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08/03/2012

Stephen Czech founds his own hedge fund

A few months after his employer, FrontPoint Partners, closed down its boutique, Stphan Czech is seeking to raise USD1.5bn for a new hedge fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new firm will be known as Czech Asset Management, and will specialise in lending to mid-sized businesses (generally with USD20m to USD100m).
08/03/2012

Global inflows to ETPs slow in February

Last month, ETPs worldwide attracted a net total of USD18.4bn, compared with USD34.1bn in January, and USD10.9bn in the corresponding month of last year, the BlackRock Institute reports.Assets as of 29 February, for their part, totalled USD1.720trn, compared with USD1.651trn one month previously. Since the beginning of the year, assets under management increased by USD195.8bn, or 12.8%. For ETFs alone, assets totalled USD1.5245trn, compared with USD1.4604trn as of the end of January, in 3,145 products, compared with 3,063.The general slowdown in inflows has affected nine out of the ten largest players in February. ProShares has seen net subscriptions of USD0.4bn, compared with net outflows of USD0.7bn the previous month.Vanguard takes the top spot, with net inflows of USD5.7bn, compared with USD6.9bn in January, putting it ahead of iShares (BlackRock) with USD4.8bn, compared with USD11bn, and PowerShares/Deutsche Bank, with USD1.5bn compared with USD3.8bn. Net subscriptions to db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) fell to USD0.1bn, from USD1.1bn.For their part, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) saw net outflows of USD0.2bn and USD0.4bn, respectively, in February, compared with net inflows of USD5.1bn and USD0.5bn the previous month.
08/03/2012

Patrick Kanters becomes chairman of INREV

The European association of investors in private real estate (INREV) on 7 March announced that Patrick Kanters, managing director Global Real Estate at the Netherlands-based APG Asset Management, will succeed Michael Morgenroth as its president on 24 April.Kanters was unanimously elected by the board at INREV, and his predecessor has to leave his position because he has recently been appointed to the board at the Austrian real estate fund management firm Signa Group (see Newsmanagers of 1 December 2011).
08/03/2012

Lyxor lists three ETF funds in Milan

Lyxor has listed 3 more ETF funds based on AAA-rated euro zone government bonds on the Italian stock exchange, FonciOnline reports. The range thus grows to 4 ETF funds, each of them specialised in different maturities (1-3 years, 5-7 years and all maturities). Government bonds to which the ETFs are exposed are issued by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland.
08/03/2012

BlackRock loses an emerging markets manager

Daniel Tubba, manager of the BGF Emerging Markets fund, whose assets under management total USD1.1bn, has left the group, Investment Week reports.Tubba has been co-head of a team dedicated to emerging markets worldwide, which also includes Diren Shah and Sam Vecht.Emerging markets funds, both offshore and onshore, will now be managed by Shah and Luiz Soares, who has joined the group from Axiom International Investors.
08/03/2012

Jupiter AM holds out well in crisis

The British asset management firm Jupiter Asset Management has reported net inflows of about GBP750m for the 2011 fiscal year, after GBP2.3bn in 2010. The major contributors were mututal funds, which attracted a net total of GBP500m (compared with GBP1.9bn the previous year).Assets under management as of the end of the year totalled GBP22.8bn, compared with GBP24.1bn as of the end of 2010, while mutual funds had assets of GBP`17.2bn, compared with GBP18.4bn as of the end of 2010.Pre-tax profits were up to GBP70.3m, compared with GBP42.4m in 2010. The head of Jupiter, Edward Bonham Carter, says that the company is hoping to increase its distribution capacities, particularly in both French and German-speaking Switzerland. With this in mind, Jupiter has opened a representative office in Zurich. Evelyn Lederle, previously of Clariden Leu, will be in charge of development for activities in German-speaking Switzerland as senior sales manager.
08/03/2012

Semper appoints a CIO

The Swiss wealth management firm Semper has announced the recruitment of Jean-Evrard Dominicé as chief investment officer of the structure. He has also been appointed as a partner at the firm. Dominicé will aim to enlarge the range of investment products and services on offer to high net worth clients of Semper. Dominicé remains a managing partner at Dominicé & Co, an asset management firm founded by his cousin Michael Dominicé, which he joined in 2004. He will also continue to sit on the board of directors at Anaconda, another Geneva-based alternative management firm.
08/03/2012

Alexander Gebauer appointed new CEO of Allianz Suisse Immobilien AG

Alexander Gebauer is the new CEO of Allianz Suisse Immobilien AG. He succeeds Stefan Brendgen, who is switching to the company’s Supervisory Board. Alexander Gebauer has been COO of the Allianz Real Estate Group since 2009 and will continue to perform this role. In his new role, Gebauer will continue to expand the company’s operations while focusing on quality in terms of both investment and asset management. The real estate portfolio of Allianz Suisse Immobilien is valued at about CHF3.5bn. It currently comprises about 60% residential and 40% commercial property, chiefly in Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Basel.
08/03/2012

M&A set to increase in alternative management industry

Asset management firms are increasingly seeking opportunities in niche activities, which means that in 2012, merger and acquisition operations may increase in the alternative management sector, the research agency Cerulli Associates predicts.Despite an encouraging year, activities in the asset management sector have remained moderate in 2011, due to a volatile and uncertain environment. The total value of all transactions last year represented USD17.3bn, down about 5% compared with the previous year.M&A deals in the alternative management sector may rise again this year for several reasons. First of all, major banks are divesting, in order to trim back their balance sheets to comply with new prudential regulations. Secondly, there has been an increase in interest in acquisitions in alternative management due to an increase in allocations to this asset class, largely from institutional investors.Another reason to bet on alternative management is that possibilities for distribution have been multiplying in Europe an Asia via UCITS vehicles. Lastly, ETF providers, whose popularity is set to increase, may also become attractive targets. So far, few transactions have been completed despite the interest expressed by some parties for independent firms which don’t have the means to develop their activities themselves.
08/03/2012

Loomis Sayles (Natixis GAM) opens in London and Singapore

Loomis Sayles, an affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management which actively sells six UCITS funds, on 7 March opened its office in London, under the name Loomis Sayles Investments. The new location will be led by Christine Kenny and Jeffrey Seaver as managing directors and co-heads. Loomis Sayles manages about USD20bn in assets for institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region.Kenny, who had most recently been head of investment grade trading, becomes chief compliance officer and senior fixed income strategist. She will be in charge of the development and management of relations with British and European sell-side clients.Jeff Seaver, a member of the institutional sales team in the United States, for his part, will be in charge of the development and management of relationships with institutional clients in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the MENA region.Two bond analysts, Chris Keller and Heather Kearney, have been transferred to London, where the team will have seven full-time members, including a head of relations with the main consultants, who will be recruited locally.Loomis Sayles has also opened an office in Singapore, under the direction of Paul Ong, who had been lead portfolio manager, external fund management at the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He joined the firm in October 2011. Loomis Sayles manages about USD20bn for clients based in Asia.
08/03/2012

Georges Gagnebin appointed as new chairman of the board at Banque PBS

Georges Gagnebin has become the new chairman of the board of directors at the independent Banque Pâris Bertrand Sturdza (PBS), according to an announcement appearing in Le Temps. The former CEO of UBS Wealth Management from 2000 to 2004, appointed to the position on 6 March, is returning to service four years after leaving a position as vice chairman of the board of directors of Julius Baer, which he had held in the meanwhile.
08/03/2012

Social and environmental responsibility unimportant to German investors

Although German investors have a reputation for being sensitive to environmental and social issues, savings investors pay virtually no attention to these aspects when they make their investment decisions. According to a recent study by Faktenkontor, only 4% of Germans choose their financial products on the basis of ethical criteria (ecological, social, governance, etc). Security remains the dominant criterion, with 49% of respondents prefering less volatile products. Performance tops the list of concerns for 21% of German investors.
08/03/2012

Deutsche Bank creates an asset and wealth management unit

The Financial Times reports that, according to sources familiar with the matter, as part of an overhaul to the top management at Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday, the investment banker Michele Faissola will become the head of a new unit dedicated to asset and wealth management. [This profession already exists within the group, but as part of a larger unit known as PCAM, for private client & asset management -ed].
08/03/2012

Pioneer recruits for external distribution

Since 1 March, the external distribution team at Pioneer Investments Germany has taken on two newly-appointed sales directors. They are Ronny Alsleben (former portfolio manager at Top Vermögen) and Reinhold Dirschl (formerly of MEAG Munich Ergo KAG).Alsleben will focus on wealth management clients, some banks and family offices, while Dirschl will focus on savings and co-operative banks.
08/03/2012

Assets under management at DZ Privatbank up by more than EUR2bn

Assets under management at the private bank of the DZ group, DZ Privatbank, as of the end of 2011 totalled EUR12.7bn, up EUR2.2bn year on year.In addition to an increase in assets related to the merger with WGZ Bank (EUR0.7bn) and the acquisition of a significant stake in UniCredit Luxembourg (EUR2.1bn), net inflows in Germany have totalled over EUR1bn. This has largely offset the impact of negative market effects.
08/03/2012

Nikko AM appoints a new CEO

Nikko Asset Management, the Asian asset manager, has announced that Timothy F. McCarthy, chairman and CEO of Nikko Asset Management, has decided to retire at the end of this fiscal year. Effective April 1st Charles Beazley will take over as chairman and CEO.Beazley joined the firm in London in 2006 as president of its international offices before moving to Tokyo full time in 2010 to manage the firm’s rapidly expanding Asian operations and the domestic Japanese institutional business.The switch, part of the firm’s long agreed succession plan, comes after Nikko AM in December postponed its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It says in the press release announcing the change of CEO that «Nikko AM remains committed to its intention for listing as the largest independent asset management company in Asia in the future, with the full endorsement of its majority share holder Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings».Established in 1959, the Nikko Asset Management Group has grown to be a large regional asset management company headquartered in Asia, with total AUM over USD153.8 billion.
08/03/2012

Asian macro hedge fund launched

The former chief investment offiver at Huatai Asset Management, Yang Yang, has teamed up with a derivatives specialist, Yiming Liang, to launch the Goldstream Absolute Return Fund, an Asian macro hedge fund, dedicated to greater China, Asian Investor reports.The fund, which aims for annualised returns of 15% to 20%, will have over USD50m in assets at its launch in April. Capital has been raised from family offices, high net worth clients, and funds of funds.
08/03/2012

Skandia IG changes manager of China fund

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has announced the appointment of a new sub-advisor for its USD363m USD Skandia Greater China Equity Fund, with the fund’s management changing from First State Investments to MIR Investment Management as of March 5 2012. James Millard, chief investment officer for Skandia Investment Group said: “First State has been an excellent investment partner, but we are in agreement that further asset growth could be a future constraint in sustaining performance (...).”
08/03/2012

Fund association opposes fund fee legislation in Sweden

The Swedish investment fund association is opposed to proposals by the chairman of the taxation committee of Parliament which would require asset management firms to charge fund fees separately, rather than taking them out of assets, in order to promote transparency. In a statement released on Tuesday, Thomas Eriksson and Pia Nilsson, charman and CEO, respectively, of the Fondbolagens Förening association, explain why they find the proposals of Henrik von Sydow inappropriate. “In our opinion, that would have a negative impact on the capacity of investors to compare funds, without taking into account the bureaucracy which it would imply. Management fees are charged every day at 1/365. How often would invoices need to be sent?” they ask. They also point out that the Swedish market includes 5,000 funds, but there are only 800 Swedish-registered funds which would be affected by the proposed legislation. “Can we have different rules for Swedish and foreign funds?” they ask.
08/03/2012

Aberdeen AM joins FTSE 100 index

The index provider FTSE Group on 7 March announced that from the opening of the trading day on 19 March, the asset management firm Aberdeen Asset Management, which will have left the FTSE 250, will be one of the new components in the FTSE 100 index.
08/03/2012

Le Japon affiche un déficit record de ses comptes courants

La balance des comptes courants japonais a enregistré un déficit record au mois de janvier de 437,3 milliards de yens. Un déficit qui pourrait n’être que temporaire selon les économistes. «Couplés avec les récentes cessions de yens, ces chiffres ont conduit à se demander si la flambée des rendements d’Etat que beaucoup prévoient va réellement se produire» s’interroge Barclays Capital. Par ailleurs, la contraction du PIB au quatrième trimestre 2011 a finalement été de 0,7%, contre 2,3% initialement estimé.
08/03/2012

Une sicav « charia-compatible » lancée en France

Le Monde rapporte que la société de gestion CFCI lancera mi-avril au plus tard une sicav basée sur les principes de la finance islamique. Dirigée par Anouar Hassoune, ancien vice-président de Moody’s, elle sera la première de ce type à être commercialisée en France auprès des particuliers.
08/03/2012

Bruxelles veut ouvrir le règlement-livraison

Les nouvelles règles présentées hier par la Commission prévoient une séparation plus stricte entre activités bancaires et de règlement. Bruxelles veut aussi faciliter l’intervention des dépositaires nationaux sur des marchés tiers. Le délai de livraison sera enfin raccourci à deux jours.
08/03/2012

L’Allemagne s’offusque du dédain grec

Le ministre allemand de l'économie juge décevante l’incapacité de la Grèce à accepter l’aide offerte par Berlin afin de réduire le poids de sa bureaucratie et relancer l’investissement privé en attirant les investisseurs étrangers. «L’aide a à peine été acceptée, beaucoup a été accompli en vain pour l’instant, cela est très décevant», explique Philipp Rösler dans un entretien accordé au quotidien.
08/03/2012

Les BRICs s’entendent pour réduire leur dépendance au dollar

China Development Bank (CDB), qui assure majoritairement ses financements à l’étranger en dollars, devrait signer un protocole d’accord à New Delhi avec ses partenaires brésilien, russe, indien et sud-africain le 29 mars prochain destiné à assurer des prêts multilatéraux libellés dans leurs monnaies locales respectives plutôt qu’en billet vert, selon le quotidien qui cite des sources proches du dossier. Moins de 13% des échanges chinois avec ses partenaires asiatiques se font en yuan, selon Helen Qiao, chef économiste Asie chez Morgan Stanley, citée par le journal. Une proportion qui pourrait grimper à 50% d’ici 2015, selon HSBC.

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