JP Morgan entend développer ses activités de banque privée à l’international, notamment sur le marché suisse. Selon Pablo Garnica, qui pilote les activités de banque privée de l'établissement dans la région EMEA (Europe, Moyen Orient et Afrique), la banque vise également la clientèle russe fortunée.A l’occasion du sommet international de Genève sur la banque privée organisé par Reuters (Reuters Global Private Banking Summit), Pablo Garnica a, en outre, indiqué qu’il souhaitait renforcer de 15% ses effectifs dans la région EMEA. «Nous faisons des efforts pour développer notre banque privée au niveau international, non seulement dans les régions à forte croissance comme l’Asie et l’Amérique latine, mais également dans la région EMEA», a souligné Pablo Garnica.
Au 1er février, Clemens Reuter, membre de la senior management team, head of member relations et responsable des activités de la Bourse suisse SIX Swiss Exchange deviendra patron des activités ETF d’UBS Global Asset Management en coopération avec les unités d’affaires banque d’investissement et gestion de fortune.Il restera basé à Zurich et sera subordonné à Martin Thommen, patron d’UBS Funds pour la Suisse et responsable par intérim de l’activité ETF.
Le groupe Credit Suisse a annoncé le 6 octobre le lancement d’un nouveau fonds immobilier, le Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Hospitality (CS REF Hospitality) qui est le premier fonds immobilier de Suisse à investir, en se diversifiant, dans des immeubles dotés de services hôteliers suisses. Seuls les investisseurs qualifiés pourront prendre part à la première émission prévue en novembre ou décembre 2010, précise Credit Suisse dans un communiqué. Outre l’acquisition d’immeubles existants, le fonds peut réaliser des projets de construction. Les placements immobiliers sont diversifiés par exploitant, type d’affectation, ancienneté, substance bâtie et situation. Le communiqué explique que le terme «hospitality» couvre l’industrie hôtelière au sens large. Limité autrefois à l’hôtellerie, l’«hospitality business» offre aujourd’hui une variété beaucoup plus grande de prestations de services, allant des immeubles d’habitation dotés de services hôteliers aux immeubles pour étudiants (campus) en passant par les bâtiments du secteur de la santé, les résidences et les différentes formes d’hôtellerie.
Selon Mutual Fund Wire, DWS Investments a nommé Jeffrey Diamond en qualité de director, senior national account manager et responsable de la distribution offshore aux Etats-Unis.Jeffrey Diamond, précédemment chez UBS, sera basé dans le New Jersey et rattaché à Michael Woods, managing director, CEO et responsable de la distribution aux Etats-Unis.
La société de gestion américaine Lord, Abet & Co annonce la nomination de cinq associés. Il s’agit de David J.Linsen et Thomas B.Maher, gérants de fonds, Jonathan M.Morgan, directeur des services aux institutionnels, Lawrence B.Stoller, vice general counsel et Stacy P.Allen, chief administrative officer.
La société de gestion américaine Franklin Templeton a annoncé le 5 octobre un renforcement de son équipe de vente de programmes de pensions à contributions définies avec le recrutement de Tyler Johnson en qualité de DCIO Key Account Manager.Franklin Templeton a par ailleurs revu son organisation pour tenir compte des évolutions en cours sur le marché du conseil où le mouvement de consolidation se poursuit mais où il subsiste toute une population de conseillers financiers qui peuvent distribuer à l’occasion des plans de retraite mais qui ont besoin d’une assistance pour le faire.
La division européenne de Och-Ziff Capital Management, société fondée par Daniel Och, président et directeur général, a porté plainte contre un conseiller en investissement de Londres, Thomas Ochocki, pour qu’il cesse d’utiliser le nom Och Capital, rapporte le Financial Times. Il demande des dommages et intérêts pour violation de marque. Selon Och-Ziff, il peut y avoir confusion en raison de la similarité des deux noms.
Insynergy Investment Management, qui a récemment lancé les fonds Absolute China et Absolute India et recruté David Stead (ex Skandia) comme business development director, a nommé Bambos Hambi responsable de la stratégie et du développement. L’intéressé, qui était consultant à plein temps pour Insynergy depuis début août, a été jusqu’en mai 2008 directeur de la multigestion chez Gartmore.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 February, Clemens Reuter, a member of the senior management team, head of member relations and head of stock market activities at SIX Swiss Exchange will become head of the ETF operation at UBS Global Asset Management, in cooperation with the business units for investment banking and wealth management. Reuter will continue to be based in Zurich, and will report to Martin Thommen, head of UBS Funds for Switzerland and interim head of ETF activities.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The range of hedge funds focused on Eastern Europe from the Swedish asset management firm Emeralt Investments has grown with the addition of Opal, a long/short Russian and CIS equities product which combines stock-picking and macro analysis, Hedge Week reports. The fund, which has started up with considerable seed capital, will be managed by Johan Ekström, who has returned to Emeralt after a period at the Russian Alfa Bank. The fund will invest in sectors other than oil and gas, with the objective of generating outperformance compared with long-only Russia funds and global emerging markets funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Credit Suisse group on 6 October announced that it has launched a new real estate fund, the Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Hospitality (CS REF Hospitality), which is the first real estate fund in Switzerland to invest in a diversified manner in Swiss hospitality properties. Only qualified investors may participate in the first issue, which is planned for November or December 2010, Credit Suisse says in a statement. In addition to the acquisition of existing properties, the fund may undertake construction projects. Real estate investments are diversified by operator, type of property, age, building type and situation. Initially, only qualified investors may subscribe to the CS REF Hospitality. Institutional investors whose treasury is professionally managed and high net worth retail investors are included in this category. The statement explains that the term “hospitality” includes the hotel industry in the broad sense. The hospitality business, previously limited only to hotels, now includes a much wider range of services, from residences with hotel services to student campus residences, health sector properties, residences, and various forms of hotels.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Observer 2010 study from the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms, covering the period 2007-2009, finds that Spanish investors withdrew a total of EUR438m from Spanish equities funds in 2007, while the Ibex index of the Madrid stock exchange gained 7.3% that year. In 2008, when the Ibex lost 32.1%, net redemptions totalled nearly EUR2.9bn. In 2009, when the index gained 52.8%, net subscriptions totalled only EUR21m. The conclusion drawn from this is that many investors pulled out in 2008 and missed out on the rally in 2009. At the height of the crisis, from the end of 2007 to the end of 2008, the number of subscribers fell by 552,000, to nearly 308,000.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British hedge fund management firm Parvus Asset Management has announced to the SEC that it has acquired a 10% stake in the US firm Liberty Acquisition Holdings Corp., the structure set up by Nicholas Berggruen (who owns 9.87% of the firm) to bail out the Spanish Prisa group, for USD132m, Cotizalia reports. Among the other shareholders in Liberty Acquisition are The Children Investment group (TCI), Pentwater Capital, Tig Advisors, Fir Tree and Centaurus Capital. Together, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Credit Suisse control 12% of Liberty.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, total assets in 3,205 Spanish Sicav funds, a vehicle used primarily by Spanish high net worth families, as of 30 June totalled over EUR25.32bn, which represents a reduction of nearly 1.3% compared with their levels as of the end of December. As of the end of March, assets under management totalled EUR26.21bn (see Newsmanagers of 28 June).. BBVA Patrimonios was the top manager in terms of asset volumes, as in first quarter, with a market share of 11.14%, compared with 10.96%, and net subscriptions of EUR81m in April-June, compared with EUR77m in January-March. As in first quarter, its Morinvest Sicav ranks top, but its assets fell to EUR440m, from EUR452m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The aggregate hedge fund index calculated by HedgeCo has posted an average annualised performance of 7.14% for the first seven months of the year, compared with growth of 4.18% for the S&P 500. The long/short index has earned the best results, with returns of 7.58%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Private Banking announced on Wednesday, 6 October that it has teamed up with Copal Partners to strengthen its equities research and to build its services dedicated to high net worth retail clients. The agreement allows Société Générale Private Banking to double the number of securities covered by its equities research, and to extend its analysis to Latin America, the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and to strengthen its abilities to respond to specific demand from private clients in relation to all publicly traded equities, a statement says. Société Générale Private Banking will retain supervision of all research produced by Copal Partners.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US management firm Franklin Templeton on 5 October announced that it has added to its defined-contribution pension program sales team with the recruitment fo Tyler Johnson as DCIO Key Account Manager. Franklin Templeton has also revised its organisation to take into account changes which are taking place in the advising market, where consolidation is continuing, but where there is still a population of financial advisers who may occasionally sell pension plans, but who need assistance to do so.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US management firm Lord, Abet & Co has announced the appointment of five partners: David J. Linsen and Thomas B. Maher, fund managers, Jonathan M. Morgan, director of institutional services, Lawrence B. Stoller, vice general counsel, and Stacy P. Allen, chief administrative officer.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mutual Fund Wire reports that DWS Investments has appointed Jeffrey Diamond as director, senior national account manager and head of offshore distribution in the United States. Diamond, previously at UBS, will be based in New Jersey, and will report to Michael Woods, managing director, CEO and director of distribution in the United States.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Boston-based management firm Eaton Vance has recruited Rob White, previously of Banquo Credit Management, as head of its new regional office in Singapore. Asian Investor reports that Eaton Vance is naturally planning to focus on major institutional investors, but that the management firm is also planning to develop its activities in a less traditional asset class: bank loans. Eaton Vance is hoping to obtain a license to operate on capital markets as well as a management firm license by the end of the year.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS has added to its team dedicated to the ultra-high net worth (UHNW) client segment through internal promotions and recruitments, Asian Investor reports. Amy Lo, previously head of the Hong Kong market and the UHNW segment, also in Hong Kong, has been appointed head of the UHNW segment for all of the Asia-Pacific region. UBS has made one internal promotion (Jean-Claude Humair) and one recruitment (Francis Liu) to replace Lo in Hong Kong. Lio, previously of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will join UBS in December. Liu will work alongside Humair, currently head of wealth management in Japan at UBS.
Asia’s DBS Group is said by several sources to be in advanced talks to sell its asset management business or merge it with a strategic partner, according to Asian Investor. There are at least two firms in serious discussions regarding DBS Asset Management, including Tokyo-based Nikko Asset Management and an unnamed European fund manager, writes the Internet website. By buying DBS Asset Management, managing assets of EUR20bn, a European firm could acquire an almost instant, credible Asian investment platform.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pioneer Investments has launched a guaranteed fund investing in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the Pioneer UniCredit a formula BRIC 4 dicembre 2015. The fund is aimed at savings investors seeking to invest in emerging countries, while benefiting from capital protection, the asset management firm says. The fund has a fixed duration, and may be subscribed to until 28 October. At maturity, the client is supposed to receive 30% of the performance of the S&P Bric 40 Risk Control 18% in Euros.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In September, mutual funds on sale in Italy saw net redemptions of EUR1.74bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. Outflows were largely driven by money market funds, which saw outflows of EUR1.78bn, Flexible funds and hedge funds also came out with a negative balance of EUR191m and EUR176m, respectively. Bond funds, for their part, saw outflows of EUR4m. For the month, only equities and diversified funds show net inflows, of EUR224m and EUR155m, respectively. But those were not enough to compensate for redemptions from other categories of funds. Assogestioni also notes that foreign-registered funds posted net inflows of EUR619m, while Italian-registered funds saw outflows of EUR2.36bn. As of the end of the month, assets under management in the sector totalled EUR449.38bn, a very slight decrease compared with August. Of this total, 78.4% is managed by Italian groups, and 21.6% by foreign groups. For the month, the largest inflows went to Mediolanum (EUR137.2m) and Generali (EUR53.5m), while firms with the heaviest outflows were Intesa Sanpaolo (EUR611.9m) and Bipiemme (EUR279.2m).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CNMV has recently registered the market neutral long/short fund GLG Alpha Select, a UCITS-compliant product domiciled in Spain, which invests in British bonds, Funds People reports. The fund with 70-100 positions replicates the strategy of a hedge fund managed by John White, domiciled in the Cayman Islands, in a UCITS III-compliant format. The fund was launched in February and is available in shares denominated in US dollars, euros, pounds Sterling and Japanese yen. Management commission is 2% for institutional investors and 2.75% for retail investors, while performance commission is 20%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For six months, Alken Asset Management has been licensed by the CNMV (see Newsmanagers of 13 April). Now, the Luxembourg management firm founded by Nicolas Walewski following his departure from Syz/Oyster, has registered the Small Cap Europe fund managed by Jean-Pierre Mariaud, with assets of EUR32m, for sale in Spain, in addition to the firm’s flagship European Opportunities fund.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Global Small Cap Energy sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav ISF (International Selection Fund) from Schroders, launched on 17 May 2010, has been issued a sales license for Germany by BaFin. The fund invests in small caps in the energy sector (USD50-500m) worldwide. The managers, John Coyle and Ben Stanton (who already manage the Schroder ISF Global Energy fund), are betting on the conjunction of economic recovery and a rise in demand with a lack of oil production capacity; they are also betting on an increase in mergers and acquisitions. The size of the fund (30-50 positions) will be limited to USD500m. Global Small Cap Energy will not rely on leverage, short-selling or direct investment in commodities.CharacteristicsName: Schroder ISF Global Small Cap Energy EURISIN code (A class shares): LU 0507598497Benchmark index: MSCI World EnergyFront-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%Minimal initial subscription: EUR1,000
According to the Financial Times, French officials now say that they are prepared to accept the principle of a passport for third-country funds, subject to strict conditions. In particular, Paris insists that it should be the new European Securities and Markets Authority which issues a passport to a third-country fund and then supervises that fund.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Luis Ojeda, previously CEO of the private wealth management (PWM) division for Spain at Deutsche Bank, has been promoted to head of PWM for all of Southern Europe, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Cotizalia reports. It is a newly-created position, and Ojeda will be replaced in Spain by the current deputy CEO, Antonio Losada. PWM offers services to retail clients with financial savings of at least EUR2m.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Several sources cited by Asian Investor say that the Singapore-based DBS Group may sell its asset management activities, currently at DBS Asset Management, or merge them with those of a strategic partner. Among the candidates who are said to have already entered talks with DBS are Nikko Asset Management and a European management firm. Assets under management at DBS Asset Management currently total about USD20bn (SGD26bn).