In the first five months of the year, open-ended securities funds in Germany attracted nearly EUR11.08bn. Of this total, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) took in EUR6.09bn, of which EUR5.6bn went to Pimco Europe. The second-largest inflow went to BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland, whose iShares brand ETF funds drew in EUR3.17bn. ETF promoters have seen significant net inflows, as ComStage (Commerzbank) has attracted EUR565.1m, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has posted net inflows of EUR756.7m, and ETFlab (Deka) has posted net subscriptions of EUR2.26bn. Among the major management firms, the DWS/FB Advisors family (Deutsche Bank) is the only one, aside from AGI, to post net inflows, with EUR810m. Deka (savings banks) and Union Investment (co-operative banks) saw respective net outflows of EUR3.37bn and EUR2.72bn.

The alternative management firm Salus Alpha on Wednesday announced that its Austrian-registered UCITS-compliant fund Salus Alpha RN Special Situations (see Newsmanagers of 22 February) has been approved by BaFin for sales in Germany, and that it has attracted USD25m since its launch on 22 March, when it already had USD20m in assets. Its performance comes in at 2.85%.

Jürgen Rauhaus, head of investments at Pioneer Investments Deutschland, has announced that the affiliate of UniCredit will on 26 July launch its first ecological and sustainable development balanced fund, the Pioneer Investments Balanced Ecology. The German-registered product is managed by Johannes Sienknecht and Reinhard Stork. It excludes in advance any shares in companies in the areas of alcohol, nuclear energy, gambling, pornography, arms and tobacco, as well as companies which admit to environmental damage, falsification of the balance sheet, or corruption. However, the portfolio will invest in shares in companies which respect high ecological and sustainable development standards. For bonds, the fund will not invest in securities from governments which possess nuclear weapons or which breach human rights. Maximal allocation to equities will be 50%, while exposure to bonds may total 100%. Preselection of securities will be entrusted to oekom research, and the portfolio will include 30 to 50 equities and 20-30 bond positions.CharacteristicsName: Pioneer Investments Balanced Ecology A EUR DAISIN: DE000A0RL2G4Front-end fee: 4%Management commission: 1.20%

BNP Paribas Wealth Management on 7 July announced its decision to develop its organisation, bringing together all private management actors within a single professional unit, Wealth Management, which will be led by Jacques d/Estais, who will also retain his responsibilities as head of the Investment Solutions unit. The firm has also decided ot create a new governance format, to accentuate the transversality of geographical regions and support functions. 5 geographical regions have been defined: Asia-Pacific, Euro Domestic Markets and New Domestic Markets, International Europe (including the Middle East and Latin America), and Luxembourg. These regions will be led by Mignonne Cheng, Marie-Claire Capobianco for all domestic markets, Pascal Boris and Patrice Crochet. 3 transversal functions will aim to develop these regions: Products & Services, led by Olivier Maugarny; an UGNWI )ultra high net worth individuals) expert unit, which has recently been created, and whose organisation will be announced subsequently; and a COO unit, which will include the professional functions overseen by Vincent Lecomte. Cheng, Capobianco, Boris, Crochet, Maugarny and Lecomte will join d’Estais as members of the Executive Board of BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

Following the completion of the acquisition of PNC Global Investment Servicing, BNY Mellon has announced the creation of a new GFI (global financial institutions) group, which will concentrate on banking, mutual fund and insurance clients. The unit will be directed by Nadine Chakar, previously head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Steve Wynne, previously CEO of PNC Global Investment Servicing, becomes CEO of US fund services (mutual funds, closed funds, ETFs).

Palatine Asset Management, the asset management entity from Banque Palatine, the business and wealth management bank of the BPCE group, in collaboration with C&M Finances, an independent management firm, on 7 July announced the launch of the FCP Export Europe Palatine, the first French-registered common investment fund (FCP) dedicated exclusively to European exporters. The objective is to profit from the performance of European, Euro zone businesses which are exposed to markets in which currencies are being revalued. The businesses the fund invests in export to the United States, Japan, China, and the major emerging markets. In the course of first half 2010, the currencies of these countries (dollar, yen, Yuan, Indian Rupee, Brazilian Real, Mexican Peso and others) have been revalued by an averge of 15%. Currently, the exposure of European publicly-traded groups to emerging markets alone, which are undergoing very strong economic growth, is 25%. Companies in the Exposure Europe Palatine fund will thus fully profit from the attractiveness of the Euro. The FCP Export Europe Palatine is currently concentrated on industrial shares and consumer goods, and excludes the following sectors completely: finance, banking, insurance, telecommunications, oil, and gas. Characteristics ISIN: FR0010915181 Legal format: French-registered FCP fund eligible for PEA AMF classification: Equities from within the European community Date of creation: July 2010 Benchmark index: Stoxx Europe 50 Valuation: Daily Management fees: 1.20% TTC max +10% outperformance of the benchmark index with dividends reinvested +3% Front-end fee: 2.00% maximum Exit fees: none Allocation of results: Capitalisation Minimal recommended investment duration: 5 years Subscriptiond and redemptions: Centralised daily before 11 am at Banque Palatine, and executed on the basis of the next daily net asset value

Acropole Asset Management on 7 July announced the launch of its first themed fund, Acropole Euro Convert’i, which will aim to profit from rising equities markets, without exposing itself to risk of rising interest rates. Acropole will also offer the Acropole Mix Income fund for higher yields. Acropole Euro Convert’i and Acropole Mix Income will be launched on 8 and 13 July, respectively. The strategy adopted for Acropole Euro Convert’i will be to construct a European convertible bond portfolio, which will privilege shares and sectors which are particularly highly correlated to inflation, with currency risks hedged at launch (with sensitivity of 0 to 2). As part of its conviction-based management, Acropole Asset Management has chosen the following themes: minerals, commodities, agriculture, real estate and realty assets, and pricing power.

Last week, BlackRock lowered the management commission for its iShares Comex Gold Trust ETF (acronym IAU) be more than one third, to 0.25%. The fund has assets of only USD3.3bn, though it is nearly identical to the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund from State Street, which has USD50.6bn, and charges a management commission of 0.40%, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to specialists, the new range from BlackRock is highly attractive, but those who make frequent trades and who already have shares in SPDR would probably do best, for tax reasons among others, to stay put. However, the new range from BlackRock is priced more attractively than the ETF Securities offering, with the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL), with USD587m, which charges 0.39%.

Selon le Crédit Agricole, la demande étrangère sera le principal moteur d’une croissance faible. L’automobile capitalisera sur un bon début d’année

La parité entre les volatilités implicite et historique offre des opportunités d’achats à bon compte

Le nombre de positions vendeuses de contrats à terme non commerciaux sur l’euro s’élevait le 29 juin, en net, à 73.670, contre un pic de 113.890 à la mi-mai

Selon Immostat-IPD, les investissements en Ile-de-France sont en forte hausse au second trimestre 2010 par rapport à 2009, mais loin de 2007

L’américain Incapital, spécialiste des financements structurés et de l’obligataire, a annoncé le 5 juillet l’acquisition du spécialiste britannique de l’investissement structuré Blue Sky Asset Management.Blue Sky sera intégré dans la structure d’Incapital basé au Royaume-Uni, Incapital Europe, qui devrait annoncer des initiatives au Royaume-Uni mais également en Europe continentale. L’alliance stratégique de Blue Sky avec le spécialiste de la recherche Redtower Asset Management est maintenue en l'état, souligne Incapital dans un communiqué.

Selon Financial News, Tom Sargeant, director of international product development chez Tudor Europe, la filiale londonienne de la société de hedge fund américaine créée par Paul Tudor Jones, quitte la société pour rejoindre, à compter du mois prochain, Sankaty Advisors (Groupe Bain Capital) en tant que head of European investor relations, selon des sources proches du dossier citées par Financial News.

Selon Hedge Week, le britannique Oakley Alternative Investment Management renforce ses équipes londoniennes avec la nomination de Fabio Cortes en qualité de responsable de la macro du fonds de hedge funds Oakley Absolute Return. Fabio Cortes travaillera avec Nick Hannan, chief investment officer, et Teun Johnston, responsable des investissements.Fabio Cortes travaillait précédemment chez Amundi AI SAS en tant que managing director.

Depuis le 5 juillet, Ramsay Urquhart a rejoint Scottish Widows Investment Partners (SWIP) comme finance director ; il est directement subordonné à Dean Buckley, managing director. Depuis septembre 2006, l’impétrant était head of investment operations chez Barclays Wealth. Auparavant, il avait passé 14 ans chez ING, en dernier lieu comme global head of financial markets operations.

Sanlam Investment Management commence à commercialiser en Europe un fonds coordonné de droit irlandais, le Sanlam African Frontier Markets fund, un produit de droit irlandais qui a été lancé en janvier 2009 et dont les parts sont libellées en livres ou en dollars. Le portefeuille géré par Eric Kibe est très concentré sur des titres très sous-évalués sans se préoccuper de reproduire un indice. Il s’agit d’actions de pays sub-sahariens hors Afrique du Sud. La souscription minimale est fixée à 1.000 livres.

Au 30 juin, Dominik Kremer a officiellement quitté son poste de directeur général de Pioneer Investments KAG (lire notre dépêche du 25 mai) où il était aussi responsable de la distribution institutionnelle pour l’Italie, l’Autriche, l’Allemagne ainsi que l’Europe centrale et orientale : mardi, Threaneedle annonçait sa nomination comme head of European distribution.Il rejoindra le gestionnaire britannique le 19 juillet et sera subordonné à l’australien Campbell Fleming, head of distribution depuis moins d’un an (lire notre dépêche du 9 octobre 2009).

Mardi, l’Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) a annoncé la nomination de Larry Morgenthal en qualité de chief executive officer (CEO) d’UBP Asset Management, la branche Etats-Unis du Groupe UBP. Il sera également chief investment officer de cette filiale «alternative».Larry Morgenthal dirigera les activités de gestion alternative récemment renforcées au sein de la plate-forme de fonds de hedge funds de l’UBP, dont les équipes de gestion du risque et d’investissement n’ont cessé de s’étoffer depuis 2009. L’UBP investit dans les hedge funds depuis 1972 et propose une gamme complète de produits et de services allant des recommandations sur mesure aux fonds de fonds.Larry Morgenthal a été managing partner d’Opus Capital Group et COO, puis CEO, chez Ivy Asset Management (groupe BNY Mellon Asset Manage).

Director of relationship management chez RBC Dexia à Luxembourg, où il était chargé plus spécialement des grands clients «multi-marchés», Marco Siero a été nommé directeur général du bureau de RBC Dexia en Suisse, à Zurich. Il est subordonné à Simon Shapland, head, sales & distribution, Continental Europe.

La société de gestion alternative basée à New York Galtere se développe à l’international avec la création d’une antenne européenne. Galtere, qui gère un peu plus de 1 milliard de dollars d’actifs, vient de nommer Werner Schuenemann en qualité de responsable de la nouvelle entité, installée en Suisse, à Zoug.Werner Schuenemann, qui a travaillé précédemment chez Swiss Alpha et Pamplona Capital, assumera en outre les fonctions de responsable international du développement et des relations investisseurs. Sa mission sera de gérer et développer la clientèle institutionnelle de Galtere en Europe, aux Etats-Unis, au Moyen-Orient et en Asie.

Les actions KKR seront introduites sur le New York Stock Exchange le 15 juillet, suite au feu vert donné mardi par le régulateur après que le capital investisseur ait publié les détail sur les participations et la rémunération de ses co-fondateurs Henry Kravis et George Roberts, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.Chacun d’eux possède 13 % du capital, ce qui leur confère ensemble une participation de 1,65 milliard de dollars, KKR valant 6,35 milliards de dollars si l’on se fonde sur le cours des actions KKR qui se négocient en Europe.Henry Kravis et George Roberts ont perçu chacun l’an dernier 22 millions de dollars en numéraire et 250.000 dollars de salaire. KKR gère 54 milliards de dollars d’actifs.

Selon un document préparatoire à l’entrée en Bourse de New York de KKR prévue le 15 juillet, l’Agefi précise que ses fondateurs Henry Kravis et George Roberts possèdent à parts égales 26% du capital du groupe pour une participation valorisée à environ 1,6 milliard de dollars.

Sanlam Investment Management has released an Irish-registered UCITS fund for sale in Europe, entitled Sanlam African Frontier Markets. The product was launched in January 2009, and its shares are denominated in pounds Sterling or US dollars. The portfolio, managed by Eric Kibe, is highly concentrated on undervalued shares, without concerning itself with efforts to reproduce an index. The fund invests in sub-Saharan countries, excluding South Africa. Minimal subscription is set at GBP1,000.

Hedge Week reports that the British management firm Oakley Alternative Investment Management has added to its London-based teams with the appointment of Fabio Corteas as head of macro for the fund of hedge funds Oakley Absolute Return. Cortes will work with Nick Hannan, chief investment officer, and Teun Johnston, chief investment officer. Cortes previously worked at Amundi AI SAS as managing director.

The US-based firm Incapital, a specialist in structured financing and bonds, on 5 July announced the acquisition of the British structured investment specialist Blue Sky Asset Management. Blue Sky will be integrated into the Incapital structure based in the UK, Incapital Europe, which will soon announce initiatives in the UK, as well as in continental Europe. The strategic alliance of Blue Sky with the research specialist Redtower Asset Management will remain in place, Incapital says in a statement.

Financial News reports that Tom Sargeant, director of international product development at Tudor Europe, the London-based affiliate of the US hegde fund firm founded by Paul Tudor Jones, is leaving the firm to join Sankaty Advisors (Bain Capital group) from next month, as head of European investor relations, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the newspaper.

On 5 July, Ramsay Urquhart joined Scottish Widows Investment Partners (SWIP) as finance director; he reports directly to Dean Buckley, managing director. Since September 2006, Urquhart had been head of investment operations at Barclays Wealth. He previously spent 14 years at ING, most recently as head of financial markets operations.

On Monday, Barclays Capital signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Shanghai stock exchange, by the terms of which the investment bank of the Barclays group will become the first licensed provider of global bond indices in China, the Wall Street Journal reports. Currently, according to Waqas Samad, head of index, portfolio and risk solutions at Barclays Cap, the British firm is in talks with several Chinese fund managers who are planning to launch ETFs to invest in foreign bond products using Barclays indices as benchmarks. But the Chinese regulator will still need to license these managers to issue ETF products under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) regime to allow Chinese subscribers to invest in funds based on foreign indices directly in China.

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) is relaunching the Skandia Ethical Fund, and is awarding a GBP74bn mandate to Impax Asset Management, which has been working in the environmental sector since 1998, and whose flagship fund (Impax Environmental Markets) posted returns as of 31 May last year of 67.57%, compared with 31.39% for the MSCI World index. Previously, the fund used a multi-manager approach, with four managers, including JP Morgan, which had a specific mandate to manage most of the fund. The fund also invested in other ethical funds managed by Aviva, Aegon – and Impax. The environmental portion of the Skandia Ethical Fund covers alternative energies, energy efficiency, water, pollution control, and waste management.