Investment Europe reports that Andreas Grünewald, chairman of the German VuV association of German independent wealth managers, has announced that 673 funds launched by members have earned average returns of 15.61% for the three years to the end of 2011, with aggressive products making 27.5%, compared with 22.6% for diversified products, and 8.75% for defensive products.However, the size of funds remains small, with about one quarter of products under EUR10m, and only 27 funds with over EUR1bn.
MiFID, Basel III, Solvency II, a tax on financial transactions, ratings agencies : Jean Eyraud, elected on 22 June 2011 as president of the Af2i, is not limiting himself to the association market, but talks to Newsmanagers about the major topics of the day.
Steven L. Scheid, chairman of the board of directors at Janus Group, will be leaving the firm to retire in April. He had been in the position since 2004. He will be replaced by Glenn S. Schafer, former director and chairman of the audit board.
The Korean central bank has obtained a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) license from the Chinese authorities, Asian Investor reports. The Bank of Korea is hoping to invest in Chinese equities from the first half of this year, as soon as it is allocated a quota which may range from USD200m to USD300m. Currency reserved at the Bank of Korea total USD310bn.
For the third quarter of the fiscal year to 31 March 2012, from October to December 2011, Legg Mason has announced a net profit of USD28.3m, compared with USD56.7m for July-September and USD61.6m in the corresponding period of 2010.In the nine months to the end of December, net profits have totalled USD144.7m, compared with USD184.9m in April-December 2010.The asset management firm has confirmed that its total assets as of the end of December totalled USD627bn, compared with USD611.8bn as of the end of September, and USD671.8bn twelve months earlier.In October-December, Legg Mason had net outflows of USD7.1bn from fixed income funds, and USD4.9bn from equity funds, and net subscriptions of USD10.7bn to money market funds. As of 31 December, assets under management were 56% in fixed income, 25% in equity and 19% in money market funds, with 63% of assets coming from clients based in the United States.
Combining the expertise of BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services (AIS) in alternative management and BNY Mellon Corporate Trust in bonds, BNY Mellon is now offering hedge funds an automated securities lending service. The administrative solution offers straight-through processing (STP), covering all operations from pre-market to post-market, using exclusive technologies. BNY AIS serves as administrator and custodian for USD450bn from hedge funds, funds of hedge funds and private equity funds, while BNY Mellon Corporate Trust provides credit services totalling USD11.8trn.
Five years ago, the South Carolina public pension fund was not allowed to invest in hedge funds or other alternative products. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports, this type of investment represents nearly half of the fund’s USD26bn in assets (20% in hedge funds, 6 times more than the average pension fund allocation).The State Treasurer, Curtis Loftis, is planning to considerably reduce this percentage, not only due to the risks, but also due to the costs, as management commissions paid by the fund increased in the fiscal year ending on 30 June 2011 by 11%, to USD344m, while performance before fees was 18.6%, compared with a 21.4% average for major pension funds, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.
Agefi reports that the South Korean regulator has granted its approval to an agreement between the Texas-based fund Lone Star and the claimant to acquire its majority stake in the capital of the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), the local Hana Financial group. The bank’s 51% stake in the stock market firm will change hands for KRW3.9trn, equivalent to EUR2.7bn.
From 1 February, Andreas Rothmer will be joining the sales team at Swisscanto in Frankfurt, as a senior account manager. Rothmer will be particularly charged with recruiting and assisting institutional clients throughout Germany. He previously worked at Allianz Global Investors and Deka, also in distribution of funds to institutional clients.Rothmer will report to Ralf Branda, head of international distribution at Swisscanto.
The developer of international accounting standards IASB, and the US accounting auditor FASB on 27 January announced that they have reached an agreement to attempt to reduce disparities between their respective classification and measurement models for financial instruments.The talks will be part of the discussions underway on a proposed update of IFRS 9 standards for financial instruments, published in November 2009 and amended in October 2010.
The Wall Street Journal reports that British (FSA) and Swiss (Finma) regulators are preparing to file legal actions against UBS for shortfalls which allowed a trader at the firm, Kweku Adoboli, to make unauthorised trades which led to USD2.3bn in losses.
The British government on 27 January published its Financial Services Bill. Under the new legislation, the FSA will cease to exist, while the Bank of England will inherit extended powers, and will become responsible for strengthening financial stability and supervising banks, Agefi reports. Three new organisations will be created: the Financial Policy Committee, whose role will be to contribute to the stability objectives of the Bank of England and to monitor systemic risks; the Prudential Regulation Authority, which will be the future authority to oversee the British banking system, replacing the FSA; and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will concentrate on protecting consumers and markets.
The Italian asset management association, Assogestioni, is studying the possibility of lowering the minimal rating required for sovereign debt held by money market funds. The limit would be lowered to investment grade.The Italian association made the announcement in a statement. The decision would prevent managers from being required to divest the funds due to recent and future downgrades of the credit ratings of some governments on the part of ratings agencies.Assogestioni points out that by its rules, money market funds may hold bonds with a rating of at least A2 (Moody’s) or A (S&P).
The Australian fund incubator Ascalon Capital Managers, a specialist in the alternative management sector, has invested in two Asian hedge funds, Asian Investor reports. Earlier this month, Ascalon bought a 30% stake in the Singapore-based firm Singapore Canning Park Capital, which manages a long/short equity fund. In December, Ascalon bought a 355 stake in Athos Capital in Hong Kong, which is planning to launch an event-driven strategy. In Australia, Ascalon has already invested in seven boutiques whose cumulative assets under management total USD4.5bn.
MIF, Bâle III, Solvabilité II, taxe sur les transactions financières, agences de notation, gestion alternative… Jean Eyraud, élu le 22 juin 2011 président de l'Af2i, ne se limite pas à développer le plan de marche de l'association mais prend position pour Newsmanagers sur les grands thèmes de l'heure.
A l’issue d’une mise en concurrence restreinte initiée en 2011, le RSI a sélectionné Natixis AM pour gérer un FCP dédié de 250 millions d’euros dont le dépositaire, valorisateur et conservateur unique est Caceis. Il s’agit d’une gestion obligataire d’entreprises émettant dans des pays de l’OCDE, avec une notation minimum de Baa3/BBB-, ayant pour indice I box 1-5 ans et une sensibilité comprise entre 0 et 5. Contacté à ce sujet, Natixis AM n’a pas souhaité confirmer, ni commenter cette information.
Les normalisateurs comptables IASB (International accounting standards board) et FASB (Financial accounting standards board) ont fait vœu dans un communiqué commun de travailler ensemble pour «réduire les différences» dans leur classification et leurs modèles d’évaluation des instruments financiers.
La société d’investissement, qui s’est associée pour l’occasion à Riverstone Holdings, mène des discussions avancées en vue du rachat de l’activité d’exploration pétrolière d’El Paso, a relayé le Wall Street Journal. Le montant d’une éventuelle transaction pourrait atteindre 7 milliards de dollars.
Le gendarme américain des marchés s’intéresse à une transaction autour d’un CDO pour lequel Deutsche Bank a autorisé le fonds d’arbitrage Paulson & Co à sélectionner des titres adossés à des créances hypothécaires, a rapporté Der Spiegel. Toujours selon le magazine, la banque allemande a par ailleurs reçu des régulateurs l’injonction de produire un rapport sur les possibles conséquences financières des procédures en cours aux Etats-Unis.