This week, the Sunday Times reports, the financier Hugh Osmond will announce plans to launch a GBP500m investment vehicle entitled Horizon on the London Stock Exchange, and to use it as a launchpad for a takeover bid for a business or businesses valued at potentially as much as GBP500m. Osmond plans to buy large companies which have been bought up by private equity investors, and whose business continues to perform poorly. An ideal project would be to restructure Gala Coral, which is a fundamentally healthy business, but which has been dragged down by excessive debt.

The management firm Witan Investment Trust has recruited Andrew Bell as CEO, replacing Robert Clarke, who has held the position since September 2008, Investment Week reports. Bell is currently head of research and strategy at Rensburg Sheppards in London.

The exodus of Spanish fund management firms to Luxembourg and Ireland is accelerating, Expansión reports. 25% of these businesses already have permission from the CNMV to provide their services in other EU countries. In 2009, Altex Partners, Valorica, Tressie and Cartesio moved abroad, while Omega Capital, M&B Capital Advisers, Cygnus and EDM Gestión are offering their products outside Spain. This emigration is due to the fact that the Spanish finance ministry is requiring all asset management firms or private banks which use a Spanish fund from another entity to provide the issuer with details of their clients, which violates their confidentialtiy and poses a risk to the investment firms of losing their clients. To remedy this, the government would need to adopt an “omnibus account” system, in which asset management firms and private banks would be considered representatives of their clients without needing to disclose the details of the final investor. Ángel Martínez-Aldama, CEO of the Inverco association, estimates that this modification could be introduced by the end of the year.

Standish, the bond specialist arm of BNY Mellon Asset Management, is strengthening its staff numbers in Asia to meet rising demand from investors for bond products, Asian Investor reports. After recruiting a product specialist in Australia last year, Standish is now planning to recruit another expert to be based either in Hong Kong or Singapore. As of the end of October 2009, assets under management at Standish totalled USD62bn, compared with USD45bn previously, as some products have posted growth of over 60%. Europe and Japan were the major contributors to this development. The trends observed last year are expected to continue in 2010, particularly concerning high yield, in the United States and worldwide. The appeal of investment grade credit is expected to move toward the rest of the world rather than the United States.

In an interview with Les Echos, Noël Amenc, professor of finance and director of the Edhec Risk Institute, argues that “the evaluation of indices is too often neglected in RFPs in favour of the choice of managers. This is an error in appreciation, in my understanding, on the part not only of asset management firms, but primarily of investors and their advisers. It must be said that researchers are not exempt from responsibility in this. By confusing the market portfolio in portfolio theory which would be unbeatable on the long term with “weighted-cap” indices [indices which are weighted on the basis of market capitalisation -ed], they have helped to create a condition particular to this method of index construction which nothing currently validates, either empirically or theoretically.”

The Joint Forum, which includes several supervisory bodies, on 7 January published a series of recommendations which aim to reinforce surveillance of the financial sector, particularly hedge funds. The Forum, which brings together the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Basel committee for banking supervision, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), is responding to a request from the G20 to identify areas which were not yet adequately taken into account in terms of problematics related to systemic risks. Among the 17 recommendations for measures to fill lacunae which became apparent during the crisis are increased surveillance of risks posed by hedge funds. In parallel with the work undertaken by IOSCO on hedge funds, the tripartite Forum points to the need for increased transparency of hedge funds, to identify potential risks, to the need to introduce minimal standards in risk management, and to establish linimal owners’ equity requirements for firms which have high systemic risk.

Les Echos reports that investigators now estimate that the investment fund Galleon made USD36m off of insider trading. Former accomplices of the founder of Galleon are beginning to bear witness against him, though he continues to maintain his innocence. At the end of last week, the testimony of Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey employee, before a federal court in Manhattan, revealed that Galleon, the fund founded by the Sri Lankan financier Raj Rajaratnam, made millions of dollars on information passed to it by the consultant. Investigators estimate that Kumar’s disclosure to the fund that ATI Technologies would soon be acquired by the semiconductor manufacturer AMD made USD19m for Galleon.

Sycuan Capital Management, a management firm owned by the Kumeyaay tribe, has announced that as of 29 January at the latest, it will be closing down its only fund, the US Value Fund, which was launched in November 2003 and which has only USD5.3m in assets.

Latitude Capital Management on 8 January announced the launch of a UCITS III fund: Euro Market Neutral (ISIN Code: FR0010815886). The diversified FCP fund has an absolute returns objective over a 24-month horizon. The management process systematically exploits divergences between the evolution of share prices in the Euro zone and their corresponding fundamentals. The strategy is strictly non-directional, as performance is sought regardless of the orientation of the markets. The fund is eligible for PEA and has daily liquidity. The fund was launched on 30 November 2009. The complete prospectus is available from the firm and on the AMF website.

Last year, nine foreign asset management firms set up offices in Spain, according to Funds People. They were iShares, Fulcrum AM, Standard Life, Ignis AM, Edmond de Rothschild IM, Seven Capital Management, Polar Capital Funds, Brevan Howard IF, and State Street Global Advisors. Meanwhile, two new asset management firms were created in Spain: Neila Capital Partners and Altamar Gestión.

US asset management firm Neuberger Berman on 8 January announced the appointment of the former ING employee Christopher Gunns to provide relations with investment consultants in the Asia-Pacific region. Gunns began in his new position on 4 January in Hong Kong. Neuberger has also decided to create a position for a chief operating officer (COO), who will begin in February, but whose name has not yet been announced. “Consultants represent an increasingly large portion of activities in Asia, particularly from an institutional perspective. They clearly do not play the role of guardian that they might play on more developed markets such as Australia, Europe and the United States, but there presence and their influence will increase,” says Gunns.

Alberto Rodríguez-Fraile, president of the Spanish wealth management firm A&G (72% controlled by EFG), has told Expansión that assets increased 25% last year to top EUR3bn. He says the firm is planning to use liquidity generated in the past few years and the resources of EFG to acquire several independent wealth advisory businesses. In addition, A&G is planning to continue to recruit experienced private banking professionals. The president predicts that the number of partners will increase from 20 presently to 60 by the end of 2011.

Goldman Sachs has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch a slate of ETFs, says the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street bank may focus its attention on index ETFs rather than newer actively managed funds. Goldman’s first ETF will be an index fund targeting Brazilian, Indian, Chinese and Korean stocks.

SIX Swiss Exchange on Friday announced that it had admitted 28 new products to trading on its Exchange Traded Funds segment. These include 24 precious metals ETF products from Julius Baer/Swiss & Global Asset Management (see Newsmanagers of 6 January), and three versions of the ZBK Gold ETF from the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), hedged for currency risks in Swiss francs, Euros and pounds Sterling, and one version of the product in pounds. SIX has also announced that from 13 January, it will list seven new Irish-registered ETFs from the Xmtch range by Credit Suisse. These include the Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Pacific ex Japan, Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Canada, Xmtch (IE) on MSCI UK, Xmtch (IE) on MSCI USA, Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Japan, Xmtch (IE) on MSCI Europe and Xmtch (IE) on MSCI EMU. The new additions bring the number of products traded on the ETF segment of the Swis sstock exchange to 312.

Deutsche Börse on Friday announced that it has added two new sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav UBS ETF to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic platform, which replicate MSCI indices, and are aimed primarily at institutional investors. The funds are the UBS-ETF MSCI Canada I, which charges a management commission of 0.28%, and the UBS-ETF MSCI EMU I, whose management commission is 0.18%. The two new products bring the total number of ETFs listed on the Frankfurt exchange to 549.

Jean-Louis Autant, responsable de la gestion diversifiée chez Groupama AM

Laurence Boone, chef économiste France chez Barclays Capital

La région des 4.315 points est le prochain objectif de la hausse amorcée à 2.465 points en mars dernier

Le Conseil de stabilité financière met en garde contre les prises de risque dans le secteur financier

Si la bonne orientation de l’intérim est vue comme un signe encourageant, le mois de décembre s'est traduit par des destructions de postes

Frédéric Penel, responsable de la gestion taux de CCR AM

Rachid Medjaoui, adjoint au directeur de la gestion de La Banque Postale AM

Laurent Bilke, senior économiste chez Nomura

A fin novembre, seuls cinq promoteurs parmi ceux commercialisant plus de 25 produits en France affichaient un ratio égal ou supérieur à 50 % de fonds bénéficiant chez Feri des notes supérieures (A et B). Il s’agit d’Oddo Asset Management, avec 54,84 %, devant Threadneedle (54,55 %) et Groupama AM (52 %). State Street et Rothschild & Cie Gestion arrivent en quatrième et cinquième positions, avec respectivement 51,61 % et 50 % de notes A et B.Pour leur part, Legg Mason et Russell se situent en queue de peloton (36ème et 35ème positions), avec respectivement 7,69 % et 8 % de fonds bien classés.Parmi les quelque 58 maisons proposant au moins huit fonds notés, le nombre de gestionnaires dont le contingent de fonds bien classés s’avère beaucoup plus important, puisque Feri recense au total quinze gammes avec au moins 50 % de produits dans les meilleures catégories. MFS arrive en tête avec 75 % (9 fonds sur 12 notés) devant CamGestion (65,22 %) et M&G Investments (64,29 %). Carmignac Gestion devant Vanguard Investments avec un quotient de 62,50 % (5 sur 8) contre 60 %.Deux maisons affichent un zéro pointé (0 sur 9) : Finogest et SPGP.

William Mussat vient d'être nommé directeur général de Barclays Wealth Managers France, société de gestion du Groupe Barclays en France, succédant à Olivier Stul.L’intéressé était précédemment président de Neuflize OBC Asset Management (NOAM), société de gestion du groupe ABN Amro qui fait actuellement l’objet de réorganisations. Basé à Paris, William Mussat sera donc responsable de Barclays Wealth Managers France, société qui emploie 79 personnes dont 15 gérants, auxquels s’ajoutent 8 gérants en gestion sous mandat, pour un encours sous gestion de 8 milliards d’euros. Il fera également parti du comité exécutif de la succursale française de Barclays Bank Plc, dirigée par Pascal Roché, country manager. A ce titre, il sera responsable de l’activité de gestion sous mandat exercée au sein de la banque. William Mussat sera sous la responsabilité de Thomas Rostron, PDG de Barclays Wealth Managers Europe.

L’Edhec Risk and Asset Management Research Centre change de nom et devient l’Edhec-Risk Institute. Ce centre de recherche en gestion d’actifs et gestion des risques a été créé en 2001.

Sous le vocable général de GPS, pour Gestion Pilotée et Suivi, l’Union Financière de France (UFF) a créé une gamme de quatre fonds profilés en fonction du niveau maximal de risque (30 % : faible, 70 % : modéré ; 100 % : fort). Il s’agit de FCP de droit français dont le mandat de gestion est confié à UFG-La Française des Placements (LFP) pour l’UFF Gestion Flexible 0-30 et l’UFF Gestion Flexible 0-70, tandis que l’UFF Diversifié 0-70 est pris en charge par Aviva Investors France ou AIF (par ailleurs principal actionnaire d’UFF). Ces trois fonds ont été lancés le 2 novembre 2009. Quant au quatrième produit, le plus dynamique, dont le lancement doit intervenir avant la fin du premier trimestre 2010, il sera confié à un gestionnaire genevois.Les trois gestionnaires ont soumissionné dans le cadre d’un appel d’offres qui a réuni huit participants. Il leur a fallu se conformer en l’occurrence à un cahier des charges prévoyant notamment l’instauration d’un Comité d'échanges stratégiques, réunissant les représentants à la fois des gestionnaires, de la direction générale de l’UFF ainsi que d’une société externe pour l'évaluation des risques sur les marchés financiers.Ce comité, qui se réunit en principe une fois par mois, est destiné à établir le positionnement stratégique des fonds en fonction du risque en tenant compte à la fois du point de vue de l’UFF et de la satisfaction des clients de cette dernière.Concrètement, Jean-François Boulier, président du directoire d’AIF, a souligné que, dans cette opération, sa maison (qui a affecté à «son» produit un gérant actions et un gérant obligations, mais pas à plein temps) a dû faire évoluer sensiblement son approche pour passer de la desserte d’investisseurs institutionnels à un «dispositif patrimonial», la difficulté étant de devoir s’assurer que les décisions de gestion sont bien perçues et appréciées par les clients d’UFF. Dans le même ordre d’idées, Pascale Auclair, directeur général délégué aux gestions de LFP, a souligné que la difficulté majeure a consisté à s’adapter au profil de clientèle, dès lors que la formule retenue requiert une simplification extrême, «presque outrancière» de la notion de risque. Caractéristiques Frais de gestion maximum : UFF Gestion Flexible 0-30 : 1,30 % UFF Gestion Flexible 0-70 : 2,05 % UFF Diversifié 0-70 : 1,35 %

Turgot Asset Management annonce avoir signé des conventions de distribution avec CortalConsors et Cholet Dupont.

Herald, le fonds immobilier de Henderson Global Investors, vient d’annoncer l’acquisition de la galerie commerciale «Centre Sud» d’une surface d’un peu plus de 13.000 m2 située au Mans, auprès d’ING Reim pour un montant de 64,4 millions d’euros.ING Reim était conseillé par White and Case, l'étude notariale Allez et Associés, el cabinet d’avocats Arsène Taxand et représenté par le département investissement de Jones Lang LaSalle, dans le cadre d’un mandat exclusif de vente. Herald était pour sa part représenté par Ashursts, Maître Flusin, Deloitte, Taj, Turnbull Associés, Environ et CB Ricard Ellis.

Aberdeen Asset Management doit annoncer ce vendredi qu’il va payer environ 85 millions de livres pour près de la moitié de l’activité de gestion d’actifs de Royal Bank of Scotland, soit un portefeuille de fonds de fonds et de hedge funds de 13 milliards de livres, rapporte le Financial Times. La société de gestion devrait financer l’acquisition via un placement d’actions.