Nicola Muirhead, a former manager at Neptune Investment Management, has joined River and Mercantile Asset Management as an analyst in the gloal equity division led by Alex Stanić. At Neptune, which she joined in 2008, she was an analyst specialised in the mining sector and a manager. Among others, she managed the UK Alpha fund, which was closed due to a lack of assets. Muirhead will be the fifth member of the team founded n 2009, following the recruitment of Stanić and Alex O’Reilly from Newton. R&M has GBP2.7bn in assets under management.

Old Mutual Global Investors, born of the merger of Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK), or OMAM, and Skandia Investment Group (SIG), with assets of GBP13bn as of 30 September, has unveiled its growth strategy, which is based on “active expansion” of its direct asset management capacities.The new entity will rely on the distribution capacities of Old Mutual Wealth, its parent company, which is a specialist in wealth management solutions, while strongly developing its third-party distribution via IFAs, wealth managers, and banks, via strengthened relationships with platforms in the United Kingdom and internationally.The core driver of growth will be investment in areas an asset classes in which new product ranges can be envisioned, whie extending existing areas of expertise. To extend its range, Old Mutual GI has “significantly invested” in scaling up its capacities in product development.The new logo has been adopted, and the new brand will be gradually rolled out throughout 2013, starting in first quarter.Meanwhile, the asset management firm, whose activities are divided into four units (equities, fixed income, alternative and multi-management) has unveiled the composition of its top management:– Julian Ide, Chief Executive Officer– James Millard, Director of Investments– Ashton Bradbury, Head of Equities– Stewart Cowley , Head of Fixed Income– Paul Simpson, Head of Alternatives– John Ventre, Head of Multi-Manager– Paul Nathan, Chief Operating Officer– Mitchell Dean, Chief Financial Officer– Warren Tonkinson, Head of Distribution– Celeste Dias-Brennan, Head of Product– Marcus Bolitho, Head of Marketing– Karen Barnett, Head of Human Resources

Assets under management at Rathbone Brothers (“Rathbones”) as of the end of September totalled GBP17.4bn, up 9.5% compared with the end of December 2011, according to statistics released on 24 October. Operating profits rose 6.7% in the first nine months of the year, to GBP116m. Rathbones states, however, that net inflows slowed to 5.5% over nine months, compared with 8.2% last year.

The wealth management firm Quilter has confirmed to FundWeb that it is about to acquire Cheviot Asset Management.The private equity group Bridgepoint, which acquired Quilter earlier this year, will facilitate the merger of the two entities specialised in wealth management, with assets under management of about GBP12bn.The sale price is said to be less than GBP100m.

The Swedish asset management firm GustaviaDavegårdh Fonder is changing its name to Gustavia Fonder, the Swedish website Fondbranschen reports. The reason for the change is that Björn Davegårdh is no longer active at the business.

The British firm Schroders has recruited Alan Young as head of institutional sales in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. Young is a specialist in the Asian market, who previously worked at State Street Global Advisors as head of northern Asia.

AllianceBernstein used to be know for its equity funds. But since the former Goldman Sachs executive Peter Kraus became chairman and CEO in 2008, the asset management firm has turned massively to bond funds, the Wall Street Journal relates. At the end of 2007, Alliance Bernstein had 72% of its assets under management in equities (USD580bn), and 25% in bonds (USD198bn). Now it holds about USD240 billion, or about 57% in bonds and 27% in stocks. This strategy is paying off for the moment. But analysts estimate that an excessive dependence on the popularity of bond funds may be risky.

For July-September, Morningstar’s net profit was USD27.1m vs USD27.9m in Q2, 2012, but it stills shows a yoy increase of USD21.4m.Assets under management and advisory at end-September for the Investment Advisory Services division amounted to USD142.4bn vs USD138,1bn thre months earlier and USD119/3bn twelve months ago.For Retirement Solutions, AUM was USD45.4bn vas USD41.7bn as of June, 30th, and USD36.3bn on September, 30th, 2011.

According to multiple sources cited by the weekly Agefi Hebdo, the wholesale bank from BPCE will merge its affiliates Natixis Multimanager (NMM) and 1818 Gestion, as part of a project entitled “Elite.” On 1 January 2013, 1818 Gestion will absorb NMM, currently a part of Natixis Asset Management (NAM). NAM will control 40% of the new entity, compared with 60% for Banque Privée 1818, an internal presentation obtained by Agefi Weekly says. The firm will include the expertise of the Natixis group in multi-management, a sector in crisis, including funds of hedge funds.

BNY Mellon has named Marina Lewin head of sales for its Asset Servicing business in the Americas. Lewin will report to Samir Pandiri, CEO of Americas Asset Servicing & Alternative Investment Services. She will be based in New York, managing teams in several U.S. cities, as well as Dublin, London and Hong Kong.

The planned merger of the asset management structures of AG2R-La Mondiale, Agicam et La Mondiale Gestion d’Actifs, or LMGA (see Newsmangers of 24 October) and the creation of a single portfolio management firm will be likely to result in the emergence of a multi-management entity of respectable size, with EUR4bn in assets currently, half contributed by each of the two participating entities.Rationality is also expected to be maintained with the emergence of a single investment management team.

Assets under management at the asset management unit of the AXA group are up by EUR52bn as of the end of Sepemer compared with 31 December 2011, to a total of EUR899bn, the group announced in a statement on 25 October.Net outflows totalled EUR8.3bn, including:-EUR8.4bn from AllianceBernstein, largely from the institutional segment;-EUR0.1bn in flows to AXA IM, largely due to positive net inflows to AXA Fixed Income, AXA Private Equity, AXA Real Estate and AXA Framlington, partly offset by net outflows, primarily following a voluntary withdrawal from unprofitable employee shareholding schemes (-EUR4.0bn), and net ourflows from Axa Rosenberg (-EUR2.0bn).Market evolution represented +EUR63bn, at AXA IM as well as AllianceBernstein, proportionately on the basis of asses, whiel currency effects totalled +EUR8bn, primarily due to depreciation of the euro compared with major currencies.In addition to this, a perimeter effect of -EUR11bn, primarily due to a transfer of assets from Friends Provident following the sale to Resolution of life insurance activities in the United Kingdom, the sale of Canadian activities and the sale of activities in Australia and New Zealand.Earnings for the asset management unit are down 6%, to EUR2.46bn, largely due to a decline in management commissions at AllianceBernstein, relecting a decline of 3.9 basis points on average and a delcine in assets under management. Earnings at AXA IM are stable, as a rise in management commissions was offset by a decline in commissions on real estate transactions and performance commissions.

Natixis Asset Management (Natixis AM) on 24 October announced that it has signed a research agreement with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) to promote sustainable investment and to encourage adoption of more responsible bahaviour by finance professionals in Europe and internationally. The partnership will have two levels. The first will be an active collaboration based on research, with nine joint publications over the next three years. These reports will analyse sustainable development challenges: how climate change is taken into account, how biodiversity and human rights can affect current business models and promote the generation of investment ideas. Analysts at Natixis AM and Cambridge academics will work together on concrete problems to formulate recommendations for sustainable investment. The reports will be made public in order to encourage the adoption of better practices. The second level of collaboration will take the form of a working group entitled Investors Leaders Group, based at CPSL, and led by Philippe Zaouati, deputy CEO and head of the responsible investment expertise unit at Natixis AM. The group, composed of directors and financial market experts, will meet for the first time next year. The objective will be to work to define concrete tools and measures to adopt to promote and deploy responsible investment.

Warrenn Buffett has announced that he is “salivating” at the idea of spending some of his USD40bn in cash on a major acquisition, after revealing that two USD20bn operations fell through this year due to disagreements over price, the Financial Times reports.

The US asset management firm AllianceBernstein LP, with total assets of USD418.9bn as of the end of September, with net outflows totalling USD44bn in July-September, has posted an operating loss for third quarter of USD56m, compared with profits of USD79m in second quarter 2012, and USD78m in the corresponding period of last year (see Axa results elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers).

The State Street group on 24 October announced that it has been awarded a mandate by UTI International (Singapore) Private Limited to provide custody and fund administration services for its UCITS-compliant product range investing in India.UTI International (Singapore) Private Limited is an asset management firm regulated by the Singapore market authority. It is an affiliate of the Indian asset management firm UTI AMC, with assets under management of USD2.6bn.

John Paulson and his charity have given USD100m to Central Park in New York, the largest donation in the history of the park, the Financial Times reports. The personal wealth of the famous hedge fund manager is estimated at USD11bn, according to Forbes. Paulson is also a supporter of Mitt Romney.

A Paris court of appeals yesterday confirmed a five-year prison sentence, with a minimum of three years hard time for the former Société Générale trader Jérôme Kerviel, the news agency Reuters reports.Kerviel, who was sued for losses at the bank of EUR4.9bn in 2008, will also have to repay damages. The verdict confirms that the young man has been found guilty of “abuse of confidence, false statements and fraud, and introduction of fraudulent information into an IT system.”David Koubbi, Kerviel’s counsel, says he is studying the possibility of an appeal, and says that the verdict is an “absolutely lamentable injustice.”Kerviel walked out of court free, as the court did not require his detention.

Judge jed Rakoff has setenced Rajat gupta to two years in prison and a fine of USD5m, Les Echos reports. The former McKinsey head, who was found guilty in June this year of insider trading after disclosing insider information to the Galleon fund about Goldman Sachs, will enter detention on 8 January. He is planning to appeal the verdict. Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the speculative fund Galleon, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. He is awaiting a verdict on his appeal on Thursday.

Rajat Gupta, former head of McKinsey, has been sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of USD5m, the Financial Times reports. Gupta was found guilty in June of providing insider information he was privy to as a board member at Goldman Sachs to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group. The secrets included details of a capital injection of USD5bn from Warren Buffett.

A deterioration in the quality of credit from European businesses has been relatively marked in the first half of the year, even though few of these businesses have defaulted, the financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s reports in a new study (“Europe’s Sovereign Crisis Continues to Erode Credit Quality.”) In the first nine months of the year, there were four ratings downgrades for every one ratings upgrade among both financial and non-financial sector businesses, compared with a ratio of about one to two in the previous two years. Continued access to financing will be a key factor in maintaining this default level, particularly in light of an increase in debt maturing in the next two years, the study finds. In September 2012, the default rate for businesses rated speculative grade was 2.3%, compared with 1.6% at the end of 2011, and 1% in 2010. On 2012, investors accepted a slight increase in their exposure to risk, when they could expect higher returns. That offset weak earnings and reduced refinancing risks, particularly for businesses at the bottom of the ratings scale.

Open-ended funds in Italy posted net subscriptions in September of EUR1.4bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of management professionals. These inflows, entirely to foreign-registered funds, were driven by bond funds, with EUR1.8bn, and balanced funds, with EUR1.3bn. However, equity funds saw outflows of EUR378m, and money market funds, EUR1.1bn. With the addition of closed funds, collective management posted net inflows of EUR1.6bn in September. However, mandated management saw outflows of EUR1bn, of which EUR904m were to institutionals. In terms of players, Banco Popolare ranks first, with net subscriptions of EUR573m, followed by Invesco (EUR301m) and Ubi Banca (EUR268m). At the bottom of the rankings, however, are Generali (-EUR492m), BNP Paribas (-EUR239m) and Credit Suisse (-EUR190m). As of the end of September, open-ended funds on sale in Italy had assets of EUR494bn, while the entire Italian asset management sector (including closed funds and mandates) had EUR990bn.

La CNMV a donné son agrément à la commercialisation du fonds à compartiments Fongrum FI d’Inversis Banco, rapporte Funds People. Ce véhicule comporte les fonds Fongrum/Valor et Fongrum/Renta fija mixta. La gestión est confiée à atl2 Capital Gestión.

At the end of third quarter, net profits at comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) were down 6.3% compared with January-September 2011, to a total of EUR53.93m.Assets under administration as of 30 September totalled EUR47.91bn, compared with EUR39.40bn one year earlier, while assets on the B2B platform (ebase) totalled EUR20.62bn, compared with EUR15.20bn.

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) has sanctioned two firms, Plus500UK Limited and James Sharp and Company, for failing to send detailed reports within the required deadlines on transactions completed between 2007 and 2011. The two firms have been fined GBP205,128 and GBP49,000, respectively. The FSA has also filed actions against former independent financial advisers who no longer had licenses to practice their activities.

Morgan Stanley on 24 October announced the launch of a new fund as part of its FundLogic Alternatives range. In partnership with Equinox Fund Management, the MS QTI UCITS Fund is the first fund in a series of four CTA strategies that comply with UCITS format. Equinox is a multi-management firm based in the United States, specialised in the construction of portfolios constructed from CTA programmes. Its nominal assets under management total over USD2bn. The systematic strategy offered by Morgan Stanley was designed by Quest Parntners, a CTA management firm based in New York.

The French-registered FCP fund CPR Silver Age, launched on 22 December 2009, now has EUR80m in assets, and has posted EUR28m in inflows since the beginning of this year. The EUR100m threshold appears likely to be passed by the end of this year, and CPR Asset Management (Amundi group) received a license from BaFin early in October to sell the fund in Germany, while a license application has also been submitted to the Swiss agency Finma. Sweden is also on the hit list, and CPR has not ruled out creating a Luxembourg-registered clone of the product, to reach a broader client base (also see Newsmanagers of 4 October).The basic idea is to use the secular trend of an ageing population to create a portfolio of 50 securities likely to see long-term growth exceeding that of the economy and European markets. Since launch, as of 15 October, the fund shows returns of 29.9% (22.3% since the beginning of the year), compared with 16.9% (13.3%) for the MSCI Europe index in euros, with dividends reinvested, which is a commercial landmark. The managers, Vafa Ahmadi (director of thematic equity management) and Clément Maclou, have constructed a highly active conviction-based portfolio of about 50 holdings, which differs considerably from this index. This results in significant overweight positions in stocks corresponding to the seven relevant macro-sectors (financial savings, dependency, health equipment, leisure & lifestyle, health products, pharmaceuticals, and security). Though it is not an SRI fund, the managers have incorporated an ethical dimension in their selection of stocks, with the assistance of Vigeo and Amundi ISR. The fund is also advised by a 9-member committee of experts led by Gilles Duthil, chairman of the Silverlife institute, a think tank specialised on the economy of ageing populations.At launch, the fund was primarily of interest to institutional investors, mutual insurers and employee savings structures. Now, it appears to be pertinent to private bankers, multi-managers and asset allocators.

The Blackstone group is preparing to launch a fund which will acquire stakes in hedge fund management firms on the secondary market, as traditional actors such as banks are now pulling out due to sometimes disappointing returns from the sector and regulations, the Reuters agency reports.The activities of Blackstone related to hedge funds have assets under management of USD46.2bn.The size of the new fund, which has not been closed, may reach as much as USD2bn to USD3bn, it is said. Few actors are intervening in this niche activity. One of the largest actors is Neuberger Berman, with its Dyal fund.

Kevin Scherer, a former portfolio manager at Citadel, is planning to launch a hedge fund dedicated to commercial and residential mortgage debt and ABS the news agency Bloomberg reports. The new vehicle, entitled Continuum Investment Management, will be launched in January 2013 by Scherer, with the assistance o three former colleagues from Citadel. It will aim for assets of USD250m.

BNY Mellon in March launched the BNY Mellon Absolute Return Bond Fund, a UCITS IV-compliant version of the absolute return bond fund managed by its boutique Insight Investments (USD280bn in assets under management). The product, managed by Peter Bentley, head of global and British credit, is now on sale in France. The BNY Mellon Absolute Return Bond Fund, which is based on a strategy developed by Insight Investment since 2006, invests both in long and short positions on government bonds, corporate and investment grade debt, corporate high yield debt, ABS, emerging market debt, cash, and money market instruments. The fund, which currently has USD125m in assets, aims to outperform the Euribor 3-month money market index by 3% per year. Risk controlling, a real demand of institutional investors, is an integral part of the fund. Portfolio risks are evaluated with the assistance of a VaR system. The management team defined a “risk unit” framework on the basis of an in-house model, in order to allocate risk within the portfolio. Characteristics ISIN code: IE00B706BP88 Minimum investment: EUR5m Annual management fees: 0.50% Maximum front-end fees: 5% Performance commission: 10%