Selon les estimations de Morningstar, les mutual funds américains ont enregistré en juin des souscriptions nettes de 13,5 milliards de dollars contre des remboursements nets de 13,2 milliards pour mai (lire notre article du 14 juin). De la sorte, les rentrées nettes pour janvier-juin sont ressorties à 166,7 milliards de dollars, soit 24 % de plus que pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Malgré la baisse de l’indice MSCI EAFE et les préoccuppation suscritées par la baisse des actions étrangères, les fonds d’actions internationales ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 19,6 milliards de dollars pour le premier semestre alors que ceux d’actions américaines subissaient des sorties nettes de presque 17 milliards de dollars.Morningstar souligne que les mutual funds alternatifs, dont beaucoup ont été lancés depuis la crise du crédit, ont enregistré des rentrées nettes record, à l’instar du Pimco Fundamental Advantage Total Return, qui a collecté près de 3,3 milliards de dollars durant les douze mois à fin juin.En revanche, les fonds monétaires ont perdu 790,5 milliards de dollars d’actifs sur les douze mois à fin juin, près de 80 % des sorties étant imputable aux classes de parts institutionnelles.En ce qui concerne par ailleurs les ETF, les souscriptions nettes de juin (9,9 milliards de dollars) ont porté le total des rentrées depuis le début de l’année à 34 milliards de dollars. Les deux fonds affichant les plus fortes souscriptions nettes pour juin ont été le SPDR S&P 500 SPY avec 2,6 milliards de dollars et le SPDR Gold Shares GLD avec 2,1 milliards. Morningstar souligne qu'à par le iShares MSCI Germany Index EWG et iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 apparemment utilisés par les investisseurs pour se repositionner dans l’optique de la crise de la dette souveraine en Europe, la grande majorité des ETF-pays (single country ETFs) ont accusé des sorties nettes en juin.

Selon Bloomberg, Nelson Saiers, managing director chez Deutsche Bank responsable du négoce pour compte propre sur les dérivés, vient de quitter la première banque allemande pour rejoindre un hedge fund spécialisé sur les options, Alphabet Management LLC. Selon une source interne au hedge fund citée par l’agence, Nelson Saiers aurait rejoint Alphabet cette semaine. Alphabet, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élevaient à 170 millions de dollars au terme du premier semestre, a réalisé un gain de 11% sur la période alors que les hedge funds actions ont enregistré en moyenne un recul de 1,6%.Suite aux pertes subies pendant la crise financière, la Deutsche Bank a considérablement revu à la baisse ses activités pour compte propre. Le desk credit a été fermé et la poche disponible pour le trading sur actions a été réduite de 90%. Le responsable du trading pour compte propre sur les actions, Pablo Calderini, a également quitté la banque pour rejoindre un hedge fund.

Selon Fund Strategy, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) a remanié le pilotage de cinq de ses fonds suite au départ des responsables marchés émergents et actions des pays développés.Ian Fulton, gérant du Swip Global fund, a ainsi remplacé Kim Catechis, enacien responsable des marchés émergents, sur le Swip Emerging Markets.Johnny Russell a pris seul la direction du Swip SRI fund après le départ de Ian Vose, responsable actions des pays développés. Ken Adams est devenu le seul gérant du Clerical Medical Adventurous fund. Jeff King, le responsable des fonds diversifiés, a renoncé à la co-gestion du fonds. Gregor McDonald, après la démission de Chris Bamberry, est devenu le seul gérant du Swip UK Smaller Companies, tandis que Guy Skinner était nommé lead manager sur le Clerical Medical International Fixed Income fund.

En octobre, Jim Cielisnki, qui vient de passer 12 ans chez Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), en dernier lieu comme managing director et head of global investment grade credit, va rejoindre l'équipe dirigeante de Threadneedle comme head of the fixed income desk, une équipe comptant 38 professionnels de l’investissement au 31 mars. Cette équipe gérait fin mars 22,6 milliards de livres.

Fidelity vient de nommer Pete Burtonshaw en qualité de responsable des plates-formes, à savoir FundsNetwork ainsi que les plates-formes dédiées aux programmes à cotisations définies.Pete Burtonshaw, chez Fidelity depuis 2008, va ainsi combler à compter du mois d’août le vide laissé par le départ, en octobre dernier, du responsable de FundsNetwork, David Dalton-Brown.

L’allemand Deka Immobilien a annoncé avoir revendu pour 53,5 millions d’euros l’immeuble de bureaux St James House de Londres à Standard Life au 1er juillet. Cet actif de 3.317 mètres carrés avait été acheté pour 45,5 millions d’euros en mars 2003 pour un fonds institutionnel de Deka Immobilien ; il est loué en totalité à Jeffries International Ltd. C’est le troisième immeuble vendu au-dessus de sa valeur de marché en trois mois par le gestionnaire allemand (les deux premiers l’avaient été en Corée et en Allemagne).

L’Association européenne de la gestion d’actifs a publié le 15 juillet un rapport sur les tendances récentes observées en matière de standardisation et d’automatisation des ordres relatifs aux fonds d’investissement reçus par les agents de transfert en Irlande. Le rapport couvre près de 80% du total des volumes d’ordres des fonds irlandais.Le rapport relève notamment que le taux d’automatisation des ordres traités par les agents de transfert s’est élevé à 86% au quatrième trimestre 2009, ce qui souligne le niveau très limité du traitement manuel. Le pourcentage des ordres utilisant des messages «propriétaires» atteint 78% au quatrième trimestre contre 8% pour les ordres réalisés sur la base des messages ISO 20022. L’Efama signale qu’elle publiera à l’automne un rapport sur le marché irlandais des fonds transfrontaliers et qu’elle proposera par la suite deux rapports par an sur les problématiques de standardisation et d’automatisation des ordres.

Selon Les Echos, le projet de Nyse Euronext sur le marché primaire à Londres déplaît au London Stock Exchange, mais semble avoir le soutien de la place de Paris. L’opérateur de la Bourse transatlantique vise les sociétés de pays émergents, mais aussi britanniques.

The Fitch ratings agency announced on 15 July that it has confirmed its M2+ rating for Man Investments for its alternative multi-management activities. The rating reflects the stabilisation of multi-management activities by the firm in the wake of its restructuring. The agency also notes that multi-management activities have largely not been affected by the acquisition of GLG, but that cross-border functions such as sales, risk, and middle office will need to be integrated.

Fund Strategy reports that Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has reassigned five of its funds to new managers following the departure of the heads of emerging markets and developed market equities. Ian Fulton, manager of the Swip Global fund, has replaced Kim Catechis, formerly head of emerging markets, as manager of the Swip Emerging Markets fund. Johnny Russell has taken over sole management of the Swip SRI fund, following the departure of Ian Vose, head of developed market equities. Ken Adams becomes sole manager of the Clerical Medical Adventurous fund. Jeff King, head of diversified funds, has pulled out of the co-management of the fund. Following the resignation of Chris Bamberry, Gregor McDonald becomes the sole manager of the Swip UK Smaller Companies fund, while Guy Skinner has been appointed lead manager of the Clerical Medical International fixed Income fund.

In October, Jim Cielisnki, who has spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), most recently as managing director and head fo global investment grade credit, will join the management team at Threadneedle as head of the fixed income desk, a team with 38 investment professionals, on 31 March. As of the end of March, the team managed GBP22.6bn in assets.

According to reports in Cotizalia, the González Delgado family has asked the Knight Frank consulting firm to reinvest the remaining capital gains on the sale of its 6% stake in El Corte Inglés for EUR500m in the British real estate market. Through its portfolio management firm Hemera Capital, the family has already bought the Fortis Bank headquarters in calle Serrano in Madrid (3,300 square metres) from Standard Life Investments, and another property in Madrid, located on Arturo Soria avenue.

Fidelity has appointed Pete Burtonshaw has head of platforms, including FundsNetwork and platforms dedicated to defined contribution programmes. Burtonshaw, who has been at Fidelity since 2008, will begin in his new role in August, replacing his predecessor as head of FundsNetwork, david Dalton-Brown, who left last October.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 15 July announced that Goldman Sachs will pay a fine of USD550m and will modify its practices. The SEC says in a statement that it is the largest fine ever paid by a Wall Street firm. The SEC opened an investigation into transactions at Goldman Sachs related to sales of a sub-prime structured product related to real estate (CDO), at a time when the US real estate market was collapsing. It accused Goldman Sachs of concealing the role of the speculative fund Paulson & Co. in the selection of assets in the CDO, created in early 2007, from investors. Goldman Sachs ultimately admitted that information given to clients was incomplete.

According to estimates by Morningstar, US mutual funds posted net subscriptions in June of USD13.5bn, compared with net redemptions of USD13.2bn in May (see Newsmanagers of 14 June). Net inflows in January-June totalled USD166.7bn, 24% more than in the corresponding period of last year. Despite a decline for the MSCI EAFE index and concerns due to falling foreign equities markets, international equities funds posted net subscriptions of USD19.6bn in first half, while US equities funds saw net outflows of nearly USD17bn. Morningstar points out that alternative mutual funds, many of which have been launched since the credit crisis, have posted record net inflows, such as the Pimco Fundamental Advantage Total Return, which took in more than USD3.3bn in the 12 months to the end of June. However, money market funds lost USD790.5bn in assets in the 12 months to the end of June, of which nearly 80% of outflows were from institutional share classes. For ETFs, net subscriptions in June (USD9.9bn) brought total net inflows since the beginning of the year to USD34bn. Two two funds with the strongest net subscriptions in June were the SPDR S&P 500 SPY, with USD2.6bn, and the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, with USD2.1bn. Morningstar points out that aside from the MSCI Germany Index EWG and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25, which were apparently used by investors repositioning themselves in view of the looming government debt crisis in Europe, the vast majority of single country ETFs saw net outflows in June.

The California pension fund CalPERS has reported estimated returns of 11.4% for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, ending on 30 June 2010. As of 30 June last year, the market value of the fund’s assets totalled USD200bn. “Excepting real estate, all asset classes earned positive returns this year,” sayd Joe Dear, chief investment officer at CalPERS, adding that an overhaul of investment policies, processes and strategies is on course. It has allowed CalPERS to save USD100m in fees to external managers, to remove the least well-performing funds from its portfolio, and to develop new risk management tools. In the various asset classes, fixed income has gained 19.5% in the fiscal year, private equity has gained 30.9%, and equities are up 14.4%. However, real estate was down 37.1% as of 31 March, and valuations as of the end of June have not yet been completed.

From 1 July, management commissions have been reduced for 36 products from The Hartford Mutual Funds (USD95.8bn as of 31 March). The asset management subsidiary of The Hartford has reduced fees for institutional, retirement and retail shares in the Diversified International, Fundamental Growth, Global Research, International Growth, International Opportunities and Value funds by 30 basis points. The objective is to put these funds in the foreground compared with their peers in their respective Morningstar categories, Keith Sloane, senior vice president at The Hartford Mutual Funds, announced on Wednesday. Fees have also been reduced by 15 basis points for institutional and retirement share classes in 30 other funds, with the goal of increasing institutional market share by targeting consultants and IFAs.

For January-June, the ABP pension fund for about 2.8 million public sector employees and teachers in the Netherlands has posted returns of 4.6%, and its assets as of 30 June totalled EUR218bn, compared with EUR208bn at the end of 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gains are largely due to investments in corporate and government bonds, emerging markets equities, private equity and hedge funds. However, the coverage ratio for the fund has fallen to 95% at the end of June, compared with 104% at the end of December, while the legal minimum is 105%. This decline is largely due to historically low long-term interest rates.

On 9 July, the CNMV registered the Irish-domiciled Sicav Old Mutual Dublin Funds Plc from Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM), including its sub-funds Global Bond Fund (bonds), Global Equity Absolute Return Fund, UK Dynamic Equity Fund and UK Select Smaller Companies Fund (equities). The products are available on the Allfunds Bank platform.

Société Générale Private Banking on 16 July announced the appointment of Mrs. Hsiao-Yun Lee as CEO of Société Générale Private Banking in China. Mrs. Lee will aim to promote the products and services range of the private bank to high net worth clients in China. She joined Société Générale Private Banking (Asia Pacific) in Hong Kong in 1997, to develop a wealth management product range aimed at Chinese high net worth clients, and was subsequently appointed head of Private Banking China in Shanghai in 2007.

On Thursday, Union Bancaire Privée announced that it has recruited Michel Longhini, CEO of the international private bank at BNP Paribas since 2008, as CEO for its private banking division. Longhini will begin in his new position in early September, and will take a seat on the executive board at UBP. Longhini’s close ties to the Asia-Pacific region, where he worked for many years, are considered a prime advantage by his new employer, which is in the process of developing its activities in emerging markets with a central axis in growth strategy. He will primarily aim to open new markets in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Bobbie Collins, a spokeswoman for BlackRock, has confirmed the authenticity of an internal memo reported by Bloomberg detailing a reshuffle of management at the asset management firm. Rich Kushel, head of international businesses, is appointed to the new position of head of portfolio management, where he will be in charge of investment management and information sharing. Charles Hallac, co-COO with Sue Wagner, becomes the sole COO, while Wagner will join a new executive team including CEO Laurence D. Fink and president Robert Kapito, as well as Blake Grossman, former head of Barclays Global Investors, and Kendrick Wilson III, a banker who joined the firm from Goldman Sachs. BlackRock has also created three regional entities, one for the Americas, one for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, led by James Charrington, and one for Asia-Pacific, led by Rohit Bhagat.

Philippe Marchessaux, who since July 2009 has been head of the asset management profession at BNP Paribas (EUR542bn as of 31 March), is not concealing his satisfaction. The merger with Fortis Investments, which has allowed BNP Paribas IP to become Europe’s third-largest asset management firm, and putting it in the top 10 worldwide, is going well. “The process is proceeding as planned. In the wake of the legal merger of the holding companies in April 2010, the country-by-country process is now almost complete,” says Marchessaux, who succeeded Gilles Glicenstein as director and CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners, and CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management. Other major areas of the merger which occupies a dedicated task force, such the migration of the IT systems, and mergers of products and product ranges, are at an advanced stage. “The migration of IT systems will be completed by fourth quarter 2010,” says Marchessaux, who adds that mergers of ranges will take slightly more time. “But by second quarter 2011, that process will be completed,” he says.

Bloomberg reports that Nelson Saiers, managing director at Deutsche Bank in charge of proprietary derivatives trading, has left the largest German bank to join a hedge fund specialised in options, Alphabet Management LLC. According to an internal source at the hedge fund cited by the firm, Saiers joined Alphabet this week. Alphabet, whose assets under management totalled USD170m at the end of first half, has earned gains of 11% in the period, while equities hedge funds hve seen average losses of 1.6%. Following losses during the financial crisis, Deutsche Bank has considerably reduced its proprietary trading activities. The credit desk has been closed, and the allocation to equities trading has been reduced by 90%. The head of proprietary equities trading, Pablo Calderini, has also left the bank to join a hedge fund.

JP Morgan Chase has reported net profits for second quarter of USD391m, an increase of 11% compared with second quarter 2009, largely due to an increase in revenues of 4%, to USD2.1bn. The activities of the institutional unit were down 11% to USD433m, but all other divisions were oriented upward, with gains of 9% to USD695m for private banking, 17% to USD482m for retail, and 4% to USD348m for private wealth management. Assets under management totalled Usd1.161trn, a decline of 1% or USD10bn, due to outflows from money market products, which were largely offset by inflows to bonds and equities, as well as market effects. Group-wide, net profits for the quarter totalled USD4.8bn, up 76% compared with second quarter 2009.

The Hamburg-based management firm Warburg-Henderson KAG has announced that for an undisclosed amount, which is nonetheless higher than market value, it has sold the office building Am Modenaplatz 1-2 in Vienna, which it acquired in 2002. The 9,500 square metre property was purchased in December 2002, and has since then generated an internal rate of return of 9% per year. It belonged to the portfolio of the institutional real estate fund Warburg-Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr 1, which currently has EUR230m in assets, and which is in a phase of divestment. It now owns five properties in Austria. Meanwhile, the German management firm has placed the Warburg-Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr 2 on sale; it will have a diversified portfolio of 10-15 office and commercial properties in the core/core plus segment, with an annual performance objective of 7%. The target volume, including leverage, is EUR300m; it is primarily aimed at German, Austrian and Swiss institutional investors.

The BSI index of investment adviser morale, undertaken by TNS Infratest for Robeco Deutschland, has slipped by 0.2 points in second quarter compared with January-March, to 100.1. Robeco Germany observes that the opinions of professionals as to sales of bond funds have returned to a near-normal level, with 17% satisfied, compared with 10% in first quarter. For the next six months, 13% of advisers (compared with 12%) predict that sales will increase. Among the other findings of the survey of 350 client advisers at commercial banks, savings banks and co-operative banks in Germany are that 35% of specialists are optimistic about the evolution of sales of open-ended funds by the end of December (compared with 36%), and that 46%, compared with 45%, are convinced that sales of equities funds will increase. However, advisers’ estimation of sales of money market funds in second quarter fell to all-time low levels, with only 13% satisfied. And for the next six months, only 7%, as in first quarter, are optimstic.

The European fund and asset management association on 15 July published a report on recent trends in the standardisation and automatisation of orders for investment funds receievd by transfer agencies in Ireland. The report covers nearly 80% of total order volumes for Irish funds. The report finds that the rate of automation for orders treated by transfer agents came to 86% in fourth quarter 2009, a sign of the very limited level of manual trearment. The percentage of orders relying on proprietary messages totalled 78% last year, compared with 8% for orders undertaken on the basis of ISO 20022 messages. Efama notes that in autumn it will publish a report on the Irish cross-border fund market, and that it will then offer two reports per year on issues in the standardisation and automatisation of orders.

Until 30 September, it is free to join the dating section of the website hereisthecity.com. The dating section of the professional news site for the finance industry, which also has football and careers sections, was the idea of a former head of marketing from UBS. The premise of the dating site is that busy finance professionals, who often work longer hours than the legal limit, simply don’t have the time to go out and find a partner outside their business.

As of 31 July 2012, Allianz Global Investors will close the Allianz PIMCO Genusscheinfonds (formerly cominvest Genusscheinfonds), which was launched on 16 July 2001, and which has assets of over EUR130m. Subscriptions and redemptions for the fund of entitlement warrant notes had been frozen since 3 March 2009. In light of the highly limited liquidity of the market segment, the assets in the fund could not be dispersed at suitable prices, while reopening the redemption window would most likely result in redemption requests that would exceed available liquidity. The date of liquidation has been set according to the maturity dates of most of the securities remaining in the portfolio.