Prudential Real Estate Investors a recruté Michael Gallagher au poste de co-gérant des stratégies d’investissement en valeur immobilières au Royaume-Uni et Europe. L’intéressé sera basé à Londres. Avant de rejoindre PREI, Michael Gallagher était assistant fund manager chez Aviva Investors.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) a recruté Tim Barker au poste de responsable de la recherche crédit au sein de son équipe fixed income et macro, indique Fundweb. L’intéressé était jusqu'à présent head of European credit research chez Société Générale.

Le britannique M&G Investments a nommé David Halfacre au poste de responsable du développement des partenariats, rapporte Fund Web.Il travaillait précédemment chez JP Morgan Asset Management où il était vice président, responsable du développement des partenariats stratégiques.

Société Générale Securities Services en Italie (SGSS S.p.A.) a annoncé le 12 septembre avoir été mandaté par Mantex Sicav pour agir en tant qu’agent de transfert local afin de fournir des services d’agent payeur et de gestion des relations de l’OPCVM avec les investisseurs en Italie. SGSS en Italie a été retenu par Mantex Sicav «pour son expertise internationale reconnue en tant qu’agent de transfert, sa capacité à fournir des services adaptés aux besoins spécifiques de ses clients, et un large réseau d’agents de placement». Mantex Sicav est un fonds de placement collectif ouvert, enregistré au Luxembourg. Ce fonds à compartiments autogéré est inscrit sur la liste officielle des organismes de placement collectif et a été créé à l’initiative de Nextam Partners S.G.R. S.p.A., une société de gestion d’actifs italienne indépendante.

Henderson Global Investors va développer une équipe obligataire aux Etats-Unis afin de lancer un fonds à haut rendement mondial, révèle Citywire Global. L’objectif est de lancer ce fonds d’ici à la fin de l’année.

Thierry Callault si l’on se réfère aux indications apportées sur le réseau social professionnel Linked-in, occupe désormais la fonction de président du conseil de surveillance de la société Twenty First Capital présidé par Stanislas Bernard, head of Alternative Investments et directeur chez Rothschild & Cie Gestion.La société de gestion qui a été agrée par l’Autorité des marchés financiers à la fin août 2011 commercialise actuellement trois OPCVM : JLC Convictions Refuge, Twenty First Patrimoine, deux fonds diversifiés et Rendement Court Terme, un fonds obligataire en euro. Thierry Callault a quitté son poste de directeur général d’OFI AM au printemps dernier après avoir passé neuf ans dans la société de gestion.

Rob Leary, CEO d’ING US, va quitter son poste, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire, qui cite une note interne dont le site s’est procuré une copie. Le gestionnaire d’actifs est soit sur le point d’entrer en Bourse soit d'être vendu, rappelle l’article. Rob Leary ne devrait pas être remplacé. ING US va restructurer son activité. Les missions du COO seront confiées à Alain Karaoglan, vice président exécutif actuel. Il sera également le supérieur de Jeff Becker, patron de l’activité Investment Management.

In the first seven months of the year, German open-ended security funds have posted net inflows of EUR5.58bn. However, several asset management firms have seen net redemptions, including the Deka group (EUR3.14bn) and Deutsche Bank (EUR4.52bn). However, Allianz (with Pimco) has managed to attract EUR13.08bn, and Union Investment has posted net inflows of EUR2.11bn, the German BVI association of asset management firms reports.ETF promoters are not doing well either, with the exception of ETFlab (Deka), which has attracted EUR325m in seven months. BlackRock, with its iShares ETFs, has seen net outflows of EUR927m, while net redemptions totalled EUR797m for ComStage (Commerzbank). db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has posted redemptions of EUR1.73bn.

In January-July, German funds and mandates posted net inflows almost three times higher than in the first seven months of 2011, at EUR44.36bn, compared with EUR15.17bn. Of this total, institutional funds (Spezialfonds) attracted EUR36.44bn, while open-ended funds attracted EUR7.99bn (of which EUR2.41bn were for real estate funds), and mandates underwent net outflows of EUR70.5m.As of 31 July, assets totalled EUR1.926trn, of which EUR925bn were in Spezialfonds, EUR701bn in open-ended funds (including EUR82.9bn in real estate funds), and EUR300bn in mandates.The German BVI association of asset management firms states that 57% of assets in institutional funds are managed by external managers, compared with 37% at the end of 2005.

Michele Faissola, head of the asset and wealth management (AWM) unit at Deutsche Bank, on Wednesday announced that its affiliate DWS is seeking to increase the number of its funds which receive top ratings by 15-20%. A cost savings programme announced by the bank on Tuesday (single strategy, shared IT and distribution) is expected to generate cost reductions of EUR700m for AWM, Die Welt reports.Growth will come primarily through development of the ultra-high net worth client segment (clients with financial savings of over EUR70m), particularly in Asia, and ETFs. Its affiliate db x-trackers, which has been detached from the investment bank and is now part of the AWM unit, will no longer be limited to Europe, where it has EUR35bn in assets under management, but will release its products worldwide. The US market will significantly contribute to a 50% increase in volume in three years.

The board of directors at DekaBank on Wednesday has approved an extension of the firm’s operations. Deka, which is already the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, will now also offer certificates to retail clients of these banks, with the ultimate objective of making Deka the central asset management firm for the savings banks in the whole securities spectrum, says Oliver Behrens, interim chairman of the board. Deka will also rely on the expertise of the Landesbank Berlin in this area.Meanwhile, Deka has confirmed rumours that the management at Deka Investments, the active open-ended fund and institutional fud asset management specialist affiliate, will be reshuffled. Viktor Moftakhar will become co-CEO on 1 October, alongside Thomas Neiße, while Frank Hagenstein, head of fixed income management, will be appointed CIO, and will also be responsible for equity and multi-asset class management.

The hedge fund industry redeemed USD7.4 billion (0.4% of assets) in July, building on outflows of USD4.2 billion in June, according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs. Based on data from 3,119 funds, the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report estimated that industry assets were USD1.87 trillion in July, down 23.2% from their June 2008 peak of USD2.4 trillion.The industry experienced outflows in seven of the 12 months from August 2011 to July 2012, losing a net USD29.3 billion. From August 2010 to July 2011, the industry gained USD96.2 billion with inflows in 10 out of 12 months.

August has been a third consecutive month of gains for hedge funds, which were supported by equity hedging and event-driven strategies. The HFRI hedge fund index gained 0.8% in July, and has gained a further 3.5% since the beginning of this year. Equity hedging strategies gained 1.2%, while event-driven gained 1.1%, and relative value strategies, 0.9%. However, macro strategies lost 0.16% overall, with declines of 0.9% for the diversified/CTA index, but a gain of 1% for discretionary macro strategies. The fund of fund index also maintained its positive orientation in August, with gains of 0.64%.

The Swiss asset management firm Stoxx Limited on 12 September announced the launch of Stoxx Global Maximum Dividend 40, STOXX Asia?Pacific Maximum Dividend 40, STOXX North America Maximum Dividend 40 and STOXX Japan Maximum Dividend 40 indices in its Maximum Dividend Strategy range. The indices may be used as a basis for actively-managed funds, ETFs, or other investable products. The new indices replicate a hypothetical portfolio which aims to optimise dividend yields from the STOXX Global 1800, STOXX AsiaPacific 600, STOXX North America 600 and STOXX Japan 600 indices, by selecting 40 businesses from these indices which have paid the highest dividends historically. To be eligible, shares must belong to Maximum Dividend indices, pay a dividend in the upcoming quarter, have a listed free-float of at least EUR1bn, and an average trading volume of at least EUR4m per day in the three months preceding selection.The composition of the index will be updated on a quarterly basis, following the last trading days in January, April, July and October.

Pierre Pinel, head of institutional management at Paribas Asset Management in Switzerland, was on 1 September appointed as chief investment officer for balaned mandates and asset allocation funds at Mirabaud’s asset management division. He will also hold the positition of head strategist for private management.Pinel replaces Edouard Crespin-Billet, who is going independent in Geneva.

Skandia’s activities in the Old Mutual group will be merged into a new entity known as Old Mutual Wealth, according to a statement from Skandia published on 12 September.Skandia UK, Skandia International and Skandia’s activities in Europe, excepting Scandinavian countries, will addopt the Old Mutual Wealth brand name in 24 months, which will prevent any confusion with Skandia Liv, which has acquired the Scandinavian activities of Old Mutual which formed a part of Skandia.The new entity Old Mutual Wealth (formerly Old Mutual Wealth Management) will be managed by Paul Feeney as CEO, with the assistance of two heads, Peter Mann for the Britih market, and Steven Levin for international markets.The current legal strucrure Skandia Link, based in Spain, will be merged with the new Luxembourg entity Skandia Lifa SA on 1 October 2012. As a result, Skandia France which is an arm of hte Spanish entity, becomes an arm of the Luxembourg entity. The organisation and the current functioning of Skandia in France will remain unchanged.

Après son départ d’OFI AM au printemps dernier, Thierry Callault si l’on se réfère aux indications apportées sur le réseau social professionnel Linked-in, occupe désormais la fonction de chairman au sein de la société Tewenty First Capital. xxxxxxxxx

Société Générale Securities Services Italy (SGSS S.p.A.) on 12 September announced that it has been awarded a mandate by Mantex Sicav as a local transfer agent to provide settlement agency and mutual fund relationship management services for investors in Italy. SGSS Italy has been selected by Mantex Sicav “for its recognized international expertise as a transfer agent, its ability to provide services adapted to the specific needs of its clients, and a large network of placement agents.” Mantex Sicav is an open-ended collective investment fund registered in Luxembourg. The self-managed umbrella fund is on the official list of collective investment organisms, and was founded at the initiative of Nextam Partners S.G.R. S.p.A., an Italian independent asset management firm.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Rating on 12 September announced that it has confirmed its Asset Manager rating of M2 for Sycomore Asset Management. The rating reflects the discipline of a proven stock-picking process, the solidity of the risk management framework, and the effectiveness of the operational platform, which is adapted to the types of assets traded. The rating also takes into account the development of the firm in the past several years in terms of human resources, development of activities and associated support functions (risks and controls). The primary challenge for Sycomore remains continuation of its international development and the development of its product range of genuinely diversifying assets, in order to generate further assets and further reduce its exposure to euro zone equity markets.

Henderson Global Investors will develop a bond team in the United States, to create a global high yield fund, Citywire Global reports. The objective is to release the fund by the end of the year.

L’Agefi reports that BNP Paribas has set up a five-year pan to develop wealth management services in the United States. The group is uniting its trust, brokerage and private banking activities at its unit Bank of the West. The new subsidiary manages about USD10bn in assets, more than two thirds of which is in brokerage accounts, the newspaper reports.

In a recent study for institutional investors (”Volatility Management”), Russell Investments presents a portfolio of strategies to reduce multiple risk, which may represent a useful complement to diversification and sensitivity reduction strategies. According to the study, this combination of strategies may offer a cumulative reduction in volatility of 30% to 40%. This result may have been achieved over the past past two decades without reducing profits, the study finds. Russell explains that these results are the product of a readjustment of the equity allocation in an institutional portfolio, in order to be able to manage volatility rather than tracking error. “Investment specialists have developed an unhealthy obsession with tracking error, even though managing tracking error is not the same as managing risk,” says Michael Thomas, chief investment officer in the Americas Institutional unit at Russell Investments. Thomas claims that the use of tracking error in a falling market can clearly not be considered “effective risk management.” The study lays out three strategies to be attractive to institutionals. The fisrt, “defensive equity,” selects shares which have lower-than-average risk characteristics. Contrary to the intuitions of most investors, these securities historically have earned better returns than the market overall. In the ten years from 9 July 2002 to 9 July 2012, the Russell Global Defensive index outperformed the Russell Global Dynamic index over several periods: one year (16.1% compared with 8.1%), three years (12.2% compared with 6.7%), five years (2.4% compared with -3.1%), and ten years (9.2% compared with 7.9%). Russell then points to risk reduction strategies based on options, which tend to exploit systematic imbalances between supply and demand for some types of protection against declines. Lastly, the third strategy, asset allocation which is adjusted according to volatility, adapts exposure to equities depending on risks related to falling or rising markets. “All of these risk management strategies aim to reduce volatility, but they do so with an effort to exploit various market effects. As a result, their return curves are not exactly correlated, and in combination, they do a good job of reducing volatility,” says Thomas.

UBS has decided to discontinue sales of 12 ETN products based on S&P 500 Futures indices, which will mature on 6 September 2014. Lack of interest in the products led the Swiss bank to take the decision, Finews reports.

The data provider S&P Capital IQ on 12 September announced that it has signed an agreement with Dun & Bradstreet, to considerably extend its range of financial data on non-public companies in Europe and North America. In particular, it is extending coverage of key markets such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Market actors will be offered standardized, traceable information worldwide, as complements to credit analyst, risk management and merger and acquisition activities. “This is a significant step forward for the market. S&P Capital IQ will offer an extended range of quality information on non-public businesses, which is often difficult to obtain. The new data will be subjected to our cutting-edge validation and reprocessing process,” explains Silvina Aldeco-Martinez, head of Development for Europe at S&P Capital IQ. The new data will be included in flagship solutions from S&P Capital IQ, including desktop platforms and data feeds.

“At Julius Baer we have a proven record on managing costs,” Boris Collardi, CEO of the Swiss bank, says, talking about the challenges of the integration of the non-US wealth management assets of Merrill Lynch for Julius Baer. With a cost-income ratio of 105 per cent, the Merrill unit is not profitable, and margins are lower in Asia, the Financial Times observes. The cost side of the equation will be improved by merging offices, joint-purchasing and also through job cuts.

Katja Wiechers and Alexander Bischoff joined the Swiss sales team of Carmignac Gestion to strengthen the relationship with Swiss clients. They will focus on the distribution of Carmignac Gestion’s investment funds through independent financial advisors, family offices, banks, insurance companies and other third party channels. They will report to Marco Fiorini, head of professional clients in Switzerland. Katja Wiechers brings more than 8 years of experience in the fund management industry including 4 years at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Vienna as senior sales director. She started her career at Fortis Investments in Brussels, gradually taking on the role of Head of Global Fund Promotion.Before joining Carmignac Gestion, Alexander Bischoff built up his 4-year sales experience at Fisch Asset Management in Zurich as deputy head Swiss clients and at Falcon Private Bank where he started his career as junior relationship manager.

The hedge fund investment specialist Gottex Fund Management has posted losses of USD5.5m in first half 2012. Last year at the same time, it showed slight gains of USD0.4m. Management commissions were down 24% to USD19.7m, whereas performance commissions continued to represent more than 25% of commissions in first half 2011, at a total of USD0.8bn. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled USD7.41bn, up 2.1% compared with the end of March.

Prudential Real Estate Investors has recruited Michael Gallagher as co-manager of real estate investment strategies in the United Kingdom and Europe. He will be based in London. Before joining PREI, Gllagher was assistant fund manager at Aviva Investors.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) has recruited Tim Barker to the newly-created position of head of credit research in its fixed income and macro team, Fundweb reports. Barker had previously been head of European credit research at Société Générale.

The British asset management firm Ashmore, a specialist in emerging markets, has reported pre-tax profits for the fiacal year to 30 June of GBP243.2m, a slight decline compared with the GBP245.9m posted for the previous fiscal year. Management commissions were up 21%, o GBP302.6m, but performance commissions fell from GBP85.4 tp GBP25.4m. Assets under management were down 3% in the period under review, from GBP65.8bn to GBP63.7bn.