29/04/2010
En forte hausse, la volatilité du Bund voit sa pente s’inverser
Une résolution de la crise grecque semble un préalable avant de prendre des positions vendeuses
29/04/2010
La dette périphérique dans un cercle vicieux
Perspectives de ventes forcées et appels de marge alimentent la défiance des marchés
29/04/2010
La dette périphérique dans un cercle vicieux
Perspectives de ventes forcées et appels de marge alimentent la défiance des marchés
29/04/2010
La BCE peut-elle sauver l'Europe ?
L’hystérie collective a de nouveau frappé les marchés financiers. Le coût de refinancement à deux ans de la dette grecque a bondi de 1.500 points de base sur les sept derniers jours. Un quart de cette dette devant arriver à maturité d’ici deux ans, la charge d’intérêt explose et conduit les agences à abaisser la notation, en «junk» désormais chez S&P. Si les autres agences suivent, elles risquent de déclencher un sell-off général puisque les banques européennes ne pourront plus se refinancer avec les papiers grecs auprès de la BCE et la plupart des fonds et assureurs ne peuvent pas conserver de titres non «investment grade» dans leur portefeuille. Encore faudra-t-il trouver un acheteur…
28/04/2010
Hedge funds still had net outflows at end-February, according to Morningstar
In February, single hedge funds covered by Morningstar posted net subscriptions of over USD2.58bn, meaning that with redemptions in January taken into account, net outflows in the first four months of the year have totalled nearly USD1.03bn. The ratings agency reports that its Morningstar 1000 index of hedge funds in March posted returns of 2.77%, which puts the total at 1.63% for first quarter as a whole. Results got a boost from rising global equities indices in March. Though hedge funds remain cautious, they are beginning to get involved in equities markets once again, says John Rekenthaler, vice president of research. The best performance in March and for first quarter was for the distressed strategy, with 5.81% and 7.42%. However, the short bias strategy shows losses of 0.48% in march and 2.36% in January-March.
28/04/2010
GAI: Hedge funds gained more than 1.5% in March
According to Greenwich Alternative Investments (GAI), the Greenwich Composite Investable Hedge Fund Index posted returns in March of 1.52%, which gives it gains in the first three months of the year of 1.59%. All strategies posted gains in March and in first quarter. In March, the best-performing strategy was investable futures, with 3.03%. In January-March, the largest gains were for event-driven strategies, with 5.61%, ahead of long/short credit (3.30%).
28/04/2010
Union, Threadneedle and Fidelity are top 3 fund managers in January-March, according to Feri
Only three of the 34 major asset management firms with at least 25 funds on sale in the German market which are rated by Feri EuroRatings have managed to earn high ratings of A or B for over 50% of their funds in first quarter. The number one in the rankings, as in fourth quarter 2009, is Union Investment (see Newsmanagers of 4 February). The management firm for the German co-operative banks has 46 funds rated A or B out of 83, which is a percentage of 55.4% (compared with 62% in October-December). The second-place asset management firm remains Threadneedle, with 23 funds rated A or B out of 44, for a percentage of 52.3% (compared with 52% in fourth quarter 2009). Fidelity is in third place, with 25 A or B-rated funds out of 50, for 50%, compared with 46.5%. Pictet is next in the rankings, with 48%, followed by Universal-Investment (42.9%), BlackRock (40.8%), DWS, LGT Group and JPMorgan, with 40%, 40%, and 37.7%, respectively. In the category of asset management firms with 8 to 24 funds rated by Feri EuroRatings, Vitruvius remains the top provider with 88.9%, followed by StarCapital (87.5%). Third place in this class goes to M&G Investments (78.6%). Carmignac Gestion is sin sixth place, with 6 funds rated A or B out of 9, or 66.7%, followed by Baring AM with 64.3% (Baring was in third place in October-December, with 71.4%).
28/04/2010
First local ETF fund has AED18m
The first ETF in the Gulf region, launched one month ago (see Newsmanagers of 25 March), the NBAD OneShare Dow Jones UAE 25 ETF, had assets as of 26 April of 18 million United Arab Emirates dirhams (AED18.83m; AED100 = USD27.22). The product, launched by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), replicates the Dow Jones UAE 25 Total Return index, and is traded on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange (ADX). Initially, the heaviest exposures in the index are Etisalat, First Gulf Bank, Emaar Properties and NABD. When the weighting of shares is updated, a limit of 8% per line will be introduced.
28/04/2010
Metzler AM joins BVI
The German BVI association of management firms on Tuesday announced that Metzler Asset Management GmbH, an affiliate of Metzler seel. Sohn & C. Holding AG, with assets as of the end of 2009 of EUR5.1bn, has joined the association with immediate effect. The BVI association now has among its members 66 fully licensed capital investment companies, 13 asset management firms, and 6 holding companies, with assets under management of about EUR1.7trn.
28/04/2010
Pension funds give real estate another chance
According to a survey by Institutional Real Estate and Kingsley Associates, pension funds and other major institutional investors are planning to invest USD34bn in real estate, nearly twice as much as the total in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. About one third of this amount will go to safe investments in commercial real estate. Roughly USD8bn would be invested in debt, overseas deals and other kinds of real-estate transactions. Another USD13bn would go to riskier private-equity deals such as land and distressed properties. Only 3.5% of the total would be invested in REITs.
28/04/2010
Peter Hargreaves makes way for a new CEO
Peter Hargreaves is planning to retire from his position as CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown at the end of this year. He has announced that he making way for a younger successor in the position, Fund Strategy reports. Hargreaves, 63, founded the firm in 1981 with Stephen Lansdown. He will be replaced as CEO by Ian Gorham, starting in November. Gorham is currently chief operating officer. Hargreaves will remain as executive director of the firm.
28/04/2010
Nicolas Homassel takes over as head of Natixis Private Equity
In a statement, the board of directors of Natixis Private Equity announced on Tuesday, 27 April that it has appointed Nicolas Homassel, 47, as CEO of Natixis Private Equity. He replaces Jean Duhau de Berenx, who is taking his retirement. François Baubeau has also resigned from his position as deputy CEO. Homassel, who will retain his reponsibilities as executive director of strategy at Natixis, will aim to assist in the evolution of activities at Natixis Private Equity, and particularly its reorientation towards management for third parties. In 2002, Homassel, who has spent his entire career at Natixis, was appointed as head of growth operations at Natexis Banques Populaires. He later became director of strategy for the institution.
28/04/2010
Good start to the year for Lazard
Lazard is doing much better, Les Echos reports. In the first three months of the year, activities overall rose 67%, while revenues from advising (EUR269m) were up 65%, and revenues from mergers and acquisitions (+53%) and restructuring (+64%) were up by nearly as much. Commissions from portfolio management activities, meanwhile, were up 78%.
28/04/2010
USS invests USD135m in Neuberger Berman Secondaries Fund
The British Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is increasing its investment in private equity, through the acquisition of a USD135m stake in the Neuberger Secondary Opportunities Fund II from Lehman Brothers Estate. With this acquisition, USS becomes the largest investor in the fund, which has Usd1.77bn in assets, raised in July 2008.
28/04/2010
Deutsche Börse releases statistics on order books
The Market Data & Analytics division of Deutsche Börse on Tuesday announced two new products, the EnBSol Historical Data Eurex and the EnBSol Historical Data Xetra. These are series of gross historical data by millisecond on the evolution of orders on the Eurex and Xetra electronic trading platforms. The data, which will be available back to 1 January 2010, is intended to allow market operators to develop new algorithms and to optimise strategies. They will be available in the original Enhanced Broadcast Solution (EnBSol) format for each platform.
28/04/2010
Significant rise in profits at comdirect
On Tuesday, comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) announced pre-tax profits for first quarter up 19% to EUR21.2m, while net profits have increased 23% to EUR15.7m (they were a mere EUR7.1m in October-December). Total assets under administration as of the end of March totalled EUR37.56m, which represents an increase of 6% compared with the end of December, half of which is due to market effects, and half to net subscriptions. For B2C activities, assets are up 6% to EUR23.5bn, while for the B2C division (eBase), assets are up 5% to EUR14.1bn.
28/04/2010
La Caixa Banca Privada teams up with fashion designers
La Caixa Banca Privada has signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with the Spanish association of fashion creators (ACME) which will allow its private banking clients benefits which include a loyalty card that entitles them to discounts, and exclusive promotions from participating designers in the fashion industry. The agreement, offered in collaboration with the La Caixa Foundation, also provides for the training and integration of people in danger of social exclusion into the workshops of certain designers affiliated with the ACME. Personalised financial advising will also be made available to these designers. Assets at La Caixa Banca Privada increased last year by 21.5% to a total of EUR40.98bn.
28/04/2010
Petercam registers “green” govies fund
Petercam Institutional Asset Mangaement on Tuesday obtained permission from the CNMV to register the sustainable government bond fund Petercam L Bonds Government Sustainable, which brings the number of products with a license for sale in Spain to 18. The full Luxembourg range from the Belgian management firm is now registered in Spain, also including corporate bonds, high yield, and government bonds, as well as real estate and core and satellite equities portfolios.
28/04/2010
SEC cracks down on side pockets
The SEC has created an enforcement unit with 60 attorneys led by Rob Kaplan and Bruce Karpati to investigate the use of side pockets by private equity funds, hedge funds and other asset managers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some funds examined by the SEC may have provided an inaccurate evaluation of their assets in side pocketseven as they continued to charge commissions on these inflated valuations. The new enforcement unit will also seek to establish to what extent managers are honest when they invest their own money in their funds.
28/04/2010
Beijing approves two new fund management firms
The Chinese regulatory authority CSRC has granted licenses to two new fund management firms, according to the China Securities Journal (which is controlled by the Chinese government). Market Watch reports that they are a joint venture of the Bank of New York Mellon and the Chinese broker Western Securities, and an affiliate of Zheshang Securities Co. Of the 60 existing fund management firms in China, 33 are joint ventures between Chinese and foreign firms.
28/04/2010
Prudential may be dismantled
Capital Group, the largest shareholder in Prudential, is considering dismantling the insurance giant. It has approached three British insurers, including Clive Cowdery’s Resolution and Aviva, to evaluate their potential interest in an acquisition of Pru, Investment Week reports. If potential candidates for the acquisition come forward, Prudential will call off plans to buy the Asian activities of AIG, the article adds.
28/04/2010
Henderson cleans up product range
Henderson Global Investor will offer subscribers and shareholders a series of five fund mergers and eight name changes in May, following the integration of the Henderson and New Star product ranges to form a single platform since 6 April 2010. In the UK equities product range, the Henderson Growth & Income Fund will be absorbed into the Henderson Higher Income Fund, but will continue to be managed by Graham Kitchen and Andy Jones, while the Henderson UK Growth Fund, managed by Trevor Green, will be merged into the Henderson UK Alpha Fund, managed by Stephen Peak. Lastly, the Henderson UK Extra Income Fund, managd by Job Curtis, will be absorbed into the Henderson Managed Distribution Fund, though it will have more “sophisticated” elements which will continue to be managed by John Pattullo, Jenna Barnard and Trevor Green.
28/04/2010
SEI publishes an investment guide
SEI has published an online investment guide (The Global Asset Management Product Guide), which sets out the key regulatory points for various investment vehicles. The guide is aimed at managers who are making an effort to respond to increasingly strong demand on the part of investors to diversify the types of funds in their allocations. Among the products explained are, among others, US mutual funds, ETFs, UCITS funds, closed funds, and British-registered OEIC funds.
28/04/2010
Lombard Odier licenses an affiliate in Spain
The Swiss management firm Lombard Odier is expected to receive a license from the CNMV in the near future to launch activities of a fund and Sicav management affiliate in Spain, Expansión reports. The affiliate will have Claudio Ortea as chief investment officer, assisted by Paula Caruana, who will manage portfolios and Sicavs, after 10 years at BBVA Asset Management.
28/04/2010
State Street investor confidence index down
The State Street Investor Confidence Index has fallen in the month of April. It is down 7.7 points, to 99.7 from a corrected level of 107.4 in March. Investors appear to be the most pessimistic in North America. The regional index for the continent is down 6.7 points to 103.7, from a corrected level of 110.4 points the previous month. In Asia, investo confidence has fallen 6.5 points, from a corrected level of 100.7 to 94.2. Only European institutions are showing rising levels of confidence, with the regional index up slightly, by 1.2 points, from a corrected level of 94.7 to 95.9 points.
28/04/2010
Ökoworld recruits for asset management and sales
The SRI management firm Ökoworld Lux has announced the recruitment on 1 April of Felix Schnella as its third portfolio manager, and Benjamin Saveur as director of distribution in its representative office in Hilden, near Düsseldorf. Schnella was previously an equities manager specialised in sustainable development and active management at Allianz Global Investors. He joins Alexander Fund and Frank Frey, the other two portfolio managers at the firm, in Luxembourg. He will be in charge of managing the SRI funds Ökovision Classic, Europe, Garant 20, Klima and Water For Life. Saveur joins the firm from Pictet & Cie (Europe) SA, where he was sales manager for all retail activities in Frankfurt. At Ökoworld, he will be in charge of the regions of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland; he will be primarily responsible for developing sales of the eight funds of the Ökoworld range to wealth managers, strategic banking partners and IFA networks.
Les hedge funds affichaient encore des sorties nettes fin février, selon Morningstar
En février, les single hedge funds couverts par Morningstar ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes supérieures à 2,58 milliards de dollars, de sorte qu’avec les remboursements de janvier, les sorties nettes du premier bimestre se situent à presque 1,03 milliard de dollars.L’agence de notation indique par ailleurs que son indice Morningstar 1000 des hedge funds a affiché pour mars une performance de 2,77 %, ce qui permet d’atteindre 1,63 % sur l’ensemble du premier trimestre. Les résultats ont été dopés par la hausse des marchés mondiaux des actions en mars. Si les hedge funds demeurent prudents, ils commencent à s’intéresser aux actions, souligne John Rekenthaler, vice president of research.La meilleure performance en mars et pour le premier trimestre 2010 a été enregistrée pour la stratégie «distressed» avec 5,81 % et 7,42 %.En revanche, la stratégie short equity est en perte de 0,48 % pour mars et de 2,36 % pour janvier-mars.
28/04/2010
SEI publie un guide d'investissement
SEI publie un guide d’investissement en ligne (The Global Asset Management Product Guide) détaillant les points clés reglementaires pour divers véhicules d’investissement. Le guide s’adresse aux gérants, qui doivent répondre à une demande de plus en plus forte d’investisseurs souhaitant diversifier les types de fonds dans leur allocation. Parmi les produits expliqués se trouvent entre autres des mutual funds américains, des ETF, des fonds UCITS, des fonds fermés ou encore des OEIC de droit britannique.
GAI : les hedge funds ont gagné plus de 1,5 % en mars
Selon Greewich Alternative Investments (GAI), l’indice de hedge funds Greenwich Composite Investable Hedge Fund Index affiche pour mars une performance de 1,52 %, ce qui lui permet d’enregistrer pour les trois premiers mois de cette année un gain de 1,59 %.Toutes les stratégies ont enregistré des gains en mars ainsi que sur le premier trimestre. Pour mars, la stratégie enregistrant la performance la plus élevée est celle des futures investissables, avec 3,03 %. Sur janvier-mars, le gain le plus important est celui de la stratégie événémentielle, avec 5,61 %, devant le long/short credit (3,30 %).