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25/08/2009

Hedge funds leave UK for Switzerland

Hedge funds managing close to USD15bn in assets quit the United Kingdom and moved to Switzerland in the past year, following plans to increase top personal tax rates to 51%, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing lawyers. Others are expected to follow.
25/08/2009

Number of funds contracts

In the first half of 2009, 1,913 funds were merged or closed, more than the 1,206 funds which were launched in the same time period, according to statistics from Lipper FMI, reported by Financial Times Fund Management. For the first time in a long time, the number of funds has declined, to a total of 33,543.
25/08/2009

AGI to launch a UCITS III version of Discovery Europe

Allianz Global Investors (AGI) is planning to release a UCITS III version of its long/short Discovery Europe fund, as a sub-fund of this fund itself, Investment Week reports. The new product, Allianz RCM Discovery Europe Strategy, will be managed by the same manager as the main fund, Harold Sporleder, with Ralf Walter as co-manager. Two thirds of the profile will be invested in “strong conviction equities,” while the remainder will be invested with a more short-term outlook.In the first five months of the year, Allianz RCM Discovery Europe has posted returns of 11.91%, compared with 6.07% for the MSCI Europe index.
25/08/2009

Passive vs. active management: debate continues

According to a study by S&P cited by the WSJ, about 60% of equities fund managers lagged behind their index over five years to June 30. With the exception of emerging market debt funds, at least 75% of bond fund managers trailed behind their index. The news is grist for the mill of supporters of passive, index-based management. But Jane Li of FundQuest (BNP Paribas) says that “the less efficient the market, the more potential there is for a manager to add value.”
25/08/2009

Barclays stops sales of shares in one of its ETF funds

Following a decision by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to toughen regulations, Barclays Global Investors has ceased sales of new shares in its iShares fund based on the S&P GSCI Commodity index, L’Agefi reports.
25/08/2009

Assets in funds of funds plummet

Despite over EUR9bn in subscriptions, assets in funds of funds on sale in Germany fell by 19% in second half 2008 to a total of EUR44.9bn as of the end of December. A study by Fidelity International has found that open architecture is continuing to progress, as funds which invest in products from third-party promoters now represent 62% of total assets, compared with 56% one year previously (see Newsmanagers of 27 August 2008). However, Andreas Schmid, head of distribution for private banks and wealth managers at Fidelity International for Germany, agrees that funds of funds have probably been the winners out of the introduction of withholding flat tax in Germany on 1 January 2009, as the transfers from one product to the other within a fund of funds are now not taxable.The study also finds that diversified funds of funds as of the end of December represented 77% of total assets, compared with 70% twelve months previously. Equities and bond funds of funds represented 14% and 5% of total assets, respectively, compared with 23% and 7%.
25/08/2009

FSA investigates Calyon

The FSA, the British financial market regulator, has launched an investigation into trading operations on credit default swaps (CDS) from Pernod-Ricard undertaken by the investment bank Calyon. The subject of the investigation is several very large transactions undertaken just before the group laucnehd a capital increase in April.
25/08/2009

Governments' relationships with banks: strictly business?

La Tribune reports that, with the exception of the United States and Switzerland, governments which have provided assistance to banks in the past twelve months by buying a stake in their capital have made potential losses totalling USD10.8bn (EUR7.54bn), according to figures from the Financial Times. Great Britain has come out of it worst, with losses of EUR3.8bn. Due to interest on the loans provided to banks, France has made a profit of EUR1.16bn.
25/08/2009

One third of "critical" large corporations are not doing anything to combat climate change

For a United Nations conference on climate change to be held in December in Copenhagen, the EIRIS agency has analysed the 300 largest publicly-traded companies in the FTSE All World Index to determine what actions they are taking to confront climate change.The study (“Climate Change Compass: The Road to Copenhagen”) is that the activities of 35.6% of these companies highly or very highly influence climate change. But 33% of them are not making any effort to reduce the risks related to climate change which affect them. The survey also finds that 99% of businesses which have a high or very high impact on climate change have published documents explaining how they plan to address this challenge, compared with 84% in 2008. This increase is due to increase awareness both within businesses and at the instigation of investors.Lastly, EIRIS points out that nearly three quarters of the businesses concerned, compared with 61% in 2008, say they wish to respect objectives and international regulations to combat climate change.
25/08/2009

Consolidation to come in MTF sector

Les Echos reports that shareholders in the two largest alternative stock market operators in Europe, Chi-X and Turquoise, are undergoing changes. Turquoise has retained the Swiss bank UBS to find potential buyers for the business. Shareholders in Chi-X, for their part, are being openly wooed by Chi-X Global, an entity owned by the Japanese bank Nomura, which already controls more than half of capital in the operator via the broker Instinet. Falling volumes and competitition have accelerated the maturity of this young segment.
25/08/2009

Crisis makes Swiss tax levels more attractive

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that the international rankings of the “Individual Income Tax Rate Survey 2009,” published yesterday by KPMG, reveal that the impact of the financial recession on taxation have made Switzerland more attractive compared to other countries. Compared with 2008, it has gained five places, putting it in 13thplace in the rankings, revealing that tax pressure is mounting in the worst-affected countries, such as Ireland, Iceland, and Great Britain. Since Switzerland has not seen any increase in the maximal income tax rate, “developments in the four corners of the globe may make the country even more attractive in terms of taxation,” KPMG says.
25/08/2009

Two bankers on the run

La Tribune reports that two former bank directors, Erastus Akingbola and Cecilia Bru, who were dismissed on 14 August for poor management, including fraudulent use of credit facilities, insider trading, market manipulation and money-laundering, are being sought in Nigeria by the economic and financial crimes commission.
25/08/2009

Leveraged ETFs face legal challenges

Investment News magazine has run reports, relayed in Das Investment, that the law firms Stanley Mandel & Iola and Wolf Handelstein Freeman & Herz in New York are considering a possible lawsuit against promoters of leveraged ETFs, including Proshares and Direxion. The lawyers accuse these fund management firms of offering these products to retail investors who will retain them for more than one day, though they should be reserved for professional investors and for an investment period of less than one day. These are the same criticisms that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has also made. The two law firms are planning a class action lawsuit. Proshares is already facing a lawsuit for providing insufficient warning to investors about the risks involved in its Ultra-Short Real Estate Fund, a double-reverse leveraged fund which has lost 77.2% since the beginning of the year.
25/08/2009

Bernard Madoff said to be terminally ill

La Tribune reports, citing information in the United States press, that Bernard Madoff is suffering from terminal cancer and is reportedly dying in prison. The reports were denied by the prison administration.
25/08/2009

HSBC enters ETF market

HSBC Global Asset Management will launch its first ETF, based on the FTSE 100, this Monday, Financial Times Fund Management reports. In total, the firm is planning to launch 30 to 50 ETFs in the next three years.
25/08/2009

Mirae appoints a director for Europe

The Korean firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has appointed Myung Joo Park as managing director of its European activities, the British press reports. Park, who will be based in London, joined Mirae Asset in 2005. He previously worked in the international division of the firm in Korea. Recently, Mirae told Newsmanagers that it would soon register several funds for sale in France.
25/08/2009

Private wealth management at Saxo Bank in rapid growth

Assets in the private wealth management department of Saxo Bank as of the end of first half totalled EUR1.88bn. The bank specialised in online trading of investments says in a statement that wealth management activities are in a phase of “rapid growth,” and that since the end of first half, assets under management have increased to EUR2.15bn.Saxo Bank earned pre-tax profits in first half of EUR7.39m, vs EUR21.77m . Three factors contributed to this decrease, according to the bank: increased costs related to the opening of international offices; investment in products; and the bank’s contribution to the Danish state guarantee plan.
25/08/2009

Number of mergers and acquisitions in asset management declines

The number of mergers and acquisitions in the asset management sector has fallen by one third in the first half of the year, Financial Times Fund Management reports, citing statistics from Jeffries Putnam Lovell. Between January and June, 73 such operations took place, compared with 109 in the corresponding period of last year. Independent asset management firms have replaced banks and insurance companies as the most active buyers, FT FM observes. In the next 12 months, Jeffries estimates that mergers and acquisitions will be driven by the buyer side.
25/08/2009

Mergers and acquisitions: Expansion, rather than survival, becomes a dominant theme

With the recovery of the markets and the dissipation of investors’ fears, merger and acquisition activities in financial services in the next twelve months will be fed by buyers seeking to increase their size rather than by vendors seeking to survive, Jefferies Putnam Lovell predicts in the study “ Winds of Change: First-Half 2009 M&A Activity in the Global Asset Management, Broker/Dealer, and Financial Technology Industries.” The authors find that the motivation of vendors in the past nine months, including the need for capital and survival, will now be replaced by more traditional catalysts for merger and acquisition activities, such as diversification of products, distribution of capital necessary to initiate new phases of growth, and needs of liquidity on the side of vendors. Jefferies Putnam Lovell estimates that financial establishments that sell off asset management units will seek to retain minority stakes in them, largely in order to profit from the economic recovery.
25/08/2009

APG pension fund appoints a new CIO

The Dutch management firm APG, which manages the EUR180bn assets of the eponymous pension fund, has appointed Angelien Kemma as CIO and CEO of APG Asset Management. She replaces Roderick Munsters, who has moved to Robeco. Kemna was previously professor at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, after spending several years at ING Investment Management, as CIO Global and then CEO of ING IM Europe.
25/08/2009

Standard Life recruits a director from BlackRock

Standard Life Investments has added to its fixed income unit with the appointment of Andrew Fraser as investment director specialised in banking. He previously worked at BlackRock, as a director in the European credit analysis department. In the fixed income team, Fraser will report to Craig MacDonald, director of Investment Grade - corporate bonds. He will be in charge of analysing the European and British banking sectors.
25/08/2009

Hermes appoints a chief economist for fixed income

Hermes Fund Managers has appointed Neil Williams as chief economist on the fixed income team. Williams was previously head of research and strategy for government bonds at Mizuho International, in London. He will report to Penni Coe, director of government and inflation-indexed bonds.
25/08/2009

LV=AM recruits a team from Credit Suisse

Graham Ashby, along with his colleagues at Credit Suisse, Michael Crawford, Marcus Chandler, and Mira Bhogaita, have been hired by LV=Asset Management to take over the UK Growth and UK Equity Income funds, currently managed by Chris Price, head of the equities team, Investment Week reports. LV=AM manages about GBP1.1bn in UK equities. The funds which were managed by Ashby at Credit Suisse have been outsourced by the asset management firm to Premier Asset Management.
25/08/2009

EIM a tourné la page Madoff

Selon L’Agefi suisse, le groupe EIM, actif dans la multigestion, les hedge funds et les stratégies «long only», et qui a fait face à une diminution de ses encours sous gestion de 16 milliards de francs à 10 milliards fin juin, dit avoir mis en place les moyens techniques capables de soutenir sa stratégie de croissance sur le long terme. La mise en fonction imminente d’une plate-forme de fonds dédiés («segregated managed account platform»), destinée à renforcer la gestion du risque en particulier opérationnel, va dans ce sens. Dans cette configuration les gérants de hedge funds sont uniquement responsables de la gestion, la sélection des contreparties des fonds – tels l’administrateur ou l’auditeur - leur étant en effet imposée par la plateforme. La société basée à Nyon arrive ainsi au terme de son plan de réorganisation lancé en début d’année et ne prévoit pas de nouvelle restructuration.
25/08/2009

Recrutement chez UBPAM

UBP Asset Management (UBPAM), la société de gestion de fonds de fonds de l’Union Bancaire Privée, vient de recruter Matt Auriemma au poste de co-responsable de l’analyse du risque structurel.Matt Auriemma était auparavant responsable de la due diligence opérationnelle au sein de Barclays Wealth.
24/08/2009

Hedge fund directive: A long road ahead

Hedge funds may be facing a month of conflict over the European directive intended to impose constraints on them, the Guardian reports on its website. “The United Kingdom … has obtained the support of Sweden, which currently holds the European Union presidency, to rewrite the document. But that process will likely still be ongoing next year, when Spain takes over the presidency. And Spain, with 4 million unemployed and a minuscule hedge fund industry, will not be likely to make rewriting the directive a priority,” the British newspaper predicts.
24/08/2009
Fonds

Cinq fonds affichent une performance supérieure à 60 %

Selon VDOS Stochastics, le BBVA Bolsa Europa Finanzas, dont l’indice de référence est le DJ Stoxx 600 Banks, affiche depuis le début de l’année la meilleure performance de tous les fonds espagnols depuis le début de l’année, avec 68,83 %, contre 68,25 % pour l’Accion FTSE Latibex Brasil, indique Cinco Días. Le Sabadell BS America Latina Bolsa enregistre un gain de 64,59 % et le Bestinvest Hedge Value Fund arrive au quatrième rang avec 63,06 %. L’Eurovalor Iberoamerica se classe cinquième avec une performance de 61,99 %, le sixième étant le Renta 4 Latinoamerica avec 58,83 %.
Fonds
24/08/2009

Lionel Zinsou à la tête de PAI Partners

Selon Les Echos, Lionel Zinsou, ancien associé gérant chez Rothschild & Cie, devient président de la société et du comité exécutif du fonds de capital investissement français PAI Partners, remplaçant Dominique Megret, Agé de soixante deux ans, ce dernier devrait quitter ses fonctions l’an prochain et restera président dans l’intervalle. Amaury de Sèze va reprendre ses fonctions de président du conseil de surveillance en fin d’année.
24/08/2009

Les sociétés de portefeuille des Salazar risquent la liquidation

Les syndics de faillite des huit sociétés de portefeuille des frères Jesús et Jaime Salazar (les anciens dirigeants et propriétaires de Grupo SOS) risquent d'être liquidées puisque leur actif est essentiellement constitué d’actions du groupe agro-alimentaire qui ont servi de nantissement pour l’obtention de crédits bancaires, rapporte Expansión. A eux deux, les frères Salazar détenaient encore officiellement vendredi 25,70 % de Grupo SOS.

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