At a time when Spanish asset management firms underwent net redemptions and a decline in their assets under management throughout last year, the assets at foreign asset management firms have increased 10.6% in the first eleven months of 2012, to a total of EUR52bn, Funds People reports.

The German open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal has announced that it has sold the office building at 5, Plaza de Cataluña in Barcelona, with 14,000 square metres, to an investor who wishes to remain anonymous. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the buyer would appear to be the billionaire Amancio Ortega, the largest shareholder in Inditex. Deka Immobilien states that the sale has allowed it to earn a capital gain. In addition, the sale comes as part of the strategy of Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, which is to focus its investments on major cities outside Europe, and on Germany and the United Kingdom.

Six years to the day after acquiring the portfolio, the German open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global has resold its portfolio of five properties in Chile for EUR171m to Aurus Renta Inmobiliaria. The sale price is about EUR33m higher than the purchase price. The properties sold total 55,725 square metres of area in the Birmann 24, Torre Paris, Xerox, Bandera 76 and Teatinos 254-258 buildings in Santiago, Chile. After the sale, the UniImmo: Global fund retains six properties or stakes in properties in Latin America, totalling EUR230m.

The Swedish firm Stella Asset Management will liquidate its two hedge funds, Stella Nova and Stella Polaris, Privata Affärer reports. The funds had a difficult year in 2012. The Swedish website says this is only the beginning of a wave of hedge fund closures to come.

Carmignac Gestion has announced the arrival of Anne Bellavoine as director of marketing. In an interview with Newsmanagers, Eric Helderlé, CEO, explains that with this recruitment, the asset management firm hopes to place marketing at the centre of the concerns of the company, in light of its growth. The head says this choice comes at a time when Carmignac Gestion is posting results above expectations in the UK, and eventually, the development of the asset management firm will also extend to Asia and South America. “We are in an environment in which we are taking important steps, and are attacking new markets which are very different from the ones of continental Europe,” the director says. “And,” he adds, “the regulatory environment is presenting significant complications to the product approach.” In this environment, the new head will aim to take the “glocal” approach which is so highly valued at Carmignac Gestion. “Glocal” is global for funds on sale internationally in the large sense, and local for the fact that it takes into account the very different demand characteristics of each ountry (more or less strongly for distribution shares, capitalisation shares, etc.). In practice, Bellavoine will lead and co-ordinate the marketing team composed of 20 people, and will report to Eric Le Coz, deputy CEO. This is not a new position. Laurence Bertrand held this position before leaving the firm at the end of May 2012. However, “we needed a more strategic vision,” says Helderlé, adding that the managerial abilities of the recruit and her “sense of the customer” justify her recruitment, as marketing is no one of the professional activities covered previously. The new head spent 17 years at Société Générale, where she served successively as global director of Equity Sales and as chairwoman of SG Securities, director of the Equity and Derivatives market desk, and lastly as a banker in charge of financial institutions. The senior profile of the new recruit will open the doors of the strategic development board, unlike the firm’s last director of marketing.

Pioneer Investments has recruited two people for its institutional team in the United States. Mark Dacey has been appointed as head of consultant relations, while Amu DiMarzio joins the firm as a bond strategist. Dacey was previously at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), where he was recently managing director and head of consultant relationships in the United States. DiMarzio joins from Putnam Investments, where she was recently vice president and credit analyst.

The French investor Union Mutualiste Retraite, which has EUR7.6bn in assets under management, has awarded Egamo, the asset management firm of MGEN a bond mandate for EUR4bn, following a consultation launched in September 2012. The management mandate for a core portfolio asset is a first for UMR, a press statement says. Egamo has about EUR2.8bn in assets under management in mandates and mutual funds.

At the end of 2012, assets under management in European ETPs totalled USD367bn, 22.7% more than the USD299bn recorded the previous year, as net subscriptions totalled USD32.7bn of the USD68bn in asset growth, according to statistics from the BlackRock Institute. In December, net subscriptions totalled USD5.7bn, the highest level in 17 months.The top firm by assets and net inflows remained iShares (BlackRock), with USD140bn and USD18.5bn, respectively. It is followed by db x-trackers/db ETC (Deutsche Bank) with USD50.2bn, but only USD1.3bn in net subscriptions, and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) with USD42.3bn and USD0.5bn in net inflows.ETF Securities, in fourth place by assets with USD24.1bn, has USD2.6bn in net subscriptions, while Source, in seventh place with USD13.3bn, has posted net inflows of USD5.1bn.

Sebastiano Ferrante at the beginning of 2013 became the new country head for Germany at Pramerica Real Estate International, succeeding Georg von Werz. As a member of the board of directors, he is also responsible for fund management. From 2007 to 2012, he was co-country head for Germany at Tishman Speyer Properties in Frankfurt, responsible for acquisitions and sales of properties in Germany, and of the operational platform of Tishman Speyer Properties. Pramerica Real Estate Investors (the European affiliate of Prudential Financial) has also announced that it has acquired the office building at 141 Bothwell Street (175,000 square feet) in Glasgow from the Strathclyde Pension Fund for GBP70m.

Jupiter has announced that Luca Evangelisti and Harry Richards have joined the fixed interest and multi-asset team as credit analysts, reporting to Hilary Blandy, Senior Credit Analyst.An Italian national, Luca Evangelisti joins the company from Moody’s, where he was an associate in the Financial Institutions Group for two years. Harry Richards will be transferring internally from Jupiter’s Private Clients & Charities Team, where he has been working since 2011. He has experience of quantitative and qualitative fund analysis and client portfolio monitoring.With these appointments, the fixed interest and multi asset team will comprise 11 members - four credit analysts, one quantitative analyst, two fixed income portfolio managers, two convertible/ multi-asset portfolio managers and two specialist dealers.

Schroders has ended its relationship with its auditor, PwC, which had served it for over 50 years, the Financial Times reports, adding that the change is a sign that major corporations are becoming more aware of accusations that they are not hard enough on those who check their books. The asset management firm has chosen KPMG instead.

The management of currency risks for Fondoposte, the national complementary retirement fund for employees of the Poste Italiane and its affiliates, has been contracted to the Edmond de Rothschild group, Bluerating reports. It is the division specialised in currency overlay management at the asset management firm which will handle the contract.

At the end of November, assets in funds domiciled in the UK set a new all-time record of GBP652bn, which represents an increase of over 50% compared with August 2008, the record previous to the financial crisis, says Daniel Godfrey, CEO of the Investment Management Association (IMA). Compared with the end of November 2011 (GBP565bn), the increase is 15%. The IMA states that net subscriptions for retail products in November totalled GBP1.2bn, compared with GBP338m one year previously, while net subscriptions to ISAs totalled GBP44m, compared with net outflows of GBP61m. Equity funds attracted GBP720m, the highest level since April 2011 (GBP1.25bn), while bond funds saw inflows of only GBP43m, the lowest level since net outflows of GBP142m in October 2008.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) on January 8 announced the launch of the Morgan Stanley Investment Funds (MS INVF) Global Premier Credit Fund. The fund seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in “Premier Credit,” the corporate debt issued by businesses characterized by dominant franchises or leading industry positions, low capital intensity and strong balance sheets.To build the portfolio and identify Premier Credit, the portfolio managers leverage fundamental research from MSIM’s Global Fixed Income team. Additionally, the new fund employs proprietary quantitative tools to screen the credit universe and continually monitor high quality issuers, resulting in a strong platform from which to assess credit quality.Richard Ford, European head of credit for MSIM, said, “The Global Premier Credit Fund aims to be an effective strategy to help investors wanting to diversify from government debt, by seeking higher yields through capturing the credit premium of the highest quality credits withlimited volatility and default risk (...)».

Wesley Wang, a former analyst at the hedge fund trading firm SAC Capital, has named 20 people who traded on inside information, the Financial Times reports, citing the prosecution. Wang, who has confessed to dealing in insider information while working at SAC and Whitman Capital, faces a verdict on Wednesday.

The Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has awarded the first additional quotas of CNY800m to China AMC and E Fund for their Hong Kong yuan-denominated (CNH) bond funds, China AMC Select RMB Bond Fund and E Fund RMB Fixed Income Fund, Asian Investor reports. The extensions will allow the products to grow to CNY2bn and CNY1.9bn, respectively, in assets.

The Luxembourg firm Palaedino Fund has selected five asset management firms to deploy a passive investment strategy based on five indices designed by Palaedino Asset Management. The firms are Duet Group, Morgan Stanley, Olympia Capital, RBS and Unigestion. Each one will manage a sub-fund based on an index, and will aim to outperform the index by overweighting and underweighting components. The indices are the following: Palaedino Structural Leaders Index, Palaedino Hard Currency Index, Palaedino Diversified Commodity Index, Palaedino Global Fixed Income Index and Palaedino Euro Fixed Income Index.

La société suédoise Stella Asset Management va liquider ses deux hedge funds, Stella Nova et Stella Polaris, rapporte Privata Affärer. Ces derniers ont connu une année 2012 difficile. Pour le site internet suédois, ce n’est que le début d’un mouvement de fermeture de hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) a annoncé mardi à Londres le lancement du Morgan Stanley Investment Funds Global Premier Credit Fund, un fonds investi dans des obligations émises par des entreprises ayant des franchises fortes ou une position de leader dans leur secteur, une faible intensité capitalistique et avec des bilans solides.Pour construire le portefeuille, les gérants du fonds s’appuieront sur la recherche de l’équipe obligataire mondiale de MSIM et utiliseront des outils quantitatifs maison.Selon Richard Ford, le responsable européen du crédit de MSIM, ce fonds est destiné aux investisseurs cherchant des alternatives à la dette gouvernementale et des rendements élevés.

Six ans, jour pour jour après l’acquisition de ce portefeuille, le fonds immobilier allemand offert au public UniImmo: Global a revendu pour 171 millions d’euros son portefeuille de cinq immeubles de bureaux situés au Chili à Aurus Renta Inmobiliaria. Le prix de cession est d’environ 33 millions d’euros supérieur au prix d’acquisition. Les actifs vendus totalisent 55.725 mètres carrés des immeubles Birmann 24, Torre Paris, Xerox, Bandera 76 et Teatinos 254-258 à Santiago du Chili.Après cette cession, le fonds UniImmo: Global détient encore en Amérique latine six immeubles ou participations d’une valeur de 230 millions d’euros.

JP Morgan Asset Management souhaite entrer sur le marché australien des fonds cette année, a indiqué Jed Laskowitz, CEO de l’activité des fonds en Asie et responsable de la gestion d’actifs en Asie de la société américaine, lors d’un déjeuner de presse auquel Asian Investor était convié. La société a déjà une présence institutionnelle dans le pays. JP Morgan AM souhaite aussi pénétrer en Asie du sud est et veut lancer son premier ETF en China via sa joint-venture, ajoute le site asiatique.

Schroders a mis fin à ses relations avec son auditeur PwC, qui l’accompagnait depuis plus de 50 ans, rapporte le Financial Times, pour qui c’est le signe que les grandes entreprises deviennent plus sensibles aux accusations selon lesquelles elles sont trop à l’aise avec les gens qui doivent vérifier leurs comptes. La société de gestion a choisi à la place KPMG.

Jupiter vient de recruter Luca Evangelisti et Harry Richards pour son équipe fixed interest and multi-asset. Ils rejoignent la société en tant qu’analystes crédit sous la direction d’Hilary Blandy. Luca Evangelisti était précédemment chez Moody’s, tandis que Harry Richards travaillait déjà chez Jupiter.

Le britannique Federated Prime Rate Capital Management, filiale de Federated Investments, a fait enregistrer par la CNMV sa sicav monétaire à compartiments Federated Prime Rate Cash Management Funds domiciliée au Luxembourg, rapporte Funds People.

Le fonds immobilier allemand offert au public Deka-ImmobilienGlobal annonce avoir vendu pour un montant non divulgué à un investisseur qui ne souhaite pas être identifié l’immeuble de bureaux du 5, Plaza de Cataluña à Barcelone, un actif de 14.000 mètres carrés. En fait, il semble selon les informations de Newsmanagers que l’acquéreur soit le milliardaire Amancio Ortega, le principal actionnaire d’Inditex.Deka Immobilien précise que cette cession lui a permis de réaliser une plus-value. De plus, cette vente s’inscrit dans la stratégie du Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, qui consiste à focaliser ses investissements sur les plus grandes métropoles extra-européennes ainsi que sur l’Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni.

L’Union Mutualiste Retraite, qui gère 7,6 milliards d’euros d’actifs, a confié à Egamo, la société de gestion de la MGEN, un mandat obligataire de 4 milliards d’euros à l’issue d’une consultation lancée en septembre 2012.Ce mandat de gestion sur son actif cœur de portefeuille est une première pour l’UMR, indique un communiqué de presse. Egamo gère environ 2,8 milliards d’euros d’encours au travers de mandats et d’OPCVM.

Pioneer Investments a recruté deux personnes dans son équipe institutionnelle aux Etats-Unis. Ainsi, Mark Dacey a été nommé responsable des relations avec les consultants, tandis qu’Amy DiMarzio rejoint la société en tant que stratège obligataire.Mark Dacey était précédemment chez State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) où il était récemment managing director et responsable des relations avec les consultants aux Etats-Unis. Amy DiMarzio vient quant à elle de Putnam Investments, où elle était récemment vice president et analyste crédit.

Tout en demeurant chief research officer, Fred Fraenkel a été promu president de Fairholme Capital Management en remplacement de Bruce Berkowitz (CIO and managing member), qui assurait l’intérim de ce dernier poste depuis la démission de Charlie Fernandez au printemps de 2012.Fred Fraenkel a rejoint Fairholme en 2011 après avoir été responsable de l’investissement de Beacon Trust Company.

En cédant hier sa participation au capital de China Pacific Insurance (CPIC), la société américaine de private equity Carlyle, a engrangé un rendement de plus de 500% de sa mise initiale pour un investissement bâti entre 2005 et 2007, rapporte L’Agefi. Le quotidien ajoute que le magazine The Asset croit savoir que les titres cédés, un reliquat de 2,2% du capital, soit 203 millions de titres CPIC pour l'équivalent de 605 millions d’euros, ont été alloués à parts égales entre fonds actions traditionnels et fonds alternatifs, les dix principaux empochant une majorité des titres.

Natixis Asset Management annonce la nomination de Jens Peers au poste de directeur gestion actions investissement responsable de Mirova, son pôle d’expertise investissement responsable. Il travaillera sous la direction de Philippe Zaouati, directeur général délégué de Natixis AM et responsable du pôle d’expertise de Mirova. Jens Peers a débuté sa carrière en tant que conseiller financier chez KBC Bank à Bruxelles avant d’intégrer KBC Asset Management en 2001 en qualité d’analyste financier. En 2003, il rejoint Kleinwort Benson Investors, à Dublin pour prendre les fonctions de directeur actions - stratégies environnementales sur les thématiques de l’eau, l’agribusiness et les technologies propres (énergie renouvelable, efficacité énergétique, traitement des déchets).Mirova totalise 4 milliards d’euros d’encours en gestion actions ISR, 7,7 milliards d’euros d’encours en conseil sur les stratégies ESG, ISR hors actions et 20,4 milliards d’euros d’encours en vote et engagement (au 30/09/2012).