Dans la ligne de l’alliance stratégique conclue entre le Banco Popular et Allianz (lire Newsmanagers du 25 mars 2011), Popular Gestión (5.885 millions d’euros à fin août) a absorbé les sept fonds d’Allianz Gestión (52 millions), rapporte Funds People.Dans le détail, les fonds Allianz Selección Moderado, Allianz Selección Emprendedor, Allianz Selección Bolsa et Allianz Mixto sont absorbés par le fonds Cartera Gestión Equilibrada de Popular Gestión, tandis que les fonds Allianz Renta Fija Ahorro, Allianz RF Corto Euroland et Allianz Selección Conservadora sont fondus dans le Eurovalor Conservador Dinámico.
SIX Swiss Exchange a annoncé le 11 septembre l’intégration d’ ETF Securities en tant que nouvel émetteur d’Exchange Traded Funds. Ce fournisseur de produits, fondé en 2003, a son siège à Londres. La même année, il a acquis une notoriété internationale en créant le premier ETP répliquant de l’or physique négocié au monde. Depuis 2008, ETF Securities lance également des ETF et compte parmi les premiers émetteurs européens notamment dans le domaine des Exchange Traded Products (ETP).Selon Alain Picard, Head Product Management de SIX Swiss Exchange, «les huit nouveaux ETF négociés chez SIX Swiss Exchange offrent un complément intéressant à l’éventail d’Exchange Traded Funds existant. Notre segment ETF compte désormais 880 produits cotés.»
Les encours institutionnels européens pour les 21 sociétés de gestion suisses sondées par IPE en 2011-2012 ont chuté de 474 milliards de francs suisses (395 milliards d’euros) à 467 milliards de francs suisses, selon l’étude Top 400 Asset Managers 2012 d’IPE. Premier du top 5, Credit Suisse voit ses encours institutionnels européens baisser de 140,7 milliards d’euros à 126,4 milliards d’euros. UBS Global Asset Management affiche un repli de 103,6 milliards d’euros à 94,1 milliards. Les encours de Pictet Asset Management sont restés quasi stables, à 75,8 milliards d’euros.
L’américain Vanguard Investments vient de recruter Linda Luk en qualité de responsable de la distribution intermédiée pour l’Asie, rapporte Asian Investor.Linda Luk, qui a a quitté PineBridge Investments il y a quelques mois, est basée à Hong Kong avec pour mission le développement des activités de Vanguard dans la région. Vanguard a également recruté début septembre Jackson Loi en tant que associate director pour les ventes institutionnelles. Il travaillait précédemment chez Syz à Hong Kong.
Franz Feldmann, head of product development chez Union Investment, a rejoint le 10 septembre Pioneer Investments KAG à Munich comme head of product management & marketing, rapporte Fondsprofessionell.
Principal Global Investors has announced the launch of a US value equity fund, which aims to single out the best opportunities in the large cap sector in the country, Citywire reports. The Edge Equity Income fund, registered in Dublin, will be managed by the group’s US affiliate, Edge Asset Management, and at that firm by Dan Coleman and David Simpson.
In August, the Gold Fund by John Paulson gained 11%, which has reduced losses since the beginning of the year to 15%, according to Bloomberg, cited by Investment Week. The Paulson Advantage and Paulson Enhanced fund have also gained ground.
In a document published in 21 languages, the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a warning to retail investors against the pitfalls of online investment over the Internet.ESMA finds that “sometimes high pressure and aggressive selling/marketing techniques are used to entice (...) to invest, or to use particular websites,” and that “Not all firms operating on the internet have permission to offer investments.” Additionally, the agency says, “ESMA, and the authorities in Member States, have observed an increase in investor complaints regarding unauthorised activities by firms on the internet. Although financial regulations apply to advertising, not all the advertising you see complies with these. For example, there may be no, or little, investor information; and sometimes the information provided is misleading.” ESMA’s key messages in the 4-page release are:•Be aware of the potential risks involved in online investing.•Check if the firm is authorised.•Be wary of promises of high returns.•Be aware of software that automatically generates transactions for you.•Take special care when you’re asked to provide your credit card details.•If you do not understand what’s on offer, do not invest.
In August, ETF/ETPs worldwide posted net subscriptions of USD12.1bn, compared with USD5.3bn in the corresponding month of last year, according to statistics from the BlackRock Institute, bringing the total in January-August to USD139.9bn, while asstes as of 31 August totalled USD1.763trn. According to ETFGI, the research agency founded by Deborah Fuhr, net inflows in the first eight months of the year and assets under management at the end of the period totalled USD143bn and USD1.762trn, respectively (see Newsmanagers of 7 September).The BlackRock statistics also show that net subscriptions were strongest in the United States (USD5.5bn in August, and USD98bn in January-August), and in Europe (USD4.4bn and USD15.4bn). By product category, net inflows in the first eight months of the year totalled USD50.8bn for bond products, USD54.8bn for equities from developed countries (of which only USD1.7bn went to European equity products), USD22.7bn for emerging market equities, and USD8.7bn for commodity ETPs.The ETPs which posted the strongest net subscriptions in the first eight months of the year were the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets fund (USD9.79bn), the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (USD5.75bn), and the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond fund (USD4.92bn). The fourth fund is the Huatai-Pinebridge CSI fund (USD3.98bn for January-July).
With the Luxembourg-registered fund JB Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund, which complies with the UCITS IV directive, Swiss & Global Asset Management on 28 August extended its range of emerging market bond funds with a corporate debt product which offers higher returns and better fundamentals than comparable securities from industrialised countries.The new fund relies on a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches; it is managed by Enxo Puntillo, head of fixed income emerging markets, and co-manager of the JB Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund, Dorthe Fredsgaard Neilsen, and Tania Minella.CharacteristicsName: Julius Baer Multibond – Emerging Markets Corporate Bond FundISIN code: LU0784392382Benchmark index: JPM Corporate Em. Markets Bond Index DiversifiedManagement commission: 1.20%
Due to the scale of subscriptions, Wells Fargo Asset Management will be closing its US All Cap Growth fund to new investors in 21 September, since the high volume of inflows limits the effectiveness of allocation by the management team to small caps, Investment Europe reports. The fund has attracted USD550m since the beginning of the year.As a substitute, Wells Fargo AM will be offering clients an opportunity to acquire shares in the US Premier Growth fund, which is managed by the same team, but which is positioned solely on mid and large caps.The two funds are sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav from Wells Fargo, Worldwide Fund.
Benoit Jullien, directeur des investissements et des placements de la Maif dans un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1187 : Fin 2011, nous détenions encore 4% de dettes périphériques au sein de nos placements obligataires, à l’heure actuelle, elles ne représentent que 1,5%. Nous avons en effet décidé de nous désengager des obligations d'États périphériques tant que vous n’avons pas de signaux de sortie de crise de zone euro. Nous avons mis en place une gestion plus dynamique de nos portefeuilles de taux en révisant régulièrement nos expositions tactiques en fonction des valorisations observées sur chaque type d’obligations (taux fixe, indexées inflation, secteurs, émetteurs...). Nous envisageons de diversifier notre portefeuille d’obligations à l’international et en particulier vers la dette émergente libellée en devises locales qui reste encore bien rémunérée, commente Benoît Jullien. Nous avons également étudié l’opportunité de revenir sur le marché du high yield, mais nous considérons qu’une grande partie du potentiel de valorisation est épuisée à court terme et nous nous attendons à ce que les taux de défaut progressent dans le futur.
José Manuel García de Sola, qui vient de passer dix ans comme directeur général de la banque privée Banif, va prendre la direction du développement de Santander Asset Management aux Etats-Unis, rapporte Funds People.
La société de gestion Ashburton, basée à Jersey, a lancé le 10 septembre un fonds dédié aux actions indiennes, Indian Equity Opportunities, qui sera géré le spécialiste des actions asiatiques Jonathan Schiessl, rapporte Fund Web.Ce fonds ouvert domicilié à l'île Maurice investira en priorité dans des sociétés indiennes ou des sociétés actives sur d’autres marchés mais dérivant une part significative de leur croissance du marché indien. L’investissement minimum est de 100.000 dollars.
Sous réserve d’un agrément du régulateur, le britannique Baring Asset Management a annoncé le 10 septembre qu’il compte lancer le Baring China Bond Fund qui sera géré de Hong-Kong par Sean Chang, head of Asian debt, recruté récemment en provenance de HSBC Global Asset Management (lire Newsmanagers du 3 mai). Ce fonds sera investi en instruments de dette liés à la Chine et libellés en yuans offshore (CNH).
En moyenne, 62,1 % des fonds à rendement absolu commercialisés au Royaume-Uni facturant des commissions de surperformance ont dégagé des rendements supérieurs à zéro sur 12 mois, ce qui est inférieur à la proportion de fonds sans commission de performance qui ont affiché des rendements positifs (63,5 %), montre une récente étude de Lipper.En prenant en compte le fait que certains fonds ont une existence plus longue que d’autres, le résultat est de 67 % pour les fonds avec des frais de performance et de 67,5 % pour les fonds qui en sont dépourvus.Un constat (d’échec) qui explique peut-être que l’utilisation de commissions de performance par les fonds britanniques (unit trusts et OEIC) a tendance à décliner depuis 2004, date à laquelle l’interdiction de cette pratique a été levée.Ainsi, en 2007, 34 fonds avaient adopté des commissions de performance, un nombre qui est monté à 81 en 2010, relève Lipper. Aujourd’hui, 80 fonds revendiquent cette pratique, soit seulement 3 % de l’ensemble de l’univers des fonds britanniques. Cela reflète non seulement un ralentissement des lancements de fonds dotés d’une telle structure, mais aussi la fermeture de ces fonds ayant des commissions de performance ou la suppression de ces frais. Résultat, alors que 112 fonds ont eu à un moment ou à un autre de leur existence des commissions de performances, aujourd’hui, le total est de 28,6 % inférieur à ce niveau.
Près de 33 milliards de livres d’actifs sont logés outre-Manche dans des fonds sous-performants, selon la dernière enquête de Chelsea Financial Services, rapporte Fund Web.Le nombre de fonds sous-performants est passé de 84 à l’occasion du dernier sondage réalisé en février dernier, à 130 fonds. Parmi les fonds les plus sous-performants épinglés par Chelsea financial Services figurent UBS UK Smaller Companies (12 millions de livres d’encours), Allianz Global Eco Trends (8 millions de livres), Neptune Japan Opportunities (102 millions de livres), Standard Life Investments UK Opportunities (137 millions de livres), ou encore JPM Cautious Total Return (426 millions de livres).
Calum Smith, qui était en dernier lieu director et senior fixed income strategist chez BlackRock, rejoint Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) à Edimbourg au poste nouvellement créé de head of global aggregate au sein du pôle de gestion obligataire. Il est subordonné à Graeme Caughey, global head of rates. Il sera chargé de piloter la stratégie et la performance des produits obligataires de SWIP «global aggregate» destinés au retail ainsi qu’aux institutionnels.
Comme beaucoup d’autres sociétés de gestion, GLG va introduire des parts à 0,75 % sans commissions de suivi et de plate-forme pour onze de ses fonds domiciliés au Royaume-Uni, indique Investment Week.Les investisseurs particuliers britanniques auront aussi accès à partir de l’an prochain aux parts institutionnelles des fonds coordonnés de GLG et de Man Group domiciliés au Luxembourg.
Algebris Investments a confirmé le lancement de son fonds Algebris Financial Credit Ucits, spécialisé dans des titres de dette et instruments financiers émis par les grandes banques à l’échelle mondiale, rapporte le site italien Bluerating. Premier fonds long only de la société de gestion alternative, le nouveau produit sera investi dans des obligations hybrides subordonnées Tier 1 et Tier 2, des obligations CoCo, des actions préférentielles et obligations senior. Le rendement attendu est compris entre 6 % et 10 %.
Franz Feldmann, head of product development at Union Investment, on 10 September joined Pioneer Investments KAG in Munich as head of product management & marketing, Fondsprofessionell reports.
With key European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve meeting ahead, investors remained defensive in the first five days of September. EPFR global-tracked equity funds surrendered a net USD9.9 billion during the week ending Sept. 5, with emerging markets equity funds accounting for USD1.8 billion of that total, and US equity funds posted outflows of over USD8bn, due to redemptions from large cap ETFs. Government bond funds underwent redemptions totalling over USD1bn, for all maturities. However, high yield bond funds attracted about USD1.6bn. Bond funds overall poasted inflows of USD3.19bn in the week to 5 September. EPFR Global reports that emerging market bond funds have seen inflows of over USD32bn since the beginning of the year. Money market funds finished the week to 5 September with net inflows of USD4.6bn. Commodity funds posted inflows of over USD1bn for the third consecutive week.
Aquila Capital has signed a cooperation agreement with the Italian group ECPI, which will provide extra-financial data for its investments in agriculture. The two firms will work together to determine environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria for products from Aquila Capital and adherence to these criteria.
The major real estate asset managers worldwide are increasingly excluding the peripheral European countries from their pan-European funds, the Financial Times reports. Groups like Fidelity Worldwide Investment and Standard Life Investments are creating funds which avoid Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Greece. The withdrawal of institutional investors will be particularly painful for Spanish and Irish real estate markets, the FT observes.
A ferocious price war led by Vanguard has allowed its ETFs to attract net inflows of USD37.8bn in the first 8 months of this year worldwide, and to overtake BlackRock (USD35.3bn), Financial Times Fund Management observes, citing statistics from EFFGI. For ETFs where BlackRock and Vanguard are in competition, Vanguard has captured 71% of new business between July 2009 and July 2012, compared with only 21% for BlackRock, Bernstein says. “BlackRock lost market share for all products for which Vanguard has a similar substitute», says Luke Montgomery, an analyst at Bernstein.
The financial crisis of 2008 and the evolution of the regulatory environment have accelerated consolidation in the money market fund sector in the past few years, particularly in Europe. Overall, this consolidation trend has positive aspects for investors in money market funds, as it does for managers of the funds, the financial ratings agency Moody’s finds in a study published on 10 September. Moody’s predicts that this consolidation trend will continue as mergers and acquisitions of fund managers continue, due to considerations related to economies of scale, a low interest rate environment which bites into commissions, tougher regulations, and rationalisations of product lines which may lead some players to abandon this segment of activity.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has decided to create a working group to examine Libor, following the discovery of several manipulations of inter-bank lending rates, particularly the Euribor and Libor rates, it has announced in a brief statement released on 10 September. “The governors of the BIS have agreed to create a group of top heads to examine the case and to consult the market to contribute to the debate coordinated by the Financial Stability council,” Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), says in the statement. The Libor scandal broke on 27 June, when the British bank Barclays revealed that it would pay about EUR360m to settle investigations by British and American regulators over a scandal involving manipulation of the British Libor and European Euribor inter-bank lending rates. Since then, the Libor scandal has widened to include other banks, and investigations have been opened in several countries. In the United States, the state of New York has subpoenaed seven banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Barclays, as part of their investigations of manipulations of the interest rates that make up the Libor. Citi, UBS, HSBC, RBS and Deutsche Bank are also among the banks that prosecutors in the two states have contacted for documents in their investigaton. The European Commission, meanwhile, on 5 September launched a consultation to determine whether it need to legislate on the composition of indices used as a basis for contracts, including financial contracts, in the wake of the Libor scandal.
European institutional assets at 21 Swiss asset management firms surveyed by IPE in 2011-2012 fell from CHF474bn (EUR395bn) to CHF467bn, according to the Top 400 Asset Managers 2012 study from IPE. The number one firm, Credit Suisse, has seen a decline in its European institutional assets from EUR140.7bn to EUR126.7bn. UBS Global Asset Management has posted a decline of EUR103.6bn to EUR94.1bn. Assets at Pictet Asset Management have remained largely stable, at EUR75.8bn.
Nearly GBP33bn in assets in the UK are invested in underperforming funds, according to the most recent survey by Chelsea Financial Services, Fund Web reports. The number of underperforming funds has increased from 84 at the last survey in February this year to 130 funds. Among the most underperforming funds highlighted by Chelsea Financial Services are UBS UK Smaller Companies (GBP12m in assets), Allianz Global Eco Trends (GBP8m), Neptine Japan Opportunities (GBP102m), Standard Life Investments UK Opportunities (GBP137m), and JPM Cautious Total Return (GBP426m).
On average, 62.1% of absolute return funds on sale in the United Kingdom which charge performance fees delivered positive 12-month rolling returns, which is lower than the percentage of funds which charge no performance fees which have posted positive returns (63.5%), a recent Lipper survey finds.Taking into account the fact that some funds have been in existence longer than others, the result is 67% for funds with performance fees, and 67.5% for funds which do not charge performance commissions.This finding may go to explain why the use of performance commissions by British funds (unit trusts and OEIC) have been on a falling trend since 2004, when the practice was once again allowed.In Lipper’s 2007 survey, 34 funds had adopted a performance fee structure, a number that had risen to 81 funds in our 2010 analysis, a 138% rise that showed a clear acceleration of interest. But the number of funds with these fees today actually stands at 80 – just 3% of the entire UK funds universe. This reflects not only a slowing of funds being launched with performance fees, but also the closure (or merger) of funds and the removal of performance fees. The result is that, while 112 funds had performance commissions at one time or another in their history, the total is currently 28.6% lower than that level.