Melissa Reagen will begin on 20 July as head of property research, Americas, at the UK based Aberdeen Asset Management. She will report to Andrew Allen, director of global research – property, who is head of a team that now includes 13 people in eight countries.Since 2005, Reagen had been at LaSalle Investment Management as lead strategist for the multifamily portfolio of LaSalle in the United States. She also advised the LaSalle US Property Fund (USD2bn).

Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers (EDRIM) announced on Thursday, 7 July that it is adding to its sales team, with the arrival of Audrey Walter. Walter, 29, will participate in the sale of structured products to French institutional investors, and will report to Jérôme Kelif, head of this activity.Walter began his career in 2003 at Dexia Asset Management, in the Risk department, and then joined Lyxor in 2005 as a product specialist, and then as a salesperson for structured products. In 2008, she joined Amundi, and dealt with sales of strucured products in the international sales team.

In first half, Financière de l’Echiquier has seen an increase in its assets of nearly EUR1bn, while the level of inflows in the same period have topped EUR700m, and EUR452m have been invested in funds from the management firm, putting it in second place, behind Rothschild 7 Cie Gestion, in the rankings of firms with the largest inflows this year.Between France and other countries, inflows are distributed relatively evenly, with France nonetheless still representing a majority (56% and 44%, respectively). Stéphane Toullieux, CEO of Financière de l’Echiquier, has focused particularly this year on institutional investor clients and key accounts (see Newsmanagers of 02/05/2011), and this strategy appears to be succeeding, as actors of this type were responsible for 60% of inflows, compared with 35% for distributors.In the product range, Agressor, the flagship fund from the management firm, has posted the largest net inflows (more than EUR270m). For its part, the ARTY fund has topped EUR100m in inflows. The Echiquier Major and Echiquier Patrimoine funds, for their part, have posted subscriptions of EUR40m each.Financière de l’Echiquier now manages EUR5.7bn in assets, of which 13% are from private management, 46% from distributors, and 41% form institutional investors and key accounts.

The French asset management firm DNCA Finance announced in Germany on 7 July that it has posted net subscriptions of EUR943m in the first six months of this year. As of 30 June, its assets totalled EUR5.9bn, or 21.5% more than as of the end of December (EUR4.9bn). About 60% of net inflows went to wealth management type diversified funds, such as DNCA Invest Eurose (ISIN: LU0284394235) and Evolutif (ISIN: LU0284394664), which alone attracted EUR566m. With the defensive fund Eurose, at EUR451m, these represent nearly three quarters of net inflows to diversified funds, while the flexible fund Evolutif attracted EUR115m, says Philippe Chamigneulle, manager of the Eurose fund.DNCA states that the funds are available in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, and Switerland, and that they are particularly well-suited to wealth managers and private banks.

“Tobacco bonds” issued by US states are bonds guaranteed by revenues from penalties paid by tobacco companies under settlements reached in the late 1990s. The bonds thus fall into the “municipal bonds” category, which Standard & Poor’s started downgrading in November, the Wall Street Journal reports. That has meant that funds specialised in muni-bonds, which are not allowed to have securities in their portfolios of less than investment grade, have been required to sell off the bonds at heavy losses.Several hedge funds, including Brigade Capital, GoldenTree Asset Management, Venor Capital Management and Foxhill Capital Partners, appeared to buy up the securities at low prices, and tobacco bonds gained 10% in June, and some gained as much as 60% !

Pimco has announced the recruitment of two former managers at Western Asset management, to take advantage of “multiple opportunities” in the municipal bond sector.Joe Dane will become director of the team specialised in municipal bonds, while Julie Callahan is joining Pimco as an analyst specialised in municipal bonds.

Agefi Switzerland reports that the Geneva-based private bank Mirabaud is extending its range of services for onshore clients, developing its advising activities and consolidating its team dedicated to financial planning. Mirabaud is planning to extend its base of clients invited to make use of these services, which had previously been limited to ultra high net worth individuals. “We are currently adding to our team of financial planning advisers, so as to offer services to a wider range of clients and meet the needs of onshore clients in Switzerland, as well as in France and Spain,” Cédric Anker, head of domestic clients, explains.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on 7 July published its conclusions about the application by various regulatory authorities in member states of the union of the Transparency directive (which includes dispositions regarding the publication of financial balance sheets, language of communication, information storage, publication of sanctions, and other areas). Overall, it appears that a vast majority of member states have integrated the added requirements into their respective legislation.

According to Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, director of the Swiss federal finance department, Switzerland and Germany are already close to reaching an agreement on the terms of an agreement to normalise wealth which German citizens have stashed in Swiss banks, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Almost all political issues are resolved. The legalisation will involve two components: a payment on taxes which were unpaid in the past, and an anonymous, flat withholding tax in the future. According to estimates, recuperation of back taxes could bring in EUR20bn for the German state’s coffers.

On 7 July, JPMorgan Chase & Co announced that it has reached a settlement with regulators (SEC, IRS, antitrust division of the Department of Justice, Comptroller of the Currency, the New York Fed and a group of attorneys general from several states), to end suits against several former employees of the municipal bond derivatives desk, an activity which the bank discontinued in September 2008.Under the agreement, the bank will pay a total of USD211.2m, and, according to reports in the press, a gross total of USD228m to settle the legal proceedings, which accused the bank of bid-rigging.

In June, open-ended funds underwent net outflows of EUR3.1bn, compared with EUR1.74bn in May. These outflows affected Italian-registered funds to the tune of EUR1.83bn, and foreign funds for EUR1.27bn, Assogestioni reports. In the first five months of the year, net redemptions have totalled «only» EUR10.17bn, largely thanks to very strong net inflows to foreign-registered funds (EUR5.49bn) in first quarter.By fund category, the segments which saw the heaviest outflows were bond products, with net redemptions of EUR4.07bn in first half, and money market funds, with net outflows of UER6.31bn. Hedge funds also suffered, with outflows of nearly EUR1.29bn, from assets of only EUR11.34bn.Equities and diversified funds attracted only EUR16m and EUR370m, respectively, in six months, while flexible funds attracted EUR1.11bn.Total assets, meanwhile, continued to decline; as of 30 June, they totalled EUR441.21bn, compared with EUR447.98bn as of the end of May, EUR453.45bn as of the end of March, and EUR460.05bn as of the end of December 2010. Of total assets as of the end of June, foreign-registered funds represent 59.6%.

A survey in second quarter by Forsa on behalf of Union Investment, covering financial decision-makers aged 20 to 59 in 500 German households has found that now 45%, up from 42% in January-March, estimate that the ecological impact of financial investments is the most important criterion. Meanwhile, 49%, compared with 54%, feel that the social aspect is determinant for a sustainable investment.This development may be attributed to an increase in environmental awareness following the Fukushima disaster, says Daniel Günnewig, CEO of Union Investment Privatfonds. Meanwhile, 31% of respondents estimate that the sustainable development aspect of their investments is important (comppared with 32% in first quarter). The percentage who are not interested in these issues has fallen to 23%, from 27% in January-March.

Temasek, one of two sovereign funds in Singapore, on 7 July announced a net profit of SGD13bn, or about USD7.4bn, for its fiscal year ending on 31 March 2011, compared with SGD5bn one year previously.The asset portfolio has reached a record SGD193bn, compared with SGD186bn as of the end of March 2010. Asia will remain the priority region for investments by the holding company, which is present in the capital of a large number of businesses in the transport sector (Singapore Airlines), telecommunications, finance, and real estate. Asia represents 77% of the fund’s portfolio, with 32% for Singapore, followed by North American, Europe and Australia (at about 20% each).Temasek says in a statement that investments since March 2002 have earned annualised returns over nine years of 21%. Over ten years, the global portfolio shows annualised returns of 9%.

The Swiss private bank and asset management firm Clariden Leu (Credit Suisse group) has received sales licenses for Germany and Austria from BaFin and the FMA for the Luxembourg-registered, non-benchmarked Clariden Leu Global High Yield Bond fund, launched on 29 April, managed by the US firm Oaktree Capital Management.As its name indicates, the product is a fund investing in high yield bonds with lower sensitivity to variations in interest rates than higher-rated bond issues. The fund is available in a B USD share class (LU0614322484), H EUR B (LU0614322641) and H CHF B (LU0614322997).Management commission is set at 1.2%, and assets in all share classes currently total USD267.8m.

With the ETF iShares MSCI Japan Monthly EUR Hedged, iShares MSCI World Monthly EUR Hedged and iShares S&P500 Monthly EUR Hedged, BlackRock has increased the number of its ETFs registered with the CNMV in Spain to 96, including the iShares MSCI Poland and iShares MSCI USA sub-funds of its iShares V Public Ltd. Sicav. The three physical replication funds named above have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since October, and are hedged for currency risks.

Money Marketing reports that HSBC is considering launching a low-cost actively-managed fund, to rival products of this type from Schroders and JP Morgan.According to the firm’s head of external distribution for the UK, Phil Reid, investors keep a close eye on the ratio of costs to returns, and it is therefore essential to offer them viable options which fall between active and passive management.

Aon Hewitt on 7 July released the European results of its global 2011 survey of risks related to social engagements at businesses (“Global Pension Risk Survey 2011.”) The survey brings together and analyses responses form multinationals in 13 countries of continental Europe, representing financial assets of EUR127bn, and over 1 million members.One of the major lessons of the study is that “de-risking,” or cancelling out risk factors, has become a top priority throughout Europe, and half of respondents would like to reach an economic level which would allow their pension regimes to be autonomous.A trend which could be considered realistic is developing: five times more businesses surveyed than in 2009 (when the last survey was undertaken) say that they are now planning to manage their pension regimes with a 20-year horizon in view. The survey also finds that employers are aware that they will need to bear costs related to retirements: more than half of respondents are planning to finance deficits through contributions alone.Among the other key findings: Fewer businesses are planning to change regimes, as those who are planning to modify their pension plans have already done so, and others are seeking to maintain their plans and are taking on the costs engendered themselves. In a large number of countries, the definition of the advantages and the rules as pension funds develop play a key role, particularly when risks can be managed, as they can, for example, in the choice of a new method for indexing incomes. More sophisticated risk-taking than in the past: employers are turning to alternative asset classes in order to bring in higher revenues, while running fewer risks related to derivatives and interest rates. There is still some way to go until coverage instruments are used more widely: 25% of businesses surveyed have no official policy about interest rates or hedging assets against inflationary risks. Hedging against risks related to longevity is a practice which is gaining popularity, particularly in the Netherlands, which appears to be following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom.

Les actifs sous gestion de Man Group s’inscrivaient au 30 juin 2011 à 71 milliards de dollars contre 69,1 milliards de dollars au 31 mars 2011, a annoncé le groupe le 7 juillet dans un communiqué.La collecte brute s’est élevée au deuxième trimestre au niveau record de 9 milliards de dollars. Les rachats ont totalisé 5,3 milliards de dollars, un montant historiquement moyen, observe Man Group, si bien que la collecte nette a atteint 3,7 milliards de dollars. La collecte nette des fonds alternatifs s’inscrit à 4,1 milliards de dollars, les fonds long/only ayant subi une décollecte de 400 millions de dollars (1,5 milliard de souscriptions et 1,9 milliard de rachats). Les produits garantis ont enregistré leur plus forte collecte depuis deux ans, à 500 millions de dollars, grâce au lancement de ManIP 220 GLG, le premier véhicule garanti commun combinant les stratégies AHL et GLG. Les rachats sur les produits garantis se sont inscrits à 600 millions de dollars. En termes de performances, les conditions difficiles de marché ont contribué à un effet négatif de 1,1 milliard de dollars au deuxième trimestre. Au sein de la gamme de GLG, les performances négatives l’ont emporté sur les résultats positifs, avec des gains pour les stratégies European long short et European distressed mais des pertes pour la stratégie global macro et d’autres stratégies long/short.

Après des mois de spéculation, Lloyds Banking Group a indiqué qu’il garderait sa participation majoritaire de 60% dans la société de gestion St James’s Place, rapporte Money Marketing.Les actifs sous gestion de st James’s Place s'élevaient au 31 mars à 28 milliards de livres, contre 27 milliards de livres fin 2010 et 21,4 milliards de livres fin mars 2010.

Le britannique Ignis Asset Management a annoncé un certain nombre de changements au sein de son équipe dédiée aux actions britanniques. Ignis a notamment recruté Mark Holden en qualité de gérant du fonds Ignis UK Focus dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 112 millions de livres. Mark Holden, qui était précédemment associé de Vestra Wealth, sera rattaché à Mark Lovett, le chief investment officer d’Ignis pour le pôle actions qui a rejoint la société en octobre 2010 en provenance de Allianz RCM. Ralph Brook-Fox, l’actuel gérant du UK Focus, prendra la responsabilité de Ignis Balanced Growth fund (173 millions de livres) avec effet immédiat. Il travaillera également sur les mandats institutionnels en collaboration avec Mark Lovett. En outre, Ignis a recruté un analyste, Bilal Raja, pour l'équipe actions britanniques. D’autres analystes devraient prochainement rejoindre l'équipe.

Selon Money Marketing, HSBC envisage de lancer un fonds low cost géré activement dans le sillage des produits de ce type proposés par Schroders et JP Morgan. Selon le responsable de la distribution externe au Royaume-Uni, Phil Reid, les investisseurs surveillent de très près le couple coût/rendement et il est donc essentiel de pouvoir leur proposer des options intermédiaires viables entre gestion active et gestion passive.

Temasek, l’un des deux fonds souverains de Singapour a annoncé le 7 juillet un bénéfice net de 13 milliards de Singapour, soit quelque 7,4 milliards de dollars, pour l’exercice clos au 31 mars 2011, contre 5 milliards de dollars de Singapour un an plus tôt. Le portefeuille d’actifs a atteint le montant record de 193 milliards de dollars de Singapour contre 186 milliards à fin mars 2010. L’Asie va rester la région prioritaire pour les investissements de la holding, présente dans le capital de très nombreuses entreprises des secteurs du transport (Singapore Airlines), des télécoms, de la finance ou de l’immobilier. L’Asie représente 77% du portefeuille du fonds, dont 32% pour Singapour, suivie par l’Amérique du Nord, l’Europe et l’Australie (autour de 20%). Temasek souligne dans un communiqué que les investissements réalisés après mars 2002 ont dégagé un rendement annualisé sur neuf ans de 21%. Sur dix ans, le portefeuille global affiche un rendement annualisé de 9%.

Avec les ETF iShares MSCI Japan Monthly EUR Hedged, iShares MSCI World Monthly EUR Hedged et iShares S&P500 Monthly EUR Hedged, BlackRock vient de porter à 96 le nombre de ses ETF enregistrés en Espagne par la CNMV, en comptant aussi les compartiments iShares MSCI Poland et iShares MSCI USA de sa sicav iShares V Public Ltd.Les trois fonds nommés en premier, à réplication physique, sont cotés sur le London Stock Exchange depuis octobre et présentent la particularité d'être couverts du risque de change.

La première banque allemande Deutsche Bank a annoncé le 7 juillet être en négociations exclusives avec la société de services financiers belge RHJ International pour lui céder sa filiale BHF Bank. Deutsche Bank, qui avait acquis BHF Bank dans le cadre de l’acquisition du groupe Sal. Oppenheim en 2009, avait pourtant assuré en avril dernier qu’elle renonçait à se séparer de cette entité, après avoir tenté en vain de la vendre à l'établissement liechtensteinois LGT.La Deutsche Bank rappelle dans un communiqué que BHF Bank est «l’une des marques les plus connues de la finance allemande, dotée d’une longue tradition dans la gestion d’actifs, la gestion de fortune, les marchés financiers et la banque d’entreprises».Deutsche Bank estime que l’opération envisagée permettrait à la holding belge de compléter l’offre de sa filiale Kleinwort Benson. Cette dernière, active dans les îles britanniques, a des activités similaires à celles de BHF Bank. Fin 2010, BHF Bank gérait quelque 43 milliards d’euros d’actifs. Elle employait environ 1.500 salariés dans le monde. Elle est surtout présente en Allemagne, mais aussi au Luxembourg et en Suisse. Elle dispose par ailleurs de représentations à Abou Dhabi, en Egypte et au Vietnam.

Plusieurs gestionnaires étrangers ont annoncé ces jours derniers des recrutements pour leur force de vente en Allemagne. L'équipe de distribution du britannique Schroders reçoit à son tour un renfort avec l’arrivée d’un directeur de la distribution pour les particuliers, les intermédiaires et les banques régionales du centre de l’Allemagne. Alexander Wiss vient de la caisse d'épargne Südliche Weinstrasse, où il était chargé du conseil en placements pour la clientèle haut de gamme. Il est placé sous l’autorité de Melanie Stahl, qui dirige toute la distribution de Schroder Investment Management (Schroders Allemagne).

Quelques jours après l’annonce de l’ouverture de succursales à Francfort et Milan (lire notre article du 27 juin), le gestionnaire helvétique Swisscanto (57,6 milliards de francs suisses d’actifs sous gestion fin mars) a indiqué le 7 juillet avoir recruté à compter du 1er août Karsten Marzinzik comme senior account manager. Il sera chargé du suivi et du recrutement des clients institutionnels (fonds de fonds, gestionnaires de fortune, banques…)Jusqu'à présent, Karsten Marzinzik était senior sales managers chez Fidelity Allemagne, en charge du suivi et du recrutement de partenaires de distribution.

La Deutsche Börse a annoncé le 7 juillet avoir admis à la négociation sur le segment XTF de sa plate-forme électronique Xetra quatre nouveaux ETF de droit irlandais d’UBS Global Asset Management. En réalité, il s’agit de deux fois deux fonds d’actions utilisant par paires le même indice, mais en classe de part A (retail) et I (institutionnels).Pour le UBS ETFs plc – MSCI Emerging Markets TRN INDEX SF – (USD) A-acc (IE00B3Z3FS74) et pour le UBS ETFs plc – MSCI Emerging Markets TRN INDEX SF – (USD) I-acc (IE00B3P9PD09), les commissions se situent respectivement à 0,62 % et 0,45 %De leur côté, le fonds UBS ETFs plc – MSCI EMU TRN INDEX SF – (EUR) A-acc (IE00B5B1MZ58) est chargé à 0,17 % tandis qu’UBS Globam AM ne facture pas de commission pour le fonds UBS ETFs plc – MSCI EMU TRN INDEX SF – (EUR) I-acc (IE00B5M9BT58).Ces produits portent à 823 le nombre des ETF cotés sur Xetra.

Le suisse Clariden Leu (groupe Credit Suisse) a obtenu pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche de la BaFin et de la FMA l’agrément de commercialisation du fonds luxembourgeois non benchmarké Clariden Leu Global High Yield Bond lancé le 29 avril et géré par l’américain Oaktree Capital Management.Il s’agit comme son nom l’indique d’un fonds d’obligations à haut rendement avec une sensibilité plus faible aux variations de taux d’intérêt que des émissions mieux notées. Le fonds est disponible en parts B USD (LU0614322484), H EUR B (LU0614322641) et H CHF B (LU0614322997). La commission de gestion est fixée à 1,2 % et l’encours se situe actuellement pour l’ensemble des classes de parts à 267,8 millions de dollars.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la banque genevoise Mirabaud élargit sa gamme de services pour la clientèle onshore, en développant son activité de conseil et en consolidant son équipe dédiée à la planification financière. Plus précisément, Mirabaud veut élargir la clientèle susceptible de bénéficier de ces services, auparavant focalisés sur les clients les plus fortunés, les Ultra High Net Worth Individuals. «Nous renforçons actuellement notre équipe de conseillers en planification financière, de manière à offrir ce service à une clientèle plus large et à répondre aux besoins des clients onshore en Suisse, mais aussi en France ou en Espagne», explique Cédric Anker, responsable de la clientèle domestique.

L’information parue sur le site H24 Finance annonçant, selon ses sources, le départ de Bruno Vanier de chez Edmond de Rotschild AM où il occupe actuellement la fonction de co-directeur de la gestion dans les prochaines semaines, a été confirmé à Newsmanagers. La société de gestion n’a toutefois pas souhaité faire de commentaires.