La société new yorkaise Miller/Howard Investments a lancé une stratégie actions dividendes au Luxembourg, ce qui représente sa première incursion en Europe. Le fonds Miller Howard SICAV – Dividend Equity est investi dans les sociétés américaines. Il sera géré par quatre gérants : Jack Leslie, Lowell Miller, Bryan Spratt et Roger Young.
Au mois de juillet, Invesco a vu ses encours augmenter de 705,6 milliards de dollars à 729,4 milliards de dollars, soit une hausse de 3,4 %. Les encours en fonds actions ont notamment progressé de 5,72 % en passant de 321,4 milliards de dollars à 339,8 milliards de dollars.
La société de gestion Evercore Wealth Management, filiale du groupe de conseil Evercore, a recruté Jewelle Bickford en qualité de stratégiste senior, rapporte l’agence Reuters.Jewelle Bickford, qui prend ses fonctions ce lundi 19 août, travaillait précédemment chez GenSpring Family Offices. Elle sera basée à New York. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Jewelle Bickford s’occupera des problématiques de gouvernance, de l’"impact investing» et de la clientèle féminine.Au 30 juin 2013, les actifs sous gestion d’Evercore Wealth s'élevaient à 4,7 milliards de dollars.
Franklin Templeton a vu ses encours en juillet passer de 815 milliards de dollars à 834,1 milliards de dollars. Un an plus tôt, ses encours ressortaient à 718,7 milliards de dollars. Les encours des fonds actions ont notamment augmenté de 224 milliards de dollars à 234,1 milliards.
Les publications de résultats des banques américaines et européennes au deuxième trimestre ont confirmé le poids croissant des litiges, rapporte L’Agefi. Les risques juridiques peuvent être hérités de la crise des «subprimes» aux Etats-Unis ou des manipulations de marché, etc. A titre d’illustration, le PDG de la Société Générale, Frédéric Oudéa, au moment de la publication des comptes du groupe début août, a indiqué que le risque de litige augmentant, il fera partie intégrante de la stratégie de la banque en 2014, où sera passé un maximum de provisions tant que cela n’obère pas la rentabilité de l’établissement. Au deuxième trimestre, la Société Générale a provisionné 109 millions d’euros pour litige fiscal.Beaucoup de banques européennes sont dans le même cas, note le quotidien, qui cite notamment la Deutsche Bank, UBS ou Barclays.
Le groupe de gestion de fonds W&G Investments aurait offert un prix de 1,5 milliard de livres pour reprendre les 315 agences mises en vente par le groupe bancaire britannique RBS, contraint de les céder suite à son sauvetage opéré en 2008 et 2009 par le gouvernement britannique, rapporte L’Agefi qui cite une information du Sunday Times.
Standard Life était sous pression en Bourse vendredi face aux craintes selon lesquelles son fonds vedette Global Absolute Return Strategies (17 milliards de livres) deviendrait trop peu maniable, rapporte le Financial Times. Selon Barclays l’assureur vie est trop dépendant de ce fonds qui devient victime de son propre succès. Les bonnes performances en 2009 et 2010 ont dopé les souscriptions, mais depuis les gains sont plus difficiles. Le départ le mois dernier d’Euan Munro, l’architecte du fonds GARS, devrait aussi provoquer des rachats, selon Barclays.
Le groupe Swiss Life a annoncé le 14 août que le résultat sectoriel de Swiss Life Assets Managers avait augmenté au premier semestre de 16% pour s'établir à 71 millions de francs suisses, dopé par la hausse des revenus issus des frais et des commissions. Au cours des six premiers mois de 2013, le groupe Swiss Life engrange 551 millions de francs de revenus issus de frais et commissions (contre 524 millions de francs l’année précédente). Cette augmentation résulte entre autres de l’augmentation des revenus de Swiss Life Asset Managers et de la croissance des contrats en unités de compte.La collecte nette s’est inscrite à 2,3 milliards de francs suisses, en progression de 44% par rapport aux souscriptions enregistrées au premier semestre 2012, ce qui a contribué à une progression des actifs sous gestion de 15% à 24,1 milliards de francs. En incluant les mandats de Swiss Life, les actifs sous gestion progressent de seulement 1% à 149,45 milliards de francs.Le rendement net des placements non annualisé du groupe ressort à 2,4 % contre 2,7 % l’année précédente, «ce qui représente une excellente performance au vu des paramètres de marché défavorables», relève un communiqué. Le bénéfice net du groupe s’établit à 472 millions de francs, ce qui correspond à une hausse de 29 % par rapport à l’année précédente.
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management a nommé Felipe Godard au poste de managing director et responsable de la gestion de fortune pour l’Amérique latine à compter du 1er octobre 2013.Felipe Godard sera basé à Genève et rattaché à Haig Ariyan et Chip Packard, co-responsables du pôle gestion de fortune Americas.Felipe Godard travaille actuellement chez Credit Suisse où il est responsable de l’investissement, des solutions et du conseil sur l’Amérique latine au sein de la banque privée.
Olgerd Eichler, co-responsable et gérant au sein de MainFirst Asset Management, s’est vu confier la tâche de redresser un fonds qui a souffert d’une chute de ses actifs, le MainFirst Germany Fund, rapporte Citywire. Le fonds investi sur les actions allemandes a eu jusqu’à 50 millions d’euros d’encours. Mais aujourd’hui, il n’a plus que 4 millions d’euros.
The bank JPMorgan Chase will pay USD23m as part of an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit filed by stakeholders in a pension fund which accused JPMorgan of risking their money in Lehman Brothers, then on the brink of bankruptcy. The settlement, by which JPMorgan does not admit “any responsibility or reprehensible act,” was recorded before the weekend by a Federal court. This concludes a class action proceeding filed in 2009 by the Operating Engineers Pension Trust. The fund has accused JPMorgan, with whom it had a securities management agreement, of using its funds to guarantee a high-risk investment in loans from the Lehman Brothers investment bank, which was already on the brink of bankruptcy. “JPMorgan invested in two bond issues by Lehman Brothers at variable interest rates in the years 2007 and 2008, while Lehman is in increasing difficulty,” the text of the complaint had said, adding that Lehman then went bankrupt, “causing the plaintiffs the total loss of their investment.”
Hermes BPK Partners, the alternative investment advising boutique of the BT Pension Scheme (USD2.6bn), and the US private equity firm Northern Lights Capital Group, have announced a second operation for their Accelerator fund, which invests in hedge funds in the startup phase, Financial News reports. The fund has invested in Altalis Capital Partners, a firm based in New York which specialises in long/short equities. Following the transaction, Altalia has assets of USD150m.
AllianceBernstein, with USD444 billion in assets under management, will acquire W.P. Stewart, an equity investment manager that currently manages USD2 billion in U.S., Global and EAFE concentrated growth equity strategies for institutional and retail clients, primarily in the U.S. and Europe. Upon completion of the acquisition, W.P. Stewart’s investment services will be added to AllianceBernstein’s equity offering. W.P. Stewart’s team of seasoned investment managers will remain in place.To help ensure a smooth transition, founding partner William P. Stewart, an investor with nearly 60 years of industry experience, will stay on through the earlier of the end of this year or the close of the transaction, at which point he will retire from the firm.At the closing of the transaction, AllianceBernstein will pay W.P. Stewart shareholders USD12 per share in cash and will issue to W.P. Stewart shareholders transferable contingent value rights entitling the holders to an additional cash payment of USD4 per share if the assets under management in the acquired W.P. Stewart investment services reach USD5 billion on or before the third anniversary of the closing. W.P. Stewart currently has approximately 5 million shares outstanding.
Swiss banks will now have easier access to the German market. The two countries agreed before the weekend to intensify their cooperation in the area of cross-border financial services, under a convention, the Swiss federal finance department (DFF) has announced. Such a document had already been signed between Switzerland and Germany in 2011, as part of a bilateral agreement on withholding taxation. But this agreement was nullified when the agreement was rejected by the German Parliament. The new arrangements include two execution agreements between the financial supervisory authorities in the two countries, Finma in Switzerland and BaFin in Germany. Swiss banks will no longer need to have an affiliate in Germany in order to acquire new clients. The sale of Swiss funds in Germany will now be possible.
Lloyds bank, based primarily in Eysins in the Swiss canton of Vaud, is to lay off more than 200 of its 350 employees. The management at Lloyds and UBP made the announcement to affected employees on 16 August, according to reports in the press. The restructuring is the result of a takeover of part of the activities of Lloyds by Union Bancaire Privée (UBP). UBP announced at the end of May that it is acquiring the international private banking activities of the Lloyd’s banking group. At the conclusion of the transaction, assets under management by the Geneva-based bank will increase by over CHF10bn. Staff are threatening to strike if no improvement is made to the social plan, which primarily affects back-office activities. These employees have given the bank an ultimatum of next Tuesday.
The StabFund operation by the Swiss National Bank (BNS) to bail out UBS is nearing its end, Agefi Switzerland reports. The major bank will be able to acquire a part of the capital of the stabilisation fund, as the fund has now fully paid off its loan of CHF1.2bn from the BNS. The purchase price has yet to be determined. The price will be subject to external valuation on the basis of the value of assets remaining in the portfolio of the StabFund. This examination and the exercise of UBS’ buy option are expected to take about three months. As of the end of June, the gross value of the bailout fund, which contains toxic UBS assets dating from the sub-prime crisis of 2008 in the United States, totalled nearly CHF7.5bn. Of this, the BNS will receive USD1bn. The issuing money market institution and UBS will share the rest.
The New York-based firm Miller/Howard Investments has launched an equity dividend strategy in Luxembourg, which represents its first incursion into Europe. The Miller Howard SICAV – Dividend Equity invests in US businesses. It will be managed by four managers: Jack Leslie, Lowell Miller, Bryan Spratt and Roger Young.
Small asset management firms members of the Investment Management Association have posted growth in their assets of 3.9% in 2012, which is below the growth rate for the sector of 7.9%, Investment Week reports, citing a new study by the association. This also represents a decline compared with 2011, when growth was 29% for boutiques, compared with 17% for the sector. The IMA suggests that the situation is related to the advent of the Retail Distribution Review, which is driving investors to prefer larger, better-established brands.
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management has appointed Felipe Godard as managing director responsible for wealth management in Latin America, from 1 October 2013. Godard will be based in Geneva, and will report to Haig Aryan and Chip Packard, co-heads of the wealth management Americas unit. Godard currently works at Credit Suisse, where he is responsible for investment and advising solutions for private banking in Latin America.
A return to «the good old days» is not on the cards yet, but Europe appears to be in recovery mode, according to the latest issue of The Cerulli Edge-Europe Edition. This confirms the rise in optimism in European investors observed in the latest Manager Survey of BofA Merrill Lynch."Allocators have turned bullish on Europe as quick as they have turned bearish on emerging markets and China,» commented Barbara Wall, director at Cerulli Associates. «They even like European banks-albeit on a selective basis. It is sensible to be cautious. Bottom-up stock picking will dominate a market that is still jittery."While allocators and active managers are more chipper about European stock prices, fund buyers are not fully on message. Equity flows are still outweighed by much larger flows to bond funds. Surprisingly, the most upbeat would appear to be Spanish investors, who poured EUR232.4 million (USD308 million) into local equity markets during the first five months of the year, notes Cerulli."It is difficult to predict when Europe’s love affair with bonds will fizzle out, but investors need to be disciplined as new issuances surge,» cautioned Yoon Ng, a Cerulli associate director. «The European high-yield market has grown fast-and flabby at the edges. Benchmark huggers face losses and liquidity constraints if outflows pick up. A strategic rethink may be necessary to avoid being caught out."Separately, Cerulli thinks that European real estate could be a strong investment theme over the next 12 months. British property equity funds report resurgent interest, particularly for portfolios focused on London and the South East. Even the German open-end property market seems on the mend.
In first half, open-ended funds on sale in Italy recorded net inflows of nearly EUR31bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. In June alone, inflows totalled EUR2.8bn. Since the beginning of the year, inflows were driven by flexible funds (EUR16bn) and bond funds (EUR13.4bn). Equity funds, however, show slight losses, with -EUR757m. In June, the scenario is similar. As of the end of June, assets in Italian open-ended funds totalled EUR517bn.With the addition of closed and mandated funds, inflows since the beginning of the year total EUR38.363bn, and assets total EUR1.242bn. The largest subscriptions in June went to Intesa Sanpaolo (EUR826.4m) Banca Popolare (EUR721.1m) and Pioneer Investments (EUR603.7m). For outflows, BNP Paribas has seen redemptions of EUR362.8m. Franklin Templeton, which had shown strong inflows since the beginning of the year in Italy, has seen outflows of EUR358.9m.
Franklin Templeton has seen an increase in its assets in July from USD815bn to USD834.1bn. One year previously, its assets totalled USD718.7bn. Assets in equity funds increased from USD224bn to USD234.1bn.
BNY Mellon Investment Management is continuing to recruit personnel in Asia, with the addition of Stuart Guinness and Richard Collis, in Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively, Asian Investor reports. Guinness, who had previously worked at Credit Suisse Asset Management in Asia, has been appointed as managing director and head of products for mutual funds. Collis, who previously worked at MetLife in Asia, has also been appointed as managing director, in the newly-created position of head of development for insurance and retirement solutions for Asian investors.
In July, Invesco has seen an increase in its assets under management of USD705.6bn, to USD729.4bn, an increase of 3.4%. Assets in equity funds have risen from USD321.4bn to USD339.8bn.
The asset management firm Evercore Wealth Management, an affiliate of the Evercore advising group, has recruited Jewelle Bickford as senior strategies, the news agency Reuters reports. Bickford, who begins in her new role on Monday, 19 August, previously worked at GenSpring Family Offices. She will be based in New York. In her new role, Bickford will handle issues related to governance, impact investment and female clients. As of 30 June 2013, assets under management at Evercore Wealth totalled USD4.7bn.
The Swiss Life group on 14 August announced that sectoral profits for Swiss Life Asset Managers ncreased by 16% in first half to a total of CHF71m, boosted by rising commission revenues. In the first six months of 2013, the Swiss Life group earned CHF551m in revenues from fees and commissions (compared with CHF524m the previous year). This increase is due partly to an increase in earnings from Swiss Life Asset Managers and growth in unit-linked policies. Net inflows totalled CHF2.3bn, up 44% compared with net subscriptions in first half 2012, which contributed to growth in assets under management of 15%, to CHF24.1bn. Including mandates from Swiss Life, assets under management are up by only 1%, to CHF149.45bn. Non-annualised net earnings for the group total 2.4%, compared with 2.7% the previous year, “which represents excellent returns considering the unfavourable market parameters,” a statement says. Net profits for the group totalled CHF472m, which represents an increase of 29% compared with the previous year.
The Swiss asset management firm Unigestion has received a “Capital Markets Service License” from the Singapore market authority, strengthening its ambitions in Asia, according to a statement released on 14 August. “This license, officially received on 4 July 2013, considerably improves the range of products and services on offer from Unigestion, and its capacity of offer equities, private equity and hedge funds in Asia. It comes at a time when a growing number of institutional investors in Asia are seeking custom investment solutions,” a statement says. “We are delighted to have received this license from the Singapore authorities, at a time when we are pursuing the development of our presence in this key market. There are clear signs that Asian institutional investors are actively seeking solutions to allow them to diversify their asset allocations, and that they are particularly inclined to work with actors who have solid reputations and who are able to provide them with solutions that are specifically designed to meet their individual needs. We are convinced that with its innovative solutions based on risk management and its growing local presence, Unigestion is in a position to meet this demand,” says Fiona Frick, CEO of Unigestion, cited in the statement.
Flows into Europe bond and equity funds hit six and 66 week highs during the second week of August as initial estimates from Eurostat confirmed the end of a recession that has gripped the European Union and Eurozone since the last quarter of 2011. For the week ending August 14, combined flows into Europe and Europe ex-UK regional equity funds exceeded USD2 billion, according to statistics from EPFR Global. At the country level Italy equity Funds posted their biggest weekly total in over a decade despite the fact Italy is one of four Eurozone economies that did not return to growth in the second quarter of 2013. One that did, France, continues to be viewed with skepticism: redemptions from France equity funds hit a 10 week high. Overall, EPFR global-tracked equity funds recorded net inflows of only USD1.26 billion. Chinese equity funds have seen a net outflow of over USD5bn. Bond Funds saw USD1.38 billion redeemed, while money market funds attracted USD6.53 billion with US funds accounting for the bulk of those inflows.
In July, the Hennessee Hedge Fund index rose 1.82%, bringing its gains since the beginning of the year to 6.91%. The Hennessee Long/Short Equity index gained 2.95% in July, and 11.22% since the beginning of the year. The Hennessee Emerging Market index, for its part, has gained 1.87% in the month, but only 3.42% since the beginning of the year.
The two German asset management boutiques Veritas Investment, based in Frankfurt, and Pall Mall Investment Management, based in Hamburg, last week announced that they are pooling part of their expertise in a new holding company which will take responsibility for several functions, Citywire reports. This is a strategic alliance which cannot be likened to a merger, the firms say. Teaming up will allow the firms to share some functions, such as communications, marketing, and procurement. Cumulative assets under management by the new firm, Veritas Portfolio GmbH & Co KG, will total more than EUR2bn.