Frédéric Codet vient de rejoindre Galena Asset Management en tant que senior trader pour co-diriger le Galena Energy Fund. Frédéric Codet, qui a commencé sa carrière chez BNP, compte plus de 15 d’expérience sur les marchés des capitaux, dont 12 ans dans les commodities. Avant de rejoindre Galena, il travaillait chez Citigroup en tant Managing Director, responsable pour l’Europe du trading sur pétrole, produits pétroliers, produits agricoles et exotiques.

Selon Money Marketing, Jeff Burch vient de rejoindre Investec Asset Management en tant que gérant de hedge fund crédit pour co-diriger l'équipe fixed income et gérer un fonds global long/short. Jeff Burch était précédemment chez Blue Mountain Capital.

Credit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien KAG (CSAM Immobilien) announced on Thursday that, as planned, its open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal will reopen redemptions, which were suspended at the end of October, on 30 June. The move has been made possible since the fund has ammassed a sufficient liquidity reserve and to the fact that the good performance of the fund (4.4% as of 31 May) has attracted high subscription levels. Karl-Heinz Heuß, CEO of CSAM Immobilien, says that “free” liquidity as of 23 June represented a total of EUR1.1bn, or 16% of assets, and that gross liquidity is estimated at EUR1.7bn, or 24% of assets under management. From 30 October, the date on which redemptions were frozen, until 23 June, net subscriptions have totalled more than EUR420m, which, CSAM Immobilien says, is the highest amount recorded for all frozen real estate funds in Germany. To profit from investment opportunities which could be available, SCAM Immobilien is in negotiations with several banks to raise the fund’s credit ratio from 15% to about 25%.

On the basis of preliminary results for April and May as well as estimated results for June, UBS predicts that it will post a net loss for second quarter 2009. Projected losses are largely due to capital losses on liabilities and restructuring charges already announced. However, the Swiss group announced on Thursday, operating results for April-June are expected to improvecompared with the first quarter 2009, largely due to more favourable market conditions for the investment bank and a reduction in losses and write-downs on high-risk positions inherited from the past. In second quarter, the three wealth management and asset management divisions show net outflows thus far. The bank has also announced that it will be offering 293,258,050 shares to a restricted number of institutional investors at a price of CHF13 per share. This will raise a net total of nearly CHF3.8bn.

CNP Assurances (CNP) and Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays) have concluded an agreement for a term of 25 years to develop their life insurance activities, via the Barclays network in Spain, Portugal and Italy, capitalizing both on the experience and the rapid growth of Barlcays in these countries (about 1,000 sales points as of the end of 2008), and on potential for growth in the southern European insurance markets. The agreement involves an acquisition of a 50% stake in CNP by the life insurance affiliate of Barclays, Barclays Vida y Pensiones (BVP), which operates in Spain and Portugal. The two partners will also launch a new insurance activity in Italy, which will come in addition to the already existing activity. CNP will take operational control of all of these structures. By the terms of the agreement, Barclays will receive an initial sum of EUR140m from CNP, at the conclusion of the operation. This amount is subject to adjustment depending on the net assets of BVP as calculated at the conclusion of the operation. A complementary payment mechanism over 12 years which may result in a significant added amount has also been stipulated. The payments will be tied to expected volumes and margins as well as growth of the network of Barclays agencies.

According to the latest “Vision” survey from State Street, entitled “Outsourcing Investment Operations: Managing Expense and Supporting Strategic Growth,” asset managers increasingly tend to outsource their support activities, as they are aware than external service providers generate savings in terms of operational and technical efficiency, thanks to global solutions applied to all the steps of the investment cycle. In addition, new accounting standards, “reportings to be submitted on a regular basis to regulatory authorities and the disclosure of more detailed information to investors,” are responsibilities that carry considerable costs, and involve some risk. The turbulence of the past few months has thrown into relief that compliance risks are increasing, State Street observes.

Selon Les Echos, Bernard Madoff sera fixé lundi sur son sort, sauf surprise de dernière minute, ce qui n’est pas à exclure. Déjà, en mai, le juge avait repoussé la séance du 16 juin au 29 juin pour des raisons de logistique. Bernard Madoff est à l’origine d’une fraude pyramidale, estimée à environ 65 milliards de dollars. . Pour cette escroquerie, traduite par 11 chefs d’inculpation, parmi lesquels « blanchiment d’argent, faux et usage de faux, fraudes sur des titres financiers, transactions et courriers électroniques », il risque d'écoper de cent cinquante ans de prison.

The international organisation of securities commissions (IOSCO) on 24 June published a series of recommendations to remedy current weaknesses on emerging markets in regulatory issues, at a time when their integration into the financial system is growing. The recommendations are the conclusions of a study undertaken by the emerging markets committee (EMC) of IOSCO. The IOSCO document claims it is necessary to align regulations in emerging countries with internationally elaborated principles, and it would also like to promote a higher level of participation be emerging market authorities in all regulatory debates. Impact on and Responses of Emerging Markets to the financial crisis – Consultation Report of the Emerging Markets Committee of IOSCO

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a lawsuit, that Danny Pang is accused of having stole taken at least USD83m from his investment firm before it was seized in April by federal regulators, who accuse Pang of a vast international fraud. The potential losses for investors in Private Equity Management Group, Pang’s company, are estimated at between USD287m and USD654m.

Sir Allen Stanford on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 21 charges against him, including those of organizing a USD7bn Ponzi scheme to defraud investors, and of bribing a Caribbean regulator to cooperate, the Financial Times reports. If found guilty, the Texan billionaire faces up to 250 years in prison.

According to the World Wealth Report, published on 24 June by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini, the confidence high net worth private investors show in the markets, regulatory authorities, financial institutions and the basic principles of portfolio management have been questioned by the global economic recession. Losses on the markets and a fall in the confidence level have led many high net worth private investors to diversify their investments to several institutions in order to limit risks. The report finds that more than 25% of millionaires partially or totally divested from their wealth management institutions in 2008. To win the loyalty of their clients more fully, advisors and wealth management firms will need to improve the quality of reporting on risk factors, increase the level of customer service, and reorient their communication to provide more transparency.

Securities activities at major international banks and brokers have already passed the low point in the current crisis, Standard & Poor’s estimates in a report published on 25 June (Global Banks’ and Brokers’ Securities-Related Businesses Appear To Be Past The Trough, But Improvement Will Be Gradual), which adds that, as its title indicates, a return to better times will be gradual. “We believe that fourth quarter 2008 probably marked the low point for trading activities of these banks, and that first quarter 2009 was the low point for their investment banking, asset management and wealth management activities,” says Scott Sprinzen, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s.

The Financial Times reports that Alistair Darling is planning to unveil a new Banking Act this year, which will strengthen the role of the Financial Services Authority. The decision comes in the wake of criticism of the Bank of England for failing to react adequately to the banking crisis. The chancellor will assign the FSA a new mission of maintaining financial stability.

The latest trend on the securities markets is automated investment programs. The Telegraph reports, as relayed by Cinco Días, that Streambase has developed a system which chases for sensitive information via Twitter, since this social network is faster than the Reuters or Bloomberg news agencies.

Following the announcement on Thursday that redemptions will reopen for the CS Euroreal fund, the market is waiting for its example to be followed in the near future at four other open-ended real estate funds which were also frozen at the end of October, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. In early July, KanAm grundbesitz will reopen, followed in mid-July by Axa Immoselect. During the month of July, Morgan Stanley Real Estate and TMW are expected to announce reopenings of the P2 Value and Immobilien Weltfonds. At any rate, the reopening of the SEB ImmoInvest fund (EUR6.3bn in assets) on 2 June has gone well: although SEB Asset Management was expecting heavy outflows, redemptions represented only an amount in the low hundreds of millions of Euros. At DEGI International (EUR2.5bn), redemptions have been limited to EUR260m in the past four weeks.

According to VDOS Stochastics, Cinco Días reports, 146 funds have been launched in Spain since the beginning of the year, 98 of them foreign and 48 of them Spanish. This is more than double the total registered in the corresponding period of last year. The most active managers in this domain were BBVA, with 7 funds, and Santander and Invercaixa, with 5 funsd each.

The adventure of Altitude Investments, born of an agreement between BBVA and Schroders, is at an end. BBVA notified the CNMV on Thursday that on 11 June it cancelled its fund management outsourcing agreement with Altitude. BBVA has begun liquidation of its two funds registered in Spain under the Altitude brand, Teide and Veleta, Expansión reports. The third product, registered in Luxembourg, was liquidated in early February. Teide and Veleta had a total fo EUR15m in assets and 111 subscribers. At their peak, they had EUR500m in assets under management.

Four asset management firms, Erste Sparinvest (Erste Bank and the Austrian savings banks), Schelhammer & Schattera, Kepler, and RCM (Raiffeisen group) have founded the Austrian sustainable investment forum, or Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen Österreich (FNG), which will be the Austrian branch of the German-speaking FNG, which includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and which now has 95 members. Wolfgang Pinner, head of sustainable investment activities at Erste Sparinvest, has told Newsmanagers that “core SRI” assets in Austria total about EUR1bn currently, of which about 80% are at the four founding members of FNG Österreich. The goal is to double these assets under management in five years, which would let Austria catch up somewhat with the European leaders.

Since the CNMV pointed out that institutions with a rating of less than A- (S&P and Fitch) or A3 (Moody’s) are not authorised to guarantee investment funds, the number of banks and savings banks registered in Spain (75 and 45, respectively) able to provide these guarantees has collapsed, Funds People reports. This trend is all the more significant as 56% of funds recently launched on the Spanish market are guaranteed funds. Currently, there are only 13 banks and 10 savings banks “eligible” to provide these guarantees, with a rating higher than the minimum required. Seven firms, of which four are savings banks and one is a cooperative bank, qualify with the minimum rating. In this latter category are well-known names such as Bankinter and Banco Pastor.

Following a reopening of subscriptions between 2 and 16 June, Credit Suisse Fondation de placement Real Estate Switzerland (CSF RES) has attracted more than the CHF250m in new money it had initially aimed for. Subscriptions totalled CHF1.65bn.

Delphi has accused a group of hedge funds of holding General Motors and the US government hostage by opposing a sale of the auto parts manufacturing activities of Platinum Equity, the Financial Times reports. Elliott Associates is held particularly responsible.

Van Eck Global has announced the launch of the Van Eck Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund, an open-ended mutual fund which provides investors with access to several strategies, including absolute performance strategies, with daily liquidity and NAV. The fund will have several sub-advisors, and will invest in open-ended funds, closed funds and ETFs, using arbitrage and directional long/short strategies, among others. For the selection of managers, Van Eck will rely both on internal specialists and the input of Explorer Alternative Management, a manager and hedge fund selection provider. Minimal subscription for A-class shares is USD5,000 and fees will have a ceiling of 2.40%.

With its acquisition of part of the activities of Credit Suisse, Aberdeen Asset Management has enlarged its geographical spread to a large extent. This is particularly the case in France, where the British management firm had only a limited presence previously. Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, says the entry into the French market is a genuine reason to be satisfied. At the Fund Forum International in Monaco, Gilbert says that about EUR4bn will be transferred in France from Credit Suisse to Aberdeen, putting total assets under management for the British management firm at EUR103.9bn. He adds that Philippe Troesch will be appointed CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management France. The transaction will be completed on 1 July.

A closing for an acquisition of a majority stake in the capital of Tocqueville finance has recently been completed, and in mid-July, we will officially know the name of the buyer. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the short list includes five contenders who may be separated into two groups. One of these is larger establishments - including one Swiss group and one major network - while the other consists of three independent management firms. One of the firms which has submitted a bid is reportedly considered solid. The contenders are bidding for a majority stake in the capital of Tocqueville Finance, via an acquisition of the shares held by Jean-Philippe Thierry, who arrived at the management firm in mid-2007, and thus of a participation of about 34%. Another large portion of the firm’s capital is held by Marc Tournier, who, some rumours claim, has announced a date on which he will be leaving the firm. Sources familiar with the matter say that it is clear the contenders will benefit from a particularly attractive window of opportunity, with “price limits.” A sale will be undertaken on the basis of a valuation of the company at EUR45m in total. The future major shareholder in Tocqueville Finance will be in a position to benefit from the firm’s value-type management in its close connections with independent financial advisors.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nelson Petz has not increased his stake in Legg Mason, contrary to previous rumours.

Money Marketing reports that Jeff Burch has joined Investec Asset Management as a credit hedge fund manager, to become co-head of the fixed income team, and to manage a global long/short fund. Burch was previously at Blue Mountain Capital.

Frédéric Codet has joined Galena Asset Management as a senior trader, and will become co-head of the Galena Energy Fund. Codet, who began his career at BNP, has more than 15 years of experience on capital markets, including 12 years of experience in commodities. Before joining Galena, he worked at Citigroup as Managing Director and head of European trading in oil, soft commodities and exotic commodities.

D’après VDOS Stochastics, rapporte Cinco Días, on a enregistré depuis le début de l’année le lancement en Espagne de 146 fonds, 98 étrangers et 48 espagnols. C’est plus du double du total enregistré pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Les gestionnaires les plus actifs dans ce domaine ont été le BBVA avec 7 fonds et le Santander ainsi qu’Invercaixa avec 5 fonds chacun.

NewsManagers: La gestion value, que Sparinvest défend depuis sa création, a-t-elle mieux traversé la crise que les autres?Benoît Schouler : La crise a mis à mal toutes les stratégies. La gestion value qui souffrait déjà un peu avant la crise n’a pas été épargnée. Cependant, depuis novembre 2008, notre gestion se comporte bien par rapport au marché. NM : Selon certaines études, les stratégies value se comportent mieux en sortie de crise? BS: Beaucoup de travaux universitaires ont observé que la stratégie value performe mieux en sortie de récession. En effet, alors que les titres value sont pénalisés en début de crise par leurs actifs immobiliers (immeubles de bureaux, usines de production, effectifs importants par exemple), ces sociétés sont en revanche plus à même de réagir rapidement à l’accroissement de la demande en réactivant ces immobilisations lorsque la situation économique s’améliore. NM : La crise a-t-elle néanmoins modifié votre approche value? BS : Non, au contraire, la crise nous a permis de vérifier la justesse de notre approche. Même dans un contexte de crise et de baisse généralisée des marchés, nous sommes restés constants dans notre processus d’investissement, ce qui bien sûr facilite la lisibilité de notre gestion. NM : Quelles sont les caractéristiques distinctives de votre gestion value ? BS: Il faut bien comprendre une chose : la gestion value est un processus long terme qui exige beaucoup de patience. La touche danoise tient surement à la discipline de nos gérants à appliquer leur process avec rigueur. Nous sommes en permanence à la recherche de sociétés décotées et bien sûr les opportunités sont légion en ce moment. NM : Vous en avez donc acheté davantage ? BS : Nous avons effectivement acheté 18 nouveaux titres en 2008 au sein de notre portefeuille de référence Sparinvest Global Value, contre une moyenne de 10 à 12 par an. D’ailleurs notre taux de rotation est faible pour un portefeuille d’une centaine de sociétés. Cependant, dans le marché actuel, nous appliquons plus que jamais un certain nombre de critères déterminants pour la construction de notre portefeuille. Par exemple, nous sommes très attentifs au taux d’endettement, à savoir que le taux d’endettement ne doit pas représenter plus de 50% des fonds propres. C’est un ratio très conservateur, je le reconnais, qui exclut des sociétés en développement. Mais c’est un critère constant de notre gestion et fondamental par les temps qui courent. Nous veillons aussi à ce que les sociétés qui nous intéressent n’aient pas trop de goodwill, d’obligations de leasing ou d’engagements de retraite. Nous considérons que le goodwill ne vaut rien à la casse. NM: Et les performances sont au rendez-vous ? BS : Notre fonds phare, Sparinvest Global Value, dont l’actif net s'élevait à fin mai à 716 millions d’euros, a battu chaque année l’indice de référence depuis sa création, sauf l’an dernier. Sur les cinq premiers mois de l’année, le fonds affiche un gain de 8,68% (au 12/06/09) contre 4,91% pour l’indice de référence, le MSCI World. Mais pour revenir à nos spécificités, nous attachons une grande importance à la transparence et au respect de notre client final.Ainsi, vous noterez que l’intégralité du portefeuille ou des portefeuilles sont en ligne en permanence. De même, je dois aussi vous dire que nous nous interdisons que nos fonds soient utilisés dans des produits structurés, ce qui pouvait à une époque sembler complètement incongru. NM : Est-ce que vous entrevoyez une sortie de crise ? BS : Ce que je peux vous dire, c’est que le portefeuille de Sparinvest a toutes les qualités nécessaires pour supporter la crise, même si elle devait se prolonger. Il ne faut pas trop écouter le bruit du marché. Le rebond d’un secteur ne constitue pas en soi une promesse de reprise durable. Encore une fois, ce qui nous intéresse, c’est d’abord la réalité des sociétés. Cette réalité nous la percevons grâce à notre process qui est le générateur essentiel d’idées d’investissement. NM: Quels sont vos objectifs pour 2009 ? BS : Nous souhaitons plus mettre en avant notre gestion obligataire value. En effet, depuis maintenant plus de 3 ans, nous avons appliqué les principes value à la gestion obligataire (corporate et haut rendement). En se basant sur la même philosophie de prudence, nous avons appliqué trois grands critères aux obligations d’entreprise : un ratio cours/valeur comptable, peu élevé, un niveau d’endettement qui ne devrait pas dépasser 75% des fonds propres et une prédilection pour les petites et moyennes capitalisations. Ces trois facteurs sont sources de surperformance à long terme. Et bien sur nous attachons une attention particulière aux clauses de covenants, déterminantes en cas de problèmes. Nous avons d’ailleurs récemment bouclé un fonds value obligataire «buy and hold» dédié d’une trentaine de millions d’euros, qui rassemble un groupe d’institutionnels européens. Par ailleurs, nous poursuivons nos efforts en direction des CGPI. Nous sommes déjà référencés sur 14 plateformes et nous leur proposons une formation sur la gestion value validée par les associations professionnelles.

CNP Assurances (CNP) et Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays) viennent de conclure un accord d’une durée de 25 ans visant à développer leurs activités d’assurance vie, via le réseau Barclays en Espagne, au Portugal et en Italie, en capitalisant à la fois sur l’expérience et le développement rapide de Barclays dans ces pays (1 000 points de vente environ à fin 2008), et sur le potentiel de croissance des marchés de l’assurance en Europe du Sud. Cet accord se matérialise par une prise de participation de CNP de 50 % dans la filiale assurance vie de Barclays – Barclays Vida y Pensiones (BVP) – qui opère en Espagne et au Portugal. Les deux partenaires lanceront en outre une nouvelle activité d’assurance en Italie qui renforcera celle déjà existante. CNP prendra le contrôle opérationnel de l’ensemble des structures. Aux termes de cet accord, Barclays recevra de CNP un montant initial de 140 millions d’euros comptant, à la clôture de l’opération. Ce montant est sujet à ajustement en fonction de l’actif net de BVP tel que calculé à la clôture. Un mécanisme de paiements complémentaires sur 12 ans pouvant aboutir à un montant significatif a également été conclu. Ces paiements seront liés à l’atteinte de niveaux de volumes et de marges ainsi qu’au développement du réseau d’agences Barclays.