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29/10/2010

Universal-Investment recruits for institutional distribution

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the recruitment of Giovanni Gentilcore (ex Allianz Global Investors) and Matthias Eizenhöfer (ex Vontobel Europe) as senior sales managers, Universal-Investment has added to its distribution team dedicated to institutionals, led by Ralf Bräuer. The recruitments follow a strong increase in demand, with assets of EUR124bn as of the end of September, an increase of EUR20bn in twelve months, mostly from institutional investors. The two new recruits will be in charge of distributing master funds, institutional funds and complementary services such as securities lending and risk reporting. Bernd Vorbeck, chairman of the executive board, says Universal-Investment is planning to further develop its services to institutional clients, to offer custom solutions in the three divisions of administration, risk management and insourcing.
29/10/2010

Markus Fuchs becomes senior counsel for Swiss Funds Association

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At the beginning of November Markus Fuchs will join the secretariat of the Swiss Funds Association (SFA), as senior counsel, in the areas of alternative investment and asset management. He was most recently managing director and head of product management at UBS. Andreas Ventouras, business counsel, left SFA at the end of September, to “take on a new challenge” in the area of investment funds in French Switzerland.
29/10/2010

Profits down sharply at Santander

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the first nine months of the year, net profits for the Santander group fell 9.8% to EUR6.08bn, while the operating coefficient rose to 42.9% from 41.3%. Net profits for the asset management and insurance division increased by 10.5% to EUR348m in January-September. As of 30 September, assets under management totalled EUR119bn, 2% higher than at the end of December and 7% higher than at the end of September 2009. Net profits for asset management rose 38.1% compared with the corresponding period of last year, to EUR64m. Assets in traditional management (investment funds, investment companies and pension funds) as of the end of September totalled EUR115bn, 2% higher than at the end of December, of which 80% were in the Spanish, Brazilian and Mexican markets.
29/10/2010

Natixis closes its Geneva private bank

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two years ago, Natixis opened a private banking affiliate in Switzerland, Natixis Gestion de Fortune, which originally employed two people. Now, Le Temps reports, the group has decided to pull out of the Geneva market. “We wanted to recenter our networks, especially in France, where our shareholders are most present,” the firm says. The bank says the structure of the group has changed since its two shareholders, Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne, merged to create the Groupe BPCE.
29/10/2010

Paul Wiebel becomes head of private clients at Swiss Life

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Swiss Life announced on 29 October that it has appointed Thomas Bach, previously head of private client activities in Switzerland, as head of the operational sector for multiple channels, from 1 December. Paul Weibel, currently head of life insurance business for private clients at Zurich Switzerland, will succeed Bach as head of private clients.
29/10/2010

EFG opens a branch in Lugano

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } EFG Bank, which includes the private banking activities of EFG International in Switzerland, has stepped up its presence with the opening of a new branch in Lugano, Agefi Switzerland reports. Currently, six client advisors are working at the new branch. The team is led by Pierguiseppe Vescovi, who was previously director of the wealth management division of the Lugano branch of the Banque de Dépôts et de Gestion.
29/10/2010

Stoxx launches a balanced version of Stoxx Europe 600

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stoxx Limited (Deutsche Börse and SIX Bour Suisse) on 28 October announced the launch of the Stoxx Europe 600 Equal Weighted Index, an equally-weighted version of the Stoxx Europe 600. The new index is designed to serve as an underlying for ETFs and other structured products. The new product uses the same methodology as the Stoxx Europe 600, with the difference of weighting, as all the components have the same weight, which results in exposure to small caps of 33% rather than 5%, while reducing the weight of large caps from 83% to 33%. As for the Euro Stoxx 600, the composition of the Stoxx Europe 600 Equal Weighted Index will be updated and rebalanced every quarter. The index is backdated to 31 December 1991 for the share price and net return version, and to 31 December 2000 for gross returns.
29/10/2010

QFII regime may be discontinued in five years

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that the current regime for qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) may be replaced in three to five years with a more flexible “free market investing scheme.” Until then, relaxation or discontinuation of restrictions will continue, said Mao Shuguang, head of product management at Harvest Global Investments, at a regional conference. Mao also underscored the increasing interest of investors in the renminbi market (RMB). The Chinese government appears to want to develop this market, partly because the Bank of China has set up a new department whose mission is to promote the internationalisation of RMB. The free circulation of capital is not going to happen right away. It will take at least ten years to get there, says Mao.
29/10/2010

Net profits at Ameriprise up 32% in second quarter

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ameriprise on 27 October reported net profits of Usd344m for third quarter, up 32% compared with third quarter 2009. Assets under management and administration at Ameriprise as of 30 September totalled Usd649bn, up 48% year on year, due to the acquisition of Columbia Management and market effects. Assets in the asset management unit were up 89% in third quarter to USD445bn, due to the acquisition of Columbia Management and appreciation of the S&P 500. For US management, the quarter finished with net inflows of USD1.1bn in third quarter, due to strong institutional demand, while European retail saw net outflows. Assets under management in the United States as of 30 September totalled USD347bn, compared with USD146bn one year previously, with the acquisition of Columbia Management. Assets under management at Threadneedle for their part were up 9% as of 30 September to USD102bn.
29/10/2010

Assets under management at Legg Mason up 4%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Legg Mason increased 4% in the quarter to the end of October compared with 30 June, to a total of USD673.5bn. The quarter ended with net outflows of USD12.7bn, of which USD8bn were in fixed income, largely offset by market effects of USD40.8bn. Results for the quarter totalled USD75.3m (including a fiscal gain of USD8.9m in the United Kingdom), compared with USD47.9m one quarter earlier, with revenues up slightly to USD674.8m compared with USD674.2m.
29/10/2010

Pierre Debray nommé responsable mondial des financements d’actifs de Natixis

Natixis a annoncé le 28 octobre la nomination de Pierre Debray en qualité de responsable mondial des Financements d’actifs et du commerce international de Natixis. Rattaché à la direction Dettes et financements au sein de la Banque de Financement et d’Investissement, il supervisera les activités de financements de projets, de financements maritimes, de financements aéronautiques et de financements structurés export. Pierre Debray, qui a réalisé une grande partie de sa carrière au Crédit Lyonnais et chez Calyon, a rejoint Natixis en 2010 ; il était directeur adjoint Relations entreprises et institutionnels au sein de la Banque de Financement et d’Investissement.
29/10/2010

UCITS III strategies do not prevent counterparty risks

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The managing director of Meteor Asset Management, Graham Devile, says plans in the structured products sector to do away with counterparty risk by using the UCITS III format will certainly not resolve all problems, Money Marketing reports. The UCITS III former is too costly to be viable, and Devile does not think that it is a panacea to resolve the problem of counterparty risks. UCITS III funds need to have at least GBP10m in assets under management to be profitable. Structured products are offered for set periods, and rarely attain these levels. “Management of such a vehicle can cost GBP100,000 per year,” says Devile.
29/10/2010

SAM founder to launch a responsible bank

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Responsible Investor reports that Reto Ringer, the founder and former CEO of the Zurich-based firm Sustainable Asset Management or SAM has assembled a team for a project to create a private bank specialised in responsible investment. Ringger, who launched SAM fifteen years ago, announced the plans at a conference in Zurich where he said that he had applied for a license from the Swiss authorities. The new firm, which has “a provisional label from Globalance Capital, will have 20 employees, several of whom are former SAM executives. The responsible bank will base its activities on seven major principles, including a long-term development model, transparency of commissions and evaluation of the impact of the bank’s investments in the environment.
29/10/2010

J.P. Morgan Private Bank adds to team

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Håkan Strängh, head of private bank for Germany and Austria at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, has recruited Wolf-Christian Maßner, previously head of the board at Fürstlich Castell’sche Bank, as head of private bank, retail bank and operations. Georg Albrecht, who has also joined JPM Private Bank, was key client relationships officer at UBS for northern Germany.
29/10/2010

Hedge funds increasingly interested in businesses

According to the most recent annual survey by BNY Mellon of trends in investor relations, 93% of publicly-traded businesses hold meetings with hedge funds, compared with 89% last year. One quarter of meetings with investors at a business involve hedge funds, compared with only 16% in 2009.Sovereign funds represent another favourite target for businesses. 47% of departments of investor relations hold meetings with sovereign funds, and 23% of businesses are planning to do so in the future. The study funds, however, that teams dedicated to investor relations in North America are less interested in meetings with sovereign funds (30%), while 52% of them have no plans to meet with these funds in the coming months.In addition, nearly one quarter of businesses in the sample (22%, 83 out of 371) are planning a second listing on an emerging market. Most candidates for listing cite Hong Kong or China due to their strategic interest.
29/10/2010

Appointment at Nuveen Investments

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US-based investment services provider Nuveen Investments on 25 October announced that it has appointed Oscar Isoba as senior vice president in charge of development of Latin American activities. Isoba previously worked at Alliance Bernstein, where he was in charge of Latin American activities. Nuveen Investments says that strong demand for UCITS-format products has led them to launch two new UCITS funds recently, Nuveen Tradewinds Global All Cap Fund ESG Fund and Nuveen Tradewinds value Opportunities Fund. The two new strategies are managed by Tradewinds Capital Advisors.
29/10/2010

Hedge funds turn to Asia

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In Asia, the cost of creating a hedge fund is lower than in the West, as financial centres are seeking to attract actors of this type, who bring liquidity to the markets, while hedge fund managers are attracted to growth markets which offer prospects of lucrative returns, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Currently, Eurekahedge reports, there are 1,248 hedge funds in Asia, more than in 2007 before the financial crisis, although at USD116.9bn, their assets have not returned to their peak levels of 2007. The largest 20% of hedge funds in the region control 60% of assets in the sector. The performance of hedge funds in 2009 was 53.62% in India, 45.31% in China, 41.52% in Australia, 7.17% in Japan and 9.47% in Korea, with an average of 26.71% for Asia as a whole.
29/10/2010

IASB publishes IFRS 9 standards for financial instruments

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on 28 October published new rules which will be added to IFRS 9 for financial instruments and complete the first round of work on the planned replacement for IAS 39 standards for financial instruments. The new rules in particular treat the problem of volatility of result accounting (P&L) when an issuer chooses to record fair value of its debt. The IASB has decided to maintain amortised cost accounting for most liabilities. The modifications related to the use of fair value for accounting debt will no longer be due to P&L, but instead to “other comprehensive income” (OCI), which provides a way to measure variation in owners’ equity between two points in time. The entry into force of IFRS 9 is planned for 1 January 2013. In the meanwhile, the IASB will complete the second and third phases of the planned replacement of IAS39 standards, treating accounting for depreciation of financial assets and hedge accounting. The two phases will be completed by the end of June 2011.
29/10/2010

There are 10,000 funds of hedge funds in the world

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The first fund of hedge funds was created in Switzerland in 1969. Currently, one third of products are domiciled in Switzerland; there are about 10,000 hedge funds worldwide, with total assets of USD500bn to USD600bn, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The largest providers are Alternative and Quantitative Investments (UBS), Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, UBP, HSBC Alternative Investments and Grosvenor Capital Management.
29/10/2010

Legg Mason merges a British fund into an international fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that the US management firm Legg Mason has announced the merger of its British value fund (GBP7.6m in assets) into the international Legg Mason global equity income fund (GBP7.2m). Legg Mason’s decision is related to concerns over the ability of the FTSE to produce returns for investors.
29/10/2010

Investec adjusts its fees

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fund Strategy reports that Investec Asset Management has lowered the management commission for its Target Return Fund (GBP374m) from 1.50% to 1.25%, but that it has increased fees for five funds. Fees for the Cautious Managed Fund (GBP1.6bn) will increase to 1.5% from 1.25%, while the Strategic Bond Fund (GBP268m) and Global Bond Fund (GBP150m) will be increased to 1% from 0.75%. The Monthly High Income Fund (GBP197m) and Target Return Fund (GBP374m) are increased from 0.95% to 1.25% and to 1.5% from 1.25%.
29/10/2010

Pivalto UK closes Millenium tracker fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Privalto UK, an affiliate of BNP Paribas, has decided to close its Millenium tracker fund, which replicates the performance of the BNP Paribas Millenium 10 Europe Series 3 (Sterling Hedged) Total Return index. The index is composed of liquid shares, including US, European and Asian equities as well as commodities, real estate, and foreign currencies. The product had GBP7m in assets, which is too small to be profitable.
29/10/2010

USAA launches two new funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } USAA has announced the launch of two new mutual funds. The US management firm, based in San Antonio, is adding to its range of products dedicated to fighting rising inflation, in an uncertain economic environment, a statement says. USAA Real Return Fund is aimed at investors worried about inflation. Its portfolio is invested in various asset classes (including US Treasury bonds, high yield bonds, precious metals and real estate trusts). Its allocation is actively adapted by the management team as a function of the economic environment. The USAA Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund is aimed at investors aware of the risks who are seeking to protect themselves against potential increases in interest rates. The fund’s portfolio contains bonds with shorter maturities.
29/10/2010

Dexia AM launches a bond fund

Dexia Asset Management (Dexia AM) on 28 October announced the release of the Dexia Bonds Euro Government Top Rated fund for sale. The new bond fund provides investors with assets to the safest government bonds of the Euro zone, including government bonds with a rating of AAA or equivalent from the 3 ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch). Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are currently the countries fo the Euro zone with a AAA rating.The fund’s objective is to beat the IBOXX Euro Sovereign SSS benchmark index by 50 basis points with an average tracking error of 1%.Characteristics of the fund Benchmark index IBoxx Euro Sovereign AAALegal format Luxembourg SICAVDate of creation 08/06/2010Currency of valuation EURUCITS III yesInvestment period 2 yearsValuation dailyISIN code Management feeC Cap shares: LU0514558518 0.60%C Dis shares: LU0514558609 0.60%I shares: LU0514558864 0.30%V shares: LU0514558948 0.15%N shares: LU0514558781 1%
29/10/2010

Van Eck launches a rare-earth ETF

Van Eck Global on 28 October announced the launch of the Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE Arca: REMX), the first ETF listed in the United States to offer investors pure play exposure to equities in businesses primarily engaged in the production, refining, and recycling of rare-earth and strategic metals. To belong to the benchmark index (Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index), firms must show a capacity to generate more than 50% of their revenues from the rare earth and strategic metals sector.As of 13 October 2010, the index included 24 businesses in 8 countries, with the largest positions in Australia (23.9%), Canada (19.81%), the United States (18.77%) and China (14.84%). For Chinese equities, the index will concentrate solely on shares listed in Hong Kong (H-shares).The REMX has a net TER of 0.57%.
29/10/2010

Fondak has generated 10.5% per year over six decades

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 30 October, the Fondak equities fund from Allianz Global Investors (EUR2.1bn in assets) will celebrate its 60th birthday. In this period, it generated average annual performance of 10.5%, Die Welt reports. Since the beginning of the year , it has earned 12.5%, about 200 basis points higher than the Dax index. When the Fondak fund, managed by Heidrun Heutzenröder, was launched, there were only a few equities funds in Germany; now, investors may choose from 2,443 products.
29/10/2010

Universal Investment launches an absolute return behavioural fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Universal-Investment has joined forces with sentix Asset Management to launch the German-registered sentix Fonds 1 (DE000A1C2XH4), which will use a behavioural approach to equities, bond, currency and commodity markets. Management is inspired by an annual survey since 2000 of market sentiment according to 3,000 operators in 20 countries. The fund will invest primarily in Europe. TER is currently a maximum of 1.525% for retail and 0.775% for institutional shares (at least EUR100,000), while front-end fees for retail shares are a maximum of 3%. Performance commission is 20% for performance exceeding the Euribor 1 month plus 500 basis points.
29/10/2010

Inversis to sell Popular Gestión products

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rafael Hurtado, CIO of Popular Gestión (EUR6.16bn in assets), has announced that the 65 funds of the range will now also be available on the Inversis Banco platform, Funds People reports. This will allow the firm to reach institutional clients who do not want to subscribe to the Banco Popular network.
29/10/2010

Only 0.5% of funds have over EUR1bn in assets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Inverco association of management firms as of the end of September, only 13 of the approximately 2,600 funds in Spain have assets of over EUR1bn, including the two largest real estate funds, for which redemptions are currently frozen: Santander Immobiliario Banif, which is the largest fund of all, with EUR2.54bn, and the BBVA Propriedad, which is in fifth place, with nearly EUR1.4bn. Three management firms claim three each of the largest funds. In addition to Santander (Banif Immobiliario, Rendimento B with EUR1.58bn, and Renta Fija Corporativa with EUR1.8bn, there is BBVA (Ahorro C/P with EUR2.36bn, Propriedad and Ahorro Corto Plazo II with EUR1.01bn), and Invercaixa with Foncaiza Rentimento CP (EUR1.67bn), Foncaixa Bienvenida (EUR1.6bn after five months of existence) and Foncaixa RFFlexible (EUR1.03bn). The other four management firms in the rankings with over EUR1bn are Popular Gestión (Eurov. Partic. EUR1.47bn), Sabadell (Sabadell BS Inmobiliario, EUR1.03bn), Bestinver (Bestinver Internacional, EUR1.03bn) and Ibercaja (Ibercaja DIN, EUR1bn).
29/10/2010

Spanish funds continue to lose assets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to estimates from VDOS Stochastics as of 22 October, reported by Expansión, Spanish funds have seen further net outflows since early October of over EUR1.5bn, and their assets have declined by EUR729m, as market effects were positive to the tune of EUR857m.

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