Selon l’Agefi, Le juge de l’Etat de New York, Harold Baer, a rejeté jeudi dernier les plaintes déposées par des hedge funds concernant la communication financière de Porsche en 2008. De fait, le juge a renforcé les espoirs de voir l’opération de fusion entre Porsche et Volkswagen se nouer comme prévu fin 2011. La quarantaine de fonds alternatifs, réunis sous les bannières d’Elliott Associates et de Black Diamond qui se lamentent d’avoir perdu 2 milliards de dollars à l’occasion de la tentative avortée de prise de contrôle du principal constructeur automobile européen par son compatriote spécialiste des voitures de sport de luxe pourraient ne pas s’avouer vaincus, note cependant le quotidien. Porsche aurait trompé les fonds en position vendeuse sur ses intentions réelles, provoquant un redoutable «effet de rareté» («short squeeze») lorsque les fonds ont été contraints en catastrophe d’acheter des titres.
Selon Money Marketing, Gemini Investment Management réfléchit à de nouveaux fonds qui pourraient être dédiés à l’Amérique du Sud et à l’Afrique. Gemini envisage également de lancer des véhicules alternatifs.Deux fonds pourraient d’ores et déjà être proposés dans le courant du premier trimestre, a indiqué le managing director de Gemini, Stuart Alexander. En novembre dernier, Gemini a lancé, en partenariat avec le courtier indien Motilal Oswal, le Gemini Most India fund.
L’Agefi rapporte que les associations caritatives britanniques ont appelé samedi 1er janvier à une taxation des bonus bancaires. Une nouvelle taxe à titre exceptionnel rapporterait, selon elles, plus de trois milliards de livres de recettes qui, au final, pourraient compenser les réductions dont les associations caritatives vont faire l’expérience.
Le britannique Hargreaves Lansdown a retiré le fonds SVM global opportunities de sa liste de 150 fonds recommandés, évoquant sa volatilité accrue depuis le début de la crise financière, rapporte Money Marketing.Le fonds a très significativement sous-performé son secteur de référence au cours des trois dernières années, puisqu’il affiche un recul de 24,6% à comparer à un gain de 8% pour le secteur Global Growth.
Si les fonds «miroirs» donnent accès à certains des plus grands gérants de hedge funds, la Tribune s’interroge si les performances sont les mêmes que celles des fonds offshore. HedgeFund Intelligence (HFI) a réalisé une étude auprès de 62 produits offshore et de leurs clones. Toutes stratégies confondues, l'écart de performance moyenne entre les deux types de fonds est de 3,38 %, selon le quotidien. HFI précisant qu’il y a quasiment autant de fonds Ucits qui sur ou sous-performent les offshore. «L'écart de tracking error (TE) dépend de la stratégie répliquée et du coût de structuration», explique Serge Darolles, responsable adjoint équipe R&D Lyxor, et auteur d’une étude sur le sujet.
La société américaine de services financiers Raymond James Financial vient d’annoncer la conclusion d’un accord définitif pour l’acquisition de Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett, une firme de courtage basée à Chicago qui dispose également d’un pôle gestion de fortune à la tête de 1,9 milliard d’actifs sous gestion.
Depuis 2009, Dynamic Funds (groupe Patrimoine Dundee ou DundeeWealth) commercialise six fonds aux Etats-Unis.Au 27 décembre, rapporte The Wall Street Journal, son US Growth Fund géré par Noah Blackstein a gagné 52 % sur un an et a enregistré 14 millions de dollars de souscriptions nettes au quatrième trimestre, ce qui lui a permis de doubler son encours. C’est le meilleur fonds diversifié d’actions américaines pour 2010, hors fonds utilisant l’effet de levier.Quant au Dynamic Gold & Precious Metals Fund, un fonds d’actions géré par Robert Cohen, il affiche la plus forte performance de tous les types de fonds pour 2010, avec 71 %.Il reste à savoir si Dynamic Funds, qui représente l’essentiel des 33,8 milliards de dollars canadiens d’encours de Patrimoine Dundee, réussira à fidéliser ses gérants stars, maintenant que Banque Scotia (Scotiabank) a annoncé son intention d’acquérir Patrimoine Dundee (lire notre article du 23 novembre 2010). Noah Blackstein a en tous cas annoncé qu’il compte rester en place.
Selon l’Agefi, Kenneth Feinberg, l’administrateur du fonds de 20 milliards de dollars abondé par BP pour répondre aux dégâts causés par la marée noire dans le Golfe du Mexique, estime que la moitié des sommes affectées pourrait suffire à indemniser les victimes. Jusqu'à présent, la Gulf Coast Claims Facility a versé quelque 2,7 milliards de dollars à plus de 170.000 demandeurs au cours des quatre derniers mois .
L’Agefi rapporte que la société d’investissement américaine Carlyle s’est allégée dans China Pacific Insurance en vendant 215,8 millions d’actions au prix unitaire de 31,15 dollars de Hong Kong, selon un prospectus obtenu par Bloomberg (voir NewsManagers du 31 décembre). Au total, le montant de l’opération s'élève à 6,7 milliards de dollars (près de 650 millions d’euros).
Aujourd’hui, Laffitte Capital Management (LCM) gère 85 millions d’euros répartis à parts égales entre institutionnels, particuliers et multigestion. Selon La Tribune, la société de gestion vise les 250 millions d’euros fin 2011. La société étudie aussi le développement de «managed accounts» (comptes gérés). L’arrivée d’un nouveau gérant est également prévu.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that a New York state judge, Harold Baer, on Thursday rejected lawsuits filed by hedge funds related to the financial disclosures made by Porsche in 2008. The judge thus strengthened hopes that the merger of Porsche and Volkswagen would go ahead as planned in late 2011. The 40 hedge funds, led by Elliott Associates and Black Diamond, which lost USD2bn in the takeover bid by the largest European auto maker for its specialist compatriot, may now be defeated, the newspaper notes. Porsche did not disclose its real intentions to the hedge funds, which had short-sold shares, provoking a “short squeeze” effect when the funds were required to buy back the shares in catastrophic conditions.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, only one quarter of Italian managers succeeded in outperforming their benchmarks, compared with 43% in 2009, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. The two fund categories which suffered most were money markets and short-term bonds, with only 10.7% and 9.1% outperforming their benchmarks. Most funds analysed (60%) had returns 0% to 2% higher or lower than their benchmarks. Only 10% were more than 5% away from the index (13 in a positive and 34 in a negative direction).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the private banking sector in Switzerland is seeing limited demand for Sharia-compliant financial products. Pictet & Cie launched a thematic fund based on the methods of Islamic finance two years ago, and closed it last year. “There is an inexplicable scepticism on the part of Geneva private banks about giving a mandate to a consulting firm specialised in Sharia-compliant investment. As of now, no major institution of this type which is respected internationally is yet established in Switzerland, though they are in London and Luxembourg,” says John Sandwick, independent manager in Geneva, cited by the newspaper.
The euro has only a 20% chance of surviving in its current form for the next ten years, according to the British research institute CEBR (Centre for Economics and Business Research), which on 31 December published its ten major predictions for 2011.In its commentary on the euro, at the top of the list of predictions, the CEBR points out that Spain and Italy will need to refinance EUR400bn of their debt in spring, which could potentially create a new crisis in the euro zone. The euro may disintegrate at that time, even if European directors are capable of responding to such a crisis.“If the euro does not fall apart, 2011 could be the year when it weakens substantially, towards parity with the dollar,” says the CEO of the CEBR, Douglas McWilliams. “I think that the thing which will put an end to the euro will be the failure of most countries to adopt remedies that include the necessary constraints to make their economies competitive over the longer term,” the CEBR chief explains.The British think tank estimates that Germany will continue to play the role of a super-star in the Western world. It points out that the success of the German economy is partly due to the contribution of its immigrants, particularly from Turkey. However, Japan, whose debt now represents 200% of its GNP, may be facing a new financial crisis.The CEBR gives itself a positive verdict on its predictions for 2010, but admits that its sporting predictions were nearly all wrong. For 2011, the CEBR is nonetheless giving it another try. In football, it plucks for Manchester United for the British championship, and Real Madrid for the European title. New Zealand will beat Australia in the rugby world cup final, it says.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Hargreaves Lansdown has withdrawn the SVM global opportunities fund from its list of 150 recommended funds, pointing to its increased volatility since the beginning of the financial crisis, Money Marketing reports. The fund has very significantly underperformed its benchmark sector in the past three years, down 24.6%, compared with gains of 8% for the Global Growth sector.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that Gemini Investment Management is considering new funds which may be dedicated to South America and Africa. Gemini is also planning to launch alternative vehicles. Two funds may already be available in first quarter, the managing director of Gemini, Stuart Alexander, says. In November, Gemini launched the Gemini Most India fund in partnership with the Indian broker Motilal Oswal.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, a pension fund with USD9.7bn in assets, is seeking a total of Usd24m, which it lost on operations related to securities lending, from Wachovia, and therefore Wells Fargo, which acquired the firm, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pension fund says the bank reinvested the cash collateral in transactions which were not a part of the mandate it had been assigned, particularly with Sigma Finance, a structured investment vehicle.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Les Echos reports that US economists at the American Economic Association (AEA) would like to give some support to their credibility by setting up an “ethical code” to smooth relations between Wall Street and academic circles. At the annual conference, which will be held in Denver on 6 January, the executive committee of the largest global organisation of economists (17,000 professionals) will propose a new charter for its members which would require economists to make their consulting activities publicly known. The initiative comes a few months after the release of a documentary entitled “Inside Job” by Charles Ferguson, which revealed the sometimes incestuous relations between Wall Street and certain university professors.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Douglas A. Kelley, the court-appointed receiver for the business of Tom Petters, has filed several lawsuits against J.P. Morgan Chase and its affiliate One Equity Partners, seeking USD300m on the basis that they knew, or should have known, that money seized from the accounts of the fraudster were the proceeds of fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The amount sought represents the millions of dollars in these accounts as well as commissions earned from the acquisition of shares in Polaroid in operations related to a Ponzi scheme.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Gold gained nearly 30% in 2010, on the basis of its closing price on Friday, 31 December, after a fifth consecutive month of rising value in December. The metal has turned in its best annual performance since 2007, the news agency Reuters reports. The gold fixed spot price was USD1,410.25 per ounce on Friday morning, compared with USD1,405.50 at the previous fixing on Thursday afternoon. On the basis of these fixings, the price of the metal has risen 29.7% over the year, compared with gains of 28.7% on the free spot market.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ESMA, the new European market authority, will be created on 3 January in Paris, with the aim of harmonizing national regulatory frameworks, Les Echos reports. It will become a force to contend with for national market regulators, including the British FSA. To this end, it has new competences beyond those of its predecessor, the European Committee of Securities Regulators (CESR). The most important of these is the ability to declare technical standards applicable to all markets in Europe.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 22 December, assets in the hausInvest fund, managed by Commerz Real, represented less than EUR9.98bn, compared with more than EUR10.81bn as of 1 October, Das Investment reports.This decline of nearly EUR1bn is due to rising equities and uncertainties related to the future of open-ended real estate funds. Despite the redemptions, Commerzbank is not planning a sales drive, says Markus Esser, spokesman for Commerz Real.HausInvest is the product born of the merger of the hausInvest europa and hausInvest global funds (see Newsmanagers of 25 March 2010).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } One week after selling two properties in Saint-Denis for EUR120m (see Newsmanagers of 24 December), Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has announced the sale of an office/commercial property in Hamburg for EUR44.6m to Aachener Grundvermögen Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH. The sale, like those of the two French properties, took place at a price higher than the most recent expert valuation.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal from Credit Suisse Germany, which has been closed to redemptions for several months (see Newsmanagers of 21 May 2010), on 17 December announced the sale for EUR184m of two properties in Paris: an office building located at 31 avenue Pierre I de Serbie, and a commercial property at 88 rue de Rivoli. The total sale price is higher than the most recent expert valuation.Credit Suisse also states that the fund on 14 December distributed EUR199.1m in dividends for the period to 30 September 2010, of which more than one quarter, EUR52.4m, were reinvested in the fund in the next three days.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sun is rising over the Rhine. Major transactions are still expected in the German private equity industry, despite its collapse in 2009, and the fact that the recovery of private equity funds has been slower than expected, the Financial Times Deutschland reports. But investors estimate that the time is not right, and nothing is changing in terms of fundamental trends. Germany is nonetheless a privileged hunting-ground for large funds, due to the excellent financial health of many businesses which may represent potential targets. In this environment, major market actors have all built up funds with very good volumes of spending money, with more than EUR11bn at Apax, more than EUR6bnat BC Partners and about EUR10bn at Blackstone.
Eric Helderlé tells Newsmangers what's new at a rising star firm with EUR50bn in assets under management. The CEO of the company based in the place Vendôme in Paris isn't bashful about answering any questions, on topics ranging from recent appointments, the firm's founder, Edouard Carmignac, the success of the Carmignac Patrimoine fund, the limits of its popularity...
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Professionals do not believe the official version of the story, according to which Klaus Kaldemorgen is voluntarily giving up his position as administrative head of DWS (EUR274bn in assets) in order to concentrate on management of equities funds, Handelsblatt reports (see Newsmanagers of 30 December 2010).Sources familiar with the matter say that the transfer or departure of Kaldemorgen and other senior officers from the management firm (Andreas Feiden, who is moving to Fidelity, Ingo Gefeke and Axel Schwarzer, who are leaving the group) is due to insufficient profits for the investment fund activitie and to the fact that the heads of Deutsche Bank, would haveve wished to see DWS develop more internationally. In addition, open-ended funds from DWS in 2010 saw net outflows of over EUR1.6bn.The new CEO is Wolfgang Matis, 54, who had been planning to retire. He was a colleague of Anshu Jain, the head of the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank. Jain is credited with the best chances of succeeding Josef Ackermann, chairman of the board.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, Spanish funds as of 24 December had assets of EUR144.54bn, 15.35% less than at the end of 2009. In December, assets under management were down by EUR324m, due to the fact that gains of over EUR1.59bn were not enough to offset net redemptions of nearly EUR1.92bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Luis Hernández, formerly of Cetelem as well as BNP Banque Privée, has been appointed CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Spain, following the merger with Fortis, Expansión reports, relayed by Funds People. He will be assisted by Jaime Hap, former CEO of Fortis Banca Privada, Alfonso Martínez Parras, head of sales, and Bertrand Léger, administrative director. BNP Paribas Wealth Management (200 employees, two thirds of whom come from BNP Paribas and the rest from Fortis) manages about EUR5.5bn. It has 4,500 individuals or families as clients, and has reduced its personnel by 65 as part of the merger. Hernández says that net inflows in 2010 totalled about EUR200m, which were offset by market effects, meaning that asset volumes remained stable.