La société de gestion de fortune zurichoise Premium Strategy Partners a recruté Marc Faber, connu sous le nom de Dr. Doom, pour conseiller des mandats, rapporte Citywire Global. Il conseillera les trois gérants de la société, dont les co-fondateurs Dieter Lüscher et Otto Koller, dans leurs décisions d’investissement.
Suite au départ annoncé en septembre de Gerhard Fusenig, un des co-directeurs de la gestion d’actifs de Credit Suisse, la société vient de donner les noms de ses remplaçants. C’est Timothy Blackwell qui reprendra les responsabilités opérationnelles de l’unité core investments. Il demeure directeur du real estate asset management ainsi que des actions, du fixed income et des indices. Michael Strobaek a pour sa part été nommé à un poste plus représentatif, en plus de sa position en tant que Global CIO et head of investment strategy & research. En tant que head of asset management Suisse, il aura pour mission de représenter l’asset management de Credit Suisse auprès des autorités, par exemple.
Avec effet au 21 octobre, le fonds de droit allemand DWS Klimawandel* («changement climatique») a pris le nom de DWS Water Sustainability Fund, annonce Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM).Dorénavant, en effet, la stratégie d’investissement se focalisera sur les actions de sociétés sur l’ensemble de la chaîne de valeur du secteur de l’eau. En dehors des critères financiers, l'équipe de gestion prendra en compte les données environnementales, sociales et de gouvernance (ESG).* DE000DWS0DT1
Désireux de développer son activité de structuration dans le cadre de la nouvelle directive européens sur les gestionnaires alternatifs (AIFMD), le luxembourgeois Alceda Fund Management (5,4 milliards d’euros sous administration) a recruté Christian Holste comme directeur général de sa filiale allemande Alceda Advisors GmbH. Ce dernier sera plus particulièrement chargé de muscler l’offre de structuration dans le domaine des investissements alternatifs proposés aux investisseurs institutionnels. L’intéressé a rejoint Alceda le 15 octobre. Il était auparavant CEO de la Banque Bauer à Genève, mais a effectué une grande parite de sa carrière chez UBS Allemagne.
Depuis le 21 octobre, la cote du segment XTF de la plate-forme électronique Xetra (Deutsche Börse) comporte 1.046 références car UBS ETF Sicav et UBS (irl) Plc ont fait admettre à la négociation trois ETF d’actions pays euro-hedgées (Royaume-Uni, Canada et Japon) pour le premier et un ETF à gestion active multi-classes d’actifs pour le second.CaractéristiquesDénomination : UBS ETF - MSCI United Kingdom 100% hedged to EUR UCITS ETF (EUR) A-accIndice de référence : MSCI United Kingdom 100% hedged to EURCode Isin : LU0950671239Taux de frais sur encours : 0,40 %Dénomination : UBS ETF - MSCI Canada 100% hedged to EUR UCITS ETF (EUR) A-accIndice de référence : MSCI Canada 100% hedged to EURCode Isin : LU0950673284Taux de frais sur encours : 0,55 %Dénomination : UBS ETF - MSCI Japan 100% hedged to EUR UCITS ETF (EUR) A-accIndice de référence : MSCI Japan 100% Hedged to EURCode Isin : LU0950672476Taux de frais sur encours : 0,45 %Dénomination : UBS ETFs plc - MAP Balanced 7 UCITS ETF SF (USD) A-accIndice de référence : UBS Multi Asset Portfolio IndexCode Isin : IE00B95FFX04Taux de frais sur encours : 0,75 %
Le 21 octobre, le britannique ETF Securities a lancé sur la Bourse de Francfort un ETC de droit allemand, le ETFS EUR Daily Hedged Energy DJ-UBS EDSM. Il s’agit d’un nouveau produit couvert quotidiennement du risque de change en euros, ce qui limite les effets de la volatilité des devises dans les portefeuilles des investisseurs en limitant l’exposition au dollar américain.L’ETFS EUR Daily Hedged Energy DJ-UBS EDSM est émis par ETFS Hedged Commodity Securities Limited, basée à Jersey, et a pour but d’offrir aux investisseurs une exposition complète aux rendements des contrats à termes sur l’énergie avec une protection quotidienne contre les mouvements sur les taux de change euro/dollar en répliquant le Dow Jones-UBS Energy Sub-Index EUR Hedged DailySM et en offrant un rendement additionnel. L’indice reflète les mouvements des prix des contrats à terme sur les matières premières utilisées dans le Dow Jones-UBS Commodity IndexSM, à savoir WTI Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Brent Crude, Unleaded Gasoline et Heating Oil.La Deutsche Börse précise pour sa part qu’il s’agit du 242ème ETC coté sur le segment des ETC de la plate-forme électronique Xetra.CaractéristiquesDénomination : ETFS EUR Daily Hedged Energy DJ-UBS EDSMCode Isin : DE000A1Y7Y36Taux de frais sur encours : 0,49 %
Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a annoncé lundi avoir été mandaté par la société par actions S.C. Fondul Proprietatea S.A. pour agir en tant que banque dépositaire et conservateur en Roumanie. Créé en 2005 par le gouvernement roumain, la société en question a pour clients les demandeurs éligibles, qui avaient été dépossédés de leurs biens sous les anciens gouvernements communistes, et dont des parts ont été octroyées à titre de compensation. Depuis septembre 2010, la société d’investissement est géré par Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited UK, depuis sa succursale de Bucarest.Société Générale, par le biais de sa filiale BRD, fournit des services titres en Roumanie depuis 13 ans. Quant à Fondul Proprietatea, elle se comporte comme une société d’investissement à capital fixe, sans limite de durée, enregistrée en Roumanie et se négociant sur la Bourse de Bucarest depuis janvier 2011. L’objectif d’investissement du fonds est une appréciation du capital à long terme via des placements principalement en actions roumaines, dans le strict respect des principes d’investissements « valeur ». Le portefeuille est fortement exposé aux secteurs de l’électricité, du pétrole et du gaz, à travers un nombre d’entités listées et non-listées, publiques et privées, indique un communiqué.
UK pension funds “waste” more than GBP6bn per year by investing in actively-managed equity, bond and real estate funds, rather than passive funds which cost less and post better returns, according to a study by Evercore Pan Asset, cited by Financial Times fund management. The study of the 14 most popular asset classes with UK pension funds finds that the median passive fund outperforms the median active fund in 13 cases over the past five years. The average difference between the passive and active funds was 6.5 over five years, which is greater than the difference in price alone, which was an average of 60 basis points per year for active funds and 20 points per year for passive funds.
Jupiter AM on Monday, 21 October announced the recruitment of Richard Wilson as head of marketing. He will join the asset management firm on 6 November this year, and will be responsible for developing and implementing the global marketing strategy of the firm. Wilson previously worked at HSBC Global Asset Management, Henderson Global Investors and New Star Asset Management, where he was director of marketing. Earlier in his career, Wilson served in a variety of positions related to marketing at Aberdeen Asset Management, Prolific Unit Trust Managers and Save&Prosper.
The three groups concerned have declined to comment on reports in Investment Week that only Aberdeen Asset Management and Macquarie Group remain in the running to acquire Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP, GBP146bn) from Lloyds Banking Group.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) will acquire the range of money market funds from RBS, Investment Week reports. The transaction will be completed in first quarter 2014. GSAM states that there will be no change in the way that accounts are managed during the transitional period, and that investors will not pay any fees. GSAM manages USd195bn in money market funds, of which 33% are in Europe. The acquisition will double the size of its product range denominated in pounds sterling, and will strengthen its presence in Europe.
Dan Carter has been promoted to principal manager of the Jupiter Japan Select fund, Citywire Global reports. His predecessor, Simon Somerville, will focus on the Jupiter Japan UK unit trust. Carter had been assistant manager of the fund since 2011.
Mandarine Gestion has appointed Denis Auclair as head of institutional development. He will lead the sales team dedicated to institutional investors at Mandarine Gestion, and will aim to develop that client segment primarily in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.Institutional investors represent nearly half of assets at Mandarine Gestion, which hopes to continue its development serving this client segment both in France and Europe, a statement says.Auclair previously worked at Allianz Global Investors Paris, where he was responsible for the Enterprise sector from 2007 to 2010, before being promoted to head of commercial development for France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Allianz Global Investors has replaced Seung Minn as manager of the Allianz US Equity fund (USD856m) after six and a half years, Financial News reports. Steve Bereza has become the principal manager of the fund. A spokesperson for Allianz GI has explained to FN that Minn has left the firm.
Via Banco Best, iShares is opening access to Portugal for 131 of its equity and bond ETFs, which have recently been registered by CMVM, Funds People reports.
Asset management firms are vigorously combatting proposed restrictions on their bonuses, according to a document obtained by FTfm. EFAMA proposes that managers should be able to receive three quarters of their bonuses in the year they were awarded, rather than only 60%, as suggested by the European Commission. The Efama amendment will be studied at a meeting of the European Council working group on UCITS V, scheduled for Monday.
New research from Cerulli Associates finds that more than 60% of institutions’ asset flows were consultant-intermediated in 2012 with the rest coming from direct sales, according to their recent survey of institutional asset managers."Given the significance of investment consultants, just over half of the asset managers we polled plan on placing an even greater emphasis on fostering consultant relationships,» states Michele Giuditta, associate director at Cerulli. «This percentage initially appeared low to us, but our discussions with institutional distribution leaders confirmed that many firms are already devoting substantial resources to these efforts and plan on continuing to do so. Finally, Cerulli reports that many investment committees are redefining their roles, delegating more of the day-to-day investment-related responsibilities to their gatekeepers, and focusing more on overall policy matters.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has announced key new appointments to strengthen its management team, particularly in the Alternatives business unit. Riccardo Dallolio, who joined AXA Real Estate in 2011 as head of European transactions, will become sector head of alternatives and will be responsible for overseeing AXA Real Estate’s Alternatives Business Line. This new business unit was launched by AXA Real Estate in October 2012 in response to increasing demand from investors for exposure to alternative assets such as healthcare and student accommodation and is now being expanded to include hotels, data-centres, residential, forest and other specific situations. Laurent Jacquemin, who is currently global head of corporate finance and has over 14 years’ experience in the real estate industry will replace Riccardo as head of European transactions. Philippe de Martel will be promoted from head of corporate finance France to replace Laurent as global head of corporate finance.
Société Générale on Monday, 21 October announced the appointment of Richad Soundardjee as head of the Société Générale group for the Middle Eastern region. He will also be head of Société Générale Dubai. He replaces Eric Wormser, who will assume a new role in the Group. Soundardjee will aim to develop the activities of Société Générale, and to strengthen its presence in the region, and particularly the Gulf countries. Soundardjee will be based in Dubai, and will report to Slawomir Krupa, head of the finance and investment bank, private banking, asset management, and securities professions for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Dounsardjee joined Société Générale in 1994, and was previously head of capitsl markets for the CEEMEA region, since 2009.
According to Hedge Fund Research, total assets under management by hedge funds worldwide as of the end of September reached their fifth consecutive quarterly record, at USD2.510trn, which represents an increase of USD94bn over the end of June.Net subscriptions totalled USD23bn, which is the highest level since second quarter 2011.The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index in July-September posted returns of 2.2%, bringing gains in the first nine months of the year to 5.5%, while the best results were for equity hedge strategies, which attractedUSD10.6bn in net subscriptions (assets totalled USD686bn), and event-driven, which attracted USD6.4bn in third quarter, and USD16.4bn in January-September.
The asset management firm Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) on Monday, 21 October announced that it would be acquiring money market funds managed by RBS Asset Management, under the Global Treasury Funds brand. The sale price has not been disclosed. “The acquisition of these GSAM money market funds emphasizes our firm and ongoing commitment to provide global liquidity solutions,” Timothy O’Neill and Eric S. Lane, co-heads of the investment management division at Goldman Sachs, has announced. GSAM has US195bn in assets under management invested in money market funds, of which 33% are in Europe. The acquisition of Global Treasury Funds will allow the firm to virtually double the size of its product range denominated in sterling. The transaction is expected to be completed in first quarter 2014, pending approval by the Irish central bank and the Irish Stock Exchange, as Global Treasury Funds products are domiciled in Ireland, and by a vote of investors.
Raoul Weil, a major Swiss asset manager, may be extradited to the United States, following his arrest on holiday in Italy, the Financial Times reports. He is accused of helping US clients with USD20bn in assets to evade US taxes, when he was working at UBS. Weil, 53, now openly worked in the Swiss asset management sector as CEO of Reuss Private Group, which has over CHF4bn in assets.
E Fund Management will list a cross-market ETF in Hong Kong, which may be traded in Hong Kong dollars or in Chinese renminbi, Asian Investor reports. The RQFII (renmibi denominated qualified foreign institutional investor) will track the CES China 120 index, composed of A and H shares listed in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The Commercial Court in London has handed down a verdict in favour of The Swedish pension fund Första AP-fonden (AP1), which filed a suit in 2008 against BNY Mellon for reimbursement of losses occasioned by securities lending undertaken by BNY Mellon on behalf of the fund. The total damages were set at USD33.7m, or SEK219m, while the exact amount of the settlement remains to be determined. In addition, BNY Mellon will be required to reimburse AP1 for most of its legal costs related to the lawsuit.However, the US bank may still appeal.As the damages were entirely provisioned for in the annual accounts for AP1 in 2008, the damages and compensation for legal and interest expenses will have a positive impact on net investment income when the ruling goes into force.
About 20 money market funds were bailed out by their parent companies in order to prevent them from undergoing losses during the financial crisis of 2006-2009, according to Moody’s, cited by Financial Times fund management. The revelation that 16 US money market funds received capital injections in 2010, and three other products (one of them non-US) were bailed out in 2011 come at a time when the debate over regulations in the US sector is intensifying.
Morgan Stanley on 14 October launched the MS Broadmark Tactical Plus UCITS Fund on the FundLogic Alternatives plc platform. The fund is managed by Broadmark Asset Management LLC, which aims for returns higher than the risk-adjusted average will lower volatility than the S&P 500, regardless of the position in the market cycle. To do that, the management team can take long and short positions on equity markets, investing primarily in futures on US equities, ETFs, and options.CharacteristicsName: MS Broadmark Tactical Plus UCITS FundISIN code: IE00BC1JD990Ticker: FLBTB1U:IDSales licenses: France, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain; in progress: Germany and Switzerland
The two asset management firms Pimco (Allianz group) and Source on 21 October announced the creation of a share class hedged for currency risks in euros for their ETF PIMCO Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond Index Source (ticker: STHY), a fund whose benchmark currency is the US dollar, and which has already reached USD550m in assets, though it was launched only in March 2012.The fund, listed on the London Stock Exchange, replicates the BofA Merrill Lynch 0-5 Year US High Yield Constrained Index, a broad benchmark covering more than 800 corporate bonds denominated in US dollars. The euro-hedged shares carry a total expense ratio of 0.60%, compared with 0.55% for shares in US dollars.
Daniel Ineichen, manager of the NGAR Secquaero ILS Fund since May 2011, will manage the new Schroder GAIA Cat Bond Fund, which joins the UCITS-compliant hedge fund platform GAIA (Global Alternative Invesment Access).The new product, which on 21 October merged with the NGAR Secquaero ILS Fund from Secquaero Advisors, will invest at least 80% of its assets in catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS). Schroders states that the portfolio will be primarily exposed to regions with a high concentration of high net worth insurance clients, such as the United States, western Europe and Japan.The objective is to outperform the Libor 3-month in US dollars by 600 basis points per year, after fees. Schroders states that the NGAR Secquaero ILS Fund has a track record of 7.27% per year since its launch on 15 August 2011.The GAIA platform currently has asets of EUR2.5bn. It will soon have seven funds, of which five are external (Schroder GAIA CQS Credit, Schroder GAIA Egerton Equity, Schroder GAIA Sirios US Equity, Schroder GAIA Avoca Credit (which is expected to be launched on 7 November) and the Schroder GAIA Cat Bond) and two in-house funds (Schroder GAIA Global Macro Bond and Schroder GAIA QEP Global Absolute).
Bestinvest has published its 2013 “Spot the Dog” rankings of the worst investment funds, which include 113 funds that have chronically underperformed, which manage a total of GBP31bn for pension funds, Money Marketing reports.Phoenix and Friends Life are the two pension fund providers which have the most “dog funds” in their product ranges, with 15 and 17 products, respectively. But several outsourced funds also rank among the worst performers, such as the Legal & General BlackRock UK Dynamic fund and the Aviva Investec America fund.
The Swedish asset management firm Odin Fonder has recruited Thomas Nielsen as an equities analyst for its Scandinavian equities team, as well as Mariann Stoltenberg Lind as portfolio manager for Norwegian fixed income. Nielsen joins from Pareto, while Stoltenberg worked previously at Storebrand.