UBS revoit ses activités de gestion de fortune en Allemagne, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. La banque va fermer l’an prochain ses succursales de Dortmund, Essen, Rosenheim et Wiesbaden. Quelque 25 à 30 personnes sont touchées par la mesure, a indiqué un porte-parole. La plupart des employés risquent d’être licenciés. Seuls quelques collaborateurs se verront proposer un autre poste. Un plan social est prévu pour les personnes touchées, précise le porte-parole du numéro un bancaire helvétique. L’équipe en place à Wiesbaden sera transférée à Francfort. La grande banque dispose encore de dix sites en Allemagne dans les principales villes du pays, notamment à Berlin, Francfort, Hambourg et Munich.

Le nombre d’agences de banque privée d’UBS Allemagne va tomber à dix, et jusqu'à 35 collaborateurs vont être affectés par ces mesures d'économies.Dans une note à sa clientèle allemande, le groupe helvétique annonce que, fin 2012, la succursale de Wiesbaden sera fermée au profit de celle de Francfort tandis qu’en juillet 2013 celles de Dortmund et d’Essen disparaîtront au profit de celle de Düsseldorf, tandis que celle de Rosenheim sera fermée au profit de celle de Munich.A compter de juillet 2013, le réseau de banque privée d’UBS ne comprendra donc plus que les sites de Berlin, Bielefeld, Brême, Düsseldorf, Francfort, Hambourg, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg et Stuttgart.

Au 3 décembre, donc 24 heures avant l’expiration du délai de l’OPA (4 décembre à minuit) lancée le 31 octobre sur la base de 38 euros par action, Beauty Holding Three, filiale du capital investisseur Advent International, disposait déjà de 76,21 % du capital de l’allemand Douglas Holding, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Cette offre était conditionnée à l’obtention d’au moins 75 % des parts. Le résultat définitif de l’OPA devrait être publié vendredi 7 décembre. Advent aura dépensé au total plus d’un milliard d’euros pour cette acquisition.

La société de gestion TwentyFour Asset Management lance un fonds obligataire de titres ABS, le TwentyFour Income Fund, qui pourrait lui permettre de collecter jusqu'à 200 millions de livres, rapporte Fund Web.Le fonds domicilié à Guernesey vise un rendement compris entre 7% et 10% par an. Le portefeuille du fonds comprendra entre 30 et 50 actifs, rachetés sur le marché secondaire. Le fonds est chargé à 0,75%.

Le directeur de l’activité institutionnelle de F&C Asset Management, Richard Wilson, a été nommé CEO et prendra cette nouvelle fonction le 1er janvier 2013. Il rejoint en revanche avec effet immédiat le conseil d’administration comme administrateur exécutif tandis que l’executive chairman Edward Bramson deviendra chairman non exécutif après la présentation des résultats financiers provisoires du groupe pour 2012 (lire Newsmanagers du 3 décembre).

Le tsunami réglementaire qui touche le secteur bancaire suisse constitue l’un des défis les plus difficiles à relever pour la Banque cantonale de Zurich (ZKB), selon le CEO de la Banque, Martin Scholl.Dans un entretien à finews, Martin Scholl affirme même qu'à côté de ce tsunami réglementaire, peut-être nécessaire mais qui mériterait d'être mis en œuvre avec un peu plus de discernement pour éviter notamment les distorsions de concurrence, «la pression sur les marges est un petit problème». Parallèlement aux mesures d’optimisation des structures et des process, le patron de la banque cantonale n'écarte pas toutefois des réductions d’effectifs limitées.Sur le front de la querelle fiscale avec les Etats-Unis, la banque, qui coopére avec les autorités américaines dans le cadre d’un «dialogue constructif», espère trouver un accord «aussi rapidement que possible». Sur le projet d’accord fiscal avec l’Allemagne, entre les mains d’une commission de conciliation, Martin Scholl se dit optimiste et estime qu’un refus définitif de Berlin serait de son point de vue une occasion manquée de trouver une solution «équilibrée et durable» à la problématique fiscale qui divise les deux pays.

Le Groupe Banque privée Edmond de Rothschild veut accélérer la croissance des actifs sous gestion sur la période de 2013 à 2016. Il vise une progression de plus de 20% des actifs sous gestion pour un coefficient d’exploitation ramené à 66%, soit une amélioration de 17% environ. «Ces objectifs sont proportionnellement applicables au Groupe Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild S.A.», a indiqué la banque de gestion privée genevoise dans un communiqué diffusé le 4 décembre. Ces objectifs font partie du plan stratégique pour 2013-2016 dévoilé aux collaborateurs par le nouveau CEO Christophe de Backer. Dans un contexte de pressions économiques et d’exigences règlementaires, ce plan vise à harmoniser l’organisation du groupe afin d’en accélérer le développement tant domestique qu’international. «Le plan stratégique poursuit et amplifie la stratégie engagée depuis 1997" qui n'était pas chiffrée, selon le communiqué.

Directeur exécutif de Swiss & Global Asset Management pour l’activité wholesale en Suisse, Reto Meisser a pris au 1er décembre les fonctions de CEO d’Invesco Asset Management (Suisse).Il est rejoint par trois autres personnes. Alexandre Sauteret, qui était senior sales director chez Fidelity International devient responsable d’Invesco pour la Suisse francophone et les grands comptes (key clients) à Zurich.Martina Brückner (ex legal & compliance officer chez Xing) devient directrice de la conformité d’Invesco Suisse, tandis qu’Emmanuel Armbruster vient renforcer l'équipe client services dirigée par Rolf Hans Elsener.

Le groupe Meeschaert a annoncé le 4 décembre l’acquisition de EFG Assurances, une structure de courtage en solutions d’assurance-vie. Cette opération s’inscrit pleinement dans les évolutions stratégiques du groupe et constitue une opportunité pour ses quatre pôles d’activité : gestion privée, gestion d’actifs, family office et private equity, selon un communiqué du groupe.Ce rachat coïncide avec l’arrivée de Maxime Vermesse en tant que membre du directoire et directeur de la gestion privée. Après avoir occupé diverses fonctions liées aux activités de gestion privée et gestion d’actifs dans le groupe BNP Paribas, Maxime Vermesse occupait les fonctions de directeur de la gestion privée pour l’Europe et l’Amérique Latine de BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco depuis 2008. Fin 2010, il avait pris la direction générale d’EFG Banque Privée France. Enfin, pour accélérer le développement de l’activité de family office, créée en France en 2003 par la famille Meeschaert, Charles Bienaimé, membre du directoire, se consacre désormais entièrement à ces services de sélection et de surveillance du patrimoine dédiés aux familles fortunées.

Le gestionnaire new-yorkais Wisdom Tree (17,2 milliards de dollars d’encours) a annoncé la liquidation au 3 décembre de trois ETF dont l’encours est insuffisant.Il s’agit du WisdomTree LargeCap Growth Fund (acronyme sur NYSE Arca : ROI), qui gère 13,9 millions de dollars, du WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand Fund (SZR) avec 4,4 millions de dollars d’actifs et du WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen Fund (JYF) avec 6,2 millions de dollars d’encours. Ces fonds ne représentent que 0,15 % de l’encours des ETF de Wisdom Tree.Les porteurs qui n’auront pas demandé le rachat de leurs part le 10 décembre recevront automatiquement un remboursement en numéraire correspondant à la valeur liquidative de leurs parts à la clôture du jour.

Le 30 novembre, la CNMV a enregistré le Patrimonio III (ES0130358007), la troisième édition des fonds obligataire à échéance, mais sans garantie, du BBVA Bonos Patrimonio. L’objectif consiste à verser au 11 octobre 2016 la valeur liquidative du 11 février 2013 assortie d’une rémunération de 3,15 % annuels (contre 4,4 % pour la première édition et 3,25 % pour la deuxième).La souscription minimale est fixée à 600 euros et la commission de gestion à 0,95 % à partir du 11 février 2013 (0,02 % d’ici là) avec un droit de souscription de 5 % jusqu’au 12 février 2013 ou jusqu’au moment où l’encours aura atteint les 20 millions d’euros. Des «fenêtres de liquidité» sont prévues trimestriellement à partir du 14 mai 2013.

Europeans failed to reach a compromise on the creation of a single supervisory authority for the 6,000 banks in the euro zone, Les Echos reports. Divisions remain significant, particularly between France and Germany. “We are going to get closer to Germany, we are working on it. We have not completely succeeded, but the spirit is there,” finance minister Pierre Moscovici said yesterday. The 27 finance ministers will meet again on 12 December.

Top directors in France are far from the salary highs of Europe, Les Echos reports. They are in fifth place in rankings for 2011 of 14 European countries by Expert Corporate Governance Service (ECGS), which collected information from more tan 400 companies belonging to the MSCI Europe index, of which about 70 are French. Top directors in France made an average of EUR3.48m last year (EUR4.2m counting only the CAC 40). They finished behind their British counterparts, who made an average of EUR5.34m, to place at the top of the rankings. They are followed by German, Swiss, and more surprisingly Spanish and Italian directors.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on December 4 published its final guidelines on repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements for UCITS funds. The guidelines state that UCITS should only enter into such agreements if they are able to recall at any time any assets or the full amount of cash. The guidelines will now be translated into all EU languages and will be incorporated into ESMA’s Guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues, published in July 2012. The full set of guidelines will enter into force two months after the publication of the translations. This will result in a comprehensive framework for UCITS that will increase transparency and investor protection and contributes to safeguarding the stability of financial markets.

The markets are more attractive for investors when there is strong competition between traditional and alternative platforms, according to a study recently published by the CFA Institute.The study, “Dark Pools, Internalization, and Equity Market Quality,” evaluates the impact of dark trades, which take place often in dark pools and internationalization of brokers, on measures related to the quality of the market such as bid/offer spreads and the depth of the market. The study finds that although originally an increase in dark trading is synonymous with an improvement in the quality of the markets, they deteriorate when a majority of trades are conducted opaquely.The CFA Institute study proposes that regulatory measures be put in place to encourage healthy competition and protect investors who make trades on traditional markets. These recommendations include the following points: Internalisation of orders placed by retail investors should be required. It brings a real improvement in prices, which means significant savings for small shareholders, and protection for those who make their trades on traditional markets. Regulators should monitor and measure transactions in dark pools and take necessary measures if they increase excessively; Alternative platforms should voluntarily allow investors and regulators to take clearer decisions about their use.

The French AXA group has signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Laurent Clamagirand, chief investment officer for the AXA group, announced on 4 December at the annual Novethic conference. Clamagirand points out that this is a “progressive move” for the long term. The AXA group in June signed the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI).

Following the announcement by Dexia yesterday that it has entered exclusive talks with GCS Capital to sell its asset management affiliate Dexia Asset Management (Dexia AM), the Hong Kong investment firm announced in a statement “that it is pursuing a longer-term strategic initiative to present well-known European and Australian fund products to Asian and Middle Eastern investors, and to introduct innovative products from Asia and the Middle East to existing and new clients of the group in all regions.” To this end, Dexia AM has a range of products covering all asset classes, institutional and private investors in 25 countries. There is not expected to be any overlap between the two entities.Yesterday, Dexia announced that if talks are completed, GCS Capital is planning to maintain the current regional footprint of Dexia AM, with four major location in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, and Sydney, Australia. It will also seek to deepen the already robust commercial relations which Dexia Asset Management has developed with its institutional and private clients, and particularly the well-established collaborations with Belfius and Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, according to a statement published on 4 December. For its part, GCS Capital, via Mike Powell, a principal at the firm, has pledged to maintain and improve the composition of the existing platform, including maintaining all employees and clients in the various geographical regions. Headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in London and Beijing, GCS Capital is «a strategic investor supported by institutions with strong financial resources and strategic capabilities. Dexia AM has about EUR80bn in assets under management (vs EUR78bn at the end of 2011), and over 550 employees worldwide.

Assets under management at Comgest as of the end of September totalled EUR15.5bn, compared with EUR13.5bn as of the end of December 2011, Vincent Strauss, head of Comgest, has said at a pres conference. Assets at the asset management firm have returned to their all-time highs of late 2010.But this rebound in assets is largely due to market appreciation, as inflows have remained at modest levels, Strauss says, adding that the past few weeks have been better.Investors are expected to continue to avoid equities, which in relative terms are expected to continue to have highly attractive valuations. In macroeconomic terms, many signs are turning positive, both in the United States and in China, meaning that there are real investment opportunities.Comgest finds, however, that in the next ten years, businesses in emerging markets will have more trouble capturing growth due to increases in labour costs, social benefits, real estate and infrastructure costs, at a time when sale prices are expected to stabilise or fall.However, businesses in developed markets with improving profits are expected to help them benefit from improved economic activity.Comgest is already much more exposed to developed countries than three years ago. Exposure to developed countries for Comgest Monde has increased from 66% to 84%, while exposure to emerging markets has fallen to 16% (of which a stable 10% is China) compared with 34% previously.

The private equity firm Dyal Capital Partners has announced the closure of a private equity fund dedicated to acquiring minority stakes in 12 to 15 hedge fund managers, reserved for institutional investors, with USD1.28bn in assets.Subscription commitments have come from 40 institutional investors worldwide, including sovereign wealth funds, public and private pension funds, multi-employer pensions, insurers, foundations, family offices and private banks.Dyal Capital Patners is managed by Neuberger Berman Group.

The US investment giant SEI Investments is looking to increase its presence on the British market, where it has already been present for 10 years via strategic alliances, Fund Web reports. SEI Investments has signed agreements with Ascentric and Cofunds. Devin Addison, previously of Swip, joined SEI In September to oversee an offensive on the British and continental European markets. He will be assisted from January by two salespeople. At a time when the market is going through upheavals due to the implementatino of RDR regulations in 2013, Addison hopes to sign agreements on the model of those recently signed with Standard Life and RBS with large distributors, private banks, wealth managers, and advising firms. Assets under management at SEI Investments total USD195bn. The group is present in 12 countries, with multi-management and fund administration service ranges.

Jess M. Ravich, managing director and head of capital markets at the investment bank Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin Inc, is joining TCW as group managing direcor and head of alternative products. He will be responsible for developing the alternative management platform, and will report directly to the chairman & CEO of TCW< David Lippman.Meanwhile, TCW has announced the creation of a joint venture with Scoggin Capital Management (which includes Scoggin LLC and Old Bellows Partners), which will be known as TCW Scoggin, and will be led by Ravich, to manage distressed and event-driven alternative strategies. Scoggin has assets of USD1.5bn.Lastly, TCW is acquiring the Special Situations Funds group (SSF) from Regiment Capital Advisors for an undisclosed amount; this will be led by Ravich. SSF has about USD2bn in assets. It is led by Rick Miller and includes six investment professionals based in Boston and New York. They will all join TCW and will remain at the two sites.

Dexia has entered into exclusive negotiations with GCS Capital, based in Hong Kong, for the sale of its asset management unit Dexia Asset Management, thus initiating one the last disposals of the Group’s main commercial franchises as presented within the framework of the orderly resolution plan announced in October 2011. Neither the Belgo-French financial group nor GCS Capital gave many details on the talks, but a deal for the European asset manager could be worth up to EUR500m, according to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the transaction. If a deal is completed, GCS Capital which is run by two former senior investment bankers at HSBC, plans to maintain the current regional footprint revolving around competence centers in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg and Sydney. It will also seek to deepen the already robust commercial relations which Dexia Asset Management has developed with its institutional and private clients, and particularly the well-established collaborations with Belfius and Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, according to a statement published on 4 December. Assets under management at Dexia AM total EUR78bn as of the end of 2011.Headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in London and Beijing, GCS Capital is «a strategic investor supported by institutions with strong financial resources and strategic capabilities. It will be able to implement a growth strategy for Dexia Asset Management focusing on targeted international development in the world’s fastest growing regions whilst continuing to invest in Dexia Asset Management’s excellent platform», according to the statement.

Federico Garcia Zamora, who had been co-manager of international and global bond funds as well as «inflation opportunities» funds at American Century Investments, has been recruited by Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC (USD104bn in assets), a Boston-based affiliate of BNY Mellon.He joins the firm as a senior portfolio manager for forex strategies, with responsibility for issuing investment recommendations for sectoral and multi-sectoral bond strategies. He will also be responsible for the management of absolute return currency strategies, which Standish will be launching soon.In this newly-created position, Zamora will report to David Leduc, CIO of Standish.

The Meeschaert group on 4 December announced the acquisition of EFG Assurances, a life insurance solution brokerage structure, The operation falls fully within the strategic developments planned by the group, and represents an opportunity for its four units of activity: private management, asset management, family office and private equity, according to a statement from the group. The acquisition coincides with the arrival of Maxime Vermesse as a member of the board and director of private management. After serving in several roles related to private management and asset management activities at the BNP Paribas group, Vermesse served as director of private management for Europe and Latin America at BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco from 2008. At the end of 2010, he became CEO of EFG Banque Privée France. In order to accelerate the development of the family office activity, created for the Meeschaert family in France in 2003, Charles Bienaimé, a board member, will now dedicate himself entirely to surveillance selection and wealth monitoring services dedicated to high net worth families.

Nicholas Rowe de Focus Capital Wealth Management a été condamné par le régulateur, la Finra, à rembourser 1,8 million de dollars de pertes subies par ses clients sur des ETF à effet de levier ou inversés, rapporte le Handelsblatt. Il est reproché au conseiller en investissement des négligences, une escroquerie et d’autres fautes.Dans cette affaire, les clients lésés percevront 1,3 million de dollars de dédommagement et 500.000 dollars pour les droits, les intérêts et les dépenses.

The number private bank branches of UBS Germany will be reduced to ten, and as many as 35 employees will be laid off as a result of the cuts.In a note to German clients, the Swiss group has announced that at the end of 2012, the Wiesbaden branch will be closed, with clients now served from Frankfurt, and that in July 2013, the Dortmund and Essen branches will disappear, to be served from Düsseldorf, and the Rosenheim branch will be closed, with clients served from Munich.From July 2013, the private banking network at UBS in Germany will thus only include Berlin, Bielefeld, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

“In terms of integration of environmental, social and governance criteria, the Netherlands are the leading market at the moment,” says Anne-Catherine Husson-Traore, CEO of Novethic, who on Tuesday presented the findings of a étude pan-Euorpean study of the ESG strategies of institutionals. She claims that the pension funds APG and PGGM are powerful drivers of this market. The annual study of the use of ESG criteria by European institutional investors was undertaken with the support of BNP Paribas Investment Partners. It covered 115 directors of major financial institutions in 11 countries with a total of EUR4.47trn in assets under management. 77% of institutional investors in the Netherlands have already formed a socially responsible investment policy, and 15% would like to do so soon, the study finds. Control of long-term risks represents the most important factor supporting integration of ESG criteria (46%). But a growing number of respondents want to protect their reputation, the study finds: 31%, compared with 10% in 2011. It must be said that Dutch institutionals are regularly attacked in the media over the nature of their investments, Novethic notes. In 2007, an article in the press drove the pension fund APG, with EUR300bn in assets, to adopt ESG criteria. Adeline Diab, senior expert on integration of and engagement with responsible investment strategies by Netherlands institutionals, explains that the fund is accountable to the Dutch Parliament, as it manages the money of public employees. In terms of practices, Dutch institutional investors “are at the crossroads of Scandinavian markets and the British market, with a strong reliance on normative exclusion and shareholder engagement,” says François Passant, CEO of Eurosif. The two approaches are cited by more than 85% of respondents. At APG, a team of 9 people is responsible for integration of ESG criteria in various asset classes. In terms of alternative invesments (hedge funds, private equity, real estate, etc.), extra-financial criteria come at the time of due diligence. For capital markets (equities, bonds, etc.), specific strategies are applied to each asset class with a risk-targeted approach. Lastly, APG has a broad engagement policy which falls into three parts: engagement by businesses to adhere to the United Nations Global Compact; engagements from selected businesses each year in each sector; and lastly, participation in collective action in partnership with other institutional investors. However, unlike the practices common in the Netherlands, Diab says APG does not practice exclusion. The only exclusions are Wal-Mart and PetroChina, two businesses for which engagement, which in general lasts three years, failed.

The executive director for Swiss & Global Asset Management for Swiss wholesale activities, Reto Meisser, on 1 December became CEO of Invesco Asset Management (Switzerland).He is joined by three others, Alexandre Sauteret, who had been senior sales director at Fidelity International, and who becomes head of Invesco for French-speaking Switzerland and key clients in Zurich.Martina Brückner (formerly legal & compliance officer at Xing) becomes director of compliance at Invesco Switzerland, while Emmanuel Armbruster joins the customer services team led by Rolf Hans Elsener.

The Edmond de Rothschild private banking group is looking to accelerate the growth of its assets under management in the period 2013-2016. It is aiming for an increase of over 20% to its assets under management, for an operating ratio of 66%, an improvement of about 17%. “These objectives are proportionately applicable to the Groupe Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild S.A.,” the Geneva-based private management bank announced in a statement released on 4 December. The objectives are a part of the strategic plan for 2013-2016 unviled to employees by the new CEO, Christophe de Backer. In an environment of economic pressure and regulatory requirements, the plan aims to harmonise the organisation of the group in order to accelerate domestic and international development. “The strategic plan continues and amplifies the strategy engaged since 1997,” which had no concrete figures, the statement says.

At the beginning of next year, DoubleLine Capital will launch its sixth fund, DoubleLine Floating Rate Fund, Investment News reports, relaying information in Mutual Fund Wire. The portfolio will be invested in bank loans, inflation-linked bonds, MBS and ABS. It will be managed by Bonnie Baha and Robert Cohen.