Le secteur des hedge funds a tiré son épingle du jeu au premier trimestre mais sans vraiment briller, si l’on en croit les informations divulguées par les grandes agences de presse.C’est ainsi que le Third Point Partners de Daniel Loeb a progressé de 7,1% au premier trimestre, le Third Point Ultra affichant même un gain de 10%. Le Greenlight Capital de David Einhorn a pour sa part enregistré une performance de 6,9% sur les trois premiers mois de l’année.Autant de résultats honorables mais pas non plus exceptionnels. Les hedge funds ont en moyenne dégagé une performance de 2,3% environ au premier trimestre, selon les analystes de BofA Merrill Lynch, à comparer à une hausse de 12% pour l’indice Standard & Poor’s 500.Le gérant de hedge funds John Paulson illustre bien le sentiment mitigé que suscitent les performances trimestrielles des hedge funds. Le plus vieux portefeuille du gérant, Paulson Partners, a dégagé un gain de 6,6% au premier trimestre, et le Paulson Enhanced fund a même progressé de 13,3%. Mais le fonds Advantage a cédé 1,05% et son pendant avec effet de levier Advantage Plus a perdu 2,23%. Quant au Gold fund, il a chuté de 13,41% en mars et de 6,37% sur le trimestre.

Des collaborateurs de Clariden Leu, l’ex-filiale du Credit Suisse, ont décidé de fonder la société de gestion de fortune Metropole Partners, rapporte le site spécialisé finews. La société a vu le jour à mi-mars et devrait compter désormais 30 collaborateurs, dont 15 conseillers à la clientèle, ainsi que des gestionnaires de portefeuille et assistants de back-office.L’initiative est venue de l’ex-banquier de Clariden Leu, Anthony Cagiati, de nationalité américaine, avec à ses côtés les conseillers à la clientèle Bruno Lienhart (ex-Clariden) et Christian Sieber (ex-Bank Leu). L’ex-banquier et avocat Christian Brunner se présente pour le poste de président du conseil d’administration. Il est actuellement associé de l'étude zurichoise Brunner & Decurtins.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) a nommé Marcel van Ostaden au poste de directeur commercial pour les Pays-Bas, la Belgique et le Luxembourg. L’intéressé sera basé à Amsterdam. Avant de rejoindre LOIM, il était directeur commercial Pays-Bas pour BlackRock depuis 2005.LOIM gère 28 milliards d’euros à fin 2011.

Les fonds monétaires européens, qui ont commencé à réduire leur exposition à l’Espagne et à l’Italie à l'été 2011, ont pratiquement éliminé leurs engagements envers ses deux pays à fin février, indique l’agence Fitch Ratings dans son dernier bulletin mensuel sur les fonds monétaires européens. Les fonds monétaires européens avaient déjà ramené à zéro leur exposition à la Grèce, à l’Irlande et au Portugal en 2009 et 2010.Fitch précise qu'à fin février, les fonds monétaires européens n’avaient plus d’exposition aux banques italiennes et les allocations dans les banques espagnoles, pour l’essentiel Banco Santander, étaient marginales et arrivant à maturité dans les deux mois.A fin février 2012, les fonds maintenaient des allocations significatives à des émetteurs des principaux pays européens (France, Allemagne, Royaume-Uni et Pays-Bas), tout en augmentant parallèlement leurs investissements dans les institutions financières australiennes, scandinaves, japonaises et canadiennes.

L’allemand Deka Immobilien a acheté pour environ 132 millions d’euros l’immeuble de bureaux «The Rock» (30.000 mètres carrés) situé à Amsterdam auprès d’Evans Randall. Cet actif est affecté au fonds immobilier offert au public WestInvest InterSelect, ce qui porte à 10,5 % contre 8,1 % du portefeuille la part des immeubles néerlandais de ce fonds dont la stratégie consiste à réduire légèrement la part des actifs allemands et à rajeunir le parc.

Ken Hsia vient de reprendre la gestion des fonds d’actions européennes onshore et offshore d’Investec dans le cadre de la réorganisation mise en œuvre par le groupe de gestion sud-africain, rapporte InvestmentEurope.Ken Hsia, chez Investec depuis sept ans, aura la responsabilité des fonds d’actions European (27,6 millions de livres d’actifs sous gestion) et Continental European (60 millions de livres d’encours). Il remplace à ce poste Nigel Hankin, qui continuera d’assumer la fonction de responsable sectoriel au sein de l'équipe actions 4Factor d’Investec.

The German asset management firm Deka Immobilien has acquired “The Rock” (30,000 square metres), an office property located in Amsterdan, from Evans Randall for about EUR132m. The property will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund WestInvest InterSelect, bringing the proportion of the portfolio invested in Netherlands properties from 8.1% to 10.5%, with the strategy of slightly reducing the exposure of the portfolio to Germany, and to bring younger properties into the portfolio.

Ken Hsia has taken over as manager of onshore and offshore European equity funds at Investec, as part of a reshuffle at the South African asset management firm, InvestmentEurope reports. Hsia, who has been at Investec for seven years, will be responsible for equity funds, including the European (GBP27.6m in assets under management) and Continental European (GBP60m in assets). He replaces Nigel Hankin, who will continue to serve as sectoral head in the 4Factor equities team at Investec.

European money market funds, which began reducing their exposure to Spain and Italy in summer 2011, had virtually eliminated their exposured to the two countries as of the end of February, Fitch Ratings announced in its most recent monthly bulleting about European money market funds. European money market funds had already reduced their exposure to Greece, Ireland and Portugal to 0% in 2009 and 2010. Fitch states that as of the end of February, European money market funds no longer had any exposure to Italian banks, and allocation to Spanish banks, mostly to Banco Santander, were marginal and would be maturing in the next two months. As of the end of February 2012, funds maintained a significant allocation to issuers in major European countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands), while increasing their investments in Australian, Scandinavian, Japanese and Canadian financial institutions.

The hedge fund sector has done well in first quarter, but has not really shined, according to information from the major press agencies. Third Point Partners by Daniel Loeb gained 7.1% in first quarter, with the Third Point Ultra fund posting gains of 10%. Greenlight Capital by David Einhorn has posted gains of 6.9% for the first three months of the year. There are many good results, but no exceptional ones. Hedge funds have earned an average of about 2.3% in first quarter, according to analysts at BofA Merrill Lynch, compared with gains of 12% for the Standard & Poor’s 500. The hedge fund giant John Paulson is a good illustration of the muted mood for hedge fund quarterly results. The oldest portfolio from the management firm, Paulson Partners, has earned gains of 6.6% in first quarter, and the Paulson Enhanced Fund has gained 13.3%. But the Advantage fund lost 1.05%, and its leveraged version Advantage Plus lose 2.23%. The Glod fund lost 13.41% in March, and has lost 6.37% over the quarter.

The German life insurer Stuttgarter Lebensversicherung has launched unit-linked retirement insurance policies which invest in five ETFs from iShares, Das Investment reports. The funds in question are the following: iShares MSCI World, iShares Dax, iShares Euro Stoxx 50, iShares S&P 500, and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets.

Union Investment Real Estate, an affiliate of the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks, has acquired the office property Rosmarin Karree, located on Friedrichstraße in Berlin, for an undisclosed amount for the portfolio of its UniImmo: Deutschland open-ended real estate fund.The property, with 11,76 square metres of office space, 3,196 square metres of rental apartmnets and 2,61 square metres of shops, is leased for the long term to the DSGV association of savings banks, which now controls 100% of DekaBank, the central asset management firm for the savings banks.

According to statistics from the Swiss firm Alix Capital, the UCITS Alternative Index Global, which measures the performance of UCITS hedge funds, fell 0.49% in March, following returns of 0.87% in February and 1.37% in January. Since the beginning of the year, these funds have posted average gains of 1.75%.All strategies, excluding fixed income, which have gained 0.31%, show losses in March, with the heaviest losses (1.70%) from emerging market funds.

Employees from Clariden Leu, the former Credit Suisse affiliate, have decided to found the wealth management firm Metropole Partners, the specialist website finews reports. The firm was founded in mid-March, and will have 30 employees, including 15 client advisers, as well as portfolio managers and back-office assistants. The initiative was initiated by the American Anthony Cagiati, a former banker at Clariden Leu The members of the board of directors include client advisers Bruno Lienhart (formerly of Clariden Leu) and Christian Sieber (formerly of Bank Leu). The former banker and lawyer Christian Brunner will stand for the position of chairman of the board of directors. He is currently a partner at the Zurich-based research agency Brunner & Decurtins.

The common funds for employee shareholders in France Telecom, which owns 3% of capital, has decided to present a resolution at the general shareholders’ meeting on 5 June which would reduce the dividend from EUR1.40 to EUR1, Les Echos reports. The management of the firm is reportedly not opposed to the proposal.

The day after the official launch of its new French asset management firm, Russell Investments France, the US firm Russell Investments has announced the recruitment of Alexandre Attal (already named in yesterday’s Newsmanagers) as a portfolio manager and analyst. Attal, who joins the firm from Barclays Wealth Managers France, will report to Alain Zeitouni, CIO at Russell Investments France. He will be in charge of analysis and management of multi-asset class portfolios managed for clients of the Paris office of Russell Investments, and will support its commercial development. The other recruitment is the result of a transfer, as Jean-David Larson, the new director of client solutions, who has spent five years at Russell Investments in Seattle, where he had most recently been chief of staff, is transferred to France. In his new role, he will be in charge of client offerings; he will also participate in the design of multi-asset solutions and to commercial development.

The IFA group Infinitis on 5 April announced that it now has 205 agencies, with 313 member IFAs. Infinitis has seen inflows of EUR115m (excluding real estate) in 2011, with assets under management of EUR287m. All agencies of the group combine have assets of EUR2.7bn. The 2012 objective is to reach 300 agencies, in order to draw nearer to its ultimate goal of 400 member agencies.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners has announced the appointments of François Hullo as head of bond management at BNPP AM and of David Bouchoucha as head of institutional sales for southern Europe. Hullo will lead a team composed of 100 investment professionals in 8 countries, a statement says.Hullo has worked for over 24 years at the BNP Paribas group, half of it at BNPP IP. Before his appointment, he had been head of institutional sales for southern Europe at BNPP IP. Between 2000 and 2004, he set up the alternative investment structure at BNPP IP, and developed a complete range of structured and alternative products.Bouchoucha, for his part, joined BNPP IP in May 2010, as head of mission, reporting to the CEO and deputy head of institutional sales for southern Europe. He joined BNP Paribas in 2007 as head of strategy for the group, and managed several projects in collaboration with the general management.

Finance professionals can be satisfied. According to a survey by eFinancialCareers in the United States, set pay levels for finance professionals rose 6% in 2011. Nearly half of professionals surveyed (47%) say they are “very” or “rather satisfied” with their pay scales in 2011, compared with 43% in 2010. Nearly half of professionals, 54% of respondents, saw a pay raise in the space of one year. The raises were largest at boutiques and alternative management firms, at +14% and +13%.

Pending the publication of a complete study of the ETF market, the Hanover-based research agency Kommalpha has published a survey of professional investors which finds that the growth margin for this type of fund is limited. According to 43.4% of respondents, the needs of new ETF promoters are considered weak, while 47.4% estimate that these needs are highly limited. In other words, over 90% consider that there is no room for new ETF providers, while 3.9% think that this is a major need, and 2.6% consider it most important.

The European financial market regulator is in the home stretch to impose new regulations governing exchange-traded funds (ETF) and all UCITS funds which use index replication or securities lending techniques, from second quarter this year. Professionals responded to a consultation launched earlier this year. According to Agefi, the major actors in the sector, Lyxor Am and BlackRock, are satisfied overall with the framework proposed. For example, BlackRock would like to see securities lending, counterparty risks and potential conflicts of interest mentioned in product prospectuses. Actors appear sceptical of ESMA’s collateral diversification proposals.

The US bank JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay USD20m to the commodity futures trading commission (CFTC), the Financial Times reports. The US regulator accused the firm of illegally managing the separate accounts of Lehman Brothers clients.

Switzerland and Germany on 5 April signed a new tax agreement, according to a statement released by the Swiss federal finance department (DFF). The protocol comes as an amendment to an agreement signed in September 2011, and defines the tax rate for regularising offshore assets. The tax rate, initially planned to be between 19% and 34%, will now be between 21% and 41%. The entry into force of the new regulations will take place at the start of next year. The law is extended to apply to inheritances taking place after the entry into force of the agreement. In case of succession, the heirs may choose either to pay a tax of 50% or to declare the assets, the DFF states. Meanwhile, the maximum number of authorised requests for information from the time the agreement comes into effect will be raised from 999 to 1,300 for a period of two years. There will no longer be a way to transfer assets from German taxpayers in Switzerland to other third-party countires without declaring the transfer. The DFF claims that the agreement is a significant contribution to tax equality. It respects the protection of the privacy of banking clients in Switzerland, while guaranteeing that legal taxes are recovered in Germany. There are also plans to improve procedural aspects related to activities between the two states in the financial sector. Strengthened collaboration of the surveillance authorities in the two countries and respect for national legislation will allow for improvements to banking procedures for Swiss banks in Germany, making them simpler and faster. The changes will have little effect on the opinions of the German opposition, who hold a majority in the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the German Parliament, which represents the regions, and is planning to block the passage of the bill.

The Wall Street Journal reports that US bankruptcy judge Burton R. Lifland on Wednesday evening ruled that Irving Picard, trustee for the business interests of Bernard Madoff, may modify his initial lawsuit in order to seek about USD5.5m from the daughters-in-law of the fraudster, Stephanie Mack, widow of Mark Madoff, Susan Elkin, his first wife, and Deborah Madoff, wife of Andrew Madoff.

The French financial market authority (AMF) on 5 April announced that it has integrated guidelines by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on automated trading into a position published on that date (issue 2012-03). The terms of the regulations will be effective from 7 May 2012, the AMF states. The guidelines, based on financial market instrument directives (MiFID) and market abuse regulations, lay out the appropriate way to apply certain directives, and introduces specific clauses related to their application in the particular area of automated trading, including high-frequency trading. The regulations apply primarily to the following activities: operation of an electronic trading system by a regulated market or a multilateral trading system (SMN); use of an electronic trading system, including trading algorithms, by an investment firm, for trading on its own behalf or execution of orders for clients; provision of direct access to the market or sponsored access to an investment business to execute orders on behalf of its clients.

The bottom line for March published by the German BVI association of asset management firms (see Newsmanagers of 5 April) finds that three of the major asset management firms have posted net inflows to open-ended securities funds, with net subscriptions in first quarter totalling about EUR1.15bn. The firms are Allianz Asset Management, which alone attracted EUR2.86bn, largely thanks to Pimco Europe, the DWS/DB Advisors/DB family (Deutsche Bank), which took on EUR515.1m (including EUR504.5m for ETFs from db x-trackers), and Union Investment (co-operative banks), with net inflows of EUR114m.However, Deka (savings banks) underwent net outflows of EUR1.43bn in January-March, while BlackRock, with its iShares brand ETFs, saw outflows of nearly EUR1bn, ComStage (ETF provider from Commerzbank) has seen net redemptions of EUR289m.For ETFs, the provider for the Deka group, ETFlab, has posted net subscriptions of EUR64.5m.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) has appointed Marcel van Ostaden as director of sales for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Van Ostaden will be based in Amsterdam. Before joining LOIM, he had been director of sales for the Netherlands at BlackRock, since 2005. LOIM managed EUR28bn as of the end of 2011.

After an extended period of uncertainty and volatility on the markets, several top-calibre operations in first quarter are an indication that the initial public offering market in Europe is rebounding. The “IPO Watch” report from PwC finds that 58 operations were undertaken in first quarter 2012 on European stock markets, totalling EUR2.3bn, compared with EUR0.9bn in fourth quarter 2011, and EUR3bn in first quarter 2011. The average value of the operations is EUR50m, compared with EUR17m in fourth quarter 2011, and EUR39m in first quarter 2011. Although activities remain muted compared with their historic levels, outlooks have been boosted by encouraging transactions by several recent issuers. Thierry Charron, a partner at PwC specialised in capital markets, “initial offering prices are at the high end of the price range, and new issuers overall have been performing well after their initial public offerings, which is clearly a good sign for companies which are considering a launch on the stock market this year. The initial offering from Ziggo may lead other companies financed by private equity funds to follow suit.” The Us IPO market has also rebounded in first quarter 2012, with 44 operations and EUR4.4bn raised, an increase in volume of 33% compared with the 433 initial offerings in first quarter 2011. There has also been strong interest on the US markets from secondary market investors in new issuers following their initial offerings, which has led to positive returns for 80% of companies which launched on the stock markets this quarter.

Following the departure of David Gagnon in January, Anthony Swift, his deputy, becomes AsPac head of transition management & product development at BlackRock, Asian Investors reoprts. Swift has been a member of the transition management team since December 2009, after spending a decade at Barclays Global Investors (BGI).

Rathbone Investment Management, an affiliate of Rathbone Brothers, has acquired the wealth management firm RM Walkden & Company, Investment Week reports. The cost of the acquisition is said to have been GBP948,393. Assets under management at Rathbone Investment Management total GBP15.8bn.