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12/12/2011

“We are in a consolidation phase, but there are not a lot of buyers in France!”

Alain Wicker, one of the emblematic figures at the French asset management firm La Française AM, discusses developments in the sector. The firm, facing strong competition from multiple sides, has already entered a consolidation phase. But there is a lack of candidates in France, despite the good reputation that the French asset management firm enjoys.
12/12/2011

French investors in Madoff fund listed

La Tribune has procured a list of the companies which were invested in the Madoff feeder fund Luxalpha in December 2008 (on behalf of themselves, their clients, or as a settlement market maker). La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild the European urology association, the French Senate, Téthys (the holding company for Liliane Bettencourt), the International Olympic Committee, HSBC Private Banking Paris, and Aforge Capital Management: the list includes asset management firms, private banks, family holding companies, family offices, associations, and one French public institution, La Tribune notes.
12/12/2011

Madoff: trustee seeking USD76bn from Julius Bär and Falcon

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the business interests of Bernard Madoff, has filed suit in a New York court against Julius Bär and the Zurich-based private bank Falcon, the news agency Bloomberg reports. It is seeking USD37m from Julius Bär and USD39m from Falcon. Picard says these are the sums placed by various investors in the Bernard Madoff firm Fairfield Sentry, which were then placed in the two Swiss banks.
12/12/2011

Real estate fund managers need to adapt to institutional needs

Institutional investors, including pension funds, insurers and sovereign funds, are prepared to increase their exposure to real estate as an asset class, according to the findings of the Vision Focus study “Real Estate: New Opportunities for Institutional Investors,” published by State Street Corporation. But these investors, made awake to risks by the financial crisis, are demanding more control and flexibility for their exposure to this market. “Investors want closer relationships with fund managers, and are demanding more information, not only at the start, but also over the life cycle of the fund,” State Street says. Institutionals are also looking for more transparency in their underlying investments and management fees. Investors are becoming more prudent, and are taking their time to make a final decision, and paying much more attention to the due diligence process. Since 2007, the typical length of time between the start and the completion of an agreement has nearly doubled, State Street notes. These expectations taken together will lead to increased reporting requirements for asset management firms. According to State Street, major fund managers may respond to these requirements by strengthening their internal systems. Others, meanwhile, may decide to outsource their operations to service providers. Consolidating these functions with other fund managers may allow for economies of scale.
12/12/2011

LDI becoming more popular with pension funds

63 percent of pension executives now employ an LDI investment approach – more than triple that of 2007 (20 percent), according to a new survey by SEI*.In terms of asset allocation, long-duration bonds continue to be a popular strategy (74 percent in 2011), as bonds and liability values are similarly sensitive to interest rates. Short-duration cash management is also commonly used with 40 percent of respondents using it this year. Newer LDI products, such as emerging market debt (37 percent), continue to grow in popularity, but investments in interest-rate derivatives remained low again this year (26 percent).*The global poll was conducted by SEI’s Pension Management Research Panel and included 100 pension executives from the United States, Canada, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.
12/12/2011

RBC Dexia recruits a head for securities lending

Guy d’Albrand, formerly of Société Générale and Newedge, has been appointed as head of securities lending at RBC Dexia Investor Services, which has also unveiled its new global Market Products & Services (MPS) business model. D’Albrand will begin in his new role in London in 2012. He will report to Susan Pike, global head, MPS.Meanwhile, Morgan McDonnell, head of foreign exchange, will assume the newly-created position of head of global foreign exchange, cash & credit markets. He will be in charge of the new grouping resulting from the merger of the product management and development teams of the forex and cash & investment finance (IF) unit.Susan Coleman, who had been head, cash & IF product management, becomes head of cross-product initiatives, a position in which she will be in charge of cross-product and collateral management strategy for the MPS division.Fay Coroneos, who had been head of risk & investment analytics, becomes head of MPS service delivery, the team which handles all delivery functions.Blair McPherson, currently head of portfolio solutions, has been appointed as head of market product innovation.
12/12/2011

Aberdeen continues to rationalise product range

The British asset management firm Aberdeen has confirmed to Newsmangers reports in Investment Week that the multi-management funds Aberdeen Multi-Manager Equity Managed Portfolio (GBP56m) and Aberdeen Multi-Manager Multi-Asset Distribution Fund (GBP16m) will be absorbing two and three other funds, respectively.The former fund will take over the assets of the Multi-Manager UK Growth fund (GBP17m), Multi-Manager International Growth (GBP25m), and the Multi-Manager Emerging Markets (GBP12m). The second fund will take over the assets of the Multi-Manager UK Income (GBP21m) and the Multi-Manager Sterling Bond (GBP14m).
12/12/2011

ABP sues JPMorgan

The Dutch pension fund ABP (EUR240bn in assets) has filed suit against the investment bank JP Morgan Chase over losses on MBS investments, IPE.com reports. According to a spokesman for the bank, the firm alleged to the fund that CDOs were less risky than they actually were.
12/12/2011

German real estate funds looking for a quick sale

Bloomberg reports that three German real estate funds, facing liquidation in spring, are seeking to sell EUR2.7bn in top-quality assets, including properties on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, and the London headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Agefi reports. The three funds, managed by KanAm Grund and the dedicated affiliates of Credit Suisse and the Swedish firm SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken), had total assets of EUR16.4bn in May 2010, when they were frozen.
12/12/2011

Pension funds bet on institutional funds

After insurers, pension funds are the largest investors in German institutional funds (Spezialfonds). Complementary retirement schemes, retirement funds and pension funds as of the end of October held nearly EUR138bn in assets of this type, the BVI association of asset management firms reports. Since 2004 (EUR49.4bn) these assets have nearly tripled.
12/12/2011

Thyssen Krupp sells Blohm+Voss to Star Capital

The supervisory board at Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) on Friday decided to sell the civil operations of the Blohm+Voss shipyards o the British private equity firm Star Capital, according to reports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The sale is reported to have been for a double-digit amount in millions of euros.The activities sold include construction, repair and engineering, with 1,500 employees and a turrnover of EUR500m.
12/12/2011

Fitch Ratings confirms M1 rating for Schroders

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Schroder Investment Management’s (Schroders) ‘M1' Asset Manager rating. The rating covers the company’s London-based investment activities with the exception of the alternative asset management business. Asset manager operations in the ‘M1' category demonstrate the lowest vulnerability to operational and investment management failure. According to the ratings agency, Schroders’ key strengths reside in its global, diversified, long-established franchise and a solid risk management framework. Disciplined, research-driven investment processes across asset classes and a robust operational infrastructure also differentiate Schroders from peers.
12/12/2011

Investors like private equity but not its managers

According to the most recent survey from Coller Capital, limited partners (LP) who have invested their assets with private equity funds remain confident for 2012.According to the study, undertaken in August and September, which covered 107 investors, 83% are planning to maintain or increase their allocation to the asset class in 2012, a percentage “similar to the intentions expressed in past years.” 24% of respondents are planning to increase their exposure. 68% of North American LPs and 56% of their European counterparts estimate that next year will be a good or excellent year.The study also finds that investors are planning to continue the skimming that they began two years ago. The study finds that 93% of LPs say they will refuse several managers «re-ups» in the next 18 months, meaning that they will not pledge them money for subsequent generations of a fund when requested.
12/12/2011

Hedge funds deep in the red in October

The HFR composite weighted index of hedge funds in November has posted a loss of 0.92%, bringing losses since the beginning of the year to more than 4%, while the BarclayHedge index, which covers 1,034 funds that have submitted results as of 9 December, shows losses of 0.94%, and losses of 4.59% in the first eleven months of the year. The BarclayHedge index of (104) UCITS-compliant hedge funds lost 1.64% last month, and 8.20% in the first eleven months of the year.For hedge funds overall, only three strategies out of 17 show gains in November: 0.32% for equity market neutral; 0.07% for health/biotech, and 0.57% for merger arbitrage.In the first eleven months of the year, the heaviest losses have been for emerging markets, at 11.37%, followed by equity long bias (-8.56%). The two best-performing strategies were fixed income arbitrage, at 3.94%, and equity short bias (+3.40%).Among UCITS-compliant hedge funds, the heaviest losses in January-November were for the 12 emerging markets products, with 15.33%, and for 13 equity long bias funds, at 11.76%.
12/12/2011

iShares snaps up two thirds of all inflows to ETPs

Of USD26.67bn in net inflows in January-November to European ETP products (ETF, ETC, and ETN), iShares (BlackRock) has accounted for EUR17.8bn, or two thirds. With EUR104.6bn in assets as of 30 November, the asset management firm has a market share of 33.9%, or 1.7 percentage points more than at the end of 2010.According to the most recent issue of the «ETF Landscape» newsletter from BlackRock, the second-best in terms of net subscriptions in the first eleven months of the year has been UBS Global Asset Management, with USD4.8bn in subscriptions, and assets as of the end of November of USD13.8bn. It is followed by Amundi ETF (USD2.6bn in net subscriptions and USD8.5bn in assets), Source Markets (USD2.5bn and USD7.6bn), and Credit Suisse Asset Management (USD2.3bn and USD16.2bn).db x-trackers/db ETC (Deutsche Bank) had net outflows of USD1.1bn in November, limiting net subscriptions in the first eleven months of the yar to USD1.8bn. Its assets totalled USD44.8bn as of 30 November, and its market share has fallen by one point since the beginning of 3011, to 14.5%. Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), with USD36.6bn as of the end of November, has seen a contraction of USD15.8bn in its assets under management from January-November, of which USD8.4bn were due to net redemptions. Its market share has fallen 4.7 percentage points, to 11.9%.
12/12/2011

Moody's keeps EU countries on watch

The financial ratings agency Moody’s on 12 December confirmed that it will be reevaluating its sovereign debt ratings for euro zone and European Union countries, in first quarter 2012, due to the lack of decisive action at the European summit last week. The lack of measures to staibilize the markets in the short term is a sign that the euro zone, and the European Union more broadly, continues to run the risk of more shocks, and the cohesion of the euro zone continues to be in danger, the agency explains in a statement.
12/12/2011

Ahead gets first UCITS license in Liechtenstein

Ahead Wealth Solutions AG has announced that it has become the first local asset management firm to have been issued a license under UCITS standards from the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA), concluding an application process of several months and a reorganisation to meet the requirements of the authority.Ahead may now create and administer investment funds in the 30 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), where its previous license had limited it to Liechtenstein. In addition, compliance with the European directive allows the firm to sell its funds to retail investors in all EEA countries without seeking local licenses.As part of the move to European standards, the managing board at Ahead has been enlarged from two to four members, CEO Wolfgang Mayer says.
12/12/2011

Outflows from open-ended funds down in October

In October, net redemptions from open-ended funds in Germany totalled EUR962.7m, compared with EUR2.766bn in September. In the first ten months of the year, outflows have totalled EUR8.56bn, compared with net subscriptions of EUR21.83bn. Since the beginning of 2011, institutional funds (Spezialfonds) have seen net inflows of EUR25.73bn, compared with EUR51bn, while mandates managed outside investment funds have seen outflows of EUR1.52bn, compared with EUR582m.In the first ten months of the year, the top score for net subscriptions goes to BlackRock, for its iShares ETFs, totalling EUR8.01bn, followed by Allianz Global Investors (AGI), with EUR1.98bn (thanks to EUR6.18bn for Pimco Europe). Meanwhile, Deka (savings banks) has seen net outflows of EUR6.59bn, followed by the DWS/DB Advisors/DB family, with EUR4.2bn, and Union Investment (co-operative banks, EUR2.14bn).Among the ETF promoters other than BlackRock, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) attracted EUR1.48bn, and ComStage (Commerzbank) took on EUR33.7m. ETFlab (Deka) has seen net outflows of EUR965m.
12/12/2011
Fonds

Edrim commercialise le fonds Millésima 2016 en Espagne

Lancé le 15 novembre 2011, le fonds de droit français EdR Millésima 2016 a été enregistré le 25 novembre par la CNMV pour la vente en Espagne. Ce fonds à échéance (31 octobre 2016) s’appuie sur des stratégies de portage en obligations senior industrielles et financières. Les titres à haut rendement ne peuvent excéder 35 % du portefeuille. Enfin, la souscription est ouverte jusqu’au 29 février 2012 (lire Newsmanagers du 14 novembre), la commercialisation étant assurée par Allfunds Bank et Banco Inversis.
Fonds
12/12/2011
Fonds

Global X Funds lance un ETF sur la Grèce

Global X Funds annonce le lancement d’un ETF sur la Grèce, selon lui le premier de ce genre. Coté sur le New York Stock Exchange, le Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF permet de s’exposer à l’indice FTSE/ATHEX 20 Capped composé des 20 plus importantes valeurs de la Bourse d’Athènes. Après un pic à 220 milliards de dollars, la capitalisation totale du Athens Stock Exchange a plongé de près de 90 % à 28 milliards en novembre 2011.
Fonds
12/12/2011

Thyssen Krupp vend Blohm+Voss à Star Capital

Le conseil de surveillance de Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) a décidé vendredi la vente des activités civiles du chantier naval Blohm+Voss au capital-investisseur britannique Star Capital, selon les informations de la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. La transaction porterait sur un montant à deux chiffres en millions d’euros.Les activités cédées, construction, réparation et mécanique, emploient 1.500 personnes et réalisent un chiffre d’affaires de 500 millions d’euros.
12/12/2011
Fonds

EDRAM distribue son Asia Leaders en Allemagne

Géré par Thomas Gerhardt, le nouveau patron de l'équipe marchés émergents, et David Gaud, gérant actions asiatiques, le fonds Asia Leaders d’Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) est désormais distribuable en Allemagne. Ce produit a été lancé le 26 octobre (lire Newsmanagers du 14 novembre).Au 31 octobre, EDRAM affichait un encours de 13,1 milliards d’euros contre 14 milliards fin 2010.
Fonds
12/12/2011
Gestion d'actifs

La Mutuelle Générale est à la recherche de fonds de dettes émergentes en devises locales, obligations high yield et actions émergentes monde

Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Denis Metzger, directeur financier de la Mutuelle Générale évoque les projets d’investissement en cours: Jusqu'à début septembre, nous n’avons ni vendu ni acheté de nouvelles positions. Par chance, notre politique de gestion d’actifs n’est pas contrainte par des rachats comme dans l’assurance vie. Cela nous a donc laissé le temps de repenser plus globalement notre allocation d’actifs. Nous avons ensuite donné de nouvelles orientations à cette dernière mi-octobre. Nous nous intéressons désormais à la dette émergente en devise locale. Les pays émergents sont souvent en bien meilleure santé financière, offrent des taux de rendement très intéressants et leurs devises s’apprécient contre le dollar. Ce sont donc des placements qui font vraiment du sens en termes de diversification. Nous souhaitons par ailleurs mettre en avant une deuxième catégorie obligataire, à savoir le high yield. Nous nous intéressons, plus particulièrement, aux titres notés BB ou B. Ils offrent des spread de 300 à 400 pb avec un taux de défaut très peu supérieur à celui de l’investment grade. Et de plus, crise aidant, on y trouve de très grands noms comme Renault, Lafarge, Peugeot... Du côté des actions, nous avons décidé d'être exposés aux pays émergents au sens large, c’est à dire l’Europe de l’Est, l’Amérique latine ou l’Asie du Sud Est à travers des fonds thématiques globaux. Nous allons donc diversifier notre allocation d’actifs avec ces nouvelles catégories qui pourront représenter un maximum de 5% de nos encours.
Gestion d'actifs
12/12/2011

Convictions AM se lance aussi sur le marché espagnol

Le 1er décembre, la CNMV a enregistré le fonds Convictions Premium du français Convictions AM, le quinzième gestionnaire étranger à se lancer sur le marché espagnol depuis le début de cette année.Patrick Serre, membre du comité de direction et responsable des relations investisseurs, a indiqué à Newsmanagers que Convictions AM n’ouvre pas pour l’instant de bureau en Espagne mais s’appuie sur un partenariat avec le madrilène Selinca AV ainsi qu’avec Pablo Chiodi à Paris. Pour l’instant, le gestionnaire français, dont 17 % des encours d’environ 800 millions d’euros proviennent de l'étranger, attend pour faire enregistrer ses deux autres fonds flexibles (Europactive et ActivInflation) qu’ils atteignent chacun les 100 millions d’euros et puissent justifier d’un historique de performance suffisant.Convictions poursuit méthodiquement son expansion hors des frontières. Son fonds vedette a été enregistré en Italie (mars), Suisse (septembre) et Allemagne (octobre) et le gestionnaire a recruté à Paris un Italien et un Allemand pour couvrir les marchés italien et germanophone.Patrick Serre se veut optimiste pour la percée à l'étranger, notamment parce que le fonds Premium obtient de bonnes notes qualitatives : «strong» pour Fitch et AA+ pour l’allemand Telos.
12/12/2011

Fitch Ratings confirme la note M1 de Schroders

Fitch Ratings a confirmé la note Asset Manager “M1” de Schroder Investment Management. Cette note, qui couvre les activités de la société à Londres à l’exception de la gestion alternative, correspond au plus faible niveau de vulnérabilité face à des faillites opérationnelles et en matière d’investissement.Pour l’agence de notation, le principal défi auquel est confronté Schroders est celui de limiter la décollecte qui touche l’ensemble du secteur, développer ses capacités d’investissement dans le rendement absolu et s’adapter aux changements réglementaires. La société de gestion britannique devra aussi s’efforcer de retenir ses talents.
12/12/2011
Fonds

Aberdeen poursuit la rationalisation de sa gamme

Le gestionnaire britannique Aberdeenb AM a confirmé à Newsmanagers l’information d’Investment Week selon laquelle les fonds en multigestion Aberdeen Multi-Manager Equity Managed Portfolio (56 millions de livres) et Aberdeen Multi-Manager Multi-Asset Distribution Fund (16 millions) vont absorber respectivement deux et trois autres fonds.Le premier accueillera les actifs du Multi-Manager UK Growth (17 millions de livres), du Multi-Manager International Growth (25 millions) et du Multi-Manager Emerging Markets (12 millions). Le second reprendra ceux du Multi-Manager UK Income (21 millions) et du Multi-Manager Sterling Bond (14 millions).
Fonds
12/12/2011

Financière de l’Echiquier recrute un RCCI

Financière de l’Echiquier vient d’annoncer l’arrivée de Bertrand Merveille en tant que Responsable de la Conformité et du Contrôle Interne (RCCI). Agé de 31 ans, le nouvel arrivant était auparavant directeur de la division Prestataires de services d’investissement de l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). A l’AMF, où il a commencé en 2003 en tant qu’analyste OPCVM, Bertrand Merveille a ensuite été chargé de portefeuille sociétés de gestion avant d’être nommé responsable adjoint de la division Prestataires de services d’investissements puis directeur de la division en 2009.
12/12/2011

Recrutements et réaffectations chez Invesco Real Estate

Invesco Real Estate vient de renforcer son équipe dédiée dédiée à l’Europe afin d’améliorer les solutions et services apportés à ses clients internationaux désireux d’investir en Europe. Sébastien Daguenet rejoint l'équipe en tant que fund et product manager – France. Dans le cadre de ce poste nouvellement crée, il sera en charge du développement et de la gestion de fonds en France, avec pour objectif de proposer à la clientèle française les solutions d’investissement d’Invesco Real Estate. Agé de 34 ans, le nouvel arrivant travaillait depuis 2004 pour CNP Assurances, où il a successivement exercé les fonctions de gestionnaire de portefeuille immobilier pendant trois ans, puis de chargé d’investissements sur les fonds immobiliers non cotés.Par ailleurs, Tom Emson, actuel directeur des transactions en France et Belgique, rejoindra le bureau de New York à compter du 2 janvier 2012 afin d’offrir son expertise européenne aux clients internationaux d’Invesco Real Estate souhaitant diversifier leurs portefeuilles immobiliers en Europe, précise un communiqué. Pour sa part, Stéphanie Bensimon qui était auparavant chez CarVal Investors où elle était spécialisée dans les opérations opportunistes et à forte valeur ajoutée rejoint le bureau de Paris d’Invesco Real Estate et remplace Tom Emson au poste de Directeur des Transactions - France et Belgique.
12/12/2011
Fonds

La CDPQ en position favorable pour reprendre Axa PE

Selon L’Agefi qui cite une information du Journal du Dimanche, la Caisse des dépôts et placements du Québec (CDPQ) serait en négociations avancées en vue d’un rachat d’Axa Private Equity pour 500 millions d’euros. Axa garderait une participation minoritaire dans sa filiale.
Fonds
12/12/2011

"Nous sommes dans une phase de consolidation mais il y a peu d'acheteurs en France !"

Alain Wicker, l'une des figures emblématiques de la gestion d'actifs française revient sur l'évolution du secteur. Soumis à une concurrence multiple et forte, ce dernier est d'ores et déjà entré dans une phase de consolidation. Mais les candidats manquent en France en dépit de la bonne réputation dont profite la gestion hexagonale. Par ailleurs, le responsable de La Française AM est revenu pour Newsmanagers sur la crise actuelle et sur les projets, à un horizon proche, de sa société de gestion.

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