Citywire rapportait mardi 26 octobre la nomination de Laurent Crosnier au poste de CEO chez Amundi Londres, afin de remplacer Bruno Crastes qui a quitté la société en avril dernier pour créer sa propre structure - H2o AM.Laurent Crosnier, qui occupait la fonction de CIO, supervisera l'équipe de Londres qui a été renforcée récemment. Amundi Londres est spécialisée dans l’activité du «fixed income» et les stratégies de performances absolues, précise Citywire.

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) annonce que sa gamme Spectrum, composée de six fonds et gérée en fonction d’objectifs de volatilité est désormais accessible sur la plate-forme Transact. La gamme, gérée par Skandia Investment Group, a déjà attiré plus de 720 millions de livres d’encours depuis son lancement en 2008, indique la société de gestion.

Selon une étude de la Deutsche Bank, les actifs gérés par les ETP (exchange traded products) domiciliés en Europe se sont accrus en janvier-septembre de 20 % à 204,4 milliards d’euros. Les ETP recouvrent à la fois les ETF (exchange traded funds) et les ETC (exchange traded commodities). L’accroissement de l’encours est attribuable à hauteur de 25 milliards d’euros aux souscriptions nettes, dont 7,2 milliards pour le troisième trimestre.Les estimations de la Deutsche Bank portent sur un encours mondial de 1.248 milliards d’euros pour les ETP à fin septembre, soit 14 % de plus qu'à fin décembre. Quant au nombre d’ETC, il ressort à 2.525 dans le monde entier, dont 1.283 en Europe et 960 aux Etats-Unis.L'étude montre aussi que pour les trois premiers trimestre, les plus fortes souscriptions (4,5 milliards d’euros) sont allés aux produits actions, contre 1,28 milliard pour les produits obligataires et 1,4 milliards pour les produits matières premières.Parmi les ETF d’actions, les plus importantes rentrées nettes ont concerné les fonds marchés émergents, avec 1,4 milliard d’euros pour le premier trimestre, 1,7 milliard pour le deuxième et 2,2 milliards pour le troisième. Parmi les ETF obligataires, ceux qui ont le plus collecté sont les produits d’obligations d’entreprises, avec 1,1 milliard d’euros tandis que ceux répliquant des indices d’obligations souveraines émergentes accusaient des sorties nettes de 200 millions d’euros.Dans le domaine des matières premières, les ETP sur l’or ont attiré 987 millions d’euros nets au troisième trimestre sur un total de 1,4 milliard d’euros. Depuis le début de l’année, ces produits ont drainé 4,4 milliards d’euros.

La banque canadienne RBC Capital Markets a fait son entrée mardi 26 octobre dans le cercle des primary dealers en Allemagne, les établissements chargés d’animer les marchés de la dette souveraine primaire et secondaire, rapporte l’Agefi. La veille, elle avait accédé au statut de spécialiste en valeurs du Trésor (SVT) en France, devenant le vingtième SVT dans l’Hexagone. «Nous nous attendons à ce que la demande pour les emprunts d’Etat européens augmente dans les années qui viennent, et nous voulons disposer d’une plate-forme solide avec un historique établi pour capitaliser sur les opportunités que cela représente», a indiqué Harry Samuel, coresponsable mondial de l’activité taux et change de RBC Capital Markets.

Les eurodéputés ont apporté le 26 octobre leur soutien au projet de directive AIFM approuvé par les ministres des finances des Vingt-Sept la semaine dernière lors de l’Ecofin.Aucune modification significative n’a été apportée au texte lors du dernier trilogue qui réunissait le rapporteur du texte au Parlement, l’eurodéputé français Jean-Paul Gauzès, le ministre belge des Finances Didier Reynders, dont le pays préside l’Union européenne, et le commissaire européen au marché intérieur, Michel Barnier.La version de la directive sur laquelle les trois institutions se sont entendues mardi ne varie que sur des points de détail par rapport à l’accord obtenu au forceps entre les Vingt-Sept au terme de plus d’un an et demi de négociations.L’accord trouvé la semaine dernière par les Etats membres de l’UE sur la directive «hedge funds» a reçu mardi le soutien de représentants du Parlement européen et de la Commission, ouvrant la voie à un vote définitif du texte le 10 ou 11 novembre.Cet accord final est intervenu lors d’une réunion organisée mardi matin entre le rapporteur du texte au Parlement, l’eurodéputé français Jean-Paul Gauzès, le ministre belge des Finances Didier Reynders, dont le pays préside l’UE, et le commissaire européen au Marché intérieur Michel Barnier.La version de la directive sur laquelle les trois institutions se sont entendues mardi ne varie que sur des points de détail par rapport à l’accord obtenu au forceps entre les Vingt-Sept au terme de plus d’un an et demi de négociations.Elle prévoit que les gérants de fonds, qu’ils soient européens ou de pays tiers, devront obligatoirement s’enregistrer auprès d’un superviseur national et lui fournir une série d’informations sur leur activité afin d’exercer dans l’Union européenne. En échange de quoi ils disposeront d’un passeport européen qui leur permettra de vendre leurs fonds sur l’ensemble du territoire des Vingt-Sept sans avoir à solliciter des autorisations pays par pays comme c’est le cas aujourd’hui.Ce nouveau système n’entrera cependant pas en vigueur immédiatement et une phase de transition en trois étapes a été décidée par les Etats membres. Le passeport sera disponible pour les gérants européens dès 2013. Les gérants de pays tiers y auront accès à partir de 2015 puis, à partir de 2018, le système actuel de «placement privé» - où un gérant doit demander une autorisation dans chaque pays dans lequel il veut vendre un fonds - disparaîtra.Le vote définitif du texte devrait intervenir le 11 novembre prochain, à l’occasion de la séance plénière du Parlement.

ABN AMRO a annoncé le 26 octobre la nomination d’Erik Jens, 51 ans, en qualité de country executive et CEO d’ABN Amro Private Banking Schweiz. Erik Jens a exercé auparavant des fonctions dirigeantes dans les activités de clientèle privée et d’entreprises chez ABN Amro Bank, Fortis et MeesPierson.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, BOC (Suisse) Fund Management SA, la division de gestion institutionnelle du groupe Bank of China à Genève, est en cours d’intégration dans la banque privée Bank of China (Suisse) SA. Le processus devrait être finalisé d’ici la fin de l’année et il pourrait avoir des conséquences sur l’emploi (la société compte onze collaborateurs), précise BOC, qui souhaite «se concentrer sur son offre de produits maison tout en renforçant son architecture ouverte». Bank of China s’est implantée à Genève en décembre 2008.

Richard Wohanka, l’ancien CEO de Fortis Investment Management qui a pris depuis un an la tête de la division gestion d’actifs de l’Union Bancaire privée (UBP) à Genève (lire notre article du 13 octobre 2009), continue d’attirer les talents de son ancienne maison. Après Yves Stein tout récemment (lire notre dépêche du 19 octobre), c’est maintenant Nicolas Faller qui rejoint l’UBP au 1er novembre comme responsable des ventes Europe afin d’étoffer les services offerts à la clientèle privée et institutionnelle au sein de la région. L’intéressé, qui sera également membre du comité exécutif de la gestion d’actifs de l’UBP était responsable ventes monde et membre du comité exécutif de BNP Paribas Investment Partners après avoir été global head of distribution partners chez Fortis Investments.Par ailleurs, dans le cadre de l’internationalisation de ses activités et de son développement en Europe, l’UBP crée une nouvelle équipe focalisée sur le Benelux qui sera dirigée par Frédéric Peemans, qui rejoint l’UBP après avoir été responsable des ventes de Robeco pour la Belgique et le Luxembourg. Auparavant, il avait été gérant obligataire chez Fortis Investments.Enfin l'établissement genevois se renforce au Japon avec la nomination de Kazuhito Yoshihara comme CEO du bureau de Tokyo. L’intéressé est également passé par la case Fortis Investments avant de rejoindre BNP Paribas Investment Partners Japon.

JPMorgan Chase va acquérir, via sa filiale Highbridge, 55 % de Gávea, un hedge fund de 6 milliards de dollars géré par Arminio Fraga, l’ancien responsable de la Banque centrale brésilienne, indique le Financial Times, qui cite des personnes proches du dossier. L’acquisition, qui fait suite à neuf mois de négociations, pourrait être annoncée dès mercredi.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Danish management firm Jyske Invest has announced the launch of the Jyske Invest Balanced Strategy (GBP) fund, denominated in pounds sterling, for 10 November. The fund will aim to generate performance at least equal to that of a benchmark index (60% bonds, 40% equities), composed as follows: 50% JP Morgan Hedged ECU Unit GBI Global 40% MSCI AC World Daily, indklucind net dividends5% JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index (EMBI) Global Diversified2.5% Merrill Lynch Global High Yield Index, BB-B constrained1.25% Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Corporate Index, BBB rated1.25% Merrill Lynch Euro High Yield Index, BB-B rated constrained Index.Subscriptions are open until 5 November, inclusive. The product (DK0060238194), a sub-fund of Investeringsforeningen Jyske Invest International, is aimed at investors with a horizon of at least three years. The initial price of shares will be GBP100.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF), overall net assets in collective investment organisms and specialised investment funds as of 30 September 2010 totalled EUR2.083740trn, compared with EUR2.068990trn as of 31 August 2010. The increase is 0.71% in one month and 17.47% for the past twelve months. In detail, in the month of September, positive variation comes to EUR14.750bn, of which EUR5.161bn is due to positive market effects (+0.25%), and EUR9.589bn (+0.46%) due to net inflows.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the first nine months of the year, net profits at comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) fell 6.7% to EUR46.18m, compared with EUR49.51m in the corresponding period of last year. The chairman of the managing board, Michael Mandel, estimates that it will still be possible to achieve EUR80m in pre-tax profits for the year 2010 as a whole (EUR62.97m in January-September), compared with EUR76m in 2009. Assets administered or managed for clients increased 8% in one year to EUR38.4bn as of the end of September, of which EUR24.5bn (+10%) were in B2C activities (comdirect), and EUR13.9bn (+4%) for B2B (ebase).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Transparency International on 26 October published its index of perceived corruption (IPC) 2010, which ranks 178 countries on the basis of the perceived level of corruption in their public and political classes. In the 2010 rankings, nearly three quarters of countries evaluated have a score of less than 5, on a scale from 0 (high level of perceived corruption) to 10 (high level of perceived integrity). France, with a rating of 6.8, has lost one more place, and now falls to 25th place in the rankings. It remains below several European countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. In the IPC 2010, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are top of the rankings, with scores of 9.3. Unstable governments, which are often the result of past conflicts, continue to dominate the low end of the rankings. Afghanistan and Myanmar share second-to-last place with scores of 1.4, while the bottom place goes to Somalia at 1.1. Real changes in perception can be seen for several countries. There has been an improvement in 2010 compared with the 2009 scores for Bhutan, Chile, Ecuador, Macedonia (ARYM), Gambia, Jamaica, Kuwait and Qatar. Meanwhile, the scores have declined for the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar, Niger and the United States. France, with a score of 6.8, has fallen one place to 25th in the rankings. There are several reasons that international experts and businesses surveyed continue to have a relatively poor image of the French political class. Between January 2009 and September 2010, French news was marked by several scandals, which were widely reported outside France as well.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } National Financial, an affiliate of Fidelity Investments specialised in custody and clearance services for brokers, has announced that U.S. Capital Advisors has selected it to provide securities clearing for its wealth management division.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Thanks to inflows of EUR1bn since the beginning of the year, Rothschild & Cie Gestion now has assets under management of EUR21bn, higher than at the end of 2007 (EUR20.49bn), up from a low of EUR18.12bn at the end of 2008, Option Finance reports. Jean-Louis Laurens, managing partner and CEO, has announced that in 2011, the management firm is planning to develop its commercial presence in Spain and Italy. Laurens has also announced that the firm has no plans to launch newcits.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Waddell & Reed Financial, whose sell order on USD4.1bn in futures triggered the “flash crash” of 6 May, has announced that as of September it managed USD76bn in assets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Net profits for third quarter totalled USD40.5m, up 21% compared with July-September 2009 (USD33.4m). However, net subscriptions declined to USD658m from USD731m in second quarter, and USD2.4bn in the corresponding period of last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 26 October, BlackRock announced that Russ Koesterich, head of the investment strategy team at its scientific equity group, has been appointed to also serve as global chief investment strategist for the new global investment strategy group of the iShares (ETF) division. The creation of the group and the appointment of a dedicated chief investment strategist come in response to demand from clients seeking insights on a variety of economic and investment subjects related to asset classes, sectors and markets for which iShares offers products.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays Wealth Managers France has announced the arrival of three new partners, as Jean-François Moulin joins the firm as head of internal control. He joins the Control & Governance department, and will report to Matthieu Desgrees du Lou, head of control & governance. He was previously a member of the general inspection service at the BPCE group. Elodie Duvaldestin will serve as head of product marketing for France. She joins from the Paris team of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where she was head of marketing. Philippe Gaboriau joins Barclays Wealth Managers as multi-manager. He was previously at Primonial FundQuest, as an analyst and manager in multi-management.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In adjusted figures, net profits at Invesco for July-September totalled USD185m, compared with USD125m in second quarter, and USD117.7m for the corresponding period of last year. Meanwhile, by GAAP accounting standards, net profits to be distributed to ordinary shareholders increased by 37.3% in the first nine months of the year, to USD290.5m, from USD211.6m. Assets as of the end of September totalled USD604.5bn (see Newsmanagers of 13 October), compared with USD557.7bn as of the end of June, and USD446.9bn twelve months previously.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge Week reports that FRM Capital Advisors (FCA), a unit of Financial Risk Management which assists hedge funds in their development, has teamed up with Sensato Capital Management. FCA may invest up to USD50m in Sensato, a firm founded in May 2009 by former co-heads of active equities strategies at Barclays Global Investors. Sensato uses a quantitative and fundamental approach to invest in equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ABN AMRO announced on 26 October that it has appointed Erik Jens, 51, as Country Executive and CEO of ABN AMRO Private Banking Schweiz. Jens previously served as director of private and business client activitiesa t ABN AMRO Bank, Fortis and MeesPierson.

Richard Wohanka, former CEO of Fortis Investment Management, who one year ago took over as head of the asset management division of Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) in Geneva (see Newsmanagers of 13 October 2009), is continuing to attract talent from his former workplace. Following Yves Stein, who moved to the firm recently (see Newsmanagers of 19 October), Nicolas Faller has become the most recent to join UBP on 1 November as head of sales for Europe, an addition to the services to private and institutional clients in the region. Faller, who will also be a member of the asset management board at UBP, was global head of sales and a member of the executive board at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, after serving as global head of distribution partners at Fortis Investments.As a part of the internationalisation of its activities and development in Europe, UBP is creating a new team focused on Benelux, which will be led by Frédéric Peemans, who joined UBP after serving as head of sales for Robeco in Belgium and Luxembourg. He was previously a bond manager at Fortis Investments.The Geneva-based establishment is also adding to its staff in Japan with the appointment of Kazuhito Yoshihara as CEO of the Tokyo office. He also served at Fortis Investments before joining BNP Paribas Investment Partners Japan.

Standard Life Investments has appointed Seiichi Fukuyama to the role of chairman, Standard Life Investments – Asia. In this new role Seiichi will provide strategic advice and market intelligence as the asset management company builds its business in Asia.Seiichi Fukuyama, who joins the company from BlackRock, Asia Pacific, will play a key role working with Standard Life Investments’ Asian team and will have a particular role in developing the recently announced strategic alliance with Chuo Mitsui Asset Trust and Banking (Chuo Mitsui) of Japan, says a press release.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British management firm F&C is planning to apply to the Chinese market authority (CSRC) for status as a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII). According to Asian Investor, the move is part of a larger development strategy in Asia, where the management firm may also recruit investment professionals who would be based in Hong Kong. F&C now manages about USD3bn in Asian equities, out of assets under management of about USD150bn.

JPMorgan Chase is to buy, through its unit Highbridge, Gávea, a USD6bn hedge fund run by Arminio Fraga, Brazil’s former central bank chief, according to the Financial Times citing people close to the situation. The acquisition, which comes after nine months of talks, could be announced as early as Wednesday.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 26 October, AdvisorShares launches the Cambria Global Tactical ETF (GTAA), a quantitative ETF fund advised by Cambria Investment Management in Los Angeles, on NYSE. The two co-managers, Mebane Faber and Eric Richardson, CIO and CEO of Cambria, respectively, will invest actively in ETFs covering all the major asset classes worldwide, including equities, bonds, real estate, commodities and currencies. Management commission is set at 1.35%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Santander’s private banking affiliate, Banif, is now offering ETFs on its Innova platform, Funds People reports. The products are selected from funds available from Allfunds Bank (a joint venture of Santander and Intesa Sanapolo). The Banif Innova focus list, which will now be complemented by some ETFs, includes the Julius Baer Absolute Return, Santander Revalorización Activa, Quadrim 4, Robeco US Premium Equities, M&G Pan European, Templeton Asian Growth and Invesco Pan European Equity funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Munich-based management firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH announced on 26 October that it plans to liquidate the open-ended real estate fund P2 Value, for which redemptions were frozen at the end of October 2008 following net outflows of EUR600m, with a volume at that time of EUR1.7bn. Currently, with EUR211m in liquidity and 34 properties remaining in the portfolio, the fund has EUR852.58m in assets, after risk provisions and credit redemptions are deducted. Liquidation will be undertaken over a three-year period, as for the DEGI Europa (see Newsmanagers of 25 October), until the end of September 2013. Investors will theoretically receive the proceeds of sales every six months, to the extent that liquidity is available. The net asset value of the fund will be published on each trading day. After 30 September 2013, any assets which may be remaining in the fund’s portfolio will be transferred to the depository bank (UniCredit Bank AG), which will then be in charge of liquidating them. Morgan Stanley REI has decided not to charge transaction fees on sales of the properties. The closure of the P2 Value fund will also have a negative impact on 13 real estate funds of funds or diversified funds. For example, positions on the fund represent 16.6% of the Euro Netto Fonds UI, 13.2% of the IFM-Real Estate Plus 1, and 13% of the FFPB Substanz.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a study of the impact of the UCITS IV directive on the asset management sector in Europe (“UCITS IV: Implications for the Asset Management Industry in Europe”), the research and advising agency Celent estimates that the two main themes related to the directive will be growth and consolidation. In the environment of the new directive, the UCITS fund market will continue to grow, both in Europe and internationally. This will be all the more so as hedge funds are showing a growing interest in these vehicles. In operational terms, the directive will also bring strong pressure to standardise flows, processes and systems for all participants. In the longer term, the major contribution of the directive will be an occasion for management firms to make total annual savings of EUR2bn to EUR3bn through appropriate use of terms in the legislation dealing with master-feeder structures, Celent says savings on administration and transactions directly attributable to master-feeder structures may range from 10% to 15%. The study finds that the degree to which the UCITS project is successful will depend on several challenges it faces, including taxation, management of commissions, pay scales, and others. But the sector is confident. As evidence of this, the study finds, the European asset management federation (EFAMA) is backing a pan-European retirement products, which would be in UCITS format.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by Deutsche Bank, assets under management in exchange-traded products (ETP) domiciled in Europe increased in January-September by 20% to eur204.4BN. ETPs include both exchange-traded funds (ETF) and exchange-traded commodities (ETC). EUR25bn of increase in net assets is due to net subscriptions, of which EUR7.2bn were in third quarter. Deutsche Bank estimates put global assets at EUR1.248trn in ETPs as of the end of September, 14% higher than at the end of December. The number of ETCs comes to 2,525 worldwide, of which 1,283 are in Europe, and 960 in the United States. The study also finds that in the first three quarters of the year, the highest subscriptions (EUR4.5bn) were for equities products, compared with EUR1.28bn for bond products and EUR1.4bn for commodities products. Among equities ETFs, the largest net inflows were for emerging markets funds, with EUR1.4bn in first quarter, EUR1.7bn in second quarter and EUR2.2bn in third quarter. Among bond ETFs, the largest inflows went to corporate bond products, with EUR1.1bn, while products replicating emerging market government bonds saw net outflows of EUR200m. In the area of commodities, gold ETPs attracted a net EUR987m in third quarter, out of a total of EUR1.4bn. Since the beginning of the year, these products have attracted EUR4.4bn.