The British asset management firm Baillie Gifford has announced that it is planning to close its GBP421m fund dedicated to emerging market large caps to new investors if it tops GBP10m in the next twelve months, Money Marketing reports. Baillie Gifford has already closed an emerging markets gorwth fund in 2011, when it passed GBP1bn in assets.
Generali Immobiliare Italia Sgr, the real estate asset management firm from the Italian insurer, will manage the real estate assets of the UniCredit pension fund, Bluerating reports. The assets total EUR500m.
The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 24 February published its final recommendations on automated trading, which largely concern high frequency trading (HFT). There will be a two-month transitional period, at the conclusion of which national supervisors will announce if they will comply with the recommendations, or else explain why they are opting not to bring themselves into line with the new rules. The recommendations published on 24 February will come into force on 1 May.
Bellevue Group has reported a loss of CHF64.7m for the 2011 fiscal year, after profits of CHF1.52m in 2010, according to a statement published on 27 February. The asset management unit, Bellevue Asset Management, finished the year with a net loss of CHF31.5m.Assets under management at the group as of the end of December totalled CHF3.2bn, compared with CHF4.1bn one year earlier. Net outflows totalled CHF330m.The group has also announced the appointment of Urs Baumann as CEO of Bellevue Group, effective from 1 March, replacing Martin Bisang, also a co-founder of the firm.
Western Asset Management (Legg Mason) and AllianceBernstein are reducing the exposure of their bond funds to emerging markets (USD39bn for the former, USD19bn for the latter). Pimco was a step ahead of them in January, doing the same for its Total Return Fund (USD250.5bn), whose emerging market debt allocation was reduced to 9% from 10%, the Wall Street Journal reports. They estimate that the euro zone crisis will last years, weigh down global growth, and ruin investors’ appetite for higher-risk assets such as emerging market debt.However, Michael Hasenstab has bought South Korean, Malaysian and Australian government bonds for his Templeton Global Bond Fund (USD59.6bn), and the securities join Polish government bonds as the four largest positions for the fund.In 2009-2011, net subscriptions to emerging market bond funds totalled USD29bn, of which USD12.5bn were last year, according to Morningstar. Year to date, EM debt funds earned 6.5%.
On 17 February, in addition to guaranteed products from Unnim and Bankia (see Newsmanagers of 23 and 24 February), the CNMV also issued licenses to the maturity bond fund Banca Civica Renta Fija 2014, which offers annual returns of 3.26% on 3 October 2014, and to the diversified fund Banif Inversión Global from Santander Asset Management.CharacteristicsName: Banca Civica Renta Fija 2014, FIISIN code: ES0115712012Management commission: 0.8% (A share class)0.6% (B share class)Name: Banif Inversion Global, FIISIN code: ES011403306Management commission: 1.49%Performance commission: 9%
The private equity investor RHJ, BlackRock and Deutsche Bank had no comment on reports that, on the one hand, RHJ had not yet either officially or unofficially sought permission from BaFin to acquire BHF-Bank from Deutsche bank, and on the other hand, that BlackRock has agreed to help RHJ finance the acquisition, Handelsblatt reports.The transaction would be worth about EUR500m. BaFin requires about two months to determine whether the buyer has the financial resources to conclude the operation, before it eventually gives its approval.
Aberdeen Asset Management has changed the name of its Alternative Investment Strategies business to Aberdeen Solutions.The new name «better reflects the component strategies within the business, but also importantly emphasises the Group’s capability in combining these investment tools into meeting client needs whether expressed as relative, absolute or real return, or a liability driven outcome», according to a press release. Within Aberdeen Solutions, the Group currently manages around EUR30 billion (out of a total of EUR208bn) in a range of pooled fund and segregated mandates falling within the following strategies - multi-asset, multi-manager, passive, fund of hedge funds, fund of private equity funds and pan-alternatives - to a variety of benchmarks and objectives.
Geneva-based Alix Capital, which already publishes the UCITS Alternative Index, on 21 February launched five strategy indices of the new UAIX range for UCITS-compliant hedge funds. The indices include UAIX Commodities, CTA, Fixed Income, Long/Short Equity and Volatility. The objective is to outperform the corresponding UCITS Alternative indices. Each index is composed of 6 to 15 UCITS-compliant hedge funds. The indices are rebalanced once per quarter.Among the major criteria a fund must meet to be included in the UAIX indices, they must belong to the larger universe of the UCITS Alternative Index, have at least EUR30m in assets, and be accepting new investments.The UAIX indices use a methodology which is compatible with the UCITS directive. They are designed to be investable, and offer weekly pricing.
Threadneedle, the asset management firm at the centre of a suspected USD150m fraud, has been ordered by the Financial Services Authority to undertake an internal enquiry into its own controls and systems, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph. The injunction comes as the asset management firm has been working with police investigating an attempt at a fraudulent transaction last year. One man has been arrested and another, Vladimir Gersamia, has been fired, the British newspaper continues. The transaction concerned orders for Argentine warrants by former employees of the Russian Otkritie group.
La Banque populaire de Chine se donne trois ans pour assouplir le contrôle des investissements directs étrangers. Dans 5 à 10 ans, le pays pourrait progressivement ouvrir aux investisseurs étrangers les opérations de trading sur les marchés immobiliers, des actions et des obligations.
Les banques centrales et les investisseurs des pays émergents auraient été acheteurs nets d’euros à mi-février pour la première fois depuis novembre dernier, selon le journal qui cite une étude réalisée par Bank of America Merrill Lynch. La banque prévoit une demande forte pour les 2 à 3 milliards d’euros d’obligations de dette européenne à 20 ans qui doivent être émise cette semaine.
Un groupement de fonds de pension serait sur le point de lancer un véhicule d’investissement en projets d’infrastructures dans le traitement de l’eau ou la construction publique, selon le quotidien qui cite des personnes faisant parti du projet. Ce véhicule aurait une capacité limitée à 4 milliards de livres (4,7 milliards d’euros), dont la moitié en dette.
Alors que l’activité du pays devrait se contracter de 0,1% en 2012, le gouvernement belge devrait décider dans la semaine de réaliser 2 milliards d’euros d’économies supplémentaires afin de respecter l’objectif d’un déficit budgétaire annuel contenu à 2,8% du PIB, rapporte l’agence de presse Belga.
«Il est possible que ce ne soit pas la dernière fois que le parlement allemand aura à examiner une aide financière à la Grèce», écrit le ministre allemand des Finances, Wolfgang Schäuble, dans une lettre adressée aux parlementaires, les invitant à approuver le plan de renflouement à Athènes. Le vote au Bundestag est programmé aujourd’hui. Le président de l’Eurogroupe Jean-Claude Juncker tient un discours similaire, ne pouvant pas exclure qu’il faille un troisième plan d’aide à la Grèce.
Selon les résultats définitifs de l’enquête mensuelle Thomson Reuters-Université du Michigan, le moral des consommateurs américains s’est légèrement amélioré en février à un plus haut d’un an grâce à un regain d’optimisme sur la solidité de la reprise aux Etats-Unis. L’indice de confiance a atteint 75,3 contre 75 en janvier, à son plus niveau depuis février 2011. Il dépasse l’estimation provisoire de 72,5 publiée il y a deux semaines.
Le PDG de Berkshire Hathaway se dit dans sa traditionnelle lettre aux actionnaires «en quête» d’acquisitions d’envergure, alors que le trésor de guerre de la société d’investissement a atteint 37,3 milliards de dollars fin décembre 2011. Depuis la fin de 2009, Berkshire a dépensé plus de 35 milliards de dollars en numéraire et en titres pour différentes opérations, dont les rachats de Burlington Northern Santa Fe et de Lubrizol. Au quatrième trimestre, le résultat net a reculéde 30%, à 3,05 milliards de dollars, en raison de gains moins élevés sur les dérivés. Sur l’ensemble de l’exercice, le bénéfice net ressort à 10,3 milliards de dollars, contre 13 milliards en 2010, alors que les profits tirés des activités d’assurance ont fondu de 88% à 154 millions de dollars. Le sage d’Omaha, à la tête de Berkshire depuis 1970, a par ailleurs indiqué que le conseil d’administration avait statué sur le nom de son successeur.
En Hongrie, le gouverneur de la banque centrale a proposé de réduire son salaire à un montant symbolique jusqu'à la fin de son mandat l’année prochaine si le législateur revient sur une réduction unilatérale des rémunérations au sein de la banque centrale, un différend qui compromet une éventuelle aide financière internationale à la Hongrie.