According to Fundweb, Newton Investment Management (BNY Mellon group) on 13 December decided to liquidate its equity fund Newton European Higher Income, launched on 30 January 2007, and managed by Rajesh Shant since March 2012. The British-registered product has only GBP25.6m in assets.
The Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii (HIERS), which has 112,000 members, has selected BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as its global custodian for its USD12.5bn in assets. The service will include global custody, securities lending, currencies, cash management and a vast range of risk solutions.
Fred Alger Management has recruited Jeanne Sdroulas as senior vice president and head of marketing. She previously worked at Stone Harbor Investment Partners, where she was global head of marketing. Fred Alger Management as of 30 September had USD19bn in assets under management.
One of the largest actors in alternative management, Brevan Howard, has posted disappointing results for its flagship fund, and has seen heavy losses from its portfolio dedicated to emerging markets, the news agency Reuters reports. The Brevan Howard Master Fund, whose assets under management total about USD28bn, is virtually unchanged since 2013 as of 4 October. It showed gains of 3.8% as of the end of June, but has been oriented downward since that date. Since its launch in 2003, the fund has never posted a single negative year. Another negative performance has been recorded for the hedge fund dedicated to emerging markets, which has about USD2.8bn in assets, and which has seen a decline of 12% in the year 2013 as of 4 October. The traditional hedge fund invested in emerging markets shows gains of 2.07% since the beginning of the year, according to Hedge Fund Research. The fund also shows variable returns. Last year, the fund gained 14%, but it lost 6% in 2011.
Rob Gambi, global head of bonds at UBS Global Asset Management, is leaving the firm after seven years, Investment Week reports. He will be replaced by John Dugenske, previously head of bonds for North America.
The asset management group La Française AM would like to develop its activities serving investors in Latin America and Asia. The target destinations are Miami, Chile, Peru and Colombia, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore, Citywire reports. As part of this strategy, the asset management firm is promoting three funds domiciled in Luxembourg: an Asian value small and midcaps fund, a Chinese value small and midcaps fund, and a global bond fund. The CEO of La Française, Philippe Lecomte, says that development in Latin America will be steered by the Spanish office, with Augusto Martin, head for the Iberian peninsula, and Gerardo Duplat, head of international distribution for Spain. The two will concentrate on high net worth clients in Miami and Chilean, Peruvian and Colombian pension funds.
Two weeks ago, Dirk Toedte has joined Paris-based Alma Capital as head of development for Germany and Austria. Toedte, who left his position as head of distribution at Amundi Germany after the merger, in early 2011 joined Allianz Global Investors to develop and manage the Product & Chennel Service Europe department.
Asset management activities at the JP Morgan group in third quarters brought net profits of USD476m, up 7% compared with third quarter 2012, but doen compared with second quarter 2013 (USD500m). Income from private banking was up 9% to USD1.5bn, while retail was up 36% to USD722m, but the institutional unit was down 2% to USD553m. Assets under management increased 12%, or USD139bn, year on year to a total of USD1.5trn, due to inflows and market effects. Assets under administration, for their part, were up 9% or USD56bn to USD706bn. The JP Morgan group nonetheless finished the quarter with net losses of USD880m due to significant legal expenses, though it earned profits of USD5.7bn in third quarter 2012. Legal costs in the quarter before taxes totalled USD7.2bn.
The wealth management, brokerage and retirement unit at Wells Fargo in third quarter earned net profits of USD450m, up by USD16m or 4% compared with second quarter 2013, and USD112m or 33% compared with third quarter 2012. The assets of wealth management of clients increased by 5%, to USD209bn, while assets in institutional retirement plans are up 11% to USD288bn. Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRA), for their part, were up 10%, to USD326bn.
As of 30 September, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Legg Mason and AllianceBernstein posted total assets of USD2.6912trn, which represents an increase of USD71.2bn, or 2.71%, in one month.The largest increases, at USD25.8bn and USD25.4bn, to USD745.5bn and USD844.9bn, respectively, were registered by Invesco and Franklin Templeton, For their part, Legg Mason and AllianceBernstein saw increases in their assets under management of USD11bn to USD656bn, and USD9bn, to USD445bn.
According to a statement from Pimco, the allocation of the largest bond fund in the world, the Total Return fund, managed by Bill Gross (about USD250bn), has been retouched, Handelsblatt reports. Real estate represented only 35% in September, compared with 36% in August, while bonds from developed countries other than the United States have been increased to 4% of the portfolio from 2%. However, allocation to US government bonds has remained unchanged.
Analysts and traders at French brokers have been transferred to London, and recruitments are being made often abroad recently, in the City and elsewhere, Les Echos reports. This phenomenon has not yet spread to all French players, but several examples are striking. Exane BNP Paribas is undoubtedly the most emblematic example of this trend. The broker has developed considerably in London in recent years: the Paris office is home to only 30% of the 115 employees in equity reseach (cash equity), commpared with 605 of 105 in 2007. However, 65% of analysts are in the City. The distribution is globally the same for stock market order execution (including sales). Acording to several market sources, Société Générale also has a strong presence in the United Kingdom. Equity analysts are also said to predominate there, according to information conveyed by Thomson Reuters, but the bank does not wish to offer any details about its research personnel.
As an addition to its product range aimed at retail invetors, the independent asset management firm Aquila Capital has opened a new office and to this end, in early October, recruited Christian Brezina and Jan Peters, who will be responsible for creating a private equity segment. Brezina becomes head of private equity investments. He had previously been director of the private equity and multi-asset class sectors at Blue Capital and WealthCap, where he had most recently been responsible for assets of EUR1.3bn. Peters was a member of Brezina’s team at Wealthcap, where he was responsible for the management of existing funds and the structuring and design of new funds, as well as the selection of partner funds.
Peter Peterburs, who has spent six years at BlackRock in Germany, four of them as vice president, retail business, for the North of the country, has joined Jupiter Asset Management as sales manager for the same region. He will report to Andrej Brodnik, head of sales for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.Max Günzl, who had been European sales director at Jupiter, has been promoted to business development & oerpations director.
The European ETF market is continuing to give its preference to physical replication, and several major providers are now trying to get in tune with this major trend, IndexUniverse reports. According to data from Deutsche Bank, 23 European providers out of 35 give the priority of physical ETFs, of which 17 offer only physical replication funds. In Europe there are now 762 synthetic products, compared with 550 physical products. Physical ETFs have posted inflows of abou EUR80bn since 2011, compared with barely EUR10bn for synthetic ETFs in the same period. Assets in physical replication ETFs represent over EUR173bn, compared with slightly over EUR90bn for synthetic vehicles. Amundi, Source, Ossiam and ComStage are primarily providers of synthetic products, while major actors such as Vanguard, iShares and HSBC have more than 99% of their assets in physical replication ETFs. Deutsche Bank and Lyxor, which are highly engaged in the synthetic segment, are now developing their ranges of physical replication products. Lyxor now offers 16 physical replication ETFs, whose assets under management total EUR2.2bn.
Funds People understands that Bankinter will soon complete its acquisition of the three quarters of capital in the broker Mercaval which it does not already own. The firm is planning to buy the stakes of 24.99% held by Bankia and Banco Cooperativo Español as well as the 25.01% held by Banco Popular.Bankinter is planning to appoint Javier Bollaín, who is head of the asset management firm Bankinter Gestión de Activos (EUR5.6bn in assets) since 1989, as head of Mercaval. Bollaín’s former position may now fall to Miguel Artola, chief investment officer since 2011.
According to the latest quarterly bulletin from the CNMV, assets in Spanish investment funds as of 30 June totalled EUR166.7bn, 9% more than as of the end of December while aggregated profits for Spanish asset management firms were up 11.1% year on year in first half, to EUR318m, Funds People reports. The increase in assets under management is the first since the beginning of the crisis in 2007.The number of asset management firms showing losses has fallen to 19 from 28 in second half 2012, with an average loss of EUR3.7m, compared with EUR10m.
The association of British insurers (ABI) will make improvements to its recommendations for unit-linked accounts, following an enquiry by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which found “specific” shortfalls at certain insurers concerning monitoring of policies, Investment Week reports. The FCA did not detect signs of systemic risks which threaten the entire sector, but the anomalies identified may disadvantage investors in these policies.
According to reports in Investment Week, Fidelity is planning to invest GBP250m in the next five years to develop its British open architecture platform. As a part of this programme, the asset management firm is planning a new programme focused on fund managers, entitled Access, which will aim to promote products from these asset management firms to clients worldwide, with marketing and client relationship efforts in exchange for access to less costly share classes.Member groups will have easier access to end users, as the Fidelity platform has 1.1 million retail clients in the United Kingdom, and 10,000 member advisers.Fidelity will also scale up its marketing activities for users of its platform in the United Kingdom, which includes FundsNetwork, the personal investment operation and the defined contributions unit.
Laurence Chapman has left RBS to join the European distribution team at the British firm Kames Captial (EUR61bn in assets), which would now like to extend its activities to the German and Austrian markets. The new arrival will report to Richard Dixon, head of wholesale, continental Europe. She will work in the two German-speaking markets in tandem with Barnaby Woods.Currently, five funds in the range have a sales licene for Germany and Austria: Kames Absolute Return Bond, Kames High Yield Global Bond, Kames Investment Grade Global Bond, Kames Strategic Global Bond and Kames Global Equity Income.
Selon Fundweb, Newton Investment Management (groupe BNY Mellon) a décidé de liquider le 13 décembre son fonds d’actions Newton European Higher Income lancé le 30 janvier 2007 et géré depuis mars 2012 par Rajesh Shant. Ce produit de droit britannique n’affiche en effet que 25,6 millions de livres d’actifs.
Laurence Chapman a quitté RBS pour entrer dans l'équipe de distribution européenne du britannique Kames Capital (61 milliards d’euros d’encours), qui souhaite à présent élargir ses activités aux marchés allemand et autrichien. La nouvelle arrivante est subordonnée à Richard Dixon, head of wholesale, continental Europe. Elle travaillera sur les deux marchés germanophones en tandem avec Barnaby Woods.Actuellement cinq fonds de la gamme bénéficient d’un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne et en Autriche : : Kames Absolute Return Bond, Kames High Yield Global Bond, Kames Investment Grade Global Bond, Kames Strategic Global Bond et Kames Global Equity Income.
Selon les informations d’Investment Week, Fidelity a l’intention d’investir 250 millions de livres sur les cinq prochaines années pour développer sa plate-forme d’architecture ouverte britannique. Dans ce programme, le gestionnaire d’actifs prévoit un nouveau programme focalisé sur les gérants de fonds, du nom d’Access, visant à promouvoir les produits de ces gérants auprès de la clientèle dans le monde entier, avec des efforts de marketing et de suivi de clientèle en échange d’un accès aux classes de parts les moins chargées.Les groupes adhérents auront un accès plus facile aux utilisateurs finaux, la plate-forme Fidelity comptant 1,1 million de clients particuliers au Royaume-Uni et 10.000 conseillers adhérents.D’autre part, Fidelity va muscler ses activités de marketing pour les utilisateurs de sa plate-forme au Royaume-Uni, ce qui recouvre FundsNetwork, l’activité personal investing et le pôle contributions définie.
Selon le dernier bulletin trimestriel du régulateur espagnol CNMV, l’encours des fonds d’investissement espagnols au 30 juin ressortait à 166,7 milliards d’euros, soit 9 % de plus que fin décembre, tandis que le bénéfice agrégé des sociétés de gestion espagnoles affichait pour le premier semestre une hausse de 11,1 % en glissement annuel, à 318 millions d’euros, rapporte Funds People. La hausse des actifs gérés est la première depuis le début de la crise en 2007.Le nombre de maisons dans le rouge a diminué à 19 contre 28 pour le second semestre 2012, avec une perte moyenne de 3,7 millions d’euros contre 10 millions.
Selon les informations de Funds People, Bankinter est sur le point de boucler l’acquisition des trois quarts du capital du courtier Mercaval qu’il ne détient pas. L’établissement compte acheter leurs participations de 24,99 % à Bankia et Banco Cooperativo Español ainsi que celle de 25,01 % détenue par le Banco Popular.Bankinter compte mettre à la tête de Mercaval Javier Bollaín, qui dirige la société de gestion Bankinter Gestión de Activos (5,6 milliards d’euros d’encours) depuis 1989. Le poste de ce dernier pourrait maintenant échoir à Miguel Artola, directeur des investissements depuis 2011.
La priorité des acteurs de la gestion d’actifs dans la région Asie-Pacifique est l’expansion sur de nouveaux marchés de la zone mais cette évolution se heurte à un obstacle majeur, la fragmentation des marchés, souligne une étude réalisée par State Street, en partenariat avec Longitude Research, auprès de 200 cadres du secteur actifs dans la région.Le sondage indique que 42% des cadres interrogés envisagent un développement sur de nouveaux marchés dans la région, et 28% de l'échantillon précisent même qu’il s’agit de leur engagement numéro un. Cette priorité donnée aux nouveaux marchés est particulièrement forte au Japon (52%), devant Hong Kong (28%), la Chine (23%) et l’Australie (23% également).La Chine fait partie des cibles les plus citées, mais les marchés frontières font également partie des possibilités envisagées, notamment la Malaisie et la Thaïlande.Mais ces projets d’expansion se heurtent selon une majorité de sondés à la fragmentation des marchés et à la diversité des réglementations qui gêne notamment l’innovation produits. «La région est plus fragmentée qu’aucune autre au monde en termes de taille, de géographie, de langue, de culture, de réglementation et de fiscalité», souligne Damien Barry, senior vice president, Offshore Funds Services chez State Street.L’initiative régionale lancée récemment d’un passeport pour les fonds asiatiques va dans le bon sens mais ses contours sont encore flous. En attendant, 51% des gestionnaires interrogés soulignent qu’ils doivent mettre en œuvre des changements majeurs pour développer des stratégies de gestion des risques solides adaptées à chaque marché.
La Banque d’Italie a donné son agrément à Invimit, la société de gestion créée par le ministère de l’Economie pour valoriser et céder les biens immobiliers de l’Etat, rapporte Bluerating, citant Reuters. Née en mai, Invimit est présidée par Vincenzo Fortunato, chef de cabinet de Giulio Tremonti au Trésor dans les gouvernements de Silvio Berlusconi. La société de gestion recevra une première allocation pour 2013 équivalant à 800 millions d’euros.
Pramerica Life a signé deux nouveaux accords de distribution en Italie avec la Cassa di Risparmio di Cento et la Banca della Marca Credito Cooperativo, rapporte Bluerating, citant MF.
Peter Peterburs, qui vient de passer six ans chez BlackRock en Allemagne, dont quatre ans comme vice president, retail business, pour le Nord du pays, a rejoint Jupiter Asset Management comme sales managers pour cette même région. Il est subordonné à Andrej Brodnik, head of sales pour l’Allemagne, l’Autriche et la Suisse.Par ailleurs, Max Günzl, qui était déjà European sales director chez Jupiter, a été promu business development & operations director.
Federal Finance Gestion renforce la gamme des fonds structurés Autofocus en lançant Autofocus 7. Ce fonds à formule à capital non garanti, accessible dès 1000 euros, est disponible en assurance-vie (y compris Fourgous), PEA et compte-titres ordinaires. Les conditions sont les suivantes : si l’indice CAC 40 est stable ou en hausse par rapport à son niveau initial, le porteur bénéficiera du remboursement du capital net investi auquel s’ajoute un gain potentiel fixe de 14% l’année 2, ou 21% l’année 3, ou 28% l’année 4, ou 35% l’année 5, en cas de rappel anticipé, et de 42% à l’échéance des 6 ans. Caractéristiques Code ISIN : FR0011550763 Éligibilité : PEA, Compte de titres et assurance-vie (y compris Fourgous) Durée d’investissement : 2, 3, 4, 5 ou 6 ans selon l’évolution de l’indice CAC 40 Seuil d’accès : 1 000 euros Période de commercialisation : Du 23 septembre au 19 décembre 2013 en Assurance-Vie & au 23 décembre 2013, avant 12 heures CTO et PEA. Distributeurs : Commercialisation dans les réseaux Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne, Crédit Mutuel du Massif Central, Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest, Arkéa Banque Privée et Vie-Plus.