Le 24 août, en plus de l’enregistrement du fonds garanti Eurovalor Garantizado BRIC II de Popular Gestión (ES0133507006, lire Newsmanagers du 27 août), le régulateur espagnol CNMV a délivré son agrément de commercialisation en Espagne aux fonds DWS Invest II et DWS Short Duration Emerging Markets Fx, au LFP Rendement Emergent 2017, à la sicav luxembourgeoise Matthews Asia Funds, au Natixis Souverains Euro et à Wells Fargo (Lux) Worldwide Fund.
Les treize sociétés de gestion de fonds chinoises ayant publié au 24 août leurs résultats du premier semestre affichaient un encours total en hausse de 18,5 milliards de yuans pour leurs 184 produits, alors que les actifs gérés avaient chuté de 26,1 milliards de yuans durant la période correspondante de l’an dernier, avant de plonger encore de 88,6 milliards au second semestre.Selon Z-Ben Advisors, ce retournement rapide est attribuable d’une part à la bonne tenue du marché obligataire et de l’autre aux performances des petites et moyennes capitalisations. Néanmoins, l’indice CSI 300 est en baisse depuis juillet et le CSI Aggregate Bond Index s’est lui aussi retourné.
Le co-responsable du pôle actions internationales chez Citadel, Jeff Runnfeldt, va quitter la société le 31 août, rapporte l’agence Bloomberg.Jeff Runnfeldt, qui a rejoint la société de gestion alternative il y a une dizaine d’années, avait pris la co-direction du pôle actions internationales en 2009, aux côtés de Brandon Haley et Steve Weller, à l’occasion du lancement du fonds actions de Citadel. Ce fonds, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 2,5 milliards de dollars, a dégagé une performance de 10,3% sur l’année 2012 à la mi-août. Dans le même temps, le S&P 500 a progressé de 13% alors que l’indice HFRX Equity Hedge affiche une avance de seulement 2,8%.
Le spécialiste des matières premières Noble Group, basé à Hong Kong, se renforce dans le segment des métaux de base (entre autres cuivre et zinc), avec le recrutement de deux traders senior qui devraient permettre à la société de se développer au-delà de son marcgé d’origine, l’Asie, rapporte l’agence Reuters.Mark Hansen, précédemment chez Brevan Howard, a rejoint Noble Group pour diriger le pôle «global metals» à partir de Londres. Paul Wilkes, précédemment chez Macquarie Bank, devrait rejoindre la société le mois prochain pour piloter le desk de trading en compte propre.
Tant les investisseurs retail que les institutionnels ont misé sur les actifs offrant un fort potentiel de rendement durant la deuxième quinzaine d’août. Les fonds obligataires high yield ont ainsi terminé la semaine au 22 août sur une collecte nette de 1,8 milliard de dollars, selon les statistiques communiquées par EPFR Global.Les fonds d’actions à dividende ont de leur côté drainé un montant net de 380 millions de dollars durant la semaine sous revue, ce qui porte la collecte nette depuis le début de l’année à 29,6 milliards de dollars. Les fonds alternatifs ont également enregistré leurs plus fortes souscriptions depuis plus de deux ans. Les fonds obligataires dans leur ensemble ont enregistré une collecte nette de 4,9 milliards de dollars durant la semaine au 22 août, dont 61% sont allés dans les fonds obligataires américains. Les fonds actions ont subi de leur côté une décollecte nette de 847 millions de dollars. A noter que les fonds d’actions allemandes et françaises ont enregistré leur cinquième semaine consécutive de rachats.
Amundi a enregistré au premier semestre 2012 des souscriptions nettes totales de 13,8 milliards d’euros, selon les résultats du deuxième trimestre de sa maison mère, le Crédit Agricole, publiés ce matin. La collecte nette hors réseaux atteint 20,9 milliards d’euros avec 13,4 milliards d’euros sur le segment institutionnels et corporates, tiré par le monétaire, et 2,2 milliards d’euros sur le segment des distributeurs tiers, notamment en Europe. La collecte au titre de l’épargne salariale atteint, quant à elle, 5,3 milliards d’euros, avec une progression des encours de 16,6 % sur le semestre. En revanche, les réseaux continuent de décollecter (- 7,1 milliards d’euros) à un rythme néanmoins moins élevé que sur les semestres précédents, détaille la banque.Compte tenu également d’un effet marché et change positif de 20,5 milliards d’euros, Amundi (qui comprend aussi y compris les activités de gestion de la BFT rachetées au 1er juillet 2011) voit ses encours augmenter de 5,2 % sur les six premiers mois de l’année à près de 693 milliards d’euros à fin juin 2012. Malgré cela, le produit net bancaire affiche une baisse faciale de 0,5 % qui, retraitée de la plus-value de cession enregistrée au premier trimestre 2012, s’affiche à - 8,4 %. Les commissions de surperformance s’améliorent néanmoins passant de 43 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2011 à 61 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2012. Le coefficient d’exploitation sur le premier semestre ressort à 55,4 %. Le résultat net d’Amundi s’élève ainsi à 253 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2012 (en hausse de 3,0 % par rapport au premier semestre 2011) et sa contribution au résultat net part du Groupe est de 186 millions d’euros (+ 2,8 %).
Depuis le début de cette année, 89 fonds ont été lancés sur le marché espagnol, soit un de plus que pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier, constate Funds People. Sur le total ,47 sont des produits garantis, dont 39 obligataires.Les maisons les plus actives ont été BBVA Asset Management et InverCaixa avec chacune neuf nouveaux fonds, devant Santander Asset Management (8 fonds) et Bankia (5 fonds).
Selon des proches du dossier, le pôle gestion de fortune de Bank of Aemrica (Merrill Lynch et US Trust) a organisé pour ce mardi une conférence avec John Paulson, offrant ainsi à ses conseillers financiers et à leurs clients de mettre sur le gril le gérant de hedge funds, qui rencontre actuellement des difficultés. Cette rencontre intervient après que Citigroup a annoncé son intention de retirer environ 410 millions de dollars des fonds alternatifs de Paulson & Co. Bank of America précise qu’elle n’a pas pour sa part l’intention de cesser ses relations avec Paulson & Co ou d’en retirer des fonds.
Les actifs sous gestion de VP Bank se sont inscrits à 27,6 milliards de francs suisses au 30 juin contre 27,4 milliards de francs à fin décembre 2011, selon un communiqué publié le 28 août.Les actifs sous administration ont diminué de 8,7% au premier semestre, à 10,5 milliards de francs à fin juin contre 11,5 milliards de francs à fin décembre 2011. Le bénéfice du groupe s’est élevé au premier semestre à 24,7 millions de francs contre 19,4 millions au premier semestre 2011.
Les treize sociétés de gestion de fonds chinoises ayant publié au 24 août leurs résultats du premier semestre affichaient un encours total en hausse de 18,5 milliards de yuans pour leurs 184 produits, alors que les actifs gérés avaient chuté de 26,1 milliards de yuans durant la période correspondante de l’an dernier, avant de plonger encore de 88,6 milliards au second semestre.Selon Z-Ben Advisors, ce retournement rapide est attribuable d’une part à la bonne tenue du marché obligataire et de l’autre aux performances des petites et moyennes capitalisations. Néanmoins, l’indice CSI 300 est en baisse depuis juillet et le CSI Aggregate Bond Index s’est lui aussi retourné.
The 13 Chinese fund management firms which on 24 August had released their results for first half, have experienced an increase by CNY18.5bn in their 184 products, where assets under management had fallen by CNY26.1bn in the corresponding period of last year, before falling by a further CNY88.6bn in second half.Z-Ben Advisors reports that this rapid bounce back is partly due to good performance on bond markets, and partly to the performance of small and midcaps. However, the CSI 300 index shows losses since July, and the CSI Aggregate Bond Index has also turned down.
Assets under management at VP Bank totalled CHF27.6bn as of 30 June, compared with CHF27.4bn as of the end of December 2011, according to a statement released on 28 August. Assets under administration fell 8.7% in first half, to CHF10.5bn as of the end of June, compared with CHF11.5bn as of the end of December 2011. Group profits in first half totalled CHF24.7m, compared with CHF19.4m as of first half 2011.
The crisis and scandals have tarnished the image of the financial sector. Asset management in Germany so far hasn’t seen as many layoffs as banking: instead, it is gradually reducing excess capacity, and there are still more applicants than job openings. However, Financial Times Deutschland reports, asset management firms are beginning to face difficulties in recruiting new personnel, especially in junior positions. Savings banks and co-operative banks are less affected by this phenomenon, since they have not been affected by scandals like the banks have.
As of 31 December, the financial savings of Germans increased 1.2% year on year, to EUR4.716trn, as the Bundesbank recently announced (see Newsmanagers of 25 May). However, total volume of equities was down by EUR22bn, to EUR222bn (-9.02%). The volume in shares in investment funds was down by EUR40bn (-9.2%) to a total of EUR395bn, figures from the German association of private sector banks reveal in the most recent issue of its magazine Die Bank.On average, at the end of last year, the average financial savings per person in Germany was EUR57,600, of which EUR2,700 were in equities, and EUR4,800 in shares in investment funds.
Stoxx has recruited Mark Rodino as global head of sales. He joins from HSBC, where he was head of ETF sales. At Stoxx, he will be based in London. Stoxx has also recruited Anthony Da Costa as chief operating officer, in Zurich. He had previously been director of services at FTSE.
Dagong, a Chinese ratings agency, is planning to open a European office in Milan in January 2013, Investment Europe reports. The Milan office will be directed by the former CEO of Fitch Ratings for Italy, Mauro Alfonso, who was recruited as head of strategy for Europe at the creation of Dagond Europe in April 2012. The Milan office will take the form of a joint venture with the Chinese-Italian private equity group Mandarin Capital Partners. The office will initially include 10 analysts, who will cover France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Within five years, Dagong is hoping to increase the number of analysts to 30, with the objective of EUR9m in earnings and a market share of 5% to 10%. Dagong is the largest ratings agency in China, with staff of over 500, six regional centres and 34 affiliates.
Aquantum S.à r.l, the Luxembourg-based provider of systematic investment indices to issuers of structured investment products set up by Thomas Morrow, ex Winton Capital Management senior scientist, is establishing of a full-scale asset management business, Aquantum AG. The new firm will provide systematic managed futures funds and managed accounts. It plans to launch its first UCITS-compliant fund in the fourth quarter.“Given the popularity of our indices, the establishment of a full-scale asset management business to directly harness Aquantum’s unique quantitative trading expertise is a natural next step,” said Morrow. Aquantum has a licensing agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) which has led to the launch of a series of Aquantum index-based products, which to date have attracted more than USD1 billion of investment notional. Other key members of the Aquantum team include Moritz Seibert, previously responsible for RBS’s equity structuring business in the Americas, as well as Dr Jochen Mirth, Mr Christian Schneider and Mr Oliver Grimm (all former partners of Assenagon Group, the Luxembourg-based fund manager with over EUR10 billion in assets under management). Together with Dr Oliver Podobrin, a former CERN scientist and leading derivatives expert, they bring significant financial engineering and operational expertise to the team. Aquantum’s approach involves applying advanced mathematical models to various forms of data in order to systematically exploit market inefficiencies, with all models tested against large number sets, thereby exposing them to a wide range of market, economic, and political changes.
The co-head of the international equity unit at Citadel, Jeff Runnfeldt, will be leaving the firm on 31 August, the news agency Bloomberg reports. Runnfeldt, who joined the alternative asset management firm ten years ago, became co-director of the international equity unit in 2009, with Brandon Haley and Steve Weller, at the launch of the Citadel equity fund. The fund, whose assets under management total USD2.5bn, has earned returns of 10.3% for the year 2012 to mid-August. In the same period, the S&P 500 has gained 13%, while the HFRX Equity Hedge index shows gains of only 2.8%.
Amundi recorded net new inflows of 13.8 billion euros in the first half of 2012, according its parent company Crédit Agricole. Net new inflows excluding branch bank networks were 20.9 billion euros in the first half of 2012 with 13.4 billion euros in the institutional and corporate segment, driven by money market inflows, and 2.2 billion euros in the third-party distributor segment, primarily in Europe. Inflows into employee savings management came to 5.3 billion euros, with a 16.6% increase in assets under management in the first half. Outflows from branch bank networks continued (-7.1 billion euros in the first half of 2012), albeit at a slower pace than in the previous semesters. Amundi (including BFT’s asset management operations, acquired on 1 July 2011) saw its assets under management raise by 5.2% to almost 693 billion euros in the first six months of the year. Revenues declined sharply in the first half, by 0.5% on a reported basis, but by 8.4% restated for the gain on disposal registered in the first quarter of 2012. Even so, performance-based commissions increased from 43 million euros in the first half of 2011 to 61 million euros in the first half of 2012. The cost/income ratio in the first half stayed at 55.4%2. Amundi’s net income rose by 3.0% year-on-year to 253 million euros in the first half of 2012 and its contribution to net income Group share was 186 million euros (up 2.8%).
On average, investment funds managed by women in the United States in the past seven years have attracted 15% less in assets than funds managed by men, a study by two specialists from Germany’s Mannheim University, Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi and Stefan Ruenzi, entitled “Sex Matters: Gender and Prejudice in the Mutual Fund Industry,” finds. But women stick to more reliable investment styles, and their average performance is the same as for products managed by men.A laboratory study demonstrates that, although it is not possible to rationally locate a statistical discrimination, there is a negative prejudice against women in the financial professions on the part of most respondents. Managers who generate weak subscriptions are not in demand by asset management firms, which explains the low percentage of women in the profession.This does not rule out other explanations, such as the fact that prejudices against women lead to implicit discrimination in recruitment, or the fact that women themselves share these prejudices against women in finance, which may ultimately lead women themselves to choose other professions.The two university researchers raise the provocative question of why, in these conditions, there are nonetheless women managers. On the one hand, it may be interesting for a fund management firm to recruit women to place funds with female investors. On the other, the Dodd-Frank law stipulates that US Federal agencies must maintain business relationships only with businesses “which equitably include women,” meaning that in order to hope to win mandates, they need to employ at least some women managers.
The online magazine Gawker estimates the assets of US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney invested in hedge funds and other investment vehicles, on the basis of 2012 declarations, to have been over USD10m in 2011 at the least, and probably much more, as earnings from these assets totalled over USD900,000. The investments are thought largely to be in funds, often based in the Cayman Islands, with ties to Bain Capital, the private equity firm which Romney co-founded in 1984 and left in 1999. Romney is also thought to have invested in Absolute Capital Return Partners, a firm based in Delaware which undertakes tax optimisation via an “equity swapping” technique, the British Guardian newspaper reports.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the wealth management unit of Bank of America (Merrill Lynch and US Trust) have arranged a conference with John Paulson this Tuesday, to allow their financial advisers and clients to grill the hedge fund manager, who is currently encountering difficulties. The meeting comes at a time when Citigroup has announced plans to withdraw about USD410m from Paulson & Co hedge funds. Bank of America states that for its part, it has no plans to cut its ties with Paulson & Co or to withdraw assets.
On 24 August, in addition to registering the Eurovalor Garantizado BRIC II fund from Popular Gestión (ES0133507006, see Newsmanagers of 27 August), the Spanish regulator CNMV issued a sales license for Spain to the DWS Invest II and DWS Short Duration Emerging Markets Fx fund, the LFP Rendement Emergent 2017, the Luxembourg Sicav Matthews Asia Funds, Natixis Souverains Euro, and the Wells Fargo (Lux) Worldwide Fund.
Mutual Fund Wire relays reports by Bloomberg that the largest fund management firms, including BlackRock, Fidelity and Vanguard, are currently working to determine whether their clients have been victims of the Libor manipulation scandal. They are also studying whether they should themselves be filing suit against banks guilty of fraud.
The commodity specialist Noble Group, based in Hong Kong, is recruiting in the base metals segment (including copper and zinc), with the recruitment of two senior traders, who would allow the firm to develop beyond its native market in Asia, the news agency Reuters reports. Mark Hansen, previously of Brevan Howard, has joined Noble Group to become head of its “global metals” unit, based in London. Paul Wilkes, previously of Macquarie Bank, will be joining the firm next month to head up the proprietary trading desk.
Acording to a Morningstar survey, the practice of securities lending by European ETFs gained some transparency last year, as providers are placing more information about these activities on their websites, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports. However, new rules by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) should not be expected to improve the return investors receive. Funds may comply by stating that they transfer 100% of net earnings from securities lending to their clients, while keeping the present share of gross earnings .
New rules by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) do not represent “an enormous threat” to the UCITS-compliant CTA sector, with assets of GBP3.7bn, sas Georg Reutter, an analyst at Kepler Partners, in an interview with Financial Times Fund Management. The vehicles, based on complex and opaque indices, have been criticised as a potential threat to the UCITS brand.
European funds reserved for retail investors may be authorised to invest in hedge funds, real estate and commodities if the sector is convincing, Financial Times Fund Management suggests. The European Commission has released a consultation document on UCITS VI, asking whether “the range of assets and exposures deemed eligible for UCITS funds” should be reviewed, opening the possibility of discussions which may lead to the inclusion of new asset classes for retail funds.
The search for yield remained a key driver for both retail and institutional investors going into the final week of August. High yield bond funds attracted another USD1.8 billion of inflows, according to the latest statistics of EPFR Global.Dividend equity funds took in an additional USD380 million of net inflows; as a result, year-to-date flows into these funds hit USD29.6 billion. Alternative Funds also attracted their biggest weekly inflow in over two years.Overall, net flows into all EPFR global-tracked bond funds totaled USD4.9 billion -- of which 61% flowed into US bond funds. At the same time, USD847 million was pulled from equity funds. Both France and Germany equity funds recorded their fifth consecutive weekly outflows.
The German asset management firm HSBC INKA, an affiliate of HSBC via the private bank HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, has announced that the volume of assets it administers in open-ended and institutional funds in Germany has now topped EUR100bn, Fondsprofessionell reports. These assets have increased by EUR18.9bn since the beginning of the year, due to inflows from existing clients as well as the acquisition of new clients.