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28/05/2009

Fortress va investir dans une banque de détail

Selon le Financial Times, la société de private equity et de hedge funds Fortress Investment Group serait sur le point d’injecter 800 millions de dollars de capitaux frais, avec d’autres investisseurs, dans une petite banque de détail de la Floride appelée First Southern. La banque serait un bon véhicule pour de futures acquisitions bancaires, estiment les personnes proches du dossier.
28/05/2009

Fitch affirms M2 rating for Metzler AM

On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings confirmed its asset manager rating of M2 for Metzler Asset Management, including the entities Metzler Investment GmbH and Metzler Asset Management GmbH. Among the points which require further monitoring, according to the ratings agency, are the slowdown which is currently affecting the asset management industry in Germany, particularly for retail funds, although Metzler AM has demonstrated its ability to maintain subscription flows in a difficult market environment. Fitch also observes that efforts to diversify into foreign markets, in Asia (China) and Eastern Europe (Russia and the CIS), generate country-specific risks. Investors’ current risk aversion may mean that these efforts to develop outside Germany will need some time to generate returns.
28/05/2009

Walter Riester appointed to supervisory board at Union AM Holding

Shareholders at the AGM of Union Asset Management Holding AG, the holding company for the asset management firms that make up Union Investment (German co-operative banks), have elected the former German federal minister of labour and social affairs, Walter Riester (after whom the Riester retirement savings plans are named), as a member of its supervisory board. He will begin in his new responsibilities on 1 October.
28/05/2009

Pershing adds to range on Nexus platform

Credit Suisse Asset Management Funds (UK) Ltd, J O Hambro Capital Management Limited, Legal & General (Unit Trust Managers) Limited, Standard Life Investments (Mutual Funds) Limited, Thames River Multi-Capital LLP, Threadneedle Investment Services Limited and WAY Fund Managers Limited are the seven asset management firms which Pershing Limited, an affiliate of Pershing LLC (The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation group) has added to the Nexus Funds range, an integrated, straight-through processing, no-fee solution available on the Pershing Nexus platform. This brings the number of partnered management firms to 28, and the number of available products to 922.
28/05/2009

Newton recruits a director from Lazard

Susan Gostick, director - institutions at Lazard Asset Management, has joined Newton Investment Management (BNY Mellon Asset Management group) as head of the institutional account management group. Newton currently managed about GBP34bn in assets.
28/05/2009

Skandia adds 8 ETF funds from L&G to Selestia platform

Skandia has announced that it has added eight ETF funds from Legal & General (L&G) to the range of products available on its Selestia Investment Solutions platform, which now carries 900 funds. The new additions are the L&G UK 100 Index Trust, L&G International Index Trust, L&G Ethical Trust, L&G European Index Trust, L&G UK Index Trust, L&G All Stocks Gilt Index Trust et L&G All Stocks Index Linked Gilt Index Trust, as well as the L&G Fixed Interest, which is now also available to the Life & Pensions product range. The L&G All Stocks Gilt Index Trust and the L&G All Stocks Index Linked Gilt Index Trust are the first funds on the Selestia platform to replicate British gilt bond indexes.
28/05/2009

Surprising underlying assets in ETFs

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the 2008 annual report from db x-trackers, the ETF specialist firm of the Deutsche Bank group, reveals that the ETF fund from the promoter based on the Dax includes 33% Japanese shares, 30% Swiss shares, and also Israeli, Danish and Norwegian shares, while shares of the Dax index represent only about 19% of the total. The same is true of the Dax tracker from Lyxor, about half of which consists of French shares, followed by Italian shares, with 10% Swiss and 10% German shares. This is not against the rules, and the general conditions set out by comstage (Commerzbank) state that the funds may use technical derivatives such as swaps. A precise replication of the Dax would be too costly and would result in disadvantageous tax status in Germany, which explains the fact that for the past eight years, the performance of the iShares product which faithfully replicates the Dax is several percentage points behind the index. Neither iShares nor ETFlab (Deka) are hardline about precise replication of indexes, and ETFlab is planning to offer trackers that rely on swaps in the future.
28/05/2009

Banif Inmobiliario bought two properties shortly before freezing redemptions

On 20 and 26 January, the property fund Banif Inmobiliario from Santander Real Estate purchased two properties for EUR45.6m, shortly before it announced a freeze on redemptions on 16 February, until properties could be sold to generate liquidity, Expansión reports. At the time of the acquisitions, Banif Inmobiliario was already having liquidity trouble due to significant redemption demands registered during the “liquidity window” period in November 2008, which added up to over EUR500m, or 14% of the fund’s assets.
28/05/2009

Russell regroups activities into five service lines

Russell Investments has announced the creation of five service lines worldwide: Consulting and Advisory Services, DB/DC Outsourcing, OpenWorld, Retail, and Russell Implementation Services (RIS). These areas are in addition to global services such as multi-management, Pantheon (private equity), and indexes. They will work with the regional entities. Johan Cras, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), will take on the parallel functions of “chairman of the global service line leadership committee.” Each of the five service lines will have one or more separate “global heads.” The seven global heads of service lines will be Janine Baldridge (Consulting and Advisory Services), Colette Taylor and Mark Blair (DB/DC Outsourcing), Pascal Duval (OpenWorld), Greg Stark et Irshaad Ahmad (Retail), and Greg Gilbert (RIS).
28/05/2009

Neuberger Berman recruits a team for distressed assets

Neuberger Berman Group (USD160bn in assets), the former asset management unit of Lehman Brothers, has announced the recruitment of a portfolio manager specialized in distressed credit, Michael J. Holmberg, who brings with him four investment professionals from the firm he founded, Newberry Capital Management. He joins the Leveraged Asset Management platform at Neuberger, which will enlarge its range of “distressed” products. He will be based in Chicago.
28/05/2009

Carmignac Gestion launches new website

Carmignac Gestion (EUR15.23bn in assets as of the end of March) has launched its new website, which includes 14 sections. These include, “of course,” the editorial by Edouard Carmignac, monthly newsletters, a partner space, and a private management section. In addition to access to news about funds, the web site includes a customizable performance monitoring tool. The new site also allows users to customize their “my Carmignac” settings to make optimal use of new functionalities.
28/05/2009

BNPP AM takes over full range of EasyETF products

BNP Paribas Asset Management and BNP Paribas Asset Management Luxembourg on 20 May signed an agreement by which AXA Investment Managers Paris and AXA Funds Management S.A. will transfer to them the operational management of EasyETF trackers of commodities, real estate, sectors, credit, and infrastructure. These include 22 products with total assets of EUR1.3bn as of 30 April 2009. The move ends a partnership which had existed between the entities since 2005. At the conclusion of the transfer, the full range of EasyETF products will be integrated and managed by a single management team at SIGMA, the index-based management, structured products and asset allocation department of BNPP AM. The EasyETF range now includes 55 funds, of which 54 are listed on Euronext Paris, 8 on Deutsche Börse, 2 on the Swiss stock exchange (SWX) and 7 on Borsa Italiana, with total assets under management of EUR3.37bn. The transaction will be completed by the end of 2009, pending approval from the regulatory authorities in France and Luxembourg.
28/05/2009

High subscriptions for corporate bonds at Standish Mellon

Standish Mellon Asset Management, an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management specialised in bonds, has announced that since the beginning of the year, it has posted net subscriptions of over USD1bn from pension and corporate retirement savings funds seeking to position themselves on corporate bonds. Demand is strong for long-term investment grade bonds, which provide a way to protect portfolios against rising liabilities.
28/05/2009

SIG rebalances allocation for Global Best Ideas fund

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has conducted its annual rebalancing of asset allocation for the Skandia Global Best Ideas fund, which has resulted in a reduction of one percentage point (to 15%) in its exposure to the United States, and a reduction of 0.1% (to 6.4%) for Asia ex Japan. Meanwhile, exposure to the United Kingdom has remained unchanged at 50%, as the product is aimed primarily at British investors. Exposure to Europe ex UK has been increased by 0.5% to 14.5%, while emerging markets have been increased to 9.4% from 9%, and Japan has been increased to 4.7% from 4.5%. Asset allocation is based on global GDP statistics as given by the MSCI AC World GDP Index.
28/05/2009

Richard Pease to manage a special situations fund at Henderson

Henderson Global Investors is planning to launch a European special situations fund, according to reports in Citywire which have been confirmed by the management firm. The fund will be managed by Richard Pease, who was previously at New Star, previous to its acquisition by Henderson. The fund will be more concentrated and flexible than the European Growth fund, currently managed by Pease. It will invest in companies which have undergone a severe market correction, on the basis of fundamental criteria.
28/05/2009

"We provide safe absolute returns"

In an interview with Newsmanagers, Vincent Devlin, director of BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd, explains that the BSF European Absolute Return Strategies Fund, launched on 27 February, is the continuation of a UK fund created in 2005, which has assets of GBP4.3bn, largely due to subscriptions it received in 2008. Now, following the recruitment of seven people from SWIP, BlackRock has sufficient capacity to launch the fund, as the IT platform and risk management were already in place. The product, a long/short concept that complies with the UCITS III directive, has been in internal testing since June 2008, and it will now be placed on sale to outside clients for the first time. It is an equities fund trading in all cap sizes which limits risk in the portfolio (50-100 positions) while keeping exposure way below the limits set out by the directive. “From 12 June 2008 to 30 April 2009, we earned a fictive, and then a real, Sharpe ratio of 1.92,” says Devlin.
28/05/2009

Fortress to invest in a retail bank

The Financial Times reports that the private equity and hedge fund firm Fortress Investment Group is about to inject USD800m in fresh capital, in partnership with other investors, into a small retail bank in Florida entitled First Southern. The bank would be a good vehicle for subsequent acquisitions in the banking sector, according to sources close to the operation.
28/05/2009

Pequot hedge fund shuts down

In a letter to clients dated 27 May, the hedge fund manager Arthur J. Samberg announces that he will be closing the Core fund from his management firm, Pequot, and reimbursing investors. The other two funds from the management firm, Matawin and Special Opportunities, will remain active, but will become independent from Pequot. “I am writing to you, our loyal clients and friends, to let you know that I have reached the painful conclusion that it is necessary to wind down Pequot’s business,” Samberg writes. The manager explains that he has been under investigation by the SEC and the US Attorney’s Office for transactions undertaken in 2001 by the Core fund. “Those agencies closed their investigations in 2006 without bringing any charges, but Pequot nonetheless suffered from adverse publicity. In late 2008, the government reopened its investigation. Public disclosures about the continuing investigation have cast a cloud over the firm and have become a source of personal distraction. With the situation increasingly untenable for the firm and for me, I have concluded that Pequot can no longer stay in business as an investment advisor,” the letter explains.
28/05/2009

Sonja Kohn (ex Bank Medici) accused of money-laundering

According to the Austrian magazine Profil, the Luxembourg office of the public prosecutor in mid-January received allegations that Herald Asset Management Ltd (Cayman Islands), a company with ties to Sonja Kohn, founder of Bank Medici, was involved in money-laundering. Herald, which managed one of the funds controlled by Bernard Madoff, is accused of having made two transfers of EUR11m to a law firm located in Gibraltar, which was a front for Kohn herself.
28/05/2009

Single regulatory authority for banking sector in the works

The US government is reported to be about to recommend to Congress that a single regulatory authority be created to supervise the banking sector as a whole, according to sources close to the government, cited in the Wall Street Journal. Another agency may be placed in charge of regulating financial products made available to retail investors. The Fed would then be primarily concerned with the prevention of systemic crises that could affect the economy.
28/05/2009

European Commission recommends that financial surveillance be increased

The European Commission suggests in a statement published on Wednesday that the current architecture of regulatory authorities in charge of surveillance of financial services is ripe for radical reform. The changes would include the creation of a European Council for Systemic Risk (CERS) and a European Financial Surveillance System (SESF), composed of new European supervision authorities in charge of the banking, insurance/professional pensions and securities markets sectors. The European Commission invites all interested parties to submit their reactions in writing by 15 July at the latest. The president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, would like to see the new architecture operational by next year.
28/05/2009

Alternative management: AIMA seeks to mobilise industry against draft directive

The international alternative management association AIMA is taking action to oppose a planned European directive on alternative management. “We are very concerned by the manner in which the European Commission directive was written,” the association says in a statement. The directive was composed in a very short span of time, without the Commission having taken time to consult on it. “There was very limited consultation with the industry, and we deplore that it was possible to propose measures that are poorly adapted to an industry as complex and diversified as ours,” the AIMA states. The association also regrets that the draft directive was not sent out to relevant international organisations, and that it was subject to strong political pressure. The association expresses surprise at the scale of the political discourse on the subject, while all the major reports on the financial crisis, following the Larosière report, unanimously find that hedge funds played only a very marginal role.
28/05/2009

Consob investigates Helm Sgr

The growth Premium fund from Helm, a small Milan-based management firm, lasted only six months from its inception to its demise, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. The fund, launched on 28 November 2008, was frozen in January 2009, because its only subscriber demanded a redemption. The investor was Independent Global Managers, the asset management firm which invested in Madoff, and which has since been placed in legal administration. Now, Consob, the Italian market regulator, is investigating the case of Helm, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. There are a number of questions: Why launch a fund with only one subscriber, and why place the capital in a single investment?
28/05/2009

Nyse Liffe Clearing to open this summer

La Tribune reports that the British regulatory authority has granted its approval, and Nyse Euronext will launch Nyse Liffe Clearing, its chamber of compensation for the group’s derivative activities, on 27 July this year.
28/05/2009

Luxembourg authorities approve measures adopted by UBS

The Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF) finds that UBS (Luxembourg) “provided evidence and guarantees of having in place the necessary infrastructure and internal organizational rules to comply with injunctions addressed to it in accordance with the professional standards applicable in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,” according to a press statement published on Tuesday by the commission, following a review of a report submitted to it by the bank, concerning “improvements in infrastructure and substantial modifications to internal procedures in the functioning of the depository bank.” The Luxembourg regulator also says in its statement that it will monitor continued respect and practice of the measures adopted by the bank, particularly concerning spot controls. The CSSF also states that UBS Lux is liable to reimburse any claims filed against it in accordance with the obligations of a Luxembourg-registered depository bank.
28/05/2009

Les bonnes idées a minima de la BCE

A en croire les humeurs publiques d’Axel Weber, les dernières décisions de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) semblent avoir été prises dans la douleur et du bout des lèvres. Quoi qu’il en soit, ce sont deux bonnes idées. Enfin !
27/05/2009

Un nouveau service pour les fonds de fonds chez Northern Trust

Selon Hedge Week, Northern Trust vient de lancer un service qui permet aux fonds de hedge funds d’évaluer l’impact de leurs gates sur la liquidité de leurs fonds en temps réel. En fonction des modalités de rachats et des commissions, les gérants de fonds de fonds peuvent ainsi calculer les montants à liquider dans un délai déterminé et à quel coût.
27/05/2009

Roderick Munsters devient CEO de Robeco Groep

Au 1er septembre, Roderick Munsters, membre du comité exécutif et directeur de l’investissement (CIO) du fonds APG (filiale du fonds de pension ABP) depuis le 1er mars 2005, prendra la succession de George Möller comme CEO de Robeco Groep (groupe Rabobank).
27/05/2009
Fonds

SEB lance un fonds de fonds immobiliers

SEB Asset Management a lancé le SEB Real Estate Portfolio, un fonds de fonds immobiliers de droit luxembourgeois (partie II) qui vient d’obtenir l’agrément de commercialisation en Suède. Il s’agit d’une innovation pour le marché local, où les fonds immobiliers offerts au public n’existaient pas, souligne Barbara Knoflach, présidente du directoire de SEB Asset Management Deutschland, la filiale qui a été chargée de développer le fonds et qui gère 10 milliards d’euros dans l’immobilier.Le nouveau produit, géré par Thorsten Schilling (un ancien de Feri Rating & Research qui a rejoint SEB AM en octobre 2006 comme global real estate strategist et gérant de fonds), est conçu pour une stratégie défensive. Il investira entre 60 et 90 % de ses encours en fonds immobiliers offerts au public, jusqu'à 20 % en actions de sociétés immobilières et jusqu'à 20 % en numéraire. En matière d’allocation sectorielle, le SEB Real Estate Portfolio se focalisera principalement sur l’immobilier de bureau, devant le commercial et la logistique/divers.
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