Mercer a annoncé le 2 décembre la nomination de Laurence Mounier, 43 ans, à la direction de l’activité retraite de Mercer en France. Elle intègre parallèlement le comité exécutif.Avant de rejoindre Mercer, Laurence Mounier était depuis janvier 2009 Directeur produits prévoyance de BNP Paribas Assurances et pilotait une équipe d’actuaires, de juristes et de chefs de projet.
Le Conseil scientifique des indices, qui décide des entrées et sorties au sein du CAC 40, n’a apporté aucune modification dans la composition de l’indice vedette parisien, lors de sa dernière réunion trimestrielle, a indiqué l’opérateur boursier NYSE Euronext. Le statu quo est de mise dans le CAC 40 ainsi que dans tous les autres indices de la Bourse de Paris (CAC Next 20, SBF 120, SBF 250 et les indices rassemblant les valeurs moyennes).
Le conseil d’administration de BNP Paribas Fortis a nommé Max Jadot, 53 ans, CEO et président du comité de direction de BNP Paribas Fortis à compter du 1er Mars 2011. Au titre de ces nouvelles fonctions et à cette date, il rejoindra le comité exécutif de BNP Paribas. Max Jadot, 53 ans, succèdera à Jean-Laurent Bonnafé. Il sera secondé par Filip Dierckx, COO et vice-président du Comité de Direction, dont les responsabilités restent inchangées. Peter Vandekerckhove, membre du Comité Exécutif de la Banque, directeur du Département Private & Retail Bank, sera, quant à lui, proposé comme administrateur lors de l’Assemblée Générale le 21 avril 2011 et rejoindra à cette date le Comité de Direction de la Banque. Enfin, Sophie Dutordoir a été cooptée en tant que membre indépendant du Conseil d’Administration de Fortis Banque S.A./N.V. Elle remplace Gérard Lamarche, qui a récemment souhaité démissionner pour des raisons professionnelles.
Axa France a présenté mercredi 1er décembre lors d’une conférence de presse - Axa France et l'épargne – la segmentation de sa clientèle. Celle-ci est divisée en trois, avec un premier segment dit Grand Public regroupant les particuliers disposant d’une épargne inférieure ou égale à 100 000 euros – soit 88 % de la clientèle -, un segment dit «Affluents» regroupant les clients disposant d’une épargne comprise entre 100 000 et 500 000 euros – soit 11 % de la clientèle Axa France, disposant de 20 000 euros de capacité d’épargne annuelle -, et enfin un segment dit Gestion Privée accueillant les clients possédant une épargne supérieure à 500 000 euros – soit 1,1 % de la clientèle Axa France représentant 6 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion.
En octobre, les fonds allemands ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 9,7 milliards d’euros : les fonds institutionnels ont drainé 8,1 milliards d’euros et les fonds offerts au public ont attiré 2,8 milliards tandis que 1,2 milliard d’euros étaient sortis en net des mandats, d’après les dernières statistiques de l’association BVI des sociétés de gestion. A fin octobre, l’encours total ressortait à 1.825,02 milliards d’euros contre 1.810,01 milliards fin septembre et 1.672,41 milliards un an auparavant, dont 809,29 milliards pour les fonds institutionnels, 696,69 millions pour les fonds offerts au public et 319,04 milliards pour les mandats.Sur les dix premiers mois de l’année, la collecte nette est ressortie à 72,07 milliards d’euros, dont 21,64 milliards pour les fonds offerts au public, contre 33,89 milliards et des sorties nettes de 727,4 millions pour janvier-octobre 2009.On notera que les sorties nettes des fonds monétaires sont tombées à 11,9 milliards d’euros contre 24,66 milliards et que les fonds obligataires ont recueilli 12,32 milliards contre des sorties nettes de 1,4 milliard d’euros. En revanche, les fonds diversifiés ont attiré 13,04 milliards contre 3,32 milliards.
De janvier à octobre 2010, les fonds de valeurs mobilières offerts au public ont drainé en net 19,62 milliards d’euros, selon les statistiques de l’association allemande BVI des sociétés de gestion. Ce résultat s’avère bien meilleur que pour 2009, où les dix premiers mois de l’année s'étaient soldés par des sorties nettes de 3,24 milliards d’euros.Néanmoins, en dehors du groupe Allianz Global Investors (AGI), de BlackRock, de la galaxie Deutsche Bank et d’Universal-Investment, les résultats des grandes maisons restent décevants.AGI peut se prévaloir de souscriptions nettes de 14,2 milliards d’euros, essentiellement grâce à Pimco Europe, qui a drainé 16,97 milliards d’euros, soit 86,5 % du total des entrées nettes de la profession.Chez BlackRock, grâce aux ETF d’iShares, les souscriptions nettes ont porté sur 1,18 milliard d’euros pendant que dans le groupe Deutsche Bank les ETF de db x-trackers (5,35 milliards d’euros) permettent au groupe d’afficher des entrées nettes de 2,96 milliards d’euros.Quant à Universal-Investment, le spécialiste de l’administration de fonds, ses souscriptions nettes représentent 2,02 milliards.En revanche, les ETF de ComStage accusent des sorties nettes de 10,4 millions d’euros, le groupe Deka subit une hémorragie de 5,38 milliards à laquelle s’ajoutent les 363 millions de sa filiale ETFlab, et Union Investment supporte des rachats nets de 2,67 milliards d’euros.
BSI, la banque spécialisée dans la gestion privée sise à Lugano et contrôlée par Generali, va céder 51 % du capital de la société de gestion Gotam SGR à la société italienne Investimenti e Sviluppo pour un montant maximal de 1,05 million d’euros. Créée en 2002, Gotam gère deux fonds alternatifs et a obtenu le feu vert pour en lancer deux autres (un fonds de fonds et un fonds single). Son encours à fin octobre se montait à 19,3 millions d’euros, tandis que son capital social est de 2,05 millions d’euros.Son rachat permet à BSI d’élargir son offre de fonds avec des stratégies alternatives.
Pour 116 millions d’euros, l’allemand Deka Immobilien a acheté au groupe de distribution Eroski le centre commercial Ballonti (53.000 mètres carrés) situé à Portugalete, au Nord-Ouest de Bilbao.Ce centre est presque totalement loué à Eroski, Primark et C&A ; il sera versé au portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public WestInvest InterSelect.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German management firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the office property South Wharf Office in Melbourne (20,800 square metres) for about EUR85m, from Austexx Plenary Tower Pty Ltd. The property will be added to the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal. It is the fourth investment by Deka Immobilien in Australia since 2008.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Standard Life Investments has announced the appointments of John Paynter and Jonathan Dawson as non-executive directors and additions to the firm’s board. Paynter has already served as non-executive director at Standard Chartered and Jardine Lloyd Thomson Group. After 20 years at Lazard, Jonathan Dawson was one of the founding partners of Penfida Partners, and was chairman of the remunerations board at Next.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bank of America Merrill Lynch has announced the composition and weighting of the Merrill Lynch Commodity Index eXtra (MLCX) for 2011. The MLCX includes six sectors: energies (2011 objective: 60%, unchanged compared with 2010); grains and oleaginous plants (17.46%, compared with 19.57% in 2010); base metals (11.01%, compared with 9.80%), soft commodities, precious metals, and livestock.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s estimates that default rates in Europe for speculative category corporate bond issues may fall slightly in 2011, and then rise again in 2012, due to a difficult market environment and refinancing problems. Default rates totalled 5.9% as of the end of September, compared with a peak of 14.8% at the end of third quarter 2009. This rate will fall to about 4% by the end of the year, and 3.8% by the end of 2011. However, restrictive monetary policy and rising refinancing risks may lead to a rise in default rates, particularly for LBOs launched between 2006 and 2008, at 6.5% or higher in 2012.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For EUR116m, the German real estate management firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the Ballonti shopping centre (53,000 square metres), located in Portugalete, northwest of Bilbao, from the retail group Eroski. The centre is nearly entirely leased to Eroski, Primark and C&A: it will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund WestInvest InterSelect.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Wall Street Journal reports that several hedge funds involved in an investigation by Federal authorities into potential insider trading made large bets on health sector equities. SAC Capital Advisors, Diamondback Capital Management, Jana Partners, Balyasny Asset Management and Citadel made significant increases to their investments in companies involved in mergers and acquisitions, and shares which posed strong increases at the time of these transactions. The mergers included the acquisition of MedImmune by Astra Zeneca in 2007, and in 2009, the acquisitions of Schering-Plough by Merck, and Wyeth by Pfizer. However, the newspaper reports, SEC filings did not make it possible to know with precision if the shares concerned were acquired before or after the announcement of these deals. The US federal authorities are planning to bring some charges that could involve consultants, investment banks, hedge fund and mutual fund traders, and analysts. Another arm of the investigation will determine to what extent Goldman Sachs and other banks may have provided information about the mergers and acquisitions under preparation in the health sector, in ways that benefited some investors.
The US Federal Reserve lent billions of dollars to hedge funds during the financial crisis, the Financial Times wrote.According to data released by the central bank, USD71bn of loans were made through its term asset-backed securities loan facility (Talf) mostly to non-bank institutions. Among the biggest borrowers were hedge funds managed by FrontPoint Partners, Magnetar and One William Street Capital, adds the FT.
JPMorgan Chase is being sued for USD6.4bn by Irving Picard, the trustee of Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, according to Les Echos. The US bank is accused of being Madoff’s primary banker. «JPMorgan was wilfully blind to the fraud, even after learning about numerous red flags surrounding Madoff,” one of the trustee’s attorney said in a statement.The bank called these allegations “irresponsible and over-reaching”.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The AXA fund for research announced on 2 December that it has granted EUR517,000 in support (slightly over SGD900,000) for three years to the National University of Singapore (NUS) for a research project on the “biology of decision-making in risk conditions.” The grant is the first support by the AXA fund for research at an Asian university. AXA explains in a statement that the research project aims to better understand the biological mechanisms which cause differences in behaviour between individuals when they are confronted with risk, using methods drawm from behavioural and experimental economics as well as the biological sciences. The study will establish quantitative phenotypes which may represent a significant advance in the understanding of the molecular architecture of human decision-making in an uncertain environment. The project will be led by professors Richard P. Ebstein and Soo Hong Chew, of the departments of Psychology and Economy at NUS. The AXA research fund, founded in 2008, supports research to foster comprehension and prevention of risks to the environment, human life and human societies. It is a major and innovative initiative for scientific research in Europe, with a five-year budget of EUR100m. As of 29 October 2010, it had pledged EUR42m, and awarded financing to 192 research projects, undertaken in 17 countries by researchers of 39 different nationalities.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The management firms Doric Asset Finance and Nordcapital have announced the creation of a 50/50 joint venture entitled PVA Pacta Vermögens-Anlage GmbH (Pacta). The joint venture, based in Frankfurt, will on 1 January 2011 take over the major activities of GVA GENO-Vermögens-Anlage-Gesellschaft mbH (GVA), which since 1994 has offered over 100 closed funds with assets of over EUR3bn on the co-operative banks and Raiffeisen networks. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. In other terms, Union Investment is abandoning this activity, which is becoming too risky in regulatory terms and demanding too much regulatory capital. Most staff at GVA will move to Pacta, whose two heads will be Rolf Glück, current CEO of GVA, and Andreas Mense, director of distribution at GVA.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese firm Lion Fund Management Co has received permission from SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) and the market regulatory commission to launch the first Chinese fund investing in gold, Agefi reports. With the status of Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII), the fund will allow local investors access to foreign markets. Lion Fund Management will raise up to USD500m to invest in foreign ETFs based on the precious metal, the newspaper reports.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January 2011, Markus Koch will join the Banque Sarasin (Rabobank group) and will assemble a private banking team to oversee the acquisition of and services to new clients in central Switzerland.Banque Sarasin is then planning to open a branch in Lucerne towards the middle of next year, which will be led by Koch.Koch joins from UBS, where he is director and regional head for central Switzerland; he is in charge of the private, institutional and business client departments as well as wealth management at the 19 brannches of the bank in the cantons of Lucerne, Obwald, Nidwald, Uri, Schwyz and Zug.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January-October, open-ended securities funds attracted a net total of EUR19.62bn, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms. This result is far better than in 2009, when the first ten months of the year saw net outflows of EUR3.24bn.However, outside the Allianz Global Investors (AGI) group, BlackRock, the Deutsche Bank galaxy and Universal-Investment, results at the major management firms remain somewhat perfectible. AGI netted EUR14.2bn thanks to its Pimco Europe arm, which had net inflows of EUR16.97bn.At BlackRock, thanks to the iShares ETF products, net subscriptions totalled EUR1.18bn, while at the Deutsche Bank group, db x-trackers ETFs (EUR5.35bn) allowed the group to post net inflows of EUR2.96bn.At Universal-Investment, the fund administration specialist, net subscriptions totalled EUR2.02bn.However, ETFs from ComStage saw net outflows of EUR10.4m, while the Deka group has seen outflows of EUR5.38bn, in addition to which come EUR363m in outflows from its affiliate ETFlab, and Union Investment has seen net redemptions of EUR2.67bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In October, German funds posted net subscriptions of EUR9.7bn; institutional funds attracted EUR8.1bn, and open-ended funds attracted EUR2.8bn, while a net EUR1.2bn left mandates, according to the most recent statistics from the BVI association of management firms.As of the end of October, total assets were EUR1.82502trn, compared with EUR1.81001trn as of the end of September, and EUR1.67241trn one year previously, of which EUR809.29bn were for institutional funds, EUR696.69bn for open-ended funds, and EUR319.04bn for mandates.In the first ten months of the year, net inflows totalled EUR72.07bn, of which EUR21.64bn were for open-ended funds, compared with EUR33.89bn and net outflows of EUR727.4m in January-October 2009.Net outflows from money market funds fell to EUR11.9bn, compared with EUR24.66bn, and bond funds saw inflows of EUR12.32bn, compared with net outflows of EUR1.4bn. However, diversified funds attracted EUR13.04bn, compared with EUR3.32bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “Currently, our portfolios are on average 60% allocated to equities funds,” said Bernard Aybran, director of multi-management at Invesco Asset Management, in Paris on Thursday. In this environment, he privileges US equities products, but only Nasdaq, and only IT products. The manager is also overweight in European equities, an asset class which has been unfairly neglected for ten years, and which is currently the world’s most inexpensive, as well as emerging markets equities (Asia, Russia) “with a more thematic than geographical angle.”Exposure to bonds is at about 30%, of which 5 percent goes to emerging markets, with a preference for debt in euros under active management, corporate bonds, and high yield.The remainder, about 10%, is held in cash, and Invesco AM Paris does not invest in hedge funds.
Oddo & Cie confirmed on December 2 that it is in exclusive talks to acquire Banque Robeco in France. Following the acquisition of Banque d’Orsay (see Newsmanagers of 31/08/2010), this deal confirms the ambitions in private banking of the establishment headquartered at 12 boulevard Madeleine in Paris.A statement says that the operation comes as part of a growth strategy for private banking and back-office activities for life insurance products, where all of the current employees of Banque Robeco will be expected to find a place and fully contribute to the dynamic of the new entity. The 77 employees of Banque Robeco, including those responsible for support and back-office functions, will join Oddo & Cie to maintain this growth dynamic. The management of Oddo & Cie is planning to continue as it had done with the teams at Banque d’Orsay, which will lead to recruitments. Michel Maillard, chairman of the board at Banque Robeco, is also expected to find a place in the partnership and the firm’s new project.The deal, which may take place in first quarter 2011, pending approval from investment partners and authorisation from the relevant supervisory authorities, would allow Oddo & Cie access to assets under management at Banque Robeco estimated at EUR1.3bn. These come in addition to EUR3.7bn at Oddo Banque Privée. With the addition of assets under management at Oddo Asset Management, the group manages over EUR21bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mercer announced on 2 December that it has appointed Laurence Mounier, 43, as director of retirement activities for Mercer in France. She also joins the executive board. Before joining Mercer, Laurence Mounier had been director of retirement planning products at BNP Paribas Assurance since January 2009, and led a team of actuaries, lawyers and project heads.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On the basis of a survey of 56 asset management firms, Feri EuroRatings Services has found that more than half of actors are planning to expand their product ranges next year; they also estimate that the same will be the case for the sector as a whole. Meanwhile, many asset management firms surveyed are expecting the number of promoters to shrink in 2011. Over 40% of the providers specialised in equities, bonds, diversified funds and hedge funds are planning to strongly expand their product ranges, while nearly 50% are planning to maintain them unchanged at least.In terms of major trends for next year, a large majority of heads surveyed predict that there is good to very good potential for products focused on slightly less conservative asset classes. In general, the survey finds that promoters are expecting a return of propensity to risk on the part of investors, and are particularly expecting a continued rally on equities markets.More than 85% of managers surveyed expect net inflows to increase for equities and absolute return products. For bonds, 63% of specialists are predicting good to very good prospects for inflows, while 94% predict poor to very poor inflows for money market funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Securities Services (BP2S) on 2 December announced that it has received a mandate to provide global custody and valuation for three British pension funds from ATOS Origin, with assets of GBP685m. “This mandate represents a major step for BNP Paribas Securities Services’ activities in the United Kingdom, as it is the first pension fund with with the bank will work directly,” BP2S says in a statement.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock on 2 November launched the BGF Global Equity Income Fund (LU0545039389), a fund of “high quality” equities from throughout the world that offer higher-than-average growth outlooks in addition to financial stability and a sustainable business model. The product, with 50 to 70 positions, is managed by Richard Turnill, head of the global large caps team, and Stuart Reeve, a member of the team focused on high dividend yielding shares. The objective is to achieve 150% of the dividend return of the companies of the MSCI All Countries World index, Fondsprofessionell reports. Positions will be maintained for an average of three to five years.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net inflows to British funds in October totalled GBP2bn, slightly less than the monthly average for the past twelve months, according to the most recent statistics from the British investment management association (IMA). In the first ten months of the year, net inflows totalled GBP20bn, compared with GBP21.3bn in the corresponding period of 2009. Net inflows to emerging markets last month reached a record total of GBP336m, the professional organisation reports, followed by absolute return strategies (GBP283m) and international bonds (GBP262m). For the fourth consecutive month, bonds were the asset class in highest demand, with net inflows of GBP809m in October, compared with GBP914m one month earlier. Assets under management as of the end of October totalled GBP557bn, compared with GBP459.2bn one year previously. The association also reports that for the first time, assets under administration on the five largest platforms topped GBP100bn, at GBP100.3bn.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The investment and consulting firm Turcan Connell has launched an absolute return fund, the third of its kind, Hedgeweek reports. “We have launched an Absolute Return Fund to respond to demand from our clients seeking an investment that ensures stable inflation-indexed returns without exposure to risk and volatility on traditional financial markets,” says chief financial officer Haig Bathgate. The objective of the fund is to produce returns of about 6% to 8% per year, regardless of market conditions.