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01/03/2012

Insurers planning to increase alternative investments

The Solvency II regulations will have a decisive influence on asset allocations by insurers, and BlackRock has tasked the Economist Intelligence Unit with undertaking a survey of 223 European insurance firms. The results are counterintuitive: 32% of respondents are planning to incresae their allocation to hedge funds, and 32% are also planning to increase their exposure to private equity, despite heavier regulatory ratios. This contradiction is due to the fact that insurers need revenues to keep up with their liabilities, and alternative products are more liable to provide these steady revenues.33% of insurers are also planning to increase their investments in corporate bonds. In terms of government bonds, about one quarter of companies are planning to increase their exposure, while another quarter are planning to reduce it.
01/03/2012

AGI adds to fiduciary management team

From 1 March, Piet Molenaar, who had since January 2011 been CIO of the Stork pension fund, will be joining Allianz Global Investors (AGI), as head of fiduciary management for Benelux and Northern Europe. He will be in charge of developing complete solutions for pension and retirement funds, developing relationships with existing clients, and recruiting new clients. He will be based in Rotterdam, and will report to Andrew Hilka, head of pensions at AGI.Assets in fiduciary management at AGI total EUR13bn.
01/03/2012

Frequency of quarterly reports from businesses under debate

The quarterly publication of corporate results may have a negative impact on management and on the behaviour of shareholders, a report commissioned by the British government on risks related to investment for short-term profits has found, the news agency Reuters reports. The study, whose initial findings were unveiled on Wednesday, was launched after the acquisition of Cadbury by its US rival Kraft Foods last year. Some critics of the deal claimed at the time that it was driven by investors seeking quick profits. A clear majority of professionals surveyed for the study (insurers, shareholders’ associations, pension funds and individual investors) claimed atht the publication of quarterly results and intermediate reports on activities released by businesses were “useless or misleading.” The final conclusions of the study and its recommendations are expected in summer.
01/03/2012

Invesco Perpetual recruits a US manager

Simon Clinch will be joining Invesco Perpetual as a US equity fund manager next month. He will report to Simon Laing, IPE.com reports. He was previously at J Rothschild Capital Management. Invesco has also announced the recruitment of Rob Barrett as head of institutional sales, based in London. Barrett previously worked at HSBC Global Asset Management, JP Morgan and UBS.
01/03/2012

Neptune raises questions about plans to move Prudential

The founder of Neptune, Robin Geffen, has raised questions about plans to move the headquarters of Prudential from London to Hong Kong. According to rumours that Prudential is not denying, the head of Prudential, Tidjane Thiam, is planning to leave London in order to avoid the inconveniences of Solvency II regulations. Geffen claims in a column in the Scotsman newspaper that such a move could legitimately make investors ask questions about the solvency of the group, and particularly about the future of its asset management unit, M&G.“That’s one way for the group to avoid European solvency ratios. Investors would be right to be concerned,” Geffen claims. Neptune holds a stake of less than 3% in the British insurer.
01/03/2012

Germany's largest fund is an ETF

The iShares Dax has become the fund available in Germany with the largest asset volume, Financial Times Deutschland reports. The fund had inflows in 2011 of EUR8bn, at a time when all other funds on sale in the country were undergoing net outflows of nearly EUR25bn. Thanks to the most recent rally on the markets, the fund has reached assets of EUR12.3bn, dethroning the largest open-ended real estate fund, Dekafonds, which had EUR11.5bn in assets as of the end of 2011.
01/03/2012

Local affiliates of multinationals in emerging markets outperform

The share price performance of locally-listed EM affiliates of multinationals is vastly better than that of both emerging and developed markets broadly as well as their own local markets, according to a study carried out by Yale University’s Martijn Cremers and commissioned by Aberdeen Asset Management. There are 92 such companies across the emerging world, including Unilever PLC, for example, that has listed affiliates in India, Indonesia and Pakistan in which it has stakes of 37%, 85% and 75% respectively. Over the thirteen years from June 1998 to June 2011, a period chosen for its balance between sample size and history length, the listed affiliates returned 2,229%. This compared with total returns of parents, local markets and parents’ markets of 407%, 1,157% and 147% respectively. This pattern of outperformance was consistent across each region too. Affiliates in LatAm, EMEA and Asia outperformed their local indices by 41%, 134% and 50% respectively. “The two main reasons for this outperformance are improved corporate governance and a stabilizing role of the parent companies. Both seem critical specifically in financial crises. These give affiliates a clear comparative advantage over their local competitors that should endure in the foreseeable future,” explains Martijn Cremers, associate professor of finance at Yale School of Management. These findings contradict the so-called perceived wisdom of those who have argued the most effective way for investors to obtain exposure to emerging markets is through developed market companies.
01/03/2012

Heavy institutional outflows at Henderson Global Investors

The British asset management firm Henderson Global Investors on 29 February announced that it has earned a net profit of GBP33.9m, compared with GBP77.4m in 2010. Pre-tax profits are nonetheless up 58% year on year, to GBP159.2m, largely due to the acquisition of Gartmore, which was completed on 4 April 2011 for a total of GBP365.4m, and which thus contributed to nine months of results for the fiscal year. Assets under management as of 31 December 2011 were up 4% to GBP64.3bn. The acquisition of Gartmore brought in assets under management of GBP15.7bn, which were nonetheless partially offset by divestments. The year ended with net outflows, largely in second half, of GBP6.4bn, of which GBP4.7bn were to institutional clients. The negative impact of markets and forex totalled GBP2.7bn.
01/03/2012

Ben Bernanke reconnaît des progrès

Le banquier central a insisté hier devant le Congrès sur les signes de reprise de l'économie américaine et d’amélioration sur le marché du travail tout en se montrant toujours prudent. Dans ce contexte, la perspective d’un troisième assouplissement quantitatif s'éloigne.
01/03/2012

Michel Barnier propose de réglementer les fonds de pension

Le commissaire européen au marché intérieur et à la régulation financière devrait indiquer aujourd’hui dans un discours que la Commission européenne «va proposer un cadre réglementaire spécifique aux fonds de pension», indique le journal. Une réforme destinée à encourager les fonds transfrontaliers, à réduire les coûts des employeurs et leur offrir plus de choix.
01/03/2012

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi s’inquiète de l’opération de la BCE

Dans un entretien accordé au journal, l’ancien membre de la BCE, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, s’inquiète de l’effet des opérations de refinancement de la BCE sur l’incitation des banques à «se tenir sur leurs propres jambes». Les banques pourraient en effet devenir «dépendantes à des financements de la banque centrale» et être tentées de repousser la restructuration de leur bilan.
01/03/2012

Injections de la BCE : «fide, sed cui vide*»

Les données les plus récentes montrent que la provision de liquidités BCE a permis d’éviter un rationnement majeur du crédit au tournant de l’année. Mais est-ce suffisant ?
01/03/2012

L'indice PMI Chicago à son plus haut depuis avril 2011

L’indice des directeurs d’achats de la région de Chicago a augmenté nettement plus que prévu en février, pour atteindre son plus haut niveau depuis avril 2011, a annoncé hier l’Institute for Supply Management-Chicago (ISM-Chicago). L’indice ressort à 64,0 après 60,2 en janvier, alors que les analystes interrogés par Reuters l’attendaient en hausse moins marquée, à 61,5. La composante de l’emploi a bondi à 64,2, contre 54,7 en janvier, atteignant son plus haut niveau depuis mai 1984.
01/03/2012

Nyse Liffe allonge l'horizon de cotation de certains contrats

Le marché des contrats à terme et d’options cotés à Paris informe ses membres de l’allongement des horizons de cotation pour les contrats à terme et d’options sur matières premières à compter du 13 mars : de 8 à 12 échéances disponibles à la négociation sur le blé meunier et l’orge de brasserie, de 6 à 10 échéances sur le colza et de 7 à 10 échéances sur le maïs.A la fin de la journée de bourse du 12 Mars, l’échéance Août 2012 sera par ailleurs la dernière échéance août listée pour les contrats sur le blé meunier et sur l’orge de brasserie.
01/03/2012

Le parlement finlandais vote le plan d'aide à la Grèce

Les parlementaires finlandais ont approuvé hier le nouveau plan d’aide de 130 milliards d’euros accordé à la Grèce. Lors du vote, 111 parlementaires ont voté en faveur, 72 ont manifesté leur opposition et 16 se sont abstenus. Mardi, le parlement néerlandais a ratifié à contrecœur le deuxième plan de sauvetage financier à la Grèce surendettée.
01/03/2012

La Grèce lance l'appel d'offres pour DEPA

Athènes a lancé hier un appel d’offres pour sa compagnie gazière DEPA, dans le cadre d’un programme de privatisations censé lui rapporter 19 milliards d’euros d’ici à 2015. L’Etat grec, qui détient DEPA à hauteur de 65%, conservera une participation de 34% dans la société privatisée. D’après le quotidien grec Ta Nea, qui cite des sources anonymes, au moins 20 sociétés et fonds ont exprimé leur intérêt pour DEPA, dont Gaz de France, le russe Gazprom, l’italien ENI, l’espagnol Gas Natural et l’autrichien OMV.
01/03/2012

La BoE pourrait se passer d’un assouplissement supplémentaire

C’est l’avis de Martin Weale, membre du comité de politique monétaire de la Banque d’Angleterre, qui estime que l’inflation britannique pourrait se révéler plus persistante que prévu, rendant improbable la nécessité d’un stimulus supplémentaire à la fin du programme actuel de rachats d’obligations.
01/03/2012

Natixis Capital Partners se renomme Captiva

L’équipe de direction de Natixis Capital Partners vient de boucler sous la forme d’un management buy-out la reprise de la société, qui opère désormais sous le nom de Captiva Capital Management. La société d’investissement immobilier, qui compte des bureaux à Paris, Milan, Londres, Luxembourg et Hambourg, s’attend à investir plus de 200 millions d’euros en 2012.
01/03/2012

La «TVA sociale» adoptée par le Parlement

Le Parlement français a adopté définitivement hier soir le projet de loi de finances rectificative pour 2012 qui prévoit notamment la création d’une «TVA sociale». Ce projet de loi prévoit notamment de supprimer, à compter du 1er octobre prochain, les cotisations patronales affectées à la protection sociale et de les compenser par une hausse de 1,6 point de la TVA, à 21,2%, et d’augmenter de deux points la CSG sur les revenus du capital.

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