Le secteur des hedge funds en Asie a continué de progresser au troisième trimestre grâce aux bonnes performances des stratégies asiatiques émergentes, selon les dernières statistiques communiquées par HFR.Le nombre de hedge funds a atteint le niveau record de 1.128 véhicules, représentant des encours sous gestion de 84,3 milliards de dollars, soit une progression de 2,6% sur les neuf premiers molis de l’année. L’effet marché de 1,9 milliard de dollars a été en partie effacé par des rachats pour un montant net de 900 millions de dollars. Les actifs sous gestion du secteur des hedge funds s’inscrivait à la fin du troisième trimestre à 2.190 milliards de dollars. Les hedge funds asiatiques ont généralement enregistré d’excellentes performances ces derniers mois. L’indice HFRX India a ainsi progressé de plus de 12% au troisième trimestre, son meilleur résultat depuis un gain de 38% au deuxième trimestre 2009. Depuis le début de l’année, l’indice affiche une progression de 22,4%, supérieure à celle de l’indice de référence. Même tendance pour l’indice HFRX Korea qui progresse de 7,6%, en ligne avec l’avance de l’indice Kospi.
Les actifs sous gestion du groupe Vontobel s'élevaient au 31 octobre à 96 milliards de francs suisses, Depuis le milieu de l’année, les encours se sont ainsi accrus de plus de 5 milliards de francs suisses, précise Vontobel dans un communiqué publié le 15 novembre. Cette évolution est due à la fois à la collecte nette qu'à l’effet marché.Vontobel indique par ailleurs avoir fusionné ses activités onshore et transfrontières de banque privée auprès de la clientèle allemande, désormais subordonnées à une direction unique. La responsabilité opérationnelle du Private Banking Deutschland a été confiée à Roland Rötheli, qui dirige actuellement les activités allemandes à Zurich. Frank Wieser, l’ancien responsable onshore du Private Banking Deutschland, quitte Vontobel pour relever de nouveaux défis.
Le succès du fonds Objectif Alpha Obligataire 2018, qui a collecté 60 millions d’euros cette année, a encouragé Lazard Frères Gestion à rééditer l’opération en tenant compte des demandes de la clientèle, composée très principalement de CGPI et de banques privées : le 19 décembre, la souscription du nouveau Objectif Oblisphère Emergente 2018 sera stoppée. Lionel Clément, le gérant principal et Laurent Colomer, directeur à la gestion institutionnelle de LFG, pensent raisonnablement que ce produit drainera entre 40 millions et 50 millions d’euros.Afin de faire droit aux appréhensions d’une certaine frange de clientèle, le nouveau produit reprend à la base la même allocation d’actifs, mais ajoute des titres d’Europe occidentale (sociétés engagées fortement engagées dans les émergents, comme OHL, Abengoa, Lafarge ou ou Heidelberger Cement) à hauteur de 16 % pour faire baisser la proportion des titres de dette émergente indigène (actuellement 48 % Amérique latine dont plus de 30 % de Brésil et 15 % de Mexique, 19 % Europe de l’Est, 18 % Asie).Pour ce FCP de droit français également, la gestion s’effectue selon un processus systématiquement macro-économique (top-down). L’avantage du choix d’un produit à échéance (de 38 lignes, avec 30 % d’investment grade, 40 % de BB et 30 % de B) réside dans la maîtrise de la volatilité et la possiblité de calibrer la cible de rendement avec une dioversification à meilleur escient. L'équipe de LFG ne prend aucun risque de change en monnaies locales, les positions étant en dollars «hedgés» ou en euros.LFG compte par ailleurs pouvoir bientôt proposer en France ses fonds émergents (monnaies locales, monnaies «dures», blend et corporate) qui représentent 4 milliards de dollars et sont gérés par les équipes de New York.
Créée le 14 décembre 2009, la société de gestion DoubleLine Capital LP créée par Jeffrey Gundlach a désormais franchi à la hausse la barre des 50 milliards de dollars d’encours avec un effectif de 78 personnes, annonce un communiqué du 14 novembre.La majorité du capital est contrôlée par les salariés, Oaktree Capital Management détenant une participation minoritaire.
Jusqu’au 18 décembre, LCL commercialise à destination des particuliers, LCL Vocation Rendement (Nov. 2012), un FCP sans garantie en capital. Le rendement de ce fonds est lié à une sélection d’obligations émises par 20 entreprises européennes et internationales. A un horizon de 6 ans et 18 jours, soit le 15 janvier 2019, LCL Vocation Rendement (Nov. 2012) aura pour objectif d’offrir une performance égale à la Valeur Liquidative de Référence majorée d’une performance pouvant aller jusqu'à 28,30%, soit un rendement annuel de 4,20%. Il s’agit d’un maximum car en cas d’événement de crédit affectant une des entreprises du panier de référence, la performance est minorée de 6,415%. Ainsi, au-delà de 5 événements de crédit, la performance devient négative.Les 20 grandes entreprises retenues au sein du portefeuille diversifié bénéficient pour 85% d’entre elles d’une notation supérieure ou égale à BBB- * (catégorie « Investment Grade »), et pour les 15% restants, d’une notation inférieure ou égale à BB+ (catégorie « High yield ») Caractéristiques : Code ISIN : FR0011325331 Date d’échéance : 15/01/2019Frais courants : 3% TTC maximum l’an. Valorisation : QuotidienneValeur liquidative d’origine : 100 eurosEligible au compte-titres et à l’assurance-vie
L’encours de la société de gestion Wiséam, créée l’an dernier, devrait franchir d’ici à la fin de l’année la barre des 100 millions d’euros. Cette coentreprise de la société de conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants Witam et de la société de gestion 123 Venture aligne actuellement deux fonds d’allocation ouverts, Apprécio (65 millions d’euros) focalisé sur la gestion «réactive et contrarian» avec risque modéré, et Andante (10 millions) un produit toutes classes obligataires, prudent.A ces fonds patrimoniaux s’ajoutent des mandats de gestion sur mesure, un patrimonial pour les particuliers et un Solvabilité 2 pour les mutuelles ou caisses de retraite. Pour les mandats, précise François Jubin, président de Wiséam et gérant de portefeuille, nous acceptons des clients à partir de 250.000 euros.La société de gestion, qui n’a pas de force commerciale et qui s’adresse à ses actionnaires et à quelque CGPI externes, compte au total quatre personnes. Elle fonde son succès sur une quasi équipondération de trois facteurs, à savoir la stratégie d’allocation, le construction du portefeuille et un reporting très transparent, au point que chaque client est avisé immédiatement de chaque opération effectuée.Pour 2013, François Jubin envisage le lancement d’un troisième fonds ouvert, qui sera «plus agressif».
Quatre gérants de portefeuille de Russell Investments, Richard F. Johnson, Jr., Scott A. Maidel, Karl D. Sahlin et Rafael Zayas, ont été chargés de la gestion du nouveau Russell Strategic Call Overwriting Fund, un produit dont l’ambition consiste à générer des rendements totaux avec une volatilité inférieure à celle des actions américaines en vendant des options d’achat sur un portefeuille d’actions et en recherchant du revenu à partir des dividendes sur les actions en portefeuille.Dans le detail, Russell investira pour ce fonds principalement en actions liées au marché américain en utilisant un modèle quantiatif multi-facteurs pour sélectionner avant tout des actions ordinaires de sociétés à capitalisation élevée ou moyenne. Parallèlement, l'équipe de gestion vend des options d’achat sur des indices de marché larges. Ce processus est appelé call overwriting. La vente d’options d’achat est destinée à réduire la volatilité du fonds par rapport aux valeurs américaines et à générer des revenus avec les primes encaissées.
La Banque Postale AM a annoncé en début de semaine la fusion/absorption de LBPAM Responsable Tréso 4 - ex LBP Responsable Garantie Octobre 2012 - par la part E de LBPAM Responsable Tréso.
Ossiam, la société de gestion spécialiste des ETF de stratégie et du smart beta, vient de nommer Michel Prouteau au poste de responsable commercial clientèle institutionnelle au sein de l’équipe Développement Commercial dirigée par Isabelle Bourcier. Le nouvel arrivant aura pour objectif d’apporter des solutions adaptées aux besoins des investisseurs institutionnels français, precise un communiqué.Avant de rejoindre Ossiam, Michel Prouteau a travaillé notamment sur le marché des institutionnels français à travers ses fonctions d’ingénieur financier multi classes d’actifs au sein des équipes «Solutions» de la banque d’investissement de la Société Générale, entre 2005 et 2010, puis en tant que directeur dans les équipes similaires de la Deutsche Bank à Londres de 2010 à 2012.
Four portfolio managers from Russell Investments, Richard F. Johnson, Jr., Scott A. Maidel, Kal D. Sahlin and Rafael Zayas, have been tasked with the management of the new Russell Strategic Call Overwriting Fund, a product which aims to generate total returns with lower volatility than US equity markets, through sales of call options on an equity portfolio, and seeking revenues from dividends on equities in the portfolio.In detail, Russell will invest primarily in equities with ties to the US market for this fund, through the use of a quantitative multi-factor model to select mainly ordinary shares in companies with a large or mid-sized capitalisation. The management team will meanwhile sell call options on broader market indices. The process is known as call overwriting. The writing of call options aims to reduce the volatility of the fund compared with the US equity markets, and to generate revenues with cash premiums.
The success of the Objectif Alpha Obligataire 2018 fund, which posted inflows of EUR60m this year, has encouraged Lazard Frères Gestion to repeat the operation to meet customer demand, which is coming largely from IFAs and private banks: on 19 December, subscriptions will be closed for the new Objectif Oblisphère Emergente 2018. Lionel Clément, lead manager, and Laurent Colomer, head of institutional management at LFG, reasonably predict that the product will attract EUR40m to EUR50m.In order to calm the apprehensions of a certain fringe of clients, the new product will fundamentally be based on the same asset allocation, but will add securities from Western Europe (companies which have strong exposures to emerging markets, such as OHL, Abengoa, Lafarge and Heidelberger Cement), with an allocation of 16%, to lower the percentage of indigenous emerging market debt (currently 48% for Latin America, with Brazil at 30%, Mexico at 15%, Eastern Europe at 19%, and Asia at 18%).Also for this French FCP, management will be systematically based on a top-down approach. The advantage of the choice of a hold-to-maturity product (38 positions, with 30% investment grade, 40% BB and 30% B) is that it controls volatility and provides a way to calibrate the return target with more advisable diversification. The LFG team does not take any local currency risks, as positions are either in hedged US dollars or euros.LFG is also soon planning to offer its emerging market funds in France (local currencies, hard currencies, blend, and corporate), which represent USD4bn, and which are managed by teams in New York.
The private equity firm KKR has launched its first mutual funds in the United States, and is remaining modest with its ambitions, aware that it still needs to build its reputation in this area, the Wall Street Journal reports. The private equity giant has rented a booth at the annual investment management conference held by Charles Schwab in Chicago, and appointed high-level representatives to be present to answer questions, including George Roberts, co-founder and CEO.One of the funds proposed by KKR for a category of clients which is new to the firm is a high yield product, with a minimal subscription of USD2,500. The other, which will be released on 31 December, and for which the minimal subscription is 25,000, will invest in special situations such as European and Asian distressed debt. It will be available through Charles Schwab or directly from KKR.
BaFin and FMA have issued licenses, and the Schroder GAIA Global Macro Bond fund may immediately be sold on the German and Austrian markets, the German affiliate of the British asset management firm has announced. The product, launched on 1 October, is managed by Bob Jolly (head of global macro), with an absolute return objective (see Newsmanagers of 4 September), and which is aimed primarily at institutional investors. It is a UCITS-compliant long/short fund, which aims for returns 800 basis points above the Libor 3-month in US dollars, with ex ante volatility of a maximum of 8% over a complete cycle.CharacteristicsName: Schroder GAIA Global Macro BondISIN codes:C share class, EUR Hedged, capitalisation LU0827488734C share class, USD, capitalisation LU0827487413Benchmark index: BBA Libor EUR 3 Month Act 360Front-end fee: 3%Management commission: 1%Performance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the benchmark index, with high watermarkMinimal initial subscription: USD/EUR500,000
Assets under management at the Vontobel group as of 31 October totalled CHF96bn. Since the middle of this year, assets have increased by more than CHF5bn, Vontobel says in a statement published on 15 November. This development is due both to net inflows and to market effects. Vontobel also states that it has merged its onshore and cross-border private banking activities serving German clients, which is now led by a single management team. Operational responsibility for Private Banking Deutschland has been awarded to Roland Rötheli, who currently leads German activities in Zurich. Frank Wieser, former onshore head of Private Banking Deutschland, will be leaving Vontobel to take on new challenges.
Qatar has approved a merger of the commodity trading group Glencore and the mining group Xstrata. The sovereign fund, which controls 12% of capital in Xstrata, sees advantages in a merger of the two businesses, and says it is satisfied with the conditions offered, Agefi Switzerland says. On 20 November it will vote to approve the operation at a general meeting of Xstrata shareholders.
The asset management firm DoubleLine Capital LP, founded by Jeffrey Gundlach, founded on 14 December 2009, has now topped USD50bn in assets, with staff of 78 people, a press release on 14 November has announced. The majority of capital is controlled by employees. Oaktree Capital Management owns a minority stake.
Assets at the asset management firm Wiséam, founded last year, are expected to top EUR100m by the end of this year. The joint venture of Witam and 123 Venture currently has two open-ended allocation funds, Apprécio (EUR65m), focused on “reactive and contrarian” management with moderate risk, and Andante (EUR10m), a prudent, all-class bond product.In addition to these wealth management, multi-asset funds, the firm has custom management mandates, a wealth management proposition for retail investors, and a Solvency 2 solution for mutuals or pension funds. For mandates, says François Jubin, chairman and portfolio manager, Wiséam accepts clients starting from EUR250,000.The asset management firm, which has no sales staff and which targets its shareholders and a few external IFAs, has a total of four staff. It has based its success on a nearly even balance of three factors: allocation strategy, portfolio construction, and highly transparent reporting, meaning that every client is immediately informed of every trade made.In 2013, Jubin is planning to launch a third open-ended fund, which will be “more aggressive.”
Ossiam, an asset management firm specialised in strategy and smart beta ETFs, has appointed Michel Prouteau as head of sales for institutional clients in the Commercial Development team led by Isabelle Bourcier. Prouteau will aim to provide solutions appropriate to the needs of French institutional investors, a statement says. Before joining Ossiam, Prouteau worked on the French instutitonal market in particular in its role as a multi-asset class financial engineer within the “Solutions” teams at the investment bank at Société Générale between 2005 and 2010, and then as director of similar teams at Deutsche Bank in London from 2010 to 2012.
Atlanta-based eVestment, a global provider of comprehensive institutional investment data and cloud-based analytic solutions, on November 13th announced the acquisition of two New-York City-based firms: PerTrac, a provider of hedge fund analysis software and workflow solutions, and Fundspire, a cloud-based technology provider of hedge fund analytics.Terms of the deals were not disclosed.With the acquisitions, eVestment now serves over 2,500 world-class clients across the entire investment industry spectrum, including traditional and alternative money managers, consultants and financial advisors, funds of hedge funds, corporate and public pensions, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, banks and brokerages. Back in 2011, eVestment acquired Hedgefund.net (HFN), a leading provider of alternatives research and data, in 2011.
In a report, the SEC has pointed to a lack of involvement on the part of management at the nine largest ratings agencies. The regulator notes that there are many cases of conflicts of interest and a lack of governance, and that these problems have not always been taken seriously by the directors of these agencies. The SEC report does not provide the name of the agencies concerned in any particular failings, but half of them took place at one of the three major ratings agencies, which are Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, the Financial Times notes.
Betting against Japan hasn’t paid off most of the time, but US hedge fund managers are increasingly betting against major Japanese businesses such as Nippon Paper, Kobe Stel, Panasonic and Sony, the Wall Street Journal reports. The idea is that the health of many Japanese companies which are loaded down with excess debt are deteriorating, and that the cost of insurance against bankruptcy through CDS does not yet reflect this situation. Among the asset management firms cited in the article are GAM Holding, SAC Capital Advisors and Scoggan Capital Management.
Legg Mason Global Asset Management has added 41 sub-funds of its Irish Sicav to the “Fund centre” platform of its Italian bank Fineco, Investment Europe reports. These sub-funds are managed by affiliates of the Legg mason group, such as Western Asset Management, Brandywine Global, and Royce&Associates. The “Fund centre” provides access to 4,000 funds.
Andrea Wozniak has been appointed as a member of the board at the SRI asset management firm ökorenta, alongside founder and chairman Tjark Goldenstein, responsible for marketing, distribution and external sales, and Ingo Löchte, who is a member of the board at the affiliate ökorenta finanz. Wozniak had previously been a member of the board and principal actuary for the insurance group Münchener Verein, Das Investment reports. At ökorenta, she will be responsible for finance, risk management and development of sustainable insurance products.
Cinco Días reports that BlackRock has spent EUR236m to acquire 3.77% of Telefónica Deutschland at its recent initial public offering. The US asset management firm becomes the second-largest shareholder in the firm, after Telefónica, which retains 76.83%. BlackRock also owns 3.76% of Telefónica Spain, currently valued at EUR1.74bn. It also controls 0.48% of Telefónica Brazil and 1.56% of Telefónica Czech Republic, for a total of EUR314m.
The Standard Chartered group has announced the launch of an RMB index, which will provide a way to track the internationalisation process for the Asian currency, FinanceAsia reports. Standard Chartered states that RMB is expected to become an international reserve currency, which justifies the introduction of an index of this type. The index will track four types of products in Hong Kong, London and Singapore: offshore savings denominated in RMB, international settlements, dim sum bonds (offshore yuan), and savings certificates. In under two years, the inde has risen to 735, from an initial level of 100 at the end of 2010. This trend is expected to continue in the next few months.
The hedge fund sector in Asia has continued to grow in third quarter, due to the good performance of Asian emerging market strategies, according to the most recent statistics from HFR. The number of hedge funds has reached a record 1,128 vehicles, representing assets under management of USD84.3bn, an increase of 2.6% over the first nine months of the year. Market effects of USD1.9bn were partly offset by redemptions totalling a net USD900m. Assets under management in the hedge fund sector as of the end of third quarter totalled USD2.19trn. Asian hedge funds have generally posted excellent performance in the past few months. The HFRX India index gained more than 12% in third quarter, its best results since a gain of 38% in second quarter 2009. Since the beginning of the year, the index is up 22.4%, more than the benchmark index. The same trend may be observed for the HFRX Korea index, which has gained 7.6%, in line with gains for the Kospi index.
FTSE has teamed up with NAREIT and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to develop the first investable green real estate indices for institutional and retail investors on the basis of FTSE NAREIT indices, combined with green data (LEED and Energy Star ratings). LEED is a global green certification programme for buildings, developed by USGBC. The indices are in the process of finalisation, and will be released in the near future. The attraction of the initiative is to bring together an index specialist with a specialist in the REIT market and a specialist in real estate environmental standards.
The US firm Guggenheim Investment Advisory, an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, on 14 November announced the launch of the Guggenheim Alternatives Platform, which will facilitate access to hedge funds for wealth management professionals. The web-based platform is designed especially for independent financial advisers, private banks, and trusts. Actors may use it to construct and deploy customised hedge fund portfolios for their clients, from a vast selection of over 50 selected hedge fund managers (some of whom have a capacity limit), from a universe of over 10,000 managers, with a thematic focus on “support.”The minimal limit for access to the service is very low (USD100,000), and flows are integrated into the Alternative Investment Products (AIP) service from the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which offers higher levels of transparency through standardised and simplified reporting, settlement, and constant monitoring of funds on the Guggenheim Alternatives Platform.
Renaissance Group has sold all of its investment banking activities, including Renaissance Capital and Renaissance Credit, to Onexim Group. According to Investment Europe, Renaissance would like to concentrate on asset management, which is considered more lucrative. Stephen Jennings remains CEO of Renaissance Group, which still owns its affiliates Renaissance Asset Managers, Rendeavour, Renaissance Credit Nigeria and Renaissance Real Estate.
As part of a strategic reorientation to the Private Banking segment and intermediary activities, VP Bank has announced the appointment of two new members of its management team, Martin Engler and Günther Kaufmann, according to a statement released on 15 November. Engler is currently director of Private Banking Liechtenstein, while Kaufmann is director of the Intermediaries & Transaction Banking division. = The two appointments will take effect from 1 January 2013.