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14/09/2009
Fonds

Les fermetures de fonds se multiplient

Quelque 250 fonds ont disparu en 2007 et 2008 en Espagne. Cette année, avec le retour de la sérénité, le nombre de produits a augmenté au compte-gouttes, mais cette tendance s’est inversée en juin, rapporte Expansión. D’après les dernières statistiques de l’association Inverco des sociétés de gestion, 207 fonds ont fermé leurs portes entre fin mai et fin juin, et le nombre total a baissé à 2.746 unités.En un mois, il y a donc eu autant de fermetures que pour l’ensemble de 2008. Et il semble que cela se poursuive : d’après Ahorro Corporación, le nombre de fonds est tombé à 2.702 en juillet et il a réaugmenté à 2.709 en août.La seule catégorie de produits épargnée par le phénomène est celle de l’obligataire court terme, refuge traditionnel des Espagnols en cas de turbulences : le nombre de ces fonds a augmenté de 9,6 % depuis le début de l’année.
Fonds
14/09/2009

Fund closures on the rise

As many as 250 funds disappeared in 2007 and 2008 in Spain. This year, as calm returns to the markets, the number of products on offer has increased a little bit, but the trend only turned around in June, Expansión reports. According to the most recent statistics from the Inverco association of management firms, 207 funds closed down between the end of May and the end of June, and the total number of funds fell to 2,746. In one month, as many funds were closed as in all of 2008. And this trend appears set to continue: according to Ahorro Corporación, the number of funds on sale fell to 2,702 in July, and rose back to 2,709 in August. The only category of products which has not been affected by this phenomenon is short-term bonds, a traditional refuge for Spanish investors in times of turbulence: the number of funds of this type has increased by 9.6% since the beginning of the year.
14/09/2009

Deutsche Bank hoping to take over all of Sal. Oppenheim by 2011

Deutsche Bank and Sal. Oppenheim on Sunday declined to comment on an article in Focus magazine which claims that the former firm is planning to acquire an initial stake of 45% in Sal. Oppenheim, and then to buy up the remainder of the private bank by 2011, Die Welt am Sonntag reports. Sal. Oppenheim is now valued at EUR1.5bn-EUR1.8bn, down from the EUR2bn it was recently valued at. Sal. Oppenheim is reportedly also in exclusive negotiations to sell its investment banking operations to the Italian firm Mediobanca. Focus reports that the division also interests Barclays and Macquarie.
14/09/2009

Second record in a row for ETF assets

Assets under management in ETFs in Europe increased by USD9.1bn in August, to USD192.1bn. This is their second consecutive all-time record according to Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Since the beginning of the year, assets have increased by 34.7%, and the number of funds on offer has increased by 18.8%, with 141 new ETFs, to a total of 751 products, listed 1,889 times on 19 stock markets. iShares (BGI) remains the largest actor by far in this market, with 158 ETFs and assets of USD76.32bn as of the end of August, which represents a market share of 39.7%. Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) is in second place, with 100 funds, assets of USD39.71bn, and a 20.7% market share, and then db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with 105 ETFs and assets of USD31.19bn, and a market share of 16.2%. BGI adds that, according to Lipper FMI, net inflows in first half to ETFs domiciled in Europe have totalled USD15.2bn.
14/09/2009

Analysts' portfolios outperform funds

Stock picks from brokers can help investors to outperform most funds, a GLG study relayed by the Financial Times finds. On the basis of a list of daily recommendations by European brokers over the past four years, the hedge fund firm shows that a portfolio which followed analysts’ tips and bought the shares in question over a three-months period would have outperformed funds by 75%.
14/09/2009

Harvard and Yale endowments show heavy losses

In the fiscal year ending 30 June, assets in the Harvard and Yale endowments fell respectively by USD36.9bn to USD26bn, and by USD22.9bn to USD16bn, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Harvard estimates losses on its financial market operations at 27%, and the endowment has decided to maintain a liquidity reserve of 2% of its assets in future, rather than borrowing to augment its securities portfolio. Other well-known university endowments are also showing heavy losses, including the endowments of Stanford, Princeton, and MIT.
14/09/2009

Larger pension funds have withstood the shocks of 2008 better

According to a survey by the consulting firm Watson Wyatt and the specialised journal Pensions & Investments of 300 major pension funds in 30 countries, published on 7 September, the 20 largest pension funds on the planet saw a decline in their assets of 4.1% to USD4.2bn in 2008, compared with a 13% decline, to USD10.4bn, for 300 pension institutions overall. Watson Wyatt suggests that “due to their size, the very large pension funds have an advantage in terms of governance and the decision-making process, which allows them to participate in new investment ideas,” Le Temps reports.
14/09/2009

Agnelli family may acquire Intesa asset management business

The Agnelli family may buy the asset management unit of Intesa Sanapolo, the Financial Times reports. Exor, the investment company which manages the family’s assets, including its 30.5% stake in Fiat, announced on Friday that an acquisition of Banca Fideuram was an option currently under study, though any deal was still a long way off. Intesa is seeking to sell Fideuram, which manages assets of EUR42bn.
14/09/2009

SEC poised to impose money market fund restrictions

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is hoping to impose a requirement that money market funds be allowed to invest only in top-rated securities, in order to reduce risk. But the US Chamber of Commerce and 20 corporations have expressed reservations about the plans, arguing that the limitations may make it difficult for them to raise capital, L’Echo reports.
14/09/2009

3i sells minority stakes

The private equity investor 3i Group has sold minority stakes in small businesses in the IT telecommunications and health sectors in Europe for a total of EUR150m, Cinco Días reports. The consortium which has bought the investments includes Coller Capital, Harbour Vest and DFJ Esprit.
14/09/2009

Mediobanca studying books at Sal. Oppenheim investment bank

Mediobanca is carrying out due diligence on Sal. Oppenheim’s German investment banking and equity capital markets business. Deutsche Bank is not interested in these operations, as it focuses on the wealth management and private banking activities of the German-Luxembourg business (EUR130bn in assets), the Financial Times reports. According to sources close to the firm, Mediobanca will probably opt for hiring of teams rather than an acquisition of the entirety of the Sal. Oppenheim investment bank, which has 400 employees. The Italian bank would apparently take on board only a small number of these.
14/09/2009

High net worth clients take profits on equity markets

In second quarter, the Ibex index of the Spanish stock market gained 25.24%. And high net worth investors such as Alicia Koplowitz, Ram Bhavnani and the Del Pino family took the occasion to reduce the proportion of Spanish equities in the portfolios of their 20 Sicav funds, Cinco Días reports. As of the end of June, equities represent only EUR163.4m, 20% less than at the end of March, despite gains on equities markets between the beginning of April and the end of June. Money withdrawn from equities markets has been invested either in cash or in bonds.
14/09/2009

Cosmen and CVC granted permission to conduct due diligence on National Express accounts

The board of National Express has authorised the Austrian Cosmen family and the private equity investor CVC Capital Partners to undertake due diligence on the books at the business, and the British merger and acquisition authority has extended the deadline for bids from Friday 11 September until 6:00 PM on 25 September, Cinco Días reports. In that time period, the consortium will be allowed to decide whether or not to maintain its bid of GBP5 per share for the firm. If the operation is successful, Cosmen and CVC are planning to sell off some of the assets of National Express to Stagecoach.
14/09/2009

GBP4m incentive package to bring back Candover

Malcolm Fallen, the new CEO of Candover Investments, has been granted a GBP4m incentive package to bring about a recovery at the private equity firm, the Sunday Times reports. He was previously CEO of the telecommunications operator KCOM, and began in his new position last week. He will be in charge of negotiating a solution for Candover’s 2008 fund, which will probably be closed, having been unable to meet a EUR1bn pledge in March. The partners who pledged EUR2bn for the fund will probably be allowed not to fulfil their commitments without a penalty.
14/09/2009

Simon Ellis becomes retail director at LGIM

The former head of multi-management at Fidelity between 2006 and 2009 is joining Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) as managing director for retail activities, Investment Week reports.
14/09/2009

BlackRock to create a trading platform

BlackRock, which will soon become the world’s largest asset manager, with USD3,000bn under management after its acquisition of BGI, is preparing to create its own global trading platform, the Financial Times reveals, citing an internal memo. Minder Cheng has been appointed to oversee the platform. If some clients are selling a security and others are buying, BlackRock can cross these trades internally, without going through Wall Street. The service would be free of charge.
11/09/2009

Michelin removes from GCX index

The Hanover stock exchange announced on Thursday that Michelin shares will be removed on 21 September from the Global Challenges Index (GCX), a sustainable development index launched in September 2007 with the assistance of the Munich-based agency oekom research. The statement says that environmental organisations accuse the French manufacturer of violating human rights during extensions of its rubber plantations in Nigeria. Michelin will be replaced in the index by the US firm EMC. The composition of the GCX index may be consulted online at the address http://www.gcindex.com/de/index/indexstruktur/unternehmens_uebersicht.p…
11/09/2009

RBC Dexia prepares for staff adjustments

An ongoing “global realignment of the operational model” of the group and a “redeployment of operational and IT activities to Kuala Lumpur” may affect 110 positions out of 1,600 at RBC Dexia Luxembourg. This impact is before negotiations with representatives of labour, and a statement adds that since the creation of RBC Dexia in 2006, more than 600 jobs have been created locally in Luxembourg. The move to Malaysia may involve as many as 50 jobs.
11/09/2009

Record inflows to corporate bond funds

In July, EUR7.5bn went into corporate investment grade bond funds on sale in Europe, on total net inflows of EUR46bn, according to the most recent Fund Flash from Lipper FMI. Since the beginning of the year, net inflows to these funds have totalled EUR40bn, a record which in fact exceeds the combined flows achieved during the last 5 years. Cross-border groups have been the big winners, hoovering up over half of this year’s new money. Specialist boutique BlueBay has taken full advantage of this explosion, but M&G and Schroders have also shared the take, Lipper FMI notes. In total, fixed income funds registered net inflows in July of EUR16bn, a four year high. Equities saw inflows of EUR12bn, no longer dominated by emerging markets, Lipper FMI observes. In July, the asset management firm with the strongest net inflows was Schroders, with EUR2.8bn. In Equities, a joint venture from SocGen and Russell stands out with EUR988m in investments for a multi-style fund and a multi-management fund.
11/09/2009

Martin Currie recruits a director for Asia from Vanguard

On 28 September, Ee Fang Chen, who was previously in charge of development of institutional activities for Vanguard in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, will join Martin Currie Investment Management as business development director, Asia. In this position he will report to Kimon Kouryialas, regional head for Pan Asia. He will be based in Singapore and will be in charge of assisting client development in Asia.
11/09/2009

Scotia Bank brings together asset management activities in single centre

On Wednesday, Scotia Bank announced that it has made improvements to its asset management operations “in order to support client service and internal growth at its wealth management division.” The new centre of excellence which has been created, entitled Gestion d’actifs Scotia S.E.C. (Scotia Asset Management), will bring together research, communications and product design efforts with other activities which are currently dispersed throughout several operational units. Gestion d’actifs Scotia will bring asset management expertise from Fonds Scotia, ScotiaMcLeod and Scotia Cassels together in a single entity. This will represent more than CAD20bn in assets.
11/09/2009

Pimco Europe overtakes db x-trackers

In the first seven months of the year, the Irish management firm Pimco Europe (Allianz group) has been the manager to post the strongest net subscriptions in the German market, with EUR2.8bn, of which EUR536m were in July. Pimco Europe has taken first place from db x-trackers, the Luxembourg-registered ETF affiliate of Deutsche Bank, which has EUR2.57bn in assets, following net outflows of EUR0.4bn, the Kommalpha agency reports. The best results in July were at Barclays Global Investors Deutschland (EUR747m in net subscriptions), while CSAM Immo had the worst results, with net outflows of EUR858m. The next three firms in the rankings were German-registered funds: ETFlab (the ETF provider from Deka), which posted inflows of EUR1.96bn for January-July, Union Investment Privatfonds (co-operative banks), with EUR1.81bn, and Union Investment Real Estate, with EUR1.63bn. The largest net outflows in the period under review were all at Luxembourg-registered management firms: Deka (savings banks) underwent net redemptions of EUR2.76bn, ahead of Union Investment Lux (EUR2.39bn), IFM (EUR2.38bn), Allianz Gi Lux (EUR2.1bn), and cominvest SA (EUR1.41bn). In total, German-registered management firms saw net inflows of EUR7.39bn in the first seven months of the year, while Luxembourg-registered funds saw net redemptions of EUR9.37bn.
11/09/2009

Madoff's real estate properties up for sale

Bernard Madoff’s two remaining federally seized properties, located in New York and Palm Beach, were listed on Thursday for USD9.9m and USD8.5m, respectively, the WSJ reports. Madoff’s beachfront house in Montauk was listed on 1 September for USD8.75m. The proceeds from the sales of the houses will go into a fund which will be used to reimburse victims of the Madoff fraud.
11/09/2009

National Express approves takeover bid from Cosmen family and CVC

The Spanish Cosmen family and the private equity firm CVC will soon take control of National Express, as the transportation firm has confirmed that it is in talks with the consortium over its EUR2.08bn bid to acquire the firm, Cinco Días reports. On Friday at 5 PM the deadline for new bids will expire. According to the British press, the board of National Express is reported to have voted on Wednesday in favour of accepting the Cosmen-CVC bid, at EUR5.75 per share, which values the firm at EUR875m, plus EUR1.2bn in debt.

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