Il y a deux ans, Natixis ouvrait une filiale de banque privée en Suisse, Natixis Gestion de Fortune, qui employait à l’origine deux personnes. Aujourd’hui, rapporte Le Temps, le groupe a décidé de se retirer de la place genevoise. «Nous avons souhaité nous recentrer sur nos réseaux, surtout en France, où les actionnaires sont les plus présents», précise-t-elle. La banque rappelle la structure du groupe a changé suite à la fusion entre Banque Populaire et Caisse d’Epargne, ses deux actionnaires, devenus Groupe BPCE.
Swiss Life a annoncé le 29 octobre la nomination à compter du 1er décembre de Thomas Bahc, jusqu’à présent responsable des activités Clientèle privée de SwissLife en Suisse, en qualité de responsable du secteur opérationnel Gestion à canaux multiples. Paul Weibel, actuellement responsable des affaires Vie pour la clientèle privée chez Zurich Suisse, lui succède au poste de responsable Clientèle privée.
Van Eck Global a annoncé le 28 octobre le lancement du Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE Arca: REMX), le premier ETF coté aux Etats-Unis à offrir aux investisseurs une exposition pure (pure play) aux actions des sociétés principalement engagées dans la production, le raffinage et le recyclage des terres rares et des métaux stratégiques. Pour entrer dans l’indice de référence (Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index), les sociétés doivent justifier de leur capacité à générer plus de 50 % de leur chiffre d’affaires du secteur des terres rares et métaux stratégiques.Au 13 octobre 2010, l’indice se composait de 24 noms de 8 pays différents, les plus grandes pondérations étant attribuées à l’Australie (23,9 %), au Canada (19,81 %), aux Etats-Unis (18,77 %) et à la Chine (14,84 %). Pour les valeurs chinoises, l’indice se concentre uniquement sur celles cotées à Hong-Kong (H-shares).Le REMX est assorti d’un taux net de frais sur encours de 0,57 %.
Le capital-investisseur américain Blackstone a annoncé le 28 octobre avoir réalisé pour le troisième trimestre 2010 un «bénéfice net économique» de 339,28 millions de dollars contre 275,35 millions pour la période correspondante de 2009, ce qui porte le total des neuf premiers mois de cette année à 904,91 millions contre 373,75 millions.En termes comptables, toutefois, Blackstone affiche un bénéfice net de 147,53 millions pour juillet-septembre et une perte nette de 746,1 millions pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, contre des pertes de respectivement 479,51 millions et 2 milliards pour les périodes correspondantes de 2007.L’encours total géré à fin septembre se montait à 119,11 milliards de dollars contre 97,55 milliards douze mois auparavant, dont 29,2 milliards contre 24,31 milliards pour le private equity, 27,13 milliards contre 20,43 milliards pour l’immobilier et 62,78 milliards contre 52,81 milliards pour l’activité «credit & marketable alternatives».
USAA annonce le lancement de deux nouveaux mutuals funds. La société de gestion américaine, basée à San Antonio, renforce ainsi sa gamme dédiée à lutter contre l’inflation montante, dans un environnement économique incertain.USAA Real Return Fund s’adresse aux investisseurs craignant l’inflation. Son portefeuille est investi dans diverses classes d’actifs (bonds de trésor américain, obligations high yield, métaux précieux, trusts immobilier par exemple). Son allocation sera adaptée activement par l'équipe de gestion en fonction de l’environnement économique.Le fonds USAA Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund s’adresse quant à lui aux investisseurs «averses» au risque et soucieux de se protéger d’une éventuelle hausse des taux. Le portefeuille d’obligations du fonds contient des obligations à échéance plus courte.
Ameriprise a fait état le 27 octobre d’un bénéfice net de 344 millions de dollars pour le compte du troisième trimestre, en hausse de 32% par rapport au troisième trimestre 2009. Les actifs sous gestion et sous administration d’Ameriprise s’inscrivaient au 30 septembre à 649 milliards de dollars, en hausse de 48% sur un an en raison de l’acquisition de Columbia Management et de l’effert marché.L’encours du pôle gestion d’actifs s’est accru pour sa part de 89% au troisième trimestre à 445 milliards de dollars, en raison de l’acquisition de Columbia Management et de l’appréciation de S&P 500. Côté gestion américaine, le trimestre s’est terminé sur une décollecte nette de 3,2 milliards de dollars, notamment du côté actions. Threadneedle a de son côté enregistré une collecte nette de 1,1 milliard de dollars au troisième trimestre, en raison d’une forte demande institutionnelle, la partie retail eruopéenne s soldant par une décollecte nette.Les actifs sous gestion aux Etats-Unis s’inscrivaient au 30 septembre à 347 milliards de dollars, contre 146 milliards un an plus tôt, avec l’acquisition de Columbia Management. Les encours de Threadneedle marquaient de leur côté une progression de 9% au 30 septembre à 102 milliards de dollars.
Les actifs sous gestion de Legg Mason se sont accrus de 4% durant le trimestre à fin octobre par rapport au 30 juin pour s'établir à 673,5 milliards de dollars. Le trimestre s’est terminé sur une décollecte nette de 12,7 milliards de dollars, dont 8 milliards de dollars sur le fixed income, largement compensé par un effet marché positif de 40,8 milliards de dollars.Le bénéfice net du trimestre s’est élevé à 75,3 millions de dollars (dont une plus-value fiscale de 8,9 millions de dollars au Royaume-uni) contre 47,9 millions un trimestre plus tôt pour un chiffre d’affaires en légère hausse à 674,8 millions de dollars contre 674,2 millions de dollars.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that the current regime for qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) may be replaced in three to five years with a more flexible “free market investing scheme.” Until then, relaxation or discontinuation of restrictions will continue, said Mao Shuguang, head of product management at Harvest Global Investments, at a regional conference. Mao also underscored the increasing interest of investors in the renminbi market (RMB). The Chinese government appears to want to develop this market, partly because the Bank of China has set up a new department whose mission is to promote the internationalisation of RMB. The free circulation of capital is not going to happen right away. It will take at least ten years to get there, says Mao.
Le fonds du Conseil national de la sécurité sociale de la Chine (NCSSF) a lancé un appel d’offres invitant les sociétés de gestion locales et les firmes de titres à postuler pour l’attribution de mandats de gestion, rapporte Z-Ben Advisors Les actifs sous gestion du fonds s'élèvaient fin 2009 à 776,5 milliards de yuans soit quelque 85 milliards d’euros.Le processus de sélection peut être assez long. Il a ainsi fallu près de deux ans au NCSSF pour dresser la liste des sociétés de gestion étrangères qu’il avait retenues et qui a été publiée en mars dernier (on y trouve entre autres Allianz, Invesco, AllianceBernstein, Axa Rosenberg, State Street Global Advisors, Janus Intech, T. Rowe Price, BlackRock et Pimco). Dans la pratique, le NCSSF a assoupli ses règles : auparavant, il fallait que les gestionnaires candidats justifient d’une encours minimal de 20 milliards de yuans dans leurs fonds offerts au public. A présent, ce montant s’entend avec les plans d'épargne d’entreprise ainsi que les mandats mono ou multi-clients. Parmi les soumissionnaires figurent désormais ICBC Credit Suisse, Full Goal, Guangfa, Franklin Templeton Sealand, Huatai Pinebrigde ou Huashang.L’appel d’offres ouvre très explicitement les portes à des maisons de titres comme Citic Securities, Everbright Securities et Haitong Securities, en plus de CICC.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stoxx Limited (Deutsche Börse and SIX Bour Suisse) on 28 October announced the launch of the Stoxx Europe 600 Equal Weighted Index, an equally-weighted version of the Stoxx Europe 600. The new index is designed to serve as an underlying for ETFs and other structured products. The new product uses the same methodology as the Stoxx Europe 600, with the difference of weighting, as all the components have the same weight, which results in exposure to small caps of 33% rather than 5%, while reducing the weight of large caps from 83% to 33%. As for the Euro Stoxx 600, the composition of the Stoxx Europe 600 Equal Weighted Index will be updated and rebalanced every quarter. The index is backdated to 31 December 1991 for the share price and net return version, and to 31 December 2000 for gross returns.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on 28 October published new rules which will be added to IFRS 9 for financial instruments and complete the first round of work on the planned replacement for IAS 39 standards for financial instruments. The new rules in particular treat the problem of volatility of result accounting (P&L) when an issuer chooses to record fair value of its debt. The IASB has decided to maintain amortised cost accounting for most liabilities. The modifications related to the use of fair value for accounting debt will no longer be due to P&L, but instead to “other comprehensive income” (OCI), which provides a way to measure variation in owners’ equity between two points in time. The entry into force of IFRS 9 is planned for 1 January 2013. In the meanwhile, the IASB will complete the second and third phases of the planned replacement of IAS39 standards, treating accounting for depreciation of financial assets and hedge accounting. The two phases will be completed by the end of June 2011.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Privalto UK, an affiliate of BNP Paribas, has decided to close its Millenium tracker fund, which replicates the performance of the BNP Paribas Millenium 10 Europe Series 3 (Sterling Hedged) Total Return index. The index is composed of liquid shares, including US, European and Asian equities as well as commodities, real estate, and foreign currencies. The product had GBP7m in assets, which is too small to be profitable.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In Asia, the cost of creating a hedge fund is lower than in the West, as financial centres are seeking to attract actors of this type, who bring liquidity to the markets, while hedge fund managers are attracted to growth markets which offer prospects of lucrative returns, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Currently, Eurekahedge reports, there are 1,248 hedge funds in Asia, more than in 2007 before the financial crisis, although at USD116.9bn, their assets have not returned to their peak levels of 2007. The largest 20% of hedge funds in the region control 60% of assets in the sector. The performance of hedge funds in 2009 was 53.62% in India, 45.31% in China, 41.52% in Australia, 7.17% in Japan and 9.47% in Korea, with an average of 26.71% for Asia as a whole.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The first fund of hedge funds was created in Switzerland in 1969. Currently, one third of products are domiciled in Switzerland; there are about 10,000 hedge funds worldwide, with total assets of USD500bn to USD600bn, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The largest providers are Alternative and Quantitative Investments (UBS), Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, UBP, HSBC Alternative Investments and Grosvenor Capital Management.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that the US management firm Legg Mason has announced the merger of its British value fund (GBP7.6m in assets) into the international Legg Mason global equity income fund (GBP7.2m). Legg Mason’s decision is related to concerns over the ability of the FTSE to produce returns for investors.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fund Strategy reports that Investec Asset Management has lowered the management commission for its Target Return Fund (GBP374m) from 1.50% to 1.25%, but that it has increased fees for five funds. Fees for the Cautious Managed Fund (GBP1.6bn) will increase to 1.5% from 1.25%, while the Strategic Bond Fund (GBP268m) and Global Bond Fund (GBP150m) will be increased to 1% from 0.75%. The Monthly High Income Fund (GBP197m) and Target Return Fund (GBP374m) are increased from 0.95% to 1.25% and to 1.5% from 1.25%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Generali Investments has extended its range of European funds with the Generali IS-GaranT 5 (LU0499461126) and Generali IS-Tactical Bond Allocation (LU0500334650). The second fund in particular is an innovation, as it offers the best ideas from various bond managers of the group, whose assets in this asset class total over EUR250bn. According to Carlo Cavazzoni, European head of institutional sales, the product brings together all the advantages of management which is flexible, tactical and dynamic in all bond sub-funds. The fund will invest in all types of bonds, largely in euros, and foremost in bonds with residual maturities of one to five years. The manager is Fabio Mandirola. The new guaranteed fund will mature on 30 September 2015, and will be managed by Daniele Marvulli.
According to the most recent annual survey by BNY Mellon of trends in investor relations, 93% of publicly-traded businesses hold meetings with hedge funds, compared with 89% last year. One quarter of meetings with investors at a business involve hedge funds, compared with only 16% in 2009.Sovereign funds represent another favourite target for businesses. 47% of departments of investor relations hold meetings with sovereign funds, and 23% of businesses are planning to do so in the future. The study funds, however, that teams dedicated to investor relations in North America are less interested in meetings with sovereign funds (30%), while 52% of them have no plans to meet with these funds in the coming months.In addition, nearly one quarter of businesses in the sample (22%, 83 out of 371) are planning a second listing on an emerging market. Most candidates for listing cite Hong Kong or China due to their strategic interest.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US-based investment services provider Nuveen Investments on 25 October announced that it has appointed Oscar Isoba as senior vice president in charge of development of Latin American activities. Isoba previously worked at Alliance Bernstein, where he was in charge of Latin American activities. Nuveen Investments says that strong demand for UCITS-format products has led them to launch two new UCITS funds recently, Nuveen Tradewinds Global All Cap Fund ESG Fund and Nuveen Tradewinds value Opportunities Fund. The two new strategies are managed by Tradewinds Capital Advisors.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the recruitment of Giovanni Gentilcore (ex Allianz Global Investors) and Matthias Eizenhöfer (ex Vontobel Europe) as senior sales managers, Universal-Investment has added to its distribution team dedicated to institutionals, led by Ralf Bräuer. The recruitments follow a strong increase in demand, with assets of EUR124bn as of the end of September, an increase of EUR20bn in twelve months, mostly from institutional investors. The two new recruits will be in charge of distributing master funds, institutional funds and complementary services such as securities lending and risk reporting. Bernd Vorbeck, chairman of the executive board, says Universal-Investment is planning to further develop its services to institutional clients, to offer custom solutions in the three divisions of administration, risk management and insourcing.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Håkan Strängh, head of private bank for Germany and Austria at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, has recruited Wolf-Christian Maßner, previously head of the board at Fürstlich Castell’sche Bank, as head of private bank, retail bank and operations. Georg Albrecht, who has also joined JPM Private Bank, was key client relationships officer at UBS for northern Germany.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The managing director of Meteor Asset Management, Graham Devile, says plans in the structured products sector to do away with counterparty risk by using the UCITS III format will certainly not resolve all problems, Money Marketing reports. The UCITS III former is too costly to be viable, and Devile does not think that it is a panacea to resolve the problem of counterparty risks. UCITS III funds need to have at least GBP10m in assets under management to be profitable. Structured products are offered for set periods, and rarely attain these levels. “Management of such a vehicle can cost GBP100,000 per year,” says Devile.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Responsible Investor reports that Reto Ringer, the founder and former CEO of the Zurich-based firm Sustainable Asset Management or SAM has assembled a team for a project to create a private bank specialised in responsible investment. Ringger, who launched SAM fifteen years ago, announced the plans at a conference in Zurich where he said that he had applied for a license from the Swiss authorities. The new firm, which has “a provisional label from Globalance Capital, will have 20 employees, several of whom are former SAM executives. The responsible bank will base its activities on seven major principles, including a long-term development model, transparency of commissions and evaluation of the impact of the bank’s investments in the environment.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ameriprise on 27 October reported net profits of Usd344m for third quarter, up 32% compared with third quarter 2009. Assets under management and administration at Ameriprise as of 30 September totalled Usd649bn, up 48% year on year, due to the acquisition of Columbia Management and market effects. Assets in the asset management unit were up 89% in third quarter to USD445bn, due to the acquisition of Columbia Management and appreciation of the S&P 500. For US management, the quarter finished with net inflows of USD1.1bn in third quarter, due to strong institutional demand, while European retail saw net outflows. Assets under management in the United States as of 30 September totalled USD347bn, compared with USD146bn one year previously, with the acquisition of Columbia Management. Assets under management at Threadneedle for their part were up 9% as of 30 September to USD102bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Legg Mason increased 4% in the quarter to the end of October compared with 30 June, to a total of USD673.5bn. The quarter ended with net outflows of USD12.7bn, of which USD8bn were in fixed income, largely offset by market effects of USD40.8bn. Results for the quarter totalled USD75.3m (including a fiscal gain of USD8.9m in the United Kingdom), compared with USD47.9m one quarter earlier, with revenues up slightly to USD674.8m compared with USD674.2m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At the beginning of November Markus Fuchs will join the secretariat of the Swiss Funds Association (SFA), as senior counsel, in the areas of alternative investment and asset management. He was most recently managing director and head of product management at UBS. Andreas Ventouras, business counsel, left SFA at the end of September, to “take on a new challenge” in the area of investment funds in French Switzerland.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two years ago, Natixis opened a private banking affiliate in Switzerland, Natixis Gestion de Fortune, which originally employed two people. Now, Le Temps reports, the group has decided to pull out of the Geneva market. “We wanted to recenter our networks, especially in France, where our shareholders are most present,” the firm says. The bank says the structure of the group has changed since its two shareholders, Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne, merged to create the Groupe BPCE.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Swiss Life announced on 29 October that it has appointed Thomas Bach, previously head of private client activities in Switzerland, as head of the operational sector for multiple channels, from 1 December. Paul Weibel, currently head of life insurance business for private clients at Zurich Switzerland, will succeed Bach as head of private clients.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } EFG Bank, which includes the private banking activities of EFG International in Switzerland, has stepped up its presence with the opening of a new branch in Lugano, Agefi Switzerland reports. Currently, six client advisors are working at the new branch. The team is led by Pierguiseppe Vescovi, who was previously director of the wealth management division of the Lugano branch of the Banque de Dépôts et de Gestion.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the first nine months of the year, net profits for the Santander group fell 9.8% to EUR6.08bn, while the operating coefficient rose to 42.9% from 41.3%. Net profits for the asset management and insurance division increased by 10.5% to EUR348m in January-September. As of 30 September, assets under management totalled EUR119bn, 2% higher than at the end of December and 7% higher than at the end of September 2009. Net profits for asset management rose 38.1% compared with the corresponding period of last year, to EUR64m. Assets in traditional management (investment funds, investment companies and pension funds) as of the end of September totalled EUR115bn, 2% higher than at the end of December, of which 80% were in the Spanish, Brazilian and Mexican markets.