P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The AXA Private Equity firm, which since October 2012 has been the major shareholder in the industrial negineering group Fives, on Monday, 11 March announced that the firm has signed an agreement to acquire MAG Americas, an international group specialised in high-tech equipment. The operation is pending approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. MAG Americas has about 1,000 employees based in the United States, France, Canada, China and South Korea. In 2012, the firm had a portfolio of 100 patents, and earned revenues of about EUR400m, two thirds of which was in North America.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In line with what was recently announced in Paris (see Newsmangers of 27 February), Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO of Axa Investment Managers, has told Financial Times Fund Management (FTFM) that the firm he leads will be highly active in the recruitment of teams from competitors, a formula whose profitability is much more sure than external growth. The manager is particularly interested in emerging market, loans and liability-driven investment (LDI) teams.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Despite their exponential growth, ETFs remain products which some catgories of investors are still wary of. Three quarters of advisers do, of course, use ETPs, according to a surey by WealthManagement.com of 735 advisers («Advisor Use of ETPs –And Lessons From the Trenches,”) which nonetheless fins that one quarter are still not using ETFs in client portfolios. Among non-users, 42.5% of advisres say that they do not have adequate knowledge of these investment vehicles. Some (18.6%) also say that mutual funds are more appropriate products for their clients, while others (18%) say that ETPs are not products made for their clients. Many advisers claim that they need more and more robust information about ETPs. “It is normal that advisers are not yet completely at ease, since this is really a new sector of activity,” says Adam Patti, CEO and founder of the ETF provider IndexIQ. The survey also finds that advisers are attached to vehicles which they know well, such as actively-managed mutual funds. When asked about their vehicled of choice other than ETPs, 44.7% of adviers mention actively-managed mutual funds, well ahead of tracker mutual funds (25.6%). There is thus still a lot of work and education to be done. The primary sources of information for adviers who use ETPs are websites (52.9%) and documents provided by sponsors (50.4%). Far fewer are interested in independent research on the subject. Specialists regret that there is not yet a good reference resource for ETFs. The US asset management association (ICI) last autumn launched an informational website about ETFs (http://www.understandetfs.org), which represents an initial step in that direction.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } BNY Mellon has announced that it has been granted three patents on processes developed by the firm, which allow for commodities to be traded via ETFs. The commodities covered by the patents also include silver and other industrial and precious metals. “These patents recognize that BNY Mellon has created an innovative processes which transforms metal or other commodities which are generally an encumbrance into easily-traded securities,” says Joseph Keenan, head of the Global ETF Services unit at BNY Mellon. BNY Mellon acts as a custodian and administrator for about half of all ETFs traded in the United States.

EDHEC-Risk Institute, in a statement published on March 11th, disagrees with the position of the ESMA Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) in its advice to ESMA dated 26 February 2013, which not only makes the assumption that the governance approach and transparency approach are substitutable and that therefore a lack of transparency could be compensated by an improvement in the rules of governance, but also presents the governance approach as the high road and transparency as a fallback solution enabling external monitoring to be carried out in the absence of “sound governance mechanisms.” As an academic institution, EDHEC-Risk Institute wishes to recall that the position of the SMSG is in total contradiction with research results which show clearly that the efficiency and integrity of a market are directly related to the quantity and quality of the information available and not to the goodwill displayed by participants in the market. Edhec also points out that smart beta indices contain exposures to different risk factors than cap-weighted indices and rely on methodologies that obviously present model and parameter estimation risks. It is therefore essential for investors to be able to carry out risk analysis easily and to avail of non-biased information on the quality of track records and the robustness of the performance displayed by index providers. Providing the public with the information required to independently replicate an index for evaluation or research purposes should not be misrepresented as denying index providers the right to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. There are legal as well as contractual tools (e.g. licenses) to defend index providers against unauthorised uses of their methodologies and data, Edhec concludes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Swiss bankers’ association (ASB) has appointed Peter Grünblatt to coordinate its Asset Management initiative, the association announced on 11 March.The project aims to improve overarching conditions in asset management, a sector which the ASB considers capital to the Swiss financial market.Grünblatt, 51, has served since 2001 in positinos of responsibility in the area of investment products at Credit Suisse, including the affiliate Banque Leu, which later became Clariden Leu, a statement from the ASB says.In a 20-page document, the association lays out the top objectives for the asset management sector, which has developed less in recent year than rival centres in London and New York. The reason given for this observtion is that “external” factors are affecting the legal and fiscal framework, which is less competitive, as well as “internal” factors such as a lack of promotion of asset management as a Swiss brand in and of itself.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Vontobel is this week launching an online platform for external asset managers (EAM), according to the website finews. The new resource, entitled Vontobel EAMNet, will be available to all external asset managers with a cooperation agreement with Vontobel. Users will have access to all updated research from Vontobel. Vontobel will compete with Credit Suisse, which has recently announced that it plans to launch an online platform of the same type in the next few weeks for external asset managers (Newsmanagers of 19 February 2013).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 1 February, Barclays Wealth Managers España registered the Barclauys Renta Fija 2018 fund, a fund maturing on 1 February 2018 with non-guaranteed returns of 2.7% per year compared with its net asset value as of 15 March 2013, when subscriptions close, with the CNMV. It will invest primarily inSpanish government and corporate bonds.CharacteristicsName: Barclays Renta Fija 2018, FIISIN code: ES0118845009Front-end fee: 2%Management commission: 1%Early withdrawal penalty: 1%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The best-selling fund of 2012 in Europe was the AllianceBernstein – American Income Portfolio fund from the Axa – Alliance Bernstein group, with net inflows of EUR8.23bn, according to the annual European fund report from Lipper, published on Monday.Pimco takes the next three places, with the Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund (EUR8.06bn0, the Pimco GIS Global Investment Grade Credit (EUR5.86bn) and the Pimco GIS Diversified Income Fund (EUR5.58bn).In fourth and fifth place are UK asset management firms: Standard Life and M&G, with the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies (EUR5.49bn) and the M&G Optimal Income Fund (EUR5.14bn).In seventh and eighth place, the Axa group returns with two high yield bond funds, Axa IM FIIS – US Short Duration High Yield (EUR4.55bn) and AllianceBernstein – Global High Yield Portfolio (EUR3.79bn). Lastly, in tenth place is Pimco, with the Pimco GIS Unconstrained Bond Fund (EUR2.92bn). The rankings are clearly dominated by bond funds, which in 2012 recorded net sales of EUR22.62bn in Europe, while the sector overall had a net total of EUR225.2bn.The top equity fund places only 12th, with the M&G Global Dividend.Only two French groups place in the top 25 best-sellers: Axa, several times in the top ten, and Carmignac, with the Carmignac Patrimione, which in 2012 took in EUR1.97bn.The latter, however, remains the second-largest fund in Europe, with EUR2801bn as of the end of December. The largest fund has not changed: it is the Templeton Global Bond Fund, with EUR34.25bn. The Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund moves up from fourth to third place, with EUR25.83bn, overtaking the Templeton Global Total Return Fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } With the registration of the Digital Funds Luxembourg Sicav by the CNMV, J. Chahine Capital has become the first foreign asset management firm to enter Spain this year Funds People reports. The two sub-funds licensed by the Spanish regulator are the Digital Stars Europe and Digital Stars Europe Ex-UK.Funds People reports that 16 foreign asset management firms arrived in Spain in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is currently working to launch two ETFs to protect investors against inflation via TIPS, IndexUniverse reports. The funds, the SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF and the SPDR Barclays 1-10 Year TIPS ETF, are on the short and mid parts of the curve, as TIPS are generally offered with maturities of 5, 10 and 20 years. At a time when investors remain concerned by the potential rise of inflationary pressures, the market is currently offering 11 ETFs based on TIPS which have posted inflows of USD1.88bn in the past 12 months. The largest is the iShares Barclays TIPS bond fund, whose assets under management total USD22bn.

La réforme bancaire engagée au Royaume-Uni doit être encore durcie et permettre si besoin une séparation totale entre activités de détail et d’investissement de toutes les banques du pays, a insisté le 11 mars la commission parlementaire mise en place après le scandale du Libor. «Il reste beaucoup de travail à faire pour améliorer la loi» de réforme, débattue ce lundi à la Chambre des communes, a estimé Andrew Tyrie, le président conservateur de cette commission mise en place cet été. Le ministre des Finances George Osborne a déjà accepté certaines propositions de la commission, comme de donner au régulateur le pouvoir de décider d’une séparation totale - et pas d’un simple cloisonnement - des activités au cas où une banque ne joue pas le jeu. Mais il fut aller encore plus loin et permettre éventuellement «une séparation complète et à travers tout le secteur» bancaire, et pas seulement pour un établissement au cas par cas, a fait valoir Andrew Tyrie

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Asset management firms based in the United Kingdom may be offloading GBP1bn in costs per year by bundling them up in with opaque commissions charged to clients, Financial Times Fund Management finds. The figures include payments to access businesses, as well as research by third parties. British passively-managed equity funds, which do not pay for research or for access to businesses, generally charge commissions equivalent to 2.1 basis points on the securities they buy and sell, FTfm finds, citing figures from SCM Private. At the same time, the major British asset managers charged commissions averaging 10.4 basis points, which suggests that 8.3 basis points went to research and other costs.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The hedge fund Brevan Howard will donate GBP20.1m over eight years to the Imperial College Business School in London, to create a research centre in financial economy, the Brevan Howard Centre for Finance, the Financial Times reports. The donation is one of the largest ever given to a British business school. It was initiated by Alan Howard, founder of the hedge fund and an alumnus of the school.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In a market statement on 11 March, Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to sell at least 102 million ordinary shares in the asset management firm St James’s Place (GBP33.8bn in assets as of the end of December), about 20% of ordinary capital in circulation. That will reduce the stake of Lloyds Banking Group in St James’s Place to 37%. The vendor plans to bring in capital gains of GBP350-400m through the sale.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } US firms such as Pimco, Franklin Templeton and BlackRock were the asset management firms to post the largest inflows in Europe in the past 10 years (excluding money markets and ETFs). Pimco has posted average annual subscriptoins of USD8.668bn over the decade, ahead of Franklin Templeton (EUR7.824bn) and BlackRock (EUR7.797bn). Jn fourth place is one of the only French firms in the top 25, Axa, with EUR5.386bn. The other French firm is Carmignac, which is in sixth place (after M&G), with average annual subscriptions of EUR4.053bn. Lipper notes that the 20 firms in the rankings of best-sellers over the past decade have a different profile. There are independent firms, private banks and affilates of banks.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 11 March, Aberdeen Asset Management (GBP193bn as of the end of December) released a British-registered OEIC fund, the Aberdeen Strategic Bond Fund, which is managed with a bottom-up, bond-picking style by the team led by Oliver Boulind, head of global credit & global high yield.The portfolio will be invested worldwide in investment-grade and/or speculative debt instruments, and bonds from governments, corporations, government agencies and supranational organisations. Asset allocation will be dynamic.Management commission is 0.5%, and minimal subscription is GBP500.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Total British wealth management assets set a record at GBP527bn in fourth quarter 2012, despite concerns about RDR regulations, which might have slowed inflows, according to statistics from ComPeer, reported by Investment Week. Inflows rose 9.2% in fourth quarter compared with the end of December 2011, and 3% compared with third quarter 2012. The average asset manager succeeded in reducing its costs by 3%, which may be surprising given the increases in spending related to the introduction og RDR regulations on 1 January.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Investment Week reports that Threadneedle is preparing to partially close the Pan-European Smaller Companies Fund, managed by Philip Dicken, with assets which have risen from EUR500m in early 2012 to EUR1bn currently, to subscriptions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although most Spanish funds were hurt by the financial crisis, which led to a fall on the markets and an exodus of subscribers, some original products, so-called “author funds,” have already made it through this difficult period, Cotizalia notes.The Pegasus fund from Renta4 (managed by Miguel Jiménez), has seen its assets which rise since 2007 from EUR14m to EUR60m, while the net asset value has increased by nearly 40%.Bestinvest, with the Bestinfond fund managed by García Paramés, Álvaro Guzmán and Fernando Bernad, has seen an increase in its NAV of 27% since 2007, as has the EDM Ahorro, managed by Karina Sirkia. The Cartesio X fund, managed by Cayetano Cornet and the BK Kilimanjaro by Vicente López, now has a NAV 20% and 9.7% higher than in 2007, respecitvely.The situation is, of course, more difficult for funds specialised in Spanish equities exclusively, since the Ibex index has lost a total of more than 40%. Even the BPA Fondo Ibérico Acciones, by Gonzalo Lardiés, has a NAV 21% lower than its pre-crisis levels.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Future Fund, which manages AUD80bn in assets (EUR62.5bn) in public employee pensions, at the end of February announced that it would be pulling its capita out of all makers of of tobacco worldwide, Les Echos reports. That represents about AUD222m (EUR174.2m, or 0.3% of assets), invested in 14 tobacco producers, including the global leaders Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco. The decision follows a review of responsible management policies.

Les américaines Pimco, Franklin Templeton et BlackRock ont été les sociétés de gestion ayant enregistré la plus forte collecte en Europe sur les dix dernières années (hors fonds monétaires et ETF). Ainsi, Pimco a enregistré des souscriptions annuelles moyennes de 8,668 milliards de dollars sur la décennie, devant Franklin Templeton (7,824 milliards) et BlackRock (7,797 milliards).En quatrième position arrive l’un des deux seuls français du top 25, Axa, avec 5,386 milliards d’euros. L’autre français est Carmignac, qui est sixième (après M&G) avec des souscriptions annuelles moyennes de 4,053 milliards d’euros.Lipper note que les 20 sociétés figurant dans le classement des «best sellers» sur la dernière décennie ont un profil différent. Ainsi, on y retrouve des sociétés indépendantes, des banques privées et des filiales de banques.

Le fonds qui s’est le mieux vendu en 2012 en Europe a été le AllianceBernstein – American Income Portfolio du groupe Axa-Alliance Bernstein, avec des souscriptions nettes de 8,23 milliards d’euros, selon le rapport annuel sur les fonds européen de Lipper publié lundi.Pimco occupe les trois places qui suivent, avec le Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund (8,06 milliards d’euros), le Pimco GIS Global Investment Grade Credit (5,86 milliards d’euros) et le Pimco GIS Diversified Income Fund (5,58 milliards d’euros).A la quatrième et à la cinquième places, figurent deux sociétés de gestion britanniques : Standard Life et M&G avec le Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies (5,49 milliards d’euros) et M&G Optimal Income Fund (5,14 milliards d’euros).En septième et huitième position, le groupe Axa resurgit avec deux fonds obligataires à haut rendement Axa IM FIIS – US Short Duration High Yield (4,55 milliards d’euros) et le AllianceBernstein – Global High Yield Portfolio (3,79 milliards d’euros). Un autre fonds high yield se classe neuvième : le Allianz Global Investors Fund – Allianz US High Yield (3,72 milliards d’euros). Enfin, à la dixième place on retrouve Pimco, avec le Pimco GIS Unconstrained Bond Fund (2,92 milliards d’euros).Le classement est clairement dominé par les fonds obligataires, qui ont en 2012 enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 225,2 milliards d’euros en Europe, tandis que le secteur dans son ensemble engrangeait en net 225,2 milliards d’euros.Le premier fonds actions n’arrive qu’en douzième place avec le M&G Global Dividend.Deux seuls groupes français figurent dans le classement des 25 fonds les plus vendus : Axa, plusieurs fois cités dans le top 10, et Carmignac Gestion, avec Carmignac Patrimoine, qui a recueilli en 2012 1,97 milliard d’euros.Ce dernier reste néanmoins le deuxième plus gros fonds paneuropéen, avec 28,01 milliards d’euros à fin décembre. Le premier fonds n’a pas non plus changé : il s’agit du Templeton Global Bond Fund, avec 34,25 milliards d’euros. Quant au Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund, il se hisse de la quatrième à la troisième place, avec 25,83 milliards d’euros, dépassant le Templeton Glohal Total Return Fund.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) a annoncé le 11 mars le lancement du Morgan Stanley Investment Funds (“MS INVF”) Global Mortgage Securities Fund. «Le fonds proposera un taux de rendement attrayant en investissant dans un portefeuille de prêts hypothécaires et d’instruments de créances titrisése émis par des agences gouvernementales et des institutions privées», précise un communiqué de Morgan Stanley IM."Le marché hypothécaire international est vaste et dynamique. Les préférences et les convictions des investisseurs peuvent changer au fil du temps pour des raisons de contraintes réglementaires, de valeurs d’actifs et d’accès au crédit. Cela crée des dislocations en valeur relative et de fortes opportunités d’investissement dans l’hypothécaire. Pour identifier rapidement ces opportunités avec une perspective de long terme, notre équipe expérimentée et informée s’appuie sur un processus de placement rigoureux et sur la recherche», déclare Sheila Huang, responsable de l’équipe MSIM Mortgage.Le nouveau fonds adopte une logique d’investissement constante et thématique de type «bottom-up», qui combine analyse macroéconomique globale, recherche et analyse de tendances sectorielles pour créer un portefeuille diversifié de produits titrisés. Les équipes de recherche de MSIM Global Mortgage cherchent à identifier des opportunités de création de valeur potentielle dans tous les segments du marché de la titrisation. La constitution des portefeuilles s’effectue en trois étapes : l’identification de valeur, la mise en oeuvre et l’évaluation."Nous nous concentrons sur nos clients – dans ces conditions difficiles de marché, notre objectif est de développer des produits offrant à nos clients un accès à différentes classes d’actifs. Le Global Mortgage Securities Fund fait valoir l’expertise de professionnels de l’investissement Long-Only et aide nos clients à atteindre leurs objectifs d’investissement», ajoute Arthur Lev, responsable de MSIM Long-Only Business.

Le gérant de hedge funds milliardaire John Paulson envisage d’abandonner New York, où il est né, pour Porto Rico, en vue de protéger sa fortune des autorités fiscales américaines, rapporte le Financial Times. Porto Rico vient de faire passer une loi destinée à encourager les personnes fortunées à s’installer dans l’île. Parallèlement, les Etats-Unis pourraient éliminer un abattement fiscal pour les entreprises dans la gestion alternative.

L’Agefi rapporte que les fonds Blackstone et Ivanhoé Cambridge (Caisse des dépôts du Québec) se posent comme futurs actionnaires de référence de la foncière française Gecina. Les deux fonds continuent à acheter la dette des familles Rivero et Soler, qui détiennent respectivement 16,11% et 15,24% du capital de l’entreprise via deux holdings qui ne peuvent faire face au refinancement de leur dette de 1,6 milliard d’euros, garantie par leurs actions Gecina. Blackstone et Ivanhoé Cambridge ont annoncé hier soir détenir 64,7% de cette dette, soit environ 1,04 milliard d’euros, indique le quotidien.

L’Agefi rapporte que Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, directeur général de BNP Paribas, a bénéficié l’an dernier d’une rémunération de 2,87 millions d’euros (et touché effectivement 1, 93 million d’euros). Ce package qui comprend les salaires fixe et variable, les jetons de présence et avantages en nature est en hausse de 42 % par rapport à l’exercice précédent. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé était alors directeur général délégué, avant d'être promu le 1er décembre 2011. Son salaire fixe, qui était de 820.000 euros en 2011, a été porté de 1,05 million d’euros à 1,25 million d’euros le 1er juillet dernier. Sa rémunération totale a quant à elle progressé de 31%, pour atteindre 3,18 millions d’euros.

Confirmant ce qu’il l’avait indiqué récemment à Paris (lire Newsmanagers du 27 février), Dominique Carrel-Billiard, directeur général d’Axa Investment Managers a indiqué au Financial Times Fund Management (FTFM) que la société qu’il dirige va être très active en matière de débauchage d'équipes auprès de la concurrence, une formule dont la rentabilité est beaucoup plus sûre que la croissance externe. Le manager est particulièrement intéressé par des équipes marchés émergents, loans et de gestion sous contrainte de passif (LDI).

La société AXA Private Equity, qui est depuis octobre 2012 actionnaire de référence du groupe d’ingénierie industrielle Fives, a annoncé, lundi 11 mars, que ce dernier a signé un accord en vue de l’acquisition de MAG Americas, un groupe international spécialiste des biens d’équipements de haute technologie. La réalisation de cette opération est soumise à l’approbation des autorités réglementaires compétentes.MAG Americas emploie environ 1 000 personnes basées aux Etats-Unis, en France, au Canada, en Chine et en Corée du Sud. En 2012, la société dispose d’un portefeuille de 100 brevets et a réalisé un chiffre d’affaires d’environ 400 millions de dollars, dont deux tiers en Amérique du Nord.

Sur l’ensemble de 2012, l’encours géré par Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) a augmenté de 47 milliards d’euros pour atteindre 591 milliards, les plus fortes souscriptions nettes provenant des Etats-Unis, avec 4,5 milliards d’euros, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung. Pierre Servant, directeur général de NGAM, précise que le holding est dirigé depuis 2000 de Paris et de Boston. Comme le marché mondial de la gestion d’actifs se situe à 50 % aux Etats-Unis et à 30 % en Europe, il est très important d’être franco-américain, souligne le manager.