On Monday, Deutsche Börse will announce the admission to trading on the XTF segment of the electronic Xetra platform of ETF and ETC products from Source, the joint venture platform from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The management firm (KAG) selected by Source for the listings is the German-registered Assenagon Asset Management.

The investment committee at CalPERS, which is meeting on Monday, will vote on a motion to launch a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds as part of its incubator ?Sprout Program.? The fund of funds would give managers in the process of starting up 2 to 3 years to establish a performance track record. Those who post the best results will be granted a spin-off fund, created through an acquisition of the shares in the fund, which they could then continue to manage, Global Pensions reports. CalPERS, which has assets of USD5.9bn in shares in hedge funds and funds of hedge funds (and lost 19.% on this portfolio in 2008), is seeking to reduce its spending on management commissions for these funds, but it is prepared to pay more in performance commissions.Global Pensions also reports that as of the end of March, assets under management in the pension fund totalled USD171.6bn, 6.7% less than three months previously.

ETF Securities has announced record net subscriptions in first quarter for its ETC products specialised in precious metals, in which assets as of the end of March totalled USD6.8bn. Net subscriptions increased by more than 400% in January-March compared with the corresponding period of last year.In particular, the two ETC funds specialised in gold, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and Gold Bullion Securities (GBS), posted increases in their assets of 1.3 million ounces (USD1.1bn), to 7.4 million ounces or USD6.5bn. Subscriptions have increased at 3.7 times the rate observed in Q4 2008.

ETFlab has launched a new fund entitled DAXplus Maximum Dividend. The ETF tracks the evolution of share prices for the 20 companies which pay the highest dividends on the Hdax index. Management fees for the fund are 0.30% per year.

Dave Dudding, manager of the Threadneedle European Select Fund, is sticking to a defensive approach to the management of his portfolio. Given the high volatility of the markets, he is staying concentrated on defensive sectors, such as basic consumer goods and health care, the management firm says in a release. The fund is still considerably underweight on the financial sector, while Nestlé is currently one of the manager’s top picks.

The Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index has at last posted positive returns of 0.65% in March, lower than the 0.85% previously announced on the basis of results for 55% of the sample (see Newsmanagers of 9 April). The index lost 0.88% in February. For first quarter as a whole, the index shows gains of 0.85%.In March, dedicated short bias funds posted average losses of 5.47%, while emerging markets funds showed returns of 2.24%. In January-March, the most lucrative strategy was convertible arbitrage, with gains of 7.72%, while the least lucrative strategy was equity market neutral, with losses of 3.49%.

The Inverco association of management firms on Friday published its annual study of management commission levels, including administration and distribution fees. The study shows that as of the end of December, the average level of fees was 0.97%, which represents a 6.7% decrease from a level of 1.04% twelve months earlier. The decline has been constant over the past 14 years. At the end of 1994, average commissions were 1.63%, and the decrease since that time represents 40.5%.The least expensive products as of the the end of 2008 were short-term bonds (0.62%), which represent 25.7% of total assets, and money market funds (0.72%), which account for 20.3%.Management commissions are legally limited to 2.25%, and Inverco points our that the average charge for funds comes in at 43% of this amount. Subscription and redemption commissions, for their part, represent about 0.01% by weighted average, though the theoretical legal limit is 5% for each type of fee.

Citywire reports that Franck le Franc, who left Neuflize Gestion at the beginning of this year, will manage the Sominter mixed fund at his new firm, Somangest-Vesigest.

According to Citywire, César de Brito has left LODH, where he managed the Clean Tech fund. The product will now be managed by Bolko Hohaus.

Since the beginning of the sub-prime crisis in mid-2007, the number of subscribers in Spanish investments funds has fallen by 33%, to less than 6 million, the lowest level since 1997, Expansión reports. Most of the investors who have made such moves were following the advice of banks which were seeking to increase their passive liquidity levels to the detriment of funds, and the trend looks like it may be in danger of continuing, despite the fact that according to the Bank of Spain, average returns have fallen to 3.09% for savings accounts as of February 2009, compared with 5.04% in October 2008. In total, funds underwent net redemptions of EUR5.4bn in January-March, which particularly affected money markets and short-term bonds. On Friday, six management firms announced mergers of 47 funds due to causes like these. Invercaixa (La Caixa) and Santander are cutting back their product ranges by 12 and 11 products, respectively. Similar movements may also be seen at Banco Sabadell, Gestifonsa, Dux Inversores, Caja Madrid, Unigest, Caixa Tarragona, Ahorro Corporación and Caixa Sabadell.

Santander Real Estate, the management firm responsible for the open-ended real estate fund Santander Banif Inmobiliario, has selected CB Richard Ellis to advise it on a sale of assets from which it hopes to earn more than EUR3bn, according to sources close to the firm. Expansión calculates that the sale represents about 90% of total assets in the fund before redemptions were frozen (though the value of these assets has been revised downwards by 7.5%). The process of selling the properties will take at least two years.

Frank Naylors, director of investments at Hermes Pensions Management, has told Reuters that the BT Pension Scheme is planning to increase its allocation to alternative asset classes such as hedge funds in the next three years to 15-20%, the London Stock Exchange reports. At the end of 2007, the percentage stood at 13%. The fund has already invested USD1.2bn in two funds of hedge funds managed by Hermes BPLK, of which USD900m is in a new multi-strategy fund, and USD300m in a restructuring fund launched in January.

In a statement released on 17 April, the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), draws the attention of shareholders to the appointment of a liquidator for the Luxembourg Sicav Luxalpha. A Luxembourg district court has declared the fund bankrupt and ordered its liquidation, and has appointed Ms. Christiane Junck, deputy chairperson of the Luxembourg district court, as the supervising judge, while Alain Rukavina, solicitor, and Mr. Paul Laplume, business auditor, will serve as liquidators. The two liquidators will represent the business, its investors, and its creditors.The AMF ?certifies the decision of the court, and the consequent withdrawal of the license for the Luxalpha SICAV by the CSSF, and its removal from the list of OPCVM funds authorised for sale in France.?The regulator states that it is ?highly mobilised? in this case, and that it will ?be particularly attentive to ensure that shareholders in the Luxalpha Sicav resident in France receive all the information they are entitled to.? It will ?continue its efforts to ensure that the depository’s obligation to refund assets to investors be applied in an identical manner throughout the European Union.?

As announced at the end of February, Gartmore on 14 April released for sale an absolute return fund focused on the United Kingdom. Hedge Week reports that the Gartmore UK Absolute Return Fund is a UCITS III compliant product, which will take long and short positions on UK equities, and which will be managed by Ben Wallace, following the same strategy as the AlphaGen Octanis Fund, which he has managed since its launch in March 2005. The new fund comes as an addition to an AR product range that already includes the Gartmore MultiManager Absolute Return and Gartmore European Absolute Return funds.

Money Marketing reports that Dan Roberts, who since August 2005 had been manager of the equity income fund from Aviva Investors (GBP148m), has joined Gartmore.

Permal, an affiliate of Legg Mason specialised in hedge fund management, has launched its first traditional investment fund, the Legg Mason Permal Tactical Allocation Fund, Funds People reports. The product invests in multiple asset classes (equities, bonds, money markets), and may invest without geographical constraints. It is authorised to acquire shares in actively- or passively-managed funds.

Fortis Investments has announced that its Chinese joint venture Fortis Haitong will become the first management firm to pay a dividend (of CNY0.2 for every 10 shares) on a fund (launched in 2008) with the status of Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) in China.

Curtis Butler will be making a comeback to fund management, after leaving Legg Mason last October, Citywire reports. The manager will sdet up an emerging markets desk at LODH in New York. He will take charge of the LODH Invest - Global Emerging Market fund, which was previously managed by Lloyd George.

At the Boao Forum for Asia, Lou Jiwei, head of the sovereign fund China Investment Corp., has announced that the fund plans to invest in Europe, now that European officials have become slightly more humble, the Financial Times reports. He also thanked European officials for saving him a lot of money by dissuading him from investing in Europe in 2008, due to the doubts they expressed about the transparency of the Chinese sovereign fund and its intentions.

More than half of managers are planning to increase their use of liquidity ?dark pools?, according to a recent survey by Liquidnet, cited by the Financial Times. The sentiment was strongest in Europe, where three quarters of managers said they were planning to do so.

Financière de l"Echiquier is merging its FCP funds Exchiquier Excelsior and Exchiquier Excelsior Europe. Through a contribution of half of their management fees, the two funds provide financing for the Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier, which was founded in 2005 under the aegis of the Fondation de France to ?campaign for insertion and education in France,? the management firm declares in a statement announcing that it will be increasing its funding of the organisation.?Financière de l"Echiquier has decided to merge the two funds Echiquier Excelsior and Echiquier Excelsior Europe in order to concentrate in a single portfolio its research and management efforts to select French and European small and midcaps. Thanks to its very large selection universe, particularly promising for investors passionate about enterprise businesses, Ecquiquier Excelsior will be likely to attract more investors, and thus generate more resources for the Foundation. With a strengthened dedicated team, Exchiquier will now be the sole and well-identified vehicle to fly the colours of the Foundation,? Financière de l"Echiquier says in a statement.The management firm is also developing a network of donors for its Foundation. ?This is constituted of provider-partners and retail investors, whether or not they are clients of the Financière de l"Echiquier, who have awareness of the ongoing actions, and who may benefit from tax deductions on their donations.?Philippe Lévêque, CEO of Care France, has also been appointed to the Engagement Committee at the Foundation. He will be in charge of selecting projects for support.?With a strong cumulative budget of over EUR2.4m, the Fondation Financière de l"Echiquier has already supported 50 projects, of which 55% are focused on labour insertion, and 27% on education, while 18% are categorised as ?core team projects,? as they emanate directly from employees of Financière de l"Echiquier,? the management firm states.

European high net worth private investors, who were the first to invest in hedge funds, were also the first to get out during the crisis, according to a study by the Bank of New York Mellon and Casey Quirk, cited by the Financial Times. Last year, high net worth individuals (HNWI) represented 80% (or more than USD500bn) of redemptions from hedge funds, though they only represent two thirds of assets in these funds. The redemptions went primarily to European clients.

ffvfff

Mathieu Pivovard, responsable de la gestion diversifiée et de l’allocation tactique chez Allianz Global Investors France

Philippe Percheron, multigérant au CM-CIC Asset Management

Philippe Weber, responsable études et stratégie chez CPR AM

Sylvain Broyer, économiste chez Natixis

Etienne Gorgeon, directeur de la gestion taux et crédit d'Edmond de Rothschild Financial Services

Selon L"Agefi suisse, l"ancien directeur exécutif de Capitalia, Matteo Arpe, pourrait, au travers de sa société d"investissement Sator, prendre prochainement le contrôle de la Société Bancaire Privée (SBP). En effet, Sator attend le feu vert des autorités de régulation italiennes mais aussi suisses pour devenir l"actionnaire majoritaire de Banca Profilo qui depuis 2007 détient une participation de 60,4% dans la SBP.

Il faudra au moins cinq ans pour localiser les fonds perdus par les investisseurs victimes du plan Ponzi de Sir Allen Stanford, selon les liquidateurs de la banque Stanford International Bank, au c?ur de la fraude, rapporte le Financial Times. Cet établissement basé à Antigua avait des actifs de centaines de millions de dollars détenus en son nom, alors qu"il en devait 7,2 milliards à ses déposants.