GLG a recruté Jeffery Atherton en tant que co-gérant pour les fonds Japan CoreAlpha (1,1 milliard de livres) et le Japan CoreAlpha Equity (490 millions de livres), rapporte Investment Week. L’intéressé vient de Stratton Street Capital où il était associé et co-gérant des stratégies actions japonaises. Il a notamment travaillé chez Insight Investment, SGAM, TCQ et Equitable Life.

A l’occasion de la présentation de ses résultats annuels pour l’année 2010, F&C Asset Management a annoncé que son conseil d’administration allait passer en revue la stratégie de la société de gestion dans les mois qui viennent. Cela fait suite à la nomination d’un nouveau président, Edward Bramson, et de deux nouveaux administrateurs, consécutive à l’arrivée au capital de l’activiste Sherborne Investors. En 2010, F&C AM a pourtant renoué avec les souscriptions nettes, hors assurances. Ainsi, cette année, la société a enregistré en net 272 millions de livres, contre des rachats nets de 3,7 milliards en 2009 et 6,2 milliards en 2008. Ses encours ont progressé sur l’année de 97,8 milliards de livres à 105,8 milliards, grâce notamment à l’apport de 4,2 milliards de livres de l’acquisition de Thames River Capital en septembre 2010. F&C AM a dégagé un bénéfice d’exploitation de 69,2 millions de livres, contre 59,9 millions en 2009. Après taxes, la société a accusé une perte de 13,4 millions de livres, contre un bénéfice de 18,7 millions l’année précédente.

Après une année 2009 exceptionnelle en termes de souscriptions nettes, avec 13,5 milliards de livres, M&G ne s’attendait pas à enregistrer une collecte aussi bonne en 2010. Mais la société de gestion de Prudential Group a tout de même réussi à faire entrer 9,1 milliard de livres en net, dont 7,4 milliards pour son activité retail et 1,7 milliard côté institutionnels. En 2010, les produits obligataires ont continué à bien se vendre, représentant 43 % des flux, mais l’appétit des investisseurs pour les actions et l’immobilier s’est accru. Les souscriptions nettes aux fonds actions ont ainsi représenté 48 % de la collecte auprès des particuliers en 2010, contre 26 % en 2009. Ses encours ont ainsi augmenté de 174 milliards de livres fin 2009 à 198 milliards de livres fin 2010. Le bénéfice d’exploitation aux normes IFRS est ressorti à 246 millions de livres, soit une hausse de 39 % par rapport à 2009.

L’exercice 2010 s’est soldé pour EFG International par une forte perte de 768,7 millions de francs suisses (dont 721,8 millions attribuables aux actionnaires), après une charge exceptionnelle nette de dépréciation de 838,4 millions sur les hedge funds des filiales CMA, MBAM et DSAM, des charges d’acquisition de 28,8 millions et l’affectation de 26,6 millions au programme de stock options du personnel. Hors ces éléments exceptionnels, le bénéfice net a diminué de 10 % à 172 millions de francs.Les apports nets de la clientèle de particuliers ont augmenté de 13 % à 11 milliards de francs mais les entrées totales nettes sont ressorties à 9,8 milliards de francs en raison de retraits institutionnels sur les hedge funds. Les «encours générateurs de commissions» avaient diminué à fin décembre à 84,8 milliards de francs contre 86,2 milliards, principalement à cause de l’effet de change lié à l’appréciation du franc suisse (10,1 milliards), monnaie dans laquelle sont libellées 40 % des dépenses mais seulement 5 % des recettes.

AllianceBernstein a confirmé à Asian Investor que Ajay Kaul sera nommé au poste de CEO et responsable des ventes pour la région Asie hors Japon. Sa nomination fait suite au départ de Augie Cheh, qui rejoint Janus International.

BlackRock a nommé Clarence Yang au poste de responsable de la gouvernance et de l’investissement socialement responsable (ISR) pour l’Asie, rapporte Asian Investor. Clarence Yang, qui était auparavant en poste à Londres, travaillera à Hong Kong, afin de répondre aux besoins de plus en plus importants pour les investissements éthiques.

Le hedge fund américain The Rohatyn Group (TRG), qui gère 3 milliards de dollars, a fait l’acquisition de 50 % de la société de private equity Arch Capital Management de Hong Kong, à travers un accord d'échange d’actions avec le conglomérat philippin Ayala Corporation et sa filiale Ayala Land. Ces dernières ont accepté d'échanger leur participation pour des actions TRG, indique Asian Investor.

Le gestionnaire alternatif indépendant barcelonais Trea Capital Partners SV, créé en 2006 et enregistré auprès de la CNMV, annonce son intention de lancer dans deux semaines le fonds luxembourgeois 3G Credit Opportunities, un produit à liquidité hebdomadaire qui investira en obligations émergentes tout en limitant la volatilité du portefeuille au moyen de CDS, d’indices, de futures sur devises et sur taux, actions (ETF), options sur actions et Treasurys/Bunds. Les deux gérants sont les Indiens Rohit Gadkar et Dilip Gadkar basés l’un à Barcelone et l’autre à New York.Funds People précise que ce fonds n’aura pas de benchmark et que le cœur du portefeuille sera investi en obligations souveraines et d’entreprises en monnaies locales ou internationales, devises et CDS. Initialement, le portefeuille sera composé à 25 % de titres «high grade» et à 75 % de papier à haut rendement. Il sera investi à 35 % sur l’Asie, à 35 % sur l’Amérique latine et à 30 % sur l’Europe centrale et orientale, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique (CEEMEA).Le fonds sera disponible à partir de 50.000 dollars, avec une commission de gestion de 1,75 % et aux investisseurs institutionnels à partir de 250.000 euros avec une commission de 1,25 %. Une commission de performance de 20 % sera appliquée à chacune des classes de parts.

Le 8 mars, Aviva Gestión a présenté quatre des sept fonds de sa gamme qui gèrent au total 267 millions d’euros. Il s’agit des fonds d’actions Espabolsa et Eurobolda, du fonds obligataire Renta Fija ainsi que du fonds diversifié Fonvalor Euro, qui reprend les caractéristiques d’Espabolsa et d’Eurobolsa, mais sans les financières qui sont remplacés par des titres obligataires subordonnés ou hybrides de banques et de compagnies d’assurances.L’encours d’Aviva Gestión, qui gère les actifs du groupe Aviva en Espagne se situe à 14 milliards d’euros, dont 11,7 milliards investis en obligataire et 1,2 milliard en actions. La société emploie 14 gérants.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European ETF sector as of the end of February had 1,116 ETF funds, representing a total asset volume of USD299.1bn, for 3,884 product listings on 23 stock markets, from 40 providers, according to the most recent statistics from BlackRock. One year earlier, there were 901 ETF funds, with USD220.1bn in assets.Net inflows to European ETF and ETP products last month totalled USD2.1bn. Net inflows to equities ETF/ETPs totalled USD600m.ETFs worldwide had USD1.3674trn as of the end of February, of which USD929.1bn were in the United States, compared with slightly over USD1trn one year earlier. Including ETPs, assets totalled USD1.5427trn, compared with USD1.1522trn one year earlier.BlackRock predicts that assets under management in ETFs and ETPs worldwide will grow by 20% to 30% per year in the next three years, which will bring total assets to about USD2trn by the beginning of 2012.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Barcelona-based independent management firm Trea Capital Partners SV, founded in 2006 and registered with the CNMV, has announced plans to launch the Luxembourg fund 3G Credit Opportunities in the next two weeks. The product will have weekly liquidity, and will invest in emerging markets bonds while limiting the volatility of the portfolio through the use of CDS, indices, and futures on currencies or interest rates, equities (ETF), options on equities, and Treasurys or Bunds. The two managers are the Indians Rodhi Gadkar and Dilip Gadkar, one of whom will be based in Barcelona, and the other in New York.Funds People states that the fund will have no benchmark, and that the core of the portfolio will invest in government and corporate bonds denominated in local or international currencies, as well as currencies and CDS. Initially, the portfolio will be composed 25% of high grade securities and 75% of high-yield paper. It will invest 35% in Asia, 35% in Latin America, and 30% in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA).The fund will be available with a minimal investment of USD50,000, with a management commission of 1.75%, and for institutional investors, with a minimal investment of EUR250,000, and a management commission of 1.25%. A performance commission of 20% will apply to both share classes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Dow Jones Credit Suisse index gained 1.44% in the month of February, according to initial estimates based on 72% of assets in the index. The index gained 0.69% in January. Eight out of ten sectors posted positive results, including event-driven and global macro.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the first time since September 2008, assets in hedge funds in February topped EUR1.7trn, Eurekahedge reports. They have risen by 13.4% since the beginning of July 2010. Eurekahedge also notes that hedge funds posted their eight consecutive month of gains, with returns of 1.17%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The number of equities mandates awarded by clients of Towers Watson worldwide increased by more than 20% in 2010 compared with the previous year, while the number of hedge fund mandates rose by as much as 50% in the same period. Meanwhile, the number of bond mandates fell by 30%, as US and European equities fell most heavily compared with the previous year.

In February hedge funds’ assets under management crossed USD1.7 trillion for the first time since September 2008, according to Eurekahedge. Global hedge fund assets up 13.4% since start of July 2010. Hedge funds witness eighth consecutive month of positive returns. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 1.17% through February, with the year-to-date return at 1.36%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At the opening of the trial of Raj Rajaratnam on Wednesday, the defendant was accused of using his contacts to obtain inside inforamtion about businesses and using the information to earn millions of dollars in illegal profits, the Financial Times reports. John Dowd, one of the lawyers for the former hedge fund manager at Galleon Group, claimed that his client was only undertaking research on behalf of his clients.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Real Estate Advisory team at Deloitte France on 9 March announced the creation of a Sustainable Real Estate commission and a Think Tank, for which Alfonso Ponce, Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, will be secretary. The two organisations will be composed of top-calibre experts in the field. The objective is to respond to and bring innovative solutions to investors, property development managers and businesses, in light of the need to adapt to climate change.A comparison of the appreciation of the values of single properties or groups of properties, and their environmental characteristics, against buildings in a similar category and class remains problematic, due to international regulatory uncertainties and a proliferation of systems for evaluation, Deloitte explains in a statement. The international character of investors and the playing field is the cause of a problem which may only be approached internationally.Deloitte points out that the two new entities are “independent and impartial organisms serving the European property industry, businesses and journalists, the public sector and NGOs, as well as all other parties interested in the junction of sustainable development and real estate.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, announced to lawmakers that she will be reexamining the agency’s conflict of interest practices, the Wall Street Journal reports. The announcement comes as a response to controversy triggered by Republican representatives over the way in which she managed the former legal director of the SEC, David Becker, whose mother had invested with Bernard Madoff, and who resigned last month. Becker and his brother are asked by the court-appointed trustee, Irving Picard, to repay USD1.5m of the USD2m they inherited from their mother. Schapiro will be expecting particularly tough questions in two congressional hearings on Thursday.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The year 2010 brought a heavy loss of CHF768.7m for EFG International (of which CHF721.8m were attributable to shareholders), after a one-time impairment charge of CHF838.4m for hedge funds from the affiliates CMA, MBAM and DSAM, amortisation of acquisition-related items for CHF28.8m, and an addition of CHF26.6m to personnel stock option programs. Excluding these one-time elements, core net profit was down 10% to CHF172m. Net inflows from retail clients increased 13% to CHF11bn, but total inflows totalled CHF9.8bn, due to institutional withdrawals from hedge funds. Revenue-generating private client assets as of the end of December were down to CHF84.8bn from CHF86.2bn, largely due to currency effects related to the rising Swiss franc (CHF10.1bn), a currency in which 40% of the firm’s expenses, but only 5% of revenues, are denominated.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has appointed Clarence Yang to the position of head of governance and socially responsible investment (SRI) for Asia, Asian Investor reports. Yang, who was previously based in London, will move to Hong Kong, to meet the increasingly pronounced need for ethical investments in the region.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US hedge fund The Rohatyn Group (TRG), with USD3bn in assets under management, has acquired a 50% stake in the private equity firm Arch Capital Management in Hong Kong, via a share exchange agreement with the Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation and its affiliate Ayala Land. The latter firms agreed to trade their stake for TRG shares, Asian Investor reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AllianceBernstein has confirmed to Asian Investor that Ajay Kaul will be appointed as CEO and head of sales for the Asia ex Japan region. His appointment follows the departure of Augie Cheh, who has joined Janus International.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banca Esperia, the private banking boutique from Mediobanca and Mediolanum, is projecting net subscriptions in 2011 of EUR1.5bn, with an objective of EUR20bn in assets by 2013, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. In 2010, the bank saw its assets increase from EUR11.2bn to EUR12.7bn. The reorganisation of Duemme, the group’s management firm, is also continuing, the Italian newspaper reports. The asset management firm will specialise in three asset classes (government and corporate bonds, European equities and absolute return strategies). In other areas, the firm will select external managers, or form partnerships with specialists to create products.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GLG has recruited Jeffrey Atherton as co-manager of the Japan Core Alpha fund (GBP1.1bn) and the Japan CoreAlpha Equity fund (GBP490m), Investment Week reports. Atherton joins from Stratton Street Capital, where he was a partner and co-manager of Japanese equities strategies. He has worked at Insight Investment, SGAM, TCQ and Equitable Life.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based asset manager ETF Securities (ETFS) on 9 March announced that it has launched the Dow Jones Global Select Dividend ETF fund, which invests in 100 global businesses of the benchmark index (Dow Jones Global Select Total Return Index) selected for the high percentage of profits that they redistribute to shareholders, on the London Stock Exchange. Dow Jones ensures that the percentage distributed as dividends will be sustainable; the index is rebalanced on a quarterly basis, and equities included in the index must have generated returns of at least 5.74% on an annual basis since September 2007. Dividends are reinvested in equities in the portfolio.The new fund, whose benchmark currency is the US dollar, will be available on the ETFX platform from ETF Securities.CharacteristicsName: ETFX Dow Jones Global Select Dividend FundISIN code: IE00B67DFL95Management commission: 0.50%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity International has recruited Chris McNickle, who will be joining the firm in June as global head of instiutional clients, a newly-created position. McNickle joins from Greenwich Associates, where he is managing director, and was head of asset management activities.

Nearly two years after Jean-François Boulier became chairman of the board at Aviva Investors France (AIF; see Newsmanagers of 15 September 2009), the asset management firm has begun offering its expertise as a manager to external clients, and is no longer a captive management firm for the insurer. Boulier says that “external development does not work to the detriment of Aviva, which also encourages us to innovate more.” In 2010, AIF posted an increase of an undisclosed size to its operating profits, at a time when the Aviva Investors group itself saw losses of GBP100m, compared with GBP115m in 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 4 March).In terms of products, there have been many innovations, with the Aviva Investors Obligations Variables fund, to confront rising interest rates and a flattening of the curve. In the area of emerging market debt, the GBP750m inflation-linked local currencies emerging markets bond fund (see Newsmanagers of 28 January 2011) will be brought into compliance with the UCITS III directive next month. AIF has also received a management mandate from the Philips pension fund for its real estate investments; the group also manages an absolute return real estate fund with no liability constraint (Return Enhanced Asset Liability Management, or REALM).The firm is also planning to add a credit product and an emerging market debt product, probably in local currencies, to its five existing absolute return strategies. In organisational terms, Boulier has announced that an international platform within Aviva Investors will become available by the end of 2012, which will make it possible to manage capital independently of the expertise and location of managers, which will also facilitate increasing sales of unit-linked shares. The process of setting up the platform will take two years, with risk management, portfolio management and position control as areas of focus.Meanwhile, the geographical reach of Aviva Investors Europe has grown from seven to twelve countries, with new offices opening in Germany, a first installation in the Netherlands, one in progress in Switzerland (private banks and international distributors) and a push into Scandinavia, beginning with Sweden.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 8 March, Aviva Gestión presented four out of seven funds of its range, with a total of EUR267m in assets under management. The funds are the Espabolsa and Eurobolsa equities funds, the bond fund Renta Fija, and the balanced fund Fonvalor Euro, which includes some characteristics of the Espabolsa and Eurobolsa, without the financial sector, which is replaced by subordinated or hybrid bonds from banks and insurance companies.Assets at Aviva Gestión, which manages assets for the Aviva group in Spain, total EUR14bn, of which EUR11.7bn are invested in bonds, and EUR1.2bn in equities. The firm employs 14 managers.

The UK investment house Ignis Asset Management has appointed Grant Peterkin to the position of senior fund manager in its rates team. Joining in April 2011, Grant will advise across all portfolios run by the Glasgow-based Rates Team, which manages in excess of GBP28 billion. This includes the Ignis International Global Government Bond Fund and soon to be launched Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund. Reporting to Russ Oxley, head of rates, Grant Peterkin joins from Citigroup Sydney where, as a director, he managed the bank’s Australian liquid asset portfolio using a range of fixed income bond and derivative products. He also assisted in the direction and oversight of strategy across the risk treasury Asia-Pacific region.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) on 9 March announced that Mark Zinkula, CEO of LGIM America (LGIMA) since 2008, has been promoted to CEO in London. He replaces Kevin Gregory, who occupied the position in the interim, and is also COO. Before joining LGIMA, Zinkula was global head of fixed income at Aegon Asset Management.