La société de gestion américaine Neuberger Berman, qui a annoncé l’ouverture d’un bureau à Paris, vient de recruter Erick Knutzen en tant que directeur des investissements (chief investment officer) pour l’activité multi classes d’actifs, un poste nouvellement créé. L’intéressé vient de NEPC où il était CIO depuis 2008. A ce poste, Erik Knutzen va piloter le processus d’allocation d’actifs à l’échelle de la société et créer du contenu pour les partenariats stratégiques et les solutions multi-classes d’actifs. Il sera associé à la gestion de portefeuille pour un certain nombre de mandats.

BNL-BNP Paribas a recruté trois personnes pour son nouveau réseau italien de conseillers financiers Sviluppo et Promozione Finanziaria, rapporte Bluerating. Il s’agit de Paolo Cecconello, Massimiliano Domizio et Cristiano Gargiulo. Paolo Cecconello devient responsable de la Campanie, des Pouilles et de la Basilicate, tandis que la zone adriatique est confiée à Massimiliano Domizio. Cristiano Gargiulo s’occupera notamment de la gestion des contrats.

Selon Das Investment, qui cite des chiffres de Emolument, le bonus moyen versé à un vice-président d’une société de gestion à Londres est de 42.000 dollars, contre 27.000 dollars à Zurich. Cet écart se retrouve pour d’autres fonctions. Pour le poste de directeur, Londres attribue des montants de 56 % supérieurs que les bonus à Zurich. Pour les managing directors, l'écart est de 13%. La rémunération fixe est en revanche plus élevée en Suisse qu’en Grande-Bretagne. Les analystes basés à Zurich gagnent entre 50 % et 70 % de plus qu'à Londres.

Dans un entretien à Newsmanagers, Lionel Aeschlimann, associé de Mirabaud & Cie, fait le point sur deux années de développement du pôle gestion d’actifs dont il est le responsable. La banque suisse ne compte pas s’arrêter là et prévoit de continuer à étendre le maillage européen de Mirabaud Asset Management et de lancer d’autres produits…

EFG International has nominated two new directors for approval at its annual general meeting, scheduled for 25 April 2014. The proposed new directors are Robert Chiu, non-executive chairman of EFG Bank Asia, and Daniel Zuberbühler, formerly senior financial consultant, at KPMG in Zurich. After more than eight years as a member of the board of EFG International, Hans Niederer is not putting himself forward for re-election at the annual general meeting. The shareholders will individually elect the members of the board of directors, the chairman of the board of directors and the members of the remuneration committee for a one-year term of office.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robert Howell, head of commodigies and manager of the Schroders Alternative Solutions Commodity fund, is leaving the firm, and will be replaced by Geoff Blanning, Investment Week reports. Howell, who joined the firm in 1998 has decided to leave Schroders and the financial services sector.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Millennium Management is continuing its efforts to add to its teams. The hedge fund from Izzy Englander, which has USD21.8bn in assets under management, has recruited Owain Self, former global head of execution services at UBS, eFinancial news reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Self, who left UBS 15 days ago after nearly 15 years there, will join Millenium Management during the year, and will be based in the United States.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firms DoubleDividend B.V. and Activinvestor Management B.V. on 4 April announced that they had decided to merge. The two entities officially merged on 1 April, with total assets under management of EUR50m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Crédit Agricole Private Banking has recently recruited Alberto Ibañez as head of the activity serving institutional clients in Spain, Funds People reports. Ibañez, who has 12 years of experience in the finance sector, previously worked at UBS Wealth Management as director of the financial intermediary relationships department.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish Bankia group has appointed Pablo Hernandez as its new head of sales for its asset management arm, Funds People reports. Hernandez replaces Begoña Hernandez, who will continue her career in the banking group with other responsibilities on the network. Hernandez will now be head of sales for mutual fund and pension funds activities at the Bankia group, and in this role will report directly to Rocio Eguiraun, director of asset management. Hernandez spent most of his professional career at Bankia, where he began in 1998.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investcorp, via its hedge fund activity based in the United States, and Eyck Capital Management, an asset management firm based in London, on 3 April announced that they had signed a strategic alliance which will aim to allow Eyck Capital Management to increase its capital and accelerate its activities, while offering Investcorp and its investors access to event-driven and distressed credit strategies throughout Europe. Eyck Capital, founded in 2013, is the most recent asset management firm to have received the support of Investocorp, which has USD11.3bn in assets under management as of 31 December. Historically, Investcorp has provided seed capital or new money totalling USD50m to USD100m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Threatened with being presented as a systemic risk, large asset management firms are fighting against measures worldwide, the Financial Times reports. In a letter to the Financial Stability Board, BlackRock argues that a leverage “screen” should be the primary tool used to identify which global giants should be subject to tougher regulation.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Large asset management firms may represent a risk to the stability of the financial system, Andrew Haldane, executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England, announced, as cited in the Wall Street Journal. At an asset management conference at the London Business School, he said that several asset manaement firms are so large that “difficulties at an asset management firm may aggravate frictions on the financial markets.” Amond these major risks, he cites the case of a fund in difficulty required to sell assets, which would drive down prices on the market. That could trigger another wave of massive sales, which would amplify the fall.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) on 4 April launched the PCSE ETF on two Indian stock markets, the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asian Investor reports. The ETF includes ten stocks, all of them state companies in the energy, utility and financial services industries, with capital which has been opened to investors to varying extents. GSAM, which acquired the Indian ETF provider Benchmark Mutual Fund in 2011, has raised nearly USD500m for the CPSE ETF, which makes it the largest equity ETF since the launch of the Reliance Natural Resources Fund in 2008. With the launch of the CPS ETF, assets under management in the 24 ETFs available on the Indian market total USD114m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A representative of the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on Friday, 4 April called for a record fine of EUR40m against the investment fund Elliott, for fraud and manipulation of the share price of APRR, Agefi reports. The case dates from 2010, and concerns the Eiffarie consortium, formed by the Eiffage group and the Australian Macquarie, which then controlled 81.48% of capital in the Autoroutes Paris Rhin Rhône, which had been privatised four years earlier. Representatives of the AMF accuse the British fund arm of the fund,Elliott Advisors UK, of sending US partners of Elliott management Corp insider information concerning the prospects of a sale of APRR shares to Eiffage, at a price higher than the market. Representatives of the fund, which has firmly denied any wrongdoing, have found a heavyweight supporter in the reporter to the sanctions commission, who feels that there was no price manipulation.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNP Paribas IP) is adding to its product range. The asset management firm, an affiliate of the eponymous banking group, has launched a new short duration bond fund denominated in renminbi, Citywire global reports. The BNP Paribas Flexi I RMB Short Duration Bond fund is an UCITS vehicle which will be managed by Adeline Ng, head of fixed income for Asia, and her team based in Singapore. At its launch, the fund has received seed capital from BNP Paribas totalling USD100m. It has 30 to 60 investment grade corporate bond positions in its porttfolio, which a high yield of 25%. It will invest both in Chinese domestic and in international companies operating in China. The product, with a three-year duration, aims to offer annual investment of about 4.5%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } M&G Investmetns has registered a further 13 funds in Sweden, almost doubling its range of funds on offer in Sweden to 28, Fondbranschen reports. Swedish clients are showing a large interest in European equities and balanced funds, and we see a growing interest in high yield and bond funds,” says Volker Buschmann, head of retail sales for Northern Europe at the British firm. The list of funds registered in Sweden: • M&G Corporate Bond Fund • M&G Dynamic Allocation Fund • M&G Episode Macro Fund • M&G European Fund (ex UK) • M&G European High Yield Bond Fund • M&G European Index Tracker Fund (ex UK) • M&G European Inflation Linked Corporate Bond Fund • M&G European Smaller Companies Fund • M&G High Yield Corporate Bond Fund • M&G Japan Fund • M&G North American Value Fund • M&G Recovery Fund • M&G UK Growth Fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Asia Asset Management, BlackRock on 7 april announced that it has appointed Ryan Stork as head of the asset management firm for the Asia-Pacific region, effective from 1 June 2014. Stork, who will move from New York to Hong Kong, has worked at BlackRock for 13 years, and has served in several leadership positions, which have allowed him to participate actively in the development of the US firm. The appointment comes as part of a profound reorganization at BlackRock (see elsewhere). Mark McCombe, current head for Asia-Pacific, will move to New York to take up a position as global head of the activity dedicated to institutional clients and chairman of BlackRock Alternative Investors. However, McCombe will temporarily retain his position as president for Asia-Pacific until the end of 2014, in order to ensure a smooth transition.

bfinance has hired Emily Porter-Lynch, as a director, investment advisory. Prior to joining bfinance, Porter-Lynch was a senior investment manager at Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), where she developed the hedge fund capabilities of the UK’s second largest pension scheme and helped oversee a multi-billion dollar allocation to hedge fund strategies. At USS Porter-Lynch was also a member of the Alternative Investment Committee. Prior to joining USS, she was an Investment Director at Key Asset Management, where she worked closely with Dr Chris Jones and Dr Toby Goodworth, now respectively Head of Public Markets & Alternatives and Head of Risk Management at bfinance. Porter-Lynch has 13 years’ experience in hedge funds and has served on numerous industry panels and committees as a thought leader on institutional investing in Alternatives.

The board of directors at BlackRock is preparing a reshuffle which would be the first step in a long-term succession plan for Larry Fink, the founder and CEO of the group, the Financial Times reports today. Fink has been been working to hand off more responsibility to a younger generation of directors below the three top men, being himself, Rob Kapito, chairman, and Charlie Hallac, COO. Rob Goldstein, global head of institutional client activity and BlackRock Solutions, becomes COO, while Richard Kushel, deputy to Hallac, is promoted to chief product officer. The reshuffle was put in place in order to allow Hallac to take time off as he receives treatment for colon cancer.Hallac becomes co-chairman, with responsibility for strategy, talent development and future technologies. Other young directors are promoted, including Mark McCome, Mark Wiedman, Quintin Price and Gary Shedlin, adds the FT.

Neuberger Berman has announced that Erik Knutzen will join the firm as Multi-Asset Class chief investment officer. He joins from NEPC, LLC where he has served as chief investment officer since 2008.In this new role, Erik Knutzen will drive the asset allocation process on a firm-wide level and create related client content for strategic partnerships and multi-asset class solutions while joining in portfolio management on a number of mandates.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Métropole Gestion has recruited Tanja Bender as head of distribution in Germany, Das Investment reports. Bender, who had previously worked at Oppenheim Asset Management Services in Luxembourg, will be responsible for banks, family offices and independent asset management firms. She will report to the head for Germany, Markus Hampel.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNL-BNP Paribas has recruited three people for its new Italian financial adviser network Sviluppo and Promozione Finanziaria, Bluerating reports. They are Paolo Cecconello, Massimiliano Domizio, and Cristiano Gargiulo. Cecconello becomes head of Campania, Puglia and Basilicata, while the Adriatic region is the responsibility of Domizio. Gargiulo will be responsible for contract management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Keith Ney was on 4 April appointed as the single manager of Carmignac Sécurité, a European bond fund which he had co-mnaged with Carlos Galvis since 22 January 2013. As a member of the bond team led by Rose Ouahba, he will retain his current role as head of credit, and will continue to contribute promising investment ideas for the fund range from the Carmignac Gestion group. Ney joined the Carmignac Gestion group 9 years ago as a global equity analyst and portfolio manager, covering the full range of equity and credit capital structures.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Loomis Sayles Emerging Markets Opportunities fund, launched in mid-February for US investors, is now available in UCITS format for European investors, Citywire reports. The fund will be managed by Peter Marber, head of emerging market equity and debt, and David Rolley, who has more than 30 years of experience. The fund invests both in government and corporate debt from emerging markets of Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central Europe and the Middle East, in local or hard currencies.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pioneer Investments has merged its commodity fund Pioneer Funds Gold and Mining into a new fund focused on real assets, the Pioneer Funds Real Asset Target Income, launched in late March, Citywire Global reports. The management of the new fund has been assigned to Alfred Grusch and the multi-asset class specialist Francesco Sandrini.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pressure is rising in Spain on funds with performance objectives. The local regulator, the CNMV, has announced plans to classify these vehicles into the complex product category, Funds People reports. “We are going to classify structured investment products as complex products. This group includes funds which have an objective concerning returns,” Elvira Rodriguez, chairwoman of the CNMV, announced at an award ceremony. This is a blow to the fund, which since the beginning of the year have been doing well, and are at the centre of sales campaigns from several operators. “Until now, these funds were not considered complex products. But with this change, opportunity tests will have to be applied to them for clients who have access to these products,” Rodriguez explains, adding that “the replacement of guaranteed funds with products with return objectives represents a risk, and that is the reason that the Commission wanted to work on this point.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), which has USD1.2trn in assets under management, is resetting its equity investment policy on its domestic market. The pension fund has decided to put in place a wide range of indices in its dedicated strategy (“Indexing Strategy”) both for passive and active investments, the firm announced in a statement on 4 April. Concerning passive investments, in addition to the TOPIX index, three new indices will now be used: JPX-Nikkei 400, MSCI Japan and Russell Nomura Prime. Meanwhile, in the area of active investments, in the «Traditional Active Management» category, GPIF is introducing a new Smart Beta active management category, “an investment approach which aims to capture returns over the mid- and long-term through an indexing strategy,” the pension fund says. Due to the introduction of these new induces, GPIF will start to perform passive and active investments in local real estate via Japanese real estate investment trusts (REIT). As part of the reorganisation, GPIF has selected 14 active and 10 passive managers. In the area of traditional active management, the pension fund will work with the following managers: Eastsping Investments Limited, Invesco AM, Capital International K.K., Seiruy AM, Natixis AM Japan, Nikko AM, FIL Investments (Japan), Mizuho AM, Russell Investments Japan, JP Morgan AM and DIAM (the last two of which already work with GPIF). For active smart beta management, the pension fund has selected three managers: Goldman Sachs AM, Nomura Funds Research and Technologies, and Nomura AM, with whom it had already been working. Lastly, for passive investments, GPIF has selected 5 new managers. DIAM, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation will operate for strategies related to the JPX-Nikei 400 index. Meanwhile, BlackRock Japan has been selected to oversee investments related to the MSCI Japan index, and Mizuho Trust & Banking has been selected for investments related to the Russell Nomura Prime.

Le Premier ministre slovène Alenka Bratusek va solliciter du parlement un vote de confiance après avoir dû renoncer à une hausse prévue de la TVA. Cette mesure avait été imaginée pour pallier le rejet le mois dernier par la Cour constitutionnelle d’une nouvelle taxe immobilière. Mais la Liste civique, l’une des quatre composantes de la majorité gouvernementale, a estimé que ce relèvement risquait de pénaliser l'économie.

Les sociétés de services informatiques Steria et Sopra étudient la possibilité d’un rapprochement entre égaux, a déclaré lundi une source proche du dossier, confirmant des informations de l’agence AFP. Les conseils d’administrations des deux SSII devraient se réunir dans le courant de la journée, a ajouté cette source citée par Reuters. Les deux groupes travailleraient ensemble depuis plus de six mois à ce projet. Leurs actions ont été suspendues lundi matin à la Bourse de Paris à leur demande dans l’attente d’un communiqué, a indiqué Euronext. Steria pèse cependant deux fois moins lourd en Bourse que Sopra, avec une capitalisation de 522 millions d’euros vendredi soir selon les données de Bloomberg contre 1 milliard pour son concurrent.