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06/04/2009

Switzerland - Private banking sector to consolidate

Swiss private bankers admit that growing pressures on the banking sector may lead to consolidation, the Financial Times reports. European financial institutions will probably seek to sell off their offshore private banking activities as part of recapitalisation efforts.
06/04/2009

Germany - Assets up for SEB ImmoPortfolio TR

As of 31 December, assets in the SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return Fund, an open-ended real estate fund aimed primarily at institutional investors and high net worth private clients, were EUR553.3m, which represents an increase of EUR184.7m in one year, while net inflows have totalled EUR178.6m (+250%). At the end of the year, the portfolio included 12 investments and 35 properties owned directly, and the value of properties in the portfolio were EUR821.8m, compared with EUR593.3m at the end of 2007, of which 33.8% come from Germany, 14.2% from the United States, and 13.3% from Poland.The fund, whose performance in 2008 was 7.1% (and has averaged 8.5% over the past ten years), will pay dividends of EUR26.6m, or EUR6 per share.
06/04/2009

Norway - Former Oil Fund considers tobacco boycott

In a review of its ethical investment policies, the Government Pension Fund - Global, formerly known as the Oil Fund, may establish a policy against investment in tobacco companies, along with firms that contribute most to climate change, says finance minister Kristin Halborsen. The Wall Street Journal also reports that the finance ministry is not planning to modify the fund’s overall investment strategy, but may limit its room to maneuver in active management. However, a spokesperson for the Bank of Norway has stated that as far as it is concerned, active management is an adequate format for the fund.
06/04/2009

Spain - Pension funds earn positive returns again

According to the consulting firm Mercer, Spanish pension funds posted average performance in March of 2%, which is their first positive result since August 2008, Cinco Días reports. In first quarter, however, funds show average losses of 2.7%.
06/04/2009

United Kingdom - SGAM completes sale of SGAM UK to GLG

On Friday, Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) announced that it had completed the sale of its London-based asset management affiliate SGAM UK, after receiving permission from the regulatory authorities. The operation was undertaken through a sale of the shares in SGAM UK owned by SGAM to GLG, which will provide continued management of funds and mandates previously awarded to SGAM UK.
06/04/2009

Germany - Silvia Schmitten-Walgenbach leaves DEGI

On Friday, DEGI (EUR6bn in assets, Aberdeen Property Investors group) announced that Silvia Schmitten-Walgenbach left her job on 19 March as a member of the board of directors in charge of fund and cash management. She has resigned for personal reasons, and her responsibilities will be redistributed to the other four members of the board of directors. A statement adds that Schmitten-Walgenbach successfully oversaw the sale of large portfolios in 2007 and 2008.
06/04/2009

World - Assets in Latin American funds down by one quarter in 2008

According to the website Fund Pro, funds registered in Latin America ended 2008 with assets of USD600bn, compared with a record USD745bn one year earlier, Funds People reports. The top five markets in the region (Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Argentina) accounted for USD557bn as of 31 December last year. Declines in assets under management ranged from 25% in Brazil to 45% in Argentina.The Banco do Brasil is the largest retail outlet in the region, with USD94.94bn, ahead of Bradesco Asset Management, with USD65.37bn, Itaú Asset Management (USD60.33bn), Santander Asset Management (USD48.2bn), and Caixa Económica Federal (USD32.94bn). BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole are in 17th and 34th place, respectively, with USD5.82bn and USD1.33bn.
06/04/2009

Spain - Lyxor releases two hedge funds in UCITS III format

Ander López, head of alternative management for Lyxor in Spain, has announced that the French management firm is releasing two new products in the country which comply with the UCITS III directive, and which have been registered since February with the CNMV, Funds People reports. One of them is the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index Fund, a passive management product which replicates the house hedge fund index. The other is the Lyxor Active Edge, which functions like a hedge fund, but which invests in sectoral indices and not directly in funds. In addition, the product is not directional. The two funds are available in retail and institutional share classes.
06/04/2009

Germany - Natixis GA releases two guaranteed equities funds

Natixis Global Associates is releasing two sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav Natixis International Funds (Lux) I, managed by the American investment firm Gateway Investment Advisers, in Germany. The funds are the Gateway U.S. Equities Fund and Gateway Euro Equities Fund; Das Investment reports that they are guaranteed equities products that comply with the UCITS directive and are aimed at institutional and high net worth private investors in several countries outside the United States. The portfolio of the ‘US’ fund is based on the S&P 500, while the European fund aims to replicate the DJ Euro Stoxx 50. Guarantees are achieved through the use of calls and puts.
06/04/2009

Germany - Frankfurt-Trust applies FSM methodology to FT Life-Invest

Since the beginning of the month, Frankfurt-Trust (BHF-Bank, Sal. Oppenheim group) has applied the same FSM process to its small open-ended fund FT Live-Invest which it applies to its institutional portfolios, representing EUR1bn in assets, Fondsprofessionell reports. This method combines fundamental analysis (F), market sentiment (S), and market trends (M), to generate dynamic determinations of tactical asset allocations. In 2008, at a time when the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 had lost 42.4%, the FSM model produced returns of 7.4%.
06/04/2009

France - Carmignac Patrimoine increases equities exposure to 50%

Eric Le Cox, head strategist at Carmignac Gestion, has announced that the exposure of the Carmignac Patrimoine fund to equities was increased to 50% last week, from only 2.2% in March. According to the French specialist, the worst of the conjunctural deterioration is behind us, but it is too early to see a genuine rebound. Therefore, the portfolio has been re-exposed to equities in a tactical manner, via futures. This makes it possible not to increase the investment rate too radically: is has risen from 7% as of 5 March to 25% as of the 26th of the same month. With this strategy, Funds People reports, the manager hopes to participate in rises on a low market; he will not hesitate to return to his previous position if the rally does not hold up.
06/04/2009

United Kingdom - M&G has ambitions to grow in Europe

M&G, the British fund management firm owned by the insurer Prudential, is seeking to grow in Portugal, Greece, Belgium, and the Netherlands, La Tribune reports.?The firm has begun negotiations in Portugal and Greece, where markets are highly concentrated in the hands of a few major actors. Distribution will begin this year. ?We are also looking at Belgium and the Netherlands, says Jonathan Willcocks, director of international distribution at M&G Investments (M&G),? the newspaper reports.
06/04/2009

Asia - Hong Kong is not a tax haven

Donald Tsang, chief executive of Hong Kong, has stated that the territory complies with international regulations in terms of exchanges of banking information, Les Echos reports. He was responding to some members of the OECD, including France, who had sought to place the island on a list of offshore tax havens.
06/04/2009

Spain - UBS opens an office in Bilbao to court Basque clients

Swiss bank UBS two weeks ago opened an office in Bilbao to serve high net worth clients in the Basque country, one of the richest areas in Spain, Cinco Días reports. Currently, the new branch employs nine people, in addition to whom the bank has seven other employees in the autonomous region. The branch location is an addition to the UBS network following a branch opened in A Coruña last summer. The bank is already present in Barcelona, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Valencia, and Marbella.
06/04/2009

Germany - BHF-Bank interests potential acquirers

Although Sal. Oppenheim has not officially put its affiliate BHF-Bank up for sale, several potential buyers have already expressed interest, Matthias, count of Krockow, CEO of Sal. Oppenheim, has told Handelsblatt. According to sources close to the firm, BHF-Bank is reported to interest the private bank Delbrück Bethmann Maffei, the Swiss bank UBS and the private equity investor Lone Star, which already owns IKB. However, Santander is not said to be a candidate any more.
06/04/2009

Spain - Reig in plans to launch hotel fund for ultra-high net worth private investors

Expansión reports that Reig Capital Group, the portfolio management firm for the Andorran Reig family, has applied to the CNMV for a license to manage a hotel real estate fund with EUR200m in assets, of which EUR70m will be provided by the Reig family, and which will be aimed at ultra high net worth individuals with over EUR30m. The fund would launch in early 2010, and invest in luxury hotels located in Madrid, Paris, London, and Milan, operated by the Mandarin, Starwood, Marriott and Four Seasons brands. The fund will plan to acquire three to four such properties in two years.In June 2007, Reig Capital Group had already launched a EUR100m investment fund specialised in SMBs, entitled Miura Private Equity, which counts among its investors the French Masséna group, the American Stevenson Family Investments, the BBVA, as well as the Cerqueda and Botet families. José Caireta, CEO of Reig Capital Group, says that after luxury hotels, the Andorran family will launch a fund specialised in fashion.
06/04/2009

United Kingdom - Deutsche Post a candidate to acquire 30% of Royal Mail

Deutsche Post, advised by UBS, has contacted Rothschild in London to join the group of potential buyers for a 30% stake in Royal Mail, Die Welt reports. The other candidates are the Netherlands-based TNT Post and the British private equity investor CVC Capital Partners. Deutsche Post, which is already present in the United Kingdom with DHL, is not expected to have difficulties financing the acquisition, which is estimated to be worth about EUR3bn.
06/04/2009

Germany - Layoffs at DWS and DB Advisors

At a meeting of all employees, personnel at DWS learned on Friday that this year, 50 jobs will be cut in fund and product management and in sales, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. With the layoffs at the other asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, DB Advisors, a total of 75 jobs will be lost.
06/04/2009

United Kingdom - PCIT calls for investigation into transactions by former boss

The Sunday Times reports that the American alternative management firm QVT (USD8.8bn), which has taken over the British management firm Principle Capital Investment Trust (PCIT) has asked the firm to investigate an acquisition of shares in Principle Capital Holdings (PCH) in July and August 2008 for GBP3.2m. The acquisitions were ordered by the former, ousted CEO, Brian Myerson, who is also the largest shareholder in PCH. The acquisition was made at 193.5 pence per share in PCH, but the shares are worth only 17.5 pence now.
06/04/2009

Germany - Cantobank Sankt-Gallen opens branch in Munich

By the end of the month, the Sankt-Gallen Cantobank will be the first Swiss cantonal bank to open an office in Germany, in search of high net worth clients (more than EUR500,000), charities, and family offices, as well as heirs who wish to repatriate to Germany the wealth of parents who emigrated to Switzerland, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The chairman of the board, Hans-Jürgen Röwekamp, will be assisted by two board members and six advisors; the firm, with offices in Munich, will seek a banking license in Germany in order to operate as a depository bank and trading platform for asset managers and independent financial advisors.
06/04/2009

Spain - Nmás1 liquidates real estate fund

N+1 Gestión on Friday notified the CNMV that it has decided to liquidate is real estate fund (of the FIL or hedge fund, class) Nmás1 Real Estate, in the wake of redemption demands totalling 30% of assets in the fund. As redemption demands in first quarter represent a further 36%, N+1 Gestión and the depository, Santander Investment, will endeavour to pay 80% of assets to subscribers in the next two weeks, thanks to the high liquidity level of the fund. The remaining 20% will be distributed after properties are sold. According to the most recent monthly statistics from Inverco, the fund had only EUR19m in assets and only 20 subscribers.The manager states that, as of 1 April, management and depository banking commissions will be reduced to 0.85% and 0.10%, respectively.
06/04/2009

World - Investors still have hope for emerging markets

Three quarters of private equity investors in emerging markets are planning to invest more money in these regions, according to a survey of 156 financial institutions by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and Coller Capital, cited by the Financial Times. Brazil, China, and India are the three most popular countries.
06/04/2009

France - Market at a turning point, according to managers

Citywire reports that three managers, François Mouté (Neuflize), Edouard Carmignac (Carmignac Gestion) and Christian Cambier (Prigest) estimate that the market is at a turning point. For example, at the beginning of March, Carmignac raised the equities exposure of the flagship Patrimoine fund by 2.2% to a level of 30% currently.
06/04/2009

United States - Funds contributed to wage inflation

Funds contributed with their votes to corporate America"s excessive pay, according to a study by the Corporate Library and the American Federation of State, Country and Municipal Employees, cited by the Financial Times. AllianzBernstein, Barclays Global Investors, Ameriprise and Columbia Management from Bank of America were the most consistent supporters of motions by management to increase pay. Those who regularly voted against pay raises were T Rowe Price, Templeton (Franklin Resources group) and Charles Schwab, the FT notes.
06/04/2009

Luxembourg - February was a bad month for funds

In February, the Luxembourg UCIT sector suffered net redemptions of EUR4.375bn, according to the most recent statistics from the country’s regulator (CSSF). Counting negative market effects of EUR36.868bn, assets fell by EUR41.243bn, to EUR1.530291trn at the end of the month, a decline of 2.62% since the end of January 2009. The upturn in January, with a slight increase in assets and positive inflows, thus proved short-lived.In the past twelve months, the volume of assets under management has fallen by 22.04%.

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