Depuis le début de l’année au 28 février, Aberdeen a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 3,5 milliards de livres, a annoncé la société de gestion britannique le 25 mars. La collecte s’est portée uniquement sur les actions, avec 4,3 milliards de livres, et notamment sur les fonds marchés émergents mondiaux (2 milliards), malgré les mesures prises pour ralentir les flux vers ces produits.Aberdeen note toutefois que les flux ont été moins élevés que par le passé et qu’ils devraient revenir à des niveaux plus « durables ». Les fonds Asie Pacifique ont aussi fortement collecté sur les deux premiers mois de l’année (2 milliards de livres).Les encours ont ainsi augmenté à 212,3 milliards de livres à fin février, contre 193,4 milliards de livres fin décembre.Aberdeen note que les souscriptions nettes se sont portées sur des fonds à forte marge, ce qui va se traduire par 35 millions de livres de revenus supplémentaires issus des commissions annualisées.
Schroders a annoncé lundi une offre de 424 millions de livres en numéraire pour acquérir l’intégralité du capital de Cazenove Capital. Avec les 17,2 milliards de livres d’encours de Cazenove Capital, l’opération va conduire à la création d’une entité de 229,2 milliards de livres (selon les chiffres au 31 décembre 2012). En particulier, dans la banque privée et la gestion de fortune, les actifs combinés seront de 28,4 milliards de livres et permettront à Schroders de considérablement augmenter son activité en la matière au Royaume-Uni.La société de gestion va aussi renforcer son activité dans la clientèle intermédiée, avec 5,1 milliards de livres venant de Cazenove Capital.Le montant de l’acquisition inclut 29 millions de livres au titre des rémunérations différées des employés de Cazenove. L’opération offrira des synergies de coûts avant impôts comprises entre 12 millions et 15 millions de livres par an.
Le co-responsable de l’obligataire d’Aberdeen Asset Management, Paul Griffiths, quitte la société afin de «relever d’autres défis» dans le secteur, rapporte Citywire Global. Ses fonctions seront reprises par Brad Crombie, qui devient responsable global de l’activité fixed income pour le groupe. Jusqu’ici, il était co-responsable.
Le gérant de BlackRock Mark Lyttleton va quitter la société après 21 ans passés au sein du groupe américain, rapporte MoneyMarketing.Mark Lyttleton devrait céder la gestion du UK Dynamic fund (624 millions de livres) et du UK Absolute Alpha fund (427 millions de livres) d’ici au 28 mars. Le premier sera géré par Nick Little et le second co-géré par Nigel Ridge et Nick Osborne. BlackRock envisage également de fusionner le UK Dynamic fund avec le UK fund (513,6 millions de livres).
La société de gestion Kames, basée à Londres, propose désormais un compartiment libellé en dollar de Singapour dans son fonds de référence, le Kames Strategic Global Bond Fund, rapporte Citywire.Le fonds est désormais disponible en dollar de Singapour, livre sterling, euro, yen, franc suisse et dollar américain; Le Kames Strategic Global Bond fund, qui affiche un encours de 550 millions de dollars, est co-géré par Philip Milburn et David Roberts. Il a dégagé une performance de 21,37% sur les trois dernières années, contre 18,5% pour le Barclays Global Aggregate EUR TR.
Andrew Hitchings, recruté en septembre 2012 comme head of large UK clients en provenance de State Street Global Advisors, a été promu head of UK institutional business par Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).Le gestionnaire britannique annonce également avoir nommé Johan Rydqvist au poste nouvellement créé d’European sales managers, pour développer les activités commerciales de LGIM dans les pays nordiques, en Suisse et en Allemagne. L’objectif est d’augmenter les actifs sous gestion en provenance de l'étranger, qui représentaient 43 milliards de livres au 31 décembre. L’intéressé a été recruté chez Merrill Lynch.John Tsalos a quitté pour sa part Standard Life pour occuper le poste nouvellement créé de head of defined contribution distribution & product strategy de LGIM, dont l’encours dans le domaine de la contribution définie représentait en fin d’année dernière 25,4 milliards de livres.LGIM annonce aussi avoir recruté Victoria Parrish chez Credit Suisse Asset Management pour occuper le poste de head of RFPs & marketing analytics. Les rentrées nettes dans le domaine des appels d’offres ont atteint 7,1 milliards de livres l’an dernier.Enfin, Taryn Leibbrandt a quitté T. Rowe Price International pour prendre un poste de client relationship manager chez LGIM, avec la responsabilité du développement d’un portefeuille de clients institutionnels.
Le groupe Man a annoncé le 25 mars une extension du financement de l’institut Oxford-Man de finance quantitative (OMI) jusqu’en 2018. Cette décision de prolonger de 5 ans le financement de l’institut souligne l’engagement du groupe britannique dans le domaine de la gestion quantitative, dans le sillage du rapprochement de AHL et de Man Systematic Strategies.
Le londonien LNG Capital indique avoir lancé LNG Europa Credit Fund Strategy UCITS, un fonds multistratégies long/short investi en obligations d’entreprises européennes. Il s’agit de la version coordonnée d’un fonds enregistré aux îles Caïman.En fonction de la position dans le cycle du crédit, il utilise les stratégies long bias, haut rendement et événementiel en période de hausse et short bias en période de baisse, tout en misant de manière générale sur la valeur relative et le long/short pour les titres catégorie investissement et catégorie spéculative. L’effet de levier peut porter sur au maximum le double de l’encours, sachant que l’objectif de rendement est de 15 % avec une volatilité de 10 %.Ce fonds est assorti d’une commission de gestion de 1 % et d’une commission de performance de 20 % avec high watermark.
Responsable de la gestion de fortune privée de Morgan Stanley pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique, Pavlos Bailas, rejoindra au 1er avril le groupe UBS comme head du global family office group (GFO), selon une note interne obtenue par finews.ch.Le GFO, qui fournira sur le plan interrégional et multisecteurs des services de gestion de fortune et de banque d’investissement, sera intégré au pôle de service aux particuliers très haut de gamme (UNHW).Pavlos Bailas, basé à Zurich, sera subordonné à Joe Stadler, global head UHNW, mais également à Jürg Zeltner, CEO wealth management, Andrea Orcel, CEO investment bank et Brian Hull, vice chairman UBS Americas.Quant à Jerry Wattenberg, il reste le représentant senior du GFO au sein de la banque d’investissement et responsable des plus grands clients de family office dans le monde, sous les ordres de Pavlos Bailas.
Société Générale Private Banking Suisse a annoncé l’arrivée de Jean Goutchkoff au poste de directeur général adjoint. Il est membre du comité exécutif de la banque privée aux côtés d’Yves Thieffry, directeur général, Olivier Aubenas, directeur commercial et Mathieu Vedrenne, directeur des fonctions support. Jean Goutchkoff est notamment responsable du développement commercial sur les pays émergents.Avant de rejoindre Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA, il était depuis 2007 chez HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA. Engagé en tant que responsable global de la zone Europe centrale et orientale, il a ensuite été en charge de la zone « Emerging Europe » et membre du comité exécutif de la banque.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Emerging Markets Investmennt Grade sub-fund of the Julius Baer Luxembourg Sicav, Swiss & Global Asset Management is releasing an investment grade emerging market debt fund for sale in Germany, with a portfolio of government and corporate bonds, from virtually all emerging countries (see Newsmanagers of 7 March). The fund will be managed by Enzo Puntillo, CIO for emerging market debt.CharacteristicsName: Julius Bär Bond Funds Emerging Markets Investment GradeISIN code: LU0854726667Management commission: 0.55%
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Putnam Investments has announced the launch of six new products intended to address several current preoccupations of the markets, such as volatility, a need for additional sources of income, and a need to adapt to changes in the fiscal environment.Using its range of traditional and non-traditional funds as a basis, Putnam has released the following funds on the market:•Putnam Low Volatility Equity Fund (scronym: PLVEX), which aims for returns comparable to those of US equities, but with lower volatility,•Putnam Strategic Volatility Equity Fund (PSVEX), whose objective is to outperform equities, but with volatility comparable to that of the market,•Putnam Global Dividend Fund (PGDEX), which aims for income and growth via value equities which pay dividends from throughout the world,•Putnam Emerging Markets Income Fund (PEMWX), whose objective is high income and capital appreciation on emerging debt markets,•Putnam Short-Term Municipal Income Fund (PSMEX), a portfolio of US short-term bonds to manage tax-exempt income with low sensitivity to interest rates, and•Putnam Intermediate-Term Municipal Income Fund (PIMEX), which invests in mid-term municipal bonds which generate high ongoing income exempt from Federal income tax.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For 2012, Carmignac Gestion is expected to post higher profits than for 2011, when they totalled EUR282m, Les Echos reports. The newspaper estimates that Carmignac is at a turning-point in its history. The firm, which has been developing its services to institutional investors and clients abroad, will need to adapt its model.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Wall Street brokers who fell victim to technical faults which affected and slowed their first trades on Facebook shares in May 2012 have one week to submit a request for indemnification, Agefi reports. The SEC states that the USD62m proposal provides “far higher compensation than would otherwise be available for eligible requests, without any legal action.” Not everyone agrees. UBS, which estimates its losses at over USD350m, has announced plans to apply for indemnisation to recover the full sum.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mutual Fund Wire reports that, according to Reuters, the equity unit at DoubleLine has been scaled up with the recruitment of Jonathan Ainley, Sunny Ommanney, Brian Shim and Kristine Smith as equity analysts, and Rodney Boone as equity trader.With the exception of Ommanney, former CEO of Nyima Foundation, all of them join from TCW and will report to Brendt Stallings and Husam Nazer, portfolio managers, with whom they had worked previously at TCW.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mutual Fund Wire reports that Prudential Investment Management (PIM, USD827bn in assets) has posted a job opening on LinkedIn for a head of compliance.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) is investing USD500M with Edinburgh, Scotland-based Standard Life Investments as part of its Multi-Asset Class (MAC) Partners Program. Standard Life is the first of four external managers selected to partner with CalPERS in the MAC program. The MAC Program has two strategic objectives. First, the Program is intended to outperform the CalPERS total fund over a market cycle, using primarily public market assets, and doing so with lower volatility and less risk.Secondly, the Program is expected to facilitate a transfer of meaningful information from the MAC Partners to CalPERS investment staff, to help develop scalable, sustainable, and efficient methods of increasing the likelihood of meeting long-term CalPERS investment return goals.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Andy Stewart, head of one of the entities dedicated to hedge funds at Credit Suisse, as an addition to its alternative management unit, Reuters reports. Stewart will co-direct BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI), the division of BlackRock dedicated to hedge funds and private equity, with Matt Botein, who will also be chief investment officer for alternative management. Meanwhile, BlackRock is parting with a team recruited in 2011, which had invested directly in private equity. Nathan Thorne, George Bitar and Mandy [sic] will also leave the firm. Under the new organisation, Stewart will be responsible for management of development activities, while Botein will concentrate on performance and investors. Assets under management at BAI, which last year acquired Swiss Re Private Equity Partners, which had about USD7.5bn in BAI private equity fund of fund activities, finished the year 2012 with USD110bn, up 5% year on year, as commissions and other revenues were up 12% to USD968m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Groupama Asset Management has announced the arrival of Sébastien Thévoux-Chabuel as head of extra-financial analysis. He will report to Marie-Pierre Peillon, director of research, and will evaluate sectors and stocks in relation to the three major ESG themes: environmental, social and governance challenges. Thévoux-Chabuel had previulsly been a member of the teams at Oddo Securities, first as a sell-side financial analyst, and then as an SRI analyst, from June 2008.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of private wealth management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Morgan Stanley, Pavlos Bailas, will on 1 April join the UBS gorup as head of the global family office group (GFO), according to an internal memo obtained by finews.ch.The GFO, which will provide inter-regional and cross-sector wealth management and investment banking services, will be integrated into the ultra-high net worth (UHNW) services unit.Bailas, who is based in Zurich, will report to Joe Stadler, global head of UHNW, and to Jürg Zeltner, CEO wealth management, Andrea Orcel, CEO investment bank and Brian Hull, vice chairman UBS Americas.Jerry Wattenberg remains as senior representative of the GFO unit in the investment bank, and responsible for the largest family office clients worldwide, and will report to Bailas.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Private Banking Switzerland has announced the arrival of Jean Goutchkoff as deputy CEO. He is a member of the executive board at the private bank, alongside Yves Thieffry, CEO, Olivier Aubenas, head of sales, and Matthieu Vedrenne, director of support functions. Goutchkoff will be responsible for development of sales in emerging markets. Before joining Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA, Goutchkoff had been at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA since 2007. He was globla head of the central and eastern European region, and then was responsible for the Emerging Europe region and a member of the Executive Board at the bank.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The acquisition of Liberbank Gestión and its EUR931m in assets was completed on 25 March by Banco Madrid, whose assets under management total over EUR3bn, Funds People reports. Banco Madrid now has exclusive rights to distribute Liberbank products.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } From 6 April, all commission refunds and rebates paid by asset management firms to investors will be subject to income tax, the UK tax authorities (HMRC) announced on 25 March, Fundweb reports. However, the decision will not be applied retroactively.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Scott Sinclair reports in Investment Week that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will from April take over part of the prerogatives of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has announced plans to modify some terms of Retail Distribution Review (RDR) regulations sooner than planned, if it identifies a widespread failure to respect (widespred non-compliance of) the rules, or undesired negative effects.Natalie Holt reports in Fundweb, meanwhile, that the FCA’s «business plan 2013/14» announces an investigation into complex management commissions, to determine the extent to which they have negative effects on consumers.The FCA states that fund management commissions have risen in the past ten years, that “hidden” fees have increased, and that the structure of fees has become more complex as performance commissions have become more widespread.The FCA is concerned by the fact that asset management firms apply more complex fee structures to retail clients than to institutional investors, and that the long-term impact of small fee increases has been downplayed.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa Investment Managers on March 8 announced the launch of Axa WF Global Optimal Income, an ‘all weather’ multi-asset fund that provides flexible and dynamic access to the most compelling global opportunities with the aim of capturing a portion of the upside while mitigating the downside.The equities component, which focuses on high quality stocks from developed and emerging markets, can comprise between 0 per cent and 100 per cent of the portfolio according to market conditions. The fixed income portion tactically allocates to emerging market, high yield, government and corporate bonds. In the event of anticipated market downturn, exposure can be tactically adjusted through the use of listed derivatives.Axa WF Global Optimal Income is managed by Serge Pizem, global head of multi-asset investments at Axa IM, with the support of a team of four portfolio managers.The fund which is a Luxembourg-domiciled Sicav fund is available to both retail and institutional investors and is currently registered for sale in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden. Axa IM is considering registration across a number of other European countries.CharacteristicsName: AXA WF Global Optimal IncomeISIN codes:LU0465917630 (I shares)LU0465917390 (E shares)LU0465917473 (F, capitalisation shares)LU0465917556 (F, distribution shares)LU0465917044 (A, capitalisation shares)LU0465917127 (A, distribution shares)Front-end fee: maximum 5.50% (A shares)Management commissions:0.60% (A and F shares)1.20% (E and A shares)
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In February, funds on sale in Italy recorded net inflows of EUR4.51bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. That brings inflows since the beginning of the year to EUR7.68bn, and assets to EUR493.9bn. Inflows in February went largely to bond funds (EUR2.5bn) and flexible funds (EUR1.9bn). However, money market funds, equity funds and hedge funds had net redemptions (-EUR352m, -EUR138m and -EUR112m, respectively). With the addition of closed-end funds and mandated management, the asset management industry in February posted net inflows of EUR5.25bn. The asset management firms which posted the largest inflows were Banca Popolare, with +EUR1.38bn, Intesa Sanpaolo (+EUR999.7m), Poste Italiane (+EUR908m), and Pioneer (+EUR871.7m). Franklin Templeton has posted inflows of EUR786.3m. However, Generali has posted outflows of EUR1bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi has released its Amundi ETF Topix EUR Hedged Daily ETF, which offers exposure to the Japanese equity market, with daily hedging of the euro/yen exchange rate, on the Milan stock exchange, Bluerating reports.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firm for BHF Bank, Frankfurt Trust, has announced that at the beginning of March it recruited Klaus Spöri as a bond fund manager. He had previously been at LBBW Asset Management.Meanwhile, Carsten Ükermann (ex-Fidelity) has joined the open-ended fund distribution team, where he will be responsible for IFA clients and broker pools.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Berenberg private bank on 25 March announced that as of 1 September, Stefan Keitel, managing director and CIO of asset management and private banking at Credit Suisse Group, will become CIO of the Hamburg-based firm, as well as chief strategist for the asset and wealth management business unit. In this role, he will be responsible for discretionary management.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firm Kames, based in London, is now offering a sub-fund denominated in Singapore dollars of its flagship fund, the Kames Strategic Global Bond Fund, Citywire reports. The fund is now available in Singapore dollars, pounds sterling, euros, yen, Swiss francs and US dollars. The Kames Strategic Global Bond fund, which has assets of USD550m, is co-managed by Philip Milburn and David Roberts. It has earned returns of 21.37% in the past three years, compared with 18.5% for the Barclays Global Aggregate EUR TR.