Dans un avis notifié à la CNMV le 14 mars, Iberdrola annonce la conclusion d’un accord de coopération stratégique avec Qatar Holding (filiale du fonds souverain Qatar Investment Authority ou QIA) ainsi que d’une augmentation de capital réservée de 253,76 millions d’euros permettant à Qatar Holding Luxembourg de prendre une participation de 6,16 % dans la compagnie d'électricité espagnole, soit 5,81 % provenant de l’augmentation de capital à 5,63 euros par action) , avec en parallèle l’acquisition d’actions en autocontrôle, soit 0,35 % du capital (pour 114,91 millions d’euros).Cette transaction va diluer de 1,2 % la participation détenue par ACS (18,5 %) dans Iberdrola.L’accord stratégique prévoit qu’Iberdrola installera son bureau principal pour le Moyen-Orient dans l’Emirat du Qatar.

Dans un avis à la CNMV, Repsol a annoncé avoir vendu 3,83 % de sa filiale argentine YPF à des fonds d’investissement, dont 2,9 % à Lazard Asset Management, au prix de 42,40 dollars par action. Cette transaction représente au total 639 millions de dollars, ce qui valorise YPF à près de 16,68 milliards de dollars. La participation acquise par Lazard AM correspond à 484 millions de dollars, celle achetée par les autres fonds représente 155 millions de dollars.De plus, le pétrolier espagnol indique avoir ménagé pour 6 mois à Lazard AM une possibilité de cession non transmissible des actions que le gestionnaire a achetées, au même prix de 42,40 dollars par action.

Après l’information parue vendredi 11 mars sur le site Citywire annonçant le départ de Frédéric Motte et Jérôme Archambeaud de la société de gestion SPGP, Xavier Roulet, son président directeur général, a confirmé à Newsmanagers que les deux gérants de Focus Europa, l’un des fonds phares de la gamme, avaient remis leurs démissions le 1er février dernier. La nouvelle dans la presse aura précipité les événements, les deux gérants étant dispensés depuis hier, 14 mars, d’aller au terme de leur préavis «pour ne pas semer le trouble chez les souscripteurs», a précisé Xavier Roulet. Et ce d’autant que des institutionnels et des particuliers sont investis dans le fonds. En pratique, la gestion de Focus Europa, composé de grandes valeurs du vieux Continent, est reprise par Marie-Jeanne Missoffe qui gère déjà un autre fonds européen de la maison, investi dans des petites et moyennes capitalisations. La reprise en mains doit être durable, Xavier Roulet ayant prévenu qu’aucun recrutement n'était prévu pour remplacer les deux gérants démissionnaires.Par ailleurs, selon nos informations, Frédéric Motte et Jérôme Archambeaud ont l’intention de créer leur propre société de gestion et auraient d’ores et déjà déposé un dossier auprès de l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

Deux membres de l'équipe de Lazard Frères Gestion viennent d'être nommés associés de Lazard, annonce un communiqué. Il s’agit de Jean-Jacques de Gournay, responsable des relations avec les investisseurs institutionnels, les distributeurs et les conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants (CGPI), associé gérant de Lazard Frères Gestion depuis 2007, et de Matthieu Grouès, depuis 2009 associé-gérant de Lazard Frères Gestion, en charge de la stratégie et de l’allocation d’actifs et de la coordination des gestions institutionnelles. Ils rejoignent les actuels associés François-Marc Durand, responsable des activités de gestion d’actifs en France, et François de Saint-Pierre, responsable des activités de gestion privée en France.

Pour 2010, ABC Arbitrage a déclaré le 14 mars un bénéfice net part du groupe de 29 millions d’euros contre 30,4 millions, un résultat méritoire compte tenu de la baisse à la fois de la volatilité sur les marchés et des volumes, comme le souligne le président du conseil d’administration, Dominique Ceolin. Cette performance est attribuable en partie à l’augmentation à 37 % contre 85- 90 % traditionnellement de la part des arbitrages avec risques exogènes au total des opérations.La gestion pour le compte de tiers (GCT) a dégagé un revenu de 1,2 million d’euros l’an dernier contre moins de 0,2 million en 2009. Le fonds ABCA Opportunities (fusions-acquisitions), qui a été lancé en 2007 et qui a été mis en sommeil durant la crise, a généré une performance de 5,02 % sur un an et son encours représente 32 millions d’euros, dont 18 millions d’amorçage. Sa capacité est estimée à 150 millions d’euros. Le fonds ABCA Reversion (arbitrage statistique), lancé en mai 2010, a signé une performance de 16,54 % sur 8 mois (dans un marché en baisse de 3 %), et son encours ressort à 30 millions d’euros, dont 14 millions d’amorçage. La capacité est estimée à 300 millions d’euros.Dominique Ceolin a annoncé qu’ABC Arbitrage compte générer cette année 100 millions d’euros de recettes complémentaires et développer sa «GCT» en lançant trois nouveaux fonds. Les deux premiers seront probablement des produits de droit irlandais d’arbitrage statistique, l’un sur les actions, l’autre sur les devises. Le dernière fonds, qui pourrait être de droit français, serait un produit multistratégies qui couvrirait l’ensemble des savoir-faire de la gamme existante.La clientèle traditionnelle des produits ABC Arbitrage est plutôt constituée d’investisseurs institutionnels et de fonds de fonds. Mais, de plus en plus, indique Dominique Ceolin, on constate une demande de la part des family offices ainsi que des institutions de retraite.

Les deux fonds de fonds alternatifs Opportunity et Serenity gelés en novembre 2010 ont repris leur cotation le 10 mars, rapporte les Echos. Harewood AM, une filiale de BNP Paribas, va désormais gérer ces fonds. La reprise de cotation, ainsi que le transfert de leur gestion à Harewood AM, doit être annoncée officiellement ce matin par BNP Paribas. L’annonce sera faite à l’occasion de l’opération de rapprochement de Harewood AM avec le pôle de gestion Sigma de BNP Paribas Asset Management. Selon des documents internes que «Les Echos» se sont procurés, les fonds concernés, Serenity et Opportunity, ont repris leur cotation avec des délais de remboursement raccourcis.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets in the US equities funds Schroder ISF US Smaller Companies and Schroder ISF US Small & Mid-Cap Equities now total over USD7bn (USD2.5bn and 4.5bn respectively), which is their capacity limit, and the funds will now be closed to new subscriptions from 1 April, at 1 PM central European time.Schroders says that the move is intended to protect subscribers. Were it not for the closure to new subscriptions, managers could find themselves obliged to invest in equities whose quality is not convincing.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } LaSalle Investment Management, which has USD40bn in assets under management, will create a property derivatives business for its pension fund clients, IPE.com reports. It will be a joint venture with the brokerage firm BGC Partners.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pimco has decided to cut supervision and administration fees for 18 of its funds, including the flagship Total Return Fund. Fees will be cut by 5 to 15 basis points from 1 May.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The composite BarclayHedge index of hedge funds, including results for 1,680 funds which had published results as of 14 March, shows average returns of 1.17% for February, which brings the total since the beginning of the year to 1.63%.Two strategies saw losses last month: emerging markets (246 funds), at 0.94%, and equity short bias (7 funds), with 2.91%. However, equity long bias gained 2.74%, and technologies (24 funds) made 2.07%.In the first two months of the year, technologies and distressed securities (26 funds) posted respective gains of 4.29% and 4.03%. At the other end of the spectrum, equity short bias and emerging markets lost 3.61% and 1.48%, respectively, in January-February.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British HSBC group has launched a range of administration services for Islamic fund managers, in order to strengthen its market share in Sharia-compliant funds, a market worth USD50bn to USD60bn, which has grown only minimally since 2009.HSBC Amanah Services offers administration and accounting, custody, transfer agency and treasury services on 17 markets in the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Americas.According to the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic finance sector now total about USD1trn, but the Islamic fund market represents only about 5% of this total, according to a 2010 Ernst & Young report entitled “Islamic Funds and Investments.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The two funds of hedge funds Opportunity and Security, frozen in November 2010, returned to trading on 10 March, Les Echos reports. Harewood AM, an affiliate of BNP Paribas, will now manage the funds. The return to trading, as well as the transfer of the management of the funds to Harewood AM, will officially be announced by BNP Paribas this morning. The announcement will be made at the occasion of the merger of Harewood AM with the Sigma management unit of BNP Paribas Asset Management. According to internal documents obtained by Les Echos, the funds concerned, Serenity and Opportunity, have returned to trading with shorter redemption notices.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian asset management firm Azimut has signed an agreement with the Turkish group Yatirim Holding to create a partnership for the management and distribution of investment products in Turkey. The Italian boutique will buy 5% of Global Securities (GS), the financial products distribution firm controlled by the Turkish group, at its IPO. Global Yatirim Holding will retain at least 75% of capital in the firm. Meanwhile, Azimut will, through a capital increase, acquire 60% of Global Asset Management (GAM), the asset management firm owned by the Turkish group. The cost of the two operations, which are still pending approval from the local authorities, totals about EUR6m, with put options. The two partners will invest additional capital in order to develop the two firms. By acquiring a presence in Turkey through this agreement, Azimut continues its international expansion, following the launch of a joint venture in China.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong reports that assets in hedge funds increased by nearly 15% last year, to USD63.2bn. This development is largely due to the arrival in Hong Kong of alternative management funds in the largest weight class.The number of funds fell to 538 in September 2010, compared with 542 one year previously, while the proportion of managers in charge of strategies with total assets between USD101m and USD500m rose from 25.7% in 2009 to 29.5% in 2010, compared with 60.7% the previous year. The proportions of hedge funds managing USD501m to USD1bn on the one hand, and over USD1bn on the other, remained stable, at 7.2% and 5.9%, respectively.Inflows were dominated by foreign investors, particularly from the US (36.1%) and Europe (24.3%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Invesco posted net inflows of about USD1.5trn in the first two months of the year 2011 from institutional and retail investors in the Asia-Pacific region, compared with USD2.3bn in the year 2010 as a whole. The head of Asia-Pacific at Invesco, Andrew Lo, claims that there will be highs and lows in 2011, but adds that clients have optimistic outlooks due to the improvement of the markets since 2009, and the gradual clarification of regulatory changes in the area of distribution. As of the end of September 2010, assets under management at Invesco in the Asia-Pacific region totalled about USD54.2bn, up 48% compared with 2009.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a filing to the CNMV, Repsol announced that it has sold 3.83% of its Argentinian affiliate YPF to investment funds, including 2.9% to Lazard Asset Management, at a price of USD42.40 per share. The transaction represents a total of USD639m, which values YPF at nearly USD16.68bn. The stake acquired by Lazard AM corresponds to USD484m, while the stake bought by other funds represents USD155m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that Erika Kessler on 1 March 2011 took over as director of Swiss Fund Data. She succeeds Herbert M. Stich as head of the joint information platform from the Swiss Funds Association (SFA) and SIX Swiss Exchange.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas on 14 March announced the appointment of Hans-Jürgen Koch has CEO, in charge of Wealth Management activities, from 1 July. He becomes a member of the general board of directors and the executive board for the International Europe region at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, both of which are led by Pascal Boris, to whom he will report directly.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss asset management firm Partners Group has published operating profits up 16% for 2010, at CHF376m, on an EBITDA up 10% to CHF250m. Net profits by IFRS accounting standards were up strongly, by 45%, to EUR297m. Dividends will be increased by CHF5 per share for 2009.As of the end of December, assets at Partners Group totalled EUR21.4bn (see Newsmanagers of 14 January 2011).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financial News reports that the co-CEO of Brevan Howard Asset Management, Nagi Kawkabani, is moving to Geneva this week. He will join the Swiss office of the asset management firm, created last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With an overall volume of CHF42bn, or about EUR32.6bn, the sustainable investment market in Switzerland gained 23% last year compared with 2009, according to the annual study “Sustainable Investments in Switzerland,” published by the research and consulting firm onValues, for the Sustainable Investment Forum (SIF).Net inflows to socially responsible investment funds rose by about 4%, while Swiss funds on average saw net outflows of about the same amount, says Sabine Döbeli, vice-chairman of SIF and chair of SIF Switzerland.Investment funds represents 58% of socially responsible investment in 2010, up 30.1% compared with the previous year. Mandates accounted for 38% of the market, up 18.6% year on year, while structured products were down 18.4%, to 4%. Equities were the dominant asset class, at 63%.Private investors consolidated their share of the market, at 57%, while institutionals lost ground, to come in at 43%.The study also finds that there has been a substantial increase in the use of voting rights, largely at general shareholders’ meetings. “This development is coherent with the fact that 44% of bankers and managers surveyed are planning to more actively exercise their voting rights in the future.”

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has handed a GBP21m mandate in its Skandia UK Best Ideas Fund to Peter Lees at F&C Investments. The addition of F&C Investments to the UK Best Ideas line-up sees Peter Lees taking over the mandate from Colin Mclean of SVM Asset Management. The latter will continue to manage a mandate for the UK Strategic Best Ideas fund. The other managers of the fund are: Richard Buxton of Schroders, Richard Packett of BlackRock, Audrey Ryan of Aegon, Jacob de Tusch-Lec of Artemis, and Dan Nickols of OMAM. They all have 18% of the fund, except for Dan Nickols who manages 10%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that the British asset management firm Insynergy is planning to launch an income fund dedicated to emerging markets equities.The new fund, the Insynergy New World Equity Income fund, managed by a team at Kleinwort Benson Investors (KBI) led by Gareth Maher, will include 100 positions, and will aim for returns of 4.5%.The fund will be able to invest in emerging Asia, Latin America, emerging Europe and the North Africa/Middle East region.Last year, about 61% of Asian companies paid dividends, compared with 33% of emerging markets companies. Spike Hughes, CEO of Insynergy, says this means that dividends from emerging markets firms have a much greater chance of increasing than others.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investing in hedge funds via funds of hedge funds reduces annual returns by 3 percentage points, according to a study by the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the second-largest pension fund in the UK, cited by Financial Times Fund Management. GBP100m invested for 10 years in hedge funds would now be worth GBP270m, while the same amount invested in funds of hedge funds would now be worth only GBP197m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Paul Kim, who arrived on Monday from FundQuest as head of LV= Asset Management (LVAM) multi-management, is planning to integrate the Schroders UK Alpha Plus and Axa Framlington UK Select Opportunities funds into the portfolio, Fund Strategy reports. Kim, who arrived with Richard Timberlake (also from FundQuest), is planning to reallocate about 30% of the portfolio of LVAM in the next three months.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Kleinwort Benson Channel Islands Holdings Limited, an affiliate of RHJ International, has acquired the private banking, fund administration and management activities in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man of Close Brothers Offshore Group (COG) and the COG service centre in Cape Town, for GBP29.1m, with a potential adjustment depending on assets at the time that the transaction is completed.The deal, announced on 14 March, will bring assets at the Kleinwort Benson private bank to about GBP7bn.COG employs 350 people at these locations, and Kleinwort Benson has 358 employees in the Channel Islands and 271 in the UK.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Charlie Porter, the head of Thames River Capital, has sold shares in F&C for about GBP1.7m, after investing in several funds from the group, Investment Week reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mark Fetting, chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, estimates that the asset management firm he heads has recovered, and is now in good shape to seek acquisitions in Europe, with the objective of eventually achieving a 50/50 distribution of assets between the United States and other countries, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. However, Fetting says, potential acquisitions should be of a smaller size, so as not to transform the group, and Legg Mason is not giving up on organic growth.Potential acquisitions are expected to concern managers focused on international equities. Legg Mason is also planning to build a presence in international real estate, commodities, and private equity.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two members of the team at Lazard Frères Gestion have been appointed as partners at Lazard, a statement says.They are Jean-Jacques de Gournay, head of relationships with institutional investors, distributors and independent financial advisers (IFAs), who has been a managing partner at Lazard Frères Gestion since 2007, and Matthieu Grouès, head of collective and institutional asset management at Lazard Frères Gestion since 2009.They join the current partners François-Marc Durand, head of asset management activities in France, and François de Saint-Pierre, head of private management activities in France.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Californian pension fund CalPERS on 14 March announced that it has approved a new asset allocation model, which will offer three new investment portfolios for its retiree benefit trust, a fund created four years ago to provide advance financing for health spending of pensioners.The new portfolios will include inflation-linked and commodity-linked bonds, as well as international equities and real estate.