Jesse Wang, le vice-président exécutif du fonds souverain chinois China Investment Corp (CIC), a indiqué dans un entretien accordé à Bloomberg cité par L’Agefi que CIC pourra participer au soutien du Vieux Continent. L’aide du fonds ne pourra cependant être qu’"indirecte», sous forme d’investissements répondant à ses exigences d’engagement à long terme tout en assurant une certaine maîtrise des risques. Jesse Wang souligne que le fonds ignorera le plus souvent le chemin suivi par Pékin du fait d’"objectifs opérationnels et de capacités de prise de risque» divergents.

Le néelerlandais Rabobank a annoncé vendredi soir qu’il vend à la banque privée brésilienne Safra pour 1,04 milliard de francs suisses sa participation de 46,07 % et de 68,63 % des droits de vote dans le bâlois Banque Sarasin. La cession s’effectue sur la base de 7,20 francs par action A et de 36 francs par action B.Sur la base de l’encours affiché par Sarasin à fin juin (101,6 milliards de francs, 1.600 salariés), Safra, dont l’encours est de 109 milliards de dollars, paie arithmétiquement 2,25 % de l’encours correspondant à la participation acquise, mais obtient aussi la majorité. Si l’on se fonde sur les droits de vote, Safra ne paie que 1,49 %.Le conseil d’administration et le comité exécutif de Sarasin se sont félicités de cette transaction. Sarasin était convoité par Julius Baer et Raiffeisen.

Nordea a annoncé le 25 novembre avoir conclu un partenariat exclusif avec Hexam Capital Partners LLP, pour la gestion d’un nouveau fonds d’actions dédié aux marchés émergents, Nordea 1 – Global Emerging Market Equity Fund (*). Dirigée par Bryan Collings, fondateur de la société et spécialiste des marchés émergents, l’équipe d’investissement d’Hexam suit un processus d’investissement reposant sur le modèle GLCMV (Growth, Liquidity, Currency, Management and Valuation). Le gestionnaire utilise extensivement ce modèle pour découvrir les potentiels de bénéfices, qui ne sont pas encore reconnus ou qui sont sous-évalués par le marché. Grâce à la combinaison des approches top-down et bottom-up, le gestionnaire est en mesure d’identifier avant le consensus les titres ou les pays susceptibles de bénéficier de fortes révisions à la hausse. « Au départ, notre univers comptait plus de 350 gérants en actions émergentes. Au cours de notre recherche, nous avons constaté que moins de 20% des gérants référencés par Morningstar avaient réussi à générer de l’alpha sur une période de trois ans », explique Jauri Häkkä, directeur de l’équipe Fund & Manager Selection de Nordea. « Trouver une équipe de gestion solide et expérimentée, disposant d’un historique de performances convaincant et d’une proposition de création d’alpha crédible, sans problème de capacité majeure, est un véritable défi dans cette catégorie ». Ce partenariat correspond à l’extension d’une coopération déjà entamée avec Hexam dans la région nordique. Conformément aux dispositions de cet accord, Nordea dispose désormais de l’exclusivité des services de conseil en investissements d’Hexamdans toute l’Europe. (*) Code isin : LU0634510456

Le principe d’un renforcement des fonds propres des grandes banques européennes est juste, «mais il aurait fallu le faire plus tôt, lorsque les conditions étaient propices, au lieu de réagir quand les problèmes sont déjà là», estime dans un entretien aux Echos Friedrich von Metzler, le patron de la banque privée Metzler. «Je vois d’autres priorités pour les banques: définir une stratégie assise sur un modèle pérenne et mettre en place un management des risques se plaçant au-dessus du système qu’il est censé surveiller. Chez nous comme chez certaines grandes banques, le directeur du risque est déconnecté des fonctions de «front office» et occupe un poste de direction indépendant», affirme Friedrich von Metzler qui indique par ailleurs que «l’année se déroule bien», la banque privée et la gestion d’actifs notamment affichant des résultats satisfaisants.

Malgré un environnement devenu très difficile, Schroders ne compte pas réduire ses coûts, mais les maîtriser, affirme Massimo Tosato, vice-président exécutif de la société de gestion britannique, qui gérait au 30 septembre 182,2 milliards de livres. Et même, le dirigeant n’exclut pas de renforcer "certains domaines clés". Parmi les classes d’actifs qui pourraient être développées figurent les infrastructures. Et en termes de zones géographiques, Schroders aimerait s’implanter en Inde, en Turquie et en Russie.

Duncan Goodwin, qui a rejoint Martin Currie en 2006 en provenance de Merrill Lynch, va devenir le gérant principal du fonds long-only Martin Currie GF – Global Resources Fund et du fonds long/short Martin Currie Global Resources Absolute Alpha Fund dont il est le co-gérant sous la responsabilité de Chris Butler, lequel prend sa retraite à la fin de cette année.Pour l’OPCVM Global Resources, Duncan Goodwin, qui restera seul aux commandes du fonds de performance absolue, sera assisté de Ruairidh Stewart, arrivé chez Martin Currie en 2007.

In Europe, a regulatory tsunami in the wake of the financial crisis may slow the growth of economies in the region, the chairman of the British Investment Management Association (IMA), Richard Saunders, claimed on 25 November at a conference in Brussels. Saunders points out that the European Commission will produce 35 different pieces of proposed legislation which will affect the financial services industry, Money Marketing reports. From his point of view, initiatives such as Packaged Retail Investment Products (PRIPs), and part of the markets and financial instruments directive (MiFID), will have a positive impact. However, some clauses in the MiFID directive, and proposals to tax financial transactions, will have unexpected consequences, and will not satisfy objectives. The speed at which the Commission produces new proposed legislation is “problematic,” as too much time is dedicated to determining whether these new regulatory initiatives are desirable. Saunders also claims that too much attention is given to hedge funds and not enough to banks.

As of the end of 2010, assets in funds, mandates and other sustainable financial products in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) totalled EUR51.9bn, or EUR14bn more than one year earlier. With the addition of deposits at specialist banks and closed-end funds, the total comes to EUR94.5bn, according to the fifth annual report from the Sustainable Investment Forum (FNG), which includes about 160 member firms in the three countries.In Germany and Switzerland, assets in funds, manadates and other financial products have increased 23%, while they have increased by only 17% in Austria. Switzerland was the largest contributor, with EUR33.6bn, followed by Germany, with EUR15.9bn, and Austria, with EUR2.4bn.For funds, mandates and other financial products, institutional investors represent 77% of the total in Germany, and 74% in Austria. Retail investors dominate in Switzerland, with 57% of the total.

Like several other major asset management firms, BlackRock is now offering a complete range of sub-funds which will invest selectively in companies that consistently pay high dividends, within its Luxembourg Sicav BGF.The BGF European Equity Income Fund (LU0562822386), created on 3 December 2010, still has only EUR3.3bn in assets (as of the end of October). It aims for returns at least 10% higher than those of the MSCI Europe index. The range also includes the BGF Emerging Markets Equity Income (LU0651946864, USD3.1bn), the BGF World Resources Equity Income (LU0612318385, USD2.9bn) , and more mature products such as the BGF Asia Pacific Equity Income (LU0414403419, USD485.9m). In addition, there are mandates totalling about USD1bn. In the United States, funds like these already have considerable assets.“It is certain that the current environment is not optimal for risk-taking, but on the other hand, share prices have already integrated a modest recession in Europe. Meanwhile, equities are not expensive currently, and returns in dividends are coming out at about 6%, which is better than the returns on bank savings,” says Richard Urwin, head of asset allocation at BlackRock, at a presentation in Paris. Nigel Bolton, CEO European equities, points out that currently, subscribers need to pay more attention to returns from equities than to their valuations. Interest rates are going to remain near all-time lows for a long time, and the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone has reduced the attractiveness of government bonds.Bolton favours solid tech stocks, niche companies in oil services as well as major oil companies, businesses with a convincing business model which generate significant cash flows, such as Ryanair, and large caps in the agro-business sector.

The largest Chinese sovereign fund, China Investment Corporation, is planning to invest in infrastructure in developed countries, especially the United Kingdom. The USD410bn Chinese fund is “hoping to team up with fund managers, or to participate in a public-private partnership in the UK infrastructure sector, as an equity investor,” says Lou Jiwei, in an opinion piece in the Financial Times on Monday. “Currently, infrastructure in Europe and the United States badly need more investment,” he adds.

Miguel Morán, recruited this summer, has been appointed as president of Barclays Wealth Management for Spain (EUR3bn in assets), replacing Carlos Pérez Parada, who left the business at the end of October. The new president comes from PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was previously CIO of DWS Investments and N mas 1 in Spain.

Stefan Kaiser, director at iShares, claims that securities lending activities at BlackRock have brought additional revenues for the firm and for subscribers, while respecting conservative risk parameters, eFundresearch reports.BlackRock relies on the PRISM securities lending and trading system, which is focused on four areas: supply management, demand capture, results of research, and market information. The system provides a readable relative pricing list which allows the operator to select the appropriate trading strategy either to make better use of capacity, or to increase commissions earned.Empirically, additional returns from securities lending between April 2009 and April 2011 for Irish funds was 14.8 basis points for BlackRock, compared with an average of 7 basis points for the market overall.

The South African Nick Price, head of emerging markets since 2009 and an emerging markets portfolio manager since 2005, is the manager of the fifth product of the Fidelity Active Strategy (FAST) range, entitled Emerging Markets. It is a long/short fund which invests in equities from Asian, Latin American, Central and Eastern European and African countries. The fund, launched on 31 October, is available for sale in Germany immediately.CharacteristicsName: FAST Emerging Markets Fund A Acc (EUR) Hedged ISIN code: LU0688698975Name: FAST Emerging Markets Fund A Acc (USDISIN code: LU0650957938Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.50%Withdrawal penalty: 1%Minimal initial subscription: USD50,000, USD5,000 thereafter

The British asset management firm HSBC Global Asset Management has received a sales license for Germany from BaFin for the RMB Fixed Income sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav HSBC GIF. The fund invests in bonds denominated in Chinese yuan, listed in Hong Kong, which aims to offer subscribers a way to benefit from appreciations in the yuan against the US dollar (see Newsmanagers of 31 October and 24 November).

The Optimal range from Axa IM in Germany has gained the addition of the Luxembourg-registered fund AXA WF Optimal Absolute, launched on 11 July 2011. It is an absolute return, long/short product (see Newsmanagers of 4 October), which comes as an addition to the Optimal Income and WF Optimal Income, both of which products had assets of over EUR1bn as of the end of July.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has received a license from the Beijing city government to create a USD1bn fund denominated in renminbi (Chinese yuan) under the Qualified Foreign Limited Partners program, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. The fund will be entitled JPM China Private Equity Fund, and will be managed in partnership with the Beijing government.

Cosco recently sold its 20% stake in ICBC Credit Suisse to ICBC. Now, Credit Suisse is transferring a 5% stake in the asset management firm to the bank, which now controls 80% of the capital. The Swiss entity retains a 20% stake in the business, Z-Ben Advisors reports. The sale price has not been disclosed.

David Harding, the founder of Winton Capital, one of the largest hedge funds in London, with USD26bn in assets, has announced that he is in favour of a European tax on financial transactions, the Financial Times reports. “I would be in favour of a low tax on financial transactions, if a part of it went to finance more supra-national regulation of the markets,” he said.

The founder and former chairwoman of the supervisory board at Bank Medici (Vienna), Sonja Kohn, had her assets frozen on Friday by a London court. The court accuses Kohn of supplying the pyramid scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff, and of making illicit gains of at least USD56m in disguised commissions, Die Presse reports.The judge also ruled that Kohn and her businesses may not be sued in the United Kingdom, and that the legal actions must take place in Austria and the United States.

Despite an environment that has become highly difficult, Schroders has no plans to reduce its costs, but is instead planning to contain them, says Massimo Tosato, executive vice president of the UK asset management firm, which as of 30 September had GBP182.2bn in assets under management. And the head does not even rule out strengthening personnel in “certain key areas.” Among the asset classes that may be scaled up is infrastructure. In terms of geographical regions, Schroders would like to move into India, Turkey and Russia.

As a part of a drive to develop its asset management activities on the Spanish market, Henderson Property, an affiliate of Henderson Global Investors, has recruited Javier Cuéllar (formerly of Unibail-Rodamco) as a portfolio manager, Funds People reports.In Spain, Henderson’s real estate funds own five major shopping centres, three mid-sized shopping centres, and a logistical platform.

The former CEO of Invesco Europe, and president of EFAMA until the end of June, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, is the CEO of the new Belgian firm Incipit, based in Brussels, Funds People reports. The firm specialists in advising on mergers and acquisitions and management strategy for third parties. Ignites Europe reports that de Franssu is already at work on several dossiers, but did not have any comment about the identities of clients.

Three ratings agencies – Fitch, S&P and the Japanese ratings agency Ratings and Investment Information (RII) – have announced that the deficit in Japan and its consequence on yields may affect the country’s creditworthiness. RII estimates the likelihood of a downgrade by the end of the year at “50% to 100%,” Agefi reports. In addition to hikes in income taxes (of 2.1%) and businesses taxes, which are expected to bring in JPY10trn, the Japanese government is planning to double VAT, currently 5%, in order to balance the budget by 2016. The IMF suggests that the VAT should be increased to 15%, and be accompanied by reforms to the pension system.

The Netherlands-based Rabobank on Friday evening announced that it is selling its 46.07% stake in the the Basel-based private bank Banque Sarain, with 68.63% of voting rights for CHF1.04bn, to Brazil-based Safra. The sale is taking place at a price of CHF7.20 per A-class share, and CHF36 per B-class share. On the basis of the announced assets of Sarasin as of the end of June (CHF101.6bn, 1,600 employees), Safra, whose assets total USD109bn, is paying the equivalent of 2.25% of assets for the stake it acquires, but also obtains a majority interest. On the basis of voting rights, Safra is paying only 1.49%. The board of directors and executive board at Sarasin have welcomed the deal. Julius Baer and Raiffeisen also had wanted to buy Rabobank’s stake.

Following a strategic partnership signed in September with the asset management firm DPA Invest, Groupama AM on Friday officially announced that it has brought the boutique’s fund DPA Gestion Privée (see Newsmanagers of 7 September 2011) into its own product range, after approval from the AMF. The fund will be renamed as Groupama Risk Premium, and is managed under an outsourcing contract by Olivier Davanne and Thierry Pujol at DPA Invest.

What are the preferred stocks of hedge funds? Tech and financial shares, according to a study by Meena Krishnamsetty, co-founder of the hedge fund data provider Insider Monkey, whose findings have been published by the Wall Street Journal. The data used for the study was disclosed on a quarterly basis by hedge funds, 45 days after the end of each period; here, up to the end of September this year. It finds that hedge funds tend to retain its investments in these shares for at least one or two quarters, despite everything.Of the ten shares most often cited by hedge funds as of the end of September, the top three are, in order, Apple, which features in the portfolios of 103 hedge funds, Google (79 hedge funds), and Microsoft (76). Apple was at the top of the rankings in 2010, and then lost ground, before returning to the top spot in June. However, it is the first time that Google has been in such a high place in the rankings, to the detriment of Microsoft, which as lost one place since the previous quarter.They are followed by financial sector businesses, with Citigroup (75), JP Morgan (64) and Bank of America (62), followed by Pfizer (60) and General Motors (59). At the end of first quarter 2011, Citigroup was at the top of the rankings, but since then, its shares have been affected by the euro zone debt crisis. In ninth and tenth place are Qualcomm (58) and Wells Fargo (57), where Warren Buffett and John Paulson have the two largest exposures.

The British asset management firm Ignis Asset Management is planning to register its Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund, an absolute return long/short bond fund investing in the most liquid and best-rated government bonds, with the CNMV in the next few weeks, Funds People reports. The product (see Newsmanagers of 2 March) aims for total volatility of 3% to 6%.

John Owens is planning to leave Mirabaud Asset Management after ten years at the firm as head of sales, according to reports in Financial News. The news comes following the recruitment of Paul Boughton and Andrew Blair in the United Kingdom, the website notes.

An increasing number of pension professionals have recently changed the asset allocation of their fund in order to reduce volatility, reveals Baring Asset Management’s (Barings) annual poll of UK pension schemes. The research, conducted online among professionals involved with the investment management of a UK private or public pension scheme, found that two-thirds (65%) of respondents had recently changed the asset allocation of their fund, up from 50% last year.Moreover, 65% of respondents now invest in multi-asset strategies to some degree. This figure has almost doubled since last year’s survey when just 38% of respondents invested in these strategies.The majority - 61.5% - stated the need to reduce the volatility of the fund as the main reason for altering its asset allocation. The second most common reason was the need to reduce the correlation of assets followed by the need to better match assets to liabilities. The least popular reason for changing the asset allocation was to achieve greater returns. “This research clearly shows that the concerns of UK pension fund managers centre on the need to manage volatility and protect against extreme losses; achieving greater returns is secondary given the current turmoil and ongoing situation in Europe», comments Andrew Benton, head of UK and international institutional sales at Barings. The research also revealed that 62% of respondents felt that Emerging Asia has the biggest potential for equity gains over the next 10 years. Far behind Emerging Asia, but next in terms of the regions considered to have the greatest potential going forward, were Emerging Europe, Africa and Latin America (each with 10% of respondents choosing them as the area of the biggest potential for gains). (1) * Online research conducted by Baring Asset Management amongst 74 investment managers of UK Private or Public Pension Schemes, between 3 October and 3 November 2011.

Duncan Goodwin, who joined Martin Currie in 2006 from Merrill Lynch, will become the principal manager of the long-only fund Martin Currie GF- Global Resources Fund, and the long/short fund Martin Currie Global Resources Absolute Alpha Fund, which he co-manages under Chris Butler, who will be retiring at the end of this year.For the Global Resources fund, Goodwin, who will remain in sole command of the absolute return fund, will be assisted by Ruairidh Stewart, who joined Martin Currie in 2007.