Les lancements de hedge funds se multiplient, constate le Financial Times. Lundi, Tyrus Capital, basé à Londres, est devenu le plus gros hedge fund à être créé depuis le début de l’année. Selon des personnes proches du dossier, le fonds a levé 800 millions de dollars et devrait encore récolter 300 millions. Patrick Degorce, le cofondateur de TCI, a de son côté lancé Theleme Partners, avec environ 200 millions de dollars sous gestion.

Man Investments et Credit Suisse ont annoncé le 2 novembre le lancement d’un projet commun de comptes gérés en réponse à la demande croissante des investisseurs pour davantage de transparence, de liquidité et de contrôle. Aux termes de l’accord, Man Investments, qui a développé depuis plus de dix ans une plate-forme de comptés gérés qu’elle continuera à proposer directement à ses investisseurs, sera responsable de la surveillance des gérants et des portefeuilles, de la gestion du risque, du reporting et du conseil en investissement. De son côté, Credit Suisse aura pour priorités le transfert du risque, son expertise sur les produits structurés, et son bilan solide qui ouvre des possibilités de protection, de levier dynamique et de liquidité accrus.

Mardi, la Banque Sarasin a annoncé qu’elle se propose d’acquérir une majorité des parts (entre 51 % et 60 %) de la NZB Neue Zürcher Bank zurichoise sous réserve des résultats d’un audit de due diligence ainsi que de l’approbation des autorités compétentes et de celle des actionnaires actuels de NZB. Dans le cadre de son recentrage sur son métier de banquier privé, Sarasin avait vendu ses activités de courtage en Suisse à NZB Neue Zürcher Bank SA en 2007 et détenait depuis lors une participation de 40% dans cette firme par l’intermédiaire de NZB Holding. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été dévoilé.Le rachat prévu de la majorité de NZB Holding «a été décidé dans le contexte des changements de personnel survenus chez NZB et des décisions récemment prises par la FINMA en relation avec l’affaire Sulzer» précise Sarasin, ajoutant que «l’acquisition s’inscrit dans une optique de maintien du climat de confiance parmi les clients et les collaborateurs» de la NZB. Sarasin entend concentrer les activités de NZB sur les affaires de courtage. Autrement dit, NZB se retirera des activités de banque privée.

Les sorties nettes d’argent subies au troisième trimestre par la division Wealth Management & Swiss Bank d’UBS se sont montées à 16,7 milliards de francs, elles ont représenté 9,9 milliards de francs pour Wealth Management Americas et se sont chiffrées à 10 milliards de francs contre 17,1 milliards au deuxième trimestre pour la division Global Asset Management, a indiqué le groupe mardi matin.A fin septembre, l’encours total se situait à 2.258 milliards de francs suisses, contre 2.250 milliards au 30 juin.La division Wealth Management & Swiss Bank enregistre une baisse de son bénéfice avant impôt à 792 millions de francs contre 932 millions au deuxième trimestre, pendant que celui de Wealth Management Americas atteint 110 millions de francs contre une perte de 221 millions. Quant à Global Asset Management, son bénéfice avant impôt s’accroît à 130 millions de francs contre 82 millions essentiellement grâce à l’augmentation des recettes de commissions de performance (surtout sur les placements alternatifs et quantitatifs) et de commissions de gestion.

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) reports in the October 2009 issue of its «ETF Landscape» newsletter, published on Monday, that the total expense ratio (TER) for equities ETFs in Europe average 37 basis points per year, compared with 87 basis points for the average index-based equities fund, and 175 basis points for the average actively-managed fund. The statistics were compiled in March by Morningstar. In the United States, the average total expense ratio for equities ETFs totalled 32 basis points, compared with 73 basis points for the average index-based equities fund, and 141 basis points for the average actively-managed equities fund.

Consob, the Italian securities commission, and the Bank of Italy are seeking to improve the efficiency of the asset management sector in the country, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. The two authorities on Monday released a document resulting from a joint project begun un summer 2008, in which they propose to dematerialize fund shares, in order to favour portability and to bring about an end to the plurality of systems, procedures, and language adopted by the various asset management firms. The goal is to achieve an application by 2011 of a plan in partnership with all market actors.

A spokesperson for Alliance-Bernstein has told Mutual Fund Wire that by the end of the year, staff at the Axa affiliate will be reduced to about 4,000, from 4,544 at the end of September, and 5,633 at the end of September 2008. CEO Peter Kraus has also stated that the management firm has not reduced its recruitment efforts, and that it has added to specialist teams in real estate and special government programs.

In third quarter 2009, the asset management firm WisdomTree, a specialist in ETFs, underwent losses of nearly USD4.99m, compared with USD5.2m in second quarter, and USD5.67m in the corresponding period of last year. In the first nine months of the year, net losses have contracted to USD16.2m, compared with USD22.1m. As of 30 September, assets totalled USD5.47bn, of which USD4.9bn are in ETF funds, 32% and 33.8% more than at the end of June, respectively. Net subscriptions in third quarter totalled USD558m. As of the end of September 2008, assets under management totalled USD466bn. Wisdom Tree has also submitted an application to the SEC for a license for the WisdomTree Real Return Fund, a product “advised” by Mellon Capital Management, which will invest in inflation-indexed bonds (TIPS), bonds, and commodities derivatives.

Société Générale is planning to increase the size of its bond team in Asia by more than 10% next year, Bloomberg reports, citing announcements by Robert Reilly, co-head of the department. Overall, the largest French bank in terms of market capitalisation will have increased personnel on its team by more than 50% in 2009, Reilly also stated. He has moved from Hong Kong to Sydney to oversee the development of these teams. The research department based in Hong Kong and tokyo will gain four to seven people.

There is a growing number of UCITS III-compliant funds of funds available, Financial Times Fund Management reports. Following 3A, Collins Stewart has launched a fund of this type, entitled Alternative Strategies Fund. HSBC Alternative Investments will follow suit by the end of the month, with AvantEdge.

Six themed funds will become a front line in the sectoral equities offerings from Robeco from 30 November 2009, Robeco Deutschland has announced. Existing products which are unable to adapt to long term thematic developments will undergo a change in investment policy or will be merged or closed. The Netherlands-based management firm is placing a particular emphasis on its “solid” range of emerging markets and US equities products, with a particular emphasis on sustainable development. The six new thematic funds, all of them registered in Luxembourg, will be: Robeco New World Financials Equities, the result of a change in investment policy for the Financial Equities fund; Robeco Agribusiness Equities, the result of the absorption fo the Food & Agri Equities into the Agribusiness Equities; Robeco Health & Wellness Equities, a transformed version of the Healthcare Equities. The fund will have SAM Sustainable Asset Management as sub-advisor; Robeco Infrastructure Equities, which will continue in its current form and absorb the Industrial Equities fund; Robeco Consumer Trends Equities, the result of a change in investment policy for the Consumer Goods fund, which will absorb the IT Equities and Telecom Services Equities funds; lastly, the Robeco Natural Resources Equities, the result of a change to the management policy of the Energy Equities fund, while the Materials Equities and Utilities Equities funds will be closed.

Legg Mason is in the early stages of planning the launch of a new absolute return bond fund to be run by its affiliate Western Asset Management, Citywire has learned.

Charles Schwab on Monday announced the launch of its first in-house ETF products. The eight products, managed by Charles Schwab Investment Management, will all be based on equities indexes. From today, four ETFs from Charles Schwab will be available to investors. They are the Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF, Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF, Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF, and the Schwab International Equity ETF. Four more products will follow in December: the Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF, Schwab U.S. Large-Cap value ETF, Schwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF, and the Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF. These ETF products “have some of the lowest fees on the market,” Schwab says in a statement, and they will be exempt from online transaction commissions for clients of the broker. The funds will be listed on NYSE Arca, and may be traded on other stock exchanges.

In October, funds on sale in Spain posted net subscriptions of EUR701m, compared with net outflows of EUR1.2bn in September, and net inflows of EUR402m in August, which at the time were the first positive results since April 2007. Net subscriptions in October were the highest since March 2006, when inflows totalled EUR1.98bn, the Inverco association of asset management firms reports. Total assets also increased once again, to EUR163.45bn as of 31 October, from EUR162.78bn at the end of September, and EUR162.84bn as of the end of August. This is the fourth month in 2009 in which volumes of assets under management have increased. The three management firms with the strongest net subscriptions in October were Invercaixa Gestión, with EUR584.8m, Bansabadell Gestión with EUR151.5m, and Multiactivos, with EUR125.9m, while the top asset management firm in the sector in terms of assets, BBVA Asset Management, attracted EUR110m. The heaviest net outflows were from UBS Gestión, with EUR146.5m, Ahorro Corporació Gestión, with EUR140.8m, and DWS Investments, with EUR100.3m.

Spanish clients, in keeping with their tendency to behave as savers rather than investors, preferred less risky investments in October, with net subscriptions of EUR2.2bn to money market funds, Cinco Días reports. This category of products benefited both from an exodus from short-term bond funds, and from new subscriptions: since the beginning of the year, net inflows to money market funds totalled EUR16bn, Ahorro Corporación estimates.

Globalfoundries, a joint venture from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), itself owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala, on Monday announced the appointment of Alan E. “Lanny” Ross, former CEO of Broadcom, as its interim chairman. Ross replaces Hector Ruiz, who is taking a “voluntary leave of absence” with immediate effect, until his resignation, submitted in September, takes effect on 4 January 2010. Ruiz, the former CEO of AMD, is one of the people suspected of having provided insider information to several hedge funds, including Galleon, For the moment, he is not facing criminal proceedings.

On Tuesday, Banque Sarasin has announced that it is offering to acquire a majority stake (between 51% and 60%) in the Zurich-based bank NZB Neue Zürcher Bank, panding approval from the regulatory authorities and the current shareholders of NZB. As a part of a move to recentre itself on its private banking activities, Sarasin sold its Swiss brokerage activities to NZB Neue Zürcher Bank in 2007, and then held a stake of over 40% in the firm, via NZB Holding. The acquisition price has not been disclosed. The planned acquisition of a majority stake in NZB Holding “was decided on in a context of personnel changes at NZB, and of decisions recently taken by FINMA in relation to the Sulzer affair,” says Sarasin, adding that “the acquisition aims to maintain a climate of confidence among clients and partners” at NZB. Sarasin is planning to concentrate NZB’s activities on brokerage; in other words, NZB will withdraw from private banking activities.

Net outflows of assets from the Wealth Management & Swiss Bank division of UBS in third quarter totalled CHF16.7bn, while they totalled CHF9.9bn for Wealth Management Americas, and CHF10bn, compared with CHF17.1bn in second quarter, for the Global Asset Management division, the group announced on Tuesday morning. As of the end of September, total assets came to CHF2.258trn, compared with CHF2.250trn as of 30 June. The Wealth Management & Swiss Bank division has seen a decline in its pre-tax profits to CHF792m, compared with CHF932m in second quarter, while Wealth Management Americas had CHF110m in profits, compared with losses of CHF221m. Global Asset Management reported increased pre-tax profits of CHF130m, up from CHF82m, largely due to an increase in revenues from performance commissions (particularly for alternative and quantitative investments) and management commissions.

Hedge Week reports that hedge funds in the Netherlands gained an average of 1.31% in the month of September, according to the Finles/IEX index. Over nine months, the index shows gains of 11.48%, compared with 10.8% for the HFRX Global index. Since the beginning of the year, the top five hedge fudns are HIQ Invest Market Neutral Fund (+40%), Antaurus Europe Fund (+36%), IdB Real Estate Fund (+34%), EV Smaller Companies Fund (+31%), and Farringdon Alpha One Fund (+30%).

BNY Mellon has completed the acquisition of Insight Investment Management from Lloyds Banking Group. Insight Investment’s assets under management, net of identified internal assets that will be retained by another part of the Lloyds Banking Group, are approximately USD133 billion. It joins the other investment boutiques at BNY Mellon Asset Management. With this acquisition, BNY Mellon will have more than USD1 trillion in assets under management.

According to the 2 November issue of Ignites Europe, Diana Mackay and her husband Rodney Williams will be leaving their jobs as co-CEOs of Lipper FMI at the end of the year.

According to a survey undertaken by the advising agency NMG, and commissioned by National Ethical Investment Week and the independent financial advisers’ association, 87% of independent financial advisors (IFAs) now advise green and ethical investments, compared with 70% one year ago. The percentage of IFAs who say information on responsible investment is appropriate has increased from 15% last year to 34% this year. One third of advisors surveyed say that it is still difficult to find information on SRI, compared with 37% last year.

Le lancement par Swiss Alpha du premier fonds Ucits focalisé sur les «naked option writing», dans lequel le portefeuille est détenu en cash et le fonds gagne de l’argent en vendant des options qui peuvent provoquer une perte si les actions montent ou baissent fortement, suscite des inquiétudes. Presque toutes les personnalités du secteur contactées par le FTfm craignent que ce type de fonds soit trop risqué pour les petits investisseurs.

Les fonds de fonds Ucits III se multiplient, constate le Financial Times Fund Management. Après 3A, Collins Stewart a lancé un fonds de ce type, appelé Alternative Strategies Fund. HSBC Alternative Investments devrait suivre à la fin du mois avec AdvantEdge.

Selon Les Echos, le courtier en ligne néerlandais BinckBank, qui affiche de fortes ambitions en France où il compte déjà plus de 10.000 clients, compte aussi lancer des OPCVM aux Pays-Bas, où ces produits sont mal connus. Cherchant à renouveler le succès rencontré en Belgique où il s’est installé voilà trois ans, BinckBank vise une ouverture de quelque 30.000 comptes français en 2011 et 40.000 l’année suivante. De fait, avec 29.500 comptes outre-Quiévrain (+48% en un an), le néerlandais talonne désormais la filiale Keytrade du Crédit Agricole, numéro un du secteur en Belgique. Sur les neuf premiers mois de l’exercice, le résultat net du courtier a progressé de 45% à 33 millions d’euros pour un chiffre d’affaires en hausse de 22% à 131,4 millions d’euros.

Six fonds à thème vont prendre la relève des fonds d’actions sectoriels de Robeco à compter du 30 novembre 2009, annonce Robeco Deutschland. Les produits actuels qui ne peuvent s’adapter aux thématiques de long terme seront soumis à un changement de politique d’investissement ou fusionneront, voire seront fermés. Le gestionnaire néerlandais met surtout en exergue dans son offre les marchés émergents et les actions américaines «solides», sans oublier un accent particulier sur le développement durable.Les six nouveaux fonds thématiques, tous de droit luxembourgeois, sont * le Robeco New World Financials Equities, qui résulte du changement de politique d’investissement du Financial Equities ; * le Robeco Agribusiness Equities, qui résulte de l’absorption du Food & Agri Equities par l’Agribusiness Equities ; * le Robeco Health & Wellness Equities, qui est la transformation du Healthcare Equities. Ce fonds a SAM Sustainable Asset Management comme sub-advisor ; * le Robeco Infrastructure Equities, qui continue mais prend en charge l’Industrials Equities ; * le Robeco Consumer Trends Equities qui résulte du changement de politique d’investissement du Consumer Goods qui absorbe le IT Equities et le Telecom Services Equities ; * enfin, le Robeco Natural Resources Equities qui procède d’un changement de gestion du Energy Equities, tandis que les fonds Materials Equities et Utilities Equities seront fermés.

Selon Hedge Week, les hedge funds néerlandais ont progressé en moyenne de 1,31% au mois de septembre, d’après l’indice de référence Finles/IEX. Sur neuf mois, l’indice affiche une hausse de 11,48% contre 10,8% pour l’indice HFRX Global.Depuis le début de l’année, les cinq meilleurs hedge funds sont HIQ Invest Market Neutral Fund (+40 %); Antaurus Europe Fund (+36 %); IdB Real Estate Fund (+34 %); EV Smaller Companies Fund (+31 %); et Farringdon Alpha One Fund (+30 %).

The international Tax Justice Network (TJN) on 2 November published an alternative list of tax havens, which takes into account a lack of transparency in 60 jurisdictions and their size in terms of international financial activity. The network of researchers and activists, who closely monitor the negative impact of tax evasion, fiscal competition, and tax havens, has created the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI), composed of 12 criteria considered far more pertinent than the OECD criteria, noting that the importance of a tax haven, and hence its attractiveness to clients, depends less on its tax rates than on the degree of opacity it offers. Contrary to what may have been previously thought, the major actors in financial opacity are not small isolated islands, but rather rich countries which have set up their own special opacity zones, often related to satellite jurisdictions, which serve as a stepping-point in the transmission of illicit capital flows to the world’s major capital markets. At the top of the rankings established on the basis of these criteria is the US state of Delaware, due to its commitment to non-transparency, its marked lack of cooperation, and its failure to comply with international standards. Second place goes to Luxembourg, which has attracted a highly significant hedge fund activity, and which bankers describe as the “guardians of the private sphere.” Number three is Switzerland, one of the few countries to receive a rating of 100 out of 100 for opacity, and whose reputation does not appear to be improving much despite extensive efforts, according to TJN. In fourth place is the Cayman Islands, whose authorities continue to strongly deny the nation’s status as a tax haven, followed by the City of London, a state within a state, says TJN, which sits like a spider in the centre of a web which includes half of the 60 jurisdictions in the index. Although it is less opaque than the other jurisdictions analysed, “London operates on such a scale and is politically so unaccountable that it has the potential to do much more harm than most of its competitors,” says TJN.

The chairman of the China securities regulatory commission (CSRC), Shang Fulin, last week made an appeal to the Beijing government to modernise the asset management industry in China, Asian Investor reports. The management industry has undergone unprecedented growth, but still lacks crucial benchmarks and frameworks. In particular, Fulin insisted on the necessity of channeling capital from institutional investors to serve long-term objectives. Among the reforms it has called for, the regulatory authority is seeking to advance the development of fund ratings agencies, and to initiate a redevelopment of the architecture of commissions paid between fund issuers and product distributors. It is also working to simplify the product licensing process. Fulin also emphasized four major areas in which the Chinese management industry is still lagging behind. Management firms need to protect the interests of investors, improve the quality of the products and services they provide, continue to innovate, and improve their respect for compliance.

Le développement du marché primaire sera cependant freiné en 2010 par la demande des investisseurs, estiment les spécialistes