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16/12/2013

Wealth of retail investors totals USD195trn

The cumulative wealth of retail investors was USD195,000 as of the end of 2012, according to statistics released by WealthInsight. The number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) as of the end of 2012 totalled 16.8 million, with cumulative wealth of USD66trn. Global asset management firms, family offices and private banks had USD19.3trn in assets under management in 2012. More than 5,000 family offices were operating last year worldwide, with most of them based in Europe and the United States (2,900 in the US). The cumulative wealth of family offices is estimated at USD2.5trn. This is equivalent to 3.7% of the cumulative wealth in the HNWI segment, and 13% of assets under management worldwide.
16/12/2013

Hedge funds cut their commissions for large investors

Managers of hedge funds tend to reduce the commissions they charge large invetors, and offer a much wider range of personalised investment options, the Financial Times reports. “The challenges for managers have never been so large, but the appetite of investors has never been so large, meaning that managers are feeding off investors’ agitation,” says Cary Steir, head of the asset management division at Deloitte. However, enthusiasm for hedge funds on the part of institutional investors, particularly corporates and mid-sized pension funds, may appear excessive, in light of the more modest ambitions for returns. Acording to the Global Hedge Fund Report for 2014, which will be published by Preqin in January, expectations of returns from hedge funds are now at about 7%, compared with 7.7% in 2011.
16/12/2013

AllianceBernstein completes acquisition of W.P. Stewart

AllianceBernstein, an affiliate of the Axa group, on 12 December completed its acquisition of W.P. Stewart, an equity asset management firm whose assets total about USD2bn (see Newsmanagers of 19 August 2013). Teams at W.P. Stewart will remain in place, and will continue to provide investment services. The deal allows AllianceBernstein to strengthen its expertise in growth equities.
16/12/2013

SSgA appoints a global head of defined contribution research

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the asset management business of State Street Corporation has announced the appointment of Mark Fortier to managing director, head of global defined contribution research and product development.In this position, Fortier will be responsible for developing best-in-class products that anticipate plan sponsor needs and will work closely with the investment teams across SSgA to bring new defined contribution products to market globally. Fortier will be based in Boston and report to Fredrik Axsater, managing director and global head of defined contribution at SSgA. Fortier joins SSgA from Alliance Bernstein, where he most recently served as head of product and partner strategy.
16/12/2013

Guillaume Rambourg returns to United Kingdom

Guillaume Ramourg, former star manager at Gartmore, whose problems with the British regulator led to the fall of the asset management firm as an independent structure, is returning to the British fund market, Financial Times fund management reports. Verrazano Capital, his Paris-based hedge fund, has raised GBP50m from private high net worth invetors and family offices for a Europe ex UK long-only fund aimed at British invetors. The Verrazzano Advantage European fund will be concentrated on about 40 to 60 positions.
16/12/2013

SLI toughens its governance standards

UK-based Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced that it is toughening its “governance stewardship principles and policy guidelines” used for the evaluation of governance at businesses in which the asset management firm invests or may invest its clients’ capital. The guidelines will now be applied worldwide, and now include a new “values & business practices” section.The new rules also include a standard by which administrators or directors of a business would be required to hold an “appropriate” proportion of their shares after they leave the firm.The new rules and principles will take effect from January 2014, from which date the regional guidelines will be updated to allow managers to implement them as part of their voting policies.
16/12/2013

More than 300,000 Brits have not saved enough for their retirement

According to a survey carried out in November 2013 by Opiniom on behalf of Liverpool & Victoria of a representative sample of 1,070 people aged 60-65 in the United Kingdom, the necessary nest egg to retire decently for 17 years (the average duration of retirement according to the National Statistical Office) is said to be at leat GBP225,276. According to calculations, more than 300,000 people aged 60 to 65 have not saved enough for their retirement, and are facing a shortage of sacings of GBP106,000.The legal pension regime gives an average GBP5,727 per year, while spending for a pensioner represents GBP7,263.20 for 52 weeks.
16/12/2013

Ashcourt Rowan posts losses for first half

The British wealth management firm Ashcourt Rowan has reported a pre-tax loss of GBP2.5m for the six months to the end of September, largely related to one-time costs for the restructuring of the group, according to figures released on 13 December. Assets under management by the group remained stable at GBP3.7bn, of which GBP1.6bn in discretionary assets or assets under management. The recent acquisition of Generali Portfolio Management (UK) as well as other recent initatives are expected to contributed to an increase in assets under management of more than GBP300m in second half, the group says in its interim results. Ashcourt Rowan also, before the weekend, announced the acquisitiou of the asset management firm UK Wealth Management (UKWN, GBP1.3bn in assets under management as of the end of October), totalling GBP14.25m. This operation is financed by a cash issue of 8.25 millino shares at 185 pence each, which represents a total of about GBP15.2m. The sale price represents a discount of 2.4% compared with the closing price of 189.5 pence as of 12 December.
16/12/2013

Investors anticipate end of quantitative easing

Although the US Federal Reserve has yet to hold their December meeting, investors have been acting as if it has already occurred and a vote to start winding down the current quantitative easing program (QE3) took place. During the week ending December 11 redemptions from EPFR Global-tracked bond funds hit their highest weekly total since late August, investors pulled over USD1.6 billion out of both emerging markets equity and bond funds and outflows from commodities sector funds climbed to levels last seen in early July while commitments to floating rate bond funds jumped to a 10 week high. Overall, bond funds posted a collective net outflow of USD4.2 billion for the week while equity funds absorbed USD1.37 billion and money market funds USD8.8 billion., according to data released by EPFR Global. EPFR Global repors that interpreting this week’s equity fund flows is complicated by the fact that a number of major US equity funds went ex-dividend on Wednesday, with sizable capital gains distributions showing up as outflows until they are reinvested on Thursday which will appear as inflows next week. However, with three weeks of the year remaining over a dozen fund groups remain on course to post full year inflow records, among them Europe, convertible, floating rate and Colombia bond funds, balanced funds, industrials, infrastructure and healthcare/biotechnology sector funds and all five of the major developed markets equity fund groups.
16/12/2013

Sudden drop in number of hedge fund launches

The Volcker rule in the United States is already having negative effects on the hedge fund industry. According to the most recent study by HFR Market Microstructure Industry, the number of new hedge funds launched in third quarter has reached its lowest level in three years. The report evaluates the 23 new hedge funds launched on the market in third quarter, compared with 288 in second quarter, and 275 in third quarter 2012, their lowest level since fourth quarter 2012, when 220 funds were placed on the market. Overall, since the beginning of the year 2013, 816 new hedge funds have been launched, compared with 824 in the same period last year. Meanwhile, liquidation of hedge funds has increased sharply. In third quarter, 222 vehicles were liquidated, 190 in second quarter and 211 in third quarter 2012. Such a level has not been reached since fourth quarter 2012. Since the beginning of this year, 608 funds have been discontinued. In the opinion of HFR, this situation is closely related to the uncertainties engendered by the introduction of the Volcker rule. “The number of hedge fund launches has declined in third quarter, as managers, investors and financial institutions awaiting the passage of the Volcker rule, which includes restrictions on proprietary trading by financial institutions, and restricts holding of hedge funds by financial institutions,” says Kenneth J. Heinz, president of HFR.
16/12/2013

11 new ETFs from UBS on Swiss stock exchange

From 6 December, the SIX Swiss Exchange has admitted 11 new Luxembourg-registered UBS ETF Sicav funds to trading, two of which are bond products based on sovereigns, replicating a Markit iBoxx index (charging 0.17%), and nine of which track MSCI country indices (see attached list). For the latter, the total expense ratio ranges from 0.20% to 0.45%.
16/12/2013

Burkhard Varnhold to become new head ISG and CIO of Julius Baer

Julius Baer has appointed Burkhard Varnholt as new head investment solutions group (ISG) and chief investment officer (CIO) as of 1 March 2014. Hans Lauber who has previously held both positions will leave Julius Baer for private reasons: already some time ago he requested to be relieved of his duties to devote more time to his family. Prior to joining Julius Baer, Burkhard Varnhold has been CIO and head asset management and institutional clients of Bank J. Safra Sarasin and before that he had held a leading position at Credit Suisse.
16/12/2013

BP pension fund extends mandate for BNPP IP

According to Fonds Nieuws, Stichting Pensioenfonds BP, the Netherlands pension fund from BP, has extended its mandate for BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP), which will now be responsible for the management of half of the fund’s investment portfolio (EUR850m). BNPP IP was selected after a process to evaluate several candidate managers. It will aim to provide liability-driven investment (LDI) investment solutions, and will also be responsible for monitoring interest rate risks for the overall portfolio.
16/12/2013
Fonds

Alceda lance un fonds mondial avec ECPI

La société de gestion allemande Alceda Fund Management s’est rapprochée du groupe ECPI, spécialisé dans l’indexation et le conseil, pour lancer le Mega Trend Funds-ECPI Sustainable Global Mega Trends.Le fonds a été enregistré pour les investisseurs institutionnels et retail en Suisse, en Autriche, en Allemagne et au Luxembourg, et pour les seuls institutionnels en Italie.ECPI, qui propose des solutions d’indexation des grandes tendances, estime que la prise en compte des critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG) dans les décisions d’investissement offre des opportunités de création de valeur à long terme à la fois pour les investisseurs et la société.
Fonds
16/12/2013

Le fonds de pension de BP élargit le mandat octroyé à BNPP IP

Selon Fonds Nieuws, Stichting Pensioenfonds BP, le fonds de pension néerlandais de British Petroleum (BP) a élargi le mandat confié à BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) qui sera désormais responsable de la gestion de la moitié du portefeuille d’investissements du fonds (850 millions d’euros).BNPP IP a été sélectionné à l’issue d’un processus d'évaluation des gestionnaires parmi plusieurs candidats. Il aura pour mission de fournir des solutions d’investissement sous contrainte de passif (LDI) et sera en outre responsable du suivi du risque de taux sur la totalité du portefeuille.
16/12/2013

Bankinter reprend 100 % du courtier Mercavalor

Bankinter prend le contrôle du courtier Mercavalor, dont elle détenait déjà 25,01 % du capital. La banque espagnole a racheté la totalité du capital auprès des trois autres actionnaires, à savoir Banco Popular, Banco Cooperativo Español et Bankia, chacun possédant 25 % du capital. Cette transaction, dont le montant n’a pas été communiqué, s’inscrit pleinement dans la stratégie de Bankinter d’accélérer son développement sur le segment de la banque privée. Elle lui permet en effet de compléter son offre de services en l’orientant davantage vers la gestion d’actifs le conseil spécialisé à destination de ses clients. De fait, cette opération entraîne un jeu de chaises musicales au sein de la gestion d’actifs de Bankinter. Javier Bollain, le patron de Bankinter Gestion d’Actifs, prend en effet les rênes de Mercavalor. Il est remplacé à son poste par Miguel Artola qui, depuis juin 2011, officiait comme directeur des investissements chez Bankinter. Bankinter Gestion d’Actifs est aujourd’hui la huitième société de gestion en Espagne avec plus de 5,7 milliards d’euros d’encours.
16/12/2013
Fonds

iShares lance un nouvel ETF

BlackRock a annoncé le 13 décembre que iShares avait enrichi sa gamme d’ETF à duration courte avec le lancement sur la plate-forme Bats du iShares Liquidity Income ETF (code mnémonique : ICSH). Cet ETF géré activement cherche à produire un revenu adaptée à la préservation du capital par le biais d’une exposition diversifiée à des obligations de court terme et à des instruments du marché monétaire.Le ratio des frais de gestion a été fixé à 0,18% par an.
Fonds
16/12/2013

Six fonds de pension danois quittent le PRI

Six fonds de pension danois ( ATP, Industriens Pension, PensionDanmark, PFA Pension, PKA et Sampension) ont indiqué qu’ils quittaient l’organisation privée qui chapeaute les principes d’investissement responsable des Nations Unies (PRI). Les fonds de pensions estiment que l’organisation souffre de «problèmes de gouvernance» et que ni la transparence ni la démocratie ne sont appliquées, indique IPE. Suite à des changements récents, les membres ont moins de pouvoir pour décider du budget, des contenus du programmes ou la vue interne de l’organisation. Les fonds de pension ont toutefois insisté sur le fait qu’ils allaient continuer de respecter les principes des PRI dans leurs investissements.
16/12/2013

Guillaume Rambourg revient au Royaume-Uni

Guillaume Rambourg, l’ancien gérant vedette de Gartmore dont les problèmes avec le régulateur britannique avaient conduit à la chute de la société de gestion en tant que structure indépendante, fait son retour sur le marché britannique des fonds, rapporte le Financial Times fund management. Verrazzano Capital, sa société de hedge funds basée à Paris, a levé 50 millions de livres auprès de gérants de fortune privés et de family offices pour un fonds long only Europe hors Royaume-Uni destiné aux investisseurs britannique. Le Verrazzano Advantage European fund sera concentré autour de 40 à 60 valeurs.
16/12/2013

Verrazzano va s’implanter à Londres en 2014

Verrazzano Capital Managment, le hedge funds français basé à Paris et fondé fin 2011 par l’ancien gérant star de Gartmore, Guillaume Rambourg, envisage d’ouvrir un bureau à Londres l’année prochaine, rapporte Financial News. «Cela a du sens pour nous d’être plus proche de notre base d’investisseurs et, ainsi, ne pas laisser passer d’opportunités», explique Guillaume Rambourg dans un entretien au site britannique d’information. Dés 2014, deux ou trois collaborateurs de Verrazzano devrait migrer vers Londres, a précisé le dirigeant. La société a le vent en poupe. Ses actifs ont en effet progressé de 280 millions de dollars lors du lancement de ses premiers fonds en mars 2012 à 625 millions de dollars actuellement.
16/12/2013

Ashcourt Rowan dans le rouge au premier semestre

Le gestionnaire de fortune britannique Ashcourt Rowan a fait état pour les six mois à fin septembre d’une perte avant impôt de 2,5 millions de livres, liée pour l’essentiel aux coûts exceptionnels du plan de restructuration du groupe, selon les chiffres publiés le 13 décembre. Les actifs sous gestion du groupe sont demeurés stables à 3,7 milliards de livres, dont 1,6 milliard de livres d’actifs discrétionnaires ou gérés. L’acquisition récente de Generali Portfolio Management (UK) ainsi que d’autres initiatives récentes devraient contribuer à une augmentation des actifs sous gestion de plus de 300 millions de livres au second semestre, précise le groupe dans ses résultats intérimaires. Ashcourt Rowan a également annoncé, à la veille du week-end, l’acquisition de la société de gestion UK Wealth Management (UKWM,1,3 milliard de livres fin octobre) pour un montant de 14,25 millions de livres. Cette opération est financée par une émission en numéraire de 8,25 millions d’actions à 185 pence l’unité, ce qui représente au total environ 15,3 millions de livres. Le prix d'émission correspond à une décote de 2,4 % sur le cours de clôture de 189,5 pence le 12 décembre.
16/12/2013

AllianceBernstein finalise le rachat de W.P. Stewart

AllianceBernstein, filiale du groupe Axa, a finalisé le 12 décembre le rachat de W.P. Stewart, une société de gestion actions dont l’encours atteint environ 2 milliards de dollars (lire NewsManagers du 19 août 2013). Les équipes de W.P. Stewart restent en place et continueront d’assurer leurs services d’investissement. Cette opération permet à AllianceBernstein de renforcer son expertise sur les stratégies en actions de croissance.
16/12/2013

Ofi InfraVia rachète un réseau de distribution d’électricité

Ofi InfraVia a annoncé que son second fonds infrastructure, InfraVia European Fund II a acquis auprès de la société Outokumpu son réseau de distribution d’électricité, situé sur son site de Tornio en Finlande. InfraVia a créée la société RIG, une nouvelle entreprise de distribution d’électricité, qui va continuer d’exploiter le réseau.
16/12/2013

SSgA nomme un responsable mondial de la recherche sur la contribution définie

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) a nommé Mark Fortier managing director, responsable mondial de la recherche sur les produits retraite à contribution définie. Il sera responsable de la conception des produits pour les plans de retraite à contribution définie et travaillera en collaboration avec les équipes d’investissement partout dans le monde, souligne un communiqué. Mark Fortier sera basé à Boston. L’intéressé rejoint SSgA en provenance d’Alliance Bernstein, où il était responsable produits et partner strategy.
16/12/2013

"Nous évitons d'investir dans les fonds où les multigérants sont trop présents"

Directeur général délégué d'Agrica Epargne, la société de gestion du groupe Agrica, Jean-Claude Guimiot revient, entre autres, sur la charte Sociétés de Gestion - Investisseur à l'élaboration de laquelle il a participé et qui commence à porter ses fruits...doucement. Certains investisseurs, explique-t-il à Newsmanagers ont des comportements condamnables, notamment les fonds de fonds. Et lorsqu'ils sont trop présents dans certains produits, le responsable évite résolument d'investir...
16/12/2013

Nordea AM renforce sa gamme de produits

Nordea Asset Management, filiale de gestion de la banque Nordea qui gère 228 milliards d’euros d’actifs à fin septembre, enrichit la gamme de fonds de sa Sicav Nordea 1 avec le lancement de quatre nouveaux véhicules. Son offre se complète ainsi de deux nouveaux fonds «actions émergentes». Le premier, baptisé Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund et dont la gestion est déléguée à la boutique américaine Copper Rock Capital Partners, se concentre sur les entreprises émergentes de petite capitalisation. Le second, Chinese Equity Fund, a pour objectif d’investir dans des entreprises chinoises de «grande qualité». En parallèle, Nordea AM renforce la partie obligataire de sa Sicav avec deux nouveaux véhicules. Le fonds Unconstrained Bond Fund, dont la gestion est confiée au spécialiste des marchés obligataires américains MacKay Shields, repose sur «un processus d’allocation d’actifs dynamique, multi-stratégies et une gestion active des durations», explique Nordea AM dans un communiqué. Enfin, Nordic Corporate Bond Fund, centré exclusivement sur le segment obligataire corporate nordique, a pour objectif d’investir à la fois en obligations de catégorie investissement et haut rendement, à l’exception du secteur financier.
16/12/2013

Net redemptions from hedge funds in October

After net subscriptions of USD4.4bn in September, hedge funds have seen net redemptions of USD2.2bn in October, according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs. For the first 10 months of the year, hedge funds have posted a net inflows of USD49.4bn, compared with net outflows of USD12.9bn in the corresponding period of 2012.As of the end of October, assets in the sector totalled USD2trn, on the basis of data released by 3,348 funds. Since the beginning of this year, total assets under management have increased by 15.3%, although they remain at a level 16.1% below the all-time record of USD2.4trn, in June 2008.
16/12/2013

iShares launches a new ETF

BlackRock on 13 December announced that iShares had added to its short-term ETF range, with the launch of the iShares Liquidity Income ETF to the Bats platform (ticker: ICSH). The actively-managed ETF seeks to produce earnings appropriate for the preservation of capital through diversified exposure to short-term bonds and money market instruments. The total expense ratio is set at 0.18% per year.
16/12/2013

Alceda launches a global fund with ECPI

The German asset management firm Alceda Fund Management has partnered with the ECPI group, specialised in indexing and advising, to launch the Mega Trend Funds-ECPI Sustainable Global Mega Trends. The fund was registered for institutional and retail investors in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Luxembourg, and for institutionals in Italy alone.ECPI, which offers solutions to index major trends, claims that taking environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into account offers opportunities to create long-term value both for investors and the firm.
16/12/2013

Nordea AM adds to its product range

Nordea Asset Management, the asset management affilate of the bank Nordea, which has EUR228bn in assets under management as of the end of September, has added to the fund range for its Nnordea 1 Sicav, with the launch of four new vehicles. Its range thus gains the addition of new emerging market equity funds. The first of these, entitled Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund, whose management is outsourced to the US boutique Copper Rock Capital Partners, concentrates on emerging market small caps. The second, Chinese Equity Fund, aims to invest in Chinese high quality businesses. Meanwhile, Nordea Am is adding to the bond portion of its Sicav with two new vehicles. The Unconstrained Bond Fund, whose management is outsourced to the US bond market specialist McKay Shields, is based on “a dynnamic, multi-strategy asset allocation process and active management of durations,” Nordea Am explains in a statement. Lastly, Nordic Corporate Bond Fund, centred exclusively on the Scandinavian corporate bond segment, aims to invest both in investment-grade and high yield bonds, except the financial sector.

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