Fund Strategy reports that Stephen Lansdown has resigned from his position as executive director of Hargreaves Lansdown. Stephen Lansdown, who founded the firm in 1981 with Peter Hargreaves, will continue to act as non-executive director, a position which he says better suits his role at the firm. The firm has also appointed two new directors. Chris Barling becomes an independent non-executive director, while deputy chief executive Ian Gorham becomes executive director. From 2 September, Gorham will take over as chief executive, following the decision of Peter Hargreaves also to resign.
On Tuesday, 31 August, Threadneedle will publish its key results for second quarter. The Ameriprise affiliate has posted its strongest net subscriptions in five years, with GBP564.4m for retail, following GBP464m in inflows for January-March, Lipper reports.
The Telegraph reports that JP Morgan Asset Management is about to appoint the former head of BlackRock for Europe, Mike O’Brien, as head of activities serving international institutional clients, a position which would see him based in London. O’Brien, who left BlackRock in June this year, seven months after BlackRock’s acquisition of BGI, where he had spent ten years, would work closely with the head of JP Morgan AM Europe, Jamie Broderick, also based in London.
Summerhaven Investment Management is offering the US Commodity Index Fund (acronym USCI), which is inspired by the work of Geert Rouwenhorst, one of the partners at Summerhaven, and a professor at Yale Management School, whose research helped to inspire retail investors’ interest in commodities, the Wall Street Journal reports. The strategy concept for the fund is that a computer selects 14 commodities for which inventories are at a low level. Exposure to futures contracts is weighted equally, with each commodity receiving 7.14%. The prospectus says this strategy would have generated annual return of over 20% in the past 10 years to the end of June, compared with about 7% for the GSCI.
According to the Money Fund Report, cited by La Tribune, assets under management in US money market funds have risen by USD11.1bn in one week, to USD2.809trn. The average performance of these funds, for the tenth consecutive week, was 0.04%.
La Tribune reports that, according to EPFR, investors have withdrawn USD7.1bn from equities products in one week, of which USD5.4bn came out of funds investing in US equities. Bond funds saw subscriptions of USD5.2bn. With USD330m, emerging markets equities funds saw their lowest inflow levels in the past 13 weeks, the newspaper says.
Financial Times Deutschland reports that LGT, the financial entity of the Principality of Liechtenstein, is favoured to take over BHF Bank, which Deutsche Bank has put up for sale. LGT is still in competition with the US investment funds Apollo and Permira, as well as with the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund (ADIC). The remaining candidates have until mid-October to examine the books at BHF, and a buyer may be named one month later.
The head of the Royal London group, Mike Yardley, has announced that he is planning to resign, according to a statement from the group published on 27 August. Mike Yardley says that he will leave his position once the group has found a successor. “After more than 12 years at the helm of Royal London, I have decided that the time has come for me to announce that I will be leaving the company once my successor has been appointed,” Yardley said in a statement. Assets under management at the group totalled GBP39.1bn as of 30 June.
Six months after the (not necessarily voluntary) departure of Bärbel Schomberg from her position as head of Aberdeen Immobilien (see Newsmanagers of 2 March), Roger Weltz becomes the next to leave the German real estate management firm, effective from 31 August. The announcement was made on Friday, 27 August by Aberdeen Immobilien, which states that the departure is by mutual consent. Weltz has been a member of the executive board since 1 May 2008. The other three members of the board will remain in place: Michael Determann (chairman), Fabian Klingler, and Harmut Leser.
The financial management platform eBase (comdirect, Commerzbank group) has announced partnerships with three more ETF management firms: db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), and comstage (Commerzbank). In addition, eBase now offers its clients access to 170 ETFs through savings plans (from EUR50 per month), in addition to one-off subscriptions and pension plans. Until 31 December, eBase will charge no transaction and settlement fees, as part of a “no fee” offer. From 1 January 2011, the platform will charge a monthly EUR0.15 fee for each EUR50 contribution.
The CSSF on Friday, 27 August announced that the collective overall net assets in collective investment organisms and specialised investment funds as of 31 July 2010 totalled EUR2.019223trn, an increase of 0.43% in one month (EUR2.010637trn as of 30 June 2010), and an increase of 18.36% in the past twelve months. The Luxembourg collective investment organism (OPC) industry has posted growth of EUR8.586bn in the month of July, due to net subscriptions of EUR8.907bn, an increase of 0.44%, despite a negative variation due to negative market effects (-EUR0.321bn), resulting in an overall decrease of 0.01%. The number of OPC vehicles and specialised investment funds taken into consideration is 3,582. The previous month, there were 3,550.
Money Marketing reports that Aegon Asset Management has appointed Andrew Bell as head of marketing and products for Europe. He will report to Martin Harris, head of distribution for Europe. Bell previously worked at Aberdeen Asset Management, as director of clients for recently-acquired alternative management activities.
From 13 September, Fidelity International will become known as Fidelity Investment Managers. Though its way of managing its products will not change, the new name refers directly to the firm’s core profession of asset managmeent. Meanwhile, the logo of a pyramid on a red background will be replaced by a blue globe on a red growth curve (see below). The deployment of the new branding will take some time (probably until the end of the year), but all documents published by Fidelity will carry the new logo from the stated date.
The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) has signed a landmark agreement which authorises Man Investments to advise it on investment policy. The Korean institution, which had USD14.5bn in assets under management as of 30 June, is seeking to scale up its allocation to alternative management, particularly its investments in hedge funds and funds of hedge funds. The partnership is not exclusive, as KTCU has already signed similar agreements with Fidelity and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Henderson Global Investors has proposed a change of investment strategy for Henderson Private Equity Investment Trust plc, a fund of funds currently focused on the European mid-market buy-out sector. The proposed strategy involves the orderly realisation of the portfolio over a reasonable period, expected to be in the region of two years, to maximise value for shareholders. The Board of Directors and the Portfolio Manager believe that the time is now right to change the Company’s strategy. Its share price continues to trade at a significant discount to Net Asset Value (NAV) per share, a situation which, despite the efforts of the Board and the Portfolio Manager, appears unlikely to change in the short to medium term. The Company was formerly known as the August Equity Trust, a small private equity investment trust. In July 2007 August Equity Trust combined with a similar vehicle, Rutland Trust. The enlarged entity was renamed New Star Private Equity Investment Trust PLC, adopted a fund of funds approach and was placed under New Star’s portfolio management. Following Henderson’s takeover of New Star in April 2009, the portfolio management of the Company was transferred to Henderson’s existing private equity fund of funds business, with effect from 1 May 2009.
At a presentation of results for Intesa Sanpaolo, CEO Corrado Passera has confirmed the group’s strategy of autonomy for Eurizon, its asset management affiliate, and denied reports that the group is interested in acquiring Pioneer, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. “In the past few years, in asset management, we envisioned various possibilities. We have also studied potential acquisitions,” Passera said, adding that he then decided on the current course of action: “we have a mid-sized asset management firm in which we invest, and for which we see potential for growth.” Intesa Sanpaolo also confirmed that it has long-term ambitions for an IPO for Banca Fideuram in the next few quarters, though this is not a top priority. The decision will depend on market conditions.
L’Agefi qui cite des informations de Reuters rapporte que BNP Paribas se serait retirée du jeu pour la reprise de la banque allemande BHF, filiale de gestion de fortune acquise lors du rachat de Sal. Oppenheim par Deutsche Bank et mise en vente depuis. Deutsche Bank espère en obtenir au moins 650 millions d’euros mais certaines sources ne valorisent BFH qu’entre 400 et 500 millions d’euros, note le quotidien.
Pour le premier semestre 2010, DekaBank, le gestionnaire central des caisses d'épargne allemandes, affiche un bénéfice économique de 389,9 millions d’euros contre 142,2 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Cette amélioration est attribuée à la performance des fonds Deka, à la diminution des provisions pour risques et à l’effet de la réduction des coûts.Au total, les divisions gestion d’actifs valeurs mobilières (AMK) et immobilier (AMI) ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 803 millions d’euros contre des remboursements nets de 134 millions en janvier-juin 2009. Les rentrées nettes de la gestion de fonds immobiliers (AMI) ont diminué à 1,1 milliard d’euros contre 1,4 milliard tandis que les fonds de valeurs mobilières (AMK) accusaient des sorties nettes de 316 millions contre 1,4 milliard, en grande partie à cause des remboursements importants des fonds monétaires.Néanmoins, la division AMK a généré un bénéfice économique de 220,5 millions d’euros contre 94,1 millions, tandis que l’AMI affiche 51,7 millions contre 0,6 million.
Frank Appel, qui était en dernier lieu responsable de la distribtion auprès des banques et d’autres investisseurs institutionnels chez HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland), a rejoint la nouvelle succursale francfortoise de LGT Capital Management (lire notre dépêche du 15 juillet) pour y devenir le responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle, notamment les assurances et les caisses de retraite.Il vient ainsi soutenir les efforts de l'équipe commerciale comprenant le directeur de l’agence Marcus Perschke ainsi que Jörg Ahlheid. LGT compte annoncer prochainement le recrutement d’une personne supplémentaire pour le «sales support».
DekaBank a annoncé le lancement du fonds de droit allemand Deka-Staatsanleihen Europa qui, comme son nom l’indique, sera investi dans des obligations d’Etat des pays de la zone euro et de pays d’Europe occidentale n’appartenant pas à l’UEM (Suède, Danemark, Norvège, et Royaume-Uni). Le fonds est confié à Gerald Goedel, qui sera chargé d’un pilotage actif des durations. Tous les titres en portefeuille seront libellés en euros ou couverts pour l’essentiel du risque de change.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Deka-Staatsanleihen EuropaCode Isin : DE000DK2CDR2Droit d’entrée : 3 %Frais de gestion : 0,6 %
La filiale munichoise du groupe LaSalle, LaSalle GmbH, a créé LaSalle Vermögensverwaltung GmbH, une société de droit allemand qui lancera et commercialisera des fonds immobiliers institutionnels en Allemagne. L’agrément a été sollicité auprès de la BaFin. Dès qu’il aura été obtenu, la société prendra le nom de LaSalle Investment Management KAG.
Le gestionnaire central des banques populaires allemandes, Union Investment, a annoncé jeudi qu’il lance la commercialisation en Allemagne du fonds luxembourgeois UniEM China & Indien, qui se focalisera sur les actions de sociétés chinoises, hong-kongaises et indiennes. Des titres d’autres pays peuvent actuellement être ajoutés à hauteur de 10 % maximum, sous réserve que les entreprises réalisent l’essentiel de leur activité en Chine ou en Inde, même si leur siège n’y est pas installé. Le fonds, qui a été lancé le 15 juillet, devrait avoir en portefeuille environ 60 lignes. Le benchmark est hybride, avec 50 % pour le MSCI Chine et 50 % pour le MSCI Inde. En outre, jusqu’au 24 septembre, Union commercialise le fonds garanti UniGaranti BRIC 2017 dont l'échéance est fixée à 22 septembre 2017. Ce fonds luxembourgeois est spécialiste des marchés d’actions des pays BRIC (Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine). CaractéristiquesDénomination : UniEM China & IndienCode Isin : LU0519314164Droits d’entrée : 5 %Commission de gestion : 1,55 % (maximum 1,75 %)Commission de performance : 25 % de la surperformance par rapport au benchmarkCommission de banque dépositaire (DZ Privatbank Luxembourg) : 0,10 % CaractéristiquesDénomination : UniGaranti BRIC 2017 Code Isin : LU0507366366 Droits d’entrée : 4 % Frais de gestion : 1 % (maximum 1,5 %) Pénalité de sortie anticipée : 2 %. Montant de la part : 100 euros
Axa Investment Managers Deutschland a annoncé jeudi que le gel des remboursements du fonds immobilier Axa Immosolutions, un produit offert au public mais réservé aux investisseurs institutionnels, est reconduit pour une période maximale de neuf mois à compter du 25 août 2010. La première suspension avait été mise en place jusqu’au 25 août pour trois mois.Ce fonds de 383,02 millions d’euros fin juillet ne dispose toujours pas de liquidités suffisantes pour faire face aux demandes de remboursement qu’Axa IM anticipe.
La BaFin a délivré son agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne au fonds de fonds de droit irlandais HSBC UCITS AdvantEdge de HSBC Global Asset Management Deutschland, que contrôle HSBC Trinkaus. Le fonds affichait fin juillet un encours de 139,02 millions d’euros.Ce produit géré par HSBC Alternative Investment Ltd (HAIL) investit dans une vingtaine de hedge funds coordonnés pour générer une performance supérieure de 350 points de base par rapport au Libor 3 mois en euros. La liquidité de ce fonds lancé le 4 novembre 2009 est hebdomadaire.CaractéristiquesDénomination : HSBC UCITS AdvantEdge FundCode Isin : IE00B4T7Y304Commission forfaitaire : 1,75 %Commission de performance : 10 % de la surperformance par rapport au Libor 3 mois en euros + 350 pbSouscription minimale : 25.000 euros