Prudential a décidé de fusionner 17 de ses fonds, des «unit trusts», avec des fonds de M&G dans le courant de l’année prochaine, rapporte Fund Web. Le mois dernier, Prudential avait déjà fusionné cinq unit trusts avec leurs contreparties chez M&G.Cette vague de fusions vise à bien séparer l’assurance du retail. La marque Prudential devrait se concentrer sur les fonds multi-classes d’actifs alors que M&G devrait promouvoir tant les fonds multi-classes d’actifs que les fonds dédiés à une seule classe d’actifs. Une nouvelle série de fusions, non encore arrêtées, devrait être annoncée courant octobre.
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) a décidé la fermeture de cinq fonds dans le cadre d’un examen plus large de son offre en actions internationales, rapporte Fund Web.Le Pan European Equity (10,5 millions de livres), le Pan European SRI Equity (14,7 millions de livres) et le Asian Equity (15,2 millions de livres) ferment à la suite de rachats demandés par des institutionnels ayant revu leur allocation dans ces véhicules. Ces rachats vont réduire de façon substantielle la valeur nette d’actif des fonds, de ce fait plus vraiment viable sur le plan commercial. Swip ferme également le Japanese smaller Companies (13 millions de livres) et le US Smaller Companies (25,5 millions de livres).
La WGZ Bank Luxembourg a fusionné le 15 juin avec DZ Privatbank SA et le patron de l’activité banque dépositaire de WGZ, Joachim Wilbois, a été nommé co-directeur général de la société de gestion IP Concept Fund Management, filiale de DZ Privatbank, où il sera l’alter ego de Nikolaus Rummler.Le nouvel arrivant remplace Matthias Schirpke, qui retourne à la DZ Privatbank comme responsable de la division fonds d’investissement.
As the amLeague championship turns one year old, Antoine Briant, themind behind it, discusses the reasons for the net differences in
performance between various management firms competing for the title in
the hopes of winning over institutional investors belonging to the
amLeague club. Only affiliates of major French banks are still missing
from the competition, even though Briant predicts that they will
eventually enter it, as some other major establishments have already done.
The Austrian city of Hartberg is seeking EUR457,000 in damages from Stefan Sapotocky and Peter Fischer, former CEOs of Alpha Prime Funds, Fondsprofessionell reports. The criminal case, filed in the Vienna courts, also names the Viennese lawyer Christian Hausmaniger, and accuses the defendants of failing to undertake the necessary due diligence. The plaintiff claims that Alpha Prime Funds passed nearly all of its assets to Madoff without adequate analysis.
According to Italian financial sector sources, the US asset management firm Amber Capital has recently acquired two blocks of shares in subscription rights to new shares in Fondiara Sai, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports.Following the capital increase, Amber Capital is expected to control about 3.5% of capital in the insurance company, making it the third-largest shareholder after Premafin (41%) and UniCredit (6.6%).Amber Capital already holds stakes of under 2% in Italian businesses valued at a total of EUR426.7m, including investments in Iride, Cofide and Banca Popolare di Milano.
With the recruitment of Sophie del Campo as CEO of Natixis Global Associates in Spain, Natixis Global Asset Management has added a big name to its European distribution personnel. Del Campo, who will now report to Hervé Guinamant, chairman and CEO of Natixis Global Associates International, will oversee commercial strategy and marketing for Spain and Portugal, and will assist with strategic development in Latin America. Del Campo has left Pioneer Investments, where she was head of Iberian operations, and previously worked in the Spanish arm of Crédit Agricole Asset Management.Christian Rouquerol, who has been head of distribution for Spain and Portugal at Amundi Iberia, will become head of sales at Natixis Global AM for the Iberian peninsula.
On 1 July, Jaime Echegoyen, CEO of the Barclays retail bank in Spain (Barclays Global Retail Banking España), and Juan Alcaraz, CEO of Allfunds Bank, have signed a cooperation agreement which will allow Barclays to offer a range of products and services from the Allfunds fund distribution platform as part of its new discretionary fund portfolio management service for clients of Barclays Gestión de Carteras Premier.
Cinco Días analyses the composition of the Smart-ISH d’Abante Asesores fund (see Newsmanagers of 7 and 29 June), concluding that the unstated objective is to generate annualised returns of 10%. The paper states that the selection does not aim to construct a balanced portfolio, but rather to have “a slightly aggressive slant.” The article goes on to list the various funds selected, and the qualities of each, as perceived by Ángel Olea, chief investment officer at Abante.
For the third month in a row, Spanish securities funds have seen net redemptions estimated at EUR960m in May, compared with EUR973m in April, according to statistics from Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms. Total assets have fallen by 1.4% in one month, to a total as of the end of May of EUR135.325bn, compared with EUR137.813bn as of 30 April, and EUR139.017bn as of the end of March.The top seven Spanish asset management firms by asset volumes all saw net outflows in May. This was the case at Invercaixa Gestión (third in the rankings, with EUR16.34bn), which has seen net outflows of EUR269.26m, and at Santander Asset Management, top of the rankings with EUR22.75bn in assets under management, with EUR248.35m in net redemptions. At BBVA Asset Management, number two in the rankings, with EUR20.93bn, net outflows in May totalled EUR162.61m.
The British management firm F&C has decided to place open-ended funds and investment trusts under the responsibility of Charlie Porter, who is already responsible for the former, Fund Web reports. Ed Morse will take up the newly-created position of head of development for activities related to investment trusts, while Mike Woodward will remain in his position as head of the unit dedicated to investment trusts.
Very soon, F&C will choose a subcontractor from two final candidates, to receive administrative funds at a price which will depend on assets under management and the size of transactions. The arrangement will result in annual savings of GBP12m, of which GBP9m will be the result of restructuring, and GBP3m from reductions in rental costs associated with staff reductions, the firm announced on 1 July.The outsourcing agreement will affect about 110 people, 70% of administrative personnel (thus not affecting investment, distribution or customer service). A significant portion of these personnel will be transferred to the subcontracting firm.The reshuffle arises from a desire on the part of F&C to diversify and to extend its activities beyond its historic base of insurance mandates, says CEO Alain Grisay.
Funds People reports that Isabel Ortega, who joined Alken Asset Management in 2007, has been appointed as global head of sales, and on 1 July became a partner at the management firm, joining Nicolas Walewski, Antoine Badel and Marc Festa. Festa has recently been appointed as co-head of strategy.
Handelsblatt reports that in an interview with Reuters Insiders TV, Chris Hofmann, global head of ETF distribution at UniCredit, says she is afraid that there will be a massive exodus of subscribers in synthetic replication ETF funds, following the recent decision of Evercore Pan-Asset Capital Management to divest from all products of this type in favour of physical replication ETFs, in a move which could spread. Hofmann claims that the providers concerned have not adequately responded to criticisms, and that they are continuing to use the same marketing forumulas as before, as if nothing had happened.Hofmann hopes that the sector will adopt common standards, particularly involving revealing the names and risks of swap counterparties, as well as the identities of counterparties in securities lending. Providers should also clearly state the nature of the collateral, as well as the use which is made of additional gains from swaps and securities lending.
Some hedge funds which are emblematic of the sector have been losing money since the beginning of this year, particularly in the global macro strategy, which is facing an unusual and unstable conjuncture and environment, Les Echos reports. In the first five months of the year, global macro has lost an average of 1.5%, according to the Edhec-Risk Alternative indices, making it one of the three worst performers among the major alternative strategies.
At a presentation in Paris on 1 July, Mark Mobius, a star manager at Franklin Templeton, announced that since the beginning of the year, Templeton Emerging Markets Group alone (excluding assets in other divisions of the group) has posted inflows of about USD20m per day.Assets now total about USD54bn, of which 60% are in Asia (11% in India), and 15% in Latin America (with 11 points for Brazil). Southern Europe and Africa each represent 2% of the portfolio, while the Middle East represents 1%.Client inflows have largely gone to China funds, while the corresponding sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav had about USD2.36bn in AUM as of the end of May, followed by the Asia fund (USD17.93bn), global emerging markets (USD1.31bn), and the frontier markets fund (USD1.13bn).Mobius also states that the turnover rates for portfolios from the group are very low, at under 20%.
The UBS CMCI Bloomberg agricultural index, with rolling optimisation at constant maturity horizons of 3, 6 and 12 months, two years, and five years, will be used as the underlying for six new Irish-registered ETF funds denominated in Swiss francs, euros and US dollars, which UBS ETF plc added to trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange on 27 June.Three of the products (UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF A acc CHF, UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF A acc EUR and UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF A acc USD) charge fees of 0.60%, while three others (UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF I acc CHF, UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF I acc EUR et UBS ETFs plc - CMCI Agriculture SF I acc USD) charge management commissions of 0.45%.UBS has also launched the emerging markets funds UBS ETFs plc - MSCI Emerging Markets TRN Index SF USD-A, which charges 0.60%, and UBS ETFs plc - MSCI Emerging Markets TRN Index SF USD-I, with fees of 0.45%.
Mediolanum International Funds has registered eight classes of shares in the Irish-registered fund Mediolanum Coupon Strategy Collection, the eighth product of its Best Brands range, with the CNMV. The product will be available in Spain from Banco de Finanzas e Inversiones.The fund is a flexible product, which invests in income funds, and will will pay out a half-yearly dividend. Initially, the portfolio, composed of products from the world’s largest management firms, will invest 75% in equities funds, 15% in high yield funds, and 10% in real estate funds.In its prospectus, Banca Mediolanum names 23 partner management firms: Aberdeen AllianceBernstein, Axa IM, BlackRock, BNY Mellon AM, DWS Investments, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs AM, Henderson, ING IM, Invesco, JP Morgan AM, M&G, MFS IM, Morgan Stanley, Natixis Global Associates, Pictet, Pimco, RCM, Schroders, T. Rowe Price and UBS.The fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in equities, and up to 30% in real estate, convertible bonds, high yield, government or corporate bonds, or cash.Backtesting reveals that in the years 2007-2010, the strategy would have generated average annual dividend returns of 5.68%.
The CNMV has issued a sales license to the absolute return bond fund Thames River Global High Yield Bond Fund, from the British asset management firm F&C (see Newsmanagers of 28 March), Funds People reports. The UCITS-compliant product with 30 positions, launched in May, is overweight on European high yield bond issues. The performance objective is 10%, with ex ante volatility of 10-12%.Minimal subscription is GBP10,000/EUR10,000/USD10,000 for the retail share class, and GBP/EUR/USD10m for the institutional share class. Management commission is 1.5% for retail shares, and 1% for institutional shares, in addition to which there is a performance commission with a hurdle rate and high watermark.
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has decided to close five funds as part of a larger reexamination of its international equities range, Fund Web reports. The Pan European Equity fund (GBP10.5m), the Pan European SRI Equity (GBP14.7m), and the Asian Equity (GBP15.2m) will be closing, following redemptions requested by institutionals revising their allocations to these vehicles. The redemptions will substantially reduce the net asset value of the funds, making them no longer truly commercially viable. SWIP is also closing the Japanese Smaller Companies (GBP13m) and the US Smaller Companies (GBP25.5m).
Prudential has decided to merge 17 of its unit trusts with M&G funds during the coming year, Fund Web reports. Last month, Prudential already merged five unit trusts into their M&G fund counterparts. The wave of mergers aims to create a separation between insurance and retail activities. The Prudential brand will concentrate on multi-asset class funds, while M&G will promote multi-asset class funds as well as funds dedicated to a single asset class. Another series of mergers will be announced during the month of October.
UBS Global Asset Management has received a sales license for Germany for the Energy sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav UBS (Lux) Equity, launched on 13 May. The product will be managed by portfolio manager James McLellan, who will prefer businesses in the drilling equipment and oil services segment (National Oilwell Varco, Baker Hughes, ENSCO and Drill-Quip) over integrated groups. In addition, the fund will bet on businesses such as Ultra Petroleum, QEP and Williams, which are active in the exploitation of natural gas deposits in North America. For diversification, the manager will select businesses which invest in renewable energies.The objective of the fund is to outperform the MSCI World Energy index by 250 basis points.CharacteristicsName: UBS (Lux) Equity Sicav – Energy (USD) P-accISIN code: LU0622290632Front-end fee: 6%All-in fee: 1.80%Exit fee: 2%
The Frankfurt-based asset management firm Veritas Investment Trust has announced the launch of the German-registered funds ETF-Dachfonds Emerging Markets Plus Money and ETF-Dachfonds Quant on 1 July. According to the specialist management firm, as the names of the funds indicate, they are ETF products.The first of these funds invests actively (0% to 100% equities) in the most promising emerging markets, with volatility about half the level of the MSCI Emerging Markets index.The Quant fund invests solely in equities and commodities markets, which are expected to rise sustainably through the use of a high level of portfolio diversification, with an equally-weighted portfolio of 20 positions (18 equities funds, 2 commodities funds). Markus Kaiser, CEO and CIO, says that the two new products are managed according to a trend-following model developed internally, with weekly updates to the portfolio, on the basis of data from the previous week.CharacteristicsName: ETF-Dachfonds Emerging Markets Plus MoneyISIN code: DE0009763326Front-end fee: 4%Management commission: 1.5%Performance commission: 15% on performance exceeding 7%Sales license: Germany, Austria, FranceName: ETF-Dachfonds QuantISIN code: DE0005561625Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%Performance commission: 15% on performance exceeding 5%Sales license: Germany, Austria
Burton Malkiel, who has been well-known in the financial sector since the first publication of his work, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” in 1973, and for new sequels to that work every four years since that time, is continuing on that path. Despite the development of passive management and ETFs, Malkiel estimates that there are still too many active managers, Financial News reports. The Princeton economics professor claims that the optimal level of passive management is about three quarters of the management market, and that the “core of a portfolio should be passively managed. In the United States, only one quarter to one third of funds are passively managed,” Malkiel says.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that the French asset management firms Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) and Rothschild & Cie Gestion have both recently initiated assaults on the German market.EDRAM (EUR14bn in AUM) has chosen the more costly option of an office in Frankfurt, in the Opern Turm, with two CEOs (Rupert Hengstler, former CEO of Oppenheim KAG, and Stefan Zayer) and contracting a communications agency.Rothschild & Cie Gestion (EUR22.4bn), meanwhile, has opted for a lower-profile option, without a local office, and a distribution agreement with max.xs.The newspaper reports that people at both firms careful avoid to speak about competition from the family’s other entity.
In August, the Sal. Oppenheim private bank (Deutsche Bank group) will open its tenth branch office in Germany, in Hanover. It will be led by Michael Jänsch, who has been recruited along with his entire team from Credit Suisse in the capital city of the Lower Saxony region, and who began work at his new employer on 1 July.
According to a survey by RBC Dexia Investor Services, Luxembourg, since 1 January 2011, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Ireland will be the four major European markets to have met deadlines to transpose the UCITS IV directive into law by 1 July 2012.Soon thereafter, they will be followed by Spain, which has begun an urgent process to pass a bill approved by the Council of ministers on 20 April, and Switzerland, which will follow on 15 July, even though it is not a member state of the European Union.Three other countries lag behind; France, Italy, and Belgium.
The independent management firm Sycomore Asset Management on 1 July announced that Olivier Mollé has joined its long/short team as manager of the Long/Short Conservative fund, which has been renamed as Sycomore Long/Short Market Neutral. Mollé previously worked at Neuflize OBC Investissements, where he had managed the NOBC Europe L/S fund since 2009. Mollé will continue this management strategy, which aims to generate absolute returns by profiting from differences in performance between equities in a single sector, and systematically hedging its residual exposure with rigorous management of market risk. He will be assisted by the management team at Sycomore Asset Management with fundamental analysis, and the internal decision-making tool SycoValo. The fund, which offers daily liquidity, will invest in a universe of 300 Euro zone equities. The fund, which offers daily liquidity, will invest in a universe of 300 Euro zone stocks. Assets under management at Sycomore AM total over EUR2bn.
Prudential Real Estate Investors on 30 June announced that it has recruited David Skinner as head of development for companies in the 401(k) type defined-contribution pension fund sector. Skinner previously worked at JP Morgan, where he was head of distribution and sales for defined-contribution products to institutionals.