L’ancien président du comité de gestion de Merck KGaA, Hans Joachim Langmann, qui a déjà pris une participation à l'été 2008, va porter "à moyen terme"sa participation dans le capital de la banque privée Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) à 10 %.Parallèlement, la banque indique que deux membres du comité de direction vont quitter leurs fonctions pour prendre leur retraite. Il s’agit d’Alfred Junker et de Peter Gatti, tous deux associés-gérants, qui quitteront H&A respectivement fin mai et fin juin.

Les activités de la BHF-Bank (groupe Sal. Oppenhiem) dans les domaines de la banque dépositaire, de la conservation et de services financiers liés aux valeurs mobilières ont été regroupée dans une banque indépendante qui porte le nom de BHF Asset Servicing, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung. Cette démarche doit permettre à la BHF de mieux servir sa clientèle institutionnelle.

Selon La Tribune, Emilio Botín, le patron du Banco Santander (BS), a été la cible de vives critiques lors de l"AG des actionnaires qui s"est tenue lundi. Regroupés en association, 600 investisseurs de la filiale de gestion de fonds alternatifs, Optimal, réclament des indemnités pour avoir perdu leur argents suite au scandale Madoff. «Les pertes subies par les investisseurs d"Optimal atteignent 2,33 milliards de dollars, que le BS se refuse à couvrir en arguant être lui-même victime de la malversation», précise le quotidien.

Selon les proches du dossier, rapporte Cinco Días, le Santander a décidé de reporter la cession de sa filiale Santander Asset Management, dont l’encours a chuté de 36 % l’an dernier, à moins de 32,95 milliards d’euros. A l’heure actuelle et compte tenu du profil conservateur du portefeuille, qui ne génère donc pas des recettes de commissions très importantes, le Santander ne pourrait tirer que 800 millions-1,2 milliard d’euros de sa filiale, alors qu’il voulait la vendre pour 3 milliards d’euros.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) a lancé en décembre Old Mutual Currency Fund, un hedge fund devises, géré selon un modèle quantitatif multi-signaux.Il est investi dans 11 devises majeures (G10 et dollar singapourien) par le biais de contrats à terme. Le fonds était géré en incubation depuis mars 2007 et a dégagé une performance de 11,5 % en 2008. L"équipe de gestion est dirigée par Jinhui Luo, spécialiste des devises, qui a rejoint OMAM en 2005.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) a lancé en décembre Old Mutual Currency Fund, un hedge fund devises, géré selon un modèle quantitatif multi-signaux. Il est investi dans 11 devises majeures (G10 et dollar singapourien) par le biais de contrats à terme. Le fonds était géré en incubation depuis mars 2007 et a dégagé une performance de 11,5 % en 2008. L"équipe de gestion est dirigée par Jinhui Luo, spécialiste des devises, qui a rejoint OMAM en 2005.

Les filiales allemandes de Crédit Agricole Asset Management (7 personnes) et de Société Générale Asset Management (10 personnes) affichent actuellement des encours respectifs de 2,2 milliards et plus d’un milliard d’euros, dont une moitié dans les deux cas pour la gestion institutionnelle.

In merging their asset management activities, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale are creating an asset management giant with EUR638bn in assets (data as of 30 September 2008). It will include all of Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) - including CPR AM and Casam ? and SGAM, excepting alternative management (as SGAM AI will be merged with Lyxor). The ensemble, whose name has not yet been determined, will be 70% owned by CA, which represents the majority of assets, with EUR460bn under management, and 30% controlled by SG, which accounts for the remainder, and TCW, its US affiliate. The two groups have pledged to retain their stakes for five years, after which time an IPO is planned (see Newsmanagers of 26 January 2009).The merger has largely been dictated by the current crisis, according to professionals, and negotiations are said to have begun in October. ?Two professions have been particularly hard-hit by the crisis and need to adapt: finance and investment banking, and asset management. We are thus anticipating this movement and are preparing for the situation at the end of the crisis,? explained George Pauget, CEO of Crédit Agricole, at a press conference to present the merger of the two entities.In practice, by combining their asset management operations, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale make no secret of the fact that they are planning to reduce their production costs. ?In general, in asset management, these costs are 20 basis points (bp). At Crédit Agricole AM, they are already 14. We would like to bring them down to about 10 bp,? Pauget continues.This naturally involves economies of scale. Synergies are projected to save EUR120m, before taxes, over three years. It may reasonably be expected that these will involve staff reductions, as the newly-created entity will have no less than 3,500 employees, excluding international joint ventures. But the management of CAAM and SGAM have remained discreet on this subject, indicating that layoffs will be undertaken in consultation with social partners. Funds will also be merged, a process which has already begun at CAAM. The management fund factory created by Crédit Agricole and Société Générale will supply the four networks of the two banks, Crédit Agricole, LCL, Société Générale and Crédit du Nord - and why not a fifth or sixth network? The model is likely to attract other mid-sized networks. Each of them will benefit from a dedicated structure which will serve as an interface with production teams.Though retail clients represent 70% of the new entity’s business, institutional investors, who represent 30% overall, will not be overlooked. A management unit, organised according to a multi-boutique model, will be wholly dedicated to them.

The German affiliates of Crédit Agricole Asset Management (7 employees) and Société Générale Asset Management (10 employees) currently have assets of EUR2.2bn and more than EUR1bn, respectively, of which half is in institutional management in each case.

In the wake of the controversy about the responsibilities of depositories which has arisen due to the Madoff affair, as French Minister of Finance, Christine Lagarde on 12 January sent a letter to the European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services which drew attention to the divergent approaches adopted by various member states to the question of the role and responsibilities of OPCVM fund depositories. Brussels says it is ready to dot its ?i?s and take the necessary measures to remedy any possible inadequacies. ?The Commission considers that the directive clearly establishes, for the depository, a fundamental responsibility,? says a statement, which claims that the directive ?clearly gives the depository responsibility for oversight of assets and makes them responsible if there is a fault or negligence in the exercise of these functions. The determination of the responsibilities and their extent must be done in a way that complies with the applicable national law.?Although the principle of the responsibility of the depository is clear, its application in national law seems much less assured. The Commission considers that it would be premature to conclude that within the national frameworks, investors in the mutual funds concerned will definitely be reimbursed for their losses. With that said, in light of the central role played by the depository in the regulatory system for mutual funds, ?the Commission is determined to ensure that the applicable national laws and national practices transpose the principle of the responsibility of the depository as set forth in the directive, without diluting it.?From this point of view, the Commission will determine, in collaboration with the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR or CERVM), a set of guidelines ?relative to the enactment of the dispositions relevant to the directive, and will evaluate the way in which the responsbility of depositories in national civil laws is defined,? with a triple objective: to eradicate any proactices or laws which dilute the fundamental responsibilities set out in the directive; to clarify the responsibilities of mutual fund depositories in terms of the oversight of assets; and to clarify the means by which these responsibilities may be exercised, including, says the statement, the possibility of outsourcing depository functions.If this examination results in the identification of practices or findings which are incompatible with the guiding principles of the directive, ?the necessary measures will be taken to remedy the shortfalls.? All options are left open, which will, the statement says, extend to ?legally binding clarification as to the responsibility undertaken by the guardian of assets? and ?a more thorough legal harmonisation.?

The former chairman of the board of directors at Merck KgaA, Hans Joachim Langmann, who had already bought a stake in the firm in summer 2008, will ?in the mid-term? increase his stake in the capital of the Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) private bank to 10%. Meanwhile, the bank says that two members of the board of directors will be retiring from their jobs. They are Alfred Junker and Peter Gatti, both managing partners, who will be leaving H&A at the end of May and June, respectively.

According to reports in Handelsblatt, high net worth investors are hoping to file lawsuits against HSBC in particular as depository bank for the Herald (Lux) US Absolute Return fund from Madoff, and against the wealth management firm Sauerborn, which is owned by UBS. The latter firm had invested EUR34m from its EUR423m Sauerborn I fund in three Madoff funds. Professional organisations are also recommending to their members that they file suits against HSBC, which did not fulfil its due diligence responsibilities. AmpegaGerling Asset Management is also planning to sue the depository. Its fund of funds Gerling Total Return (EUR72m) in December invested 15% of its assets in the Irish fund Madoff Thema International.

La Tribune reports that ?UBS will pay its employees a bonus for 2008,? despite projected losses for the company of CHF20bn.

Cinco Días reports that the US management firm BlackRock has begun to buy Spanish government bonds (bonos) since their spread compared with German bonds (bunds) has hit a ten-year high. It is also interested in Italian and Greek debt, as current prices reflect a 10-20% chance of a disintegration of the Euro zone.

Paul Graham, who was global head of alternative sales, business development & client services at Baring Asset Management, will be joining the alternative management firm Gartmore as head of global alternatives. He will be based in London, and will report to Phil Wagstaff, global head of distribution. Graham will be in charge of strengthening the hedge fund product range and enlarging the client base in Europe, and of recruiting new clients in the United States, the Middle East and Asia.

Henderson is the favoured candidate to take over New Star Asset Management, ahead of Schroders, the Financial Times reports. The acquisition price would be about GBP120m.

According to sources close to the banking group reported by Cinco Días, Santander has decided to postpone the sale of its affiliate Santander Asset Management, whose assets fell by 36% last year to less than EUR32.95bn. At present, in light of the conservative profile of the portfolio, which as a result does not generate very high revenues from management commissions, Santander would make only EUR800m-EUR1.2bn from a sale of its affiliate, though it had hoped to sell it for EUR3bn.

L’Agefi Suisse reports that a new private bank has been created. The newborn entity, called Von Roll Bank, was founded by the holding company that owns the Von Roll industrial group. It will not be confined to managing the fortune of the Von Finck family, says its CEO, Cyrill Escher. ?No house products, and no agreement with distributors: the spinoff of the Von Roll industrial group wants to distance itself from the products and practices which have discredited the world of finance,? the Swiss news source comments.

The fund of hedge fund management firm Tremont Capital Management has permanently suspended activities of its single-manager hedge fund affiliate Rye Investment Management, which had invested all of its USD3.1bn in assets in a feeder fund managed by Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Pensions & Investments reports.

Paulson & Co, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, made gains of at least GBP270m on bets that the share price of the Royal Bank of Scotland would fall in the past four months, the Financial Times reports. The scale of the profits will be likely to relaunch debate over shorting of financials.

Even the Hollywood actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, 91, is among the victims of the Bernard Madoff fraud, Die Welt reports. Gabor had invested as much as USD10m in Madoff-related funds.

Carmignac Gestion, which is celebrating its 20th birthday, has announced net inflows of EUR3bn in 2008, its best inflows ever, despite the stock market and financial crises. ?We would have preferred to celebrate this birthday in a more promising context,? admits the founder of the independent management firm, Edourard Carmignac. The president of Carmignac Gestion says the firm’s success is due to its location in Europe first and foremost. Net flows of capital have been positive in all eight countries in which it sells products: France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. Assets under management at the firm now total EUR12.6bn.Compared with 2007, assets have remained relatively stable overall, despite decreases in the valuation of funds due to the falling markets.

According to a recent study by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the portfolio of foreign assets held by states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) depreciated by USD100bn in 2008, to USD1.2trn, the Wall Street Journal reports. This is leading many sovereign funds to be prudent in their investments. Sameer Al Ansari, CEO of Dubai International Capital, has stated that his fund lost USD3bn due to the financial crisis. The fund, which has invested in HSBC and Och-Ziff Capital Management, is now planning to focus on North America and Europe to protect its existing assets, rather than acquiring new assets.However, Talal Al Zain, CEO of Mumtakalat Holding CO, a USD10bn fund in Bahrain, claims that the global credit crisis and the slowing of the economic boom in the Gulf has not changed his investment priorities. He is still interested in the United States and Europe.

The activities of BHF-Bank (Sal. Oppenheim group) in the areas of depository banking, custody and financial services related to securities have been regrouped in an independent bank which will be known as BHF Asset Servicing, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The move will allow BHF to better serve its institutional clients.

The British hedge fund sector employs about 40,000 people, according to the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). This is the first time that the professional association has provided such an estimate.In detail, AIMA estimates the number of people directly employed by hedge funds and funds of hedge funds at about 10,000. In addition to this, there are at least 30,00 indirect employees, such as advisors and providers of financial services (prime brokers, lawyers and accountants) who depend on the sector.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency (FINRA) has asked several brokerage firms to give information about the number of clients they took on in 2006-2008 for investment vehicles managed by Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The regulator tries also to find out if managers of funds or other who referred clients to Madoff earned additional commissions.

Après son pic de 19,84 dollars le 19 décembre, l’écart entre les contrats mars 2009 et décembre 2009 n'est plus que de onze dollars

Le marché primaire reste très actif malgré les marges que doivent payer les entreprises. Les coupons augmentent surtout pour les industriels

Selon une étude de Santander Asset Management, l’encours des fonds ISR en Espagne était tombé fin décembre à 883,04 millions d’euros contre 1.164,97 millions douze mois plus tôt, soit une baisse de 24,3 %, rapporte Cinco Días. Le leader reste de loin le BBVA avec 717,74 millions d’euros, devant le Santander (90,57 millions) et La Caixa (13,24 millions).

S&P ayant dégradé l’Espagne à AA+ contre AAA, cela ne renchérira pas seulement le coût de la dette, mais beaucoup d’investisseurs n’auront statutairement plus le droit d’acheter des bonos et certains seront même obligés de revendre ceux qu’ils ont en portefeuille, rapporte Expansión. Le gérant du Pictet Funds (LUX) (EUR) Sovereign Liquidity a décidé ainsi de ne plus investir en titres souverains espagnols tandis que celui du Dexia Money Market Euro AAA va liquider cette position et que celui du Dexia Bonds Euro Goverment ne revendra pas ses bonos, mais les sous-pondérera. Le DWS Dinero Gobierno AAA continuera d’investir en bonos parce que les deux autres agences, Fitch et Moody’s, n’ont pas abaissé la note de l’Espagne.