La société de gestion britannique Henderson a dégagé l’an dernier un résultat courant avant amortissements, charges et impôt, de 73,7 millions de livres, en recul de 8% par rapport à l’année précédente. Le résultat net s’inscrit à 14,5 millions de livres après une perte de 20,8 millions en 2008.La collecte nette s’est élevée à 700 millions de livres sur les actifs à fortes marges, avec un flux de 1milliard au quatrième trimestre. Les actifs sous gestion s'élevaient au 31 décembre dernier à 58,1 milliards de livres contre 49,5 milliards de livres un an plus tôt. Le gain enregistré est dû pour l’essentiel à l’apport de New Star (8,1 milliards de livres) racheté en avril dernier. L’effet marché positif de 5,1 milliards de livres a été en grande partie effacé par une décollecte nette de 4,6 milliards de livres.Le communiqué du groupe souligne qu’en Europe continentale, Henderson a engrangé une collecte nette de 500 millions de livres, grâce notamment au Henderson Horizon Global Technology Fund et aux deux fonds Ucits III Henderson Horizon China (+125% sur l’année à fin 2009) et Henderson Horizon Pan European Alpha (+34,7% sur la même période.
Selon L’Agefi suisse, la banque genevoise vient de recruter Kevin Corrigan, un ancien de Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Il sera responsable du crédit, au sein de la division fixed income de la banque à Londres. Dirigée par Stéphane Monier, cette unité compte 23 professionnels de l’investissement.
La société de gestion britannique St James’s Place a dégagé l’an dernier un résultat d’exploitation de 228,9 millions de livres, en progression de 12% d’une année sur l’autre. Le résultat avant impôts s’inscrit à 363,2 millions de livres, après une perte de 115,9 millions de livres en 2008.Les actifs sous gestion se sont accrus de 31% à 21,4 milliards de livres.
Selon Asian Investor, Korea Securities Depository (KSD), qui joue le rôle d’agent de transfert pour tous les fonds domiciliés en Corée du Sud, a choisi FundSettle, la filiale d’Euroclear, pour le traitement automatique de ses fonds, qu’elle compte utiliser à compter du troisième trimestre 2011. A la même date, KSD envisage de lancer sa nouvelle plateforme de distribution de fonds multi-devises.
Liontrust devrait lancer la semaine prochaine un fonds obligataire de performance absolue, le Liontrust Credit Absolute Return, qui sera géré par Simon Thorp, responsable du fixed income.Selon Fundstrategy, le fonds, domicilié au Luxembourg, sera calqué sur le hedge fund long/short European credit que Simon Thorp avait créé au sein de la société Ilex, dont il était le co-fondateur.Dans un premier temps, le fonds sera investi à 65% dans le high yield et à 35% dans le crédit en catégorie d’investissement.
Legg Mason a déposé un dossier à la Securities and Exchange Commission pour obtenir l’autorisation de lancer des ETF gérés activement, visant à capitaliser sur les compétences de ses gérants actions et obligations, rapporte le Wall Street Journal.
Selon Fund Strategy, Legg Mason prépare le lancement, probablement pour le deuxième trimestre, d’un fonds crédit global de performance absolue pour l’une de ses filiales internationales, Western Asset Management, spécialisée dans le fixed income.L’appellation provisoire retenue pour ce véhicule serait le Legg Mason Western Global Credit Absolute fund. Il aura une structure OPCVM III et sera domicilié à Dublin. Il sera géré par l'équipe global credit de Western, avec à sa tête Dipanker Sherwaram, qui était précédemment chez BlueBay Asset Management.
De nombreux gestionnaires d’actifs tentent de rendre leurs offres plus attrayantes, notamment leurs fonds à horizon, dans le cadre de plans retraite. Dans un article paru mardi 23 février, Investment News précise qu’Allianz Global Investors prévoit dans les prochains mois de baisser le taux des frais de ses fonds à horizon de 15 points de base. Lorsque l’opération aura été réalisée, les taux en question s'échelonneront entre 88 et 109 points de base.
KKR a annoncé qu’il va s’introduire sur la Bourse de New York, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. Le calendrier de l’opération reste flou, mais cela devrait avoir lieu dans les mois qui viennent.
Selon L’Agefi suisse, la filiale genevoise de la plate-forme de courtage Tradingscreen cherche du personnel pour accompagner son essor. «L’arrivée des hedges funds d’origine britannique, le développement de son activité de wealth management et le rebond général dans l’activité IT nous poussent à renforcer nos équipes pour répondre à la demande croissance», souligne Philippe Buhannic, président de Tradingscreen.
La société de gestion d’actifs TOBAM qui gère 840 millions d’euros, a annoncé mercredi 24 février, avoir enregistré une nouvelle allocation de 60 millions de francs suisses - 40 millions d’euros - de la part du fonds de pension suisse Pensionskasse Post («PK Post»).Cet apport s’ajoute aux 120 millions de francs suisses environ - 80 millions d’euros – confiés à la société de gestion dans sa stratégie «Anti Benchmark actions internationales» en juin 2008. Dans un communiqué, Tobam précise qu’avec une surperformance annualisée supérieure à 3% net de frais et une réduction de la volatilité de 20% depuis le lancement à fin janvier, le fonds est en phase avec les objectifs de gestion. Depuis la fin de l’année 2009, Tobam a enregistré une hausse de ses encours de 140 millions d’euros.
China Merchants, dont ING Investment Management est actionnaire minoritaire, a annoncé pour le 1er mars l’ouverture d’une période de 19 jours de souscription pour son premier fonds QDII, le Global Resources Equity, dont l’encours sera plafonné à 3 milliards de yuans, rapporte Z-Ben Advisors. ING IM sera le sub-advisor pour ce nouveau fonds tandis qu’ICBC et Standard Chartered seront les conservateurs, l’un chinois, l’autre étranger. Le benchmark choisi se compose de 25 % du MSCI World Energy plus 75 % du MSCI World Material. L’allocation aux actions sera au minimum de 60 % et 80 % de cette poche seront investis dans des secteurs de l'énergie, des services publics, des matières premières et de l'énergie.
Hedge Week reports that a study by Hennessee Group has shown that hedge funds generally lag behind their traditional counterparts when equity markets are in phases of strong growth. However, whenever markets are rising more modestly or falling, hedge funds show significant alpha relative to traditional funds.
Asian Investor reports that Goldman Sachs Asset Management is sizing up its presence in Asia, where the group has previously concentrated its efforts on distribution of products largely developed in the United States to Asian institutional clients. Goldman Sachs has now built up a track record of two to four years in management of onshore strategies in South Korea and India, where it has held a license for ten years, and has also built areas of competence in Japan. Goldman Sachs is also planning to open an office in Malaysia. The group is also planning to set up a specialised Asian fixed income team.
HSBC Private Bank has appointed Desmond Liu to the newly-created position of head of Greater China, Asian Investor reports, adding that Liu was previously head of China. Since 1 February, his responsibilities have also included oversight of Hong Kong operations, which are led by Randy Chu and Monique Chan.
After recent overtures from the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association and the Mid-Atlantic Hedge Fund Association, the Managed Funds Association, which includes hedge fund professionals throughout the world, has signed a partnership with the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable, an association which includes over 1,000 investors, hedge fund professionals and financial services businesses. The partnership will allow the two organizations to exchange expertise in areas related to regulations and best practices, a statement says.
As competition to conquer distribution partners and investors intensifies, DWS (Deutsche Bank) will look abroad to find its areas of future growth, Handelsblatt reports. On the one hand, distributors are claiming an increasingly large portion of fees, while on the other hand, subscribers are becoming increasingly professional. Now, says Ingo Gefeke, head of distribution, DWS is hoping to become a European group with activities in Asia and the United States. US assets under management in Frankfurt total EUR6.7bn, while those managed for Asia weigh in at EUR2.3bn. Among other areas of growth, DWS has identified services to insurers and retirement planning products.
As of 31 December, assets under management at MLP totalled a record EUR12.8bn, “thanks to slight net inflows and mainly to performance at Feri, the fund management arm,” compared with EUR11.4bn twelve months earlier. The financial services provider has reported net profits for last year of EUR24.2m, compared with EUR24.6m in 2008, though the decline was as much as 11% for activities retained, at EUR27.2m, compared with EUR30.7m, on total operating revenues down 11% to EUR532.1m. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) contracted by 25% to EUR42.2m, despite a strong increase (+74%) in fourth quarter. The total includes EUR3bn in legal consulting fees related to the Swiss Life raid, and EUR2m in restructuring charges. For 2010, MLP is expecting a difficult first half, and is aiming for a further EUR10m reduction in its fixed costs, after a EUR28.7m reduction in 2009. The firm’s objective remains to earn an EBIT ratio of 15% in 2012, compared with 7.9% last year.
Liontrust will next week launch an absolute return bond fund, the Liontrust Credit Absolute Return, which will me managed by Simon Thorp, head of fixed income. Fundstrategy reports that the fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, will be based on the European credit long/short hedge fund which Thorp created at the firm Ilex, which he co-founded. The fund will initially be 65% invested in high yield, and 35% invested in investment grade credit.
International institutional investors feel that the time interval used to calculate performance fees should be lengthened, according to the second edition of the “bfinance Institutional Investors Sentiment of Fees Survey.” 46% of institutionals surveyed say the period should be 4-5 years, compared with 29% who said so last year. Nearly one quarter of respondents would like to see a 2-year period, and only 15% vote for one year. In terms of management firms, a large majority of alternative managers (88%) say they will maintain their fee structures in 2010, at 1.5-2% and 15-20%. Following a decline in 2009 compared with 2008, hedge fund fees may stabilise in 2010, as only 12% expect fees to fall again, bfinance reports. 32% of single hedge fund managers charge fees of 150 to 200 basis points, compared with 34% in 2009, on investment of USD100bn. Passive strategies are also less costly, with 35% of funds of hedge funds charging 50 basis points or less, compared with 27% in January 2009.
Legg Mason has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to seek clearance to offer actively managed ETFs—funds aiming to capitalize on the skill of its stock and bond pickers, says the Wall Street Journal.
Fund Strategy reports that Legg Mason is preparing to launch a global absolute return credit fund, probably in third quarter, for one of its international affiliates, Western Asset Management, which is specialised in fixed income. The provisional name selected for the vehicle is said to be Legg Mason Western Global Credit Absolute fund. The product will be UCITS III-compliant, and will be domiciled in Dublin. It will be managed by the global credit team at Western, with Dipanker Sherman, previously of BlueBay Asset Management, at the helm.
Asian Investor reports that Korea Securities Depository (KSD), which acts as a transfer agent for all funds domiciled in South Korea, has selected FundSettle, an affiliate of Euroclear, to handle automatic transfer of funds, which will be phased in in third quarter 2011. At that time, KSD is planning to launch its new multi-currency fund distribution platform.
ETF Securities (ETFS) has announced that it will launch ten currency ETCs denominated in Euros, replicating the Morgan Stanley Foreign Exchange (MSFXSM) indices, in long and short varieties, on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra electronic trading platform. The products will be integrally collateralised in Euros against the Swiss Franc, pound Sterling, Japanese Yen, Norwegian Kroner and the Swedish Kroner. The ETCs will also offer exposure to local interest rates. The ten new ETC funds come as an addition to the current range of 18 currency ETCs listed on the London Stock Exchange since 12 November 2009.
China Merchants, in which ING Investment Management is a minority shareholder, has announced that on 1 March, it will open subscriptions to its first QDII fund, the Global Resources Equity, for 19 days. Assets in the fund will be capped to CNY3bn, Z-Ben Advisors reports. ING IM will be the sub-advisor for the new fund, while ICBC and Standard Chartered will be the custodians, one Chinese, and the other foreign. The benchmark selected will consist 25% of the MSCI World Energy Index, and 75% of the MSCI World Materials Index. Allocation to equities will be at least 60%, while 80% of this allocation will be invested in the energy, utilities, and commodities sectors.
The Swiss-Austrian asset management firm Salus Alpha has opened a representative office in UOB Plaza, 80 Raffles Place, in Singapore. The office of Salus Alpha Financial Services (SG) Pte. Ltd. puts the group in a position to offer UCITS III-compliant hedge funds on the local market, to institutional and high net worth private clients. Salus Alpha has also launched a local website.
The CNMV has granted permission for the UK management firm Ignis Asset Management to open a representative office in Spain. The Madrid office will be directed by Mauro Lorán, with the assistance of Isabel Aranzabe, and the entire former sales team from New Star, Funds People reports. It will also serve the Portuguese and Andorran markets, as well as major institutional investors in Latin America.
Fidelity International has fired two veteran fund managers in Hong Kong – Kevin Chang and Wilson Wong – for breaching its internal compliance code and putting “personal interests ahead of those of the company”, says the Financial Times. Industry sources believe that the two managers had been operating personal trading accounts in violation of company policy. The two managers ran a total of USD7.4bn in clients’ money.
Expansión claims to have information that several North American investors are preparing to inject EUR600m in capital into Prisa, chief among them Liberty Acquisition, led by Nicholas Beggruen. The investment fund previously sold its stake in Media Capital to Prisa.
Fermín Álvarez, director of coordination for affiliates of the Telefónica group since 2008, was appointed on Wednesday as CEO of Fonditel, the asset management firm for the group’s investment and pension funds, replacing Luis Peña, Expansión reports. Even though Álvarez originates from the finance division of the operator, his appointment came as a surprise to asset management professionals, who were expecting the winning candidate to come from somewhere closer to the CFO of Telefónica, Santiago Fernández Valbuena. However, it has been learned that before serving as coordinator for the group’s affiliates, Álvarez was director of risk control and management, which is more similar to the expected profile. The Telefónica pension fund has EUR3.04bn in assets.