A compter du 1er mai 2013, Chris Watt, qui a rejoint Jupiter Asset Management en 1999, sera promu gérant du Jupiter Growth & Income Fund (368 millions de livres) et du Jupiter UK Alpha Fund (15 millions de livres) en remplacement de Philip Matthews, qui rejoint Schroders (lire Newsmanagers du 18 avril) pour succéder à Richard Buxton, lequel part chez Old Mutual Global Investors. Chris Watt était depuis janvier 2007 gérant du Jupiter Responsible Income Fund (50 millions de livres).Par ailleurs, Jupiter Asset Management a désigné Alastair Gunn, arrivé en 2007 et co-gérant du Jupiter Distribution Fund (294 millions de livres), pour prendre la gestion du Jupiter High Income Fund (549 millions de livres) au 1er juillet 2013. Ce fonds est géré actuellement par Anthony Nutt, qui compte partir à la retraite en fin d’année.
La société de gestion alternative basée à Londres BlueCrest, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à quelque 35 milliards de dollars, envisage de revenir sur les actions après plusieurs années d’absence, selon Hedge Fund Intelligence.Le mois dernier, BlueCrest a d’ailleurs recruté le gérant de hedge funds et spécialiste des actions Christian Dalban qui a quitté récemment Nomura où il était responsable du trading actions.
Franklin Templeton lance en Italie la Sicav Franklin Templeton Strategic Allocation Funds, qui offre aux investisseurs institutionnels et particuliers une gamme de quatre fonds de fonds, rapporte Bluerating. Autorisée à la vente en Italie, cette offre vient s’ajouter à la Sicav Franklin Templeton Investment Funds déjà distribuée en Italie depuis 1995 et qui compte 76 compartiments.Les fonds de la nouvelle sicav sont plus ou moins investis en actions en fonction de leur profil de risque.
La banque d’investissement privée et indépendante Banca Leonardo, dont l’assemblée générale s’est tenue en début de semaine à Milan, a approuvé les résultats financiers du groupe au 31 décembre 2012, ainsi qu’une distribution de 0,12 euro par action ordinaire pour un montant total de 34 millions d’euros. La mise en paiement est intervenue à compter d’hier.Le groupe propose une gamme complète de services en « Investment Banking » en Europe, ainsi qu’en « Private Banking » en Italie et en France.
L’objectif d’actifs intermédiés par le réseau d’agences d’ici à trois ans a été fixé par Bankinter à 7 milliards d’euros, contre 4,5 milliards actuellement, ce qui représente un gonflement de 56 %, rapporte Funds People.Dirigé par César González Rodríguez, le réseau comprend actuellement 478 conseillers spécialisés. Ils étaient 1.100 fin 2008, et la réorganisation a fait chuter l’effectif à 300 personnes, mais la banque a commencé d’embaucher des spécialistes plus qualifiés, avec l’intention de recruter des personnes susceptibles d’apporter chacune 250 millions d’euros d’encours.Les personnels nouvellement embauchés bénéficient de l’intendance de Bankinter (système informatique, réseau Open Finance, services juridiques, gestion du risque, ressources humaines) mais ne sont pas tenus de vendre uniquement des produits de la banque et peuvent entre autres proposer des fonds de gestionnaires étrangers disponibles sur la plate-forme Allfunds Bank. En outre, les conseillers en agence, contrairement aux banquiers privés, ne sont pas tenus par le plancher d’un million d’euros d'épargne financière.
Au 31 mai, les encours du fonds ISR BNP Paribas Groen Fonds (NL0006294209, 175 millions d’euros fin mars), l’ancien ABN Amro Groen Fonds, sera absorbé par le Triodos Groenfonds (469 millions d’euros), ont annoncé le 24 avril BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) et Triodos Investment Management.BNPP IP précise que les investissements «verts» aux Pays-Bas ne font plus partie de son cœur de métier. Il s’agit d’un domaine qui est très local et spécialisé, ce qui ne permet pas à BNPP IP de continuer à gérer ce fonds de manière optimale tandis qu’avec le transfert à Triodos, les porteurs de parts pourront être certains que leurs actifs sont en de bonnes mains.Les fonds de Triodos Investment Management affichaient fin décembre un encours de 2,2 milliards d’euros.
Les actifs générateurs de commissions de Gottex Fund Management se sont inscrits en baisse de 9% au premier trimestre 2013 à 6,4 milliards de dollars, contre 7 milliards de dollars à fin décembre, selon un communiqué publié le 24 avril. Ce recul est lié à des rachats (un peu plus de 800 millions de dollars), en partie compensés par une collecte nette de 150 millions de dollars en Asie ainsi que par l’acquisition d’un intérêt majoritaire dans Frontier Investment Management et un effet marché positif.Les seuls actifs sous gestion ont diminué au premier trimestre de 5,9% à 5,59 milliards de dollars, en raison d’une décollecte nette de 265 millions de dollars. Les actifs de la filiale spécialisée dans les services Luma GSS s'élevaient fin mars à 0,77 milliard de dollars, en recul sous l’impact d’une décollecte de 300 millions de dollars, et d’un effet devises négatif de 20 millions de dollars que les souscriptions (20 millions de dollars) et la bonne tenue des marchés (20 millions de dollars) n’ont pas permis de compenser.
La Banque cantonale vaudoise (BCV) a fait état pour le premier trimestre d’une progression de 6% de ses actifs sous gestion à 86,4 milliards de francs suisses, selon un communiqué publié le 25 avril. La collecte nette s’est élevée à 1,3 milliard de francs suisses.
Henderson Global Investors annonce avoir acquis 33 % de la société de gestion australienne 90 West Asset Management spécialiste des ressources naturelles à l’international, rapporte Funds People. En outre, les deux entreprises ont conclu un accord de distribution exclusive.
The third annual study from Cerulli Associates of sales of mutual funds in Europe (European Distribution Dynamics 2013: Navigating a Fragmented Marketplace) has found that assets are distributed among distribution channels with 38.4% for captive/affiliate networks, 36.8% for third parties, and 24.7% for direct/institutional distribution, with a proportion of more than 50% of assets in France in this area, which is expected to grow in the rest of Europe.The study also finds, unsurprisingly, that the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the two most promising markets for promoters of pension funds in the next five years, while Germany, Italy and the Scandinavian countries finish close behind them. All of these markets are expected to become more popular with institutional clients.In France, captive asset management firms such as Amundi and BNPP IP control most retirement assets, thus managers with SRI capacities are likely to gain market share. Small asset management firms such as Ecofi Investissements have already received several mandates by playing on this specialty. Less experienced asset maangement firms may try their luck with family offices, which are more comprehensive with respect to funds that have shorter track records, and which have some propensity to privilege investment philosophy.The study was carried out on the basis of six surveys of 103 fund management firms with total assets of EUR2.8trn. It included data for the French, German, Italian, Spanish and British markets.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For first quarter 2013, Morningstar Inc has posted earning up 5% compared with January-March 2012, to USD168.9m, while its operating profits rose 33.4% to USD40.6m. Net profits, for their part, totalled USD29.6m, compared with USD20.1m for the corresponding period of last year.Assets advised and managed by the Investment Advisory Services unit fell ot USD96.7bn as of 31 March, compared with USD147.9bn one year previously, due to the internalisation of a USD12.9bn mandate by a client, and a change in objectives for another mandate of USD46.9bn. Aside from these transfers, assets increased 9.8% in this division.Assets advised and managed by the Retirement Solutions unit totalled USD51.9bn as of the end of March, compared with USD38.5bn one year previously, while assets at Morningstar Managed Portfolios totalled USD5.3bn, compared with USD3.6bn as of 31 March 2012.Operating profits for the Investment Management division totalled USD16.4m in first quarter, down 5% compared with the corresponding period of last year.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 July, Thomas Breitenmoser will become head of institutional distribution and a member of the board of directors at Swisscanto Asset Management. He will be responsible for distributing Swisscanto funds to third parties, managing relationships with clients based in Switzerland who have placed mandates with the asset management firm, and the Austrian, German and Luxembourg markets.Breitenmoser has spent more than six years at JPMorgan Asset Management, the last three as head of institutional clients in Switzerland.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Banque cantonale vaudoise (BCV) has reported a 6% increase in its assets under management in first quarter, to CHF86.4bn, according to a statement released on 25 April. Net inflows totalled CHF1.3bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Assets generating commissions at Gottex Fund Management were down 9% in first quarter 2013 to USD6.4bn, compared with USD7bn as of the end of December, according to a statement released on 24 April. This decline is related to outflows (slightly over USD800m), partly offset by a net inflow of USD150m in Asia, as well as the acquisition of a majority stake in Frontier Investment Management, and a positive market effect. Assets under management in first quarter fell by 5.9% to USD5.59bn, due to net outflows of USD265m. Assets at the services specialist affiliate Luma GSS as of the end of March totalled USD0.77bn, down due to the impact of a net outflow of USD300m, and a negative currency effect of USD20m, which subscriptions (USD20m) and positive market effects (USD20m) were not enough to offset.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 April, EFG International has announced that on the previous evening it completed its sale of its remaining stake of 20.25% in EFG Financial Products to Notenstein Private Bank, an affiliate of Raiffeisen Switzerland. The transaction totalled CHF70.2m (1.35 million shares at CHF53 each). Notenstein becomes the largest shareholder in EFG Financial Products, with 22.75%, after the four founders, who jointly control 25.30% of capital.As a result, the representatives of EFG International on the board of directors of EFG Financial Services, John Williamson, Giorgio Pradelli and Frederick Link, have resigned from their positions.According to the local press, EFG Financial Products will in second quarter becomes known as Leonteq, Swiss Investment Engine. The new name is derived from the Latin name of edelweiss (leontopodium), with the suffix “teq” to indicate its technological aspect.On the Swiss stock exchange (SIX), the ticker for EFG Financial Products (FPHN) will be replaced by that of Leonteq, LEON.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An objective has been set by Bankinter for assets intermediated by its bank branch network in the next three years at EUR7bn, compared with EUR4.5bn currently, which would represent an increase of 56%, Funds People reports.The network, led by César González Rodríguez, currently includes 478 specialist advisers. There were 1,100 of them at the end of 2008, and the reshuffle has reduced personnel to 300, but the bank has begun recruiting more qualified specialists, with the intention of recruiting people who will be likely to bring in EUR250m in assets each.Newly-recruited personnel will benefit from Bankinter’s logistics and resources (IT systems, Open Finance network, legal services, risk management, human resources), but will not bre required to sell exclusively products from the bank, and may also offer, among others, funds from foreign asset mangement firms available on the Allfunds Bank platform. Branch advisers also, unlike private bankers, are not bound by a minimum threshold of EUR1m in financial savings.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 1 April, Andreas Franz joined Comgest Deutschland GmbH in Düsseldorf as investor relations manager. He holds the same position as Oliver Hausemann, and shares responsibility with him for maintaining relationships with institutional investors and wholesale and retail clients in Germany. Austrian clients will continue to be served by Dieter Wimmer, also an investor relations manager.Franz joins from Hamburgische Sparkasse (Haspa), where he spent 17 years, most recently as a securities analyst for open-ended investment funds.As of 31 December, Comgest had EUR15.5bn in assets under management.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors at Legg Mason Inc has announced a quarterly dividend of 13 cents per ordinary share, payable on 8 July to shareholders registered on 11 June. That represents an increase of 18% compared with the previous quarterly dividend.As of 31 March, assets totalled USD665bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton is launching the Franklin Templeton Strategic Allocation Funds Sicav, which offers institutional and retail investors a range of four funds of funds, in Italy, Bluerating reports. The range, which is licensed for sale in Italy, comes in addition to the Franklin Templeton Investment Funds Sicav, which has been available in Italy since 1995, and which has 76 sub-funds. The funds of the new Sicav are mostly invested in equities according to their risk profiles.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fondsnieuws reports that iShares (BlackRock) has become the first ETF promoter to be admitted to the FundSettle automated trading platform from Euroclear. Initially, 50 ETFs will be available, out of 150 products that iShares offers in the Netherlands. As Leen Meijaard, head of sales for iShares in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region points out, however, these 50 products cover the vast majority of demand from distributors. Lieven Libbrecht, director investment funds product development at Euroclear, has not ruled out the possibility that other ETF issuers will list their products for trading on FundSettle.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Standard Life Investments (SLI), which includes the asset management business of the UK insurer Standard Life, in first quarter increased by 7%, or GBP11.4bn, to a record GBP179.1bn, benefiting from strong flows and market movements, according to figures announced at the publication of an interim report for the Standard Life group. Third party AUM increased by GBP7.4bn or 9% to GBP90.4bn and now accounts for over 50% of total Standard Life Investments AUM . Net inflows for the quarter totalled GBP3bn, compared with GBP1.1bn in first quarter 2012. SLI continued to diversify geographically with 43% of third party net inflows from outside of the UK including net flows from US of GBP0.6bn Assets under administration by the Standard Life group, for their part, have posted a 7% increase, to GBP223.1bn. The insurance group has also announed that it will be recruiting in Asia, with the addition to 30 to 40 people in sales and back office for retirement and investment products, mostly in Hong Kong, as well as in Singapore and Dubai, Asian Investor reports. The group is working in close collaboration with its asset management affiliate, SLI, which is also dedicating substantial resources to the Asian region. The insurer would like to distribute a larger number of SLI products, of which only 12 are on sale in Hong Kong, out of a range of 300 funds, mostly Luxembourg Sicavs.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Wealth and Investment Management unit at the Barclays group has earned a pre-tax profit of GBP60m, down 43% compared with first quarter 2012, the UK banking group announced in a publication of its quarterly results. Assets of high net worth clients as of the end of March totalled GBP200bn, compared with GBP186bn as of the end of December 2012.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Chris de Marco, who had been principal investment consultant at AON Hewitt and managing director, head of insurance and pension solutions sales at HSBC, is joining Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) in the newly-created position of head of client strategy, where he will lead an equally new team, with the mission of designing integrated de-risking solutions. The new recruit will report to Aaron Meder, global head of solutions.The team will also include Matthew Webb (ex BDO) as solutions strategist, and Toby Baldwin, who has been tranferred from the product strategy and development team.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } From 1 May 2013, Chris Watt, who joined Jupiter Asset Management in 1999, will be promoted to manager of Jupiter Growth & Income Fund (GBP368m), and the Jupiter UK Alpha Fund (GBP15m), replacing Philip Matthews, who is joining Schroders (see Newsmanagers of 18 April), to replace Richard Buxton, who is moving to Old Mutual Global Investors. Since January 2007, Watt had been the manager of the Jupiter Responsible Income Fund (GBP50m).Jupiter Asset Management has also appointed Alastair Gunn, who joined in 2007 as co-manager of the Jupiter Distribution Fund (GBP294m), to take over management of the Jupiter High Income Fund (GBP549m) as of 1 July 2013. The fund is currently managed by Anthony Nutt, who will be retiring at the end of this year.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 31 May, assets in the SRI fund BNP Paribas Groen Fonds (NL0006294209, EUR175m as of the end of March), the former ABN Amro Groen Fonds, will be absorbed into the Triodos Groenfonds (EUR469m), BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) and Triodos Investment Management announced on 24 April.BNPP IP states that green investments in the Netherlands are no longer a core professional area. This is an area which is highly local and specialised, which does not allow BNPP IP to continue to manage the fund in an optimal manner, whereas with the transfer to Triodos, shareholders will be able to be confident that their assets are in good hands.Funds from Triodos Investment Management as of the end of December had assets of EUR2.2bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Henderson Global Investors is preparing to add two new funds to its risk-graduated range of multi-asset solutions, led by Bill McQuaker, Investment Week reports. They are the Core 4 Income and Core 6 Income & Growth funds.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In March, open-ended funds on sale in Italy recorded net inflows of EUR5.3bn, after raising EUR4.5bn in February, the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers, reveal. Since the beginning of the year, Italian funds have attracted slightly over EUR13bn. In March, inflows were driven by flexible funds (EUR2.4bn) and bond funds (EUR2.6bn), two categories which have been doing well since the beginning of the year. However, equity funds posted light net outflows of EUR131m. In terms of fund domicile, foreign-registered funds continue to account for the lion’s share, with EUR4.8bn in March, and EUR11.2bn in first quarter. With the addition of closed funds and mandated management, net inflows in March totalled EUR7.3bn. Assets under management in open-ended funds totalled EUR504bn, while assets in collective and mandated management totalled EUR1.225trn. Assogestioni notes that asset levels have set a new record for the fifth consecutive month. Lastly, in terms of businesses, Generali and Intesa have posted the strongest inflows in March, with EUR1.4bn and EUR1.1bn, respectively. Franklin Templeton comes next, with EUR1.041trn. Among the few firms to post redemptions, BNP Paribas stands out with EUR227m, as does Montepasci, with EUR139.4m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined EFG Private Bank GBP4.2 million, or approximately EUR5million, for failing to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective anti-money laundering (AML) controls for high risk customers. «The failings were serious and lasted for more than three years», the FCA underlines.As part of a thematic review of how UK banks were managing money laundering risk in higher risk situations, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) visited EFG Private Bank, the UK private banking subsidiary of the EFGI Group, a global private banking group, based in Switzerland, in January 2011. That visit and further investigation caused serious concern to the FSA. The investigation found that EFG had not fully put its AML policies into practice. Of particular concern was that 17 of 36 reviewed customer files, opened between December 2007 and January 2011, contained customer due diligence that highlighted significant money laundering risks, but insufficient records of how the bank’s senior management had mitigated those risks. Of these 17 files, the FSA found that the risks highlighted in 13 files related to allegations of criminal activity or that the customer had been charged with criminal offences including corruption and money laundering. EFG settled at an early stage of the investigation and qualified for a 30% discount on its fine. Without the discount the fine would have been GBP6 million.
Les actifs sous gestion de Standard Life Investments (SLI), qui regroupe les activités de gestion d’actifs de l’assureur Standard Life, ont progressé au premier trimestre de 7% ou 11,4 milliards de livres pour atteindre le niveau record de 179,1 milliards de livres, en raison d’un effet marché positif et d’une forte collecte, selon les chiffres communiqués à l’occasion de la publication du rapport intérimaire du groupe Standard Life.Les actifs sous gestion de source externe se sont accrus de 9% ou 7,4 milliards de livres à 90,4 milliards de livres et représentent désormais plus de 50% des actifs sous gestion de Standard Life Investments. La collecte nette du trimestre s’est élevée à 3 milliards de livres contre 1,1 milliard de livres au premier trimestre 2012. La collecte externe hors Royaume-Uni a représenté 43% du total dont 0,6 milliard de livres émanant des Etats-Unis.Les actifs sous administration du groupe Standard Life ont pour leur part enregistré une augmentation de 7% à 233,1 milliards de livres.Le groupe d’assurances a par ailleurs annoncé qu’il allait renforcer ses effectifs en Asie, avec le recrutement de 30 à 40 personnes dans la vente et le back office de produits de retraite et d’investissement à Hong Kong principalement, mais également à Singapour et Dubai, rapporte Asian Investor.Le groupe travaille en étroite collaboration avec sa filiale de gestion d’actifs SLI qui consacre également des ressources substantielles à la région asiatique. L’assureur souhaite notamment distribuer un nombre plus important de produits SLI, dont seulement 12 sont proposés à Hong Kong sur une offre de 300 fonds, pour l’essentiel luxembourgeois.
Chris de Marco, qui a été principal investment consultant chez AON Hewitt et managing director, head of insurance and pension solutions sales, chez HSBC, rejoint Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) au poste nouvellement créé de head of client strategy, où il sera à la tête d’une équipe également nouvelle dont la mission consiste à concevoir des solutions de «de-risking» intégrées. Le nouvel arrivant sera subordonné à Aaron Meder, global head of solutions.Cette équipe accueillera aussi Matthew Webb (ex BDO) comme solutions strategist au même titre que Toby Baldwin, qui est muté en provenance de l'équipe stratégie produits et développement.