p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } The US asset management firm LaSalle Investment Management has announced the retirement as of 30 June of Phillip Ling, co-CEO for Asia-Pacific. Ling will continue to serve as non-executive director of the Responsible Entity for the Australian activity of the asset management firm. Mark Gabbay will now remain as the sole CEO of LaSalle IM for Asia-Pacific. Ling joined LaSalle IM in 2007, as director of its Asian activity, first as managing director for Asia, and then as CEO. In 2012, he joined Australia to lead the local activity as co-director of the activity for Asia-Pacific, alongside Gabbay.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } The Swedish council for consumer conflicts, known by the acronym ARN, has decided to reject a collective action against Swedbank Robur, one of the largest Swedish asset management firms, which was accused of selling «closet trackers» . In December 2014, the Swedish shareholders’ association (Sveriges Aktiesparares Riksförbund) brought a suit to ARN against the asset management firm of the Swedbank banking group, accusing it of selling retail investors funds which were labelled as active, when, the association claimed, they were merely replicating an index. Acting on behalf of 3,000 investors, it sought SEK7bn, or about EUR760m. The funds named in the suit were the Komplett and Kapitalinvest funds. These funds have since seen reductions in their fees. The ARN found that it was not competent to judge the case. “We welcome the decision of the ARN. The funds were managed actively, although we were not always happy with the result,” said Thomas Hedberg, CEO of Swedbank Robur, in a statement. Regardless of the case, despite this verdict, the debate over funds which claim to be active continues, and many regulators, particularly in Northern Europe, are taking an interest in the matter.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } Hermes Investment Management (Hermes IM), whose assets total GBP30.1bn, has appointed Patrick Marshall as head of private debt and collateralised loan obligations (CLO). In this role, he will be responsible for developing activities at Hermes IM dedicated to leveraged loan markets, private debt, and CLOs in the United Kingdom, Europe and worldwide. Marshall will be based in London and will report to Zoe Shaw, head of fixed income at Hermes IM. With over 20 years of experience on debt marktes, Marshall joins from Tikehau Capital, where he was a member of the board of directors and head of development for direct lending activities in London, and the implementation of the CLO issue programme for Tikehau.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } Société Générale Securities Services has launched “Gateway,” an Irish platform for UCITS funds, aimed at asset management firms which desire to create and sell their funds in Europe. “This solution allows asset management firms to access Gateway Ucits Funds plc, and to create UCITS IV-compliant funds there, as separate sub-funds of the structure with multiple sub-funds. These sub-funds can be created rapidly and sold independently,” a statement says.Should they take advantage of the considerably reduced launching and operating costs, asset management firms have a more profitable solution at their disposal than the creation of an independent funds. Funds also have additional services offered by Gateway, such as auditing and general secretary services.Asset management fiirms are assisted throughout the administrative process, from the application for a license from the Central Bank of Ireland to analysis of distribution needs for local markets. As soon as a license is received, the funds receive distrbution support services offered by SGSS through its European local agents and paying agents. Additionally, SGSS also offers fund administration, transfer agency, custody and depository banking services, as well as auxiliary services such as the production of Key Investor Information Documents (KIID).

Janus Capital Group, which manages assets of approximately USD190bn, on July 1st announced and closed the acquisition of a majority interest in Kapstream Capital, a global unconstrained fixed income asset manager with USD6.6 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2015. With this transaction, the total Janus Global Macro Fixed Income assets under management would be USD8.7 billion as of March 31, 2015. The transaction includes an initial upfront cash consideration of approximately USD85 million. Janus Capital has the option to purchase the remaining 49% interest in the future. Fixed income veterans Kumar Palghat and Nick Maroutsos founded Kapstream in 2006. Kapstream is one of the pioneers in managing global unconstrained fixed income. Gross, Weil and Palghat worked together at Pacific Investment Management Company for 10 years. The Global Macro Fixed Income team will remain a separate, autonomous and distinct capability to the Fundamental Fixed Income team. Janus is firmly committed to supporting and investing in both its Global Macro and Fundamental Fixed Income platforms, which offer highly complementary strategies. Bill Gross, who joined Janus in September 2014, will remain the primary portfolio manager of the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond strategy, with Palghat supporting him as co-portfolio manager. Palghat will remain portfolio manager of the Kapstream Absolute Return Income Fund and Goldman will assume a greater leadership role in managing Kapstream’s strategies. The strategies for both will not change. The combined Janus Global Macro Fixed Income team (comprised of 15 professionals following the completion of the transaction) will operate jointly from Kapstream’s existing base in Sydney, Australia, and Janus’ Newport Beach, California, office.

Kempen Capital Management (KCM) has hired Roul Haerden who will join the multi management team as of August 2015. As senior portfolio manager, Roul will be responsible for the external manager selection and monitoring activities within fixed income. Roul Haerden comes from PGGM Investments where he held a similar position in the external manager selection team of PGGM External Segregated Mandates since April 2013. Prior to PGGM, he was responsible for external manager selection at Doctors Pension Fund Services from August 2007. Roul Haerden started his career in 2000 at APG Investments where he was a research analyst.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } The asset management group Columbia Threadneedle has recruited Claude Ewen as director of sales for Luxembourg. In his new role, Ewen will be responsible for developing and deepening relationships with investment professionals. Ewen previously worked at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, where he had been senior head of sales since October 2009.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } The British asset management firm Standard Life Investments has appointed Gerry Fowler as investment director on its multi-asset class team. Fowler previously worked as global head of equity and derivative strategy at the investment bank of BNP Paribas, a position in which he served five years. In his new role, Fowler joins a team of 57 people responsible for finding new investment ideas, proposing investment recommendations, and finding investment strategies for the multi-asset class funds from SLI. He will report to Guy Stern, executive director in charge of multi-asset class and macro investment at SLI.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } BMO Global Asset Management, the parent company of F&C Investments, has appointed James Tomlinson as director of sales for its wholesale team in the United Kingdom. Tomlinson joins from Muzinich & Co, where he had been associate director for over one year, in charge of selling their expertise on the British wholesale market. Before that, he worked for eight years at Schroders as a salesperson on its wholesale team. In his new role at BMO Global Asset Management, Tomlinson will be responsible for applying the sales effort of the company on the British wholesale market, concentrating on asset management firms, wealth managers and family offices. He will report to John Bennett, head of the wholesale activity for the United Kingdom. The appointment of Tomlinson comes on the heels of three recent recruitments to his sales team dedicated to institutional clients: Andrew Jones, Richard Ferris and Laura Gray.

As the crackdown on «closet trackers» gathers pace in Europe, concerns are growing that the metric used to identify those funds that charge active management fees while merely hugging the index could undermine performance, according to the latest issue of The Cerulli Edge - Global Edition.The regulatory spotlight has fallen on closet trackers recently. In May the Swedish government launched an investigation in the wake of the Swedish Shareholders’ Association filing a lawsuit against a leading fund house (Swedbank Robur), alleging that it had mis-sold closet trackers to retail investors (the suit has been rejected). Regulators in Denmark and Norway have also been proactive. Cerulli Associates notes that in response to heightening regulatory scrutiny more managers are voluntarily disclosing data showing the extent to which a fund’s portfolio diverges from its benchmark. «Active share» is the most commonly used measure, with a score less than 60% deemed to be index hugging. «Active share, however, is no panacea and used in isolation is more likely to be misleading. It should be used alongside other relevant metrics, such as information ratio data showing the portfolio returns above the benchmark in relation to the volatility of those returns,» says Barbara Wall, Europe research director at Cerulli Associates.Noting that there are times in an investment cycle when it might be prudent to stay close to the benchmark, Cerulli warns that a manager who feels obliged to maintain a certain active share is at risk of picking the wrong stocks simply to increase the deviation from the benchmark. Strict adherence to the tool may also prevent a manager from buying stocks that have a large weight in the index, even if they are expected to outperform. Another limitation concerns the definition of being «active», which typically refers to the actual shares that are owned. But «active» can also apply to a portfolio that largely adheres to the index, provided the manager has not simply taken a buy-and-hold approach and that performance is influenced by the timing of trades in those constituents. Firms that are already disclosing the active share figure tend to have house management styles that are unconstrained in relation to benchmarks. Firms where the emphasis is on delivering outperformance with a relatively low-risk, low-active share element would be understandably anxious, says Cerulli, about publishing their active share figure. Cerulli believes that, used in conjunction with other metrics, active share can be a useful tool in promoting accountability and transparency.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } Delubac AM has recruited Matthieu Laval, as an addition to its equity unit. Along with Timothée Malphettes, he will be responsible for the management of the Delubac Pricing Power fund, as co-manager. The two professionals already know each other, as they worked together in management at MMA Finance/Covéa Finance, a statement says. Laval previously served as co-manager at SPGP (Société Privée de Gestion de Patrimoine), particularly for the RP Sélection MidCaps fund.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Carmignac Risk Managers has recruited a senior manager, David Older, to reinforce its global expertise in Communications, Information Technologies, Media and Internet at the firm. Older will work in London, and began in his role on 1 July. Alongside Edouard Carmignac, he will be responsible for the exposure of global funds to Communications, Information Technologies, Media and Internet, and will be involved in the contribution of investment ideas to other funds of the range. Before joining Carmignac, Older spent the past 12 years at SAC Capital/Point72 Advisors in New York, most recently as co-head of Communications, Media, Internet and Information Technologies. Before that, he was Investment Banking Associate for the Communications and Media group at Morgan Stanley.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: «Droid Sans»,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; } The US asset management firm WisdomTree Investments, a specialist in ETFs and ETPs, has announced plans to open an office in Tokyo, Japan, and the appointment of Jesper Koll as CEO of its local affiliate WisdomTree Japan K.K. Koll will be responsible of ensuring the development of the asset management firm in Japan. At this stage, WisdomTree Japan is still pending approval from the local authorities to be officially registered on the Japanese market, but it hopes to be starting up its activities by the end of 2015. “For now, WisdomTree has no plans to create local ETFs in Japan,” the asset management firm says in a statement, however. Before joining WisdomTree, Koll was Chief Japan Equity Strategist and managing director responsible for Japanese equity research at J.P. Morgan in Japan. Before that, he served in a variety of roles as senior economist and strategist at Merrill Lynch and Tiger Fund in Japan. Koll has also served as member of several consulting committees for the Japanese government.

Le marché automobile allemand a progressé de 13% en juin, soit son meilleur mois depuis le début de l’année, indiquait jeudi Reuters de source proche du dossier. Sur les six premiers mois de l’année, les immatriculations de voitures neuves sont en hausse de 5% sur le principal marché européen, a ajouté cette source. La fédération allemande des constructeurs automobiles, la VDA, a convoqué une conférence de presse à Berlin en fin de matinée pour présenter les ventes de juin.

La banque centrale suédoise a pris les marchés par surprise jeudi en réduisant son taux directeur à -0,35% et elle a augmenté son programme d’achats d’obligations de 45 milliards de couronnes (4,82 milliards de dollars) pour favoriser la remontée de l’inflation. La Riksbank note une remontée des incertitudes à l'étranger et ajoute qu’il est difficile d’analyser les conséquences de la crise grecque. Elle met également en avant le raffermissement récent de la couronne suédoise, qui se rapproche de ses niveaux de mars. La couronne a touché un plus bas de trois semaines après l’annonce de la baisse de taux, revenant à 9,37 pour un euro et à 8,4726 pour un dollar, en repli d’environ 1% dans les deux cas.

La croissance du secteur manufacturier aux Etats-Unis a perdu en vigueur en juin, progressant à son rythme le plus faible depuis octobre 2013, selon l’enquête mensuelle auprès des directeurs d’achat publiée mercredi par l’institut Markit. L’indice PMI a reculé à 53,6 en juin dans sa version définitive, contre 54,0 en mai. Le sous-indice de l’emploi a en revanche grimpé à 55,5, son plus haut niveau depuis septembre 2014, après 54,6 en mai.

L’agence de notation Moody’s a abaissé mercredi d’un cran la note souveraine de la Grèce, de «Caa3» à «Caa2», après le défaut du pays sur un versement de 1,6 milliard d’euros dû mardi au FMI. Fitch avait revu en baisse la note de la Grèce dès mardi, la faisant passer de «CCC» à «CC», à deux crans de la note «SD» ou «défaut sélectif».

Selon un sondage de l’institut GPO cité par euro2day.gr, le «oui» est préféré par 43,3% des votants, contre 39,3% pour le «non». L’enquête montre également que 74% des répondants plaident en faveur d’un maintien de la Grèce dans la zone euro «quels que soient les sacrifices». Le sondage a concerné 1.000 personnes, avec une marge d’erreur de 3,1 points de pourcentage.

Les deux institutions ont pris acte hier du non-paiement au FMI, mais devraient rester l'arme au pied d'ici au référendum du 5 juillet.

Les deux institutions ont pris acte hier du non-paiement des sommes dues par la Grèce au FMI, alors que la journée de mercredi n’a abouti à aucune avancée dans les discussions entre Athènes et ses créanciers. La BCE a maintenu le plafond des liquidités d’urgence (ELA).

Un ETF offrant une exposition aux actions grecques continue cependant à traiter sur Nyse Arca aux Etats-Unis.

La signature devrait intervenir d'ici à mi-juillet. Le prix de 1,1 milliard d'euros payé à Union Investment fait ressortir un rendement inférieur à 6%.

Eurazeo Patrimoine a acquis 78% du CIFA Fashion Business Center, un marché de grossistes de 38.000 m2 situé à Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis). La transaction ferait ressortir un rendement de 7,2% et valoriserait le bien à 215 millions d’euros, selon des sources proches. Le levier est élevé, avec une mise en fonds propres limitée à 26,5 millions d’euros. Easton CF a conseillé la foncière familiale propriétaire du bien, et First Growth Real Estate a structuré le financement.

Le soutien aux producteurs mis en place par Pékin entre 2011 et 2014 représente encore un risque pour l’équilibre du marché mondial.

Si la réaction des marchés a jusqu'ici été limitée, l'Europe émergente est la plus exposée, soit directement, soit par des effets de contagion.

Un projet de restructuration de sa dette de 72 milliards de dollars comprenant des muni bonds sera présenté à ses créanciers avant le 30 août.

Selon un nouveau rapport de CACEIS et PwC Luxembourg, les gestionnaires d’actifs doivent revoir leur offre de produits et les modèles de distribution et les distributeurs doivent proposer de nouveaux modèles d’engagement...

BeeAM fait le lien entre les sociétés de gestion, les partenaires référencés et offre une approche originale et innovante en matière de développement des entreprises de l’asset management. Elle propose des offres modulables en matière de dépositaire, middle/back office, contrôle des risques, solutions logicielles, distribution commerciale, conseil juridique et communication. Les 3 cofondateurs de BeeAM agrègent une expérience de plus de 70 ans dans les métiers de l’asset management et de l’incubation. Ils ont pour ambition de créer et d’animer une place de marché dédiée à l’asset management en Europe.

La généralisation de la « part active » ou « active share » en anglais, mesure utilisée pour identifier les fonds qui affichent une gestion active et facturent des frais en conséquence alors qu'ils se contentent de suivre l'indice, pourrait pénaliser la performance, montre la dernière édition de The Cerulli Edge - Global Edition.

Précédemment Responsable Institutionnels & Grands Comptes de Financière de l’Echiquier puis Directeur du Développement chez Flinvest, Hugues Suchet est nommé Directeur du Développement de Talence Gestion.