The hedge fund management firm Third Point LLC has threatened Sotheby’s with a “proxy fight” if the auction house maintains a clause adopted on Friday which forbids any active shareholder from controlling more than 10% of capital; passive shareholders may hold up to 20% of capital, however, without triggering the mechanism. Third Point most recently held 9.3% of Sotheby’s.The CEO of Third Point, Dan Loeb, accuses Sotheby’s of having been too slow to adapt to movements in the art market towards contemporary works, online sales and the emergence of buyers from China and the Middle East.Third Point is seeking to obtain the removal of the CEO of Sotheby’s, William Rupprecht, and a seat on the board for Loeb.
Pan Yu Ming is joining Allianz Global Investors, a firm he left in 2010 to manage an Asian hedge fund, Financial News reports. He is returning to take over the management of the Total Return Asian Equity fund. The product, with GBP36.2m in assets, had in the past few months been managed by Raymond Chan, CIO of Allianz for Asia-Pacific equities. He will become management deputy after Pan’s return.
For the Hong Kong-based asset management firm JK Capital Management, in which La Française AM has bought a 20% stake, 2013 may be the breakout year. Inflows in the first nine months of the year total about USD500m, compared with barely USD200m at the beginning of the year, says Fabrice Jacob, CEO of JK Capital Management, on a visit to Paris on 4 October. This spectacular growth is largely due to the La Française distribution network, which now assists JK Capital Management. Assets under management by the fund dedicated to China, LFP JKC China Value, managed by Fabrice Jacob, has increased from USD150m at the end of 2012 to USD230m most recently, due to investments from major institutional clients. The support of La Française is expected to continue or increse in the next few months, as Asia is one of the regions in the world in which the asset management firm would like to develop. Circumstances may favour La Française, since Jacob’s co-shareholder in JK Capital Management may soon be retiring due to his age. Like Jacob, Randolph Kwei holds 40% of capital. His departure may come in the first half of 2014, which would result in a redistribution of capital. This would be an opportunity for La Française to mark its desire to grow in the region.
The asset management firm BlueShares, based in Sydney, is planning to launch ETFs which would be listed in Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Investor reports. These ETFs, which may be made available from early 2014, would be the first ETFs to be launched outside Australian home market of the company, which is 50% controlled by Mirae Asset Global Investments. The existing ETFs may also be listed both in Hong Kong and Singapore. According to Betashares, demand from Asian investors for ETFs appears to be rising, while their use by Australian investors is declining slightly. As of the end of December 2012, about 47% of Australian retail investors are using ETFs through a retirement programme, compared with 50% in December 2011.
UBS is considering selling all or part of its wealth management affiliate in Australia, finews reports, relaying information in «The Australian». Two options are being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter: a sale of all activities to Bell Potter Securities, a financial services firm in which UBS controls 16%, or to retain 20% of wealth management advisers and sell the rest to Bell Potter Securities.
The trial of five former employees of Bernard Madoff – two former portfolio managers and three back office personnel – opens this week, the Financial Times reports. Madoff has always maintained that he was solely responsible for the fraud, but the authorities suspect 14 individuals with helping him. The defence is facing 33 counts.
Amber Capital has launched the Amber Equity Fund, a UCITS version of the Amber Italia Equity Fund, on the UCITS Alpha platform, Hedge Week reports. The Amber Equity Fund is manaaged by Amber Capital Italia SGR, an asset management firm based in Milan. The firm was founded by Joseph Oughourlian, founder of Amber Capital Group, a company founded in 2011 with offices in London and New York. Amber Equity is a long/short fund investing in European equities, with a bias for Italy.
So far, the tickers, total expense ratios and market for listing have not been disclosed, but the New York-based firm WisdomTree has submitted an application for a license for eight ETFs covering various segments of the bond asset class (investment grade corporate bonds, high yield bonds and bonds issued by public agencies with total maturity between one and ten years), each with an overlay of short positions on Treasuries to hedge for interest rate risks, Index Universe reports.The products are designed to confront the period in which the Fed actually starts tapering its QE.The new funds, which will replicate in-house indices designed for the purpose, will be as follows:WisdomTree Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Intermediate Credit Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Intermediate Credit Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term Credit Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term Credit Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Government/Corporate Bond Negative Duration Fund andWisdomTree Government/Corporate Bond Zero Duration Fund.
Bruce Berkowitz, president of Fairholme Capital Management, is opening his first hedge fund, launched on 1 January, to institutional investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund already has assets of USD140bn, due to money from Berkowitz and employees. By opening, the objective is to achieve USD1bn in one year. The fund may invest in real estate, can acquire large stakes in business, and may make acquisitions.
The Alternative Global UCITS index calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital has posted returns in September of 0.65%, after a loss of 0.40% in August, meaning that UCITS hedge funds in the first nine months of the year of this year will post average gains of 2%. The fund of hedge funds index has gained 0.80%, after losses of 0.66% the previous month. In January-September, funds of funds show average returns of 2.50%.Of the eleven strategy sub-indices, four remain in negative territory for September, including losses of 1.88% for commodities and 1.08% for forex. However, the emerging markets sub-index has gained 1.19%.In the first three quarters of the year, five strategies are in the red, including losses of 3.36% for volatility and 3.31% for forex, while commodities have lost 3.19%. The best results, however, have been for long/short equity (+6.96%) and event-driven (+2.79%).As of the end of September, total assets in UCITS-compliant single hedge funds totalled EUR174bn, compared with EUR172bn one month earlier.
The index provider MSCI has launched its first indices which take into account new MPF regulations on the Hong Kong market which require that 30% of the portfolios of asset management firms must be denominated in Hong Kong dollars, Asian Investor reports. The new indices will apply a 305 limit to the weight of the component denominated in Hong Kong dollars, although the funds replicating the indices will still have an exposure of 30% to Hong Kong equities.
Old Mutual Wealth has appointed the managing director of Skandia UK, Peter Mann, as vice president, Money Marketing reports. Steven Levin has also been appointed as global head of distribution.
Allfunds Bank has appointed Bradley Lewis to direct the sales activities of its office in the United Kingdom, and to help carry out its expansion, Investment Europe reports. The appointment of Lewis as head of sales and management of client relationships in the United Kingdom and Ireland comes following the announcement earlier this year that Stephen Mohan will be joining Allfunds to direct the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Jean-Pierre Rondeau, chairman of the IFA professional association La Compagnie des CGPI, discuses relationships between asset management firms and independent finanicial advisers with Newsmanagers. Rondeau, who has served as director of private management at the Banque du Louvre and DLP James Capel, claims that this client segment, which is now much-coveted, requires special assistance from partners, particularly in terms of its training offerings. Rondeau also discusses regulatory changes which have taken place abroad.
John Paulson and a group of US hedge funds are investing aggressively in Greek banks, confident that Greece, long considered the weakest economy in the euro zone periphery, is recovering, the Financial Times reports. Paulson & Co has acquired large stakes in Piereus and Alpha. The other hedge funds interested in Greek banks are: Baupost, Eaglevale, Dromeus Capital, Falcon Edge, York Capital and Och-Ziff.
UBS Global Asset Management Italia has appointed Rosa Fogli as head of advising for the Italian market, and Guido Belotti as head of discretionary for the Italian market, Bluerating reports. The appointments come as part of an internal reshuffle of the wholesale team led by deputy director Giobanni Papini. Third-party network clients are the responsibility of Fogli, while fund selectors are handled by Bellotti. The team also includes Lorenzo Pragliola and Yuri Blanga.
Axa Investment Managers has launched the Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG, an actively managed portfolio investing mainly in US investment grade bonds with an average duration of around 2 years. David Fourgoux is manager of Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG.Axa IM currently manages EUR20.2 billion in short duration strategies.The Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG was launched on 3rd September 2013 is UCITS IV compliant and domiciled in Luxembourg. The fund has both retail and institutional share classes and is currently registered in Luxembourg. Axa IM is considering registration across a number of other European countries.
La Caisse centrale de réassurance a de nouveau confié à BNP Paribas Securities Services la conservation globale de ses actifs. BP2S assure depuis 12 ans la conservation de la CCR. Celle-ci gérait 7,8 milliards d’euros d’actifs à fin 2012.
L’Edhec Risk Institute et Lyxor ont annoncé lundi le lancement d’une chaire sur les solutions d’allocation du risque. Nicolas Gaussel, directeur de la gestion de Lyxor, et Thierry Roncalli, responsable de la recherche quantitative, participeront au comité scientifique de la chaire.
Le Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), le fonds de pension public japonais, prévoit d’augmenter ses investissements dans des valeurs boursières de croissance. Le fonds gère 121.000 milliards de yens d’actifs (913 milliards d’euros), ce qui en fait le premier fonds de pension public au monde. Il investira d’abord dans un nouvel indice domestique focalisé sur les rendements des fonds propres.
La boutique américaine spécialiste des obligations à haut rendement lance une activité de placements privés en Italie. Malgré les incertitudes sur l'évolution des taux, l’entreprise poursuit son expansion avec 25 milliards de dollars d’actifs, principalement en Europe.
Pour la première fois, la Commission va intervenir dans l’adoption des budgets nationaux aux termes des nouvelles règles de gouvernance de la zone euro