La Banque Baring Brothers Sturdza à Genève a annoncé le 4 février 2013 avoir acquis l’intégralité du capital de Coges Corraterie Gestion SA, gérant de fortune indépendant établi à Genève. Les fonds sous gestion et le prix de la transaction n’ont pas été divulgués."Coges poursuivra ses activités de manière indépendante», a précisé le communiqué, «garantissant le maintien de ses relations avec ses clients actuels tout en leur offrant une plate-forme complémentaire de services et de compétences».L’ensemble du personnel de Coges est conservé et Luca Micheli devient directeur général. Le directeur général actuel, Philippe R. Calame, entre au conseil d’administration de Coges et devient membre de la direction de la banque, directement rattaché à Eric I. Sturdza, son président.

Les actifs sous gestion de la Banque cantonale de Lucerne ont progressé l’an dernier de 6,5% pour atteindre 26,8 milliards de francs suisses fin décembre, selon un communiqué publié le 5 février.La collecte nette s’est élevée à 660 millions de francs suisses, contre 382 millions de francs l’année précédente, précise la banque.

Les actifs sous gestion de la Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) s'établissaient fin 2012 à 49,9 milliards de francs suisses, en progression de 5% d’une année sur l’autre, selon un communiqué publié le 5 février. Cette évolution est due pour l’essentiel à un effet marché positif car la banque a subi une décollecte nette de 390 millions de francs suisses.La LLB devrait annoncer un bénéfice de 98 millions de francs suisses au titre de 2012, en très nette progression par rapport aux 15,4 millions de francs enregistrés l’année précédente. La banque publiera des résultats détaillés le 22 mars prochain.

Les deux groupes suisses Pictet et Lombard Odier ont annoncé le le 5 février leur projet d'évolution de leur structure juridique. Les deux groupes optent, à compter du 1er janvier 2014, pour la forme juridique d’une société en commandite par actions de droit suisse, afin, selon eux, de répondre à la croissance réalisée ces dernières années. Les activités de Lombard Odier en Suisse seront ainsi conduites dans le cadre d’une société anonyme, comme pour les autres filiales du groupe. Du côté de Pictet, la nouvelle structure regroupera la direction de toutes les sociétés opérationnelles du groupe et perpétuera la détention et la gestion du groupe par les associés gérants actuels. Quant à Pictet & Cie, la banque suisse du groupe, qui revêt actuellement la forme d’une société de personnes, elle deviendra une société anonyme, au même titre que les autres entités opérationnelles du groupe. Pour les deux grands acteurs de la banque privée suisse, ce changement est l’aboutissement d’une réflexion entamée il y a plusieurs années par les associés, afin de doter leur groupe d’une structure efficace et pérenne qui leur permette de préserver leur culture d’entreprise et de poursuivre leur développement. La nouvelle organisation juridique permet ainsi à Lombard Odier de s’adapter à un environnement réglementaire en pleine mutation, tant en Suisse qu’à l’étranger, ainsi qu’au développement et à l’internationalisation croissante de ses activités. En effet, gérant en 1992 environ 36 milliards de francs suisses et fort de 650 collaborateurs principalement actifs à Genève, Lombard Odier gère et administre aujourd’hui 188 milliards avec près de 2.000 collaborateurs répartis dans 24 bureaux dans le monde. Ce développement significatif, poursuivi en 2012 avec une croissance de plus de 15% des actifs sous gestion, s’est effectué par le biais d’entités constituées principalement sous forme de sociétés anonymes. La mise en place d’une SCA faîtière, qui agira en qualité de direction du groupe au niveau consolidé, permettra à Lombard Odier de disposer d’une structure claire et harmonisée, en ligne avec les normes internationales. Le constat est le même pour Pictet qui comptait 300 collaborateurs en 1980, pour l’essentiel rassemblés à Genève, avec 9 milliards de francs suisses sous gestion et qui dispose aujourd’hui de 25 bureaux où travaillent plus de 3.300 personnes et qui gère 374 milliards de francs suisse. Une croissance qui s’est poursuivie l’an dernier avec une collecte nette de 13 milliards de francs suisses et le recrutement de plus de 100 collaborateurs, avec pour 2013, une nouvelle hausse prévue des effectifs de plus de 100 personnes. «Cette forme juridique permet de garder les forces d’une société de personnes, à savoir l’indépendance, un sens aigu des responsabilités, une gestion sur le long terme et un alignement des intérêts de la Maison avec ceux de nos clients. Lombard Odier continuera donc à se distinguer par une structure de partnership au niveau faîtier avec un engagement personnel et durable des associés dans la gestion du groupe, permettant de pérenniser la culture et les valeurs de notre maison», a déclaré Patrick Odier, Associé Senior de Lombard Odier & Cie, cité dans un communiqué. «Cette évolution de notre structure facilitera la croissance et l’adaptation de notre Groupe dans un contexte international toujours plus complexe», souligne Jacques de Saussure, associé senior du groupe Pictet. «Elle assurera en même temps la préservation des forces traditionnelles du modèle d’affaires de Pictet, telles l’indépendance, le mode de détention et de transmission de l’entreprise ainsi que la vision à long terme des intérêts du client et de la banque, ce alors que le groupe Pictet continuera à disposer d’un excédent de capital allant bien au‐delà des exigences légales suisses, pourtant parmi les plus sévères au monde».

Conséquence de la réorganisation de GAM Holding annoncée récemment (lire Newsmanagers du 16 janvier), Stefan Angele quitte son poste de head investment management de Swiss and Global, a confirmé ce gestionnaire à finews. En effet, les directeurs des investissements des quatre secteurs (obligataire, actions, multi-classes d’actifs et matières premières) sont désormais directement subordonnés au CEO David Solo, de sorte que la fonction occupée par Stefan Angele devient redondante.

Belgian pension funds earned average returns of 12.3% last year, according to provisional estimates from the Belgian association of pension associations (ABIP). The association points out that pension funds returned to equities, investing most of their assets in the real economy. Portfolios are now 37% invested in equities, compared with 34% six months ago. Meanwhile, the proportion of bonds has fallen from 53% to 49% as of the end of December. As of the end of 2012, assets in pension funds totalled EUR18bn.

According to the German press, Daniela Brogt, director of sales Germany & Austria at Henderson Global Investors, will be promoted on 1 April to head of sales Germany. Ariane Dehn, head of sales Germanic Switzerland, meanwhile, will become head of sales Germanic Switzerland and Austria. The appointments follow the departure of Lars Albert, head of sales Germany & Austria, in January, to join Barings Germany.

Following the departure for personal reasons of Roland Schubert, the supervisory board of Bethmann Bank has appointed Michael Arends as a managing board member from 1 February.Arends will be responsible for the range of products and services, as well as wealth management at the private bank. He joined Bethmann and the ABN Amro group (to which the German firm belongs) in 2010. Most recently, he was head of the global coordination team for the private wealth management unit at ABN Amro in Amsterdam, and a member of the extended management committee of Bethmann Bank.

Dirk de Vlaam, head of marketing and sales for the Netherlands, has announced that Franklin Templeton is planning to make a decision by the end of first quarter as to whether to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), Fondsnieuws reports.The announcement follows requests from pension funds, then retail banks, he said. However, environmental, social and governance (ESG) accounting is already highly important in the investment process at Franklin Templeton, de Vlaam says.

Assets under management by the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) as of the end of 2012 totalled CHF49.9bn, up 5% year on year, according to a statement released on 5 February. The development is largely due to positive market effects, as the bank has undergone a net outflow of CHF390m. LLB is expected to announce profits of CHF98m for 2012, a considerable increase compared with CHF15.4m the previous year. The bank will release detailed results on 22 March.

The two Swiss groups Pictet and Lombard Odier on 5 February announced plans to change their legal structure. From 1 January 2014, the two groups will opt for the legal format of a Swiss limited partnership with shares, which they say is better adapted to the growth they have achieved in recent years. The activities of Lombard Odier in Switzerland will be transferred to a limited company, like the other affiliates of the group.At Pictet, the new structure will include the management of all operational companies of the group, and will extend the ownership and management of the group of current managing partners. Pictet & Cie, the Swiss bank of the group, which currently is incorporated as a partnership, will become a limited partnership, like the other operational entities of the group.

UCITS-compliant hedge funds in January posted their seventh increase in the past eight months. The HFRU Hedge Fund Composite index earned gains of 0.83% in the first month of the year, according to figures released by Hedge Fund Research. The HFRU Equity Hedge index rose 1.31% in January, as contributions from European, emerging markets, Asian and Japanese equities were only partially offset by statistical arbitrage strategies.

Based on the starting assumptions that the debt crisis has opened up opportunities for entry to attractive businesses, and that it is possible to invest in financially solid businesses in a region which has good chances of subsequent growth, Universal-Investment (EUR158bn in assets) has launched the Aktien Südeuropa UI fund, which focuses on southern Europe.The fund is managed by Matthias Habbel, Andreas Hauser and Bernd Haferstock of the equity team at the wealth management firm Habbel, Pohlig & Partner (HP&P), based in Wiesbaden (EUR500m in assets). The portfolio will include about 40 positions.CharacteristicsName: Aktien Südeuropa UIISIN code: DE000A1J9A74Front-end fee: Maximum 5%Management commission: currently 1.68%Performance commission: 10% of performance exceeding the hurdle rate, with high watermark

On 1 February, NordLB Asset Management launched an open-ended, UCITS-compliant long/short fund, aimed primarily at family offices and institutional investors (minimal subscription: EUR250,000), the NordLB Aktien Deutschland LS. The equity fund will invest up to 100% of its assets in ETFs based on the Dax index; in the event of neutral positions, the management team will sell Dax futures in an amount coresponding to these ETFs. If managers choose to sell short, they will sell twice as many futures contracts.CharacteristicsName: Nord/LB AM Aktien Deutschland LSISIN code: DE000A1J3WL9Management commission: 0.33%Performance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the hurdle rate (Dax + 500 basis points)

Three more asset management firms will offer sub-funds in the Banca Generali Sicav available in Italy, according to reports from Bluerating. They are DWS Investments, which offers the DWS Emerging Markets Concept fund within BG Selection. BlackRock, for its part, has created the Global Opportunities bond fund, a sub-fund of the GB Sicav. Franklin Templeton has launched the Global Multibond Fund as part of BG Sicav.

Natixis AM is launching its IDFC India Equities Fund, managed by its affiliate IDFC Asset Management Company, in Italy, Bluerating reports. The product invests in equities from Indian companies.

The Californian pension fund CalPERs on 5 February welcomed a decision by the US authorities to file lawsuits against the financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (Newsmanagers of 4 February). “We welcome efforts by the Attorney General to determine the liability of S&P concerning its ratings methodologies, which resulted in significant losses for California public pension funds, and for other investors,” CalPERS says in a statement.

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management, an asset management firm based in Stockholm, specialised in the healthcare sector, has recruited three people, Fondbranschen reports. Ellinor Hult has joined the firm as an analyst and management assistant. Hult, formerly of Crdit Suisse, will work with Henrik Rhenman, Anders Grelsson has joined the firm as an institutional salesperson for Sweden, from Ålandsbanken. Lastly, Camilla Hermansson has been recruited as an assistant. She joins from Condender Kapital.

The British bank Barclays will make further provisions totalling GBP1bn overall, to cover legal costs related to abusive sales of financial products, according to a statement released on 5 February. The bank will also announce an additional provision of GBP400m to reimburse SMEs to which it abusively sold products, such as interest rate coverage products, like other British banks. The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) last Thursday announced that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS would be required to reimburse SMEs. The financial regulator reviewed sales of 173 financial products of this type, and concluded that over 90% of them contravened its rules. Barclays has also announced that it will be required to make an additional provision of GBP600m to cover legal actions related to forced sales of credit insurance. The total bill for the bank now comes to GBP2.6bn.

Frankfurt-based Deka Investment has announced that it has signed the sustainable development fund code of the European Sustainable and Responsible Investment Forum (Eurosif) for its Nachhaltigkeitsfonds Deka-Stiftungen Balance, Deka-Nachhaltigkeit Aktien, Deka-Nachhaltigkeit Renten and Deka-Nachhaltigkeit Balance funds. By so doing, the asset management firm pledges to respect the transparency principles of the code, developed in 2008, which have now been signed up to by 350 funds in Europe. The products are also authorised to carry the corresponding transparency logo.Deka, which has been a member of the Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen, an organisation to promote sustainable investment in the German-speaking countries, since 2011, has since September 2012 been a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).Currently, assets in sustainable development funds from Deka total about EUR2bn.

As a result of the recently-announced reorganisation of GAM Holding (see Newsmanagers of 16 January), Stefan Angele is leaving his job as head investment management at Swiss and Global, the asset management firm has confirmed to finews. The chief investment officers in four sectors (bonds, equities, multi-asset class and commodities) now report directly to CEO David Solo, meaning that the position held by Angele now becomes redundant.

Aberdeen Asset Management has announced the recruitment of Matteo Bosco as head of development for Switzerland. He also serves as director of the Italian region at the asset management firm.

The Baring Brothers Sturdza bank in Geneva on 4 February 2013 announced that it has acquired all capital in Coges Corraterie Gestion SA< an independent wealth management firm based in Geneva. Assets under management and the sale price were not disclosed. “Coges will continue to operate independently, a staement says, ensuring that its relationships with its current clients will be preserved, while offering them a complementary platform of services and expertise,” a statement says. All personel at Coges will be retained, and Luca Micheli becomes CEO. The current CEO, Philippe R. Calame, will join the board of directors at Coges, and becomes a board member at the bank, where he will report directly to Eric I. Sturdza, its chairman.

Assets under management at the Banque cantonale de Lucerne last year rose 6.5% to a total of CHF26.8bn, according to a statement released on 5 February. Net inflows totalled CHF600m, compared with CHF382m the previous year, the bank says.

The differences in returns between various asset classes persisted in 2012, increasing the attraction of a diversified approach to portfolio management, a study by Barings of the past five yearsa has found. Although European equities top the list in 2012, with +17.8%, they railed far behind in 2011 (-15.2%), 2010 (+5.3%), and 2008 (-24.4%). Percival Stanion, head of the multi-asset class team, says that “equity markets worldwide were positively oriented in 2012, as emerging markets profited from a rebound in activities in China. However, volatility remained high. Our study finds that the best-performing asset classes, like the worst-performing ones, were not the same from one year to the next. This strengthens the attraction of diversified funds, which have proven their effectiveness, as their asset allocation may develop strongly in line with conjuncture.”

Pension funds and other institutionals are withdrawing their investments related to commodities, after observing that they did not genuinely protect their portfolios against inflationary risks and volatility on equity markets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors have withdrawn nearly USD10bn from tradeable indices of energies, foods, metals and other commodities, after two years of record subscriptions. There remain USD133bn in these investments. The trend is accelerating this year. Among those who have reduced their investments in commodities is CalPERS, which withdrew 55% of its stake in commodity indices in October, after losing 8% per year for 5 years.

The economist Jim O’Neill, who coined the acronym BRIC, is leaving his position as chairman of the asset management division at Goldman Sachs, where he has worked since 2010, Agefi reports. There are currently no plans to replace him, as the position was created especially for him.

Henderson Global Investors has hired credit manager Kevin Loome and five US credit specialists who used to work at Delaware Investments. The team, which joined Henderson on 4th of February, consists of Kevin Loome, head of Credit, U.S, Charles Devereux, head analyst, Devon Everhart, senior analyst, Douglas Zinser, senior analyst, Matthew Fanandakis, analyst, and Gregg Gola, trader/analyst. They have worked together for over five years.The team will be based in Philadelphia and Kevin Loome will report to global head of credit, Stephen Thariyan with the remaining team reporting to Kevin Loome.

Recruitment in the finance sector in France had a hard year in 2012. According to figures from eFinancialCareers, a website specialised in finance job offers, the number of jobs announced was down 19% in France between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013. Internationally, the situation is not reassuring. In the United States, the United Kingdom, continental Europe and Asia-Pacific, the number of job offers was down 26% year on year, from 7,760 on 1 January 2012, to 5,774 as of 1 January 2013. The United Kingdom has seen the steepest drop, with 31% fewer job offers on 1 January 2013. The number of job offers in continental Europe fell 22%.

As part of a French credit programme for EUR200m approved last summer (see Newsmanagers of 17 July 2012), Macquarie Lending and Tikehau Investment Management have awarded a unitranche financing totalling EUR53m to Oaktree Capital Management to acquire the Finnish firm Evac OY, the global leader in the collection and treatment of waste water.The Macquarie group had EUR275bn in assets as of the end of September, while Tikehau IM had EUR1.3bn in assets under management as of the end of December.