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11/05/2009

Nordea réduit son effectif

Pour le premier trimestre, le bénéfice net de Nordea a baissé de 9 % à 626 millions d’euros tandis que les créances douteuses passaient de 21 millions à 356 millions d’euros, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Face à la vigueur de la récession, surtout en Suède et dans les pays baltes, Nordea va supprimer environ 700 emplois et réduire ses investissements.
11/05/2009

Saxo Bank s'installe à Dubai

La banque de trading en ligne et d"investissement annonce l"ouverture de son bureau à Dubaï au sein du DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre). Ce nouveau bureau a pour vocation de renforcer la présence de Saxo Bank dans le golf persique et représente la première ouverture d"une banque danoise dans les Emirats Arabes Unis.
11/05/2009

Spain - Banks sell guaranteed funds invested in their own debt

Banks are recommending to clients that they invest their savings in safe products, which is also allowing these institutions to increase their owners’ equity levels at a time when falling interest rates are making savings accounts look somewhat less attractive, Expansión reports. Six of the largest guaranteed funds on the Spanish market are investing part of their assets in savings accounts, convertible notes, or bonds issued by their parent banks. In the case of the guaranteed fund Caixa Catalunya 2-B, as much as 95% of the EUR170m in assets under management are invested in bonds issued by Caixa Catalunya. In Spain, 90% of assets in investment funds are controlled by banks, compared with 34% in France, and barely 8% in the United Kingdom.
11/05/2009

Spain - Arcano launches a sustainable development private equity fund of funds

Grupo Arcano is launching the Arcano Earth Fund, a fund of private equity funds which focuses on companies involved in sustainable development, and more particularly in funds specialised in sectors such as renewable energies, energy efficiency, and conservation or improved use of natural resources, Funds People reports. The portfolio will be composed of 10-15 funds selected from a universe of 120 funds dedicated exclusively to the target niche. The new product will go on sale in the next few months, with the objective of attracting between EUR200m and EUR250m, largely from investors outside Spain. In total, the fund will be indirectly invested in about 150 companies; 70% of assets will be invested in the United States and Europe. Approximately 15% will be reserved for investments in venture capital and up to 30% will be invested in funds on the secondary market. Arcano is expecting to generate total net performance of 15% to 20%.
11/05/2009

United Kingdom - Putnam recruits Paul Harrison

Putnam Investments has announced the appointment of Paul Harrison as senior vice president of its global institutional management group, where he will be responsible for distribution in the Middle East and Africa, and will report to Joseph Phoenix, head of international growth strategy in London. Harrison was previously head of Middle East and Africa at Fortis Investments.
11/05/2009

United Kingdom - Coutts: Sarah Deaves to be replaced by Michael Morley

Sarah Deaves will be leaving her position as CEO of Coutts to join its parent company, RBS, as managing director of affluent clients for the retail division (see Newsmanagers of 21 April), and the new head of private banking has now been named: it will be Michael Morley, who was previously head of wealth management at Singer & Friedlander.
11/05/2009

Europe - Euro Corporate Bond fund from Schroder ISF attracts EUR1.4bn ytd

The Euro Corporate Bond, a subfund of the Luxembourg Sicav Schroder ISF, launched in 2000, at the end of March for the first time topped EUR1bn in assets, and in April the fund attracted EUR634m, for a total of over EUR1.7bn as of 30 April, compared with EUR1.1bn one month earlier. Since 1 January, net subscriptions have totalled EUR1.4bn (of which EUR216m have come from Germany), the British asset management firm states. The Corporate Bond fund is managed by Adam Cordery. Over five years, it shows returns of 7.62%, compared with 5.34% for the Merrill Lynch EMU Corporate, which it has outperformed by 4.9 percentage points on one year (with returns of 1.35%), and by 3.69 percentage points over three years.
11/05/2009

United Kingdom - Threadneedle launches credit fund

Threadneedle has extended its range of absolute returns products with the launch of the Credit Opportunities Fund, which will be managed by Barrie Whitman, head of high yield, assisted by Roman Gaiser, high yield fund manager, and Alasdair Ross, investment grade credit fund manager.The fund, which complies with UCITS III and offers daily liquidity, is licensed for sale in the United Kingdom and will be registered for sale in other European countries in the next few months. The objective is long-term performance 350 basis points over the overnight money market rate, before commissions and taxes, relying primarily on a bottom-up approach. The manager is permitted to use short-selling and derivative products, and to invest part of the portfolio in cash. He may also make pair trades, basis trades (long physical positions against short derivative positions, or vice versa), as well as arbitrage operations on capital structure.Threadneedle says the fund should interest investors with a horizon of 18 months.
11/05/2009

Spain - Merrill Lynch releases BlueTrend UCITS Fund

Merrill Lynch International is releasing the BlueTrend UCITS Fund, a sub-fund of its Luxemborug Sicav Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions (MLIS), with a minimal subscription of USD1,000 for the retail share class, Funds People reports. The fund is managed by BlueCrest Capital Management LLP, which applies a trend-following strategy to CTA futures contracts, with assets of USD7bn. The objectives are a return of 15% to 20% per year, and a Sharpe ratio above 1.
11/05/2009

United States - Heavy losses at Berkshire Hathaway

In first quarter, Berkshire Hathaway, controlled by Warren Buffett, has posted a loss of more than USD1.53bn, or USD990 per share, compared with USD940m, or USD607 per share, Expansión reports. Results were dragged down by a USD2.01bn provision for investments considered lost.
11/05/2009

Europe - Crisis increases workload for multi-managers

The crisis has brought more work for multi-managers, according to Ignites Europe. Tony Lanning, head of multi-management at Gartmore, explains that he is meeting with managers much more frequently, not necessarily because he is concerned about more managers, but because he wants to gather as much information as possible about the current market environment.
11/05/2009

World - Provisional increase of 1.29% for Credit Suisse/Tremont index in April

According to estimates based on 55% of the usual sample, the Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index is expected to post an increase in April of 1.29%. Although a number of long/short equity managers have increased their long positions in an effort to capture potential gains in market rallies, many other managers have maintained their exposures to beta at relatively low levels, and have remained relatively defensively positioned, which has led to returns below those of equity indexes.
11/05/2009

Switzerland - LGT CM launches third behavioural finance fund

LGT Capital Management, an asset management affiliate of the bank owned by the Prince’s family of Liechtenstein (LGT Bank) is launching the Liechtenstein-registered fund LGT Equity Fund Europe Sector Trend (EUR), its third behavioural finance product [after the LGT Equity Fund Global Sector Trends (USD) and LGT Equity Fund North America (USD)]. The equities fund is actively managed, and invests primarily in shares in companies whose headquarters are located in Europe or most of whose activities are realised on the European continent. The objective is to outperform the MSCI Europe index, with a long/only portfolio of 40 positions. Management is undertaken directly by two specialists in behavioural finance, Volker Hergert and Oliver Günter, who had previously been dedicated to stock-picking.
11/05/2009

France - SGAM-CAAM merger may be completed in Q4

Jean-Pierre Mustier, chairman and CEO of Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM), on Thursday said consultations with employees on plans to merge SGAM with the asset management affiliate of Crédit Agricole (CAAM) will be concluded by the beginning of summer. Then will come the regulatory approval stage, which will last until October or November. The closing of the merger should thus come in early or mid-fourth quarter.According to sources close to the firm, SGAM will not include its roughly 12,000 mandates in the merger, which will create an entity whose working name is Newco. The fund factory with four distribution units, capable of adapting products to the needs of the four networks (SG, Crédit Agricole, Crédit du Nord and LCL), will exist as a single business entity, whose format is currently being studied jointly, and which will not bear the name of either SGAM or CAAM.In addition to the facts reported in Newsmanagers on 7 May, it may be noted that the perimeter earmarked by Société Générale for Newco had gross operating profits of EUR15m last year, while asset management as a whole showed gross operating losses of EUR41m. Meanwhile, chairman and CEO of Société Générale Frédéric Oudéa stated that the purchase of shares in money market funds from SGAM in order to ensure the liquidity of non-US products for clients had a negative impact of EUR193m on the first quarter results.
11/05/2009

United Kingdom - Crispin Odey prepared to join tax refugees

Crispin Odey is threatening to expatriate his alternative asset management firm Odey Asset Management (50 employees, GBP3bn in assets) to avoid a 50% tax to be introduced in the United Kingdom for high-income brackets, the Sunday Times reports. Kinetic Partners, a firm specialised in moving hedge funds to Switzerland, says it has been inundated with requests for information. Kinetic is currently advising 15 hedge funds which are ?actively? planning to leave the UK.
11/05/2009

United Kingdom - BC Partners raises bid for iShares

Private equity firm BC Partners is offering GBP3.5bn for iShares, which Barclays was about to sell for GBP3bn to CVC, another private equity firm, the Sunday Times reports. Barclays has a 45-day period in which to find a better offer (the famous ?go-shop? clause). CVC will now have to offer as much as BC Partners, or else bow out. If Barclays sells iShares to another buyer, CVC will be entitled to a break fee of GBP175bn.
11/05/2009

United States - Bill Miller (Legg Mason) recommends financials

The star manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust, Bill Miller, estimates that after two years of heavy declines during the crisis, US financial sector shares now show a significant upside, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. His favourites are Wells Fargo, Capital One Financial and American Express. Miller estimates that US equities could gain 20% to 30% this year.
11/05/2009

World - Hedge funds return to upward incline

According to a Credit Suisse/Tremont survey, hedge funds in first quarter posted average returns of 0.9%, compared with losses of 13% for the MSCI World index, and 3% for the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index. Assets contracted over the same time period by USD163bn, to a total of USD1.3trn as of 31 March. On that date, 17% of funds had either set up ?gates,? or suspensions of redemptions, or side pockets.
11/05/2009

World - Hedge funds charge lower fees

The Financial Times reports that the hedge fund industry is reacting to massive redemptions and is beginning to lower the management fees it charges investors. Three hedge funds contacted by the newspaper said they had lowered fees for new investors. Management fees have been lowered by half a percentage point to between 1% and 1.5%, while outperformance commissions have been lowered from 20% to 10%.
11/05/2009

World - Hedge funds post gains

The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., hedge funds have posted an average performance of 4.2% in January-April. However, so far, managers who have been betting that the equities markets will fall further have continued to suffer badly, while bullish investors have posted gains of up to 30% on the April rally alone.
11/05/2009

United States - JPMorgan faces SEC charges

The Financial Times reports that charges may be filed by the SEC against JPMorgan for violating market regulations with a sale of bonds and swaps to Jefferson County, Alabama.
07/05/2009

Le Fonds de pension perd près de $ 6 milliards

Le Fonds de pension national chinois a accusé en 2008 une perte nette de 39,37 milliards de yuans ou 5,77 milliards de dollars à cause de la chute du marché des actions local. C’est sa première perte depuis sa création en 2000. En 2007, le National Council for Social Security Fund avait fait état d’un bénéfice net de 135,49 milliards de yuans; selon le China Securities Journal relayé par The Wall Street Journal. La perte à été de 6,79 % en 2008 après une performance de 38,93 % en 2007. Depuis le lancement, la plus-value a totalisé 160 milliards de yuans, soit une performance annualisée de 8,98 %.
07/05/2009

Frédéric Oudéa, nouveau P-DG de la Société Générale

Réuni hier, le Conseil d"administration de la Société Générale a choisi Frédéric Oudéa comme successeur de Daniel Bouton à la tête de la banque. Sa nomination sera effective le 24 mai. Agé de 45 ans, l"actuel directeur général cumulera les fonctions de président et de directeur général. Polytechnicien et énarque, le nouveau P-DG de la Société générale a rejoint la banque en 1995 après avoir occupé plusieurs postes de haut fonctionnaire, notamment au sein du cabinet de Nicolas Sarkozy au ministère du Budget. Donné favori la veille, Anthony Wyand, ancien patron d’Aviva, administrateur et président du Comité des comptes, a été nommé vice-président du conseil d"administration de la Société Générale. Le conseil d"administration de la Société Générale a en outre rendu hommage à l"action de Daniel Bouton à la tête de la société depuis novembre 1997 et l"a nommé président d"honneur.
07/05/2009

Départ chez CCR Gestion

Directeur général adjoint de CCR Gestion, Eric Bourguignon a annoncé qu"il quittera, fin mai, la société pour occuper la fonction de directeur général délégué dans un établissement dont le nom n"a pas encore été dévoilé.

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