Axa Rosenberg has appointed Robert Hegt as director of sales and marketing for Europe, Professional Pensions reports. He was previously at Wellington Management and Schroders.

The UK asset management firm Ignis Asset Management has hired a team of five people to develop its activities in continental Europe, and especially in France. The team, who will be joining Ignis at the beginning of September, is composed entirely of former sales staff from New Star, the asset management firm recently acquired by Henderson. Among them is Philip Goldsmith, who will lead manage the team, and was head of international development at New Star. At Ignis, as Managing Director Europe, he will be responsible for distribution in France and the French-speaking countries, and will be based in Valais, Switzerland. Goldsmith will report to Jonathan Polin, Ignis Sales & Marketing Director, and will work with André Haubensack, who will be in charge of German-speaking countries; Mauro Loran, for the Iberian region and Latin America; Arcangelo Barletta, for Italy, and Ghislaine Fournigault, for Benelux. Five others will be recruited in London to support this sales team, located throughout Europe. The five people will be responsible for the distribution of Ignis’s in-house products, as well as funds from its joint venture boutiques operations; Argonaut Capital, Cartesian Capital and Hexam Capital. Ignis AM, which managed GBP65bn in assets as of 31 March, has its own asset management teams, but has also supported the development of small specialised asset management firms in its orbit. The firm offers managers who want to found their own entity full administrative support in exchange for a stake in the capital. Hexam, a firm specialised in emerging markets, was founded by two managers from Barings, with the support of Ignis, which holds a 50% stake in the firm. Target clients in Europe will be initially banks (retail and private), funds of funds, insurers, family offices, mutuals, wealth managers, and institutional platforms.

In a decision that contrasts with the position of the French regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Italian regulator Consob has decided not to extend a ban on short-selling beyond 31 July.

According to the most recent study from VDOS Stochastics, cited by Citywire, Spanish funds saw an increase of 0.49% to their assets in July (as of the 24th of the month), to EUR168.7bn. This is far from their peak at EUR239bn in 2007. For the month, the sector has seen net redemptions for EUR410m.

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has posted an update of three documents online at its website. The documents include: Preparation guide for OPCVM mutual fund prospectuses; Summary of the findings of a study of the behaviour of OPCVM funds; Guide to best practices in the composition of sales documents. The AMF states that, as a part of its continual striving towards better regulation, it is committed to updating and releasing updates to its OPCVM doctrines twice per year.

Patrick Evershed, the fund manager who claimed bullying was rife at his former employer New Star Asset Management, founded by John Duffield, has won the right to pursue a claim for compensation at an employment tribunal, according toThe Guardian. «Duffield made life impossible for us,» says Evershed. It is reported he could claim up to GBP1m. New Star has been bought by Henderson.

The UK alternative management firm RAB Capital has posted pre-tax losses of GBP2.7bn in first half, compared with profits of GBP12.5m one year previously. The losses are the result of a fall in revenues of GBP35.4m in June 2008, to GBP7.7m for the first six months of the year, due to low performance commission revenues and falling management fees. These fees are a function of assets under management, which totalled USD1.3bn as of 30 June, compared with USD1.9bn at the end of December, and USD5.9bn in June 2008.

La valeur du portefeuille de Temasek Holdings a chuté de plus de 40 milliards de dollars de Singapour (27,75 milliards de dollars US) sur un an à fin mars 2009, selon son directeur général, Ho Ching. D’après le Wall Street Journal, les encours du portefeuille de Temasek ressortaient à 127 milliards de dollars de Singapour à fin mars 2008, ce qui fait que l’investisseur aurait perdu 22 % sur 12 mois.

L’Agefi Switzerland has revealed that UBS bank is the Swiss business with the poorest reputation among the population in the country, according to a survey undertaken by GfK Switzerland, which places Swatch Group at the top of the reputation rankings.

Paul F. Healye has joined Robeco Investment Management, the American branch of the Robeco group, as Senior Managing Director in charge of sales, marketing, and client services. Healey joins the firm from Franklin Portfolio Associates, which he joined in 1997 as senior vice-president and director of sales and client services. He later became president in 2008. Franklin was merged into Mellon Capital Mangaement earlier this year. At Robeco, in his new role, Healey will replace Paul Heathwood, who will become director of sales through intermediaries and marketing.

“Pictet, which had EUR211bn in assets under management as of the end of 2008, has seen an increase in its assets to EUR214bn as of the end of March 2009,” L’Agefi reports. The Swiss wealth management firm has done well out of the crisis. “We have not observed any net outflows. The decline in assets in 2008 compared with 2007 was related solely to market effects. We were also not exposed either to subprime, or to the Madoff scandal,” Dominique Benoit, CEO for France, tells L’Agefi. “We hope to become a leading bank in France, integrally focused on wealth management,” the Paris-based executive says. With this goal in mind, the firm is recruiting staff.

Individual investors with an account at Fidelity Investments will be able to participate in initial public offerings of businesses and other deals underwritten by Deutsche Bank, beginning this week, thanks to an agreement between the two groups, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agreement delivers a greater punch than the deal signed last month by the asset management firm and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Citywire reports that Acropole AM has launched three of its funds in Austria: Acropole Convertibles Europe, Acropole Convertibles Monde and Acropole Convertibles Optimum. The asset management firm dedicated to convertible bonds is also launching a campaign to attract investors in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, Citywire continues.

Onlinesim, an Italian online mutual fund distribution platform, has signed a distribution agreement with the French management firm Tocqueville Finance, the Italian firm has announced in a statement. Ten funds will be included in the partnership: Ulysse, Tocqueville Dividende et Odyssée (investis sur le marché français), Tocqueville Value Europe, Ithaque (European markets), Tocqueville Value Amérique and Tocqueville Small Caps Amérique (United States), and Tocqueville Patrimoine (diversified). Recently, Online Sim has also extended its product offerings with the addition of three funds from Pioneer Asset Management (Pioneer Funds - U.S. Equity 130/30 Classe F, Pioneer Funds - Indian Equity Classe F and Pioneer Funds - European Equity Growth Classe F).

RWC Partners has made a series of important recruitments, to construct a team around Mike Corcell, formerly of Threadneedle, to manage long/short US funds, HedgeWeek reporrts. The new recruits are Gabe Marshank, Alex Robarts, Sam Weeman and Hayes Varey. RWC will launch the RWC Biltmore and RWC US Absolute Alpha funds in October.

Santander Asset Management a vu ses revenus décliner de 30,7 % au premier semestre sur un an glissant. Le bénéfice a chuté de 52 % à 40 millions d’euros, après déduction des dépenses opérationnelles et commissions versées aux réseaux commerciaux. Les encours totaux sous gestion sont ressortis à 105 milliards d’euros, soit 4 % de plus qu'à fin 2008, et ce, malgré la baisse des encours en Espagne de 7 % à 43 milliards d’euros.

Selon Citywire, Acropole AM a lance trois de ses fonds en Autriche : Acropole Convertibles Europe, Acropole Convertibles Monde et Acropole Convertibles Optimum. La société de gestion dédiée aux obligations convertibles lance par ailleurs une campagne pour attirer les investisseurs au Royaume-Uni, Allemagne, Espagne et Suisse, poursuit Citywire.

Onlinesim, plate-forme italienne de distribution d’OPCVM sur Internet, a passé un accord de distribution avec la société de gestion française Tocqueville Finance, indique un communiqué de l’entité transalpine. Dix fonds sont concernés par ce partenariat : Ulysse, Tocqueville Dividende et Odyssée (investis sur le marché français), Tocqueville Value Europe, Ithaque (marchés européens), Tocqueville Value Amérique et Tocqueville Small Caps Amérique (Etats-Unis) et Tocqueville Patrimoine (diversifié).Récemment, Online Sim a par ailleur élargi son offre avec trois fonds de Pioneer Asset Management (Pioneer Funds - U.S. Equity 130/30 Classe F, Pioneer Funds - Indian Equity Classe F et Pioneer Funds - European Equity Growth Classe F).

RWC Partners a procédé à plusieurs recrutements importants, afin de constituer une équipe autour de Mike Corcell, ex de Threadneedle, qui gérera des fonds long short US, rapporte HedgeWeek. Les nouveaux venus sont Gabe Marshank, Alex Robarts, Sam Weeman et Hayes Varey. RWC lancera les fonds RWC Biltmore et RWC US Absolute Alpha en octobre.

St James’s Place va confier la gestion de ses fonds UK and General (414 millions de livres) à John Wood de JO Hambro et Greater European (388 millions) à Peg McGetrick de Liberty Square Asset Management, rapporte Investment Week. Les fonds sont actuellement gérés par THS Partners.

Fitch Ratings a attribue à Mizuho Investment Management (UK), pour ses activités de gestion de leveraged loans, la note Asset Manager Rating de M2, qui remplace la note CDO Asset Manager Rating CAM2. Cela fait suite à l’adoption par l’agence de notation de nouveaux critères pour évaluer les gestionnaires crédit.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la banque UBS est l’entreprise suisse qui jouit de la moins bonne réputation auprès de la population, selon un sondage réalisé par GfK Switzerland. Swatch Group arrive en première position.

Au premier semestre 2009, Boursorama (groupe Société Générale) a ouvert 6.000 comptes épargne, portant le nombre de comptes à fin juin 2009 à 102.800, contre 93.290 à fin juin 2008. En assurance-vie, Boursorama enregistre une hausse de 5 % de ses encours à 1,66 milliard d’euros à fin juin 2009. En revanche, l’encours OPCVM chute de 20 %, à 1,20 milliard contre 1,49 milliard à fin juin 2008. Les encours d’épargne (OPCVM, Assurance Vie et Comptes sur Livrets) sont en léger retrait à 3,3 milliards d’euros (-3%) et le produit d’exploitation «épargne» s’établit à 5,8 millions au premier semestre 2009, contre 13,3 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2008.

«Avec 211 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion à fin 2008, Pictet a vu progresser ses encours à 214 milliards à fin mars 2009 (…)», rapporte L’Agefi, qui constate que le gestionnaire de fortune suisse a réussi à tirer son épingle du jeu pendant la crise. «Nous n’avons observé aucune décollecte. La baisse des encours entre 2008 et 2007 a été uniquement liée à l’effet marché. Nous n’avons par ailleurs été ni exposé au subprime, ni au scandale Madoff», indique à L’Agefi Dominique Benoit, directeur genéral France. Dans l’Hexagone, «nous ambitionnons de devenir une banque de référence en France, intégralement axée sur la gestion de fortune», indique le dirigeant parisien. Dans cette perspective, l’entité cherche à renforcer ses équipes.

Paul F. Healey vient de rejoindre Robeco Investment Management, la branche américaine du groupe Robeco, en tant que Senior Managing Director en charge des ventes, du marketing et des services clients. L’intéressé vient de Franklin Portfolio Associates, qu’il avait rejoint en 1997 en tant que vice-président senior et directeur des ventes et du service clients, pour devenir ensuite président en 2008. Franklin a été fusionné dans Mellon Capital Management en début d’année. Chez Robeco, dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Paul F. Healey remplace Paul Heathwood, qui va diriger les ventes intermédiaires et le marketing.

Les investisseurs individuels ayant un compte chez Fidelity Investments pourront participer aux introductions en Bourse de sociétés et autres opérations souscrites par Deutsche Bank à compter de cette semaine en vertu d’un accord entre les deux groupes, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. L’accord a une portée plus large que celui signé le mois dernier par la société de gestion et Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Entrepreneur Venture annonce avoir réalisé une collecté 38 millions d’euros dans le cadre des FIP ISF. La société de gestion spécialisée dans le non coté a accumulé 90 millions d’euros sur les 2 premières campagnes TEPA ISF.

The Banque Lombard Odier is planning “to invest in high-risk assets in the next few months, expecting the risk/profit profile to become more attractive as market actors fall into line with the direction of events.” In the past few weeks, the bank had positioned its portfolios “defensively,” it is stated in the most recent quarterly newsletter from the firm describing its investment strategies for private clients.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) Technical Committee has published a final report - IOSCO Good Practices in relation to Investment Managers’ Due Diligence When Investing in Structured Finance Instruments (Investment Manager Due Diligence Practices) – which contains guidelines aimed at assisting both investment management industry participants and regulatory bodies, in assessing the quality of their due diligence procedures regarding investments in structured finance instruments (SFI) by collective investment schemes (CIS) offered to retail investors.

The global institutional investor confidence index maintained by State Street Global Markets came out at 119.4 points for July, an increase of 3.6 points in one month. Confidence is on the rise in Europe, where the regional index has climbed 8.7 points to 104.6 points. American investors are also more optimistic than they were one month ago: their index has risen from 113.8 points to 120.5 points. In Asia, the increase in optimism is more moderate, with an increase of 1.9 points to 94.2, State Street notes.