Credit Suisse, which this summer was required by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to increase its owners’ equity ratio, is continuing to sell properties. The banking group has sold its offices in Uetlihof in Zurich to the pension fund for Norwegian civil servants for CHF1bn, according to a statement released on 29 November.The transaction will result in a pre-tax gain of CHF87m for the entire duration of the rental of the complex, the group’s largest, Credit Suisse says in a statement. The firm has signed a 25-year lease with the buyer, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), responsible for managing the pension fund.The contract carries an option to extend the lease for a further 15 years. Credit Suisse will retain responsibility for operating the property, which contains the offices of 6,000 employees.
Funds People reports that José Carlos Jarillo has bought up the shares of his partner Walter Scherk in the Swiss asset management firm they founded together, SIA Strategic Investment Advisors Funds (EUR350m).
The institutional asset management firm 1875 Finance, a specialist in wealth management and multi-family office, on 29 November announced the appointment of Edouard Crestin-Billet as head of its new institutional management activities (Newsmangers of 7 September 2012). Crestin-Billet, 53, spent twelve years as the chief strategist and head of the financial analysis and institutional management unit at the Mirabaud & Cie group. At that business, he developed institutional activities in Switzerland. Previous to that, he was chief investment officer (CIO) and a member of the executive board at the Banque Edouard Constant. Crestin-Billet began his career at UBS (formerly SBS), where he set up the Investment Advisory activity. 1875 Finance in a statement announces the creation of the new institutional activity, and says that the appointment responds to demand on the part of clients, including pension funds, which are seeking independent structures without conflicts of interest. With no house products on sale, 1875 Finance provides a unique and diversified product range whose objective is the efficiency of the portfolios of its private, and now institutional, clients.
AllianzGI has announced that it is extending its equity product range with the European launch of the Allianz German Equity fund, which invests in German equities. The sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav from the asset management firm is managed by Matthias Born, and replicates the German-registered Concentra fund (EUR2bn in assets), which the manager has been responsible for since 2007.Conviction-based management used for the Allianz German Equity fund is based both on bottom-up analysis of businesses and on stock-picking. The fund has a slight bias in favour of growth shares, and prefers large caps, while benefiting from opportunities identified in the small and midcaps segment, a statement says. ISIN code (AT shares): LU0840617350
Julian Barnett, former star manager at Polar Capital, is closing his hedge fund management firm, Ridley Park, only two years after founding it, Financial News reports. He becomes the most recent casualty of difficult market conditions, the newspaper remarks.
The US provider FactorShares, which has recently been acquired by GenCap Ventures, on 29 November launched three ETFs on NYSE Arca focused on mining stocks, replicating ISE indices and charging 0.69%, Index Universe reports.The PureFunds ISE Diamond/Gemstone ETF (acronym GEMS) will invest in shares in 26 large firms with liquid shares which are active in the production, prospecting and sales of precious stones. Most of these businesses are not US-based.The PureFunds ISE Mining Service ETF (MSXX) will invest in companies which produce, charter or sell equipment to firms which provide advising and other serices to the mining sector, as well as to firms which are directly involved in prospecting and extraction. The index includes 31 companies.Lastly, the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF (SILJ) will invest in small caps involved in production and prospecting in the silver sector. The index includes 28 firms.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has appointed Sheila Patel as head of international equities, Asian Investor reports. Patel, who will take over the responsibilities of Oliver Bolitho, responsible for the Asia-Pacific ex Japan region, will be based in Singapore.She had previously been co-head of GSAM for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) alongside Andrew Wilson. She now covers all activities of Goldman Sachs AM outside the United States, while Wilson takes sole responsibility for EMEA.
The alternative asset management firm Gramercy Advisors, a specialist in emerging markets, has launched a distressed credit fund, which already has USD200m in assets, according to a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg.The Gramercy Distressed Opportunity Fund II invests in sovereign or corporate debt which is distressed or in default. Gramercy Advisors estimates that there are opportunities on the lending market and emerging market bonds maturing in 2016, of which one quarter are rated as speculative debt.
Currently, assets at Barings in France total EUR850m, compared with EUR800m at the start of this year. Inflows are somewhat flat, and increases in AUM are attributable to market effects, while 95% of assets under management are in equity products, Benoît du Mesnil du Buisson, chairman of Baring Asset Management France, tells Newsmanagers.The firm has seen good inflows in France for Asian and high yield products, but “equity assets need to be defended against investor mistrust.”The manager says that Barings France is planning to release a European variant of the Irish-registered Dynamic Asset Allocation fund, which already has EUR7bn, soon. It will be a matter of making products not only better known by institutionals, but also by private banks and platforms, in order to reach IFAs.
Caceis, a specialist in financial services to institutional investors, asset management firms and large businesses, yesterday announced that it has been selected by Russell Investments France, following a request for proposals to provide depository-custody and valuation services to the bank. Caceis will assist the asset management firm with depository functions and valuations of the first of its French-registered mutual funds. It will support its development in the creation of other products, and will provide additional financial and regulatory reporting services, a statement says.
Invesco has posted net inflows in Italy in October of EUR387m, putting it at the top of the list of asset management firms for inflows in the country, according to the Italian asset management association Assogestioni. The news comes at a time when the Italian asset management sector overall has seen outflows of EUR1.9bn for the month.In September, Invesco had already stood out with net inflows of EUR301m.The other top two in terms of subscriptions are Italian firms: Mediolanum (EUR293m) and AM Holding (EUR256m).For outflows, Generali stands out with redemptions of EUR1.7bn. Assogestioni notes that the asset management firm reorganized in October, and that its assets have consequently increased by EUR186m. It is followed by Pioneer, with -EUR643m, and Gruppo Banco Popolare (-EUR286m).
On 11 December, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) is planning to launch a tracker fund of government bonds from emerging markets, managed by Lee Collins, Fundweb reports. The product will replicate the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus.The currency of reference for the fund is the US dollar, and management commission will be 0.3%.
The number of hedge funds listed in the database Absolute Hedge has increased to 299 in third quarter, from 292 in second quarter, while assets under management by these funds totalled EUR84.7bn as of the end of September, compared with EUR82.5bn three months previously, according to the most recent edition of the Alceda Quarterly UCITS Review.Despite an increase in the number of hedge strategies, long/short equity remains the segment with the most products, with 113 funds and assets of EUR11.1bn. However, the 53 global macro funds have EUR32.2bn, and the 28 credit funds have EUR21.5bn.The AH UCITS index gained 1.81% in third quarter, and its performance since the beginning of the year totals 2.21%. Aside from managed futures, which have seen an average loss of 0.81%, all alternative strategies showed gains in July-September. Long/short equity, which lost 2.77% in April-June, had the strongest gains in third quarter, with 2.88%.
L’Agence France Trésor annonce l’adjudication, le lundi 3 décembre, d’un montant global compris entre 5,6 et 6,8 milliards d’euros de bons du Trésor (BTF). Cette opération portera sur des montants compris entre 3,4 et 3,8 milliards d’euros de bons à 12 semaines qui arriveront à échéance le 28 février 2013, entre 1,2 et 1,6 milliard d’euros de bons à 23 semaines à échéance du 16 mai 2013, et entre 1 et 1,4 milliard d’euros de bons à 49 semaines à échéance du 14 novembre. L’AFT émettra jeudi un montant compris entre 3,0 et 4,0 milliards d’euros d’obligations assimilables du Trésor (OAT).
Benoît de Juvigny a été nommé secrétaire général de l’AMF à partir du 1er décembre 2012. Il remplacera Thierry Francq qui exerçait ces fonctions depuis le 1er mars 2009. Benoît de Juvigny a intégré l’AMF en octobre 2004, au poste de chef du service des prestataires et des produits d'épargne. Il est nommé secrétaire général adjoint en 2006 en charge de la direction des émetteurs et, depuis 2011, en charge des directions des émetteurs et des affaires comptables
Le Tribunal de l’Union européenne a jugé que la BCE avait valablement refusé en 2010 à une journaliste de Bloomberg l’accès à deux documents liés à la situation économique grecque. «Leur divulgation aurait porté atteinte à la protection de l’intérêt public de la politique économique de l’Union et de la Grèce», ont estimé les juges dans cet arrêt publié le 29 novembre. Les deux documents recherchés détaillaient l’impact des transactions de swaps signées par Athènes pour minorer sa dette.
La Grèce n’a pas encore décidé à quel prix elle proposera de racheter ses obligations détenues par des investisseurs privés dans le cadre de l’accord conclu mardi avec ses créanciers, mais ce prix est susceptible de varier selon le type d’obligation, selon Reuters. Les prix des obligations grecques potentiellement concernées par un rachat allaient de 25,15 à 34,41 centimes d’euros lors de la clôture du 23 novembre. Elles ne pourront pas être vendues à un prix supérieur.
Le représentant du Collège de l’Autorité des marchés financiers reproche au gestionnaire de FIP de n’avoir pas toujours agi au bénéfice exclusif des porteurs de parts, à l’occasion du financement de parcs éoliens. Il réclame une sanction de 500.000 euros.
Le magnat de l’immobilier a trouvé un accord pour la cession pour quelque 300 millions de livres des stations-service qu’il détient, une nouvelle étape du démantèlement de son groupe engagédepuis 2008 selon le quotidien. M3 Capital Partners, société de private equity dédiée à l’immobilier, a été sélectionnée pour des négociations exclusives.
Le hedge fund pourrait faire l'objet de poursuites civiles par la SEC pour avoir abrité, en tant que personne morale, un délit d’initié de 276 millions
Les députés français ont adoptéhier le projet de loi qui prévoit la création de la Banque publique d’investissement qui disposera d’environ 40 milliards d’euros destinés aux PME. «Ce texte est l’un des éléments majeurs de notre dispositif de reconquête de la compétitivité française : la BPI est le porte-avion du pacte de compétitivité», a dit Pierre Moscovici, le ministre de l’Economie et des Finances. Le texte «donnera vie à un outil de croissance offensif au service de l'économie réelle, des TPE, des PME, des PME industrielles et des établissements de taille intermédiaire (ETI) qui veulent se développer», a-t-il poursuivi. Le Sénat l’examinera à son tour le 18 décembre. Une commission mixte paritaire (CMP) Assemblée-Sénat sera convoquée dans la foulée afin de mettre au point un texte commun qui sera soumis le 20 décembre aux députés et sénateurs pour son adoption définitive. Pierre Moscovici a souhaité que le premier conseil d’administration se réunisse en janvier de façon à ce que la banque soit opérationnelle «le plus rapidement possible».
La société de tête du groupe Rothschild a publié des résultats semestriels affaiblis par l’environnement économique, un nombre plus faible de fusions-acquisitions et un ralentissement des cessions de participations. Le bénéfice net au 30 septembre a baissé à 35,5 millions d’euros contre 42,4 millions. Les directeurs généraux Nigel Higgins et Olivier Pécoux soulignent tout de même que Paris-Orléans a renforcé ses parts de marché sur la période.