Selon la Tribune, le deuxième groupe bancaire japonais, Mizuho, a établi mardi 14 juillet à 526,38 milliards de yens (4 milliards d’euros) le montant de son augmentation de capital publique. Avec un placement privé de 139,5 milliards (1,1 milliard d’euros) rapporte le quotidien, Mizuho lèvera donc 5,1 milliards d’euros pour son quatrième appel au marché en un an.
Créé le 5 mai 2008, le fonds Mandarine Convexité, un fonds de droit français, a pour objectif de surperformer une portefeuille qui serait composé à 50 % d'actions européennes et à 50 % d'obligations d'entreprises européennes en investissant de manière défensive dans des produits convexes qui permettent de participer à la hausse des marchés actions et d'amortir la baisse. Ce produit, géré par Fabienne Girard-Tokay, a récemment pris l'appellation de "Mix".
L’indice de plus de 5.000 hedge funds dans le monde établi par Credit Suisse/Tremont affiche pour juin une performance de 0,43 % après un gain de 4,06 % le mois précédent. Cela porte à 7,18 % la performance du premier semestre.Seules deux stratégies demeurent dans le rouge pour janvier-juin, le dedicated short bias, avec une perte de 10,81 % et les managed futures, qui reculent de 7,43 %. Parallèlement, quatre stratégies affichent des gains supérieurs à 10 % pour les six premiers mois de cette année : l’arbitrage obligataire, avec une performance de 11,82 %, le multi-stratégies (12,29 %), les marchés émergents (13,21 %) et l’arbitrage de convertibles (23,95 %).D’après Oliver Schupp, président de Credit Suisse Index, 87 % des gains réalisés depuis le début de l’année l’ont été durant le deuxième trimestre.
RBC Dexia Investor Services a indiqué avoir été sélectionné par Cougar Global Investments pour la fourniture à sa clientèle de services de conservation internationale. Cougar propose des services de conseil en investissement à de grandes fortunes, des trusts et des entreprises au Canada, aux Etats-Unis et en Europe.
Contrairement aux attentes à court terme du marché, les organisations qui font l’acquisition de sociétés en difficulté doivent souvent batailler ferme pour dégager une plus-value à long terme sous la forme d’un rendement accru de l’investissement, selon une nouvelle étude du Mergers & Acquisitions Research Centre (MARC) de la Cass Business School. Cette étude, qui a procédé à l’analyse de 12.000 rachats sur une période de 25 ans, conclut que l’intégration post-fusion est un facteur clé de réussite en cas d’acquisition de société en difficulté.Tandis que les acquéreurs de sociétés insolvables ou en difficulté aux États-Unis peuvent profiter d’une plus-value dès le jour de l’annonce, il existe au Royaume-Uni un certain scepticisme quant à la valeur de l’acquisition d’actifs à risque. L’étude conclut également que si l’entreprise est insolvable et que le rachat est annoncé juste après une crise majeure, l’acquéreur comme l’entreprise acquise profitent de retours positifs à court terme.
In a statement, the international Managed Funds Association (MFA) has welcomed the conclusions of a working group on compensation systems in Europe and the United States ((«Report to the Supervisors of the Major OTC Derivatives Dealers on the Proposals of Centralized CDS Clearing Solutions for the Segregation and Portability of Customer CDS Positions and Related Margin»). According to Richard H. Baker, President and CEO of the association, “the efforts of the working group and the report are both complete and welcome in terms of the calendar. The MFA is highly favourable to segregation of collateral, the portability of positions and direct and indirect buy-side access to centralised compensation. We are still prepared to collaborate with market regulators, industry working groups and other professional associations to determine the next steps to be taken to provide these solutions.”
Due to a lack of regulation of derivative markets and an inflow of liquidity generated by governmental stimulus plans, another financial crisis is to be expected, says Mark Mobius, the star manager at Franklin Templeton, cited by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The guru estimates that political pressure on the part of investment banks and all those who make money on derivatives will prevent appropriate regulation of the market.
The President of the United States on Wednesday unveiled a draft of legislation which would require hedge funds with more than USD30m under management to register with the SEC, the Financial Times reports.
Regions Financial Corp has announced that it has received a ‘Wells notice’ that it faces fines for possible violations of federal securities regulations, the Wall Street Journal reports. The notice related to three bond funds managed by James Kelsoe at Morgan Asset Management, an affiliate of Morgan Keegan which is itself an affiliate of Regions Financial. The funds have lost an average of 59.5% in the 12 months to 30 April 2008. They were dragged down by their exposure to CDO and mortgages. Regions Financial states that the management of the funds has since been transferred to Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management.
As its Italian parent company Mediolanum is already doing, the Spanish firm Fibanc-Mediolanum will outsource the management of a good part of its locally-registered funds (EUR550m in assets) to Tre Capital Partners, which belongs to its founder and president Carlos Tusquets, ABC reports, relayed by Funds People. Currently, the funds are managed by GesFibanc, which will transfer six of its partners to Trea (whose management team has nine members). GesFibanc will retain its brand name and the funds under their current names.
The Swiss financial group Syz & Co has bought a 50% stake in the asset management firm of the Spanish N+1 group to create a joint venture with assets of EUR245m, which manages 20 Sicavs or mandates and two investment funds. In addition, Cinco Días reports, the new entity, N+1 SYZ Gestión, advises two hedge fund management firms.
Land Securities Plc ont Wednesday announced it is looking for investment opportunities and that it plans to launch two major developments in the West End of London next year, The Wall Street Journal reports. The biggest UK REIT said it experiences an increased investor demande for first and midquality properties.
After the announcement on 24 March of the recruitment of the European bond team from Ilex Asset Management, Liontrust Asset Management has recruited Ross Hollyman from GAM from 1 January 2010 (see NewsManagers of 23 June). Now, it has been learned that Hollyman will join the equities team at GAM, composed of Nikki Martin, Rob Cornish and Tom Ayres, who arrive in October.
Alastair Seymour, head of Henderson for the Iberian peninsula, says that Henderson New Star has begun the process to register its product range with the Portuguese securities commission, the CMVM, Funds People reports. The British management firm is planning to set up an office in Portugal by the end of summer, in order to attack the Latin American markets in fourth quarter.
Banque Sarasin has been offering the Sarasin Sustainable Equity – Real Estate Global since 10 July. The product is “the first fund in the world to invest in shares in sustainable real estate firms,” claims the Swiss firm. The Luxembourg-registered product (LU 0288928376) is in fact a new version of the Sarasin Real Estate Equity - IIID (EUR), which has been reoriented. The widely diversified fund invests worldwide according to social and environmental criteria, in publicly-traded firms of the real estate sector and closed real estate funds.The Sarasin Sustainable Equity - Real Estate Global, managed by Jake Ferguson of Sarasin & Partners, combines the expertise of analysis and sustainability specialists at Sarasin Sustainable Investment in Basel with the experience of real estate experts at Sarasin & Partners in London. The latter firm has been managing real estate investments since 1994 and as of 10 July 2009 administered CHF364m in this sector.
Currently, there are 657 ETF funds on sale in Europe, and this number is expected to reach 1,000 by next year. There is an anarchic proliferation of products underway, and the heads of iShares Germany (Dirk Klee) and ETFlab (Andreas Fehrenbach) are concerned that the market will suffer the same fate as the certificate market, which imploded after the spectacular collapse of Lehman, Die Welt reports. Thorsten Michalik, head of x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) does not share this pessimism, due to the fact that certificates were sold by advisors at banks, who earned high commissions on them. This is not the case for ETFs, which advisors are thus not promoting. Retail investors who buy into the products themselves will not go in search of incomprehensible products such as the DJ EuroStoxx 50 BuyWrite ETF, which combines an investment in the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 with the sale of a call on the same index.Die Welt also reports that db x-trackers is planning to extend its range of ETFs to 200 products next year, up from 113 currently.
According to Lipper FMI, net subscriptions for European funds reached EUR32.1bn in May, which is the highest inflow since October 2007, Handelsblatt reports. The main contributors to these inflows have been equity funds, with EUR16.2bn, and corporate bond funds with EUR8.9bn, their best mark over the last four years.Diana Mackay, who is head of Lipper FMI, expects net inflows to reach EUR80-100bn this year, but warns that any bad news could jeopardize this projection.
The Credit Suisse/Tremont index of more than 5,000 hedge funds worldwide shows performance in June of 0.43%, following gains of 4.06% the previous month. This brings performance in first half to 7.18%.Only two strategies remain in the red for January-June: dedicated short bias, with losses of 10.81%, and managed futures, which have lost 7.43%. Meanwhile, four strategies show gains of over 10% in the first ten months of the year: fixed income arbitrage, with returns of 11.82%, multi-strategies (12.29%), emerging markets (13.21%), and convertible arbitrage (23.95%).Oliver Schupp, chairman of Credit Suisse Index, says 87% of gains realised since the beginning of the year were made in second quarter.
Nearly 90% (to be precise, 88%) of 7,400 defined-benefit pension programs in the UK are in the red, at a time when the markets continue to be under pressure. According to the most recent statistics from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the coverage deficit for British pension funds at the end of June totalled GBP200.1bn (compared with GBP179.3bn at the end of May), while in June 2007, the balance of assets against liabilities was positive by more than GBP100bn. In June 2008, pension funds still had a positive balance of GBP13bn.In this environment, many firms are shutting down plans which offer defined benefits and are instead offering far less generous programs to new employees. According to the PPF, the total positive balance for programs with a surplus has fallen to GBP15.7bn, from GBP17.5bn in May 2009, while the cumulative deficit for programs with a negative balance totals GBP215.8bn, compared with GBP196.8bn at the end of May.
Das Investment reports that the British management firm Gartmore Asset Management will close the US Smaller Companies fund on 13 August. The director of the strategy, Steve Jenner, says that demand has collapsed and that the fund is no longer profitable. It will be merged into the US Growth Funds, which manages assets of GBP137m.
Independent asset management firm RWC Partners (USD2.3bn in assets) announced on Wednesday that it is planning to launch the Luxembourg-registered fund RWC US Absolute Alpha in October. It is a long/short product that complies with the UCITS III directive, and will be managed in London by Mike Corcell, who has joined RWC recently after managing the American Crescendo funds at Threadneedle. The new fund, which is awaiting a license from the CSSF, will be focused on US equities, with the objective of generating high returns with low correlation to the direction of the markets, and of managing the risk of a decline in all market configurations.RWC Partners is planning to release the fund, with daily liquidity, throughout Europe. The fund will have tax-optimised share classes for German and British investors, and will offer share classes which are completely hedged for currency risks in Euros, US dollars, pounds Sterling and Swiss francs.
RBC Dexia Investor Services has announced that it has been selected by Cougar Global Investments to provide international custody services. Cougar offers investment advising services to high net worth private investors, trusts, and businesses in Canada, the Untied States, and Europe.
The German financial stabilisation fund SoFFin and the German federal government estimate that the problems at the Sal. Oppenheim private bank are no longer as serious as in the recent past, according to Handelsblatt. The regulatory authorities consequently estimate that there is no need to take immediate action. They will continue to closely monitor the bank’s financial situation. The market is expecting a capital increase. The other two options, an entry into the bank’s capital of a strategic partner or the sale of BHF-Bank, were dismissed a few days ago by the bank’s directors.
Swiss fund management firm Fisch Asset Management is releasing the Fisch CB Sustainable Fund, its sustainable development convertible bond fund. Sustainable development research is provided by Banque Sarasin. Management includes ecological and social criteria, says Kurt Fisch, founder of the asset management firm. The fund, registered in Luxembourg and compliant with the UCITS III directive, was launched on 18 May and is aimed at retail and institutional investors. The portfolio includes 50 to 70 positions, and shares are available in Euros or Swiss francs. A class of shares in US dollars is also planned. Characteristics Name FISCH CB Sustainable Fund HAE FISCH CB Sustainable Fund HA ISIN LU0428953425 LU0428953342 Currency EUR CHF Initial subscription EUR2,500 CHF2,500 Management fees 1.50% 1.50% Front-end fee 0.00–3.00% 0.00–3.00% Sales license D, LU CH, A in progess D, LU CH, A in progress Manager 1 Roland Hotz Roland Hotz Manager 2 Klaus Göggelmann Klaus Göggelmann
Groupama Asset management has registered two socially responsible investment funds with the CNMV, the Euro Capital Durable (Euro zone equities) and the Credit Euro ISR (investment grade bonds), Funds People reports.
For EUR42m, Deka Immobilien Investment has acquired a logistical centre constructed on 84.400 square metres in Waalwijk, the Netherlands (Northern Brabant region), for its open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienFonds. The halls, with a total area of 55,000 square metres, are leased in their entirety to Syncreon Netherlands.
Le capital investisseur suédois EDT (groupe Wallenberg) va fournir 115 millions d’euros de fonds propres à l’allemand Sanitec, qui fabrique des équipements de salles de bain, indique la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. D’autre part, EQT a négocié avec les banques créancières une réduction de 300 millions d’euros de la dette de Sanitec, à 696 millions d’euros. En contrepartie, le capital investisseur doit abandonner 22,5 % de Sanitec aux banques créancières.Pour 2008, l’entreprise a fait état d’un ebitda largement supérieur à 100 millions d’euros pour un CA de 880 millions.
Mardi, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) a annoncé qu’il réduit à compter du 20 juillet la commission de gestion sur son db x-trackers DJ Euro Stoxx 50 ETF de droit luxembourgeois à 0 % contre 0,15 % actuellement. D’après Thorsten Michalik, responsable de l’activité ETF, ce produit a constamment surperformé son indice de référence d’au moins 50 points de base durant les trois dernières années. Comme cette surperformance paraît soutenable, compte tenu du régime fiscal applicable aux revenus des dividendes et des possibilités offertes par le prêt de titres, db x-trackers renonce à prélever des frais.Parallèlement, db x-trackers propose avec effet immédiat des ETF avec un swap totalement couvert. Les ETF de la gamme sont à réplication synthétique. Comme la contrepartie du swap est la Deutsche Bank, l’investisseur supporte le risque de contrepartie lié au swap. Ce risque est plafonné à 10 % de la valeur liquidative (net asset value ou NAV). Pour le réduire, la valeur liquidative de la plupart des ETF d’actions, de matières premières et de devises verront désormais leur structure de swap couverte par des valeurs mobilières. Cette couverture sera d’au moins 108 % de la valeur liquidative.