David Pérez de Albeniz has been appointed as head of the representative office that Allfunds Bank (a 50/50 joint venture of Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo) has recently opened in the Dubai Financial Center (DIFC), Funds People reports.The location will eventually become an operational hub for the fund platform’s activities (EUR60bn in assets intermediated, for 22,000 funds and over 400 asset management firms) in the Middle East and Asia.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with over EUR40 billion of assets under management as at June 2011, has appointed Riccardo Dallolio as European head of transactions. Based in London, and reporting to Anne Kavanagh, global head of property services group, his role will be to source and secure large pan European transactions with the support of local experts. He will be responsible for co-ordinating all transactional activity in Europe. Riccardo Dallolio joins after six years at Grove International Partners,
Dirk Zabel, who has been head of third-party distribution for the past year (see Newsmanagers of 1 October 2010), will join the management board at Hansainvest Hanseatische Investment in early 2012 as head of securities activities, alongside Jörg W. Stotz. He replaces Gerhard Lenschow, who is retiring. Zabel will be in charge of distribution, marketing and strategic asset allocation for securities funds.
Frank Steinmetz, a specialist in human resources, project management and the insurance sector, has been appointed with immediate effect as a partner at the consulting firm Kommalpha, based in Hanover, and will focus on the institutional market. Steinmetz, a former engagement manager at McKinsey and principal at Egon Zehnder International, will be in charge of research and monitoring of new projectts, as well as the development of other sectors of activity.
As part of a succession plan that has been planned for a number of years, Bo Knudsen will replace Mikael Randel as CEO of Carnegie Asset Management, a nordic asset manager with DKK70bn under management. The change will take place by year end, securing a smooth transition process.Bo Knudsen has been with the company for 15 years, both in the capacity as a global portfolio manager and as part of the management team. Going forward he will also continue as a member of the portfolio management team with particular focus on the global equity product.
Institutional investors estimate that corporate governance and investor relations practices have made some progress in Latin America, according to a recent survey of European investors in this class, published by JP Morgan Chase & Co. Respondents says that companies in the region still need to continue their efforts to attract more foreign capital. 50% estimate that Brazilian businesses have the best practices in corporate governance. The study based on the survey, entitled “North America and European Investor Opinions of Latin American Companies” (attached), also finds that investors have high hopes for growth in the region. According to the institutional investors surveyed, opportunities are largely in the Colombian and Brazilian markets.
Various British media sources report that Dan Roberts, who joined Eden Financial in July, with his former colleague from Gartmore, Leigh Himsworth, will join Fidelity on 14 November to manage a new income fund investing in international equities, on a team with Michael Clarke and Aditya Shivram. He will report to Paras Anand, who will join Fidelity in early 2012 from F&C.
At the end of first half, on 30 June 2011, MAM Funds posted assets of GBP1.68bn, an increase of 9.9% compared with 30 June 2010 (GBP1.54bn). MAM Funds has also announced an increase in earnings of GBP10.7m, up 7% year on year.
Alain Dubois, chairman of Lyxor, claims that physical ETFs present the same default risks as synthetic ETFs, as the fund provider lends out the underlying securities held by the product, Financial News reports.
Thorsten Michalik, director of db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) refutes claims that subscribers to ETF funds are not adequately protected: products of the db x-trackers range are overcollateralised to a level of at least 107%, and often of 120%.The manager adds that db x-trackers has been publishing details about the positions of each of its ETFs and the composition of the corresponding collateral since at least November 2010. In addition, the funds are subject to the UCITS III directive, which sets standards for the use of derivatives in the case of synthetic replication ETFs.The counterparty for swaps, Deutsche Bank, has opened an account in Luxembourg with State Street Bank, at which assets corresponding to all assets in db x-trackers ETF are deposited, in the form of highly liquid equities from solid countries, with a limit of 4% for each position.
Lok Yim, Head of North Asia Private Wealth Management, says that high net worth clients at Deutsche Bank in Asia in June moved away from equities towards bond products. Unlike European high net worth investors, Asian clients tend to make large-scale movements from one asset class to another, Hedge Week reports.Lok says that in addition to pulling out of equities, Asian clients have turned to mutual funds in order to profit from increased volatility, insofar as liquidity is available. However, high net worth retail clients nonetheless remain overweight in emerging markets equities, and are interested in Asian as well as Latin American equities.Clients’ appetite for real estate remains relatively high, but investments in hedge funds have declined. However, Deutsche Bank has observed an increase in interest in private equity in the form of direct investments rather than via major specialist funds.
UBS Wealth Management has recruited Edmund Kian-Chew Koh as regional director for Singapore and CEO for wealth management. He thus replaces two people: Gerald Chan, country head at UBS Singapore, and Christine Ong, CEO of Wealth Management Singapore, who has been on sick leave for some time. Koh will begin in his new role at the beginning of 2012, and will join the board of directors at UBS Wealth Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Corey Ribotsky, a hedge funds manager at the NIR Group, of fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The regulator claims that Ribotsky and his firm concealed losses and spent investors’ money on cars, a Rolex and other luxury items. Between 2004 and 2009, he is accused of misappropriating over USD1m. The SEC has filed a civil suit against Ribotsky, his firm, and a former analyst.
L’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) a fait part hier soir de la prolongation jusqu’au 11 novembre prochain de l’interdiction des ventes à découvert sur les valeurs financières françaises, qui avait été décidée en août dernier pour tenter d’enrayer la volatilité des valeurs financières. «Les régulateurs européens qui avaient pris des mesures comparables jusqu’au 30 septembre, ont décidé de reconduire cette interdiction, et l’AMF a estimé que les conditions n'étaient pas réunies pour la lever», souligne l’Autorité dans un communiqué. L’Italie et l’Espagne ont annoncé le même jour des décisions similaires bien que du côté de Madrid, l’interdiction sera maintenue jusqu'à ce que les conditions de marché changent, a précisé l’Autorité européenne des marchés financiers (ESMA). La Belgique, elle, n’avait pas fixé de date butoir à cette mesure qui, de fait, reste en place.
La société d’investissement tenterait de mobiliser les pouvoirs publics pour qu’Axa Private Equity restent dans des mains françaises, à son bénéfice en l’occurrence face à la concurrence pressentie de Carlyle ou de KKR. Mais le management d’Axa PE, qui doit rester aux commandes après la cession, jugerait Eurazeo «trop franco-français». «Il existe une différence culturelle» modère une autre source. Les offres peuvent être remises jusqu’au 4 octobre et pourraient valoriser Axa PE entre 250 et 300 millions d’euros. Dominique Senequier, présidente du directoire d’Axa PE, tient à ce que le management reste autonome, à l’image de celui d’AlpInvest à l’occasion de la reprise par Carlyle.
Alors que le projet de budget appelle un tour de vis probable après mi-2012, les émissions de dettes à moyen et long termes seront de 179 milliards d’euros.
L’Agence France Trésor (AFT) a publié mercredi matin son programme de financement 2012. La France émettra 179 milliards d’euros de dette à moyen et long terme (nets des rachats) l’an prochain contre 184 milliards d’euros cette année. Il convient d’y ajouter les émissions de dette court terme (BTF), qui devraient se réduire de 1,1 milliard, après une baisse de 4,4 milliards cette année. En raison de tombées plus élevées en 2012 (98,9 milliards), les émissions nettes de dette moyen long terme reviendront à 80 milliards, contre 89 milliards cette année. Reste que ce programme est bâti sur l’hypothèse d’un déficit budgétaire de 81,8 milliards en 2012, lui-même fondé sur une prévision de croissance à 1,75% que les économistes jugent désormais peu crédible.
Le London Stock Exchange et LCH.Clearnet ont annoncé avoir entamé des discussions exclusives sur un possible rachat de la chambre de compensation. Il n’y a toutefois à ce stade «aucune certitude» que ces discussions aboutissent, a ajouté LCH.Clearnet dans un bref communiqué.
Le projet de budget de la France pour 2012 présenté mercredi prévoit de ramener le déficit public à 4,5% du PIB fin 2012 (après 5,7% fin 2011), avant d’atteindre la limite européenne de -3% en 2013, année lors de laquelle le ratio de dette publique commencerait à baisser. Le texte confirme les prévisions gouvernementales de croissance économique à 1,75% en 2011 et 2012 - qui sont supérieures à celles de nombreux économistes - puis 2% en 2013, 2014 et 2015.
Les banques britanniques sont exposées à des risques sensiblement accrus du fait de la crise de la zone euro, écrit la Banque d’Angleterre. Le nouveau Comité de politique financière de la banque centrale observe que depuis sa réunion de juin, de graves tensions sont apparues du fait de cette crise.
Man Group , le premier fonds spéculatif mondial coté, dévisse en Bourse, l’action perdait plus de 19% à 193,6 pence dans le courant de la matinée, après un plus bas de cinq semaines de 187,7 pence en séance. après avoir annoncé que les retraits de sa clientèle durant l'été avaient été les plus importants depuis le début 2009, dans un contexte de «volatilité incessante» des marchés. Man Group a précisé que ses clients avaient retiré en net 2,6 milliards de dollars sur une période de trois mois à fin septembre.
Le climat des affaires en Italie a chuté beaucoup plus qu’attendu en septembre, tombant à son plus bas niveau depuis près de deux ans, montrent des données publiées mercredi. Selon l’office national de la statistique Istat, l’indice du climat des affaires a plongé à 94,5 ce mois-ci, soit un point bas depuis janvier 2010, contre 98,6 en août, en raison d’une chute des commandes et d’une détérioration des perspectives de production.