La performance du Fonds de réserve pour les retraites s’est inscrite à -6,5% au premier trimestre. Ce résultat «reflète le point bas atteint depuis le début de l’année en cours par les marchés d’actions durant la première quinzaine du mois de mars avant leur rebond qui s’est confirmé depuis la fin du trimestre», précise le FRR dans un communiqué. A fin mars 2009 et sur la base de données estimées et non auditées, la performance annualisée du FRR, nette de tous frais de fonctionnement financiers et administratifs, depuis son démarrage opérationnel en juin 2004 est de -1,2%, souligne le FRR qui tient cet indicateur pour le plus pertinent compte tenu de sa mission de long terme. La structure globale des actifs du FRR par rapport à la fin 2008 a évolué en conséquence : le poids des actions est passé de 49% à 47,7%, celui des obligations de 36% à 36,5%, celui des autres actifs, matières premières en particulier, de 1 à 3,5%. La part des actifs monétaires est passée, enfin, de 14 à 12,3%. Le FRR indique que le conseil de surveillance «poursuit les travaux de réexamen de la stratégie d"investissement du Fonds entamés à la fin de l"année dernière avec pour objectif de les conclure à la fin du premier semestre.»

Au premier trimestre 2009, le métier «gestion d"actifs» de Société Générale, logé au sein de Société Générale Asset Management, a accusé des rachats nets de 2,2 milliards d"euros, contre -7,3 milliards au T1 2008. La décollecte concerne plus particulièrement la gestion alternative de SGAM AI, précise un communiqué, l"entité ayant vu sortir 3,1 milliards d"euros. TCW, la société américaine, a affiché des remboursements nets de 2,1 milliards d"euros et SGAM UK (vendu à GLG Partners) a vu s"envoler 0,6 milliard d"euros. SGAM (qui est en train d"être rapproché de Crédit Agricole Asset Management) enregistre en revanche des souscriptions nettes de 3,5 milliards d"euros.Société Générale précise que : #les fonds monétaires réguliers ont collecté +3,2 milliards d"euros, tandis que les fonds actions et diversifiés d"une part et la gestion alternative d"autre part enregistrent un mouvement de décollecte, respectivement de -2,0 milliards d?euros et de -3,6 milliards d"euros#.Compte tenu d"un effet marché négatif de 6,6 milliards d"euros, partiellement compensé par un effet change positif de 3,8 milliards d"euros, les encours gérés par SGAM s"élèvent à 264,2 milliards d"euros à fin mars 2009. Ils se composent notamment de 164,6 milliards d"euros portés par SGAM, dont 112,4 milliards d"euros (68,3%) en produits de taux et 47,4 milliards d"euros (28,8%) en actions et diversifiés. Ce montant représente le périmètre qui serait apporté dans le cadre du rapprochement avec CAAM. A cela s"ajoutent les 73,1 milliards d"euros portés par TCW ; les 20,1 milliards d"euros portés par SGAM AI et les 4,7 milliards d"euros portés par SGAM UK.Le Produit Net Bancaire de la Gestion d"actifs s"établit à 137 millions d"euros au T1-09, alors qu"il était négatif de -13 millions au T1-08 et de -15 millions d"euros au T4-08. Au premier trimestre 2009, l"impact de la crise représente -29,6 millions d"euros, dont -7,5 millions d"euros au titre de la réduction du levier des fonds alternatifs, -19,3 millions d"euros au titre du soutien à la liquidité des fonds monétaires dynamiques (encours résiduel de 0,8 milliard d"euros) et -2,8 millions d"euros de dépréciations complémentaires sur titres de participation. Un complément de dépréciations de -20,6 millions d"euros a par ailleurs été enregistré sur le #seed money#.Les frais de gestion affichent un recul de -16,4% (-11,4% en données courantes) par rapport au T1-08 #montrant les premiers effets des réorganisations en cours#, selon Société Générale.Conséquence, SGAM extériorise un Résultat Brut d"Exploitation de -41 millions d"euros, contre -214 millions d"euros au T1-08 et un Résultat Net Part du Groupe de -26 millions d"euros contre -135 millions d"euros un an plus tôt.

Nick Spencer vient d'être nommé par GAM responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle britannique, indique Hedge Week. Il est placé sous l’autorité de Craig Willis, le responsable du groupe pour la clientèle institutionnelle et la distribution de produits. Nick Spencer, qui compte 18 années d’expérience dans le secteur, était auparavant l’un des directeurs exécutifs de Lehman Brothers Asset Management, où il dirigeait l'équipe de relations avec les consultants pour l’Europe et participait à l'équipe de solutions en gestion alternative.

Le Fonds de pension national chinois a accusé en 2008 une perte nette de 39,37 milliards de yuans ou 5,77 milliards de dollars à cause de la chute du marché des actions local. C’est sa première perte depuis sa création en 2000. En 2007, le National Council for Social Security Fund avait fait état d’un bénéfice net de 135,49 milliards de yuans; selon le China Securities Journal relayé par The Wall Street Journal. La perte à été de 6,79 % en 2008 après une performance de 38,93 % en 2007. Depuis le lancement, la plus-value a totalisé 160 milliards de yuans, soit une performance annualisée de 8,98 %.

In the week ending on 29 April, long-term mutual funds posted their seventh consecutive week of net subscriptions, with USD5.66bn, according to the Investment Company Institute. In total, over these seven weeks, net redemptions totalled USD63bn, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, net subscriptions to equities funds have slowed considerably despite rising stock markets: they have fallen to USD183m from USD3.39bn the previous week.

Grail Advisors has released the Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF fund on the NYSE Arca platform. The ETF fund is managed actively, and includes at least 80% US large caps; the objective, according to the website Seeking Alpha, is to outperform the Russell 1000 Value Index by 200-400 basis points, by combining quantitative and subjective analyses. The management commission will be a maximum of 0.79%, 41% less than the average for large cap value funds, Global Pensions states.The promoter for the product will be Grail Advisors, with Fort Worth as sub-advisor. Assets in the fund will be distributed between three management firms, Brandywine Global Investment Management, Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, and Metropolitan West Capital Management.Seeking Alpha reports that the new fund differs from the actively-managed ETF fund from Invesco PowerShares in that it allows managers an unlimited number of transactions, instead of only three trades per week. In addition, managers are permitted to make transactions at any time, rather than being required to restrict themselves to the last day of the week. Lastly, the Grail fund will use more traditional active management techniques than PowerShares, which uses largely quantitative techniques. The Grail ETF may cover fewer than 100 equities.

With the Emerging Markets Equity Fund, BNY Mellon Asset Management is adding a sub-fund to its Irish-registered fund BNY Mellon Global Funds. The emerging market equities product will be managed by Tony Hann, head of emerging market equities at the affiliate Blackfriars Asset Management Ltd (USD2.4bn), assisted by Bill Rudman and Richard Fairgrieve, two global portfolio managers. The management process will follow the Blackfriars model: bottom-up stock picking, combined with top-down quantitative analysis. Up to 75% of the portfolio will be invested in a portfolio of equities and similar shares in companies in emerging countries.

The California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS, USD111.6bn in assets) has called on the 300 largest companies in which it is invested to put in place responsible policies on management compensation, and to allow shareholders to hold advisory votes on these policies. The goal is to reward long-term thinking and improve pay-for-performance practices while deterring excessive risk taking.

For first quarter 2009, the Blackstone Group announced ?economic? losses on Wednesday of USD93m, compared with USD827m in October-December, and USD94m in the corresponding period of last year. By US GAAP accounting standards, the private equity investor posted a loss of USD232m, of which USD192m are related to transactions, compared with USD251m in January-March 2008, which included transaction-related charges of USD226m. The quarterly dividend will be 30 cents per ordinary share.Revenues from management and advising totalled USD344.6m, compared with USD389.2m for fourth quarter 2008, and USD320.8m in the corresponding period of last year, on assets of USD92.2bn as of 31 March, compared with USD91bn at the end of December, and USD92.9bn twelve months previously.

Long-term bonds from the US Treasury are one of the asset classes showing the worst performance this year, but several renowned bond managers think this stretch of poor performance is nearing its end, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Barclays Capital Long-Term Treasury index shows losses of 10.2% since the beginning of the year as the ?fear factor? dominates the markets. In the same period, returns on 10-year Treasury bonds passed the psychologically significant 3% mark last week (it was 3.152% on Wednesday night). But many specialists estimate that the rate will stabilise between 2.75% and 3.25% until the end of the year: each time it passes above 3%, alarm bells go off for Tim Geithner, jokes Warren Pierson, senior portfolio manager at Baird Advisors.

In first quarter, net profits at Munich Ré fell to EUR420m from EUR777m, due to amortisations of overvalued assets, capital losses on investments due to falling operating revenues , and losses on a transfer of assets to safer investments, Die Welt reports. Now, half of the portfolio is invested in government bonds, and allocation to equities has been reduced to 1.4%.

Le Temps reports that a new private bank has been created in Geneva by veterans of UBS. The Banque Pâris Bertrand Sturdza will target international high net worth families, individuals and family offices, largely in Europe, but also in the Middle East and India. The founders envision a model which avoids the errors that provoked the financial crisis, and disallow ?all financial activities which carry potential risks to the bottom line.?

Carmignac Gestion has announced that the new Market Neutral sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Carmignac Portfolio (see Newsmanagers of 30 April), managed by Keith Ney and Maxime Carmignac, received a license from the Spanish CNMV two weeks ago. The management firm also announced on Wednesday that it will be releasing the fund for sale in Germany.

Asset management companies are anticipating a growing appetite for currency funds from investors, Ignites Europe observes. Schorders is planning to launch its first currency fund in June, after recruiting Clive Dennis of Morgan Stanley. SEB Asset Management, Fidelity, and Investec Asset Management already offer products of this type.

Bank of New York Mellon Corporation on Wednesday announced the creation in Belgium of the Bank of New York Mellon SA/NV, which will be the umbrella entity for a number of the group’s activities in Europe, particularly in global custody, global collateral management and depository banking. By the end of the year, the new estbalishment will take charge of the activities of the Brussels office of the bank, as well as those of the Dutch BNY Mellon Asset Servicing B.V., which is present in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Breda, Luxembourg, and Frankfurt. With a total balance sheet of EUR44bn, the new affiliate will be the sixth-largest Belgian bank. It will have about 1,500 employees in Europe (1,000 for the Brussels parent company, and 500 for the Netherlands-registered affiliate).

In first quarter 2009, the asset management unit at Société Générale, Société Générale Asset Management, posted net redemptions of EUR2.2bn, compared with -EUR7.3bn in Q1 2008.The outflows are particularly heavy from alternative management at SGAM AI, says a statement, which has seen outflows of EUR3.1bn. TCW, the US affiliate of the firm, has posted net redemptions of EUR2.1bn, and SGAM UK (which has been sold to GLG Partners) saw outflows of EUR0.6bn. SGAM (which is in the process of merging with Crédit Agricole Asset Management) has posted net subscriptions of EUR3.5bn.Société Générale states that ?regular money market funds drew in subscriptions of EUR3.2bn, while equities and diversified funds on the one hand, and alternative management on the other hand, have shown outflows, of EUR2.0m and EUR3.6m, respectively.? Due to negative market effects of EUR6.6bn, which were partially compensated for by positive currency effects of EUR3.8bn, assets under management at SGAM totalled EUR264.2bn as of the end of March 2009. These include EUR164.6bn for SGAM of which EUR112.4bn (68.3% were in fixed income products, and EUR47.4bn (28.8%) in equities and diversified funds. This amount represents the perimeter which will be applied in the merger with CAAM. In addition to this are EUR73.1bn contributed by TCW; the EUR20.1 from SGAM AI, and EUR4.7bn from SGAM UK.Net banking proceeds for asset management total EUR137m in Q1 ’09, while the balance was negative at -EUR13m for Q1 ’08, and -EUR15m in Q4 ’08.In first quarter 2009, the impact of the crisis represents EUR29.6m, of which EUR7.5m are due to reduction in leverage at hedge funds, EUR19.3m due to supporting liquidity in dynamic money market funds (residual assets of EUR0.8bn), and EUR2.8m due to complementary write-downs on share investments. Complementary write-downs of EUR20.6m were registered for ?seed money.?Management fees are down 16.4% (-11.4% in ongoing data) compared with Q1 ’08, ?revealing the first effects of the reorganisations underway,? says Société Générale.As a result, SGAM is posting a gross operating result of -EUR41m, compared with -EUR214m in Q1 ’08, and a net result for the part of the group of -EUR26m, compared with -EUR135m one year previously.

The asset management unit at Axa has posted net outflows in first quarter of EUR17bn, of which EUR15bn came from AllianceBernstein, and EUR2bn from Axa Investment Managers.In total, assets under management fell by EUR29bn in first quarter, to EUR787bn, which were divided between EUR310bn for AllianceBernstein, and EUR477bn for Axa IM.Revenues for asset management are down 34%, to EUR762m, in line with the trend observed in Q4 2008 (-32%), ?due to lower revenues from commissions (-37%), largely due to a lower volume of assets under management (-27%), and an unfavourable evolution of the product mix (-10%), and to a lower contribution from distribution commissions,? says a statement.

The board of directors at Société Générale in a meeting yesterday selected Frédéric Oudéa to succeed Daniel Bouton as head of the bank. His appointment will take effect on 24 May. Oudéa, 45, is currently CEO of the firm, and will now assume the responsibilities of both chairman and CEO. A graduate of the ENA (Ecole Nationale d"Administration) and the polytechnic, the new chairman and CEO of Société Générale joined the bank in 1995, after several high-level government positions, including a position in the Sarkozy cabinet as Budget minister. The favourite for the position as of yesterday, Anthony Wyand, former head of Aviva, director and chairman of the accounting committee, has been appointed vice-chairman of the board of directors at Société Générale. The board of directors of Société Générale also paid homage to Bouton’s service to the firm as its head since November 1997, and awarded him an honorary chairmanship.

Fortress Investment Group, a publicly-traded hedge fund and private equity firm, has published a net loss of USD67m, or 67 cents per share, for Q1, compared with losses of USD68.9m in the corresponding period of 2008, the Financial Times reports. Assets under management at the firm declined by 10% to USD26.5bn, largely due to redemptions.

La Tribune reports that the US regulator has brought its first case of insider trading on credit derivative markets to court. The facts date back to 2006. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuses a manager at Millennium Partners, an arbitrage fund, and a vendor at Deutsche Bank Securities, of profiting from insider information about a bond issue from VNU holding, which influenced an increase in the price of CDS contracts to protect against the risk of defaults by VNU.

Rajesh Gill, an independent day trader, has won GBP20m in damages and interest in a lawsuit against MF Global, the Financial Times reports. One of the brokers at the firm lied to the trader about its performance. Damages related to lost gains are rarely awarded in the United Kingdom, the FT comments.

La Tribune reports that the investment firm Eurazeo may be planning to acquire a large part of the management firm Candover Partners, which has been in severe difficulty since the onset of the financial crisis, as the net value of its assets has been halved. The firm, currently 10)% owned by the British holding company Candover partners, would largely be carried out via an exchange of shares.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments in its weekly funds section that diversified products are coming out of the shadows, with out-of-the-ordinary performance for products such as the Carmignac Patrimoine from Edouard Carmignac, or to a lesser extent, Echiquier Patrimoine by Marc Craquelin. The concept of the diversified fund only has meaning if the manager has a lot of room to maneuver. That is why diversified funds from the major management firms are having such difficulty. But this type of investment is largely a bet on the manager of the fund. If he makes a bad bet, there is no safety net.

HSBC is launching the Global Bond Market Neutral sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav HSBC Global Investments Funds (see Newsmanagers of 23 April) in Germany. The open-ended fund is managed by Sinopia, and invests with a neutral exposure to government bonds from OECD member countries. The objective is to outperform the Eonia in the mid and long term, with total average annual volatility of 3% to 4.5%. To generate absolute performance, the management team relies on two strategies, which are independent of one another. The first is a long/short approach which maintains a near-zero duration on the bonds, explains Jean-Charles Bertrand, global head of fixed income and absolue return strategies at Sinopia, who adds that this strategy is hedged for currency risks. The second strategy is a currencies position managed actively with a long/short strategy, on currencies of the eleven largest OECD countries.The various asset classes are invested in via derivative instruments (swaps, futures, forwards), which may generate high levels of volatility.The recommended investment horizon is three to five years.Front-end fee and management commission are set at 5.54% and 1.25%, respectively; the management firm will charge a 20% commission on performance exceeding the Eonia.

UBS is reorganising the activities of its Italian affiliate, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. UBS Italia will continue to specialise in wealth management, but will focus more on high net worth clients (over EUR1m in assets). As of the end of 2008, UBS managed assets of EUR15.1bn in Italy.

Juan Carlos Ureta, chairman of Renta 4, on Wednesday announced that he is in contact with ten competitors, and that he is planning to conclude an acquisition of two of them by the end of the year, Cinco Días reports. The asset management firms that Renta 4 is considering have total assets of EUR150m to EUR200m, according to a statement submitted to the CNMV. The chairman of Renta 4 had not ruled out acquisitions abroad, but the problem is valuations, since the market has continued to be based on prices at the time when La Caixa bought the asset management arm of Morgan Stanley.

The board of advisors at JPMorgan Investment Funds has decided to abosorb the Europe Select Mega Cap Fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav (EUR9.8m in assets as of the end of February) into the Europe Select Equity Fund, due to the considerable similarities between the processes and management objectives of the two products, and the low level of assets in the Mega Cap. The merger will be undertaken via an exchange of shares on 12 June.

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has published a ?guide to good practices for managers of funds of hedge funds.? The work, composed by a steering committee of leaders in the alternative multi-management sector, is aimed at managers of funds of hedge funds, and is intended to document and improve practices in the sector. The guide consists of five chapters covering key areas: creation and management of a fund of hedge fund management firm; the investment and risk management process; analysis of operational risks; sales and relations with investors; and governance.

Selon L"Echo, Herman Daems, président de la Gimv, société d’investissement régionale flamande, serait le candidat le mieux placé pour devenir président de Fortis Banque.

Maintenant que le fonds de droit belge Equities World 3F (Foundation for the Future) est géré depuis un an par Bart Baetens, Petercam commence à communiquer sur ce produit d’actions internationales qui se veut original du fait d’une approche à la fois prospective et sélective. D’une part, le gérant de cet OPCVM de 40 millions d’euros (l’ancien Equities World, relooké) entre les valeurs en portefeuille en fonction des projections du FMI en matière de croissance du PIB à l’horizon 2020.Ce fonds intègre donc notamment la Chine et l"Inde dans son univers d’investissement. Une exposition qui passe néanmoins par le chiffre d’affaires des sociétés. Autrement dit, une entreprise américaine comme Intel qui est très présente sur les marchés émergents est comptée, à due concurrence du chiffre d’affaires correspondant, dans l’allocation marchés émergents. Autre caractéristique discriminante : le fonds ne comprend pas de financières, parce que Petercam préfère se concentrer sur les sociétés qui possèdent des actifs tangibles. A ce titre, le gérant évite aussi les start-up dans les biotechnologies par exemple. Selon Ives Hup, Senior Sales & Account Manager France, Greece, Italia, Monaco & Svizzera, Equities World 3F est plus d’un fonds c?ur de portefeuille et stratégique qu’un produit tactique. Le portefeuille de 40-50 valeurs équipondérées (45 actuellement) est composé de grandes capitalisation surtout matures et bénéficiaires sur plusieurs exercices. Bart Baetens, par ailleurs, ne conserve qu’au maximum 5 % de cash alors qu’il pourrait aller jusqu'à 10 %. Il privilégie actuellement les matériaux de construction, les biens d’investissement et les technologiques. La répartition actuelle fait la part belle aux marchés émergents (soit en direct, soit par le biais de firmes réalisant une part significative de leur chiffre d’affaires dans ces pays) avec 50 %. L’Europe et l’Amérique du Nord pèsent chacune 20 % et le Japon 10 %. L’indice de référence est le MSCI World GDP weighted. Petercam facture une commission de gestion de 1 % et le taux frais sur encours (TER) en 2008 s’est situé à 3,61 %. Depuis le début de l’année, le fonds affiche (au 30 avril) une performance de 4,8 %, la perte sur un an ressortant à 29 %. L’indice, pour sa part, affiche un gain de 3,2 % et une perte sur un an de 32,2 %.