L’an dernier, Bankinvest a débauché l’équipe actions danoises de SEB Asset Management composée de Niels Andersen, Karsten Søndermølle et Kitty Grøn, ce qui lui a permis de remporter de nouveaux clients, indique le site danois FW Asset Management, citant Børsen. Ainsi, Industriens Pension a quitté SEB et confié son argent à Bankinvest. Depuis que l’équipe a rejoint Bankinvest, les encours de la société ont grossi, passant de 3,2 milliards de couronnes danoises à 4,5 milliards de couronnes danoises (430,2 millions d’euros à 605 millions d’euros).

La société londonienne Banor Capital vient de signer un accord de partenariat avec FinecoBank pour la distribution des six compartiments de la Sicav Banor Sicav, rapporte Bluerating. Les fonds sont gérés selon une approche fondamentale value.

HSBC Global Asset Management vient de lancer de nouveaux fonds en Italie, rapporte Bluerating. Les fonds concernés sont : HSBC GIF ASEAN Equity, HSBC GIF Asia Bond, HSBC GIF Indonesia Bond, HSBC GIF Economic Scale Index GEM Equity et HSBC GIF US Equity Volatility Focused.

Les trois sociétés de gestion préférées des professionnels de la sélection de fonds sont BlackRock, JPMorgan et Fidelity, rapporte Bluerating, citant l’étude locale de Fund Buyer Focus. Ensuite viennent, dans l’ordre, Pictet, Nordea, M&G, Invesco, Schroders, Franklin Templeton et Eurizon.

Pioneer Investments a annoncé la nomination, avec effet immédiat, de Matthias Inderbitzin au poste de responsable du marché suisse. Il est rattaché directement à Fabien Madar, responsable de l’Europe de l’ouest et du nord au sein de la société de gestion en train de passer dans le giron du groupe Amundi. Matthias Inderbitzin remplace à ce poste Rainer Lenzin, qui rejoint début avril Credit Suisse pour prendre la direction de la distribution sur le marché suisse de l’Asset Management.

Edmond de Rothschild Holding et Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) ont validé ce 29 mars la simplification de l’actionnariat d’Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Suisse). La filiale de gestion d’actifs est détenue à 34,68% par Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse), tandis que la holding détient 55,49%. Le solde est aux mains de la filiale. Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) va ainsi racheter le capital qu’elle ne détient pas de cette entité, soit environ 65%, selon un communiqué de la banque. «Cette opération s’inscrit dans la logique de simplification juridique du groupe Edmond de Rothschild et sera réalisée, après approbation par la Finma, dans le courant du deuxième trimestre 2017", précise l'établissement.

La banque privée Vontobel a annoncé ce 29 mars le recrutement de Stefan Armbruster en qualité de responsable de la division Financial Products Europa. Stefan Armbruster, qui prendra ses fonctions le 1er juillet 2017, travaillait précédemment à la Deutsche Bank où il codirigeait la division Retail Structured Products. Stefan Armbruster prend la succession de Wolfgang Gerhardt qui quittera ses fonctions fin avril.

Le conseil d’administration de HSBC Private Bank a nommé avec effet immédiat Christophe de Backer en qualité d’administrateur, rapporte le site Romandie.com. Il remplace ainsi Elie Wakim qui va quitter l’organe de surveillance cette semaine. Le nouveau conseil d’administration sera désormais composé du président Andreas von Planta et des administrateurs Carlo Lombardini, Khalid Abdullah Almolhem, Christophe de Backer, Kim Fox, Hans-Jürgen Koch et Marc Moses. Christophe de Backer va également intégrer l’organe de surveillance de HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse), qui comprend les opérations de banque privée du groupe britannique en Suisse et au Luxembourg.Christophe de Backer a rejoint HSBC Global Asset Management en septembre 2016 en tant que membre du comité exécutif et administrateur. L’intéressé faisait ainsi son retour au sein d’un groupe bancaire qu’il connait bien, étant entré chez HSBC Private Bank en 1990 avant d’être nommé directeur général de HSBC France en 2010. Avant de revenir chez HSBC, Christophe de Backer a officié pendant trois ans (2012 à 2015) au sein du groupe Edmond de Rothschild en qualité de directeur général.

La banque privée Lombard Odier a conclu un accord avec la banque philippine UnionBank avec laquelle elle a créé deux fonds approuvés par la banque centrale des Philippines. Les deux établissements vont cogérer les fonds basés sur les risques qui seront utilisés comme des véhicules d’investissement «core» à destination de la clientèle privée philippine. La nouvelle offre comprend une stratégie offensive, UnionBank Capital Accumulation Global Fund, et un second fonds moins agressif.Lombard Odier a depuis 2012 conclu des alliances stratégiques en Asie afin d’élargir sa base de clientèle dans la région. Outre la banque philippine, la banque privée a passé un accord avec Kasikornbank en Thaïlande et conclu des partenariats au Japon, en Australie et en Corée du Sud.

ABN Amro a nommé Hans Hanegraaf en qualité de président du directoire de Bethmann Bank. Il prend la succession de Horst Sschmidt qui doit quitter la banque dans le courant de l'été. Hans Hanegraaf va également prendre en charge la totalité des activités allemandes d’ABN Amro en Allemagne, selon le magazine Private Banking. Les actifs sous gestion de Bethmann Bank, qui dispose de douze antennes sur le sol allemand, s'élèvent à environ 38 milliards d’euros.

Filiale de Volksbank NV et spécialisée dans l’investissement responsable, ASN Bank a annoncé ce 29 mars que ses encours gérés pour la clientèle (dépôts d'épargne des particuliers et de personnes morales) se sont accrus de 1 % en 2016 pour terminer à 10,83 milliards d’euros fin décembre. Le bénéfice net a augmenté de 3,9 % par rapport à 2015, à 73,5 millions d’euros.Les actifs confiés à la branche gestion de fortune et fonds d’investissement ont enregistré un accroissement de 5,9 % l’an dernier, à 2,78 milliards d’euros fin décembre, une hausse attribuable principalement à des souscriptions nettes. Au total, les encours ressortaient donc au 31 décembre à 13,62 milliards d’euros, contre près de 13,36 milliards douze mois auparavant (+ 2%).

La division de gestion d’actifs de HSBC réfléchit au lancement d’un fonds d’un milliard de dollars (926 millions d’euros) spécialisé dans la dette privée d’entreprise, rapporte Bloomberg. La structure en charge du fonds était jusque-là logée dans la banque privée de HSBC, avant d’être transférée dans la division de gestion d’actifs afin d’ajouter à la clientèle privée potentielle des débouchés auprès d’investisseurs institutionnels. La taille du fonds n’est pas encore arrêtée et pourrait être augmentée en fonction de la demande.

Chaque jeudi, L’Agefi livre ses indicateurs clés de crédit pour suivre l'évolution des marchés. Cette semaine : la dette non financière.

Le premier asset manager mondial remodèle une nouvelle fois sa gestion américaine active, face à la pression sur les prix et à des performances décevantes.

A la suite de son appel d’offres, l’Académie nationale de médecine a sélectionné Natixis AM pour créer des fonds communs investis en valeurs mobilières. Les portefeuilles à gérer seront de l’ordre de 20 à 30 millions d’euros correspondant aux dons et legs que l’institution reçoit. Le marché est souscrit pour un an. L’Académie rappelle qu’elle cherche une gestion en " bon père de famille afin d’assurer la pérennité du capital voire son augmentation”. Elle privilégie donc des mandataires ayant une expérience dans les fondations et le secteur associatif et offrant de la sécurité (qualité du dépositaire, agrément AMF....).

La société de gestion coréenne Mirae Asset Global Investments vient de s'adjoindre les services du third party marketer (TPM) français la Compagnie Financière Jacques Coeur (CFCJ) afin de distribuer ses fonds auprès des investisseurs institutionnels en France.

L'AFG a publié les chiffres clefs 2016 de la gestion en France. Les encours globaux sous gestion affichent une collecte positive de 41,2 milliards d'euros correspondant à une progression de + 4,7 % des encours gérés, qui s’élèvent désormais à 3 760 milliards d'euros.

Selon nos informations, Exane AM vient de recruter Gonzague Ruskoné, ancien commercial institutionnel pour Degroof Petercam. Gonzague Ruskoné devrait officiellement prendre ses nouvelles fonctions courant avril. Il renforcera l'équipe commerciale France d'Exane AM.

L'objectif général du marché est de fournir à la Commission l'analyse rétrospective de la portée de la réalisation des objectifs de la directive sur les gestionnaires de fonds d'investissement alternatifs — directive 2011/61/UE du Parlement européen et du Conseil.

A l'occasion de la semaine de l'épargne salariale, initiative de Place à destination des salariés et des entreprises, l'AFG présente ses propositions, afin de promouvoir "une épargne utile, sociale et collective à placer au coeur d’un projet présidentiel de redressement du pays".

p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; } NN Investment Partners is teaming up with South Pole Group to ensure that investment decisions are based on the best information available with resepct to coal, waste and water. South Pole will provide a custom screening tool for portfolios to NN IP. The tool will make it possible to better identify firms which can be expected to do well in a context of climate change and overexploitation of resources. “The solution provided by South Pole Group delivers a significant addition to other ESG information about businesses and countries which we get from our other partners, our brokers and our internal research,” a statement says.

The top player in asset management in Europe Amundi, and the French atomic and alternative energy commission, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), also a leader in its field, on 28 March announced that they have signed a partnership to create an independent asset management firm, to be entitled Supernova Invest. In addition to taking over the current CEA Investissement fund, with a contract to advise the strategic fund for CEA and to manage the FNA fund “Amorçage Technologique,” the new firm will also create and manage new capital innovation funds for third parties, to finance technological innovation in France.“After a first success in infrastructure with EDF, Amundi is once again teaming up with an industrial leader in its sector in CEA, and is showing its commitment to helping a range of innovative investment solutions to emerge out of the fabric of French startups,” Pedro Antonio Arias, director of real and alternative assets at Amundi, said at a press conference. The new independent asset management firm will be jointly controlled by CEA Investissement (40%), Amundi PEF (40%), and the team coming from CEA Investissement (20%).From its first year, the firm will have about EUR230bn in assets under management or advised, and will aim to reach EUR1bn by 2020. These EUR230bn include existing activities at CEA Investissement, which account for about EUR100m, and two new capital innovation funds, one with EUR70m, which is expected to be unveiled in the next few weeks, and one to be created with Crédit Agricole. The latter banking group has decided to outsource the management of a new fund to be known as “Crédit Agricole Innovations et Territoires” to Supernova Invest. This investment will bring in EUR40m from the regional branches of Crédit Agricole, while Crédit Agricole Assurances and Crédit Agricole S.A. will contribute EUR5m each.

In the fourth of six planned announcements, Vanguard reported lower expense ratios for 15 mutual fund shares, including the industry’s largest balanced fund. As a result, investors in these funds saved an estimated USD23 million, according to a press release. To date, Vanguard has reported an estimated USD165 million in cumulative savings across 139 index and actively managed fund and ETF shares. Three actively-managed fund shares reported expense ratio decreases this month. The USD98 billion Vanguard Wellington Fund Investor (VWELX) and Admiral (VWENX) shares declined one and two basis points to 0.25% and 0.16%, respectively. The expense ratio of the USD1.5 billion Vanguard Convertible Securities Fund (VCVSX) declined four basis points to 0.34%. Founded in 1929, Vanguard Wellington Fund is the nation’s oldest and largest balanced fund. The fund’s expense reductions can be attributed to economies of scale from asset growth and incentive/penalty arrangements, concludes the statement

BlackRock is positioning its equity investment platform for the future of active management – leveraging its unique scale and breadth of capabilities to drive sustainable alpha. The firm is also segmenting its active equity product offerings into four product ranges to meet evolving client preferences, which includes launching the new BlackRock Advantage series of core alpha products.Strategy or portfolio management repositioning will impact approximately USD30 billion in assets under management (about 11% of total active equity AUM). There will be no repositioning of active equity products currently managed outside of the U.S. “At the heart of BlackRock is a culture that embraces change and turns it into opportunity,” said Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO in a presse release. “We are constantly anticipating how macro trends will reshape both our industry and our clients’ needs; we then pivot accordingly.The changes BlackRock is making include reorienting certain investment teams, primarily in the U.S., around a more focused product line-up, while also shifting resources and responsibilities within teams to best leverage the full breadth of BlackRock’s platform in seeking to generate sustainable alpha.The firm is also investing further in data science innovation, which leverages the unique capabilities of Aladdin®, and strengthens the connections that quantitative and fundamental investors both need to distill unstructured information into investable insights.BlackRock is creating a more integrated approach to collaboration across fundamental research teams to leverage the firm’s global reach, including insights generated from teams in local markets. This new structure will allow the best insights derived both through big-data analysis and fundamental research to be shared across every investment team across the active equity platform.BlackRock’s equity strategies reflect a continuum of investment building blocks – spanning index, factors, quantitative, fundamental and alternatives – used to tailor solutions for specific client needs. Within that spectrum, BlackRock’s active equity offerings are being organized in four product ranges, each designed for a specific client need and priced along a continuum to deliver the value clients expect.“Clients have moved beyond just active and passive techniques. They are choosing from a variety of products that incorporate multiple investment strategies, return targets, levels of risk and cost expectations,” said Wiseman. “We are evolving our product offerings to ensure we stay ahead of those changing client desires.”The four distinct product ranges for BlackRock’s active equity products will be:1. Core Alpha – products for clients seeking market returns plus consistent alpha (outperformance over a benchmark) with lower levels of risk. This includes a new Advantage series of products for U.S. investors and initially is expected to include nine mutual funds providing access to BlackRock’s industry leading quantitative investment team. Approximately 90% of the investment team’s overall strategies have outperformed their respective benchmarks or peer median over the past five years.*2. High Conviction Alpha – for clients seeking higher risk/return products. These strategies provide access to portfolio managers that can deliver returns in more highly concentrated and unconstrained/absolute return strategies.3. Outcome Oriented – products designed to provide clients with specific outcomes, such as income or sustainable investment strategies. This will include an expanded range of income products to meet growing client needs for higher dividend yields.4. Country and Sector Specialty – offering clients specific country and sector exposures, where BlackRock offers deep expertise.Launch of the new Advantage series and an expanded range of income funds includes both new products and the conversion of certain existing funds with approximately USD8 billion in assets. These changes will result in approximately USD30 million of annualized savings to clients from lower fees. BlackRock anticipates that these products will attract new assets at a faster rate over time as a result of improved pricing and performance. The firm will also incur a charge of approximately USD25 million in the first quarter of 2017 reflecting certain one-time, severance and accelerated compensation expense associated with the repositioning.

After the departure of Jürgen Mahler from Oddo Meriten AM, where he was country manager for Italy, Lorenzo Gazzoletti, deputy CEO of the asset management firm, has decided to take over the head of the Italian arm and to represent the company in Italy, Funds People Italia reports. In Italy, the office, which has EUR1.2bn in assets under management, has been transformed in to a branch. “Since Italy is not only our largest market after our two domestic markets in France and Germany, but also the market with the largest organic growth, it seemed logical, reasonable and strategic to take this responsibility over directly. And not only due to the strategic position of this market, but also because, as an Italian, it is a natural field for me,” Gazzoletti explains. “I will be taking over control of the Milan office, no longer as a startup but as a fully existing entity to be grown, and will be driving us into areas that have not been explored before, such as institutionals.” Gazzoletti also says that in the short term, he will be recruiting a senior sales representative who will be responsible for institutionals. With this arrival, the Italian team will include six people.

In a year of market surprises, major shock waves rocked the brand rankings in the sixth, annual evaluation of cross-border asset managers – FB50 2017, said a press release.An intoxicating mix of political drama, market dynamics and an industry in a major period of transition all contributed to significant changes to the cross-border and boutique brand rankings. Rising stars, falling angels and rejuvenated brands all featured in the new-look top ten. Only the top three brands held their positions. Some established groups floundered as mid-size players vied for attention with product flavours that paid brand dividends. Nordea and Robeco raced into the top ten while Pictet ousted Franklin Templeton from 4th position and joined Europe’s elite top five for the first time. Commenting on the study, Diana Mackay, Joint-CEO of MackayWilliams, said: “In a challenging year for the industry, Europe’s professional fund buyers provided asset managers with some clear signals on the types of companies and brands they want to engage with in the future. More than ever before, asset managers need to establish enduring differentiation through the emotional appeal of their brands. Delivery of product at the right price is no longer enough.”The study measures asset managers’ relative brand performance based on fund-selector perceptions across a range of drivers to highlight the leading cross-border brands. The research also examines the most successful third-party brands in each of Europe’s ten largest retail markets. Findings from this year’s study reveal that: • Despite a fall in the total brand score for all of the top three groups, BlackRock extended its lead over its immediate rivals.• Innovation and client focus were the drivers behind the rising groups, displacing managers without replacements for fading blockbuster products. • Investor appetite for thematics and socially responsible investments featured heavily amongst the groups with improved brand recognition. • Size is not a barrier to brand popularity for smaller groups able to prove their stability – a feature demonstrated by the boutique winner, Lannebo Fonder, and the fastest riser in this category, FundSmith.• Passive providers can differentiate and build brand on non-price-related attributes. iShares was top passive brand, rising six places to 14th position supported by a high score for innovation

As of the end of December 2016, 165 green funds were on sale in Europe, with assets of EUR22bn, according to the most recent study by Novethic, with the support of the energy efficiency agency Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie (ADEME). Although the number of funds has remained relatively stable since 2013, assets have risen 47%. This growth comes after AUM had fallen between 2009 and 2013 from EUR18.8bn to EUR15bn in the wake of the financial crisis, “COP 21 has happened, and the financial community is aware of climate risks,” says Dominique Blanc, director of research at Novethic, at a conference for green funds.However, these volumes and their growth remain moderate, compared with the total volumes of assets in green financing, outside the public fund sector, Novethic points out.Management of green funds is concentrated at a few pioneering players in this field. The top 10 account collectively for over EUR14bn, two thirds of total assets in the market. The top player is the Swiss Pictet AM, with three funds representing EUR4.6bn, including its famous water fund. It is followed by the French BNP Paribas IP, with eight funds, and EUR2.5bn, and the US firm BlackRock, with five funds (EUR1.6bn).Water remains the most popular theme with investors, as the 20 “water” specialist funds have total assets of EUR8.27bn. These are followed by the 84 “environment” funds, a broader theme with a total of EUR8.1bn in assets.In terms of asset class, a large majority of European green funds (85%, both in number and volume) are equity funds, but the market is gradually diversifying into bonds, with the growth of green bonds in particular.According to Novethic, among investors institutionals dominate the market, with only 15% of sub-funds analysed reserved for individual investors. At BNP Paribas Wealth management, Eléonore Bedel, head for SRI and impact investing, notes that as a proportion of client SRI assets, green funds represent 10%. But when the client decides (as part of advised or free management), this percentage rises to 30%. These funds, she says, are easier to understand.

In February, open-ended funds on sale in Italy posted net inflows of EUR4.1bn, after EUR5.7bn in January, the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset management professionals, shows. This brings inflows in the first two months of the year to nearly EUR10bn, as the profession prepares to gather in Milan for Il Salone del Risparmio.Inflows were driven by bond funds (EUR2.8bn), flexible funds (EUR1.7bn) and diversified funds (EUR1.1bn). However, equity funds have seen slight outflows of EUR55m. As of the end of February, assets in open-ended funds totalled EUR920bn. With the addition of closed funds and mandated management, assets total EUR1.950trn.The asset management firm with the strongest inflows in February, unusually, was a foreign firm: Allianz, with more than EUR2bn in inflows for the month, following EUR1.3bn in outflows in January. The German firm is followed by Poste Italiane, with EUR1.9bn, and Intesa Sanpaolo, with EUR1.7bn.For outflows, Pioneer, the firm acquired by Amundi, stands out with redemptions of EUR1.6bn, followed by SSGA (-EUR906m), and Generali (-EUR513m).

Record sums raised and a record number of companies assisted. Record would be the right word for the year 2016, according to figures released by the French association of investors for growth (Association Française des Investisseurs pour la Croissance, AFIC) on 28 March. EUR14.7bn were raised in 2016 by French venture capital professionals, which represents a 51% increase over 2015. 45% of these funds come from abroad, compared with 37% in 2015, in a sign of international interest in French businesses. More than EUR9.3bn will go to transmission of companies, and EUR1.6bn to innovation capital startups, the highest levels in four years. Only capital development has shrunk, to EUR3.7bn from EUR5bn the previous year, probably due to competition from debt or mezzanine operations.One important fact, says AFIC, is that insurers and banks have made a major comeback, placing their own equity as investors. These investments, at EUR1.3bn, have returned to their all-time highs before the crisis in 2006-2008.Another record is the number of companies assisted: nearly 1,900 in 2016, compared with an average of 1,600 over the past 10 years. This represents a record in Europe, according to AFIC. The total sum invested was EUR12.4bn, up 15% compared with 2015.

NN Investment Partners s’associe avec South Pole Group afin de s’assurer que ses décisions d’investissement sont basées sur la meilleure information disponible dans le carbone, les déchets et l’eau. South Pole va fournir un outil de « screening » des portefeuilles sur mesure à NN IP. Cela doit lui permettre de mieux identifier les sociétés qui vont tirer leur épingle du jeu dans ce contexte de changement climatique et de surexploitation des ressources. « La solution fournie par South Pole Group fournit un ajout important aux autres informations ESG sur les entreprises et les pays que nous obtenons grâce à nos autres partenaires, nos courtiers et notre recherche interne », explique le communiqué.