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23/02/2009

World - Greenwich hedge fund indices in positive territory for January

In January, the two hedge fund indices from Greenwich Alternative Investments posted positive results: the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index (GGHFI) returned 0.42%, after a gain of 0.7% in December, and the Greenwich Composite Investable Index (GI2) posted a 0.1% gain, compared with 0.3% the previous month. Over one year, the indexes show respective losses of 13.2% and 15.9%.Over one year, only four strategies show gains within the GGHFI index: merger arbitrage (1.1%), statistical arbitrage (2%), dedicated short bias (27.8%), and futures (17.2%). In the G2I index, only the directional trading group shows positive performance (10.8%). The worst results for the GGHFI were for convertible arbitrage (-32.3%), while on the G2I, this «honour» belongs to the specialist strategies group, with losses of 34.1%.
23/02/2009

United States - Putnam continues to add to staff

Putnam Investments has announced the recruitment of David Glancy as managing director and portfolio manager. Glancy, founder of Andover Capital, was also a portfolio manager at his former employer, after serving as the only portfolio manager at Fidelity to manage both equities and bond funds. At Putnam (USD101bn in assets at the end of 2008, compared with USD178bn one year earlier), he will cover equities, high yield, and bank-issued bonds.Putnam also announces the recruitment of four experienced analysts: Shobha Frey (formerly of K Capital partners) for insurance, Lucas Klein (from RiverSource Investments) for consumer products, George Gianarikas (from Wellington Management), for IT and telecoms, and Vinay Shah (formerly of Morgan Stanley and Fidelity) for durable consumer goods.Putnam also announces that, to assist in its return to the pension market, it has recruited Edmund F. Murphy III (formerly of Fidelity) as managing director and head of defined contribution.
23/02/2009

Spain - Allfunds Alternative becomes advisor to three Banif hedge funds

Santander Asset Management has notified the CNMV that the advisor for three hedge funds from its private banking affiliate Banif, the Banif Optimal Low Volatility Fund, Banif Fairfield Impala and Panif Allfunds Springbuck, will be Allfunds Alternative, a joint venture from Allfunds Bank and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. In fact, Allfunds Alternative already advises the Banif Allfunds Springbuck, and will now be taking over the Optimal Low Volatility from Optimal Alternative Investment, and the Banif Fairfield Impala from Fairfield Greenwich Advisors, Funds People reports.Meanwhile, Santander AM reports that redemptions in the quarter total over 20% of assets for the Banif Optimal Low Volatility and Banif Fairfield Impala, but that this will not have an impact on the investment policies at these funds, whose existence is not in danger.
23/02/2009

United Kingdom - John Hobson becomes CEO of EEA Group

John Hobson, who was a partner at TT International until the beginning of 2008, has been appointed CEO of the alternative management firm EEA Group (GBP1bn in assets), and will begin in his new job on 1 March. Hobson was previously manager of the hedge fund TT Midcap Long/Short, between 2004 and his departure from the firm; in this period, the fund posted average annual performance of 22%, before fees. Hobson’s mission will be to extend the range at EEA, by developing and directing activities in the area of hedge funds.
23/02/2009

Germany - Delta Lloyd closes five funds ?too lean? to survive

Delta Lloyd Investment Managers GmbH has announced plans to liquidate five of its funds on 30 June, in which it estimates that asset levels are too low. The funds are the LDI-Euro Cash (EUR10.4m), DLI-Euro Renten (EUR43.28m), DLI-Euro Portfolio (EUR25.49m), DLI-Euro Aktien (EUR6.59m), and DLI-Delta Typ (EUR5.44m). Shareholders will also have until 30 June to transfer their investment to another fund of the Delta Lloyd IM range in a single transaction free of charge.
23/02/2009

Germany - Swiss Life wants out of MLP

Swiss Life has declined to comment on rumours that it is considering withdrawing from MLP this year. The insurer acquired a 24% stake in the firm from Carsten Maschmeyer in August 2008, for EUR470m, Financial Times Deutschland reports. MLP has rejected the idea of a merger with its rival AWD, the financial services provider formerly owned by Carsten Maschmeyer. A spokesperson for Credit Suisse has announced, however, that a decision one way or the other will be taken by the end of this year.
23/02/2009

Germany - The ?tops? and ?flops? of 2008

Overall, German management firms suffered net redemptions in 2008 of Eur27.79bn, according to statistics from the BVI. But the difference in results between best and worst was nearly EUR24bn, according to statistics from the Kommalpha think tank. The winner for net subscriptions in all categories was the ETF specialist from Deutsche Bank, db x-trackers, which took on EUR13.5bn, soundly beating its nearest rival, BGI (Deutschland), which raised EUR4.16bn with ETFs of its iShares brand. Third place goes to Universal-Investment, with net subscriptions of EUR3.18bn, followed by Deka (Luxembourg) with EUR2.95bn, and ETFlab, the ETF affiliate of Deka, with EUR2.53bn. Kommalpha also reports that Carmignac Gestion Paris is in fourth place for non-German management firms, behind db x-trackers, Deka Luxembourg, and cominvest Luxembourg (Commerzbank), with EUR1.28bn.Particularly heavy net outflows were observed at DWS Luxembourg (EUR10.42bn), DWS Germany (EUR8.35bn), Pioneer AM (EUR6.55bn), Allianz Global Investors (AGI, EUR6.42bn), and AGI Luxembourg (EUR3.49bn).
23/02/2009

World - Private equity will not suffer too much

According to a study by the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG), reported in Handelsblatt, failures of private equity firms are expected to remain relatively few in number, despite the high acquisition prices and levels of debt sustained by these firms in recent years. Private equity firms took advantage in the years when financing conditions were good, and the recession will not hurt them too much now. However, they may be obliged to hold onto investments which will not generate reasonable returns for years yet.
23/02/2009

Germany - EUR127.5bn wiped out by mutual funds in 2008

The Kommalpha agency has calculated on the basis of statistics form the German BVI association of management firms that of a total decline fo EUR155.3bn in assets in German investments funds in 2008, market effects, combined with transaction and administrative costs, as well as depository banking commissions, auditing and publication costs, wiped out EUR127.51bn in assets, as net redemptions totalled EUR27.79bn. The funds punished hardest by the markets were equities funds, which show capital losses of EUR94.7bn, for net outflows of EUR2.27bn on assets which plunged to EUR133.55bn, a lower level than assets in bond funds (EUR143.4bn, compared with EUR148.1bn), which, for their part, benefited from positive market effects of EUR19.71bn.In the ongoing rivalry between Germany and Luxembourg, however, the advantage turned in Germany’s favour, so to speak, as German subscribers withdrew ?only? EUR11.1bn from German-registered funds, while they demanded net redemptions of EUR15.28bn from Luxembourg-registered funds.Lastly, 2008 will be remembered as a vintage year for passive management, with the emergence of the ETF market, which brought in net inflows of EUR24bn for products from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), iShares (BGI), ETFlab (Deka) and comstage (Commerzbank). Funds of funds posted net inflows of EUR9.26bn, which appears to be a disappointing result in light of the introduction of withholding flat tax on 1 January 2009. The ?secret weapon? for Kommalpha is the category of guaranteed funds, which attracted a total of EUR6.12bn, which almost offset negative market effects of EUR6.78bn.
23/02/2009

United States - Stanford lived in luxury

Sir Allen Stanford, accused of a massive fraud, had a high-flying lifestyle, as reflected in documents obtained by the Financial Times. Among his possessions and expenses were a house in Florida worth USD10m, bills for up to USD75,000 for Christmas presents and his children’s vacations, and a fleet of private jets worth USD100m.
23/02/2009

United States - Out-of-pocket investors turn to bonds

Since the beginning of 2009, equities and bond markets have followed different paths. Investors have bought tens of billions of dollars’ worth of corporate bonds, while the Dow Jones has fallen to its lowest levels since October 2002, the Wall Street Journal notes. Mutual and bond funds, including funds specialised in high yield, have posted increases in their assets since the beginning of the year of USD15.5bn, while equities funds have taken on USD6.04bn, according to AMG Data Services. Since January 2008, equities funds have lost USD194.3bn in assets, while corporate bodn funds have registered net subscriptions of USD35.95bn. It is certain that some investors have made some bad bets. Double-digit returns on junk bonds may appear attractive, but default rates are rising: Moody’s predicts that they will nearly quadruple, to a record 16% in 2009. But recovery rates are attractive nonetheless. KDP Advisor predicts that holders of bonds from General Motors Corp will get back 33% of their money if the firm goes bankrupt, compared with a 20% average for the market currently.
23/02/2009

Spain - Amancio Ortega reduces investments in funds and Sicavs

The founder and president of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, last year withdrew nearly half of the assets from its three Sicav funds, Keblar Inversiones, Alazán Inversiones 2001 and Gramela de Inversiones, Expansión reports. Assets were reduced to EUR575m from EUR1.13bn in the space of less than one year, as the billionaire preferred to invest largely in Spanish Letras du Trésor and direct real estate investments in the United States.
23/02/2009

Spain - Banks have recuperated all redemptions from funds

According to the most recent statistics from the Bank of Spain, an increase in savings deposits at banks has totalled nearly EUR78.1bn. At the same time, net redemptions from securities funds alone, according to figures from the Inverco association of management firms, totalled EUR69.53bn.
23/02/2009

United States - Madoff made no transactions

Reports by the investment firm of Bernard Madoff, accused of a USD50bn fraud, suggest that no stock market value was gained for clients in 13 years, the Financial Times reports.
23/02/2009

Switzerland - UBS: Authorities didn't see trouble coming

Le Temps reports that a misunderstanding about procedure and underestimation of the power of pressure from United States authorities explains the legal turmoil in which Switzerland now finds itself. According to the newspaper, Eugen Haltiner, chairman of the Swiss financial market surveillance authority (Finma) has tacitly suggested that the finance minister, Hans-Rudolf Merz, underestimated the gravity of the situation.
20/02/2009

Europe - Use of open architecture declines at banks

Sales of third party funds distributed by European banks are expected to fall in favour of house products from captive management firms and savings accounts, Ignites Europe reports in its 19 February edition. Cristobal Mendez de Vigo, head of distribution and development at F&C, says the commitment of banks to open architecture has been knocked back five years.
20/02/2009

Switzerland - Capital increase for CSA RES oversubscribed

Credit Suisse announced on Thursday that a CHF200m capital increase for CSA Real Estate Switzerland (CSA RES) attracted subscriptions of CHF1.07bn. As of the end of January, the fund had a portfolio worth over CHF4bn. Credit Suisse also announced that a further subscription period may be opened in second quarter for the fund, which had been closed to investors since 8 January 2004.
20/02/2009

France - Promotions at CAAM RE

Nicolas Simon and Nicolas Kert have been appointed as CEO and CIO at Crédit Agricole Asset Management Real Estate (CAAM RE). Previously, Simon had been deputy CEO at Crédit Agricole Asset Management Real Estate since 2005, and Kert was head of asset and portfolio management for all real estate funds at CAAM RE since 2008.
20/02/2009

Iceland - Finance jobs in danger

Up to 40% of employees in Icelandic finance (including those in asset management) will lose their jobs, Ignites Europe estimates in its 19 February edition.
20/02/2009

Monde - Les frais de gestion sous pression en 2009

Les frais de gestion sont demeurés stables l’an dernier dans pratiquement toutes les classes d’actifs, selon l’enquête réalisée par Mercer sur l'évolution des commissions («2008 Asset Manager Fee Survey»). Mais en 2009 et au-delà, les pressions à la baisse vont se multiplier notamment du côté de la gestion alternative, en raison des résultats mitigés enregistrés en 2008. L’enquête montre aussi que ce sont les stratégies d’investissement alternatives qui pratiquent les commissions les plus élevées. Selon Mercer, les investisseurs institutionnels ne sont plus disposés à payer un pourcentage aussi élevé de l’alpha potentiel, tout particulièrement pour les stratégies les plus complexes.
20/02/2009

Monde - John Anderson rejoint Gartmore

La société de gestion indépendante Gartmore a nommé John Andersen responsable credit de l'équipe fixed income. Transfuge de Rensburg Fund Management où il a passé neuf ans, John Anderson aura en charge le secteur corporate (corporate bond, institutional corporate bond, high yield corporate bond, et Sicav sterling corporate bond funds).
20/02/2009

Royaume-Uni - Citigroup recrute chez Cheyne Capital

Citigroup remplace Nick Roe, qui était European and global head of prime finance depuis mars 2008 et qui devient global head of prime finance, par Mark Harrison, COO de Cheyne Capital, en tant que European head of prime finance. Hedge Week rapporte que l’impétrant, qui avait créé Carlyle blue Wave après avoir quitté la Deutsche Bank où il était international head of prime brokerage and securities lending, sera chargé de coiffer la prêt de titres et le prime brokerage de Citi pour l’Europe et sera basé à Londres, comme Nick Roe.

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