The California pension fund CalPERS on 13 December announced that it has made gains of about USD695m on its investments in the GI Partners Fund I, a fund launched ten years ago, which has recently been closed. CalPERS had invested USD500m in the fund in 2001, in assets related to IT. The investment has generated annualised net returns of 31%, CalPERS says in a statement. CalPERS remains engaged with GI Partners, which invests primarily in North America and Western Europe. The Californian pension fund has invested USD500m in the GI Partners Fund II, and USD500m in the GI Partners Fund III. GI Partners manages over USD2bn in assets from the real estate portfolio of CalPERS CalEast.

According to his most recent report, the court-appointed trustee in charge of gaining compensation for victims of the fraudster Bernard Madoff, has collected USD8.69bn, half of the estimated direct losses to victims, not counting the billions of dollars in losses for financial institutions and feeder funds. But he has paid out only USD325m, to 1,232 investors who lost money. This is a drop of water in the ocean compared with the gigantic USD64.8bn Pinzo scheme exposed in December 2008, based on client accounts. Reimbursement is subject to a web of appeals, and to laborious clarification of the chain of responsibility.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), which brings together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers, has released a white paper addressing high-frequency trading (HFT).The paper notes the lack of a clear definition for high-frequency trading, but seeks to address the concerns being raised by members of the public and other market participants regarding HFT. It discusses current regulatory efforts to strengthen market structure, areas where regulators should conduct further study and possibly address through regulatory action, and regulatory proposals that SIFMA believes should not be pursued. The professional association also says it opposes the introduction of new taxes on financial transactions, and is opposed to a wholesale ban on high-frequency trading or other forms of computer-based trading.The white paper can be found at the following link: http://www.sifma.org/issues/item.aspx?id=8589936694

The UK-based asset management firm Somerset Capital Management has launched an equity fund aimed at institutional investors, which will invest in companies active in emerging and frontier markets, with a total market capitalisation of USD1bn to USD7.5bn, Investment Europe reports. The US-domiciled fund, Somerset Emerging Markets Small Mid CapEM All Country Fund, has initial seed capital of USD30m. The ten largest positions in the portfolio may offer exposure to Taiwan, South fAfrica, Chile, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, India and China. The fund will be managed by Edward Robertson, one of the co-founders of Somerset, and Timothy Hay, Somerset’s Latin America specialist. The minimal initial investment for European institutionals has been set at USD50,000.

The Italian online fund supermarket Fundstore, in which Banca Ifigest is the largest shareholder, has announced the arrival of a new client manager, Valentina Zappa, Bluerating reports. She will handle commercial development of a platform owned by Banca Ifigest, which handles placement of funds to retail investors and management of commercial relations with asset management firms and foreign-registered funds.

The Pimco star manager Bill Gross has recently cut back his exposure to emerging market debt, in order to strengthen his presence in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and US Treasury bonds, Citywire reports. According to statistics as of the end of November for the Pimco Total Return Bond fund, whose assets under management total USD242bn, Gross has increased his exposure to MBS to 43%, from 38% in September and October. Exposure to Treasuries now totals 23%, compared with 19% in October. Meanwhile, exposure to emerging market debt has fallen to 10%, compared with 15% in October.

L’institut de recherche Edhec-Risk Institute a présenté le 13 décembre seize benchmarks «Solvabilité 2» destinés à favoriser une allocation aux actions optimale dans le cadre de la directive éponyme. Ces travaux sont issus de la chaire de recherche «Solvency 2 benchmarks», soutenue par Russell Investments. Dans la perspective d’une meilleure gestion des risques, qui constitue un «ingrédient de la performance» mais qui ne dépend pas seulement de la diversification, «on peut prendre en compte l’horizon de long terme de l’investisseur et limiter la consommation de fonds propres», a lancé le professeur Lionel Martellini.Les indicateurs présentés constituent autant de références externes, croisant des horizons de temps ( 3, 5, 10 et 15 ans) et des charges en capital (5, 10,15,20%), qui devraient permettre aux assureurs de mieux calibrer leurs modèles internes. Si les investisseurs estiment que la palette proposée hier est insuffisante, elle pourra être complétée, a souligné Lionel Martellini. «Nous présenterons une nouvelle version en mars prochain qui tiendra compte de tous les inputs», a-t-il précisé.

In total, assets at Franklin Resources, AllianceBernstein, Invesco and Legg Mason fell by USD53.4bn in November 2011.Franklin was the hardest-hit in volume, with a contraction of USD18.3bn, putting it at USd675.8bn as of 30 November. Invesco saw a decline in its assets under management of USD13.3bn in one month, to USD622.4bn, while AllianceBernstein’s AUM decreased by USD13bn, to USD411bn. Legg Mason’s assets under management have fallen by USD8.8bn to USD620.6bn.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has announced the recruitment of Michael Ho as chief investment officer for the Active Emerging Markets Equities and Global Macro divisions. Ho will be based in Boston, and joins SSgA from Mellon Capital Management, where as chief investment officer he had been responsible for about USD220bn in assets under management, a statement says.

Dexia Asset Management has appointed Cécile de Lasteyrie as head of SRI development, from December 2011. She will now serve as the ambassador for all socially responsible investment (SRI) expertise at Dexia AM, and will contribute to SRI strategy for the firm, in close collaboration with Isabelle Cabie, Global Head of SRI, and her team of SRI analysts, a statement dated 13 December announces. De Lasteyrie joined Dexia AM in 2005 as head of the consultant relations and request for proposals unit, and then became director of marketing and communication. In 2008, she was appointed director of sales for France. For the past two years, she has been head of the Client Development department. Since her arrival at Dexia AM, de Lasteyrie has worked on several SRI contracts for institutional clients in the various roles she has occupied. As director of marketing and communication, she also worked to position Dexia AM as a pioneer in sustainable and responsible investments.

Neptune Investment Management plans to launch the Neptune China Max Alpha Fund on 15th December 2011. The new fund has an investment objective of generating capital growth from a concentrated portfolio of between 20-30 securities issued by Chinese companies, or in those issued by companies transacting a significant proportion of their business in China. It will be joint-managed by Robin Geffen, Douglas Turnbull and Adam Kelly. This team-based approach will see each member leveraging Neptune’s global sector research to contribute their top 8-10 Chinese stockpicks, regardless of the stock’s market capitalisation, to construct a highly concentrated portfolio of best ideas. The new Chinese equity product is launched as an extension to Neptune’s existing Max Alpha fund range, which already offers investors access to the Global, European, North American and Japanese markets.

The Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADIA (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) is planning to acquire a 9.9% stake in the utility company Kemble Water Limited, the holding company for the Thames Water group, the SWF Institute reports. ADIA will buy the stake from a consortium of investors led by Macquarie.

Pioneer Investments has launched Pioneer Funds – Multi Asset Real Return, a flexible and global, multi asset classes fund. The Luxembourg based fund is a mirror of a US domiciled fund launched in May 2010. It will be managed by the same team as the US product which is led by Michele Garau as lead portfolio manager, together with Kenneth Taubes, head of investment management US, and Howard Weiss, associate portfolio manager"The portfolio management team select the optimal mix of assets for portfolio inclusion, based on their evaluation of economic growth and inflation levels. The fund is not constrained by single asset classes to hedge inflation, but can gain exposure to a broad spectrum of traditional financial securities and real assets through closed end funds. The portfolio management team can rapidly position the fund for changing market environments, significantly and substantially exploiting the most attractively valued assets and sectors opportunistically. The fund’s “go- anywhere” approach provides a more diversified, inflation-hedge complément», explains Pioneer. «We believe that the flexible, dynamic approach to asset allocation we use in this fund offers an advantage over a more limited inflation hedging strategy focused largely on TIPS,» adds Kenneth J. Taubes.

According to statistics from BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research, in October hedge funds saw net redemptions of USD9bn, more than triple the USD2.59bn in outflows in September.Assets as of 31 October were down to USD1.66trn, from USD1.73trn as of 30 September.The largest losses in assets under management by percentage were from macro funds (-1.6%, or USD1.8bn), and long/short equity funds (-1.5%, or USD2.6bn). The only strategies in positive territory were equity long bias, with net inflows of USD600m, and merger arbitrage, with USD200m, 0.6% and 1% of assets, respectively.

Old Mutual Asset Management has appointed Simon Wilson as head of global marketing. Wilson had previously been sales and marketing director at Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK), the London-based affiliate of OMAM. Wilson’s promotion follows the appointment of Julian Ide in October as head of global distribution at OMAM (see Newsmanagers of 6 October 2011). The firm is currently seeking a head of distribution for outsite the United States (Europe, Asia and the Middle East), a statement says.

Global investors are looking to U.S. equities as they prepare themselves for a year of low growth and low inflation in 2012, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for December, undertaken from 2 to 8 December, and dovering a total of 255 panelists representing with USD762bn of assets under management. Almost two thirds of the panel, up from 52% in November, predict 2012 will be a year of below-trend growth and below-trend inflation. Investors are responding to the weak outlook with a preference for U.S. and Emerging Market equities while the negative stance towards the eurozone hardens. A record number, a net 72 percent, name the eurozone as having the least favorable outlook for corporate profits. However, one allocator in two (up from a net 47% in November) thinks that the outlook for corporate profits is the most favorable in the U.S. A net 8 percent of asset allocators are overweight equities this month, compared with a net 5 percent underweight in November. But the panel only increased equity positions in one region – the U.S. Global investors are split over the future of the euro and the question about whether the eurozone can remain intact. Nearly half of the panel (48 percent) believes that no member state will exit the euro in 2012 or the foreseeable future. Nearly a quarter of the panel of 190 institutional investors (24 percent), expect one of the 17 member states to leave the euro in the first half of 2012. In total, 45 percent expect a member to depart in the foreseeable future, with 7 percent undecided. Liquidity and inflation indicators are near their 2009 levels. Investors say that liquidity conditions have deteriorated significantly in the past month to reach their worst level since April 2009. Meanwhile, concerns about inflation have eased to levels not seen since 2009. The proportion of the panel predicting a fall in inflation fell to a net 34 percent in December, down 2 percentage points since November and the lowest reading since March 2009. For the first time since March 2009, a majority (a net 6 percent) believes that global monetary policy should be more stimulative. At the depth of the crisis more than a net 60 percent called for monetary stimulus.

The largest German energy supplier, EON, is in talks to sell its gas distribution network, the largest in Germany, to Allianz Capital Partners, an affiliate of the insurer Allianz, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung of 13 December. A secret plan drafted by the EON management would see a sale of the Ruhrgas gas network, which measures a total of 12,000 kilometres, and which carries half of all natural gas consumed in Germany, to the Allianz affiliate. Negotiations between the two parties are said to be at an advanced stage, according to the newspaper.

Michael Grüner, who for four years was head of distribution for open-ended funds at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) for Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, based in Frankfurt, will join iShares on 1 January as director of distribution for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe (see Newsmanagers of 26 September and 17 October this year).Grüner will report to David Gardner, head of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); he will work in close collaboration with Dirk Klee, country head at BlackRock for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe.

The Luxembourg-registered, UCITS-compliant international equity fund AXA World Fund Framlington Natural Resources, from Axa Investment Managers, has received a sales license for Germany.The product, with 70-90 positions (see Newsmanagers of 7 December) is managed by Sébastien Lagarde, senior portfolio manager, and Olivier Eugène, portfolio manager, who are also responsible for the AWF Framlington Hybrid Resources and AWF Framlington Junior Energy funds.

Deka Immobilien has acquired an office property under construction for an undisclosed amount from HDH Büro GmbH & Co KG. The 24,000 square metre property located in the City-Süd district of Hamburg will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended retail fund WestInvest ImmoValue, a product reserved for institutional investors.

The British firm First State Investments has recruited two managers as additions to the team dedicated to international equities, Fundweb reports. Julie Thomas will concentrate on financial sector shares, while Ben Yeoh will specialise in the health sector. Thomas had previously worked at Oriel Securities, Threadneedle AM, ADIA and Morley AM. Yeoh had previously worked at Atlantic Securities.

British pension fund professionals are paying close attention to risk management, in an effort to confront market volatility, according to an annual survey by Baring Asset Management (Barings). Nearly 100% of professionals surveyed place risk management at the top of the list of their concerns when awarding a management mandate. In order to limit the effects of increased market volatility, one third of professionals have increased levels of risk/return analysis. 48% of respondents, meanwhile, say they are working on improved diversification of portfolios, while 26% give the priority to multi-asset class products. Multi-asset class products now represent 18% of portfolios, compared with only 3% last year. Meanwhile, exposure to equities has been lowered to 46%, from 55% previously, whlie exposure to bonds has increased to 26%. In the next two quarters, nearly 90% of professionals surveyed estimate that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe will be the largest macroeconomic challenge for investors, putting it ahead of excessive debt in the United States (48%), the potential for a bubble in China (31%) and high inflation in the United Kingdom (14%).

The Luxembourg-based asset management firm Gamax Management has signed a distribution agreement with the insurer Legal & General International, by the terms of which Gamax funds will be available to British clients of the insurer, Investment Europe reports. This is the first entry into the British market for Gamax, which has been a part of the Italian financial services group Mediolanum since 2001. Assets under management at Gamax total about EUR500m. Funds are managed by the Munich-based firm DJE Kapital AG.

Tim Love and Joachim Nogueira, who had managed a long/short equity portfolio focused on emerging markets at CQS, have joined GAM In London, as investment director and investment manager, respectively.The two men will be in charge of the management of a long-only, actively managed fund which will also be specialised in emerging markets, which GAM is planning to launch in first quarter 2012.Love, who will be the hierarchical superior of Nogueira, will himself report to David M. Solo, group CEO.

AXA Investment Managers has announced that Nick Hayes, senior portfolio manager, AXA Investment Managers is now responsible for the management of the AXA Sterling Corporate Bond Fund. He has taken over the management of the fund from Theodora Zemek, global head of fixed income and a member of the AXA IM management board. Nick Hayes has managed the AXA Sterling Strategic Bond Fund since he joined AXA IM in June 2010. Theodora Zemek was last year appointed as a member of AXA IM’s management board. As global head of fixed income she is responsible for the management of the fixed income expertise, with a team of over 80 investment professionals who manage over EUR273bn in assets globally. The changes were effective from 1 December 2011.

Threadneedle Investments has announced in a statement that its Asia-Pacific specialist manager Gigi Chan will now be based in Singapore rather than London, in order to support a local presence and the growth of the British asset management firm in that region of the world. Chan is the first manager at Threadneedle to be transferred to Asia, but others are expected to join her, in order to create a local team, the asset management firm says.

Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, has sold 148,456 ordinary shares (all the shares he received in 2008 through a long-term incentive plan), and 1,236,956 ordinary shares in the firm. The two transactions were completed on 6 December, at a price of 212 pence per share, which comes to a total of GBP2.93m. Following the transactions, Gilbert retains 0.62% of capital in the firm. Other Aberdeen executives have also sold shares, including Hugh Young.

Groupama a réalisé 400 millions d’euros de plus-values sur des cessions d’OAT, cédé un portefeuille de 500 millions d’euros d’actions (parfois en moins-values) et, selon Le Monde, réalisé 250 millions de plus-values immobilières. La solution d’un rapprochement avec Covéa «n’est pas retenue à ce stade, puisque le schéma avec la CDC exclut une prise de contrôle de fait de Groupama», confie à l’Agefi, un proche du dossier.

Le fonds souverain d’Abu Dhabi ADIA ( Abu Dhabi Investment Anthority) envisage de prendre une participation de 9,9% dans la société de services aux collectivités Kemble Water Limited, la holding du groupe Thames Water, selon le SWF Institute. ADIA va acquérir cette participation auprès d’un consortium d’investisseurs dirigé par Macquarie.

Le conseil de surveillance de Ciloger, société de gestion de portefeuille des SCPI et OPCI commercialisés par les Caisses d’Epargne et la Banque Postale a nommé Isabelle Rossignol en qualité de présidente du directoire. Ses fonctions prendront effet à partir du 1er février 2012. L’impétrante succède à Laurent Flechet qui a quitté la société en juin dernier pour poursuivre un projet personnel. Daniel Roy, directeur du pôle Gestion d’actifs et membre du comité opérationnel de La Banque Postale assure la continuité opérationnelle et stratégique durant la période transitoire. Depuis janvier 2011, Isabelle Rossignol était directrice générale adjointe d’Immovalor Gestion. Auparavant, elle travaillait chez AGF Immobilier qu’elle avait intégré en 2006 (devenu Allianz Real Estate France en 2009) en tant que directrice commerciale puis directrice de l’Asset Management.