08/11/2011
Le gouvernement s’ajuste à la croissance faible
Pour tenir ses engagements de rigueur, il veut récupérer 18,6 milliards d’euros d'ici 2013
08/11/2011
Les rendements italiens se tendent encore sur fond d'incertitude politique
Les achats en hausse de la BCE n'ont pas réussi à calmer le stress sur la dette souveraine italienne
08/11/2011
Le gouvernement s’ajuste à la croissance faible
Pour tenir ses engagements de rigueur, il veut récupérer 18,6 milliards d’euros d'ici 2013
07/11/2011
François Fillon annonce un effort de 18,6 milliards d'euros sur deux ans
Le Premier ministre a annoncé 18,6 milliards d’euros de mesures supplémentaires, ( 7 milliards d’euros en 2012 et 11,6 milliards en 2013) et porté l’effort de redressement budgétaire à 65 milliards d’euros d’ici 2016. L’objectif est de tenir les engagements français de réduction du déficit malgré le ralentissement économique. L'âge légal de la retraite sera porté à 62 ans en 2017 au lieu de 2018. Sept cents millions d’euros d'économies supplémentaires seront réalisées sur les dépenses de santé et les « niches » fiscales seront réduites de 2,6 milliards supplémentaires. Le taux réduit de la TVA sera porté de 5,5% à 7%, sauf pour les produits de première nécessité, dont l’alimentation. Certaines prestations sociales ne seront revalorisées que de 1% l’an prochain, soit le niveau de la croissance prévu, les minimas sociaux et prestations constituant un revenu de remplacement étant revalorisés selon les règles actuelles, plus avantageuses. Le barème de l’impôt sur le revenu et celui de l’impôt de solidarité sur la fortune seront gelés pour les deux prochaines années. L’impôt sur les sociétés sera quant à lui majoré de 5% pour les entreprises dont le chiffre d’affaires dépasse 250 millions d’euros.
07/11/2011
L'Eurogroupe veut des éclaircissements de l'Italie
La situation budgétaire et politique de l’Italie sera largement abordée ce soir lors de la réunion des ministres des Finances de la zone euro, a déclaré un porte-parole de la Commission européenne, qui a précisé que « Giulio Tremonti, le ministre des Finances italien, nous dira quand et comment les autorités italiennes comptent mettre en oeuvre la longue liste de mesures présentées par le président du Conseil italien », a dit le porte-parole. Le porte-parole a précisé qu’une lettre en ce sens avait été envoyée ces derniers jours au gouvernement italien et que, comme l’avait annoncé vendredi le président de la Commission José Manuel Barroso, une équipe d’inspecteurs européens serait en Italie cette semaine afin de préparer un rapport pour l’Eurogroupe. Ces déclarations interviennent alors qu’enflent les rumeurs d’une démission imminente de Silvio Berlusconi, ce que le chef du gouvernement italien a démenties. Le spread entre obligations italiennes et allemandes à dix ans s’est à nouveau creusé à près de 480 points de base.
07/11/2011
La production allemande baisse bien plus que prévu
La production industrielle en Allemagne a baissé de 2,7% en septembre, en raison surtout d’une chute de 4,7% de la production de biens d'équipement, après une contraction de 0,4% en août. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters anticipaient une baisse de 0,5% seulement. C’est sa baisse la plus marquée depuis février 2009. La production manufacturière a diminué de 3% sur le mois, de 0,8% dans le BTP et de 0,7% dans l'énergie.
07/11/2011
Risque sérieux de contraction du PIB britannique
L'économie britannique risque de connaître une contraction du PIB durant le trimestre en cours, en raison d’un ralentissement de la croissance du secteur des services, écrit le consultant et cabinet comptable BDO dans un rapport publié lundi. Le BDO précise que son indice de la production, qui mesure les anticipations de chiffre d’affaires sur les trois mois à venir, est tombé en octobre à 92,6, au plus bas depuis juin 2009, lorsque le pays était en récession.
07/11/2011
Le Brésil révise à la baisse ses prévisions de croissance
L’inflation restera stable au Brésil en 2011, selon les prévisions des économistes du pays qui prévoient une inflation de 6,5% cette année. Ils ont revu à la baisse la perspective de croissance à 3,2% contre 3,29% la semaine dernière. Le Brésil a connu en 2010 une croissance de 7,5%, le taux le plus élevé des 24 dernières années dans ce pays et l’un des plus importants des grandes économies de la planète.
07/11/2011
Gestion d'actifs
Promouvoir les OPCVM à vocation générale pour d' épargne salariale
L'épargne salariale concerne près de 10 millions de salariés en France, pour un volume d'encours de près de 90 milliards d'euros à fin décembre 2010. Cette épargne est placée très majoritairement sur des Plans d'Épargne Entreprise ou de Groupe bloqués 5 ans (PEE ou PEG), les Plans d'Épargne Retraite Collectifs (PERCO) se diffusent progressivement dans les entreprises. Une moitié de l'encours est investie en OPCVM à gestion variée, l'autre moitié variée est investie sur des fonds en actions de l'employeur, selon des formules d'actionnariat salarié.
07/11/2011
Rothschild WM Equitas gets a new head
Laurent Gagnebin, head of ultra-high net worth individuals at Investec Bank in Geneva, has been recruited to direct Rothschild Wealth Management Equitas SA in Geneva. He becomes head of the affiliate of the Zurich-based Rothschild Bank AG, replacing Manuel Marinez, who has left the company.
07/11/2011
Winds of change are blowing for ETF indices
Since the beginning of 2010, the benchmark indices have been changed for 77 ETFs in the United States, according to IndexUniverse. And in 44 cases, the changes were substantial in terms of composition or weighting, the Wall Street Journal reports.Often, changes result in an initial reduction in management commissions, as was the case, for example, when State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) replaced the cap-size weighted KBW indices for five of its ETFs with equally-weighted S&P indices. The change required SSgA to sell off shares in major banks from its SPDR S&P Bank ETF, which meant a substantial change for the fund. In response, Invesco launched four PowerShares ETFs using the KBW financial sector indices dropped by SSgA, and offered 3 free months, after which it will charge a commission of 0.35% - the same as for the State Street funds.Similarly, Russell Investments cut fees for 13 volatility, beta and momentum ETFs because several competitors, including Direxion, launched similar products.These fee reductions simply show that ETF managers are prepared to make sacrifices in price in order to retain investors, or to incite them to try something new, when competing ETFs or indices appear.
07/11/2011
Profits down by one quarter at Berkshire Hathaway
In third quarter 2011, Berkshire Hathaway, the portfolio management firm controlled by Warren Buffett, has seen a contraction in its net profits to nearly USD2.28bn, from USD2.99bn in the corresponding period of 2010. This decline of 24% is due to a loss of USD1.59bn, compared with USD95m, from the derivatives portfolio, a phenomenon which the firm considers insignificant.Most importantly, says the company, operating profits increased to USD3.81bn, from USD2.79bn.In the first nine months of the year, net profits fell to USD7.21bn, from USD8.58bn, while operating profits increased to USD8.11bn, from USD8.08bn.
07/11/2011
Fortress posts better-than-expected results
The US alternative management group Fortress Investment has reported pre-tax profits of USD43m in third quarter, compared with USD78m one year previously. The result represents a decline, but was well-received by the market, as the consensus was predicting a more mediocre figure. Assets under management have also held stable. They totalled USD43.6bn as of 30 September, compared with USD43.8bn as of 30 June. This very slight decline is a sign that the heavyweights in the sector are staying afloat, as investors continue to prefer them over smaller managers.
07/11/2011
Series of promotions at the top of Fidelity FI management
US-based Fidelity Asset Management on 4 November announced the appointment of new presidents for tis bond and money market groups, and the creation of two new management positions for institutional bonds and bond research. The four newly-promoted personnel will report to Charles S. Morrison, president of the fixed income division at Fidelity (USD729bn in assets as of the end of September).Robert P. Brown, president of money markets, has been appointed as president of the bond group, replacing Christopher Sullivan, who becomes head of institutional fixed income.Nancy D. Prior succeeds Robert P. Brown as president of money markets; she was previously managing director of credit research. David E. Hamlin, who has also been managing director of credit research, will now serve as head of research for fixed income.
07/11/2011
Appointments at Lyxor AM
Laurent Seyer, CEO of Lyxor AM, has announced in a letter dated 2 November that Stéphane Enguéhard has been promoted to managing director – head of Funds of Hedge Funds Development at the asset management firm. Enguéhard, who until 24 October had been managing director – Head of the Managed Account Platform, will now be repsonsible for promoting the range of funds from the asset management firm to a wider range of key international investors.Since 24 October, Enguéhard has been replaced by Lionel Paquin as managing director – head of the Managed Account Platform. Paquin had previously worked at Société Générale, where he had served as Chief Risk Officer since 2007. Paquin is also a member of the board of directors and the executive board at Lyxor.
07/11/2011
Deutsche Bank launches four synthetic ETFs
Deutsche Bank has launched four new synthetic ETF funds that comply with UCITS requirements on the Singapore stock exchange. The ETFs are based on the MSCI Pakistan Investable Market Index, the MSCI Bangladesh Investable Market Index, the MSCI Singapore Investable Market Index and the MSCI Asia Ex Japan Index. For the first time, the new range includes ETFs focused on Pakistan and Bangladesh, Deutsche Bank says in a statement. “In the vast majority of cases, and in all emerging countries, synthetic replication is the best method for constructing an ETF without significant tracking error. In 2008, we launched an ETF focused on another frontier market, Vietnam. This ETF is now the largest ETF in the world dedicated to a single frontier market, with assets under management of over USD250m. We have the same ambitions for the Pakistan and Bangladesh ETFs,” says the head of the Deutsche Bank ETF platform in Asia, Marco Montanari. The new range strengthens the dominant position of Deutsche Bank on the ETF market in Singapore. Deutsche Bank now offers 47 ETFs on the Singapore stock exchange, and controls a market share of slightly over 32%.
07/11/2011
Deutsche Börse lists eight more ETFs from UBS
Since 4 November, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform lists 886 products. UBS ETF Sicav has listed four new Luxembourg-registered products twice each – twice, because each product is being made available in retail (A) and institutional (I) share classes, with different ISIN codes.The new products include three (six) funds based on MSCI indices (EMU Small Cap, Europe Infrastructure and Japan Infrastructure), and the first product to invest in rare-earth minerals, replicating the STOXX Global Rare Earth index. This index includes only companies which earn at least 30% of their operating revenues from the extraction, transformation and transportation of rare-earth minerals.The total expense ratio (TER) for the funds ranges from 0.45% to 0.60% for A-class shares, and 0.28% to 0.43% for I-class shares.Click here for the list of new ETFs with their ISIN codes and TER.
07/11/2011
Asian hedge funds attract investors
Investors in international hedge funds placed more than USD1.4bn in Asian hedge funds in third quarter, according to the most recent edition of the Asian Hedge Fund Industry Report from HFR, Hedge Week reports. Returns were not encouraging, as total assets under management in these hedge funds fell to USD82.6bn, their first decline in more than a year. In the first nine months of the year, net inflows to Asian hedge funds totalled USD7.6bn, which represents about 10% of net subscriptions over this period.
07/11/2011
Mercer launches a governance monitoring service
The consulting firm Mercer has launched a new service to help institutional investors to better enact the requirements of good governance. The service takes into account the British Stweardship Code, the external governance code from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), and the Eumedion code of best practices for engaged shareholding.“With this new service, Mercer offers a tool which allows asset holders to verify that their managers respect these codes,” Mercer says in a statement. The service on offer also allows investors to evaluate their investment strategies in the light of the principles laid out in the various codes.
07/11/2011
Aberdeen cuts back mandates in Asia
Hugh Young, head of Asian equities at Aberdeen Asset Management, has announced that the British asset management firm has not ruled out launching new products in order to increase its USD70bn in Asian equities, but that it would like to continue th process it began a year ago to slow the proliferation of small mandates. The head of Asian equities has told Asian Investor that the firm has not ruled out launching a China fund, if Aberdeen received a second QFII quota, or a South Korea or Taiwan fund. The firm’s first QFII quota for USD200m was allcoated to several existing Aberdeen funds, with 70% for equities funds, and 30% for bonds (with USD50m for a separate short-duration renminbi mandate). Young also says that Aberdeen, whose Asian operations are based in Hong Kong, is planning to open an office in continental China, most likely in Shanghai, although the firm’s major institutional clients are based in Beijing.
07/11/2011
BofA Merrill Lynch launches a new index
BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research has announced the launch of a new “Dim Sum” index, which aims to monitor the performance of offshore Hong Kong bonds denominated in the Chinese currency. The index includes about half of all assets in debt denominated in the Chinese currency available in Hong Kong (CNH, offshore renminbi).
07/11/2011
Local high net worth investors sell Spanish equities
In third quarter, Morinvest, the Sicav controlled by Alicia Koplowitz (the largest Spanish Sicav fund, with EUR447.6m in assets), reduced its exposure to Spanish equities by 53% compared with their levels at the end of June, to EUR37.5m, Cinco Días reports.This is a common phenomenon among Sicavs, which are the preferred investment vehicle for Spanish high net worth individuals. As of 30 September, the Sicav funds of the Del Pino family, Ramchand Bhavnani, Alicia Koplowitz, Juan Abelló and Manuel Jove had only EUR126m in Spanish equities, 26% less than at the end of June.
07/11/2011
Piguet Galland fires a manager
The bank Piguet Galland & Cie has fired one of its managers, who made trades on gold futures behind the backs of clients, the bank announced on 4 November. In the wake of the development, the CEO of the bank, Christopher E. Preston, has resigned. He will be succeeded for the interim by Olivier Calloud, currently chief operating officer at the bank, based in the Swiss canton of Vaud.The amounts of money in question, in the millions of francs, will not have an impact on the bottom line for Piguet Galland & Cie, nor on its parent company, the Cantonal bank of Vaud (BCV), the two firms say in separate statements.
07/11/2011
Julius Bär richens its bid for Sarasin
Julius Bär has raised its bid to acquire the Sarasin private bank, the Sunday newspaper “Sonntagszeitung” reports in its 6 November issue. According to sources familiar with the matter, the chairman of the board of directors, Raymond Bär, is reportedly prepared to pay Rabobank entirely in cash, though previously there had been talk of a payment partly in cash and partly in Julius Bär shares. Rabobank is expected to take a decision by the end of November. The Netherlands-based bank controls 46.1% of capital and 68.6% of voting rights in Sarasin. The Sunday newspaper reports further that the Raiffeisen group is also interested in the business, but only wants to buy a 33% stake in Sarasin. The Sarasin board is pushing for a deal with Raiffeisen, as it fears staff cutbacks if Julius Bär wins the day.
07/11/2011
Resignation from the board of directors at Hyposwiss Private Bank
Hans Bodmer has resigned from the board of directors at Hyposwiss Private Bank, effective immediately. The decision was personal, so as to allow Bodmer to engage in efforts to demonstrate that the allegations against him are unfounded, without damaging the reputation of Hyposwiss Private Bank. “Both the allegations against Hans Bodmer widely reported in the media, and the scandal implicating the Russian firm Norilsk Nickel, relate to a time when Bodmer was not a director at Hyposwiss Private Bank. As to the charges filed in this case, the Attorney-General of the Swiss Federation has not seen fit to open a criminal investigation, as he found the accusations filed to be unfounded,” a statement says. The Cantonal Bank of Saint-Gall confirms that no charges remain, either against the Cantonal Bank of Saint-Gall, or against Hyposwiss Private Bank.
07/11/2011
Investors pull out of Europe
European and cross-border funds saw net outflows of EUR100bn in third quarter, while Asian long-term funds saw inflows of EUR18bn, according to data from Strategic Insight, Citywire reports. Strategic Insight observes that in the month of September alone, net outflows from European long-term funds totalled EUR46bn. In Asia, however, and particularly in Japan, investors continued to allocate capital to funds. Since the beginning of the year, net inflows totalled EUR68bn, or about EUR49bn.
07/11/2011
Pimco renews a USD1.3trn mandate for State Street
The Californian affiliate of Allianz General Investors (AGI), Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco), has renewed an outsourcing mandate to State Street Corporation for investment services activities on assets totalling USD1.3trn. Since 2000, State Street has been responsible for transaction processing, custody, accounting and valuation. In addition, it now will handle collateral management, derivative trading and IT development. More than 700 employees at State Street worldwide handle activities on behalf of Pimco. State Street states that it has about USD8trn in middle-office assets under administration worldwide.
07/11/2011
Interest in emerging markets equity funds rebounds
Short-term optimism last week due to efforts to contain the European debt crisis brought some relief for equity markets despite the overall gloom.Equity funds saw net inflows of USD4.9bn in the week ending on 2 November, according to estimates from EPFR Global. Emerging markets equity funds represented 70% of this total, for their highest inflows since April.Following on the two previous weeks, high yield funds continued to attract over USD2.75bn. Bond funds posted net inflows of USD1.6bn.However, money market funds saw net redemptions of over USD25bn, bringing outflows since the beginning of the year to over USD218bn, compared with USD518bn in the corresponding period of 2010.
07/11/2011
Rouvier Associés opens an office in Frankfurt
The French asset management firm Rouvier Associés is opening a branch office in Germany. The Frankfurt office will be directed by Patrick Linden, manager of Rouvier Associés in Germany, and former director at Standard & Poor’s Fund Services, Das Investment reports. The Paris office is planning to release UCITS IV-compliant funds in Germany, for which licenses have already been applied for from the German regulator, BaFin.
07/11/2011
Real estate funds suffer due to low interest rates
Currently, liquidity in German open-ended real estate funds is generating returns of only 0.65%, lower than the returns on real estate investments. In other words, liquidity holdings are reducing the performance of real estate funds, which are all suffering, regardless of the form in which they hold their liquidity, the Berlin-based ratings agency Scope reports.This is particularly true for funds such as UniImmo: Deutschland (Union Investment Real Estate) and the grundbesitz europa (RREEF, Deutsche Bank group), whose liquidity ratios stand at 37% and 31.5%. Legally, German funds are required to hold at least 5%, and at most 49% of their assets in liquid form.In a study, Scope reports that 52% of liquidity in the sector is invested in bank savings, 32% in shares in bond funds, 10% in shares in money market funds, and 6.5% directly in bonds.Strategies vary widely from one real estate fund to another. For example, the Axa Immoselect, Inter ImmoProfil, the two UBS products and the KanAm grundinvest and Spezial grundinvest park their liquidities nearly exclusively in bank savings accounts.For their part, the grundbesitz global and grundbesitz europa funds, as well as the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal fund invest about 40% of their liquidities in ‘live’ bonds.Lastly, two funds hold significant amounts in the form of money market instruments: the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa and SEB ImmoInvest.