Les actifs sous gestion de la Banque cantonale vaudoise (BCV) ont progressé de 3% au premier trimestre pour s'établir à 79,4 milliards de francs suisses, a annoncé la banque dans un communiqué publié le 3 mai. La collecte nette s’est élevée à 149 millions de francs.Le bénéfice brut de la BCV s’est inscrit en hausse de 2% au premier trimestre à 121 millions de francs pour des revenus en légère augmentation à 253 millions de francs contre 251,6 millions de francs La BCV qualifie ces résultats de «très bons», s’inscrivant «dans la dynamique de ces dernières années», mais ne donne pas d’indications sur le développement actuel de l’activité et les prévisions de résultats annuels.

Le suisse Reyl & Cie a annoncé la nomination de Roger Groebli comme CEO de sa nouvelle filiale Reyl Oversea Ltd fondée en octobre 2011 à Zurich et enregistrée auprès de la SEC américaine comme investment adviser. Auparavant en poste chez ABN Amro, l’impétrant dirigeait à la fois le pôle recherche pour la région Asie-Pacifique et les activités de conseil en investissement.Reyl Overseas Ltd a été créée pour répondre aux besoins particuliers des contribuables américains établis en Suisse et à l’étranger. En tant que société suisse, elle offre à ses clients une expertise dans la gestion d’actifs, le conseil en investissement et la gestion de fortune.

En avril, la fondation Ethos, qui regroupe plus de 130 caisses de pension et de fondations d’utilité publique suisses, avait recommandé aux actionnaires d’UBS d’approuver tous les points à l’ordre du jour de l’assemblée générale sauf trois (lire Newsmanagers du 18 avril). L’organisation dirigée par Dominique Biedermann a été écoutée au moins sur l’un de ces points, puisque l’augmentation de capital proposée pour financer les plans de participation des collaborateurs a été refusée par l’assemblée générale des actionnaires : elle n’a obtenu que 62% de voix favorables, soit moins que les deux tiers des voix nécessaires pour une augmentation de capital sans droits préférentiels de souscription pour les actionnaires actuels.Sur les deux autres points litigieux selon Ethos, 40 % des suffrages ont été exprimés contre l’adoption du rapport de rémunération tandis que 47 % de voix «contre» ont été enregistrés sur la résolution concernant le quitus.

L’Association suisse des produits structurés (SVSP) a accueilli un nouveau membre passif, Global Financial Products. Ce nouveau membre vient renforcer l’importance des produits structurés pour la place financière suisse, souligne l’association, dans un communiqué publié le 2 mai. Global Financial Products a été fondée en 2011 et a des antennes à Pfäffikon, Zurich et Lausanne.L’association indique représenter désormais les intérêts de 18 émetteurs et cinq membres passifs, qui représentent ensemble plus de 95% du volume de marché des produits structurés en Suisse.

Le groupe suisse Vontobel a annoncé le 3 mai le lancement d’un fonds de matières premières, le Vontobel Fund Belvista Dynamic Commodity fund, qui sera géré par la filiale de Vontobel Asset Management, Harcourt, spécialisée dans la fourniture de solutions alternatives.Vontobel dispose déjà d’une expertise reconnue dans les matières premières depuis le lancement en 2007 du Vontobel Fund Belvista Commodity, qui a surperformé le DJ UBS Commodity Total Return Index de 15,8% entre avril 2007 et mars 2012. Principales caractéristiques Vontobel Fund (SICAV) – Belvista Dynamic CommodityDomiciliation: LuxembourgDevise de référence: USDClasses de devises: USD, CHF, EURFrais de gestion : 0,75% par an pour les parts institutionnelles /1,5% pour les parts retail Comission de surperformance .: 10 % par an de la surperformance relative par rapport au benchmark Indice de référence: Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Total Return IndexCodes de référence : B USD LU0759371569 I USD LU0759372880 H CHF LU0759371999 HI CHF LU0759372450 H EUR LU0759372021 HI EUR LU0759372534

Le groupe Nasdaq OMX a annoncé le 3 mai l’acquisition de BWise, le spécialiste des logiciels pour la gouvernance d’entreprise, la gestion des risques et la conformité (GRC). La plate-forme GRC de BWise sera disponible via Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions, une activité logicielle de Nasdaq OMX dédiée qui permet aux entreprises de minimiser le risque, gagner en efficacité et augmenter la transparence à l’aide d’une gamme de produits pour la gouvernance d’entreprise et les relations avec les investisseurs.

Les actifs sous gestion de l’américain Och-Ziff s’inscrivaient au 31 mars à 30,1 milliards de dollars, contre 28,8 milliards de dollars à fin décembre 2011 et 29 milliards de dollars un an plus tôt. La progression de 1,1 milliard de dollars ou 4% d’une année sur l’autre est liée à une collecte nette de 902,4 millions de dollars et à un effet marché positif de 184,3 millions de dollars.A fin avril, les actifs sous gestion s'établissaient à environ 29,8 milliards de dollars, en progression de 1 milliard de dollars par rapport à fin décembre grâce à un effet marché positif et malgré une décollecte nette de 600 millions de dollars, qualifiée de «quelque peu élevée sur le plan historique».Och-Ziff relève que la part des actifs des fonds de pension dans le total de ses actifs est passée de 24% il y a un an à 29% cette année. Dans le même temps, les actifs des fonds de fonds ne représentent plus que 17% du total des actifs contre 21% il y a un an, les investisseurs institutionnels préférant désormais recourir directement à un hedge fund.

Les boutiques de gestion peuvent rebuter les investisseurs institutionnels, lesquels peuvent juger que petite taille est synonyme de risques opérationnels et de réputation. Mais pour Fitch, qui publie une étude sur la notation des petites sociétés de gestion, ces structures peuvent très bien surmonter ces handicaps en démontrant que leurs actionnaires sont impliqués dans l’entreprise, en développant plusieurs lignes de produits ou bien en se positionnant comme leaders sur un segment de marché, tout en disposant d’une trésorerie suffisante et d’autres ressources financières pour maintenir la pérennité de la société et les activités de gestion dans les marchés difficiles.

L’américain Van Eck Associates Coroporation a annoncé qu’il abaisse à 0,57 % contre 0,60 % le plafond de taux de frais sur encours (TFE) de son ETF sur l’Indonésie Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (acronyme IDX) dont l’encours à fin mars se situait à 537 millions de dollars. C’est la seconde fois en trois ans que Van Eck abaisse le TFE de ce produit qui ne doit pas être confondu avec le Market Vectors Indnesia Small-Cap ETF (IDXJ) qui a été lancé récemment (lire Newsmanagers du 22 mars).

La société de gestion de capital-investissement 123Venture a annoncé le 3 mai le lancement de la plate-forme Trocadero Capital visant à servir une clientèle d’investisseurs institutionnels en complément de sa gamme de fonds historiquement destinée aux clients privés. La société, qui gère plus de 700 millions d’euros investis dans plus de 300 entreprises non cotées européennes, opère désormais sous deux marques, 123Venture et Trocadero Capital. Trocadero Capital propose aux investisseurs institutionnels une gamme restreinte de stratégies d’investissement au travers de fonds dédiés. A ce jour, Trocadero Capital gère des fonds (FCPR) et des mandats de gestion dans les Energies Renouvelables et la mezzanine. Trocadero Capital gère plus de 100 millions d’euros pour une large palette d’investisseurs. 123Venture a par ailleurs annoncé le lancement d’un fonds mezzanine, FCPR Trocadero Capital et Transmission II. Ce FCPR vise des investissements mezzanine dans des entreprises françaises non cotées dont la valeur est comprise entre 15 et 150 millions d’euros. Le groupe 123Venture investira 7 millions d’euros sur ses fonds propres aux côtés de ses clients institutionnels dans ce fonds qui vise une taille finale de l’ordre de 100 millions d’euros.

According to the ETFGI consultancy, founded by Deborah Fuhr, assets under management in 1,295 European ETFs (listed 4,579 times) as of the end of April totalled USD291bn, compared with USD301.3bn as of the end of March. They increased 8.8% since the beginning of the year, compared with USD267.6bn as of the end of December 2011.In April, European ETFs saw net outflows of USD4.7bn, due to net redemptions of USD5.2bn from equity ETFs, while ETFs replicating European equity indices underwent net redemptions of USD5bn. In the first four months of the year, ETFs saw net subscriptions of USD1.5bn.ETFGI states that in this period, the strongest inflows were to source Markets, with USD1.5bn, followed by UBS Global Asset Management with USD1.2bn, and ETFlab Investment (Deka) at USD0.8bn. On the other hand, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has seen the heaviest net outflows, with USD1.4bn, followed by ComStage (Commerzbank) and EasyETF, with USD0.6bn each. In April, iShares (BlackRock) saw net outflows of USD4.3bn.In terms of assets as of the end of April, iShares has USD113.9bn. The second-largest is db x-trackers with USD43bn. Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) takes third place with USD36.59bn.

Although the German market is very open, the penetration of Carmignac Gestion is more than twice as strong in Italy. The French asset management firm is now hoping to catch up with the help its Frankfurt office, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Eric Helderlé, COO, says that although Carmignac funds are already selling well via German IFAs, there is still some progress to be made with family offices and private banks.Last year, total assets at Carmignac Gestion fell by more than EUR9bn, 22% of which, says Helderlé, was due to market effects, while 78% was due to net redemptions of over EUR7.1bn. These outflows were largely to countries in southern Europe, while the German market was more resistant, which is also a reason that the French asset management firm is now looking to grow in Germany.

In first quarter, the net asset inflows of the Investment Solutions unit of BNP Paribas totalled EUR12.6bn in first quarter, the group has announced in a statement released on 4 May.All the business units made a positive contribution: Asset Management (+7.8 billion euros) thanks to strong asset inflows into money market funds from institutional investors; Private Banking (+2.7 billion euros), especially in the domestic markets and in Asia; Insurance (+1.1 billion euros) thanks to good asset inflows in France, Luxembourg and Asia; Personal Investors (+0.4 billion euros) and Real Estate Services (+0.4 billion euros). Despite the unfavourable foreign exchange impact due to the appreciation of the euro this quarter, the asset inflows and the rise in stock markets drove assets under management1 up +4.6%, compared to their level as at 31 December 2011, to 881 billion euros. Investment Solutions’ revenues, which totalled 1,521 million euros, were stable compared to the first quarter 2011. Revenues from Wealth and Asset Management were down 9.1% due to the decline in outstandings in Asset Management in 2011. The good development of Securities Services’ business in all countries with +4.2% growth in assets under custody and +12.7% in assets under administration pushed the business unit’s revenues up +6.6% compared to the first quarter 2011.

Rothschild & Cie Gestion, the French firm led by Jean-Louis Laurens, announced on Thursday that it is merging its traditional and alternative multi-management activities with those of HDF Finance, an French boutique which since mid-2009 has been led by Christine du Fretay, following the decease of her husband and the founder of the business, Gilles du Fretay. The businesses involved at the two asset management firms will be merged into a single firm, which will be known as Rothshild HDF Investment Solutions, and which will be 67% controlled by Rothschild & Cie Gestion and 33% by HDF Group. “Rothschild & Cie Gestion will eventually control 100 % of the new entity,” Laurens, a managing partner in the business, tells Newsmanagers. Rothschild HDF Investment Solutions will be headed by Laurens, and directed by Denis Faller. Pierre Lenders, currently CEO and co-CIO of HDF Finance, will be appointed as deputy CEO of the new company. Christophe Jaubert and Marc Terras, for their part, will serve as deputy CEOs and co-CIOs. Christine du Fretay, the current chairwoman of the board of directors at HDF Finance, says that she will not hold any responsibilities in the new organisation, and that she will be limiting her role to that of director and minority shareholder. In terms of human resources, Laurens states that some work to adjust and reclassify positions at HDF Finance has already been undertaken, and that the goal for Rothschild HDF Investment Solutions is to reach a level of 45 employees. To this end, “some adjustments will be made,” the head admits, “while sales positions are still vacant for Northern Europe and Great Britain.” In figures, the merged entity has EUR4bn in assets, of which EUR3bn comes from Rothschild & Cie Gestion, taking into account the recent acquisition of Héritage AM, and EUR1bn from HDF Finance. In terms of assets, the objectives set by Laurens may be considered cautious: “we are aiming to grow by 10% per year, of which 5% will come from inflows, and 5% from market effects.” This is a modest objective, largely due to to the “difficult” French market. “At any rate, we have a few advantages which make us a credible player in Europe,” the director adds.

Assets under management at the asset management unit of Prudential Financial as of the end of March 2012 totalled USD636.8bn, compared with USD568.8bn one year previously, the group has announced in a statement released on 3 May. Assets under management from institutional investors as of the end of March totalled USD283.2bn, compared with USD246.2bn one year previously. Institutional net inflows totalled USD5.4bn.

The French asset management firm A Plus Finance (EUR400m in assets) has announced that it has signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). It pledges to systematically integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions as investment selection criteria.Niels Couurt-Payen, chairman of A Plus Finance, says that the decision to sign the Principles comes at a time when the asset management firm is genuinely in a position “to apprehend these responsible investment principoles in all its professions.” A Plus Finance is active in financing for SMEs, real estate, the film industry, and multi-management. This has led the firm to revise its processes, in order to integrate these principles transversally.

Asset management boutiques can be forbidding for institutional investors, who may consider their smaller size synonymous with operational and reputation risks. But for Fitch, which has recently published a study of the ratings of small asset management firms, these structures are very much able to overcome these handicaps, by demonstrating that their shareholders are committed in the business, by developing multiple product lines, or by positioning themselves as leaders in a particular market segment, while maintaining enough cash and other financial resources to ensure the survival of the asset management firm and its activities in difficult markets.

The private equity asset management firm 123Venture on 3 May announced the launch of the Trocadero Capital platform, which aims to offer institutional investors a complement to their fund range historically aimed at private clients. The firm, which has over EUR700m invested in over 300 European private businesses, now operates under two brand names, 123Venture and Trocadero Capital. Trocadero Capital offers institutional investors a limited range of investment strategies via dedicated funds. To date, Trocadero Capital manages FCPR funds and management mandates in renewable energies and mezzanine debt. Trocadero Capital manages over EUR100m for a wide range of investors. 123Venture, meanwhile, has announced the launch of a mezzanine fund, the FCPR Trocadero Capital et Transmission II. This FCPR fund aims to make mezzanine investments in French private businesses whose total valuation is between EUR15m and EUR150m. The 123Venture group will invest EUR7m of its own capital alongside institutional cients in the fund, which will aim for a final size of about EUR100m.

Assets under management at the US asset management firm Och-Ziff as of 31 March totalled USD30.1bn, compared with USD28.8bn at the end of December 2011, and USD29bn one year previously. An increase of USD1.1bn, or 4% year on year is related to net inflows of USD902.4m, and positive market effects of USD184.3m. As of the end of April, assets under management totalled about USD29.8bn, up by USD1bn compared with the end of December, due to positive market effects, and despite net outflows of USD600m, which are called “relatively small, in historical perspective.” Och-Ziff states that the proportion of assets in pension funds as a part of total assets under management has increased from 24% one year ago to 29% this year. At the same time, assets in funds of funds represent only 17% of total assets, compared with 21% one year ago, as institutional investors are now preferring to invest directly in single hedge funds.

The Credit Suisse group has announced that it will be converting six of its synthetic ETFs to physical ETFs during this month, at the request of many clients and the Swiss financial markets association, Finma. Once the conversions are completed, the number of ETFs to have transferred to a physical replication style in the past six months will total 10. At the end of November last year, the Swiss bank converted four of its 16 synthetic ETFs. Deborah Fuhr, cited by InvestmentEurope, says investors seem to show a marked preference for physical ETF funds. Last year, synthetic ETFs showed net outflows of USD4bn, while physical ETFs had net inflows of USD29bn.

Assets under management at the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) have increased 3% in first quarter, to a total of CHF79.4bn, the bank has announced in a statement released on 3 May. Net inflows totalled CHF149m. Gross profits at the BCV were up 2% in first quarter, to CHF121m, on earnings up slightly to CHF253m, from CHF251.6m. The BCV has called these results “very good,” and “in line with the trend in recent years,” but has not provided any information about the current development of activities or outlooks for annual results.

The Swiss structured products association (SVSP) has accepted a new observing member, Global Financial Products. The new member strengthens the presence of the structured products association on the Swiss financial market, the association says in a statement released on 2 May. Global Financial Products was founded in 2011, and has offices in Pfäffikon, Zurich and Lausanne. The association says that it now represents the interests of 18 issuers and five observing members, who together represent over 95% of the total volume in the structured product market in Switzerland.

The Swiss Vontobel group on 3 May announced the launch of a commodity fund, the Vontobel Fund Belvista Dynamic Commodity fund, which will be managed by an affiliate of Vontobel Asset Management, Harcourt, specialised in providing alternative solutions. Vontobel already has a widely renowned expertise in commodities, since the launch of the Vontobel Fund Belvista Commodity in 2007. The fund outperformed the DJ Commodity Total Return Index by 15.8% between April 2007 and March 2012. Major characteristics Vontobel Fund (SICAV) – Belvista Dynamic Commodity Domicile: Luxembourg Currency of reference: USD Share classes: USD, CHF, EUR Management fees: 0.75% per year for institutional shares; 1.5% for retail shares Performance commission: 10% per year on outperformance of the benchmark Benchmark index: Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Total Return Index Reference codes: B USD LU0759371569 I USD LU0759372880 H CHF LU0759371999 HI CHF LU0759372450 H EUR LU0759372021 HI EUR LU0759372534

The Swiss firm Cernegie Fund Services, a specialist in representation and distribution for foreign investment funds, will be opening an office in Zurich, Finews reports. The office will be led by Heinz Gloor. Carnegie Fund Services has over 200 clients for fund launches in Switzerland, influding CR Asset Management, DNCA, Gottex, Janus Capital, Lazard Frères Gestion and MFS, Finews reports.

GAM and Barclays Capital have launched the GAM Star Barclays Dynamic Multi-Index Allocation Fund in Switzerland. The product is compliant with UCITS IV. It will invest in quantitative indices from Barclays Capital, Finews reports.

The Nasdaq OMX group on 3 May announced that it has acquired BWise, a corporate governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) software specialist. The BWise GRC platform will be available via Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions, a dedicated software arm of Nasdaq OMX which helps businesses to minimise risks, increase efficiency and improve transparency through a range of products for corporate governance and investor relations.

The Swiss firm Reyl & Cie has announced the appointment of Roger Groebli as CEO of its new affiliate Reyl Overseas Ltd, founded in October 2011 in Zurich, and registered with the US SEC as an investment adviser. Groebli, previously of ABN Amro, where he was head of the research unit for Asia-Pacific and investment advisory activities.Reyl Overseas Ltd was founded to meet the particular needs of US taxpayers based in Switzerland and abroad. As a Swiss firm, it offers its clients expertise in asset management, investment advising and wealth management.

Since Thursday, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse has listed 968 ETF funds, as db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has listed three new Luxembourg-registered bond ETFs for trading. The first two funds, with leverage of 2, one of them inverse, replicate the evolution of euro zone government bonds, while the third fund focuses on Bunds, with total maturities of 7 to 10 years.db x-trackers II Eurozone Sovereigns Double Long Daily ETFISIN code: LU0621755080Benchmark index: Deutsche Bank Eurozone Sovereigns Double Long Daily IndexTER: 0.30 %db x-trackers II Eurozone Sovereigns Double Short Daily ETFISIN code: LU0621755676Benchmark index: Deutsche Bank Eurozone Sovereigns Double Short Daily IndexTER: 0.30 % db x-trackers II iBoxx € Germany 7-10 TRI ETFISIN code: LU0730820569Benchmark index: iBoxx € Germany 7-10 IndexTER: 0.15 %

As of the end of April, total assets in ETFs worldwide totalled USD1.5284trn, USD9.7bn less than at the end of March, despite net subscriptions of USD2bn. ETFGI, the consulting firm founded by Deborah Fuhr, estimates that total assets YTD increased 13.1%, or USD177bn, of which USD60.6bn were from net subscriptions.In the first four months of the year, the three largest net inflows were to Vanguard (USD21.8bn), iShares (USD15.7bn) and SPDR ETF (State Street Global Advisors, or SSgA), with USD6.7bn. The heaviest net outflows were from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with USD1.3bn, Polaris (USD0.8bn), and ComStage (Commerzbank), with USD0.6bn.The top three issuers remain unchanged. iShares has USd649.3bn in assets as of the end of April, followed by SPDR ETF with USD233.9bn, and Vanguard, with USD208.4bn. These three actors together control a market share of 71.4%.

The US firm Van Eck Associates Corporation has announced that it is lowering the total expense ratio (TER) cap to 0.57% from 0.60% for its Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (acronym IDX), whose assets as of the end of March totalled USD537m. This is the second time in three years that Van Eck has lowered the TER for the product, which should not be confused with the Market Vectors Indonesia Small-Cap ETF (IDXI), which was launched recently (see Newsmanagers of 22 March).