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31/08/2011

Former Primary Global manager tried

The trial of James Fleishman begins this Wednesday in New York, the Financial Times reports. Fleishman, who was a sales manager at Primary Global, is answering charges that between 2008 and 2010, he belonged to a network which put hedge fund clients in contact with company insiders.The government has provided evidence including instant messages between employees of Primary Global and employees of the hedge fund management firms Balyasny Asset Management, Coatue Management, Janus Capital, SAC Capital and Diamondback. These firms have not been charged with wrongdoing. The case may also point the spotlight at other clients of Primary Global, such as Loch Capital and Level Global, which have been subpoenaed, but have not been charged with wrongdoing.
31/08/2011

Profits down at Viel & Cie in first half

Viel & Cie on 31 August announced that its consolidated net profits totalled EUR12.3m in first half 2011, compared with EUR37.5m in first half 2010, on earnings down 3% to EUR456.9m. “First half 2011 saw a continuation of professional intermediation activities at the Compagnie Financière Tradition at consistent levels, but results were penalised by ongoing restructuring of activities aimed at individual investors in Japan,” the firm says in a statement. Consolidated operating profits totalled EUR21.6m in first half 2011, compared with EUR52.4m in first half 2010. Viel & Cie has announced a one-time net profit of EUR24.2m related to the sale of a real estate property by one of its affiliates in 2010. Excluding one-time elements in 2010, operating profits remain relatively stable in first half 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. The firm states that private banking activities with SwissLife Banque Privée, in which Viel owns a 40% stake, continued to grow, and included the acquisition of a stake in the management firm Prigest (which manages the Valfrance fund, among others), a sign of its desire to continue accelerated growth of this activity.
31/08/2011

David Masse joins Invesco Asset Management

David Masse, head of clients, reporting and performance measurement at Russell Investments in Paris since 2003, is joining Invesco Asset Management as head of Client Services for France.He replaces Lionel Bonnin, who becomes head of development for distribution projects in continental Europe, also at Invesco AM.Nicolas Bouët, co-CEO of Invesco AM, says the recruitment of Masse is a sign of the firm’s desire to be present “as closely as possible to its clients, French professional investors.”
31/08/2011

HSH unloads private equity funds

HSH Nordbank has sold a portfolio of 47 stakes in European private equity funds, which have total assets of EUR620m, for an undisclosed amount, to a group of investors consisting of Axa Private Equity and LGT Capital Partners.The Hamburg-based bank states that as a part of the asset sale process, it already sold its stakes in four funds with a total volume of EUR47m to two “international investors” in early August.
31/08/2011

Altin reduces losses in first half

The Swiss alternative management firm Altin has posted a loss for first half 2011 of USD1.80m, compared with a loss of USD2.58m in first half 2010, the firm announced in a statement on 30 August.As of the end of June, the “extremely well-diversified” portfolio included 35 positions in hedge funds pursuing 10 different investment strategies. Due to active management of strategies and good selection of managers, the firm says that it was able to protect its investors’ portfolios, and that it comfortably outperformed the HFRI FoF Composite and MSCI World Hedged indices, with annualised returns of +7.18% since its launch.
31/08/2011

Satisfactory first half for VP Bank

The Banque Privée de Gérance (VP Bank) on 30 August announced that in first half 2011, it earned gross profits of CHF19.4m, an increase of nearly 20% compared with the previous year in the same period. Profits payable to shareholders increased 25% to CHF18.1m. First half 2011 brought a net inflows of CHF287.4m, compared with a net outflow of CHF346.2m one year previously. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled CHF27.2bn, compared with CHF28.2bn as of the end of December 2010.
31/08/2011

Strong growth in inflows to HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) in first half

HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) SA in first half 2011 posted a net inflows of CHF6.2bn, largely from Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This 26% increase compared with the first six months of last year resulted in a decline in client assets under management of CHF9.4bn, to CHF177bn, compared with CHF186.4bn last year. The cause of this development is depreciation of foreign currencies against the Swiss franc. At constant exchange rates, the underlying performance of client assets under management has increased by 3% since the end of 2010, according to a statement from the Geneva-based affiliate of the London-based banking group, released on 30 August. Pre-tax profits fell 34% to CHF248m (+3% at constant exchange rates, at CHF386m).
31/08/2011

Chang'an receives a fund management license

The Chinese regulator (CSRC) on 30 August issued a fund management license to Chang’an Fund Management Company, which becomes the fifth organisation to receive such a license since the beginning of the year, and the 67th since the CSRC began to issue licenses of this type. Chang’an has capital of CNY100m, Z-Ben Advisors states.The shareholders in the asset management firm are Xi’an International Trust, with a 49% stake, the apparel manufacturer Metersbonwe, with 33%, and China Southern Industries, with the remaining 18%. The latter company has also since last month held a 10% stake in the largest fund management firm in the country, China AMC.
31/08/2011

Robeco expects a more difficult second half

In first half, Robeco (Rabobank group) attracted EUR4.9bn in net subscriptions, of which EUR2.3bn came from institutional investors, IPE reports. Net profits rose to EUR100m, from EUR43m in the corresponding period of last year.Performance was satisfactory overall, with 8-9% for equities, and bonds earning between 1% and 3%. But since then, the performance of equities nosedived. Roderick Munsters, CEO, predicts that due to the selloff in recent weeks, the level of assets at the end of the year will be lower than expectations, which will have a negative impact on revenues in 2012 and will make it all the more urgent to reduce costs.
31/08/2011

BNP Paribas Wealth Management builds presence in China

BNP Paribas is hoping to increase its presence in wealth management in China, continuing its efforts to concentrate on high-potential markets. The French bank has recruited Alfred Tsai for its Wealth Management division. Tsai, who resigned from his position as managing director at Julius Baer in Hong Kong last month, will join the group in October, in order to direct BNP Paribas Wealth Management China, Asian Investor reports.
31/08/2011

Axa Real Estate appoints a head for Nordic countries

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with EUR39.4 billion of assets under management as at March 2011, has announced that it has appointed Henrik Bastman as Nordic head of asset management. Based in Stockholm and reporting to Alphons Spaninks, AXA Real Estate’s regional head of property services group for Benelux and Nordics, he will be responsible for sourcing acquisitions and effecting appropriate disposals in the Nordics, in line with the best strategy for each client or fund mandate in the region. He will also oversee the in-house team responsible for the delivery of asset management plans to maximise the value of individual properties. Henrik Bastman joins from EFM, where he was head of asset management for the EUR1 billion Nordic Retail Fund, which has Cornerstone as the fund manager. Before that he spent seven years at Jones Lang LaSalle, where he was an associate director in its Stockholm office, specialising in the retail market. He began his career in the banking sector at JP Morgan in London. AXA Real Estate manages approximately EUR1 billion of assets across the Nordics
31/08/2011

Towry posts rapid growth

The wealth management advising firm Towry (known as Towry Law until May 2010, since its acquisition of Edward Jones Ltd in November 2009), has announced that as of the end of first half 2011, its discretionary assets under management had increased 29% in one year, to GBP4.5bn (compared with GBP3.5bn), and that net inflows in the first six months of the year totalled GBP450m.EBITDA was up 47% to GBP9.4m, compared with GBP6.4m in the corresponding period of 2010. Towry is not publicly traded, but is owned by its management and employees, along with the private equity investor Palamon Capital Partners.
31/08/2011

Rise in volume of poorly-performing funds in UK

What are the worst finds in the asset management sector for British investors? The most recent semiannual study by Bestinvest (“Spot the Dog,” Autumn 2011) counted 94 of them, up from 90 in the past two editions of the study. More presicely, 14% of funds in the sample (94 out of 682) did not manage to outperform their benchmark indices in any of the past three years, and underperformed the benchmark by at least 10%. This increase is connected to a much more worrisome development: the entry into the rankings of less well-performing funds from some of the management firms which are supposed to be among the circle of top quality managers has led to a 74% increase in the value of the funds concerned, to GBP23.16bn, from GBP13.29bn in September 2010. The sectors monitored by Bestinvest are UK all companies, UK equity income, UK smaller companies, Europe ex-UK, global emerging markets, Asia Pacific, North American, Japan and global. The management firms topping the list are Fidelity, with 2 funds, totalling GBP3.41bn, BNY Mellon/Newton with 4 funds and GBP2.05bn, and BlackRock with 2 funds and GBP1.99bn. The worst-performing fund according to the Bestinvest criteria is the Allianz RCM Global ecotrends (GBP11.7m), which is 41% behind its benchmark index over three years.
31/08/2011

L Capital prend le contrôle de Captain Tortue

Le fonds d’investissement annonce une prise de participation à hauteur de 60% dans le capital de Captain Tortue, leader européen de la vente directe en réunions de prêt-à-porter. La société a réalisé l’an dernier un chiffre d’affaires d’environ 55 millions d’euros. Defi Gestion et BNP Développement réinvestissent dans le groupe aux cotés de L Capital et des fondateurs.
31/08/2011

La prévision du déficit budgétaire français est relevée

Le gouvernement a relevé de 3,4 milliards d’euros sa prévision de déficit budgétaire à 95,7 milliards fin 2011, selon le site internet du Figaro. Cette dégradation s’explique par une prévision de recettes inférieure de 3 milliards d’euros à ce qui était espéré et par une hausse de 1,4 milliard de la charge de la dette en raison de l’accélération de l’inflation.
31/08/2011

L'Espagne avance dans la voie d'une règle d'or sur le déficit

Le gouvernement socialiste et le Parti populaire (PP) d’opposition ont annoncé hier s'être mis d’accord pour organiser vendredi un débat au parlement sur l’amendement visant à plafonner le déficit structurel du pays à 0,4% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) sur la durée d’un cycle économique.
31/08/2011

Croissance ralentie pour la production nippone en juillet

En raison de l’appréciation du yen et d’un ralentissement de la demande sur ses marchés étrangers, la production industrielle du Japon a augmenté de seulement 0,6% en juillet d’un mois sur l’autre, un niveau plus de deux fois inférieur aux attentes des économistes. Cette croissance, la plus faible depuis mars dernier, fait suite à une progression de 3,8% réalisée en juin.
31/08/2011

La Pologne maintient le cap

Varsovie a enregistré un produit intérieur brut (PIB) en hausse de 4,3% au deuxième trimestre. Au premier trimestre, la croissance avait été de 4,4%. La progression des investissements a été de 7,8% sur la période avril-juin contre une augmentation de 6,0% sur les trois premiers mois de l’année. Mais les économistes estiment que la hausse du zloty contre euro menace la croissance polonaise au prochain trimestre. Les exportations polonaises représentent environ 40% du PIB du pays, dont la moitié provient de ses échanges avec ses voisins de l’est.
31/08/2011

La croissance indienne se modère

Le produit intérieur brut (PIB) de la troisième économie d’Asie a crû de 7,7% sur la période avril-juin, alors que le consensus dégagé par Reuters donnait 7,6%, après 7,8% le trimestre précédent. Il s’agit de la croissance la plus faible en six trimestres même si le pays a dépassé les prévisions, ce qui amène à penser que la banque centrale du pays continuera de relever les taux d’intérêt pour tenter de maîtriser l’inflation. La prochaine réunion de l’institut d'émission indien est prévue le 16 septembre. La banque centrale a augmenté les taux à 11 reprises depuis le mars 2010, dont un relèvement plus important que prévu d’un demi-point le mois dernier. Le 1er août, le Conseil économique du Premier ministre a baissé sa prévision de croissance pour l’année fiscale en cours, de 9% à 8,2%. Sur l’exercice fiscal annuel clos le 31 mars dernier, l’Inde avait enregistré une croissance de 8,5%.
31/08/2011

La confiance du consommateur américain s’érode

L’indice de confiance du consommateur américain publié par la fédération patronale Conference Board est tombé à 44,5 en août, après 59,2 (révisé de 59,5) au mois de juillet. Le consensus médian des analystes interrogés par Reuters laissait prévoir un indice à 52,0. La composante de la conjoncture actuelle tombe à 33,3 points après 35,7 en juillet. Concernant l’emploi, les ménages américains sont 49,1% à estimer en août qu’il est difficile de se procurer un emploi, contre 44,8% en juillet.
31/08/2011

Le franc fort donne le blues aux PME suisses

Un franc fort et des perspectives mondiales incertaines rendent les Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (PME) suisses pessimistes, selon une étude d’Ernst & Young. Sur les 300 sociétés interrogées en août, 64% pensent que la situation économique va se dégrader, alors qu’elles n'étaient que 11% en juillet. Elles ne sont que 8% à anticiper une amélioration.
31/08/2011

Les villes anglaises font leur retour sur le marché obligataire

Les municipalités britanniques prévoient d’émettre des obligations pour la première fois depuis des décennies, suite à la décision du gouvernement d’augmenter les taux d’intérêt sur les emprunts du gouvernement central, indique le quotidien. La ville de Wandsworth, conseillée par Morgan Stanley et HSBC, prévoit ainsi d’émettre 250 millions de livres. Ce sont 10 à 20 municipalités qui feraient de même selon le directeur d’Ernst & Young, Luke Reeve.
31/08/2011

La Chine prévoit d’accélérer la réforme du yuan

Pékin doit accélérer la réforme de son taux de change ainsi que l’ouverture de ses capitaux, indique dans un entretien accordé au journal le conseiller de la banque centrale chinoise, Xia Bin. Et d’ajouter que la Chine a de faibles retours sur investissements dans les économies de l’ouest, alors que ces derniers profitent de leurs investissements en Chine pour obtenir de forts rendements.
31/08/2011

La Fed partagée sur ses options

Les idées ont fusé lors de la dernière réunion du Comité de politique monétaire de la Fed. Selon les «minutes», certains participants ont plaidé pour des actions plus audacieuses tout en se rangeant à la promesse de maintenir les taux d’intérêt proches de zéro au moins jusqu'à la mi-2013.

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