Le département du Commerce a fait état d’un déficit ramené à 34,25 milliards de dollars en novembre, son plus bas niveau en 4 ans, ajusté des variations saisonnières, contre 39,33 milliards (révisé de 40,64 milliards) en octobre. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient en moyenne un déficit de 40,0 milliards de dollars en novembre. Les exportations ont progressé de 0,9% à 194,86 milliards et les importations ont diminué de 1,4% à 229,11 milliards.
Le Conseil de l’Union européenne, qui représente les Etats, a recommandé aujourd’hui la nomination de l’Allemande Sabine Lautenschläger au directoire de la Banque centrale européenne, en remplacement de Jörg Asmussen. La décision finale sera prise après consultation du Parlement européen et du conseil des gouverneurs de la BCE.
L’indicateur publié hier par ImmoStat révèle une forte baisse de 25% de la demande placée de bureaux en Ile-de-France, qui est tombée à 1.844.500 m² à la fin de l’année dernière. En cause : la chute de 45% des grandes transactions, alors que le Paris Centre Ouest et le Croissant Ouest ont tiré leur épingle du jeu avec deux très grosses opérations en fin d’année de la part de Cetelem et SAP.
La première émission obligataire de l’Irlande sur le marché international de la dette depuis la sortie de son plan de sauvetage international a attiré mardi une très forte demande de la part des investisseurs. Dublin a levé 3,75 milliards d’euros sur une nouvelle ligne à 10 ans avec un rendement brut à 3,543%, a annoncé l’agence irlandaise de la dette (NTMA) dans un communiqué. Les investisseurs ont présenté des offres pour plus de 14 milliards d’euros, selon les indications données par une des banques chargées du placement. L’Irlande a prévu de lever cette année six à 10 milliards d’euros sur le marché obligataire, après être sortie en décembre de son plan de sauvetage, selon NTMA.
Le fonds de dette Alcentra aurait mis aux enchères l'équivalent de 55 millions d’euros de prêts (leverage loans), rapporte Bloomberg. Les acquéreurs intéressés ont jusqu’au 8 janvier pour faire parvenir leurs offres. Parmi les lignes cédées figurent des prêts au groupe d’habillement et de chaussures Vivarte, qui est en train de renégocier les clauses de sa dette avec ses créanciers, ainsi qu’au télédiffuseur TDF.
Swiss & Global Asset Management has launched a fund focused on the Chinese “new economy,” JB China Evolution Fund, Citywire reveals. The Luxembourg-registered fund will invest in 30 to 50 companies of the consumer and technology sectors, both of which are underrepresented in the existing funds and indices, Swiss & Global indicates. The prime manager of the fund is Jean Shi Cortesi.
Swiss & Global Asset Management a lancé un fonds ciblé sur « la nouvelle économie » de la Chine, JB China Evolution Fund, est en mesure de révéler Citywire. Ce fonds de droit luxembourgeois investira dans 30 à 50 sociétés des secteurs de la consommation et des technologies, tous les deux sous-représentés dans les fonds et indices existants, indique Swiss & Global. Le gérant principal du fonds sera Jian Shi Cortesi.
BlackRock renforce son équipe commerciale retail en Allemagne, selon Fondsprofessionell. Dieter Sutterlüti a été nommé responsable commercial pour les fonds offerts au public et disponibles sur les réseaux retail. Parallèlement, Britta Bene rejoint l'équipe Asset-Allocators en charge de la clientèle des gérants de fortune, des banques privées et des family offices. Les deux nouveaux arrivants travailleront sous la direction de Christian Machts, directeur de l’activité retail de BlackRock Allemagne et Autriche.
Anthony Wong a repris le 1er janvier un fonds actions chinoises d’Allianz GI, Allianz China A-Shares, précédemment géré par Christina Chung, est en mesure de révéler Citywire Global. Ce fonds pèse 42 millions de dollars.
Anthony Wong on 1 January took over a Chinese equity fund at Allianz GI, Allianz China A-shares, previously managed by Christina Chung, Citywire Global reports. The fund has USD42bn in assets.
The bond specialist Franklin Templeton has decided to promote its equity range to Indian clients, Asian Investor reports. Vivek Kidva, managing director of the Indian firm at Franklin Templeton, admits that it will not be easy to convince potential clients. “In a market like India, where you can easily get rates of 8% or 9% for bank savings annually, selling equity funds to investors is a real challenge,” he tells Asian Investor. However, with an eye to diversification, Franklin Templeton is planning to push US equities, which gained more than 30% last year. If demand is sufficient, Franklin Templeton is planning to offer a European equity fund at a date yet to be determined, after making a US equity fund domiciled in Luxembourg available to Indian investors in June last year. But the international equity sector still remains miniscule. According to figures from the Association of mutual funds in India (AMFI), feeder funds investing in foreign mutual funds represent less than 1% of assets under management, which total about USD143bn, of which only 17% are invested in equities.
JP Morgan Asset Management (AM) has profoundly overhauled the management teams for six funds focused on the United Kingdom and Europe, with a total of over GBP3.1bn in assets under management, eFinancial News reports. From the beginning of January, Ian Butler, Thomas Buckingham and Ben Stapley became the prime managers of the open-ended investment company (OEIC) range from JPMorgan. Butler is now mnager of the UK Strategic Equity Income fund, which has GBP138m in assets. He is also appointed to the position of additional manager for the Europe Strategic Value Fund, with GBP1.3bn in assets, alongside Michael Barakos, co-manager of the fund. Buckingham, for his part, is responsible for the UK Higher Income Fund, with GBP303m in assets, and is also co-manager of the Europe Strategic Dividend Fund (GBP1.03bn), with Barakos. Stapley is responsible for the UK Strategic Growth Fund, with GBP283.5m in assets, and is co-manager of the Europe Strategic Growth Fund (GBP166m).
Scottish Widows and Aberdeen Asset Management, its new parent company, in 2013 both saw redemption requests among the highest in Europe, Financial Times fund management reports. On the basis of data from Morningstar, Scottish Widows was one of the least popular asset management firms in Europe in the first 11 months of 2013, with net outflows of EUR6.8bn from its funds. Aberdeen AM is among the 10 least popular firms, with EUR1.6bn in net redemptions.
Old Mutual Group has appointed Zoe Cruz to its board as independent non-executive director. She was previously co-president of institutional securities and wealth management at Morgan Stanley before founding Voras Capital Management in 2009 and running the fund until its closure in 2012.Old Mutual Group has also appointed Adiba Ighodaro as independent non-executive director. She has previously held senior investment roles with Commonwealth Development Corporation and Actis, where she has head of West Africa.It follows the resignation of Bongani Nqwababa who had served as a non-executive director since April 2007.
Simon Davies, former chairman of Threadneedle, has been recruited by the investment consultancy firm Square Mile Investment Research as chairman. He had previously been chairman of J.P. Morgan Overseas Investment Trust. Davies had previously served 16 years at Threadneedle, first as chief investment officer, then as CEO, and lastly, as chairman, a position he resigned from in June 2012. Under his leadership, the firm was profoundly transformed, from a small British asset management firm to a global asset management giant.
Schroders will soon reveals plans to move its offices in London, the Times reports. The newspaper states that the asset management firm will be leaving its headquarters in Gresham Street to take possession of a new property under construction at One London Wall Place. The construction is slated for completion in 2016. The Times states that the decision follows the acquisition of Cazenove Capital last year for GBP424m.
Skagen has launched new unit classes for three of its equity funds – Skagen Kon-Tiki, Skagen Global and Skagen Vekst – on 1 January 2014.The new unit classes will comply with regulatory changes in the Netherlands and UK where investment managers will no longer be allowed to pay commission to advisors or retrocession to platforms or distributors and must make available so-called «clean share classes».
EFG International has reached an agreement with Falcon Private Bank regarding the latter’s business in Hong Kong, according to a press statement.They have agreed on a referral of Falcon Private Bank’s clients in Hong Kong. This follows Falcon Private Bank’s decision to exit the Hong Kong market.The two organizations will be working closely together to ensure a smooth introduction of client relationships during the first half of 2014.A number of Client Relationship Officers and related support staff will move from Falcon Private Bank to EFG Bank, EFG International’s business in Asia. The assets under management involved are circa CHF 800 million, and it is expected that the lion’s share of this will ultimately move across to EFG.The Asian operations of EFG International were established in 2000. Its regional network of offices encompasses Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Shanghai and Jakarta. As of June 2013, EFG International’s Asia business accounted for 99 Client Relationship Officers, and clients’ assets under management of CHF 14.8 billion.
Mirova has since 1 January become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Natixis Asset Management. The creation, announced on 6 January, strengthens the independence of management at Mirova, and aims to accelerate the development of the socially responsible investment (SRI) unit at Natixis AM. In the next five years, this will aim to make it a leader internationally, a statement says. Pascal Voisin, CEO of Natixis Asset Management, becomes chairman of the board of directors, while the position of CEO goes to Philippe Zaouati. Mirova, which claims to be the second-largest European manager of SRI funds and the leader in solidaristic management in France in Europe, has EUR3.4bn in assets under management and EUR23.6bn in votes and engagements. These figures are compared to EUR292.3bn at Natixis Asset Management.
The level of fines, arrests and investigations for insider trading in 2013 leapt worldwide, which is putting asset management firms on red alert, Financial Times fund management reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States has promised to be particularly active this year in punishing insider trading. Howard Groedel, a partner at the law firm Ulmer & Berne, tells FTfm that asset management firms are scrambling to recruit compliant staff in order to ensure that they are protected.
The insurer Generali Switzerland has appointed René Schmidli to the position of chief investment officer (CIO), according to a statement released on 6 January. Schmidle began in his role on 1 January, and also joined the board of directors. Schmidli has since 2006 been responsible for asset management at Generali, and since 2010 has been deputy to the CIO, a statement from the Italian insurer states. The previous head, Karl Schönenberger, has become manager of the group in Switzerland.
Alternative mutual fund assets under management (AUM) in Asia ex-Japan totaled USD20.7 billion as of September last year, about 6.1% higher than at the end of 2012, according to Cerulli Associates. Still, AUM in this space has mostly been on a slow uptick since 2009. Cerulli Associates believes that these allocations have primarily been driven by institutional and, to some extent, high-net-worth investors, rather than retail investors.Although alternative allocations are still small at most institutions, often accounting for less than 10% of their overall portfolios, it is notable that they are rising steadily. For example, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) had nothing in alternatives in 2008, but by 2012 it had allocated nearly 11% of its assets to alternatives, including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, commodities, and special investments. Recognizing institutions’ growing taste for alternatives, some global fund houses traditionally focused on long-only assets are stepping up their alternatives capabilities. There were notable acquisitions last year: Franklin Templeton in June bought the remaining 80% stake in Pelagos Capital Management, which manages a commodities, managed futures, and hedge fund replication strategy, while BlackRock announced in May an agreement to purchase MGPA, a London-based private equity real estate manager.
ETPs worldwide last year posted net inflows of USD235.5bn, the third-largest total on record, after 2008 and 2012, according to initial estimates from BlackRock. In the month of December alone, net inflows to ETPs worldwide accelerated to USD24.7bn, compared with USD16bn in November. Equity ETPs alone attracted a record USD247.3bn in the year as a whole, topping the previous record in 2008. Exposure to US equities represented USD147.8bn, followed by Japanese equities (USD38.2bn). Pan-European funds posted strong inflows in second half, to finish the year with net inflows of USD26.7bn, more than double those observed in 2012. Inflows to bonds remained high compared with the previous year, at USD27.5bn, due to engagements to short-maturity ETPs totalling USD35.9bn.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has been appointed by The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), the largest public retirement system in Texas, U.S., to manage a new EUR135 million investment mandate, targeting mainly value-add investment opportunities in Northern Europe. TRS delivers retirement and related benefits authorized by the Texas Legislature and currently manages approximately USD120 billion trust fund established to finance member benefits. It is the sixth largest public pension plan in the U.S. and among the 20 largest funds in the world. More than 1.3 million public education and higher education employees and retirees participate in the system.
As recently announced by Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 13/11/2013), Gérard Moulin is entering a new phase in his career following his departure from Delubac AM. Moulin has joined the asset management firm Amplégest as head of European equity management. He is also responsible for the management of the Amplégest Multicaps fund. Moulin will be responsible for developing “pricing power” management of European large caps, a speciality he has already applied to the management of the Delubac Pricing Power fund. He will work in collaboration with a team composed of Saad Benlamine and Augustin Bloch-Lainé, managers at Amplégest Midcaps. Assets at Amplégest at the beginning of this year total EUR615m. The Amplégest Multicaps fund has EUR188m.
The Austrian asset management firm Myra Capital has recruited Sebastian Stahn, a specialist in absolute return management. He will take over open-ended funds at the institutional asset management firm. Stahn previously worked at the private bank Walser, where he was a portfolio manager, Das Investment reports.
The French boutiques Turgot Asset Management and Alienor Capital on 6 January announced in a joint statement that they have signed a memorandum of agreement to merge the two firms. Pending the agreement of the AMF, Turgot Asset Management will acquire a 35% stake in Alienor Capital as part of a capital increase slated for first quarter 2014. The sale price has not been disclosed. The new group will represent total assets under management of over EUR250m, 15 employees (including 7 portfolio managers) and a joint, in-house internal deontology control. At the end of 2012, assets under management at Aliénor totalled EUR122m. Operational synergies are already planned, with plans to benefit from the best practices at each of the two firms.