Trecento Asset Management lance les deux premiers fonds de sa gamme. La toute jeune société de gestion, qui a vu le jour en décembre 2011 (voir NewsManagers du 15/12/2011), a obtenu l’agrément pour deux FCP au format Ucits IV.Le premier, Trecento Market Neutral, est un fonds d’arbitrage actions visant à tirer profit à court terme des écarts de valorisation intra-sectorielle tout en neutralisant son exposition aux marchés actions. La performance de ce fonds est décorellée de l’évolution des marchés, via une stratégie active d’achats et de ventes d’actions européennes. Alors que la société de gestion avait prévu lors de son lancement (lire l’article du 15/12/2011) un objectif de performance de 7% à 10 %, celui-ci est désormais de 4%, le profil de risque du produit ayant diminué. Trecento Market Neutral est géré par Julien Bourret, ancien gérant de la poche pair-trade de fonds long/short de Sycomore Asset Management.Le deuxième, Trecento European Equities, est un fonds actions européennes dont le portefeuille est constitué d’entreprises de qualité, présentant des valorisations que l’équipe de gestion considère comme particulièrement attrayantes. Il a pour objectif d’offrir une performance supérieure à l’indice Stoxx Europe 600, via une stratégie active d’achats et de ventes sur les marchés des actions européennes. Franck Le Franc, précédemment gérant actions chez Neuflize puis Somangest en assure la gestion. CaractéristiquesNom : Trecento Market NeutralCode Isin : FR0011188317Frais de gestion :1,5 % TTCCommission de surperformance : 20 % TTC au-delà d’une performance supérieure à 4 %Durée de placement recommandée : 2 ansDroits d’entrée : 5 % TTC maximumDroits de sortie : 0 %Nom : Trecento European EquitiesCode Isin : FR0011188291 Frais de gestion : 2,5 % TTC Commission de surperformance : 20 % TTC de la surperformance du FCP par rapport à son indice de référence Durée de placement recommandée : 5 ans Droits d’entrée : 5 % TTC maximum Droits de sortie : 0 %Les deux FCP sont éligibles au PEA.

The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 14 March announced that it is launching a consultation on regulations applicable to ETF funds («Principles for the Regulation of Exchange Traded Funds»), which will review regulatory issues related to ETFs. The IOSCO document also proposes 15 principles on the basis of which the sector and regulators may evaluate the quality of regulations and pracrtices at firms, in three major areas: investor protection, proper functioning of markets, and financial stability. The principles proposed by IOSCO concern ETFs which are formatted as collective investment schemes (CIS), and do not apply to other ETPs which do not adopt this structure. The consultation is open to all interested parties until 27 June.

With the acquisition of the ILS (insurance-linked investments) unit of Clariden Leu (Credit Suisse group), LGT Group is increasing total assets at its affiliate LGT Capital Management by more than CHF2bn, to about CHF22bn. The transaction, for a purchase price which has not been disclosed, will be completed by the end of first half.With ILS, LGT Capital Management acquires a management team with ten members and four products: Clariden Leu (CH) Cat Bond Fund, Clariden Leu (Lie) Cat Bond Fund, Clariden Leu (Lux) I - Cat Bond Fund, and Clariden Leu (Gue) ILS Plus Fund.

The three index providers MSCI, S&P Indices and FTSE on 13 March announced the creation of the first professional association for the index sector, the Index Industry Association (IIA).The IIA will operate as an independent, non-profit organisation with its own dedicated resources, representing all of its members worldwide from headquarters in New York. It will be open to membership by index provider firms throughout the world.The initial board of directors will be composed of representatives from the founding firms, MSCI, S&P Indices and FTSE, and representatives from members. A MD has yet to be appointed for the association.The IIA will focus on protecting intellectual property rights and cooperating with the relevant regulatory authorities worldwide to serve the sector and its clients.

In 2012, uncertainty in the euro zone may continue to disturb the IPO market, according to the “IPO Watch 2011” study by PwC. In the first few months of 2012, only a few operations, including the widely-reported Facebook IPO, will bring a regain of optimism in the market and a loosening of conditions which beset the market in late 2011. In France, the market was inactive in 2011, and 2012 does not appear much better. “The Paris market is relatively unattractive to investors. Unlike the United Kingdom, we do not have investments coming, for example, from pension funds, and language continues to be perceived as a real technical barrier. Business which launch in Paris are thus generally French businesses, and not foreign businesses, which limits the scale of the market compared with London,” says Philippe Kubisa, a partner at PwC specialised in capital markets. The beginning of the year 2011, which was highly positive for the European IPO market, was only a false start, according to the PwC study. Due to the slowdown in the euro zone, 2011 was marked by many large operations and many postponements. Despite a morose end to the year, th European IPO market rose 13% in volume and 1% in value (430 operations for a total of EUR26.5bn). The six largest operations in 2011 represented 60% of funds (EUR16bn), compared with 37% in 2010 (EUR9.6bn). In 2011, although Warsaw saw the largest number of IPOs, with 203, London remains the largest market in terms of the value of operations, with a cumulative total of more than half of the total value of all funds raised, at EUR14.1bn, although that represents only one quarter of all operatoins undertaken.

Although it has already instituted thorough reforms of the US money markets, the SEC is planning more radical changes, including the introduction of a net asset value (NAV) float, which is a subject of grave concern on the part of professionals, the research agency Celent reports in a study of US money market reforms (Money Market Reform: The Uncertain Future of the Money Market Fund). “An NAV float would reduce the attraction for investors to buying and selling money market funds to zero, and would eventually wipe out a sector which has about USD2.7trn in assets,” says Scott Sullivan, senior analyst at Celent and author of the study, which also discusses other measures such as new reserve requirements and 30-day cooling-off periods for complete redemptions of funds. The proposals come as part of a larger initiative by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and international regulators to avoid market turbulence of the kind which led to the demise of Lehman Brothers. Several decades were needed to bring into force the regulations which were in place before 2008, and the deployment of multiple reforms in a relatively short time may have the opposite of the desired effect, the study warns. The money market fund sector is essential to the good functioning of the economy. The money market provided up to 36% (25% currently) of short-term assets to the US economy. If investors decided to withdraw a significant portion of their short-term financing, which already brings only limited retursns, and whose costs are continuing to increase, liquidity would be reduced to a significant degree in very little time, Celent claims. Other unpredictable consequences could endanger economic growth.

The California pension fund CalPERS on 15 March announced that it has set its discount rate at 7.5%, following a recommendation from its committee specialised in pensions. The actualisation rate was last modified ten years ago, from 8.25% to 7.75%. Last year, the board of trustees decided to maintain the rate at 7.75%, but planned to revise it this year. CalPERS says in a statement that the economic environment obliged it to take the decision.

State Street has announced that it has been retained by Volvar Asset Management, an independent French asset management firm specialised in systematic volatility strategies, to provice back-office services to two of its funds domiciled in France and Luxembourg. State Street will offer a post-market solution including depository banking and fund accounting services, as well as services to OTC and listed derivative products.

The British asset management firm M&G Investments has topped EUR2bn in assets in France, five years after opening the doors of its Paris office. “We are ahead of our plans,” Brice Anger, director of development for M&G in France, tells Newsmanagers, adding that the firm had assets of EUR1.5bn in France as of the end of 2011. “In this context, we are totally comfortable with our objective of EUR3bn in 2015,” he adds. The EUR2bn threshold was passed largely thanks to a dynamic start to the year for the firm, which had strong inflows, of an amount which remains confidential, after a year in 2011 which was relatively calm. Two products attracted subscriptions: the M&G Optimal Income and the M&G Global Dividend. These funds were particularly attractive to IFAs and mandated management through private banks. This success with retail clients has also allowed the firm to increase the proportion of assets under management in this category to 25% of assets at M&G in France, from 10% as of September 2010, when the French office topped EUR1bn in assets. The proportion of funds of funds has fallen in the meanwhile, from 60% to 50%, largely due to redemptions in 2011 from a US equities fund whose performance had suffered slightly. Institutional investors represent the remaining 25%. This year, in a less than promising environment in which new money is expected to be rare, Anger is planning to occupy the terrain on the bond market with the M&G Global Macro Bond Fund, which has recently received a sales license for France. In equities, he is planning to continue to push the M&G Global Dividend fund, and to highlight Asia and emerging market funds, which are expected to benefit from soft closings of some large funds on the market. The head of the French market is also planning to license an emerging market debt fund this year, and a private real estate fund, both products which already exist within the group. These will come as additions to the available product range in France, which now consists of 27 funds. M&G is planning to continue to rely on its six employees and one intern, and its partnership with the Compagnie Financière Jacques Coeur. This team may soon see the addition of a retail salesperson.

Amilton Asset Management has become the majority shareholder in Swan Capital Management. The asset management firm specialised in the mandated management of equity funds acquired a 58% stake in Swan CM, whose primary activity is multi-management serving professional clients, including wealth management advisers. Amilton AM, which currently manages EUR120m in assets, will increase its assets to EUR400m following the merger.The acquisition is only the first step in a development strategy deployed by Amilton AM, which aims to be dynamic. Amilton AM is hoping to “become an independent management firm of reference in France” in the mid-term, and will rely on organic growth to its assets “though the deployment of a dynamic sales policy and the arrival of new managers.” The asset management firm is also planning to continue its external growth strategy, through mergers with asset management firms with complementary areas of expertise, which it would integrate into its structure.

Allianz Global Investors has announced the appointment of Franck Dixmier as chief investment officer (CIO) for Europe for fixed income and insurance portfolio management activities. He is also a member of the European executive board at Allianz Global Investors, and CEO of Alianz Global Investors France. In 2008, he was appointed CEO of Allianz Global Investors France, in charge of investments, and then deputy CEO of AGI Global Investors France in 2010. Amine Benghabrit has been appointed director of sales at Allianz Global Investors France. Benghabrit joined Allianz Global Investors France in 2000. After serving in several roles in sales, he was head of sales for institutional clients, then Enterprise clients, and then became deputy director of sales in 2011.

Xavier d’Ornellas, who has been senior portfolio manager in the flexible unit at CCR AM (UBS group) for the past three years, on 1 March joined the asset management firm Amplégest as a manager in the flexible and dedicated funds operations.D’Ornellas will support Xavier Gandrille, chairman, in tactical allocation (see Newsmanagers of 17 January), and will also handle family offices, who will have two managers, one wealth engineer, and three private bankers, Arnaud de Langautier, CEO, explains to Newsmanagers.Pending “other announcements” in the relatively near future, Amplégest will continue its growth methodically, after recruiting two analysts for the long unit at Fabrice Revol, whose multi-cap fund now has over EUR100m in assets and a 5-year track record.Total assets now total about EUR400m, compared with about EUR375m one year ago (see Newsmanagers of 7 February 2011), of which EUR340m compared with EUR315m are in private wealth management.

The CNMV has issued an operating license to the asset management firm Azora Gestión, whose assets total EUR712m, at three affilaites, Funds People reports.Azora was founded in 2003 by Concha Osácar and Ferndando Gumuzio, former Santander employees, and Eloy Dominguez-Adame, former CEO at Dragados. Osácar was the manager of the Banif Inmobiliario fund.With the arrival of Azora and the disappearance of GesLayetana and Bancaja Fondos, which have been absorbed by Bankia Fondos, the number of asset management firms registered with the CNMV now comes to 113.

The new consulting and research firm ETF Global Insight is soon to release a full range of data on the “exchange traded exposures” segment, Deborah Fuhr has told Newsmanagers.The former head of ETF research from BlackRock says the market needs an independent body in a position not only to gather information about assets and flows worldwide, but also to estimate earnings for all players in the segment, including asset managers, brokers, and index providers. The firm’s ambition is also to cover all firms which use ETFs, by region and type (pension funds, hedge funds and others).Fuhr and her two partners, Shane Kelly and Matthew Murray, are hoping to present a complete panorama of “exchange traded exposures,” which would include all products, including funds (ETF) as well as ETC and ETN products, “partnerships,” and other exchange-traded vehicles (ETV). All of these would be available on the firm’s website.In addition to monthly reports on the markets concerned, ETF Global Insight will publish special thematic reports, and may take on projects and studies for organisations or clients.

The Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has issued quotas totalling USD1.68bn to holders of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) licenses, Z-Ben Advisors reports.Among the recipients of the quotas are the central banks of Thailand and South Korea, each of which has been allocated USD300m. The sovereign funds Korea Investment Company (KIC) and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) have received USD200m and USD300m quotas.Since the beginning of March, SAFE has awarded quotas totalling USD1.81bn to twelve QFII license holders.

US prosecutors on 14 March filed charges against two Swiss financial advisers: one former client adviser at UBS, and one independent adviser. Both are suspected of helping US taxpayers to evade taxes. The sums in question are estimated at USD138m for the former UBS employee, and USD129m for the independent adviser. According to the charges filed, both individuals reside in Switzerland, and have not been arrested. So far, two dozen Swiss finance professionals and a dozen US clients have been charged. 11 banks are being investigated by US prosecutors, including Wegelin bank, which has been charged.

Long-term UCITS funds, including all funds except money market funds, in January posted net inflows of EUR19bn, while in December they had posted net redemptions totalling EUR7bn, according to the most recent statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). “2012 started on a prudently optimistic note,” says the head of economy and research at EFAMA< Bernard Delbecque, due to monetary policy measures taken by the ECB in December and encouraing US macroeconomic data. UCITS funds as a whole posted net inflows of EUR25bn, compared with outflows of EUR6bn in December. UCITS funds show positive inflows for the first time since May 2011. All categories of long-term funds show inflows in January. Equity funds attracted a net EUR4bn, while they finished the month of December with outflows of EUR6bn. Bond funds increased their net inflows to EUR13bn in January, compared with EUR4bn one month earlier. Diversified funds, for their part, finished the first month of the year with net inflows of EUR2bn, while they saw outflows in December totalling EUR3bn. Net inflows to money-market funds totalled EUR6bn, compared with EUR1bn in December. Dedicated funds posted half the net inflows they had the previous month, with EUR6bn, compared with EUR13bn in December. Assets in UCITS funds increased 3% in January compared with the end of 2011, to EUR5.711trn. Non-UCITS funds, for their part, grew by 1.3%, to EUR2.230trn.

Funds People reports that Allianz Global Investors (AGI) has recently registered its three-year-old Allianz Volatility Strategy (AVS) fund, which has earned annual returns of 9% with volatility of 8%, with the CNMV. Assets in the Luxembourg product, managed by Stefan Kloss, total EUR295m.

The Spring 2012 conference of the Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) has demonstrated that the publication last month of proposed legislation laying out the terms ofhte so-called Facta law represent a genuine subject of concern for a growing number of players present in the asset management sector. But efforts to take this new legislation into account are laborious and remain partial, partly due to the unclarity which continues to surround some parts of the proposed legislation. Geoffroy Bazin, chief operating officer in the Investment Solutions division of BNP Paribas, declared at a round table on the subject that at the end of 2011, he had received only one request for information about the Facta law from a major asset management actor. Asset management firms are nonetheless beginning to be concerned about the problem, and major actors such as BNP Paribas and professional associations have made the Facta law a top priority. “Asset management firms will need to pay attention to the basic elements of the Facta law now, if they do not want to be overtaken later,” says Roger Exwood, head of product taxation for the EMEA region at BlackRock. BlackRock is planning to begin to actively communicate with distributors on the subject. Major players are considering enlarging their product ranges, and BNP Paribas is studying new ranges of services, which may concern registration, client identification or deductions. There are still many points to clarify, including “pass-through payment,” (payment from non-US sources), and the question of the treatment of sub-funds. These are complex questions for the intergovernmental approach, as the application of the Fatca law is slated to be undertaken by the US, British, German, Spanish and Italian governments, which adds further uncertainty about the legal and regulatory framework to be introduced. The European financial and asset management association (EFAMA), which claims that relaxations of the law are still possible, is actively working on the subject and is hoping to present its questions by mid-April.

Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has published operating profits for 2011 up 14% year on year, to GBP234m. High-margin products were particularly attractive to investors, Investment Week reports. As of the end of 2011, assets under management totalled GBP371m, up 5% compared with assets of GBP354m as of the end of 2010.

20 employees in sales at Ignis Asset Management, in London and Glasgow, are under “review,” and their jobs may be at risk, FundWeb reports. According to a spokesperson cited by the website, “there will be a two-week consultation and some people will be offered new roles at Ignis and others will be made redundant”. Nick Pogmore, head of strategic partnerships in the United Kingdom, has already been let go.

The Swiss firm Vescore and the German firm Universal Investment on 2 January launched the Beta Opportunities II, an absolute return multi-asset class fund which will make long/short investments in equities and duration, and volatility and market neutral investments in commodities.The fund will aim for returns 300 basis points higher than the Euribor 3 month, with volatility of 5% to 7%.CharacteristicsName: Beta Opportunities UIISIN code: DE000A1JLRB6Front-end fee: maximum 5%Management commission: 1.6% maximum (currently 1%)Performance commission: 10%, with high watermarkHurdle rate: Euribor 3-monthMinimal subscription: EUR100,000

Universal Investment has announced that BaFin on 9 March issued a sales license for Germany for its Luxembourg-registered fund Berenberg Renminbi Bond Opportunities UI (see Newsmanagers of 10 February). The product will be available in the country in two share classes, one in US dollars (LU0679891639), and the other in euros (LU0679891803).

Florian Esterer, based in Zurich, will manage the first North American equities fund from the German asset management firm MainFirst Asset Management, which will be launched in mid-April, Citywire reports. He will deploy the strategy which he had used for one of his funds at Swisscanto, where he was head of global equities.MainFirst is also planning to launch a UCITS-compliant long/short equity fund, which will also be managed by Esterer.

Trecento Asset Management is launching the first two funds in its range. The new asset management firm, which opened its doors in December 2011 (see Newsmanagers of 15 December 2011), has received licenses for two UCITS IV-compliant FCP funds. The first of these, Trecento Market Neutral, is an equity arbitrage fund which aims to benefit in the short term from differences in intra-sectoral valuation, while neutralising its exposure to equity markets. Trecento Market Neutral is managed by Julien Bourret, former manager of the pair-trade allocation from the long/short fund from Sycomore Asset Management. The second fund, Trecento European Equities, is a European equity fund whose portfolio is composed of high-quality businesses which have valuations that the management team considers particularly attractive. It aims to offer performance higher than the Stoxx Europe 600 index, via an active strategy of buying and selling on European equity markets. Franck le Franc, previously an equity manager at Neuflize, then Somangest, is manager of the fund. Characteristics Name: Trecento Market Neutral ISIN code: FR0011188317 Management fees: 1.5% after tax Performance commission: 20% after tax on performance exceeding 4% Front-end fee: maximum 5% after tax Withdrawal penalty: 0% Name: Trecento European Equities ISIN code: FR0011188291 Management fee: 2.5% after tax Performance commission: 20% after tax on performance of the FCP exceeding its benchmark Recommended investment duration: 5 years Front-end fee: maximum 5% after tax Withdrawal penalty: 0% Both funds are eligible for investment from PEA plans.

Late January, Vienna-based Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) has been granted a sales license for France for the Raiffeisen GlobalAllocation-Strategies Plus (GASP) fund, whose assets total EUR180m, and which was released to retail investors in 2010, after previously being reserved to internal asset allocation funds since April 2008.The product has generated annual net returns of 10.82% per year from 4 April 2008 until the end of Fenruary 2012. It is characterised, firstly, by risk parity management with a 3-5 year horizon, which determines asset allocation, with a maximal volatility objective of 10% (currently 7%). This risk parity and asset allocation is fundamentally the same as for the Raiffeisen 337 fund, whose performance has averaged 50 basis points lower, since the team led by Kurt Schappelmann (13 people and EUR6bn in assets) uses an active management overlay with three asymmetrical strategies to limit the risk of loss (by about half) and to provide decent participation (80-90%) in periods of gain.In France and Benelux, RCM has assets of about EUR600m, with net inflows of EUR70m in 2011 corresponding in fact to two mandates, one for emerging markets equities, and one multi-asset class, says Philippe Leroy, country head for France/Benelux.

Les deux sociétés de gestion vont se réunir, Amilton Asset Management (gestion sous mandat, gestion de fonds) prenant une participation majoritaire dans Swan Capital Management (multigestion dédiée aux clients professionnels). Les encours consolidés du nouvel ensemble s’élèveront à près de 400 millions d’euros.

Le groupe de private equity et Onex cherchent à introduire Allison Transmission Holdings en Bourse sur la base d’une valorisation presque trois fois supérieure au montant versé pour le fabricant de pièces automobiles en 2007. Allison prévoit d’offrir 21,7 millions de titres pour un prix unitaire compris entre 22 et 24 dollars. En milieu de fourchette, la société est ainsi valorisée autour de 4,2 milliards.

La finalisation du plan grec ainsi que l’activisme de la BCE ont contribué à redonner de la visibilité au marché

La demande a légèrement reculé l'an dernier en région. La rareté de l'offre neuve contribuera à une poursuite de la tendance en 2012