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21/10/2009

BNY Mellon charge la barque

Suite à une restructuration de son portefeuille rendue possible par le regain de vigueur des marchés obligataires, BNY Mellon a opéré des cessions et extériorisé des pertes sur une partie significative de son portefeuille de valeurs mobilières et Robert P. Kelly, chairman and CEO, a souligné que ces mesures devraient augmenter les recettes nettes d’intérêts de 125-175 millions de dollars en 2010 tout en réduisant significativement le risque de pertes ultérieures sur le portefeuille.Le groupe accuse pour le troisième trimestre une perte nette de 2,46 milliards de dollars contre des bénéfices nets de 176 millions de dollars pour avril-juin et 303 millions en juillet-septembre 2008. Pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, la perte ressort à 1,96 milliard de dollars contre un bénéfice net de 1,36 milliard.A fin septembre, les encours sous conservation et administration représentaient 22 100 milliards de dollars contre 20 700 milliards trois mois plus tôt et 22 400 milliards fin décembre. Les actifs sous gestion se situaient à 966 milliards de dollars contre 926 milliards fin juin et 1.067 milliards au 31 décembre 2008. Les encours gérés ont diminué de 9 % par rapport à fin septembre de l’an dernier. Au troisième trimestre, les remboursements nets ont porté sur 16 milliards de dollars, dont 14 milliards concernant les fonds monétaires.BlackRock précise par ailleurs que les commissions de gestion d’actifs et de fortune, hors commissions de performances, ont représenté 649 millions de dollars au troisième trimestre, soit 18 % de moins que pour juillet-septembre 2008 et 6 % de plus qu’au deuxième trimestre 2009. La baisse en glissement annuel reflète la faiblesse des marchés, partiellement compensée par les souscriptions nettes.
21/10/2009

Bank of England amenable to dismantling banks

Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, on Tuesday night called on banks to separate public services from high-risk businesses, adding that it would be an illusion to suppose that new regulations would prevent future financial crises.
21/10/2009

AGI launches a long/short European equities fund

Allianz Global Investors (AGI) on 6 October launched the Allianz RCM Discovery Europe Strategy fund, a UCITS III-compliant fund which will aim to generate performance regardless of market conditions. The fund has since been granted a license by BaFin, AGI stated on Tuesday. The manager, Harald Sportleder, will use the “grassroots” fundamental research process from RCM, the equity management platform from AGI, to select shares for long or short positions, in order to reduce risks, with a neutral exposure to the market. The fund will also make use of derivatives, with a money market portfolio and a total return swap. Characteristics Name: Allianz RCM Discovery Europe Strategy ISIN: (A EUR shares) LU0384022694 Front-end fee: 5% Management commission: 1.50% Performance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the Eonia, with high watermark
21/10/2009

SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return gets keys to Cacilium

Approximately 14 months after the contract was signed, the ImmoPortfolio Target Return fund from the British management firm SEB Asset Management has received keys to the Cäcilium building in Cologne, which it purchased for EUR75.5m from the developer Kölbl Kruse of Essen. The 6-story property, with 17,500 square metres in floor area and 141 underground parking spaces, has received the DNGB environmental label. The property is already 89% leased, and the vendor will provide a guarantee on the remaining vacant space in the property for a two-year period. The Cäcilium building is the 11th German property in the portfolio of the ImmoPortfolio Target Return, an open-ended fund reserved for high net worth private and institutional investors. Assets total EUR734.3m, and the portfolio is composed of 37 properties in 12 countries.
21/10/2009

With 10 new iShares funds, XTF segment tops 500 ETFs

Barclays Global Investors on Tuesday added ten new ETF funds to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse. All of them are German-registered products, with seven equities and three bond funds. The new products bring the number of products listed in Frankfurt to 507. Deutsche Börse states that the XTF segment accounts for a 44% share of European ETF trading volumes. In addition to the two funds replicating the MSCI Emerging Markets SmallCap Index and the MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Index, which pay dividends on a half-yearly or quarterly basis, the other five new ETF funds are based on indexes which reinvest dividends. The three bond ETFs, for their part, replicate government bond indexes denominated in Euros. Name ISIN Code Management commission iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (Acc) DE000A0YBR46 0.75% iShares MSCI Emerging Markets SmallCap DE000A0YBR04 0.74% iShares MSCI Europe (Acc) DE000A0YBR20 0.35% iShares MSCI Japan (Acc) DE000A0YBR53 0.59% iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan DE000A0YBR12 0.60% iShares MSCI World (Acc) DE000A0YBR38 0.50% iShares S&P 500 (Acc) DE000A0YBR61 0.40% iShares Barclays Euro Treasury Bond DE000A0YBRZ7 0.20% iShares Barclays Euro Government Bond 5-7 DE000A0YBRY0 0.20% iShares Barclays Euro Government Bond 10-15 DE000A0YBRX2 0.20%
21/10/2009

Thames River launches two bond funds

The British management firm Thames River announced on 19 October that on 23 October it will launch two UCITS III-compliant bond funds, the Thames River Credit Select Fund and the Thames River Global Credit Fund. The two funds will be listed on the Irish stock exchange. The first of these funds will invest in ver high quality corporate bonds from developed countries as a first priority, and will aim for annual returns of 4% to 5%, with average volatility. The second fund will invest in corporate debt with a moderate credit rating (BBB) in developed markets, with a maximum allocation of 40% to high yield paper and emerging markets. The fund will aim for returns of 6.5%. The two funds will be managed by Stephen Drew and Mehrdad Noorani, with the assistance of ten specialists. Management fees will total 1.5% for the retail and 1% for the institutional share classes.
21/10/2009

Many small hedge funds will disappear

Despite the returns they have accumulated in recent months, 20% of the 8,000 hedge funds in existence are still below their high watermarks due to losses in 2008, Handelsblatt notes. Philip Vasan of Credit Suisse says the question of the high watermark will be the subject of intense discussion in the sector in the last six weeks of the year, and specialists predict that 105 of hedge fund managers will not catch up to their 2007 high points. Bary Bausano at Deutsche Bank in New York predicts that hundreds of hedge funds will close. This will not affect the major funds very severely, as they are diversified and well-capitalised, but will more severely affect smaller funds “which were created by three people in a garage.”
21/10/2009

Hedge funds managed by women perform better

Women managing hedge funds remain a minority, but have delivered higher annual returns than their male counterparts in the recession, says The Guardian, citing a search paper presented at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society at Deauville. The value of female-managed funds dropped by 9.6% in the past year, compared with a plunge of 19% for the rest, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research. Female «hedgies» also performed better in general over the past decade, with an average annual return of just over 9%, while hedge funds overall delivered 5.82%.
21/10/2009

Other mergers similar to SGAM/CAAM union not to be ruled out

The asset management sector is likely to be a centre of merger and acquisition activities in European financial services in the next 12 months, PricewaterhouseCoopers has claimed in a recent study.* Hervé Demoy, a partner specialised in the financial sector at PricewaterhouseCoopers in France, believes “several major financial institutions which would like to develop their asset management activities will continue to examine opportunities for external growth in this sector, in order to consolidate their market share, particularly in Europe. Mergers of major actors are not to be ruled out either, on the model of the SGAM/CAAM merger in France.” Small managers will not remain unaffected by this trend, he says: “less well-performing small and mid-sized asset management firms may also attract the attention of banking establishments seeking to consolidate certain positions, and of financial investors, who will seek to increase their investments in the financial services sector.” PwC also notes that private equity firms are increasingly interested in the sector, as actors are becoming available for purchase at attractive prices. * European Financial Services M&A Insights
21/10/2009

CESR consultation on money market funds

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 20 October launched a consultation on the definition of European money market funds. The CESR is proposing to introduce a distinction between very short-term money market funds and more long-term money market funds. The consultation will remain open until 31 December.
21/10/2009

ETF Securities adds to teams

As a result of the growing popularity of ETC and ETF funds, ETF Securities announced on 20 October that it has recruited four new partners. Martin Arnold, who has previously worked for the Australian central bank, joins the firm as senior analyst in the team dedicated to investment strategy and research. Jenny Hisch and Michael Langerup, previously of Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, and Michael Langerup, previously of Saxo Bank, join the team specialised in product development, while Amila Kulasinghe, from Goldman Sachs International, joins the legal team.
21/10/2009

Hargreaves Lansdown profits from market rebound

Hargreaves Lansdown has posted 22% gains on its assets under administration in the first quarter of its fiscal year, Money Marketing reports. As of 30 September, these assets totalled GBP14.5bn, compared with GBP11.9bn as of the end of June. Assets under administration on the Vantage platform have also gained 22%, to GBP13.1bn.
21/10/2009

Qatar Holdings sells part of Barclays stake

In a regulated market statement, Barclays Capital has notified the London Stock Exchange that Qatar Holding LLC (QH) will sell nearly 379.22 million ordinary shares in Barclays PLC in an accelerated order book procedure and to exercise an equivalent number of warrants to cover the operation (which corresponds to half the warrants held by QH). The share price for the operation is set at GBP197.775 per share. The transaction will bring in about GBP750m for Barlcays. QH remains the largest shareholder in the British banking group. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) has been retained as the sole bookkeeper, while Barclays Capital will act as lead manager. Ahmad Al-Sayed, CEO and managing director of Qatar Holding, has stated that the transaction is part of the normal process of allowing the portfolio to breathe, and that the Qatar sovereign fund (Qatar Investment Authority, or QIA, the parent company of QH) is planning to remain a strategic investor in Barclays for the long term.
21/10/2009

Rathbone Brothers acquires management portfolios from Lloyds Banking Group

The British bank Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) announced on 20 October that it has sold asset management portfolios to Rathbone Brothers for a maximum of GBP35.4m, or EUR39m. In total, 6,000 LBG clients, with a total of GBP1.27bn in assets under management, will be transferred to Rathbone, pending their approval. After the transfer, LBG will continue to manage GBP8.5bn in assets for 35,000 high net worth clients. The bank, born of the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS, which has already laid off about 8,000 employees since the merger, has also signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Rathbone to send it clients with between GBP250,000 and GBP2m to invest. LBG expects about 40 layoffs to come in Edinburgh as a result of the transaction, though it is working to avoid as many layoffs as possible.
21/10/2009

Evli Bank acquires Swedish Erisk Penser Fonder

The Finnish bank Evli Bank will acquire 100 % of the shares in the Swedish asset manager Erik Penser Fonder AB from Urdar AB. The acquisition is an important step in Evli Bank’s strategy to continue to build its wealth management operations in Sweden. The acquisition adds approximately EUR 200 million in assets to Evli’s current offering through eight Swedish equity-, hedge- and fixed income funds.
21/10/2009

Deutsche Bank appoints a head of institutional clients for Asia ex Japan

Deutsche Bank has recruited Kenneth Kwok has head of institutional private clients in Hong Kong. He was previously head of corporate sales for Asia ex Japan at Goldman Sachs. Kwok will be in charge of developing the range of services from the group for very high net worth clients, Asian Investor states.
21/10/2009

Heads of Atlas Capital Patrimonio acquire 71% of capital

With their institutional partner, the Swiss firm Julius Baer, whose stake has been increased to 28.57% from 19.80%, the heads of Atlas Capital Patrimonio, the private banking division of Atlas Capital, have increased their stake in the business to 71.43% from 49.51% previously, Expansión reports.
21/10/2009

California sues State Street

The State of California has initiated a lawsuit against State Street, seeking USD200m. The one State accuses the other of having systematically overcharged the two pension funds CalPERS and CALSTRS for currency trades since 2001, the Financial Times reports. The overcharges are estimated at more than USD56m over the eight-year period. State Street has announced that it plans to contest the lawsuit.
21/10/2009

New York Mets baseball team made money on Madoff

The Mets are coming out of a slump. But financially, things are going well, the Wall Street Journal reports. The baseball team made USD48m on its dealings with Bernard Madoff, according to legal documents cited by the newspaper. The documents reveal that the Mets Limited Partnership, with ties to Sterling Equities, the owner of the Mets, deposited about USD523m in two accounts with Bernard Madoff, and withdrew USD571m. The money the team made may be reclaimed by the court-appointed liquidator.
21/10/2009

Launch of two Korean sustainability indexes

SAM, Dow Jones Indexes and KPC have announced the launch of two sustainability indexes focused on South Korea. The Dow Jones Sustainability Korea Index (DJSI Korea) will measure the performance of 200 leading South Korean firms in the area of sustainable development, while the DJSI Korea 20 will monitor the performance of the 20 most advanced firms in this area.
21/10/2009

Aberdeen AM: soft closing of emerging equities fund

Aberdeen Asset Management has announced that its Global Emerging Market Equities fund has undergone a soft closing at GBP952m. The team will rein in the size of the fund in order not to penalise performance, according to a statement. Aberdeen AM will revisit the decision in six months, the management firm adds.
21/10/2009

Mini-Madoff fraudster in Basel

Thomas Collomb, a lawyer representing more than 80 victims who lost between CHF10m and CHF15m, estimates that CHF150m-CHF170m evaporated in a Madoff-style pyramid scheme operated by the financier Ambros Baumann, who died in December 2007, Handelszeitung reports. The Friburg-based lawyer is planning to file a civil suit which will target Julius Baer, the depository bank for the fund. Julius Baer rejects the acccusations.
21/10/2009

BNP Paribas affiliate fined

La Tribune reports that the local brokerage affiliate of BNP Paribas has been fined JPY100m (EUR740,000) by the Japanese securities brokers association (JSDA) for irregularities in 2008, concerning the financing in June 2008 of a deal with the Japanese real estate promoter Urban, which has since gone bankrupt.
21/10/2009

Xenix offers fixed-fee ETF-based management

The Berlin-based financial services firm Xenix Investor Services on Friday launched its new range of Xenix Investor Services, aimed at retail and institutional investors. The particularity of the new service is that it provides the client with custom strategic advising, constructing the portfolio exclusively from the bricks of ETF funds which replicate “high quality” indexes. The other unique characteristic of Xenix Investor Services is that it operates solely on the basis of a fixed pay scale, from a minimum of EUR200m. The formula includes six template portfolios which correspond to different risk profiles and priorities, but the portfolio may also be “customised.” In each of the type portfolios, Xenix will include ETFs from at least two different asset classes. The Xenix universe consists of 120 European ETFs. The Xenix company was recently founded by Mark Thomas, who was previously head of sales for Dow Jones Indexes and Stoxx Ltd. for the German-speaking countries, after working at Activest and Siemens KAG.
21/10/2009

Morningstar doubles stake in Morningstar Korea

On Tuesday, Morningstar Inc announced that it has increased its stake in Morningstar Korea Co Ltd to about 80%, up from 40% previously. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The remaining 20% of Morningstar Korea remain the property of Seong Ryong Ji, while Jason Yee-Huk remains CEO of the firm.
21/10/2009

OFI AM to distribute two funds from Brevan Howard AM

OFI Asset Management has formed a partnership with the London-based alternative management firm Brevan Howard Asset Management, to provide distribution in France of two UCITS III-compliant sub-funds managed by the latter. The products are the Brevan Howard Macro FX Fund, which uses a “pure alpha” management strategy that operates solely on major currencies as a function of discretionary macroeconomic outlooks of managers and economists at BHAM, and the Brevan Howard Absolute Return Bond Plus Fund, which operates exclusively on fixed-income and currency markets in countries of the G10 and other authorised countries. The two funds have a total of over USD520m in assets, nearly evenly distributed between them, while Brevan Howard managed a total of USD25bn as of 30 September 2009.
21/10/2009

Mixed results at BlackRock

Net profits for third quarter at BlackRock increased 46% to USD317m, compared with USD217m in July-September 2008, but results for the first nine months of the year contracted 15% to USD619m, down from USD732m. Assets under management and supervision as of the end of September totalled Usd1.43477trn, compared with USD1.27188trn under management, compared with USD1.37316trn and USD1.20754trn as of the end of June, and USD1.2586trn and USD1.21549trn twelve months earlier. BlackRock states that assets under management and supervision have increased since the beginning of the year by USD109.72bn, despite net redemptions of USD9.82bn, but that currency effects were positive to the tune of USD14bn, and market appreciation brought in USD104.18bn, and the acquisition of R3 Capital contributed USD1.34bn to the total. Balanced and equities funds posted net subscriptions of USD30.99bn in the nine-month period, while money market funds saw net outflows of USD49.53bn in third quarter, which resulted in net redemptions in this category of USD930m in January-September.
21/10/2009

BNY Mellon unloads ballast from balance sheets

Following a restructuring of its portfolio which has been rendered possible by a rebound on the bond markets, BNY Mellon has undertaken some sales of assets and exteriorizations of losses, involving a significant part of its securities portfolio. Robert P. Kelly, chairman and CEO, emphasizes that the measures will increase njet interest income by USD1250175m in 2010, while significantly reducing the risk of further losses on the portfolio. The group has suffered net losses in third quarter of USD2.46bn, compared with net profits of USD176m in April-June, and Usd303m in July-September 2008. In the first nine months of the year, losses have totalled USD1.96bn, compared with a net profit of USD1.36bn. As of the end of September, assets under custody and administration represented USD22.1trn, compared with USD20.7trn three months earlier, and USD22.4trn as of the end of December. Assets under management have fallen 9% since the end of September last year. In third quarter, net redemptions totalled USD16bn, of which USD14bn were from money market funds. BlackRock also states that management commissions from wealth management, excluding performance commissions, totalled USD649m in third quarter, 18% less than in July-September 2008, and 6% more than in second quarter 2009. The decline in annual terms reflects the weakness of the markets, partially offset by net subscriptions.
21/10/2009

Warren Buffett thinks low point is behind us

Although the economy is not likely to regain its lustre in the short term, the low point of the crisis is past, and enormous progress has been made in the past twelve months, says the sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett. The Wall Street Journal reports that the head of Berkshire Hathaway nonetheless points out that the United States have not yet returned to 100% health in terms of the return of consumer spending and confidence.

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