Henderson Global Investors a indiqué que les actifs sous gestion de son pôle immobilier, Henderson Property, avaient augmenté de 600 millions de livres en 2011 pour atteindre 12,4 milliards de livres.La collecte s’est élevée l’an dernier à 1 milliard de livres. Le Royaume-Uni, l’Allemagne et les Etats-Unis ont encore produit l’an dernier de solides performances et devraient constituer à nouveau une part importante du portefeuille en 2012. A côté des marchés de croissance asiatique, Henderson Property va continuer d’explorer les possibilités d’investissement dans les pays scandinaves. En France, les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 761 millions d’euros.

Cazenove Capital envisage de lancer un fonds de revenu européen qui sera géré par Chris Rice, patron des actions paneuropéennes, rapporte Money Marketing.Le fonds, qui devrait être proposé aux investisseurs en mai, visera un rendement supérieur à l’indice FTSE World Europe. Le fonds investira dans un portefeuille «relativement concentré» de 30 à 50 valeurs européennes, sur la base d’une approche cyclique pour la construction du portefeuille.

Responsable mondial de la gestion de portefeuille et gérant d’un fonds de fonds chez HSBC Alternative Investments Limited (HAIL), Tim Gascoigne a jeté l'éponge le mois dernier, a indiqué la banque en début de semaine, rapporte l’agence Reuters.Ce départ inattendu fait suite à la décision de la banque de fusionner ses activités de gestion discrétionnaire et de conseil. Les fonctions assumées par Tim Gascoigne ont été reprises par Faraz Sultan, qui dirige le conseil et qui sera désormais responsable des activités fusionnées discrétionnaires et de conseil. Les actifs sous gestion de HAIL s'élèvent à 7,8 milliards de dollars, y compris les fonds de fonds, le private equity et l’immobilier. Les actifs du fonds de fonds géré par Tim Gascoigne s’inscrivaient à 2,4 milliards de dollars. Tim Gascoigne avait la responsabilité d’environ 4 milliards de dollars d’investissements alternatifs sur les 38 milliards de dollars gérés par HSBC dans ce pôle.

La société de gestion canadienne Manulife Asset Management a annoncé la nomination de Lawrence Wee en tant que responsable des ventes institutionnelles pour l’Asie du Sud.Précédemment chez Tokio Marine, Lawrence Lee, qui a pris ses fonctions début février, est basé à Singapour. Il remplace Caleb Wong, qui a quitté la société le 3 janvier dernier. Manulife AM souhaite multiplier par deux ses actifs sous gestion dans les cinq prochaines années pour les porter à 80 milliards de dollars. Les actifs sous gestion de Manulife AM s'élèvaient au 31 décembre 2011 à 208 milliards de dollars, dont 44 milliards de dollars pour la zone Asie-Pacifique, répartis en 34 milliards de dollars investis dans l’obligataire et 10 milliards dans les actions.

The independent financial analysis provider Morningstar on 6 March announced the launch of a new information centre for alternative investment, as part of a series of improvements to the website MorningstarAdvisor.com, its informational platform aimed at independent financial advisers.

In an environment in which hedge funds are offering increased transparency via ad hoc structures, clients are increasingly taking an interest in these vehicles, which are expected to play a larger role in the portfolios of institutionals, Lyxor predicts. “It is now possible to undertake a reliable risk/benefit analysis of hedge fund strategies, similar to the one used for traditional asset classes,” a recent Lyxor study funds. The author of the study, Matthieu Vaissie, estimates that new investment vehicles such as managed or separate accounts offer insurance companies enough transparency and liquidity to allow for a risk/benefit analysis worthy of the name.

UBS Asset Management has extended its range of emerging markets funds with the launch of the UBS Asian High Yield Fund, a Luxembourg-registered product investing in corporate bonds from emerging markets denominated in local currencies, Das Investment reports.The portfolio will be managed by Ben Yuen, who is also authorised to invest in government bonds.The product is available in euro-hedged shares (LU0626907397) and in US dollars (LU0626006662), with a management commission of 1.7%.

The Canadian asset management firm Manulife Asset Management has announced the appointment of Laurence Wee as head of institutional sales for South Asia. Lee, previously at Tokio Marine, who began in his new position in February, is based in Singapore. He replaces Caleb Wong, who left the firm on 3 January this year. Manulife AM is seeking to double its assets under management in the next five years, to bring them to USD80bn. Assets under management at Manulife AM as of 31 December 2011 totalled USd208bn, of which USD44bn are in the Asia-Pacific region, with USD34bn invested in bonds, and USD10bn in equities.

Dai Xianghong, chairman of the Chinese social security fund (NCSSF), has announced that the performance of the fund in 2011 came out at 8.5% in 2011. Z-Ben Advisors notes that these results are below the 9.17% annual average for the period 2001-2010, but that it is a strong increase compared with 4.2% in 2010.

The Swiss national bank (BNS) will this Tuesday unveil a report detailing the findings of an investigation by the independent consultant KPMG into financial transactions conducted by members of its board. According to the newspaper Tages Anzeiger, citing statements from an insider, the 5 directors still serving on the board have not committed any violations, and this is especially true of interim chairman Thomas Jordan. The newspaper, however, says there were “sensitive” but not illegal transactions. According to the new, stricter rules adopted by the BNS, these transactions would no longer be allowed today. The newspaper adds that the former chairman, Philipp Hildebrand, who resigned, cannot be accused of any illegal acts.

John Foo, former portfolio manager at FrontPoint Partners, will soon launch a long/short hedge fund, Asian Investor reports. The new vehicle, which will have starting assets of USD20m, will be on sale from 20 March. The Kinsmead Asian Alpha Opportunities Fund will use an event-driven tactical stock-picking approach for its Asia ex Japan strategy, which will be managed from Singapore. The capacity of the fund is USD500m. For the first investors in the fund, management fees have been set at 1%, and performance commissions art 10%. Once USD100m in assets under management have been reached, the fees will be 1.5% and 15%, respectively.

The US firm Russell Investments (USD141bn in assets) has announced the launch of a family of Russell Volatility Control Index Series indices, which will aim to allow investors to better deploy a strategy based on a volatility objective.The new indices put the returns on equity markets in perspective with a dynamic allocation between an underlying Russsell index and investment in cash. Ultimately, the index provides a way to limit risks in periods of increased volatility on the markets, and to maximise exposure to the market when volatility is low.In addition, says Russell, these indices have the advantage of being totally customisable, which allows clients to set a custom risk exposure target for every Russell international or US equities index.

The Austrian firm Absolute Portfolio Management (APM) has announced that it has been granted a sales license for Germany and Austria for the Liechtenstein-registered UCITS fund APM Asian Quality Bond Fund, which relies on the expertise of the Singapore-based asset management firm Lion Global Investors (LGI, USD22bn in assets, of which USD10.5bn are in Asian bonds), part of the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) group.As its name indicates, the bond product, managed by Veronica Ng and now on offer to German, Austrian and Swiss institutional investors, focuses on Asian high quality bonds (with top ratings). The objective is to generate annual returns of 4% to 5% over three to five years.In order to achieve this result, the management team is investing in a portfolio of investment-grade bonds in US dollars from Asian, corporate and sovereign issuers (excluding Japan and Russia). The fund may also invest in bonds denominated in local currencies, such as the yuan, which offer potential for appreciation.The APM Asian Quality Bund Fund may also subscribe to primary local debt issues which are generally unavailable to retail investors.CharacteristicsName: APM Asian Quality Bond FundISIN codes:LI0141834411 (USD, institutional)LI0141834437 (USD, retail)LI0141834445 (EUR, institutional)LI0141834452 (EUR, retail)Front-end fee: maximum 5%Management commission:0.90% (institutional shares)1.25% (retail shares)

The Swiss bank UBP has launched in France the UBAM – Europe Equity Dividend+ fund, a fund which invests in shares in European businesses which pay stable dividends, and which includes a put strategy to profit from volatility. The product, launched on 15 December 2011, is designed to benefit of an equities market “that is expected to oscillate between -15% and +15% per year over the next three years,” says Dominique Leprévots, chairman of the board at UBI, the French arm of UBP, which unveiled the product on Tuesday. “To this end, it is essential to focus on the quality of businesses and also to use equities more for the revenues that they can generate, than for the gains. The portfolio will thus invest in equities from large European companies with a defensive profile which pay consistent dividends and generate stable returns of 5% per year,” explains the director. “In addition, we want to profit from volatility. To do that, we sell calls on equities that we have in the portfolio, which can also earn 5%. This systematic call sale strategy aims to limit losses in phases of falling markets, but on the other hand partly limits thee gains when the shares rise. The portfolio thus aims for gross returns of 10% per year. The fund is managed by a team in London led by Rob Jones and Scott Meech, co-heads of European equities, who have both been fund managers at Threadneedle. It also includes two option hedging experts. The fund, which was originally created for institutional investors, to whom, of course, the fund is aimed, will also be made available to individuals, largely via platforms. Assets total about EUR50m, though it has the capacity for up to EUR500m. Name of the fund: SICAV UBAM Name of sub-fund: UBAM – Europe Equity Dividend + Legal format: Umbrella fund, UCITS, domiciled in Luxembourg ISIN code: AC : LU0717718067 ; IC : LU0717719891

KBL Richelieu Gestion has decided to alter the positioning of its KBL Richelieu Valeur 25 fund. The performance of the LBK Richelieu Valeur 25 fund had previously been based at least 75% on that of money markets, and up to 25% on that of equities markets. As the contribution of money markets was modest, the money market allocation has been opened to other fixed income products, and particularly private bonds issued in euros, the asset management firm states. Despite an increase in the risk profile for the fund, allocation continues to be guided by the search for low volatility. Exposure of the fund to high yield or unrated debt may not exceed 25% of assets. This change in management has also brought a new name for the fund: KBL Richelieu Valeur 25 is now known as KBL Richelieu Valeur.

The Axe France building (22,000 square metres in the 13th district of Paris) has been sold for EUR166m by the open-ended real estate fund Deka-Immobilien Global to a group of French investors advised by DTZ Asset Management.The property was acquired in 2001 by the German asset management company; it was repositioned in 2010 to be more suitable for institutional investors seeking core property investments, which put it in line to benefit from the present taste for this category, and to earn gains (undisclosed).

After barely three and a half years, Lehman Brothers on Tuesday exited from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under US bankruptcy law, the Financial Times reports. But the firm no longer has any connection with what brought down the business in September 2008, and there remain many lawsuits against the defunct investment bank, related in particular to the bankruptcy of its British affiliate, and lawsuits seeking several billions of dollars from JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.The Lehman bankruptcy will have made USD550m for the hedge fund manager Paulson, however. Other winners out of the business will be the lawyers and other specialists who made USD1.6bn, of which USD512m went to the law firm Alvarez & Marsal, a specialist in restructuring.

R. Allen Stanford was on Tuesday found guilty of orchestrating a Ponzi plan worth USD7.1bn, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the conclusion of a criminal trial that lasted nearly three years, a jury of eight men and four women found the defendant guilty of 13 counts out of 14 against him, for fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstructing law enforcement. He faces a sentence of up to 230 years in prison. Stanford’s lawyers have told journalists that they will appeal the verdict.

Following a filing by UBS, an examining chamber at the Paris court of appeals has ordered the judge, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, to deepen his consideration of the role of BNP Paribas in subscriptions to Madoff funds, Les Echos reports. “The responsibility of Bernard Madoff does not rule out the hypothesis of fraudulent behaviour by intermediaries such as BNP,” the judges of the examining chamber note. They have therefore instructed Van Ruymbeke to continue his investigation into activities in the British Virgin Islands, Switzerland and Luxembourg, where funds managed by Madoff were domiciled.

The British government is planning to lower its marginal income tax rate, currently set at 50%, to replace it with a wealth tax to be determined, Les Echos reports. Conservatives are seeking not to penalise the middle class, while remaining attractive to foreign high net worth investors.

The British banking group HSBC on 7 March announced in a statement that it is selling its insurance activities in four countries for a total of USD914m (EUR695.5m), in two different operations, to the French firm AXA and the Australian QBE. The transactions “will allow us to concentrate our capital and resources on the growth of our core activities, including the development of our wealth management capacities,” the chairman and CEO of the banking group, Stuart Gulliver, says in a statement. HSBC Insurance (Asia), HSBC Insurance (Singapore), and HSBC Seguros, all three affiliates of HSBC, will sell their general insurance portfolios in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico to AXA, for about USD494m in cash, the bank says. HSBC has also decided to sell its general insurance activities in Argentina to QBE Insurance. Under this separate agreement, the Australian group will also buy Hang Seng General Insurance (Hong Kong), an affiliate of Hang Seng Bank, based in Hong Kong and 62% controlled by HSBC. For these two acquisitions, QBE will pay USD420m.

The global head of portfolio management and manager of a fund of funds at HSBC Alternative Investments Limited (HAIL), Tim Gascoigne quit his job last month, the bank announced at the beginning of this week, the news agency Reuters reports. The unexpected departure follows a decision on the part of the bank to merge its discretionary and advising activities. The duties assumed by Gascoigne have been taken over by Faraz Sultan, head of advising, who will now be bead of the merged discretionary and advising activities. Assets under management at HAIL total USD7.8bn, including funds of funds, private equity and real estate. Assets in funds of funds managed by Gascoigne totalled USD2.4bn. Gascoigne was in charge of about USD4bn in alternative investments, out of USD38bn managed by HSBC in the unit.

Henderson Global Investors has announced that assets under management for its real estate unit, Henderson Property, increased by GBP600m in 2011, to a total of GBP12.4bn. Inflows last year totalled GBP1bn. The United Kingdom, Germany and the United States last year continued to produce solid returns, and will represent a significant part of the portfolio again in 2012. In addition to Asian growth markets, Henderson Property will continue to explore investment opportunities in Scandinavian countries. In France, assets under management total GBP761m.

In order to meet high levels of demand from hedge funds, asset managers and various operators seeking a European small and midcap equities index which is highly liquid and rapidly tradeable, Russell Investments is launching the Russell Europe SMID 300 Index, which will be eligible to be used as the basis for investable products (ETFs, OTC swaps and other structured products).The index, which includes 300 highly liquid assets from the developed markets of Europe, has been developed after detailed consultations with several financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and UBS.

European family offices want to continue to invest in real estate, but if possible, at lower fee levels, with better returns. With this in mind, a group entitled FORE, for Family Office Real Estate, will soon be launching a platform to allow family offices to invest collectively and directly in commercial real estate, Investment Europe reports. The European market represents about EUR115bn, in which family offices are among the largest actors. The partners at FORE are Basil Demeroutis, previously a partner art Capricorn Investment Group, a family office whose assets under management total over USD4.5bn, and Peter Dave, active in the management of commercial real estate for over 30 years.

According to a survey undertaken in August and September 2011 by Northern Trust, with the assistance of Greenwich Associates (Customized Beta: Changing Perspectives on Passive Investing”), institutional investors worldwide who are increasingly preferring passive strategies are also increasingly interested in custom indices to help them achieve their performance objectives.Of 121 institutional investors surveyed (with a total of over USD500bn in assets), 40% estimate that “custom beta” plays a major role in their portfolio construction models, while 51% say they are disposed to study the possibility of using custom indices to achieve their objectives, but only 22% have already evaluated this method.For respondents, the custom beta approach presents two major advantages: an improvement in the risk/reward ratio, on the one hand, and increased diversification on the other.Additionally, the advantages of customised beta are perceived differently in different regions. European institutional investors see it as a way to increase transparency and to more easily reach objectives for socially responsible investment.For Asian investors, they provide a way to increase the efficiency of portfolios by eliminating methodological biases and weighting of traditional indices.In North America, respondents estimate that custom beta is primarily a good way to achieve exposure to new markets.

In a difficult global economic climate, merger and acquisition operations involving at least one Chinese actors are showing signs of resistance, with a record number of 5364 transactions in 2011, a 5% increase compared with the previous year. Activities are characterised by solid growth in mergers and acquisitions by Chinese businesses locally and abroad, and an increase in the unit sized of investments in private equity. More precisely, operations undertaken by China abroad have increased by 10% to an annual record of 207 transactions, representing USD42.9bn, a volume 12% above 2010. Although these operations are on all continents, investments by China abroad have increased particularly sharply in Europe, with 44 operations announced in 2011, compard with 25 in 2010. In addition to the natural resources sector, which remains attractive, the sectors targeted in Europe are industry and consumer products. In 2011, of the 16 transactions abroad with a value of over USD1bn undertaken by Chinese buyers, 14 were in the resources and energy sectors. There has been a growing interest on the part of China in the consumer and industrial product sectors, in a sign of the gradual evolution of the country to a consumer-driven economy. Chinese privately-owned SMEs, facing difficulties in mobilising funds under toughened budgetary policies and uncertainty on the markets, have been turning to private equity funds, which are playing a stronger role in the economy. The Chinese government, aware of this situation, is strengthening its support of the private equity sector.

iShares, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) platform from BlackRock, has released an educational tool to evalute exchange-traded products. The “Know Your ETP” tool aims to allow professional investors to obtain key information about products of this type. Know Your ETP is available as an interactive questionnaire via which investors may get information about an ETP from any provider, a statement says. The interactive questionnaire is available online, at http://uk.ishares.com/en/pc.

In an MBO deal, the Swiss firm EFG International has sold the remainder of its stake in Marble Bar Asset Management (MBAM) to the management team at the firm for CHF28.8m. The transaction, which will be completed by 30 June, will bring gains for EFG of about CHF7m. It completes the transfer of MBAM to the management of the firm, a process begun in July 2010, which reflects EFG’s intention to reorient its activities to privilege the private banking operation.

If they had EUR50,000, 60% of Germans interviewed by TNS Infratest on behalf of Axa Investment Managers in September 2011 said they would chose to invest it, but only 4% of those would invest it in shares in investment funds. Among those who already hold shares in investment funds, only 13% would opt for further investments of this type, compared with 24% in the last survey in 2010.The top criteria for investment most frequently cited are security and availability. 21% of Germans are in favour of putting it in a short-term account, and 27% would opt for a longer-term savings account.Karin Kleinemas, head of marketing at Axa IM for Northern Europe, says the problem is that in Germany funds are “sold,” but they are not “bought.” In addition, three quarters of Germans do not know that the assets in investment funds are cordoned off, so that they would be protected if a promoter goes bankrupt.