Il y a environ un an, la société de gestion britannique Jupiter faisait son entrée sur le marché français en nouant un partenariat avec la société de third party marketing Alfi Partners. Un an après, Eric Bonneville, partenaire fondateur, indique avoir levé «plusieurs centaines de millions d’euros» pour le compte du gestionnaire londonien auprès d’investisseurs professionnels. Une tâche qui n’a pas été facile dans un marché frileux à l’égard des actions, la classe d’actifs privilégiée de Jupiter. «Nous avons principalement bénéficié d’arbitrages, notamment de la part de la multigestion», explique Eric Bonneville, qui précise que ce sont les actions européennes qui ont été les plus prisées, notamment dans le cadre du fonds European Growth géré par Alexander FC Darwall qui a progressé de 26,84 % en 2010. Le fonds New Europe, sur l’Europe centrale et orientale, et le Global Convertible, sur les actions convertibles mondiales, ont aussi suscité l’intérêt des investisseurs, selon Eric Bonneville. Ces produits font partie de la sicav luxembourgeoise qui a été créée en 2001 pour permettre à Jupiter de se développer en Europe continentale. Cette sicav a d’ailleurs vu ses encours passer de 700 millions d’euros à 1,3 milliard d’euros, alors que les encours totaux ont progressé de 23 milliards fin 2009 à 28,4 milliards d’euros au 31 décembre 2010.En 2011, Alfi Partners espère que les investisseurs se dirigeront un peu plus vers les actions, ce qui bénéficierait à Jupiter. Le TPM travaille aussi avec la société de gestion américaine indépendante Brown Advisory et espère nouer de nouveaux partenariats prochainement afin d’élargir la gamme de produits à sa disposition.

Avec l’acquisition de Gartmore, Henderson Global Investors (HGI) pourrait devenir le numéro un des gérants long/short sur les actions japonaises, rapporte Asian Investor qui cite des propos tenus par Alexander Henderson, managing director de HGI. Alexander Henderson n’a toutefois pas précisé la taille post-fusion de l'équipe d’investissement au Japon, les détails du rapprochement étant encore en négociation avec les actionnaires. Gartmore dispose à Tokyo de deux gérants de portefeuille et de trois analystes. L’acquisition de Gartmore pourrait également permettre de renforcer le portefeuille des stratégies de performance absolue à plus de 6 milliards de livres. Bon nombre de ces stratégies impliquent l'équipe d’investissement japonaise. L’intégration de Gartmore devrait être bouclée d’ici à la fin du printemps.

BlackRock vient de recruter Lavin Mok en qualité de responsable des ventes pour Hong Kong et Singapour, rapporte Asian Investor. Un poste nouvellement créé qui marque la volonté du groupe de proposer davantage de produits thématiques sur l’Asie.Lavin Mok travaillait précédemment chez Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram) qu’il avait rejoint en mars 2010. Interrogé sur son départ d’Edram moins d’un an après son arrivée, Lavi Mok a indiqué en substance qu’une proposition de BlackRock ne se refuse pas.

Le 764ème ETF coté sur le segment XTF de la plate-forme électronique Xetra de la Deutsche Börse est le db x-trackers S&P 500 (EUR) ETF (LU0490619193), qui réplique le S&P 500 Total Return Net Index. Ce fonds est couvert du risque de change sur la parité euro/dollar. Le taux de frais sur encours se situe à 0,30 %.

Le 21 janvier, UBS Global Asset Management a fait enregistrer par la CNMV le compartiment Global Equities UBS (Lux) Islamic Fund (LU0108058487), un produit de 30-60 lignes qui a été lancé le 19 mai 2000 et dont l’encours se situait fin décembre à 33,27 millions de dollars. L’indice de référence est le Dow Jones Islamic Market 100 Titans.La performance annuelle moyenne sur les cinq dernières années a été de 2,18 % en dollars ; en euros, le fonds a perdu en moyenne 0,42 %.

Le gestionnaire britannique Nemesis Asset Management, contrôlé à 100 % par le CEO et gérant principal Pier Alberto Furno, a fait enregistrer le 21 janvier cinq de ses fonds auprès de la CNMV, le régulateur espagnol. Il s’agit des fonds Nemesis Credit Opportunities, European Value, Global Value, Inflation et USA Value.Ces produits seront commercialisés en Espagne par MCH Investment Strategies, Agencia de Valores, S.A., qui a été créée en juin 2010 par Tasio del Castaño et Alejandro Sarrate avec les associés de MCH Private Equity et qui a déjà signé des accords de distribution pour l’Espagne avec Ferox Capital, Fulcrum Asset Management et Odey Asset Management. Sa cible est la clientèle institutionnelle en Espagne et au Portugal.

La société de gestion italienne Azimut, qui gère 14 milliards d’euros d’encours, compte s’implanter en Asie, rapporte Il Sole – 24 Ore. Son pôle asiatique sera opérationnel d’ici à la fin de l’année.La société attend pour l’instant les autorisations nécessaires pour lancer sa nouvelle activité. En Chine, le groupe transférera trois de ses gérants basés au Luxembourg, qui rejoindront quatre associés locaux pour un investissement total estimé à une dizaine millions d’euros.Les projets d’expansion d’Azimut ne s’arrêtent pas à l’Asie : «nous voulons avoir des gérants pas uniquement en Europe mais dans le monde entier. D’ici à quatre ans, un salarié sur trois travaillera à l’étranger», indique Pietro Giuliani, numéro un d’Azimut. La société regarde principalement le Brésil et la Turquie.Enfin, la société pourrait réaliser des acquisitions et a d’ailleurs des contacts avec une société dans un pays proche de l’Italie.

La société de capital investissement UEO - UNEXO, filiale du groupe Crédit Agricole, a annoncé, lundi 24 janvier, la nomination de Véronique Flachaire à la présidence de l’entreprise. Elle succède à Yves Nanquette récemment nommé à la direction générale de LCL. Véronique Flachaire occupait depuis 2009 la fonction de directeur général de la caisse régionale de Crédit Agricole de Charente-Maritime Deux-Sèvres.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a été mandatée par Allianz Global Investor Investments Europe (AllianzGI IE) en France et en Italie. AllianzGI IE est la plateforme européenne du groupe Allianz qui offre des solutions d’investissement sur mesure à une clientèle européenne d’institutionnels et de particuliers. En France, AllianzGI IE a renouvelé son accord avec SGSS pour les services de banque dépositaire qu’elle lui fournit depuis 2003. En Italie, AllianzGI IE a retenu l’offre de SGSS S.p.A. pour les services de banque dépositaire, d’administration de fonds et d’agent de transfert pour l’ensemble de sa gamme d’OPCVM. Ce mandat, qui est sujet à l’accord du régulateur, représente plus de 60 fonds et 9 milliards d’euros d’actifs.

Désormais, le Franklin World Perspectives Fund de Franklin Templeton, lancé le 14 octobre 2008 (44,3 millions de dollars d’encours au 21 janvier 2011) sera commercialisé sur le marché américain, annonce Franklin Templeton Investments. Il s’agit d’un fonds actions qui a très nettement surperformé l’indice de référence (MSCI all country world plus frontier markets) en 2009 (43,2 % contre 35,3 %) et 2010 (14,8 % contre 13,3 %) et qui est géré par le tandem Stephen Dover/Purav Jhaveri. Les «sous-conseillers» de ce fonds sont les équipes locales de gestion de Franklin Templeton au Brésil, au Japon, en Inde et en Corée du Sud, ainsi que les dirigeants des équipes américaine, canadienne et européennes du Franklin Equity Group. Le fonds met en œuvre une allocation régionale interactive.

Paulson & Co a indiqué à ses clients qu’il avait engrangé plus de 1 milliard de dollars grâce à sa participation dans Citigroup ces 18 derniers mois. «Citigroup a gagné 43 % en 2010 et a été notre position bancaire la plus rentable», a affirmé la société de hedge funds dans une lettre aux investisseurs du fonds Advantage. Paulson s’attend à ce que la croissance américaine s’accélère cette année.

Le FRR lance ce jour un appel d’offres pour sélectionner de nouveaux gestionnaires de mandats investis en actions des pays développés (gestion passive). Pour ce marché, la procédure de marché public retenue est celle d’un appel d’offres restreint composé de 2 lots : Lot 1: actions des pays développés-indices standards Lot 2: actions des pays développés-indices optimisés

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the week to 19 January, investors steered clear of US municipal bond funds, while European bonds were also not on the agenda due to the government debt crises still raging there, according to the most recent statistics from EPFR Global. The week to 19 January ended with outflows of USD1.7bn.Outflows from US municipal bond funds totalled a record USD3.6bn. Since 11 November, investors have pulled USD17.6bn out of these funds.Inflows to equities funds, meanwhile, totalled USD10.1bn, of which USD6.9bn went to US equities funds. In other words, it was a sixth consecutive week of inflows for US equities funds, which have attracted USD17.3bn since the beginning of December, largely for large cap funds.Emerging market equities funds had total inflows of USD1.7bn for the week, while money market funds lost a further USD30bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to initial estimates from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) about capital flows towards emerging markets in 2010, presented on Monday, USD908bn in private capital were injected into emerging economies and their markets, of which USD227bn went to China, La Tribune reports. These flows are expected to reach USD960bn in 2011, and USD1.009trn in 2012.As of the end of 2009, emerging market equities accounted for 13% of the MSCI all-country World index, compared with 4.5% in 2003, the newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Lavin Mok as head of sales for Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Investor reports. It is a newly-created position, which marks the group’s desire to offer more Asia-themed products.Mok previously worked at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), where he started in March 2010. When asked about his departure from Edram less than one year after his arrival, Mok said effectively that BlackRock had made him an offer he could not refuse.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } About one year ago, the British asset management firm Jupiter entered the French market, with a partnership with the third party marketing firm Alfi Partners. One year later, Eric Bonneville, founding partner, says that “hundreds of millions of euros” have been raised for the London management firm from professional investors. This was no easy task in a market which is highly cautious of equities, Jupiter’s privileged asset class. “We largely benefited from arbitrages, particularly in multi-management,” explains Bonneville, adding that European equities were the most popular destination for investments, particularly the European Growth fund, managed by Alexander FC Darwall, which gained 26.84% in 2010. The New Europe fund, focused on central and eastern Europe, and the Global Convertible fund of global convertible equities were also popular with investors, Bonneville says. The products are part of the Luxembourg Sicav founded in 2001 in order to allow Jupiter to develop in continental Europe. The Sicav saw an increase in its assets from EUR700m to EUR1.3bn last year, while total assets have risen from EUR23bn at the end of 2009 to EUR28.4bn as of 31 December 2010. In 2011, Alfi Partners is hoping that investors will move a little more towards equities, which would work to Jupiter’s advantage. The TPM provider also works with the US independent management firm Brown Advisory, and is hoping to sign new partnerships in the near future in order to extend the range of funds it makes available.

At a press conference held on Monday, 24 January in Paris, Edouard Carmignac, chairman of the eponymous asset management firm, discussed the objectives for his management firm in 2011. As Eric Helderlé had told Newsmanagers a few days ago (see interview dated 20 January 2011), the release of a new fund, the Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine, will take place in the coming quarter – a rare occasion, says Carmignac, as the youngest fund currently in the firm’s range was launched in 2007.The new Luxembourg fund will invest in emerging markets, half in fixed income products and the other half in equities. The fixed income product portion, which will be managed by Charles Zerah, who joined the firm in October 2010. The other portion of the portfolio will be managed by Simon Pickard, and will be composed of shares in emerging market businesses, but may be hedged in times of turbulence.Carmignac Gestion aims the product at some clients in particular. “This fund may be especially suitable for investors who would like to invest in emerging markets, but who are not prepared to confront the volatility,” he explains. In an interview with Newsmanagers, Helderlé, CEO, and Carmignac say they are sure that the new fund will not cannibalise any of the other products in the range, including the Carmignac Patrimoine fund, which weighs in at nearly EUR28bn currently. Helderlé notes that the fund may very well form the lynchpin of a Carmignac product range in Asia, where the firm already has a representative office in Singapore, and where the firm is hoping to build a presence in the next three to four years.Carmignac has also confirmed the opening of a representative office in the United Kingdom, which will have three employees, and which will target independent financial advisers (IFAs) as well as pension funds.As of the end of 2010, assets at Carmignac Gestion totalled about EUR55bn, compared with EUR33bn as of 31 December 2009, with inflows of EUR16bn last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the asset management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January Allianz Global Investors made an implicit reply to the consumer defence association Stiftung Warentest (see Newsmanagers of 6 January 2011), with the announcement that its open-ended funds would not invest in businesses which are involved in the production of cluster bombs or land mines. In addition, the management firm has put in place the necessary procedures to avoid any investment in businesses of this type. For this, AGI Europe has set up a blacklist of businesses off limits to its open-ended funds. The list is updated regularly, to include the most recent information available on the subject.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } The CFA Institute on 24 January published a new study of questions related to market transparency and the workings of fair competition in the fragmented European equities trading markets. The study was released as part of a consultation over the MiFID directive to regulate markets for financial instruments, which runs until 2 February 2011, and at a time when the market is increasingly fragmenting.The study (http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/ccb.v2011.n3.1), which reviews the structure of European equities markets as well as the regulatory framework applicable to the various types of trading platforms (bilateral and multilateral), concentrates its analysis on the need for transparency on each platform. The report also empirically demonstrates a correlation between high levels of transparency and low trading spreads, a sign that investors would have a lot to gain from increased transparency in trading.The study also estimates that the quality and unity of post-transaction information could be improved, for example, by shortening the deadlines for the publication of information about transactions, as recommended by the CESR, and by setting up a consolidated tape system to collect market data.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The independent asset management firm Altira Group on 24 January announced that it has recruited the Swiss Jens Schleuniger, who was manager of the DWS Invest Afrika fund (EUR340m). Schleuniger was also manager of the DWS GO Frontier Markets fund, and co-manager of the DWS Türkei.With the future African equities fund, Altira would be adding to a range which already includes a private equity fund, African Development Corporation, founded in 2007. In addition, Schleuniger may collaborate with experts in commodities and shares in commodity businesses at the group, who manage EUR110m in assets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oliver Morath, CEO of Baring Asset Management Deutschland, has been appointed head of Europe & MENA, effective immediately. He will continue to be based in Frankfurt, and will report to George Harvey, head of sales, client service & business development.His successor as head of sales at Barings Germany will be Howard Luder, who was previously director of business development, asset servicing, Germany, at RBC Dexia.Barings has also created positions for a head of Switzerland and a head of Northern Europe; the appointments will be made at a later date.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian sset management firm Azimut, which manages EUR14bn in assets, is planning to enter Asia, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Its Asian unit will be operational by the end of the year. The management firm is currently awaiting the necessary licenses to open its new activities. The group will transfer three of its managers currently based in Luxembourg to China, where they will join four local partners. Azimut’s plans for expansion don’t stop in Asia: “we would like to have managers not only in Europe but throughout the world. In four years, one employee our of three will be working abroad,” says Pietro Guiliani, head of Azimut. The firm is primarily looking at Brazil and Turkey. The firm may also make acquisitions, and in this connection, it is in contact with a company in a country close to Italy.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British governance research and proxy voting firm Manifest Information Services is planning to enter the US market, Responsible Investor reports.The US partner of Manifest, Proxy Governance International (PGI), pulled out of the market last year. Sarah Wilson, chief executive at Manifest, says that the sales of its North American product range will begin in the near future.The move takes the firm into a rapidly-growing market, where new SEC rules on proxy voting are under debate, and the field is in the process of a transformation. In addition to the withdrawal of PGI, the index provider MSCI has taken control of the largest player in this segment, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), as a part of its acquisition of RiskMetrics last year, while the Corporate Library and eGovernanceMetrics International announced their merger last July.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British management firm Nemesis Asset Management, which is 100% controlled by its CEO and principal fund manager Pier Alberto Furno, on 21 January registered five of its funds with the CNMV. They are the Nemesis Credit Opportunities, European Value, Global Value, Inflation, and USA Value.The products are on sale in Spain from MCH Investment Strategies, Agencia de Valores, S.A., which was founded in June 2010 by Tasio del Castaño and Alejandro Sarrate with partners from MCH Private Equity, and which has already signed distribution agreements for Spain with Ferox Capital, Fulcrum Asset Management and Odey Asset Management. It targets institutional clients in Spain and Portugal.

Paulson & Co has made more than USD1bn from its stake in Citigroup over the past 18 months. “Citigroup gained 43 per cent in 2010 and was our most profitable bank position,” the USD36bn hedge fund manager said in a letter sent to investors in his Advantage fund. Paulson & Co expects US growth to accelerate this year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon Asset Management on Monday, 24 January, announced the launch in France of the BNY Mellon Evolution Global Strategic Bond Fund, a sub-fund of the Sicav BNY Mellon Global Funds composed of international bonds, managed flexibly. The product’s management is overseen by David Leduc, chief investment officer, at Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC, one of the boutiques from BNY Mellon Asset Management, specialised in bond management.The fund will seek to generate positive returns over a complete investment cycle, by investing in a wide range of sectors, particularly government bonds from developed and emerging countries, inflation-linked bonds, investment grade corporate bonds, high yield bonds, and currencies. In addition to this, there will be active management of duration via derivative products, in order to create value in period of rising bond yields.CharacteristicsISIN code: EUR (A) shares: IE00B4Z6HQ53; EUR © shares: IE00B4Z6LN01Management fees: A shares: 1.40%; C shares: 0.75%Minimal subscription: A shares : EUR5,000; C shares: EUR5m

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor AM announced on Monday, 24 January that it has launched two ETFs, one of high yield bonds in euros, and one of emerging markets government debt in US dollars, on 20 January. The two products are listed on Euronext Paris and the London Stock Exchange. The Lyxor ETF iBoxx € Liquid High Yield 30 replicates the evolution of the Markit iBoxx EUR Liquid High Yield 30 index, composed of 30 high yield corporate bonds denominated in euros. The Lyxor ETF iBoxx $ Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns replicates the Markit iBoxx $ Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns index, which represents bonds issued in US dollars from governments whose revenues are considered low to moderate by the World Bank.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January, Pimco Source launched its first two Irish-registered ETFs, which are listed exclusively in Frankfurt on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse. These include the PIMCO European Advantage Government Bond Index Source ETF (IE00B5VJLZ27), which charges 0.30%. It replicates the PIMCO European Advantage Government Bond Index, which is weighted according to GDPs, so as not to give excessive weight to countries with high levels of debt, as capitalisation-based indices may do.The other new product is the PIMCO EUR Enhanced Short Maturity Source ETF (IE00B5ZR2157), which is actively managed, and whose benchmark is the Eonia index. This product charges 0.35%, and is aimed at investors who have significant cash positions and who would like to improve performance without losing sight of capital preservation and liquidity. The actively-managed portfolio includes diversified bonds with maturities that may range up to one year.