Hong Kong, which receives large volumes of investment from Spain, on Friday signed a double taxation agreement with Spain, which allows it to be removed from the blacklist of countries which do not cooperate with the Spanish finance ministry, Cinco Días reports.The treaty signed by the Spanish finance minister, Elena Salgado, and obtained by Cinco Días, covers personal income tax, company tax, and taxation of non-residents. It stipulates that corporate profits may be taxed in only one of the two countries. Spanish legislation provides for an exemption for dividends earned abroad, which did not apply to Hong Kong when it was considered an offshore tax haven.
The German financial management association BVI on 1 April announced that Allianz Global Investors Europe GmbH and Allianz Global Investors Europe Holding GmbH have joined the professional organisation. The two firms have their headquarters in Munich. Allianz Global Investors Europe GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz Global Investors Europe Holding GmbH, which is 100% owned by Allianz Global Investors AG. The association says in a statement that, counting these two new additions, it now has 85 members, including 65 investment firms, 13 management firms, and 7 holding companies, with overall assets under management of EUR1.8trn, largely in open or closed funds.
Katrin Altmann, who previously worked at ebase and DJE Kapital, has been recruited as senior sales manager at Nestor-Fonds-Vertrieb, the German affiliate of the Luxembourg-based Nestor Investment Management SA. From 1 April, she is head of wholesale distribution, IFAs, and distribution partners. Nestor has created the new position following a strong increase in its assets. Altmann will report to Tobias Pfab, head of distribution.
Reinhard Berben, CEO of Franklin Templeton for Germany, has announced that the firm is planning to increase its presence in the diversified fund niche in Germany, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. In addition to the classic products in this category, such as the Global Fundamental Strategies Fund, the manager is also planning to boost sales of multi-asset class funds, such as profiled products of the Strategic Allocation range, overseen by Matthias Hoppe in Frankfurt.
According to financial industry sources, Commerzbank and Sal. Oppenheim are planning to sell their stakes of 45% and 10%, respectively, in the Bavarian asset management firm KGAL (EUR25.2bn in assets), Handelsblatt reports.The shares may be bought by BayernLB, which owns 30% of capital, and the Hambourg savings bank (Haspa). However, as BayernLB is required by the European Union to reduce its balance sheet, it will not acquire a majority stake in KGAL, which it would then be required to completely consolidate.
At a press conference on Friday, Pascal Heurtault, chief investment officer at Aviva Investors France, announced that compared with a balanced portfolio consisting of 50% equities and 50% bonds and money markets, the asset management firm is currently overweight in equities (58%), after taking some profits (the proportion was previously 63%).This predilection for equities, despite the recent oil crisis and the Japanese disaster, are due to good corporate results and positive surprises in terms of profits and earnings. Margins are at their highest, and crisis management at businesses has proven effective. “The markets are not all that expensive, and they are earning more than Bunds,” says Heurtault. In addition, the context for a recovery in merger and acquitions activity is shaping up.Prime rates are expected to increase slightly, and the manager, which is cautious about German and French long-term rates, still holds some positions in Spain and Italy. The credit market has now reduced many of its spreads, but there is still potential there. Aviva Investors therefore remains positive about the banking sector. In light of continuing low interest rates, the manager is “reserved” about money markets.
AXA announced on 1 April that it has finalised its AXA APH transaction, including the sale of its life insurance, savings, and retirement activities in Australia and New Zealand, and the acquisition of the life insurance, savings, and retirement activities of AXA APH in Asia. The Australian insurer AMP has acquired 100% of the existing shares in AXA APH, for AUD13.3bn (about EUR9.5bn). AXA then acquired 100% of the Asian activities of AXA APH from AMP, for AUD9.8bn.
Amundi ETF has celebrated its first year on the Italian market with the launch of 4 new ETFs on Borsa Italiana, Bluerating reports. They are Amundi ETF MSCI Nordic, Amundi ETF MSCI Emerging Markets, Amundi ETF Global Emerging Bond Markit Iboxx and Amundi ETF AAA Govt Bond EuroMTS.
The Prosperis Mephisto 1 fund, designed by Conrad Mattern, is aimed at investors who do not necessarily want to save the world, and who prefer to pocket comfortable returns. It thus invests in “sinful” investments, such as weapons, gambling, sex shops and luxury goods. However, Handelsblatt calculates, by 2016, when the fund matures, investors will have paid 43% of their input in commissions and various fees. And returns are not at all a foregone conclusion, as the fund is a blind pool.
Henderson Global Investors is launching a defined-contribution version of its Diversified Growth fund, whose objective is to earn 4% over the Libor 3 month. The fund will be managed by Bill McQuaker, and will be included in the retirement savings product range from HGI.
Henderson Global Investors is planning to launch an emerging markets currency fund, Citywire reports. The product would be managed by the currency team at the firm, led by Bob Arends in Amsterdam.
Following the transfer of José María Martínez-Sanjuán to Santander Asset Management (see Newsmanagers of 16 March), Banif has appointed Luis Pérez Box, who had been a member of the third-party fund analysis team since 2007, as head of fund and alternative investment analysis. He had previously spent his entire career at BBVA Gestión.
La société de private equity américaine envisage la scission de son fonds mondial d’infrastructures, selon le quotidien qui cite des sources proches du projet. Blackstone a levé par l’intermédiaire de ce fonds 350 millions de dollars au cours des deux dernières années, contre un objectif initial de 2 milliards de dollars.
Le Fonds monétaire international a activé vendredi comme prévu un fonds de crise de 581 milliards de dollars avec le soutien des Etats membres. Ces nouveaux accords d’emprunt (NAE) avaient été développés en 2009 après un appel du G20. «Les montants disponibles pour le FMI via les mécanismes multilatéraux d’emprunt ont été multipliés au total par dix depuis 2009 (...)», a précisé le ministère français de l’Economie et des Finances.
Le régulateur attire l’attention des investisseurs non professionnels sur les risques liés aux émissions obligataires de PME. L’AMF rappelle que la rémunération «qui peut sembler attractive» doit être rapprochée du risque de crédit, et invite à surveiller le risque de très faible liquidité de l’obligation.
Lisbonne a placé vendredi 1,645 milliard d’euros d’obligations à court terme mais a dû proposer un taux de 5,79%, soit 2,5 points de plus que lors des adjudications similaires l’an passé. Selon le marché, cette opération ne sera pas suffisante. Fitch a abaissé vendredi la note du Portugal de «A-» à «BBB-». L’agence craint que le pays ne reçoive pas un soutien extérieur en temps et en heure compte tenu des élections législatives fixées au 5 juin.
Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière (EFSF) est prêt à venir en aide au Portugal si celui-ci le demande, assure son président, Klaus Regling, dans un entretien accordé à La Tribune. Le Portugal, dont le Premier ministre a démissionné faute de pouvoir faire adopter au parlement un nouveau programme d’austérité, est considéré par les marchés comme le prochain pays susceptible de devoir faire appel à une aide financière extérieure, après la Grèce et l’Irlande.
«Une restructuration de la dette grecque est absolument exclue», a déclaré le ministre grec des Finances, George Papaconstantinou, à Reuters, en réponse à un article de l’hebdomadaire Der Spiegel selon lequel le Fonds monétaire international pousserait pour une restructuration rapide de la dette d’Athènes. «Ceux (qui parlent de restructuration) ne parviennent pas à comprendre que les coûts excéderaient largement les bénéfices», a expliqué George Papaconstantinou.