Citant CFNews, le quotidien indique que le champion français de la livraison de fleurs s’apprête à passer sous la coupe d’un tandem de fonds d’investissement, HLD (créé en mai 2010 notamment par l’ancien patron de Wendel, Jean-Bernard Lafonta) et Chevrillon Associés. 21 Partners, fonds de la famille Benetton, passera la main dans le cadre d’une opération orchestrée par la banque Leonardo valorisant l’enseigne un peu moins de 150 millions d’euros.

Selon la Banque de Grèce, les volumes négociés en avril sur HDAT se sont élevés à 1,4 milliard d’euros contre 10,6 milliards un an plus tôt

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Si le pays ne prend pas les mesures nécessaires, il pourrait s’écarter du programme établi avec les instances internationales, menace le FMI

Le retrait du stimulus devra passer par un relèvement des taux avant des cessions d'actifs, estiment les responsables de la Fed

Société de gestion de SCPI agréée en avril, Primonial Reim ouvre son capital à UFFB, banque holding du groupe UFF, à hauteur de 33,3 %. Leur objectif est de « mettre rapidement à disposition des ménages français une large gamme de SCPI de rendement et fiscales, traduisant leurs convictions sur les marchés immobiliers». Primonial Reim vise un milliard d’euros d’actifs gérés à horizon 2014.

Le fonds a entamé une réflexion stratégique sur sa participation majoritaire dans la chaîne de lunettes Alain Afflelou, a déclaré hier à Reuters un dirigeant de ce fonds d’investissement. «C’est le début du début de la réflexion», a indiqué le président de Bridgepoint pour la France Benoît Bassi, précisant qu’aucun processus de vente n’avait commencé ni qu’aucun mandat n’avait été donné à une banque.

L’Autorité des marchés financiers et l’Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité ont signé une convention pour renforcer la régulation des publicités sur les produits financiers. Face au développement de certaines publicités douteuses, notamment sur internet, il était nécessaire de joindre les expertises des deux autorités pour renforcer et diffuser les bonnes pratiques auprès des professionnels concernés, explique un communiqué commun. Dominique Baudis, président de l’ARPP, a indiqué que très prochainement, une fiche de doctrine sur la publicité de produits financiers complexes et à effet de levier sera publiée par l’ARPP, prélude à l’élaboration d’une recommandation déontologique plus générale. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, président de AMF a ajouté que «la signature de cette convention marque un tournant important dans notre action quotidienne de protection de l’épargne.»

Morgan Stanley vient de lancer son premier fonds de private equity libellé en yuan en Chine. Il vise atteindre les 1,5 milliard de yuan (230 millions de dollars).

Au cours de sa réunion des 4 et 5 mai, le Comité de politique monétaire (CPM) de la Banque d’Angleterre avait maintenu son taux directeur à 0,50%, niveau historiquement bas auquel il est fixé depuis mars 2009. Il avait également maintenu la suspension de son programme de rachats d’actifs. Mais les minutes de la réunion montrent que ce statu quo a été adopté sur fond de voix discordantes. Comme en avril, trois membres du Comité se sont prononcés en faveur d’une hausse du taux d’intérêt directeur de l’institution afin de contrer une inflation galopante. Venant soutenir cette thèse, les prix à la consommation se sont à nouveau envolés en avril au Royaume-Uni, où l’inflation a atteint 4,5% sur un an, un record depuis plus de deux ans. Les six autres membres qui ont voté pour un maintien du taux ont noté qu’ « un relèvement du taux directeur dans le contexte actuel pourrait avoir un impact négatif sur la confiance des consommateurs». En raison même de ces inquiétudes persistantes sur la reprise économique, un des membres du Comité s’est prononcé pour le huitième mois consécutif pour une extension de 50 milliards de livres du programme de rachats d’actifs.

La banque centrale chinoise a acheté pour 310,7 milliards de yuans (33,45 milliards d’euros) de devises étrangères en avril, selon les chiffres officiels publiés mercredi. Pour maintenir la stabilité du taux de change du renminbi, la Banque populaire de Chine injecte des yuans dans le système bancaire en achetant des capitaux des banques commerciales qui entrent sur le marché des changes.

Les efforts de la Grèce pour réduire son déficit budgétaire tomberont à l’eau si le gouvernement n’accélère pas ses réformes fiscales et structurelles, a déclaré mercredi le chef de mission du FMI à Athènes. Poul Thomsen, chef de mission du FMI à Athènes, a averti que sans des réformes supplémentaires, le pays ne pourrait guère faire passer son déficit sous la barre des 10%.

L'économie espagnole a enregistré une légère croissance au premier trimestre, grâce aux exportations soutenues à destination de la zone euro qui ont compensé une consommation morose, selon les données officielles publiées. L'économie espagnole a connu une croissance trimestrielle de 0,3%, conformément aux estimations initiales et après avoir progressé de 0,2% au trimestre précédent, a indiqué l’Institut national des statistiques.

Philippe Wahl, the new head of La Banque Postale, would like to revise the firm’s partnership agreement with Oddo over their joint venture La Banque Postale Gestion Privée (BPGP), which is 49% controlled by Oddo, Les Echos reports. The success of the partnership appears to have made the public banking group hungry for more, and has made it regret the conditions of the initial agreement. The banking establishment is said to have two major reasons for being discontented: the way that costs for BPGP are distributed between La Banque Postale and the management firm led by Philippe Oddo, and the commercial profits that each derives from it. The objective would be to renegotiate the terms of the partership, whose term will conclude in 18 months, in order to “develop other forms of cooperation,” sources close to Philippe Wahl say.

The US management firm Janus Capital Group has not managed to stem the bleeding. Bloomberg reports that two of its largest equities funds have been removed from the reference portfolio at Bank of America Merrill Lynch: the Janus Twenty Fund (Usd9.24bn in assets), and the Janus Forty Fund (USD6.29bn). The head of Janus, Richard Weil, made an effort to ease the redemptions by extending the product range (90% of assets are invesfted in equities), with the launch of bond funds, the recent announcement of the acquisition of a hedge fund, and plans to launch alternative products. Nonetheless, the past seven quarters have brought a net outflow of USD18.5bn. As of 31 March 2011, assets under management at Janus totalled USD174bn, compared with a peak of USD321bn in 2000.

As part of an initiative to develop in Asia, BlackRock has created a position for a chief operating officer for ETF activities in the Asia-Pacific region, and appointed Albert Yeh, who left a similar position in the equities unit of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in April, to fill the position, Asian Investor reports. Yeh, who will be based in Hong Kong, will begin in his new position in August, and will report to Nick Good, head of iShares for the Asia-Pacific region.

Threadneedle has announced that 26 of its SICAV funds have been registered in Sweden following approval by Finansinspektionen, the Swedish regulator, as per 20 April 2011. They are the first products launched by the UK asset manager in the Scandinavian country. Threadneedle has no physical presence in Sweden, but has a representative office in Copenhagen, serving all of Scandianvia, and led by Nina Movin. The complete list of Threadneedle funds registered in Sweden is as follows:Threadneedle (Lux) - Absolute Emerging Market Macro Threadneedle (Lux) - American Absolute AlphaThreadneedle (Lux) - American SelectThreadneedle (Lux) - AsiaThreadneedle (Lux) - Emerging Market Corporate BondsThreadneedle (Lux) - Emerging Market DebtThreadneedle (Lux) - Enhanced CommoditiesThreadneedle (Lux) - Euro Active BondsThreadneedle (Lux) - European Quantitative EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - European Smaller Companies Absolute AlphaThreadneedle (Lux) - Global Asset AllocationThreadneedle (Lux) - Global Bonds (Euro)Threadneedle (Lux) - Global Bonds (US$)Threadneedle (Lux) - Global Emerging Market EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - Global Emerging Market Short-Term BondsThreadneedle (Lux) - Global Energy EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - Global High Yield and Emerging Market EuroThreadneedle (Lux) - Global TechnologyThreadneedle (Lux) - Greater China EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - Multi Asset Absolute AlphaThreadneedle (Lux) - Pan European EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - Pan European Smaller CompaniesThreadneedle (Lux) - Target Return (US$)Threadneedle (Lux) - US EquitiesThreadneedle (Lux) - US$ High Income BondsThreadneedle (Lux) - World Equities

UBS Italia has recruited Paola Palponi as head of development for ultra high net worth clients, those with more than EUR30m. Valponi will be based in Milan, and previously worked at JP Morgan, where she was head of the private client advisory team, as a senior banker in the investment bank.

HSBC Global Asset Management has launched two bond funds in Italy, investing in emerging markets: HSBC GIF Global Emerging Markets Corporate Debt and HSBC GIF Global Emerging Markets Investment Grade Bond. Both are sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav HSBC Global Investment Funds (GIF). They are managed by a team led by Guillermo Osses.

The French asset manager UFG-LFP will open, via its Luxembourg firm UFG-LFP International, a representative office in Milan following approval of the local regulators. The office, which will have a staff of two people, will open by 31 July 2011 at the latest. In Italy, the firm will promote five funds: LFP Convertible Dynamique, LFP Obligations Emergentes, LFP Protectaux, LFP Europe Impact Emergent (license pending), and LFP Trésorerie (license pending). The opening of the new office is part of a wider development strategy in Europe, in which Luxembourg plays a central role. The European continent has been divided into two zones, north and south, beginning from 31 July. Northern Europe, which includes the Scandinavian countries (Finland, Denmark, and Sweden), Benelux, and Germany, will be overseen yb Yves Van Langenhove, who has recently joined UFG-LFP after serving as head of European sales for the alternative range from Invesco, and a period at Fortis Investments. Southern Europe, which includes Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, will be overseen by Jean-Philippe Besse, who was already employed at the group. In addition to the new office in Italy, UFG-LFP will rely on its Madrid office, with two personnel, to develop the local UFG-LFP Iberia brand, in which the French firm owns a 66% stake. Augusto Martin Garcia, formerly of Crédit Agricole Asset Management, who was most recently head of international development for Tressis, has been put in charge of the brand.International assets at UFG-LFP now total EUR800m, out of total assets under management of EUR35bn. The management firm is aiming for 5% of total assets under management to be international in two to three years.

Funds of hedge funds registered in Switzerland and denominated in US dollars have remained in positive territory (+0.6%) for first quarter 2011, Agefi Suisse reports, following returns of 3.6% in the previous quarter. In the same period, the MSCI global equities index gained 4.2% for first quarter, and the Goldman Sachs commodities index gained narly 11%. Meanwhile, according to estimates from the centre for alternative investments and risk management at the university of Zurich (ZHAW), assets under management in funds of hedge funds registered in Switzerland gained 3% in first quarter 2011, largely due to net inflows. However, “one could not say that there has been a sustainable recovery of funds of hedge funds registered in Switzerland,” the institute finds. No major movements have been observed for nearly two years, either in terms of performance or inflows.

Fidelity will vote against the re-election of Harvey McGrath, chairman of Prudential, the Financial Times reports. The management firm is unsatisfied with the way in which he handled the group’s failed bid for the Asian life insurer AIA.

Hedge fund industry leverage declined in the last 12 months, according to the HFR Leverage Report, released today by Hedge Fund Research, Inc. (HFR). Leverage declined as investor inflows and less volatile performance gains combined to increase global hedge fund industry assets to a record USD2.02 trillion. Average standard leverage decreased across all hedge fund strategies from 1.27 to 1.10 times investment capital, while average margin to equity also declined, falling from 17.13 to 16.98 percent, year over year. The percentage of funds which do not typically utilize leverage rose to approximately one third of all funds, an increase of four percent over last year, while over half of all funds utilize leverage of between one and two times their investment capital. Larger hedge funds characteristically employ a higher level of leverage: 23 percent of funds with greater than USD1 billion in assets under management (AUM) utilize leverage of between two and five times investment capital.

In the month of March, the volatility of the financial markets due to uncertainties surrounding the disasters in Japan and turbulences connected with the “Arab spring” triggered a major wave of redemptions, which resulted in a net outflow of EUR9.4bn, where the month of February had seen a net inflow of nearly EUR27bn, according to the most recent statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). Long-term UCITS funds (excluding money markets) saw a net outflow of EUR3.4bn, the first outflow since May 2010, compared with inflows of EUR19.2bn in February. Equities funds posted a net outflow of nearly EUR11bn, following a net inflows of EUR3.7bn in February, while bond funds saw redemptions of nearly EUR300m, following over EUR4bn in subscriptions in February. Only diversified funds resisted the general trend, with net inflows of EUR6.6bn, compared with EUR8.8bn one month earlier. Money market funds, which had attracted EUR7.6bn in February, in March underwent a net outflow of EUR6bn, possibly related to end-of quarter redemptions. Net inflows to non-UCITS funds fell to EUR7.3bn in March, from EUR9.3bn the previous month, largely due to a lower level of inflows to dedicated funds (EUR6.6bn in March, compared with EUR8.6bn in February). As of the end of March, assets in UCITS funds totalled EUR5.838bn, down 1.4% compared with February. Assets in non-UCITS funds, for their part, were up 0.3%, to EUR1.956trn.

Investor confidence in global growth outlooks and corporate profits collapsed in May, according to the most recent BofA Merrill Lynch survey (Fund Manager Survey May 2011), conducted between 6 and 12 May, and covering a sample of 284 respondents, with collective assets under management of USD814bn. The percentage of managers who predict that the global economy will strengthen in the next twelve months has fallen to a net total of 10%, compared with 27% in April, and 58% in February this year. Meanwhile, only a net 9% of respondents predict that corporate profits will improve in the next year. The decline in investor optimism has been particularly manifest in Europe, where 8% of respondents predict that the economy will turn bearish in the next twelve months. A mere two months ago, on the contrary, 32% of respondents predicted that the economy would strengthen. Allocators are particularly concerned about the risks related to a sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone. In a more difficult context in which inflationary risks are looming, 73% of respondents to the survey are not predicting that US interest rates will be raised until 2012, while in April, 69% expected a rate hike from the Federal Reserve before the end of the year. However, appetite for risk has fallen, but to a limited extent. Managers have reduced their exposure to equities and commodities, while slightly increasing their allocation to bonds. Aversion to risk is slightly more apparent in the sectoral rotation, where there is now a preference for defensive sectors (such as pharmaceuticals), and less presence in more volatile growth sectors (energy). The survey also shows that allocations to emerging markets equities are continuing to increase, even at a time when growth outlooks are less bright, and investor confidence is weakening. For example, 28% of emerging markets managers in May are predicting a slowdown for the Chinese economy in the next twelve months, compared with 15% in March. Nonetheless, 29% of respondents are now overweight in emerging markets, compared with a neutral position two months earlier. In terms of currencies, 64% of respondents to the survey, a great majority of whom are predicting an improvement in the Japanese economy in the next year, estimate that the yen is overvalued, about as many as in previous months. Meanwhile, 60% consider the euro overvalued, compared with 40% one month earlier. However, 48% of respondents say that the dollar is undervalued, compared with 36% in April.

L’américain Janus Capital Group n’arrive pas à enrayer l’hémorragie. Selon Bloomberg, deux parmi ses plus grands fonds d’actions ont été retirés du portefeuille de référence de Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Il s’agit de Janus Twenty Fund (9,24 milliards de dollars d’encours) et de Janus Forty Fund (6,29 milliards de dollars).Le patron de Janus, Richard Weil, a tenté d’enrayer les rachats en élargissant son offre (90% de ses actifs sont investis en actions) avec le lancement de fonds obligataires, en annonçant récemment l’acquisition d’un hedge fund ainsi qu’un projet d’ introduction de produits alternatifs. Il reste que les sept derniers trimestres se sont soldés par une décollecte nette de 18,5 milliards de dollars. Au 31 mars 2011, les actifs sous gestion de Janus s’élevaient 174 milliards de dollars, à comparer à un sommet de 321 milliards de dollars en 2000.

Following the funds of funds Altex Arb & Quant, Altex Visión Global and Altex Man GLG, Altex Partners on 13 May registered A-class shares (in US dollars) for its first single hedge fund, the Altex UCITS PE Fx conservative, which is the Luxembourg UCITS-compliant version of a hedge fund managed by the US firm PE Investments, with the Spanish regulatory authority, the CNMV. The fund will be available from Tressis. The product is a systematic currency fund which invests via forwards in 14 currencies against the US dollar, with long and short positions. The product was launched in October, and has assets of EUR28m.

Since Tuesday, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse includes four new fund listings, for Luxembourg ETFs based on equities indices from ComStage ETF (Commerzbank group). Three of the products replicate German indices, while the fourth is based on the Swiss SPI index. The ComStage ETF SDAX® TR (LU0603942888) charges fees of 0.70%, while the ComStage ETF DivDAX® TR (LU0603933895) charges a management commission of 0.25%, and the ComStage ETF ShortDAX® TR (LU0603940916) charges 0.30%. The ComStage ETF SPI® TR (LU0603946798), which replicates the SPI TR index calculated by the Swiss stock exchange (SIX), charges 0.40%.

L’endettement moyen des hedge funds a baissé ces 12 derniers mois, selon le HFR Leverage Report publié mardi par Hedge Fund Research, alors que les encours du secteur ont atteint un niveau record de 2.020 milliards de dollars. Ainsi, le levier moyen des hedge funds est revenu de 1,27 à 1,10 fois le capital investi. La part des fonds n’ayant pas recours à l’endettement a augmenté pour passer à un tiers de l’ensemble des fonds, soit une hausse de 4 % sur l’année dernière, tandis que plus de la moitié des fonds utilisent un levier compris entre une et deux fois leur capital investi.Les hedge funds les plus gros emploient en général un levier plus important, note HFR. Ainsi, 23 % des fonds gérant plus de 1 milliard de dollars d’encours utilisent un levier entre deux et cinq fois le capital.

Dans le cadre de son développement en Asie, BlackRock vient de créer un poste de chief operating officer pour les activités d’ETF dans la région Asie-Pacifique, qui a été confié à Albert Yeh. Ce dernier a quitté fin avril des fonctions similaires pour le pôle actions chez Bank of America Merrill Lynch, rapporte Asian Investor.Albert Ye, qui sera basé à Hong Kong, prendra ses fonctions au mois d’août. Il sera rattaché à Nick Good, responsable de iShares pour la région Asie-Pacifique.