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16/11/2009

P2 Value real estate fund from Morgan Stanley hit hard on markets

Only four German open-ended real estate funds are maintaining their suspensions of redemptions put in place in late October 2008, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The most emblematic of these is the P2 Value fund from Morgan Stanley, whose assets totalled EUR1.4bn, but whose shares were trading on the Hamburg and Stuttgart stock markets at EUR42, though the fund’s net asset value as calculated by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment would be equivalent to about EUR46 per share. However, the undervaluation on the markets is slighter for the TMW Immobilien Weltfonds (EUR1bn).
16/11/2009

Hermes and ABI call Volkswagen management to task

In a letter date November 14th to Ferdinand Piëch, who is both chairman of the supervisory board at Volkswagen and one of the most infuential shareholders in Porsche, the British pension fund management firm Hermes criticized the insufficient level of information supplied to minority shareholders, and raised questions about a potential conflict of interests in Volkswagen’s proposed acquisition of Porsche, the Financial Times reports. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has also sent a letter to Piëch, in which it calls for information about the way in which Porche’s business is being valued for the acquisition, and about the transaction’s economic rationale. The newspaper reports that, according to a Commerzbank analyst, Porsche is “ambitiously” valued at EUR12.4bn, while its fair value is nearer to EUR9bn.
16/11/2009

28% of management firms lost money in 2008

According to quarterly statistics from the CNMV, 34 out of 120 Spanish asset management firms made losses in 2008, of whom four have assets under management of over EUR1bn (Barclays, Credit Suisse, Urquijo and UBS). Net profits for the sector totalled EUR348m, or 0.17% of assets, of which EUR65m were for BBVA Asset Management, and EUR49.6m for Santander Asset Management. Bestinver, the asset management firm of the Acctiona group, has earned profits of EUR27.8m, which represents a margin of 1.42%, compared with 0.19% for BBVA AM and 0.14% for Santander AM.
16/11/2009

Advent in takeover bid for Matalan

Richard Baker, the former head of Boots, will this week launch a GBP1.5bn takeover bid for Matalan, with the private equity investor Advent International, at which he has been appointed operating partner. Matalan is the owner of the discount retail business Poundland, the Sunday Times reports. Matalan, which has been put up for sale by its founder and owner, John Hargreaves, is expected to attract rival bids from TPG, Blackstone, and CVC.
16/11/2009

Natixis Global Associates appoints a head of retirement strategies

Matt Raynor, director of global sales at Natixis Global Associates, is changing positions within the group, He will now be head of the retirement strategies unit. His former responsibilities will now be filled by his former colleagues Ed Farrington, Dan Santanello, and Josh Bogen. They will report to David Guinta, president and CEO of Natixis Global Associates.
16/11/2009

Recruitments at GSAM

The management team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Spain, led by Lucía Catalán, has recruited Diego Astarloa from SGAM, and Iván Gomero from Fidelity, Funds People reports, doubling the firm’s local personnel.
16/11/2009

DWS Go platform: going, going, gone

DWS is discontinuing its certificate activities. At the end of September, it liquidated 30 certificates, and will not launch further products on its DWS Go platform unless there are commitments for the products from clients, Das Investment reports. The platform still includes 125 products, with assets of EUR500m, The two architects of DWS Go have left the firm (though one of them, Matthias Liermann, has joined the X-Markets team at Deutsche Bank), and the head of sales for DWS Go, Eckhard Hülsmann, is rumoured to have lost his job, according to Financial Times Deutschland.
16/11/2009

Efama creates advisory committee to assist president

Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, president of Efama, the European asset management association, has created a consulting committee attached to the president, consisting of ten eminent figures in the asset management sector. The board will serve as a forum for the exchange of opinions and the definition of the priorities Efama is to set for itself in years to come, Funds People reports. The committee includes Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO of Axa Investment Managers, Alain Dromer, CEO of Aviva Investors, Philippe Marchessaux, PDG of BNP Paribas Investment Partners for France, Joachim Faber (Allianz Global Investors), John Fraser, president and CEO of UBS Global Asset Management, Dario Frigerio (CEO of Pioneer), Rederick Munster (Robeco), Allan Polack (Nordea Savings & Asset Management, and Juan Alcaraz, deputy director of Allfunds Bank.
16/11/2009

Good quarterly results for Dexia asset management

Dexia, which has earned net profits of EUR274m in third quarter, compared with losses of EUR1.5bn one year earlier, has seen the contribution of its Asset Management and Services (AMS) unit increased from EUR9m in second quarter to EUR96m in third quarter. Net results for the Asset Management division totalled EUR16m, compared with EUR6m previously, and EUR4m in third quarter 2008, while the Insurance division earned profits of EUR73m, compared with losses of EUR2m the previous quarter. Assets under management in the Asset Management section increased by EUR5.5bn (+7%), largely due to positive market effects. Inflows to institutional funds continued (EUR1.2bn), while retail funds continued to show outflows (-EUR1.2bn in third quarter, compared with -EUR2.1bn in second quarter). Revenues increased by 24% over the quarter, thanks to growth in management fees (+14%) and performance commissions (x5).
16/11/2009

Barclays Capital continues to strengthen presence in Asia

After several recruitments last summer, Barclays Capital has recruited Kevin Ho, previously at UBS (where he was head of futures in Hong Kong), as head of futures activities for Asia-Pacific, Asian Investor reports. BarCap has also added to its futures product management team with the recruitment of Seng Mow Leong. Rod Banus, the former head of futures in Hong Kong, becomes head of futures products, and will continue to develop the Asia product range, in which role he will report to Ho.
16/11/2009

Van Eck Global launches a gold mining ETF

Van Eck Global is launching a second ETF fund of shares in gold mining firms. The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF has been listed on the NYSE Arca exchange since Wednesday, and tracks small and midcaps of the gold mining sector. As of 30 September, Van Eck had 22 ETF funds on sale, and managed USD9.7bn in assets.
16/11/2009

John Paulson donates USD20m to his alma mater

John Paulson, founder and president of the alternative management firm Paulson & Co, has donated USD20m to the New York University Stern School of Business, his alma mater, Hedge Week reports. The donation will be used partly to finance renovations on campus, and partly to endow chairs named after Alan Greenspan and John Paulson.
16/11/2009

TPG offers investors reduction of exposure to financial sector fund

TPG is offering its investors an opportunity to reduce their commitments to its financial sector fund, in a sign of the trouble that private equity firms are having in acquiring distressed banks, the Financial Times reports. TPG Financial Partners had initially received commitments for a USD6bn funds in february 2008. The size of the fund was reduced to USD4.6bn in January. Now, investors may reduce their commitments to USD2.5bn.
16/11/2009

Money market funds take more risk

Some money-market funds are moving into longer-duration instruments, the Wall Street Journal observes. The average weighted maturity of the 100 largest money-market funds was 47 days in August 2008, then dipped to 43 days for two months, according to Crane. By February it was back up to precrisis levels and, currently, the weighted average maturity of the 100 largest money-market funds is 52 days. That’s the highest since April 2006.
16/11/2009

BGI to launch a "genocide-free" ETF fund

The range of socially responsible iShares products from Barclays Global Investors (BGI) will soon grow by one product with the addition of the iShares Genocide-Free ETF. The objective will be to offer investors a means to exclude all investments in firms worldwide who may be implicated in genocide, on the basis of an index calculated by a third-party provider. The date for the launch of the fund has not yet been set. Noel Archard, head of iShares research & development at BGI, says he was convinced that there may be demand for such a product following recent conversations with Investors Against Genocide and others.
16/11/2009

Emotional Assets launches first product

The London-based asset management boutique Emotional Assets Management & Research has launched its first fund, the Emotional Assets Fund I, which will invest in 15 “emotional assets,” including art, photography, contemporary design, antique rugs, musical instruments, antique jewelry, ceramics, architecture, rare coins, diamonds, rare stamps, maps and atlases, rare manuscripts, and rare antiquities. The objective for the closed fund is to achieve a five-year investment duration and returns of 15% per year, with regular volatility, while also conserving the initial investment. The product will be domiciled in Guernsey, and will use no leverage. The minimal investment for the product is GBP100,000.
16/11/2009

Assets in SRI funds down

According to statistics from Vigeo, assets in British SRI funds as of the end of June were down, due to a strong exposure to equities (74%) to EUR10.5bn, compared with EUR12.5bn one year earlier, while average assets under management come to EUR107m per fund, Investment Week reports.
16/11/2009

Nuveen Investments recruits a high-profile managing director from AllianceBernstein

David Levi, senior managing director and head of global business development & marketing at AllianceBernstein, has joined Nuveen Investments as managing director for global business development in New York, where he will be both co-head of the national accounts team and head of global business development. He will be the alter ego of managing director Anthony Ciccarone, who was previously head of SMA product management, and who will now become co-head of national accounts. Levi’s mission will be to develop relations with high-level clients as well as to develop Nuveen’s presence internationally and in the defined-contribution retirement savings market.
16/11/2009

Neuberger Berman launches a bank loan fund

Neuberger Berman is preparing to launch the Floating Rate Income Fund, which will invest in senior guaranteed debt issued by banks. The product will be managed by Tim van Kirk. Neuberger is planning to offer the product for sale by December, Mutual Fund Wire reports.
16/11/2009

Madoff: Major French victim in legal challenge to HSBC

Léone-Noëlle Meyer, former president of Galeries Lafayette, who has one of the largest private fortunes in France, is to file a lawsuit against the bank HSBC, which proposed and sold her shares in Madoff funds, La Tribune reports, citing “La Journal du Dimanche.” Meyer is reported to have lost EUR7.5m invested in the Luxalpha Sicav fund.
16/11/2009

Madoff: two programmers arrested

La Tribune reports that two computer programmers, Jerome O’Hara and George Perez, both of whom had been employed by Madoff, were arrested by the FBI on Friday. They are accused of complicity in the Madoff fraud and of fabricating false documents and false trading registers, and of providing IT support for the production of these fraudulent documents, the newspaper states.
16/11/2009

Madoff's personal belongings fetch top dollar at auction

An auction at the Sheraton hotel in New York by the auction house Gaston & Sheehan, of Pflugerville, Texas, of 200 personal belongings of Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, raised nearly USD1m on Saturday, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Among the items which fetched the highest prices were a pair of diamond pendant earrings, which were sold for USD70,000 each, though their value was estimated at between USD9,800 and USD21,400. A “prisoner Rolex” made for allied air force pilots imprisoned in Germany during World War II went for USD65,000, while a blue satin New York Mets jacket with the name “Madoff” on the back found a buyer at USD14,500, though its catalogue price was a maximum of USD720.
16/11/2009

United States: Pay Czar hopes to avoid brain drain

Les Echos reports that the controller of remuneration in the United States, Kenneth Feinberg, has expressed a desire to “take into account” the growing risk of a brain drain as talent leaves the United States. After calling for an average reduction of 50% to the pay scales of the 25 top directors of 7 major firms which received federal aid money, the “Pay Czar,” who will announce his decision about pay scales for 75 top directors at 8 firms within his jurisdiction by the end of the year, may not impose overly severe restrictions on the businesses in light of the brain drain risk he describes.
16/11/2009

RepRisk publishes list of businesses reputed for poor environmental and social practices

In September and October, a list of businesses to be avoided from an environmental and social perspective, published by RepRisk, a specialist in reputational risk, was headed by Vedanta, Chevron, Nestlé, Shell, Red Industries, Bhushan Power & Steel, ExxonMobil, Beef Products, Greater Omaha Packing co, Lone Star Beef Processors, and Cargill. The ‘black list’ is based on the RRI index of reputational risk, which is extrapolated directly from the incidence of negative reports in the press.

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