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24/05/2011

Asset manager rating for DB Advisors raised

The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 23 May announced that it has revised its asset manager rating for DB Advisors upward, to “M2+” from “M2” previously. The ratings upgrade reflects a return to growth and modest profitability in 2010, Fitch says, pointing to the firm’s efforts to enlarge its range of products and services for institutional investors. The ratings agency also points to the particular attention paid to risk management.
24/05/2011

Banque Syz & Co hit with Madoff lawsuit

The legally-appointed trustee for the affairs of Bernard Madoff, Irving Picard, has filed lawsuits against the Swiss Banking establishment Banque Syz & Co, which he claims knew about Madoff’s fraudulent activities, Agefi reports. Picard, who has filed over 1,000 lawsuits, expects to recuperate USD73.3m with the suits.
24/05/2011

Nuveen Invesments fined USD3m

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on 23 May announced that it has fined the management firm Nuveen Investments USD3m for failure to appropriately inform intermediaries of the liquidity risks association with auction-rate preferred stock (ARPS) in its closed funds. Nuveen Investments did not distribute the securities directly, but was supposed to inform brokers about their characteristics in sales brochures, which presented them as products with no liquidity risks. The market went on to collapse in February 2008.
24/05/2011

Assets at Eaton Vance set a new record as of end of April

For the second quarter of its current fiscal year (ending on 30 April), net income attributable to Eaton Vance Corp shareholders totalled USD62.48bn, compared with USD37.53bn for the quarter ending on 31 January, and USD36bn in the corresponding period of last year. For the first half of the fiscal year, profits totalled USD100.01m, compared with USD82.24m in the six months to the end of April 2010.As of 30 April, assets under management totalled a record USD203bn, 6% higher than at the end of January (USD191.7bn), and 15% higher than one year previously (USD176.2bn).Net subscriptions to long-term funds and mandates between the end of February and the end of April totalled USD2.9bn, compared with USD1.8bn the previous quarter, and USD5.3bn in the second quarter of the fiscal year, to 31 October 2010.
24/05/2011

Jörg Westebbe joins board of directors at HSBC GAM Austria

Following the departure of Franz Bartmann, who has joined BCA Austria, Jörg Westebbe has been appointed as a member of the board of directors and head of asset management at HSBC Global Asset Management Austria. He will work in concert with Walter Gleissinger, head of coordination of banking activities for HSBC in Austria, to direct the firm.Westebbe joined the asset management activities at HSBC Germany more than ten years ago, and worked primarily to set up distribution of open-ended funds in Germany and Austria. He will also remain as head of wholesale distribution for HSBC GAM in Germany.
24/05/2011

Christophe Tardy becomes director of strategy at Morningstar France

Morningstar announced on Monday, 23 May, that it has appointed Christophe Tardy as director of strategy at Morningstar France. Tardy had previously been director of strategy at Morningstar. The newly-created position is part of the firm’s strategy on the French market, which has developed new product ranges including “Equity & Credit Research,” “Morningstar Indexes,” LIM Commodities,” “Variable Annuities,” and others, a statement says. Tardy joined Morningstar in 2006, and for 2 years was director of the group’s affiliate in South Africa.
24/05/2011

Sales team at Robeco Gestions under reconstruction

According to information received by Newsmanagers, by this summer, and perhaps as soon as next month, Robeco Gestion will have successfully reconstituted its sales teams, following the movements of last year, and restored normality, with the recruitment of a director of sales. Two other sales personnel will be joining the firm in the relatively near future.
24/05/2011

Julius Baer's QFII quota set at USD100m

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China (SAFE) has awarded Julius Baer a USD100m quota under its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license, which it received in December 2010. The Swiss firm remains the only private bank with QFII status.Julius Baer will use the quota to launch a China fund aimed at its clients worldwide. The product will invest in A shares (listed in continental China), and H shares (listed in Hong Kong). Management of the fund will be provided by Julius Ber, with the assistance of one or more specialist advisors.The Swiss asset management firm has also announced plans to open a representative office in Shanghai, and to create a Singapore Trust company by the end of this year.
24/05/2011

WGF obtains a license to launch a real estate management firm

On 23 May, WGF Finanzgruppe announced that it has received permission from BaFin to operate WGF Immobilien Investment GmbH, an institutional real estate fund management firm. It will offer custom products for insturers, pension funds and religious organisations, among others.Investments will be decided on by a committee composed of clients and management at the firm.WGF Immobilien Investment GmbH is led by Hans-Dieter Martin (chairman of the board of directors), who was one of the heads of LB ImmoInvest GmbH, also an institutional real estate management firm, and by Walter J. Helbach, who was one of the directors of ECE Projektmanagement GmbH, after serving in senior positions at Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH.
24/05/2011

Universal to launch real estate funds

Bernd Vorbeck, CEO, has announced in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung that Universal Investment is planning to add to its product range with the launch of institutional real estate funds from this autumn. Universal has recruited Alexander Tannenbaum from Aberdeen to manage the portfolios. The firm is aiming for a market share of 15% in the mid-term. The market currently measures EUR30bn.
24/05/2011

Liquidity for Axa Immoselect fund up 2 points

Axa Investment Managers Deutschland (Axa IM) has announced that it has sold off a real estate property (in Via Viola in Rome) from the portfolio of its open-ended real estate fund Axa Immoselect (DE0009846451). The sale was at a price higher than the market value of the property, and the price at which the property was acquired in 2003.Ian Gordine, manager of the fund, says that with the sale, the Axa Immoselect fund has increased its liquidity rate by nearly two percentage points, to 12.7%.Axa IM has frozen subscriptions to the fund, with over EUR2.6bn in assets, from which redemptions have been frozen since 17 November 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 28 April).
24/05/2011

Pimco registers three funds in Spain

The US management firm Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) has registered its Pimco GIS EMErging Multi-Asset fund, a sub-fund of its Irish Global Investor Series (41 sub-funds, GBP46bn in assets), the PIMCO GIS EqS Emerging Markets fund, an emerging markets equity fund managed in London (see Newsmanagers of 28 April), and the Pimco CIS Euro Income Fund, which aims for annual returns of 5% with monthly distribution, with the CNMV for sale in Spain.
24/05/2011

Carmignac registers Emerging Patrimoine in Spain

The French management firm Carmignac Gestion has registered its new diversified fund Emerging Patrimoine (see Newsmanagers of 25 January) with the CNMV, so that the fund may now be offered for sale in Spain.
24/05/2011

Permal recruits a head for UK institutionals

Paul Jeffries, former head of equity funds selection at Railpen Investments, the firm which manages the pension fund for British railway employees, will be joining Permal, an affiliate of Legg Mason, at the end of June, Financial News reports. He will be responsible for institutional activities in the United Kingdom.
24/05/2011

BlackRock adds direct private equity investments to its alternative investment range

BlackRock on 23 May announced that it has added direct private equity investment to its range of alternative investments. The activity will be led by three reputable professionals in private equity: Nathan Thorne, George Bitar, and Mandy Puri, who launched the activity at Merrill Lunch in the 1990s.The three have joined BlackRock as managing directors, and will build a team to direct BlackRock’s international platform dedicated to private equity, which will include 20 professionals by next year.They will report directly to Matthew Botein, managing director and head of BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI). As of 31 March 2011, assets under management at BAI totalled Usd115.3bn, including hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, real estate, private equity funds of funds, opportunity-driven investment vehicles, commodities, and currencies.
24/05/2011

BlackRock adds to sales team in Spain

Ricardo Comin will be joining the Madrid offices of BlackRock in the next few weeks, after a year and a half as senior sales manager for Spain at Pioneer Investments, Funds People reports. BlackRock Spain has been led by Armando Senra since late 2008, while the head of iShares ETFs is Iván Pascual.According to the most recent statistics from Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms, BlackRock has assets of EUR3.3bn in Spain, putting it in third place among foreign management firms, after JP Morgan AM and Amundi.
24/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

La CCI de Nice plébiscite les produits structurés

«Pour l’année 2011, nous essayons de prospecter pour trouver des produits pouvant être des sous-jacents sur des structurations, ce qui nous permet, dans la mesure du possible, de faire un peu mieux que le marché monétaire», explique d’emblée Danielle Martel, chef du service trésorerie finances de la CCI de Nice Côte d’Azur. En fait, la CCI de Nice a créé un GIE avec la CCI de Paris et dispose donc d’un certain nombre de disponibilités, ce qui l’incite à avoir une gestion active de ses investissements. «Si on reste sur du monétaire, ce n’est pas rentable, observe Danielle Martel. Et au niveau des actifs, on va faire par exemple, du BMTN ou de l’EMTN, une coquille, en fait, avec une garantie en capital auquel on adosse un sous-jacent qui dégage un certain potentiel». La CCI essaie d’avoir une gestion assez diversifiée, à la fois sur le marché actions, obligataires, matières premières, sur la gestion alternative (stratégies d’arbitrage) mais aussi sur le monétaire et les contrats de capitalisation. «Ces montages ont cependant un bémol, car suivant la structuration, on est contraint parfois de rester jusqu'à l'échéance», souligne Danielle Martel. Pendant la crise, la CCI n’avait pas d’actions investis en direct mais sur des produits structurés derrière lesquels se trouvaient des sous-jacents action indice. La chambre de commerce n’a pas tout désinvesti mais a été plus vigilante dans sa surveillance.
Gestion d'actifs
24/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

La CCPB de Monaco investit sur des livrets et des placements à terme

«Nous avons quasiment tout investi sur deux livrets et des placements à vu à deux ou trois ans mais nous n’avons pas de monétaire car c’est trop risqué», indique Pascale Martin, Responsable de la gestion administrative de la CCPB de Monaco. Cette stratégie qui subsiste depuis 2009, est clairement liée à la crise qui a détournée la caisse monégasque des placements selon une volonté de son conseil d’administration qui décide des investissements. De plus, elle ne noue de partenariat avec aucune société de gestion mais travaille avec les banques. Pourtant, cette politique hyper prudentielle n’a pas toujours constitué le quotidien de la caisse qui avant 2009, investissait dans des fonds avec pour seule obligation, de ne pas investir sur des actifs risqués. «On investissait beaucoup dans des SICAV mais aujourd’hui, cela n’a plus vraiment de sens et mieux vaut se replier sur les dépôts à terme», souligne Pascale Martin. La responsable de la gestion administrative rappelle alors que la mission de la caisse est de gérer les cotisations pour payer les congés payés trois ou quatre fois dans l’année. «Nous ne sommes pas là pour faire de l’argent et des bénéfices», ajoute-t-elle tout en admettant qu'à Monaco, la pression règlementaire est beaucoup moins lourde par rapport aux caisses de congés payés de l’Hexagone.
Gestion d'actifs
24/05/2011

Pimco launches a banking sector debt fund

Pimco has launched a fund dedicated to banking sector debt, in partnership with the family office Fleming & Family Partners, with the objective of taking advantage of the new Basedl III regulations, Investment Week reports. The Pimco Capital Securities fund, domiciled in Dublin, will be managed by Philippe Bodereau, executive vice president and head of European credit. The fund will invest in high yield debt issued by banks, including cocos (contingent convertibles), as well as Tier One debt.
24/05/2011

Castlestone to offer a fund dedicated to frontier markets

Investment Week reports that the British management firm Castlestone Management is planning to launch a fund dedicated to frontier markets. The fund will invest in countries of the CIVETS group: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa; it may be launched this autumn. Castlestone is also planning to offer a UCITS-compliant version of its Next 11 fund, which also invests in some CIVETS countries – Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. The UCITS-compliant version of the Next 11 fund, currently domiciled in the Virgin Islands, will be launched later this year.
24/05/2011

Architas launches three multi-asset class funds

The multi-management firm of the Axa group, Architas, has launched three multi-asset class funds of funds, which will invest in passive strategies, Investment Week reports. The three funds, Dynamic, Growth, and Reserve Multi-Asset Passive, will have a total TER ratio of 1.3%. The weighting of the funds between bonds, equities and real estate will be determined by the financial modelling firm eValue FE.
24/05/2011

GLG launches a sustainable equities fund

GLG Partners is launching a fund of equities related to sustainable development, entitled GLG Global Sustainability equity fund, Investment Week reports. The UCITS-compliant fund will invest in companies or sectors which are well-positioned to benefit from the theme of sustainable development (in the health, education services, and water management sectors, among others). The manager will use environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in its investment process, to create a concentrated portfolio of growth equities, guided by a responsible investment philosophy.
24/05/2011

Russell launches a new range of style ETFs

On 19 May, Russell Investment launched six products in its new range of “investment discipline” ETFs on the NYSE Arca platform. With these new generation ETF products, Russell hopes to offer solutions that allow investors to construct portfolios and manage risks, on the basis of its expertise in manager selection and index construction. According to the management firm, the “investment discipline” ETF line represents the first range of ETFs to offer targeted, transparent and coherent exposure to US large caps, via six of the investment policies most commonly used by asset management professionals.The new team to manage the new products is mostly based in San Francisco, but may also rely on the support of the group’s global network of experts.The first six products in the range are the Russell Aggressive Growth ETF (NYSE: AGRG), Russell Consistent Growth ETF (NYSE: CONG), Russell Growth at a Reasonable Price ETF (NYSE: GRPC), Russell Equity Income ETF (NYSE: EQIN), Russell Low P/E ETF (NYSE: LWPE) and Russell Contrarian ETF (NYSE: CNTR). Each product replicates the corresponding Russell Investment Discipline index; the indices are composed of companies of the Russell 1000 index.
24/05/2011

HSBC lists a new ETF in Paris

NYSE Euronext on 23 May announced the admission to trading on its Paris platform of a new ETF from HSBC, based on China. It is the HSBC MSCI China ETF, whose benchmark index is the MSCI China. The Irish-registered fund (IE00B44T3H88) charges fees of 0.60%, and brings the number of funds listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext to 558, of which 109 are new listings since the beginning of this year, of 83 new ETFs.
24/05/2011

Palmer Square launches its first mutual fund

The fund of hedge fund management firm Palmer Square Capital Management has announced the launch of the Palmer Square Absolute Return Fund, its first open-ended mutual fund. The objective for the fund, launched in partnership with Montage Investments, is capital appreciation, with the emphasis on absolute returns and low correlation with equities and bond markets. The fund will rely on seven institutional managers, who will use a wide range of strategies, including event-driven, long/short, global macro, long/short international, and domestic equity, as well as convertibles arbitrage. Montage Investments currently manages about USD9bn on behalf of institutional and high net worth investors.
24/05/2011

La médiation de l’AMF moins sollicitée

Selon un rapport publié hier, l’Autorité des marchés financiers a reçu 1.397 dossiers l’an dernier de la part des épargnants, dont 1.001 demandes de consultation et 396 demandes de médiations pour résoudre des litiges. Ce volume est en baisse de 30% par rapport à l’année précédente, notamment sous l’effet de «la montée en puissance des médiateurs bancaires».
24/05/2011

Denis Ranque pressenti au conseil du FSI

Selon les Echos, qui cite des sources concordantes, l’ancien patron de Thales Denis Ranque devrait succéder à Xavier Fontanet au poste d’administrateur indépendant du Fonds stratégique d’investissement. Le conseil d’administration du FSI doit se réunir le 31 mai pour entériner ce choix.
24/05/2011

L’optimisme autour du high-yield s’atténue

Selon l’enquête trimestrielle de Fitch auprès des investisseurs obligataires, l’optimisme des européens autour du high-yield perd de sa vigueur. La part des répondants tablant sur une amélioration des conditions de crédit pour ce segment est tombée à 40% contre 53% au premier trimestre. Le volume d’émission a dépassé 20 milliards d’euros depuis début 2011.
24/05/2011

Le Livret A toujours plébiscité

La collecte du Livret A et du Livret de Développement Durable au titre du mois d’avril est positiveavec +2,23 milliards d’euros pour l’ensemble des réseaux, selon la Caisse des dépôts. Sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année, elle s’élève en cumulé à +9,6 milliards d’euros. L’encours total sur les deux produits s’élève ainsi à 273,4 milliards d’euros à fin avril.
24/05/2011

La France lève 2,181 milliards d'euros de titres indexés sur l'inflation

Le montant total des BTAN et OAT indexés sur l’inflation française (BTANi ou OATi) et sur l’inflation de la zone euro (OATei) émis dans le cadre d’une adjudication le 19 mai s'élève à 2,181 milliards d’euros. Ce volume se répartit en 1,314 milliard d’euros de BTANi 0,45% 2016, 449 millions d’euros d’OATi 1,3% 2019 et 418 millions d’euros d’OATei 1,85% 2027.

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