As of the end of October, assets in funds covered by statistics from Swiss Fund Data and Lipper totalled CHF751.83bn, up by CHF7.05bn compared with their levels on 30 September, despite net outflows of CHF1.97bn, according to the Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association (SFAMA). Of this total as of 31 October, CHF302.6bn correspond to institutional funds.While equity funds posted net inflows of CHF641m last month, bond funds saw net outflows of CHF336.4m, and money market funds faced net redemptions of CHF1.8926bn.UBS remains the top provider on the Swiss market, with CHF170.22bn as of the end of October, compared with CHF167.38bn one month previously. Credit Suisse has also posted an increase in its assets under management, to CHF112.66bn, compared with CHF110.99bn as of 30 September. These two actors alone account for more than one third of the market, since UBS’ share comes to 22.71%, and Credit Suisse has 14.98%.Pictet has seen a slight erosion of its assets to CHF51.65bn as of the end of October, compared with CHF51.67bn one month earlier. That corresponds to a market share of 6.87%.
Concerns are mounting about “cosy” relationships between hedge funds and prime brokers, Financial Times fund management observes. Tens of billions of US dollars are paid each year in direct and indirect commissions by hedge funds to brokers. Analysts warn that hedge funds have to pay large commissions and award large trading volumes to those who find investors for their funds.
Christian Rauner “now no longer works for Universal-Investment (UI),” according to a statement from the German asset management firm, which states that the position of director of distribution has been discontinued as part of a restructuring of the private label product unit, Fonds Professionell states.Rauner had been head of the private label funds & services division of Universal-Investment, and one of the MDs of its affiliate Universal-Vertrieb-Services (UVS) since 2007. The services overseen by Rauner will now be overseen directly by Bernd Vorbeck, chairman of the executive committee at UI.
At the convocation of an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting for 20 December, the German sustainable investment advising firm versiko AG says that, due to the notoriety and the size of the turnover at its wholly-owned Luxembourg affiliate ÖkoWorld Lux SA, the supervisory board and the board are proposing to modify the statutes and to change the name of the company to ÖkoWorld AG.
Expansión reports that before the crisis, Santander AM and BBVA AM shared 40% of the Spanish market, but that they now control only 30%. The duopoly of these two actors is threatened byInverCaixa, whose assets as of the end of Octobrr totalled EUR20.75bn, just behind the EUR20.89bn at BBVA AM. In the past two months, Santander AM, now oriented to equities, has posted net inflows of EUR1.44bn, while BBVA AM, a specialist in bonds and guaranteed funds, had attracted only EUR502m. At the same time, InverCaixa attracted EUR667m.
Loomis Sayles and Camignac Gestion have both reduced their exposure to Irish debt at a time when the economy of the country is recovering. Irish government bonds have earned returns of over 10% this year, and more than 100% since mid-2011. According to Bloomberg, Loomis Sayles held Irish bonds totalling at least EUR659bn at the beginning of the year. Carmignac, for its part, had built up Irish bonds totalling EUR456m as of the end of September.
Investment in hedge funds by institutionals is expected to remain stable in the next three years, according to a study by Ernst & Young sited by Asian Investor. Only 17% of respondents to the survey (out of 65 institutionals managing a total of USD190bn), have said they expect an increase in their allocation to this asset class, compared with 72% who say they would like to maintain the same level of exposure, and 11% who would like to reduce it. The reasons cited as preventing them from increasing their exposure to hedge funds are largely the costs and the disappointing past performance. In the short term, Asian hedge funds are expected to benefit from a rise in interest in their region on the part of institutional investors who would like to benefit from strong Asian growth, Ernst & Young analyses. The interest is reportedly particularly strong on the part of funds of hedge funds and European family offices, Asian Investor says.
Rothschild & Cie Gestion has recruited Gil Platteau as country manager in Switzerland for its Zurich office, a statement from the French asset management firm has announced. Platteau had previously been head of sales in Switzerland for the asset management activities of Barclays since 2010. At Rothschild & Cie Gestion, he will be supported by Valérie Kaliski, head of relationships with distributors in French-speaking Switzerland, and Thibaud Nonotte-Varly, responsible for development serving institutionals in this region. The announcement comes at a time when Rothschild & Cie Gestion has opened a branch in Italy (see Newsmanagers of 19 November 2013). Five funds have also been licensed in the country for sales to Italian institutional investors. France is not being left aside either, as Rothschild & Cie Gestion has also added to its sales team for France. Oivier Le Braz has joined the France institutionals team composed of Lionel Deny, Aurélie Ferrer, Marie-Line Hashatel and Thibaud Nonotte-Varly,with Nonotte-Varly dividing his time between France and French-speaking Switzerland. In distribution the development unit has been reinforced with the arrival of Gregory Maes as co-head of Distribution France. Maes will concentrate on development of relationships with financial adviser networks and IFAs. He will lead a team composed of François L’Henoret, Adrien Rollando and Marion Semblat.
US fund managers have bet several billions of US dollars on a recovery at euro zone banks in the past few months, in the hopes that the timid economic recovery in the region will gather pace, the Financial Times reports. The value of equities held by funds based in the United States in the 10 largest publicly-traded banks in the region has increased by 40% since June 2013, to EUR33bn, according to calculations from the FT based on data from Thomson Reuters. The number of equities held has gained 10% over the period, following major investments by T. Rowe Price, BlackRock and Waddle & Reed, among others.
European “captive” asset management firms owned by banks or insurers are facing a major challenge, Financial Times fund management reports. Traditionally, they “owned” retail distribution channels on the continent and they took full advantage of this position of strength. But all that is changing. In 2007, captive asset management firms attracted 67% fo the EUR9.8bn in profits earned by serving European retail investors, or about EUR6.6bn, according to figures which are expected to be released by McKinsey. But the proportion of captive firms has fallen to 53% of a reduced total of EUR6bn last year, which corresponds to profits of only EUR3.2bn.
Funds on sale in Norway in October posted net subscriptions of NOK3.1bn (or EUR377m), with a contribution from institutional investors of NOK1.7bn, according to figures from the Norwegian fund association. Market effects, for their part, represented NOK18bn, or EUR2.2bn. Assets totalled NOK652bn, or EUR79.3bn, which represents an increase of 17% compared with the beginning of the year.
Cinzia Tagliabue has been promoted to CEO at Pioneer Investment Management SGRpA (Italia), the Italian structure of the asset management firm, a statement released on Tuesday says. Tagliabue is part of the team that combines asset management at UniCredit, and in 2001 became head for Italian institutional clients. In 2008, she was appointed as head of sales and distribution at Pioneer Investments Italy, and since 2010, she had been CEO. In her new role, Tagliabue will also belong to the board at the firm, whose number of members will increase from 5 to 6. In the first 10 months of the year, the Italian structure at Pioneer Investments has posted net inflows of EUR4bn.
Erste Asset Management is throwing its weight behind the war on obesity, Financial Times fund management reports. The Austrian asset management firm has put Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry’s on its watchlist, after the group refused to answer questions about obesity. Erste, which manages EUR717m in seven socially responsible equity and bond funds, is concerned about sugar, salt, fat and colours addition in foods labelled as “healthy” by consumer groups.
Amundi in early November recruited Pierre Cailleteau as head of institutional clients and sovereign entities. Cailleteau had from 2010 to 2013 been managing director at Lazard in the sovereign advisory team. He also worked at Moody’s, Calyon, the IMF and the Bank of France.Frédéric Semama has been appointed as deputy head of institutional clients and sovereign entities. He had previously been deputy head of sovereign entities at the French asset management firm, which he joined in 2009.Cailleteau will also join Amundi’s executive committee, chaired by Yves Perrier, which has gained several new members, a statement announces.In addition to Cailleteau, the new members of the committee are Pedro Antonio Arias, head of specialised investment (private equity and real estate), Valérie Baudson, head of ETF and index equity management, Christophe Lemarié, head of Société Générale Gestion and of wealth management and asset preservation for partner networks, and Jean-Eric Mercier, CEO of CPR AM.
According to statistics from the Bank of the Netherlands (DNB), assets in Dutch funds increased 3.9% during third quarter to a record total of EUR627.4bn. Market effects were positive to the tune of 1.6%, compared with a negative effect of 1.9% in April-June, Fonds Nieuws reports.Net subscriptions totalled EUR16.9bn, compared with EUR0.9bn for the previous quarter. This is due to the opening of insurance company portfolios to third-party managers, which has resulted in net inflows of EUR5.2bn for bond funds, EUR0.1bn for equity funds, and EUR1.7bn for other funds.
Investible assets at Asian institutionals outside Japan topped USD10trn for the first time in 2012, with an increase of 9.6% year on year, according to a study recently published by Cerulli Associates (“Institutional Asset Management in Asia 2013”).This trend is expected to continue in the next few years and over the 2013-2017 period. Asian institutional assets may total about EUR17trn in 2017, an annual increase of 10.1%. These increases are expected to be particularly significant in South-East Asia, insofar as the institutional sector is relatively underceveloped in the region.Exposure to alternative management remains very modest for most institutionals, with an allocation often lower than 10% of total portfolios, but this exposure is tending to rise very regularly, Cerulli observes.
Pioneer Investments is launching a pure investment grade corporate bond fund, which will be co-managed by Tanguy le Saout, head of European bonds, and Garrett Walsh, head of credit research for Europe, Citywire Global reports. The Pioneer Funds Global Investment Grade Corporate Bond fund will be invested in a global universe. It will exclude high yield bonds and emerging market bets outside the indices.
BNY Mellon has launched an emerging market debt fund for its head of emerging market debt, Alexander Kozhemiakin, Citywire reports. The fund. BNY Mellon Emerging Market Debt Opportunistic, may be inveted in corporate or government debt in US dollars or in local currency.
The CNMV has received a notification from the Santander group that the management of its Santander Select Prudente, Moderato and Decidido profiled funds (totalling EUR1.258bn, of which EUR405m were net inflows this year), hitherto managed in Spain, will be transferred to Santander AM UK, Funds People reports.The global multimanager team led by Tom Caddick in London (fund management) and José María Martinez San Juan in Madrid (fund selection) are taking responsibility for the funds, after having done likewise with other similar poducts from local asset mangaement firms of the Santander gorup in Chile, Germany and Mexico.
Duncan Goodwin will be leaving Martin Currie at the end of the year, after eight years at the firm, Citywire reports. Goodwin had been head of global resources, and manager of the Martin Currie GF Global Resources fund since he joined Martin Currie in 2005.
Russell on Tuesday announced the acquisition of On-Line Partnership Group Limited (OLPG), the parent company of the British financial adviser networks In-Partnership and Whitechurch, representing a total of 600 independent financial advisers. The operation will allow advisers from OLPG to rely on the expertise of Russell in asset management and to make use of its training, technological and compliance support resources.
A l’aube des réflexions sur la remise à plat de la fiscalité, Matignon fait tourner les têtes à Bercy. Ramon Fernandez, directeur du Trésor, et Julien Dubertret, directeur du Budget, nommés par la précédente majorité, devraient quitter leurs fonctions d’ici à début décembre, a révélé mercredi Le Canard enchaîné. En revanche, une source proche a démenti à L’Agefi le remplacement de Ramon Fernandez par François Villeroy de Galhau, l’actuel directeur général délégué de BNP Paribas. Denis Morin, actuel directeur de cabinet de Marisol Touraine, serait quant à lui pressenti pour remplacer Julien Dubertret. Les nominations pourraient être officialisées en conseil des ministres fin novembre ou début décembre.
Les sociétés de gestion Blackrock, Goldman Sachs et Russell Investments ont été retenues pour gérer les mandats dédiés du FRR pour la prestation de ses services de gestion de transition en France. Le Fonds de réserve pour les retraites avait lancé son appel d’offre en septembre 2012. Les mandats sont attribués pour une durée de trois ans, renouvelable 1 an. Le Fonds de réserve pour les retraites avait déjà sélectionné Russell et Goldman Sachs en janvier 2010 pour cette mission.
L'économie britannique est engagée dans une reprise durable sans qu’il y ait pour autant de risque inflationniste majeur, révèlent les minutes de la réunion de novembre de la banque centrale. Les neuf membres du comité de politique monétaire de la BoE ont voté à l’unanimité le maintien de son taux directeur à 0,5% - un niveau auquel il est fixé depuis mars 2009 - et de laisser inchangé, à 375 milliards de livres, le montant de son dispositif d’assouplissement quantitatif (QE) investi dans l’achat d’obligations d’Etat. Le comité a minimisé une récente hausse des prévisions d’inflation.
L’OCDE a revu en baisse de 0,4 point à 3,6% sa prévision de croissance de l’économie mondiale pour 2014 (contre 2,7% prévu pour 2013). Le ralentissement en cours dans plusieurs pays émergents pèse sur la croissance mondiale, que les grandes économies avancées convalescentes n’ont pas la capacité d’entretenir à elles seules, indique l’organisation dans ses prévisions économiques d’automne.
La banque helvétique souhaite voir les actifs de ses clients fortunés (disposant de plus de 50 millions de dollars) contribuer à hauteur de la moitié de ses actifs sous gestion contre 44% aujourd’hui. C’est ce qu’ont confié à Reuters les codirigeants de la banque privée de Credit Suisse, Robert Shafir et Hans-Ulrich Meister. La banque y voit un moyen de compenser la baisse de rentabilité de sa banque d’investissement. Les dirigeants misent notamment sur une progression des crédits accordés aux clients fortunés.
Une semaine après avoir finalisé le rachat de Nyse Euronext pour 11 milliards de dollars, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) a annoncé hier son intention d’introduire Euronext en Bourse d’ici à l'été prochain et sa volonté de fermer la filiale de haute technologie du New York Stock Exchange. ICE entend porter à 500 millions de dollars le montant des économies réalisées grâce à cette acquisition, contre 450 millions prévus jusqu’ici. Il compte également ramener les effectifs du nouvel ensemble d’environ 4.100 personnes actuellement à un total compris entre 2.600 et 2.700. Interrogé par Les Echos, le futur directeur général d’Euronext Dominique Cerruti précise de son côté que l’opérateur boursier européen comprendra lors de son IPO environ 800 personnes avec à sa tête un directoire de 7 membres, et qu’Euronext projetait d’extraire Liffe, le marché des dérivés, afin d’intégrer celui-ci dans ICE, pour février 2014.
L’IASB vient de terminer une partie de ses travaux sur la norme de comptabilisation des instruments financiers. A défaut de pouvoir être très rapidement finalisée, IFRS 9 ne sera pas obligatoirement applicable en janvier 2015 ce qui laissera plus de temps aux entreprises pour s’adapter.
Le resserrement du crédit en Chine aurait pesé sur l’émission obligataire réalisée par China Development Bank, qui n’aurait été servie qu’à hauteur de 40% de son objectif initial de 24 milliards de yuans et pour un rendement de 5,5%, selon le quotidien. Agricultural Development Bank of China aurait par ailleurs dû repousser son émission, à l’instar de China Railway Corporation, BYD et Baidu, suite à une hausse de 100 points de base des rendements d’Etat à 10 ans.