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17/01/2013

Assets at Goldman Sachs up 3% in 2012

Despite USD18bn in net redemptions in 2012, compared with USD17bn in 2011, the investment management division of Goldman Sachs at the end of December posted assets up by USD26bn, or 3%, compared with the end of 2011, at USD854bn, according to accounts released by the group on 16 January. Market effects were positive to the tune of USD44bn.Net revenue for the division rose 4% over the previous year, to USD5.22bn, due to a strong increase in performance commission revenues, which were offset by a slight decline in management commission revenues, and by a decline in transaction revenues.Group-wide, net profits in 2012 rose 68% over 2011, to USD7.465bn, compared with USD4.442bn.
17/01/2013

DekaBank launches certificate unit

In line with authorisation granted a few months ago by the board of directors (see Newsmanagers of 13 September), DekaBank (EUR170bn in assets in its investment funds) will on 21 January launch its retail certificate operation, a decisive step in the process which will make the central asset management firm for the German savings banks the single vendor in this sector for these securities, Oliver Behrens, vice-chairman of the board, announced on 16 January.Deka has already been issuing certificates for owners’ equity investments by the savings banks and institutional clients for a decade. The objective is to focus on standard, simple and transparent products, which are appropriate for wider sales, tied to well-known index products such as Dax or Euro Stoxx 50. Deka will deliberately not cover all of the most popular sectors, and will primarily avoid the more speculative segments, says Marco Peters, head of sales for structured products.
17/01/2013

Nestlé Foundation recruits a chief investment officer

Bettina Nürk, who since late 2009 has been head of the financial portion of the corporate retirement planning programme at the German publisher Uhlenbruch, has been appointed to the board at the pension fund for Nestlé Germany (Nestlé Pensionskasse) as chief investment officer. In December she succeeded Peter Hadasch, a board member and director of personnel at Nestlé Deutschland, who remains as head of retirement savings plans, finews.ch reports.Gerhard Latza, a board member responsible for the affiliate Neversa, becomes responsible for real estate management, in addition to his current responsibilities.
17/01/2013

Nomura AM recruits from LGT

Frank Appel, who had previously been head of relationship management for institutional clients at LGT Capital Management, was on 2 January recruited as senior relationship manager for institutional assets at Nomura Asset Management Deutschland KAG (NAMD). His previous employers, before LGT, were the primary insurer Ergo, DWS Investments, and HSBC Global Asset Management.NAMD is led by Andreas Körner, CEO.
17/01/2013

Mirabaud recruits for Spain

Funds People reports that Antonio Rodriguez García has been recruited as deputy to head of investments Raimundo Martín, and as head of marketing and sales for Spain, Portugal and South America by the Swiss firm Mirabaud.García has 15 years of experience in the financial sector, and previously worked at Rothschild and Santander.
17/01/2013

7% growth in assets under management at JP Morgan in fourth quarter

Assets under management at JP Morgan in fourth quarter increased 7%, or USD90bn, compared with fourth quarter 2011, at USD1.4trn, according to figures released by JP Morgan on 16 January, at a presentation of its results. This development is due to market effects and net inflows of USD32bn, of which USD24bn were for money market products, and USD8bn in long-term products. Assets under supervision as of the end of December totalled USD2.1trn, up USD174bn or 8% compared with the previous year. The group overall reported net profits of USD5.7bn in fourth quarter, up 53%, while profits for the year as a whole totalled a record USD21.3bn.
17/01/2013

UBI starts 2013 with a new product offering

After a very satisfactory year in 2012, Union Bancaire Gestion Institutionnelle (UBI), an affiliate of Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), is starting 2013 with an addition to its product range. Inflows for the group last year totalled EUR3.5bn, of which EUR800m went to convertible funds managed in Paris. “2012 was an excellent year for credit, a good year for equities, and lastly, a very good year for convertible equities,” Dominique Leprévots, chairnen of the board at UBI, stated on 16 January at a meeting with investors. On the strength of these results, the firm, which has recently released an SRI convertible fund, has decided to extend its range to global convertible bonds, with the UBAM Convertibles Global fund. This is not least because it claims to have the means in its Paris team to serve an international client base, after launching two dedicated funds of global convertible bonds with a total of over EUR100m. The new strategy carries on the principal characteristics that distinguish the existing product range: a bottom-up approach, discretionary management of delta, investment-grade bias, and hedging for currency risks, with diversification in the three major convertible bond-issuing regions, the United States, Europe, and Asia (including Japan). Principal characteristics of fund Name of fund: UBAM Convertibles Global Legal format: French Sicav – UCITS IV ISIN code: (EUR) FR0011335363 Bloomberg code: UBACGAC FP Equity Management fees: 1.2%
17/01/2013

US Trust launches family WM service

U.S. Trust, Bank of America’s wealth management arm, introduced Family Wealth Services (FWS), a comprehensive approach to meeting the specialized needs of high net worth families and the increasingly complex issues that parents, children and extended family members now face.FWS aggregates a wide range of investment, banking, wealth transfer and legacy planning capabilities within U.S. Trust and provides customized strategies that incorporate generational differences, family diversity, emerging risks to financial security and overall family goals and values. .
17/01/2013

UBS plans to develop wealth management activities in China

UBS is extending its activities in China into wealth management. The largest Swiss bank, calling the step “decisive,” on 16 January opened a Chinese-registered affiliate in Beijing, to develop its activities in local currency and to become one of the leaders in wealth management in China. “China represents one of the largest markets in the world for UBS,” its chairman, Axel Weber, says, cited in a statement. “We are committed to strengthening our presence here (in China) and to extending our range of products and services to meet client demand,” he added at the opening ceremony.
17/01/2013

Fidelity Worldwide Investment seeking a head for South-East Asia

Fidelity Worldwide Investment is seeking a new head for its Singapore unit and the South-East Asian region, following the departure of Madeline Ho, who has moved to Natixis Global Asset Management. In the interim, Mark Talbot, managing director for Asia Pacific ex Japan at Fidelity, will assume the role.
17/01/2013

Fidelity Worldwide Investment seeking a head for South-East Asia

Fidelity Worldwide Investment is seeking a new head for its Singapore unit and the South-East Asian region, following the departure of Madeline Ho, who has moved to Natixis Global Asset Management. In the interim, Mark Talbot, managing director for Asia Pacific ex Japan at Fidelity, will assume the role.
17/01/2013

Threadneedle recruits a head of clients for real estate

James Allum, client relationship manager at Aviva Investors for real estate for five years, after serving as client service manager at Henderson Global Investors, has been appointed as client reationship director, overseeing institutional clients investing in real estate portfolios from Threadneedle Investments. The British asset management firm states that he joined the firm on 4 December, and that he reports to Andrew Nicoll, global head of client service.
17/01/2013

Jupiter increases assets in fourth quarter 2012

Jupiter has seen a rise in its assets under management to GBP26.3bn as of 31 December, compared with GBP24.9bn as of 30 September. This is the result of net inflows of GBP688m, of which GBP490m are in mutual funds. For 2012 as a whole, net inflows total GBP966m.
17/01/2013

AEW Europe appoints an executive director

AEW Europe has announced the appointment of Simon Baxland as executive director. He comes as an addition to the opportunity-driven platform at the firm, and joins a team of 40 professionals dedicated to this activity, a statement says. In his new role, Blaxland will be based in London, and will report to Russell Jewel, Managing Director – head of private equity funds. Before joining AEW Europe, Blaxland served in a variety of roles on investment teams at GE Real Estate and Goldman Sachs. More recently, he was Managing Partner at Groupe Exmoor, where he served as investor, operating partner and advisor to several Private Equity Funds. AEW Europe has also announced that it is currently in the process of launching an opportunity-driven fund which will target real estate assets and distressed financial structured, investing both in operational platforms and assets whose valuation is temporarily affected by the market situation.
17/01/2013

JP Morgan to release an internal report on the Whale of London

The board of directors of the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase, has decided to release an internal report on the Whale of London scandal, which cost the bank USD6.25bn last year, according to the New York Times. The decision was taken on 15 January, at the initiative of chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, despite the reservations of some heads, who were concerned that the 50-page document might be used as a basis for lawsuits against the bank, the newspaper adds, citing several sources familiar with the matter. The newspaper reports that the document, authored by former CFO Mike Cavanagh, was critical of Douglas Braunstein, the chief financial officer at the group at the time of the events, for failing to adequately oversee the activities of traders at the London bank.
17/01/2013

Russell Indexes and NYSE Euronext form international alliance

The index provider Russell Indexes and NYSE Euronext on 15 January announced that they have forged an international alliance, which will involve several units at the two groups. The agreement includes an integration of the Glboal Index Feed (GIF) from NYSE Technologies into the RussellTick feed (Russell US indices). The agreement also provides for the introduction of new products in the United States and Europe, including options on indices.
17/01/2013

Sovereign debt risk: Japan is down, United States holding steady

Japan has lost two places, to 35th place in the most recent quarterly index of sovereign risk calculated by BlackRock (BSRI), due to a deterioration of its budgetary situation, but things may develop during the year, due to the inauguration of a new administration and a new governor of the central bank. The United States, for their part, remain at 15th place in the rankings, due to the budget agreement reached early in 2013, which is considreed “better than nothing” by strategists at the BlackRock Investment Institute, who nonetheless predict that there will be some slightly increased turbulence due to the limited scope of the agreement. France is in 27th place in the rankings, after Poland, and before Colombia and Brazil. The top three places are held by Norway, Singapore and Switzerland. BlackRock also offers an interactive BSRI index, which makes it possible to compare ratings between two countries.
17/01/2013

European Parliament to step up regulation of ratings agencies

The European Parliament on 16 January passed new rules by a large majority, which will regulate and provide a framework for ratings agencies. The agencies will be required to increase transparency and may be held liable for their errors in civil actions. The bill passed with 579 votes in favour, 58 against, and 60 abstentions. This result is unsurprising, as the European Parliament, European Council and European Commission had all already announced in late November that they had reached a compromise on the new rules. The European Commissioner for Financial Services, Michel Barnier, congratulated the European Parliament. “Ratings agencies will be required to be more transparent when they issue ratings of governments, and will be required to follow stricter rules, which will require them to release accounts in the event of errors, whether or not these are intentional,” he said in a statement. Agencies will now no longer be permitted to make more than three unsolicited ratings per year, when they rate governments. The date must be announced in advance, and these ratings are to be published on Friday, after the close of the markets. The law introduces a civil liability regime for ratings agencies, which may be held liable for their errors in cases of severe negligence or intentional violation of legislation. Among several measures which aim to limit conflicts of interest, a ratings agency will not be permitted to issue ratings of entities or products if they control more than 10% of shares in them. Lastly, a rotation rule to open the market to smaller ratings agencies to compete with the large players (Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, which control 90% of the market) will be instituted, but only for some structured products.
17/01/2013

Record assets for Spanish hedge funds

As of 31 December, the “free investment fund,” or Spanish-registered hedge fund, sector had 28 products, with assets of EUR845m, 33% more than at the end of 2011, and the highest level in five years, Funds People reports. The top three actors are March Gestión, with EUR235m, Bestinver (EUR186m), and ICR (EUR161m).However, assets under management in the 18 Spanish-registered funds of hedge funds have fallen 7.8% in one year, to EUR340m, the lowest level in five years.
17/01/2013

E Fund closes a long/short equity fund

One of the largest Chinese asset management firms, E Fund, which has recently acquired Harvest, has closed a long/short equity hedge fund dedicated to emerging markets, two years after its launch, Asian Investor reports. The decision is said to be related to the poor performance of the strategy, which lost 2.8% in the twelve months to the end of August 2012. Assets under management in the fund notably also totalled barely USD6m at the end of 2012. Another long-only emerging market strategy, launched in May 2012, is also reported to have been closed. One of the co-managers of these funds, Charles Wang, is said to have left the firm in late 2012 to join Bosera, an asset management firm based in Shenzhen, as chief investment officer for quantitative investments and ETFs. The other co-mangaer, Fei Peng, is reported to have remained at E Fund.
17/01/2013

UCITS-compliant hedge funds gained 1.63% in 2012

After average losses of 3.64% in 2011, UCITS-compliant hedge funds posted gains of 0.50% in December, and average returns for 2012 as a whole of 1.63%, according to the UCIS Alternative Index Global published by the Swiss firm Alix Capital.Meanwhile, the UCITS-compliant fund of hedge fund index last year saw losses of 1.34%, which comes after 5.25% losses in 2011.For the 11 strategies monitored by Alix Capital, six show losses for the year 2012, with the deepest losses for commodities (-5.31%) and CTA (-3.83%). However, emerging markets show the best returns, with 5.87%, followed by bond strategies (+4.88%) and multi-strategies (+4.08%).Alix Capital states that at the end of December, the 880 UCITS-compliant hedge funds and funds of hedge funds in the index had about USD140bn in assets under management.
17/01/2013

Strong inflows to emerging market corporate debt fund from Pictet

The emerging market corporate bond fund Pictet-Emerging Corporate Bonds, launched in November, and managed by Alain-Nsiona Defise (formerly of JPMorgan, BNP Paribas IP and Fortis), on 14 January topped USD600m in assets, Pictet Asset Management has announced in London. The UCITS-compliant product, whose benchmark index is the JP Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified fund (which it aims to outperform by 200 basis points over 3-5 years, gross of fees), is a sub-fund of the Sicav Pictet Luxembourg.
17/01/2013

Fidelity closes Small Cap Discovery Fund to new subscribers

In a press release, Fidelity Investments has announced that on 31 January, at 4:00 PM US Eastern Standard Time (EST), it will be closing the Fidelity Small Cap Discovery Fund (ticker FSCRX) to new subscribers.The fund, managed by Chuck Meyers, has doubled its volume in the past twelve months, at USD3.9bn. The closure is explained as arising from a need to preserve performance for existing subscribers, who may, until further notice, continue to acquire shares in the fund.
17/01/2013

Plans for sovereign funds in Africa multiply

Africa is beginning to see the merits of sovereign funds. This year, no less than seven countries (Angola, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, and one other) are planning to launch funds, particularly in the wake of the discovery of petrochemical reserves, Les Echos reports. They are joining the ten countries that have launched sovereign funds since 2005, including Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Namibia, Mauritania and Gabon.
17/01/2013

Jupiter augmente ses encours au dernier trimestre 2012

Jupiter a vu ses encours augmenter à 26,3 milliards de livres au 31 décembre, contre 24,9 milliards au 30 septembre. C’est notamment le résultat de souscriptions nettes de 688 millions de livres, dont 490 millions dans les fonds.Sur l’ensemble de 2012, la collecte se monte à 966 millions de livres.
17/01/2013

Threadneedle recrute un directeur de clientèle pour l'immobilier

Client relationship manager chez Aviva Investors pour l’immobilier pendant cinq ans, après avoir été client service manager chez Henderson Global Investors, James Allum a été nommé client relationship director pour le suivi de la clientèle institutionnelle investie dans les portefeuilles immobiliers de Threadneedle Investments. La gestionnaire britannique précise qu’il a rejoint la société le 4 décembre et qu’il est subordonné à Andrew Nicoll, global head of client service.
17/01/2013

AEW Europe nomme un executive director

AEW Europe vient d’annoncer la nomination de Simon Blaxland en tant qu’executive director. Il renforce la plateforme de gestion opportuniste de la société et rejoint une équipe de 40 professionnels dédiés à cette activité, indique un communiqué. Dans son nouveau poste, Simon Blaxland sera basé à Londres et reportera à Russell Jewel, Managing Director – head of private equity funds. Avant de rejoindre AEW Europe, Simon Blaxland a occupé différents postes dans les équipes d’investissements de GE Real Estate et de Goldman Sachs. Plus récemment, il était Managing Partner du Groupe Exmoor, où il agissait en tant qu’investisseur, operating partner et conseil, pour le compte de plusieurs fonds de private equity. Par ailleurs, AEW Europe annonce qu’elle est actuellement en cours de lancement d’un fonds opportuniste ciblant les actifs immobiliers et les structures financières distressed, investissant à la fois dans des plateformes opérationnelles et dans des actifs dont la valorisation est temporairement pénalisée par la situation des marchés.
17/01/2013

Galibier Capital Management choisit RBC & Treasury Services

RBC investisseur & Services a annoncé que son activité de services aux investisseurs a été retenue par la société canadienne Galibier Capital Management Ltd pour offrir un ensemble de services pour sa gamme de fonds, y compris la conservation et l’administration de fonds et l’enregistrement de données clients. Galibier CM propose actuellement des mandats d’actions canadiennes et d’actions américaines dédiés aux institutions, régimes de retraite, fondations et particuliers fortunés.
17/01/2013
Fonds

E Fund ferme une stratégie long/short equity

L’un des plus importants gestionnaires d’actifs chinois, E Fund, qui a récemment racheté Harvest, a fermé un hedge fund long/short equity dédié aux marchés émergents deux ans selon après son lancement, rapporte Asian Investor.Cette décision serait liée à la mauvaise performance de la stratégie qui a perdu 2,8% sur les douze mois à fin août 2012. A noter en outre que les actifs sous gestion du fonds s'élevaient à tout juste 6 millions de dollars fin 2012. Une autre stratégie long only sur les marchés émergents, lancée en mai 2011, aurait également été fermée. L’un des deux co-gérants de ces fonds, Charles Wang, aurait quitté la société fin 2012 pour rejoindre Bosera, une société de gestion basée à Shenzhen, en qualité de chief investment officer pour les investissements quantitatifs et dans les ETF. L’autre co-gérant, Fei Peng, serait resté chez E Fund.
Fonds
17/01/2013

JP Morgan va publier son rapport interne sur la Baleine

Le conseil d’administration de la première banque américaine, JPMorgan Chase, a décidé de publier son rapport interne sur l’affaire de la Baleine de Londres, qui lui a coûté l’an dernier 6,25 milliards de dollars, selon le quotidien New York Times.La décision a été prise le 15 janvier, à l’initiative du PDG Jamie Dimon, en dépit des réserves de certains responsables qui craignaient que ce document d’une cinquantaine de pages puisse être utilisé dans le cadre de poursuites contre la banque, ajoute le journal, citant plusieurs personnes proches du dossier.Selon le journal, le document rédigé par l’ancien directeur financier Mike Cavanagh critiquerait Douglas Braunstein, le responsable des finances du groupe au moment des faits, pour ne pas avoir surveillé de manière adéquate les activités des traders de la banque à Londres.

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