La reprise des émissions se fait attendre sur le marché du crédit
Aucune opération corporate n'a encore eu lieu ce mois-ci. Le marché primaire risque d'être très sensible dans les semaines à venir
L’IASB jette de l’huile sur le feu
Le Bureau des standards comptables internationaux estime que les provisions passées par les banques et assureurs européens sur leur exposition à la dette grecque ont été sous-évaluées, selon une lettre envoyée par son président, Hans Hoogervorst, à l’autorité européenne des marchés que s’est procuré le journal. «Il s’agit d’une grande source d’inquiétude pour nous» s’est alarmé Hans Hoogervorst. Si la lettre ne nomme aucun groupe, des sources proches du journal indiquent que les critiques de l’IASB viseraient notamment BNP Paribas et CNP Assurances, qui ont passé en provisions pour perte 21% de la valeur de leurs actifs grecs.
Le FMI révise à la baisse ses prévisions de croissance pour la zone euro et les Etats-Unis
L’institution de Washington estime que la BCE et la Réserve fédérale pourraient être amenées à assouplir davantage leur politique monétaire
Pékin conserve des marges de manœuvre pour la réforme du yuan
Le conseiller de la banque centrale chinoise, Xia Bin, a indiqué dans un entretien accordé au journal que le yuan conservait des marges de manœuvre pour un ajustement progressif de sa parité. Il a néanmoins tenu à alerter les investisseurs sur les risques inhérents à un changement trop brutal de la structure du taux de change chinois.
L’Irlande demande le soutien des banques aux ménages
Le ministre de la protection sociale irlandais, Joan Burton, a indiqué au quotidien que les banques et autres institutions financières devraient prendre l’initiative de trouver des solutions pour les ménages surendettés afin de résoudre la crise des crédits hypothécaires. Les banques «doivent soutenir les ménages en difficulté ou en risque de l’être» a estimé Joan Burton.
Clearstream passe un accord avec ASX
Deutsche Börse a annoncé que sa chambre de compensation Clearstream avait passé un accord avec l’opérateur boursier australien ASX en vue de fournir des services de gestion de collatéral. Cet accord d’externalisation permettra à ASX de proposer aux clients un service de collatéral (garantie) moins onéreux que s’il avait dû créer une plateforme lui-même, service qui s’impose dans un contexte de régulation renforcée du secteur financier après la crise, expliquent les deux sociétés.
Yoshihiko Noda désigné Premier ministre par le Parti démocrate japonais
Le ministre des Finances Yoshihiko Noda va devenir le prochain Premier ministre japonais après sa victoire contre le ministre du Commerce Banri Kaieda lors du second tour de l'élection interne du PDJ. Avant le vote de lundi, Kaieda était pourtant le favori pour succéder à Naoto Kan, démissionnaire.
Helsinki propose de créer une holding pour les actifs grecs
La Finlande propose de créer une holding enregistrée au Luxembourg pour collecter les actifs grecs censés servir de garantie pour de nouveaux prêts à Athènes, lit-on dans un document dont Reuters a pris connaissance. Daté du 23 juin, ce projet étaye les exigences de la Finlande, qui ne veut consentir des prêts à la Grèce qu’en échange de garanties ou collatéraux. Faute de telles garanties, Helsinki menace de se retirer du programme de renflouement de la Grèce. Dans ce document, de hauts fonctionnaires finlandais précisent comment l’organisme grec des privatisations autoriserait le transfert d’actifs à cette holding luxembourgeoise. L’organisme des privatisations serait propriétaire de l’intégralité des parts de la holding, mais celles-ci seraient mises en conservation auprès d’une tierce partie.
Vers une décélération de l'inflation en août en Allemagne
L’inflation mesurée par les prix de détail est en passe de décélérer en août en Allemagne tout en restant supérieure à l’objectif fixé par la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), soit un peu en-dessous de 2%, selon des statistiques préliminaires publiées par certains Länder. Cette estimation qui sera publiée plus tard dans la journée devrait établir un taux d’inflation de 2,3
29/08/2011
Record financial savings for German households as of end-March
According to statistics released on Friday by the Bundesbank, the financial savings of German households reached a new record of EUR4.824trn as of the end of March, EUR40bn or 0.8% more than at the end of December 2010, and EUR203bn, or 4.4% more than one year previously.However, the central bank states that in first quarter, investment funds underwent net outflows of nearly EUR3.5bn, for a total of EUR585.1bn, down from EUR587.4bn three months previuosly, following net redemptions of EUR1bn in October-December. Redemptions came largely from bond funds.
29/08/2011
Stefano Ferraro joins Merrill Lynch WM
Stefano Ferraro has been appointed as market manager for Italy at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. He will be in charge of growth for the firm’s sales activities in Italy. Ferraro joins from Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, where he was head of relations with institutional clients.
29/08/2011
ESMA releases a guide to European money market funds
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on 26 August released a guide in the form of frequently-asked questions and answers on the subject of European money market funds.The document aims to promote common practices and approaches in the application of recommendations by the CESR for money market funds (“Common Definition of European Money Market Funds.”)The text is aimed at the various supervisory authorities in Europe, in order to foster convergence in their actions, but is also useful for management firms, to provide them with clear answers about the content of the CESR recommendations and to avoid additional contractual obligations.
29/08/2011
UCITS-compliant hedge funds lost less than their offshore counterparts
According to the Börsen-Zeitung, the 602 UCITS-compliant hedge funds in the database of Hamburg-based Absolut Research in the period from 1 July to 12 August 2011 underwent average losses of 2.4%, while the offshore investable funds of the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index had average losses of 3.3%. In the same period, the MSCI World index lost 12.3%, and the Dax index lost over 19%.
29/08/2011
iShares plans to create its own indices
On Thursday evening, the Wall Street Journal reports, iShares (BlackRock group) filed an application to the SEC for a license for ETFs which would replicate BlackRock indices. That would allow the firm to blur the line between actively and passively managed funds in the case of some funds, and to design ETFs similar to those from Wisdom Tree, which correspond more closely to new investment concepts than to specific market segments.For example, iShares might launch a range of ETFs investing both in equities and bonds, in order to generate predefined performance levels, for example of 3%, rather than investing in a portfolio of high dividend equities or bonds with a given maturity duration.Another possibility would be to launch bond ETFs which would be modified in order to avoid giving the impression in difficult periods of straying too far from their benchmarks.
29/08/2011
Sébastien Boulet leaves HDF Finance
Sébastien Boulet has left the multi-management boutique HDF Finance, where he had been an analyst and portfolio manager since 2007. He will join Amundi to work at the inspectorate general, Newsmanagers has heard.The move marks a further departure from HDF Finance (renamed “High Definition for Finance”), following those earlier this year of Eric Debonnet, head of research and risk management, Thierry De Rycke, co-CIO for fixed income and currencies, and David Gilleron, co-CIO for equities, who all joined Theam, the new structure from BNP Paribas Investment Partners (see Newsmanagers of 23 August 2011).There, they joined Gilles Guérin who had also left the boutique following stints as CEO and vice-chairman of the board. Erwan Ducocq, COO, and Christophe Shouard, CEO, have also left the firm this year.
29/08/2011
Profits at asset management affiliates of banks down 6% in first half
Competition from bank savings accounts and the market crisis have driven down results for the asset management units of Spanish banks, which fell by an average of 6% in first half 2011, Expansión notes. But the groups which have an international presence have managed to limit the damage.Profits at Santander Asset Management fell by 5.75% compared with January-June 2010, to EUR37.7m, but results for the group as a whole were driven by activities in Latin America and the United Kingdom (assets in Brazil, for example, increased by 15% in one year, to EUR45bn).Profits at BBVA Wholesale Banking & Asset Manmagement were down 6.10% to EUR661m, but assets under management in Latin America increased 17%, and were up 22.5% in Mexico.For BanSabadell Inversión, profits were down 6.07% to EUR6.34m, which was offset by a increase of 31.42% to EUR9.66m for the affiliate Banco Urquijo, which the firm acquired from KBL in 2006.La Caixa and Banco Popular posted a net increase in commission revenues from their asset management divisions, while Bankinter saw a decline of 5% in these revenues.
29/08/2011
BlackRock becomes the second-largest shareholder in Siemens
After the von Siemens family and foundations controlled by it, which own a total of 6% in the capital of Siemens, BlackRock has become the second-largest shareholder in the German group.The US shareholder on 25 August released a notification that onn 17 August it passed the 5% threshold in capital, and now controls a stake of 5.01%, which represents 45.77 million shares. At the closing share price on Friday (EUR69.95 per share), the BlackRock group’s investment in Siemens is worth slightly over EUR3.2bn.BlackRock announced in November 2010 that it controls 3.9% of Siemens, following its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors (BGI).
29/08/2011
Record assets as of the end of June for hedge funds specialised in emerging markets
As of the end of June, assets under management by hedge funds focused on emerging markets set a new record at USD123bn, according to Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Second quarter 2011 was the fourth consecutive quarter of net subscriptions and gains in AUM for funds of this category.In April-June, assets increased by USD1.4bn, due to a performance effect of USD1.1bn, and net subscriptions of over USD300m.
29/08/2011
USD50,000 bail for a former Marvell employee
At the first hearing in his trial on Friday in New York, bail was set at USD50,000 for Stanley Ng, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ng, a former employee of Marvell Technology Group, is accused of providing confidential financial information about his employer to Winifred Jiau, a consultant for the Primary Global Research expert-network, who then passed on the information to hedge fund managers.
29/08/2011
SWIP recruits for fixed income team
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) is continuing to recruit for its fixed income team. The management firm has hired Sarah Wall as an analyst specialised in senior asset-backed securities (ABS). Wall, formerly of M&G Investments, will be based in London.
29/08/2011
L&G recruits a head from AllianceBernstein
Legal & General Investment Management has recruited Martin Reeves, previously of AllianceBernstein, as head of high yield and manager of the GBP1.9bn high income fund, MoneyMarketing reports. From next month, he will replace David North, who has been on a long-term leave of absence for health reasons since the beginning of this year.
29/08/2011
Patrick de Fraguier takes over as CRO at Amundi London
From 1 October, Patrick de Fraguier, who had been appointed as head of strategy at Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) three years previously, will become chief risk officer (CRO) at Amundi London (EUR14.2bn in assets as of the end of March). As head of a five-member team, de Fraguier will replace Philippe Garreau, who decided to return to France, to accept a management position elsewhere in the risk profession. De Fraguier will report to Hervé Leclerq, CEO and COO of Amundi London. He will be in charge of risk controlling, valuation, monitoring of compliance with regulatory ratio requirements, validation of new funds, relations with the regulator, and compliance.
29/08/2011
An increasing number of pension funds invest in alternative management
In 2011, nearly eight pension fund heads out of 10 (78% to be exact) have an allocation to alternative management of some of their assets, according to an annual survey by SEI of 106 heads of pension funds, which manage total assets of USD25m to over USD1bn. The percentage, whose rise was slowed somewhat by the crisis of 2007-2008, has increased steadily, from 51% in 2008 to 53% in 2009, and 65% in 2010. These statistics need some nuancing, as allocations of over 10% of the total portfolio to alternative management fell last year. In 2010, 77% of pension funds with assets of over USD300m dedicated at least 10% of their portfolio to alternative management, compared with only 42% this year for funds of similar sizes.
29/08/2011
Lower net inflows in first half at Zurich Cantobank
The Banque Cantonale de Zurich on 26 August announced an operating profit of CHF1bn for first half 2011, down by only 2.3% compared with first half 2010. The group’s profits held stable at USD357m. Net inflows at the Swiss bank totalled CHF2.4bn, but a negative market effect wiped out assets under management of CHF1.7bn. This level of inflows also marks a significant slowdown compared with first half 2010, when net inflows totalled CHF5.4bn. Assets under management increased by a total of CHF700m in first half, to CHF165.8bn, of which CHF79.6bn came from institutionals.
29/08/2011
New head of Asian prime brokerage at Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley has appointed Mehdee Reza as head of the prime brokerage unit for Asia, including Japan and Australia Reza will be based in Hong Kong, and will begin in his new role in September.
29/08/2011
Sparx credit team launches a hedge fund firm
The credit team at the management firm Sparx in Hong Kong have decided to leave the firm in order to found their own investment vehicle, entitled Double Haven, Asian Investor reports. The credit team working with Darryl Flint are planning to launch two products, a long/short high yield credit fund and an investment grade fund, as well as another fund dedicated to private debts. In the wake of the crisis of 2007-2008, Sparx (previously known as PMA Advisors) has seen a decline in its assets under management from USD20bn to USD6bn.
29/08/2011
Touchstone launches a merger arb fund
Longfellow Investment Management, a specialist in risk management, has been selected by Touchstone Investments as sub-advisor for the new Touchstone Merger Arbitrage Fund. The objective for the new long/short product is to generate absolute returns over the long term. The fund, managed by Barbara J. McKenna, David W. Seeley, Alexander R. Graham and Andrew A. Shafter, invests primarily in securities from firms involved in merger and arbitrage operations which have already been announced, or in other forms of reorganisations.
29/08/2011
AllianceBernstein releases an offshore fund denominated in Chinese yuan and an emerging markets multi-asset class fund
On 23 May and 1 June, AllianceBernstein launched two Luxembourg-registered funds which have since obtained sales licenses in France, entitled RMB Income Plus Portfolio and Emerging Markets Multi-Asset Portfolio (EMMA), which charge fees of 1.10% (for the A2 share class, LU0633139125) and 1.60 % (A share class, LU0633140644) respectively.The RMB Income Plus Portfolio invests in offshore bonds denominated in Chinese yuan as well as Asian bonds which will in principle be hedged for currency risks against the yuan.The EMMA fund will invest in equities, bonds, and currencies from emerging countries, with the objective of generating returns similar to those of equities, with considerably lower volatility.
29/08/2011
BofA Merrill Lynch veteran to launch a hedge fund
The former head of Asian commodities at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Diego Parilla, has launched his own hedge fund, dedicated to commodities, Hedge Week reports. The Singapore-based fund, Nareco Commodity Low Vol Alpha, will not invest in equities or physical markets, but will focus on commodities derivatives, Parilla says; he hopes to raise about USD500m in the next three years.
29/08/2011
Texas pension fund plans to invest 5% in hedge funds
The Texan pension fund Employees Retirement System of Texas has announced that it is planning to dedicate 5% of its capital, equivalent to about USD1.15bn, in hedge funds in the next three years.