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10/01/2012

Bidders vie for asset management unit of Deutsche Bank

From about 50 potential buyers who until the middle of last week entered the fray with indicative bids for the asset management unit of Deutsche Bank, the vendor will now select no more than 10 to proceed to the second round, with a decision to come in mid-January, Handelsblatt reports.The sale will be led by Kevin Parker, head of asset management at the group, who sits on the executive committee at Deutsche Bank, Eric Eaton, head of financial institutions America, and William Nock, head of asset management America. According to Handelsblatt, the buyer will probably agree to keep Parker as head of the acquired activities, in order to prevent a brain drain.
10/01/2012

iShares captures 70% of ETF subscriptions in EMEA in 2011

As of 31 December, assets in iShares ETFs in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region were up 4% in one year to USD105.9bn, BlackRock states.This increase is due to a 43% rise in net subscriptions to USD18bn (compared with USD12.6bn in 2010). The asset management firm estimates that it alone attracted 70% of net inflows in the region.
10/01/2012

Non-financial corporate high yield sector holds up in crisis

In a macroeconomic environment that remains highly difficult in Europe, negative ratings are expected to increase in the non-financial corporate high yield sector throughout the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), according to an article by the ratings agency Moody’s (“EMEA High-Yield Non-Financial Corporates : 2011/12 Review and Outlook”). However, Moody’s adds, the default rate, which remained under 3% in 2011, is not expected to rise by “spectacular” proportions in 2012. New issues on the market slowed in second half due to concerns about sovereign debt, but for the year as a whole, due to strong activity in first half, the sector issued a record USD70bn, compared with a previous record of USD65bn in 2010. In 2012, it will still be a buyers’ market, Moody’s predicts. Due to reduced financing options, high yield issues may include more favourable terms for investors, including more attractive pricing, more conservative structures, and increased transparency.
10/01/2012

CTA, Equity Market Neutral and Volatility strategies popular with investors

The majority of investors are planning to increase their allocations to CTA, Market Neutral and Volatility strategies, according to the most recent quarterly survey by the Swiss group Alix Capital, provider of an UCITS alternative fund index. About 58% of investors are planning to increase their exposure to CTA strategy in first quarter, while 48% prefer Market Neutral and Volatility strategies. However, 29% of participants are planning to reduce their exposure to fixed income, which earned 4.15% in 2011. Another finding of the survey is that more than two thirds of respondents estimate that UCITS hedge fund assets will continue to increase in 2012. 40% of respondents predict that the introduction of the AIFM directive will have a positive impact on the development of UCITS hedge funds. Investors still say that alternative asset management firms need to continue to offer both UCITS and non-UCITS hedge funds, and some add that certain alternative strategies would never be transposable into UCITS format.
10/01/2012

CFA Institute expresses reservations over financial transaction tax

The CFA Institute on 9 January expressed its reservations about the application and effectiveness of a tax on financial transactions in France. In a recent survey of members of the association in Europe, who are investment professionals, 48% consider the idea of a financial sector tax “justifiable,” while 49% consider it “unjustifiable.” “We are not against all taxation in principle, just because we’re working in the financial industry” says Agnès Le Thiec, director of capital market policies at the CFA Institute.However, Le Thiec continues, “44% of our members feel that a financial transaction tax would only be effective if it is applied at least to all G20 countries. Only 5% feel that it would be effective if applied in Europe, since financial transactions would move elsewhere.” It is therefore clear that if the tax were applied only in France, it would make even less sense.Such a tax would inevitably have negative consequences on the volume of activity in the French financial sector. “The revenues from such a tax would be quickly reduced by an equivalent proportion. It is therefore hard to see how a tax on financial transactions could be applied only in France, due to the global nature of the financial markets,” Le Thiec concludes.
10/01/2012

Boards of directors are getting younger

The average age for directors of CAC40 businesses is 60.6 years, as calculated by Les Echos. Ethics & Boards, an international agency that observes board of directors and supervisory boards at publicly-traded companies, finds that the boards of directors for CAC40 businesses are getting younger, largely due to the presence of women, whose average age is 56.1 years. Men on boards are older, with an average age of 61.8 years.
10/01/2012

Financial transaction tax would be ineffective and counter-productive

In the wake of the Paris Europlace conference (see Newsmanagers of 9 January 2012), the French banking federation (FBF) has become the next entity to declare its opposition to a planned tax on financial transactions advocated by the French government. If a tax on financial transactions were introduced, it would have to be applied internationally, and theoretically globally, the professional association says in a statement, claiming that a “tax on financial transactions which was applied only in France would weigh on growth, would result in a loss of competitiveness, and would represent a significant handicap for financing to the entire French economy.” Such a tax, which would come in addition to numerous more specific taxes already in effect, would increase the cost of financial operations to a point that “on the one hand, it would drive actors to move a large part of their operations currently undertaken in Paris to other financial centres, and on the other hand, it would prevent the installation of new actors to finance the economy in our country.” In other words, at a time when the priority should be to allow the French financial sector to finance the economy by adapting to new, very strict regulations, in a highly degraded environment, “a purely national tax which rapidly produced negative effects would be very counter-productive,” the FBF claims.
10/01/2012

DWS preparing an emerging market corporate bond fund

Subscriptions to the DWS Emerging Markets Corporates 2016 fund are open until 27 January, with the launch of the emerging market corporate bond fund (with 30 positions initially) planned for 30 January.The portfolio of investment grade securities may include up to 30% high yield bonds. The securities will be retained until maturity, and proceeds from redemption will be reinvested in money market papers if that maturity comes before 16 December 2016; those with maturity dates after that will be resold when the fund matures.DWS will pay an annual dividend of 4.25% from next year until the maturity of the fund. The asset management firm will charge a 3% penalty for withdrawals with advance notice.CharacteristicsName: DWS Emerging Markets Corporates 2016ISIN code: LU0681793948Front-end fee: maximum 3%Management commission: 0.90%
10/01/2012

Robeco releases a US midcaps fund in Germany

With the Luxembourg-registered fund Robeco US Select Opportuntiies Equities, launched on 20 September, Robeco is now offering retail and institutional investors in Germany a UCITS-compliant US midcaps value fund managed by Steven Pollack, at its affiliate Robeco Boston Partners. The strategy, launched in the United States in 1995, had a total of USD725m in assets under management as of 30 September.The portfolio is invested according to the “three circles” rule, in the optimal area where the three circles, valuation, fundamental data and “catalysts”, overlap. The manager focuses on companies whose capitalisation is between USD1bn and USD16bn.The fund has two benchmark indices: the Russell Midcap Value Index and the S&P 500.CharacteristicsName: Robeco US Select Opportunities EquitiesISIN codes:LU067440040 (DH EUR, share class, hedged for forex risks)LU0674140396 (D USD share class)Front-end fee: maximum 5%Management commission:Retail: 1.5%Institutional: 0.7%
10/01/2012

Outflows from German open-ended funds continue

In November, open-ended funds in Germany saw further net outflows of EUR5.18bn, compared with nearly EUR970m in October, bringing net redemptions in the first eleven months of 2011 to EUR13.75bn, compared with net subscriptions of EUR22.69bn in the corresponding period of the previous year.The German BVI assocation of asset management firms states that net inflows to institutional funds (Spezialfonds) fell to EUR38.48bn in January-November, compared with EUR61.12bn in the first eleven months of 2010.Net inflows to mandates represented EUR2.43bn (due to net subscriptions of EUR3.95bn in November), compared with net redemptions of EUR2.84bn in January-November of the previous year.As of 30 November, total assets under management in Germany came to EUR1.75445trn, compared with EUR1.77144trn as of the end of October, and EUR1.82561trn one year previously. Of this total, open-ended funds (including real estate funds) as of the end of November represented EUR645.57bn, while Spezialfonds weighed in at EUR827.06bn, and mandates totalled EUR281.92bn.
10/01/2012

Feri raises ratings for Australia and six CEE countries

The 1 January 2012 update to 38 sovereign ratings by the German ratings agency Feri EuroRating Services has brought a continuation of the status quo for 31 countries, and a ratings rise for seven countries. Australia now has a AA rating (up from A previously), putting it on a par with France, the UK, Canada, the US and China, as well as South Korea.The rankings include six AAA-rated countries: Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.Six countries from central and eastern Europe have also been upgraded: this is partly due to a change in methodology, which now assigns more weight to the condition of public finances, and less weight on external trade. Slovenia and the Czech Republic both now get A ratings, up from B+, while Estonia, Slovakia and Poland are upgraded to B+ from B in the first two cases, and C in the third. Latvia moves up from D- to D, meaning that default risks remain high, but less so than before.
10/01/2012

Axa IM renews research partnership with Edhec

Axa Investment Managers has announced the renewal of its partnership with Edhec-Risk Institute for its research chair on «Regulation and Institutional Investment». The next study to be produced as part of the 3-year extension will examine Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution arrangements, including the adequacy of risk-sharing mechanisms, and the appeal of hybrid solutions given the regulatory, social and economic environment.The scope of the May 2012 study will address competing European retirement models, with the research extending to the Asia Pacific region during the course of the 3-year partnership.
10/01/2012

SGSS mandated by Repsol in Spain

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has been mandated by Repsol, the Spanish global energy company, to provide administration services for the International Executive Stock Plan and to act as the agent bank and settlement provider for the Employee Stock Plan. Both Plans were launched by the company in 2011. SGSS was first selected in May 2011, to provide a global administration solution for the Repsol Executive Stock Plan. In October 2011, SGSS was selected again by Repsol but in this case to provide agency and settlement services for Repsol Employee Stock Plan, a statement explains.
10/01/2012

Households withdraw investments from stock markets

Scepticism of stock markets has reached a peak, according to the 15th edition of a TNS Sofres survey undertaken for La Banque Postale and Les Echos. After a virtually uninterrupted slide in the value of indices since summer, on the back of concern about sovereign debt, retail investors are massively turning away from the markets. Only 9% of French respondents consider it a “good time” to place some of their savings in the stock markets, a level not seen since the survey began in 2004, while 93% consider stocks risky, and 82% have the same opinion of bonds, also an all-time high. But investors’ scepticism also extends to other financial products: life insurance is less and less popular with French investors, who are instead opting for savings accounts.
10/01/2012

Dark 2011 for major players in German asset management

Statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms show that open-ended securities funds in January-November 2011 saw net redemptions of nearly EUR14.54bn.Two of the major firms have done well, however: Allianz Global Investors has posted net inflows of EUR1.465bn, due to net inflows of EUR5.58bn for its affiliate Pimco Europe. Meanwhile, BlackRock AM Deutschland claims a better result than the rest of the profession combined, with net subscriptions of nearly EUR8.05bn, for ETFs of the iShares brand.The other leaders are all in the red, with major net outflows, led by Deka (German savings banks) with net redemptions of EUR7.12bn, the Deutsche Bank family (DWS, DB Advisors and others) with net redemptions of EUR5.83bn, despite net inflows of EUR659m to db x-trackers ETFs, and Union Investment (German co-operative banks), with redemptions of more than EUR2.48bn.To round out the picture, ComStage, the ETF affiliate of Commerzbank, has posted an outflow of EUR36m in the first eleven months of the year, while net redemptions from ETFlab (Deka) totalled EUR1.35bn.
10/01/2012

Pioneer recruits a head for Switzerland from BNY Mellon AM

Rainer Lenzin, head for wholesale clients in Switzerland at BNY Mellon Asset Management, has been appointed as head fo Switzerland at Pioneer Investments (UniCredit group), Investment Europe reports. He will report to Fabien Madar, head of Western and Northern Europe. Before joining BNY Mellon AM, Lenzin was director of institutional equity sales to Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany at Lehman Brothers in Zurich.
10/01/2012

Target funds fall short of their objectives again

According to Morningstar, target funds with four years of remaining time to maturity last year lost an average of 0.4%, while the S&P 500 equity index gained 2%, and the Barclays Captial Aggregate Bond Index gained 8%, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, these target funds are now an integral part of 401(k) retirement savings plans, and they represent a total of USD368bn in assets, more than twice as much as in 2008.
10/01/2012

Wegelin does not feel threatened by investigations

The Wegelin bank claims that it is not at risk of litigation in the wake of investigations of Swiss financial actors serving US clients, and charges against three of its employees, Agefi Switzerland reports. Wegelin & Co is not exposed to any danger if one of its employees is tried. The bank has responded to an article in the newspaper SonntagsZeitung, which claimed in its most redent issue that charges against an employee of the bank, Konrad Hummler, also endangered the bank. Wegelin claims that charges are not equivalent to a guilty verdict.
10/01/2012

Philipp Hildebrand resigns; BNS maintains its monetary policy bearings

Philipp Hildebrand, chairman of the managing board at the Swiss National Bank (BNS), resigned on Monday, 9 January, having concluded that he was not in a position to provide irrefutable evidence that had no knowledge that his wife made the order for a currency trade on 15 August 2011.The board of directors at the BNS has issued a statement acknowledging receipt of the resignation, which it regrets. It also states that its monetary policy, focused on am exchange rate limit of EUR1.20 per Swiss franc, will remain unchanged, and “will be continued with all required determination.”The banking council at the BNS has accepted “the decision which Philipp Hildebrand has taken to protect the institution.” The vice chairman of the board of directors, Thomas Jordan, takes over and a definitive replacement will be installed as soon as possible” as chairman, a statement says.
10/01/2012

Robeco IM adds to equity fund range

The US group Robeco Investment Management has launched two new mutual funds: the Robeco Boston Partners Global Equity Fund and Robeco Boston Partners International Fund. The two products will start up with USD10m in seed money each from the parent company, Robeco Group. The funds will be managed by Chris Hart; the institutional share class will charge fees of 130 basis points.
10/01/2012

First annual losses for a decade for Carmignac Patrimoine

2011 has not proved a vintage year for Carmignac. Its flagship fund, Patrimoine, finished the year with losses (of 0.7%), for the first time since 2001, Expansión reports. The fund, which became one of the largest in Europe during the crisis, although its assets have since shrunken back to EUR25bn, was defensively positioned against the euro crisis throughout 2011, but that didn’t prevent the fund from seeing losses.
10/01/2012

Old Mutual fires head of strategic partnerships

Kevin Bull, head of strategic and distribution partnerships at Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM), has left the firm, Money Marketing reports. Bull joined Old Mutual in June 2004. OMAM had no comment on the reports.
10/01/2012

Deutsche Bank launches a seeding platform with FRM

Deutsche Bank has signed a partnership with Financial Risk Management (FRM, USD9bn in assets) to launch the first managed account seeding platform for hedge funds, dbalternatives Discovery. The project is an extension of the managed accounts platform dbalternatives (USD12bn), launched in 2002. The objective is to provide investors with reassurance in questions of fraud, transparency, liquidity and independent valuation.The seeding platform aims to identify promising new managers and to invest in their funds, providing strrategic assistance to support their expansion. To reward the capital to be invested, subscribers will earn dividends on the fund and a share of the manager’s earnings.As part of the project, FRM, via its hedge fund seeding affiliate, FRM Capital Advisors (FCA), will select and negotiate strategic investments in emerging managers, who will be managed via managed accounts on the dbalternatives Discovery platform.Deutsche Bank will also be in charge of raising seed capital to invest in the early stage hedge funds selected by FCA.
10/01/2012

Italian pension funds have EUR10bn in maturing mandates

The year is going to be a busy one in the financial management of Italian pension funds, Plus24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore observes. 65 management mandates out of 141 are maturing, with assets under management of nearly EUR10bn, out of a total of EUR25bn in the category.
10/01/2012

Only 15% of Italian funds outperform their benchmarks

Only 15% of Italian funds outperformed their benchmark indices in 2011, according to a study by Plus24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore. The 85% of funds which underperformed the index did so by an average of 3.5 percentage points. This is the worst result ever recorded, except for 2007; it was largely due to balanced funds, which performed disappointingly, with only 8% of funds outperforming the benchmark.
10/01/2012

Low inflows in UK in November

Net inflows to investment funds in the UK in November totalled GBP267m, their lowest level since October 2008, compared with inflows of GBP1.8bn in November 2010, according to statistics from the British investment management association (IMA). Since the beginning of the year, net inflows total GBP16.7bn, compared with GBP25.6bn in the first eleven months of 2010. Equity funds saw outflows of GBP864m in November, compared with an average inflow of GBP506m in the previous twelve months. However, bond funds have posted subscriptions totalling GBP443m, higher than the monthly average of GBP332m for the twelve previous months. Diversified funds, for their part, attracted GBP262m, their lowest level since April 2009. Assets under management as of the end of November totalled GBP560.3bn, down 3% compared with October.
10/01/2012

Vinculum launches an international equity fund

The asset management firm Vinculum, founded by the former CEO of Liontrust AM, Nigel Legge, is launching an international equity fund which complies with UCITS regulations. The IM Vinculum Global Equity fund is a long-only vehicle which will invest in 50 high-quality firms selected with an original process. The firm is planning to launch other long-only funds in the next few months dedicated to Asia ex Japan equities, Japanese, European and US equities.
10/01/2012

La Maison blanche change de secrétaire général

A dix mois de l'élection présidentielle américaine, Barack Obama a remanié l'état-major de la Maison blanche en nommant au poste-clé de secrétaire général l’actuel directeur du Budget, Jack Lew. Ce dernier remplace Bill Daley, qui a démissionné.
10/01/2012

William Dudley dirige le comité sur le système financier mondial

Le président de la Fed de New York a été nommé ce week-end à la présidence du comité sur le système financier mondial (CGFS). Son mandat court pour une durée de trois ans avec effet immédiat. Il succède à Mark Carney, gouverneur de la Banque du Canada et récemment nommé à la tête du Conseil de stabilité financière (FSB).
10/01/2012

Icap se positionne sur la compensation des dérivés OTC

Le groupe indique que sa filiale Traiana est le premier acteur du marché à avoir reçu l’accréditation du Chicago Mercantile Exchange pour compenser les dérivés de changes sur le marché de gré à gré (OTC). «Lier Traiana Harmony et le CME réduira les coûts et la complexité pour l’industrie du forex», a souligné Gil Mandelzis, le directeur général de Traiana.

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