A l'occasion du quinzième anniversaire de la société de gestion qu'elle a co-fondée, Karine Hirn revient sur le parcours de sa maison et sur ses spécificités en matière de gestion. Une gestion de terrain en l'occurrence qui a conduit la responsable à élire domicile en Chine où East Capital opère depuis deux ans. Un choix également nécessaire selon Karine Hirn pour comprendre un univers d'investissement qui vient s'ajouter à ceux pratiqués par East Capital depuis le départ, en Europe de l'est et en Russie et où les opportunités demeurent.

At the 15th anniversary of the asset management firm she co-founded, Karin Hirn discusses the firm's fortunes and its specialities in asset management. On-site management has led East Capital to operate a Chine firm for two years. Hirn says this choice is also necessary to understand an investment universe which comes in addition to the ones East Capital has operated on since its inception, in Eastern Europe and Russia, where there are still opportunities.

La consultation (procédure négociée) pour l’attribution de mandat de gestion d’actifs immobiliers lancée le 8 février dernier par l’ERAFP suit son cours. 5 candidats ont été retenus pour chacun des deux lots (France : montant indicatif de 310 millions d’euros, Europe de 350 millions d’euros) à l’issue du premier tour. Les réponses aux questionnaires d’offres sont en cours d'étude, ce qui permet d’envisager le début de la phase de négociations pour octobre-novembre et l'élaboration de la liste finale avant la fin de l’année. Si le timing est respecté, les trois attributaires pour chacun des deux lots (dont deux stand-by) seront désignés début 2013.

National Bank of Greece a été vendredi après-midi la première des banques grecques à officialiser son accord pour l’offre de rachat de dette lancée par la Grèce. NBG est le premier prêteur du pays. Les quatre principales banques grecques détiendraient autour de 15 milliards d’euros de dette souveraine locale, et leur participation à l’offre de rachat en garantirait quasiment le succès.

Le département du Travail américain a fait état vendredi d’une hausse des créations d’emplois non agricoles à 146.000 le mois dernier, largement au-dessus du consensus Reuters de 85.000 créations. Le passage de l’ouragan Sandy sur le nord-est du pays n’a finalement pas eu d’impact notable sur la statistique. Les chiffres des mois de septembre et octobre ont toutefois été revus à la baisse, de 49.000 au total. Quant au taux de chômage, mesuré sur la base d’une enquête distincte, il a été ramené à 7,7%, son plus bas niveau depuis décembre 2008, mais ce recul est dû en grande partie au fait qu’une partie des chômeurs ont renoncé à chercher un emploi. Le rapport mensuel a été favorablement accueilli par les marchés financiers, les actions et le dollar s’orientant à la hausse tandis que les emprunts d’Etat refluaient.

Le Conseil des gouverneurs de la Banque centrale européenne a eu jeudi une discussion «très sérieuse» sur une possible baisse du taux du refi, aujourd’hui à 0,75%, a indiqué vendredi Josef Makuch, le banquier central slovaque. «Une variation des taux d’intérêt de la BCE est à attendre l’année prochaine», a-t-il précisé. Selon trois autres sources anonymes citées par Bloomberg, une majorité de membres du conseil de la BCE étaient favorables à une baisse des taux dès décembre.

La production industrielle allemande a baissé bien plus que prévu en octobre, surtout dans les secteurs du bâtiment et des biens d'équipement et durables, a annoncé le ministère de l’Economie vendredi. Elle a subi un recul de 2,6%, alors que le consensus Reuters donnait une baisse limitée à 0,5%. La baisse de septembre a été révisée à -1,3% contre -1,8% en première estimation.

Le responsable de la gestion des actions britanniques de Jupiter, Anthony Nutt, par ailleurs un actionnaire significatif de la société, doit transférer la gestion de ses portefeuilles retail l’an prochain, en préambule à son départ de la société en 2014, rapporte Investment Week.Anthony Nutt, qui aura 60 ans l’an prochain, travaille chez Jupiter depuis 1996, et gère depuis 2000 le Jupiter Income trust dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à environ 2 milliards de livres.

Apson, une boutique de hedge funds ayant reçu des capitaux d’amorçage de la part de Howard Marks de Oaktree Capital Management, a annoncé qu’elle fermait moins de 18 mois après son lancement, a appris Financial News. La société n’a pas réussi à gagner d’argent dans un environnement caractérisé par «un manque de tendances et une faible volatilité».

Jupiter veut convertir son fonds European Income en un véhicule mondial dénommé Jupiter Global Equity Income, rapporte Investment Week. Sebastian Radcliffe et Gregory Herbert en deviendraient les co-gérants, succédant à Cédric de Fonclare qui se consacrerait uniquement à ses mandats d’actions européennes.Les souscripteurs du fonds donneront leur avis sur le sujet le 19 décembre dans le cadre d’un vote.

Le responsable des fonds multi classes d’actifs d’Aviva Investors, Yoram Lustig, va quitter la société, rapporte Investment Week. Jonathan Abrahams, analyste senior dans l’équipe, est aussi parti.

GLG Partners va rouvrir sa gamme de fonds Japan CoreAlpha gérée par Stephen Harker, Neil Edwards et Jeffrey Atherton, rapporte Investment Week. Les fonds basés au Royaume-Uni et en Irlande ont été fermés aux nouveaux souscripteurs en mars afin de protéger les investisseurs existants contre des risques éventuels de liquidité. GLG Japan CoreAlpha avait atteint 1 milliard de livres d’encours avant sa fermeture.

La société de hedge funds TCI a vu son bénéfice net chuter de 60 % sur l’exercice à fin février, à un peu plus de 17 millions de livres, d’après ses derniers résultats cités par Financial News. Mais les rendements se sont améliorés.

The Munich-based asset management firm iii-investments (UniCredit group, via HVB) on 6 December announced the launch of what it claims is the first institutional real estate fund to invest in bonds in compliance with the German investment law. It has received a mandate for the debt fund of EUR200m from a German pension fund.The fund will begin to acquire real estate loans from banks in first quarter 2013. The unit size of the corresponding financing will range from EUR20m to EUR40m.Reinhard Mattern, MD of iii-investments, is also planning to be able to announce the first closing of a pool fund based on the same concept soon.

Asset management firms are bringing out a wave of funds investing in short-term bonds, in an effort to retain investors who are steering clear of money market funds, the Financial Times reports. The new vehicles are presented as a means to earn higher returns than money market funds, with only slightly higher risk.

Via a mutual fund launched in partnership with Arden Asset Management (USD7.5bn in assets), Fidelity is allowing clients of its advisory service (minimal investment: USD50,000) access to a universe of hedge fund managers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Fidelity has given Arden USD700m for the fund, which is already invested in nine alternative managers, including Chilton Investment, Jana Partners and York Capital Management.The fund aims for “high” average performance “in one or low two digits,” over a five-year period. Management commission is set at 2.3%.Since its launch in 1993, the flagship fund from Arden has generated annual returns of 8%, compared with an average of 5.4% for the fund of hedge fund sector, but 8.25 for the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested.

The BlackRock Public-Private Investment Fund, founded in October 2009 as part of the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), has reimbursed its investors, the US Department of Treasury and its private clients, a total of 1.74 times their initial investment, corresponding to an internal rate of return of 23.5%.The Treasury will have received a net USD917.1m on its investment of USD528.2m, with profits totalling USD388.9m.

In Austria, the fund industry is gradually returning to its all-time highs. The investment fund market is recovering, and for the first time since 2006, is showing positive inflows, with EUR8.8bn in net subscriptions since the beginning of 2012 as of the end of October. This increase represents 6.5% of assets, which now total EUR126bn.Raiffeisen Capital Management, which has published the figures, has posted net subscriptions of about EUR1bn as of the end of October. Market effects accounted for EUR1.5bn. Assets managed by the Austrian asset management firm now total EUR27.8bn, up 0.3% since the beginning of 2012.

With the Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund (ticker: TRBUX), T. Rowe Price is launching a bond fund for very short-term investment in public or private investment grade bonds with a residual time to maturity equal to or less than 1.5 years.The portfolio is managed by Joseph K. Lynagh, and the TER is 0.35%. Minimal subscription has been set at USD2,500 (or USD1,000 for retirement savings plans or gifts to minors).

The average coverage rate for the liabilities of US corporate pension funds rose to 74.4% in the month of November, up 0.8 percentage points compared with the previous month, according to estimates by BNY Mellon. In the month under review, assets in pension funds increased 0.7% due to the strength of stock markets, while liabilities fell 0.3%. The actualisation rate rose 4 basis points to 3.76% for businesses rated Aa. Despite the rebound in November, the average coverage rate for liabilities in the first eleven months of the year are down by 0.9 percentage points.

At a presentation of its investment strategy for 2013, Nicolas Bouët, deputy CEO of Invesco, announced in Paris that assets for French clients at the asset management firm currently total USD3.5bn. At the end of May, they totalled USD2bn (see Newsmanagers of 1 June). PowerShares ETFs represent more than one quarter of that total, while open-ended funds account fro 50% of intermediated volumes.Gross inflows totalled about USD1.2bn YTD, more than half of which corresponds to net inflows.Invesco Paris also has about EUR500m in multi-management, of which 20% are integrated into the assets of Invesco Paris, and EUR400m managed for foreign clients.In 2013, Bouët plans to place the emphasis on high yield products, including extra-European products, and coupon funds, while continuing to push IBRA (Invesco Balanced-Risk Allocation), which was highly successful with IFAs in 2012.Invesco on 4 December also received a sales license for eight funds, four Asian (Asian focus Equity Fund, managed by Invesco Perpetual, China Focus Equity Fund, Renminbi Income Fund and Asian Bond Fund, managed by Invesco Hong-Kong), two US funds (US Equity Fund and US High Yield Bond fund), one other bond product (Global Total Return (EUR) Bond Fund, and one equity fund, Pan European Focus Equity Fund, managed by Invesco Perpetual in Henley.

The Swiss financial market will in the next few years need to become a leader in asset management, according to a study by the Swiss Bankers’ Association (ASB) published on 6 December. The association has created a working group with the Swiss Fund Association (SFA) to show how to achieve this goal. Asset management should form one of the pillars of the sector, alongside wealth management, retail banking and business banking the ASB says in a statement. At a time when Switzerland is largely known internationally for wealth management, asset management, a major provider of products and services for private and institutional investors, is largely overlooked in Switzerland and abroad. Although a large proportion of Swiss banks have asset management activities, they are rarely considered activities in their own right. According to a study by the ASB and the agency Boston Consulting Group, scaling up asset management activities would bring up gross revenues by GBP1.8bn by 2015. The study targeted eight areas for action, which would allow for the establishment of this strategy of the creation of the necessary underlying conditions. These objectives include establishing asset management as a brand, guaranteeing surveillance of the sector. Improving access to the market, developing infrastructure, creating an optimal fiscal environment, and offering adequate training. A majority of these initiatives may be put in place by financial establishments, the study funds. But regulation, access to the market and taxation depend on the policies of the authorities, who should “add their brick to the structure.” Asset management products and services may be demanded by private as well as institutional investors. Unlike traditional activities such as credit and insurance, asset management has more limited systemic and reputational risks. It is thus “less capital-hungry,” the study says. The plans “should make Switzerland a top actor” in asset management, the chairman of the ASB, Claude-Alain Margelisch, says in a statement. “We would like the federal administration and the surveillance authorities also to support this project. If we want to offer the financial market a larger basis, let’s minimise systemic risks and seize opportunities for the future,” he added.

Apson, a hedge fund boutique which received seed capital from Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management, has announced that it will be closing 18 months after its launch, Financial News has learned. The firm was not able to make money in an environment characterised by “a lack of trends and low volatility.”

Jupiter is planning to convert its European Income fund into a global vehicle entitled Jupiter Global Equity Income, Investment Week reports. Sebastian Radcliffe and Gregory Herbert will become co-managers, succeeding Cédric de Fonclare, who will dedicate himself exclusively to European equity mandates. Subscribers to the fund will vote on the subject on 19 December.

GLG Partners will reopen its Japan CoreAlpha range, managed by Stephen Harker, Neil Edwards and Jeffrey Atherton, Investment Week reports. The funds, based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, were closed to new subscribers in March in order to protect existing investors against potential liquidity risks. GLG Japan CoreAlpha had GBP1bn in assets before its closure.

Banca Generali has posted net subscriptions in November of EUR51m, bringing net inflows since the beginning of the year to EUR1.5bn, Bluerating reports. Of this total, EUR1.41bn is due to collective management.

Nicolas Deblauwe, country head Benelux at J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), has announced “to clients and partners” that from 3 December, Antonio Grieco has joined his team as senior sales manager for Belgium and Luxembourg in partnership with Tom Vermeulen. He replaces Arnaud van der Elst, who in October joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank.Grieco had previously been head of institutional business at Dexia Asset Management in Luxembourg.

The hedge fund firm TCI has seen a fall of 60% in its net profits for the period to the end of February, at slightly over GBP17m, according to its most recent results cited by Financial News. But returns have improved.

The head of British equity management at Jupiter, Anthony Nutt, also a significant shareholder in the firm, will transfer the management of his retail portfolios next year, ahead of his departure from the firm in 2014, Investment Week reports. Nutt, who will be 60 next year, has been working at Jupiter since 1996, and has managed by Jupiter Income Trust, whose assets under management total about GBP2bn, since 2000.

The alternative asset management firm Man Group on 6 December announced the appointment of John Rohal as executive chairman for North America, a new position at Man group, which is seeking new areas for growth outside the United Kingdom. Rohal will begin on 1 January, and will work to develop distribution of Man products in North America, and to strengthen commercial relationships with institutional clients. He previously worked at Makena Capital Management, where he supervised equity investments.