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21/01/2009

Allemagne - Un gros trou dans les comptes de la DZ Bank

Caisse centrale de plus de 1.000 banques populaires et de crédit agricole, la DZ Bank aura accusé du fait de la crise financière une perte après impôt d’un milliard d’euros et ses actionnaires, les établissements de la base se sont déclarés prêts à suivre une augmentation de capital de cet ordre de grandeur, indique la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Parallèlement, la DZ Bank songe à externaliser son portefeuille de titres toxiques. Lehman Brothers à lui seul a coûté 360 millions d’euros, les banques islandaises ont plombé les comptes pour 449 millions et une charge de 269 millions a été passée sur la participation dans Natixis.
21/01/2009

Italie - La réforme du régime fiscal des fonds devient urgente

Ucits IV sera une «directive morte» en Italie si le régime fiscal des fonds n"est pas révisé, affirme Fabio Galli, directeur général d"Assogestioni (association italienne des professionnels de la gestion), dans un entretien à Ignites Europe. De nombreuses sociétés de gestion d"actifs étrangères qui ont créé des fonds à Dublin ou au Luxembourg pourraient envisager de les rapatrier en Italie si le régime fiscal le permettait.
21/01/2009

Royaume-Uni - New Star attaqué par un ancien gérant

Selon le Financial Times, l"ex-gérant de New Star Asset Management Patrick Evershed attaque en justice la société de gestion Il accuse son ancien employeur d"avoir provoqué sa démission. Il devrait affirmer qu"il a été persécuté.
21/01/2009

Russie - Nomination d?un directeur adjoint de la conservation de fonds chez Rosbank

Mathieu Maurier vient d"être nommé directeur adjoint du département conservation de fonds chez Rosbank, dont Société Générale est l"actionnaire majoritaire, et qui est dirigé localement par Mikhail Bratanov. Basé à Moscou, il sera responsable du développement commercial international de ce département ainsi que de son intégration au sein de Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS). Mathieu Maurier vient du groupe Société Générale.
21/01/2009

Suède - Investor réduit son dividende

Le capital-investisseur Investor AB, contrôlé par la famille Wallenberg, a annoncé mardi qu’il propose au titre de 2008 de réduire le dividende à 4 couronnes suédoises par action contre 4,75 couronnes sur une perte nette consolidée de 36,74 milliards de couronnes contre 367 millions pour 2007. Au 31 décembre, la valeur nette des actifs représentait 115,34 milliards de couronnes contre 155,2 milliards un an plus tôt. La liquidité nette en fin d’année se situait à 9,41 milliards contre une dette nette de 3,58 milliards.
21/01/2009

Suisse - La stratégie de Madoff passée au crible par un ex-responsable d?UBP

Selon Le Temps, un ancien responsable du contrôle des risques chez UBP, François-Serge Lhabitant, vient de publier un article décrivant les indices qui auraient dû conduire à la méfiance. Intitulé #Madoff: un faisceau de signaux d’alerte#, le document n’a, sur le fond, rien d’original. Il passe en revue, sur une vingtaine de pages, les principaux éléments de la fraude dont est accusé Bernard Madoff. Mais François-Serge Lhabitant s’est occupé entre 1999 et 2004 du contrôle des risques au sein de l’Union Bancaire Privée (UBP). Celui-ci a même été à la tête du contrôle des risques liés aux hedge funds. Il se refuse à s’exprimer sur ses années à l’UBP, mettant en avant la clause de confidentialité signée en quittant l'établissement. Il admet pourtant que #si une fraude reste, par nature, impossible à déceler, il n’en existait pas moins, depuis sept ou huit ans, des signaux qui auraient dû conduire à éliminer ces fonds relais vers Madoff dans tout portefeuille#. De son point de vue, tous les signaux d"alerte étaient là : manque de ségrégation des différentes fonctions entourant le hedge fund (gestion, courtage, conservation...), contrôle confié à d’obscurs comptables, structure inhabituelle des commissions touchées pour la gestion des fonds Madoff, absence du nom du courtier new-yorkais dans les documents présentés par ces fonds de placement #relais#... Et surtout, le fait «de ne pas comprendre la stratégie, qui a toujours été pour moi le premier signal de défiance», explique le financier, qui assure qu'#aucun de [ses] clients n’a jamais investi dans Madoff#. Avant d’ajouter que chez Kedge - son nouvel employeur - les fonds Madoff ont été #analysés puis rejetés#.
21/01/2009

Suisse - Nouveau gérant pour Oyster World Opportunities

Le groupe bancaire suisse Syz & Co change de gérant du fonds Oyster World Opportunities. Auparavant géré par Rajeev Bhaman d"Oppenheimer Funds à New York, il sera désormais piloté par Roberto Magnatantini de Banque Syz & Co, basé à Genève. #Préparée de longue date par les équipes de SYZ & Co, cette transition s"est déroulée de manière fluide et transparente pour les investisseurs#, assure un communiqué.
21/01/2009

Suisse - Assurance : la prévoyance du futur à l?étude

Selon Le Temps, l’association suisse d"assurances (ASA) travaille sur la transformation du système de prévoyance. Selon un rapport présenté hier, il faut encourager l’engagement des employeurs pour la prévoyance, mais à titre facultatif. Pour l’Etat, le rapport propose d’introduire des «règles de fair-play» au système de prévoyance. Le but est d'éviter les débats idéologiques sur le taux de conversion ou le taux minimal. Le choix doit s’accroître partout, mais avec des exceptions. Le libre choix de la caisse de pension reste tabou. Luzius Dürr, directeur de l’ASA, critique cette idée. Il craint une baisse d’intérêt de l’employeur pour la prévoyance et une hausse des coûts administratifs. Par contre, le choix devrait s’accroître dans la stratégie de placements.
21/01/2009

Suisse - Le fisc au chevet des hedge funds

Selon Le Temps, l’administration fiscale a assoupli les règles d’application de la loi en Suisse sans toucher aux taux d"imposition. Selon une circulaire de l"administration fédérale des contributions publiée le 1er janvier, un hedge fund peut être géré en Suisse tout en étant considéré comme étranger à la condition de satisfaire un certain nombre de critères déclinés hier à l"occasion de la Journée du droit fiscal par Alexandre Faltin, directeur général adjoint de l"Administration fiscale genevoise: «Le fonds, la société de direction et celle de conseils doivent être domiciliés hors de Suisse. Le conseil d’administration du fonds doit être constitué en majorité de personnes résidant à l'étranger. Il ne peut se réunir qu'à l'étranger». Le fisc considère aussi que le gérant basé en Suisse ne gère pas le fonds dans son ensemble, mais uniquement sa fortune. Les autres tâches courantes, comme l’administration, les écritures, etc., sont considérées comme étant réalisés à l'étranger. Pour l’administration fiscale, le centre de gravité du fonds se trouve ainsi hors des frontières. Ce qui signifie qu’un fonds domicilié aux îles Caïmans dont le conseil d’administration est composé de deux avocats locaux est imposé aux taux zéro, puisque ce territoire britannique n’impose pas le revenu ni la fortune.
21/01/2009

World - Merrill Lynch bets on corporates

In its client portfolios, Merrill Lynch is taking overweight positions on high quality corporate bonds, to the detriment of high yield and equities, AGEFI Switzerland reports.
21/01/2009

World - Dollar rallies

La Tribune reports that, buoyed by the inauguration of Barack Obama and a lack of long-term outlooks for European growth, the US dollar hit a six-week high against the Euro on Tuesday, 20 January, at USD1.2895 to the Euro, and ?there is no reason not to thing that the dollar could rise as far as its recent peak at the end of November, at USD1.2390 to the Euro,? the newspaper reports.
21/01/2009

France - M&G Investments adds to team dedicated to IFAs

M&G Investments has announced the arrival of Violaine de Serrant, who is joining the team in Paris as head of distribution. The recruitment is strategic for the asset management affiliate of the Prudential group, which is planning to capitalise on its experience with independent financial advisers in Great Britain to strengthen its presence in the French IFA market.De Serrant worked previously at Rothschild & Cie Banque, where she was head of development at Sélection R, in charge of selection and leadership of a sales team serving 60 IFA agencies.
21/01/2009

United States - Prosecutors very interested in what Frank DiPascali Jr? will say

Frank DiPascali Jr was the closest lieutenant to Bernard Madoff for more than thirty years. He was the head of trading for equities options, and the point man for investment-advisory clients, who were told he executed their trades, the Wall Street Journal reports. He is now a potential point man for the fraud investigation into Bernard Madoff - but he himself is not named as a suspect, whereas Madoff is facing criminal charges for securities fraud, and claims that he acted alone.
21/01/2009

Switzerland - New manager for Oyster World Opportunities

The Swiss banking group Syz & Co is changing the manager of the Oyster World Opportunities fund. The fund, previously managed by Rajeev Bhaman at Oppenheimer Funds in New York, will now be entrusted to Roberto Magnatantini at Banque Syz & Co, based in Geneva. ?The transition, which was long prepared for by teams at SYZ & Co, proceeded smoothly and transparently for investors,? says a statement.
21/01/2009

Switzerland - Frank Keller becomes CFO at Banque Julius Baer

Frank Keller, senior finance office private banking for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, has joined Banque Julius Baer as head of finance. He has left Singapore for Zurich, and in his new position will report directly to Boris Callardi, COO.
21/01/2009

Russia - Appointment of deputy director of fund custody at Rosbank

Matthieu Maurier has been appointed deputy director of the fund custody department at Rosbank, in which Société Générale is the majority shareholder. Maurier will be based in Moscow, and will be in charge of international commercial development for the department, and its integration into Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS). Maurier comes from the Société Générale group.
21/01/2009

Russia - Appointment of deputy director of fund custody at Rosbank

Mathieu Maurier has been appointed deputy director of the fund custody department at Rosbank, in which Société Générale is the majority shareholder, and which is led locally by Mikhail Bratanov. Maurier will be based in Moscow, and will be in charge of international commercial development for the department, and its integration into Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS). Maurier comes from the Société Générale group.
21/01/2009

World - Cerberus lays off 10% of staff

The private equity investor Cerberus, which employs 275 people worldwide, has announced job cuts representing 10% of its staff, Handelsblatt reports. Although many investment funds have already announced layoffs, Cerberus, which owns 80% of the troubled American car maker Chrysler, and a majority stake in its financing branch, GMAC, now on the brink of bankruptcy, is particularly hard-hit.
21/01/2009

France - SG: Asset management penalised by outflows

In fourth quarter, ?results in asset management continued to be penalised by outflows of invested assets and by depreciations affecting certain asset classes (alternative management and ?seed money,?) the Société Générale group announced in a statement published Wednesday morning, in which it announces estimated results for 2008. The French bank states that its final results will be published on 18 February, and says that it expects to post a net result for the part of the group totalling EUR2bn for last year as a whole. In fourth quarter 2008, estimated net results for the part of the group are expected to be near zero, the firm notes, and provides more detailed estimates for each profession. ?In finance and investment banking, the Group is expected to post net results near zero for the quarter,? SocGen estimates.
21/01/2009

United States - Profits down at State Street

State Street has announced a 71% decline in its net profits to USD65m, or 15 cents per share, from USD223, or 57 cents per share, in the corresponding period of last year, the Financial Times reports. The results are worse than expected.
21/01/2009

Germany - P2 Value fund from Morgan Stanley remains closed to redemptions

The German open-ended real estate fund Morgan Stanley P2 Value, which suspended redemptions on 30 October, initially for three months, will be extending the freeze on redemptions for up to 12 months more, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH announced on Tuesday. The suspension of redemptions for the CS Euroreal from Credit Suisse was also extended on Friday for only nine months. At the time that redemptions were suspended, the P2 Value had assets of about EUR1.7bn, but an increase in redemptions reduced liquidity reserves below the legal minimum of 5% of assets.
21/01/2009

World - CTAs perform well

In December, hedge funds posted performance of 0.64%, according to the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index, calculated on the basis of performance and assets in funds on the Lyxor platform (Société Générale group). This did not prevent results from being negative for the year as a whole, at -10.10%.In 2008, the alternative strategies that performed best were ?L/S Equity Short Bias? (+32.32%), ?CTAs Long Term? (+31.39%), and ?CTAs Short Term? (+10.07%). The least good performance was for the Credit Arbitrage Index strategy, which lost 51.27% for the year.Edhec confirms that CTAs have performed well (+15.65%) for the year as a whole. Excepting short selling (+31.7%), all other strategies posted losses, which remain nonetheless less severe than for the S&P. The worst results are for emerging markets (-33.8%), which have nonetheless gained 9.6% since 2001. Since January 2001, average performances are positive, and range from 2.2% to 8.8%.Edhec also notes that after six months of losses, the convertible arbitrage strategy managed to post positive returns (+1.70%) in December. The CTA strategy also posted its fourth consecutive month of gains (+1.45%). The positive orientation of the markets favoured equities strategies, such as equity market neutral and long/short equity. Event driven managed to reduce its losses, but remains negative (-0.7%).
21/01/2009

Luxembourg - Madoff: Lawyers seek to avoid conflicts of interest

According to information obtained by Ignites Europe, Wildgen, a law firm representing investors in Madoff funds, is going to leave the Luxembourg association of banks and bankers, in order to avoid any conflicts of interest and preserve its independence.
21/01/2009

United Kingdom - New Star sued by former manager

The Financial Times reports that a former fund manager at New Star Asset Management, Patrick Evershed, is suing the asset management firm. He accuses his former employer of provoking his resignation. He will argue that he was persecuted.
21/01/2009

United States - Monika Machon becomes CIO at AIG

American International Group (AIG) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Monika M. Machon as senior vice president and chief investment officer (CIO) in charge of portfolio management at the insurance company for all asset classes. Machon, who joined AIG in 1998, was previously global head of fixed income at AIG Investments, and chairperson of the board at AIG Investments Europe Ltd. She will report directly to Edward J. Liddy, chairman and CEO of AIG.Machon replaces Win J. Neuger, who will remain as chairman and CEO of AIG Investments, and will continue to serve as director of asset management activities for external clients. AIG is planning to sell off these activities.Meanwhile, Jeffrey J. Hurd, who is currently senior managing director, chief administrative officer and general counsel at AIG Investments, has been appointed senior vice president and head of asset management and restructuring, in charge of the sale of activities in asset management for third parties and the restructuring of asset management in the AIG group. He will also retain his current functions.
21/01/2009

Italy - Tax reforms for investment fund regime become urgent

UCITS IV will be a ?dead directive? in Italy if the tax regime for investment funds is not reformed, says Fabio Galli, CEO of Assogestioni (the Italian association of management professionals), in an interview with Ignites Europe. Many foreign asset management firms which have created funds in Dublin or Luxembourg may consider repatriating them to Italy if the tax regime makes it possible.
21/01/2009

Germany - Assets slide at Deutsche Bank

Handelsblatt reports that Kevin Parker, head of the asset management unit at the Deutsche Bank group, has estimated that assets managed by the group declined by about 6% in 2008, to EUR500bn. He says this is due to falling markets related to the financial crisis. The Börsen-Zeitung, for its part, states that DB Advisors, the institutional management branch of Deutsche Bank, had assets under management as of the end of November of EUR165bn, which represents an increase of 6% since the end of June, despite the market turbulence.
21/01/2009

Germany - Lupus alpha seeking new talent

Of the seven strategies put to the test two years ago in the ?talent hotel? created by Lupus alpha, three failed, two are still in a testing phase, and two succeeded, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. One of the successes is a commodities strategy combining options and direct investment. The other is a quantitative model which makes short-term predictions about the evolution of share prices. Currently, Lupus alpha is seeking new candidates to replace the managers whose formulas did not succeed. There are about 100 candidates for the three places.
21/01/2009

World - Asset management divisions of banks interest many managers

Many banks are selling off their asset management activities to get hold of money and concentrate on their core professions, Handelsblatt reports. Independent managers with a healthy balance sheet such as BlackRock and Schroders, Aberdeen, Henderson, F&C and Invesco are potential buyers for these divisions, Kevin Pakenham, a partner at Jefferies Putnam Lovell in London, tells Handelsblatt. Legg Mason may also be a buyer, and Franklin Templeton has already announced that it is seeking opportunities for external growth.Benjamin Phillips, a partner at Casey, Quirk & Associates in New York, also cites private equity funds as potential buyers, or healthy banks such as JP Morgan US Bancorp, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Deutsche Bank.

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