«Les investisseurs resteront actifs sur les marchés du crédit en 2014»
Karsten Rosenkilde, gérant crédit chez Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management
CAC 40 : le scénario d’une reprise rapide de la hausse est sous pression
Une cassure du support à 4.045 points pourrait entraîner une baisse jusqu’à 3.575 points avant que l’indice ne se réoriente à la hausse
Le débat sur l'interchange rebondit
Le Parlement européen conteste le plafonnement des commissions d’interchange proposé par Bruxelles dans un projet de règlement. La discussion commence cette semaine.
La dette d'Etat complique les stress tests
Le traitement de la dette d’Etat est très complexe à déterminer dans le cadre des stress tests qui seront conduits auprès de quelque 130 banques européennes l’année prochaine, a expliqué le gouverneur de la Banque de France, Christian Noyer, lors d’une conférence organisée par L’Agefi.
Montée hasardeuse de BlackRock dans Telecom Italia
Dans un entretien, le président de la Consob, Giuseppe Vegas, estime que le fonds américain a commis un abus de marché en omettant de déclarer à temps le doublement de sa participation dans Telecom Italia. Le régulateur boursier a suspendu les droits de vote de BlackRock rattachés à cette participation non déclarée. La société de gestion aurait dû informer la Consob avant le 6 décembre du fait qu’elle avait franchi la barre des 10% du capital. L’affaire devrait également être portée à l’attention de la justice italienne. Une assemblée générale extraordinaire des actionnaires de Telecom Italia est prévue le 20 décembre.
Les créanciers de Coeur Défense appelés à se prononcer sur un projet de cession
Les porteur de titres du FCT Windermere XII sont convoqués en assemblée générale le 20 décembre. La dette arrive à échéance en juillet prochain
Mario Draghi plaide pour une stabilité fiscale en France
«La compétitivité reste insuffisante et le redressement des comptes publics ne peut plus reposer sur la hausse des impôts. La France a besoin de retrouver une stabilité fiscale pour que les entreprises recommencent à investir», juge le président de la BCE dans un entretien. Il estime néanmoins que «de gros efforts ont été engagés».
Jörg Asmussen quitte le directoire de la BCE
Nommé secrétaire d’Etat au travail dans le nouveau gouvernement de coalition, Jörg Asmussen va céder son fauteuil de membre du directoire de la BCE. Sa place devrait revenir à une Allemande, les noms de Sabine Lautenschläger (vice-présidente de la Bundesbank), Elke König (directrice de la BaFin) et Claudia Buch (responsable de l’institut économique de Halle), étant les plus fréquemment évoqués.
Tokyo revoit à la hausse sa prévision de croissance pour 2014
Le gouvernement japonais a décidé de relever ses prévisions de croissance pour 2014, qui sont ainsi passées de 1 à 1,3%, a rapporté Reuters samedi. Sur cette base, Tokyo table désormais sur 50.000 milliards de yens (353 milliards d’euros) de recettes fiscales. Le gouvernement de Shinzo Abe compte sur l’effet de mesures de relance pour compenser une hausse de la TVA prévue en avril.
Le FMI verse sa toute dernière tranche d'aide à l'Irlande
Le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) a versé vendredi à l’Irlande la toute dernière tranche de son aide financière, soit 890 millions de dollars (648 millions d’euros), permettant à Dublin de tourner définitivement la page du plan d’aide international qui lui a permis d'échapper à un défaut en 2011. Selon le ministre des Finances, Michael Noonan, Dublin pourrait ramener l’année prochaine le poids de sa dette à 116% de son PIB, après 124% cette année.
Le fonds de dotation du Louvre souhaite investir en petites et moyennes capitalisations européennes
Thierry Brevet, directeur du fonds de dotation du Louvre à Option Finance : Nous souhaitons investir en petites et moyennes capitalisations européennes. A cet effet, nous sommes en train d'étudier un certain nombre d'équipes et de fonds spécialisés dans ce secteur. Nous privilégierons la gestion active en espérant que le gérant retenu apportera un surcroît de performance par rapport à l’indice du marché. En tant qu’investisseur à long terme, nous nous posons la question de relever notre allocation en actions à 55 %, voire 60 % du portefeuille, en particulier si les marchés d’actions venaient à connaître une phase de correction à la baisse. Ce sujet sera à l’ordre du jour de notre prochain conseil d’administration. Au 28 novembre 2013, depuis la réception de la dotation initiale en janvier 2010, la performance nette annualisée du fonds a été de + 4,75 %. Depuis la mise en place complète du portefeuille de placements à long terme, début 2011, cette performance annualisée a été de + 6,25 %. Depuis le début de l’année 2013, la performance nette ressort à + 6,13 %, essentiellement grâce aux actions des marchés développés et aux obligations à haut rendement.
OFI AM se réorganise
OFI doit annoncer lundi un nouveau plan stratégique qui passera par une réorganisation de ses structures. Selon plusieurs sources, OFI AM, Macif Gestion et OFI Mandats, qui sont aujourd’hui trois sociétés distinctes, ne devraient plus former qu’un. Le principe de cette réorganisation avait été annoncé il y a un an par Gérard Bourret, directeur général de la société de gestion. La nomination de Franck Dussoge au poste de DG de Macif Gestion, officalisée il y a quelques jours, en plus de ses fonctions chez OFI Mandats, en témoigne.
Le fonds souverain norvégien vise l’immobilier à Boston
Le fonds souverain norvégien a annoncé avoir acquis pour 238 millions de dollars une participation de 47,5% au sein du One Financial Center, un immeuble de bureaux de 46 étages à Boston. MetLife a dans le même temps renforcé de 2,5% sa participation à 52,5%.
La création de hedge funds s’essouffle
Hedge Fund Research indique que 231 fonds alternatifs ont été créés dans le monde au cours du troisième trimestre, pour 222 liquidations. Le volume de créations est le plus faible depuis le quatrième trimestre 2010, tandis que celui de liquidations est le plus important depuis le quatrième trimestre 2012. La prudence du trimestre écoulé s’explique selon HFR par les craintes entourant la finalisation de la règle Volcker aux Etats-Unis, approuvée cette semaine par les régulateurs.
13/12/2013
KBL epb appoints a head of mergers and acquisitions
KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) on 12 December announced the appointment of Marc Formisani as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions. With 10 years of experience in corporate finance, previously as an adviser for mergers ad acquisitions at the Dexia gorup, he will be based in Luxembourg. The appointment echoes an ambition on the part of KBL epb to join the ranks of the 20 best European private banks by 2015. In order to achieve this ambitious objective, the Group is currently defining external growth opportunities, largely through potential acquisitions in key markets. As head of the mergers and acquisitions team, Formisani will be responsible for management, co-ordination and execution of merger and acquisition processes, in close collaboration with all stakeholders concerned. He has also been mandated to provide analysts to the Steering Committee at KBL epb as an expert.
13/12/2013
Facebook joins S&P 100 and S&P 500
The index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced that Facebook will replace The Williams Companies in the S&P 100 index, and Teradye in the S&P 500, according to a statement released on 11 December. Teradyne will replace Scholastic on the S&P MidCap 400.All of these changes will take effect after the close of the trading day on Friday, 20 December.
13/12/2013
Amundi Alternative Investments receives AIFM license
Amundi Alternative Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amundi, has received an AIFM license from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) for a range of asset management solutions.According to the management of the firm, the issuing of the license marks “the fruition of a strategic choice engaged upon in 2010,” with the move of domicile to Europe (France, Ireland and Luxembourg) for its alternative range at all levels: 10 funds of funds and 21 managed accounts.The issuance of the AIFM license represents a first step before the awarding of passports by the end of first quarter 2014.
13/12/2013
Francis Louvard and Gregory Ingram acquire 90% of KGAL
Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), Commerzbank, Haspa Finanzholding and Sal. Oppenheim (Deutsche Bank group) have sold nearly 90% of the Bavarian asset management firm specialised in closed funds KGAL to two individuals, Francis Louvard and Gregory Ingram, who “have several years of experience in the international management of assets,” according to a statement. The new owners “support the growth plans of KGAL in the asset classes of real estate, infrastructure, and aircraft.” The former owners will retain 10% stakes.Following the transaction, the CEO, Georg Reul, left the firm with immediate effect on 10 December. His responsibilities will provisionally be taken over by Kurt Holderer, chief financial officer of KGAL.As of the end of 2012, KGAL managed investments of EUR25.1bn, with EUR6.4bn in assets. The range includes 135 closed funds, and only one (real estate) open-ended fund.
13/12/2013
Eastspring Investments appoints head in Singapore
Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management affiliate of the insurer Prudential, has appointed Jackiw Chew as CEO of its Singapore activity. With slightly under 300 employees, Singapore is the largest of the 11 offices of Eastspring in Asia, and serves as an investment centre in the region.
13/12/2013
ESMA appoints new group of stakeholders
The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 12 December announced the composition of the Securities Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG). The new members of the stakeholders’ group will have a 2-year term, which will begin on 1 January next year.The new group will have 30 members from 17 member countries, and will represent consumers, users of financial services, actors on financial markets, employees at financial institutions, SMEs and academics. Some members of the new group participated in the first group.The group of participants may express their point of view and advise ESMA on its working programme, while also being required to be consulted concerning technical standards, guidelines and recommendations of the European authority.
13/12/2013
Institutionals like smart beta ETFs
53% of institutional investors are planning to increase their exposure to smart beta ETFs in the next three years. This is the category of ETFs which receives the most votes, exceeding even cap-weighted ETFs (48%), a survey by Cogent Research, relayed by Invesco PowerShares, reveals. This result corroborates the trends observed for flows throughout the profession: non-cap-weighted ETFs have attracted 25% of subscriptions to equity ETFs since the beginning of the year, while they represented only 12% of total assets, says John Hoffman, director of institutional sales & capital markets at Invesco PowerShares. The survey of 193 institutionals between 5 September and 2 October reveals that interest in smart beta ETFs is the result of a desire to improve risk-adjusted returns, to reduce volatility and to access more elaborate weighting methodologies. The survey by Cogent Research (Market Strategies International group) reveals that the largest institutionals, those which have USD500m in assets under management, have twice as much of an opportunity as average to consider that smart beta ETFs offer higher risk-adjusted returns than cap-weighted ETFs.
13/12/2013
Three Skandia vets found company
Three former partners at the Skandia – Old Mutual group, Steve Lamarque, Bogdan Popescu and Eric Gairin, are teaming up to found the firm Hilbert Investment Solutions, according to a statement released on 12 December. Hilbert IS presents itself as a specialist in structured engineering solutions for all types of underlying assets: equities, fixed income, credit, commodities. The solutions proposed cover the universe of products which provide a capital guarantee, products which privilege returns, or index-based products. These products may be created through a «public call for savings» (APE), private investment, and is eligible for investment from life insurance policies and/or securities accounts. Hilbert IS also proposes to create custom products to meet precise specifications.Hilbert IS designed products for wealth management clients as part of a diversification of its financial wealth, but also for businesses, for the management of their cash or their owners’ equity. For commercial distribution, the preferred partners of Hilbert IS are Independent Financial Advisers, institutionals and and private management teams at banking networks.
13/12/2013
Appointments at Wilshire Associates
The consultant Wilshire Associates has announced that Jason Schwarz will become chairman of Wilshire Funds Management, its activity dedicated to asset management, Mutual Fund Wire reports. In this position he will replace Victor Zhang, who is moving to American Centry to take over the position of co-chief investment officer. Cleo Chang, meanwhile, becomes CIO fo Wilshire Funds Management.
13/12/2013
Tobam opens an office in New York
Paris-based Tobam on 12 December announced the opening of an office in New York and the appointment of two representatives, who will work to develop the activities of Tobam in North America. “From the beginning, we have expressed a desire to expand in North America, with a certain number of emblematic clients such as CalPERS. The proportion of North America in our assets currently stands at about 35%. We would like to accelerate our expansion and increase this proportion to 50%,” the chairman of Tobam, Yves Choueifaty, tells Newsmanagers, emphasizing the sustained engagement of the firm in North America.The New York office will allow Tobam to increase its presence serving North American investors, and will be led by Stéphane Detobel and Francis Verpoucke, both of whom come from Amundi and both of whom are associate directors at the new firm Tobam North America. They will be responsible for commercial development and relationships with US investors. The announcement comes at a time when Tobam will finish the year with highly satisfactory results. “Our objective is to double our assets every two years. We did much better this year. Assets under management at Tobam have already doubled in one year, to USD5.4bn as of the end of November 2013,” says Choueifaty. 25% of inflows are coming from North America, and 75% from Northen Europe, which corresponds to the current distribution of assets. “We are also seeing the first fruits of our parnership with Amundi,” Choueifaty adds, “with two mandates in Japan and one mandate in Taiwan.”
13/12/2013
JP Morgan may pay USD2.5bn to Madoff victims
Funds collected to reimburse the victims of the Ponzi pyramid scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff may, according to the Financial Times, cover as much as 75% of their losses due to the fraud, which total USD17.5bn. JPMorgan has agreed to pay USD2.5bn by the end of the year, following an agreement with the US authorities, who had accused it of failing to denounce the massive fraud, discovered five years ago.
13/12/2013
Stable outlooks for money market funds in 2014
The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings has called the outlooks stable for money market funds in 2014. These outlooks also reflect the regulatory status quo, as all reforms under consideration would only be implemented very graudally. However, the challenges related to this regulation and the contraction of the investment universe are very real. If they are implemented, the regulatory texts under consideration would lead to profound changes which would alter the time scope and investment strategies on both sides of the Atlantic. The Moody’s ratings agency shares the point of view of Fitch Ratings, claiming that outlooks are stable for money market funds in 2014, as the key problem remains regulatory changes under consideration on both sides of the Atlantic.
13/12/2013
Threadneedle wins international equity mandate
UK-based Threadneedle Invesments on 12 December announced that it has won an international equity mandate for a total about about GBP150m from Dyfed Pension Fund, whose assets under management total about GBP1.6bn.The mandate awarded by the pension fund is a sign of its desire to abandon regional equity allocation in favour of a much more international exposure. The mandate will be managed by Stephen Thornber, who manages the Global Equity Income strategy.
13/12/2013
Edison recruits in Israel
Funds Europe reports that Edison Investment Research, regulated by the British FCA, has recruited the created of the HSBC research team for publicly-traded equities in Israel, Will Manuel, as an analyst. Manuel had been head of equities research at HSBC for Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The recruitment corresponds to a desire on the part of Edison to enlarge its coverage of businesses in the healthcare and technology sectors, in the fact of increased demand for Israeli equities on the part of North American and European clients.
13/12/2013
Brewin Dolphin cuts back service for more modest clients
The British firm Brewin Dolphin is planning to discontinue its investment services for clients with less than GBP50,000 in investable assets, Fundweb reports. The clients affected by this measure will be contacted by Brewin, which will offer them “execution-only” services instead.A few days ago, Brewin Dolphin reported a 4% decline in its profits and costs of GBP4.8m, related to the closure of offices and several departures of big names.