Les mutual funds de long terme commercialisés aux Etats-Unis ont enregistré en février une collecte de 45,5 milliards de dollars, contre 40,9 milliards de dollars en janvier, selon des statistiques communiquées par Morningstar. A plus de 13,5 milliards de dollars, la collecte des fonds obligataires a notamment enregistré son plus haut niveau depuis près d’un an. Les actions américaines et les actions internationales ont engrangé respectivement 9 milliards de dollars et 10,9 milliards de dollars.Morningstar souligne que la collecte de 3 milliards de dollars des fonds sectoriels, rapportée aux actifs, représente un taux de croissance annualisé de 12%, beaucoup plus élevé que la progression des fonds d’actions américaines. Au cours de l’année écoulée, les ETF sectoriels notamment ont enregistré une collecte de près de 42 milliards de dollars, à comparer à une collecte de 23 milliards de dollars pour les mutual funds sectoriels. Les actifs totaux des ETF sectoriels représentent 257 milliards de dollars contre 377 milliards de dollars pour les mutual funds sectoriels.Fidelity, qui a repéré cet intérêt pour les stratégies sectorielles, a lancé l’an dernier une série de fonds sectoriels, sous-conseillés par BlackRock. Les actifs des 10 fonds sectoriels de Fidelity pèsent désormais 467 milliards de dollars.Morningstar relève par ailleurs que malgré la stabilisation de la décollecte des fonds obligataires depuis le début de l’année, Pimco a continué de subir des rachats. Parmi les dix plus gros acteurs en termes d’actifs sous gestion, Pimco est d’ailleurs le seul à terminer le mois de février dans le rouge. Le Pimco Total Return Fund enregistre ainsi en février une décollecte de 1,6 milliard de dollars et le Pimco Unconstrained Bond termine le mois sur des rachats pour un montant d’un plus de 700 millions de dollars. Sur un an, le Total Return affiche une décollecte de 47,75 milliards de dollars alors que Unconstrained Bond marque une collecte de 3,6 milliards de dollars.

La société de gestion quantitative Finaltis vient de lancer le FCP Finaltis EfficientBeta™ Euro. Dédié aux investisseurs institutionnels, il est investi dans des actionsde la zone euro et suit une méthodologie de type « Smart Beta ». «La stratégie Finaltis EfficientBeta™ est une méthode d’allocation qui combine la construction d’un portefeuille de variance minimale avec une méthode originale bayésienne d’estimation des volatilités et corrélations, indique un communiqué.Le fonds qui vise à surperformer l’indice Euro Stoxx® Net Return, tout en conservant une corrélation élevée, a été lancé fin décembre 2013 et pleinement investi courant janvier 2014. Offrant un mois complet de gestion, il présente une performance de 6,06% en février, et bat sa référence de 1,07 point de pourcentage.Caractéristiques : Conforme aux normes UCITS IV Souscription minimale : 250.000 euros

Les fonds coordonnés ont enregistré en janvier une collecte nette de 71 milliards d’euros, contre seulement 14 milliards d’euros en décembre, grâce à la hausse des souscriptions dans les fonds de long terme et au regain d’intérêt pour les fonds monétaires, selon les dernières statistiques communiquées par l’association européenne des gestionnaires d’actifs (Efama).Les fonds coordonnés de long terme, c’est-à-dire hors fonds monétaires, ont attiré 42 milliards d’euros en janvier contre 27 milliards d’euros en décembre. Les fonds obligataires ont notamment engrangé 13 milliards d’euros alors qu’ils avaient terminé à l'équilibre en décembre.Les fonds actions ont un peu moins collecté, pour un montant de 11 milliards d’euros contre 15 milliards d’euros en décembre, mais les fonds diversifiés ont enregistré une collecte en progression de 3 milliards d’euros d’un mois sur l’autre à 16 milliards d’euros.Les fonds monétaires ont enregistré une collecte de 29 milliards d’euros, un niveau jamais vu depuis août 2011, alors qu’ils avaient terminé le mois de décembre sur une décollecte de 13 milliards d’euros.La collecte des fonds non coordonnés s’est inscrite à 13 milliards d’euros en janvier contre 15 milliards d’euros le mois précédent, en raison notamment de moindres flux dans les fonds réservés aux investisseurs institutionnels, pour un montant net de 9 milliards d’euros contre 15 milliards d’euros en décembre.Les actifs des fonds coordonnés et non coordonnés ont tous deux enregistré en janvier des augmentations de 0,6% à respectivement 6.974 milliards d’euros et 2.823 milliards d’euros.

Après le lancement de sa nouvelle marque, la société de gestion Candriam (ex- Dexia AM) annonce qu’elle va renommer l’intégralité de ses fonds. Ce processus, qui devrait se terminer d’ici l’été 2014, concerne dans un premier temps la gamme de fonds alternatifs. Dexia Index Arbitrage devient Candriam Index Arbitrage, Dexia Long Short Credit devient Candriam Long Short Credit et Dexia Diversified Futures est renommé Candriam Diversified Futures. Les FCP domiciliés en France s’appelleront dorénavant Candriam, ainsi que les fonds de droit belge basés sur des stratégies traditionnelles. Les Sicav de droit français, quant à elles, seront renommées fin avril 2014. Les fonds de droit luxembourgeois verront leur nom changer dans une troisième phase au cours de l’année 2014, précise un communiqué.

Après les îles Caïman, l’Irlande. Schroders a annoncé le 13 mars que cinq fonds de la gamme irlandaise de Cazenove ont été intégrés dans de nouveaux fonds de la plateforme luxembourgeoise de Schroders, International Selection Fund (ISF). Fin février, Schroders avait intégré des fonds de Cazenove domiciliés dans les îles Caïman.Les cinq stratégies concernées sont The Cazenove Pan Europe Fund intégré dans Schroder ISF European Opportunities, The Cazenove Mutli-Asset Fund intégré dans Schroder ISF Multi-Manager Global Diversity, The Cazenove UK Equity Fund qui intègre Schroder ISF UK Opportunities, The Cazenove European Equity (ex UK) Fund qui passe dans Schroder ISF European Equity (ex UK) et The Cazenove Strategic Debt Fund qui est absorbé dans Schroder ISF Strategic Credit.

Axa IM vient de nommer Tim Gardener global head de la nouvelle entité «client group» de la société de gestion dédiés aux investisseurs institutionnels (Institutional Client Group). De fait, il quitte sa fonction de global head of consultant relations que Lisa O’ Connor, jusque là cantonnée à l’Europe, reprend. Tim Gardener aura pour mission de conduire le développement de l’offre produits et de l’approche clients institutionnels, ces derniers regroupant les compagnies d’assurance, les fonds de pension et les fonds souverains. Dans ce cadre, Elodie Laugel , qui était directeur du développement Solutions en Multi Asset Solutions clients de l'équipe d’Axa IM , a été nommée deputy head du Client Group pour la partie dédiée aux clients institutionnels. Pour sa part, l'équipe dirigée par Lisa O’Connor fait partie intégrante du Institutional Client Group, représentant l’importance des consultants à la fois dans leur rôle de conseils et d’acteurs majeurs dans la gestion fiduciaire via les clients institutionnels .Le département Client Group rassemble désormais toutes les équipes commerciales dédiées à la clientèle hors Axa. Cette nouvelle force de quelque 250 spécialistes est dirigée par Laurent Seyer, anciennement global head of distribution d’Axa IM. Sa mission consistera à développer l’offre d’Axa IM selon une approche plus segmentée (institutionnels, particuliers et distributeurs), tout en assurant la coordination et le suivi des activités marketing et des relations clients, indique la société de gestion. A noter enfin que Bettina Ducat, qui était responsable de la distribution en France, Europe du Sud et Moyen-Orient, a été nommée à la tête du segment particuliers et distributeurs. La responsable aura également la charge du développement Marketing d’Axa IM et rapportera à Laurent Seyer.

Majedie Asset Management va fermer aux nouveaux souscripteurs son fonds UK Income de 500 millions de livres, lorsque les actifs atteindront 1,5 milliard de livres, rapporte Fund Web. Le fonds, géré par Chris Reid et Yuri Khodjamirian, a dégagé 76 % depuis son lancement en décembre 2011.

En 2013, F&C Asset Management, qui fait l’objet d’une offre de rachat par le canadien BMO, a accusé des rachats nets de 19 milliards de livres.Cette décollecte est le résultat principalement de rachats à hauteur de 20,3 milliards de livres par des « partenaires stratégiques ». Ces partenaires représentent encore 51,5 % des encours de F&C à fin 2013, lesquels sont ressortis à 82,1 milliards de livres, en repli par rapport aux 95,2 milliards de la fin 2012.L’activité « Consumer & Institutional » n’a pas permis de compenser ces retraits, bien que la collecte ait été positive de 1,3 milliard de livres, après des sorties nettes de 1,9 milliard de livres en 2012.« Le groupe doit affronter de forts vents contraires sur le court terme étant donné que les encours de nos partenaires stratégiques déclinent et que la croissance de notre activité Consumer & Institutional, qui commence à émerger, met du temps à se développer », a déclaré le directeur général de la société de gestion britannique, Richard Wilson.Malgré tout, F&C a dégagé un bénéfice d’exploitation sous-jacent en hausse à 89 millions de livres, contre 71,1 millions de livres précédemment.

Legal & General Investments a nommé Martin Holland en tant que responsable des ventes discrétionnaires, un poste nouvellement créé, rapporte Money Marketing. L’intéressé a précédemment passé 11 ans chez UBS, où il était directeur des ventes pour l’activité discrétionnaire et les fonds de fonds dans les Midlands et le Sud de l’Angleterre.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sweden will be closing two of its five pension funds (AP funds), in order to reduce asset management costs and leave more money for pensioners, the Financial Times reports. Meanwhile, a single board will be created to oversee the three remaining funds, which will be granted more freedom in their investments. Currently, the funds, which have assets of about USD156bn, can not invest more than 5% of their cash in private assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jonathan Fell and James Isenwater, two former analysis from Deutsche Bank specialised in consumption, have founded Ash Park Capital. Domiciled in Luxembourg, Financial News reports. They will launch a fund, Ash Park Global Consumer Staples Fund, which will invest in 20 companies of the quality consumer sector.

UCITS recorded a significant jump in net inflows in January to EUR 71 billion, up from EUR 14 billion recorded in December, reflecting increased net sales of long-term UCITS and a considerable surge in net inflows to money market funds, according to The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).Net sales of long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) increased to EUR 42 billion, up from EUR 27 billion in December. Net sales of bond funds rose to EUR 13 billion after breaking-even in December. On the other hand, equity funds registered reduced net inflows of EUR 11 billion down from EUR 15 billion in December. Balanced funds recorded a fifth month of increasing net sales of EUR 16 billion, up from EUR 13 billion in December.Money market funds registered net inflows of EUR 29 billion in January, being the highest level of net inflows since August 2011. This high level of net inflows follows net outflows in December of EUR 13 billion.Total non-UCITS recorded net sales of EUR 13 billion, down from EUR 15 billion witnessed in December. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) recorded reduced net inflows amounting to EUR 9 billion, compared to EUR 15 billion in December.Total assets of UCITS stood at EUR 6,974 billion at end January 2014, representing a 0.6 percent increase during the month. Total assets of non-UCITS also enjoyed an increase of 0.6 percent in January to stand at EUR 2,823 billion at month end.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The bond specialist Pimco is offering two new strategies which offer investors a means to protect themselves against the risk of interest rates, Citywire reports. The Pimco GIS Low Duration Global Investment Grade Credit fund, which will invest primarily in corporate bonds with short maturities, will be managed by Mark Kiesel, who was appointed as deputy CIO at the end of February. The other strategy, the Pimco GIS Low Duration Real Return fund, which will invest primarily in inflation-linked bonds, will be managed by Wihir Worah, who was also appointed as deputy CIO at the end of January.

Long-term mutual funds in the United States attracted USD45.5 billion in February, topping January inflows of USD40.9 billion, according to Morningstar. With more than USD13.5bn, bond funds recorded their highest level of inflows in almost a year. US equities and global equities collected USD9bn and USD10.9bn respectively. Relative to assets, the USD3.5 billion inflow to sector funds represents a 12% organic growth rate, much stronger than the 2% growth rate for U.S.-equity funds, according to Morningstar. Over the past year, sector ETFs collected USD41.5 billion, compared with USD23.2 billion for sector mutual funds. Total assets in sector ETFs have hit USD257 billion compared with USD377 billion in mutual funds.Recognizing this trend and leveraging its reputation for sector funds, Fidelity launched last year a series of sector ETFs, which are subadvised by BlackRock. Fidelity’s 10 sector funds have hit USD467 million in assets.Despite the stabilization of bond fund outflows so far in 2014, Pimco continued to see outflows, even among its nontraditional bond and high-yield bond offerings, observes Morningstar. Pimco was the only provider among the top 10 firms by assets under management that had outflows in February.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } M&G Investments has been granted a Type 1 licence by the Hong Kong regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), which allows it to extend its field of marketing activity to professional investors in Hong Kong, Asia Asset Management reports. As a part of the licence, M&G has also created a legal entity in Hong Kong, M&G Investments (Hong-Kong) Limited. Via its offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, the British asset management firm has USD3.72bn in assets under management for clients in Asia, according to data as of the end of September 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British independent asset management firm Alken Asset management has decided to close its funds Alken Absolute Return Europe, a long/short fund managed by Nicolas Walewski, to all new subscriptions, the Spanish website Funds People reports. The vehicle is a victim of its own success. In the space of one year, its assets have increased from EUR260m at the end of 2012 to EUR2.1bn currently. From 19 March, only investors who are currently invested in the fund will be able to make further investments up to a total of EUR500.000 per day.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } German investment funds finished the first month of the year with net inflows of EUR7.7bn, according to statistics released by the German asset management association (BVI). Funds reserved for institutionals in particular attracted EUR4.7bn, while open-ended funds, for their part, have posted net inflows of EUR3.1bn. Inflows to dedicated funds come 40% from insurers and one third (EUR1.3bn) from retirement institutions. For open-ended funds, diversified funds have attracted EUR2.2bn, the highest level since April 2010. Bond funds posted inflows of EUR1.1bn, and real estate funds EUR0.4bn. However, equity funds have seen outflows of EUR1.2bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } New Capital has unveiled its first Swiss equity fund, which will be managed by its new recruit Urs Beck, Citywire reports. The group, which is an affiliate of EFG Asset Management, launched the fund on 13 March. The New Capital Swiss Select Equity fund is a long-only fund which will hold 35 to 45 poitions and will have an active share of 60-80%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stress tests are in style. Research teams at the Managed Account platform at Lyxor, perhaps inspired by the stress tests that are being imposed on European banks, have published the first edition of the Alternative Insight reports, which presents the results of a series of stress tests carried out on hedge fund portfolios according to seven market scenarios for 2014, implying risks of both rising and falling markets. In particular, the research concentrated on severe risks of loss such as a more rapid tapering in the United States, a deflationary scenario in Europe, a severe slowdown in China, and a general collapse of emerging markets. These stress tests prove a great resiliance of hedge funds in difficult market conditions. In the worst case (sudden rise in US interest rates and a 10% decline in US equities), hedge funds would lose only 2.5%. The study also finds that it is unlikely that the performance of hedge funds would be affected yb the current tubulence observed in the emerging universe, related either to geopolitical factors or to tapering by the Fed. The regional exposure to central and eastern Europe is very limited. At a time when long/short credit funds are exposed to emerging markets, most of this exposure is in Asia ex Japan and Latin America.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German asset management firm Gauly Dittrich van de Weyer Asset Management and the alternative investment solution provider Tages Cpaital on 13 March announced that they have signed an strategic partnership by which the German company agrees to distribute investment products and solutions from Tages to professional investor clients in Germany and Austria. A statement says that the two partners will also co-operate on an exclusive basis to launch a multi-asset class product outside Germany and Austria. Tages Capital, an Italian firm founded in 2011, is specialised in custom alternative investment solutions for institutional clients. In the first two years of activity, Tages Capital attracted more than USD3bn in assets managed and advised, and has already signed strategic distribution agreements in Italy and very recently in France, via a partnership with La Française. Gauly Dittrich van de Weyer Asset Management was founded in 2012 in Frankfurt by two Lazard veterans who had EUR10bn in assets under management, including multi-asset class strategies and diversifeid funds. The firm is specialised in asset allocation and investment solutions aimed both at institutional and private investors, and offers multi-asset class strategies and products.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In many countries, dividends offer a higher return than 10-year government bonds. In this area, European businesses in particular are more generous than their US counterparts, and for more than 2 years, investors exposed to European equities have been benefiting from dividends returns well higher than those from bond investments. A study recently publshed by Allianz Global Investors finds that in the past 40 eyars, dividends accounted for 40% of total returns from European equities. At a time when profits have risen sharply after the 2008-2009 crisis, the distribution rate for businesses has fallen considerably, In Europe the dividend/profit ratio per share now stands at about 55%, which is a lower level than historically. Denis Nacken, author of the study, says this is a sign that “there is room for dividends to rise.” The study also finds that didends payments have been very closely watched by market actors. Every downward revision of dividends also becomes a subject of concern. As shown by conclusive data for the United States since 1900, dividend payments have been less volatile than corproate profits in real terms.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pictet Wealth Management has recently recruited Giuseppe Di Sisto, who had previously worked at UniCredit, Bluerating reports. He had been deputy CEO and co-CEO of UniCredit Private Banking.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management for third parties at the Generali group rose 3.8% last year to a total of EUR104.34bn as of the end of December 2013, the insurance group announced on the occasion of the publication of its annual results. Total assets under management were up 5.4% last year to EUR508bn. Operating results are up 18.4% to EUR483m. The operating ratio improved to 66.3% from 69% previously.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays has welcomed five new private bankers in Northern Italy, Bluerating reports. The bank has recruited Luca Domenico Dassisti and Andrea Sgambati in Milan, who join from Banca Pop. Di Vicenza, and Donatella Brunelli, Davide Vincenzo Politano and Marco Zelotti, from Mps Private Banking, in Milan.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Emerging market bonds and high yield bonds may earn positive return in most scenarios envisaged for 2014, according to a study by Standish Mellon Asset Management, the bond specialist from BNY Mellon. The attraction of certain emerging market bonds improved after some currencies fell below their fair value in some countries, Standish reports. The study also finds that some European government debt in peripheral countries may deliver investment opportunities in 2013 at economic fundamentals and structural reforms improve.

In 2013, F&C Asset Management, which is subject to a buyout offer from the Canadian firm BMO, recorded net outflows of GBP19bn.These outflows are primarily the result of redemptions totalling GBP20.3bn from “strategic partners.” These partners still represent 51.5% of assets at F&C as of the end of 2013, which totalled GBP82.1bn, down compared with GBP95.2bn as of the end of 2012.The Consumer & Institutional activity did not compensate for these redemptions, with positive inflows of GBP1.3bn, after net outflows of GBP1.9bn in 2012.“The group faces significant headwinds in the short term as our strategic partner assets decline and the growth from our consumer and institutional business, which is starting to emerge, takes time to develop,” the CEO of the British asset management firm, Richard Wilson, has announced.Despite all this, F&C earned underlying operating profits up to GBP89m, compared with GBP71.1m previously.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Colin Fitzgerald is leaving his position as head of institutional activities at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, only five moths after beginning in the role, succeeding Chris McNickle, Financial News reports. Fitzgerland was previously head of marketing at Pyramis Global Advisors, Fidelity’s sister company.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legal & General Investments has appointed Martin Holland as head of discretionary sales, a newly-created position, Money Marketing reports. Holland previously spent 11 years at UBS, where he was director of sales for discretionary and fund of fund activities in the Midlands and the South of England.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German asset management firm Gauly

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Majedie Asset Management will be closing its UK Income fund to new subscribers with GBP500m, at a time when assets total GBP1.5bn, Fund Web reports. The fund, which is managed by Chris Reid and Yuri Khodjamirian, has earned 76% since its launch in December 2011.