L’indice Dow Jones Credit Suisse (anciennement Credit Suisse/Tremont) des hedge funds affiche pour septembre une performance de 3,43 %, ce qui porte les gains de ces fonds pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année à 5,98 %.Les deux stratégies enregistrant les meilleurs résultats pour septembre ont été le long/short equity, avec 5,09 % et les marchés émergents, avec 4,77 %. La seule catégorie en perte a été le dedicated short bias avec une chute de 11,28 %.Depuis le début de l’année, l’arbitrage obligataire (fixed income arbitrage) et le global macro arrivent en tête pour la performance avec respectivement 9,79 % et 9,33 % alors que le dedicated short bias perd 12,49 %.

Jusqu’au 20 novembre 2010, HSBC France commercialise HSBC Chrono 2016, un EMTN dont le capital investi à l’échéance, soit six ans, est garanti (hors frais d’entrée et frais de gestion du contrat d’assurance vie ou de capitalisation). Quant à la performance, elle est égale, au terme, à la meilleure évolution entre deux paniers d’actions représentatives de la zone euro (indice EUROSTOXX 50) et des pays émergents (MSCI Emerging markets) avec un maximum de 45%, soit un taux de rendement brut annualisé au maximum de 6,39%. Dans le détail, les paniers actions sont composés des 10 plus importantes valeurs de l’indice de référence (EUROSTOXX 50 et MSCI Emerging Markets). Au terme de la 6ème année un calcul de la performance réalisée par chacune des actions composant les deux paniers est effectué : - Si la performance constatée de chaque action est positive alors la performance de l’action concernée est retenue avec un maximum de 45% (mécanisme du « cap » ou de « plafonnement »). - Si la performance constatée de chaque action est négative alors la performance de l’action concernée est retenue avec un « plancher » à -45% (mécanisme du « floor » ou de « limitation à la baisse »). Dans ce cas l’investisseur ne recevra aucun coupon mais bénéficiera de la garantie 100% de son capital investi, net de frais d’entrée et de frais de gestion du contrat d’assurance vie ou de capitalisation. La performance de chaque panier correspond à la moyenne des performances ainsi attribuées aux 10 actions composant chacun des paniers. A noter, que toute cession avant l’échéance des 6 ans, se fera aux conditions de marché, avec un risque de perte en capital. Caractéristiques : Dénomination : HSBC Chrono 2016 Code Isin : XS0540651675 Montant de la part : 1000 eurosPériode de commercialisation : du 6 octobre 2010 au 20 novembre 2010Frais d’entrée : 2 % du montant investiDate de constatation initiale (cours des actions) : 26 novembre 2010Date de constatation finale (cours des actions) : 28 novembre 2016Date d’échéance : 5 décembre 2016

L’un des principaux acteurs de la microfinance dans le monde, PlaNet Finance a annoncé le 19 octobre le lancement de son premier fonds, PlanNet Finance Nord-Sud. Le fonds se présente comme un fonds nourricier de Natixis Impact Nord Sud Développement, la sicav gérée depuis plus de 25 ans par Natixis Asset Management. Destiné en priorité à la clientèle institutionnelle et entreprise, le fonds est commercialisé par PlaNIS, la filiale du groupe PlaNet Finance dédiée au conseil en investissement en microfinance.Le fonds sera investi principalement dans des obligations émises par des institutions supranationales comme la Banque Mondiale ou la Banque Européenne de Développement, qui représentent 75% minimum du portefeuille, des obligations des pays émergents (jusqu'à 10% du portefeuille), et des sociétés de microcrédit, jusqu'à 10% également du portefeuille, ces sociétés qui permettent aux plus défavorisés, exclus des circuits financiers classiques, d’accéder au crédit.Le fonds se distingue parmi les autres fonds de microfinance dans la mesure où il cible des institutions jeunes, de taille moyenne, à fort potentiel traditionnellement délaissées par les fonds commerciaux. Le fonds n’hésite pas à investir dans des pays perçus comme risqués, pour y soutenir les institutions de microfinance méritantes et lutter contre la pauvreté. Le fonds a ainsi décidé ce mois-ci d’investir au Niger, au Mali, en Equateur et en Géorgie, outre une position déjà existante au Kosovo."Le lancement du fonds complète la gamme déjà très large de services que nous rendons à la communauté mondiale de la microfinance. Nous ferons tout pour que ce fonds soit à l’image du reste de nos activités : un instrument financier de haut niveau, à la fois solidaire, éthique et rentable».Caractéristiques du fonds :Code ISIN : FR0010928168Indice de référence : JP Morgan Governement Bonds Index Global All Maturity calculé en euroDroits d’entrée maximum : néantDroits de sortie maximum : néantFrais de gestion TTC maximum : 0,60% (direct/fonds nourricier) /0,80% (indirect/action IC de la sicav maître)Valeur liquidative d’origine : 100 eurosSouscription minimale initiale : un dix-millième de partFonds coordonné : Non

Pierre-Edouard Coiffard a rejoint Olympia Capital Management le 15 octobre en tant que directeur adjoint des investissements responsable de l’analyse stratégique. Il est basé à Londres et travaille sous la direction de Guido Bolliger, directeur des investissements.L’intéressé était précédemment directeur de la gestion chez Altigefi, filiale de Sal. Oppenheim et de Deutsche Bank, et a notamment créé et géré la gamme de fonds Altipro depuis 1998. Il avait fondé LC & Co qui a ensuite donné naissance à Altigefi dont il a été un des principaux actionnaires jusqu’à sa vente fin 2007.

Petercam IAM a enregistré une collecte nette d’environ 250 millions d’euros en France depuis le début de l’année. Sur l’ensemble de l’année, les actifs sous gestion de la société, actuellement à 15,3 milliards d’euros, pourraient s'établir autour de 16 milliards d’euros. Autrement dit à trois ou quatre milliards en deçà des niveaux d’avant crise mais, selon Yves Hup, senior sales & account manager France et Italie, l’essentiel n’est peut-être pas là mais bien plutôt dans le maintien d’une relation de confiance à long terme avec les investisseurs. «Le contact permanent avec les clients pendant la crise, l’effort de transparence sur la stratégie, payent sur le long terme», estime-t-il. D’autant plus que la France est désormais au cœur de la stratégie de la société de gestion belge qui a récemment renforcé sa présence commerciale dans l’Hexagone, avec le recrutement de Thierry Minet en qualité de sales & account manager pour la France (NewsManagers du 2 septembre). Et Yves Hup ne cache pas que l'équipe pourrait encore être étoffée dans les prochains mois. Petercam travaille par ailleurs à l'élaboration de nouveaux produits qui pourraient être proposés d’ici à la fin de l’année ou au début 2011. Sont notamment envisagés une stratégie thématique globale metals & minings, une stratégie dans l’immobilier et pour le début de l’année prochaine, un fonds patrimonial… En attendant, l’encours du fonds Petercam L Bonds euro Short Term High Dividend, lancé récemment, atteint 27 millions d’euros. Un fonds qui vient en complément du Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield, lancé il y a tout juste dix ans et dont l’encours est proche du milliard d’euros.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management a annoncé, mardi 19 octobre, l’arrivée d’Alexandre Touma en tant que commercial Institutionnel France.L’intéressé a démarré sa carrière en 2005 chez Robeco. Depuis janvier 2008, il occupait la fonction de commercial institutionnels pour la clientèle Retraite, Institutions Financières et Entreprises.Son arrivée coïncide avec la volonté d’Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management de renforcer sa présence auprès de sa clientèle institutionnelle française. Composée de 4 personnes, la direction «Institutionnels France» est dirigée par Florence Dard, précise un communiqué.

Amundi ETF a annoncé mardi 19 octobre la cotation de 23 ETF supplémentaires sur SIX Swiss Exchange, portant le nombre total de ses produits disponibles sur cette place à 43. La nouvelle série est composée d’ETF «actions» et «obligataires» comprenant : 12 ETF Actions dont, sur le marché américain, AMUNDI ETF NASDAQ-100, AMUNDI ETF MSCI USA et AMUNDI ETF S&P 500. Les investisseurs peuvent également opter pour un ETF visant à répliquer deux fois la performance quotidienne de l’indice MSCI USA. Parmi les nouveaux venus, AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD EX EUROPE permet de s’exposer au marché mondial hors Europe en une seule transaction. AMUNDI ETF MSCI NORDIC, propose, quant à lui, de bénéficier de l’évolution, à la hausse comme à la baisse, de près de 80 des plus importantes valeurs du marché nordique (Danemark, Finlande, Norvège et Suède). A cela s’ajoutent 3 ETF Actions pour investir sur les principaux marchés émergents : AMUNDI ETF MSCI CHINA qui réplique, à la hausse comme à la baisse, l’évolution des 50 plus importantes sociétés chinoises cotées à Hong Kong ; AMUNDI ETF MSCI INDIA qui permet de s’exposer à près de 60 valeurs du marché indien et AMUNDI ETF MSCI EASTERN EUROPE EX RUSSIA qui permet de bénéficier de la croissance potentielle d’environ 30 valeurs majeures d’Europe centrale hors Russie. Enfin, 2 ETF Sectoriels inédits sont aussi proposés : AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD ENERGY et AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD FINANCIALS. Du côté de l’obligataire figurent 6 ETF sur emprunts d’Etat américain «Long» et «Short». Ces ETF visent à répliquer, à la hausse comme à la baisse, la performance d’une famille d’indices Markit iBoxx $ Treasuries® sur des maturités comprises entre 1 et 10 ans. Ces indices sont composés d’emprunts d’Etat émis par le Trésor américain et libellés en US dollar. Cette gamme comprend 3 ETF «long» complétés par 3 ETF «short» inédits pour une exposition quotidienne inverse aux mêmes indices, précise un communiqué.

BNY Mellon a annoncé avoir signé avec la Bourse de Shanghai (Shanghai Stock Exchange ou SSE) un accord de principe (memorandum of understanding) pour une collaboration qui portera sur des ETF répliquant des indices de depositary receipts de BNY Mellon qui seront traités sur le SSE. Cette Bourse obtient l’exclusivité pour la Chine de la cotation d’ETF utilisant ces indices.

Jersey voit le secteur des services aux fonds croître, ce qui témoigne de la confiance dans le secteur de la gestion d’actifs sur l’île, selon Lipper. Ainsi, à fin juin 2010, 1.688 fonds et compartiments faisaient l’objet de services (administration, audit, conservation, juridique) contre 1.654 fonds un an plus tôt, représentant un encours de 323 milliards de dollars. Le plus gros administrateur de fonds à Jersey est State Street, avec 76,6 milliards sous administration, devant Bedell Trust Company et R&H Fund Services.La principale catégorie de fonds domiciliés à Jersey est celle des fonds de capital investissement et de capital risque (43,6 milliards de dollars) et celle des fonds immobiliers (37,3 milliards). Ensemble, ils représentent 57 % des actifs sur l’île. L’encours des ETF matières premières atteignent 12,2 milliards de dollars.

Graham Campbell, fondateur d’Edinburgh Partners qui a quitté sa société en décembre, a été nommé CEO de Saracem Fund Managers. L’intéressé prendra une participation importante au capital de la société, qui relocalise son activité de Glasgow à Edimbourg, précise Investment Week. Saracem a prévu d'étoffer prochainement sa gamme avec le lancement de nouveaux produits absolute return et obligataires.

Entre juillet et septembre 2010, Jupiter Fund Management a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 734 millions de livres, portant le total de sa collecte à 1,5 milliard de livres depuis le début de l’année. Ses encours sont ressortis à 22,2 milliards de livres à fin septembre, contre 19,8 milliards fin juin.La société de gestion britannique annonce par ailleurs avoir obtenu l’agrément pour lancer un trust marchés émergents monde au dernier trimestre de cette année. Le produit sera géré par Kathryn Langridge, qui a rejoint la société en juillet.

Selon Fund Strategy, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) a recruté David Billyard, head of sales chez Premier Asset Management, comme business development manager. L’intéressé sera chargé principalement de promouvoir les fonds retail sur le marché de gros en se focalisant sur Londres et le Sud-Ouest de l’Angleterre.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors have regained their appetite for risk, concentrating largely on emerging markets equities, in the expectation of a second wave of quantitative easing, according to the most recent survey by BofA Merrill Lynch of a sample of 194 management firms with USD492bn in assets between 8 and 14 October. The level of risk taken on by investors has not increased by such a large proportion since April 2009. The proportion of allocators who are heavyweight in equities has more than tripled, to a total of 27% in net, compared with 10% in September. They have also maintained underweight exposures to bonds, while only 6%, compared with 18% previously, are overweight in cash. The evolution worked largely to the advantage of emerging markets equities, in which 49% of allocators were overweight, a month on month increase of 17 percentage points. Appetite for US, European and Japanese equities remained stable, while respondents were less pessimistic about UK equities. Managers were also slightly more optimistic about the growth of the Chinese economy in the next 12 months (19% compared with 11% in September). Investors were also much more optimistic about the growth outlooks for corporate profits, as the percentage of allocators who are overweight in industrial shares increased from 4% to 15% in the space of one month. Investors would like to see businesses adopt a more aggressive investment policy, though last month many of them wanted to see them consolidate their balance sheets.

Assets at the 500 largest fund management firms worldwide increased 16% in 2009 to a total of USD62trn as of the end of the year, after they contracted by 23% in 2008. Though this was the second-largest increase in assets under management since the beginning of the data series (1996), according to the Pensions & Investments / Towers Watson World 500 Ranking, the level of assets remains below that observed at the end of 2006. In addition, Towers Watson remarks, only have of managers who posted the largest increases to their assets of the past five years say the increase is due to organic growth, while the other half did it through mergers and acquisitions.In fact, the market share for the 20 largest management firms has increased to more than 40%, compared with 38% in 2008. Of this group, asset management firms controlled by banks continue to dominate. Meanwhile, the study reveals that of the 20 largest management firms, 12 are domiciled in the United States, and 8 in Europe, of which 4 are in France (Axa, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis). The market share for emerging countries has more than doubled in ten years, to 4%, while Japanese management firms have fallen to under 7%, from over 13%.The study also reveals that assets for the major passive asset management firms has steadily increased in the past ten years. As of the end of 2009, they totalled USD7.3trn, up 62% compared with USD4.5trn as of the end of 2008, largely due to the acquisition of BGI by BlackRock, which took it up to USD1.7trn in passive assets, overtaking State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) with USD1.4trn.Among the winners in recent years, P&I and Towers Watson cite BlackRock, which has grown from 41th place to 1st, BNP Paribas (33rd to 7th), Federated Investors (72nd to 42nd), Wells Fargo (51st to 23rd), Crédit Agricole (24th to 12th), Goldman Sachs (25th to 14th) and Legg Mason (37th to 18th).See the rankings of the top 20 assetmanagement firms by assets below.

The alternative management firm Quaesta Capital GmbH, based in Frankfurt with EUR2bn in assets, has announced the launch of the Bond Global Select fund, a UCITS III-compliant fund with an opportunistic / Macro Funds strategy, offering daily liquidity.

Some of the world’s biggest institutional investors have joined forces with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to try to recover losses on more than USD47bn in mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide Financial, bought by Bank of America, says the Financial Times. The eight investors, which include BlackRock, Pimco and MetLife, own more than 25 per cent of the voting rights on the securities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the European Central Bank, assets in Euro zone investment funds excluding money market funds as of the end of August totalled EUR5.428bn, compared with EUR5.375bn one month previously, an increase of EUR53bn nearly equally attributable to market effects and net subscriptions (which totalled EUR28bn, compared with EUR20bn in July). Between the end of August and 30 September, assets under management in money market funds increased (for the first time in one year) by EUR37bn (of which EUR28bn were net subscriptions), to EUR1.18trn.

Between June 2009 and June 2010, assets under management in socially responsible investment funds in Europe increased 41% to EUR75bn, according to a Vigeo study of green, social and ethical funds. The number of funds also increased 29% to 879.France was the driver of this growth, with an increase of 92% in assets managed according to SRI principles. The country also retains its position as the leader in Europe, with a market share of 36%. Vigeo notes that Switzerland has seen a strong increase (+59%), followed by Sweden (+48%).SRI has grown in the United Kingdom and Germany as well, but to a lesser extent (+9% and +11%, respectively). Italy has returned to growth (+13%), after a year of stagnation. Belgium is the country with the largest number of SRI funds, which account for 10% of total assets under collective management in the country.Analysis of products by asset classes reveals a more marked growth for money market funds than for equities funds.

The 27 countries of the European Union on 19 October reached unanimous agreement on the planned AIFM directive, which will allow for the regulation of hedge fund managers. The bill will now go to a vote of the European Parliament at its session on 10 and 11 November, just before the Seoul G20 summit, which will be chaired by France.On the highly sensitive question of the European passport, the agreement will allow a passport for funds and asset management firms from countries outside Europe from 2013 for funds managed in the European Union, and from 2015 for funds registered in outside countries.France did not achieve its goal of making the new European financial market authority (ESMA) responsible for issuing the passport; approval may be granted by any of the 27 national supervisors in the Union. But ESMA will be systematically informed of all passport applications to a national supervisor, and will be able to step in to tell member state supervisors not to license or to suspend sales of foreign funds which threaten the security of investors or financial stability in Europe.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management announced on Tuesday, 19 October, that Alexandre Touma has joined the firm as a salesperson in the Institutionnel France team.Touma began his career in 2005 at Robeco. Since January 2008, he has served as an institutional salesperson for retirement, financial institutions and business clients. His arrival coincides with a desire at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management to strengthen its presence in the French institutional market. The “Institutionnels France” team, with 4 members, is led by Florence Dard, a statement says.

Pierre-Edourard Coiffard on 15 October joined Olympia Capital Management as deputy chief investment officer in charge of strategic analysis. He is based in London, and will report to Guido Bolliger, chief investment officer.Coiffard was previously director of management at Altigefi, a unit of Sal. Oppenheim and Deutsche Bank, and created the Altipro range, which he has managed since 1998. He founded LC & Co, which then gave birth to Altigefi, in which he was one of the largest shareholders until its sale in late 2007.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter, Bank of America Corporation reposted net losses of USD7.3bn due to a one-time charge related to goodwill for its global activities and credit cards totalling USD10.4bn. Aside from this non-tax deductible charge, net profits totalled USD3.1bn, compared with USD1bn in third quarter 2009. Net profits for asset and wealth management (AWM) in July-September totalled USD313m, compared with USD356m for second quarter, and USD234m in the corresponding period of last year. Meanwhile, assets as of the end of September totalled USD624.1bn, compared with USD603.3bn as of 30 June, and USD739.8bn as of 30 September 2009. In the first nine months of the year, net profits for AWM totalled USD1.129bn, compared with USD1.123bn in the corresponding period of 2009. The division states that its assets under management increased in July-September due to rising markets and higher subscriptions for high-return products, which led to an increase of USD14bn in deposits and USD6bn in long-term assets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 September, assets under management at BNY Mellon, excluding securities lending, totalled USD1.14trn, an increase of 9% compared with the end of June, and 18% year on year, while assets under custody and administration totalled a record USD24.4trn, 12% more than on 30 June, and 10% more than on 30 September 2009. These increases came largely from the acquisitions of Global Investment Servicing (GIS) on 1 July, and BHF Asset Servicing GmbH on 2 August. In third quarter, net inflows from asset and wealth management totalled USD11bn for long-term products, and USD18bn for short-term products. Group-wide, net profits available to holders of ordinary shares in third quarter totalled USD625bn, compared with USD688m in second quarter, and a loss of USD2.439bn in the corresponding period of last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter, Goldman Sachs has seen an increase of USD21bn in assets under management, to USD823bn, largely due to rising markets, which brought in USD34bn, and which offset net redemptions of USD13bn, largely from equities and money markets. Net revenues for the asset management division totalled USD1.02trn, 5% more than one year ago.

Petercam IAM has posted net inflows of about USD250m in France since the beginning of the year. For the year as a whole, assets under management at the firm, which currently total EUR15.3bn, may come out to about EUR16bn.In other words, says Yves Hup, senior sales & account manager France and Italy, levels are EUR3bn to EUR4bn below where they were before the crisis, but the important thing is perhaps not asset levels but maintaining a long-term relationship of trust with investors. “permanent contact with clients through the crisis, and efforts to be transparent about strategy, pay off in the long term,” he says.France is now at the core of the Belgian management firm’s strategy, and it has recently scaled up its sales presence in France with the recruitment of Thierry Minet as sales & account manager for France (see Newsmanagers of 2 September). Hup does not conceal the fact that the team may take on further additions in the next few months.Petercam is also working to develop new products, which could be offered by the end of the year or early 2011. A global metals & mining themed strategy is planned, as well as a real estate strategy, and early next year, a wealth fund.Meanwhile, assets in the Petercam L Bonds Euro Short Term High Dividend fund, launched recently, total USD27m. The fund is a complement to the Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield, launched ten years ago, with assets near EUR1bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } US managers like Apollo, Fortress, Cerberus and Carval, specialised in distressed debt, have arrived in Spain in recent weeks, and will conclude acquisitions of distressed debt from banks and savings banks by the end of the year, Expansión reports. In total, there is a record volume of EUR102bn in distressed debt in Spain. Recovery management platforms such as Gescobro, Gesif and Lindorff are also studying the possibility of extending their activities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CNMV issued licenses for 74 iShares ETFs, sub-funds of three Irish Sicav funds (iShares Public Limited Company, iShares II Public Limited Company, and iShares III Public Limited Company). The products come in addition to 17 others which BlackRock had previously registered in December 2009, when the iShares brand made its debut on the Spanish market. The manager is planning to register other iShares ETFs in the next few months, with the objective of becoming the provider with the largest product range in Spain.

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse hedge fund index (formerly Credit Suisse/Tremont) has posted returns for September of 3.43%, bringing gains for these funds in the first nine months of the year to 5.98%.The two strategies which posted the best results in September were long/short equity, with 5.09%, and emerging markets, with 4.77%. The only category to show losses was dedicated short bias, with losses of 11.28%. Since the beginning of the year, fixed income arbitrage and global macro have led the index, with returns of 9.79% and 9.33%, respectively, while dedicated short bias has lost 12.49%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } All alternative strategies monitored by the Edhec-Risk Institute posted gains in September, except short selling, which lost 8.63%. Short selling was also the only strategy in the red since the beginning of the year, with losses of 9.4%. The best-performing strategy was emerging markets, which gained 4.63% in September. In the first 9 months of the year, convertibles arbitrage was the strategy which performed best, with gains of 8.5%. Fund of funds strategy has gained 2.2% for the month, and has returned to positive performance since the beginning of the year (+1.7%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Currently, the Irish-domiciled BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency fund, managed by Alexander Khozhemiakin at Standish, has USD4bn in assets, of which USD2bn in net subscriptions have come since the beginning of this year USD300m from France). The fund, which was once again presented to investors in Paris on 19 October, invests in government debts from emerging countries which are expected to generate double-digit performance, with returns of 6-6 1/2% and currency gains against the Euro of 4-5% per year. The management team reserves the right to use currency forwards to dissociate bets on currency rates from those on interest rates. The fund invests in 17 countries with liquid bond markets, with a vast range of maturities. About one third of the fund is invested in Asia, one quarter in emerging Europe, and one tenth in Brazilian debt, among others. The fund has no exposure to frontier markets. Khozhemiakin explains that the fund is focused on the safest investments in local currencies, the one which are privileged by the major local institutionals. The turnover rate is between 60% and 70%. The team currently includes 12 investment professionals in Boston and London. A senior analyst is now being recruited in Singapore.