Selon La Tribune, les groupes AG2R La Mondiale et Réunica étudieraient la possibilité d’un rapprochement, qui donnerait naissance à un géant dans le secteur de la retraite et de la prévoyance. Sous-tendu par le projet des fédérations Agirc-Arrco de faire converger l’ensemble des systèmes informatiques existants pour les retraites complémentaires, le projet de rapprochement ferait déjà l’objet d’une étude de faisabilité qui devrait être rendue avant l'été, indique le quotidien économique.
Selon La Tribune, Natixis mettrait en place un comité de direction restreint de huit personnes. Il serait présidé par le directeur général, Dominique Ferrero, et composé des cinq patrons de métier (gestion d’actifs, banque d’investissement, poste clients, etc.), du directeur financier André-Jean Olivier, et de la responsable des fonctions transversales, Aline Bec.
Ecofi Investissements (Groupe Crédit Coopératif) vient de créer des parts «retail» pour ses OPCVM à taux fixe : Ecofi Taux Fixe 2011 et Ecofi Taux Fixe 2013. Précurseur dans la création d’OPCVM à taux fixes avec le lancement en mars 2007 du fonds obligataire Ecofi Taux Fixes Octobre 2009, Ecofi Investissements a depuis élargi sa gamme avec la création de Ecofi Taux Fixe 2013 (février 2008) et Ecofi Taux Fixe 2011 (janvier 2009). Conçue au départ pour aider les investisseurs institutionnels à honorer leurs contraintes de passif, et offrant une totale liquidité, ce type de produits est aujourd"hui ouvert à tous les investisseurs souhaitant profiter d"un point de courbe attractif à horizon 2011 et 2013.
Selon le Financial Times, AIG a réussi à convaincre James Shephard, le vice-directeur général de l"entité parisienne Banque AIG, de rester, évitant ainsi un risque de défaut sur 234 milliards de dollars de dérivés. Le dirigeant avait annoncé sa démission il y a moins d"un mois.
Le Conseil des gouverneurs de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) a nommé le 23 avril Jean-Michel Godeffroy président du Comité pour le programme T2S (T2S Programme Board) qui assurera la réalisation du programme TARGET2-Titres (T2S) en 2013. Parmi les membres du Comité se trouve également le Français Yvon Lucas (Banque de France). T2S offrira un gisement unique sans frontières de titres à l'échelle de l"Europe et un processus de règlement central, neutre et à l"état de l"art. Les intervenants de marché pourront avoir accès à ces actifs via les dépositaires centraux de titres selon des modalités permettant de prendre en compte les différences nationales et régionales au lieu de les perpétuer, et qui intègrent déjà des mesures d"harmonisation convenues dans plusieurs domaines importants.
State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) a lancé aux Etats-Unis le 14 avril le premier ETF sur obligations convertibles américaines, le SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond Index-ETF, qui réplique le Barclays Capital Convertible Bond > $500MM Index et qui est assorti d’un taux de frais brut de 0,40 %. Le produit est coté depuis le 16 avril sur la plate-forme NYSE Arca.
S&P a abaissé à A+/A-1 contre AA-/A-1+ la note de FMR LLC, la maison-mère de Fidelity Investments à cause d’une baisse de rentabilité liée aux turbulences de marché, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Les encours ont diminué l’an dernier de 22 % à $ 1,25 billion.
Comme Franklin Resources, BlackRock, T. Rowe Price et Invesco ont enregistré une amélioration de leurs résultats pour le premier trimestre, tandis Janus Capital Group et AllianceBernstein ont accusé une baisse plus forte de leurs bénéfices par rapport au T4 de 2008, rapporte the Wall Street Journal. Federated Investors a accusé une contraction de 37 % de son bénéfice à $ 35,1 millions après une progression de 3 % à 54,3 millions pour octobre-décembre. De son côté, Waddell & Reed Financial annonce un bénéfice net de $ 15,5 millions contre 28,3 millions pour le trimestre correspondant de l’année dernière, mais après une perte de 0,73 million en octobre-décembre.
D. Brooke Harlow a été nommée vice-présidente executive et directeur du marketing et de la communication de The Managed Funds Association, une association commerciale américaine dédiée au secteur de la gestion alternative. Brooke Harlow était précédemment la directrice de la communication et des relations publiques de Highbridge Capital Management, un fonds new-yorkais de hedge funds détenu par JP Morgan.
Franklin Resources Inc connu sous le nom de Franklin Templeton Investments a déclaré mardi un bénéfice net de $ 110,8 millions ou 48 cents par action sur un chiffre d’affaires de $ 912,3 millions pour le trimestre au 31 mars. Pour le trimestre à fin décembre, le bénéfice net avait été de 120,9 millions ou 52 cents par action, pour un chiffre d’affaires de 969,3 millions. En janvier-mars 2008, le bénéfice net et le chiffre d’affaires s'étaient situés à 366,1 millions ($ 1,54 par action) et $ 1,5 milliard. La détérioration du bénéfice et du chiffre d’affaires en glissement annuel (yoy) s’est ralentie. Le bénéfice a ainsi baissé de 70 % contre 77 %.Concernant l’encours, il ressortait à $ 391,1 milliards fin mars contre 416,2 milliards fin décembre et 591,1 milliards un an plus tôt. La part des actions ressortait à 44 % contre 47 % et 55 % respectivement.Les remboursements nets ont diminué de 10 % pour ressortir à 5,5 milliards contre 6,1 milliards durant la période correspondante de l’an dernier, avant réinvestissement des dividendes distribués. Ils avaient atteint 18,2 milliards le trimestre précédent.L’effectif a diminué de 4 % durant le trimestre sous revue, à 8.233 personnes (il était de 8.916 personnes un an auparavant).
In March, collective investment organisms and specialised investment funds in Luxembourg underwent net redemptions of only EUR226m, according to the most recent statistics from the Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF). This is a reduction from February, when outflows totalled EUR4.375bn.With negative market effects of EUR3.501bn taken into account, assets declined by 0.24% to EUR1.526563trn as of the end of March.
Julian Thompson, head of global emerging markets at Threadneedle, has become the manager of the Latin America fund, replacing Katy Dobson, who has left the firm as part of a restructuring of analysis activities in global emerging markets and Asian equities. Jules Mort, who was originally manager of the fund, will remain as its co-manager. The strategy and objectives of the fund will remain unchanged.
Barings has released its Baring Global Agriculture Fund for sale in Germany (see Newsmanagers of 20 May 2008 and 15 January 2009). Management commission is 1.5% and minimal subscription is EUR3,000, Das Investment reports. There is a front-end fee of 5%.
On Tuesday, the listings on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform gained a new entry: ETFlab DJ STOXX 50, from ETFlab Investment GmbH, a specialist affiliate of DekaBank. The physical replication product carries an all-inclusive management commission of 0.19%, and, like other funds of the range, is aimed primarily at institutional investors. Dividends are recycled and reinvested in the fund. Since March 2008, when ETFlab was launched operationally, the management firm has attracted EUR3bn In assets for 24 ETF funds listed on the Deutsche Börse.The ETFlab DJStoxx 50 is the 443rd ETF fund to be listed on the XTF segment, Deutsche Börse states. Average monthly trading volumes for the market segment are over EUR9bn.
The Galician savings bank Caixanova is aiming to double its business volume in private banking in one year, to more than EUR1bn, through new product offerings and nine new specialised branch offices throughout Spain, Cinco Días reports. The goal is to reach 2,000 clients by the end of this year. The campaign includes the creation of a new brand, Caixanova Banca Privada, which will offer a catalogue of exclusive products.
CalPERS and CalSTRS are calling on shareholders to vote against the re-election of members of the board of directors at Bank of America, and particularly to replace Ken Lewis, chairman and CEO, the Financial Times reports. The two pension funds will vote against the appointment of 18 directors at BofA on Wednesday. They join other institutional investors, including TIAA-CREF, in their opposition to the re-election of Lewis.
La Tribune reports that Natixis will put in place a more restricted board of directors with eight members. It will be chaired by the CEO, Dominique Ferrero, and will include five members from the professions (asset management, investment banking, client services, etc.), the CFO, André-Jean Olivier, and the head of cross-border activities, Aline Bec.
Franklin Resources Inc, known as Franklin Templeton Investments, on Tuesday announced net profits of USD110.8m, or 48 cents per share, on earnings of USD912.3m, for first quarter, up to 31 March. For the quarter ending on December 31, net profits were USD120.9m, or 52 cents per share, on earnings of USD969.3m. In January-March 2008, net profits and earnings were USD366.1m (USD1.54 per share) and USD1.5bn. Year-on-year deterioration in profits and earnings have slowed, as profits have fallen to 70% from 77%.Assets totalled EUR391.1bn at the end of March, compared with USD416.2bn at the end of December, and USD591.1bn one month earlier. The proportion of equities stood at 44%, compared with 47% and 55% previously. Net redemptions slowed by 10%, to a total of USD5.5bn, compared with USD6.1bn during the corresponding period of last year, with reinvestment of distributed dividends. They totalled USD18.2bn the previous quarter.Staff was reduced by 4% in the quarter under review, to 8,233 (from 8,916 one year previously).
HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland) GmbH announced on Tuesday that it will now be offering the HSBC GIF Global Currency, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav GIF, in Germany. The product, launched on 6 April 2009, is managed by Halbis Capital Management, and aims to outperform the Libor 3 month by 500 basis points, with total annual volatility of 5% to 10%. Bill Maldonado, head of alternative investments at Halbis, says that to generate returns at this level, the team uses long and short positions, and combines portable alpha, event-driven, and derivative-based volatility arbitrage strategies. The investment universe for the UCITS III-compliant fund includes the major currencies of the G10 (USD, EUR, GBP, and JPY), with the fund denominated in the US dollar.Management commission is set at 1.5%, and there is a performance commission on returns exceeding the Libor of 20%.
According to reports in Handelsblatt, Marina Natale will be leaving her job as head of the UniCredit private bank (5,000 employees, 200,000 clients) next week, to become chief financial officer. She will leave her previous position to Andreas Wölfer, a board member at HypoVereinsbank (HVB), who will become the second German member of the management board at the Italian banking group, alongside Theodor Weimer. Wölfer will continue to serve as director of wealth management in Germany, a sector which generated pre-tax profits of EUR132m last year, though profits fell by one third in a difficult business climate.
For 2008, Robeco has posted operating profits of EUR270.2m, compared with EUR276.6m in the previous year, on operating revenues us EUR889.8m, compared with EUR819.6m. Net profits have fallen to EUR171.2m, from EUR200.1m.At the end of December, despite net subscriptions of EUR600m, assets totalled EUR110.7bn, compared with EUR145.8bn. This 24% decline is due to negative market effects of EUR29.1bn, offset by positive currency effects of EUR1.9bn due to the rising US dollar. The decline in assets under management is also due to the sale of the firm’s bond management activities in the United States.
S&P has lowered its rating for FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, to A+/A-1, down from AA-/A-1, due to declining profits due to market turbulence, the Wall Street Journal reports. Assets declined last year by 22% to USD1.25trn.
Like Franklin Resources, BlackRock, T. Rowe Price and Invesco have posted an improvement in their results in first quarter, although Janus Capital Group and AllianceBernstein have undergone heavier decreases in their profits compared with Q4 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports. Federated Investors has seen a contraction of 37% in its profits to USD35.1m, after growth of 3% to USD54.3m in October-December. Waddell & Reed Financial has announced net profits of Usd15.5m, compared with USD28.3m in the corresponding quarter of last year, and losses of USD0.73m in October-December.
Subscribers to German closed-ended funds invested in British real estate have fallen on hard times because assets valued in pounds sterling and the pound itself are depreciating at the same time, which is taking its toll on returns, Handelsblatt reports. The 9,000 investors in the IVG-Fonds Euroselect 14 (GBP3500m), which owns 50% of the iconic Gherkin building in London, will have to pay GBP183m to service loans, and receive no dividends for the time being, rather than receiving 5.5% per year. The fund had agreements in place with the Bayerischle Landesbank not to allow its borrowing to exceed 67% of the value of its assets. But the value of the 50,000 square-metre office property has lost 22% since the onset of the credit crunch, and the fund’s debts in proportion to its assets have risen well beyond 67%. The same problem may threaten the IVG-Fonds Euroselect 12 (also GBP350m), which borrowed GBP200m to buy the ING headquarters in London. Similar problems may confront the managers CFB, Doric Asset Finance, and Real IS (an affiliate of Bayerische Landesbank).
The 2008 fiscal year has brought the first annual losses since the second world war for Sal. Oppenheim. The bottom line comes in at -EUR117m, compared with net profits of EUR225m in 2007, but the firm received a EUR200m capital increase from partners in December, and the quotient of tier 1 owners’ equity at the end of April 2009 totals 12%. Assets as of 31 December stood at about EUR132bn, compared with EUR152bn one year previously, as net subscriptions of about EUR10bn were not sufficient to compensate for the impact of falling markets.Losses are largely due to a negative balance of EUR295m for operations on the bank’s own assets, but high-risk positions were considerably reduced (the certificate portfolio was scaled back from EUR7.5bn to EUR2bn, the Börsen-Zeitung reports), and the group has deployed a cost reduction program to cut expenses by more than EUR100m. Since then, nearly all operational activities have been ?stable and profitable.?Staff was increased to an average of 4,330, from 3,769 in 2007.
The French national pension fund, FRR, has launched an initial call for tenders for fixed income products to renew a portion of the existing bond management mandates, divided into three allocations. The first allocation is for ?inflation-indexed bonds denominated in Euros? (management with low active risk). For this allocation, the FRR is hoping to issue 2 to 6 mandates, for a total amount of EUR2bn to EUR4bn. The second allocation is for ?'Investment Grade’ credit bonds denominated in Euros? (active management), for which the FRR is hoping to issue 2 to 6 mandates, for a total of EUR500m to EUR1.5bn. The third allocation is for ?'Investment Grade’ credit bonds denominated in US dollars? (active management). The FRR hopes to issue 2 to 6 mandates for a total of EUR500m to EUR1.5bn in this category.A second call for offers will be launched subsequently, for government bonds and a global bond universe.
L’Echo reports that the French Meeschaert family office has opened an office in Brussels. The office will aim to monitor wealth management in Brussels, rather than participating in management.
La Tribune reports that the groups AG2R La Mondiale and Réunica are studying the possibility of a merger, which would give birth to a giant in the retirement planning sector. The merger plans, rendered easier by an initiative by the Agirc-Arrco federations to merge the existing IT systems for complementary retirement funds, was already the subject of a feasibility study which was due to be completed by the end of this summer, the economic newspaper reports.
From 1 July, Ralph Müller, currently director of the central retail bank and director of distribution for Austria at Bank Austria, will become chairman of AWD Austria at AWD CEE Holding GmbH. He will be responsible for the German group’s financial services activities in Austria and the countries of central and eastern Europe.
Robert Morse, formerly CEO of the Asian institutional clients group at Citigroup, has become the co-CEO of a new private equity fund, Primus Financial Holdings, based in Hong Kong. He will be joined by former colleagues from Citi, and will focus on the financial services sector. He states that he has already raised USD1bn from an Asian family, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund is a successor ot Primus Pacific Partners, a USD500m fund also focused on financial services in Asia, says Wing-Fai Ng, the other co-CEO.