p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Pimco will take over the product sales activities previously provided by Allianz Global Investors, the asset management unit of the German insurer, Agefi reports. Now that the group has received permission from the regulatory authorities to open a German arm of its broker/dealer operation, Pimco Investments, the new entity will manage sales from New York from 11 April.
The third annual survey by Morningstar and Barron’s of the perceptions and use of alternative investments by 151 institutional investors and 669 independent financial advisers in the United States has found that use of this type of investment is becoming more popular, but that thevehicles used to invest in them are changing.Nadia Papagiannis, a strategist for alternative investments at Morningstar, says there have been USD2.7bn in net outflows in the first three quarters of 2010 from hedge funds monitored by Morningstar, while at the same time, net subscriptions to mutual hedge funds totalled USD17.3bn.Investors are seeking to reconcile the diversification offered by alternative strategies with the liquidity and transparency of publicly-traded vehicles. Managers are moving to meet this need, as hedge and commodity mutual fund products represented 14% of all funds launched in 2010, and 20% of all ETFs. Institutional investors prefer traditional mutual funds and ETFs toimplement their most liquid alternative strategies, but they continue to use hedge funds for less liquid strategies, such as arbitrage, distressed equities, and corporate actions.More than 70% of institutional investors surveyed predict that alternative products will represent more than 10% of their portfolios over the next 10 years, and 37% (compared with 25% in 2009) predict an allocation to alternative products of over 25%. More than half of IFAs predict that allocations by their clients to alternative products will increase by more than 10% per year in the next five years.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Larry Pitkowsky and Keith Trauner, two former portfolio managers of the Fairholme fund, are launching their own asset management firm, the Wall Street Journal reports. They say they are planning to use the same value approach that they used at GoodHaven Capital Management, which made the Fairholme fund the third best fund in the large cap category in the ten years to the end of December, with annualised returns of 11.5%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January, the roughly 90,000 shareholders in the open-ended real estate fund DEGI Europa (Aberdeen) will receive EUR9.70 per share, as part of a planned liquidation of the fund (see Newsmanagers of 25 October 2010). The distribution will total EUR254.1m, or more than 20% of the EUR1.2677bn in assets in the fund as of 31 December. The next redemption will come in July 2011. The total amount will depend on the outcome of sales of assets (see Newsmanagers of 18 January 2011).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For German municipal authorities and charities, HypoVereinsbank (HVB) has launched the Luxembourg-registered Kommunal- & Stiftungsfonds Defensiv fund (LU0555949709, LU0555949964), managed by UniCredit Luxembourg, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The flexible fund is notable for its transparency, with specific, regular reporting. Allocation to equities may not exceed 25%, though allocation to bonds may go up to 100%. The management team may use futures and options to hedge for currency risks and manage durations. The fund may invest directly in securities, as well as in ETFs, ETCs, and other funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Conrad Mattern, a well-known fund adviser in Munich, who heads the analysis agency Conquest, will unveil the Prosperia Mephisto I fund this 19 January in Frankfurt, a fund which invests in firms symbolising the seven deadly sins, Handelsblatt reports. For pride, Mattern has chosen luxuries; for greed, he has chosen financials and discounters; for envy and jealousy, the advisor has chosen the lifestyle sector, while wrath is represented by prison operators. For lust, the manager has chosen “distractions for adults,” and for gluttony, he has chosen firms in the alcohol and tobacco sectors. Lastly, for sloth, the manager has selected shares in the leisure sector.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets under management or administration at Universal-Investment totalled EUR130bn, EUR18bn more than one year previously. Net subscriptions totalled EUR11.2bn, compared with EUR8.1bn for institutional funds and masterfunds, and EUR3.1bn for open-ended funds. Universal manages about EUR9.3bn for institutional investors in “Spezialfonds,” protected or overlay products.The Frankfurt-based asset management firm has also announced that Stefan Rockel was promoted on 1 January as a member of the board of directors. He will be in charge of development for the Luxembourg affiliate and investment product structuring, with the assistance of the local securitisation affiliate created in 2010.André Jäger and Oliver Schmucker, who have previously been heads of departments, are promoted as central directors. The former is now head of risk control and investment compliance. He becomes the central risk manager for the Universal-Investment group as a whole, with the additional mission of developing all reporting functions.Schmücker is now responsible for development of internalisation activities (administration and fund accounting, surveillance of respect for limit thresholds) and process management. Universal-Investment currently has about EUR20bn under administration for German, Austrian and Luxembourg clients.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 January, Christopher Hönig, head of key accounts at SAM Sustainable Asset Management, has joined the asset management firm GAM in Germany as client director, Fondsprofessionell reports. With Karolyn Krekic, he will serve intermediaries and institutional investors.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Christoph Schumacher, director of indirect investments and structured products at Generali Deutschland Immobilien, CEO of Generali Deutschland Immobilien Verwaltungs and CEO of Generali Immobiliare Asset Management, will on 1 March 2011 become a member of the board of directors at Union Investment Institutional Property. He will be in charge of fund structuring and client relationship management.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British distribution platform Cofunds has topped GBP340bn in assets under administration, according to Money Marketing. In 2010, the platform attracted GBP7.2bn. In third quarter 2010, Cofunds was the best-performing British platform for the sixth consecutive quarter.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, merger and operation activities in France increased 40.1% year on year, according to statistics from mergermarket. With 542 transactions, activity volume of EUR36.4bn means a spectacular increase of 90.6% in the value of operations. They have not yet returned to pre-crisis levels, as French mergers and acquisitions remain 75.7% below their 2007 levels, which measured EUR149.9bn in total. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions, which are three times higher than in 2009 with a total volume of EUR15.6bn, prove that France is attracting foreign investment once again, mergermarket says. French businesses are also more interested in foreign markets than last year. They made 18% more deals than in 2009.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henderson Global Investors announced on 17 January that its team dedicated to socially responsible investment has recruited Bridghet Boulle as an SRI analyst. Boulle previously worked at PIRC. Henderson has also appointed Harriet Lamb as a member of its SRI consulting committee. Lamb is currently executive director of the British Fairtrade Foundation.
Grosvenor has appointed Jeffrey Weingarten, who was the chief investment officer and managing director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, to the role of chief executive of Grosvenor Fund Management, which offers a range of sector and regional specialist property investment funds. He succeeds Stuart Beevor.At the same time James Raynor, currently GFM’s director, Continental Europe, has been appointed to the new role of GFM’s chief investment officer. Robert Davis, currently GFM’s finance director, will become GFM’s chief operations officer. These appointments are effective 17 March 2011. James’ and Robert’s existing responsibilities are unaffected by the changes: James will continue to lead GFM’s Continental European team and Robert will continue to run GFM’s finance team.Jeffrey Weingarten joined GFM as non-executive chairman in September 2010, following two years as a consultant to the business. The role of chairman will now be resumed by Mark Preston, group chief executive of Grosvenor.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Asia specialist hedge fund Central Asset Investments (CAI), based in Hong Kong, will open a research office in Shenzhen, China, this Tuesday, 18 January, Asian Investor reports. The office will be led by Bill Tsai, former managing partner at Longridge Capital, and will include three new analysts: Alex He, Ferry Feng, and Franky Xie.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Barclays GBP7.7m for abusive sales of funds. The FSA Accuses the British group of selling two funds from Aviva, the global balanced income fund and the global cautious income fund, to more than 12,000 clients, without verifying whether the products offered corresponded correctly to the buyers’ risk profiles. The FSA has also pointed to a lack of training for personnel at the bank, a lack of clarity in documents distributed to clients, poorly-adapted sales monitoring procedures, and very poor reaction at Barclays when the problems were discovered. Between July 2006 and November 2008, sales of shares in funds totalled GBP692m. The FSA states that Barclays, which has already paid out GBP17m in compensation to clients, may have to pay out another GBP42m.
Jean-Philippe Abougit, l’ancien directeur des ventes de Natixis Multimanager, vient de rejoindre l’équipe commerciale de Neuflize Private Assets. Il s’occupera de la clientèle distribution sur la France. Filiale du groupe ABN Amro, Neuflize Private Assets gère 4,6 milliards d’euros d’encours.
Spécialisé dans les services financiers aux investisseurs institutionnels, sociétés de gestion et grandes entreprises, CACEIS a annoncé, mardi 18 janvier, avoir signé avec CNP Assurances le renouvellement de son mandat de tenue de compte conservation pour une durée de 4 ans. CACEIS aura donc en charge la conservation de l’ensemble de ses avoirs français et étrangers correspondant aux activités d’assurance exercées en France. L’accord porte sur 250 milliards d’euros d’actifs, précise un communiqué.
Les souscriptions nettes de Mandarine Gestion ont atteint 500 millions d’euros en 2010 (lire nos articles du 18 juin 2010 et de 20 décembre 2010) et l’encours à fin décembre dépasse 1,5 milliard d’euros, a indiqué Andreas Krebs, managing director et associé.Le fonds Mandarine Valeur, géré par Marc Renaud, a atteint 1,1 milliard d’euros et surperformé le Stoxx 600 de 30,4 points de pourcentage sur deux ans. L’autre fonds Mandarine commercialisé en Allemagne, Mandarine Unique (42 millions d’euros), a surperformé le Stoxx Small 200 de 14,64 points de pourcentage depuis son lancement en mars 2010.A présent, Mandarine Gestion va commercialiser un troisième fonds en Allemagne, le Reflex, qui est géré par Marc Renaud et Joëlle Morlet-Selmer, pour la sélection de valeur en collaboration avec Françoise Rochette, d’Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), pour la structuration du portefeuille. Ce produit affiche un encours de 114 millions d’euros et une performance de 28,35 % depuis son lancement en France en juin 2009.
Credit Suisse vient d’annoncer la cotation de 45 ETF sur NYSE Euronext à Paris. Cette gamme comprend à la fois des fonds adossés à des swaps et des produits à réplication physique. Elle inclut également un ETF sur actions A chinoises conforme à la réglementation OPCVM Paris. Au total, 13 ETF couvrent les marchés émergents. Dan Draper, responsable monde de l’activité ETF chez Credit Suisse, qui est un ancien de Lyxor Asset Management, déclare : «nous sommes très optimistes sur le secteur des ETF en Europe, qui n’en est qu’à ses débuts. Nous sommes persuadés qu’il présente actuellement un potentiel de croissance rapide, similaire à la tendance observée aux Etats-Unis au cours de la dernière décennie».Présent sur le marché des ETF depuis 2001, Credit Suisse gère un encours de 9,2 milliards d’euros dans ce domaine. A l’heure actuelle, les ETF Credit Suisse sont négociés en Suisse, au Royaume-Uni, en Allemagne et en Italie. Et depuis mardi, en France…
Après une baisse de près de 30 % en 2009, les indices consacrés au secteur de la santé ont réalisé en 2010 des performances décevantes, comprises entre 5 et 12 % pour les indices européens et un léger recul pour les indices mondiaux, note La Tribune. Actuellement, trois sous-jacents sont disponibles via l’offre de trackers. Un seul produit, proposé par Lyxor, couvre l’indice mondial MSCI World Healthcare. Les valeurs américaines y représentent 59 % de l’indice. Dans les portefeuilles spécifiquement européens, ce sont les groupes suisses qui s’imposent.
A Plus Finance, société de gestion indépendante spécialisée dans le capital investissement et la multigestion, a annoncé mardi 18 février une collecte en hausse de 57 millions d’euros en 2010. Outre une levée ISF de près de 11 millions d’euros, les fonds proposés en fin d’année ont drainé 46 millions. La société dispose de 330 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion, dont plus de 34 millions ont été investis dans des PME en 2010.
Jeffrey Weingarten, ancien directeur des investissements de Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, vient d’être nommé directeur général (chief executive) de Grosvenor Fund Management, la société de gestion du groupe immobilier britannique Grosvenor gérant 3,6 milliards de livres, afin de succéder à Stuart Beevor. Dans le même temps, James Raynor, actuel administrateur de GFM, en charge de l’Europe continentale, a été promu au poste nouvellement créé de directeur des investissements (chief investment officer). Robert Davis, actuel directeur financier, devient chief operations officer. Ils gardent néanmoins leurs attributions actuelles. Toutes ces nominations prendront effet le 17 mars. Jeffrey Weingarten avait rejoint GFM en tant que président non-exécutif en septembre 2010 après deux ans comme consultant. Le rôle de président sera repris par Mark Preston, directeur général de Grosvenor.
Henderson Global Investors a annoncé le 17 janvier que son équipe dédiée à l’investissemnet socialement responsable vient de recruter Bridghet Boulle en qualité d’analyste ISR. Bridget Boulle travaillait précédemment chez PIRC.Henderson a également nommé Harriet Lamb membre de son comité consultatif sur l’ISR. Harriet Lamb est actuellement executive director de la Fairtrade Foundation britannique.
La plate-forme de distribution britannique Cofunds a franchi la barre des 30 milliards de livres d’actifs sous administration, selon Money Marketing. En 2010, la plate-forme a drainé 7,2 milliards de livres.Au troisième trimestre 2010, Cofunds était la plate-forme britannique la plus performante pour le sixième trimestre consécutif.
Assya Compagnie Financière a annoncé, mardi 18 janvier, l’acquisition de la société de gestion de fortune MZ Finance et la création de Assya Asset Management Luxembourg - résultant de ce rapprochement. L’opération, qui a été réalisée par apport par les actionnaires de MZ Finance de la totalité des titres de celle-ci à Assya, a été préalablement autorisée par la Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) au Luxembourg.La création d’Assya Asset Management Luxembourg doit conduire au développement du pôle dédié à la gestion de fortune et la gestion d’actifs du groupe, précise un communiqué.
China Investment Corp pourrait annoncer vendredi selon Reuters l’ouverture d’un bureau à Toronto. Le fonds souverain chinois, soucieux d’apparaître comme un investisseur présent mondialement, chercherait à se rapprocher ainsi des opportunités offertes par les matières premières canadiennes. Tout en bénéficiant d’un régime fiscal plus avantageux qu’aux Etats-Unis.
La banque centrale du Canada a maintenu hier le statu quo monétaire, sans surprise, et a légèrement revu à la hausse ses prévisions de croissance. Considérant que la reprise mondiale était plus rapide que prévu, elle a revu à 2,4% sa prévision de croissance pour 2011 et à 2,8% le chiffre pour 2012, contre 2,3% et 2,6% attendus en octobre.