« Nous gardons 5 % de liquidités pour gérer la hausse de la volatilité »
Nicolas Gouju, gérant de taux chez Groupama AM
Le hedge fund RAB Capital fait ses adieux à la Bourse de Londres
Sur l’AIM depuis 2004, le gestionnaire affronte des retraits massifs de la part de ses clients. Il va sortir de la cote et réduire la voilure
« Nous prévoyons une remontée seulement très modeste des rendements longs allemands »
Vincent Chaigneau, responsable de la stratégie taux de SG CIB
« Le recul des marchés crée des opportunités »
Eric Mijot, responsable de la stratégie actions & allocation d'actifs d’Amundi
La Mutuelle Générale met en place une allocation stratégique d'actifs pour se préparer à Solvency 2
Pour se préparer à Solvabilité 2, la Mutuelle Générale a d’abord procédé à une analyse prospective aux fins de mettre en place une allocation stratégique d’actifs votée par son conseil d’administration. Jean-Paul Bourrillon, Secrétaire général opérationnel à la Mutuelle Générale explique cette stratégie: « Notre allocation d’actifs est aujourd’hui davantage argumentée techniquement mais elle n’a pas introduit une révolution; elle a un peu modifié l’allocation d’actifs en termes de grandes classes d’actifs ». Globalement, l’allocation d’actifs de la mutuelle est très largement dominée par les poches obligataires de bonne qualité, c’est à dire AA ou AAA. Sa poche action est assez réduite et elle possède différents compartiments sur des produits mixtes. De la sorte, si l’allocation stratégique résulte d’un travail beaucoup plus raisonné et quantitatif, la Mutuelle n’a pas changé fondamentalement l’allocation d’actifs mais s’est donnée les outils pour la faire évoluer de manière logique et rationnelle avec les outils de contrôles. « En fait, nous avons renforcé nos poches obligataires et on a un peu renforcé nos positions en termes d’objectifs, notamment sur l’immobilier, souligne Jean-Paul Bourrillon. Ensuite, nous avons réduit nos lignes dans un certain nombre d’OPCVM mixtes nous avons donc réduit notre exposition sur des produits complexes qui étaient consommateurs de capitaux en favorisant les obligations et un peu l’immobilier ». Pourtant, ces choix n’ont pas réellement bouleversé l’allocation préexistante car la Mutuelle Générale avait déjà une politique sécuritaire. Il s’agit davantage d’aménagements.
L'indice allemand Ifo augmente plus que prévu en juin
L’indice Ifo du climat des affaires en Allemagne a progressé pour la première fois en quatre mois en juin, à 114,5, ce qui semble suggérer que la première économie de la zone euro va toujours de l’avant. Le consensus des économistes était de 113,5 pour cet indice.
Mario Draghi nommé président de la BCE à compter du 1er novembre
Mario Draghi a été nommé comme prochain président de la BCE par les dirigeants de l’UE après que Lorenzo Bini Smaghi s’est engagé à quitter ses fonctions au sein du conseil des gouverneurs de l’institution. L’actuel gouverneur de la Banque d’Italie, âgé de 63 ans, succèdera donc à Jean-Claude Trichet, qui quittera son poste fin octobre après huit années passées à la tête de l’institution. La France avait fait peser une incertitude au cours des dernières heures en mettant en avant la règle non écrite selon laquelle le directoire de la BCE comprend un représentant de chacun des quatre grands pays de la zone euro et qu’elle n’y serait plus représentée après le départ de Jean-Claude Trichet. Le gouvernement italien a demandé à Lorenzo Bini Smaghi de démissionner pour laisser sa place à un Français, en contrepartie du soutien de la France à la candidature de Mario Draghi. Les noms d’Ambroise Fayolle, administrateur pour la France au Fonds monétaire international, et de Benoît Coeuré, directeur général adjoint du Trésor français, sont parmi les plus cités pour rejoindre Francfort.
L'indice de confiance des ménages stable en juin en France
La confiance des ménages français est restée stable en juin tandis que les craintes liées au chômage et à l’inflation poursuivaient leur repli, montre vendredi l’enquête mensuelle de l’Insee. L’indicateur synthétique de la confiance des ménages ressort à 83, sans changement par rapport au chiffre révisé de mai.
Votes sur le plan d'austérité au Parlement grec les 29 et 30 juin
Le Parlement grec se prononcera le 29 juin sur le plan d’austérité de cinq ans mis au point avec le FMI et l’Union européenne en échange d’une aide financière, et le lendemain sur la loi d’application de ce programme.
Collecte moins forte que prévu pour les hedge funds asiatiques
Les hedge funds asiatiques hors Japon ont enregistré au mois de mai une collecte nette de 1,6 milliard de dollars, selon des statistiques du fournisseur de données Eurekahedge, rapporte Asian Investor.Les actifs sous gestion des hedge funds s’inscrivaient ainsi fin mai à 134,3 milliards de dollars. Toutefois, la collecte n’a pas été aussi importante que prévu relativement au nombre de nouveaux fonds si bien que Eurekahedge a revu à la baisse ses estimations d’encours pour l’ensemble de l’année. Les actifs sous gestion du secteur en Asie hors Japon pourraient ainsi atteindre seulement 150 milliards de dollars, à comparer à une estimation initiale de 180 milliards de dollars. Au Japon, la collecte nette s’est élevée à 200 millions de dollars en mai, portant le total des actifs sous gestion à 16 milliards de dollars, à comparer à 22,6 milliards de dollars en janvier 2008 et un pic de 39 milliards de dollars en 2006. Les hedge funds japonais ont perdu 0,41% en mai et l’indice des hedge funds Eurekahedge Japan accuse un recul de 2,62% sur les trois mois à fin mai. Dans le même temps toutefois, l’indice Nikkei a perdu 8,76%.
24/06/2011
Inversis Banco crée une structure d'accueil pour les "boutiques" étrangères
Sur son site Internet, Inversis Banco annonce en reproduisant un article d’Expansión que sa division Inversis Bank Institutional vient de lancer Inversis Boutique, une plate-forme destinée à accueillir des gestionnaires étrangers de petite taille désireux de commercialiser leurs produits en Espagne.Le premier partenaire dans cette opération est le suisse Bellevue Asset Management (3,3 milliards d’euros d’encours), dont sept fonds disposent déjà d’un agrément de commercialisation en Espagne.
24/06/2011
Echec de l'introduction en Bourse de Prime Office
La société immobilière munichoise Prime Office AG a dû renoncer à son introduction en Bourse en tant que REIT à l’allemande juste avant la clôture des souscriptions mercredi soir, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Les réservations de titres n’avaient porté jusque là que sur un peu moins de 300 millions d’euros, au prix le plus bas de la fourchette de mise à prix (7-9,50 euros, voir notre édition du 9 juin)
24/06/2011
Inversis Banco creates a structure to help foreign management boutiques enter Spanish market
On its website, Inversis Banco has announced, along with a reprint of an article from Expansión, that its division Inversis Bank Institutional has created Inversis Boutique, a platform which will aim to welcome small foreign management firms seeking to offer their funds for sale in Spain.The first partner in the project is Swiss-based Bellevue Asset Management (EUR3.3bn in assets), whose seven funds already have sales licenses for Spain.
24/06/2011
Clive Burstow returns to Barings
Baring Asset Management (Barings) has appointedvClive Burstow to its Global Energy and Materials team as director and resources investment manager.His new role at Barings will include the production of research and stock ideas and assisting with the management of the Barings Global Resources Fund. He reports to Jonathan Blake, head of Global Energy and MaterialsClive Burstow returns to Barings from Blackrock where he was vice president with responsibility for analysis and investment across the mining sector. Prior to this, he was vice president at Alliance Bernstein and before that was an analyst at Barings for three years between 2004 and 2007. Before Barings he spent nine years as an analyst at the Mining Journal and at Metal Bulletin Research.
24/06/2011
Barclays Wealth funds chooses BNY Mellon Asset Servicing again
Once again, Barclays Wealth has selected BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as its provider of custody and clearance and fund accounting services, bringing assets under custody and administration at BNY Mellon AS to GBP17bn. The new contract covers assets domiciled in the United Kingdom, totalling GBP4bn.
24/06/2011
East Capital says the Russian market holds much promise
Russia is now the market most deserving of investors’ attention, says Marcus Svedberg, chief economist at East Capital, and Olle Olsson, head of its Paris office, Agefi Switzerland reports. The two, at a presentation of the East Capital Lux Russian Fund, Lux Eastern European Fund and Lux Convergence Eastern European Fund in Geneva, claimed that the undervaluation of Russian businesses makes is one of the most promising markets in the region.
24/06/2011
French funds represent a diminishing percentage of investment in CAC 40
French funds have only a slight presence in CAC 40 businesses. This is one of the major findings of a study by FactSet and OpinionWay on behalf of the Pro-Actions institute, published exclusively by Les Echos, about investments held by open-ended funds in major indices. French funds represent about one third (33.7%) of investment by international funds in the CAC 40. By comparison, domestic funds have a much larger presence in the Dow Jones index (87.1% US funds) and the FTSE (41.5% British funds). Compared with the 2007 edition of the study, the percentage of CAC 40 capitalisation held by French funds has fallen by 2 percentage points. German funds have also lost ground: their stake in the CAC 40 has been cut to one third of its former level, from 13% in 2007, to 4.2% as of 2011. Meanwhile, US funds have increased their presence in the French index since 2007, up from 22.5% four years ago to 29.8%.
24/06/2011
EGA receives a license for 8 Titans emerging markets indices from Dow Jones
On 23 June, Dow Jones Indexes announced that it has granted a license for the use of eight more indices of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Indexes to Emerging Global Advisors LLC (EGA), a management firm based in Ridgewood, New Jersey, which advises the EGShares brand ETFs. EGA already uses three Dow Jones EM Titans indices for ETFs of the Global Emerging Market Sectors (“GEMS”) range. The new EGA products are the following: • EGShares Basic Materials GEMS ETF• EGShares Consumer Goods GEMS ETF• EGShares Consumer Services GEMS ETF• EGShares Health Care GEMS ETF• EGShares Industrials GEMS ETF• EGShares Technology GEMS ETF• EGShares Telecom GEMS ETF• EGShares Utilities GEMS ETF
24/06/2011
Ramius recruits a big name from Pimco
Adrian Schultes, who was senior vice president of institutional direct marketing & consultant relations at Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco, Allianz Global Investors group), has been recruited in New York as managing director & head of distribution by Ramius Alternative Solutions LLS (RASL), the alternative management affiliate of Cowen Group. He will report to Thomas W. Strauss, chairman and CEO of Ramius. In this newly-created position, Schultes will be in charge of marketing and distribution activities as well as a notoriety campaign to raise the profile of hedge fund and custom advisory solutions from the asset management firm.
24/06/2011
AMG appoints a head of international distribution
The Massachusetts-based group Affiliated Managers Group, or AMG, has appointed Andrew Dyson as its executive vice president and head of international distribution, a newly-created position. Dyson will be based in London, and will report to Nathaniel Dalton, president and chief operating officer of AMG. Dyson previously worked at BlackRock, where he was in charge of international institutional clients. AMG, which controls about 27 management boutiques, with assets under management totalling about USD340bn as of 31 March, is seeking to grow in the Asia-Pacific region. AMG has reduced its exposure to developed markets equities to 29%, compared with 35% in September 2010. However, the group has increased its exposure to emerging markets equities to 12%, up from 10% previously. Exposure to alternative management totals 30%, while the bond allocation represents only 1% of the total portfolio.
24/06/2011
Departure from Banif AM
According to reports in Citywire, the Portuguese fund selection specialist Luis Alvarenga is leaving Banif Asset Management. João Fezas Vital and Jorge Guimarães will take over his duties.
24/06/2011
Assets up at Mandarine Gestion
As of the end of May, assets at French boutique Mandarine Gestion totalled nearly EUR2bn (compared with EUR1.785bn as of the end of February; see Newsmanagers of 8 March), and net subscriptions totalled EUR350m in January-May, compared with EUR150m in the first two months of the year, Rémi Leservoisier, CEO, has told Newsmanagers. Presently, 25% of assets come from abroad, most of them from Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Germany.The largest inflows continued to go to the management firm’s flagship fund, Mandarine Valeurs, managed by Marc Renaud, but the Reflex fund, a “co-production” with Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram) has also done well, attracting EUR250m in two years. Mandarine Unique, a Luxembourg-registered fund (LU0489687326) created on 29 March 2010, has assets of EUR44m, and nas seen net subscriptions since the beginning of the year, albeit limited. The small and midcaps fund (businesses with capitalisations ranging from EUR300m to EUR5bn), managed by Joëlle Moret-Selmer and Diane Bruno, has 50 positions and since its launch has earned 25.27%, compared with 8.89% for its benchmark index, the Stoxx Small 200 – even though its investment universe includes about 300 shares.
24/06/2011
Skandia appoints a head of partnerships
Skandia announced on Thursday, 23 June that it has appointed Romain Chevalier as a member of its key accounts and private banks management team, as head of partnerships. Chevalier, 27, joins the team, led by Anne-France Gauthier within the major accounts and private banks management team at Skandia, dedicated exclusively to institutional partnerships, where he will be in charge of promoting the Skandia Labels brand on the French market. Since 2008, Chevalier had worked at Swiss Life, where he developed life insurance partnerships through the construction of a portfolio of high-end partners, a statement says.
24/06/2011
Axa IM hires James Gledhill
AXA Investment Managers has announced that it has appointed James Gledhill as global head of high yield and deputy head of credit in the AXA Fixed Income business. Gledhill, a veteran of New Star, had until very recently been at Henderson Global Investors, where his funds, Henderson Fixed Interest Monthly Income (GBP510m) and Henderson High Yield Monthly Income (GBP217m) have been taken over by Jenna Barnard and John Patullo, respectively. Gledhill will now report to Theodora Zemek, global head of AXA fixed income, and in his role as deputy head of credit, he will report to Graham Nicol, head of the credit team at AXA Fixed Income, a statement says.
24/06/2011
S&P downgrades rating for Legg Mason
S&P has downgraded its rating for the management firm Legg Mason from BBB+ to BBB. The rating outlook is stable. S&P estimates that ongoing outflows over the past three fiscal years have affected the firms’ position in the market, as well as its financial indicators. Over a period of twelve quarters up to 31 March this year, outflows have totalled USD302.1bn, the newspaper notes.
24/06/2011
Axa IM recruits a manager for the health sector
Axa Investment Managers has recruited a manager for the health sector. Linden Thomson will work with senior manager Gemma Game, Investment Week reports. Thomson previously worked in the team dedicated to the health sector at Clear River Capital, where she was in charge of research into the pharmaceuticals and biotech sectors. The recruitment comes at a time when the team dedicated to the health sector has met with a series of departures, including lead manager Deane Donnigan, who will be leaving his job at the end of the month.
24/06/2011
Bohai acquires 18% of Orient for a price equivalent to 8.8% of its assets
Following a RFP, Bohai International Trust has acquired an 18% stake in the fund manager Orient from Shanghai Chengton for a price of CNY138m. The initial offer price was CNY39.6m, or 2.7% of assets, and Bohai ultimately paid 8.8%, a 223% markup over the offer price.The transaction highlights that the price of access to the Chinese asset management market is rising steeply, Z-Ben Advisors reports.
24/06/2011
Assets in Swiss funds down
According to estimates by Swiss Fund Data, assets in Swiss funds as of the end of May totalled CHF653.6bn, of which CHF231.2bn were managed by institutional investors. That represents a decline of CHF11.8bn in one month, despite net subscriptions in the month of CHF876.2m.
24/06/2011
Lower-than-expected inflows for Asian hedge funds
Hedge funds in Asia ex Japan have posted net inflows for the month of May of USD1.6bn, according to statistics from the data provider Eurekahedge, Asian Investor reports. Assets under management in hedge funds as of the end of May totalled USD134.3bn. However, inflows were lower than expected in comparison to the number of new fund launches, and consequently Eurekahedge has revised its asset estimates for the year downward. Assets under management for the sector in Asia ex Japan may reach only USD150bn, compared with an initial estimate of USD180bn. In Japan, net inflows totalled USD200m in May, bringing total assets under management to USD16bn, compared with USD22.6bn in January 2008, and a peak of USD39bn in 2006. Japanese hedge funds lost 0.41% in May, and the Eurekahedge Japan hedge fund index was down 2.62% for the three months to the end of May. However, at the same time, the Nikkei index lost .876%.
24/06/2011
Hedge funds will be subject to increased monitoring by SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 22 June passed amendments to the Dodd-Franck law which require hedge fund advisers and other private funds to register with the regulatory authority. The new regulations will come into force from 30 March 2012.