The performance of the Oyster emerging opportunities fund will now be measured against a new benchmark index: SYZ Emerging Markets, an index created by the research division of Syz&Co. The benchmark had previously been the MSCI Emerging Markets NR Net USD, Investment Europe reports. The new index is equally weighted between the 21 shares of the MSCI EM index, with an adjustment for market liquidity levels.
The British firm Ashomre Investment Management is launching a joint venture with China Central Securities, following a decision by Aviva Investors to end a joint venture with China Central, leaving the way open for other investors, Asian Investor reports. The new firm, entitled Ashmore-CCSC Fund Management Company, will be based in Shanghai. The financial details of the operation have not been disclosed. Ashmore obtained the status of qualified foreign institutional investor in 2009, and opened an office in Beijing in 2010. According to the consulting firm Z-Ben Advisors, Ashmore’s move appears risky, particularly in light of Aviva’s decision to pull out after five years. It is difficult to develop on the retail market in China, to the extent that Aviva appears to have prioritized the development of its activities on the Chinese institutional market, which would at least partly explain its decision.
The Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA) will open representative offices in Shanghai, Frankfurt and Sydney, bringing the number of branch offices worldwide to ten, the professional association announced at its annual conference on 13 September.The association began its international offensive last year, with the opening of offices in the United States, in Atlanta, New York and Chicago, and in Europe and London. Since then, the IFIA has opened offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong.According to the CEO of the association, Pat Lardner, “this all demonstrates the IFIA’s commitment to being present on all the major growth markets, in order to better promote Ireland as the ideal jurisdiction for investment funds distributed internationally. We would like to be available to assist asset managers to find the solutions, products and expertise that Ireland can offer in a constantly-changing international regulatory environment.”In other words, the asset management sector in Ireland clearly wishes to defend and strengthen its position in relation to continental European competition, and particularly in response to activism on the Luxembourg market, which has a strong presence on all major markets worldwide.
The head of investments at Danske Capital, Erik Kjellgren, has left the firm after eight years there, the Swedish website Realtid.se reports. He had been manager of the Danske Banks Sverige Focus fund.
In second quarter 2012, Dexia posted the largest net inflows in Italy, according to a quarterly report published by the Italian asset management association Assogestioni. The asset management firm, which will soon be sold, has posted EUR1.6bn in inflows between April and June, of which EUR1.59bn went to open-ended funds. In second place is another foreign group, Pictet, which has taken on EUR926m (entirely to open-ended funds). Third place goes to Poste Italiani, with EUR733m. These are followed by three foreign groups: Amundi (EUR722m), Franklin Templeton Invesments (EUR534m) and Axa (EUR419m).
The Skandia Investment Solutions platorm (GBP34.2bn in assets under management) has posted a loss of GBP11.4m in 2011, due to the costs of preparing for compliance with Retail Distribution Review (RDR) regulations, Investment Week reports. Losses in 2010 totalled GBP15m.
In reaction to a steep fall in returns on money markets, ApegaGerling Investment is reducing management commissions from 1 October for the money market fund Gerling Geldmarktfonds to 0.10%, from 0.25% previously, Fondsprofessionell reports.
In reaction to a steep fall in returns on money markets, ApegaGerling Investment is reducing management commissions from 1 October for the money market fund Gerling Geldmarktfonds to 0.10%, from 0.25% previously, Fondsprofessionell reports.
Aviva will be closing four of its products to new investors, as it estimates that they are redundant alongside the firm’s retirement product range, Investment Week reports.The products concerned are self-invested personal pensions (SIPP), and the Income Drawdown, Your Pension Protector and Crystallised Pension Plan programmes. All of these products will be closed on 23 November this year. But Aviva’s decision does not affect existing clients, who will have access to the same functionality for all products after that date.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating potential insider trading on the part of participants in a private meeting held in July 2008 with Henry Paulson, who was then Secretary of the Treasury, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.The investigation covers the use of insider information, as Paulson is said to have mentioned an intervention to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The regulator has sent subpoenas to hedge funds (including Lone Pine Capital and Och-Ziff Capital Management), and to other firms which were represented at the meeting.
The iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index Fund ETF (acronym on NYSE Arca: FM), founded on 12 September with more than USD11m in seed capital, was admitted to trading on 13 September. iShares says it is the first ETF replicating the MSCI Frontier Markets index to be made available on the US market.Currently, the index includes shares from the following countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Croatia, Estonia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.The fund charges fees of 0.79%.
At its annual general conference on 12 September, the British Investment Management Association (IMA) appointed four new members to its board. They are Hugh Mullan, UK Managing Director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, Mark Zinkula, chief executive officer at Legal & General Investment Management, Andrew Formic, chief executive at Henderson Global Investors, and Andrew Laing, deputy chief executive at Aberdeen Asset Management. Three members have left the board: Helena Morrissey, chief executive officer at Newton Asset Management, Alain Dromer, former CEO of Aviva Investors, and Bill Smith, chief executive officer at Lazard Asset Management.
For an undisclosed amount, Pareto Investment Management Ltd (GBP27bn in assets) will be acquired by Insight Invesmtent Management Ltd (GBP182bn). The two asset management firms are affiliates of BNY Mellon. The transaction is expected to be completed by 1 January 2013, pending approval by the regulator.Pareto is specialised in active and passive management of currency risks, and operates in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Australia.
Liontrust Asset Management has recruited Samantha Gleave as an addition to its team dedicated to European equities, Investment Week reports. She joins the team as a manager, and will work with James Inglis-Jones and Gary West, with whom she previously worked in the 1990s at Fleming Investment Management. Gleave joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where as an analysts, she covered European equities for seven years, particularly industrials.
The Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL), the pension fund for the University of London, has announced that it has extended its partnership with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). The asset management firm will continue to provide the fund with liability-driven investment (LDI) services, a statement says. The two firms have been working together since 2001.
A transformation of framework conditions in Swiss private management will result in net outflows of funds from foreign clients, which may run to CHF150bn to CHF200bn by 2016, particularly in the cross-border segment, according to a survey by the aeb/rolfes.schierenbeck.associates agency. These outflows are expected to represent 5-8% of cross-border assets under management, but as much as 25-35% of cross-border assets for a typical private management bank focused on European clients.The development will result in an average decline in the gross profit margins on assets of 15 to 20 basis points by 2016. This represents an enormous challenge for the cost/income ratio at private management institutions. Without compensation on the income side or a structural reduction in costs, the cost/income ratio (CIR) for a mid-sized bank with about CHF30bn in assets under management, half of which are cross-border assets originating from key Euorpean markets, may deteriorate by as much as 75% to 100%.
At an opening of its Zurich offices, the Reyl group has announced that it has set at goal of CHF5bn in assets under management by the end of the year, Agefi Switzerland reports. Assets under management have risen from CHF5.6bn as of the end of July to CHF5.9bn currently. The group is hoping to double its assets under management to over CHF10bn in three years.
Matteo Dante Perruccio has resigned from his position as CEO of Hermes BPK Partners, the fund of hedge fund firm 60% owned by Hermes Fund Managers, Financial News reports.
The British asset management firm M&G Investments has appointed David Halfacre as head of development for partnerships, Fund Web reports. He previously worked at JPMorgan Asset Management, where he was vice president, in charge of development for strategic partnerships.
In order to train a multi-asset class management team in Henley, near London, as a complement to the global team in Atlanta, Invesco Perpetual has recruited three managers from Standard Life Investments (SLI), Fundweb reports. They are David Millar, who had been investment director, multi-asset investing at SLI, Dave Jubb, who had been investment director, tactical asset allocation, and Richard Batty, who had been investment director, global investment strategist.To rebuild its multi-asset class team, SLI is transferring Ian Pizer, a member of the government bonds team, who will continue to manage the ARGBS government bond fund, while generating ideas for the Global Absolute Return Strategies fund (GBP12bn). He will report to Guy Stern, head of multi-asset fund management.Roger Sadewsky, co-manager of ARGBS, will continue to manage the fund, but will also join the strategic investment group. Neil Richardson will take charge of equity strategies in absolute return portfolios.Lance Philips, investment director for global equities, will be leaving SLI, and will be replaced by Steve Weeple, who will report to David Cumming, head of equities.
Rob Leary, CEO of ING US, will be leaving his job, Mutual Fund Wire reports, citing an internal memo of which the website has obtained a copy. The asset management firm will soon either hold an IPO or be sold, the article reports. Leary is not expected to be replaced. ING US will be restructuring its activities. The duties of the CEO will now be passed to Alain Karaoglan, the current executive vice chairman. He will also oversee Jeff Becker, head of Investment Management activities.
Franklin Templeton France on 13 September announced the appointment of Jérémy Silvera, who becomes an account manager in the sales team, serving entrepreneurial asset management firms, private banks and wealth management firms in the southern and western parts of France and Paris. Silvera, 27, holds a Master 2 Trading & Asset Management degree from ESLSCA. He has served in internships at Crédit Agricole CIB, in sales of fixed income structured products, and Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, in sales of funds to institutional clients in France. Silvera joined the Franklin Templeton group in January 2011 as sales support.
T. Rowe Price has recruited Robert Higginbotham has head of international services to insitutionals, Investment Europe reports. He will be responsible for development of all services to institutional investors outside the United States. He will be based in London, and will begin in October. He previously worked at Fidelity Worldwide, where he served as chief executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Lyxor Asset Management (“Lyxor”) on 13 September has announced the launch of a range of physical replication ETFs by the end of 2012, beginning with ETFs based on bond indices. The move may be interpreted as a change in Lyxor’s strategy, which has always privileged synthetic replication, and which was defended tooth and nail throughout the controversy that raged over replication techniques last year. During that sometimes passionate debate, Lyxor defended synthetic replication, while Anglo-American firms such as BlackRock held by physical replication. The debate appears to be over now, but it may have driven some parties to reconsider their positions. At any rate, Lyxor does not hesitate to suggest that its product range deserved some revision. “In order to fully satisfy investor demand, Lyxor has decided to develop this approach, in order to offer its clients ‘the best of both worlds’ in the ETF universe,” Lyxor says in a statement. Regardless of the type of replication proposed, Lyxor ETFs will retain the same level of quality in terms of transparency, effectiveness (low tracking error) and liquidity, Lyxor says.
Bruno Vanier, a former fund manager at EDRAM, is preparing to launch his own asset management boutique specialised in emerging markets, Citywire Global can reveal. Gemway Assets will be partly owned by La Financière de l’Echiquier, which is reported to have acquired a 34% stake, according to reports in Citywire.
Selon nos informations, l’OCDE a mené une réflexion sur l’opportunité d’investir dans un fonds ouvert d’obligations monde indexées à l’inflation. Cette décision a été motivée par des raisons administratives mais aussi par la recherche de solutions de couverture contre le risque d'érosion des rendements sur la poche obligataire (taux de rendement réel négatif). Contacté à ce sujet, Leticia Andres-Sanchez, Fund administrator de l’OCDE indique que la décision a été repoussée sine die. Aucun montant précis n’a été confirmé même si l’on évoque une dizaine de millions d’euros.
Le ministre grec des Finances a démenti discuter d’un troisième plan de sauvetage avec ses créanciers internationaux, comme l’a écrit jeudi Dow Jones en citant un responsable du Fond monétaire international. Gerry Rice, un porte-parole du FMI interrogé à ce sujet, a assuré de son côté que les discussions avec Athènes se concentraient sur le respect des conditions du deuxième plan d’aide. Il a par ailleurs ajouté percevoir de «bons arguments» pour accorder un délai supplémentaire à la Grèce.
Selon le site internet des Echos, le dispositif ISF-PME, qui permet de réduire son impôt à hauteur de 50% des sommes investis dans une PME, sera préservé. Le projet de François Hollande prévoyait cependant une diminution à 25%. Comme le rappelle le quotidien sur son site, la réduction de l’ISF-PME avait déjà été baissée de 75% à 50% en 2011.
La Suisse conservera son régime spécial de faible imposition pour les étrangers fortunés mais le montant de l’impôt dont ils s’acquittent va augmenter, après un vote favorable au Parlement. La base d’imposition devrait passer à sept fois le plafond contre cinq jusqu'à présent. Les étrangers soumis à ce régime et résidant en hôtel verront, eux, leur imposition jusqu’alors basée sur deux fois le plafond passer à trois fois.
Rattrapée par la crise de la zone euro, la Suède a décidé de baisser substantiellement l’impôt sur les sociétés à compter de 2013 pour relancer l’activité, a annoncé le gouvernement jeudi. L’IS passera ainsi à 22% au lieu de 26,3% actuellement, ce qui se traduira par un manque à gagner de 16 milliards de couronnes (1,88 milliard d’euros) pour les finances publiques mais rendra le pays plus attractif pour les entreprises.