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12/05/2010

Madoff suit against Ivy AM

Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, has filed a civil lawsuit against Ivy Asset Management (which in 2000 became an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management), and two of its founders, Lawrence Simon and Howard Wohl, claiming that these individuals were aware of “disturbing facts” about the management firm led by Bernard Madoff, but that they “hid the truth” from clients to whom they recommended Madoff’s products.
12/05/2010

German asset management industry posts net inflows of over EUR31bn in first quarter

Net inflows to the asset management sector in Germany in first quarter totalled EUR31.4bn, the best result recorded since first quarter 2007, confirming that the recovery begun in third quarter 2009 is continuing, according to statistics released by the German asset management association BVI. Of this total, EUR20.8bn went to institutional management, while open-ended retail funds attracted EUR10.6bn. Assets under management for the sector as a whole have risen 17% over 12 months to EUR1.755trn, compared with EUR1.4999trn one year earlier. In the area of open-ended retail funds (EUR68.1bn as of the end of March), diversified funds in first quarter posted inflows of EUR5.4bn, while open-ended real estate funds saw EUR3.2bn, equities funds EUR2.3bn, and bond funds EUR2bn. Money market funds saw net outflows of EUR3.3bn. Equities funds continue to lead open-ended funds, with a volume of EUR211.2bn as of 31 March, or 31% of the total, followed by bond funds (21.8%) and diversified funds (13.2%).
12/05/2010

UBS real estate funds not in so much hot water as others

UBS Real Estate Germany has released a statement to announce that its open-ended real estate funds UBS (D) Euroinvest Immobilien and UBS (D) 3 Sector Real Estate Europe have experienced only a limited increase in redemption demands since the publication of a draft version of the proposed amendment to real estate fund regulations. The limited increase is due to the fact that preventive measures were introduced in the past few months to limit redemption demands through advance notification requirements and withdrawal penalties, which made it possible to stabilise the fund. The measures made it possible to channel the slight increase in redemption demands. UBS was able to achieve this due both to a satisfactory liquidity situation and to advance notification of redemptions.
12/05/2010

M&G releases a multi-asset class fund

The British firm M&G Investments on Tuesday announced that it has obtained a sales license in Germany for its M&G Global Dynamic Allocation Fund (see Newsmanagers of 29 March), a British-registered product (GB00B56H1S45) which may invest without restriction and with no benchmark index in various asset classes (equities, government or corporate bonds, convertible bonds, commodity-backed securities, alternative investments and cash). The fund, which aims to generate positive returns over a period of three years regardless of the direction of the markets, is intended to have lower volatility than equities. Front-end fee and management commission are set at a maximum of 4% and 1.75%, respectively. The minimal initial subscription for the product, launched on 3 December 2009, is set at EUR1,000.
12/05/2010

Wave of ratings downgrades for real estate funds

The most recent edition of the rankings from the Berlin-based rating agency Scope has revealed that of 29 open-ended real estate funds in the sample, 23 have undergone a ratings downgrade since 2009, while only two, both products from UBS, were upgraded. Of the 18 funds rated “A” and above in 2009, 12 have remained in the top class, having successfully resisted the crisis, which particularly goes for funds from Union Investment Real Estate, Deka Immobilien and RREEF Investment (Deutsche Bank). The best funds in the Europe category and all categories combined is the grundbesitz europa (AA-) from RREEF, followed by the hausInvest europa (A) from Commerz Real. The best Germany fund comes eighth in the rankings: UniImmo: Deutschland (A). Lastly, among global funds, the top two are the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and UniImmo: Global, both of which receive A ratings.
12/05/2010

BNY Mellon AG signs cooperation agreement with El Corte Inglés

The Centro de Seguros y Servicios (CESS) d’El Corte Inglés has signed a financial consulting agreement with BNY Mellon Asset Management, by which the insurance and services arm of the retail group will provide “easy to understand” for retail investors to financial advising and investment products from the latter group, Cinco Días reports. The cooperation is reported to have begun earlier this year with the promotion of a retail account tied to any one of five selected financial products, one of which is the BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund. The agreement also provides for a series of conferences for CESS clients in the major Spanish cities.
12/05/2010

Fitch confirms M2+ rating for Robeco

On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings confirmed its asset manager rating of M2+ for Robeco, covering its traditional management activities based in Rotterdam and money market management based in Paris (see Newsmanagers of 7 May). However, the agency notes that the rating “takes into account a need for stabilisation in the management team following its partial renewal. The firm will need to demonstrate its ability to increase assets and improve the organisational efficiency of the management firm, whose operating margins have already been set on a razor edge due to the financial crisis, in order for Robeco to return to sustainable operational profitability.” Against this background, Fitch will monitor the potential effects of cost-reduction measures on the quality of the management platform.
12/05/2010

Dexia asset management turns a profit in first quarter

In first quarter 2010, pre-tax profits for the Asset Management and Services profession at Dexia (which also includes insurance) totalled EUR67m, compared with losses of EUR164m in first quarter 2009, and profits of EUR118m in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management are up 3.3% compared with the end of December 2009, at EUR85.1bn, and up 16.4% compared with the end of March 2009. This increase is due to positive market effects and net inflows from institutional clients. Institutional funds and mandates have posted inflows of EUR0.4bn in first quarter (+4.1% compared with the end of December 2009), with a concentration of inflows on high-margin products. Retail funds have posted a slight increase in the quarter (+1.6% compared with the end of December 2009), while positive market effects have offset net outflows. In first quarter 2010, Dexia Asset Management continues to develop client-oriented solutions, particularly in the area of sustainable and responsible investments. Asset Management has posted a pre-tax profit of EUR17m in first quarter 2010, compared with losses of EUR10m in first quarter 2009.
12/05/2010

NYSE Euronext pulls out of LCH.Clearnet to found its own clearing house

Les Echos reports that Nyse Euronext has decided to end its sales contracts with the LCH.Clearnet group in 2012, and will instead create two European clearing houses: one, in Paris, will handle organisation of counterparties on equities trades and equities derivatives, while the other, based in London, will be dedicated to commodities, fixed income, and currencies. Initially, settlement services from Nyse Euronext will be made available to over-the-counter markets, CDS market actors, and other trading platforms. The newspaper reports that it is likely that some over-the-counter contracts and Euro zone CDS will also be handled in Paris.
12/05/2010

AGI and DB/DWS see net subscriptions in January-March

On the basis of statistics published on Tuesday by the German BVI association of asset management firms (see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Allianz Global Investors (AGI) and Deutsche Bank/DWS have been the only major fund management firms to post net subscriptions in first quarter. Their total net inflows (EUR4.63bn for AGI and EUR2.94bn for DB?DWS) are higher, in fact, than the total net subscriptions for the securities fund industry as a whole in the period under review (EUR7.36bn). Good results at AGI are due to the German affiliate AGI KAG (EUR1.44bn), and especially to Pimco Europe (EUR3.76bn). At DB/DWS, EUR1.07bn of inflows are due to db x-trackers, but two other Luxembourg affiliates (DB Platinum and DWS Investments SA) brought in a total of EUR1.6bn. Among the other major players, BlackRock has seen net outflows of EUR302.9m from its iShares ETFs, while ETFlab (Deka) has experienced net outflows of EUR507.4m from its ETFs, an addition to redemptions of EUR1.92bn from its parent company, DekaBank (German savings banks). Union Investment (co-operative banks), for its part, has posted net redemptions of EUR1.19bn.
12/05/2010

Jyske Invest in cooperation agreement with Agathon Capital

The Danish management firm Jyske Invest Fund Management has signed a cooperation agreement with Agathon Capital, to scale up its distribution activities in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The cooperation will primarily concern emerging market products from Jyske Invest, including funds of bonds denominated in local currencies.
12/05/2010

Poor performance at Pioneer

Handelsblatt reports that, according to Christian Michel, head of research at Feri EuroRating, funds from Pioneer (UniCredit group) lag behind the competition in terms of returns. The firm, which manages EUR185bn worldwide, of which EUR24bn are in Germany, receives a good or very good rating from Feri for only 20% of the products in its range. Pioneer has fallen to 28th place in the rankings of 34 German asset management firms rated by Feri, and its major weakness is in bond funds, though equities funds have also shown poor results. Pioneer has reacted to the situation by restructuring since the beginning of this year, in particular separating US and European research. There are still questions as to whether UniCredit will sell the operation. Roger Yates (ex-Henderson), the new head of the firm, has been placed in charge of the restructuring process.
12/05/2010

Hedge funds attracted USD7.6bn in March

The hedge fund sector took in USD7.6bn in assets in March, and assets under management now total USD1.64trn, according to the most recent statistics from TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclaysHedge. In the past thirteen months, the Barclay Hedge Fund index gained 29.9%. In the month of March alone, average returns on hedge funds totalled 2.9%, the best returns since September 2009. Multi-strategy funds posted the heaviest outflows in March (1.3% of assets), while event-driven funds saw the largest inflows (1.5% of assets). Returns on event-driven funds since the beginning of the year, at 4.7%, have been among the highest for any strategy.
12/05/2010

Amundi ETF adds to Swiss product range

Amundi ETF on Tuesday announced that it is extending its ETF product range in Switzerland with the launch of a range of six new ETF Short Govies funds, bringing the number of Amundi products available on the SIX Swiss Exchange to 20. The range of ETF Short Olbigataires products offers investors daily inverse exposure to the Euro zone government bond market, in order to take advantage of any possible increase in interest rates. The six ETF funds, which provide synthetic replication of a family of Short EuroMTS Qurozone Government Broad strategy indices, include all maturities (from 1 to 15 years), and allow investors to take positions on all or part of the Euro zone rate curve. Amundi ETF states that it will continue to extend its product range in Switzerland in the next few weeks.
12/05/2010

British fund of fund assets rising steeply

In first quarter, assets under management in funds of funds set a new record at GBP46.5bn, an increase of more than 60% over first quarter 2009, according to statistics from the British independent management association (IMA). Net inflows to funds of funds in first quarter totalled GBP1.2bn, nearly three times higher than the level observed in first quarter 2009. Assets in ethical funds totalled GBP5.9bn in first quarter, up 43% compared with first quarter 2009. Assets in tracker funds totalled GBP29.5bn, an increase of 59% compared with first quarter 2009.
12/05/2010

Aviva Investors recruits a founder of Fathom FC

Shamik Dhar, one of the founders of Fathom Financial Consulting in 2004, has been recruited in London as a senior economist for the investment strategy team at Aviva Investors, his former employer from 2000 to 2004 (when the firm was known as Morley Asset Management). Dhar will report to Adrian Jarvis, head of strategy, and will focus on economic research and conjuncutural predictions for the Asia-Pacific region.
12/05/2010

Alliance AM adds to product range

Alliance Trust Asset Management will next month launch a corporate bond fund. The fund will be managed by four former SWIP managers, including the former head of fixed income, Roy Davidson, who will lead the team. The team of four joined Alliance Trust at the beginning of this year. By the end of this year, Alliance Trust is also planning to release two other strategies: an Asian equities fund and a Japanese equities fund, both of which will be managed by Jonathan Bolton, head of Japanese equities.
12/05/2010

Franklin Templeton launches three new sub-funds

Franklin Templeton Investments has announced the launch of three new sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav FTIF, the Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund, Templeton European Corporate Bond Fund and Franklin Real Return Fund. The first and third of these products, managed in the United States by Steve Land and Tony Coffey, respectively, are already available in US versions, and had assets as of 31 March of USD1.75bn and USD381.3m. The second fund, a corporate bond product, is managed in London by David Zahn.
12/05/2010

State Street publishes a study of ETF services

State Street on 11 May announced the publication of a report in the Vision Focus series, covering trends, challenges and best practices in the market for services to exchange-traded funds (ETF). ETFs, which now represent more than USD1trn in assets under management worldwide, continue to be efficient, economical, transparent, and fiscally advantageous investment vehicles, but providers of ETF products are confronting new challenges related to the rapid growth of the industry, both in terms of volume and of types of fund. “The global expansion of ETFs requires a profound knowledge of the nuances of each national market and the regulations in force,” says Alan Greene, executive vice president and US head of the Global Services activity at State Street. “Services to the ETF industry also need to confront some issues related to the diversification of fixed-income and actively-managed products, compared with a market of passively-managed US equities ETFs.”
12/05/2010

IOSCO consultation on CCP and OTC derivative market databases

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the technical committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 12 May published two consultation documents which lay out proposals to strengthen the OTC derivative market. The first report offers a series of recommendations concerning central counterparties (CCP), entitled “Guidance on the application of the 2004 CPSS-IOSCO Recommendations for Central Counterparties to OTC derivatives CCPs.” The second report, entitled “Considerations for trade repositories in OTC derivatives markets,” treats the question of databases. “The two complementary series of high-level recommendations represent a significant response by CPSS and IOSCO to the recent financial crisis. They also reflect the recommendations of the G20 on strengthening the over-the-counter derivatives markets,” the president of the CPSS, William Dudley, and the president of the IOSCO technical committee, Kathleen Casey, say in a statement. Interested parties are invited to submit their remarks until 25 June.
11/05/2010
Fonds

Reyl AM fait enregistrer sa sicav par la CNMV

Vendredi, la CNMV a enregistré la sicav Reyl (Lux) Global Funds et ses six compartiments du gestionnaire helvétique Reyl Asset Management, filiale du groupe financier Reyl & Cie. Les fonds Emerging Debt Opportunities, Emerging Markets Equities, Europe Low Vol, European Equities, European Opportunities et North American Equities sont commercialisés en Espagne par Allfunds Bank.
Fonds
11/05/2010

Credit Suisse acquiert Prime Fund Solutions

Fortis Bank Nederland a vendu à Credit Suisse sa division Prime Fund Solutions (PFS), spécialiste de l’administration et de la comptabilité des hedge funds, une transaction qui permet au groupe helvétique de renforcer à la fois la branche «actions» de sa banque d’investissement et son activité de desserte des hegde funds, comme l’a indiqué Philip Vasan, head of prime services. Le montant de la transaction, qui doit encore obtenir le feu vert des autorités de régulation, n’a pas été communiqué.
11/05/2010

Collecte nette de 2,4 milliards de dollars US au premier trimestre à Hong Kong

L’association de la gestion financière de Hong Kong (Hong Kong Investment Funds Association) a indiqué que le premier trimestre 2010 s'était terminé sur une collecte nette de 2,41 milliards de dollars américains, en progression de 105,6% par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2009. Au premier trimestre 2009, l’association avait fait état d’une décollecte nette de 130,9 millions de dollars.Les fonds actions ont représenté 52% des ventes brutes du trimestre. Sur une base nette, la collecte sur les fonds actions a fait un bond de 66,9% par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2009 à 1,01 milliard de dollars.Le nouveau président de l’association, Desmond Ng, a par ailleurs indiqué que l’emploi dans le secteur de la gestion d’actifs s'était stabilisé à un peu plus de 30.700.
11/05/2010

Helvetia Wealth achète J. D. Murphy

Le gestionnaire Suisse Helvetia Wealth a annoncé l’acquisition de la boutique irlandaise J. D. Murphy Investment Life & Pension Benefits de Kilkenny, fondée en 1969. C’est la cinquième opération de croissance externe pour Helvetia depuis le début de cette année. Avec cette transaction, dont les modalités n’ont pas été dévoilées, l’encours d’Helvetia Wealth s’accroît de 100 millions de francs suisses pour totaliser 1,2 milliard.
11/05/2010

Skandia confie un mandat à une gérante d'Aegon

Skandia a retiré l’un de ses plus gros mandats à Lazard pour le confier à Audrey Ryan de Aegon Asset Management.Le mandat de 130 millions de livres qui porte sur les actions britanniques couvre une série de fonds dont le Global Dynamic Equity (850 millions de livres) et la palette de fonds à objectifs de risque. Le mandat était précédemment sous la responsabilité d’Alain Custis qui gère notamment le Lazard UK Alpha fund (288 millions de livres). Skandia précise que ce changement n’est pas lié à une sous-performance de la part de Lazard mais à une volonté d’avoir un gérant plus pragmatique et flexible dans un marché beaucoup plus volatil. Skandia connaît bien Audrey Ryan, qui gère déjà tout ou partie de quatre de fonds Skandia (UK Best Ideas, Global Best Ideas, Ethical et UK Equity Blend).
11/05/2010

Close Brothers devient DC Advisory Partners

Selon Les Echos, la boutique de conseil en fusions-acquisitions Close Brothers, reprise il y a un an par le japonais Daiwa Securities, change d’identité en Europe à compter d’aujourd’hui. Trois marques vont désormais coexister : Daiwa Securities en Asie, DC Advisory Partners en Europe (Royaume-Uni, Allemagne, Espagne, France) et Sagent Advisors aux Etats-Unis, du nom de la boutique, dont le courtier japonais est actionnaire.
11/05/2010

Legg Mason consacre 200 millions de dollars à la rationalisation de ses activités

Pour le dernier trimestre de l’exercice au 31 mars, Legg Mason déclare un bénéfice net de 63,6 millions de dollars contre 44,9 millions en octobre-décembre et une perte de 330,2 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Sur l’ensemble de l’exercice, le bénéfice net ressort à 204,4 millions de dollars contre une perte de 2 milliards imputable aux dépréciations d’actifs (impairment charges) et au renflouement des fonds monétaires.L’encours à fin mars se situait à 684,5 milliards de dollars contre 681,6 milliards fin décembre et 632,4 milliards un an auparavant. Les remboursements nets ont diminué sur l’exercice à 82 milliards de dollars contre 158,9 milliards et l’effet de marché a été positif de 134,1 milliards contre un effet négatif de 157,7 milliards pour 2008-2009.Mark R. Fetting, chairman & CEO, a annoncé par ailleurs que Legg Mason, qui dispose d’un milliard de dollars de liquidités, a l’intention de rationaliser son activité et de consacrer à ce projet entre 190 millions et 210 millions de dollars sur 18 mois, le résultat devant être une économie durable de 130-150 millions de dollars par an et une amélioration de 6-8 points de pourcentage de la marge bénéficiaire d’ici à la fin de l’exercice 2011-2012.
11/05/2010

Fidelity désigne deux dauphins pour succéder à Ed Johnson III

Fidelity a clarifié la succession potentielle d’Edward C. Johnson III en désignant deux personnes pour travailler directement sous les ordres du president & CEO. Le gestionnaire a recruté Ronald P. O’Hanley, president & CEO de BNY Mellon Asset Management, pour diriger la gestion d’actifs et les «corporate services» tandis qu’Abigail Johnson, president of personal & workplace investing, la fille d’Ed Johnson, est promue à la tête de tous les canaux de distribution et prend aussi le titre de president of institutional services, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.Jacques Perold conserve la tête de la société de gestion de mutual funds, Fidelity Management & Research Co.Chez BNY Mellon AM, l’intérim de Ronald O’Hanley sera assuré par Jonathan Little, vice chairman, et Mitchell Harris, qui dirige la division devises et obligations.
11/05/2010

L'encours de Rathbones franchit les 14 milliards de livres

Au 31 mars, les actifs gérés par Rathbones se situaient à 14,05 milliards de livres, soit 7,3 % de plus que les 13,10 milliards de fin 2009 ; fin mars 2009, ils se situaient à 9,87 milliards de livres. Les souscriptions ont porté au premier trimestre sur 241 millions de livres tandis que l’augmentation organique des encours se situait à 96 millions de livres. D’autre part, l’accord d’octobre 2009 (lire notre article du 21 octobre) avec Lloyds Banking Group a fait rentrer 598 millions de livres provenant de 3.000 nouveaux clients.

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