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30/04/2010

Pioneer survey: Multi-managers prefer emerging markets, not SRI

An annual survey by Pioneer Investments of managers of funds of funds with assets of over EUR25bn in Germany has found that professionals are according a growing place in their portfolios to emerging market assets, which sometimes account for as much as 12%. Nearly all of them have emerging market funds in their portfolios. However, though half of multi-managers surveyed take socially responsible investment (SRI) criteria into account and/or manage SRI mandates, this theme plays no role at all for the other half of respondents. The survey also finds that managers of funds of funds avoid products whose investment policies are not transparent, or which have had extreme fluctuations in their performance, says Dominique Kremer, CEO of Pioneer Investments for Germany. Since the crisis, protecting capital comes before maximising performance. Lastly, responses to the survey reveal that, as in 2008, managers of funds of funds use ETFs and derivatives to hedge their positions, but that the use of ETFs did not increase significantly last year. These products are used largely for tactical asset allocation.
30/04/2010

Strong rise in assets in local funds

As of the end of March, assets under management in funds domiciled in the United Kingdom totalled GBP510.9bn, compared with GBP483.9bn as of the end of February, and GBP348.9bn one year previously. Market effects were significant, as net subscriptions in March were limited to GBP1.28bn, compared with GBP1.81bn in February, and GBP1.37bn in the corresponding period of last year, the Investment Management Association (IMA) states. For funds domiciled abroad, assets as of the end of March totalled GBP26.9bn, compared with GBP25.4bn one month earlier, and GBP15.9bn as of 31 March 2009. In this category, net subscriptions have totalled GBP112m, compared with GBP82.5m in February. In March of last year, net subscriptions totalled GBP48m.
30/04/2010

RCM soon to launch a Brazil fund

RCM has announced that it will soon be launching a Brazilian OEIC fund in the United Kingdom. It will be actively-managed, like most portfolios from the affiliate of Allianz Global Investors. The news has been confirmed in Paris by Andreas E. F. Utermann, CIO of RCM (UK) Ltd. The equities fund will be managed by Michael Konstantinov, who manages the Allianz BRIC Stars fund (GBP850m). The portfolio will include 50 to 70 positions, and the selected benchmark index is the MSCI Brazil 10/40. Management commission will be 1.75%, but RCM (EUR100bn in assets, of which 3% are for Allianz) will be required to obtain a sales license from the FSA. RCM recently raised about USD1.5bn in the space of one week for a retail fund in Japan, which is a highly specialised product as it invests in cutting-edge IT technologies (clud computing and smart grid). The fund was distributed by Nomura.
30/04/2010

Jefferies launches a volatility ETF based on the S&P 500

Jefferies notified the SEC in a form S-1 in 23 April that it is launching the Jefferies S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, with equities to be traded under the acronym VIXX on the NYSE Arca platform. The fund replicates the volatility of futures on the S&P 500 index, as the VIX historically has a negative correlation with the S&P 500. The fund will not aim to outperform the VIX Futures Index, but will merely replicate its evolution. Management fees are 0.49%, including 0.39% in management fees, and a 0.10% overall expense cap. The initial price of shares is set at USD100.
30/04/2010

Renta 4 hits EUR5bn in assets

As of the end of March, total assets under management at Renta 4 for the first time topped EUR5bn, thanks to net subscriptions of EUR131m in first quarter. The fund management affiliate posted a 7.7% increase to its assets, to EUR777m, despite negative market effects of 1.7%.
30/04/2010

SGSS shuts down fund administration activities in Spain

Funds People reports that Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has decided to close its fund administration service, formerly known as Euro-VL, in Spain. The activity will cease by the end of this year. SGSS will concentrate on custody services, its main activity in the country for the past 25 years. Fund administration has been offered by the firm for the past 5 years, with a few short-lived successes serving Spanish-registered hedge funds, but growth remained below expectations.
30/04/2010

Asset management profits up at Santander

For first quarter, Santander has declared net profits of EUR2.21bn, compared with EUR2.1bn in January-March 2009, with a cost-income ratio after amortisations of 41.5%, compared with 43%. Total assets in funds and management firms of the group as of 31 March totalled EUR110.8bn (+24.3% year on year and +6% compared with the end of December), of which EUR40.27bn (+1.9%) are in Spain, and EUR54.45bn (+43.8%) in Latin America. Assets in pension funds, for their part, represent EUR1121bn (+6.1%), of which EUR9.83bn (+6%) are in Spain. Net profits for investment fund activities are up 12.6% to EUR18m, while profits from pension funds have fallen 40% to EUR3m.
30/04/2010

Foreign asset managers gain market share

According to statistics from Inverco, foreign management firms which report statistics to the Spanish association of asset management firms (which account for about three quarters of the «foreigners» on the market) in first quarter posted net subscriptions of EUR2.7bn, while Spanish asset management firms in the same period saw outflows of EUR3.51bn. As a result, assets at foreign management firms rose 14% to EUR27.11bn, while assets at Spanish firms fell 1.75% to EUR160.4bn. The top three actors are JP Morgan AM, with EUR4.61bn in assets, followed by Schroders, with EUR3.43bn, and BNP Paribas with EUR3.03bn. But JPMAM suffered EUR277m in net outflows, while Schroders and BNP Paribas saw net subscriptions of EUR573m and EUR178m.
30/04/2010

Record assets at Standard Life Investments

As of 31 March, third-party assets under management at Standard Life Investments (SLI) were up due to significant net subscriptions to a record GBP62.2bn, from GBP56.9bn at the end of December, with external assets representing 435 of total assets, compared with 41% three months earlier. Total assets increased in the period under review by GBP7.1bn to a total of GBP145.8bn. SLI states that activities outside the United Kingdom are continuing to grow, and now represent nearly one third of all assets under management for third parties. Net inflows of third-party assets in first quarter doubled to GBP1.8bn, of which GBP1.1bn were for investment products. Net subscriptions to mutual funds (including Sicav funds) leapt by 120% to GBP0.4bn, while net sales to institutionals in the United Kingdom represented GBP1bn, compared with GBP65m in the corresponding period of last year. However, there were net outflows from the British retail segment of GBP163m, compared with GBP832m the previous quarter.
30/04/2010

JP Hambro IM recruits a head from HIM Capital

The hedge fund sales specialist James Du Boulay, head of sales and marketing at HIM Capital, will be joining JO Hambro Investment Management (JOHIM, Credit Suisse group) in London as manager of fund distribution, replacing Charles Bathurst. Du Boulay will be responsible for sales of the UCITS fund rage of the Waverton Investment Funds brand, as well as hedge funds from the affiliates Pepin and Tai chi. He will report to Stephen Browne, head of marketing. Mathurst will remain a director of the offshore firms Waverton, Pepin and Tai Chi.
30/04/2010

Ian Vose joins Investec AM

Ian Vose, previously head of global developed equities at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), will be joining Investec Asset Management as a manager. He will be a member of the 4Factor management team, led by Mark Breedon.
30/04/2010

Barclays lays off 250 more employees in India

The Wall Street Journal reports on Friday that the refocusing of Barclays India on high net worth clients, instead of the larger retail audience the firm previously aimed to serve, has resulted in a further 250 layoffs, while 50-60 employees have been transferred to other positions or services.
30/04/2010

Departure of another executive from Ignis AM

Financial News reports that Peter Reid, CIO of Ignis Asset Management, is preparing to move this year to Edinburgh Partners, a competing management firm, where he will serve as an analyst and portfolio manager in the team dedicated to international equities, according to Sandy Naim, CEO and founder of the firm. Reid becomes the third senior management figure at Ignis AM to join Edinburgh Partners in the past few months. At Ignis AM, he will be replaced by Chris Fellingham, CIO for fixed income products, who arrived in January 2010 from Soros Fund Management.
30/04/2010

CB Richard Ellis Investors acquires an office building in London

The international real estate investment fund management firm CB Richard Ellis Investors announced on Thursday, 29 April that it has acquired an office building located at 15-17 Broadwick Street in London, for its CB Richard Ellis Investors Pan European Core Fund (PEC). The acquisition price of GBP31.7m represents an initial rate of return of 5.25%, a statement from the firm says. The full 2,973 square metre property, including retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor and six floors of office space, is leased to Ford.
30/04/2010

Spanish funds hemorrhage another EUR1.2bn in April

According to provisional statistics from VDOS Stochastics as of 23 April, assets in Spanish securities funds have declined by EUR1.04bn since the beginning of the month, as positive market effects (+EUR161m) were not enough to offset nearly EUR1.2bn in net redemptions.
30/04/2010

Feri creates a peer group for local currency emerging market bond funds

German rating agency Feri EuroRating Services has announced a modification to its classification of emerging market bond funds, with the creation of a special peer group for bonds in local currencies. The category includes a total of 22 funds as of 31 March. The peer group includes funds with at least 90% of their assets invested in government or corporate bonds from emerging markets. In addition, the proportion of bonds denominated in local currencies must be over 50%. Feri EuroRating Services also has an emerging market bonds category which includes mainly funds which invest primarily in international currencies, as well as a peer group for Euro-hedged emerging market bond funds.
30/04/2010

Matrix and Redux merge

The London-based financial group Matrix and Redux, a management firm specialised in emerging markets, is merging to create a joint venture, Redux Research, which will be led by Sudeep Singh. In the past, Singh was active in securities trading on emerging markets, a manager at Caxton Associates, and chief investment officer at Lotus Capital Partners. The joint venture will launch hedge funds trading in local currencies from emerging markets, and also macro strategies later in the year.
30/04/2010

BNP Paribas adds to prime brokerage teams

Hedge Week reports that BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking has recruited two people for its prime brokerage activities in the United States. Jeffrey Metterl, founder of the fund of funds Muirfield Capital Management, has joined the capital introduction team in New York. Afi Lowery will be head of the capital introduction team for the south-western United States, based in Dallas. He has been part of the prime brokerage team at BNP Paribas since 2000.
30/04/2010

CDO Abacus 2007 AC I has not affected French management firms

In a statement on Thursday, 29 April, the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that it has not identified any management firms which had bought into the securitisation product CDO Abacus 2007 AC I, whose design and sale by Goldman Sachs is now the subject of an SEC investigation. The regulator verified that French management firms which invest in collaterized debt obligations (CDO) had not invested in the product.
30/04/2010

Profits down at Invesco

Compared with January-March 2009, when they totalled USD42.4m, net profits at Invesco Ltd in first quarter 2010 may be higher, at a total of USD120m, but they are down compared with the USD130.7m in October-December 2009. By GAAP accounting standards, net profits in January-March 2010 total USD95m, compared with USD110.9m in fourth quarter 2009 and USD30.7m in the corresponding period of last year. The difference is due to the fact that the figures based on GAAP accounting standards include USD17.2m in transaction and integration costs, compared with USD9.8m the previous quarter, related to the planned acquisition of the retail asset management activities of Morgan Stanley (including Van Kampen). As of 31 March, total assets were down to USD419.6bn, from USD423.1bn as of the end of December, due to less favourable currency effects than in fourth quarter 2009, and net outflows from institutional money market funds, which were partially offset by net subscriptions to long-term funds as well as positive market effects. Currency effects provoked a USD4.4bn reduction in assets, compared with an increase of USD1.1bn in October-December, while net outflows from institutional money market funds totalled USD10.6bn, compared with USD7.7bn the previous quarter. Net subscriptions to long-term funds totalled USD3.7bn, compared with USD2.6bn in Q4 2009, and capital gains related to market effects represented USD7.8bn, compared with USD10.2bn.
30/04/2010

Adepa launches a newcits fund advised by Intelectia

The CCSF has issued a sales license for the CTA Incometric Blue fund, managed by Adepa Asset Management, and advised by the Spanish firm Intelection Capital, Funds People reports. The product is compliant with UCITS III, and aims for performance of 15% to 20%, with ex-ante volatility of 5-8%. The fund will be managed with quantitative models developed by Intelectia Capital. It will be followed by a “fully systematic” product range. The Incometric Blue fund will invest only in highly liquid markets, through futures on equities, bond and international currency markets. For qualified investors, Adepa is offering the same product with a higher risk profile, in the format of a Luxembourg-registered specialised investment fund (SIF).
30/04/2010

Real estate funds may be allowed to invest in other real estate funds

Under proposed modifications to the laws applicable to collective investment institutions which have recently been passed by the Spanish treasury, and must now be approved by the Council of state to become law, real estate funds would be allowed to invest up to 15% of their assets in other real estate funds, Funds People reports. The law, which in its first version already allowed for the creation of side pockets (except for publicly-traded funds) and for the creation of ETF funds in Sicav vehicles, will also gain another innovation: managers who decide to outsource internal control and administration of funds will no longer be required to seek permission from the CNMV, but will be able to simply give notification in advance. However, permission from the regulator will still be required if the manager would like to outsource asset management to another entity. Lastly, the new version of the law stipulates that managers must join the national investment guarantee fund, except for simple investment advising activities.
30/04/2010

SocGen launches an ETN platform in London

Funds People reports that Société Générale will be the first institution to offer ETN products to investors, based on equities and commodity indices, and denominated in three currencies - pounds Sterling, Euros and US dollars, the first two of which will be hedged for forex risks - via a platform the firm is launching in London. The new range from SocGen includes 43 products based on 16 different underlying assets. New products will be added to this range in the next two months.
30/04/2010

Matrix et Redux fusionnent

Le groupe financier londonnien Matrix et Redux, gestionnaire spécialisé dans les marchés émergents fusionnent et créent une co-entreprise, Redux Research, qui sera dirigée par Sudeep Singh. Dans le passé, il était actif dans le trading de securities sur les marchés émergents, et gérant chez Caxton Associates et chief investment officer de Lotus Capital Partners. La joint-venture prévoit le lancement de hedge funds sur les monnaies émergentes et des stratégies macro plus tard dans l’année.
30/04/2010

Des dossiers ont été retardés par l'éruption de l'Eyjafjöll

La Tribune rapporte que l'éruption du volcan islandais Eyjafjöll a aussi des conséquences sur l’avancement de différents dossiers dans le monde de la finance. Natixis, par exemple, a pris du retard dans la cession de son activité de capital-investissement dans les pays émergents, au Brésil, en Chine et en Inde, les dirigeants de chacune des filiales locales ayant dû annuler leur séjour. De la même façon, la vente de la banque privée KBL piétine alors que les banquiers belges de KBC négocient avec la famille indienne Hinduja, qui n’a pu venir en Europe, ajoute le quotidien.
30/04/2010
Fonds

Skandia commercialise un fonds d'obligations corporate dans l'espace germanophone

Stefan Rose, directeur de la distribution de Skandia Global Funds pour l’Allemagne, l’Autriche, la Suisse et le Luxembourg, a annoncé que le Skandia Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund de droit irlandais (lire notre dépêche du 23 mars) va être à présent commercialisé dans l’espace germanophone et dans le Grand-Duché. Ce produit d’obligations d’entreprises «investment grade» géré par Wellington Management est disponible en parts libellées en dollars, en euros et en livres.
Fonds
30/04/2010
Fonds

Un hedge fund investissant en Chine proposé sur la plateforme de comptes gérés de Lyxor.

Lyxor Asset Management et Martin Currie annoncent le lancement de Lyxor / Martin Currie China Dragon Fund Limited sur la plateforme de comptes gérés de Lyxor. Le hedge fund déploie une nouvelle stratégie Long/Short à rendement absolu et réplique la stratégie déployée par Martin Currie qui gère 4,7 milliards USD en stratégies spécialisées sur la Chine. Dans le détail, ce fonds est un programme en actions investissant sur des sociétés issues de la Chine élargie ou Grande Chine (Chine, Hong Kong et Taiwan) et sur tout le spectre de capitalisation. Le fonds est géré comme un portefeuille-type depuis février 2008, générant un rendement de 12,6 %, précise la société.
Fonds
30/04/2010

Nomination chez Crystal Finance pour l'Europe de l'Est

Crystal Finance, société de conseil en gestion de patrimoine indépendant spécialisée dans les problématiques patrimoniales des Français expatriés, a nommé Gérald Autier, 29 ans, à la direction de la région CEI (Communauté des Etats Indépendants) et Europe Centrale. Le poste est basé à Moscou. Gérald Autier recrute actuellement des conseillers sur l’Autriche, la Slovénie, la République tchèque, la Hongrie et la Slovaquie, précise l'établissement.
30/04/2010
Fonds

Un nouveau FCPR mise sur les femmes dirigeantes

En partenariat avec Women Equity for Growth, la société de gestion Bryan Garnier Principal Investments (groupe Bryan Garnier & Co) a lancé, jeudi 29 avril, un Fonds commun de placement à risques - FCPR Women Equity Fortunae – dont l’objectif est de constituer un portefeuille de PME croissance européennes dirigées par des femmes. La création de ce fonds se justifie, selon ses concepteurs, par le fait que de nombreuses études aux Etats-Unis et en Europe établissent un lien entre mixité des instances dirigeantes, performance des entreprises et croissance économique. Dans le détail, le fonds sera investi pendant cinq ans, à 80% dans des PME européennes éligibles – c’est-à-dire répondant à des critères de mixité des instances dirigeantes. Les PME européennes non cotées ciblées bénéficient d’ores et déjà d’un certain niveau de taille et de maturité, et exerçent leur activité dans des secteurs tel que les services aux entreprises et à la personne, l’industrie, la distribution spécialisée, la santé, les biens de consommation, les médias et technologies de l’information, les énergies renouvelables. Bryan Garnier Principal Investments procèdera aux études approfondies visant à qualifier au mieux ce potentiel de valorisation dans un horizon de 4 à 6 ans. Elle assurera un suivi actif, et une promotion des entreprises en portefeuille afin d’en assurer une valorisation optimale en vue d’une sortie par cession ou introduction en bourse, indique le communiqué de la société de gestion. A noter que la souscription du FCPR autorise une réduction d’ISF de 40% du montant investi, en contrepartie d’une durée de blocage des parts d’au moins six ans.
Fonds
30/04/2010

Barclays supprime encore 250 emplois en Inde

The Wall Street Journal a annoncé vendredi que le recentrage de Barclays India sur la clientèle haut de gamme, alors que l'établissement desservait auparavant le marché de masse, s’est traduit par le licenciement supplémentaire de 250 personnes tandis que 50-60 personnes ont été mutées ou affectées à d’autres services.

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