Au terme d’une assemblée générale particulièrement attendue par les professionnels de la pierre papier, Amundi a obtenu le droit de continuer à gérer la Société civile de placement immobilier (SCPI) Génépierre, rapporte L’Agefi qui cite plusieurs sources proches. Les actionnaires ont donc choisi la continuité. Amundi a décroché environ 60% des votes, contre 40 % pour HSBC Reim et entre 10 % et 15 % pour Nami (il était possible de voter pour plusieurs candidats à la fois). La victoire pourrait cependant être contestée par certains porteurs de parts en raison notamment de l’utilisation par Amundi du bulletin trimestriel de Génépierre pour défendre sa position. Avant même l’assemblée générale, ils estimaient en effet que la campagne électorale était faussée. Bons perdants, ni HSBC Reim, ni Nami n’ont en revanche l’intention de se joindre à une éventuelle action, ajoute le quotidien.

La démission en début de semaine de Bruno Crastes, CEO et CIO d’Amundi Londres et directeur adjoint du métier institutionnels et distributeurs tiers, suivi de l’annonce mercredi du départ de Vincent Chaillet et Jean-Noël Alba, deux autres responsables basés à Londres (*), a conduit la société de gestion filiale du Crédit Agricole et de Société Générale à réorganiser la tête de son équipe outre-Manche. A compter du 19 avril , Pascal Blanqué, CIO d’Amundi groupe et directeur du métier institutionnels et distributeurs tiers, devient également CEO d’Amundi Londres. Toutefois, Pascal Blanqué exercera ses fonctions à Paris, tandis que Laurent Crosnier, actuel responsable adjoint de la gestion taux euro crédit, et qui occupera dès la semaine prochaine la fonction de CIO d’Amundi Londres, part pour la capitale britannique. Il aura à ses côtés Hervé Leclercq, jusque là head of risk chez Amundi à Paris, qui devient deputy CEO et COO chez Amundi Londres. Dans la pratique, le départ de Bruno Crastes devrait se faire «en douceur». Il devrait donc, selon Amundi, rester présent à Londres encore quelque temps afin de mener à bien le passage de relais. Une opération sur laquelle certains observateurs ont des doutes. «La gestion de Bruno Crastes se caractérise par une grande latitude laissée aux équipes et à une gestion très «intuitu personae», note un reponsable de multigestion à Paris. «Aussi est-il probable que les sélectionneurs de fonds marquent leur méfiance à la suite de son départ», ajoute-t-il. Enfin, à propos de l’avenir proche des trois gérants, Amundi s’est contenté de préciser que leurs départs étaient motivés par le désir de donner une nouvelle orientation à leurs carrières professionnelles. L’Agefi, mercredi, laissait entendre qu’ils pourraient se réunir à nouveau pour mener un projet entrepreneurial. (*) Vincent Chaillet est responsable de l’activité obligataire international et performance absolue et Jean-Noël Alba, directeur général adjoint de CAAM London Branch.

Au mois de février, les hedge funds ont drainé un montant estimé de 16,6 milliards de dollars, selon Hedge Week qui cite des données communiquées par Trim Tabs Investment Research et BarclayHedge. Les actifs des hedge funds totalisaient 1.500 milliards de dollars fin février.

Le suisse SAM Sustainable Asset Management, filiale de Robeco, a annoncé mercredi qu’elle lance sa douzième opération annuelle d'évaluation des grandes entreprises du monde en fonction de critères économiques, écologiques et sociaux. Le questionnaire, qui comporte une centaine de rubriques, est adressé aux 2.500 plus grandes sociétés par la capitalisation du flottant.L’analyse de ces sociétés sous l’angle du développement durable permet à celles qui obtiennent le meilleur classement d’entrer dans la composition des indices sectoriels Dow Jones Sustainability indexes (DJSI).SAM précise que, sur la période 2001 à 2008, les «sustainability leaders» de son classement ont affiché une performance supérieure en moyenne de 148 points de base à celle des «sustainability laggards».

Financial difficulties at the real estate fund MSREF VI International from Morgan Stanley, which faces a risk of losing USD5.4bn from a portfolio of USD8.8bn, will oblige the manager to sell the Sony Center in Berlin, a complex which is reported to have been acquired for EUR600m from Sony. The real estate management firm Corpus Sireo has acquired a 10% stake, which it intends to keep, Die Welt reports. The buyer is the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS, USD201bn in assets), which is reportedly prepared to spend EUR500m for the 132,500 square-metre property, according to a London broker. The MSREF VI fund also owns the new headquarters of the ECB in Germany.

In Germany and Austria, Schroders is launching a “Euro hedged” share class with a fixed dividend of 7% per year of the Schroder ISF Emerging Markets Debt Absolute Return fund, an absolute return product with assets as of the end of February of about USD6.55bn. The Luxembourg-registered fund (LU01777222394) invests primarily in bonds from emerging markets denominated in local currencies. Achim Küssner, head at Schroder Investment Management for Germany, Austria, Benelux and central and eastern Europe, has announced that other funds with fixed returns will be launched. With that said, it appears that sales of such products are not planned in France.

Plus d’un an après l’acquisition de la Dresdner Bank pour la Commerzbank, la transaction est désormais bouclée aussi au Luxembourg entre Commerzbank International SA Luxembourg (Cisal) et Dresdner Bank Luxembourg, note la Börsen-Zeitung. Dans ce processus, la Commerzbank fait du Grand-Duché la plaque tournante et le centre de compétence pour sa gestion de fortune à l’international.

Schroders a annoncé le 13 avril le lancement d’un fonds dédié à l’Asie, le Schroder Asian Income Maximiser, qui propose aux investisseurs retail de tirer parti de la croissance dans cette zone par une exposition aux actions asiatiques hors Japon.Le fonds, qui devrait être accessible aux investisseurs à compter de juin 2010, vise un rendement brut initial de 7% au travers d’une gestion active des actions asiatiques à fort rendement avec un overlay (une call option couverte) sur ces titres pour améliorer le rendement.

Les difficultés financières du fonds immobilier MSREF VI International de Morgan Stanley, qui risque de perdre 5,4 milliards de dollars sur un portefeuille de 8,8 milliards de dollars, vont obliger le gestionnaire à vendre le Sony Center de Berlin, un complexe qu’il aurait acheté pour 600 millions d’euros auprès de Sony. Le gérant immobilier Corpus Sireo a pris une participation de 10 % et entend la garder, indique Die Welt.L’acquéreur sur le National Pension Service of Korea (NPS, 201 milliards de dollars d’encours), qui serait prêt à débourser 500 millions d’euros pour cet actif de 132.500 mètres carrés, d’après un courtier londonien.Le MSREF VI possède également en Allemagne le nouveau siège de la BCE

Selon les informations de l’Immobilien Zeitung relayées par le Handelsblatt, iii Investments, filiale de la HypoVereinsbank (HVB), a l’intention de fusionner ses deux fonds immobiliers offerts au public, l’Euro Immo-Profil étant absorbé par l’Inter Immo-Profil. Ces produits représentent au total 420 millions d’euros d’actifs, ce qui fait de la nouvelle structure le fonds immobilier offert au public le plus petit d’Allemagne.

Pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche, Schroders lance une classe de parts «euro hedgée» avec un dividende fixe de 7 % par an pour le fonds Schroder ISF Emerging Markets Debt Absolute Return, un produit de performance absolue dont l’encours fin février était voisin de 6,55 milliards de dollars. Le fonds luxembourgeois (LU01777222394) investit principalement en obligations de pays émergents libellées en monnaies locales.Achim Küssner, président du comité directeur de Schroder Investment Management pour l’Allemagne, l’Autriche, le Benelux et l’Europe centrale et Orientale, a annoncé que d’autres fonds avec dividende fixe seront lancés. Cela posé, il semble que la commercialisation d’un tel produit ne soit pas pour l’instant envisagée en France.

Après une incursion de trois ans en Espagne (depuis septembre 2007), la banque privée suisse Sarasin replie bagage après une perte de 1,6 million d’euros en 2009, rapporte Expansión. Elle s'était alliée à Alén Gestión Patrimonial et était connue en Espagne comme Sarasin Alén. Etablie à Madrid et à La Corogne, elle a géré jusqu'à 200 millions d’euros et comptait 14 professionnels dans son équipe fin 2009.

Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al-Nahyan a été nommé mercredi managing director de l’Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, l’un des plus gros fonds souverains au monde, rapporte le Financial Times. C’est le frère du précédent dirigeant du fonds, Sheikh Ahmed, qui a disparu dans un accident de planeur au Maroc. Il occupe plusieurs postes au sein du gouvernement d’Abou Dabi.

Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been named as managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, says the Financial Times. He replaces his brother, Sheikh Ahmed, who died when his glider crashed. Sheikh Hamid holds several government positions.

According to reports in the Immobilien Zeitung, relayed by Handelsblatt, iii Investments, an affiliate of HypoVereinsbank (HVB), is planning to merge its two open-ended real estate funds. The Euro Immo-Profil fund will be absorbed by the Inter Immo-Profil. The products represent a total of EUR420m in assets, making the new structure the smallest open-ended real estate fund in Germany.

ICBC Credit Suisse will on 15 April become the first fund management firm in China to launch a second QDII fund, the Global Enhanced Equity Fund, which will charge a management commission of 1.80%. The fund will invest 60% to 95% of its assets in equities. It will have the same portfolio manager as the first QDII fund from ICBC Credit Suisse, which is focused on Asia and which is currently trading below its initial net asset value of CNY100. According to the agency Z-Ben Advisors, the fund is an ambitious project at a time when E-Fund and China Merchants managed to attract only CNY592m and CNY553m for their latest funds. However, ICBC Credit Suisse has the advantage of size, and the sales force of its parent company ICBC, which, according to Z-Ben Advisors, will allow the firm to raise between CNY800m and CNY1bn during the initial offer period.

The Swiss firm SAM Sustainable Asset Management, an affiliate of Robeco, announced on Wednesday that it is launching its twelfth annual operation to evaluate the world’s major corporations in terms of economic, ecological, and social criteria. The questionnaire, which covers 100 topics, will be sent out to the 2,500 largest companies in the world on the basis of the volume of publicly traded capital. The analysis of the firms from a sustainable development standpoint will allow the firms which receive the highest scores to be included in the sectoral Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI). SAM states that, in the period from 2001 to 2008, the “sustainability leaders” in its rankings earned performance on average 148 basis points p.a. higher than those of the “sustainability laggards.”

Schroders announced on 13 April that it is launching a fund dedicated to Asia, the Schroder Asian Income Maximiser, which offers retail investors a way to participate in growth in this region through exposure to equities from Asia ex Japan. The fund, which will be available to investors from June 2010, aims for gross initial returns of 7%, via active management of Asian high yield equities with an overlay (a hedged call option) on the shares in order to improve returns.

CDC Infrastructures, an affiliate of the Caisse des Dépôts dedicated to investment in infrastructure, and its UBS International Infrastructure Fund announced on Wednesday, 14 April that they have signed a purchase agreement via their affiliate Njord Gas Infrastructure AS, to acquire a 9.4% stake in the capital of Gassled, which was previously owned by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway. The agreement is pending permission from the Norwegian authorities and the financial conclusion of the operation, which would allow CDC Infrastructure and UBS International Infrastructure Fund to be partners in the firm, with 18% and 22% stakes, respectively. In practice, the company and its staff will be based in Stavanger, Norway. Gassled is a joint venture providing a gas transport and export network for the Norwegian continental shelf. About 16% of European demand (93 billion cubic metres of gas per year) are transported by the company; it delivers about one third of the gas consumed in France.

Thee South African company Mirae Asset Securities has launched the first CTA fund to be made available to qualified Korean investors, Asian Investor reports. The strategy is managed by Transtrend, a firm which is 100% controlled by Robeco Asset Management. Transtrend manages about USD8bn in assets. “One of the advantages of this CTA fund is its low correlation with other traditional asset classes, which provides a further improvement to an investor’s return/risk profile,” says Won Hwoi-ku, head of strategy and planning at Mirae Asset Securities, who would like to develop activities serving hedge funds.

The Pimco Total Return Fund, a bond product with about USD220bn in assets, has reduced its exposure to US debt to 33% as of the end of March, compared with 35% one month earlier, according to figures from the firm. The total Return Fund has also increased its exposure to emerging markets from 5% to 6%, while it has maintained its exposure to corporate bonds at 16%, and high yield at 3%. The cash allocation has been raised to 5% from 2% at the end of February.

In the month of February, hedge funds attracted an estimated USD16.6bn in inflows, according to Hedge Week, citing data from Trim Tabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge. Assets in hedge funds totalled USD1.5trn as of the end of February.

Prosecutors are examining whether a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director, Rajat Gupta, gave inside information about the bank to Galleon hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam during the height of the financial crisis, people close to the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

Citigroup said it will sell its hedge-fund business to alternative-investment firm SkyBridge Capital, as it sheds yet another of its noncore assets. Financial terms of the deal, in which SkyBridge will buy Citi Alternative Investments’ hedge-fund, hedge-fund seeding and hedge-fund advisory businesses, weren’t disclosed. CAI’s investments under management and advisory total USD4.2 billion. SkyBridge said the deal will position it as «one of the leading global alternative asset managers» with USD5.6 billion in assets under management. Citi’s Raymond Nolte, who has led the businesses at CAI since 2005, will become chief investment officer and a managing partner at SkyBridge, bringing with him a team of 20.

La sortie de Natixis du capital-investissement pourrait être plus importante que prévu note la Tribune. La banque française est en train de vendre ses fonds émergents (Brésil, Inde et Chine). Il y a une quinzaine de jours, Natixis a sélectionné quatre candidats dont certains forment des consortium. Selon plusieurs sources proches du dossier, citées par le quotidien, les fonds de fonds Harbourvest, Coller Capital, Alpinvest et Paul Capital seraient encore en lice.

The exit of Naxitis from private equity may be a larger operation than predicted, La Tribune reports. The French bank is in the process of selling off its emerging market funds (Brazil, India and China). 15 days ago, Natixis selected four candidates, some of whom are forming consortiums. Several sources familiar with the matter, cited by the newspaper, say that the Harbourvest, Coller Capital, Alpinvest and Paul Capital funds of funds are forming consortiums.

As of the end of March, assets under management at Legg Mason totalled USD684.5bn, compared with USD681.6bn as of the end of December, and USD632.3bn twelve months earlier. However, as of the end of September 2009, total assets came to USD702.7bn. The strongest increase was for assets in equities funds, which came to USD173.8bn as of the end of March, compared with USD168.7bn as of 31 December, and USD126.9bn as of the end of March 2009.

The resignation earlier this week of Bruno Crastes, CEO and CIO of Amundi London and deputy director of the institutional and third-party distribution profession, followed by the announcement on Wednesday of the departure of Vincent Chaillet and Jean-Noël Alba, two other heads based in London (*), has led the asset management firm, an affiliate of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, to reshuffle its UK teams. From 19 April, Pascal Blanqué, CIO of Amundi group and director of the institutional and third-party distributors profession, will also become CEO of Amundi London. However, Blanqué will exercise his functions from Paris, while Laurent Crosnier, currently deputy head of fixed income and credit management, who from next week will occupy the position of CIO of Amundi London, will be moving to the British capital. He will work alongside Hervé Leclercq, previously head of risk at Amundi Paris, who becomes deputy CEO and COO of Amundi London. In practice, the departure of Crastes will take place “gradually.” Thus, says Amundi, he will continue to be present in London for a while longer, in order to see the transition through. Some observers have doubts about the operation. “Bruno Crastes’ management style is characterized by the large degree of latitude he leaves to teams, and a management style based largely on ‘intuitu personae,'” one multi-management professional in Paris says. “It is also probable that fund selectors will express dissatisfaction with his departure,” he adds. As to what the near future holds for the outgoing managers, Amundi states that their departures were motivated by a desire to bring a new orientation to their professional careers. On Wednesday, Agefi suggested that they may team up again in the future to create an entrepreneurial project. (*) Vincent Chaillet is head of international bond and absolute performance activities, while Jean-Noël Alba is deputy CEO of CAAM London Branch.

ING Investment Management announced on Wednesday, 14 April, that its French arm has had net inflows of more than EUR300m in first quarter 2010, which brings total assets managed by ING Investment Management in France as of 31 March 2010 to EUR2.7bn. French investors largely went for High Dividend equities strategies (more than EUR120m in net inflows in the period under review), and for funds which invest in bonds from emerging markets, denominated in strong currencies and in local currencies (more than EUR50m), via the funds ING (L) Renta Fund Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency and ING (L) Renta Fund Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency & Local Bonds, the asset management firm says in a statement. The rest of the inflows registered were largely for the money market sub-fund ING (L) LIQUID EURO, and the equities product ING (L) Invest Global Opportunities.

Net profits from asset management activities at JP Morgan Chase in first quarter totalled USD392m, USD168m or 75% higher than in first quarter of last year. This result is still below profits in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management totalled USD1.2trn as of the end of the quarter, a 9% increase from the end of 2009. This increase is due to positive market effects, while net inflows to equities and bonds were largely offset by outflows from short-term products.