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18/11/2009

CAAM releases CAAM Funds Global Inflation Bond fund in Europe

Crédit Agricole Asset Management is releasing the CAAM Funds Global Inflation Bond Classic (C) sub-fund of its Sicav in several European countries, including Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Norway, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. The sub-fund was created in August 2009 on the model of the French-registered CAAM Inflation Monde fund, which has been available to French investors since 20 May 2009. There are no plans to release the Luxembourg version of the fund in France for the moment, CAAM states. The sub-fund’s portfolio is invested in inflation-linked bonds from throughout the world. At least 50% of the portfolio is dedicated to inflation-linked bonds with a rating of “investment grade.”
18/11/2009

Skandia issues REIT management mandate to Cohen & Steers

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) announced on 17 November that it has issued a management mandate for its USD300m REIT fund to the institutional management firm Cohen & Steers, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, specializes in real estate, and manages over USD22.5bn as of 30 September this year. The fund was previously managed by La Salle Investment Management. The modification will be accompanied by a change in benchmark, as the UBS Global Investors index will be replaced by the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Developed Index. As a result, the weight of the fund’s exposure to the US market will fall to about 40%, compared to 50% previously. Asia, particularly Hong Kong and Japan, will gain weight as a proportion of the fund overall. Following approval from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the fund, currently known as the Skandia Global Property Securities (LaSalle) Fund, will change names, to become the Skandia Global Property Securities Fund.
18/11/2009

Jérôme Lieury leaves HSBC Private Bank

Citywire reports that Jérôme Lieury, manager of the Eurassur fund, has left HSBC Private Bank France in favour of a destination which is not yet known. The Eurassur fund will be taken over by Antoine Bouchayer.
18/11/2009

Pimco launches first actively-managed ETF

On Tuesday, Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) announced the launch of its first actively-manged ETF fund, the Pimco Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy (listed under the acronym MINT on NYSE). The fund’s objective is to generate higher performance than money markets; it will be managed by Jerome Schneider, executive vice president of Pimco, following Pimco’s proven investment process, which combines macro-economic (top-down) and stock-picking (bottom-up) approaches. MINT may invest in money market instruments, bonds with long durations to maturity, and a wider range of investment grade bonds.
18/11/2009

DEGI International redemptions rumoured to have headed for hausInvest Europa

The Börsen-Zeitung reports that, according to sources in the financial sector, the heavy redemptions that triggered the freeze of redemptions from the DEGI International real estate fund by Aberdeen are said to have been due to assets being transferred to the rival real estate fund hausInvest Europa from Commerz Real.
18/11/2009

Apollo Management plans IPO on New York Stock Exchange

The private equity firm Apollo Management is planning an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in the next few weeks, say sources close to the firm cited by the Financial Times. Apollo manages USD38.3bn in private equity.
18/11/2009

FRR awards first round in revision of bond mandates

Following a restricted call for offers launched on 23 April to renew part of its bond mandates, the French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), has published a list of the firms retained in the first round to receive mandates to manage inflation-linked bonds denominated in Euros. The firms are, in order, Axa IM, Barclays Global Investors, BNP Paribas AM, Crédit Agricole AM, Natixis AM and Sinopia AM. The mandates are granted for a 5-year term. The FRR says in a statement that the indicative total amount of assets granted in these mandates is estimated at EUR4bn. The selection process will continue in the second and third calls for offers (“investment grade” bonds denominated in Euros, for active management; “investment grade” bonds denominated in US dollars, for active management).
18/11/2009

Pimco to help regulator evaluate risk in bond portfolios

Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco, an affiliate of Allianz) has been awarded a coveted mandate by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to help the regulator evaluate risk for bonds back by residential loans in the portfolios of insurers, the Wall Street Journal reports. This task had previously traditionally been assigned to major ratings agencies, and involves the evaluation of about 18,000 bonds.
18/11/2009

Research Affiliates awarded patent for methodology

Research Affiliates LLC has been awarded a patent for its methodology for the calculation of indices, which selects and weights securities on the basis of fundamental elements such as dividends, revenues, and profits, but not market capitalisation, the Wall Street Journal reports. The RAFI indices from Research Affiliates are already used as benchmarks for assets of USD27bn, up from USD17bn at the beginning of the year. The patent may pose problems for other index providers, such as WisdomTree (USD5.5bn in assets as of the end of September), whose ETF funds replicate their own indices weighted on the basis of dividends or profits.
18/11/2009

Tetragon Financial acquiert Lyon Capital Management

Mardi, Tetragon Financial Group Ltd (TFG) de Guernesey (coté sur Euronext Amsterdam) a annoncé l’acquisition de Lyon Capital Management LLC (LCM) ainsi que de certaines collateralized loan obligations (CLO) auprès de Calyon et de quelques-unes de ses filiales. Le montant de la transaction, qui doit être bouclée au premier trimerstre 2010, n’a pas été divulgué. LCM affiche environ 2,5 milliards de dollars d’encours.
18/11/2009

Simon Pryke takes over as head of Private Investment Management unit at Newton

The management affiliate of BNY Mellon, Newton Investment Management, announced early this week that it has appointed Simon Pryke as head of the Private Investment Management unit. Pryke, who since 2003 had been Investment Leader, Global Research at Newton, will also join the firm’s board of directors. The unit manages more than GBP8.2bn for private clients and charities.
18/11/2009

Appointment at Standard Life Wealth

Standard Life Wealth, the wealth management unit of Standard Life, has appointed James England as senior business development manager, Money Marketing reports. England will be based in London, and will be responsible for developing Standard Life Wealth’s range of products and services for independent financial advisers (IFAs) and wealth management professionals in the United Kingdom. England was previously at UBS AG, where he handled development of relations with IFAs.
18/11/2009

Brevan Howard founder leaves company

Jean-Philippe Blochet, 46-year-old, one of the founding partners of Europe’s biggest hedge fund firm Brevan Howard, has left the company. «Following his return from sabbatical last year, Jean-Philippe Blochet has decided to cease to be an active member of Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP,» the firm said in a statement.
18/11/2009

comdirect in partnership with Morningstar

The website of comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) now offers qualitative ratings of funds provided by Morningstar. Clients of the direct bank may also download complete reports on these funds. Currently, qualitative ratings are available in German for about 400 funds, but “in the mid-term,” this is set to increase to a total of about 3,000 products.
18/11/2009

Assets decline in third quarter

As equities markets have fallen in third quarter, total assets in asset mangement in China declined by 2.46% to a total of CNY2.24trn as of the end of September, according to estimates from the consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. Redemptions posed problems for managers, as virtually asset classes were affected, which forced managers to retain a larger quantity of cash than ideal, which consequently bit into performance. However, Z-Ben observes, product launches attracted CNY135bn, compared with CNY94.7bn in second quarter, and CNY45.4bn in first quarter. These were largely index-based and ETF funds, which attracted half of all new subscriptions.
18/11/2009

Credit Suisse to list 16 Irish-registered Xmtch funds in Frankfurt

Pending permission from Deutsche Börse, 16 Irish-registered ETF funds of the Xmtch range from Credit Suisse will be listed on the XTF segment of the electronic trading platform Xetra on 25 November (see Newsmanagers of 13 November). Currently, Credit Suisse is the largest ETF provider in Switzerland, with EUR6bn in assets and a market share of about 31%. Since 11 September, only one Xmtch has been listed on Xetra, namely, the Luxembourg-registered Xmtch (LUX) on MSCI EMU Large Cap. The listing of these funds in Germany, following their introductions on the Swiss and, more recently, Italian markets, is part of a campaign to capture a leading position on the European market in two years, says Henning Busch, head of asset management for Germany at Credit Suisse. The funds to be listed in Germany are the following: Xmtch (IE) on MSCI EMU Small Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Japan Small Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Japan Large Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI UK Large Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI UK Small Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI US Large Cap Xmtch (IE) on MSCI US Small Cap Xmtch (LUX) on MSCI Emerging Markets Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx USD Govt 1-3 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx USD Govt 3-7 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx USD Govt 7-10 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx EUR Govt 1-3 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx EUR Govt 3-7 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx EUR Govt 7-10 Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx USD Inflation Linked Xmtch (IE) on iBoxx EUR Inflation Linked
18/11/2009

European funds attracted net inflows of EUR149bn in January-September

In September, European long-term UCITS funds posted net subscriptions of EUR2.12bn, of which EUR7bn went to equities funds, EUR7.1bn to bond funds, and EUR6.7bn to balanced funds. However, due to EUR25.2bn in net redemptions from money market funds, funds overall suffered net outflows of EUR4bn, compared with net subscriptions of EUR36.2bn in August. Net inflows to institutional funds totalled EUR8.4bn in September, compared with EUR2.8bn, the association EFAMA reports. For the first nine months of the year as a whole, UCITS funds posted net subscriptions of EUR124.2bn. With the addition of institutional funds and real estate funds, net inflows totalled EUR148.8bn. As of 30 September, assets in UCITS funds represented EUR5.032trn, or 1.4% more than at the end of December. Non-UCITS funds totalled EUR1.608trn, which represents a 2% increase over their levels nine months earlier.
18/11/2009

Mort mystérieuse à Moscou

La Tribune rapporte que, selon un investisseur occidental, un juriste russe âgé de 37 ans, chargé de conseiller un fonds d’investissement basé à Londres, est mort lundi 16 novembre dans une prison de Moscou alors qu’il y était entré en bonne santé. Selon William Browder, le Chief Executive Officer du fonds Hermitage Capital Management basé à Londres, Serguei Magnitsky, était chargé de défendre Hermitage CM et son partenaire la banque HSBC contre une fraude portant sur 230 millions de dollars, impliquant des officiers du ministère de l’Intérieur russe. Il était accusé de complicité d'évasion fiscale pour avoir conseillé son client, selon William Browder.
18/11/2009

A mysterious death in Moscow

La Tribune reports that, according to a Western investor, a Russian lawyer, aged 37, who advises an investment fund based in London, died Monday, 16 November in a Moscow prison, though he was in good health when he was imprisoned. According to William Browder, Chief Executive Officer of Hermitage Capital Management, based in London, Serguei Magnitsky had been retained to defend Hermitage CM and its partner, the bank HSBC, from a USD230m fraud implicating officers of the Russian ministry of the interior. Magnitsky was accused of complicity in tax evasion for advising his client, Browder claims.
18/11/2009

Mort mystérieuse à Moscou

La Tribune rapporte que, selon un investisseur occidental, un juriste russe âgé de 37 ans, chargé de conseiller un fonds d’investissement basé à Londres, est mort lundi 16 novembre dans une prison de Moscou alors qu’il y était entré en bonne santé. Selon William Browder, le Chief Executive Officer du fonds Hermitage Capital Management basé à Londres, Serguei Magnitsky, était chargé de défendre Hermitage CM et son partenaire la banque HSBC contre une fraude portant sur 230 millions de dollars, impliquant des officiers du ministère de l’Intérieur russe. Il était accusé de complicité d'évasion fiscale pour avoir conseillé son client, selon William Browder.
18/11/2009

Two new bond ETF funds from Lyxor listed on Euronext Paris

On Tuesday night, Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) announced that its range of 10 bond ETF funds (EUR5.6bn in assets as of 12 November) is gaining two new additions, the Lyxor ETF EuroMTS AAA Government Bond and Lyxor ETF Euro Corporate Bond ex Financials, which will be listed on Euronext Paris. The first of these, which carries a management commission of 0.165%, replicates the EuroMTS AAA Government index, which reflects the performance of AAA-rated government bonds of the Euro zone. Only the most liquid bonds, whose residual time to maturity is over 1 year, are taken into account in the constitution of the index. The second product tracks the Markit iBoxx Euro Liquid Corporate Non Financials index, and carries a commission of 0.20%. The index consists of a diversified portfolio of corporate bonds denominated in Euros, issued by 20 firms that do not belong to the financial sector, selected on the basis of liquidity criteria.
18/11/2009

Santander unites asset management and global private banking

The board of directors at Banco Santander on Monday decided to group together asset management activities (Santander AM and pension fund management) with global private banking, in a division to be headed by Javier Marín, who was previously head of the global private banking division. Juan Alcaraz will become director of asset management, while remaining as director of Allfunds Bank. He replaces Joan David Grimá Terré, who was head of asset management, and who has requested an early retirement.
18/11/2009

Jupiter launches US equities sub-fund

Jupiter has announced the launch of Jupiter North American Equities Sicav, a sub-fund of the Jupiter Global Fund Sicav. It will be managed by Sebastian Radcliffe, along broadly similar lines to the unit trust, which he has managed since January 2001. The fund is registered in Austria, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Jersey, Singapore and the UK. Jupiter also intends to register the fund in France and Hong Kong. It will be available in three currency classes USD, Euro and UK Sterling.
18/11/2009

India drives Asian inflows

In Asia, funds posted net subscriptions of USD21.3bn between July and September, the best quarter of the year so far, Lipper FMI reports in the most recent edition of its Fund Flash for Asia. The sector was driven by India, with inflows of USD26bn, though these were predominantly to low-risk products, such as bond funds denominated in local currencies and money market funds. In general, Asian investors are uninterested in equities currently, with the notable exception of investors in China, Hong Kong and Japan, Lipper reports. In these markets, most subscriptions have gone to Chinese equities funds (USD17bn). The markets which saw the heaviest net redemptions in the quarter are South Korea (-USD16bn). Australia (-USD5.5bn), Singapore (-USD3.6bn), and Taiwan (-USD2bn).
18/11/2009

Hedge fund chief accused of sexual harassment

Mark Lowe, founder of the hedge fund Nomos Capital Partners, is reported to have sent a dozen email messages to his team, most of whom are women, in which he discusses women and sex. He is also said to have called one of his former employees a “dumb blonde,” the Financial Times reports. A former colleague, Jordan Wimmer, is suing Lowe on claims of sexual harassment, among others.
18/11/2009

Hedge funds: 27 EU member states discuss pay limits for managers

Les Echos reports that a draft bill presented by Sweden to the 27 EU member states and debated on Monday and Tuesday would impose “pay practices and policies which do not encourage excessive risk-taking” on hedge fund managers. France is disappointed in this compromise, and expresses regrets in particular that the bill does not mention either ‘carried interests’ or variable pay scales based on the performance of funds.
18/11/2009

UBS tax scandal: agreement with United States made public

90 days after the signature of an agreement between the United States and Switzerland as a result of the UBS tax evastion scandal, the signatory parties on 17 November released details of the administrative cooperation agreement between them in relation to the financial details of approximately 4,450 US taxpayers. According to a statement released yesterday by the Swiss federal justice and police department (DFJP), the parties concerned are primarily UBS clients domiciled in the United States, who held undeclared bank accounts between 2001 and 2008, and of whom there was “serious reason to believe” that they had committed “apparent fraud or evasion.” The same applied to a smaller number of American expatriates, regardless of their country of domicile, who held offshore accounts in the same period,
18/11/2009

AMP may sweeten bid for Axa APH

Craig Dunn, CEO, has told the Wall Street Journal that the Australian wealth management firm AMP Holdings (AUD12bn in assets) may soon improve its bid for Axa Asia Pacific Holdings, over its previous offer of AUD5.34 in shares and cash. AMP’s rise on the stock exchange has already driven up the value of the bid to about EUR5.72 per share.
18/11/2009

L'avocat d'Hermitage Capital meurt en prison

Sergei Magnitsky (37 ans), avocat russe de la société de gestion Hermitage Capital de William Browder, est décédé dans une geôle moscovite non sans s'être plaint pendant des semaines de ne pas jouir d’un traitement médical adéquat, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.

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