After finalising a capital increase of EUR2.5bn on 4 December, Banco Popular has announced that it has recently sold its largest portfolio of sub-prime debt, totalling EUR1.143bn, Cinco Días reports. The buyers are the Lindorff and AnaCap funds. According to financial industry sources, Popular is said to have made a net gain on the deal of EUR35m.The objective of the sales for Banco Popular is to generate a total of EUR300m in gains.
The Japanese market authorities are planning to facilitate the fund merger process in order to reduce the number of products with low asset levels, Financial Times Fund Mnagement report. The article initially appeared in Ignites Asia, FTfm says. More than 4,000 funds are currently on sale to retail investors in Japan, but many are inactive. The large number of funds is largely due to the lack of a licensing system for fund launches. In Japan, to merge two funds, an asset management firm is required to obtain the consent of the majority of investors (50% or two thirds). The FSA is planning to abolish this requirement.
The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 11 December sent a letter to asset management firms to warn them anout the risks of outsourcing operational activities, Money Marketing reports. Despite the increasing use of outsourcing operations, the asset management sector has not set up effective resolution and recovery plans for potential default of outsourced service providers. The FSA therefore calls on all sectors to take the necessary measures and to conduct all due diligence operations to ensure that operations contracted out to external providers are conducted appropriately.
Jennifer B. McHugh, who since 2009 had been senior advisor to outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairwoman Mary L. Schapiro, and who had served as interim director of the investment management division of the Commission, on 11 December was appointed as senior adviser to Norm Champ, director of the investment management division for questions concerning mutual funds and investment advisers. She will begin in this position on 17 December.McHugh began at the SEC in 1999.
The Tikehau group has announced the arrival of three new employees at the business. At Tikehau Investment Management (TIM), Etienne Gorgeon, previously CIO Fixed Income at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management has been appointed chief investment officer for open-ended funds and mandates.Frédéric Sallerin has been recruited as a salesperson for institutional clients. He had previously been responsible for development of distribution to institutional investors at Sparinvest in Paris.At Tikehau Capital Advisors (TCA), Vincent Favier becomes director of stakholdings. Since 2006, he had been CEO in charge of the French office of the Amber Capital company.
BNP Paribas Real Estate on 11 December announced a series of appointments, including Henri Faure, deputy CEO and board member responsible for overseeing Investment Management activities, who will report to david Aubin. He will replace François Benfeghoul, Deputy CEO and board member in charge of all Central functions, from 1 July 2013, as Benfeghoui has decided to retire.
For the fiscal year to 30 September, Hennessy Advisors, Inc has posted net profits of USD0.97m, compared with USD1.21m for the previous year.Mutual fund assets at the end of September totalled USD919.26m, compared with USD749.31m twelve months previously. However, average assets in the period fell to USD823m from USD883m.As of 26 October 2012, Hennessy Advisors has acquired the FBR Funds range, which brings assets under management to USD3.1bn.
ING IM on 11 December announced the recruitment of Philippe Fidaire as director of institutional clients. Fidaire, a specialist in investment solutions for institutional investors who has spent his entire career at Allianz Global Investors, began in his new role on 3 December 2012.Fidaire’s expertise in investment solutions will allow ING IM to develop its solid expertise on the French market. ING IM has “historic” expertise as the asset management firm of the ING insurance group, which includes leading strategies such as emerging market debt, corporate or government, denominated in local or strong currencies. The ING IM Investment Solutions unit now has 116 employees.
The Hedge Fund Association today announced that it has created a new High Net Worth Advisory Board focused on developing educational programs and networking events globally for HNW investors. Its chairperson will be April J. Rudin, who has over 20 years of marketing experience in both corporate and financial services settings. In a separate move, the HFA promoted Ryan Mitchell to HFA West Coast Chapter Regional Director.“The Hedge Fund Journal calculates that around 40% of total worldwide investment in hedge funds comes from high net worth individuals,” observed April Rudin.
Recently, two foreign asset management firms have received sales licenses for Spain from the CNMV for funds which were not previously registered. Funds People reports that La Française Asset Management has registered the LFP Trend Opportunities fund, an SRI sub-fund of the La Française AM Fund Sicav.iShares (BlackRock) has registered the ETF iShares Global Corporate Bond and iShares Global Government AAA-AA Capped Bond funds.
Pending the necessary regulatory approval, the former head of asset management at J.P. Morgan for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, James (Jamie) B. Broderick, will on 7 January 2013 become CEO Wealth Management for the United Kingdom and Jersey at UBS, the Swiss group announced on 11 December. Broderick will be based in London, and will report to Jakob Stott, CEO Wealth Management Europe. His departure from JPMAM was announced nine months ago (see Newsmanagers of 14 March).Broderick replaces Andre Cronje, “who has decided to take on a new challenge at UBS,” and who served in the role for four years.
Sofinnova Partners on 11 December announced that it has closed its venture capital fund Sofinnova Capital VII with EUR240m in assets. Sofinnova Capital VII received subscriptions from top institutional investors, largely pension funds, funds of funds and insurers. These investors include the European Investment Fund, Skandia Life Insurance Company, CNP Assuranes and CDC Entreprises (FSI France Investissement). Sofinnova Capital VII, dedicated entirely to life sciences, is one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe. It will invest seed capital in biopharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Additionally, in the emerging biotech industrials sector, Sofinnova Partners has launched the Sofinnova Green Seed Fund, whose first closing has been held at EUR22.5m, and which includes industrial investors, such as Solvay, Siclaé, Sofiprotéol and Unigrains, along with CDC Entreprises.
Annual management fees for the Carmignac Court Terme fund, which are currently 0.25% of net assets, will be reduced to 0.10% of net assets per year from 1 January 2013.
Henderson Global Investors has acquired a 19,000 square metre property in Bad Dürkheim (Rhineland-Palatinate) for its German Logistics Fund. The sale price has not been disclosed. The logistical complex is leased to Uniwheels.The fund, an institutional product, is the result of a partnership between the real estate division of HGI and Palmira Capital Partner. The performance objective is 8.5% with maximal leverage of 40%.
Schroders is launching three funds in Italy which will invest in emerging markets debt: Schroder ISF Emerging Market Bond, Schroder ISF Emerging Market Corporate Bond, and Schroder ISF Emerging Market Sovereign Bond, FondiOnline reports. The British firm will also offer Italian investors the Schroder ISF RMB Fixed Income fund, which invests in investment grade credit denominated in renminbi.
HSBC Global Asset Management has launched the HSBC GIF India Fixed Income fund in Italy. The fund invests in government bonds and Indian businesses, Bluerating reports. The fund will be available to institutional and retail investors.
Fundweb reports that Neptune Investment Management on 3 December launched a European version of its Global Long Short sector fund, founded in November 2011. The fund, whose benchmark index is the MSCI Europe ex-UK, is managed by Ted Alexander, who is already manager of the global fund with Robin Geffen. The sectoral strategy is managed by Rob Burnett.
Tax investigators in Turin have discovered an organisation based in Switzerland which has defrauded at least 600 savings investors in Northern Italy as part of a Ponzi scheme, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. More than EUR20m have been raised by the structure with the promise of princely returns of 6-7% per year.
The Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) on 11 December published a guide to best practices for the domicile and administration of Islamic funds, in order to provide new understanding of the expectations and requirements in this fast-growing market segment.“2012 was a highly active year for the Islamic finance community in Luxembourg, with the launch of several new Sharia-compliant funds. Luxembourg is currently the leader in Europe and number 5 in the world for the number of Islamic funds, with 41 funds and EUR4bn in assets under management,” says Marc Saluzzi, chairman of ALFI, cited in a statement.The ALFI guide to best practices provides detailed information and advice about the legal format, domicile process and fund administration, and asset custody for Islamic funds in Luxembourg. The document also makes recommendations about compliance for Islamic financial instruments with Luxembourg UCITS regulations. This allows service providers who are already active in this area to better meet the expectations of the market and provides advice to new actors about all the aspects to consider.
Edmond de Rothschild repense son modèle. «Le groupe entend développer les synergies entre ses entités», les principales étant Paris, Genève et Luxembourg, a déclaré ce matin Christophe de Backer, directeur général d’Edmond de Rothschild, en présentant son plan stratégique 2013-2016. Le groupe se fixe plusieurs objectifs, telle qu’une croissance de 26% de ses encours. Alors que les actifs devraient s’élever à 125 milliards d’euros à fin 2012 (75 milliards dans la banque privée et 50 milliards dans la gestion d’actifs), ceux-ci ont vocation à atteindre 158 milliards d’euros d’ici 2016 (dont 88 milliards d’euros en banque privée). Ce plan s’accompagne d’une évolution de la gouvernance, plus centrale, et d’un développement accru à l’international.
Les coûts de financement à un an de l’Etat italien sont tombés à leur plus bas niveau depuis mars et la demande de titres a été forte lors d’une nouvelle adjudication du Trésor, la première depuis l’annonce par le président du Conseil, Mario Monti, de son intention de démissionner sitôt le budget 2013 adopté. Le Trésor a placé pour 6,5 milliards d’euros de bons à un an avec un rendement de 1,456%. Il avait payé 1,76% lors d’une opération similaire le mois dernier. La demande a été 1,94 fois supérieure à l’offre, contre 1,76 fois le mois dernier.
Le Parlement européen a adopté le budget 2013 de l’Union européenne en approuvant les termes d’un accord difficilement négocié avec les Etats membres. Les eurodéputés ont accepté de revoir à la baisse les dépenses prévisionnelles pour l’année prochaine en échange d’un budget rectificatif de 6 milliards d’euros destiné à payer les factures impayées de 2012. La Commission européenne demandait 9 milliards. Dans une conjoncture où les grands Etats contributeurs souhaitaient une baisse des dépenses pour la période 2014-2020, le budget 2013 s'élève à 132,2 milliards d’euros en crédits de paiement au lieu des 138 milliards demandés par Bruxelles. L’accord entre le Parlement et le Conseil prévoit toutefois un nouveau budget rectificatif dans l’année si, comme c’est probable, un nouveau déficit apparaissait.
Les ministres du pétrole de l’Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole (Opep) ont décidé de laisser le plafond de production inchangé à 30 millions de barils par jour (bpj), malgré des prévisions de baisse de la demande au premier semestre 2013.
La production industrielle de la zone euro a poursuivi son repli en octobre, reculant de 1,4% après une baisse de 2,3% (révisé) en septembre, selon Eurostat. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient une hausse de 0,2% après la baisse de 2,5% annoncée initialement pour septembre. Sur un an, la production industrielle des 17 accuse un recul de 3,6%.
Dans un entretien accordé au quotidien, le chef économiste de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) tente de calmer les attentes d’une baisse des taux directeurs de l’autorité. «La marge de manœuvre est mince. Nous avons déjà des taux à des niveaux très bas» a ainsi indiqué Peter Praet. Et de préciser que «nous devons porter notre attention sur l’efficacité de la politique monétaire. La posture actuelle est déjà très accommodante. Les taux d’intérêt ne peuvent pas être utiles à grand chose dans ce domaine». Sur une baisse des taux dès janvier, Peter Praet estime que la BCE «scrute les signaux envoyés par l’économie (…) et suit les développements monétaires et de crédit».
Le quotidien assure que le taux du placement fétiche des Français, actuellement de 2,25%, devrait baisser de 25 voire de 50 points de base au 1er février prochain. Il s’agirait de la première baisse en trois ans et demi, dont l’ampleur dépendra de l’inflation hors tabac. Une baisse intervenant dans l’attente d’un nouveau relèvement du plafond du livret.
Après l’amende record de 1,92 milliard payée aux Etats-Unis, la banque britannique devra montrer patte blanche pendant cinq ans sur ses pratiques de lutte antiblanchiment. La FSA lui a aussi imposé de nouvelles procédures. HSBC assure avoir déjà renforcé ses contrôles.
UBS a décidé comme Credit Suisse d'appliquer des taux négatifs sur ses comptes de correspondants en franc. La BNS tient demain une réunion très attendue