Pour le premier trimestre 2013, le bénéfice avant impôt du pôle gestion d’actifs et de fortune (Asset & Wealth Management ou AWM) de la Deutsche Bank s’est inscrit en hausse de 13 millions par rapport à la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Cette progression est attribuable principalement à une hausse de 88 millions d’euros ou de 8 % du chiffre d’affaires, dont 37 millions ou 8 % d’augmentation pour la gestion de portefeuilles et de fonds, en raison de l’effet de marché et des souscriptions nettes. Les chiffres précis seront publiés ce 30 avril. L’IBIT, bénéfice avant impôt, est annoncé à 221 millions d’euros.Les encours ont augmenté de 29 milliards durant le premier trimestre 2013, grâce à 18 milliards d’effet de marché, 8 milliards d’effet de change et 6 milliards de rentrées nettes. Après plusieurs trimestres de sorties nettes, des souscriptions nettes ont été enregistrées pour la gestion active institutionnelle et retail ainsi que pour la gestion de fortune. A fin mars 2012, les encours totaux du pôle AWM avaient été annoncés à 820 milliards d’euros.A l’échelon du groupe, le bénéfice net du premier trimestre 2013 ressort à 1.661 millions d’euros contre une perte de 2.513 millions pour octobre-décembre et un bénéfice net de 1.408 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Le coefficient d’exploitation (cost-income ratio) s’est amélioré à 71 % contre 135 % pour le trimestre précédent et 76 % pour janvier-mars 2012. Les nouveaux titres doivent faire l’objet d’un placement privé auprès d’investisseurs institutionnels.La banque a aussi annoncé une augmentation de capital par l’émission de 90 millions d’actions, censée augmenter ses fonds propres de premier rang (core tier 1) de 2,8 milliards. Cela doit permettre d’augmenter le ratio Bâle III à environ 9,5 % contre 8,8 % au 31 mars.

La division fonds immobiliers de Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), l’ancienne RREEF, a indiqué avoir acquis auprès du LaSalle German Income and Growth Fund l’immeuble de bureaux Metris (31.000 mètres carrés) situé à Munich. La transaction a porté sur 150 millions d’euros.Cet actif, livré en 2011 et entièrement loué à plus de 25 entreprises, principalement du secteur de l’informatique, est versé au portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public grundbesitz europa dont l’encours se situe actuellement à 3,8 milliards d’euros répartis sur 45 immeubles. Avec l’acquisition du Metris, la part des actifs allemands dans le fonds augmente à 20,2 % contre 16,5 %.

L’agence d'évaluation financière Fitch Ratings a annoncé le 29 avril le lancement de nouvelles études sectorielles sur les fonds, à destination des investisseurs et des intermédiaires. Ces études comprendront un examen général des développements dans un secteur donné ainsi que des statistiques sur les fonds dudit secteur les plus recherchés, les plus performants et les plus importants en termes de taille. Elles comprendront également tous les fonds du secteur domiciliés en Europe et répertoriés cross border notés par Fitch.La première livraison de cette nouvelle série concerne les fonds d’actions européennes. L'étude souligne notamment que les fonds de petites et moyennes capitalisations, malgré une volatilité plus importante, ont continué de surperformer les fonds de grandes capitalisations au premier trimestre 2013 après une solide année 2012. Plus généralement, les fonds européens ont enregistré un rendement de 5,6%, à comparer à une performance de seulement 2,4% pour les fonds de la zone euro, en raison des inquiétudes suscitées par la crise chypriote et les aléas politiques en Italie.

D’après les statistiques de la Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF), l’encours des organismes de placement collectif et des fonds d’investissement spécialisés au Luxembourg se montait fin mars à 2.528,92 milliards d‘euros soit 2,47 % de plus que fin février (2.468,07 milliards).La hausse de 60,85 milliards d’euros en un mois résulte pour 38,63 milliards de l’effet de marché et pour 22,21 milliards des souscriptions nettes.

Arnim Kogge, qui vient de la banque privée Ellwanger & Geiger, et Manfred Mühlheim, directeur de la gestion de fortune de la banque privée Südwestbank, sont les deux directeurs généraux de Vertiva Family Office, une nouvelle filiale indépendante de la Südwestbank. Cette dernière détient néanmoins 51 % du capital. Le family office, qui compte au total cinq personnes, est installé dans la Maison Rothschild à Stuttgart.D’autre part, la Südwestbank a annoncé la création d’un bureau de banque privée à Fellbach ainsi que d’une agence à Tüttlingen pour la clientèle d’entreprises.

Le groupe bancaire espagnol Santander a annoncé le 29 avril la démission de son directeur général Alfredo Saenz, et son remplacement par Javier Marin, responsable de la division assurance, gestion d’actifs et banque privée du groupe.Alfredo Saenz, âgé de 70 ans, occupait le poste de directeur général de Santander depuis 2002. Condamné en 2011 à trois mois de prison avec sursis et interdit d’exercer, pour une affaire remontant à 1994, il avait été gracié quelques mois plus tard par le gouvernement espagnol.Alfredo Saenz Abad a informé le conseil d’administration de la banque, réuni lundi à Santander, qu’il renonçait à ses responsabilités de vice-président et de directeur général, et qu’il cessait de faire partie du conseil, a déclaré Santander dans un communiqué, sans préciser les motifs de cette démission.Les observateurs évoquent toutefois les aléas judiciaires d’une affaire remontant à 1994 et dont les derniers rebondissements sont très récents. La condamnation d’Alfredo Saenz concernait le dépôt d’une fausse plainte contre des clients afin de récupérer des crédits impayés, alors qu’il était président de Banesto, banque rachetée en 1994 par Santander. Le gouvernement socialiste de José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero l’avait gracié en novembre 2011, quelques jours après sa défaite aux élections législatives, commuant sa peine en amende.Mais le Tribunal Suprême a partiellement annulé cette grâce en février dernier, estimant que le gouvernement était sorti de ses compétences en annulant les conséquences administratives de la condamnation, c’est-à-dire l’interdiction d’exercer. Le 12 avril, le gouvernement de droite de Mariano Rajoy, qui a succédé à Zapatero, a toutefois adopté un décret qui permet aux banquiers ayant un casier judiciaire de continuer à exercer.

Le britannique Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) a annoncé le 29 avril la vente de ses activités de banque de détail en Espagne à Banco Sabadell contre des actions et du numéraire. LBG recevra notamment 1,8% de Sabadell dans le cadre de cette opération. La part en actions est valorisée à 84 millions d’euros, à laquelle pourront s’ajouter jusqu'à 20 millions d’euros en numéraire.Lloyds explique que cette vente, dont la finalisation devrait intervenir dans les prochains mois, s’inscrit dans le cadre de sa stratégie de rationalisation de sa présence à l’international. Les deux groupes vont également collaborer pour explorer des opportunités d’affaires dans différents domaines, entre autres la gestion d’actifs.

Alastair Gillespie, issu de Principal Global Investors, vient de rejoindre BlackRock en qualité de chief investment officer pour l’immobilier dans la région Asie-Pacifique avec pour mission de monter une équipe dédiée, rapporte Asian Investor.Basé à Singpour, Alastair Gillespie est rattaché à Mark Howard-Johnson, responsable mondial du pôle real estate securities, et Marc Desmidt, responsable des stratégies alpha en Asie-Pacifique. Alastair Gillespie avait rejoint Principal en avril 2009. Déjà basé à Singapour, Il était coresponsable de la recherche en immobilier pour la région Asie-Pacifique

La collecte nette des pôles de gestion de fortune du groupe UBS s’est élevée au premier trimestre à environ 24 milliards de francs suisses, leur plus haut niveau depuis 2007, selon un communiqué publié le 30 avril. Le bénéfice net s’est inscrit à 988 millions de francs suisses, en recul de 4,5% sur un an mais largement au-dessus des attentes des analystes.Wealth Management a enregistré un résultat avant impôts de 664 millions de francs suisses au premier trimestre 2013 contre 398 millions au trimestre précédent. La collecte nette de 15 milliards de francs est la lus importante depuis 2007.Wealth Management Americas a enregistré un bénéfice avant impôts de 251 millions de dollars contre un bénéfice avant impôts de 216 millions de dollars au trimestre précédent. Cette amélioration traduit une réduction de 3% des charges d’exploitation en raison notamment de provisions moindres pour actions en justice, questions réglementaires et similaires. La collecte nette s’est améliorée à 9,2 milliards de dollars.Global Asset Management a enregistré un bénéfice avant impôts de 190 millions de francs au premier trimestre 2013, contre 148 millions de francs au quatrième trimestre 2012. Hors placements monétaires, le pôle affiche une collecte nette de 5,1 milliards de francs suisses, contre une décollecte nette de 3,8 milliards de francs au trimestre précédent.

D’après le site Schweiz am Sonntag relayé par finews, Spiro Latsis, l’actionnaire de référence grec d’EFG International, a déménagé pour raisons fiscales de Bellevue, dans la banlieue de Genève, à Monaco.

EFG Financial Products (EFG FP) a nommé Nathan Parker au poste de directeur Operational Services. Il a pris ses fonctions ce lundi, a précisé le fournisseur de services de placement de produits structurés. Son prédécesseur, Valerio Roncone, a quitté l’entreprise fin mars pour se consacrer à d’autres défis, précise EFG FP lundi dans un communiqué publié le 29 avril.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Nathan Parker s’occupera de toutes les activités de back et middle office. Il rapportera au COO Michael Hölzle. Le nouveau directeur dispose de plus de 16 années d’expérience dans ce type d’activités auprès d’UBS, de la Deutsche Bank et de JPMorgan. Dernièrement, il était responsable du middle office Structured-Credit EMEA chez UBS.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }Carmignac Gestion has announced the split of Carmignac Capital Plus A EUR accumulation unit. From 29 April 2013, the net asset value of the unit will be divided by 10, meaning the number of units an investor holds will be multiplied by 10. On 25 April the rounded net asset value of Carmignac Capital Plus A EUR acc units was 11 332.06€. By splitting this unit, Carmignac Gestion will make the fund’s dynamic, diversified investment solutions accessible to a larger number of investors.This split will not result in either the listing or subscription/redemption orders being suspended and will have no tax implications. The newly-renamed Carmignac Capital Plus is a multi-asset and multi-strategy fund with a non-benchmarked management process based on highly flexible asset allocation and an active risk management. Its objective is to outperform the Euro OverNight Index Average (Eonia) by 2% annually and to control volatility in all market conditions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The real estate fund division of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), formerly known as RREEF, has announced that it has acquired the Metris office building (31,000 square metres) in Munich from the LaSalle German Income and Growth Fund, for EUR150m.The property, completed in 2011 and wholly leased to more than 25 businesses, mostly in the IT sector, has been added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund grundbesitz europa, whose assets currently total EUR3.8bn, in 45 properties. With the acquisition of Metris, the proportion of German properties in the fund increases to 20.2% from 16.5%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has announced that on 1 June, Björn Thiemann will take over as head of the management team for the open-ended real estate funds UniImmo: Europa (DE0009805515) and UniImmo: Global (DE0009805556).Thiemann had previously been manager of the largest fund from Deka immobilien, the Deka-Immobilien Europa, with assets of about EUR12bn (see Newsmanagers of 29 April). He will now be responsible for managing funds with an overall volume of nearly EUR10bn (as of 28 February), including EUR8.24bn for the UniImmo: Europa and EUR1.72bn for the Global fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish banking group Santander on 29 April announced the resignation of its CEO, Alfredo Saenz, who has been replaced by Javier Marin, head of the insurance, asset management and private banking division of the group.Saenz, 70, had served as CEO of Santander since 2002. He was given a suspended sentence of three months in prison in 2011, and barred from practising, due to a case dating back to 1994, and a few months later was granted a pardon by the Spanish government.Alfredo Saenz Abad has informed the board of directors at the bank, meeting on Monday in Santander, that he will be stepping down from his responsibilities as vice president and CEO, and that he will no longer be a member of the board, Santander has announced in a statement, without stating the motives for the resignation.Observers, however, point to the legal vicissitudes of the case dating back to 1994, which has had very recent ramifications. Saenz’ sentence was for filing frivolous lawsuits against clients, in order to recuperate unpaid loans, when he was chairman of Banesto, a bank which Santander acquired in 1994. The Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pardoned him in November 2011, a few days after his defeat in legislative elections, and converted his prison sentence into a fine.But the Supreme Court partially overturned the pardon in February this year, claiming that the government was acting beyond its powers by cancelling the legal consequence of the sentence, i.e., the bar from practising professionally. However, on 12 April, the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy, who succeeded Zapatero, passed a decree which allows bankers with a legal record to continue to practice.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Arnim Kogge, from the private bank Ellwanger & Geiger, and Manfred Mühlheim, director of wealth management at the private bank Südwestbank, have become the two general directors of Vertiva Family Office, a new independent affiliate of Südwestbank. Südwestbank controls a 51% stake in its capital. The family office, which has a total of five employees, is headquartered in the Rothschild Haus in Stuttgart.Südwestbank has also announced the creation of a private banking office in Fellbach, as well as a branch in Tüttlingen for corporate clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January-March 2013, pre-tax profits for the asset and wealth management (AWM) unit at Deutsche Bank were up by EUR13m compared with the corresponding period of last year, when they totalled EUR142m (see Newsmanagers of 30 April 2012). This growth is largely attributable to an increase of EUR88m, or 8% of revenues, of which EUR37m, or 8% of the increase was for portfolio and fund management, due to market appreciation and net subscriptions. Precise figures will be released on 30 April. IBIT is announced at EUR221m.Assets increased by EUR29bn in first quarter 2013, due to EUR18m in market appreciation, EUR8bn in currency effects, and EUR6bn in net inflows. After several quarters of net outflows, net subscriptions have been recorded for institutional active and retail management, and for wealth management. As of the end of March 2012, total assets for the AWM unit were declared at EUR820bn.For the group overall, net profits in first quarter 2013 totalled EUR1.661bn, compared with a loss of EUR2.513bn in October-December, and a net profit of EUR1.408bn in the corresponding period of last year. The cost-income ratio improved to 71% from 135% the previous quarter, and 76% in January-March 2012. The bank has also announced a capital increase through the issue of 90 million shares, intended to increase core tier 1 owners’ equity by EUR2.8bn. That will increase the Basel III ratio to about 9.5%, from 8.8% as of 31 March.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A UBS real estate fund has sold the Skyper office building in Frankfurt (39 stories, 41,000 square metres) for about EUR300m to Allianz Real Estate, which has purchased it for several companies of the Allianz group. The major tenants of the Skyper tower are the Bundesbank, the asset management firm Deka Investmentfonds, HSBC, and the law firm Bird & Bird & Weil Gotschal & Manges.UBS had acquired the property from Deka-Immobilien in 2006. The cost of constructing the building, completed in 2005, is estimated at EUR480m.

As of April 22, 2013, EDHEC-Risk Institute (ERI) has inaugurated its new smart beta index design and production activity, ERI Scientific Beta. These products a designedto implement Smart Beta 2.0 investments, Edhec said on April, 29th.From April 22, ERI Scientific Beta has been offering 30 flagship indices free of charge under the brand name Scientific Beta. These flagship indices represent popular smart beta strategies in the area of diversification, but ERI Scientific Beta will subsequently be producing indices for other strategies (style, fundamentally-weighted, factor replication, and optimal liquid). In a year’s time, ERI Scientific Beta intends to have around one hundred free flagship indices that are representative of all the possible smart beta choices. The provision of information on the flagship indices includes daily transparency and allows all investors to replicate the indices without charge. Ultimately, the Smart Beta 2.0 approach will provide investors with a choice of 2,442 customised indices.In total, if the costs of the launch are included, more than EUR6m will have been spent to create this unique smart beta platform. More than 30 people have been working on this project for over two years and the plan is to double the team in the next 24 months.The revenues from ERI Scientific Beta’s smart beta platform (www.scientificbeta.com) correspond to the provision of advanced analytics enabling the investor to carry out in-depth analysis of the risks and performances of smart beta indices. These analytics are unique on the market because they are dynamic and allow investors to test the quality and robustness of the benchmark they choose before any decision on the choice of weighting scheme or risk factors is made. As a part of a not-for-profit organisation, ERI Scientific Beta will ask for a reasonable fee of €10,000 (13,500 USD) per year, beyond the free flagship indices, for the possibility of customising a benchmark according to the risks chosen by the Smart Beta 2.0 investor, and for access to advanced analytics that will enable investors to carry out in-depth analysis of the risks of smart beta indices and of the consequences of their choice of benchmark customisation on the performance and risk of the benchmark.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Total costs related to new regulations of platforms announced just before the weekend by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) total about GBP82m, or nearly EUR100m, Fundweb reports. For the sector, one-time costs will represent between GBP33m and GBP67.2m, while ongoing costs will range from GBP8.3m to GBP14.9m. For platforms, the one-time costs associated with dicontinuing commissions will total between GBP27.6m and GBP61.8m, while the ongoing costs will total between GBP7.2m and GBP13.8m Compared with FSA estimates published in June, these costs have run GBP16m over for one-time costs, and GBP4m for ongoing expenses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Rockefeller Foundation (USD3.6bn in assets) has entered the world of impact investing, Financial Times Fund Management reports, in an interview with its chairwoman, Judith Rodin. It has already invested USD140m in this area, and Rodin predicts that it will represent 5-10% of the average portfolio in 10 years’ time.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The market operator NASDAQ OMX on 29 April announced its decision to launch NASDAQ OMX PSX, a platform which may claim a place as the preferred trading site for ETPs. The platform will be launched during the month of May, after the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been obtained.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Japanese pension funds are planning to modify their asset allocation policies, to privilege alternative asset classes and foreign bonds, Asian Investor reports, citing an annual stidy by JP Morgan (“Japan Pensions Industry Database”). According to the study, planned allocation to alternative asset classes, including emerging markets, have risen by 1.9 percentage points from March 2012 to March 2013, to 10.6%. Allocations planned to foreign hedged bonds (3.6% from 3.5%) and non-hedged bonds (8.8% from 8.2%) are also up. The study proposes a more detailed examination of allocations to alternative asset classes, which is a sign of new exposure to multi-asset class strategies, as well as real estate debt. Larger allocations to absolute returns, private equity, real estate and REITs have also been observed. Japanese REITs in particular in first quarter earned returns of 35.8%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alastair Gillespie, from Principal Global Investors, has joined BlackRock as chief investment officer for real estate in the Asia-Pacific region, to build a dedicated team, Asian Investor reports. Gillespie will be based in Singapore, and will report to Mark Howard-Johnson, global head of real estate securities, and Marc Desmidt, head of alpha strategies for Asia-Pacific. Gillespie joined Principal in April 2009. He was already based in Singapore, and was co-head of research and real estate for the Asia-Pacific region.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net inflows to the wealth management units of the UBS group in first quarter totalled about CHF24bn, their highest level since 2007, according to a statement released on 30 April. Net profits totalled CHF988m, down 4.5% year on year, but well above analysts’ expectations.Wealth Management has posted a pre-tax profis of CHF664m in first quarter 2013, compared with CHF398m in the previous quarter. Net inflows of CHF15bn were the largest since 2007.Wealth Management Americas has posted pre-tax profits of USD251m, compared with a pre-tax profit of USD216m in the previous quarter. This improvement involves a reduction of 3% in operating costs, largely due to lower provisions for lawsuits, regulatory and other similar issues. Net inflows improved to USD9.2bn.Global Asset Management has posted pre-tax profits of CHF190m in first quarter 2013, compared with CHF148m in fourth quarter 2012. Excluding money market investments, the unit has posted net inflows of CHF5.1bn, compared with a net ouflow of CHF3.8bn in the previous quarter.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } EFG Financial Products (EFG FP) has appointed Nathan Parker as director of Operational Services. He began in the role on Monday, the structured product placement service provider states. His predecessor, Valerio Roncone, left the busines at the end of March, in order to dedicate himself to other challenges, EFG FP reported in a statement released on Monday, 29 April. In his new role, Parker will oversee all mack and middle office activities. He will report to COO Michael Hölzle. The new director has over 16 years of experience with this type of activity at UBS, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan. He had most recently been head of middle office for Strucured-Credit EMEA at UBS.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jupiter has unveiled a new global equity income fund for Sebastian Radcliffe and Gregory Herbert, FundWeb reports. The product will be launched on 30 April. It aims to earn high and rising returns from investments in global equities.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DMC Partners, the private equity firm founded by former executives at Goldman Sachs last year, is about to raise one of the largest funds dedicated to developing markets, Financial News reports, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The firm, based in London and co-founded by Edward Eisler, will have about USD2bn in this first fund. It will target markets including those of sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia, China, and Russia.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According tot the “State of World’s UNHW Population 2012-2013” report by the consultancy firm Wealth-X, the number of individuals with wealth of over USD50m in Asia fell 2.1%, to 42,895, and their assets overall have fallen 6.8%, to USD6.25trn. In Europe, the number of such individuals has fallen 1.9% (to 53,440), with a total of USD6.95trn, while in the United Staets, the number of UHNW persons increased 3.3% to 65,295, with a total of USD8.88trn.Switzerland has 5,595 people whose wealth exceeds USD50m, which represents an increase of 7.2%, or 395 people in one year, finews reports, on the basis of Wealth-X data. The increase in 2012, is largely due to a significant increase in the value of real estate in Switzerland, and to rises on Western stock markets. The arrival of high net worth immigrants has had only a slight impact on the overall development.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) on 29 April announced the sale of its retail banking activities in Spain to Banco Sabadell for equities and cash. LBG will receive 1.8% of Sabadell as part of the operation. The stake in equities is values at EUR84m, in addition to which up to EUR20m will be paid in cash. Lloyds explains that the sale, which is expected to be finalised in the next few months, comes as part of its strategy to rationalise its international presence. The two groups will also collaborate to explore business opportunities in various areas, including asset management.