Source :- bloomberg.com
went into crisis-fighting mode to stem a wave of outflows from its H2O Asset Management unit, selling about 300 million euros ($342 million) of its unrated private bonds and marking down the balance to remove incentives for investors to pull even more.
The measures aim to reverse outflows from a group of H2O funds that saw their assets drop by 1.1 billion euros on Thursday as analysts questionedtheir holdings. By moving swiftly and having fund investors take valuation losses now, H2O is seeking to avoid the fate of famed U.K. stock picker Neil Woodford and Swiss asset manager GAM Holding AG, which both froze funds over the past year amid concerns about whether they’d circumvented investment restrictions.
Natixis, which has a network of more than 20 independent asset managers, brought forward a periodic audit of the unit to start June 21. Its shares rose slightly on Monday, halting the two-day slump that followed Morningstar’s move. The bank lost almost 12% last week, falling to the lowest level in nearly three years on Friday.
The fund said it depreciates all portfolio assets in line with market prices and that it started marking down net asset values as of Wednesday. This is why “our funds have overall posted daily negative performances, despite the good showing of our main investment strategies,” H2O said in the letter. An H2O spokesman declined to comment on the letter.
Tthe aggregated value of the non-corporate bond holdings across H2O’s range of funds was 500 million euros as of Monday, a spokeswoman for the money manager said by email.
Defiant Tone
The reduction of Windhorst-linked bonds on Monday comes in stark contrast to the defiant tone struck by Bruno Crastes, chief executive officer of H2O, in an interview published on French media website H24 Finance last week. Crastes, who was asked by Natixis last week to leave the board of Windhorst’s investment company, will be replaced by H2O’s Chief Investment Officer Vincent Chailley, according to a spokesman for the firm.
“The liquidity of the securities is ensured and will allow it to face potential additional withdrawals,” Natixis said in statement on Monday. “The long-term performance drivers of H2O funds, which have been proven over numerous years to the benefit of our clients, remain unaffected as they are not related to this type of investment.”
A spokesman for H2O told Bloomberg on Friday that it rejects Autonomous’s analysis that the notes resemble loans.
Other U.K. fund managers including Woodford have faced questions over whether they’ve circumvented liquidity restrictions by re-packaging assets. The question now is whether the illiquid investments that have caused trouble for H20, GAM and Woodford represent a wider trend in the fund-management industry. Jacob Schmidt, CEO of Schmidt Research Partners, a global investment firm, argues that they are “isolated incidents.”
What Our Analysts Say
“Outflows of more than $680 million so far this quarter were confirmed by Natixis on a call, but this figure will increase hugely by the quarter’s end, we believe.” — Jonathan Tyce, Georgi Gunche, industry analysts
— With assistance by Fabio Benedetti Valentini, Ross Larsen, and Suzy Waite