Allfunds Bank a nommé Bradley Lewis pour diriger les activités commerciales de son bureau au Royaume-Uni et pour l’aider à mener son expansion, rapporte Investment Europe. La nomination de Bradley Lewis en tant que responsable commercial et gestion des relations clients au Royaume-Uni et en Irlande fait suite à l’annonce en début d’année que Stephen Mohan rejoignait Allfunds pour diriger le Royaume-Uni et l’Irlande.

Jean-Pierre Rondeau, président de l'association La Compagnie des CGPI, revient sur les relations entre les sociétés de gestion et les indépendants. Celui qui a assuré entre autres fonctions la direction de la gestion privée de Banque du Louvre, estime que les conseillers nécessitent un accompagnement spécifique. Jean-Pierre Rondeau aborde aussi les évolutions réglementaires intervenues à l'étranger, qu'il juge néfastes pour la profession. Il se dit, entre autres, convaincu que la rémunération par les commissions de rétrocessions a encore de beaux jours devant elle...

Responsable depuis 2008 pour la région Nord de la gestion chez Deka Immobilien, Johannes Hermanns a été promu au 1er octobre directeur de la gestion immobilière pour l’ensemble de l’Allemagne, annonce DekaBank le 4 octobre. L’intéressé succède à Wolfgang Frisch, qui a manifesté le désir de prendre une retraite anticipée au 31 décembre.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Johannes Hermanns sera responsable de plus de 200 actifs figurant dans le portefeuille des fonds Deka.

Amber Capital has launched the Amber Equity Fund, a UCITS version of the Amber Italia Equity Fund, on the UCITS Alpha platform, Hedge Week reports. The Amber Equity Fund is manaaged by Amber Capital Italia SGR, an asset management firm based in Milan. The firm was founded by Joseph Oughourlian, founder of Amber Capital Group, a company founded in 2011 with offices in London and New York. Amber Equity is a long/short fund investing in European equities, with a bias for Italy.

So far, the tickers, total expense ratios and market for listing have not been disclosed, but the New York-based firm WisdomTree has submitted an application for a license for eight ETFs covering various segments of the bond asset class (investment grade corporate bonds, high yield bonds and bonds issued by public agencies with total maturity between one and ten years), each with an overlay of short positions on Treasuries to hedge for interest rate risks, Index Universe reports.The products are designed to confront the period in which the Fed actually starts tapering its QE.The new funds, which will replicate in-house indices designed for the purpose, will be as follows:WisdomTree Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Intermediate Credit Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Intermediate Credit Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term Credit Bond Negative Duration FundWisdomTree Short-Term Credit Bond Zero Duration FundWisdomTree Government/Corporate Bond Negative Duration Fund andWisdomTree Government/Corporate Bond Zero Duration Fund.

Bruce Berkowitz, president of Fairholme Capital Management, is opening his first hedge fund, launched on 1 January, to institutional investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund already has assets of USD140bn, due to money from Berkowitz and employees. By opening, the objective is to achieve USD1bn in one year. The fund may invest in real estate, can acquire large stakes in business, and may make acquisitions.

The Alternative Global UCITS index calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital has posted returns in September of 0.65%, after a loss of 0.40% in August, meaning that UCITS hedge funds in the first nine months of the year of this year will post average gains of 2%. The fund of hedge funds index has gained 0.80%, after losses of 0.66% the previous month. In January-September, funds of funds show average returns of 2.50%.Of the eleven strategy sub-indices, four remain in negative territory for September, including losses of 1.88% for commodities and 1.08% for forex. However, the emerging markets sub-index has gained 1.19%.In the first three quarters of the year, five strategies are in the red, including losses of 3.36% for volatility and 3.31% for forex, while commodities have lost 3.19%. The best results, however, have been for long/short equity (+6.96%) and event-driven (+2.79%).As of the end of September, total assets in UCITS-compliant single hedge funds totalled EUR174bn, compared with EUR172bn one month earlier.

Jean-Pierre Rondeau, chairman of the IFA professional association La Compagnie des CGPI, discuses relationships between asset management firms and independent finanicial advisers with Newsmanagers. Rondeau, who has served as director of private management at the Banque du Louvre and DLP James Capel, claims that this client segment, which is now much-coveted, requires special assistance from partners, particularly in terms of its training offerings. Rondeau also discusses regulatory changes which have taken place abroad.

The trial of five former employees of Bernard Madoff – two former portfolio managers and three back office personnel – opens this week, the Financial Times reports. Madoff has always maintained that he was solely responsible for the fraud, but the authorities suspect 14 individuals with helping him. The defence is facing 33 counts.

Axa Investment Managers has launched the Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG, an actively managed portfolio investing mainly in US investment grade bonds with an average duration of around 2 years. David Fourgoux is manager of Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG.Axa IM currently manages EUR20.2 billion in short duration strategies.The Axa WF US Credit Short Duration IG was launched on 3rd September 2013 is UCITS IV compliant and domiciled in Luxembourg. The fund has both retail and institutional share classes and is currently registered in Luxembourg. Axa IM is considering registration across a number of other European countries.

Allfunds Bank has appointed Bradley Lewis to direct the sales activities of its office in the United Kingdom, and to help carry out its expansion, Investment Europe reports. The appointment of Lewis as head of sales and management of client relationships in the United Kingdom and Ireland comes following the announcement earlier this year that Stephen Mohan will be joining Allfunds to direct the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The alternative asset management firm BlueCrest Capital Management has recruited the former head of emerging market trading from Nomura, Marcel Kfoury, the news agency Bloomberg reports. Kfoury, who resigned form his position at Nomura on 1 October, is joining BlueCrest as a credit portfolio manager. He will be based in London, and will begin in January next year. Assets under management by the hedge fund from Michael Platt total about USD36bn.

The chairman and CEO of Vanguard, William McNabb, has been elected as president of the US asset management asssociation (ICI) for a one-year term, according to a statement published on 3 October. He succeeds Greg Johnson, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton. The association has also elected four new members to its board for terms of three years to the end of September 2016. The four new members are Karen N. Horn, independent director, T. Rowe Price Funds, Lawrence H. Kaplan (Abbett & Co), Joseph A. Sullivan (Legg Mason) and Ralph F. Verni, independent director, Eaton Vance Funds.

According to estimates by the agency ETFGI, founded by Deborah Fuhr, ETPs worldwide posted net subscriptions in the first three quarters of this year of USD168.9bn, compared with USD188.4bn in the corresponding period of 2012. For January-September 2013, the total is higher than the USD162bn announced recently by the BlackRock Institute.ETFGI reports that the strongest inflows since the beginning of the year went to Vanguard, with USD45.1bn, followed by iShares (BlackRock), with USD41.6bn, WisdomTree (USD12bn), PowerShares (USD10.6bn) and First Trust (USD5.3bn). In other words, the five largest firms by inflows alone attracted 67.7% of total net inflows.

Pan Yu Ming is joining Allianz Global Investors, a firm he left in 2010 to manage an Asian hedge fund, Financial News reports. He is returning to take over the management of the Total Return Asian Equity fund. The product, with GBP36.2m in assets, had in the past few months been managed by Raymond Chan, CIO of Allianz for Asia-Pacific equities. He will become management deputy after Pan’s return.

For the Hong Kong-based asset management firm JK Capital Management, in which La Française AM has bought a 20% stake, 2013 may be the breakout year. Inflows in the first nine months of the year total about USD500m, compared with barely USD200m at the beginning of the year, says Fabrice Jacob, CEO of JK Capital Management, on a visit to Paris on 4 October. This spectacular growth is largely due to the La Française distribution network, which now assists JK Capital Management. Assets under management by the fund dedicated to China, LFP JKC China Value, managed by Fabrice Jacob, has increased from USD150m at the end of 2012 to USD230m most recently, due to investments from major institutional clients. The support of La Française is expected to continue or increse in the next few months, as Asia is one of the regions in the world in which the asset management firm would like to develop. Circumstances may favour La Française, since Jacob’s co-shareholder in JK Capital Management may soon be retiring due to his age. Like Jacob, Randolph Kwei holds 40% of capital. His departure may come in the first half of 2014, which would result in a redistribution of capital. This would be an opportunity for La Française to mark its desire to grow in the region.

UBS Global Asset Management Italia has appointed Rosa Fogli as head of advising for the Italian market, and Guido Belotti as head of discretionary for the Italian market, Bluerating reports. The appointments come as part of an internal reshuffle of the wholesale team led by deputy director Giobanni Papini. Third-party network clients are the responsibility of Fogli, while fund selectors are handled by Bellotti. The team also includes Lorenzo Pragliola and Yuri Blanga.

John Paulson and a group of US hedge funds are investing aggressively in Greek banks, confident that Greece, long considered the weakest economy in the euro zone periphery, is recovering, the Financial Times reports. Paulson & Co has acquired large stakes in Piereus and Alpha. The other hedge funds interested in Greek banks are: Baupost, Eaglevale, Dromeus Capital, Falcon Edge, York Capital and Och-Ziff.

The Edmond de Rothschild group on Friday, 4 October announced that on 1 October, Pierre-Etienne Durand arrived as Group director of strategy and organization. He will report to Christophe de Backer, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, and will be responsible for assisting the Group’s teams with the deployment of the new 2013-2016 Strategic Plan, a statement says. Durand joined Bain & Company, where he had been a partner since 2012. He is specialised in the area of financial services, particularly asset management and private banking, and has assisted several major groups with their activity redeployment, external growth and performance optimisation strategies.

Warren Buffett saved a handful of businesses during the financial crisis. Five years later, the businessman has made USD10bn on these operations, according to the Wall Street Jornal. Buffett hopes to use the money for other investments.

The hedge fund management firm Third Point LLC has threatened Sotheby’s with a “proxy fight” if the auction house maintains a clause adopted on Friday which forbids any active shareholder from controlling more than 10% of capital; passive shareholders may hold up to 20% of capital, however, without triggering the mechanism. Third Point most recently held 9.3% of Sotheby’s.The CEO of Third Point, Dan Loeb, accuses Sotheby’s of having been too slow to adapt to movements in the art market towards contemporary works, online sales and the emergence of buyers from China and the Middle East.Third Point is seeking to obtain the removal of the CEO of Sotheby’s, William Rupprecht, and a seat on the board for Loeb.

On a visit to Paris, George M. Muzinich, chairman & CEO of Muzinich & Co, has told Newsmanagers that assets at the asset management firm founded 25 years ago now total USd25bn, of which USD17bn are in UCITS funds. Net subscriptions since the beginning of the year total USD4bn, of which USD3.7bn are for UCITS funds. The Paris office, led by Eric Pictet, for its part, has over USD5.5bn, while net inflows in the first nine months of the year total USD1.2bn.Muzinich & Co is in the next few months planning to launch a UCITS version of a fund which has already been seeded in the United States, an allocation product to all FI asset classes in the United States, including loans, corporate bonds, etc., which “has already been shown to potential clients.”The asset management firm is also planning to actively promote an emerging market fund by the end of October, which has already been seeded. This is a large and midcap fund with a focus on shorter durations. The yield to worst for this portfolio stands between 4.5% and 4.6%, with a duration to worst of 2.2.Muzinich has also announced a private debt fund in Italy with a new team of 4 people led by Giuseppe Castagna (ex Intesa Sanpaolo) “in four to six weeks.” As a complement to this new sub-fund of the Luxembourg fund, Muzinich is planning to launch a similar fund in early 2014 for European private debt, putting the emphasis on Latin-speaking countries, whereas the competition is concentrated on Northern countries.The company also plans to open an office in Zurich, to serve German-speaking Switzerland, where assets already total USD3-4bn.

The index provider MSCI has launched its first indices which take into account new MPF regulations on the Hong Kong market which require that 30% of the portfolios of asset management firms must be denominated in Hong Kong dollars, Asian Investor reports. The new indices will apply a 305 limit to the weight of the component denominated in Hong Kong dollars, although the funds replicating the indices will still have an exposure of 30% to Hong Kong equities.

Old Mutual Wealth has appointed the managing director of Skandia UK, Peter Mann, as vice president, Money Marketing reports. Steven Levin has also been appointed as global head of distribution.

Ruud Hendricks, senior advisor at KKR, non-executive chairman at the institutional department of Man Group, and chairman of the consulting committee for Financial Assets in the Netherlands, has been appointed to the newly-created position of senior advisor at Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM), the institutional arm of Lombrad Odier & Cie.The new arrival will report to Hubert Keller, managing partner at Lombard Odier et Cie and head of LOIM. He will work in close collaboration with the head of sales at LOIM “to strengthen distribution capacity to the most exacting institutional clients, in Europe and beyond,” a statement says.LOIM has also announced that Jan Willem van Stuijvenberg, head of Van Stuijvenberg Financial Services, will work with Hendricks and the CIOs as a consulting to the business, whose activities he will work to develop in the Netherlands. Van Stuijvenberg has over 15 years of experience as a strategist for institutional investors.As of the end of June 2013, LOIM had USD43bn in assets under management for clients.

Finews reports that Marco Fiorini, head of development for Switzerland at Carmignac Gestion, has now recruited the five members of the team he will assemble in Zurich at the Zur Schanze tower. In addition to Katja Wiechers and Alexander Mischoff, recruited one month ago (see Newsmanagers of 13 Septemeber), responsible as sales managers of German-speaking Switzerland, these include Cécile Barbe, who becomes client relationship manager, and Magali di Filippo and Benjamin Boyer, sales manager for French-speaking Switzerland.The available product range in Switzerland will be extended with the addition of funds with no commissions.

The asset management firm BlueShares, based in Sydney, is planning to launch ETFs which would be listed in Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Investor reports. These ETFs, which may be made available from early 2014, would be the first ETFs to be launched outside Australian home market of the company, which is 50% controlled by Mirae Asset Global Investments. The existing ETFs may also be listed both in Hong Kong and Singapore. According to Betashares, demand from Asian investors for ETFs appears to be rising, while their use by Australian investors is declining slightly. As of the end of December 2012, about 47% of Australian retail investors are using ETFs through a retirement programme, compared with 50% in December 2011.

UBS is considering selling all or part of its wealth management affiliate in Australia, finews reports, relaying information in «The Australian». Two options are being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter: a sale of all activities to Bell Potter Securities, a financial services firm in which UBS controls 16%, or to retain 20% of wealth management advisers and sell the rest to Bell Potter Securities.

Au troisième trimestre 2013, la valeur des introductions en bourse en Europe est plus de huit fois supérieure à celle du troisième trimestre 2012. Selon l'étude «IPO Watch Europe» de PwC, 52 introductions en bourse ont permis de lever 3 milliards d’euros en Europe au troisième trimestre2013.Depuis début 2013, PwC constate un retour des entreprises de taille moyenne, avec des investisseurs attirés par des cotations réalistes et des performances post-introduction encourageantes.A l’aube du dernier trimestre2013, les perspectives demeurent bonnes, compte tenu des 173 introductions déjà réalisées en Europe cette année pour un total de 11,7 milliards d’euros de fonds levés, qui dépasse déjà le montant atteint pour l’ensemble de l’année 2012.Selon Philippe Kubisa, associé marchés de capitaux de PwC: «Ces dernières années, le marché des IPO a connu une activité en dents de scie, mais à l’approche du quatrième trimestre2013, les perspectives semblent meilleures. La dynamique pour l’année à venir est prometteuse, car des sociétés financées par le private equity devraient faire leur entrée sur les marchés».Le quatrième trimestre devrait être dynamique, avec l’entrée en bourse de Royal Mail début octobre, que beaucoup considèrent déjà comme l’opération la plus importante de l’année en Europe. PwC observe également le retour de sociétés qui avaient reporté leur introduction ces trois dernières années en raison de conditions de marché défavorables, avec un niveau de report à son plus bas niveau depuis la crise financière.Londres arrive en tête ce trimestre avec plus de la moitié du total des fonds levés, soit 1,7 milliard d’euros. En ce qui concerne le reste de l’Europe, 500 millions d’euros ont été levés à Francfort et 310 millions d’euros en Irlande.Le private equity a continué de dominer l’activité des introductions ce trimestre avec deux des cinq introductions en bourse européennes ayant permis de lever près d’1milliard d’euros. Depuis le début de l’année, les transactions provenant du private equity ont représenté environ la moitié du total des fonds levés en Europe, et PwC s’attend à ce que le private equity stimule l’activité dans les prochains mois.Les sociétés d’investissement et les sociétés immobilières ont été largement représentées ce trimestre, respectivement avec 8 et 4 opérations. Ensemble, elles ont levé 2,1milliards d’euros sur le total de 3milliards d’euros levés sur l’ensemble du trimestre.

La Caisse centrale de réassurance a de nouveau confié à BNP Paribas Securities Services la conservation globale de ses actifs. BP2S assure depuis 12 ans la conservation de la CCR. Celle-ci gérait 7,8 milliards d’euros d’actifs à fin 2012.