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23/02/2010

AMF hands down penalties against two Richelieu Finance managers

The AMF has sentenced Julien Quistrebert and Nathalie Pelras, both managers at the management firm Richelieu Finance, to a pecuniary sanction of EUR30,000. The decision was announced on Monday, 22 February, on the website of the financial market regulator, and will also be published in the annual yearbook of sanction verdicts by the Commission. Quistrebert, manager of the Richelieu Evolution fund, and Pelras, with whom he co-manages Richelieu Europe, were found “in neglect of duty in the use of insider information,” the AMF states. The trades in question took place in 2007, when the Netherlands-registered firm Completel Europe NV, a national telecommunications operator dedicated largely to businesses, was the object of a takeover bid from the firm Altice B2b on 30 August. On 22 August 2007, according to the AMF report, Quistrebert, manager of FCP funds at Richelieu Finance Gestion Privée, was given advance information about the operation by a banker in the corporate finance department of HSBC – including, the next day, the share price the potential acquirer was planning to offer. At that time, Quistrebert, made large-scale acquisitions of shares for the Richelieu Finance fund, and also informed Pelras, who did likewise for the Richelieu Europe fund.
23/02/2010

Stanley Fink teams up with Hite Capital Management

International Standard Asset Management (ISAM), the London-based hedge fund management firm led by Stanley Fink, announced on 22 February that it has signed a strategic alliance with ite Capital Management (HCM), led by Larry Hite. By the agreement, Hite and two of his partners, Alex Geyserman and Gilbert Lee, will join ISAM as shareholders and directors. The move is an important step for ISAM, whose objective is to set up a multi-strategy strategy platform of liquid hedge fund strategies. The new alliance alliance will also bring the creation of ISAM Systematic in April, and the ISAM Fusion Fund, a managed accounts fund, soon thereafter. Hite, who is considered a forefather of systematic trading, founded HCM and was co-founder of Mint Investment Management, which transformed Man Group into one of the largest managers of publicly traded hedge funds.
23/02/2010

SIG exports its expertise to Sweden

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has made significant moves to export its Spectrum risk-targeted fund concept to Sweden. Skandia Nordic has taken on board the concept, which was first launched in the United Kingdom in June 2008, and has developed its own range of risk-targeted funds. Since its launch, Spectrum has attracted over GBP400m in assets despite the financial turbulence.
23/02/2010

Madoff: New preliminary investigation begins in France

Les Echos reports, citing Le Figaro, that a new preliminary investigation was initiated in Paris on 5 February into an aspect of the Madoff case. The investigation originates from a complaint lodged by a sales agent who placed USD1m in a fund from Kingate Management, based in Bermuda, one of the funds which funneled investments back to Madoff as part of the fraudulent network established by the former US broker, who has been sentenced to 150 years in prison. The investigation is centered on a Paris investment consulting firm, whose name has not been disclosed, which is accused of organized fraud, abuse of confidence, money-laundering and the unlicensed practice in the banking profession. The Paris prosecutor’s office could not be reached to confirm the reports. However, Julien Visconti, a lawyer for the sales agent, states that PriceWaterhouseCoopers Bermuda and Citi Hedge Fund Services (Citi group) are also accused ot having played a role in the organized fraud.
23/02/2010

Invesco PowerShares launches an ETF of closed-end funds

On Friday, Invesco PowerShares launched an ETF investing in US closed-end funds that replicates the S-Network Composite Closed-End Fund Index SM index. The fund is entitled PowerShares CEF Income Composite Portfolio, trades under the acronym PCEF, and distributes dividends on a monthly basis. Currently, the index includes 71 closed-end funds. Under normal conditions, the manager will invest at least 80% of assets in shares of funds belonging to the index.
23/02/2010

A new emerging markets income fund

Somerset Capital Management, a boutique founded by Jacob Rees-Mog, is launching one of the first income funds to focus on emerging markets in the United Kingdom, the Financial Times reports. The Emerging Dividend Growth Fund offers yield of 4.6%.
23/02/2010

BMW reduces longevity risks

Abbey Life, a company of the Deutsche Bank group, will take on the longevity risks of the British pension fund of BMW (GBP3bn), and will transfer part of it to a consortium of reinsurers which includes the German firm Hannover Rück (Hannover Re), Pacific Life Re, and Partner Re, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The deal covers retirement liabilities for 60,000 pensioners, who are former employees of Mini, Rolls Royce, and mostly (about half) from Rover, which was an affiliate of the Bavarian group between 1994 and 2000.
23/02/2010

David Marcus returns at the helm of his own business

David Marcus, a former portfolio manager from Franklin Mutual, has launched two funds at his new firm Evermore Global Advisors, where as well as being co-founder, he is CIO and Lead Portfolio Manager, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Evermore Global Value Fund and Evermore European Value Fund both have a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.99% for A, I and C class shares. The funds, launched on 31 December, are already available via the Pershing platform. They will also be made available on the institutional platforms from Fidelity, Schwab OneSource and TD Ameritrade by the end of the month, Mutual Fund Wire reports.
23/02/2010

FrontPoint Partners creates a team dedicated to direct loans

FrontPoint Partners (Morgan Stanley group) announced on 19 February that it has created a new investment team as part of its platform. The team, which will be led by Stephen Czech, will operate a strategy dedicated to creating and investing in guaranteed loans to SMBs, largely in the United States. Czech was previously a managing director and portfolio manager at Gottex. Clients of Gottex will continue to have access to investment opportunities offered by Czech and his team. As of 31 December 2009, FrontPoint Partners managed about USD7bn in single and multi-strategy vehicles.
23/02/2010

Planned integration of BNPP IM and FIM moving ahead rapidly

Fitch Ratings states in a report published on 22 February that the planned integration of BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP, ‘M2+’) and Fortis Investments (FIM, ‘M2,’ but on a rating swatch) is progressing rapidly “considering the diversity of activities and implantations concerned,” and is on schedule. The major organizational areas of the new merged entity have been defined, particularly in terms of the management team and operational staff. With EUR530bn in assets under management as of the end of December 2009, the new merged BNPP IP and FIM ensemble has a strong presence in Europe and hopes to increase its presence outside its domestic European markets, France and Benelux, which represent nearly 65% of assets.
23/02/2010

Invesco may drop AIM brand

Mutual Fund Wire reports that Invesco is rumoured to have decided to abandon the AIM brand. The AIM Charter fund would be renamed as Invesco Charter. However, Invesco is planning to retain the Van Kampen brand name, whose acquisition is expected to be completed in the next few months.
23/02/2010

Deutsche Bank and Sal. Oppenheim to merge wealth management activities

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management will be uniting its wealth management activities in Austria with those of Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie as part of a single structure. The entity will be led by Bernhard Ramsauer, who will report to Marco Bizzozero, CEO of Deutsche Bank Switzerland. The affiliate will be registered as a bank, and will operate under the Deutsche Bank brand name. The structure will be in charge of wealth management activities in Central and Eastern Europe for the group, while asset management activities of Sal. Oppenheim will continue to trade under the Sal. Oppenheim name.
23/02/2010

Pimco faces lawsuit

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Pimco, paving the way for a USD600m lawsuit against the company to proceed, says the Financial Times. A group of traders allege the bond investment house cornered the market in 10-year Treasury bonds issued in 2005, forcing those with short positions to choose between paying monopoly prices to close their positions or buying an expensive futures contract to offset them. They are demanding more than USD600m in damages over alleged misconduct, which Pimco denies.
23/02/2010

Nikko AM launches a green bond fund

Nikko Asset Management will this month launch the Nikko AM World Bank Group, which will invest 80-100% of its assets in green bonds from the World Bank. The fund will target institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East.
23/02/2010

Strong growth in fund assets in 2009

According to statistics from the European Central Bank (ECB), assets in non-money market investment funds in the Euro zone as of the end of December totalled EUR4.955trn, compared with EUR4.035trn twelve months previously, which represents an increase of 22.8%. In the same period, assets in money market funds contracted to EUR1.201trn from EUR1.250trn.
23/02/2010

Insynergy and GAM launch a China fund

The investment firm Insynergy and the management firm GAM are to launch an absolute return fund dedicated to China that complies with the UCITS III directive by mid-April, MoneyMarketing reports. The fund, entitled Insynergy Absolute China Fund, will offer the GAM long/short strategy for China, which was previously only available to investors via hedge funds. Insynergy points out that the Greater China Equity strategy from GAM, led by Michael Lai, who will managee the new fund, has earned returns of nearly 157% since its launch in July 2006, while the benchmark index, the MSCI Zhong Hua, has gained only 49.96%. Lai will construct a portfolio of 15 to 70 positions, of which 15 to 60 will be long, and up to 20 may be short. To conserve the manager’s ability to generate alpha, the fund’s size will be limited to USD250m.
23/02/2010

BNPP IP/Fortis Investments : l'intégration progresse rapidement, selon Fitch

Au terme d’une étude consacrée à l'état d’avancement du projet d’intégration entre BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) et Fortis Investments (FIM), Fitch Ratings arrive à la conclusion que ce processus progresse rapidement et selon l'échéancier prévu. Le nouvel ensemble pesait fin décembre quelque 530 milliards d’euros d’encours.Parmi les points forts des deux protagonistes, l’agence de notation met en exergue les moyens importants de BNP Paribas Fund Services (BPFS) et le dispositif de gestion des risques de BNPP IP mis en place autour de l’outil RiskMetrics. Du côté de FIM, Fitch relève l’efficacité de la plateforme technologique et les principes de gouvernance.
23/02/2010

Diversified funds don’t necessarily mean diversified risk

Funds managed in a diversified manner do not necessarily provide diversified risk. A study undertaken by Skandia of 489 balanced funds reveals a wide range of risk ratings, from 2 to 10 on a risk scale of 1 to 10, while the average rating would fall at about 5. Only 28 funds, or 6% of the sample, have a rating of 5. The average risk rating for the funds was 7. The disparities in risk ratings do not necessarily mean that diversified funds represent a poor investment, but they do mean that investors should be aware of the risk profile of each fund.
23/02/2010
Fonds

Forte hausse de l'encours des fonds en 2009

D’après les statistiques de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), l’encours des fonds d’investissement autres que monétaires dans la zone euro est ressorti fin décembre à 4.955 milliards d’euros contre 4.035 milliards douze mois auparavant, ce qui représente un gonflement de 22,8 %. Dans le même temps, l’encours des fonds monétaires s’est contracté à 1.201 milliards d’euros contre 1.250 milliards.
Fonds
23/02/2010

BNPP IP/Fortis Investments : l'intégration progresse rapidement, selon Fitch

Au terme d’une étude consacrée à l'état d’avancement du projet d’intégration entre BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) et Fortis Investments (FIM), Fitch Ratings arrive à la conclusion que ce processus progresse rapidement et selon l'échéancier prévu. Le nouvel ensemble pesait fin décembre quelque 530 milliards d’euros d’encours."Les grandes lignes organisationnelles du nouvel ensemble ont ainsi été définies, notamment en termes d'équipes de gestion et de dispositif opérationnel», constate l’agence de notation. Cette dernière souligne que l’efficacité de la coordination du «vaste ensemble de gestions» ainsi que du «pilotage global en termes de vision macro-économique par les deux CIO» sera déterminante pour la réussite du projet d’intégration des gestions et leur développement. De surcroît, note Fitch, «certains processus de gestion, notamment ceux fragilisés par le départ d’anciens gérants de FIM en 2009, restent à consolider ou à reconstruire».Parmi les points forts des deux protagonistes, l’agence de notation met en exergue les moyens importants de BNP Paribas Fund Services (BPFS) et le dispositif de gestion des risques de BNPP IP mis en place autour de l’outil RiskMetrics. Du côté de FIM, Fitch relève l’efficacité de la plateforme technologique et les principes de gouvernance.
23/02/2010
Fonds

Nikko AM lance un fonds vert obligataire

Nikko Asset Management va lancer ce mois-ci le Nikko AM World Bank Green, qui sera investi à 80-100 % dans les obligations vertes de la Banque mondiale. Ce fonds ciblera les investisseurs institutionnels européens et moyen-orientaux.
Fonds
23/02/2010

Insynergy et Gam lancent un fonds chinois

La firme d’investissement Insynergy et la société de gestion GAM vont lancer à la mi-avril un fonds de performance absolue dédié à la Chine et conforme à la directive OPCVM III, selon MoneyMarketing.Le fonds, dénommé le Insynergy Absolute China Fund, proposera la stratégie long/short de GAM sur la Chine, auparavant seulement accessible aux investisseurs dans les hedge funds. Insynergy rappelle au passage que la stratégie Greater China Equity de GAM, pilotée par Michael Lai qui va gérer le nouveau fonds, a dégagé un rendement de près de 157% depuis son lancement en juillet 2006, alors que l’indice de référence, le MSCI Zhong Hua, affiche un gain de seulement 49,96%.Michael Lai se propose de constituer un portefeuille de 15 à 70 lignes, dont 15 à 60 seront» long» et jusqu'à 20 «short». Pour préserver la capacité du gérant de générer de l’alpha, la capacité du fonds sera plafonnée à 250 millions de dollars.
23/02/2010

Les sociétés de gestion renforcent leurs réserves

De nombreuses sociétés de gestion constitueraient des réserves pour pouvoir faire face à des pics inattendus de demandes de remboursement sans avoir à vendre des actifs illiquides dans la baisse des marchés, rapporte le Financial Times Fund Management, qui a notamment interrogé Amin Rajan, directeur général de Create Research. Les gestionnaires répondent aussi par ce biais aux pressions discrètes des régulateurs aux Etats-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et en Europe continentale.
23/02/2010
Fonds

Nouveau fonds dividendes marchés émergents

Somerset Capital Management, la boutique créée par Jacob Rees-Mog, lance l’un des premiers fonds dividendes sur les marchés émergents au Royaume-Uni, rapporte le Financial Times. Le Emerging Dividend Growth fund offre un rendement de 4,6 %.
Fonds
23/02/2010
Fonds

BMW réduit son risque de longévité

Abbey Life, du groupe Deutsche Bank prend en charge les risques de longévité du fonds de pension britannique de BMW (3 milliards de livres) et en transfère une partie à un consortium de réassureurs composé de l’allemand Hannover Rück (Hannover Re) ainsi que Pacific Life Re et Partner Re, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung.Cette transaction concerne les engagements de retraite concernant 60.000 bénéficiaires, d’anciens collaborateurs de Mini et de Rolls-Royce mais surtout (pour la moitié environ) de Rover, qui a été filiale du groupe bavarois entre 1994 et 2000.
Fonds
23/02/2010

Bonus: le précédent de Barclays met la pression sur la concurrence

Selon Les Echos, les dirigeants de Barclays, qui ont renoncé à leurs bonus malgré les bons résultats de la banque, ont créé un précédent difficile à ne pas reproduire pour leurs pairs britanniques. Avant même la publication de leurs résultats à la fin de la semaine, les dirigeants de Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) et de Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) ont renoncé à toute prime au titre de l’exercice 2009.
23/02/2010
Fonds

Invesco PowerShares lance un ETF de fonds fermés

Vendredi, Invesco powerShares a lancé un ETF de fonds fermés américains reproduisant l’indice S-Network Composite Closed-End Fund Index SM. Il s’agit du PowerShares CEF Income Composite Portfolio ,dont l’acronyme est PCEF et qui distribuera des dividendes mensuels.Actuellement, l’indice comprend 71 fonds fermés. En temps normal, le gérant investira au moins 80 % dans des parts de fonds inclus dans l’indice.La commission de gestion se situe à 1,81 %.
Fonds
23/02/2010

FrontPoint Partners met en place une équipe dédiée aux prêts en direct

FrontPoint Partners (groupe Morgan Stanley) a annoncé le 19 février qu’il avait constitué une nouvelle équipe d’investissement à sa plate-forme. L'équipe, dirigée par Stephen Czech, pilotera une stratégie dédiée à l’origination et à l’investissement dans des prêts garantis à destination de PME pour l’essentiel aux Etats-Unis.Stephen Czech était précédemment chez managing director et gérant de portefeuille chez Gottex. Les clients de Gottex devraient d’ailleurs continuer d’avoir accès aux propositions d’investissement émanant de Stephen Czech et de son équipe.Au 31 décembre 2009, FrontPoint Partners gérait quelque 7 milliards de dollars au travers de véhicules de «single"ou de «multi-stratégie».
23/02/2010
Fonds

David Marcus reprend du service dans sa propre entreprise

Ancien gestionnaire de portefeuille de Franklin Mutual, David Marcus vient de lancer deux fonds dans sa nouvelle société Evermore Global Advisors dont il est, outre le co-fondateur, CIO and Lead Portfolio Manager, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. Evermore Global Value Fund et Evermore European Value Fund affichent tous deux un TER (Total Expensive Ratio) de 0,99 % pour les parts A, I et C. Lancés le 31 décembre, les fonds sont d’ores et déjà disponibles via la plate-forme de Pershing. Il devrait également être référencés sur les plate-formes institutionnelles de Fidelity, Schwab OneSource et TD Ameritrade d’ici la fin de ce mois, précise Mutual Fund Wire.
Fonds
23/02/2010

Invesco veut supprimer la marque AIM

Selon Mutual Fund Wire, Invesco aurait décidé d’abandonner la marque AIM. C’est ainsi que le fonds AIM Charter sera rebaptisé Invesco Charter. En revanche, Invesco veut garder la marque Van Kampen dont l’acquisition devrait être bouclée dans les prochains mois.

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