Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management a nommé Jonathan Kent en tant que responsable de la distribution pour le Royaume-Uni et l’Irlande, rapporte Fund Web. Auparavant, il a occupé des fonctions commerciales au sein de la division banque d’investissement et titres du pôle clients institutionnels de Deutsche Bank.

L’assureur italien Generali a cédé Generali Portfolio Management, qui gère environ 200 millions de livres pour le compte de clients privés au Royaume-Uni, à Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management. Cette cession s’inscrit dans sa décision de se recentrer sur les clients internationaux à partir de Guernesey.L’équipe de sept personnes de Generali Portfolio Management, dirigée par Alan Arscott et David Barber, rejoindra aussi Ashcourt lorsque l’opération sera bouclée, ce qui devrait se produire à la fin de l’année. Le montant de l’opération est de 2,1 millions de livres, dont 1 million sera versé plus tard.

Old Mutual Wealth a annoncé un bénéfice avant impôt en hausse de 14 % au premier semestre à 108 millions de livres, rapporte Investment Week. Les encours sous gestion ont aussi augmenté de 9 % à 75,2 milliards de livres depuis le début de l’année.

Le magazine de rue Big Issue, qui soutient les sans-domicile-fixe au Royaume-Uni, va lancer des fonds à vocation sociale d’ici à la fin de l’année, rapporte le Financial Times fund management. Une société de gestion sera créée avec pour objectif de lever 250 millions de livres dans les cinq prochaines années. Deux premiers fonds seront lancés : l’un se spécialisera sur le logement et l’autre sera un fonds régional.

Jupiter prévoit de supprimer les commissions de performance sur son fonds Absolute Return à partir du 1er novembre, alors que le fonds géré par Philip Gibbs va être confié en septembre à James Clunie, rapporte Investment Week. Les gérants de fortune réclamaient cette suppression, dans un contexte de contre-performance pour le fonds.

Renaissance Asset Managers, qui a «soft-closé» son fonds dédié à l’Afrique sub-saharienne en février dernier, envisage de lancer de nouveaux fonds consacrés aux marchés frontières, en l’occurrence le Nigéria et l’Afrique orientale d’ici à la fin de l’année, rapporte Investment Europe.Le fonds dédié au Nigéria a un objectif de collecte de l’ordre de 50 millions de dollars, le fonds «East Africa», qui se concentrera sur les opportunités d’investissement au Kenya, visant 25 millions de dollars. Ces objectifs sont indispensables dans la perspective des exigences de la directive OPCVM pour une liquidité quotidienne.

GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH (GLL), société de gestion immobilière basée à Munich, a confié à CACEIS les activités de banque dépositaire de son fonds d’investissement alternatif le plus récent, afin d’assurer sa parfaite conformité avec la directive AIFM et les réglementations allemandes KAGB, a indiqué Caceis Investor Services dans un communiqué publié le 7 août. Le fonds investit principalement dans l’immobilier commercial en Europe et aux Etats-Unis. Arguments clés pour GLL dans le choix de son dépositaire, CACEIS fournit des services de banque dépositaire homogènes dans plusieurs juridictions et répondra aux besoins spécifiques de la société de gestion pour créer des fonds de pension et des produits d’assurance.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) a prévu de convertir l’un de ses fonds actions monde en un fonds multi-classes d’actifs, révèle Citywire. Le nouveau produit, qui s’appellera DWS Top Performance Offensiv Fund, pourra investir jusqu’à 60 % en actions, 40 % en actifs monétaires, 40 % en obligations ainsi que 10 % dans des certificats sur matières premières.

BNY Mellon a annoncé le 7 août la nomination d’Adrian Gordon au poste de responsable de la distribution institutionnelle pour la région EMEA (Europe, Moyen-Orient, Afrique). Adrian Gordon remplace Jonathan Lubran, qui part en retraite à la fin de l’année après dix années passées chez BNY Mellon. Adrian Gordon travaillait précédemment chez Perpetual Limited, où en tant que responsable de l’Europe, il dirigeait le développement de la société hors d’Asie.

Jupiter is planning to scrap performance fees for its Absolute Return fund from 1 November, at a time when the fund managed by Philip Gibbs will in September be entrusted to James Clunie, Investment Week reports. Wealth managers are seeking the dismissal, in a context of underperformance for the fund.

PeterPaul Pardi, Global Head of Distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management commented: “With over 25 years’ experience in the industry, Adrian brings to the team a wealth of experience and expertise that will be of tremendous benefit to the business. Over the next five months he will work closely with Jonathan Lubran to ensure a smooth transition. Jonathan, who has been a key member of the senior management team at BNY Mellon for over 10 years, retires at the end of this year with our deep thanks and gratitude.”

GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH (GLL), a real estate management firm based in Munich, has retained CACEIS to provide depository banking activities to its most recent alternative investment fund, in order to ensure that it is perfectly compliant with the AIFM directive and German KAGB regulations, Caceis Investor Services announced in a statement released on 7 August. The fund invests primarily in commercial real estate in Europe and the United States. A key argument for GLL in the choice of depository is that CACEIS provides homogeneous depository banking services in several jurisdictions and can meet the particular needs of the asset management firm to create pension funds and insurance products.

Assets under management at Dexia Asset Management totalled EUR72.7bn as of 30 June, compared with EUR72.9bn at the beginning of the year, according to a statement released on 7 August. Dexia states that assets at the beginning of the year include “one-time adjustments of EUR3.9bn related to the planned exit of the Dexia group.” The group has recently put an edn to talks with the Chinese firm GCS, but has also announced that it still plans to go through with the sale of Dexia AM (Newsmanagers of 31 July). The EBITDA for first half comes out to EUR26.3m, up 21% compared with the first half of 2012. Dexia Asset Managment has posted a net outflow for first half of EUR192m, but the asset management firm emphasizes in a statement that second quarter was very positive, with net inflows of EUR1.46bn. This development is due to sustained inflows from retail and private banking products, as well as the winning of several institutional mandates. Dexia AM states that it is continuing its targeted innovation programme, and is exploring a product range with flexible and dynamic asset allocation profiles, equity funds optimised for Solvency II, and “smart beta” strategies.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has announced that it has “absolutely no intention” of abandoning the money market fund business, despite concerns about the activity and about regulations, Financial Times Fund Management reports. Assets in money market funds from Goldman were down by about USD100bn to USD196bn since the end of 2008.

A rise in mergers and acquisitions is favouring hedge funds specialised in this area, the Financial Times reports. Merger and acquisition arbitrage strategies have outperformed all other styles of hedge fund since the beginning of the year. According to HFR, merger and acquisition arbitrage earned 5.7%, compared with 3.6% for the sector as a whole.

The street newspaper Big Issue, which supports homeless people in the United Kingdom, will launch social funds by the end of the year, Financial Times Fund Management reports. An asset management firm will be created, which will aim to raise GBP250m in the first five years. Two initial funds will be launched: one will specialise in housing, and the other will be a regional fund.

Old Mutual Wealth has announced a pre-tax profit up 14% in first half to GBP108bn, Investment Week reports. Assets under management are up 9%, to GBP75.2bn since the beginning of the year.

The Italian insurer Generali has sold Generali Portfolio Management, which manages about GBP200m for private clients in the United Kingdom, to Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management. The sale comes as part of a decision to reorient the bank on international clients from Guernesey. The team of seven people from Generali Portfolio Management, led by Alain Arscot and David Barber, will also join Ashcourt when the operation is completed, which is expected by the end of the year. The sale price is GBP2.1bn, of which GBP1bn will be paid later.

Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management has appointed Jonathan Kent as head of distribution for the United Kingdom and Ireland, Fund Web reports. He had previously served in a sales role at the investment banking and institutional clients unit of Deutsche Bank.

The US group BGC Partners wants to develop its management, via its Parisian affiliate Aurel BGC, Les Echos reports. The broker “would like to start up this activity with an acquisition: Paris seems to us to be a good starting point for that,” explains Jean-Pierre Aubin, executive CEO of BGC. Aurel BGC, which has about 180 employees in France, is looking at cases “which represent several hundred million to several billion euros in assets under management [up to about EUR5bn, according to the newspaper],” he continues. The French firm will focus particularly on management of money market Sicavs and fixed-income management.

Perella Weinberg Partners is planning to launch a highly liquid global macro strategy to invest in equity indices, currencies, government debt, credit and commodities. The new fund, PWP Global Macro Strategy, will be managed by Maria Vassalou, who has recently joined Perella Weinberg as a partner and portfolio manager. Vassalou previously worked at MIO Partners, an asset management affiliate of McKinsey & Company.

Northern Trust has announced the appointment of Andrew Tan as head of investment risk analysis services (IRAS) for the Asia-Pacific region. Tan, who will be based in Singapore, previously worked for Royal Bank of Canada, where he served in a similar role.

Retail and institutional investors, as well as advisers, in first half 2013 continued to take a particular interest in strategies dedciated to large caps, according to rankings by Morningstar of the most popular investments on distribution platforms. The survey also finds that in the category of “separate accounts,” seven of the most popular strategies with institutionals ranked in the top ten (Federated Strategic Value Dividend MA et CS McKee Value Equity) “In the institutional segment, we observed a spectacular rise in interest in international preferential equities and domestic junk bonds, probably due to rapid interest rate movements in the United States,” says Paul Justice, head of research for funds at Mornignstar. Two debt strategies are among the most popular mutual funds and ETFs for retail investors. No strategy of this type made it into the 2012 rankings, Morningstar reports. Retail investors are more particularly interested in emerging market ETFs, while advisers have a marked interest in bond ETFs and large cap strategies.

The US fund Ray Investment has sold another bloc of shares in Rexel, representing about 10% of capital in the electrical equipment distributor, as part of an accelerated placement of EUR525.6m to institutional investors. According to a trader cited by Reuters, the fund made its investment in 28.8 million shares in Rexel at a final price of EUR18.25 per share, which is at the low end of the range of 18.20-18.95 set for the share by several market actors previously. The largest shareholder in Rexel, which had previously sold 10% of Rexel to the French group last June, and 14.7% in February, is expected to see its stake reduced to 24% at the conclusion of the operation. However, “Ray Investment plns to remain a highly engaged and active investor in Rexel, and reiterates its support for Rudy Provoost, chairman of the board at Rexel, and his management team, to effectively carry out the growth strategy at Rexel and to achieve its objectives for 2015,” the fund says in a statement.

Russell Investments has announced the appointment of Jeff Hussey as global chief investment officer (CIO). Hussey has been working at Russell for over 20 years. He succeeds Pete Gunning, who will return to his native Australia to develop the activities of Russell in the Asia-Pacific region. Gunning, who had served as global CIO since 2008, replaces Alan Shoenheimer, who will assume non-exucutive functions at the group.

Pioneer, the asset management firm for the Italian bank UniCredit, has posted net inflows of EUR2.8bn in second quarter 2013, according to half-yearly results released by the group this week. The inflows, which offset a negative market effect of EUR2.3bn, was almost entirely supplied by captive activities in Italy, UniCredit states. At the end of June, assets under management at Pioneer were up slightly (+EUR0.5bn) to EUR165.5bn.

The British investment management association (IMA) is planning to add to the fixed income sector, with the introduction of a new category, which would include emerging market bond funds, Fundweb reports. The new category, IMA Global Emerging Markets Bond, will be released on 31 December 2013, while modifications have also been made to other fixed income categories. The definition of the Global Bond sector will need to be clarified in order to take into account the introduction of the new category. All of these modifications will also be introduced at the end of December 2013, with a transitional period to run until 31 March 2014. Funds will be eligible to be classed in this category if they invest at least 80% of their assets in emerging market bonds, as defined by a known emerging market bond index. The funds must also respect a geographical diversification imperative. Emerging market debt represents an established asset class, with known and recognised funds such as the Pictet Emerging Local Currency debt (GBP7.8bn in assets under management), the Templeton Emerging Markets Bond (GBP5.4bn), and the Pimco GIS Emerging Local Bond (GBP5bn). The professional association has also published its 11th annual report on the asset management sector, which observes that assets under management in the United Kingdom as of the end of 2012 reached a record GBP4.5trn. The report points out a few major trends, particularly a propensity for portfolios to be rendered less sensitive, resulting in a modification of allocations. An emblematic example of this trend is a long-term declining trend for equity funds, which accounted for 52% of total assets under management in funds in 2012, compared with 89% in 2013. The origin of this development is diversification and the objective announced in recent years to seek returns while also requiring capital protection.

The Swiss Federal financial market surveillance authority, Finma, claims that the recovery and liquidation capacity of banks which are “too big to fail.” With this in mind, on 7 August it released a position paper on recovery and liquidation of banks operating internationally. A credible threat of bankruptcy is essential to ensure a certain rigour in a market-based economic system, Finma claims. An “effective and co-ordinated” international recovery and liquidation strategy is thus “of central importance in the context of the ‘too big to fail’ issue, which affects banks of systemic importance,” the financial market watchdog adds. Finma recommends an approach in which the national watchdog authority co-ordinates recovery and liquidation for the entire group. The surveillance authority must, for example, be able to impose participation by landers to the bank who have suffered losses. In particular, creditors of bank loans may also participate in recapitalising the firm. That would also win time to reorganize the viable banking sector, and to transfer to a viable business model, says Finma, which prefers this approach.

Renaissance Asset Managers, which soft-closed its fund dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa in February this year, is planning to launch new funds dedicated to frontier markets, including Nigeria and East Africa, by the end of the year, Investment Europe reports. The fund dedicated to Nigeria has an inflow objective of about USD50m, while the East Africa fund, which will concentrate on investment opportunities in Kenya, is aiming for USD25m. These objectives are indispensable in light of the requirements of the OPCVM directive for daily liquidity.

Pioneer, la société de gestion de la banque italienne UniCredit, a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 2,8 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre 2013, selon les résultats semestriels publiés par le groupe cette semaine.Cette collecte, qui a permis de compenser un effet de marché négatif de 2,3 milliards d’euros, a été pratiquement entièrement alimentée par l’activité captive en Italie, précise UniCredit.Fin juin, les encours sous gestion de Pioneer ressortaient ainsi en légère hausse (+0,5 milliard d’euros) à 165,5 milliards d’euros.