First State Investments aurait arrêté de distribuer activement son fonds Asia Pacific Leaders dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à environ 7,4 milliards de livres, rapporte Investment Week.First State a invité les gestionnaires de fortune à ne plus mettre de gros «tickets» dans le fonds et envisagerait de le fermer aux nouveaux investisseurs dans les prochains mois.Au cours des cinq années au 1er mars, le fonds Asia Pacific Leaders a dégagé une performance de 73,4%, à comparer à un rendement moyen de 50,7% pour le secteur IMA Asia Pacific hors Japon.

Selon le Sunday Times relayé par IFAonline, plus d’une vingtaine de gestionnaires de fonds s’apprêtent à déposer une offre pour acquérir 315 agences que RBS est obligé de vendre. Ils auraient un délai jusqu’à jeudi pour ce faire. Parmi les candidats repreneurs figureraient Schroders, Invesco, Henderson et F&C.

Dario Prunotto, l’actuel numéro un de la banque privée du groupe UniCredit, pourrait quitter la banque pour rejoindre Banca Esperia, rapporte ilmonde.it. La banque est née d’une joint venture entre Mediobanca et Mediolanum dirigée par Andrea Cingoli.

L’italien Generali a annoncé que son comité de direction groupe est désormais au complet avec le recrutement d’un CIO et d’un COO.En effet, Generali a recruté le Singapourien Nikhil Srinivasan, group CIO d’Allianz Investment Management (lire Newsmanagers du 29 novembre 2010) comme group chief investment officer (CIO). L’intéressé avait rejoint le groupe Allianz en 2003.D’autre part, Carsten Schildknecht, qui quittera le 31 mars la présidence du conseil de surveillance de Sal. Oppenheim (où il sera remplacé par le patron de DWS, Wolfgang Matis) et qui était global COO de la division gestion d’actifs et de fortune (AWM) pour l’Allemagne de la Deutsche Bank, rejoindra Generali au 1er avril en tant que COO.Ces deux nominations doivent encore être validées par le conseil d’administration d’Assicurazioni Generali.

BlackRock a l’intention de supprimer environ 300 emplois, soit près de 3 % de ses effectifs, a annoncé lundi la société de gestion à ses salariés, rapporte le Financial Times. L’objectif est de se défaire des collaborateurs les moins performants. Parallèlement, le groupe continuera à embaucher et devrait donc compter plus d’employés à la fin de l’année qu’aujourd’hui. Les suppressions de postes devraient intervenir à tous les niveaux.

Pour un montant non divulgué, la Deutsche Bank vend à US Bancorp son municipal bond trustee business qui couvre un encours de 57 milliards de dollars sur 1.100 contrats, rapporte le Handelsblatt. La transaction sera bouclée dans le courant du troisième trimestre.

Threadneedle Investments vient de faire agréer en France le Threadneedle (Lux) US Contrarian Core Equities, un fonds d’actions américaines sous-valorisées. Le produit est géré par Guy W Pope, gérant de Columbia Management, la société soeur de Threadneedle basée aux Etats-Unis et appartenant au groupe Ameriprise Financial.

Ofi InfraVia, la filiale du groupe Ofi spécialisée dans le secteur infrastructure renforce son équipe de gestion. Comme annoncé par son président et directeur des investissements Vincent Levita à Newsmanagers le 5 février, la société a recruté deux personnes. Ludovic Both rejoint Ofi Infravia en tant que gérant. L’intéressé était précédemment directeur financier de Aloe Private Equity, société d’investissement spécialisée dans les énergies propres et la « green economy ». Auparavant, il a occupé différentes fonctions, notamment chez Siemens en France et en Suisse, chez Viventure Partners à Singapore et chez Alcatel Telecom en France et en Asie. Carine Baudon a été recrutée au poste d’assistante middle-office. Depuis 2008, elle était chargée de compte chez Société Générale Securities Services. Auparavant, l’intéressée a eu différentes expériences dans les groupes AXa Banque et Caisses d’Epargne. Parallèlement à ces deux recrutements, Ofi Infravia a annoncé plusieurs mouvements internes. Bruno Candès devient associé, alors que Gabriel Gauthier et Frédéric Long obtiennent tous les deux le titre de directeur des investissements.

Inès Mercereau a quitté ses fonctions de président directeur général et d’administrateur de Boursorama «pour raisons personnelles» a indiqué lundi 18 mars un communiqué de la société qui a nommé pour la remplacer à ces fonctions Marie Cheval. Sa mission sera de poursuivre la stratégie de l’entreprise et notamment l’orientation vers la banque en ligne, indique l’entreprise.Marie Cheval était directrice Global Transaction and Payment Services de Société Générale depuis janvier 2012 après avoir rejoint le groupe en juillet 2011 en tant que directrice déléguée de la direction des Paiements Domestiques et Internationaux de la Banque de Détail en France.

Lyxor AM a annoncé lundi le lancement d’un fonds UCITS qui vise à répliquer le «Diversified Program» de Winton Capital Management dont la stratégie est axée sur la recherche scientifique appliquée aux marchés financiers, et dont la direction est assurée par David Harding, l’un des précurseurs du trading systématique en Europe. Dans le détail, la stratégie de Winton CM s’appuie sur l’hypothèse selon laquelle, à long terme, il est possible de tirer profit des marchés de futures en appliquant la recherche statistique à l’activité des marchés, indique un communiqué. La philosophie d’investissement du fonds consiste à identifier le comportement et les tendances du marché qui peuvent être exploités. Le produit privilégiera notamment l’analyse des prix et des volumes de marché afin de capturer les tendances par le biais d’instruments financiers liquides, parmi lesquels des contrats futures et des contrats de change à terme.Disponible sur la plateforme Alternative UCITS de Lyxor, le fonds sera libellé en euro, en dollar et en livre sterling, ainsi que dans d’autres devises à la demande des investisseurs. Ces derniers profiteront, en outre, de la liquidité hebdomadaire et de la gestion du risque de Lyxor.

Grégory Molinaro, ancien de CPR Asset Management, rejoint la direction des solutions d’investissement de Groupama Asset Management en tant que responsable de la gestion dynamique de l’allocation, selon un communiqué publié le 18 mars. Aux côtés de la gestion actif/passif et des gestions Sigma (gestions convexe et asymétrique), ce pôle constitue le 3ème pilier de l’offre d’allocation d’actifs proposée aux principaux clients de Groupama AM, en France et à l’international, dans le cadre de sa nouvelle organisation centrée sur les solutions d’investissement.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Grégory Molinaro sera responsable de la gestion mise en oeuvre dans les fonds et mandats diversifiés, pour un total d’encours sous gestion de près de 6 milliards d’euros. Il sera également garant de l’évolution de l’offre et des process de gestion diversifiée. Grégory Molinaro a commencé sa carrière en 2000 comme gérant de portefeuilles dans l’équipe de gestion sous mandat de Société Générale Private Banking. En 2005, il a rejoint CPR Asset Management comme gérant de portefeuille. En 2009, il est devenu responsable de l’équipe allocations de betas au sein du pôle gestion diversifiée de CPR Asset Management.

Le milliardaire John Paulson a indiqué qu’il n’avait aucun projet d’installation à Porto Rico, démentant ainsi des informations parues dans le Financial Times (Newsmanagers du 12 mars).La société de gestion alternative a publié un communiqué en ce sens, précisant qu’il avait envisagé des investissements dans l’immobilier portoricain, qu’il avait également séjourné sur l'île, mais qu’il n’avait jamais envisagé d’y installer une résidence permanente.

La plate-forme NYSE Arca devrait prochainement accueillir six nouveaux ETF de Charles Schwab pour lesquels le gestionnaire vient de solliciter un agrément de commercialisation et qui seront censés répliquer des indices fondamentaux de Russell. Cinq d’entre eux sont des clones de mutual funds existants, rapporte IndexUniverse.Les acronymes sont déjà fixés, mais Schwab n’a pas encore communiqué les taux de frais sur encours.Les nouveaux produits sont les suivants :•Schwab Fundamental U.S. All Company ETF, acronyme FNDB, répliquant le Russell Fundamental U.S. Index•Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company ETF, FNDX, Russell Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index.•Schwab Fundamental U.S. Small Company ETF, FNDA, Russell Fundamental U.S. Small Company Index•Schwab Fundamental International Large Company ETF,FNDF, Russell Fundamental Developed ex-U.S. Large Company Index•Schwab Fundamental International Small Company ETF, FNDC, Russell Fundamental Developed ex-U.S. Small Company Index et•Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Large Company ETF, FNDE, Russell Fundamental Emerging Markets Large Company Index

Le fonds souverain libyen est dans les « limbes », selon Mohsen Derregia, son patron, rapporte Les Echos. Chargé de superviser l’audit du fiasco du fonds sous l'ère Kadhafi, de le remettre sur les rails et le restructurer, il a été remercié par le Premier ministre, officiellement faute de résultats. Celui qui aura tenu moins d’un an à ce poste, a expliqué à l’agence Reuters que « tout retard dans la restructuration du portefeuille et dans les démarches légales pour obtenir réparation auprès des banques nous coûte des centaines de millions de dollars ». En effet, la Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) a certes 60 milliards de dollars, ce qui en fait, devant l’Algérie, le premier fonds par la taille du continent africain, mais certains de ses placements recèlent de fortes moins-values, voire ne valent plus rien. Le fonds va devoir hiérarchiser ses objectifs : stabilisation du budget, épargne pour les générations futures, développement local… Le remplacement brutal de Mohsen Derregia à la tête de LIA par l’adjoint du gouverneur de la banque centrale tendrait à montrer que cette dernière reprend la main et que l’objectif de stabilisation prend le dessus.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Grégory Molinaro has joined the Investment Solutions Management at Groupama Asset Management as head of dynamic asset allocation, according to a statement released on 18 March (see Newsmanagers of 28 February). Alongside Sigma active/passive management (convex and asymmetrical management), the unit includes the third major element of the asset allocation range on offer to major clients of Groupama AM, in France and internationally, as part of its new organisation centred on investment solutions. In his new role, Molinaro will be responsible for development deployed for diversified funds and mandates with total assets under management of nearly EUR6bn. He will also oversee the evolution of the product range and diversified management processes. Molinaro began his career in 2000 as a portfolio manager in the mandated management team at Société Générale Private Banking. In 2005, he joined CPR Asset Management as a portfolio manager. In 2009, he became head of the beta allocation team, in the diversified management unit at CPR Asset Management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } BlackRock is planning to cut about 300 jobs, equivalent to nearly 3% of staff, the asset management firm announced to its employees on Monday, the Financial Times reports. The objective is to remove the least well-performing employees. The group will meanwhile continue to recruit, and expects to have more employees by the end of the year than it does currently. Layoffs will affect all levels of the organisation.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor Asset Management (“Lyxor”) on 18 March announced that it is scaling up its commercial presence in Europe, with the appointment of Véronique Parizet as director of sales for French- and German-speaking Europe. Parizet will be based in Paris, and will report to Christophe Baurand, global director of sales.Parizet will be responsible for the commercial development of Lyxor serving all clients based in French- and German-speaking Europe (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Germany, Austria and Switzerland).“Her long experience with institutional clients will allow Parizet and her team to strengthen Lyxor’s position in these countries for its complete product range: alternative management, ETFs and passive management, multi-asset management and structured management,” a statement from Lyxor says.After beginning her career at the Banque du Louvre (now HSBC Group), Parizet in 1995 joined the BNP Paribas group, first in the insurance company BNPP-Paribas Cardif. In 2006, she joined BNP Paribas Investment Partners, where she served in several roles in the sales team. Before joining Lyxor, she was director of sales for major institutional clients in France.Following the appointment, the organisation fo the sales team has been structured as follows: Frédéric Bordas has been appointed as director of sales for asset management in France. Bordas and his team are based in France and report to Parizet. Julien Martin has been appointed as director of sales for asset management in Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and French-speaking Switzerland. Martin and his team are based in Paris, and report to Parizet. Effective immediately, Oliver Stahlkopf, director of sales for asset management in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, based in Frankfurt, and his team, will report to Parizet.All ETF sales teams for this geographical region will also now report to Parizet.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Duri Prder, a former private banker at Vontobel, will take over as director of Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich, finews reports. He will begin in his position as CEO designate and managing partner on 1 June. After a period as a board member, in 2014 he will become CEO for all of the bank’s activities. Prader succeeds Markus Graf, who had been director of the bank for 17 years. Graf will continue to collaborate with the bank, and will be responsible for key accounts and special projects.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The NYSE Arca platform will soon accept six new ETFs from Charles Schwab, for which the asset management firm has recently filed for a sales license, and which will replicate Russell fundamental indices. Five of these are clones of existing mutual funds, IndexUniverse reports.The acronyms have already been set, but Schwab has not yet disclosed total expense ratios.The new products are as follows:•Schwab Fundamental U.S. All Company ETF, acronym FNDB, replicating the Russell Fundamental U.S. Index•Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company ETF, FNDX, Russell Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index.•Schwab Fundamental U.S. Small Company ETF, FNDA, Russell Fundamental U.S. Small Company Index•Schwab Fundamental International Large Company ETF,FNDF, Russell Fundamental Developed ex-U.S. Large Company Index•Schwab Fundamental International Small Company ETF, FNDC, Russell Fundamental Developed ex-U.S. Small Company Index and•Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Large Company ETF, FNDE, Russell Fundamental Emerging Markets Large Company Index

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Lyxor AM on Monday announced the launch of a UCITS fund which aims to replicate the Winton Capital Management “Diversified Program,” whose strategy is focused on scientific research applied to financial markets, and which is piloted by David Harding, one of the pioneers of systematic trading in Europe.The Winton CM strategy is based on the hypothesis that, over the long term, it is possible to profit from futures markets by applying statistical research to market activities, a statement says.The investment philosophy of the fund is to identify market behaviours and trends which mauy be exploited. The product will privilegel analysis of prices and volumes on the market, in order to capture trends via liquid financial instruments, including futures contracts and forex futures.The fund will be available on the Alternative UCITS platform from Lyxor, and will be denominated in euros, dollars and pounds sterling, as well as other currencies at the request of investors. Investors will also receive weekly liquidity and Lyxor risk management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Threadneedle Investments has licensed the Threadneedle (Lux) US Contrarian Core Equities fund, a fund of undervalued US equities, in France The product is managed by Guy W Pope, manager of Columbia Management, a Threadneedle sister company based in the United States and owned by the Ameriprise Financial group.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In Luxembourg and Germany, BayernInvest is releasing the BayernInvest Deutsche Middelstandsanleihen UCITS ETF fund for sale, in partnership with the Stuttgart stock exchange, the first ETF of bonds from German SMEs. Initial subscriptions are open from 18 to 28 March.Oliver Schlick, CIO and board member at BayernInvest, states that the management team constructs the portfolio according to a series of criteria, including adequate issue volume and external ratings above a certain threshold. In addition, bonds must be listed on a specialist SME segment of a German stock market.CharacteristicsName: BayernInvest Deutscher Mittelstandsanleihen UCITS ETFISIN code: LU0903441706Total expense ratio: 1.05%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In order to restore investors’ confidence in financial services, the CFA Institute in New York on 18 March kicked off the long-term «Future of Finance» initiative, which will be led by a consulting committee chaired by the economist John Kay, and will initially include seven others, among them Elizabeth Corley, CEO of Allianz Global Investors, and Saker Nusseibeh, CEO & Head of Investment at Hermes Fund Managers.As a first move, Future of Finance has released a “Statement of Investors’ Rights,” a list of principles to help buyers of financial services to demand and obtain the conduct that they have a right to expect from their providers in the areas of investment management of investments, research and advising, retail banking, insurance and real estate. The rights include objective advice, communication of potential conflicts of interest, and fair and reasonable commissions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asset managers have increased their marketing and professional ethics spending dedicated to social networks by more than 60% between 2011 and 2012, according to a study by Cerulli Associates, published in the March issue of “Cerulli edge-US Asset Management Edition.” More precisely, marketing recruitments increased 62% year on year, at a time when recruitments in compliance rose 76%. More than half of asset managers currently have a person to deploy their social network strategy. Responsibilities devolved to social networks are generally in the marketing departments, with 32% in marketing and corporate communications, 32% in digital strategy, and 26% in a marketing and retail communications unit.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The billionaire John Paulson has announced that he has no plans to move his residence to Puerto Rico, denying reports in the Financial Times (Newsmanagers of 12 March).The alternative asset management firm released a statement to this effect, stating that Paulson was planning investments in Puerto Rican real estate, and that he had visited the island, but that he had no plans to establish a permanent residence there.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Despite returns of about 12% last year, the coverage rate for German pension funds deteriorated considerably in 2012, largely due to a 140 basis point decline in the discount rate, to 3.35%, Towers Watson Germany finds in its study entitled “German Pension Finance Watch Jahresrückblick 2012.” However, Towers Watson points out that beginning in January 2013, the discount rate has risen back to 3.7%, which may be the first sign that the situation is normalising.The decline in the discount rate triggered a revaluation of liabilities for Dax companies at the end of December, from EUR259bn to EUR317bn, and for MDax companies from EUR34bn to EUR41bn. These correspond to respective coverage rates of 57.9% and 43.9% as of the end of 2012, compared with 65.6% and 48.9% as of the end of 2011, with dedicated reserves of EUR183.8bn, compared with EUR169.6bn for Dax companies, and EUR18.1bn compared with EUR16.1bn for MDax companies.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Frankfurt-based SEB Asset Management on 15 March completed the sale of a diversified real estate portfolio with 137,200 square metres in property, in a total of 11 properties located in Germany, for about EUR420m, or 95% of its book value, to Dundee International REIT, in a transaction which was announced more than a month ago (see Newsmanagers of 6 February).The German asset management firm has also announced that it has sold the office property Andel Park B in Prague, which had been in the portfolio of SEB InnoInvest, to a fund managed by GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH.Since the most recent distribution of EUR145m on 28 December (see Newsmanagers of 11 December). SEB AM has sold 13 properties, for a total of EUR710m.

The new Luxembourg registered Franklin Templeton Shariah Funds (FTSF) Sicav will initially (from March, 25th) have thre subfunds aimed at investors seeking investments that follow Islamic investing principles: Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund, Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund et Templeton Shariah Asia Growth Fund.The Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund is managed by Mohieddine (Dino) Kronfol, Dubai-based chief investment officer for MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk, and Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Local Asset Management Group. Franklin Templeton reports that the fund focuses on fixed and floating rate Shariah-compliant securities issued by government, government-related and corporate entities. The fund may include both investment-grade and non-investment grade securities and allocations to developed and emerging markets.Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund is managed by Alan Chua, executive vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst with Templeton Global Equity Group while the Templeton Shariah Asia Growth Fund is managed by Mark Mobius, executive chairman, and supported by Dennis Lim and Allan Lam, senior managing directors and portfolio managers of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group. “The fund is designed to uncover compelling opportunities in the largest emerging markets in the world by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies located in the Asia region (excluding Australia, New Zealand and Japan)”, according to a press release.All three Franklin Templeton Shariah funds are independently reviewed and endorsed by the Amanie International Shariah Supervisory Board. “The Amanie Scholars provide initial approval on investment objectives and strategy, as well as on going supervisory and monitoring services to ensure continuous adherence to internationally accepted Shariah principles and standards”, the release says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Liquid Alternative Beta fund from the Credit Suisse One (Lux) Sicav, Credit Suisse is offering a UCITS IV-compliant fund whose objective is to replicate the performance of hedge funds with liquid instruments. The management team may use short positions, derivatives, and leverage.The new product, which is available in six share classes (R class shares in USD, CHF and EUR, I class shares in USD, and S class shares in CHF and EUR), is part of a range of liquid, UCITS-compliant hedge fund products which already has assets of USD500m, and Credit Suisse points out that its UCITS-compliant hedge fund and fund of hedge fund platform has over USD1.5bn in assets.R shares carry fees of 1.40%; I and S shares 1%. The fund is already registered in Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta B USD LU0858674822 CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta R CHF LU0858675043 CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta R EUR LU0858675126 CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta I USD LU0858675399 CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta S EUR LU0858675472 CREDIT SUISSE SICAV One (Lux) Liquid Alternative Beta S CHF LU0858675555

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } First State Investments is said to have ceased actively selling its Asia Pacific Leaders fund, whose assets under management total about GBP7.4bn, Investment Week reports. First State has asked wealth managers no longer to place large bets on the fund, which it is planning to close to new investors in the next few months. In the five years to 1 March, the Asia Pacific Leaders fund earned returns of 73.4%, compared with an average return of 50.7% for the IMA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector.