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13/03/2012

Lyxor lists four ETFs in Madrid

Only a few days after registering three ETFs based on Russell indices in Spain (see Newsmanagers of 5 March), Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) has listed four more ETFs for trading on the Spanish market, this time based on sub-indices of the S&P 500.The CNMV on 9 March issued licenses to the Lyxor ETF S&P 500 Capped Industrials Sector, Capped Materials Sector, Capped Technology Sector and Capped Utilities Sector funds, which have been available in Paris since last month.
13/03/2012

Russell preparing to import its mandates fund formula

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the French affiliate of Russell Investments has submitted an application for a license to open a local asset management office in Paris. The firm is clearly hoping to receive clearance in the relatively near future, probably in order to launch funds of mandates, a formula which is one of the group’s main strengths.The license would allow the firm to occupy a position in the French market which fits better with the global size of Russell (about USD148bn in assets). In November, Michael Sfez, deputy CEO of the Paris office, announced plans to Newsmanagers to recruit a partner for multi-strategy multi-assets (see Newsmanagers of 25 November), to assist Alain Zeitouni, who was recruited one month earlier as head of multi-strategy management. And the regulator requires at least two managers for a fund...
13/03/2012

Assets up for four major asset managers in February

AllianceBernstein, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Legg Mason in February posted further increases in their assets under management, for a total of USD52.1bn, after USD76.3bn in January.At AllianceBernstein, the growth was limited to USD3bn for the month, to a total of USD434bn as of 29 February, compared with USD406bn as of the end of December. Increases in February were mostly (USD2bn) to “other” products.At Franklin Templeton Investments (USD727.4bn, compared with USD704.3bn as of the end of January), the growth is USD13.5bn due to equity products, and USD7.3bn to bond products. As of the end of 2011, the asset management firm had assets of USD670.3bn.At Invesco (USD667.6bn, compared with USD648.3bn), a large part of the increase (USD13.3bn) went to equity products. As of 31 December, assets totalled USD625.3bn.At Legg Mason, the increase in assets totalled only USD6.7bn, of which USD2bn were for equities, and USD4bn for money markets. Assets as of the end of February totalled USD638bn, compared with USD631.3bn one month previously, and USD627bn at the end of 2011.
13/03/2012

Béatrice Belorgey joins BNP Paribas private bank

Béatrice Belorgey has been appointed deputy head of Private Banking, France. In her new post she will serve as number two to Sofia Merlo, head of Private Banking, France, who also holds the position of co-CEO Wealth Management.Béatrice Belorgey was head of investor relations and financial information for the BNP Paribas Group. She will be replaced in the role by Stéphane de Marnhac.
13/03/2012

Societe Generale launches a new range aimed at high net worth investors

Societe Generale on 12 March announced that it is launching a new integrated service offering, Private Investment Banking, aimed at ultra high net worth entrepreneurs who have a holding company or a family office. This exclusive service will allow these clients to benefit from access to all the expertise within the Group, particularly in terms of wealth management and investment banking, for the management of their private wealth and their business. The solutions offered will be based on the expertise and knowledge of entrepreneurial clients at Societe Generale Private Banking and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking. This service includes: comprehensive solutions for tailor-made financial engineering; dedicated portfolio management teams, best-in-class investment products and solutions; financing solutions, merger & acquisitions advisory, capital increases and initial public offerings; direct access to all capital markets. The development of this activity will be headed by Galeazzo Pecori Giraldi, who has been appointed Head of Societe Generale’s Private Investment Banking offering. He will be responsible for a team of senior bankers and account managers in Europe and the Middle East. The Private Investment banking structure will also be supported by the Group’s international network.
13/03/2012

Net assets in Belgian funds down by nearly 15% in 2011

According to the Belgian association of asset managers (BEAMA), net assets in funds on sale in Belgium totalled EUR104.39bn as of the end of 2011, compared with EUR121.90bn at the end of 2010, a decline of EUR17.51bn (-14.4%). Fourth quarter 2011 brought significant net redemptions estimated at EUR12bn. EUR9.03bn of this decline is due to equity funds. However, these net redemptions have been largely offset by positive market effects of EUR8bn to EUR9bn.
13/03/2012

First study of fund administration platforms in Europe

Assets under administration by European open archtecture platforms total about EUR740bn, according to a study by The Platforum (“The European Platform Guide,”) which claims to be the first of its type.As of third quarter 2011, assets under administration on the five major markets taken into account in the study by the Platforum, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, totalled EUR561bn.The largest market in terms of assets under administration is the United Kingdom, followed by Italy. The largest open architecture platforms in Europe include Allfunds Bank, Cofunds, Fidelity, Fund Channel and Skandia, all of which have over EUR35bn in third-party assets.Fidelity is the dominant platform for Northern Europe, with total British and German assets of EUR56bn. For Southern Europe, Allfunds Bank is the largest player, with EUR55bn in assets under administration.The study also finds that the pricing models are mostly based in rebate systems. The UK is still developing a model in which new entrants explicitly receive administration fees.
13/03/2012

Few hedge fund winners out of Greek restructuring

There have ultimately not been many winning bets on Greek bonds, the Financial Times reports, pointing out that among the speculators were banks as well as insurers and pension funds, in addition to hedge funds. The latter have recently held back from the market due to its extreme volatility. One of the bets which worked for some hedge funds was to exploit the difference between the price of Greek bonds and the price of CDS on Greek debt.Beyond the Greek market itself, Greek bonds offer a haven for traders who want to express a negative opinion on the valuation of other peripheral Euorpean debt, such as bonds from Portugal, Spain and Italy. The price of Greek bonds is not expected to fall further, as it has already fully priced in the restructuring into account. Holding this debt along with a short position on Portuguese bonds offers protection against the upside-risk in Europe, and limits the downside risk.
13/03/2012

JPMorgan promotes an all-terrain bond fund

In response to demand from investors, particularly in France, seeking income over performance, JPMorgan Asset Managmeent is throwing a spotlight on its Income Opportunity Fund (ISIN code: LU0289470113). The product is a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav JPMorgan Investment Funds, which had USD5.18bn in assets as of 9 March, with annual returns of 5.42% since launch (19 July 2007), at a time when the Eonia gained 1.71%. This is all achieved with a total volatility of 2% to 3%, less than for government bonds.At a presentation of the fund in Paris on Monday, William “Bill” Eigen, head of opportunistic bond strategies and absolute returns, who is also the manager of the Income Opportunity Fund, explained that the fund has full freedom to use a flexible and multi-sectoral strategy in bonds, and to use all registers and types of products in the asset class (CDS, high yield, emerging markets, corporate bonds, relative value), without relying on leverage, to achieve absolute returns.The portfolio includes a core of 50 positions, and Eigen, who has invested 58.2% of the fund in high yield, has retained a relatively high level of liquidity (29.9%), “simply due to the absence of sufficiently safe investment opportunities.” Anyway, the manager would like to “retain cash to be able to act when the market doesn’t have any.”
13/03/2012

Chinese hedge fund firm opens in Europe

The Hong Kong-based asset management firm Value Partners will in May launch a UCITS version of a hedge fund domiciled in the Cayman islands (USD1.7bn), Citywire reports. The fund will be based in Dublin and will replicate the Value Partners Classic Fund, largely invested in Chinese equities.
13/03/2012

Julius Baer opens rep office in Tel Aviv

The Swiss firm Julius Baer on Monday officially inaugurated its representative office on Rothschild boulevard in Tel Aviv. The new location is directed by Ran Heistein as chief representative, while Dan Sagui, Israel market head, will be in charge of all banking activities in the country, but will continue to be based in Zurich.UBS has recently opened a wealth management unit in Israel, also in Tel Aviv (see Newsmanagers of 23 February).
13/03/2012

Martin Currie recruits a big name from Schroders as COO

Darren Cannon, head of derivatives & data services at Schroders since 2006, will on 19 March join the Scottish asset management firm Martin Currie as COO, under the direct authority of CEO Willie Watt. He will be a member of the executive board, and will be in charge of IT, client reporting, investment activities, transitions, and the projects team.Martin Currie is still seeking a non-executive director to chair its independent risk committee.
13/03/2012

Threadneedle prepares to launch an online tool

Threadneedle will soon be launching a pilot of an online platform dedicated to order execution, entitled myThreadnneedle.com. The site has been under development by the group since May 2011, FundWeb reports.The platform will offer existing clients access to house funds, probably in summer, after the conclusion of the pilot project.Threadneedle has developed the tool in partnership with the Cofunds platform, in which Threadneedle holds a 20% stake.
13/03/2012

German open-ended funds recorded inflows in January

Unlike December and January 2011, when they underwent respective net outflows of EUR4.06bn and EUR73bn, German open-ended funds in January 2012 have seen net subscriptions of EUR1.42bn, while institutional funds attracted EUR2.12bn, compared with EUR11.8bn the previous month, and EUR5.7bn one year previously, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms.Net inflows to open-ended security funds totalled EUR824.7m. Although the Allianz Asset Management group and the DWS/DB Advisors/Deutsche Bank family have posted net subscriptions of EUR1.21bn and EUR828m, respectively, Deka (savings banks) and Union Investment (co-operative banks) have seen net redemptions of EUR880m and EUR294m, respectively.BlackRock has posted the first net outflow from its ETFs in many months, totalling EUR294.5m, as as ComStage, with EUR204m. However, ETFlab (Deka) has seen net inflows of EUR20.8m, and db x-trackers has posted net subscriptions of EUR510.1m.
13/03/2012

Changes to management at Talanx AM

Following the resignation of Rainer Decker, who has left the business with goodwill on both sides, Talanx Asset Management has appointed Dirk Erdmann as a member of its board from 1 April 2012. Erdmann had previously been in charge of investment controlling.Like his predecessor, Erdmann will be responsible for the investment accounting department for primary insurers and reinsurers. He will also take charge of investment controlling and IT coordination, which had previously been the responsibility of Harry Ploemacher, chairman of the board of directors.Meanwhile, responsibility for client relationship management (CRM) for primary insurers and reinsurers, which had been the responsibility of Decker, will be transferred to Ploemacher.
13/03/2012

Asset pooling: partnership between Aegon GP and Frankfurt Trust

Frankfurt Trust, the asset management firm affiliate of BHF-Bank, on Monday announced that it has concluded a strategic partnership with Aegon Global Pensions to offer businesses cross-border asset pooling to manage their retirement funds more centrally, for example via funds of funds available from the Aegon group.Larger firms may have access to the asset pooling platform, which allows a way to pool and transfer shares in funds already held in various countries.Frankfurt Trust has assets of over EUR15bn, of which EUR8bn are for institutional investors.
13/03/2012

Legg Mason to launch a global high yield fund

Legg Mason will launch a UCITS version of its global high yield fund, Brandywine Global High Yield, managed by its US affiliate Brandywine Global, Citywire Global reveals. The fund will be managed by Gerhardt Herbert, Brian Kloss and Regina Borromeo.
13/03/2012

Kinetic Partners acquires AB Fund Services

Kinetic Partners has acquired the Luxembourg consultant AB Fund Services, a specialist in regulatory and compliance issues, particularly in connection with the requirements of the Luxembourg Financial Sector Surveillance Commission (CSSF) in matters of risk management, for an undislcosed amount.Kinetic already has offices in London, Dublin, Grand Cayman, New York, Geneva and Hong Kong.
13/03/2012
Gestion d'actifs

Le Groupe Prévoir fait le pari de l'immobilier pour trouver du rendement à un niveau de risque acceptable

Le Groupe Prévoir gère 2.9 milliards d’euros en direct pour le holding, la société vie et l’activité IARD. Une vingtaine de personnes dont 12 pour les titres, se partagent la tâche. Plus surprenante est l’exposition en actions du groupe: 30% pour l’activité dommages, 13% en vie et 97% pour le holding. A la différence de nos homologues, le taux de rotation de nos portefeuilles d’actions et d’immobilier est quasi inexistant. Nous achetons, nous conservons. Nous avons bien enregistré quelques moins-values sur les actions, mais quand nous sommes convaincus de la performance d’un titre, nous ne bougeons pas. Notre allocation d’actifs est restée stable depuis des décennies explique Cécile Gerard, directrice financière et technique de Prévoir. Explication? Un niveau de fonds propres à faire pâlir la concurrence: à fin 2010, le ratio sous Solvabilité I de Prévoir vie était de 444% (1700% en dommages). Sous Solva II, la performance reste de taille: 220% pour la vie, 600% pour les dommages. Mais à l’intérieur de chacune des classes d’actifs, nous avons effectué des arbitrages. Nous avons réduit d’abord notre exposition aux financières, puis vendu tous nos titres souverains à l’exception des français, poursuit Cécile Gerard. Aujourd’hui, il est de plus en plus difficile de trouver du rendement sur les marchés à un risque acceptable. L’immobilier nous apparaît comme la classe d’actifs qui répond le mieux à nos besoins.
Gestion d'actifs
13/03/2012

Statu quo de la BoJ

La Banque du Japon n’a pas décidé d’étendre son programme de rachat d’actifs à l’issue de sa réunion mensuelle qui s’achevait ce matin. Si la nouvelle était attendue, elle a entrainé un rebond du yen de 0,3% à 82,10 contre dollar.
13/03/2012

Berlin lance la privatisation de sa foncière

Bloomberg avance de sources proches que le gouvernement allemand entend lancer dès le mois prochain la vente de la société immobilière publique TLG Immobilien, dans l’espoir de récolter plus de 1,8 milliard d’euros.
13/03/2012

Les élus locaux déboutés sur leur projet d'agence

Les élus locaux n’ont pas été entendus par le gouvernement sur leur projet d’agence de financement, censée couvrir un quart des besoins des collectivités territoriales. Dans un entretien au Figaro d’hier, le ministre Philippe Richert, explique que «la mise en place de cette agence, telle qu’elle est aujourd’hui conçue, soulève des difficultés». Les services de Bercy doutent notamment que l’agence puisse obtenir un AAA et puisse émettre de manière autonome sans garantie de l’Etat. Hier soir, l’Association pour l’agence de financement des collectivités locales n’avait toujours pas reçu la version définitive du rapport que le gouvernement devait rendre au parlement sur ce sujet. Elle ne souhaitait pas réagir. Mais lors de la réunion de son comité stratégique la semaine dernière, ses membres se sont dits décidés à faire avancer le projet avec ou sans l’aval du gouvernement actuel. Ils comptent sur le prochain exécutif pour déposer le projet de loi qui devrait créer l’agence.
13/03/2012

CVC se prépare à coter Evonik

Le fonds de LBO a indiqué que son plus gros investissement, le fabricant allemand de produits chimiques Evonik, pourrait être introduit en Bourse d’ici la fin juin. L’opération valoriserait l’activité à plus de 10 milliards d’euros. La cession d’une participation de plus d’un milliard d’euros est attendue.
13/03/2012

Appel à la stabilité des prêts immobiliers en Chine

La Banque Populaire de Chine (PBOC), la Commission nationale de développement et de réforme ainsi que cinq autres agences gouvernementales ont appelé à une politique de stabilité des prêts octroyés par les banques chinoises pour l’achat d’un premier bien immobilier, dans un rapport publié conjointement et cité par le China Securities Journal.
13/03/2012

La consolidation des gérants va s’accélérer

Les mouvements de rapprochement devraient animer le secteur au second semestre, portés par les contraintes réglementaires des banquiers et assureurs et la baisse des valorisations, selon Deloitte. Les acquisitions devraient principalement concerner les acteurs de taille intermédiaire.
13/03/2012

United Biscuits songe à céder ses biscuits salés

Blackstone et PAI Partners auraient choisi des banques, dont Credit Suisse, afin d’étudier des options concernant le devenir des biscuits salés de United Biscuits. Le montant de la transaction pourrait s’élever à 500 millions de livres (594 millions d’euros) selon le quotidien. Le travail de séparation des activités est très avancé. Nombre de fonds de private equity seraient à l’affût.

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