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09/11/2009

Asset managers skeptical of their role in governance

In a Treasury-sponsored report, 15 prominent figures in Britain’s investment industry say that the government must not impose a blanket rule that forces investment managers to push companies for better governance, according to the Financial Times. Legislation would certainly add to industry costs without any certainty of adding to investor returns. In addition, the working group urges the government to look at ways of ensuring the UK remains an attractive base for fund managers.
09/11/2009

Universal and Vescore open absolute return fund to retail investors

Universal Investment and the Munich-based management boutique Vescore Deutschland have opened their absolute return fund Glocap Vega, launched earlier this year, to retail investors in Germany and Austria. The product aims for total annual returns of 9% to 11%, while volatility is 9.5%, or half that of an equities portfolio for which the MSCI World index serves as benchmark. The German-registered fund has already attracted about EUR150m in investment. Most of the portfolio is invested in bonds which present virtually no credit risk. For the remainder, the management team may use short-term options on bond or equities indices, such as the S&P 500 or the Euro Stoxx 50. Backtesting shows that the Glocap strategy would have produced no negative annual results between January 1998 and December 2008. The model functioned correctly for two thirds of all the months in this period. Characteristics Name: GLOCAP VegaISIN: DE000A0RLFC4Advisor: Vescore Deutschland GmbHManagement commission: Currently 1.75%Front-end fee: 5% maximumMinimal subscription: EUR500/EUR50 per month for savings plans
09/11/2009

Lombard Odier scales up management in Italy

Lombard Odier has signed distribution agreements in Italy with Gruppo Banca Sella and Allfunds Bank, the Italian website Bluerating reports. The agreement with Banca Sella will allow all banks in the group to sell the 45 sub-funds of the Sicav LODH Invest registered for sale in Italy to their retail clients. Allfunds, for its part, will make these products available to the 20 institutional clients using its platform.
09/11/2009

Affiliated Managers enters Chinese market

US money-management firm Affiliated Managers Group acquired a 5% stake in Hong Kong-based Value Partners Group, an independent money manager with about USD4.6 billion in assets under management, for about USD36 million. It thus gains a toehold in the Chinese market.
09/11/2009

TPG and CPP acquire IMS Health

IMS Health, which claims to be the global leader in market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and health industries, has announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved the sale of the firm for USD5.2bn, including debt, to a consortium of investment funds managed by TPG Capital (USD45bn in assets) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP IB, USD116.6bn in assets, of which USD18.4bn are in private equity). Shareholders will receive USD22 per share in cash, which represents a premium of about 50% over their closing price on 16 October, the last day before rumours broke that IMS was studying variuos strategic options, and 31% over their closing price on Thursday. TPG and CPP IB will finance the transaction with equity and debt provided by affiliates of Goldman Sachs.
09/11/2009

Good performance for Asian hedge funds

Since the beginning of the year, Asian hedge funds excluding Japan have earned returns of 25.92%, including gains of 9% in third quarter, according to Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Including Japan, gains are limited to 15.26%. However, the HFRX index for China shows gains of 6.1% for July-September, and 44.2% since the beginning of the year. HFR estimates that as of the end of September, assets in Asian hedge funds totalled USD73.7bn, of which USD800m came in net subscriptions in third quarter, the first net inflows since second quarter 2008.
09/11/2009

AIFM: A clear distinction must be drawn between professional investors and others

In an interview with Les Echos, Noël Amenc, director of the Edhec Risk and Asset Management Research Centre, points out inadequacies and incoherent areas in the planned AIFM directive to govern hedge fund managers. “The main risk is that we might see European managers with an AIFM label taking advantage of very lax national frameworks to distribute European hedge funds, under regulations that give a false impression of protection,” Amenc says, adding that “the proper regulatory response to promote the growth of alternative management in a secure framework would involve a clear distinction between professional investors and others. The former would be allowed to invest without restriction in offshore and onshore funds via a European private investment regime, while the latter would be allowed to invest only in onshore funds which carry a European passport.”
09/11/2009

Quirin withdraws from management of db x-trackers

Quirin Bank has decided to discontinue management of the db x-trackers Quirin Wealth Management Total Return Index ETF (EUR46.27m in assets as of the end of September), launched on 1 December 2008, in order to underline its independence. The product is part of the db x-trackers product range, from the Deutsche Bank group. The name “Quirin” will now be removed from the name of the fund, which will now be known simply as db x-trackers Wealth Management ETF.
09/11/2009

SGAM cautious about gold

As gold prices are setting records at USD1,092 per ounce, SGAM warns that investors should remain prudent. The management firm points out that for all supports combined, investment demand in second quarter 2009 is estimated to have represented 45% of overall demand for the metal, compared with 19% in 2006. However, physical demand (for jewelry and industrial use) fell 25% year-on-year in first quarter 2009, to a six-year low. “It appears that gold imports in India, the world’s largest jewelry consumer, were disappointing in third quarter,” says a memo. However, global supply rose 28% in first quarter 2009. “Investors would be well-advised to keep the law of supply and demand in mind. The current balance appears to be unstable. We are also predicting that gold prices will return to close to USD850 per ounce by late 2010,” says SGAM.
09/11/2009

Morgan Stanley PWM recruits a Latin America team from UBS

To develop its coverage of the ultra-high net worth private segment in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management (PWM) has recruited a team of six specialists from UBS, who will be based in New York, and will report to Fabian Onetti, managing director. Three executive directors are among the new recruits: Maria C. Lipton, Juan Larrain and Pablo Granja. They will be joined by two vice-presidents, Lisa Markowitz and Helena Astor, and by Tatiana Dominguez. Morgan Stanley PWM is a division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
09/11/2009

Rankings of most sustainable management firms

Investors’ interest in “sustainable” management firms is continuing to increase, Fondsprofessionell reports. On the basis of the EDA (or ethisch dynamischer Anteil) standards from the Austrian firm software-systems.at, which measures transparency, support for renewable energies, absence of atomic energy or land mine manufacturers in the portfolios of firms, and other criteria, the top 20 sustainable management firms as of November are: Allianz Invest, Baring, BlackRock, Carl Spängler KAG, CPB KAG, Credit Suisse, Erste Sparinvest, Fortis Investments, Henderson, Jul.Meinl Invest, Julius Bär, Kepler, ÖkoWorld Lux S.A., Pictet Funds S.A., Pioneer Inv. Austria, Raiffeisen KAG, Sarasin, Schelhammer & Schattera, Security KAG, and Volksbank Invest KAG.
09/11/2009

Comgest gives more exposure to Europe managers

Comgest, a management firm with high levels of expertise in “GARP” (Growth At Reasonable Price) management, has decided to throw more limelight on its personnel specialised in management on the European continent. These funds will continue to have an overall lead manager - Laurent Dobler for the Renaissance Europe and Comgest Europe funds, Arnaud Cosserat for Comgest Growth Europe, and Claire Rodrigue for Comgest Growth Mid-Caps Europe - but their names will now also be associated with those of their partners.
09/11/2009

Profits at Berkshire Hathaway triple in third quarter

Berkshire Hathaway, the group controlled by Warren Buffett, on Friday announced net profits attributable to shareholders in July-September of nearly USD3.24bn, compared with nearly USD1.06bn in the corresponding period of last year, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to USD5bn, compared with USD4.88bn in January-September 2008. Net operating profits, which exclude returns on investments and positions on derivatives, totalled USD2.06bn, compared with USD2.07bn, for the period under review, and USD5.54bn, compared with USD6.27bn, for the first nine months of the year.
09/11/2009

Martin Currie seeks to strengthen presence in Asia

Martin Currie Investment Management, is seeking local partners to strengthen its distribution capacities in Hong Kong, and may very soon sign an agreement. The firm is also planning to recruit for its teams, particularly analysts. In the next five years, Martin Currie Investment Management is hoping to establish a market team in Singapore, Asian Investor reports.
09/11/2009

US Treasury blocks transaction to avoid cost to taxpayers

La Tribune reports, citing the Wall Street Journal, that the US Treasury has blocked a USD3bn transaction involving the mortgage lender Fannie Mae, Goldman Sachs, and Berkshire Hathaway, as it would be “too costly to taxpayers,” the Treasury states.
09/11/2009

Blackstone planning credit investment blitz

La Tribune reports that Blackstone, which has announced profits of USD275m (EUR185m) for third quarter, has USD27bn set aside, which it is planning to invest in the credit markets, once their recovery is more certain. Tony James, deputy CEO of the US LBO and real estate giant (nearly USD100bn in assets under management), says the number of planned operations is growing swiftly.
09/11/2009

Och-Ziff still running a loss

For third quarter 2009, the alternative manager Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has declared a net loss by GAAP accounting standards of USD80m, compared with USD69.4m in the corresponding period of last year. In the first nine months of this year, losses were reduced to USD250.2m, compared with USD398.4m in January-September 2008. These figures reflect a fall in revenues from management commissions due to a decrease in assets, and an increase in pay scales. As of 1 November, assets under management were estimated at USD22.6bn, compared with USD22.1bn on 1 October, and USD22.3bn as of 30 September. This means that they increased at the end of third quarter by 2% over their levels at the end of June (USD21.9bn), but had fallen 29% from the USD31.2bn recorded at the end of September 2008. In third quarter, growth in assets of USD358m was the result of positive market effects for USD1.5bn, offset by net outflows of USD1.1bn. In the first nine months of the year, a decline of USD8.9bn in assets under management was due to net outflows of USD9.3bn, which were offset by positive market effects of USD424m. Net outflows in July-September include redemption demands received for 30 June, but not those for 30 September, which are reflected in asset levels as of 1 October.
09/11/2009

Deficit at BA pension fund increases sharply

In the six months to the end of September, the Airways Pension Scheme (APS), one of the pension funds for British Airways employees, saw a reduction in its surplus to GBP27m from GBP860m, while the other defined-benefit fund, the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), experienced a deterioration in its deficit to GBP2.66bn, compared with nearly GBP1.17bn as of 31 March. Discount rates fell to 5.5% from 7.1% for the APS, and to 5.4% from 6.9% for the NAPS, with inflation rates raised to 3% from 2.7% for the APS, and maintained unchanged at 3.2% for the NAPS. The two funds are closed to new employee subscribers.
09/11/2009

Ignacio Muñoz Alonso joins Addax Capital

Ignacio Muñoz Alonso, formerly a head of retail banking for Europe and Asia, up until the end of March, has joined Addax Capital, the hedge fund management firm led by Alejandro Agag, which has been regulated by the British FSA since 2006, as a partner, Expansión reports. Alonso will be in charge of development for advising to sovereign funds. Addax already works with sovereign funds from Qatar, Libya and Angola.
09/11/2009
Fonds

Pioneer lance un fonds de dette émergente en devises locales

Le 4 novembre, Pioneer Investments a entamé la commercialisation du Pioneer Funds – Emerging Market Bond Local Currencies, le nouveau compartiment du fonds luxembourgeois Pioneer Funds investi principalement dans la dette des pays émergents libellée en devises locales, rapporte le site italien Bluerating. Le gérant de ce fonds sera Greg Saichin, patron des marchés émergents et du high yield.
Fonds
09/11/2009

Lombard Odier élargit sa distribution en Italie

Lombard Odier vient de signer des accords de distribution en Italie avec Gruppo Banca Sella et Allfunds Bank, rapporte le site italien Bluerating. L’accord avec Banca Sella prévoit que toutes les banques du groupe pourront vendre à leur clientèle «retail» les 45 compartiments de la Sicav LODH Invest agréée en Italie. Allfunds mettra de son côté ces produits à la disposition des 20 clients institutionnels utilisant sa plate-forme.
09/11/2009
Fonds

Bonnes performances pour les hedge funds asiatiques

Depuis le début de l’année, les hedge funds asiatiques hors Japon ont affiché une performance de 25,92 % dont 9 % pour le troisième trimestre, d’après Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Avec le Japon, le gain se limite à 15,26 %. En revanche, l’indice HFRX pour la Chine marque une hausse de 6,1 % pour juillet-septembre et de 44,2 % depuis le début de l’année.HFR estime qu'à fin septembre l’encours des hedge funds asiatiques se montait à 73,7 milliards de dollars, dont 800 millions de dollars de souscriptions nettes pour le troisième trimestre, les premières entrées nettes depuis le deuxième trimestre 2008.
Fonds
09/11/2009

Les investisseurs reviennent sur les fonds d’East Capital

Après des rachats l’an dernier, les investisseurs sont revenus dans les fonds d’East Capital depuis février, selon le Financial Times, qui a interviewé Peter Elam Håkansson, fondateur de la société de gestion suédoise spécialisée sur les pays émergents. La demande était si forte que la société a dû temporairement fermer son fonds pays baltes pendant l’automne, car les marchés locaux ne pouvaient absorber ces flux entrants. Aujourd’hui, East Capital a une équipe de 150 personnes gérant 3 milliards d’euros, rappelle le FT.
09/11/2009
Fonds

Souscriptions nettes des fonds luxembourgeois en septembre

En septembre, les organismes de placement collectif et les fonds d’investissement spécialisés au Luxembourg ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 10,467 milliards d’euros, selon la Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF). Avec l’impact positif des marchés financiers de 23,95 milliards d’euros, cela porte les encours du secteur à 1.773,834 milliards d’euros, soit une augmentation de 1,98 % sur un mois. Par rapport à septembre 2008, les encours sont en repli de 1,27 %. Le nombre d’organismes de placement collectif et de fonds d’investissement spécialisés pris en considération est de 3.457 par rapport à 3.449 le mois précédent, ajoute la CSSF. 2.082 entités ont adopté une structure à compartiments multiples ce qui représente 10.832 compartiments. En y ajoutant les 1.375 entités à structure classique, un nombre total de 12.207 entités sont actives sur la place financière.
Fonds
09/11/2009
Fonds

BPA Global Funds crée un compartiment d'actions espagnoles

La filiale espagnole de gestion d’actifs de Banca Privada d’Andorra, BPA Global Funds AM, a fait enregistrer le BPA Iberian Equities comme nouveau compartiment de sa sicav luxembourgeoise BPA International Selection Fund. Ce fonds d’actions espagnoles destiné à une clientèle institutionnelle internationale est confié au gérant-star Gonzalo Lardiés, rapporte Funds People. BPA vise entre autres les marchés chilien et mexicain.
Fonds
09/11/2009
Fonds

Pioneer AM fusionne des compartiments

Pioneer Investments rationalise la gamme de fonds de droit luxembourgeois de Pioneer Asset Management S.A. Ainsi, à compter du 27 novembre, le fonds Pioneer CIM verra le nombre de ses compartiments revenir de huit à deux. Il ne restera plus que le Pioneer CIM – Euro Fixed Income, qui intègrera le Pioneer CIM –Euro Convertible Bond, et le Pioneer CIM – Global Equity, qui lui incorpore les Pioneer CIM – US Quant Equity, Japanese Quant Equity, India Equity, Latin America Equity et Global Gold Mining.
Fonds
09/11/2009

Pas de bain de sang social chez BNP Paribas Fortis

Le bain de sang social tant redouté par certains n’aura pas lieu chez BNP Paribas Fortis. D’ici à 2012, BNP Paribas Fortis devrait enregistrer 2 000 départs naturels et 1 250 travailleurs seront embauchés, ce qui correspond à une perte nette de 750 emplois au sein de la banque.
09/11/2009

Prudential lance son activité finance islamique en Malaisie

Prudential a annoncé jeudi le lancement de Prudential Al-Wara’ Asset Management, société de gestion basée en Malaisie, entièrement dédiée à la gestion selon les principes islamiques de la charia, annonce Asian Investor. Zulkifli Ishak, ancien directeur des investissements charia chez Prudential Fund Management, devient CEO et CIO de la nouvelle structure, qui proposera aux institutionnels malaisiens des mandats offshore et onshore.
09/11/2009

Comgest donne de la visibilité à ses gérants sur l'Europe

Adepte de la gestion «Garp» (Growth At Reasonnable Price), Comgest a décidé de mettre plus en lumière la gestion collégiale qui est la sienne sur le vieux Continent. Ainsi, les fonds gérés garderont un pilote principal - Laurent Dobler pour Renaissance Europe et Comgest Europe, Arnaud Cosserat pour Comgest Growth Europe et Claire Rodrigue pour Comgest Growth Mid-Caps Europe. Cependant, à leur nom sera également associé celui de leurs collaborateurs.
09/11/2009

La Financière de l'Echiquier distinguée pour son action philanthropie

La Financière de l’Echiquier s’est vu décerner le «Prix du Jury» par Axylia Conseil, cabinet indépendant spécialisé en investissement socialement responsable, «pour son action exemplaire en matière de philanthropie», à l’occasion de la troisième édition du Forum [profit for Non Profit] qui réunissait professionnels du secteur bancaire et financier et représentants des fondations et ONG françaises autour des enjeux de la Finance Solidaire et de Partage. «Elle est la première société de gestion de portefeuilles française à avoir créé un fonds de placement, dont la moitié des frais de gestion sont reversés à sa propre fondation de la Financière de l’Echiquier. Ce sont ainsi 2,5 millions d’euros qui ont été versés à la Fondation depuis 2005 pour financer des projets de prévention de l’exclusion à travers l’Education, la Formation et l’Entrepreneuriat Solidaire», explique Axylia Conseil.Dans la gestion d’actifs, dans la catégorie fonds de partage, le fonds Faim et Développement du Crédit Coopératif, a reçu un [profit for Non Profit] Awards 2009. Ce fonds propose à son souscripteur de partager une partie de ses gains annuels avec l’association de son choix parmi sept bénéficiaires possibles. Il a distribué l’an passé près de 670 000 euros de dons (1,2 millions d’euros l’année précédente, soit environ la moitié des sommes données par l’ensemble des fonds de partage français).

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