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13/11/2009

Bénéfice en forte hausse sur neuf mois pour la Banque cantonale vaudoise

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la Banque cantonale vaudoise (BCV) a dégagé sur neuf mois un résultat brut de 357,8 millions de francs, en progression de 22% par rapport aux neuf premiers mois de 2008, avec une augmentation de 13% des encours sous gestion à 75,5 milliards de francs. Pour l’ensemble de l’exercice, la BCV s’attend à «une marche des affaires inscrite globalement dans la continuité de l’année en cours».
13/11/2009

Sarasin met sa gestion de fortune au diapason islamique

Jeudi, le groupe Sarasin a annoncé le lancement d’une offre de gestion de fortune islamique couvrant tout le spectre des produits et prestations de banque privée compatibles avec la charia. Cela englobe la planification patrimoniale et successorale, le financement ainsi que la gestion de fortune avec des placements monétaires et des produits structurés fondés sur la wakala, le murabaha ou le maraya.La conformité de l’offre de Sarasin aux préceptes de la charia sera garantie par un comité indépendant formé de spécialistes.
13/11/2009

Harcourt coopère avec Weston CM et WR Group

Le gestionnaire alternatif indépendant Weston Capital Management LLC a annoncé la création d’une co-entreprise avec le suisse Harcourt Investment Consulting pour former une structure d’incubation de hedge funds. Cette filiale commune permettra de conjuguer les compétences de Weston CM en matière de hedge funds au premier stade de développement et de marketing avec les capacités de harcourt en matière de sélection de gérants, de due diligence et de gestion du risque. L’objectif et de créer un fonds qui drainera 250 millions de dollars.Par ailleurs, Harcourt et WR Group Holdings sont convenus de regrouper leurs plates-formes de comptes gérés. Le gestionnaire helvétique, spécialiste des solutions d’investissement alternatif pour les investisseurs institutionnels, ouvrira l’accès à sa plate-forme de comptes gérés et assurera en exclusivité des services de due diligence sur les fonds de la plate--forme de WR Group. Il fournira aussi des services d’analyse et de construction de portefeuille.L’objectif est de créer une plate-forme unique à l’intention des investisseurs institutionnels avec les produits d’une cinquantaine de gérants, nombre qui sera porté à 75 au premier trimestre 2010. Actuellement, la plate-forme de WR Group regroupe 30 gérants avec un encours de 200 millions de dollars, tandis que celle d’Harcourt compte 15 gérants et 150 millions de dollars.
13/11/2009

Le fonds K1 sur le point d’être liquidé

Selon Les Echos citant Bloomberg, le fonds K1 Invest va être mis en liquidation par la société Grant Thornton, à la suite de l’arrestation de son fondateur, Helmut Kiener, fin octobre sur de nombreux griefs : malversation, abus de confiance, tromperie et même blanchiment d’argent sale. Le montant globalement en jeu est de l’ordre de 400 millions de dollars. « Une liquidation volontaire est dans le meilleur intérêt du groupe et de ses investisseurs », a indiqué le gestionnaire du fonds, FISI Financial Services, dans un courrier obtenu par l’agence Bloomberg.
13/11/2009
Fonds

Credit Suisse va commercialiser ses ETF Xmtch en Allemagne

La presse allemande est invitée par Credit Suisse à un petit-déjeuner le 17 novembre. Il s’agit de lui présenter la gamme d’ETF de la marque Xmtch, qui a été récemment élargie (lire notre article du 6 juillet) et que l'émetteur helvétique a l’intention de faire coter sur le segment XTF de la plate-forme de négociation électronique Xetra de la Deutsche Börse. De fait, le Credit Suisse envisage de faire admettre ses Xmtch, jusqu'à présent cantonnés au marché suisse, à la négociation dans d’autres pays européens, en dehors de l’Allemagne.
Fonds
13/11/2009
Fonds

DWS lance un fonds pour se protéger de l'inflation

DWS Investment lance DWS Sachwerte, un fonds diversifié investi dans des classes d’actifs permettant à l’investisseur de se protéger au mieux en cas de forte inflation. Le portefeuille est composé d’actions, de participations dans des actifs immobiliers, de matières premières, de métaux (surtout l’or), d’obligations indexées sur l’inflation et de devises. La part actions ne devrait pas, selon DWS, dépasser les 10 %.
Fonds
13/11/2009

FSA calls in Serious Fraud Office to investigate Dynamic Decision FM

At the request of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating Dynamic Decision Fund Management, an alternative asset management firm based in the Cayman Islands, which managed GBP500m, Handelsblatt reports. The FSA and the SFO have both been flooded with complaints from subscribers about investment practices at Dynamic Decision. Investigators are focusing on the Dynamic Decisions Growth Premium Master Fund, the firm’s main hedge fund, which was closed last year after suffering heavy losses.
13/11/2009

Deka buys a building in Prague

The German firm Deka Immobilien has bought the 40,000 square-metre Gemini office building in Prague, for its open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa (EUR10bn). The acquisition price is about EUR110m. The vendor is the Austrian Sparkassen Immobilien AG.
13/11/2009

BG Umbrella sub-funds to be liquidated

The Global Classic, Global Dynamic, Global Challenge, Global Balance, Global Discovery and Stable Value sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav BG Umbrella Fund will be liquidated on 1 January 2010, as a result of the Madoff scandal. Subscribers will be able to redeem their investments at this time, LRI Invest announces.
13/11/2009

Hedge funds coming back

Hedge Fund Research reports that in second quarter, 182 new hedge funds were launched worldwide, while 148 were launched in the first three months of the year.
13/11/2009

Belgian and French investors are the most ethical in Europe

The most ethical investors in Europe are the Belgians, the French and the Swiss, measured by the percentage of assets in responsible investing screened funds (which take a positive investment approach such as best in class) relative to the size of the national fund industry, Lipper states. However, the proportions remain low, at 6%, 2%, and 2%, respectively. In terms of sales activity this year, France and Switzerland were joined by the United Kingdom this year, while Belgium slipped marginally into the red. At the bottom end of the rankings, the worst countries in Europe in terms of socially responsible funds were Spain and Italy, with less than 0.5% of assets in RI screened funds. And there, the situation is only getting worse, as the two countries have withdrawn more assets than they have invested from socially responsible funds, Lipper reports. In total, nearly EUR5bn have been invested since the beginning of the year in socially responsible investment funds, 65% more than in all of 2008, Lipper states. The level of assets in these funds has increased by more than 25% to EUR48.8bn this year. More than EUR1.4bn have been placed in 47 new funds, while there is a total of 671 such funds. The largest European providers of socially responsible funds by assets are KBC, Allianz, BNP Paribas, Natixis and Dexia.
13/11/2009

French money market funds drag down European inflows

In September, flows to European funds totalled EUR2bn, according to the most recent Fund Flash from Lipper FMI. This weak result is partly due to outflows of EUR21bn from money market funds in France. Excluding money market funds, inflows totalled EUR31bn, half of which went to equities funds (EUR14bn). The asset management firm with the strongest net inflows in September both for all asset classes combined and for equities alone was Deutsche/DWS.
13/11/2009

DWS launches an inflation protection fund

DWS Investment is launching DWS Sachwerte, a diversified fund which invests in asset classes which provide the investor the best possible protection in case of steep inflation. The portfolio is composed of equities, stakes in real estate properties, commodities, metals (particularly gold), inflation-indexes bonds, and currencies. The equities portion will not exceed 10% of the portfolio, says DWS.
13/11/2009

Credit Suisse to release Xmtch ETF funds in Germany

The German press has been invited by Credit Suisse to a breakfast press conference on 17 November, where it will present its range of ETF products under the Xmtch brand name, which has recently been enlarged (see article in Newsmanagers of 6 July). The Swiss management firm is planning to list the products on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platorm from Deutsche Börse. Credit Suisse is also planning to list the Xmtch products, which have previously been available only in Switzerland, in other European countries beyond Germany.
13/11/2009

iShares continues to develop bond ETF product range

iShares announced on 12 November that it has launched three new bond ETF products, which will be available to French investors: iShares Barclays Euro Government Bond 5-7, iShares Barclays Euro Government Bond 10-15, and iShares Barclays Euro Treasury Bond. The three new funds are additions to the iShares bond ETF range, which now includes 21 products registered for sale on the French market. In this range, a statement says, the iShares € Corporate Bond (based on the iBoxx Euro Liquid Corporate Bond index), launched in March 2003, has been particularly successful, and is now the largest bond ETF in Europe, with more than EUR3bn in assets. More recently, iShares launched the iShares Barclays Euro Corporate Bond fund, which already has assets of EUR325m after only 7 months of existence. This fund, like the three new products, is part of the Barclays Capital Aggregate fund, which previously bore the Lehman Brothers brand name, and which is among the most popular in the world.
13/11/2009

Net subscriptions in 2009 total double net outflows in 2008

In January-October, net subscriptions to mutual funds in the United States represented USD314.1bn (of which USD40.3bn were in October), while net redemptions in the corresponding period of last year totalled USD154.2bn, according to statistics from Morningstar. For ETF funds, net inflows have totalled USD63.9bn in the first ten months of the year, of which USD8bn were in October.The strongest net subscriptions in January-October were USD81.96bn for Vanguard and USD56.14bn for Pimco Funds, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton, which attracted USD17.08bn and USD14.37bn. However, American Funds saw net redemptions of USD21.28bn.
13/11/2009

Evonik Degussa chooses Prudential Retirement

The US affiliate of the German firm Evonik Industries, Evonik Degussa Corporation, has selected Prudential Retirement to manage all its corporate retirement savings plans. Prudential which was already one of the providers of defined-benefit solutions to Evonik Degussa Corp, will now administer all of Evonik Degussa’s programs, including defined-benefit and defined-contribution as well as other programs. These now represent more than USD650m, manages for about 11,000 active and retired employees.
13/11/2009

Scott Rothstein's miniature Madoff fraud took in over USD1bn

On Thursday, the FBI estimated that the Ponzi type pyramid fraud scheme operated by lawyer Scott W. Rothstein probably ran to over USD1bn, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Monday, the US government filed a civil case against the high-profile Florida lawyer, accusing him of selling investors participations in fictitious legal settlements, promising double-digit returns. The fraud began in 2005, and only came to light in October, when investors complained of not having been paid. The FBI says the investigation will take time, and criminal charges are not expected to be filed for several more weeks.
13/11/2009

Kneip opens an office in Paris

The Luxembourg-based provider of services to the investment fund market announced on 12 November that it has opened an office in Paris with Christian Mavides at its head. The opening of the Paris office follows the recent acquisition of La Cote Bleue, which is located in the historic Palais de la Bourse, the former stock market building in the heart of Paris at Brongniart palace. Christian Mavides, former director of financial advertising at BFM Radio and head of the financial, banking and insurance sectors, will be in charge of development for French clients and management of relations with existing clients. “The opening of a Paris office fits wholly within Kneip’s enlargement strategy, as it seeks to bring support to clients in France, where the investment fund industry is currently experiencing strong growth,” says a statement. In addition to its new Paris office, Kneip is also present in London and Switzerland, and is planning to open a location in Germany in early 2010.
13/11/2009

Sarasin launches Islamic wealth management services

On Thursday, the Sarasin group announced the launch of an Islamic wealth management range, including the full spectrum of private banking products and services compatible with Sharia law. This includes inheritance and wealth transmission planning, financing, and wealth management, as well as money market investments and structured products based on wakala, murabaha, and maraya. Sarasin’s compliance with the precepts of Sharia law will be guaranteed by an independent committee of specialists.
13/11/2009

Harcourt teams up with Weston CM and WR Group

Independent asset management firm Weston Capital Management LLC has announced the creation of a joint venture with the Swiss asset management firm Harcourt Investment Consulting, to form a hedge fund incubator. The joint venture will bring together Weston CM’s expertise in hedge funds in the early stages of development and in marketing, with Harcourt’s abilities in manager selection, due diligence, and risk management. The goal is to create a fund with USD250m in assets.Harcourt and WR Group Holdings have also agreed to combine their managed accounts platforms. The Swiss firm, specialised in alternative investment solutions for institutional investors, will allow access to its managed accounts platform and will provide exclusive due diligence services to funds of the WR Group platform. It will also provide analysis and portfolio construction services.The objective is to create a single platform to serve institutional investors with products from 50 managers; this will be increased to 75 managers in first quarter 2010. Currently, the platform from WR Group includes 30 managers, with assets of USD200m, while Harcourt has 15 managers and USD150m.
13/11/2009

Hans Rademaker to replace Jean-Louis Laurens at Robeco

Hans Rademaker, currently head of fiduciary management at Kempen Capital Management, will join the Dutch management firm Robeco (EUR127bn in assets as of the end of September) on 1 February 2010, as head of mainstream investments, a position which was left vacant on 1 December 2008 with the departure of Jean-Louis Laurens, who has since become head of Rothschild & Cie Gestion, a position he has held since 1 September.Mainstream investments at Robeco are divided between five locations in Rotterdam, Paris, Boston, New York, and Hong Kong.
13/11/2009

BGI to register 12 iShares ETFs

Due to a recent modification of the regulations governing investment funds, which allow ETFs to have the status of Sicavs, Barclays Global Investors is now able to register its iShares products in Spain. Initially, Funds People reports, the manager will apply for licenses for twelve ETF products. The products replicate equities indices for developed markets, including the DJ Euro Stoxx 50, S&P 500, FTSE 100, MSCI Japan and MSCI World. Other products will replicate equities indices of emerging markets: FTSE BRIC 50, MSCI Latin America, FTSE/Xinhua China 25, MSCI AC Far East ex-Japan, MSCI Brazil, MSCI Eastern Europe 10/40, and MSCI Emerging Markets. The funds will be sub-funds of the iShares Public Limited Company and iShares II Public Limited Company Sicav vehicles.
13/11/2009

Axa IM appoints a director for Asia-Pacific region

Axa Investment Managers has announced the appointment of Jean-Pierre Leoni as director for the Asia-Pacific region. He will be based in Hong Kong, and will oversee development of the management firm’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region. He will begin in his new role from 1 January 2010, and will be a member of the executive board at Axa IM and Axa Rosenberg. Leoni joined Axa IM in 1998 as head of the credit expertise team, and in 2005 created a specialist products unit, which he has led until the present time. “The appointment of Jean-Pierre Leoni confirms our commitment to growing our activities in this region,” says Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO of Axa IM. To increase its presence in Asia, the asset management firm is also planning to strengthen its sales teams in the next few months.
13/11/2009

GLG to launch five absolute return funds

The management firm GLG Partners is planning to launch five absolute performance funds on the British market, according to Money Marketing, which will become part of its range of 12 UCITS III-compliant funds domiciled in Dublin. They include four emerging markets funds - emerging markets credit opportunity, equity, fixed income and currencies - and a pan-European long/short alpha fund.
13/11/2009

ETF Securities launches four commodities ETCs

On Thursday, ETF Securities (ETFS) announced the launch of four “long” ETF products based on cocoa, lead, pewter and platinum, which are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The new products bring the number of producs in the ETFS range of ETC products to 148. Its commodities platform now has over USD16bn in assets, triple their levels twelve months ago.
13/11/2009

Clive closes fund to new investors

Clive Capital, the world’s largest commodity hedge fund, is shutting its doors to new investors just two years after its launch, says the Financial Times. People familiar with Clive said the fund wanted to stay nimble in relatively small commodity markets. The fund has swelled to USD3.5bn in assets.
13/11/2009

Liechtenstein removed from OECD "grey list"

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has removed Liechtenstein from its “grey list” of countries which refuse to exchange tax information. The OECD is still monitoring 28 countries which, in many cases, have engaged to comply with OECD standards for tax information sharing, but have not yet done so in practice.
13/11/2009

Hedge funds face pay scale restrictions

European hedge funds will be confronted with more severe restrictions in terms of pay scales than banks, under last-minute changes to the draft directive on alternative management (AIFM). The most recent version of the bill, obtained by the Financial Times, now includes a three-page appendix of provisions restricting pay policies.

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