings banks, will lay off about 200 people out of total staff of 752, equivalent to 26.5% of its personnel, Cotizalia reports. The operation will take place through a general services outsourcing plan, according to sources familiar with the matter. It will not result in cold layoffs, as the staff concerned will be transferred to the outsourcing companies. In reality, total staff is already lower than the 752 recorded at the beginning of 2010, as there have been assisted departures, but no definite figure is available at present. ACF currently manages EUR6.4bn, 50% less than at the end of 2007.
13/12/2010

Société Générale: Christoph Roos appointed Head of Insurance & Pension Funds Clients for Switzerland

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale has appointed Christoph Roos to the newly-created position of Head of Swiss Insurance & Pension Funds Clients, in the Cross Asset Solutions department, effective from 1 December. In his new position, Roos will handle assistance and strategic advising for institutional clients, particularly insurers and pension funds in Switzerland, the firm announced in a statement on Friday. Roos comes to Société Générale from BNP Paribas, where since 2000 he had served as head of the Fixed Income Derivatives Sales team. He will be based in Zurich, and will report to Benoît Petit, Head of Global Markets Suisse, and Eric Viet, Head of Sales for Pension Funds & Insurance.
13/12/2010

“We now have a long-only beta team and a long/short alpha team"

As at all other firms in the industry, asset management at Lombard Odier was not able to completely meet up to the expectations of clients during the economic seismic shifts which recently disoriented the financial markets. But, apparently, the Geneva-based management firm was able to learn the lessons of this experience, particularly by adapting its tactical approach.
13/12/2010

Deutsche Börse voit une hausse de ses résultats 2011

L’opérateur boursier allemand anticipe une hausse du chiffre d’affaires et du bénéfice pour toutes ses divisions en 2011, a déclaré le directeur financier de l’opérateur boursier allemand, cité par le Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
12/12/2010
Gestion d'actifs

Le Conservateur sélectionne un deuxième gérant minimum variance

Après avoir commencé par investir dans un fonds actions zone euro (en octobre 2010), Le Conservateur vient à nouveau de sélectionner un nouveau gérant minimum variance au travers d’un fonds exposé aux marchés émergents. Au total, la gestion minimum variance concerne un actif de 25 millions d’euros logé dans le portefeuille de l’assurance-vie dont la poche action représente environ 10 % des encours. « La gestion minimum-variance apporte de la diversification dans notre allocation actions à un moment où se profile l’application des contraintes de Solvabilité II. L’introduction d’une gestion plus quantitative que celle déployée dans le cadre des investissements en direct, combinée à une plus grande diversification géographique, permet de réduire le risque global de notre portefeuille et donc la consommation de fonds propres», précise Thibaut Cossenet à Bfinance.
Gestion d'actifs

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