Coller Capital, Axa Private Equity et AlpInvest Partners se disputent l’acquisition des activités de private equity d’HypoVereinsbank, filiale allemande du groupe italien UniCredit, selon Financial News qui cite trois personnes proches du dossier. L’opération pourrait rapporter plus de 600 millions d’euros.
Filiale de banque privée de la Deutsche Bank, Sal. Oppenheim est destinée à devenir un pur gestionnaire de fortune et ne conservera que moins d’une dizaine de fonds, rapporte Fondsprofessionell.Les fonds de la filiale allemande de gestion Oppenheim Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (OKAG), avec 3,6 milliards d’euros d’encours, seront soit transférés à Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), fusionnés avec des fonds DWS ou liquidés.Sal. Oppenheim conservera cependant les produits blancs de sa filiale luxembourgeoise, qui représentent un encours compris entre 3,5 milliards et 4 milliards d’euros.bm
Algebris Investments, le hedge fund basé à Londres géré par Davide Serra, s’apprête à lancer un nouveau fonds long only investi dans des actions et des obligations financières mondiales présentant de faibles frais, rapporte le Financial Times. « Il est temps d’investir dans les financières. La crise est terminées. Les financières seront les principaux bénéficiaires de la hausse des taux dans les 3 à 5 prochaines années », a confié Davide Serra au FT. Le nouveau fonds, qui facturera des frais annuels de 0,9 %, verra le jour en août et sera lancé en septembre. La société a déjà recueilli des engagements de plus de 100 millions de dollars.
Kirk Hotte, European business director chez Investec Asset Management après avoir travaillé pendant douze ans chez Axa IM en dernier lieu comme director, global distributors, a rejoint Old Mutual Global Investors comme European sales director. Basé à Londres, il est subordonné à David Aldred, head of European distribution.
Le fonds de pension AsutralianSuper (60 milliards de dollars australiens) a confié à Henderson Global Investors ou HGI (68,9 milliards de livres) un mandat de gestion pour des investissements dans l’immobilier commercial britannique.Le portefeuille immobilier d’AustralianSuper représente au total environ 4,6 milliards de dollars australiens et le fonds de pension a récemment annoncé son intention d’investir à l’international pour se diversifier. Pour sa part, HGI affiche 12,7 milliards de dollars d’actifs immobiliers, dont 7,4 milliards dans le secteur commercial.
Seulement 5% des fonds retail sont gérés ou co-gérés par des femmes outre-Manche, selon un sondage réalisé par Bestinvest, rapporte Fund Web.Au sein des cinq grands secteurs de l’IMA (Association britannique des gestionnaires d’actifs), le pourcentage des fonds confiés à des femmes varie de 2% pour le secteur UK Equity Income à 7% pour le secteur UK All Companies.
La société de gestion américaine Loomis Sayles va lancer le 1er juillet une version Ucits de son fonds crédit long/short, Loomis Sayles Credit Long/Short fund, grâce à un partenariat avec Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, rapporte Citywire Global. Le fonds sera enregistré sur la plate-forme dbalternative Platinum.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 31 May, the CNMV registered the Irish Sicav Wellington Management Portfolio (Dublin) Plc from Wellington Management. The US asset management firm becomes the fifth foreign asset management firm to register with the Spanish regulator since the beginning of this year, after J. Chahine Capital, Ellipsis AM, Oaks Field Partners and Larrain Vial.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Algebris Investments, the London-based hedge fund led by Davide Serra, is preparing to launch a new low fee long-only fund which invests in global financial sector equities and bonds, the Financial Times reports. “It is time to invest in the financial sector. The crisis is over. The financial sector will be the primary beneficiary of increases in interest rates in the next 3 to 5 years,” Serra tells the FT. The new fund, which will charge annual fees of 0.9%, will be created in August and released in September. The firm has already received commitments for over USD100m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Swiss asset management firm UBP is launching the new “Equity Flex” strategy, which provides exposure to equities, while controlling risks. “In a context in which volatility causes fear with significant drawdown risks, this strategy offers exposure to the European equity market, but with a risk management engine to manage volatility,” Bernard Kalfon, head of volatility and risk management strategy at the Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) group, said in Paris at a presentation to investors.The objective and strategy are to offer a positive asymmetrical risk profile for a long-term investment horizon. The means used to achieve this objective are original. The strategy combines two areas of expertise of the group: firstly, a long-only strategy with direct exposure to equities via the UBAM-Europe Equity fund; and then, a dynamic risk management overlay. The beta objective of the portfolio is a total of 50% to 100% of assets under management.This strategy, which “makes it possible to serenely return to equities with a dynamic product,” says Kalfon, is already available on the Irish market. It will be available to French investors in autumn, probably in September.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After a 13 years tenure, the German firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has resold the Le Wilson office property (14,767 square metres) for EUR67.2m to a fund of the Perial group.Reinhard Kutscher, chairman of the executive committee at UIRE, has estimated that the deal is another success for the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland, as the property has always been fully occupied and the expert valuation of the property has increased by EUR10.7m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The CNMV on 17 May registered the DWS Cesta Bonos 2017 fund from Deutshe Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), which the firm has begun to offer for sale in Spain. The fund, with a semiannual distritbution in the form of shares in the DWS Fondepósito Plus Classe A fund, will be 73% invested in governmment bonds, while the remainder will be placed in cedulas hipotecarias (covered bonds) and marginally in Spanish corporate bonds.All securities are rated at least BBB-, and the asset management firm explicitly aims for “non-guaranteed” returns of 2.9% per year in the period from 7 June 2013 to 10 November 2017.CharacteristicsName: DWS Cesta Bonos 2017ISIN code: ES0127100008Subscription fee: 1.75%Ongoing fees: 0.57%Penalty for early withdrawal: 1.5%
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The executive vice chairman and CIO of OppenheimerFunds (USD208bn as of the end of March), Art Steinmetz, has been promoted to chairman of the asset management firm. He joined OppenheimerFunds in 1986 and retains his responsibilities as CIO. He will continue to report to Bill Glavin, chairman & CEO.Steinmetz will also remain as co-manager of the Oppenheimer International Bond Fund (USD13.1bn) and Oppenheimer Global Strategic Income Fund (USD9.3bn).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The head of business development at Gold Bullion International since 2011, after 18 years at Neuberger Berman, Andrew Provencher, has joined BNY Mellon Investment Management as head of US retail sales. He will be based in New York and will report to PeterPaul Pardi, head of global distribution.Provencher will be responsible for sales and client relationship management activities for the Dreyfus platform (USD294bn).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } BlackRock is reshuffling its underperforming US equities unit, the Wall Street Journal reports. This has resulted in the replacement of management teams on half of funds. Initial results show that more needs to be done. BlackRock equity funds are lagging behind most US rivals, according to a recent study by Credit Suisse group. Investors requested redemption of USD7.5bn from actively-managed BlackRock funds in the 12 months to the end of first quarter 2013.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Neuberger Berman Flexible Select Fund, the New York-based Neuberger Berman Group (USD216bn in assets as of the end of March) has launched a flexible fund in the United States investing in all cap sizes, with the objective of generating attractive risk-adjusted returns with lower volatility than that of the US equity market.The product is managed by 17 to 20 teams, with strategies used for high net worth retail clients. The long-only portfolio may also be invested in cash and bonds if necessary, depending on the allocation of assets to various portfolio management teams.The selection, monitoring, appreciation of risk and rebalancing of weight between the various teams will be led by an investment committee headed by Joseph Amato, chairman and CIO of Neuberger Berman.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The CNMV has issued a sales license for the Santander Cumbre 2018 and Santander Cumple 2018 Cumbre Plus funds, the first two passive funds with a performance objective launched by Santander Asset Management, Funds People reports.The first product aims for returns of 2% per year and will invest solely in bonds from the kingdom of Spain, while the second may also invest in bonds from official bodies or autonomous communities with the same rating as Spanish government bonds. It aims for 2.3% per year for the B share class, and 2.45% for C class shares.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The US asset management firm Loomis Sayles will on 1 July launch a UCITS version of its long/short credit fund, Loomis Sayles Credit Long/Short fund, through a partnership with Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Citywire Global reports. The fund will be registered on the dbalternative Platinum platform.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the wake of the acquisition by TCW last year of the Carlyle company and group from Société Générale, the US asset management firm is recruiting in Asia with the recruitment of sales personnel in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. TCW, which has no immediate plans to install investment teams in Asia, will initially distribute funds to investors in Hong Kong and the region. All products in UCITS format will be registered in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Investors in emerging market bonds denominated in local currencies are among the biggest losers from recent sales which have affected emerging market assets, the Financial Times reports. On average, funds denominated in local currencies have lost 7.8% since the beginning of May, according to Lipper, while funds of emerging market debt in hard currencies have lost 6.1%, and emerging market equity funds have lost 6.7%.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Andrew Baker, who since 2007 has been deputy CEO and then CEO of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), has announced that he will be leaving the position at the end of this year. However, to ensure a smooth transition, he will retain his position until his successor can be recruited and take over his responsibilities.AIMA has more than 1,300 member businesses in 50 countries.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the next 12 months, 71% of Swedes would like to invest in equities or equity funds, according to a study by Schroders cited by Dagens Industri. Emerging market equities are the most often cited, followed by global and European equities. Swedish investors have earned an average return of 6% since the financial crisis in 2008, the highest level of any of the 10 European countries studied by Schroders. This undoubtedly explains their appetite for risk.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Sal. Oppenheim, a private banking affiliate of Deutsche Bank, will become a pure wealth management firm, and will retain only less than 10 funds, Fondsprofessionell reports.Funds from the German asset management affiliate Oppenheim Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (OKAG), with EUR3.6bn in assets, will be transferred to Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), and merged with DWS or liquidated funds.Sal. Oppenheim will, however, retain the white-label products from its Luxembourg affiliate, which have total assets of EUR3.5bn to EUR4bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Assets under management at the hedge fund firm GAM Investment Mnagement, known as Arkos Capital before its acquisition in February 2012 by the asset management group GAM, has topped EUR1bn, with assets of EUR1.3bn, compared with EUR550m when the deal was announced, Gianmarco Mondani, founder of Arkos, and currently CEO and CIO of GAM Investment Management, tells AGEFI Switzerland. This is “a positive sign of the contribution of the new GAM range as well as additional sales resources,” says Mondani.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } More than one quarter of insurance companies worldwide report difficulties in managing risk. In addition to this observation, a survey by State Street of the insurance sector, in all types of business, finds that 29% of top directors surveyed have seen their businesses withdrawn from some activities since the beginning of the financial crisis “due to new capital requirements or requirements related to risk,” a statement says. This percentage reaches as high as 39% for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. This survey, sponsored by State Street and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, examines the current state and future outlook for the global insurance industry. Fielded during April 2013, the survey encompassed 307 insurance executives globally across all industry sub-sectors. Half of respondents were C-suite, while the remainder were senior management. 25% of respondents in the EMEA region reported difficulties in recruiting qualified personnel in risk management. In North America, the percentage was 16%. For a complete summary of the results of the survey, go to http://statestreet.com/ourbusiness.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The good performance of Equity Hedge and Event Driven strategies have allowed hedge funds to post gains for the seventh consecutive month and for the eleventh time in 12 months. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite index gained 0.5% in the month of May, driving a gain of 1.8% for the HFRI Equity Hedge index. The HFRI Event Driven index, for its part, posted a gain of 1.7%, the 12th in a row, due to the dynamism of the corporate transactions market. The HFRI Macro/CTA Index, however, lost 1.5% in May.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets in sovereign wealth funds worldwite total USD5.473trn, according to the most recent statistics from the SWF Institute. Last year, assets in sovereign funds topped USD5trn, with a total of USD5.019trn.The largest SWFs are the Norwegian government pension fund, with USD737.2bn as of June 2013, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) with USD627bn, and the Chinese Safe Investment Company with USD567.9bn (estimated).SWFs tied to oil and gas revenues total USd3.1931trn.With USD25.5bn, the French Strategic Investment Fund (FIS) places in the SWF Institute rankings between the Brunei sovereign fund (USd30bn) and the Texas Permanent School Fund (USD25.5bn).The FIS has a transparency rating of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. The SWF Institute awarded a better rating to 10 sovereign funds, including the Norwegian sovereign fund, the Singapore fund Temasek and the Australian Future Fund.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Coller Capital, Axa Private Equity ad AlpInvest Partners are vying for the acquisition of the private equity activities of HypoVereinsbank, the German affiliate of the Italian UniCredit group, according to FinancialNews, citing three people familiar with the matter. The operation may bring in as much as EUR600m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The UCITS Alternative Index Global of UCITS-compliant hedge funds calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital in May posted returns of 0.53%, compared with 0.21% in April, bringing gains in the first five months of the year to 2.34%. The UCITS Alternative Index Funds of Funds has posted its fifth consecutive monthly increase, up 0.65% in May, compared with 0.22% in April. It shows a gain of 3.14% since the beginning of the year.Only two strategies show losses for single hedge funds in May: CTA has lost 1.34%, and volatility, 0.12%. The only stand-out gain is for long/short equity, with 1.53%, allowing this fund category to lead for the first five months of the year, with returns of 4.77%.Total assets in UCITS-compliant single hedge funds as of the end of May totalled EUR161bn, compared with EUR160bn one month earlier. They totalled EUR147bn at the end of March, EUR143bn at the end of February, and EUR141bn at the end of January.Currently, the UCITS Alternative index includes 860 hedge funds and funds of hedge funds.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Only 5% of retail funds are managed or co-managed by women in the United Kingdom, according to a survey completed by Bestinvest,Fund Web reports. In the five major IMA (Investment Management Association) IMA sectors, the percentage of funds managed by women varies from 2% for the UK Equity Income sector to 7% for the UK All Companies sector.