Schroders s’apprête à lancer le Schroder Opus Trading Fund sur GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access), sa plate-forme luxembourgeoise de hedge funds au format Ucits III. Cela portera à cinq le nombre de compartiments de cette Sicav, dont deux sont gérés en externe.Ce fonds reprenant des stratégies «trading» et «macro», investi dans des comptes gérés par Schroders, existe déjà en réalité dans un format Ucits III logé sur la plate-forme de Credit Suisse. Aujourd’hui donc, il est en cours de rapatriement sur GAIA. D’ici à la fin de l’année, un autre fonds - «long short crédit» - devrait être lancé dans le cadre de la Sicav. Et l’année prochaine, trois à quatre autres devraient arriver. L’objectif n’est toutefois pas de faire de cette plate-forme un «supermarché de fonds», souligne Eric Bertrand, de Schroders NewFinance Capital, la société de multigestion alternative de Schroders, qui pilote GAIA. «Nous voulons disposer d’une palette reflétant toutes les stratégies alternatives possibles en Ucits III, mais nous souhaitons n’avoir qu’un seul produit pour chaque stratégie», explique-t-il. GAIA a été lancé en novembre 2009 dans le cadre de Schroders NewFinance Capital, avec pour objectif de distribuer des stratégies alternatives aux investisseurs européens qui n’y avaient pas accès jusque là, explique Marc Romano, CEO de NewFinance. En pratique, la Sicav propose des stratégies alternatives répliquant celles déjà gérées par Schroders, mais aussi des stratégies gérées par d’autres sociétés de gestion lorsque le savoir faire n’existe pas en interne (en l’occurrence Sloane Robinson et Egerton). Eric Bertrand souligne que la création de GAIA, qui est aussi le nom de la déesse de la terre dans la mythologie grecque, n’a pas été une réponse à la crise financière, puisqu’elle avait été envisagée en 2007 avant la dislocation des marchés, mais qu’il s’agit plutôt d’accompagner le mouvement de convergence entre gestion alternative et traditionnelle. Aujourd’hui, la Sicav représente un encours de plus de 200 millions d’euros au 14 septembre, sur des encours de près de 3 milliards pour NewFinance et elle répond à la fois aux besoins des investisseurs n’ayant encore jamais investis dans les hedge funds, mais aussi à ceux qui souhaitent passer d’un cadre offshore à un cadre réglementé, indique Marc Romano.

Au cours des cinq prochaines années, la course à la taille par le biais de fusions-acquisitions et de concentration des gammes de fonds sera la tendance dominante sur le marché européen de la gestion d’actifs. Telle est la conclusion d’une étude de State Street parue dans le numéro d’octobre de Vision Focus. Face à l'évolution des exigences des investisseurs, les gestionnaires d’actifs s’efforcent de mettre sur pied des structures efficientes avec une offre typée. Et les gestionnaires passifs, les opérateurs multi-boutiques et les boutiques spécialisées devraient enregistrer une hausse de leurs encours alors que leurs concurrents diversifiés auront du mal à préserver les taux de croissance qu’ils ont connus jusque récemment. Face à un environnement financier devenu plus difficile, on devrait, selon State Street, assister à l'éclosion d’un secteur européen de la gestion d’actifs plus efficient et plus logiquement structuré. L'émergence d’un petit nombre de gestionnaires européens capables par leur taille de commercialiser des produits adéquats à un coût relativement faible à l'échelon du continent va mettre la pression sur les autres. Parallèlement, les petites boutiques capables de prouver qu’elles peuvent générer de la surperformance durable devraient elles aussi prospérer.Le processus de concentration pourrait néanmoins rencontrer quelques obstacles : le manque de capitaux pour les acquisitions, la craintes des actionnaires face aux fusions et l’intégration dans un secteur où le capital intellectuel est un facteur si différenciant risquent en effet de freiner le mouvement.Les gestionnaires d’actifs sont confrontés à des défis stratégiques importants : les business models doivent s’adapter à l'évolution des préférences des investisseurs, de la réglementation et des canaux de distribution ainsi qu'à la déflation des commissions. Les prestataires de services, eux aussi, devront réexaminer leurs stratégies face à un monde où la taille sera devenue un facteur encore plus important qu’actuellement.

Jusqu’au 14 décembre, Federal Finance commercialise Formul’ actions sécurité, un fonds à formule garantissant le capital à l'échéance fixée le 28 décembre 2018. La performance du fonds sera égale à 85 % de la performance moyenne positive de l’indice Eurostoxx 50 calculée sur la base de constatations trimestrielles. Si lors d’un constat, la valeur de l’indice est inférieure à celle de l’indice retenu initialement, c’est ce dernier niveau qui est retenu.Caractéristiques :Code Isin : FR0010927962

Starquest Capital, une société regroupant des entrepreneurs souhaitant participer au développement des PME innovantes, a noté une forte progression de la collecte de ses Holdings ISF dans le cadre de la campagne ISF de juin 2010. Ce qui lui a permis de réaliser onze investissements dans le capital de PME innovantes et technologiques. Ces opérations portent à 24 le nombre d’entreprises suivies par Starquest Capital dont les fonds sous gestion approchent les 10 millions d’euros.Starquest Capital s’est concentrée sur les secteurs des télécoms (monétique), du web (marketing opérationnel, fiabilité et sécurité des réseaux), du greentech (leds, recyclage de mobiles, de déchets verts, centrale solaire) et du soft (plateforme collaborative, workflow). Sur les 11 investissements, 7 correspondent à des nouveaux dossiers et 4 ont été réalisés aux côtés d’investisseurs institutionnels et financiers dans des seconds tours parmi les participations existantes de Starquest Capital. La société précise qu’elle doit lancer prochainement une société de capital risque et communiquera également sur son offre pour décembre 2010 (holdings IR/ISF).

Schroders is preparing to launch the Schroder Opus Trading Fund on GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access), its Luxembourg-based, UCITS III-compliant hedge fund platform. The new fund will bring the number of sub-funds in the Sicav to five, two of which are managed externally.The trading and macro fund, which invests in managed accounts and is managed by Schroders, is in fact already available in a UCITS-compliant form, but it is currently housed on the Credit Suisse platform. It is now being transferred to GAIA. By the end of the year, another fund – long/short credit – will be launched in the Sicav. And next year, three or four more funds will be added. The Sicav currently has assets of over EUR200m, as of 14 September.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor will launch a range of 10 ETFs in Italy, each of which will replicate a sector MSCI World index, bringing the number of ETFs listed on the ETFplus segment of the Milan stock exchange to 101, Bluerating reports.

According to statistics from the Austrian VÖIG association of asset management firms, 1,421 funds out of a total of 1,562 which have been in existence for over one year show positive twelve-month performance to the end of August, equivalent to 90.97% of the funds overall. Only 141 funds show losses. By an arithmetical average, without taking into account the size of individual funds, the average performance of Austrian funds comes to 8.26%, compared with 10.63% in July and 13.85% in June.The largest gains of the past twelve months, as in previous months, were for the Kepler Asset Backed Securities Fund, with 81.52%, while the worst performer was the sDoubleStock from the savings bank of Upper Austria (Sparkasse Oberösterreich KAG). Over three years to the end of August, the best Sharpe ratio was for the real estate fund Real Invest Austria (Bank Austria), with 2.18, just ahead of the EuroHighgrade funds from Pioneer Investments Austria (2.17) and the Tirolrent from Tirolinvest (2.11).

As announced (see Newsmanagers of 13 September), Vanguard has extended its range of passive funds, with the launch of seven equities tracker funds with institutional share classes, and ETF shares exposed to value, growth and blend segments of the Russell 1000 large caps index, and the Russell 2000 index of small caps.The ETF shares carry commissions of 0.12%, for the fund based on the Russell 1000, and 0.15% for the funds based on the Russell 1000 Value and Growth indices and on the Russell 2000, and 0.20% for funds based on the Russell 2000 Value and Growth. The Russell 3000 ETF charges 0.15%. Vanguard has also announced plans to launch its first three tracker funds of municipal bonds, with traditional and ETF share classes, which will replicate indices of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond series, and which will charge fees of 0.12%, in the next few months.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, 65 guaranteed funds with assets of EUR4.06bn will mature in Spain in fourth quarter, Expansión reports. 25 more funds will remain in a sales phase at that time. The largest of the maturing funds is the Foncaixa Garantia Renta Fija 15, with EUR969m. Total assets in guaranteed funds, at EUR49.33bn, represent 32.14% of assets under management in Spanish funds overall. Since the beginning of the year, bond guaranteed funds have posted net subscriptions of EUR3.81bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BNY Mellon group has announced promotions in its management team. Thomas (Todd) Gibbons has been appointed chief financial officer of the firm, while Timothy Keaney becomes CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. Karen Peetz has been promoted to CEO of the Financial Markets and Treasury Services division. Lastly, Brian Rogan becomes vice chairman, and James Palermo, also vice chairman, has been granted new responsibilities as co-CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent quarterly survey from Russell Investments, 57% of US managers estimate that the market is currently undervalued, one of the highest percentages in the history of the survey, and the highest level observed since March 2009. Only 7% of managers consider the market overvalued. However, the study finds that the fact that managers are talking about the undervaluation of the market does not necessarily mean that they expect a rally similar to the one which followed the low point of March 2009. But they do, however, seem to have recovered some optimism, based on the conviction that the economy will regain some of its health, although it is not necessarily at its best yet. Nearly half of managers (49%) estimate that the growth of the economy in the next 12 months will be led by investment spending. Only 9% predict a stagnation of the economy. This is a very low percentage in light of continuing widespread speculation that there will be a double-dip in the economy in the coming months.

Schroders has appointed Tjeerd Voskamp as senior relationship director in the Global Financial Institutions Group with immediate effect. His role will involve expanding and deepening Schroders’ relationships with financial institutions that have global distribution and he will report to Robert Noach, head of Global Financial Institutions Group. Tjeerd has spent 10 years at Threadneedle Asset Management. He held several senior client facing roles with a particular focus on European distribution in Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Perella Weinberg Partners announced on 22 September that it has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The firm, a specialist in corporate consulting and asset management services, has also announced the recruitment of Jameel Akhrass and Nabil F. Lahham as partners; they will concentrate largely on the development of asset management and strategic advising activities in the Middle East. The two new partners previously worked at Nomura International for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Hesham Ali, who for 13 years has been a member of the asset management group at Perella Weinberg Partners, has also been appointed head of marketing and investor relations, as head of asset management in the Middle East.

On 23 September, DWS (Deutsche Bank) announced the creation of a team of 24 qualified professionals dedicated to multi-asset class management. The unit will start up with assets of about EUR7bn. The segment has already attracted over EUR10bn in investments in Germany since the beginning of the year, and DWS expects average growth in the mid-term of about 8% p.a. in this area.The team is led by Christian Hille and Udo Rosendahl. The unit includes four teams specialised in equities, bonds, currencies, volatility and commodities, which share a common investment process based on DWS projections for asset classes, regions and markets. In the fund management framework, the new group will have as much power as the equities and bond teams.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In addition to the creation of its institutional real estate fund management affiliate LaSalle Vermögensverwaltung in Munich (see Newsmanagers of 27 August and 20 September), Jones Lang LaSalle is reorganizing its German activities, combining real estate advisory services, investor consulting, project & development services and energy & sustainability services into a single unit. The new division will start at the beginning of October with 30 people, led by Ingo Weiß, who was previously head of portfolio management (160 people), in which role he will be replaced by Christina Hoffmann and Tina Reuter. By the end of 2011, the real estate advisory services unit will include 45 employees. Weiß will report directly to Andreas Quint, head of Germany.

The clearing specialist firm Fidelity Clearing Canada has announced recruitments for its management team. Thomas A. White, former director and vice president of global markets and investment banking (GMI) services at Merrill Lynch Canada, has been appointed chief operating officer (COO). Ronald White becomes chief financial officer (CFO), and Bryan Moffitt becomes chief compliance officer (CCO). The three new arrivals will report to William (Bill) J. Henderson, CEO of Fidelity Clearing Canada.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Warren Buffett is continuing to sell off his shares in Moody’s, via his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, La Tribune reports. Early this week, he sold 56,000 shares, while earlier this month he sold 1.35 million shares. Since June 2009, his stake has fallen from 20.4% to 12.3%, in a less promising environment for ratings agencies, the newspaper notes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AQR Capital Management, which advises the AQR funds, has granted JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services a mandate for fund administration, prime custody and associated services for mutual funds representing assets of over USD2bn, out of total assets of about USD27bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A team of eight traders will be leaving Credit Suisse in the United States to start up a hedge fund backed by Blackstone Group, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The departures follow the passage of new regulations in the United States which limit proprietary trading. The team is led by George “Beau” Taylor, p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } currently Credit Suisse’s global head of commodities-arbitrage trading, and Trevor Woods, head of energy-arbitrage trading. The launch of the new fund is slated for early 2011, and Blackstone will invest USD150m.

Le Temps reports that the US market authority, the SEC, announced on 23 September that UBS had respected the requirements of the authority regarding its Auction Rate Securities (ARS), financial products which were described as safe, but which lost all of their value at the height of the crisis in February 2008. By the terms of the agreement with the SEC, UBS agreed to redeem USD18bn to clients who lost money on these products. This has now been achieved, and “nearly 100% of investors” have now received some compensation, the SEC notes. The agency will therefore not impose a fine on UBS.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish pension fund AMF has acquired the City Cronan office complex in Stockhom (42,000 square metres) from the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund. The acquisition price, the largest in Sweden in the past three years according to Deka Immobilien, has now been disclosed, but the sale took place at a price higher than the asset’s market value. The German management firm states that it is the twelfth sale this year above market value. In total, these sales have taken place at 13% above the market value of the properties concerned.

Mirabaud & Cie, private bankers, active since 2001 in the institutional client sector, is now developing this activity in Zurich, the bank announced in a statement on 23 September. Matthias Schroedter and Thomas Brun have recently joined Mirabaud and taken charge of distribution of funds and mandates to financial intermediaries and institutional clients in German-speaking Switzerland.Schroedter, Mirabaud’s new head of distribution in German-speaking Switzerland to financial intermediaries and banks (wholesale), has over 10 years’ experience in distribution to the institutional sector. He previously worked for Invesco, Banque Sarasin and WMPartners. Brun, in charge of institutional client relationship management for German-speaking Switzerland, has been working for over 20 years in fund and mandate distribution to institutionals. He held key roles at Lombard Odier, Eurofima and Swiss Bank Corp.

Via its affiliate Santander Private Banking, the Spanish firm Santander has completed its acquisition, announced on 23 September, of 100% of Meliorbanca Private, the private banking division of Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna (BPER). Expansión reports that the transaction price has not been disclosed, but was about EUR32m.

The Kenyan stock exchange is planning to launch a new market dedicated to small caps in the next twelve months. The planned new market which will focus on small businesses is part of an overall development plan for the market, which is seeking to double the number of listed companies in the next two years.The Nairobi stock exchange gained 43% this year, the newspaper adds.

In the 37th issue of its “Market Watch” publication, released on 23 September and dedicated to the subject of information leaks, the FSA makes 25 recommendations for regulated companies and issuers to prevent insider information which could influence the price of assets or about transactions in preparation from getting out. The text is available at the address http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/newsletters/mw_newsletter37.pdfAmong the recommendations, the regulator states (point 2) that all questions from the media to personnel at a regulated business should immediately be transferred to the media relations team, and that all personnel not belonging to the media relations team should be forbidden from responding directly to any questions from the media, regardless of their seniority.

Le PIB s’est contracté de 1,2 % au deuxième trimestre, et les incertitudes sur Anglo Irish pèsent

Le PIB s’est contracté de 1,2 % au deuxième trimestre, et les incertitudes sur Anglo Irish pèsent

La Finanzagentur, qui a ramené de 89 à 60 milliards sa prévision, divisera quasiment par deux ses émissions à court terme

BlackRock a annoncé le 21 septembre la nomination de Luiz Felipe Andrade en qualité de managing director et responsable pays pour le Brésil, avec pour mission de développer les activités du groupe au Brésil.Luiz Felipe Andrade sera à la tête d’une équipe de seize professionnels installés dans les bureaux de BlackRock à Sao Paulo. Luiz Felipe Andrade a travaillé auparavant pendant treize ans chez Itaù-Unibanco où il était dernièrement director of markets and liquidity risk.

bank zweiplus, détenue majoritairement par la banque Sarasin, a annoncé le 22 septembre la nomination avec effet immédiat de Alfred Moeckli en qualité de Chief Executive Officer (CEO) et président de la direction générale de la banque Zweiplus. Alfred Moeckli a repris le poste de Marco Weber qui a décidé de quitter la banque après avoir contribué à la réussite de la phase de lancement.Alfred Moeckli travaillait précédemment chez Falcon Private Bank en tant que deputy CEO, responsable Institutional and Treasury et membre du conseil d’administration.