L’américain BNY Mellon Asset Servicing a été sélectionné par le britannique Standard Life Investments (SLI, 177,5 milliards d’euros d’encours fin septembre 2010) comme fournisseur pour la comptabilité de fonds ainsi que comme conservateur, agent de transfert et prestataire de services de domiciliation pour la sicav luxembourgeoise Standard Life Investments Global dont les actifs sous gestion représentent plus de 8 milliards d’euros répartis sur vingt compartiments.

Le 5 février, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Luxembourg S.A., filiale du gestionnaire central des caisses d'épargne allemandes, a fêté son quarantième anniversaire. L’encours se situe à présent à 6 milliards d’euros pour les fonds garantis (dont l'émission est interdite en Allemagne), à près de 16 milliards d’euros pour les fonds garantis DekaStruktur-Dachfonds et à 11 milliards pour les fonds patrimoniaux de la gamme Sparkassen-DynamikDepot.

Selon Asian Investor, la société de gestion basée à Singapour, Lion Global Investors, qui gère notamment les actifs de la compagnie d’assurances Great Eastern Holdings, a nommé David Conner en qualité de chairman de la société et Christopher Wei en tant que vice président.David Conner était précédemment chief executive d’OCBC Bank, qui contrôle 91% de Lion Global, dont 70% par le biais de Great Eastern. Christopher Wei, qui a rejoint Great Eastern le 10 février dernier, travaillait précédemment dans le groupe d’assurances AIA.Au 31 décembre 2010, les actifs sous gestion de Lion Global s'élevaient à quelque 29 milliards de dollars de Singapour, soit environ 23 milliards de dollars US.

Le fonds souverain de Singapour Temasek Holdings (186 milliards de dollars) vient de nommer Ding Wei en tant que responsable des investissements en Chine. Cette nomination prendra effet le 28 février 2011. Ding Wei a une expérience de 23 ans dans la finance, la banque commerciale et la banque d’investissement. Il a travaillé à la Banque Mondiale, au FMI, chez Deutsche Bank et chez China International Capital Corporation.

La banque privée suisse Sarasin (groupe Rabobank) a annoncé le 21 février la création récente de Sarasin Trust Company (Singapore) Limited qui est dirigée par Michael Low, head of trust & fiduciary services Asia, et Ethan Chue, head of trust advisory Asia. Cette nouvelle entité proposera à la clientèle de Singapour et d’Asie des services de conseil dans le domaine des trusts et des solutions en matière de succession. Cette offre sera également disponible pour les clients européen et du Moyen-Orient.

Alberto Palomero, qui a exercé plusieurs responsabilités au sein de Thomson Reuters en Espagne depuis 2003, dont celle de directeur des opérations de Lipper ainsi que directeur des ventes au buy-side, aux banques d’investissement et aux entreprises non financières en Italie, Espagne et Portugal, a été recruté comme directeur commercial par VDOS Stochastics, rapporte Funds People.L’intéressé sera chargé du développement de nouveaux contenus et solutions Internet pour les distributeurs, les sociétés de gestion de fonds, les conseillers et les gestionnaires de fonds de pension. Sa mission consiste également à développer les outils existants d’intelligence opérationnelle permettant d’optimiser la communication avec le client final et d’automatiser les procédures.

Selon les statistiques de l’association espagnole Inverco des sociétés de gestion, le montant des transferts d’un fonds à l’autre, qui peuvent s’effectuer en franchise du «péage fiscal» depuis le 1er janvier 2003, s’est limité pour 2010 à 27,52 milliards d’euros l’an dernier, contre 33 milliards en 2008 et un pic de 66,2 milliards d’euros pour 2008.Ce résultat est le plus faible depuis 2003, même s’il représente 43 % des souscriptions brutes et 18 % de l’encours moyen de l’an dernier. Par mois, ces arbitrages ont représenté un peu plus de 2,29 milliards d’euros. Manifestement, la forte baisse des transferts d’un fonds à l’autre depuis 2008 s’explique par la «guerre du passif» qui a incité beaucoup de souscripteurs à retirer leur argent des fonds pour le placer sur des dépôts bancaires mieux rémunérés.

Ni Oaktree ni Nueva Rumasa n’ont souhaité confirmer à Expansión que le fonds américain spécialiste des restructurations a l’intention de prendre une participation dans le holding espagnol de la famille Ruiz-Mateos dont dix filiales ont été mises en liquidation provisoire (dont Clesa et Dhul).Il serait envisagé qu’Oaktree prenne une participation au capital ou qu’il rachète la dette de plusieurs sociétés de Nueva Rumasa pour remettre de l’ordre dans les actifs et la gestion et permettre au groupe de surmonter la situation difficile qu’il traverse actuellement, avec un passif financier supérieur à 700 millions d’euros.

Selon les milieux financiers francfortois, le bénéfice d’exploitation de DekaBank aurait opéré en 2010 un bond en avant de près de 80 % à 900 millions d’euros, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Cette forte amélioration serait notamment attribuable à des plus-values sur les produits structurés.

Les sociétés de gestion italiennes ont pratiquement toutes des implantations à l’étranger, mais leur clientèle reste presque uniquement domestique, constate Plus, le supplément Argent de Il Sole – 24 Ore. Cette bizarrerie s’explique par le fait que la fiscalité a pendant des années pénalisé les fonds de droit italien par rapport aux produits étrangers (cela ne sera bientôt plus le cas). Ainsi, pour contourner l’obstacle, les sociétés italiennes ont ouvert des filiales à Luxembourg ou Dublin. L’objectif n’était pas de conquérir des parts de marché à l’étranger, mais plutôt de pouvoir créer des produits compétitifs avec ceux de droit étranger, explique l’hebdomadaire italien. Résultat, les encours des fonds de droit étranger en Italie gérés par des groupes d’origine italienne représente 57 % du total, contre 30 % en 2005. Et une société comme Mediolanum gère 98 % de ses encours pour le compte de clients italiens… sachant que 89 % sont gérés depuis l’étranger !

A fin décembre, l’encours des fonds chinois était remonté à 2.497,2 milliards de yuans contre 2.386,7 milliards fin septembre, dont 927 milliards contre 904,1 milliards pour les fonds d’actions et 741,4 milliards contre 730,8 milliards pour les fonds diversifiés. Les fonds QDII et les garantis ont été les deux seules catégories à subir une baisse de leurs actifs sous gestion, à respectivement 72,9 milliards, contre 74,2 milliards et 22,8 milliards contre 24,4 milliards.Z-Ben Advisors explique que l’augmentation globale des encours résulte d’un côté des plus-values pour 124,5 milliards de yuans et du lancement de 47 nouveaux fonds qui ont drainé 126,8 milliards ; de l’autre, les sorties nettes ont porté sur 140,7 milliards de yuans.Les fonds monétaires ont vu leurs encours gonfler de plus de moitié, à 153,3 milliards de yuans contre 100 milliards, mais en 2010 le mouvement a été moins prononcé que d’habitude, le régulateur faisant pression pour limiter ce phénomène.

L’ancien patron de la multigestion chez F&C, Dean Cheeseman, a rejoint Mercer en qualité de gérant de portefeuille actions, rapporte Investment Week.Basé à Londres, il sera responsable de la sélection des gérants pour les mandats actions britanniques et internationaux et il aura également en charge la nomination des gérants de fonds pour la plate-forme lancée récemment par Mercer en partenariat avec Friends Provident, Standard Life et Zurich.Dean Cheeseman avait quitté F&C en septembre dernier à la suite de la fusion de la société avec Thames River.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German private bank Ellwanger & Geiger (Stuttgart) has announced in its newsletter Kapitalmarkt Report that it has created the E&G Green-Utility-Index, which includes shares in ten companies (nine of them European, including the Austrian firm Verbund, and one Brazilian company), which are involved in the production of energy from alternative sources, particularly water and wind. Backtested to 2005, the index far outperforms both the Ökosur index from Sarasin and the MSCI World index.Several shares in the index are small and midcaps, often with a stable majority shareholders, meaning that the liquidity of the index is relatively limited, and the investment horizon should be long-term.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets in Chinese funds totalled CNY2.4972trn, compared with CNY2.3867trn as of the end of September, of which CNY927bn, compared with CNY904.1bn, were in equities funds, and CNY741.4bn, compared with CNY730.8bn, were in diversified funds. QDII and guaranteed funds were the only categories to see declines in their asset volumes, to CNY72.9bn from CNY74.2bn, and CNY22.8bn, from CNY24.4bn.Z-Ben Advisors explains that the overall increase in assets is due to gains of CNY124.5bn and the launch of 47 new funds, which attracted CNY126.8bn, while on the other hand, net outflows ran to CNY140.7bn.Money market funds saw an increase in their assets of over half, to CNY153.3bn, from CNY100bn, but in 2010 the movement was less pronounced than usual, as the regulator exercised some pressure to limit the trend.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms, the total volume of transfers from one fund to another, which have been subject to a tax exemption since 1 January 2003, came to only EUR27.52bn in 2010, compared with EUR33bn in 2008, and a peak of EUR66.2bn in 2008.This result is the lowest since 2003, even though it represents 43% of gross subscriptions, and 18% of average assets last year. Fund trades represented slightly over EUR2.29bn per month.The steep decline in transfers from one fund to another since 2008 is due to a “war for deposits” which has led many subscribers to withdraw their money from funds and place it in savings accounts that pay higher rates.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An investigation by US authorities into insider trading has had an unexpected consequence. According to the Financial Times, hedge fund managers are calling in security firms to ensure that their offices and residences have not been bugged with listening devices. This is taking place despite the fact that listening in on phone calls can nowadays be achieved with the collaboration of telephone companies, and does not require agents to enter the offices of a business. It is therefore indetectible to private investigators with scanners.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 1818 Gestion will appeal a decision by the courts which would require it to pay EUR100,377 (with interest) to the Someg Group, Agefi reports. In its decision on 4 February, which has been obtained by Agefi, the Paris commercial court finds that by placing a part of the EUR2.5m its client entrusted to it in the Luxalpha fund (the Luxembourg Sicav operated by Bernard Madoff), 1818 Gestion failed in its obligations. The court finds that the Luxalpha strategy, “which involves alternative management, does not correspond to the operations authorised by article 6 of the mandate,” which required “prudent” management. 1818 Gestion, however, argues that article 6.2 cites hedge funds, including Aria and Aria EL (with leverage) as permitted investments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } MoneyMarketing reports that Fidelity will this week launch an open-ended fund aimed at investors seeking exposure to the fast-growing Chinese commodities market. The China Consumer Fund will invest as a top priority in funds which are headquartered in China, or which realise the majority of their activities in China or Hong Kong. The fund will primarily be aimed at firms involved in the development and sales of products and services aimed at Chinese consumers. In the short term, the fund will avoid banking sector and real estate shares. The fund will be denominated in US dollars, and will have 80 to 120 positions, and will be structured as a Luxembourg Sicav. The lead manager for the fund will be Raymond Ma, who will continue to be based in Hong Kong.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Citywire announced on 21 February that its ratings of fund managers are now available via the European fund distribution platform Allfunds Bank. Allfunds is a joint venture of the Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo groups. Its assets under intermediation total about EUR60bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that the British management firm Artemis on 11 April will launch a UCITS III compliant energy fund, which will be managed by the energy sector specialist John Dodd. The fund will include 30 positions, and will invest in publicly-traded firms in the energy, gas, energy generation and transmission sectors, and in renewable energies. The benchmark portfolio has allocations of 17% to North America, 3% to South America, 63% to Europe and Russia, 10% to the Far East, and 7% to Australia.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that JP Morgan Asset Management has launched JPM Emerging Markets Currency Alpha Fund, a fund dedicated to emerging markets currencies, which aims for euro cash returns of over 8%. The absolute return fund in UCITS III format will be managed by Amit Tanna and Harry Bazzaz, with the assistance of 14 strategists and analysts present in a variety of emerging markets.

Many active managers are capable of finding winning stocks, but only deliver average performance for fear of losing their jobs, according to Skagen, the Norwegian asset manager, citing a scientific study from 2008, “Best Ideas» by Randy Cohen, Christopher Polk and Bernhard Silli.It is possible for active portfolio managers to beat the index and generate better returns than the market. But in practice this is often not reflected in their funds’ performance. Many portfolio managers find themselves forced towards mediocrity, partly for fear of losing their jobs. “Active portfolio managers can generate excess returns over time. We are not just talking about ourselves – this is also true of a number of managers with talented investors. But often the reality is that the portfolio manager has to keep close to the index to ensure that he isn’t left behind when the index goes up. Otherwise their job could be on the line. And this means that their performance is no better than average in the long-term», says Skagen’s deputy managing director, Åge Westbø.

As announced in mid-September, 24 institutional investors, representing assets of USD1.6trn, have written to the 30 largest international stock markets to call for improved communications of information related to sustainable development policies of publicly-traded companies.The 24 signatories of the letter, include the following institutional investors: Allianz Global Investors Investments Europe, AP7, Australian Council of Super Investors, Aviva Investors, BC Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC), Church of Sweden, Dexia Asset Management, Environment Agency Active Pension Fund, EQAO, Ethos Foundation, Fonds de réserve pour les retraites - FRR, Mn Services N.V., NEI Investments, North East Scotland Pension Fund, Pax World Management LLC, RCM une entreprise du groupe Allianz Global Investors, SNS Asset Management, Solaris Investment Management, Sparinvest, «TD Asset Management (TD Asset Management Inc., TDAM USA Inc.)», The Co-operative Asset Management, Trillium Asset Management, Triodos Investment Management B.V. And VIP (Vereinigung Institutionelle Privatanleger) eV. Four service providers are also signatories of the letter: they are Ceres, Ethix SRI Advisors, Fondation Guilé and Illac Ltd.The letter comes as part of a wider initiative launched by Aviva Investors in 2008, which aims to promote the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). Its objective is to incite stock markets to seek ways to improve the quality of sustainable development reporting for publicly-traded companies. On the basis of information from Bloomberg, the letter also presents rankings of stock markets on the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) information from listed companies. At the top of the list are Euronext Paris, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Helsinki, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Lisbon and Borsa Italiana. However, at the bottom of the rankings are the Australian Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq GS, the Korea Exchange, the Santiago Stock Exchange, and the Philippine Stock Exchange.Aviva Investors supports a proposed new criterion for admission to trading, based on the requirement that businesses evaluate the level of sustainability and responsibility of their business model, and submit a prospective strategy for sustainable development to a vote at their general shareholders’ meeting.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Frankfurt financial industry sources, operating profits at DekaBank are rumoured to have leapt by nearly 80% in 2010, to EUR900m, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. This major improvement is said to be largely due to gains for structured products.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alberto Palomero, who has served in several positions at Thomson Reuters in Spain since 2003, including chief operations officer at Lipper, and director of sales to buy-side, investment banks and non-financial sector businesses in Italy, Spain and Portugal, has been recruited as director of sales at VDOS Stochastics, Funds People reports. Palomero will oversee development of new internet content and solutions for distributors, fund management firms, advisers, and pension fund managers. His responsibilities will also include developing existing operational intelligence tools so as to optimse communication with final clients and automate processes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Responsible Investor reports that the Dutch pension fund PGGM (EUR103bn in assets under management) is planning to increase its capacities in the area of sustainable investment, with the recruitment of a senior adviser and an adviser.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Neither Oaktree nor Nueva Rumasa would confirm reports in Expansión that the US fund specialised in restructuring is planning to acquire a stake in the Spanish holding company of the Ruiz-Mateos family, including ten affiliates which have been put up for provisional liquidation (including Clesa and Dhul).Oaktree would acquire a stake in the capital, or else acquire the debt of several companies owned by Nueva Rumasa, in order to restore the assets and their management to good financial health, and allow the group, with financial liabilities of over EUR700m, to overcome the difficulties it now finds itself in.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Andrew Bosomworth, a manager at Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group), says that Spanish government bonds (bonos) are currently enjoying “a real improvement in their potential as investments,” Expansión reports.Bonos are a better investment than Greek or Irish debt, the management firm says. This attitude is a reversal, as in 2010, Pimco decided to discontinue investment in Spanish bonds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Ignis is considering launching a strategic bond fund, which could take the form of a long-only portfolio with 30 positions, which would be concentrated on the United Kingdom. Exposure to Europe and emerging markets is also under study. The fund, which would be managed by Chris Bowie, head of credit portfolio management, would be released in second or third quarter.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Italian management firms virtually all have offices abroad, but their clients remain virtually entirely domestic, Plus, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. This odd situation is a result of the fact that Italian taxes for years penalised Italian-registered funds compared with foreign funds (which will soon no longer be the case). In order to get around this obstacle, Italian firms opened affiliates in Luxembourg or Dublin. The objective was not to conquer market share in other countries, but to be able to create products that could compete with foreign-registered rivals, the Italian weekly newsmagazine reports. As a result, assets in foreign-registered funds in italy managed by Italian groups represent 57% of the total, compared with 30% in 2005. A firm such as Mediolanum manages 98% of its assets on behalf of Italian clients, though 89% of assets are managed abroad.