Le britannique Hargreaves a fait état pour le second semestre 2013 d’une progression de 43% par rapport à fin 2012 de ses actifs sous administration à 43 milliards de livres. La collecte a fait un bond de 70% au second semestre par rapport aux six premiers mois de l’année à 2,8 milliards de livres.Le bénéfice avant impôts a progressé au second semestre de 11% à 104 millions de livres, contre 93,7 millions de livres au second semestre 2012. La société confirme qu’elle distribuera un dividende de 7 pence par action, contre 6,3 pence précédemment.La société a par ailleurs indiqué qu’elle renonçait à la hausse envisagée de la tarification pour les clients utilisant des investment trusts.

Elena Shaftan, spécialiste de l’Europe émergente de Jupiter, va quitter la société. Ses fonds seront confiés à Kathryn Langridge, croit savoir Investment Week. Elena Shaftan travaillait chez Jupiter depuis 2000, gérant les fonds Jupiter Emerging European Opportunities et Jupiter New Europe.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) vient de recruter Emmanuel Archampong en tant que chargé de développement (business development manager) dans l’équipe de distribution institutionnelle. L’intéressé vient de Moody’s Analytics, où il était client relationship manager. Chez RLAM, il développera l’activité de la société dans le secteur de l’assurance.

La société de gestion norvégienne Skagen vient de recruter Knut Gezelius comme gérant de portefeuille dans l’équipe de gestion de Skagen Global, un fonds d’actions monde. L’intéressé, qui arrive le 12 mai, vient de Goldman Sachs où il était directeur exécutif dans l’équipe actions monde de Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) à Londres depuis 2010. En janvier, Skagen avait déjà annoncé l’embauche de Johan Swahn, pour mars 2014, pour le Skagen Global. L’équipe de gestion se compose déjà de Kristian Falnes, Søren Milo Christensen et Chris Tommy Simonsen.

Les grands fonds de pension mondiaux ont le vent en poupe. Selon une étude du cabinet Towers Watson réalisée sur les 13 plus grands marchés (*) des fonds de pension institutionnels, ces derniers ont vu leurs actifs sous gestion augmenter de 9,5 % en 2013 – après une hausse de 6,9 % en 2012 – pour atteindre un niveau record estimé à 31.980 milliards de dollars. Cette nouvelle croissance confirme une tendance de long terme, les encours des fonds de pensions mondiaux ayant enregistré une progression annuelle de 6,7 % en moyenne depuis 2003. Désormais, les actifs gérés par ces fonds de pension représentent autour de 83 % du produit intérieur brut (PIB) mondial, en hausse de 7,6 % par rapport au ratio de 2012 qui ressortait à 75,6 %.A fin 2013, les plus importants marchés de fonds de pension restent les Etats-Unis, le Royaume-Uni et le Japon, qui représentent respectivement 59 %, 10,2 % et 10,1 % des actifs sous gestion globaux, note l’étude de Towers Watson. L’an dernier, ces trois marchés ont connu une croissance de leurs encours respectivement de 12 %, 13,3 % et, enfin, 2,2%. En se concentrant sur les 7 principaux marchés mondiaux – Australie, Canada, Japon, Pays-Bas, Suisse, Royaume-Uni et Etats-Unis – l’étude souligne que l’allocation d’actifs des fonds de pension est majoritairement orientée vers les actions. De fait, en moyenne, les actions représentent 52 % de l’allocation des fonds de pension fin 2013, contre 29 % pour les obligations, 1 % pour le cash et 18 % pour d’autres classes d’actifs (alternatifs, immobilier). Depuis 1995, la part des obligations a fortement chuté, passant de 40 % à 28 %, tandis que celle des actions a progressé de 49 % à 52 %. De même, les classes d’actifs alternatives ont vu leur part dans l’allocation grimper de 5 % en 1995 à 18 % en 2013. (*) Les 13 marchés de fonds de pension étudiés sont l’Australie, le Canada, le Brésil, la France, l’Allemagne, Hong-Kong, l’Irlande, le Japon, les Pays-Bas, l’Afrique du Sud, la Suisse, le Royaume-Uni et les Etats-Unis. Ces marchés représentent plus de 85 % des actifs mondiaux des fonds de pension.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Peter Saunders, who had been head of France, Benelux and Switzerland at ETF Securities, has joined Pergam Finance, his LinkedIn profile indicates. Saunders becomes executive director of the entrepreneurial, independent asset management firm founded in 2001 by Olivier Combastet, to manage and advise French and international family wealth.

In 2013, Lazard Asset Management operating revenue reached a record USD1,02 million, 16% higher than 2012. Management fees were a record USD904 million for 2013, 12% higher than 2012, primarily reflecting an increase in assets under management. Incentive fees were USD78 million for 2013, compared to USD44 million for 2012, reflecting strong performance in both traditional and alternative investment strategies.Assets under management was also a record USD187 billion as of December 31, 2013, up 12% from December 31, 2012, primarily reflecting market appreciation, particularly in global and international equities. Average AUM of USD174 billion in 2013 was 12% higher than average AUM in 2012. Net outflows were USD1.9 billion, primarily driven by outflows in one strategy in Lazard’s global equity platform and in its local equity platform.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ben Rudd, who had previously been head of foreign investments at Ping An Asset Management, the asset management affiliate of the Chinese insurer, has decided to leave the firm to become chief investment officer of the family office Caravel Asset Management in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reveals.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vanguard has appointed Rodney Comegys to the position of chief investment officer and head of equity investments groupe for the Asia-Pacific region, TheAsset.com reports. He will be based in Melbourne, and replaced Gregory Davis, who will be returning to the headquarters of the asset management firm in Pennsylvania, USA, where he will serve as global head of fixed income for the group. Comegys, who served in a variety of roles in the United States over his 14-year career at Vanguard, was most recently head of ETF trading and index analysis teams, which represents a portion of equity investment at Vanguard managing 79 portfolios and USD1.3bn in assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henrik Sandell has joined the Swedish asset management firm Didner & George as a manager. He was previously small caps maager at Swedbank Robur, asset management affiliate of the Swedish bank Swedbank. Sandell will manage the new fund which Didner & George plans to launch with Carl Granath. Didner & George Fonder has nearly SEK30bn in assets under management in three funds (EUR3.3bn).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS ETF has closed 2013 with net inflows of over EUR300m in Italy, with assets under management up by about 400% in 12 months, Bluerating reports. Italy is shaping up as the second-largest market for the Swiss issuer, which during the year took in more than EUR1.7bn, and which places as the fourth-largest player in Europe, with assets of EUR11.6bn.

French asset manager Axiom Alternative Investments has opened an office in London, in order to target institutional clients and independent Financial advisers in the UK. The London office will quickly welcome analysts and sales staff. It will be headed by David Benamou. Axiom AI has assets under management of EUR520m and targets EUR1bn in two years. It is specialised in fixed income markets.

La gestion d’actifs prend une nouvelle dimension au sein du groupe Lazard. En 2013, pour la première fois, les revenus de Lazard Asset Management (AM) ont en effet dépassé ceux des métiers traditionnels de conseil du groupe américain. Ainsi, l’an dernier, la gestion d’actifs a dégagé 1,02 milliards de dollars de revenus, en hausse de 16 % par rapport à 2012. Sur le seul quatrième trimestre, ses revenus ont progressé de 20 %, ressortant à 293 millions de dollars contre 245 millions de dollars au quatrième trimestre 2012.Sans surprise, ses actifs sous gestion ont atteint le niveau record de 187 milliards de dollars à fin décembre 2013, en croissance de 12 % sur un an. Cette performance s’explique en grande partie par un effet marché positif alors que Lazard AM a subi une décollecte nette de 1,9 milliards d’euros lors de l’année écoulée.En 2013, le groupe américain a enregistré plus de 2 milliards de dollars de revenus, en hausse de 3% par rapport à 2012, tandis que son bénéfice net a progressé de 90 % pour passer de 84 millions de dollars en 2012 à 160 millions de dollars fin 2013.

Skagen has strengthened its Skagen Global team with the hiring of Knut Gezelius as a new portfolio manager from 12 May 2014. He joins from Goldman Sachs where he has been an executive director in the global equity team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) in London since 2010. Skagen recently announced that Johan Swahn will join Skagen Global in March 2014, strengthening the existing portfolio management team of Kristian Falnes, Søren Milo Christensen and Chris Tommy Simonsen.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German asset management boutique Assenagon Asset Management, based in Munich, on 5 February announced the launch of a fund dedicated to contingent convertible bonds, or CoCos. The Assenagon Credit SubDebt and CoCo fund, which will be managed by head of credit Michael Hünseler, will aim for returns of 4.5% per year. Alongside CoCos, the fund will be able to invest in traditional subordinate debt. The fund is based in Luxembourg, and was launched with EUR70m in assets under management. It will initially be available in Luxembourg, Germany and Austria. The fund (ISIN: LU0990655838) charges fees of 0.80% for institutional clients, with subscriptions fees of 0.01%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At a time when it is planning to publish its first ratings of European banks in the very near future, the financial ratings agency Scope on 5 February announced that it had finalised its methodology for rating banks, taking into account comments received during the unveiling of the project last September. Scope points out that its methodology increases the weight of ratings of resolution and recovery regimes, including bail-in scenarios. The agency also states that the government support provided to banks in difficulty should be much more “improbable” than before and during the crisis, with the possible exception of semi-public institutions or banks which have a well-defined public mission. In other words, the agency continues, extra points in the ratings related to public support should become the exception. Scope points out, however, that it sees no valid reason to accept the dogma that there is automatically a correlation between ratings of banks and sovereign ratings, particularly given the fact that many of the major banking groups generate revenues outside their home countries.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The hedge fund of billionaire William Ackman in January earned returns of 3.8%, at a time when the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 3.5%, and hedge funds lost an average of 0.24%, the news agency Reuters reports, on the basis of a letter sent to investors it has seen. This is a form of compensation for investors in Pershing Square, which gained only 9% last year, at a time whn the S&P 500 gained more than 30%. Assets at Pershing Square Capital Management total USD12bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm OppenheimerFunds on 4 February unveiled a new “unified” distribution organisation, led by John McDonough, who was appointed head of distribution in January. Seven branches of activity will be organised “around the specific needs of intermediaries and end clients,” the firm explains, such that the reshuffle will allow it “to optimise its resources and take advantage of opportunities on the marketplace to help it to differentiate itself from its competitors.” The institution of the new organisation is accompanied by the appointment of several heads in charge of various types of clients. Rocco Benedetto is promoted to head of broker-dealers, with the mission of supervising sales to intermediaries over all distribution channels. Mark Santero, for his part, is appointed to the newly-created position of head of the private banking division, trust bank and family office, whose mission is to provide solutions to financial institutions serving wealth management clients. Geoff Crumrine has been appointed as interim head of instituitonals, while Mike Sussman becomes interim head of investment advisers. Meanwhile, Kathleen Beichert and Lamar Kunes have been promoted to the positions of head of third-party clients and head of distribution operations, respectively. Pete Novak becomes head of platform analytics, and will report directly to John McDonough. The appointments follow the departures of Kim Mustin, Joe Moran and Rich Keri, who have all left the firm.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Hargreaves has reported 43% growth in assets under administration in second half 2013 compared with the end of 2012, with GBP43bn. Inflows leapt 70% in second half compared with the first six months of the year, to GBP2.8bn. Pre-tax profits in second half were up 11% to GBP104m, compared with GBP93.4m in second half 2012. The firm confirms that it will pay out a dividend of 7 pence per share, compared with 6.3 pence previously. The firm has also announced that it will be calling off a planned fee hike for clients who use trust investments.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The story is ending for ING Investment Management (ING IM) in the Middle East. After seeing the departure of two senior directors and a part of its equity management team in the region to join Lazard AM in Dubai (see Newsmanagers of 5 February 2014), the Netherlands-based asset management firm has decided to discontinue all of its equity management activities in the Middle East and North Africa. ING IM will therefore be repositioning its asset management office in Dubai to transform it into a sales and customer service division. The decision comes as part of a strategic review of its activities worldwide. Farah Foustok, former CEO and chief investment officer at ING IM Middle East, and Fadi Al Said, former head of investments for the company, have been recruited by Lazard AM to take over its new Dubai office.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Elena Shaftan, a specialist in emerging Europe at Jupiter, will be leaving the firm. Her funds will be taken over by Kathryn Langridge, Investment Week reports. Shaftan had worked at Jupiter since 2009, managing the Jupiter Emerging European Opportunities and Jupiter New Europe funds.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has hired Emmanuel Archampong as a business development manager within its institutional distribution team.He joins from Moody’s Analytics, where he was a client relationship manager covering the UK life insurance market, with responsibility for developing the Barrie & Hibbert Economic Capital and Dynamic Asset Allocation business. At RLAM Emmanuel Archampong will focus on developing the company’s business within the insurance sector, which is expected to become an increasingly important part of the business.

st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Global institutional pension fund assets in the 13 major markets* grew by 9.5% during 2013 (compared to 6.9% in 2012) to reach a new high of almost USD32 trillion, according to Towers Watson’s Global Pension Assets Study released on February 5. The growth is the continuation of a trend which started in 2009. Global pension fund assets have now grown at over 6.7% on average per annum (in USD) since 2003. According to the study, pension assets now amount to around 83% of global GDP, a large rise from the 76% recorded in 2012 and substantially higher than the 57% recorded in 2008. The largest pension markets are the US, the UK and Japan with 59%, 10% and 10% of total pension assets, respectively, according to Towers Watson. Looking a the seven major markets – Australia, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, US – pension funds are mainly invested in equities (52%). Bond allocations have decreased by 12% in aggregate during the past 19 years (40% to 28%). * Australia, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Credit Suisse is planning to issue new shares in its real estate fund CS 1 a Immo PK in first quarter 2014. Detailed information (volume, price etc.) will be communicated only shortly before the capital increase, Credit Suisse announced on 5 February. The proceeds of the issue will go to develop the real estate portfolio of the fund, which totalled CHF3.23bn as of the end of September 2013, with 116 buildings.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German asset management firm MEAG on 5 February announced that it has sold its 19% stake in the Chinese asset management firm PAMC ot the PICC group. Once the transaction is completed, PAMC will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PICC group. The statement emphasizes, however, that the PICC group and Munich Re will nonetheless continue their “excellent” cooperation. Assets under management at MEAG, which manages the assets of Munich Re and Ergo, total about EUR228bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US group Morgan Stanley has announced that it has agreed to pay USD1.25bn to settle lawsuits filed by the US authorities related to sub-prime mortgage lending. The agreement in principle was negotiated with the FHFA, the regulator for the semi-public mortgage refinancing institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which claim they were misled about the value of these assets and the risks associated with them, a market document states. It also requires the financial establishment to increase its litigation write-downs by USD150m, it explains. The decision will affect profits for fourth quarter 2013 to the tune of 5 cents per share, the bank warns.

Christine Charbit a pris depuis le 1er février la direction de LCL Banque Privée. Elle est membre du comité de direction générale. Christine Charbit a commencé sa carrière au Crédit Lyonnais en 1990 où elle a occupé divers postes commerciaux au sein du réseau avant de devenir responsable des engagements entreprises de la direction des engagements & du recouvrement en 2011.

Olivier Fliche, directeur du contrôle des pratiques commerciales à l’Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de régulation, succède à Natalie Lemaire, directrice des relations avec les épargnants de l’AMF, en tant que coordonnateur du pôle commun aux deux autorités, selon un communiqué. Le coordonnateur étant nommé pour une durée de deux ans, alternativement parmi les collaborateurs de l’ACPR ou de l’AMF, Olivier Fliche assurera cette fonction jusqu’au 31décembre 2015. Le pôle commun a été créé en 2010.

La Banque centrale européenne a décidé jeudi de maintenir son taux directeur inchangé, à 0,25%. Le Panel Taux Agefi du mois tablait sur un statu quo, même si les faibles chiffres de l’inflation en zone euro incitaient quelques économistes à prédire ces derniers jours une nouvelle baisse de taux de 15 points de base. La BCE a également maintenu à 75 pb son corridor de taux, et laissé à zéro la rémunération de sa facilité de dépôt.

Les entrées de capitaux devraient se stabiliser à 1.079 milliards de dollars cette année, selon l'IIF