In July-September, Invesco Ltd has announced net profits payable to holders of ordinary hares of USD246m, compared with USD223.7m in second quarter, and USD182.7m in the corresponding period of 2012. In the first nine months of this year, net profits totalled USD652m, 42% more than the USD452m in January-September 2012.As of 30 September, total assets came to USD745.5bn, compared with USD705.6bn three months previously, and USD663bn as of the end of September 2012. In the first nine months of this year, Invesco has posted net subscriptions of USD29.2bn, of which USD20.7bn were for long-term funds, USD7.4bn for institutional money market funds, and USD1.1bn for Invesco PowerShares QQQ. Market effects were positive to the effects o fUSD51.6bn, while currency effects borught losses of USD2.7bn.By comparison, net subscriptions to long-term products and total net subscriptions were up by 168.8% and 180.8%, respectively.However, total net subscriptions of USD9.1bn in third quarter 2013 compare with net inflows of USD1.4bn in April-June 2013, and to net subscriptions of USD11.4bn in the corresponding period of last year.

Gaw Capital has closed the private equity fund Gateway Real Estate Fund IV with USD1bn. The product, which has exceeded its fundraising objective (USD800m) will invest in real estate projects located in the Greater China region, Asian Investor reports. 40% of investors who participated in the fundraising originate from Asia, 30% from North America, and 30% from Europe.

M&G Investments has signed distribution agreements in Italy with PPM Private Banking, Azimut and its three networks, Apogeo Consulting, AZ Investimenti, Azimut Consulenza sim –, Cariparma – Crédit Agricole and Mps Private Banking, Bluerating reports. The three new partners may offer their clients the 30 funds from the British firm licensed for sale in Italy. M&G has been present in Italy since 2010, and has assets under management there of USD6.6bn. The team of 12 people has recently seen the addition of Marta Moretti for sales support.

Russell Investments has recruited Luca Gianelle as client portfolio manager, in order to strengthen the multi-asset class team, which now has 38 specialists, Bluerating reports. Gianelle will be based in Milan, and will report to Rob Hall, head of client portfolio management. Gianelle joins from Anima, where he had been a member of the multi-management team, with responsibility for the management of funds of hedge funds.

Franklin Templeton is to open a new office in Florence on 6 November, Bluerating reports.

A pension fund based in Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit against seven major banks, including Barclays and Citigroup in a Manhattan court, Les Echos reports. The Haverhill Retirement System accused them of violating US antritrust law, reaching agreements to manipulate the WM/Reuters rate, which is used to determine prices on currency markets. These are published hourly for 160 currencies, and half-hourly for the 21 most popular currencies. The other firms cited in the lawsuit are Credit Suisse and UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). According to lawyers for the fund, who filed the suit in the name of other investors in similar circumstances, the alleged operations affected the currency market, as well as pensions or savings accounts which track global indices.

Becoming a point of reference in the market, participating in the consolidation movement and bringing out new talent: these are the ambitions that Didier Le Menestrel, chairman of Financière de l'Echiquier, holds for his asset management firm, in order to bring ambition to a market which lacks strength, he feels. To tell the trust, the firm has been pursuing this objective for a long time. It is now faced with the challence of continuing its development in terms of assets, which it is also attempting to do outside of France, in Italy, among other countries, where it has opened an office.

With the DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE, the US asset management firm DoubleLine on 31 October launched a fund managed by its CEO and CIO, Jeff Gundlach, as well as by Jeffrey Sherman, an asset allocation specialist. The product will actively invest 100% of its assets in debt instruments, but a part of these securities will be used as collateral against derivatives exposing the fund to the four most undervalued sectors of the US equity markets according to the cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio (CAPE). The management of the fund will also incorporate the long-term value investment principles developed by Robert Shiller, winner of the 2013 Nobel prize in Economics.With this leverage, the managers will obtain exposures similar to the index and debt instruments. Each component may represent up to 100% of the net asset value of the fund. The objective is to outperform the Shiller Barclays CAPE® US Sector TR USD Index.Insofar as the derivative strategy will leave s substantial portion of assets in the fund available for other investments, DoubleLine will make an effort to manage debt securities in order to produce additional returns over the long term. Since these debt instruments may be similar to those in the DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund, DoubleLine is permitted to invest a part of assets in the new fnud in the existing DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund instead of investing them directly in a portfolio of debt instruments.The DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE is available in I-class shares (ticker DSEEX) for institutionals, and N shares (DSENX) for retail invetors. The total expense ratio is limited to 0.66% and 0.91%, respectively, while the minimal subscription is USD100,000 in the former and USD2,000 in the latter case.

Amundi is planning to add its diversified fund Amundi Patrimoine to its Luxembourg Sicav, in order to open it to global investors, Citywire Gobal reports. The fund, a French-registered FCP, is managed by Alain Pitous, chief investment officer. Amundi may also integrate a bond and currency fund into the Sicav.

Goldman Sachs is launching a USD250m “social impact” fund, the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, to finance projects that bring both social benefits and financial returns, the Financial Times reports. The objective is to attract USD10bn in capital. Goldman Sachs states that its fund will be the first to allow businesses and high net worth individuals to invest directly in a portfolio of private projects.

At the end of third quarter, assets under management by Asian hedge funds totalled USD103.8bn, their highest level since second quarter 2008, before the crisis, Hedge Fund Research (HFR) estimates.Net subscriptions in July-September totalled USD1.9bn, meaning that over three consecutive quarters, net inflows have totalled USD7.3bn. In third quarter, hedge funds specialised in Japan posted inflows of USD1.14bn, while Asian hedge funds specialised in equities attracted USD1.45bn.The best performance in the first nine months of the year was for the HFRX Japan index, with 23.2%, which is the largest gain since the creation of the index in 2004. The HFRX Asia Equally Weighted Index, for its part, has posted returns of 11.8%, while the HFRX China index gained 11%, and Chinese equities lost 15% at the same time.HFR points out that 31% of Asian hedge funds are based in China (including Hong Kong), compared with 12.3% in Singapore and 4.6% in Japan.

According to an analysis by the BlackRock Institute, assets under management by sectoral ETPs as of the end of September worldwide represented USD262bn, 15.4% of total assets in equity ETPs (USD1.701trn). As these products have been heavily favoured, they have in the first nine months of the year attracted net subscriptions of USD37.5bn, 22.7% of total net inflows to equity ETPs (USD165.4bn).This percentage reach 27.3% of (USD27.5bn out of USD110.9bn) for the United States, where sectoral equity ETPs represent 20.4% of total assets (USD183bn out of USD895bn).In the US market, the largest assets, with USD27.9bn each are in equity ETPs from the financial sector and equity ETPs in the area of real estate, followed by tech (USD21.9bn) and health care (USd21.8bn).BlackRock also highlights four major disparities: real estate equity ETPs represent 17% of total assets in US sectoral ETPs, but this sector accounts for only 2.5% of the MSCI US, while tech, industrial and consumer ETPs have assets lower then their weights in the index.

According to Ahorro Corporación, Otober was the eleventh consecutive months of net subscriptions for the Spanish fund management sector, which had not happened since 2005, Funds People reports. Net inflows totalled about EUR2bn, bringing the cumulative total since the beginning of the year to EUR17bn, and also corresponds to 73% of the increase in assets posted in January-October (USD24.2bn), for a total of USD146.57bn as of 31 October, according to figures form the Spanish asset management firm association Inverco.

According to statistics from the Spanish association of asset management firms, Inverco, Santander AM was in October once again the operator which posted the strongest net subscriptions, with EUR813.23m, Funds People reports. This total, combined with market effects, has allowed the asset management firm as of 31 October to post assets of EUR23.812bn, confirming its place as the top player in Spain.The second-largest player by net subscriptions was InverCaixa Gestión, with EUR469.01m, which with market effects gives it assets of EUR20.75bn, and thus brings it closer to BBVA AM, which attracted EUR350.5m, and finished October with assets under management of EUR20.89bn.

The Financial Conduct Authority has committed to reduce authorization times for non-UCITS funds, plans for qualified investors and UCITS funds from April 2014, Fund Web reports. The British regulator is planning to cut back autorization times for non-UCITS funds to three months, for qualified investors to two months, and for UCITS funds to six weeks.

The UCITS-compliant version of the Neuberger Berman Absolute Return Multi Strategy Fund (ARMS), launched in May 2012, is now available in a UCITS-compliant format, the US-based asset management firm announced in London on 31 October.As recently reported (see Newsmanagers of 15 October), this is a multi-manager fund, which aims for absolute returns with limited exposure to the market, through diversified allocation to proven hedge fund strategies.The UCITS-compliant version is exempt from the inconveniences of hedge funds, and offers daily liquidity, eliminates performance commissions at all levels, carries a limited total expense ratio, offers a high level of transparency, and contols on assets through the exclusive use of managed accounts.

An interim management statement released on 1 November by F&C Investments reveals that as of 30 September, assets at the British asset management firm were down to GBP90.08bn, compared with GBP92.31bn three months earlier, and GBP95.22bn as of the end of December.Net outflows totalled GBP2.18bn in third quarter, and USD9.38bn in the first nine months of the year, but retail flows totalled net inflows of GBP162m in July-September and USD385m in the first nine months of the year.

Aberdeen Asset Management is planning to lay off 150 people out of 2,500 if it succeeds in acquiring Scottish Widows Investment Partnership for GBP500m, the Financial Times reports, citing a source familiar with the matter. Layoffs will be distributed between Aberdeen which has 2,000 employees based largely in London, and SWIP, which has 500 people. Aberdeen is in pole position to acquire SWIP, which would put it ahead of Schroders as the largest publicly-traded asset management firm in Europe.

Henderson has posted net subscriptions in third quarter 2013 of GBP1.2bn, of which GBP889m went to equity products. According to Fund Web, it is the first time since the beginning of 2011 that the British asset management firm has shown net inflows. In this context, Henderson has seen an increase in its assets over GBP70bn. As of the end of June, assets totalled GBP67.936bn.

Swiss-based Vontobel on 1 November announced that it has promoted Fredy R. Flury, head of fixed income in the FX department, as CEO of Vontobel Financial Products (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd. in Singapore, from 1 December 2013. He also becomes head of financial products for Singapore.With this promotion, Vontobel “takes into account growth in its local activity while emphasizing the importance of its internationalisation strategy in Asia-Pacific,” a statement says.

JP Morgan Asset Management has launched a diversified fund which will be managed by the heads of emerging market equities and emerging market debt at the firm, Citywire can reveal. The fund, based in Luxembourg and entitled JP Morgan Funds – Total Emerging Markets Income, will target gross returns of 6%, through investment in equities and bonds from emerging markets. The managers will be Richard Tetherington, chief investment officer for emerging market equities ,and Pierre-Yves Bareau, chief investment officer for emerging market debt.

François Brisset a quitté son poste de directeur général de la société de gestion DTZ Asset Management. Selon nos informations, son successeur n’est pas encore connu. Vendredi 25 octobre, Patrice Genre, chief executive officer, DTZ Asset Management chez DTZ France avait également annoncé son départ.DTZ Asset Management gère un patrimoine d’une valeur de 3,4 milliards d’euros. Il est composé de 50 % de bureaux, 20 % de logistique et activités et 30 % de commerces et de biens résidentiels. Ce patrimoine est situé pour moitié à Paris et en région parisienne, le solde étant situé en province et en Europe (Allemagne, Belgique et Italie). 60 % du patrimoine répondent à une stratégie de détention long terme (core) et 40 % à une stratégie opportuniste ou value added. La société compte investir en 2013 plus de 750 millions d’euros, notamment en bureaux à Paris et en région parisienne, en galeries et parcs d’activités commerciales ainsi qu’en résidentiel en France et en Allemagne.

Amundi prévoit d’ajouter son fonds diversifié Amundi Patrimoine à sa Sicav luxembourgeoise afin de l’ouvrir aux investisseurs mondiaux, croit savoir Citywire Global. Le fonds, un FCP de droit français, est géré par Alain Pitous, le directeur des investissements. Amundi pourrait aussi intégrer un fonds obligataire et devises à sa Sicav.

Pour le troisième trimestre de cette année, Invesco Ltd déclare un bénéfice net distribuable aux porteurs d’actions ordinaires de 246 millions de dollars contre 223,7 millions pour le deuxième trimestre et 182,7 millions au titre de la période correspondante de 2012. Sur les neuf premiers mois de cette année, le bénéfice net s’inscrit à 652 millions de dollars, soit 42 % de plus que les 452 millions de janvier-septembre 2012.Au 30 septembre, l’encours total ressortait à 745,5 milliards de dollars contre 705,6 milliards trois mois plus tôt et 663 milliards fin septembre 2012. Pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, Invesco affiche des souscriptions nettes de 29,2 milliards de dollars, dont 20,7 milliards pour les fonds de long terme, 7,4 milliards pour les fonds monétaires institutionnels et 1,1 milliard pour le fonds Invesco PowerShares QQQ. L’effet de marché a été positif de 51,6 milliards de dollars tandis que l’effet de change provoquait une perte de 2,7 milliards de dollars.A titre de comparaison, les souscriptions nettes pour les produits de long terme et les souscriptions nettes totales ont opéré des bonds en avant de respectivement 168,8 % et 180,8 %.Cela posé, les souscriptions nettes totales de 9,1 milliards de dollars pour le troisième trimestre 2013 se comparent à des rentrées nettes de 1,4 milliard pour avril-juin 2013 et à des souscriptions nettes de 11,4 milliards pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.

La Banque de France a indiqué jeudi 31 octobre dans son bulletin Stat Info que la rémunération moyenne des dépôts et placements monétaires s’est établi à 0,71% en septembre, un niveau identique à celui du mois précédent. Quant au rendement moyen des titres d’OPCVM monétaires, il a légèrement baissé. Il était de 0,07 % en septembre contre 0,10 % en août.

A la fin du troisième trimestre, les actifs gérés par les hedge funds asiatiques ont atteint avec 103,8 milliards de dollars leur niveau le plus élevé depuis le deuxième trimestre 2008, avant la crise, estime Hedge Fund Research (HFR).Les souscriptions nettes ont porté en juillet-septembre sur 1,9 milliard de dollars, de sorte que, sur quatre trimestres consécutifs, les entrées nettes ont représenté au total 7,3 milliards de dollars. Au troisième trimestre, les hedge funds spécialistes du Japon ont collecté 1,14 milliard de dollars tandis que les hedge funds asiatiques spécialistes des actions drainaient 1,45 milliard de dollars.La meilleure performance durant les neuf premiers mois de l’année a été affichée par l’indice HFRX Japon, avec 23,2 %, ce qui est le gain le plus important depuis la création de l’indice en 2004. Le HFRX Asia Equally Weighted Index, pour sa part, affiche une performance de 11,8 %, tandis que l’indice HFRX Chine s’adjugeait 11 %... alors que les actions chinoises perdaient 15 % dans le même temps.HFR souligne que 31 % des hedge funds asiatiques sont basés en Chine (Hong-Kong compris), contre 12,3 % à Singapour et 4,6 % au Japon.

Au titre du troisième trimestre 2013, Berkshire Hathaway Inc a déclaré le 1er novembre unbénéfice net distribuable de 5.053 millions de dollars contre 3.920 millions pour la période correspondante de 2012. Sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année, ce bénéfice ressort à 14.486 millions de dollars contre 10.273 millions.

Avec le DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE, le gestionnaire américain DoubleLine a lancé le 31 octobre un fonds géré par son CEO et CIO Jeff Gundlach ainsi que par Jeffrey Sherman, le spécialiste de l’allocation d’actifs. Ce produit sera investi de manière active à 100 % en instruments de dette, mais une partie de ces titres servira de collatéral contre des dérivés exposant le fonds aux quatre secteurs du marché américain des actions les plus sous-valorisés selon le ratio de cours/bénéfices ajusté du cycle (Cyclically Adjusted Price Earnings ratio ou CAPE Ratio). La gestion incorporera ainsi les principes d’investissement value de long terme développés par Robert Shiller, le Prix Nobel d’économie 2013.Avec l’effet de levier, les gérants obtiendront des expositions simultanées à l’indice et aux titres de dette, chaque composante pouvant représenter au maximum 100 % de la valeur liquidative nette du fonds. L’objectif est de surperformer le Shiller Barclays CAPE® US Sector TR USD Index.Dans la mesure où la stratégie de dérivés laissera une portion substantielle des actifs du fonds disponible pour d’autres investissement, DoubleLine s’efforcera de gérer les instruments de dette non immobilisés pour produire un surcroît de rendement sur le long terme. Comme les lignes d’instruments de dette peuvent être similaires à celles du DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund, DoubleLine s’autorise à investir une partie des actifs du nouveau fonds dans le DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund au lieu d’investir directement dans un portefeuille d’instruments de dette.Le DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE est disponible en parts I (code mnémonique DSEEX) pour les institutionnels et N (DSENX) pour le retail. Les taux de frais sur encours sont plafonnés à respectivement 0,66 % et 0,91 %, la souscription minimale étant dans le premier cas de 100.000 dollars et dans le second de 2.000 dollars.

Le bras d’investissement dans le non-coté du groupe Edmond de Rothschild vient de lever un montant record de 192 millions d’euros pour un fonds spécialisé dans la biotech, rapporte Les Echos. Le fonds BioDiscovery IV financera une quinzaine de sociétés.Pour convaincre des investisseurs qui ne connaissent pas le secteur des biotechnologies, Edmond de Rothschild s’engage sur un taux de retour sur investissement de l’ordre de 20 %, une promesse d’autant plus crédible qu’il s’agit du quatrième fonds d’une série qui n’a pas déçu.

Goldman Sachs lance un fonds "à impact social» de 250 millions de dollars, le Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, en vue de financer des projets ayant à la fois des bénéfices sociaux et des rendements financiers, rapporte le Financial Times. L’objectif est d’attirer 10 milliards de dollars de capitaux. Goldman affirme que son fonds sera le premier à permettre aux entreprises et riches particuliers d’investir directement dans un portefeuille de projets privés.