Le groupe suisse Vontobel a dégagé l’an dernier un bénéfice de 138,3 millions de frans suisses, en hausse de 22% par rapport à 2008.Les actifs sous gestion du groupe ont progressé de 21% à 75,2 milliards de francs suisses. Ce résultat a été tiré par l’effet marché et la performance pour un montant de 6,6 milliards de francs, par l’acquisition de Commerzbank (Schweiz) pour un montant de 4,1 milliards et une collecte nette de 2,1 milliards de francs suisses.Le résultat imposable s’est replié de 58% à 21,2 millions de francs suisses dans les activités de private banking et de 59% à 31,5 millions de francs suisses dans la division asset management.Le conseil d’administration proposera le versement d’un dividende de 1,40 franc suisse par action au titre de l’exercice 2009, en progression de 17% d’une année sur l’autre.Cela dit, le groupe n’est guère satisfait de l'évolution de la collecte tant du côté de la banque privée que de l’asset management. Outre l’intégration des activités suisses de la Commerzbank, le groupe devrait prochainement ouvrir de nouvelles antennes en banque privée à Bâle et à Berne. Vontobel souhaite également pousser la croissance de l’activité en Allemagne. En gestion d’actifs proprement dit, le groupe entend favoriser le développement de ses canaux de distribution à l’international. Harcourt offre désormais des comptes gérés et la gamme des produits à l’international est commercialisée en Asie et au Moyen-Orient.
L’essentiel des actifs du Private Funds Placement Group de Neuberger Berman a été acquis par le britannique Evercore Partners pour un montant qui sera fonction des résultats de l’entité cédée. Durant la période de transition, les activités reprises par Evercore seront exploitées sous le nom d’Evercore Private Funds Group, avec huit personnes. L’objectif est de développer le Private Funds Placement Group aux Etats-Unis, en Europe continentale et au Moyen-Orient.
Evercore Partners a conclu une alliance stratégique avec le capital-investisseur Trilantic Capital Partners (3,9 milliards de dollars), une société créée par les anciens dirigeants de Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking. L’idée est que les équipes fusions-acquisitions, de conseil en restructurations et de private equity d’Evercore puissent aider Trilantic a trouver à la fois des investissements intéressants et des souscripteurs.Dans la pratique, Evercore va émettre l'équivalent de 500.000 actions préférentielles correspondant à 16,5 millions de dollars au 31 décembre 2014 en échange d’une participation minoritaire dans le fonds mondial de Trilantic. De plus, Evercore va investir jusqu'à 50 millions de dollars dans le prochain fonds de private equity que lancera Trilantic, en échange d’une participation minoritaire dans ce fonds.Cela posé, Evercore Capital Partners continuera de gérer de façon indépendante les fonds de private equity d’Evercore Partners, mais coopérera avec Trilantic sur de nouveaux investissements dans le cadre de l’alliance stratégique.
Selon Fund Strategy, Investec Asset Management a annoncé la fermeture de son fonds Investec Capital Accumulator Trust (Icat) géré par Alastair Mundy en raison du désintérêt des actionnaires pour ce produit. Le trust avait été lancé en octobre 2005 avec l’objectif d’exploiter la demande potentielle en actions de préférence à dividende zéro. La valeur de l’actif net d’Icat a diminué de 12,5% sur les trois ans au 22 février alors que les actions à dividende zero affichent une baisse de 49% sur la même période.
Schroders vient d’annoncer le lancement au Royaume-Uni du Schroder Global Alpha Plus Fund (soumis à l’approbation de la Financial Services Authority). Il s’agit d’un fonds concentré autour d’une trentaine d’actions de sociétés mondiales représentant les meilleures idées d’investissement de ses deux gérants - Virginie Maisonneuve, responsable des actions mondiales de Schroders, et Jonathan Armitage, responsable des actions américaines. «Nous adoptons une approche bottom-up, tirée par les fondamentaux, pour identifier les actions présentant une croissance de qualité, une valorisation intéressante et un avantage compétitif durable. Nous complétons cette approche par une évaluation thématique, qui se concentre sur le changement climatique, la démographie et l’importance croissante des pays émergents dans l'économie mondiale», indique Virginie Maisonneuve dans un communiqué. Le Schroder Global Alpha Plus Fund a pour objectif de surperformer le MSCI World Total Return sur le long terme. Il sera ouvert aux investisseurs en mai 2010.
First State a annoncé qu’elle majore à 1,75 % contre 1,50 % les frais de gestion sur la classe de parts A de son fonds Global Emerging Markets, tandis que la commission sur les parts B va être relevée à 1 % contre 0,85 %, rapporte Investment Week.Ce fonds de 546 millions de livres est fermé aux nouveaux investisseurs depuis 2003, et Gary Withers, managing director, EMEA, précise que ce renchérissement est justifié à la fois par la performance du fonds (142,8 % sur les 5 ans au 15 février, contre 113,1 % pour le peer group) et par la volonté de piloter la capacité du fonds.
Selon le Wall Street Journal, certaines banques européennes dont UBS, Credit Suisse, Société Générale, BNP Paribas et Deutsche Bank figurent parmi les plus gros acheteurs de contrats CDS (credit default swaps) de la Grèce depuis le début de l’année.Selon L’Echo, les banques françaises sont exposées à hauteur de 75,4 milliards de dollars à la dette grecque.
Le prestataire de services de conseil pour l’industrie alternative Nara Capital a annoncé le 23 février le lancement de sa série d’indices qui suivent la performance des hedge funds et des fonds de fonds. Les différents indices calculés sont UCITS Alternative Index® Global, UCITS Alternative Index® Fund of Funds, UCITS Alternative Index® Long/Short Equity, UCITS Alternative Index® Equity Market Neutral, UCITS Alternative Index® Fixed Income, UCITS Alternative Index® CTA, UCITS Alternative Index® Macro, UCITS Alternative Index® Event Driven, UCITS Alternative Index® Commodities, UCITS Alternative Index® FX, UCITS Alternative Index® Multi-Strategy Nara Capital suit depuis plus de deux ans la montée progressive des hedge funds conformes à la directive OPCVM III. Compte tenu de l’intérêt croissant pour les stratégies alternatives liquides, Nara a décidé de diffuser la performance de ces indices. En février 2009, le Ucits Alternative Index comprenait près de 400 hedge funds et fonds de hedge funds conformes à la directive OPCVM qui représentaient un montant total d’actifs de plus de 63 milliards d’euros.
Le fournisseur de données Markit Boat a indiqué le 25 février que ses données de marché seront désormais disponibles gratuitement quinze minutes après leur publication sur Markit Boat, contre deux heures actuellement.La modification prendra effet le 1er juin prochain.Markit Boat fournit notamment des informations sur les marchés actions européens de gré à gré, pour un montant moyen d’environ 20 milliards d’euros.
Fortis Haitong (BNP Paribas IP group) on Wednesday announced that it has received permission from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) for an added USD1bn on its QFII (Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor) quota. The initial quota granted to Fortis Bank on 29 September 2004 was for USD500m. Z-Ben Advisors reports that Fortis Haitong has received permission to increase its QDII (Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) quota to USD1bn, though the asset management firm does not state whether the added quota will be used for existing QDII funds or QDII mandates which it is in the process of developing.
By GAAP accounting standards, the Blackstone Group has reported net losses of USD715.3m for 2009, compared with losses of USD1.16bn in 2008, on positive earnings of USD1.77bn, compared with a negative total of USD349.4m the previous year. Revenues from management and consulting commissions increased slightly, to USD1.4822bn, compared with USD1.4763bn, but 2008 was marked by unrealised losses on investments of USD606.4m, while these losses were limited last year to only USD3.7m.
Fidelity Investments has posted an increase in its operating profits of 5.2% in 2009, to USD2.51bn, despite an 11% contraction in its revenues to USD11.48bn, In 2008, operating profits fell 18%. As of 31 December, assets under management were up by 21% year on year to USD1.5trn, while assets under administration were up 20% to USD3.2trn. Assets under management were down by 22% or USD351bn in 2008. Net subscriptions contracted by 43% to USD31.4bn, due to massive outflows from money market funds, but equities funds saw their first net inflows since 2004, totalling USD3.8bn.
For the quarter to the end of January, Eaton Vance has declared net profits of USD51.5m (37 cents per share), compared with USD25.3m, or 21 cents per share, in the corresponding period of 2008/2009. In the period under review, the management firm has posted net subscriptions of USD1.5bn, compared with USD500m the previous year. Assets as of 31 January totalled USD161.6bn.
The Government Employees Pension Service of Korea (GEPS), the South Korean public pension fund, has recruited Kwon Jae-woan as chief investment officer, following the surprise resignation in January of Chung Kyung-soo, who served in this position at GEPS for less than one year, Asian Investor reports. Assets under management at GEPS currently total about USD8bn. GEPS invests most of its assets in bonds and equities, and less than 1% in alternative assets.
The asset management firm TCW, an affiliate of the Société Générale group, has announced the finalization of its acquisition of Metropolitan West Asset Management (MetWest), with the integration of 115 partners from the business. Since the announcement of MetWest’s acquisition by TCW (see Newsmanagers of 7/12/09), the management firm has seen nearly EUR1bn in inflows, a statement from Société Générale observes. As of 31 January 2010, total combined assets of MetWest and TCW came to over USD15bn.
An agreement which would allow the major banks of Andorra, specialised in private banking, to enter the Spanish market will come into force on 1 January 2011, in the wake of the end of banking secrecy and the signature of a taxation agreement between Spain and Andorra, Expansión reports. The Principality of Andorra is no longer considered an offshore tax haven, meaning that local banks (Crèdit Andorrà, Andbanc, Banca Privada d’Andorra and Banca Mora) may hope for a positive end to their nogotiations. For the moment, the Bank of Spain has blocked an acquisition of BSI (the asset management affiliate of Generali in Spain) by Andbanc. But at the same time, Andorran parties are in talks to acquire Tressis and Banco Madrid as soon as possible.
In an interview with Les Echos, the president and CEO of Barrick Gold, Aaron Regent, says that teh price of gold still has potential to rise, as the exposure of central banks to the US dollar is considered excessive and in need of rebalancing. “The sovereign debt crisis is an added incitement to diversify assets, and in so doing to invest sustainably in gold,” says Regent.
Most of the assets of the Private Funds Placement Group at Neuberger Berman have been acquired by the British management firm Evercore Partners, for an amount which will depend on results for the unit sold. Neuberger Berman will receive earnout payments which will provide them with an economic interest in the success of the group for a period of time. During the transitional period, the activities acquired by Evercore will operate under the name Evercore Private Funds Group, with eight people. The objective is to develop the Private Funds Placement Group in the United States, continental Europe, and the Middle East.
Just one in 10 hedge fund managers expects to see the fees they charge investors fall, according to a Credit Suisse survey. But two-thirds of respondents said that they were willing to bargain on fees if investors consented to longer lock-up periods, says the Financial Times.
Christian Eckert has been appointed as a member of the managing board at Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH, effective 19 February. He will be responsible for management of bond funds, IT, and organization. Anja Mikus thus gives up responsibility for bond management, and will now concentrate on portfolio management strategy for the Union Investment group as a whole. Before joining the management firm of the German co-operative banks, Eckert was MD for development, management and product marketing at Cominvest Asset Management (which has since been absorbed by Allianz Global Investors), after previously serving as CEO and country head UK at ABN Amro.
The Swiss Vontobel group last year earned profits of CHF138.3m, a 22% increase compared with 2008. Assets under management at the group increased 21% to CHF75.2bn. These results were driven by market effects and performance totalling CHF6.6bn, by the acquisition of Commerzbank (Schweiz) for a total of CHF4.1bn, and by net inflows of CHF2.1bn. Taxable profits were down 58% to CHF21.2m for private banking activities, and down 59% to CHF31.5m for the asset management division. The board of directors will propose a dividend of CHF1.40 per share for the 2009 fiscal year, a 17% increase year on year.
Daniel Bonventre, a former director of operations for Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy and securites fraud. He is the sixth person to be criminally charged over the December 2008 case.
According to statistics from VDOS, assets in Spanish investment funds fell by USD485m in the first three weeks of February, due to net redemptions of USD736m which were only partly offset by USD250m in gains on portfolios, Expansión reports. The best performance since the beginning of the year was for the WM Mercados Globales fund (+12.2%), followed by three funds specialised in Latin America: Santander Acciones Latinoamericanas (+10.3%), Madrid Bolsa Latinoamericana (+9.46%), and Ahorro Corporación Iberoamericana (+8.95%).
The Carlyle group announced on 24 February that as part of a strategic partnership with the Chinese conglomerate Fosun, it has launched a fund denominated in Chinese Renminbi (RMB), which will initially have USD100m in assets. The two businesses are proposing to invest in high-growth companies, and to identify opportunities for co-investment worldwide, so long as the planned investments are related to China and its potential for growth. The two firms are already acquainted, as in September 2009 they invested together in the Chinese firm Guangdong Yashili Group.
The technical committee of IOSCO (the International Organisation of Securities Commissions) on 25 February published its requirements for the information which hedge funds must supply to regulators to evaluate systemic risk. IOSCO proposes eleven categories of information that may be of interest to regulators, which include information on the size of businesses, performance, assets under management, exposures, and liquidity, among others. IOSCO recommends that the first collection of information by these standards take place in September 2010, in light of regulatory changes now underway.
M&G Investments is planning to launch a Ucits III version of its global macro fund, according to Citywire. The fund, known internally as Episode, was developed for its parent Prudential and has primarily been available to the insurer’s clients and pension funds.
Nara Capital, a consultancy serving the hedge fund industry, on 23 February announced the launch of its range of indices, which will track the performance of hedge funds and funds of funds. The indices offered are the UCITS Alternative Index® Global, UCITS Alternative Index® Fund of Funds, UCITS Alternative Index® Long/Short Equity, UCITS Alternative Index® Equity Market Neutral, UCITS Alternative Index® Fixed Income, UCITS Alternative Index® CTA, UCITS Alternative Index® Macro, UCITS Alternative Index® Event Driven, UCITS Alternative Index® Commodities, UCITS Alternative Index® FX, UCITS Alternative Index® Multi-Strategy. Nara Capital has been tracking the progressive growth of UCITS III-compliant hedge funds for more than two years. Due to the growing interest of investors in more liquid alternative strategies, Nara has decided to make the performance of these indices available to the public. In February 2009, the UCITS Alternative Index included nearly 400 UCITS-compliant hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, which represented total assets of over EUR63bn.
The data provider Markit Boat announced on 25 February that its market data will now be available free of charge 15 minutes after their publication on Markit Boat, compared with 2 hours currently. The change will take effect on 1 June. Markit Boat provides information on European over-the-counter equities market trades totalling an average of about EUR20bn per day.
Fund Strategy reports that Investec Asset Management has announced the closure of its Investec Capital Accumulator Trust (ICAT) fund, which was managed by Alastair Mundy, due to a lack of interest on the part of shareholders. The trust was launched in October 2005, with the objective of exploiting potential demand for preference equities with zero dividend. The net asset value of ICAT lost 12.5% in the three years to 22 February, while zero-dividend equities lost 49% in the same period.
First State has announced that it is increasing management fees from 1.50% to 1.75% for A-class shares in its Global Emerging Markets fund, while the commission on B-class shares will be raised to 1% from 0.85%, Investment Week reports. The fund, with GBP546m in assets, has been closed to new investors since 2003, and Gary Withers, managing director, EMEA, says the increase in fees is justified both by the performance of the fund (142.8% in the 5 years to 15 February, compared with 113.1% for the peer group), and by a desire to control the capacity of the fund.