The Austrian management firm FTC Capital GmbH, a specialist in managed futures, has announced the recruitment of Helmut Spitzer, who for a long time was one of the directors of Superfund. Spitzer will become Director Business Development, both for institutional client advising and for development of distribution via partners.

Net inflows to British funds of funds in first half totalled GBP3.8bn, of which GBP2bn were in second quarter, according to statistics from the British investment management association (IMA). Assets under management in funds of funds as of the end of June totalled GBP63.5bn, representing 11% of all assets under management. They are up 37% compared with second quarter 2010. Inflows to tracker funds totalled GBP313m in second quarter, down compared with an average of GBP515m in the past four quarters. Assets under management totalled GBP40.5bn as of 30 June, up 33% compared with second quarter 2010. Ethical funds, for their part, posted net inflows of GBP94m, a level not seen since fourth quarter 2007. Assets under management in ethical funds as of the end of June totalled GBP7.1bn, up 23% compared with second quarter 2010.

The British management firm LV=Asset Management has finalised an operation to outsource the management of GBP8.5bn in assets to Threadneedle, under a “long-term” partnership, according to a statement published on 15 August. By the terms of the agreement announced last month, most of the funds transferred will retain their current structure. The transfer will be undertaken at the end of October.

Assets under management by the British management firm Liontrust Asset Management as of 30 June totalled GBP1.31bn, of which GBP414m were from institutional clients. As of 16 August, assets under management totalled GBP1.216bn, down 7.1% compared with 30 June, due largely to market movements. However, Liontrust has continued to attract capital for the fourth consecutive quarter, this time with net inflows of GBP13m. Between 1 July and 15 August, this growth continued, with net inflows of GBP28m.

In first half, Henderson underwent total net redemptions of GBP2.86bn, despite GBP575m in net subscriptions to its retail funds. Assets under management have nonetheless increased by GBP12.8bn, or 21%, since 31 December, to a total of GBP74.4bn, This is largely due to the integration of assets from Gartmore, which totalled GBP15.7bn when the acquisition was concluded.The firm has earned underlying pre-tax profits of GBP86.4bn, up 78% compared with first half 2010. But it has seen a pre-tax loss of GBP3.1m, due to one-time elements related to the Gartmore acquisition.

Peter Clarke has left the investment advising agency Calimere Point Advisors to join Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) as of 8 August, as institutional sales director. He will be specialised in the British market, and will report to Gordon Phillips, Interim Co-Head of Distribution and Client Management.

The managing director of Bluefin Wealth Management, Suvan de Soysa, left the firm in May 2011 to pursue other interests in the United Kingdom and Australia. He has been replaced by Simon Hellier as head of the Axa group affiliate. Hellier was previously head of Oval Financial Services.

Fidelity is to offer commission-free shares in its generalist funds, in order to prepare itself for the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) reforms, Money Marketing reports. The management firm has recently introduced Y share classes for some funds, which charge fees of 1%, and carry no commissions.

Jonathan Polin, former director of sales and marketing at Ignis, will join Ashcourt Rowan as CEO, from 2 September, Investment Week reports.

After ten years in management positions at Telefónica and positions of operational responsibility at Banco Português de Investimento (BPI), Antonio Viana-Baptista has been appointed as CEO at Credit Suisse for the Iberian peninsula, replacing Fernando Abril-Martorell, who resigned in March, but will remain as senior adviser. Abril-Martorell will be based in Madrid, and will report to Fawzil Kyriakos-Saad, CEO of Credit Suisse for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse hedge fund index rose 0.69% in July, according to the most recent estimates, with six sectors posting positive returns. Managed futures earned the best returns of the month, with gains of 4.03%.

The British management boutique Jupiter Asset Management on 17 August announced that it is adding to its distribution team in Germany and Austria, with the recruitment of Bernard Vogel as Sales Manageer, Germany & Austria. Vogel, who was responsible for the acquisition of funds from Axa Lebensversicherung, will report to Martina Günzl, Sales Director, Europe. The recruitment follows the opening of an office in Munich in 2010, which aimed to improve services to existing clients and to develop new opportunities for growth.

After three years as a specialised investment adviser at Deutsche Bank, Holger Schröm on 1 August returned as director of sales at JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) in the Distribution Sales Team focused on financial advisers, which is led by Christoph Bergweiler. The press spokesperson for Frankfurt Trust has also joined JPMAM as head of public relations. He will report to Jean Guido Servias, head of marketing for the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

The Taiwan-based management firm Fubon Asset Management, which a few months ago received an allocation of USD100m as a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII), will launch an ETF at the end of September which will replicate the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) 180 Index, and will be listed on the Taiwan stock exchange, Asian Investor reports. Fubon hopes to raise TWD3bn, more or less equivalent to the USD100m quota it has received.

The wealth management division of the Barclays group, Barclays Wealth, has recruited Anne Luke as head of client solutions for Asia, Finance Asia reports. She will be based in Singapore. In her new role, Luke, who previously worked at UBS, will be in charge of organisation, structuring and distribution of solutions aimed at ultra-high net worth (UHNW) clients.

The New York-based management firm Van Eck Global on 17 August announced the launch of Market Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF (acronym on NYSE Arca: MORT), which until 1 May 2013 will charge fees of 0.40%. The fund replicates the performance, before fees, of the Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITs Index, which covered 25 companies as of 31 July.The index includes exclusively firm which earn at least 50% of their revenues from mortgage REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), a category which in recent years has generated higher returns than equity REITs. Unlike other ETFs focused on mortgage REITs which are already available on the market, the index used by Van Eck includes no shares in mortgage financing companies or savings associations.Van Eck states that this is its first ETF dedicated to mortgage REITs, its tenth bond ETF, and the 36th ETF in its product range.

As of the end of June, assets under management by the Swiss alternative management firm Harcourt (Vontobel group) totalled USD4.9bn, compared with USD4.8bn as of the end of 2010. The firm says that growth in assets under management has been slowed by adverse market conditions. Harcourt has reported net subscriptions for its two flagship funds, Blevista Commodity and VONDA Ucits, as well as for the Belmont Commodity Trading Fund. Most inflows are coming from institutional clients.

The US firm BNY Mellon Asset Servicing has been selected by the China Construction Bank (CCB) as international custodian for the QDII (Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) fund which will be launched in China by Manulife Teda Fund Management Co (Manulife Teda FMC), entitled Manulife New Economic Pattern Fund. Manulife Teda FMC is a joint venture founded in 2002, which already manages 16 funds.

The Zurich-based wealth-management firm VZ Holding on 18 August announced inflows of CHF528m in first half 2011. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled CHF8.1bn, compared with CHF7.8bn previously. Net profits at VZ Holding were up 8.4% in first half, to CHF25.1m. In the past few months, the wealth management firm has opened four new locations in Switzerland and Germany, and increased its personnel by 20, to 522.

Lloyds International Wealth has announced that it is adding to its executive board, with the appointment of Alex Tsikouras as Head of Customer Management, Agefi Switzerland reports. Tsikouras, who was previously employed at Deutsche Bank, joined Lloyds TSB Private Banking two years ago as Head of International Affluent team. He will be based in Geneva, and will be in charge of setting up a new client management function, and will be responsible for activities to acquire new clients. Chris Gowland becomes Proposition Director. He joins the executive board from the UK Retail Products division of the bank, where he was previously Acquisition Director for the Lloyds Banking Group Mortgages division.

Assets under management at the Banque cantonale vaudoise (BCV) increased by 3%, or about CHF2.4bn, in first half 2011, to a total of CHF78.2bn, the bank announced on 18 August in a statement. The impact of the consolidation of the Banque Franck Galland totalled CHF3bn. Net inflows in first half totalled CHF854m. Net profits rose 6% to CHF154m.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that Swiss Life has announced that it has reduced the proportion of its investment portfolio (totalling CHF114bn overall) dedicated to equities from 3.1% to 1.1% in first half, in order to invest more in corporate bonds and real estate. This reduction corresponds arithmetically to CHF2.3bn, or CHF2bn. As of 30 June, the equities portfolio was composed 51% of Swiss shares, 35% of French shares, and 16% of German shares. However, Swiss Life faces a considerable currency risk on its corporate bond portfolio, as 50% of it is denominated in euros, and 25% in US dollars.

Après dix ans passés à des postes de direction générale chez Telefónica et après avoir occupé des fonctions de responsabilité opérationnelle chez Banco Português de Investimento (BPI), notamment, Antonio Viana-Baptista a été nommé directeur général de Credit Suisse pour la péninsule ibérique, en remplacement de Fernando Abril-Martorell, qui a démissionné en mars mais reste conseiller senior. Basé à Madrid, l’impétrant est subordonné à Fawzi Kyriakos-Saad, CEO de Credit Suisse pour la région Europe/Moyen-Orient/Afrique (EMEA).

Selon l'étude annuelle de Fidelity International consacrée depuis 2004 aux fonds de fonds disposant d’un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne, l’encours de ces produits a encore gonflé l’an dernier de 8,7 % pour atteindre 52,5 milliards d’euros, à données comparables. De fait, ces chiffres proviennent d’une étude de Morningstar, qui a considérablement réduit, lors des révisions d’octobre et d’avril, le périmètre des produits ayant droit à l’appellation de fonds de fonds. A titre indicatif, Fidelity International avait fait état il y a un an (lire notre article du 25 août 2010) d’un gonflement de 15 % des actifs gérés, à 52,6 milliards d’euros fin 2009 contre 44,9 milliards fin 2008.L’enquête montre aussi que la part des fonds de fonds tiers ou à majorité de fonds externes ressort à 65,2 % (34,23 milliards d’euros) contre 64,2 % (30,99 milliards) un an plus tôt, tandis que leur encours a augmenté de 10,5 % contre seulement 5,6 % pour ceux qui se focalisent entièrement ou majoritairement sur des fonds «maison».Les trois premiers promoteurs de fonds de fonds à fin décembre étaient Deka/International Fund Management (caisses d'épargne) avec 16,03 milliards contre 15,5 milliards un an plus tôt et une part de marché de 30,5 % contre 32,1 % fin 2009, loin devant DWS (Deutsche Bank), avec 5,23 milliards contre 4,75 milliards et 9,96 % contre 9,85 % du marché, et Union Investment (banques populaires) avec 2,62 milliards contre 2,01 milliards soit 4,99 % contre 4,17 % du marché.Concernant les fonds utilisés comme supports par les fonds de fonds, le leader est Deka, avec 8,27 milliards d’euros pour 629 produits contre 7,97 milliards sur 597 fonds un an plus tôt, mais le gestionnaire central des caisses d'épargne fonctionne presque exclusivement en architecture fermée. Viennent ensuite DWS, avec 3,26 milliards d’euros contre 2,96 milliards (541 fonds contre 560), et JPMorgan avec 1,62 milliard contre 1,3 milliard et 340 fonds contre 327. Le seul émetteur d’ETF dans le groupe des 15 premiers est iShares (BlackRock), avec 1,62 milliard d’euros. Carmignac arrive en sixième position avec 1,28 milliard et 122 fonds contre 1,08 milliard et 154 fonds.

La boutique britannique Jupiter Asset Management a annoncé le 17 août qu’elle renforce son équipe de distribution en Allemagne et en Autriche avec le recrutement de Bernd Vogel comme Sales Manager, Germany & Austria. L’intéressé, qui était responsable de l’achat de fonds chez Axa Lebensversicherung, est subordonné à Martina Günzl, Sales Director, Europe. Cette embauche fait suite à l’ouverture en 2010 du bureau de Munich qui était destinée à améliorer le service à la clientèle existante et à développer de nouveaux débouchés.

Après trois ans comme conseiller spécialisé en matière d’investissements à la Deutsche Bank, Holger Schröm est revenu au 1er août comme directeur des ventes chez JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) dans la Distribution Sales Team focalisée sur les conseillers financiers que dirige Christoph Bergweiler.Parallèlement, le porte-parole «presse» de Frankfurt Trust a rejoint JPMAM comme responsable des relations publiques. Il est subordonné à Jean Guido Servias, patron du marketing pour l’espace germanophone (Allemagne, Autriche et Suisse).

L’autrichien FTC Capital GmbH, spécialiste des managed futures, a annoncé avoir recruté Helmut Spitzer, qui a été longtemps l’un des dirigeants de Superfund. L’intéressé devient Director Business Development tant pour le conseil à la clientèle institutionnelle que pour le développement de la distribution au travers de partenaires.

Le fonds immobilier allemand offert au public hausInvest a revendu à Artis REIT pour 90 millions de dollars canadiens (63,4 millions d’euros) l’immeuble de bureaux Stampede Station (15.100 mètres carrés) de Calgary qu’il avait acheté pour 74 millions de dollars canadiens voici deux ans. La plus-value sur le prix d’acquisition ressort donc à 22 %, insiste le gestionnaire Commerz Real.

La société de gestion de Taïwan Fubon Asset Management, qui a obtenu il y quelques mois une allocation de 100 millions de dollars en qualité d’investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié (QFII), va lancer fin septembre un ETF répliquant le Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) 180 Index qui sera coté sur la Bourse de Taïwan, rapporte Asian Investor.Fubon espère ainsi lever quelque 3 milliards de dollars de Taïwan, soit peu ou prou l'équivalent du quota de 100 millions de dollars obtenu précédemment.

La division gestion de fortune du groupe britannique Barclays, Barclays Wealth, vient de recruter Anne Luke en qualité de responsable des solutions clients pour l’Asie, rapporte Finance Asia. Elle sera basée à Singapour.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Anne Luke, qui a travaillé précédemment chez UBS, sera notamment responsable de l’origination, la structuration et la distribution de solutions dédiées à destination d’une clientèle très haut de gamme (UHNW ou ultra high net worth).