p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Investments has announced that average assets in 401(k) retirement plans in the United States have set a new record. As of the end of 2010, they come to USD71,500, a level not seen in 10 years. For plans which have been in existence for more than 10 years, average assets have increased to USD183,100 as of the end of 2010, compared with USD59,100 at the end of 2000.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hong Kong-based management firm RP Capital is launching a real estate fund dedicated to China, Asian Investor reports. The firm is seeking up to USD100m in capital from interested institutional and retail investors for investment in commercial properties in the major Chinese cities.
As of the end of 2010, total assets under management by the Allianz group totalled a record EUR1.518trn, compared with EUR1.2trn one year earlier. Assets under management for third parties, for their part, increased by 25.7%, to EUR1.518trn, compared with EUR926bn, a new record. And the third record was a total of EUR113bn in net subscriptions from third parties, beating a previous record of EUR84bn in 2009.Results also look good for the cost-come ratio, which improved to 58.7% in 2010 from 62% in 2009. Net revenue from commissions are up 37.2% to EUR4.9bn for last year, compared with EUR3.6bn in 2009, which is due to an increase in the proportion of high-margin products in the total activity mix. In addition, revenues from performance commissions increased significantly, to EUR514m from EUR421m.Operating profits from asset management rose 47% to EUR2.1bn from EUR1.4bn the previous year.Net profits for the Allianz group in 2010 increased 12% to EUR5.2bn, while operating profits were up 17% to EUR8.2bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to sources familiar with the matter, Deutsche Bank is planning to sell the twin towers of its Frankfurt headquarters, which were renamed “Greentowers” after their complete eco-overhaul in the past three years, the Financial Times Deutschland reports. The sale will be handled by the asset management affiliate DWS, which will package the towers in a closed real estate fund for retail investors.The towers, which were “re-inaugurated” on Thursday evening, had been sold to an in-house fund for EUR272m in mid-2007, and the energy-efficient reconditioning cost about EUR200m. According to experts, the Greentowers are worth about EUR500m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although the Emerging Markets Corporate Debt sub-fund of the ING (L) Renta Fund has not yet received a license from the CNMV for sale in Spain, two other sub-funds, the FX Alpha (absolute return, currencies) and Europe High Yield (bonds) now have the necessary authorisation, Funds People reports. ING Investment Management is also preparing to release the Commodity Enhanced fund, a sub-fund of ING (L) Invest, in Spain.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In addition to the 21 ETFs it already has listed on the Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has registered ten more ETFs with the CNMV, which replicate sectoral sub-indices of the MSCI World (consumer staples, consumer discretionary, information technology, industrials, health care, energy, materials, utilities, financial and telecommunication services).Two additions to the list of products newly added to trading in Spain are the db x-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets short Daily Index ETF and the db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ETF.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to estimates by VDOS Stochastics, relayed by Funds People, assets in Spanish funds are reported to have increased by EUR1.29bn, or 0.9%, between 1 and 18 February, to a total of nearly EUR145.59bn. This comes in addition to positive market effects of nearly EUR1.11bn, and net subscriptions of EUR186m, the first net subscriptions since 2009.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Six weeks after receiving a sales license for Germany from BaFin (see Newsmanagers of 11 January), Henderson Global Investors has received permission to sell its British-registered, UCITS-compliant Henderson Credit Alpha Fund in Switzerland. The product is managed in London by Stephen Thariyan, and aims to achieve returns 500 basis points higher than the Libor 3-month.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BCV group (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise) has reported net profits for 2010 of CHF313.2m, up 4% compared with the previous year. Assets under management as of the end of 2010 totalled CHF75.8bn, up 1%, largely due to forex rates. Net inflows totalle CHF758m. Inflows from private clients and SMBs totalled CHF1.3bn, but inflows form major businesses and institutionals wree down by CHF500m. The 4% increase in net profits “is all the more remarkable as it takes into account a payment of CHF34m to the Federal Contributions Administration (AFC) to settle litigation against the bank. Excluding the cost of this operation, net profits would have increased by 13%,” BCV comments. The board of directors of the BCV group will propose at the next general shareholders’ meeting to pay an ordinary dividend of CHF22 (up from CHF21), and to distribute CHF10 per share (unchanged) from the legal reserve of incoming capital. This payment will allow the group to pay CHF275m out to shareholders.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Les Echos reports that a report commissioned by the British government recommends that the 100 companies of the FTSE index should have women occupying one quarter of the seats on their boards of directors by 2015. Quotas may be introduced if management fails to respect certain objectives. Currently, only five businesses of the FTSE 100, including Pearson, Burberry and Imperial Tobacco, have women as CEOs. Only one out of eight directors at FTSE 100 companies is a woman.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } KAS Bank has announced the launch of Fund Desk, a platform to assist new funds in the Netherlands. The platform will assist managers to create and construct new products, particularly with advising on administrative, compliance or back-office questions.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The new organization for management at Natixis AM, unveiled in September 2010, has declared its ambitions for 2011 and beyond. The director of fixed income management, Ibrahim Kobar, says that he would like to develop the credit unit in the next few years, one of the five areas of the new fixed income management architecture, alongside money market management, euro bond management, international bond management, and insurance management. With assets under management of EUR6-7bn, the credit unit is still far behind euro bonds (about EUR20bn in assets), money markets (EUR55bn), and the historic insurance management unit (EUR150-170bn). The development of the credit unit, whose staff was increased last year, and now includes 12 analysts, includes development of new products, such as a high yield fund, launched in November 2010, and a credit arbitrage product. In terms of equities, the director of the unit, Emmanuel Bourdeix, says that he is seeking to develop the sattelite portion of the new tripartite architecture (core, thematic and insurance). Out of assets of about EUR80bn, the core portion represents about 45%, while the insurance portion also accounts for about 45%, and the satellite portion only 10%. The idea is to have a much stronger presence internationally, particularly in emerging markets. With this in mind, two Europe equities analysts have decided to develop an expertise in Asia and Latin America, and Bourdeix is planning to recruit specialists to round out the team.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Expansión reports on the basis of statistics from VDOS that fund managers in February managed to bring in the first net subscriptions in 15 months, totalling EUR186m, bringing them out of the slump that set in with the “deposits war” between financial institutions.Management firms took the occasion to beef up distribution of guaranteed funds with dominant exposure to bonds, which offer total annual returns of 2% to 4% over 3-4 years.The fund management firm which profited most from the situation was Invercaixa (La Caixa), which attracted EUR839m for Foncaixa Estabilidad, after previously capturing EUR1bn in 2010 for the Foncaixa Bienvenida.The other two asset management firms with the largest inflows in February are Bestinver (Acciona) and Mutuactivos (Mutua Madrileña).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US group KKR earned net profits last year of USD2.1bn, up 9.5% compared with the previous year. A key result in this good result was the fact that KKR’s investment portfolio increased 33% in value over the year. Assets under management increased by 16.8% last year to USD31bn as of 31 December 2010, compared with USD52.2bn one year earlier.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } T. Rowe Price has announced the appointment of Scott B. David as director of distribution. He will be responsible for commercial relations with third-party distributors (including financial advisers) in the United States. He will begin in this position on 2 May this year. David was most recently president of Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US group KKR earned net profits last year of USD2.1bn, up 9.5% compared with the previous year. A key result in this good result was the fact that KKR’s investment portfolio increased 33% in value over the year. Assets under management increased by 16.8% last year to USD31bn as of 31 December 2010, compared with USD52.2bn one year earlier.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CEO of Crédit Agricole announced at a press conference on Thursday that the firm has made an offer to the Italian UniCredit bank to acquire its asset management affiliate Pioneer, Reuters reports.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Chinese government investors last year more than doubled their investments in major Japanese companies, to more than CNY1.6trn (USD19.4bn), the Wall Street Journal reports, citing consulting firms and sources familiar with the matter. Stakes in Japanese companies are acquired via investment vehicles with obscure names registered in Australia. Between April and September, a shareholder by the name SSBT OD05 Omnibus Account Treaty Clients appeared as one of the top 10 shareholders in several Japanese companies. Behind this name are the sovereign fund CIC and SAFE, which manages China’s currency reserves.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that State Street Global Services (SSGS) has reorganized its activities in Asia, with the construction of dedicated teams for Southern and Northern Asia, and plans to increase resources for the latter division. SSGS has also recruited a head of sales for South Asia, Jason Yip, who moved from Hong Kong to Singapore at the end of 2010 to take up the newly-created position.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lombard Odier on 24 February announced the appointment of Vincent Duhamel as head of development for private and institutional management activities for Lombard Odier in Asia. He will be a partner with limited responsibilities, and will be based in Hong Kong. He will be assisted by Bartvan Leemput, who will continue to be head fo private client teams for the region. Duhamel will report to Anne-Marie de Weck, managing partner at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, in charge of private management activities, and Hubert Keller, managing partner at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, in charge of institutional activities. Duhamel joined Lombard Odier after a stint as head of SAIL Advisors, the investment affiliate of one of the largest family offices in Asia. He was previously head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management for the Asia ex Japan region, based in Hong Kong, in charge of asset management activities and institutional mandates.
Auprès de particuliers clients de la Deutsche Bank, DWS Access a collecté environ 70 millions d’euros pour le fonds fermé DWS Access Marmarapark, qui va financer pour moitié l’investissement de 220 millions d’euros du groupe ECE dans la construction du centre commercial Marmarapark (100.000 mètres carrés) à Istanbul. L’effet de levier sur la part de DWS Access sera de 40 %. Les 50 % restants du financement seront assurés par le développeur hambourgeois ECE et la famille OttoDWS Access précise qu’avant même le début des travaux plus d’un tiers des surfaces sont déjà louées. La livraison est prévue pour l’automne 2012.
A fin 2010, l’encours total géré par le groupe Allianz s’est établi à un montant record de 1.518 milliards d’euros contre 1.200 milliards un an plus tôt. Les actifs gérés pour le compte de tiers ont affiché pour leur part un gonflement de 25,7 % à 1.164 milliards d’euros contre 926 milliards, record battu. Et le troisième record a été enregistré avec les 113 milliards d’euros de souscriptions nettes pour le compte de tiers contre un précédent record de 84 milliards d’euros pour 2009.Ces résultats se retrouvent également à l'échelon du coefficient d’exploitation, qui s’est amélioré à 58,7 % pour 2010 contre 62 % pour 2009. L’excédent net réalisé sur les commissions a gonflé de 37,2 % à 4,9 milliards d’euros l’an dernier contre 3,6 milliards d’euros en 2009, ce qui s’explique par une augmentation de la part des produits à forte marge dans l’activité totale. De plus, les recettes de commissions de performance se sont nettement accrues pour ressortir à 514 millions d’euros contre 421 millions d’euros.Quant au bénéfice d’exploitation de la gestion d’actifs, il a opéré un bond en avant de 47 % pour atteindre 2,1 milliards d’euros contre 1,4 milliard l’année précédente.A titre indicatif, le bénéfice net du groupe Allianz pour 2010 a augmenté de 12 % à 5,2 milliards d’euros, le bénéfice d’exploitation gonflant de 17 % à 8,2 milliards d’euros.
Selon des proches du dossier, la Deutsche Bank a l’intention de vendre les tours jumelles de son siège francfortois, rebaptisées «Greentowers» après leur reconditionnement écologique complet de ces trois dernières années, rapporte le Financial Times Deutschland. La vente est confiée à la filiale de gestion d’actifs DWS qui va «packager» les tours dans un fonds immobilier fermé destiné aux particuliers.Les tours, qui ont été «réinaugurées» jeudi soir, avaient été cédées à un fonds interne pour 272 millions d’euros à la mi-2007 et le reconditionnement énergétique a englouti environ 200 millions d’euros. Selon les experts, les Greentowers valent environ 500 millions d’euros.
Les hedge funds ont collecté environ 12,2 milliards de dollars en janvier, selon les estimations communiquées par TrimTabs qui a revu son estimation de décembre à une décollecte nette de 4,6 milliards de dollars, et non une collecte du même ordre en raison de rachats significatifs émanant d’un grand fonds.Les fonds spécialisés sur les marchés émergents ont enregistré une collecte de seulement 1 milliard de dollars en janvier. La crise au Moyen Orient pourrait provoquer une vague de ventes en février, estime TrimTabs. Les CTA ont en revanche drainé 2,2 milliards de dollars en janvier.Les fonds de hedge funds continuent de perdre du terrain, avec des rachats de 3,9 milliards de dollars au cours des trois derniers mois.Les investisseurs dans les hedge funds ont continué d’afficher une préférence marquée pour les grands fonds. Les hedge funds dotés de plus de 1 milliard d’actifs ont drainé 27 milliards de dollars au cours des quatre derniers mois, alors que les hedge funds de moins de 500 millions d’actifs ont dû faire face à des rachats pour un montant de 5,8 milliards de dollars.
La collecte nette du britannique St James’s Place s’est élevée l’an dernier à 3 milliards de livres, en progression de 30% par rapport à l’année précédente, a indiqué la société de gestion dans un communiqué.Les actifs sous gestion se sont ainsi accrus de 26% à 27 milliards de livres.La société, qui a fait état d’un bénéfice avant impôt de 84,2 millions de livres, en progression de 69% par rapport à 2009, se propose de distribuer un dividende de 6 pence, en progression de 33% d’une année sur l’autre.
Depuis le 7 février et jusqu’au 8 avril au plus tard, Barclays Wealth a ouvert la souscription de son nouveau fonds China Optimiser qui est conçu sur le même principe que l’Emerging Markets Optimiser.Il s’agit d’un fonds chargé à 3 % d’une durée de six ans qui garantit à échéance au moins le remboursement du capital investi plus 65 % de la performance de l’indice de référence, le FTSE Xinhua 25.L’exposition du fonds (plafonnée à 150 %) est ajustée quotidiennement en fonction de la volatilité : lorsque cette dernière est faible, l’exposition est élevée et inversement. La contrepartie est Barclays Bank.La souscription minimale est fixée à 5.100 livres.
La société immobilière londonienne Workspace Group va établir une joint venture de 100 millions de livres avec BlackRock pour acquérir des biens immobiliers à haut rendement dans des domaines du marché ignorés par de nombreux investisseurs en immobilier, rapporte le Financial Times.Workspace est une société qui rachète d’anciens bâtiments industriels et bureaux pour les transformer en des espaces modernes pour les entreprises de tailles petite ou moyenne.
Les actifs sous gestion de Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) se sont accrus l’an dernier de 5% à 30,7 milliards de livres, grâce pour l’essentiel à l’amélioration des conditions de marché. Le groupe britannique a fait état une perte nette part du groupe divisée par trois en 2010 à 1,125 milliard de livres contre 3,6 milliards en 2009.
Si le compartiment Emerging Markets Corporate Debt (obligations d’entreprises de pays émergents) de la sicav ING (L) Renta Fund n’a pas encore obtenu l’agrément de la CNMV pour une commercialisation en Espagne, deux autres compartiments, FX Alpha (devises, performance absolue) et Europe High Yield (obligataire haut rendement), disposent à présent de l’autorisation correspondante, rapporte Funds People. ING Investment Management se prépare également à distribuer en Espagne le Commodity Enhanced (matières premières), compartiment de la sicav ING (L) Invest.
Expansión constate sur le vu des statistiques de VDOS que les gestionnaires de fonds ont réussi en février à enregistrer leurs premières souscriptions nettes (de 186 millions d’euros) depuis quinze mois, ce qui a été permis par la trêve qui s’est instaurée dans la «guerre du passif» entre établissements financiers.Les sociétés de gestion ont profité de cette nouvelle situation pour muscler la distribution de fonds garantis à dominante obligataire qui offrent des rendements compris entre 2 et 4 % annuels sur 3-4 ans.La maison qui a le plus profité de cette situation est Invercaixa (La Caixa) qui a ainsi drainé 839 millions d’euros pour le Foncaixa Estabilidad après avoir déjà capté 1 milliard d’euros en 2010 pour le Foncaixa Bienvenida.Les deux autres gestionnaires qui ont le plus collecté en février sont Bestinver (Acciona) et Mutuactivos (Mutua Madrileña).