Fidelity Worldwide Investment a recruté deux personnes dans son équipe italienne, rapporte Bluerating. Rosario Sarcone rejoint la société en tant que senior sales manager dédié à la clientèle wholesale, après avoir travaillé chez PineBridge et Carmignac Gestion. Alberto Mussini est recruté en tant que manager fund selection units. Il rejoint l’équipe de Matteo Buonomini. Il a travaillé précédemment chez Banca Imi, Aletti Gestielle et Aureo Gestioni.
Les rachats nets de titres d’OPCVM monétaires se sont poursuivis en décembre, s’établissant en données cvs à -2,5 milliards, après -4,6 milliards en novembre, selon des statistiques communiquées par la Banque de France. Sur un an, l’encours des titres d’OPCVM monétaires diminue de 11% à 284,3 milliards d’euros en données consolidées.Du côté des OPCVM non monétaires,: les retraits nets sont moins importants en décembre (-0,4 milliard en données cvs) que le mois précédent (-1,2 milliard). L’encours global diminue de 1,7 milliard sur le mois à 944,2 milliards d’euros en données non consolidées, la hausse modeste des valeurs liquidatives (+0,2 %en moyenne) ne compensant pas l’effet des rachats.
La banque KBC a annoncé en fin de semaine dernière sur son site qu’elle allait continuer à simplifier et adapter son organisation à la taille plus réduite du groupe. De fait, à partir du 1er mai 2014, l'établissement procèdera à la fusion des divisions Marchés internationaux et Fabriques de produits internationales. Par ailleurs, la division Corporate Change & Support cessera d’exister et ses entités seront intégrées dans l’organisation existante. Ces changements auront également une conséquence sur la composition du Comité de direction de KBC Groupe. Toujours à partir du 1er mai 2014, le comité de direction du groupe ne comptera plus que six membres au lieu de huit. - Marko Voljč et Danny De Raymaeker quittent le Comité de direction de KBC Groupe. - John Hollows succède à Pavel Kavanek en tant que CEO de la division Tchéquie/CSOB. - Christine Van Rijsseghem entre au Comité de direction de KBC Groupe en tant que CRO (Chief Risk Officer). Pavel Kavanek remplace Jan Švejnar à la présidence du Conseil d’administration de CSOB.Sur avis du comité de nomination, le conseil d’administration de KBC nomme John Hollows comme successeur de Pavel Kavanek (qui a atteint en décembre 2013 la limite d'âge fixée à 65 ans pour les membres du Comité de direction) en tant que président du comité de direction et chief executive officer . En 2009, il était entré au comité de direction de KBC Groupe pour devenir CEO de la division Europe centrale, orientale et Russie. Depuis 2010, il était chief risk officer de KBC Groupe.
La société d’investissement Partners Group, qui vient de boucler un programme d’investissements de 1,5 milliard d’euros (Newsmanagers du 14 février), précise qu’une bonne partie de ce programme pourrait être investie en Asie.Selon Asian Investor, jusqu'à 40% du programme pourrait être investi dans des opérations de buy-out sur le marché des PME asiatiques.
La société de gestion suisse Aquila & Co, basée à Zurich, a lancé un nouveau fonds obligataire mondial conçu pour neutraliser les effets liés à l’environnement de taux d’intérêt bas, croit savoir Citywire. Baptisé Solitaire Global Bond, ce véhicule Ucits domicilié au Liechtenstein peut investir au moins à 90 % dans des obligations libellées en dollars et jusqu’à 10 % dans des obligations d’autres devises. Le fonds se concentrera principalement sur des obligations notées BBB d’une duration moyenne de 4,2 ans. Ce fonds affichait 12,5 millions de dollars d’actifs à son lancement et est disponible en dollars, en euros (hedged) et en francs suisse (hedged).
En janvier, les fonds commercialisés en Norvège ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 60 milliards de couronnes norvégiennes, selon l’association locale des professionnels de la gestion Verdipapirfondenes forening (VFF). Cette collecte a été tirée par les fonds fixed income, qui ont engrangé 56 milliards de couronnes, et les investisseurs institutionnels, qui ont placé 56,9 milliards de couronnes.Par ailleurs, la société norvégienne DNB Asset Management a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 49,5 milliards de couronnes.
Invesco Real Estate (Invesco RE) vient de nommer Etienne Dupuy au poste de directeur senior en charge de ses activités de gestion d’actifs en Europe, en remplacement de Neil Harris parti rejoindre Starwood Capital l’an dernier, révèle Funds Europe.Basé à Paris, il supervisera une équipe de 16 gérants d’actifs répartis à travers l’Europe. Etienne Dupuy entre également au comité exécutif de la compagnie. Avant de rejoindre Invesco RE, Etienne Dupuy officiait depuis cinq ans comme directeur général de BNP Paribas Real Estate Investments Services. Auparavant, il avait travaillé pendant 9 ans chez Axa Real Estate Investment Managers.Invesco Real Estate affiche 55,7 milliards de dollars (41 milliards d’euros) d’actifs sous gestion, dont 7,3 milliards de dollars en Europe.
Les américains Guggenheim, ProShares et Charles Schwab cherchent le meilleur moyen pour pénétrer le marché européen des ETF, rapporte le Financial Times fund management. William Belden, responsable de l’activité ETF de Guggenheim, confirme que son groupe étudie une liste de cibles de fusions et acquisitions potentielles. John Sturiale, senior vice-president of product management de Charles Schwab Investment Management, indique que sa société a procédé à des études concernant une entrée sur le marché européen des ETF. ProShares a quant à lui commencé à explorer des opportunités hors des Etats-Unis.Récemment deux sociétés américaines ont acquis des maisons d’ETF en Europe : Warburg Pincus a pris une participation majoritaire dans Source et WisdomTree a racheté Boost.
Les actifs sous gestion du fonds ING (L) Renta Fund Global High Yield ont dépassé la barre des 5 milliards d’euros, indique ING Investment Management.Malgré les inquiétudes relatives à une remontée des taux d’intérêt, le secteur du haut rendement continue d’attirer les investisseurs avec des rendements intéressants au sein de l’univers obligataire. D’autant plus que la sensibilité aux évolutions des taux d’intérêt est moins marquée au sein du high yield.Tim Dowling, le patron du global high yield chez ING Investment Management, s’attend à un rendement d’environ 5% et estime qu’il existe encore de la marge pour la poursuite d’un resserrement des spreads qui limite l’impact d’une remontée des taux d’intérêt.
Hugh Mullan, managing director de Fidelity Worldwide Investment au Royaume-Uni, va quitter la compagnie en avril prochain pour prendre un congé sabbatique d’un an, révèle Citywire. Hugh Mullan, entré chez Fidelity en 2008 comme directeur des opérations pour l’Europe, dirigeait l’activité britannique depuis mars 2012. Il sera pour l’instant remplacé par Jim Burton, actuel directeur du marketing de la branche «investissement personnel» chez Fidelity Investments aux Etats-Unis. Mais la société de gestion recherche un remplaçant à temps plein et espère pouvoir annoncer une nomination d’ici la fin de l’année.
Arden Asset Management étoffe son offre. La société de gestion, basée à New York et Londres, a dévoilé le lancement d’un nouveau fonds de hedge funds conforme à la réglementation Ucits, révèle FundWeb. Baptisé Arden Diversified Alternative Strategies, ce véhicule domicilié en Irlande adoptera une approche multi-gérant pour investir dans des hedge funds.
Le groupe japonais Nomura a dégagé une plus-value de 205 millions de dollars sur la vente d’une participation dans la société de gestion alternative américaine Fortress Investment Group, rapporte l’agence Bloomberg.Nomura a vendu une participation de 12% dans Fortress pour un montant de 363,4 millions de dollars. La plus-value de cette opération sera intégrée dans les résultats du quatrième trimestre à fin mars, a indiqué un porte-parole de Nomura. Le groupe japonais avait acquis une participation de 15% en décembre 2006. Les actifs sous gestion de Fortress s'élèvent à quelque 58 milliards de dollars.
Assets under management in the ING (L) Renta Fund Global High Yield fund have topped EUR5bn, ING Investment Management indicates. Despite concerns related to a rise in interest rates, the high yield sector is continuing to attract investors, with attractive returns in the bond universe, all the more since the sensitivity to interest rates is less marked than in high yield. Tim Dowling, head of global high yield at ING Investment Management, expects returns of about 5%, and estimates that there is still room to manoeuvre to continue to tighten spreads, which limit the impact of an interest rate rise.
The German affiliate of the British asset management group Schroders has joined the German asset management association BVI as a full member, according to a statement released on 17 February. The British asset management firm is one of the first to take advantage of the opening of the professional association to foreign actors, announced in October 2013.
Fidelity Worldwide Investment on 17 February announced the launch of a horizon fund which comes as an addition to its bond range in Germany. The fund, Fidelity Laufzeit 2018, which has been designed in close collaboration with its distributor partners, will invest in bonds maturing in 2018 and redeemed at part, Fidelity says in a staement. The subscription period runs fom 17 February to 14 April 2014. In addition to government and corporate investment grade bonds, the fund may also expose itself to emerging market bonds, with the opportunity to invest up to 40% of its portfolio in high yield bonds with a rating of BB+ or below. Management fees total 0.3% per year for institutional Y shares (ISIN: LU1021906885). The minimal investment for institutionals is EUR750,000.
The German ratings agency Scopt ratings on 17 February announced the appointment of Marco Troiano as associate director in charge of ratings for banks based in London. Troiano will initially be responsible for the analysis and ratings of a number of European banks. Troiano previously worked at Standard & Poor’s as a banking analyst, and at Berenberg. Before joining Scope, he served as an independent analyst on the European banking sector.
Private equity firms are abandoning the renewable energy sector after a series of fruitless investments, Financial Times fund management reports. About 87% of private equity funds specialised in renewable energies earned lower than median returns. Among them are products from HgCapital, Impax, InfraRed, BlackRock and Foresight, according to Preqin.
Arden Asset Management is adding to its product range. The asset management firm, based in New York and London, has unveiled a new fund of hedge funds that complies with UCITS regulations, FundWeb reveals. The Ireland-domiciled vehicle, entitled Arden Diversified Alternative Strategies, will adopt a multi-management approach to invest in hedge funds.
Eaton Vance Management is adding to its teams. The US asset management firm, based in Boston and an affiliate of the Eaton Vance group, has announced the appointment effective from 29 April 2014 of Edward J. Perkin as chief investment officer in charge of equities. He replaces Duncan W. Richardson, who retired in October 2013. The position had been occupied for the interim by Thomas Faust, chairman and CEO of Eaton Vance. Before joining Eaton vance, Perkin had served as chief investment officer in charge of equities for international and emerging markets at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He was based in London and oversaw a team of 50 people composed of analysts and portfolio managers located in eight different locations. Eaton Vance Management manages US or global equity portfolios with total assets of USD39.2bn as of the end of December 2013 for individual and institutional investors via funds and managed accounts.
A group led by the investment company Starr Investment and the Swiss wealth management firm Partners Group on 17 February announced the acquisition of the US firm MultiPlan from Silver Lake and BC Partners. The terms of the transaction have not yet been disclosed. MultiPlan, founded in 1980, offers cost management solutions in the health sector. The business has a network of 900,000 health service providers, and its own system, which permits savings of about USD11bn on 40 million loans.
Skandia in Sweden has recruited Anders Jonsson as head of sales for institutional clients, while the firm is preparing to offer asset management services to this category of investors, Fondbranschen reports. Jonsson joins from DNB in Sweden, where he was CEO for about 10 years. Skandia is working to launch four funds for institutionals. The first to be released will be a corporate bond fund, The other three concern real estate, private equity and commodities.
Fidelity Worldwide Investment has recruited two people for its Italian team, Bluerating reports. Rosario Sarcone joins the firm as senior sales manager dedicated to wholesale clients, after working at PineBridge and Carmignac Gestion. Alberto Mussini is recruited as manager fund selection units. He joins the team of Matteo Buonomini. He previously worked at Banca Imi, Aletti Gestielle and Aureo Gestioni.
Launches of activist funds reached their highest level in five years in 2013, Financial Times fund management reports. Eight activist asset management firms were founded last year, five of them in the United States. By comparison, only five groups of activist funds were created in 2012 and 2011 respectively, and all but one were based in the United Sttaes, according to data from Activist Insight.
Hedge fund management firms are raiding staff of investment banks and consulting firms to build up their teams for distressed assets, Financial Times fund management reports. The attraction of this asset class has risen since the financial crisis, but many hedge funds are just beginning to buid their teams in this area. The hedge funds Och Ziff, Centerbridge Partners, Beach Point Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital have added to their European distressed asset management teams, according to several recruitment experts who have asked for anonymity. This is also the case for BYG Pactual and Tikehau.
Invesco Real Estate (Invesco RE) has appointed Etienne Dupuy as senior director in charge of its asset management activities in Europe, replacing Neil Harris, who left to join Starwood Capital last year, Funds Europe reports. Dupuy will be based in Paris, and will oversee a team of 16 asset managers throughout Europe. Dupuy is also joining the executive board at the company. Before joining Invesco RE, Dupuy had for five years served as CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Services. He had previously spent 9 years at Axa Real Estate Investment Managers. Invesco Real Estate has USD55.7bn (EUR41bn) in assets under management, of which USD7.3bn are in Europe.
The US firms Guggenheim, ProShares and Charles Schwab are seeking the best way to enter the European ETF market, Financial Times fund management reports. William Belden, head of ETF business at Guggenheim, confirms that his group is studying a list of potential merger and acquisition targets. John Sturiale, senior vice president of product management at Charles Schwab Investment Management, states that his firm has carried out studies of an entry into the European ETF market. ProShares, for its part, has begun to explore opportunities outside the United States. Recently, two US firms have acquires ETF asset management firms in Europe: Warburg Pincus has acquires a majority stake in Source, and WisdomTree has acquired Boost.
The Swiss asset management firm Aquila & Co, based in Zurich, has launched a new global bond fund designed to neutralize the effects of low interest rates, Citywire reports. The UCITS vehicle domiciled in Liechtenstein, entitled Solitaire Global Bond, may invest at least 90% in bonds denominated in US dollars, and up to 10% in bonds in other currencies. The fund will concentrate primarily on bonds rated BBB with an average duration of 4.2 years. The fund had USD12.5bn in assets at its launch, and is available in US dollars, euros (hedged) and Swiss francs (hedged).
The year is starting out well for French collective asset management. In January, French-registered OPCVM funds have seen an increase in their assets of 2.78%, to EUR776.9bn, with a very strong increase in money market assets. The growth totals 8.74%, (or EUR23.3bn), far ahead of funds investing in bonds (+1.83%) and convertibles (+2.27%). For their part, funds investing in equities which have seen their assets under management fall 1.95%, despite a positive inflow effect in some categories. In its extract of its monthly rating, EuroPerformance – a SIX Company states that inflows to low-risk short-term assets show a rupture with previous months. However, the performane at the beginning of the year show a reversal of this trend. For the equity fund categories overall, the performance effect has played an essential role. All categories monitored by Europerformance have seen their assets under management decline, while the “equities Europe,” “equities America” and “equities Asia/Pacific” categories have received net inflows of EUR925m, EUR38.59m and EUR109.4m, respectively. Their respective markets, on average, have lost 1.37%, 2.06%, and 2.675%. The two categories with cumulative net outflows and a negative market effect are MENA equity funds and international equity funds. The first of these categories lost EUR28m, while the second lost EUR822.11m, with an average decline in performance of 0.04% for MENA funds and -2.42% for international equity funds.
German open-ended real estate funds last year posted net inflows of over EUR4.5bn, the highest level recorded in five years, according to statistics released by the ratings agency Scope Ratings. Scope reveals that its figures mark a difference of about EUR1bn from the statistics published by the German asset management association BVI, due to the fact that Scope does not take into account assets which are undergoing liquidation.
The German group Siemens on 17 February announced the launch of a venture capital fund with EUR100m, the Industry of the Future fund, which will invest as a priority in young startups in technology or promising sectors. The fund has already invested in two firms, the Lagoa company based in Montreal and the US firm CounterTack, based in Boston.