P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As part of the trial of four former employees of Bernard Madoff, his former secretary on Monday declared, in her own defence, that she considered the disgraced financier a “big brother” to her and that she granted him such trust that she never questioned his instructions, the Wall Street Journal reports. Annette Bongiorno, who worked with the fraudster for 40 years, considered him her “hero” and never imagined that he was orchestrating a massive fraud. The secretary said she learned everything from Madoff and was therefore not surprised that she often had to backdate documents.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The bank UBS is prepared to pay EUR180m to EUR200m to the German tax authorities to avoid charges over its role in tax evasion practiced by Germans, according to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The bank “is preparing” to have to pay a sum of this order, the newspaper reports on the basis of “financial sources.” It would be “the largest penalty ever paid by a bank in Germany for complicity in tax evasion,” Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The exact amount is subject to tough negotiations between the German authorities and the bank, the newspaper states. The regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2012 purchased a CD containing information on German tax evaders, some of whose money was placed at UBS in Switzerland. In total, about CHF20bn in untaxed assets may have been placed by Germans with UBS, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European acquisition financing landscape is changing considerably due to an increase in liquidity and a rapid inflow of alternative sources of capital offering new products, according to the 2014 report from DLA Paper on European acquisition financing, which surveyed more than 250 providers of debt, advising, sponsors and companies active in European financing markets. At the start of the year 2014, the outlooks for the European acquisition financing market appear much more optimistic than 12 years ago, with 70% of respondents expecting an increase in transaction activity this year, compared with 51% last year. In addition to a gradual increase in liquidity from traditional lenders, sponsors now have access to a wider range of debt providers, such as private debt fonds, bond funds and institutional investors. Private debt funds have a profound impact on the European market, participating in more than 50 deals in 2013, a significant increase over 2012. Given the volume of private funds raised and in pgrogess, with more than 30 having already raised funds, or in the process of doing so according to funds qurveyed. - this trend is expected to increase in 2014.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management is planning to reduce its annual fees for the JPM Emerging Markets trust to 0.75% from 1%, if assets in the fund reach GBP800m after 1 July, Money Marketing reports. Assets under management in the strategy managed by Richard Tetherington currently total GBP688m, The performance commission will be maintained at 10%. In second half 2013, the trust was down 5.7%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index was down by only 1.4%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco Real Estate has officially announced the recruitment of Etienne Dupuy as director for Europe of asset management (see Newsmanagers of 18 February 2014). He will be based in Paris, alongside Paul Joubert, director for Europe of transactions, and will be responsible for leading valuation projects for European assets, and will oversee a team of 16 asset management and real estate professionals located in 6 European countries. In this role, he joins the Investment Committee as well as the Executive Board Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are heading for bond ETFs in large numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bond ETFs listed in the United States took in USD16bn between 1 and 21 February, according to TrimTabs Investment Research. It is expected to bring in the largest month since the launch of the first bond ETF in 2002, and double the monthly record set in May 2012 (USD84.bn). Among the ETFs which have benefited from this trend are the iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF, which has more than doubled its size to USD6.3bn, after receiving USD3.8bn since the beginning of February. The Pimco 7-15 Year U.S. Treasury Index ETF has seen its assets multiplied by six after subscriptions of USD57.3m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Morgan Stanley Wealth management has announced an addition to its range of consulting services for defined contribution retirement programmes, with the introduction of a new discretionary investment programme. The new programme allows retirement heads at Morgan Stanley and Graysone to assume some fiduciary responsibilities to assist the providers of retirement plans with allocation decisions and complex selections. The providers may use Morgan Stanley models based on risk, or new target date portfolios put in place by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

BNY Mellon on February 24 announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 65% interest of HedgeMark International, LLC, a current affiliate and a provider of hedge fund managed account and risk analytic services. It has held a 35% ownership stake in HedgeMark since 2011. BNY Mellon will integrate HedgeMark’s capabilities with its Global Risk Solutions offeringsThe deal is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2009 and headquartered New York, HedgeMark assists in the structuring, oversight, and risk monitoring of hedge funds, specifically dedicated managed accounts.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a long article, the Wall Street Journal discusses the departure of Mohamed El-Erian from Pimco, where he was CEO, and seeks to paint the mood which reigns at the US asset management firm, with its founder, the emblematic Bill Gross. “A high-pressure work environment that turned less collegial over the past year, a deteriorating relationship between the two senior executives and certain decisions by Mr. Gross that confused some employees” are said to be responsible for the departure of El-Erian. In June last year, Gross and El-Erian, who had long been considered a successor, confronted each other publicly over the subject of the conduct of the founder of the firm, the WSJ reports. In November, the executive board tried to make peace between them. El-Erian was offered more power. But he announced that he would be leaving. “You can’t leave,” Gross protested. “We need you.” Some thought that the two men would eventually overcome their differences. At the beginning of this year, El-Erian agreed to work with a mediator to fin a new way of making the company work, but Gross rejected the mediator. At the end of January, El-Erian therefore announced to Gross that he had taken his decision and left. The WSJ article also relates that Gross is a very demanding boss, that the working conditions are difficult, but that the firm pays some of the best salaries in the world of asset management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “A good year for asset management,” the chairman of the board at La Banque Postale, Rémy Weber, said at a presentation of the bank’s results. Assets under management at affiliates of the asset management unit of La Banque Postale last year rose 3.5%, to EUR150bn. Net banking proceeds are up 11.9% to EUR134m. Management costs ere stable at EUR68m, while gross operating results were up 27.2%, to EUR66m. The cost/income ratio improved by tens of basis points, to 52.7%. Net inflows at La Banque Postale Asset Management totalled over EUR900m, excluding CNP, driven by the dynamism of institutional clients and despite outflows from the retail segment. The good performance of the markets and the performance of management have also brought in a level of assets at the end of 2013 more than EUR4.5bn higher than 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Syz & Co is opening its doors on the Scandinavian market. The Swiss banking group on 25 February announced that in Sweden it has registered 12 of its Oyster funds. The range is already registered in 10 European countries. The choice of Sweden is no mistake. With EUR270m invested, “the Swedish investment fund market is an important market in Europe, and 76% of Swedes save in funds,” says Syz & Co. Like other European countries, Oyster will sell its funds to institutional investor clients, including pension funds, life insurers and professional intermediaries such as banks, asset management firms, platforms and distribution networks.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) has made two recruitments as additions to its Asian bond team, Citywire Global reveals. Jim Veneau has been appointed as the new head of credit for Asia, while Christy Lee has been appointed as a manager in the Asian fixed income team. Veneau, former chief investment officer at HSBC Global Asset Management, previously based in the United States, will be responsible for Asian credit and fixed income portfolios, and will also ensure development of the credit and fixed income strategy of Axa IM in Asia. Lee, for her part, joins Axa IM in Hong Kong from UBS Asset Management, where she had been a portfolio managing partner. She will now be responsible for the development and execution of credit strategy at AXA IM, focusing on the pan-Asian credit market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Northern Trust is strengthening its positions in Asia-Pacific. The asset management firm, based in Chicago, on 25 February announced the opening of a representative office in Malaysia to assist its current institutional clients to develop its activities in the country and the region. It becomes the seventh affiliate of the firm in Asia. To direct the new location, Northern Trust has recruited Ariani Rustam from Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank of the country. Before joining Northern Trust, she served for 12 years in the institution where she was senior executive in charge of risk management, operations, quantitative analysis, and in the past five years, director of the External Fund Management division, in which she participated in the introduction of new asset classes to diversify the investment of reserves from the Malaysian central bank. The Asia-Pacific region already represents a major area for growth at Northern Trust. Its assets under custody have risen by 26% per year between 2008 and 2013, while its assets under management have increased by 15% per year over the past five years.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legg Mason Global Asset Management is adding to its team in Italy with the appointment of Stefano Colombo as head of client relations, Investment Europe reveals. Before joining Legg Mason, Colombo was in charge of client service at State Street Global Advisors, after working at PwC in its division dedicated to the financial services industry, and more particularly in asset management and private banking.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }Nordea has signed an agreement withBanca Popolare di Vicenza, by the terms of which the Italian bankwill distribute the 66 sub-funds of the Nordea I Sicav which arelicensed for sale in Italy, Bluerating reports.P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The time bell has sounded for a cleanup at Ignis Asset Management (AM). The British asset management firm, an affiliate of the Phoenix insurance group, has announced a restructuring of its offshore fund range, in order to use Luxembourg as the single centre for its European funds. The merger of funds domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, into its Luxembourg structure aims to realise cost savings and to allow for greater growth of assets in the future. The Ignis AM Luxembourg Sicav currently has GBP2.6bn in assets (EUR3.15bn), compared with GBP300m (EUR363bn) for its Irish counterpart. “These changes will allow our activity to be concentrated on the most appropriate products, and those which we estimate are the most in phase with the future needs of our clients,” Ignis AM explains in a note.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robeco has merged its natural resources and infrastructure equities funds into a single fund specialised in trends in global growth, Citywire reports. The new fund entitled Robeco Global Growth Trends Equities will be managed by Henk Grrotvels and Marco van Lent.

The State Street Global Investor Confidence Index rose by 8.7 points in February to reach 123.0. The increase was primarily driven by North American institutional investors, with the North American ICI rising 12.3 points to 125.5, up from January’s revised level of 113.2. Risk sentiment was more tepid elsewhere, with the European ICI falling slightly from January’s revised reading of 112.8 to settle at 110.6. Offsetting this was a small increase in confidence among Asian investors, with the Asian ICI rising 3.3 points to 106.6 from the January reading of 103.3.“Weaker US economic data and troubles in emerging markets sparked a dramatic correction in global equities in late January and early February, but longer-term investors did not panic” noted Michael Metcalfe, senior vice president and head of multi-asset strategy, State Street Global Markets. “Instead, they used the sell-off in risk assets as a buying opportunity and measured investor sentiment rose in all regions bar Europe.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carl Vine, former managing director of UBS and SAC Capital Advisors, has teamed up with the firm Dymon Asia Capital in Singapore to launch a global long/short equity hedge fund, Bloomberg indicates. The fund will primarily invest in the Asia-Pacific region. The management of the fund will be assured by a team led by Vine based in Oxford. Dymon Asia Capital will provide the infrastructure for the fund. The product will have USD150m in assets at start, and does not plan to accept subscriptions beyond USD500m, according to Bloomberg.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Danish pension fund ATP, one of the largest in Europe (DKK592bn), has sold its German bonds and fixed income swaps for DKK20bn, in order to increase its investment in infrastructure, Financial Times fund management reports. It is the first major change for the fund since the arrival of its new CEO, Carsten Stendevad.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The data provider MSCI on 25 February published the results of its half-yearly study of allocation practices at pension and sovereign funds worldwide. The study was conducted in fourth quarter 2013 of 80 institutionals worldwide with nearly USD4trn in assets. “The study finds that the largest challenge for institutionals is to unify long-term objectives with the short-term character of asset management. It finds no consequence on the frequency of strategc allocation decisions, or on the methods used. This can lead to considerable variation in investment results,” says Neil Gilfedder, managing director and head of applied analytical research at MSCI, cited in a statement.

Le fournisseur d’outils d’aide à l’investissement MSCI a publié le 25 février les résultats de son étude semestrielle sur les pratiques d’allocation des fonds de pension et des fonds souverains dans le monde. Une enquête réalisée au quatrième trimestre 2013 auprès de 80 institutionnels dans le monde représentant près de 4.000 milliards de dollars d’actifs."L’enquête montre que le plus grand défi des institutionnels est d’unifier les objectifs de long terme avec le caractère de court terme de la gestion d’actifs. Il ne ressort aucun consensus sur la fréquence des décisions d’allocation stratégique ou encore sur les méthodes utilisées. Cela peut entraîner de très grandes variations dans les résultats des investissements», indique Neil Gilfedder, managing director et responsable de la recherche analytique appliquée chez MSCI, cité dans un communiqué.L’enquête indique aussi que 95% des participants envisagent d’accroître ou de maintenir leurs allocations dans les classes d’actifs alternatives. Les raisons avancées pour la détention d’actifs alternatifs sont très variables. «Lorsqu’ils investissent dans l’immobilier notamment, certains institutionnels recherchent du rendement, d’autres du revenu et d’autres encore une diversification des risques. Sans une compréhension claire de la façon dont les classes alternatives contribuent au risque et au rendement au sein d’un portefeuille, ils n’ont aucune base sérieuse pour fixer des objectifs à leurs investissements», explique Neil Gilfedder.L’enquête s’est plus spécifiquement intéressée aux mesures prises par les institutionnels pour renforcer la gestion du risque de leur exposition à l’immobilier. A partir de données concernant 138 institutionnels, la recherche a analysé l’utilisation des indices de référence et la surveillance des risques de portefeuilles et de risques liés à la classe d’actifs. Bien que 70% des institutionnels utilisent des indices immobiliers, plus de 80% d’entre eux font preuve d’incohérences, notamment en utilisant des indices nationaux alors qu’ils investissement à l’international.

Swiss Life Asset Managers, qui rassemble depuis fin 2012 les expertises du groupe Swiss Life en matière de gestion d’actifs pour compte de tiers, a engrangé l’an dernier une collecte nette de 5,6 milliards de francs grâce à de nouveaux mandats et à des apports dans des fonds institutionnels et des fonds ouverts au public, a annoncé le groupe le 26 février. Les actifs sous gestion pour compte de tiers s'élèvent ainsi à 27,6 milliards de francs (+ 34%). Ajoutés aux placements des sociétés d’assurance de Swiss Life, les actifs gérés par Swiss Life Asset Managers ont atteint 155 milliards de francs fin décembre 2013 contre 148 milliards de francs un an plus tôt.. En 2013, Swiss Life Asset Managers a pu maintenir les produits directs de ses placements dans le portefeuille d’assurance au niveau élevé de l’année précédente, à savoir 4,3 milliards de francs. Avec les plus-values réalisées et les réévaluations du portefeuille immobilier, le rendement net des placements atteint 3,9% contre 4,8% l’année précédente. Swiss Life Asset Managers a augmenté son résultat sectoriel de 21% à 166 millions de francs. Au niveau du groupe, le bénéfice net se chiffre quant à lui à 784 millions de francs, contre 99 millions de francs en 2012 suite à des amortissements sur des actifs incorporels.

BBVA AM et Bankinter Gestión de Activos viennent d’enregistrer auprès de la CNMV, le régulateur espagnol, deux nouveaux fonds de gestion passive, révèle Funds People. Ainsi, Bankinter lance le fonds Bankinter Renta Semestral 2019, dont le portefeuille sera composé à 95 % de dette émise par les Etats de la zone euro ou les Communautés autonomes et à 5 % en liquidité. Ce véhicule pourra également investir en obligations privées ou publiques d’émetteurs de l’OCDE ayant une notation minimale de BB- ou identique à celle de l’Espagne.Pour sa part, BBVA lance le fonds BBVA Bonos Plazo VII, qui investira dans la dette émise par l’Espagne (initialement à hauteur de 96,6 %) et en liquidité. Si nécessaire, le véhicule pourra également investir dans des dettes émises par les Etats de la zone euro ou les Communautés autonomes, ainsi que dans des dettes privées en euros d’émetteurs de l’OCDE.Le montant initial d’investissement est de 500 euros pour le fonds de Bankinter et de 600 euros pour celui de BBVA. Les commissions de gestion sont fixées à 0,58 % pour le produit de Bankinter et à 0,85 % pour celui de BBVA.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs GAM vient d’enregistrer sur le marché espagnol, en tant que compartiments de sa Sicav luxembourgeoise GAM Star (Lux), deux nouveaux fonds de performance absolue, l’un centré sur les pays européens et l’autre sur les pays émergents, dévoile Funds People. Le premier fonds, baptisé GAM Star (Lux) European Alpha C EUR et qui compte un historique de plus de 10 ans, investit ainsi dans les actions des pays européens libellées en euros. Géré par Gianmarco Mondani, Roberto Cantaluppi et Paolo Longinotti, ce véhicule combine des stratégies long/short avec une approche bottom-up. Le deuxième fonds, GAM Star (Lux) Emerging Alpha C Euro, est orienté exclusivement sur les actions des pays émergents et est géré par Enrico Camera et Ian Cartmill. Actuellement, le portefeuille est principalement exposé au Moyen-Orient (6,27%), à l’Europe de l’Est (4,95%) et sur Taiwan (3,32%).

La «silver économie» (activités liées au vieillissement) s’est enrichie d’un fonds d’investissement sectoriel, rapporte L’Agefi. Un premier tour de table pour ce fonds de capital-investissement de 42 millions d’euros, a été réalisé auquel ont contribué Bpifrance (premier souscripteur à hauteur de 10 millions), les organismes de prévoyance et de protection sociale Klesia, Malakoff Médéric, Ircem Mutuelle (5 millions), Ocirp, Réunica, Humanis et Harmonie Mutuelle. Les instigateurs du projet espèrent atteindre 100 millions, voire légèrement au-delà, dans les douze mois. Géré par Innovation Capital (ex-CDC Innovation), le fonds entend investir entre 2 et 10 millions d’euros dans dix à quinze sociétés innovantes réalisant jusqu'à une dizaine de millions d’euros de revenus.

L’Etablissement de retraite additionnelle de la fonction publique (ERAFP) a publié sur son site la liste des marchés conclus par l'établissement en 2013 et établie dans les conditions définies par l’arrêté du 21 juillet 2011 pris en application de l’article 133 du code des marchés financiers.On y retrouve les traditionnelles sélections d’entreprises d’investissement pour l’attribution de mandats de gestion financière. Par exemple, Robeco AM, Natixis AM et Fundlogic ont été retenus pour un mandat portant sur des actions cotées de moyennes et grandes capitalisations Etats-Unis dans le cadre d’une gestion active ISR non benchmarkée.Mais on y apprend également que la société Ethifinance a été sélectionnée pour la formation des administrateurs de l’ERAFP sur la gouvernance, le contrôle interne et la déontologie. Ou encore que deux agences de conseil en vote aux assemblées générales ont été sélectionnées, Proxinvest pour l’analyse des AG de sociétés françaises, ISS pour l’analyse des AG de sociétés internationales On observe aussi que la société Fractales a été retenue pour la sélection d’un outil de gestion actif-passif et la mise en place d’un modèle ALM pour un régime de retraite par capitalisation. Et l’ERAFP a également retenu deux prestataires pour son assistance juridique, le cabinet d’avocats en droit public Adden, et le cabinet d’avocats d’affaires Allen & Overy. Mais l’objet du marché le précise bien : il s’agit d’une assistance «ponctuelle"…

Robeco a fusionné ses fonds ressources naturelles et actions infrastructures en un seul fonds spécialisé sur les tendances de la croissance mondiale, rapporte Citywire. Le nouveau fonds s’appelle Robeco Global Growth Trends Equities et sera piloté par Henk Grootveld et Marco van Lent.

St James’s Place affiche son appétit de croissance. A l’occasion de la publication de ses résultats annuels, la société britannique de gestion de fortune et d’actifs a annoncé être «en discussions avancées» en vue d’acquérir Henley Group, une société de conseil en investissement qui compte 400 millions de livres (665 millions de dollars) d’actifs sous gestion et 4.000 clients expatriés à Hong-Kong, Singapour et Shanghai. Il s’agit là de la première tentative de la société dans le cadre d’une stratégie à plus long terme d’expansion international avec, en ligne de mire, les clients britanniques expatriés au Moyen-Orient si l’aventure asiatique connaît le succès escompté, n’a pas caché David Bellamy, directeur général de St James’s Place.La firme britannique peut se permettre d’afficher ses ambitions à l’heure où elle a publié des résultats de haute tenue. En 2013, St James’s Place a dégagé 190,7 millions de livres de bénéfice avant impôt, en hausse de 42 % par rapport à 2012. Sa collecte nette s’est élevée à 4,3 milliards de livres, en progression de 28 % sur un an, portant ainsi ses actifs sous gestion à 44,3 milliards de livres, en croissance de 27 % par rapport à 2012.

Henderson Global Investors vient de promouvoir deux gérants fixed income en charge de la clientèle retail afin de soutenir John Pattullo et Jenna Barnard, dévoile FundWeb. Ainsi, Nicholas Ware a été nommé co-gérant du fonds Fixed Interest Monthly Income (719,2 millions de livres d’actifs) pour travailler aux côtés de John Pattullo et Jenna Barnard.En parallèle Rebecca Morris-Charles a été nommé «deputy manager» pour le fonds Preference & Bond (597,7 millions de livres d’encours), également géré par John Patullo et Jenna Barnard.