Pending regulatory approval, BNY Mellon is acquiring BHF Asset Servicing GmbH for EUR253m from BHF-Bank and Sal. Oppenheim. The transaction would also include the acquisition of the fund administration affiliate of BHF Asset Servicing, Frankfurter Service Kapitalanlage-Gesellschaft mbH (FSKAG). Together, BHF Asset Servicing and FSKAG have total assets under custody of EUR473bn, of which EUR33.1bn are for FSKAG, while the volume of activities at the depository bank totals EUR120bn. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, which is taking over the two entities, would become the number two in the sector by volume in the German market, and would have 340 employees. The firm would be directed by Michelle Grundmann of BNY Mellon, who is managing director and branch heat Frankfurt/Main, with Jürgen P. Frank and Christopher V. Friedrich, who join the firm from BHF Asset Servicing. The three will report to Nadine Chakar, head of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) at BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank announced the launch of its own platform dedicated to Exchange Traded Commodities (ETC), db ETC Index plc, which is an ad-hoc company without its own assets, registered in Jersey, on the Xetra electronic trading platform from Deutsche Börse. The first four products, all of which are registered in Germany and charge fees of 0.45%, are the db ETC Brent Crude Oil Euro Hedged, Industrial Metals Euro Hedged, Short Brent Crude Oil Euro Hedged, and Monthly Short Gold Euro Hedged. Thorsten Michalik, director of db x-trackers (ETF) and db ETC, says that db ETC will be made available throughout Europe by the end of this year, and will include ETC funds replicating the evolution of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. By June, Deutsche Bank is planning to issue more than 30 bonds of this type. The management firm also plans to provide access not only to Euro hedged and US dollar commodity products, but also supports which sue «smart» commodity indices of the “Optimum Yield” range developed by Deutsche Bank, which are already used for ETF funds from db x-trackers carrying the “booster” suffix. New ETC funds Name: db ETC Brent Crude Oil Euro Hedged ISIN: DE000A1AQGX1 Management commission: 0.45% Name: db ETC Industrial Metals Euro Hedged ISIN: DE000A1AQGY9 Management Commission: 0.45% Name: db ETC Monthly Short Brent Crude Oil Euro Hedged ISIN: DE000A1AQGW3 Management commission: 0.45% Name: db ETC Monthly Short Gold Euro Hedged ISIN: DE000A1AQGZ6 Management commission: 0.45%

With the GS Absolute Return Portfolio, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has registered a UCITS III-compliant version of its GS Fundamental Equity Long Short Strategy fund, a hedge fund launched in August 2004 which has earned annualised returns of 5.3%, compared with 2.3% for the S&P 500, with volatility of 6.8%, compared with 15.5% for the index, Funds People reports. The new product has weekly liquidity (instead of monthly liquidity for the hedge fund), and has leverage of 2.1 times (with the maximum level set at 3 times), and its net exposure to the market is slightly above 20%. The fund’s objective is to outperform the Libor by 200 to 600 basis points, with total volatility between 6% and 12%.

In 2009, Pictet has earned net subscriptions of CHF20bn, or EUR13.5bn. This brings assets under management to CHF251bn (EUR169bn), as of 31 December 2009. With the addition of global custody, assets total CHF388bn (EUR261bn).

An analysis of data from Feri/Lipper covering 1,200 equities funds in the past ten years reveals that only about 380 funds earned positive results, with about half of these also outperforming the MSCI index, Handelsblatt reports. Barely 144 funds earned annual returns higher than 5%; they are most often funds specialised in Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia, or small caps showing high growth. With that said, no fund has succeeded in outperforming the MSCI in all of the past ten years, while 40 managed to do so in nine out of 10 years; these, again, were mostly funds focused on Eastern Europe, Asia or Australia. Among funds specialised in global markets, only eight outperformed the index nine times out of 10.

Fund Strategy reports that Invesco Perpetual is planning to add two new products to its range of Asian equities funds. They include an opportunistic conviction fund and a revenue fund which focuses primarily on rising dividends in Asian markets.

The reporter for the proposed AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Managers) directive at the European Parliament, Jean-Paul Gauzès, has confirmed, at a conference held by the EIFR (European Institute of Financial Regulation), that after a three-year period, funds from non-EU countries (often “offshore”) may be eligible for a passport to be offered for sale in the European Union. This would give less substance to the term “non-UCITS fund,” which Anglo-American managers, adapted to offshore vehicles, have been pleased to learn, Agefi reports. However, Gauzès pointed out that to make this possible, the countries in question must sign regulatory equivalence agreements with the European countries. If these agreements are not signed, the fund will not be eligible to be bought or sold there, the newspaper reports.

Amundi Asset Management on 8 March announced the launch of Amundi Tréso 12 month, its first mutual fund created with the Amundi brand name. Due to low returns from money markets, the French fund offers investors a 12-month cash management solution. The product is aimed primarily at institutional and corporate clients. Amundi Tréso 12 Month aims to outperform the Eonia capitalised at 0.60% per year, less the real management fees associated with each share. To provide higher returns than the money markets, the management team actively manages two sources of performance: credit and liquidity premiums offered by private and public bonds, fixed income premiums arising from the returns offered by long-term bonds that generally offer a higher risk premium than short-term bonds. These two sources of added value are most often decorrelated, particularly in times of high market volatility, which helps to provide more resistant performance.

The Danish management firm Sparinvest on 28 February received a sales license from the AMF for the Ethical High Yield Value Bonds sub-fund, an ethical management product that brings together exclusion, value management and high yield bonds, says Benoît Schouler, CEO of Sparinvest France. Assets in the Luxembourg fund are already about EUR37m, not due to seed capital but because an institutional investor has transferred assets to the new product from a non-ethical high yield fund, which now has assets of EUR304m. Sparinvest ethical funds have EUR117m, of which about EUR80m are in the Global Value Ethic. The ethical filtering of the portfolio is undertaken by the Swedish agency Ethix SRI Advisers, with whom Sparinvest has been collaborating since May 2008. The management team excludes businesses which do not respect international standards in environmental protection, human rights, labour rights, or corruption (normative approach), on the one hand, and businesses whose activities are related to weapons, tobacco, alcohol, pornography, gaming, or arms (sectoral approach), on the other hand. Characteristics Name: Sparinvest Ethical High Yield Value Bonds ISIN: LU0473784196 Front-end fee: 2% Management commission: 1.25%

Most investors in mutual funds did not abandon the equities asset class during the period of market depression in 2008-2009, but they didn’t show much enthusiasm for adopting new positions in the following rebound, according to research which has recently been published by Vanguard. In a study entitled “Equity Abandonment in 2008-2009: Lower Among Balanced Fund Investors,” the researchers found that only a very small number of investors in equities (about 1%) completely withdrew from the market during the period of turbulence. Investors in diversified funds generally held their positions. The percentage of investors who abandoned these funds was about 50% lower than for holders of shares in equities funds. In another study entitled “2009: A Return to Risk-Taking,” researchers note that investors’ marked preference for bond funds over equities funds during the rebound on the equities markets stands in total contradiction with the behaviour of investors in previous phases of rebound on equities markets. In 2003, for example, investors withdrew USD265bn from money market funds and placed USD152bn in equities funds, and USD51bn in diversified funds. Nothing similar took place in the 2009 rebound. Investors withdrew about USD500bn from money market funds, and only placed USD9bn in equities funds, but put USD340bn in bond funds. The study also touts the virtues of prudent diversification. An investor, for example, who had a portfolio 100% invested in equities would have lost nearly 25% in the period of market downturn from 2007 until 31 December 2009.

Oddo Asset Management had net inflows of EUR600m in 2009, and is planning to double that amount this year, Reuters reports. To achieve that, the firm is betting on Europe. “We are not yet well-known enough internationally. There is work to be done in Europe to promote our expertise,” said Philippe Oddo, managing partner at Oddo & Cie, at a conference on asset management held by Reuters in Paris on 8, 9 and 10 March. Oddo’s assets totalled EUR12bn as of the end of December 2009.

Currently, there are only 32 ETFs on sale in Spain, 24 from Lyxor (Société Générale) and 8 from BBVA, while Santander has withdrawn from this sector, Expansión reports. But iShares (BlackRock) and db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) will soon be making their debut on the Spanish market. They are only waiting for one thing: that the Madrid government approve a royal decree which would allow them to list ETFs with Sicav status. According to experts, the passage of this legislation is imminent.

For funds domiciled in the United Kingdom, net inflows in the month of January totalled GBP1.8bn, the highest level ever observed, according to statistics from the British asset management association (IMA). In keeping with tradition, this total is slightly lower than the December figure (GBP2.2bn), but 55% above the figure for January 2009. Assets under management totalled GBP470.1bn as of the end of January, slightly down compared with December (GBP480.6bn), but 32% higher than in January 2009 (GBP357.1bn). Examination by asset class reveals that equities represented 30% of net sales (GBP549m), Bonds accounted for 17% of net sales, at GBP317m. The “other” category totalled GBP375m, of which 59% was in “absolute return UK.” Within the equities asset class, investors preferred the Global, Asian and North American regions. Europe and the United Kingdom were the least popular categories, with net outflows of GBP208m from Europe ex UK.

Jeremy Lang and William Pattisson are planning their return to the industry with a new boutique called Ardevora Asset Management , following their departure from Liontrust almost a year ago, says Citywire. The duo plans to hire two fund managers to run money alongside them and will run long/short UK and global portfolios with absolute return targets between 7% and 10% a year.

Finance Asia reports that the private equity heavyweight Kohlberg Kravis roberts & Co (KKR) has recruited Abhijit Sen as administrative director and financier for its Indian offices. Sen, who will begin in his new position on 1 April, joins from Citi, where he was chief financial officer for South Asia (India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). He will report to Sanjay Navar, who is head of KKR India, and who also left Citi, in November 2008, to join KKR.

Henderson Global Investors has appointed Brigid Jackson as a director of fixed income. In her role, she will be responsible for designing fixed income mandates and overseeing and communicating strategy, performance and risk for institutional clients. She joins the company on 5th May 2010. Brigid Jackson joins Henderson from Blackrock (Barclays Global Investors (BGI)) where was a fixed income strategist since 2007. Prior to this she was a business development director and client director at BGI since 2000. She joined BGI from JP Morgan Investment Management where she spent 3 years working in the institutional business.

L'idée d'un fonds d'intervention européen, à l'étude à Bruxelles et Berlin, divise les experts

La société de gestion anglo-danoise Aros Capital Partners va lancer dans le courant du deuxième trimestre un fonds à vocation altruiste, Aros Altru, avec l’objectif de démontrer que rendement commercial n’est pas antinomique avec retombées sociales.Le fonds, qui prendra la forme d’un fonds de private equity fermé, investira non pas dans des entreprises dites sociales mais dans des entreprises dont l’activité a le potentiel d’avoir un impact social durable.Dans les pays développés, Aros Altru se concentrera plus particulièrement sur la technologie, les énergies renouvelables, le transport, le logement, la culture et le sport. Dans les pays émergents, l’accent portera sur le bâtiment, les infrastructures, la santé, l’eau, l'éducation, le logement et les télécommunications. Principales caractéristiques Objectif de taille : 10 millions de livresInvestissement minimum : 70.000 livresObjectifs de rendement : taux de rentabilité interne (IRR) de 8% avec des impacts sociaux mesurablesInvestissements cibles : les entreprises de croissance en phase de développement ou plus établiesPortefeuille : 8 à 10 positionsFrais : 2,5% par an avec une commission de performance de 10%

En 2009, les actifs gérés par les ETF paneuropéens ont gonflé de 47,37 % pour atteindre 162,49 milliards d’euros, selon une étude de Lipper relayée par Funds People. Pourtant, la tendance ne s’est pas maintenue au quatrième trimestre, où les encours n’ont plus augmenté que de 29,78 milliards contre 31,27 milliards en octobre-décembre 2008. Ce qui prouve, selon Detlef Glow, responsable de la recherche sur l’Europe, que les ETF ne sont pas uniquement utilisés comme support de trading à court terme.Lipper a recensé 209 nouveaux ETF l’an dernier, l'émetteur le plus actif étant le Crédit Agricole, avec 41 produits.

Selon Fund Strategy, Castlestone Management vient de lancer une version conforme à la directive OPCVM III de son fonds offshore multi-assetLe fonds Ucits Intelligent Portfolio (IQ) Asset Allocation investit dans les actions internationales et les obligations internationales. Il peut également investir dans les stratégies alternatives, les marchés de matières premières, l’immobilier international et les fonds monétaires. Le gérant du fonds, Leon Diamond, assure aux investisseurs la préservation du capital et le rendement absolu.Le fonds domicilié à Dublin offre une liquidité quotidienne, propose des parts en sterling, dollar et euro. L’investissement minimum pour la partie retail a été fixé à 1.000 livres.

Selon Investment Week, London & Capital a nommé Sanjay Joshi au poste de gérant de portefeuille senior au sein de l'équipe fixed income. Sanjay Joshi sera responsable de la construction, de l’allocation de portefeuille ainsi que de la nouvelle offre de fonds Ucits. Sanjay Joshi était précédemment chez F&C Asset Management où il co-gérait un hedge fund fixed income mais son arrivée est plutôt un retour puisqu’il a déjà travaillé chez London & Capital entre 2002 et 2006.

Selon Money Marketing, Vanguard envisage d’enrichir sa gamme de fonds indiciels britanniques avec le lancement de deux fonds, un fonds d’obligations indexées et un fonds immobilier.Les actifs sous gestion des fonds lancés en juin 2009 (neuf fonds actions et trois fonds obligataires) s'élèvent à 500 millions de livres.

Genus Capital Fund, un fonds des îles caïmans investissant dans des actions d’entreprises de ressources naturelles avant leur introduction en Bourse, va se convertir en «investment trust» et se coter sur le London Stock Exchange en avril, rapporte le Financial Times Fund Management. Le fonds qui sera renommé Baker Steel Resources et cherchera à lever 100 millions de dollars.

Pour janvier, les gestionnaires adhérant à l’association allemande BVI ont enregistré au total des souscriptions nettes de 14,1 milliards d’euros, dont 10,4 milliards pour l’institutionnel, si l’on compte les 6,9 milliards drainés par les Spezialfonds et les 3,5 milliards des mandats. Les fonds offerts au public ont attiré 3,7 milliards d’euros, dont 1,7 milliard pour les fonds immobiliers et 1,17 milliard pour les fonds diversifiés et 649,8 millions pour les fonds monétaires. A fin janvier, l’encours des Spezialfonds représentait 732,2 milliards d’euros contre 650,5 milliards pour les fonds offerts au public et 316,7 milliards pour les mandats.Seuls deux des grands gestionnaires allemands ont affiché des souscriptions nettes en janvier : DWS/DB Advisors/groupe Deutsche Bank, avec près de 1,76 milliard d’euros, dont 420 millions pour les ETF de db x-trackers), et Allianz Global investors avec presque 1,27 milliard d’euros, dont 667,3 millions pour Pimco.En revanche, Deka (caisses d'épargne) a subi des remboursements nets de 657,4 millions tandis que sa filiale ETFlab accusait une sortie nette de 1,27 milliard. Union Investment (banques populaires) supporte des sorties nettes de 363 millions d’euros.En ce qui concerne les deux autres promoteurs d’ETF, BlackRock a collecté 381,2 millions d’euros et ComStage (Commerzbank) 182,7 millions.

En décembre 2009, l’agence Ivox a créé son «sceau de la gouvernance d’entreprise» (Corporate Governance Seal) sur la base de 140 critères. Après l’analyse des sociétés du Dax, elle a publié vendredi celle des sociétés du MDax, le palmarès faisant ressortir que les entreprises affichent un grand besoin de rattrapage en matière de transparence. Ainsi, seules dix d’entre elles fournissent un court curriculum vitae des administrateurs, et beaucoup omettent de préciser si les membres du conseil de surveillance ont été auparavant membres du directoire. Seules deux sociétés publient des données sur l’assiduité aux réunions du conseil et des comités et quatorze firmes ne publient pas la rémunération du président du directoire.La plupart des sociétés avec un mauvais score ont un actionnaire majoritaire ou de référence. Enfin, Ivox souligne que les sociétés mal notées par le passé, comme Conti, TUI, Heidelberger Cement et MLP ont fait des progrès, signe que les critiques ont fini par porter.Au total, Lanxess obtient le meilleur résultat (dans la catégorie «vert») tandis que Gagfah est le dernier du classement (dans la catégorie «rouge»).Le palmarès Ivox des sociétés du MDaxVert : Aurubis, Bauer, Bilfinger Berger, Continental, Fraport, GEA, Heidelberger Druck, Lanxess, MLP, SGL Carbon, Tognum, TUI et Wincor Nixdorf.Orange : Demag Cranes, Deutsche Euroshop, Deutsche Postbank, Hamburger Hafen, Heidelberg Cement, IVG Immobilien, Leoni, MTU Aero Engines, Pfleiderer, Praktiker Bau, Rheinmetall, Rhoen-Klinikum, Sky Deutschland, Symrise et Vossloh.Rouge : Aareal Bank, BayWa, Celesio, Douglas Holding, EADS. Elringklinger, Fielmann, Fuchs Petrolub, Gagfah, Gerresheimer,Gildemeister, Hannover rück, Hugo Boss, Klöckner & Co, Krones, ProSieben Sat1, Puma, Rational, Stada, Südzucker et Wacker Chemie.

Depuis peu, JPMorgan commercialise auprès des particuliers le JPMorgan Income Builder Fund, qui investit dans une palette très vaste d’instruments, au-delà des actions et des obligations : des CMO (collateralized mortgage obligations), des REIT, des obligations convertibles, des actions de pays émergents et des obligations à haut rendement du monde entier, ce qui n’est pas courant pour un produit proposé aux personnes qui épargnent pour leur retraite, souligne The Wall Street Journal.Depuis le début de l’année, ce fonds a triplé de volume, à 64 millions de dollars. Et depuis le lancement en mai 2007, sa performance a été de 0,7 % alors que le S&P 500 a perdu 9,5 %, même si le Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index a pour sa part affiché un gain de 6,5 %.Actuellement les actions, surtout étrangères, représentent 32 % du portefeuille, les REIT pèsent 5 % et l’allocation au «high yield» se situe à 45 %. La dette émergente se situe à 8 %, après un plus haut de 18 %, indique Anne Lester, la gérante du fonds.

Dans le cadre d’un LBO, le capital-investisseur CCMP achète l’exploitant de bases de données Infogroup Inc pour environ 460 millions de dollars, selon des proches du dossier. The Wall Street Journal souligne que l’action Infogroup a pratiquement doublé les douze derniers mois. Elle a clôturé à 8,16 dollars vendredi. La transaction s’effectue donc légèrement en-dessous de la capitalisation boursière de 469 millions.

UBS Wealth Management Americas, une filiale d’UBS, a nommé Frank Minerva en tant que chief operating officer (COO) de son activité «ultra-high-net worth», rapporte Financial News. Il s’occupait auparavant du bureau de New York d’UBS Private Wealth Management.

Le ratio de financement des fonds de pension américains s’est amélioré au mois de février pour atteindre 85,3%, soit un gain de 1,6 point de pourcentage, selon les données mensuelles communiquées par BNY Mellon Asset Management.Les actifs ont progressé de 1,8% durant le mois sous revue alors que les engagements ont diminué de 0,1%. Les actifs ont profité de la bonne tenue du marché actions, notamment les petites et moyennes capitalisations. Les programmes de retraite ont aussi profité de la légère augmentation du taux des obligations corporate Aa, de 5,92% à 5,96%.

BBH (Brown Brothers Harriman) vient de nommer Shawn McNinch en tant que responsable ventes et produits ETF internationaux, selon globalcustodyShawn McNinch travaillait précédemment chez Barclays Global Investors, où il était senior principal ou sein du groupe iShares product strategy.