UBS rationalise sa gamme de fonds en Espagne. L’établissement suisse a obtenu le feu vert du régulateur local, la CNMV, pour procéder à la fusion par absorption de la Sicav World Policy par l’autre Sicav Terde de Inversiones, rapporte Cotizalia. Les conseils d’administration des deux entités avaient précédemment donné leur accord pour une telle opération. D’après le site d’information, World Policy et Terde de Inversiones sont les deux Sicav les plus rentables du marché espagnol, les seules à avoir conclu l’exercice 2013 avec un rendement supérieur à 60 %. En prenant comme base les chiffres d’encours disponibles à fin 2013, la nouvelle Sicav née de cette fusion affichera près de 30 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion. De fait, à fin 2013, Terde de Inversiones affichait 18,12 millions d’euros d’encours et un rendement de 61,96 % tandis que World Policy atteignait 11,42 millions d’euros d’encours et un rendement de 61,39 %.
InverCaixa Gestión étoffe sa gamme de produits sur le marché espagnol. La société de gestion, filiale du groupe bancaire CaixaBank, va lancer cette semaine un nouveau fonds à objectif de performance non garanti, révèle Funds People. Baptisé FonCaixa Rentas Abril 2020, ce véhicule sera composé de six compartiments et investira en priorité dans la dette publique espagnole avec un horizon d’investissement fixé à avril 2020. A cette échéance, l’objectif du fonds est de maintenir 100 % de l’investissement initial auquel s’ajoute un taux de rendement annuel compris entre 1,5 % et 1,85% en fonction des six compartiments. L’investissement minimal initial varie de 600 euros à 150.000 euros selon le compartiment retenu.
Bankia Fondos, la branche de gestion d’actifs du groupe bancaire espagnol, vient de recevoir l’autorisation du régulateur local, la CNMV, pour fusionner les fonds Bankia Fonduxo (88 millions d’euros d’encours) et Bankia Mixto Renta Variable España (62 millions d’encours), le premier véhicule absorbant le deuxième, rapporte Funds People. Le nouveau fonds issu de la fusion sera baptisé Fonduxo et disposera de près de 150 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion. Bankia estime être en mesure de finaliser la fusion juridique de ces deux fonds dans le courant du mois de mois et, ainsi, pouvoir commencer la commercialisation du nouveau véhicule Bankia Fonduxo dans la foulée.
UBS Global Asset Management enrichit sa gamme de produits sur le marché espagnol. Le gestionnaire d’actifs suisse vient en effet d’enregistrer auprès du régulateur national, la CNMV, le UBS Emerging Markets Rising Giants Equity Fund, un fonds actions dédié aux marchés émergents, rapporte Funds People.Le véhicule, géré par Art Gresh, investit principalement dans des titres d’entreprises ayant leur siège social dans les pays émergents ou des entreprises qui développent la majeure partie de leur activité dans ces économies émergentes. Le portefeuille de ce fonds est composé de 50 à 80 valeurs. Son univers d’investissement est composé de sociétés cotées au MSCI Emerging Markets qui réalisent au moins 20 % de leurs revenus en dehors de leur pays d’origine.
Le taux de couverture moyen des fonds de pension d’entreprise américains a reculé de 0,5 point de pourcentage au mois de mars pour s'établir à 92,1%, selon BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions Group. Depuis le début de l’année, le taux de couverture a diminué de 3,1 points de pourcentage.Durant le mois sous revue, les actifs se sont accrus de 0,3% alors que les engagements augmentaient dans le même temps de 0,7%, le taux d’actualisation diminuant en mars de deux points de base à 4,56% pour les entreprises notées Aa.
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) a augmenté ses effectifs d’environ 14 % en 2013 et emploie désormais 2.331 personnes, rapporte Ignites Europe, citant le rapport annuel de la société. Cette entité a des succursales en Allemagne, en France, en Italie, aux Pays-Bas, en Pologne, au Danemark, en Suède, en Autriche, en Belgique et en Corée. En France, les effectifs sont de 19 personnes et les revenus se sont élevés l’an dernier à 19 millions de livres (sur un total de 873,5 millions de livres).
Capital Group pousse ses pions en Italie. La société de gestion vient en effet de recruter Cristina Mazzurana et Paola Pallota aux postes nouvellement créés de «managers» en charge du développement de l’activité pour son bureau à Milan, rapporte Funds Europe. Les deux intéressées rejoignent ainsi Vlasta Gregis qui a intégré Capital Group en mai 2012 et dirige le bureau milanais depuis son ouverture l’année dernière.Cristina Mazzurana arrive en provenance de Carmignac Gestion où elle officiait en tant que directeur du développement de l’activité, tandis que Paolo Pallota travaillait dernièrement chez HSBC Global Asset Management en tant que responsable des ventes.
AMP Capital se renforce sur le marché européen. Le groupe financier australien vient d’annoncer, le 7 avril, le lancement d’une plateforme Ucits domiciliée au Luxembourg qui offrira aux investisseurs institutionnels britanniques et européens un accès à la version Ucits de ses fonds infrastructure et immobilier. Dans le détail, cette nouvelle plateforme est ouverte à deux stratégies d’investissement: le fonds Global Listed Infrastructure et le fonds Global Real Estate Securities.Cette plateforme a été lancée avec 156 millions de dollars d’actifs sous gestion, divisés à parts égales entre les deux stratégies concernées. Les deux fonds seront accessibles initialement aux investisseurs du Royaume-Uni, des Pays-Bas et du Luxembourg, «avec l’objectif de se déployer dans d’autres juridictions en Europe et en Asie», précise AMP Capital dans un communiqué. «Le lancement de cette plateforme Ucits constitue une étape clé dans notre engagement continu de développer davantage l’offre d’AMP Capital en Europe», a commenté Anthony Fasso, directeur général en charge de l’international et responsable des clients mondiaux chez AMP Capital.Les fonds Global Listed Infrastructure et Global Real Estate Securities offrent tous les deux aux investisseurs l’accès à un portefeuille mondial de valeurs diversifiées en termes de zones géographiques et de secteurs d’activités. Le fonds infrastructure affiche 897 millions de dollars d’actifs sous gestion à fin mars 2014 tandis que le véhicule immobilier affiche 5,9 milliards de dollars d’encours.
Franklin Templeton Investments renforce son équipe commerciale en Allemagne avec le recrutement de Peter Gorynski. L’intéressé sera responsable des relations avec les partenaires distributeurs dans le pays (régions du centre et du nord), rapporte Das Investment. Il travaillera sous la direction de Thomas Knigge, directeur commercial Allemagne de la société de gestion. Peter Gorynski était auparavant porte parole de la direction de la société SJB Fondsskyline.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Shane Sutton, who trained Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins and Olympic gold medalist Chris Hoy, has teamed up with the investment consultant Inalytics to offer motivational training to client asset management firms, Financial Times fund management reports. The two partners founded the Trading Peaks academy, which seeks to provide fund managers with “the same mentality as athletes, in order to make them able to confront pressure and deliver endurance.” GLG, a division of Man Group, is the first asset management firm to subscribe to the academy.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton Investments is adding to its sales team, with the recruitment of Peter Gorynski. Gorynski will be responsible for relationships with distributor partners in Germany (central and northern regions of the country), Das Investment reports. He will report to Thomas Knigge, director of sales for Germany at the asset management firm. Gorynski was previously spokesman for the board at the SJB Fondsskyline company.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } InverCaixa Gestión is adding to its product range on the Spanish market. The asset management firm, an affiliate of the banking group CaixaBank, will this week launch a new non-guaranteed performance objective fund, Funds People reveals. The vehicle, entitled FonCaixa Rentas Abril 2020, will be composed of six sub-funds, and will invest primarily in Spanish public debt, with an investment horizon set for April 2020. On this date, the objective of the fund is to maintain 100% of the initial investment, in addition to which there will be an annual performance objective of 1.5% to 1.85% for each of the six sub-funds. The minimal initial investment varies from EUR600 to EUR150,000 according to the sub-fund.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock Investment Management (UK) has added about 14% to its staff in 2013, and now has 2,331 employees, Ignites Europe reports, citing the firm’s annual report. The entity has arms in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, and Korea. In France, there are 19 personnel and income last year totalled GBP19m (out of a total of GBP873.5m).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Aristotle Capital Management has announced the launch of an international equity fund, the Aristotle International Equity, which will invest at least 80% of its net assets in publicly-traded firms, or deposit certificates from companies whose headquarters are outside the United States, or a substantial proportion of whose activities are carried out outside the United States. The strategy is aimed at institutional clients, and will be managed by Geoffrey S Stewart and Sean M Thorpe, whose investment decisions will be taken collectively. The fund will use a bottom-up approach to seek out quality companies from the point of view of market undervaluation. The managers will then use a series of filters such as share price/earnings ratios, free cash flow ratios, and liquid assets to determine the fair value of a business.
Ashcourt Rowan has completed its acquisition of UK Wealth Management Limited (UKWM) having obtained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval, according to a press release published on April 7. This increases its assets to over GBP5 billion, of which GBP2.2 billion is discretionary and managed.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } It was a smooth end to the year for Liontrust Asset Management. The British asset management firm has posted a very slight increase in its assets under management of 1.2% at the end of its fourth quarter, ending on 31 March, from GBP3.57bn at the end of 2013 to GBP3.61bn as of the end of March 2014. In the past three months, Liontrust has posted a modest GBP16bn in net inflows. This performance has been penalised by outflows of GBP196m from a single client of the Liontrust Global Strategic Bond Fund vehicle. However, the asset management firm can claim to have brought in GBP160bn in net subscriptions from British retail clients and GBP60m in net inflows form institutionals. In the past fiscal year, from 1 April 2013 to 1 March 2014, assets under management have risen by GBP574m (or 18.9%) and net inflows totalled GBP381m, of which GBP293m were from retail clients and GBP109m from institutionals.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eric Schreiber, former head of commodities at the Swiss wealth management firm Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), will be launching a fund specialised in commodities. The EMS Commodity Volatility Fund will be registered in Liechtenstein, and will aim for assets of USD1.5bn, according to Das Investment. Fundraising is currently in progress. The portfolio will be invested in commodity derivatives of all types (energies, precious metals, soft commodities).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Gibraltar financial market is making use of its membership in the European Union to offer the European passport to Swiss managers, Agefi Switzerland reports. Gibraltar plans to offer cross-border solutions to Swiss managers both to register funds and for private asset management, offering them a passport for the European Union. Joey Garcia, a partner at the law firm Isolas, claims that the LPCC involves the same costs as AIFMD, but without offering the same advantages, such as opening to Europe, until 2015 in the best case, if the European Union agrees without delays, and without difficulties, to the equivalence of the Swiss standards. Changing the domicile of a fund or a non-European manager to a European jurisdiction appears to be an advantageous solution from this standpoint, particularly if it can be done quickly and inexpensively.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The global ETF and ETP sector is still doing well. Inflows to these products totalled USD11bn in March, according to preliminary data released on 7 April by ETFGI. This perfomance, combined with positive market effects, will drive total assets in the industry to a new record total of USD2.45trn as of the end of first quarter 2014. In the month of March, equity ETF/ETPs posted their strongest net inflows, with USD9.9bn, followed by commodity funds (USD876m in net inflows). At the same time, bond ETF/ETPs posted a net outflow of USD1.4bn. For first quarter, net subscriptions totalled USD33bn, significantly below than the USD73.1bn posted at the same time last year. In the first three months of this year, bond ETF/ETPs brought in USD17.8bn in net inflows, followed by equity funds (USD8.4bn in inflows). However, commodities had outflows of USD207m. In the past quarter, the winner for best inflows was Vanguard, with USD14.7bn in net subscriptions, followed by iShares (USD8.6bn) and Nomura AM (USD4.9bn).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Marie Repiquet and David Zerbib have joined the European sales team at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EdRAM), as sales managers in charge of partners. They will report to Michel Dinet, head of partnerships for France, according to a statement released on 7 April. The two recruitments are a sign “of the desire of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management to participate in its development and the growth of assets from partner clients,” the statement says. After starting her career at Edmond de Rothschild Luxembourg as a fund analyst, Repiquet moved up in the company to the position of private banker. She now joins Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, where she will be responsible for assisting independent advisers and platforms in Paris and the North and East regions and entrepreneurial asset management firms, as part of the Distribution Partners team. Zerbib began his career in London in sales of derivative products at UBS and HSBC, and then joined a well-known wealth management firm in Paris. He will be responsible for assisting independent advisers and platforms in Paris, and will also serve Western France and entrepreneurial asset management firms.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schroders is in talks to increase staff for its multi-asset class team in the United States, as the asset management firm seeks to double the share of its revenues originating from North America, Financial News reports. Multi-asset strategies from Schroders represent over USD9.3bn in assets.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNP Paribas IP) on Monday, 7 April announced the appointment of François Hullo has head of external distribution from 31 March 2014. He replaces Andrea Favaloro, who is leaving the group. Hullo was previously head of Fixed Income management at BNPP AM, a statement says, adding that at BNP Paribas, he served in development of alternative and structured management, head of sales for France, and then institutional sales for Southern Europe. He was then head of Alfred Berg, the asset management affiliate for the countries of Northern Europe.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Capital Group is putting down roots in Italy. The asset management firm has recruited Cristina Mazzurana and Paola Pallota for the newly-created positions of managers in charge of business development for the Milan office, Funds Europe reports. The two join Vlasta Gregis, who joined Capital Group in May 2012, and who has led the Milan office since its opening last year. Mazzurana joins from Carmignac Gestion, where she served as director of development for the activity, while Pallota most recently worked at HSBC Global Asset Management as sales manager.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street Global Advisors has recruited Desirée Scarabelli in Italy as senior sales manager, Bluerating reports. She joins from BNY Mellon Investment Management, where she had served in the same position. Scarabelli will be based in Milan, and will report to Danilo Vercadanna, head of SSgA in Italy. SSgA has recruited two other people for its Intermediary Business Group team: Steve Muzzlewhite in the United Kingdom, and Elaine Coussement in Benelux.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lazard Asset Management has decided to rename its top-performer UK Equity Income fund (GBP101m in assets) as Lazard Multi-Cap UK Income, Investment Week reports. The objective with the move is to better reflect the multi-cap size approach of the vehicle, 40% of whose portfolio is invested outside the FTSE 100. According to the website, the fund is one of the best performers in the sector, with returns of 132% over five years as of 28 March, compared with 120% for the sector, according to Morningstar data.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Allianz Global Investors plans to launch a US small caps fund for UK investors in June, Investment Week reports. The fund, which replicates a strategy available to US investors, will be managed by a team based in San Diego, led by John McCraw. It will be available in a Sicav envelope based in Luxembourg. The fund may be the first in a series which may be offered to UK investors. A UK large cap fund is also rumoured to be in the work, which would rival existing strategies.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pension funds are the largest and most generous investors in the hedge fund sector, according to a study performed by the Prime Brokerage division of J.P. Morgan, the website ValueWalk reports. As of the end of September 2013, total assets invested by defined contribution programmes in hedge funds had risen more quickly than any other category, the study finds. The 200 largest pension funds in the United States last year had a total of USD150bn in direct investment in hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, an increase of slightly over 10% compared with the previous year.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Norwegian sovereign fund, whose assets under management total about USD860bn, is not yet ready to commit to new asset classes, and is taking a year to study opportunities to invest in infrastructure or non-publicly traded assets, finance minister Siv Jansen told a group of journalists on 7 April, the news agency Reuters reports. The fund will first have to evaluate its allocation to real estate, which is still very modest, but which is rising steadily. “We are in a period of apprenticeship with our allocation to real estate, and we are currently discussing an extension into non-publicly traded,” says Jensen. But the sovereign fund clearly has no intention of extending its investment spectrum this year, as some specialists had supposed. 2014 will be primarily a time to think. “If we extend our active portfolio, it will be logical to discuss infrastructure as well as other categories... We will discuss the topic again next year,” says Jansen.
Selon les statistiques publiées par les Douanes, le déficit commercial de la France s’est contracté à 3,4 milliards d’euros en février sous l’effet d’une nette diminution des approvisionnements énergétiques et des achats d’automobiles. Il se compare à un déficit de janvier qui a été révisé en baisse à 5,61 milliards d’euros contre 5,73 milliards annoncé auparavant.
Manuel Valls «a annoncé un collectif budgétaire à la fin du mois de juin en évoquant de nouvelles économies», au-delà des 50 milliards d’euros déjà prévus, a dit à Reuters le député Christian Eckert à l’issue d’une réunion avec le groupe socialiste à l’Assemblée. Le nouveau Premier ministre aurait également annoncé le décalage à fin avril de la présentation de la trajectoire budgétaire triennale que Paris doit transmettre à Bruxelles. «Il a dit qu’elle donnerait lieu à vote», a ajouté le député. Manuel Valls prononce cet aaprès-midi son discours de politique générale.