The developer of international accounting standards IASB, and the US accounting auditor FASB on 27 January announced that they have reached an agreement to attempt to reduce disparities between their respective classification and measurement models for financial instruments.The talks will be part of the discussions underway on a proposed update of IFRS 9 standards for financial instruments, published in November 2009 and amended in October 2010.
The Wall Street Journal reports that British (FSA) and Swiss (Finma) regulators are preparing to file legal actions against UBS for shortfalls which allowed a trader at the firm, Kweku Adoboli, to make unauthorised trades which led to USD2.3bn in losses.
From 1 February, Andreas Rothmer will be joining the sales team at Swisscanto in Frankfurt, as a senior account manager. Rothmer will be particularly charged with recruiting and assisting institutional clients throughout Germany. He previously worked at Allianz Global Investors and Deka, also in distribution of funds to institutional clients.Rothmer will report to Ralf Branda, head of international distribution at Swisscanto.
The Financial Times reports that Deutsche Bank is preparing a fund to snap up investors’ illiquid or damaged holdings in hedge funds that have failed to recover since the financial crisis..The bank claims that assets of this type may represent up to USD100bn for investors. But they also have good long-term potential, particularly for pension fund investors. The fund would be launched by Deutsche Bank with Rosebrook Capial, and would aim to raise at least USD500m, according to sources familiar with the project.
MiFID, Basel III, Solvency II, a tax on financial transactions, ratings agencies : Jean Eyraud, elected on 22 June 2011 as president of the Af2i, is not limiting himself to the association market, but talks to Newsmanagers about the major topics of the day.
From 16 March 2012, the Dow Jones Sustainability Eurozone ex alcohol, tobacco, gambling, armaments & firearms and adult entertainment fund from the Swiss asset management firm SAM will replace the Euro Stoxx Sustainability 40 index as the basis for replication of the iShares Euro Stoxx 40 (DE) ETF. The name of the fund will be changed to iShares Dow Jones Eurozone Sustainability Screened (DE). The ISIN code (DE000A0F5UG3) and commission level (0.41%) will remain unchanged, but the number of positions will increase from 40 to 80.
With the Fidelity Global Dividend Fund, Fidelity Worldwide Investment is launching a Luxembourg-registered fund which will invest in shares in global companies which pay high dividends. The portfolio will include about 50 positions, which the manager, Dan Roberts, will select from a universe of 2,500 shares, of which 180 to 200 will be potentially eligible. Each position will account for 1% to 4% of the total.The subscriber will have the choice between capitalisation and distribution either on a quarterly, monthly, or annual basis at a rate of 3.6% annually.The new sub-fund of the Fidelity Funds Sicav uses the MSCI World All Country index as its benchmark, and is not subject to any weighting constraints. Roberts will invest in companies which are expected to pay high dividends, but not in those which may give rise to increased risk levels for the portfolio as a whole.The manager points out that 550 businesses of the MSCI World index pay dividends of over 4%, while in Europe, there are fewer than half as many such firms.CharacteristicsName: Fidelity Funds – Global Dividend FundISIN codes:Monthly distribution EUR: LU0731782826USD: LU0731783048Quarterly distributionEUR: LU0731782404USD: LU0731782586EUR capitalisation: LU0605515377Front-end fee: 5.25%Management commission: 1.50%
Investment Europe reports that Andreas Grünewald, chairman of the German VuV association of German independent wealth managers, has announced that 673 funds launched by members have earned average returns of 15.61% for the three years to the end of 2011, with aggressive products making 27.5%, compared with 22.6% for diversified products, and 8.75% for defensive products.However, the size of funds remains small, with about one quarter of products under EUR10m, and only 27 funds with over EUR1bn.
The 3i group on 27 January announced that it will be seeking investors in late 2012 to launch a single fund dedicated to LBOs and venture capital. In order to follow a regional allocation approach, the fund will invest only in Europe and the United States. In all other countries where it has seen growth vectors in recent years, such as China and India, 3i si preferring to raise funds locally. It is preparing to raise a second fund for infrastructure in India with USD2bn, and is the only European fund to have received permission from the Chinese government to launch a USD100m convertibles fund in local currency.
The British fund Pantheon (USD25bn in assets under management) is not planning to hold itself aloof to the European fund market, despite the euro crisis. “There is clearly a crisis, but we are vigilant and we are watching the fundamentals. We will continue our investment strategy focused on SMEs worldwide, but we see particularly attractive niche opportunities in certain regions of Europe, such as Scandinavia, and in investment segments or sectors, such as recovery funds and agribusiness,” Elly Lingstone, a partner at Pantheon, tells Les Echos.
Nikko Asset Management has recruited Geoffrey Post as head of development for its international ex Japan product offerings, Hedge Week reports. Post, who had previously worked at Coutts, will be based in London.
The Australian fund incubator Ascalon Capital Managers, a specialist in the alternative management sector, has invested in two Asian hedge funds, Asian Investor reports. Earlier this month, Ascalon bought a 30% stake in the Singapore-based firm Singapore Canning Park Capital, which manages a long/short equity fund. In December, Ascalon bought a 355 stake in Athos Capital in Hong Kong, which is planning to launch an event-driven strategy. In Australia, Ascalon has already invested in seven boutiques whose cumulative assets under management total USD4.5bn.
The British government on 27 January published its Financial Services Bill. Under the new legislation, the FSA will cease to exist, while the Bank of England will inherit extended powers, and will become responsible for strengthening financial stability and supervising banks, Agefi reports. Three new organisations will be created: the Financial Policy Committee, whose role will be to contribute to the stability objectives of the Bank of England and to monitor systemic risks; the Prudential Regulation Authority, which will be the future authority to oversee the British banking system, replacing the FSA; and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will concentrate on protecting consumers and markets.
The Italian asset management association, Assogestioni, is studying the possibility of lowering the minimal rating required for sovereign debt held by money market funds. The limit would be lowered to investment grade.The Italian association made the announcement in a statement. The decision would prevent managers from being required to divest the funds due to recent and future downgrades of the credit ratings of some governments on the part of ratings agencies.Assogestioni points out that by its rules, money market funds may hold bonds with a rating of at least A2 (Moody’s) or A (S&P).
A l’issue d’une mise en concurrence restreinte initiée en 2011, le RSI a sélectionné Natixis AM pour gérer un FCP dédié de 250 millions d’euros dont le dépositaire, valorisateur et conservateur unique est Caceis. Il s’agit d’une gestion obligataire d’entreprises émettant dans des pays de l’OCDE, avec une notation minimum de Baa3/BBB-, ayant pour indice I box 1-5 ans et une sensibilité comprise entre 0 et 5. Contacté à ce sujet, Natixis AM n’a pas souhaité confirmer, ni commenter cette information.
Les normalisateurs comptables IASB (International accounting standards board) et FASB (Financial accounting standards board) ont fait vœu dans un communiqué commun de travailler ensemble pour «réduire les différences» dans leur classification et leurs modèles d’évaluation des instruments financiers.
La société d’investissement, qui s’est associée pour l’occasion à Riverstone Holdings, mène des discussions avancées en vue du rachat de l’activité d’exploration pétrolière d’El Paso, a relayé le Wall Street Journal. Le montant d’une éventuelle transaction pourrait atteindre 7 milliards de dollars.
Le gendarme américain des marchés s’intéresse à une transaction autour d’un CDO pour lequel Deutsche Bank a autorisé le fonds d’arbitrage Paulson & Co à sélectionner des titres adossés à des créances hypothécaires, a rapporté Der Spiegel. Toujours selon le magazine, la banque allemande a par ailleurs reçu des régulateurs l’injonction de produire un rapport sur les possibles conséquences financières des procédures en cours aux Etats-Unis.
Le China Securities Journal indique, en citant des données de TX Investment Consulting, que les pertes cumulées par les 872 fonds d’investissement collectifs en Chine (investis à 78,5% en actions) s’élèvent au quatrième trimestre à 124 milliards de yuans, soit près de 15 milliards d’euros, en repli tout de même de 50% par rapport au trimestre précédent.