Aitor Jáuregui, who for the past 7 years has been head of sales at MTS, has been recruited as vice president for sales for iShares (BlackRock) in Spain and Portugal. In his new role, he will report directly to Iván Pascual, head of sales for the Iberian peninsula, who was himself recruited in July 2010, and was previously head of sales for external networks at BBVA.
Following a slight loss of EUR9m in 2009, the Robeco group earned “profits in the hundreds of millions of Euros” last year, close to their previous usual levels, the firm’s CEO, Roderick Munsters, announced on 4 April in Paris.Meanwhile, assets, which totalled EUR134.9bn as of the end of 2009, totalled EUR150bn as of the end of December, and “about EUR155bn as of the end of March 2011,” the head has told Newsmanagers.Last year, Robeco saw net outflows form very low-margin products, which were not offset by net subscriptions to funds with higher margins, while 2009 saw record net subscriptions of EUR7.5bn.Operating margin now stands slightly below the 20% mark, and the firm’s objective is to reach 30% by 2014. 2010 results will be published on 27 April.In order to achieve a recovery of the bottom line, Roderick Munsters and his team have cut costs, with the closure of offices in Austria and Italy, Scandinavia and Singapore, a rationalisation of IT systems, a merger of SAM and Robeco Switzerland, and of the retail and institutional divisions in Rotterdam.Revenues also increased, as Robeco has managed “to convince about 10 very large clients that they could bear an increase in management commissions, because the performance and service are better than for competing products,” the CEO says.
The Financial Times reports that the former BP chief executive Tony Hayward is preparing a fund dedicated to the energy sector. He is reported to have discussed the idea with Nat Rothschild. The negotiations remain at a preliminary stage, and the creation of the fund is only one option among several, the FT reports, citing people familiar with the matter.According to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs Group’s head of U.K. investment banking is leaving and is expected to join a new investment firm that former BP chief executive Tony Hayward is starting.
The management firm Raymond James Financial, Inc announced on Friday, 1 April that it had finalised its acquisition of Barnes Hoefer Howe & Arnett, Inc, fulfilling a merger agreement announced on 29 December last year. The acquisition of Howe Barnes will allow Raymond James Financial, Inc to enlarge its presence on capital markets, alongside financial institutions including local and regional banks and savings banks, in areas such as equities research, sales, trading, etc. Raymond James Financial also has a private management activity with nearly 5,000 clients, representing over USD1.7trn in assets under management.
Roderick Munsters, CEO of the Netherlands-based management firm Robeco, on 4 April announced that the French affiliate, which distributed and managed EUR0.8bn in assets as of the end of 2004, as of the end of 2010 had EUR4.7bn in assets distributed and managed. The objective is to double these assets in three to four years.Ali Ould Rouis, chairman of Robeco Gestions, says that the objective is to “retain our privileged place among foreign asset management firms,” and to become one of the top 15 management firms, where for the moment the management firm is only in the “top quartile or so.” Munsters also responded to a question from Newsmanagers about its product range: “We still have a publicly-traded realty firm fund with about EUR400m, investing in parking garages and commercial real estate, managed by Bow funds, an affiliate of the Rabobank group. This product is available in Germany, and we may eventually also be able to offer it in France, but no decision has yet been taken on that point.”
UFG-LFP on Monday, 4 April announced that it has created “New Expertise and Talent” (NEXT), a firm which will aim to invest in young start-ups in the financial management sector, bringing together institutional investors and individuals with start-up projects.The capital in the firm NEXT is 40% controlled by UFG-LFP, while the remaining 60% are controlled by “NEXT Invest,” a contractual FCP fund in which institutional investors have investments, a statement says. The creation of the fund serves two purposes, the statement continues: “to assist in the creation of firms through the acquisition of stakes in their capital via the NEXT holding company, and to allow for the provision of funds which are indispensable for the launch of new investment vehicles created by the new management firms.” The idea is to limit the circle involved in the fund to a small number of institutional investors (6 at most). A first round of fundraising has already been undertaken among a few partners, which will allow for the launch of the Next Invest fund with initial assets of EUR100m.The selection of businesses will then be validated by the Investment Committee, in which all institutional partners will participate.Some projects have already been identified and pre-selected by the specialist team at UFG-LFP, and will soon be presented to the Investment Committee for a decision.
Financial News reports that Kay Haigh has left Deutsche Bank with a team of seven traders to launch a hedge fund. He is planning to launch an emerging markets global macro fund.
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP ) has recruited William Low, ex-BlackRock, as head of international equities, FundWeb reports. Low worked at BlackRock for 15 years, most recently as head and portfolio manager for the Europe, Australasia and Far East team. Low will report to Andrew November, head for equities, and will work in close collaboration with the senior international equities team, led by Mick McNaught-Davis. Mark Phillips has also arrived as a member of the international equities team. He previously worked in the global strategy team.
Despite disturbances in the sector in the past few months due to the turbulence on the Indian market, microfinace is expected to post moderate but continued growth this year, Klaus Tischhauser, CEO of ResponsAbility Social Investments AG, the world’s top player in microfinance, estimated on 4 April on a visit to Paris. The financial crisis has had a clear impact on the sector, particularly in Bosnia and Nicaragua, as has the recent turbulence on the Indian market. The growth of microfinance on the Indian market has been a success story, Tischhauser says, but concerns remain for this market. “Proposed regulatory changes may destroy the market,” he says. However, financiers and microfinance institutions have agreed to undertake normous effort to improve their governance and risk management, and to diversify their product range. Against this background, the quality of the portfolios of microfinance institutes is improving, and tending towards a gradual normalisation, Tischhauser claims.
Asian Investor reports that the CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management for the Asia-Pacific region, David Hsu, has announced his decision to leave the company. From 4 April, he has been replaced by the president and COO for international activities at JP Morgan Asset Management, Clive Brown, who has transferred from London to Hong Kong.
Net inflows to German funds in February totalled EUR4.8bn, according to statisitics released on 4 April by the German asset management association (BVI). These results are largely due to dedicated funds, which attracted EUR6.2bn, while open-ended funds finished the month with net outflows of EUR1.5bn. Diversified funds took in EUR479.9m in February, while open-ended real estate funds attracted EUR149.5m. In the bond fund category, February saw net outflows of EUR1.78bn, of which EUR1.17bn were from short-term bonds denominated in Euros. Assets under management as of the end of February totalled EUR1.81trn, of which EUR709bn were in open-ended funds, and EUR829bn in dedicated funds. In one year, assets were up by EUR95bn, due to net inflows and market effects.
The German management firm SEB Asset Management on 4 April announced that it has recently sold two properties at an “attractive” price, which has allowed it to improve the risk/reward profile for its open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest (EUR6.38bn), from which redemptions have been frozen since 5 May 2010. The management firm has sold a shopping centre in downtown Salzgitter for EUR34m to Aviva Investors, and a complex with retail (14,500 square metres) and office space (8,500 square metres) in Esslingen for EUR69m, to Rockspring Property Manager LLP. The German financial surveillance authority (BaFin) at the end of March signed a lease for the former offices of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Undine building in Frankfurt. The property is in the portfolio of the SEB ImmoInvest fund.
NorVega SGR, an asset management firm created in partnership by the Scandianvian firm Nordea and the Italian Vegagest, has launched NorVega Area Nordica, a flexible Italian-registered fund which aimed to profit from the dynamism of the Scandinavian countries. The fund may invest in equities, bonds and money market instruments, Bluerating reports.
Crédit Agricole Switzerland has announced that it has been granted a complete license in Hong Kong, Agefi Switzerland reports. This will allow it to extend its private management activities and to create an accounting centre.
As of 28 February 2011, the total net assets in collective investment organisms and specialist investment funds totalled EUR2.208198trn, compared with EUR2.184027trn as of 31 January 2011, an increase of 1.11% in one month, according to statistics from the Luxembourg financial sector supervisory commission (CSSF). Over the past twelve months, net asset volumes have increased 16.35%.The Luxembourg OPC industry has seen a positive variation in the month of January totalling EUR24.171bn. This increase is the result of a positive impact from financial markets of EUR8.548bn (+0.39%), and positive net issues totalling EUR15.623bn (+0.72%).
Sagard Private Equity a signé hier un accord avec PAI Partners qui lui cède le contrôle de l’entreprise spécialisée dans la location de matériels pour les travaux. La cession définitive, réalisée sur la base d’une valeur d’entreprise de 535 millions d’euros, est subordonnée à l’accord des autorités de la concurrence.
Le fonds de private equity va racheter Epicor et Activant afin de les rapprocher. La facture globale s’élève à environ 2 milliards de dollars. L’opération vise à donner naissance à l’un des premiers fournisseurs de solutions applicatives pour les secteurs de la production, de la distribution, des services et de la vente.
UFG-LFP a annoncé lundi le lancement de Next (Nouvelles expertises et talents), une société qui investira dans des jeunes pousses de la gestion d’actifs en associant des institutionnels. Cette société sera détenue à 40% par la filiale du Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe et à 60% par Next Invest, un FCP qui devrait compter jusqu’à six institutionnels à son tour de table. Ce véhicule a levé 100 millions d’euros et pourrait porter cette somme à 160 millions. Cela lui permettra, d’une part, d’entrer au capital des sociétés soutenues (10% à 30%) à travers le holding Next, et d’investir d’autre part dans les fonds créés par ces jeunes pousses. Le groupe structure ainsi son activité historique en matière d’incubation, héritée aussi bien de l’UFG que de la Française des Placements. Il porte ainsi 13 participations dans des sociétés comme Acropole AM ou Mandarine Gestion, et dont les actifs gérés s’élèvent à 6 milliards d’euros. Un portefeuille qui restera en dehors du périmètre de Next.
La société de gestion néerlandaise, qui gérait 150 milliards d’euros d’actifs à fin 2010, vise entre 225 et 250 milliards d’euros à horizon 2014. Robeco, qui entend accroître la part de ses clients institutionnels, prévoit une marge opérationnelle de 30%, contre 20% actuellement.
La banque allemande se hisse à la première place du classement des chefs de file des émissions corporates en euro au premier trimestre 2011. Elle est suivie par BNP Paribas. Sur les obligations à haut rendement, Deutsche Bank et Credit Suisse ont dominé le marché européen.
Le quotidien indique que l’opérateur de la Bourse malaisienne, Bursa Malaysia, est en négociations préliminaires avec celui de la Bourse de Londres, le London Stock Exchange, en vue de nouer un partenariat. Il s’agirait de cotation croisée ou de partage d’une plateforme de cotation.
Le quotidien assure que l’ancien directeur général du groupe pétrolier britannique BP a commencé à agir pour créer un fonds d’investissement spécialisé sur le secteur de l’énergie. Ce fonds ne serait toutefois que l’une des possibilités du retour sur le devant de la scène de Tony Hayward. Il pourrait tout aussi bien selon le quotidien accepter un poste de directeur indépendant au sein du conseil d’administration de Glencore à l’occasion de son entrée en Bourse.
Les autorités européennes (l’Esma, European securities and markets authority) ont entamé selon le quotidien une enquête auprès des sociétés de gestion spécialisées dans le trading automatisé. Un questionnaire a été envoyé aux quatre coins du Vieux continent, demandant des explications sur les stratégies de gestion ou les programmes informatiques.
Le moral des investisseurs de la zone euro s’est replié en avril, avec un indice ressortant à 14,2, après être monté le mois précédent jusqu'à 17,1, montre lundi l’enquête mensuelle du cabinet d'étude Sentix. Le sous-indice des conditions actuelles est tombé de 26,0 en mars à 25,5 en avril, et celui des anticipations a plongé de 8,5 à 3,5.