Carlo Roncalli a quitté Janus Capital International où il était directeur commercial au sein de l’équipe commerciale italienne depuis avril 2012, a appris Blurating. Cet ancien de JPMorgan Asset Management aurait décidé de prendre un congé sabbatique.

C’est la fin d’une époque pour Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Son principal actionnaire, la Fondation Monte dei Paschi, a en effet annoncé ce 31 mars avoir conclu un accord portant sur la vente d’une participation de 6,5 % dans le capital de la banque italienne à Fintech Advisory et BTG Pactual Europe, perdant ainsi sa mainmise sur un établissement qu’elle contrôlait depuis deux décennies. Dans le détail, le fonds d’investissements Fintech Advisory, détenu par l’homme d’affaires mexicain David Martinez, a acquis 4,5 % du capital tandis que BTG Pactual Europe, filiale de la banque d’investissement brésilienne, s’empare de 2 % du capital.La Fondation précise avoir conclu un pacte d’actionnaires avec les deux établissements «afin d’assurer la stabilité» de l’actionnariat. A l’issue de l’opération, la participation de la Fondation au capital de la troisième banque d’Italie se réduit à environ 5,5%.

Le Crédit Mutuel Arkéa a annoncé la nomination de Jean-Pierre Gulessian à la fonction de directeur des marchés financiers. Depuis 2012, il était responsable de la Trésorerie et du Refinancement du groupe. Avant de rejoindre le Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Jean-Pierre Gulessian était depuis 2006 trésorier long terme et responsable de la gestion globale du risque de taux du groupe Natixis puis directeur général de Natixis Funding.

Le PDG-fondateur de Facebook Mark Zuckerberg a enregistré une nette baisse de sa rémunération l’an dernier, notamment parce qu’il s’est contenté d’un salaire de base symbolique. Selon un document boursier publié lundi en prévision de l’assemblée générale du groupe, Facebook évalue la rémunération totale de son PDG pour l’an dernier à 653.165 dollars, contre 1,99 million de dollars en 2012 (-67%), rapporte l’AFP. La quasi-intégralité de la somme correspond à des rémunérations en nature (voyages personnels en avion privé payés par Facebook car ils étaient justifiés par des raisons de sécurité). Mark Zuckerberg n’a touché aucun bonus en numéraire ou en actions, et s’est contenté d’un salaire de base symbolique de 1 dollar. Mark Zuckerberg reste le premier actionnaire de Facebook, et détenait fin mars la 21e fortune mondiale, estimée à 26,7 milliards de dollars, selon le magazine Forbes.

Le fonds souverain de Singapour GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) a obtenu de la part des autorités chinoises, ce 28 mars, pour 500 millions de dollars supplémentaires de quota QFII (investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié), rapporte Asian Investor. Le GIC détient désormais 1,5 milliard de dollars de quotas QFII, devenant ainsi le cinquième gestionnaire d’actifs à atteindre un tel seuil.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British asset management industry is continuing to advance. As of the end of February 2014, the sector has a total of GBP783bn in assets under management, up 10.3% compared with the end of February 2013, according to figures released on 31 March by the professional association, the Investment Management Association (IMA). This growth has been driven by net inflows totalling nearly GBP2.7bn. This performance is due to the retail credit market, which for the eleventh consecutive month, has posted net subscriptions of over GBP1bn, with GBP1.8bn in February 2014, compared with GBP1.4bn in February 2013. Net inflows to institutionals also stay into positive territory, though down year on year, to GBP921m in February 2014, compared with GBP1.7bn in February 2013. However, the institutional segment did far better than in January, in which month the outflows totalled GBP911m. In terms of asset classes, equity funds are continuing to find favour with retail investors, with a net inflow of GBP681m in February. This puts them ahead of multi-asset classes, with GBP330m in net inflows, and property, with GBP298m in net subscriptions. Lastly, fixed income has posted net inflows of GBP179m (after outflows of GBP229m in January), the best net sales since May 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (Singapore GIC) obtained an additional Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license from the Chinese authorities on 28 March, for a further USD500m, Asian Investor reports. GIC now has USD1.5bn in QFII quotas, making it now the fifth-largest asset management firm by this measure.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sovereign fund Singapore GIC will be providing seed capital for the macro fund which the former chief investment officer (CIO) of GIC, Ng Kok Song, is planning to launch during the year, the SWF Institute reports. The sovereign fund has already assisted former heads to found their own alternative management firms several times. Song has left his position as CIO, but remains as an adviser to the sovereign fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oddo Asset Management has received a final sentence which will require it to pay back all the money invested by a professional client in the fund Oddo Cash Arbitrage, for fraudulent presentation of the composition of the fund, and the transfer into the fund of assets invested in sub-prime, Agefi Actifs reports in its 31 March edition. The fund was liquidated in early July 2007, following the liquidity crisis on the financial markets. The fund was split into two distinct parts, one of which with immediate liquidity, and one with long liquidity, while invetors who did not specify a choice saw their assets immediately transferred to the immediate liquidity fund, which had a significant risk of loss. In this case, a professional client who never replied lost 53% of his investment. The appeals court noted that “information materials provided to shareholders in the Oddo Cash Arbitrages fund, whether or not they were institutional, included real distortions of information of a nature to erroneously induce risk errors in the investment made, and the firm Oddo & Compagnie, and consequently its affiliate Oddo Asset Management, knew already in early March 2007 of the increased securitisation risks presented by products related to the US real estate market, at the point of deciding between 5 March and 5 July 2007, to transfer them from its traditional money market fund (FCP Premium Oddo Cash) to its dynamic money market funds, including the FCP Oddo Cash Arbitrages, against the interests of shareholders in these funds.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish asset management firm Odin has merged the Odin Europa SMB fund (SEK2.7bn) into the Odin Europa fund (SEK1.7bn), Fondbranschen reports. The two funds are managed by Alexandra Morris.

Source on March 31 announced the launch of the Source Russell Europe SMID 300 UCITS ETF. The fund provides exposure to the Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index («SMID»), which is designed to offer liquid exposure to Europe’s small- and mid-cap equity markets. The ETF offers access to a segment of the market which is gaining increasing investor interest; there are currently EUR 9 billion assets in the ETF small and mid-cap space in Europe, up from EUR 1.8 billion in 2012.The index contains 300 highly liquid constituents. Constituents are selected from the Russell Global Index comprised of approximately 10 000 stocks. This is reduced to European small and mid-cap stocks, defined as those companies falling between the 75th and 95th percentile by market capitalisation of the Russell Global Index. Stocks with an average daily trading volume lower than EUR 2million are then excluded. The remaining eligible stocks are ranked by ‘speed to trade’ defined as those with the lowest free float market capitalisation relative to their average daily trading volume. The 300 highest-ranked stocks are selected and then weighted by free float-adjusted market capitalisation. The index is reviewed and rebalanced annually.This approach allows for both higher investment capacity and the inclusion of stocks from across the capitalisation range, without compromising liquidity. Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index comprises stocks like Baratt Developments Plc, easyJet Plc and Hargreaves Lansdown Plc.In 2013, small and midcap out performed large cap across developed markets. In Europe, the Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index outperformed the Euro Stoxx 50 TR index by 7.50%and in the US, the Russell 2000 index, outperformed the S&P 500 TR index by 6.70% over the year.According to the Morningstar fund database, when SMID is compared to other active and index fund peers, SMID performed strongly over a 5 year period vs. both small and mid-cap funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The current head of treasury at Julius Baer, Jean-François Alarie, has decided to leave the firm, according to an internal memo which finews has obtained. This is an unexpected departure, which will take effect from July 2014. Alarie had served in the position since February 2011. His successor has not yet been appointed.

Amundi announced on March 31 the acquisition of the fixed income business of KAF Fund Management through Amundi Malaysia, its wholly owned subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur. The Kuala Lumpur based-KAF Fund Management, a subsidiary of the KAF Group, with more than USD1.2 billion in assets under management is an institutional fixed income specialist as well as a retail fund manager. «The purchase of the expertise and investment capabilities in fixed income will significantly strengthen Amundi’s range of product offerings and its positioning as a leading foreign asset manager in Malaysia,» according to a press release. Following the acquisition, Amundi Malaysia will be managing more than USD4.3 billion of assets and become the top foreign asset management firm in the country. “The acquisition of KAF Fund Management’s fixed income business is further evidence of Amundi’s commitment to Malaysia and Southeast Asia. It will enhance the range and the quality of our fixed income offerings to our clients globally,” said Pascal Blanqué, deputy chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Amundi.Following the acquisition, Roslina Abdul Rahman, managing director of Amundi Malaysia, will take on the role of managing director of the enlarged company. Roslina Abdul Rahman reports to Jenny Sofian, chief executive officer of Amundi in Southeast Asia and Australia. Thariq Ahmad, former chief executive officer of KAF Fund Management, will become senior advisor and head of fixed income strategies of Amundi Malaysia.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Brazilian asset management firm Victoire Brasil Investimentos has received approval from the regulator to launch an asset management activity in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. The new entity, Victoire Asia Investments, is directed by Aquico Wen. Wen has recruited two people to provide development at the affiliate. Young Chow has been appointed as a senior analyst, while Josephine Lam takes over as head of operations. Both previously worked with Wen at Legg Mason. Another investment specialist is expected to join the firm soon, but Victoire Asia Investments refused to disclose its identity, the Asian website adds. Victoire Asia Investments is 50% controlled by the team members based in Hong Kong and 50% by Victoire Brasil Investimentos. Victoire Asia Investments targets professional investors with a strategy that aims to invest in undervalued small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) with an exposure to growth in South-East Asia. Unsurprisingly, Victoire Asia Investments will target fast-growing economies in the region, such as China, India, the Asean region and “frontier” markets. So far, the firm invests primarily in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banco Caminos is continuing its shopping spree. One week afer acquiring Bancofar (see Newsmanagers of 26 March), the Spanish bank has signed an agreement to acquire 75.53% of capital in the asset management firm Arcogest, which has EUR40m in assets under management or advised, Funds People reports. As a result of the operation, Banco Caminos gives a new dimension to his asset management and capital markets business, which now has USD800m in assets advised or managed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom is planning to examine pay scales and bonus clawbacks for all regulated companies, including the 2,100 fund management firms supervised by the authority, Financial Times fund management reports. As a result, employees of asset management firms who have behaved reprehensibly are at risk of having to pay back their bonuses years after they earned them. Speialists in the sector think that asset management firms will be subject to the same rules as banks, for which the Bank of England has proposed restitution of bonuses up to six years later in cases of misconduct, shortfalls in risk management or heavy financial losses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alquity is entering the British retail market. The asset management firm, specialised in ethical investment, has launched three new funds in the United Kingdom via different platforms, FTAdviser reports. For three years, the firm has managed a fund dedicated to African equities, largely supported by Asian and South American investors. Alquity will now invest in the United Kingdom with these new products, launched on 2 April and manage by Mike Sell, formerly of F&C Investments, and Roberto Lampl, former head of emerging market equities at Barings. Sell will be responsible for the Indian Subcontinent and Alquity Asia funds, while Lampl will manage the Alquity Latin America fund. The three funds are products which comply with UCITS regulations and are domiciled in Luxembourg, the British website days. They will be available on several distribution platforms, including Skandia, Cofunds, Transact and Axa Elevate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stéphane Vidal has been promoted to CEO of the Primonial group from 31 March 2014, it was reported the same day. Since 2012, Vidal had served as deputy CEO of the French asset management firm, in charge of development. Before joining the group, Vidal took over as CEO of Iselection, an affiliate of the Nexity group, in 2008.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dai-ichi Life is opening new horizons. The Japanese insurer has obtained permission from the local regulator to open an asset management division in Vietnam, entitled Dai-ichi Life Vietnam Fund Management, Asia Asset Management reports. The new structure will aim to provide asset management to the local insurer of the Japanese group, Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company of Vietnam. The newly-founded asset management firm has USD1.6m in seed capital (JPY120m), and a team of 10 people placed under the responsibility of Takashi Fiju, chairman of Dai-Ichi Life Insurance of Vietnam, who oversees the new entity.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carlo Roncalli has left Janus Capital International, where he had been director of sales in the Italian sales team since April 2012, Bluerating has learned. The former employee of JPMorgan Asset Management has decided to take a sabbatical leave.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At the end of June, Schroders will be soft-closing its US equity long/short fund, after a strong acceleration in inflows, Citywire Global reports. The Schroder GAIA Sirios US Equity fund is managed by John Brennan, from the Boston-based boutique Sirios.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock, Henderson Global Investors, Aberdeen Asset Management and Axa Wealth have teamed up with an investment consulting firm, Redington, to help to provide financial education to students at British schools, Financial Times fund management reports. In the United Kingdom, financial education will be introduced as part of the national programme from September, for children from 11 years of age and up. Paul Cribb, director of BlackRock, explains that as part of the agreement, the asset management firm provides offices, food and arranges for employees to be available to help teach subjects such as savings, borrowing, retirement, debt, and the functioning of stocks and bonds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British financial solutions firm River & Mercantile at the end of March announced the appointment of Paul Bradshaw as chairman. From his 40-year career, Bradshaw is largely known as the founder, managing director and chairman of Skandia Life. During his professional career, he has also served as CEO of Abbey Insurance (now Santander) and non-executive director for Sanlam in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The appointment comes at a time when the merger between River & Mercantile and P-Solve had recently been finalised.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HSBC Global Asset Management has recruited five people for its equity product team, Fund Web reports. Nacho Font joins from DIAM International to represent the smart beta range from the asset management firm to internal and external clients. Stephen Tong will be made responsible for global equities. He joins from Vontobel AM. Lastly, Emmanuelle Harboun and Yasmina Slimani have joined the British equity team, and Apiramy Jeyarajah has occupied the newly-created position of senior head of product development to develop the passive product range.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Hargreaves Lansdown has decided to set up an equity research team, according to Investment Week. The new team may offer clients of Hargreaves analyst ratings for equities, as well as the perspective of the firm. For the first time in its history, Hargreaves will publish buy/sell recommendations for British equities. The new team, which will be based in Bristol, will be managed by a new head of equity research, who is in the process of being recruited. The new unit comes as an addition to the “execution-only” brokerage activity at Hargreaves, which has progressed strongly in the past few months, due to a growing number of clients and IPOs for top firms such as Royal Mail and Direct Line. Assets under management or administration at Hargreaves Lansdown totalled GBP43.4bn as of the end of 2013, including GBP40.9bn for the Vintage platform.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Old Mutual Global Innvestors (Old Mutual GI) has recruited Michael Sullivan from Investec Asset Management as fixed income specialist, Fundweb reports. Sullivan will be responsible for product promotion and investment views for fixed income at the asset management firm. The team, led by Steward Cowley and Christine Johnson, manages about GBP2bn in assets. Before joining Old Mutual GI, Sullivan worked for 20 years as a fixed income product specialist and portfolio manager.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hervé Hanoune, head of global aggregate management since July 2008 at Amundi in London, left his position on Friday, 28 March, a spokesperson from the asset management firm has told Newsmanagers, confirming reports in Citywire. Hanoune, who joined Crédit Agricole Asset Management, which later became Amundi, in 1999, and spent most of his career at the French group. Laurent Crosnier, currently chief investment officer at Amundi London, will take over the role previously occupied by Hanoune.

Dans une nouvelle publication intitulée “Improved Risk Reporting with Factor-Based Diversification Measures”, Edhec-Risk Institute encourage les investisseurs institutionnels à mieux apprécier le degré de diversification de leurs portefeuilles. Cette recherche a été menée avec le soutien de Caceis dans le cadre de la chaire d’Edhec-Risk Institute intitulée “New Frontiers in Risk Assessment and Performance Reporting.” Cette étude a été menée sur les 1.000 fonds de pension américains les plus importants, au 30 septembre 2002, 30 septembre 2007 et 30 septembre 2012. Avant la crise financière, les portefeuilles des fonds de pension souffraient d’une diversification insuffisante, avec une concentration sur un nombre réduit de catégories et classes d’actifs. Depuis la crise de 2007, on peut observer une réelle tendance de diversification des investissements, mais cela ne signifie pas pour autant que cette diversification soit efficace. Cette recherche présente de nouveaux indicateurs de diversification basés sur le concept d’allocation de facteurs de risques plutôt que sur celui d’allocation d’actifs. Les auteurs souhaitent déterminer le rapport entre l’apparence de diversification (le nombre effectif de classes ou de constituants, ou « effective number of constituents » (ENC)) et la réalité de la diversification (le nombre effectif de paris ou « effective number of bets » (ENB)), qui mesure le nombre réel de paris risqués indépendants pris par les investisseurs. L’ENB permet une analyse plus fine de l’évaluation du rapport risques/performance. Investir dans de nombreuses classes ou catégories d’actifs sans tenir compte de la corrélation des risques peut en effet se révéler contre-productif, dans un premier temps au niveau de la diversification et dans un second temps sur le plan de la performance.

Sequoia Asset Management renforce ses effectifs avec l’arrivée de Bernard Couvreur en tant que chief risk officer, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. A cette fonction, il devra principalement s’assurer que la gestion des fonds Sequoia respecte à la fois les obligations formulées auprès des investisseurs et les procédures internes approuvées par la Finma. Ce recrutement fait suite à l’obtention, en début d’année, de l’agrément LPPC autorisant Sequoia Asset Management à exercer sur le territoire helvétique en qualité de gestionnaire de placements collectifs. Pour obtenir cet agrément, Sequoia Asset Management a renforcé sa structure et ses effectifs dans les domaines de l’informatique, du juridique, de la compliance et bien évidemment du risque.

Rainer-Marc Frey a décidé de ne pas se porter candidat à une réélection au sein du conseil d’administration d’UBS lors de l’assemblée générale de cette année en raison de l’engagement supplémentaire plus marqué qui l’absorbe sur le plan professionnel, selon un communiqué publié le 1er avril. Rainer-Marc Frey a été élu au conseil d’administration d’UBS en octobre 2008. Il a été membre du comité de risque et du comité des ressources humaines et de rémunération. Par ailleurs, le conseil d’administration demandera aux actionnaires lors de l’assemblée générale d’approuver les statuts adaptés à la nouvelle ordonnance entrée en vigueur début janvier contre les rémunérations abusives dans les sociétés anonymes cotées en bourse. L’ordonnance d’application de l’initiative Minder édictée par le conseil fédéral est entrée en vigueur le 1er janvier 2014; cependant, certaines dispositions transitoires s’appliquent encore. UBS propose aux actionnaires de se prononcer sur les rémunérations fixes du directoire du groupe pour l’année suivante et sur la rémunération du conseil d’administration pour la période allant jusqu'à l’assemblée générale suivante. En revanche, s’agissant de la rémunération variable du directoire du groupe, les actionnaires voteront sur la base des résultats de l’exercice précédent. Axel Weber, président du conseil d’administration d’UBS, déclare: «Avec notre procédure nous voulons permettre que les actionnaires puissent prendre leurs décisions sur la base d’informations fiables et des résultats effectivement obtenus.»Conformément à l’ordonnance contre les rémunérations abusives dans les sociétés anonymes cotées en bourse, chaque membre du comité des ressources humaines et de rémunération est désormais élu chaque année par l’assemblée générale. Les votes obligatoires sur les rémunérations du conseil d’administration et du directoire du groupe auront lieu pour la première fois lors de l’assemblée générale de 2015.