Schroder Investment Management a recruté pour son équipe de Francfort Linda Walch, qui était responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle et des particuliers chez Aberdeen Asset Management (anciennement DEGI). Elle rejoint la division client services et sera plus particulièrement chargée de la clientèle dans le domaine immobilier. Elle est subordonnée à Nicky Wagner, directeur de la distribution «property» chez Schroders.
Au 30 juin, l’encours d’Union investment ressortait à 167,6 milliards d’euros contre 150,6 milliards un an plus tôt ; le total de fin juin est encore inférieur au record de 175 milliards d’euros enregistré au 30 juin 2007. A fin décembre, il se situaient à 166 milliards d’euros.Les souscriptions nettes sont ressorties à 2,8 milliards d’euros au premier semestre contre 3,8 milliards et 4,4 milliards respectivement pour les périodes correspondantes de 2009 et de 2008. Les rentrées nettes des fonds institutionnels ont représenté 2,16 milliards, les fonds et mandats protégés Immuno ayant drainé 2,1 milliards (ils atteignent 22,3 milliards d’euros d’encours), tandis que l’activité advisory et gestion de fortune enregistraient des rentrées nettes de 1,24 milliard et que les fonds offerts au public subissaient des sorties nettes de 0,59 milliard.Union Investment précise que les fonds d’actions n’ont attiré en net que 54 millions d’euros pendant que les fonds immobiliers drainaient 1.253 millions et que les fonds protégés engrangeaient 1.143 millions. Les fonds hybrides ont collecté 59 millions tandis que les fonds obligataires et les fonds monétaires accusaient des remboursements nets de 2.711 millions et de 553 millions.Enfin, le gestionnaire des banques populaires allemandes indique avoir recruté plus de 130.000 nouveaux clients sur un an avec son UniProfiRente. Union demeure de très loin le numéro des sociétés de gestion allemandes pour la distribution des plans d'épargne-retrait Riester en unités de compte, avec 1,8 million de comptes et 67 % de part de marché.
A l’occasion de la présentation de ses résultats du premier semestre 2010 (lire par ailleurs), Union Investment a annoncé le lancement d’une gamme de fonds patrimoniaux flexibles et profilés, les PrivatFonds Flexibel, Kontrolliert et Konsequent, avec une souscription initiale minimum de 10.000 euros. Si le gestionnaire ne facture pas de droit d’entrée, il compte une commission de gestion comprise entre 1 % et 1,55 %. Les fonds, gérés activement, sont investis dans une grande variété de classes d’actifs, des options, des certificats et même des fonds tiers.Les nouveaux PrivatFonds existent à chaque fois en version normale et «pro». Le Flexibel et le Flexibel pro sont destinés à des investisseurs désireux de pouvoir exploiter le potentiel des différents marchés, le Flexibel ayant une position neutre en fonds monétaires tandis que le Flexibel pro n’a aucune limitation dans la répartition par classe d’actifs. Pour leur part, le Kontrolliert et le Kontrolliert pro sont axés sur le pilotage de la volatilité, l’objectif étant de générer une performance supérieure à celle d’un portefeuille diversifié classique actions/obligations. Enfin, le Konsequent et le Konsequent pro reprennent pour les particuliers le concept des fonds institutionnels protégés de la gamme Immuno. Avec le Konsequent, les investisseurs acceptent une protection de 97 % de leur mise initiale tandis qu’avec le Konsequent pro, la protection se limite à 90 %. Cela posé, si de nouveaux plus hauts sont franchis durant une période de 12 mois, l’effet de cliquet permet de les capturer pour les périodes suivantes. Dans les deux cas, Union vise pour ces deux produits sur le moyen-long terme une performance supérieure à celle d’un placement sûr à taux fixe.
Le spécialiste des fonds alternatifs Ben Horner rejoint UBS à Hong Kong en tant qu’executive director du service commercial dédié au prime brokerage. Il était auparavant chief operating officer de Cranmore Capital, une plateforme de hedge funds base à Hong Kong, précise Asian Investor. Il travaillera sous la direction de Tamera Hodges.
Selon un accord conclu avec la famille Garavilla qui détenait 95 % du capital, un des fonds de MCH Private Equity va prendra la majorité dans les conserveries de poisson Conservas Isabel à la faveur d’une augmentation de capital avec une forte prime, rapporte Cinco Días. La transaction porterait sur plus de 60 millions d’euros. L’administrateur délégué, Juan Corrales, restera en place pour au moins trois ans. Les actifs pris en compte dans la valorisation comportent deux des quatre bateaux de la société et ses usines de Bermeo (biscaye), O Grove (Pontevedra) Agadir (Maroc) et Manta (Equateur). Conservas Isabel a réalisé en 2009 un chiffre d’affaires de 250 millions d’euros.
Selon les informations de Cinco Días, Endesa a reçu des offres pour les 5.000 kilomètres de son réseau de distribution et pour la desserte de 1,5 million de clients de la part des fonds Macquarie, CVC Partners, Axa Private Equity, Antin et Goldman Sachs. La cession de 80 % des actifs gaziers de la compagnie d'électricité devrait être bouclée en septembre.
Selon Funds People, Oriol Dalmau, directeur général adjoint de Caixa Manresa et ancien directeur général de la société de gestion de cet établissement, sera le nouveau patron du gestionnaire résultant de la fusion des trois entités de gestion des caisses d'épargnes catalanes Caixa Catalunya (2,9 milliards d’euros d’actifs), Caixa Tarragona (64 millions) et Caixa Manresa (1,43 milliard).Le nouvel ensemble sera par les encours le dixième gestionnaire espagnol avec plus de 4,39 milliards d’euros, derrière Bankinter (4,49 milliards fin juin).
Selon les chiffres définitifs publiés par la CNMV, 31 des 120 sociétés de gestion enregistrées sur le marché espagnol ont accusé des pertes en 2009, les plus touchées étant BNP Paribas Asset Management (- 3,07 millions d’euros), Santander Asset Management (3,16 millions) et le gestionnaire alternatif Proxima Alfa Investments (20,32 millions). Au total, le secteur a affiché un bénéfice de 158 millions d’euros, dont 36,13 millions pour BBVA Asset management, 19,51 millions pour Bestinver (Acciona) et 17,66 millions pour Ibercaja Gestión. Les 15 premières sociétés de gestion affichent à elles seules un bénéfice net de 159,64 millions d’euros, soit un montant supérieur à celui enregistré pour l’ensemble du secteur.
State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) annonce qu’elle va arrêter le prêt de titres par un certain nombre de ses fonds obligataires irlandais conformes à la directive OPCVM III ; il s’agit des fonds SSgA World Broad Investment Grade Index; World Government Bond Index; EMU Government Bond Index; UK Government Bond Index; US Corporate Bond Index; US Government Bond Index; Euro Corporate Bond Index; Euro Broad Investment Grade Bond Index et EMU Government Long Bond II. D’après Asian Investors, ces fonds représentaient en juin moins de 1 % des actifs sous gestion de SSgA.
Selon l’Edhec, sept stratégies de hedge funds sur douze, plus les fonds de hedge funds, ont accusé des pertes en juin, les deux plus sinistrées étant le long/short equity (- 1,69 %) et les distressed securities (- 1,01 %). En revanche, les fonds spécialistes des ventes à découvert ont affiché une performance de 4,05 %.Sur le premier semestre, quatre stratégies, plus les fonds de hedge funds (- 1,3 %) ont subi des pertes, la plus importante étant accusée par le long/short equity tandis que les distressed securities et l’arbitrage obligataire signaient des gains respectifs de 4,5 % et 4,4 %.Depuis le début de 2001, les deux stratégies les plus rentables ont été les marchés émergents (11,8 % par an) et les distressed securities (11 %), la moins performante étant la vente à découvert (2,1 %).
The Swiss private bank Wegelin manages USD25bn worldwide, and employs about 700 people. But in Asia, its activities are still relatively limited, Asian Investor says. That’s why Wegelin plans to intensify its efforts aimed at institutional and ultra-high net worth clients in Asia. The bank is planning to launch a commodity trading advisor (CTA) strategy by the end of the year.
quirin bank announced on Monday that it has recruited Dieter Merz to direct asset management and research. He will be in charge of ecological and ethical strategies. Merz, who was most recently CIO and head of wealth management at the private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser, where he was in charge of integrating sustainable development at the group, replaces Dietmar Rieg, who is leaving quirin for family reasons.
After building one of the largest and most prestigious empires of any Wall Street firm, Morgan Stanley is now looking for a way out, The Wall Street Journal reports. The group is considering whether to reduce its participation in MSREF funds or to sell them off. So far, the considerations are only at an early stage, and no decision has yet been taken, sources familiar with the matter say. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson says that the group is not in talks to sell the activity.
On Monday, RBC Dexia Investor Services announced that it has been selected by the Geneva-based Active Earth Management to provide custody and fund administration, registry and settlement agency services to its UCITS-compliant Luxembourg fund Active Earth, which includes sustainable development in its evaluation process. The objective of Active Earth IM, founded in 2009, is to represent a gateway between traditional and sustainable development management by evaluating the visibility of corporate financial returns through a systematic filter of extra-financial criteria, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.
After a fierce bidding war with their rival KKR, Agefi reports, the two private equity groups TPG and Carlyle have signed off on a takeover bid for the Australian hospital operator Healthscope for AUD1.73bn.
At a presentation of results for first half 2010 (see article in this issue of Newsmanagers), Union Investment announced the launch of a range of flexible and profiled wealth management funds, the PrivatFonds Flexibel, Kontrolliert and Konsequent, with a minimal initial subscription of EUR10,000. Though the asset management firm charges no front-end fee, there is a management commission totalling 1% to 1.55%. The funds, which are actively managed, are invested in a wide variety of asset classes, options, certificates, and third-party funds. The new PrivatFonds are each available in a normal and a “pro” version. The Flexibel and Flexibel pro are aimed at investors seeking to exploit the potential of different markets, as the Flexibel has a neutral position on money market funds, while the Flexibel pro has no limitation in its distribution by asset class. The Kontrolliert and Kontrolliert pro are focused on volatility management, with the objective of generating performance higher than that of a traditional diversified portfolio of equities and bonds. The Konsequent and Konsequent pro, for their part, bring the concept of protected institutional funds of the Immuno range to retail investors. With the Konsequent funds, investors accept a protection of 97% of their initial capital, while with the Kapital pro, the protection is limited to 90%. However, if higher peaks are recorded in a 12-month period, a high watermark makes it possible to capture them for subsequent periods. In both cases, Union aims for higher performance than for a «safe» investment at a fixed rate in the mid to long term for both products.
In 2009, profit margins at private banks fell to 20 basis points compared with assets, from 26 basis points in 2008 ad 35 in 2007, according to the European Private Banking Survey 2010 from McKinsey & Company. Assets under management (EUR4.2trn) increased by an average of 10% (following a decline of 15% in 2008), of which 9 percentage points were due to market effects, and only 1 point to net inflows. The volume of assets under management show an important growth trend: private banks with less than EUR5bn in assets saw their cost-income ratio deteriorate last year to 89% from 81%, while the ratio for larger businesses remained unchanged at 60%. With profit margins of 42 basis points, Luxembourg companies retained their place at the top in terms of profitability in Europe, despite net outflows of 5%. Swiss firms saw a decline in their margins to 24 basis points from 33, and net outflows of 1%, although their assets increased by 11%. McKinsey states that the Singapore and Hong Kong markets were the winners in terms of cross-border business, while assets from western Europe rose 17%.
To follow its first three bond funds, DoubleLine Capital, the management firm created by Jeff Gundlach following his dismissal from TCW (Société Générale), on Friday notified the SEC (form N-1 A) that it will soon be launching the DoubleLine Multi-Asset Growth Fund, an asset allocation product with four share classes (A, C, I and N). The A share class carries a maximal front-end fee of 4.25% (except for investments of over USD50,000), while the C class carries a front-end fee of 1%. The four classes carry management and exit fees of 1%. The funds may invest in equities, bonds, real estate sector securities, infrastructure, and securities related to commodities, currencies, and “short-term and high quality” investments.
The management firm John Hancock Investment Management services has announced the launch of the John Hancock Disciplined Value Mid Cap Fund, a reissue of the Robeco Boston Partners Mid Cap Value Fund, whose management was taken over by John Hancock in March (see Newsmanagers of 29/03/2010). The portfolio of the John Hancock Disciplined Value Mid Cap Fund is at least 80% invested in a diversified portfolio of value midcap equities identified by Robeco Boston Partners.
Agefi reports that the annual McKinsey study of the private banking sector in Europe shows growth in assets of 10% in 2009, alongside a 25% decline in operating profits. McKinsey says a “meltdown” in the sector has begun, driven by “historically low profits” and “net capital inflows, overall, of near zero,” the newspaper reports.
As of 30 June, assets at Union Investment totalled EUR167.6bn, compared with EUR150.6bn one year earlier; the total as of the end of June was still lower than the record of EUR175bn set on 30 June 2007. As of the end of December, assets totalled EUR166bn. Net subscriptions totalled EUR2.8bn in first half, compared with EUR3.8bn and EUR4.4bn respectively in the corresponding periods of 2009 and 2008. Net inflows to institutional funds represented EUR2.16bn, while Immuno protected funds and mandates attracted EUR2.1bn (bringing them to EUR22.3bn in assets), while advisory and wealth management activities saw net inflows of EUR1.24bn and open-ended funds saw net outflows of EUR0.59bn. Union Investment says that equities funds attracted a net total of only EUR54m, while real estate funds attracted EUR1.253bn, and protected funds took in EUR1.143bn. Hybrid funds collected EUR59m, while bond and money market funds saw net redemptions of EUR2.711bn and EUR553m. Lastly, the management firm for the German co-operative banks says that it recruited more than 130,000 new clients in one year with its UniProfiRente product. Union remains by far the top German management firm for sales of Riester unit-linked retirement savings plans, with 1.8 million policies and a market share of 67%.
Schroder Investment Management has recruited Linda Walch, who was previously head of institutional and retail clients at Aberdeen Asset Management (formerly DEGI), for its Frankfurt team. She will join the client services division, and will be in charge of clients in the real estate area. She will report to Nicky Wagner, director of property distribution at Schroders.
According to a survey undertaken between 1 March and 15 April by Feri EuroRating services of 695 investors about their investments in emerging markets, respondents are mostly highly satisfied with the products offered by fund managers in this area, but it is mostly foreign asset management firms who receive a score of satisfied or highly satisfied, led by the French firm Comgest. The only German operator at the top of the rankings is DWS/db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank). Sandro Capucci, an analyst at Feri EuroRating Services, points out that the results of the survey confirm the Feri rankings established slightly over a month ago (see Newsmanagers of 9 June), in which the German asset management firms are surpassed by foreign firms. In terms of their investments in emerging markets, 84% of investors prefer actively managed equities or diversified funds investing in several countries. However, EM bond funds interest only 13% of respondents.
Agefi reports that Mary Schapiro, chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, estimates that about 800 jobs may be created at the market regulator due to major reforms of financial sector supervision recently passed by Congress.
Edhec reports that seven hedge fund strategies out of 12, and funds of hedge funds, showed losses in June; the two worst-hit were long/short equity (-1.69%) and distressed securities (-1.01%). However, funds specialized in dedicated short bias showed returns of 4.05%. In first half, four strategies, and funds of hedge funds (-1.3%) saw losses, with the heaviest losses for long/short equity, while distressed securities and fixed income arbitrage showed respective gains of 4.5% and 4.4%, respectively. Since the beginning of 2001, the two most profitable strategies have been emerging markets (11.8% per year) and distressed securities (11%), while the worst performer has been dedicated short bias (2.1%).
As of the end of June, the number of ETFs traded in Europe increased by 24 funds in one month, bringing it for the first time above 1,000 funds. Assets increased slightly last month, with gains of 0.4%, to EUR182.8bn, ETFlab (Deka) reports in the most recent edition of its newsletter “Wertarbeit für Ihr Geld.” However, in light of the negative evolution of the markets, equities ETFs saw a decline of 3.3% in their assets under management, to EUR121.5bn, while bond ETFs saw an increase of 10.3% in their assets, to EUR33.8bn. For commodities ETFs, assets under management increased 6.7% to EUR15.2bn.
State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has announced that it will be ceasing securities lending by a number of its Irish UCITS III-compliant bond funds, specifically the SgA World Broad Investment Grade Index; World Government Bond Index; EMU Government Bond Index; UK Government Bond Index; US Corporate Bond Index; US Government Bond Index; Euro Corporate Bond Index; Euro Broad Investment Grade Bond Index and EMU Government Long Bond II. According to Asian Investor, these funds in June represented less than 1% of assets under management at SSgA.
According to final statistics from the CNMV, 31 of the 120 fund management firms registered on the Spanish market saw losses in 2009. The worst affected were BNP Paribas Asset Management (-EUR3.07m), Santander Asset Management (EUR3.16m) and the hedge fund management firm Proxima Alfa Investments (EUR20.32m). In total, the sector saw profits of EUR158m, of which EUR36.13m were for BBVA Asset Management, EUR19.51m for Bestinver (Acciona), and EUR17.66m for Ibercaja Gestión. The top 15 management firms alone had net profits of EUR159.64m, a higher total than for the sector as a whole.
Funds People reports that Oriol Dalmau, deputy CEO of Caixa Manresa and former CEO of the management firm for the company, will be the new head of the management firm resulting from the merger of three management entities and savings banks: Caixa Catalunya (EUR2.9bn in assets), Caixa Tarragona (EUR64m), and Caixa Manresa (EUR1.43bn). The new group will be the tenth-largest Spanish management firm by volume, with over EUR4.39bn, after Bankinter (EUR4.49bn as of the end of June).
The hedge fund specialist Ben Horner is joining UBS in Hong Kong as executive director of the commercial service dedicated to prime brokerage. He was previously chief operating offiver at Cranmore Capital, a hedge fund platform based in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. He will report to Tamera Hodges.