BNY Mellon Investment Management vient de nommer Cynthia Steer head of Manager Research & Investment Solutions. Elle remplace à ce poste Phil Maisano, parti à la retraite récemment. L’intéressée était auparavant managing director chez Russell Investments responsable des stratégies d’investissement et des consultants.

Olivier Ramé et Jean-Philippe Collin, précédemment responsable des gestions alternatives et gérant de La Française des Placements, viennent de créer leur propre structure, Swell Asset Management, dédiée à la gestion d’allocation tactique. Ils n’ont pas complètement coupé le cordon avec leur précédent employeur, puisque La Française AM a pris 25 % du capital de la nouvelle boutique, le reste étant divisé équitablement entre les deux associés. La société de gestion leur délèguera aussi un fonds, LFP Allocations 3, géré depuis sa création en 2005 par Jean-Philippe Collin, et leur apportera un total de 30 millions d’euros de « seed money ».La moitié des fonds d’amorçage, 15 millions d’euros, reviendra à LFP Allocations 3 dont les encours totalisent aujourd’hui 60 millions d’euros et qui est un produit d’allocation tactique investi sur les indices actions, les courbes de taux et les devises. L’autre moitié sera investie dans le fonds que la nouvelle boutique compte créer. Il aura le même processus que le premier fonds, mais avec un objectif de volatilité plus élevé, autour de 7-8. Les deux gérants, même s’ils ont changé d’étage, resteront dans les locaux de La Française AM et conserveront toute l’infrastructure dont ils bénéficiaient auparavant. En termes commerciaux, le fonds de La Française AM sera commercialisé par les deux structures, tandis que le second fonds, même s’il sera probablement logé dans la Sicav luxembourgeoise de la société de gestion actionnaire, sera uniquement distribué par Swell AM.Swell AM, qui a obtenu son agrément sous conditions suspensives jeudi dernier, se composera d’une troisième personne, Déborah Uzan, qui vient elle aussi de La Française AM. Elle sera probablement associée prochainement au capital de la structure. Interrogé par Newsmanagers, Olivier Ramé explique que cette aventure lui permet de repartir sur un projet entrepreneurial, plus de dix ans après avoir participé à la création d’Alteram. Il explique également que la gestion tactique mise en œuvre au sein de LFP Allocations 3 avait du mal à trouver sa place au sein de La Française AM.

Lazard Frères Gestion devrait prochainement annoncer officiellement l’ouverture d’un bureau à Madrid, a indiqué le 10 janvier à l’occasion d’un point de presse François-Marc Durand, associé-gérant de Lazard en charge des actitivités de gestion en France. L’opération est en cours de finalisation. En prélude à cette présentation, Lazard Frères Gestion a récemment fait enregistrer par la CNMV pour la vente en Espagne l’ensemble de sa gamme de fonds d’investissement de la gamme «Objectif».Lazard Frères Gestion poursuit ainsi sa stratégie développement en Europe. La succursale belge de Lazard Frères Gestion a annoncé en novembre dernier l’arrivée d’une nouvelle équipe de direction (Newsmanagers du 10 novembre). Par ailleurs, dans un entretien à L’Agefi suisse, Jean-Jacques de Gournay, associé-gérant de Lazard Frères Gestion, avait indiqué qu’une implantation en Suisse faisait partie des objectifs prioritaires de Lazard (Newsmanagers du 8 décembre). Interrogé sur l'évolution de la collecte et des encours en 2011, François-Marc Durand a indiqué que l’exercice était plutôt satisfaisant, avec une collecte «positive». Il a toutefois rappelé que Lazard étant une société cotée, il ne pouvait pas s’exprimer davantage sur le sujet. Au 30 septembre 2011, les actifs sous gestion de Lazard s’incrivaient en recul de 16% par rapport à fin juin 2011 à 135,8 milliards de dollars. S’agissant de ses choix d’allocation pour 2012, Lazard Frères Gestion est plutôt optimiste. Le scénario central est en tout cas encourageant. Aux Etats-Unis, les dernières statistiques, bien orientées, permettent d'éloigner la perspective d’une rechute de l’activité et montrent au contraire une accélération de la croissance. Dans les pays émergents, les indicateurs sont également cohérents avec un bon niveau de croissance. Enfin, dans la zone euro, une contraction au quatrième trimestre est devenue une quasi-certitude mais les indicateurs d’activité se redressent depuis peu. Si ce mouvement se poursuit, la croissance pourrait être juste nulle au premier trimestre 2012 et suivie d’une reprise très graduelle de l’activité. Le chemin à parcourir pour résoudre la crise de la dette dans la zone euro est encore long mais si l’année 2012 apporte un début de réponse, la réduction des incertitudes devrait profiter aux actifs risqués dont les valorisations sont toujours très basses et cohérentes avec un scénario noir sur la croissance mondiale. Au sein de la classe d’actifs, les actions américaines semblent moins attrayantes que les actions européennes, japonaises et émergentes.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) et Source ont présenté le 10 janvier le nouveau véhicule pour investir sur les matières premières, LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF, comme l’avait indiqué Newsmanagers dans son édition du 9 janvier. Le fonds est un ETF conforme à la directive OPCVM, qui réplique l’indice LGIM Commodity Composite et qui vise à offrir une exposition diversifiée aux matières premières par le biais d’indices de contrats à terme représentatifs de ces matières premières.L’indice LGIM Commodity Composite a pour ambition d'être un nouveau genre d’indice de référence dans le cadre d’une exposition large aux matières premières. S’appuyant sur l’expertise de LGIM en tant que gérant indiciel, ainsi que sur un processus minutieux de filtrage quantitatif et qualitatif, il offre une exposition à une large sélection d’indices de type matières premières. A son lancement, l’indice LGIM Commoduty Composite comprend les indices suivants : Barclays Capital Commodity Index Pure Beta TR, Citi CUBES (Total Return), JPMCCI Ex-Front Month Energy Light (Total Return), UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity.La structure des ETF de Source qui combine un investissement physique dans les bons du Trésor américain avec un « swap overlay » permet d’offrir une réplication plus fidèle de l’indice. Afin de diversifier le risque de contrepartie et la composition de l’indice, ce dernier fait référence à plusieurs sous-indices et le fonds recourra à de multiples contreparties pour les swaps utilisés. Source a d’ailleurs désigné quatre contreparties de swaps pour ce produit : Barclays Capital, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan et UBS.Le LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF est coté à la bourse de Londres (London Stock Exchange) et est négocié en livres sterling et en dollars américains. Il est autorisé à la commercialisation au Royaume-Uni, en Irlande, en Autriche, en France, en Allemagne, en Finlande, en Italie (pour les investisseurs institutionnels uniquement), au Luxembourg, aux Pays-Bas, en Suède et en Suisse.Caractéristiques :Code ISIN IE00B4TXPP71Devise de référence USDDevise de cotation GBP / USDFrais de gestion 0,40% par anFrais de swap moyens 0,45% par anAcronyme Bloomberg TGPLGCC Domiciliation Irlande

Hixance Asset Management vient de signer un accord de partenariat avec le groupe OTCex, qui prévoit d’entrer dans le capital de la société de gestion française. Soumis à l’agrément de l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers, l’accord accorde une participation minoritaire à OTCex. Le pourcentage exact n’a pas été communiqué par les nouveaux partenaires. Le Groupe OTCex, qui coiffe principalement les deux entreprises d’investissement OTCex SA et HPC SA, est spécialisé dans les services d’intermédiation à destination de la clientèle institutionnelle et de la clientèle finale. Hixance AM, société de gestion entrepreneuriale française et présidée par Frédéric Peyre, gère un peu plus de 60 millions d’euros d’encours.Des synergies techniques et commerciales sont prévues par les deux entités.

Christian Paris a été nommé directeur général d’ING IM France et a pris ses fonctions le 2 janvier 2012, a annoncé la société de gestion qui cherchait un remplaçant à Thierry Rigoulet, parti le 10 octobre 2011. Directeur général Europe et Amérique latine, Matthias Schellenberg a été chargé du recrutement après avoir pris en compte les critères de Paris et ceux du groupe à La Haye - comme ce fut le cas pour le prédécesseur de Christian Paris. En l’occurrence, le groupe accorde beaucoup d’importance au marché français, ING IM France se présentant comme l’un de ses cinq pôles majeurs de développement définis par la stratégie «Bigger in Big Markets» de la maison. Dans ce cadre, le fait que le nouvel arrivant occupait chez HSBC Global Asset Management (France) la fonction de head of business development depuis début 2008 a naturellement joué en sa faveur... Par ailleurs, âgé de 48 ans, Christian Paris a débuté sa carrière en 1989 comme spécialiste des marchés obligataires, développant la clientèle institutionnelle française d’abord au sein du groupe CIC. Il a rejoint en 1998 l’industrie de la gestion d’actifs chez Sinopia Asset Management, dont il a pris la direction commerciale France fin 2001 avant de rejoindre HSBC Global Asset Management (France) en 2005 pour y diriger, dans un premier temps, les équipes commerciales en France puis à l’international, souligne un communiqué.

L’américain SunGard indique avoir acquis le logiciel Pilot du gestionnaire Tobam (plus de 2 milliards de dollars d’encours) pour un montant non divulgué mais qui «ne devrait pas avoir d’impact sensible» sur ses résultats financiers.Le communiqué précise que «la solution Pilot, développée et utilisée par Tobam, est complémentaire de l’offre Asset Arena de SunGard (lancée le 21 novembre) qui couvre les principales fonctions requises par l’industrie de la gestion d’actifs incluant la gestion des investissements, le suivi des opérations et les services aux investisseurs».

Threadneedle Investments annonce la nomination de Iain Richards au poste de responsable de la gouvernance et de l’investissement responsable. A la tête d’une équipe de trois personnes, il sera en charge de la recherche et de l’engagement ESG (environnement, social et gouvernance) de la société de gestion britannique. Il rejoindra définitivement le gestionnaire le 20 février 2012. Iain Richards était auparavant regional head of corporate governance chez Aviva Investors.

Arca Sgr, the asset management firm for the Italian co-operative banks, is said to be in exclusive talks with Norvega (formerly Vegagest) to acquire its funds, according to reports in Milano Finanza. The operation would allow Arca to increase its assets from EUR15bn to EUR16bn. Arca Sgr, which is owned by Ubi, Popolare Emilia Romagna and Banco Popolare, was recently in danger of becoming an acquisition target.

Tindaro Siragusano, who since early 2009 had been head of the asset management unit, in late 2011 took over as director of the private banking sector of activity, and is now director of both areas at Berenberg Bank. Markus Taubert, who had been head of private banking since September 2009, has resigned.

Sandra Berghoff, who has worked for Allianz and for Hanseatische Capitalberatungsgesellschaft, is joining the SRI asset management firm Ökorenta Finanz as director of distribution, Fonds professionell reports. She will be more particularly in charge of sales for closed funds and placement of sustainable development insurance products.

Klaus-Dieter Böhme, who since 1 May 2008 has been head of savings banks clients, has been appointed as head of all institutional clients of DekaBank, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, from 1 January 2012. The position had been held in the interim by Oliver Behrens, a managing board member responsible for institutional clients.Excluding mandates, as of the end of November the Deka group managed EUR50.96bn in institutional funds (Spezialfonds) of real estate and securities, according to statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms. Deka prefers to cite a total of EUR46.6bn for Spezialfonds and mandates, and assets of EUR11.2bn in open-ended funds used by institutionals, for a total of EUR57.9bn.

Following the creation of a new department dedicated to Swiss clients last spring, led by Benoît Clivio, the Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild (BPER) has now recruited the former semi-institutional management team from Wegelin & Co, Le Temps reports. Alexandre Michellod, Mathias Maradan and Céline Kuhn, three experts in the area of risk budgeting, began in their new roles on 1 January 2012.

Christian Paris has been appointed as CEO of ING IM France, and began in his new role on 2 January 2012, the asset management firm has announced. Paris replaces Thierry Rigoulet, who left the firm on 10 October 2011. Matthias Schellenberg, CEO for Europe and Latin America, has been made responsible for recruitment, after being informed of the criteria of Paris and the group’s headquarters in the Hague, as was the case with Paris’ predecessor. The group assigns great importance to the French market. ING IM France presents itself as one of the five major centres for development as defined by the “Bigger in Big Markets” development strategy defined by the firm. The fact that the new CEO had served at HSBC Global Asset Management (France) has head of business development since early 2008 naturally played in his favour. Paris, 48, began his career in 1989 as a bond market specialist, where he developed French institutional clients, first at the CIC group. IN 1998, he then moved to the asset management industry at Sinopia Asset Management, where he became director of sales for France in late 2001, and then joined HSBC Global Asset Management (France) in 2005, to become director for the first time of sales teams in France and then internationally, a statement says.

BNY Mellon Investment Management has appointed Cynthia Steer as its head of Manager Research & Investment Solutions. She replaces Phil Maisano, who has recently retired, in this position. Steer had previously been managing director at Russell Investments, in charge of investment strategy and consultants.

Olivier Ramé et Jean-Philippe Collin, previously head of alternative management and a manager, respectively, at La Française des Placements, have founded their own firm, Swell asset Management, dedicated to tactical allocation. The two men have not completely severed their ties with their previous employer, as La Française AM has bought a 25% stake in the capital of the new boutique, with the remainder divided evenly between the two partners. The asset management company will also outsource a fund to them, LFP Allocations 3, which since its inception in 2005 has been managed by Collin, and will also provide a total of EUR30m in seed money. Half of the seed money, EUR15m, will go to LFP Allocations 3, whose assets currently total EUR60m, and which is a tactical asset allocation product investing in equity indices, interest rate curves, and currencies. The other half will be invested in the fund which the new boutique is planning to create. It will have the same process as the first fund, but with a higher volatility objective of about 7-8.The two managers will remain on the premises of La Française AM, even though they are moving to another floor, and will retain the same infrastructure they had used previously. For sales, the fund from La Française AM will be sold by both structures, while the second fund, although it will probably be a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav fund from the shareholding asset management firm, will be sold solely by Swell AM. Swell AM, which received its license without suspensive conditions on Thursday last week, will have a third member, Déborah Uzan, who also joins the firm from La Française AM. Uzan will probably soon also join the capital of the structure. Ramé explains to Newsmanagers that the experiment will allow him to undertake an entrepreneurial project, more than ten years after participating in the creation of Alteram. He also explains that the tactical management used at LFP Allocations 3 has had a hard time finding its place at La Française AM.

In May, American Funds (an affiliate of Capital Group) is planning to launch eight funds of funds, five more than it launched in the past decade. According to Mutual Fund Wire, the new products will invest in house funds, and will respond to demand on the part of independent financial advisers, who are seeking a way for their clients to invest in more funds by investing in a single product. In a notice to the SEC, American Funds states that it will aim to keep fees under control, and that the new funds of funds will have access to the institutional share classes of underlying funds. American Funds is still losing assets; it has seen net outflows of USD70bn in the first eleven months of 2011, and assets have fallen back to USD863bn.

According to reports published on Tuesday by Citywire, Marc Favard has quit his position as head of Meeschaert Asset Management, which he had chaired since 1990. The reason given by the website was “differences of opinion over investment strategy,” The asset management firm is expected to name Favard’s replacement in a few weeks, the website adds.

Quilvest Copagest Finance, Fi Select Multigestion and Quilvest Gestion S.A.S. are merging to become Quilvest Gestion SA. The agreements were signed on 15 December 2011, after the group acquired all capital in Quilvest Copagest Finance, in which Xavier Leroy and Dominique Boisseau, the founders of the firm, had retained a 15% stake. Leroy is appointed as chairman of the board at Quilvest Gestion SA, and will be assisted in his duties by Boisseau and Eric Libault, both of whom are CEOs at the new firm. Leroy had previously been chairman of the board at the two asset mamagement firms of the group, while Boisseau was CEO. Libault had been chairman of the board at Fi Select Multigestion. Assets under management at Quilvest Gestion SA total EUR2.7bn. The group also includes teams at the three firms, including more than 30 professionals in fixed income, equities, multi-management, and employee savings.

The Edmond de Rothschild group has appointed Christophe de Backer as chairman of the executive committee at the Edmond de Rothschild private bank in Geneva from February 2012. De Backer will begin in his new role following the general shareholders’ meeting to be held on 26 April 2012. He will also become a member of the supervisory board at La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild in Paris. In this position, de Backer will succeed Claude Messulam, who will be appointed as director of the Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild and of Edmond de Rothschild Holding, a statement says. Since January 2011, de Backer, 50, had served as group general manager and as a member of the board of directors at HSBC worldwide. From early 2010, he had been CEO of HSBC France, and from 2007, had served as deputy CEO, deputy to the CEO of HSBC France. Between 2005 and 2007, de Backer was chairman of the board at HSBC Private Bank France.

Nearly one year after opening its offices in Singapore, Bordier & Cie heas nearly CHF400m in assets under management in its Asian banking centre, Agefi Switzerland reports. The structure, led by Evrard Bordier, has 10 employees, staff which may double by the end of the year, depending on the evolution of the markets. The three-year objective is to reach CHF1bn in assets under management in Asia. Groupwide, staff increased slightly last year, from 195 to 205 employees. The same trend may be observed in assets under management, which currently total CHF9.8bn, compared with CHF9.5bn at the end of 2010. Net inflows have been positive for the past year, but will remain confidential.

Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Global has acquired two commercial properties, one in Rotterdam and the other in Munich, for a total of CHF79.1m. The fund, which has been traded since 29 November 2011, has already invested one third of its assets in value properties abroad, according to a statement released on 10 January by the Swiss bank. In Rotterdam, the fund has purchased the PortCity III commercial property, which has office space of 6,900 square metres, spread out over seven stories and a ground floor. The second property is in Karlstrasse in Munich. The office property includes eight stories overall, two of which are underground, with 42 parking spaces. The rental area is over 11,500 square metres.

Funds on sale in Sweden ended the year 2011 with net inflows of SEK16bn, or EUR1.8bn, the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens förening reports. This comes despite SEK53bn in net outflows from equity funds (EUR6bn). The money market fund category has seen the largest net inflows, with SEK35.5bn (EUR4bn), putting them ahead of balanced funds, with SEK29.2bn (EUR3.3bn). Bond funds have posted net subscriptions of SEK4.3bn (EUR0.5bn), and hedge funds show SEK0.7bn (EUR0.08bn). In equities, the funds which have seen the heaviest redemptions are Swedish equity funds (-SEK22.512bn, or EUR2.5bn), eastern European equities (-EUR12.088bnbn, or EUR1.37bn), and Swedish and global equity funds (-EUR9.078bn, or EUR1.03bn). The only categories to show positive inflows are global equities (+SEK9.639bn, or EUR1.09bn), North American equities (+ESEK4.27bn or EUR0.5bn), and Japanese equities (+SEK1.247bn, or EUR0.141bn). Overall, in 2011, assets in Swedish funds were down by SEK145bn (or EUR16.4bn), to SEK1.819trn (EUR206bn), of which 52% are in equity funds.

79% of the 109 ETF funds launched in the United States in the first six months of the year attracted less than USD30m in assets, a profitability threshold for the sector, according to statistics from XTF prepared for the Financial Times. In 2010, the percentage was 62%, and in 2009, it was under 50%. Professionals say the decline in popularity is due to increasing saturation of the market, the FT remarks.

The UCITS platform from Morgan Stanley has added an Irish-registered fund managed by Claritas Administração de Recursos Ltda, which practices a market neutral long/short equity strategy on a portfolio of 40-60 Brazilian equities. Net exposure to the market ranges from -20% to +20%.Minimal subscription is set at EUR1m.CharacteristicsName: MS Claritas Long Short Market Neutral UCITS FundISIN code: IE00B3MQJZ41Management commission: 1.50%Performance commission: 20%

The French association of institutional investors (AF2I) has stated its position on proposed amendments to ratings agency regulations currently under consideration by the European parliament. While it is in favour of some proposals, such as the development of internal analysis, transparency standards for billing by agencies and measures to promote the issuance of unsolicited ratings, the AF2I disapproves of the principle of a required rotation of agencies, as their methodologies are not comparable, unlike account plans. The quality of the rating is closely tied to a very good long-term knowledge of issuers. The association also disapproves of the fact that a public regulatory authority should have the power to license, control and contest this or that point in global methodologies. This European particularism would appear not to make any sense on this point, to say nothing of the fact that it would run against intellectual freedom, the AF2I states, adding that it would prefer for the major ratings agenvies to continue to issue and widely distribute their methodologies, while also consulting on revisions to them. This is genuine progress, the AF2I claims, and hopes that the practice will become more established.

On 16 January, LBB Invest will launch the multi-asset class fund PMIM Multi-Asset-LBB-Invest, whose management will be outsourced to the Hamburg firm Pall Mall Investment Management (PMIM).With the product, LBB Invest is offering institutional and also retail investors a resolutely conservative strategy assisted by the IT system “Risk@Work,” developed by PMIM, which aims to control and limit portfolio risks.Capital at risk shall initially be limited to 7% of the volume of the portfolio, and the objective is to outperform the Eonia by 200 basis points every year.At the time of launch, the fund will be about 50% invested in German government bonds and Pfandbriefe. The composition of the portfolio will be regularly optimised.CharacteristicsName: PMIM-MultiAsset-LBB-InvestISIN code: DE000A1CXYQ0Management commission: currently 0.9%

As the Henderson German Retail Income Fund (HGRIF) has managed to raise another EUR90m, Henderson Global Investors has decided to hold a second closing. Supplementary subscriptions to the institutional fund, a German-registered real estate product specialised in warehouse facilities for retail commerce, will have added firepower of EUR180m (including leverage). The total volume of the fund is now EUR350m.The portfolio is managed on behalf of 12 investors, most of whom are German insurers and corporate pension funds. The return objectives are at least 6% per year, with a final portfolio to include 12 to 15 properties. Four properties were acquired since the first closing in summer 2011; they represent an investment of EUR60m.

The US firm SunGuard has announced that it has acquired the Pilot software package from Tobam (over USD2bn in assets) for an undisclosed amount which “is not expected to have a noticeable impact” on its financial results. A statement says that “the Pilot solution, developed and used by Tobam, complements the Asset Arena range from SunGruad (launched on 21 November), which includes the major functions required by the asset management industry, including management of investments, monitoring of operations, and investor services.”

Among 880 job cuts announced by SG CIB, Agefi has learned that the bank will be gradually cutting its sales and support functions. 189 jobs will be affected in market activities, of which 38 will be at Lyxor, which according to iShares had outflows of USD8.4bn in eleven months. In general, the newspaper reports, voluntary layoffs before 1 October will receive severance packages totalling at least EUR30,000 and 30 months of salary. In addition to that, there may be a bonus of EUR20,000 to EUR60,000 for departure in the first month, plus 20% (up to EUR40,000) if they go by 2 July.