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15/06/2009

French funds on the mend

Les Echos reports that the recovery phase began in May for French fund managers, in a context of a more positive market environment. After months of bad news, inflows returned to meaningful levels for funds invested in equities and diversified products, with respective monthly subscriptions of EUR1.63bn and EUR1.81bn, according to statistics from Europreformance-SIX Telekurs. Since the beginning of the year, products invested in equities have posted total gains of between 4% (funds invested in North American equities) and 12% (Asia-Pacific funds).
15/06/2009

Mutual funds outperform the S&P 500

In 2008, US equities funds lost an average of 38.9%, while the S&P 500 fell by 37%. Six of the largest ten actively-managed funds lost more than the S&P 500, The Wall Street Journal reports. YTD the average US equities fund as of 10 June shows performance of 9.9%, compared with 5.3% for the index, and eight of the ten largest funds are also outperforming the index. The Growth Fund of America from American Funds (USD131bn) is up 15%, and the Magellan fund from Fidelity has gained 19.7%.These results don’t mean fund managers have become more savvy; it is merely due to a preference for growth shares, which have gained nearly 11% since the beginning of the year, compared with 1% for value shares.The Journal points out that these good results have not immunised funds against redemptions: all of the ten largest actively-managed equities funds have seen net redemptions, according to Lipper.
15/06/2009

Castor Pollux reprend la société de Madoff

La Finra aux Etats-Unis a approuvé l’acquisition de Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities par la société de private equity Castor Pollux Securities, rapporte Il Sole – 24 Ore. Casto Pollux Securities avait remporté la vente aux enchères le 25 avril avec 25,5 millions de dollars. L’activité du pôle vente de titres de la société de Bernard Madoff a été considérée comme légitime par les autorités.
15/06/2009
Fonds

Les mutual funds battent le S&P 500

En 2008, les fonds d’actions américains ont perdu 38,9 % en moyenne alors que le S&P 500 chutait de 37 %. Six des dix plus grands fonds gérés activement ont perdu plus que le S&P 500, rappelle The Wall Street Journal. Cette année, le mutual fund d’actions américaines moyen affiche au 10 juin une performance de 9,9 % contre 5,3 % pour l’indice et huit des dix plus grands fonds le battent aussi, le Growth Fund of America d’American Funds (131 milliards de dollars), gagnant 15 % et le Magellan de Fidelity opérant un bond en avant de 19,7 %.Ce n’est pas que les gérants soient devenus futés, cela tient simplement à la préférence pour les actions «growth», qui ont gagné près de 11 % depuis le début de l’année, contre 1 % pour les actions ‘value».Le journal souligne que ces bons résultats n’ont pas pour autant immunisé les fonds contre les retraits : chacun des dix plus grands fonds d’actions gérés activement a subi des remboursement nettes, d’après Lipper.
Fonds
15/06/2009

Le Santander prévoit des acquisitions ces cinq prochaines années

Alfredo Sáenz, administrateur délégué du Santander, a indiqué lors d’une conférence à Barcelone devant un parterre de patrons américains que la banque espagnole a l’intention de répliquer aux Etats-Unis la même stratégie qu’il a mise en œuvre au Royaume-Uni en matière d’intégration de banques, rapporte Expansión. Les zones prioritaires pour le Santander sont les Etats du Massachussets, de New York et de Pennsylvanie. Si le banquier se défend de vouloir profiter de la crise économique, il reconnaît que la situation actuelle «offre des opportunités».
15/06/2009

La Deutsche Bank siphonne Citi Private Bank

Joanne Jensen, Pat Janco, Becky Creavin et Jennifer Shaw rejoignent la division gestion de fortune de la Deutsche Bank à New York, où elles seront subordonnées à Chip Packard, head, US private bank - Eastern region, rapporte Hedge Week. Ces quatre nouveaux «managing directors» viennent de The Citi Private Bank.
15/06/2009

Asset sales boost profits at BHF-Bank

For 2008, BHF-Bank (Sal. Oppenheim group) has posted pre-tax profits of EUR308m, compared with EUR91m, and net profits of EUR198m, compared with EUR70m, largely due to the sale of the firm’s custodial activities to a holding company controlled by the families that own Sal. Oppenheim. Cost-income ratio totalled 52.3%, compared with 78.7% in 2007.Asset management activities have seen a loss of EUR12m, compared with profits of EUR13m the previous year, while the private bank shows profits of EUR20m, compared with EUR43m.Assets for the asset management affiliates Frankfurt Trust and Frankfurt Trust Invest Luxembourg at the end of December totalled EUR15.9bn, which represents a contraction of only 10%, of which EUR6.3bn were in retail funds, and EUR9.6bn in institutional funds and mandates. However, Frankfurt Trust has posted net subscriptions of EUR1.5bn. The private bank, for its part, has brought in net inflows of EUR4bn.BHF-Bank has announced that it is planning to reduce its costs this year, and has not ruled out the possibility of layoffs.
15/06/2009

BlackRock-BGI will be a major player on the German market

The acquisition of Barclays Global Investors (BGI) by BlackRock will create an asset management firm of respectable size on the German market, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The two asset management firms currently manage about USD50bn for German clients, of which USD10bn are in institutional portfolios, USD10bn in retail funds, and about USD30bn in iShares ETF products.
15/06/2009

Citigroup preparing to sell Nikko AM

Les Echos reports, citing Dow Jones Newswire, that Citigroup is preparing to sell Nikko Asset Management, its Japanese asset management affiliate. Dow Jones Newswire says the US bank will not be likely to get the USD1.2bn it had initially hoped for. Among the potential buyers are several Japanese financial institutions, including the insurer T&D Holdings, the brokerage firm Nomura, and Sumitomo Trust & Banking.
15/06/2009

Switzerland at centre of international expansion plans for Morgan Stanley

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that Switzerland will play a major role in the international development of Morgan Stanley, particularly through acquisitions. On the domestic Swiss market, Morgan Stanley will develop its activities outside wealth management, which has previously been its only area of activity in Switzerland. Making use of its new status as a licensed bank, which the group was required to adopt to receive US government aid through the TARP program, the group is planning to extend the range of banking services it offers in Switzerland, which are expected to include traditional financial intermediary services in the near future.
15/06/2009

Theo Paphitis resigns from board at La Senza

According to reports in the Sunday Times, Theo Paphitis has resigned from the board of directors at the lingerie chain La Senza, due to differences of opinion about strategy with other directors, and particularly with the private equity investor Lion Capital, to whom he sold the company in 2006 for GBP100m. He returned to the helm at the firm following the ousting of Rose Foster, CEO, in February. Two months later, he entered negotiations with Lion Capital to buy back a majority stake in La Senza; it appears that these negotiations were unsuccessful.
15/06/2009

Commodities interest wealth managers in Geneva

Commodities are attracting the interest of wealth managers based in Geneva, Le Temps reports. An allocation of 5% to 10% is typical nowadays, though they were only 1% to 3% two years ago, according to Patrick Witteveen, of ETF Securities, a British firm specialised in ETF products based on commodities and companies active in the commodities sector.
15/06/2009

Reyl AM reorients strategy of Reyl Asian Equities

The Reyl Asian Equities fund, which has recently moved to internal management within the firm, is changing its investment strategy. Reyl Asset Management has developed internal expertise in Asian equities, and is reorienting the fund to Asia ex-Japan; it was previously geographically exposed to all of Asia. With its new management strategy, the fund will gradually be more exposed to emerging markets, says Reyl Asset Management.
15/06/2009

Curtain of banking confidentiality between France and Switzerland falls

France and Switzerland on Friday, 12 June signed signed the Franco-Swiss fiscal convention, which ends banking confidentiality and provides for exchanges of information between the tax authorities of the two countries. According to a statement from the French government, discussions between France and Switzerland “resulted in a new draft penned by the administrations of the two states, including an article which complies with the most recent OECD standards, by the terms of which Swiss legislation can no longer present obstacles to the transmission of banking information.” the French tax authorities will thus be able to obtain information, including details of bank accounts, from the Swiss authorities without restriction from 1 January 2010.
15/06/2009

SLI launches a recovery fund

Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced the launch of an OEIC, UK Equity Recovery Fund, which will invest in UK equities with potential for mid to long-term recovery. The fund will be managed by David Cumming, head of UK equities. Front-end fee and management commission are 4% and 1.6%, respectively, while the TER for the fund is 1.8% and minimal subscription for retail shares is GBP500. The sub-fund of the SLIC II Umbrella fund uses the FTSE All Share Index as its benchmark.
15/06/2009

Deutsche Bank siphons off staff from Citi Private Bank

Joanne Jensen, Pat Janco, Beacky Creavin and Jennifer Shaw will be joining the wealth management division of Deutsche Bank in New York, where they will report to Chip Packard, head, US private bank - Eastern region, Hedge Week reports. The four new managing directors come from The Citi Private Bank.
15/06/2009

Castor Pollux takes over Madoff company

The Financial regulatory authorities in the United States have approved the acquisition of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities by the private equity firm Castor Pollux Securities, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. Castro Pollux Securities submitted a winning bid at auction for the firm of USD25.5m. The activities of the securities sales firm formerly owned by Bernard Madoff were deemed legitimate by the authorities.
15/06/2009

Madoff : Kingate sued

Criterium Capital Funds Bv, Bbf Trust, Wall Street Securities, Banca Arner and Alvaro Castillo have sued Kingate Management, which was invested in Madoff, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. The case was filed in the US.
15/06/2009

CBA eyes asset management arm of Lloyds Banking Group

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is understood to be interested in an acquisition of fund management for third parties at Insight Investment Management, an affiliate of Lloyds Banking Group. The vendor is said to have also approached Schroders, Hellman & Friedman and Advent International as potential buyers, the Sunday Times reports. Since its acquisition of HBOS last year, Lloyds has two life insurance brands and two asset management brands. The activities up for sale represent about GBP75bn in assets, and primarily manage bond funds and specialised liability-driven products. Insight also manages GBP80bn in life insurance funds for Clerical Medical.
15/06/2009

BlackRock CEO predicts more concentration to come

The asset management industry is only at the beginning of a major wave of consolidation, says Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock, commenting to analysts on his firm’s acquisition of Barclays Global Investors. The CEO has large plans for ETFs on the pension markets, particularly in the United States, the WSJ reports.
15/06/2009

Asset management is no longer a strategic activity for banks

The sale of BGI by Barclays is not an isolated case at banks. L’Agefi compares the move to the decision taken by Credit Suisse in December 2008 to sell its management activities outside Switzerland to Aberdeen Asset Management, and the move by Société Générale to merge its affiliate SGAM with Crédit Agricole Asset Management, as part of a joint asset management firm in which it would control only 30%. The crisis has affected management firms in the form of heavy outflows, which is driving banks to sell or merge their asset management activities, “particularly when they do not have critical size, as was the case at SGAM,” the newspaper observes. In the particular case of BGI, the structure had taken on too large a part of the activities of Barclays, L’Agefi says, and the group will now be able to concentrate on its banking activities.
15/06/2009

Gestion d'actifs et banques n’ont plus leur destin lié.

Avec un encours de 2.700 milliards de dollars consécutif à l’acquisition de Barclays Global Investors (BGI), BlackRock Global Investors devient, vingt et un ans après sa création, le numéro un mondial de la gestion d’actifs, rapporte le Tribune. Cette fusion symbolise la véritable course à la taille que mènent les sociétés de gestion d’actifs depuis quelques années pour travailler sur de gros volumes et réaliser d’importantes économies d'échelles. La vente de BGI illustre aussi la séparation de plus en plus marquée entre la gestion d’actifs et les banques. « Les gérants d’actifs les plus dynamiques sont ceux qui sont indépendants [c’est-à-dire qui n’appartiennent pas à une banque, Ndlr], explique Bob Diamond, le patron de Barclays Capital, cité par le quotidien. En dix ans, la croissance de leurs encours a été deux fois plus rapide. » Selon lui, l’explication vient de la régulation financière, particulièrement aux États-Unis. Dans le cas de Barclays, Barclays Global Investors et Barclays Capital se gênaient mutuellement et le rachat de Lehman Brothers n’a fait qu’accentuer le problème. « La meilleure stratégie était de vendre BGI, conclut Bob Diamond, repris par la Tribune, tout en conservant une participation minoritaire afin de bénéficier d’une partie de ses profits. C’est chose faite avec cet accord, qui donne 19,9 % de BlackRock à Barclays. »
15/06/2009

Barclays recruits, moves towards investment banking

La Tribune reports that Barclays will hire 800 people to complete its acquisition of Lehman Brothers. The bank, which has just sold all of its asset management activities to BlackRock, is planning to focus on investment banking. After acquiting the US activities of Lehman Brothers and earning GBP1bn in pre-tax profits in first quarter, the bank is planning to add to its personnel in Europe. In addition to 350 people recruited in London for market trading activities, Barclays is planning to hire a further 350 for sales and research for its equities markets activities. Then, Barclays will concentrate on putting its business banking activities in order, beginning with “primary actions” - rights issues and IPOs, among others - for which the bank will hire several dozen people, La Tribune reports. The bank will then add to its staff in mergers and acquisitions, where European teams will grow to include 65 bankers, of whom 10 will be based in France, at the conclusion of the recruitment phase. This represents a rebalancing of the activities for the British bank, the newspaper observes. It was already present in credit and fixed income markets, as well as in bond issues, but it had no activities in investment banking related to equities markets.
15/06/2009

Unigest offers reward to defectors from competitors

To all clients who transfer in an investment of at least EUR20,000 in its Unifond VIII from another fund management firm between 16 June and 15 September, Unigest is offering subscribers either a Tom Tom GPS navigator (value: EUR98) or a Sony digital camera (EUR102), Funds People reports. The Unifond VIII is a guaranteed fund which will be renewing its guarantee on 15 June, and which will become known as the Unifond 2012-V, according to a notice from the CNMV.
15/06/2009

Vigeo : new comers for ASPI Eurozone

Irish Life & Permanent will leave the index ASPI Eurozone on 19 June, according the the Comité ASPI which has just revised the index. TUI will also leave the index. BAM GRP and SOLVAY will join the index.
15/06/2009

Spanish high net worth families in cautious mood

The survey “Nuevo horizonte, nuevos hábitos de inversión,” by Barclays Wealth and The Economist Intelligence Unit, finds that caution and aversion to risk are still the dominant theme in the behaviour of most Spanish high net worth investors, Cinco Días reports. Only 13% of these investors are planning to increase the risk levels in their portfolios in the next twelve months. Despite this, most of them think that the crisis has created opportunities on the market.
15/06/2009

Paul Myners faces off with Brussels over hedge funds

UK City minister Paul Myners has declared that he will fight “tooth and nail” against a European Commission draft directive which would set limits on the amount of debt hedge funds are permitted to take on, the Sunday Times reports. The British politician is planning to meet with the Swedish deputy finance minister in ten days’ time, in an effort to get the draft changed, as Sweden takes over the EU presidency on 1 July. The largest London hedge funds are planning to launch a lobbying campaign against the planned European directive.
15/06/2009
Fonds

EFG lance un ETF à capital protégé

EFG Financial Products va coter à la fin du mois un nouveau produit à capital garanti sur le segment des ETF structurés (ETSF) de la bourse suisse. L’EFG FP Bonus Coupon sera investi en majorité en obligations de la Confédération, le reste placé dans des options sur des entreprises suisses, sélectionnées selon les critères de durabilité de Forma Futura, précise Le Temps.
Fonds

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