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11/06/2012

Berenberg recruits for family office

Sébastien Roques, who had been in charge of advising German clients of the Pictet family office in Geneva on their asset allocations, in early June joined Consilisto Berenberg Privat-Treuhand GmbH, the family office affiliate of the German Berenberg Bank in Hamburg, Das Investment reports.
11/06/2012

M&G recruits a BlackRock veteran for risk management

M&G Investments has appointed Michelle Scrimgeour as group risk director. She has 25 years experience of the fund management industry, all of which she gained with the group now known as BlackRock. Her most recent position was as co-head of fixed income business management and a member of the executive committee leading the USD1 trillion BGI/BlackRock Fixed Income division.Michelle Scrimgeour, who joins the company on 11 June, replaces Les Scrine, who has retired from M&G after almost 30 years of service. She will report to Michael McLintock and join the M&G Board.
11/06/2012

Swip applies quantitative strategies in equity management

As part of a redeployment of its equity portfolio (GBP{54bn in assets under management), which has already resulted in more than 20 job cuts, Swip is expected to favour quantitative portfolio construction, Money Marketing reports. “A certain number of British equity funds are in the process of transitioning to a quantitative portfolio construction methodology. The transition is being driven by the international equity team,” a Swip spokesperson says.
11/06/2012

Growth shares should be sought in euro zone

In an environment in which “not everything is necessarily negative in the euro zone, although uncertainty remains high, it may not be incongruous to seek growth shares in the euro zone,” Nicolas Walewski, founder and fund manager at Alken, claimed recently on a visit to Paris. Walewski cites the Italian banking sector. “The question is how to play the reduction in risk premiums. For Italy, it is largely the perception of risk which poses a problem. If this perception of risk decreases, the cost of the risk will be re-evaluated. From my point of view, the structural problems are not insurmountable. Unlike what we may observe elsewhere in Europe, the Italian banking sector is still excessively fragmented, which results in highly mediocre profitability. Some mid-sized banks are not even earning commissions. Many mid-sized banks are earning profits of 5% to 6%. They are getting 0.3 times owners’ equity,” he explained. This situation persists, although BNP Paribas made an “excellent deal” with its acquisition of BNL. But, with the crisis, “for six months there have been changes to the scenarios. Private equity funds in particular have identified enormous potential gains in productivity. Exposure to the Italian banking sector is thus highly attractive,” he concludes. Assets under management at Alken as of the end of April totalled EUR3bn, virtually unchanged compared with the end of December 2011. “Flows have been positive since the beginning of this year, and we are not seeing any redemptions either, but for all of our funds overall, net inflows are highly limited. This stability in asset levels has at least one advantage: it facilitates our management,” says Isabel Ortega, partner and director of sales at Alken.
11/06/2012

F&C recruits a head of institutional sales

F&C Investments (F&C) the London-listed GBP101 billion asset management group has recruited Mandy Mannix as head of institutional sales. Mandy Mannix is set to join F&C on the 1st July 2012 from CQS where she is currently global head of sales & marketing. She will report to Richard Wilson, head of investment & institutional business and will be responsible for the distribution of F&C’s investment capabilities and product offerings.
11/06/2012

Insurers remain engaged with private equity

Nearly two thirds of insurers are planning to make new invesrtments in private equity by the end of this year, according to a study undertaken by Preqin, covering a sample of 55 insurers who are already present in the asset class. At the same time, 22% of insurers are not committed to a sate, while 16% are not planning further allocations to the asset class until 2014. Despite forthcoming regulatory changes included in the Colvency 2 directive, most insurers (79%) have not modified their exposure to private equity. According to one US insurer, US regulations :have not affected our level of investment in private equity, but has affected some strategies and complicates our work.” The study also finds that nearly one third of insurers (30%) are currently below their allocation objectives for the asset class, and 88% of them are planning to maintain or increase their exposure to private equity over the longer term. 51% of insurers find that Europe, which is facing a crisis whose end is still not in sight, represents an attractive region for private equity investment, followed by the United States (45%) and Asia (16%). Preqin reports that 60% of companies have allocations to the asset class over USD250m.
11/06/2012

Fund selection expected to concentrate on quality

With the financial crisis, many actors, many of them adept on fund platforms, have had to fundamentally revise their strategies. Barclays was offering 350 funds three years ago in its long-only product ranges. Now, the bank offers only 110, Investment Europe reports. “Our strategy puts the priority on quality rather than quantity. In other words, less is more” says Jaime Arguello, head of multi-management at Barclays. In the alternative sector, the Barclays platform includes 35 single manager hedge funds, 12 UCITS funds, and two funds of funds. Assets in Barclays multi-manager funds total about GBP7bn. “There are now more than just equity funds, which makes the selection of funds a primordial activity. The concept of open architecture is based on the idea that a fund manager can’t perform well in all areas. It is important for us to be able to offer our clients the best specialists in each sector.”
11/06/2012

Goldman to sell hedge fund administration activities

Goldman Sachs is on the verge of selling its hedge fund administration activities to State Street, according to reports from the Financial Times. That would create a firm with assets of nearly USD700bn in assets under administration.
11/06/2012

AdvisorShars Active Bear ETF profits from bad news

A steep fall in the value of shares in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc last month (48%) brought profits for David Einhorn, the famous hedge fund manager. It was also good news for the AdvisorShares Active Bear ETF (USD280m), managed by John DelVecchio in Dallas, and Brad Lamensdorf in Connecticut, The Wall Street Journal reports. The fund, the only one of its kind, is catalogued by Morningstar as the only actively-manged, short-only ETF in the world. In other words, the ETF makes only negative bets, but does not use leverage, and the composition of its portfolio is published on a daily basis.
11/06/2012

Mark Mobius remains confident in emerging market equities

Mark Mobius, portfolio manager and executive director of the Templeton Emerging Market Group (Franklin Resources), in a presentation in Paris has emphasized all the advantages of emerging market equities: growth far higher than that from developed countries, ample currency reserves (which are gradually used to make acquisitions of assets in Europe), lower debt than in industrialised countries, inflation which has fallen steeply, and moderate valuations, at multiples of under 10.The star manager from Franklin Templeton, who as a general rule invests on a five-year horizon (his turnover rate is generally below 20%), claims two themes should be preferred: one the one hand, demography and consumer spending, and on the other hand, commodities, whose prices are mostly on an upward trend. Over the past 20 years, this applies to the CRB index as well as to copper, platinum, palladium, mickel, sugar, soy, corn, rice, wheat, gold and oil.The Emerging Market Group at Franklin Resources has assets of USD45bn in shares in companies which make at least 50% of their earnings in emerging markets. It also extends to local companies and to a small number of Western groups, including some locally listed affiliates of firms from industrialised countries.
11/06/2012

Reyl hires a portfolio manager for its French unit

Reyl & Cie France, the French asset management firm from the Geneva-based firm Reyl, has recruited Virginie Robert as senior portfolio manager. The former head of private asset management activities from Raymond James Asset Management will contribute to the development of an investment advising product range for entrepreneurs and high net worth clients seeking investments in non-public companies, a statement released on Friday says. Before arriving at Raymond James AM, where she managed a US equity fund, in 2008, Robert worked at Monpensier Finance, Lazard Frères Gestion and the Paribas group.
11/06/2012

Facebook shares plummet

Since the IPO on 18 May, Facebook shares have fallen 29%, and shares in GSV Capital and Firsthand Technology Value, “business development companies” (publicly-traded private equity funds) which invested in Facebook ahead of the IPO, have lost 37% and 32% respectively, even though the investment represents only 7% and 3.8%, respectively, of their assets, the Wall Street Journal reports. At USD18.29, shares in Firsthand on Friday were trading at less than the cash holdings of the firm, which total USD19.33 per share. This means that by buying shares in Firsthand, investors are paying USD1 for USD1.04 in cash, and get all the companies in the portfolio for free.
11/06/2012

Credit Suisse a faim de croissance dans la gestion de fortune

La banque helvétique est à la recherche d’acquisitions dans la gestion de fortune, a indiqué au Finanz und Wirtschaft le responsable de la division de banque privée, Hans-Ulrich Meister. Selon ce dernier, l’expansion internationale est davantage une priorité que des acquisitions en Suisse.
11/06/2012

EQT proche du rachat de BSN Medical

Le véhicule d’investissement, partiellement détenu par les Wallenberg, est sur le point de racheter BSN Medical, un fabricant allemand de dispositifs médicaux utilisés dans les domaines du soin de plaies, auprès de Montagu Private Equity. Selon Bloomberg, l’opération avoisinerait 1,8 milliard d’euros.
11/06/2012

Tokyo réclame un durcissement des sanctions pour délit d’initiés

Dans le sillage de la première sanction pour délit d’initié infligée à un investisseur étranger, les autorités de marché japonaises (SESC) réclament un alourdissement des sanctions possibles afin de décourager ce type de fraude. Vendredi, la SESC avait épinglé le courtier américain First New York Securities, lui imposant une amende modeste de 185.000 dollars, pourtant la plus sévère de son histoire.
11/06/2012

Inquiétudes sur le rebond de l’activité commerciale chinoise

L’inflation chinoise est tombée en mai à son plus faible niveau depuis juin 2010, à 3%, après 3,4% en avril, et contre 3,2% anticipés par le consensus et qui donne des marges de manoeuvre à la Banque Populaire de Chine après la baisse de ses taux directeurs annoncée la semaine dernière. Par ailleurs, l’excédent commercial est ressorti à 18,7 milliards de dollars en mai gâce à une hausse des exportations de 15,3% (contre une hausse attendue de 6,8%), et des importations de 12,7% (contre une hausse attendue de 5%). Le consensus tablait sur un recul de l’excédent à 16,2 milliards, après 18,4 milliards en avril. Le ministre chinois du Commerce, Chen Deming, indique cependant ce matin dans un entretien accordé à l’agence officielle Chine nouvelle que «la situation commerciale reste relativement sombre après cela et, si nous avons de la chance, nous serons capables de maintenir une croissance annuelle d’environ 10%».
11/06/2012

La demande d’or par la Chine devrait progresser

Selon Bloomberg qui cite le directeur des activités de métaux précieux d’ICBC, la demande d’or de la part de la Chine devrait progresser d’au moins 10% cette année. «Les investisseurs chinois souhaitent augmenter leur détention d’or afin de se couvrir contre les risques, particulièrement les risques souverains» indique ainsi Zheng Zhiguang. Selon les prévisions du World Gold Council, la Chine devrait dépasser l’Inde cette année comme premier investisseur dans le métal jaune.
11/06/2012

3,5 millions de dollars pour déjeuner avec Warren Buffett

Un bon steak chez Smith & Wollensky à Manhattan coûte une trentaine de dollars, mais le même repas pris en compagnie de Warren Buffett s’est vendu aux enchères 3,46 millions de dollars. L’an dernier, ce même repas s'était vendu à 2,63 millions. Dix enchérisseurs ont participé à la vente, organisée chaque année sur le site internet eBay au profit de l’organisation caricative GLIDE.
11/06/2012

Des contrats de liquidité sur le marché obligataire

L’AMF vient de les accepter comme pratique de marché. Voulus par Paris Europlace, ces contrats sont structurés comme ceux pour le marché actions. Ils ont vocation à soutenir l’activité sur les plates-formes obligataires telles que BondMatch, active depuis près d’un an.
11/06/2012

Nouvelle donne en vue dans l’administration des hedge funds

Le quotidien croit savoir de sources proches que Goldman Sachs s’apprête à céder à State Street son activité d’administration dédiée au x fonds alternatifs. De quoi donner naissance au numéro un mondial du secteur, qui devancerait Citco avec 700 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous revue. Dont 200 milliards en provenance de Goldman Sachs Fund Administration, l’activité cédée par la banque américaine, qui emploie 250 personnes et a 500 fonds en portefeuille. Aucun accord formel n’aurait pour l’heure été signé, mais les pourparlers en sont à un stade avancé. Goldman est en quête d’un repreneur depuis plusieurs mois et a à ce titre contacté de nombreux prétendants possibles.
11/06/2012

Iglo va signer pour un nouveau LBO

Le principal fabricant européen de surgelés, mis en vente par Permira, va selon le quotidien, et «sauf surprise de dernière minute», tomber dans l’escarcelle d’un fonds. Seuls Blackstone et BC Partners restent en lice. Les acteurs industriels auraient abandonné, notamment le thaïlandais Charoen Pokphand Foods. Permira attendrait un prix proche des 3 milliards d’euros, environ 8 à 9 fois le résultat brut d’exploitation.

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