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02/03/2012

Convictions AM recrute pour son développement à l'international

Convictions AM annonce le recrutement de Philippe Weller au poste de chargé de développement international de la société de gestion française. De nationalité allemande et âgé de 41 ans, l’intéressé était auparavant responsable du développement international de la Financière de Champlain, en charge de la clientèle européenne puis française de 2007 à 2010. A son nouveau poste, il sera notamment responsable du développement commercial de Convictions AM en Allemagne, Suisse, Autriche et le Luxembourg. Il rejoint Edoardo Chiozzi-Millelire, responsable du développement international pour les pays du Sud de l’Europe (Italie, Suisse, Monaco…), arrivé en 2010. «L’international qui représente 15 % de nos encours actuellement reste un axe fort pour le développement de Convictions AM, précise Hugues Riant, responsable mandats de gestion et communication de Convictions AM. «Nous avions une forte demande de la part de banques privées et de family offices situés dans les pays européens, notamment pour notre fonds Convictions Premium».
02/03/2012
Fonds

Le Henderson Credit Alpha intègre l'UCITs Alternative Index

Henderson Global Investors a annoncé le 1er mars que son fonds alternatif coordonné Henderson Credit Alpha a été admis dans la composition de l’indice UCITs Alternative Index Blue Chip, un indice de 50 hedge funds de performance absolue calcul par le suisse Alix Capital.Lancé en 2007, le fonds Henderson Credit Alpha est un fonds crédit long/short investi sur les CDS et les obligations d’entreprises. Son encours ressortait à 628,7 millions d’euros au 31 janvier.
Fonds
02/03/2012

CatalunyaCaixa Inversió nomme son directeur général

Pour remplacer Oriol Dalmau, nommé à la direction de la banque privée mais qui reste président de la société de gestion, CatalunyaCaixa a nommé Xavier Pinzolas comme directeur général de CatalunyaCaixa Inversió (2,4 milliards d’euros), rapporte Funds People. L’intéressé a été directeur général de Caixa Manresa Inversió de 2006 à 2010, avant l’absorption de ce gestionnaire par CatalunyaCaixa Inversió.
02/03/2012

Renta 4 est potentiellement acheteuse de sociétés de gestion

Juan Carlos Ureta, directeur général, a déclaré lors de la présentation des résultats 2011 de la banque (lire par ailleurs) que Renta 4 est un candidat idéal à l’acquisition de sociétés de gestion tant en Espagne qu’en Amérique latine, rapporte Funds People. Le manager indique avoir déjà étudié certains dossiers, entre autres ceux des caisses d'épargne espagnoles. Renta 4 aspire à être un acteur de la réorganisation du secteur de la gestion d’actifs, un domaine qui offre beaucoup de possibilités parce qu’il est atomisé et que beaucoup d’intervenant ne possèdent pas la masse critique nécessaire.
02/03/2012

UniCredit cherche son nouveau président

Après sept ans passés à la tête d’UniCredit, Dieter Rampl, a fait savoir «qu’il n'était pas disponible» pour un troisième mandat, rapporte L’Agefi. Fabrizio Palenzona, président de CRT, premier actionnaire de la banque pourrait être l’un des successeurs possibles. Angelo Tantazzi, qui a longtemps présidé la Bourse italienne et occupé le poste de vice-président de LSE jusqu’en 2010 est également considéré comme un candidat potentiel, tout comme l’ex-ministre de l'économie Domenico Siniscalco. Selon certaines rumeurs, le directeur général d’UniCredit Roberto Nicastro serait également sur le départ, ajoute le quotidien.
02/03/2012

Madoff: BNP Paribas claims it was only an assisted witness

Agefi reports that BNP Paribas has claimed in a statement that it was a witness that was accompanied by a lawyer when it gave evidence to police, known in French practice as an assisted witness, in the French offshoot of the Madoff scandal. The bank is reacting to an article that appeared on the website Mediapart, which claimed there was a potential investigation of the bank. Mediapart claimed that a ruling by the Paris court of appeal claimed that “the responsibility of Bernard Madoff does not rule out the possibility of fraudulent behaviour on the part of intermediaries such as BNP,” the newspaper adds.
02/03/2012

Further increase in assets at Spanish funds in February

As of 29 February, assets under management by Spanish securities funds totalled slightly over EUR130.3bn, EUR917m or 0.7% more than as of 31 January, and EUR2.53bn or 2% more than at the end of 2011, according to statistics from the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms.The situation has stabilised in terms of flows: after ten consecutive months of sometimes very high net redemptions, the balance was negative by only EUR4m in February (compared with EUR401m in January).Despite this improvement, however, the top four asset management firms by asset volume all show net outflows. Redemptions totalled EUR255.11m for Santander Asset Management, EUR144m for BBVA Asset Management, EUR100.55m for InverCaixa Gestión, and EUR37.9m for Bankia Fondos.However, Popular Gestión, the fifth-largest actor by assets under management, attracted EUR142.1m, and Banca Cívica, in 16th place, took in EUR108.9m.
02/03/2012

Vertiginous rise in deficits for major pension funds

On the basis of data communicated by the 16 major listed US businesses whose pension libilities exceed USD20bn, the performance of assets and the contribution of businesses was considerable in 2011, but that did not prevent liabilities from increasing more rapidly than assets, Russell Investments reports. The overall shortfall in financing for this group of funds as of 31 December came to USD173bn, compared with USD121bn one year earlier, which is largely due to a fall in the discount rate.The “USD20bn club” has overall pension liabilities of over USD750bn, and is thus representative of the developing situation for the entire sector. Although businesses have taken measures to reduce deficits for their pension funds, a decline in interest rates in 2011 led to a deterioration in the financial situation for all actors.In order to make up this deficit and comply with the requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, cash injections will need to be large not only in 2012 but also in subsequent years. According to Russell, businesses of the USD20bn club contributed USD114bn in the period from 2005 to 2011. Due to the deficit at the end of December last year, the total in the next seven years will probably have to be much closer to USD250bn.
02/03/2012

Pimco punctually launches ETF version of its Total Return fund

As announced in an SEC filing of 7 July 2011, Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) on 1 March launched an ETF based on the Pimco Total Return fund by Bill Gross. The new product, whose acronym on NYSE Arca is TRXT, charges fees of 0.55%, as planned. It is also managed by Gross, founder and co-CIO of Pimco.The portfolio of the new fund will also be composed of high quality bonds; it will be actively managed, but will use neither options, futures, nor swaps.
02/03/2012

BlackRock offers a toolbox for investors

With the Investing for a New World service, at www.blackrock.com/newworld, BlackRock has made an online multimedia toolboox to help investors of any size to better take advantage of the opportunities offered by the markets, by constructing more dynamic and more diversified portfolios.The product, which includes access to the BlackRock Institute information platform, is BlackRock’s contribution to the offensive that Lawrence D. Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, is hoping to see take off in the asset management sector, which, he says, should “collaborate with businesses to help investors adopt a long-term perspective. We should redouble our efforts to offer advice and provide answers. … If we want to finance a longer life expectancy, we need to convince individuals that they need to start investing for the long term now. Longevity is an advantage that we should exploit, and not a handicap.”
02/03/2012

Corporate defaults declined in 2011

Despite uncertainty surrounding the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, there were very few corporate defaults in 2011, the financial ratings agency Moody’s reports in its latest annual study. Only 35 issuers rated by Moody’s defaulted in 2011, on a total of USD36bn in debt, the lowest level in four years, the agency states. The majority of defaults were in North America, with 25 issuers (USD26bn in debt), while the remainder were in Europe. Default rates for corporate issuers rated by Moody’s fell to 0.8% as of the end of 2011, compared with 1.3% the previous year. The agency says the default rate may come in at about 2.8% at the end of 2012.
02/03/2012

Associations call on EU to revise proposed pension legislation

Several European professional associations on 1 March called on the European Commission to reconsider its proposed revisions to the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) directive, at a public hearing on the subject in Brussels. “We argue that it is dangerous to apply legislation which is designed for insurance companies to professional retirement institutions There are fundamental differences between them. All efforts to harmonise the regulatory regime are based on a biased logic, and may have unpredictable consequences for participants in pension programmes, retirement institutions and the economy as a whole, as they may slow growth and the creation of jobs,” statement signed jointly by the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA), th European venture capital association (EVCA), the European association of paritarian institutions (AEIP), the European trade union confederation (ETUC) and Business Europe. The associations therefore call on the European Commission, with the help of the European insurance and occupational pensions authority (EIOPA) to reconsider the issues at stake and then to formulate new proposals. The European Commission should revise its bill as soon as possible and test the validity of its new proposals with quantitative impact studies, and a political debate involving all participants, including European social partners.
02/03/2012

Henderson Credit Alpha joins UCITS Alternative Index

Henderson Global Investors on 1 March announced that its UCITS-compliant hedge fund Henderson Credit Alpha has been admitted to the UCITS Alternative Index Blue Chip, an index of 50 absolute return hedge funds calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital.The Henderson Credit Alpha fund, launched in 2007, is a long/short credit fund investing in CDS and corporate bonds. Its assets totaled EUR628.7m as of 31 January.
02/03/2012

Renta 4 may be in the market for asset management firm acquisitions

Juan Carlos Ureta, CEO, has announced at a presentation of the bank’s 2011 results (see article in today’s Newsmanagers) that Renta4 is an ideal candidate to acquire asset management firms, both in Spain and in Latin America, Funds People reports. The manager says that he has already studied several potential acquisitions, including those of the Spanish savings banks’ arena. Renta 4 is hoping to be a player in the reorganisation of the asset management sector, an area which offers many opportunities because it is fragmented and many actors do not have the necessary critical mass.
02/03/2012

New CEO of CatalunyaCaixa Inversió

To replace Oriol Dalmau, who has been appointed as a board member at the private bank but remains as chairman of the asset management firm, CatalunyaCaixa has appointed Xavier Pinzolas as CEO of CatalunyaCaixa Inversió (EUR2.4bn in assets), Funds People reports. Pinolas was CEO of Caixa Manresa Inversió from 2006 to 2010, before the asset management firm was absorbed by CatalanyaCaixa Inversió.
02/03/2012

“Exceptional” decline in profits for Renta4

For 2011, Renta4 has declared a net profit of EUR4.6m, compared with EUR6m for the previous year. The decline is largely due to an exceptional charge of EUR1.5m related to the adoption of bank status by the business.Assets under management and administration as of the end of December totalled EUR5.57bn, compared with EUR5.2bn one year previously, while net inflows totalled EUR663m, compared with EUR278m in 2010.As of 31 December, assets under management in investment funds had increased 3.4% year on ear, to EUR817m, while assets in pension funds totalled EUR292m (+15%), and assets in Sicavs were down 2.8% to EUR481m.At a publication of its annual results, Renta4 announced that it has created an affiliate in Dublin, Renta4 Investment Funds plc, to facilitate international marketing of its funds and investment instruments. Agreements in the same vein have been concluded with distributors in France and Germany.In addition, the firm has opened an office in Santiago, Chile, with the objective of developing activities in Latin America.
02/03/2012

Neptune renames its Asia fund

Neptune Asia Pacific Opportunities will be renamed as Neptune South-East Asia Fund, Money Marketing reports. The fund, managed by Tom Sinclair, has GBP17bn in assets.
02/03/2012

Renaissance offers selective frontier markets fund

The British asset management firm Renaissance Asset Managers on 1 March announced the launch of the Renaissance Frontier Markets Fund, a sub-fund of its UCITS-compliant, Luxembourg-registered Sicav. The new product is available to institutional and qualified retail investors.The manager, Sven Richter, says that the portfolio will be concentrated on shares from ten of the 25 countries in which annual growth is expected to be higher than 4%. These countries are Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. At all times, these countries will account for 85% to 100% of assets.These countries were chosen because they satisfy a number of criteria, including a population of over 35 million, projected GDP growth of over 4% per year over the next decade, a GDP per capita of less than USD6,000, relatively undeveloped markets, a significant young population, attractive resources, and the potential to develop due to these factors.
02/03/2012

Barings launches a fund of global mining sector shares

As announced in mid-January, the British asset management firm Baring Asset Management (Barings) on 1 March launched a fund of global mining sector shares. The Baring Global Mining Fund is a sub-fund of the UCITS-compliant, Irish-registered OEIC fund Baring Investment Funds plc (see Newsmanagers of 17 January).The fund of equities in all cap sizes will be managed by Clive Burstow. It is available in share classes denominated in EUR (IE00B5VDNH0), USD (IE00B55BZX02), and GBP (IE00B704RW18).
02/03/2012

Sal. Oppenheim Switzerland recruits for central & eastern Europe

Rolf R. Frehner, who for the past four years had been executive vice president for central and eastern Europe at Coutts Bank in Zurich, on 1 March began in his new position as a member of the general board at Bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Schweiz), in charge of private banking for eastern Europe.At Coutts, Frehner had been responsible for the markets of Russia and the CIS, after coorginating the entry of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank into the markets of eastern Europe. In 2007, he was also one of the founders and the president of the public association Swiss Russian Forum.
02/03/2012

Rothschild WM recruits for private management

Jon Andrea von Planta has been appointed as co-head private clients at Rothschild Wealth Management in Zurich, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 march, and is co-head with Riccardo Petrachi of all private clients of the bank in Zurich. Von Planta spent 16 years at Morgan Stanley & Co International in London, where as project lead, he developed business with high net worth clients in continental Europe. After returning to Switzerland in 2008, Von Planta founded his own asset management consulting firm, in which he continued to manage the assets of high net worth clients as well as a private commodities fund.
02/03/2012

Sal. Oppenheim appoints a head for eastern Europe

The bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Switzerland) has appointed Rolf Frehner as head of its private banking activities in eastern Europe, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 March 2012. Frehner also becomes a board member at the firm. Frehner spent four years at Coutts bank, as executive vice president for central and eastern Europe.
02/03/2012

Planned merger of two Swiss private banks falls through

A planned merger of the Geneva-based private bank Cramer and the Zurich-based Hottinger, announced in November 2011, has fallen through, according to a joint statement from the two groups. The two firms and the Geneva-based investment firm Norinvest, owned by Cramer, have decided to call off plans to merge, “for reasons related to the future strategic development of their activities.” The decision was taken by common agreement, and “the two groups will continue their activities independently, each developing their existing strategy and optimising their structure in order to achieve ongoing and sustainable growth.” Hottinger is present in Switzerland (Zurich, Basel and Geneva), New York, and the Bahamas. Cramer is present in Switzerland, where the bank has 45 employees, and the Bahamas.
02/03/2012

Promotions in asset management at ZFS

The resignation of Bernard Joei, who has chosen to leave the group, will lead to two promotions in the asset management unit at Zurich Financial Services (ZFS). The outgoing Joei is replaced from 1 March as head of alternative investments by Urban Angehm, currently head of investment strategy implementation. Angehm will be based in New York, and will report to Cecilia Reyes, CIO. Angehm came to ZFS in 2007 from Winterthur Asset Management, where he had been head of allocation & strategy.Thomas A. Rogers, regional investment manager for Americas, has been appointed as Angehm’s successor as head of investment strategy implementation in Zurich. He will also report to Reyes.
02/03/2012

Deutsche Bank rumoured to be planning to integrate db x-trackers into DWS

According to an exclusive report in Financial Times Deutschland, Deutsche Bank is said to be planning to integrate the ETF arm of its operation, db x-trackers (EUR30bn in assets), into its asset management firm DWS, which it plans to retain after the sale of the rest of its asset management operations. The bank has declined to comment on the reports. db x-trackers has hitherto been a part of the investment banking unit, led by the future co-CEO of the firm, Anshu Jain.
02/03/2012

Two French boutiques merge

Murielle Faure, chairwoman of IT AM, and Béatrice Philippe, chairwoman of PIM Gestion France, have announced the merger of their asset management firms. Faure says the decision was motivated both by highly similar philosophies at the two firms in management – equities, growth type and conviction-based – and by the considerable complementarity of the fund ranges from the two firms. “We are exclusively invested in the IT sector,” says Faure, “while PIM Gestion France invests in all industries except IT, which its management considered to be a gap.”Clients of the two asset management firms are also complementary, as IT AM largely serves investors such as private banks, wealth management advisers, etc., while PIM Gestion is largely known by multi-managers and institutionals. The merger will allow both firms to increase their fields of activity. “The merger will be completed retaining all management teams,” says Faure, adding that the two firms will join forces to form a single entity whose name will soon be announced, with EUR800m in assets under management. The remaining question is who will head up the new firm. “Governance will be known in May,” says Faure. “Meanwhile, teams will work to unite and become operational as soon as possible.”
02/03/2012

Blackstone chief made USD213.5m last year

Stephen Schwarzmann, founder of Blackstone, was the highest-paid chief in the private equity industry last year. He made USD213.5m in salary, dividends and cash. That puts him in first place in the profession, and represents a 33% increase compared with his 2010 income. However, last year he made 50% less than he did in 2006, when Blackstone held its IPO.
02/03/2012

Convictions AM recruits for international development

Convictions AM has announced the recruitment of Philippe Weller as head of international development for the French asset management firm. The German Weller, 41, had previously been head of international development at La Financière de Champlain, in charge of European, and then French clients, from 2007 to 2010.In his new role, he will be in charge of the commercial development of Convictions AM in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg. He joins Edoardo Chiozzi-Millelire, head of international development for the countries of southern Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, etc.), who joined the firm in 2010.“International markets currently represent 15% of our assets, and remain a strong area of development for Convictions AM. We have seen strong demand from private banks and family offices in European countries, particularly for our Convictions Premium fund,” says Hugues Riant, head of management mandates and communications at Convictions AM.
02/03/2012

New head of administration services at Citi

The US firm Citi has appointed Cheeping Yap as its head of administration services for Asia, as part of an internal reshuffle which has also included the appointment of a new head for the Australian market, Asian Investor reports. Yap, who began in his new role on 1 February, covers alternative investment, long-only mutual funds, transfer agency services and fuduciary services. In the position he replaces Matt Brown, who takes up new responsibilities in fund administration for the EMEA region. Citi is also planning to create a position for a global head of ETFs, an activity which Citi would like to develop steadfastly.
02/03/2012

Axa REIM raises EUR118m in Italy

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with EUR42 billion of assets under management as at December 2011, has announced the launch of the Caesar Fund, having raised EUR118 million from Italian institutional investors at first close. The fund is targeting a EUR200 million total equity raise with a fund size of up to EUR400 million, once fully invested. It will be managed by AXA Reim SGR in Italy. AXA IM Italia and AXA Real Estate will jointly work in the second phase of the placement for reaching this target.The Caesar Fund has a nine year life and seeks to achieve an average annual dividend of 5.5% on invested capital and an IRR of 9%. The fund is reserved for institutional investors and will target investment in core office properties in the euro zone and Great Britain.

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