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24/09/2010

Markus Maag prend la direction du Premium Banking de la Banque Migros

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la Banque Migros a nommé Markus Maag responsable du segment Premium Banking à compter du 1er octobre 2010. Markus Maag, depuis quatre ans à la tête de la région Suisse orientale, devient aussi membre de la direction générale. Le segment Premium Banking a été créé au début 2006 par la Banque Migros et s’adresse à la clientèle fortunée. L’effectif des clients, aujourd’hui au nombre de 46.000, a augmenté de 30% ces trois dernières années, selon l’institut bancaire.
24/09/2010

Mirabaud se développe dans l’institutionnel à Zurich

Mirabaud & Cie, banquiers privés, active depuis 2001 dans le secteur de la clientèle institutionnelle, développe désormais cette activité à Zurich, a indiqué le 23 septembre la banque dans un communiqué. Dans ce contexte, Matthias Schroedter et Thomas Brun ont récemment rejoint Mirabaud et pris en charge la distribution de fonds et de mandats à des intermédiaires financiers et des clients institutionnels en Suisse alémanique."Parallèlement au private banking classique, les activités de gestion pour institutionnels revêtent une importance de plus en plus grande», souligne dans le communiqué Lionel Aeschlimann, membre du comité exécutif de Mirabaud et responsable à ce titre des relations avec les clients institutionnels en Suisse. Matthias Schroedter, nouveau responsable pour Mirabaud de la distribution en Suisse alémanique aux intermédiaires financiers et aux banques (Wholesales), dispose d’une expérience de plus de dix ans dans la distribution au secteur institutionnel. Auparavant, il a notamment travaillé pour Invesco, la Banque Sarasin et WMPartners.Thomas Brun, en charge du suivi des clients institutionnels en Suisse alémanique, oeuvre depuis plus de vingt ans dans la distribution de fonds et de mandats à des institutionnels. Il a occupé des postes-clés chez Lombard Odier, Eurofima et Swiss Bank Corp.
24/09/2010

Over EUR4bn in guaranteed funds to mature in Q4

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, 65 guaranteed funds with assets of EUR4.06bn will mature in Spain in fourth quarter, Expansión reports. 25 more funds will remain in a sales phase at that time. The largest of the maturing funds is the Foncaixa Garantia Renta Fija 15, with EUR969m. Total assets in guaranteed funds, at EUR49.33bn, represent 32.14% of assets under management in Spanish funds overall. Since the beginning of the year, bond guaranteed funds have posted net subscriptions of EUR3.81bn.
24/09/2010

Deka Immobilien sells an office complex in Stockholm

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish pension fund AMF has acquired the City Cronan office complex in Stockhom (42,000 square metres) from the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund. The acquisition price, the largest in Sweden in the past three years according to Deka Immobilien, has now been disclosed, but the sale took place at a price higher than the asset’s market value. The German management firm states that it is the twelfth sale this year above market value. In total, these sales have taken place at 13% above the market value of the properties concerned.
24/09/2010

Fidelity Clearing Canada recruits

The clearing specialist firm Fidelity Clearing Canada has announced recruitments for its management team. Thomas A. White, former director and vice president of global markets and investment banking (GMI) services at Merrill Lynch Canada, has been appointed chief operating officer (COO). Ronald White becomes chief financial officer (CFO), and Bryan Moffitt becomes chief compliance officer (CCO). The three new arrivals will report to William (Bill) J. Henderson, CEO of Fidelity Clearing Canada.
24/09/2010

DWS builds a multi-asset class unit

On 23 September, DWS (Deutsche Bank) announced the creation of a team of 24 qualified professionals dedicated to multi-asset class management. The unit will start up with assets of about EUR7bn. The segment has already attracted over EUR10bn in investments in Germany since the beginning of the year, and DWS expects average growth in the mid-term of about 8% p.a. in this area.The team is led by Christian Hille and Udo Rosendahl. The unit includes four teams specialised in equities, bonds, currencies, volatility and commodities, which share a common investment process based on DWS projections for asset classes, regions and markets. In the fund management framework, the new group will have as much power as the equities and bond teams.
24/09/2010

James Lang LaSalle continues redeployment of its German activities

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In addition to the creation of its institutional real estate fund management affiliate LaSalle Vermögensverwaltung in Munich (see Newsmanagers of 27 August and 20 September), Jones Lang LaSalle is reorganizing its German activities, combining real estate advisory services, investor consulting, project & development services and energy & sustainability services into a single unit. The new division will start at the beginning of October with 30 people, led by Ingo Weiß, who was previously head of portfolio management (160 people), in which role he will be replaced by Christina Hoffmann and Tina Reuter. By the end of 2011, the real estate advisory services unit will include 45 employees. Weiß will report directly to Andreas Quint, head of Germany.
24/09/2010

Santander acquires Meliorbanca Private

Via its affiliate Santander Private Banking, the Spanish firm Santander has completed its acquisition, announced on 23 September, of 100% of Meliorbanca Private, the private banking division of Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna (BPER). Expansión reports that the transaction price has not been disclosed, but was about EUR32m.
24/09/2010

Perella Weinberg opens an office in Abu Dhabi

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Perella Weinberg Partners announced on 22 September that it has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The firm, a specialist in corporate consulting and asset management services, has also announced the recruitment of Jameel Akhrass and Nabil F. Lahham as partners; they will concentrate largely on the development of asset management and strategic advising activities in the Middle East. The two new partners previously worked at Nomura International for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Hesham Ali, who for 13 years has been a member of the asset management group at Perella Weinberg Partners, has also been appointed head of marketing and investor relations, as head of asset management in the Middle East.
24/09/2010

Promotions at BNY Mellon

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BNY Mellon group has announced promotions in its management team. Thomas (Todd) Gibbons has been appointed chief financial officer of the firm, while Timothy Keaney becomes CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. Karen Peetz has been promoted to CEO of the Financial Markets and Treasury Services division. Lastly, Brian Rogan becomes vice chairman, and James Palermo, also vice chairman, has been granted new responsibilities as co-CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.
24/09/2010

US managers consider the market undervalued

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent quarterly survey from Russell Investments, 57% of US managers estimate that the market is currently undervalued, one of the highest percentages in the history of the survey, and the highest level observed since March 2009. Only 7% of managers consider the market overvalued. However, the study finds that the fact that managers are talking about the undervaluation of the market does not necessarily mean that they expect a rally similar to the one which followed the low point of March 2009. But they do, however, seem to have recovered some optimism, based on the conviction that the economy will regain some of its health, although it is not necessarily at its best yet. Nearly half of managers (49%) estimate that the growth of the economy in the next 12 months will be led by investment spending. Only 9% predict a stagnation of the economy. This is a very low percentage in light of continuing widespread speculation that there will be a double-dip in the economy in the coming months.
24/09/2010

Schroders recruits a director from Threadneedle

Schroders has appointed Tjeerd Voskamp as senior relationship director in the Global Financial Institutions Group with immediate effect. His role will involve expanding and deepening Schroders’ relationships with financial institutions that have global distribution and he will report to Robert Noach, head of Global Financial Institutions Group. Tjeerd has spent 10 years at Threadneedle Asset Management. He held several senior client facing roles with a particular focus on European distribution in Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia.
24/09/2010

91% of Austrian funds post one-year gains

According to statistics from the Austrian VÖIG association of asset management firms, 1,421 funds out of a total of 1,562 which have been in existence for over one year show positive twelve-month performance to the end of August, equivalent to 90.97% of the funds overall. Only 141 funds show losses. By an arithmetical average, without taking into account the size of individual funds, the average performance of Austrian funds comes to 8.26%, compared with 10.63% in July and 13.85% in June.The largest gains of the past twelve months, as in previous months, were for the Kepler Asset Backed Securities Fund, with 81.52%, while the worst performer was the sDoubleStock from the savings bank of Upper Austria (Sparkasse Oberösterreich KAG). Over three years to the end of August, the best Sharpe ratio was for the real estate fund Real Invest Austria (Bank Austria), with 2.18, just ahead of the EuroHighgrade funds from Pioneer Investments Austria (2.17) and the Tirolrent from Tirolinvest (2.11).
24/09/2010

Vanguard launches seven funds replicating Russell indices

As announced (see Newsmanagers of 13 September), Vanguard has extended its range of passive funds, with the launch of seven equities tracker funds with institutional share classes, and ETF shares exposed to value, growth and blend segments of the Russell 1000 large caps index, and the Russell 2000 index of small caps.The ETF shares carry commissions of 0.12%, for the fund based on the Russell 1000, and 0.15% for the funds based on the Russell 1000 Value and Growth indices and on the Russell 2000, and 0.20% for funds based on the Russell 2000 Value and Growth. The Russell 3000 ETF charges 0.15%. Vanguard has also announced plans to launch its first three tracker funds of municipal bonds, with traditional and ETF share classes, which will replicate indices of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond series, and which will charge fees of 0.12%, in the next few months.
24/09/2010

FSA publishes a guide to preventing insider trading

In the 37th issue of its “Market Watch” publication, released on 23 September and dedicated to the subject of information leaks, the FSA makes 25 recommendations for regulated companies and issuers to prevent insider information which could influence the price of assets or about transactions in preparation from getting out. The text is available at the address http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/newsletters/mw_newsletter37.pdfAmong the recommendations, the regulator states (point 2) that all questions from the media to personnel at a regulated business should immediately be transferred to the media relations team, and that all personnel not belonging to the media relations team should be forbidden from responding directly to any questions from the media, regardless of their seniority.
24/09/2010

Nairobi stock exchange to open small caps market

The Kenyan stock exchange is planning to launch a new market dedicated to small caps in the next twelve months. The planned new market which will focus on small businesses is part of an overall development plan for the market, which is seeking to double the number of listed companies in the next two years.The Nairobi stock exchange gained 43% this year, the newspaper adds.
24/09/2010

Schroders launches a fifth GAIA fund

Schroders is preparing to launch the Schroder Opus Trading Fund on GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access), its Luxembourg-based, UCITS III-compliant hedge fund platform. The new fund will bring the number of sub-funds in the Sicav to five, two of which are managed externally.The trading and macro fund, which invests in managed accounts and is managed by Schroders, is in fact already available in a UCITS-compliant form, but it is currently housed on the Credit Suisse platform. It is now being transferred to GAIA. By the end of the year, another fund – long/short credit – will be launched in the Sicav. And next year, three or four more funds will be added. The Sicav currently has assets of over EUR200m, as of 14 September.
24/09/2010

Mirabaud develops institutional activities in Zurich

Mirabaud & Cie, private bankers, active since 2001 in the institutional client sector, is now developing this activity in Zurich, the bank announced in a statement on 23 September. Matthias Schroedter and Thomas Brun have recently joined Mirabaud and taken charge of distribution of funds and mandates to financial intermediaries and institutional clients in German-speaking Switzerland.Schroedter, Mirabaud’s new head of distribution in German-speaking Switzerland to financial intermediaries and banks (wholesale), has over 10 years’ experience in distribution to the institutional sector. He previously worked for Invesco, Banque Sarasin and WMPartners. Brun, in charge of institutional client relationship management for German-speaking Switzerland, has been working for over 20 years in fund and mandate distribution to institutionals. He held key roles at Lombard Odier, Eurofima and Swiss Bank Corp.
24/09/2010

Warren Buffett pulling out of Moody's

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Warren Buffett is continuing to sell off his shares in Moody’s, via his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, La Tribune reports. Early this week, he sold 56,000 shares, while earlier this month he sold 1.35 million shares. Since June 2009, his stake has fallen from 20.4% to 12.3%, in a less promising environment for ratings agencies, the newspaper notes.
24/09/2010

AQR contracts out fund administration to J.P. Morgan

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AQR Capital Management, which advises the AQR funds, has granted JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services a mandate for fund administration, prime custody and associated services for mutual funds representing assets of over USD2bn, out of total assets of about USD27bn.
24/09/2010

Credit Suisse traders launch their own hedge fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A team of eight traders will be leaving Credit Suisse in the United States to start up a hedge fund backed by Blackstone Group, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The departures follow the passage of new regulations in the United States which limit proprietary trading. The team is led by George “Beau” Taylor, p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } currently Credit Suisse’s global head of commodities-arbitrage trading, and Trevor Woods, head of energy-arbitrage trading. The launch of the new fund is slated for early 2011, and Blackstone will invest USD150m.
24/09/2010

UBS pays out USD18bn in redemptions

Le Temps reports that the US market authority, the SEC, announced on 23 September that UBS had respected the requirements of the authority regarding its Auction Rate Securities (ARS), financial products which were described as safe, but which lost all of their value at the height of the crisis in February 2008. By the terms of the agreement with the SEC, UBS agreed to redeem USD18bn to clients who lost money on these products. This has now been achieved, and “nearly 100% of investors” have now received some compensation, the SEC notes. The agency will therefore not impose a fine on UBS.
24/09/2010

Lyxor launches 10 ETFs in Milan

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor will launch a range of 10 ETFs in Italy, each of which will replicate a sector MSCI World index, bringing the number of ETFs listed on the ETFplus segment of the Milan stock exchange to 101, Bluerating reports.
23/09/2010

Rebond des bonus pour les spécialistes du risque dans la gestion

Les rémunérations des professionnels du risque dans la gestion d’actifs ont rebondi l’an dernier après des reculs en 2007 et 2008, selon la dernière enquête annuelle réalisée par Risk Talent Associates. Le total des rémunérations a progressé de 4%, avec une stagnation ou une légère baisse des salaires mais une augmentation de 7% des bonus.L’enquête précise que l’an dernier, 90% des professionnels de la gestion alternative ont perçu des bonus, contre 86% dans la gestion d’actifs traditionnelle et 81% dans l’assurance.
23/09/2010
Fonds

Les fonds de pension américains dans une situation très délicate

Selon Les Echos, une étude de la société de conseil Milliman indique que les fonds de pension des 100 premières entreprises américaines accusent un déficit de 460 milliards de dollars. Leur ratio de financement (actifs rapportés aux engagements) est tombé à 70%, son plus bas niveau en dix ans. En conséquence, les entreprises vont devoir augmenter leurs contributions pour financer leurs fonds de retraite. Elles avaient été déjà multipliées par près de 2 entre 2008 et2009, à 55 milliards de dollars, et devraient encore augmenter cette année.
Fonds
23/09/2010

Westwood acquiert McCarthy

Pour un montant non divulgué, Westwood Holdings Group (9,7 milliards de dollars d’encours au 30 juin) achète le conseiller en investissement McCarthy Group Advisors (MGA), qui conseille le fonds «no-load» McCarthy Multi-Cap Stock Fund (62,4 millions de dollars) et qui gère environ un milliard de dollars pour des particuliers haut de gamme et des clients institutionnels.Westwood a indiqué le 22 septembre que MGA, dont les onze salariés vont être repris par le groupe, sera à l’avenir exploité comme la succursale d’Omaha (Nebraska) de Westwood Trust, une filiale de Westwood Holdings qui gère 1,8 milliard de dollars.
23/09/2010
Fonds

Pimco lance deux ETF

Avec le Pimco Build America Bond Strategy Fund (acronyme BABZ), un ETF géré activement, et le Pimco Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Fund (CORP), un ETF géré passivement, Pimco (groupe Allianz Global Investors) vient d’ajouter deux produits à sa gamme, l’un avec une commission de gestion de 0,45 % et l’autre avec des frais de 0,20 %.Le BABZ offre l’accès au marché des obligations municipales «taxables» et vise à capturer les performances des meilleurs titres et à éviter les émissions de municipalités dont Pimco juge que la qualité de crédit se détériore. Ce fonds est géré par John Cummuings, executive vice president et head du municipal bond desk. Le CORP investit en obligations d’entreprises investment grade faisant principalement partie de l’indice BofA ML US Corporate, avec une adéquation soigneuse de la duration de la courbe et des caractéristiques de crédit de l’indice.
Fonds

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