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19/10/2009

New Star real estate fund attracting subscribers once again

New Star’s flagship retail property vehicle (now owned by Henderson Global Investors) has begun to look for new investments for the first time since 2007, marking the return of retail investors to the commercial real estate sector. At its peak, the fund was larger than GBP2bn, and this has been reduced to just GBP650m through the combination of asset falls and selling of its units. But the fund is now taking in between GBP20,000 to GBP50,000 every day on an overall net basis, giving it cash to invest again.
19/10/2009

Commerz Real places a closed solar energy fund

Commerz Real has announced the release for sale of shares in the closed fund CFB-Fonds 174 Solar – Deutschlandportfolio I, available with investments of EUR10,000 and up (plus a 5% front-end fee). The fund will mature in 2029. The fund, which will have EUR18.6m in capital, and which will invest EUR75.3m in a portfolio of four solar energy plants, including three in Bavaria and one in Saxony-Anhalt, with a maximum output of 23.5 megawatts. Returns will increase progressively from 7.5% to 36%.
19/10/2009

German equities funds return to positive performance

According to statistics published on Friday by the BVI association of management firms, German equities funds posted returns of only 22.6% in the first nine months of the year, which is 4.6 points higher than the Dax. However, over one year, these funds show gains of only 0.3%, as they had suffered losses over 12 months to 31 March of 40.31%, and losses of 26.6% to 30 June. Over 30 years, average annual performance comes to 8.2%. The best results for the 12 months to 30 September has been for corporate bond funds, at 9.3%, while real estate funds and money market funds generated returns of 2.7% and 1.2%.
19/10/2009

USS pulls out of Cintra

In reaction to the imminent absorption into Cintra into its parent company, Ferrovial, the British pension fund Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has liquidated its stake of about 25 (about EUR95m) in the infrastructure firm, Cinco Días reports. With the Australian funds CP2 and Magellan, as well as the New Jersey Division of Investment, USS made the decision to divest as it considered the group too exposed to the construction sector, and because it was not pleased that the terms of the deal had been disclosed to the press. USS, which also holds stakes in the capital of BBVA and Telefónica, ultimately preferred to withdraw its investment.
19/10/2009

Middle Eastern investors have become more cautious

Since the onset of the financial crisis, the major families and sovereign funds of the Middle East have cut back their investments and required more attractive terms from private equity funds. David Rubenstein, CEO of Carlyle group, has told the Financial Times that the time when big investors received the same treatment as other subscribers is passing. Emirates Industrance Company is planning to gradually reduce its exposure to private equity funds, while Omar Lodhi, director of investor relations at the private equity firm Abraaj Capital, estimates that it is still possible to raise capital locally, but that funds in the process of being created will probably not achieve initial targets of USD4bn, both because the target assets are less expensive and because investors have become more cautious.
19/10/2009

UBS 'gives away' identities of US clients to tax authorities

UBS has issued a warning to those of its US clients in danger of figuring in a list of 4,450 cases which the bank will be required to hand over to the US tax authorities, in a registered letter which is clearly marked with the name of the sender. As the US postal service is a government entity, the IRS will have no difficulty in obtaining the names of these parties without waiting for official disclosure, the weekly newsmagazine Sonntag reports. The lawyer for several of these clients, Andreas Rüd, estimates that UBS acted deliberately, and is planning to file suit against the Swiss bank.
19/10/2009

US consumer lending eats into Bank of America profits

Bank of America (BoA) has posted a net loss of USD1bn for third quarter, Agefi reports, compared with profits of USD1.18bn one year previously. The results come despite the fact that net banking profits increased by 32%, to USD26bn, as a result of the integration of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide. The degradation of BoA’s retail lending and credit card activities are primarily responsible for this counterperformance, although the bank is a leader in these markets in the United States.
19/10/2009

Asset management bonuses down

Bonuses at asset management firms are likely to be reduced by up to 35%, due to falling assets, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a study by Russell Reynolds Associates.
19/10/2009

DundeeWealth launches first products on US market

One of Canada’s largest independent wealth-management firms, DundeeWealth, is launching its first mutual funds in the U.S. The six new funds are: Dynamic Infrastructure Fund, Dynamic Gold & Precious Metals Fund, Dynamic U.S. Growth Fund, Dynamic Discovery Fund, Dynamic Contrarian Advantage Fund and Dynamic Energy Income Fund.
19/10/2009

Galleon chief arrested

Raj Rajaratnam, the manager of the Galleon hedge fund, has been arrested, along with two directors of the New Castly hedge fund, Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland, the director of the treasury at Intel Capital, Rajiv Goel, and Anil Kumar, a director at McKinsey & Co and a head of IT at IBM. They are accused of insider trading on shares in Google, IBM and AMD, Die Welt reports. The only operation involving Google brought more than USD20m in gains for the investors, of which Rajaratnam made USD8m. The court has set Rajaratnam’s bail at USD100m.
19/10/2009

Madoff: HSBC sued as depository

La Tribune reports that HSBC is being sued in its role as depository for the Irish-registered fund Thema International, which was affected by the Madoff scandal. About 50 suits have been filed in Ireland in the wake of losses at the fund.
19/10/2009

British government to claim a share of bank profits

Agefi reports, citing the Sunday Telegraph, that the British government is planning a “tax raid” on the profits of British banks, all of which have profited directly or indirectly from the support lent by the government to the financial sector. The profits to be announced by banks are reported to have provoked “black anger” on the part of the authorities. Finance minister Alistair Darling is reported to be planning to include the plans in his draft budget, which will be announced to Parliament in six weeks, and would bring the UK government several hundred million pounds. The Labour government is also seeking to modify the system of taxation for banks, which currently allows them to spread out compensation for their losses over several fiscal years.
19/10/2009

Financial adviser morale improves marginally

The BSI index of the morale of independent financial advisers (IFAs) regarding outlook for sales of shares in retail funds has improved in third quarter by 2.4 points compared with April-June, to 98.4, according to Robeco Germany. Since first quarter 2009, the index has been calculated by TNS Sofres on a quarterly basis, although it was previously published monthly. The sample includes 350 IFAs at commercial banks, savings banks and co-operative banks. The percentage of advisors who are satisfied with the situation has risen to 23%, compared with 21%, which remains well below 50%, and more than was normal as of fourth quarter 2008. In addition, in terms of professionals’ predictions, only 415 expect to see sales increase in the next six months, compared with 45% the previous quarter.
19/10/2009

Derivatives: Towards supervised clearing in Europe

Les Echos reports that in a draft communication to be passed this week, the EU government is planning to subject clearing houses, which the major market actors have agreed to set up, to a European system of supervision, which the Union is in the process of creating following the recommendations of the Larosière report. The EU is proposing to be in full supervision of their activities by mid-2010. They will be required to obtain licenses from a future European market authority to conduct business in the European Union. They will then be supervised, with the support of the European body, by national regulatory authorities. To incite banks to use centralised clearing houses, the Commission will require that clearing pass through such chambers for standardised derivatives. Owners’ equity requirements will also be raised for operations which will continue to be cleared on a bilateral basis.
19/10/2009

One hedge fund in five distorts information disclosed to investors

More than 20% of hedge funds tent to distort important information supplied to investors about funds and their performance, according to Hedge Week, citing a study by Stephen Brown, professor of finance at NYU Stern. 28% of the sample of funds in the study (444 hedge funds and their due diligence reports) offer incorrect or unverifiable reports to their assets under management and returns, while 9% claimed not to face any legal or regulatory difficulties, at times when they were actually facing problems of this kind. Only 6% of the sample admitted to difficulties of this kind. “This study clearly shows that some funds are very reticent in their relations with their own clients and potential investors. This information deficit, this lack of transparency right across the industry, represents a real problem,”says Brown.
19/10/2009

Norwegian pension fund goes into green investment

The Norwegian government pension fund, with more than EUR280bn (NOK2.385trn) in assets under management, is planning one of the largest injections of capital ever into green investment, in a NOK20bn program which will invest in businesses which are attentive to their environment for a five-year period. The fund will also address climate change issues with Sir Nicholas Stern, the author of a report on the costs of global warming. The Norwegian finance minister has confirmed that the investments are planned for 2010, with an allocation of over NOK4bn, or nearly EUR500m, to be invested next year according to environmental criteria.
19/10/2009

US government bonds continue to attract investors

While the US economy is showing signs of recovery but remains weak, Agefi notes, foreign investors acquired USD28.6bn in long shares in the month of August, according to the US treasury. For the third month in a row, foreign investors have increased their investments in US bonds. The pace of increase has, however, slowed, in a context of recovering investor appetite for risk. Net acquisitions of these bonds have gone from USD100.5bn in June to USD23.9bn in August. Japan, the UK, Hong Kong and Russia have increased their exposures to US government bonds. China has slightly reduced its position, the newspaper states.
16/10/2009

Un nouveau responsable clientèle chez SEI aux Pays-Bas

Le fournisseur de services de gestion fiduciaire SEI a annoncé le 15 octobre la nomination d’Alexander van Aken au poste de directeur du service clients pour les Pays-Bas. Avant de rejoindre SEI, Alexander van Aken a passé neuf ans chez Fortis Investments, dernièrement en tant que responsable Investment Specialist Solutions.
16/10/2009

Siemens achète Solel Solar à Ecofin

Pour 418 millions de dollars, Siemens International BV a acheté l’israélien Solel Solar Systems Ltd dont le gestionnaire d’actifs britannique Ecofin Ltd détenait 63 %.
16/10/2009

Départ du président de la Société Bancaire Privée

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la Société Bancaire Privée (SBP), propriété depuis l’automne 2007 de la société italienne Banco Profilo, a convoqué une assemblée générale extraordinaire le 3 novembre 2009 à son siège de Genève, afin d’adopter une nouvelle raison sociale. Elle a aussi annoncé jeudi la démission de son président Renzo Cenciarini pour «raisons personnelles». Le conseil d’administration proposera à l’assemblée de nommer Franco Antamoro de Céspedes pour le remplacer.
16/10/2009

State Street développe ses services pour les hedge funds

State Street Corporation a annoncé le 15 octobre l’expansion de sa gamme de services à l’attention des hedge funds pour le front, middle, et back office. Cette gamme comprendra désormais des services de conservation de titres, de gestion de trésorerie, et d’opérations de change. L’extension de cette offre résulte de l’intérêt croissant que manifestent les gérants de fonds alternatifs pour réduire leur risque en transférant un plus grand nombre de services vers les conservateurs globaux dans un environnement de marché difficile.Les nouveaux services de State Street pour les hedge funds comprennent également des services de dépôt et de conservation pour la trésorerie, ainsi que le traitement et la garde des valeurs sur plus d’une centaine de marchés à travers le monde. D’autre part, les hedge funds clients de State Street peuvent désormais bénéficier d’un accès simplifié à une gamme de produits tels que des services d’opérations de change, proposés par State Street Global Markets, la division de recherche financière et de courtage du groupe.
16/10/2009

Un nouveau responsable pour les activités internationales de BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon International Operations a nommé Jim McEleney au poste de chief executive, selon Asian Investor. Jim McEleney, qui prend la succession de Sheena Wilson, est responsable du bon fonctionnement de tous les services opérationnels pour l’ensemble des activités internationales de BNY Mellon, entre autres la gestion d’actifs, la gestion de fortune, les marchés financiers et les services de trésorerie.Jim McEleney, qui sera basé à Pune en Inde, va également intégrer le comité opérationnel Asie-Pacifique. Il est directement rattaché à Don Monks, vice-chairman de BNY Mellon et Frank Dittrich, executive vice-president de BNY Mellon.Sheena Wilson va désormais travailler à Londres où elle sera responsable de la gestion des talents au niveau international.

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