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09/01/2012

More layoffs at Putnam

The US asset management firm Putnam Investments, an affiliate of Power Corporation of Canada, has announced that due to market volatility, it will be laying off 78 employees in the Boston region, equivalent to 4.4% of its 1,767 employees. The Boston Globe reports that this is the fourth wave of layoffs since Robert “Bob” Reynolds became CEO in July 2008. Since then, the firm has recruited 500 people and laid off 489.The new layoffs will primarily affect operations and not investment professionals.As of the end of December, assets at Putnam were down to USD117bn, compared with USD121bn one year earlier.
09/01/2012

Axa IM loses a big name

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Thibault de Vitry quit Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) on 31 December. The asset management firm confirmed to Newsmanagers that de Vitry, who had since 2007 served as Global Head of Investment Solutions, and had been head of asset liability management and multi-asset investment activities as well as AXA funds of hedge funds, had left the firm. Other sources report that the firm is seeking a replacement for de Vitry to be recruited from another asset management firm. Until his replacement arrives, a transitional committee has been established. Before joining Axa IM in 1998, de Vitry held a series of positions as managing director of quantitative and structured investments, global head of operations at AXA IM, global head of insurance investment, COO of securities investment management, and finally global head of insurance investment at AXA IM.
09/01/2012

Hildebrand scandal: Sarasin files charges against employee

In the scandal over personal forex trades conducted by Philipp Heldebrand, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (BNS), Banque Sarasin has announced that on 5 January it filed criminal charges in a Zurich court against the employee the firm dismissed on 3 January.The firm states that the former employee “stole” screenshots revealing the portfolio and transactions of the Hildebrand family, and sent them to a lawyer he knew, rather than reporting the trades which appeared to him subjectively to be dubious to his line manager or to the compliance department.The charge is infraction of the law of banking confidentiality and commercial secrecy. It also names third parties for inciting these infractions.Banque Sarasin states that it reserves the right to file other legal proceedings, including civil proceedings seeking damages and interest, and/or a filing before the Swiss Press Council for erroneous reporting of the facts by a Swiss weekly newsmagazine (possibly Weltwoche; see Newsmanagers of 5 January 2012).
09/01/2012

Iridian Asset Management closes a hedge fund

Iridian Asset Management has closed its largest hedge fund, the Iridian Opportunity fund, following a decline in assets and disappointing returns in 2010 and 2011. The fund lost 8,90% between January and October of last year, Absolute Return Alpha reports. The global equity hedge fund was launched in 2005 by former managers from Arnold and S. Bleichroeder Advisors.
09/01/2012

Life insurance returns down sharply in 2011

Returns on funds in euros are expected to fall again, Les Echos reports. The average rate paid out in 2011 is expected to be about 3%, compared with 3.4% in 2010 and 3.7% in 2009. The return rate, a historic barometer of the market, will be released tomorrow by Afer, the French association of savings investors. The profession is not expecting much in the way of inflows in 2012.
09/01/2012

Asset management firms turn to higher-margin products

Asset management firms are increasingly seeking to launch multi-asset class absolute return funds and liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies, as margins on traditional products are under pressure, a study by Cerulli Associates cited by the Financial Times reports. The research firm also finds that asset management firms are seeking to boost their sales with white-label products, particularly in Asia, where they have a freer hand to charge fees as they like.
09/01/2012

Funds will benefit slightly from tax increases

An increase in taxation on savings in Spain will make investments in the form of shares in investment funds more competitive, since the subscriber will deal with the tax office only when selling off the investment. In addition, the investor will remain able to modify the investment profile without paying taxes, as trades between funds retain a tax exemption, Cinco Días reports.These advantages will prove more important if the higher taxes on savings are truly limited to two years, as announced.Cinco Días reports that the investment fund sector has suffered considerably due to the crisis, with assets now back to their 1996 levels.
09/01/2012

LGIM enters ETF market

Legal & General Investment Management is expected to announce the launch of its first ETF this Monday, in partnership with Source, according to reports in Financial Times Fund Management. The new product will be a commodity ETF. It will track a composite of four commodity indices from Barclays Capital, Citi, JPMorgan and UBS.
09/01/2012

Stenham launches a global macro fund

Stenham Asset Management has launched a new Global Macro fund of hedge funds – Stenham Helix. The investment manager has been invested in Global Macro hedge funds since the 1980s and its flagship macro fund of hedge funds, Stenham Trading, has achieved an annualised return of +9.07% since inception compared to the HFRX Macro Index which has posted a return of 6.51% and the MSCI World Equity Index which was 4.13% over the same period.The Stenham Helix fund aims to invest in similar types of macro managers but to assemble a portfolio where the liquidity provided by the underlying managers allows Stenham to offer monthly liquidity with 35 days’ notice. The fund will consist of a concentrated portfolio of around 15 managers with a target return of Libor +5% to 6% and low volatility. The minimum investment is US$ 25,000 with no lock up period. The Stenham Helix fund has launched with USD 36 million and is available in USD, GBP and EUR share classes.Stenham has over USD 1.1 billion invested in Global Macro hedge funds and has USD 2.7 billion invested in hedge fund strategies overall.
09/01/2012

Rouvier Associés starts up activities in Germany

A UCITS IV license from the French AMF and the German BaFin to the long-only funds Rouvier Valeurs, Europe and Patrimoine will allow Rouvier Associés (EUR750m) to start up its activities in Germany with the opening of a branch office in Frankfurt (see Newsmanagers of 7 November 2011).The director, Patrick Linden, predicts that the company will be present on two or three platforms by the time of the Fonds professionnell congress in Mannheim (25-26 January), Fonds Professionell reports. A cooperation agreement has already been signed for fund distribution with Fondsnet.
09/01/2012

Bond manager leaves BlueBay

Cian Walsh, an emerging markets bond manager, has left BlueBay, where he had spent seven years, according to reports in Citywire Global. Walsh has gone to Norway, where he has joined DNB Markets, in a position as a broker in the currencies, fixed income and commodities team.
09/01/2012

Pékin en guerre contre la spéculation sur les IPO

Citant un haut responsable du régulateur boursier chinois, le Shanghai Securities News assure que les pouvoirs publics entendent lutter contre la spéculation lors des introductions en Bourse. Assistant du président de la CSRC (China Securities Regulatory Commission), Zhu Congjiu, assure au quotidien que Pékin souhaite notamment accroître la part réservée aux institutionnels.
09/01/2012

Le taux du Livret A pourrait stagner

Malgré une inflation attendue au-delà de 2,1% en décembre, le taux du Livret A pourrait rester à 2,25% le 1er février. Le gouverneur de la Banque de France, Christian Noyer, doit invoquer des «circonstances exceptionnelles» afin de déroger à la formule de calcul du taux: «ça ne servirait à rien que le taux augmente légèrement pour rebaisser immédiatement ensuite», l’inflation devant reculer dans les six prochains mois. Reste à savoir si Bercy, seul décisionnaire, assumera un statu quo à quelques mois des élections.
09/01/2012

Un fonds de pension sud-coréen pose pied en Chine

Le fonds de pension public sud-coréen National Pension Service a indiqué avoir reçu de Pékin l’autorisation d’acquérir localement des actions A, par le biais de l’obtention du statut d’investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié (QFII). Le fonds souhaite investir 20% de ses actifs à l’étranger en 2016, contre 12,9% à fin novembre dernier.
06/01/2012

S&P nuance l'impact d'une éventuelle dégradation de la France

Le chef économiste pour l’Europe de l’agence de notation Standard & Poor’s nuance l’impact d’une éventuelle dégradation de la note souveraine de la France, expliquant que les marchés traitaient déjà le pays comme s’il était noté BBB et non AAA.
06/01/2012

Pernod Ricard émet 2,5 milliards de dollars d’obligations

Pernod Ricard a procédé à une nouvelle émission obligataire aux Etats-Unis sous la forme d’un placement privé auprès d’investisseurs qualifiés pour un montant total de 2,5 milliards de dollars américains. Cette émission comporte trois tranches : une tranche 5 ans d’un montant de 850 millions de dollars, coupon 2,95%,, une tranche 10 ans et demi d’un montant de 800 millions de dollars, coupon 4,25% et une tranche 30 ans d’un montant de 850 millions de dollars, coupon 5,50%.
06/01/2012

La France pourrait «donner l’exemple» sur la taxe Tobin

La France «donnera l’exemple» en prenant d’ici la fin du mois de janvier des décisions concernant une taxe sur les transactions financières, avec ou sans l’Allemagne, a annoncé vendredi le conseiller spécial de Nicolas Sarkozy, Henri Guaino. Le sujet devrait être au menu de la rencontre entre le président français et la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel prévue lundi prochain à Berlin et du Conseil européen programmé le 30 janvier à Bruxelles.
06/01/2012

Net recul des commandes à l'industrie en Allemagne

Les commandes à l’industrie ont reculé nettement plus que prévu en novembre, en raison notamment d’une forte baisse des commandes de biens d'équipement en provenance de l’international, a annoncé vendredi le ministère de l’Economie. Il a fait état d’un recul de 4,8% de ces commandes après une hausse de 5,0% le mois précédent (chiffre révisé de +5,2%) et alors que l’estimation moyenne des économistes était de -1,7%.
06/01/2012

Sursaut du climat des affaires en décembre dans la zone euro

Le sentiment économique dans la zone euro a poursuivi sa dégradation en décembre, reculant toutefois un peu moins qu’attendu, sur fond de pessimisme des chefs d’entreprises dans presque tous les secteurs d’activité, a annoncé vendredi la Commission européenne. Selon les chiffres publiés par l’exécutif européen, cet indice est tombé à 93,3 le mois dernier contre 93,8 en novembre (chiffre révisé de 93,7).

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