Matthias Reimer, who was head of portfolio management for guaranteed funds and multi-asset class strategies in the wealth management unit of DWS (Deutsche Bank group), is joining Warburg Invest (EUR14.8bn in assets), Das Investment reports.At his new employer, Reimer will direct the portfolio engineering team, which includes multi-asset class strategies and the development of custom investment strategies for private clients.
Following the departure of Jeff Knight, head of the global asset allocation (GAA) team, Putnam Investments on 1 February announced the appointment with immediate effect of four co-heads for the strategy, for which the asset manager has a total of 13 employees, and assets of about USD10bn.The four new co-heads, who joined Putnam between 1998 and 2000, will retain their current responsibilities, and will “work in close cooperation” with Walter C. Donovan, CIO.James Fetch will remain as head of portfolio construction and risk management, while Robert Kea will continue to direct top-down analysis, Robert Schoen remains responsible for equities, and Jason Vaillancourt remains head of the global macro approach.
The asset management firm Amundi, who is celebrating 30 years of presence in Hong Kong, is aiming for USD100bn in Asia “in the next fie years,” according to CEO Yves Perrier, Les Echos reports. The asset management firm currently has USD70bn, out of just under USD1trn in assets under management worldwide (EUR711bn as of 30 September). “Among the asset management firms present in Asia, whether they be foreign or local, Amundi has one of he most complete personnel teams, and we have room to grow everywhere to increase our presence,” Perrier says.
The US asset management firm Legg Mason has reported assets under management of USD648.9bn for the third quarter of its 2012-2013 fiscal year, ending on 31 December, compared with USD650.7bn as of the end of September, according to statistics released on 1 February. Outflows in the quarter totalled USD7.5bn, and were only partially offset by a positive market effect of USD5.7bn, while assets under management have nonetheless risen 3% compared with their levels at the end of December 2011. Legg Mason has announced that outflows from equities totalled USD8.3bn, while outflows from bonds totalled USD6.8bn. Money market funds, however, attracted USD7.6bn in fourth quarter. As of 31 December, assets under management consisted 57% of bonds, compared with 22% for equities. 60% of clients are American. Legg Mason finished the quarter to the end of December with a net loss of USD453.9m, or USD3.45 per share, compared with net profits of USD80.8m, or USD0.60 per share in the quarter to the end of September, and USD28.1m, or USD0.20 per share in fourth quarter 2011. Losses in the quarter under review are due to charges for depreciation of intangible assets totalling USD734m.
As of 31 December, Franklin Resources, which is known as Franklin Templeton Investments, had assets under management of USD781.8bn (see Newsmanagers of 14 January), which represented an increase of USD31.9bn, or 4%, in the first three months of fiscal 2013, due to market effectss of USD24.8bn, and USD8.7bn due to the acquisition of K2Advisors (see Newsmanagers of 6 November 2012).Compared with October-December 2011, assets have increased by USD111.5bn, or 17%, largely due to USD94bn in market effects and USD13.6bn in net subscriptions.Net profits for the California-based asset management firm in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending on 30 September 2013 totalled USD516.1m, compared with USD492.1m in July-September, and USD480.8m in the corresponding period of 2011.
After eight years at Prigest, Cécile Imbert left the firm ten days ago. The fund manager, who had worked alongside Matthieu Rollin on the Prigest Europe and Prigest US funds for three years, will not be replaced, Christian Cambier, CEO of the asset management firm, has told Newsmanagers. However, the departure of the manager will result in a reorganisation. “Rollin and I will now work as a pair,” the manager explains, while unlike in the case of Imbert, “there will not be a two-headed management structure, but instead management with a head.” In practice, Rollin will have control of Prigest Europe and Prigest USA, while ValFrance and Prigest Pacifique will be led by Cambier. The departure of Imbert comes at a time when Prigest has seen a reduction in assets in its equity funds. Alongside Valfrance, the flagship fund from the asset management firm, which has net assets of only EUR170m, the US fund has only EUR27m, and the Europe fund has only EUR38m in assets under management, while the Pacific fund has EUR52m. As part of the changes, the question of merging the France fund and the European fund has been raised. “That would depend on the major shareholder, SwissLife Banque Privée,” Cambier says, suggesting that the merger between the asset management firm and its shareholder may come more rapidly than expected, justifying the choice not to replace the manager. In June 2011, SLBP announced that it had acquired a 25% stake in the capital of Prigest, stating that its “engagement” would eventually result in a wedding. The big step has been set for “two years from now,” but SLBP could increase its stake to 51% within a shortened time.
Pre-tax operating profits for the asset management unit of the US group Ameriprise Financial totalled USD141m in fourth quarter, up 11% compared with third quarter 2011, according to statistics released by the group. Assets under management at Columbia Management and Threadneedle as of the end of 2012 totalled USD455bn, up 5% compared with the end of December 2011. Assets under management at Threadneedle have incerased 12% to USD128bn, while Columbia assets have risen by a more limited 1%. The asset management unit finished the year with outflows of USD3.9bn, largely due to net redemptions totalling USD3.6bn to institutional clients.
The Scottish asset management firm Baillie Gifford has announced the appointment of three new partners as of 1 May: Spencer Adair, investment manager in the Global Alpha team, Kathrin Hamilton, director of the Clients Department in charge of North American clients, and Graham Laybourn, director of Legal and Regulatory Risk.With the retirement of Angus McLeod, director of the Clients Department for Asia and the Middle East, the number of partners as of 1 May will total 39.Baillie Gifford has also announced that its assets as of the end of December totalled GBP85bn, and that the firm has 752 employees.
Barclays yesterday announced that its chief financial officer, Chris Lucas, and its legal director, Mark Harding, will be resigning voluntarily, Agefi reports. The two men will remain in place until their successors are appointed, the bank added in a statement. It states that a search for these replacements is underway.
The CEO of the British bank Barclays, Antony Jenkins, who was appointed last year following the departure of Bob Diamond due to the Libor scandal, on 1 February announced that he would not be claiming a bonus for the year 2012. “Last year was clearly very hard for Barclays and its shareholders,” and “I have concluded that it would be inappropriate on my part to receive a bonus for 2012 under these circumstances,” he explained in a statement. The widely-practised form of remuneration in the City is regularly subject to indignation on the part of the British public, due to the sometimes exceptionally large amounts paid to some financiers. The various scandals which have recently affected British banks have made bonuses even more unpopular in times of austerity.
The asset management firm Troy Asset Management has announced that it will limit access to the Troy Income Fund, due to the continuing rise of its assets under management, Money Marketing reports. The manager of the fund, Francis Brooke, is spending an increasing amount of time in meetings with clients. These meetings are legitimate, but are gradually increasing the time needed to manage the fund. From 1 May, minimal investment in the fund will be increased from GBP1,000 to GBP250,000, while front-end fees will now be set at 5%. This is the second time that Troy has decided to limit access to the fund, whose assets under management total GBP930m.
BNY Mellon has announced that it has been selected by the British firm Coutts as administrator for its new Irish-registered, UCITS-compliant Coutts multi-asset funds.Services include settlement for derivatives, the production of KIIDs, daily reporting on performance, and hedging of share classes.
The Global Emerging Markets and Macro (GEMM) hedge fund has announced to investors that it will no longer accept new capital, and that it has already refused about EUR500m in assets since the beginning of the year, the news agency Reuters reports. Since its inception in 2009, assets in the fund have increased strongly, and now total about EUR5bn. The head of asset managemnt at BTG, Steve Jacobs, says that reopening the fund has not been ruled out, but that it will remain closed “indefinitely». Last year, GEMM earned returns of 28% which makes it one of the best-performing funds in the world.
Les actifs sous gestion de Julius Baer ont progressé l’an dernier de 11%, soit 19 milliards de francs suisses, à 189 milliards de francs suisses, slon un communiqué publié le 4 février. La progression des actifs sous gestion résulte d’un impact positif de la performance du marché de près de 11 milliards de francs suisses grâce à des améliorations substantielles dans plusieurs catégories d’investissement, notamment les actions, d’une collecte nette de de 9,7 milliards de francs et enfin d’incidences de change négatives de 1 milliard de francs, dues principalement au recul de la valeur du dollar vers la fin de l’année.Comme les années précédentes, si toutes les régions ont produit une contribution positive, la majorité de la collecte provient des marchés de croissance - Asie, Amérique latine, Moyen-Orient, Russie et Europe centrale et de l’Est.Par ailleurs, Julius Baer indique avoir le mois dernier renforcé sa présence sur le marché japonais de la gestion de fortune, en prenant une participation de 60% dans TFM Asset Management Ltd. (TFM), société de gestion d’actifs indépendante enregistrée en Suisse. Fondée en 1996, TFM a des bureaux à Tokyo et Zurich. La société détient des licences de conseil en placements et de gestion d’investissements délivrées par la FSA japonaise et se concentre essentiellement sur le service aux clients privés japonais à haut potentiel financier. TFM gère quelques centaines de millions de francs suisses d’actifs de clients. Julius Baer aura un droit de propriété intégrale trois ans après l’opération de bouclage prévue pour avril 2013. Les deux parties sont convenues de ne pas divulguer le prix d’achat.
La banque Credit Suisse a publié le 1er février des résultats révisés, adaptés à la nouvelle structure du groupe. Dans la division Private Banking & Wealth Management (PB&WM), le résultat de la gestion d’actifs est indiqué désormais comme une unité spécifique, tout comme les résultats des unités Wealth Management Clients et Corporate & Institutional Clients.Le négoce sur titres en Suisse a par ailleurs été transféré en grande partie de la banque d’affaires vers la division PB&WM, précise Credit Suisse dans un communiqué. Ces ajustements ont un effet sur les résultats des trois unités de la division PB&WM et sur celui de la banque d’affaires. Ces changements, ainsi que le transfert du négoce sur titres n’ont cependant aucun effet sur le résultat consolidé et le résultat net de Credit Suisse, qui va adapter ses chiffres rétroactivement jusqu’en 2008. Credit Suisse a annoncé en novembre 2012 une réorganisation de son fonctionnement et de sa direction, prévoyant un transfert des unités de banque privée et de gestion d’actifs vers la division PB&WM.
«La Chine, l’un des principaux marchés d’UBS, continuera de figurer au centre de notre stratégie», a déclaré le président du conseil d’administration d’UBS, Axel Weber, à l’occasion de sa première visite en Chine dans les fonctions qu’il occupe depuis l’an dernier, rapporte le China Daily..Dans cette perspective, UBS va continuer de développer ses activités de gestion de fortune en Chine où le groupe souhaite figurer parmi les tout premiers gestionnaires de fortune. Au niveau mondial, la gestion de fortune représente 50% environ du portefeuille d’UBS. Ce pourcentage est évidemment beaucoup plus modeste pour ce qui concerne la Chine alors que les actifs investissables enregistrent d’année en année des progressions à deux chiffres.
L’Agefi rapporte que UBS a confirmé à l’agence de presse suisse ats qu’elle entendait renoncer aux rétrocessions perçues dans le cadre de ses activités de gestion de fortune, dans un souci de mettre à mal les conflits d’intérêt.
Le hedge fund Global Emerging Markets and Macro (GEMM) a indiqué aux investisseurs qu’il n’accepterait plus de nouveaux capitaux et qu’il avait déjà refusé quelque 500 millions de dollars depuis la fin de l’année, rapporte l’agence Reuters.Depuis sa création en 2009, les actifs du fonds ont fortement augmenté pour s'établir actuellement autour de 5 milliards de dollars. Le patron de la gestion de BTG, Steve Jacobs, indique qu’une réouverture du fonds n’est pas exclue mais qu’il resterait fermé pour «une période indéfinie». L’an dernier, GEMM a dégagé une performance de 28%, ce qui en fait l’un des grands fonds les plus performants au monde.
Le suisse RepRisk a publié son rapport annuel 2012 sur les dix sociétés les plus controversées et se fondant sur une vaste palette de sources, dont la presse papier, les sites d’informations, les ONG, les sites de gouvernements, les blogs et les médias sociaux.Deux des firmes arrivant en tête du palmarès, Tazreen Fashions et Lonmin, ont connu des accidents ou incidents particuliers durant le second semestre, un incendie dans une usine du Bengladesh pour la première et des heurts sanglants entre mineurs et police pour la seconde.Des scandales en matière de gouvernance ont éclaboussé Olympus Corp (fraude comptable) et News Corp (espionnage et corruption). HSBC et ING Bank figurent dans le top-10 à la suite d’accusation de contrôles insuffisants pour empêcher le blanchiment d’argent, la première étant de surcroît accusée d’avoir manipulé le Libor.La liste complète figure ci-dessous :1. Tazreen Fashions Ltd 2. Olympus Corp 2. Lonmin PLC 4. News Corp Ltd 4. Samsung Group (ex-aquo)6. HSBC Holdings PLC 6. Reebok International Ltd (ex-aquo)6. ING Bank NV (ex-aquo)9. Wyeth LLC 10. TeliaSonera AB
Julius Baer a annoncé une hausse de 11% de ses actifs sous gestion en 2012, à la faveur de la bonne tenue des marchés boursiers. L'établissement suisse spécialisé dans la banque privée a ainsi précisé que le total des actifs gérés pour ses clients s'était établi à 189 milliards de francs (153 milliards d’euros). Le bénéfice net 2012 a été de 298 millions de francs alors que les analystes financiers avaient anticipé 281 millions.
La chambre de compensation LCH.Clearnet a annoncé son intention de réduire les appels de marge qu’elle exige pour de nombreuses catégories d’obligations françaises et espagnoles. Elle abaissera la marge initiale exigée pour la dette souveraine française à des échéances situées entre un mois et 15 ans, ainsi qu’aux titres à maturités de 30 à 50 ans, précise Clearnet. Elle va aussi réduire la marge sur la dette espagnole, y compris sur les titres dont les maturités se situent entre un et trois mois, ainsi qu’entre sept et quinze ans.
Les panélistes continuent de surpondérer les actifs obligataires mais sont désormais plus nombreux à être réservés sur l'évolution des spreads de crédit