P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The hedge fund is a financial animal that eludes definition, we know. There is no definition of a hedge fund which is recognised worldwide. This has driven the Australian market authority (ASIC), which is not in its teething stages, to launch a consultation on the definition of the ineffable reality which is the hedge fund, or more precisely on the way to define the term.The market authority, which will soon release a revised guide for hedge funds and the improvement of their financial reporting, has even decided to delay the release of the document until February 2014.The reason for the consultation is concerns expressed by professionals who had observed that the current definition has classified certain funds which do not at all have the same risk levels as “real” hedge funds.The current reference document defines a hedge fund as a licensed investment firm which calls itself such. The major characteristics of a hedge funds are the complexity of the investment strategy of the structure, the use of debt, the use of derivatives, short-selling, and the charging of performance commissions. If a structure has two or more of these characteristics, it may be considered a hedge fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rasini Fariway Capital has become the most recent asset management firm to move the domicile of its fund, Stafford SICAV Global Equity Fund, to a UCITS-compliant Luxembourg format, Investment Europe reports. For this, the Zurich and London-based firm is using the Alceda UCITS platform. The Sicav had previously been domiciled in the British Virgin Islands.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Michael Ganske, who since 2007 had been head of emerging markets research in the corporates & markets division of Commerzbank, is joining the London-based Rogge Global Partners (USD52bn as of 31 March) as head of emerging markets. He will report to Adrian James, senior partner and head of global sovereign. The new recruit will be responsible for research and portfolio management for emerging market debt and emerging market currencies, Institutional Money states.Meanwhile, the British asset management firm has promoted six partners to become senior partners. They are David Butler, head of credit analysis, Jens Moller-Butcher, chief technology officer, Julian Le Beron, head of developed markets, David Newman, head of global high yield, Igor Pikovsky, head of portfolio risk and Annabel Rudebeck, head of investment grade credit.Ten executives have also been appointed as partners: Rémi Casals, head of global distribution, Margaret Frost, head of Generalist Portfolio Management, John Makowske, gneralist portfolio manager, Ranjiv Mann, head of economic research, Daniel Mason, head of operations, Rachel Muscatt, head of trade execution, Damien Rimmer, head of development, Sukhjivan Singh, senior compliance monitoring manager, Marie-Louise Stenild, senior compliance manager and Jana Velebova, portfolio manager – emerging markets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Quilvest & Partners, the private equity activity of the Quilvest group, on 23 May announced that it has closed fundraising for three funds: QS PEP 2012, QS REP II and QS Capital Strategies, with totals of USD150m, USD300m and USD230m, respectively. QS PEP 2012 and QS REP II have exceeded their fundraising objectives, while QS Capital Strategies has been oversubscribed and subjected to a hard cap. The USD80m committed by investors to QS Capital Strategies may be complemented by an additional USD150m, via Small Business Administration (SBA) debt financing in the United States. However, this supplementary financing is subject to the issuance of a license by the US authorities.Meanwhile, Quilvest & Partners has announced the launch of QS PEP Core, a four-year investment programme in private equity funds worldwide, which succeeds the annual Quilvest flagship programme, QS PEP. Quilvest aims to raise up to USD400m for the first generation of QS PEP Core. The fund will concentrate on the core strategy of Quilvest & Partners, which is to identify the best private equity funds from small and mid-sized LBO and capital development firms, with a selection process to select about 10 funds per year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Austrian-German asset management firm C-Quadrat Investment has reported net profits for first quarter 2013 of EUR1.93m, compared with EUR0.68m for the corresponding period of last year, which partly reflects the first consolidation of the asset management firms BCM (London/Geneva) and APM (Vienna).The acquisition of 50.01% of Kepler-Chevreux by QC Partners (EUR160m, an affiliate of C-Quadrat), in partnership with Q-Advisers and the management of the firm, was completed at the end of April.Over twelve months, the increase in assets at C-Quadrat totalled 47%, to EUR4.47bn as of the end of March.Revenues from management commissions totalled EUR11.68m, compared with EUR10.38m for first quarter 2012, while performance commissions totalled EUR2.28m, compared with EUR0.2m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Korea Teachers Pension Fund (KTPF) has appointed Park Min as chief investment officer, Asian Investor reports. The Asian website reveals that this is the first time that the pension fund has filled the position through an internal promotion. Assets under management by the pension fund totalled slightly over USD11bn as of the end of December 2011, according to available statistics.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financial advisers in Italy are increasing in age, Plus, the supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. In the past 10 years, the percentage of advisers aged under 30 registered with the Order of financial advisers has fallen from 14% to 2%, while advisers aged over 50 now represent 41%, up from 21% previously. As of the end of 2012, there were over 52,000 financial advisers in Itlay. Plus also notes a boom in registrations in 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dan Vaughan, the head of British small caps at Threadneedle Investments, has left the firm for an “extended sabbatical leave,” Citywire reports. His return date is not known.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British bank Lloyds Banking Group, which was bailed out by the British government during the 2008 financial crisis, has sold part of its stake in the wealth management firm St James’s Place for about GBP450m (EUR526m), according to a statement released on 23 May. The website Fundweb had previously reported an amount of GBP500m (Newsmanagers of 23 May). Lloyds Bnaking Group has announced that it has sold 77 million shares at a price of GBP.580 per share, as part of a placement to investors. The gross proceeds of the placement are about GBP450m, the group has said in a statement, adding that its net capital gains will be about GBP40m. The operation will allow the bank to increase its tier 1 common equity ratio by about GBP500m, or 16 basis points. After the sale, the bank will still control 21% of capital in the firm.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based F&C has announced the recruitment of Nick Woodwart, who will become a structurer in the liability-driven investment (LDI) team, and Kristy Barr as director, sales & client relationships. The two will be added to the institutional team.Woodwart had been head of modelling and head of LDI in the investment advisory team at KPMG, while the second had been founding partner and head of marketing & investor relations at Callanish Capital Partners.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the fiscal year ending on 31 March, Investec has reported net inflows of GBP4.9bn, of which GBP4.1bn are for the asset management unit, and GBP0.8bn for the Wealth & Investment unit (to which Williams de Broë was transferred in August).Assets increased to GBP69.8bn, compared with GBP61.6bn for asset management, and GBP40.4bn compared with GBP34.8bn for Wealth & Investment. Overall, assets under management for third parties increased by 14.4% to GBP110.7bn as of the end of March, compared with GBP96.8bn twelve months previously.Operating profits increased 4.8% to GBP140.2m for asset management, and 30.9% to GBP50.7m for the Wealth & Investment unit.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } US-based asset management firm Harbor Funds (USD74bn as of 31 March) has announced that it has selected the US affiliate of the Scottish firm Baillie Gifford (USD142bn) to take over management of the Harbor International Growth Fund (ticker: HAIGX), whose assets total about USD220m, as sub-advisor. Since 1 March 2004, the sub-advisor for the fund had been Marsico Capital Management.The sole manager of the fund at Marsico had been a former Goldman Sachs manager, James Gendelman. He will be replaced by a team of four portfolio managers at Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, composed of Gerard Callahan, Iain Campbell, Joe Faraday and Paul Faulkner. Callahan is chair of the international focus portfolio construction group and head of UK equities at Baillie Gifford.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Zug-based wealth management firm Partners Group on 22 May announced that it has issued mezzanine financing for a real estate construction project in the United Kingdom. The loan will be used for renovation and development of the residential and commercial site Heyford Park in Oxfordshire. The site, on which 800 people reside and which has 1000 employees, includes 1.4 million square metres of commercial space and 312 housing units, a statement says. Dorchester Group acquired the site in 2009 and will continue to administer it. The objective is to renovate the existing homes and to create 750 new homes, as well as to lease out commercial space.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian financial market authority, Consob, has levelled pecuniary administrative sanctions against seven representatives of BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management Italy Sgr, and the firm itself, totalling EUR148,000, Bluerating reports. The Italian regulator accuses the individuals of “late and inadequate” planning for management of funds aimed at retail investors, and poor management of conflicts of interest.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Property Business division of Henderson Global Investors (HGI), whose assets total about GBP12.7bn, has recruited Tony He as director of property, China consultancy. He had been chief financial officer at Tesco Property China.He will be primarily based in the HGI office in Beijing, and will work in close collaboration with the real estate team at the British asset management firm for the Asia-Pacific region.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss bank Neue Helvetische Bank founded two years ago by Thomas Matter and Daniel Hefti, two former bankers from Swissfirst, has posted a loss of GBP695,000 for 2012. By March 2014, the directors of the firm are hoping to publish balanced books The Corporate Finance activity is primarily contributing to earnings, while wealth management and wealth management advising activities are less satisfactory than expected, Finews reports. In order to bring new dynamism to these two activities, NHB will soon launch new offers for clients.As of the end of 2012, the bank has CHF642m in assets under management. Currently, the newspaper estimates that assets are about CHF800m. NHB hopes to top CHF1bn during the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As part of the EUR2.5bn Renewable Energies & New Technologies (RENT) investment programme by its parent company Munich Re, the German asset management firm MEAG has announced that it has acquired three wind farms from Eolus Vind AB which are already connected to the Swedish power grid. The units have a total power generation capacity of 30 megawatts. Eolus will continue to be responsible for the operation of the installations. The sale price has not been disclosed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Wellington Opportunistic Emerging Markets Debt II, Wellington Management is now offering an opportunistic strategy based on emerging market debt, in a Luxembourg-domiciled vehicle available to institutions which are subject to the German insurance surveillance law (VAG), including insurers and retirement institutions. The portfolio may be invested in government and corporate bonds, “hard” currencies and local currencies. “On average, the ratings of securities in the portfolio is at the crossover limit. Securities are hedged for currency risks, and reporting is adapted to the requirements of VAG regulations,” Absolut Report states. Characteristics Name: Wellington Opportunistic Emerging Markets Debt II ISIN code: LU0629164780 Management commission: 0.65% Total expense ratio: maximum 0.90%

Thomas de Saint-Seine, le responsable actions, CEO et associé fondateur de Reyl Asset Management, prévoit de lancer fin juin un deuxième fonds marchés émergents, révèle Citywire Global. Le fonds aura une capacité supérieure au fonds existant Reyl Emerging Markets Equities fund, qui devrait être fermé autour de 2,5-3 milliards de dollars. Il sera par ailleurs investi dans des capitalisations plus grandes que celles du premier et la stratégie sera légèrement différente.

La division Property Business d’Henderson Global Investors (HGI), dont l’encours se situe à environ 12,7 milliards de livres, a recruté Tony He comme director of proprerty, China consultancy. L’intéressé était directeur financier chez Tesco Property China.Le nouvel arrivant sera principalement basé au bureau de HGI à Pékin et travaillera en étroite coopération avec l'équipe immobilière du gestionnaire britannique pour la région Asie-Pacifique.

La banque suisse Neue Helvetische Bank, créée il y a deux ans par Thomas Matter et Daniel Hefti, deux anciens banquiers de Swissfirst, a enregistré au titre de l’année 2012 une perte de 695.000 francs suisses. D’ici à mars 2014, les dirigeants de l'établissement prévoient de publier des comptes à l'équilibre. C’est l’activité Corporate Finance qui contribue principalement au chiffre d’affaires, alors que les activités gestion de fortune et conseil en gestion de patrimoine sont moins satisfaisantes que prévu, indique Finews. Pour redynamiser ces deux activités, NHB devrait bientôt lancer de nouvelles offres à destination de sa clientèle. La banque gère à fin 2012 642 millions de francs suisses. Actuellement, le quotidien estime que les encours devraient atteindre les 800 millions. NHB espère dépasser le milliard au cours de l’année.

Quilvest & Partners, l’activité de capital-investissement du groupe Quilvest, a annoncé le 23 mai la clôture de trois levées de fonds: QS PEP 2012, QS REP II et QS Capital Strategies, pour des montants de 150 millions de dollars, 300 millions de dollars et 230 millions de dollars respectivement. QS PEP 2012 et QS REP II ont dépassé leurs objectifs de levées, et QS Capital Strategies a été largement sursouscrit et a clôturé à son maximum (hard cap). Les 80 millions de dollars engagés par des investisseurs dans QS Capital Strategies peuvent être abondés de 150 millions de dollars additionnels, via un financement en dette par la Small Business Administration (SBA) aux Etats-Unis; toutefois, ce financement supplémentaire reste soumis à l’octroi d’une licence par les autorités américaines.QS PEP 2012 est la 11ème génération du programme de fonds de fonds phare de Quilvest en private equity au niveau mondial, investissant dans des fonds de LBO, de capital-développement et autres fonds de private equity principalement aux Etats-Unis et en Europe.QS REP II est la 2ème génération du programme de fonds de fonds de Quilvest en immobilier non coté avec une stratégie «opportuniste» au niveau mondial, qui succède à la première génération de ce programme – QS REP - lancée en 2009. QS REP II investira à la fois dans des fonds (à hauteur de minimum 75%) et en direct dans des opérations immobilières (à hauteur de 25% au maximum) avec une allocation respective de 60/40 entre les marchés développés et les pays émergents.QS Capital Strategies, toujours soumis à l’approbation de l’administration américaine SBA en tant que Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), investit dans des entreprises américaines de taille moyenne. Le fonds poursuit une stratégie «total return» et investira jusqu’à 75% dans des titres de dette (unitranche senior, second lien et mezzanine) et 25% en capital (actions préférentielles et ordinaires), permettant d’assurer par là même plus de stabilité au sein du portefeuille. QS Capital Strategies a été lancé en février 2013 et la levée de fonds était largement sursouscrite dès mars 2013.En parallèle, Quilvest & Partners annonce le lancement de QS PEP Core, un programme d’investissement sur quatre ans dans des fonds de private equity au niveau mondial, qui succède au programme annuel phare de Quilvest, QS PEP. Quilvest a pour objectif de lever jusqu’à 400 millions de dollars pour la première génération de QS PEP Core. Le fonds se concentrera sur la stratégie cœur de Quilvest & Partners, à savoir l’identification des meilleurs fonds de private equity dans des sociétés de petite et moyenne taille en LBO et capital-développement, avec un processus de sélection exigeant d’environ 10 fonds par an.

Onze des treize stratégies alternatives d’Edhec-Risk étaient bien orientées au mois d’avril. La meilleure stratégie du mois sous revue a été la CTA Global, qui affiche un gain de 2,08%. Les stratégies dédiées aux actions ont enregistré des gains compatibles avec leur modèle, avec +0,65% pour le long/short equity, 0,00% pour l’equity market neutral et 0,82% pour l’event driven.La stratégie de short-selling s’est en revanche inscrite dans le rouge, avec une performance négative de 2,90% sur le mois. A noter la bonne tenue de l’indice des fonds de fonds qui a progressé de 0,70% et qui confirme ses bonnes dispositions du début de l’année.

Le fonds de pension des enseignants coréens (KTPF, Korea Teachers Pension Fund) vient de nommer Park Min en qualité de chief investment officer, rapporte Asian Investor.C’est la première fois, relève le site asiatique, que le fonds de pension attribue ce poste par le biais d’une promotion interne. Les actifs sous gestion du fonds de pension s'élevaient à un peu plus de 11 milliards de dollars à fin décembre 2011, selon les données disponibles.

Le gestionnaire austro-allemand C-Quadrat Investment fait état pour le premier trimestre 2013 d’un bénéfice net de 1,93 million d’euros contre 0,68 million pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier, ce qui reflète en partie la première consolidation des gestionnaires BCM (Londres/Genève) et APM (Vienne).L’acquisition de 50,01 % de Kepler-Chevreux par QC Partners (160 millions d’euros, une filiale de C-Quadrat) en partenariat avec Q-Advisers et le management de la société n’a été bouclée qu'à fin avril.Sur douze mois, la hausse des encours de C-Quadrat atteint 47 %, à 4,47 milliards d’euros fin mars.Les recettes de commissions de gestion sont ressorties à 11,68 millions contre 10,38 millions pour le premier trimestre 2012 tandis que celles de commissions de performance se situaient à 2,28 millions d’euros contre 0,2 million.

Le gestionnaire américain Harbor Funds (74 milliards de dollars au 31 mars) a indiqué avoir choisi la filiale américaine de l'écossais Baillie Gifford (142 milliards de dollars) pour reprendre à compter du 21 mai la gestion en tant que sub-advisor du Harbor International Growth Fund (acronyme : HAIGX) dont l’encours se situe à quelque 220 millions de dollars. Depuis le 1er mars 2004, le «sub-advisor» de ce fonds était Marsico Capital Management.Le gérant unique du fonds, chez Marsico, était un ancien de Goldman Sachs, James Gendelman. Il sera remplacé par une équipe de quatre gérants de portefeuille de Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited composée de Gerard Callahan, Iain Campbell, Joe Faraday et Paul Faulkner. Gerard Callahan est chair of the international focus portfolio construction group et head of UK equities chez Baillie Gifford.

Banca Generali a recruté Elisa Feliciani, l’ancienne directrice de la succursale de Banca Albertini Syz à Rome, rapporte Bluerating. L’an dernier, la banque avait déjà embauché Ernestina Anceschi chez Albertini Syz.

Société Générale Securities Services en Italie a été mandaté par Rinascimento Sicav pour agir en tant qu’agent de transfert local. SGSS fournira des services d’agent payeur et de gestion des relations de l’OPCVM avec les investisseurs en Italie. SGSS en Italie fournit une gamme de services titres incluant les services de conservation et de banque dépositaire, d’administration de fonds, de gestion des liquidités et des services d’agent de transfert. Rinascimento Sicav est un OPC ouvert enregistré au Luxembourg.

Dans le cadre d’une campagne de deux ans, BNY Mellon Wealth Management a l’intention d’accroître de 50 % l’effectif de sa force de vente tout en recrutant par ailleurs des banquiers privés, des spécialistes de l’hypothécaire, des gérants de portefeuille et des stratégistes ainsi que du personnel de «support» pour les ventes, a annoncé le groupe. Cela pourrait se traduire au total par une centaine de créations de postes.Comme partenaire dans cette offensive d’embauches qui concerne les Etats-Unis et le reste du monde, BNY Mellon a retenu Futurestep, une filiale de Korn/Ferry International Company.A fin mars, le pôle gestion de fortune de BNY Mellon affichait un encours de 188 milliards de dollars pour le compte de particuliers.

Désormais, Russell Investments commercialise en France le nouveau compartiment Russell Absolute Return Bond Fund (acronyme : RARBF) de sa sicav irlandaise. Selon le communiqué, le gestionnaire américain s’efforce avec ce produit de «capter une palette d’opportunités plus large que les fonds obligataires traditionnels» en utilisant des stratégies complémentaires pour dégager une performance absolue en générant un rendement «solide» ajusté du risque.L'équipe de gestion met en œuvre une gamme de stratégies actives sur les marchés de taux (pays développés et émergents), des devises et du crédit, combinées avec des stratégies long/short. «Contrairement à un fonds obligataire traditionnel qui serait long duration, et par conséquent exposé au risque d’une remonté des taux, le RARBF est construit pour prendre des positions vendeuses afin de maximiser les gains des investisseurs», précise Russell.Les principales caractéristiques du fonds sont disponibles en pièce jointe.