The Hennessee hedge fund index gained 1.30% in April (4.61% since the beginning of the year), while the S&P 500, for its part, gained 1.48% for the month and 6.42% since the beginning of the year. The Long/Short Equity Index is up 1.43% in April and 4.59% since the beginning of the year. The Hennessee Distressed Index also gained 4.13% in April, and 11.71% since the beginning of the year.
The Centro de Seguros y Servicios (CESS) d’El Corte Inglés has signed a financial consulting agreement with BNY Mellon Asset Management, by which the insurance and services arm of the retail group will provide “easy to understand” for retail investors to financial advising and investment products from the latter group, Cinco Días reports. The cooperation is reported to have begun earlier this year with the promotion of a retail account tied to any one of five selected financial products, one of which is the BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund. The agreement also provides for a series of conferences for CESS clients in the major Spanish cities.
On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings confirmed its asset manager rating of M2+ for Robeco, covering its traditional management activities based in Rotterdam and money market management based in Paris (see Newsmanagers of 7 May). However, the agency notes that the rating “takes into account a need for stabilisation in the management team following its partial renewal. The firm will need to demonstrate its ability to increase assets and improve the organisational efficiency of the management firm, whose operating margins have already been set on a razor edge due to the financial crisis, in order for Robeco to return to sustainable operational profitability.” Against this background, Fitch will monitor the potential effects of cost-reduction measures on the quality of the management platform.
In first quarter 2010, pre-tax profits for the Asset Management and Services profession at Dexia (which also includes insurance) totalled EUR67m, compared with losses of EUR164m in first quarter 2009, and profits of EUR118m in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management are up 3.3% compared with the end of December 2009, at EUR85.1bn, and up 16.4% compared with the end of March 2009. This increase is due to positive market effects and net inflows from institutional clients. Institutional funds and mandates have posted inflows of EUR0.4bn in first quarter (+4.1% compared with the end of December 2009), with a concentration of inflows on high-margin products. Retail funds have posted a slight increase in the quarter (+1.6% compared with the end of December 2009), while positive market effects have offset net outflows. In first quarter 2010, Dexia Asset Management continues to develop client-oriented solutions, particularly in the area of sustainable and responsible investments. Asset Management has posted a pre-tax profit of EUR17m in first quarter 2010, compared with losses of EUR10m in first quarter 2009.
Les Echos reports that Nyse Euronext has decided to end its sales contracts with the LCH.Clearnet group in 2012, and will instead create two European clearing houses: one, in Paris, will handle organisation of counterparties on equities trades and equities derivatives, while the other, based in London, will be dedicated to commodities, fixed income, and currencies. Initially, settlement services from Nyse Euronext will be made available to over-the-counter markets, CDS market actors, and other trading platforms. The newspaper reports that it is likely that some over-the-counter contracts and Euro zone CDS will also be handled in Paris.
The hedge fund sector took in USD7.6bn in assets in March, and assets under management now total USD1.64trn, according to the most recent statistics from TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclaysHedge. In the past thirteen months, the Barclay Hedge Fund index gained 29.9%. In the month of March alone, average returns on hedge funds totalled 2.9%, the best returns since September 2009. Multi-strategy funds posted the heaviest outflows in March (1.3% of assets), while event-driven funds saw the largest inflows (1.5% of assets). Returns on event-driven funds since the beginning of the year, at 4.7%, have been among the highest for any strategy.
The Europe Rendement Flexible fund from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), released on 30 January 2009, now has EUR125m in assets, and as of the end of March, it had posted returns of 22% since its launch. The version of the Europe Rendement fund, with a derivatives overlay to protect it and an exposure rate that may vary from 20% to 80%, was initially aimed at retail investors. Now, explains Françoise Rochette, deputy director and head of global allocation, the product has proven itself sufficiently for sales teams to promote it to private banks, networks, IFAs, institutional investors such as regional savings banks, funds of funds, and structurers. Overall, the product has been successful in weathering falling markets, sustaining only one third of losses, and has captured two thirds of gains, with lower volatility than the market.
On the basis of statistics published on Tuesday by the German BVI association of asset management firms (see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Allianz Global Investors (AGI) and Deutsche Bank/DWS have been the only major fund management firms to post net subscriptions in first quarter. Their total net inflows (EUR4.63bn for AGI and EUR2.94bn for DB?DWS) are higher, in fact, than the total net subscriptions for the securities fund industry as a whole in the period under review (EUR7.36bn). Good results at AGI are due to the German affiliate AGI KAG (EUR1.44bn), and especially to Pimco Europe (EUR3.76bn). At DB/DWS, EUR1.07bn of inflows are due to db x-trackers, but two other Luxembourg affiliates (DB Platinum and DWS Investments SA) brought in a total of EUR1.6bn. Among the other major players, BlackRock has seen net outflows of EUR302.9m from its iShares ETFs, while ETFlab (Deka) has experienced net outflows of EUR507.4m from its ETFs, an addition to redemptions of EUR1.92bn from its parent company, DekaBank (German savings banks). Union Investment (co-operative banks), for its part, has posted net redemptions of EUR1.19bn.
The Danish management firm Jyske Invest Fund Management has signed a cooperation agreement with Agathon Capital, to scale up its distribution activities in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The cooperation will primarily concern emerging market products from Jyske Invest, including funds of bonds denominated in local currencies.
Handelsblatt reports that, according to Christian Michel, head of research at Feri EuroRating, funds from Pioneer (UniCredit group) lag behind the competition in terms of returns. The firm, which manages EUR185bn worldwide, of which EUR24bn are in Germany, receives a good or very good rating from Feri for only 20% of the products in its range. Pioneer has fallen to 28th place in the rankings of 34 German asset management firms rated by Feri, and its major weakness is in bond funds, though equities funds have also shown poor results. Pioneer has reacted to the situation by restructuring since the beginning of this year, in particular separating US and European research. There are still questions as to whether UniCredit will sell the operation. Roger Yates (ex-Henderson), the new head of the firm, has been placed in charge of the restructuring process.
Shamik Dhar, one of the founders of Fathom Financial Consulting in 2004, has been recruited in London as a senior economist for the investment strategy team at Aviva Investors, his former employer from 2000 to 2004 (when the firm was known as Morley Asset Management). Dhar will report to Adrian Jarvis, head of strategy, and will focus on economic research and conjuncutural predictions for the Asia-Pacific region.
Alliance Trust Asset Management will next month launch a corporate bond fund. The fund will be managed by four former SWIP managers, including the former head of fixed income, Roy Davidson, who will lead the team. The team of four joined Alliance Trust at the beginning of this year. By the end of this year, Alliance Trust is also planning to release two other strategies: an Asian equities fund and a Japanese equities fund, both of which will be managed by Jonathan Bolton, head of Japanese equities.
Amundi ETF on Tuesday announced that it is extending its ETF product range in Switzerland with the launch of a range of six new ETF Short Govies funds, bringing the number of Amundi products available on the SIX Swiss Exchange to 20. The range of ETF Short Olbigataires products offers investors daily inverse exposure to the Euro zone government bond market, in order to take advantage of any possible increase in interest rates. The six ETF funds, which provide synthetic replication of a family of Short EuroMTS Qurozone Government Broad strategy indices, include all maturities (from 1 to 15 years), and allow investors to take positions on all or part of the Euro zone rate curve. Amundi ETF states that it will continue to extend its product range in Switzerland in the next few weeks.
State Street on 11 May announced the publication of a report in the Vision Focus series, covering trends, challenges and best practices in the market for services to exchange-traded funds (ETF). ETFs, which now represent more than USD1trn in assets under management worldwide, continue to be efficient, economical, transparent, and fiscally advantageous investment vehicles, but providers of ETF products are confronting new challenges related to the rapid growth of the industry, both in terms of volume and of types of fund. “The global expansion of ETFs requires a profound knowledge of the nuances of each national market and the regulations in force,” says Alan Greene, executive vice president and US head of the Global Services activity at State Street. “Services to the ETF industry also need to confront some issues related to the diversification of fixed-income and actively-managed products, compared with a market of passively-managed US equities ETFs.”
The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the technical committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 12 May published two consultation documents which lay out proposals to strengthen the OTC derivative market. The first report offers a series of recommendations concerning central counterparties (CCP), entitled “Guidance on the application of the 2004 CPSS-IOSCO Recommendations for Central Counterparties to OTC derivatives CCPs.” The second report, entitled “Considerations for trade repositories in OTC derivatives markets,” treats the question of databases. “The two complementary series of high-level recommendations represent a significant response by CPSS and IOSCO to the recent financial crisis. They also reflect the recommendations of the G20 on strengthening the over-the-counter derivatives markets,” the president of the CPSS, William Dudley, and the president of the IOSCO technical committee, Kathleen Casey, say in a statement. Interested parties are invited to submit their remarks until 25 June.
In first quarter, assets under management in funds of funds set a new record at GBP46.5bn, an increase of more than 60% over first quarter 2009, according to statistics from the British independent management association (IMA). Net inflows to funds of funds in first quarter totalled GBP1.2bn, nearly three times higher than the level observed in first quarter 2009. Assets in ethical funds totalled GBP5.9bn in first quarter, up 43% compared with first quarter 2009. Assets in tracker funds totalled GBP29.5bn, an increase of 59% compared with first quarter 2009.
Les Echos reports that the insurer Skandia France, an affiliate of the British firm Old Mutual, is aiming for a market share of 5% in the market segment of clients with a savings capacity of EUR100,000 to EUR3m. This market represents assets of EUR780bn, and growth potential is estimated at 8% per year, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Skandia France had assets of EUR1.72bn as of the end of March (+21% compared with first quarter 2009).
Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, has filed a civil lawsuit against Ivy Asset Management (which in 2000 became an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management), and two of its founders, Lawrence Simon and Howard Wohl, claiming that these individuals were aware of “disturbing facts” about the management firm led by Bernard Madoff, but that they “hid the truth” from clients to whom they recommended Madoff’s products.
Franklin Templeton Investments has announced the launch of three new sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav FTIF, the Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund, Templeton European Corporate Bond Fund and Franklin Real Return Fund. The first and third of these products, managed in the United States by Steve Land and Tony Coffey, respectively, are already available in US versions, and had assets as of 31 March of USD1.75bn and USD381.3m. The second fund, a corporate bond product, is managed in London by David Zahn.
= Mark R. Fetting, chairman & CEO, has announced that the board of directors has authorised Legg Mason to buy back ordinary shares for up to EUR1bn. The move was made possible as the books saw a successful recovery in the quarter ending 31 March (see yesterday’s Newsmanagers). Legg Mason has USD1bn in liquidity, of which USD100m were generated in January-March 2010.
Après avoir parié plus d’un an sur les mêmes titres, les investisseurs ont profité de la récente correction des marchés pour mettre les compteurs à zéro
Selon L’Agefi suisse, le fonds de fonds d’investissement socialement responsable Pegase Global SRI (PGSRI), lancé le 1er mars 2010 par Coninco Wealth Management, a déjà accumulé pour environ 16 millions de francs d’actifs sous gestion, ce auprès d’investisseurs souhaitant réconcilier leurs engagements à long terme avec une performance financière durable. La philosophie de la sicav Pegase Investment est d’offrir une gestion multi-stratégies, multi gestionnaires non directionnelle. Le conseiller en investissement se concentre sur la recherche de gestionnaires et sur leur méthodologie, sans être pour autant en charge de la partie d’analyse macro-économique.
Selon L’Agefi suisse, Bruellan, société suisse spécialisée dans la gestion de fortune, et Odey Asset Management, société londonienne réputée dans la gestion d’actifs, viennent de signer un accord de partenariat. Ils créent une joint venture, Odey Bruellan, qui se concentrera dans un premier temps sur le marché suisse. L’idée est d’exploiter au mieux le savoir-faire des deux partenaires: Bruellan bénéficiera de l’expertise d’une trentaine d’analystes financiers basés à Londres, tandis qu’Odey Asset Management pourrait importer les recettes du wealth management suisse en Grande-Bretagne. Il ne s’agit donc pas d’un simple accord de distribution de fonds, tiennent à préciser les deux parties. Les clients de Bruellan ne seront d’ailleurs pas contraints de passer par les fonds d’Odey pour bénéficier de l’expertise britannique. Si cette collaboration s’avère concluante d’ici décembre 2012, les deux sociétés pourraient pousser la logique d’intégration plus loin. A terme, Odey pourrait prendre une participation dans Bruellan, voire même devenir l’actionnaire majoritaire.
Lundi, l’allemand Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investments GmbH a annoncé qu’il suspend aussi les souscriptions pour son fonds P2 Value (1,45 milliard d’euros) dont les remboursements sont déjà gelés jusqu’au 30 octobre. Cette décision est liée explicitement au fait que la valeur de plusieurs actifs va probablement devoir être révisée à la baisse ainsi qu’aux derniers développements sur le plan réglementaire. En clair sur ce dernier point, Morgan Stanley Real Estate fait allusion au projet d’amendement des préavis, de la période de détention et d’abattement de 10 % sur la valeur des actifs qui a provoqué la fermeture des fonds grundinvest chez KanAm et ImmoInvest chez SEB AM.
Avec un patrimoine d’environ 800 millions d’euros, ce qui en fait l’une des plus importantes d’Allemagne, la Fondation Hertie, reconnue d’intérêt public, a distribué pour 2009 un montant record de 29,4 millions d’euros sous forme d’aides dans les domaines de l'éducation scolaire, des études universitaires et de la recherche.Les recettes tirées du placement des encours ont atteint 27,1 millions d’euros dont 15,5 millions générés par les valeurs mobilières et 5 millions des immeubles. La performance de 9,2 % a permis à la fondation de compenser presque totalement la perte d’actifs de 2008. Les plus-values sur le portefeuille ont été affectées à la reconstitution des réserves latentes qui avaient servi à couvrir une grande partie des pertes de 2008.Actuellement, le portefeuille est alloué à hauteur de 19 % aux actions, de 22 % à l’imobilier et à 49 % à l’obligataire.
L’association de la gestion financière de Hong Kong (Hong Kong Investment Funds Association) a indiqué que le premier trimestre 2010 s'était terminé sur une collecte nette de 2,41 milliards de dollars américains, en progression de 105,6% par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2009. Au premier trimestre 2009, l’association avait fait état d’une décollecte nette de 130,9 millions de dollars.Les fonds actions ont représenté 52% des ventes brutes du trimestre. Sur une base nette, la collecte sur les fonds actions a fait un bond de 66,9% par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2009 à 1,01 milliard de dollars.Le nouveau président de l’association, Desmond Ng, a par ailleurs indiqué que l’emploi dans le secteur de la gestion d’actifs s'était stabilisé à un peu plus de 30.700.
Au 31 mars, les actifs gérés par Rathbones se situaient à 14,05 milliards de livres, soit 7,3 % de plus que les 13,10 milliards de fin 2009 ; fin mars 2009, ils se situaient à 9,87 milliards de livres. Les souscriptions ont porté au premier trimestre sur 241 millions de livres tandis que l’augmentation organique des encours se situait à 96 millions de livres. D’autre part, l’accord d’octobre 2009 (lire notre article du 21 octobre) avec Lloyds Banking Group a fait rentrer 598 millions de livres provenant de 3.000 nouveaux clients.
Selon Money Marketing, Rathbone Uni Trust Management, filiale de Rathbone Brothers, a ouvert aux IFA ses portefeuilles total return et strategic growth, des fonds multi classes d’actifs qui seront gérés par David Coombs.Le premier vise une surperformance de 200 points de base sur le Libor 6 mois avec une volatilité d’un tiers de celle du MSCI World en livres sterling tandis que le second a pour objectif de battre l’indice des prix à la consommation de 500 points de base avec une volatilité des deux tiers de celle du MSCI World en livres sterling.
Le gestionnaire américain Dodge & Cox (172 milliards de dollars d’encours fin 2009) vient de créer une filiale au Royaume-Uni, Dodge & Cox Worldwide Investments Ltd., qui lui servira de guichet pour les investisseurs institutionnels à partir de Londres. Le bureau londonien sera dirigé par Mary Ann Milias St. Peter.La création de cette entité vient compléter un dispositif que Dodge & Cox a mis en place le 1er décembre 2009 avec la création à Dublin d’un fonds à compartiments conforme à la directive OPCVM III, Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds plc, qui coiffe quatre fonds (U.S. Stock Fund, Global Stock Fund, International Stock Fund et U.S. Income Fund). Le Global Stock Fund est le premier à être commercialisé.Les portefeuilles et les stratégies d’investissement des Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds répliqueront ceux des Dodge & Cox Funds domiciliés aux États-Unis.
Selon Investment Week, GAM serait sur le point de fermer provisoirement (soft close) deux de ses fonds lancés récemment, Star Global Rates et Star Discretionary FX qui approchent l’objectif du milliard de livres.Ces fonds sont des déclinaisons d’une stratégie alternative adaptées au format Ucits III et qui avaient été lancées fin 2009 sur le marché «retail».