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10/11/2010

Mutual Funds Against Cancer becomes Expect Miracles Foundation

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Mutual Funds Against Cancer (MFAC) initiative has adopted the new name Expect Mircales Foundation – Financial Services Against Cancer, on the occasion of its end-of-year charity event (7th Annual Expect Miracles Wine & Spirits Charity Event in Boston). The founder and president of the foundation, Frank Strauss, says that the change comes because now, after five years, mutual funds are no longer the only ones to be contributing to the fight against cancer, which is now being taken on by the financial sector more broadly.
10/11/2010

Superfund lays off one third of staff

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to fondsprofessionell, the Austrian hedge fund management firm Superfund has laid off about one third of its personnel this year as part of a cost-reduction campaign to stem losses. It has also considerably reduced its sponsoring activities, and lowered its management fees by 20%. Assets are currently reported to total EUR880m, compared with over EUR1bn one year ago, and EUR1.5bn five years ago.
10/11/2010

AFG launches employment study of third-party asset management

In a letter from the AFG dated November 2010, the association has announced that as a part of its work on the asset management industry, it will launch a study of employment. “This study, which will aim to be representative of the entire management ecosystem in France, will aim not only to provide data and analysis of the structure of direct employment which the major existing professions and functions at management firms provide, but also to estimate the number of jobs generated indirectly by their outsourced or delegated activities ,” the AFG says. The last study of this type was published in September 2008, covering management firms which belong to the AFG. Third-party asset management then generated 70,000 jobs, of which 13,000 were directly employed and nearly 10,000 outsourced, and about 47,000 jobs in distribution, brokerage, and other associated professions.
10/11/2010

CalPERS announces net returns of 13.3% for the year to 30 June

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Californian pension fund CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) on 9 November announced net return on investments of 13.3% for the year to 30 June 2010, an improvement of nearly 20 percentage points over initial estimates. The market value of CalPERS’ assets under management totalled USD200.5bn, USD500m higher than the figure announced in July, and a gain of over USD40bn since its low point in March 2009. As of 22 October this year, its market value totalled USD2018.2bn. Performance objectives were exceeded in all asset classes except real estate. Growth for the year to the end of June was 20.35% for fixed income, 23.88% for private equity, and 14.42% for equities. Real estate limited its losses of 10.76% compared with an initial estimate of over 37%. As of 30 June, average annualised returns for the past 20 years totalled 7.65%.
10/11/2010

The Hartford returns to profitability

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hartford Financial Services Group has announced net profits for third quarter 2010 of USD666m, compared with losses of USD220m for the corresponding period of last year, bringing total net profits in January-September to USD1.06bn, compared with losses of USD1.44bn. In wealth management, net profits in July-September totalled USD320m, compared with losses of USD335m, while assets totalled USD301bn as of 30 September, up 6% compared with second quarter and 3% compared with third quarter 2009.
10/11/2010

Savings unit at Natixis gains 7% in third quarter

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter 2010, pre-tax profits for the Savings unit of Natixis, which includes asset management, life insurance, private banking and private equity for third parties, totalled EUR116m, up 7% compared with third quarter 2009, on revenues up 12% to EUR431m. Revenues for asset management are up 12% (+5% at constant exchange rates), compared with third quarter 2009, at EUR350m. Assets totalled EUR527m as of 30 September 2010 (+3% at constant exchange rates) compared with the end of June 2010. In Europe, assets totalled EUR321bn, up 1% for the quarter. Outflows were largely from money market supports (-EUR3.7bn). Excluding money market funds, inflows were positive to the tune of EUR1.1bn, driven largely by life insurance products. In the United States, assets totalled USD279bn, up 7% compared with 30 June 2010. Inflows were positive, at USD0.9bn. The Natixis group has confirmed its recovery, with net profits of EUR305m in third quarter, and EUR1.29bn in the first nine months of the year, while it had losses of EUR2.23bn in the first nine months of 2009.
10/11/2010

API pension fund sues BNY Mellon

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ICFA Online reports that the Swedish pension fund Första AP-fonden (AP1) has filed suit against BNY Mellon in the Commercial Court in London. The pension fund accuses the bank of being responsible for a loss of USD35.5m due to investment decisions taken in 2008, which AP1 maintains did not correspond to the investment principles defined by the pension fund. The bank made investments in bonds issued by Sigma Finance, which was placed in legal administration in October 2008.
10/11/2010

Intesa Sanpaolo: Eurizon and Fideuram profits up

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter 2010, the Intesa Sanpaolo group has posted net profits of EUR510m, compared with EUR1.002bn in April-June (which included EUR648m in net capital gains from sales of securities services activities). In the first nine months of the year, net profits are down 2.7% to EUR2.2bn, as retail activities in Italy were penalised by weak Euribor rates.Savings under management as of 30 September totalled EUR240bn, 1.4% more than at the end of June, 3.4% more than at the end of December, and 4.7% more than one year previously.The asset management affiliate Eurizon Capital posted net profits of EUR52m for January-September, of which EUR16m were in third quarter, compared with EUR41m in the first nine months of 2009.Banca Fideuram (private banking) earned net profits of EUR114m for the first three quarters (of which EUR41m were in third quarter), compared with EUR104m in January-September 2009.
10/11/2010

New CEO appointed at Quam

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hong Kong-based management firm Quam Asset Management has appointed Richard Harris as chief executive officer, Asian Investor reports. Harris, previously chief executive of the consulting firm Port Shelter Investment Company, will be in charge of long/short strategy for China, Quan Greater China Fund, whose size he will endeavour to increase (currently USD50m). He will report directly to the president of the Guam group, Bernard Pouillot. Quam AM has recently launched a long-only fund dedicated to the Middle East, and is planning to put together an African team to launch a fund dedicated to Africa (Quam African Fund).
10/11/2010

Credit Suisse signs a distribution agreement with Kimco

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Credit Suisse Asset Management has signed an exclusive distribution agreement in Japan and elsewhere in the world with the Singapore-based alternative management firm Kimco International. The head of asset management at Credit Suisse Japan, Akira Takahashi, says that he is hoping to double or triple assets under management at Kimco in a short period of time; they currently total about USD200m. Kimco, founded in 2006, with 10 personnel in Japan, uses a long/short, bottom-up strategy on Japanese equities.
10/11/2010

BoA and PNC offer BlackRock shares at USD163

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A secondary offer of 43.57 million ordinary shares in BlackRock being resold by Bank of America Corporation (BofA) and 7.5 million ordinary shares held by PNC (see Newsmanagers of 4 November) will take place at a price of USD163 per share, BlackRock announced on Monday evening. The closing price of shares in the firm on 8 November was USD169.09.The asset management firm says that BofA has granted the market makers (BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital) a greenshoe option of 5.2 million ordinary shares. In addition, in parallel with the completion of this transaction, BofA is planning to directly sell 2.45 million BlackRock shares to an institutional investor, at the secondary offer price. The placement agents for this second deal are BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In total, the shares placed by BofA and PNC will represent a total of Usd8.33bn, in addition to which may come USD849.2m corresponding to the greenshoe option.
10/11/2010

Santander Pensiones, UFG and Union Investment sign up to PRI

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Santander Pensiones, an affilaite of Santander specialised in pension funds, has become the most recent firm to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). Among the management firms which have recently signed the principles are three French firms: Activa Capital, Iris Capital and UFG-LFP. Other big names that have signed the charter are the German Union Investment (co-operative banks), the American Thomson Reuters, and the Canadian Alberta Investment Management Corp.
10/11/2010

Janus extends product range

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Janus Capital, known for its US equities management, is now seeking to make a name for itself in other assets classes, and to make its offerings more international. In Europe, the US-based asset management firm this year created five sub-funds reflecting this diversification. It has created two global bonds sub-funds, the Janus Global High Yield Fund and the Janus Global Investment Grade Bond Fund. Bond management is not unknown territory for Janus, which already manages over USD10bn in US bonds. The novelty is the opening to global management. The transition should not be too stressful, as the US market represents a large proportion of global bond indices. The two funds are managed by Gibson Smith and Darrell Watters, who are both co-managers of fixed income strategies from Janus. The firm has also added to tis research teams in London. Janus has also launched the Perkins Global Value Fund, a fund managed by its unit Perkins, a specialist in value management. The manager, Gregory Kolb, was transferred to the affiliate from Janus. At Janus, he managed a global fund, but in light of his value bias, he was moved to Perkins. Janus will also be releasing an emerging markets sub-fund, which will be managed by Wahid Chammas and Matt Hochstetler, in the same way as the Janus Global Research Fund, which brings together the best ideas of all of the asset management firm’s analysts. Although it is the first fund to specialise in emerging markets, Sylvain Agar, head of commercial development for Janus in France and French-speaking Europe, says that Janus has legitimacy in this area, as it already manages nearly USD10bn in these markets as part of its other products.
10/11/2010

Munich Re further reduces equities allocation

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For January-September, Munich Re has announced net profits of EUR1.955bn, compared with EUR1.784bn for the corresponding period of last year. The German group now projects net profits for the year 2010 as a whole of about EUR2.4bn, up from the “over EUR2bn” previously predicted.As of the end of September, the financial portfolio of Munich Re totalled EUR194bn, which represents an increase of EUR11.8bn compared with the end of 2009. The portfolio generated EUR7.28bn, compared with EUR5.79bn for the first nine months of 2009, which represents an annualised performance of 5%.Exposure to equities as of the end of September totalled 2.6%, compared with 2.8% as of the end of December, while EUR174bn were invested in bonds, with an allocation of over 46% to government or quasi-sovereign debt.The asset management firm of the group, MEAG Munich Ergo AssetManagement GmbH as of 30 September had external assets of EUR10.6bn in open-ended retail and institutional funds, compared with EUR7.9bn as of the end of 2009.
10/11/2010

Huashang raises CNY12bn for its latest diversified fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 10 November, Huashang announced that it has successfully raised CNY12bn (USD1.81bn) for its latest diversified fund, the Strategy Enhanced Balanced Fund, which is managed by Sun Jianbo, portfolio manager of the Prosperous Growth Fund and deputy CIO of Huashang. The new product, for which subscriptions were closed before the set date, is very flexible, as it may increase its equities exposure to 85%, and its bond exposure to 65%.Z-Ben Advisors reports that the success of the fundraising reveals that demand has returned, as all equities funds launched this year in China have attracted over CNY1.9bn. Huashang also has a very good track record: its three funds (one equities and two diversified funds) show average performance of 21.4% since the beginning of the year, compared with a 3.6% average for Chinese equities and diversified funds.
10/11/2010

Lyxor index up in October

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Lyxor Hedge Fund index posted gains of 1.44% in October, bringing its performance since the beginning of the year to 4.30%. The strategies which earned the best returns were the Lyxor STAs Long Term Index (+3.21%), Lyxor Global Macro Index (+3.03%), and the Lyxor L/S Credit Arbitrage Index (+2.16%). The worst-performing strategy in October was the Lyxor L/S Equity Short Bias Index, which lost 2.21%.
10/11/2010

ETF assets up again in October

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Compared with the end of September, global ETF assets increased by USD57.7bn for a total as of 31 October of USD1.239trn, according to BlackRock estimates. Assets have increased 19.6% since the beginning of the year (USD1.036trn). In October, net subscriptions to ETF and ETP funds totalled USD21bn.The number of ETFs has increased by 30 in one month, to 2,049 funds, which are listed 5,335 times, compared with 5,204 as of the end of September. Since the beginning of January, the number of ETF funds has increased 23.9%, with 504 launches and 50 funds removed from trading.Currently, there are plans to launch 1,038 ETF funds.The three major promoters of ETFs remain iShares, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and Vanguard. iShares as of the end of October had 446 ETFs with assets of USD556.1bn, or a market share of 44.9%, compared with 45.3% one month earlier. SSgA, with 113 funds and Usd170.7bn, has a market share of 13.8%, compared with 13.9% at the end of September. Vanguard, with 64 products and USD135.2bn, has seen its market share increase to 10.9% from 10.6%.
10/11/2010

Strong launch activity in hedge funds

Strong launch activity was seen in the first three quarters, with more than 600 hedge funds launched in 2010 so far, according to Eurekahedge. Global hedge fund assets crossed USD1.6 trillion. Hedge funds witnessed another month of strong gains in October amid a sustained rally in underlying global markets. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index gained 2.26%1 for the month, bringing the year-to-date October returns to 7.31%. The MSCI World Index was up 3.65% in October.
10/11/2010

Superfund a dégraissé un tiers de son effectif

D’après fondsprofessionell, le gestionnaire alternatif autrichien Superfund a licencié environ un tiers de son personnel cet année dans le cadre d’une campagne de réduction des coûts et de colmatage de ses pertes. Il a également réduit considérablement ses activités de sponsoring et abaissé de 20 % ses frais de gestion.L’encours se situerait actuellement à 880 millions d’euros contre plus d’un milliard il y a un an et 1,5 milliard voici cinq ans.
10/11/2010

Credit Suisse passe un accord de distribution avec Kimco

Selon Asian Investor, Credit Suisse Asset Management a passé un accord de distribution exclusif au Japon et ailleurs dans le monde avec la société de gestion alternative basée à Singapour Kimco International.Le patron de la gestion d’actifs de Credit Suisse au Japon, Akira Takahashi, indique qu’il espère doubler ou tripler à bref délai les actifs sous gestion de Kimco qui se situeraient actuellement à environ 200 millions de dollars. Fondée en 2006, Kimco, qui compte un effectif d’une dizaine de personnes au Japon, emploie une stratégie long/short, bottom-up sur les actions japonaises.
10/11/2010

Munich Re a encore réduit son allocation aux actions

Pour janvier-septembre, Munich Re déclare un bénéfice net de 1.955 millions d’euros contre 1.784 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Le groupe allemand compte désormais pour l’ensemble de 2010 sur un bénéfice net d’environ 2,4 milliards d’euros au lieu des «plus de 2 milliards» prévus jusqu'à présent.A fin septembre, le portefeuille financier de Munich Re se montait à 194 milliards d’euros, ce qui représente une augmentation de 11,8 milliards d’euros sur fin 2009. Ce portefeuille a généré 7,28 milliards d’euros contre 5,79 milliards pour les neuf premiers mois de 2009, ce qui représente une performance annualisée de 5 %.L’exposition aux actions se situait fin septembre à 2,6 % contre 2,8 % fin décembre tandis que 174 milliards étaient investis en obligations, avec une allocation de plus de 46 % aux titres d’Etat ou quasi-souverains.Pour sa part, la société de gestion d’actifs du groupe, MEAG Munich Ergo AssetManagement GmbH affichait au 30 septembre un encours externe de 10,6 milliards d’euros dans des fonds offerts au public et des fonds institutionnels, contre 7,9 milliards fin 2009.
10/11/2010
Fonds

Le fonds de pension AP1 porte plainte contre BNY Mellon

Selon ICFA Online, le fonds de pension suédois Första AP-fonden (AP1) a déposé une plainte contre BNY Mellon auprès de la Commercial Court de Londres. Le fonds de pension accuse la banque d'être responsable d’une perte de 35,5 millions de dollars suite à des décisions d’investissements prises en 2008 et qui ne correspondaient pas, selon AP1, aux principes d’investissement définis par le fonds de pension. La banque a effectué des investissements dans des obligations émises par Sigma Finance, qui a été mis sous administration judiciaire en octobre 2008.
Fonds
10/11/2010
Fonds

iShares lance un autre ETF à Milan

iShares, la plate-forme ETF de BlackRock, vient de lancer l’iShares JP Morgan $ Emerging Markets Bond à la Bourse de Milan, portant à 98 le nombre de ses ETF cotés en Italie. Cet ETF, qui permet de s’exposer à la dette émergente libellée en dollars, a atteint un encours de plus de 1 milliard de dollars.
Fonds
10/11/2010

Intesa Sanpaolo : augmentation des bénéfices d'Eurizon et de Fideuram

Pour le troisième trimestre 2010, le groupe Intesa Sanpaolo affiche un bénéfice net de 510 millions d’euros contre 1.002 millions pour avril-juin (résultat qui comportait 648 millions de plus-values nettes provenant de la vente des activités de securities services). Pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, le bénéfice net baisse de 2,7 % à 2,2 milliards d’euros, les activités retail en Italie étant pénalisée par la faiblesse des taux euribor.L'épargne gérée atteignait au 30 septembre les 240 milliards d’euros, soit 1,4 % de plus que fin juin, 3,4 % de plus que fin décembre et 4,7 % de plus qu’un an auparavant.La filiale de gestion d’actifs Eurizon Capital affiche un bénéfice net de 52 millions d’euros pour janvier-septembre dont 16 millions pour le troisième trimestre, contre 41 millions pour les neuf premiers mois de 2009.Pour sa part, Banca Fideuram (banque privée) a dégagé un bénéfice net de 114 millions d’euros pour les trois premiers trimestres (dont 41 millions pour le troisième trimestre) contre 104 millions en janvier-septembre 2009
10/11/2010

Nouvelle flambée des matières premières agricoles

Le Département américain à l’Agriculture a revu une nouvelle fois en baisse ses prévisions de rendements et de stocks sur les matières premières, après un rapport d’octobre déjà très pessimiste. Les prévisions de l’USDA ont entraîné le prix de la livre de coton vers de nouveaux records et provoqué des hausses de 4,3% du prix du soja et de 1,8 % du blé à Chicago.
10/11/2010

HCA se prépare à verser un dividende

La chaîne américaine d’établissements de santé, acquise il y a quatre ans dans le cadre d’un LBO de 33 milliards de dollars, prévoit de verser un dividende de 2 milliards à ses propriétaires, dont les fonds KKR et Bain Capital. Une opération financée en partie par une émission obligataire à haut rendement de 1,53 milliard de dollars.
10/11/2010

Morgan Stanley sort d’Invesco

La banque américaine a fait part de son souhait de céder les 30,9 millions de titres Invesco acquis en juin dernier dans le cadre de la vente de l’acticité de fonds réservés aux particuliers de Morgan Stanley. Les deux parties ont assuré que cette opération, de 717 millions de dollars au cours de clôture d’Invesco hier soir, n’avait pas vocation à remettre en cause leurs relations.
10/11/2010

L’AMF publie son instruction sur les ventes à découvert

Conformément à son engagement de mettre en œuvre rapidement la position définie par le CESR en mai 2010, l’AMF a modifié son règlement général pour introduire un régime complet de transparence des positions courtes nettes sur les actions. Cette modification entrera en vigueur le 1er février 2011, mettant fin à l’interdiction de ventes à découvert sur certaines valeurs financières.
10/11/2010

Deutsche Börse prend une part minoritaire d’ID’s

L’opérateur boursier allemand a annoncé l’acquisition d’une participation minoritaire dans ID’s (Investors Derivatives Solution), une société établie à Paris et spécialisée dans la fourniture de solutions technologiques en ligne dédiées aux acteurs sell-side et buy-side. L’accord prévoit le paiement d’un montant à un chiffre en millions d’euros.
10/11/2010

NiXEN Partners sort de Plastisud

La société de private equity, qui était entrée en 2004 via une opération de LBO dans le capital du concepteur et fabricant de moules de haute précision, a cédé sa participation au management, dont Laurent Buzzo, président et fils du fondateur du groupe de Castelnaudary. NiXEN indique réaliser à l’occasion de cet OBO (owner buy-out) un multiple de 2,6 fois sur son investissement historique.

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