L’activité de gestion d’actifs de Bank of America ne suscite plus l’engouement de la part des acheteurs potentiels, maintenant que BlackRock s’est décidé à payer 13,5 milliards de dollars pour Barclays Global Investors, indiquent des sources proches du dossier. . Pour relancer la vente, BofA pourrait diviser Columbia en deux entités et vendre son activité de fonds monétaires à part. La banque n’a pas souhaité commenter ces informations.
James Davis, le chief financial officer de Stanford Financial accusé d’avoir orchestré une fraude de 7 milliards de dollars, va plaider coupable pour trois chefs d’accusations portés contre lui, a indiqué son avocat au Financial Times.
Il y a un peu plus de sept mois, le compartiment European High Yield Bond de Nordea, dont la gestion est assurée par Capital Four, une société créée en 2007 par quatre anciens gérants de Nordea, était remonté à 400 millions d'euros contre 500 millions fin 2007. A présent, il affiche environ 460 millions d'euros.
Newsmanagers a rencontré à Paris Henrik Østergaard, l'un des fondateurs de Capital Four, pour tenter de déterminer si, malgré une performance spectaculaire de plus de 40 % depuis le début d’année, le haut rendement dispose encore d’un potentiel de hausse.
MEAG Munich Ergo Asset Management, le gestionnaire d’actifs du réassureur Munich Ré et de l’assureur primaire Ergo, annonce mercredi avoir créé MEAG Property Management GmbH, une filiale dirigée par Joachim Barkmann et Christian Balletshofer qui sera chargée de gérer le parc immobilier de MEAG en Allemagne. Jusqu'à présent, cette mission était dévolue à trois entités différentes situées à Munich, Düsseldorf et Hambourg.
Au 1er octobre, DekaBank va ramener de six à quatre le nombre de ses fonds immobiliers offerts au public par la fusion du Deka-Immobilien Fonds (environ 2,5 milliards d’euros d’encours) avec le Deka ImmobilienEuropa (7,3 milliards), tandis que le WestInvest 1 (1,7 milliard) sera absorbé par le WestInvest InterSelect (3 milliards d’euros). Le Deka-ImmobilienEuropa et le WestInvest InterSelect conservent leur nom et leur cote ISIN, respectivement (DE0009809566 et DE0009801423). La fusion a reçu l’agrément de la BaFin.Matthias Danne, membre du directoire, a souligné que la création de deux grands fonds européens, dont l’un sera d’ailleurs encore plus gros que le hausInvest europa de Commerz Real (9 milliards d’euros), va permettre de diversifier les portefeuilles. Ces fonds auront «au moins temporairement» une grande partie de leur encours investi en Allemagne .Deka Immobilien Investment et WestInvest affichaient respectivement 12,34 milliards d’euros et 5,49 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion à fin mai, dans chacun trois fonds immobiliers offerts au public. L’encours total dépasse les 19 milliards d’euros.
L’allemand Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment a annoncé qu’il n’a pas été techniquement en mesure de tenir le délai prévu du 1er juillet pour l’audit spécial complet, par des experts indépendants, du portefeuille de son fonds immobilier offert au public Morgan Stanley P2 Value. Néanmoins, ce chantier devrait être bouclé à très brève échéance et le gestionnaire compte communiquer rapidement sur le sujet.Au 31 mars, l’encours du fonds se situait à 1,91 milliard d’euros et la valeur des 40 actifs immobiliers du portefeuille représentait en valeur vénale environ 2,28 milliards d’euros, dont 657,3 millions correspondant à des immeubles détenus en direct.
Après 6,3 % pour l’exercice à fin mars 2008, le fonds immobilier allemand offert au public KanAm US-grundinvest a enregistré pour les douze mois à fin mars 2009 un gain de 4,4 % en dollars et de 23,9 % en euros. C’est le seul fonds immobilier allemand à être libellé en dollars. Son encours était de 626 millions de dollars au 2 juin.KanAm propose de servir un dividende inchangé de 2,20 dollar par part pour ce fonds dont les remboursements ont été suspendus fin octobre. Le taux d’occupation des actifs immobiliers a augmenté durant le dernier exercice à 98,2 % contre 91,1 %.Compte tenu de la situation difficile prévalant sur les marchés, le KanAm US-grundinvest n’a effectué que deux investissements durant l’année écoulée. Le fonds axé sur l’immobilier américain a acheté le Denbury Park II à Plano, près de Dallas et il a augmenté à 95 % contre 80 % sa participation dans The Evening Star Building de Washington D.C.
Mercredi, la Deutsche Börse a indiqué dans un communiqué boursier avoir reçu le 26 juin notification par Franklin Mutual Advisers d’une prise de participation par cette dernière de 3,01 % dans son capital. Le gestionnaire américain détenait alors un peu plus de 5,87 millions de droits de vote.
En six mois, Götz Kirchhoff a mis sur pied une nouvelle société de gestion, Avana Invest, une coopération avec Lyxor Asset Management ainsi qu’avec Société Générale Securities Services KAG (lire nos articles des 2 février et 5 mars) et, depuis mercredi, deux premiers produits de gestion d’actifs à base d’ETF.L’ancien dirigeant d’Indexchange a présenté en effet les fonds Avana IndexTrend Europa Dynamic et Avana Indextrend Europa Control. Le premier investit dans des ETF d’actions européennes répliquant le Dow Jones Stoxx 600 et ses sous-indices alors que le second se focalise sur des ETF qui suivent des indices obligataires allemands et européens.Les deux produits utilisent un modèle de suivi de tendance visant à réduire fortement la perte maximale (maximum draw-down ou MDD). Ils peuvent être investis entre 0 et 100 %. En cas de signal de vente, l'équipe de gestion peut investir en ETF monétaires et d’autres instruments appropriés ; elle est habilitée aussi à investir en ETF actions «short». La rétropolation a montré selon Götz Kirchhoff que le processus d’investissement permet de générer une nette surperformance par rapport au Dow Jones Stoxx 600. Caractéristiques Dénomination Avana IndexTrend Europa Dynamic Avana IndexTrend Europa Control Code ISIN DE000A0RHDB9 DE000A0RHDC7 Droit d’entrée 5 % maximum 3 % maximum Frais de gestion 1,2 % 0,6 % Commission de performance 15 % 5 % Souscription minimale Aucune/ 10 millions d’euros pour la classe institutionnelle Aucune/ 10 millions d’euros pour la classe institutionnelle
Selon Hedge Week, Capital Z Asset Management a nommé James M. Marrone au poste de chief executive officer à compter du 1er août. James Marrone gardera ses responsabilités actuelles (développement et chief marketing officer). Il prend la succession de Christianna Wood, qui a présenté sa démission, effective à compter du 31 juillet, pour poursuivre d’autres intérêts.
Selon la Tribune, les banques japonaises à capitaux américains, Shinsei Bank et Aozora Bank, ont annoncé leur fusion hier. De quoi former la sixième banque du pays et disposer de 18.000 milliards de yens (133,5 milliards d’euros) d’actifs. Une aide publique pour cette banque n’est pas exclue par son futur dirigeant, compte tenu de ses pertes dans la crise des subprimes
On 1 October, DekaBank will reduce the number of open-ended real funds it offers from six to four, with the merger of the Deka-Immobilien Fonds (about EUR2.5bn in assets) into the Deka ImmobilienEuropa (EUR7.3bn), and of the WestInvest 1 (EUR1.7bn) into the WestInvest InterSelect (EUR3bn). The Deka-ImmobilienEuropa and WestInvest InterSelect funds will retain their names and ISIN codes, respectively (DE0009809566 and DE0009801423). The merger has been approved by BaFin. Matthias Danne, board member, has emphasized that the creation of two large European funds, one of which will be even larger than the hausInvest fund from Commerz Real (EUR9bn), will make it possible to diversify the portfolios. The funds will “at least temporarily” have a large portion of their assets invested in Germany. Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest had EUR12.34bn and EUR5.49bn in assets under management, respectively, at the end of May, in three open-ended real estate funds each. Total assets are over EUR19bn.
In six months, Götz Kirchhoff has founded a new asset management firm, Avana Invest, built up a partnershipwith Lyxor Asset Management and Société Générale Securities Services KAG (see Newsmanagers of 2 February and 5 March), and, since Wednesday, launched two new asset management products based on ETFs.The former co-head of Indexchange introduced the Avana IndexTrend Europa Dynamic and Avana Indextrend Europa Control funds. The former invests in European equities ETFs which replicate the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 and its sub-indices, while the second focuses on ETFs which track German and European bond indexes.The two products use a trend-follower model to strongly reduce maximal draw-down (MDD). They may be invested anywhere between 0% and 100%. If there is a sell signal, the management team may invest in money market ETFs and other appropriate instruments; they are also permitted to invest in short ETFs. Backtesting reveals that the investment process would have generated net outperformance of the Dow Jones Stoxx 600, Kirchhoff says. Characteristics Name Avana IndexTrend Europa Dynamic Avana IndexTrend Europa Control ISIN Code DE000A0RHDB9 DE000A0RHDC7 Front-end fee 5% maximum 3% maximum Management fees 1.20% 0.60% Performance commission 15.00% 5.00% Minimal subscription None/ EUR10m for institutional share class None/ EUR10m for institutional share class
German asset management firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment has announced that it will not be technically capable of meeting a deadline set on 1 July for a complete special audit by independent experts of the portfolio of its open-ended retail real estate fund Morgan Stanley P2 Value. However, the audit will be completed very shortly, and the manager will announce the results soon thereafter.As of 31 March, assets in the fund totalled EUR1.91bn, and the value of 40 properties in the portfolio had a market value of about EUR2.28bn, of which EUR657.3m correspond to properties owned directly.
After returns of 6.3% in the fiscal year ending in March 2008, the German open-ended real estate fund KanAm US-grundinvest has posted gains of 4.4% in US dollars and of 23.9% in Euros for the year to the end of March 2009. It is the only German real estate fund to be denominated in US dollars. Its assets totalled USD626m as of 2 June. KanAm is proposing to distribute an unchanged dividend of USD2.20 per share for the fund, whose redemptions were frozen in late October. The occupancy rate for properties in its portfolio rose in the past year to 98.2% from 91.1%. Due to the difficult situation prevailing on the markets, the KanAm US-grundinvest made only two investments in the past year. The fund, focused on US real estate, bought Denbury Park II in Plano, near Dallas, and increased its stake in the Evening Star Building in Washington, D.C. from 80% to 95%.
The private banking division of La Caixa has raised EUR350m from high net worth clients for the Albus fund, for which minimal subscription is EUR1m, Expansión reports. Initally, 90% of assets will be invested in corporate bonds, and 10% in “very carefully selected” equities.
As of 30 June, assets in securities funds on sale in Spain totalled EUR160.65bn, a decline once again after two months of slight increases, which themselves followed a series of 23 months of larger or smaller contractions. According to the Inverco association, the decline in June measures EUR1.27bn, or 0.8%. Net outflows totalled EUR1.74bn in June, compared with EUR1.19bn in May. They have totalled EUR8.92bn since the beginning of the year. Among the top ten management firms by asset volumes, only three have posted net subscriptions in June: Invercaixa Gestión, with EUR17.77m, Popular Gestión with EUR1.91m, and Ibercaja Gestión with EUR67.14m. The two heavyweights in the sector have seen very heavy net outflows: BBVA Asset Management (EUR32.92bnin assets) has seen net redemptions of EUR290.92bn, while Santander Gestión de Activos (EUR29.79bn) has seen outflows of EUR805.16m. Ahorro Corporación and Barclays Wealth Management have seen redemptions of EUR214.05m and EUR164.61m, respectively.
Georges-Emmanuel Rosmade has joined the commercial distribution direction of Sal. Oppenheim (France) as head of investor relations. He will report to Bruno Zaraya. Since September 2007, Rosmade had been head of training at Master Finance & Stratégie de Sciences Po (Paris).
Hedge Week reports that Capital Z Asset Management has appointed James M. Marrone as chief executive officer from 1 August. Marrone will retain his current responsibilities (development and chief marketing officer). He will succeed Christianna Wood, who has announced her resignation, effective 31 July, to pursue other interests.
David Kotz, chief inspector at the SEC, who is now conducting an enquiry into the US regulator’s failure to prevent the Madoff fraud, says that individuals who blow the whistle on illegal activities should receive a reward. This approach, he says, had a positive effect in cases at the Justice Department.
The daily edition of L’Agefi reports that plans on the part of European governments to support their banks are meeting with skepticism on the part of the French banking federation (FBF) due to risks that they may distort competition in France. In the firing line is the ING group, via its affiliate ING Direct, which has recently launched a free current account.
La Tribune reports that the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) yesterday voted in favour of a proposal to give shareholders an opportunity to vote on pay scales for chiefs of banks which received TARP assistance and have not yet paid it off.
Federal investigators have concluded for now there is no physical evidence that Ruth Madoff, the wife of Bernard Madoff, actively participated in or concealed her husband’s fraud, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal. Without new disclosures or incriminating testimony from witnesses, the 68-year-old Mrs. Madoff won’t be criminally charged.
The AGM of Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms, has elected Eugenio Yurrita, of BBVA Asset Management, as the new president of the group of collective investment institutions, replacing Asunción Ortega of Invercaixa Gestión.Meanwhile, Santiago Arans, from Bansabadell Pensiones, has been elected president of the group of pension funds, replacing Dolores Ybarra, of Santander Pensiones.
Nordea Investment Funds, an originally Scandinavian asset management firm based in Luxembourg, has entered into a strategic partnership with the Italian asset management firm Vegagest, which manages EUR2.4bn (as of 31 December 2008). The two actors will create a new entity which will manage and distribute funds on the Italian market. This will allow Nordea (EUR126bn in assets) to develop in Italy, where it has been present for five years via a representative office. For its part, the small independent firm Vegagest gains the support of a larger actor.
Potential buyers have lost interest in the asset management activities of Bank of America since BlackRock decided to pay Usd13.5bn for Barclays Global Investors, sources familiar with the matter say. To bring about a quicker sale, BofA may split Columbia into two entities, and sell of its money market fund activities separately. The bank had no comment on the reports.
James Davis, chief financial officer at Stanford Financial, who is accused of orchestrating a USD7bn fraud, will plead guilty to three charges against him, his lawyer has told the Financial Times.
As a part of its open architecture strategy, Banca Generali has announced that it has signed agreements with five international asset management firms: BlackRock, Crédit Agricole AM, Invesco, Morgan Stanley and Vontobel. Each asset manager will manage a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav BG Selection, from BG Investment Luxembourg SA, the Luxembourg asset management firm from Banca Generali. Three of the funds will be managed with flexible allocations (BlackRock - Global Maps, CAAM – Momentum, Morgan Stanley - Active Allocation), while two will be invested in equities (Invesco - Asia Global Opportunities, in Asian markets, and Vontobel - Global Elite, in global equities). The five sub-funds come in addition to the 14 existing products in the Generali Sicav. Other agreements will be announced in the coming months, bringing the number of sub-funds outsourced to third party asset management firms to nine. The Luxembourg management firms of the Generali group and Banca Generali will soon be combined to create Generali Investment Managers, an entity which will be 51% controlled by Banca Generali.
Les Echos reports that the German finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, has expressed displeasure with the British government for listening to calls from the City to return to pre-crisis regulations. Steinbrück says that in Brussels two weeks ago, at the most recent meeting of the European Council, the United Kingdom blocked new safeguards proposed by Germany and France. The City, which represents a significant economic presence in the UK, is seeking to preserve its competitive advantage over other financial centres, he says. However, Steinbrück is pleased with reforms being undertaken in the United States.