P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Man Group is continuing to bleed money, despite aggressive attempts to stem its outflows, revitalise its quantitative management activities, and reduce its costs, Financial Times Fund Management reports. In first quarter, the hedge fund firm posted net outflows estimated at USD3.6bn, the worst result since 2005, according to Peter Lenardos. In 2012, Man had outflows of more than USD7bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Standard Life Investments (SLI0 has decided to close six funds of funds due to insufficient interest on the part of investors for these vehicles, Investment Week reports. The six products concerned are: SLI European Equity Manager of Manager fund, SLI Japanese Equity Manager of Manager fund North American Equity Manager of Manager fund SLI Pacific Basin Equity Manager of Manager fund SLI UK Bond Manager of Manager fund SLI UK Equity Manager of Manager fund. These strategies were launched in February 2006. They were managed by the US firm Wilshire under an outsourcing agreement. They will be closed in May.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Steve Ellis and Eric Wong will be the managers of the new Emerging Market Local Currency Debt Fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Fidelity Funds, the US asset management firm has announced in London. The portfolio will be invested primarily in government bonds denominated in local currencies from countries such as Russia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Poland, Indonesia and Thailand.The product brings the number of emerging market debt funds available from Fidelity to four, while Steve Ellis already manages USD1bn in emerging market mandates. He joined Fidelity Worldwide Investment as a portfolio manager in 2012, from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Wong also joined Fidelity last year, from BlackRock.The benchmark for the new fund is the JP Morgan Global Bond Index – EM Global Diversified Index (JPM GBI – EM Global Diversified Index).The minimal subscription is set at USD2,500 or USD50 per month for A class shares, which carry a management commission of 1.20%, and of USD1m for the Y share class, which charges 0.60%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Marc Faber will advise the first multi-manager investment fund of a firm based in Toronto, Sprott Asset Management, Citywire reports. The fund, dedicated to institutional investors, will invest in eight in-house funds investing in various asset classes.

Responsable de la sélection des fonds dans le cadre de la gestion en architecture ouverte de CNP Assurances, Vincent Damas, qui assure à la fois le référencement des OPCVM, des sociétés de gestion et leur suivi, revient pour Newsmanagers sur les dernières évolutions en matière d'offre de produits et sur les mouvements au sein des équipes de gestion...

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Claudia Stanghellini has been appointed as the new head of external management at the Swedish pension fund AP3, realtid.se reports. She succeeds Mattias Bylund, who has been appointed as director of risk, business support and controls.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } JP Morgan Asset Management has recruited Anthony Ho, from China Asset Management, for the newly-created position of managing director of the global multi=asset class unit in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. The new position is an extension of the Asian multi-asset class unit, which had previously been based in London. The reason for this decision is the continuing growth of Asian multi-asset class portfolios. Ho will be responsible for overseeing the development of this activity in the region. Assets managed by the multi-asset class unit total over USD100bn. Figures for Asia have not been provided.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Oddo Asset Management has opened an office in Geneva, Agefi Switzerland reports. “We have had an office in Zurich since 2011, and have recently opened another office in Geneva. Switzerland is a part of our internationalisation strategy. Edouard Vallette Viallard is our country manager, and is responsible for the French and Italian-speaking portions of Switzerland. Two other people have been appointed for the German-speaking part of Switzerland, with independent managers,” Lorenzo Gazzoletti, deputy CEO of Oddo am, tells the newspaper.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } To prevent their gains on foreign equities being cut off by an unfavorable turn on the currency markets, US investors are increasingly turning to ETFs hedged for currency risks, the Wall Street Journal reports.The largest beneficiary of this trend is the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (ticker: DXJ), whose assets have quintupled since the beginning of this year, to USD6.42bn. The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ) has also seen its assets more than quintuple this year, to USD198m, while the db x-trackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity Fund (DBEF) has doubled in size in the same period, to USD30m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For January-March, Wells Fargo & Company has posted a record net profit of USD5.2bn, compared with USD5.1bn in October-December, and USD4.2bn in the corresponding period of 2012.Net profits for the wealth management, brokerage and retirement unit totalled USD337bn in first quarter 2013, compared with USD143.4m in the three months from October-December, and USD296m in the corresponding period of last year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Net profits at the asset management unit of JP Morgan totalled USD487m in first quarter, up by USD101m, or 26%, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2012, according to figures released on 12 April. Assets under management increased by USD101bn, or 7%, to a total of USD1.5trn, due to a net inflow to long-term products and a positive market effect. Other assets, including assets under custody or administration, increased by USD57bn, or 9%, to a total of USD688bn, due to positive market effect and net inflows.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The volume of trades engaged in by Amundi Immobilier in France and internationally in the year 2012 totalled EUR1.5bn, which brings total assets under management to EUR7bn, up 10%. According to the asset management firm, Opcimmo, its most recent collective real estate investment organism contributed to this result, as the product received investments from the group’s networks (regional savings banks, LCL and CA Assurances), giving it 75% market share in terms of inflows, the firm says. In 2013, Amundi Immobilier will diversify its international investments to offer its clients a wider range of access to the European market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese firm CIBC has announced that it has acquired Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management (USD20bn in assets) from Invesco for USD210m in cash, equivalent to 1.05% of assets under management. Atlantic Trust PWM provides integrated wealth management solutions to high net worth retail clients, familiies, and foundations. The firm has 235 employees.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } More than 80% of European fund distributors are planning to reorganise their internal processes in the next three years, in order to reduce their costs, according to a survey released by Cerulli Associates, Funds Europe reports. Consolidation of funds (61.9%) takes second place among measures considered by distributors, far ahead of staff reductions (28.6%). Without saying that they are planning to reduce their distribution contracts, 19% of the 100 asset management firms surveyed by Cerulli did say that they are planning to launch fewer funds, and 19% are considering lowering the commissions they charge to distributors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The situation in Cyprus is not worrying retail investors in Europe. According to the most recent European survey by Binck of stock market invetors, since December 2012, the level of confidence of investors has been recovering, and in April 2013 totals 2.5. This is a stable rating compared with the previous month, when the index set a record at 2.6. The survey finds that 23 of investors are optimistic in April: 66% of respondents have a confidence level equal to or higher than 0 (neutral). Half of respondents say they are highly confident, with a level equal to or higher than +4, or 2.5 times more than at the end of 2012.

Early April saw investors around the world digesting the implications of the Bank of Japan’s decision to double the country’s monetary base in an effort to banish deflation by 2015. The BOJ’s program has raised hopes for Japan’s economic growth, fueled expectations of stronger Japanese investor demand for asset classes ranging from Eurozone debt to US real estate and rekindled fears that European and emerging Asian exporters will see their export competitiveness eroded by a weaker yen.Flows for EPFR global-tracked funds during the week ending April 10 mirrored these expectations and concerns. Europe bond funds posted their biggest weekly inflow since early December, real estate sector funds took in fresh money for the 13th time in the 15 weeks year-to-date and YTD flows into Japan equity funds climbed over the USD11 billion mark while redemptions from Germany equity funds hit a 49 week high and Asia ex-Japan equity funds recorded outflows for the second time in the past three weeks.Overall, a net USD3.13 billion flowed into equity funds – with half of that total going to dividend equity funds – and bond funds took in USD3.52 billion. Alternative Funds absorbed another USD953 million as they extended their current inflow streak to 14 consecutive weeks.It is also notable that balanced funds continued to attract USD1bn so that inflows since the beginning of the year total over USD21bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Alberto Ridaura, who had been head of wealth management activities, has been appointed as deputy director of the Santander private bank, alongside Eduardo Suárez (see Newsmanagers of 9 April), who has been selected as CEO of the unit, which has assets of EUR100bn, of which EUR65bn come from the wealth management division, Funds People reports.Santander has also appointed the 17 territorial heads in its private bank.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to a document obtained by Funds People, Santander will be taking the occasion of the absorption of its affiliates Banif and Banesto to rationalise its investment fund ranges, which include a total of 197 products under the Santander, Banif, Banesto, Citibank and Openbank brand names. By June, the group will be merging bond funds so as to eliminate 12 products. The new funds will be divided into several share classes, with varied commission levels. Nine equity funds will also be eliminated through merger-absorption.In September, the wave of rationalisation will be extended to profiled funds, the Santander “Select” range, whose assets will increase from EUR1bn currently to EUR2.4bn. The absolute return range will include only two funds, with assets of EUR800m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Allfunds Bank platform (Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo) has appointed Jaime Pérez-Maura as head of development and planning of sales. He will be responsible for new activities in Europe and Asia. In addition, he will be responsible for overseeing key global accounts, Funds People reports.Pérez-Maura, who will report to Gianluca Renzini, head of sales, will retain responsibility for communications and market intelligence, but he will abandon direction of investment solutions, a position he had held for 13 years.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } French-registered funds posted outflows in March of EUR6.27bn. By asset class, according to statistics from Europerformance SIX Telekurs, net redemptions primarily affected treasury funds – with outflows of EUR4.18bn – and bond funds, from which redemptions totalled EUR1.149bn. Equity funds were no exception to the trend, but outflows were considerably lower. All equity categories as a whole lost EUR718.95m. For its part, the category of funds investing in convertible bonds posted net inflows of EUR3.04bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs, the 3,434 hedge funds which had reported results up to the end of February had attracted a net USD11.4bn in February, or 0.6% of their assets, after inflows of USD4.3bn in January. However, their returns were only 0.4% in February, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1%. In the twelve months under review, the performance of hedge funds has been only 5.8%, at a time when the S&P 500 has gained 10.9%.On the basis of results for 1,360 funds as of the end of March, BarclayHedge estimates that hedge funds have posted average returns of 1.16% in March, bringing the total since the beginning of the year to 4%.Only three strategies showed losses last year: equity short bias (-3.20%, 5 funds), emerging markets (-0.49%, 219 funds), and tehnologies (-0.39%, 16 funds).The best performance was for the 24 biotechnology and healthcare funds (3.11%), the 21 Pacific Ri funds (2.83%) and the 169 equity long bias funds (2.24%).For first quarter as a whole, the strongest performance has been for Pacific Rim equities (8.81%), while the heaviest loss has been for equity short bias (-9.38%).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 25 April, Aberdeen Immobilien KAG announced, the open-ended real estate fund DEGI International (ISIN code: DE0008007998) will distribute EUR3.500 per share to its shareholders, which will represent a total of EUR125.9m, or nearly 10% of remaining assets of EUR1.277bn.Aberdeen states that, of this total of EUR3.500 per share, EUR1.7071 corresponds to dividends for 2012, and the remaining EUR1.7929 is a redistribution of assets. The asset management firm on 25 October 2011 decided to liquidate the fund by 15 October 2014. At the time, assets totalled EUR1.56bn.The next distribution will take place in October. Its amount will largely depend on the proceeds from sales of other assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 17 April, BlackRock will officially announce the launch of the Emerging Market Corporate Bond Fund and Emerging Market Investment-Grade Bond fund sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav BlackRock Global Funds (BGF) in France and the rest of Europe, which the asset management firm is not yet able to confirm, but which has been reported by Fondsnieuws.The first of these products will invest at least 70% in emerging market investment grade corporate bonds.The funds are managed in London by a team led by Sergio Trigo Paz, who had been CIO for emerging markets at BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } EQT, the largest private equity group in Sweden, supported by the Wallenberg family, is reorganising its investment teams, to launch a fund targeting small and mid-sized businesses in Northern Europe and Asia, the Financial Times reports. The new team, born of the merger of two teams, will be led by the deputy CEO and co-founder of EQT, Jan Stahlberg. The firm is hoping to raise about EUR1bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to the latest quarterly CNMV bulletin, assets in Spanish funds had fallen as of 31 December by 6.3% year on year, to EUR124.0399bn, compared with EUR132.3688bn, with net redemptions totalling EUR11.4954bn.However, assets in foreign funds increased by 26.8% to a total of EUR38bn, while the number of such funds rose 2% to 754. Assets under managed did total over EUR36.69bn as of the end of 2010 (before a fall to EUR29.97bn as of the end of 2011), but they remain far below the EUR44bn recorded at the end of 2006 or the EUR37.09bn of the end of 2007.

Marc Faber va conseiller le premier fonds multigérants de la société d’investissement basée à Toronto Sprott Asset Management, rapporte Citywire. Le fonds, dédié aux investisseurs institutionnels, sera investi dans huit fonds maison investis dans diverses classes d’actifs.

Le chinois CIBC a anoncé qu’il acquiert pour 210 millions de dollars en numéraire, soit 1,05 % des actifs gérés, Altantic Trust Private Wealth Management (20 milliards de dollars d’encours) auprès d’Invesco. Atlantic Trust PWM fournit des solutions intégrées de gestion de fortune à des particuliers haut de gamme, des familles et des fondations. La société emploie 235 personnes.

Jean-Louis Brunet a été élu président de France Angels. A la tête de l’association regroupant plus de 4.000 business angels, il succède à Philippe Gluntz, qui a exercé la fonction de président pendant 4 ans, et n’a pas souhaité se représenter à l’issue de son mandat, indique un communiqué. Jean-Louis Brunet est aujourd’hui président de H3C-énergies, une start-up créée en 2004 avec de jeunes ingénieurs de l’INPG. Il est également, depuis sa création en mars 2005, président de Grenoble Angels, réseau de Business Angels Grenoblois pour le financement et l’accompagnement des entreprises à potentiel.

Pour janvier-mars, Wells Fargo & Company a affiché un bénéfice net record de 5,2 milliards de dollars contre 5,1 milliards en octobre-décembre et 4,2 milliards pour la période correspondante de 2012.Quant au bénéfice net du pôle gestion de fortune, courtage et retraites, il est ressorti à 337 millions de dollars pour le premier trimestre 2013 contre 143,4 millions pour les trois mois pour octobre-décembre et 296 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.

Les fonds de droit français ont enregistré des sorties nettes de 6,27 milliards d’euros en mars, selon les statistiques d’Europerformance SIX Telekurs. Par classes d’actifs, les rachats ont surtout affecté les fonds de trésorerie – en décollecte de 4,18 milliards d’euros – et les fonds obligataires dont les sorties ont atteint 1,149 milliard d’euros. Les fonds actions n’ont pas fait exception au mouvement, mais les sorties sont sensiblement inférieures. L’ensemble des catégories «actions» a perdu 718,95 millions d’euros. Pour sa part, la catégorie des fonds investis en obligations convertibles a enregistré des rentrées nettes de 3,04 millions d’euros. Dans le détail, côté monétaire, les fonds de trésorerie régulière ont enregistré l’essentiel des rachats (-4,19 milliards d’euros), ce qui représente une baisse de l’encours de 1,15 %. Au sein de cette classe d’actifs, les fonds de trésorerie dynamique ont perdu en net 1,21 milliard d’euros - soit une diminution de l’encours de 7,04 %. D’autre part, la décollecte globale sur les fonds obligataires est quasi exclusivement due aux fonds composés d’obligations de la zone euro. Les autres catégories ont résisté voire ont collecté en net. C’est le cas notamment des fonds d’obligations internationales et ceux investis en obligations à haut rendement ; les premiers ont enregistré des rentrées nettes de 17,93 millions d’euros et les seconds de 81,37 millions d’euros. Par ailleurs, toutes les catégories de fonds obligataires ont bénéficié d’un effet marché positif, parmi lesquels celui du marché des obligations libellées en dollars (+2,71 %) ou des obligations européennes (+0,73 %) ou encore internationales (+0,64 %). Comme cela a été le cas avec les fonds obligataires, les catégories d’OPCVM actions affichent des comportements différents. Les fonds d’actions européennes (-842,16 millions d’euros) et d’actions internationales (-171,92 millions d’euros) ont été les deux catégories ayant contribué à la décollecte de l’ensemble de ces fonds. En revanche, les fonds composés d’actions américaines ont enregistré des rentrées nettes de 154,05 millions d’euros et ceux d’Asie/Pacifique de 30,96 millions d’euros. Dans le même temps, l’effet marché a été positif pour toutes les catégories de fonds. Sur le mois, les fonds investis outre-Atlantique ont enregistré une hausse de 5,05 %, les fonds Asie/Pacifique, de 2,74 % tandis que les fonds d’actions européennes ont fait un quasi surplace (+0,10 %). Enfin, les fonds d’obligations convertibles ont aussi connu des fortunes diverses. Les OPCVM composés d’obligations convertibles de la zone euro ou d’Europe sont en décollecte nette de 53,35 millions et 2,86 millions respectivement, tandis que la catégorie regroupant les fonds d’obligations convertibles internationales ont connu des rentrées nettes de 59,24 millions d’euros. Avec un effet marché négatif pour les deux premières catégories (-0,13 % et -0,04 % respectivement), la variation de leur encours est de -1 % et -0,35 %. A l’inverse, les fonds d’obligations convertibles internationales ont vu leurs actifs sous gestion progresser de 3,62 % avec un gain moyen sur le mois de 0,12 %.