JPMorgan domine le M&A en France
La banque arrive en tête du classement semestriel exclusif de L’Agefi pour les conseils en fusions et acquisitions, sur un marché français néanmoins en chute libre.
L’IPO d’Euronext prend du retard
L’opérateur boursier ne fera probablement pas son retour sur les marchés en début d’année prochaine. Le processus de cotation sera finalisé «au mieux au deuxième trimestre 2014», selon un connaisseur du dossier cité par le quotidien. Si la fusion d’ICe et de Nyse Euronext avance bien, la scission des activités européennes de Nyse en revanche «avance moins vite» selon le quotidien, qui évoque notamment les tergiversations quant à leur futur tour de table.
Patron Capital vise l’immobilier français
Keith Breslauer, le directeur général du fonds d’investissement britannique dédié à l’immobilier, confie au quotidien son souhait de prendre pied en France. Le dirigeant vise un portefeuille de 500 millions d’euros. Patron Capital a pour l’heure selon son dirigeant déjà noué une transaction pour 70 millions à Paris.
Un fonds de pension japonais se risque hors de l’Archipel
Le quotidien croit savoir que l’un des principaux fonds de pension japonais va s’associer notamment à Mitsubishi et à Mizuho, ainsi qu’à l’un de ses homologues canadiens, pour mettre la main pour près de deux milliards de dollars sur une usine de génération d’électricité aux Etats-Unis, dans le Michigan. Il s’agit du premier investissement dans les infrastructures pour un fonds de pension nippon selon le quotidien.
Les autorités chinoises maintiennent la pression sur le marché interbancaire
Les banques auraient distribué un record de 1.000 milliards de yuans de crédits sur les dix premiers jours de juin, selon le Wall Street Journal
Groupe Pasteur Mutualité a renforcé sa poche Etats-Unis dans son portefeuille actions
Jean-Pierre Cave, Trésorier général du Groupe Pasteur Mutualité lors d’une table ronde organisée par amLeague et Newsmanagers : Pour ma part, j’aime bien les « small caps ». Cela dans une volonté de recherche de la performance plutôt que du rendement. Nous nous intéressons aussi aux produits de rendement, mais plutôt à travers des fonds de « minimum variance ». Mais cela ne constitue pas l’essentiel de nos portefeuilles, par rapport à la poche actions, 2-3 % sur 17 %... À notre façon, nous avons investi dans le secteur de la santé ; c’est notre coeur de métier. Selon moi, dans les années futures, ce secteur sera très performant. Quant à l’allocation, nous ne l’avons pas modifiée sur la zone euro. Nous avons surtout renforcé notre poche Etats-Unis. En ce qui concerne les actions, nous sommes uniquement investit en fonds ouverts. Pour les obligations, nous sommes en mandat et en gestion directe. Nous bougeons peu. Il faut vraiment que nous enregistrions des contre-performances, que nous ne croyions plus aux gérants pour arbitrer. Nous faisons très peu d’arbitrages. Il faut que nous soyons vraiment déçus par la gestion et encore il peut y avoir des accidents et nous pardonnons à nos gérants d’avoir des passages à vide.
L'indice PMI manufacturier mondial stable en juin
Edité par la banque JPMorgan, l’indice manufacturier mondial est ressorti stable en juin - à 50,6, son niveau de mai. Cette quasi-stabilité se retrouve dans une bonne partie des composantes, à l’exception de celle de l’emploi - qui recule à 49,6 contre 50,3 - et des commandes à l’exportation qui refluent à 48,5 contre 50,2.
La croissance ralentit dans l'industrie américaine
Les résultats définitifs de l’enquête mensuelle Markit auprès des directeurs d’achats indiquent que la croissance de l’activité du secteur manufacturier américain est revenue en juin à son rythme le plus faible depuis huit mois avec la dégradation de la demande étrangère. L’indice PMI manufacturier est revenu à 51,9 après 52,3 en mai et une première estimation à 52,2. L’indice ISM manufacturier affiche en revanche une remonté à 50,9 contre 49,0 en mai.
Pékin ouvre une enquête sur les vins européens
La Chine a ouvert lundi une enquête formelle sur les conditions de production et de financement des vins produits dans l’Union européenne et commercialisés sur son sol, l’une des procédures engagées dans le bras de fer commercial qui oppose Pékin et Bruxelles. L’UE dément subventionner les exportations et pratiquer le dumping, c’est à dire la vente à perte, sur le marché chinois du vin.
Rebond des dépenses de construction dans le secteur public américain
Selon le département du Commerce, les dépenses ont augmenté de 0,5% au rythme annualisé de 874,9 milliards de dollars, après un gain révisé à 0,1% en avril. C’est le rythme le plus soutenu depuis les 880,3 milliards de dollars de septembre 2009. Les chantiers publics ont vu leurs dépenses progresser de 1,8%, une hausse sans précédent en près d’un an, après deux mois de tassement.
01/07/2013
Record outflows from US ETFs in June
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 1 to 27 June, ETFs listed in the United States saw net redemptions which lowered total assets by 5%, to USD1.424trn, according to statistics from IndexUniverse. As a result, net subscriptions since the beginning of the year totalled slightly under USD71bn, compared with USD76bn in the first half of 2012.The heaviest outflows in June affected international equities ETFs, which totalled nearly USD9bn, with USD4.9bn from the iShares MSCI Emerging Market Index Fund alone. Bond ETFs saw net outflows of over USD8bn of which more than USD7bn were from US bond funds.
01/07/2013
Lyxor launches an ETF based on Euro Stoxx
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } NYSE Euronext has announced that on 28 June it admitted a new equity ETF from Lyxor Asset Management to trading on the Paris market. The product becomes the 583rd to be listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext, which has a total of 672 ETF listings, including secondary listings.CharacteristicsName: Lyxor ETF SXXT DR DBenchmark index: Euro StoxxTotal expense ratio: 0.3%
01/07/2013
RSI buys an office property from KanAm
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For an undisclosed amount, the Régime Social des Indépendants (RSI) has purchased the office property located at 100 avenue de Suffren in Paris (10,000 square metres) from the German KanAm grundinvest fund.
01/07/2013
Chinese sovereign fund may have a new chairman
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to several local media sources, the new chairman of the Chinese sovereign fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), has been appointed, Les Echos reports. The name of Ding Xuedong, former vice minister of finance, aged 53, is said already to have been announced to CIC employees during the day on Friday. The position has been vacant since Lu Juwei, former head of the CIC, became Chinese finance minister in March. Although, according to one Beijing financial sector source, “teams are working normally,” the situation was beginning to become intriguing: all other major positions in the Chinese financial superstructure had been filled.
01/07/2013
KanAm has already sold off one third of assets from grundinvest
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In July 2012, the Munich-based KanAm announced plans to liquidate the open-ended real estate fund grundinvest (DE0006791809), which at the time had assets totalling EUR6bn. Since then, the asset management firm has managed to sell off ten properties, with a total value of EUR2.2bn, and has paid off debts totalling EUR1.3bn, more than half of total debt.Fondprofessionell.de also reports that the distribution received by shareholders totalled EUR516m.Meanwhile, the fund’s debt level has been reduced to EUR1.3bn, more than half of all credit contracted.Nonetheless, the net asset value of shares in the fund was on 25 June reduced by EUR1.44, to EUR43.66, due to a reduction of EUR65m in the valuation of the portfolio by a group of independent experts.
01/07/2013
Target-date funds have over USD500bn
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In its study entitled “Target-Date Series Research Paper: 2013 Industry Survey,” Morningstar reports that at the end of first quarter of 2013, assets in target-date funds in the United States topped USD500bn.The agency also states that management commissions are continuing to fall, to 0.91% of assets from 0.99% in 2011.The three leaders, Vanguard Fidelity and T. Rowe Price, retain a market share of about 75%, despite the rapid rise of some small players. Meanwhile, four firms have closed their target-date fund activities: American Independence, Columbia, Oppenheimer and Goldman Sachs.Morningstar also reports that managers of ranges of target-date funds have considerably increased the exposure of their products to non-US equities: allocation to international equities has increased from 24% on average for funds maturing in 2040 as of 2005 to 36% as of 31 December 2012.
01/07/2013
Appetite for financial advising up among high net worth clients
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Seven high net worth investors out of ten estimate that financial markets are currently too complicated not to rely on the assistance of an advisor, according to a survey by Charles Schwab. One third of respondents to the survey say that their demand for financial advising increased in the past twelve months, and three quarters say that they are much more confident when they take an investment decision with the help of a professional. Trust and transparency are at the heart of relationships between high net worth clients and advisers. But the survey finds that 72% of respondents trust individual finance specialists, while only 42% put their trust in financial services companies.
01/07/2013
Société Générale Gestion may be fined up to EUR300,000
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The French financial market authority (AMF) on Friday demanded a fine of at least EUR300,000 against Société Générale Gestion (S2G) for shortfalls in the management of a fund (FCP) in 2010, Agefi reports. The regulator accuses it of a conflict of interest, as S2G was both manager of the fund and collateral manager of USD10bn in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) in FCP funds, and was paid in these two capacities. S2G is also claimed not to have precisely and independently evaluated the indexed CDOs and performance swaps. That led to an increase in the net asset value of the fund, which was the reason for the AMF control, and which represents a loss for which shareholders require compensation if they sold their investments before December 2010. The asset management firm is also accused of failing in its duty to inform clients.
01/07/2013
Head of equity research leaves Pimco
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to Citywire, John Longhurst is leaving his position as head of emerging markets at Pimco, which he joined in October 2011 from Capital International, Citywire reports.
01/07/2013
Schroders joins amLeague
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Schroders Investment Management Ltd. is joining the amLeague competition, and is launching its first portfolio no the Europe Equities mandate from 28 June.The announcement is all the more significant as amLeague is aimed at institutional investors at a time whe Nuno Teixeira, CEO of Schroders France, recently announced that the UK asset management firm is planning to build a presence on the French independent financial adviser market (see Newsmanagers of 17 June).
01/07/2013
Lloyds Banking Group Switzerland sharply cuts back staff
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to Geneva’s La Tribune, Lloyds Banking Group Switzerland, whose assets were acquired by UBP at the end of May, may lay off several hundred employees out of the 380 it has in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud. According to an internal source, the layoffs may affect more than 50% of personnel.
01/07/2013
Avaloq retained by Deutsche Bank in Switzerland for wealth management
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 July 2013, the B-Source company, an affiliate of Avaloq will take over responsibility for the operation of the Operations back office at Deutsche Bank (Switzerland) SA for Wealth Management, according to a statement released on 28 june. B-Source, a provider of back-office services belonging to the Avaloq group, will be responsible for the operation of the Operations back office as well as the 80 employees at the Geneva site. The replacement of the central banking platform with the integrated Avaloq Banking Suite will take place in summer 2014. “B-Source thus supports the bank’s objective, which is now to concentrate on its core profession,” a statement says. Markus Gröninger, CEO of B-Source SA, says “the ongoing reinforcement of our community is a clear sign of our growth strategy, which is based in providing highly industrialised services which allow banks to concentrate on their core profession and on generating future growth.”
01/07/2013
Margins at asset management firms return to 2007 levels
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Pre-tax operating profits in the global asset management industry increased to 32%, their highest level since 2007, according to a survey by the consultant Casey, Quirk and Associates, cited by Financial News. Profits reached 34% in 2007, and then fell to 25% in 2009. The most rapid growth was for firms managing USD50m to USD200m.
01/07/2013
Commerz Real sells off institutional RE fund management
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For an undisclosed amount, Commerz Real (Commerzbank group) is selling its affiliate Commerz Real Spezialfondsgesellschaft (CRS), which includes institutional funds (Spezialfonds) with assets totalling EUR1.6bn to the institutional asset management firm Internos.The sale of this operation, which is “less profitable than others,” explicitly does not mean that Commerz Real (EUR35bn) is completely withdrawing from institutional real estate management.The transaction does not include the firm’s stake in Amprion (the former high voltage network from RWE), which was acquired in 2011 as part of a club deal.The Internos group has about EUR1.9bn in assets under management, the majority of which are on the German market.
01/07/2013
We prefer local distribution partners for our international development
The British asset management firm M&G Investments set out to conquer the European market in 2011, with a major geographical coverage.International assets now represent 25% of the EUR 72bn in retail assets under management at the firm. But eventually, it may reach 50%, Jonathan Willcocks, head of retail sales, tells Newsmanagers. To achieve this ambitious objective, it is relying on the strength of its relationships with its local distribution partners and its emphasis on multi-asset class products.
01/07/2013
Amundi SGR recruits for sales
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Stefan Aquati, who previously worked at ING IM, antonveneta and Scottish Equitable, is joining Amundi SGR as senior relationship manager for third party distribution, Investment Europe reports. He will report to Paolo Proli, director of external distribution. Amundi SGR currently has about EUR6bn in assets under management.
01/07/2013
Amundi recruits a senior client relationship manager
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Amundi Sgr, the Italian arm of the French asset management firm, has recruited Stefano Acquati as its new senior relationship manager in the third-party distribution team, Bluerating reports. He had previously been a retail side client adviser at ING Investment Management.
01/07/2013
Franklin Templeton recruits four in Italy
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton has recruited three people in Italy, who will become responsible for the new offices in Rome, Florence and Padua, Bluerating reports. Marco Magi, who will be based in Rome, previously worked at Monte Paschi di Siena. Alessia Pagni, who becomes head of the Florence office, joins from Deutsche Bank. Lastly, in Padua, Alessandro Gibelli is appointed. He had previously been at Eurobroker Italia. The institutional team at Franklin Templeton has also been reinforced with the arrival of Laura Belotti, who previously worked at Fineco Investimenti, Capitalia AM and Axa IM.
01/07/2013
Vontobel shuts down its private bank in Italy
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vontobel is on 1 July closing down its private bank in Italy, according to reports from Bluerating. The Swiss bank will now oversee this activity from Zurich. The decision comes as a result of the fact that private banking services in Italy were no longer in a position to achieve the necessary volumes to keep up with regulations and rising costs.
01/07/2013
Investors reconsider the case of EMD
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to some investors cited by the Wall Street Journal, the wave of selloffs in emerging market bonds may not be over. It is the result both of the prospect of a slowdown both in bond purchases by the Fed and in growth in emerging markets. This is expected to lead investors to become more selective in future.Sergio Trio Paz, who manages about USD4bn in emerging market debt (EMD) at BlackRock, prefers Brazil to India, where returns are equivalent, because the Brazilian fundamentals are better and the Brazilian market is more liquid.Colm McDonagh, who had USD755m in EMD under management at Insight, prefers government debt issued by Mexico and the Philippines, fiscally solid countries, which are beginning to become attractive. However, South Africa is expected to remain under pressure, due to a lack of progress in fiscal recovery.Tim Dingemans, who manages USD80m in EMD at Adelante Asset Management, expects Chile and Indonesia, exporters of commodities, to remain under pressure, along with Turkey, due to political instability.