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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

Chinese government issues five new QFII licenses

In February, the Chinese regulator, the CSRC, issued Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) licenses to five asset management firms, which may now conduct operations on internal Chinese markets, Z-Ben Advisors reports. The recipients of the licenses are TransGlobe Life Insurance Inc., Public Mutual Berhad, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Company Ltd., Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
13/03/2012

Bankia Fondos launches its first fund

Under the Bankia Banca Privada brand name, Bankia Fondos is planning to launch its first fund on 20 April, the Tipo Fijo Garantizado 2, which will mature on 16 February 2017. The fund was registered by the CNMV on 9 March. The bond product, investing primarily in government and corporate bonds from OECCD countries rated at least A-, is designed to deliver annual returns of 4%, in addition to initial capital, with an initial payment of 8.33% on 14 May 2014.CharacteristicsName: Bankia Banca Privada Tipo Fijo Garantizado 2, FIISIN code: ES0113932000Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.2%Penalty for early withdrawal: 4%
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

SGSS offers Solvency II services to institutional investors and asset managers

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 12 March announced that it has set up a package of services to enable institutional investors and asset managers, in the context of their asset management activities, to meet the requirements imposed by the provisions of the Solvency II directive, which is due to come into effect on 1st January 2014. This directive will result in a significant increase in the information that needs to be provided to regulators. The frequency and level of data to be provided mean that new requirements for information, both quantitative and qualitative, will have to be met. With this in mind, the services offered by SGSS include transparent inventory of funds and portfolios of assets, assistance with SCR (Solvency Capital Requirement) calculations, monitoring and management of the risks linked to financial assets, preparation of reports dedicated to Solvency II covering financial assets. “Thanks to this services offering, SGSS’ dedicated teams of experts will advise and accompany their institutional investor and asset management clients throughout the procedures required in order to be fully compliant with the requirements of traceability, auditability and transparency imposed by the Solvency II directive,” SGSS says in a statement.
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

Pictet AM launches a new fund in Italy

Pictet Asset Management is launching its Global Bonds Fundamental fund, a new fund investing in government bonds worldwide, in Italy, Bluerating reports. The product will be offered to retail clients. It was issued a license in Italy on 20 February 2012.
13/03/2012

Axa closes UK Tracker fund

Axa Investment Management on 29 February decided to close its Axa UK Tracker fund in order to concentrate on active management, Fundweb reports. The product, which had assets under management of GBP65bn, had been outsourced to Barclays Global Investors (since acquired by BlackRock) in 1999.
13/03/2012

Appointment at Threadneedle

Threadneedle has appointed Matthew Cobon as co-manager of the absolute return bond fund from Threadneedle, FundWeb reports.Cobon will work with Quentin Fitzsimmons on the fund, whose assets under management total GBP485.5m.Cobon joined Threadneedle in January 2011 as a bond manager, from Aberdeen, where he was global head of currency management.
13/03/2012

Cathay Life develops in asset management

Cathay Conning Asset Management, a joint venture developed by the Taiwan-based insurance group Cathay Life and the US asset management firm Conning, has obtained permission from the Hong Kong regulator to practice as an asset manager. Assets under management at Cathay Life total USD70.9bn, while Conning has USD77bn.
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

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

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

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
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

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.
13/03/2012

Les produits structurés ont la cote

Le quotidien, citant une étude du site structuredretailproducts.com, met en lumière que les ventes de produits structurés à des investisseurs privés ont bondi au cours des deux premiers mois de l’année, de 900 millions de livres l’an passé à 1,3 milliard cette année. Un succès acquis sur la base des ventes réalisées par les conseillers financiers indépendants.

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