p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German BVI association of management firms on 21 March announced the appointment of Rolf Drees as director of media and communication, effective from 1 August 2011, replacing Andreas Fink, who died in December of a heart attack, aged 47. Drees remains head of research and communication for capital markets at WGZ Bank. He previously spent 14 years at Union Investment.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Munich-based asset management firm BayernInvest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BayernLB, has announced that it finished 2010 with record assets of EUR33.1bn, compared with EUR29.4bn one year earlier, largely due to an increase of 13.1% in assets in institutional funds, to EUR26.2bn.Profits before transfer to the parent company increased 54%, also to a record level, though figures have not been disclosed.In 2011, BayernInvest is planning to develop its two main activities, asset management and Master-KAG services (fund administration and accounting for third parties), and also to enter the family office and multi-management markets.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rob Lay, head of distribution for the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East at Barings, has been recruited as head of distribution partnerships for Europe and the Middle East at UBS Global Asset Management, effective from 1 March. He is based in London, and reports to Tim Blackwell, head of Europe. He will be in charge of development of wholesale distribution in Europe and the Middle East.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Edhec Risk Institute has announced the appointment of three new members of its international consulting committee. They are Tomas Franzen, chief investment strategist at AP2 – Andra AP-fonden, Jaap van Dam, managing director in charge of investment strategy at PGGM, and Stuart Lewis, chief credit officer and deputy chief risk officer at Deutsche Bank.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The management firm Tikehau Investment Management (Tim) announced on Monday, 21 March, that Fabrice Damien will be arriving in the next few weeks as a partner at Groupe Tikehau. Damien will strengthen TIM’s presence in credit and Private Debt activities in particular, a statement says. Damien, 34, was previously Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in charge of corporate and leverage finance activities in France.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the fiscal year ending on 31 December 2010, Nuveen Investments has announced an adjusted EBITDA of USD470.75bn, compared with USD379.73m. As of 31 December, assets totalled Usd196.98bn, compared with USD144.8bn twelve months earlier, due to USD27bn in asset acquisitions, USD13.56bn in net subscriptions, and USD11.44bn in positive market effects.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bruno Bernard, who was director of commercial development at Pastel & Associés, has left the management firm. His clients will be taken over by Patrick Delaroque. Meanwhile, Valérie Salomon has joined the business to handle institutionals.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The investment advising firm Mercer has added to its expertise in sustainable development with the recruitment of Richard Fuller, previously senior investment analyst at Hesta Super Fund, with about AUD16bn, or about EUR11bn, in assets under management, Responsible Investor reports. Mercer has also recruited Ryan Police, who previously worked as a manager at the UN PRI.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } MarketRiders has launched an energy hedge fund comprised 100% of ETFs, aimed at investors seeking to protect themselves against rising energy prices, Hedgeweek reports. The MarketRiders Energy Hedge Portfolio, which includes over 300 shares affected by oil and gas prices, offers wider diversification in the energy sector, at about 5%, compared with an average of 1.5% for mutual funds investing in energy.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a report on fees of Italian funds, undertaken by Plus24 with Interactive Data InvestOnline, asset management firms pay an increasingly large proportion of their revenues to distributors. In 2010, of EUR2bn in management fees, more htan EUR1.6bn were paid to distribution networks, which are often the owners of asset management companies. That represents 80%, a strong increased over the 71.4% observed in 2009 and 73.1% in 2008. Among the most generous with their distributors are asset management firms controlled by banks, the Italian weekly newsmagazine observes. Eurizon Capital, which is owned by Intesa Sanpaolo, pays an average of 82.4% of fees taken in, with peaks at 91.7% for some products. Amundi, for its part, takes the first three places in the rankings for highest proportion of commissions paid to networks in terms of products: 92.55% for the Amundi Pacific Equity fund, 92.11% for Amundi USA Equity, and 91.94% for Amundi Global Emerging Equity.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in Financial News, the Italian central bank, Banca d’Italia, has made an attempt to block the sale of Pioneer, the asset management firm of the UniCredit group, to a foreign group. It has proposed that the founders of UniCredit, who are shareholders with only a 12% stake in the bank, but have significant influence, should support the merger of Pioneer with Eurizon Capital, an affiliate of Intesa Sanpaolo.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aviva Investors has launched the Aviva Investors Global Convertibles Euro Hedged and Aviva Investors Global High Yield Bond Fund Euro Hedged funds in Italy. The products are available to retail investors either via IFAs or bank branches.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axel Schwarzer, the man who turned around Scudder and who spent 22 years of his career at the Deutsche Bank group, with high-responsibility positions at DWS, will take over on 4 May 2011 as head of asset management at the Swiss Vontobel gorup (CHF119bn in assets as of the end of 2010). He left his job at DWS as head of strategic distribution partnershiops at the end of last year (see Newsmanagers of 30 December 2010).Schwarzer replaces Zeno Staub, who will take over as CEO, succeeding Herbert J. Scheidt, who will become chairman of the board of directors.
Standard Life Investments has appointed Bambos Hambi as head of fund of funds management. His previous roles have included head of multi-manager funds at both Gartmore Investment Management and Rothschild Asset Management. Reporting to Rod Paris, head of investments, Bambos Hambi will have overall responsibility for the portfolio management of the 15 funds in Standard Life Investments’ new MyFolio Funds offering. These are currently managed on an interim basis by Jacqueline Kerr, head of UK wholesale. Bambos Hambi will join Standard Life Investments on 28th March. Based in London, he will work alongside Alan Scrimger, who heads up the multi-manager research function.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nigel Legge, former head of Liontrust, is planning to return to the asset management sector with the launch of a management firm, Vinculum Fund Management, Investment Week reports.Vinculum will rely on a new investment process which will limit human error in stock-picking. Vinculum will offer a long-only OEIC fund based on the process, with additional strategies offering regional variations.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Government Pension Fund – Global (GPFG, formerly known as the Petroleum Fund), managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), an affiliate of the Bank of Norway, in 2010 invested about NOK258m (EUR33m) in bonds issued by the Spanish banking restructuring fund (FROB), Expansión reports. The fund holds more than 1.5% of capital in Telefónica, Santander and BBVA, and controls more than 3% of Ferrovial and Gamesa.The fund also has NOK37.8bn, or EUR4.8bn in bonds issued by La Caixa, Maja Madrid and other Spanish savings banks in its portfolios. The GPFG last year also doubled its exposure to participation shares in the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo (CAM), to NOK1.5m.The fund’s portfolio of Spanish government bonds as of the end of 2010 includes NOK25.66bn, compared with NOK9.66bn one year previously.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Following the recent appointment of Andy Clark as director of wholesale distribution (see Newsmanagers of 9 March), HSBC Global Asset Management has added to its distribution team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with the promotion of Matteo Pardi as head of wholesale for continental Europe. Pardi joined HSBC 10 years ago, and was most recently head of fund distribution for southern Europe.The CEO of the British asset management firm for the EMEA region (1,100 employees, USD250bn in assets as of the end of December) since 1 October 2010 is Rudolf Apenbrink, who is also CEO of HSBC GAM for Germany, based in Düsseldorf. His objective will now be to develop the activity in emerging markets, where HSBC GAM has about USD145bn under management, with 200 specialists in 20 locations.
Hedge funds should accept higher taxes in London and stop threatening to move elsewhere, according to Michael Farmer, a Conservative party donor who runs the near-USD1bn Red Kite metals hedge funds. “If one is a citizen and your country’s having a tough time, you pay your taxes and that’s it – although rather reluctantly if they are not spending it wisely,” he told the Financial Times.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Takeover Panel in the UK is planning to make the publication of commissions received by bankers and business lawyers compulsory, Les Echos reports. The proposal was published on 21 March in a 172-page document. The proposals are open to consultation until May, after which time the law will be changed, most likely during summer. “Shareholders should receive all the information about the sums spent by businesses in acquisition bids, and consulting commissions represent a significant portion of those amounts,” the Takeover Panel says. Commissions paid by the predator and the target businesses to bankers, lawyers, consultants and communication advisers are included.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Belgian investment fund industry had a good year in 2010, L’Echo reports. Assets in funds available for public sale in Belgium increased 2.2% to EUR127.03bn, according to figures from the Belgian asset management association (BeAMA). Market effects were responsible for the increase in net assets in the industry. Variable revenue funds are the cause of the development, with net subscriptions of EUR120m and gains of EUR2.93bn. For pure and mixed equities funds, Belgium followed the European trend in 2010, with an upward movement. However, Belgian bond funds were down in 2010 (though they rose in Europe), while net assets in money market funds rose in Belgium, but fell in Europe.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Russian president Dmitri Medvedev on 21 March announced the creation of a sovereign fund with USD10bn in assets which will finance modernisation in the country, partly with foreign investments, by June of this year, Agefi Switzerland reports. The minister of economic development, Elvira Nabioullina, soon after announced that the fund may have up to USD10bn in assets.“In the first year, capitalisation of USD2bn is planned, from budget surpluses. In the following five years, the fund will reach USD10bn,” she announced, cited by the Ria Novosti news agency.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Danske Invest is preparing to launch its first UCITS-compliant hedge funds in Denmark, Hedgeweek reports. The two hedge funds will be UCITS III-compliant; the first is a long/short equities fund domiciled in Luxembourg, while the second is a currencies fund domiciled in Denmark. The two new vehicles will be launched in second quarter 2011.
Le président russe Dimitri Medvedev a annoncé le 21 mars la création d’ici au mois de juin d’un fonds souverain de 10 milliards de dollars destiné à financer la modernisation du pays, alimenté en partie par des investissements étrangers, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. La ministre du développement économique Elvira Nabioullina a indiqué un peu plus tard que le fonds pourrait atteindre jusqu'à 10 milliards de dollars."La première année, il est prévu une capitalisation de deux milliards de dollars tirés des revenus supplémentaires du budget, puis au cours des cinq années suivantes, il arrivera à 10 milliards de dollars», a-t-elle déclaré, citée par l’agence Ria Novosti.
State Street Global Markets annonce le recrutement de quatre personnes, qui viendront rejoindre son équipe de gestion de transition destinée aux investisseurs institutionnels. Brian Berg et Brian Moniz ont été nommés senior transition managers à Boston. Greg Metzmacher rejoint pour sa part l'équipe portfolio solutions à Sidney, également au poste de senior transition manager. Enfin, Tadateru Makino a été recruté, toujours pour le poste de senior transition manager, au sein de l'équipe de Tokyo.
Source propose une gamme de produits indiciels cotés au sein de laquelle figurent 18 trackers sectoriels «optimisés», rapporte La Tribune. Baptisés «Stoxx 600 Optimised Sectors», ils sont gérés selon une méthodologie qui a été développée par le promoteur d’indices Stoxx sous l’impulsion de Source. L’objectif est de pallier le manque de liquidité de certaines valeurs, et d'éviter que certaines d’entre elles n’aient un poids trop important dans l’indice. Par sécurité, les titres grecs et islandais, ainsi qu’une cinquantaine d’autres valeurs, trop difficilement négociables, ont ainsi été supprimés de l’univers d’investissement.
Selon L’Agefi, IPD vient de créer un nouvel indice traçant la performance des fonds immobiliers non cotés paneuropéens. Le rendement global pour 2010 ressort à 5 % contre -17,2 % en 2009.L'échantillon sur lequel est calculé l’indice comprend 18 fonds représentant un patrimoine de 11 milliards d’euros, précise le quotidien.
Selon les statistiques de ThomsonReuters dans l'édition 2011 d’European Fund Review, les dix premiers groupes européens en matière de gestion ISR affichaient fin 2010 des encours de 45,59 milliards d’euros contre 49,41 milliards douze mois plus tôt, bien que les actifs totaux aient augmenté à 92,66 milliards contre 88,78 milliards fin 2009, malgré des sorties nettes de 2,02 milliards d’euros.Les deux premiers du palmarès sont les français Natixis, avec 9,78 milliards d’euros contre 11,97 milliards et Amundi avec 9,23 milliards contre 9,05 milliards. KBC arrive en troisième position avec 4,29 milliards contre 4,55 milliards, devant BNP Paribas, avec 4,06 milliards contre 4,83 milliards.En termes de souscriptions nettes, le norvégien Storebrand se situe en tête avec 1,14 milliard d’euros, loin devant le suédois SEB (265,2 millions) et le britannique Aviva (232,9 millions). Les deux seuls gestionnaires français dans le peloton de tête sont le Crédit Agricole (7ème avec 154,4 millions) et AG2R, avec 133,9 millions.
Directeur depuis 2007 de la distribution pour le Royaume-Uni, l’Europe et le Proche-Orient de Barings, Rob Lay a été recruté depuis le 1er mars comme directeur des partenariats de distribution pour l’Europe et le Proche-Orient chez UBS Global Asset Management. Basé à Londres, il est subordonné à Tim Blackwell, head of Europe. Il sera chargé notamment du développement de la distribution wholesale en Europe et au Proche-Orient.
Pour l’exercice au 31 décembre 2010, Nuveen Investments a déclaré un ebitda ajusté de 470,75 millions de dollars contre 379,73 millions.Au 31 décembre, l’encours se situait à 196,8 milliards de dollars contre 144,8 milliards douze mois plus tôt, grâce à 27 milliards de dollars d’acquisitions d’actifs, 13,56 milliards de souscriptions nettes et 11,44 milliards d’effet positif de marché.
D’après Daily Markets, relayé par Mutual Fund Wire, le Enhanced Short Maturity Fund lancé en novembre 2009 par Pimco (groupe Allianz Global Investors) est le premier ETF à gestion active à avoir dépassé le milliard de dollars d’encours, avec 1,18 milliard.