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16/01/2009

Asie - Le fonds souverain d'Abou Dhabi a fortement rétréci

Selon une étude du Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) américain, le fonds souverain de l’Emirat d’Aou Dhabi, l’Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a subi l’an dernier une chute de 125 milliards de dollars de son encours, 328 milliards de dollars à cause de la chute mondiale des marchés d’actions, d’investissements dans les pays émergents et de placements en private equity, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
16/01/2009

Autriche - La présidente de Medici affirme que Madoff n?était pas un ami

Sonja Kohn, dont la Bank Medici en Autriche pourrait avoir perdu plus de 3 milliards de dollars avec Bernard Madoff, a déclaré qu"elle était une victime de la fraude tout autant que les autres, rapporte le Financial Times. Dans une lettre lue par Bloomberg, confirmée ensuite par la banque, la présidente de la banque autrichienne affirme qu"elle ne savait pas que Madoff avait orchestré une vaste escroquerie. Elle ajoute que Bernard Madoff n"était pas un ami personnel.
16/01/2009

Autriche - Vienne pourrait fermer Bank Medici

Selon des sources au sein du ministère des Finances de Vienne rapportées par Il Sole ? 24 Ore, Bank Medici (dont UniCredit détient 25 %) pourrait être fermée. La banque autrichienne a perdu 2,1 milliards de dollars investis chez Bernard Madoff.
16/01/2009

Etats-Unis - Fidelity note les conseils des brokers indépendants

Fidelity Investments est le premier gestionnaire à lancer sur sa plate-forme de courtage un outil permettant à ses 12 millions de clients particuliers d’accéder à une analyse de la performance de dix sociétés d'études financières, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Parmi les dix maisons ainsi notées figurent Ned Davis Research, Zacks Investment Research et Standard & Poor’s. Les dernières études de ces établissements figureront gratuitement sur le site de Fidelity, avec un historique de leurs recommandations à l’achat et à la vente.
16/01/2009

Allemagne - Union Investment affiche 1,72 million de contrats Riester

Joachim Reinke, membre du directoire d’Union Investment, a annoncé jeudi que le nombre de contrats d'épargne-retraite subventionnée Riester distribué par la société de gestion des banques populaires allemandes a atteint 1,72 million à fin 2008. Union demeure donc de très loin le leader sur le marché, du moins pour ce qui est des contrats en unités de compte.Il est aussi intéressant de noter que le nombre de contrats signés durant la période septembre-décembre, qui était pourtant celle des fortes turbulences sur les marchés, a atteint environ 100.000 unités, ce qui représente environ 40 % du total des nouveaux contrats UniProfiRente sur seulement un tiers de l’année.
16/01/2009

Allemagne - Volker Kurr rejoint UBS

Volker Kurr, qui a quitté à la mi-août 2008 le comité de direction de cominvest (Commerzbank), a pris début 2009 les fonctions de head of institutional & wholesale clients pour l’Allemagne chez UBS Global Asset Management, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung.
16/01/2009

World - Distressed asset indices down

Indexes which track the value of the vast quantities of ?distressed? assets that continue to pollute the balance sheets of banks have shown heavy losses this week, the Financial Times reports. The decline, a harbinger of a further wave of write-downs, suggests that banks will suffer again in first quarter of this year.
16/01/2009

Germany - Union Investment has 1.72 million Riester policies

Joachim Reinke, a member of the managing board at Union Investment, announced on Thursday that the number of Riester-type retirement savings policies distributed by the management firm for the German co-operative banks totalled 1.72 million at the end of 2008. Union remains the leader by far in this market, at least for unit-linked accounts. It is also interesting to note that the number of new policies opened in September-December, which was a time of major turbulence on the markets, was as high as 100,000, which represents about 40% of all new UniProfiRente policies in only one third of the year.
16/01/2009

Europe - Ratings agencies: suggestion of single European supervisory body

Les Echos reports that EU draft legislation relating to rating agencies unveiled in mid-November may give rise to heated debate in the European Parliament. In the preliminary statements submitted yesterday, the reporter on the bill, Jean-Paul Gauzès, welcomes Brussels’ initiative, but argues that the procedure the Commission proposes for registration and supervision of rating agencies by national regulatory authorities would be ?complicated.? He suggests that ?responsibility for registration and supervision should be entrusted to a single European body,? and calls for the CESR to be ?the turning-point in a regulatory deployment.?
16/01/2009

Switzerland - Private banks to unload US clients

Swiss private banks cannot fight alone against the transparency demands from the US tax authorities (IRS), and they are seeking the support of banks in other countries, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. In addition, many Swiss private bankers are planning to withdraw completely from activities serving US clients.
16/01/2009

United States - Fidelity rates advice from independent brokers

Fidelity Investments has become the first management firm to launch a tool on its brokerage platform which allows its 12 million retail clients access to analysis of the performance of ten financial research providers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Among the ten firms rated are Ned Davis Research, Zacks Investment Research and Standard & Poor’s. The most recent studies from the establishments will be included for no charge on the Fidelity site, with a history of their buy and sell recommendations.
16/01/2009

Austria - Fund assets contract by 23%

At the end of December, assets in Austrian investment funds represented EUR126.04bn, which amounted to a contraction of EUR37.7bn or 23% compared with their level one year previously.According to the VÖIG association of management firms, EUR2.9bn of this decline in assets is due to dividend payments, while EUR15.3bn is due to net redemptions, and EUR19.6bn to losses on the markets. In December, however, assets increased by EUR345.4m, thanks to EUR1.4bn in net subscriptions.In total, VÖIG recorded the launch od 223 funds in 2008, of which 106 were retail funds. The 24 management firms on its roster operated 2,300 securities funds, of which 1,168 were retail funds, 433 funds aimed at ?large investors,? and 699 institutional funds.The five real estate fund management firms had assets at the end of December of EUR1,713.88m, EUR112.8m less than twelve months previously. At the end of September, assets were still up by EUR120.3m, but net redemptions of EUR250.8m in fourth quarter led to the contraction in assets observed for the year.
16/01/2009

France - Fitch Ratings downgrades CDO rating of SGAM AI

Fitch Ratings has lowered its CDO Asset Manager rating for Société Générale Asset Management Alternative Investments (SGAM AI) from CAM2+ to CAM2.The downgrade largely reflects the negative impact which the credit crisis has had on SGAM AI’s activities, and changes in its management personnel, the ratings agency states. It also takes into account possible instabilities which may result from the repositioning and restructuring of SGAM AI when it merges with Lyxor, Fitch Ratings adds.
16/01/2009

United States - JP Morgan asset management remains profitable

In fourth quarter, net profits for asset management activities at JP Morgan Chase fell 52% to USD272m, while revenues fell 31% to USD1.66bn. Revenues for the private bank fell 3% to USD630m, due to declining markets and performance commissions, while wealth management was down 4% to USD330m, and institutional management was down 57% to USD327m due to contractions in revenues from performance commissions and to falling markets. Retail revenues contracted 59% to USD365m due to falling markets and redemptions. Bear Stearns Brokerage contributed USD106m to revenues.The pre-tax profit margin was down to 25% from 35%.JP Morgan states that its assets under administration and management at the end of December represented USD1.5trn, or USD76bn or 5% less than at the end of 2007. Assets under management, at USD1.1trn, were also down 5% or USD60bn; of this total, money market products marked an increase of 53% to USD213bn, while the Bear Stearns acquisition brought in USD15bn. This has partly compensated for a decrease in assets under management due to falling markets and net redemptions from products in categories other than money markets.Net subscriptions, however, totalled USD61bn in fourth quarter, and USD151bn for 2008 as a whole.
16/01/2009

Germany - Andreas Hilka promoted at CSAM KAG

Andreas Hilka, who joined Credit Suisse in January 2008, was appointed to the board of directors at Credit Suisse Asset Management KAG in Frankfurt on 1 January, replacing Stefan Keitel, who has become global CIO for Multi Asset Class Solutions (MACS) in Zurich. Hilka will retain his positions as head of MACS Germany, head insurance & pensions solutions EMEA, and director of the asset allocation advisory group in the MACS CIO-office.Before being recruited by Credit Suisse, Hilka served in several financial positions at the former Hoechst group; he was also a board member for the Continental pension fund.
16/01/2009

France - IT Asset Management soon to launch a convertible bond fund

As part of its redeployment (see Newsmanagers of 7 January), IT Asset Management is planning to launch a convertible bond fund by the end of the month in Luxembourg, for which a license has also been applied for in France. The product will be managed by Geneviève Werner, who joined IT Asset Management as deputy CEO at the end of 2008 (she was previously CEO and director of management at Financière Centuria), and by Bertrand Billé, bond manager, who also joins the firm from Financière Centuria.The product will have daily net asset value reporting, and will carry a front-end fee of a maximum of 2%, while management and administration fees will total 0.80% for the institutional asset class and 1.50% for the ?classic? share class.
16/01/2009

France - Acropole diversifies credit product range

Acropole Asset Management, a specialist in convertible bonds, will be launching two funds with fixed maturity dates focused on credit. The management firm had previously made mixed convertible bonds its specialty. But after ?a terrible year in 2008? fo convertible bonds, and due to ?an exception situation on fixed income markets,? according to the executives of Acropole, the firm has decided to extend its product offerings. To achieve this, the firm will strengthen its partnership with Cheyne Capital, an alternative mangement firm based in London, which is one of the major shareholders in Acropole, with a 33% stake. The British firm, which manages USD2bn in investment grade credit, out of a total of USD7bn in assets, has a team of 30 staff in credit.The new product range, which is still in the licensing process, will include Acropole 2012, a fund which matures on 30 June 2012, with a performance target of 8-10%. It will invest in convertible and corporate bonds of the investment grade category, primarily in Europe. The fund will be registered in Luxembourg and advised by Cheyne, and will be launched on about 5 February.The second product, Acropole Convertibles Optimum, will mature on 31 January 2012, with slightly higher performance objectives of 12-14%. It will be 100% invested in European and international convertible bonds. The fund will be registered in France, and will be launched in late January.The two products, which will each start out with EUR30m in assets, will offer a period of preferred subscriptions, They join a large number of funds with set maturity dates now being launched by management firms such as CCR-UBS, La Française des Placements, UFF, and others.
16/01/2009

Italy - Clessidra to invest in Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli, CEO, has announced that the private equity investor Clessidra may very soon take up a stake in the Florentine fashion label bearing his name, of 15-20%, Börsen-Zeitung reports.
16/01/2009

Switzerland - LODH issues statement on impact of Madoff

Following reports in the press that clients at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (LODH) lost money in the Madoff fraud, the bank has issued a statement, claiming that it never recommended funds managed by Bernard Madoff’s company, nor feeder funds that supplied it. These vehicles were not on the list of recommended hedge funds managed by third parties, and the bank’s funds of hedge funds ?do not contain funds with ties to the Madoff universe? either.The bank states that its list of external funds of hedge funds includes 20 products, of which three were partially exposed to Madoff funds, for 15% (Lafayette Regular Growth), 7.6% (DGC Pendulum) and 3% (Gems Low Volatility), respectively. ?The impact of this indirect exposure on the portfolios concerned is marginal (largely below 1%).? The performance track records of these funds of funds are such that LODH is maintaining its recommendations, particularly for the Gems Low Volatility.Lastly, some accounts without management mandates, or managed by third parties, deposited at LODH, may contain shares in funds exposed to the Madoff universe. ?The responsibility of the bank is in no way involved, since these are accounts not managed by the group,? the statement concludes.
16/01/2009

United States - Ezra Merkin under fire in Madoff scandal

Andrew Cuomo, attorney general of the state of New York, has issued subpoenas to three funds managed by Ezra Merkin, former chairman of GMAC, the Fiancial Times reports. The move is related to new investigations in the Madoff fraud case. The funds are Gabriel Capital, Ariel Fund, and Ascot Partners, which had invested with Madoff.
16/01/2009

World - Credit Suisse/Tremont index lost 19.07% in 2008

The Credit Suisse/Tremont index ultimately posted losses in December of 0.03%, compared with 4.15% in November, bringing total losses for the year as a whole to 19.07%. Futures funds and dedicated short bias posted positive performance, however, of 18.33% and 14.87%, respectively. All other strategies posted losses in 2008, including equity market neutral (40.32%) and convertible arbitrage (31.59%). The emerging markets segment posted a loss of 30.41%.The Dow Jones World Index, meanwhile, has lost 42.85%.
16/01/2009

France - Madoff: BNP Paribas subpoenaed

La Tribune reports that ?the Parisian law firm Lartigue-Tournois & Associés today served subpoenas on at least three French banks, including BNP Paribas, on behalf of twelve clients who had invested in the Luxembourg Sicav Luxalpha.?The plaintiffs are seeking to be recognised as shareholders in the Sicav, in order to be able to pursue UBS, the newspaper explains.
16/01/2009

Austria - Medici president claims Madoff was not a friend

Sonja Kohn, president of Bank Medici in Austria, which may have lost more than USD3bn due to Bernard Madoff, has declared that she was a victim of the fraud like all the others, the Financial Times reports. In a letter obtained by Bloomberg, and later confirmed by the bank, Kohn claims she did not know that Madoff had orchestrated a vast fraud. She adds that Madoff was not a personal friend.
16/01/2009

World - Moody's predicts explosion in number of defaults

After a total of 0.9% in 2007 and 4% in 2008, the rate of default on speculative bonds may climb this year above its all-time peak of 12% in 1991, Moody’s Investors Service is now predicting. The current economic environment is far weaker and more perilous than in previous credit cycles in 1990-1991 and 2001-2002.The ratings agency counted 86 defaults in North America and 12 in Europe in 2008, compared with 15 and 3 in the previous year. On the leveraged loan markets, 33 issuers rated by Moody’s defaulted last year, compared with only 2 in 2007.
16/01/2009

Germany - Volker Kurr joins UBS

Volker Kurr, who in mid-August 2008 left the board of directors at cominvest (Commerzbank), at the beginning of 2009 began in a new position as head of institutional & wholesale clients for Germany at UBS Global Asset Management, Börsen-Zeitung reports.
16/01/2009

Luxembourg - Sal. Oppenheim Private Equity Partners adds to sales team

Sal. Oppenheim Private Equity Partners, born of the recent merger of CAM Private Equity, VCM Capital Management, and the alternative investment division of the Sal. Oppenheim group, has announced that at the beginning of this year it recruited Jan, Count of Bassewitz, as client relationship manager serving pension funds and retirement planning institutions, largely in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He will thus serve in the same functions as at CAM Private Equity, where he was a partner.Sal. Oppenheim Private Equity Partners has also recruited Sabine Rummel as sales manager. She spent six years as economic and industry analyst at the European Private Equity und Venture Capital Association (EVCA), and will serve non-German speaking clients.
16/01/2009

Germany - Client advisor morale falls in December

After a rise of 1.5 points in November, the monthly BSI index of client advisor morale in Germany calculated by TNA Infratest (based on responses from 350 client advisors at bank, savings banks, and co-operative banks), fell back 1 point in December, to 89.7, Robeco Deutschland reports.Only 25% of respondents estimated that their sales of open-ended fund shares would increase in the next six months, compared with 29% in November. This is the lowest level observed since the beginning of the data series in May 2003. For equities funds, the proportion of optimists about sales in the next six months fell 4 points, to 32%. For hedge funds, Robeco has observed an unusual situation: none of the client advisors responding to the survey considered the current level of sales positive. However, there was a very slight improvement in outlooks for the next six months: only one of the respondents expects sales to increase - compared with 0 in November.
16/01/2009

Europe - Small ray of hope for funds in November

The European asset management sector calmed slightly in November, Lipper FMI indicates in its most recent publication. Funds registered net subscriptions of EUR10bn, after outflows of no less than EUR278bn in the two previous months.These outflows were largely due to money market funds, Lipper FMI observes. Equities funds also registered positive inflows of EUR589m, but investors largely went for ETF funds (+EUR4bn in net). However, the fixed income category continues to be cannibalised by an urgent need on the part of banks to boost savings deposits, Lipper FMI indicates. Net redemptions may have slowed, but they remain at EUR11bn.Despite this positive month, since the beginning of the year, the European management sector has seen net redemptions totalling EUR305bn. Assets had fallen as of the end of November to slightly over EUR4trn, a level not seen since mid-2005.In November, the firm which registered the strongest net subscriptions was Barclays, with EUR2.4bn (excluding money market funds and funds of funds). In the equities category, Société Générale stands out, probably thanks to ETF funds, with EUR855m in subscriptions.
16/01/2009

Asia - Heavy losses for Abu Dhabi sovereign fund

According to a study by the United States Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the sovereign fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, saw a decline in its assets last year of USD125bn, to USD328bn, due to losses on declining equities markets, and investments in emerging markets and private equity, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.
16/01/2009

World - Hedge fund assets down sharply in 2008

According to hedgefund.net, as reported in Cinco Días, total assets under management worldwide in hedge funds contracted by 36% or USD1trn last year, to a total of USD1.84trn, or EUR1.45trn. The causes of the plunge were depreciation of portfolios, which wiped out USD512bn, and net redemptions of USD535bn.

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