L’assemblée au cours de laquelle le nouveau président d’Assogestioni, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion, sera désigné aura lieu le 26 mars, rapporte Bluerating. Il succèdera à Domenico Siniscalco, qui a démissionné en novembre. Depuis, ses fonctions ont été attribuées momentanément au vice-président Giordano Lombardo, président de Pioneer Investments Management.

Santander Private Banking a recruté quatre personnes, rapporte Bluerating. A Brescia, Ivan Rodari et Mauro Vai ont rejoint l’équipe, en provenance de Banca Aletti, tandis qu’à Milan, Annamaria Zotti et Lorenzo Cappello arrivent en provenance d’Unipol Banca.

Cheyne Capital Management, une société londonienne de gestion alternative affichant plus de 6,5 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous gestion, vient de lancer un nouveau fonds dédié à la dette immobilière. Baptisé Cheyne Real Estate Credit Holdings Fund III (CRECH III), ce véhicule entend «capitaliser sur la dislocation continue des marchés européens de la dette immobilière et satisfaire la demande croissante pour le financement immobilier», indique la compagnie dans un communiqué.Comme les deux premiers fonds de même nature, CRECH III investira sur les marchés immobiliers européens dits «cœur», à savoir le Royaume-Uni et l’Allemagne à travers une large palette d’instruments (CMBS, senior loans, mezzanine loans, actions et situations spéciales). L’équipe dédiée à l’immobilier de Cheyne Capital Management gère actuellement plus de 2 milliards de dollars à travers des fonds publics et privés.

Eri Scientific Beta (une émanation de l’Edhec-Risk Institute) a a annoncé le 18 février la signature d’un partenariat avec Morgan Stanley visant à offrir des solutions innovantes de stratégies Smart Beta à sa clientèle institutionnelle.Ce partenariat permettra à Morgan Stanley d’analyser en profondeur les performances et les risque de l’ensemble des indices Scientific Beta et offre également la possibilité de développer des indices en utilisant toute l’offre de Scientific Bera sur la plateforme http://www.scientificbeta.com/.ERI Scientific Beta espère ainsi se positionner comme le premier fournisseur d’une plateforme smart beta pour aider les investisseurs à comprendre et investir dans les stratégies actions avancées de smart beta.

Le groupe Amundi et le fournisseur d’indices smart beta ERI Scientific Beta ont annoncé le 18 février la signature d’un partenariat stratégique qui conjuguera l’expertise de ERI Scientific Beta dans le développement d’indices smart beta et le savoir-faire d’Amundi dans la réplication d’indices et la construction d’ETF.Le partenariat comprendra notamment la construction de solutions d’investissement passives smart beta et leur promotion auprès d’une très large clientèle institutionnelle.L’offre est développée à partir de l’approche «Smart Beta 2.0", qui permet de concevoir les indices smart beta comme des instruments de contrôle du risque au sein d’une allocation multi-smart beta. Amundi et ERI Scientific Beta vont organiser de concert une série de séminaires en Europe entre avril et mai 2014 afin de présenter les avantages du concept de multi-smart beta et sa mise en œuvre en utilisant les capacités d’Amundi sur les ETF et l’indexation.

L’avenir de l’industrie des hedge funds s’annonce sous de bons auspices. D’après la douzième enquête annuelle publiée par Deutsche Bank portant sur l’investissement alternatif (Alternative Investment Survey), l’encours des hedge funds devraient atteindre le niveau record des 3.000 milliards de dollars d’ici la fin de l’année 2014, contre 2.600 milliards fin 2013, grâce des flux nets entrants significatifs, notamment de la part des investisseurs institutionnels.Selon 400 investisseurs interrogés en provenance de 29 pays, qui représentent 1.800 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous gestion, l’industrie pourrait enregistrer 171 milliards de dollars de souscriptions nettes cette année. Mieux, l’appétit des investisseurs institutionnels pour les hedge funds ne se dément pas. Ainsi, alors que prés de la moitié des investisseurs institutionnels ont augmenté en 2013 leur allocation dans ces fonds, 57 % d’entre eux prévoient de nouveau d’accroître leur investissement dans les hedge funds en 2014. «Désormais, les investisseurs institutionnels représentent les deux tiers des encours de l’industrie, contre environ un tiers avec la crise», observe l’étude. Il faut dire que les investisseurs se montrent particulièrement confiants sur les performances de ces fonds alternatifs. 80 % estiment ainsi que les hedge funds ont bien dégagé des performances meilleures qu’attendu en 2013, après un rendement moyen de 9,3 %. Pour l’année en cours, 63 % des personnes interrogées et 79 % des investisseurs institutionnels tablent sur un rendement d’au moins de 10 % pour leur portefeuille de hedge funds. Les stratégies «equity long short» et «event driven» sont aujourd’hui les plus recherchées par les investisseurs.

Marshall Wace est entré dans le top cinq des sociétés européennes de hedge funds ayant fait gagner le plus d’argent à leurs investisseurs depuis leur lancement, montre une nouvelle étude de LCH Investments citée par Financial News. Le premier du classement est Alan Howard, le fondateur de Brevan Howard Asset Management. Son fonds vedette a dégagé un gain net de 17,5 milliards de dollars depuis son lancement en 2003. Le deuxième est Lansdowne Partners, suivi par Egerton Capital et TCI.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) étoffe sa gamme de fonds obligataires court terme et enrichit sa gamme d’ETF SPDR. La société de gestion américaine vient en effet de lancer un nouvel ETF (exchange-traded fund) obligataire à maturité courte, baptisé SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year Sterling Corporate Bond Ucits ETF. Ce véhicule, coté le 18 février sur la plateforme Xetra de Deutsche Börse, permet aux investisseurs de participer à la performance des obligations corporate libellées en livres sterling. L’indice sous-jacent de cet ETF, le Barclays 0-5 Year Sterling Corporate Bond Index, comprend des entreprises évoluant dans les secteurs de l’industrie, des utilities et de la finance, avec une maturité allant jusqu’à 5 ans. Seules les obligations «investment grade» sont incluses et la composition de l’indice est revue tous les mois.Désormais, 55 SPDR ETF sont disponibles en Europe. La gamme SPDR gère aujourd’hui plus de 400 milliards de dollars d’actifs - y compris les 31 milliards de dollars d’actifs du fonds SPDR Gold Trust - dans plus de 195 ETF dans le monde.

BNY Mellon a recruté Imad Abukhlal en tant que nouveau responsable Moyen-Orient et Afrique pour son pôle gestion d’actifs, rapporte Citywire Global. Il vient de Western Asset Management. Basé à Dubaï, Imad Abukhlal travaillera sous la direction de PeterPaul Pardi, CEO de la gestion d’actifs pour l’Europe et le Moyen-Orient et responsable mondial de la distribution de BNY Mellon Investment Management.

Pioneer Investments is launching two non-directional funds with daily liquidity. They are the Pioneer Funds – Long / Short Global Bond, which invests in all bond markets, and the Pioneer Funds – Long/Short Opportunistic Credit, which invests in the credit markets. The two Luxembourg-registered funds are managed by Thomas Swaney, head of non-directional bonds in the United States, and Benjamin Gord, portfolio manager in the same team. The products come as additions to existing Absolute Return Bond products, co-managed by Tanguy Le Saout and Cosimo Marascioulo. The “Absolute Return Bond” strategy, which has been available since 2010 internationally, is now available in the United States.

Marshall Wace has become one of the top five European hedge funds by the amount of money they have made since launch, a new study by LCH Investments cited by Financial News shows. The top of the rankings is Alan Howard, the founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management. Its flagship fund has made a net gain of USD17.5bn since its launch in 2003. The second is Lansdowne Partners, followed by Egerton Capital and TCI.

BNY Mellon has recruited Imad Abukhlal as its new head for the Middle East and Africa for its asset management unit, Cityire global reports. He joins from Western Asset Management. Abukhlal will be based in Dubai, and will report to PeterPaul Pardi, CEO for asset management in Europe and the Middle East and global head of distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management.

The months are lining up for Spanish asset management firms. According to data released by Inverco, the Spanish association of asset management funds, spanish funds posted a net inflows of EUR3.66bn in January 2014. In the past 13 months, net subscriptions total EUR26.72bn. Driven by this positive dynamic, assets under management increased 2.6% compared with December 2013, or EUR4bn, to EUR157.89bn as of the end of January 2014. Since December 2012, assets have risen 29%, or an increase of EUR35.57bn. Meanwhile, Sicavs have risen more modestly, by 0.9% of assets, to a total of EUR27.57bn. Overall, taking into account real estate funds and firms and collective investments in foreign firms, global assets on the Spanish market total EUR255bn, up 1.7%.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is adding to its range of SPDR ETFs. The US asset management firm has launched a new short maturity bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) entitled SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year Sterling Corporate Bond Ucits ETF. The vehicle, which is available for trading on the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse, allows investors to participate in the performance of corporate bonds denominated in pounds sterling. The underling index of the ETF includes businesses which operate in the industrial, utility and financial sectors, with a maturity of up to 5 years. Only investment grade bonds are included, and the composition of the index is reviewed every month.

La grande majorité (90%) des dirigeants du secteur bancaire sont confiants quant à la croissance de leur chiffre d’affaires au cours des trois prochaines années, selon la 17ème édition de l'étude annuelle de PwC auprès des dirigeants, qui intègre les contributions de 133 chefs d’entreprise du secteur dans 50 pays.Le nombre de ceux qui prévoient une amélioration de l'économie mondiale au cours des douze prochains mois a presque triplé par rapport à l’an dernier (56% actuellement contre 19% l’année dernière). Le fait que 52% d’entre eux envisagent d’accroître leurs effectifs au cours de l’année –d’au moins 5% pour la plupart- illustre cette dynamique.L’excès de réglementation, une croissance faible ou négative sur les marchés développés et la réponse des pouvoirs publics aux déficits budgétaires et à la dette représentent les plus grands défis pour les perspectives des dirigeants. Les dirigeants considèrent l’accroissement de leurs parts de marché dans les marchés existants (41%) comme leur principale opportunité de croissance, devant l’innovation de produits et services (35%).

The stress that traders are under in periods of high volatility on the markets reduces their appetite for risk, a study by the neuroscience department at Cambridge university and former trader John Coates show. That could have an effect in prolonging crises. The study has found an increase of 68% in levels of the stress hormone cortisol in a group of City traders in London over eight days during which volatility increased.

The research and data provider S&P Capital IQ on 18 February announced the introduction of several improvements in the area of analysis and surveillance of credit exposure. These improvements include the introduction of new models of credit risk analysis, with short-term, mid-term and long-term data updated daily. “There is a real need for comparable data for most corporate entities worldwide which do not have publicly available data on credit. Many teams dedicated to credit also have resources to analyse and regularly update their exposures,” says David Pagliaro, managing director of S&P Capital IQ, cited in a statement.

UBS is requiring independent asset managers to provide proof of taxation for their clients residing in Austria, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, countries of Eastern Europe, and Malta, Agefi Switzerland reports. The initiative, which exceeds (or precedes) the regulatory requirements in force, may become a new standard for all Swiss financial intermediaries, and put all actors on an even footing.

A new study of the consequences of a prohibition on commissions and kickbacks received by financial advisers who sell investment products in the major international financial markets highlights the need for greater transparency for investors. The study, “Restricting Sales Inducements: Perspectives on the Availability and Quality of Financial Advice for Individual Investors,” covers efforts by international regulators and legislators to improve the quality of financial advising for investors. It also deals with the solutions proposed or implemented by regulators to palliate the problem of abusive sales and to explore future scenarios of business models for the industry. It finds that in the opinion of 70% of those surveyed, the poorly adapted character of distributor remuneration structures biased in favour of sales volumes or specific products, represent the main case of abusive sales. The three most popular solutions to combat abusive sales which do not involve a prohibition on commissions and kickbacks are the following: 1. Introduce precise standards for the presentation of fees to investors 2. Revise commission structures to remove those which are related to volume sales (progressive commissions) 3. Set uniform commission rates (a percentage of management fees) for all products in a single category

The Investment Management Association (IMA) on February 18 published its report: “The Use of Dealing Commission for the Purchase of Investment Research” which reviews the benefits and challenges of the current model and looks beyond the UK rules to consider the impact of change.The report identifies a number of advantages and challenges inherent in the current model and proposes recommendations for IMA members to further improve current practice in governance and budget-setting.The report identifies a number of potential impediments to the creation of a pure cash market for research including unintended negative impacts on SME research and a raising of barriers to entry for start-up investment managers, which could damage innovation and competition that benefits clients.In particular, the global nature of the market could mean that change led to damage to UK firms and UK competitiveness. Consequently, the IMA stresses that any change of this nature would need to be undertaken on an international basis and the IMA would support the FCA in any work that sought to establish IOSCO as the natural home of the debate.The IMA confirms that it is willing to work with the FCA to assess alternative business models, including a pure cash model, with an open mind. The IMA has proposed “The eight measures of a good regime for research payments” (four of which are client-facing and four market-facing) against which the benefits of the existing model, and any alternatives, can be assessed and compared.

The administration services provider TMF Group has acquired the 49% of capital in Custom House Global Fund Services, a financial services provider for the alternative management sector, according to a statement released by TMF Group. TMF Group will be able to develop activities in the alternative management sector, including the private equity and real estate sectors. Assets under administration at TMF Group will now total nearly USD40bn.

For Islamic finance, new prospects are opening now in North Africa, where regulatory changes are creating a favourable environment for growth in the sector, Standard & Poor’s states in a study published on 18 February entitled “Islamic Finance Could Make Inroads Into North Africa.” However, the growth of this asset class remains limited in this region, where it has yet to prove its added economic value. The competitiveness of Islamic banking products, compared with their conventional counterparts, will be one of the major determining elements in the success of these products in North Africa. After the Arab Spring, the importance of running deficits and a drop in conventional sources of financing, due to more difficult access to finance markets, have led the governments of countries concerned to examine the possibilities offered by Islamic finance. Standard & Poor’s is following these developments in the countries of North Africa, where it rates banks: Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. These countries have recently takes mesaures to support the growth of Islamic finance. Tunisia and Egypt have set up new regulatory frameworks to issue Sukuk in 2013. Tunisia will issue one Sukuk, aims to attract a new category of investors. In January 2014, the Moroccan Council of Ministers passed a legal framework for Islamic banking operations, forming the foundations for the development of Islamic finance activities.

The hedge fund industry is to reach a record USD3 trillion by 2014 year end, up from USD2.6tn as of 2013 year end, driven by significant inflows, most notably from institutional investors, predicts Deutsche Bank in its twelfth annual Alternative Investor Survey.This is based on investors’ predictions of USD171 billion net inflows, according to 400 investor entities which participated in the survey, representing over USD1.8 trillion in hedge fund assets.Commitment from institutional investors continues to strengthen - nearly half of institutional investors increased their hedge fund allocations in 2013, and 57% plan to grow their allocations in 2014. Institutional investors now account for two thirds of industry assets, compared to approximately one third pre-crisis, according to the research. Investors are happy with hedge fund performance - 80% of respondents state that hedge funds performed as expected or better in 2013, after their allocations returned a weighted average of 9.3% in 2013. 63% of respondents, and 79% of institutional investors, are targeting returns of less than 10% for their hedge fund portfolios in 2014. Equity long short and event driven are the most sought after strategies.

Cheyne Capital Management, a London-based alternative asset mangement firm with USD6.5bn in assets under management, has launched a new fund dedicated to real estate debt. The vehicle, entitled Cheyne Real Estate Credit Holdings Fund III (CRECH III), is intended to “capitalise on the ongoing dislocation on European real estate debt markets and to meet growing demand for real estate financing,” the firm says in a statement. Like the first two funds of the same nature, CRECH III will invest in European “core” real estate markets, specifically the United Kingdom and Germany, via a wide range of instruments (CMBS, senior loans, mezzanine loans, equities and special situations). The team dedicated to real estate at Cheyne Capital Management currently manages over USD2bn in public and private funds.

The Amundi group and the smart beta index provider ERI Scientific Beta on 18 February announced that they are signing a strategic partnership which will combine the expertise of ERI Scientific Beta in the development of smart beta indices and the expertise of Amundi in the replication of indices and ETF construction. The partnership will include the construction of smart beta passive investment solutions and their promotion to a wide range of institutional clients. The range has been developed on the basis of the «Smart Beta 2.0” approach, which allows for smart beta indices to be designed as risk control instruments within a multi-smart beta allocation.

The California-based asset management group Pimco (Allianz) would like to buy a portfolio of real estate loans totalling EUR4bn from the Northern Irish national asset management association, SWF Institute reports. Several institutional actors have expressed an interest in this portfolio, which has led NAMA to publish a statement indicating that investor enquiries in relation to the portfolio will be examined on a case-by-case basis. However, the Pimco initiative is not fortuitous. The asset management firm has recently added to its staff in the European bond sector, including the real estate loan sector.

The hedge fund sector index calculated by Credit Suisse is down 0.29% in January, after growth of 1.19% in December, according to estimates released on 18 February. Half of the strategies on the index finished the month of January in the red, including managed futures (-3.42%) and emerging markets (-2.27%). Convertible arbitrage shows gains of 2.09%, after 0.54% in December, while bond arbitrage is up 1%, after 0.18% in December. The underlying Multi-Strategy index has gained 0.81% in January, after performance of 1.63% in December.

ERI Scientific Beta (an emanation of the Edhic-Risk institute) on 18 February announced that it is signing a partnership with Morgan Stanley, to offer innovative Smart Beta strategies to its institutional clients. The partnership will allow Morgan Stanley to deeply analyse the performance and risks of all Scientific Beta indices, and also offers a way to develop indices using the full Scientific Beta range on the platform http://www.scientificbeta.com/. ERI Scientific beta hopes to position itself as the top provider of a smart beta platform to help investors to understand and invest in advanced smart beta equity strategies.

Growing fears of a hard landing for China’s economy have further marginalized emerging market equities. But investors have sent a clear signal that sentiment toward developed world equities remains strong, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for February. An overall total of 222 panelists with US$591 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 7 February to 13 February 2014. A growing proportion of investors – 46 percent in February – say that a China hard landing and commodity collapse represents the biggest tail risk to the global economy. That figure compares with 37 percent in January and 26 percent in December. Is there a causal link? At any rate, belief in global economic growth has moderated. A net 56 percent expects the global economy to strengthen in the coming 12 months, down 19 percentage points from a net 75 percent last month. Global equity allocations are down; a net 45 percent of asset allocators say they are overweight equities, down from a net 55 percent in January. Average cash balances have increased to their highest level since July 2012 of 4.8 percent of portfolios, up from 4.5 percent. But regional data shows that concerns are focused on Global Emerging Markets (GEM), while optimism towards Europe and the U.S. remains strong. Allocations to GEM have reached a record low with a net 29 percent of asset allocators underweight the region. At the same time, a record net 40 percent of the global investor panel says that the eurozone is the region they most would like to overweight in the coming 12 months. U.S. equities are becoming more popular – a net 11 percent of asset allocators are overweight the U.S., up from a net 5 percent a month ago. “Investors remain firmly bullish towards developed markets and Europe in particular. But we would caution that current valuations in Europe already fully price in the region’s growth outlook,” said John Bilton, European investment strategist.

SPGP is stepping up the pace of its recruitments. On 18 February, the asset management firm announced the arrival of three “experienced” bankers as additions to its private management department. Pierre-Romain Gorot joins the asset management firm to become director of the private management department. After beginning his career in portfolio management at Oddo Pinatton in 1996, he was appointed as managing partner at IPEN Group, before joining Banque Neuflize in 2001, where he served as a private banker. Since 2005, he had served at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, where he was responsible for the development of the high-potential client segment. Meanwhile, Aymeric Diday joins SPGP as director of mandated management. After beginning his career at Neuflize before joining private management at Richelieu Finance in 2005, Diday, 36, spent seven years at Banque Pictet & Cie in Paris, where he developed the mandated management. Lastly, Bérengère Garand-Clavel is appointed as private manager. She had previously, since 2006, served as private banker at Rothschld & Cie Gestion to develop the segment dedicated to corporates. She began her career at Société Générale in New York at the alternative management fund Amber Fund, before in 2003 joining DNCA Finance in collective management.