Il Sole - 24 Ore reports that Alessandro Profumo, deputy director of UniCredit, travelled to Abu Dhabi last week, where he met with representatives of the sovereign fund Aabar Investment Company, the investment arm of the royal family. The visit is probably related to the Italian bank’s need to rebuild a stable core of institutional investors, the Italian newspaper comments.

The Wall Street Journal reports that regulators in charge of the investigation of the presumed fraud of Bernard Madoff are looking increasingly closely at Robert Jaffe, a director of Chomad Securities, who helped the manager to recruit investors, since he has refused to testify. Cohmad is also a small brokerage firm in which Madoff owns a stake, and which operates out of the same office in which Madoff’s equities trading operations were based.

Asset management firms are expected to publish very poor results for fourth quarter, due to the falling value of assets, redemptions, and falling margins, according to analysts cited by the Wall Street Journal. Outlooks for 2009 are equally bleak. Matt Snowling, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, says managers who are expected to announce the largest annual declines in their operating profits are those who historically have had the largest operational leverage: T. Rowe Price Group, Franklin Resources Inc. and Janus Group.

Massachusetts regulators have filed a suit against the management of the money market fund Reserve Primary Fund, accusing the fund of lying to investors to avoid massive outflows, the Wall Street Journal reports. They also accuse the fund of favouring some important clients of the fund.

According to Bridgepoint, the value of transactions involving private equity firms in Europe plunged last year by 61% to EUR73bn, and the number of operations fell 30% to 572, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The decline has affected all the major countries on the European continent, excepting Italy. In Germany, Bridgepoint counted 85 operations, compared with 112 the previous year, with a total value of EUR11.5bn (-62%).

At the end of 2008, for the first time, BBVA Gestión has overtaken Santander Asset Management in total assets in investment funds: it has EUR33.196bn, compared with EUR32.947 for its competitor, Cinco Días reports. Santander AM saw a 36% fall in its assets under management last year, while assets at BBVA Gestión were down by only 18%, in an environment in which assets in the sector were down 29.77%, and net redemptions totalled EUR57.646bn, the worst results ever observed. At Santander AM, representatives admit that priority was given to maintaining capital in deposits, rather than to marketing funds, and most of the money leaving funds remained within the group. In addition, Santander AM has a larger proportion of its assets under management in equities funds, which have suffered more than competitors which are largely oriented to other asset classes.

The first lawsuit related to the Madoff scandal has been filed against UBS, AGEFI Switzerland reports. It may be the first in a long series of suits. Oddo Asset Management has filed a claim in the Luxembourg courts against UBS to recuperate EUR30m invested in the LuxAlpha fund, which had ties to Bernard Madoff. The bank’s defence seems to contradict the prospectus of the LuxAlpha fund. The Luxembourg courts will respond tomorrow.

Luxembourg hit back on Tuesday at French suggestions that the Grand Duchy"s more flexible interpretation of European Union financial regulations had contributed to investors» losses in the Madoff scandal. Luc Frieden, treasury and justice minister, told the Financial Times that the French government had made the claims ?without properly informing itself?. He added that he saw no pressing need to reinforce Europe-wide protection for investors in investment funds, although Luxembourg would support such an initiative if the need were clearly demonstrated.

The European convertible bond market is expected to contract for the second consecutive year, as the value of bonds redeemed exceeds those of new issues by about 50%, according to Barclays Capital, cited by the Wall Street Journal. Analysts predict that about EUR8bn will be raised through new issues in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while redemptions may total about EUR12bn.

The management firm for Erste Bank and the Austrian savings banks, Erste Sparinvest, posted assets at the end of December of EUR23bn, compared with EUR30.8bn at the end of the previous year, and its market share has declined ?slightly? to 18.3%, from 18.47% one year earlier. Of this total, open-ended funds represented a total volume at the end of last year of EUR14.2bn, compared with EUR19bn, while institutional funds had EUR8.8bn, compared with EUR11.2bn. Erste Sparinvest’s market share in the open-ended funds market rose 2.1 points to 24.5%.

The German management firm Hauck & Aufhäuser Asset Management GmbH (HAAM GmbH) is entering the French market. It has obtained a license from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to sell its H&A Lux Equities Value Invest fund, a European equities fund managed with a value approach by Nils Bartram and Gerold Granzeueur, in France.For its distribution, the management firm will rely on Investeam, a French third party marketing firm specialised in marketing funds in Europe and North America, with which it has signed an exclusive agreement. Institutional investors, IFAs and private clients will be targeted.Hauck & Aufhäuser Asset Management GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers, which si one of the last German private banks in which a majority stake remains in private hands. The entity manages assets of EUR2.9bn, in the form of institutional mandates and funds under its own brand and funds outsourced to the management firm by third parties. It is specialised particularly in asset management and European bonds.The firm’s entry into the French market is a first move into the international sphere for the manager. The partnership with Investeam will allow it to enter France without investing too much, and is limited to a single fund for the moment, but may eventually be extended to include other products, such as bond funds.Investeam says this represents the first fruits of its campaign to develop its presence in Germany, where the firm is building its newly-founded activities. A structure is being created under the leadership of Jan Schulemann. In addition to exporting German management to other countries, the entity is also planning to import products from French or other international companies to Germany. Investeam is also present in Canada, and in France it recently introduced the Canadian management firm DundeeWealth, at the end of last year.

In the wake of the Madoff scandal, funds which regularly earn higher than average returns will be regarded with suspicion by investors, Ignites Europe predicts on 13 January. This will lead to increased controls. ?If you serve the public, you have to accept public control. Otherwise, events like the Madoff case will destroy confidence,? says Don Phillips, managing director of Morningstar, in an interview with the online news source.

Hedge Week reports that the recruitment of five currencies specialists from Fortis (see yesterday’s edition of Newsmanagers) reveals a desire on the part of Henderson Global Investors (HGI) to launch a currencies hedge fund aimed at institutional clients in the near future, once the team in question has developed a quantitative model.

Altedia Investment Consulting (AID) has announced that in fourth quarter, it added ten new sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) funds from 7 management firms to its AIC Research database. The new additions to the list of management firms analysed are Sparinvest, Germes, Invesco Ltd and Aberdeen Asset Management.The quarterly ratings committee at AIC will award ratings of ?aaa? or ?aa? to 59% of the SRI funds in the database, and an ?a? or ?b? rating to the remaining 41%.AIC maintains information and ratings for 300 SRI funds worldwide, available from 75 different management firms, and representing assets of EUR28bn. ?Best In Class? type funds represent 61% of the AIC Research sample. The remaining 39% consists of thematic funds (largely based on environmental themes) and solidaristic funds.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that managers of most of the 12 open-ended real estate funds representing EUR34bn (about one third of the market) which suspended redemptions for three months at the end of October will have to announce by 28 January whether they will reopen or maintain the freeze for a further nine months. Only KanAm has made an announcement so far; the firm says it will wait until January 15 for the results of a survey of projections from 5,000 distributors of expected subscription and redemption levels. Meanwhile, the Munich-based management firm has ordered an update to estimates of the total value of the portfolio of the grundinvest-fonds as of 25 January. The net liquidity ratio for the grundinvest is 7%, or EUR320m; the usual minimum is 5%.

Erste Sparinvest announced on Tuesday that it will be launching a wealth management fund on 2 March, entitled Espa Portfolio Target 7, which will aim to preserve capital invested in it. The fund will limit the risk of loss to 10%, and will aim for a performance over 7 years of about 8% per year. It is an Austrian-registered diversified discretionary fund, which may invest up to 80% in equities, but for which the allocation to equities may also be reduced to 0% if necessary. The ?absolute performance? type fund is an addition to other products in the range whose assets currently total about EUR400m. The diversified funds of the Espa range bring total assets under management in this category to about EUR650m, of which EUR400m are in Espa Portfolio funds. Front-end fee is 3.5%, and management commission is a maximum of 1.2%.

On 12 January 2009, the asset management arm of Commerzbank, cominvest [cominvest Asset Management GmbH, cominvest Asset Management S.A. (Luxembourg), cominvest Vertriebs AG (formerly MK AG) and MK Luxinvest S.A] were transferred into the control of Allianz Global Investors (AGI) Deutschland GmbH. The new group weighs more than EUR300bn in assets, which makes it the new number one presence in the German market.Oliver Clasen, a board member at AGI KAG, will retain his position and will join the board of cominvest Asset Management as head of institutional clients. Wolfgang Pütz, a member of the board of directors at AGI Deutschland, will also retain his functions, and will join the board of cominvest Asset Management to oversee and develop measures to facilitate the merger. Matthias Glas, a member of the board at cominvest Asset Management, will join the board at AGI KAG, where he will be director of distribution via banks and financial intermediaries.

Le Handelsblatt rapporte que, selon les milieux financiers, la Deutsche Bank essaie d’obtenir un rabais sur le prix d’acquisition de la Postbank compte tenu du plongeon accusé par le titre depuis que les modalités de la cession par la Deutsche Post ont été conclues en septembre. Cependant, il n’y a pour l’instant aucun indice de rapprochement des positions entre l’acquéreur et le vendeur.

Selon une enquête de la Börsen-Zeitung, les sociétés de gestion allemandes ont l’intention de mettre en avant cette année les fonds garantis et d’autres produits conservateurs. Elles sont aussi tentées par les fonds d’obligations d’entreprises, mais reconnaissent qu’il faut s’attendre à une hausse du taux de défauts. Enfin, elles comptent être prudentes sur les produits actions.DWS (Deutsche Bank), DekaBank (caisses d'épargne) et Frankfurt Trust (Sal. Oppenheim) espèrent des souscriptions nettes en 2009. Union Investment (banques populaires) et Allianz Global Investors (qui va absorber Cominvest) ne font pas de pronostics.

Khadem al Qubaisi, managing director d’Abou Dhabi International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC), a annoncé que le portefeuille du fonds souverain va être porté dans les cinq prochaines années à 20 milliards de dollars contre 15 milliards actuellement, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. La politique d’investissement sera modifiée ; jusqu'à présent, les participations ne dépassent généralement pas 35 %, mais l’IPIC a l’intention d’augmenter sa participation dans l’autrichien ÖMV (à présent de 19 %) et de prendre des participations majoritaires dans des sociétés susceptibles de réaliser des projets permettant une diversification économique de l’Emirat.

Lundi, Iberdrola a placé pour 1 milliard d’euros d’obligations à trois (450 millions) et sept ans (550 millions), car la demande a porté sur 3,2 milliards d’euros alors que la compagnie avait initialement prévu de lever seulement 150 millions à trois ans et 250 millions à sept, indique Cinco Días. Les spreads retenus correspondent à des rendements respectifs de 4,5 % et 6,25 %.

L’agence Standard & Poor’s a indiqué que du fait de la garantie de l’Etat et à la perspective de nouvelles aides publiques, elle relève à «stable» contre «négative» la perspective attachée à la note de la Commerzbank, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. En revanche, la perspective pour la filiale Eurohypo demeure «négative».

Fresenius, qui est noté BB, a annoncé lundi le lancement d’un emprunt à six ans en euros et en dollars destiné à refinancer une partie des crédits de 1,3 milliard d’euros contractés pour l’acquisition de l’américain ATP Pharmaceuticals, rapporte le Handelsblatt. D’autre part, l’entreprise a indiqué qu’il table pour cette année sur une augmentation de l’ordre de 5 % de son CA et d’une hausse plus forte encore de son bénéfice net, hors effets de change.

Lundi soir, la Commerzbank a annoncé avoir bouclé l’acquisition de la Dresdner Bank. Dans ce contexte, Allianz perçoit environ 163,5 millions de nouvelles actions procédant d’une augmentation de capital par versement en nature. Cette transaction a été inscrite lundi au registre du commerce. Au printemps, la Commerzbank, désormais unique actionnaire de la Dresdner, absorbera cette dernière. Les codes bancaires et les numéros de compte des clients ne seront pas affectés par l’opération.

Selon Bloomberg, cité par la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, la Deutsche Bank aurait accusé pour octobre-décembre une perte en compte propres d’au moins 1,5 milliard de dollars, dont deux tiers sur les obligations et un tiers sur les actions. Celle sur l’obligataire serait imputable à l'équipe new-yorkaise de Boaz Weinstein, qui quitte la banque en avril pour créer son propre hedge fund.

Selon La Tribune, l"euro est en perte de vitesse depuis le début de l"année, notamment en raison des atermoiements de la BCE quant à une baisse éventuelle des taux d’intérêt. La monnaie des seize a notamment perdu du terrain contre la livre qui a rebondi jusqu'à 0,88 pour un euro #après avoir frôlé la parité le dernier jour de 2008", rappelle le quotidien financier.

Selon La Tribune, citant une dépêche de l’agence Bloomberg, les taux allemands à 10 ans, référence de la zone euro, sont dissymétriques avec leurs homologues espagnols. Hier, lundi 12 janvier, le «spread» entre le rendement des taux à 10 ans entre les deux pays a atteint 92,6 points de base, du jamais vu depuis 1999 (?)», observe le quotidien en soulignant que Standard & Poor’s a placé sous surveillance avec implication «négative» la note à long terme AAA de la patrie de Goya.

Selon les derniers chiffres communiqués par EuroPerformance - SIX Telekurs le lundi 12 janvier, l"encours des OPCVM français est revenu de 921,83 milliards d’euros à fin 2007 à 758,36 milliards d’euros à fin 2008, soit une chute de 17,7%.Le compartiment des fonds alternatifs a subi la crise de plein fouet puisque, en l"espace de 12 mois, il recule de près de 80 % (-79,5 %) à 5,42 milliards d"euros, les fonds actions baissant pour leur part de 43,2 % à 137,7 milliards d"euros. De son côté, l"encours des fonds diversifié se tasse de 40,1 % à 84,4 milliards d"euros.Alors que les fonds obligataires limitent la casse avec un recul de - 9,2 % sur 12 mois, ce sont les fonds de trésorerie qui apparaissent comme les grands gagnants du millésime 2008 avec un encours en progression de 9,2 % à 396 milliards de d"euros. A eux seuls, les produits de trésorerie régulière totalisaient plus de 375 milliards d"euros, soit une progression de 15,3 % sur 12 mois.

Notamment ébranlée par l"avertissement de Sony sur ses résultats, Tokyo a fini en forte baisse ce mardi 13 janvier, le Nikkei reculant de - 4,79% à 8.413,91 points.

En 2008, le volume des fusions et acquisitions dans le secteur de la gestion d"actifs a représenté 1.610 milliards de dollars en termes d"encours sous gestion, soit une hausse de 19 % par rapport aux 1.350 milliards en 2007, estime Freeman & Co. dans sa dernière étude sur les fusions et acquisitions dans le secteur des services financiers. Et ce, alors même que le nombre de transactions a baissé, de 239 à 232. Mais les opérations ont été plus importantes. Ainsi, 30 d"entre elles ont impliqué des sociétés de gestion gérant plus de 10 milliards de dollars, soit une augmentation de 11 % par rapport à 2007, et de 30 % sur 2006.Les opérations concernant les gestionnaires alternatifs ont quant à elle chuté à 60, soit une baisse de 22 %, contre 77 opérations en 2007. «En 2009, les faibles performances, les rachats et le «deleveraging» rapide des produits va contraindre un grand nombre de gestionnaires alternatifs à fermer ou se concentrer en 2009", observe à cet égard Freeman & Co. Dans le même temps, «la concentration dans le secteur bancaire pourrait mettre sous pression la rémunération des fabricants de produits qui dépendent des réseaux bancaires pour leur distribution».