According to the “Global Pension Asset Study 2010,” a survey realised by Towers Watson of the 13 largest global pension markets (South Africa, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Canada, United States, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Switzerland), assets under management by pension funds as of the end of 2009 totalled USD23.290trn, which corresponds to a 15.1% increase compared with the end of 2008 (when they were down 21% compared with the end of 2007), although the total remains lower than at the end of 2007 (78%). As a proprotion of global GDP, assets total 70%, about the same as in 2003, compared with 76% ten years previously, though they are up from 58% at the end of 2008. The study may be accessed at the address http://www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/966/GPAS2010.pdf

The former star JP Morgan manager Ajay Gambhir will launch a UCITS III-compliant long/short equities fund, the RWC Europe Absolute Alpha Fund. Gambhir joined RWC in 2007 and has made his talent exclusively available to high net worth clients via a hedge fund dedicated to Europe, the Samsara. This is the first time that Gambhir has returned to retail management since his departure from JP Morgan. The fund will aim for annualised returns of at least 10% to 15%, and will charge an outperformance commission of 20% with high watermark. The vehicle will deploy the same investment ideas as the hedge fund, which since its launch in 2003, has earned annual returns of over 13.1%, compared with 3.7% for the MSCI Europe Equity index, with volatility of less than 8%, compared with 16% for the benchmark index.

On 14 June, the CNMV announced that it has registered the Luxembourg Sicav Pictet Targeted Fund and the Corto Europe and Dragonfly funds, two sub-funds of the Sicav (see Newsmanagers of 18 June). The move follows the registration of the same products in France by the AMF on 12 May. The Dragonfly is a UCITS-compliant long/short fund similar to the Corto Europe (see Newsmanagers of 7 April and 1 June), based on the Greater China fund, and more directional than the European product. It will actively inform clients from this fall.

Huntington Asset Advisors has applied to the SEC for a license (via a 40-App form) to launch two actively-managed ETF funds They include the Global Rotating Strategy Fund, which will invest at least 80% of its assets directly or indirectly in common shares or index-based shares in a market segment, and which would be authorised to change segments (small caps, midcape, large caps and international equities), to optimise potential for capital gains as economic conditions evolve. Huntington AA has also applied for a license to launch the EcoLogical Strategy Fund, which would invest directly or indirectly in ordinary shares in US businesses of all cap sizes which satisfy one or more environmental criteria. The fund would also be permitted to invest a significant part of its assets in shares in foreign businesses.

In a 40-App form, BlackRock has applied to the SEC for permission to launch the iShares Active Fixed Income fund and the iShares Active Equity Fund, funds of ETFs which will be actively managed. The underlying ETFs will be at least 80% products advised by BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA), which will also be the advisor to the new funds.

The chairman of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Jean-Pierre Jouyet, on Monday, at a presentation of the authority’s 2009 annual report, announced its priorities for 2010-2011. “The most important, for me, is the rapid installation of a European market agency with real powers,” Jouyet said. In this regard, he was critical of several proposals by the European commission and council, which could prevent the future ESMA (European financial market authority) from fulfilling its missions. The initial objective of a larger integration and supervision and harmonised protection of savings investors would then be lost, and it is thus necessary to find a political compromise as soon as possible in this area. “I am rallying votes for a French-German agreement and will be the driving force behind it,” as “without powerful European authority, there will be no effective and consistent regulation, and without effective and consistent regulation, there will be no credible national regulation,” he said. Another priority area will be regulation of over-the-counter markets and revision of the MiFID directive. Jouyet says that it is necessary to “compensate, standardise and register.” To this end, the AMF would be inclined to collect data on OTC derivatives from May 2011, on a voluntary basis. In addition to localisation of post-market infrastructures in Europe and the Euro zone, Jouyet estimates that it is important to massively reorient trading flows towards organised markets, not only for derivatives, but also for equities and bonds. The third priority area is regulation of short positions. The AMF chairman says that it is necessary to have a European response in this area. “Imposing transparency measures and rigorous treatment of settlement and clearing suspensions appears to me to be immediately more effective,” Jouyet commented.

Investment Week reports that the China fund managed by Anthony Bolton, the Fidelity China Special Situations, has issued 11 million new shares, primarily to assist trackers seeking to acquire shares in the vehicle after its admission to the FTSE 250 on 21 June. The high rate of tracker acquisitions led to a 5.3% boost for the price of shares in the fund compared with its net asset value.

Evans Randall group has sold the commercial office property Condor House (12,221 square metres) for about EUR134.3m, to the open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return Fund, of Germany’s SEB Asset Management. The property becomes the 44th in the portfolio of the fund, a product aimed at institutional and high net worth retail investors, with assets in 12 countries.

This Tuesday, Intesa Sanpaolo will make a decision about the initial public offering of its financial advising network Banca Fideuram, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Recent leaks suggest that it is highly likely that the deal will be postponed until a later date yet to be defined. The problem is the price: Intesa Sanpaolo values its 100% stake in Fideuram on its books at EUR2.5bn, and would thus like to value the bank at EUR3bn. But this price, in current market conditions, is too high.

Threadneedle has signed a distribution agreement with the Italian Banca Sara, Bluerating reports. By the agreement, Banca Sara Private Financial Services will distribute 30 Threadneedle funds via its IFA network.

UFG-LFP on Monday, 21 June announced that it has acquired a 15% stake in the consulting firm Legiga, founded by Jean-Pierre Gaillard, Patrick Leguil and Jean-François Gilles. At the same time, the founders have transformed a model portfolio which they have maintained for 13 years on the basis of a national TV (LCI) into a real FCP fund, “FCP Mon PEA,” which is advised by LEGIGA and managed by LFP, a statement from the management firm says. The fund, which invests in European equities eligible for PEA plans, aims to outperform the CAC 40 index over the long term via stock-picking in order to optimally manage returns. The objective of the fund is also educational, and it aims to be simple and clear in its functioning, transparent in the composition of its portfolio, and prefers long-term investments. A website dedicated to the fund will be available at www.fcpmonpea.com by mid-September. Characeristics ISIN code: FR0010878124 Eligible for PEA/life insurance: Yes/yes

BNY Mellon on 18 June announced the signature of an agreement to acquire the independent financial advising firm I3 Wealth Advisors, based in Toronto, whose assets advised total over CAD3.5bn. It is the first acquisition by BNY Mellon in Canada. The transaction will be completed in third quarter 2010.

Amundi Canada has officially launched its offices in Montreal in conjunction with McGill College. The office has six employees drawn from the teams of Crédit Agricole Asset management. Amundi Canada has assets of USD1bn, strictly for institutional clients such as pension funds and insurers. “We hope for USD3bn in assets as soon as possible,” the president of Amundi Canada, Louis Fortin, says.

Russell Investments has announced that it is planning to integrate 45 newly-launched shares into the Russell Global index at its annual review of the index. Among the 45 shares concerned will be six Chinese shares and six British shares, four German and four US businesses. The other shares come from Brazil, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Sweden.

The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (FPTF) has launched a request for proposals to manage a USD25m hedge fund, on the condition that the manager must be a woman and/or minority. Candidates will be examined by Mercer Investment Consulting.

The European asset management industry is expecting a new wave of international company M&A activity during the next 12 months. These were among the conclusions of a recent survey of European asset managers and administrators conducted by Kneip, a service provider to the asset management industry. According to the research, 90% of respondents believe that there will be an increase in international company M&A activity in the asset management industry over the coming year. The survey also found that 45% of respondents have firm cross-border expansion plans in place, while 42% are already considering international expansion into Europe, Asia and Latin America in response to an expected increase in investor interest from those regions. Kneip’s corporate actions data confirms this trend. While in the first two quarters of 2009 Kneip recorded five company mergers and acquisitions, during the same period in 2010 this figure has already increased almost four-fold to 19. Bob Kneip, chief executive officer of Kneip, commented: “The anticipated M&A activity can largely be attributed to growing demand for UCITS products around the world, which have become associated with excellence and strong supervision. It is the only truly globally distributed investment fund product, with demand from Asia now particularly strong». In addition to company M&A activity, the study found that the industry expects a certain degree of streamlining over the next year, with 65% expecting more international and 40% more domestic fund consolidations.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management on 21 June announced the recruitment of Guillaume de Lafarge as deputy director of risk. The board of risk management, composed of 4 members, is chaired by Flavien Duval, director of risk, and report to Philippe Couvrecelle, chairman of the board, a statement from the firm says. De Lafarge had been head of financial management at Bred since 2006, where he started in 2001 as a quantitative engineer in the market activities risk team.

Shares in Jupiter Fund Management surged 15 per cent to 190½p on their first day of trading, says the Financial Times. The fund manager had sold its shares at a price of 165p, near the bottom of its range, but had covered its order book 2.5 times, people close to the listing said.

Axa Framlington’s biotechnology fund manager Andy Smith has left the firm, handing over his duties to Dr Deane Donnigan, says Citywire. It follows a shake-up in Axa Framlington’s healthcare equities team.

En déficit, le gendarme boursier français va demander un minimum de 20 millions d’euros à Bercy

Le multiple de capitalisation actuel révèle une légère décote des actions par rapport à leur moyenne à long terme, mais pas une valeur à la casse

Poussées par les volumes de juin, les émissions atteignent un record de 105 milliards d’euros. Des coupons élevés sont cependant demandés

Au plus tard avec le retour de Mohamed El-Erian après une brève incursion à la gestion de la fondation de Harvard (lire notre dépêche du 12 septembre 2007), les professionnels ont pris conscience du fait que Pimco (groupe Allianz Global Investors) n'était plus un «simple» gestionnaire obligataire, aussi important soit-il (avec plus de 1.000 milliards de dollars). Pimco dispose d’une capacité multi-classes d’actifs internationale, mais aussi de produits matières premières, d’allocation d’actifs, de REIT, d’immobilier et de MBS.Le gestionnaire californien, qui a préalablement recruté les gérants value de Templeton Mutual Series, Anne Gudefin et Charles «Chuck» Lahr (lire notre article du 8 décembre 2009) a confié à ces deux vedettes voici deux mois la stratégie value actions, arbitrage de fusions-acquisitions et distressed, sous la forme du fonds Pathfinder (lire notre article du 19 avril) qui a déjà collecté 600 millions de dollars auprès des particuliers et des brokers-dealers. La commission de gestion est fixée à 0,89 %."La philosophie d’investissement «bottom-up» est exactement la même pour le nouveau Pathfinder Europe, qui n’est pas encore agréé en France», explique Anne Gudefin à Newsmanagers. «Nous fonctionnons avec un horizon de 3-5 ans, dans une optique officieuse de performance absolue. Pour entrer un titre en portefeuille, il faut qu’il présente une décote de 30 à 40 % sur la valeur à laquelle nous l'évaluons et, bien entendu, que la société ait une vraie valeur intrinsèque. Il ne s’agit pas qu’elle soit bon marché parce qu’elle ne mérite pas mieux». Déploiement de forceCette stratégie présente une volatilité correspondant à 60 % de celle de l’indice, et le portefeuille comprend entre 70 et 80 lignes. Le taux de rotation envisagé se situe entre 20 et 30 %. Anne Gudefin et Chuck Lahr, peuvent compter pour leur stratégie sur le soutien de 6 gérants de portefeuille pour le cash, de 30 analystes crédit, de 5 spécialistes de la dette distressed (plus un gérant), de 27 gérants de portefeuille focalisés sur les devises et de trois autres professionnels de la réduction du risque grâce aux techniques de couverture. L'équipe va être renforcée par un analyste spécialisé sur les fusions-acquisitions, d’un product manager qui viendra lui aussi de Franklin Templeton et de deux analystes secteurs l’un pour les matières premières/énergie, l’autre pour les valeurs industrielles. De plus, Nell Kashkari, ancien vice-secrétaire au Trésor chargé du programme TARP, devient head of new business initiatives.Depuis mai 2005, en rétropolant la stratégie appliquée pour Pathfinder par Anne Gudefin chez Mutual Series, la performance de ce genre de produit aura été de 44,8 % en cumulé, avant frais, contre 22,63 % pour la catégorie Lipper Global Multi-Cap Value et 6,64 % pour le MSCI monde.Au 30 avril, le portefeuille se composait de 74 % d’actions value gérées activement et de 21 % de cash, gérés activement par Pimco -ce qui permet de dégager entre 20 et 30 points de base de surperformance, insiste Anne Gudefin, qui ne voudrait pas voir son fonds assimilé à un monétaire. De même, la couverture active du risque de change par les spécialistes maison représente entre 50 et 60 points de base de surperformance.

Selon l’Agefi qui cite Bloomberg, le fonds souverain du Qatar a prévu de participer à hauteur de 2,8 milliards de dollars à l’introduction en Bourse d’Agricultural Bank of China.

Selon la Tribune qui cite Bloomberg, la filiale de gestion alternative de la banque Citigroup cherche à augmenter de 1,5 milliard de dollars ses encours sur le private equity et de 750 millions de dollars ses actifs sur les hedge funds cette année. Citi envisage même d’augmenter ses encours de 1 milliard de dollars l’an prochain.

Depuis jeudi, la cote du segment XTF de la plate-forme de négoce électronique Xetra de la Deutsche Börse comporte trois références supplémentaires. Il s’agit de trois ETF de droit français, Lyxor ETF EURO STOXX 50 Dividends (chargé à 0,70 %), Lyxor ETF Daily ShortDAX x2 (0,60 %) et Lyxor ETF Daily Double Short Bund (0,20 %). Cela porte le nombre total des ETF cotés à Francfort à 674 unités.

Franklin Templeton a annoncé avoir obtenu l’agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne et en Autriche de trois compartiments luxembourgeois supplémentaires. Il s’agit du Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund* (LU0496367417) géré par Steve Land, du Templeton European Corporate Bond Fund* (LU0496369546), confié à David Zahn et du neue Franklin Real Return Fund* (LU0496367250) que gèrent Tony Coffey et Kent Burns.La succursale de Franklin Templeton à Francfort gère environ 16,5 milliards de dollars (12 milliards d’euros) pour le compte d’investisseurs allemands.

Lorenzo Carcano, gérant depuis 2003 du fonds Metzler European Smaller Companies pour l’allemand Metzler Asset Management, a été sélectionné pour gérer une poche de petites et moyennes capitalisations correspondant à 30 % du produit de multigestion MSMM European Small Cap Fund de Russell Investments, rapporte Das Investment.

Dans son rapport annuel publié sur le site du Bundesanzeiger (Journal officiel), Sal. Oppenheim précise avoir accusé pour 2009 une perte de 1,27 milliard d’euros contre 163 millions l’année précédente.La banque privée, dont la Deutsche Bank a pris le contrôle le 15 mars 2010, indique qu’il sera indispensable de créer de nouvelles structures pour générer de la croissance et redevenir bénéficiaire, ce qui passera en particulier par un réexamen des fonctions de back-office pour créer des synergies avec la Deutsche Bank. Il faudra notamment réaliser des économies dans les technologies de l’information. Désormais, l'établissement se concentrera sur la gestion de fortune pour les particuliers, sur la gestion institutionnelle ainsi que sur la gestion de fonds «retail» et institutionnels.Sal. Oppenheim compte que le retour aux bénéfices prendra deux ou trois ans. Les comptes de 2010 seront plombés par des éléments exceptionnels liés à la restructuration et à la cession d’actifs en compte propre. Il se pourrait également que d’autres amortissements soient nécessaires sur certains crédits, de même que sur des participations et des immeubles. En exploitation, cependant, le bénéfice devrait augmenter pour retrouver un niveau satisfaisant.

Récemment, indique Funds People, GLG Partners a fait enregistrer quatre hedge funds coordonnés, compartiments de la sicav irlandaise GLG Investments VI PLC. Il s’agit d’un long/short equity, le GLG Pure Alpha, qui réplique un fonds enregistré aux îles Caïman et qui affiche 400 millions de dollars d’encours, ainsi que de trois produits marchés émergents, GLG Emerging Markets Equity, GLG EM Credit Opportunity et GLG EM Fixed Income and Currency.Un cinquième produit, le GLG Emerging Markets, a manqué la fenêtre d’homologation à cause d’une erreur, mais sera lancé ultérieurement. Tous ces fonds offrent une liquidité journalière et un profil décorrélé par rapport aux marchés.