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03/03/2011

Aberdeen AM wins a real estate mandate in Sweden

Aberdeen Asset Management has been appointed to manage a Danish-owned property portfolio in Sweden to a value of EUR300 million on behalf of Provinsfastigheter AB. Provinsfastigheter was previously part of the now restructured Allokton group, the current majority owner is a consortium of several Danish financial institutions. The portfolio is dispersed across Sweden, however with most of the properties in and around Stockholm and with an equal share of offices and residential properties. A significant proportion of the properties will require active management to reach their full potential. Consequently, in addition to the mandate to manage and optimise the total property portfolio, Aberdeen will also manage the financial administration reporting directly to the board of directors, until the portfolio is ready to be sold.
03/03/2011

GLG Partners recruits in Hong Kong

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Andrew Thatcher, who previously worked in Europe for GLG Partners, has moved to Asia, and will be based in Hong Kong, where he will develop the alternative management firm’s Asian activities, Asian Investor reports. As executive director, Thatcher will report directly to Tim Rainsford, managing director of Man Investments in Asia, and will be in charge of relations with high net worth and institutional investors, as well as family offices and fund of hedge fund managers.
03/03/2011

Software-systems.at to launch 6 sustainable development indices

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } The Austrian consulting firm software-systems.at, which already calculates 150 indices of funds which are used as benchmarks for peer groups of categories, sectors, regions and themes, is planning to launch six sustainable development indices in mid-May, which will take into account the ethical and dynamic rating (EDA) of funds. Details can be found at http://www.software-systems.at/eda/docs/EDA_Beschreibung.pdf.The six IX EDA indices are the 50 Aktien SK75 Europa, 25 Aktien SK75 Deutschland (Germany), 25 Aktien SK75 Österreich (Austria), 25 Aktien SK75 Schweiz (Switzerland), 25 Aktien SK75 Emerging Markets and 50 Aktien SK75 Global. The numbers 25 and 50 refer to the number of appropriate funds selected for each country or region. The abbreviation SK75 indicates that at least 75% of standard criteria must be respected.Richard Lernbass, CEO of software-systems.at, says the indices must allow investors to determine the genuine “sustainable development” content of funds on an ongoing basis, without having to rely on marketing materials from fund issuers.
03/03/2011

“$20 billion club” has a USD121bn hole in its coverage

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, retirement liabilities on the books of the 16 publicly-traded US companies with liabilities of over USD20bn, known as the “$20 billion club,” increased to USD740bn, from USD700bn the previous year, according to a study by Russell Investments.Meanwhile, the value of assets owned by these businesses increased yo USD619bn, from USD578bn.Bob Collie, chief research strategist at Russell, points out that the $20 billion club accounts for nearly 40% of total pensions for US publicly-traded businesses. Their coverage deficit of about USD121bn is likely to trigger substantial increases in contribution charges, in order to catch up in the next few years, due to increased requirements in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.The study finds that these businesses contributed USD21bn last year, as in 2009, which is more than double the total paid into pensions in 2008.
03/03/2011

New directors for Putnam bond team

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Putnam has announced the arrival of three people to direct its bond management team, which was previously overseen by Rob Bloemker, who has decided to leave the firm. The three specialists are D. William Kohli, Michael V. Salm, and Paul D. Scanlon, former heads of portfolio construction and global strategies, liquid markets, and US high yield.
03/03/2011

Arca SGR launches three bond funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firm Arca SGR, an affiliate of 12 Italian cooperative banks, is launching three bond funds: Arca Cedola Bond Globale Euro III, Arca Cedola Bond Paesi Emergenti, and Arca Bond Paesi Emergenti Valuta Locale. The first two are funds with quarterly distribution, the first of which is invested primarily in Euro zone government bonds, as well as in investment grade corporate bonds denominated in euros, while the second is invested in emerging markets government and corporate bonds. The third fund is an international bond product oriented to government bonds from emerging markets and countries that are net exporters of commodities.
03/03/2011

Trial of “German Madoff” begins

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On Wednesday, the trial of Helmut Kiener, the “German Madoff,” began in Wurzburg, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Kiener, who has been in preventive custody since October 2009, is accused of orchestrating a Ponzi pyramid scheme which allowed him to defraud 5,000 retail investors and two banks of EUR345m.
03/03/2011

Warburg Henderson launches a real estate fund dedicated to four pension funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hamburg-based asset management firm Warburg-Henderson KAG für Immobilien (EUR3.7bn in assets) is launching the Warburg-Henderson KAAG fund, dedicated to four municipal pension funds with similar profiles. The pension funds will contribute EUR200m, and the fund will invest up to EUR300m in office and commercial properties in Western Europe. The performance objective (internal rate of return) is 6.5% per year, with stable dividends.The first property is in the process of being acquired. Warburg-Henderson will make exclusive use of specialiste asset managers HIH Hamburgische Immobilien Handlung for Germany, and Henderson Global Investors for other European countries. Another KOOP mandate for German insurers is currently in preparation.To manage the first fund, Warburg-Henderson has recruited Daniel Fahrer as senior portfolio manager. Fahrer previously managed Europe funds at Axa Investment Managers, as a senior fund manager. He has previously worked at RREEF and Citigroup.
03/03/2011

Large funds account for lion's share of subscriptions

The 2010 balance sheets for subscriptions/redemptions and asset volumes established by the Kommalpha agency finds that the vast majority of German open-ended funds played only a cameo role in the big picture last year. Most segments are dominated by a small number of large products, which attracted most of the inflows. For example, about 50% of total assets in equities funds went to less than 5% of the major funds. For bonds and diversified funds, the situation is not much different: in these areas, about 15% of funds account for half of assets under management.Meanwhile, three quarters of the smallest equities funds manage only 10% of total assets. For bonds and diversified funds, about 60% of products share only one tenth of total assets. The best sales last year were for Pinco (EUR17.5bn) and ETFs from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with EUR5.4bn. However, Deka and Union Investment saw net outflows of EUR6.4bn and EUR2.8bn, respectively (see Newsmanagers of 11 February 2011). Kommalpha also reports that, among the few dozen funds which “made” the market in 2010, there were a growing number of ETFs. Although in absolute terms, these represent a small group compared to actively-managed funds, they saw net subscriptions of about EUR8.6bn last year, while actively-managed funds attracted only EUR10.7bn.
03/03/2011

UniImmo: Global share value reduced

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Das Investment reports that Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has lowered the price per share for the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global (DE0009805556) by EUR2.40, or 4.45%, to EUR51.51, due to depreciations for three properties which the fund acquired in Tokyo in 2008, before the fall of the Japanese market.Assets in the fund total over EUR2.3bn.
03/03/2011

Nordea to launch several funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Citywire, Nordea is preparing to launch six new funds focused on high yield, debt and emerging markets equities in the next few months. In bonds, the Scandinavian firm will team up with the US management firm MacKay Shields to launch a US short-duration high yield bond fund.
03/03/2011

DB Advisors merges Henderson Liquid Assets fund into its range

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DB Advisors, which includes the international institutional management activities of the Deutsche Bank group, has merged the Henderson Liquid Assets Fund into its range of money market funds, Fundstrategy reports. Assets in the UCITS III fund total about GBP2.8bn. DB Advisors, whose money market assets total about EUR94bn, was already working with the fund as a sub-advisor.
03/03/2011

SEC proposes rules for hedge fund bonuses

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted (three to two) in favour of new restrictions on bonuses for brokers and investment advisors, including hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. Firms which have over USD1bn in assets will be required to disclose the structure of bonuses paid to their management to the SEC each year. Bonuses which encourage inappropriate risk-taking or which may provoke financial losses will be banned. The proposal will now go to a second vote before final approval.
03/03/2011

SEC charges a hedge fund manager

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge Week reports that the SEC has filed a lawsuit in a San Francisco district court against Lawrence R Goldfarb and his alternative management firm Baystar Capital Management LLC (BCM). The regulator accuses the manager of fraudulently misappropriating USD12m placed in side pockets and reinvesting them without the knowledge of subscribers in a real estate firm and a record company owned by Goldfarb. Goldfarb has agreed to pay USD14m to settle the charges.
03/03/2011

First ETF for corporate bank loans launched

The first ETF for corporate bank loans begins to trade on Thursday, the Financial Times said. Invesco PowerShares Capital Management will manage the ETF, which will be based on the S&P/LSTA US Leveraged Loan 100 Index.
03/03/2011

Clients who invested in Banif Inmobiliario any time after 1998 have lost money

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investing in the real estate fund Santander Banif Inmobiliario (nearly EUR2.52bn in assets as of the end of 2010) was a bad move for most of the over 44,000 subscribers, Expansión reports, as all those who invested after 1998 have lost buying power. Santander, however, claims that excluding inflation, 70% of subscribers had earned gains as of the end of December.The net asset value of the fund is down 22% from its all-time peak in 2008.The Madrid prosecutor has declared that he considers the Banif Inmobiliario to have been “speculative” in nature, and that it was sold at “simulated” prices, which could be considered fraud. Legal action has been commenced, following a complaint from the Activa association, which accuses the management firm of fraud and price manipulation. The prosecutor claims the case should go before the National Audience.
03/03/2011

Euronext Amsterdam lists its first Netherlands-registered fund of hedge funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 March, the Theta Legends XL Fund became the first Netherlands-registered fund of hedge funds to be admitted ot trading on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam platform. It is a product with daily liquidity, with a performance objective of 10% per year on a 1-5 year horizon. The portfolio is comprised of a maximum of 10 funds, each of which have a track record of at least 15 years. Characteristics Name: Theta Legends XL Fund ISIN code: NL0009692839 Management commission: 1.25% Performance commission: 5% of performance exceeding the Euribor 1-month +200 basis points
03/03/2011

Carlyle to launch an Africa fund

Carlyle plans to launch a USD750m fund to invest in Africa, the Financial Times wrote citing people familiar with the US private equity group. The fund would be overseen by a team of three with a presence in Johannesburg, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
03/03/2011

Winton Capital registers a fund in Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CNMV on 25 February registered the British alternative management firm Winton Capital Management, and authorised its fund, Winton Global Equity Fund, a sub-fund of its UCITS-compliant Irish Sicav Winton UCITS Funds Plc, for sale in Spain, via RBC Dexia Investor Services España.
03/03/2011

La Chine souhaite favoriser les importations

Les autorités chinoises auraient l’intention de baisser les taxes pesant sur les produits importés en Chine afin de stimuler les importations, indique le journal qui cite des propos du vice ministre du commerce chinois, Zhong Shan. Des produits tels que le soja ou l’huile de palme seraient notamment concernés selon Reuters, même si Zhong Shan n’a pas confirmé ces informations.
03/03/2011

Carlyle lance un fonds africain

La société d’investissement prévoit de lancer un fonds de 750 millions de dollars investi en Afrique, un continent longtemps négligé par les gros investisseurs, indique le quotidien qui cite des sources proches. Alors que Carlyle possède déjà une présence significative en Afrique du Nord, les zones ciblées par le fonds seront Johannesburg, le Zimbabwe et le Nigeria.
03/03/2011

Chi-X se prépare à conquérir l’Australie

La plate-forme d’échanges sera le premier opérateur étranger à pouvoir exercer en Australie. Le régulateur boursier national a publié hier un calendrier pour l’octroi de licences aux concurrents d’ASX. Chi-X Global, maison-mère des filiales régionales Chi-x Australia et Chi-X Japan, est détenue par Instinet, lui-même dans le giron du groupe nippon Nomura Holdings.
03/03/2011

L’AMF transpose le document d’information clé de la directive OPCVM 4

L’arrêté du 22 février 2011 portant sur l’homologation de modifications du règlement général de l’Autorité des marchés financiers, traitant notamment de la transposition de la directive OPCVM 4, a été publié hier au Journal Officiel. Il concerne le passage anticipé au «document d’information clé» pour l’investisseur, qui tient lieu de prospectus simplifié pour les OPCVM ne bénéficiant pas de la procédure de reconnaissance mutuelle des agréments.

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