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05/01/2010

Managers reinvesting bonuses in their funds

Uncertainty about the UK’s bonus supertax is driving an increasing number of asset management houses to encourage portfolio managers to invest their bonuses in the funds they run, Financial Times Fund Management reports. The 50 per cent supertax on bonuses of more than GBP25,000 largely targets bankers and is unlikely to affect independent asset managers. But the situation is less clear for asset managers that are part of a bank.
05/01/2010

Emmy Labovitch joins Richard Wohanka at UBP

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) on Monday announced the recruitment of Emmy Labovitch as director of marketing for asset management. She was previously head of marketing at Fortis Investments. Labovitch is a member of the executive board for asset management, and will report directly to Richard Wohanka, who was CEO of Fortis Investment Management until the middle of last year, when he became CEO for asset management and alternative management at UBP (see Newsmanagers of 4 June and 13 October 2009).
05/01/2010

PICC acquires 48% of Dacheng

With effect from 30 December, insurer PICC has acquired a 48% stake in the seventh-largest Chinese asset management firm, Dacheng FMC, for CNY1.4bn or USD205m. The vendor was a firm controlled by PICC, Zhongtai Trust. The total amount of the transaction corresponds to 3.94% of assets at Dacheng as of the end of first quarter 2009 (CNY74.06bn or USD10.8bn), Z-Ben Advisors reports. The other shareholders in Dacheng are Everbright Securities (25%), China Galaxy Investment Management (also 25%), while the remaining 2% belong to Guangdong Securities. Z-Ben Advisors says the authorisation granted to PICC is a sign that the regulatory authorities, CSRC and CIRC, have changed policies, and now allow insurers to directly hold at least minority stakes in asset management firms.
05/01/2010

Pimco plans to launch a diversified global fund

Last Wednesday, Pimco submitted an application to the SEC for a sales license for its diversified fund Pimco Global opportunities, which will be allowed to invest in equities as well as bonds. Mutual Fund Wire reports that Bloomberg has suggested there may be a connection between this project and the recent recruitment of Anne Grudefin and Charles Lahr (see Newsmamagers of 8 December), who previously managed the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund (USD15.6bn), a product which is similar to the one recently announced by Pimco.
05/01/2010

High deficits at US public pension funds

The US public pension system faces a higher-than-expected shortfall of more than USD2,000bn, according to the chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund, Orin Kramer, cited by the Financial Times.
05/01/2010

Marketing clean-up following Amundi creation

Following the official launch of Amundi, the asset management joint venture of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale founded on 31 December 2009, the time for marketing has come. Firms involved in the creation of the new structure as well as the funds they manage have entered a highly concrete phase, which will involve many name changes. As CAAM became Amundi on 1 January 2010, CAAM Real Estate has been renamed Amundi Immobilier; CAAM CI has become Amundi Private Equity Funds; CAAM Group has become Amundi Group; CAAM AI SAS has become Amundi Alternative Investments. The activities of SGAM which are joining Amundi are being grouped together within an entity entitled Société Générale Gestion (S2G), confirming the desire of teh creators of the new structure to make it a joint platform for competing banks. For mutual funds, products previously offered by Société Générale with the prefix SGAM will change from 15 January 2010, while no concrete date has been set by CAAM. The changes will be undertaken gradually. It is already known that funds aimed at retail clients, such as the Atout line of funds, will not change names. However, funds aimed at clients of regional banks whose names begin with CAAM will now become CA. Funds with names beginning in CAAM or SGAM aimed at external clients will, meanwhile, adopt the Amundi prefix. Lastly, the names of funds aimed at clients of LCL and Crédit du Nord will not undergo any changes. Subscribers to funds whose names will change will receive a notification message.
05/01/2010

SFERS appoints a head of alternative investments

The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) has appointed Donald Holcher to the newly-created position of managing director for alternative investment and real estate. Holcher is a real estate specialist who managed the real estate portfolio of SFERS for a decade. The fund has also appointed Robert Shaw to the also newly-created position of managing director for equities and fixed income. Shaw, who has over 16 years of experience, joined SFERS in 2008.
05/01/2010

SG Private Banking becomes Société Générale Private Banking

SG Private Banking on 4 January announced the adoption of the trade name Société Générale Private Banking from 1 January 2010. With the move, “the private bank reaffirms its membership in the Société Générale group and seeks to capitalise on the banking model organised by professions that the group has developed in order to offer high net worth investors access to the full range of products and expertise available worldwide, as part of a global and personalised approach to managing their wealth,” Société Générale says in a statement. The adoption of the Société Générale Private Banking name will also make it possible to accentuate the visibility and notoriety of private banking activities, particularly serving high net worth international clients. The private bank will operate globally under the name Société Générale Private Banking, except for a part of SG Hambros Bank Limited, an affiliate of Société Générale Private Banking, which will offer its services under the name Société Générale Private Banking Hambros, in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Guernsey and Jersey, and in Bahrain and Canada, where its services will be offered under the name Société Générale Wealth Management.
05/01/2010

iShares gains US market share

iShares—which was sold to BlackRock Inc. by Barclays PLC last year—increased its market share in the ETF business in 2009, the first time it has done so since 2006, says the Wall Street Journal. At year-end, iShares ETFs held about USD373 billion, or about 50.1% of the assets in the U.S. ETFs, according to fund researcher Morningstar Inc. In 2008, iShares had 47.7% of ETF assets in 2008.
05/01/2010

Natixis Asset Management mandated to provide asset management to CGE Assurances

Bruno Goré, CEO of CGE Assurances, and Pascal Voisin, CEO of Natixis Asset Management, have signed a management mandate by which the non-life insurance insurance company of hte BPCE group will outsource the management of its portfolio to Natixis Asset Management, CGE Assurances has announced in a statement. Natixis Asset Management will take charge of the management of EUR360m in Liability Driven Investment (LDI) assets. At the same time, CGE Assurances is diversifying its assets, with investments in the new Impact Funds Climate Change theme, launched by Natixis Asset Management, via its Luxembourg Sicav. CGE Assurances, which since January 2008 has included AIRD insurance para-banking activities of the CGE Assurances group, is now the third-largest insurer in the market, with revenues in 2008 of EUR408m. Natixis Asset Management, meanwhile, has assets under management of EUR301bn.
05/01/2010

Frédéric Sallerin joins Paris office of Sparinvest

The Danish management firm Sparinvest, specialised in value management, is continuing its development in France with the appointment of Frédéric Sallerin as a Senior Relationship Manager, in charge of institutional clients. Sallerin, 46, was previously at La Française des Placements , which he joined in 2004 in an institutional client sales capacity.
05/01/2010

François de Combret moves to Calyon

Les Echos reports that the business banker François de Combret, 68, is leaving UBS to join the Crédit Agricole affiliate Calyon as a senior advisor. The move is a sign of the universal desire on the part of banks to strengthen their strategic advising. The business banker had held the same position at UBS in Paris since January 2006, following his move to Lazard after 24 years of business life at the top.
05/01/2010

Cantonal Bank of Geneva opens a branch office in Paris

The Banque Cantonale de Genève (France) SA on 4 January announced the opening of a branch office in Paris. The office will represent the French affiliate of the BCGE group for business in the Paris region. It will be in charge of assisting in the development of relations with clients and promoting the various services of the group for retail and business clients. The Banque Cantonale de Genève (France) SA, which has been present in France for over 15 yeas, with headquarters in Lyon, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BCGE. The Paris office will be led by Nicolas Charavner, 46, who holds a degree in business and economic law from Université Paris 2 - Panthéon Assas. For more than 20 years, he has been active in banking, and has held several management positions, at BRED, Européenne de Banque, the Banque du Louvre, Bryan Garnier AM, and at Compagnie 1818 Gestion, an affiliate of the Natixis group.
05/01/2010

Insight recruits a manager from F&C

Insight Investment has announced the appointment of Adam Mossakowski as a credit fund manager within its fixed income team. He joins Insight from F&C where he was responsible for a range of institutional and retail funds. At Insight, Adam’s focus will be on UK portfolios and he will report to Peter Bentley, head of UK credit.
31/12/2009

Pas de fusion à l'ordre du jour pour Nordea

Hans Dalborg, président de Nordea, a déclaré au quotidien suédois Dagens Nyheter qu’il n’envisageait pas pour l’heure de fusion de grande ampleur, rapporte l’Agefi. L’intéressé dément ainsi les rumeurs évoquant un rapprochement avec Swedbank.
31/12/2009

"Les fonds flexibles sont une alternative sérieuse à des produits standards ou profilés"

Swan Capital Management a su tourner la page de la multigestion alternative au milieu des années 2000 pour se recentrer sur des produits bien adaptés par les temps qui courent : les fonds de gestion flexibles. La société n'a pas pour autant renoncé à la multigestion comme l'a expliqué à Newsmanagers Christophe François, le directeur général de la société de gestion, qui projette de consacrer dans l'un de ses prochains fonds une place variable mais importante à la gestion alternative...
31/12/2009

Une nouvelle plateforme pour conseillers en 2010

Selon Citywire, le réseau de conseillers Sesame qui a finalisé le rachat de Bankhall et Premier Mortgage Service (PMS) en octobre dernier pour créer Sesame Bankhall Group - dont Ivan Martin est le président exécutif - nourrit d’importantes ambitions pour Bankhall en 2010. Stephen Young, le directeur d’exploitation du groupe élargi, a en effet l’intention de faire de l'établissement un concurrent sérieux sur le marché, en investissant des sommes importantes et en menant une stratégie de plate-forme, précise Citywire.
31/12/2009

Gartmore touche les limites du marché

Depuis sa cotation le 14 décembre, Gartmore n’a jamais évolué au-dessus de son prix d’introduction de 220 pence par action qui marque une révision de 25% à la baisse par rapport au prix moyen que le gestionnaire de fonds britannique pouvait espérer, rapporte l’Agefi. Les actionnaires existants ont dû également diviser par deux les revenus liés à la cession partielle de leurs titres. Le demi-échec de l’IPO constitue aussi un rappel à l’ordre pour la valorisation des gérants d’actifs. A 676 millions, Gartmore se paye 3,1% de ses encours, qui atteignaient 21,8 milliards à fin septembre. Les banquiers justifiaient ce statut par le profil d’encours, très tourné vers les actions, et constitué à 17% d’une poche hedge funds. Mais les investisseurs ont fait un autre calcul, note le quotidien: racheté 550 millions de livres en 2006, Gartmore affichait à l'époque des encours supérieurs de 12%, à 24,4 milliards d’encours. Outre une marge d’Ebitda qui n’a cessé de se dégrader depuis, les perspectives des marchés actions, dont dépend l’activité de Gartmore, restent floues. Et continuent d’inciter à la prudence.
31/12/2009
Fonds

La Société Générale va modifier les noms de ses fonds

A compter du 15 janvier 2010, les fonds de la Société Générale dont le nom commence par SGAM changeront. Leurs souscripteurs seront informés par courrier de cette modification - qui n’entraine pas de révision du code Isin.Ce changement s’inscrit naturellement dans le cadre d’Amundi AM, la société de gestion commune au Crédit Agricole et à la société Générale dont le lancement officiel a été réalisée le 31 décembre 2009. Dans le détail, les fonds distribués par la banque au logo rouge et noir vont voir leur appellation adopter une structure identique : le préfixe SG suivi de la classe d’actifs en question et enfin le thème d’investissement ou les spécificités de l’OPCVM (le style de gestion suivi, etc).
Fonds
31/12/2009
Fonds

Le gérant star de Legg Mason redore son étoile en 2009

Financial News rapporte que Bill Miller, le gérant star du fonds Legg Mason Value Trust doit battre son indice de référence - le S&P 500 - en 2009, pour la première fois depuis 2006. Si les investisseurs se montrent soulagés, Financial News rappelle néanmoins que le fonds en question est encore loin de retrouver le niveau record qui était le sien.Bill Miller a battu le S&P 500 pendant quinze années successives tandis que son fonds est passé de 750 millions de dollars en 1991 à plus de 20 milliards de dollars en 2006.
Fonds
31/12/2009

Sovereign rating of Japan on thin ice

Analysts at Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have announced to Reuters in separate talks that the financial rating of Japan may be downgraded if the island nation does not succeed in consolidating its finances. S&P has rated Japanese sovereign debt “AA,” while Moody’s this May raised its rating of domestic Japanese debt from “Aa3” to “Aa2”, but downgraded its rating of Japanese debt in foreign currencies from “AAA” to “Aa2.” Bond markets are concerned about the potential for an increase in Japanese debt levels, which may climb to 200% of GNP, at a time when the falling popularity of the government which has been in power since September has increased doubts about its ability to take tough economic measures. Tom Byrne, an analyst at Moody’s, says that the evolution of the Japanese sovereign rating will largely depend on efforts by the Tokyo government to consolidate financing in the mid-term and to reduce a budget deficit which may exceed 10% of GNP in 2009 and 2010, according to the IMF Byrne explains that if markets continue to finance deficits at relatively low nominal interest rates next year, investors may “to some extent” demand a risk premium for financing this debt.
31/12/2009

Legg Mason star manager expecting strong results for 2009

Financial News reports that Bill Miller, the star manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust fund, will beat his benchmark index, the S&P 500, in 2009, for the first time since 2006. Though investors have expressed relief at these outlooks, Financial News points out that the fund in question is nonetheless far from returning to its previous record condition. Miller beat the S&P 500 for fifteen years running, while the fund has gone from USD750m in 1991 to over USD20bn in 2006.
31/12/2009

Société Générale to change fund names

From 15 January 2010, funds from Société Générale whose names begin with SGAM will change these prefixes. Subscribers will be informed of the modification, which will not affect ISIN codes,Société Générale said in a message. The changes are part of moves to prepare for the creation of Amundi AM, a joint management firm for Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, which will be officially launched on 31 December 2009. In detail, funds on sale from the bank with the red and black logo will see a uniform structure introduced for their names: the SG prefix will be followed by the asset class in question and then the investment theme or special characteristics of the mutual fund (management style, etc).
31/12/2009

Wealth managers optimistic for 2010

German wealth managers are comparatively more optimistic about 2010. According to a survey in December by DAB Bank of 50 independent managers, 39% of respondents predict that the Dax will reach at least 6,500 points by the end of December 2010. Managers are particularly positive about emerging markets. Of BRIC countries, 37% prefer China, while 33% predict that Brazil will be the ones to perform best, 21% pick India, and 9% Russia.

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