10/03/2011
Le CME se met en retrait des fusions boursières
Le Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) aurait abandonné l’idée de toute association avec le Nasdaq OMX dans le but de contrer la fusion entre NYSE Euronext et la place boursière allemande, Deutsche Börse, indique le quotidien qui cite des sources proches du dossier. La place de Chicago n’aurait cependant pas renoncé à des projets ultérieurs de fusion. Le Nasdaq, qui espérait une surenchère d’offre de partenariat entre le CME et son homologue d’Atlanta, l’IntercontinentalExchange, reste isolé dans ses projets de contre-offre. D’autant que S&P a prévenu l’opérateur qu’il pourrait dégrader sa note dans le cas où il réaliserait de grosses opérations de rachat.
10/03/2011
Les sociétés minières sont devenues trop gourmandes pour les chinois
Les investisseurs chinois auraient de plus en plus de mal à trouver des opérations intéressantes dans le secteur minier, indique le quotidien qui cite un des directeurs des activités de banque d’investissement de Bank of China. La hausse du prix des matières premières et la reprise économique ont rendu les compagnies minières plus gourmandes en termes de financement.
09/03/2011
ABN Amro rachète de la dette titrisée
La banque néerlandaise a annoncé mercredi le lancement d’une offre de rachat portant sur 4,3 milliards d’euros de tranches de titrisation émises par ses soins en 2005. l’offre concerne six tranches seniors de titres adossés à des prêts immobiliers néerlandais, vendus à travers le véhicule Shield I, et quatre tranches juniors et mezzanine de CLO (adossées à des prêts aux entreprises). Les prix de rachat oscillent entre 94,5% et 100% du pair. L’offre s’achève le 22 mars.
09/03/2011
Les exportations allemandes pourraient dépasser les 1.000 milliards d’euros en 2011
Les exportations allemandes pourraient augmenter de 9% en nominal, à 1.046 milliards d’euros en 2011, selon les prévisions de la fédération commerciale allemande BGA publiées. BGA table par ailleurs sur une hausse de 12% des importations, à 903 milliards d’euros. La fédération estime que les exportations et les importations allemandes dépasseront les niveaux qui étaient les leurs avant la crise.
09/03/2011
Le Portugal adjuge 1 milliard d'euros de dette à 2 ans au prix fort
L’émetteur souverain a vu son coût de financement se renchérir significativement lors de son adjudication ce matin d’un milliard d’euros de dette d’échéance septembre 2013. L’IGCP, l’agence en charge de la dette publique portugaise, a offert au marché un rendement moyen de 5,993%, soit 190,7 pb de plus que lors de l’adjudication de septembre. L’appétit des investisseurs pour la dette portugaise s’est amoindri, le ratio de couverture (montant demandé sur montant alloué) est ressorti à 1,6 fois contre 1,9 fois il y a six mois. Par ailleurs, l’IGCP n’a racheté qu’un total de 14 millions de dettes arrivant à échéance en avril et juin sur une offre totale de 488 millions. Les taux à 10 ans portugais se sont encore tendus de 4 pb à 7,67%.
09/03/2011
Le déficit commercial britannique se réduit après un record en décembre
Le déficit commercial de la Grande-Bretagne s’est fortement réduit en janvier, atteignant un plus bas depuis février 2010, des exportations record de pétrole et de produits agroalimentaires lui ayant permis de se reprendre après un déficit record en décembre. Le déficit commercial britannique s’est élevé à 7,057 milliards de livres (8,233 milliards d’euros) en janvier, après un déficit révisé à la hausse à 9,686 milliards de livres (11,30 milliards d’euros) en décembre.
09/03/2011
BNY Mellon AS recruits a head from Northern Trust
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sue Baines has joined BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as head of sales for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region. Baines will be based in London, and will report to Frank Froud, head of EMEA. She was previously senior vice president, head of GFS sales, EMEA, at Northern Trust, and previously served as deputy head of sales at Clearstream in Luxembourg. She was also the founder chairperson of the International Capital Market Services Association.
09/03/2011
HSBC GAM promotes Andy Clark
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Andy Clark as head of wholesale clients for the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). He remains as wholesale director for the United Kingdom and the Middle East and North Africa region.
09/03/2011
Saxo opens an office in Hong Kong
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Saxo Capital Markets has announced the opening of a fourth office in Asia. The affiliate of the Danish Saxo Bank will open a location in Hong Kong. Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited will allow retail clients in the region access to the trading platform.
09/03/2011
Lyxor lists another ETF in Frankfurt
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse on 8 March announced that the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform now includes 798 ETF products. Lyxor (Société Générale) has added the French-registered fund Lyxor ETF iBoxx € Liquid High Yield 30 (FR0010975771), with fees of 0.45%, to trading.
09/03/2011
Assets under management in Germany down in January
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although net subscriptions totalled EUR6.63bn in January (see Newsmanagers of 8 March), total assets under management in Germany as of 31 January fell by EUR36.06bn compared with the end of December, at EUR1.79442trn, according to statistics from the BVI association of asset management firms.The phenomenon affected open-ended funds, which were down to EUR706.16bn from EUR710.04bn, as well as mandates, which fell to EUR272.61bn from EUR307.07bn. However, assets under management by institutional funds rose to EUR815.66bn, from EUR813.38bn.Compared with the end of January 2010 (EUR1.70038trn), however, there were increases for open-ended funds, which stood at EUR651.22bn, and institutional funds, which had EUR732.51bn. However, assets in mandates totalled EUR316.65bn.
09/03/2011
Sovereign fund assets up
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sovereign funds last year saw an 11% increase in their assets, to USD3.98trn, according to the Financial Times, citing a new report. The proportion of these funds invested in infrastructure has increased from 47% at the beginning of 2010 to 61% at the beginning of 2011. The proportion invested in real estate and private equity has also risen, from 51% to 56%, and from 55% to 59%, respectively. For hedge funds, the proportion has held stable at 36%.
09/03/2011
Hedge fund assets totalled USD2.25trn as of the end of 2010
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the Deutsche Bank Alternative Investment Survey of more than 500 investors worldwide, hedge funds will has up to USD2.25trn in assets under management by the end of the year, beating the previous record of USD1.9trn set in 2008 and nearly beaten at the end of 2010, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. 64% of charities and more than 80% of sovereign funds saw they increased allocation to these products last year. Investors are increasingly tending to invest directly in hedge funds, rather than via funds of hedge funds. There is also growing demand for hedge funds with less than USD500m in assets under management.
09/03/2011
Net redemptions continue for funds in Italy in February
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In February, funds on sale in Italy saw net redemptions of EUR1.7bn, following outflows of EUR3.7bn in January, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. As a whole, equities, balanced and flexible funds took on a net total of EUR1.1bn. But these inflows were more than offset by heavy redemptions from bond funds (-EUR1.1bn), money market funds (-EUR1.4bn) and hedge funds (-EUR287m). As of the end of February, assets in funds on sale in Italy totalled EUR454bn, the same level as in January. Assogestioni says that foreign-registered funds (managed either by Italian or foreign firms) finished the month of February with net inflows of EUR1.3bn, bringing assets in these funds to EUR266bn, or more than 58% of total assets. As of the end of January, 76% of assets were managed by Italian group, while 24% was managed by foreign groups. The three largest asset management firms in the Italian fund market are Intesa Sanpaolo, with Eurizon and Fideuram, and a market share of 25.18%, followed by Pioneer (14.32%) and AM Holding (6.69%). As of the end of February, Pioneer has seen the largest net redemptions, with EUR416.5m, followed by BNP Paribas, with outflows of EUR410m. Of firms with the largest inflows, the top place goes to Generali, with EUR200m, followed by JP Morgan Asset Management, with EUR177.8m.
09/03/2011
Russell announces six recruitments for its transition management team
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, Russell Investments managed the transition of over USD620bn in assets. In order to meet rising demand, the US management firm has recruited six people worldwide. In London, the team has gained the addition of Tim Wilkinson, who was managing director, EMEA business head of transition and beta management at BNY Mellon, who becomes managing director, EMEA. He is joined by Catherine Darlington, vice president for the integrated transitions team at BalckRock (formerly BGI), who becomes a portfolio manager, and James Aylett, associate portfolio manager, who was a portfolio analyst at Russell Implementation Services. In Sydney, the group has been reinforced with the arrival of Daniel Birch, formerly a portfolio manager at SWI Capital in London. In the Seattle headquarters, Russell has recruited John Houchin (formerly of Clearwater Analytics), and transferred Eric Ellingson (formerly of Russell Implementation Services).
09/03/2011
Lyxor Hedge Fund index up in February
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In February 2011, the Lyxor Hedge Fund index gained 1.10%. For the month, the alternative strategies which performed best were the Lyxor L/S Equity Variable Bias Index (+2.30%), Lyxor Special Situations Index (+1.88%), and the Lyxor L/S Equity Market Neutral Index (+1.59%). The only strategy which saw losses in February was the Lyxor L/S Equity Short Bias Index (-6.25%).
09/03/2011
Groupama AM pleased with 2010 results
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Accounts at Groupama Asset Management (313 personnel) for 2010 show a net profit of EUR25.6m, compared with EUR24.6m the previous year (+6%), on earnings of EUR136m, compared with EUR134.4m (+3%), a result which the firm calls “satisfactory in a difficult context.”Assets as of the end of December totalled EUR89.9bn, compared with EUR88.8bn one year earlier, EUR81.3bn at the end of 2008, and EUR87.9bn as of the end of 2007. The manager saw net redemptions of EUR1.9bn, largely from money markets, despite subscriptions of EUR1.1bn in France and EUR1bn internationally.Foreign affiliates of the group had EUR7.6bn in assets as of the end of December, compared with EUR6.8bn twelve months previously, of which EUR5bn were in Italy, where Groupama received investments from external pension funds. In Spain, where 26 funds were already registered with the CNMV, assets under management total about EUR100m.Clients from outside the group as of the end of last year represented EUR15.1bn, compared with EUR17.2bn at the end of 2009, and EUR15.2bn at the end of 2008. In France, Groupama AM has seen outflows of EUR3bn from clients outside the group, of which EUR2.3bn were from markets, and EUR0.7bn from diversified management, to retirement planning institutions (IRP), following pension reforms. However, international clients brought in EUR0.5bn.SRI assets now total EUR6.4bn, compared with EUR5.5bn as of the end of 2009.
09/03/2011
Allianz Invest promotes an employee in Austria
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sonja König, who moved from Allianz Investment Bank to Allianz Invest KAG in 2001, has been promoted to become a member of the executive board at the management firm (EUR11bn), the fourth-largest in Austria. Since 2009, König has been head of management and risk control for the approximately 100 products from Allianz Invest.
09/03/2011
GE AM adds to intermediary relations team
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GE Asset Management Incorporated has announced the arrival of two people for its sales team dedicated to relations with intermediaries, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Bill Manthorne is joining the management firm as vice-president for sales to intermediary advisers, while Brian McCarthy will be in charge of defined contributions activities.
09/03/2011
Mellon Capital Management launches a commodities strategy
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mellon Capital Management (BNY Mellon Asset Management group) is launching a commodities strategy aimed at institutional investors. The Commodity Alpha Long-Bias Strategy fund was created to provide clients with diversification beyond investments in equities and bonds, and to protect them against inflation. The strategy will take long and short positions on futures on a wide range of commodities (energy, precious metals, livestock, soft commodities, and others).
09/03/2011
Groupama AM makes international activities and multi-management its priority development areas
Jean-Marie Catala, head of development, explained on 8 March that the internationalisation of the product range is at the core of the strategy of Groupama Asset Management. The strategy has already resulted in the creation of an international sales team, led by Arnaud Ganet (see Newsmanagers of 12 October 2010). The French manager will then add to its teams dedicated to international development, with the creation of a team to handle central and northern Europe (Benelux, German-speaking Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries).The strategy also resulted in the recent creation (14 December 2010) of the Luxembourg Sicav G Fund, which already has three sub-funds, with a total of EUR200m in assets. As Francis Ailhaud, CEO of Groupama AM, explains, the vehicle will be highly useful for international sales, and not only in Europe.Groupama AM is also planning to add to its multi-management offerings, at Groupama Fund Pickers, directional multi-management, at Groupama Alternative Asset Management, alternative multi-management, and the absolute return and high-conviction management units. These will all be included in the Σ (sigma) platform, should the merger of the entities, slated for 15 April, be approved by the AMF. Σ will also be equipped to handle mixed mandates combining direct management and multi-management.Personnel in the new management unit is nearly complete. It will include 15 fully-operating managers. The new CIO, Antoine de Salins (see Newsmanagers of 13 January 2011) has announced that initial assets at Σ will total EUR2bn, with 15 products.
09/03/2011
CIAM buys a stake in the incubator firm APG
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French alternative management firm CIAM, founded in 2010 by three women, has announced that it has received an investment for its fund from IMQubator, an incubation firm for young hedge funds owned by APG, the Netherlands pension fund, which has EUR277bn in pension assets. The entity has invested EUR20m in the CIAM Merger Arbitrage fund, which invests in operations which have been officially announced in Europe and North America, taking the firm’s total assets under management above EUR40m. In parallel with the entry into the fund’s capital, CIAM, which is headquartered in Paris, will soon be opening an office in Amsterdam, pending approval from the AMF. ImQubator, which aims to attract the most talented hedge fund managers, made it a condition of its investment that the management firm set up shop in the same building as the IMQubator headquarters.
09/03/2011
Thierry Bogaty becomes CEO of Ideam
Thierry Bogaty, ex editor in chief of the French newspaper Investir, has been appointed CEO of Ideam, Amundi’s business centred on extra-financial analysis, as of 1st March 2011. He reports to Pierre Schereck, who as a member of Amundi’s Executive Committee supervises Employee Savings and Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI).Michèle Jardin and Xavier de Bayser have left Ideam.
09/03/2011
State Street offers a centralised collateral management service
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the new Collateral Tracking Service, State Street Corporation is offering managers and owners of assets a centralised tracking system for their collateral, whoever the counterparties may be. Clients may now receive updated reporting on the location and status of all collateral.Clients may transfer their contracts for collateral services to the exclusive platform established by State Street, which will automatically bill for status and location monitoring services.In addition, the completely adaptable operation of the service allows clients to schedule report deliveries for regular intervals or custom dates, using any combination of dates, clients, counterparties, funds, and types of products.Jeff Conway, head of investment manager operations services, says the Collateral Tracking Service is at the core of State Street’s strategy for derivatives, which now includes handling and management of collateral, and independent evaluation of the end-to-end chain for both publicly traded and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
09/03/2011
ETFs are not widely trusted in Austria
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by StefanPerklin of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Vienna stock exchange now lists only 22 ETF funds, our of about 450 ETFs and 4,500 funds of all kinds which are eligible for sale in Austria, e-fundresearch reports. The European market share for ETFs on the Vienna stock exchange is 0.04%, while Deutsche Börse accounts for 41.12%, Borsa Italiana 15.8%, the London Stock Exchange 12.4%, the Swiss stock exchange 11.64%, and Euronext Paris 6.46%.
09/03/2011
Carl Icahn to reimburse subscribers to fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The billionaire Carl Icahn has announced that he plans to reimburse external shareholders for shares in his USD7bn high-risk fund, created in 2004, because he does not want clients themselves to run risks if another financial crisis occurs, Expansión reports. Clients have USD1.75bn invested in the fund. They will be 95% reimbursed in April.
09/03/2011
Madoff victims will begin to receive reimbursement this year
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for Bernard Madoff,'s businesses announced on 8 March that he hopes to recuperate over USD50bn involved in the fraud, and that some of this money (USD2.6bn) will be reimbursed to victims by the end of this year, pending a court decision expected next month, the Wall Street Journal reports.Picard has filed over 1,000 lawsuits in an effort to claw back over USD100bn from retail investors or entities which got money out of Madoff, or who had business relationships with Madoff’s companies. About USD10bn have already been recuperated, but cannot be distributed due to legal challenges.
09/03/2011
BVK awards a major mandate to Man Group
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based hedge fund manager Man Group on 8 March announced that it has received a managed accounts mandate totalling an initial EUR1.2bn from Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), a group of 12 German pension funds.Man Group, whose assets in managed accounts totalled USD8.7bn as of the end of January, will undertake operational due diligence, pre-selection of managers, and risk management for BVK. The management firm will remain responsible for selection of managers and construction of portfolios.
09/03/2011
Gartmore bond manager does not plan to remain at Henderson
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to information obtained by Investment Week, the bond manager John Anderson is not planning to remain at Henderson Global Investors after the company acquires Gartmore, where he works currently. He is reportedly seeking another position.