The former head of McKinsey and director of Goldman Sachs, Rajat Gupta, was apprehended in New York on 26 October by the FBI, Les Echos reports. Gupta, who is considered one of the major “preferred informers” of Raj rajaratnam, the speculative fund manager who was sentened to 11 years of prison on 13 October, becomes the first member of the New York establishment to be directly charged in the Galleon affair. According to the criminal charges filed by the public prosecutor’s office, Gupta is accused along with six other heads of involvement in fraud and conspiracy involving passing on information related to Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, where he had been a director.
Hedge fund firms with over USD1.5bn in assets under management will be required to publish quarterly reports under new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wall Street Journal reports. In January, the SEC had planned to set the limit at USD1bn. Another easing of the rules is that funds with less than USD150m will be exempt from the reporting requirement. Companies between those two thresholds will be required to release annual data.
SAC Capital, the USD14bn hedge fund of Steve Cohen, has discreetly ceased to invest in its former employees’ hedge funds, according to the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the matter. The decision, taken in 2008, is one of the changes SAC has made in order to restore its reputation, at a time when it is suspected of insider trading. Among other changes, Cohen has also reduced direct contacts with corporate heads and Wall Street analysts and brokers.
In the first nine months of this year, net profits at Morningstar Inc totalled USD70.4m, compared with USD62.9m in the corresponding period of 2010, on earnings up 17% to USD472.8m. Excluding acquisitions and forex effects, earnings rose 10.8%.In third quarter 2011, however, Morningstar shows net profits of USD21.4m, compared with USD24.7m in July-September 2010, despite a 14.5% incrase in its earnings, to USD160.1m.In the Investment Management unit, which includes all activities related to asset management, for which at least 60% of revenues comes from asset-based commissions, assets advised and under management in the Investment Consulting operation as of 30 September totalled USD128.1bn, 21.2% higher than one year previously.Assets advised and under management by the Retirement Solutions division total USD36.3bn, compared with USD31.6bn as of 30 September 2010.Lastly, for the “Morningstar Managed Portfolios” division, assets under management have increased by about USD300m in one year, to a total of USD2.8bn as of 30 September.
In third quarter 2011, Ameriprise Financial saw a decline in its net profits to USD271m from USD346m in July-September last year, with the obtraction due to a one-time charge of USD106m.By GAAP accounting standards, the asset management business unit at Ameriprise, which includes the British asset management firm Threadneedle and the US firm Columbia Management, earned pre-tax profits of USD97m, compared with USD104m in third quarter 2010.The affiliate Threadnnneedle had USD96bn in assets as of the end of September, compared with USD102bn one year earlier; it has seen net outflows of USD0.8bn in the quarter under review, with net redemptions of USD1.2bn to retail clients, and institutional net subscriptions of USD1.4bn. In third quarter of last year, Threadneedle had net subscriptions of USD1.1bn.At Columbia, assets as of 30 September totalled USD325bn, compared with USD347bn one year previously. Net outflows in third quarter totalled USD4.8bn, compared with USD4.1bn in July-September 2010.
Axa’s Asset Management revenues were up 4% to Euro 2,443 million for the first nine months, mainly driven by higher performance fees and real estate transaction fees at AXA IM as well as higher research fees at AllianceBernstein. Assets Under Management were down Euro 59 billion versus December 31, 2010 at Euro 837 billion: �� Net flows of Euro -33 billion comprised of: - Euro -35 billion at AllianceBernstein, primarily from institutional clients, - Euro +2 billion at AXA IM, mainly driven by Euro +3 billion on Money Market, Euro +2 billion at AXA Private Equity and Euro +2 billion at AXA Framlington, partly offset by Euro -1 billion on Fixed Income and Euro -4 billion at AXA Rosenberg. �� Market impact: Euro -20 billion mainly at AllianceBernstein. �� Forex impact: Euro -2 billion as a result of the slight depreciation of the USD versus the Euro
Assets under management at AllianceBernstein (Axa group) totalled USD402bn as of 30 September, down 12.8% compared with 30 June, and 15.8% (more than USD75bn) compared with the end of September 2010, the firm announced in a statemwnt on 26 October. As of the end of August, assets were down USD53bn compared with the end of December 2010. In terms of institutional assets (USD224.1bn), net outflows in third quarter totalled USD9bn, compared with nearly USD15bn in second quarter. In retail (USD109.8bn), net outflows totalled USD4.4bn, compared with USD2bn in second quarter. In the private client segment (USD68.1bn), redemptions totalled USD2bn, compared with USD26bn one quarter earlier. In total, outflows have totalled USD15.4bn, compared with USD19.5bn. Net profits distributable to shareholders for third quarter thus totalled USD90.98m, compared with USD114.14m for second quarter.
The alternative management firm Vulpes Investment Management, based in Singapore, has recruited a former manager from Fidelity, Martin Shenfield, as senior portfolio manager. Shenfield will be in charge of managing the Testudo Fund, which invests in publicly-traded and non-publicly traded equities, commodities and bonds.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced that Ian Henderson, named manager of the JPM Global Natural Resources fund (more than EUR2bn in assets under management), will step away from the day-to-day management of the fund at the end of January 2012. Full responsibility for the funds will pass to Neil Gregson, who has worked alongside Ian for the past 12 months. Ian Henderson will remain in an advisory capacity until March 2013, and Neil Gregson will be the named manager of the fund, assisted by the natural resources team. Neil Gregson joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s natural resources team in September 2010, bringing with him a wealth of experience having spent almost 20 years at Credit Suisse Asset Management as head of emerging markets and related sector funds. In this role, he was responsible for USD10 billion in assets under management. During his time at Credit Suisse Asset Management, Neil Gregson also managed gold and natural resource equity funds. After qualifying as a mining engineer, Neil Gregson began his career holding various positions at mining and natural resource companies, including a role as a mining investment analyst at South African company Gold Fields. The JPM Global Natural Resources fund has delivered an annualised return of 8.83% since the fund’s inception in December 2004 (performance of the A(acc) EUR share class, net of fees, as at 30th September 2011).
The British asset management firm First State Investments (Commonwealth Bank of Australia group) has announced the launch of the First State Emerging Markets Bond Fund, a British-registered ICVC which will be offered to investors in Britain and continental Europe. An offshore version of the fund will be launched soon. The new product, with 50 to 120 positions, will be managed by Helene Williamson (ex F&C), and her new emerging markets debt team, based in London. It will invest primarily in bonds and currencies considered strong, issued or guaranteed by governments, financial establishments, or businesses in emerging markets. The bonds will be denominated primarily in US dollars, and issued by governments or quasi-governmental entities. The objective will be to outperform the benchmark index, JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified Index. The First State Emerging Markets Bond Fund includes eight share classes, of which four are denominated in euros.
Aberdeen Asset Management has recruited a development specialist, who will be wholly dedicated to the long-only multi-manager fund range. This range has over GBP10bn in assets (as of 31 August). Aidan Upton had previously worked at Architas as an investment development manager.
The British pension fund Highland County Council has withdrawn a management mandate from AllianceBernstein for an equities allocation of GBP200m, though the firm retains another smaller mandate, the website IPE reports. AllianceBernstein is reported to have lost the equities mandate due to highly mediocre performance.
Franklin Templeton Italia is creating two major units in its commercial direction, one of them dedicated to institutions, and the other to retail distribution. The institutions unit will be headed by Antonio Gatta, who joined Franklin Templeton in 2007 and is already in charge of the wealth management and managed solutions professional areas for institutional clients and pension funds, foundations, asset management firms and insurers. He will now also serve funds of funds, unit-linked and structured products. The team has recently been enlarged with the arrival of Gian Mario Castellani, who had previously been at Axa Investment Managers. Another recruitment is planned for managed solutions. The retail distribution unit will be led by Amir Kuhdari, who has also been at Franklin since 2007. He will be in charge of distribution for the Franklin Templeton Investment Funds Sicav to financial adviser networks and banks, which currently represent 65% of assets for Franklin Templeton in Italy. The team has also gained the addition of Serenella Arpia and Giacomo Cavallucci.
Nearly 60% of asset management firms dedicate at least nine months to launching a new product, according to an annual survey recently published by Cerulli (“Cerulli Quantitative Update : Retail Products and Strategies 2011.”) From the time of initial conception of the product and its effective launch, 53% of managers take six to nine months, while a minority (6%) manage to bring out a product in the space of three to six months. Managers are under sales pressure to launch new products as soon as possible, and these new products often sustain strong inflows. But nonetheless, 29% of asset managers spend nine to twelve monhs developing products, and 12% of respondents need a year or more. The two longest stages in the development of products are research and defining the product, on one hand, and regulatory approval on the other. Nearly 75% of managers estimate that the complexity of a product is the most influential factor in their development projects. According to Cerulli, this observation is related to the current trend for alternative products, with more than 25% new products under development in the alternative sphere.
Antonio Banda, former CIO of Bankinter, and Jorge Claveria, former manager of the hedge fund Aneto, have convinced Brandes Investment Patners, to allow them to sell their products in Spain to pension funds, insurers and all types of institutional investors, Cotizalia reports.The value products which will be offered in Spain will be sub-funds of an Irish-registered Sicav. The central offices of Brandes in Europe are located in Geneva.
The Spanish asset management firms Bankoa Gestión and Mercagestión, both owned by Crédit Agricole, have been merged to create Crédit Agricole Mercagestión, Funds People reports.The structure is led by Tomás Ubiría Zubizarreta, CEO of Bankoa Gestión (which is 95% controlled by Crédit Agricole’s regional bank of the Pyrénées Gascogne provinces), while the chief investment officer is Javier Hoyos Oyarzabl, who had previously held the same position at Bankoa.Bankoa most recently announced assets of EUR252m (+20% since the beginning of January), while assets under management at Mercagestión totalled EUR51m.In Spain, Crédit Agricole also owns Amundi Iberia, whose assets as of the end of September totalled EUR370m and were down 30.1% since the beginning of the year.
As of the end of September, the BBVA group announced assets of EUR20.22bn in investment funds, and EUR16.47bn in pension funds on the Spanish market, compared with EUR22.32bn and EUR16.81bn as of the end of December 2010.For the rest of the world, assets in funds and investment companies totalled EUR18.14bn, while pension funds had EUR57.13bn, compared with EUR19.67bn and EUR61.95bn.The quarterly report states that the asset management firm BBVA Asset Management had assets worldwide of EUR70.53bn as of the end of September. For investment funds, the firm had a market share of 16.8% in Spain, and 22.5% in Mexico.Net profits at BBVA in the first nine months of the year have contracted by 14% compared with January-September 2010, at EUR3.14bn. As of 30 September, the cost-income ratio has deteriorated to 48.5% from 41.6% one year previously.
Marcos J. Joos, who had been head of portfolio management for institutional real estate funds at Commerz Real, where he had been responsible for EUR2.7bn in assets, was recruited on 1 October by Universal-Investment as director of management for the real estate portfolio.He will be in charge of transaction management, asset management, financing and liquidity management.Universal-Investment has recently been licensed by BaFin to launch and administer real estate funds (see Newsmanagers of 20 October), and is planning to specialise in institutional funds.
Carmignac Gestion vient d’annoncer le recrutement de Kai Volkmann au poste de responsable pour le marché allemand. Cette nomination fait suite au départ de John Korter (lire NewsManagers du 26.10.2011). Le nouveau «country head» de la société de gestion parisienne prendra ses fonctions en janvier 2012 et dirigera le nouveau bureau que Carmignac Gestion a prévu d’ouvrir à Francfort. Kai Volkmann était jusqu'à présent responsable des ventes retail pour l’Allemagne au sein de BlackRock, poste qu’il a occupé pendant sept ans. Après son récent départ, ses fonctions ont été confiées à ancien supérieur, Andrej Brodnik, qui est head of retail business pour l’Allemagne, l’Autriche et l’Europe de l’Est chez BlackRock.
Carmignac Gestion has hired Kai Volkmann as head of country Germany. This recruitment follows John Korter’s departure (see NewsManagers of 26.10.2011). The new «country head» of the French asset manager will take his position from January 2012. He will head the new office Carmignac plans to open in Frankfurt. «His principal objective will be to further develop the firm’s relations with financial distributors in Germany, under the responsibility of Davide Fregonese, global head of sales and marketing. A strong local presence and its unique experience will help Carmignac Gestion reinforce the service to existing and new clients in the country, in keeping with its long term commitment to such a strategic market», according to the asset manager. Before joining Carmignac Gestion, Kai Volkmann was head of retail sales for Germany at BlackRock. He brings more than 10 years of experience in the asset management sector, including 4 years with JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management.
Open-ended funds on sale in Italy in September had net outflows of EUR4.7bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. Since the beginning of the year, they have seen outflows of EUR13.8bn. In this environment, assets fell from EUR436.8bn as of the end of August to EUR424bn as of the end of September, of which 61% were invested in foreign-registered products. In September, all asst classes showed losses. The heaviest outflows were from bond funds (-EUR1.3bn), equity funds (EUR1.1bn) and money market funds (-EUR1bn). With the addition of mandates and closed funds, the Italian asset management industry as a whole has seen net outflows of EUR6bn. Assets as of the end of September totalled EUR950bn (of which 49% were in funds), compared with EUR971.8bn as of the end of August. Among the few groups to have seen inflows in September were Poste Italiane (+EUR247.7m), Finanziaria (EUR50.9m), and Mediolanum (+EUR30.5m). At the other extreme, companies with the heaviest redemptions were Pioneer (-EUR2bn), BNP Paribas (-EUR650m), and Ubi Banca (-EUR649m).
With the Manager Access Indices, Barclays Capital (BarCap) has launched a range of investable indices which aim to provide instruments to measure a liquid exposure to certain specific hedge fund strategies. The first product in the series will focus on long/short strategies.Each of the indices allows for exposure to a single hedge fund strategy, and direct exposure to a manager. The objective is to list managed accounts on several specialised managed account platforms, rather than traditional hedge funds, which makes it possible to extend the universe for components of the index, and provides access to at least weekly liquidity.Anthony Lazanas, managing director, index, portfolio and risk solutions at BarCap, says that the new range of indices allows investors access to funds which use specific investment strategies, while also benefiting from the transparency and diversification of multiple managed accounts platforms.Arik Ben Dor, director, quantitative portfolio strategy group, says that the methodology used to construct the indices is based on the ability to identify consistent performance of funds, with a proprietary measurement tool. The weighting mechanism overweights funds which are the most likely to sustainably outperform their counterparts, with a system of constraints which aims to limit the risks of concentration and fat tails.
The Asia ex Japan asset management sector may double in size by 2015, to a total of as much as USD4trn in assets under management, according to a study by Cerulli on behalf of Citi and Mirae Asset, Asian Investor reports. Assets have nearly doubled since 2006, to EUR1.17trn, but this growth has been related primarily to performance. In 2009 and 2010, mutual funds saw a net outflow. Verulli estimates that the growth of ETFs, especially in China, may significantly leverage growth in assets under management in Asia. Currently, Hong Kong is the largest market in the region, with USD28bn in assets under management. ETFs of the Asia-Pacific ex Japan region as of the end of April represented total assets of nearly USD60bn.
Since 30 June, the private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) and its partner, Portfolio Consulting, have counted only five launches of private label funds on the German market. According to the authors of the quarterly study “Der Private Label Fonds Markt,” this phenomenon is due to the fact that the new law on investment funds which came into force on 1 July has slowed down the process of getting a license from the German regulatory authority, BaFin.In the first nine months of 2011, there were 57 fund liquidations and 21 launches, which reduced the total of 943 genuinely active funds (compared with 979 as of the end of December 2010), with total assets of EUR42.9bn, compared with EUR46.5bn as of the end of June.The major promoters on the market are Universal, with 166 funds and total assets of EUR5.9bn for this activity, and IP Concept/DZ Bank, with 126 products and nearly EUR9.43bn. This year, the two most active asset management firms have been Universal, with six launches, and H&A, with 4 new products.The depository banks with the largest numbers of clients in the private label category are DZ Privatbank with EUR9.37bn and 125 funds, and H&A, with EUR4.56bn and 166 funds.The average size of a private-label fund as of the end of September came out to EUR45.5m, compared with EUR47.3m as of the end of June. But the largest product in this class has EUR2.5bn in assets.
123Venture vient de lancer le FIP 123Patrimoine, axé sur le marché de la dépendance/santé, plus particulièrement sur le financement des EHPAD (Etablissement d’Hébergement pour Personnes Agées Dépendantes). Ce marché est structurellement en croissance compte tenu du vieillissement de la population et du déficit d’offres, précise un communiqué. Le FIP s’inscrit dans la lignée des fonds précédents axés sur le financement de sociétés détenant des actifs tangibles (immobilier d’exploitation). Le FIP 123Patrimoine est accessible dès 1.000 euros de souscription.
Selon L’Agefi Hebdo, depuis quelques années, les marchés sont devenus de plus en plus volatils, les risques se sont élevés et les rendements se sont contractés. D’où la nécessité d’une gestion plus active. Pour autant, compte tenu de l’accroissement des risques et de la complexité grandissante des marchés, cela ne se traduit pas forcément par le retour en grâce des gérants stars, mais plutôt par le brassage des compétences et la recherche de profils très expérimentés, note l’hebdomadaire."La gestion est de plus en plus collégiale, note Thierry Carlier-Lacour, directeur associé du cabinet de recrutement Nicholas Angell. Ce mode de fonctionnement, initialement propre aux structures mutualistes, a tendance à faire tache d’huile depuis quelques années, en touchant en premier lieu les grandes gestions. Si l’on cherche des gérants stars, on les trouvera plutôt dans les petites structures à taille humaine». » Chez Amundi, un gérant ne travaille pas de manière isolée. Romain Boscher, responsable mondial de la gestion actions, précise que «les équipes qui gèrent les fonds selon un processus précis ont des tailles diverses, allant de quatre (comme sur les petites valeurs japonaises) à onze gérants (sur les marchés émergents)». Au sein de chaque équipe, il y a un patron pour trancher. Chez Axa Framlington, filiale d’Axa IM, chaque gérant, tout en ayant la charge d’un fonds, assure aussi le suivi d’un secteur. On y trouve donc des «analystes-gérants».
Pour renforcer leurs fonds propres, les établissements français pris dans leur ensemble n’auront pas besoin d’appel au marché ni de l’Etat, rapporte L’Agefi. La Société Générale paraît cependant être dans la situation la moins confortable en souffrant d’une structure tendue, n'écartant pas le risque d’augmentation de capital, explique Cheuvreux dans une note. Par comparaison, les fonds propres de BNP Paribas semblent suffisamment solides, tandis que CASA et Natixis sont capables de faire face grâce aux groupes mutuels auxquels ils appartiennent.La SocGen fait face à une nécessité plus forte de réduire son levier et entend abaisser de 60 à 80 milliards d’euros le montant de ses actifs pondérés du risque, à l’instar de BNP Paribas (70 milliards), alors que son bilan est près de deux fois inférieur (1.158 contre 1.926 milliards d’euros au 30 juin), note le quotidien.
Le chiffre d’affaires de la gestion d’actifs de l’assureur français Axa s’est inscrit en hausse de 4% sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année à 2,44 milliards d’euros, selon un communiqué publié le 27 octobre. Cette évolution est due principalement «à la hausse des commissions de performance et des commissions sur transactions immobilières chez AXA IM, ainsi que de la hausse des commissions dans l’activité de recherche institutionnelle chez AllianceBernstein». Le chiffre d’affaires total du groupe s’est en revanche replié de 2% à 66 milliards d’euros.Les actifs sous gestion s’établissaient à 837 milliards d’euros à fin septembre, en baisse de 59 milliards d’euros par rapport au 31 décembre 2010.Cette baisse de l’encours est liée à une décollecte nette de 33 milliards d’euros, dont 35 milliards d’euros chez AllianceBernstein, principalement des clients institutionnels. Ces chiffres sont à rapprocher avec ceux d’AXA IM (+2 milliards d’euros) avec une collecte portée principalement vers les produits fonds monétaires (+3 milliards d’euros), AXA Private Equity (+2 milliards d’euros) et AXA Framlington (+2 milliards d’euros). Ces résultats ont été partiellement compensés par ceux de l’expertise Fixed Income (-1 milliard d’euros) et d’AXA Rosenberg (-4 milliards d’euros). On observe par ailleurs un effet marché négatif de -20 milliards d’euros, principalement chez AllianceBernstein, ainsi qu’un effet de change négatif de -2 milliards d’euros principalement du fait de la légère dépréciation du dollar américain face à l’euro.
BNP Paribas commercialise deux nouveaux fonds à capital garanti : BNP Paribas Gestion Active 2 et BNP Paribas Double Garantie Décembre 2018 A l’échéance fixée le 19 décembre 2017, BNP Paribas Gestion Active 2 offre une garantie du capital qui pourra être rehaussée, dans la limite de 5% par an, grâce à un cliquet annuel à partir de la 3ème année de vie du fonds. A chaque date de constatation déterminée, si la valeur liquidative du fonds est supérieure à la valeur liquidative garantie en vigueur de :- 5% ou plus, alors la valeur liquidative garantie est rehaussée de 5% ;- 0% à 5%, alors la valeur liquidative garantie est rehaussée d’autant.Si, à une date de constatation, la valeur liquidative du fonds est inférieure à la valeur liquidative garantie en vigueur, cette dernière reste inchangée jusqu’à la date de constatation suivante. La quatrième date de constatation correspond à la date d'échéance de BNP Paribas Gestion Active 2.Quant à la performance du fonds, elle sera liée partiellement aux résultats de différents marchés financiers actions, obligataires, matières premières, volatilité, etc. Pour sa part, d’une durée de 7 ans, BNP Paribas Double Garantie offre deux niveaux de garantie à échéance. Outre l’assurance pour l’investisseur de retrouver le capital investi, la performance du fonds sera au moins égale à l’inflation de la zone Euro sur 7 ans et dépendra en partie d’une stratégie de gestion active de taux. Caractéristiques : BNP Paribas Gestion Active 2Code ISIN : FR011079524Durée : 6 ans BNP Paribas Double GarantieCode ISIN : FR0011088475 Durée : 7 ans Période de commercialisation :Dans le cadre d’un contrat d’assurance vie : jusqu’au 25 novembre 2011 Dans le cadre d’un CIF : jusqu’au 2 décembre 2011
La société de gestion alternative Vulpes Investment Management, basée à Singapour, vient de recruter un ancien de Fidelity, Martin Shenfield, en qualité de gérant de portefeuille senior.Martin Shenfield sera responsable de la gestion du Testudo Fund, qui investit dans les actions cotées et non cotées, les matières premières et les obligations.