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02/05/2011

Pioneer launches an emerging markets bond coupon fund

Pioneer Investments is launching the Pioneer Funds – Emerging Markets Corporate Bonds 2016 fund in Italy. The fund invests in corporate bonds from emerging markets which distribute coupons each year, Bluerating reports. The fund will be managed by Greg Saichin, head of emerging market and high yield bonds.
02/05/2011

How some TIPS funds generate magical returns

For the month to the end of March, «SEC yields» declared by the 173 mutual funds of inflation-linked US treasury bonds (known as TIPS, for treasury inflation-protected securities) varied from -0.77% to +5.58%. Four out of the seven ETF funds specialised in TIPS earned returns of over 5%, with 6,07% for the Pimco 15+ Year US TIPS Index. Schwab and American Century have published similar results.The Wall Street Journal reports that TIPS offer no return of over 1.75%. The explanation is simple: the SEC has not set a particular formula for calculating the returns of TIPS funds, meaning that fund managers use the method that has been in place since 1988 for ordinary mutual funds, which limited returns to dividends and interest income. For TIPS, returns come not only from interest income, but also from adjustments in value when inflation increases. For a month like April, in which inflation was easily 0.5%, after annualisation, SEC yields easily come out to 6%. This effect will be even more marked in May, when inflation is expected to near 1%.Asset management firms such as Vanguard and iShares, which publish the “real yield” of their funds, are at a disadvantage, since their returns are lower, but these figures are less likely to mislead investors.
02/05/2011

SEC plans to limit 12b-1 sales fees

Elisse Walter, an SEC commissioner, has announced that the regulatory authority will this summer pass a rule which will limit 12b-1 sales fees charged to subscribers to mutual funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. Due to transparency considerations, front-end fees charged in several instalments over time may no longer be higher than the front-end fee that the investor could have chosen to pay all at once at the time the fund shares were purchased.
02/05/2011

Warren Buffett admits mistake

At a general shareholders’ meeting for Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett called the recent actions of his former aide David Sokol, who is accused of buying shares in Lubrizol at a time when he was conducting talks over a potential acquisition of the company “inexplicable and inexcusable,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman also admitted that he shared some responsibility. “I obviously made a big mistake by not asking: ‘when did you buy those shares?'”
02/05/2011

“We have ambitions to further strengthen our presence in the institutional segment”

Financière de l'Echiquier tends to live by the saying, “live hidden and live happily,” with EUR5.3bn in assets under management. This volume is due both to the management firm's presence in Europe for several years already, and to the diverse client base it has already attracted. In addition to IFAs, which are the backbone of its reputation, the asset management firm has also found success with institutional investors. It is planning to develop its presence serving these investors even further.
02/05/2011

Strong inflows to Pictet Clean Energy fund

Since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the Clean Energy fund, which had a drab start to the year, has posted strong inflows, running into the tens of millions of dollars. As of the end of March, assets under management in the fund, launched nearly four years ago, were nearly USD700m. The manager of the fund, Luciano Diana, who has succeeded Philippe de Weck, who is now in charge of total return management at Pictet, estimated at a press conference on 29 April that the events in Japan and tensions in the Middle East probably helped bring a burst of speed to the energy transition process. The major beneficiaries in the situation are natural gas, renewable energies and energy efficiency. The portfolio’s allocations are to natural gas, which has increased from 15% to 20% currently, with the rising trend. “Allocation may be expected to be maintained at 20% to 30%, as the fund is now dedicated to clean technologies,” says Diana. Allocation to energy efficiency represents 30% of the portfolio, while wind energy represents 18%, and solar represents 17%.
02/05/2011

French real estate funds growth will come from winning over retail clients

In less than five years, French OPCI funds (real estate funds) have become a presence in the industry due to sales to institutional investors, La Tribune reports. As of the end of 2010, 107 OPCI funds were licensed by the French financial market authority, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), compared with 81 one year earlier. Assets now total about EUR10bn. According to the newspaper, the largest challenge now facing the profession is selling OPCI funds to the retail investors. Only 6 of those OPCI funds have been licensed for retail sale, and their assets remain modest (EUR173m as of the end of March).
02/05/2011

Japanese blogs inspire creation of a hedge fund

A former Goldman Sachs banker, Hideki Furusho, has teamed up with a professor at Tokyo university, Yutaka Matsuo, to launch a hedge fund which will trade futures on the Nikkei 225, using a model that analyses posts on Japanese blogs, Bloomberg reports. The fund hopes to generate 20% returns by tracking and analysing about 20 million Japanese blogs, looking for keywords that could have a potential influence on price movements on Nikkei futures.
02/05/2011

Altin earns returns of 12.47% in 2010

The Swiss alternative management firm Altin, which is managed by Alternative Asset Advisors (Syz group) has announced that in 2010 it earned returns of 12.47%, while the HFR index of funds of funds earned 5.67%. Assets total about CHF280m. The best contributors to performance were long/short equity and macro strategies, with an emphasis on commodities, followed by event-driven managers and multi-strategy funds. Leverage has remained stable at about 120% over the past year. The firm also announced following its general shareholders’ meeting that Peter Altorfer has been elected as chairman of the board of directors, succeeding Peter Beglinger, who “wanted to retire after 15 years of good and loyal service.”
02/05/2011

Disappointing returns for pension funds

As of the end of March, assets in Spanish pension funds totalled EUR84.99bn, an increase of EUR178m, or 0.2% over their levels at the end of December, Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms, reports. Contributions in the past twelve months totalled EUR5.51bn, and benefits came to EUR4.25bn, although cumulative net inflows totalled EUR1.26bn. The number of accounts, for its part, has increased by 1% in one year, to a total of 10,729,811. Since one person may have shares in several funds, the number of policyholders is estimated at about 8 million. On one year, the average performance for all funds as of the end of March totalled 0.06%, due to the fact that indivudual funds saw losses of 0.25%, while enterprise and mixed funds showed returns of 1.56% and 1.65%, respectively. Over three and six years, the bottom line is hardly more flattering, as average annual returns totalled 0.72% and 0.70%. Over ten years, the average is 1.67%, and over 15 years, 3.76%.
02/05/2011

Foreign management firms took in EUR500m in January-March

According to estimates by Inverco, the Spanish association of asset management firms, assets under management by foreign fund managers in Spain as of the end of March totalled EUR50bn, compared with EUR48bn one year earlier.This result is extrapolated from data provided by the 20 foreign asset management firms which disclose information about their assets under management to Inverco, whose assets totalled EUR36.32bn as of the end of first half. These 20 fund managers represent about 66% of total assets at foreign asset management firms in Spain.For the 20 fund managers that publish results, net subscriptions in January-March totalled EUR492.43m. The top 13 had assets of over EUR1bn; the largest of them is JP Morgan Asset Management, with EUR6.13bn as of 31 March, followed by Amundi Iberia (EUR3.68bn), and BlackRock Investment (EUR3.33bn).BNP Paribas is in sixth place, with EUR2.56bn, and Axa IM is in 15th place with EUR778.2m.
02/05/2011

Inverco confirms Spanish funds had net outflows in March

In April, Spanish securities funds underwent net redemptions of EUR466m, following two consecutive months of net subscriptions (EUR712m in March, and EUR72m in February). The February inflows were the first after sixteen months of uninterrupted net outflows. Of the ten largest asset management firms in the country, only two have posted net subscriptions in April: Ibercaja Gestión (EUR17.5m) and Bansabadell Inversión (EUR347m). The largest net outflows were from Santander Asset Management (EUR360.6m) and BBVA Asset Management (EUR110.3m).
02/05/2011

Deka funds show weak results

In the Feri rankings as of 31 March, only 28% of the Deka product range gets top ratings (A or B), compared with 43% one year ago, and the asset management firm for the German savings banks has fallen from sixth to 20th place out of the 35 largest fund management firms, Handelsblatt reports.The decline in performance, which is noticeable for equities as well as bond products, is due to the defensive investment policy sought by the CEO of Deka-Investment, Thomas Neiße, a policy which is more suitable for the savings banks, which are in a process of taking control of all capital in Deka. Neiße is concerned to “avoid disasters first and foremost, even if that could have a cost in terms of performance.”
02/05/2011

Year starts well for Tocqueville Finance

Tocqueville Finance, a part of Banque Postale since October 2009, has had a very good start to the year. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, net inflows in the first four months of the year have totalled about EUR100m.Assets under management now total nearly EUR1.7bn, due to inflows as well as to positive market effects of about EUR150m.
02/05/2011

Eaton Vance Investment Counsel appoints a chairman

Eaton Vance Investment Counsel (EVIC) has announced that from 1 November 2011, David C. McCabe will succeed G. West “Westy” Saltonstall as chairman of the structure specialised in advising and wealth management for high net worth clients.
02/05/2011

Fitch confirms M2 rating for Groupama AM

Fitch Ratings on 29 April confirmed the Asset Manager rating of M2 for Groupama Asset Mamagement (Groupama AM). The rating does not include multi-management activities formerly of Groupama Fund Pickers (GFP), which on 15 April were absorbed into Groupama AM. The confirmation of the rating reflects the support of Groupama S.A., shareholder in Groupama AM, its longstanding experience in asset management, and the stability of the organisation as a whole. The rating also reflects the quality of IT processes and the development of a genuine absolute return product range, and support of investment by significant research spending. Fitch estimates that the major challenge for Groupama AM will be to continue to deploy its platform. The enlargement of the client base abroad and among distributors represent additional challenges.
02/05/2011

Hong Kong monetary authority enters alternative investment

In its 2010 annual report, the Hong Kong monetary authority has announced that it has invested HKD2.2bn in alternative strategies (real estate, private equity and equities, and emerging markets fixed income), via dedicated affiliates, in order to diversify the portfolio of the structure in charge of managing the territory’s currency reserves, the HKMA Exchange Fund, with a total of about HKD300bn.Last year, the Exchange Fund earned returns of 3.6%, compared with an average of 1.2% over the past three years.
02/05/2011

State Street makes an appointment in Asia

State Street has appointed the current CFO of the Singapore stock exchange, Wai Kwong Seck, as a potential successor to Peter O’Neill as head of international markets and services for State Street in Asia-Pacific, Asian Investor reports. Wai Kwong Seck will join State Street on 1 September this year, as executive vice president and general manager of global services and global markets activities in the region. However, he will not take over O’Neill’s responsibilities until the end of 2012. Meanwhile, he will be familiarising himself with the culture and strategy of State Street, including a four-month residence in Boston and a four-month stint in Europe, probably in London.
02/05/2011

Decline in asset management operating profits at Nordea

On 29 April, Nordea announced net profits of EUR742m for first quarter 2011, compared with EUR770m in October-December, and EUR643m in the corresponding period of last year. The cost/income ratio has improved to 50% from 51% in the earlier of the two quarters under comparison.Assets under management, at EUR192bn as of the end of March, have increased 1% compared with the end of December (EUR191bn), and 13% compared with the end of March 2010 (EUR169.3bn).In first quarter, net subscriptions totalled EUR2.5bn, largely due to net inflows of EUR2.1bn from institutional clients (to EUR34.7bn as of the end of March). Operating revenues from asset management, at EUR197m, fell 5% in January-March compared with fourth quarter 2010 (EUR208m), but increased 33.1% compared with January-March last year (EUR148m). The decline observed in first quarter 2011 is due to revenues from performance commissions, which come only in fourth quarter.Operating profits for asset management activities totalled EUR123m, compared with EUR135m in fourth quarter 2010, and EUR89m in January-March last year.
02/05/2011

Pioneer may hold IPO

At a general shareholders’ meeting for UniCredit, the CEO, Federico Ghizzoni, announced that he is not ruling out an IPO for Pioneer, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. “But so far, we have not talked about doing that,” he added.
02/05/2011

Franklin Templeton moves a hedge fund to Singapore

Tano Capital, the family office for the founders of Franklin Templeton Investments, has decided to change the domicile of its hedge fund from the US state of Delaware to Singapore, due to the rising value of the Singapore dollar, according to the Bloomberg news agency. Tano Capital opened its office in Singapore a few days ago, with a team of three people. The Tano Global Hard Asset Fund (USD80m) will be denominated in Singapore dollars starting next month. The fund uses a long/short strategy to trade on commodities.
02/05/2011

Allianz RCM converts a fund into an absolute return product

Subscribers to the Allianz RCM UK Growth fund (Allianz Global Investors) have been advised that they will be invited to an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting to authorise the transfer of GBP58m in assets to the new Allianz RCM UK Absolute Return fund, which will result in the conversion of the original fund into an absolute return product. The manager will be Jeremy Thomas, CIO for UK equities at RCM, with the objective of earning higher returns than those from money markets and bonds, with lower volatility than equities, and to outperform the FTSE All Share index over the long term. The fund will be constructed around a strategic long-only portfolio and a tactical long/short market neutral portfolio.
02/05/2011

LGIM recruits a former Gartmore manager

The equities manager Sacha Sedan, who left Gartmore when the management firm was acquired by Henderson Global Investors, will join Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) in June, as director of corporate governance, and will report directly to the CEO, who is currently Kevin Gregory for an interim period.
02/05/2011

Assets in Luxembourg funds down in March

The regulator of Luxembourg CSSF reports that total assets in Luxembourg funds as of 31 March 2011 totalled EUR2.190896trn, a decline of 0.78% in one month, as the amount reported on 28 February 2011 was EUR2.208198trn. However, in the past twelve months, net asset volumes have increased 10.62%, the CSSF reports.Expressed in euros, the decline in March comes to EUR17.302bn, with EUR19.817 of that amount due to a negative market effect (-0.90%), for which positive net inflows of EUR2.515bn (+0.12%) partially compensated.The number of collective investment organisms (OPC) and specialised investment funds (FIS) under consideration comes to 3,724, compared with 3,705 the previous month. 2,351 entities have adopted a multiple sub-fund structure, with a total of 11,684 sub-funds. With the addition of 1,373 entities with a traditional structure, the CSSF announces that there are 13,057 entities active on the financial market.
02/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Le Crédit Agricole des Côtes d'Armor achète des obligations pour renforcer le revenu récurrent

«Pour cette année, notre préoccupation première en matière de stratégie financière est le renforcement de notre exposition obligataire». C’est ainsi, qu’Aurélien Alvès, trésorier au Crédit Agricole des Côtes d’Armor brosse le tableau des thématiques pour l’année en cours. Il précise cependant: «Cette stratégie n’est pas directement en regard de Bâle III mais le programme est davantage orienté vers la maximisation du revenu récurrent par la détention de titres jusqu'à l'échéance». Ainsi, la caisse cible plutôt sur des obligations bancaires seniors qui bénéficient de spreads plus intéressants que les corporates et joue plutôt sur la prime de risques des obligations bancaires. «Cette stratégie vise plutôt à rentabiliser le rendement de fonds propres tout en maintenant un bon niveau de risques», poursuit Aurélien Alvès. Dans cette optique, la caisse compte s’adapter en douceur à Bâle III en allant chercher par exemple, des obligations moins longues et attend une clarification de dossiers importants comme les OPCVM monétaires mais ne compte pas modifier la stratégie générale de l’entreprise. Par ailleurs, la caisse travaille avec une demi-douzaine de partenaires externes au groupe sur la gestion d’actifs et les produits structurés. «On va plutôt chercher de l’alpha dans les sociétés de gestion externes au groupe, précise Aurélien Alvès. On essaiera toujours de trouver une valeur ajoutée, une thématique ou un gérant qui a un style de gestion particulier».
Gestion d'actifs
02/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Le Crédit Agricole Centre-Est mise sur le crédit

Pour l’année 2011, la caisse régionale du Crédit Agricole Centre-Est mise sur une stratégie orientée sur le rendement via les supports obligataires et table sur un rendement de son portefeuille d’actifs de 5%. Jean Claude Viotti, trésorier à la caisse régionale du Crédit Agricole Centre-Est, affine ses orientations en termes de choix de classes d’actifs: «Nous investissons sur le crédit et comme alternative à la baisse structurelle du rendement sur les obligations d’Etat, nous nous orientons sur les financières et le high yield». La caisse régionale travaille d’ailleurs avec dix sociétés de gestion qu’elle sélectionne en premier en fonction de l’alpha. Ensuite, les fonds sélectionnés doivent avoir un minimum de 100 millions d’euros d’actifs. D’ici la fin de l’année, elle a prévu de procéder à de nouveaux investissements, notamment sur les CTA. La caisse travaille déjà avec des sociétés externes comme GLG, Rothschild&Cie Gestion et Rivoli.
Gestion d'actifs
02/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Actions et gestion diversifiée sera le cocktail d'investissement du Crédit Agricole de Lorraine

«Nos attentes en termes de rendement sur le portefeuille global pour cette année tournent autour de 4% et nous misons sur les actions et la gestion diversifiée », enchaine Michael Bleau, trésorier de la caisse régionale du Crédit Agricole de Lorraine. La caisse s’intéresse en particulier, à tout ce qui est indexé à l’inflation, matières premières, crédits et actions euros. «Pour parer à la baisse du rendement sur les obligations d’Etat, nous regardons plutôt des OPCVM qui ont une sensibilité négative, poursuit Michael Bleau. Nous y sommes déjà rentré de façon à désensibiliser notre portefeuille obligataire sans couverture». La caisse qui travaille avec quatre sociétés de gestion en plus d’Amundi, dont la sélection se fait essentiellement sur la taille, prévoit de nouveaux investissements d’ici la fin de l’année et devrait rentrer sur des actions. Pourtant Michael Bleau précise: «Nos investissements prévus pour l’instant sont davantage axés sur la partie obligataire et sur le premier trimestre, on a investi sur toute la partie gestion diversifiée». Enfin, la caisse régionale avait prévu d’investir cette année, des actifs sur le Japon. Objectifs que la crise grave qui a affecté le pays a remis en question sans pour autant les annuler puisqu’elle compte attendre la rentrée avant de se reposer la question de ces investissements. «On croit à une reprise économique rapide car le potentiel du pays est réel en matière de reconstruction», conclut Michael Bleau.
Gestion d'actifs

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