Newton, part of BNY Mellon, has hired Jim Wylie as head of North America for Newton Capital Management responsible for leading and developing Newton’s North American distribution and client servicing business. Based in New York, he reports to Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management.Jim Wylie was most recently chief marketing officer and executive managing director of Turner Investment Partners. Prior to that, he was global head of sales at Acadian Asset Management.
JPMorgan Asset Management is preparing to launch ETFs in first half 2014, and is investing heavily in the preparations for this launch, Ignites reports, citing executives at the firm. “What is driving us is that we have clients who would like to see us managing ETFs,” says Bob Deutsch, head of ETF business at JPMorgan. The firm is expected to obtain the approval of the authorities to launch ETFs in the next few weeks. Its first product is not expected to be active. The firm has submitted an application for a global smart beta equity ETF in October. But over the long term, JPMorgan will focus on actively-managed ETFs.
In January, UBS gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in Europe with USD1.8bn, followed by iShares with USD1.3bn and Lyxor with USD1.2bn net inflows, according to ETFGI. Meanwhile, ZKB experienced the largest net ETF/ETP outflows in January with USD223m, followed by Deka with USD179m.ETFs and ETPs listed in Europe received net inflows of USD5.4 billion in January 2014. They were composed of equity ETFs/ETPs gathering net inflows of USD4.0bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with net inflows of USD2.1bn, while commodity ETFs/ETPs experienced net outflows of USD705m.The pattern for net flows in January was very different for ETFs and ETPs listed in the United States which suffered net outflows of USD15.5 billion with equity ETFs/ETPs having the largest net outflows of USD 15.9 bn, followed by commodity ETF/ETP net outflows of USD1.2bn, while fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows with USD566m.
Rathbone Brothers last year posted a net inflow of GBP2.7bn, up 28.6% compared with the previous year, according to provisional annual results. Assets under management have increased 22.2% for the year, from GBP18bn to GBP22bn as of the end of 2013. Pre-tax profits in the past year as of 31 December totalled GBP44.2bn, up by nearly 15% compared with the previous year.
JP Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) has reshuffled its equity management team in the United Kingdom as of the end of 2013, Citywire Global reports. Alex Savvides has abandoned his role as support manager for the UK Growth Fund, which continues to be managed by Mark Costar, to concentrate exclusively on the management of the UK Dynamic Fund. Savvides is replaced on the UK Growth Fund by Vishal Bhatia, who in turn is abandoning his role as support manager to Savvides on the UK Dynamic Fund. The analyst Tom Matthews, who joined JP Hambro in November 2013, will now take over the support role from Savvides.
BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP), the asset management arm of the eponymous bank, has added to its instituitonal marketing team, based in London, with two new hires. The asset management firm has recruited Kate Hudson for the position of head of European institutional marketing. She had previously successively led marketing activities at Prudential Group, AIG Investments and Pinebridge Investments. At the same time, Gaurav Tandon joined BNPP IP from HSBC in the position of digital specialist. At HSBC Global Banking and Markets Group, he served as senior head of digital marketing, in charge of digital marketing strategy and the digital vision of the bank.
The popularity of smart beta strategies is not letting up. According to Towers Watson, its own clients carried out twice as many investments in these strategies in 2013, with about USD11bn in 180 portfolios, compared with USD5bn in investment in nearly 130 portfolios in 2012. The results is that institutional clients at Towers Watson have allocated USD32bn to smart beta strategies worldwide, via a total of nearly 500 portfolios. Data compiled by the consultant also show that its clients – pension funds, sovereign funds and insurers – have selected alternative asset classes totalling over USD12.5bn, four times more than five years ago. Among alternative assets, real estate has sustained the most interest in 2013, with more than USD4bn in investment, one quarter of it in smart beta. This is followed by hedge funds (USD3bn in investment), then infrastructure (USD2bn), one third of which was also in smart beta strategies. In the same period, Towers Watson has observed that Private Equity attracted about USD1.5bn, while illiquid credit (distresed debt and loans) attracted about USD1bn in assets.
Assets in Asian hedge funds last year rose 16.3% to reach USd147bn, as investors are engaging primarily in global strategies, such as macro, to the detriment of vehicles dedicated to a single country, Asian Investor reports, based on statistics from Eurekahedge. The growth in assets is due to the positive performance of the markets for a total of USD10bn, and a net inflow of USD10.6bn. The sector last year posted 143 fund launches and 109 closures. After good results last year, the beginning of 2014 is more laborious. Asia ex Japan hedge funds are down 0.79% in January.
Neuberger Berman Group is proposing a new global strategy, the Neuberger Berman Unconstrained Bond Fund, an absolute return fund which seeks to profit from market inefficiencies. The fund will use the full spectrum of credit and securitisation, with total flexibility on duration (positive, negative or neutral). The fund will be managed by Andy Johnson, the head of global investment grade bonds, Jon Johnson, a senior portfolio manager based in London, and managing directors Thomas Bardas, David Brown, Ugo Lancioni and Thomas Marthaler.
Northern Trust has added to its London-based team dedicated to family offices with two new recruitments. John leder is also appointed to the newly-created position of managing director and senior investment adviser for multi-manager solutions. Elder will be responsible for advising family offices and similar structures for the creation and monitoring of complex investment programmes. Before joining Northern Trust, Elder served in advising to family offices and institutional investors. Jonathan Lidster has been recruited as senior wealth management strategist responsible for client relations, and promoter of wealth management solutions in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Lidster had previously been an independent aviser to a family office in London.
Paul-Georges Moucan, senior fund manager in the international equity unit in London, left Amundi at the end of 2013 to pursue other opportunities, a spokesperson for the asset management firm has told Newsmanagers, confirming reports in Citywire Global. Moucan’s LinkedIn profile indicates that he left his position in October 2013. “The departure took place as part of a reorganization of the equity team in London,” Amundi states. After beginning his career at Crédit Lyonnais Asset Management from 1998 to 2003, Moucan in 2004 joined Crédit Agricole Asset Management, which subsequently became Amundi. In July 2003, Amundi announced the recruitment of Nicholas Melhuish, formerly of UBS Global Asset Management, as head of international equities in London (see Newsmanagers of 2 July 2013).
Anne Broeng, director and CFO of the Danish pension fund PFA Pension, is leaving the firm, Fondbranschen reports. She had been director since September 2009.
Schroders and Sarasin & Partners have signed a letter, sent to the Financial Reporting Council, the organisation which includes the UK Accounting Standards Board, to oppose mark to market, Financial News reports. They are rallying several asset management firms which are calling for a reform of British accounting standards. These include Railpen, USS Investment Management, Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, London Pensions Fund Authority, Threadneedle Investments, Royal London Asset Management, Governance for Owners, UK Shareholders Assocation and Hermes Equity Ownership Services.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has named Dan Bienvenue the senior investment officer (SIO) for global equity, effective immediately. Bienvenue had been serving as the Acting SIO for Global Equity since June 2013 after Eric Baggesen took another leadership position within the CalPERS Investment Office.Dan Bienvenue joined CalPERS in 2004 after serving as a principal and senior portfolio manager with Barclays Global Investors, leading an international equity portfolio management team responsible for USD55 billion across developed and emerging markets. In his new role, Bienvenue is responsible for implementation and management of investment strategy and policy for the pension fund’s USD141.8 billion portfolio in publicly traded equity investments worldwide. Assets under management at CalPERS currently total nearly USD284bn.
Standard & Poor’s a réduit vendredi la note de l’Ukraine pour la deuxième fois en trois semaines, jugeant que la situation politique s’est nettement dégradée et percevant un risque accru de défaut. La note souveraine a été réduite d’un cran à CCC, assortie d’une perspective négative. «Nous pensons que (la situation actuelle) est source d’incertitude quant à la continuité du soutien financier de la Russie durant 2014 et menace encore plus la capacité de l’Etat à honorer le service de la dette», explique l’agence de notation dans un communiqué. Vendredi midi, le président ukrainien Viktor Ianoukovitch a annoncé vendredi la tenue d’une élection présidentielle anticipée, un retour à la constitution de 2004 avec des pouvoirs présidentiels réduits et la formation d’un gouvernement d’unité nationale.
L’agence de notation Fitch a annoncé vendredi avoir confirmé pour l’Irlande sa note BBB+ avec perspective stable. De même, le AAA de l’Autriche a été maintenu avec perspective stable, malgré les coûts liés à l’assainissement du bilan de la banque nationalisée Hypo Alpe Adria.
Au cours de l’année 2013, Amundi Immobilier a réalisé, pour le compte des véhicules réglementés qu’elle gère, SCPI et OPCI, un volume global de transactions de 776 millions d’euros en France et à l’international, dont 646 millions d’acquisitions et 130 millions de cessions. Ce résultat s’inscrit en progression de 13 % par rapport à l’activité réalisée en 2012.
Selon la Commission européenne, le programme de renflouement du Portugal suit globalement son cours et la reprise économique semble se solidifier même si des risques importants, surtout légaux, persistent. Ce constat se fonde sur son résumé du 10e examen du pays, qui s’est déroulé du 4 au 16 décembre, et sa publication jeudi coïncide avec le début de l’avant-dernier examen par ses bailleurs de fonds.
L’agence de notation pourrait placer dans la journée l’Autriche sous surveillance avec implication négative en raison des coûts liés à l’assainissement du bilan de la banque nationalisée Hypo Alpe Adria, a rapporté Reuters de source financière. Un placement sous surveillance avec implication négative signifie que la note de crédit de l’Autriche risquerait d'être abaissée d’un cran au cours de l’année ou des deux années qui suivent.
Le graphique ci-contre montre l'évolution de l’appétit pour le risque, mesuré par la corrélation de rang entre les rendements des facteurs de risque et la volatilité qui leur est associée. Si la corrélation est positive, l’aversion pour le risque a baissé ; si la corrélation est négative, elle a augmenté.
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances en euros des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de janvier 2014. Ces performances sont mises en perspective par le calcul de la volatilité, du ratio de Sharpe sur trois ans d’historique, ainsi que du rendement depuis un an.
Asian Investor, qui reprend des statistiques d’Eurekahedge, indique que les actifs des hedge funds asiatiques ont progressé l’an dernier de 16,3% pour atteindre 147 milliards de dollars. La progression des encours est due à la performance positive des marchés pour un montant de 10 milliards de dollars et à une collecte nette de 10,6 milliards de dollars. Le secteur a enregistré l’an dernier 143 lancements de fonds et 109 fermetures.
Moscou a clairement établi un lien jeudi entre le déblocage d’une nouvelle tranche d’aide de 2milliards de dollars en faveur de l’Ukraine et le retour au calme à Kiev où les affrontements entre militants et policiers ont fait plus de 50 morts depuis mardi matin. Le Premier ministre russe Dmitri Medvedev a expliqué que la Russie ne pourrait traiter qu’avec «des autorités légitimes et compétentes, un gouvernement sur lequel le peuple ne s’essuie pas les pieds comme sur un paillasson». Une manière d’exhorter le président ukrainien Viktor Ianoukovitch à faire preuve de fermeté face aux manifestants.
Au cours de l’année 2013, Amundi Immobilier a réalisé, pour le compte des véhicules réglementés qu’elle gère, SCPI et OPCI, un volume global de transactions de 776 millions d’euros en France et à l’international, dont 646 millions d’acquisitions et 130 millions de cessions. Ce résultat s’inscrit en progression de 13 % par rapport à l’activité 2012.
Les autorités européennes de supervision des banques (EBA) et des marchés (Esma) ont publié jeudi un rapport d'étape sur la réforme des indices de référence Euribor. Elles estiment que l’Euribor-EBF, qui administre les indices, a fait des «progrès significatifs» dans la mise en oeuvre de cette réforme, avec quatre recommandations totalement appliquées et six autres qui sont en train de l'être.