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27/01/2010
Fonds

Rapide percée du Greater China Environmental Fund de Fortis au Japon

Fortis Investments a annoncé mardi que le fonds Greater China Environmental Fund développé avec le chinois Fortis Haitong Investment Management a été lancé au Japon le 18 décembre 2009 et qu’il a déjà drainé 106 milliards de yen ou 830 millions d’euros ou encore 1,18 milliard de dollars. Ce produit offre aux souscripteurs un accès à la «révolution verte» qui se déroule actuellement en Chine.
Fonds
27/01/2010

SAM publie son annuaire du développement durable

Le gestionnaire suisse SAM Sustainable Asset Management (groupe Robeco) a annoncé mardi la publication de son annuaire 2010 de l’investissement durable élaboré en collaboration avec PricewaterhouseCoopers. Il s’agit de la onzième livraison de ce document et le nombre de sociétés analysées a été augmenté à 1.237 unités (il se limitait initialement à 468 noms en 1999).Seules les sociétés figurant dans les 15 % des meilleures de leur secteur sont intégrées dans l’annuaire, l’univers de base comportant quelque 2.500 sociétés.Pour plus d’informations consulter le site http://www.sam-group.com/htmle/yearbook
27/01/2010

Russell recruits two iShares execs

James Polisson and Andrew Arenberg, both of whom were involved in the setting up of the iShares operation at Barclays Global Investors (BGI), in mid-January joined Russell Investments (USD176bn in assets), Polisson as managing director of global ETF business, and Arenberg as managing director of global ETF distribution. They will be based in San Francisco. The two men will be responsible for the design of new-generation products and services related to ETFs, says Andrew Doman, president and CEO of Russell, who says the group is already one of the largest providers of indices to ETF management firms.
27/01/2010

Reshuffle at a Van Kampen in transition

The management firm Van Kampen, which will be sold by Morgan Stanley to Invesco, is undergoing several changes to its personnel. Mark McClure and Mike Tobin will become the joint heads of sales and major clients, a position which was previously held by David Linton, who has left the firm, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Brian Binder, chief administrative officer, will succeed Elizabeth Hughes Eginton as head of product and marketing. Eginton joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney on 21 January as director of marketing; she had joined Van Kampen from Legg Mason Capital Management only in February 2009.
27/01/2010

Promotions in asset management arm of Northern Trust

Alan Robertson, who was previously president and CEO of Northern Trust Global Advisors (NTGA) has been promoted to the newly-created position of global head of sales and services at Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), the asset management firm for Northern Trust. He will be based in Chicago, and will report to Stephen N. Potter, president of NTGI. Robertson’s successor as head of NTGA is Joseph McInerney, who was previously COO, a position he had held since 2005. He will be based in Stamford, Connecticut, and will report to Robertson.
27/01/2010

Fidelity suspends two managers in Hong Kong

Fidelity International in Hong Kong has suspended two of its most experienced managers, who are accused of violating the firm’s internal code of conduct. The market regulatory authorities have been informed, and Fidelity is conducting an internal enquiry. Asian Investor reports that Fidelity has confirmed the suspension of the two managers, but has not named them. According to a source who is understood to be a Fidelity client, the investigation is focusing on two well-known managers, Kevin Chang and Wilson Wong. Chang is responsible for the South East Asia Fund and several institutional portfolios, while Wong manages one of the Greater China retail strategies. Their portfolios will reportedly be managed in the interim by members of the Asia-Pacific equities team at Fidelity.
27/01/2010

American Century recruits a former Macquarie head

The US-based asset management firm American Century has announced the recruitment of Elizabeth Trinh as vice president of its Hong Kong office, Asian Investor reports. Since December she has been head of sales to institutional clients in Australia and South Asia. Trinh was previously associate manager and head of development for the Maquarie Professional Series fund range at Macquarie Bank in Australia. Assets under management by Macquarie worldwide total USD85.8bn. American Century specialises in actively managed equity strategies. The Hong Kong office opened in May to support the delivery of American Century’s equity growth strategies -- global growth, emerging markets and US growth equities -- in the Asia-Pacific region.
27/01/2010

Oddo, State Street, and Threadneedle top Feri rankings

Only five major asset management firms (in the category of firms which offer “over 25 funds”), three of them French companies, managed to place at least 50% of their products on sale in Germany in the top two classes, those rated A or B by Feri EuroRating Services as of the end of December. In order, the companies are Oddo Asset Management, with 18 A or B-rated funds out of 31 products available in Germany, or 58.1%; State Street, with 17 funds out of 31 (54.8%); and Threadneedle, with 24 funds out of 44 (54.5%). The next two firms are Rothschild & Cie Gestion, with 17 funds out of 32 (53.1%), and Groupama AM, with 25 funds out of 50 (50%). Natixis Global Associates takes ninth place, with 39 A and B-rated funds our of 99, or 39.4%. Among firms with 25 or fewer products on sale in Germany, the top ten (out of a field of 59) all have over 50% of their products rated A or B: MFS takes first place, with 75% (9 funds out of 12); it is followed by Vanguard Investments, with 70% (7 out of 10), M&G Investments, with 64.3% (9 out of 14). CamGestion places 4th, with 60.9%, ProBTP Finance is 5th, with 58.3%, and Covea Finance is 6th, with 57.1%. Lazard Frères Gestion and Comgest are in seventh and ninth place, respectively, with 55.6% and 53.3% of funds rated A or B.
27/01/2010

SAM publishes sustainable development yearbook

The Swiss asset management firm SAM Sustainable Asset Management (Robeco group) on Tuesday announced the publication of its 2010 sustainable development yearbook, assembled in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers. This is the eleventh annual yearbook, and the number of firms analysed has increased to 1,237 (in the first edition in 1999, only 468 companies were considered). Only companies that rank among the top 15% in their sector have been included in the yearbook, from a universe of approximately 2,500 companies. Further information is available on the website http://www.sam-group.com/htmle/yearbook
27/01/2010

Nomura adds to staff in fixed income research

The Nomura group is continuing to develop its Fixed Income team in Europe, Africa and the Middle East with the construction of a research team to focus on macro strategy, and the recruitments of Nick Firoozye as head of the European Interest Rates strategy, and of Ann Wyman as head of European Emerging Markets research. Firoozye was previously head of quantitative research at Citadel Investments, while Wyman was a senior economist at Citigroup, for the group’s economic strategies and policies. The macro-strategy team will be led by Jim McCormick, head of fixed income research for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
27/01/2010

Pension fund takes Petercam to court

According to the Belgian newspaper L’Echo, the Inno pension fund has filed a lawsuit in the Brussels commercial court against Petercam, which it accuses of poor management, leading to losses of about 20% for the fund, which includes a large part of the pension assets for employees belonging to the Inno labour union. The solidarity fund is seeking EUR2.3m in damages and interest from Petercam. The management firm blames the losses, however, on the poor performance of financial markets, and not on poor management.
27/01/2010

Record assets for sustainable development funds

According to statistics from ECOreporter, assets in sustainable development funds in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) as of the end of December totalled EUR23.7bn, compared with EUR21.5bn one year earlier, while the number of sustainable development, ethical and renewable energies products increased in 2009 to 331, up from 279 one year previously. The best sustainable development fund, an equities product, earned returns of 122%, while on average sustainable development equities funds earned 28% compared with 25.9% for the MSCI World index. All funds combined earned an average of 22%. Germany was the largest German-speaking market, with 279 funds and total assets of EUR30.08bn as of the end of the year.
27/01/2010

Permal releases an absolute return fund

The alternative management affiliate of Legg Mason, Permal, has been granted a license by BaFin to release an Irish-registered fund denominated in US dollars, the Legg Mason Permal Global Absolute Fund (IE00B465X304), an absoulte return product managed by Christopher Zuehlsdorff and Alexander Pillersdorf. The fund may invest in several asset classes. Initially, the fund will be about 35% exposed to global bonds, 20% to global equities, 20% to real estate strategies, 14% to alternative products, and 11% to cash and money markets. The goal is to generate returns of 8% to 10% over a 3-5 year cycle, with low liquidity. The fund will have share classes in Euros, pounds Sterling, Canadian dollars, and yen, hedged for currency risks, with a management commission of 1.25%. Permal will not charge a performance commission.
27/01/2010

BBVA and Lyxor to launch new ETFs

In order to maintain their lead on the Spanish ETF market as new foreign competitors arrive, BBVA and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) will launch new products this year. Now that ETFs in Sicav vehicles will be allowed, iShares from BlackRock and db x-trackers from Deutsche Bank will become available in Spain. Lyxor is planning to launch 10 to 15 new products in first quarter, says Adrián Juliá, director of index products at Société Générale in Spain. Among the new ETFs, Lyxor is planning to release commodities products, “short” funds and, if the BME grants a license, a fund replicating one of the indices of the Ibex range. BBVA, for its part, is planning to extend its range largely with bond, commodity, and short ETFs. It is also planning to list its ETFs in other Latin American countries, following its entry into the Mexican market.
27/01/2010

Berkshire Hathaway enters S&P 500

Warren Buffett’s portfolio management firm, Berkshire Hathaway, will be included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which it was previously not allowed to join as the high price of its shares made it unable to satisfy liquidity criteria. This has changed since shares were split, with 50 new shares for every 1 B-class share, at the time of its acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Berkshire will replace Burlington Northern in the index. The market capitalisation of Berkshire is USD160bn.
27/01/2010

Slight rise for investor confidence index in January

Institutional investors are starting 2010 on a hesitant note. The global institutional investor confidence index has gained only 0.2 points, to 104.5 in January, from a corrected level of 104.3 for December. The mood has been optimistic in North America, however, where the regional confidence index has gained 4.4 points, from 103.5 in December to 107.9 in January. However, European institutional investors are more uncertain, and the index has fallen 5.6 point to 98.9, from a corrected level of 104.5 in December. In Asia, the level of institutional investor confidence has increased slightly, from 97.5 in December to 98.1 this month. “Although activity has recovered strongly on developed markets, some factors tend to show that it will likely be difficult to maintain the pace of growth observed recently, and all the more so when these factors are viewed in the context of uncertainty related to monetary policy and to regulatory changes more generally,” says Harvard professor Ken Froot, one of the two designers of the index. “The divergence this month between the North American and European confidence indices to a certain extent reflects the underlying fundamental data,” the other creator of the index, Paul O’Connell, adds. “Although the economic data for Europe showed some relatively positive surprises, concerns remain about the way forward to resolve fiscal difficulties in some peripheral economies, which has chilled investor enthusiasm. The improvement in confidence in Asia brought the regional index back up to the level observed last September.”
27/01/2010

Bill Gross sees danger in Britain

What are the high-risk countries that investors would do better to avoid in 2010? In the most recent issue of the publication Investment Outlook, entitled “The Ring of Fire,” Pimco strategist Bill Gross does not mince words. “Great Britain is a must to avoid. Its Gilts are lying on a bed of nitroglycerine. High debt, combined with potential for a devaluation of the currency present high risks for investors in bonds. In addition, its interest rates are already artificially influenced by accounting standards which at one point last year produced long-term interest rates of 0.5% or less,” Gross writes. Also in the Ring of Fire are Ireland and Spain. The safest countries, Gross claims, are Canada and Germany. To capture the highest and surest returns, Gross recommends that investors look to Asia and to developing countries, for both equities and bonds.
27/01/2010

Strong growth at Fidelity International

As of the end of December, assets under management at Fidelity International in Germany totalled EUR10.46bn, up from EUR6.97bn one year previously, while assets under administration on the Frankfurter Fondsbank (FFB) fund platform, which the group acquired in August from BHF-Bank, represented EUR16.6bn (of which EUR2.7bn were from FundsNetwork), compared with EUR11.83bn one year previously. In total, Fidelity thus administrates or manages slightly over EUR27bn in Germany. Net subscriptions totalled EUR902m in 2009, compared with EUR60m the previous year, largely thanks to EUR525m from institutional clients (compared with EUR402m), while assets under management for institutionals as of the end of last year totalled EUR2bn, compared with EUR1.1bn the previous year. Net subscriptions from retail clients represented EUR377m, of which EUR290m were for the FAST (Fidelity Active Strategy) Europe Fund. Including FFB, personnel at Fidelity International as of the end of last year totalled 316 people, compared with 206 one year previously. The number of accounts administrated by FFB numbered 912,290 (including 153,000 from FundsNetwork), compared with 729,263 at the end of 2008.
27/01/2010

New rules for valuation of money market funds

The five SEC commissioners were scheduled to vote on Wednesday on draft regulations which would require money market funds to declare minor fluctuations in their net asset value around USD1, once per month and with a 60-day gap, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reports that the move is a reaction provoked by the fact that in 2008, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Reserve Primary Fund became the first to “break the buck,” as its value fell below USD1 per share.
27/01/2010

Moody's: Obama tax would threaten solvency of US banks

According to the ratings agency Moody’s, cited by Agefi, the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee, which would bring in USD90bn for the US government over the next ten years, would have a severe effect on banks. Moody’s claims that the tax would raise financing costs significantly for banks required to pay it. The maintenance of liquidity pools would also become more costly. “If a bank decides to reduce its pools due to increased costs related to the tax, its solvency would be weakened,” concludes Peter Nerby, an analyst at the ratings agency.
27/01/2010

Bank of Luxembourg registers 14 funds

Allfunds Bank will be the sales platform in Spain for the first 14 funds from the Bank of Luxembourg (Crédit Mutuel-CIC group) to be registered by the CNMV, Funds People reports. The funds are the following: BL Bond Dollar, BL Bond Euro, BL Emerging Markets, BL Equities America, BL Equities Dividend, BL Equities Europe, BL Equities Horizon, BL Global 30, BL Global 50, BL Global Bond, BL Global Equities, BL Global Flexible, BL Optinvest, and lastly, BL Global 75.
27/01/2010

Deutsche Bank launches a fund for uncertain phases on equity markets

Deutsche Bank has launched the DB Platinum Option Overwriting Plus Fund, a Luxembourg-registered, UCITS III-compliant product on several European markets, whose objective is to reduce volatility and drawdowns compared with equities markets through a dynamic options strategy. The product offers daily liquidity, and is aimed at institutional investors. It replicates the db Option Overwriting Plus index, and will be 100% invested in a benchmark index (DJ Euro Stoxx LU0462953588, Dax LU0462953745 or SMI LU0462954040), and will hedge its positions through the use of exchange-traded option contracts on the corresponding price return benchmark index. Each month, the strategy will involve an evaluation of two variables to predict the subsequent direction of the index. The two variables are price momentum and implied market volatility. Fees for the fund will total 1.16% per year.
27/01/2010

GLG to launch UCITS version of its UK Alternative fund

GLG Partners will launch a UCITS III version of its UK Alternative long/short fund, managed by John White and Jason Mackay. The product will replicate existing market neutral strategies and will be limited to GBP200m in assets. GLG states that the fund will concentrate on fundamental stock-picking, top-down economic analysis and very strict risk management.
27/01/2010

Franklin Templeton opens emerging markets bond fund to retail investors

On Friday, Franklin Templeton will open its Emerging Market Bond Fund to retail investors. The product is a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav, managed by Michael Hansenstab, with assets of about USD2.3bn. Two share classes will be available with a minimal subscription of GBP5,000: a sterling-denominated distributor-status share class and a US dollar denominated accumulation share class.
27/01/2010

China fund from Fidelity will be a closed fund

Investment Week reports that Fidelity on 22 January registered the China special situations fund to be managed by Anthony Bolton at Companies House, meaning that the product will be an investment trust. The fund, which will be launched in March, will thus be a closed fund, meaning that the manager will not be obliged to invest subscriptions immediately; he will also be able to use leverage when he sees fit.
27/01/2010

More stress tests in 2010

La Tribune reports that, according to the chairman of CEBS, Giovanni Carosio, speaking at a hearing before the European Parliament in Brussels, European banks will undergo more stress testing in 2010. The tests will take in the major European banking groups, the newspaper adds.
27/01/2010

Greater China Environmental Fund from Fortis selling well in Japan

Fortis Investments announced on Tuesday that the Greater China Environmental Fund, developed with the Chinese management firm Fortis Haitong Investment Management, was released in Japan on 18 December, and that it has already attracted JPY106bn, or EUR830m, equivalent to USD1.18bn, in assets. The product offers subscribers access to the “green revolution” now taking place in China.
27/01/2010

Metrinomics study: quality of products returns to foreground

In 2010, fund selectors will once again put the quality of products at the top of their list of product selection criteria, according to a European survey conducted by the Berlin-based firm Metrinomics. This characteristic was eclipsed in the 2007 and 2008 surveys, according to which the most important qualities of a fund were price and the quality of customer service. Selection criteria this year, in decreasing order of importance, are the quality of products, quality of customer service, price, brand loyalty, quality of marketing/communications, and management of sales and accounts. The high importance of customer service is a regional phenomenon: Metrinomics has assembled a highly-defined regional map of Europe to illustrate this. Schematically, in all the countries of Western Europe, product quality is the most important. This applies to the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Spain, and additionally Austria. Quality of service, meanwhile, is largely important in the East, in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
27/01/2010

Australian hedge funds earned 1.115 in December

In December, Australian hedge funds generated returns of 1.11%, for annual performance of 17.41% in 2009, Hedgeweek reports, citing data from Australian Fund Monitors. Equity-based hedge funds gained 2.08% in December (+24.66% for 2009), while hedge funds investing in other asset classes lost 0.69%, and gained 7.94% in 2009.

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