Six months after the appointment to the managing board of Jan Ehrhardt, head of research and portoflio design activities, and son of founder Jens Ehrhardt, DJE Kapital on Thursday announced that Ulrich Kaffarnik and Peter Schmitz have been promoted to become members of the board. Kaffarnik will be head of investment funds, institutional and retail clients, while retaining his position as head of the Luxembourg affiliate DJE Investment. Schmitz, an economist, will become head of finance, administration, and service center. With Eberhard Winberger, the board includes five members.

Dirk Popielas, co-head of the pensions & insurance advisory group at the JP Morgan investment bank, has been appointed as head of insurance solutions for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at JPMorgan Asset Management. Popielas will be based in Frankfurt, and will report directly to Jamie Broderick, CEO of JPMAM for Europe, who is based in London.

Kai Brunko has left ING Real Estate Investment Management Germany, to take on the newly-created position of asset manager for the retail sector at LaSalle Investment Management in Munich, from 1 July.

Two months after its launch, the Mandarine Capital Solidaire FCPR fund, whose portfolio is composed of 40% non-publicly traded shares issued by solidaristic organisations, has announced its first two investments in solidaristic organisations: Autonomie et Solidarité, and Habitats Solidaires. Autonomie et Solidarité is a cooperative company with variable capital, specialised in solidaristic investments to finance businesses in the process of creation, acquisition, or development of their activities. Habitats Solidaires is a cooperative collective interest company with variable capital, which aims to improve the housing placement conditions for individuals and families excluded from housing in the Paris region for economic or social reasons.

Diversity Inversiones (ES0126908039) is a “free investment company,” or SIL, and is the second hedge fund aimed at high net worth private clients from BBVA Patrimonios. The product will be managed by the alternative management affiliate Omega Gestión. The objective is to generate annual performance of 9-12%, with ex ante volatility of 10%, through investments of at least 35% of assets in 8 to 20 Spanish-registered hedge funds (FIL), funds of FIL funds, feeder funds, or commodities ETFs. The product, which offers monthly liquidity, requires a minimal initial subscription, as required by law, of EUR50,000. BBVA Patrimonios charges fees of EUR7,512 per year, plus a commission of 0.3% on assets.

The decline in assets in Spanish securities funds in June slowed to about EUR0.4bn (to a total of EUR152.7bn), from EUR5.2bn in May (see Newsmanagers of 2 June), but net redemptions increased to EUR3.33bn, from EUR3.16bn. According to the Inverco association of management firms, these are the worst results since November 2008. And in first quarter, net outflows totalled EUR11.3bn. According to statistics from Ahorro Corporación, net redemptions totalled as much as EUR4.5bn, the highest since October 2008.

The Dutch pension fund PGGM, which manages about EUR80bn in assets, is seeking a senior manager or director of investments for its portfolio of responsible equities, Responsible Investor reports. The team which manages the fund already has nine members. PGGM, which dedicated EUR1bn to this strategy in 2008, would like to increase assets in the fund to EUR2.2bn during 2010. PGGM has also announced that it has decided to exclude the Indian mining firm Vedanta Resources from its investment portfolio.

The three asset management firms NFJ Investment Group, Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management and Oppenheimer Capital have now been merged into a single entity, which will be known as Allianz Global Investors Capital, with “unified” assets of USD48bn. Pimco will, however, retain its identity. The strategies pursued by Nicholas-Applegate and Oppenheimer will be “rebranded” as AGI Capital, while the new merged entity will retain the NFJ brand for value equities managed in Dallas, Texas. Marna Whittington and Horatio Valerias will serve as CEO and CIO of AGI Capital, respectively. The board also includes Barbara Claussen, Ben Fischer and Geoff Mullen.

The US management boutique Gramercy, a specialist in emerging markets, has announced the recruitment of Jeffrey Grills and Gunter Heiland, both formerly of JP Morgan AM, to launch new strategies focused on emerging market debt. The two new recruits, who previously were co-heads of the emerging markets team at JP Morgan AM, and who managed as much as USD12bn, yesterday launched three funds focused on emerging markets. The first of these is focused on US dollar government debts in emerging markets; the second, on emerging market debt in local currencies; and the third on corporate debt from the same markets. Assets under management at Gramercy total USD2.6bn.

Morningstar France Holding on 1 July announced that it has finalised its previously announced acquisition of Seeds group, a financial investment advising and research firm specialised in French OPCVM funds. The acquisition price has not been disclosed. Seeds Finance, an affiliate of Seeds Group, provides investment advising to institutional investors, management firms, and banks. In addition to investment advising, Seeds Group also operates Multiratings.com, a website providing analysis of mutual funds and financial training to independent financial advisers and institutional investors.

José Manuel Campa, Spanish secretary of state for the economy, on Monday held a meeting with “some of the main investors” in his government (banks, fund managers, and hedge funds) to explain to them “the reality of the Spanish economic situation, and to attempt to dispel the unfounded negative sentiment which is currently prevailing,” Expansión reports. On Thursday, the day after meeting the New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times in New York, he was to meet heads at Pimco, including Bill Gross, who manages the largest bond fund in the world, with USD464bn in assets. Gross has been one of the charpest critics of Spain in recent months.

Duet Asset Management, the USD2.3bn London-based alternative asset manager, is raising money for a new hedge fund to be headed by two of the world’s most senior commodities traders. The firm has hired Tony Hall, who worked at Credit Suisse-Glencore, and Arno Pilz, from UBS and Lehman Brothers, to manage the new Duet Commodities Fund.

The recent turbulence on the markets has left its mark on funds. According to statistics from the British investment management association (IMA), net inflows in May fell below GBP1bn, to GBP948m, down 56% from April. This is the first time since November 2008 (18 months previously) that this variable has fallen below the GBP1bn mark. In May 2009, net inflows totalled GBP2.84bn. Assets under management as of the end of May totalled GBP492.6bn, down 3.5% from their peak in April (GBP510.6bn), but up 25% compared with their levels in May 2009. The most popular sector was absolute returns, with net inflows of GBP181m. This category, introduced in April 2008, has been in the top fifth of all strategies in 21 months out of 26. Distribution platforms have increased their market share to 39%, an increase of 1% compared with April, and 5% compared with January.

Henderson Plc on Thursday, 1 July announced that it the Irish-registered OEIC fund New Star European Growth has been integrated into the Luxembourg Sicav Henderson Horizon, as of 18 June. The fund will now be known as the Henderson Horizon European Growth Fund. The mutual fund, managed by Richard Pease and Simon Rowe, has assets of EUR84.2m. The operation follows the acquisition of New Star Asset Management by the Henderson Plc group in 2009. Characteristics Name: Henderson Horizon European Growth Fund Structure of the fund: Complex UCITS III SICAV Currency of the fund: EUR Minimal subscription: EUR2,500 or USD2,500 for retail share class Front-end fee: Maximum 5% Management commission: 1.75%

Fund Strategy reports that the British financial mediation service has asked Barclays to reimburse GBP17,192 to a prudent client who was led to invest in a high-risk fund. The bank has also apologised to the client for the delay in addressing her claim. The client, Sue Murton, initally invested GBP52,000 in April 2007, in a fund (Aviva Global Balanced Income) which then changed formats and moved into the high-risk category; but the client was never informed. In response to an initial claim, Barclays offered compensation of GBP8,374, though in March 2009, the value of the client’s investment had fallen by GBP21,000.

The Spanish finance ministry has suffered a setback. The Spanish tax authorities had offered to regularise the situation of Spanish holders of 3,000 offshore accounts in Switzerland, which would have represented the largest tax amnesty in Spain since the restoration of democracy. However, according to sources familiar with the matter, Expansión reports, not a single one of the individuals concerned took the Spanish authorities up on the offer before the deadline passed on 30 June, though they had all been directly contacted by the tax authority.

Threadneedle has appointed Quentin Fitzsimmons as lead manager for two bond funds, the Threadneedle Absolute Return Bond and Target Return funds, previously managed by Peter Annwright and Stuart Frost, who have recently left the firm to join RWC. Fitzsimmons, who has been head of government bonds since 2003, made significant contributions to the growth of absolute return strategies, and it would be an exaggeration to attribute the success of these strategies solely to the two managers who have moved to RWC, Threadneedle says in a statement. Assets in the two funds concerned totalled over EUR2.3bn as of the end of March, within fixed income (EUR22bn in assets under management in total). Threadneedle has also recruited Vladimir Gerasimia, who will join the team specialised in emerging market debts, a,dn who previously worked at Fortis Investments. Another new arrival, Richard Stevens, previously of Old Mutual Asset Managers, joins the government bond team.

On Thursday evening, Commerzbank announced that it has sold its Kleinwort Benson activities to the private equity investor RHJ International. These include the wealth and fiduciary management firms Channel Islands Holdings Limited and Kleinwort Benson Private Bank Limited. Their assets in wealth management as of the end of 2009 totalled GBP5.6bn (EUR6.3bn); the firms have about 600 employees.

Gartmore on 30 June announced the appointment of Charolotte Gibson as head of marketing. Gibson, previously of JP Morgan AM, will join Gartmore in mid-July. She will report to Richard Pursglove, head of UK retail. Gibson will lead a team of 12 people in charge of advertising, client relationships, and other elements of the distribution chain.

Fund Strategy reports that Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) has dismissed Mark Allpress, head of UK retail sales, in a reorganisation of the firm. As of 30 April this year, assets under management at Omam totalled GBP4.4bn.

Responsable de la distribution institutionnelle chez ComStage ETF (Commerzbank), Levente Kulcsar est devenu au 1er juillet directeur et responsable de l’activité ETF pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche de Credit Suisse.D’autre part, Annabelle Wegner quitte RBS/ABN Amro, où elle travaillait dans l'équipe produits structurés, pour rejoindre la division ETF de Credit Suisse.L’encours des ETF de Credit suisse représente 12 milliards de francs suisses ou 8,4 milliards d’euros. Pour l’instant, la gamme d’ETF de Credit Suisse bénéficiant d’un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne comporte 31 fonds.

Kai Brunko a quitté ING Real Estate Investment Management Germany pour prendre au 1er juillet le poste nouvellement créé de gestionnaire d’actifs dans le secteur retail chez LaSalle Investment Management à Munich.

Six mois après la nomination au directoire de Jan Ehrhardt, responsable des activités de recherche et de conception de portefeuilles et fils du fondateur Jens Ehrhardt, DJE Kapital a annoncé jeudi qu’Ulrich Kaffarnik et Peter Schmitz sont promus membre du directoire.Le premier sera responsable des fonds d’investissement, de la clientèle institutionnelle et de la distribution, tout en conservant la direction de la filiale luxembourgeoise DJE Investment.Le second, un économiste devient responsable des finances, de l’administration et du «service-center». Avec Eberhard Weinberger, le directoire compte cinq personnes.

Dirk Popielas, co-head du groupement pensions & insurance advisory de la banque d’investissement de JP Morgan, a été nommé head of insurance solution pour la région Europe/Moyen-Orient et Afrique (EMEA) chez JPMorgan Asset Management. Basé à Francfort, il sera directement subordonné à Jamie Broderick, le CEO de JPMAM pour l’Europe, qui est en poste à Londres.

Mercredi après-midi, à Monaco, dans le cadre du Fund Forum International, sept dirigeants (CEO) de sociétés de gestion européennes se sont réunis à huis clos, pendant trois heures, autour d’Eddy Wymeersch, le président du CESR, le comité des régulateurs européens. Parmi eux figurait notamment le français Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO d’Axa Investment Managers*.Cette réunion fermée, organisée sous l’égide de l’Efama (l’association européenne du secteur de la gestion d’actifs), qui était notamment représentée par son président Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, également CEO d’Invesco Europe, avait pour objectif de permettre aux dirigeants de débattre librement avec le régulateur représenté par Eddy Wymeersch.Selon le communiqué de presse de l’Efama publié jeudi, les participants ont abordé le sujet de l’engagement actionnarial. «Les sociétés de gestion doivent aller au delà d’une approche court termiste et engager un dialogue sur le long terme avec les entreprises dans lesquelles elles investissent», indique le document. «Le groupe a reconnu qu’il est essentiel de trouver un juste équilibre entre leurs devoirs fiduciaires envers les investisseurs et leur rôle d’investisseur, et de trouver les mécanismes appropriés pour un engagement efficace», poursuit-il.Les dirigeants se sont aussi penchés sur les ETF, «dont le rôle et le comportement suscitent une inquiétude grandissante parmi les régulateurs, surtout après le flash crash du 6 mai», selon Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, lequel ne partage toutefois pas ces craintes. «Les régulateurs ont besoin de mieux comprendre cette activité», a-t-il estimé. Pour Peter De Proft, directeur général de l’Efama, également présent à la session fermée, les discussions autour des ETF s’inscrivaient dans le cadre d’un souci général de transparence. Pour lui, il est important que les fournisseurs d’ETF donnent davantage d’informations sur leurs sites, ces produits pouvant être achetés librement et directement par les investisseurs.Les CEO se sont par ailleurs exprimés en faveur de la création d’un produit d’épargne long terme paneuropéen qui puisse répondre aux besoins de la population vieillissante d’Europe. Ils ont également abordé le sujet de la supervision, et plus particulièrement celui de la création du régulateur européen ESMA et de l’impact pour le secteur de la gestion d’actifs. Enfin, le sujet des dépositaires a aussi été débattu. (*) Dans le détail, la session réunissait : Tom Brown, Partner KPMG ; Eddy Wymeersch, président du CESR, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, président de l’Efama, les représentants de consommateurs Mick McAteer et Guillaume Prache ; Marc Garvin, président d’International Business, Treasury and Securities Services de JPMorgan ; Juan Alcaraz, CEO d’Allfunds Bank et Santander Asset Management, Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO d’Axa Investment Managers, Alain Dromer, CEO d’Aviva Investors ; Roderick Munsters, CEO de Robeco, Martin Gilbert, CEO d’Aberdeen Asset Management, Allan Polack, CEO de Nordea Savings and Asset Management ; Peter De Proft, directeur général de l’Efama et Claude Kremer, vice-président de l’Efama.

Selon Fund Strategy, Neuberger Berman, vient de lancer un fonds d’actions internationales sans contraintes, le Global Thematic Opportunities qui réplique la stratégie Global Opportunities.Le nouveau fonds au format Ucits III et domicilié à Dublin sera piloté par MLG Group (qui appartien à Neuberger Berman). L’investissement de départ a été fixé à 10.000 dollars. Les frais de gestion s'élèvent à 2% par an pour les investisseurs retail. Le fonds sera disponible dans un premier temps en dollar et en euro.

La Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking a annoncé jeudi qu’elle vient de développer son offre de services ETF aux institutionnels européens en renforçant son service de prêt-emprunt d’ETF et en s’engageant comme teneur de marché pour cinq nouvelles séries d’options sur des ETF de droit français de la filiale Lyxor Asset Management. Cela concerne les fonds suivants : Lyxor ETF DJ Stoxx 600 Banks, Lyxor ETF DJ Stoxx 600 Oil & Gas, Lyxor ETF DJ Stoxx 600 Basic Resources, Lyxor ETF DJ Stoxx 600 Telecommunications et Lyxor ETF China Enterprise.

L’agence de notation Fitch Ratings a annoncé le 1er juillet qu’elle confirmait la note Asset Manager «M1» de la société Alcentra (groupe The Bank of New York Mellon) pour ses activités de gestion européennes.Cette décision reflète la stabilité des activités historiques d’Alcentra (CLO) ainsi que les efforts de diversification mis en œuvre, y compris les situations spéciales et les fonds structurés.

Avec 41,3 milliards de dollars levés grâce au bouclage définitif de 82 fonds, le secteur mondial du private equity a enregistré au deuxième trimestre 2010 sa collecte la plus faible depuis 2003, selon Preqin. Le sondage de juin montre que 76 % des investisseurs ont simplement l’intention de maintenir leur allocation du private equity pour les douze prochains mois.

Deux mois après son lancement, le FCPR Mandarine Capital Solidaire dont le portefeuille est composé d’au moins 40% de titres non cotés émis par des organismes solidaires, a annoncé ses deux premiers investissements dans des organismes solidaires : Autonomie et Solidarité et Habitats Solidaires.Autonomie et Solidarité est une société anonyme coopérative à capital variable spécialisée dans les placements solidaires qui finance les entreprises en création, reprise ou développement d’activité.Habitats Solidaires est une société anonyme coopérative d’intérêt collectif à capital variable qui a pour objet l’amélioration des conditions d’insertion par l’habitat depersonnes et familles exclues de l’accès au logement pour des raisons économiques et sociales en région Ile-de-France.