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02/04/2010

Global funds prioritize absolute returns

James Mashiter, head of the investment funds division at Standard & Poor’s (S&P), says global fund managers are privileging capital preservation over outperformance. According to Funds People, the most recent survey by S&P finds that the priority is to avoid losses, through the use of the means of hedging allowed by UCITS III, and due to investors’ preference for absolute returns, even though this may at times come at the price of underperformance compared with a benchmark index.
02/04/2010

Pictet integrates emerging government debts into asset allocation

Christophe Donay says he is fairly optimistic. This is to say that the head of asset allocation and macro analysis at Pictet remains cautious. There are many positive signs, but multiple subjects of concern remain. In the real economy, growth in global GNP has begun to return, with a projection of about 45 in 2010. But in the developed economies, private demand has not yet recovered. In finance, the problem of financing considerably large public debts is rearing its head sooner than expected. But hte Greek crisis has not provoked a global financial meltdown. Observers are becoming more and more pessimistic about debt problems in the Euro zone which is leading to a weakening Euro. In this context, Pictet is underweight in government debt from developed countries by 5 percentage points, but allocation to bonds is remaining constant, since current levels are at their “fair value,” Donay says at a press conference. And in parallel to this allocation, Pictet is adding a 5% allocation to emerging market debts in local currencies. This is a novelty and a strong conviction. Another strong conviction is equities, in which Pictet’s allocation is holding stable at 35%, with an equal weighting for emerging and developed markets. “It is not certain that emerging market equities will do better than those from developed countries,” says Donay.
02/04/2010

BlueSky AM launches a growth strategy

Blue Sky Asset Management has announced the launch of a growth strategy, entitled Enhanced Growth Plan FTSE 100 series. The six-year vehicle proposes to double any growth for the FTSE 100, with maximal profitability of 90% (45% over six years), and minimal profitability of 25%, if, at maturity, the index stands at a level below or equal to its initial level.
02/04/2010

Fewer hedge funds with more assets, PerTrac study finds

In 2009, the number of hedge funds and funds of hedge funds declined by 8.6%, with a 8.4% decline for single hedge funds and 7.1% for funds of hedge funds. At the same time, assets in the sector increased by 5.5% to USD1.41trn, according to the PerTrac 2009 Hedge Fund Database Study. Nearly 200 funds had assets under management of over USD1bn. Meredith Jones, managing director of PerTrac, says that a decline in the number of funds which release their results for use in the database does not necessarily mean that a corresponding number of funds has shut down, as some are ceasing to share their data due to disappointing results, excessively high results, changes in personnel, hard or soft closes, or other reasons. Among the other major findings of the study, PerTrac states that about 18,450 funds reported their performance in 2009; meanwhile, PerTrac identified about 14,650 single-manager hedge funds and about 7.050 funds of hedge funds in existence, compared with 15,150 and 7,200 in the 2008 study. The study also identified about 5,000 hedge fund management firms. Of the 14,650 single-manager hedge funds, about 12,000 disclosed their results for 2009. Of this subset, about 29% were domiciled in the United States. And of the 6,300 funds of hedge funds which published their results for 2009, about 10% were based in the United States. The number of funds domiciled in the United States fell 3.4%, while funds domiciled outside the US fell by 3%.
02/04/2010

J.P. Morgan launches an absolute return convertible fund

J.P. Morgan Mansart Investments and CQS have announced that the J.P. Morgan Mansart Investments CQS Convertible Alpha Fund has received regulatory approval from IFSRA, the Irish regulator. The fund is UCITS compliant and is designed to respond to institutional investors’ demand for a regulated vehicle able to deliver exposure to absolute return strategies in the global convertible bond markets. It will offer an actively managed portfolio of convertible bonds, underpinned by fundamental credit research and quantitative analysis and will mitigate risks through the use of equity, credit and interest rate hedges. The fund will provide weekly liquidity. J.P. Morgan Mansart Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase and Co. and a part of the J.P. Morgan’s investment bank will delegate to CQS the investment management responsibility for the fund whilst retaining oversight of the sub-manager, the risk management processes and the compliance with investment guidelines. The fund will be distributed by J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. and is expected to start trading in April.
02/04/2010

Invesco PowerShares launches nine ETFs

The ETF range from Invesco PowerShares on 7 April will grow to 127 products, with the launch of nine new products, which will charge fees of 0.29%, replicating sectoral versions of the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Sector Index. The new products are the PowerShares S&P SmallCap Consumer Discretionary Portfolio, Consumer Staples Portfolio, Energy Portfolio, Financial Portfolio, Health Care Portfolio, Industrials Portfolio, Information Technology Portfolio, Materials Portfolio and Utilities Portfolio ETFs.
02/04/2010

Natixis to recruit 150 people to develop asset management

Les Echos reports that Pierre Servant, CEO of Natixis, the financing, management and financial services arm of the French banking group BPCE, yesterday announced plans to scale up asset management personnel by 5% to 6%. The addition of about 150 people will aim to develop asset management in Europe, Asia and the United States. Natixis Global Asset Management, which had EUR505bn in assets under management as of the end of 2009, an increase of 13% over the previous year, is not planning to join the Amundi joint venture, created last year by Crédit Agricole and Société Générale. The asset management affiliate will start up an activity in the Netherlands this year, and will add to its presence in Belgium.
02/04/2010

David Tepper (Appaloosa) made USD4bn in 2009

Last year, the 25 most successful hedge fund managers made USD25.3bn, 13% more than in the previous record year of 2007, the Börsen-Zeitung reports, citing Absolute Return + Alpha. In 2008, their pay fell by half. This income comes from performance commissions as well as the performance of money they have invested in their own funds. Tepper, head of Appaloosa Management, made USD4bn in 2009, an all-time record. He bet on bonds and hybrid shares from US banks, following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, including a bet on AIG.
02/04/2010

Change of strategy at 3i

The British management firm 3i has decided to open its private equity unit to outside investors, La Tribune reports. Investors from Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East contributed one third of the capital raised for the vehicle which the firm has recently put together (putting in EUR400m out of a total of USD1.2bn), whereas 3i had previously relied exclusively on capital from its publicly traded holding company. 3i says the decision to turn to external capital was motivated by opportunities offered by the market.
02/04/2010

Vontobel launches Fiscal Risk Index

On the basis of seven factors, Vontobel is now calculating an exclusive index of fiscal risks for 17 countries and for the European Union (though France is not considered individually). The Vontobel Fiscal Risk Index (FRI) takes into account the fundamental fiscal situation, meaning that it does not limit itself to debt levels or to budget deficits, but takes into account other indicators necessary to establish a bigger picture. These include current debt levels, primary budget balance adjusted for growth, the relation of nominal interest rates and nominal growth in GDP, current account deficits, productivity gains, track record of successful fiscal consolidations, and average maturity of public debts. By these measures, Greece poses a high budgetary risk (5.7 out of 10), compared with with only Portugal (5.8) and Japan (6.9) rank higher. On the basis of CDS spreads, Greece is far above the fair value line, which makes it an attractive investment. The same is true of Ireland, Portugal and Sweden. Among the countries which are correctly valued according to the FRI, Vontobel cites Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and, a narrow shave, the EU. However, CDS from Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and the United States are too low, in light of the effective risk levels they entail.
02/04/2010

Hedge fund managers' income reaches new highs in 2009

He bet on a bailout of the major US banks at a time when most investors were fleeing from the finance sector. The hedge fund manager David Tepper (Appaloosa Management) earned USD4bn in 2009, even though he lost USD425m the previous year, according to the AR Magazine ratings published by the New York Times. Second on the list of the most talented hedge fund managers of last year is George Soros, whose fund Quantum Endowment gained 29% in 2009, bringing in USD3.3bn, compared with only USD1.1bn the previous year. In third place is James Simons at Renaissance Technologies, with USD2.5bn in revenues. Some managers, like Tepper, lost money in 2008, and made a comeback to profitability in 2009. This is the case for Steve Cohen (5th place, SAC Capital Advisors), who gained USD1.4bn, after losses of USD750m, and Kenneth Griffin (8th place, Citadel), who made USD900m, after losses of USD2bn. The top 25 managers in the rankings last year made a record USD25.3bn, which averages out to a cool USD1bn per manager. The previous record (2007) was USD22.3bn.
02/04/2010

SG Private Banking uncovers irregularities in Asia

Agefi reports that Société Générale has detected irregularities in the management of a client account by one of its private bankers in Singapore in February. An internal audit has been initiated, the newspaper reports, and the Singapore authorities were “immediately informed.”
02/04/2010

Mercer adds to personnel in Asia

The consulting firm Mercer has recruited Stephen Roberts to the newly-created position of head of investment management for the Asia-Paxific zone, and has announced its intention to develop its presence on the multi-management market in the region. Roberts, who was previously at Russell Investments, as managing director for investment services to institutional clients in the Australasian region, will begin in his new position in Sydney on 19 April.
02/04/2010

Treize nouveaux ETF d'Amundi cotés en Italie

Amundi ETF a annoncé, jeudi 1er avril, la cotation de 13 nouveaux ETF sur Borsa Italiana, ce qui porte à 28 le nombre total des produits de la société disponibles sur Borsa Italiana. Les fonds en question, tous inédits précise Amundi ETF, sont sectoriels. Il s’agit de deux ETF Monde investis pour l’un sur des valeurs de l'énergie et pour l’autre, sur des valeurs financières – respectivement Amundi ETF MSCI World Energy et Amundi ETF MSCI World Financials.A ces fonds s’ajoutent dix ETF sectoriels Europe ayant pour undice de référence les principaux secteurs MSCI sur le vieux Continent. Enfin, le dernier ETF est investi sur l’immobilier, via un indice comprenant près de 25 valeurs foncières européennes cotées. Hormis les deux premiers ETF et celui investi sur l’immobilier dont les frais de gestion annuels sont de 0,35 %, ceux des autres produits sont de 0,25 %.
02/04/2010

Le LSE remercie le DG de la Bourse de Milan

Selon Les Echos, le directeur général de la Bourse de Milan, Massimo Capuano, a quitté ses fonctions le 31 mars, gardant un siège de membre du conseil d’administration du LSE pour quatre mois encore. Son départ, diligenté par le patron du London Stock Exchange (LSE), Xavier Rolet, et qui fait suite à celui de quatre autres directeurs, n’est pas du goût de tous les acteurs de la place de Milan.
02/04/2010
Fonds

Blue Sky AM lance une stratégie de croissance

Blue Sky Asset Management vient d’annoncer le lancement d’une stratégie de croissance baptisée Enhanced Growth Plan FTSE 100 series. Le véhicule à six ans se propose de doubler toute hausse du FTSE 100 avec une rentabilité maximale de 90% (45% sur six ans) et une rentabilité minimale de 25%, si, à l'échéance, l’indice se trouve au-dessus ou à son niveau de départ.
Fonds
02/04/2010

Man Group obtient un mandat de 1 milliard de dollars

Man Group s’est vu accorder un mandat de 1 milliard de dollars sans précédent par le deuxième plus gros fonds de pension britannique, le USS, rapporte le Financial Times. L’argent sera investi dans l’activité de fonds de fonds de Man. USS veut à terme investir jusqu’à 20 % de ses actifs dans des placements alternatifs.
02/04/2010

"Il faudrait que l'international représente 50 % de nos encours"

Acropole Asset Management, société de gestion dédiée aux obligations convertibles créée il y a un peu plus de trois ans, cherche à se développer auprès de la clientèle étrangère et auprès des investisseurs institutionnels basés en province, indique son président et fondateur, Jacques Joakimides, dans un entretien à NewsManagers.
01/04/2010

Schroders, Oddo and Dexia managers fined

According to Financial News Online, Fund managers at Schroders, Oddo Asset Management and Dexia Asset Management, along with Guillaume Rambourg at Gartmore, have been fined almost EUR1m by the Italian regulator Consob for market abuse.
01/04/2010

Universal launches a currency fund with Prem1um Currency Advisors

On Wednesday, Universal Investment announced that it will be releasing a specialist currencies fund, with the objective of generating annual returns of 10%, with volatility of about 8%. The German-registered product (DE000A0YJF34), Premium Currencies UI, was launched on 15 February, and replicates the strategy which has been used since 2004 by the Zurich-based Prem1um Currency Advisors (CHF1bn in assets) and its CIO, Guiseppe Manieri. The strategy’s track record since 2004 shows a correlation of -0.16 with the S&P 500, - 0.12 with the HFRX Global HF Index, and -0.38 with the Barclay Currency index. The fund bets on the evolution of bilateral parity between the most liquid currencies of the G10, and may use long and short positions. The process uses chart-based technical analysis, trend monitoring and statistical resources, and a quantitative and discretionary trading method. Front-end fee and management commission are set at 5% and 0.35%, respectively, while advising commission is set at 2%, and performance commission is 20%, with high watermark.
01/04/2010

RWC to release its Absolute Alpha fund in Germany

Hedge Week reports that the British management firm RWC Partners has been granted permission to distribute its RWC US Absolute Alpha fund, which complies with the UCITS III directive, in Germany. The fund is a long/short US equity strategy, led by Mike Corcell, which was launched in October 2009, and has about USD350m in assets.
01/04/2010

La CDC se retire du projet retraite de Malakoff Médéric-CNP

Selon Les Echos citant Challenges, la Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) ne participera finalement pas au tour de table initial du projet retraite entre CNP Assurances et Malakoff Médéric. Le groupe de protection sociale et l’assureur doivent créer une coentreprise, qui regroupera leurs activités de retraite supplémentaire. Le 24 mars, la direction de la CNP a indiqué, selon la section Force Ouvrière, que la CDC n’entrerait pas dans le capital de la joint-venture à sa création mais se réservait la possibilité de le faire plus tard.
01/04/2010

Carmignac Gestion cherche un directeur pour le nord de l’Europe

Après le départ de Patrick Giry il y a quelques jours de Carmignac Gestion où il était entré en 2001 en tant que patron de la distribution en France avant d’occuper, à compter de 2007, le poste de directeur général de la filiale luxembourgeoise de la société de gestion et de patron des responsables pays, l’établissement de la place Vendôme est en phase active de recrutement. Le poste de Patrick Giry a cependant été scindé en deux, avec désormais un manager responsable de la partie sud de l’Europe - incluant la France, l’Espagne et l’Italie - et un co-manager responsable de la partie nord du vieux Continent – intégrant les pays du Benelux, l’Allemagne et la Suisse. Pour l’instant, le premier poste a été affecté au responsable Italie de la société de gestion, Davide Fregonese, mais le second reste à pourvoir. Eric Helderlé, directeur général de Carmignac Gestion a confirmé être à la recherche d’un cadre «parfaitement bilingue et doté d’une sérieuse expérience paneuropéenne». En termes de collecte, le poids de chacune des deux zones n’a pas été communiqué. Seule indication : le montant global en 2009 pour la société de gestion s’est élevé à 15 milliards d’euros.
01/04/2010

Jean-François Canton prend du recul chez Comgest

Selon Citywire, Vincent Strauss devient co-gérant des fonds Comgest Monde et Growth World, en remplacement de Jean-François Canton qui a commencé à déléguer quelques responsabilités en anticipation de son départ à la retraite. Ce dernier va aussi abandonner ses responsabilités de directeur des actions mondiales mais va rester membre du conseil d’administration, ajoute Citywire.
01/04/2010

Hauck & Aufhäuser songe à de nouvelles acquisitions

Après avoir créé une activité de banque d’investissement avec sa prise de participation dans Cazenove AG l’an dernier la banque privée Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) songe à de nouvelles acquisitions en 2010. Michael Schramm, associé-gérant, indique dans un entretien avec la Börsen-Zeitung que la croissance externe pourrait concerner l’espace germanophones dans les domaines de la banque privée, de l’administration de fonds ou dans la gestion d’actifs institutionnels. Volker van Rüth, l’autre associé-gérant, précise que H&A vient de repositionner sa gestion institutionnelle, avec un élargissement de la gamme, qui comportera aussi des produits garantis. La distribution a également été renforcée.
01/04/2010
Fonds

Universal lance un fonds devises avec Prem1um Currency Advisors

Mercredi, Universal-Investment a annoncé qu’il commence à commercialiser un fonds spécialiste des devises dont l’objectif est de générer une performance annuelle de 10 % avec une vaolatilité d’environ 8 %. Ce produit de droit allemand (DE000A0YJF34), le Premium Currencies UI, a été lancé le 15 février et réplique la stratégie utilisée depuis 2004 par le zurichois Prem1um Currency Advisors (1 milliard de francs suisses d’encours) et son CIO Giuseppe Manieri.L’historique de suivi (track record) depuis 2004 fait ressortir des corrélations négatives de 0,16 par rapport au S&P 500, de 0,12 par rapport au HFRX Global HF index et de - 0,38 par rapport au Barclay Currency. Le fonds table sur l'évolution des parités bilatérales entre les monnaies les plus liquides du G 10 et peut utiliser des positions longues et courtes. Le processus recourt à la fois la technique chartiste, au suivi de tendance et aux ressources de la statistique en utilisant une méthode de négoce à la fois quantitative et discrétionnaire.Le droit d’entrée et la commission de gestion sont fixés à respectivement 5 % et 0,35 %, tandis que la commission de conseil se situe à 2 % et que la commission de performance se monte à 20 %, avec high watermark.
Fonds
01/04/2010
Fonds

RWC va distribuer son fonds Absolute Alpha en Allemagne

Selon Hedge Week, la société de gestion britannique RWC Partners vient de recevoir l’agrément pour la distribution en Allemagne de son fonds RWC US Absolute Alpha conforme à la directive OPCVM III. Le fonds est une stratégie long short US equity pilotée par Mike Corcell. Lancé en octobre 2009, il pèse quelque 350 millions de dollars.
Fonds
01/04/2010

DWS supprimerait 250 emplois

Selon les milieux financiers, rapporte le Handelsblatt, la société de gestion DWS (Deutsche Bank) négocierait avec State Street l’externalisation de sa comptabilité de fonds, ce qui affecterait jusqu'à 250 emplois. Actuellement, les activités concernées sont assurées par la division Global Technologie Operations (GTO) de la Deutsche Bank. DWS, Deutsche Bank et State Street ont refusé de commenter.
01/04/2010

BNY AM ferme Ivy AM, impliqué dans l'affaire Madoff

Selon le Wall Street Journal, Ivy Asset Management, que BNY Mellon Asset Management est en train de fermer, fait l’objet d’une enquête pour les conseils que la société aurait donnés concernant des investissements chez Bernard Madoff. Plusieurs fonds de pension avaient des actifs investis dans des fonds pour lesquels Ivy avait un rôle de conseiller. Les pertes des investisseurs excèdent 100 millions de dollars. On ne sait pas vraiment si l’enquête a précipité la fermeture d’Ivy, commente le WSJ. A la fin de l’année dernière, ses encours avaient baissé à 5 milliards de dollars.

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