31/10/2011
« Nous avons renforcé nos positions dans les obligations à haut rendement »
Patrick Moonen, stratégiste senior chez ING IM
31/10/2011
Le Crédit Agricole prévoit un retournement du marché immobilier français en 2012
Les prix de l'ancien baisseraient de 5 à 6 % l'an prochain. Croissance en berne, resserrement du crédit et fiscalité alourdie pèseront sur le marché
28/10/2011
Rendement record pour l’emprunt italien à 10 ans
Le rendement des obligations italiennes à 10 ans s’est tendu vendredi après une adjudication jugée décevante qui suggère que l’accord européen trouvé jeudi n’est pas suffisant pour rétablir l’appétit des investisseurs. Le Trésor a dû servir le rendement le plus élevé depuis la création de l’euro (6,06%) lors d’une adjudication d'échéance 2022. Peu après la publication des résultats de cette opération, le rendement du papier à 10 ans grimpait de 9,7 points de base sur la séance, à 5,98%, et restait proche de la barre des 6% au-delà de laquelle les conditions de financement de Rome deviennent difficilement tenables. Le Trésor italien a émis au total vendredi pour 7,94 milliards d’euros de papier à moyen et long termes. Le rendement des obligations à trois ans a lui aussi augmenté, à 4,93%, au plus haut depuis novembre 2000, contre 4,68% lors d’une adjudication comparable fin septembre.
28/10/2011
L'AFT adjugera de 6 à 7 milliards d'euros d'OAT 2017, 2021 et 2026
L’Agence France Trésor a annoncé l’adjudication, le jeudi 3 novembre, d’un montant compris entre six et sept milliards d’euros d’obligations assimilables du Trésor (OAT). Cette opération portera sur les lignes 3,75% avril 2017, 3,25% octobre 2021, et 3,50% avril 2026. La date de règlement est fixée au 8 novembre 2011 pour toutes les lignes.
28/10/2011
La consommation des ménages baisse de 0,5% en France
La consommation des ménages français en biens a baissé de 0,5% en septembre, en raison notamment d’un recul des dépenses en énergie, et a progressé de 0,2% sur l’ensemble du troisième trimestre, selon les statistiques publiées vendredi par l’Insee. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient en moyenne une stabilité de la consommation en septembre, leurs estimations allant de -0,7% à +0,3%.
28/10/2011
Le taux de chômage espagnol atteint 21,5%
Le taux de chômage en Espagne a grimpé à 21,5% au troisième trimestre, contre 20,9% sur la période avril-juin, montrent les chiffres publiés vendredi par l’Institut national de la statistique.
28/10/2011
Prudential to sell its stake in Afore XXI
Prudential Financial has announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its stakes in Afore XXI, S.A. de C.V., a private manager of pension funds, to Banorte, a Mexican bank. The sale will bring in about USD200m, and will be finalised by the end of the year.
28/10/2011
NYSE Amsterdam lists five ETF funds from RBS Market Access
On October 27, NYSE Euronext has announced that RBS Market Access has listed 5 new ETFs on NYSE Euronext’s Amsterdam market. So far this year, there have been a total of 150 new listings on the NYSE Euronext European markets, including 122 new primary listings and 28 cross-listings.The products are all domicilied in Luxembourg and track MSCI indices. RBS MA FRONTIER LU0667622202 MSCI Frontier Markets TER : 0,90 %RBS MA AFRICA exZALU0667622384MSCI EFM Africa ex South Africa0.85%RBS MA GCC exSaudiLU0667622111MSCI GCC Countries ex Saudi Arabia Top 50 Capped0,70 %RBS MA BRZ EUR HdgLU0667622541MSCI Brazil (ADR) EUR Hedged0,60 %RBS MA LTM EUR HdgLU0667622467MSCI EM Latin America (Brazil ADR) EUR Hedged0,65 %.
28/10/2011
Foreign funds in Spain have EUR47bn in assets
On the basis of statistics from 21 foreign asset management firms, the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms estimates that assets under management by all foreign actors as of the end of September totalled roughtly EUR47bn, which represents about 36.3% of total assets in Spanish funds of USD129.48bn (see Newsmanagers of 3 October).The 21 asset management firms which disclosed information as of 30 September had slightly over EUR32.46bn in assets under management, of which USD5.22bn were at JPMorgan AM, EUR3.34bn at BlackRock, EUR3.17bn at Amundi Iberia, EUR2.6bn at Franklin Templeton, and EUR2.1bn at BNP Paribas.Of the leaders, BlackRock alone shows a net inflow (EUR25.3m) in third quarter. JPMAM has seen net outflows of EUR540.2m, Amundi Iberia has lost USD251.5m, Franklin Templeton has seen net redemptions of USD158.8m, and BNP Paribas has posted redemptions of EUR182.2m.
28/10/2011
GVC Gaesco launches a fund of shares in property firms
On 29 September, the CNMV registered three share classes (A, P and I) for a fund of international shares in the real estate sector created by GVC Gaesco on 29 July, entitled GVC Gaesco Oportunidad Empresas Inmobiliarias.The product, managed by Josep Monsó, may invest either directly in equities, or in shares in REITs, and the recommended investment duration is 7 years. Exposure to emerging countries of the OECD region is limited to 33%, while forex risks are limited to 30%.The benchmark index is the STOXX Global 1800 Real Estate Eur (price) index, while the portfolio will be at least 85% exposed to equities, which means that it may contain up to 15% high quality bonds.CharacteristicsName: GVC Gaesco Oportunidad Empresas InmobiliariasISIN codes: ES0143628008 (A class)ES0143628016 (P class)ES0143628024 (I class)Management fees:class A (retail) : 2.25 %class P (from EUR0,5m): 1.5 %class I (mre than EUR1m): 0.75 %
28/10/2011
EFAMA publishes new edition of Fact Book
The European fund and asset management association (EFAMA) on 27 October announced the publication of the ninth annual edition of its “Fact Book,” which described current trends in the asset management sector. The document provides analyses of issues that will determine the future of the sector, and reports on asset management markets in each of the 26 member countries of the professional association.
28/10/2011
Lyxor plans to withdraw ETFs from Hong Kong
Lyxor has announced that it is “considering variuos strategies” for its Hong Kong-listed ETFs, including withdrawing them from trading, the firm announced in a statement to Asian markets on Thursday. A spokesperson contacted by the Financial Times had no comment on the reasons for the decision. Lyxor has 12 ETFs listed in Hong Kong, representing total assets of USD7.1bn as of the end of August, according to Deutsche Bank.
28/10/2011
Diversifying sources of financing for sovereign funds
Sovereign funds which no longer depend on earnings from commodities are gaining ground on more traditional sovereign funds which depend on one or several commodities, such as the Norwegian sovereign fund, according to a study recently published by PwC, entitled “The Impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds on Economic Success.”Assets in these sovereign funds “excluding commodities” now represent about 40% of all assets in sovereign funds, according to PwC, which estimates that these funds will continue to grow, largely financed by sales or budgetary surpluses. The study also finds that the types of commodities that fund these sovereign funds has diversified, to include lithium, for example.
28/10/2011
Profits up by one third at Franklin Resources
For the fiscal year ending on 30 September 2011, Franklin Resources (Franklin Templeton Investments) on 27 October declared a net profit up 33% to USD1.2936bn, compared with USD1.4457bn in the twelve months to the end of September 2010, on an increase of 22% in operating revenues to USD7.140bn, from USD5.853bn. The operating margin improved to 37.3% from 33.5%.Assets under management as of the end of September totalled USD659.9bn, 2% above their levels one year previously (USD644.9bn), Net subscriptions totalled USD36.4bn in one year, while acquisitions brought in USD12.5bn, but falling markets took a toll of USD30.5bn.In July-September, assets fell 10% compared with their level of USD734.2bn as of the end of June. USD87.6bn of this contraction of USD74.3bn is due to negative market effects.
28/10/2011
Assets under management at Lazard down
Assets under management at Lazard as of 30 September totalled USD135.8bn, down 16% compared with the end of June 2011, and 5% compared with the end of September 2010, the firm has announced in a statement published on 27 October. This development is largely due to negative market and forex effects. Meanwhile, third quarter has brought a net outflow of USD1.1bn. Despite this decline in assets, earnings for the asset management unit in third quarter have risen 4% to USD216.7m. In the first nine months of the year, they are up 17% to USD678.4m. Quarterly profits at Lazard are down 15% to USD52.9m. In the first nine months of the year, net profits total USD177.2m, compared with USD176.6m.
28/10/2011
Profits down for asset management at Santander
In the first nine months of 2011, net profits for investment funds from the Santander group fell 58.6% compared with January-September, to EUR23m, while pension fund profits fell by 14.3% to EUR7m. Total assets as of the end of September were EUR114bn, 8% less than in June, and 4% less than one year previously. This contraction is largely due to falling markets and a recent depreciation of Latin American currencies. Assets under traditional management totalled EUR111bn (-2% year on year). Of this total, 90% came from the four major markets of Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain and Mexico. The Santander group overall in January-September earned net profits down 12.8% to slightly over EUR5.3bn. This amount includes EUR620m in a fund created in second quarter to cover potential claims related to sales of payment protection insurance in the United Kingdom. In the first nine months of the year, the cost/income ratio deteriorated to 44.3% from 42.9%.
28/10/2011
Popular outsources custody to BNPP SS
Funds People relays Expansión’s article according which Banco Popular has outsourced its custody and settlement activities for Spanish and international securities with a market value of over EUR50bn to BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNPP SS). The Spanish bank had previously used the services of RBC Dexia.Although the merger process between the two Spanish banks has not yet been completed, it appears that BNPP SS will also receive a custody and settlement contract from Banco Pastor, which will represent an additional volume of EUR5bn.
28/10/2011
Profits and assets down at Legg Mason
In the first half of the fiscal year ending on 31 March, Legg Mason Inc earned net profits of USD116.6m, compared with USD123.3m in the corresponding period of 2010-2011, of which USD56.7m were in July-September, compared with USD60m in April-June, and USD75.3m in the third calendar quarter of 2010.As of the end of September, asstes under management totalled USD611.8bn, 8% less than at the end of June (USD662.5bn) due to negative market and currency effects of USD32.9bn, and net outflows of USD17.6bn. These net redemptions were USD8.8bn for fixed income, USD5.7bn for equities funds and USD3.1bn for money markets, respectively.As of 30 September, bonds represented 58% of assets under management, compared with 24% for equities and 18% for money markets. In addition, Legg Mason states that 63% of assets were managed for US clients.Compared with 30 September 2010 (USD673.5bn), assets were down 9%.
28/10/2011
Sarasin preparing to enter northern German markets
The Hamburg-based Andreas Brandt, who has been chairman of the managing board at Credit Suisse Deutschland in Frankfurt since 2006, in early November joined Bank Sarasin AG, an affiliate of the Basel-based Banque Sarasin & Cie, as head of its operation in northern Germany. He will also be in charge of developing private equity activities of rhte bank.Brandt has also been made head of the two new Sarasin branch offices in the region, one in Hamburg, which opens in November, and one in Hanover, which will be opened in Spring 2012.
28/10/2011
UK inflows slide again in September
British investment funds in the month of September posted net inflows of GBP58m, according to the most recent statistics from the British investment management association (IMA). This is the lowest level observed since October 2008, far down compared with the monthly average of GBP2.1bn over the past twelve months. For third quarter as a whole, net inflows totalled GBP2.6bn, compared with GBP7.5bn in third quarter 2010. Assets under management totalled GBP546.7bn as of the end of September, down 3% compared with the month of August. In September, bonds were the preferred investment for clients, with a net inflow of GBP333m, still above a monthly average of GBP407m in the past twelve months. Inflows for the quarter totalled GBP803m, compared with GBP3bn in third quarter 2010. Equity funds, however, have seen an outflow of GBP175m in September. In the three months to the end of September, net inflows totalled only GBP227m, compared with GBP1.8bn in third quarter 2010.
28/10/2011
Thames River closes a fund of UCITS III funds
Thames River is to close its Absolute Return fund, managed by Ken Kinsey-Quick and James Rous, because of a lack of interest."The Fund was launched in early 2010 as a UCITS III fund to invest in a portfolio UCITS absolute funds picked by the well established and highly regarded Thames River funds of alternative funds team headed up by Ken Kinsey-Quick. At the time we believed there would be demand for such a product from investors who wanted a different approach to investing a pure fund of, typically Cayman Islands based, hedge funds. More and more well established hedge fund managers were launching UCITS absolute return funds at the time», explains Thames River.But «since launch the Fund hasn’t grown in size and there is no evidence of substantial interest on the horizon. The directors of the fund have therefore decided to close it».In accordance with the provisions of the Company’s Articles of Association, the directors have given shareholders notice of their intention to redeem all of the shares of the fund on the dealing day falling on 18 November 2011 and in due course the fund will be closed.
28/10/2011
European funds of funds expected to continue growth
Assets in European funds of funds may increase by nearly 7.5% per year in the next few years, to EUR673.3bn, or nearly USD1trn by 2015, according to the annual Cerulli study of the sector (“European Funds of Funds 2011.”) Regulatory changes and a trend towards outsourcing to discretionary managers are expected to continue to drive growth in the sector in all the major European markets. Reforms on the British market (the Retail Distribuion Review, or RDR) have already given a boost to the independent financial adviser market. However, a rebound in inflows is not necessarily on the cards, and there are significant divergences within the European Union. In France, Germany and Spain, the distribution channel is the cause of weak inflows, largely due to efforts at banks to strengthen their owners’ equity cushioning. Diversified funds of funds remain the top shelf, but Cerulli has observed a new movement in favour of portfolios dedicated to emerging markets and international equities, Cerulli reports. In these two categories, fund of fund managers outperform single managers. Passive funds of funds are also putting pressure on traditional funds of funds and their cost structures, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Barclays and Seven Investment Management have posted strong inflows. The growth of ETF funds will continue, largely in Germany, where some asset management firms have already made their entries. “What is surprising is that all of the many groups which offer traditional mutual funds and ETFs have not yet attacked this market. We are convinced that it will become a new battlefield,” says Yoon Ng, the chief analyst on the study.
28/10/2011
UCITS funds cost more than offshore hedge funds
A study published in mid-October by the managed accounts platform of Lyxor Asset Management, carried by Absolut report, compares the performance and other aspects of offshore hedge funds and UCITS-compliant funds which use alternative strategies. According to the study, which is based on data from HFR and Morningstar, UCITS funds are considerably more expensive than offshore hedge funds. The difference for a Global Macro/CTA category hedge fund may be as high as 40 basis points per month, which may add up to 4% per year in additional fees. However, volatility is lower for UCITS funds.
28/10/2011
FSB publishes recommendations for improved regulation of shadow banking
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) on 27 October published recommendations for improved regulation of shadow banking activities, which last year amounted to about USD60trn. The FSB, which has been at work on this problem for several months, has laid out a series of eleven recommendations to improve supervision and regulation of these activities “in sectores which systemic risk and regulatory arbitrage issues are not sufficiently taken into account.” The Board has also laid out its working programme for 2012, which will bring further measures. The report is divided into five major chapter headings: exposure of banks to shadow bakning; money market funds; shadow banking entities other than money market funds; securitisation; and lastly, securities lending and repurchasing. All these areas will be the topic of proposals, for example by July 2012 for money market funds, and by the end of 2012 for other areas. The FSB has asked the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to clarify its position on two subjects: money market funds and securitisations.
28/10/2011
UBS (D) 3 Sector Real Estate Europe fund to remain closed
The German asset management firm UBS Real Estate Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH has recently announced that a freeze on redemptions from the open-ended real estate fund UBS (D) 3 Sector Real Estate Europe fund (ISIN code: DE0009772681) has been extended until 6 October 2012. The decision comes as a result of the fact that liquidity is insufficient to honour all redemption demands while continuing to operate in an orderly manner. As of the end of August, the fund had assets of EUR358.24m.
28/10/2011
Raiffeisen Capital Management élargit son offre en Italie
Raiffeisen International Fund Advisory GmbH, la société de distribution de Raiffeisen Capital Management, a obtenu l’autorisation de commercialiser en Italie 12 nouvelles classes de parts de fonds obligataires, rapporte Bluerating.
28/10/2011
Raiffeisen extends its product range in Italy
Raiffesisen International Fund Advisory GmbH, the distribution arm of the Austrian asset management firm Raiffeisen Capital Managemnet, has got a license in Italy to sell 12 new classes of shares in bond funds* which are already approved for sale in the country. The new share classes are “super retail” shares, also known as “class S.” They differ from traditional retail shares in the structure of their fees. Management commission is higher than for R-class shares, but the maximal front-end fee is lower. Seven of the 12 share classes allow for a coupon to be distributed. In Italy, Raiffeisen International Fund Advisory sells 39 funds, of which 18 are equities, 3 balanced, 13 bonds, 4 money market and 4 absolute return products. *The funds are the following: Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Fondamentale Globale (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Europa HighYield (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario EuroCorporates (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Mercati Emergenti (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Europeo (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Globale (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Mercati Emergenti Valute Locali (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Euro Breve Termine (S)Raiffeisen Short Term Strategy Plus (S)Raiffeisen Dynamic Bonds (S)Raiffeisen Obbligazionario Euro (S)
28/10/2011
Saxo Bank opens a branch office in Brussels
Due to growing demand from Belgian clients, the Danish Saxo Bank on 27 October officially opened a branch office in Brussels, in order to offer direct local access to 25 financial markets and to a wide range of financial products. The new office, Saxo Bank Belgium, is led by Géraud Missonnier, who for two years had been senior sales trader at Saxo Banque France.As a complement to its range aimed at retail investors, Saxo Bank is also offering a white-label clients (WLC) program to financial institutions that are permitted to hold funds on behalf of their cleints. Through Saxo Bank technology, clients of these white-label products can offer clients of the businesses “a single trading range,” while retaining the attributes of brand, visual identity and logo, a press release stresses.
28/10/2011
Goldman Sachs drops Spanish asset management license
The US asset management firm Goldman Sachs has decided to take in the consequences of the UCITS IV directive, and discontinue its licensed Spanish asset management arm, Goldman Sachs Gestión, a Spanish-registered SGIIC which focused on the management of a locally-registered Sicav for its private banking activity, Funds People reports. The decision will affect neither services to clients of the Private Wealth Management division, nor sales activities in Spain of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) products.
28/10/2011
Gains for SEI in UK
The US group SEI, a specialist in fiduciary management, has announced significant growth to its United Kingdom fiduciary management activities, which in the past twelve months have taken on eleven new clients, bringing in over GBP765m. Assets under fiduciary management at SEI worldwide now total GBP32.5bn. Assets under management at SEI total USD151bn, while assets under administration total USD244bn.