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25/05/2010

State Street wins a mandate from Norges Bank

The Norwegian government pension fund, Norges Bank, has awarded an administrative management mandate to State Street for the real estate allocation of its fund, totalling USD20bn. State Street won the contract following the recent acquisition of the specialised real estate administrator Mourant International Fund Administration.
25/05/2010

Real estate funds are not making money

In first quarter 2010, the Ofix-All-Index of 22 German open-ended real estate funds showed total performance of only 0.48%, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. This result is slightly lower than the all-time low of 0.49%, recorded in second quarter 2009.
25/05/2010

Rose Ouahba (Carmignac Sécurité): “Our priorities are liquidity and capital protection”

In an interview with Juan Manuel Vicente of Lipper, published in Cinco Días, Rose Ouahba, manager of the Carmignac Sécurité fund (EUR5.1bn in assets) says that management of modified durations (between - 3 and + years) and allocation between public and private debt are the two most important tools used in the management of her fund, which has gone from a 15% exposure to corporate bonds as of the end of 2006 to 60-70% in the past few months. Currently, public debt in the portfolio is centred on German bonds and one French bond, which will mature this autumn. Currently, of corporate bonds in the portfolio, a large proportion are cyclical and financial sector businesses, but only senior debt. Carmignac Gestion is beginning to estimate that credit spreads are approaching their fair value, meaning that exposure has been reduced more recently. The search for performance in the future may lead to reductions in long positions on duration, in order to profit from falling returns via strategies using CDS with options on the US dollar.
25/05/2010

Hedge fund managers prepare for toughening regulations

Directors of small US hedge fund management firms are rushing to find compliance directors and to prepare for the introduction of new regulations heralded by the SEC, which are expected to prove extremely costly, the Wall Street Journal reports. They have abandoned their position of accross-the-board rejection of new legislation, but their lawyers will now concentrate their efforts on ways to minimize the impact of the registration that will soon be required of them.
25/05/2010

ICI calls for changes to financial services reform bill

On Friday, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) published a position paper welcoming the passage by the US Senate of the financial services reform bill. However, the management firm association claims that the text still needs to be improved in order to avoid disadvantaging mutual funds (which manage USD12trn on behalf of 90 million subscribers). The association claims passages which subject mutual funds to impractical banking regulations should be removed, and that changes should be introduced to dissipate fears that mutual funds which hold debts issued by non-banking financial sector firms that undergo a liquidation ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) would be treated differently than other shareholders with the same status, and that financial contracts such as repos would not be immediately executable.
25/05/2010

Galleon scandal: Mark Kurland sentenced to 27 months in jail

On Friday, Mark Kurland, one of the former partners at the hedge fund management firm New Castle Funds, became the first figure in the insider trading scandal centred on Galleon and its founder, Raj Rajaratnam, to be sentenced, the Wall Street Journal reports. Kurland received a firm 27-month prison sentence, two years of probation, and a fine of USD900,000, after pleading guilty in January to conspiracy and fraud under securities law, and for refusing to cooperate with investigators.
25/05/2010

Legg Mason appoints successor to Bill Miller

Sam Peters, 40, head of research at Legg Mason, and manager of several small and midcaps funds, has been appointed as co-manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust (USD4.2bn), alongside star manager Bill Miller, 60. The Wall Street Journal reports that the management firm began notifying clients of the move two weeks ago. No date has yet been set for the retirement of Miller, whose fund had assets of USD21bn in 2006, after outperforming the US market for 15 years running. In 2007 and 2008, however, Miller bought shares in AIG, Wachovia, Bear Stearns and Freddie Mac, which resulted in losses of 55% in 2008.
25/05/2010

Bill Miller and Sam Peters (Legg Mason) have different top picks

The appointment of Sam Peters as co-manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust (USD4.2bn) alongside Bill Miller may have some repercussions on the composition of the portfolio, Expansión reports. Only one out of Peters’ 10 favourite shares, eBay, features on Miller’s list of top picks as of 31 March. The top three positions of the Legg Mason Special Investment Trust, managed by Peters, Assured Guaranty, Continental Airlines and KKR Financial Holdings, do not appear at all in Miller’s top 30 picks.
25/05/2010

Janus plans to tie commissions to performance for eight more funds

Janus Capital Group is planning to introduce performance commissions for 10 of its mutual funds, according to MutualFundWire. Janus already applies performance commissions for 14 of its funds, out of a total of over 100. The new commission structure, which will be put up for a shareholder vote on 10 June, would apply to the Janus Forty Fund, Janus Fund, Janus Global Opportunities Fund, Janus Overseas Fund, Janus Twenty Fund, Aspen Forty Fund, Aspen Fund, Aspen Global Opportunities Fund, Aspen Overseas Fund and Aspen Twenty Fund. If the proposal is passed, Janus would charge set fees of 64 basis points per fund, plus a commission of up to 15 basis points depending on performance over a 36-month period.
25/05/2010

European Commission to launch a consultation on corporate governance in the finance sector in June

The European Commissioner for the internal market, Michel Barnier, announced at the end of last week that the Commission will launch a consultation next month on corporate governance at financial establishments. “The working document will address a series of questions: How to effectively manage risk at financial establishments? How to give power to shareholders? These questions are important, since the genuine prevention of future crises begins inside the businesses,” Barnier said in a speech delivered in Berlin. Barnier has also announced that next week he will present amendments to regulations governing ratings agencies, and that he has also insisted on the need to conclude ongoing projects without delay, including the planned AIFM directive.
25/05/2010

SSgA launches a global corporate bonds ETF

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on Thursday launched its first ETF of global corporate bonds, the SPDR Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF (acronym iBND on NYSE Arca), which charges fees of 0.55%. The new product replicates the Barclays Capital Global Aggregate ex USF > $ 1 billion Aggregate Bond Index, which includes corporate bonds in Euro-USD and Euro-Yen, as well as Canadian corporate bonds, bonds from government agencies, and other corporate securities with a minimal cap of USD1bn, and at least one year of residual time to maturity. SSgA says that it is the first ETF product to be listed in the United States offering access to foreign corporate bonds. The fund is managed by Stephen Yeats and John Hutson.
25/05/2010

SWIP adds to private equity team

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has announced that it has added to its team specialised in private equity with the recruitment of Narcisa Sehovic as investment manager. Sehovic will be based in London, and will report to Billy Gilmore, head of the private equity unit at SWIP. She will be responsible for management of all of SWIP’s private equity mandates, as well as the search for long-term investment opportunities in Benelux, Italy and in the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Sehovic was previously at Alphex One Limited, as director of its mergers and acquisitions team.
25/05/2010

RWC Partners launches a series of new products

RWC Partners is planning to launch new products for Nick Purves and Ian Lance, who have recently quit Schroders, and who will join the firm next August, Investment Week reports. They will initially manage new UCITS III-compliant Income and Value funds, which will be available to both retail and institutional investors. The arrival of the defectors from Schroders will allow RWC Partners to strengthen its product offerings in Luxembourg, source of 60% to 65% of the firm’s assets under management.
25/05/2010

Invesco, Schroders, Henderson, SWIP and F&C win Bestinvest booby prizes

The most recent edition of the quarterly “Spot the Dog” report from the agency Bestinvest finds that assets in funds with the worst performance in the United Kingdom represented GBP14.25bn, in 90 funds, 3.8% more than the GBP13.72bn n the October edition of the report, and a 96% increase over the GBP7.2bn in the worst funds in January 2009. Invesco perpetual qualifies as the biggest bad manager, with GBP1.77bn in three funds with poor returns, including the only “dog fund” focused on US equities. Schroders takes second place, with GBP1.64bn in two funds, followed by Henderson, which, following the integration of New Star, has the largest number of “dog funds,” with eight, containing assets of GBP1.21bn. The next two managers on the list are Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) with seven “dog funds” and GBP980m, followed by F&C Asset Management, in fifth place with three “dog funds” and GBP852m.
25/05/2010

RBS Coutts recruits a head for South Asia

The private bank from the Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS Coutts, has announced the recruitment of Ranjit Khanna as market head for non-resident Indians (NRI) and South Asia. He will be based in Singapore, and from June will report to Paul Davies, head of private banking for South Asia. Khanna was previously managing director for private banking at Banque Sarasin Alpen in Bubai, where he was responsible for the firm’s entry into the Indian market and the development of an activity serving the Indian diaspora in the Gulf region. Meanwhile, RBS Coutts has also recruited Nancy Lee as Asia head of human resources. She was previously at Goldman Sachs. She will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Nick Pollard, CEO of RBS Coutts Asia.
25/05/2010

Schroders launches an Asian high yield fund

Investment Week reports that Schroders will launch a high yield fund, the Schroder Asian Income Maximiser, which will be managed by Richard Sennitt and Thomas See, on 1 June. It is the second product of this type to be launched by Schroders.
25/05/2010

Fitch puts Man Group on watch with negative implications

The ratings agency Fitch has announced that it has put its rating of “BBB+” for Man Group under negative watch, following the announcement of the firm’s planned acquisition of GLG Partners. The decision is largely related to execution risks in the integration of GLG Partners into Man Group. Fitch adds, however, that Man Group’s rating will not be likely to fall below investment grade.
25/05/2010

KBL Epb unveils roadmap

As announced by Newsmanagers on Friday, 21 May, the heads of the KBC Group and the Hinduja Group announced later the same day that they have signed an agreement for the acquisition of KBL European Private Bankers by the Hinduja Group. At the conclusion of the process, the statement says, Jacques Peters has been confirmed by the Hinduja Group as the successor to Etienne Verwilghen as CEO of KBL European Private Bankers. In terms of outlook, KBL European Private Bankers is planning to continue its commercial expansion policy under its new shareholder, and will target the Indian community in the countries in which it is already present. It will also identify potential for growth in countries in which the Hinduja Group is active, and where KBL Epb does not yet have access; and lastly, it will strengthen “its activity in Luxembourg as a platform for the construction of investment funds and other financial products aimed at targeted clients in the fast-growing Indian middle class.”
25/05/2010

S&P launches an international corporate bond index

Standard & Poor’s has launched the S&P International Corporate Bond Index, an investable index of public investment grade corporate bonds issued by non-U.S. issuers. Denominated in U.S. Dollars, the index is designed to provide exposure to international corporate securities and will measure the performance of corporate bonds issued in G10 currencies, excluding U.S. Dollars: Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Danish Krone, Japanese Yen, New Zealand Dollar, Norwegian Krone, Swedish Krona, and Swiss Franc currencies.
25/05/2010

Two appointments at Singapore sovereign fund

Temasek Holdings has announced two new senior appointments for the firm. Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, previously the CEO and a non-independent director of Singapore Exchange Limited, will take on a full-time role as Executive Director and President with effect from 1 August 2010 and Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara will join Temasek as Head, Portfolio Management with effect from 18 October 2010.
21/05/2010
Fonds

Gel des remboursements pour le CS Euroreal

Credit Suisse aura résisté une bonne semaine avant de suivre l’exemple de KanAm et de SEB AM : le fonds immobilier offert au public CS Euroreal (6,28 milliards d’euros fin mars) suspend ses remboursements pour une période initiale de trois mois. Le 12 mai, Credit Suisse avait pourtant indiqué que le rythme des rachats s'était ralenti.Le gestionnaire impute très clairement cette fermeture aux sorties nettes provoquées par la publication le 3 mai par le ministère fédéral des Finances de l’avant-projet de loi «sur la protection des investisseurs et l’amélioration du fonctionnement du marché des capitaux». Depuis le 1er octobre et jusqu'à fin avril, le CS Euroreal avait affiché des souscriptions nettes de 404 millions d’euros, mais la tendance s’est inversée après la publication du texte de l’avant-projet de loi dans la presse. Le Credit Suisse souligne lourdement que la suspension des rembourserments est exclusivement imputable à des considérations de liquidité. Il précise aussi que la valeur liquidative continue d'être calculée quotidiennement et que les souscriptions restent possibles. Avec le CS Euroreal, ce sont quelque 16 milliards d’euros qui se trouvent gelés à la suite de la publication du texte par Berlin, sur un total de 89,9 milliards d’euros fin mars pour les fonds immobiliers offerts au public. Ces derniers avaient pourtant drainé 3,2 milliards d’euros de souscriptions nettes pour le premier trimestre, ce qui est leur meilleur résultat depuis 7 ans.
Fonds
21/05/2010

Hans-Jürgen Schäfer (ex-Fortis) rejoint Warburg Invest

L’ancien patron de Fortis Investment Management pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche, Hans-Jürgen Schâfer, rejoint Warburg Invest comme membre de la direction générale chargé de la distribution et de la gestion d’actifs. Il aura notamment pour mission de développer la commercialisation de fonds offerts au public auprès des particuliers.
21/05/2010

Métropole Gestion se lance sur le marché allemand

La BaFin a délivré un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne à cinq fonds de droit français de Métropole Gestion, à savoir les produits actions Métropole Gestion, Métropole Euro, Métropole Frontière Europe et Métropole France, ainsi qu’un produit convertibles, Métropole Convertibles.Eric Boutchnei, directeur général délégué et directeur du développement, a précisé à Newsmanagers que pour s’implanter significativement sur un marché à fort potentiel comme l’allemand, Métropole Gestion a recruté deux personnes à Francfort, Markus Hampel, qui a déjà 15 ans d’expérience, et -tout récemment- Letlef Lau, qui vient de Munich et qui justifie d’une grande expérience du marché institutionnel. A terme, il n’est pas exclu que la nouvelle antenne, qui couvre aussi l’Autriche et la suisse alémanique, puisse rassembler une force de vente de 4-5 collaborateurs. Qui seront bien entendu des personnes expérimentées connaissant bien les marchés locaux.Pour Eric Boutchnei, Métropole Gestion va s’intéresser en Allemagne prioritairement aux investisseurs institutionnels, comme les fonds de pension, une catégorie de clients fort importante pour la maison en France. En outre, les représentants de la société de gestion auront pour mission de puiser dans le vivier des banques privées, de la multigestion et des réseaux de CGP.A la question de savoir s’il n’est pas trop difficile de faire enregistrer en Allemagne des produits de droit français, Eric Boutchnei répond par la négative, insistant sur le fait que le plus important sur ce marché est de pouvoir produire une valeur liquidative scindée selon ses parties fiscalisable et non fiscalisable. Ce qu’Euro VL (société Générale), qui est le valorisateur retenu pour la France et l’Allemagne, sait parfaitement faire.
21/05/2010

Baisse du bénéfice des sociétés de services d'investissement

D’après l’association espagnole Inverco des sociétés de gestion, le bénéfice net des 50 sociétés de courtage, des 52 agences et des 9 sociétés de portefeuille du pays est ressorti à 69,9 millions d’euros pour le premier trimestre, soit 19,6 % de moins que les 88,47 millions constatés pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Les quatre premiers acteurs ont été Merrill Lynch (13 millions d’euros), devant Mapfre Inversion et le Santander (10 millions chacun) et Ahorro Corporación (9 millions). En revanche, Caja Madrid a perdu un peu plus de 2,2 millions d’euros durant la période sous revue.

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