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27/04/2010

Stoxx launches an index of European Christian shares

On Monday, Stoxx Ltd, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse and the Swiss stock exchange SIX, announced the launch of the Stoxx European Christian Index, which reflects the performance of companies selected from the Stoxx Europe 600 index on the basis of the values and principles of the Christian religion. It will serve as a benchmark for its actively-managed funds, ETFs and other investment products. Stoxx has formed an independent committee to define, create and deploy selection criteria, in order to guarantee the quality of the index and respect for methodology. The committee includes representatives of Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. (CBIS), which directs the project, the Vatican, the Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA), academics and investment professionals. The index will exclude businesses which do not satisfy predetermined levels of tolerance for certain areas of activity such as pornography, strategic and non-strategic weapons, birth control and gambling. Weighting of businesses in the STOXX Europe Christian Index, which is calculated in Euros and US dollars, will be based on the free-float, with a limit of 20% for each share. It will be updated every June and December. Stoxx has backtested the index to 31 December 2004.
27/04/2010

Private equity: market activity stagnates in first quarter

The number of transactions completed in first quarter in Europe totalled 235, compared with 226 in the previous quarter, according to the private equity barometer “unquote,” published by Private Equity Insight in partnership with Candover. The value of these transactions still represents a 2.6% increase compared with the previous quarter, at EUR10.5bn compared with EUR10.3bn. But compared with first quarter 2009, activities represent nearly triple the investment value. In the buy-out sector, the number of transactions is down 12% at 69, ending three consecutive quarters of growth, but the cumulative value of transactions totalled EUR9.2bn for the quarter, a record level equalling the previous record set in third quarter 2009.
27/04/2010

Better governance could increase allocation to hedge funds

According to a survey by RBC Dexia Services Investor Services of 57% of the world’s hedge fund managers, of which 42% manage more than USD1bn in assets, 61% of respondents are of the opinion that better governance in alternative investments could result in higher levels of allocation to this asset class, which would lead to the launch of a “significant” number of new funds, both offshore and onshore, within a few months. The survey defines governance to include structural issues, independent valuation, transparency and third party control. The influence of regulation on the choice of domicile for funds is a key question for large managers. 92% of the managers surveyed who have assets of over USD1bn admit that regulatory questions are important in the choice of domicile, while the percentage is limited to only 64% of managers with assets of less than USD1bn. Among those surveyed, 49% are planning to launch onshore funds, and 40% are planning launches of offshore funds. As to how they would react to new rules imposing stricter governance requirements, 40% of respondents said they would be obliged to hire personnel, while 35%, largely whose with less than USD1bn in assets, are planning to outsource.
27/04/2010

JPMAM adds to sales staff

The sales team at JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) dedicated to independent distributors how has a ninth member in Germany, following the addition of Martina Pröschold, who has been at the firm since 1998, to this team. Pröschold and two colleagues will serve independent financial advisers, while two others will handle wealth managers, and two more will be responsible for independent advisers in the insurance sector. The team also has two assistants. Pröschold previously served in relationship management for banking, fund of fund and asset management clients.
27/04/2010

Asset management losses down at Deutsche Bank

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank declared net profits for first quarter of EUR1.8bn, compared with EUR1.2bn for January-March 2009, with an improvement in the cost-income ratio from 68% to 66%. Pre-tax losses for the asset & wealth management (AWM) division were down to EUR5m, from EUR173m. Invested assets as of the end of March totalled EUR808bn, EUR122bn more than as of 31 December 2009. Positive market effects are to thank for only EUR17bn of this increase. For the asset management branch, assets under management increased by EUR41bn (+8%), of which EUR4bn were due to net subscriptions, and EUR14bn due to the consolidation of some activities of Sal. Oppenheim. In wealth management, invested assets increased by EUR81bn, of which EUR68bn were related to the consolidation of Sal. Oppenheim. Net subscriptions represented EUR5bn.
27/04/2010

Rydex/SGI to liquidate 12 leveraged ETFs

The trustee board of Rydex/SGI (USD7bn in assets under management) on Friday approved the decision to liquidate 12 of the 14 long and short leveraged ETFs of the range on 12 May. These funds represent assets totalling USD129m. The move aims to concentrate the range of 40 ETPs on products most in demand at a time when Guggenheim Parrtners is buying Security Benefit Corp, of which Rydex/SGI is an affiliate (see Newsmanagers of 17 February). Among the funds to be liquidated are the Rydex 2x Russell 2000, the Rydex 2x S&P MidCap 400, the Rydex Inverse 2x Russell 2000 and the Rydex Inverse 2x S&P MidCap 400.
27/04/2010

BlackRock and Vanguard battle for emerging markets ETF assets

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund ETF from BlackRock and the Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF are the fourth- and fifth-largest ETFs in the United States, respectively, with assets of USD36bn and USD24bn, the Wall Street Journal reports. They are based on the same benchmark index, the MSCI Emerging Markets. The Vanguard product is less expensive, with a management commission of 0.27%, compared with 0.72% for the iShares fund. But the latter fund, launched in 2003, has weekly trading volume of 346.9 million shares, compared with 55.5 million for the Vanguard fund, launched in March 2005. Some analysts says that the difference in fees is the reason that the iShares ETF has seen net outflows in January-March of USD4.36bn, while the competing Vanguard fund has seen net subscriptions of USD2.91bn. This is an intriguing situation, since ordinarily, the first mover has the advantage since investors prefer the more liquid fund which has the lowest transaction costs.
27/04/2010

German government preparing new regulations for real estate funds

The Börsen-Zeitung reports that the German federal finance ministry is currently putting the final touches on a new regulation to address liquidity problems being faced by open-ended real estate funds. It would impose a minimal investment period of two years and advance notice periods for redemption demands of 6 to 24 months. The shorter the advance notice period, the more liquidity the fund would be required to have. In addition, the German government is planning to introduce a more flexible procedure to the liquidation of open-ended real estate funds which are not able to provide the liquidity required to permit investors to exit from the fund.
27/04/2010

La Caixa launches a fund to invest in wind farms

According to Spanish financial sector sources, La Caixa is seeking to raise EUR100m from private banking clients to invest about EUR300m with leverage in already-operational wind farms in Spain, Expansión reports. The EUR300m investment would allow the fund to acquire installations with an installed power of 250 megawatts. To select projects for investment, La Caixa has chosen Taiga Mistral, a renewable energy investment firm led by Antonio Tuñón former CEO of the electric company Hidrocantábrico.
27/04/2010

Ingrid Szeiler takes over as head of RVV

From 1 May, Ingrid Szeiler will become a member of the board and CEO of Raiffeisen Vermögensverwaltungsbank AG (RVV), an affiliate of Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) specialised in high net worth retail investors. Since 1999, Szeiler has been head of asset allocation and multi-asset class strategies at RCM. She replaces Georg-Viktor Dax, who is leaving the Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) group. The other board member at RVV is Mathias Bauer, CEO of RCM.
27/04/2010

Investors prefer passive strategies, according to BlackRock

BlackRock has reported net profits for first quarter of USD423m, of USD2.17 per share, compared with USD84m, or USD0.67 per share one year previously. Operating margins came out to 32.8%, including the impact of the cost of the integration of BGI before taxes (USD52m). Excluding costs related to the acqusition of BGI, net profits totalled USD469m, of USD2.40 per share, compared with USD110m or USD0.18 per share. Assets under management increased by USD17.6bn in first quarter, to USD3.36trn. During the quarter, net outflows (short-term products) totalled USD39.6bn, while net inflows to long-term products (equities, bonds, alternative investments and multi-asset) totalled USD8.9bn. In the equities asset class, assets under management as of the end of the quarter totalled USD1.58trn, an increase of USD46.5bn since the end of the year. Investors placed USD4.6bn in tracker funds and USD900m in active equities strategies. But quantitative funds saw a net outflow of USD8.8bn. In fixed income, assets under management increased by USD3.6bn to USD1.06trn. Net inflows to tracker products and ETFs totalled USD13.6bn, while actively-managed bond funds saw a net outflow of USD14.4bn. Performance commissions totalled USD50m in first quarter, compared with USD125m in fourth quarter 2009.
27/04/2010

Russell Investments builds presence in institutional management

Russell Investments has announced the appointment of Penny Zuckerwise as CEO Americas Institutional. Zuckerwise, previously president and CEO of the management firm Utendahl Capital Management, will join Russell Investments on 3 May. She will report to the president and CEO of Russell, Andrew Doman, and will join the executive board at the firm. The development of institutional activities at Russell will be accompanied by the recruitment of 30 staff in the areas of advising, product development and risk management.
27/04/2010

Ameriprise profit up 65% in Q1

On Monday, Ameriprise Financial declared net profits for first quarter of USD214m, compared with USD138m for January-March 2009, which represents an increase of 65%. Assets as of 31 March were up 31% in one year, to USD332bn, largely due to positive market effects and net subscriptions of USD2.5bn for wrap activities, which have reached record volumes of USD100bn. In the United States, the asset management division saw net redemptions of USD0.9bn in retail, and net subscriptions of USD0.1bn in institutional, despite negative synergies of USD0.6bn related to the acquisition of Columbia Management. Elsewhere in the world, retail asset management saw net inflows of USD1.3bn, offset by outflows of USD1.3bn from the institutional operation.
27/04/2010

Lehman Brothers-Barclays lawsuit hearings to begin this week

A lawsuit pitting the US bank Lehman Brothers against its acquirer, the British banking group Barclays, began yesterday in New York, Les Echos reports. Depositories in the liquidation process and a group of Lehman creditors are hoping to recuperate USD11bn (EUR8.2bn). They are hoping to demonstrate that Barclays got away with a good deal at the time, particularly as they were able to pocket additional capital gains of at least USD5bn, without having to inform the authorities, the newspaper reports.
27/04/2010

Amundi launches 14 ETF funds on Swiss stock market

Amundi ETF on 26 April announced the launch of 14 ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange, of which seven are new to Switzerland. The listing of the 14 ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange has been divided into two stages. On 13 April 2010, ten ETF funds were listed, including five equities ETFs, four of which are regional and one of them covers emerging markets, and one of which is new to Europe: the Amundi ETF MSCI Europe Ex Switzerland. In addition, two bond ETFs were released, one of which replicates the evolution of an index of Euro zone government bonds with the full range of maturities, while the other provides exposure to about 40 corporate bonds which offer good liquidity and a credit rating higher than or equal to BBB- according to the ratings agency S&P. Two leveraged ETFs have also been released, of which one is new, covering the SIX Swiss Exchange, and 1 is a short ETF. “These ETF funds allow investors to double their positions or to hedge themselves with short positions on specific markets,” the management firm says. The benchmark index is the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50. Finally, the last group of funds to be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange on 27 April will include four new commodities ETFs which allow investors exposure to the major commodities segments (soft commodities, precious and industrial metals, and energy), within a UCITS III regulatory environment. “The selection of available products will be extended in the next few weeks with several more listings on the SIX Swiss Exchange,” Amundi ETF announces in a statement.
26/04/2010
Fonds

Fortes pertes pour le RREEF America REIT III

La Deutsche Bank a reconnu avoir pris dès 2009 des mesures de restructuration pour le fonds immobillier America REIT III de sa filiale RREEF (2,6 milliards de dollars). Sa participation dans le fonds est de 10 %, le reliquat a été apporté par des investisseurs institutionnels, notamment des fonds de pension américains, précise Die Welt. Le RREEF America REIT III est investi dans des REIT ainsi que dans 92 immeubles situés dans les grandes villes américaines. Il aurait perdu 65 % de sa valeur.
Fonds
26/04/2010

Triplement du bénéfice de T. Rowe Price

Le gestionnaire américain T. Rowe Price a déclaré pour le premier trimestre un bénéfice net de 153 millions de dollars contre 48,2 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Ses encours à fin mars ressortaient à 419 milliards de dollars, contre 391,3 milliards fin décembre et 268,8 milliards un an auparavant. Sur ce total, les mutual funds distribués aux Etats-Unis représentaient 249,5 milliards de dollars.Les souscriptions nettes ont atteint un record de 10,3 milliards de dollars durant le premier trimestre (dont 6,1 milliards pour les mutual funds), pendant que l’effet de marché se traduisait par une augmentation de 17,4 milliards des actifs sous gestion.
26/04/2010

BlackRock pourrait collecter plus de 200 milliards de dollars par an

Dans un entretien à Bloomberg, le président de BlackRock, Robert Kapito, estime que la collecte annuelle pourrait s'établir en moyenne à plus de 200 milliards de dollars au cours des cinq prochaines années suite à l’acquisition de BGI (Barclays Global Investors).La collecte nette de BlackRock, qui gère quelque 3.350 milliards de dollars, pourrait progresser de 5% à 6%, sans tenir compte de l’effet marché. Au 21 janvier, la collecte s'élevait à 38 milliards de dollars.
26/04/2010

Blackstone affiche un bénéfice

Pour le premier trimestre 2010, The Blackstone Group a déclaré un bénéfice net de 360,4 millions de dollars contre une perte de 82,4 millions pour la période correspondante de l’année dernière, tandis que les recettes nettes tirées des commissions augmentaient à 98,7 millions contre 89,5 millions.L’encours total s’est accru à 98,07 milliards de dollars, contre 92,22 milliards au 31 mars 2009, dont 25,17 milliards contre 25,46 milliards pour le private equity, 23,82 milliards contre 22,87 milliards pour l’immobilier et 49,07 milliards contre 43,9 milliards pour les produits alternatifs (credit & marketable alternatives).
26/04/2010

Sears achète à Pershing Square 17,3 % de Sears Canada

Sears Holdings Corp a annoncé l’acquisition de plus de 18,66 millions d’actions ordinaires de Sears Canada auprès du gestionnaire de hedge funds Pershing Square Capital Management, sur la base de 30 dollars par action. Ces 17,3 % du capital payés environ 560 millions de dollars permettent au groupe américain de détenir environ 90,4 % de sa filiale canadienne.
26/04/2010

Apollo achète CKE Restaurants

Samedi, les dirigeants de CKE Restaurants Inc, la maison-mère des chaînes de restauration rapide Carl’s Jr. et Hardee’s, ont accepté une offre d’achat portant sur 694 millions de dollars, soit 12,85 dollars par action, émanant d’Apollo Management Group, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.CKE a dénoncé un accord précédent par lequel il acceptait une offre de Thomas H. Lee qui portait sur 11,05 dollars par action ou 619 millions de dollars au total.
26/04/2010

Le fonds américain KKR se verrait bien avaler Quick

Le fonds américain de private equity KKR est intéressé par une reprise de la chaîne de fast food d’origine belge Quick, rapporte L’Echo. D’autres fonds sont également intéressés par la chaîne détenue depuis 2006 par le fonds de capital à risque français CDC Capital Investissement (une filiale de la Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations).
26/04/2010

Le Sénat américain pointe la responsabilité de Moody's et S&P dans la crise

L’Agefi rapporte que le Sénat américain a rendu un rapport accablant sur des notes injustifiées des agences de notation Moody’s et S&P, attribuées à des produits financiers risqués évoquant des « dommages économiques massifs ». Le rapport fait suite à une enquête reprenant notamment des centaines d’emails, montrant que les notes attribuées font parfois appel à de savantes négociations entre banquiers et agences. Plus grave, note le quotidien, des employés des deux agences, auditionnés, ont révélé que des pressions existaient pour donner des bonnes notes aux produits émanant des «bons clients». Le rapport montre aussi l’incapacité de Moody’s et S&P à intégrer les risques liés aux fraudes sur les crédits hypothécaires alors que les emails des salariés dévoilent qu’elles étaient au courant. Pour le Sénat américain, c’est la cupidité des agences qui a atteint leur objectivité.
26/04/2010
Fonds

Les fonds immobiliers non cotés doivent attirer de nouveaux capitaux cette année

Selon l’Agefi qui cite les chiffres de l’étude annuelle de l’association européenne des fonds immobiliers non cotés, l’Inrev, le montant des capitaux levés en 2009 a chuté de 60%, à 5,9 milliards d’euros. En outre, signe d’une grande prudence, 64% des capitaux levés en 2009 étaient issus d’investisseurs connaissant déjà le gestionnaire du fonds, dix points de plus qu’en 2008. L’association mise cependant sur des levées totalisant 10,9 milliards cette année, en hausse de 86%, ajoute le quotidien.
Fonds
26/04/2010

Recul des actifs sous gestion chez Gottex au premier trimestre

Selon L’Agefi suisse, Gottex Fund Management Holdings Ltd a indiqué le 23 avril que ses actifs sous gestion s’élevaient à fin mars 2010 à 7,92 milliards de dollars contre 8,13 milliards fin 2009. Le gestionnaire lausannois n’a réussi à attirer que 290 millions de dollars (dont 120 millions sont à mettre sur le compte de la plateforme de comptes gérés GSS et 130 millions sur celui de Constellar désormais intégré dans Gottex) pour des retraits atteignant le même montant au premier trimestre. A ce résultat équilibré s’ajoutent 100 millions remboursés aux investisseurs dans les classes destinées à la liquidation (run-off). Dans son communiqué, Gottex confirme «l’activité croissante au sein des clients institutionnels». Mais «le temps nécessaire à la prise de décisions reste relativement long», constate-t-il, en raison du sentiment d’incertitude qui règne toujours sur les marchés financiers.

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