Antonio Palma, associé et CEO de Mirabaud, a indiqué selon Funds People que le groupe est en phase de redéploiement en Espagne après l’acquisition de Venture Finanzas. Cela se traduira par une gamme unique de fonds espagnols qui seront commercialisés dans tout le groupe et modernisés pour tenir compte de la directive OPCVM IV, ce qui passera par des suppressions de produits, une réorganisation et le changement de philosophie de gestion de certains fonds. La gamme se composera des fonds d’actions espagnoles et d’un produit monétaire local. Les fonds d’actions européennes de Venture seront fusionnés avec un de ceux de Mirabaud. D’autre part, Mirabaud enregistrera progressivement ses fonds auprès de la CNMV.

Skandia va regrouper ses activités de wealth management en Europe continentale, qui comprennent la France et l’Italie, avec Skandia Retail Europe, qui comprend l’Allemagne, l’Autriche, la Pologne et la Suisse, pour créer Wealth Management Europe. Cette nouvelle entité va représenter 736.000 clients, 800 collaborateurs et plus de 11 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion. Par ailleurs, Skandia UK a pour projet l’extension des services disponibles pour les conseillers et ceux qui pourraient être accessibles en direct à la clientèle des conseillers.Fin 2011, les actifs sous gestion de Skandia outre-Manche s'établissaient à 33,4 milliards de livres, en recul de 500 millions de livres d’une année sur l’autre. Le bénéfice d’exploitation de l’exercice a reculé de 37 millions de livres à 103 millions de livres.

L’OEIC irlandais Thames River World Government Bond fund (82,4 millions de livres), qui a été lancé le 12 novembre 2008, va être liquidé le 31 mars par F&C, le client pour lequel il a été lancé ayant décidé de réviser son allocation et de ne plus investir en obligations d’Etat, rapporte Fund Web.

Très bon début d’année pour les hedge funds asiatiques après un exercice 2011 calamiteux. Selon les statistiques d’Eurekahedge, les hedge funds asiatiques hors Japon ont réalisé un gain de 4,40% en février après une progression de 4,26% en janvier. Sur les deux premiers mois de l’année, la progression est donc de 8,66%.A noter également que l’indice Mizuho-Eurekahedge Asie hors Japon affiche un gain de 9,55% depuis le début de l’année, suggérant que les fonds de grande taille ont surperformé sur les deux premiers mois de l’année.Les stratégies «event-driven» se sont particulièrment bien comportées avec un gain estimé sur deux mois de 19%.L’indice HFRI Emerging Markets: Asia Ex-Japan Index calculé par Hedge Fund Research a pour sa part progressé de 5,21% le mois dernier, ce qui porte la performance des deux premiers mois de l’année à 10,54%.

Pour févirer, les fonds suédois dans leur ensemble ont enregistré des rentrées nettes de 5,4 milliards de couronnes, les souscriptions nettes de 12,4 milliards enregistrées par les fonds d’actions surcompensant largement les remboursement nets de 7,4 milliards subis par les fondés monétaires, indique l’Association suédoise des fonds d’investissement (Fondbolagens förening). Les fonds diversifiés ont pour leur part drainé 1,2 milliard de couronnes en net.Pour les deux premiers mois de l’année, les souscriptions nettes sont ressorties à 6,9 milliards de couronnes, grâce aux 25,7 milliards attirés par les fonds d’actions, alors que les fonds monétaires subissaient une saignée de 14,9 milliards et que les fonds d’obligations accusaient des sorties nettes de 3,6 milliards, les hedge funds ayant pour leur part 2 milliards de couronnes de rachats. Les fonds diversifiés ont bénéficié de rentrées nettes de 1,2 milliards.Au 29 février, l’encours total des fonds suédois se situait à 1.958 milliards de couronnes, soit 62 milliards de plus que fin janvier. C’est le montant le plus élevé après le record de 1.970 milliards enregistré pour mai 2011.Sur le total, les fonds d’actions représentaient 55 % ou 1.077 milliards de couronnes, les produits d’actions suédoises totalisant 298,6 milliards et ceux d’actions internationales, 247,52 milliards.

Alors que les investisseurs se ruent vers les fonds obligataires à haut rendement, le Financial Times Fund Management prévient que les rendements de ces produits pourraient être bien inférieurs à ceux des indices obligataires high yield en raison des coûts élevés de transactions et des inefficiences de marchés. Le constat est particulièrement vrai pour les ETF. Des chiffres de Lipper montrent que ces cinq dernières années, l’ETF high yield moyen était en retrait de 46 points de base par rapport à son indice sur un mois, ou 552 points par an, ce qui est bien supérieur aux frais de gestion de 40-50 points de base.

La société de gestion britannique F&C vient de recruter Steve Ilott en qualité de responsable des investissements multi-stratégie au sein de son nouveau pôle IIB (investment and institutional business).Steve Ilott a travaillé précédemment chez Alignment Investors, une division de BlueCrest Capital, où il était associé. Il a été auparavant responsable mondial du fixed income chez Aberdeen Asset Management jusqu’en 2007.

Le britannique Ignis Asset Management vient de recruter le gérant issu de LV= Asset Management, Graham Ashby, rapporte Money Marketing. Graham Ashby va piloter le fonds actions de revenu, Ignis UK equity income fund, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 90,6 millions de livres. Graham Ashby était responsable des actions britanniques chez LV=.

En dépit des 650 millions d'euros de collecte nette réalisée sur des actifs risqués en 2011, EdRAM fait le choix de la diversification. Elle se dote d'une expertise sur les actifs immobiliers, moins volatils. Président du directoire, Philippe Couvrecelle revient sur les raisons qui ont motivé cet élargissement des compétences au sein de la société, les prochaines étapes dans la constitution de l'équipe dédiée à cette activité et le lancement des premiers OPCI de la maison...

Pour un montant non divulgué, BlackRock a acheté le canadien Claymore Investments (7,4 milliards de dollars fin janvier) à Guggenheim Partners (lire Newsmanagers du 13 janvier). Claymore poursuivra son activité sous le nom de iShares. L’Independent Review committee des ETF canadiens de iShares (29 milliards) verra ses compétences élargies aux fonds Claymore et le claymore Advisory Board cessera d’exister.

Deux des plus gros fonds de pension danois, AP Pension et FSP, ont décidé d’unir leurs forces pour former une nouvelle entité dont les actifs sous gestion vont s'élever à 77 milliards de couronnes danoises, soit quelque 10,4 milliards d’euros. La nouvelle structure prendra le nom d’AP Pension FSP, le fonds de pension du secteur financier doté de 22 milliards de couronnes d’actifs sous gestion, a indiqué avoir décidé de se rapprocher d’AP Pension en raison de la concurrence accrue dans le secteur et de la réglementation qui exige notamment un renforcement des fonds propres. FSP a été souvent montré du doigt pour ses coûts excessivement élevés. FSP prend une commission de 2.822 couronnes par an contre seulement 1.355 couronnes pour AP Pension. Le nouveau fonds de pension devrait prélever une commission annuelle comprise entre 1.350 et 1.500 couronnes, avec une réduction jusqu'à 10% dans les toutes prochaines années. La fusion devrait être approuvée à la prochaine assemblée générale mixte de FSP, programmée pour le 19 avril.

Après des mois d’incertitude, Value Partners a officiellement annoncé que le régulateur chinois, la CSRC, a donné son feu vert à l’acquisition par Value Partners de 49 % dans KBC Goldstate pour un montant officiellement annoncé de 40,5 millions de yuans. Toutefois, souligne Z-Ben Advisors, la question est de savoir combien Value Partners a dû effectivement payer au total, ce qui serait instructif pour les prochaines opérations concernant la valorisation de petites sociétés de gestion déficitaires.

Selon le site de L’Argus de l’assurance, un projet de reprise de Gan Eurocourtage va être présenté dans les prochains jours par son management à la direction générale de Groupama, la maison mère, et à l’autorité de contrôle prudentiel (ACP). Initié par son directeur général adjoint, Daniel Ellezam, il est porté par un pool composé d’investisseurs et de réassureurs de référence.

Selon les proches du dossier, le capital-investisseur Triton, très présent en Scandinavie et en Allemagne, projette de lever 2,5 milliards d’euros pour un nouveau fonds deux ans après avoir drainé 2,4 milliards, rapporte le Handelsblatt.Triton est spécialiste des PME et a revenus fin 2011 le logisticien Lehnkering au sud-africain Imperial Holdings pour 270 millions d’euros. Le groupe de private equity contrôle en Allemagne Compo (la division terreau de K+S), le designer Basler et une ancienne filiale de Siemens, Dematic.

The index of UCITS-compliant hedge funds calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital, the UCITS Alternative Index Global, has posted returns of 0.87% for February, compared with 1.37% in January, bringing total gains since the beginning of the year to 2.25%.All strategies finished February in positive territory, with emerging markets leading with gains of 2.12% for the month and 6.25% since the beginning of the year.

According to updated statistics from the BlackRock Institute, European ETPs in February saw net inflows of USD1.7bn, bringing the total for first quarter to USD5bn, and assets at the end of February to USD337.9bn (of which USD301.5bn were for ETF funds), compared with USD323.2bn (of which USD287.8bn as of the end of January were for ETFs, which represented USD266.6bn as of 31 December 2011).Of this USD5bn in net subscriptions in January-February, iShares (BlackRock) took on USD2.4bn, and db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) took in USd0.2bn. The top three products by net inflow volumes were funds from iShares (MSCI Emerging Markets, with USD661m, Barclays Cap Europ Corporate Bond ex-Financial, with USD535m, and Markit iBoxx Euro Corporate Bond, with USD463m.Though the figures are slightly divergent from one source to another as to the number of ETFs and total assets, BlackRock and ETF Global Insight, the new firm from Deborah Fuhr, agree that Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) saw the heaviest net outflows in February, with USD0.4bn.

According to a statement from JPMorgan, relayed by Agefi, US money market funds have increased their portfolio of debt from euro zone banks by 30% in February, bringing their total exposure to USD211bn. This increase follows an increase of USD27bn the previous month.

Assets under management by Skandia in the UK as of the end of 2011 totalled GBP33.4bn, down by GBP500m year on year. Operating profits for the fiscal year are down by GBP37m to GBP103m. Skandia UK has also announced plans to extend the range of services available to independent financial advisers, and services available directly to clients of advisers. Skandia has also announced a merger of its wealth management activities in continental Europe, including France and Italy, with Skandia Retail Europe, which includes Germany, Austria, Poland, and Switzerland, to create Wealth Management Europe. The new entity will have 736,000 clients, 800 personnel and over EUR11bn in assets under management.

Eagle Investment Systems LLC, a provider of financial IT services and an affiliate of BNY Mellon, has announced that it has opened a representative office in Beijing. The entity will be led by John Legrand.

After months of uncertainty, Value Partners has officially announced that the Chinese regulator, the CSRC, has approved the acquisition by Value Partners of a 49% stake in KBC Goldstate, for an officially announced total of CNY40.5m. However, Z-Ben Advisors reports, the question is how much Value Partners really had to pay in total, which would be instructive for the next deals involving valuation of small, loss-making asset management firms.

Despite EUR650m in net inflows for high-risk assets in 2011, EdRAM has opted for diversification. It has constructed an expertise in less volatile real estate assets. Philippe Couvrecelle, chairman of the board, discusses the motives for this enlargement of the capabilities of the firm, the next steps in building the team dedicated to this activity, and the launch of the first house OPCI funds. But if such a development were to take place to the detriment of the equities unit, it would be a step too far.

CamGestion, whose prudent flexible fund CamGestion Active 20 posted significant losses in 2011 (-7.94%) despite its prudent design (equities may not exceed 20% of the portfolio), has decided to make some modifications to the ex-ante and ex-post risk management mechanisms for the fund. The objective is to limit the possibility that exceptional movements such as those which occurred last year might impact the performance to such an extent, the firm says. As a result, CamGestion has opted firstly for deployment of a double management of the fund, with the addition of a bond manager and a live share manager to manage the fixed income portfion. Management has also decided to add further elements to the management policy and risk limits for the CamGestion Active 20. The management objective for the CamGestion Active 20 has not been modified. The ranges for exposure to various asset classes remain the same. Equities may vary from 0 to 20%, bonds from 0 to 100%, convertibles from 0 to 100%, sensitivity from -1 to +5, emerging markets from 0 to 10%, and currency risk is limited to 50%.

The arbitrage fund from the New York-based alternative management firm Water Island Capital will be reopened to all investors from 15 March, Mutual Fund Wire reports. The fund has been closed to new investors since 19 July 2010. Its assets under management currently total USD2.9bn, Morningstar reports.

The pension fund for South Korean public sector employees (GEPS) has recruited a new chief investment officer (CIO), Yoo Seung Rok, who has an international outlook, Asian Investor reports. His predecessor’s contract was not renewed. Assets in the pension fund total about USD7bn. Yoo previously worked at Hi Asset Management Company, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, where he was chairman and CEO. GEPS has announced plans to increase its exposure to equities to 23.2%, up from 19% currently, and to reduce its bond allocation (currently 60%). Yoo has announced that he plans to take advantage of international investment opportunities, particularly in alternative management. An additional allocation of USD160m has been set aside for alternative investment, which represents 16% of the current portfolio.

Among the four or five strategies that Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) is planning to promote in France this year is the Global Convertible Bond Fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav MS Investment Funds, a product which as of the end of January had USD1bn in assets, according to the product factsheet.The lead manager, Tom Wills, explains to Newsmanagers that, in a universe in which the range of convertible now stands at about 50% Americas, 25% Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and 25% Asia, including Japan, issuance is too low in Europe. “This universe includes 95 names. In other words, we feel European convertible bonds are not a diversified asset class in and of themselves. The idea, therefore, is that if investors want convertible bonds in their portfolios, because they like the optionality of this asset class, since that allows them to capture much of the gains and protect themselves against the losses, they need to invest in a global product which is not limited to Europe.”For these reasons, MSIM claims to be offering a more sustainable profitable international solution than those offered by competing firms, which often focus on a single region. Over five years, the Global Convertible Bond Fund has generated returns of 1.39% per year, compared with 1.32% for the UBS Focus index (in US dollars).Another factor which makes the product stand out from its rivals, according to Wills, is that “one of the particularities of our convertible fund is that we focus on convexity, the ‘sweet spot,’ while other providers are either defensive on the equities portion, or aggressive on the credit portion, while we push for the ‘right’ mix, with a delta of 40-50%.The portfolio includes about 100 positions. “We typically turn over our positions at a pace of about 6-10% per month, but due to market conditions, the turnover rate was lower in 2011. On average, our securities are investment grade,” says Wills.CharacteristicsName: MS INVF Global Convertible Bond FundISIN code: LU0360484504 (ZH institutional shares, hedged in euros) LU0410168768 (AH retail shares, hedged in eurosManagement commission:ZH shares: 0.60%AH shares: 1%

OFI AM on Friday, 9 March announced the departure of Thierry Callault from OFI AM, where he had served as deputy CEO. “Thierry Callault is leaving his position in order to pursue personal projects, after spending nine years at the group,” a statement says. At the next general shareholders’ meeting, Gérard Bourret, the CEO, will nominate Maxime du Chayla and Jean-Marie Mercadal to the board of directors as deputy CEO. OFI Asset management had EUR48.7bn in assets under management as of 31 January 2012..

Profit margins have not been the highlight of the asset management industry in the past few years. In the United States, out of 21 independent publicly-traded asset management firms and 12 asset management affiliates belonging to major groups, the median operating profit was about 27% in 2010 and 2011, according to the most recent statistics from Casey, Quirk & Associates. The profit margins for independent firms is higher than for affiliates. The median profit margin for the former was 35% in 2010, compared with 25% for affiliates. In 2011, the profit margin for independent firms was 15%, compared with 6% for affiliates.

Legg Mason Global Asset Management is continuing its development in France. The multi-boutique asset management firm will target institutional investors in particular this year. “We have plans to recruit for an additional development position,” says Vincent Passa, director of distribution for France, Monaco and Benelux. “One person may join us in the next few months, with a mixed profile for retail and institutional clients.”Some products will be foregrounded to institutionals. “I am thinking more particularly of absolute return strategies managed by Permal and Western Asset. The global government bond fund from Brandywine also corresponds very well to the expectations of this type of client, with its exclusive positioning on investment grade. They could be interested in the US equity management fund from ClearBridge as well, with its controlled volatility,” says Passa.Alongside these developments in France, Legg Mason Global Asset Management is also taking strides forward in Switzerland. The Swiss market, which has hitherto been served from the Paris office, which also serves France, Monaco and Benelux, will now have its own office. The office will be located in Geneva, and will be led by Christian Zeller, the new director of distribution for Switzerland.Zeller joins Legg Mason Global AM from F&C Investments, where he had been head for Austria and Switzerland. He will aim to develop distribution activities on the Swiss market, particularly serving financial intermediaries, asset managers, fund of fund managers, banks, and high net worth distribution platforms.

As investors go for high yield bond funds, Financial Times Fund Management predicts that the returns on these products may be far lower than those of high yield bond indices, due to high transaction costs and market inefficiencies. This observation is particularly true for ETFs. Figures from Lipper reveal that in the past five years, the average high yield ETF was 46 basis points below its index on one month, or 552 points per year, which is far higher than the management fees of 40-50 basis points.

Only 13% of Germans who have invested in shares in funds or equities, and among those who invest in funds, 32% have shares in only one product, and 49% hold shares in only two or three funds, according to a survey by GfK on behalf of Gothaer Asset Management (GoAM), undertaken in January 2012.The study finds that Germans prefer safety (60.9% compared with 45% in 2010), and their favourite vehicle is the savings account (47%, compared with 31%), while 24% prefer sight deposits. But 29% say that they are not in a position to save.Also of note is the fact that among motives for savings, the macroeconomic picture, investment in the country’s means of production, plays virtually no role.