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05/01/2010

Insight recruits a manager from F&C

Insight Investment has announced the appointment of Adam Mossakowski as a credit fund manager within its fixed income team. He joins Insight from F&C where he was responsible for a range of institutional and retail funds. At Insight, Adam’s focus will be on UK portfolios and he will report to Peter Bentley, head of UK credit.
05/01/2010

Risk management is primordial

The main challenge for asset managers in the coming decade is understanding, managing and communicating risk, according to a survey of senior industry figures carried out by FTfm
05/01/2010

New QDII licenses bring total for 2009 to USD6bn

Penghua and Changsheng last week became the seventh and eighth Chinese management firms to be issued QDII quotas in 2009 (for USD800m and USD700m respectively) by the Chinese currency office (SAFE), shortly after China Universal and Guangfa were issued licenses, for USD1bn each. In total, the new QDII quotas issued in 2009 came to USD6bn, putting the program’s total scale at USD35.07bn. Z-Ben Advisors reports that most funds issued under the QDII program will be released with foreign sub-advisors: China Universal may continue to rely on the services of Capital Group, while Changsheng may continue to work with Goldman Sachs, and Penghua will collaborate with its shareholder, Eurizon.
05/01/2010

Emmy Labovitch joins Richard Wohanka at UBP

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) on Monday announced the recruitment of Emmy Labovitch as director of marketing for asset management. She was previously head of marketing at Fortis Investments. Labovitch is a member of the executive board for asset management, and will report directly to Richard Wohanka, who was CEO of Fortis Investment Management until the middle of last year, when he became CEO for asset management and alternative management at UBP (see Newsmanagers of 4 June and 13 October 2009).
05/01/2010

PICC acquires 48% of Dacheng

With effect from 30 December, insurer PICC has acquired a 48% stake in the seventh-largest Chinese asset management firm, Dacheng FMC, for CNY1.4bn or USD205m. The vendor was a firm controlled by PICC, Zhongtai Trust. The total amount of the transaction corresponds to 3.94% of assets at Dacheng as of the end of first quarter 2009 (CNY74.06bn or USD10.8bn), Z-Ben Advisors reports. The other shareholders in Dacheng are Everbright Securities (25%), China Galaxy Investment Management (also 25%), while the remaining 2% belong to Guangdong Securities. Z-Ben Advisors says the authorisation granted to PICC is a sign that the regulatory authorities, CSRC and CIRC, have changed policies, and now allow insurers to directly hold at least minority stakes in asset management firms.
05/01/2010

Redemptions from Spanish funds top EUR15bn in 2009

As of the end of December, assets in Spanish investment funds totalled approximately EUR169.9bn, EUR6.9bn less than twelve months previously, which represents a decrease of only 3.7%, while net redemptions last year totalled EUR15.2bn, 8.6% less than in 2008, according to Ahorro Corporación. Most of the decrease in assets under management is due to maturing guaranteed funds totalling EUR9.4bn, equivalent to 17.3% of assets in such funds as of the end of 2008. All categories of funds saw positive returns last year (equities products gained as much as 38%), except for real estate funds, which saw average losses of 8.6%. Ahorro Corporación says two asset management firms stood out in particular: Caixa de Pensions and BBVA, which gained 2.72 and 2.23 percentage points of market share, respectively, between the end of July 2007 and the end of December 2009, at 8.1% and 19.4%. Meanwhile, Santander, whose assets fell EUR32.9bn in the period under review, to EUR31.2bn, saw a decline in its market share of 5.86 points, to 18.4%.
05/01/2010

Spanish funds back at 1997 asset levels

According to provisional statistics from the Inverco association of asset management firms, assets in securities funds on sale in Spain as of the end of December had fallen to EUR163.05bn, their lowest levels since a total equivalent to EUR162.32bn at the end of 1997, Cinco Días reports. Last year saw net redemptions of EUR11.68bn, compared with EUR58bn in 2008 and EUR20.43bn in 2007. The peak came at the end of December 2006, at EUR254.32bn. In the past ten years, assets in Spanish funds have undergone total net redemptions of EUR53.35bn, while assets under management fell EUR42.47bn.
05/01/2010

DekaBank launches a Russian equities fund

DekaBank still believes in the potential of eastern Europe. The German asset management firm has announced the launch of Deka-Russland, a fund which invests in equities from Russian companies of the MSCI Russia 10/40 Net Return index in Euros, which stand a change of profiting from economic growth in the country. DekaBank estimates that Russia will in the future be able to reduce its economic dependence on commodities. The manager of the fund, Dorota Kummer, sees a lot of potential in the areas of consumer products and services. The product is available in a traditional share class (LU0457263126) with a subscription commission of 3.75%, while the share class without this commission (LU0457263126) will be subject to an annual fee of 0.72%, says DekaBank.
05/01/2010

Managers reinvesting bonuses in their funds

Uncertainty about the UK’s bonus supertax is driving an increasing number of asset management houses to encourage portfolio managers to invest their bonuses in the funds they run, Financial Times Fund Management reports. The 50 per cent supertax on bonuses of more than GBP25,000 largely targets bankers and is unlikely to affect independent asset managers. But the situation is less clear for asset managers that are part of a bank.
05/01/2010

Pimco plans to launch a diversified global fund

Last Wednesday, Pimco submitted an application to the SEC for a sales license for its diversified fund Pimco Global opportunities, which will be allowed to invest in equities as well as bonds. Mutual Fund Wire reports that Bloomberg has suggested there may be a connection between this project and the recent recruitment of Anne Grudefin and Charles Lahr (see Newsmamagers of 8 December), who previously managed the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund (USD15.6bn), a product which is similar to the one recently announced by Pimco.
05/01/2010

High deficits at US public pension funds

The US public pension system faces a higher-than-expected shortfall of more than USD2,000bn, according to the chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund, Orin Kramer, cited by the Financial Times.
05/01/2010

Marketing clean-up following Amundi creation

Following the official launch of Amundi, the asset management joint venture of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale founded on 31 December 2009, the time for marketing has come. Firms involved in the creation of the new structure as well as the funds they manage have entered a highly concrete phase, which will involve many name changes. As CAAM became Amundi on 1 January 2010, CAAM Real Estate has been renamed Amundi Immobilier; CAAM CI has become Amundi Private Equity Funds; CAAM Group has become Amundi Group; CAAM AI SAS has become Amundi Alternative Investments. The activities of SGAM which are joining Amundi are being grouped together within an entity entitled Société Générale Gestion (S2G), confirming the desire of teh creators of the new structure to make it a joint platform for competing banks. For mutual funds, products previously offered by Société Générale with the prefix SGAM will change from 15 January 2010, while no concrete date has been set by CAAM. The changes will be undertaken gradually. It is already known that funds aimed at retail clients, such as the Atout line of funds, will not change names. However, funds aimed at clients of regional banks whose names begin with CAAM will now become CA. Funds with names beginning in CAAM or SGAM aimed at external clients will, meanwhile, adopt the Amundi prefix. Lastly, the names of funds aimed at clients of LCL and Crédit du Nord will not undergo any changes. Subscribers to funds whose names will change will receive a notification message.
05/01/2010

SFERS appoints a head of alternative investments

The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) has appointed Donald Holcher to the newly-created position of managing director for alternative investment and real estate. Holcher is a real estate specialist who managed the real estate portfolio of SFERS for a decade. The fund has also appointed Robert Shaw to the also newly-created position of managing director for equities and fixed income. Shaw, who has over 16 years of experience, joined SFERS in 2008.
31/12/2009

Gartmore up against the edge of market limits

Since its initial public offering on 14 December, Gartmore has never seen a share price above its initial offering price of 220 pence per share, which was already a 25% lower offer than the average price the British management firm was hoping for, Agefi reports. Existing shareholders have also had to halve their proceeds from a partial sale of their shares. The comparative failure of the IPO also sends a message for the valuation of asset management firms. At GBP676m, Gartmore is valued at 3.1% of its total assets under management, which totalled GBP21.8bn as of teh end of September. Bankers justify this level as a result of their asset profile, which is oriented considerably to equities, and 17% represented by hedge funds. But investors have calculated differently, the newspaper reports: at GBP550m when it was sold in 2006, Gartmore had 12% higher assets at the time of the sale, at GBP24.4bn. In addition to an EBITDA which has steadily deteriorated since outlooks for equities markets, on which Gartmore’s activities depend, have been unsteady, and are continuing to be a cause for caution.
31/12/2009

Dollar share of currency reserves will continue to fall

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the proportion of the US dollar in currency reserves worldwide fell in third quarter to 61.85% from 62.82% in the previous quarter, and 65% in first quarter 2009. The proportion of the Euro in international reserves meanwhile rose to 27.75% from 27.42% one quarter earlier, and the presence of pounds Sterling rose to 4.34% from 4.30%.
31/12/2009

Legg Mason star manager expecting strong results for 2009

Financial News reports that Bill Miller, the star manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust fund, will beat his benchmark index, the S&P 500, in 2009, for the first time since 2006. Though investors have expressed relief at these outlooks, Financial News points out that the fund in question is nonetheless far from returning to its previous record condition. Miller beat the S&P 500 for fifteen years running, while the fund has gone from USD750m in 1991 to over USD20bn in 2006.
31/12/2009

Société Générale to change fund names

From 15 January 2010, funds from Société Générale whose names begin with SGAM will change these prefixes. Subscribers will be informed of the modification, which will not affect ISIN codes,Société Générale said in a message. The changes are part of moves to prepare for the creation of Amundi AM, a joint management firm for Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, which will be officially launched on 31 December 2009. In detail, funds on sale from the bank with the red and black logo will see a uniform structure introduced for their names: the SG prefix will be followed by the asset class in question and then the investment theme or special characteristics of the mutual fund (management style, etc).
31/12/2009

No merger on the table for Nordea

Hans Dalborg, chairman of Nordea, has told the Swedish newsapaper Dagens Nyheter that he does not foresee a large-scale merger for the present, Agefi reports. Dalborg also denies rumours that a merger with Swedbank was under discussion.
31/12/2009

Schroder: Clean energy sector expected to perform well in 2010

Simon Webber, manager of the Schroder Global Climate Change fund, estimates that equities in the clean energies sector will gain value in 2010, despite the disappointing results at the Copenhagen summit. Governments will continue to massively invest in the sector, particularly in countries such as Brazil, China, India, Korea, Australia, the United States, and also in Europe.
31/12/2009

Sovereign rating of Japan on thin ice

Analysts at Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have announced to Reuters in separate talks that the financial rating of Japan may be downgraded if the island nation does not succeed in consolidating its finances. S&P has rated Japanese sovereign debt “AA,” while Moody’s this May raised its rating of domestic Japanese debt from “Aa3” to “Aa2”, but downgraded its rating of Japanese debt in foreign currencies from “AAA” to “Aa2.” Bond markets are concerned about the potential for an increase in Japanese debt levels, which may climb to 200% of GNP, at a time when the falling popularity of the government which has been in power since September has increased doubts about its ability to take tough economic measures. Tom Byrne, an analyst at Moody’s, says that the evolution of the Japanese sovereign rating will largely depend on efforts by the Tokyo government to consolidate financing in the mid-term and to reduce a budget deficit which may exceed 10% of GNP in 2009 and 2010, according to the IMF Byrne explains that if markets continue to finance deficits at relatively low nominal interest rates next year, investors may “to some extent” demand a risk premium for financing this debt.
31/12/2009

Une nouvelle plateforme pour conseillers en 2010

Selon Citywire, le réseau de conseillers Sesame qui a finalisé le rachat de Bankhall et Premier Mortgage Service (PMS) en octobre dernier pour créer Sesame Bankhall Group - dont Ivan Martin est le président exécutif - nourrit d’importantes ambitions pour Bankhall en 2010. Stephen Young, le directeur d’exploitation du groupe élargi, a en effet l’intention de faire de l'établissement un concurrent sérieux sur le marché, en investissant des sommes importantes et en menant une stratégie de plate-forme, précise Citywire.
31/12/2009

Gartmore touche les limites du marché

Depuis sa cotation le 14 décembre, Gartmore n’a jamais évolué au-dessus de son prix d’introduction de 220 pence par action qui marque une révision de 25% à la baisse par rapport au prix moyen que le gestionnaire de fonds britannique pouvait espérer, rapporte l’Agefi. Les actionnaires existants ont dû également diviser par deux les revenus liés à la cession partielle de leurs titres. Le demi-échec de l’IPO constitue aussi un rappel à l’ordre pour la valorisation des gérants d’actifs. A 676 millions, Gartmore se paye 3,1% de ses encours, qui atteignaient 21,8 milliards à fin septembre. Les banquiers justifiaient ce statut par le profil d’encours, très tourné vers les actions, et constitué à 17% d’une poche hedge funds. Mais les investisseurs ont fait un autre calcul, note le quotidien: racheté 550 millions de livres en 2006, Gartmore affichait à l'époque des encours supérieurs de 12%, à 24,4 milliards d’encours. Outre une marge d’Ebitda qui n’a cessé de se dégrader depuis, les perspectives des marchés actions, dont dépend l’activité de Gartmore, restent floues. Et continuent d’inciter à la prudence.
31/12/2009
Fonds

La Société Générale va modifier les noms de ses fonds

A compter du 15 janvier 2010, les fonds de la Société Générale dont le nom commence par SGAM changeront. Leurs souscripteurs seront informés par courrier de cette modification - qui n’entraine pas de révision du code Isin.Ce changement s’inscrit naturellement dans le cadre d’Amundi AM, la société de gestion commune au Crédit Agricole et à la société Générale dont le lancement officiel a été réalisée le 31 décembre 2009. Dans le détail, les fonds distribués par la banque au logo rouge et noir vont voir leur appellation adopter une structure identique : le préfixe SG suivi de la classe d’actifs en question et enfin le thème d’investissement ou les spécificités de l’OPCVM (le style de gestion suivi, etc).
Fonds
31/12/2009

"Les fonds flexibles sont une alternative sérieuse à des produits standards ou profilés"

Swan Capital Management a su tourner la page de la multigestion alternative au milieu des années 2000 pour se recentrer sur des produits bien adaptés par les temps qui courent : les fonds de gestion flexibles. La société n'a pas pour autant renoncé à la multigestion comme l'a expliqué à Newsmanagers Christophe François, le directeur général de la société de gestion, qui projette de consacrer dans l'un de ses prochains fonds une place variable mais importante à la gestion alternative...

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