Responsable depuis 2003 du service Clients, du reporting et de la mesure de performance chez Russell Investments à Paris, David Masse rejoint Invesco Asset Management comme responsable Service Clients pour la France.Il remplace Lionel Bonnin qui devient responsable du développement pour les projets de distribution en Europe continentale, toujours chez Invesco AM. Pour Nicolas Bouët, directeur général délégué d’Invesco AM, le recrutement de David Masse souligne la volonté de la société de gestion d'être présente «au plus près de ses clients, investisseurs professionnels français».

Viel & Cie a annoncé le 31 août que son résultat net consolidé s'établit à 12,3 millions d’euros au titre du premier semestre 2011 contre 37,5 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2010, pour un chiffre d’affaires en recul de 3% à 456,9 millions d’euros. «Le premier semestre 2011 est marqué par un maintien de l’activité d’intermédiation professionnelle de Compagnie Financière Tradition à cours de change constant mais pénalisé notamment par la restructuration en cours de ses activités destinées aux investisseurs individuels au Japon», indique la société dans un communiqué.Le résultat d’exploitation consolidé s'établit à 21,6 millions d’euros, au premier semestre 2011 contre 52,4 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2010. Viel & Cie a constaté un produit net non récurrent de 24,2 millions d’euros lié à la cession par une de ses filiales d’un actif immobilier en 2010. En excluant ces éléments exceptionnels constatés en 2010, le résultat d’exploitation est relativement stable au premier semestre 2011 comparé à la même période en 2010. La société précise que l’activité de banque privée avec SwissLife Banque Privée, dont Viel détient une participation de 40%, a poursuivi son développement et procédé à l’acquisition d’une participation dans la société de gestion Prigest (gérant notamment le fonds Valfrance), affirmant ainsi sa volonté d’assurer une croissance accélérée de son activité.

Le fonds d’investissement L Capital annonce une prise de participation à hauteur de 60% dans le capital de Captain Tortue, leader européen de la vente directe en réunions de prêt-à-porter, rapporte L’Agefi. La société a réalisé l’an dernier un chiffre d’affaires d’environ 55 millions d’euros. Defi Gestion et BNP Développement réinvestissent dans le groupe aux cotés de L Capital et des fondateurs, précise le quotidien.

La Fédération française des sociétés d’assurances (FFSA) a annoncé, mardi 30 août, la nomination, le 14 juin 2011, de Stéphane Dedeyan à la présidence de la commission plénière des assurances de personnes de la fédération. Après avoir rejoint Generali en mai 1999, Stéphane Dedeyan, 45 ans, qui est devenu en février 2006 directeur général de Generali Patrimoine, est aujourd’hui membre du Comité de Direction Générale de Generali France en charge de la Direction de l’Épargne Patrimoniale, de la Direction de la Gestion Privée et de la Direction du Développement (Marketing, Innovation, Internet).

La société de capital investissement Gimv a annoncé dans un communiqué, mercredi 31 août, mener le deuxième tour de table de 25 millions de dollars de Ebuzzing, ex-Wikio Group, groupe de médias sociaux de référence en Europe. Le fonds investit 14,5 millions de dollars aux côtés des actionnaires existants et du fondateur, Pierre Chappaz. Via ce financement, Gimv souhaite faire de l’entreprise le n° 1 des médias sociaux en Europe.

Le fournisseur d’analyse financière indépendante Morningstar a annoncé le 30 août la création de 18 nouvelles catégories pour mieux classer les fonds de gestion alternative qui répondent aux critères Ucits. «Les nouvelles catégories Morningstar des fonds alternatifs représentent une importante modernisation dans le classement Morningstar des fonds ouverts utilisant les stratégies d’investissement alternatives. Elle offre aux investisseurs une description claire des stratégies déployées par les gérants», selon le communiqué de Morningstar. En particulier, les nouvelles classifications abandonnent le terme « Performance Absolue ». Selon Christopher Traulsen, CFA, directeur de la recherche fonds chez Morningstar pour l’Europe et l’Asie, « la Performance Absolue était devenue trop associée à un terme de marketing plus large de l’industrie qui a fait des promesses de rendement qui ont souvent échoué. Afin de rendre nos catégories plus utiles et plus transparentes pour les investisseurs, nous avons revu notre système de classification pour mieux catégoriser les fonds de gestion alternative en fonction de la stratégie d’investissement». Le portefeuille sous-jacent et les expositions au risque sont les principaux facteurs pour déterminer la catégorie. Ensuite, la région géographique, la classe d’actif et les stratégies d’investissement spécifiques permettent d’obtenir une granularité encore plus fine. Par exemple, les stratégies « Alt - Arbitrage Dette », « Alt - Global Macro », « Alt - Market Neutral – Actions », « Alt – Volatilité » constituent désormais des catégories spécifiques. Les anciennes catégories « Performance Absolue Euro, Performance Absolue Non-Euro et Long-Short » disparaissent et sont remplacées par la nouvelle classification plus détaillée : Alt - Arbitrage Dette Alt - Arbitrages Diversifiés Alt - Devises Alt - Event Driven Alt - Fonds de Fonds - Actions Alt - Fonds de Fonds - Autres Alt - Fonds de Fonds - Multistratégies Alt - Global Macro Alt - Long/Short Actions - Europe Alt - Long/Short Actions - International Alt - Long/Short Actions - Marchés Emergents Alt - Long/Short Actions - UK Alt - Long/Short Actions - US Alt - Long/Short Obligations Alt - Market Neutral - Actions Alt - Multistratégies Alt - Systematic Futures Alt - VolatilitéLes nouvelles catégories seront mises en œuvre par Morningstar en Europe et en Asie et ce système de classification servira aussi bien pour les fonds de gestion alternative dans la base des fonds ouverts au public et pour les fonds dans la base dédiée aux fonds de gestion alternative non réglementés. Ainsi, les investisseurs pourront se repérer facilement dans les deux univers de fonds.Morningstar met ces nouvelles catégories des fonds de gestion alternative à disposition dans Morningstar Direct, le logiciel de recherche et d’analyse financière conçu par la société pour les investisseurs professionnels et aussi sur son site http://www.morningstar.fr ouvert au public.

Au premier semestre, Robeco (groupe Rabobank) a drainé 4,9 milliards d’euros de souscriptions nettes, dont 2,3 milliards provenant d’investisseurs institutionnels, rapporte IPE. Le bénéfice net a bondi à 100 millions d’euros contre 43 millions pour la période correspondante de l’année dernière.La performance a été globalement satisfaisante, avec 8-9 % pour les actions, et l’obligataire produisant entre 1 et 3 %. Mais, depuis lors, la performance des actions a plongé.Roderick Munsters, le CEO, s’attend qu’en raison des ventes massives des dernières semaines, le niveau des encours sera en fin d’année inférieur aux attentes, ce qui va se répercuter sur les recettes de 2012 et rend encore plus urgent de maîtriser les coûts.

BNP Paribas souhaite se renforcer dans la gestion de fortune en Chine, poursuivant ses efforts pour se concentrer sur des marchés à fort potentiel. La banque française a recruté Alfred Tsai pour sa division Wealth Management. L’intéressé, qui avait démissionné de son poste de managing director chez Julius Baer à Hong Kong le mois dernier, rejoindra le groupe en octobre afin d’assurer la direction de BNP Paribas Wealth Management Chine, indique Asian Investor.

Axa Real Estate Investment Managers (39,4 milliards d’euros d’encours sous gestion en mars 2011) vient de nommer Henrik Bastman en tant que responsable de la gestion d’actifs pour les pays nordiques. Basé à Stockholm, il sera placé sous la responsabilité d’Alphons Spaninks, le responsable des services immobiliers au Benelux et dans les pays nordiques. Henrik Bastman était précédemment responsable de la gestion d’actifs du fonds Nordic Retail Fund (1 milliard d’euros) chez EFM. Axa Real Estate gère environ 1 milliard d’euros d’actifs dans les pays nordiques.

Pour le premier semestre 2011, la société allemande de conseil en investissement ISR versiko (qui contrôle la société de gestion luxembourgeoise Ökoworld Lux) affiche un bénéfice net de 1,15 million d’euros contre 1,5 million un an plus tôt, mais le bénéfice au bilan a gonflé à 5,08 millions d’euros contre 2,34 millions. Les fonds propres de versiko représentent 70 % du bilan.

Pour un montant non divulgué, HSH Nordbank a vendu à un groupement composé d’Axa Private Equity et de LGT Capital Partners un portefeuille de 47 participations dans des fonds européens de private equity qui pèsent au total 620 millions d’euros.La banque hambourgeoise précise que, dans le processus de cession d’actifs, elle a déjà vendu début août quatre fonds d’un volume total de 47 millions d’euros à deux «investisseurs internationaux».

La société de gestion alternative Carlisle Management Company, basée au Luxembourg, a nommé Victor Heggelman en qualité de directeur financier de la société à compter de septembre 2011.Victor Heggelman travaillait au sein du département financier de Carlisle depuis deux ans.

The alternative management firm Carlisle Management Company, based in Luxembourg, has appointed Victor Heggelman as chief financial officer of the company, from September 2011. Heggelman previously spent two years in the financial department of Carlisle.

The independent financial analysis provider Morningstar announced on 30 August that it has created 18 new categories in order to better categorise alternative management funds which comply with UCITS requirements. “The new Morningstar categories for hedge funds represent a significant modernisation for the Morningstar categorisation for open-ended funds that use alternative investment strategies. It gives investors a clear description of the strategies deployed by managers,” a statement from Morningstar says.In particular, the new classifications are abandoning the term “absolute returns,” the statement says. According to Christopher Traulsen, CFA, director of fund research for Europe and Asia at Morningstar, “Absolute Returns had become too closely associated with a wider marketing term in the industry which made promises of returns that often failed to come true. In order to make our categories more useful and more transparent for investors, we have revised our classification system to better categorise alternative management funds according to their investment strategy.”The underlying portfolio and exposure to risk are the major factors to determine the category. Then, geographical region, asset class and specific investment strategies may be even more finely subdivided. For example, the strategies “Alt – Debt Arbitrage,” “Alt – Global Macro,” “Alt – Market Neutral – Equities,” and “Alt – Volatility” now represent specific categories.The former categories “Absolute Returns Euro, Absolute Returns Non-Euro and Long/Short” are being dropped, and will be replaced by the following more detailed classifications:Alt – Debt ArbitrageAlt – Diversified ArbitrageAlt – CurrenciesAlt – Event DrivenAlt – Funds of Funds – EquitiesAlt – Funds of Funds – OtherAlt – Funds of Funds – MultistrategyAlt – Global MacroAlt – Long/Short Equities – EuropeAlt – Long/Short Equities – InternationalAlt – Long/Short Equities – Emerging MarketsAlt – Long/Short Equities – UKAlt – Long/Short Equities – USAlt – Long/Short BondsAlt – Market Neutral – EquitiesAlt – MultistrategyAlt – Systematic FuturesAlt – VolatilityThe new categories will be used by Morningstar in Europe and Asia, and the classification system will also be used for hedge funds in the open-ended fund data base and for funds in the database dedicated to non-UCITS hedge funds. Investors will thus be more easily able to compare the two fund universes.Morningstar is making the new fund categories available on Morningstar Direct, the financial research and analysis software tool designed by Morningstar for professional investors, and also on its public website, http://www.agefi.fr/backoffice/scripts/www.morningstar.fr.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index for August 2011 declined to 89.6 in August, down 12.9 points from July’s revised reading of 102.5. The most significant decline was exhibited by North American investors, with confidence decreasing to 88.6, down 13.9 points from July’s revised level of 102.5. Declines were more muted elsewhere with the European Index sliding 4.6 points to 90.5, down from July’s revised reading of 95.1. Amongst Asian investors, confidence decreased 0.6 points from July’s revised level of 95.8, to 95.2. “Perhaps not surprisingly, the elevated level of volatility this month took its toll on investor sentiment,” commented State Street. “Diminished growth expectations, the downgrade of the US sovereign debt rating, and continued difficulties around European sovereign financing, all combined to cause institutional investors to reduce their allocations to risky assets. The key question that investors are grappling with is whether elevated levels of stress in the financial system will have real effects on the economy.”

The British management firm Schroders has announced that it has registered the fifth fund of its GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access) platform in Spain, Funds People reports. Following the third-party funds Schroder GAIA Egerton European Equity and Schroder GAIA Sloane Robinson Emerging Markets, and the inhouse funds Schroder GAIA Opus Multi-Strategy and Schroder GAIA QEP Global Absolute, the CNMV has issued a registration for the GAIA CQS Credit (LU0616010236), which already has a sales license in France (see Newsmanagers of 11 July).

On 25 August, the CNMV issued a license for the Luxembourg-registered Sicav JKC Fund, which includes the sub-funds LFP JKC China Value and LFP JKC Asia Value. The management firm is UFG-LFP International, and the “investment manager” is JK Capital Management Ltd. of Hong Kong. Sales of the fund will be provided by Allfunds Bank and Banco Inversis, the Spanish regulator states.

The Swiss management firm Capital International Funds (CIF), an affiliate of the Capital Group of Companies, has become the twelfth foreign asset management firm since the beginning of the year to register in Spain.On 25 August, the CNMV issued a registration for three Luxembourg Sicavs from CIF: Capital International Emerging Markets Fund (EUR6.14bn), Capital International Fund, which includes nine bond and equities sub-funds focused on geographical regions, and Capital International Portfolios, with five equities and bond sub-funds focused on developed and emerging countries.The distributor selected for the three Sicavs is Allfunds Bank.

HSH Nordbank has sold a portfolio of 47 stakes in European private equity funds, which have total assets of EUR620m, for an undisclosed amount, to a group of investors consisting of Axa Private Equity and LGT Capital Partners.The Hamburg-based bank states that as a part of the asset sale process, it already sold its stakes in four funds with a total volume of EUR47m to two “international investors” in early August.

The wealth management advising firm Towry (known as Towry Law until May 2010, since its acquisition of Edward Jones Ltd in November 2009), has announced that as of the end of first half 2011, its discretionary assets under management had increased 29% in one year, to GBP4.5bn (compared with GBP3.5bn), and that net inflows in the first six months of the year totalled GBP450m.EBITDA was up 47% to GBP9.4m, compared with GBP6.4m in the corresponding period of 2010. Towry is not publicly traded, but is owned by its management and employees, along with the private equity investor Palamon Capital Partners.

What are the worst finds in the asset management sector for British investors? The most recent semiannual study by Bestinvest (“Spot the Dog,” Autumn 2011) counted 94 of them, up from 90 in the past two editions of the study. More presicely, 14% of funds in the sample (94 out of 682) did not manage to outperform their benchmark indices in any of the past three years, and underperformed the benchmark by at least 10%. This increase is connected to a much more worrisome development: the entry into the rankings of less well-performing funds from some of the management firms which are supposed to be among the circle of top quality managers has led to a 74% increase in the value of the funds concerned, to GBP23.16bn, from GBP13.29bn in September 2010. The sectors monitored by Bestinvest are UK all companies, UK equity income, UK smaller companies, Europe ex-UK, global emerging markets, Asia Pacific, North American, Japan and global. The management firms topping the list are Fidelity, with 2 funds, totalling GBP3.41bn, BNY Mellon/Newton with 4 funds and GBP2.05bn, and BlackRock with 2 funds and GBP1.99bn. The worst-performing fund according to the Bestinvest criteria is the Allianz RCM Global ecotrends (GBP11.7m), which is 41% behind its benchmark index over three years.

The US-based management group Legg Mason will launch an income fund dedicated to US equities, which will be managed by ClearBridge Advisors, Money Marketing reports. The fund, which will be launched in mid-October, will replicate a strategy previously available to US investors. The management team for the fund (Hersh Cohen, Peter Vanderlee and Michael Clarfeld) will concentrate on high-quality firms which adhere to a policy of paying out high dividends. ClearBridge Advisors is the largest affiliate of Legg Mason dedicated to US equities, with assets under management of USD36bn.

Rosanna Burcheri, who had been a partner and manager of pan-European funds at FrontPoint Management, has been recruited by Artemis Asset Management as co-manager of its new Global Select fund (GBP41.9m). For this product, Artemis had already recruited Simon Edelsten, formerly of Taube Hodson Stonex (THS), and Alex Illingworth, formerly of Insight Investment, as managers.

Portfolio Adviser reports that Legg Mason is planning to release the ClearBridge US Income Fund to UK retail investors from October; the fund will replicate the US Equity Income Builder, managed by its US affiliate ClearBridge Advisors (USD58.1bn) in the United States. The managers of the new product will focus on companies which pay high dividends. The managers will be the same as for the original fund: Hersh Cohen, Michael Clarfeld, and Peter Vanderlee.

Viel & Cie on 31 August announced that its consolidated net profits totalled EUR12.3m in first half 2011, compared with EUR37.5m in first half 2010, on earnings down 3% to EUR456.9m. “First half 2011 saw a continuation of professional intermediation activities at the Compagnie Financière Tradition at consistent levels, but results were penalised by ongoing restructuring of activities aimed at individual investors in Japan,” the firm says in a statement. Consolidated operating profits totalled EUR21.6m in first half 2011, compared with EUR52.4m in first half 2010. Viel & Cie has announced a one-time net profit of EUR24.2m related to the sale of a real estate property by one of its affiliates in 2010. Excluding one-time elements in 2010, operating profits remain relatively stable in first half 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. The firm states that private banking activities with SwissLife Banque Privée, in which Viel owns a 40% stake, continued to grow, and included the acquisition of a stake in the management firm Prigest (which manages the Valfrance fund, among others), a sign of its desire to continue accelerated growth of this activity.

David Masse, head of clients, reporting and performance measurement at Russell Investments in Paris since 2003, is joining Invesco Asset Management as head of Client Services for France.He replaces Lionel Bonnin, who becomes head of development for distribution projects in continental Europe, also at Invesco AM.Nicolas Bouët, co-CEO of Invesco AM, says the recruitment of Masse is a sign of the firm’s desire to be present “as closely as possible to its clients, French professional investors.”

The trial of James Fleishman begins this Wednesday in New York, the Financial Times reports. Fleishman, who was a sales manager at Primary Global, is answering charges that between 2008 and 2010, he belonged to a network which put hedge fund clients in contact with company insiders.The government has provided evidence including instant messages between employees of Primary Global and employees of the hedge fund management firms Balyasny Asset Management, Coatue Management, Janus Capital, SAC Capital and Diamondback. These firms have not been charged with wrongdoing. The case may also point the spotlight at other clients of Primary Global, such as Loch Capital and Level Global, which have been subpoenaed, but have not been charged with wrongdoing.

The Swiss alternative management firm Altin has posted a loss for first half 2011 of USD1.80m, compared with a loss of USD2.58m in first half 2010, the firm announced in a statement on 30 August.As of the end of June, the “extremely well-diversified” portfolio included 35 positions in hedge funds pursuing 10 different investment strategies. Due to active management of strategies and good selection of managers, the firm says that it was able to protect its investors’ portfolios, and that it comfortably outperformed the HFRI FoF Composite and MSCI World Hedged indices, with annualised returns of +7.18% since its launch.

For first half 2011, the German SRI investment advising firm versiko (which controls the Luxembourg-based asset management firm Ökoworld Lux) posted net profits of EUR1.15m, compared with EUR1.5m, but profits on the balance sheet increased to EUR5.08m from EUR2.34m.Owners’ equity at versiko represents 70% of the balance sheet.

The Chinese regulator (CSRC) on 30 August issued a fund management license to Chang’an Fund Management Company, which becomes the fifth organisation to receive such a license since the beginning of the year, and the 67th since the CSRC began to issue licenses of this type. Chang’an has capital of CNY100m, Z-Ben Advisors states.The shareholders in the asset management firm are Xi’an International Trust, with a 49% stake, the apparel manufacturer Metersbonwe, with 33%, and China Southern Industries, with the remaining 18%. The latter company has also since last month held a 10% stake in the largest fund management firm in the country, China AMC.