Matrix Group a annoncé le lancement d’une division de gestion de fortune dédiée à une clientèle privée haut de gamme. Baptisée Matrix Investment Management, elle sera dirigée par l’ancienne équipe du CIO d’Ansbacher Investment Management, Mike Hollings, recrutée pour l’occasion, précise Money Marketing.

Investment Week rapporte que Guy de Blonay, le gérant vedette de New Star, indique avoir décidé de rejoindre Henderson pour continuer à y gérer ses mandats.

Dans son allocation d’actifs, Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) se montre particulièrement précautionneuse vu les incertitudes liées au fait que la crise actuelle n’est pas que financière, mais touche dans le fond la confiance des agents, comme le remarquait mercredi matin Eric Turjeman, directeur des gestions actions.Cela explique par exemple que, neutre sur les actions à fin 2008, le gestionnaire est désormais «significativement sous-pondéré» sur cette classe d’actifs (de 10-15 points de pourcentage dans un portefeuille équilibré), à la fois pour des considérations tactiques, de timing de marché, et stratégiques, la forte augmentation de la volatilité impliquant de se montrer plus défensif, explique Frank Leroy, directeur de l’activité solutions d’investissement. Dans la poche actions, SGAM privilégie toutefois les titres américains et européens hors zone euro. D’autre part, même si la gestion des obligations convertibles (OC) est logée dans l'équipe crédit, ce type d’instrument est actuellement utilisé vu des valorisations attrayantes (volatilité faible au regard des volatilités implicites des actions) en substitution des actions, pour mieux capter la prime de risque crédit. De fait, afin de dégager de la place pour les OC, SGAM réduit de manière correspondante par arbitrage son exposition aux actions, indique Franck Leroy. En matière de taux, l’allocation est neutre en duration, avec un biais de prudence. Néanmoins, SGAM se met «en position de pente», autrement dit : elle profite de la pentification qui s’est matérialisée sur le marché entre le 2 et le 10 ans et surpondère à présent l'échéance 10 ans. Sur le crédit court, le gestionnaire «commence à construire une position» ; la liquidité est acceptable sur les échéances courtes, le spread est très important sur des signatures de qualité présentant ainsi un risque minime fort correctement rétribuée, et la volatilité s’avère faible. Sur les changes, qui sont (re)devenus une classe d’actifs de plein droit, la volatilité s’est installée quand la crise a commencé à toucher la sphère réelle, comme le note Eric Brard, directeur de la gestion taux. On constate une forte performance des stratégies de tendance et SGAM «joue» ce segment par le biais d’un fonds multistratégies spécialisé. Cela posé, Michala Marcussen, directeur de la stratégie et de la recherche économique, considère que les trois grandes monnaies, euro, dollar et yen, sont actuellement proches de leur valeur d'équilibre, mais que l’avenir est suffisamment flou pour qu’il soit impossible d’exclure un dérapage sensible d’un côté ou de l’autre par rapport au dollar. Ce dollar étant réputé dangereux, il peut être intéressant de délaisser les «grands cross (rates)» et de s’intéresser au devises secondaires comme le forint, le won ou le peso mexicain, voire aux monnaies «matières premières» que sont les dollars australien et canadien. Quant à l’or, Michala Marcussen juge le sujet intéressant, mais ne croit pas qu’il puisse être l’actif-miracle que l’on dit. A son avis, et au cours actuel du dollar, 800 dollars l’once paraissent la bonne valeur d'équilibre sur le long terme ; le métal jaune est donc en ce montant un peu surévalué.

Le conseil des ministres du 11 mars a examiné le projet de loi ratifiant l"ordonnance du 8 décembre 2008 transposant la directive 2006/43/CE du 17 mai 2006 et relative aux commissaires aux comptes (ministère de la justice). L"ordonnance ratifiée, prise sur le fondement de la loi du 3 juillet 2008 portant diverses dispositions d"adaptation du droit des sociétés au droit communautaire, a parachevé la transposition de la directive du 17 mai 2006, en précisant les prérogatives du Haut Conseil du commissariat aux comptes en matière de contrôle et de coopération internationale et en prévoyant l"application de conditions plus rigoureuses au contrôle légal des comptes des entreprises les plus sensibles (sociétés cotées, établissements de crédit, entreprises d"assurance).

Selon Les Echos, les personnalités auditionnées hier par la commission des Lois du Sénat sur la rémunération des dirigeants ont toutes demandé aux parlementaires, avant de légiférer, de patienter que le code de bonne conduite édicté il y a maintenant cinq mois par le Medef et l’Association française des entreprises privées (Afep) produise ses effets. Le président de l’AMF a annoncé qu’il produirait un bilan «de principe» en juillet du code du Medef.

CalPERS, et plusieurs fonds de pension américains pesant au total plus de 900 milliards de dollars d’actifs, se sont associés selon Les Echos pour réclamer davantage de régulation. Leurs demandes sont résumés en cinq principes. Ils visent à «accroître la transparence, renforcer l’indépendance des régulateurs, donner plus grande importance à la voix de l’actionnaire, identifier en amont les sujets qui pourraient poser des risques aux marchés financiers et préserver la liberté des investisseurs institutionnels dans leurs choix d’investissement», précise le quotidien.

Le premier ministre de Jersey, Terry Le Sueur, a signé mardi 10 mars à Londres un accord d'échange d’informations fiscales avec le Trésor britannique alors que s’intensifie l’offensive contre les paradis fiscaux. Jersey doit passer des accords du même type avec la France et l’Irlande. Des négociations sont en cours avec l’Espagne et l’Italie. Jersey a déjà signé des accords similaires avec les Etats-Unis, les Pays-Bas, l’Allemagne et les pays scandinaves. L’accord entrera en vigueur lorsque seront bouclées les différentes procédures de ratification en vigueur.

Venkatraman Anantha-Nageswaran (connu sous le nom de #Dr Van#) a été nommé avec effet immédiat chief investment officer de Bank Julius Baer, fonction qu’il exercera tout en conservant son rôle de CIO régional pour l’Asie-Pacifique qu’il exerce depuis 2006. Il est subordonné à Boris F. J. Collardi, CEO Investment Solutions Group de Banque Julius Baer.

A mercredi, la proportion de clients de banque privée du Santander sinistrés dans l’affaire Madoff au travers du fonds Optimal Strategic US Equity ont accepté l’offre de dédommagement qui leur a été faite par la banque, rapporte Cinco Días. En revanche, les clients institutionnels du Santander, auxquels il n’a été proposé aucune compensation, réclament un milliard d’euros au Santander devant un tribunal de Miami, selon le cabinet d’avocats Labaton Sucharow.

Selon Ignites Europe du 11 mars, HSBC Global Asset Management va se lancer de manière autonome en Suisse. Actuellement, la société est rattachée à la banque privée. Un bureau sera ouvert à Genève dans les deux prochains mois, selon Heinz Hofmann, patron du bureau de Zurich de HSBC GAM.

Robeco Deutschland has announced the recruitment of Doris Galle-Rostami as senior account manager providing client assistance to IFAs, brokerage networks, platforms, and banks. She will report to Kai Röhrl, head of third party distribution, and will be leaving Franklin Templeton Investment Services, where she had similar responsibilities to those she will be taking up at Robeco.

David Gagnon, director of transition management for the Lehman Brothers group, and then vice president of Nomura International, has been recruited as director of transition strategy at Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in London. He will report to Lachlan French, head of transitions, Europe & Asia (ex Japan), Professional Pensions reports.

According to a declaration to the SEC, the hedge fund manager Steven Cohen has built up a stake over the past quarter of 5.9% in Sotheby’s, via the management firm S.A.C. Capital Advisors, based in Anguilla, Handelsblatt reports.

Morgan Stanley reoprts that hedge funds may face redemption demands this year adding up to 30% of their assets, which would bring assets under management to USD950bn, their lowest level since 2004, Funds People reports. Redemptions are expected to be primarily to US clients in first half.

Allianz Global Investors (AGI) had initially planned to launch its fund Allianz RCM European Index in January. But after consultation with its shareholders, the objective and management process of the fund have been revised. The fund will now be renamed as Allianz RCM European Equity Income, and will be officially launched on 30 March. The product, a British-registered OEIC, will be managed by Neil Dwane, CIO Europe at RCM, and Joerg de Vries-Hippen, co-CIO European equities at RCM. A Luxembourg version of the fund will also be released. Unlike the Allianz RCM European Equity Income, the Allianz RCM European Equity Dividend will be invested throughout Europe, while the British-registered fund will concentrate on assets in continental Europe.

The horizon fund DWS Renten Direkt 2013, which attracted EUR700m in subscriptions in three weeks, has been closed to new investors, but DWS (Deutsche Bank) on 30 March will launch the DWS Renten Direkt 2014, for which subscriptions will be open until 27 March. In both cases, the funds will invest in 25 corporate bonds or Pfandbriefe, which will be retained until maturity.The management firm will also close the DWS Unternehmensanleihen Direkt 2014 fund to new subscriptions on 13 March. This horizon fund invests in corporate bonds and may place up to 20% of its portfolio in subordinate bonds and high yield bonds. The fund will be launched on 16 March.In both cases, DWS will charge a penalty of 1.5% which will remain in the fund in case of early withdrawal.

The roughly 7,800 defined-benefit pension plans (DB schemes) in the United Kingdom monitored on a regular basis by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) at the end of February showed a record deficit of GBP218.7bn, compared with GBP 190.6bn one month earlier, Professional Pensions reports. One year previously, shortfalls were limited to GBP67.1bn. Surpluses for funds which are not underfinanced fell to GBP9.4bn, compared with GBP13.5bn at the end of January 2009, and GBP42.6bn at the end of February last year.

Matrix group has announced the launch of a wealth management division dedicated to high net worth private clients. The division, entitled Matrix Investment Management, will be led by the team which formerly reported to Mike Hollings, CIO of Ansbacher Investment Management. The team has been recruited specially for this purpose, Money Marketing reports.

According to the 11 March edition of Ignites Europe, HSBC Global Asset Management is going to set up as an independent company in Switzerland. Currently, the firm is a division of the private bank. An office will be opened in Geneva in the next two months, says Heinz Hofmann, head of the Zurich office of HSBC GAM.

JPMorgan Asset Management has announced that last year in the United Kingdom it registered subscriptions of USD4.2bn from institutional investors, and that it signed on 23 new clients, including three local governments, bringing assets to USD15.4bn, Hedge Week reports. The strategy which attracted the largest inflows was funds of hedge funds, with 12 new clients, compared with 6 in 2007; inflows to this strategy totalled USD473m, bringing assets to USD755m.

In an interview with Ignites Europe on 11 March, Todd Ruppert, CEO of T Rowe Price, claims that Vanguard is going to have trouble conquering the UK market. The major obstacle to the firm’s growth in the country is that British IFAs, who are the primary channel of distribution in the UK, still work with a commission-based system.

Investment Week reports that the star manager Guy de Blonay from New Star has decided to join Henderson, where he will continue to manage his mandates.

In Norwegian Kroner, assets in the Government Pension Fund - Global, formerly known as the Oil Fund, increased to NOK2.275trn (about EUR257bn) at the end of December, compared with NOK2.019trn one year earlier, thanks to increased oil revenues and the weakness of the Norwegian currency, whose positive contributions amounted to NOK384bn and NOK506bn, while capital losses on the portfolio of 23.3% wiped out NOK633bn in assets under management (EUR72bn). Losses totalled about 40% for the equities portfolio and 0.5% for the bond portfolio.Allocation to equities were increased to 50% from 40%, and will continue to be increased to 60%, as decided in 2007. In total, the fund holds shares in 7,900 foreign companies, with the largest positions being Shell (NOK15.2bn) and Nestlé (NOK14.9bn). In bonds, the largest position is on Schätze from the German federal government, which account for nearly NOK95bn.

As of Wednesday this week, the percentage of clients of the Santander private bank who lost money in the Madoff affair due to having invested in the Optimal Strategic US Equity fund who have accepted the settlement offered to them by the bank came to 90%, Cinco Días reports. However, institutional clients of Santander, who have not been offered any compensation package, are demanding EUR1bn from Santander in a lawsuit filed in Miami, according to the law firm Labaton Sucharow.

17 of the 19 hedge funds which disclose information about their results to the Inverco association of management firms saw a contraction in their assets in the first two months of the year, Funds People reports. Aside from products from BBVA and UBS which are in the process of being liquidated, the worst affected funds were the fund of hedge funds Copérnico from Banco Madrid, which lost 99% of its assets (to a total of EUR21,000 at the end of February), and the CAAM Multiestrategia Alternativa, whose assets fell 67.38% to EUR2m.Among single hedge funds, the Mosaic Iberia from Pictet and the Foncaixa Privadas Ideas lost 74% and 30% of their assets, respectively.

Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) on Wednesday announced the launch on 16 March of the French-registreed FCP fund SGAM Invest Target Fund, a horizon fund which will include two sub-funds, ?Credit 2012,? which will mature in three years (on 25 May 2012), and ?Credit 2014,? which will mature in five years (30 May 2014). The products will aim to capture the potential currently offered by investment grade-rated corporate bonds, which are offering historic record premiums.The two sub-funds will provide sectoral diversification and offer active management of the selection of assets in the portfolio throughout the life of the fund. Initially, explains Eric Brard, director of fixed income management, the portfolio will include a sizeable dose of financial sector assets.Liquidity reporting will be on a daily basis. To limit the volatility of the assets throughout the life of the fund and to optimise prospects of returns, front-end fees (2%) and exit fees (on a decreasing scale, from a maximum of 4% between 29 May 2009 and 28 May 2010) will be put in place after the initial subscription period which will run from 16 March to 19 June 2009 for each sub-fund. Management commission for retail shares will be a maximum of 1.25%. The credit team at SGAM which manages these products includes five managers, with an average of 14 years of experience, along with ten credit analysts and 3 dedicated traders.

Sir Allen Stanford is refusing to cooperate with US federal investigators into an alleged USD8bn fraud which bears his name, the Financial Times reports. Stanford is claiming protection under the fifth amendment. It has also emerged that the heads of Stanford’s management firm were concerned about the precision of financial information about the state of the group a few weeks before US regulators made their move.

According to the 23rd annual rankings by Forbes magazine, there are now only 793 billionaires in the world, compared with 1,125 last year, Les Echos reports. As of 13 February 2009, ?The net total value of members of the 2009 rankings came to only USD2.4trn, down from USD4.4trn in 2008,? the magazine says. Indian and Russian billionaires have been the hardest-hit by the crisis, severely affected by the volatility of commodity prices.

In a period of high turbulence on the office real estate markets, ?Germany may appear as a save haven for investors,? say researchers at the IW institute in Cologne, cited by Les Echos. Office properties in Germany, traditionally more stable than those in other countries, have not seen significant increases in rents as the English-speaking countries have. The German federal system and regional diversification contribute to make the German market less volatile.

Venkatraman Anantha-Nageswaran (known as ?Dr. Van) has been appointed as chief investment officer at Julius Baer, effective immediately. He will assume this new role while retaining his responsibilities as regional CIO for Asia-Pacific, which he has held since 2006. He will report to Boris F. J. Collardi, CEO Investment Solutions Group at Banque Julius Baer.