Claudia Calich has left Invesco, where she had been head of the Invesco emerging market debt unit, for personal reasons, Citywire Global reports. To succeed her, the firm has promoted two of its managers; Eric Lindenbaum and Jack Deino.

The alternative asset management firm Pine River Capital Management is expected to launch a fund dedicated to China in October, with initial capital of USD150bn, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. Last year, the Pine River Fixed Income FuND earned returns of 35%, largely due to exposure to mortgage bonds. Since 1st August 2011, assets under management by Pine River have more than doubled, to a total of USD13.6bn.

UK-based ETF Securities on Monday announced the launch of Canvas, a new service which will allow asset managers worldwide, both passive and active, to create and sell ETFs under their own brands in Europe in a totally open architecture context.The white-label product factory offers multiple opportunities, including the possibility of issuing ETFs using all infrastructure from ETF Securities, the option of creating an advanced ETF platform, and of converting UCITS funds into ETFs, or to create an ETF share class in a UCITS fund.As Matt Johnson, head of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa explains, Canvas supports all possible configurations, from the simple development of ETFs to total responsibility for management, with the primary objective of rapidly releasing products on the market in the context of efficiency in the use of capital and resources. The system allows for ETFs to be offered with both physical replication and synthetic replciation. For its part, ETF Securities will continue to offer its own range of UCITS-compliant ETFs to investors, with the service provided by the Canvas team.The creation of Canvas represents a smart diversification for ETF Secutities, which needs to reduce its dependency on gold ETPs, which represent about 75% of its assets of USD23bn, after a peak of USD31bn, when gold was valued at USD1,800 per ounce.Massimo Siano, director of sales for Switzerland, Italy and France, has told Newsmanagers that Canvas will primarily be aimed at entrepreneurial asset management firms (like ETF Securities itself), which are not competitors since they do not have commodity products. The formula selected “provides a means to share costs, competence, and profits.”Meanwhile, ETF Securities is planning to add to its range in new segments such as smart beta and variable rate high yield, but these plans are still in the development stages.

Bill Gross, manager of the Total Return fund (USD251.1bn) at Pimco, suffered redemptions of USD7.7bn last month, the fourth consecutive month of outflows, according to Morningstar. In the same period, the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund by Gundlach (USD36.7bn) has seen outflows of USD1.1bn in August, the third consecutive month of outflows. Gross and Gundlach have rock-star status in the bond universe, due to the solid performance of their funds over the long term.

The alternative asset management firm Pine River Capital Management is expected to launch a fund dedicated to China in October, with initial capital of USD150bn, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg.Last year, the Pine River Fixed Income Fund earned returns of 35%, largely due to exposure to MBS. Since 1 August 2011, assets under management by Pine River have more than doubled, to a total of USD13.6bn.

Mark Chan, vice president for Greater China at JPMorgan Asset Management Asia, after serving as relationship manager at Allianz Global Invstors in Hong Kong, has been recruited by Threadneedle Investments as director, institutional, North Asia. He will be based in Hong Kong and will be a member of the Asia-Pacific team led by Raymundo Yu.Chan will cooperate closely with June Wong, vice-chairman of Asia-Pacific and CEO Hong Kong, to develop a strategic plan at Threadneedle for the region. He will aim in particular to develop relations with institutional investors in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

One woman out of every two employed in asset management has been subjected to regular harassment or sexist behaviour at the office, according to the initial results of a survey carried out by FTfm, which surveyed 100 men and women employed in the sector. 54% of women say that they have faced “inappropriate” conduct in the workplace, while 28% say they have been sexually harrassed. One respondent explains that the asset management sector is highly masculine.

The British firm ETF Securities on Monday announced the launch of Canvas, a new service which will allow asset managers worldwide, both passive and active, to crate and sell ETFs under their own brands in Europe in a totally open architecture context.The white-label product factory offers multiple opportunities, including the possibility of issuing ETFs using all infrastructure from ETF Securities, the option of creating an advanced ETF platform, and of converting UCITS funds into ETFs, or to create an ETF share class in a UCITS fund.As Matt Johnson, head of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa explains, Canvas supports all possible configurations, from the simple development of ETFs to total responsibility for management, with the primary objective of rapidly releasing products on the market in the context of efficiency in the use of capital and resources. The sustem allows for ETFs to be offered with both physical replication and synthetic replciation. For its part, ETF Securities will continue to offer its own range of UCITS-compliant ETFs to investors, with the service provided by the Canvas team.The creation of Canvas represents a smart diversification for ETF Secutities, which needs to reduce its dependency on gold ETPs, which represent about 75% of its assets of USD23bn, after a peak of USD31bn, when gold was valued at USD1,800 per ounce.Massimo Siano, director of sales for Italy, France and Monaco, has told Newsmanagers that Canvas will be aimed at the asset management firms industry acorss a variety of asset classes. The formula selected “provides a means to share costs, competence, and profits.”Meanwhile, ETF Securities is planning to add to its range in new segments such as intelligent beta and variable rate high yield, but these plas are still in the development stages.

Six of the largest insurers in the world will invest in a new USD400m private equity fund created to support businesses which sell financial services to individuals in developing countries, the Financial Times reports. MetLife, Prudential Financial and Swiss Re are among the companies who assist the fund launched by the microfinance specialist Leapfrog Investments.

Syria’s civil war, as well as questions about the China’s economy and US policy have led investors to wait and see in early September.Overall, investors pulled over USD9 billion out of US equity funds during the week ending September 4 and nearly USD6 billion out of emerging markets equity and bond funds. Despite a regain of interest in Europe, equity funds recorded outflows of USD11.4 billion, according to statistics released by EPFR Global.Bond funds posted net outflows of USD284 million as they extended a six week outflow streak. Money market funds saw USD7.43 billion flow out.

US investors have pumped more money into European equities than at any time since 1977, according to the Financial Times, which says that it is a big vote of confidence for the region. Pension funds and other big US groups invested USD65bn in European stocks in the first six months of 2013, the highest in 36 years over that time period, according to research by Goldman Sachs.

The Brazilian asset management firm Azimut will acquire a 50% stake in Legan Administração de Recursos, a Brazilian boutique which had the equivalent of EUR141m in assets under management as of 31 August, via AZ International Holdings. This will allow the Italian firm, which is already present in many countries, to enter Brazil. A joint venture will be created. Concretely AZ International Holdings will acquire a 50% stake in the holding company which controls all capital in Legan, through a purchase of shares from the founding partners for EUR3m, and through subscrption to a capital increase of EUR2.5m. Legan, founded in 2008 by 5 partners, now has 14 employees. It manages the Legan Low Vol, a low-volatility arbitrage fund invested in various financial instruments including fixed income, derivatives and government bonds, with an objective of exceeding the CDI, the Brazilian interst rate, and the Legan Special, an arbitrage fund which invests in various financial instrument, and which pursues a long/short directional equity strategy.

The Wall Street Journal rapporte que vendredi, le Reserve Primary Fund, le premier fonds monétaire américain à valeur liquidative constante à «avoir cassé le dollar» (break the buck), est parvenu à un accord à l’amiable avec le Third Avenue Institutional International Value Fund et les autres plaignants d’une action de concert.Il accepte de verser les quelque 75 millions de dollars restant dans le fonds, dont 10 millions en numéraire seront versés aux trois co-gérants Bruce Bent Senior et ses fiols Bruce bent II et Arthur Bent III. De la sorte, les porteurs du Reserve Primay Fund auront recouvré le reste de leur argent, puisqu’ils en avaient jusqu’à présent récupéré 99 %.

UCITS recorded net inflows of only EUR 12 billion in the second quarter of 2013, down from the record net inflows of EUR 132 billion recorded in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest statistical release of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama).This drop can be attributable to a large increase in net outflows from money market funds and a reduction in net inflows into long-term funds, as investors’ expectations of increased interest rates rise.Long-term UCITS, i.e. UCITS excluding money market funds, continued to register strong net inflows (EUR 65 billion), albeit down from EUR 134 billion in the previous quarter. Money market funds recorded a large rise in net outflows to EUR 53 billion in the second quarter, up from EUR 2 billion recorded in the previous quarter. Equity funds experienced a turnaround in net flows to register outflows of EUR 8 billion, compared to net inflows in the first quarter of EU 44 billion. Bond funds attracted net inflows of EUR 30 billion during the quarter, down from EUR 44 billion. Balanced funds registered another quarter of strong net sales (EUR 28 billion), albeit down from EUR 36 billion in previous quarter.Combined assets of UCITS and non-UCITS decreased 1.7 percent in the second quarter to stand at EUR 9,232 billion at end June 2013. Nevertheless, since end 2012 total net assets of UCITS and non-UCITS have increased 3.2 percent.Overall in the first half of 2013, UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 144 billion, driven by net sales of bond funds (EUR 74 billion), balanced funds (EUR 64 billion) and equity funds (EUR 36 billion).

Christophe Gloser, who became head of Fidelity in France in 2011, has succeeded to change the image of the asset management firm, which was too much equities and not enough bonds. This has given him the means to add to sales teams and to highlight the good results from asset management in France. This is a characteristic which Fidelity in London is able to appreciate.

Pressure exerted by disappointed investors has obliged hedge fund managers to reduce the commissions they charge, which places the traditional 2%/20% structure (2% management commissions, 20% performance commissions) on the list of threatened species, the Wall Street Journal reports. The average now stands at 1.6% for management commissions, and about 18% for performance commissions.

No new ETFs have been admitted to trading in August on the European markets of NYSE Euronext, the daily average trading volume has fallen 15.7% compared with July, to EUR183.3m. That also represents a decline of 4% compared with the corresponding month of last year. On-book trading volumes totalled EUR4bn, or 19.4% less than in the previous moth, and 8.6% less than in August 2012.Block trading in August was EUR377.9m, 3.7% more than in July, and 27.5% less than in the corresponding month of last year.The average spread, for its part, totalled 27.3 basis points.

According to the BlackRock Institute, European ETPs have posted net subscriptions of USD0.7bn for August, but four out of the ten major issuers have seen net outflows, starting with the market leader, iShares, whose redemptions totalled USD0.2bn, as at UBS. For their part, ETF Securities and the Cantonal Bank of Zurich (ZKB) have posted net outflows of USD0.1bn, while state Street has seen inflows of USD1.4bn, and DeAWM USD0.3bn, as at Source, while Lyxor has seen inflows of USD0.1bn.In January-August, European ETPs posted net inflows of USD7.8bn, while iShares alone took in USD11.6bn, and State Street posted inflows of USD2.7bn.For their part, DeAWM and Lyxor have experienced net ouflows of USD0.3bn and USD2.3bn, respectively, while the highest net redemptinos were for ETF Securities, with USD3.3bn.

Switzerland is one of the European countries in which the asset management group Henderson Global Investors is planning to develop. After opening a branch office in Zurich, Henderson GI is planning to set up shop in Geneva, Andrew Formica, CEO of Henderson GI, tells the news agency finews. The Australian head of Henderson adds that he would also like to develop in Germany and Italy, through independent financial advisers, as the firm has already done in the United Kingdom.

Bryan Collings has announced that he has resigned from his position as managing partner of the British asset management boutique Hexam, in order to concentrate on managing the range of onshore and offshore funds from the group, Investment Week reports. Collings, a founding partner of the group, had managed the Global Emerging Markets fund, whose assets under management totalled GBP13m, and which has lost more than 33% in the past three years, compared with average gains of 1.2% in the same period for the benchmark index. Hexam, which is 35% controlled by Ignis Asset Management, has not yet found a successor for Collings.

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry association, published on September 5 an enhanced statement of policy principles. The paper builds on the AIMA Policy Platform, the landmark 2009 document in which AIMA offered its support for improved transparency, unified global standards, manager authorisation and supervision, aggregated short position disclosure to regulators and new policies to reduce settlement failure. “Capital markets are crucial in the financing of the economy and the hedge fund industry plays an ever increasing role in the entire chain of investing and financial intermediation, contributing to market depth, sophistication, transparency and thus its ability to support growth. AIMA therefore wishes to participate actively in the elaboration of policies in the areas of asset management and financial markets regulation with the aim of improving investor protection, market transparency and financial stability overall,” Kathleen Casey, chair, AIMA, said.

HSBC has offered USD250m to shareholders in the Thema fund to settle a lawsuit filed on 30 April this year in Dublin, Agefi Switzerland reports. The fund, which had been sold in Switzerland by Geneva-based staff at Genevalor, was seeking USD1.5bn from its depository bank, which it had accused of negligence in the surveillance of assets.The first settlement of a Madoff-related lawsuit corresponds to 43% of capital lost by the fund according to the shareholder register, HSBC states. It may represent a precedent for the next cases of this type.

Pioneer Investments has launched a UCITS-compliant version of its US fund Dynamic Credit, Citywire Global reports. The new fund, which is domiciled in Luxembourg, replicates the USD366bn fund launched for US investors in April 2011. The co-managers of the fund are Andew Feltus, Michael Temple and Chin Liu.

Pioneer Investments a lancé une version coordonnée de son fonds américain Dynamic Credit, a dévoilé Citywire Global. Le nouveau fonds, domicilié au Luxembourg, réplique le fonds de 366 millions de dollars lancé pour les investisseurs américains en avril 2011. Les co-gérants du fonds sont Andrew Feltus, Michael Temple et Chin Liu.

Vice president, Greater China chez JPMorgan Asset Management Asia après avoir été relationship manager chez Allianz Global Investors à Hong-Kong, Mark Chan a été recruté par Threadneedle Investments comme director, institutional, North Asia. Il sera basé à Hong-Kong et fera partie de l'équipe Asie-Pacifique dirigée par Raymundo Yu.Mark Chan travaillera en étroite coopération avec June Wong, vice-chairman of Asia-Pacific et CEO Hong Kong dans le cadre de l'élaboration du plan stratégique de Threadneedle pour la région. Il aura pour mission en particulier de développer les relations avec les investisseurs institutionnels en Chine continentale, à Hong-Kong, à Taïwan et en Corée du Sud.

Pioneer Investments a lancé une version coordonnée de son fonds américain Dynamic Credit, a dévoilé Citywire Global. Le nouveau fonds, domicilié au Luxembourg, réplique le fonds de 366 millions de dollars lancé pour les investisseurs américains en avril 2011. Les co-gérants du fonds sont Andrew Feltus, Michael Temple et Chin Liu.

Le 25 septembre, Oaks Field Partners lancera son quatrième fonds, OFP Optimal Value, un produit diversifié qui associe modélisation financière et gestion discrétionnaire avec la possibilité d’investir en obligations, en actions et en devises.L’exposition du FCP aux actions évoluera de 0% à 70% afin de refléter les anticipations économiques de la société de gestion et sa sensibilité sera comprise entre 0 et +12. L’OFP Optimal Value se réserve la possibilité d’investir dans les pays émergents à hauteur de 20% maximum de l’encours.La stratégie d’investissement repose principalement sur une analyse des marchés internationaux, s’appuyant sur une analyse quantitative financière et économétrique (méthode OFP), afin d’utiliser les stratégies qui présenteront le couple rendement attendu / risque le plus favorable. L’effet de levier maximum indicatif est de 2.L’indicateur de référence est pour 35% le MSCI Daily Net TR World Euro et pour 65% le BofA Merrill Lynch Global Government Bond coupons réinvestis libellé en euros. CaractéristiquesDénomination : OFP Optimal ValueCodes Isin :FR0011514488 (parts A)FR0011514496 (parts B)FR0011514579 (parts C)Commissions de gestion0,95 % (A)1,25 % (B)1,95 % (C)Commission de surperformance 10 % (A)15 % (B et C)Souscription minimale100.000 euros (A)1.000 euros (B)100 euros (C)

Claudia Calich a quitté pour des raisons personnelles Invesco ,où elle était responsable du pôle dette émergente d’Invesco, rapporte Citywire Global. Pour lui succéder, la société gestion a promu de deux ses gérants : Eric Lindenbaum et Jack Deino.

Les groupes bancaires Crédit Agricole et Société Générale s’apprêteraient, après cinq années de coopération, à signer le dénouement de leurs parts dans leurs coentreprises de courtage et de gestion, rapporte Les Echos qui reprend une information relatée dans les colonnes du Journal du dimanche. L’opération financière s’articulerait en un double mouvement, toujours selon le « JDD », qui évoque « plusieurs sources ». Le Crédit Agricole vendrait à son partenaire sa part de 50 % dans leur courtier commun Newedge. En échange de quoi la SocGen céderait un peu moins de 10 % des 25 % qu’elle détient dans leur société de gestion Amundi. Interrogés dans la journée d’hier, les deux groupes bancaires concernés se sont refusés à tout commentaire.

Les pressions exercées par des investisseurs déçus obligent les hedge funds à réduire les commissions qu’ils facturent, ce qui place la structure traditionnelle de 2-20 % (2 % de commission de gestion, 20 % de commission de performance) sur la liste des espèces menacées, constate The Wall Street Journal. Aujourd’hui, la moyenne se situe en effet à 1,6 % pour la commission de gestion et à environ 18 % pour celle de performance.