The German asset management firm StarCapital on 8 January announced that Markus Kaiser would provide management of the two funds of funds RWS-Ertrag and RWS-Dynamik from the asset management firm RWS Vermögensplanung. Kaiser, who joined StarCapital in July last year as a member of the management board, was already managing the two products when he was at Critas Investment, as RWS made him manager of the funds at the time.
Multi-asset class funds which use new risk budget allocation techniques, such as approaches which integrate risk dynamic or risk parity, had some difficulty in second half, according to a study recently published by Fitch Ratings (“European Multi-Asset Funds Dashboard Dec 2013.”) Inversely, funds which have adopted a more static approach, with a limited exposure to duration and a high exposure to equities and high yield, did much better. Multi-asset class funds are continuing to encounter difficulty, with dynamic allocation during periods of falling trends, such as in May/June 2013, and in the following months. The problems related to timing and the size of the risk reduction and the subsequence increase in exposure to risk have an impact on cumulative performance. The calibration of risk budget adjustment techniques remains a work in progress, largely due to the measurement of risk, which, as in the case of VIX, depends on less solid indicators, the study reveals.
Allianz Global Investors has recruited Filippo Battistini as head of institutionals and fund selectors in Italy, Bluerating reports. Battistini joins from State Street Global Advisors, where he was head of business development for institutional clients. Battistini’s arrival comes after that of Alberto D’Avenia as head of development for Southern Europe and country head for Italy.
The BlackRock group has agreed to stop global surveys of analysts under an agreement signed on 8 January with the New York courts, the news agency Reuters reports. The amiable settlement ends an investigation called by the New york attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, over the release of monthly or quarterly surveys of analyst sentiment which may influence the markets. BlackRock has agreed to pay USD400,000 to cover costs related to the investigation, but has not been fined, and says it is prepared to co-operate with authorities. Schneiderman has welcomed the news that BlackRock admits “the need for reforms in the area of dissemination of information that may influence the markets.” The programme of surveys in question, the “Analyst Survey Program,” sought the opinions of the most high-profile analysts in the world on companies they monitored. This information could have been used by BlackRock to intervene on the market before the publication of the analyst studies.
Invesco is adding to its range of low-volatility products, with the launch of the Invesco Low Volatility Emerging Markets fund. The strategy, managed by Inveco Quantitative Strategies (IQS), will aim to outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets index over the long term, with a less marked risk profile. Assets under management at IQS, which is largely aimed at institutional investor clients, total about USD24bn.
The Lyxor hedge fund index gained 1.15% in the month of December, bringing performance in the sector for the year as a whole to 7.01%, according to the Lyxor barometer of the alternative management industry, published on 8 January. Long/short strategies did particularly well in December and throughout the year. The Lyxor L/S Equity Long Bias index in particular gained 1.94% in December, and 16.79% for the year as a whole. It has also been noted that the Lyxor Special Situations index gained 2.66% in December, to finish the year with gains of 14.28%, whle the Lyxor CTA Long Term index posted gains of 2.47% in December, but has finished the year with gains of only 4.25%.
Three real estate investment funds from Credit Suisse have added to their real estate portfolios, making purchases totalling CHF533m, the Swiss group announced on 8 January. The investment fund CSF Real Estate Switzerland (CSF RES) has acquired seven properties, in French-speaking Switzerland and the canton of Bern, for a total of over CHF293m. The real estate fund Credit Suisse Real Estate Interswiss (CS REF) and the investment fund CSF RES Commercial have acquired commercial properties totalling over CHF240m.
The Swedish asset management firm JRS Asset Management has been sold to the new holding company Viktor och Peter Söderberg Förvaltning, the Swedish website Realtid.se reports, citing an article in the newspaper Dagens Industri. The Söderberg brothers have signed an agreement with Mats Ekström and Peter Nygren to acquire JRS AM for SEK70m. The asset management firm has assets of SEK9bn, according to DI.
The British wealth management firm Coutts, an affiliate of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has recruited Yee Chin Lit as head of the Indonesian market. Yee, who joined from Credit Suisse, will be based in Singapore, Asian Investor reports. New recruitments as additions to the new team dedicated to this market will follow, the newspaper notes. Yee will aim to strengthen Coutts’ presence in Indonesia, and to boost the development of its client base.
Outlooks for the global bond sector in 2014 have been called “stable” by the financial ratings agency Moody’s in a report published on 8 January (“ 2014 Outlook – Bond Funds”). Several factors are expected to contribute to the stability of the sector, including default rates, which are expected to remain at low levels, refinancing risk, which is falling, and businesses which have robust liquidity profiles. The stable outlook also applies to bond funds in Latin America, where funds are becoming more attractive to investors due to the discipline brought to management of monetary and budgetary policies in many countries in the region which are increasing their capital markets. However, the agency says that the outlooks for the closed US municipal bond fund sector are now moving from stable to negative due to an increase in leverage, a decline in the quality of credit, and rising interest rates.
Pictet Asset Management is not really in line with the consensus: it estimates that emerging market equities will be likely to interest investors more. According to Frédéric Rollin, who yesterday presented the main investment convictions for 2014, emerging market equities are relatively inexpensive compared to their historic valuations. From his point of view, they are undervalued by about 20%. Inflows are expected to return to emerging markets in a context in which growth in profits at emerging market businesses, which have been flagging since 2011, are expected to regain their colours in the next few months, thanks to a recovery of global growth. Pictet is also overweighting equities from developed markets, but with outlooks that may be less attractive than for emerging markets, however, with special mension for Japan, where reforms engaged will favour a sustainable return of growth, which, although it remains modest, is finally appearing. On the bond side, Pictet is overweighting high yield on both sides of the Atlantic, perhaps with a small preference for European high yield, which is more resistant to rising interest rates.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 8 January published a consultation document on evalutation methodologies to identify systemic financial establishments outside the banking and insurance sectors. These evaluation methodologies come as additions to the methodologies which currently cover banks and insurers. The document proposes specific methodologies to identify companies, but does not give immediate examples, nor does it propose the measures which will be applied to these entities. The consulltation will remain open until 7 April, a statement says.
UBS Global Asset Management (UBS) has licensed 27 MSCI Hedged Indices for a new series of ETFs launched yesterday, according to MSCI. Thomas Merz, head of UBS ETF Europe, commented, “By basing our physically replicated ETFs on a range of MSCI Hedged Indices, we are able to offer our clients a way to reduce currency risk and optimize portfolio returns in a transparent and cost-efficient way.”
La Banque centrale européenne garde sa politique monétaire inchangée. Le taux d’intérêt des opérations principales de refinancement ainsi que ceux de la facilité de prêt marginal et de la facilité de dépôt demeurent à respectivement 0,25 %, 0,75 % et 0,00 %. Le statu quo était largement anticipé. Les investisseurs attendent surtout d’entendre le discours et la conférence de presse de Mario Draghi, le président de la BCE. Celle-ci débutera à 14h30.
Le géant américain de la gestion a conclu un accord avec le procureur général de New York, Eric Schneiderman, sur ses pratiques en matière d’anticipation des recommandations des analystes. BlackRock, qui doit régler des frais d’enquête de 400.000 dollars mais évite une amende, a mis fin à son «Analyst Survey Program». Celui-ci visait, par le biais de questions adressées à un échantillon de courtiers et un traitement algorithmique des données reçues, à prédire les prochaines révisions des estimations. Même si le programme était conçu pour utiliser exclusivement des informations publiques, un mémo interne reconnaissait l’intention de «prendre une longueur d’avance» (front-run) sur les recommandations.
Le Trésor portugais aurait déjà reçu plus de 9 milliards d’euros d’ordres pour son premier emprunt obligataire en huit mois, selon Reuters. Le pays avait annoncé hier la sélection de plusieurs banques pour abonder une souche existante à juin 2019 portant un coupon de 4,75%. La syndication de l’emprunt ferait ressortir un spread de 335 points de base au-dessus des mid-swaps.
La Banque d’Angleterre a laissé sa politique monétaire inchangée, comme attendu, maintenant son taux directeur à son plus bas historique de 0,5%. L'économie britannique bénéfice actuellement d’une croissance proche de 3% en données annualisées mais la Banque d’Angleterre avait prévenu en août dernier qu’elle n’envisagerait pas de relever son taux directeur tant que le taux de chômage ne serait pas revenu en dessous de 7%.
L’Espagne a emprunté jeudi 5,29 milliards d’euros dans le cadre de deux émissions obligataires, dépassant son objectif fixé entre 4 et 5 milliards d’euros, en profitant d’une demande solide pour sa dette. Le Trésor a vendu pour 3,53 milliards d’euros de titres 30 avril 2019 à un rendement moyen de 2,382%. Le ratio de couverture (rapport entre la demande et l’offre) ressort à 1,8. Pour les titres d'échéance 31 décembre 2028, l’adjudication a porté sur 1,76 milliard et le rendement moyen ressort à 4,192%, contre 4,809% lors de l’opération comparable précédente. Le ratio de couverture a atteint 2,7. Madrid a bénéficié du fort rally obligataire périphérique des dernières semaines, avec un rendement à 10 ans à 3,726% jeudi.
La convergence des rendements des emprunts d’Etat des pays périphériques avec ceux des pays coeur a franchi un nouveau cap jeudi matin. Les rendements irlandais à 5 ans sont en effet passés sous ceux des Gilts britanniques, à 1,837% contre 1,847% vers midi. Un phénomène qui peut susciter des interrogations sur les valorisations relatives de dettes souveraines, alors que l’Irlande vient à peine de s’affranchir de l’aide de ses bailleurs de fonds internationaux.
Le pays a enregistré en 2013 des sorties nettes de capitaux de 12,3 milliards de dollars, son premier solde négatif depuis la crise financière de 2008, selon la banque centrale. Le déficit des devises, qui a contribué à la dépréciation de plus de 13% de la valeur du réal l’an dernier, s’explique à la fois par la hausse des importations, la baisse des exportations et le recul des investissements étrangers.
Pékin a accordé au gérant britannique Ashmore une licence RQFII, qui va notamment lui donner accès au marché convoité des actions A de la Bourse chinoise. Ashmore, associé à HSBC pour la conservation de titres, devient ainsi le premier gérant étranger à pouvoir investir directement des fonds renminbis offshore sur le marché onshore des actions et obligations chinoises, sans être obligé de passer par Hong Kong. En octobre dernier, les autorités chinoises avaient annoncé la mise en place d’un quota de 80 milliards de renminbis pour des licences RQFII au bénéfice de gérants basés à Londres. Ashmore n’a pas dévoilé le quota dont il bénéficie.
L’assureur américain Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance envisage de vendre sa filiale de gestion, indique Reuters en citant quatre sources anonymes. Northwestern avait acquis en 1999 le groupe, qui s’appelait alors Frank Russell Company, pour 1,2 milliard de dollars, mais considère que cette activité ne fait plus partie de ses priorités stratégiques. Il n’aurait pas encore décidé si la vente doit se faire en bloc ou par appartements. Russell, connu notamment pour ses indices, gère près de 250 milliards d’encours.
Le gestionnaire alternatif Elliott International souhaite acquérir le fabricant américain d'équipements pour réseaux Riverbed Technology pour environ 3,1 milliards de dollars en numéraire. Une offre insuffisante selon les analystes, qui attendent une contre-offre. Déjà Elliott a indiqué qu’il pourrait revoir son offre à la hausse à condition d’avoir accès aux comptes de sa cible.
La société vient de transférer ses derniers fonds actions. Elle mise sur les fonds de prêts à l'économie, les infrastructures et l'immobilier commercial
Le FSB et Iosco lancent une consultation sur les critères permettant d'identifier les sociétés financières, courtiers ou fonds d'investissement systémiques
Madrid prévoit de réduire ses émissions nettes pour 2014, d'allonger les maturités et de proposer ses premières obligations indexées sur l'inflation européenne
Les clients d’Eagle River Asset Management récupéreront leur mise ce mois-ci dans le cadre de la fermeture du fonds new-yorkais. C’est ce qu’a confié au quotidien son fondateur en 2011 Michael Pascutti, ancien de Citadel et de Pimco. Eagle River a été victime du retrait de son principal client, FRM Holdings, entité dans le giron de Man Group.