French investment firm Promepar Asset Management, which is part of Bred Banque Populaire group, has appointed Sophie Neftel Avram as portfolio manager in October, NewsManagers has learned. Formerly, she worked as financial adviser for French investment website mes-placements.fr where her duties included asset allocation and fund selection. Prior to that, Neftel Avram served as European equities portfolio manager at Covea Finance, Deux-Villes AM and La Banque Postale Asset Management. She also co-founded Paris-based IFA Odéon Patrimoine in 2009.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Atthe conclusion of third quarter 2018, assets under management atOch-Ziff Management (Och-Ziff) totalled USD33bn, down 2.7% comparedwith the end of June 2018, but up 1% compared with the end ofSeptember 2017, the asset management firm has announced at a releaseof its quarterly results. In the past quarter, Och-Ziff has seen anet outflow of USD680.7m. Since the beginning of the year, netredemptions have totalled EUR920.3m. The decline in assets hascontinued since the end of September, as assets under management atOch-Ziff totalled USD32.3bn as of 1 November 2018.Inthe third quarter of 2018, Och-Ziff collected USD93.8m in revenues,down by nearly 29% from third quarter 2017. The asset management firmhas seen a net loss of USD14.5m, compared with a net profit ofUSD5.7m in third quarter 2017.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Theasset management firm Invesco Real Estate on 5 November announcedthat it has sold the Tour Prisma, located at La Défense in Paris, toAEW Ciloger, acting on behalf of several of its open funds (SCPI andOPCI). The sale price has not been disclosed. The Prisma tower is anoffice property with 23,000 m² of area, completed in 1998 andrenovated in 2011. It is wholly leased to four tenants, includingFidal. Invesco Real Estate acquired the property in 2014, making itthe first of six European properties acquired for an Asian dedicatedmandate, two of which have already been sold.

David Ric, former absolute return head of Amundi who departed last June, has co-founded Resco Asset Management in London alongside Alex Eventon, Oddo Meriten’s fixed income chief between 2013 and 2016, and Scott Schuberg, who was CEO of Australian financial services firm Rivkin and held research roles at BNP Paribas and Henderson. The trio had worked together in the mid-2000 at Fischer Francis Trees & Watts in London before the fixed income shop was purchased by BNP Paribas. In a message posted on Resco’s website, CEO Scott Schuberg said global landscape had changed between 2006 and 2018 and that during this period, the trio had been part of «organisations that were so mature that redefining them would be impracticable."Resco will launch the Resco Macro Credit fund in November with initial commitment of $50m and investment capacity of $800m-$1bn. The fund will house active liquid fixed income strategies, targeting a 4-8% volatility and returns of cash plus 5%. Positions in emerging markets debt and active FX strategies will be limited to 20% and 25% of the fund’s net assets respectively.

Invesco has appointed Graham Hook to the newly-created role of head of UK government relations & public policy, based in London. Graham Hook began his role yesterday and is reporting to Invesco’s general counsel, EMEA, Rupert Rossander.Graham Hook’s appointment is the second to be announced as part of the creation of Invesco’s government relations team in EMEA. It follows the appointment last month of Elizabeth Gillam to the role of head of EU government relations & public policy, based in Brussels.The appointments complement the recently-formed US government relations team based in Washington DC. The EMEA and US-based teams will work with Invesco’s corporate communications team in the development of a tailored programme focused on further building the business’ pro-active approach to stakeholder engagement across relevant jurisdictions. Graham Hook previously worked in four UK government departments including as special adviser to Phillip Hammond as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Most recently, he worked with the Investment Association, advising on its government relations strategy.

Paris-based boutique Seven Capital Management has registered its Ucits fund range in Austria, NewsManagers can reveal. The manager has started marketing of its four funds on 31 October 2018 after it received approval from Austrian financial market authority FMA. Products available to Austrian investors include the Seven European Equity fund (eurozone equities long-only fund), the Seven Diversified fund (diversified and flexible fund), the Seven Fortress fund (market neutral equity fund) and the Seven Absolute Return fund (multi-asset long/short fund). Seven Capital Management is led by CEO Johan Schwimann since inception in 2006.

Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, the growth-focused private investment platform within Morgan Stanley Investment Management, today announced that it has closed on approximately $400 million of capital commitments for North Haven Expansion Equity LP and its related funds (collectively, “Expansion Equity” or the “Fund”), exceeding its original fundraising target capital commitments by nearly $100 million. Expansion Equity will focus on identifying later-stage private companies in technology and other high growth sectors, including consumer, healthcare and media, and will build on the success of the seven prior Morgan Stanley private growth equity funds.Investments are primarily located in North America and Western Europe

The obstacles to factorial investment are disappearing, and the abilities of investors are continuing to increase, according to the third annual Invesco Global Factor Investing Study. This 2018 qualitative and quantitative study, the third in an annual series, covered over 300 institutional investors (pension funds, insurers, and sovereign funds) and wholesale investors, including private banks, multi-managers, and financial advisers), all of whom are users of factorial investment, in 21 countries, with total assets under management of over USD19trn.While confidence in factorial investment is increasing, asset managers are modifying the ways in which they participate in factorial investment, the third piller of the investment strategies, increasingly rapidly. Half of institutional investors, and one third of wholesale investors, are recruiting talent to more effectively manage their factorial investments.The study finds that the most significant obstacle to the deployment of the strategy, internal capacities, has been considerably reduced in the past two years, falling 1.8 point to 6.5 on a scale of one to ten. Obstacles such as confidence in factorial theory, lack of internal support from management, and an abundance of strategies, have also declined over this period. For experienced factorial investors introducing new strategies, these obstacles have been reduced by 10% to 15%.“The progress of factorial investment requires structural changes within the financial industry, creating a genuine third pillar in the investment industry, distinct from traditional active management and from passive management weighted by market capitalisation. Investors, including both wholesale and institutional investors, see factorial investment as a special area that requires special external expertise, rather than a general area of expertise within an existing internal team,” says Georg Elsaesser, senior manager on the Invesco Quantitative Strategies team.The projection that factorial allocations will continue to incease over the coming years – the finding of the 2017 report – remains valid. According to the 2018 study, investors are planning to increase their factorial allocations in the next three years. Three fifths of investors overall (64% of institutional investors, and 56% of wholesale investors) are planning to increase their factorial strategies over the next three years, and this trend is even more pronounced for investors in the Asia-Pacific region. More than tree quarters of respondents (77%) are planning to increase their factorial allocations there, compared with 57% in Europe, and 54% in North America. The primary driver of further increases in allocations by investors, by far, is improved net performance, followed by cost efficiency, reduction of risk, and controlling exposures in the portfolio.Style factors continue to be the most widely used, but the value factor remains the most popular (with 78% of factorial investors), followed by low volatility (62%). There are major regional differences: in Europe, factorial investors use value less than the global average, and use high yield more. Investors in the Asia-Pacific region prefer the value and quality approaches, while North American investors prefer value and size.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }TheGerman asset management firm DWS, an affiliate of the Deutsche Bankgroup, on 4 November announced that it has signed an agreement toacquire a 15% stake in Neo Technologies, a firm specialised infinancial technologies, based at the Dubai International FinancialCenter (DIFC). Noe Technologies offers digital solutions for assetmanagement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As partof the agreement signed, the two partners have established astrategic partnership, as part of which the two parties willcollaborate to develop services dedicated to asset managementthroughout the region, a statement says.“Byinvesting in this platform, we once again mark our commitment todigitalisation and to technology, as promised at the time of our IPO.Neo Technologies will allow DWS to strengthen its presence in aregion which offers high growth rates in the asset managementsector,” says Thorsten Michalik, a member of the board ofdirectors, and co-head of the global coverage group at DWS,responsible for distribution for the asset management firm in theEurope, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC)regions.Thetwo parties have agreed not to disclose the price of the operation,which will be completed by the end of the year.

GAM Holding AG announces that Alexander Friedman, Group CEO and the Board of Directors have agreed that the next stage of the company’s evolution would be best served by new leadership and that Mr Friedman will step down today. The Board has appointed David Jacob, a member of the Board of Directors, as interim Group CEO and member of the Group Management Board, whilst a search for a new CEO is conducted. Mr Jacob has extensive industry experience, having held senior leadership roles at a number of asset management businesses. Mr Jacob’s immediate priority will be to ensure that the steps necessary to drive forward GAM’s strategy and to support profitability are actioned as soon as possible. Further updates will be given in due course.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }AllianceBernsteinon 5 November announced that it is adding to its distribution team inSwitzerland, with the recruitment of Marc Schumacher as directorFinancial Institutions, at its Zurich offices. In this new role,Schumacher will be a member of the distribution team responsible forbanks, financial companies and family offices. He will report toMartin Dilg, head of distribution for central and eastern Europe.Beforejoining AllianceBernstein, Schumacher had worked at JP Morgan, wherehe was head of distribution to cantonal, private and regional banks.He previously worked at Vontobel and Credit Suisse.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }UBSis continuing to recruit for its advising teams for the onshoreChinese market, one of the largest markets for the Swiss group, thespecialist website finews reports. After the shock arrest of anemployee of UBS at Beijing airport a few days ago, which has led thegroup to cut back on its travel in the region, everything thusappears to be returning to normal.Accordingto an internal memo obtained by finews, Ann Qian and Fritz Chan willdirect the activities of the newly-recruited advisers from the startof 2019.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }TheJ. Safra Sarasin group, with assets under management totalling overUSD249bn, on 5 November announced the recruitment of two newemployees to expand its Swiss and international distributionactivities.MarcoCorti joins the wholesale division as director responsible formanagement of relationships with banks, insurance companies, assetmanagers, and family offices. Corti will be based in Zurich. He hasover 15 years of experience in the wholesale sector, including morethan four years at Swisscanto Invest and the cantonal bank of Zurich,after previous terms at Man Investments and Banque Leu.VolkerBuschmann joins Banque J. Safra Sarasin (Luxembourg) SA as executivedirector, responsible for the wholesale and institutional activitiesfor Benelux and the Scandinavian countries. With over 25 years ofexperience, Buschmann has served in a variety of senior roles atRobecoSAM Europe GmbH in Frankfurt and M&G InternationalInvestments in Frankfurt and Zurich. He has also worked at GartmoreInvestment Services, BHF Bank and Dresdner Bank.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Invescohas launched two new ETFs on the Milan stock exchange, Blueratingreports. They are the Invesco Goldman Sachs Equity Factor IndexEmerging Markets UCITS ETF and Invesco Communications S&P USSelect Sector UCITS ETF.

The partial spin - off of BancoPosta Fondi SGR’s asset management activities underlying Poste Vita Class I insurance products has become effective November 1 st 2018, in favour of Anima SGR, with ANIMA Holding remaining its sole shareholder upon completion of all transaction’s steps. Consequently, Anima SGR will manage approximately € 70 billion Poste Vita Class I mandates from November 1st 2018. In line with the signed agreements , the cooperation between Poste Italiane and ANIMA in the asset management business is equally effective . Therefore Anima SGR will continue to be a delegated manager of retail mutual funds originated by BancoPosta Fondi SGR and assets underlying Poste Vita Class III life insurance products sold by Poste Italiane for the next 15 years.

US asset manager Neuberger Berman has appointed Leen Meijaard as adviser focusing on the institutional market in the EMEA region at the start of November, FondsNieuws reported. Meijaard has worked from 2007 to 2016 as member of the executive committee, EMEA region at BlackRock, with a focus on institutional clients. In addition, he was BlackRock’s managing director in the Netherlands as from 2002. Meijaard also sits within the supervisory board of Dutch football team AFC Ajax Amsterdam.

Erik Andersson has been appointed chief investment officer (CIO) at Swedbank Robur. He comes from a role as deputy head of equities and head of global equities, and has since 2010 had several senior roles at Swedbank Robur.The role as CIO is new at Swedbank Robur and is part of a new organizational structure, which purpose is to coordinate all parts of investment management - supporting the achievement of the goal to become world leading in sustainable value creation in a faster pace. The new organization is valid as of the 1st of November, 2018.Erik Andersson takes place in Swedbank Robur’s management team and reports to Liza Jonson, CEO, Swedbank Robur.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Theinvestment company Ardian on 5 November announced that it hasacquired a majority stake in Trustteam from Naxicap Partners.Trustteam, based in Courtrai, Belgium, is a company specialised in ITsolutions for small and mid-sized businesses, founded in 2002 by itscurrent CEO, Stijn Vandeputte. The firm offers outsourced IT servicesto SMEs, including infrastructure, data centres, cyber security,communications solutions, software, and maintenance services. Thecompany has about 1,500 clients. The financial details of thetransaction have not been disclosed.

Le hedge fund suisse GAM a annoncé ce matin la démission de son directeur général Alexander Friedman, sous pression depuis la suspension cet été de son gérant star Tim Haywood. «GAM Holding AG annonce qu’Alexander Friedman, CEO du groupe, et le conseil d’administration se sont mis d’accord sur le fait que la prochaine étape de l'évolution de la société serait mieux servie par un nouveau leadership et qu’Alexander Friedman va démissionner aujourd’hui», précise le communiqué de la société de gestion alternative. En attendant de trouver un remplaçant, David Jacob, membre du conseil d’administration, assure l’intérim à la direction générale.

La filiale de gestion d’actifs d’Intesa Sanpaolo ouvre une succursale en Espagne, à Madrid. Bruno Patain rejoint pour l’occasion Eurizon comme responsable de l’Espagne et du Portugal. Il était jusqu'à présent responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle dans la zone ibérique pour Generali Investments, selon son profil LinkedIn. Le bureau espagnol, tout comme la France, l’Allemagne et la Suisse, restent coordonnés par Gabriele Miodini, responsable des ventes d’Eurizon Capital, la structure luxembourgeoise du groupe.

Certains éléments des propositions de la Commission pourraient introduire de nouveaux risques et déséquilibres.

L’ancien responsable du pôle performance absolue d’Amundi, David Ric, a cofondé une nouvelle boutique au Royaume-Uni, Resco Asset Management.

Olivier Couvreur (photo) s'apprête à quitter ABN Amro Investment Solutions où il exerce les fonctions de responsable adjoint des investissements et de responsable de la recherche et de la sélection de gérants externes. Cette information a été révélée par Citywire mais Distrib Invest n'a pas pour l'heure obtenu confirmation.

La société de conseil et de courtage Willis Towers Watson a annoncé, ce 2 novembre, la signature d’un accord définitif portant sur l’acquisition de la société de gestion canadienne Integra Capital Limited (Integra Capital). Dans le cadre de cette opération, Integra Capital va devenir une filiale à part entière de Willis Towers Watson et sera responsable de la division « Canadian Delegated Investment Solutions » de la société de conseil. La transaction, dont le montant n’a pas été dévoilé, devrait être finalisé au début de l’année 2019.Les deux sociétés se connaissent bien, ayant formé une alliance stratégique au cours des trois dernières années. Dans ce cadre, Integra Capital fournit des services de gestion de portefeuille de courtage et de back-office pour la division « Canadian Delegated Investment Solutions » de Willis Towers Watson. Ensemble, ils servent 20 grands clients canadiens totalisant 6,3 milliards de dollars canadiens d’actifs sous gestion.

Daniel Hoster et Wolfgang Baums rejoignent le pôle wealth management de BNP Paribas. Daniel Hoster prendra en charge les clients stratégiques et assumera une autre fonction dirigeante, selon Private Banking. Wolfgang Baums aura la responsabilité des produits et de la gestion. Les deux nouvelles recrues travaillaient précédemment chez Oddo BHF. Daniel Hoster avait rejoint Oddo BHF au début de l’année 2017, avec pour mission le développement des relations avec les family offices, les institutions religieuses et les fondations. Wolfgang Baums aura, pour sa part, passé onze années chez Oddo BHF où il était depuis début 2017 responsable PWM Products & Services.

Santander Asset Management (Santander AM) vient de recruter Andreas Rothmer en qualité de responsable de la distribution institutionnelle en Allemagne, rapporte Private Banking Magazin. Dans le cadre de ses nouvelles fonctions, l’intéressé sera basé à Francfort et prendra en charge la clientèle institutionnelle et ses besoins spécifiques en termes de mandats, fonds dédiés et fonds ouverts.Andreas Rothmer travaillait précédemment chez Hauck & Aufhäuser, où il était dernièrement responsable clientèle senior de mandats institutionnels. Auparavant, il a officié chez Allianz Global Investors, Swisscanto et Deka Investment.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers (Lombard Odier IM) a annoncé la nomination avec effet au 1er novembre 2018 de Carsten Uekermann en qualité de directeur des ventes « wholesale » pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche. L’intéressé est rattaché à Alexander Heidenfelder, responsable des ventes « wholesale » pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche. Basé à Francfort, Carsten Uekermann se concentre principalement sur le développement de l’activité auprès des banques, des caisses d’épargne, des family offices, des fonds de fonds, des gestionnaires d’actifs et des plateformes.Avant de rejoindre Lombard Odier IM, Carsten Uekermann était directeur des clients « wholesale » chez StarCapital Au cours de sa carrière, il a également officié chez Frankfurt Trust et Fidelity.

Depuis qu’il a découvert que son gérant star n’était pas au clair avec les règles de gestion des risques, GAM est devenu un paria, écrit le quotidien suisse Le Temps. La suspension de Tim Haywood n’a pas fini d’avoir des répliques. Et quand on creuse, personne ne semble avoir d’idée sur la façon de redresser la barre. Il faut dire aussi que la société de gestion s’était déjà bien engagée sur le chemin des problèmes. Au début de l’été, elle annonçait un avertissement sur les bénéfices suite à des pertes liées à une acquisition. Plus tôt, au printemps 2017, elle avait dû faire face à des actionnaires pas franchement persuadés que la rémunération de son patron – 15 millions de francs – soit justifiée.Maintenant. D’abord parce que GAM est peut-être le plus grand acteur indépendant de la gestion d’actifs en Suisse, mais cette taille n’est plus suffisante pour faire face aux pressions sur les revenus. Il vaudrait mieux pouvoir se concentrer sur une niche. Manque de chance, GAM en avait une, qui lui permettait de se différencier, mais c’était justement celle où était actif son gérant suspendu. Pour beaucoup, la solution passe par une vente de GAM à un autre acteur. Mais qui voudrait s’embarrasser d’une structure dont le principal atout, les fonds absolute return, a été liquidé ces dernières semaines?

Steiner Investment Foundation, fondation de placement de l’entreprise générale éponyme qui propose des placements dans le domaine de la construction de logements exclusivement aux instituts de prévoyance helvétiques, a décidé de lancer une sixième émission pour un volume d’au moins 50 millions de francs, a indiqué le groupe vendredi. La précédente émission remontait à fin mars et avait permis de lever 93 millions de francs, précise L’Agefi suisse.Le délai de souscription de la nouvelle émission court du 19 au 28 novembre prochains et l’attribution des parts interviendra fin janvier 2019. Trois dates sont prévues pour la libération, réparties sur un maximum de 15 mois entre avril et juin 2019. Au total la fondation a levé jusqu’ici 180 millions de francs pour son véhicule de placement «Swiss Development Residential». La valeur prévue du portefeuille de 10 projets se monte actuellement à 530 millions de francs lorsqu’ils seront réalisés. Jusqu’ici plus d’une quarantaine de caisses de pension des quatre coins de la Suisse se sont ralliés à la fondation.

Schroders a approché GAM au sujet d’une éventuelle acquisition de sa division systématique qui accueille le hedge fund quantitatif Cantab, a appris le Financial Times. Toutefois, la société de gestion suisse en difficulté a repoussé ces avances, estimant que la vente de l’un de ses actifs les plus réputés rendrait la cession totale de l’activité plus difficile, selon deux sources du dossier. Schroders et GAM n’ont pas souhaité commenter l’information. Même si les actifs de GAM ont chuté de 84,4 milliards de francs suisses à la fin du deuxième trimestre à 66,8 milliards à la fin du troisième, les actifs de la division Systematic sont restés stables à 4,6 milliards.