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12/11/2012

Nouveau départ de dirigeant chez F&C

Ed Morse, le responsable du développement de l’activité de trusts de F&C Investments, a quitté la société pour d’autres opportunités dans le secteur, rapporte Investment Week. Il s’agit du quatrième dirigeant à quitter F&C Thames River cette année, alors que l’actionnaire activité et nouveau président Edward Bramson remanie l’activité. Les autres à avoir quitté le groupe sont Mike Warren, Charlie Porter et Jeremy Charles.
12/11/2012

State Street renforce son pôle contributions définies au Royaume-Uni

Dans le cadre du développement de ses activités de plans d'épargne retraite à contribution définie au Royaume-Uni, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) a recruté Nigel Aston comme managing director and head of UK defined contribution. Il est subordonné à la fois à Susan Raynes, senior managing director and head of UK, Middle East and Africa et à Fredrik Axsater, managing director and global head of defined contribution.Auparavant, Nigel Aston était business development director chez le fournisseur de données DCisions, chargé des ventes, du marketing, du suivi des relations commerciales de long terme ainsi que de la fourniture des produits et services.SSgA précise que son encours mondial dans le domaine des contributions définies se situe à 235 milliards de dollars.
12/11/2012

Morgan Stanley poursuit “Chip” Skowron en justice

Après avoir obtenu en mars la condamnation de Joseph «Chip» Skowron III à lui verser 10,2 millions de dollars, Morgan Stanley a déposé le 31 octobre une autre plainte contre l’ancien managing director du gestionnaire alternatif FrontPoint Partners, à l’époque filiale de la banque, pour avoir commis des délits d’initiés, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.Morgan Stanley réclame cette fois plus de 65 millions de dollars supplémentaires parce qu’il a dû verser 33 millions de dollars afin d’obtenir l’arrêt des poursuites par la SEC, en sus des 32 millions de dollars perçus par Chip Skowron à l’époque des faits. Entre-temps, FrontPoint a été revendu à son management pour une fraction de son pris d’achat de 404 millions de dollars ; le gestionnaire alternatif semble avoir depuis lors cessé son activité.
12/11/2012

United States will not implement Basel III in early 2013

The US authorities on 9 November announced that they will be calling off plans to begin to implement the new international standards known as Basel III in the United States from next January. Many banking establishments have expressed concerns about being subjected to definitive regulations of capital levels from 1 January 2013, without having had enough time to understand or change their systems as necessary, a brief statement from the Fed explains. The statement, which was also made on behalf of the other two financial system surveillance agencies, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), adds that the authorities in June published three draft regulations to implement Basel III. But due to the volume of comments received, and the wide variety of opinions expressed in the period defined for this uprpose, the authorities estimate that none of the draft regulations will be in place by 1 January 2013.
12/11/2012

Investors return to European equity funds

European investors in September returned to European equity funds, Lipper observes in its latest Fund Flash. Pan-European and euro zone equity funds on sale in Europe posted net inflows of EUR3.1bn, of which EUR1.3bn went to ETFs. The major beneficiaries of these flows were the Threadneedle European Select, BlackRock EuroMarkets and MainFirst Top European Ideas funds. That helped equity funds to return to net inflows in September, for the first time since March, with EUR4.6bn (of which EUR1.7bn were for ETFs). Although European equity funds were a pleasant surprise, inflows to equities were driven largely by global dividend funds (particularly from Pimco, DWS and M&G). High yield bond funds also continued to be popular, with net subscriptions of a net EUR7.6bn in September. Since the beginning of the year, these products have posted net inflows of nearly EUR40bn, and assets now total EUR180bn, compared with EUR62.8bn three years ago. Other best-sellers include emerging market debt funds, which have seen inflows of EUR4.5bn. Total inflows to bond funds came to EUR21.6bn in September. Balanced funds also had a good month in September, and posted net inflows of EUR3.8bn, Lipper notes. Allocation funds dominated inflows, with EUR3.4bn. In total, funds on sale in Europe (excluding money markets) in September posted net subscriptions of EUR28.9bn, their highest level since October 2010. Since the beginning of the year, they have had net inflows of EUR135.6bn.
12/11/2012

Retrocession fees may present risks for Swiss banks

The repayment of retrocession fees to clients who have an asset management agreement with a bank, if applied retrospectively and to all banks in Switzerland, could lead to significant one-off provisions, Fitch Ratings says.In a test case involving UBS AG, the Zurich High Court decided in January 2012 that banks should reimburse retrocession fees to clients with whom they have an asset management agreement, unless those fees had been received for genuine distribution services. The Swiss Supreme Court confirmed the ruling on 1 November 2012.Although the ramifications are not yet clear, this landmark case could set a precedence for all banks in Switzerland to repay retrocessions relating to discretionary mandates services, bringing the banks’ standards in line with the rules for Swiss independent financial advisors’ and many other jurisdictions, says the rating agency. The amount of fees to be reimbursed to claimants is still being determined by the Zurich High Court. At this stage, the magnitude of the impact is difficult to assess. «We believe it is likely to vary considerably from bank to bank depending on the proportion of funds and other investment products affected», according to Fitch. «Without a long look-back period, client reimbursements should be manageable for the Swiss banks with large private banking operations. To offset some of the lost revenue, we expect the banks to adjust their management fee structures to maintain gross margins broadly similar to current levels, which is around 90bp-110bp of assets under management».
12/11/2012

Global ETF market remains highly concentrated

As of the end of October, iShares (BlackRock), with USD695.42bn, accounted for 42% of the global ETF market, with USD58.74bn in net subscriptions since the beginning of the year, the ETFGI agency led by Deborah Fuhr finds.Counting the USD245.66bn and a 14.8% market share for SPDR ETF (State Street Global Advisors), which had inflows of USD15.87bn, and USD232.87bn at Vanguard (for 14.1% of the market) and USD30.44bn in net inflows, the top three providers account for 70.9% of the global market.In other words, the 183 other issuers share the remaining 39.1% of the market, and none has a share of more than 4%. The fourth-largest player is PowerShares (Invesco) with USD59.88bn and 3.6% of the market, followed by db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) with USD45.7bn and 2.8%, despite net outflows of USD189bn. Lyxor (Société Générale) is in sixth place, with USD37.44bn and a market share of 2.3%, partly thanks to USD155m in net subscriptions.The global ETF market as of 31 October represented a volume of USD1.655trn, in 3,313 ETFs listed 7,546 times on 54 stock markets, issued by 176 providers. Including other ETFs, total assets came to USD1.852trn. By comparison, the respective values as of 31 December 2011 were USD1.355trn and USD1.526trn.
12/11/2012

British managers top European rankings, according to Feri

As of 30 September, Threadneedle, Schroders and Aberdeen have competed for the top rankings for European management established by the German agency Feri EuroRating Services, which take into account the percentage of funds which receive top ratings (A or B) out of the total number of funds on sale in each of the following seven countries: Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland.Threadneedle finishes first in Germany, Austria, Italy and the United Kingdom for the “25 funds or more” category, and in Sweden for the 8-24 fund category.Schroders received good rankings for 25+, with four second places in Sweden, Italy, Austria and Germany, and two third places, in France and the United Kingdom, and one fourth place finish in Switzerland. Aberdeen, which is top in France, takes second place in Switzerland and the United Kingdom in over 25 funds, and places well in the 8-24 fund category in Sweden, Italy and Germany.In the 25+ category, the top French firm in France is Covea Finance, in 4th place, while the second is Lazard AM, in nineth place. The top two in the 8-24 category are DNCA Finance and Comgest.
12/11/2012

Aberdeen exports EMD fund to the United States

The US affiliate of Aberdeen Asset Management on Friday announced the launch of the Aberdeen Emerging Markets Debt Fund (acronym for A share class: AKFAX) on the US market. The fund may invest in all segments of emerging market debt, hard or local currencies, and government or corporate bonds.The new fund launch explicitly represents a desire on the part of the Scottish asset management firm to strenghthen its presence on the US market.
12/11/2012

Ten Swedish funds spotted for their “unethical” behaviour

Ten Swedish funds, including funds which invest in growth markets from Danske Bank and Carnegie and the Kon-Tiki funds from Skagen, participate in investments equivalent to 5% of their assets which violate UN guidelines, Realtid.se reports, citing Dagens Industri. These are the results of an analysis of about 130 funds by Danica Pensions and Ethix according to UN and EU guidelines on the environment, human rights, corruption and labour rights.
12/11/2012

Italian investors sceptical of emerging markets

56% of Italian investors consider emerging markets more risky than developed European economies, according to a Gfk Eurisko survey undertaken for Goldman Sachs Asset Management and reported by Fondionline. The majority of Italians feel that developed countries have more solid macro-economic fundamentals (70%), higher levels of internal consumption (59%) and stronger currencies (70%) than emerging markets. Overall, 90% of respondents are not planning to increase (or reduce) their investments in emerging markets.
12/11/2012

Sam Mettrick returns to Henderson Global Investors

The current director of strategic allicances at Artemis, Sam Mettrick, will in January rejoin his former company Henderson Global Investors as head of partnerships. He will be responsible for relationships with life insurance platforms. He left HGI in 2009, at a time when he was sales director for partnerships at Henderson New Star.
12/11/2012

Former UBS head joins Old Mutual Global Investors

The former head of UK discretionary sales at UBS Global Asset Management, John Shepherd, will join the sales team at Old Mutual Global Investors, Fundweb reports. He left the Swiss bank last month, after 10 years there.
12/11/2012

GSAM recruits a veteran of Aviva Investors

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has recruited Malcolm Mackenzie, former head of strategic alliances at Aviva Investors, as its head of advised sales, Fundweb.co.uk reports. He will join the firm in January.
12/11/2012

Another director leaves F&C

Ed Morse, head of development for trust activities at F&C Investments, has left the firm to pursue other opportunities in the sector, Investment Week reports. He is the second director to leave F&C Thames River this year, since the activity shareholder and new chairman Edward Bramson has taken over the activity. The others who left the group are Mike Warren, Charlie Porter and Jeremy Charles.
12/11/2012

State Street adds to its defined contributions unit in the United Kingdom

As part of a development of its defined contribution retirement savings plans in the United Kingdom, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has recruited Nigel Aston as managing director and head of UK defined contribution. He will report both to Susan Raynes, senior managing director and head of UK, Middle East and Africa, and Fredrik Axsater, managing director and global head of refined contribution. Aston had previously been business development director at the data provider DCisions, in charge of sales, marketing, monitoring of long-term commercial relationships, and provision of products and services. SSgA states that its global assets in the area of defined contributions total USD235bn.
12/11/2012

Marlborough confirms IFSL acquisition

On Friday, UFC Fund Management, the parent company of Marlborough Fund Managers, finally confirmed that it has acquired Investment Fund Services Limited (IFSL) from BNP Paribas Securities Services UK for GBP800m (see Newsmanagers of 8 November). Fundweb states that the agreement states that BNP Paribas will continue to provide fund accounting and middle office services for IFSL funds.
12/11/2012

Threadneedle tops the most recent Pridham Report

The top place for retail inflows in the UK in third quarter goes to Threadneedle, according to the most recent rankings by Pridham. Better outlooks on the part of investors for Europe favoured a regain of interest in European equity funds, particularly from Threadneedle. Net inflows at Threadneedle in third quarter totalled GBP643.5m, according to the Pridham Report, followed by Standard Life Investments (GBP568.1m) and BNY Mellon (GBP416m). They are followed by M&G with net inflows of GBP411.5m, Kames (GBP381.8m) and Axa IM (GBP345.1m).
12/11/2012

Barclays reviews AM operation

Investment Week reports that Barclays has recruited Rory Tobin, the former head of iShares International, to work with David Semaya, former head of wealth management for the United Kingdom and Ireland at the British bank, to undertake a strategic reexamination of the remaining asset management unit. The two managers will be responsible for determining whether Barclays should retain, merge, or close it. Tobin left iShares in 2010 when Barclays Global Investors was acquired by BlackRock.
12/11/2012

GSAM recruits a big name from Aviva Investors

Malcolm Mackenzie, who has recently left Aviva Investors, where he was head of strategic alliances, is joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management as head of advisory sales, Fundweb reports. He will join his new employer in January, to lead a team of nine people, and to develop third-party distribution in the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Richard Pursglove.
12/11/2012

UBS ETF recruits manager from iShares Italy

Simone Rosti, head of wealth clients at iShares, is joining UBS ETF (USD12bn in assets in Europe) as head of ETF sales for Italy. He will be based in Milan, and will report to Roger Boots, head of UBS ETF sales for Europe. UBS ETF, a division of UBS Global Asset Management, is aiming to launch 60 products on the market in 2013. Currently, only 12 funds of the range are on sale in Italy.
12/11/2012

Julius Baer to buy one fifth of Kairos

Zurich-based banking group Julius Baer (CHF184bn of AUM on August, 31st) on November 12th announced it has reached an agreement with Milan-based wealth manager Kairos Investment Management SpA (EUR4.5bn) for a cooperation to jointly create a leading onshore wealth management player in Italy.Julius Baer’s Italian SIM will be integrated into Kairos and, simultaneously, Julius Baer will acquire 19.9% of Kairos for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2013. Secondly, subject to regulatory approval, the parties have also agreed to set up a new private bank in Italy by separately applying for a banking licence after the closing of this transaction. All Italian wealth management activities of the two groups will be run under the name Kairos Julius Baer. However, Julius Baer Fiduciaria S.r.l. is not part of this transaction and will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of Julius Baer.Both parties together will decide on a future increase of Julius Baer’s strategic participation after a few years.
12/11/2012

Generali's AUM up by more than 10% YTD

Assets under management by external clients of the financial services unit of Generali as of 30 September totalled EUR93.23bn, compared with EUR90.66bn as of the end of June 2012, and EUR84.27bn as of the end of December 2011, the Generali group has announced at a presentation of its interim results. Operating profits for the unit rose 17.1% to EUR320m, largely due to an improvement in returns, and due to trading operations by the group, including for equity portfolios.
12/11/2012

Strong inflows for EMD at ING IM

As of 30 June 2012, ING Investment Management returned to its asset levels of one year previously for emerging market debt, at EUR12bn. However, this conceals the fact that after the intervening correction on the markets, net inflows since the beginning of this year as of the end of October total EUR2bn. For emerging market debt in local currencies, which represent about USD5.5bn of USD15bn in assets, net inflows were about USD500m, Raoul Luttik, head portfolio manger for emerging market debt in local currency, explains. In addition to that, about USD6-6.5bn ware in emerging market allocations from various other products.The specialist estimates that government bonds nonetheless have strong potential, though there may be room for margins to fall, with “decent” returns, which remain higher than the returns on govies from industrialised countries. Luttik is also “moderately optimistic” for the mid-term about appreciation of local currencies against hard currencies. Since the beginning of the year, portfolios have outperformed the GBI-EM index by 95-100 basis points, and the ELMI+ index, by about 170 basis points.ING IM currently has 33 staff members for emerging market debt strategies, which is distributed between three time zones (Singapore, the Hague, and Atlanta). The asset management firm does not yet have a fund dedicated specifically to emerging market corporate debt in local currencies in its product range, but the case is under study.
12/11/2012

Nuveen continues to suffer net redemptions

In the first three quarters of 2012, Nuveen Investments has seen net redemptions of USD14.4bn, of which USD74m were in July-September, following USD7.9bn in April-June and USD6.4bn in the first three months of the year.Assets as of 30 September totalled USD220.09bn, compared with USD211.8bn three months earlier, and a peak at USD226.7bn at the end of March. As of 31 December, assets under management totalled USD220.1bn.
12/11/2012

Gerald Harlin, CFO of Axa, becomes president of CFP Forum

The European CFO Forum, which includes the chief financial officers of the major European insurance groups, and which defends their interests, particularly on the regulatory front, on 9 November announced the appointment of the chief financial officer of the Axa group, Gerlad Harlin, as president of the association. He will succeed Oliver Bäte, CFO of the Allianz group, who has been called to serve in other responsibilities at the Allianz group from 1 January 2013.
12/11/2012

Two chairmen appointed to ESMA standing committees

The boards of supervisors at the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 9 November announced the appointment of two new chairmen for its standing committees. The standing committee in charge of the investment management unit will be led by Gareth Murphy, director of markets at the Irish central bank. Among the other appointments, Gérard Rameix, chairmen of the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), will be in charge of the standing committee responsible for the Corporate Finance unit. Jean-Paul Servais, chairman of the Belgian Financial Markets and Services Authority (FMSA), has been appointed to a new term in his position has chairman of the standing committee in charge of intermediaries and investor protection. Jean Guill, CEO of the Luxembourg Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF), has been reappointed as chairman of the Review Panel.
12/11/2012

British asset management under scrutiny for conflicts of interests

British fund managers had previously been largely spared from scandals, but the British Financial Services Authority has revealed that the asset management sector is not irreproachable in terms of conflicts of interest, Les Echos reports. Commissions and transactions, in particular, are in question. Out of a sample of 15 asset management firms, whose names have not been disclosed, which the regulator examined between June 2011 and February 2012, “many,” the FSA says, “have not set up frameworks to identify and manage conflicts of interest.” The British financial market watchdog says it found evidence of “violations of detailed rules” on the use of commissions paid by clients, and the transaction allocation process. “We found that most of the companies in question could not prove that their clients were not bearing the costs incurred, and that they had access to all the appropriate investment opportunities,” the FSA writes.
12/11/2012

US debt worries investors

Despite assurances from Barack Obama, who was re-elected on 6 November as president of the United States, that “the best is yet to come,” investors remained attentive to problems still in suspense: US debt and difficulties in a euro zone emerging from the crisis. In this environment, money market funds posted inflows of over USD50bn in the week to 7 November, while bond funds posted net inflows of nearly USD10bn, according to estimates by EPFR Global. Since the beginning of the year, bond funds have attracted over USD400bn. Equity funds finished the week with inflows of USD1.12bn, while dividend funds attracted over USD900m, despite risks related to the development of tax legislation in the United States following the Obama victory. Funds dedicated to the financial sector posted inflows of nearly USD1bn in the week under review.
12/11/2012

Credit Suisse merges its Private Clients and Private Banking units in Switzerland

The Credit Suisse group will from 1 January 2013 merge its Private Clients Switzerland and Private Banking Switzerland units, according to the website finews, which has obtained an internal memo. The head of the new unit, Wealth Management & Private Clients Switzerland, will be Christoph Brunner, who had been responsible for private clients in Switzerland, and who had been chief operating officer of the private bank. The establishment of this new structure will lead to the loss of 300 jobs and will bring savings of CHF50m.

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