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09/03/2009

Netherlands - Van der Moolen will not buy stakes in GSFS AM and GSA

Due to the currently prevailing market conditions, van der Moolen Holding NV and Global Securities Finance Solutions Holding BV (GSFS) on Friday agreed to cancel an agreement in principle signed last year (see Newsmanagers of 24 November 2008), in which van der Moolen agreed to acquire stakes of 49.9% in GSFS Asset Management BV (GSFS AM) and 33.3% in Global Securities Arbitrage BV (GSA) for EUR43.3m, of which EUR14.15m was to be in cash.As a result, though the existing partnership between van der Moolen and GSFS will not be affected, van der Moolen will now develop its trading and brokerage activities alone.
09/03/2009

Germany - Templeton Growth Fund loses its shine

For a long time, the Templeton Growth Fund from Franklin Templeton has been a star performer among German equities funds. But net redemptions in the country totalled EUR700m last year, and assets fell by EUR7.6bn, to EUR8bn, whereby 83% of the decline is due to falling markets, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. In the past three years, the fund has lost more than 20%, which puts it in the middle of the rankings for international large cap equities funds. The DWS Top Dividende has limited its losses to 10% in the same period, and according to Morningstar, 250 funds have performed better than the Templeton Growth Fund and its European variant, the Templeton Growth (Euro) Fund. Assets in the two funds have fallen by about half, to EUR14.7bn and EUR3.4bn, respectively.
09/03/2009

World - Countries with banking confidentiality laws defend themselves

On Sunday in Luxembourg, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland ?refused in advance to be placed on blacklists by the G20,? Les Echos reports. ?The three countries confirmed their desire to do more to help prevent tax fraud, but ruled out the possibility of repealing their banking confidentiality laws, which are the source of their prosperity,? the newspaper reports.
09/03/2009

Europe - NYSE Euronext launches a platform

The Financial Times reports that two new equities trading platforms will be unveiled on Monday. NYSE Euronext will launch its alternative platform NYSE Arca Europe. Meanwhile, the American firm Pipeline will announce plans to set up shop in Europe in second quarter.
09/03/2009

Italy - Milan stock exchange in free-fall

The Milan stock exchange appears to be obeying a different logic than other stock markets in Europe, Asia, or the Americas, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. Falls on the Italian market have accelerated in relation to other global markets in the past five trading sessions. Since Friday, 27 February, the S&P Mib has lost 15.62%, while the Frankfurt stock exchange has lost 4.61%, London has lost 7.82%, and Paris has lost 6.22%. In this environment, Italian CDS set a new record on Friday, at 199 basis points, compared with about 90 points in France and Germany.
09/03/2009

World - Hedge fund investors turn to gold

Hedge fund who made money last year by betting against investment banks are now buying gold as a way of betting against central banks, says the Financial Times. The gold bulls include David Einhorn, founder of Greenlight Capital, Eton Park and TPG-Axon. A bet on gold is essentially a bet against all paper currencies.
09/03/2009

United Kingdom - F&C Investment Trust posts significant losses

Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust has announced that its bets on equities lost it GBP680m last year, making 2008 its worst fiscal year since 1974, the Times reports. The equities portfolio at the firm lost more than one quarter of its value, to GBP1.78bn, and net asset value fell 28.5% to 256.6 pence.
09/03/2009

Spain - High net worth investors change managers for EUR1.6bn in assets

According to calculations by Expansión on the basis of data from the CNMV, Spanish high net worth investors between January 2008 and February 2009 changed the managers of Sicav funds representing EUR1.59bn, which is 5.8% of the EUR27.14bn overall in vehicles containing assets of high net worth private clients as of the end of September, the most recent date for which figures are available. 229 Sicav funds have changed managers, or 7% of the total.Managers who profited the most from the phenomenon are Interdin, Urquijo (Sabadell), Credit Suisse, Santander and Pictet. The management firms most punished were Nmás1, La Caixa, Riva y García, Fortis, and UBS, with total outflows ranging from EUR220m to EUR55m.
09/03/2009

Europe - Baudouin Prot (BNP Paribas) optimistic about Fortis

In an interview with the Financial Times, Baudouin Prot, CEO of BNP Paribas, has announced that he expects shareholders in Fortis to approve a new bid from the French bank at an extraordinary general assembly on 8-9 April. ?it is now very clear that it is the best solution for everyone in Belgium, for shareholders, employees, and clients of Fortis, and for the Belgian economy,? he says.
09/03/2009

Spain - Fonditel fires its CIO

Following losses of 35% and 28% in 2008 for the Velociraptor and Albatros funds, its two funds of hedge funds, Fonditel, the firm that manages the pension fund for Telefónica, has decided to bid farewell to its chief investment officer, Íñigo Colomo, Expansión reports. The position has been taken over by the deputy CIO, Luis Peña. Total assets at Fonditel have fallen to EUR400m from EUR700m, and Velociraptor and Albatros had invested more than EUR7m with Madoff.
09/03/2009

United States - RBC recruits a team from UBS

The Minneapolis/St Paul office of RBC Wealth Management has recruited the wealth management team working under Johnson Karels at UBS Financial Services, which includes four people, and which brings with it a portfolio of high net worth private clients worth USD200m, the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal reports.
09/03/2009

Spain - JPMAM unveils two STEEP funds

At a press conference in Madrid, Catherine Vaughn, head of development for Highbridge in Europe, has unveiled the firm’s new US STEEP and Europe STEEP funds, which deliver the same statistical arbitrage strategy used for the JPMorgan Highbridge Statistical Market Neutral Fund, in UCITS III-compliant vehicles with daily net asset value reporting, Funds People reports. The portfolios include 650 positions for the Europe product, and 770 positions for the fund specialised in US equities. The US STEEP fund, launched in May, has outperformed its benchmark index by 2.11 points, while the Europe STEEP has performed 1.61point better than its benchmark. In January, the US STEEP lost 2.26%, compared with losses of 8.43% for the S&P 500, while the Europe STEEP posted stable results, compared with losses of 6.12% for the MSCI Europe.
09/03/2009

Spain - Aviva Investors gets a new head

Aviva Investors has recruited Alfonso del Moral as its director for Spain and Portugal, Funds People reports. In the past few days, del Moral has joined the Madrid office of the firm (which includes two sales staff and one customer service representative), where he replaces William Pawson, who has moved to Standard Life. Until the end of December, del Moral was head of sales at Schroders. He will report to Adam Lessing, director of development for Europe, and José Caturla, CEO of Aviva Gestión de Inversiones.
09/03/2009

France - Female managers are more consistent than males

?Measurements of the results of Sicav and FCP funds invested in equities and managed by women reveal that these funds are more consistent than products managed by men, over five years, three years, and one year,? Le Revenu reports in an issue dedicated to the subject of women managers. ?Women are more humble in their investment decisions, and appear to have fewer ego problems than men,? the newspaper reports.According to data provided exclusively to Le Revenu by the French management association (AFG), of 3,200 managers in France included in the data, 12% to 13% are women. ?French women managers are more concentrated in employee savings products, where they represent 18% of the total, and are also often found managing Sicav and FCP funds invested in equities, bonds, and money markets, in which categories 15% of managers are women,? the newspaper reports.?One of the largest French management firms in terms of assets under management, Axa IM is also the most progressive: 47 out of 100 managers in Paris are women,? Le Revenu adds.
09/03/2009

United States - Some hedge funds had foresight in commission fee policies

Hedge funds usually cannot not earn performance commissions of as much as 20% unless they achieve their ?high watermark? objectives, which may take a long time, in light of the losses experienced in 2008. However, the Wall Street Journal notes, some management firms, such as Eton Park Capital Management and Och-Ziff Capital Management, saw this problem ahead of time, and set up systems which will enable them to get around it. Eton Park will earn a performance commission reduced by half beginning this year, while Och-Ziff will earn a normal performance commission beginning in 2010.
09/03/2009

United Kingdom - Macquarie and B&B put infrastructure assets up for sale

To raise cash and pay off debts, the Australian management firms Babcock & Brown and Macquarie are planning to sell off major infrastructure assets in the United Kingdom, the Sunday Times reports. B&B has mandated Dresdner Kleinwort to sell off PD Ports, which operates the ports of Hartlepool and Immingham, for at least GBP400m.Several potential buyers are reported to have contacted Macquarie, which controls Thames Water, Bristol airport, and Condor Group (which operates ferries to the Isle of Wight). The first asset to be sold off may be the M6, while Macquarie has already sold half of its stake in a highway in the Sydney area.
09/03/2009

Spain - Claudio Aguirre launches a new private equity firm

The former head of Merrill Lynch Spain and the founder of Altamar Private Equity, Claudio Aguirre, has founded a new private equity firm, Sextante Partners. The firm will be directed by Maria Vasquez Ferrandize, who was head of alternative management at Abante until that company shut down its hedge fund activities, Funds People reports. Sextante Partners will operate in all asset classes.
06/03/2009

Etats-Unis - SSgA recrute un directeur commercial chez ING

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) a annoncé avoir recruté comme executive vice president, head of global sales and marketing James (Jamie) Kase), qui était executive vice president d’ING Investment Management à New York et avait la responsabilité de la distribution aux Etats-Unis. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, il coiffera tous les aspects de la direction commerciale et du marketing en Amérique du Nord, avec un accent particulier sur la clientèle institutionnelle et les intermédiaires.
06/03/2009

France - Plainte contre Nyse-Euronext

Selon La Tribune, Nyse-Euronexta été assigné devant le tribunal de commerce de Paris en octobre dernier par l’un de ses NCP. Motif invoqué par ce négociateur pour compte propre : des pratiques tarifaires qu’il juge discriminatoires."Nyse-Euronext refuse de commenter un contentieux en cours», rapporte le quotidien financier.
06/03/2009

Etats-Unis - Legg Mason sort tous les SIV de ses fonds monétaires

Legg Mason a annoncé avoir désormais éliminé du portefeuille de ses fonds monétaires tous les titres émis par des structured investment vehicules (SIV) et autres #conduits#. Legg Mason et ses fonds ont ainsi vendu pour 1,8 milliard de dollars de valeur nominale de cinq SIV différents. Cela se traduit pour le gestionnaire par une sortie nette en numéraire de 1,2 milliard de dollars. Compte tenu des remboursements d’impôt prévus pour cet été, Legg Mason compte pouvoir disposer d’environ 1 milliard de dollars en numéraire, montant qui sera affecté au remboursement de la dette ou à d’autres projets de l’entreprise. Les transactions annoncées devraient se traduire en net par une charge de 367 millions de dollars sur le résultat d’exploitation trimestriel.
06/03/2009

Etats-Unis - Merrill Lynch attaque la Deutsche Bank en justice

Merrill Lynch a porté plainte au civil contre la Deutsche Bank devant un tribunal de New York pour avoir débauché abusivement son treasurer Eric Heaton. Selon le Handelsblatt, qui relaye Bloomberg, l’intéressé aurait démissionné en février et aurait rejoint directement après la Deutsche Bank sans respecter sa clause de non-concurrence qui lui imposait une gardening leave d’un an. Pire, onze managers expérimentés auraient été débauchés par la Deutsche Bank depuis des mois et auraient quitté Merrill le même jour qu’Eric Heaton. La Deutsche Bank ne reconnaît que six embauches de senior managers de Merrill dont Eric Heaton et son frère David, l’ancien patron de la gestion d’actifs.
06/03/2009

Etats-Unis - L'avocat de Stanford renonce à défendre son client

Thomas Sjoblom, l’avocat vedette qui défendait les intérêts de Stanford Financial Group, a notifié à la SEC qu’il se retire de l’affaire et demande qu’il ne soit pas tenu compte de toutes ses déclarations ou communications passées concernant Stanford Financial Group et ses filiales, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. La décision de Me Sjoblom a été prise quelques jours après que la directrice financière de Stanford, Laura Pendergest-Holt, ait été accusée au pénal d’obstruction au cours de la justice pour avoir menti lors d’une déposition sous serment. Thomas Sjoblom avait au préalable assisté aussi à une réunion chez Stanford durant laquelle il était apparu que le groupe avait effectué des investissements ne correspondant pas à ce qui avait été communiqué aux investisseurs.

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