On Thursday evening, Van Eck Global announced the launch of the Market Vectors Latin America Small-Cap Index ETF (acronym LATM on NYSE Arca), which claims a place as the fisrt publicly-traded ETF in the United States which provides subscribers a way to invest in Latin American small caps of the Market Vectors Latin America Small-Cap Index. The index currently includes 81 shares in companies with a market capitalization of at least USD150m, and a daily trading volume of at least USD1m over the past three months. Currently, the three largest sectors are materials (26%), discretionary consumer goods (23%) and industrials (14%). Management fees for the fund total 0.63%, net. The LATM is the 25th ETF of the Market Vectors range from Van Eck, which has about USD13.5bn in assets.

Charles Schwab Corp has announced that assets in its eight ETFs have now exceeded USD1bn, while assets under management as of 3 February totaled USD570m, the Wall Street Journal reports. The first four products were launched only five months ago, while four more followed in December and January.

As announced earlier this year (see Newsmanagers of 14 January), HDF has launched HDF Marlin, a multi-strategy flexible fund of funds which complies with European UCITS standards. The product offers weekly liquidity with a 2-day advance notice. According to Christophe Jaubert, director of management, “we are looking for performance of 6% to 10% per year, over a three-year period, with reduced volatility.” HDF launched HDF Marlin at the request of certain clients in search of HDF’s expertise in a form which also offers the liquidity and flexibility of the UCITS format. Among the flexible styles and strategies which will be available in the UCITS format (flexible equities, global macro, systematic management, etc.), HDF has selected the ones which are expected to function best in the current economic environment. HDF Marlin is invested with the best expert managers for these flexible styles and strategies. HDF Marlin: Detailed characteristics Date of creation: 23 March 2010 Net assets at launch: EUR35m Classification: Diversified OPCVM Life Insurance: Eligible for unit-linked policies Valuation: weekly (liquidity every Friday) Advance notice for redemption: 2 days, before noon Settlement and transfer: open 3 days after the valuation date (following Wednesday) ISIN codes: IB shares: FR0010868448 , C shares: FR0010868455

First State Investments has added to its personnel in Asia with the goal of developing its presence in the institutional investor market, which currently represents about 40% of its activities, Asian Investor reports. Alexis Ng, who previously worked for First State in Singapore, becomes managing director for South_East Asia, succeeding Lindsay Mann, who left the firm last year. When he has begun his work in this position, Ng will be succeeded in his former position by Edmund Teo, who was previously director of retail distribution, before joining Russell Investments on 1 April. Carol Lin last week began work in her new position in Hong Kong, as director of sales for Taiwan, a newly-created position which marks the first entry of First State into sales in this market. Sabrina Leung, previously of BlackRock in Hong Kong, joins the firm on 13 April in the newly-created position of regional director of sales and communication, which will include countries of the region other than Hong Kong and Singapore. First State has also created a position for a senior product manager for Asia, which will be occupied by Eco Tang, who previously worked for the firm. First State Investments, which is seeking to increase its presence on the markets in which it is already present (Hong Kong and Singapore) and to invest in markets in which its presence is limited (China, South Korea, and Taiwan), is also planning other recruitments in the next few months.

In first quarter, the most conservative Spanish funds (money market and short-term bond funds) saw net redemptions of EUR5.5bn, according to figures from Inverco. Expansión comments that this exodus of investors coincides with promotional campaigns launched in March by Santander, Sabadell and Popular, who are offering savings accounts with 3.75%-4% interest rates. In March along, net outflows from funds totalled EUR2bn. According to the Bank of Spain, banks took in EUR7bn in deposits in January and February.

Amundi ETF announced on Monday, 12 April that it has registered 46 ETFs in the Netherlands. In addition to access to products of the Amundi ETF range through the three largest European stock markets – NYSE Euronext Paris, Deutsche Börse and Borsa Italiana – institutional investors in the Netherlands will now have access to the funds through local registrations. The 46 ETFs which were registered include: -16 Countries & Regions equities ETFs, which allow investors exposure to the major geographical sectors and emerging markets -13 Sectoral ETFs, offering exposure to the major global and European sectors -7 Equities ETFs -1 Money Market ETF, offering transparent and effective investment of liquidity for the short and mid-term. -9 Bond ETFs offering Euro zone government bonds with maturities ranging from 3 months to 15 years, with coverage against inflationary risks, or providing investment in corporates.

The former head of the Santander infrastructure fund, Nicolás Merigó, has been appointed as CEO of Marguerite Admisor, the manager of the largest public fund in Europe dedicated to energy, the 2020 European Fund for Energy, Climate Change & Infrastructure. The fund, which is in the format of a Luxembourg Sicav, may have an investment firepower of EUR6.5bn, of which EUR1.5bn would be in cash.Founded in 2008 under the French EU presidency, the fund is “supported” by Spanish, Italian, German, French and Polish public lending institutions, each of which have contributed EUR100m, Cotizalia reports. Additional contributions of EUR100m each were provided by the Portuguese management firm Caixa General de Depósitos, the Bank of Valleta (Malta) and the European Commission. The partner-promoters have also created a “financing initiative” to issue EUR5bn in debt. The fund is planning to close with EUR1.5bn in capital at the end of this year.

BlackRock said it expected more hedge fund managers to create ETFs by using their own funds as the underlying exposure. Deborah Fuhr, global head of ETF research at BlackRock, cautioned that these new products would be more challenging for investors to understand.

Despite an environment which remains difficult and more uncertain long-term outlooks, outlooks for ratings of money market funds remain stable in the United States and elsewhere in the world, Moody’s says in its annual report on money market funds, which finds that liquidity and the quality of credit improved last year. In the United States, regulatory changes likely to come by the end of the year may bring deep changes to the money market fund sector.

The index provider Stoxx on 12 April announced the launch of the Stoxx Europe 600 Daily Short Index, along with 19 sectoral indices which will replicate a daily douhble short investment strategy.

Citywire, which coined the term “Newcits” to describe UCITS III-compliant hedge fund strategies, has created a database of these funds. The database, which will be updated monthly, includes ratings of 276 funds using 13 strategies, of which the largest category is long/short, with 70 funds, followed by credit strategies (44), multi-strategy (36) and market neutral (25). Assets under management in these funds total about USD49bn. Three quarters of these products have a one-year track record, while 40% have a three-year track record.

US investors are finally starting to succumb to the charms of Ucits, says the Financial Times Fund Management. A number of US investors are now said to be looking at the new generation of Ucits III-compliant hedge fund strategies, known as Newcits, as an alternative to investing in Cayman or British Virgin Islands hedge funds.

GMAC has agreed to sell its USD12bn European mortgage business to Fortress Investment Group, says the Financial Times. The disposal involves about 40 per cent of the assets of Residential Capital, its mortgage finance unit, including USD1bn in mortgages that were originated by GMAC and nearly USD11bn in securitisations.

The default rate for European debt issuers in the speculative category has fallen to 12.8% as of the end of fourth quarter 2009, from 14.2% one quarter earlier, according to data from Standard & Poor’s. The agency estimates that the default rate will continue to fall, to a total of about 8.7% by the end of 2010. In total, 96 European issuers defaulted in 2009, representing total debt of EUR60.3bn. By country, Germany and the United Kingdom have the largest number of defaults (18 each), followed by France (16). In France, the default rate totalled 11.1% in 2009, compared with 2.7% in 2008. Contrary to the trend in Europe, the number of defaults increased significantly in fourth quarter 2009.

The asset management firm for the German co-operative banks, Union Investment, on Monday announced the launch of an equities fund investing in shares from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The product is registered in Luxembourg and denominated in Euros, is entitled UniEM Middle East & North Africa, and is managed by Omar Abu Rasheed, who insists on the need for diversification due to considerations of performance and risk distribution. The portfolio is constructed through stock-picking of shares from the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. Characteristics Name: UniEM Middle East & North Africa ISIN: LU0483176268 Front-end fee: 5% Management commission: 1.55% (maximum 1.75%) Depository banking commission: 0.10%

The largest bank in Singapore, DBS Bank, has announced the appointment of Tan Su Shan, currently head of private management at Morgan Stanley for South-East Asia, as head of private banking, including asset management, from 1 July, Asian Investor reports. She will be a member of the board of directors at the DBS group. One of her first tasks will be to recruit for the team in charge of high net worth clients.

On Monday, Skandia announced that it will be releasing its Skandia European Best Ideas Fund (EUR240m) on the British market, via its Skandia Investment Solutions platform. The Irish-registered product, managed by Skandia Investment Group (SIG), is managed by six external star managers, each of whom invest in 10 positions, corresponding to their “best ideas” (see Newsmanagers of 31 March). The lead portfolio manager is Lee Freeman-Short, and the performance of the fund has been 5.41 points higher than the MSCI Europe index over two years.

Morningstar UK, the British affiliate of Morningstar, on 12 April announced the acquisition of the British independent research, ratings and fund advising provider OBSR (Old Broad Street Research), for a total of GBP11.95m. The British team from the provider (30 people), entitled “OBSR, a Morningstar company,” analyses and provides recommendations on about 500 funds, which may or may not be domiciled in the United Kingdom, as well as many other products, including retirement funds.

Les émissions des entreprises sont restées soutenues cette semaine. La dette senior des financières a davantage souffert

La Deutsche Börse a annoncé vendredi qu’elle a admis à la négociation sur le segment XTF de sa plate-forme électronique Xetra sept nouveaux ETF «de stratégie» de db -trackers (Deutsche Bank), tous de droit luxembourgeois. Les commissions de gestion sont échelonnées entre 0,35 % pour le Daily LevDax et 0,70 % pour le S&P 500 Daily 2x inverse.Quatre d’entre eux calquent avec double effet de levier les indices Euro Stoxx 50, LevDax, FTSE 100 et S&P 500 tandis que les trois autres répliquent, en short, également, avec un effet de levier du double, les indices Euro Stoxx 50, Dax et S&P 500. Avec ces sept fonds, la cote du segment XTF atteint à présent 651 références. Le lancement des ces nouveaux ETF «daily leveraged» vient compléter uyne gamme db x-trackers qui comprend déjà 16 ETF «short».db x-trackers souligne que ces nouveaux daily leveraged ETFs dont destinés à des investisseurs institutionnels «exigeants». De tels fonds sont destinés au négoce à court terme ou à la mise en œuvre de stratégies de couverture en temps réel pour pouvoir réagir à des fluctuations de marché intra-journalières. Les parts de ces fonds peuvent servir de succédanés pour d’autres dérivés de court terme comme les futures, les CFD ou les swaps.Les sept ETF seront cotés à Milan sur Borsa Italiana à compter du 14 avril et sur le London Stock Exchange à compter du 26 avril.db x-trackers Euro Stoxx 50 Leveraged Daily ETF Isin LU0411077828 frais de gestion 0,35% db x-trackers LevDAX Daily ETF LU0411075376 0,35% db x-trackers FTSE 100 Leveraged Daily ETF LU0412625088 0,50% db x-trackers S&P 500 2x Leveraged Daily ETF LU0411078552 0,60% db x-trackers Euro Stoxx 50 Double Short Daily ETF LU0417510616 0,50% db x-trackers ShortDAX x2 Daily ETF LU0411075020 0,60% db x-trakcers S&P 500 2x Inverse Daily ETF LU0411078636 0,70%

Si les quatre conseillers clientèle de Sal. Oppenheim qui rejoignent Credit Suissse à Berlin ne sont pas nécessairement de gros poissons, il a été confirmé par ailleurs que six personnes ont quitté le siège de la banque privée de Cologne, mais selon la rumeur il ne s’agit pas non plus de premiers couteaux, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.Il se dit aussi qu’un gros client de Sal. Oppenheim cherche à débaucher plusieurs personnes pour créer un family office.Le journal souligne aussi qu'à Berlin on ne croit pas que le restant de l'équipe locale de Sal. Oppenheim va rejoindre Berenberg, mais la banque privée hambourgeoise attend deux conseillers bien établis de Sal. Oppenheim, l’un pour Francfort, l’autre pour Düsseldorf.

Le capital-investisseur Triton a repris la totalité des parts du sous-traitant automobile Stabilus (environ 3.000 salariés) avec le soutien du management, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, précisant que le capital-investisseur Paine, qui avait acheté Stabilus pour 500 millions d’euros en 2008, perd la totalité de son investissement.Triton, qui va injecter 20 millions de fonds propres, a fait nommer Martin Huth président du conseil de surveillance de Stabilus en remplacement de Stephan Kessel.A noter toutefois que les fournisseurs du financement mezzanine, dont Axa Private Equity, avaient annoncé avant la transaction leur intention d’aller en justice en cas d’acquisition de la société.

Russell Investments vient de renforcer ses effectifs à Singapour et en Corée du Sud afin de répondre à une demande croissante dans la région. Selon Asian Investor, la société envisage par ailleurs de demander une licence pour démarrer ses activités à Séoul et espère ouvrir un bureau de représentation en Chine dans le courant du second semestre tout en obtenant le statut de QFII (investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié).L'équipe coréenne, réduite à deux l’an dernier, est reconstituée avec notamment la nomination de Kim DongKi au poste de chief representative du bureau de Séoul. Kim DongKi était précédemment chez Korea Life.

Eaton Vance Management, filiale d’Eaton Vance Corp (161,6 milliards de dollars d’encours fin janvier), a annoncé jeudi la lancement du fonds Eaton Vance Commodity Strategy dont le benchmark est l’UBS Commodity Index Total Return. L’objectif initial est de générer une performance comparable à celle de l’indice, mais avec une volatilité inférieure, la surperformance devant venir de produits dérivés liés aux matières premières, d’obligations indexées sur l’inflation et d’obligations émises dans des pays émergents.Le sub-adviser du fonds est Armored Wolf LLC, un spécialiste du global macro focalisé sur les actifs «réels». Les deux gérants du fonds seront John B. Brynjolfsson, CIO et managing director d’Armored Wolf et Paul Dickson, managing director et gérant de portefeuille marchés obligataires émergents chez Armored Wolf.Le taux de frais se situe à 1,25 % pour les parts I, à 1,50 % pour les parts A et à 2,25 % pour les parts C.

La Deutsche Bank a annoncé que Doug Kline venait de rejoindre l’activité Global Prime Finance au sein de la division Global Markets en tant que managing director et responsable du conseil auprès des hedge funds.Doug Kline travaillait précédemment chez Viking Global Investors, où il était associé et chief information officer. Doug Kline est basé à New York où il est directement rattaché à Pam Kieman, managing director et responsable mondial du développement, et Scott Carter, managing director et responsable Global Prime Finance Sales et Capital Introduction pour l’Amérique du Nord.

Le suisse Partners Group a bouclé la vente de sa plate-forme de comptes gérés à Sciens Capital Management, une société de gestion alternative indépendante basée à New York et Londres. Cela permet au groupe helvétique, qui gère 25 milliards de francs suisses d’encours, de se concentrer sur le non coté (private equity, dette privée, immobilier privé et infrastructures privées), indique un communiqué de presse.D’après un article du Financial Times du 12 avril, la plate-forme vendue gérerait 700 millions de dollars d’encours. Sciens, qui affiche pour sa part un encours de 6 milliards de dollars, prévoit de migrer 3,4 milliards de dollars de son activité de hedge funds (représentant 4,5 milliards) sur la plate-forme, précise le FT.

Jeudi, le Nasdaq a admis à la négociation deux ETF de ProFunds Group, les fonds ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology (acronyme : BIB) et UltraShort Nasdaq Biotechnology (BIS) qui répliquent tous deux l’indice des biotechnologiques du Nasdaq mais avec un effet de levier de deux, tant en long pour le BIB qu’en court pour le BIS. Ces deux produits sont chargés à 0,95 %. Avec les deux nouveaux fonds, la gamme ProShares compte désormais 105 ETF.

Tuition Financing Inc (TFI), filiale du fonds de pension TIAA-CREF (414 milliards de dollars d’encours), a été reconduite par l’Office of the Connecticut State Treasurer comme gérante du plan d'épargne 529 de l’Etat pour les étudiants, le Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET). Cela représente 93.000 comptes et un encours de 1,2 milliard de dollars.TFI a initialement été chargée de la gestion du CHET en janvier 2000. A l'époque, cela représentait 4.000 comptes et un encours de 18 millions de dollars.

L’Université de l’Ohio a délégué les services de conservation de son fonds à long terme, le Ohio State Endowment Fund, à BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.Ce fonds pèse près de 2 milliards de dollars. BNY Mellon prend la succession de State Street.

L’indice «Lyxor Hedge Fund Index» a enregistré un gain de 2,12 % en mars 2010. Sur le mois, les stratégies alternatives qui ont le mieux performé sont : la stratégie CTAs Long Term Index (+4,84 %), la stratégie L/S Credit Arbitrage Index (+3,85 %), et la stratégie Fixed Income Arbitrage Index (+2,73 %). La seule stratégie en perte en mars est celle L/S Equity Short Bias Index (-6,58 %). Sur le premier trimestre, le Lyxor Hedge Fund Index est en hausse de 2,03 %.A noter que les indices «Lyxor Hedge Indices» sont des indices alternatifs investissables. Leur performance est calculée sur la base de la performance et des actifs des fonds de la plateforme Lyxor.