Ofi Asset Management s’adapte à la nouvelle donne dans la multigestion
La société de gestion entend développer sa plate-forme luxembourgeoise, créée en 2004, pour accroître la transparence requise par ses investisseurs
La Cades s'adapte aux conditions de marché
Le programme de financement de 40 milliards d'euros en 2012 pourra être réalisé jusqu'à 80% à court terme
La Chine profite de la crise pour accélérer les réformes
Pékin a ouvert son marché obligataire, alors que le ralentissement de l’inflation à 4,1% en décembre fait renaître des anticipations de baisse de taux
Highbridge repart pour un nouveau fonds
La filiale de JPMorgan envisage selon le quotidien, qui cite une documentation transmise aux investisseurs, de récolter 3 milliards de dollars pour son second fonds mezzanine, afin de tirer parti de la rareté du financement de la dette. Le fonds devrait investir auprès de sociétés ayant une valeur d’entreprise de 1,5 à 2,0 milliards de dollars.
Le marasme touchera la plupart des secteurs industriels français cette année
Près de 80% des 33 secteurs analysés par le Crédit Agricole devraient connaître en 2012 une variation d’activité comprise entre -2% et 2%
KanAm négocie la vente d’actifs londoniens
Le fonds immobilier allemand, actuellement fermé pour une seconde fois, négocie au moins avec deux prétendants la cession de tout ou partie d’un portefeuille d’actifs d’un milliard de livres dans l’immobilier londonien. Reuters, qui a rapporté l’information, précise qu’outre le fonds souverain de Malaisie, un investisseur du Moyen-Orient serait intéressé.
L'Italie prolonge l'interdiction de ventes à découvert
La Consob a annoncé la prolongation de six semaines de l’interdiction de ventes à découvert sur les valeurs financières, jusqu’au 24 février, dans un contexte de persistance de la crise de la dette qui complique la levée des capitaux frais pour les banques. L’interdiction devait expirer le 15 janvier.
Raymond James s’empare de Morgan Keegan
Raymond James Financial a annoncé l’acquisition de Morgan Keegan auprès de Regions Financial pour un montant de 930 millions de dollars en titres. «Nous préférons la croissance organique, mais voilà une opportunité qui ne passe qu’une fois tous les 20 ans», s’est félicité le patron de l’acquéreur, Paul Reilly.
La CFTC sur tous les fronts
Dans le sillage de l’affaire MF Global, l’autorité américaine des marchés à terme a voté la finalisation d’une règle permettant d’isoler le collatéral des clients chez des parties tierces si leurs courtiers font défaut. La CFTC a en outre soumis à commentaire public pendant deux mois, après l’avoir adopté, la «règle Volcker» limitant le trading pour compte propre.
Le déficit commercial britannique s'est creusé plus que prévu en novembre
Le déficit commercial britannique de novembre a éclipsé le recul record enregistré le mois précédent, les exportations en valeur ayant reculé, tandis que les importations de pétrole et de produits chimiques ont atteint des niveaux élevés. Selon l’Office national de la statistique, le déficit commercial s’est élevé à 8,644 milliards de livres sterling (8,86 milliards d’euros) en novembre, contre 7,868 milliards en octobre.
La consommation et l’exportation soutien du PIB allemand en 2011
La croissance allemande, qui a moins souffert en 2011 de la crise de la dette que celle de ses partenaires de la zone euro, grâce à la vigueur de ses exportations et de sa demande intérieure, a cependant montré ses premiers signes de faiblesse au cours des trois derniers mois de l’année. En 2011, son produit intérieur brut (PIB) a crû de 3%, selon les données provisoires de l’Office fédéral des statistiques publiées mercredi, en retrait par rapport à la croissance de 3,7% de 2010.
Pékin interdit certains produits financiers
La commision de régulation du secteur bancaire chinois (CRBC) vient d’interdire la commercialisation par les banques d'«investment trusts», selon cinq sources citées par Reuters. Ces produits de hors bilan, vendus à la clientèle privée aisée en promettant des rendements de 9% environ, investissent dans du papier commercial. Ils ont connu un succès fulgurant pour contourner la restriction du crédit bancaire et représenterait 4.000 milliards de yuans. La Chine, qui n’a pas encore officialisé la mesure, chercherait ainsi à diminuer le poids de la «finance de l’ombre» dans l'économie.
Oddo AM change de patron
Après la banque privée cet automne, c’est le pôle de gestion d’actifs d’Oddo qui change de patron. La banque a annoncé la nomination au poste de directeur général d’Oddo AM de Nicolas Chaput, jusqu'à présent responsable des gestions taux chez BNP Paribas AM. Il remplace Guido Mundt, ancien de la Banque d’Orsay, qui a travaillé depuis deux ans à l’intégration de cette dernière au sein d’Oddo et a souhaité rentrer en Allemagne.
Le traité de l’UE prévoit une clause d'exception à la règle budgétaire
Le nouveau traité budgétaire de l’Union européenne va inclure une clause d’exception de la règle d'équilibre budgétaire en cas de retournement économique ou d’un autre «évènement inhabituel», selon un projet écrit obtenu par Reuters.
Rendement en baisse lors de l’adjudication allemande à cinq ans
L’Allemagne a émis avec succès 3,153 milliards d’euros de dette à cinq ans, attirant une forte demande des investisseurs, comme en témoigne la baisse du rendement et la hausse du ratio de couverture. Le rendement est ressorti à 0,9% contre 1,1% lors d’une adjudication semblable le 7 décembre. Il reste que les Bourses européennes sont retournées à la baisse mercredi à la mi-séance, les investisseurs se montrant prudents à la veille d’adjudications très attendues de dettes espagnole et italienne. Le Trésor italien souhaite adjuger 12 milliards d’euros de titres à court terme jeudi lors de son émission habituelle de milieu de mois. De son côté, le Trésor espagnol a annoncé qu’il adjugerait entre quatre et cinq milliards d’euros d’emprunts d’Etat portant sur trois souches différentes.
11/01/2012
Ökorenta recruits a director of distribution
Sandra Berghoff, who has worked for Allianz and for Hanseatische Capitalberatungsgesellschaft, is joining the SRI asset management firm Ökorenta Finanz as director of distribution, Fonds professionell reports. She will be more particularly in charge of sales for closed funds and placement of sustainable development insurance products.
11/01/2012
Klaus-Dieter Böhme becomes head of institutional at Deka
Klaus-Dieter Böhme, who since 1 May 2008 has been head of savings banks clients, has been appointed as head of all institutional clients of DekaBank, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, from 1 January 2012. The position had been held in the interim by Oliver Behrens, a managing board member responsible for institutional clients.Excluding mandates, as of the end of November the Deka group managed EUR50.96bn in institutional funds (Spezialfonds) of real estate and securities, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms. Deka prefers to cite a total of EUR46.6bn for Spezialfonds and mandates, and assets of EUR11.2bn in open-ended funds used by institutionals, for a total of EUR57.9bn.
11/01/2012
Berenberg merges private banking and asset management units
Tindaro Siragusano, who since early 2009 had been head of the asset management unit, in late 2011 took over as director of the private banking sector of activity, and is now director of both areas at Berenberg Bank. Markus Taubert, who had been head of private banking since September 2009, has resigned.
11/01/2012
Swedish funds finish 2011 with net inflows
Funds on sale in Sweden ended the year 2011 with net inflows of SEK16bn, or EUR1.8bn, the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens förening reports. This comes despite SEK53bn in net outflows from equity funds (EUR6bn). The money market fund category has seen the largest net inflows, with SEK35.5bn (EUR4bn), putting them ahead of balanced funds, with SEK29.2bn (EUR3.3bn). Bond funds have posted net subscriptions of SEK4.3bn (EUR0.5bn), and hedge funds show SEK0.7bn (EUR0.08bn). In equities, the funds which have seen the heaviest redemptions are Swedish equity funds (-SEK22.512bn, or EUR2.5bn), eastern European equities (-EUR12.088bnbn, or EUR1.37bn), and Swedish and global equity funds (-EUR9.078bn, or EUR1.03bn). The only categories to show positive inflows are global equities (+SEK9.639bn, or EUR1.09bn), North American equities (+ESEK4.27bn or EUR0.5bn), and Japanese equities (+SEK1.247bn, or EUR0.141bn). Overall, in 2011, assets in Swedish funds were down by SEK145bn (or EUR16.4bn), to SEK1.819trn (EUR206bn), of which 52% are in equity funds.
11/01/2012
Lyxor does not escape job losses
Among 880 job cuts announced by SG CIB, Agefi has learned that the bank will be gradually cutting its sales and support functions. 189 jobs will be affected in market activities, of which 38 will be at Lyxor, which according to iShares had outflows of USD8.4bn in eleven months. In general, the newspaper reports, voluntary layoffs before 1 October will receive severance packages totalling at least EUR30,000 and 30 months of salary. In addition to that, there may be a bonus of EUR20,000 to EUR60,000 for departure in the first month, plus 20% (up to EUR40,000) if they go by 2 July.
11/01/2012
Carlyle Group to be listed on Nasdaq
Carlyle Group on Tuesday announced that it will be listed on the Nasdaq following its initial public offering, the Financial Times reports. The firm, which has USD148bn in assets under management, hopes to debut on the market this year.
11/01/2012
2011: year when the markets proved Carmignac right
Last year will go down in history at the French asset management firm Carmignac as the year when the market proved it right, although results were somewhat frustrating, Didier Saint-Georges, a member of the investment committee, tells Funds People. The manager says the most satisfying point is that all funds in the Patrimoine range achieved their objective to preserve capital: bonds behaved as expected, while some equities even performed better than at the competition. Currently, Funds People reports, assets total EUR45bn, 18% less than one year previously.
11/01/2012
Bordier & Cie aims for EUR1bn in assets under management in Asia
Nearly one year after opening its offices in Singapore, Bordier & Cie heas nearly CHF400m in assets under management in its Asian banking centre, Agefi Switzerland reports. The structure, led by Evrard Bordier, has 10 employees, staff which may double by the end of the year, depending on the evolution of the markets. The three-year objective is to reach CHF1bn in assets under management in Asia. Groupwide, staff increased slightly last year, from 195 to 205 employees. The same trend may be observed in assets under management, which currently total CHF9.8bn, compared with CHF9.5bn at the end of 2010. Net inflows have been positive for the past year, but will remain confidential.
11/01/2012
Banque Rothschild hires a team from Wegelin & Co
Following the creation of a new department dedicated to Swiss clients last spring, led by Benoît Clivio, the Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild (BPER) has now recruited the former semi-institutional management team from Wegelin & Co, Le Temps reports. Alexandre Michellod, Mathias Maradan and Céline Kuhn, three experts in the area of risk budgeting, began in their new roles on 1 January 2012.
11/01/2012
Tobam sells Pilot software to SunGuard
The US firm SunGuard has announced that it has acquired the Pilot software package from Tobam (over USD2bn in assets) for an undisclosed amount which “is not expected to have a noticeable impact” on its financial results. A statement says that “the Pilot solution, developed and used by Tobam, complements the Asset Arena range from SunGruad (launched on 21 November), which includes the major functions required by the asset management industry, including management of investments, monitoring of operations, and investor services.”
11/01/2012
Claritas launches a UCITS-compliant Brazilian equities long/short fund
The UCITS platform from Morgan Stanley has added an Irish-registered fund managed by Claritas Administração de Recursos Ltda, which practices a market neutral long/short equity strategy on a portfolio of 40-60 Brazilian equities. Net exposure to the market ranges from -20% to +20%.Minimal subscription is set at EUR1m.CharacteristicsName: MS Claritas Long Short Market Neutral UCITS FundISIN code: IE00B3MQJZ41Management commission: 1.50%Performance commission: 20%
11/01/2012
New wealth fund from LBB Invest
On 16 January, LBB Invest will launch the multi-asset class fund PMIM Multi-Asset-LBB-Invest, whose management will be outsourced to the Hamburg firm Pall Mall Investment Management (PMIM).With the product, LBB Invest is offering institutional and also retail investors a resolutely conservative strategy assisted by the IT system “Risk@Work,” developed by PMIM, which aims to control and limit portfolio risks.Capital at risk shall initially be limited to 7% of the volume of the portfolio, and the objective is to outperform the Eonia by 200 basis points every year.At the time of launch, the fund will be about 50% invested in German government bonds and Pfandbriefe. The composition of the portfolio will be regularly optimised.CharacteristicsName: PMIM-MultiAsset-LBB-InvestISIN code: DE000A1CXYQ0Management commission: currently 0.9%
11/01/2012
Second closing for a Henderson real estate fund
As the Henderson German Retail Income Fund (HGRIF) has managed to raise another EUR90m, Henderson Global Investors has decided to hold a second closing. Supplementary subscriptions to the institutional fund, a German-registered real estate product specialised in warehouse facilities for retail commerce, will have added firepower of EUR180m (including leverage). The total volume of the fund is now EUR350m.The portfolio is managed on behalf of 12 investors, most of whom are German insurers and corporate pension funds. The return objectives are at least 6% per year, with a final portfolio to include 12 to 15 properties. Four properties were acquired since the first closing in summer 2011; they represent an investment of EUR60m.
11/01/2012
French association in favour of creation of specialised ratings agencies for economic sectors
The French association of institutional investors (AF2I) has stated its position on proposed amendments to ratings agency regulations currently under consideration by the European parliament. While it is in favour of some proposals, such as the development of internal analysis, transparency standards for billing by agencies and measures to promote the issuance of unsolicited ratings, the AF2I disapproves of the principle of a required rotation of agencies, as their methodologies are not comparable, unlike account plans. The quality of the rating is closely tied to a very good long-term knowledge of issuers. The association also disapproves of the fact that a public regulatory authority should have the power to license, control and contest this or that point in global methodologies. This European particularism would appear not to make any sense on this point, to say nothing of the fact that it would run against intellectual freedom, the AF2I states, adding that it would prefer for the major ratings agenvies to continue to issue and widely distribute their methodologies, while also consulting on revisions to them. This is genuine progress, the AF2I claims, and hopes that the practice will become more established.