Deutsche Börse on 6 June announced that it has admitted three Irish-registered SPDR bond ETFs from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic platform.The funds are the SPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Bond ETF (IE00B3T8LK23) and SPDR Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond ETF (IE00B459R192), both of which charge 0.20%, while the SPDR Barclays Capital US Treasury Bond ETF (IE00B44CND37), for which the total expense ratio is 0.15%.The XTF listings now include 810 ETFs.

A survey report released by RBC Dexia and KPMG predicts that hedge fund managers will continue to create EU-domiciled hedge funds to complement their Cayman Islands or other offshore offerings, but that other regulated structures were gaining popularity versus the UCITS framework.The survey challenges the notion that onshore domiciles could rival the supremacy of the Cayman Islands amongst hedge fund managers. Only a quarter (24%) of hedge fund managers said that they had already brought offshore funds onshore. Of those, more than half (55%) said they opted for co-domiciliation by creating onshore clone funds to complement their existing Cayman or other offshore offerings. Less than 5% of those with onshore funds said they had decided to transfer the domicile of their funds to the EU outright. The trend for hedge funds to create more EU regulated funds seems set to continue however, with 27% of respondents stating that they are considering doing so.The prominence of co-domiciliation could be short lived however due to uncertainty over the AIFM Directive: most hedge fund managers considering domiciling their funds in the EU said they would do so before the implementation of the AIFM Directive in 2013, and fully 69% of them said they were considering doing so by transferring the domicile of their existing funds to the EU.The research also shows that the UCITS framework, which some respondents said was an effective marketing tool to stem outflows during the financial crisis, has lost some of its appeal amongst hedge fund managers. Indeed, whereas those polled were just as likely to set up UCITS funds as other regulated structures, such as Irish QIFs and Luxembourg SIFs, in the past, 77% of those considering creating an onshore structure in the future now say they would prefer QIFs and SIFs instead.

With the Smart-ISH fund (with the letters standing for Smart, and SpanISH), Abante Asesores on Monday unveiled a fund which will invest in up to 20 funds or Sicavs from the best Spanish managers, whose volume will be limited to EUR20m, Cinco Días reports. The objective will be to generate similar returns to those to be had from equities.Each position will represent between 4% and 8% of total assets, in funds half of which may not exceed EUR40m in assets. Management commission is 1.25%, and performance commission is 9%.Abante has already selected nearly 60 signature products, and is planning to select a total of 100 to create an investment universe. Among the star managers on the list (and whom Abante prefers to see invested personally in their funds) are Francisco Paramés (Bestinver), Gonzalo Lardiés (BPA Global Funds), Ricard Torrella (Gesinter), Alberto Espelosín (Ibercaja Gestión), Juan Antonio Bertrán (Cartesio), Ignacio Cantos (Atlas Capital) and Alfonso de Gregorio (Gesconsult). However, José Ramón Iturriaga, manager of the Okavango Delta fund, has not been chosen, since he manages for his own company, which could create conflicts of interest.

Skandia Investment Group (SIG), the investment management arm of Old Mutual Wealth Management, has appointed Steve Wilson and Glenn Sussman of Lapides Asset Management to run a GBP45m US mid-cap value mandate in its flagship Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund. Lapides’ addition to the fund sees them taking over a portion of the portfolio previously managed by Epoch Investment Partners.The Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund, managed by Francois Zagame, has over GBP1bn of assets and aims to provide long-term capital growth predominantly through investment in global equities.

At a hearing before a Manhattan federal court, Eric S. Lipkin, a former employee of Bernard Madoff, confessed to falsifying documents submitted to the SEC in relation to the trading positions of some Madoff clients. In addition, the Wall Street Journal reports, Lipkin admitted to fraudulently declaring people as employees of Madoff who were not employed by him, so that they would be eligible for 401(k) retirement savings plans. These included the son of Daniel Bonventre, Madoff’s former COO.However, Lipkin made no admissions as to whether he knew about the fraud perpetrated by his employer.

In the past ten days, Funds People reports, nine Spanish management firms have merged 43 funds into only 15 products. Ahorro Corporación has merged 13 products to create five; Banesto merged five into one, and Santander, four into one. BNP Paribas Investment Partners has merged two products into one; Invercaixa has merged three into one, as has Ibercaja, while A&G Fondos has merged four funds into two, and Renta 4 Gestora has transformed a Sicav into a fund, while Espiritu Santo has merged seven funds into two.

East Capital, asset manager specialising in Eastern Europe and China, is strengthening its advisory committees by appointing three new advisors:• Al Breach, an expert on global emerging markets with a long research background as an economist at UBS and Goldman Sachs;• Torbjörn Becker, an expert on Eastern European economies and currently Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) at the Stockholm School of Economics;• Christer Ljungwall, an expert on China development, specialising on growth, institutions, regional development, financial stability and China’s banking system.

As a result of poor performance during the financial crisis, sovereign funds now prefer direct investment, rather than through third-party asset managers, according to a report by Monitor cited by the Financial Times. Meanwhile, the size of these direct investments has shrunk. Before 2008, sovereign funds rarely invested less than USD100m in a business. Now, there are many deals in the USD20m-USD60m range.

On 6 June, FTSE Group announced that it has signed a partnership with Tobam which will result in the inclusion of the “maximum diversification” (MaxDiv) range of indices from the Paris-based firm in the range of indices not weighted by cap size from the FTSE group. The Tobam indices offer investors an approach which may avoid concentration risks that cap-weighted strategies are subject to. Assets in “Anti-Benchmark” funds from Tobiam total USD1.8bn, and Yves Choueifaty, chairman, says that assets under management at the firm have increased by more than 30% since the beginning of the year.

State Street Corporation on Monday, 6 June announced that it has appointed Isabelle Brancart as head of sales and client relations for the Swiss market. Brancart will direct the sales and client account management teams for Switzerland. Before joining the State Street teams, Brancart served as sales manager for securities services in Western Europe in the global banking transactions division of Deutsche Bank.

The small caps fund Métropole Avenir Europe (ISIN code: FR0007078829), with assets as of the end of May of EUR91.8bn, has received a sales license for Germany from the German federal financial services supervisory authority (BaFin).Eric Boutchnei, deputy CEO of Métropole Gestion, has told Newsmanagers that total assets at the Paris-based asset management firm come to about EUR2.7bn, and that Avenir Europe is the fifth fund of the range to receive a sales license for Germany, following the Sélection, Euro, France and Frontière Europe funds. Since its launch, Avenir Europe has posted average annual returns of 10.6%.

Peter Cieszko will be joining American Century Investments as its senior vice president for North America, a newly-created position, “later this summer.” The Kansas City-based management firm says that the new arrival will be responsible for institutional clients and North American intermediation. He will report to Michael Green, head of global client relationships. Cieszko left his position at Fidelity Investment Institutional Services Company (FIIS) in January, and has not been replaced since then, while Scott Couto, executive vice president and head of investment production management, marketing and investor consulting services, handles those responsibilities in the interim.

The US management firm Prudential Financial has recruited Kathryn Sayko has managing director of its Strategic Solution division, which offers a range of services for institutional clients of the asset management firm. Sayko previously worked at J.P. Morgan, where she provided investment banking services to professional clients of the bank.

Olivier Maestracci today joined Financière de l’Echiquier, where he will take over as head of the team dedicated to institutional client segment development, which has fuor members. The former director of studies and research at Europerformance, and later head of institutional clients at Bfinance, Maestracci previously served as head of sales at Invesco Asset Management. The recruitment is a sign of a desire on the part of Financière de l’Echiquier to develop its presence serving institutional investors, multi-managers and private bankers, who now represent over 40% of the management firm’s total assets (about EUR2.5bn), a statement says, confirming the strategy recently described by Stéphane Toullieux, CEO of the firm, to Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 02/05/2011).

Olivier Maestracci today joined Financière de l’Echiquier, where he will take over as head of the team dedicated to institutional client segment development, which has fuor members. The former director of studies and research at Europerformance, and later head of institutional clients at bfinance, Maestracci previously served as head of sales at Invesco Asset Management.The recruitment is a sign of a desire on the part of Financière de l’Echiquier to develop its presence serving institutional investors, multi-managers and private bankers, who now represent over 40% of the management firm’s total assets (about EUR2.5bn), a statement says, confirming the strategy recently described by Stéphane Toullieux, CEO of the firm, to Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 02/05/2011).

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pimco lost more than USD3.4bn on investments in bonds from Lehman just before its bankruptcy. In September 2008, Pimco held more than USD4.5bn in senior bonds from the bank. Bill Gross, the star Pimco manager, was 100% certain that Lehman would avoid bankruptcy. However, for 2008, the Pimco Total Return fund earned returns of 4.32%.

According to an agreement signed on June 1st, 2011, SwissLife Banque Privée has bought a 25% stake in the French asset manager Prigest. This is supposed to be a first step on the way to a merger into a single private bank. Taken together the two entities show about EUR4bn in AUM, mostly from private clients.Christian Cambier remains chairman of Prigest, the fund management company he founded almost 30 years ago. The deal aims to develop a range of funds combining both companies’ know-how. For Swiss Life Banque Privée, this acquisition fits into its development strategy to become an important player on the French private banking scene. The Prigest range enables it to acquire products that complement its own ones, especially in the field of equity fund management.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) is creating “The Selection Specialists,” a blog edited by its multi-management team (available at www.swip.com/selectionspecialists). The members of the team will share their points of view on the site about asset allocation, fund selection, and the markets.

Threadneedle announced on Monday, 6 June that it has appointed two specialists to its emerging markets equities team. Georgina Hellyer, who previously served as a technical and commodities analyst in the emerging markets and Asia equities team at Aviva Investors, is joining Threadneedle as a global emerging markets analyst. Ilan Furman will be joining Threadneedle as an analyst for Latin American markets, from 1 August this year. He was previously a member of the emerging markets equities team specialised in Latin America at Pictet. Both will also be made members of the Asia (ex Japan) equities and emerging markets team, led by Vanessa Donegan, with 10 professionals based in London. The team has more than GBP6.1bn in assets under management.

Jusqu’au 17 août 2011, la plateforme dédiée aux conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants Vie Plus (filiale de Suravenir) propose Federal Option 5, un instrument financier non garanti en capital et soumis au risque de défaut de Société Générale en reposant sur un EMTN émis par la banque. La performance du fonds est indexé à l’indice de référence de la zone Euro, l’Euro Stoxx 50®, hors dividendes.A l’issue des 5 premières années, si l’indice a baissé de plus de 40 %, l’investisseur subi une perte en capital à concurrence de la baisse constatée.En cas de baisse de l’indice inférieure à 40 %, le souscripteur bénéficie d’un protection à condition d’accepter une limitation de ses gains. Si la performance de l’indice est supérieure ou égale à 0, l’investisseur est remboursé de l’intégralité de son capital net investi majoré de 50 % (soit un taux de rendement annuel (TRI) de 6,2% sur 8 ans avec une hypothèse de rémunération annuelle égale à 2,6% entre l’année 5 et 8). En effet, à compter de la cinquième année, la valeur retenue du produit à cette date est placée sur des instruments monétaires et ce jusqu'à la huitième année. Federal Option 5 possède également un mécanisme de remboursement anticipé, activé sous certaines conditions. Cependant, l’investisseur ne connaît pas à l’avance la durée exacte de son investissement qui peut varier de 1 an à 8 ans. De l’année 1 à 4, un mécanisme de remboursement anticipé est activé si à l’une des dates de constatation annuelle pré-définies, l’Euro Stoxx 50® est stable ou en hausse depuis l’origine. Le client est remboursé de l’intégralité de son capital net investi majoré d’un gain de 10 % par année écoulée depuis le lancement (soit un TRI maximum de 9,4%). Caractéristiques : Type : EMTN de droit françaisEmetteur : SG Option Europe Code Isin : FR0011034628Valeur nominale : 1 000 euros Date d'échéance : 19/08/2019 Durée de placement recommandée : 8 ans maximum Produit exclusivement disponible au sein des contrats Patrimoine Vie Plus et Capitalisation Vie Plus

Les six fonds d’obligations d’entreprises gérés par Sparinvest (9,67 milliards d’euros fin avril) avec une approche value ont désormais franchi le milliards d’euros d’encours, annonce le gestionnaire danois. Les deux principaux produits sont le Sparinvest Emerging Markets Corporate Value Bonds qui a été commercialisé depuis septembre 2010 et qui a déjà drainé 100 millions d’euros, et le Sparinvest High Yield Value Bonds, qui atteint à présent les 740 millions d’euros.

Selon L’Agefi, un juge des faillites new-yorkais a estimé que Barclays, qui a acquis le courtage nord-américain de la banque d’investissement Lehman Brothers, était redevable au liquidateur de 2 milliards de dollars d’appels de marge. Barclays fera appel du jugement, note le quotidien.

Chris Rothery et Andrew Keirle, qui gèrent depuis 2007 le compartiment Emerging Local markets Bond Fund de la sicav T. Rowe Price Funds pour des investisseurs institutionnels internationaux, ont été désignés pour gérer le nouveau T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund, qui investira au moins 80 % de son encours dans des obligations de pays émergents libellées en monnaies locales.Il s’agira principalement d'émissions souveraines de plus d’une quinzaine de pays d’Europe, d’Asie, d’amérique latine, du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique, avec une duration approximative de 4-5 ans et un rendement moyen à échéance d’environ 6,4 %. Plus de 70 % des titres en portefeuille seront de catégorie investissement (investment grade).Le gestionnaire indique que la souscription minimale initiale est fixée à 2.500 dollars (et à 1.000 dollars pour la classe de parts «advisor»). Tandis que le taux net de frais sur encours se situé à 1,10 % (1,20 pour l’advisor class).

Peter Cieszko rejoindra American Century Investments «plus tard, cet été» selon les termes de la société de gestion, où il occupera le poste de senior vice president, North America, un poste nouvellement créé en l’occurence. Le gestionnaire de Kansas City précise que le nouvel arrivant sera responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle et d’intermédiation nord-américaine. Il sera subordonné à Michael Green, head of global client relationships.Peter Cieszko a quitté son poste de president de Fidelity Investment Institutional Services Company (FIIS) en janvier, où il n’est toujours pas remplacé, l’intérim étant assuré par Scott Couto, executive vice president et head of investment production mangement, marketing & investor consulting services.

L’américain Prudential Financial a recruté Kathryn Sayko au poste de managing director de sa division Strategic Solution, qui offre une gamme de services dédiés à la clientèle institutionnelle de l’asset manager. L’intéressée travaillait jusqu'à présent chez J.P. Morgan, où elle fournissait des services de banque d’investissement à la clientèle professionnelle de la banque.

Solveig Gas Norway AS a acheté à Statoil pour 17,35 milliards de couronnes norvégiennes ou 2,2 milliards d’euros une participation de 24,1 % dans le réseau de transport de gaz en eau profonde Gassled, annonce Allianz Capital Partners (ACP).Cette filiale de l’allemand Allianz spécialiste du capital-investissement détient 30 % de Solveig Gas Norway, dont le Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) possède 45 % tandis qu’Infinity Investments SA, filiale de l’Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) détient le reliquat de 25 %.Gassled achemine le gaz de Mer du Nord des gisements du plateau continental jusqu'à l’Europe continentale et à la Grande-Bretagne.

East Capital, société de gestion suédoise dédiée aux marchés émergents, vient de nommer trois nouveaux conseillers pour son comité d’experts (advisory committee). Il s’agit d’Al Breach, spécialiste des marchés émergents, qui a notamment été économiste au sein d’UBS et de Goldman Sachs ; de Torbjörn Becker, spécialiste des économies d’Europe de l’Est, actuel directeur du Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) à la Stockholm School of Economics ; et de Christer Ljungwall, spécialiste du développement chinois.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a annoncé la nomination de Mathilde Guérin au poste de responsable du réseau de sous-dépositaires. Elle remplace Paola Deantoni, appelée à prendre de nouvelles fonctions au sein de SGSS. Mathilde Guérin sera basée à Londres et reportera au comité de direction de SGSS. «Elle aura la responsabilité de gérer le réseau des sous-dépositaires de SGSS, et de proposer des solutions à haute valeur ajoutée, afin de répondre aux exigences des clients, notamment dans les domaines de la protection des actifs et de la veille des marchés», indique un communiqué.Auparavant, Mathilde Guérin a notamment participé à l’analyse de tous les aspects informatiques et opérationnels de l’acquisition par SGSS du métier titres d’UniCredit. A partir de 2005, elle a été nommée responsable du projet de la migration des fonds luxembourgeois de Pioneer Asset Management. Depuis 2008, Mathilde Guérin était responsable international de la relation avec Pioneer Asset Management.

Bernheim, Dreyfus & Co. a annoncé ce lundi 6 juin le lancement de Diva Synergy, un FCP de droit français coordonné au format UCITS à liquidité quotidienne dont la stratégie «event driven» s’articule autour du thème d’investissement des fusions/acquisitions. Il s’agit en fait d’une version «onshore» d’un produit de droit étranger, géré depuis cinq ans par Lionel Melka, Amit Shabi et Sébastien Dettmar, co-fondateurs de Bernheim, Dreyfus & Co. Pour la société de gestion parisienne spécialisée dans la stratégie alternative de l’event driven, qui a reçu son agrément AMF en 2009, ce lancement est «une réponse à la forte demande de la part d’une clientèle française et européenne, qui souhaite avoir accès à des produits règlementés», explique Amit Shabi. Le fonds Diva Synergy, qui regroupe une cinquantaine de titres cotés en Europe et en Amérique du Nord, s’adresse principalement aux institutionnels européens, mais également aux banques privées et aux particuliers haut de gamme. Bernheim, Dreyfus & Co gère aujourd’hui 250 millions de dollars dans des mandats de gestion, de conseil et dans le fonds «offshore». La version UCITS de Diva Synergy débute son existence avec une promesse de souscription de 10 millions d’euros. Confiant, Amit Shabi vise au premier anniversaire du fonds un encours de 100 millions de dollars. Pour cela, la maison compte se focaliser sur son développement. Le fonds devrait ainsi être proposé très prochainement sur différentes plateformes d’assurance vie. En outre, la société de gestion, qui a récemment annoncé l’arrivée d’une personne au sein de son équipe opérationnelle, en charge notamment de la gestion du risque (voir NewsManagers du 10/05/2011), prévoit d’autres recrutements. Elle devrait ainsi bientôt accueillir une personne en charge du développement commercial en France et en Europe. Enfin, concernant la gamme, un nouveau fonds devrait voir le jour à la rentrée. «Il s’agira probablement d’une autre déclinaison de la stratégie event driven», précise Amit Shabi.Caractéristiques de Diva Synergy : Codes Isin : Institutionnels : classe A en euros (FR0011042514)/classe B en dollars (FR0011042316)Retail : classe E en euros (FR0011042472)/ classe M en dollars (FR0011042498)Investissement minimum : 100.000 euros ou dollars pour les parts institutionnelles/100 euros ou dollars pour les parts retail.Frais de souscription : 2 % pour les parts institutionnelles/2,5 % pour les parts retailFrais de gestion : 2 % pour les parts institutionnelles + 20 % de commission de surperformance au dessus de l’Eonia/ 2,5 % pour les parts retail + 20 % de commission de surperformance au dessus de l’Eonia.

La société d’investissement Eurazeo achète 45% du groupe de prêt-à-porter pour 418 millions d’euros, une semaine après le feu vert des autorités pour une cotation à Milan, rapporte L’Agefi. La participation de Carlyle tombera de 48% à 17,8%.