Cantab va lancer un Newcits
Selon Citywire, Cantab Capital Partners, société basée à Cambridge, va créer une version Ucits III de son hedge fund vedette CCP Quantitative Fund. Le Cantab Quantitative UCITS Fund sera lancé en janvier 2011.
19/11/2010
Franklin Templeton rachète Rensburg Fund Management
Franklin Templeton Global Investors Limited (UK), filiale de Franklin Resources, vient d’annoncer l’acquisition de Rensburg Fund Management Limited, une filiale d’Investec, pour 45 millions de livres en numéraires (soit environ 72 millions de dollars). L’opération, qui doit encore recevoir l’aval des régulateurs, devrait être bouclée début 2011. Basée à Leeds au Royaume-Uni, Rensburg FM est une société de gestion spécialisée dans les actions britanniques et les unit trusts. Elle se compose de six professionnels de l’investissement qui pilotent six stratégies bien distinctes sur les actions britanniques représentant environ 880 millions de livres au 10 novembre. Avec cette acquisition, Franklin Templeton étoffe son offre à destination de sa clientèle du Royaume-Uni, où elle est plus connue pour ses fonds monde et spécialisés. Par ailleurs, Franklin Resources a acquis une participation de 20 % dans Pelagos Capital Management, une société indépendante de conseil en investissement basée à Boston dont la mission est de créer des solutions d’investissement alternatives censées accroître les rendements et baisser la volatilité des portefeuilles. La société gère trois stratégies différentes : une sur les matières premières, une de managed futures et une autre de réplication de hedge funds. Cette prise de participation vise à renforcer la plate-forme de stratégies alternatives de Franklin Templeton.
Axa IM lance un fonds à duration courte
Afin de répondre à la demande de produits à faible sensibilité à l'évolution des taux d’intérêt, Axa Investment managers UK a lancé le 12 novembre un fonds obligataire AXA Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond Fund qui est géré par Julie Lamirel.Ce nouveau produit distribué sur le marché britannique est un compartiment de l’OEIC Axa Fixed Interest. Il sera investi principalement en obligations d’entreprises investment grade libellées en livres sterling avec une échéance résiduelle inférieure à 5 ans. Il ne pourra allouer plus de 10 % aux obligations à haut rendement.Axa IM propose des parts retail et institutionnelles pour ce fonds, la souscription minimale étant fixée à 1.000 livres sterling pour les parts retail.
BlackRock fait du prêt de titres un centre de profit
Les actifs de 37 des fonds retail britanniques de BlackRock feront l’objet de prêts de titres pour générer des commissions qui viendront bonifier la performance, rapporte Fund Strategy.60 % des recettes iront aux fonds et les 40 % restants à BlackRock Adivsor, l’agent du prêt de titres. Les fonds qui pratiquaient déjà le prêt de titres auparavant percevront 70 % de la recette, conformément aux accords qui avaient été passés antérieurement.
19/11/2010
Cheyne Capital recrute chez Morgan Stanley
Le gestionnaire alternatif britannique Cheyne Capital Management (6 milliards de dollars) a annoncé le 17 novembre, le recrutement de John Hyman qui devient associé de la société. Il doit aider Cheyne Capital à développer son activité sur les actions, à lancer de nouveaux produits et à trouver des idées d’investissement.Depuis 17 ans, l’impétrant était chez Morgan Stanley, où il a exercé des postes de responsabilité dans le domaine des actions.
19/11/2010
Access s’allie au finlandais Pohjola
Access Capital Partners Group, un fournisseur de fonds de fonds de private equity gérant 2,9 milliards d’euros, acquiert Pohjola Private Equity Funds, société de capital investissement - gérant 1,6 milliard d’euros - faisant partie du groupe finlandais de services financiers Pohjola Group. De plus, il noue un partenariat de distribution avec la société de gestion du groupe, Pohjola Asset Management, dont les encours ressortent à 35 milliards d’euros, dans les pays nordiques. Dans le même temps, Pohjola Bank, qui fait aussi partie de Pohjola Group, acquiert 40 % d’Access Capital Partners Group à CapMan et aux associés d’Access. L’équipe garde 55 % du capital et CapMan, 5 %.
19/11/2010
Assets in pension funds will rapidly increase by one third
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by the consulting firm Towers Watson, the German corporate retirement planning market already represents over EUR400bn, but only EUR14.5bn will be placed in pension funds, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Towers Watson predicts that growth rates will total 20% to 30% in the mid-term, while the EUR20bn threshold may soon be reached. So far, most contributions are concentrated on seven pension funds and four or five providers of such funds, such as Allianz and other insurers.
19/11/2010
Aberdeen acquires a real estate property in Flensburg
In a period in which the troubles of the DEGI-branded open-ended real estate funds is a focus of attention for German professionals, Aberdeen Asset Management has announced that it has acquired a portfolio of commercial properties with a total area of 7,000 square metres, all located in Flensburg, for its institutional Aberdeen European Shopping Property Fund.The acquisition price has not been revealed, but a statement says that the German affiliate Aberdeen Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH (which also manages the DEGI funds) was actively involved at every phase.The Aberdeen European Shopping Property Fund, managed by Nico tates, has assets of about EUR115m, and will soon be opened to new investors. Its portfolio includes commercial properties in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, with a market value of EUR198m.
19/11/2010
Access to hedge funds may be facilitated
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian Treasury is considering lowering the minimal amount required to invest in a hedge fund in Italy to EUR250,000, Bluerating reports, citing Alessandro Rivera, general director of the ministry of the Economy, speaking at a press conference held by MondoHedge. The minimal amount is currently EUR500,000.
19/11/2010
Amundi to double German-Austrian assets in five years
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi has now officially launched its activities in Germany. Due to the high level of volatility on these markets, the French manager will promote its absolute return products in particular. Hubert Dänner, director for Germany, says the objective is to double assets under management in Germany and Austria to EUR7bn in five years, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Growth will be organic.
19/11/2010
Sabadell woos potential pension fund subscribers
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An end-of-year campaign by the Catalan bank Sabadell offers a savings account paying 5% interest to clients who sign up for one of the pension funds from the group, or make a payment of at least EUR600 into their existing fund. The 5% savings deposit will be for the same amount as the contribution into the pension fund, Expansión reports. In addition, Sabadell has added a guaranteed product to its pension fund range, the BS Plan Futuro, which offers guaranteed technical returns of 2.20% per year until 26 January 2017.
19/11/2010
Petercam extends sales focus to Southern Europe
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tomás Murillo has been appointed as director of sales for the development of Petercam’s institutional activities in Spain. He was previously head of institutional clients at Bank Degroof, and head of the Brussels office of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. The Belgian management firm is currently adding to its sales staff in Europe, and will soon confirm the appointment of Bernard Jans as head of sales for Germany. Petercam is also engaged in an effort to reinforce its personnel in France, with a recruitment for a support person in Brussels, to cater for Ives Hup, senior sales manager, and Thierry Minet, sales & account manager. Extending this reinforcement process to the French market, Petercam doesn’t rule out a local recruitment in Italy, in light of the specificities of this market, which is also covered by Ives Hup.
19/11/2010
Franklin Templeton buys Rensburg Fund Management
Franklin Resources has announced that its subsidiary Franklin Templeton Global Investors Limited (UK) has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Rensburg Fund Management, a subsidiary of Investec, in an all cash transaction for GBP 45 million (approximately USD 72 million). The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in early 2011. Based in Leeds, UK, Rensburg Fund Management is a specialist UK Equity manager with a track record of managing unit trusts dating back to 1985. The team of six investment professionals has a combined tenure of 43 years managing six distinctive strategies: UK Equity Income; UK Blue Chip Growth; UK Midcap Growth; UK Select Growth; UK Smaller Companies and UK Managers’ focus. The group manages approximately GBP 880 million (as of 01 November 2010) in UK equities. Jamie Hammond, Managing Director Europe, Franklin Templeton Investments said: “We are best known in the UK for our global and specialist funds, and we are looking to develop core UK equity products, which are an important asset class for UK investors”. Franklin Resources has also entered into a strategic relationship with Pelagos Capital Management, LLC, acquiring a 20 percent equity stake in the firm. Pelagos, an independent investment advisor, was founded in 2005 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm’s mission is to create alternative investment solutions that enhance overall returns and lower portfolio volatility. Pelagos manages three distinct alternative investment capabilities including a commodity strategy, a managed futures strategy, and a hedge fund replication strategy.
19/11/2010
Société Générale offers a one-stop UCITS fund solution
Societe Generale has launched a UCITS Fund Solution for fund managers setting up or redomiciling funds under UCITS regulations. The new service provides an easily accessible, one-stop solution combining the custody, trustee, administration, execution and finance tools required to set up UCITS compliant funds, along with the core services required to operate them. This new solution has been developed by teams from Societe Generale Securities Services and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking and offers asset managers the following benefits: − A competitively-priced alternative to using a UCITS platform; − Access to independent assistance on corporate and operational infrastructure; − Societe Generale Securities Services’ comprehensive global custody, trustee and administration services, including liquidity management, collateral management and OTC derivative pricing; − Synthetic shorting via Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking’s Dynamic Portfolio Swap Platform; − Extensive execution solutions from the Corporate & Investment Bank, with one of the largest liquidity pools in Global Equities, providing access to 70 equity cash and derivatives markets; − Access to the Corporate & Investment Bank’s ranked research services. P {MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.08in}
19/11/2010
AxaRosenberg CIO resigns
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } William Ricks resigned on Monday from his position as chief investment officer at AxaRosenberg Investment Management, Pensions & Investment reports, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire. It is not yet known whether the management firm has already appointed a successor.Mutual Fund Wire reports that the departure of Ricks is the most recent in a series of changes to the management at AxaRosenberg, in the wake of the coding glitch introduced into their systems in June 2009, and discovered in April 2010.
19/11/2010
Cantab to launch a Newcits fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Citywire reports that Cantab Capital Partners, a firm based in Cambridge, will create a UCITS III version of its star hedge fund CCP Quantitative Fund. The Cantab Quantitative UCITS Fund will be launched in January 2011.
19/11/2010
Axa IM launches a short duration fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } To respond to demand from clients for products with lower sensitivity to changing interest rates, Axa Investment Managers UK on 12 November launched the AXA Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond Fund, which is managed by Julie Lamirel. The new product, available on the British market, is a sub-fund of the Axa Fixed Interest OEIC. It will invest primarily in investment grade corporate bonds, denominated in pounds sterling, with a remaining duration to maturity of less than 5 years. It cannot allocate more than 10% to high yield bonds. Axa IM offers retail and institutional shares in the fund, with minimal subscription set at GBP1,000 for retail shares.
19/11/2010
BlackRock makes securities lending a source of profit
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets in the 37 British retail funds from BlackRock are being used for securities lending to generate commissions which will be fed back into the fund as an added source of returns, Fund Strategy reports.60% of revenues will go to the funds, while the remaining 40% will go to BlackRock Advisor, the securities lending agent. Funds which were already being used for securities lending will receive 70% of revenues, in keeping with agreements which had been concluded previously.
19/11/2010
Credit Suisse registers a smidcaps Newcits fund in Spain
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UCITS-compliant long/short fund Credit Suisse SICAV One (Lux) Small and Mid Cap Alpha Long/Short has been registered with the CNMV. The portfolio, with 70 positions, 55 long and 15 short, is managed with a bottom-up approach by Felix Meier. As its name indicates, the fund invests in European small and midcaps.
19/11/2010
db x-trackers to list its ETFs in Madrid
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Several ETFs from the db x-trackers range (Deutsche Bank) will be released on the Madrid stock exchange next week, Funds People has announced. Currently, only two promoters are offering ETFs on the Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME): BBVA, with 8 products, and Lyxor Asset Management, with 35 funds.
19/11/2010
HSBC launches six new ETF funds
HSBC launched, on November 18, six Irish based ETFs on Euronext Paris. These funds are:- HSBC MSCI EUROPE ETF/ IF00B5BD5K76- HSBC S&P 500 ETF/IE00B5KQNG97- HSBC MSCI USA ETF/IE00B5WFQ436- HSBC MSCI Brazil ETF/ IE00B5W34K94- HSBC MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF /IEB00B5SG8Z57- HSBC MSCI EM Far East ETF/IE00B5LP3W10
19/11/2010
Century launches a growth fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Century Capital Management has launched the Century Growth Opportunities Fund, specialised in small and midcaps. The fund, managed by Donald Bisson and David Borah, will largely invest in the United States, but, according to Mutual Fund Wire, up to 20% of the portfolio may be placed in foreign countries, including emerging markets.
19/11/2010
Alken preparing an absolute return fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January 2011, the management firm founded by Nicolas Walewski, Alken Asset management, is planning to launch the UCITS-compliant long/short fund Alken Absolute Return Europe, which will invest in European equities, Funds People reports (see Newsmanagers of 18 November). The new product will replicate the long/short strategy of the Alken Capital One fund, launched in July 2008, which has so far generated returns of about 60%, in a UCITS III-compliant environment. The Alken Absolute Return Europe may have a gross total exposure to the market of 50% to 150%, with market risks dynamically hedged with futures. Minimal subscription will be EUR100. Alken is planning to charge a management commission of 1.5% for institutionals and 2.25% for retail investors, while performance commission is set at 20%.
19/11/2010
Access teams up with Finnish Pohjola group
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Access Capital Partners Group, a provider of private equity funds of funds which manages EUR2.9bn in assets, has acquired Pohjola Private Equity Funds, a private equity firm with EUR1.6bn in assets under management, part of the Finnish financial services group Pohjola Group. In addition, it has signed a distribution partnership with the asset management firm of the group, Pohjola Asset Management, with assets of EUR3.5bn, covering the Scandinavian countries.
19/11/2010
South Korea imposes tax on foreign investors
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that South Korea will be reintroducing a tax on acquisitions of government bonds by foreign investors, in order to protect its economy from sudden and massive movements of capital, the Korean finance minister announced on Thursday. The quantitative easing measures adopted by the US Federal Exchange have led to further falls for the US dollar, and further accentuated the flows of capital towards emerging markets, which offer investors higher yields. Hence the appreciation of currencies in these emerging markets, which works against their exports.
19/11/2010
Two Madoff employees arrested
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two former employees of Bernard Madoff’s company were arrested on Thursday, Reuters reports, citing the FBI. They are Jo Ann Crumpi and Annette Bongiorno, who worked for 25 and 40 years, respectively, for the fraudster currently serving a prison sentence. The two «back office» employees are accused of playing key roles in deceiving investors and regulators and propping up the investment fraud, according to the WSJ.
19/11/2010
Cheyne Capital recruits a manager from Morgan Stanley
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British hedge fund manager Cheyne Capital Management (USD6bn) announced on 17 November that it has recruited John Hyman, who becomes a partner at the firm. He will help Cheyne Capital to develop its equities activities, launch new products, and to come up with investment ideas. Hyman was previously at Morgan Stanley, where he served in positions of responsibility in the area of equities.
19/11/2010
Les ETF européens continuent à profiter de l'intérêt pour les produits sur actions
Selon les données de iShares pour « L’Agefi », les flux entrants ont atteint 5,39 milliards d’euros dont 34 % provenant des ETF actions régionaux
19/11/2010
L'OCDE voit un tassement de la reprise mondiale plus marqué en 2011
L'organisation a ramené sa prévision de croissance du PIB dans la zone de 2,8 % à 2,3 % en 2011, avec une forte révision aux Etats-Unis