GLG Partners a annoncé le lancement d’une version conforme à la directive OPCVM du hedge fund GLG Atlas Macro (250 millions de dollars d’encours).Le nouveau produit, domicilié en Irlande, a pour nom Atlas Macro Alternative Fund et visera une performance ainsi qu’une volatilité de 10-15 % en investissant sur toutes les classes d’actifs et en prenant soin de préserver la liquidité du portefeuille. C’est le huitième newcits de performance absolue lancé par le gestionnaire britannique.Le gérant est Driss Ben-Brahim, assisté de Jamil Baz, le chief investment strategist.

Le California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) a annoncé le 11 octobre qu’il se séparait de Pacific Corporate Group (PCG) dans le cadre de l’examen stratégique de son programme et de ses partenaires dans le private equity. Le fonds de pension californien a par ailleurs indiqué qu’il maintenait Aviva Capital LLC (Aviva), qui continuera de gérer plus de 1 milliard de dollars dans véhicules d’investissement dédiés aux marchés émergents, Global Opportunities Fund 1 et 2.CalPERS a également fait appel à Capital Dynamics qui doit reprendre la gestion de son Clean Energy & Technology fund (480 millions de dollars d’actifs sous gestion), lancé en 2007 et piloté précédemment par PCG. Le portefeuille de gestion alternative de CalPERS (AIM program), qui pèse quelque 28 milliards de dollars, a dégagé une performance de 30,9% sur les douze mois à fin mars 2010.

Barclays Capital a annoncé le 11 octobre que sa filiale dédiée Barclays Infrastructure Funds a bouclé son sixième fonds d’infrastructures. Le Barclays Integrated Instrastructure Fund a levé 645 millions de livres auprès d’investisseurs de long terme (fonds de pension, compagnies d’assurances, sociétés de gestion et fonds souverains).Barclays Infrastructure Funds, qui a des bureaux à Londres et Paris, va concentrer ce fonds sur les projets d’infrastructures soutenus par les pouvoirs publics, au Royaume-Uni et dans les pays de la zone euro. Les actifs sous gestion de Barclays Infrastructure Funds s'élèvent actuellement à environ 1,2 milliard de livres.

Le 6 août, BlackRock a lancé le BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund (EDEAR), compartiment de la sicav luxembourgeoise BlackRock Strategic Funds (BSF). Comme son nom l’indique, ce produit vise au moins une performance absolue (en fait, il est calibré pour 12,5 % de gain, après frais) avec une volatilité ex ante de 10 % en utilisant dans un cadre coordonné une stratégie equity market neutral héritée de BGI que l'équipe actions-gestion scientifique active européenne gère depuis 2002 et qui a généré des performances de 12,2 % pour 2008, puis de 21 % pour 2009.Ce fonds, qui a commencé avec un amorçage de 6 millions de dollars, affiche un encours de 13 millions et vise notamment à la fois les fonds de fonds et les particuliers, explique à Newsmanagers Richard Mathieson, head of strategy Europe de l’EDEAR. Mais il n’est pas question de négliger pour autant la clientèle des gestionnaires de fortune, friands de ce genre de fonds rémunérateurs et à risque contrôlé. L’agrément de l’AMF a été obtenu le 20 août et BlackRock commence à distribuer le fonds dans notre pays. Le produit, à liquidité journalière, est géré par Simon Weinberger (qui est responsable à Londres de portefeuilles représentant au total 20 milliards de dollars) et Rob Fisher, avec 1.500-2.000 lignes. L’exposition brute peut monter à 600 %, avec des positions longues et courtes synthétiques (CFD), mais le fonds est en exposition neutre à tout moment. Le portefeuille se subdivise en une poche grandes et petites capitalisations et une poche tactique, dite «mid-horizon». Les portefeuilles de grandes et petites capitalisations visent à exploiter des convictions fondamentales et de sentiment de marché sur un horizon de 3 à 6 mois, tournent entre une et deux fois par an. La stratégie «mid-horizon», qui se concentre sur un horion de 5-20 jours, utilise l’arbitrage statistique sur les grandes capitalisations et peut tourner complètement environ dix fois par an.Le risque est réparti de manière équipondérée entre les grandes capitalisations, les petites et le mid-horizon. L’approche quantitative est complétée d’un algorithme pour tenir compte, aussi, des coûts de transactions et optimiser le tryptique risque-performance-coût. Pour résumer, Richard Mathieson souligne que l’EDEAR est «un produit de cœur de portefeuille destiné à des investisseurs «buy and hold» qui recherchent une source de pur alpha».CaractéristiquesDénomination : BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return FundCode Isin : LU0525202155 part principale retail A2 en eurosDroit d’entrée : 5 %Commission de gestion : 1,5 %Commission de performance : 20 % pour la performance excédant le taux butoir, le Libor 3 mois euro, avec high watermarkSouscription minimale : 5.000 euros

Janus Capital International Limited, la division internationale de Janus Capital Group Inc., vient de lancer le Janus US Fund, un compartiment de Janus Capital Funds plc, sa gamme de fonds UCITS III à Dublin.Ce produit investi sur de grandes capitalisations américaines sera géré selon la même philosophie d’investissement que le Janus Fund domicilié aux Etats-Unis, qui jouit d’un historique de performance de 40 ans (depuis son lancement en 1970, ce dernier a gagné 12,06 % par an, contre une hausse de 9,76 % pour le S&P 500). Sa gestion sera assurée par le co-directeur des investissements de Janus Capital Management, Jonathan Coleman, et par Dan Riff, qui co-gèrent le Janus Fund depuis 2007. «Le lancement de notre fonds phare en Europe s’adressant aux investisseurs internationaux correspond à une stratégie d’optimisation de notre plateforme de produits et marque une nouvelle étape dans la croissance de nos activités internationales», indique Dick Weil, président directeur général de Janus Capital Group, dans un communiqué de presse. Plusieurs autres fonds (monde et obligataires) seront lancés prochainement, reflétant la volonté de la société d’élargir son offre en dehors des Etats-Unis.

Selon l’Agefi, la concurrence entre places boursières et plates-formes de trading alternatives (MTF) continue d’affecter l’activité des acteurs du trading, ce que confirme les données LFA d’Equiduct. Selon le président du LSE, Xavier Rolet, lors du 50e congrès annuel de la Fédération mondiale des bourses (WFE) qui se tient depuis hier à Paris, cette dynamique est «insoutenable» et impacte «en profondeur les fondamentaux économiques de l’activité» des opérateurs historiques. La profitabilité mise à mal des acteurs du trading, devrait favoriser la consolidation du secteur, note le quotidien. Le Nasdaq se dit prêt, parmi d’autres options, à considérer une acquisition de Chi-X Europe, qui a mandaté cet été Lexicon Partners pour la conseiller sur sa stratégie après avoir été approchée, selon les rumeurs de marché, par l’américain Bats Trading.

Juste avant la fête nationale chinoise, Bank of Communications Schroders a annoncé la démission de son general manager, Mo Taishan. Ce dernier va rejoindre le promoteur de «private funds» Chongyang Invesment de Shanghai (environ 4 milliards de yuans d’encours) pour y prendre les fonctions de general manager. Il y retrouvera l’ancien CIO et l’ancien patron du marketing de Bank of Communication Schroders, qui ont rejoint Chongyang respectivement en 2009 et au début de cette année. Z-Ben Advisors souligne que Mo Taishan a été par le passé le directeur du département des fonds d’investissement du régulateur chinois (la CSRC). Dès lors, son recrutement par Chongyang pourrait signifier que les boutiques d’investissement espèrent que la libéralisation du marché s’appliquera aussi à elles et non seulement aux grandes maisons. Elles ont en tout cas déjà commencé à empiéter sur la base de clientèle des gestionnaires d’actifs bien installés au moyen de comptes cantonnés (segregated accounts) et de produits spécialisés de gestion de fortune.

Déjà responsable du Schroder ISF Asian Total Return, Robin Parbrook a été nommé avec effet immédiat gérant du compartiment Schroder ISF Pacific Equity (598,2 millions de dollars fin août, LU0248184466) en remplacement de Manish Bhatia. Depuis son lancement en 2007, l’Asian Total Return a généré une performance de 34,9 % contre 18,6 % pour son indice de référence, le MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan.L’ISF Pacific Equity affiche pour sa part au 8 octobre une performance de 24,60 % depuis le lancement le 22 mars 2006.Robin Parbrook, basé à Hong-Kong, restera subordonné à Louisa Lo, responsable des actions asiatiques, hors Japon (head of equities Asia ex Japan). En dehors de la gestion du Asian Total Return et du Pacific Equity, Robin Parbrook sera appelé à jouer un rôle plus actif dans la gestion d’autres fonds d’actions asiatiques et à exercer un rôle de direction à l'échelon régional. Il devra notamment veiller à ce que les bureaux d’investissement de Schroders en Corée, à Taïwan et en Indonésie mettent bien en œuvre les méthodes d’investissement du groupe.

L’effectif de la division wholesale banking & asset management du BBVA va être augmenté de 25 % sur les trois prochaines années, pour le porter à 5.000 personnes, rapporte Expansión. Cela se traduira par le recrutement de plus de 1.000 collaborateurs en un an aux Etats-Unis, en Europe et en Asie. Le groupe espagnol cherche à gagner des clients en faisant valoir sa connaissance des marchés latino-américains et sa position en Chine, où il détient 15 % de Citic. Un effort tout particulier sera consenti pour courtiser les grands fonds internationaux et les family offices, une clientèle que le BBVA connaît encore mal.

Les trusts d’investissement britanniques font mieux que les fonds ouverts dans sept des huit secteurs répertoriés par l’Association britannique de la gestion (IMA) sur une période de dix ans, selon une étude réalisée par Winterflood Securities, rapporte FundstrategyC’est seulement au Japon que l’on observe une sous-performance des fonds fermés par rapport aux fonds ouverts. L'étude montre néanmoins que les fonds fermés sont généralement plus efficaces.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } La Tribune reports that the liquidators of the Madoff victim funds Luxinvest and Luxalpha have been scheduled for 21 October and 9 November, respectively. The agendas for the meetings have not yet been released, but may include proposals related to negotiations with Irving Picard, the trustee for Madoff’s assets, the newspaper notes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 6 August, BlackRock launched the BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund (EDEAR), a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav BlackRock Strategic Funds (BSF). As its name indicates, the product aims for absolute returns (in fact, it is calibrated for 12.5% gains, after fees), with an ex ante volatility of 10%, using a UCITS-compliant version of an equity market neutral strategy inherited from BGI, which the scientific active European equity management team has managed since 2002, and which has generated returns of 12.2% in 2008, and then 21% in 2009. The fund, which started up with seed capital of USD6m, now has assets of USD13m, and is aimed at funds of funds and retail investors, Richard Mathieson, director, Scientific Equity Portfolio Management Group, explains to Newsmanagers. But this does not mean that the management firm is neglecting wealth management clients, who are hungry for funds of this type with high returns and risk control. A license from the AMF was issued on 20 August, and BlackRock will now be releasing the fund in France. The product, which offers daily liquidity, is managed by Simon Weinberger (who is head of portfolios representing a total of USD20bn, in London), and Rob Fisher, with 1,500 to 2,000 positions. Gross exposure may run as high as 600%, with synthetic long and short positions (CFD), but the fund has a neutral exposure at all times. Characteristics Name: BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return FundISIN code: LU0525202155 for main retail A2 share class in eurosFront-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%Performance commission: 20% for performance exceeding the hurdle rate, the Libor 3-month euro, with high watermarkMinimal subscription: EUR5,000

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 8 October, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (PWM) announced the recruitment of Arnaud Apffel as managing director and head of global investment solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He was previously co-head of private banking investment services and head of the key clients division at Lombard Odier. Apffel is based in Geneva, and reports to Marco Bizzozero, head of private wealth management EMEA and CEO of Deutsche Bank (Switzerland), and to Kevin Lecocq, head of global investment solutions for the PWM division of Deutsche Bank.

With a strong presence in the institutional investor segment, CPR AM is now focusing on independent financial advisers, though the firm has long had connections among those professionals. To build the firm's presence in that segment, Jean-Eric Mercier, CEO of the management firm, is planning to foreground the “boutique” side of the business and its management, and to also use products from its parent company, Amundi Group.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Investment Partners announced on 11 October that it has appointed Charlotte Dennery as Chief Operating Officer, and Pascal Biville, deputy CEO, to the newly-created position of head of the Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa regions. He will be in charge of developing the region/country strategies and supervising the local entities and joint ventures. As Chief Operating Officer, Dennery will direct transversal functions including finance, IT systems and operations, as well as legal. Dennery will also retain her position has global head of FundQuest, which she has directed since 2009. Biville, who has been Chief Operating Officer since 2005 and deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners since 2009, will oversee the merger with Fortis Investments. Dennery, who was hitherto global head of FundQuest at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, was previously director of finance and strategy at BNP Paribas Assurance for five years, director of development and strategy for the North American region for two years, and head of elaboration of strategy at BFI for the BNP Paribas group.

Groupama Asset Management has appointed Arnaud Ganet to the newly-created position of director of international sales, in order to “accompany the international development of these activities.”Ganet had been deputy director and CEO of Groupama AM SGR since January 2007. He remains deputy director of the Italian affiliate. However, his responsibilities as CEO of Groupama AM SGR will devlove to Alberico Potenza, who joined Groupama AM SGR as head of institutional clients, a position he held from 2007 to 2009. The Italian affiliate of Groupama, which has been in operation since 2006, now has over EUR1bn in assets under management from outside the group. Counting assets managed on behalf of the group, its assets are over EUR4.5bn, while Groupama AM has a total of EUR91.5bn in assets (as of 30 June 2010).

In September, net sales of funds marketed in Sweden totalled SEK 3.6 billion (EUR388m). Bond funds had a net inflow of 3.9 billion and balanced funds had a net inflow of 3.5 billion, according to the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens Förening. Also equity funds recorded net inflows of SEK 1.3 billion, mainly due to net inflows into Sweden-, Asia- and sector funds. Money market funds, on the other hand, recorded a net outflow of SEK 4.2 billion. So far in 2010, total net sales of funds amounts to SEK 54.3 billion. «New savings in funds have been positive in all months from December 2008, except in May this year when equity markets around the world were marked by heavy turbulence,» says Pia Nilsson, managing director of the Swedish Investment Fund Association. Total net assets of funds at the end of September amounted to SEK 1,823 billion (EUR196.6bn), of which more than 1,000 billion were invested in equity funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a statement published yesterday in French newspapers Les Echos and Le Monde, Edouard Carmignac addressed the currency war between the major global economic powers. On the one hand, he explains, there are countries like China which is unwilling to revalue the yuan despite record and growing commercial surpluses, and on the other side are nations like the United States and Japan which appear determined to release large quantities of currency in order to become more competitive by lowering the value of their currencies. The big loser in the war, says Carmignac, is Europe, which is town between inflationary fears in Germany, and which therefore would not view an appreciation of the euro all that negatively, and countries of Southern Europe, where deflationary pressures are an issue. The president of the management firm sees the currency war as a historic opportunity for the European Central Bank to extend its mandate. “The strong upward pressures on the euro should reassure Germany over the inflationary pressure while justifying an ambitious program to buy up debt from countries of the Community in difficulty,” he explains. Therefore, Carmignac calls on the ECB to enter the fray of the currency war, rather than continuing to restrict the mass of money in circulation, which would have a positive effect on short-term interest rates.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Personnel at the wholesale banking & asset management division of BBVA will be increased by 25% in the next three years, bringing it to 5,000 overall, Expansión reports. This will mean the recruitment of over 1,000 employees in one year in the United States, Europe and Asia. The Spanish group is seeking to gain clients by leveraging its knowledge of the Latin American markets and its position in China, where it controls 15% of Citic. A concentrated effort will go to courting major international funds and family offices, a client segment in which BBVA is still underrepresented.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) announced on 11 October that it is discontinuing its relationship with Pacific Corporate Group (PCG) following a strategic re-examination of its programs and partnerships in private equity. The Californian pension fund also announced that it will be retaining Aviva Capital LLC (Aviva), which will continue to manage over USD1bn in investment vehicles dedicated to emerging markets, Global Opportunities Fund 1 and 2. CalPERS has also called in Capital Dynamics, which will take over the management of its Clean Energy and Technology fund (USD480m in assets under management), launched in 2007, which was previously managed by PCG. The alternative management portfolio at CalPERS (AIM program), with about USD28bn in assets, earned 30.9% in the twelve months to the end of March 2010.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jean-François Bay has been appointed CEO of Morningstar France. He was co-founder and CEO of Seeds Finance and Multiratings; he joined Morningstar at the time of its acquisition of Seeds Group in July 2010. Bay’s management team is composed of Ludovic Jouvray, COO, and Emmanuel Bordes, director of sales, who were both already at Morningstar, and Vianney Dubois, director of consulting, who comes from Seeds. Morningstar has 46 employees in Paris.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises announced on Monday, 11 October that it has been granted a renewal of the socially responsible support label for its range by the inter-union employee savings committee (CIES). All of the funds are part of the Multipar Philéis range, created in 2003, which respects all criteria defined by the CIES, as “financial and administrative management, legal format and commercial diffusion are regularly analysed,” a statement says. As of 30 June 2010, BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises had assets under management of EUR207m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Just ahead of the Chinese national holidays, Bank of Communications Schroders has announced the resignation of its general manager, Mo Taishan. He will be joining the private funds promoter Chongyang Investment in Shanghai (about CNY4bn in assets), where he will take over as general manager. There, he will join the former CIO and former head of marketing from Bank of Communications Schroders, who joined Chongyang in 2009 and the beginning of this year, respectively. Z-Ben Advisors reports that Taishan was previously director of the investment funds department of the Chinese regulator (CSRC). His recruitment by Chongyang may mean that investment boutiques may hope that liberalisation of the market will also apply to them, and not only to the major firms. They have already begun to encroach on the client bases of the well-established asset management firms in segregated accounts and specialised wealth management products.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robin Parbrook, already fund manager of the Schroder ISF Asian Total Return fund, has been appointed as manager of the Schroder ISF Pacific Equity fund (USD598.2m in assets as of the end of August, LU0248184466), effective immediately, replacing Manish Bhatia. Since its launch in 2007, the Asian Total Return fund has generated returns of 34.9%, compared with 18.6% for its benchmark index, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan. The ISF Pacific Equity fund, for its part, showed returns as of 8 October of 24.60% since its launch on 22 March 2006. Parbrook, based in Hong Kong, will continue to report to Louisa Lo, head of equities Asia ex Japan. In addition to the management of the Asian Total Return and Pacific Equity funds, Parbrook will play a more active role in the management of other Asian equity funds, and to assist in the regional direction of the firm. He will help to oversee the investment offices of Schroders in Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia, to make sure they operato along the group’s investment methods.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish pension fund AP3, with about EUR22.2bn in assets under management, has voted against or abstained from 60% of votes on proposals related to the remuneration of management at general shareholders’ meetings in which it participated outside Sweden, according to the most recent annual report on corporate governance (July 2009-June 2010). In many cases, opposition to the board’s resolutions was due to inadequate information, as the requirements are generally higher for Swedish pension funds. More generally, AP3 abstained from or voted against one in four resolutions by boards of directors.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GLG Partners has announced the launch of a UCITS-compliant version of the hedge fund GLG Atlas Macro (USD250m in assets). The new product, domiciled in Ireland, is entitled Atlas Macro Alternative Fund, and will aim for returns and volatility of 10-15% p.a., investing in all asset classes, with care to preserve the liquidity of the portfolio. It is the eighth absolute return newcits product from the British asset management firm. The manager is Driss Ben-Brahim, assisted by Jamil Baz, chief investment strategist.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays Capital announced on 11 October that its dedicated affiliate Barclays Infrastructure Funds has completed fundraising for its sixth infrastructure fund. The Barclays Integrated Infrastructure Fund raised GBP645m from long-term investors (pension funds, insurers, management firms and sovereign funds). Barclays Infrastructure Funds, which has offices in London and Paris, will concentrate the fund on infrastructure projects supported by the public sector, in the United Kingdom and Euro zone countries. Assets under management at Barclays Infrastructure Funds currently total about GBP1.2bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Janus Capital International Limited, the international division of Janus Capital Group Inc., has launched Janus US Fund, a sub-fund of Janus Capital Funds plc, its Dublin-domiciled range of UCITS III-compliant funds. The product will invest in US large caps, and will be managed with the same investment philosophy as the Janus Fund, based in the United States, which has a 40-year track record (since its launch in 1970, it has earned 12.06% per year, compared with gains of 9.76% for the S&P 500). Management is provided by the co-CIO of Janus Capital Management, Jonathan Coleman, and Dan Riff, who has co-managed the Janus Fund since 2007. “The launch of our flagship fund in Europe to target international investors is part of a strategy to optimise our product platform, and marks a new stage in the growth of our international activities,” says Dick Weil, president and CEO of Janus Capital Group, in a press statement. Several other funds (global and bonds) will be launched soon, reflecting the firm’s desire to extend its offerings outside the United States.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Until 23/10/2010, HSBC France is offering HSBC Chrono 2018, an EMTN whose capital invested until maturity, a term of six years, is guaranteed (excluding front-end fee and management fee for life insurance policy or capitalisation). Performance at maturity will be equal to the evolution of the best of two baskets of representative Euro zone equities (EUROSTOXX 50 index) and emerging markets (MSCI Emerging Markets), up to a maximum of 45%, an annualised gross return rate of 6.39%. In subsequent years, the investor will earn a quarterly coupon equal to the Euribor 3-month. All withdrawals from the fund outside the anniversary dates (6, 7 and 8 years) will take place under market conditions, with a risk of capital loss. Characteristics: Name: HSBC Chrono 2018 ISIN code: XS0538124495 Value of one share: EUR1000Eligible for life insurance policies and capitalisation:- For subscriptions and inscriptions until 23/10/2010 - For subsequent contributions and trades until 13/11/2010

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financière de l’Echiquier has launched the Echiquier Global fund in Italy, an equities fund which invests in leading companies worldwide, FondiOnline reports. The product has been available in France since April, and has already received EUR30m in subscriptions.