ETFlab has launched a new fund entitled DAXplus Maximum Dividend. The ETF tracks the evolution of share prices for the 20 companies which pay the highest dividends on the Hdax index. Management fees for the fund are 0.30% per year.

Dave Dudding, manager of the Threadneedle European Select Fund, is sticking to a defensive approach to the management of his portfolio. Given the high volatility of the markets, he is staying concentrated on defensive sectors, such as basic consumer goods and health care, the management firm says in a release. The fund is still considerably underweight on the financial sector, while Nestlé is currently one of the manager’s top picks.

The Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index has at last posted positive returns of 0.65% in March, lower than the 0.85% previously announced on the basis of results for 55% of the sample (see Newsmanagers of 9 April). The index lost 0.88% in February. For first quarter as a whole, the index shows gains of 0.85%.In March, dedicated short bias funds posted average losses of 5.47%, while emerging markets funds showed returns of 2.24%. In January-March, the most lucrative strategy was convertible arbitrage, with gains of 7.72%, while the least lucrative strategy was equity market neutral, with losses of 3.49%.

The Inverco association of management firms on Friday published its annual study of management commission levels, including administration and distribution fees. The study shows that as of the end of December, the average level of fees was 0.97%, which represents a 6.7% decrease from a level of 1.04% twelve months earlier. The decline has been constant over the past 14 years. At the end of 1994, average commissions were 1.63%, and the decrease since that time represents 40.5%.The least expensive products as of the the end of 2008 were short-term bonds (0.62%), which represent 25.7% of total assets, and money market funds (0.72%), which account for 20.3%.Management commissions are legally limited to 2.25%, and Inverco points our that the average charge for funds comes in at 43% of this amount. Subscription and redemption commissions, for their part, represent about 0.01% by weighted average, though the theoretical legal limit is 5% for each type of fee.

Money Marketing reports that Dan Roberts, who since August 2005 had been manager of the equity income fund from Aviva Investors (GBP148m), has joined Gartmore.

Permal, an affiliate of Legg Mason specialised in hedge fund management, has launched its first traditional investment fund, the Legg Mason Permal Tactical Allocation Fund, Funds People reports. The product invests in multiple asset classes (equities, bonds, money markets), and may invest without geographical constraints. It is authorised to acquire shares in actively- or passively-managed funds.

Citywire reports that Franck le Franc, who left Neuflize Gestion at the beginning of this year, will manage the Sominter mixed fund at his new firm, Somangest-Vesigest.

According to Citywire, César de Brito has left LODH, where he managed the Clean Tech fund. The product will now be managed by Bolko Hohaus.

Santander Real Estate, the management firm responsible for the open-ended real estate fund Santander Banif Inmobiliario, has selected CB Richard Ellis to advise it on a sale of assets from which it hopes to earn more than EUR3bn, according to sources close to the firm. Expansión calculates that the sale represents about 90% of total assets in the fund before redemptions were frozen (though the value of these assets has been revised downwards by 7.5%). The process of selling the properties will take at least two years.

Frank Naylors, director of investments at Hermes Pensions Management, has told Reuters that the BT Pension Scheme is planning to increase its allocation to alternative asset classes such as hedge funds in the next three years to 15-20%, the London Stock Exchange reports. At the end of 2007, the percentage stood at 13%. The fund has already invested USD1.2bn in two funds of hedge funds managed by Hermes BPLK, of which USD900m is in a new multi-strategy fund, and USD300m in a restructuring fund launched in January.

In a statement released on 17 April, the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), draws the attention of shareholders to the appointment of a liquidator for the Luxembourg Sicav Luxalpha. A Luxembourg district court has declared the fund bankrupt and ordered its liquidation, and has appointed Ms. Christiane Junck, deputy chairperson of the Luxembourg district court, as the supervising judge, while Alain Rukavina, solicitor, and Mr. Paul Laplume, business auditor, will serve as liquidators. The two liquidators will represent the business, its investors, and its creditors.The AMF ?certifies the decision of the court, and the consequent withdrawal of the license for the Luxalpha SICAV by the CSSF, and its removal from the list of OPCVM funds authorised for sale in France.?The regulator states that it is ?highly mobilised? in this case, and that it will ?be particularly attentive to ensure that shareholders in the Luxalpha Sicav resident in France receive all the information they are entitled to.? It will ?continue its efforts to ensure that the depository’s obligation to refund assets to investors be applied in an identical manner throughout the European Union.?

As announced at the end of February, Gartmore on 14 April released for sale an absolute return fund focused on the United Kingdom. Hedge Week reports that the Gartmore UK Absolute Return Fund is a UCITS III compliant product, which will take long and short positions on UK equities, and which will be managed by Ben Wallace, following the same strategy as the AlphaGen Octanis Fund, which he has managed since its launch in March 2005. The new fund comes as an addition to an AR product range that already includes the Gartmore MultiManager Absolute Return and Gartmore European Absolute Return funds.

Fortis Investments has announced that its Chinese joint venture Fortis Haitong will become the first management firm to pay a dividend (of CNY0.2 for every 10 shares) on a fund (launched in 2008) with the status of Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) in China.

Curtis Butler will be making a comeback to fund management, after leaving Legg Mason last October, Citywire reports. The manager will sdet up an emerging markets desk at LODH in New York. He will take charge of the LODH Invest - Global Emerging Market fund, which was previously managed by Lloyd George.

At the Boao Forum for Asia, Lou Jiwei, head of the sovereign fund China Investment Corp., has announced that the fund plans to invest in Europe, now that European officials have become slightly more humble, the Financial Times reports. He also thanked European officials for saving him a lot of money by dissuading him from investing in Europe in 2008, due to the doubts they expressed about the transparency of the Chinese sovereign fund and its intentions.

More than half of managers are planning to increase their use of liquidity ?dark pools?, according to a recent survey by Liquidnet, cited by the Financial Times. The sentiment was strongest in Europe, where three quarters of managers said they were planning to do so.

Financière de l"Echiquier is merging its FCP funds Exchiquier Excelsior and Exchiquier Excelsior Europe. Through a contribution of half of their management fees, the two funds provide financing for the Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier, which was founded in 2005 under the aegis of the Fondation de France to ?campaign for insertion and education in France,? the management firm declares in a statement announcing that it will be increasing its funding of the organisation.?Financière de l"Echiquier has decided to merge the two funds Echiquier Excelsior and Echiquier Excelsior Europe in order to concentrate in a single portfolio its research and management efforts to select French and European small and midcaps. Thanks to its very large selection universe, particularly promising for investors passionate about enterprise businesses, Ecquiquier Excelsior will be likely to attract more investors, and thus generate more resources for the Foundation. With a strengthened dedicated team, Exchiquier will now be the sole and well-identified vehicle to fly the colours of the Foundation,? Financière de l"Echiquier says in a statement.The management firm is also developing a network of donors for its Foundation. ?This is constituted of provider-partners and retail investors, whether or not they are clients of the Financière de l"Echiquier, who have awareness of the ongoing actions, and who may benefit from tax deductions on their donations.?Philippe Lévêque, CEO of Care France, has also been appointed to the Engagement Committee at the Foundation. He will be in charge of selecting projects for support.?With a strong cumulative budget of over EUR2.4m, the Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier has already supported 50 projects, of which 55% are focused on labour insertion, and 27% on education, while 18% are categorised as ?core team projects,? as they emanate directly from employees of Financière de l"Echiquier,? the management firm states.

European high net worth private investors, who were the first to invest in hedge funds, were also the first to get out during the crisis, according to a study by the Bank of New York Mellon and Casey Quirk, cited by the Financial Times. Last year, high net worth individuals (HNWI) represented 80% (or more than USD500bn) of redemptions from hedge funds, though they only represent two thirds of assets in these funds. The redemptions went primarily to European clients.

Selon les données d’Europerformance-SIX Telekurs publiées par Les Echos, les actifs des fonds français sont restés stables en mars. Seuls les OPCVM monétaires traditionnels ont enregistré des souscriptions significatives (3,6 milliards d’euros). Côté performances, un fonds monétaire a rapporté en moyenne 0,41 %, contre 0,84 % pour un fonds investi en obligations de la zone euro.

Selon Citywire, Franck le Franc, qui a quitté Neuflize Gestion en début d’année, va gérer le fonds diversifié Sominter dans sa nouvelle société, Somangest-Vesigest.

Financière de l"Echiquier fusionne ses FCP Echiquier Excelsior et Echiquier Excelsior Europe. Grâce au versement de la moitié de leurs frais de gestion, ces deux fonds permettent de financer la Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier. Cette dernière a été créée en 2005 sous l"égide de la Fondation de France pour «agir en en faveur de l"insertion et de l"éducation en France», précise la société de gestion dans un communiqué où elle annonce qu"elle renforce les moyens de cet organisme. «Echiquier Excelsior et Echiquier Excelsior Europe. Financière de l"Echiquier a décidé de fusionner ces deux fonds afin de concentrer, au sein d"un portefeuille unique, son travail de recherche et de gestion sur une sélection de petites et moyennes valeurs françaises et européennes. Grâce à son univers de valeurs très large et particulièrement prometteur pour l"investisseur passionné de l"entreprise, Echiquier Excelsior sera susceptible d’attirer plus d’investisseurs, générant ainsi plus de ressources pour la Fondation. Doté d"une équipe dédiée et renforcée, Echiquier Excelsior sera désormais le véhicule unique et bien identifié pour porter les couleurs de la Fondation», indique la Financière de l"Echiquier dans son communiqué. Parallèlement, la société de gestion développe un réseau de donateurs pour sa Fondation. «Celui-ci est constitué de fournisseurs-partenaires et de particuliers, clients ou non de Financière de l"Echiquier, sensibles aux actions soutenues et qui bénéficient de la fiscalité avantageuse des dons». Enfin, Philippe Lévêque, Directeur Général de Care France, vient d"entrer au Comité d"Engagement de la Fondation, dont le rôle est de sélectionner les projets à soutenir. «Forte d"un budget cumulé de plus de 2,4 millions d"euros, la Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier a déjà soutenu une cinquantaine de projets. 55% d"entre eux sont axés sur l"insertion par l"emploi, 27% sur l"éducation et 18% sont qualifiés de «projets coups de c?ur de l"équipe» car ils émanent directement des salariés de Financière de l"Echiquier», précise la société de gestion.

Finalement, l’indice Credit Suisse/Tremont des hedge funds affiche pour par une performance de 0,65 % au lieu des 0,86 % annoncés sur la base de 55 % de l'échantillon (lire notre dépêche du 9 avril). Il avait accusé une perte de 0,88 % pour février. Sur l’ensemble du premier trimestre, il marque une augmentation de 0,85 %. Pour mars, les fonds dedicated short bias ont accusé une perte moyenne de 5,47 % tandis que les fonds marchés émergents enregistraient une performance de 2,24 %. Pour janvier-mars, la stratégie la plus payante a été celle de l’arbitrage de convertibles, avec un gains de 7,72 % et la moins rentable a été l’equity market neutral avec une parte de 3,49 %.

Lothar Estein, fondateur du promoteur allemand US Treuhand, a pu présenter vendredi un plan de sauvetage pour le fonds immobilier fermé UST XVI, qui avait drainé 180 millions d’euros en peu de temps voici trois ans. Ce fonds, investi dans le nouveau quartier Victory Park de Dallas, a souffert de la sortie du promoteur immobilier américain Hillwood et de la crise de l’immobilier, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Finalement, Hillwood accepte de laisser dans le fonds les 110 millions de dollars qu’il avait apportés et de verser 8 millions de dollars de dédit. D’autre part, Lothar Estein est parvenu à négocier avec toutes les banques créancières un report d'échéances à 2012.

Selon eFinancialNews, Fidelity Investments a indiqué dans une note au personnel qu’il envisageait de prendre des mesures pour limiter les bonus, les augmentations de salaires et la participation aux bénéfices compte tenu d’une baisse probable des résultats e2009.

Après avoir quitté Legg Mason en octobre dernier, Curtis Butler va faire son retour à la gestion de fonds, annonce Citywire. Le gérant met en place le desk marchés émergents de LODH à New York. Il prendra en mains le LODH Invest - Global Emerging Market qui était précédemment délégué à Lloyd George.

Le comité d’investissement de CalPERS qui se réunit ce lundi devrait décider de lancer un fonds multistratégies de hedge funds dans le cadre de son programme d’incubation et d’essaimage «Sprout Program». Cela permettra de donner à des gérants débutants 2 à 3 ans pour se construire un historique de performance. Ceux qui afficheront les meilleurs résultats bénéficieront d’un spin-off en acquérant des titres du fonds qu’ils pourront continuer à gérer, indique Global Pensions. CalPERS, qui affiche un encours 5,9 milliards de dollars en parts de hedge funds et de fonds de hedge funds (il a perdu 19 % sur ce portefeuille en 2008), veut obtenir un rabais sur les commissions de gestion de ces fonds, mais il est disposé à payer davantage en commissions de performances. Global Pensions indique également qu'à fin mars les actifs sous gestion du fonds de pension se situaient à 171,6 milliards de dollars, soit 6,7 % de moins que trois mois plus tôt.

Filiale de Legg Mason spécialiste de la gestion de hedge funds, Permal a lancé son premier fonds d’investissement traditionnel, le Legg Mason Permal Tactical Allocation Fund, rapporte Funds People. Il s’agit d’un produit multi-classes d’actifs (actions, obligations, monétaire) qui peut investir sans limitation géographique et qui est autorisé à acquérir des parts de fonds actifs ou passifs.

Etienne Gorgeon, directeur de la gestion taux et crédit d'Edmond de Rothschild Financial Services

Mathieu Pivovard, responsable de la gestion diversifiée et de l’allocation tactique chez Allianz Global Investors France

Philippe Percheron, multigérant au CM-CIC Asset Management