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23/04/2009

Quarterly rise in assets and net subscriptions at Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse group has posted assets under management as of the end of March of CHF1.1217trn, compared with CHF1.1061trn three months earlier (+1.4%), and CHF1.2975trn as of 31 March 2008 (-13.5%). Net inflows totalled CHF8.8bn, compared with net outflows of CHF12.6bn in October-December, and CHF5.2bn in the corresponding period of 2008.Of CHF11.4bn in net inflows for private banking in first quarter, about CHF9bn were due to wealth management. However, asset management has posted net outflows of CHF3.5bn, despite net subscriptions of CHF1bn for hedge funds.
23/04/2009

UBS victim of Weavering Capital collapse

According to Financial News Online, UBS Global Asset Management is one of the victims of the collapse of Weavering Capital. Last month, the asset management company wrote to investors in its Aleternative Portfolio AG about its 0.9% exposure, or around SFR2m, to Weavering’s Macro Fixed Income Fund, adds the Internet website.
23/04/2009

Fidelity shows net subscriptions since the beginning of the year

Christian Wrede, CEO of Fidelity for Germany, admits that fourth quarter 2008 was very bad, and that the European Aggressive dynamic fund was dragged down by concentrated investments in third quarter which performed poorly, Handelsblatt reports. However, Wrede is hoping to rebalance the fund range, which is heavily oriented to equities, in favour of money markets and bonds. Fidelity Germany, which has shed 10% of its work force and now has 200 employees, is now at an optimal size going into the next few years. Since the beginning of the year, net subscriptions have bounced back: They total EUR200m for retail investors, and EUR200m for institutionals. Assets are now in the neighbourhood of EUR7bn, compared with EUR16bn three years ago.
23/04/2009

Lloyds Funds in the red

The Hamburg-based promoter of closed funds Lloyds Fonds last year raised EUR278m, compared with EUR452m in 2007, and its revenues have fallen to EUR48.1m, compared with EUR90.1m. Net results have fallen from a positive total of EUR20.2m in 2007 to losses of EUR4.6m last year. For 2009, the chairman of the board, Torsten Teichert, says he is convinced that, following cost reduction measures, the firm now has a profile that will put its break-even point at EUR150m in subscriptions.Meanwhile, Lloyds Funds has decided to concentrate on two core professions: transport (air and sea), and real estate. In other words, the management firm is pulling out of the ?second hand? life insurance, private equity, and renewable energy niches.Since 1995, Lloyds Funds has raised more than EUR1.9bn from 51,000 investors. The capital has been placed in 100 investments. The volume invested represents about EUR4.6bn.
23/04/2009

Sal. Oppenheim calls off sale of BHF-Bank

A spokesperson for Sal. Oppenheim confirmed on Wednesday that the Luxembourg private bank has cancelled its plans to sell the German BHF-Bank. No motive for the change of plans was provided, but the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung speculates that offers from potential buyers were well below the vendor’s expectations. In addition, the candidates are reported to have had different views than Sal. Oppenheim about the subsequent evolution and positioning of BHF.
23/04/2009

LGIM recruits head of distribution from BGI

Legal & General Investment Management (Holdings) Ltd (LGIM) has announced the recruitment of Hugh Cutler as head of distribution, to develop the asset management firm’s new strategy in the United Kingdom and abroad. Cutler joins from Barclays Global Investors (BGI), where he was co-head of the global strategic solutions group.
23/04/2009

Qatar Holding reduces stake in Barclays

Qatar Holding has lowered its stake in Barclays, in which it is the largest shareholder, to 5.8%, from 6.4%, the Financial Times reports. The investor has sold 35 million shares in the UK bank as part of a ?volatility-driven portfolio management strategy.?
23/04/2009

Credit Suisse releases a ?responsible? equities fund

BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany to Credit Suisse Fund (Lux) Global Responsible Equities, a ?sustainable development? sub-fund of the Luxembourg-registered Sicav Credit Suisse Equity Fund (Lux), which is managed with respect for responsible investment criteria, and which is aimed at both retail and institutional investors. The fund, which has about EUR60m in assets, was launched on 15 January 2009, and carries a management commission of 1.92%, and a front-end fee of up to 5% maximum.Analysis of the investment universe is provided by Global Ethical Standard Investment Services. Stock-picking is undertaken on the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria which comply with the standards of the United Nations Principles for responsible Investment (UN-PRI). The manager, Markus Mächler, and his team will use positive as well as exclusionary criteria (arms, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, failure to respect international agreements). The fund may invest up to 10% in SRI funds, ETFs, and money market funds. The objective is to outperform the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index over a period of at least five years, while respecting SRI criteria.
23/04/2009

Divergent performances for hedge funds and funds of hedge funds

The Deutsches Hedge Fund Index (DH X) from Absolut report for March shows returns of 1.02%, compared with losses of 1.02% in February. In first quarter, German hedge funds lost 1.89%. The best-performing product in March was the ERV MHA with 16.17% returns, while the bottom of the rankings was the Alpha Strategien Futures MH, with losses of 12.69%. By comparison, the Credit Suisse/Tremont index in Euros in March showed returns of 2.96%, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund EUR Index lost 0.07%.Funds of hedge funds show losses of 1.40% in March, compared with 0.31% in February. Total losses in first quarrter come to 1.54%. Only one product has posted positive returns in this category, the DWS Hedge Invest Dynamic, with returns of 0.39%. The worst results in March were for the HI Volksbank Global Trend, with losses of 3.45%. The HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index, for its part, shows returns of 0.06%.
23/04/2009

Union Investment merges three certificate funds

Certificates are not the only products to be suffering from heavy outflows: the same is true for certificate funds, to such an extent that Union Investment (co-operative banks) on 31 March merged the Luxembourg funds UniZertifikate-Fonds A and UniZertifikate-Fonds net A, whose assets had fallen to about EUR1m, with the UniExtra Euro Stoxx 50, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The latter fund, which will be taking over the others, also registered in Luxembourg, also uses discount certificates to deploy its strategy. The fund had EUR12m in assets under management as of the end of February.
23/04/2009

db x-trackers launches two volatility ETFs

The day after Source announced that Deutsche Börse will be listing 35 new ETF and ETC funds from the joint venture of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has announced two new Luxembourg-registered ETFs, which were launched on 23 March, and which join the ?hedge funds? category. The funds are the db x-trackers II Euro Interest Rates Volatility Total Return index ETF and Euro Interest Rates Volaitliy Short Total Return ETF, whose management commissions are set at 0.25%. The depository bank for these products, managed by DB Platinum Advisors, is State Street Bank Luxembourg. The first of the two ETFs complies with UCITS III, but the short version is not UCITS-compliant. The volatility of Euro zone fixed income is measured by indexes developed by Deutsche Bank, based on a futures contract ?rolled? on a quarterly basis from a basket of five implicit volatilities derived from the market prices of five fixed income swaptions. To calculate the index, the forward return is multiplied by 02. The indexes are calculated on a total return basis, and pay the Eonia.As of 22 April, assets at db x-trackers total EUR20.5bn.
23/04/2009

Macromarkets launches a real estate fund with no real estate

The asset management firm Macromarkets will next week launch the Macroshares Major Metro Housing fund, whose shares will be traded on the electronic platform NYSE Arca, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The product, which has a 5 and one half-year maturity, uses as its benchmark the S&P/Case-shiller Composite-10 housing price index, which reproduces the prices of homes in ten major US cities. Subscribers’ money will not be invested in these properties, however, but in short-term US government bonds, to guarantee liquidity. Investors will be able to acquire ?up? shares if they think the index will rise, or ?down? shares if they predict the opposite. The number of ?up? and ?down? shares issued will be equal at all times. If the index rises, the underlying government bonds of ?down? shares will be transferred to ?up? shares, and vice versa.
23/04/2009

Spanish funds of hedge funds bet on Harbinger

Expansión reports that the Spanish funds of hedge funds Banif fairfield Impala, Banif Optimal Low Volatility, Optimal Arbitraje Plus, BNP Paribas Alternativo Diversificado and Renta 4 Minerva have put their trust in Philip Falcone, and invested a total of EUR4.5m in funds from Harbinger Capital. Falcone has short-sold Spanish, American and British banks, including EUR500m short positions on Santander, Banco Popular, and BBVA.
23/04/2009

Gilles Glicenstein, head of asset management at BNP Paribas, dies

Gilles Glicenstein, head of the asset management profession at BNP Paribas since 2005, and CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management since 1999, has died, aged 44, La Tribune reports. Glicenstein was a driving force behind the structural evolution of BNP Paribas AM (helping to set up a multi-management team, structured management, and others), and in successful acquisitions such as that of fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Overlay AM, and several operations in emerging markets, the financial newspaper reports.
23/04/2009

Credit Suisse adds to institutional asset management distribution team

On Wednesday in New York announced that it had ?mostly completed? a series of additions to its ?Asset Management Golbal Institutional Distribution? team, with the recruitment of 18 senior professionals worldwide, who will report to Mark Bourgeois, managing director and head of distribution for asset management.Nine of the new arrivals will have the title of managing director, including Jamal Al Naif, in Dubai (ex Citi), in charge of the Middle East and Africa; Richard Johnson in New York (ex Graham Capital Management) in charge of the eastern and central United States, and Remy Kawkabani in London (ex co-head ofd the private funds group at Credit Suisse), who will be in charge of Europe ex Switzerland. Dave McCann, in Toronto, will be leaving the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, while Mark Memmert joins the firm from Credit Suisse Investment Bank, and will be in charge of Germany and Austria, and will be based in London. Alex Ricchebuono, in charge of France and Italy, comes to his jbo in London from Investec Asset Management.The other three new managing directors are Filo Sedillo (ex Citi), in Sydney, Akira Takahashi in Tokyo (who was previously head of distribution for alternative products in Japan at Credit Suisse), and Conrad Yan, in New York, in charge of the Asia-Pacific region, who joins from AIG.
23/04/2009

UBS begins to shave off least productive advisors

According to sources close to the firm, cited by Dow Jones, UBS has begun to lay off financial advisors from its wealth management branch whose annual production is below USD250,000. In total, the Swiss group is planning to lay off about 2,000 employees in wealth management in the United States. This is the first time that layoffs have affected personnel whose income is entirely commission-based.
22/04/2009

CNMV may allow side pockets

To remedy liquidity problems in investment funds, the Spanish securities commission, CNMV, is considering integrating ?side pockets? into its regulations in the coming month, Expansión reports. The conditions would require, for example, that the proportion of low-liquidity assets not exceed 20%. The measures would not be limited to hedge funds, but would be extended to all categories of funds.
22/04/2009

Retirement funds scale up exposure to alternative asset classes

European pension funds and retirement institutions, severely affected by the stock market collapse of last year, are seeking new ways to optimise their risk management. These institutions are increasingly frequently opting for alternative investments, according to the annual ?European Asset Allocation Survey? by Mercer. The survey, covering 1,000 pension funds and retirement institutions in Europe, which manage more than EUR400bn, finds that ?35% of British retirement plans and 60% of European retirement plans (outside the UK) are planning to introduce new types of investments into their portfolios to improve their risk/return profiles.? In 2008, allocations to non-traditional asset classes increased in one year from 10% to 11% in Germany, from 9% to 11% in the Netherlands, and from 4% to 6% in the United Kingdom. In France, they represented 5% to 10%, depending on the institution. Another finding of the study is that exposure to equities was affected by the crisis and the dent it made in reserves for defined-benefit pension plans. ? In the United Kingdom, allocations fell from 58% to 54%, while in Ireland, they fel from 67% to 60%. Exposure to the equities markets has remained low in other European markets, including France,? says the Mercer study, adding that bonds have remained the dominant asset class in most European countries.
22/04/2009

State Street perfects confidence index

State Street Global Markets announced on Tuesday that from 26 May, its index of institutional investor confidence will be improved, to provide more specific information about investors’ level of appetite for risk. The basis of the index will be consequently recalibrated so that a level of over 100 indicates that institutional investors are increasing their exposure to high-risk assets, while a level of under 100 means that they are reducing their exposure. This adjustment will be undertaken separately for the global index and for the regional indices. The publication of the indexes will now take place on the last Tuesday of each month, in order to better align the results with quarterly and monthly developments.
22/04/2009

State Street index: institutional investors seem to be regaining confidence

The global index of institutional investor confidence maintained by State Street Global Markets comes in at 79.6 for April, compared with 70.2 in March (up from an initial announcement of 70; see Newsmanagers of 25 March). This is the third increase in four months, from a level at the start of the year of 60.2 (and 48.2 in December). The index of US institutional investor confidence is up to 70.2 from 60.2 in March, while the index for Europe has risen to 68.9 from 63.9, and the Asian index is up to 87.3 from 86.6.?Despite the increases on the global index, we think that a dose of prudence is necessary,? says Paul O’Connell of State Street Associates. ? This is the first time since September 2008 that institutional investors worldwide have increased their allocation to high-risk assets, but many questions remain as to the pace of the economic recovery. ? Due to the global nature of the current financial crisis, estimates of the time necessary for an economic recovery on the basis of historic examples drawn from specific countries are perhaps over-optimistic, and this issue may drag down the morale of investors in second quarter.?
22/04/2009

The lessons of the crisis for the fund of hedge fund sector have not been learned, says Unigestion

Since summer 2007, Patrick Fenal, CEO of Unigestion, has been sounding the alarm about a liquidity ?mismatch? in some funds of hedge funds, as these funds claimed to offer liquidity which they couldn’t back up in practice. ?Logically, a fund of hedge funds should be less liquid than its underlying funds. But this was often far from the case,? he explained again today. The problem, which he called a ?time bomb? did eventually detonate during the crisis, and many funds of hedge funds found themselves unable to reimburse shareholders who wanted out.This was not the case at Unigestion, which maintained a practice of quarterly liquidity for its funds. ?We missed out on business in 2006-2007 because we didn’t want to introduce monthly liquidity. We knew that if the situation continued as it was, we would not have been capable of honouring redemptions,? admits Jean-François Hirschel, managing director and head of marketing at Unigestion. ?But now, clients are aware? of the issues, he adds. Now, Fenal estimates that the lessons of this liquidity crisis for alternative multi-management have not genuinely been learnt. Particularly in France, where the authorities have been obliged to introduce emergency measures to restrict liquidity (see Newsmanagers of 24/10/2008). ?In France, for example, it is not always possible to make an Aria 3 fund with quarterly liquidity reporting. We can only choose between monthly or weekly liquidity reporting, which is unrealistic for the market as it is,? says Fenal. This remains true even though France as a country has a political tendency to demonize hedge funds, he says.
22/04/2009
Fonds

First State lance un fonds marchés émergents/développement durable

David Gait et Jonathan Asante sont les gérants du nouveau fonds Global Emerging Markets Sustainability que lance First State au Royaume-Uni et qui sera commercialisé ultérieurement en Europe continentale, rapporte Investment Week. Le portefeuille comprendra entre 50 et 60 lignes, la moitié de ces actions se recouvrant avec celles qui figurent dans le fonds Asia Pacific Sustainability (51 millions de livres). Le benchmark est le MSCI Emerging Markets Free Index. Le droit d’entrée et la commission de gestion se situent à respectivement 4 % et 1,55 %, avec une souscription minimale de 1.000 livres.
Fonds
22/04/2009
Fonds

Royaume-Uni - Standish va gérer un fonds obligataire stratégique de BNY Mellon AM

BNY Mellon Asset Management vient de lancer un fonds stratégique susceptible d’investir partout dans le monde dans le domaine obligataire, l’objectif de performance net étant de 5,3 % au lancement. Ce produit est géré par Standish, une filiale de BNY Mellon aux Etats-Unis, rapporte Money Marketing. Les deux responsables du fonds chez Standish sont David Leduc, global head of fixed income fund management et gérant de portefeuille senior, et Tom Fahey. Le gestionnaire s’efforcera de respecter la norme de l’Investment Management Association (IMA) pour les fonds de la catégorie sterling strategic bond, avec au moins 80 % d’actifs libellés en livres ou placé dans des actifs dont le risque de change par rapport au sterling est couvert.
Fonds
22/04/2009

Hausse des encours de BlueBay

BlueBay a vu ses encours augmenter de 8 % à 18 milliards de dollars sur le trimestre au 31 mars, rapporte le Financial Times. La société a bénéficié de l"intérêt croissant des investisseurs pour le crédit investment grade.
22/04/2009
Fonds

Londres cote désormais plus de 200 ETF

Avec les sept nouveaux ETF lancés lundi par iShares (lire notre dépêche du 21 avril), le nombre d’ETF cotés sur le London Stock Exchange (LSE) atteint les 207 unités. Les émetteurs sont Deutsche Bank, ETF Securities, Invesco Powershares, iShares (Barclays Global Investors) et Lyxor (Société Générale). En dehors des nouveaux produits iShares, le LSE cote 78 ETF sur indices d’actions, 21 produits reproduisant des indices obligataires, 41 ETF marchés émergents et 53 fonds couvrant une vaste gamme de secteurs ou de classes d’actifs comme l’immobilier, le private equity ou les matières premières. A cela s’ajoutent 7 ETF de style. De plus, le LSE cote 123 ETC et une ETN. Depuis le début de l’année, dix-huit nouveaux produits ont été admis à la cotation, précise LSE Group. A titre de comparaison Francfort cote actuellement 442 ETF et 136 ETC.
Fonds
22/04/2009
Fonds

Artemis IM lance un fonds L/S multi classes d'actifs

Artemis Investment Management procèdera le 5 mai au lancement de son premier fonds depuis quatre ans, l’Artemis Strategic Asset fund. Il s’agit d’un produit retail multi classes d’actifs (actions, obligations, matières premières, devises et cash), long et short, bottom-up et top-down, conforme à la directive OPCVM III qui sera géré par William Littlewood, qui a été d’abord un gérant long-only avant de gérer des hedge funds. Initialement, l’allocation prévue sera de 45 % au numéraire, 20 % aux positions à découvert sur les obligations d’Etat britanniques et américaines, 25 % aux devises, 15 % aux matières premières, 5 % aux obligations d’entreprises, 5 % aux positions à découvert sur les actions et 35 % sur les actions (25 % d’actions britanniques et 10 % d’internationales).
Fonds
22/04/2009

Cerberus s'intéresserait à Opel

Selon les milieux gouvernementaux allemands, le capital-investisseur Cerberus, principal actionnaire de Chrysler, s’intéresse à OPEL, filiale de General Motors, rapporte le Handelsblatt. Le CEO de Cerberus, John Snow, a pris contact avec le ministère fédéral des Finances pour s’enquérir des conditions d'éventuelles aides publiques en cas d’acquisition. Cependant les milieux financiers sont sceptiques, parce Cerberus a déjà beaucoup à faire pour sauver Chrysler.
22/04/2009

Détérioration du résultat de Bankhaus Lampe

Pour 2008, après un prélèvement de 22 millions d’euros sur les réserves, la banque privée Bankhaus Lampe, qui appartient à la famille Oetker, affiche un bénéfice au bilan de 10 millions d’euros. Elle a donc accusé une perte de 12 millions d’euros imputable à l’augmentation des charges liée à des embauches, à l’ouverture de trois nouvelles succursales et à la dépréciation sur la participation de 6 % dans Aareal Bank au niveau du cours boursier de fin décembre. Pour 2007, Lampe avait affiché un bénéfice net de 21,5 millions d’euros (lire notre dépêche du 17 avril 2008). Pour 2009, Bankhaus Lampe a l’intention de filialiser l’activité family office de sa filiale Lampe Corporate Finance.

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