Lundi 4 octobre, Axa Investment Managers a annoncé que Julian Thompson et Jules Mort prendront d’ici à la fin de l’année les responsabilités respectives de head of global emerging markets et de senior portfolio manager chez Axa Framlington. Tous deux seront basés à Londres et Julian Thompson, qui reprendra aussi la gestion du Axa Framlington Emerging Markets Fund, sera subordonné à Mark Beveridge, global head d’Axa Framlington.Julian Thompson était déjà global head of emerging markets chez Threadneedle avec la responsabilité de 3,7 milliards de dollars (voir notre article du 1er octobre) tandis que Jules Mort, avec lequel il travaillait depuis 2003, est deputy portfolio manager pour les fonds Global Emerging Markets et Latin American de Threadneedle.L'équipe marchés émergents d’Axa Framlington que dirigera Julian Thompson comprendra également Irina Topa-Seey, qui est basée à Paris.

Johan van der Ende va quitter PGGM, la société de gestion des retraites du secteur de la santé aux Pays-Bas, dont il était le directeur des investissements - chief investment officer - depuis deux ans. Ce départ a été décidé d’un commun accord. «Il est devenu évident ces derniers mois que les attentes mutuelles au sein du comité exécutif allaient empêcher une bonne coopération», indique un communiqué de presse.Johan van der Ende avait rejoint PGGM, qui gère 99 milliards d’euros d’actifs, mi-2006 et était membre du nouveau comité exécutif depuis le 1er janvier de cette année.Il quittera PGGM le 1er novembre. Ses fonctions seront confiées temporairement à Jac Kragt, qui travaille chez PGGM depuis 2008.

BNP Paribas Securities Services a annoncé le 4 octobre le lancement d’un nouveau service destiné aux fonds de private equity et d’investissement immobilier onshore et offshore. BNP Paribas Securities Services a créé une plate-forme dédiée «pour répondre aux besoins liés à la croissance des fonds d’investissement immobilier et de private equity, direct et indirect, multi-juridictionnels de plus en plus sophistiqués», précise un communiqué. Des équipes opérationnelles spécialisées fournissent des services d’agent de transfert, d’administration de fonds et de contrôle de conservation de titres, ainsi qu’une une gamme exhaustive de services de reporting comptables, clients et réglementaires.

Selon Les Echos, les investissements directs des fonds souverains ont augmenté de manière continue depuis le début de l’année. Les données du Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute montrent que la finance reste leur secteur fétiche d’investissement, avec 27% du total des investissements directs sur les quatre derniers trimestres, suivi par les infrastructures (18%) et l'énergie (11%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 1 October, the Austrian firm Raiffeisenbank Reutte, which already controls the Austrian private bank Bankhaus Jungholz, controls 85% of the German private bank Bankhaus Bauer, based in Stuttgart, while the remaining 15% for the moment remains in the hands of the Düsseldorfer Hypothekenbank. The acquisition price has not been disclosed. The Jungholz bank is based in a village with 300 residents in Bavaria, but which legally belongs to Austria. As Johannes Gomig, chairman of the managing board at Raifeissenbank Reutte explains, the acquisition of Bauer will allow the Austrian group to serve high net worth German clients who do not want to open an account abroad, but who are interested in banking with an Austrian institution.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a survey of 310 German institutional investors by the ratings agency Telos and the management and consulting firm Prof. Homburger & Partner, actors with more than EUR40bn in assets rank Universal-Investment first for customer satisfaction, followed by Union Investment (co-operative banks) and Allianz Global Investors (AGI), the Börsen-Zeitung reports. For mid-sized institutionals (EUR15bn-EUR40bn), the top two in the rankings are Bayern Invest and J.P. Morgan.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 October, Dirk Zabel, who joined the sales department of the Luxembourg management firm HansaInvest in early 2009, has taken up the newly-created position of director of third-party management. He will be in charge of relations with external partners for retail as well as institutional clients. HansaInvest says the creation of the new position is a sign of its new commercial orientation and a desire to develop distribution.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } WGF AG, a German financial group based in Düsseldorf, and previously specialised in real estate mortgage lending and property trading, announced on 4 October that it has submitted an application to BaFin for a license to launch and manage institutional real estate funds. The directors of WGF are expecting a decision from the regulator by the end of first quarter 2011. The new firm would be known as WGF Immobilien Investment GmbH. The firm would be led by two CEOs, Hans-Dieter Martin, who comes from LB ImmoInvest GmbH, and Walter Jakob Helbach, who has served in management positions in the funds and asset management division at Deka Immobilien Investment. Pino Sergio, chairman of the board at WGF AG, says that the license application comes in response to demand from institutional clients, and that there are absolutely no plans to launch open-ended real estate funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that a battle in the management industry is shaping up over a revision to the European investor indemnisation system proposed in July by internal market commissioner Michel Barnier. If the proposed changes are adopted, the newspaper reports, the new rules could require the mutual fund industry to mobilise as much as EUR28bn, or 0.5% of its EUR5.6trn in assets under management. In addition to an increase in the level of indemnisation for funds in guarantee systems from EUR20,000 to EUR50,000, and a potential extension of the guarantee of profits if the depository defaults, the rules could create prefinanced funds, which is the proposal most vigorously opposed by professionals. According to the initial proposal, the constitution of the funds would be staggered over a 10-year period. Mutual fund managers may attempt to obtain exemptions for their funds from legislators, the newspaper notes. Assets under management in Europe in vehicles other than OPCVM funds total EUR1.9trn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On Monday, 4 October, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform (Deutsche Börse) listed two new products, both Luxembourg-registered, UCITS-compliant ETFs, db x-trackers II iBoxx EUR Sovereigns Eurozone AAA TRI ETF (LU0484969463) and db x-trackers II iBoxx EUR Sovereigns Eurozone Yield Plus Index ETF (LU0524480265). Deutsche Bank is the market-maker for the new funds. The two synthetic replication products charge fees of 0.15% each. They bring the total number of ETF products listed in Frankfurt to 719, and the number of db x-trackers based on government bonds in euros to 12. Assets at db x-trackers total about EUR31bn, in over 150 products.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deka Immobilien has acquired the RheinBerg Galerie shopping centre (16,000 square metres), in the centre of the city of Bergisch Gladbach, for EUR63m, from IKB/Movesta und hkm Management. The property will be added ot the institutional real estate fund WestInvest TargetSelect Shopping. Hkm will continue to manage the shopping centre.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } So far, in France, 241 funds managed by 43 asset managers have signed up to the SRI (socially responsible investment) open-ended fund Transparency Code, the French financial asset managers association AFG reports. Among these 241 funds, there are 155 open-ended French funds, 32 employee savings funds, and 54 foreign funds. The code, of which the French version was approved on 10 December 2009, and which all open-ended SRI funds are required to adhere to, aims to improve readability of these products by savings investors. Signatory funds pledge to publish their responses to the code’s questions on the management firm’s website, and to update the responses at least once per year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ING Investment Management France has hired Aude Dhuivonroux as director of distribution clients. Dhuivonroux, who began in the new position on 1 October 2010, previously spent five years as head of insurance client distribution for France at Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM). Her arrival corresponds with the departure of Yves Drouet, head of business and distribution clients at ING IM France, who has joined Generali.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 October, AllianceBernstein (in which Axa controls a stake of about 62.5%) acquired the alternative management operation of SunAmerica Asset Management (which managed a total of USD38bn as of the end of August) for an undisclosed amount. The transaction concerns a portfolio of hedge funds and private equity funds managed by Marc Gamsin, whom AllianceBernstein will retain in those responsibilities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedgeweek reports that LaCrosse Global Fund Services has finalised its acquisition of the hedge fund administration division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. LaCrosse now has USD21bn in assets under administration.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Catherine Vialonga on 1 October joined the French additional pension fund for public sector employees (Etablissement de retraite additionnelle de la fonction publique, ERAFP) a chief investment officer and head of ALM. She succeeds Pierre Perreaux, who died last year. Vialonga was previously CIO for the Carac savings and retirement mutual.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banque Profil de Gestion (BPDG) announced on 4 October that it has appointed Gilbert Pfaeffli to the position of deputy CEO from 1 December 2010. The appointment follows the announcement that Régis Ducrey, who has served in this position for nearly three years, will be departing. With over 35 years of experience, Pfaeffli has previously served as CEO of Anker Bank, director of the Banque Cantonale de Genève (BCGE), head of the BCGE Private Banking Switzerland unit, and director, head of private banking international and member of the board of directors at the Banque de Dépôts et de Gestion (BDG).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Inverco association, only 16 Spanish asset management firms managed to post net subscriptions in September, while net outflows for the sector as a whole exceeded EUR1.8bn (see Newsmangers of 4 October). The largest inflows went to UBS Gestión, which was the only firm to attract over EUR100m (EUR124.27m) last month. Second place goes to Fonditel (which manages the Telefónica pension fund), with EUR36.1m.

The shift of power towards emerging markets, coupled with lower economic growth, increasing globalisation and the changing scope of banks will require European asset managers to think beyond their domestic boundaries, mainstream asset classes and traditional fund management practices, writes Fitch Ratings in a new report*. As emerging markets and Asia offer higher growth opportunities, asset managers need to expand their investment universe toward these regions. This implies not only increasing coverage and investments in these regions, but managing global equities or global credit funds, says the rating agency. Similarly, the internationalisation of the client base calls for the international expansion of distribution and client servicing. As regards the scope of their activities, some asset managers need to embrace radical evolution. For instance, a fixed income manager may need to move into equities, or an equity player may consider a transition into balanced products… But asset managers may also have an opportunity to expand their roles in areas where banks have traditionally been more active, like direct lending activities or proprietary trading business. Separately, asset allocation in the traditional sense — domestic asset classes, monthly portfolio rebalancing — may not be well suited to new market conditions. Increased volatility, correlation, changing liquidity and technical factors call for greater reactivity and diversification (by geography and asset class), says Fitch Ratings. The way in which asset allocation decisions are implemented is also potentially subject to change. First and foremost, cash has become an asset in its own right in investors’ portfolios. Calibrating and quickly adjusting the overall portfolio risk has become one of the most important investment decisions, which can be implemented through cash, derivatives, general overlays or dynamic tactical allocation bucket, explains the report. Finally, the interdependence of markets and asset classes, and the importance of technical factors, means research sources must be improved; for example merging credit and equity research teams or creating an analyst function focused on political/fiscal topics. In addition, the ability to incorporate technical/behavioural factors into research inputs is going to be a key differentiating factor between managers, concludes Fitch.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 4 October, Axa Investment Managers announced that Julian Thompson and Jules Mort will take over by the end of the year as head of global emerging markets and senior portfolio manager, respectively, at Axa Framlington. Both will be based in London, and Thompson, who will also take over as manager of the Axa Framlington Emerging Markets Fund, will report to Mark Beveridge, global head of Axa Framlington. Thompson was already global head of emerging markets at Threadneedle, in charge of USD3.7bn in assets (see Newsmanagers of 1 October), while Mort, with whom he has worked since 2003, is deputy portfolio manager for the Global Emerging Markets and Latin American funds from Threadneedle. The emerging markets team at Axa Framlington led by Thompson will also include Irina Topa-Serry, who is based in Paris.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Thanasis Petronikolos, who was a fund manager and head of the local currency emerging market bond component of the RAB Emerging Market Opportunities Fund, has been recruited by Baring Asset Management as director of its fixed income and currency team. Petronikolos will be based in London and will report to Alan Wilde, head of fixed income and currency, and will be in charge of the management of the exposure of all of Barings to local currency emerging market debt. This will include management of the new Baring Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund (USD267m as of 31 August), the former Baring Emerging Income Fund, which has been converted in response to demand from institutional investors.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The real estate firm Rockefeller Group International, which is controlled by Mitsubishi, has made its debut in Spain with the acquisition of a majority stake in Europa Capital, an investment fund management firm which, among other assets, holds stakes in 1,200 branches and five office buildings of BBVA, including the firm’s Bilbao headquarters, Expansión reports. For this transaction, Europa Capital teamed up with RREEF (Deutsche Bank) and Area Property Partners. Europa Capital has EUR6bn in investments in 17 countries. In Spain, Europa Capital also owns the World Trade Center Almeda Park office complex in Barcelona (95,000 square metres), also in partnership with other Spanish and international groups. Rockefeller Group International says that it now has EUR895m in liquidity to invest, following its most recent round of fundraising.

Amundi has reinforced its UK branch, Amundi London Branch, with the arrival of five investment professionals. Headed by Laurent Crosnier, CIO, and Markus Krygier, deputy CIO, Amundi London Branch’s investment business covers global fixed income, absolute return, currency, emerging debt and global equities. Christopher Morris has joined the company as senior global fixed income manager. He will also join the London-based “architects committee”, consisting of the key heads of Amundi London Branch, which meets on an ad-hoc basis to determine the team’s strategic and tactical market views. Prior to his arrival, he was the Senior London Representative of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department for six years. Anne Beaudu will join shortly in the same capacity. Before, she worked at Credit Agricole Asset Management’s Inflation & Duration investment team as a Euro Fixed Income portfolio manager focusing on duration. James Kwok has joined as head of currency management, after working ten years based in Paris at S2G. Finally, Fabio Castaldi and Alexandre Burgues have joined the company as absolute return managers (responsible for managing volatility overlays).They both come from the Amundi Group, in Paris. From October 2008 to March 2010 Fabio Castaldi worked in the volatility team. Alexandre Burgues was in charge of the management of absolute return funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Securities Services announced on 4 October that it has launched a new service aimed at private equity and real estate investment funds, both onshore and offshore. BNP Paribas Securities Services has created a dedicated platform to meet the needs of growing real estate and private equity investment funds, direct and indirect, which are increasingly sophisticated and operate in multiple jurisdictions, a statement says. Specialised operational teams will provide clearance, fund administration and securities custody control, as well as an exhaustive range of client and regulatory account reporting services.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Les Echos reports that direct investment by sovereign funds have steadily increased since the beginning of the year. Data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute reveal that finance remains the favourite industry for investments, with 27% of all direct investments in the past four quarters, followed by infrastructure (18%) and energy (11%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carnage in the investment fund markets in the past few trading periods have left 38 of the 123 Spanish fund managers in negative territory, according to CNMV statistics relayed by Cinco Días. The regulator is of the opinion that management firms need to continue to tighten up their product ranges and reduce their operating costs.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 4 October, Santander unveiled Santander Select, its new personal banking brand, aimed at affluent clients with financial savings of EUR100,000 to EUR500,000, Cinco Días reports. The objective is to have 300,000 clients in Spain in three years vs 200,000 right now. «Select» will rely on a network of 350 agency advisers and 50 telephone advisers. The Select brand will be used worldwide. In addition to Spain, it will be launched in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Portugal. In these countries, the Santander group has 3.5 million clients corresponding to the designated profile.

Johan van der Ende is stepping down as chief investment officer at PGGM, the administrative organisation for collective pension schemes in the Netherlands, principally in the care and welfare sector. The decision has been made by mutual agreement. “It has become clear in recent months that the mutual expectations within the executive committee would impede successful co-operation”, says a press release. Johan van der Ende has worked at PGGM since mid-2006, for the past two years as CIO. He became a member of the newly formed executive committee on 1 January 2010. He will leave PGGM on 1 November. His duties will be assumed on a temporary basis by Jac Kragt, who has been with PGGM since 2008.

Avec la baisse de la demande, l'économie américaine sera beaucoup plus dépendante du cycle des investissements et du commerce mondial

Le projet de création de fonds d'indemnisation préfinancés hérisse l'industrie de la gestion