Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 6 October announced that it has won a call for offers from the asset management firm Edifice Cpaital to provide depository banking and valuation services for its first FCPR domiciled in France investing in infrastructure, with an objective of EUR300m in assets. SGSS has been mandated by Edifice Capital due to its recognised experience in services to funds investing in non-pu;blicly traded activities, via vehicles such as FCPR, FIP, FCPI and OPCI funds. SGSS assists nearly 60 firms in this area already. Edifice Cpaital is an asset management firm licensed by the AMF, dedicated to the structuring, placement, development and management of investment funds in the areas of infrastructure and agriculture. Edifice Cpaital develops its funds in the euro zone, Morocco, and West and Central Africa.

Following the recent recruitments of Raquel Rodriguez and Victoria Caro (see Newsmangers of 5 October), Pimco (Allianz Asset Management group) now has a complete sales team in Spain, under the leadership of Gian Luca Giurlani. Funds People reports that the US management firm has recruited Juanma Jimenez from Robeco in Madrid; Jimenez will share responsibility for institutional clients with Victoria Caro in London. At Robeco, Jimenez was in charge of Spanish and Latin American clients.

Inflows to money market funds on the Skandia platform have more than doubled in third quarter 2011 to 12.7% of total inflows, Money Marketing reports. Equity funds represented 18.7% of total inflows in third quarter, but subscriptions were down 10% compared with the previous quarter.

Philip Gibbs will be leaving his position as vice-manager of the Jupiter Financial Opportunities fund and manager of the Jupiter International Financials fund on 31 October. He will be replaced as manager of the International Financials fund by Robert Mumby, who also becomes vice-manager of the Financial Opportunities fund, managed by Guy de Blonay. Gibbs will concentrate on his high yield portfolios.

George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager, has lost his appeal before the European Court of Human Rights, the Financial Times reports. He had sought to have his criminal conviction in France for insider trading overturned.

More than half of all pension funds in Europe (56%) have set up a socially responsible investment (SRI) strategy, according to a survey by Eurosif, the European association to promote SRI. The survey covers 169 pension funds in 12 member countries, and was carried out with the support to HSBC Global Asset Managmeent and DB Advisors. The study is presented as the first pan-European study of the adoption of sustainable investment criteria by retirement planning establishments.At a time when the European regulatory authorities are in the process of creating new recommendations in this area, the study finds that one quarter of establishments which do not apply any specific approach in the area are planning to develop one in the coming year. Two factors appear decisive: firstly, the recommendations of the retirement planning institution, and secondly, the existence of a sustainable development strategy at the business the pension fund serves.The study also finds that 60% of respondents consider ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors to affect the long-term performance of pension funds. Similarly, 66% of the sample consider that the establishment of an SRI policy is an integral part of their fiduciary duty.Unsurprisingly, equities, bonds and real estate are the preferred asset classes for the deployment of SRI strategies by pension funds. However, commodities interest only 7% of the sample. The study finds that the three most often-used instruments are votes, exclusion and integration of ESG criteria into financial analysis. Votes are most common in Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, while exclusion is used in all countries covered by the study.

Switzerland and the United Kingdom on 6 October finalised a tax agreement between the two countries, which allows for British assets held in Switzerland to be normalised as part of anti-tax evasion initatives. The Swiss finance minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, and the British minister of tax affairs, David Gauke, on Thursday signed a tax cooperation agreement in London, the Swiss federal finance department (DFF) announced in a statement. The agreement was hashed out by the two countries on 24 August (see Newsmanagers of 25 August), and allows persons domiciled in the Untied Kingdom to regularise their past fiscal situation. They will be required to pay a one-time tax on the assets ranging from 19% to 34%, or to declare their accounts to the British authorities. In the future, British account-holders will be required to pay a withholding tax on capital gains and returns on assets placed in Swiss banks, at a rate varying from 27% to 48%. The agreement, which has yet to be approved by the British and Swiss parliaments, will come into force at the beginning of 2013.

The US firm JP Morgan on 4 October announced that it has been selected by Vanguard to sponsor four more ETFs from its range on the Mexican stock exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores or BMV), in addition to the 39 products which it already offers in Mexico. The products are listed on the BMV in pesos.The products are the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (acronym: VOO), Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI), Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond ETF (VGSH) and Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCSH) funds.

F&C Asset Management announced on Thursday that Alain Grisay, the group’s chief executive officer, will retire at the end of the third quarter of 2012. He will step down from the board and as group CEO at the annual general meeting in May 2012 and will thereafter remain available to the group for consultation and advice until the end of September 2012, according to a press release.The board has appointed Edward Bramson as executive chairman for an interim period with immediate effect. Between now and the AGM in May next year there will be a gradual and orderly handover of responsibilities from Alain Grisay to Edward Bramson. Until completion of this handover Alain Grisay will retain responsibility for the day‐to‐day operational management of the group. Edward Bramson will assume responsibility for the group’s strategy with immediate effect.

After appointing Alexander Classen, of Geneva, as its head in May this year, RBS Coutts Bank will now operate in private management under the Coutts brand name, from 1 November, Agefi Switzerland reports. With 700 employees in Switzerland, the private management division of the Royal Bank of Scotland group will focus on Asian, Russian and Middle Eastern markets in the future. It is recruiting specialists for these target regions and the onshore Swiss market at its Geneva offices, which have 150 staff already.

The fate of the IPO market for the entire year 2011 will be decided in the next few weeks, PwC finds. The quarterly study “IPO Watch Europe – T3 2011” finds that in third quarter, 121 IPOs were carried out in Europe, worth EUR9.4bn in funds raised. Of this total, EUR5bn were privatisations of assets held by the Spanish and Polish governments, and EUR2.4bn were for the IPO of Dia, the Spanish discount supermarket chain, present in emerging markets. In the past few weeks, the IPO market has collapsed due to political and market uncertainty, with only EUR23bn in funds raised in September from European markets. The disturbed mood of the markets led to the delay of an IPO for the Spanish national lottery last week. In a more favourable period, this type of IPO would have been considered a sure bet, but it was called off due to the fragility of the market. Philippe Kubisa, partner in the capital markets activity at PwC, says “the outlooks for 2011 are sombre, with the worst Ipo conditions of recent times, due to a radical downturn in market sentiment. The next month generally represents the peak of IPO activities, as companies raise funds on the markets following the summer. The recent cancellation of an IPO for the Spanish national lottery is an eloquent indicator of the current conditions on European markets. The next few weeks will determine the issue for 2011.” There has been a series of delays and cancellations of IPOs throughout the year, but the IPO calendar has remained relatively stable despite the agitation of the markets. Some major businesses are preparing to launch their activities on the London Stock Exchange in first quarter 2012, PwC reports. This trend is also apparent in the United States, where the number of IPOs is down 38%, from 32 to 20, and funds raised fave fallen 42%, from EUR3.8bn to EUR2.2bn, compared with the previous year. However, the number of businesses which have begun the process to submit IPO documents has increased from 67 in the same period last year to 75 this year.

At a presentation in Paris on 6 October, Clinton J. Comeaux, senior portfolio manager and analyst at Muzinich, highlighted the fact that the house specialty, high yield (BBB/BB/B), in these troubled times on the markets remains an indispensable asset class in all strategic allocations, both for institutional and for retail investors. Muzinich’s short-duration products are continuing to attract inflows even in the difficult environment of recent weeks.Among the encouraging elements, Comeaux cites record issuance both in the United States (USD207bn in January-September) and in Europe, where anticipation of Basel III has led banks to be selective, which has driven businesses to tap the markets. A majority of new issues (60% in the United States) are being used to refinance old bonds, instead of being dedicated to taking on leverage or equity buybacks. In addition, the market has integrated a default rate of 8-9% into its prices, while Muzinich expects only a 2% default rate over 12 months. The market is pricing a recession which the US management firm is not altogether convinced will come; the markets are thus overpaying for the risks investors bear.Comeaux also notes that returns on bonds from the same business are 250 basis points higher in Europe than issues in the United States. The manager also observes that 95% of issuers of high yield bonds have repaid their debts in a timely manner. “It is thus enough not to take imprudent risks,” the manager says.Muzinich, 85% of whose assets of USD13bn (compared with USD10bn as of the end of December) are European in origin, now manages about 35% of assets in the five or six open-ended sub-funds of an Irish-registered UCITS-compliant unit trust, Muzinich Funds. About 15% of the assets in that trust are held by French investors, says Eric Pictet, director for France. Israel accounts for about EUR100m, and a US insurer has placed a mandate of USD600m in it. Latin America weighs in at USD200m to USD300m, due to Peruvian and Chilean pension funds. A small amount of assets come from Dubai.The group has recently won its first Japanese mandate. It may soon launch a new high yield product focused on emerging markets, and will soon be entering the private investments market.

The Hamburg-based asset management firm Hansainvest on 5 October released the European equity fund HANSAsmart Select E, managed by Philipp van Hove and aimed at risk-averse investors, for sale in Germany. The German-registered quantitative product aims to minimise risks, and focuses on minimum value at risk, through a selection of shares from the DJ Euro Stoxx index.The selection is subject to a mathematical optimisation which takes into account the risks for each share, uses correlations, and aims to minimise portfolio risks as far as possible on the basis of value at risk (VaR). No position may exceed 4.9% of the portfolio.The active management process aims to allow the fund to distance itself considerably from the index, and “has already been convincingly put to use” since March 2010 for an institutional fund. 10-year backtesting reveals that the VaR for such a portfolio would be an average of 50% lower than the market, with opportunities to participate in 60% of rising movements while sustaining only 30% of losses. CharacteristicsName: HANSAsmart Select EISIN code: DE000A1H44U9Front-end fee: maximum 5%Management commission: 1.84%

At a presentation to investors in London at the Merrill Lynch Conference, Michael Diekmann, chairman of the managing board at Allianz, has pointed out the highly conservative character of asset allocation at the German insurance group, with a portfolio of EUR448.4bn as of the end of June. “Debt instruments” represented EUR399.6bn of this total, or 89%, compared with EUR33.4bn, or 7% for equities, EUR8.6bn, or 2% for real estate, and the remaining EUR6.8bn in cash and other assets.The bond portfolio includes 45% AAA-rated, 14%, AA-rated, 25% A-rated and 10% BBB-rated bondfs, with unrated bonds representing 3.4%. The group states that in absolute terms, its exposure to government debt from peripheral European countries (PIGS) represents EUR7.285bn, or 1.6% of the portfolio, and a gross unrealised loss of EUR726m. Counting Italy (EUR29.16bn), unrealised losses would total a gross EUR1.44bn.Allianz also stresses that operating profit for its asset management unit in second half totalled EUR1.1bn, with an objective of EUR1.8bn-EUR2.2bn for the year as a whole. Asset management has posted net inflows of EUR34bn in January-June, and its cost/income ratio came out to 59%.

According to an annual report from Harvard Management Company, the portfolio of the Harvard University endowment in the fiscal year to 30 June earned 21.4%, and its assets totalled USD32bn. This performance is 120 basis points higher than the 20.2% returns for the benchmark, and 190 basis points higher than a portfolio of 60% equities and 40% bonds. In the past five years, annualised performance has totalled 5.5%, compared with 4.3% for the benchmark. On 10 and 20 years, it totals 9.4% and 12.9%, compared with 6.7% and 9.8% for the benchmark, respectively. In other words, the strategy adopted for the portfolio has “added” about USD15bn in value over the past ten years, compared with a traditional portfolio of 60/40 equities and bonds. As of the end of June, the portfolio was composed 48% of equities and 13% of bonds, with the remainder divided between various alternative assets (including 14% in commodities).

ProShares on Thursday, 6 October announced the launch of two ETFs investing in futures on the Vix index in the United States. The ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF brings investors 2 times the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, while the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF provides 1 time the daily performance of the index.

The coverage rate for US pension funds have fallen 7.9 percentage points in September, to 70.1%, its lowest level since 2006, when BNY Mellon Asset Management began to publish the indicator. In the month under review, assets fell 4.5%, while liabilities increased by 6.2%.

Spanish investors will be able to subscribe, with a minimum investment of EUR100,000, to the new absolute return fund Banif Inversión Flexible, which has recently been launched by Santander Asset Management. A sales license for the fund was issued by the CNMV on 29 September. The objective for the fund, which may invest in equities, bonds and money market assets without a predetermined distribution between these asset classes, will aim to outperform the Eonia by 300 basis points, with total volatility of 6% to 15%, and a VaR of 12 over 12 months. The recommended investment duration is three years. Characteristics Name: Banif Inversión Flexible, FI ISIN code: ES0114032008 Management commission: 1.3% Depository banking commission (Santander Investment): 0.1% Performance commission: 9% Minimal subscription: EUR100,000

Allfunds Bank has recruited Laurie Jacques as head of commercial development for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Jacques has served in several positions of this type, including as head of sales at Henderson and head of third-party sales at Baring Asset Management.

Russell Investments on 5 October announced the launch of four new strategy ETF funds dedicated to small caps. The new series of ETF funds includes Russell Small Cap Aggressive Growth ETF, Russell Small Cap Consistent Growth ETF, Russell Small Cap Low P/E ETF, and Russell Small Cap Contrarian ETF. With the addition of these new products, Russell now offers 21 ETF funds in the United States, and two in Australia.

The Swiss firm Naisscent Capital, based in Winterthur, has launched the first edition of its monthly “Alternative UCITS and Newcits Fund Report,” which will be free to professionals, and which catalogues over 1,000 single-manager and absolute return funds, and 100 UCITS-compliant funds of hedge funds. The 154-page document aims to become the most complete source of information for the profession. It will be available at ucitsfunds.eu, and will be financed by advertising, Luigi Amati, founding partner at Naisscent Capital, explains to Newsmanagers. The innovative tool will be a valuable one for asset management professionals and investors. As an illustration, Naisscent Capital states that since the financial crisis in 2008, launches of UCITS-compliant hedge funds have increased rapidly. 160 were created in 2009, and a record 350 in 2010. Since the beginning of this year, about 150 new products have been added to the list.The monthly document reveals that Luxembourg is the market which has attracted the most activity, with 555 funds domiciled there. Ireland is in second place, with 225 funds, followed by France, with 130. The most popular strategy is long/short equity, with 220 funds, followed by bonds (185) and equity market neutral (70), Naisscent Capital says.In terms of performance, UCITS-compliant hedge funds have limited their losses to an average of 11%, compared with 40.7% for the MSCI World index and 23.1% for the liquid offshore hedge fund index from HFR. Since the beginning of this year, the three indices have lost 4.6%, 12.2% and 8.3%, respectively.The bulletin also finds that 85% of single funds have daily liquidity, while the UCITS III directive requires at least bi-monthly liquidity.Amato says that the Alternative UCITS & Newcits Fund Report fills a gap in the market, as the universe is under-researched. The manager does not understand, for example, how a fund which Newsmanagers recently reported on has only EUR10m in assets, even though it has returns of 14.5% since the beginning of the year, volatility of 5.6%, maximal losses of 3.9%, and a track record of over 2 years – especially as it is managed by an asset management firm with assets of over USD7.5bn.

In the portion of its quarterly bulletin dedicated to “securities markets and their agents,” the CNMV reports that assets at management firms as of the end of June had fallen to EUR175.46bn, from EUR177.68bn as of the end of December (-1.24%). The most recent peak came at the end of 2006, at EUR308.48bn.Due to the decline in assets under management, the combined profits of Spanish asset management firms has fallen more sharply than assets in first quarter, down 3.82% to EUR282m.Average management commissions fell to 0.87%, from 0.91% in 2010 (they were 1.10% in 2008, and 1.18% in 2002). Commission revenues fell to EUR1.53bn from EUR1.62bn in comparable data.The regulator also states that as of the end of June 2011, there were 35 asset management firms that showed a loss, compared with 23 as of the end of December. However, total losses continued to fall, as in 2010, and were now at about half, or EUR10m in annualised terms. In addition, the CNMV reports that ROE has remained stable at about 20%.

Dans un communiqué diffusé jeudi 6 octobre, Dexia, en cours de démantèlement, annonce être entré en négociation exclusive avec un «groupement d’investisseurs internationaux» en vue de lui vendre Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), rapporte L’Agefi. L’Etat luxembourgeois entrera comme actionnaire minoritaire dans le capital de la banque et des articles de la presse belge évoquent également la présence du fonds souverain du Qatar parmi le consortium de repreneurs. Le périmètre concerné par la vente ne concerne que BIL proprement dit, c’est-à-dire les activités de banque privée, de banque commerciale et de banque de détail au Luxembourg, qui comprennent un réseau de 40 agences. Sont donc exclues RBC Dexia, la filiale de services aux investisseurs, ainsi que Dexia Asset Management (AM), dont Dexia Banque Belgique détient 49%. Le prix de 900 millions d’euros a été avancé par la presse d’outre-Quiévrain.

Le fonds souverain norvégien, le Government Pension Fund Global, dispose d’actifs pétroliers dont la valeur estimée est supérieure à celle des actifs investis à l'étranger par le fonds souverain.Selon les estimations du gouvernement norvégien, les actifs totaux dans l’industrie pétrolière s'élèvent à 4.000 milliards de couronnes norvégiennes, soit environ 510 milliards d’euros, la part de l’Etat norvégien représentant environ 3.500 milliards de couronnes norvégiennes. La valeur des investissements étrangers du fonds souverain devrait pour sa part atteindre 3.115 milliards de couronnes à fin décembre 2011 et 3.543 milliards de couronnes fin 2012. A noter que la valeur estimée des actifs pétroliers ne prend pas en compte les découvertes de l'été qui ne seront intégrées que début 2012.

La collecte des fonds moéntaires sur la plate-forme de Skandia ont plus que doublé au troisième trimestre 2011 pour représenter 12,7% de la collecte totale, rapporte Money Marketing.Les fonds d’actions représentent 18,7% de la collecte totale au troisième trimestre mais les souscriptions ont reculé de 10% par rapport au trimestre précédent.

Allfunds Bank a recruté Laurie Jaques en tant que responsable du développement commercial pour le Royaume-Uni et en Irlande. L’intéressé avait auparavant occupé un certain nombre de postes de ce type, comme responsable des ventes chez Henderson et responsable de la distribution aux tiers chez Baring Asset Management.

Philip Gibbs va quitter son poste de vice-gérant du fonds Jupiter Financial Opportunities et gérant du fonds Jupiter International Financials le 31 octobre. Il sera remplacé en tant que gérant du International Financials par Robert Mumby, qui devient aussi vice-gérant du Financial Opportunities, piloté par Guy de Blonay. Philip Gibbs va se concentrer sur ses portefeuilles à rendement absolu.

Selon le rapport annuel de Harvard Management Company, le portefeuille de la fondation (endowment) de l’Université de Harvard a affiché pour l’exercice au 30 juin une performance de 21,4 % et son encours est ressorti à 32 milliards de dollars. Cette performance est supérieure de 120 points de base aux 20,2 % de rendement de l’indicateur de référence et de 190 points de base à celle d’un portefeuille 60 % actions/40 % obligations.Sur les cinq dernières années, la performance annualisée est ressortie à 5,5 % contre 4,3 % pour le «benchmark» ; sur dix et 20 ans, elle ressort à 9,4 % et 12,9 % contre respectivement 6,7 % et 9,8 % pour l’indicateur de référence. En d’autres termes, la stratégie menée sur ce portefeuille a «ajouté» environ 15 milliards de dollars de valeurs sur les dix dernières années par rapport à un portefeuille traditionnel 60/40 actions/obligations.A fin juin, le portefeuille se composait principalement de 48 % d’actions et de 13 % d’obligations, le restant se répartissant entre diverses classes d’actifs alternatives (dont 14 % pour les matières premières).

ProShares annonce ce jeudi 6 octobre le lancement aux Etats-Unis de deux ETF sur les futures de l’indice Vix. L’ETF ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures permet d’obtenir 2 fois la performance journalière de l’indice S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, alors que l’ETF ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures permet de réaliser 1 fois la performance journalière de l’indice.

Le taux de couverture des fonds de pension américains s’est replié de 7,9 points de pourcentage en septembre à 70,1%, son plus bas niveau depuis 2006, date à laquelle BNY Mellon Asset Management a lancé la publication de cet indicateur.Durant le mois sous revue, les actifs ont diminué de 4,5% alors que les engagements augmentaient parallèlement de 6,2%.