The team of trustees who have been working to create France’s Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) since its inception in November 2008 have nearly completed their mission, Les Echos reports. The seven members of the board of directors of the CDC affiliate, which inherited a three-year renewable civil mandate, will meet on 31 May to prepare for the future. Fresh terms for the two representatives of the CDC on the one hand, and of the government on the other, do not appear to be in doubt. The two independent administrators, Patricia Barbizet, CEO of Artémis, the financial holding company for the assets of François Pinault, and Denis Kessler, chairman and CEO of the reinsurer SCOR, have expressed their intention to continue to assist in the development of the FSI. However, Xavier Fontanet, currently chairman of Essilor, will not be standing for another term.

Due to redemption demands following an accusation of insider trading by one of its portfolio managers, Joseph F. “Chip” Skowron III, and poor returns, FrontPoint Partners will be liquidating some of its hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, the management firm did not disclose the scale of the redemption demands, or indicate which funds would be closed.According to sources familiar with the matter, FrontPoint may retain a recent USD1bn fund specialised in lending to mid-sized businesses, a quant-macro fund, and a strategic credit fund.

NYSE Euronext has announced that Amundi has added the Amundi ETF MSCI EM Asia B (code Isin : FR0011018316) and Amundi ETF MSCI EM Latin America B (FR0011018324) ETF funds, both of which charge fees of 0.45%, to trading on its Paris ETF platform. They replicate the MSCI Emerging Marekets ASIA And MSCI Emerging Markets Latam indices.With these new French-registered products, NYSE Euronext now lists 557 ETFs 649 times in Europe. Since the beginning of the year, the European platforms of the market business have registered 108 listings, corresponding to 82 ETFs.

The French investment management association (AFG) has responded to comments by the financial stability board (FSB) about ETFs and the risks that they could pose to financial stability. In response to the uncertainties expressed by the FSB about potential systemic risks inherent in these products, the professional association points out that these products are developing in a robust regulatory environment in Europe. On the one hand, ETFs are UCITS format funds, which therefore have a very solid regulatory framework; on the other, ETFs, unlike other UCITS-compliant funds, are also required to respect a series of requirements related to their listing on stock exchanges, such as disclosure of their indicative asset value and intra-day net asset value. The AFG also claims that ETFs are simple products, regardless of the method of replication used, either synthetic or physical. More sophisticated products, such as inverse ETFs and leveraged ETFs, represent only a very small part of the market, and these are also UCITS-compliant funds, meaning, for example, that leverage may not exceed 100% of net assets. However, the professional association points out that there is currently a “very high” risk of confusion for the final investor between ETFs and products whose legal status is completely different, and which do not offer anything like the same guarantees, such as exchange-traded products (ETP) exchange-traded vehicles (ETV), exchange-traded commodities (ETC), and exchange-traded notes (ETN).

The alternative management firm SAC Capital Advisors is planning to launch a new quantitative hedge fund in the next few months, probably in third quarter, Bloomberg reports. Quantitative strategies represent about 15% of total assets under management at SAC Capital Management, which weigh in a USD35bn overall.

Barclays Capital and HFR Asset Management have announced that they are creating a partnership in the managed accounts segment. The cooperation will bring together the managed accounts platform at HFR, on which more than 1,000 hedge fund strategies are available, and the expertise of Barclays Capital, particularly in structuring and distribution.

Appetite for risk has continued to diminish over the week to 18 May, as investors were confronted with not particularly encouraging macroeconomic data, a rise in speculation about a potential restructuring of Greek debt, and the forthcoming end to the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme. According to the most recent statistics from EPFR Global, equities funds have seen a net outflow of USD7.07bn in the third week of May, while outflows from emerging markets equities funds totalled USD1.64bn. However, bond funds posted a net inflows of USD4.59bn Since the beginning of the year, inflows to bond funds invested in emerging markets posted a net inflow of USD7.9bn. Inflows to US bond funds have totalled USD28.4bn since the beginning of the year, while international bond funds have taken on USD24.5bn, and funds dedicated to high yield bonds have seen inflows of USD22.1bn. However, US municipal bond funds have seen outflows of more than USD25bn since the beginning of the year, and European bond funds have seen outflows of nearly USD13bn.

One of the wealthiest women in Europe, Elena Ambrosiadou, has been accused of spying on the top employees at her hedge fund, Ikos, including her husband, Martin Coward, according to a lawsuit viewed by the Financial Times on Friday. The fund’s manager, Sam Gover, and the research team at Ikos, were fired by the businesswomen on 23 December 2008. In the lawsuit, Gover claims that his former employer hired an agent to infiltrate his private life.

The “Offene Immobilienfonds Rating 2011” rankings from the Berlin-based agency Scope Analysis covers only 24 open-ended real estate funds, compared with 29 in 2010 (see Newsmanagers of 12 May 2010). Only three products saw increases to their ratings: the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal (up to A+ from A), the grundbesitz europa fund from RREEF Investment (Deutsche Bank), which is promoted to AA from AA-, and the WestInvest InterSelect, reserved for institutional investors, which has moved into the AA+ category from A+, putting it at the top of the rankings. In total, 10 funds get A ratings or higher, compared with 12 in 2010, and 18 in 2009.Scope has also maintained its ratings for ten funds unchanged, and has further lowered its ratings for 11 funds (compared with 23 in 2010). At the bottom of the rankings, the only funds in the “D” class are two funds from DEGI (Aberdeen group), the Global Business fund (which was already rated D in 2010), and the International fund (which was rated BB in 2010). The DEGI International fund, meanwhile, is the fund which has seen the heaviest losses in one year (15%); it is also second for highest levels of leverage (41.6%), after the TMW Immobilien Weoltfonds (48%).The dispersion of performances for the various funds is very wide, from +5.2% and -15% in one year. According to calculations by the BVI, average one-year performance as of the end of March totalled 0.9%, due to the fact that the German association of asset management firms does not take into account real estate funds whose liquidation has been announced since the beginning of the year, which had seen double-digit losses. According to estimates as of the end of December, however, open-ended real estate funds had lost an average of 1.3%.The best retail products in the rankings are the grundbesitz europa, followed by the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return Fund (high net worth private clients and institutionals), which receive A+ ratings, and then the Deka ImmobilienEuropa, hausInvest (Commerz Real) and UniImmo: Deutschland, which receive A ratings.

In an echo of the 2011 rankings of open-ended real estate funds by Scope (see article in today’s Newsmanagers), Die Welt reports that the ratings agency finds that the UniImmo: Global fund from Union Investment has a good chance of being able to reopen to redemptions, because it did not close to redemptions in March due to liquidity problems, but rather due to the disaster in Japan.Scope also estimates that the CS Euroreal fund (Credit Suisse Asset Management) and the KanAm grundinvest fund, which have high quality portfolios, could reopen to redemptions in the relatively near future. However, the SEB ImmoInvest fund is facing a handicap due to the fact that one fifth of its portfolio is invested in properties on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, which presents a cluster risk. In addition, SEB Asset Management lacks a reliable distribution partner, who could prevent redemptions from being too high if the fund is reopened.Lastly, four funds will have difficulty reopening, either because they are too small, or because they have seen losses, or because the value of their portfolios could be revised heavily downwards: these funds are the TMW Immobilien Weltfonds, Axa Immoselect, and the DEGI International and Global Business funds.

Frank Schröder, manager of the HSBC Trinkaus Kurzläufer fund (DE0005324552) at HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland), has announced that the fund’s investment policy concept is changing, for two reasons.On the one hand, a change in the economic environment, as official rates are increasing and the quality of credit is holding stable, argues in favour of a shorter-duration credit portfolio, which would be actively managed, and focused on floating rate securities, with the euribor three-month as its benchmark.On the other hand, the segment of banking sector bonds with state guarantees, which was the fund’s largest allocation, is beginning to shrink, as these securities begin to mature. The fund will now invest in senior corporate bonds investment grade, complemented by covered bonds and government bonds. The fund invests solely in bonds denominated in euros, with a maximal duration of one year.

Investors worldwide are acquiring a growing interest in emerging markets and alternative asset classes, according to an annual survey of institutional investors by Mercer (“2010 Global Manager Search Trends report”). From a diversification standpoint, investors are interested in real estate, largely due to the relatively attractive prices in this asset class. There is also a growing interest in commodities, infrastructure, and multi-strategy hedge funds. Research into emerging markets, both in equities and bonds, has also increased strongly. Andy Barber, global director of Manager Research at Mercer, says that “interest in non-traditional asset classes is continuing to increase, as investors seek to diversify their investments and participate in opportunities to generate alpha and beta.” Interest in traditional investments is falling, due to the crisis, but it will continue, Berber predicts, adding that mandates for traditional equities and bond management will continue to dominate research activities in the short term. In Europe, research activities have been significantly reduced in the United Kingdom in 2010, but had increased strongly the previous year, while it has risen more than 50% in Germany, with strong demand for emerging markets strategies (equities and bonds). Activities have also increased in Switzerland and Sweden, while they have fallen in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

« Notre soucis est de renforcer des classes d’actifs aujourd’hui faiblement représentées dans notre gestion comme les obligations convertibles et l’alternatif. Nous parlons d’ailleurs plutôt de gestions décorrélées pour éviter de rentrer dans les schémas complexes de type fonds de fonds », analyse Georges Caubel, trésorier du Crédit agricole Aquitaine. La banque s’attache désormais à des stratégies à la fois plus lisibles et plus liquides. Cependant, le seul paramètre que la crise a vraiment modifié concerne la partie fonds alternatifs de son portefeuille qui en était autrefois, une composante forte. La caisse exprime aussi de façon ponctuelle, des intérêts sur des produits structurés de type EMTN avec participation à la hausse d’un indice action ou d’un panier de valeurs. En termes de rendement pour 2011, la caisse s’attend à Eonia + 50 point de base sur la globalité du portefeuille. Si la caisse n’entérine pas encore Bâle III dans sa gestion, Georges Caubel admet cependant : « Nous allons procéder à une adaptation graduelle de la règlementation et nous avons commencé à regarder les covered bonds mais l’actualité ne nous incite pas vraiment à aller aujourd’hui vers les titres d’Etat ». Car la banque est dynamique et travaille hors Amundi, avec une dizaine de contreparties parmi lesquelles se trouvent de petites sociétés comme Metropole Gestion ou de très grandes comme Robeco et Deutsche Bank. « A travers leurs compétences, actions ou gestions décorrélantes, nous cherchons à compléter l’offre groupe pour ne pas être prisonniers d’une gamme », observe Georges Caubel.

La caisse régionale a une gestion orientée sur le rendement. Déjà investie sur le crédit, elle est aussi très exposée sur les actions. Xavier Cibois, responsable de la gestion des actifs financiers et immobiliers, expose cette stratégie: «Nous faisons jouer les timing sur Solvency 2 pour investir encore sur les small caps, les convertibles mais aussi pour rechercher des obligations sur le thème du haut rendement». La caisse tient pourtant compte de la nouvelle règlementation car après avoir pris des bénéfices, elle s’est petit à petit, allégée d’un certain nombre de positions en désinvestissant sur la gestion alternative et un certain nombre de risques crédit qui avait très bien performé mais qui ont été revendu dans le cadre de Solvency 2. «Aujourd’hui, notre caisse couvre ses besoins en SCR plusieurs fois, souligne Xavier Cibois. Cela dit, nous allons être côtés et par le jeu de la consolidation des comptes du groupe, nous allons entrer dans un esprit groupe et si on nous demande de réduire la voilure, on le fera car l’approche groupe sera plus forte». En dehors de Groupama Asset Managment, la caisse Centre-Manche travaille avec d’autres sociétés de gestion, mais en nombre réduit qu’elle sélectionne d’abord par le produit et ensuite, en s’appuyant sur les critères classiques de la taille, la réputation ou la notation. «J’ai beaucoup réduit la voilure du nombre de sociétés de gestion, explique Xavier Cibois. Quand on a fusionné avec la caisse du Maine-Eure et Loire et Normandie, on avait une quarantaine de sociétés de gestion car chacun avait sa propre diversification et c'était ingérable».

Philippe Weber, responsable des études économiques chez CPR AM

Yves Maillot, directeur investissements et actions chez Robeco Gestions

Nicolas Forest, responsable de la stratégie taux de Dexia AM

Adam Cordery, responsable des gestions crédit Europe chez Schroders

Dans un discours prononcé lors du centenaire de « L’Agefi », la ministre a réitéré les ambitions de la présidence française du G20

Le Vieux Continent plaide pour la nomination d’un directeur général européen, qui serait plus à même de gérer la crise de la dette périphérique

Les dirigeants souhaitent réaliser un MBO mais son actionnaire Rabobank ne semble pas prêt à céder ses 46 % du capital

Jean-Louis Autant, responsable de la gestion diversifiée de Groupama AM

La société d’investissement aurait décidé de retirer son offre de rachat sur les activités routières d’Aviva, RAC, valorisées à un milliard de livres (1,15 milliard d’euros) selon le quotidien. En effet, Bain Capital aurait fait une offre inférieure à celles de ses concurrents, Carlyle, Clayton Dubilier & Rice et BC Partners, qui seraient toujours en course.

La dette grecque ne devrait pas conduire à un effet domino de contagion aux autres pays de la zone euro dans la mesure où les problèmes qui gangrènent le Portugal sont d’une autre nature, a indiqué le Gouverneur de la banque de France au quotidien japonais. Christian Noyer a également estimé qu’une restructuration de la dette grecque avec des coupes dans le principal n’était pas la solution.

La cuisante défaite du parti socialiste de José Luis Zapatero pourrait révéler 26,4 milliards d’euros ignorés des chiffres officiels

Dans son discours de clôture des célébrations du centenaire de L’Agefi, Christine Lagarde a insisté sur le défi posé aux pays du G20 par le développement du «shadow banking». La ministre de l’Economie veut faire «la lumière» sur le secteur peu ou pas régulé.

L'application des décisions du G20 doit faire l'objet d'une surveillance particulière, selon les intervenants du débat organisé le 19 mai par « L'Agefi »

L'Aima fait observer que ces fonds sont désormais essentiellement gérés pour le compte d'investisseurs institutionnels

Le conseil d’administration du Fonds stratégique d’investissement se réunit le 31 mai pour «préparer l’avenir», et notamment le renouvellement des mandats de ses membres. Des trois indépendants, Patricia Barbizet et Denis Kessler souhaiteraient «poursuivre l’aventure», mais pas Xavier Fontanet, du fait de son départ d’Essilor. «Plusieurs grands patrons de sociétés du CAC 40 seraiententrés dans un processus de sélection pour lui succéder» selon le quotidien.

La configuration technique pour les mois à venir reste haussière avec un premier objectif à 3.080 points