Le 17 décembre, UBS Global Asset Management lancera le UBS Asian Consumption fund géré par son équipe actions Asie hors Japon, rapporte Fund Strategy. Ce nouveau produit se focalisera sur les actions de fournisseurs de biens et de services aux consommateurs asiatiques ainsi que sur les sociétés asiatiques produisant des biens de consommation et des entreprises de prestations de services implantées à l'échelon mondial.

Aujourd’hui, en Suisse, les fonds gérés par BlackRock seraient de 48 milliards de francs dans l’institutionnel, selon une estimation de l’institut IPE «que ne dément pas BlackRock», rapporte Le Temps. La société se placerait au troisième rang dans l’institutionnel suisse, derrière Credit Suisse et UBS. Les revenus de BlackRock se répartissent en Suisse, où le groupe est dirigé par Heinz Rothacher, de façon presque égale entre la gestion passive et la gestion active. Certains créneaux restent encore à combler, à l’image des obligations en francs suisses, des actions suisses à forte capitalisation et certaines stratégies de hedge funds ainsi que des fonds orientés sur les dividendes. Des projets sont en cours à ce propos, indique le quotidien suisse.

Le 26 novembre, DWS Investments (Spain) a enregistré auprès de la CNMV le fonds de fonds de performance absolue DB Evolution Defensive, pour lequel la durée minimale de détention recommandée est de 3 ans. Ce fonds vise une performance annuelle -non garantie- supérieure à celle de l’Eonia + 50 points de base avec une volatilité ex ante inférieure ou égale à 5 %, quelle que soit par ailleurs l'évolution des marchés.En conditions normales, le fonds sera exposé directement ou indirectement aux actions dans une proportion comprise entre 0 et 30 %, principalement des moyenne et grandes capitalisations. Dans l’obligataire, il n’y a aucune règle prédéfinie en matière de duration moyenne, ni en termes de notation minimale.Caractéristiques Dénomination : DB Evolution DefensiveCode Isin : ES0125755001Commission de gestion : 1,2 %Commission de performance : 9 % de la surperformance par rapport à l’Eonia + 50 points de base

Selon Asian Investor, Citi Private Bank vient de recruter John Woods en tant que chief investment officer pour la zone Asie-Pacifique afin d'élargir son offre de conseil et d’adapter ses services régionaux d’allocation aux besoins de la clientèle. Basé à Hong Kong, John Woods recherche dès à présent un gérant de portefeuille qui travaillera à ses côtés.John Woods travaillait précédemment en tant qu’associé au sein de la société de gestion alternative Lincoln Vale à Londres où il avait la responsabilité des actions et du fixed income asiatiques.

Après l’Europe, les Etats-Unis, le Japon, Tobam lance une déclinaison de son processus Anti-Benchmark sur un univers mondial d’actions d’entreprises de pays développés. La nouvelle stratégie Anti-Benchmark World Equity sera notamment disponible via un fonds commun de placement de droit français agréé par l’Autorité des marchés financiers. La société de gestion française indépendante proposait déjà à ses clients de s’exposer aux actions internationales via l’Anti-Benchmark Global Equity, un fonds qui agrégeait les fonds régionaux de la société de gestion. Sa nouvelle stratégie sera directement investie sur les marchés. L’Anti-Benchmark World a d’ores et déjà enregistré 150 millions d’euros de souscriptions, dont 50 millions d’euros dans le fonds commun de placement et 100 millions dans le cadre d’un mandat de gestion pour un fonds de pension européen. Cela va permettre à la société d’accroître encore un peu plus ses encours, qui ressortent à 1,35 milliard de dollars et sont gérés principalement pour le compte d’investisseurs étrangers (90 %). Développée par Tobam, la stratégie Anti-Benchmark se fonde sur le constat que les indices de référence pondérés par la capitalisation ne sont pas suffisamment diversifiés et surtout qu’ils ont tendance à donner un poids excessif aux valeurs et aux secteurs dont les cours ont déjà beaucoup monté. «Par exemple, aujourd’hui, les financières représentent 32 % de l’Eurostoxx 50. Donc un investisseur qui place ses encours dans un fonds indiciel fait implicitement un énorme pari sur le secteur financier et basé sur l’hypothèse que les cours des valeurs le composant vont continuer à monter», explique Yves Choueifaty, président de Tobam, qui était présent aux Edhec-Risk Institutional Days 2010 à Monaco. «Investir dans un fonds benchmarké n’a rien de neutre», renchérit-il. «Bien au contraire ! Les indices capi-pondérés sont des allocataires de risque dynamiques».La société de gestion cherche donc à composer, grâce à un modèle quantitatif propriétaire, le portefeuille le plus diversifié possible sur un marché donné. Les portefeuilles obtenus ont de fait une «tracking error» importante par rapport à l’indice auquel ils se réfèrent. Mais pour Yves Choueifaty, l’écart de suivi n’est pas une mesure de risque. «La tracking error ne fait que mesurer l’écart entre deux portefeuilles. Dans le cas de l’Anti-Benchmark, elle revient à mesurer la distance séparant le benchmark d’un portefeuille bien diversifié donc reflète la taille des paris qu’il y a dans le benchmark».En revanche, depuis le début de l’année, les performances des stratégies sont supérieures aux indices, avec une volatilité moindre, sauf pour la stratégie US. Par exemple, l’Anti-Benchmark Euro Equity monte de 11,72 % entre janvier et fin octobre, contre une hausse de seulement 2,32 % pour le DJ EuroStoxx Index, avec une volatilité de 15,30 % contre 23,08 % pour l’indice. Dans ce contexte, s’agissant de la nouvelle stratégie, Yves Choueifaty anticipe «une espérance de rendement supérieure à celle de l’indice et un objectif de réduction du risque de l’ordre de 30 %».

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) annonce avoir signé un accord commercial avec Oddo Services pour développer une offre conjointe de services titres à destination des acteurs de la gestion privée de taille moyenne en France. «Ces acteurs représentent quelque 500 établissements qui aujourd’hui traitent leurs opérations eux-mêmes ou qui les confient à plusieurs acteurs externes», souligne SSGS dans un communiqué.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cazenove Capital confirmed on 9 December that it has received permission from the FSA, and is launching the Diversity Income Fund, which will be managed by Marcus Brookes and Robin McDonald. The objective of the product, launched on 15 December, is to generate capital in line with inflation over the mid-term, with average income of 4% per year. At launch, the managers are planning to invest 45% of the portfolio in equities, 45% in bonds, and 10% in alternative products, via 13 funds, including the following: M&G Optimal Income, Invesco Perpetual Tactical Bond, JOHCM UK Opportunities, M&G Global Dividend, and Jupiter Absolute Return.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 17 December, UBS Global Asset Management will launch the UBS Asian Consumption Fund, managed by its Asia ex Japan equities team, Fund Strategy reports. The new product will focus on equities from providers of consumer products to Asian consumers, as well as Asian companies which produce consumer products and services businesses with a global franchise.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that Irving Picard is seeking to maximise the funds recuperated for the liquidation of the Madoff business, by reducing as far as possible the number of entities with a right to receive a portion of the sum. His way of doing this is to exclude European victims in favour of American clients. Up until 3 December, 16,394 clients of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS) had contacted the trustee and provided information about the state of their outstanding balance with Madoff as of 11 December 2009, the day of his arrest. After examining 94.4% of these files, the trustee concluded that 2355 of them were receivable, equibalent to 14.3%, and that these clients may expect to receive a portion of the recuperated funds. Nearly 80% of applications were rejected, as the trustee only recognised as creditors those who held an account with BMIS directly. This excludes virtually all European clients, who invested with Madoff via investment funds. Though these funds held accounts with BMIS, they also have been excluded from the bankruptcy payouts, on the grounds that they should have known that Madoff was a fraudster and that they were his objective accomplices. “As the trustee is the representative of Madoff in the bankruptcy proceedings, this results in a surreal situation in which the representative of the fraudster attacks his victims for having failed to discover the fraud,” the Swiss newspaper remarks.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } IFAs appear much more optimistic than their clients about outlooks for capital markets, according to the most recent quarterly survey by Russell Investments, “Financial Professional Outlook” (FPO). 59% of IFAs say they are optimistic about the outlooks for capital markets in the next three years, while only 7% of them say that their clients are optimistic. The study also finds that 78% of IFAs say their clients report that economic uncertainty presents an obstacle to the realisation of their financial objectives. 61% say that the volatility of the markets worries their clients. In other words, IFAs are facing an enormous job to rebuild relationships of trust with their clients, whose confidence was in many cases profoundly shaken by the financial crisis.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Currently, the five funds from Diamant Bleu Gestion ( Diamant Bleu LFP, Diamant Bleu Monde LFP and Diamant Bleu responsable, the diversified funds, Diamant Bleu LFP Rotation Sectorielle and Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et Résilience, the equities funds), have been on sale directly to pension funds, insurers and banks.“These products, which are also interesting for family offices and private banks, all have retail shares which so far have not been actively marketed,” Christian Jimenez, co-founder and CEO of Diamant Bleu Gestion and head of Imene Investment Partners (which controls 75% of DBG), announced on 9 December. He added that in agreement with the shareholder UFG-LFP (which controls 15% of shares), and which provides DBG with all of its middle office - as Hugues Le Maire, who controls 10% of shares, observes – the portfolios will be made available to IFAs from April 2011.Jimenez also announced that François-Xavier Chevallier joined DBG as a fund manager a few weeks ago. On 9 November he signed the first monthly economic letter from the management firm, as he has also become the director of economic studies.

Wegelin Asset Management -a division of Swiss-based private Bank Wegelin- which started on the French market in January, has spent all this time since then to set the bases for its development en France. It has started to concentrate on institutional investors who are managing their own account, just like it does in Switzerland where the company has a broad client base among pension funds and insurance companies.However, to be successful on the French market, Wegelin wished to go further. In order to contact other professional investors (FoFs, private banks and so on), the asset management company recently passed a partnership with the third party marketer (TPM) Aloha Finance."This approach is adapted to the French market which is very fragmented but where private investors may have needs that are very similar to those of institutional investors. Thus, they are also very interested in our management strategies», says Pierre-Yves Cahart. If this double approach is successful in France, which is a sort or laboratory or testing ground for this kind of model, it could possibly also be used in other European countries, especially in Italy. «Provided that we find the right partners to develop our business», the head of institutional customers in France and French-speaking countries at Wegelin AM says.In the meantime, Wegelin is selling its active indexing equity strategy, managed by Daniel Leveau, the head of the quant management team. After been awarded a sales licence in July, the company started with the active sales drive of the range, which combines active and index-based, market picking strategies and consists of three Luxembourg domiciled UCITS III funds."The response of French institutional investors to this range has been very positive», the manager says. «One must say, though, that French institutional investors were themselves expressing interest for these products, which has prompted us to propose them in France», Cahart confirms.Other strategies might be proposed to French customers in the future, especially the «global diversification» one, which has no sales license in France yet. «We actually register a strong demand for product that include a pre-defined exposure to the different sources of risk», says Cahart.

In a meeting with Newsmanagers, Jean-Louis Laurens, managing partner, and Arnaud Perrier, director of development at Rotschild & Cie Gestion, discuss the plans which the management firm has for the near future, especially on the emerging markets. “We now have a fund of funds on these markets,” says Laurens, “but it must be admitted that it does not represent the management of our own firm.” The firm, aware of its late arrival on the market, is looking for an originality to set itself apart. The idea is to form partnerships with “local” management firms in some emerging markets, in order to profit from the high savings capacities in several countries, and their successes as exporters. Local managers will identify opportunities via a selection of shares, and Paris will handle the geographical and asset allocation. The project is at an advanced stage, insofar as discussions have already taken place with several emerging countries.As additions to the fund product range, the firm is also looking at alternative multi-management – but not necessarily in France, nor on the European continent, but most likely on the US market.Laurens also discusses the recent sale of the Sélection R platform, and explains that the sale was part of a natural “refocusing” of the asset management firm on the advising and management professions. “Operating the platform costs capital and a lot of administrative energy to manage,” he says. In addition, the platform, based on completely open architecture, was not a high-performance way to sell the house funds.” The situation will develop more favourably in the future. It will allow Rotschild & Cie Gestion to increase assets from EUR22bn currently, to EUR30bn by the end of 2014, according to the objective set by the directors of the firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The HFRI Fund composite hedge fund index gained 0.326% in November, largely due to good performance for its equity strategies. The HFRI Equity Hedge (Total) Index gained 1.09%, with a significant contribution from energy and base material strategies, which gained 5.20% in November, after gains of 4.05% in October.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French shareholder advising firm Deminor on 9 December called on European investors who were victims of the Madoff fraud not to rely exclusively on the action of the court-appointed trustee for the business in the United States, who it claims is not covering indirect clients. “Deminor has noted multiple legal actions recently filed by the administrator in the Madoff case,” the agency says. According to Deminor, these actions “have the objective of regaining as much money as possible for the ‘Madoff liquidation,’ to be redistributed to Madoff ‘clients.'” However, “the vast majority of European investors defended by Deminor had an indirect exposure to Madoff” via funds or banks, the agency points out. It says that “in order to avoid a potential dilution of their reimbursement, it is of the highest importance for investors not to rely on the actions of the US Trustee, and to undertake European initiatives .. in order to obtain complete indemnisation.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After Europe, the United States and Japan, Tobam is launching a version of its Anti-Benchmark process based on a global universe of businesses in developed countries. The new Anti-Benchmark World Equity strategy will be available via a French-registered FCP fund licensed by the French financial market authority (AMF). The French independent management firm was already offering its clients exposure to global equities via the Anti-Benchmark Global Equity fund, which combined the regional funds from the management firm. The new strategy will invest in the markets directly. The Anti-Benchmark World has already registered EUR150m in subscriptions, of which EUR50m are for the FCP fund, and EUR100m for a management mandate from a European pension fund. That will allow the management firm to increase its assets a little bit further, beyond the current total of USD1.35bn, managed largely for foreign investors (90%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former president of BNP Gestions and La Française des Placements, Arnaud Clément-Grandcourt, joined Diamant Bleu Gestion (EUR184m in assets currently) to manage the youngest fund in the product range, the contrarian international equities Sicav Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et Résilience, according to his principles (the other four products in the range are FCP funds). The Sicav fund was created on 22 November 2010, and began its operations on 6 December. It will have about 30 positions, and its benchmark is a hybrid of 60% Eurostoxx 50 with dividends reinvested, and 40% capitalised Eonia.At a presentation in Paris on 9 December, Christian Jimenez, co-founder and president of Diamant Bleu Gestion, explained that the new fund received an initial investment of EUR11.33m from a small circle of institutional and private investors. It will have about EUR15m by the end of December, and EUR30m by the end of January, based on commitments from investors who are already sold on the fund.The new fund has “two parts, which reflect two processes, with the common philosophy being risk control,” the manager continues. “Among the shares in the growth portion, there are shares which will outperform when the markets are rising; in the resilience portion, there are shares which will lose less, and even generate positive returns, when the markets are falling.”The formula is based on increased flexibility in allocation between the growth and resilience portions. The fund shall or should invest 60% to 100% in equities, and may if need be allocate up to 100% to resilient equities, though the manager will avoid allocating more than 50% to the growth portfolio. “We look for risk assymetries, knowing that negatives will be lower than positives,” says Clément-Grandcourt. The fund is managed with a mid-term and long-only approach, without leverage and without derivatives.CharacteristicsName: Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et RésilienceISIN codes: I shares: FR0010892588S shares: FR0010957936Management commission: I shares: 1.50% maximumS shares: 0.95% maximumPerformance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the benchmark, with high watermark

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UK management firm Gartmore has been fined USD1.35m for allowing its US hedge fund AlphaGen RhoCas to short-sell shares in a firm last year, and then to participate in a capital increase at the same firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Natixis announced in a statement on 9 December that it has not yet received notification of a lawsuit from the legally-appointed trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BMIS”), but that it nonetheless rejects the plaints against it. Following a press statement released by the trustee, Irving Picard, the bank announced that “Natixis rejects the claims against it, and is planning to take the necessary measures to defend itself and ensure that its legal rights are protected.” Natixis says that it “has always acted in good faith and that it did not gain from, nor participate in, nor have knowledge of the fraud committed by Bernard Madoff. To the contrary, it is a civil party in the current penal legal action currently in the instruction process in Paris.” The statement points out that as of 31 December 2009, Natixis had set aside EUR463m, or 100% of its exposure to Madoff assets, minus insurance costs.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Citi Private Bank has recruited John Woods as chief investment officer for the Asia-Pacific region, in order to extend its advising product range and adapt its regional allocation services to the needs of clients. Woods will be based in Hong Kong, and is seeking a portfolio manager to work alongside him. Woods previously worked as a partner at the alternative management firm Lincoln Vale in London, where he was responsible for Asian equities and fixed income.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 26 November, DWS Investments (Spain) registered the absolute return fund of funds DB Evolution Defensive, for which the minimal recommended investment duration is 3 years, with the CNMV. The fund aims for annual returns higher than the Eonia + 50 basis points with ex ante volatility lower than or equal to 5%, regardless of the evolution of the markets, but with no guarantee. Under normal conditions, the fund will be directly or indirectly exposed to equities to a total proportion of 0% to 30%, primarily mid and large caps. For bonds, there is no predefined rule as to average duration, nor as to minimal rating. Characteristics Name: DB Evolution Defensive ISIN code: ES0125755001 Management commission: 1.2% Performance commission: 9% of performance exceeding the Eonia + 50 basis points

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 9 December, ETF Exchange (ETFX) and Rabobank International announced that the ETF ETFX AMX Fund (EAMX NA), which replicates an index of the 25 largest Dutch midcaps, has been admitted to trading on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. The admission follows the listing in March of the ETFX AEX Fund (NTH NA), which replicates the 25 largest caps in the Netherlands. 9 December marks the beginning of the sales phase for this fund as well. Rabobank International is a member of the ETF Exchange consortium, which claims to be the largest platform in the world for multiple counterparties for swaps, which reduces counterparty risks. ETFs on this platform therefore use synthetic replication to reduce tracking error and costs. They all comply with the UCITS III directive.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In Switzerland currently, institutional assets under management by BlackRock are estimated at CHF48bn, according to the IPE institute, a figure “which BlackRock does not deny,” Le Temps reports. This puts the firm in third place for Swiss institutional management, after Credit Suisse and UBS. Revenues at BlackRock are divided nearly equally in Switzerland, where the group is led by Heinz Rothacher, between passive and active management. There are still some gaps to fill, such as bonds denominated in Swiss francs, Swiss large cap equities, and come hedge fund strategies, as well as funds oriented to dividends. There are plans underway in these areas, the Swiss newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of November 2010, assets at the high-yield asset management firm Muzinich & Co topped USD9bn, of which USD2.690m were for five sub-funds of the Irish Sicav.The Paris office, led by Eric Pictet, stated on 9 December that “all funds have posted a significant increase in their assets due to net subscriptions” and positive market effects.Assets for the Enhancedyield € increased to USD415m (EUR342m) from USD73m as of the end of December 2009, while the Americayield $ rose to USD1.486bn from USD734m. The ShortDurationHighYield fund, launched only on 4 October, has already attracted USD168m.The conclusion of Muzinich is that “all funds now have sufficient assets to welcome all types of investors.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings announced on 9 December that it is moving its London headquarters to Canary Wharf. From 13 December, the new offices will be home to all of the group’s London-based activities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stefan Zayer will join Rupert Hengster as co-head of the German activities of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EdRAM). For the moment, the opening of the future Frankfurt offices is awaiting approval from the supervisory authorities, EdRAM announced on 9 December. Zayer will be director and vice-spokesman of the board of directors at EdRAM Germany, with responsibility for third party institutional activities. From 2005 to the present, he was head of the “new clients” activity in the institutional sales branch of Lazard Asset Management in Frankfurt. Philippe Couvrecelle, chairman of the board at EdRAM, told Newsmangers at the end of September that the Frankfurt office would eventually have five staff, and that it would initially target institutional clients (see Newsmanagers of 27 September).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 1 January 2011, the Hamburg private bank M. M. Warburg & Co KgaA will be taking over the remaining 49% stake which the savings bank of Bremen still held in the Bremen-based private bank Bankhaus Carl F. Plump & Co. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed. Warburg, which has owned 515 of Plump since 1999, will maintain the CEOs of Plump, Heinz Schwind and Marko Broischinski, in their positions.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US management firm Southeastern Asset Management, which is a shareholder both in the Spanish firm ACS and in the German firm Hochtief, in which it holds a 5.19% stake, is calling for the resignation of the managing board and the supervisory board at Hochtief, Expansión reports. It accuses the heads of the German group of having authorised a capital increase which allowed Qatar to take control of 9.1% of the business, which will require ACS to improve the terms of its takeover bid.Southeastern AM is upset by the outcome, as the Qatar sovereign fund will pay EUR57.114 per share, while shares in Hochtief were trading on the day of the announcement at EUR60.12.The German asset management firm DWS (Deutsche Bank) agrees with Southeastern’s criticisms, as the deal also dilutes its own stake.

Selon l’étude Mergermarket/Merrill DataSite, le financement des transactions proviendra avant tout des ressources internes aux entreprises

Mardi et mercredi, les prix des contrats futures sur les maturités allant de janvier 2011 à mai 2012 ont dépassé ceux des contrats allant de juin à décembre 2012