Le groupe Siparex a réalisé l’an dernier d’"excellentes performances opérationnelles», confirmant son rôle moteur dans le financement des PME françaises et des ETI, a souligné le 17 janvier le président du groupe, Bertrand Rambaud, à l’occasion d’un point de presse. «Nous sommes très satisfaits de cette année 2011 au cours de laquelle nos objectifs ont été très largement dépassés», a déclaré Bertrand Rambaud, précisant que les actifs sous gestion dépassent désormais 1,1 milliard d’euros.Le montant total des investissements s’est élevé l’an dernier à 85,5 millions d’euros, en progression de 25% par rapport à 2010. Les cessions, en hausse de 44% à 160 millions d’euros, ont permis de dégager 79 millions d’euros de plus-values (+43%), pour un multiple moyen de cession de 2.Du côté des levées de fonds, l’exercice s’est terminé sur une collecte de 170 millions d’euros. A noter le closing du fonds Siparex MidCap II à 120 millions d’euros, assorti d’un partenariat avec le Crédit Agricole, du réinvetissement de 85% des souscripteurs du véhicule précédent et de la présence de family offices pour 25% du fonds.Le Crédit Agricole Centre Est et Predica, souscripteurs anciens et fidèles de Siparex, accompagnés par sept caisses régionales du Crédit Agricole représentent un tiers des souscriptions du Siparex MidCap II et occupent la première place des invetisseurs institutionnels de ce nouveau véhicule avec un montant de 40 millions d’euros. Les levées de capitaux ont également été portées par des idées nouvelles comme la création de la SCR Solid et un premier closing de 3 millions d’euros, dont le financement repose sur l'épargne salariale.Le groupe Siparex a en outre remporté deux appels d’offres publics pour la gestion de fonds régionaux pour un total géré de 21 millions d’euros et il a par ailleurs levé 20 millions d’euros de FIP et de FCPI. A noter enfin que 143 millions d’euros ont été retournés aux souscripteurs contre 104 millions en 2010.

Ossiam, la société de gestion spécialisée dans l'élaboration d’ETF reposant sur des indices de stratégie, lance aujourd’hui le FTSE 100 Minimum Variance ETF. Le fonds, qui est coté sur le London Stock Exchange, est réservé exclusivement aux investisseurs britanniques. Le produit reprend la construction de la gamme «Minimum variance». La gestion applique simultanément des filtres de liquidité – ici 95 % des valeurs les plus liquides composant l’indice FTSE 100 sont retenues comme univers de sélection - et limite le poids maximum par «stock» à 4,5 % et par secteur à 20 %, tout en veillant à la diversification des titres et en procédant à un rebalancement trimestriel de l’indice. Au final, le fonds voit sa volatilité abaissée de plus de 24 % en moyenne par rapport à l’indice de référence. En outre, les «drawdowns» (plus importante perte de l’indice sur une période donnée) sont significativement réduits. Avec le lancement de cet ETF, Ossiam propose également, pour la première fois, un produit suivant un mode de réplication physique. Interrogée par Newsmanagers, Isabelle Bourcier, responsable du développement, a néanmoins précisé que ce choix était avant tout commercial. «L’indice Footsie 100 est un indicateur très utilisé outre-Manche par les banques privées, les gestionnaires de fortunes, etc, qui sont très attachés à la réplication physique.» Dans ce cadre, le produit comporte une autre particularité : les titres détenus par Ossiam ne sont pas prêtés. Un choix qui s’explique par le fait que la société de gestion ne souhaite pas faire porter de risques sur le prêt/emprunt titres sachant que celui-ci est peu rentable sur le FTSE 100, selon la responsable. La société de gestion évite aussi de rentrer dans le conflit entre réplication synthétique et la réplication physique dont le prêt/emprunt titres est battu en brèche par les partisans de la première technique… Bien évidemment, la réplication physique a un coût: une tracking error plus élevée en moyenne de l’ordre de 0,25% par an du fait de l’impôt de bourse sur les titres négociables en Bourse de Londres. A noter qu’avant le lancement du FTSE 100 Minimum Variance ETF, la part des produits reposant sur cette stratégie représente des actifs sous gestion de 192 millions d’euros et les ETF reposant sur des indices équi-pondérés 79 millions d’euros (pour un total géré par Ossiam de 271 millions d’euros). Caractéristiques : Total Expense Ratio : 0,45 %

Stefan Becker, qui vient de passer sept ans chez J.P. Morgan Asset Management à Francfort, rejoint UBP Asset Management Deutschland comme directeur de l’activité Wholesale sous les ordres de Peter Richters, directeur de la filiale allemande du gestionnaire suisse.

Le gestionnaire obligataire Rogge Global Partners qui gère fin novembre 32,6 milliards de dollars a décidé d’ouvrir un bureau à Francfort pour répondre à une demande croissante de ses clientèles allemande, autrichienne et suisse, rapporte Fonds professionell.Cette nouvelle implantation, qui ciblera en particulier les investisseurs institutionnels, sera dirigée Claudia Otremba, qui était ces deux dernières années managing director chez Augur Capital. Auparavant, elle a été directrice de Gartmore pour l’Allemagne.

Lancé le 17 janvier 2007, db x-trackers, le pôle ETF de la Deutsche Bank, totalise cinq ans après un encours de 32 milliards d’euros (à fin décembre) répartis sur plus de 200 fonds contre 750 fois sur neuf bourses en Europe et en Asie (47 à Singapour et 30 à Hong-Kong).Par son encours, db x-trackers est devenu le deuxième promoteur européen d’ETF, derrière iShares (BlackRock), et le cinquième mondial, derrière iShares, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Vanguard et PowerShares/Deutsche Bank.

Armando Senra, directeur général de BlackRock pour l’Espagne et le Portugal, retourne au siège du groupe à New York qu’il avait quitté en 2008 et où il sera à la fois directeur général pour l’Amérique latine et la péninsule ibérique tout en gardant la responsabilité de l’Espagne et du Portugal, rapporte Funds People.Pour la direction des activités au jour le jour en Ibérie, la responsabilité du bureau de Madrid est confiée à Iván Pascual pour la partie ventes et à Caridad Merlin pour la partie support. En revanche, Ricardo Comín a quitté l’entreprise.Fin septembre, BlackRock Ibérie affichait un encours de 5,1 milliards d’euros.

Luisa Gómez Bravo, qui était devenue directrice de la gestion d’actifs du BBVA en septembre 2009, va trouver une nouvelle affectation dans le groupe et laisse sa place à Paloma Piqueras, qui était déjà responsable de la gestion pour l’Europe et administratrice déléguée de BBVA Asset Management, rapporte Funds People.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, l’impétrante sera responsable de la gestion d’actifs du groupe bancaire pour l’Europe, la Colombie, le Mexique, le Pérou et l’Argentine.

Les hedge funds ayant le plus collecté en 2011 ont été les fonds de CTA ou managed futures et les fonds macro, lesquels ont recueilli respectivement, en net, 19 milliards de dollars et 17 milliards de dollars, selon Eurekahedge. Au total, les hedge funds ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 51 milliards de dollars sur l’année, alors qu’ils perdaient globalement 4,15 %. Cela étant, 500 fonds ont gagné plus de 10 % sur les douze mois sous revue.Par ailleurs, malgré une année peu glorieuse, le rythme des lancements de fonds a été soutenu en 2011, avec plus de 1.100 nouveaux produits sur le marché.

The Markit group, specialised in financial information, on 17 January announced that it was adding to its CDS product range with the publication of a daily report on sensitivity, which will provide clients with information about relationships between CDS prices and other market variables. The new services, Markit CDS Sensitivities, will provide a way to evaluate the sensitivity of a CDS spread to fluctuations in interest rates and credit quality, among others.

Thomson Reuters GFMS, which yesterday published its 2011 report on gold, is predicting more record peaks this year, Les Echos reports. The price of gold may exceed USD2,000 per ounce later this year or in 2013. In the short term, the institute is more prudent, as after a massive average increase of 28% in 2011, the price of gold may consolidate. It is predicting an average price in first half of USD1,640 per ounce.

Companies of the CAC 40 index last year distributed EUR44.6bn in the form of dividends and share repurchases, up 15% compared with 2010, according to the newsletter vernimmen.net, Les Echos reports. Total and France Télécom are still at the top of the rankings of the biggest “payers.” Sanofi takes third place. These three giants represent about 30% of the amounts paid last year. A notable phenomenon is that share repurchases were the area that grew most overall, as share prices fell: buybacks (net of sales) totalled EUR5.7bn, nearly triple their level in 2010 (EUR1.95bn). Bouygues, which last year launched a vast share repurchasing programme, is the largest contributor to this total. For their parti, dividends paid last year increased by 6%, to EUR38.49bn, while 2010 results showed a net rebound.

The French financial management association AFG on 17 January announced that the chief investment officer at CPR AM, Arnaud Faller, has become chairman of the technical management committee at the professional association. He succeeds Bernard Descreux, who is leaving La Banque Postale AM. At the core of AFG’s activities the technical management committee relies on several specialist working groups. The main themes in the past few months have been work on transposing the UCITS IV directive and the MiFID II directive for markets and complex products, responses to consultations by ESMA about ETFs and structured funds (particularly about methods for calculating liabilities for formula funds), response to a European commission consultation on ratings, responses to consultations from the Financial Stability Board on money market funds and ETFs, and the measurement of global risk and risk management in relation to the AMF. THE AFG reporter for the committee is Adina Gurau-Audibert.

The Association nationale des sociétés par actions (ANSA) on 17 January announced the appointment of Christian Schricke as deputy CEO. In this position, he replaces Robert Baconnier, who had served in this position since January 2005, and who is retiring. Baconnier nonetheless remains as chairman of the association until the next meeting of the board of directors on 9 February 2012, when a new chairman will be elected. Schricke, who has been advisor to the chairman of the Société Générale group since September 2009, has been a member of the AMF college since May 2011.

Lazard has launched a fund which aims to earn returns in line with the market, but with volatility 20% to 40% lower than the MSCI World index, Investment Week reports. The Global Controlled Volatility fund, based in Dublin, is managed by a team led by Susanne Willumsen in London and Paul Moghtader in Boston. The portfolio will include 250 to 350 shares, and will have a turnover of 40% to 60% per year.

The British asset management firm Liontrust will launch an Asian income fund in early March, Investment Week reports. It will be managed by Mark Williams, who recently joined the group when Linotrust acquired the specialist emerging markets boutique Occam. The fund, which will aim to earn high returns from capital appreciation and revenues, will have an objective of returns about 10% higher than the MSCI All-Country Asia ex Japan index. The fund will be domiciled in the United Kingdom, with a minimal investment of GBP1,000 and management fees of 1.5% per year.

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the technical committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 17 January published their final report on the operation of registries that would centralise and redistribute information about over-the-counter (OTC) derivative instruments. Some questions remain regarding how best to address current data gaps and define authorities’ access to TRs. As requested by the G20, two internationally coordinated working groups will address these questions in the coming year. The FSB will establish an ad hoc group of experts to further consider means of filling current data gaps, while the CPSS and IOSCO will establish a joint group to examine authorities’ access to trade repositories.

The fourth-largest US banking group, Wells Fargo & Company, in 2011 earned record net profits of USD15.9bn, up 28% compared with 2010.Assets in the wealth management division as of 31 December were down 2% compared with the end of 2010, to a total of USD198bn.Net profits for the wealth management/retirement/brokerage unit increased to USD325m last year, compared with USD199m in 2010.

The investment-grade and high yield categories represent EUR15bn and EUR2.2bn in assets, respectively, for the Robeco group, counting mandates and funds, says Victor Verberk, head of investment grade bonds.Insofar as the Rotterdam office estimates that 2012 will be a promising year for investment themes, as the Robeco Investment Grade Corporate Bonds (EUR1.24bn) and Robeco High Yield Bonds funds, for example, have already seen net inflows of EUR380m and EUR360m, respectively, last year, the asset management firm on 17 January presented these strategies to French investors.The range of credit strategies also includes the Euro Credit Bonds, Euro Sustainable Credit Bonds, Financial Institutions Bonds and, in addition to High Yield Bonds, a European version, the European High Yield Bonds. All of these products have investment horizons ranging from the short to the long term, and sensitivities to risk varying form low to high, explains Guilllaume Lendormy, a specialist in fixed income investments. In addition, the asset management firm is offering duration-hedged share classes.

Asset management professionals worldwide hold the optimistic opinion that no country will be leaving the euro zone this year, and that budgetary union will be formed in the next 10 years, according to the findings of a survey by the multi-management team at Aviva Investors, of 188 fund managers in major asset classes. While 41% of respondents say that some countries will be leaving the euro zone in the next 10 years, only one quarter of them (23%) think that it will happen this year. Among the remaining 36%, some don’t agree with this prediction, while others think that the exits will be offset by the addition of new countries, or will not occur at all. More than half of respondents (52%) are optimistic about the future of the euro zone, and feel that budgetarr union will be formed in the next 10 years. However, only 41% predict that the ECB or political leaders will take the necessary action to restore confidence in the euro zone during 2012. Mick Mansley, global head of multi-management at Aviva Investors, says that “no consensus is forming among managers as to the future of the euro. While we will continue to evaluate the ability of our managers to consider the consequences of a collapse of the euro zone, the findings show that over ten years, most managers are more optimistic and are predicting that a budgetary union able to assure the future of the euro will be created.” About economic outlooks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, 83% of respondents feel that the US economy will show the strongest growth in 2012, compared with only 17% for Germany. Although no managers reel that the United Kingdom would be able to turn in the strongest growth, 48% think that the British economy will have the highest inflation rate. As to their predictions for interest rate increases, half of managers (54%) predict that interest rates will be raised before the end of 2013. The highest and lowest probabilities went to the US and the EU. One third (33%) predict no increase in interest rates before 2014 at the earliest.

In a study entitled «What are the Risks of European ETFs?» which considers the “real” risks related to ETFs in Europe, Edhec finds that in counterparty risk, it is not logical to weigh physical and synthetic replication products against each other, nor to draw a distinction between financed and non-financed swaps. Both distinctions are not wholly relevant in practice, and give a false sense of “relative” security.After pointing out that the vast majority of European ETFs are UCITS-compliant and are therefore exposed to the same risks as any fund that complies with the mutual fund directive, Edhec adds that regardless of the replication techniques used, ETFs are exposed to counterparty risks. Securities lending and borrowing, which is common for physical replication ETFs, expose the fund to counterparty risks as surely as the use of over-the-counter swaps needed for the use of synthetic replication does.Investors “should pay closer attention to the top-priority questions which are determinant in the effective reduction of counterparty risks: the level of guarantee, the quality of assets, and the ability of the fund to enforce its rights on these assets in case of a counterparty default.” In these conditions, “massive marketing and public relations campaigns launched by some ETF providers in order to promote distinctions between types of replication on the basis of counterparty risks are thus misleading, and do not lead to better awareness of the risks on the part of investors,” the study says.

Distributors of financial products, particularly banking groups, are burning their bridges with external asset management firms, preferring to tout their own funds, an article in Financial Times Fund Management first published in Ignites observes. In Germany, Deutsche Bank is reported to have forbidden Postbank from selling third-party funds, in France, Crédit Agricole is said to have asked its regional networks to stop offering funds from outside providers and to focus only on Amundi, its asset management affiliate. Mandarine Gestion says for its part that some fund platforms have stopped working with independent asset managers. Rémi Leservoisier, CEO, says “that could become a problem for boutiques if it becomes systematic.”

The pension fund CalPERS has sold a portfolio of undeveloped land for the construction of 16,300 homes in eleven US states, which represents about 20% of its residential land portfolio, to a joint venture by the real estate developer Newland Real Estate Group of San Diego and an affiliate of the Japanese firm Sekisui House, the Wall Street Journal reports.The transaction is reported to have gone through at a total price of USD500m to USD600m, which means that CalPERs, which acquired the land over a 5-year period beginning in 2002, has made a total loss of 30% to 50%, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Siparex group last year earned “excellent operating returns,” cementing its position in the financing of FrenchSMBs and ETIs, the chairman of the group, Bertrand Rambaud, announced on 17 January at a press conference. “We are highly satisfied with the year 2011, in which our objectives have been exceeded,” says Rambaud, adding that assets under management now exceed EUR1.1bn. Total investments last year totalled EUR85.5m, up 25% compared with 2010. Sales, up 44% to EUR160m, brought EUR79m in gains (+43%), for a sales multiple of 2. In terms of fundraising, the period ended with inflows of EUR170m, the closing of the Siparex MidCap II fund at EUR120m, and a partnership with Crédit Agricole, a reinvestment of 85% by subscribers of the previous vehicle and the presence of family offices representing 25% of the fund. The Crédit Agricole Centre Est and Predica, repeat and loyal subscribers to Siparex, with seven regional banks of the Crédit Agricole network, represent one third of subscriptions to the Siparex MidCap II fund, and top the list of institutional investors in this new vehicle, with a total of EUR40m. Fundraising was also driven by new ideas such as the creation of SCR Solid, and a first closing at EUR3m, with financing from employee savings. The Siparex gorup has also won two public requests for proposals for regional fund management, totalling EUR21m, and has also raised EUR20m from FIP and FCPI entities. EUR143m were returned to subscribers, up from EUR104m in 2010.

Midi Capital last year posted a significant increase in its assets in low-tax products, to EUR60m, out of overall assets of EUR100m, up from EUR40m at the end of 2010. Inflows in 2011 totalled EUR22m, up 43% compared with 2010, while at the same time, overall French inflows fell by 20%. “We are highly satisfied with inflows for ISF and IR, which despite the changes ushered in by the Finance Law of 2011 and the government’s desire to reduce tax breaks this year demonstrate that subscribers are interests in these simple wealth diversification products, which are decorrelated from the financial marktes, anchored in the real economy, and which in addition to the tax advantage, also offer attractive potential returns. Our positioning at the core of regional economies, with a strong involvement in developing our participations, has been well-received by distribution networks, and has allowed us to gain market share,” says Karine Alet, director of distribution. In 2011, Midi Capital invested EUR18m in 20 regional SMBs, largely in capital development and transmission. The past year was also marked by a sale of 7 SMBs. The average internal rate of return on the sales is over 21%.

Stefan Becker, who has spent seven years at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in Frankfurt, joined UBP Asset Mangement Deutschland as head of wholesale activities, in which role he reports to Peter Richters, head of the German affiliate of the Swiss asset management firm.

The fixed income manager Rogge Global Partners has decided to open an office in Frankfurt in order to respond to increasing demand from German, Austrian and Swiss clients, Fonds professionell reports.The new office, which will target institutional investors as its top priority, will be led by Claudia Otremba, who for the past two years had been managing director at Augur Capial. She had previously been head of Gartmore for Germany.As of the end of November, assets at Rogge Global Partners totalled USD32.6bn.

After five years, db x-trackers, the ETF arm of Deutsche Bank launched on 17 January 2007, has assets of EUR32bn (as of the end of December), in over 200 funds, listed 750 times on nine stock markets in Europe and Asia (47 in Singapore and 30 in Hong Kong).In terms of assets, db x-trackers has become the second-largest European ETF provider, after iShares (BlackRock), and the fifth-largest provider worldwide, after iShares, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Vanguard and PowerShares/Deutsche Bank.

Armando Senra, CEO of BlackRock for Spain and Portugal, is returning to the group’s New York headquarters, which he left in 2008, where he will be CEO for Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, and will also retain responsibility for Spain and Portugal, Funds People reports.For the management of day-to-day activities in Iberia, responsibility for the Madrid office is assigned to Iván Pascual for sales and Caridad Merlin for support. Ricard Comín has left the business. As of the end of September, BlackRock Iberia had assets of EUR5.1bn.

Luisa Gómez Bravo, who became head of asset management at BBVA in September 2009, will be moving to a new position in the group and leaving her position to Paloma Piqueras, who had already been head of management for Europe, and CEO of BBVA Asset Management, Funds People reports.In her new role, Piqueras will be responsible for management of the banking group’s assets in Europe, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Argentina.

Global investors have started 2012 with a reawakened sense of optimism towards the global economy and greater appetite for risk, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers, undertaken between 6 and 12 January, of a sample of 286 participants representing a cumulative total of USD818bn in assets under management.Is this the result of the year-end truce? Only a net 3 percent believe the world economy will weaken in the coming 12 months down from a net 27 percent in December - the biggest one-month improvement in the growth outlook since May 2009.As an illustration of this newfound appetite for risk, have fallen to their lowest levels since July 2011. Cash now makes up, on average, 4.4 percent of a portfolio, down from 4.9 percent in December. The proportion of investors taking lower than normal levels of risk has improved to a net 33 percent of the panel, compared to a net 42 percent in December.One concern that investors have highlighted is geopolitical risk. The proportion of respondents viewing geopolitical risk as «above normal» has jumped to 69 percent from 48 percent last month. This has, in the past, been correlated with a spike in the oil price."Investors are tip-toeing rather than hurtling toward higher risk exposure,» says Michael Hartnett, chief global equity strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. The U.S. market and high quality cyclical sectors, such as energy and tech, have been the main beneficiaries of lower cash holdings. Despite improvement in global and European growth expectations asset allocators remain deeply skeptical towards European equities, especially banks.A net 28 percent are overweight U.S. equities, up from a net 23 percent in December. A net 31 percent remain underweight eurozone equities, an improvement from a net 35 percent a month ago but the second-worst reading on record. Technology has regained its status as the most favored global sector, highlighting the uptick in risk appetite after the defensive positioning at the end of 2011. The net percentage of investors overweight technology rose to 39 from a net 31 percent in December, overtaking Pharmaceuticals. U.S. fund managers are returning to banks while Europeans continue to reject them. The proportion of U.S. fund managers underweight banks has fallen to a net 16 percent from 32 percent last month. European fund managers have extended their underweights - a net 50 percent are underweight banks.