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17/05/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Apicil se positionne sur les convertibles thématiques

Pour Apicil, l'évolution à la marge de l’allocation globale passe aussi par la recherche de diversification complémentaires et actuelles. « Nous sommes en réflexion sur une poche action qui ne donne pas les résultats escomptés et à l'écoute de nos partenaires pour nous proposer des fonds convertibles investis sur des thématiques telles que les fusions et acquisitions ajoute Xavier Léron, le directeur de l’administration et des finances.
Gestion d'actifs
17/05/2011

Jupiter AM renforce son équipe de fonds de fonds

Jupiter Asset Management annonce l’arrivée d’Amanda Sillars et David Lewis au sein de Merlin, son équipe dédiée aux fonds de fonds. Amanda Sillars, qui occupera le poste de spécialiste en sélection de fonds à partir du 18 mai, était dernièrement investment director et executive director chez JP Morgan Asset Management. David Lewis rejoint pour sa part l'équipe en tant que gérant assistant à partir du 18 mai. Il occupait auparavant le même poste au sein de la division Private Clients & Charities de Jupiter.L'équipe Merlin gère plus de 6 milliards de livres dans six portefeuilles, précise un communiqué.
17/05/2011

Schroders recrute chez BlackRock pour ses services d'investissement

Le groupe britannique Schroders a annoncé le 16 mai le recrutement de Kate Jones en qualité de responsable des services d’investissement, notamment chargée de développer une nouvelle plate-forme d’investissement globale.Kate Jones travaillait précédemment chez BlackRock en qualité de responsable de la gestion du portefeuille de «structured solutions» pour l’Europe. Schroders souligne dans un communiqué vouloir développer cette plate-forme afin de couvrir toutes les classes d’actifs, compte tenu du développement rapide des activités du groupe dans la multigestion, l’obligataire et les stratégies LDI («liability-driven investment»). Kate Jones est directement rattachée au responsable de l’investissement pour le groupe, Alan Brown.
17/05/2011
Fonds

Apollo Multi AM propose deux nouveaux fonds

Le britannique Apollo Multi Asset Management va lancer deux nouveaux fonds début juin, le IFDS Apollo Multi Asset Defensive et le IFDS Apollo Multi Asset Adventurous, rapporte Investment Week.Les deux fonds seront structurés comme des Non Ucits Retail Schemes (Nurs) qui pourront investir notamment dans des ETF, des produits structurés, de l’immobilier en direct ainsi que des stratégies alternatives (hedge funds).
Fonds
17/05/2011
Fonds

EQT cherche à lever un fonds de 4,2 milliards d’euros

La société de capital investissement EQT, qui est en partie détenue par la famille suédoise Wallenberg, offre aux investisseurs de son nouveau fonds qui s’engagent avant le premier «closing» un rabais de 10 % sur les commission de gestion de 1,5 %. La société cherche à lever 4,25 milliards d’euros d’ici à juillet lors du premier tour de table, selon les informations du Financial Times.
Fonds
17/05/2011
Fonds

Aviva envisage de lancer un fonds dédié aux actions américaines

Selon MoneyMarketing, Aviva Investors envisage de lancer un fonds de revenu sur les actions américaines dans les prochains mois.Le fonds sera géré par Henry Sanders, l’un des fondateurs de River Road Asset management, racheté par Aviva au début de l’année 2010. Le fonds sera une réplication du Dividend all-Cap Value Strategy de River Road. Le portefeuille du fonds pourrait être constitué à hauteur de 50% de grandes capitalisations, pour un tiers de valeurs moyennes, le reliquat étant réservé aux petites capitalisations.
Fonds
17/05/2011
Fonds

Morgan Stanley et Ascend Capital lancent un fonds Ucits III

Morgan Stanley vient d’annoncer le lancement d’un fonds au format Ucits III qui sera domicilié en Irlande et disponible sur sa plate-forme locale, FundLogic Alternatives.La société de gestion basée à San Francisco, Ascend Capital, qui gère quelque 3,2 milliards de dollars, a été désignée «investment manager» de ce fonds, le MS Ascend Ucits Fund, dont la promotion incombe à Morgan Stanley. Ce fonds est une stratégie actions long/short qui vise «une maximisation des gains conjuguée à une réduction de la volatilité», selon un communiqué de Morgan Stanley.
Fonds
17/05/2011
Fonds

CalPERS va vendre ses participations dans des sociétés iraniennes et soudanaises

Le fonds de pension californien CalPERS a indiqué le 16 mai qu’il avait adopté un programme de vente de toutes ses participations encore existantes dans certaines sociétés iraniennes et soudanaises. Les investissements du fonds de pension ont atteint jusqu’à 2 milliards de dollars dans 47 sociétés de ces pays. Aujourd’hui, CalPERS ne détient plus que 8 participations représentant un encours d’environ 160 millions de dollars.
Fonds
17/05/2011
Fonds

First Trust lance un ETF sur l'industrie automobile

Selon Mutual Fund Wire, First Trust Advisors vient de lancer son premier ETF qui permet aux investisseurs d’investir sur l’industrie automobile. Le First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto Index Fund, qui est disponible depuis le 10 mai sur le Nasdaq, suit la performance de 30 sociétés actives dans le secteur automobile.
Fonds
17/05/2011

Bernie Madoff's wine cellar up for auction

On 18 May, the New York auction house Morrel & Company will auction off the contents of Bernard Madoff’s wine cellar, Das Investment reports, citing AFP. The collection includes only 58 bottles, with an estimated value of EUR11,000, including a Château Petrus 1976 and a case of Mouton Rothschild.
17/05/2011

New ETF from HSBC launched on Euronext Paris

On 16 May, NYSE-Euronext announced that it has admitted the Irish ETF HSBC SP BRIC 40 ETF (IE00B5YLK706) from HSBC, which replicates the SP BRIC 40 index, and which charges fees of 0.60%, to trading on its Paris ETF platform.NYSE Euronext now lists 556 ETFs, replicating over 360 indices, 648 times. Since the beginning of the year, the stock market company added 107 listings of 81 ETFs on its European platforms.
17/05/2011

First Trust launches an automotive industry ETF

Mutual Fund Wire reports that First Trust Advisors has launched its first ETF allowing investors access to the automotive industry. The First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto Index Fund, which has been available on the Nasdaq since 10 May, tracks the performance of 30 companies active in the automotive sector.
17/05/2011

Average German fund investment portfolio has grown by 8.9% in one year

As of the end of 2010, German clients had an average portfolio of about EUR8,650 each in investment funds, 8.9% more than the average of EUR7.946 recorded at the end of 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 29 June 2010). Between the end of 2000 and the end of 2010, the average portfolio of investment fund shares grew by 67.8%.However, German investors are far behind those in other countries. As of the end of December, the biggest investors were the Americans, with an average of EUR29.081, 5.4% more than as of 31 December 2010. The increase over the end of 2009 is 13.6%. French investors are in second place, with EUR19,427, down 4.4% compared with the end of 2010, and up 49.1% in ten years.Swedish, British and Austrian investors are also ahead of the Germans, with EUR17,657 (up 89.5% in ten years), EUR11,000 (+57.6%), and EUR10,197 (-0.7%).
17/05/2011

Assets up at Renta 4

The Spanish financial services firm Renta 4, which in February decided to acquire the Banco Alicantino de Comercio (see Newsmanagers of 9 February), on 31 March had record assets under custody and management of EUR5.7bn, 13.1% more than one year previously. Pre-tax profits were up 5.8% in first quarter compared with January-March 2010, at EUR2.9m.The firm has also announced the appointment of Antonio Fernández Vera, who remains president of Renta 4 Pensiones, a position he has held since March 2007, as president of the asset management affiliate Renta 4 Gestora.
17/05/2011

Amundi Iberia selects RBC Dexia IS for automated administration of its funds

The Spanish affiliate of RBC Dexia Investor Services, RBC Dexia Activos, has won an automated fund administration mandate for 46 investment funds from Amundi Iberia (EUR750m). Under the contract, Amundi will outsource administration of its products, while retaining complete control of the process. By the terms of the agreement, RBC Dexia has taken a transfer of three employees from Amundi Iberia.
17/05/2011

Fidelity adds to sales staff in Germany

Kerstin Behnke, managing director and head of Northern Europe, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg at Gartmore Investment Services GmbH, will join Fidelity Investment Services GmbH on 20 June as head of distribution for Fidelity International for Germany. She will be responsible for banking clients, savings banks, IFAs, insurers and wealth managers.Christian Wrede, CEO of Fidelity International for Germany and managing director for Central Europe, points out that for Fidelity, Germany is a core market with major potential.
17/05/2011

WMAM hires chief economist

WestLB Mellon Asset Management (WMAM, EUR25.5bn in assets) has announced that since the beginning of May, Holger Sandte has become chief economist for the asset management boutique, which is a 50/50 joint venture of WestLB and BNY Mellon. It is a newly-created position.Since 2006, Sandte had been head of the economic research department at WestLB.
17/05/2011

German pension fund BVK adapts its SRI approach to each asset class

The largest German pension fund, Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), which manages about EUR54bn in assets, claims that there can be no such thing as a general approach to SRI investment, Citywire Global reports.Each asset class has distinctive traits, and responsible investment strategies need to be adapted to each of them. In April this year, the pension fund announced plans to roll out SRI strategies for its entire portfolio, and also signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).The head of asset management for the pension fund, André Heimrich, has announced that the group has opted for an engagement strategy, and adds that it is not possible to have a one-size-fits-all approach in this area. “It is impossible to have a general SRI approach for all asset classes,” says Heimrich. “A differentiated approach is necessary, since asset classes are very different from one another. For example, in fixed income, it is not possible to have direct engagement. You are required to take a different approach. We have therefore defined our own vision of the best possible approach for each asset class,” Heimrich says.This goes for bond investments as well, which represent about 65% of the total portfolio, and for which the pension fund uses SRI ratings from the oekom research agency to analyse each of its bond investments on the basis of criteria such as transparency.
17/05/2011

LGT plans to sell off wealth management activities in Germany

A spokesperson for LGT Bank has confirmed to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the collapse of its proposed acquisition of BHF-Bank from Deutsche Bank (see Newsmanagers of 19 April) will prevent it from achieving its strategic objectives for private banking in Germany. The firm will therefore sell off wealth management in the country (135 employees in seven locations), but will retain its institutional asset management activities there.
17/05/2011

State Street appoints a global head of sales for alternative investments

The US State Street group on 16 May announced the appointment of Maria Cantillon as global head of sales for the Alternative Investment Solutions unit, dedicated to alternative investments. Cantillon will be based in London, and will report to Scott Fitzgerald, head of sales for the Global Services America unit at State Street. Cantillon was previously head of service activities dedicated to alternative investment managers and a member of the executive board at BNP Paribas Securities Services in London. Cantillon will oversee a team of 15 people, serving North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. She replaces Scott Fitzgerald, who has assumed new responsibilities since the end of last year. As of 31 March 2011, alternative assets under administration in the Alternative Investment Solutions arm of State Street totalled nearly USD770bn.
17/05/2011

Swiss government wants to toughen hedge fund regulations

The Swiss government is planning to announced proposed legislation this summer, which would bring Switzerland into line with the European directive on hedge fund management (AIFM) from 2013, thus toughening the regulations applicable to hedge funds and private equity funds in Switzerland, but allowing Swiss management firms continued access to EU markets, Handelsblatt reports.The move could be fatal for smaller hedge funds, due to the financial costs related to the license application process, auditing and personnel costs for recruitments to handle compliance and risk monitoring. Some experts claim that no hedge fund will be able to be profitable with less than CHF100m in assets, and that the regulatory changes will work to the advantage of London.In Switzerland there are now about 140 hedge fund management firms, with total assets of about CHF20bn.
17/05/2011

GAM repatriates management of an emerging markets debt fund

Following the acquisition of the bond and currency markets specialist Augustus Asset Managers by GAM, the management of the GAM Star Pharo Emerging Market Debt & FX fund will be brought back in-house, and will be given to Paul McNamara, investment director at GAM. The fund will become known as the GAM Star Emerging Markets Total Return. The fund had previously been managed by Pharo Global Advisors Limited. The outsourcing contract for the management of the fund will conclude on 1 June. McNamara and his team joined GAM following its acquisition of Augustus Asset Managers in 2009. The asset management firm invests in emerging markets debt, and as of 30 April 2011, McNamara managed about USD7.6bn in assets. The fund will continue to aim for total returns 3% to 5% higher than the JP Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Composite index, and will continue to be managed with a top-down macroeconomic style which prioritises active risk management.
17/05/2011

Société Générale Private Banking (Switzerland) pays price for strong franc

Société Générale Private Banking (Switzerland) suffered due to the strong Swiss franc in 2010. The entity has announced an 8.7% decline in its net banking income, to CHF233.6m, and net profits of CHF40.7m, down from CHF55.4m in 2009. Assets under management were also negatively affected by the strength of the Swiss currency. As of the end of December 2010, assets totalled CHF25bn, compared with CHF27bn one year earlier. The decline of the US dollar and the euro against the franc led to a mechanical decline of CHF2.9bn, while the performance of the markets brought in gains of CHF1.3bn, the bank has told Le Temps. Subscriptions were positive to the tune of CHF360m.
17/05/2011

DWS freezes subscriptions and redemptions for db ImmoFlex

On 16 May, DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank) has announced that it will be suspending subscriptions and redemptions for its open-ended real estate fund of funds db ImmoFlex (EUR259m) until further notice, since a large portion of its portfolio is invested in open-ended real estate funds from which redemptions have been frozen, and that freeze is likely to continue for some time to come.Liquidity in the db ImmoFlex fund is insufficient to meet all redemption demands; in order to satisfy those, the fund would need to sell assets at unjustifiable markdowns, which would result in a considerable deterioration in the quality of the portfolio (14 funds, invested in about 500 properties in more than 20 countries), as well as the risk structure of the fund.The fund, which has exclusively retail clients, is said to have undergone net outflows of EUR50m since the beginning of the year, and its liquidity levels are said to have fallen to 7% (while the legal minimum is 5%).
17/05/2011

Julius Baer makes moves in Italy

Andrea Benenati, head of the Hong Kong office and CEO for northern Asia at the Julius Baer group, will be leaving the firm next month in order to found his own management firm in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. Alexandre Floersheim, head of investment advising services in Hong Kong, will also be leaving Julius Baer in order to assist Benenati with his new projects.
17/05/2011

Newcits are not a new class of products, says EFAMA

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) has published a report on the evolving investment strategies of UCITS. A working group was convened to examine the increasing sophistication of these products. Traditionally, UCITS funds have been regarded worldwide as plain vanilla investment funds which only employ traditional investment strategies. However, as allowed by the UCITS III Directive of 2001, there are nowadays more and more UCITS funds that use a wider range of techniques and instruments with the aim of managing the trade-off between risk and return. One of the main examples is using derivative techniques to generate “absolute” returns to the investors. The investor demand for these types of products has significantly increased since the financial markets crisis. In particular, there is clear investor desire to achieve yield uplift relative to the low returns on deposit accounts. At the same time there is a demand from investors for capital security. Commenting on the publication of the report Peter De Proft, director general of Efama, said: “The “Newcits” label was coined by the media and should not be adopted by the industry or regulators. We do not believe that it is necessary or beneficial to have a specific label for these funds. The universe of UCITS is evolving but this is encompassed by the UCITS regulatory framework. Moreover, the regulatory requirements and supervisory tools are being developed, especially under the UCITS IV framework, which enters into force on 1 July 2011”.
17/05/2011

Fabien Madar will also cover Northern Europe for Pioneer

Fabien Madar, head for western Europe at Pioneer Investments, has had his responsibilities extended to include the Netherlands and Northern Europe. He replaces Jillert Bloom, the former head for Nothern Europe, who left the asset management firm of the Italian UniCredit group at the end of April. Madar is based in Paris, and will continue to cover France, Switzerland and Luxembourg. For the Netherlands and Northern Europe, he will work closely with Sander van de Giesen, head of sales. A country head will also be recruited. “We have begun the search for a new ‘Country Manager’ for the Netherlands and Scandinavia, and strong candidates have already expressed interest,” says Madar.
17/05/2011

Morgan Stanley and Ascend Capital launch a UCITS III fund

Morgan Stanley has announced the launch of a UCITS III fund, which will be domiciled in Ireland, and will be available on the firm’s local platform, FundLogic Alternatives. The San Francisco-based management firm Ascend Capital, which manages about USD3.2bn in assets, has been appointed as “investment manager” for the product, MS Ascend Ucits Fund, which will be promoted by Morgan Stanley. The fund is a long/short strategy focusing on US equities, which aims to “maximise gains and simultaneously to reduce volatility,” a statement from Morgan Stanley says.
17/05/2011

Aviva plans to launch a fund dedicated to US equities

MoneyMarketing reports that Aviva Investors is planning to launch an income fund of US equities in the next few months. The fund will be managed by Henry Sanders, one of the founders of River Road Asset Management, which was acquired by Aviva early in 2010. The fund will replicate the Dividend All-Cap Value Strategy fund from River Road. The portfolio of the fund may include up to 50% large caps, and one third midcaps, while the remainder of the fund will be reserved for small caps.
17/05/2011

Change in shareholder structure on the table for DNCA Finance

Rumours that the Banca Leonardo group may soon be abandoning its asset management business in France, selling off a part of its stake in DNCA Finance to a US investment fund, may die out this week. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the asset management firm based in the rue de la Paix in Paris must decide by 20 May whether or not to sign an agreement for an entry into its capital by one of the oldest private equity funds, TA Associates. The private equity fund already holds 16 stakes in asset management firms. If the two parties reach an agreement, TA Associates would become the largest shareholder in the firm, with a larger stake than Jean-Charles Mériau, chief investment officer (see Newsmanagers of 7 April 2011) and Jacques Chatel, chairman.

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