Feu vert pour la sicav La Française AM Fund
La CNMV a enregistré le 30 novembre sous le numéro 1143 la sicav luxembourgeoise La Française AM Fund.
06/12/2012
La gestion d’actifs britannique fait de la résistance
L’asset management britannique fait figure d’exception dans la gestion européenne, note L’Agefi Hebdo qui sort aujourd’hui. «Le Royaume-Uni est le seul pays européen à avoir enregistré une collecte positive au cours de la dernière décennie», résume Ed Moisson, responsable de recherche de Lipper pour le Royaume-Uni et les marchés transfrontaliers, qui a constaté «un véritable dynamisme de la part des gérants transfrontaliers». Ce mouvement a particulièrement bénéficié à M&G (2,674 milliards d’euros d’encours), dont la collecte nette au cours du troisième trimestre s’est élevé à 6,4 milliards. Dans le paysage britannique où les dix fonds les plus importants concentrent plus de 51 % des ventes, selon l’Investment Management Association, les acteurs de taille moyenne connaissent plus de difficultés, en étant plus vulnérables à une chute des marchés. Les gérants, dont le modèle économique repose en grande partie sur les commissions concédées aux intermédiaires, seraient également en danger, analyse l’hebdomadaire. Le secteur s’apprête aussi à connaître à partir du 1erjanvier une véritable révolution des pratiques de distribution des services financiers sur son marché domestique. Annoncée dès 2006, la Retail Distribution Review (RDR) va supprimer les commissions aux conseilleurs financiers. Ces derniers devront désormais négocier leur valeur ajoutée directement avec le client final.
Londres va réformer ses fonds de pension à prestations définies
Dans le document publié à l’occasion du discours d’automne du chancelier de l’Echiquier George Osborne, Londres annonce une réforme des fonds de pension à prestations définies afin d’alléger la charge des entreprises britanniques, rapporte L’Agefi. D’une part, le régulateur des retraites aura «un nouvel objectif statutaire, la prise en compte de la capacité des entreprises sponsors à assumer à long terme les plans de redressement des fonds de pension». D’autre part, le calcul des actifs et des passifs des fonds pourrait être lissé afin de gommer l’impact de la volatilité des marchés. L’objectif est de s’assurer que les contributions des entreprises au financement des retraites «ne constituent pas un frein à l’investissement et à la croissance». Fin mars, la Grande-Bretagne comptait près de 5.800 fonds de pension à prestations définies, précise le quotidien.
Changement de gérants chez Threadneedle
David Dudding va abandonner la gestion du Threadneedle European Smaller Companies l’année prochaine pour piloter le Threadneedle (Lux) Global Focus, succédant à Neil Robson, révèle Citywire Global. Il sera remplacé sur le fonds de petites capitalisations européennes par Mark Heslop le 1er janvier, mais il conservera le contrôle de Threadneedle European Select.
06/12/2012
Fitch confirme la note de Schroders
L’agence d'évaluation financière Fitch Ratings a annoncé le 5 décembre la confirmation de la note d’Asset Manager «M1» attribuée à Schroders. Une note qui couvre les activités de gestion de Schroders à l’exception de la gestion alternative.Fitch Ratings souligne que la confirmation de la note de Schroders est liée à la solidité de son modèle et à la stabilité de ses activités en 2012. Quelques défis attendent toutefois la société, notamment l’accélération de la croissance dans certaines régions (Asie et Etats-Unis) et sur certains segments de clientèle (fonds souverains et épargne privée). L’agence remarque que le projet de modernisation du front office devrait soutenir l'évolution à long terme des activités du groupe britannique.
06/12/2012
BlackRock réduit sa participation dans Man Group à moins de 5%
Comme la réglementation l’y invite, BlackRock a indiqué avoir réduit sa participation dans le groupe de gestion alternative Man Group à moins de 5% contre 9,32% en mars dernier. Cette information intervient alors que Man Group traverse depuis deux ans une période très difficile qui a notamment entraîné sa sortie des indices MSCI globaux le mois dernier.
06/12/2012
Progression de 36,5% des bénéfices de Brewin Dolphin en 2011/2012
Les bénéfices avant impôts de Brewin Dolphin ont fait un bond en avant de 36,5% durant l’exercice au 30 septembre pour s'établir à 29,9 millions de livres contre 21,9 millions pour l’exercice précédent, a annoncé le 5 décembre la société de gestion.Les actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient fin septembre à 25,9 milliards de livres contre 24 milliards de livres un an plus tôt. Cette évolution est due notamment à la progression de 16,7% des fonds discrétionnaires à 18,2 milliards de livres à fin septembre contre 15,6 milliards un an plus tôt.
06/12/2012
Peer Steinbrück annule sa conférence pour Sarasin
Peer Steinbrück a annulé sa conférence qu’il devait donner pour la Banque Sarasin ce jeudi. Le candidat social démocrate allemand au poste de chancelier a finalement préféré refuser l’invitation, ayant appris que la banque était soupçonnée d'être impliquée dans un scandale financier autour de la Hypo Vereinsbank qui touche à la fois la Suisse et l’Allemagne.
06/12/2012
Henderson recrute encore chez Cushman & Wakefield
Après Kathrin Andres il y a deux mois (lire Newsmanagers du 4 octobre), Henderson Global Investors a de nouveau embauché pour l’équipe immobilière de son bureau de Francfort un spécialiste chez Cushman & Wakefield. Il s’agit cette fois de James Ellis, qui devient assistant portfolio manager. Il sera responsable de fournir des éléments de mesure de la performance et d’analyse pour les fonds AUB Opportunity III et Henderson German Logistics.
Summit lance un fonds allemand d’infrastructures “eau”
Le gestionnaire californien Summit Global Management (460 millions de dollars) lance avec le francfortois Universal-Investment et le consultant helvétique Green Shoots Capital (50 milliards d’euros conseillés) un fonds d’actions de droit allemand spécialiste des infrastructures dans le domaine de l’eau, le Summit Water Absolute Return UI.Il s’agit d’un produit d’actions long/short qui réplique sous un format coordonné un fonds américain de Summit avec un parti-pris de développement durable et de respect des critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG). Le fonds est géré par John Dickerson.CaractéristiquesDénomination: Summit Water Absolute Return UICodes Isin: DE000A1JZK84 (parts A, retail)DE000A1JZK92 (parts B, institutionnels)Droit d’entrée: 5 % maximum (parts A)Commissions de gestion:1,85 % (parts A)1,25 % (parts B)Commission de performance: 10 % de la performance positive + 400 pb points de base (taux butoir) avec high watermark
06/12/2012
Une ancienne d'UBS prend en charge la banque privée de Sberbank
Anna Tokaeva a selon finews quitté son poste de responsable d’UBS Global Asset Management Russie pour prendre en charge la banque privée de Sberbank. Le groupe bancaire russe a récemment lancé son activité dédiée à une clientèle fortunée.
06/12/2012
Special dividend at Eaton Vance
On 4 December, the board at Eaton Vance Corp announced that it is paying out a quarterly dividend of USD0.20 per share on 20 December to shareholders registered as of 17 December. It has also decided to pay a special dividend of USD1 per share, payable on 20 December to shareholders registered on 14 December. As of 31 October, assets at Eaton Vance totalled USD199.5bn.
06/12/2012
Oppenheimer Funds acquires Steelpath
The acquisition of SteelPath Capital Management and SteelPath Fund Advisors (USD3.3bn in assets as of the end of November) has been completed by Oppenheimer Funds. Steelpath will become known as OFI Steelpath. The acquisition price has not been disclosed.OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc will become the distributor and primary subscriber to each series from The SteelPath MLP Funds Trust.Steelpath is an asset management firm specialised in investment in infrastructure related to energies, focused on Master Limited Partnerships (MLP). It offers a range of mutual funds as well as dedicated funds focused on MLPs.
06/12/2012
Edram's ex boss to launch a consulting firm
According to reports received by Newsmanagers, Philippe Couvrecelle is preparing to launch a consulting firm with a former employee of Edram, the asset management firm of the Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild which he led for five years. Couvrecelle, who left Edram in August this year, would now like to put the experience he acquired in the collective management world to use. Via his firm, which will be known as PTH Conseil, the head will serve not only French businesses with reflections on the transformation of their asset management activities, development, and future, but also foreign asset management firms seeking to gain a foothold in Europe. Couvrecelle, who has worked for major groups and family-owned businesses, has also opened international offices and has good knowledge of the challenges to come. He is entering a market in crisis in which questions of strategy are increasingly present. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the professional is also planning to serve US and Asian investment firms which are aiming to establish a presence in Europe, such as GCS, which has recently entered exclusive negotiations with the Dexia group to take over Dexia AM. In light of the currently attractive valuations, investment funds are also a target for PTH Conseil. Lastly, Couvrecelle is also expected to approach firms whose objective is to profit from savings reserves in emerging markets and capital managed by pension funds, such as Chilean funds.
06/12/2012
KPMG renforce son pôle fonds alternatifs
KPMG, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, is adding several new hires to its Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) practice’s national team, in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The new hires include: Martin A. Griffiths, K. Peter Ritter, and Graeme M. Fletcher as principals. Martin A. Griffiths has joined the Los Angeles office as a principal in the Federal Tax practice. He will be KPMG’s West Coast real estate tax practice lead. Before joining KPMG, he was senior vice president at Irvine Company, overseeing its income and property tax group.K. Peter Ritter has joined KPMG as a principal in KPMG LLP’s San Francisco Federal Tax practice. He came to KPMG from the law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP where he was a tax partner resident in its San Francisco office.Graeme M. Fletcher is a principal in International Corporate Services, who transferred from KPMG’s Atlanta office to San Francisco. In addition, Daniel Prager has joined KPMG as a managing director in its Federal Tax AIF practice. Based in Los Angeles, he most recently served as head of Corporate Finance for Telefónica Czech Republic. Richard Hinton has joined KPMG’s San Francisco AIF practice, as a Seconded Partner with a focus on the hedge fund industry. He established and led the team responsible for rolling out KPMG’s FATCA proposition to clients in the United Kingdom.
06/12/2012
Socially responsible investment: Crédit Agricole deploys its sectoral policies
After laying out its principles on weapons, Crédit Agricole will soon publish its policy for the energy sector, Stanislas Pottier, head of sustainable development at Crédit Agricole, announced on 4 December, at a round table held by Novethic as part of its annual conference. This is an enormous challenge, as it involves deploying this sector policy for all positions of the group, starting with the investment bank, and extending to advising activities. The next two industries on which Crédit Agricole is already at work are metals and transport. Pottier also says that Crédit Agricole will in early January publish the first edition of the social performance index from the Crédit Agricole group, the FreD index, which will have an impact on variable pay scales for managers throughout the group. This is a good way for the issue of SRI to attract “regular attention” in the group, says Pottier.
06/12/2012
Summit releases a German water infrastructure fund
California-based asset manager Summit Global Management (USD460m) is launching a German-registered equity fund with the Frankfurt-based Universal-Investment and the Swiss Green Shoots Capital (EUR50bn in assets advised), specialised in infrastructure in the area of water, entitled Summit Water Absolute Return UI.The long/short equity product replicates an American fund from Summit in a UCITS-compliant format, with sustainable development and respect for environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The fund is managed by John Dickerson.CharacteristicsName: Summit Water Absolute Return UIISIN code:DE000A1JZK84 (A shares, retail)DE000A1JZK92 (B shares, institutional)Front-end fee: Maximum 5% (A shares)Management commission:1.85% (A shares)1.25% (B shares)Performance commission: 10% of positive performance + 400 basis points (hurdle rate) with high watermark
06/12/2012
Pimco patents a GDP-weighted bond index
The US Patent & Trademark Office has issued a patent to Pimco (Allianz Group), Bill Gross (co-CIO) and Ramin Taloui (global co-head of emerging markets portfolio management) for the methodology underlying the Global Advantage Bond Index (GLADI). The patent application was filed in November 2008.The bond index aims to better capture investment opportunities in an environment of “new normal.” It is weighted according to GDP and not cap-weighted, in order to offer higher risk-adjusted returns than those delivered by traditional methods.
06/12/2012
Index IQ liquidates a mini-ETF
The IQ Emerging Markets Mid Cap ETF (NYSE Arca ticker: EMER), launched in July 2011, has attracted only USD1.7m in assets. Now, Index Universe reports, the fund will be liquidated on 18 December, in line with a decision taken by the board on 3 December.Assets in the fund represent less than 0.5% of assets under management in ETFs monitored by IndexIQ, which total USD590.2bn.
06/12/2012
Paulson in losing bet on euro zone
The euro zone debt crisis has been a setback for John Paulson as it has caused significant losses for his former flagship fund, the Financial Times reports. The manager bet that the monetary union would collapse. But he has reduced his positions based on this supposition since the European central bank has announced that it will intervene in favour of the euro zone. The Advantage Plus strategy from Paulson showed losses of 18.4% since the beginning of the year as of the end of October. This is the second year of losses for the fund.
06/12/2012
Schroders releases Schroder ISF RMB Fixed Income in France
Schroders on 5 December announced the launch of the Schroder ISF RMB Fixed Income fund in France. The new, recently-created strategy (see Newsmanagers of 28 November), which is also on sale in Spain, offers investors an opportunity to access the Chinese bond market denominated in local currencies. The fund is actively-managed, and will be based on the RMB Investment Grade Bond Total Return Index as its benchmark. It is managed by the Asian fixed income management team at Schroders, which relies on the expertise of more than 30 credit analysts worldwide, led by Rajeev De Mello, head of Asian fixed income management, and Angus Hui, Asian bond portfolio manager. The fund aims to construct a diversified portfolio which best expressed the vision of the team for the orientation of the Chinese bond market in terms of selection of maturities on the interest rate curve, choice of sectors and issuers. The fund invests in Chinese government bonds as well as in local and foreign corporate bonds issued in renminbi. The Schroder ISF Fixed Income fund aims for long-term capital growth denominated in renminbi (RMB), and allowing investors to benefit from growth on the bond market supported by solid economic fundamentals.
06/12/2012
Pictet launches quality equity fund
As announced in Newsmanagers on 20 November, Pictet Funds (Europe) has registered the Pictet-Quality Global Equities fund in seven European countries and one Asian country between 31 October and 29 November. The countries are Germany, Austria, Finland, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Singapore, and the product is a quality global equity fund, managed by Laurent Nguyen, head of active quantitative investments and SRI. The product is starting up with EUR19.8m (4 December), and was launched on 30 November.CharacteristicsName: Pictet-Quality Global Equities-R EURISIN code: LU0845340305Management commission: 1.7%Custody charge: 0.03%Administrative fees: 0.22%
06/12/2012
Investec AM in a global equity fund launch
Investec Asset Management has launched a global equity fund whose target is to deliver high returns and low volatility, Citywire Global reports. The Investec GSF Global Endurance Fund will be managed by Christine Baalham and Nigel Hankin. It will focus on global equities which distribute the highest returns while avoiding the most volatile.
06/12/2012
NCB Capital launches a UCITS-compliant fund platform
The Saudi wealth management firm NCB Capital has created a UCITS-compliant fund platform registered in Ireland. NCB Capital now offers two funds on the platform, the NCB Capital Saudi Arabian Equity Fund and the NCB Capital GCC Equity Fund, two Sharia-compliant vehicles which invest in companies listed in Saudi Arabia and other Golf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. The two funds will be distributed internationally in partnership with Amundi, which signed a strategic alliance with NCB Capital in March.
06/12/2012
La Française AM Fund receives license
The CNMV on 30 November issued license number 1143 to the Luxembourg Sicav La Française AM Fund.
06/12/2012
BlackRock reduces stake in Man Group below 5%
As regulations require, BlackRock has announced that it has reduced its stake in the alternative management group Man Group below 5%, compared with 9.32% in March this year. The news comes at a time when Man Group has been through a difficult period for the past two years, which has resulted in its removal from global MSCI indices last month.
06/12/2012
Profits at Brewin Dolphin in 2011/2012 up 36.5%
Pre-tax profits at Brewin Dolphin have leapt 36.5% in the period to 30 September, to a total of GBP29.9bn, from GBP21.9bn in the previous fiscal year, the asset management firm announced on 5 December. Assets under management as of the end of September totalled GBP25.9bn, compared with GBP24bn one year previously. The development is largely due to a 16.7% increase in discretionary funds to GBP18.2bn as of the end of September, compared with GBP15.6bn one year previously.
06/12/2012
UK asset management resists the trends
British asset management is the exception in European management, Agefi Weekly reports today. “The United Kingdom is the only European country to have posted positive inflows in the past decade,” says Ed Moisson, head of research at Lipper for the United Kingdom and cross-border markets, who has noted “a genuine dynamic for cross-border managers.” The movement was particularly beneficial for M&G (EUR2.674bn), whose net inflows in third quarter totalled EUR6.4bn. In the UK market, where the ten largest funds represent over 51% of sales, according to the Investment Management Association, mid-sized players are facing the most difficulties, “as they are more vulnerable to market declines.” Asset managers, whose business model is largely based on commissions to intermediaries, are also in danger, the weekly newspaper suggests. The industry is also preparing to face a genuine revolution in financial services distribution in the domstic market on 1 January. The Retail Distribution Review (RDR), first announced in 2006, will end commissions to financial advisers, who will now need to negotiate their added value directly with end clients.
06/12/2012
Fitch confirms rating for Schroders
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Schroder Investment Management’s ‘M1' Asset Manager rating. The rating covers the company’s London-based investment activities with the exception of the alternative asset management business. The rating affirmation reflects Schroders’ strength and overall stability during 2012, according to the agency. The main challenges facing Schroders are to accelerate growth in certain regions (Asia and US) and client segments (Sovereign Wealth Funds and private saving pools), expand its absolute return and income-oriented investment capabilities and adapt to regulatory changes. The forthcoming overhaul of the Front Office technological platform is a major project to support the longer term evolution of the business, including the increased use of derivatives.
06/12/2012
Change of managers at Threadneedle
David Dudding will be stepping down from the management of the Threadneedle European Smaller Companies fund next year, to manage the Threadneedle (Lux) Global Focus, succeeding Neil Robinson, Citywire Global reports. He will be replaced on the European small caps fund by Mark Heslop on 1 January, but will retain control of the Threadneedle European Select.