La société de gestion Ecofi Investissements, filiale du groupe Crédit Coopératif, vient de prendre une participation de 58 % au capital de la Financière de Champlain, société spécialisée dans l’univers du développement durable. Jean-François Descaves revient sur l'enjeu et les suites de ce rapprochement.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 30 September, Credit Suisse launched the Luxembourg-registered fund Credit Suisse Solutions (Lux) Megatrends, which is specialised in major global economic trends (multi-polar world, demongraphy, sustainable development), and which is managed in Zurich by a team led by Markus Mächler. The fund has been available since 22 October on the German and Austrian markets. The management team may invest without constraints worldwide in all currencies. The portfolio will be composed of equities, ETFs, and thematic products. Characteristics Name: Credit Suisse Solutions (Lux) Megatrends Currencies: USD, EUR, CHF ISIN codes: B USD LU0522191245R EUR: LU0522192136R CHF: LU0522192300S EUR: LU0522192482S CHF: LU0522192565 Management commission (B shares): 1.92% Benchmark index: MSCI AC World
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor has launched 10 ETFs based on MSCI World total return sector indices (dividends reinvested), which expose investors to the major global industries: consumer products, base products, energies, finance, health, industry, IT, materials, telecommunications, and utilities. The Luxembourg-registered ETFs have also been listed on the Milan stock exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt stock exchange, since the 24, 27 and 29 September 2010, respectively. The indices are calculated by MSCI in US dollars, and their components are denominated in local currencies. Investment in any of the ETF products (denominated in euros) is thus also susceptible to changes in exchange rates for the various currencies against the euro.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pioneer Investments Austria is planning to launch the Luxembourg fund Pioneer Funds – High Yield & Emerging Markets Bond Opportunities 2015 on 29 November. The fund will invest about 60% of its assets in European high yield bonds (average rating: B to BB), and the remainder in emerging markets corporate and government debt. The government debt may be denominated in local currencies. Subscriptions are open until 26 November 2010. The objective is to deliver maximal annual returns of 1.5% per year. Characteristics Name: Pioneer Funds – High Yield Emerging Markets Bond Opportunties 2015 ISIN code: LU0363633636 Maturity: 31 December 2015NAV calculation: every two weeks Front-end fee: 3% Expected exit fee: 1.5% Minimal initial subscription: EUR1,000
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco announced on Friday, 22 October that it has acquired a group of office and commercial properties in Paris, located at 23-25 rue Marignan and 36-38 rue Marbeuf, and measuring 12,042 square metres, for the Invesco Real Estate fund. The sale price was EUR134.5m. Since the beginning of the year, Invesco Real Estate has raised EUR229m in capital for its pan-European fund, from nine new clients, a statement says.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is going to launch a physical copper exchange-traded fund, according to a filing made Friday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, cited by the Wall Street Journal. The product aims to offer institutional and retail investors a way to participate in the physical copper market through an investment in securities without having to buy and store the metal themselves. The logistics of transporting and storing physical copper will be handled by J.P. Morgan’s warehousing firm, Henry Bath Group, and the related costs will be integrated into the price of the shares.
Patrick Degorce, the former Merrill Lynch banker who co-founded The Childrens’ Investment Fund with Chris Hohn, has raised more than USD700m for his new hedge fund, Thélème Partners, according to the Financial Times. The fund, which is run alongside ex-TCI partner Snehal Amin, has already returned over 10 per cent since it was launched in February
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alejandro Diaz-Llanos, European head of commodities sales at Deutsche Bank, has announced that the German group is planning to register its entire product range on the Madrid stock exchange, Funds People reports. Initially, the German group is planning to register its ETF range (db x-trackers). Then will come physical ETCs of industrial metals, and then in a third phase, ETCs of precious metals.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, reported by Expansión, management and deposit commissions for the 22 largest firms offering individual retirement savings plans range from an average of 1.47% for Bankinter to 2.19% at Santander. Europensiones (Banco Popular), Bansabadell and Bancaja are also at over 2% per year.Average commissions for the five largest asset management firms by assets are 1.83%, compared with an average of 1.79% for the sector, while investment funds average 1.11%.As an example, the average performance of pension funds over one year to the end of September was only 0.09%, according to Inverco.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which monitors and promotes governance standards in the UK, has published a list of institutional investors who have signed up to the Stewardship Code, launched at the beginning of summer by the FRC. In total, 68 institutional investors have announced plans to sign the governance code, including 48 management firms. Among the signatories are BlackRock, Fidelity IM, M&G IM, Threadneedle AM and CalPERS.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that BlackRock has organised a series of meetings with investment trusts to listen to the points of view of independent financial advisers (IFAs) and possibly add to its offerings for this sector. The regain of interest in these vehicles – BlackRock has six of them – is related to the introduction of the RDR (Retail Distribution Review), which will have consequences for the transparency of commissions.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the US justice department has announced that it will be dropping its legal action against UBS. It had charged the bank with aiding its clients to commit tax evasion. The prosecutor for fiscal affairs, John DiCicco, wrote to the Miami judge overseeing the case on 22 October that he considered UBS to have “fully satisfied all of its obligations.” As a result, “the United States considers that a dismissal of the charges is appropriate in the circumstances.” The decision is the logical consequence of two agreements signed between the US government and the Swiss bank in February and August 2009, by the terms of which UBS was to reveal the names of 4,450 US clients which it had allowed to conceal funds from the US tax authorities. UBS also six months previously was acquitted of a USD780m fine, including a charge with interest and fiscal restitution.
Un immeuble de Clichy, estimé à 90 millions d’euros, est mis en vente suite à un défaut sur le prêt, qui avait été titrisé par Barclays Capital. Sa cession se traduira par une perte sèche pour les investisseurs de la tranche E du véhicule. Le bien est loué à 60% depuis deux ans.
La société a lancé un appel d’offres auprès d’un grand nombre de gestionnaires de la place. Quatre à six d’entre eux devraient être retenus d’ici début 2011
La société a lancé un appel d’offres auprès d’un grand nombre de gestionnaires. Quatre à six d’entre eux devraient être retenus d’ici début 2011, selon une source proche du dossier. Amundi prévoit par ailleurs de collecter auprès de ses réseaux entre 150 et 200 millions d’euros par an.
Les appels répétés et bruyants en faveur d’une réévaluation du yuan ayant rencontré un écho relatif, les Etats-Unis ont choisi ce biais du déséquilibres des comptes courants - une composante des taux de change - pour élargir le débat. Pour Washington, de nouvelles stratégies de croissance doivent émerger, moins dépendantes des exportations et davantage tournées vers un renforcement de la demande domestique. Une orientation que la Chine a récemment indiqué vouloir suivre.
Selon son ministre des finances Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, la Malaisie pourrait prendre la tête d’un fonds souverain multinational regroupant des pays de la Conférence islamique, afin d’investir en Afrique, au Proche-Orient et en Asie centrale.