Selon L’Agefi suisse, Mark K. Idriss, 46 ans, a rejoint Deutsche Bank (Switzerland) le 1er septembre en tant que chef du Private Wealth Management (PWM) dans la région du Golfe. Basé en Suisse, il sera responsable des services de gestion de patrimoine privé pour le Bahreïn, Qatar, Oman, l’Arabie saoudite et les Émirats arabes unis. Mark K. Idriss opérera sous la direction de Hans-Jürgen Koch, membre du conseil de Deutsche Bank (Switzerland).

Crée en 2006, Bats, qui est devenue la troisième plate-forme boursière américaine, envisage une introduction en bourse, rapporte l’Agefi. Une IPO partielle est évoquée, qui ne léserait pas ses actionnaires actuels, dans les deux ans. Sur le Vieux Continent, Bats Europe, basée à Londres et lancée en octobre 2008, ne détient aujourd’hui qu’entre 4 et 5% de part de marché. Selon Bloomberg repris par l’Agefi, et qui cite deux sources anonymes, Bats serait le mystérieux prétendant à la reprise de Chi-X, son principal concurrent «alternatif» sur les marchés européens. Le PDG de Bats n’a pas souhaité faire de commentaires sur les rumeurs de fusions. La plate-forme envisage également de se lancer sur un nouveau marché de croissance par an. Le Canada, le Brésil, l’Australie, le Japon, Singapour et la Chine se présentent comme potentielles cibles pour de futurs lancements.

Sur les douze mois à fin juin, le résultat imposable du britannique Hargreaves Lansdown a progressé de 18% à 86,3 millions de livres, contre 73,1 millions pour l’exercice précédent.La collecte nette s’est accrue de 65% sur la période à 3,3 milliards de livres. Les actifs sous administration ont augmenté de 47% à 17,5 milliards de livres.

Avec l’acquisition des activités de multigestion de Royal Bank of Scotland en début d’année, Aberdeen Asset Management a mis un pied dans l’alternatif, via des fonds de hedge funds. Pour Martin Gilbert, CEO de la société de gestion écossaise, c’est une bonne chose, car les investisseurs réclament ce type de gestion. Néanmoins, il affirme qu’Aberdeen n’a pas vocation à faire de la gestion alternative directe, «car cela ne collerait pas avec notre culture et notre système de rémunérations basés sur l’esprit d'équipe». En effet, Aberdeen AM a favorisé la gestion en équipes, un modèle auquel les investisseurs institutionnels sont plus sensibles, au détriment des gérants «stars», plus prisés par la clientèle de particuliers. S’agissant des acquisitions, Martin Gilbert, qui était de passage à Paris mercredi, a confirmé qu’il faisait une pause pour le moment, après une période assez intense. «Nous avons une taille suffisamment importante - 200,9 milliards d’euros – et nous sommes présents sur toutes les classes d’actifs où nous souhaitons être», justifie-t-il. Cette attitude moins offensive est aussi dictée par l’environnement réglementaire qui a beaucoup changé ces derniers temps, ajoute-t-il. Ainsi, en obligeant les sociétés de gestion à être mieux capitalisées, les régulateurs limitent leur capacité d’action. «Aujourd’hui, pour la première fois depuis longtemps, nous n’avons pas de dette bancaire», indique Martin Gilbert. Le CEO d’Aberdeen a donc aussi renoncé à une acquisition aux Etats-Unis, qui était l’un de ses projets il y a encore quelques années. Mais il estime aujourd’hui qu’Aberdeen a surtout besoin de renforcer ses capacités en matière de distribution outre-Atlantique, et non sa gestion. D’autant que la société estime avoir déjà tout ce dont les investisseurs américains ont besoin : des actions internationales et des marchés émergents…

Gervais Williams, responsable des petites entreprises britanniques chez Gartmore - via les trusts Gartmore Fledgling, Growth Opportunities, Irish Growth investment et le Gartmore UK & Irish Smaller Companies Oeic - a quitté l’entreprise, a annoncé, mercredi 1er septembre, le site fundstrategy. Le partant est remplacé par Adam McConkey .

Selon Citywire, Martin Currie a démenti des rumeurs de marché selon lesquelles il aurait été intéressé par une prise de participation dans Gartmore. Le Financial Times avait fait état de ces rumeurs dans son édition du 1er septembre, indiquant que le capital investisseur Hellman and Firedman souhaitait se délester de sa participation de 24,3% dans Gartmore et que Martin Currie et Nepture avaient marqué leur intérêt.Citywire ajoute que Neptune n’a fait aucun commentaire sur ces informations mais des sources proches de la société suggèrent que Neptune n’est pas non plus intéressé. Gartmore a indiqué le mois dernier que ses actifs sous gestion se sont contractés à 19,9 milliards de livres sur les six premiers mois de l’année contre 22,2 milliards de livres à fin décembre 2009. Parallèlement à la suspension (mars) et au départ subséquent (15 juillet) de Guillaume Rambourg, la décollecte s’est élevée au premier semestre à 1,65 milliard de livres.

A l’issue de l’assemblée générale extraordinaire de mercredi matin qui a voté à 91,3 % en faveur de l’acquisition de GLG Partners, Man Group Plc a annoncé la nomination d’Emmanuel (Manny) Roman au poste nouvellement créé de chief operating officer, une fois que l’acquisition aura été bouclée. Il demeurera aussi co-CEO de GLG partners avec Noam Gottesman. Pierre Lagrange restera senior managing director de GLG, chargé de l’investissement et de la stratégie long/short equity européenne. Noam Gottesman sera responsable de la stratégie global opportunity de GLG. Les trois hommes seront subordonnés à Peter Clarke, CEO de Man.

F&C Asset Management a annoncé mercredi soir avoir bouclé l’acquisition de Thames River Capital.Première conséquence de cette opération, Charlie Porter, fondateur et directeur général de Thames River, a été nommé au comité exécutif de la société de gestion britannique, avec des responsabilités pour l’activité de fonds retail et wholesale pour F&C.Dans le groupe issu de la fusion, Thames River va se concentrer sur la distribution aux conseillers financiers et aux gestionnaires de fortune, tandis que F&C va se focaliser sur la distribution institutionnelle, précise un communiqué de presse diffusé mercredi.Jeremy Charles, chief operating officer de Thames River, rejoint lui aussi le comité exécutif de F&C avec effet immédiat. Il conserve ses fonctions actuelles mais sera désormais aussi chargé de mettre en place les changements au business model du nouveau groupe, avec pour ambition de créer une plus grande souplesse dans la structure de coûts et d’améliorer l’efficience. Il sera à ce titre directement subordonné à Alain Grisay, le directeur général de F&C.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) a annoncé avoir recruté Christine Johnson, gérante obligataire senior chez Halbis Capital Management (groupe HSBC). Elle collaborera avec Stewart Cowley, head of fixed income, sur plusieurs portefeuilles et lui reprendra le Dynamic Bond Fund (30 millions de livres d’encours).D’autre part, OMAM précise avoir recruté en mai Bastian Wagner comme analyste sur le crédit à haut rendement. Il exerçait précédemment des fonctions analogues chez Eaton Vance Management International.

Les positions longues sur le maïs sont au plus haut depuis deux ans, selon les statistiques hebdomadaires de la CFTC

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Le groupe suisse Valartis (banque privée, asset management et banque d’investissement) a annoncé le 31 août un bénéfice net de 7 millions de francs suisses au titre du premier semestre contre 45,5 millions de francs au premier semestre 2009.Les actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient à 6,46 milliards de francs suisses au 30 juin contre 6,37 milliards à fin décembre 2009. La collecte nette du semestre s’est élevée à 202 millions de francs suisses. Valartis prévoit des afflux de fonds supplémentaires dans les prochains mois en raison du recrutement de nouveaux chargés de clientèle en Autriche, au Liechstenstein et en Suisse.

The board of directors at Vontobel will propose to its general shareholders’ meeting on 3 May 2011 to elect CEO Herbert J. Scheidt, 58, as successor to Urs Widmer as chairman of the board of directors of Bank Vontobel AG. Widmer will be completing his term, and will be above the age limit defined by internal company regulations. The new CEO will be named by the board of directors in spring next year. Shares with voting privileges in Vontobel Holding are listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX); the Vontobel family and the Vontobel foundation control the majority of shares and voting rights. As of the end of June 2010, assets at Vontobel totalled about CHF116bn.

The Swiss hedge fund management firm Harcourt Investment Consulting, part of the Vontobel group, has announced that its assets as of the end of June totalled USD4.7bn, which represents an increase of USD200m in first half. Most subscriptions have come from institutional clients. In first half, Harcourt launched a newcits fund, the fund of hedge funds Vonda (CTA and macro). In partnership with AC Investment Management, it also launched Belmont Community Trading, a fund of funds specialised in commodities.

On Tuesday, BNY Mellon Broker-Dealer Services announced the appointment of John Vinci as head of global product management and strategy, and Andrew Demko as business manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Both are newly-created positions, and the new appointees will both report to James Malgieri, CEO of BNY Mellon Broker-Dealer Services. Vinci was previously head of relationship management group in New York, while Demko was head of global sales, a position which he will retain despite his transfer to London.

The independent alternative management firm Olympia Capital Management announced on 31 August that it is taking over management of hedge funds from Sal. Oppenheim (France), including the Altipro range of French-registered FCP funds. The operation was approved by the AMF on 23 August 2010. The chairman of the Olympia group, Laurent Dupeyron, says “this operation contributes to the development strategy of the group, and will enrich our alternative management range. We are glad to be able to integrate these four French-registered funds, among other assets, into our range at a time when our clients are demanding more transparency and regulation. We are also proud to have been chosen as the best candidate to manage these funds in the best interest of clients. We will continue to explore consolidation opportunities of this type when they appear.” As of 30 June this year, assets under management at Olympia Capital Management totalled USD2.2bn.

Union Bancaire Privée’s Asset Management division has announced that it has hired Lawrence Lo as chief executive officer and head of sales for Asia ex Japan. He also takes up a seat on the executive committee of UBP Asset Management. He will be based in Hong Kong and will oversee the development of UBP’s Asian business and focus its sales efforts in «this important growth region», says a press release published on Tuesday. Prior to joining UBP he was chief executive officer of BSI Generali Asia Limited, where he was responsible for developing the company’s wealth-management and asset-management activities in the Far East. Before that he spent fifteen years at BNP Paribas, where he was appointed managing director/regional head of BNP Paribas Asset Management Group and a member of the bank’s executive committee for Asia. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics. Mr Lo’s arrival is further evidence of UBP’s commitment to expanding its presence in emerging markets, which it sees as a key growth area in the coming years.

Recently, Aberdeen Immobilien KAG announced that Roger Weltz, a member of the board of directors, was to depart on 31 August (see Newsmanagers of 30 August). Now, the German real estate fund management firm has announced that the position of global head of research for the Aberdeen group will be centralised in London, and given to Andrew Smith, who was appointed global head of property three months ago (see Newsmanagers of 26 May). He leads a team of about 600 real estate specialists, including 15 analysts in eight European countries (three in Frankfurt), and Singapore. This means, in concrete terms, that the position of head of research for the German affiliate has been eliminated. Thomas Bayerle, who previously held this position, first at DEGI, and then at Aberdeen Immobilien after the acquisition, will be leaving the firm on 31 December. In March, Aberdeen Immobilien also parted ways with Bärbel Schomberg (see Newsmanagers of 2 March), who had been chairman of the executive board, and who was replaced by Michael Determann. The new strong-man of the Aberdeen group for Germany is CEO Hartmut Leser, formerly of Feri Institutional Management. Leser is also a member of the board of directors at Aberdeen Immobilien. Total assets at the Aberdeen group are over EUR200bn, of which about EUR25bn are in real estate funds.

The group of German co-operative banks on Tuesday opened the first German branches of DZ Privatbank in Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart on Tuesday. The institution will, as its name indicates, offer private banking services. It is an affiliate of DZ Bank, the central banking institution for about 1000 co-operative and savings banks (Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken). DZ Privatbank also has locations in Luxembourg, Zurich, and Singapore. The firm aims to eventually have about 200 client advisors in Germany.

The German “green” financial services company versiko on Tuesday announced profits of EUR1.5m in first half, compared with EUR0.46m in January-June 2009. It has also announced that its partnership with BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) will conclude on 31 December. versiko is planning to buy up, and subsequently cancel (at least partly) the ordinary and preferential shares controlled by BNPP IP (which had been acquired by Fortis Investments in 2005), representing 25.12% of its capital. The transaction will be proposed at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 5 October 2010. The acquisition will be at a price not to exceed EUR3.03 per ordinary share and EUR3.23 per type B preferential share; capital will then be reduced. In Luxembourg, versiko controls the asset management firm Ökoworld Lux, which offers exclusively sustainable development investment products.

Sources familiar with the matter say that Volker van Rüth, managing partner at the private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser (EUR20bn in assets) is about to resign, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. He is said to be considering the move due to disagreements with the other managing partner, Michael Schramm, who joined H&A from Berenberg in May 2006.

Only 17% of hedge fund managers say they are optimistic about the evolution of the S&P 500, according to Hedgeweek, based on the most recent Trim Tabs/BarclayHedge survey. About 47% of the 104 hedge fund managers surveyed last week said they were pessimistic about equities, compared with 33% in July.

Carmen Cires, who for the past two and a half years has served as head of institutional clients for the Iberian peninsula at Vontobel Asset Management, has been appointed a product specialist and portfolio analyst for commodities products at the Swiss asset management firm, Funds People reports. Cires moves from Madrid to Zurich from 1 September.

VP Bank has announced group-wide profits for first half of CHF16.1m, down 40% from first half 2009. Profits to be paid out to shareholders are down to CHF14.5m, compared with CHF25m previously. The Liechtenstein business has reported net outflows in first half of CHF300m, compared with CHF1bn one year earlier, meaning that the negative trend observed last year has not quite reversed itself, even though in international wealth management activities, the bank posted net inflows of CHF100m. Assets under management totalled CHF28.4bn as of 30 June, compared with CHF29.5bn as of 31 December 2009. In this difficult context, the bank has already responded with a cost reduction program. But due to the “profound” reversals on the market, the bank has decided to take on a new, lighter structure. From 1 September 2010, Group Executive Management will include only three members, down from five previously: Roger Hartmann, CEO, as chairman; Fredy Vogt, CFO, as head of the Corporate Center, and Jürg Sturzenegger as head of service units in the new Wealth Management Solutions & Services unit. Ernst Näf and Gerhard Häring, who were members of the executive board, will be leaving the VP Bank group. The firm is also planning to launch growth initiatives throughout the group. The heads are planning to extend the client base in key markets (in addition to Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany), and in emerging markets. The teams of advisors in Singapore and Zurich will be added to as planned, and will focus largely on Asia and central and eastern Europe. Expertise in international tax law will also be developed.

Peter Lindgren joined Amundi as deputy general manager for the Nordic region in July, according to IPE.com. He is based in Helsinki. Most recently, he served as managing director of alternative sales at Credit Suisse Asset Management.

The private bank Clariden Leu (Credit Suisse group) has made three recruitments in Singapore, Asian Investor reports. Vincent Wang, previously of Morgan Stanley, is joining the bank as head of treasury and executions for Asia, while Liew Chin Choy, formerly of Merrill Lynch, will be responsible for middle office, and Charles Yeoh, who joins from Deutsche Bank, has been appointed senior portfolio manager.

After four years of construction delays and budget overruns, Citigroup is selling its mortgage on the Viceroy Anguilla hotel complex to the hedge fund management firm Starwood Capital Group at a heavy loss, the Wall Street Journal reports. The debt has a face value of about USD300m, but according to Hubert Hughes, chief minister of Anguilla, Starwood is paying only USD105m for it.

Carmignac Gestion is planning to enter the UK market next year, writes Financial News. The French asset manager will target the retail market via financial advisers.

Le conseil d’administration de la société de gestion britannique Gartmore vient de nommer Robert Kyprianou en tant qu’administrateur indépendant non exécutif, avec effet le 1er septembre. L’intéressé était précédemment CEO d’Axa Framlington jusqu’à son départ à la retraite en septembre 2009. Il avait aussi occupé des postes importants chez Axa Investment Managers et ABN Amro.

The Board of Gartmore Group Limited has announced the appointment of Robert Kyprianou as an independent non-executive director with effect from 1st September 2010. Robert Kyprianou was formerly the CEO of AXA Framlington until his retirement in September 2009. Previous appointments include global head of fixed income, and later deputy CEO and global head of securities at AXA Investment Managers; business head and global head of fixed income at ABN AMRO Asset Management between 1995 and 1999; and director and head of portfolio management at Salomon Brothers Asset Management Ltd between 1990 and 1994.