Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) on January 8 announced the launch of the Morgan Stanley Investment Funds (MS INVF) Global Premier Credit Fund. The fund seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in “Premier Credit,” the corporate debt issued by businesses characterized by dominant franchises or leading industry positions, low capital intensity and strong balance sheets.To build the portfolio and identify Premier Credit, the portfolio managers leverage fundamental research from MSIM’s Global Fixed Income team. Additionally, the new fund employs proprietary quantitative tools to screen the credit universe and continually monitor high quality issuers, resulting in a strong platform from which to assess credit quality.Richard Ford, European head of credit for MSIM, said, “The Global Premier Credit Fund aims to be an effective strategy to help investors wanting to diversify from government debt, by seeking higher yields through capturing the credit premium of the highest quality credits withlimited volatility and default risk (...)».

The management of currency risks for Fondoposte, the national complementary retirement fund for employees of the Poste Italiane and its affiliates, has been contracted to the Edmond de Rothschild group, Bluerating reports. It is the division specialised in currency overlay management at the asset management firm which will handle the contract.

The former chairman of the international alternative management association (AIMA) and hedge fund sector specialist Todd Groome is joining the Highwater group, specialised in corporate governance, The Asset reports. Groome, who from 2009 to 2012 represented the hedge fund sector as head of the AIMA, has recently served as a senior adviser to Albourne Partners and as adviser to a hedge fund successfully launched in 2011. The Highwater group offers corporate governance services to hedge funds and asset management firms via the appointment of independent administrators and other means.

While remaining as chief research officer, Fred Fraenkel has been promoted to the position of chairman of Fairholme Capital Management, replacing Bruce Berkowitz, CIO and managing member, who had held the position for the interim since the resignation of Charlie Fernandez in spring 2012. Fraenkel joined Fairholme in 2011, after serving as chief investment officer at Beacon Trust Company.

Jens Peers has been appointed CIO sustainable equities of Mirova, the responsible investment division of Natixis Asset Management, where he will report directly to Philippe Zaouati, the deputy CEO of Natixis AM, Head of Mirova. Jens Peers started his career in 1998 as a financial advisor at KBC Bank, Brussels. He subsequently joined KBC Asset Management in 2001 as a financial analyst. In 2003, he moved to Kleinwort Benson Investors, Dublin, as head of portfolio management - environmental strategies on the following thematic areas: water, agribusiness, cleantech (renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management). Mirova has EUR4bn in assets under management in SRI assets, EUR7.7bn in assets advised in ESG strategies and EUR20.4bn in assets in voting and engagement (as of 30 September 2012).

Jes Staley, former lieutenant of the head of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon, is joining the hedge fund firm BlueMountain Capital Management, the Financial Times reports. The firm is one of the hedge funds which brought down the US banking trader known as the whale of London. Staley had been head of investment banking.

Six years to the day after acquiring the portfolio, the German open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global has resold its portfolio of five properties in Chile for EUR171m to Aurus Renta Inmobiliaria. The sale price is about EUR33m higher than the purchase price. The properties sold total 55,725 square metres of area in the Birmann 24, Torre Paris, Xerox, Bandera 76 and Teatinos 254-258 buildings in Santiago, Chile. After the sale, the UniImmo: Global fund retains six properties or stakes in properties in Latin America, totalling EUR230m.

The Swedish firm Stella Asset Management will liquidate its two hedge funds, Stella Nova and Stella Polaris, Privata Affärer reports. The funds had a difficult year in 2012. The Swedish website says this is only the beginning of a wave of hedge fund closures to come.

The German open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal has announced that it has sold the office building at 5, Plaza de Cataluña in Barcelona, with 14,000 square metres, to an investor who wishes to remain anonymous. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the buyer would appear to be the billionaire Amancio Ortega, the largest shareholder in Inditex. Deka Immobilien states that the sale has allowed it to earn a capital gain. In addition, the sale comes as part of the strategy of Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, which is to focus its investments on major cities outside Europe, and on Germany and the United Kingdom.

JP Morgan Asset Management would like to enter the Australian fund market this year, says Jed Laskowitz, CEO of Asian fund activities and head of asset management in Asia for the US firm, at a press breakfast held by Asian Investor. The firm already has an institutional presence in the country. JP Morgan AM would also like to penetrate South-East Asia, and may launch its first ETF in China via its joint venture, the Asian website adds.

Carmignac Gestion has announced the arrival of Anne Bellavoine as director of marketing. In an interview with Newsmanagers, Eric Helderlé, CEO, explains that with this recruitment, the asset management firm hopes to place marketing at the centre of the concerns of the company, in light of its growth. The head says this choice comes at a time when Carmignac Gestion is posting results above expectations in the UK, and eventually, the development of the asset management firm will also extend to Asia and South America. “We are in an environment in which we are taking important steps, and are attacking new markets which are very different from the ones of continental Europe,” the director says. “And,” he adds, “the regulatory environment is presenting significant complications to the product approach.” In this environment, the new head will aim to take the “glocal” approach which is so highly valued at Carmignac Gestion. “Glocal” is global for funds on sale internationally in the large sense, and local for the fact that it takes into account the very different demand characteristics of each ountry (more or less strongly for distribution shares, capitalisation shares, etc.). In practice, Bellavoine will lead and co-ordinate the marketing team composed of 20 people, and will report to Eric Le Coz, deputy CEO. This is not a new position. Laurence Bertrand held this position before leaving the firm at the end of May 2012. However, “we needed a more strategic vision,” says Helderlé, adding that the managerial abilities of the recruit and her “sense of the customer” justify her recruitment, as marketing is no one of the professional activities covered previously. The new head spent 17 years at Société Générale, where she served successively as global director of Equity Sales and as chairwoman of SG Securities, director of the Equity and Derivatives market desk, and lastly as a banker in charge of financial institutions. The senior profile of the new recruit will open the doors of the strategic development board, unlike the firm’s last director of marketing.

Pioneer Investments has recruited two people for its institutional team in the United States. Mark Dacey has been appointed as head of consultant relations, while Amu DiMarzio joins the firm as a bond strategist. Dacey was previously at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), where he was recently managing director and head of consultant relationships in the United States. DiMarzio joins from Putnam Investments, where she was recently vice president and credit analyst.

The French investor Union Mutualiste Retraite, which has EUR7.6bn in assets under management, has awarded Egamo, the asset management firm of MGEN a bond mandate for EUR4bn, following a consultation launched in September 2012. The management mandate for a core portfolio asset is a first for UMR, a press statement says. Egamo has about EUR2.8bn in assets under management in mandates and mutual funds.

Source Markets, one of the top providers of European ETPs, has announced the arrival of Feargal Dempsey as a member of its board of directors and an independent director. Dempsey is a consultant for ETFGI, the ETF analysis and consulting firm founded by Deborah Fuhr. He has served in several management positions at Barclays Global Investors/BlackRock, including head of strategy for iShares products in EMEA, head of product structuring for products in the EMEA region, and head of product governance. Source Markets plc is a firm domiciled in Ireland, which sells investment funds that comply with UCITS regulations.

The British firm Federated Prime Rate Capital Management, an affiliate of Federated Investments, has registered its money market Sicav umbrella fund Federated Prime Rate Cash Management Funds, domiciled in Luxembourg, with the CNMV, Funds People reports.

At a time when Spanish asset management firms underwent net redemptions and a decline in their assets under management throughout last year, the assets at foreign asset management firms have increased 10.6% in the first eleven months of 2012, to a total of EUR52bn, Funds People reports.

The Luxembourg firm Palaedino Fund has selected five asset management firms to deploy a passive investment strategy based on five indices designed by Palaedino Asset Management. The firms are Duet Group, Morgan Stanley, Olympia Capital, RBS and Unigestion. Each one will manage a sub-fund based on an index, and will aim to outperform the index by overweighting and underweighting components. The indices are the following: Palaedino Structural Leaders Index, Palaedino Hard Currency Index, Palaedino Diversified Commodity Index, Palaedino Global Fixed Income Index and Palaedino Euro Fixed Income Index.

The Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has awarded the first additional quotas of CNY800m to China AMC and E Fund for their Hong Kong yuan-denominated (CNH) bond funds, China AMC Select RMB Bond Fund and E Fund RMB Fixed Income Fund, Asian Investor reports. The extensions will allow the products to grow to CNY2bn and CNY1.9bn, respectively, in assets.

Succédant à Georg von Werz, Sebastiano Ferrante est devenu depuis début 2013 le responsable pays de Pramerica Real Estate International pour l’Allemagne. Au sein de la direction générale, il est de surcroît responsable de la gestion de fonds. De 2077 à 2012, il a été co-country head Germany chez Tishman Speyer Properties à Francfort, responsable des achats et des ventes d’actifs en Allemagne ainsi que de la plate-forme opérationnelle de Tishman Speyer Properties.Par ailleurs, Pramerica Real Estate Investors (filiale européenne de Prudential Financial) annonce avoir acheté pour 70 millions de livres l’immeuble de bureaux 141 Bothwell Street (175.000 pieds carrés) de Glasgow auprès du Strathclyde Pensionfund.

Source Markets, l’un des principaux fournisseurs d’ETP européens, a annoncé l’arrivée de Feargal Dempsey au sein de son conseil d’administration en tant qu’administrateur indépendant. L’intéressé est consultant pour l’ETFGI, la société d’analyse et de conseil sur les ETF fondée par Deborah Fuhr. Il a occupé plusieurs fonctions de direction chez Barclays Global Investors/BlackRock, notamment responsable de la stratégie des produits iShares pour la zone EMEA, responsable de la structuration des produits pour la zone EMEA et responsable de la gouvernance des produits. Source Markets plc est une société domiciliée en Irlande commercialisant des fonds d’investissement conformes à la réglementation UCITS.

L’indice Eurekahedge des hedge funds a progressé de 1,46% en décembre, ce qui porte la performance sur l’ensemble de l’année à 6,19%.L’indice Mizuho-Eurekahedge Top 100, qui suit l'évolution des actifs et des performances des 100 plus gros hedge funds, a pour sa part enregistré une hausse de 5,82% en 2012.Les stratégies de dette distressed ont réalisé les meilleurs résultats en 2012 avec une performance de 12,87% sur douze mois.

Suite à la démission d’Ulrich Tigges, Ralf Bräuer, qui était déjà responsable depuis 2010 de l’unité de distribution institutionnelle, a été promu à la tête du pôle institutionnel du francfortois Universal-Investment, qui représentait fin novembre un encours sous gestion ou sous administration de 116,3 milliards d’euros dans des fonds institutionnels (Spezialfonds), soit 18 milliards de plus que fin 2011.Ralf Bräuer est entré chez Universal en 2005 comme responsable du suivi et de l’acquisition de la clientèle institutionnelle après avoir passé sept ans comme gestionnaire de portefeuilles pour les mandats institutionnels chez Deka Investment.

SAC Capital Advisors a augmenté la taille des bonus qu’elle va distribuer à ses gérants de portefeuilles de trois points de pourcentage pour 2013, selon des personnes proches de la société, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. Il s’agit d’une tentative pour retenir les talents alors que SAC fait face à une enquête des autorités.

Jes Staley, l’ancien bras droit du patron de JPMorgan Jamie Dimon, rejoint la société de hedge funds BlueMountain Capital Management, rapporte le Financial Times. Cette société fait partie des hedge funds qui ont fait tomber le trader de la banque américaine baptisé la baleine de Londres. Jes Staley était responsable de la banque d’investissement.

L’Union Mutualiste Retraite, qui gère 7,6 milliards d’euros d’actifs, a confié à Egamo, la société de gestion de la MGEN, un mandat obligataire de 4 milliards d’euros à l’issue d’une consultation lancée en septembre 2012.Ce mandat de gestion sur son actif cœur de portefeuille est une première pour l’UMR, indique un communiqué de presse. Egamo gère environ 2,8 milliards d’euros d’encours au travers de mandats et d’OPCVM.

En cédant hier sa participation au capital de China Pacific Insurance (CPIC), la société américaine de private equity Carlyle, a engrangé un rendement de plus de 500% de sa mise initiale pour un investissement bâti entre 2005 et 2007, rapporte L’Agefi. Le quotidien ajoute que le magazine The Asset croit savoir que les titres cédés, un reliquat de 2,2% du capital, soit 203 millions de titres CPIC pour l'équivalent de 605 millions d’euros, ont été alloués à parts égales entre fonds actions traditionnels et fonds alternatifs, les dix principaux empochant une majorité des titres.

Pioneer Investments a recruté deux personnes dans son équipe institutionnelle aux Etats-Unis. Ainsi, Mark Dacey a été nommé responsable des relations avec les consultants, tandis qu’Amy DiMarzio rejoint la société en tant que stratège obligataire.Mark Dacey était précédemment chez State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) où il était récemment managing director et responsable des relations avec les consultants aux Etats-Unis. Amy DiMarzio vient quant à elle de Putnam Investments, où elle était récemment vice president et analyste crédit.

Tout en demeurant chief research officer, Fred Fraenkel a été promu president de Fairholme Capital Management en remplacement de Bruce Berkowitz (CIO and managing member), qui assurait l’intérim de ce dernier poste depuis la démission de Charlie Fernandez au printemps de 2012.Fred Fraenkel a rejoint Fairholme en 2011 après avoir été responsable de l’investissement de Beacon Trust Company.

Natixis Asset Management annonce la nomination de Jens Peers au poste de directeur gestion actions investissement responsable de Mirova, son pôle d’expertise investissement responsable. Il travaillera sous la direction de Philippe Zaouati, directeur général délégué de Natixis AM et responsable du pôle d’expertise de Mirova. Jens Peers a débuté sa carrière en tant que conseiller financier chez KBC Bank à Bruxelles avant d’intégrer KBC Asset Management en 2001 en qualité d’analyste financier. En 2003, il rejoint Kleinwort Benson Investors, à Dublin pour prendre les fonctions de directeur actions - stratégies environnementales sur les thématiques de l’eau, l’agribusiness et les technologies propres (énergie renouvelable, efficacité énergétique, traitement des déchets).Mirova totalise 4 milliards d’euros d’encours en gestion actions ISR, 7,7 milliards d’euros d’encours en conseil sur les stratégies ESG, ISR hors actions et 20,4 milliards d’euros d’encours en vote et engagement (au 30/09/2012).

La gestion de la couverture du risque de change de Fondoposte, le fonds national de retraite complémentaire pour le personnel de Poste Italiane et de ses filiales, a été confiée au groupe Edmond de Rothschild, rapporte Bluerating. C’est la division spécialisée dans le currency overlay management de la société de gestion qui va s’en charger.