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20/12/2010

Amundi and Natixis make second round in Pioneer bidding

The sale of Pioneer, the asset management unit of UniCredit with EUR185bn in assets, is moving ahead, Agefi reports. The Italian bank has chosen Amundi (an affiliate of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale), Natixis, and the financial services firm Ameriprise for a second round of negotiations.According to a source cited in Le Figaro, UniCredit preferred candidates who were willing buy the entire share capital of Pioneer. BNP Paribas was not selected for the second round, though it was a candidate, and its asset management unit has grown considerably since the acquisitions of BNL (in Italy) and Fortis (in Belgium). But the complexity of its current consolidations did not play in its favour. BNP Paribas also made an offer to acquire only a part of Pioneer.
20/12/2010

Amundi et Natixis qualifiés au second tour dans le dossier Pioneer

Le processus de vente de Pioneer, la filiale de gestion d’actifs d’UniCredit riche de 185 milliards d’euros d’actifs, progresse, rapporte l’Agefi. La banque italienne a retenu Amundi (filiale du Crédit Agricole et de la Société Générale), Natixis et la société de services financiers Ameriprise pour un deuxième round de négociations. Selon une source reprise par le Figaro, UniCredit a privilégié les candidats acceptant d’acquérir l’ensemble de Pioneer. BNP Paribas n’a pas été retenue, pourtant candidate et dont le pôle de gestion s’est considérablement renforcé depuis les acquisitions de BNL (en Italie) et Fortis (en Belgique). Mais la complexité qui en découle en terme de consolidation n’aurait pas joué en sa faveur. En outre, BNP Paribas avait déposé une offre partielle.
20/12/2010

Hedge fund RAB reduces the size of its operations in Asia

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that RAB Capital has decided to restructure its activities. The decision, which is related to a highly significant reduction in assets under management at the firm in the past two years, will involve staff reductions in Hong Kong. At least one fund has been closed, and according to the CEO of RAB for Asia, “some projects have been frozen, including the launch of new funds and the recruitment of new teams.” Assets under management at RAB Capital now total USD1bn, compared with USD7bn before the crisis.
20/12/2010

Bank of France issues warning

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } The Bank of France is issued a public warning, after being alerted on Friday, 17 December 2010, that there has been a phishing attack using the email address webmestre@banquefrance.fr. A fake letter claiming to be from the Bank of France at this address asks recipients to connect to a web page bearing “Verified by Visa” and “Mastercard SecureCode” logos. On this page, surfers are asked to enter personal information, including bank card number, expiration date, and security code. The Bank of France says that it did not send the message, and warns recipients not to divulge any personal information on the internet.
20/12/2010

Madoff: Barbara Picower decides to pay back USD7.2bn

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The widow of Jerry Picower announced on 17 December that she will pay back USD5bn to the court-appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Securities, Irving Picard, and USD2.2bn to a Manhattan prosecutor’s office, the Wall Street Journal reports. The two payments, intended to redeem the memory of the deceased Jerry Picower, which were not required by the courts, will be redirected to victims of the fraud. The article in the Wall Street Journal includes a graph of the sums sought by Picard: USD9bn from HSBC, USD6.4bn from JP Morgan, USD3.6bn from Fairfield Greenwich Group, and USD2.5bn from UBS. Meanwhile, the liquidator has already received USD500m from Union Bancaire Privée, and USD235m from Santander. Expansión reports that USD425m is sought in lawsuits against Citibank, USD400m from Natixis, USD270m from ABN Amro, USD230m from Fortis Nederland, USD35m from Nomura, USD34m from BBVA, and USD16m from Merrill Lynch.
20/12/2010

European Systemic Risk Board begins operations

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European Central Bank (ECB) at the end of last week announced that legislation creating the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) has come into effect. The headquarters of the ESRB are located in Frankfurt-am-Main, and its secretariat is provided by the European Central Bank (ECB). The ESRB is in charge of macro-prudential surveillance of the financial system within the European Union. It will contribute to the prevention and reduction of systemic risks to the financial stability of the Union, which will result in developments for the financial system. The ESRB will also contribute to the harmonious functioning of the internal market, and will provide a sustainable contribution to the financial sector and to economic growth. As legislation prescribes, the ESRB is led by the chairman of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, while Mervin King, governor of the Bank of England, has been appointed the first vice-president of the ESRB by the members of the general council of the ECB. The general board of directors of the CERS will hold its first meeting on 20 January 2011.
20/12/2010

Assets in ETF and ETP funds top USD1trn

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to BlackRock, assets in ETF and ETP funds listed in the United States totalled USD1.027trn as of Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal reports. This includes 894 ETFs with USD887.2bn in assets, from 28 providers, listed on two stock markets, and 185 TP funds with USD155.5bn in assets, from 20 providers, listed on one stock market. As of the end of 2009, BlackRock counted 772 ETFs with assets of USD705.5bn, from 29 issuers. Since the beginning of this year, 171 ETFs have been launched, 49 have been removed from trading, and 828 others are planned. The number of ETP products as of the end of last year was 142, with assets of USD88.1bn.
20/12/2010

BlackRock Frontiers collects GBP94.7m

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fund Strategy reports that the BlackRock investment trust dedicated to frontier markets has collected GBP94.7m in assets. The trust, which will be managed by Sam Vecht, will invest in markets such as Nigeria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. BlackRock says that the fund is reserved for qualified investors. Management fees are 1.1%, with a performance commission of 10% on performance exceeding the MSCI frontier markets index.
20/12/2010

JPMAM and GIC acquire OpenTurm building in Frankfurt

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An institutional fund advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) and an affiliate of GIC Real Estate, the real estate division of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) on 17 December announced that they have acquired the 42-story skyscraper OpenTurm in Frankfurt (67,200 square metres) from a fund advised by Tishman Speyer and UBS, for an undisclosed sum. The property was completed in 2009. It is home to the offices of UBS, which occupies 28,000 square metres, and the law firm Allen & Overy, which rents 9,000 square metres.
20/12/2010

PAVE incorporates

The PAVE (Plataforma Alernativa de Valores Españoles) founding partner Javier Tordable on December 17th announced the official formalization and kick off of the first alternative trading venue (MTF) platform by means of the legal incorporation of the Company with legal PAVE PLATFORM, Sociedad .Anonima.The incorporation of PAVE marks the first step and necessary prerequisite in order to start the preparation of the operative processes on fields such as regulatory, corporate, finance and technology which before summer of 2011 will lead to the launch of this new pool of liquidity of Spanish stocks alternative to the current traditional stock exchanges.
20/12/2010

Fitch confirms BBB+ rating for Oddo

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fitch Ratings on 17 December confirmed its long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of BBB+, with stable outlook, for Oddo et Compagnie (Oddo). Fitch also confirmed the other following ratings for Oddo: a short-term IDR rating of F2; intrinsic grade of C; external support rating of 5, and an external support floor rating of ‘No Floor.’ Oddo, which is incorporated as a bank, is the only independent investment firm in France. Its IDR and intrinsic ratings reflect its very solid solvency and liquidity ratios, satisfactory performance for the complete economic cycle, and aversion to risk. They also take into account the small size of the firm and its smaller footprint in brokerage and asset management in Europe (EUR21bn in assets under management). Profits at Oddo were affected by the crisis in 2007 and 2008, but since then they have returned to satiafactory levels, with recurrent annual net profits and a return to owners’ equity levels of about EUR40m and 11%, respectively. Earnings come about equally from finance and investment banking and asset management. Oddo acquired the Banque d’Orsay (IDR: BBB+) in November 2010, and is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Banque Robeco. The acquisitions will allow Oddo to increase its assets under management by EUR4bn, without significantly altering its risk profile.
20/12/2010

Name change for asset management firm from Manulife

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With effect from 15 December, MFC Global Investment Management, or MFCMD (CAD121bn in assets as of 30 September) has changed its name, and is now known as Manulife Asset Management, or Gestion d’actifs Manuvie. Following the change, member companies of the global network of the business, which is present in 17 countries and territories, will now operate under the name Manulife Asset Management. Six of the companies affiliates with the business were already operating under this name in Asia. However, in order to profit from the notoriety of the brand name John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Asset Management will use the name John Hancock Asset Management to provide investment management services for John Hancock products in the United States. Optique CM “adopted” Optique Capital Management has also announced that it has sold its investment management activities to Manulife, and the Optique Fund will now become known as the John Hancock International Value Equity Fund, a mutual fund from John Hancock Investment Management Services (JHIMS), an indirect affiliate of Manulife. Following the “adoption,” JIHMS will be advisor to the fund, and the current team at Optique CM will be transferred to Manulife, where it will be in charge of the day-to-day management of the fund.
20/12/2010

GlobeOp announces record assets under administration

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GlobeOp, a British-American independent provider of administration services, specialised in middle and back offices and integrated risk reporting, aimed primarily at hedge funds and management firms as well as pension funds, corporate treasurers, insurers and banks, is in good shape. In the period from 30 June to 30 November, assets under administration increased 24% to USD148bn, Hedgeweek reports.
20/12/2010

FRR launches a call for proposals for bond mandates

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The FRR on 17 December launched a call for proposals to select new managers for mandates to invest in bonds in developed countries in the investment category. The call for proposals aims to ensure the coherence of the FRR”s portfolio with the details of the retirement financing reforms (14 annual payments of EUR2.1bn by the FRR to Cades from 2011 until 2024). The impact of these details on the global investment strategy of the Fund will be the subject of a subsequent communication early next year. For this market, the public market procedure selected is that of a restricted call for proposals consisting of two rounds: Mandates for liability-driven investments in French treasury bonds (OAT) with “buy & hold” type management. Passive “multi-compartment” management investing in bonds from developed countries in the “investment” category. The procedure selected is that of a restricted call for proposals. Interested management firms will have until 31 January 2011, at noon (Paris time) to respond to the FRR within the conditions specified by the consultation rules.
20/12/2010

Jay Hooley to combine roles of CEO and chairman at State Street

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 16 December, State Street Corporation announced that, following the retirement of Ronald E. Logue, Joseph “Jay” Hooley will combine his current position as CEO, which he has held since March, with the position of chairman. The appointment by the board of directors will be effective from 1 January 2011.
20/12/2010

IT Asset Management: assets up by two thirds in 2010

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 17 December, assets at the independent management firm IT Asset Management were over EUR200m, in a total of six French and Luxembourg-registered funds. This represents an increase of two thirds compared with EUR120m in assets as of the beginning of January, with one third of the increase due to market effects, and two thirds due to net subscriptions.
20/12/2010

Bertrand Fournier elected president of FIR

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors of the Forum for Responsible Investment (FIR) on 17 December announced that at its meeting on 15 December, the Forum accepted the resignation of its president, Robin Edme, and on the nomination of its office, elected Bertrand Fournier, previously vice-president, as president, and Paul de Marcellus as vice president, replacing Fournier. The FIR office now includes Bertrand Fournier (chairman of the board at LFP-Sarasin AM) as president, Michel Lemonnier (head of SRI development at Groupama AM) as vice president, Martine Léonard (head of SRI managemetn at CM-CIC AM) as vice president, Paul de Marcellus (Global Product Specialist for SRI at HSBC) as vice president, Michel Laviale (qualified individual) as secretary general and treasurer, Martial Cozette (qualified individual and co-founder of the FIR) as deputy treasurer, and Gilles Maddalena (SRI promotion at Ideam – Amundi Group) as deputy secretary general.
20/12/2010

Indian firm IDFC and Natixis Global AM sign an asset management partnership

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Indian infrastructure specialist financial group IDFC and Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) on 17 December announced that they have signed a strategic partnership for their collective asset management activities. The partnership will allow IDFC Asset Management Company (IDFC AMC) to considerably extend its international distribution, and gain access to global investors who would like to profit from the growth of the Indian economy by investing in Indian stock markets. It will also strengthen the global presence of NGAM, which has a significant presence in Asia, especially Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and China. The new NGAM initiative is a sign of the firm’s ambitions to diversify its global activities. The partnership will also allow IDFC AMC to offer national investors access to international investment opportunities, through asset management products managed by NGAM. As a part of the agreement, NGAM will acquire a minority stake of 25% in the capital of IDFC AMC and its fiduciary company. Assets under management at IDFC as of 30 September totalled Usd4.4bn. Pierre Servant, CEO of NGAM, says “this partnership with IDFC AMC will allow us to offer our multi-boutique investment product range to a new market of investors. We feel that our extended range of products is particularly well-suited to this market, composed of a rapidly growing middle class. This agreement also gives us a way to strengthen our activities in Asia, and represents an important step towards realising our objectives of greater international diversification of our activities.”
20/12/2010

Mubadala invests EUR500m in Carlyle

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, Mubadala, on 17 December announced that it has increased its stake in the Carlyle Group with an investment of USD500m in subordinated convertible bonds and new equities. The precise financial details of the operation have not been disclosed. In September 2007, Mubadala acquired 7.5% of the US private equity investor for USD1.36bn.
20/12/2010

FSA published revised remuneration code

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 17 December published the revised text of its Remuneration Code, which takes on board changes required by the CRD 3 remunerations directive, passed by the European Parliament on 7 July. The new rules require payment of at least 50% of variable remuneration, whether distinct or not, in the form of equities, and the publication of details of individual pay for directors with seats on the board.
20/12/2010

Henderson makes bid for Gartmore

In response to press speculation, Gartmore has confirmed that it has entered into negotiations with Henderson Group about a conditional offer by Henderson to acquire the entire share capital of the fund management company. These negotiations are on the basis of a proposal at a slight discount to the Gartmore share price at the close of trading on December 16, 2010 (98.75p). According to the Financial Times, Henderson has made a 95p per share offer. Following Gartmore’s announcement, Henderson Group has also confirmed that it is in discussions regarding a potential acquisition of Gartmore.At this stage there can be no certainty that these discussions will result in a formal offer being made for Gartmore either on these or on any other terms.
20/12/2010

Liontrust CFO agrees to 18% pay cut

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As Liontrust is going to hold a meeting of the management on 13 January to discuss ways to convince higher-paid employees to accept a cut in their base salaries, the chief financial officer of the management firm, Vinay Abrol, voluntarily agreed to an 18% cut in his salary. The management will also consider potential forms of payment other than cash, such as shares in the firm, Fundstrategy reports.
20/12/2010

Federal Council in favour of general surveillance of the markets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss Federal Council on 17 December announced its decision to forbid market manipulations by all market actors, including those which are not subject to surveillance by the Federal financial market surveillance authority (Finma). The Federal Council states that the protection of the Swiss financial market and investors demands the introduction of general market surveillance. This will make it possible to prevent all market actors, and not only those whose behaviour runs the risk of being particularly damaging, from engaging in any behaviour connected with market manipulations. This means that in the future, organisations which have not previously been subject to Finma oversight, such as hedge funds and private investors, will now also be subject to partial surveillance by Finma. The Federal Council has also increased the maximal find for intentional violation of the obligation to declare investments. As a general rule, intentional violation of the declaration obligation involves investments in the millions of Swiss francs. The Federal Council concluded that it had sufficient grounds to increase the maximal fine for those guilty of such a penal infraction to CHF10m.
20/12/2010

Sino-Life Insurance cleared to create an asset management firm

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese insurance regulatory commission (CIRC) on 17 December granted permission for Sino-Life Insurance to begin preparations to submit an application for a license to create the 10th management firm in Chnina controlled by an insurer. According to Z-Ben Advisors, it is the first putative authorisation after a gap of five years. The new entity would manage the portfolio of the Sino-Life group, which represented CNY28bn as of the end of 2009. In addition, Sino-Life already has a QDII license with a quota of USD9bn.
20/12/2010

China Merchant Fund launches a product for QDIIs

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese management firm China Merchant Fund (CMF) is planning to launch a product aimed at qualified domestic institutional investors (QDII) in January, Asian Investor reports. The fund will be listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange after its launch. The Bric Index fund will provide investment in companies of the S&P Bric 40 index, which includes the largest companies of the BRIC countries in the energy, materials, financial and IT sectors, including Baidu, Tencent, Lukoil, Gazprom, Infosys and Reliance.

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