M&G Investments vient de recruter Phil Cliff. Cet ancien gérant actions européennes de Threadneedle et Occam Asset Management va gérer le fonds M&G Pan European Dividend Fund, en étroite collaboration avec Stuart Rhodes. Cette nomination permettra à Richard Halle, qui pilotait jusqu'à présent les fonds M&G European Strategic Value Fund et M&G Pan European Dividend Fund, de se concentrer sur ses portefeuilles de valeurs européennes value, précise la société de gestion dans un communiqué.

JO Hambro Capital Management a annoncé la réouverture aux investisseurs du fonds UK Equity Income après le «soft closing» mis en œuvre il y a près d’un an, selon FundWeb.La société de gestion a revu à la baisse les frais d’entrée de 5% pour les nouveaux investisseurs et révisé la capacité du fonds à 1 milliard de livres. Les actifs du fonds s'élèvent actuellement à 918,8 millions de livres.

Bridgepoint Capital va racheter la société de gestion de fortune au Royaume-Uni de Morgan Stanley, Quilter, selon les informations du Financial Times. L’entité, qui représente 7,6 milliards de livres d’encours sous gestion, est valorisée à environ 180 millions de livres. L’opération souligne l’intérêt du private equity pour les services financiers ; elle pourrait être annoncée dès mardi.

Le groupe de gestion britannique MAM Funds a indiqué le 23 janvier que ses actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient à 1,7 milliard de livres à fin décembre, un montant pratiquement inchangé par rapport à fin 2010. Les rachats nets subis par les fonds Midas ont été largement compensés par la collecte sur la gamme des fonds Miton, précise MAM Funds qui ajoute que le fonds récemment lancé Acium UK Multi Cap Income Fund affichait fin décembre une collecte de plus 10 millions de livres.

Hugues Fournier, directeur général de Macif Gestion dans un article paru dans l’Agefi Hebdo numéro 308: « Les périphériques pèsent moins de 5 %, avec une exposition à l’Italie de 1,4 %, sur des maturités courtes, de 0,7 % sur l’Espagne et de 0,1 % sur la Grèce ». Si, pour 2012, les dettes d’Etats périphériques ne seront pas privilégiées, les papiers corporate devraient apporter un complément de rendement. « Les marges sont au moins de 1 % supérieures au taux sans risque. En ce début d’année, nous pouvons trouver des rendements de l’ordre de 3,5 % à 4 %. Cette rémunération devrait se maintenir en raison d’une défiance généralisée sur la zone euro », anticipe-t-il, optimiste.

Pour l’investisseur que je suis, tout ceci ne change rien commente Mory Doré, Responsable du département Risques Financiers à la Caisse d’Epargne Loire Drôme Ardèche, Groupe BPCE. D’une part, les limites d’investissement de la plupart des grands investisseurs institutionnels sont souvent des limites par tranches de ratings : de AAA à AA-, de A+ à A- , de BBB+ à BBB- , en deca de BBB- le cas échéant. Il ne faut pas attendre des réallocations de portefeuilles significatives suite à des dégradations de AAA à AA. De même, les nouveaux ratios de liquidité qui vont contraindre les banques notamment à constituer une réserve d’actifs liquides ne devraient pas là aussi impacter le comportement des investisseurs suite à une dégradation de AAA à AA ; En effet les critères d'éligibilité à cette réserve de liquidité sont basés sur des ratings de notation supérieure à AA- pour les actifs dits de niveau 1 (donc considérés comme « super » liquides et à privilégier).

Sarasin bank has filed a complaint with the Swiss Press Council against the weekly newsmagazine “Weltwoche,” which broke the Hildebrand scandal earlier this year. The complaint concerns an erroneous article related to a violation of banking secrecy by a former employee of the bank’s IT department.Sarasin bank claims in a statement released on 23 January that the magazine has “severely violated its journalistic duties on several levels.” It has also damaged the reputation of the Basel-based private bank, and those of the client advisor who Weltwoche inaccurately cited as a source.Sarasin bank adds that Weltwoche did not adequately evaluate its sole source for the information. In addition, ahead of its 5 January issue, the magazine ignored information and contact from the Basel-based bank which would have allowed the German-language magazine to correct the erroneous article in time.

The hedge fund management firm Diamondback Capital Management will pay USD9m in fines to settle a civil case for insider trading. It has also reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to prevent any future lawsuits related to potential criminal investigations, the Wall Street Journal reports.Since being searched in November 2010, the asset management firm has seen its assets decline by half, to USD2.5bn.

Between January 2002 and October 2011, assets in alternative UCITS funds increased from EUR5.40bn to nearly EUR150bn, PerTrac reports in a 30-page study published on 23 January.The analysis shows that more than 80% of the 1,210 funds in the universe are domiciled in three countries: Luxembourg (49.92%), Ireland (18.84%), and France (11.90%).In terms of type, the most popular strategy is long/short equity, with more than one quarter of the total, followed by global macro, CTA/managed futures and multi-strategy, with 11% each. Bonds represent 11% of the total.

Olle Olsson, director of the Paris office, announced on 23 January that the Swedish asset management firm East Capital (EUR3.4bn) has signed a cooperation agreement with the German firm DAB Bank. The direct bank will offer the UCITS-compliant funds East Capital (Lux) Russian Fund and East Capital (Lux) Eastern European Fund, both products which offer daily liquidity, effective immediately.

Managed ETF portfolios, more than 50% of whose assets are invested in ETFs, are one of the most dynamic segments in the managed accounts universe, according to a report published on 23 January by Morningstar (“ETF Managed Portfolio Lanscape Report,” January 2012).Morningstar, which in September announced plans to scale up its coverage of these portfolios, says that it is now monitoring nearly 370 strategies from 95 firms representing advised assets of USD27bn as of September 2011. Morningstar estimates that assets under management in managed ETF portfolios total USD40bn to USD100bn, taking into account discretionary and non-discretionary portfolios.In the past twelve months, assets in ETF managed portfolios have increased by about 43%. About 30% of these strategies have been launched in the past three years. Nearly three quarters of strategies applied in managed portfolios are global strategies, which allow the investor exposure to international markets.

The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 23 January announced that it has earned returns of 1.1% for the 2011 calendar year. This return is “modest but positive,” CalPERS admits; it blames the poor performance on the volatility of equity markets, largely related to the euro zone debt crisis. The equity portfolio finished the year with losses of 7.9%, with -0.3% for US equities, but -13.9% for international equities. All other asset classes show gains, including bonds, with returns of 12.4%, and private equity, with similar returns of 12.4%. Investments in real estate have earned returns of nearly 10%. CalPERS has also announced that it has unanimously re-elected Rob Feckner as chairman of the board of trustees for the pension fund.

On 1 March, Sal. Oppenheim, Hauck & Aufhäuser (Switzerland) and the Munich-based Meyer & Cie will be launching the diversified fund Nachhaltig Aktiv OP, for which subscriptions will remain open from 23 January to 29 February. For the ethical/sustainable development fund, the three partners will share responsibilities for exclusion (weapons, violations of human rights, experimentation on animals) and positive crieria, which, according to the providers, will provide a more satisfactory end result than a best-in-class approach.The investable universe of 500 businesses and countries is selected by the ethical committee at Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A), while the portfolio will undergo analysis every six months by specialists at the Munich-based ethical ratings agency oekom research.Asset allocation and weighting are then regularly updated by Meyer & Cie. The equities allocation is limited to 30%, and bonds may represent up to 100% of the portfolio.The final selection of securities is shared between Sal. Oppenheim for the bond portion (bond management and duration management), and H&A for the equities portion.In bonds, most of the portfolio will be composed of corporate bonds, Pfandbriefe and government bonds denominated in euros, with at least one investment-grade rating. For equities, most investments will be made in shares in European companies.The objective is to generate returns of 3% to 5% per year over a three-year period.CharacteristicsName: Nachhaltig Aktiv OPISIN codes:I-class shares: LU0650607525R-class shares: LU0650605669Front-end fee:I-class shares: maximum 3%R-class shares: maximum 3%Depository banking commission: 0.10%Management commission:I-class shares: 0.85%R-class shares: 1.40%Performance commission: 10% of performance exceeding the benchmark (80% BofA ML EMU Broad Market 1-10Y and 20% MSCI Europe EUR)

JO Hambro Capital Management has announced that it has reopened the UK Equity Income fund to investors, after a soft closing nearly one year ago, FundWeb reports.The asset management firm has lowered front-end fees by 5% for new investors, and has raised the capacity fo the fund to GBP1bn. Assets in the fund currently total GBP918.8m.

The British asset management group MAM Funds on 23 January announced that its assets under management totalled GBP1.7bn as of the end of December, a total which remains virtually unchanged compared with the end of 2010. Net redemptions from the Midas fund have been largely offset by inflows to the Miton range, MAM Funds reports, adding that the recently-launched Acium UK Multi Cap Income Fund as of the end of December had assets of over GBP10m.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 23 January announced the appointment of Jeanne Duvoux as CEO and deputy director of SGSS for Italy (SGSS S.p.A.). Duvoux will report to Bruno Prigent, director of the securities profession at Société Générale. Her appointment is effective immediately, and was approved by the board of directors on 19 January 2012. Duvoux succeeds Massimo Cotella, who has joined the executive board at SGSS in charge of overseeing sales and marketing activities as well as Liquidity Management services at SGSS. In her new role, Duvoux will continue to actively develop the activities of SGSS, which is now a leader in the securities industry in Italy. In the 2011 study “Agent Banks in Major Markets” in Global Custodian magazine, SGSS S.p.S was ranked as “Top Rated” in the categories “Cross border/non affiliated” and “Domestic,” as well as “Leading Top Rated” in the “Client” category. Since October 2010, Duvoux had been director of the Corproate and Business departments at SGSS S.p.A., as Deputy CEO and Legal Representative of SGSS in Italy.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) will present its detailed proposals for new ETF regulations on 30 January, the news agency Reuters reports. After a two- to three month consultation period, ESMA will publish the final version of the rules, which may then optionally be adopted by the various regulatory authorities of member states. The agency states that the new rules will not be legally binding.

Banks may be forbidden from providing both synthetic ETFs and counterparties of these ETFs, if the recommendations of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group are adopted, Deborah Fuhr, independent strategist, tells Financial Times Fund Management. “Many banks and brokers are likely to find being a provider of ETFs without also being able to be a swap counterparty to their ETFs will reduce the profitability of their businesses ...” She claims that would compel banks to sell or pull out of their ETF operations.

Despite the highly perilous fiscal year that hedge funds have just been through, with average annual returns of -5%, institutional investors appear not to have held it against them. Nearly 38% of those investors are planning to increase their allocations to single hedge funds in the next twelve months, though this compares with 54% last year, according to the fifth annual study by SEI in collaboration with Greenwich Associates.15% of investors are planning to reduce their allocations, compared with 11% the previous year. But in October 2011, allocations to hedge funds by institutionals participating in the study (slightly over 100) represented 16.7% of their portfolios, compared with 12% in 2008. In addition, 60% of them say they are satisfied with the returns earned in the first six months of 2011 (an average of 6.2%, compared with 9.2% in 2010).The top challenge for the current year is returns, for 36% of participants. Transparency, the major challenge in the years 2009 and 2010, is now far outpaced by other concerns. Nearly one third of respondents, compared with 21% the previous year, say the number one objective with alternative investment is absolute returns, while in 2011, the priority was uncorrelated investment strategies.Three of the four objectives cited by institutional investors are related to investment risk: uncorrelated strategies, diversification, and reduction of volatility. This means that institutional investors appear to want to use hedge funds not only to find returns, but also to reduce portfolio risks.The study finds that direct investment in hedge funds is continuing to gain ground. 40% of institutionals say that they invest only in single-manager funds, compared with 24% one month earlier, and twice as many as in 2008. Direct investment is clearly more widespread among major investors, as 56% of clients with over USD56bn in assets say that they invest only in single-manager funds.Long/short equity strategies are currently the preferred strategies for nearly 82% of institutionals, largely outstripping event-driven (53%) and credit strategies (42%).

Bridgepoint Capital will acquire the British asset management firm of the Morgan Stanley group, Quilter, according to reports in the Financial Times. The entity, which has GBP7.6bn in assets under management, is valued at about GBP180m. The deal highlights the attractiveness of financial services to private equity; it may be announced as soon as this Tuesday.

Avenue Capital, which invests in distressed corporate and government debt, has raised USD2bn for its second European fund, the Financial Times reports. The asset management firm is planning to create a platform which would buy up private sector debt connected to European governments. For example, the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese health sectors owe EUR25bn to major pharmaceutical companies. Avenue would create an independent entity which would buy up risk from pharmaceutical companies, and would then deal with governments to collect on the debts.

Axa Wealth is in the process of restructuring its activities in the United Kingdom, including a segmentation of IFA clients that may result in staff reductions of up to 50 people, Fund Web reports. The number of regional heads may be reduced from nine to four. David Thompson, head of marketing and distribution at Axa Wealth, says the new organization should allow the firm to offer a variety of areas of expertise depending on the segment in which the advisor works. A new team will be responsible for key clients.

Phil Cliff, a former European equity manager at Threadneedle Investments and Occam Asset Management, has joined M&G Investments.In his new role at M&G, he will manage the M&G Pan European Dividend Fund working closely with Stuart Rhodes.Phil Cliff`s appointment will free up the incumbent manager Richard Halle, who has been managing both the M&G European Strategic Value Fund as well as the M&G Pan European Dividend Fund, to concentrate on his European value portfolios.

Since the beginning of this year, the German asset management firm ETFlab (Deka) and the French firm Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) have been named as “Star Partners” of the direct bank DAB Bank. This means that clients of DAB Bank may purchase ETF funds from the two issuers online for a commission of only EUR4.95. The offering includes 109 ETF funds from Lyxor, and 40 from ETFlab, for orders of at least EUR1,000.The agreement concerns products that replicate the major equity and bond indices, and for the first time from DAB, strategy funds, either short or leveraged.DAB Bank states that iShares left the “Star Partners” program at the end of 2011. As a result, fees for ETF orders from that promoter will be charged at normal DAB Bank rates.

The German-Swiss bond management firm Bantleon had assets as of the end of December up 30% (excluding market effects), to EUR5.28bn, due to net subscriptions of EUR1.2bn, compared with EUR4.1bn, and EUR846m as of the end of 2010, and EUR3.2bn/EUR1.2bn as of the end of 2009. Net subscriptions from retail investors totalled EUR62m.Assets under management as of the end of 2011 totalled EUR2.34bn for open-ended funds, and EUR2.94bn for institutional funds.The strongest net subscriptions, at EUR827m, went to absolute return strategies of the Bantleon Opportunities range. The two open-ended funds Bantleon Opportunities S and Bantleon Opportunities L attracted EUR288m in total, and have assets of EUR658m as of the end of December, in addition to which EUR540m in net inflows came into institutional funds.Since the beginning of this year, the Bantleon Opportunities S fund has posted further net subscriptions, putting assets over EUR500m.

The Luxembourg-based independent management firm LRI Invest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Augur Financial Holding VSA, has announced that it has obtained permission from BaFin to open an office in Germany. It will be located in Frankfurt, where it plans to assist fund providers seeking to launch Luxembourg-registered or German-registered funds with LRI Invest. All fund administration will continue to be undertaken in Luxembourg.The two directors of the new branch office will be Dirk van Dreumel (former director of institutional business at WGF, until the end of 2011), and Ingo Steffenhag, who previously worked at LBBW Asset Management and G&P Institutional Management.LRI Invest is a specialist in white-label products, which manages about EUR8bn in about 200 funds. The objective for the Frankfurt office is to benefit from the new UCITS IV directive.

The German firm max.xs financial services AG (max.xs), a specialist in B2B distribution of financial services and asset management products in the German-speaking countries, on 23 January announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the British data provider FE. FE will set up pages with complete data (fund analysis, financial data) from max.xs partners, on a website aimed at German and Austrian investors and intermediaries. max.xs is the distributor for First Private Investment Management KAG, Gamax Management AG, Kleinwort Benson Investors, Rothschild & Cie Gestion and Veritas Investment Trust for securities funds, and Wölbern Invest KG for real estate funds.

Le Temps reports that the Swiss private bank Wegelin has let go one of its partners, Christian Hafner. The suspension is related to a clash with the United States over taxation, in which three Wegelin employees have been charged. In early January, three bankers from Wegelin were indicted in New York for helping US taxpayers to evade taxes.

According to a study by Yale and Maastricht Universities for the Financial Times, private equity makes more money for fund managers than for US pension funds. From 2001 to 2010, US pension funds earned returns of 4.5% per year on their investments in private equity, but in that period they paid 4% in management commissions. In addition, private equity funds charge many other fees, and charge a 20% commission on performance.According to Martijn Cremers (Yale), taking “normal” performance commissions of 20% as a basis, about 70% of gross performance has been paid in the form of fees in the past ten years.

In terms of development, Carmignac Gestion, which has EUR45bn in assets, looked beyond the borders of France in fourth quarter 2011. After opening an office in Frankfurt, the asset management firm did the same in London in early November. It has also recruited a head, who has already hired two more people, pending the arrival of a third professional this year. The asset management firm has retained its place as an asset management largely oriented to international markets, as on 23 January it invited the international press to Paris to hear Edouard Carmignac discourse on the European growth of his asset management firm, and his vision for the major economic challenges ahead in 2012.“Aside from France, Germany and Italy are the largest markets for us,” explains Didier Saint-Georges, a member of the investment committee. Logically, the United Kingdom is also expected to be a key market for the asset management firm, a majority of whose assets now come from abroad. In order not to flop in its debut on the British market, Carmignac Gestion has been careful to offer all of the funds of its range denominated in pounds Sterling. “The perception of prospective investors who meet our team in London is now very positive,” says Saint-Georges, who adds that the independent management style of Carmignac Gestion is highly regarded in the UK.In terms of management teams, one thing is sure: the firm is not planning to spread out its teams to the far corners of the globe it covers. “We are not planning to have managers in Hong Kong or Brazil,” says Saint-Georges, “since it’s very important for us that managers see each other and talk to each other, even if the downside to having management centred in Paris is travelling often.”