06/09/2013
La part de l'euro baisse sur le marché des changes
La monnaie unique est passée de 39% à 33% des transactions en trois ans, selon l'enquête de la BRI
05/09/2013
H2O AM approche des 3 milliards d'euros d'encours
La société de gestion H2O AM, fondée il y a trois ans par Bruno Crastes dans l’orbite de Natixis, affiche des encours proches de 3 milliards d’euros, selon les informations de Newsmanagers (groupe Agefi). Les encours atteignaient 1,9 milliard lors du dernier pointage public en mars 2012. H2O AM, qui doit dresser le 25 septembre un bilan de son activité, aurait surtout bénéficié de la croissance de sa collecte, réalisée aux trois quarts en Australie et en Asie.
05/09/2013
L'Eurogroupe est prêt à aider la Grèce
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, le président de l’Eurogroupe, a indiqué jeudi devant les eurodéputés que l’Europe était prête à aider la Grèce à condition que le pays continue à remplir les conditions de son programme d’aide. «Nous évaluerons où nous en sommes du programme, y compris en termes de soutenabilité de la dette, en avril de l’année prochaine», a déclaré le ministre des finances néerlandais. Athènes a besoin d’une rallonge de 11 milliards d’euros en 2014-2015 pour boucler ses besoins de financement. Selon des sources officielles citées par Reuters, la zone euro pourrait décider en novembre 2013 d’un troisième plan d’aide à la Grèce.
05/09/2013
La BCE a débattu d'une baisse des taux
Le Conseil des gouverneurs a débattu d’une baisse des taux lors de sa réunion mensuelle de politique monétaire en raison des inquiétudes sur les taux de marché et des incertitudes sur une reprise qui en est à un stade encore «très précoce», selon Mario Draghi. «Si les évolution des marchés monétaires étaient jugées injustifiées dans leur conséquence sur notre évaluation de l’inflation à moyen terme, alors un tel instrument devrait être envisagé», a déclaré le président de la BCE lors de sa conférence de presse. Le biais accommodant de la BCE est perturbé par la hausse des rendements liée aux anticipations d’un durcissement de la politique monétaire de la Réserve fédérale américaine.
05/09/2013
Le dollar renforce son rôle prédominant dans les échanges de devises
L’enquête triennale sur les marchés des devises et dérivés de gré à gré publiée par la Banque des règlements internationaux (BRI) révèle que le volume moyen quotidien des échanges atteignait 5.300 milliards de dollars fin avril 2013, contre 4.000 milliards trois ans auparavant. Sur ce montant, 2.200 milliards par jour sont traités sous forme de swaps, et 2.000 milliards de transactions au comptant. Le dollar reste prépondérant et accapare 87% des paires traitées. La part du yen s’est accrue de 5 points pour atteindre 24% des échanges, alors que celle de l’euro a chuté d’un niveau équivalent pour tomber à 33,4% des volumes traités.
05/09/2013
Les BRICS créent un fonds de 100 milliards de dollars sur les devises
Réunis aujourd’hui à Saint-Pétersbourg juste avant l’ouverture du sommet du G20, les chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement des BRICS (Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine et Afrique du Sud) ont annoncé la création d’un fonds de 100 milliards de dollars pour intervenir sur le marché des devises. « Le montant du dispositif de réserve sera de 100 milliards de dollars et la Chine assumera la part du lion », selon le vice-ministre chinois des Finances Zhu Guangyao. Ils ont également confirmé leur projet de création d’une banque de développement dotée de 50 milliards.
L’excès de souscriptions peut nuire à la performance des fonds obligataires
Selon une étude menée par Diaman Scf pour l’hebdomadaire italien Plus 24 sur plus de 2.100 fonds obligataires européens en 2012, les 50 premiers fonds en termes d’encours, soit 3 % des produits analysés, ont recueilli 226 milliards d’euros, soit 80 % de la collecte nette totale. Et plus de 35 % sont allés sur quatre fonds.En 2012, les fonds ayant collecté le plus ont aussi obtenu les meilleurs rendements. Mais en 2013, la performance a tendance à se détériorer. La bonne réputation des gros fonds contribue à les faire grandir de manière excessive, ce qui rend la tâche du gérant plus difficile car il doit trouver de nouveaux investissements pour les capitaux qui entrent. De plus, les décisions prises par un gros fonds ont un impact sur le marché, ce qui les pénalise.
05/09/2013
BlackRock décroche un mandat aux Pays-Bas
Stichting Pensioenfonds Wolters Kluwer Nederland, le fonds de pension de Wolters Kluwer, a décidé de confier la gestion de quelque 90 % de son encours de 850 millions d’euros à BlackRock, rapporte FondsNieuws. Le gestionnaire américain fournira du conseil en stratégie sur l’ensemble du portefeuile et établira avec son client un plan d’investissement annuel. De plus, Blackrock sera responsable de la gestion du risque au jour le jour.Wolters Kluwer travaillait déjà avec BlackRock depuis 1996, pour les investissements indiciels.
M&G offre des parts de distribution pour 14 fonds en Italie
M&G Investments a annoncé que ses parts de distribution seraient désormais accessibles aux investisseurs particuliers en Italie pour 14 fonds, rapporte Bluerating. Liste des fonds concernés :Actions :M&G Global Basics FundM&G Global Dividend FundM&G Global Real Estate Securities FundM&G Pan European Dividend FundObligations :M&G European Corporate Bond FundM&G European High Yield FundM&G Emerging Markets Bond FundM&G Global Macro Bond Fund – Euro AM&G Global Macro Bond Fund – Euro A-HM&G High Yield Corporate Bond FundM&G Optimal Income FundMulti-Classes d’actifs :M&G Dynamic Allocation FundConvertibles :M&G Global Convertibles Fund - Euro AM&G Global Convertibles Fund - Euro A-H
05/09/2013
Swedish company launches frontier fund
The Swedish asset management firm Fonder FM has become the most recent firm to launch a frontier markets fund, FIM Frontier, Privata Affärer reports. The fund is invested in the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
05/09/2013
Excessive inflows can damage the performance of bond funds
According to a study carried out by Diaman Scf for the Italian weekly newsmagazine Plus 24 of over 2,100 European bond funds in 2012, the top 50 funds in terms of assets, equivalent to 3% of products analysed, received EUR226m, or 80% of total net inflows. In addition, 35% went to only four funds. In 2012, funds which had the largest inflows also received the best returns. But in 2013, performance tended to deteriorate. The good reputation of large funds has helped to make them grow to excessive size, which makes the task harder for the manager, who needs to find new investments for incoming capital. In addition, decisions taken by a large fund have an impact on the market, which penalises them.
05/09/2013
India allows foreign investment in pension funds
The Indian parliament on 4 September passed a long-awaited law which allows foreign investment in the pension fund sector up to 26% in order to attract foreign capital and to revive investments. The decision by the lower house granted permission for a law to be passed which had already been approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2012, and which will now proceed to the upper house for a vote. The government would also like to increase the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector from 26% to 49%.
05/09/2013
Axa Wealth recruits from Henderson
Kate Randall-Coles, FATCA project manager at Henderson Global Investors (HGI), has joined Axa Wealth as head of fund group relations, fundweb reports. Randall-Coles replaces Graham Bentley, who had served in the position in the interim since June.
05/09/2013
Very good profits for Hargreaves Lansdown
The British platform Hargreaves Lansdown has reported 38% growtin in it assets under administration as of 30 June 2013, to GBP36.4bn, according to provisional statistics released on 4 September.The number of clients has increased by 76,000 to 507,000. Pre-tax profits at the group are also up 28% to GBP195.2bn.
05/09/2013
Etienne Rougier and Eric Vynckier join AllianceBernstein
The European insurance unit of the asset management firm ACM Bernstein was reinforced in August with the arrival of Etienne Rougier, COO & head of strategy at Architas Multi-Manager, who becomes COO Insurance EMEA, and Eric Vyncker, investment director for equity and bond allocations for insurance clients at SWIP, as senior portfolio manager.Both will be based in London, and will report directly to Tim Ryan, chairman and CEO of Alliance Bernstein Limited.
05/09/2013
LLB sells Lugano branch to LKB Privatbank
Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) on 4 September announced that it is selling its Lugano branch to the Ticino-based private bank PKB Privatbank. The transaction comes as part of a withdrawal from activties undertaken by LLB Switzerland. The operation is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the group says in a statement. The price of the sale is subject to a non-disclosure agreement. The sale of LLB Switzerland, announced in March this year, comes as part of a strategic reorientation of the Liechtenstein group, to focus on its core profession. Current clients of the Ticino-based bank will be contacted in the next few weeks in order to commence the migration process. The text states that 26 employees may be maintained. The branch generates annual revenues of CHF2bn.
05/09/2013
David Barron joins Miton
After leaving JPMorgan Asset Management in January (see Newsmanagers of 23 January), David Barron has been recruited as director of investment trusts & product strategy by Miton, Fundweb reports. Barron will work with Ian Chimes, head of sales & marketing.
05/09/2013
Standard Life Investments and Legal & General IM may sue RBS
Standard Life Investments and Legal & General Investment Management are planning to sue Royal Bank of Scotland over a capital increase of GBP12bn carried out in 2008, the Financial Times reports. The two asset management firms have asked the law firm Quinn Emanuel to study whether the bank misled shareholders about its financial health in the prospectus for the deal, according to sources familiar with the matter.
05/09/2013
Liquidity of two China funds from AGI becomes weekly
Due to a recent modification to the terms applicable to products from Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII), which allows for target date funds to import and export funds from China once per week instead of once per month, Allianz Global Investors Europe GmbH has announced a modification to the liquidity rules for two of its US dollar-denominated, Luxembourg-registered funds. The liquidity for IT (LU0411151904) and AT (LU0411150922) shares in the Allianz China A-Shares, and T (LU0752527142) and PT (LU0837709459) shares in the Allianz renminbi Fixed Income Onshore fund thus become weekly (on Wednesdays), whereas they had previously been monthly.
05/09/2013
Adepa AM launches US equity fund
The Luxembourg boutique Adepa Asset Management has announced the launch of a concentrated fund dedicated to US equities, including long-term growth equities, Citywire reports. The DIP-US Equities Fund will invest in 20 to 40 securities of the S&P 500 index, without a size limitation. The fund may potentially invest up to 10% of its assets in ETFs or other investment vehicles. DIP is a Luxembourg-registered umbrella fund with multiple sub-funds, administered by Adepa and managed by the Spanish fund management firm A&G Fondos SGIIC SA (EFG International Group).
05/09/2013
Credit Suisse LAB hedge fund index down 1.01% in August
The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta (LAB) index has posted a decline of 1.01% in the month of August, according to the most recent available statistics. All strategies of the index finished the month with losses, including declines of 1.54% for the Event Driven strategy, and 1.05% for the Long/Short strategy.
05/09/2013
Switzerland wants to strengthen its financial centre
The Swiss Federal Council (government) on 4 September resolved to create a panel of experienced experts to analyse both the framework conditions and future prospects for the financial centre and to formulate recommendations on the subject. The group of experts will be led by Aymo Brunetti.The group of experts will be composed of representatives of the Confederation, the private sector, and scientific circles. Without giving in to prevailing pressure, on the basis of current policy on financial markets, the committee will examine both framework conditions and future prospects for the financial market, and then submit proposals. Its activity will continue until the end of 2014.The group of experts will not only consider the current challenges the financial market is facing nationally, but also the opportunities the country is facing internationally. To achieve that, it will take into account the interests of the entire economy. It will focus its work on the following points:-strengthening the Swiss financial market by improving national framework conditions. This reinforcement will allow for structural changes in the financial sector and the real economy to be better confronted;-maintenance or improvement of access to foreign markets, in order to preserve and promote, on the Swiss economic marketplace, the creation of value by international activities.
05/09/2013
New head of sales for Close Brothers Seydler Bank
The Frankfurt-based Close Brothers Seydler Bank, an affiliate of the British firm Close Brothers, has announced that it is adding to its 17-member sales team, with the recruitment of Karl Heinz Filbert, who had previously been a member of the executive committee at Macquarie Group Deutschland as head of European production for continental clients, as director of distribution. He will report to René Parmantier, CEO of Close Brothers Seydler Bank AG.
05/09/2013
BlackRock wins PF mandate in the Netherlands
Stichting Pensioenfonds Wolters Kluwer Nederland, the pension scheme of Wolters Kluwer, has decided to mandate the management of about 90% of its assets of EUR850m to BlackRock, FondsNieuws reports. The US-based asset management firm will provide strategic advising for the entire portfoloi, and will create an annual investment plan with its client. In addition, BlackRock will be responsible for day-to-day risk management. Wolters Kluwer has already been working with BlackRock since 1996, for index-based investments.
05/09/2013
BlackRock to close two top calibre European equity funds
BlackRock will close two top calibre European equity funds to new investors, managed by Alister Hibert and Vincent Devlin, Citywire reports. The closure is expected by 7 November, Citywire reports. In messages obtained by the specialist website, the group announces that BGF Continental Europe Flexible, whose assets under management total EUR1.93bn, will be closed to existing and new shareholders from 7 November. On the same date, the BSF European Absolute Return A2 EUR (EUR1.59bn) will also be closed to all new subscriptions. On that date, the BlackRock European Dynamic fund (GBP1.96bn), domiciled in the United Kingom and managed by Hibbert, will be soft closed.
05/09/2013
Sanjeev Shah abandonne la gestion du Fidelity Special Situations fund
Successeur en 2008 d’Anthony Bolton à la tête du fonds de Fidelity dédié aux situations spéciales, Sanjeev Shah devrait abandonner la gestion de cette stratégie à la fin de l’année.Il devrait passer la main à Axel Wright, qui gère actuellement le Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund.En attendant, Sanjeev Shah reste à la tête du fonds avec une période transition qui semble bien organisée. Axel Wright, qui travaille chez Fidelity depuis une douzaine d’années, a collaboré en qualité d’analyste tant avec Anthony Bolton que Sanjeev Shah.
05/09/2013
New head for EM at Loomis Sayles
Peter Marber has been appointed as head of emerging markets investments at Loomis Sayles (US affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management), where he will be responsible both for investments in equities and in bonds, under the authority of Jae Park, CIO. Marber joins from HSBC Global Asset Management, where he served in several roles at the emerging markets group, such as chief business strategist, floval head of emerging markets debt and portfolio manager. He had been founding partner, senior portfolio manager and chief investment strategist at The Atlantic Advisors, a firm acquired by HSBC in 2005.The team led by Marber includes three portfolio managers (David Rolley, Eddy Sternberg and Peter Frick), as well as Elisabeth Colleran as emerging markets senior credit strategist. The team is supported by over 12 emerging market specialists. Recently, a staetment says, Loomis Sayles recruited four senior emerging market analysts: Bianca Taylor (EM senior sovereign analyste), Celeste Tay (Asia soverign analyst), Li Ping Yeo (Asia senior credit analyst) et Nada Oulidi (EM senior bank analyst).As of 30 June, emerging market assets at Loomis Sayles totalled over USD12bn.
05/09/2013
Hermes REIM acquires Metro outlets in France
As part of a sale & lease-back operation for an amount “in the low hundreds of millions,” Hermes Real Estate Investment Limited (HREIML) has acquired a 75% stake in a portfolio of 43 Metro Cash & Carry France shops.The transaction, announced on 4 September, aims to diversify the international portfolio of HREIML.The 43 locations represent about half of the Metro network in France.
05/09/2013
Neuflize OBC Investissements merges FI and convertible teams
Neuflize OBC Investissements will merge its fixed income and convertibles teams into a single department, according to information confirmed to Citywire by the French asset management firm. Xavier Chapon, head of fixed income at the firm, will lead the new 10-member team with EUR11bn in assets under management.
05/09/2013
DeAWM recruits former manager from BofA Merrill Lynch
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has recruited Matt Montana as managing director, in a newly-created position as head of equity trading for the Americas region. Montana will be based in New York, and will report directly to Joshua Friedberg, head of trading, Americas. He will be responsible for all equity trading in the Americas. He previously worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he spent 25 years.