Fidelity Investments annonce avoir renouvelé pour une durée de 5 ans un contrat avec BP America, filiale du groupe BP. Le contrat prévoit que la société de gestion continuera de fournir des services de plan d'épargne retraite en entreprise à la société pour un total de 95.000 salariés.
Le secteur des hedge funds a enregistré une collecte nette de 13 milliards de dollars en novembre, selon les estimations de TrimTabs Investment Research et BarclaysHedge. Il s’agit du cinquième mois consécutif de collecte et du montant le plus élevé depuis février 2010.L’année 2011 se présente sous les meilleurs auspices pour le secteur, estime le fondateur et président de Barclayshedge, Sol Waksman, qui souligne dans un communiqué que «les hedge funds ont dégagé une performance de 11,6% en 2010 et les investisseurs continuent de leur confier des capitaux». En outre, les fonds de pension seront certainement amenés à faire appel à leurs services compte tenu de la faiblesse des rendements offerts par le marché.Les fonds actions long/short ont drainé 2,5 milliards de dollars durant le mois sous revue, le montant le plus élevé parmi l’ensemble des stratégies alternatives. Les fonds évenementiels ont attiré 2,2 milliards de dollars et les fonds émergents 1,8 milliard de dollars. Les fonds obligataires ont poursuivi sur leur lancée des mois précédents, avec une collecte de 1,9 milliard de dollars.Les CTA ont en revanche subi une décollecte de 3,9 milliards de dollars en novembre, la première en neuf mois mais, précise-t-on, en raison du remboursement d’un seul fonds. Les fonds de fonds ont pour leur part collecté 473 millions de dollars.Vincent Deluard, executive vice president responsable de la recherche chez TrimTabs, estime que 50% environ des gérants de hedge funds vont toucher des commissions pour les performances réalisées en 2010. C’est mieux que les 32% de 2009 ou les 16% de 2008, mais loin du niveau record de 90% enregistré en 2006.
Les hedge funds ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 70 milliards de dollars en 2010, portant les encours à plus de 1.650 milliards de dollars pour la première fois depuis septembre 2008, indique Eurekahedge. Ils ont en outre affiché une performance de 10,86 % sur l’année. Eurekahedge note que les hedge funds japonais ont progressé de 6,79 % en 2010, soit leur meilleure performance annuelle en 5 ans.
Selon les données de TrimTabs et BarclayHedge cités par La Tribune, l’industrie des hedge funds a attiré 13 milliards de dollars de souscription nettes en novembre 2010. Les fonds long-short equity ont collecté 2,5 milliards, les fonds CTA (sur les futures) ont enregistré des rachats de 3,9 milliards.
L’indice global «Ucits Alternative Index» publié par la société éponyme a progressé en décembre de 1,07% et de 1,86% sur l’ensemble de l’année contre 9,27% pour 2009.Les meilleures stratégies pour décembre ont été les commodities et les CTA qui affichent des gains de respectivement 2,73% et 2,66%. Mais sur l’ensemble de l’année, les stratégies commodities accusent un recul de 2,10% après un gain de près de 6% en 2009. Les CTA ont de leur côté terminé l’année sur une progression de seulement 0,01% contre 0,88% en 2009.Les grands gagnants de l’année ont été l’event-driven (+4,47%) et le fixed income (+4,15%).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Raifeissen Switzerland, which for several years has been partnered with Vontobel for the management and distribution of investment funds, has selected the private bank Pictet & Cie to launch its first tracker fund, due to the size of its portfolio of assets managed in this area, totalling CHF22bn. The Swiss equities segment was selected by the partner banks. Their choice fell on the SPI index of 220 shares. The partners are planning to launch a similar fund in mid-2011. Meanwhile, Raifeissen is planning to raise CHF10m for its Swiss fund.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The global “Ucits Alternative Index,” published by the company of the same name, gained 1.07% in December and 1.86% over the year as a whole, compared with 9.27% in 2009. The best-performing strategies in December were commodities and CTA, which gained 2.73% and 2.66%, respectively. But for the year as a whole, commodities strategies have lost 2.10%, following gains of nearly 6% in 2009. CTA, for their part, finished the year with gains of only 0.01%, compared with 0.88% in 2009. The big winners for the year were event-driven (+4.47%) and fixed income (+4.15%).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to data from TrimTabs and BarclayHedge cited by La Tribune, the hedge fund industry attracted USD13bn in net subscriptions in November 2010. Long/short equity funds collected USD2.5bn, while CTA funds (futures trading) saw net redemptions of EUR3.9bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The hedge fund industry earned net inflows of USD13bn in November, according to estimates by TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclaysHedge. It is the fifth consecutive month of inflows, and the largest amount since February 2010. 2011 brings bright outlooks for the sector, says the president and founder of Barclayshedge, Sol Waksman, in a statement, adding that “hedge funds earned returns of 11.6% in 2010, and investors are continuing to place capital in them.” Pension funds will certainly turn to their services, in light of the low returns available on the markets. Long/short equities funds attracted USD2.5bn in the month under review, the highest amount for any alternative strategy. Event-driven funds attracted USD2.2bn, while emerging funds took in USD1.8bn. Bond funds continued the growth observed in previous months, with inflows of USD1.9bn. CTA funds, however, saw outflows of USD3.9bn in November, the first in nine months, but this was apparently due to redemptions from a single fund. Funds of funds, for their part, took in USD473m. Vincent Deluard, executive vice president in charge of research at TrimTabs, estimates that about 50% of hedge fund managers will earn commissions for performance achieved in 2010. That’s better than the 32% who did so in 2009 or the 16% in 2008, but far off the record level fo 90% in 2006.
Hedge funds attracted USD70 billion through net positive asset flows in 2010 – total size of industry exceeded USD1.65 trillion for the first time since September 2008, according to Eurekahedge. They posted double-digit growth in 2010 and outperformed underlying markets – up 10.86% for the year. Japanese hedge funds posted best annual return in 5 years, up 6.79% in 2010.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The new European regulatory body for the insurance and pension fund sectors (EIOPA, formerily CEIOPS), which on 10 January held its first meeting, is planning to quadruple its staff (currently 28) by 2013, and to supervise the enactment of Solvency II standards, Les Echos reports. The name of the president of the agency will be revealed in the next few days.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Johannes Müller, a bond expert at DWS (Deutsche Bank), says that the fund management firm of the Deutsche Bank group has long had a rule against investment in Portuguese bonds, and that it now prefers short-term bonds issued by Greece to Portuguese government bonds, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Union Investment (German co-operative banks), for its part, states that it has taken the occasion of low yields and high prices to reduce its exposure to Portuguese mid- and long-term bonds.At Pimco, Andrew Balls, head of portfolio management for Europe, says that the firm is concerned for the wider Euro zone, beyond the next six to twelve months, because some states may have difficulty in adhering to their multiple-year long austerity programmes. If one or more Euro zone countries is late in its repayments, it could trigger a banking crisis for all of Europe.Schroders says that it is extremely pudent: the British asset management firm is overweight in bunds, underweight in French government debt, and has no exposure to government bonds from peripheral countries of the Euro zone, according to David Scammel, a manager of British and European bond funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss private bank Bordier & Cie has opened an affiliate in Singapore, Le Temps reports. It will be led by Evrad Bordier, a partner since 1 January, who will be based in Singapore. The location on Monday received its merchant banking license from the regulatory authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Personnel will be increased to 20 people by the end of the year. Bordier & Cie, whose assets under management total about CHF9.5bn, is planning to have CHF1bn in assets under management at the affiliate by the end of its first year of operations. To achieve this goal, the bank will offer clients of Bordier International Bank & Trust (BIBT), an entity domiciled in the Turk and Caicos Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean, specialised in offshore private management, the opportunity to transfer their assets, which total nearly CHF500m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A survey conducted by Schleus Marktforschung between 20 November and 10 December, which spoke to 156 institutional investors with total assets of EUR156bn, has provided Axa Investment Managers Germany with knowledge with which it has developed a real estate risk index that will now be regularly calculated, on a scale from 0 for no risk to 100 for maximal risk. In its first edition, the risk level stands at 38.The first survey has also found that institutional investors have widely differing conceptions of the concept of risk. Frank Richter, head of institutional business Germany & Austria at Axa IM, says that nearly one quarter of respondents say the largest risk is losing assets or revenues, while 18% say that it is failing to achieve objectives, and 16% say risk is largely a measure of chance. However, 47% of specialists surveyed say that direct investment in real estate carries low or very low risk, while 23% say so for indirect investment in real estate. Axa IM says that this reflects current problems for open-ended real estate funds, many of which are now closed to redemptions (with assets of about EUR25bn), in liquidation (three funds), and/or have been forced to announce depreciation in the value of shares.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that Invesco Perpetual is planning to launch an income fund focused on Asian equities. The fund, managed by Stuart Parks and Tim Dickson, will invest largely in Asia and Australia (ex Japan). The fund aims for returns from dividends equivalent to 120% of the MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan index.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish asset management firm East Capital has renamed two funds managed by Asia Growth Investors, an asset manager specialised in Asia, also based in Stockholm, which it acquired last year (see Newsmanagers of 17 June 2010). From 1 January, the AGI China East Asia Fund has become the East Capital China East Asia Fund, while the AGI China Fund becomes known as the East Capital China Fund. The change of names has no impact on the investment strategy of the funds, which remains the same, says Karine Hirn of East Capital on the website of the Scandinavian asset management firm. The two funds are exposed to China, where the China East Asia Fund has a slightly broader universe than the other fund. The products are managed by the same team, which has recently been enlarged.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Investments has announced that it has renewed its contract with BP America, an affiliate of the BP group, for a 5-year term. Under the contract, the management firm will continue to provide services to the corporate retirement savings plan for the business for a total of 95,000 employees.
In an internal memo signed by CEO Larry Fink which has been confirmed by sources familiar with the matter, BlackRock has announced the departure of Blake Grossman, who had been vice-chairman for slightly over a year, since the acquisition by BlackRock of Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which Grossman had led. The acquisition of BGI for USD15.2bn was concluded in December 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 2 December 2009).Grossman is not expected to be replaced as BlackRock vice president. However, on 10 January, Grossman’s name was still on the list of members of the global executive committee.p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tao Huang, COO for Morningstar since 1990, will be leaving the company at the end of January. He is also leaving his position as head of IT, corporate sales and the affiliate Logical Information Machines (LIM), acquired in 2009.Morningstar says that Huang will not be replaced as COO. Responsibility for IT will be taken over by Jow Mansueto, chairman and CEO, while corporate sales will be overseen by Scott Cooley, CFO, and LIM will be moved into the data division of Morningstar, led by Elizabeth Kircher.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has announced the appointment of Philippe Huerre as deputy director of emerging markets. He will work in close collaboration with Ramy Bourgi, director of emerging markets. Huerre, who since 2004 had been director of retail client custody services at SGSS, will aim to “consolidate the leading position of SGSS in emerging markets, where SGSS provides securities services to domestic and international investors,” a statement says. In 2010, SGSS extended its geographical presence into the Gulf states, through a commercial agreement with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }Morgan Stanley has announced that it has reached an agreement with the employees of its in-house quantitative proprietary trading unit Process Driven Trading (PDT), whereby PDT employees will acquire certain assets from Morgan Stanley and launch an independent advisory firm at the end of 2012. Morgan Stanley will have the option to acquire a preferred stake in the new entity, to be known as PDT Advisors. It is expected the full PDT team, which comprises approximately 60 employees globally, will join the independent firm.During the two-year transition period, PDT will remain a part of Morgan Stanley and continue to manage Firm capital as it has historically. PDT will also build out its infrastructure and its third-party investment business during this period.
Lawrence M. Clark Jr left Harbinger Capital Partners where he was a senior analyst and a partner to launch his own hedge fund, The Wall Street Journal writes. This departure comes as Harbinger in recent years has evolved from a diversified hedge-fund firm to one which looks more like a private-equity firm. Assets have declined from about USD26 billion in 2008 to USD6.4 billion in November.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that Société Générale Private Banking is planning to open a long-term location in the United States. The bank is finalising plans for a brokerage and banking services platform based in New York, and aimed at US domestic high net worth clients. “Pending approval from the necessary authorities, we are hoping to begin our activities in the next few months,” says Daniel Truchi, director of the platform, cited by the newspaper. The platform will be complementary with the activities of Rockefeller Financial Services, a management firm dedicated to family offices based in New York and in which the bank has controlled a 37% stake since 2008.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After launching a real estate unit two years ago, the British Aviva Investors group has recruited Manish Singhai and Kevin Talbot to develop its Asian equities and bond activities from Singapore, Aviva Investors reports. Singhai has been appointed chief investment officer for equities, while Talbot joins the group as chief investment officer for fixed income. Singhai, who spent 10 years at AllianceBernstein, in 2008 launched a market neutral hedge fund dedicated to Asia ex Japan, Arjava Capital, which has recently been closed. Talbot previously worked at ANZ Private Bank in Singapore.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a Handelsblatt survey of Commerz Real, Deka Immobilien, RREEF (Deutsche Bank) and Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE), with a total of EUR52bn in assets for their real estate open-ended funds, a major increase in performance compared with 2010 is not to be expected in 2011. Gains as of the end of November varied from 1.3% for Westinvest (Deka) to 3.3% for the hausInvest fund from Commerz Real, well below the usual 4% to 5%. This is due to high levels of liquidity, at 20% to 34% for UIRE, and 20% for funds from RREEF and Deka, which reduces performance. The hausInvest fund has only 15% cash, which boosted returns.Some real estate funds are seeking to reduce their liquidity by investing, but the competition drives up the prices of good quality commercial properties. UIRE was therefore not able to spend all of its investment budget of EUR1.2bn for 2010, and RREEF is expecting only EUR500m in investments this year, compared with EUR800m last year.Net subscriptions in 2010 are estimated to have totalled over EUR1bn at RREEF and Deka, and EUR1.5bn at UIRE, but hausInvest saw net outflows of EUR1.4bn in January-November.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January-November 2010, German open-ended funds, excluding real estate, attracted net subscriptions of EUR21.21bn, less than the total for Pimco Europe, of the Allianz Global Investors (AGI) group (with EUR17.73bn), combined with that of db x-trackers, the ETP provider from Deutsche Bank (with EUR5.8bn), according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms.Two groups had net outflows: Deka (savings banks), which had net redemptions of EUR5.45bn, and Union Investment (co-operative banks), with net outflows of EUR2.68bn.Among the other major firms, the AGI ensemble has net subscriptions of EUR14.36bn, and the DWS/DB Advisors/Deutsche Bank family has EUR2.89bn.For ETFs, excluding db x-trackers (and Lyxor, which does not make its figures public), BlackRock, with its iShares products, attracted over EUR1.16bn, while Commerz Derivative Funds solutions, with ComStage, attracted EUR684.3m. However, ETFlab (Deka) saw net outflows of nearly EUR200m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms, net subscriptions in the first eleven months of the year totalled nearly EUR80.86bn, compared with more than EUR43.57bn in the corresponding period of last year.However, the 85.5% increase conceals a major transformation in the distribution between the various classes of contributions. Open-ended funds in January-November 2010 attracted about EUR22.58bn, compared with EUR2.83bn for the corresponding period in 2009, while net inflows to institutional funds (Spezialfonds) increased to EUR61.12vn from EUR21.87bn. But net inflows to mandates of EUR18.87bn in the first eleven months of 2009 were transformed into net outflows last year of EUR2.84bn.In total, assets (open-ended funds, institutional funds and mandates) as of the end of November were down to EUR1.8235trn, from EUR1.8251trn one months earlier, and up compared with the EUR1.6899trn recorded on 30 November 2009. As of the end of November 2010, open-ended funds represented EUR701.11bn, while institutional funds came in with EUR808.83bn, and mandates measured EUR313.56bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 4 January, BaFin issued a sales license for Germany to the British-registered Credit Alpha fund, a sub-fund of the Henderson Strategic Investment Funds, launched on 16 April 2010. The fund invests in corporate bonds, ABS, preferential equities, equities, collateralised credits in CDS, and other derivatives. The fund is available in US dollar and euro shares, all of which are hedged for currency risks. Characteristics Names: Henderson Credit Alpha Fund A USD (hedged) Acc. ; Henderson Credit Alpha Fund A EUR (hedged) Acc.ISIN codes: GB00B603K666 (shares in dollars) ; GB00B630QF50 (shares in euros)Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%depository banking commission (RBS): 0.30%Performance commission: 20% of quarterly outperformance of the Libor GBP 3-month, with high watermark Account maintenance fee: 0.18%Minimal subscription: USD1,500 or EUR1,500
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At the beginning of 2007, ETFs in Europe had assets under management of EUR103bn. As of the end of September 2010, assets totalled EUR232bn, according to data from Global ETF Research and BlackRock, Expansión reports. In the same period, the number of funds tripled, from 500 to 1,500 products. The three largest operators in Europe are iShares (BlackRock), with a market share of 32.7%, Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), with 16.6%, and db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with 15.7%.
Funds managed by banks and insurance companies generally underperform those operated by independent asset managers across Europe, according to data compiled for Financial Times Fund Management by Lipper.However, in some countries, such as France, pure asset managers are over-represented at both extremes of the performance scale, suggesting they are taking more risk than their banking and insurance counterparts.