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08/09/2009

Fund mergers gather pace

In the first seven months of the year, in Portugal, there were 13 mergers of funds, compared with 5 in 2008 and 2 in 2007, according to Negocios, relayed by Funds People. Since the beginning of the crisis in June 2007, assets in funds have declined by more than 50%, from EUR40.1bn to EUR14.9bn.
08/09/2009

Eaton Vance to launch Build America Bonds fund

Eaton Vance plans to launch a mutual fund - Eaton Vance Build America Bonds Fund -, which will invest mostly in Build America Bonds, taxable debt instruments which are part of the federal stimulus program, the Wall Street Journal reports.
08/09/2009

BES launches an ethical and solidaristic fund

The asset management affiliate of Banco Espirito Santo (Bes) has registered the ES Etico y Solidario fund with the CNMV, a global ethical and solidaristic product, all of whose investments will comply with principles and values corresponding to the social doctrine of the Catholic church, Funds People reports. This means that the management team will exclude shares in companies involved in the manufacture of weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and all products detrimental to health. It will also abstain from investment in the capital of companies which do not recognize the rights of workers, or which inflict damage on the environment. In government bonds, the ES Etico y Solidario will invest only in debt issued by countries that have signed the Kyoto protocol, and which have laws to prevent child labour and promote equality. In addition, the manager will contribute 0.25% of assets to charities which apply the social doctrine of the Catholic church and which respect human dignity. Currently, the charities are Cáritas Española and La Bruixa D’Or.
08/09/2009

Barclays Wealth recruits a director in Dubai

Sahba Hadipour, Director, Private Equity and Wealth Management at CIC Holding (Invesco Holding), has been recruited by Barclays Wealth as director of its international private banking team in the Middle East, TradeArabia news Service reports. He will report to Fawaz Baba, managing director of the Dubai International Private Banking Office, and will be based in Dubai. He will be in charge of focusing on high net worth and ultra-high net worth client markets in the United Arab Emirates.
08/09/2009

New head at Commerz Real

Michael Bücker has been appointed as chairman of the board at Commerz Real (EUR43bn in assets), an affiliate of Commerzbank, from 1 October. He will replace Hubert Spechtenhauser, who was head of CommerzLeasing & Immobilien from 2002 to 2007, and then of Commerz Real since the merger in 2007 of CommerzLeasing with Commerz Grundbesitz. The appointment of Bücker who has been head of the corporate banking activities of Commerzbank in the Munich region since 2005, is related to a repositioning of Commerz Real being planned by the group, whose details will be revealed in the coming months.
08/09/2009

Goldman Sachs becomes largest shareholder in Eurotunnel

Les Echos reports that Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners has become the largest shareholder in the firm that operates the channel tunnel, with 21.2% of capital, far outstripping the M & G fund (Prudential group), which held a 7% stake at the beginning of the year. Small shareholders retain about 30% of the firm. This increase in Goldman’s stake is the expected consequence of a restructuring plan, a capital increase of EUR800m launched in March 2008 which allowed the firm to pay off part of its debts. Redeemable bonds were issued as part of the Eurotunnel safeguard plan. The operation was undertaken through bonds convertible into equities, of which 82% were subscribed to by two funds from Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, which then decided, one and a half years later, to convert its bonds into shares.
08/09/2009

HDF Finance overhauls management

Christine du Fretay, the widow of Gilles du Fretay, has been appointed chairwoman of the board at HDF Finance, while Gilles Guérin on 1 September became CEO and vice-chairman of the board. Since 2007, Guérin has been CEO of Alphasimplex, an alternative management firm founded by Andrew Lo, which specialises in overlay management and market risk control. Christian de Juniac, who in June accepted a position as chairman of the board at HDF Finance, replacing Gilles du Fretay (who died on 7 August), has been promoted to vice president of HDF Group SAS, the holding company which includes all HDF’s affiliates and participations.
08/09/2009

Allegiant AM and PNC Capital Advisors to merge

Nine months after the acquisition of its parent company, National City Corporation, by PNC Financial, Allegiant Asset Management will merge with the management firm PNC Capital Advisors INC, to form a new entity to be known as PNC Capital Advisors LLC. Following the merger, John Abunassar, chairman of Allegiant, will leave the firm. Kevin McCreadie, CEO of PNC Capital, will direct the new entity, which will have a total of USD37bn in assets under management.
08/09/2009

SAM cited as exemplary for integration of ESG criteria

In its “Report on Progress 2009,” the United Nations organisation that oversees the Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI) cites the method of integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at the Swiss asset management firm SAM Asset Management (Robeco group) as “best practice,” and as an example which the 275 signatories of the Principles (153 asset management firms and 123 asset owners) may follow to improve their scores in this area.
08/09/2009

Switzerland and India to revise taxation convention

L’Agefi Switzerland reported that Switzerland and India will soon conclude a revised double taxation agreement. Negotiations will begin by the end of the year. The ruling Congress Party in India is under pressure from the opposition to provide precise information about Indian holders of Swiss bank accounts.
08/09/2009

Rising Star recruits Beatrix Purchart

As its new head of product & sales, Beatrix Purchart becomes the new head of strategic development of distribution and products at the Swiss asset management firm Rising Star. She was previously head of institutional distribution in Germany and set up a distribution network in France for RMF Investments, since the acquisition of that firm by UK-based Man Group.
08/09/2009

HSBC in bid to acquire private banking activities of ING

HSBC is reported to have offered more than GBP1bn to acquire the private banking activities of ING, according to the Sunday Times. The British group is reported to be one of five candidates to acquire the business, alongside the Singapore fund DBS and Julius Baer. The buyer will be selected in the next six days. In Asia, AUM for the business represent USD16bn, while in Switzerland, they total about USD15bn.
08/09/2009

Mónica Vidal joins JPM Alternatives

Mónica Vidal is leaving her position as director of alternative asset management at the Spanish management firm N+1 to become commercial director for the Alternatives unit at JPMorgan Private Bank in New York, Funds People reports. She will be in charge of product placement (hedge funds, private equity, real estate) serving Latin American clients.
08/09/2009

Och-Ziff to bring back performance commissions

The hedge fund manager Och-Ziff is reportedly about to re-establish performance commissions on all of its assets, totalling USD2.17bn, Hedgeweek reports. The flagship fund from Och-Ziff, the Och-Ziff Master Fund, has gained 17.6% since the beginning of the year, which means that it has nearly offset all of its losses in 2008. Various sources estimate that Och-Ziff funds will now begin to show net inflows. The founder of Och-Ziff, Daniel Och, estimated last month that inflows to funds remained modest. “It will take a little time for them to gain size,” he added. In second quarter 2009, Och-Ziff made a net loss of USD88.3m.
08/09/2009

FRR supports initiative for transparency in mining industries

The French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), on 7 September declared its support for the initiative for transparency in the mining industries (ITIE), in keeping with its investment strategy, adopted in April 2008. As signatories of the initiative, it joins other institutional investors, as well as several governments, including France, businesses, representatives of civil society and international organisations The ITIE aims to strengthen transparency and responsibility of actors in the mining industries through verification and complete publication of payments made by these businesses and revenues earned by governments from the exploitation of mineral, oil and gas resources. “By supporting the ITIE, the FRR invites all businesses in sectors directly or indirectly concerned in which it is currently a shareholder to participate, and those businesses who are already involved to suppose the inititative by taking an active role in putting it into action,” the Fund says in a statement.
08/09/2009

Real I.S. Acquires Unilever headquarters

The German asset management firm Real I.S. (a joint venture of the German savings banks and BayernLB) has bought the headquarters of Unilever NV in Rotterdam for EUR86m, from the pension funds BPF Bouw and Progress. The property, with over 24,000 square metres of space, includes two buildings (the smaller, at 2,400 square metres, is leased to Tio Teach BV). The property will be added to the portfolio of the institutional real estate fund BGV Bayerische Grundvermögen III SICAV FIS.
08/09/2009

A good month for LSE in August

La Tribune reports that the stock market operator LSE has seen an increase of 11% to its daily trading volumes for its British and Italian market activities, compared with the previous month, with EUR7.2bn traded.
08/09/2009

Leverage levels worry French bankers

Les Echos reports that central bankers on Sunday, 6 September agreed on new measures to strengthen supervision of banks, including the adoption by 2011 of a leverage limit, previously used primarily by US banks, which ties banks’ overall balance sheets to their levels of capital. French bankers have made two suggestions toward the new leverage rules: the inclusion in the numerator of assets not included on the balance sheet, which have previously not been included in the American ratio, and a clear definition of assets not included on the balance sheet on both sides of the Atlantic. .
08/09/2009

Schroders reportedly offers to recruit Prince Andrew

The Telegraph claims to have information that Schroders has contacted Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, to offer him a potential role as ambassador for its international activities, particularly in its interactions with sovereign funds. The prince is the special representative of the British government for international commerce and development.
08/09/2009

Brooks Macdonald group makes its first acquisition

The British wealth management firm Brooks Macdonald Group on 7 September announced its acqusition of the Canterbury-based business Lawrence House Fund Managers Limited. This is the first external growth operation undertaken by Brooks Macdonald, the group says in a statement. Assets under management at Lawrence House total about GBP60m, distributed between an OEIC with three sub-funds and a number of dedicated portfolios. These funds will be integrated into Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, the management firm of the group specialised in assisting independent financial advisors. As a part of the transaction, two members of staff will move to the offices of the business recently opened in Tunbridge Wells: Alan Stokes, who will be a fund manager, and Carol Evans, as a member of the new activities development team. The former parent company of Lawrence House, the independent financial advisory firm Pharon Independent Financial Advisers Limited, is not included in the transaction and will remain independent. But Pharon will form a strategic alliance with Brooks Macdonald Asset Management to provide management services to its clients. Assets under management at the Brooks Macdonald group, which has offices in London, Manchester, Winchester and Tunbridge Wells, totalled nearly GBP1.4bn as of the end of June 2009, an increase of 17% in twelve months.
08/09/2009

Head of equities at SWIP departs

A shake-up at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has led to the departure of Graham Wood, the chief investment officer of equities, Scotland on Sunday reports. He will be temporarily replaced by Dean Buckley, managing director of SWIP.
08/09/2009

ATIC acquires Chartered

The Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), which is wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has announced its acquisition of Charered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Chartered) for SGD2.68 per share, which represents about SGD2.5bn (USD1.8bn). The amount of the transaction, which is expected to be concluded during fourth quarter, is about SGD5.6bn, or USD3.9bn, when outstanding debt is included. The agreed price represents a markup of 14.2% over the trading price in the past 30 periods on the Singapore stock exchange (SGX), and of 44.6% over its trading price in the past six months. Currently, Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek owns 62% of Chartered. The acquisition of Chartered will allow ATIC to exploit synergies with the Global Foundries platform, a joint venture created in March with AMD. Pending the necessary regulatory approval, Doug Grose, CEO of Global Foundries, would become CEO of the business born of the merger, while Chia Song Hwee, CEO of Chartered, would become COO, with particular responsibility for overseeing the integration process.
08/09/2009

Deutsche Bank launches a multi-strategy fund with Millennium Global

DB Platinum, a platform from Deutsche Bank, has teamed up with Millennium Global, a manager specialised in currencies and alternative assets (USD11bn in assets) to launch the Millennium Global Systematic Alpha fund, a product which complies with the UCITS III directive and offers daily liquidity. The open-ended product aims to generate returns related to those of the Millennium Global Systematic Alpha program, which is based on a systematic diversified approach involving eight investment strategies including currencies, bonds, equities, and commodities. This fund management method combines market neutral and short-term directional approaches.
08/09/2009

Sarasin puts Land Securities and British Land at top of rankings for green real estate

Banque Sarasin has selected 64 real estate firms as eligible providers to its sustainable development criteria, out of a universe of 160 businesses in 17 countries. The study “Auf nachhaltige Gebäude bauen,” by Klaus Kämpf, a specialist in sustainable development research, has determined that the top two firms in the rankings are the British firms Land Securities and British Land. The French firms Gecina and Unibail-Rodamco also show above-average results, as does Mitsubishi Estate. However, says Sarasin, there are several firms which have received a lower-than-average sustainable development rating, particularly in the Americas and Asia, regions where environmental standards are based on voluntary compliance and certificates, while in Europe, the requirements are set by law.
07/09/2009

AIG revoit ses forces en Asie

L’Agefi rapporte qu’une source proche du dossier a révélé à Reuters samedi 5 septembre queChinatrust Financial, premier émetteur de cartes de crédit taïwanais, avait mis 2,4 milliards de dollars sur la table pour Taiwan Nan Shan Life, une filiale d’AIG, renchérissant ainsi sur les offres de ses rivaux dont celle de Primus Financial.
07/09/2009

Une augmentation de capital évoquée chez Generali

L’Agefi rapporte qu’Antoine Bernheim, président du premier assureur italien, a précisé dans un entretien publié samedi par La Stampa que Assicurazioni Generali pourrait lancer une augmentation de capital en vue de financer des acquisitions.
07/09/2009
Fonds

Hausse de la collecte en août pour les grandes catégories de fonds

Pour août, les fonds d’investissement ont drainé 2,83 milliards d’euros contre 2,07 milliards en juillet, ce qui permet de réduire les remboursements nets depuis le début de l’année à 9,48 milliards d’euros, selon les statistiques d’Assogestioni. Quant à l’encours, il s’accroît de 1,25 % à 418,08 milliards fin août contre 412,9 milliards un mois plus tôt, de sorte que l’effet de marché a compté arithmétiquement pour 3,11 milliards d’euros et a représenté une fois et demie le montant des souscriptions.Hormis les hedge funds, qui accusent des sorties nettes de 127 millions d’euros, toutes les grandes catégories de fonds ont collecté en août. En revanche, depuis le début de l’année, seuls les fonds d’actions et les monétaires affichent des souscriptions nettes, à hauteur respectivement de 1,22 milliard et 1,93 milliard.Globalement, les fonds de droit italien ont enregistré des rentrées nettes de 1,46 milliard pour août et des sorties nettes de 11,4 milliards pour les huit premiers mois de l’année, tandis que ceux de droit étranger ont collecté 1,37 milliard le mois dernier et 1,92 milliard depuis le début de l’année.
Fonds
07/09/2009

Jupiter nomme un directeur des ventes pour l’Asie

Jupiter Asset Management vient de nommer David Conway au poste nouvellement créé de directeur des ventes (sales director) pour l’Asie Pacifique. L’intéressé vient de Royal Skandia, où il a occupé plusieurs fonctions en Asie. Il rejoindra Jupiter en octobre.Dans le cadre de ses nouvelles fonctions, David Conway aura notamment pour mission de développer l’activité de Jupiter avec les banques privées, les compagnies d’assurances et des institutions de gestion de fortune à Singapour et Hong Kong. Il s’occupera aussi des partenariats noués par la société de gestion en Asie.
07/09/2009

Nomura devient SVT en Inde

Nomura Fixed Income Securities Private Ltd a annoncé le 4 septembre qu’elle avait obtenu la licence de Primary Dealer ou spécialiste en valeurs du Trésor auprès de la Reserve Bank of India. L’obtention de ce statut devrait renforcer significativement le poids de Nomura sur le marché indien.

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