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18/01/2013

Success for a hedge fund dedicated to Greece

Dromeus Capital, a hedge fund founded last year to profit from depreciated Greek assets, has made more than 40% in its first three months, the Financial Times reports. Other hedge funds have taken advantage of opportunities in Greece, but Dromeus is the only one to be wholly dedicated to the country.
18/01/2013

2013: SG Private Banking sees a “break in the clouds”

Strategists at Société Générale Private Banking (SGPB, about EUR18bn in French assets, compared with less than EUR17bn as of the end of 2011) on 17 January announced that they are more optimistic for 2013, with “blue sky” peeking through the clouds.The specialists, who have been positive on equities since last summer, now recommend an overweight position on this asset class (55% in a hypothetically 50/50 balanced portfolio), but with a high level of selectivity and European equities expected to outperform the US. SGPB is highly positive about emerging markets, even though the typology of its clients hardly allows them to allocate more than 5% to these securities, says Olivier Paccalin, CIO.In bonds, SGPB is continuing to favour high yield (more European than US), though it is selective (neutral to underweight) in the investment grade, and clearly negative on government bonds. But the time has also come to bet on a recovery in mergers and acquisitions, where “targets must be targeted,” says Ollivier Courcier, fixed income strategist.
18/01/2013

Groupama AM “cautiously optimistic” about the economy in 2013

After a year in 2012 which led it increase its assets by nearly 8%, to over EUR90bn, and to post a sizeable net inflow from external clients, Groupama Asset Management (GAM) has declared that it is confident in the economy and the markets in the next three months. This “cautious optimism” is currently finding expression in a 55% allocation to equities (including European and emerging markets) and 45% for bonds, in a hypothetically 50/50 balanced portfolio. CIO Antoine de Salins on 17 January stated that the firm’s positioning on high-risk assets is more marked in 2013, and that in bonds, GAM is favouring the European periphery and high yield, while it is underweight in German, US and Japanese government bonds. However, the CIO also states that the firm “remains a little behind the curve compared with the ambient optimism” on the markets. Volatility hedging is becoming complex, and GAM will remain cautious so long as the tensions in Europe have not been integrated into prices.
18/01/2013

BlackRock posted USD47bn net sales in 2012

For the year 2012 as a whole, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has recorded net inflows of USD47bn for its long-term products, compared with USD67bn in 2011. In detail, equity, fixed income and multi-asset class products have posted subscriptions of USD31.2bn, USD12.4bn and USD4.1bn, respectively. Alternative products, however, suffered outflows of USD0.7bn. Net sales, including money market products, amounted to USD60.8bn.Assets as of 31 December 2012 totalled USD3.7916trn, up 8% compared with USD3.5127trn as of the end of 2011. Compared with September 2012, assets are up 3%.As of 10 January 2013, pledges of new subscriptions totalled USD48.7bn, of which USD25.4bn are for index-based institutional mandates.BlackRock has posted net profits for the past year of USD2.46bn, compared with USD2.34bn in 2011, an increase of 5%. In fourth quarter, net profits totalled USD690m, up 24% year on year.
18/01/2013

BNP Paribas to launch a three-year plan to reduce costs

The BNP Paribas group will be launching a vast operational efficiency plan for 2015, Agefi reports. The plan, entitled “Simple & Efficient 2015,” will apply to all activities of the bank worldwide, and will aim to reduce costs, or at least stabilise them. EUR1bn over three years will be dedicated to the reorganization, several sources have told Agefi. Each unit will present plans for its transformation. The bank is planning to pursue several means to achieve its goals: revising management processes in order to simplify them and reduce redundant tasks, lighter decision-making procesures, removing duplicates, mutualising means, etc. BNP Paribas, which is expected to pass the efficiency plan at a presentation of its annual results on 14 February this year, is planning to increase mobility, not only within units, but between various units of the group.
18/01/2013

NewAlpha AM signs an incubation partnership with LindenGrove Capital

NewAlpha Asset Management, the affiliate of the Ofi group dedicated to manager incubation, on Thursday, 17 January announced that it has signed its 20th partnership with the LindenGrove Capital company. LindenGrove Capital is a specialist in global macro type absolute return strategies. The asset management firm was founded in 2012 by Borut Miklavcic, who in 2009 also founded and until last May led the owners’ equity investmnt activity at Nomura worldwide. He was also responsible for a team of 14 asset managers in three offices. Several members of his team from Nomura have followed Miklavcic to LindenGrove, including two managers, Tom Groves and Ravin Seeneecassen, and Gianluca Squassi, in charge of Risk Management, a statement says. With a first fund launched in mid-December 2012, LindenGrove Capital deploys several absolute return, directional and arbitrage strategies on markets and instruments that are among the most liquid in the world: interest rates, currencies, equity and credit indices, and inflation-linked instruments. The risk monitoring and dynamic asset allocation model is identical to the one used at Nomura.
18/01/2013

Assets up and profits down at BNY Mellon in 2012

As of 31 December, assets under management at BNY Mellon totalled USD1.4trn, up 10% compared with the end of 2011, when they were down by 8%. Assets under custody or administration, for their part, increased by 9% for the year, to USD26.7trn.Net subscriptions to long-term products totalled USD56trn for the year 2012 as a whole, including USD14bn in fourth quarter.Lastly, BNY Mellon has announced that its net profits in 2012 had fallen marginally, to USD2.523bn, from USD2.569bn in 2011.
18/01/2013

Good results for Schwab asset management in 2012

Assets under management at Schwab at the end of 2012 totalled USD431.31bn, compared with USD399.35bn at the end of December 2011, according to figures released by the US bank at a presentation of its fourth quarter results. Management and administration commissions totalled USD2.04bn in 2012, compared with USD1.93bn the previous year, of which USD539m were in fourth quarter, compared with USD458m in fourth quarter 2011.
18/01/2013

Bank of America: record profits for asset management unit

In 2012, and in the fourth quarter of last year, the global wealth & investment management unit at Bank of America has posted record net profits, of USD2.223m and USD578m, respectively, comapred with USD1.718m and USD272m the previous year. Meanwhile, commission reenues have also set new records, at USD6.12bn for 2012 as a whole, and USD1.6bn in October-December.The pre-tax profit margin came to 21%, compared with 16% in 2011.At the end of December, assets under management totalled USD698.1bn, compared with USD635.6bn, with the increase of USD62.5bn due both to rising markets and to net subscriptions to long-term products.Overall, net profits at Bank of America totalled USD4.188bn in 2012, compared with USD1.446bn in 2011.
18/01/2013

Morningstar launches an index to hedge against inflation

Morningstar on 18 January announced the launch of the Morningstar US Real Asset Index, an index consisting of a diversified portfolio of liquid assets, which would provide protection against inflation, including Treasury Inflation-Protected Secuities (TIPS), REITs, commmodities, and commodity futures. The index includes about 40% TIPS, 30% commodity futures, 15% REITs and 15% securities related to commodities, including mining froups and companies involved in the transport of commodities. The index will be revised on a weekly basis.
18/01/2013

Strong inflows to Deka real estate funds in 2012

Net subscriptions to three open-ended real estate funds from Deka totalled EUR800m in January-November, while net inflows to institutional funds totalled EUR500m, says Matthias Danne, a board member responsible for the real estate unit. Overall, assets in the unit increased last year by about EUR1bn.Last year, Deka Immobilien bought 21 properties for EUR2.3bn, and sold 29, for EUR1.4bn.Danne states that two institutional real estate funds were launched in 2012: the Domus-Deutschland, which aims for assets of EUR800m, and the fund of funds Deka-Immobilien StrategieInstitutionell, which invests in funds of the Target-Select range from Deka’s affiliate WestInvest.
18/01/2013

Henderson GI loses its head of distribution for Germany

Das Investment reports that Lars Albert decided to leave in April Henderson Global Investors, where he is head of distribution for Germany. He is more particularly responsible for banks, funds of funds, family offices and wealth managers, and reports to Steven de Vries, head of distribution for Northern Europe.
18/01/2013

Palace coup at Veritas Investment

“Due to divergences in views as to strategic orientation for the future, Markus Kaiser will be leaving the board at Veritas Investment, but will continue to be available to the business until further notice, and is currently in negotiations over a potential continuation of his collaboration with the firm in the area of ETF funds,” a Veritas statement released on 17 January states.In other words, the “strong man” at Veritas will be leaving his role as head of fund management, marketing and distribution.The chairman of the board will continue to be Dirk Schönholz, who joined the firm in August 2012. The two new MDs are Hauke Hess, head of portfolio management, who remains CEO responsible for portfolio management at Pall Mall Investment Management GmbH (PIMM), a sister company of Veritas Investment. The two asset management firms have been cooperating since mid-2012 on a by-project basis, and will intensify their collaboration in the institutional and risk management fields.The third member of the management team is Kerstin Behnke, who will be responsible for distribution and customer service. She had previously been CEO of FIL Investment Services GmbH, responsible for distribution of open-ended funds at Fidelity International in Germany, after spending 16 years at Gartmore Investment Services GmbH. The fund management team, composed of Christian Schuster, Christian Riemann and Marcus Russ, who worked in close cooperation with Kaiser, will continue to provide operational management of the products.
18/01/2013

Netherlands pension fund outsources its management to Kempen

Flexsecurity, the pension fund for the temp agency Randstad Holding, has outsourced all of its assets (EUR258m) to Kempen Capital Management, IPE.com reports. The Dutch asset management firm had already been working with the pension fund.
18/01/2013

Vontobel AM recruits two bond analysts

David Walls and Stefan Husler have been recruited by Vontobel Asset Management, the former as a credit analyst and deputy portfolio manager for the Vontobel Fund – High Yield Bond, and the latter as a credit analyst for equipment, basic industries, and financial services.Walls had been a consultant for high yield credit at Waddell & Reed in Dallas, Texas, after becoming one of the co-founders of Three Seas Capital, and a partner, as well as portfolio manager, at Highland Capital Management.Hüsler, for his part, previously worked at UBS, Pemba Credit Advisors and Man Investments.
18/01/2013

New CEO for Nordea Fonder

Maria Rengefors has been appointed as CEO of Nordea Fonder in Sweden, and will begin in the role on 1 February, Fondbranschen reports. She succeeds Sasja Beslik, who will be responsible for international socially responsible investments for the group. Rengefors is currently deputy CEO of Nordea Fonder, head of communication.
18/01/2013

Vontobel AM recrute deux gérants

Vontobel Asset Management a recruté deux gérants senior, révèle Bluerating. Il s’agit de David Walls et de Stefan Hüsler, qui rejoignent l’équipe d’investissement haut rendement et crédit.
18/01/2013

Aberdeen wants to limit inflows to its emerging market equities

The Scottish asset management firm Aberdeen Asset management has announced in its report on fourth quarter 2012, released on Thursday, that it is planning to slowdown incoming inflows to its emerging market equities, “to ensure performance is not compromised,” as it is no longer comfortable with the high rate of net inflows. Global emerging market equity strategies attracted a net total of GBP1.696bn in the last three months of last year, following GBP1.281bn in third quarter 2012. Inflows to Asia-Pacific equities, for their part, totalled GBP1.424bn, followsing GBP719m. These two universes drove overall inflows to Aberdeen in fourth quarter of the year (the first quarter of its fiscal year), which totalled GBP1.1bn, with GBP3.1bn for equities. Bonds, real estate, money market and “solutions” posted negative flows. In this context, assets under management at Aberdeen AM increased by 3% in the last three months of the year, to GBP193.4bn.
18/01/2013

ETF Securities scales up retail distribution

Frank Spiteri, a specialist in equity derivative trading at KBC Financial Products, and more recently responsible for sales and trading of ETFs at the broker Peel Hunt, has been recruited by ETF Securities (UK) Limited as head of distribution for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. He will focus on sales of ETPs to retail clients, and will report to Matt Johnson, head of distribution for the EMEA region.
18/01/2013

Carmignac recruits in UK

Nick Casey joined the British sales team of Carmignac Gestion on January 14th to strengthen relationships with UK intermediaries via platforms, life companies and IFAs. He will report to Matthew Wright, head of country – United Kingdom.Before joining the French asset manager, Nick Casey worked at Aviva for 22 years, the last 6 of which were with Aviva Investors in London, specialising in IFA distribution.Following the opening of an office in London in April 2012 and with this hiring, Carmignac Gestion confirms its commitment to the UK market with five fully dedicated sales. Recently, a sales manager and an office manager have been hired.Over the last three years, 76 new staff have been hired across Europe to support Carmignac Gestion’s growth, adds the French asset manager. The fund management team has been further strengthened by the arrival of thirteen fund managers and analysts since 2010.
18/01/2013

Former Brevan Howard founder launches a family office

Chris Rokos, co-founder of the alternative asset management firm Brevan Howard, has founded a family office in central London, in Mayfair, the newsagency Reuters reports. Rokos left Brevan Howard last year, following a cutback of his asset management portfolio. In the Sunday Times rankings of the largest fortunes in the hedge fund sector, Rokos came in 15th, with estimated wealth of GBP230m. Other hedge fund managers are planning to wind down their activities due to increasingly strict regulation of the sector, such as the AIFM directive.
18/01/2013

Vanguard drops Hansberger from one of its funds

On 14 January, Vanguard announced that the mandate for Hansberger Global Investors as advisor to the international equity fund Vanguard International Value Fund (USD6.8bn, ticker VTRIX) has not been renewed. Hansberger had been responsible for 17% of funds, and its allocation has been reassigned to two other mandate holders, Lazard Asset Management and Edinburgh Partners Limited. The proportion allocated to the former increases to 39%, while the latter rises to 34%. The other asset management firm holding a mandate from the fund is Arga Investment Management, with 24%, while the remainder is the cash allocation.
18/01/2013

Tikehau IM launches a private equity fund open to retail investors

Tikehau Investment Management, an asset management firm specialised in credit markets, has launched the FCPR Tikehau Financement Privé, its first private equity fund available to retail investors. With a minimal subscription of EUR20,000, the fund, which will be open from 31 January to 31 july 2013, allows private investors to participate in financing for mid-sized businesses. The FCPR Tikehau Financement Privé is primarily invested in financial sector securities providing access to capital (mezzanine debt).
18/01/2013

Mutual fund inflows more than tripled in 2012

Long-term mutual funds posted net subscriptions last year of USD243.2bn, compared with USD74.8bn in 2011, while net inflows to money market funds totalled USD76.84bn, compared with USD10.1bn, according to estimates by Morningstar. US equity funds continued to post net outflows (USD120bn, compared with USD87.19bn).Vanguard and Pimco captured 61% of total net subscriptions in 2012, compared with 30% in 2011, and 46% in 2010, with USD86.11bn and USD62.68bn, respectively. Two other asset management firms posted inflows of over USD20bn last year: JP Morgan, with USD25.57bn, and DoubleLine, with USD21.8bn.The fund which attracted the strongest net subscriptions was the DoubleLine Total Return Fund, with USD19.6bn, which beat out the Pimco Total Return (USD18bn), However, with the addition of the ETF version of the latter, with inflows of USD3.8bn, the fund from Bill Gross would win, says Morningstar.
18/01/2013

iShares revises presentation of ETF commissions

The ETF provider iShares has revised the way in which its commissions are presented on its website for 42 ETF, IndexUniverse reports. This decision appears to indicate a desire on the part of iShares to offer investors a range of commissions which is slightly more in line with what various fund prospectuses may indicate.The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund, which had until very recently had a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.67%, now has two TERs, one of 0.69% and one at 0.66%. The former is the TER as of 31 August 2012, while the second is the TER as of 31 December 2012. The difference between the two reflects an increase in assets in the fund during the last four months of 2012, which led to a decline in costs for investors.
18/01/2013

DoubleLine preparing three equity funds

Mutual Fund Wire relays reports in Reuters that DoubleLine Capital has filed a license application to the SEC for three equity funds, including the DoubleLine Equities Small Cap Growth Fund, which will be managed by Husam Nazer. The DoubleLine Equities Growth Fund and the DouhleLine Equities Global Technologies Fund will be managed jointly by Nazer and Brent Stallings, who were recently recruitd by the FI management firm founded by Jeff Gundlach.
18/01/2013

Neuberger Berman launches multi-asset fund

The New York-based asset management firm Neuberger Berman Group has announced the launch of the Neuberger Berman Dynamic Real Return Fund (tickers NDRAX, NDRCX, and NDRIX), which invests in several asset classes and aims to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in various inflation environments.The product is managed by Andy Johnson, CIO for investment grade bonds, and Thanos Bardas, global head of sovereigns and interest rates. The portfolio may be invested in commodities, global inflation-linked bonds, high yield bonds, leveraged loans, US and emerging market equities, master limited partnerships (MLPs) and real estate. The managers will use a dynamic overlay system to “capitalise on short-term fluctuations in inflationary outlooks,” a statement says.
18/01/2013

India launched an ETF of public sector businesses

The Indian government is planning to launch an ETF which would invest in public sector enterprises, IndexUniverse reports. According to initial indications, the ETF portfolio would include 15 to 20 profitable companies, a representative of the finance minister has stated, cited by the Wall Street Journal. It is not yet known whether the government will be abandoning its position as majority stakeholder in the selected businesses as part of the move.
18/01/2013

RBC ITS abandoned by Gemini IM

RBC Investor & Treasury Services (RBC ITS), which belongs to the Royal Bank of Canada group, on 17 January announced that its Investor Services unit has been appointed as global custodian and provider of administration services to Gemini Investment Management. RBS ITS will assist Gemini with the development of its own administration and distribution services. Assets under administration at RBC ITS total about USD2.9trn.
18/01/2013

Les entreprises britanniques ont séduit les acquéreurs étrangers en 2012

Selon une étude d’Allen & Overy citée par L’Agefi, la valeur des transactions réalisées par des acquéreurs étrangers sur des entreprises britanniques est restée quasiment stable sur un an (+0,4% à 86 milliards), avec un nombre d’opérations en très légère érosion (108 contre 110). Derrière les Etats-Unis, le Royaume-Uni reste la deuxième destination mondiale pour les acquéreurs étrangers «à la faveur d’une économie relativement stable, d’une abondance d’entreprises raisonnablement valorisées et d’un environnement favorable aux opérations», commente le cabinet d’avocats. A contrario, l’appétit des investisseurs transfrontaliers pour les entreprises françaises a considérablement diminué d’une année sur l’autre, comme en témoigne la chute de 58% à 16,4 milliards de dollars de ces opérations dont le nombre est passé de 39 à 31.

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