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16/05/2011

“My mission is to bring all of SSgA's strengths on the French market”

Though he continues to serve as country head for Italy, where he has handed over day-to-day management to Danilo Verdecama, Marco Fusco is now focusing on France, where he has succeeded Carl Bang as CEO for the country (see Newsmanagers of 14 October 2010). Newsmanagers asks the new CEO about his objectives for France.
16/05/2011

UK ETFs post record inflows in first quarter

Net inflows to ETF funds in the UK in first quarter totalled a record GBP824m, according to statistics from the UK investment management association (IMA). As of the end of March 2011, assets in ETFs totalled nearly GBP40bn, to be more precise, GBP39.8bn, up 19% compared with first quarter 2010. ETFs as of the end of March represented 6.8% of fund volumes overall, the highest percentage ever recorded. Of 81 ETF funds, 40 (or 49%) replicate the major British indices. Funds of funds, for their part, have attracted roughly 1 out of every 8 pounds invested in funds overall. Net inflows totalled GBP1.7bn, about half (GBP860m) of which were invested in diversified funds. At the end of first quarter, assets in funds of funds totalled GBP60.7bn, 10.4% of total fund assets. Net inflows to ethical funds totalled GBP90m, slightly less than the levels previously observed. Assets under management in ethical funds totalled GBP7bn as of the end of March, up 15% compared with first quarter 2010. In total, net inflows to these funds overall (funds of funds, ETFs, and ethical funds) totalled GBP4.723bn in first quarter, compared with GBP5.67bn in first quarter 2010. Assets under management as of the end of March totalled GBP583.2bn, up 14% compared with the end of March 2010.
16/05/2011

Changes in the Spanish fund “billionaires' club”

On the basis of statistics from the Inverco association of Spanish asset management firms, Funds People reports that InverCaixa has become the leader in terms of asset volume, with its Foncaixa Estabilidad fund (launched in late 2010), which as of the end of April had a volume of EUR2.628bn in assets, an 88% increase in the first four months of the year. It has overtaken the real estate Santander Banif Inmobiliario, which lost 1% of its assets, at EUR2.491bn.InverCaixa has two other funds in the “billionaires’ club”: Foncaixa Bienvenida, in fourth place with EUR1.542bn (+0.84%), and the FC Garantia RF 15, a bond product which is in ninth place, with EUR1.095bn (-0.51%).Bestinver, which has recently joined amLeague, has two products in the leading group: Bestinver Internacional, in sixth place, with EUR1.358bn (+13.48%), and Bestinfond, with EUR1.127bn (+15.46%). Two funds from BBVA, Ahorro C/P and Propriedad II, have lost assets, one at EUR2.024bn (-7.85%), in third place, and the other at EUR1.365bn, in fifth place (-1.35%). Alongside these, the Santander Rendim Clase B is in seventh place, with EUR1.24bn (-12.4%), and Eurov. Partic.Vol. Clase A is in eighth place, with EUR1.2bn (-11.38%). Lastly, the Sabadell BS Inmobiliario ranks tenth, with EUR1.018bn (-0.42%).
16/05/2011

Appointment at BofA Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Merrill Lynch on 13 May announced the appointment of Fabrizio Gallo as co-head of Global Equities and EMEA Global Markets. Gallo, previously of Brevan Howard Asset management, will join BofA Merrill Lynch in late summer. He will be based in London, and will report to Tom Montag, president of the Global Banking and Markets unit. He will be a member of the Global Markets and Europe executive committees.
16/05/2011

Hedge funds will stay in Europe despite regulatory pressure

Toughening legislation in Europe will not be likely to lead to hedge funds based in Europe moving to more clement lands, the head of Man Group, Peter Clarke, predicts, cited by FundWeb. From Clarke’s point of view, an exodus of hedge funds to other jurisdictions such as Switzerland or Asian countries when the AIFM legislation comes in to force, is not a priori to be expected. Clarke estimates that the revised text of the AIFM directive is not as tough as some members of the hedge fund community had feared. A move, meanwhile, is a long and costly process, which may also take 18 to 24 months.
16/05/2011

Luxembourg lawyer up for position as head of EFAMA

Claude Kremer, chairman of the Luxembourg investment fund industry (ALFI), and a partner at the law firm Arendt & Medernach, is the only candidate to succeed Jean-Baptiste de Franssu as the next president of EFAMA, the European fund and asset management association, Financial Times Fund Management reports, relaying an article published in Ignites. Kremer is thus certain to be elected in June. Two vice-presidents will also be appointed for the first time. Massimo Tosato, vice-president of Schroders, and Christian Dargnat, CIO at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, are the sole candidates for these positions, and will thus be very likely elected.
16/05/2011

Calvert merges two funds

The US asset management firm Calvert, a specialist in socially responsible investment, announced on 12 May that it will be merging its two growth large caps mutual funds. The Calvert Equity Portfolio (USD1.8bn in assets as of 11 May) will absorb the Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund (USD653.4m as of 11 May). The merger of the two funds must first be approved by shareholders.
16/05/2011

Hugau Gestion adds a high yield bond product to its range

On 20 May 2011, Hugau Gestion will launch a new French-registered FCP Fund, Hugau High Yield Recovery, which will invest in bonds noted BB+, with maturities in 2014 and 2015, in order to capture returns (4/4.30%) and profit from a holding bonds during a period when their ratings will be likely to be upgraded. The portfolio is positioned on the frontier of a universe of investment grade corporate bonds and high yield bonds (the famous 5B zone), in order to earn higher returns than investments referred to as risk-free.Risks of capital losses, should interest rates be increased, will be hedged, as Hugau Gestion has previously done for its other OPCVM funds, Hugau Obli 1/3 and Hugau Obli 3/5. The new product will also rely on the same risk management processes as the other three OPCVM funds from Hugau Gestion, which are based on the selection of high quality European fixed-rate or floating-rate bonds, on the basis of credit analysis. The volatility of the template portfolio will be 2.4.The management of the FCP fund will be handled by the same manager as the other OPCVM funds from Hugau Gestion, Johan Bigot, while Catherine Huguel will handle credit risk management.CharacteristicsName: Hugau High Yield RecoveryISIN code FR0011033984Management fees: 1.00% TTCValue of one share: EUR10,000Valuation: weekly
16/05/2011

German retail investors discover ETFs

There are now 793 ETFs on sale in Germany to retail clients, who are beginning to take an interest in products of this type, Handelsblatt reports. They prefer products specialised in Germany, such as those which replicate the Dax, as the law of proximity would predict, but they also like products specialised in more remote regions, such as emerging markets. There has also been an increase in interest in bond ETFs from DAB-bank, and sales of shares in commodities ETFs at comdirect. ETF savings plans are booming at online brokers like comdirect, DAB-bank and CortalConsors, which have set up cut-rate offers.
16/05/2011

UBS adds to emerging markets wealth management activities

UBS has recruited Gerard Aquilina as vice-president of its wealth management unit for emerging markets, Bloomberg reports. Aquilina, 60, was previously vice president of the wealth management division at Barclays, and was based in Zurich. He will begin in his new position on 16 May.
16/05/2011

Norwegian sovereign fund has nearly EUR400bn in assets

The Norwegian sovereign fund, the second largest sovereign fund in the world (after the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund), saw its market value near EUR400bn in first quarter, the Bank of Norway, which manages the fund, announced on 13 May. The fund, fed by the state’s oil revenues, and invested in international equities, bonds, and real estate, now weighs NOK3.102trn (EUR395.7bn), NOK24bn more than at the end of 2010, and a new record. Financial investments by the fund gained NOK59bn in first quarter, for returns of 2.9% for equities, and 0.7% for bonds. Better-than-expected results at many businesses, the high price of oil and natural gas, and expected growth in the global economy contributed to boost the price of European and US equities, a statement from the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), Yngve Slyngstad, says. However, the performance of the fund was hurt by the earthquake in Japan, followed by the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. The fund’s 5% allocation to Japanese equities lost 2.8% (as measured in local currency). At the end of first quarter, the fund was 61.3% invested in equities, while the allocation to bonds totalled 38.6%, and real estate weighed in at 0.1%.
16/05/2011

HSBC Private Bank ressent l'impact de la faiblesse du dollar.

Chaque cent que perd le billet vert coûte 6 millions de francs suisses de recettes à HSBC Private Bank, a déclaré son CEO Alexandre Zeller, dans un entretien au journal dominical Sonntagszeitung» (édition du 15 mai). Si le dollar devait chuter sous 80 centimes, des réductions d’effectifs deviendraient inévitables. Pour le moment, l’institut économise dans l’immobilier, a précisé Alexandre Zeller.Par ailleurs, le patron de la banque n’a pas exclu la possibilité d’acquisitions, mais il a souligné ne pas être intéressé par des fonds non fiscalisés: une acquisition devrait faire stratégiquement sens et apporter des avantages dans les marchés en croissance. De son point de vue, des instituts à clientèle exclusivement européenne ne sont pas attractifs.
16/05/2011

Chinese government may beef up sovereign fund CIC

One of the directors of the Chiense sovereign fund China Investment Corp (CIC) has announced that the Chinese government, which is accumulating currency reserves, has been working on a further injection of capital into its sovereign fund, Les Echos reports. An injection of USD100-200bn is reported to be planned.
16/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Le Crédit Agricole Toulouse et Midi Toulousain mise sur la performance absolue et l'alternatif

«Compte tenu des niveaux de taux bas, il ne faut pas s’attendre à des miracles cette année, en terme de performance, on est entre 3 et 4% de taux de rendement, ensuite sur nos fonds actions, on attend qu’ils réalisent au moins leur indice de référence», explique Jérôme Clarence, trésorier au Crédit Agricole Toulouse et Midi Toulousain. Ainsi, la caisse investit cette année, sur l’alternatif et les gestions performance absolue comme les fonds diversifiés, devises , matières premières, inflation et volatilité. Elle a ainsi profité de la crise pour changer sa stratégie d’investissement sur les actions et l’alternatif car comme le souligne Jérôme Clarence: «Nous avons plutôt vu cette crise notamment sur les actions, comme une occasion de rentrer sur les points les plus bas mais cela n’a pas remis en question notre gestion». D’ailleurs, la caisse régionale de la banque verte travaille avec 15 sociétés de gestion qui lui apportent des produits introuvables chez Amundi. «Ensuite, pour nous amener un peu de diversification sur une stratégie, on préfère diluer notre risque et investir sur plusieurs fonds d’autres sociétésmais notre ratio d’emprise moyen est plutôt faible avec une limite de 4%». Enfin, la caisse ne prévoit pas de nouveaux appels d’offres pour cette année mais préfère prendre un peu de recul et analyser ceux menés à bien en 2010. Le premier concernait un fonds dédié obligataire avec une échéance de 5-7 ans et le second, un fonds monétaire dont la durée d’investissement était de un à deux ans.
Gestion d'actifs
16/05/2011

CalPers livre sa stratégie dans les hedge funds

Craig Dandurand, gérant spécialisé sur les hedge funds chez CalPers, était à Paris la semaine dernière. Il explique à L’Agefi la stratégie d’allocation du fonds de pension californien. Les hedge funds représentent 2,5% de ses encours, et 70% sont des investissements directs.
16/05/2011

Carlyle défend ses investissements en Chine

Dans un entretien accordé au quotidien, David Rubenstein, le co-fondateur de Carlyle, se défend vivement contre les attaques concernant deux de ses investissements en Chine, China Forestry et China Agritech, accusés de fraude et retirés de la cote. David Rubenstein estime que le poids de ces sociétés, 80 millions de dollars chacune, dans le total de 3 milliards investis en Chine est «insignifiant».
16/05/2011

Le délit d’initié dans le viseur de la FSA

Dans le cadre d’un entretien accordé au quotidien, Margaret Cole, responsable de la supervision de l’application des règlements de l’autorité des marchés britanniques, appelle le gouvernement à instaurer des sanctions plus lourdes à l’encontre des personnes convaincues de délit d’initié. Afin d’«envoyer un message clair», elle propose de faire passer la peine maximale de 7 à 10 ans d’emprisonnement.
16/05/2011

La zone euro vise 2 % de croissance en 2011

Le bond de 2,5 % du PIB au premier trimestre, sur un an, permet à la zone euro de bien démarrer l’année. L’Allemagne, suivie de la France, a mené la reprise. L’activité risque de ralentir au cours des trimestres suivants mais la croissance pourrait avoisiner 2% en 2011.

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