The successor to Ingrid Hengster as head of the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been appointed: Joachim von Schorlemer, who had been CEO of BNP Paribas (BNPP) for Germany, will join the British group in mid-September, and will also be country executive for Germany and Austria.Ingrid Hengster, for her part, has been appointed as a member of the managing board at the German state-owned bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) from April 2014.
Oliver Schuck on 1 September joined FPM Frankfurt Performance Management as head of distribution, Das Investment reports. He will be more particularly responsible for assisting wealth management clients, multi-managers and institutional investors in Germany, Luxembourg and Austria.Schuck joins from DWS (Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, or DeAWM group), where he was director of distribution for the past five years, responsible for asset management firms, private banks, and major financial advising agencies.
The nationalised bank Novagalicia Banco (NCG) has announced that it will sell its affiliate EVO Banco for EUR60m to the US hedge fund Apollo Global Management, Cinco Días reports.The transaction with result in the transfer of 80 branches with 590 employees, EUR702m in credits and EUR1.603bn in savings and current account deposits.This is the fourth acquisition by the Apollo group (USD13bn in assets) in the Spanish financial sector, after the acquisition of MBNA from Bank of America, and consumer credit from Citibank and FinanMadrid (an affiliate of Bankia).
Earnings at the wealth management firm Partners roup were up 4.2% in first half to CHF222m, for an EBITDA up 3.8% to CHF135m. Net profits rose 30% to CHF156m, according to a statement released on 10 September. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled EUR30.3bn, up 11.8% year on year.
The Swedish centrist party has called on all of the country’s national pension funds (AP) to sell their stakes in fossil fuel businesses, so as to protect the value of their invetsments, Financial Times fund management reports. The four AP funds have assets of about USD146bn.
So-Yon Sohn, head of credit sales & fixed income sales for Asia-Pacific at Citi Private Bank (CPB) has been promoted to regional head of investments, a position that she will take up on 23 September, Finance Asia reports. She will continue to be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Eduardo Martinez-Campos, head of investments, and Bassam Salem, CEO of CPB Asia.Until a replacement can be found for her, Sohn will also continue to serve in her current role.
Like other index providers, Lyxor Asset Management reports that hedge funds on average have posted losses in August, with a loss of 1.13% for the main index. Of the 13 indices (one global, 11 strategy and thematic), only three continue to show gains, the L/S Credit Arbitrage (+0.51%), the Convertible Bonds Arbitrage Index (+0.26%) and the Event Driven – Merger Arbitrage Index (+0.04%). The heaviest losses were from CTA long term (-3.99%) and L/S Equity variable bias (-1.91%).However, in the first eight months of the year, hedge funds have continued to show positive results, with average returns of 2.02%. Although CTA long term and short term have posted losses of 6.58% and 60.4% respectively, the losses for the global macro fund are limited to 1.01%, and all other indices are in positive territory, with gains of 8.94% for the L/S Equity Long Bias index and returns of 6.92% for special situations, as well as 6.81% for merger arbitrage, in particular.
Rogge Global Partners, the global institutional fixed-income specialist, has appointed Gerard-Jan van Berckel as head of insurance and Northern Europe distribution. He will spearhead Rogge’s Insurance Investment capability. Based in London, he will also be responsible for growing the firm’s institutional investor base in Northern Europe.Van Berckel joins from Conning Asset Management Ltd. where since 2008 he was head of Continental European sales, responsible for institutional fixed-income product distribution and client relationship management. Rogge was founded in 1984 and has offices in London, New York, Singapore and Frankfurt, as well as joint ventures with Tokio Marine Asset Management in Japan and Alfi Partners in French-Speaking Europe. Rogge’s total assets under management as of 31st July 2013 are USD56 bn.
Schroders on September 9 announced the appointment of Divyesh Hindocha as global head of product and defined contribution from 1 November 2013.Divyesh joins from Mercer’s investments business, where he was senior partner and global director of consulting, responsible for Mercer’s strategic research capabilities globally. He will report to Massimo Tosato, executive vice-chairman.Divyesh takes over the role from Gavin Ralston who has covered the product role on an interim basis since his promotion to head of official institutions last year.
The former founders of the British ratings agency OBSR, Richard Romer-Lee and Nigel Whittingham, as well as the former director of Henderson, David Pickles, have founded a fund advisory and rating firm, Fundweb reports. It will be known as Square Mile Investment Research and Consulting, and is expected to be operational in 2014.
The foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is at the top of the list of regulations that the major hedge fund managers consider most irritating, according to a survey by Sungard and Aite cited by Financial Times fund management. Regulations are considered a “major problem” for half of the 40 major hege fund managers with at least USD1bn in assets in Europe, the United States and Asia.
Due to the success of the Aviva Investors US Equity Income Fund, launched in January 2011, which is expected to be soft closed in October, Aviva Investors has announced the release of a new version of the US equity product. The Aviva Investors US Equity Income Fund II is managed in the United States, in Louisville, Kentucky, by the same team at River Road Asset Management (Henry W. Sanders III and Thomas S. Forshea), with a performance objective of 1.5 percentage points over the Russell 3000 Value. River Road AM was acquired by Aviva Investors in January 2010.The asset management team will apply a so-called “absolute value” strategy.The management commission for RDR shares is set at 0.75%.
The Belgian asset management firm Petercam on 9 September sent a note highlighting the fact that all companies whose equities feature in its Equities World 3F fund (for Foundation for the Future) comply with the terms of the United Nations Global Compact.All positions in the portfolio managed by Bart Baetens are examined every quarter for compliance with the ten Principles of the Global Compact. This analysis is carried out externally by the extra-financial ratings agency Sustainalytics.
HSBC is planning to close all of its ETFs listed in Hong Kong, except the ABF Hong Kong Bond Index, two years after their launch, Financial News reports. The MSCI Golden Dragon ETF, MSCI Hong Kong ETF, MSCI China ETF and MSCI Taiwan ETF are expected to be liquidated due to low asset levels. HSBC GAM will retain its ETF activity in Asia, however.
The entrepreneurial fund Agregator Capital is to swallow nine funds larger than itself. The investment platform supported by more than 400 directors, which has about EUR40m in assets under management in 15 active stakes, is acquiring OTC Asset Management, with EUR360m in assets, Les Echos reports. As part of the operation, the founder of OTC will retain the real estate investment activity of the asset management firm. All of the others, including fiscal fund, FIP and FCPI vehicles, will be transferred to Agregator Capital.
In line with an agreement reached with Philippe Oddo but which has yet to be approved by the French prudential control and resolution authority (ACPR), Allianz France will gradually sell its 21% stake in the capital of Oddo et Cie.By the end of this year, an initial sale fo Oddo & Cie shares will reduce the stake held by Allianz France below 10% of capital in Oddo & Cie. The sale of the remainder will take place by the end of 2016 at the latest.The operation “is coherent with the current investment strategy of the group, to reduce exposure to the financial and banking sector,” a statement from Allianz France says.Allianz France and Oddo & Cie will continue their collaboration in life insurance.
Financière de l’Echiquier on Monday, 9 September announced a new addition to its personnel. The asset management firm, which has already recruits two former BNP Paribas IP employees, has recruited a new manager for its European equity unit, with USD5bn in assets, our of the roughly EUR7.5bn in assets at the firm. Stéphanie Bobtcheff is preparing to join the team specialised in European midcaps as a co-manager, after 16 years of experience in asset management in France and internationally. She has previously worked at Pascal Investment Advisers in Switzerland, as a portfolio manager, and has also served in this role at Oddo AM and Crédit Agricole.Also in the equity unit, two former analysts have also been promoted to the position of co-manager. Guillaume Puech becomes co-manager of the Echiquier Value fund, where he will assist Damien Mariette, who arrived this year. For his part, Gilles Constantini is promoted to co-manager, alongside Adrien Dumas, to manage the Echquier Global fund, which invets in the international leading large cap universe.The diversified fund and fixed income unit, which has over EUR1.7bn currently, will also see additions to its management team soon. The head of the unit, Olivier de Berranger, who manages the Arty fund, whose inflows have leapt by about EUR100m in 2013, is expected to be supported by a credit analyst, who is currently in the process of being recruited.
Banca Popolare di Vicenza has recruited Luca Vignoli as its new head of private banking, Bluerating reports, citing Magstat. He replaces Gianluca Talato, who joined Barclays in June. Vignoli has spent the past 11 years at Fineco Bank.
UBS Global Asset Management is preparing to launch two new bond ETFs on the Italian stock ecxhange which offer diversified exposure to bonds issued by foreign groups and denominated in Swiss francs, Bluerating reports. They are the UBS ETF SBI® Foreign AAA-BBB 1-5 OICVM ETF (CHF) A-dis and UBS ETF SBI® Foreign AAA-BBB 5-10 OICVM ETF (CHF) A-dis funds.
The Bayerische hypoVereinsbank (HVB, UniCredit group) is releasing a version of its long/short cross-commodity strategy from its affiliate onemarkets, without the soft commodities. The Luxembourg-registered fund Cross Commodity Long/Short ex AL Fund, which replicates the Cross Commodity Long/Short IV Excess Return Index, covers 15 sectroal indices of the Dow Jones UBS Commodity indices in the areas of energy, industrial metals and precious metals, but not soft commodities or livestock.CharacteristicsName: Cross Commodity Long/Short ex AL FundISIN Code: LU0944771152Minimal initial subscription: EUR500,000Management commission: 0.90%Performance commission: 15% on performance exceeding the hurdle rate (Eonia + 150 basis points) with high watermark
La production industrielle de la France a baissé de 0,6% en juillet après une baisse confirmée de 1,4% en juin, selon des données publiées mardi par l’Insee. L’indice de la production de l’industrie manufacturière s’est dans le même temps contracté de 0,7% après une baisse confirmée de 0,4% en juin. Ces chiffres contredisent les prévisions de 20 économistes interrogés par Reuters, qui anticipaient en moyenne une production industrielle de juillet en hausse de 0,6%, leurs prévisions s'échelonnant entre +0,1% et +1,3%.
Les fonds d’arbitrage ont dégagé au mois d’août une performance négative de 0,7%, mesurée par l’indice HFRI Fund Weighted Composite, selon les statistiques mensuelles de Hedge Fund Research. En cause, la montée des tensions géopolitiques liées au dossier syrien et le coup de tabac sur les marchés émergents, ainsi que le retrait des marchés actions américains dans la perspective du «tapering» de la Fed. Les sous-indices HFRI Macro Index et HFRI EM ont ainsi reculé respectivement de 1,2% et 0,77% sur le mois. Sur les huit premiers mois de l’année, les hedge funds affichent encore une performance positive de 3,87%.
La production industrielle en Chine, les ventes au détail et les investissements dans des actifs immobilisés ont augmenté un peu plus que prévu en août, des données qui confortent l’hypothèse d’une stabilisation de la deuxième puissance économique mondiale après une longue période de ralentissement. Selon le Bureau national des statistiques, la production industrielle a enregistré une hausse de 10,4% le mois dernier et les ventes au détail une progression de 13,4%. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters avaient anticipé respectivement +9,9% et +13,2%. Sur les huit premiers mois de l’année, les investissements dans des actifs immobilisés, ont augmenté de 20,3% par rapport à la même période de 2012 pour un consensus à 20,2%.
Le projet de taxe sur les transactions financières (TTF) que 11 Etats membres de l’Union européenne, dont la France et l’Allemagne, se sont engagés à mettre en oeuvre, serait juridiquement incompatible avec les traités européens. C’est du moins l’opinion des juristes du Conseil européen, formulée dans un avis daté du 6 septembre que Reuters et le Financial Times se sont procurés. Le projet à 11 «empiète sur les compétences fiscales des Etats membres non participants» et «serait discriminatoire et susceptible d’entraîner des distorsions de concurrence». Pour ficeler sa TTF et assurer le recouvrement des recettes, Bruxelles compte en effet taxer les transactions en fonction du lieu de résidence des parties prenantes, même si celui-ci se situe hors des 11 Etats membres, par exemple à la City de Londres.
L’Office d’investissement du régime de pensions du Canada (RPC) souhaite multiplier par sept son exposition à l’Asie dans les toutes prochaines années, rapporte Asian Investor. L’Office dispose actuellement de neuf professionnels de l’investissement à Hong Kong et envisage d’ores et déjà de renforcer ses capacités d’investissement dans le non coté et d’augmenter en conséquence ses effectifs d’au moins 30% d’ici à la fin de l’année. Le seul problème est réside dans la difficulté de trouver des spécialistes du private equity dans la région, relève Asian Investor. Les actifs sous gestion de l’Office d’investissement du RPC s'élèvent à environ 189 milliards de dollars canadiens, soit quelque 183 milliards de dollars US.
Norges Bank Investment Management a conclu le rachat d’une participation de 45% dans l’ensemble immobilier Times Square Tower. Montant de la transaction: 684 millions de dollars. Le fonds reprend cette participation auprès de Boston Properties qui conserve les 55% restants. Fin juin, l’immobilier représentait 0,9% des actifs du fonds norvégien, d’un montant total de 720 milliards de dollars.
L’Organisation mondiale du commerce a revu à la baisse ses prévisions de croissance des échanges mondiaux pour cette année et l’an prochain, selon son nouveau directeur général Roberto Azevedo. L’OMC prévoit désormais une hausse de 2,5% seulement du commerce mondial cette année, contre 3,3% auparavant, et une progression de 4,5% en 2014, contre 5%. Ces prévisions seront détaillées dans un rapport publié le 19 septembre.