Marc Auchabie, qui était directeur distribution et partenariats d’Acropole Asset Management, a rejoint Octo Asset Management en tant que directeur du développement.Octo AM est la société de gestion d’Octo Groupe. Agréée par l’AMF en 2011, elle est spécialisée dans la gestion obligataire. Elle gère une gamme de trois fonds : Octo Crédit Convictions, Octo Court Terme et Octo Tréso Crédit.Outre Acropole AM, aujourd’hui passée dans le giron de La Financière de l’Echiquier, Marc Auchabie a travaillé pour Credit Suisse AM, Fortis Investments et Robeco Gestions.

Susanne Müssauer, responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle autrichienne et spécialiste du développement durable depuis 2004 chez Banque Sarasin, rejoint la banque privée viennoise Gutmann où elle sera responsable de la mise sur pied d’une ligne de produits spécifique «investissement durable» permettant à la clientèle de disposer de produits conformes à leur attentes en matière environnementale, sociale et de gouvernance (ESG).

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) a sélectionné BNY Mellon Asset Servicing comme conservateur, administrateur et agent de transfert pour son db x-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (code mnémonique : ASHR) lancé sur le marché américain il y a plus d’un mois (lire Newsmanagers du 7 novembre). Ce produit est le premier ETF investissant physiquement en actions chinoises A avec un agrément de renminbi qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII).

La société de gestion A Plus Finance doit franchir la barre des 100 millions d’euros de collecte nette cette année, selon Fabrice Imbault, directeur général adjoint, interrogé par Newsmanagers. Un record qui se ventile entre 40 millions d’euros investis dans des fonds ISF, 35 millions dans la dette privée et 30 millions environ dans l’OPCI A Plus Génération. Cette moisson porte les actifs sous gestion à 530 millions d’euros et permet au dirigeant de confier qu’il réfléchit actuellement au développement de la société de gestion que ce soit à travers une opération de croissance externe ou par l’accélération des activités dans la dette privée et dans l’immobilier. Dans le détail, la dette privée représente désormais 170 millions d’euros et l’activité immobilière, un engagement de 90 millions d’euros. En pratique, l’immobilier revêt la forme d’un OPCI dédié à un family office et d’un second, ouvert aux investisseurs institutionnels. D’une durée de huit ans, ce dernier véhicule investit dans des résidences seniors non médicalisées dont la société de gestion achète les murs et confie l’exploitation à une société avec laquelle elle signe un bail de douze ans. «Une opération de ce type nous permet de tabler durant 8 ans sur un rendement annuel moyen de l’ordre de 4,5 %, et un objectif de taux de rendement interne de 8 %», annonce le responsable qui précise que les deux premières années sont consacrées à la construction des immeubles. «Une fois atteinte la huitième année», ajoute Fabrice Imbault, «les biens seront revendus et les investisseurs remboursés». Egalement interrogé sur les intentions de A Plus Finance sur la sortie prochaine d’un fonds PME, alors que le PEA PME doit prendre corps au début de l’année prochaine, Fabrice Imbault a indiqué que sa maison, dont la gestion de titres non cotés est une spécialité, est encore en phase de réflexion. «Beaucoup de points restent en suspens pour les gestions privées qui devraient être les principaux fournisseurs des produits de ce type», a expliqué le responsable. Par ailleurs, les risques que les gérants achètent le marché en bloc et créent une bulle sont importants, a-t-il prévenu en indiquant que le mariage entre la finance de marché et le monde des PME risque d'être délicat. «En outre», a-t-il indiqué, «pour les titres exclusivement non cotés, il n’y a pas à ce jour de produit ad-hoc qui pourrait être logé au sein du PEA». Même le FCPR se révèle inadapté dans la mesure où il serait quasi impossible d’investir rapidement à 75 % dans des titres de cette nature pour le rendre éligible. En attendant, la société de gestion réfléchit plutôt à mettre en évidence son savoir-faire via des produits dédiés et des mandats de gestion dans le non coté qu’on lui confierait. Enfin, concernant les dernières actualités réglementaires, notamment les récents amendements du gouvernement sur les FCPI et les FIP dont A Plus Finance est également un important pourvoyeur (voir Newsmanagers du 5 décembre), Fabrice Imbault a regretté l’absence de véritable simplification, notamment en ce qui concerne l’harmonisation des modalités entre les dispositifs IR et ISF. «La complexité du fonctionnement des fonds et l’instabilité règlementaire sont des freins à l’investissement qui entament la confiance des souscripteurs», a rappelé le dirigeant d’A Plus Finance.

Primonial REIM vient d’acquérir auprès d’AXA Real Estate un ensemble immobilier de bureaux situé au sein du pôle tertiaire de la ZAC du Point du jour à Boulogne Billancourt. Le montant de l’investissement s'élève à 46,7 millions d’euros qui a été réalisé pour le compte d’un fonds géré par Primonial REIM.L’ensemble immobilier indépendant, qui développe une surface utile totale de 7.638 m², est entièrement loué à un locataire unique historiquement présent sur la zone, sur la base d’un bail ferme de 9 ans, indique un communiqué.

La Banque cantonale de Bâle (BKB) a nommé Sandro Merino responsable des investissements (Chief Investment Officer), selon un communiqué publié le 10 décembre. Sandro Merino prendra ses fonctions le 1er janvier 2014. Sandro Merino succède à Alfred Ritter, CIO depuis 2009 et qui prendra sa retraite dans le courant de l’année. De formation scientifique, Sandro Merino a travaillé au sein d’UBS, où il a occupé des fonctions de cadre de 2000 à 2012. Il a ensuite travaillé pour Arecon. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Sandro Merino sera responsable de la mise en place de la nouvelle structure de l’Asset management de la BKB et de sa filiale, la banque Coop. La BKB compte renforcer et réorganiser son segment Asset management, ainsi que celui de sa filiale Bank Coop.

The US financial sector watchdog, Finra, has fined Oppenheimer & Co USD675,000 for charging excessive fees for transactions on municipal bonds and for failing to set up an appropriate surveillance system. Finra has also required the investment firm to pay back over USD246,000 plus interest to affected clients. In addition, the head of transactions on municipal onds, David Sirianni, has been fined USD100,000, and has been suspended for a period of 60 days.

In the first ten months of the year, German open-ended equity funds have seen net redemptions of EUR6.70bn (including EUR2.35bn in October), compared with USD6.63bn in the corresponding period of last year, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms. In total, German asset management firms attracted a net total of EUR61.32bn in January-October, compared with EUR66.9bn in the first ten months of last year, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms. Overall, German asset management firms attracted a net EUR61.32n in January-October, compared with EUR66.9bn in the first ten months of 2012, with net inflows of EUR16.39bn, compared with EUR14.99bn for open-ended funds, and EUR53.63bn, compared with EUR50.08bn, for institutional funds (Spezialfonds). Mandates other than investment funds have seen a net outflows of EUR8.7bn, compared with net inflows of EUR1.83bn in January-October last year.

Susanne Müssauer, head of Austrian institutional clients and a specialist in sustainable management since 2004 at Banque Sarasin, is joining the Viennese private bank Gutmann, where she will be responsible for setting up a specific line of “sustainable investment” products, to allow clients to have products which meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) expectations.

At a time when assets under management in all Austrian funds as of the end of October were up by EUR3.4bn, or 2.3% in ten months, to EUR147.8bn, assets at Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) were down by 1.8%, or 6.4%, to EUR26.7bn, which represents a market share of 18.1% on the national market.This reduction is primarily due to a loss of institutional mandates, as assets have fallen to EUR1.8bn, or 10.2%, or EUR15.4bn. Assets in open-ended funds were down by EUR0.1bn, or 0.7%, to EUR11.3bn.

New research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates indicates that "We saw a flurry of new CEFs early this year," comments Dan Roberts, analyst at Cerulli. "CEF managers indicated the next 12 months present an excellent opportunity for the industry to raise assets." In the new Products and Strategies 2013: The Changing Landscape of Product Development and Delivery report, Cerulli focuses on asset managers' product strategy and development across different asset classes (e.g., fixed income, alternatives) and vehicles (e.g., collective trust funds (CTFs), exchange-traded funds (

After a restricted RFP issued in March, France’s Etablissement de retraite additionnelle de la fonction publique (ERAFP, EUR15bn) has awarded active mandates to manage US equity funds to Natixis AM and Robeco Institutional Asset Management. Financial management will be outsourced to Loomis, Sayles & Company and Robeco Boston Partners, while a third standby mandate has been awarded to Morgan Stanley IM.The portfolios will primarily be invesfted in US equities, with a long-term investment outlook and an objective of outperformance compared with the MSCI USA Index. It will use conviction-based management without a tracking error limit.

Newcomers to the hedge fund sector need to raise at least USD300m in assets if they want to survive in a post-crisis environment which is characterised by rising regulatory costs and falling commissions, according to a survey carried out by Citi of 124 hedge funds with USD465bn in assets. Before the crisis broke out, a hedge fund could plan to launch with only a few tens of millions. But since then, management commissions have sometimes fallen as low as 1.58%, compared with the traditional 2% still charged by the large actors in the sector. Regulatory costs have also increased steeply due to new rules install on both sides of the Atlantic, such as the Dodd-Frank law or the AIFM directive.

AllianceBernstein is offering a fund dedicated to consumer spending on emerging markets, which will be primariliy aimed at companies which are expected to participate in a fast-growing consumer market, Citywire reports. The AllianceBernstein Emerging fund will be a fund domiciled in Luxembourg, managed by Tassos Stassopoulos, who currently co-manages several other funds, including the Alliancebernstein Global Growth and US Thematic Research funds. The fund will use an original approach for research and portfolio construction, with three parameters: top-down, bottom-up, and one which sets it apart from the others, a component called “grassroots” which involves observation of the behaviour of emerging market consumers.

Japanese investors are flocking to bonds issued outside Japan, in the hopes of taking advantage of the weak Japanese yen, the Wall Street Journal reports. Asset managers have purchased JPY2.6trn (or USD25bn) more in foreign bonds than they have sold, according to statistics from the minister of finance. This is the fifth consecutive month that Japanese investors have been net buyers of foreign bonds. Since 30 June, they have purchased JPY9.1trn in bonds.

Sovereign funds, led by the Norwegian fund, are taking advantage of a regain in IPOS in Hong Kong to increase their exposure to China, the Financial Times observed. The Norwegian fund is proving one of the foremost investors in Chinese businesses this year, despite commercial frictions between Oslo and Beijing. At the end of September, the oil fund had 2.1% of its equity porfolio of USD480bn invested in China, compared with 1.7% one year earlier.

The head of the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Martin Wheatley, on 10 December announced that the British asset management sector would have to bring itself up to the level of others. “At a time when other markts are putting their own activities in order, as is already the case in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, Australia, it is increasingly important for us to do that same thing nationally,” Wheatley says. With this in mind, 2014 will be “an important period of consolidation,” says Wheatley. This period may be less exciting than the past few years, but just as important, Wheatley insists. This will involve a cultural transition to a more mature period, “in which the interests of investors are at the centre of the models of activity for companies on international markets.” It will then mean overseeing the technical adaptations to new regulatory rules, including EMIR and the MiFID directive, so that markets remain deep and liquid.

Marc Auchabie, who had been head of distribution and partnerships at Acropole Asset Management, has joined Octo Asset Management as head of business development. Octo AM is the asset management firm of the Octo Group. It obtained a license in 2011, and is specialised in bond management. It manages a range of three funds: Octo Crédit Convictions, Octo Court Terme et Octo Tréso Crédit. In addition to Acropole AM, which is now part of La Financière de l’Echiquier, Marc Auchabie has worked for Credit Suisse AM, Fortis Investments and Robeco Gestions.

On 6th December, EFA signed an agreement with French bank Oddo & Cie. The aim of this strategic partnership is to offer an innovative solution to French Management Companies and their investment funds As part of the transaction, Oddo & Cie has transferred to EFA its administrative and accounting activities for French funds, encompassing 140 funds and mandates for more than EUR 10 billion of AuM. Oddo & Cie has acquired a 5% stake in the share capital of EFA and Mr Philippe Oddo, managing partner of Oddo & Cie, will join the board of directors of EFA in Luxembourg. The operational activities are lodged within EFA’s French branch which comprises 18 staff and 240 funds and mandates worth EUR16 billion in assets.

With the Stoxx Europe 600 EM Exposted Index, Stoxx Ltd on 10 December launched an index covering companies of the Stoxx Europe 600 which earn a substantial part of their revenues in emerging countries, which allows them to be exposed to growth market via liquid securities.The new index is intended to be used as a benchmark for actively-managed funds, and as a basis for replication for ETFs or other investable products.The Stoxx Europe 600 EM Exposed Index is calculated on price, in net and gross. It is available in euros and US dollars. Its composition will be revised each year in September.

The Italian private bank Banca Ifgest is opening an affiliate in Genoa, Bluerating reports. The new team, led by Massimo Losti, will be composed of five experienced private bankgers. This brings the number of affiliates of the bank to nine, including three in Florence, one in Prato, one in Santa Croce, one in Milan, one in Rome, and one in Turin.

US-based Vanguard has reopened access to the High-Yield Corporate Fund (USD16.1bn), managed by Wellington Management Company, which was closed in May 2012, to all investors, as well as the Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (USD33.7bn), closed in February 2013. In both cases, Vanguard pre-emptively suspended subscriptions to prevent a steep rise in assets from disadvantaging existing shareholders.However, the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based asset management firm has announced the immediate closure of subscriptions to the Capital Opportunity Fund (managed by Primecap Management Company) for most new accounts. The fund, with USD11.4bn, was previously closed in 2004, and then reopened for a restricted group of investors in 2007, and to all subscribers in April 2013. Since that date, assets have increased by more than USD2bn.

Gabelli Funds has changed the name of The Gabelli Value Fund to The Gabelli Value 25 Fund. The name change highlights the fund’s overweighting of its core 25 equity positions and underscores the upcoming 25th anniversary of the fund’s inception.The fund, managed by Christopher J. Marangi and Mario J. Gabelli, was launched in 1989 to invest in a concentrated portfolio of equity securities believed to have favorable prospects.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has selected BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as custodian, administrator and transfer agent for its db x-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (ticker: ASHR), launched on the US market more than a month ago (see Newsmanagers of 7 November). The product is the first ETF physically investing in Chinese A-class shares, with a renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) license.

Funds on sale in Sweden in November recorded net inflows of SEK3.2bn, or EUR0.355bn, according to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens Förening. Inflows were boosted by balanced funds, which attracted SEK4.5bn (EUR0.5bn). Equity funds posted net subscriptions of SEK0.3bn. Money market funds and hedge funds, however, have seen respective outflows of SEK0.9bn and SEK0.8bn. Since the beginning of the year, funds on sale in Sweden have posted net inflows of SEK66bn (EUR7.3bn), and as of the end of November, assets totalled SEK2.433bn (EUR271bn), of which 55% are in equity funds.

The asset management firm Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) is accepting subscriptions to a new Vietnam fund which has been open since 10 December, Asian Investor reports. The new fund, AFC Vietnam Fund, with initial assets of USD50m, will invest in small and midcaps listed on the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh stock exchanges. The fund will avoid the banking sector, however, and will be exposed only to insurers and brokers. According to the founder and COO of AFC, Thomas Hugger, Vietnam is less expensive than other Asian markets.

Desmond Lee has left his position as head of research at Manulife Asia Wealth Management, Citywire can reveal. He is reportedly joining a firm based in Singapore specialised in institutional mandates. Lee’s position will be taken over by Ajauy Saratchandran, head of asset management services for Asia.

The working group on outsourcing set up in July at the initiative of what was formerly known as the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Outsourcing Working Group (OWG), submitted its report (see attachment) on 9 December to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The document sets the major principles concerning oversight and the resilience of subcontracting activities.In summary, the report recommends that asset management firms improve surveillance of their outsourcing contracts, analysing risks and preparing exit planning solutions to ensure that they will be easily able to change providers in case of need.

The former head of private banking at Banque Havilland, Nick Parker, has founded a wealth management firm, RiverPeak Wealth, Money Marketing reports. Before joining Banque Havilland, Parker was managing director of ultra-high net worth British clients at Citi Private Bank. According to Parker, “there is no doubt that there is a niche in the market for a wealth manager with the style of a private banker, meaning a manager who is not content to offer outdated products but can provide high-level strategic services which are generally reserved only for ultra-high net worth clients.

In order to make its ETFs more easily accessible to British pension funds, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has integrated eight of its products into a managed pension fund vehicle with the legal status of limited liability insurance company, Funds Europe reports.The formula provides a way to avoid the obstacle represented by the fact that ETFs are ordinarily considered equities, which requires pension funds to open an account with a broker in order to buy and sell them, and also to have a direct account with a custodian who holds them.