F&C Asset Management plc, the London Stock Exchange listed asset management group, has completed its acquisition of Thames River Capital. Following completion of the transaction, F&C has further strengthened its executive committee with two appointments. Charlie Porter, founder and chief executive of Thames River, joins the F&C executive committee with overall responsibility for the F&C group’s retail and wholesale fund business. In the enlarged group Thames River will focus on distribution to IFAs and wealth managers and F&C will concentrate on institutional distribution. Jeremy Charles, chief operating officer of Thames River, has also been appointed to the F&C executive committee with immediate effect. While remaining COO of Thames River Capital he has been given a group-wide brief, reporting to Alain Grisay, F&C’s Chief Executive, to implement changes to the enlarged group’s business model, with the objective of creating greater flexibility in its cost structure and to improve overall efficiency.

At an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Wednesday morning, which voted 91.3% in favour of the acquisition of GLG Partners, Man Group Plc announced the appointment of Emmanuel (Manny) Roman to the newly-created position of chief operating officer, once the acquisition has been completed. He will also continue to serve as co-CEO of GLG Partners, with Noam Gottesman. Pierre Lagrange will remain senior managing director of GLG, in charge of investment and European long/short equity strategy. Gottesman will be head of global opportunity strategy for GLG. All three will report to Peter Clarke, CEO of Man.

With the recruitment of Carlos de Leon as portfolio manager, Allianz RCM is preparing to launch an OEIC Brazil fund in October, which will be co-managed by the Latin America specialist at Harbert Management Corporation, with Michael Konstantinov, CIO of Allianz RCM for global emerging markets, Investment Week reports. The fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in Latin American firms which earn a significant proportion of their earnings and profits in Brazil. Allianz RCM has also repositioned its Philippines fund, transforming it into an emerging Asia fund which will also absorb the Malaysia and Singapore funds.

In the 12 months to the end of June, taxable profits at the British firm Hargreaves Lansdown rose 18%, to GBP86.3m, from GBP73.1m in the previous period. Net inflows increased 65% in the period, to GBP3.3bn. Assets under administration increased 47% to GBP17.5bn.

Les Echos reports that Jules Kroll, 69, the eponymous founder of the economic intelligence group, is hoping to rival Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, the three major ratings agencies which account for most of the market. “We need a credible alternative,” Kroll tells the Wall Street Journal. The US billionaire founded Kroll Bond Rating Agency last year. He has recently acquired a ratings boutique, Lace Financial, and has recruited several analysts, and is aiming to obtain new licenses and take a bite out of the three major ratings’ agencies, which have been under fire for the past two years.

Les Echos reports that the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday granted permission for the Chinese sovereign fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) to buy a 10% stake in the capital and voting rights of the US bank Morgan Stanley. The sovereign fund, which acquired 2.49% of ordinary shares in Morgan Stanley in 2009, injected owners’ equity into the bank in late 2007, with an investment of about USD5bn in convertible bonds. These bonds, converted on 17 August, will give CIC a stake of up to 9.9% in Morgan Stanley, on the condition that it remains a “passive investor.” To control over 5%, CIC is required to obtain permission from the Fed.

Pending the approval of the Chinese regulatory authorities (CSRC), the Japanese firm Mitsubishi UFJ will acquire 33% of the joint venture SYWG BNP Paribas, for a total of USD50m, from the Caijing agency.Consulting firm Z-Ben says that the deal has the primary advantage that it will bring BNP Paribas into full compliance with Chinese regulations that forbid foreign firms from having more than one local joint venture, after the sale of its 49% stake in ABN Amro Teda to Manulife last November. The French group may now concentrate on the development of the former Fortis Haitong, which has recently been renamed HFT Fund Management.The valuation of SYWG BNP Paribas was complicated by erratic fluctuations in asset levels, which increased from CNY13bn at the end of June 2009 to CNY24bn at the end of December (due to money market funds), and then fell back to CNY10.4bn as of the end of June 2010.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the appointment of Matthias Minor as its new head of corporate debt capital markets (DCM) Germany. He succeeds Roland Plan, who was head of DCM activities for Europe, including Germany, and who has been appointed country head of RBS for Switzerland. Minor, who joined RBS in 2002, will now report to Matt Carter, head of the origination team for investment grade European bonds.

The German construction group Hochtief announced on Wednesday in a market statement that Southeastern Asset Management, based in Memphis (about USD5bn in assets) had notified it on 30 August that it controls over 5% of its capital, with 5.19%, since 26 August. The US manager previously held slightly over 3% of Hochtief.

Landesbank Berlin Investment GmbH (LBB-Invest) on Wednesday announced the appointment with immediate effect of Andrea Daniela Bauer as a member of the executive board. Since 2006, Bauer was head of the capital markets division at Landesbank Berlin. In December, she will replace Joachim F. Mädler as chair of the executive board. Mädler will remain as an advisor to LBB-Invest, but will be retiring. The other two members of the executive board are Andreas Heß and Dyrk Vieten.

As part of the New Deal strategic plan, Natixis began repositioning its private equity business toward third party asset management, which is planned to integrate Natixis’ Investment Solutions division. This activity combines venture capital, expansion capital and funds of funds, which until now were part of Natixis Private Equity. Dominique Sabassier is in charge of repositioning this activity toward third party asset management within Natixis’ Investment Solutions division. He will report to Pierre Servant, CEO of Investment Solutions and member of the Senior Management Committee of Natixis, and will become part of the Executive Committee of the division. At the same time, Natixis Asset Management is implementing a new investment organization and modifying the composition of its Executive Committee. Ibrahima Kobar and Emmanuel Bourdeix are appointed CIO fixed income and CIO equity, asset allocation and structured products, respectively in replacement of Dominique Sabassier who was deputy CEO in charge of investments. They will both report to Pascal Voisin, CEO, and become members of Natixis Asset Management’s Executive Committee which also comprises Philippe Zaouati, head of business development who is appointed deputy CEO, and Jean-François Baralon, head of finance and operations. Investment Solutions has combined all investment solutions business lines since August 2009, i.e. asset management, insurance and private banking. Natixis Global Asset Management has a multiboutique structure. It combines some twenty financial and real-estate management firms. Its distribution platform provides a strong presence in Europe, the United States, Asia-Pacific and the Middle-East. It is a global player with total assets under management of €532 bn at the end of June 2010. Natixis Asset Management is Natixis Global Asset Management’s European expert with total assets under management of €302 bn at the end of June 2010.

Launches of absolute return funds managed by traditional management firms or hedge funds have shown an unprecedented boom in the past 18 months, according to a study published on 1 September by Moody’s (“European Absolute-Return Funds: A Convergence of Two Worlds.”) The study finds that several factors contributed to this development, including the arrival of hedge funds on the market in UCITS format, as well as the continued preference of investors for liquid, non-benchmarked strategies and regulated vehicles. Moody’s finds that the European regulated absolute return market as of the end of March 2010 totalled about EUR78bn in assets under management, in 718 funds. The total amount of assets under management remains limited, but the number of strategies available is increasing rapidly.

The Belgian asset management firm Petercam Institutional Asset Management, which is on a drive to increase its commercial presence in France, has announced the recruitment of Thierry Minet as sales & account manager for France. Minet joins Ives Hup, who has been senior sales & account manager for France and Italy since 2004, and will assist him in his mission to develop Petercam Asset Management’s presence in France. Before joining Petercam, Thierry worked in asset management at Merrill Lynch and ING.

Asian Investor reports that the Singapore sovereign fund GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) has recruited Kishore Gotety, previously of RREEF (Deutsche Bank) as country head for Indian real estate. The sovereign fund declined to comment on the appointment. Last year, the fund did announce its intention to increase its allocation to real estate. Assets under management at GIC total over USD100bn.

fundstrategy reports that the Irish firm Bloxham, a specialist in brokerage and wealth management, will launch an absolute return fund in UCITS III format, with the objective of earning returns of 8% to 10% per year. The Bloxham Midas global absolute fund will include 25 to 40 long and short positions. It will use the firm’s proprietary Midas analysis technique, which covers more than 2,000 shares and sectors worldwide. The fund, which will be launched in October, will be managed by a team of four people, led by Kevin McConnell, who is also director of strategy at Bloxham. Management fees are 1.5% per year for retail shares, with a performance commission of 10%.

According to the most recent available figures, the number of signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) now come to over 800, more precisely 808, nearly 60 of whom are in France.The PRI program was launched in April 2006. In the space of four years, the Principles have become an increasingly widely regarded standard of reference for investors.

The UK asset management firm Schroders on Wednesday announced the recruitment of Mario Pires, ex-head of sales for Portugal at Deutsche Asset Management Spain, as a member of its Iberian team (Spain and Portugal), led by Carla Bergareche. He will be based in Madrid, and will cooperate closely with Pedro Assis, deputy managing director of Schroders for Spain and Portugal, to develop the institutional client base in the two countries. It is a newly-created position, by which Schroders hopes to strengthen this distribution channel.

Société Générale Private Banking on 1 September appointed Olivier Gougeon as CEO for private banking in the South Asian region, effective from 1 September. Gougeon will be based in Singapore, the regional headquarters for Société Générale Private Banking (Asia Pacific), where he replaces Pierre-F. Baer, who will soon be taking on new responsibilities within the Société Générale group. Gougeon becomes a member of the executive boards of the Asia Pacific private bank and the international head company. He will lead the Singapore office and continue the private bank’s development strtegy in the South Asian region, alongside Alex Fung, CEO of Société Générale Private Banking in Hong Kong, head of the Hong Kong and North Asia (ex China) region, and Patrick Dreyfuss, COO for private banking in the Asia-Pacific region. Since 2007, Gougeon has been director of the wealth engineering expertise centre and private banking fiduciary services. In this position he was based in London and responsible for a team of 240 experts covering 14 countries.

The US firm Northern Trust, which has recently been issued a banking license by the Chinese banking and regulatory commission (CBRC), is now planning to apply for a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) quota, which it may use to buy A-class shares on behalf of its clients, Asian Investor reports. In the short-term, Northern Trust will continue to provide asset management services in Hong Kong. The team at the Beijing office has been strengthened with the transfer of client advisors previously located in Singapore.

Taxation of the financial sector, including a potential tax on financial transactions, could raise tens of billions of Euros in added revenues, Agefi reports. The European Commission (EC) is successively examining taxation of banking activities, including new taxes already imposed in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and taxes on financial transactions which European countries are not willing to commit to unilaterally. The EC says revenues from a banking tax would total EUR26bn per year for the 27 EU countries, with the widest application (taxation of all profits and remunerations). A tax on transactions would raise much larger sums than a banking tax, but Brussels admits that it is also more difficult to put in place, the newspaper notes. Revenues would vary from EUR145bn to EUR172bn per year, depending on the range of application (equities, bonds, derivatives). London would account for most of the revenues (over 70%).

A former hedge fund manager, Stephen Goldfield, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with making a USD14m profit based on inside information allegedly passed to him by a friend James Self ahead of the takeover of MedImmune by AstraZeneca, says the Financial Times. Mr Self agreed to pay a fine of USD50,000. Mr Goldfield consented to an order to repay the USD14m profits plus USD2.7m interest, all but USD600,000 of which was waived in view of his sworn statements about his financial status.

Alistair Darling, l’ancien ministre des Finances travailliste du Royaume-Uni, a reconnu mercredi que la supertaxe sur les bonus des banquiers n’avait pas permis de modifier les comportements du secteur en matière de rémunérations, rapporte le Financial Times. Il estime peu probable que la taxe soit reconduite par le nouveau gouvernement de coalition.

Sous réserve d’un agrément des autorités de régulation chinoises (la CSRC), le japonais Mitsubishi UFJ achètera 33 % de la joint-venture SYWG BNP Paribas, pour un montant de 50 millions de dollars, d’après l’agence Caijing.Le cabinet de consultants Z-Ben souligne que cette transaction a surtout le mérite de mettre BNP Paribas en pleine conformité avec la réglementation chinoise interdisant aux étrangers d’avoir plus d’une joint-venture sur place, après la cession en novembre à Manulife de sa participation de 49 % dans ABN Amro Teda. Le groupe français peut désormais se concentrer sur le développement de l’ancienne Fortis Haitong, rebaptisée récemment HFT Fund Management.La valorisation de SYWG BNP Paribas a été compliquée par les fluctuations erratiques de l’encours, qui est passé de 13 milliards de yuans fin juin 2009 à 24 milliards fin décembre (à cause du monétaire) avant de retomber à 10,4 milliards fin juin 2010.

L’américain Northern Trust, qui vient d’obtenir une licence bancaire auprès de la Commission de la réglementaire bancaire chinoise (CBRC), envisage désormais de postuler pour un quota d’investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié (QFII) qu’il pourrait utiliser pour acheter des actions A pour le compte de ses clients, selon Asian Investor.Dans l’immédiat, Northern Trust va continuer de fournir ses services d’asset management à partir de Hong Kong. L’équipe de la succursale de Pékin a été renforcée avec le transfert de chargés de clientèle installés jusqu’ici à Singapour.

Les positions longues sur le maïs sont au plus haut depuis deux ans, selon les statistiques hebdomadaires de la CFTC

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La division Asset Management de l’Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) vient de recruter Lawrence Lo en qualité de Chief Executive Officer (CEO) et responsable des ventes Asie hors Japon, un poste nouvellement créé. Il sera également membre du comité exécutif d’UBP Asset Management. Basé à Hong-Kong, sa mission sera de superviser le développement des activités de l’UBP et de concentrer les efforts de vente de la société sur cette zone, selon un communiqué d’UBP diffusé mardi 31 août.Avant de rejoindre l’UBP, Lawrence Lo assumait le poste de CEO de BSIGenerali Asia Limited, où il était responsable du développement de la gestion de fortune et de l’asset management de la société en Extrême-Orient. Auparavant, il a passé 15 ans au sein de BNP Paribas, où il a assumé les fonctions de directeur général/responsable régional de BNP Paribas Asset Management Group et siégé au sein du comité exécutif de la société pour l’Asie. Il est diplômé de la London School of Economics. L’arrivée de Lawrence Lo illustre la volonté affirmée de l’UBP de renforcer sa présence dans les pays émergents, lesquels ont vocation à représenter 30 % de la clientèle du groupe sur les trois à cinq ans, selon un porte-parole du groupe. Dans ce cadre, une réflexion est également menée sur la région Amérique latine.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la société suisse de gestion alternative EIM a embauché Jan-Erik Frogg en tant que président de son comité exécutif. Basé au siège de l’entreprise à Nyon, Erik Frogg prend ses fonctions ce 1er septembre. Il sera également responsable des ventes institutionnelles sous la responsabilité de Nicolas Verwilghen, qui dirige l’unité business marketing and business development. Erik Frogg était à la tête des investissements alternatifs d’UBP jusqu'à l’année dernière, puis il y a dirigé les activités de hedge funds advisory. Il avait auparavant travaillé au sien d’Agora Capital Management, à Genève et chez Goldman Sachs à Londres.

Le conseil d’administration de Vontobel proposera à l’assemblée générale du 3 mai 2011 d'élire le CEO Herbert J. Scheidt (58 ans) comme successeur d’Urs Widmer à la présidence du conseil d’administration de Bank Vontobel AG. De fait, Urs Widmer arrivera au bout de son mandat du fait qu’il aura atteint la limite d'âge fixée par le règlement intérieur. Le nouveau CEO sera désigné par le conseil d’administration d’ici au printemps de l’an prochain. Les actions nominatives de Vontobel Holding sont cotées sur la Bourse suisse (SIX) ; la famille Vontobel et la fondation Vontobel détiennent kla majorité des titres et des droits de vote.Fin juin 2010, l’encours de Vontobel se situait à environ 116 milliards de francs suisses.

Le gestionnaire helvétique de hedge funds Harcourt Investment Consulting appartenant au groupe Vontobel a indiqué que ses encours à fin juin ressortaient à 4,7 milliards de dollars, ce qui représente un accroissement de 200 millions de dollars sur le premier semestre. La plupart des souscriptions proviennent de clients institutionnels. Durant le premier semestre, Harcourt a lancé un «newcits», le fonds de hedge funds Vonda (CTA et macro). Il a aussi lancé en partenariat avec AC Investment Management, le Belmont Commodity Tradinc, un fonds de hedge funds spécialiste des matières premières.