La société de gestion alternative CQS, dirigée par Michael Hintze, a nommé Marc Hotimsky en qualité de chairman, une fonction nouvellement créée, selon un communiqué de la société. En tant que membre senior de l'équipe de management, Marc Hotimsky accompagnera le développement de l’activité de CQS dans la sphère institutionnelle.Marc Hotimsky a cotoyé Michael Hintze chez Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB, 1992-2000), où il travaillait dans le fixed income aux côtés de Michael Hintze. Il a par la suite piloté jusqu’en 2011 les activités de New Finance Capital, une société spécialisée dans les fonds hegde funds et rachetée par Schroders en 2006.Les actifs sous gestion de CQS, qui a lancé son premier hedge fund en 2000, s'élèvent à près de 12 milliards de dollars. L’offre de CQS comprend les produits multi-stratégies, des convertibles, des ABS, du crédit des prêts et des actions. Sur les dix premiers mois de l’année, le CQS Directional Opportunity Fund a gagné 29%, le CQS ABS Fund, 14%, et le CQS Diversified Fund, 9,1%.

Grant Peterkin, co-gérant du fonds Ignis Absolute Return Governement Bond d’Ignis Asset Management, a décidé de quitter la société pour saisir d’autres opportunités en dehors du secteur de la gestion d’actifs, selon des informations d’Investment Week.Le gérant devrait arrêter ses activités au sein d’Ignis avant la fin de l’année. Grant Peterkin avait rejoint Ignis l’an dernier et co-gérait le fonds de performance absolue lancé en mars 2011 et dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 513,1 milliards de livres.Ignis a indiqué que le remplacement de Grant Peterkin n'était pas envisagé, l'équipe taux étant déjà bien pourvue avec un effectif de huit personnes.

Carlyle Real Estate vient de céder l’ancien immeuble des douanes du 23, rue de l’Université à Paris à un consortium constitué de la filiale d’assurance vie du Crédit Agricole, Predica, et de CNP Assurances, rapporte L’Agefi. Le montant de la transaction s'élèverait à 250 millions d’euros, ont indiqué plusieurs sources confirmant une information du Figaro.

Generali a mis en branle un processus de cession de sa filiale de gestion de fortune BSI, selon l’agence Bloomberg. Le groupe d’assurances italien a confié ce projet à JP Morgan Chase et Mediobanca.Parmi les candidats potentiels figurent notamment le capital investisseur Apax Partners et la banque canadienne Royal Bank of Canada.La valeur comptable de BSI s'établirait autour de 2,3 milliards d’euros. Un montant peut-être excessif au regard de la conjoncture et des pressions réglementaires qui s’exercent sur la Suisse. Les actifs sous gestion de BSI s'élèvaient à 81,5 milliards de francs suisses à fin juin, en progression de près de 5% par rapport à la fin 2011.

La société de gestion italienne Beni Stabili Sgr et le groupe allemand IVG ont créé une joint venture en Italie, rapporte Bluerating. L’objectif est de lever 100 millions d’euros d’ici à cet été pour un fonds immobilier paneuropéen destiné aux investisseurs institutionnels italiens. Dans le cadre de cet accord, Beni Stabili a acquis 5 % du capital d’IVG Sgr et montera à 49 % à terme.

La société de gestion britannique Schroders, qui gère 202,8 milliards de livres d'encours, a enregistré un bon début d’année avec des souscriptions nettes de 5,3 milliards de livres sur les neuf premiers mois de 2012. Pour les 5 à 10 ans qui viennent, Massimo Tosato, vice-président exécutif, anticipe un ralentissement de la progression des revenus en Europe. Mais l’Amérique latine et l’Asie, où Schroders est déjà largement présente, et les Etats-Unis, où la société compte investir, devraient servir de relais de croissance.

Dans un entretien avec Funds People, Rafael Valera, directeur des opérations, indique que Banco Madrid, acheté en juillet 2011 par Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), veut doubler ses actifs gérés en Espagne à 4 milliards d’euros en trois ans.Les recrutements de professionnels vont continuer (40 banquiers privés ont rejoint le groupe en 2012), et la croissance sera prioritairement organique, mais Rafael Valera n’exclut pas quelques nouvelles acquisitions.Les trois filiales de gestion espagnoles, Banco Madrid Gestión, BPA Global Funds et Nordkapp seront fusionnées dans le courant du premier trimestre 2013.

Fidelity réorganise ses activités en Asie. Cette décision s’accompagne du départ lundi 26 novembre d’Arne Lindman, qui occupe le poste de président et CEO pour la zone Asie-Pacifique. Asian Investor rappelle que la nomination récente de Mark Talbot, en qualité de managing director pour l’Asie hors Japon, avait suscité des interrogations sur d'éventuels doublons. Au final, le poste de CEO d’Asie-Pacifique est supprimé par Fidelity qui souhaite «simplifier sa structure dans la région», a précisé une porte parole à Asian Investor.

JPMorgan Asset Management, qui a plus que doublé ses encours sous gestion au Brésil de 1,7 milliard de dollars à 4 milliards ces 18 derniers mois, lance un fonds offshore dans le pays qui permettra aux Brésiliens d’investir à l’étranger, rapporte le Financial Times.

Les fonds coordonnés de long terme ont enregistré au troisième trimestre une collecte nette de 51 milliards d’euros contre 8 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre, selon les statistiques communiquées par l’Association européenne des gestionnaires d’actifs (Efama).Les fonds obligataires ont terminé le trimestre sur une collecte nette de 50 milliards d’euros contre 42 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre. Les diversifiés, dans le rouge au deuxième trimestre, ont enregistré des souscriptions pour un montant net de 10 milliards d’euros. Les fonds actions ont encore subi des rachats mais pour un montant net de seulement 9 milliards d’euros contre 28 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre.Les fonds monétaires ont terminé le troisième trimestre sur une décollecte nette de 31 milliards d’euros alors que le deuxième trimestre s'était achevé sur une décollecte de seulement 1 milliard d’euros.Au total, les fonds Ucits ont enregistré une collecte nette de 20 milliards d’euros contre 7 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre.Les actifs des fonds Ucits ont augmenté de 3,7% au troisième trimestre pour s'établir à 6.174 milliards d’euros à fin septembre. Les fonds obligataires et actions ont progressé de 5,6% chacun durant le trimestre sous revue. Les fonds diversifiés se sont inscrits en hausse de 4,5% alors que les fonds monétaires ont subi une contraction de 2,5%.Les actifs non coordonnés ont de leur côté augmenté de 3,3% au troisième trimestre pour s’inscrire à 2.567 milliards d’euros. La collecte des fonds dédiés a encore progressé de 16 milliards d’euros contre 21 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre si bien que les actifs de ces fonds se sont accrus de 4,5%.

The number of asset management firms created in France fell by more than one quarter in 2011 compared with the previous year. In its report on asset management for third parties in 2011, recently published by the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on its website, the regulator states that 39 licenses were issued to portfolio management firms, of which nine were to end suspensions. The AMF also withdrew no less than 30 licenses in 2011, as in 2010, which is a high number. 28 were cancelled at the request of asset management firms, of which 15 were due to reorganisations by the parent group, while in six more cases, the closure was due to limited or no management activities. Seven cancellations have been announced without an effective date so far, until documents are supplied for the cases, the AMF states. Lastly two cancellations were announced at the initiative of the regulator, including the closure of the asset management firm Fival S A, on 1 December 2011. In terms of trends, 79% of newly-licensed firms are entrepreneurial structures, a level comparable to previous years (75% in 2009 and 79% in 2010). The AMF also notes a decrease in private equity activities. The firms in question accounted for only 13% in 2011, compared with 36% in 2010. This development is partly due to the Basel III and Solvency II directive, which have reduced the permitted exposure to risk by banks, and a reduction in tax breaks for some products (FCPI, FIP). However, the AMF notes, 15% of firms licensed last year are specialised in real estate management, up 20% year on year. Overall, the market regulatory authority counts 599 existing firms as of December 2011, but a part of the study covered 566 firms, “due to 13 firms in the process of closure and/or liquidation, 6 firms closing before 30 June 2011 for the 2011 fiscal year, and 14 firms which have recently received licenses, whose first day of trading was completed only in 2012.”

Lawrence Kemp, who was head of US large-cap growth at UBS, will join BlackRock on December 10, 2012 to head the firm’s fundamental large cap growth team. He is expected to assume leadership of the BlackRock Capital Appreciation, BlackRock Focus Growth and related Fundamental Large Cap Growth portfolios on January 1, 2013. Jeff Lindsey, current head of the team and portfolio manager for the funds will work with Lawrence Kemp on transitioning the portfolios. Jeff Lindsey announced his decision to leave BlackRock, which will be effective on February 28, 2013.

Greek bonds have reached peaks (+150% since May), and the Athens stock market is outperforming the Dax (+24% since the beginning of the year. And the incontestable beneficiaries are hedge funds which have been counting on fat profits ever since the European financial stability facility (EFSF) is supposed to buy up Greek bonds, Die Welt reports. The funds have been massively buying up Greek bonds and equities at clearance prices.Among the asset management firms concerned are Greylock Capital, Third Point, Fir Tree Partners and Appaloosa Management.

Global Custodian reports that Deutsche Bank is planning to recruit for its departments dedicated to recently-created funds, and has announced two appointments: Deborah Thompson, who joined the bank in March 2012, is promoted to global head of sales, and will report to Olivier De Groot.Robert Coates, who had previously worked at Man Investments, becomes head of the sales team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will report to Simon Behan, head of sales for the region.The department for services dedicated to funds at Deutsche Bank includes administrative services, custody and banking services for ETFs, UCITS, hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity funds, or funds investing in real estate properties or other alternative investment instruments.

The German professional software publisher SAP is planning an initial public offering in China in order to be able to take advantage of the financial resources of one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. SAP is already listed in Germany and New York. “We are considering the possibility of a third listing,” a spokesperson fro the group has said, cited by the news agency Reuters. To do that, SAP would need to wait for China to finalise a planned international segment of the Shanghai stock exchange. The group, which would like to invet USD2bn in China by 2015, has set a goal of earnings in the mid-term of USD1bn in China, where software sales have increased 40% in third quarter, making it the group’s sixth-largest market.

Credit Suisse, which is anticipating sharp growth in ETF trading in Asia, has set up a new market-making system to be made available to the retail online listing segment, to initiate small transactions, Asian Investor reports.

Fidelity is reorganising its activities in Asia. The decision came on Monday, 26 October, with the departure of Arne Lindman, who had served as chairman and CEO for Asia-Pacific. Asian Investor reports that the recent appointment of Mark Talbot as managing director for Asia ex Japan raised questions about potential redundancies. Ultimately the position of CEO for Asia-Pacific has been discontinued by Fidelity, which is seeking to “simplify its structure in the region,” a spokesperson has told Asian Investor.

Effective from 2 October 2013, DWS Investment GmbH is discontinuing its management retainer for the real estate fund of funds DWS ImmoFlex Vermögensmandat (Gemischtes Sondervermögen), which will be liquidated in April 2015. Shareholders will receive liquidity arising from the sale of properties up to two times per year.The management firm explains that the fund (DE000DWS0N09), launched on 10 August 2008, with assets of EUR96.45m (as of 22 November), was invested in nine German open-ended real estate funds. All of these funds have suspended their redemptions, and eight of them are now in liquidation.Liquidity in the fund as of 31 October was only 11.4%, well below what is needed to reopen a redemption window which has been closed since April 2012.DWS states that from 1 December 2012, it is reducing the TER for the product to 0.1%, from 0.95% currently.

Sergi Pallerola, CEO of Trea, is joining the Andorran group Andbank as chief global portfolio officer for the group, Cotizalia reports. He will be responsible for all portfolio management, with a team of 25 people. He will also be part of the board of directors at Andbank.

Wells Fargo Asset Management has increased the number of funds which will be available to Swiss investors, Investment Europe reports. 13 sub-funds are now available in Switzerland.

Generali has started up a sale process for its wealth management affiliate BSI, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The Italian insurance group has retained JP Morgan Chase and Mediobanca for the process. Among the potential candidates are the private equity investor Apax Partners and the Canadian bank Royal Bank of Canada. The book value of BSI is repoted to be about EUR2.3bn. Assets under management at BSI totalled CHF81.5bn as of the end of June, up more than 5% compared with the end of 2011.

The Italian asset management firm Beni Stabili Sgr and the German group IVG have created a joint venture in Italy, Bluerating reports. The target is to raise EUR100m by next summer for a pan-European real estate fund aimed at Italian institutional investors. As a part of the agreement, Beni Stabili has acquired 5% of capital in IVG Sgr, which will eventually increase to 49%.

Driven by ECB policy actions, long-term UCITS-compliant funds in third quarter posted net inflows of EUR51bn, compared with EUR8bn in second quarter, according to statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). Bond funds finished the quarter with net inflows of EUR50bn, compared with EUR42bn in second quarter. Diversifeid funds, which posted outflows in second quarter, posted subscriptions totalling a net EUR10bn. Equity funds saw further outflows, but totalling only EUR9bn, compared with EUR28bn in second quarter. Money market funds finished third quarter with outflows of EUR31bn, while second quarter brought outflows of only EUR1bn. Overall, UCITS funds posted a net inflows of EUR20bn, compared with EUR7bn in second quarter. Assets in UCITS funds increased by 3.7% in third quarter, to total EUR6.174trn as of the end of September. Bond and equity funds gained 5.6% each in the quarter under review. Diversified funds gained 4.5%, while money market funds contracted by 2.5%. Non-UCITS-compliant assets, for their part, gained 3.3% in third quarter, to a total of EUR2.567trn. Inflows to dedicated funds increased further, by EUR16bn, compared with EUR21bn in second quarter, putting assets in these funds up 4.5%.

On 26 November, DWS Investment is launching the target date fund DWS Select Emerging Markets Corporate Bonds 2017, which has already received a sales license for Germany from BaFin.The fund will invest primarily in government bonds from emerging countries and investment grade bonds issued by businesses which, at the time of issue, have their headquarters in emerging markets or conduct most of their business there.The sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav DWS Select may also invest in money market or quasi-money market instruments.CharacteristicsName: DWS Select Emerging Markets Corporate Bonds 2017 LD ISIN code: LU0825503302 Front-end fee: 3% TER: 0.90%

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), on 23 November issued a warning over the activities of the Capital Alliance Ltd company, whose website is the following: www.capitalalliancesltd.com The Capital Alliances Ltd company, which claims to have headquarters at 46 Great Marlborough Street, W1 F7JW, London, United Kingdom, offers French savings investors securities listed on the Frankfurt market and financial investment avising services, largely by telephone. The AMF says that the Capital Alliances Lts company is not licensed to provide investment services or financial investment advising in France. The firm is also not licensed to provide banking or financial transactions, or to receive funds in France. Capital Alliances Ltd is also unrelated to the firm CAPITAL ALLIANCE PARTNER Limited, which is licensed by the FSA.

The ratings agency Standard and Poor’s on 23 November confirmed its rating of AA+ for France, and a negative outlook for the French economy, four days after Moody’s downgraded France.“After a stagnant year in 2012, we predict growth of 0.4% for the French economy in real terms in 2013,” the S&P agency adds. The agency welcomes the determination of the French government to undertake significant budgetary and structural reforms.The socialist government of president François Hollande currently predicts growth of 0.8% in 2013, to reduce the deficit to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).S&P estimates that the deficit will total 3.5% of GDP in 2013: the difference is due to the fact that the GDP growth outlooks from S&P are lower than the public ones.

Fidelity Worldwide Investment is planning to launch an Asia fund, which will come as an addition to the range of Fidelity active strategies (FAST), Money Marketing reports. The new fund is expected to outperform the MSCI Asia-Pacific fund, and use short-selling and leverage to reduce volatility. The FAST range from Fidelity currently includes six strategies, one emerging market fund, one Europe fund, one European Opportunities fund, one Japan fund, one Optimised European market neutral fund and one UK fund.

BlackRock has recruited a team to create a unit to invest in the infrastructure market, the Financial Times reports. The unit will be based in London. The asset management firm is seeking to take advantage of the vacuum left behind by banks, which are less inclined to finance larger projects.

The alternative management firm CQS, led by Michael Hintze, has appointed Marc Hotimsky as its chairman, a newly-created position, according to a statement from the firm. As a senior member of the management team, Hotimsky will assist in the development of CQS’ activities in the institutional sphere. Hotimsky assisted Michael Hintze at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB, 1992-2000) in fixed income. He then became head of activities at New Finance Capital, a firm specialised in hedge fund firms, which was acquired by Schroders in 2006. Assets under management at CQS, which launched its first hedge fund in 2000, now total nearly USD12bn. The product range from CQS includes multi-strategy products, convertibles, ABS, mortgage credit, and equities. In the first ten months of the year, the CQS Directional Opportunity Fund has gained 29%, the CQS ABS Fund has gained 14%, and the CQS Diversifeid Fund has gained 9.1%.

Grant Peterkin, co-manager of the Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond fund from Ignis Asset Management, has decided to leave the firm, to pursue other opportunities outside the asset management sector, according to reports in Investment Week. The manager is expected to cease working at Ignis by the end of the year. Peterkin joined Ignis last year, and was co-manager of an absolute return fund launched in March 2011, whose assets under management totalled GBP513.1m. Ignis has announced that there are no plans to replace Peterkin, and the fixed income team will continue with a staff of eight people.