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13/01/2009

Europe - Record net subscriptions for iShares

ETFs of the iShares range from Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in 2008 posted a record volume of net subscriptions of EUR17.8bn, compared with EUR5.8bn for 2007. Worldwide, net redemptions totalled USD89bn, compared with USD70bn.In Europe, four products have posted net subscriptions of over EUR1bn. They are the iShares S&P 500 fund (US equities, EUR2.76bn), FTSE 100 (UK equities, EUR1.89bn), DJ Euro Stoxx 50 (European equities, EUR1.75bn), and the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 (DE), with EUR1.15bn.
13/01/2009

Germany - Deutsche Bank to release Platinum funds

The X-Markets platform from Deutsche Bank will soon be offering Platinum funds, whose portfolio will replicate house indices, like the certificates of the same name, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. This formula will prevent the products from competing with the group’s fund management arm, DWS, which practices active fund management. Currently, the Platinum range includes about 100 funds with total assets of over EUR10bn.
13/01/2009

United Kingdom - Henderson picks up Fortis staff

Henderson Global Investors (HGI, EUR66.4bn in assets as of the end of June 2008) announced on Monday that it has recruited a team of five currency specialists for its bond division from the investment bank Fortis. Since 5 January, the five employees have been under the supervision of Mitesh Sheth, deputy director of the bond department; they will remain in London for about six months, before joining the HGI office in Amsterdam.The five specialists are Bob Arends, who was global head of currency management at Fortis bank, Dennis van den Bosch, who was director of currency management at Fortis, and Bernd Kraan, director of currencies research at Fortis bank and head of research and development of currency models and strategies. Jill Rootsaert was part of the currency management team at Fortis, where she was head of trading, legal documentation and sales for Europe.Henderson states that the recruitments come shortly after the acquisition of a minority stake in Attunga Capital Pty (on 6 November), an alternative management firm whose assets total about AUD150m. Its product range includes three funds, of which two are specialised in the electricity markets and associated derivatives (Attunga Enviro Opportunities Fund et Attunga Power & Enviro (Offshore) Fund). The third product, the Attunga Agricultural Trading Fund, invests primarily in soft commodities, derivatives, and securities related to agriculture.
13/01/2009

France - BNP Paribas CIB appoints a head of sovereign funds

Véronique Ormezzano is joining the Financial Institutions Group within the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) unit at BNP Paribas, where she will be responsible for sovereign funds, central banks, and international organisations. She will lead the corresponding team of FIG bankers, and will be in charge of initiatives in relation to these clients involving several units, professions and geographical areas at the bank, according to a press release. Ormezzano was previously head of the investor relations and financial information (RIIF) team at BNP Paribas CIB; she will be replaced in this position by Béatrice Belorgey, who joined the Investor Relations team in 2005, and has been particularly responsible for relations with sell side analysts, ratings agencies, and financial information.
13/01/2009

Luxembourg - Deutsche Bank to launch an Islamic platform

Maktoob Business reports that Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch the Al Mi’yar platform in Luxembourg, which will aim to facilitate issues of Sharia-compliant securities. The fund manager will be Luxembourg Financial Group AG while the trust & securities division of Deutsche Bank will provide the necessary settlement resources. Al Mi’yar aims to make it possible for Islamic investors to achieve their financial objectives using various asset classes, without contradicting the principles of their religion.
13/01/2009

Germany - Deka launches a sustainable development fund of funds

The fund management firm for the German savings banks, DekaBank, on Monday announced the launch of the DekaSelect: Nachhaltigkeit fund of funds, which will invest in Deka funds as well as in products from management firms specialised in sustainable development, such as SAM, Swisscanto, Sarasin and Dexia AM. The portfolio will largely consist of shares in funds which in the sustainable development or ethical categories. As a complement, the management team will invest in thematic funds specialised in sustainable development in areas such as environmental technologies, renewable energy, water, and microfinance.The DekaSelect: Nachhaltigkeit fund will be available in two varieties: growth (up to 60% in equities funds) and chance (up to 100%). For the two categories, the front-end fee will total 3.75%. The growth variant carries a management commission of 0.80%, a distribution commission of 0.30%, and a depositary banking commission. These fees are 1%, 0.40%, and 0.10% for the ?chance? variant.
13/01/2009

World - Hedge funds show significant losses in 2008

Hedge funds on the whole have shown considerably less heavy losses in the past year than equities markets. According to Barclay Hedge fund, losses for the 868 funds monitored by the firm which had disclosed results as of 11 January totalled 21.29%. In December, the average perforance was 0.69%. According to Hedge Fund Research (HFR), average losses totalled 18.3% in 2008, while according to Hennessee Group (which monitors about 1,000 funds), losses averaged 19.15%. On Monday evening, Credit Suisse/Tremont announced that, on the basis of 74% of assets monitored regularly by its services, hedge funds posted returns of 0.30% in December, which reduces average losses for the past year to 18.80%.By way of comparison, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed respective losses of 38.49% and 33.84%. The CAC 40 fell by 42.6%, while the Dax is down 40.4%.
13/01/2009

Luxembourg - Madoff lawyers have ties to ALFI

The Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) is linked to the defence lawyers of UBS, the bank implicated in the Madoff scandal in Europe. According to information obtained by Ignites Europe, the chairman of ALFI, Claude Kremer, is a partner at Arendt & Medernach, a law firm which is representing the Swiss bank in a case over its role in LuxAlpha, the Luxembourg Sicav for which it is the depositary, and was the manager until November 2008.
13/01/2009

Italy - Anima lost more than one third of its assets in 2008

The Italian asset management firm Anima, partly owned by Banca Popolare di Milano, saw total net redemptions of EUR188.7m in December, according to a press statement published on 8 January. This includes Italian-registered funds, the Anima Sicav, and the open-ended pension fund Anima Orizzonti. As of the end of the year, assets were down to EUR6.25bn, compared with EUR10.3bn at the end of 2007.
13/01/2009

United States - Hedge fund to convert into holding company

Investors are deeply divided over plans for Steel Partners to convert its flagship hedge fund, Steel Partners II (USD1.2bn in assets), into an investment holding company, Financial Times Fund Management reports on 12 January. The entity created by the change will be listed on Nasdaq or NYSE. Steel Partners took the decision after suffering heavy redemptions. In October, it received redemption demands amounting to 38% of assets in the fund.
13/01/2009

Switzerland - LODH launches an Asian convertibles fund

Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (LODH) has extended its range of funds with a product investing in convertible bonds of Asia excluding Japan. LODH Invest ? Convertible Bond Asia, launched on 15 December and on sale only in Switzerland for the moment, is a Luxembourg Sicav which prioritises high yield bonds of the Asia-Pacific market. ?The reduction of leverage at hedge funds has led to massive sales of financial instruments, provoking a dislocation in some markets, such as convertibles. Their deep deep discount below the value of the bond portion of the asset offers investors in convertible bonds attractive prices, and also presents a particularly attractive return/risk ratio,? a statement points out. The fund carries a management commission of 0.55% per year.
13/01/2009

Europe - ETFs gain favour of investors

In November, ETFs posted net subscriptions of USD138bn, while long-term funds saw outflows of USD185bn, according to data from Financial Research Corp, cited by the Wall Street Journal. Investors also show a preference for funds with low fees and more stability.
13/01/2009

Sweden - Invesco recruits a manager from Fidelity

Invesco has announced that it has recruited Nicklas Fornander as head of sales Nordics ex-Finland. He will be in charge of relatinships with clients in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and will be based in Stockholm. He is leaving Fidelity, where he was relationship director since 2006, in charge of sales and marketing of products aimed at institutional clients; he was also in charge of developing relationships with retail clients.
13/01/2009

Switzerland - Julius Baer launches a fund with 20 managers

Julius Baer has recently launched the JB Global Selection Fund, an equities fund which combines the convictions of 20 managers at the Swiss management firm. To construct a common and evenly-weighted portfolio, each manager chooses a favourite share, but also has the option to remain invested in cash. Scilla Huang Sun, director of equities management, is in charge of the maintenance of the portfolio. The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg, and for the moment, is available only in Switzerland.
13/01/2009

World - Asset management: mergers and acquisitions decline in volume

In 2008, the volume of mergers and acquisitions in the asset management sector represented USD1.610trn in terms of assets under management, an increase of 19% over a figure of USD1.350trn for 2007, Freeman & Co. estimates in its most recent study of mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector. This is true even though the number of transactions has declined from 239 to 232, since the deals were larger in size. 30 of them involved companies that manage more than USD10bn, an 11% increase over 2007, and a 30% increase over 2006.The number of operations involving alternative managers fell to 60, a decline of 22%, compared with 77 operations in 2007. ?In 2009, weak performance, redemptions and rapid deleveraging of products will force a large number of alternative managers to close or concentrate,? Freeman & Co observes. At the same time, ?concentration in the banking sector may put pressure on pay scales for makers of products which depend on banking networks for their distribution.?
13/01/2009

World - SRI: Air France behaves well, LVMH behaves badly

38 management firms that subscribe to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI), representing total assets of over USD3trn, have sent a message to the CEOs of 130 of the world’s largest publicly traded companies which have signed the United Nations Global Compact. In 25 cases, the message congratulated the executive, since the firm published a good quality annual report on the firm’s social responsibility. Companies in this group include Air France and Starbucks.More than 100 other companies, including Gap, Severn Trent and LVMH, were identified as lagging behind in publishing their reports on social responsibility, and received criticism for this fact.In 2008, 32% of companies who received these letters have since made progress in social responsibility and transparency in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.Among the 38 managers who signed the two groups of letters are Credit Agricole Asset Management Group (France), CalPERS (US), the British investors Co-Op and Aviva Investors, and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
13/01/2009

Germany - Management firms plan to foreground defensive funds in 2009

According to a Börsen-Zeitung survey, German management firms are planning to prioritise guaranteed funds and other conservative products this year. They are also tempted by corporate bond funds, but recognise that a rise in default rates is to be expected. They are also planning to be prudent in equities products. DWS (Deutsche Bank), DekaBank (savings banks) and Frankfurt Trust (Sal. Oppenheim) are hoping for net subscriptions in 2009. Union Investment (co-operative banks) and Allianz Global Investors (which will absorb Cominvest) are making no predictions on the subject.
13/01/2009

United States - Tony Kao becomes CIO of GMAM

Tony Kao, senior managing director and head of global public markets at General Motors Asset Management (GMAM) has been appointed as chief investment officer (CIO), replacing Nancy C. Everett, who will remain as CEO. Pensions & Investments reports. GMAM manages USD110bn in assets for defined-benefit and defined-contribution retirement savings funds at General Motors Corp.
13/01/2009

Spain - Prosecutor investigates Santander's Madoff ties

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Spanish prosecutor’s office wants to know how Santander could have lost EUR2.3bn of its clients’ money in the Madoff fraud. Anti-corruption officials will investigate the relationships between the bank, Fairfield Greenwich Group, and Madoff’s funds, in order to determine why the chairman of Santander sent one of his top representatives to meet Bernard Madoff in late November. The authorities are also seeking to discover whether the Swiss hedge fund affiliate, Optimal Investment Securities, was aware of problems at Madoff’s funds while it was marketing the products. The third subject of the investigation is the resignation at the end of June of Manuel Echeverría, who was head of Optimal during the time when the management firm forged its ties to Madoff.According to sources close to the bank, about two thirds of the losses at Santander due to Madoff are to the detriment of Latin American clients, especially in Mexico (USD400m), Argentina (USD350m) and Brazil (USD300m).
13/01/2009

Luxembourg - Madoff: some assets frozen

A Luxembourg judge has frozen some assets held by UBS on behalf of Luxalpha, one of the largest European funds invested in Bernard Madoff, the Financial Times reports. The move marks the first legal action in Europe related to the fraud.
13/01/2009

World - Some hedge funds making money

A few hedge funds posted stellar returns last year despite the financial crisis, the Financial Times reports. Among them are Cedar Hill Capital Partners, which is up more than 100%, and the Vicis Gamma fund, which has gained about 90%, according to estimates by funds of hedge funds. Managed futures has been one of the most lucrative strategies of the year.
12/01/2009

Allemagne - Bon accueil pour l'emprunt garanti de la Commerzbank

L’emprunt de 5 milliards d’euros à trois ans de la Commerzbank garanti par l’Etat fédéral a été sursouscrit deux fois. Selon la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, il comporte un coupon supérieur de 30 points de base aux midswaps, ce qui représente environ 2,75 %.
12/01/2009

Allemagne - Avertissement sur résultats de la Postbank

Vendredi, la Deutsche Postbank, qui avait déjà perdu 112 millions d’euros pour janvier-septembre à cause de ses mauvais résultats du troisième trimestre, a annoncé qu’elle s’attend pour l’ensemble de 2008 à un «résultat nettement négatif». Elle indique aussi avoir ramené à zéro son portefeuille d’actions, ce qui a occasionné des pertes importantes, et avoir du passer par profits et pertes une bonne partie de son portefeuille de crédits structurés, ce qui a «significativement impacté» également le résultat. La Deutsche Postbank a mentionné également qu’il faut s’attendre à des moins-values sur son portefeuille obligataire.
12/01/2009

Allemagne - Berlin ne compte pas influer sur l'activité de la Commerzbank

Le porte-parole du ministre fédéral des Finances a estimé vendredi qu’il serait «fatal et stupide» pour le Bund de vouloir user de sa minorité de blocage pour s’immiscer dans l’octroi de crédits par la Commerzbank, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ajoutant qu’il n’est pas question pour autant de renoncer à nommer des administrateurs. Berlin considère sa participation dans la banque comme devant être limitée dans le temps.
12/01/2009

Italie - Les fonds devront être plus transparents sur les dérivés

Dans leurs choix d"investissement, les fonds devront s"assurer que leurs actifs sont facilement liquidables et surtout que les expositions en instruments dérivés sont sous contrôle grâce à des systèmes adaptés de gestion des risques, rapporte Il Sole ? 24 Ore, qui rappelle que la Banque d"Italie vient de mettre à jour ses dispositions sur les instruments financiers éligibles dans les fonds, reprenant une directive européenne de 2007.
12/01/2009

Etats-Unis - James Gorman serait le patron de la JV Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney

Selon the Wall Street Journal, le board de Citigroup vote ce lundi sur le projet de coentreprise dans lequel Morgan Stanley paierait 2,5 milliards de dollars pour 51 % de la joint-venture de courtage avec Smith Barney, ce qui créerait la plus grande firme mondiale du secteur avec 19.900 courtiers (contre 18.850 pour Bank of America/Merrill Lynch). James Gorman, co-chairman de Morgan Stanley, sera probablement le patron de la nouvelle entité. S’il réussit cette mission très difficile, cela améliorera ses chances de succéder à John Mack comme CEO de Morgan Stanley.
12/01/2009

Etats-Unis - Le board de Citigroup soutient le CEO

Richard Parsons, qui devrait être nommé chairman de Citigroup en remplacement de Sir Win Bischoff avant la fin du mois, a déclaré dimanche dans une interview que le board de la banque soutient le CEO Vikram Pandit et qu’il n’y a rien de vrai dans les rumeurs selon lesquelles ce dernier serait menacé, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Les proches du dossier s’attendent toutefois maintenant que le 22 janvier Citi annonce pour le quatrième trimestre une perte d’exploitation d’au moins 10 milliards de dollars, alors que les prévisions des analystes de Wall Street portent sur seulement 4,1 milliards.
12/01/2009

Espagne - Sacyr cherche à préserver sa notation malgré Repsol

Sacyr Vallehermoso envisage de ne pas classer lors de l'établissement de ses comptes pour 2008 la participation de 20 % dans Repsol dans la catégorie des actifs réservés à la vente, bien que le groupe de BTP soit activement à la recherche d’un acquéreur, indique Cinco Días. Il s’agit en fait d'éviter d’extérioriser sur ce poste une moins-value de 2,58 milliards d’euros avec une dette qui se monte à près de 12,4 milliards d’euros, car cela se traduirait par un abaissement de la note.

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