Lisbonne a placé vendredi 1,645 milliard d’euros d’obligations à court terme mais a dû proposer un taux de 5,79%, soit 2,5 points de plus que lors des adjudications similaires l’an passé. Selon le marché, cette opération ne sera pas suffisante. Fitch a abaissé vendredi la note du Portugal de «A-» à «BBB-». L’agence craint que le pays ne reçoive pas un soutien extérieur en temps et en heure compte tenu des élections législatives fixées au 5 juin.
Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière (EFSF) est prêt à venir en aide au Portugal si celui-ci le demande, assure son président, Klaus Regling, dans un entretien accordé à La Tribune. Le Portugal, dont le Premier ministre a démissionné faute de pouvoir faire adopter au parlement un nouveau programme d’austérité, est considéré par les marchés comme le prochain pays susceptible de devoir faire appel à une aide financière extérieure, après la Grèce et l’Irlande.
«Une restructuration de la dette grecque est absolument exclue», a déclaré le ministre grec des Finances, George Papaconstantinou, à Reuters, en réponse à un article de l’hebdomadaire Der Spiegel selon lequel le Fonds monétaire international pousserait pour une restructuration rapide de la dette d’Athènes. «Ceux (qui parlent de restructuration) ne parviennent pas à comprendre que les coûts excéderaient largement les bénéfices», a expliqué George Papaconstantinou.
Le Fonds monétaire international a activé vendredi comme prévu un fonds de crise de 581 milliards de dollars avec le soutien des Etats membres. Ces nouveaux accords d’emprunt (NAE) avaient été développés en 2009 après un appel du G20. «Les montants disponibles pour le FMI via les mécanismes multilatéraux d’emprunt ont été multipliés au total par dix depuis 2009 (...)», a précisé le ministère français de l’Economie et des Finances.
Le régulateur attire l’attention des investisseurs non professionnels sur les risques liés aux émissions obligataires de PME. L’AMF rappelle que la rémunération «qui peut sembler attractive» doit être rapprochée du risque de crédit, et invite à surveiller le risque de très faible liquidité de l’obligation.
La question des hausses des prix de l'énergie sera au cœur d’une réunion ministérielle ce vendredi à Matignon. Seront examinés cet après-midi, les prix du gaz, de l'électricité et des hydrocarbures, sans confirmer qu’un gel des tarifs du gaz jusqu'à l'élection présidentielle de 2012 est à l'étude, comme l'écrit Les Echos.
L’Agence France Trésor annonce l’adjudication, le jeudi 7 mars, d’un montant compris entre 8,0 et 9,5 milliards d’euros d’obligations assimilables du Trésor (OAT). Cette opération portera sur les lignes 2,50% octobre 2020, 4,25% octobre 2023, 3,50% avril 2026 et 4,50% avril 2041. La date de règlement est fixée au 12 avril 2011 pour toutes les lignes.
L’activité manufacturière a reculé dans la zone euro à 57,5 montre une enquête Markit publiée vendredi. Après avoir atteint 59,0 en février, l’estimation flash donnait 57,7 pour le mois de mars. Le sous-indice des prix à la production s’est établi à 61,5 contre 60,8 en février, atteignant un record historique, et le sous-indice de la production est à 58,5 après 61,4 en février.
Le Portugal a réussi vendredi à placer 1,65 milliard d’euros d’obligations à court terme, s’offrant ainsi un répit d’ici les élections anticipées du 5 juin, même si les analystes, au vu du niveau élevé du coût du financement, continuent de penser qu’un plan d’aide est inévitable. Le rendement moyen des titres de dette arrivant à échéance en juin 2012 a ainsi bondi à 5,793% contre un niveau de 3,159% lors d’une opération similaire en juillet dernier.
After slightly over one year, the Luxembourg fund Assénagon Credit Basis II has now reached EUR1.1bn in assets, a volume which requires high-performance investment opportunities that exceed the current capacities of the market. The German firm Assénagon Asset Management has therefore decided to provisionally close the credit fund to new subscriptions, from 4 April. This applies both to the I share class (LU0462885301) and the P share class (LU0462885483). Since its launch, the fund has generated returns of 5.7%, with volatility of 0.62%.
Banque Julius Baer & Co. SA a annoncé le 31 mars la nomination de Bernhard Hodler en qualité de nouveau chief operating officer (COO) du groupe et de la banque à partir du 1er avril. Cette nouvelle fonction de directeur général de l’exploitation permettra de renforcer l’organisation et la transformation du modèle d’affaires de Julius Baer, ce qui facilitera l’application de sa stratégie de croissance, explique le groupe dans un communiqué. Bernhard Hodler est l’actuel chief risk officer du groupe. Il travaille au sein de Julius Baer depuis 1998. Il a fait ses armes auparavant chez SBS et Credit Suisse, en grande partie dans la gestion des risques. En tant que COO, Bernhard Hodler sera responsable de l’attribution des moyens nécessaires à un alignement supplémentaire de Banque Julius Baer avec le paysage en transformation du private banking. Il sera responsable des opérations globales aussi bien que du contrôle et de la prévention des risques. En conséquence, les domaines du risque, legal & compliance, IT & ainsi que les opérations et services partagés seront sous sa responsabilité directe.
Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild SA on 31 March announced that in 2010 it earned net profits of CHF149.9m, up 9.6% year on year. Net inflows totalled CHF6.5bn. Assets under management, however, were up only slightly, due to the negative impact of the weak US dollar and euro against the Swiss franc. As of the end of 2010, they totalled CHF92.7bn, compared with CHF92.2bn the previous year. The Geneva-based private bank says in a statement that it will continue its strategic development projects this year. In Hong Kong, a banking license is expected to be issued to the bank “in the next few weeks,” while the bank has recently received a banking license in Dubai. In Switzerland, it would also like to concretise a strategic project “in the area of domestic clients.”
UBS is losing the director of its ultra high net worth segment, Riccardo Petrachi, who on 1 October will be joining the Zurich-based private bank Rothschild Private Banking & Trust, Rothschild announced on 31 March in a statement. Petrachi will take responsibility for clients with wealth of over CHF25m (ultra high net worth clients) and family offices, Rothschild says in the statement released on Thursday.
RBC Dexia Investor Services has appointed Mauro Dognini as managing director for Italy. He replaces Paride Amiotti who retires from RBC Dexia in May and will report to Tony Johnson, global head, sales & distribution. Mauro Dognini will be responsible for local market strategy, leading the company’s integrated sales, relationship and strategic client management model in Italy. He will also chair RBC Dexia’s Italian management committee and oversee local regulatory relationships.Mauro Dognini joins RBC Dexia from BNP Paribas Securities Services where he was global head of asset managers & asset owners solutions, based in Paris. Prior to this, he was deputy general manager for BNP Paribas Securities Services Italy for more than a decade.
The British management firm M&G has lowered its performance objectives for the Dividend fund (GBP528m), in order to give more flexibility to the manager of the strategy, Alex Odd. Instead of a performance objective of 33% above the performance of the FTSE All-Share index, the fund will now aim for returns higher than the benchmark index, through investments in UK equities. Morningstar reports that the fund has earned overall returns of 10% in the past twelve months, compared with an average of 7.1% for the UK Equity Income sector of the British Investment Management Association (IMA).
In the aftermath of its acquisition of the financial sector specialist HIM Capital, the investment firm Polar Capital is planning to launch an opportunity-driven fund specialised in the international finance sector. The UCITS III-compliant fund, domiciled in Dublin, is slated for launch in April. It will seek out investment opportunities in the US and European markets, with an interest in emerging countries.
In keeping with an agreement signed in November, when the Japanese group acquired 3 million shares in BlackRock, the US asset management firm on 31 March signed an alliance with Mizuho Financial Group, to promote strategic cooperation in Japan and Asia.Steering committees including representatives of the two parties will meet regularly to develop solutions to meet the needs of their clients worldwide, with a particular emphasis on Asia, and more extensive cooperation in the development of retail products in Japan. Mizuho will offer its clients access to the investment capacities of BlackRock. The Japanese group is also planning to adopt the Aladdin risk and investment system developed by BlackRock.
Schroders France has released the European Small & Mid Cap Value sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Schroder ISF for sale. The product, launched on 30 November 2010, replicates a Swiss fund created in 2003 and acquired by the British management firm in 2008. The manager of the new sub-fund is the same as for the Swiss fund: Caspar Benz, who will now be assisted by Daniel Lenz. The philosophy is also the same. The only difference, aside from the country of domicile, is that the Luxembourg sub-fund has a cash allocation limited to 10%, where it is 33% for the Swiss product, and liquidity is daily and not monthly. The co-managers insist, however, that this will not lead to major divergences in the composition of the portfolios (the objective excluding cash is to limit the differences to 5%). The European Small & Mid Cap Value invests, as its name indicates, in European small and midcaps, i.e. shares in companies whose capitalisation ranges from EUR500m to EUR10bn. “Caspar Benz and Daniel Lenz will seek out businesses which distribute dividends over the long term. The managers may this exclude the growth segment from their investment universe, but at the same time they ensure some protection of capital.” Assets in the sub-fund total EUR81m, while the Swiss fund has EUR274m. With the Luxembourg product, Schroders hopes to boost assets for the strategy, up to a limit of EUR1.5bn.
LGT Capital Management has added to its range of funds with three new “Dynamic Shield” strategies, including a bond fund, an equities fund, and a multi-asset class fund. The objective of the new funds is to participate in upward trends, while limiting potential losses in downward movements. LGT offers three variants, according to the risk profile of investors. The three new funds, the LGT Fixed Income Dynamic Shield, LDE Multi Asset Dynamic Shield and LGT Equity Dynamic Shield, are all available in three currencies each: Swiss franc, euro and US dollar. LGT Fixed Income Dynamic Shield (CHF) B LI0121391937 LGT Fixed Income Dynamic Shield (EUR) B LI0008231933 LGT Fixed Income Dynamic Shield (USD) B LI0121391945 LGT Multi Asset Dynamic Shield (CHF) B LI0121391994 LGT Multi Asset Dynamic Shield (EUR) B LI0121391986 LGT Multi Asset Dynamic Shield (USD) B LI0121392000 LGT Equity Dynamic Shield (CHF) B LI0121392133 LGT Equity Dynamic Shield (EUR) B LI0121392125 LGT Equity Dynamic Shield (USD) B LI0121392158
The US management firm Vanguard became the top vendor of European retail SRI funds in January, according to the most recent statistics compiled by Lipper FMI on behalf of Responsible Investor. Overall, the “RI screened” fund sector, which includes funds filtered for ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria, saw outflows of EUR742m in January, following subscriptions of EUR623.8m in December. The most popular fund was the SRI European Stock fund from Vanguard, which attracted EUR225.4m, followed by the Court Terme ISR fund from Macif, which took in EUR115.5m, and the LO Funds-Generation Global (EUR66m). However, “RI Extended” funds, which include funds which practice exclusion, normative funds, climate change funds and microfinance funds, saw a net inflow of EUR1.48bn, following EUR841.3m in December.