Les réserves en devises de la Banque nationale suisse ont chuté de 9,2 milliards de francs suisses (7,5 milliards d’euros) au mois de juin

Frédéric Jamet, directeur de la gestion de State Street Global Advisors

L’OPCI Médicis a porté ses actifs sous gestion à 260 M€ au travers d’une vingtaine de lignes, majoritairement investi en bureaux, mais bénéficiant aussi de murs d’hôtel comme ceux de Pullman et Ibis en face du château de Versailles. Depuis que Corum AM gère cet OPCI, créé dans une logique d’externalisation de la compétence immobilière, il a été décidé de concentrer les investissements dans l’immobilier de bureaux neufs labélisés et bénéficiant de baux longs et fermes, avec, notamment, les achats des sièges d’Europcar dans le parc d’affaires de Val Saint-Quentin. Corum AM devrait poursuivre cette politique d’acquisition de bureaux neufs labélisés, mais en province, et renforcer la diversification en recherchant des actifs de santé (EHPAD, SSR , MCO). La politique d’acquisition reste guidée par les opportunités, avec une exigence de rendement de 6 à 7 % en moyenne pour un profil de risque Core.

Depuis le 1er janvier 2013, l’UMR a décidé de confier un mandat de gestion à Egamo pour l’ensemble de son portefeuille obligataire, soit environ 4 milliards d’euros. Ce mandat a permis à Egamo d’atteindre un montant total d’encours géré de 7,3 milliards d’euros. A la suite de l’attribution de ce mandat, les actionnaires d’Egamo - le groupe MGEN, actionnaire majoritaire, et OFI Partenaires - ont proposé à l’UMR d’entrer au capital de la société de gestion. Cette proposition répond au souhait de l’UMR d'être partie prenante à la stratégie d’Egamo et de contribuer à l’adéquation des moyens techniques et humains mis ??uvre pour la gestion de ses encours. Un transfert d’actions a été opéré le 3 juillet 2013. La répartition du capital d’Egamo est désormais la suivante : groupe MGEN : 64%, UMR : 20%, OFI partenaires : 16%. En parallèle, deux représentants de l’UMR ont intégré le conseil d’administration d’Egamo : Alain Hernandez et Bernard Goujon, respectivement président et administrateur délégué de l’UMR.

A l’occasion du cinquième anniversaire du premier indice européen de fonds actions ISR et de son fonds associé, Alteane Responsible Fund, Ellipsis AM et Cedrus AM réitèrent leur volonté de poursuivre ensemble, en France et en Europe, la promotion active de ce support d’investissement long terme. Alteane est constitué à 50% de fonds actions ISR Best in Class et à 50% de fonds actions exposés aux thématiques du développement durable les mieux notés par Cedrus AM.

Le fonds souverain singapourien Temasek affichait au 31 mars 2013 un encours record de 215 milliards de dollars singapouriens ou 173 milliards de dollars américains, contre 198 milliards un an plus tôt. En dix ans, les actifs gérés ont plus que triplé, puisqu’ils ressortaient à 61 milliards de dollars locaux fin mars 2003.Le bénéfice net de l’exercice est demeuré stable à 10,6 milliards de dollars singapouriens contre 10,7 milliards pour 2011-2012 et le rendement net pour l’actionnaire s’est situé à 8,86 %.Durant les douze mois à fin mars, Temasek a opéré des investissements pour 20 milliards de dollars singapouriens (dont 4 milliards pour le secteur énergétique et les ressources naturelles) et des désinvestissements de 13 milliards.Le chairman S. Dhanabalan a indiqué que le portefeuille est alloué à 30 % à Singapour et à 23 % à la Chine tandis que les expositions à l’Amérique du Nord et à l’Europe se situent à 12 % chacune, contre 8 % il y a deux ans.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Allianz Global Investors has launched its new conviction equity fund Allianz Europe Equity Growth Select in Italy, Bluerating reports. The fund, managed by Thorsten Winkelmann and Matthias Born, is composed of 30 to 45 positions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Natixis Asset Management has announced on its website that from 5 July, modifications will be made to the Mirova Euro Sustainable Equity fund (M share class: FR0010653733 / S share class: FR0011194224 / IC share class: FR0010653725 / RC share class: FR0000970840 / RD share class: FR0010653741) and on its feeder fund Fructi Euro ISR (C share class: FR0010032169).In practice, the FCP can now make investments in European equities not denominated in euros for up to 10% of net assets. The mutual fund may carry a currency risk of up to 10% of net assets. The minimal investment and minimum exposure to euro zone equities will increase from 75% to 80% of net assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS Global Asset Management has listed a risk-weighted ETF for trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange, based on a multi-asset portfolio (MAP). The UBS-ETF MAP Balanced 7 UCITS ETF offers a way to invest simultaneously in equities, bonds, cash and commodities. Due to the concept of risk parity, all asset classes are weighted according to their volatility in order to contribute equally to the risk profile of the ETF. The product aims for stable performance and limited risk of loss. The ETF complies with the UCITS IV directive with synthetic replication. It is domiciled in Ireland and denominated in US dollars.Allocation is moderated to take into account market inclinations with the UBS Dynamic Euqity Risk Indicator (DERI). The DEIR is published by UBS Equity Research and measures inclinations and propensity to risk on global financial markets each trading day. During phases of market disturbance, the UBS MAP can convert its equity and commodity allocations to cash. The strategy relies on various indicators to measure market conditions day to day and limit losses, which are consequently far lower than with a comparable balanced portfolio.CharacteristicsName: UBS-ETF MAP Balanced 7 UCITS ETFISIN code: IE00B95FFX04Flat fee: 1.75%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «Lohit Hindi"; font-size: 12pt; } US prosecutors have concluded that they don’t have enough evidence against billionaire Steve A. Cohen, founder of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, to file criminal charges against him for insider trading before the July deadline, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Prosecutors had hoped to obtain information from manager Matthew Martoma, but he did not implicate Cohen.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek as of 31 March 2013 had record assets of SGD215bn, or USD173bn, compared with USD198bn one year earlier. In ten years, assets under management have more than tripled, as they totalled SGD61bn as of the end of March 2003.Net profits for the fiscal year remained stable at SGD10.6bn, compared with SGD10.7bn in 2011-2012, and net shareholder return totalled 8.86%.In the twelve months to the end of March, Temasek made investments totalling SGD20bn (of which SGD4bn were in the energy and resources sectors) and divestments of SGD132bn.The chairman, S. Dhanabalan, noted that the portfolio is 30% allocated to Singapore and 23% to China, while exposure to North America and Europe total 12% each, compared with 8% two years ago.

The board of supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has re-elected Carlos Tavares as its vice chair. Mr. Tavares, who is chairman of the Portuguese Comissão Do Mercado De Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), has completed an initial 2½ year term and will now serve a further term of 2½ years in the position.The management board has also elected Kostas Botopoulos, from the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission in Greece, and Klaus Kumpfmüller, from the Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA) in Austria as new members, to replace Karl-Burkhard Caspari from the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) of Germany and Raul Malmstein of Estonia’s, Finantsinspektsioon. Martin Wheatley, from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom, has been re-elected for a second term.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After returns of 0.21% in April and 0.53% in May, UCITS-compliant hedge funds have seen an average loss according to the UCITS Alternative index calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital of 1.37%, which reduces their performance in first half to 0.94%. The UCITS Alternative index of UCITS-compliant funds of hedge funds, for its part, has seen a loss of 1.85% in June, compared with returns of 0.65% in May, and 0.22% in April. In the first six months of the year, the index shows a gain of 1.24%. Only two strategies out of 11 have posed positive results in June: equity market neutral (+0.07%), and volatility (+0.10%). The heaviest losses were from emerging markets (-3.08%) and CTAs (-2.70%). Total assets in UCITS-compliant hedge funds as of the end of June came to EUR162bn, compared with EUR161bn as of the end of May and EUR160bn as of the end of April.

In first quarter 2013, fund selectors in Europe have preferred M&G Investments, which ranks as the top European manager as well as among the firms with which selectors are expecting to do more business (business growth), and among the firms with which fund selectors would like to work in the future (new supplier), Fund Buyer Focus (FBF) indicates.M&G has gained twelve places in the new supplier rankings, dethroning Aberdeen AM, which falls to second place, overtaking the Austrian firm Raiffeisen Capital Management, which gains two places. In fourth place, Pimco improves two places in the rankings, but Nordea and Henderson Global Investors rise 21 and 29 places in the rankings to fifth and sixth, respectively.Among the firms on the business growth rankings, the major groups take the top places after M&G. BlackRock, in second place, beats out Fidelity (3rd, previously 11th), Aberdeen AM (4th, previously 9th), and Franklin Templeton (5th, previously 4th).In the business growth rankings, FBF remarks on the spectacular rise of Flossbach von Storch (FvS), which rises from 37th to 8th place. Carmignac loses four places to tenth place.A summary of the FBF rankings is attached.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Private equity funds investing in Asia have raised USD9bn in second quarter, of which USD6bn went to the Asian fund from KKR alone, according to statistics communicated by Preqin, Asian Investor reports. In second quarter 2012, Asian funds had raised USd9.8bn. Asia represented less than 10% of USD122bn raised worldwide by private equity funds in second quarter, compared with USD90bn in second quarter 2012. In Europe, private equity funds attracted USD32bn in second quarter, compared with USD17.7bn in second quarter 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although many hedge funds finished the month of June with losses, some funds did well, with positive returns at the end of June, Institutional Investor Alpha reports. Among the good ones are Caxton Global Investment, up 2.25% in June and 15.9% since the beginning of the year. If the fund continues on this path, 2013 will be the best year since 2002. Other hedge funds which have done well in June include Kensington and Wellington from Citadel, managed by Kenneth Griffin, up 1.3% in June.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In its “interim management statement” for the quarter ending on 30 June, Liontrust Asset Management Plc has announced that despite volatility on equity and bond markets, net subscriptions have totalled GBP302m, more than triple the level in the corresponding period of last year (GBP93m). Assets as of 28 June totalled GBP265m, compared with GBP3.039bn as of 1 April. Market effects were negative in the quarter under review byGBP76m, Institutional assets were down by GBP21m between 1 April and 30 June, to GBP480m, while real assets in the United Kingdom totalled GBP2.352bn, compared with GBP2.263bn. The volume in offshore funds increased to GBP433m from GBP275m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the Financial Services Register of the Bank of England, Kleinwort Benson on 26 June recruited Fadi Zaher as head of bonds & currencies. He will report to Mouhammed Choukeir, CIO. Zaher was previously head of fixed income sales & trading at Barclays Wealth & Investment Management. At his new employer, he will be responsible for designing solutions for ultra-high net worth individuals (UNHWI) in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For USD285m, or GBP185m in case, the US firm The Hartford is selling its variable annuities operation in the United Kingdom (USD1.75bn, or GBP1bn, under administration) from its affiliate Hartford Life International Limited (HLIL) to Columbia Insurance Company, a company of the Berkshire Hathaway group led by Warren Buffett.The transaction, which is pending the approval of regulatory authorities, would bring a net loss for The Hartford of about USD110m in second quarter 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RBC Wealth Management, of the Royal Bank of Canada group, has announced the appointment of Mike Moodie as vice president and managing director, Ultra High Net Worth, RBC Wealth Management – British Isles and Caribbean, Investment Europe reports. Moodie, previously head of RBC Management in the United Kingdom, will continue to be based in London and will begin in his new role on 1 September 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two of the oldest private bank in Europe, the Swiss firm Landolt 7 Cie and the Belgian firm Degroof S.A., have announced that they have formed a strategic partnership, according to a statement released on 4 July. The partnership resulted in the merger on 1 July this year of Landolt & Cie and the Swiss affiliate Degroof, Luxembourg, which is a subsidiary of Degroof S.A. The new firm, which will retain the name of Landolt & Cie, is headquartered in Switzerland and will remain a Swiss private bank. Landolt & Cie is a bank founded in 1780. It has changed its legal format, and became a limited company on 1 January this year, rather than a limited partnership, in which managing partners were indefinitely liable for the business with their own assets. Swiss shareholders are majority shareholders in the new entity born of the merger with Degroof Switzerland. Landolt & Cie has “more than two centuries of exclusive management of the private wealth of Swiss and international clients.” “From century to century, Landolt & Cie, which is headquartered in Lausanne, has been able to adapt to many changes in the political, economic and legislative environment,” it says. Banque Degroof, founded in 1871, 100 years later than Landolt & Cie, is an independent private and business bank. It is present in seven countries, while Landolt & Cie is present only in Switzerland. Total assets under management have not been disclosed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Edmund Wandeler, senior sales manager and director at DWS Switzerland in charge of German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein, has joined Aberdeen Asset Managers Switzerland in Zurich for senior business development in charge of German-speaking Switzerland. Aberdeen has CHF17.3bn in assets under management in Switzerland.

Mirabaud Asset Management has recruited Simon Götschmann in Zurich to complete its Swiss equity team, announced the Swiss bank on July 4. He joined on 1 July 2013 and completes the team consisting of Matthias Egger, specialist for Swiss small- and mid-caps, and Nicolas Bürki, specialist for Swiss large-caps.Götschmann will initially be the analyst for Swiss equities, supporting both Egger and Bürki on the management of the Swiss equity products.The Swiss equity team manages close to CHF 800m, consisting of three funds: Mirabaud – Equities Swiss Small and Mid, Mirabaud Fund (CH)Swiss Equities, DM Swiss Equity Asymmetric, as well as Swiss equity mandates.Götschmann joins from Helvea where he was an analyst covering Swiss equities.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ING Investment Management has reconstructed its emerging market debt team, dispersed at the beginning of this year. “We have virtually reconstituted … the entire team,” Hans Stoter, CIO of ING Investment Management since February, tells Newsmanagers. “Out of a team of 35 people taking into account portfolio managers, analysts, traders, and various support functions, we had only 16 people in February, after 19 people left. There are now 25 of us, with two more people on gardening leave,” says Stoter. The reconstruction is also related to a new architecture which has reduced the size of the team from 35 to 28. “Through efficiency gains and taking into account the loss of a few accounts, especially in Asia, we have set up a new structure of 28 people, instead of 35 previously. With 25, we are very near 28. We are waiting for an answer from one candidate and the two remaining vacant positions are expected to be filled in the next few weeks,” says Stoter. In four months, ING has reconstructed virtually all of its emerging market debt team. “We have experts in each sector. We are still missing a portfolio manager specialised in local currencies, a manager for Asia, and a credit analyst. The new team has average experience of over 12 years, with a top head, Jeremy Brewin, who was recently qualified by Citywire as number 1 in the EMD HC sector. It was essential for us to act rapidly without compromising quality. We are known on the market for our expertise in emerging markets. We wanted to retain this expertise,” says Stoter. The success of the reconstruction has not prevented some erosion of assets. “Following the departures, we were not able to prevent the loss of some assets. We were not able to avoid it even though we had improved our performance. Assets under management in emerging market debt (EMD) totalled EUR12.9bn at the beginning of the year. We are now at about EUR8.5bn and we may stabilise at about EUR7bn. In other words, we are still a very important manager in the EMD sphere and in light of the quality of our new team, we are planning to build from there,” says Stoter. The new head of ING IM does not plan any fundamental changes to strategy. “There are no fundamental changes to our strategy, which is based around our multi-boutique architecture. We would like to maintain our strong presence in fixed income, with recognised expertise in corporate bonds, either investment grade or high yield. We would like to grow in multi-asset which seems to us to be underdeveloped in continental Europe.” More products may be offered in the next few months. “In the near future, we are going to launch an opportunistic credit strategy. Later, probably in fourth quarter, we are going to launch a frontier market debt strategy.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As part of recruitments for its real estate team in France, as announced by Pierre Cherki to Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 24 June), Deutsche Asset 7 Wealth Management (DeAWM) has announced that Cédric Dujardin on 1 July became director of the real estate department for France. He had previously been chief investment officer for Europe at Ivanhoé Cambridge, in charge of investments in office and commercial investments. Dujardin has served in several roles at Gecina from 2001 to 2011, particularly as head of investment and arbitrage, corporate real estate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «Lohit Hindi"; font-size: 12pt; } Handelsblatt reports that in an interview in Switzerland last week, Didier Borowski, head of strategy and economic research at Amundi, has announced that the largest European asset manager, with nearly USD1trn in assets, has increased its cash allocation to the detriment of equities and high yield, since next year it is expecting lower global growth than is generally projected. Diversified funds from Amundi are curently 55% positioned on cash, as economic outlooks weigh against investing in higher-risk assets.In a letter sent on 27 June and cited by Bloomberg, Alain Pitous, deputy CIO of Amundi, says the cash allocation for absolute return funds was doubled last month to 30% due to sales of high yield bonds and of emerging market equity and bonds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Intech Investment Management, an affiliate of Janus Capital Group, has launched strategies benchmarked against the MSCI Emerging Markets and All Country World indices as part of its absolute volatility product range. The new products aim to meet the expectations of institutional investors seeking to diversify their market allocation, while displaying potential for capital appreciation and an absolute risk profile lower than that of the cap size-weighted index. The Emerging Markets Managed Volatility strategy from Intech, for example, aims to outperform the benchmark index by 3% to 4%, while generating risk which is lower than the index by about 25% on average. The Emerging Markets Low Volatility strategy has a performance objective near that of the market, but seeks to generate an average risk about 35% lower than the MSCI Emerging Markets index. Relative performance strategies, for their part, aim to generate returns of 3% to 4% and the lowest tracking error possible.

Switzerland ranks first among the most attractive international financial centres in 2013, according to a study by PwC. But Singapore may dethrone it in the next two years, while London is catching up. The private banking sector is also undergoing profound changes due to the economic context, as well as due to changes in the behaviour of its clients, according to the Global Private Banking Survey 2013. “Switzerland remains the most attractive financial centre in the eyes of clients,” according to the PwC study. But the Swiss financial centre is rivalled by “local financial centres in emerging countries» mainly due to the pressures to obtain more transparency According to the survey, Switzerland, and all major financial centers, will have to develop specific expertise to differentiate from each other, since the mounting pressure from transparency and regulation has somewhat lessened the differences that had been existing between financial centers.

La Française REM a acquis auprès d’un OPCI géré par Weinberg Capital Partners, le 28 juin 2013, un portefeuille de trois commerces Conforama pour le compte de ses SCPI. Situés à Beauvais, Compiègne et Charleville-Mézières, les biens commerciaux représentent un volume d’investissement d’environ 32 millions d’euros.

Natixis Asset Management annonce sur son site qu'à compter du 5 juillet des modifications interviennent sur le fonds Mirova Euro Sustainable Equity (*) et sur son fonds nourricier Fructi Euro ISR (**). En pratique, le FCP pourra désormais procéder à des investissements en actions européennes non libellées en euro à hauteur de 10% maximum de l’actif net. De fait, l’OPCVM pourra présenter un risque de change à hauteur de 10 % de l’actif net. Par ailleurs, l’investissement minimum et l’exposition minimum en actions de la zone Euro passeront de 75 % à 80 % de l’actif net. (*) Part M : FR0010653733 / Part S : FR0011194224 / Part IC : FR0010653725 / Part RC : FR0000970840 / Part RD : FR0010653741)(**) Part C : FR0010032169