Walewski va lancer un Newcits
D’après Citywire, Nicolas Walewski prépare le lancement d’un fonds long/short sur les actions européennes au format Ucits III qui sera disponible en janvier 2011. Le fonds s’appellera Alken Absolute Return Europe.
18/11/2010
Manuela Fröhlich quitte F&C
Dans une lettre aux distributeurs et aux clients, Manuela Fröhlich, director et head of global wholesale, annonce qu’elle quitte F&C à la fin du mois, rapporte Fondsprofessionell. Ces deux dernières années, elle a également dirigé le sales support/wholesale pour l’espace germanophone ainsi que le marketing wholesale. Elle avait rejoint le gestionnaire britannique en mai 2001. Elle est remplacée dès à présent par James Young (ex Thames River) et Angela Lo Mascolo.
18/11/2010
Barclays PE adapte sa gouvernance avant son indépendance
Selon l’Agefi, Barclays Private Equity, la filiale de capital-investissement de Barclays Capital, qui entend prendre son indépendance dans les prochains mois et vient de lancer la levée d’un quatrième fonds, s’apprête à mettre en place une nouvelle organisation. Celle-ci consacrera la montée en puissance de Guillaume Jacqueau, le directeur général du bureau parisien. A compter de février 2011 environ, @font-face { font-family: «Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } au moment du premier closing du fonds IV, il sera le seul patron exécutif de Barclays PE Europe, aujourd’hui pilotée par un trio, précise le quotidien.
18/11/2010
TPG et Blackstone s'intéressent à Egg
L’Agefi rapporte que les deux sociétés de private equity TPG et Blackstone devraient soumettre une offre pour la banque en ligne britannique Egg, détenue par Citigroup. Selon l’une des sources proches du dossier, les offres devraient avoisiner les 300 millions de livres.
UniImmo: Deutschland investit à Glasgow
Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été divulgué, mais l’allemand Union Investement Real Estate (UIRE) a annoncé avoir acheté l’immeuble de bureaux Equinox (6.800 mètres carrés) dans le centre de Glasgow. Cet actif achevé en 2002 et entièrement loué est affecté au fonds immobilier offert au public UniImmo: Deutschland.Cette transaction est le premier investissement dans l’immobilier de bureau pour UIRE au Royaume-Uni en dehors de la région de Londres.
18/11/2010
Christian Elsmark quitte Scottish Widows
Selon IPE, Christian Elsmark, managing director pour l’Europe de Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), a quitté la société après y avoir passé deux ans. Il était responsable de la Scandinavie, de l’Espagne, de l’Italie et de l’Allemagne et venait de FundQuest.
18/11/2010
Fund assets still EUR42bn below their late 2007 levels
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 September, assets in German open-ended funds totalled EUR689.4bn, compared with EUR731.1bn as of the end of 2007, although these assets have increased strongly since the crash of 2008, which brought EUR27.8bn in net outflows and EUR127.5bn in losses. In 2009, the Kommalpha agency reports on the basis of statistics from the BVI association of German asset management firms, net subscriptions represented EUR2.1bn and positive market effects came to EUR72.6bn. Since the beginning of this year, net inflows have totalled EUR19bn, on capital gains of EUR19.9b. Of the EUR42bn still needed to return to late 2007 levels, about EUR7bn correspond to net outflows, and EUR35bn to losses. Kommalpha also notes that since 2008, total assets in equities funds fell by half, losing more than EUR100bn, while a significant proportion of assets in real estate funds are currently iliquid. At first glance, there appears to be no noticeable modification to global allocation, as equities and bond funds still represent about 50% of the market, but diversified funds have doubled their share, to 16.7% compared with 8.1% at the end of 2007, while money market funds have fallen to 7%, compared with 13.8% of the total.
18/11/2010
Edram appoints a country head for German-speaking countries
After Benelux and Spain (see Newsmanagers of 27 September and 12 November), Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) has concretised its plans to create a Frankfurt office, in Openturn, as the chairman of the board announced to Newsmanagers less than two months ago. The team will not be operational until January, however.The office will be led by Rupert Hengster, head of activities development for the German-speaking countries. Hengster was president of the executive committee at the asset management firm Oppenheim KAG in Cologne (2004-2010), and a member of the board of directors at the wealth management and asset management group Sal. Oppenheim in Luxembourg. He resigned from his position at the end of September (see Newsmanagers of 20 March).Hengster will focus in particular on the creation of a distribution network serving institutional and third-party clients. The office will have five members.The funds which will be made available in Germany, all of which are French-registered, in keeping with Edram’s doctrine, are the following:Europe RendementEurope Rendement FlexibleSaint-Honoré Europe SynergieTricolore RendementSaint-Honoré ConvertiblesSaint-Honoré US Value & YieldSaint-Honoré Chine
18/11/2010
Hard times for absolute return funds
As of 30 June, the number of absolute return funds on sale in Germany totalled 308. Since June 2007, 96 funds have been closed, while 172 have been launched. Total assets fell from EUR38.4bn as of 30 June 2007 to EUR23.4bn one year later, and then to EUR18.5bn as of the end of June 2009. Since then, they have returned to EUR20.9bn, a study from the Frankfurt-based Lupus alpha (EUR5.6bn in absolute return funds and EUR1.4bn in European small caps, as of the end of October) finds.Average returns of 0.57% per year for the three years to the end of June 2009 were transformed into losses of 0.31% per year for the three years to the end of June 2010. Only 50% of funds posted positive results. In first half 2010, average performance was limited to 0.07%, with about half of funds still in positive territory. But resluts for individual funds vary widely, from losses of 16.7% to positive returns of 24.2%.Lupus alpha reports that over three years, only 21% of absolute return funds show a positive Sharpe ratio.
18/11/2010
OFI AM and Gottex launch a managed accounts platform
OFI Asset Management, via its affiliate OFI Lux, and Gottex Solutions Services, a services specialist affiliate of the alternative management firm Gottex Fund Management Holdings Limited (Gottex), on 17 November announced in a statement that they plan to jointly create Luma Solutions Services, a platform based in Luxembourg which will aim to provide managed accounts services to UCITS-compliant mutual funds and other European-registered funds. The platform will have an initial asset portfolio of USD350m (about EUR250m).According to the statement, Luma Solutions Services will be the first independent services platform capable of offering European and international clients managed accounts services aimed at Luxembourg mutual funds, whether or not they comply with UCITS III. The services will be subcontracted by Luma Solutions Services to GSS. GSS will provide both onshore and offshore managed account services, on an aggregate total of USD1bn, covering a wide range of strategies and asset classes.
18/11/2010
Crossbridge Capital sets up shop in Singapore
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The London-based management firm Crossbridge Capital on 17 November announced the opening of a Singapore office, which will have a team of three staff members recruited from Julius Baer. The goal is initially to consolidate the local presence by offering advising to high net worth clients, and then to develop on the Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, and Indonesian markets. Crossbridge Capital was founded in September 2008, at the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, by six bankers from Credit Suisse specialised in high net worth Middle Eastern clients. With more than 25 professionals, Crossbridge had previously focused its efforts on the Middle East, Russia, the Community of Independent States (CIS, former Soviet republics), and Turkey.
18/11/2010
PGGM seeks to measure social impact of ESG investment
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Dutch pension fund PGGM, with about EUR99bn in assets, has launched a research program in partnership with the university of Rotterdam, to measure the social impact of its ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment portfolio, Responsible Investor reports. The evaluation of the sustainable value of ESG investments is of increasing interest to institutional investors, who are seeking to justify the financial and social impact of responsible investment strategies.
18/11/2010
Nikko AM acquires Australia's Tyndall Investments
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nikko Asset Management on 16 November announced that it has acquired Tyndall Investments, an affiliate of Suncorp Group, with about USD25bn in assets under management in the New Zealand and Australian markets. With the operation, assets under management at Tyndall Investments will total USD145bn. Assets at Nikko AM, which has over 530 employees, will soon be about 30% abroad (compared with 15% previously), with about 30% of staff based abroad.
18/11/2010
CMC Markets opens office in France
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British brokerage CMC Markets UK Ltd, one of the major specialists in contracts for difference (CFD) along with the British IG Markets and the Danish Saxo Bank, has announced that it has recently received a license from the AMF.The firm has opened an office in Paris on the Champs Elysées. It is the group’s 17th affiliate. The Paris location is operated by a team of 15 people, directed by Fabrice Cousté, who “previously occupied key positions, first at Boursorama (Société Générale group), and then at B*Capital (BNP Paribas group),” a statement says.CMC Markets has reported 26 million orders executed for 2009, for an amount of over GBP770bn, traded by 80,000 active clients worldwide.
18/11/2010
CalPERS on the offensive over transparency
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 17 November announced new transparency requirements: all service providers will be required to divulge any potential use of an agent to win new contracts, and any family or financial ties which they may have to members of the CalPERS board of trustees. This new measure comes as a complement to those already adopted in the past 18 months, and will ensure that the fund’s decisions are “open and transparent,” says Rob Feckner, chairman of the board at CalPERS. The new rule comes into effect from 1 December, and applies to all contracts valued at USD10,000 or more.
18/11/2010
UniImmo: Deutschland invests in Glasgow
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The purchase price has not been disclosed, but the German fund management firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has announced that it has acquired the Equinox office building (6,800 square metres) in the centre of Glasgow. The property, completed in 2002 and wholly leased, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland. The transaction it the first investment in UK office real estate outside the London area for UIRE.
18/11/2010
Santander accounts for more than one quarter of foreign fund sales
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the CNMV for first quarter, assets in foreign funds in Spain totalled EUR30.86bn as of the end of March. Of this total, more than EUR8.37bn, or 27%, was distributed through the networks of Santander and its affiliates Banif and Banesto, Funds People reports. The second-largest distributor of foreign funds, with EUR2.66bn and 8.6% of the total, is BBVA, followed by La Caixa, with EUR1.67bn. The next two in the list are Deutsche Bank (EUR1.62bn), and UBS (EUR1.58bn). The first French actor in the rankings is BNP Paribas, in ninth place with over EUR1.2bn.
18/11/2010
Walewski to launch a Newcits
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Citywire reports that Nicolas Walewski is preparing to launch a UCITS III-compliant long/short fund of European equities, which will be available in January 2011. The fund will be entitled Alken Absolute Return Europe.
18/11/2010
Julius Baer launches a European absolute return fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Andy Kastner has been placed in charge of the new Absolute Return Europe Equity Fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Julius Baer Multistock, managed by Swiss & Global Asset Management (GAM group), by Julius Baer. It is a market neutral UCITS-compliant absolute return fund, with fees of 1.2% and a performance commission of 10%. The management team relies on a neutral sectoral strategy with 50 to 80 positions, equally divided end weighted between long and short, though the fund may also make temporary tactical investments and use derivatives.
18/11/2010
US banks targeted by Fed
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US Federal Reserve announced on 17 November that it is continuing its close surveillance of the largest banks in the country. The Fed says that large US banks which would like to increase their dividend in 2011 will first need to prove their financial solidity and their ability to adapt to likely changes in regulation. It has published a directive laying out the way in which it plans to respond to demands from banks from among the 19 largest in the country seeking to increase their dividends or buy back shares this year. Among the criteria to be considered, the Fed says it will take into account the capacity of these banks “to absorb losses in the next two years in unfavourable scenarios.” The central bank would also like to highlight the ways in which the banks will respond to the standards set out by the Basel Committee for banking controls, when “they come into force in the United States,” as well as the ways in which the banks plan to adapt to Wall Street reforms passed in July.
18/11/2010
Christian Elsmark leaves Scottish Widows
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } IPE understands that Christian Elsmark, managing director, Europe, at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), has left the firm after spending two years there. He was head for Scandinavia, Spain, Italy and Germany, and joined the company from FundQuest.
18/11/2010
TPG and Blackstone interested in Egg
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that the two private equity firms TPG and Blacktsone will make a joint offer for the British online bank Egg, which is owned by Citigroup. According to sources familiar with the matter, offers will be at around GBP300m.
18/11/2010
Pension funds turn to alternative investment
About two thirds of managers and trustees of British pension funds continue to be concerned by the current volatility of the markets, an annual online survey from Baring Asset Management of professionals in the industry reveals. The responses also reveal that half of pension funds have recently modified their asset allocation in response to these concerns, mostly (61%) reducing their exposure to equities in favour of alternative investments (69%). 61% of managers say that the modifications were intended to reduce the volatility of the funds, while the second most frequently cited reason (54%) is a desire to reduce the correlation between asset classes in the portfolio.The survey has also found that 44% of respondents are seeking to better diversify their assets. The other most frequently used solutions to reduce the impact of volatility are strengthening risk/return analysis and making more regular revisions of portfolios.In terms of the subsequent evolution of asset allocation, 65% of managers estimate that emerging Asian equities will have the highest potential for gains in the next ten years.
18/11/2010
Manuela Fröhlich leaves F&C
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a letter to distributors and clients, Manuela Fröhlich, director and head of global wholesale, has announced that she will be leaving F&C at the end of the month, Fondsprofessionell reports. In the past two years, she has also been head of sales support/wholesale for the German-speaking countries and wholesale marketing. She joined the UK asset management firm in May 2001. She will be replaced by James Young (formerly of Thames River) and Angela Lo Mascolo, effective immediately.
18/11/2010
FSA publishes proposals for platforms
The Financial Services Authority on 17 November published proposals to bring platform services for purchase and management of investments into line with the requirements set forth by the new RDR regulations from January 2013. The proposals reflect the increasingly large role which platforms play on the retail market, the FSA says in a statement.From January 2013, the cost of advising will be decided by the client and the adviser, and not by the adviser and the provider of the product, as was previously the case, and these costs may not be hidden from the consumer in the cost of the product.The British market watchdog also proposes that independent firms should be allowed to use a single platform for most of their clients, if the choice is in the best interest of the client.
18/11/2010
La convergence fiscale franco-allemande sera longue à mettre en œuvre
La réforme devra passer par un rapprochement des choix de politique économique. Le rôle des Länder devrait compliquer le processus outre-Rhin
18/11/2010
L’immobilier sourit à Cerberus
Le quotidien souligne que Cerberus Capital a engrangé depuis l’an passé un gain de près de 2 milliards de dollars grâce à ses investissements sur les RMBS, ces titres adossés à des créances hypothécaires. Son fonds vedette Cerberus Institutional Partners LP Series IV a enregistré une performance voisine de 20% cette année.
18/11/2010
Le marché de bureaux francilien poursuit sa reprise au troisième trimestre
D’après BNP Paribas Real Estate, 1,6 million de m² ont été commercialisés au cours des neuf premiers mois de 2010, soit +28 % sur un an
18/11/2010
La dette française est sensible au risque souverain périphérique
La corrélation du spread OAT/Bund à 10 ans avec ceux des dettes irlandaise et portugaise par rapport à l'allemande s'accroît