Le canadien Columbia Investment Management Corporation (100 milliards de dollars) a acheté la participation de 5 % dans l’espagnol Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) au portugais Galp Energía, qui devrait réaliser une plus-value de 50 millions d’euros, rapporte Cinco Días. La transaction devrait être bouclée d’ici à quatre semaines au plus tard.

« Le secteur de la gestion d’actifs est à un point d’inflexion. Le secteur est à l’aube d’une période de nouvelle croissance ». C’est sur cette note d’optimisme que Tom Brown, associé de KPMG et global head of Investment Management Practice, a ouvert les débats du Fund Forum International qui se tient jusqu’à jeudi à Monaco. Outre l’amélioration du contexte économique, trois moteurs vont selon lui alimenter cette croissance : les opportunités venant des « méga-tendances » (démographie, raréfaction des ressources…), le rétrécissement du secteur bancaire et enfin les retraites et la santé.Les CEO invités à s’exprimer lors des panels ont quant à eux appelé de leurs vœux une meilleure éducation des investisseurs. Certaines sociétés de gestion participent déjà à ces efforts, comme Nikko Asset Management ou Franklin Templeton. Robert Higginbotham, président de T Rowe Price, a lui exhorté les sociétés de gestion à prendre les devants en matière de régulation et fixer des standards plus élevés en matière de devoirs fiduciaires.Dans une intervention destinée à réveiller l’audience, le musicien et activiste Sir Bob Geldof, également président d’une société de private equity, a pour sa part appelé les investisseurs à se tourner vers l’Afrique. Les marchés émergents sont d’ailleurs à l’honneur dans ce Fund Forum International, et pas uniquement par le biais des interventions à ce sujet. Un certain nombre de sociétés de gestion de ces pays sont présentes, stand à l’appui, en vue de se faire connaître en Europe…

Confrontés à la baisse des volumes et à la pression réglementaire, les traders haute fréquence sont forcés de s’unir. Après le rachat de Knight Capital par Getco, c’est peut-être au tour de deux autres traders haute fréquence, à savoir RGM et Allston, de se rapprocher, rapporte Les Echos. Les discussions, si elles aboutissent, créeraient une société de premier plan de près de trois cents collaborateurs. Elle rejoindrait la cinquantaine de firmes privées (Attis, Getco, Sun, Jump trading, Virtu, Hudson river, Tradebot…), très opaques, qui opèrent dans ce secteur morcelé, dominé par les Américains, et quelques entreprises européennes, notamment néerlandaises.

La gamme FAST (Fidelity Active Strategy) vient d'être élargie au FAST US Fund, qui peut être investi en actions américaines entre 90 et 110 % et jusqu'à 30 % en positions courtes sur des actions jugées moins attrayantes. Le nombre de positions longues se situera entre 60 et 80, celle des courtes, entre 15 et 30.L'équipe de gestion est dirigée par Adrian Brass (lire Newsmanagers du 29 mai). Ce fonds est destiné à des investisseurs avertis, comme les autres de la série «active extension», indique Fidelity Worldwide Investment en Allemagne.CaractéristiquesDénomination : FAST US FundCodes Isin :LU0363262121 part A-Acc-USDLU0363262808 part Y-ACC-USDSouscriptions minimales :50.000 dollars (parts A)1 million de dollars (parts Y)Commissions de gestion :1,5 % (parts A)1 % (parts Y)Commission de performance : 20 % sur la surperformance après frais de gestion par rapport au S&P 500 + 200 points de base

Thierry Méquillet est senior executive officer en charge des coentreprises asiatiques chez Amundi. Il revient dans l’Agefi Hebdo sur les particularités de l’industrie des fonds en Chine. Il note que la loi du premier juin est une évolution réglementaire équivalente à un «big bang» dans le paysage. «Tout le monde pourra faire les mêmes produits, il n’y a plus de domaine réservé», souligne-t-il. Ainsi, un gestionnaire pourra proposer des wealth management products sous réserve de l’obtention d’un agrément de la CSRC (China Securities Regulatory Commission, NDLR), et les banques, assureurs, brokers pourront créer leur société de gestion. «Cette législation s’inscrit dans la volonté du gouvernement de stimuler cette industrie qui viendrait participer au financement de l’économie chinoise soutenue aujourd’hui par les banques», précise Thierry Méquillet.

Odey Asset Management a réduit sa participation dans Man Group à la suite de la baisse du cours de la société de gestion alternative au cours des dernières semaines, rapporte l’agence Reuters.La participation dans Man Group, qui avait culminé à 7,37% le mois dernier, est revenue à 6,72% le 20 juin.Odey, qui avait fait état d’une participation dans Man Group en octobre dernier, a profité de la bonne tenue du titre au cours des cinq premier mois de l’année. Toutefois, depuis le 22 mai dernier, les actions de Man Group ont chuté de près de 40%. Le European fund d’Odey compte parmi les hedge funds les plus performants depuis le début de l’année, avec un gain de 22,7% entre janvier et mai, après une performance de plus de 30% en 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Wall Street Journal reports that Bill Gross, the “king of bonds,” is one of the managers most severely affected by the fall of the market. His Pimco Total Return Bond Fund, with USD285.2bn in assets, has lost 3.65% since the beginning of June, making it the 12th-worst product among 177 funds in its class monitored by Lipper.Losses in June come following net redemptions of USD1.32 in may, the first outflows since 2011.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 15 July, Meeschaert Asset Management (MA) will merge two international equity funds, the MAM America Growth and MAM Universalis, to create MAM America, which will start with USD50m in assets (net subscriptions YTD total about USD4m).The primary manager of the new product, Gregori Volokhine, based in New York, and chairman of both Meeschaert Financial Services and Meeschaert Capital Markets for five years, has told Newsmanagers that the conviction portfolio will include only 30 positions and that the turnover rate is expected not to exceed 100%.This will mean strong sectoral bets and stock-picking. The core stock-picking strategy involves half of the portfolio, and focuses on shares of the Dow Jones 30, while the satellite portion currently includes 4 sleeves (Internet, construction, biotechnologies and financial) with a top-down allocation.Volokhine states that 75% of securities are caps larger than USD5bn, whle 25% of the fund is invested in shares in companies whose cap size is between USD1bn and USD5bn. MAM America is not allowed to allocate more than 7.5% of the portfolio to any one share with a cap size over USD5bn, while the limit for USD1-5bn companies is 5%.CharacteristicsName: MAM AmericaISIN code, C share class: FR0000448896 ISIN code, I share class: (creation in progress) FR0011521897Benchmark index: Dow Jones Industrial Average Total Return IndexSet fees, C share class: 1.90% including taxesSet fees, I share class: 1.10% including taxesPerformance commission: maximum positive performance commission of 10% including taxes for performance of the FCP exceeding the benchmark index

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Eric Alme, CIO, and Caroline Gaudry, a partner responsible for bond investments, on 25 June told Newsmanagers that all positions of the FCP Pergam Obligations 2017 (see Newsmanagers of 12 June 2012) on 17 June were liquidated, and that the corresponding amounts will be distributed to shareholders on 27 June.The fund, with 40 positions and EUR17m in assets, founded on 14 June 2012, in 11 months (to 31 May) earned returns of 12%, at a time when it was aiming for annual returns of 4%. Gaudry states that the gains made are a cause for prudence on bond markets and that “the profile of the fund will no longer allow us to provide as good returns in these market conditions.” That is the reason that Pergam has decided to dissolve the FCP in order to deliver all possible returns for investors.Pergam is now preparing a UCITS IV-compliant European equity fund, not restricted to the euro zone, which will be managed internally, and will better correspond to the current environment, “with a robust and still not widespread management style,” says Alme, who did not want to reveal more details at present.Pergam now has assets of about EUR850m, and its inflows since the beginning of the year have totalled EUR40m. As of the end of December, assets under management totalled EUR830m. Market effects were near zero this year, due to the decline on equity market, an asset class to which mandated management is highly exposed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } NYSE Euronext on 25 June announced that it has admitted a 582nd ETF product to trading in Europe, a bond product from Lyxor, bringing the total number of ETFs listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext to 671, including secondary listings.CharacteristicsName: LyxETF MTS Spain 1-3Benchmark index: MTS Spain government (1-3yr)Total expense ratio: 0.165%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The head of product management and development at Legal & General Investments, Andrew Thomas, will be leaving the firm at the end of June, Money Marketing reports. Thomas joined Legal & General in 2010 from Invesco Perpetual. His departure is said to be related to internal restructuring.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Odey Asset Management has reduced its stake in Man Group, following a fall in the share price of the hedge fund firm in the past few weeks, the news agency Reuters reports. Man Group’s stake, which peaked at 7.37% last month, stood at 6.72% as of 20 June. Odey, which reported a stake in Man Group in October last year, has taken the occasion of the good performance of the shares in the first five months of the year. However, since 22 May this year, shares in Man Group have lost nearly 40% of their value. The European fund from Odey is one of the best-performing hedge funds since the beginning of the year, with gains of 22% between January and May, after returns of over 30% in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The wealth management group St. James’s Place is launching a philanthropy department in collaboration with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), in order to assist clients with making donations. According to St. James’s, many clients would like to be involved in something like that, but are not for various reasons.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Investors have placed over GBP34bn in underperforming funds which show considerable divergences from funds in their class in the past three years, according to the latest RedZone list by Chelsea Financial Services, Investment Week reports. A total of 146 funds out of a universe of about 2,000 funds brought returns in the third or fourth quartiles in the past three years. Most of these recidivist funds are British mandates, with many well-known asset management firms in the lower reaches of the UK All Companies sector of the IMA in the period. The UK Equity Growth fund from Standard Life Investments, managed by Karen Robertson, and the UK Growth fund from Fidelity, managed by Thomas Ewing, have posted returns of 17.83% and 19.56%, respectively, compared with an average of 31% for the corresponding category. The worst-performing fund is Manek Growth, launched in the late 1990s, which brought negative returns of -22.23% in the past three years, a record underperformance of nearly 53% compared with the sector average. Among the other worst-performing funds are the UBS UK Smaller Companies fund, which shows an underperformance of 37.97% compard with the sector average, Aviva Investment Property Investment (30.87%) and Templeton Global Emerging Markets (28.05%).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The venture capital firm Osprey Capital has bought a 35% stake in Mansard Capital, wealth adviser reports. Mansard Capital is a specialist asset management firm which offers discretionary management services, multi-asset class solutions and hedge funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The CNMV on 14 June issued a license to the Robeco Afrika Fonds (ISIN code: NL0006238131), a UCITS-complient equity product which invests in Africa, including South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria. The fund, launched on 9 June 2008, is managed by Nornelius Vlooswijk, and has about EUR59m in asset under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Bradesco Asset Management has registered its Sicav in Italy and Spain, Joaquim Levy, CEO of the Brazilian asset management firm, has announced in an interview with Newsmanagers at the Fund Forum International in Monaco.The Sicav, which now has USD2.5bn in assets out of USD140bn at the group, has six sub-funds, all of which are oriented to the Brazilian market. It has already been licensed for sale in France, as well as Portugal and Switzerland. The funds to be foregrounded in particular are two bond funds, one in hard currencies, and the other in local currencies, and a Brazilian small and midcaps fund.Italy and Spain are covered by Ileana Salas, who is already responsible for the French market. In France, the head of sales says that the firm has been particularly successful with family offices and funds of funds. She adds that the firm shows net inflows.Expansion in Europe, led from London, will not stop there, as Bradesco AM is now exploring the Scandinavian countries. However, the asset management firm is currently not entering Germany and Austria, preferring to grow gradually.In terms of products, Levy states that a Latin America fund has recently been launched. It will be actively sold from the end of this year, or the beginning of next year, once a track record has been established.Despite this diversification, Bradesco AM remains completely confident in Brazil. Levy says that current demonstrations cannot be compared to the troubles in Turkey or to the Arab Spring. “These are not unemployed people fighting for their freedom demonstrating,” he says. The trigger may have been a rise in public transport prices, he says, but since then, the movement has extended to other issues. “The objective is to make the government more effective.” As a privileged observer of these movements, he says he considers them to be highly positive, like a Brazilian “May 1968.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } “The asset management sector is at a turning point. The sector is on the verge of a new period of growth.” On this note of optimism, Tom Brown, a partner at KPMG and global head of the Investment Management Practice, opened the debate at the Fund Forum International, being held until Thursday in Monaco.In addition to the improving economic context, three factors will drive this growth, he says: opportunities due to mega-trends (demography, scarcity of resources, etc.), reforms in the banking sector, and lastly, retirement and health.CEOs invited to speak on panels are calling for better education of investors. Some asset management firms are already participating in such errors, such as Nikko Asset Management and Franklin Templeton. Robert Higginbotham, chairman of T. Rowe Price, called on asset management firms to put regulatory issues in the foreground and to set higher standards for fiduciary duty.In an intervention designed to raise audience awareness, the musician and activist Sir Bob Geldof, also chairman of a private equity firm, called on investors to look to Africa.Emerging markets also take a place of honour at this year’s Fund Forum International, not only in interventions in this area. Several asset management firms from these countries are present, with stands, in order to increase their reputations in Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The monthly index of institutional investor confidence published by State Street gained 11.9 points in June, to 106.8, from a level of 94.9 (in corrected figures) for May. The appetite for risk of investors in North America is largely the cause of this increase, as the regional index rose 11.4 points to 114.0, from a level of 102.6 (corrected data) last month. The confidence of investors in Europe and Asia is also up, with a gain of 4.7 points for the European regional index to 98.4 from 93.7 (in corrected data) in May, while the regional index for Asia rose from 86.0 (in corrected data) to 89.1 in June, up by 3.1 points.“We observed sales of US equities, purchases of European equities, and major acquisitions of emerging market equities. These reallocations come in contract to price movements in the period; however, it should be noted that the sample of data covers the period ending on 21 June, and thus does not reflect the recent fall in stock prices. Overall, our data indicates that institutional investors are satisfied to go ‘against the grain’ of these price movements,” the authors of the study comment.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Frankfurt-based firm Acatis Investment (EUR1.85bn, including EUR200m in net subscriptions since the beginning of 2013. Net inflows in 2012 totalled EUR280m) has recently acquired a minority stake in the new asset management firm Multi-Asset Absolute Return Asset Management (MARS AM), which was founded by three managers from SEB AM in Frankfurt, who apparently did not wish to relocate to Stockholm.In order to selectively assist its new partner, Acatis will place the management of two funds of funds and EUR50m in total which had previously been managed internally with MARS AM, founded by Jens Kummer, Damian Krzizok and Andreas Bichler, Faik Yargucu, one of the three partners at Acatis, tells Newsmanagers.The co-operation between the two firms will extend to questions of investment strategy, but allocation will remain the domain of MARS.Citywire reports that BaFin has issued a license which will allow MARS AM to launch its own funds, and that the fist products will be launched next month.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The “sustainable development” sentiment index for German institutional investors developed by Union Investment with professor Henry Schäfer (University of Stuttgart) in a survey conducted from February to April 2013 came to +5.41%, compared with +4 last year, on a scale from -100 to +100.The central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks spoke to 201 institutional investors with total assets of over EUR1trn, and 48% of respondents claimed to take sustainable development criteria into account in taking investment decisions, a percentage which reaches 74% among the 16% of respondents at foundations and churches.Overall, institutional investors allow themselves to be led by the values of their own business (86%), but 56% of those surveyed say they would like to optimise their risk management through sustainable development. Among sustainable assets, bonds represent 45%, followed by real estate (20%) and equities (14%).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Funds People reports that M&G Investments, whose assets in Spain total EUR3bn, has recruited Borja González Rueda for its sales team at the Madrid office, led by Ignacio Rodríguez Añino. The new recruit had been a fund analyst in the investment department at Bankia Banca Privada.The British asset management firm M&G Investments (EUR297.7bn in assets) began in Spain in February 2006. Its Spanish team also serves Portuguese and Chilean clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Fidelity Active Strategy (FAST) range has been extended with the addition of the FAST US Fund, which may invest 90% to 110% of its assets in US equties, and up to 30% in short positions on equities considered less attractive. The number of long positions will total 60 to 80, while the number of short positions will be 15 to 30.The management team is led by Adrian Brass (see Newsmanagers of 29 May). The fund is aimed at qualified investors, like all others products in the «active extension» series, Fidelity Worldwide Investment Germany states.CharacteristicsName: FAST US FundISIN codes:LU0363262121 A-Acc-USD sharesLU0363262808 Y-ACC-USD sharesMinimal subscription: USD50,000 (A share class)USD1m (Y share class) Management commission:1.5% (A share class)1% ( Y share class) Performance commission: 20% of performance after fees exceeding the S&P 500 + 200 basis points

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 25 June announced the appointment of Eric Baggesen senior investment officer (SIO) for asset allocation and risk management. Baggesen officially succeeds Farouki Majeed, who left CalPERS last year. His current position as CIO for international equities will be taken over by Ran Bienvenue, senior portfolio manager for this asset class. Baggesen joined CalPERS in 2004, from State Street Global Advisors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } France is prepared to play a “central role” in allowing the Chinese currency to be better used in international transactions, president François Hollande announced on 25 June. The French government wants to set up a currency swap with China in order to make Paris a major financial centre for transactions in yuan in Europe, to compete with London. “The current rebalancing of Chinese growth in favour of domestic demand, and measures taken by the management for increased flexibility of the currency regme, all is in the interest of China and Europe,” Hollande said at a meeting with Chinese entrepreneurs in Paris. “Here in France, we are prepared with the Paris market to play a central role in the process of internationalizing the yuan to allow better use of this currency in the settlement of international transactions,” the head of state added. “There will be a swap agreement in the next few days between the Bank of France and the Bank of China, and talks are already well advanced with the European Central Bank,” he added. Savings deposits in yuan in Paris total CNY10bn (EUR1.23bn), putting the French capital in second place in Europe after London.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The fifth annual Morningstar survey of the perception and use of alternative investments by financial advisers has found that institutional investors are beginning to consider alternative mutual funds a good stand-in for hedge funds, and that a growing number of financial advisers are integrating these liquid and transparent investments into the portfolios of their clients.The survey was carried out in March 2013 by Morningstar and Barron’s, on 235 institutional investors and 471 advisers. It also found that institutional investors, like financial advisers, “are continuing to find value in alternative products.”Responses have also shown that institutional investors continue to be interested in long/short equity strategies, although financial advisers tend to focus on returns above all.Lastly, it has been noted among the primary findings that although alternative investments still meet a diversification need, the high level of commissions has replaced liquidity and transparency as a primary motive for institutionals and financial advisers to forego investments in hedge funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale is in July next year planning to launch a new product dedicated to longevity risks, to offer near-zero correlation with traditional asset classes, Asian Investor reports. The product will be aimed at sovereign funds, insurers and reinsurers. The concept for the new vehicle, which syndicates longevity risks totalling about EUR200m, is similar to the logic underlying catastrophe bonds. Société Générale hopes to create a similar market for longevity risk, and is working with Risk Management Solutions, a California-based provider of catastrophe risk models, to develop models for life expectancy. A top-calibre Asian institutional investor is reported to have already subscribed to the new vehicle, says Jeff Mulholland managing director and head of insurance and pension solutions in New York at Société Générale, a few days ago at conference held by Société Générale and Asia Risk magazine.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Indian asset management firm UTI Asset Management is seeking to register two UCITS funds in France, Praveen Jagwani, CEO of Uti International, has announced at the Fund Forum International in Monaco. “That could happen in the next two months,” he says.The two products, one an Indian fixed income fund and the other an Indian equity fund, were launched in December last year and February this year, via the Milltrust platform. UTI AM is planning to develop in Europe, in order to get «steady money» whereas Asian investors are more volatile. The idea is also to bring European investors the benefit of the expertise of UTI AM, all of whose USD26bn in assets are invested solely on the Indian market, in equities, fixed income, and private equity.USD2bn are already managed for international clients, including Japanese and German clients, and the Indian firm has signed partnerships with several well-konwn banks in these countries to distribute funds. In the same style, UTI AM is preparing to announce an agreement in September with a French bank. In France, the Indian firm is working with Amadé Global Partners, a European TPM which is also working with Brazil’s Victoire Brazil Investimentos.Jagwani states that UTI AM, which has opened offices in Singapore, Dubai, London and soon the United States, is the oldest asset management firm in India, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1964. The firm is now 74% controlled by government-owned financial institutions, while T. Rowe Price has owned the remaining 26% since 2010.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Bank of America Merrill Lynch group has published its annual report on corporate social responsibility (CSR), including lead projects completed in 2012, key figures, market trends and strategic objectives of the group. Last year the group engaged USD50bn in a ten-year programme to confront needs related t climate change and the impact on natural resources. Bank of America Charitable Foundation has also dedicated over USD200m to philanthropic investments worldwide.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Amundi is seeking to reinforce its management team dedicated to distribution in Asia, in order to achieve its objective of a 40% increase in assets under management in the region in three years, Asian Investor reports. The asset management firm would particularly like to strengthen its teams based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Recruitments will take place this year, says Xiaofeng Zhong, CEO for Northern Asia at Amundi. They will include sales, marketing and product specialists.