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20/01/2012

Realstone fund acquires a property from Vontobel

The real estate fund Realstone Swiss Property, launched in June 2008 and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since Febryary 2010, has acquired the building housing the Geneva offices of the bank Vontobel for CHF32m, Agefi Switzerland reports, confirming reports that had appeared in Bilan.
20/01/2012

IDeA Fimit appoints a new chairman

Antonio Mastrapasqua has been appointed as chairman of IdeA Fimit Sgr, an Italian asset management firm specialised in real estate. He succeeds Paolo Crescimbeni. IdeA Fimit has EUR8.9bn in assets under management.
20/01/2012

Anima Sgr gets a new head of sales

Davide Gatti will become head of the sales division at Anima Sgr, the result of a merger between Anima and Prima Sgr, Bluerating reports. Gatti, from Anima, will lead a team of 30 people, under the direction of Marco Carceri, CEO.
20/01/2012

Tell Investments hedge fund closes down

After several years of disappointing returns, the hedge fund Tell Investments has decided to cease its activities, Reuters reports. The hedge fund, founded 15 years ago, with offices in Switzerland, London and Malta, is closing its two main funds, the William and the Tell, and has begun the process of redeeming about EUR600m to investors. The two multi-strategy funds lost 5% in 2011, after three years of flat performance. The third fund, the Walter, will be integrated into a new independent entity, Walter Capital Management, which will be operated in Switzerland by a partner from Tell Investments, Olivier Laime. The hedge fund, with assets under management of nearly USD1bn at their peak, had 15 employees.
20/01/2012

Specialist in extreme risks founds a firm

The extreme risk specialist John Liu, formerly of Citigroup, who had been head fo equity derivatives, is preparing to launch his firm, Spartus Capital Management, Absolute Return + Alpha reports.Spartus has developed a long-only volatility strategy, which will aim to benefit from volatility on financial markets, particularly stock market indices.
20/01/2012

BNY Mellon to provide administration for six Market Vector ETFs

The six HLDRS funds from Merrill Lynch which on 20 December 2011 were converted into Market Vector sectoral ETFs by Van Eck Global will use BNY Mellon for custody, accounting and securities lending, BNY Mellon has announced.The funds include a product specialised in oil services (acronym OIH), semiconductors (SMH), pharmaceuticals (PPH), biotech (BBH), retail (RTH) and regional banks (RKH). The HLDRS acronyms have been retained.
20/01/2012

Former Barclays GI manager takes over a Korean pension fund

The Korean pension fund Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA) has recruited Seok-Hwan Park as its chief investment officer, Asian Investor reports.Park, who has previously worked at Barclays Global Investors in Hong Kong, began at the end of December, following the resignation of his predecessor, Jin Yeong-Ho, who joined BNG Securities as CEO.Park previously worked at Capstone Asset Management in Seoul, where he served in a role similar to the one he now begins in.Assets under management at the Korean pension fund total about USD7.2bn.
20/01/2012

AllianceBernstein reshuffles international management

Timothy Ryan, currently CEO of AllianceBernstein for Japan, will on 1 March become CEO for the United Kingdom, and will also become co-head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), alongside Richard Haxe, who is currently head of client services, sales and marketing for EMEA. Ryan and Haxe will report to Robert Keith, head of institutional & retail client services, sales & marketing.Seiichiro Yamamoto, head of the Japan client group, will on the same date become CEO for Japan, and will also report to Keith.Katsuaki Ogata, CIO for Japanese value equities and director of AllianceBernstein Japan, will become chairman, but will continue to report to Sharon Fay, head of equities.
20/01/2012

Partial settlement between BNY Mellon and courts

The parties in a legal proceeding filed in October by the US Department of Justice against BNY Mellon have reached a partial settlement, the Wall Street Journal reports.The bank, which was accused of overcharging for forex transactions, will be required to publish its method of calculating the way it charges clients who buy or sell foreign securities or who earn dividends from abroad.BNY Mellon has additionally agreed no longer to assure clients that they receive “best execution.”
20/01/2012

Bundesbank sells off a portfolio of Lehman securitisations

The US hedge fund Lone Star is reported to have bought up a portfolio of securitised real estate mortgages which Lehman had pooled together in a portfolio entitled Excalibur, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.Joachim Niegel, a board member at the German central bank, claims that the operation will ultimately result in minimal or no losses. The nominal value of Excalibur had been USD2.16bn, but since the Lehman bankruptcy, redemptions and interests have already reduced that sum by EUR800m. Lone Star declined to comment on the reports.
20/01/2012

Hedge funds threaten to take Greek government to court

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung relays reports in the New York Times that several hedge funds are threatening to take the Greek government before the European court of human rights for forcing them to write off debts. They may claim that the Greek government is violating their property rights, as the Greek government has threatened to force private investors to accept a debt write-off by a vote in the legislature. Property rights are guaranteed by the European convention on human rights.According to the chairman of the hedge fund Marathon Asset Management, Bruce Richards, the compromise under consideration would offer lenders a means to exchange their Greek government bonds and give up a part of their claims, for new 20 or 30-year bonds.
20/01/2012

Assets down but profits up at State Street

Assets under management by State Street as of 31 December totalled USD1.86bn, compared with USD1.877bn three months earlier, and USD2.010bn one year previously, but total assets under management and administration have increased to USD21.807bn, from USD21.510bn as of 30 September and USD21.527bn as of the end of 2010, according to the annual report.State Street Corporation reports per-share profits for the 2011 fiscal year of USD3.79, compared with USD3.09 per share the previous year. Net profits available to common shareholders last year totalled USD1.882bn, compared with USD1.540bn in 2010.
20/01/2012

Inflows for UBP's French business in 2011

Despite a “challenging” year, Union Bancaire Gestion Institutionelle, the French arm of the Swiss Union Bancaire Privée group, has recorded net inflows of EUR200m, while inflows to the group were EUR1.7bn, according to Dominique Leprévots, chairman of the board at UBI. Assets for the French structure totalled abtou EUR1.6bn as of the end of the year, a “slight increase” over the previous year. Staff total 13 people, of whom five are in convertible bonds, five in middle office, and three in sales. UBI has seen inflows of EUR65m for convertible bonds, which are managed in Paris, and represent about EUR750m in assets.
20/01/2012

BlackRock had “real” inflows of USD67bn in 2011

For the year 2011, BlackRock has reported net subscriptions of USD67.3bn to long-term products, not taking into account USD28.3bn related to the acquisition of Barclays Global Investors in first half.Assets as of 31 December totalled USD3.5127trn, 1% less than the USD3.561trn twelve months earlier, and 5% more than the USD3.345trn reported at the end of September.As of 12 January 2012, the net subscriptions pipeline totalled USD54.3bn, before including an outflow of USD40bn from bonds, related to a single client choosing to insource its activities.BlackRock, which recruited a net total of 900 people last year, for last year as a whole saw a 5% increase in its net profits, to USD2.239bn, compared with USD2.139bn in 2010.
20/01/2012

Good results for wealth management at Morgan Stanley

Pre-tax profits for wealth management operations at Morgan Stanley in fourth quarter 2011 totalled USD244m, compared with USD390m iin fourth quarter 2010. The pre-tax profit margin for the unit fell to 8%, from 10% in the first nine months of 2011. For the year as a whole, pre-tax profits totalled USD1.3bn, compared with USD1.2bn in 2010.The pre-tax profit margin comes out to 10%. Client assets as of the end of 2011 totalled USD1.6trn, of which USD496bn were in managed accounts, which saw net inflows of USD35.8bn.Asset management activities brought in pre-tax profits of USD78m, compared with USD353m one year previously. For the year 2011 as a whole, the unit has earned pre-tax profits of USD253m, compared with USD718m the previous year. Assets under management as of the end of December totalled USD287bn, compared with USD272bn one year previously. The period ended with net inflows of USD25.8bn, compared with outflows of USD5.7bn in 2010. Money market funds alone attracted about USd18.5bn in assets. Inflows to hedge funds totalled more than USD8bn, but fixed income finished the year with outflows of USD5.5bn. The group has reported losses of USD250m, or 15 cents per share, in fourth quarter, compared with profits of USD836m, or 41 cents per share in fourth quarter.
20/01/2012

BoA-ML: increase in asset and wealth management profits

For 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) has posted net profits for global wealth and investment management (GWIM) of USD1.635bn, compared with USD1.340bn the previous year. The sector recruited a net total of about 1,700 financial advisers last year, of whom more than 200 were recruited in second quarter.As of 31 December, total assets were USD647.1bn, compared with USD643.3bn twelve months previously.Groupwide, net profits for last year totalled USD1.446bn, compared with losses of USD2.238bn in 2010.
20/01/2012

Julius Bär poaches a team from Sarasin in Hong Kong

A few short months after its attempted takeover of Bank Sarain fell through (the bank was ultimately acquired by the Safra group), Julius Bär has recruited four female client advisers from Sarasin in Hong Kong, along with their assistants, Das Investment reports, citing several Swiss media sources. The advisers reportedly managed assets of about USD4bn for their clients.
20/01/2012

Oddo launches a fund in Italy

Oddo has launched the Oddo Rendement 2017 fund, which was created in late September 2011, in Italy, Bluerating reports. The fund seeks to profit from the high returns currently to be had on European bond markets through a selection of convertible and private bonds drawn from a flexible investment universe.
20/01/2012

Investors pull money out of hedge funds

According to Hedge Fund Research, the hedge fund industry, which has about USD2trn in assets, saw net outflows in fourth quarter 2011 of about USD127m, the Wall Street Journal reports. This is the first quarter of net outflows since April-June 2009. Although the outflows represent only 0.007% of total assets, it is also a sign that investors are losing their patience, as the average performance of hedge funds has consistently been lower than those of the equity indices in the past three years. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index has posted average annualized returns of 7.9% over the past three years, while the S&P 500 has earned 14.1%.
20/01/2012

Inflows of GBP746m in 2011 for Jupiter

Jupiter has recorded net inflows of GBP746m in 2011. The British asset management firm has nonetheless seen a decline in its assets for the year, from GBP24.078bn as of the end of 2010 to GBP22.807bn as of the end of 2011.In the fourth quarter, the fund manager experienced net outflows of GBP225 million due to the loss of a single segregated mandate from an institutional client following a strategic asset allocation change, and the poor environment for retail sales. Jupiter will be closing its offices in Bermuda in 2012. “Bermuda has played a significant role in our business for many years but, with the reduced scale of our hedge funds, the local work required is insufficient to justify maintaining an office on the island. This decision will result in a charge of approximately GBP1 million being made in the 2011 full year results,” Jupiter explains in a statement. Hedge funds had assets of only GBP25m as of the end of 2011, compared with GBP182m as of the end of 2010.
20/01/2012
Gestion d'actifs

La SACD a fait le choix d'un produit structuré proposant un rendement indexé à l'inflation

La Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD) s’attache avant toute chose à assurer la liquidité et la protection des capitaux dont elle a la charge. D’un montant moyen de 150 millions d’euros, le portefeuille de trésorerie qu’elle gère n’a pas vocation à être mis en risque. Pour diversifier les stratégies en portefeuille, la SACD a fait appels aux conseils de bfinance et du structureur indépendant Derivatives Capital. Après avoir étudié plusieurs propositions tenant compte d’un cahier des charges précis incluant une garantie du capital à échéance, un rendement minimum de 2 %, une notation minimum A+ de la contrepartie bancaire, une maturité de 3 ans et un volume d’investissement compris en 2 et 4 millions d’euros, la SACD a fait le choix d’une stratégie proposant un rendement indexé à l'évolution du taux d’inflation. Suite à cette décision, des émetteurs bancaires ont été sollicités dans le cadre d’un appel d’offres pour concevoir le produit. Une fois la contrepartie bancaire sélectionnée, les paramètres du produit ont ensuite été ajustés pour finalement aboutir à un coupon annuel évoluant selon le niveau de l’inflation entre un taux plancher de 2,15 % et un taux plafond de 4 %. « En sollicitant directement les salles de marchés des banques, nous avons toujours le doute que leurs propositions soient influencées par leur stratégie commerciale. Le recours à un intermédiaire nous a permis d’adapter au plus juste les paramètres du produit à nos objectifs financiers et de mieux comprendre les conséquences induites par les modifications effectuées dans le montage d’un produit », estime Jean-Louis Blaisot, directeur administratif et financier de la SACD. Source: bfinance
Gestion d'actifs
20/01/2012
Gestion d'actifs

Allianz France ne détient aucun titre de dette grecque, portugaise et irlandaise

Sylvain Coriat, directeur des assurances de personnes chez Allianz France dans un article paru dans l’Agefi Hebdo numéro 308: « Il est important que nos équipes de gestion mènent une politique d’investissement flexible ». Dès le premier semestre 2010, l’assureur a progressivement réduit la part de dette souveraine grecque, pour ne plus détenir aucune ligne du Trésor hellénique. « Rapportée à l’ensemble du portefeuille, la dette souveraine est exposée à hauteur de 17 % sur la France, 2,5 % sur l’Italie et 0,4 % sur l’Espagne, poursuit-il. En revanche, aucun titre de dette portugaise et irlandaise. »
Gestion d'actifs
20/01/2012

La Fed se déleste d’un portefeuille de RMBS

La Fed de New York a cédé un portefeuille de 7 milliards de dollars de titres adossées à des créances dans l’immobilier résidentiel (RMBS) à Credit Suisse dans le cadre du délestage d’actifs hérités de l’assureur AIG. La banque centrale a indiqué que l’opération représentait une «bonne valeur» pour le public. Goldman Sachs était également intéressée par ces actifs.
20/01/2012

L’activité manufacturière chinoise ne sort pas du rouge

L’indice préliminaire PMI de l’activité manufacturière en Chine calculé par HSBC est ressorti à 48,8 points au mois de janvier, quasi stable par rapport au mois précédent (48,7) et en zone de contraction pour le troisième mois consécutif. Le sous-indice des nouvelles commandes à l’exportation a néanmoins légèrement rebondi à 51,1 points.
20/01/2012

L’Autriche a émis à 50 ans

Privée comme la France de son AAA par S&P, l’Autriche a levé 2 milliards d’euros lors d’une émission d’obligations à 50 ans, une première, à un spread de 135 bp par rapport au taux de swap de référence. Le spread entre le rendement des obligations d’Etat à 10 ans autrichiennes et le Bund allemand est de 128 bp, après un plus haut de 192 bp atteint le 15 novembre dernier.
20/01/2012

Les montants des fonds d’aide européens pourront être ajustés

La capacité combinée des mécanismes d’aide aux pays de la zone euro restera à 500 milliards d’euros dans un premier temps, mais pourra être révisée en mars et ajustée par leurs gouverneurs lorsqu’ils seront opérationnels, selon un projet de traité que Reuters a pu consulter. Ce projet, qui devra permettre d’instituer le Mécanisme européen de stabilité (MES), sera discuté lundi par les ministres des Finances de la zone euro et devrait être adopté le 30 janvier lors du sommet des dirigeants européens. Si le déroulement de cette procédure se confirme, cela ouvrira la voie à une ratification rapide par les 17 pays qui utilisent l’euro afin que le MES soit en place dès juillet. Le traité prendra effet une fois que les pays qui auront apporté 90% du capital des fonds de soutien combinés l’auront adopté. Les dirigeants européens pourront ajuster à la baisse ou à la hausse le montant combiné en mars.
20/01/2012

La BoJ repousse la vente des actions bancaires

La banque centrale japonaise a décidé de repousser de deux ans, à mars 2014, la revente des actions des banques du pays dont elle a hérité en 2009 lors de la crise financière. Ces titres représentent aujourd’hui une valeur de 1.400 milliards de yens (14 milliards d’euros).
20/01/2012

La dégradation de l’Italie par S&P intégrée à une enquête

Des procureurs italiens ont intégré la dégradation récente de la note de l’Italie par S&P à une enquête en cours portant sur l’impact des décisions de notation de l’agence sur le cours des actions italiennes. Le fisc italien a perquisitionné jeudi des bureaux milanais de S&P en quête de documents relatifs à la diffusion de la décision du 13 janvier.
20/01/2012

Maurice Lévy défend la Place de Paris

«Il est essentiel pour que la Place de Paris ne souffre pas trop qu’une taxe sur les transactions financières puisse être appliquée simultanément au moins à Francfort et à Londres», a estimé hier Maurice Lévy, le président de l’Association française des entreprises privées (AFEP) et de Publicis, lors d’un débat organisé à l’occasion des 50 ans de la SFAF.
20/01/2012

Le marché du logement ralentira en 2012

La dégradation de la conjoncture économique touchera le marché français du logement cette année avec une baisse des volumes de vente dans l’ancien et dans le neuf, estiment les notaires de France dans une étude. Ces derniers attendent un ralentissement des transactions dans l’ancien (après 800.000 prévu en 2011) mais estiment que le marché restera soutenu par des taux d’intérêt «raisonnables».

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