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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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%.
Dans un courrier consulté par le quotidien, Ron Kirk, un représentant du département du commerce et John Bryson, Secrétaire au commerce, font pression sur le Congrès pour contourner une décision de justice prise en décembre qui levait des restrictions imposées sur les importations chinoises. «Nous nous tenons prêts à travailler avec le Congrès afin de mettre en œuvre une législation spécifique», avancent-ils.
Le pays a émis 6,6 milliards d'euros de 4 à 10 ans, contre 4,5 milliards visés. Les banques domestiques recycleraient une partie des fonds reçus en décembre
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances en euros des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de décembre 2011 (du 2 décembre au 30 décembre).
Quitte à avoir une monnaie forte, autant en profiter. «Nous devrions nous servir de la force du yen pour investir et acheter, pour être aussi proactif que possible». C’est le message véhiculé par le ministre des finances japonais, Yukio Edano, dans un entretien accordé au quotidien. «Le Japon est court en ressources, nous avons donc besoin d’utiliser cette opportunité pour obtenir fermement des ressources énergétiques et de matières premières». Et d’inciter le secteur privé à se mobiliser en ajoutant que «ça n’est pas seulement de la bureaucratie: c’est quelquechose que j’encourage le secteur privé à faire de manière vigoureuse… Nous devons passer à l’offensive».
Le gouvernement ne devrait pas pouvoir être en mesure de réduire son déficit à 4,4% du PIB cette année, a indiqué le ministre du budget, Cristobal Montoro, dans un entretien au quotidien. L’objectif a été fixé avec une prévision de croissance de 2,3% qui n’est pas aujourd’hui réaliste. Cristobal Montoro précise qu’il faudra deux ans pour retrouver une croissance suffisante pour créer des emplois.
Le gouverneur de la banque centrale du pays, Adib Mayaleh, a indiqué au journal son intention d’introduire un taux de change flottant garanti dès la semaine prochaine afin de dévaluer la monnaie et d’en contrôler les mouvements. «Pendant les dix dernières années le taux de change a franchi des étapes, nous sommes à présent dans une période de contrôle de ses avancées».
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.
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).
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.
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.