Long-term UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 313 billion, compared to EUR 233 billion in 2012, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).Balanced funds attracted EUR 114 billion of net inflows, followed by equity funds (EUR 99 billion) and bond funds (EUR 70 billion).Sales of non-UCITS reached EUR 181 billion: net sales of non-UCITS increased in 2013, up from EUR 114 billion in 2012. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) attracted EUR 154 billion in net new money in 2013, thanks to high institutional demand from insurance companies, pension funds and other institutional investors.Money market funds suffered from increased net outflows: money market funds recorded net outflows of EUR 84 billion, marking a significant increase compared to 2012 when net outflows amounted to EUR 37 billion.Net sales of UCITS and non-UCITS totaled EUR 410 billion in 2013, compared to EUR 307 billion in 2012. Investment fund assets in Europe increased by 8.9 percent to EUR 9,788 billion: overall, net assets of UCITS increased by 9.0 percent to EUR 6,866 billion. Net fund assets represented 68 percent of GDP at end 2013, up from 63 percent at end 2012.

Applications for AIFM licenses are setting records in Ireland. The Irish fund industry association (IFIA) has reported a significant rise in applications from fund managers seeking permission under the European alternative investment fund management (AIFM) directive in the country, International Adviser reports. According to the Irish central bank, license applications for 72 groups are currently in progress, with 47 applications received and 11 alternative fund managers already licensed in the country.The Irish central bank estimates that its expectations will be far exceeded, with a total of 90 license applications between now and 22 July 2014. On that date, the status of “Qualified Investor Fund” (QIF) will give way ot the new «Qualified Investor Alternative Investment Fund» (QIAIF), under the AIFM directive. “This is the first time that the Irish central bank has disclosed figures, and they clearly reveal that Ireland will be a choice domicile location for fund managers seeking passports in the European Union,” says Pat Lardner, CEO of IFIA. Ireland is already a dominant market in terms of domicile for alternative funds, with about EUR1.5trn in alternative assets in the country.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Equity funds on sale in Europe last year posted inflows in nearly all European countries, with some exceptions. These funds had total inflows of EUR92bn last year. Lipper statistics for 2013 show that equity funds on sale in Germany in particular posted outflows of nearly EUR6bn. Outflows are near EUR3bn in Belgium, and total EUR1.71bn in the Netherlands. In France, equity funds have posted net inflows of EUR2.43bn. Inflows were also observed in Spain (EUR2.83bn) and in the Scandinavian countries (EUR4.2bn in Sweden and EUR1.24bn in Norway). Diversified funds had a lot more success with European investors, including German investors, who saw inflows of nearly EUR9.5bn to these strategies. Italian investors, not highly drawn to equity funds (EUR182m in inflows), engaged more than EUR18bn in diversified funds, while British investors placed nearly EUR12bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The wealth management firm Cantor Fitzgerald Wealth Partners will acquire the Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Commonwealth Financial Advisors Inc (FCFA), whose assets advised totalled over USD2bn.

BNY Mellon has appointed Frank La Salla as chief executive officer of its Alternative Investment Services (AIS) business. He will report to Samir Pandiri, BNY Mellon executive vice president and CEO of Asset Servicing. La Salla assumes a role Pandiri has held the past two years. He will be based in New York and oversee a team of more than 2,000 AIS professionals worldwide. La Salla was most recently managing director at Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, where he was responsible for all of Pershing’s business outside of the U.S. and led its global growth strategy. Before BNY Mellon’s acquisition of Pershing in 2003, La Salla was president and chief operating officer of BNY Clearing Services LLC. Prior to that, he served as managing director and chief operating officer at Societe Generale Securities Corp. in the U.S.

La banque privée suisse Julius Baer a publié le 3 mars un nouveau cadre de rémunération élaboré et approuvé récemment par le conseil d’administration. Le lien «pay-for-performance» pour tous les éléments de rémunération variables pour les membres de la Direction générale a été mis en place. Sur la base d’une analyse comparative détaillée, la composition de la rémunération des membres de la Direction Générale a été modifiée pour être alignée plus étroitement sur les pratiques du marché. Des plafonds clairement définis ont été établis pour la rémunération de la Direction générale. Le nouveau système se compose d’un Deferred Bonus Plan (Régime de Primes Différées, DBP) et d’un Equity Performance Plan (Plan de Rendement des Capitaux Propres, EPP). Le DBP est un plan de rémunération variable en espèces, qui est basé sur un ensemble d’objectifs de Groupe et individuels directement liés à la création de valeur pour Julius Baer. Le nouveau DBP a été mis en place pour la rémunération de 2013. Le lien avec une création de valeur durable est encore renforcé par un régime de report plus strict, en vertu duquel, par rapport à l’ancienne structure, un pourcentage plus élevé est reporté et la période de report augmentée de trois à cinq ans. Tous les montants reportés sont soumis à des dispositions de récupération standard. L’EPP est un plan à base d’actions dont les critères d’acquisition sont assujettis à l'évolution de la performance et du service. L’acquisition est réalisée après trois ans et sera effective pour les contributions faites en 2014. Toute allocation d’unité de performance (représentant une action) dans le cadre de l’EPP est soumise à la réalisation des deux indicateurs de performance clé (KPI) «cumulative Economic Profit» (cEP) et «relative Total Shareholder Return» (rTSR) à la fin de la période de rendement. Le relèvement maximal de l’EPP est de 50% du nombre d’unités de performance initialement octroyé et est soumis à un risque de perte totale.Des lignes directrices de propriété d’action ont été mises en place pour les membres du Conseil d’administration et de la Direction générale pour renforcer l’engagement envers Julius Baer. Pour le président du conseil d’administration, il doit détenir au moins 25.000 actions Julius Bär et les autres membres du conseil au moins 7.500. Au niveau de la direction, le minimum est de 100.000 pour le CEO et de 30.000 pour les autres membres. Par ailleurs, Leonhard Fischer a décidé de ne pas solliciter le renouvellement de son mandat d’administrateur lors de l’assemblée générale 2012. Il est membre des conseils d’administration de Julius Bär Gruppe AG et Bank Julius Bär & Co. AG. Leonhard Fischer a pris cette décision pour éviter des conflits d’intérêts en relation avec la reprise de BHF-Bank par Kleinwort Benson Group. Ce dernier est une filiale à 100% de RHJ International SA, dont Leonhard Fischer est directeur général (CEO) et membre du conseil d’administration.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Martin Coward, a mathematician who created one of the largest computer driven hedge funds in Europe with his Greek wife, millionaire Elena Ambrosiadou, will open his new fund to external investors, the Financial Times reports. The fund, based in Malta, entitled Dormouse, aims to raise USD300m, and to scale up to USD1bn. Coward co-founded Ikos with his wife, who he met at Cambridge university, in 1992. The couple has since separated.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } First State is adding to its range of debt products dedicated to emerging markets. The British asset management firm has launched the Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond fund, a bond vehicle oriented to emerging market bonds denominated in local currencies, managed by Manuel Cañas, FT Adviser reports. The new vehicle will invest in bonds denominated in local currencies of the emerging markets concerned. First State, whose declared ambition is to build a complete suite of bond products dedicated to emerging markets, is no beginner. In 2011, the asset management firm launched the Emerging Markets Bond Fund, which invests in emerging market debt denominated in US dollars, managed by Helene Williamson, which now has GBP43m in assets under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vanguard Asset Management is the victim of its own success. The asset management firm has decided to close two of its small cap funds to all new subscriptions, the US Discoveries and US Opportunities funds, due to strong growth in assets under management in the two vehicles, Citywire Global reports. According to Vanguard, the move aims to protect the interests of investors and the capacity for small cap managers to effectively manage their own funds. The US Discoveries fund has seen its assets under management increase from USD25m at the end of 2012 to USD160m as of 31 December 2013. The US Opportunities fund has increased its assets from USD850m at the end of 2012 to USD1.8bn as of 31 December 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fund closures are accelerating at Renaissance Asset Managers (AM). The asset management firm, specialised in emerging markets, is planning to close its Griffin European Opportunities fund due to its low asset levels, Citywire Global reports, citing a letter sent to shareholders and investors. The fund was taken over by Renaissance AM when it acquired Griffin Capital Management in January 2012. This is the second fund that the firm is preparing to liquidate, after announcing plans last week to close the Renasset Eastern European Allocation fund. According to Lipper statistics, the Griffin European Opportunities fund currently has USD11.53bn in assets under management, far off its peak of USD518bn in July 2007. If shareholders approve the decision, the fund will officially be closed on 27 March.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GAM is cutting back. The Swiss asset management firm has decided to close several funds, though they were launched recently, including the GAM Star Global Leaders, which was released in December 2012, Citywire Global reports. Meanwhile, GAM has also liquidated the Local Emerging Bond fund, also launched in 2012. Lastly, the GAM Star QFS Global Macro Currency fund suffered the same fate when its asset management firm, QFS, decided to discontinue hedge funds. GAM launched a UCITS version of the fund in August 2013, however. At the time of their closure, the funds had less than GBP10m (EUR12.1m).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The future looks bright for the CEO of Jupiter. Edward Bonham-Carter, who will give way to Maarten Slendbroek on 17 March, has sold 1 million shares in the firm, for GBP4.36m, Citywire reveals. This is the first time that Bonham-Carter has sold shares in Jupiter since March 2013, when he sold GBP750,000 worth of shares. The current CEO of the British firm still holds slightly over 12 million shares, or 2.62% of capital, and remains one of the top 10 shareholders. The operation comes only a few days after the publication of very good results for Jupiter, marked by a 55% rise in its pre-tax profits in particular, to GBP114.1m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm T.Rowe Price has recruited Peter Hunt, a former partner at the hedge fund specialist TT International, to the position of vice chairman of its institutional activity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, confirming the firm’s expansion strategy in Europe, eFinancialNews reports. His mission will be to build a client base for the group in these two markets, working in coodination with Tim Bird, head of the institutional unit at the firm, and Nick Salter, head of consultant relationships. In the past eight years, Hunt has worked for TT International in London as a partner in charge of developing activities serving pension funds and local authorities. He was also responsible for the team dedicated to developing activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before joining TT International, he served at Fidelity International as head of pension funds, institutional sales and marketing.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Allfunds Bank has appointed Anna Graziano has head of development operations and proposition for the firm in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Investment Europe reports. This is the fourth andlast recruitment for the new management team led by Stephen Mohanfor the British and Irish activities of Allfunds. Gaziano had previously been managing director of strategic relationships at Calastone.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Worldwide Investment on 3 March announced the launch of new target date funds on the German market, in the Fidelity Target Fund 2045 and Fidelity Target Fund 2050. The two products come as complements to the available range of target date funds (2015 to 2040 at five-year intervals.) Fidelity, which has been offering horizon funds in Germany since 2003, claims that the German target date fund market may grow strongly in the next ten years. By 2020, assets under management in these funds could total EUR15bn to EUR20bn, compared with EUR2bn to EUR5bn currently.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of March, Assoreti, the Italian association of financial adviser networks, will appoint Matteo Colafrancesco as its new chairman, replacing Antonio Spallanzani, according to reports in Bluerating. Colafrancesco has the deputy director of Banca Fideuram.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The growth of common investment funds is continuing. According to provisional statistics released by Inverco, the Spanish asset management association, assets in these funds grew by 2.4%, or EUR3.85bn in February, to a total of EUR161.75bn, the agency EFECOM reveals. According to Inverco, the sector “is continuing its trend of the past 14 months of significant growth in its assets under management.” In the first two months of the year, assets were up by 80% (or EUR7.9bn) compared with the first two months of 2013. In February, net subscriptions totalled EUR2.6bn, for the 14th consecutive months of net inflows. In the first two months of 2014, cumulative net inflows totalled EUR6.27bn, the best two-month returns since 1998. Among actors, Banco Santander retains its top place in the market, with EUR26.6bn in assets under management, up 2.7% compared with the end of February 2013. The banking firm was followed by BBVA, with EUR22.68bn (+1.6% year on year), while La Caixa has EUR21.9bn in assets under management (+2.2% year on year).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa Investment Managers has launched new quarterly distribution income share classes in five funds, Bluerating reports. The funds concerned are Axa WF Emerging Markets Short Duration Bonds, Axa WF Euro Credit Plus, Axa WF Global Emerging Markets Bonds, Axa WF Global High Yield Bonds, Axa WF Global Strategic Bonds and AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pictet Asset Management is launching the Pictet-Absolute Return Fixed Income fund in Italy, Bluerating reports. It is a flexible bond fund which aims to offer protection against rising interest rates.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Capital Group has decided to open its first office in Spain as part of its strategic expansion plan in Europe, Funds People reports. The location in Madrid will officially open in July. In 2013, Capital Group, which has USD1.2bn in assets under management, already had offices in Milan, Zurich and Luxembourg. Its objective is now to open five new offices in Europe by the end of 2014.

Pictet Asset Management a lancé en Italie le fonds Pictet-Absolute Return Fixed Income, rapporte Bluerating. Il s’agit d’un fonds obligataire flexible qui cherche à offrir une protection contre la hausse des taux.

Axa Investment Managers a lancé des nouvelles classes de parts à distribution trimestrielle des revenus pour cinq fonds, rapporte Bluerating. Les fonds concernés sont Axa WF Emerging Markets Short Duration Bonds, Axa WF Euro Credit Plus, Axa WF Global Emerging Markets Bonds, Axa WF Global High Yield Bonds, Axa WF Global Strategic Bonds et Axa WF Universal Inflation Bonds.

BNY Mellon renforce ses équipes. La société de gestion et de services d’investissement a annoncé, le 3 mars, la nomination de Frank La Salla au poste de directeur général de son activité Alternative Investment Service (AIS). Basé à New-York et rapportant en direct à Samir Pandiri, vice président executif de BNY Mellon et directeur général de l’activité Asset Servicing, Frank La Salla supervisera une équipe de plus 2.000 personnes dans le monde. Il restera cependant au conseil d’administration de Pershing et continuera également de représenter BNY Mellon au conseil d’administration d’Euroclear Plc et Euroclear SA.Précédemment, Frank La Salla officiait comme «managing director» chez Pershing LLC, une filiale de BNY Mellon Company, où il était responsable de l’ensemble de l’activité de Pershing en dehors des Etats-Unis. Avant l’acquisition de Pershing par BNY Mellon en 2003, Frank La Salla était président et directeur des opérations de BNY Clearing Services. Avant cela, il a officié comme managing director et directeur des opérations chez Société Générale Securities Corp. aux Etats-Unis.

A fin mars, Assoreti, l’association italienne des réseaux de conseillers financiers, nommera Matteo Colafrancesco comme nouveau president, en remplacement d’Antonio Spallanzani, selon les informations de Bluerating. Matteo Colafrancesco est l’administrateur délégué de Banca Fideuram.

Fédéris Gestion d’actifs (FGA), filiale de Malakoff Médéric, groupe de protection sociale, paritaire et mutualiste, vient d’adhérer au Forum pour l’Investissement Responsable dans le collège des investisseurs. Elle y sera représentée par Philippe Aurain, directeur général délégué de FGA. «L’adhésion au FIR s’inscrit dans le continuité de l’engagement historique du Groupe Malakoff Médéric en faveur de l’investissement socialement responsable (ISR), et pour le développement durable.FGA est déjà très active au sein de la commission ISR de l’association française de la gestion financière (AFG), du Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) et est, bien sûr, signataire des PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) adoptés par les Nations Unies», indique le dirigeant.

Le tout nouveau directeur général de Pimco, Doug Hodge, réfute dans un entretien au Financial Times fund management les informations selon lesquelles son prédécesseur, Mohamed El-Erian, est parti en raison d’une dispute avec le fondateur Bill Gross. « Mohamed nous a informé de son intention de partir et nous nous sommes efforcés de le convaincre de rester. Il est clairement quelqu’un d’exceptionnel, un talent exceptionnel, mais il a vraiment pris sa décision en raison de choix personnels, de raisons personnelles », déclare-t-il.

La société de gestion de fortune Cantor Fitzgerald Wealth Partners va racheter la société de conseil basée à Pittsburgh Commonwealth Financial Advisors Inc (FCFA) dont les actifs conseillés s'élèvent à plus de 2 milliards de dollars.

Fabrice Alliany, 51 ans, diplômé d’HEC et de l’université du Panthéon-Sorbonne, a quitté Natixis où il était responsable de l’activité small et mid-cap au sein du département Financement Stratégique et d’Acquisition pour rejoindre la société Artemid SAS en tant qu’associé.Créée conjointement par les sociétés de gestion Amiral Gestion et Capzanine, Artemid a pour objet d’apporter des financements extra-bancaires aux entreprises de taille intermédiaire au travers d’un fonds de prêts à l’économie.

First State enrichit sa gamme de produits de dette dédiée aux marchés émergents. Le gestionnaire d’actifs d’origine britannique vient de lancer le fonds Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond, un véhicule obligataire orienté sur les marchés émergents en monnaie local géré par Manuel Cañas, rapporte FT Adviser. Ce nouveau véhicule investira en obligations libellés en monnaie des marchés émergents concernés.First State, dont l’ambition affichée est de constituer une suite complète de produits obligataires dédiés aux marchés émergents, n’en est pas à son coup d’essai. En 2011, la société de gestion avait ainsi lancé le fonds Emerging Markets Bond Fund. Investissant dans des dettes de marchés émergents libellées en dollars, ce véhicule géré par Helene Williamson affiche aujourd’hui 43 millions de livres d’actifs sous gestion.

Allfunds Bank a nommé Anna Graziano en tant que responsable opérations et propositions dans le cadre du développement de la société au Royaume-Uni et en Irlande, rapporte Investment Europe. Il s’agit du quatrième et dernier recrutement dans la nouvelle équipe de direction emmenée par Stephen Mohan au sein de l’activité britannique et irlandaise d’Allfunds. Anna Graziano était précédemment managing director des relations stratégiques de Calastone.