Le gestionnaire alternatif Suisse Partners Group a annoncé avoir procédé à la fermeture «dure» (hard closing) de son fonds Secondary 2008 à 2,5 milliards d’euros alors que l’objectif était de collecter 2 milliards d’euros. Ce fonds a profité de la crise pour acquérir auprès d’une banque un portefeuille avec une décote de 70 % début 2009, une transaction qui devrait générer un taux de rendement interne (IRR) supérieur à 20 %. Par ailleurs, le fonds vient d’acquérir un portefeuille d’actifs de grande qualité auprès d’un investisseur en difficulté recherchant des liquidités avec effet immédiat. Cette transaction devrait également générer un IRR supérieur à 20 %.

The Swiss alternative management firm Partners Group has announced the hard closing of its Secondary 2008 fund with EUR2.5bn, above the objective for the fund of EUR2bn. The fund took the crisis as an occasion to acquire a portfolio from a bank at a 70% discount in early 2009, in a deal which is expected to generate an internal rate of return (IRR) of over 20%. The fund has also more recently acquired a portfolio of high-quality assets from adistressed investor in search of immediate liquidity. This deal is also expected to generate an IRR of over 20%.

Mutual Fund Wire reports that Putnam Investments has hired another employee from Fidelity. Scott Sipple, who was head of the bank trust at Fidelity, will be joining Putnam in the newly-created position of head of strategic relations. At Fidelity, his former responsibilities will now be distributed among other members of the team.

In the letter sent to the Korean Ministry of Justice on Monday, 22 institutional investors with over USD2.5trillion in assets under management show their opposition to an amendment to Korean company law that would allow companies to introduce poison pills. The letter was sent out by F&C, a member of the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA), who initiated this effort. «As a matter of principle, we tipically oppose poison pills because they are ofter used to shield management and protect the interests of related parties at the expense of public minority shareholders and wider economic efficiency and competitiveness», says the letter.

Pioneer Investments (USD58bn in assets in the United States) has announced the recruitment of seven people for its sales team in the United States, as reinforcements for its sales force serving large retail clients. Among the new arrivals are Mary Power (formerly of John Hancock Financial) and Jason Xanthakis (from Ameriprise Financial), who will report to Bill Taylor, head of the new “business development group” (formerly known as the “relationship management team”). Taylor is also head of the “investment-only & retirement group.”

Wells Fargo & Company will pay USD4.5bn to buy from Prudential Financial its stake in their brokerage joint venture of which Wells Fargo Advisors is making part. This stake does not amount to a controlling shareholding.

The bank Citigroup announced on Tuesday, 15 December, that it has been named in a lawsuit filed in a New York court by the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, which, under an agreement signed in 2007, is obliged to buy ordinary shares in the bank for a total of USD7.5bn on specific dates in 2010 and 2011. At the time, shares in the bank were considerably more valuable than they are now. In its lawsuit, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) cites “false and fraudulent declarations” on the part of Citigroup, and seeks an annulment of the agreement, and damages and interest of USD4bn. The bank vigorously denies the accusations.

Mellon Capital Management Corporation (MCM) a été choisi par Jackson National Asset Management pour gérer un nouveau produit selon la Stratégie d’Allocation d’Actifs Tactique Internationale (Global Tactical Asset Allocation ou GTAA). Jackson National Asset Management avait déjà confié 30 millions de dollars à MCM pour un autre produit GTAA.

Patricia Cohen, who was married to Steven Cohen from 1979 to 1988, is seeking more than USD100m from her ex-husband, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a suit filed on Wednesday at US District Court in Manhattan, Patricia Cohen accuses Steven Cohen and his alternative management firm, SAC Capital Advisors, of insider trading in the 1980s, and of having concealed assets during the divorce proceedings.

Jean Ryan, a specialist in ecological investments at KBC, points out to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the KBC Eco Fund Water, one of the three water funds available to German investors, has shown performance in the past five years an average of 5% higher than the MSCI World index, with volatility levels half those of emerging markets funds. The volatility of alternative energies funds was 40% higher than water funds. The KBC analyst is convinced that water will long remain a lucrative investment theme, with a rise in consumption, growing need for modernisation in waste water treatment, and USD80bn to be spent on water supply infrastructure as part of stimulus spending, particularly in the United States and China. In addition, the municipal bond market in the United States, which is the largest source of infrastructure financing, is slowly emerging from its coma.

iShares has published a guide to ETFs to make Italian financial advisers more familiar with them, Bluerating reports. “We have observed a growing interest from financial advisers in ETFs,” explains Emanuele Bellingeri, head of iShares for Italy.

A new Italian fund for small and mid-sized businesses is taking its first steps, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. It is a closed private equity fund aimed solely at institutional investors, whose aim is to support mergers and recapitalisations for about 15,000 companies. Between January and February, the asset management firm which will manage the fund will be founded. It will open in March, and will make its first investments in late June. The fund will have assets of EUR3bn.

Aviva Investors has reopened its EUR249.5 European Property Sicav, more than 13 months after it suspended dealing in the fund. The fund suspended on 4 November 2008 due to a lack of immediate liquidity and to safeguard existing client interests.

FaithShares Trust has announced the launch of two products in its range of faith-based ETFs, which includes the FaithShares Catholic Values, FaithShartes Methodist Values and FaithShares Christian Values funds. The new products are the FaithShares Baptist Values and FaithShares Lutheran Values, with the acronyms FZB and FKL. The products were developed with the FTSE Group and KLD Research & Analytics, who created custom indices for the environmental, social and governance (ESG) component. Each of the ETFs will include 100 positions on large businesses, excluding those which may be objectionable to believers of the religion in question. The commission for each of the two new ETF funds is 0.87%.

The Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF) has granted a license to Centurion Fund Managers to launch its fourth open-ended longevity fund, which also becomes the first product on the market to combine micro- and macro-longevity. The Centurion Longevity Fund, a specialised investment fund (SIF) registered in Luxembourg and aimed at professional investors (minimal subscription EUR125,000), aims for total annual performance of 6% to 9%, with low volatility and a “minimal” correlation with equities markets. The fund was launched in June 2009 with seed capital while awaiting the license from the CSSF, with the declared objective of reaching USD100m in assets. The micro approach makes it possible to invest in longevity funds via physical or synthetic instruments, while the macro approach allows to use derivatives.

Les Echos reports, citing the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, that the Basel Committee may grant banks a 10- to 20-year time-frame to apply new owners’ equity requirements currently being drafted, which aim to strengthen the financial solidity of the sector. The Committee neither confirms nor denies the reports, but states only that its recommendations will be published by the end of the week.

Prudential Corporation Asia has appointed Graham Mason as fund management chief executive taking over from Arne Lindman. He is joining from Prudential Portfolio Managers in South Africa where he is currently chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer.

On 30 December, Sauren Fonds-Service will launch its Sauren Absolute Return sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Sauren Fonds-Select, for which subscription will be open from 21 to 29 December; the fund has also been granted a sales license for Germany. The initial price of shares in the fund will be EUR10, with a front-end fee of 3%. Management commission is 0.50%, a placement fee of 0.45%, and a performance commission of 10% is charged on performance exceeding 3%. The manager is Eckard Sauren himself. As its name indicates, the fund will invest in absolute return funds selected by four analysts from Sauren Fonds-Service. Inititally, the portfolio will include 25% bond funds, 28% European equities funds, and 20% in hedge funds of five different strategies.

The results of an online survey of 572 Germans between 28 July and 14 September by Feri EuroRating Services reveal that 79% of respondents expect ETFs to show significant average net subscriptions in the next three to five years, while 45% of respondents are planning to increase their allocation to ETFs in the next two to three years. However, 52% of respondents do not yet have ETFs in their portfolio, while these products represent more than one third of the portfolios of only 8% of those surveyed. Feri EuroRatings finds that cost is the determining factor behind investment in ETFs, and that 74% of respondents are not prepared to pay more than 0.25% commission for a bond ETF. The other two decisive characteristics are the choice of underlying (for 46% of respondents) and transparency (32%). However, the reputation of the management firm and construction are important secondary factors (17% and 16%). Respondents spontaneously cited the issuers iShares (BlackRock) 202 times, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) 167 times, and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) 132 times. ComStage ranked fourth, with only 38 mentions.

According to the consulting agency FWW, 17 of 26 DWS funds beat their benchmarks over ten years, while 18 out of 34 did so on five years, Das Investment reports. On the 10-year period, funds from the Deutsche Bank affiliate generated total outperformance of EUR1.5bn for their subscribers.

On 30 June 2010, Rüdiger Ginsberg, 63, will hand down the chairmanship of the board of directors of Union Asset Management Holding (the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks), a position he has held since 2003, to his colleague, Hans Joachim Reinke, who will become vice-chairman of the board on 1 January 2010. Reinke, 47, has since 2004 been head of retail management.

Barclays Cap has released the iPath Dow Jones-UBS commodity index total return ETN, which becomes the first Asian ETN, Asian Investor reports. The issuer is hoping with this product to repeat its success with ETN products in the United States, where they have total capitalisation of USD5bn.

Les investisseurs institutionnels n’anticipent pas de reprise de la demande des utilisateurs. Les loyers seront donc encore orientés à la baisse

Seuls les biens les plus cotés trouvent preneur. Sur les autres, les taux de rendement devraient encore monter légèrement

Un gestionnaire de fortune luxembourgeois, conseiller en opérations financières, réclame 8,35 millions d’euros à la KBC et à la KBL, rapporte l’Echo. Il est reproché aux établissements un manquement à leurs obligations d’information lors de la promotion d’obligations CDO ( Collateralized Debt Obligations).Au début de l’année 2007, KBL European Private Bankers avait contacté le gestionnaire de fortune pour faire la promotion des CDO, des crédits structurés, en réalité des obligations émises et promues par KBC Groupe. Le gestionnaire de fortune luxembourgeois les a proposées à sa clientèle privée estimant que les obligations proposées étaient sécurisantes sur base des informations communiquées par KBC et KBL. Mais en janvier 2008, après avoir reçu un avis concernant la dégradation des cours des crédits structurés, les clients ont cherché à revendre leurs obligations. Demande rejetée, les banques belge et luxembourgeoise faisant elles-mêmes savoir qu’elles ne pouvaient plus prendre ces obligations en position. Selon les informations du quotidien belge, une proposition d’indemnisation faite par KBL et portant sur un montant d’un peu plus d’un million d’euros a été refusée par la société gestionnaire.

Xact Fonder a lancé deux nouveaux ETF sur la Bourse de Stockholm (Nasdaq OMX). Ces fonds, XACT Europe Bull 2 et XACT Europe Bear 2 suivent le Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index et ont un levier de deux. Les fonds sont négociés en couronnes suédoises et sont les seuls de ce type en Suède, souligne Xact. Les frais de gestion sont de 0,6 %. A ce jour, Xact Fonder propose 14 ETF sur la Bourse de Stockholm et la Bourse d’Oslo.

Selon H24 Finance, Martin Coward, ex-star de Goldman Sachs, va quitter ses fonctions de directeur général d’Ikos, un hedge fund créé il y a dix-sept ans avec Elena Ambrosiadou, son épouse. Le fonds dont l’encours atteint 4 milliards d’euros est géré de Chypre ou Ikos AM s’est installé.

Intesa Sanpaolo s’apprête à céder Banca Depositaria, sa banque dépositaire, à State Street, rapporte Il Sole-24 Ore. L’opération est estimée à 1,6-1,8 milliard d’euros.

Fitch Ratings a confirmé la note Asset Manager «M2» attribuée à Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) pour ses activités de gestion traditionnelle, puis a retiré cette note, en raison de la fusion de la société de gestion avec Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) qui devrait être effective dès janvier 2010 et marquera la disparition de SGAM en tant qu’entité distincte. Cette notation couvre l’ensemble des activités de gestion basées à Paris, Tokyo, Singapour et Hong Kong, à l’exception des activités de SGAM Alternative Investment (SGAM AI) et autres gestions alternatives. Les activités de Trust Company of the West (TCW) sont également exclues du périmètre de la notation. «La note M2 reflète la solidité de la plateforme opérationnelle de SGAM qui est construite autour de Decalog, l’outil central de tenue de positions désormais opérationnel pour tous les portefeuilles et dont la connectivité avec les brokers, administrateurs et dépositaires a été récemment renforcée. La note reflète également le dispositif rigoureux de contrôle des risques et de la conformité de SGAM, la bonne technicité des processus de taux, ainsi que la diversité des classes d’actifs couvertes et l’étendue de la base d’investisseurs. Ces deux derniers éléments atténuent le risque de volatilité des revenus, malgré les rachats nets enregistrés en 2008 et 2009", indique l’agence de notation. L’appréciation «tient également compte de la détérioration de la rentabilité de la société sur les trois dernières années en raison d’importantes pertes et dépréciations liées au soutien apporté aux fonds monétaires dynamiques et alternatifs». Fitch souligne également, au chapitre des points négatifs, que «le rapprochement imminent avec CAAM fragilise la stabilité des équipes et des processus, étant donné le climat d’incertitude engendré par la fusion et les facilités de mobilité interne au sein du groupe Société Générale qui ont entraîné des départs à divers niveaux de la société de gestion». L’agence de notation observe également que, par rapport aux autres sociétés de gestion, «il existe un potentiel d’amélioration et de mutualisation des ressources quantitatives pour l’élaboration des modèles quantitatifs et le support à l’analyse et à la construction de portefeuille. De plus, l’utilisation et la supervision des orientations macro des différents processus gagneraient à être plus clairement définies». SGAM Group – c’est-à-dire l’ensemble formé par SGAM, SGAM AI, TCW et les co-entreprises étrangères – gérait 273 milliards d’euros à fin septembre 2009 pour une clientèle internationale privée et institutionnelle.