Associate director de KPMG au Royaume-Uni, Chris Mc Golpin vient de rejoindre Schroders comme head of client service & business management pour l’activité institutionnelle. Il s’agit d’un poste nouvellement créé.L’intéressé sera directement subordonné à Miles O’Connor, head of UK institutional.

Axa a annoncé le 15 septembre la finalisation de la cession à Resolution des activités suivantes basées au Royaume-Uni : vie et retraite traditionnelles, prévoyance et retraite collectives distribuées par des conseillers financiers indépendants, et annuités ; le tout pour un prix global de vente de 2,75 milliards de livres (soit environ 3,3 milliards d’euros).Le montant net reçu en numéraire pour le groupe est de 1,7 milliard d’euros, précise le groupe dans un communiqué. « Cette opération est un élément clé de notre stratégie visant à optimiser davantage l’allocation du capital au sein du groupe, tout en se concentrant sur les opérations à plus forte croissance et rentabilité du marché britannique de l’assurance vie, épargne, retraite», indique le directeur général délégué d’Axa, cité dans le communiqué.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Premier Asset Management, whose assets under management total about GBP2.5bn, has launched a multi-asset class portfolio, which includes five funds, UK Money Market, Conservative Growth, Multi-Asset Distribution, Multi-Asset Growth and Enterprise Funds, which offer several ways to invest in money markets, equities, fixed income, structured products and real estate.

Jupiter Asset Management has announced that Simon Somerville has been appointed deputy manager of the Jupiter Global Managed Fund. The GBP275m fund covers a broad spectrum of global markets and sectors with individual stocks selected by eight of Jupiter’s regional managers including Cedric de Fonclare, manager of the Jupiter European Special Situations Fund, Derek Pound, co-manager of the Jupiter Primadona Investment Trust, Sebastian Radcliffe, manager of the Jupiter North American Income Fund and Ben Surtees, manager of the Jupiter Asian Fund,. Overall asset allocation is set by John Chatfeild-Roberts, who has lead-managed the fund since November 2001.

Frankie Lee has decided to leave Henderson to join another asset manager based in Hong Kong. He has been managing the USD355 million Henderson HF Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund since 2008. Henderson is currently in the market to hire an equal replacement for Frankie Lee but until it has done so, Patrick Sumner, head of property equities, will be responsible for the management for the USD800 million Asian property equities assets the asset manager manages on behalf of its clients on a segregated and pooled basis, including the Henderson HF Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund. In addition, to ensure the smooth management and running of the Fund and to assist in finding a replacement Patrick Sumner will move to Singapore in October until such a time as Henderson feel is appropriate following the recruitment of a replacement, says Henderson. Frankie Lee will continue his involvement in the fund until his day of departure on the 1st of December 2010 or until his replacement arrives.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa announced on 15 September that it has finalised its sale of the following activities based in the United Kingdom: traditional life insurance and retirement; collective retirement planning and pensions distributed by independent financial advisers; and annuities, all for an overall sale price of GBP2.75bn (about EUR3.3bn). The amount received in cash by the group is EUR1.7bn, the group says in a statement. “The operation is a key element in our strategy to better optimise the allocation of capital within the group, while concentrating on higher growth and profit operations on the British life insurance, savings, and retirement market,” Denis Duverne, the deputy CEO of Axa says in a statement.

F&C Investments is rebranding its UK retail range to Thames River following the merger of the two companies, writes Money Marketing. The fund manager is going to retain the F&C brand for the UK institutional side and switch to F&C Thames River in the rest of Europe.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sam Catalano, who was head of the equities research team specialised in metals and mining in Europe for Macquarie in London, has joined the global equities team at Schroders, led by Virgini Maisonneuve, head of global and international equities, as a portfolio manager specialised in the global materials sector. Giles Money, a recent university graduate, has also been recruited as a portfolio manager and analyst specialised in climate change. He will report to Simon Webber, co-manager of the Schroder Global Climate Change Fund.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Chris McGolpin, associate director of KPMG in the United Kingdom, has joined Schroders as head of client service & business management for institutional activities. The position is newly-created. McGolpin will report directly to Miles O’Connor, head of UK institutional.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that Export-Import Bank of China and the Chinese sovereign fund CIC have invested USD300m each in a fund which will finance projects in energy and infrastructure in South-East Asia. The fund will have USD10bn in assets in eight years’ time.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The intervention of the Bank of Japan on Wednesday to weaken the Yen (which fell 3%) was a hard hit for hedge fund specialists in fast-trading who had accumulated profits through betting on rises in the Japanese currency, the Wall Street Journal reports. John Taylor at FX Concepts (USD7.8bn), for example, has stated that several funds from his firm lost about 2% on Wednesday. According to financial industry sources, Aspect Capital and Winton Capital Management, among others, were also affected.

Le rôle systémique des chambres de compensation nourrit le débat chez les professionnels

La baisse des transactions engagée depuis deux ans est enfin enrayée grâce à un rebond des grandes surfaces au premier trimestre

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Le mois d’août confirme la reprise en Ile-de-France, mais le volume d’actifs neufs tend à diminuer face à la chute des mises en chantier

The Asset Management division of Credit Suisse has bought a minority stake in York Capital Management, an alternative management firm based in New York. York will continue to operate independently in the future, led by CEO and founder Jamie Dinan, and Dan Schwartz, chief investment officer, the Swiss group announced in a statement on 14 September. By the terms of the contract, Credit Suisse will pay an initial USD425m for a minority stake. Subsequent payments depending on the performance of the firm and the long-term engagement of the management will follow over the next five years. The acquisition involves a minority stake in the management firm, and not an investment in York’s funds, Credit Suisse says. The stake represents an important step in the Asset Management division’s growth strategy, and will allow the bank to assume a dominant position in the global alternative instrument sector, according to the division’s CEO Rob Shafir, cited in the statement. York Capital, founded in 1991, manages about USD14bn in assets.p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eaton Vance announced at the beginning of this week that it has appointed Scott P. Ruddick as head of institutional clients, in charge of development of business and relations with clients in the US and Canada. Before joining Eaton Vance, Ruddick spent 13 years at Mellon Capital Management, most recently as managing director in charge of North American distribution. Eaton Vance has also announced that it has extended the responsibilities of Matthew Witkos, who will now be in charge of distribution of all of the group’s products and services aimed at retail and institutional markets worldwide. Assets under management at Eaton Vance and its affiliates as of 31 July this year totalled USD173.3bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of August, assets under management in ETFs worldwide totalled USD1.0644trn, compared with USD1.0952trn as of the end of July, and USD1.0259trn at the end of June. The total remains 2.7% higher than the USD1.036trn recorded at the end of 2009, iShares points out. The number of ETFs has increased 18.7% since the beginning of the year, with 401 new products and 38 products removed from trading. Of the 2.038 ETFs now available, the top 100 represent 63.3% of total assets. Currently, 944 new ETFs are planned. The top three providers of ETFs remain unchanged: iShares (453 ETFs, unchanged from the end of July) has assets of USD492.7bn, compared with USD506.8bn one month earlier, for an unchanged market share of 46.3%; State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is in second plave, with 110 products (unchanged) and USD139.6bn, or 13.1% of the market, while Vanguard (47 products, unchanged) is in third place, with USD113.3bn, compared with USD113.1bn, which represents 10.6% of the market, compared with 10.3% one month earlier.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse announced on 14 September that it has added five French-registered ETF funds from Amundi to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic trading platform, bringing the number of ETF products listed in Frankfurt to 702. The newly-added products are the Amundi ETF ex AAA Govt Bond EuroMTS, CAC 40, S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and EURO STOXX Small Cap. 63 Amundi ETF products are now listed in Frankfurt.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Between the end of July and the end of August, the number of ETFs in Europe increased from 969 to 985, with 3,140 product listings, up from 3,117, and total assets of USD230.9bn, up from USD236.8bn. The number of providers increased from 35 to 37, and the number of stock markets where ETFs are listed increased to 19 from 18, iShares reports. Assets as of the end of December 2009 totalled USD226.9bn, while the total eight months later is another 1.7% higher. iShares also states that net subscriptions to ETFs and ETPs domiciled in Europe totalled USD2.2bn in August (of which USD1.6bn went to ETFs, compared with USD2.4bn in July), while in the first eight months of the year, net inflows represented USD29.3bn (of which USD26bn went to ETFs, compared with USD24.2bn as of 31 July). iShares captured the majority of subscriptions in January-August, with USD6.6bn, followed by db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) with USD3.1bn, and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) with USD3bn. In terms of assets, iShares remains the top provider, with USD83.8bn, or 36.3% of the market (compared with 36.1% as of the end of July), followed by Lyxor (USD43.1bn and 18.7%) and db x-trackers (USD37.4bn and 16.2%).

An industry research report which will be published jointly on Wednesday by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice shows that there are significant tax complications in the new Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS IV) Directive that prevent the achievement of a harmonised European funds industry. The report identifies critical tax issues and numerous examples of discrimination and inefficiencies across the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. The report, entitled Analysis of the tax implications of UCITS IV, recognises that the UCITS IV Directive to be implemented by Member States by July 2011 offers considerable scope for re-structuring fund management operations in the EU. The directive introduces six efficiency measures, which could make the European fund industry more competitive and attractive to investors. However, the directive does not deal with critical tax reforms required to enable effective use of the efficiency measures of the directive. EFAMA and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice recommend the adoption of a tax Directive at EU level that would remove the tax barriers of UCITS IV being fully effective. In particular, it should provide for: tax neutrality of fund mergers; uniform rules governing the tax residency of funds and the place of incorporation and registration; tax neutrality on the flow of cash between master and feeder funds. In the meantime, in the absence of a directive, EFAMA and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice encourage each Member State to take the appropriate measures at national level in order to resolve the remaining tax obstacles.

CPR Asset Management and its parent company Amundi on Tuesday announced the launch of a new brand aimed at independent financial advisers,entitled “Le Comptoir par CPR”.CPR AM has assembled aneight-member sales and marketing team, some of whom come from Amundi,which will be wholly dedicated to this client segment, and will offerthem funds both from the provider’s own range, and from the Amundigroup, with a focus on emerging markets, diversified management, andreal estate.The wholly-owned subsidiary of Amundi CPR AM thusbecomes the single point of access for all asset classes and expertiseat the group for independent financial advisers, a class of client thatCrédit Agricole Asset Management and Société Générale Asset Managementdid not cover intensively.CPR AM, for its part, currentlymanages an amount “in the hundreds of millions of Euros” for theseclients, according to Jean-Eric Mercier, CEO of CPR AM, out of currenttotal assets of EUR19.6bn.The goal of Comptoir is to “become one of the top 3 management firm partners for IFAs by 2012, in terms of net inflows.” To be more precise, this means a market share of 10-15% interms of net sales, says Mercier.p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Federal judge Burton Lifland, at a bankruptcy court in Manhattan, on Tuesday approved legal fees of USD34.6m for Irving Picard, the liquidator for the business operations of Bernard Madoff, and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler, the Wall Street Journal reports. The judge also approved a USD3m invoice for 10 other law firms in the United States and elsewhere.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The private equity firm Permira is supporting a management buyout of the Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) company from a consortium of private equity firms led by CVC. The acquisition price is said to be above USD200m. Permira will acquire Kingsbridge, the holding company of ABS, from its current shareholders, including CVC and ADM Capital. Permira will then become the majority shareholder in ABS, while the ABS management will control a significant minority stake in the capital.

Axa Private Equity, la filiale de capital-investissement de l’assureur français, vient de lancer la levée d’un nouveau véhicule pour son activité «infrastructure» dont l’objectif est de collecter plus de 1 milliard d’euros, en majorité auprès d’investisseurs extérieurs, rapporte la Tribune. Cette somme sera destinée à être investie au capital de sociétés en charge de la gestion d’infrastructures, comme les autoroutes, les hôpitaux ou les réseaux de distribution d’eau potable.

BNP Paribas Securities Services a annoncé le 14 septembre sa décision de réorganiser son activité à l'échelle mondiale «dans le cadre de la politique d’expansion géographique de BNP Paribas». BNP Paribas Securities Services a ainsi choisi une organisation par métiers et par régions, afin de refléter l’internationalisation des besoins du groupe et de ses clients. Quatre métiers internationaux ont été créés :o Services actifs et fonds, sous la direction de Philippe Ricard, o Services compensation et conservation, sous la direction de Alain Pochet, o Services « corporate trust », sous la direction de Alain Pochet, o Services marchés et financement, sous la direction de Florence Bonnevay. Les directeurs des différents métiers seront rattachés directement à Patrick Colle, CEO de BNP Paribas Securities Services. « Notre nouvelle organisation va nous permettre de mieux répondre aux besoins d’internationalisation de nos clients, tout en renforçant l’efficacité et la performance de notre activité. De plus, elle devrait accroître notre réactivité et notre aptitude à créer et offrir des solutions innovantes. Nous sommes en train de devenir un acteur de dimension réellement international, et notre réorganisation va nous permettre d’aider nos clients à atteindre leurs objectifs tout en accélérant notre propre expansion dans le monde», estime Patrick Colle, cité dans le communiqué.De plus, BNP Paribas Securities Services crée une équipe de développement clientèle dont l’objectif sera de gérer l’activité par segment de clientèle et par région. Les six responsables des segments de clientèle et les huit responsables régionaux seront placés sous la responsabilité de Charles Cock, lui-même rattaché à Patrick Colle. Ils travailleront en étroite collaboration avec les métiers pour définir une stratégie de croissance et un mix produits pour les clients cibles, sur un ensemble varié de marchés.Les responsables des segments de clientèle :o Investisseurs alternatifs, sous la direction de Maria Cantillono Gérants d’actifs, sous la direction de Margaret Harwood-Joneso Propriétaires d’actifs, sous la direction de Dietmar Roesslero Banques, sous la direction de Nadia Diegoo Broker-dealers et banques d’investissement, sous la direction d’Alan Cameron o Émetteurs, sous la direction de Pascal PommierLes responsables régionauxo Asie pacifique, sous la direction de Lawrence Auo France et Belgique, sous la direction de Jean-Marc Pasqueto Allemagne, Europe du Nord, Europe centrale et orientale, sous la direction de Gerald Noltscho Italie, Suisse et bassin méditerranéen, sous la direction d’Alessandro Gioffreda o Luxembourg, Dublin et autres centres d’investissement, sous la direction de Frédéric Perardo Amérique du Nord, sous la direction de Christina Feichto Espagne, Portugal et Amérique latine, sous la direction d’Alvaro Camunaso Royaume-Uni, Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Sud, sous la direction de James McAleenan Au 31 juin 2010, BNP Paribas Securities Services affichait 5453 milliards de dollars d’actifs en conservation, plus de 920 milliards de dollars d’actifs administrés et plus de 6000 fonds administrés, ce qui en fait le premier fournisseur de services sur titres en Europe et le cinquième acteur mondial.

Lyxor Asset Management a inauguré sur la Bourse de Bruxelles la cotation de 22 ETF. La société de gestion a déjà un ETF coté à Bruxelles depuis 2002. Elle a choisi d’étendre sa gamme en fonction des ETF les plus traités chez les courtiers en ligne du pays. L’Echo rappelle que les 22 produits sont déjà cotés à Paris.

Depuis le 14 septembre, Euronext Bruxelles cote 22 ETF de Lyxor Asset Management, vingt de droit français et deux de droit luxembourgeois lancés entre le 22 janvier 2001 et le 16 novembre 2009, dont vingt ont pour marché de référence Euronext Paris deux celui d’Euronext Amsterdam.Avec ces 22 «cross-listings», NYSE Euronext traite 559 fois un total de 489 ETF sur plus de 300 indices. Fin août, le total ressortait à 533 cotations de 485 ETF lancés par 17 émetteurs.Les 22 Lyxor ETF nouvellement cotés à Bruxelles sont l’EuroMTS AAA Government Bond, Leverage AEX, Leverage CAC 40, Leveraged Euro Stoxx 50, MSCI Emerging Markets, XBear Euro Stoxx 50, Dax, LevDax Brazil (Bovespa), XBear CAC 40, India, russia, MSCI World, Commodities CRB, MSCI Europe, EruoMTS 1-3 Y, China enterprise, EuroMTS 3-5Y, EuroMTS Global, Euro Stoxx 50 et CAC 40.

Selon Asian Investor, UBS Wealth Management a nommé, avec effet immédiat, Alexander Kobler à la tête de l’entité produits et services d’investissement pour la zone Asie-Pacifique en remplacement de Michael Benz, qui a quitté la société pour rejoindre Bank of America Merrill Lynch.Jusqu’ici responsable du conseil et key account manager pour la gestion de fortune en Suisse, Alexander Kobler s’est installé à Hong Kong. L’entité produits et services d’investissement a été mise en place en janvier dernier dans le cadre d’une réorganisation structurelle. Le successeur d’Alexander Kobler en Suisse devrait être désigné prochainement.

Le groupe français Axa a indiqué le 14 septembre dans un communiqué avoir pris bonne note de la décision du groupe bancaire australien National Australia Bank (NAB) de mettre fin à l’accord entre NAB et Axa Asia Pacific Holdings (Axa APH) et entre NAB et Axa sur l’acquisition potentielle d’Axa APH par NAB et la cession des activités asiatiques d’Axa APH à Axa.Cette annonce fait suite à la décision de l’autorité de la concurrence australienne (ACCC) de s’opposer aux engagements fermes proposés par NAB et Axa APH. Axa confirme dans son communiqué son soutien à ses activités australiennes et néo-zélandaises et sa volonté de continuer à évaluer ses options dans le contexte de sa stratégie de croissance en Asie. Dans ce contexte, le groupe australien de gestion d’actifs AMP a indiqué, dans le sillage de la décision de NAB, qu’il restait intéressé par le rachat des actifs d’Axa APH en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande.