P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 22 February, the total expense ratio for the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSE Arca acronym: VYM) has been reduced to 0.10%, from 0.13%, Index Universe reports. Assets in the fund more than doubled, to USD4.2bn, in the twelve months to the end of October, and now stand at nearly USD5bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ICI Global association founded by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) to defend the interests of investment fund managers internationally will open an office in Hong Kong this May. The office, the first in the Asia-Pacific region, will be led by Yang Qiumei. The former director of development at Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing hopes to contribute to discussions between regulators and actors in the fund industry. The association would like to strengthen its presence in Asia, and would like to recruit new members, Asian Investor reports.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After asset management, private banking is the area in which the Edmond de Rothschild bank would like to be present in Germany. According to reports in Private Banking Magazin cited by Finews, Edmond de Rothschild is planning to open a branch office in Frankfurt, which will coordinate activities on the German market.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ING Investment Management (ING IM) on 27 February announced the appointment of Hans Stoter as chief investment officer (CIO) and a member of the international management committee. Stoter joined ING IM in 1998, and succeeds Mark Weber, who is returning to the US headquarters of ING IM to take on responsibilities as vice president of structured assets, loans and alternatives. As CIO, Stoter will also oversee the global investment leadership team, which oversees investments teams, investment proceses, the performance of portfolios and risks for mandates and funds managed by the investment boutiques of ING IM International. His appointment is pending approval by the authorities. Tim Dowling will succeed Stoter in his former role as head of corporate bond investments and principal manager of the Global High Yield fund. Dowling, whoc is currently head of the team and principal manager of the US High Yield fund, is a veteran of the sector, with 27 years of experience in corporate and high yield bonds, including five years at ING Investment Management. Dowling will continue to be based at the ING IM International offices in New York, from where he will direct the global credit team and will continue to be responsible for the investment process for the United States. He will report directly to Stoter,
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Russell Global Defensive index has outperformed the Russell Gloal Index by 2% or more in some periods over the past decade, according to a statement released on 27 February. The index has posted returns of 12.8% on one year, 12.9% over three years (annualised), 7% over five years (annualised), and 8.3% over ten years (annualised) as of 21 February 2013. “The Global Russell Defensive Index identifies and ranks equities according to their sensitivity to economic cycles, credit cycles, and market volatility, all factors which fall into the category of stability. The index measures the performance of the most stable companies, meaning those which stand out for their characteristics of high quality and low volatility,” says Phil Hoffman, international equity manager at Russell Investments. “The track record of the index helps to support the conviction that an actively-managed portfolio of the most stable defensive shares can present superior risk and return characteristics over time.”
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurt-based MainFirst Asset Management is planning to release a statement on Friday confirming reports in Citywire that Frank Schwarz, one of the three managers recruited from Deutsche Asset Management last year (see Newsmanagers of 29 August), will be entrusted with the management of a Luxembourg-registered long-only global equity fund, scheduled for launch on 1 March, which will have seed capital of EUR10m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Performance and risk analytics operations at BNY Mellon will now be united ina single unit entitled global risk solutions, which will be led by Debra Baker, who has previously been responsible for the US financial institutional clients segment of the corporate trust arm at BNY Mellon, where she had been responsble for CDOs and had served as COO.The global risk solutions unit has USD9.6trn under measurement, 500 employees at 10 locations worldwide, and 1,300 clients.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The founder of Appaloosa, David Tepper, was the best-paid hedge fund manager in 2012, due to returns of 30% for his fund specialised in debt from distressed businesses, with USD12bn in assets, Les Echos reports. With USd2.2bn in gains, according to Forbes magazine, he leads Carl Icahn (USD1.9bn in gains) in rankings in which all of the top 10 places are held by veterans of the sector with 20 to 30 years of experience (Cohen, Soros, Griffin, Dalio, and others). The top 40 shares USD16.7bn, or USD420m each.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets under management at Groupama Asset Management reached a record EUR90.4bn, compared with EUR84bn twelve months earlier, and EUR89.9bn at the end of 2010. Assets for Groupama totalled EUR75.6bn at the end of 2012, while assets under management for external clients totalled EUR14.8bn (+EUR1.6bn compared with 2011).External net inflows totalled EUR565m, of which EUR450m were in France, and EUR115m internationally, says Francis Ailhaud, CEO, but net outflows appear to have totalled EUR4.8bn for the group, largely due to sales of the group’s activities in France and internationally for EUR2.2bn, and a noticeable reduction in equity risks in the group’s portfolios totalling EUR2.5bn, meaning that net outflows total EUR4.2bn, or EUR1.8bn for management activities in the strict sense. Net inflows to non-money market SRI products totalled EUR300m, while SRI products total EUR9.4bn in AUM, shared primarily between three funds (European equities, euro credit, and govies).Groupama AM is expected to finish the month of February with external net inflows of EUR300m, and an objective of EUR1bn for 2013, says Jean-Marie Catala, head of development.Net profits fell last year to EUR18.4m, from EUR23m in 2011, when Groupama Fund Pickers was absorbed into Groupama AM, which resulted a EUR3.5m windfall profit. Revenues were down by CHF0.6m to EUR129.6m, and costs fell by EUR1.7m to EUR97.8m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Citywire reports that the Swiss firm Vontobel has added to its New York-based value management team with the appointment of the analysts Brian Bandsma and Daniel Kranson as co-managers of two funds.Bandsma, who joined the firm in 2002, and had been an IT, financial, telecommunications and consumer discretionary sector specialist, will assist Rajiv Jain with the management of the Vontobel Fund Far East Equity.Kranson will assist Matthew Benkendorf with the Vontobel Fund European Value Equity. Kranson, who has been at Vontobel for five years, had been a specialist in consumer staples, energy, health and commodity sectors.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CNMV has issued a sales license in Spain for the UCITS-compliant hedge fund GAIA Sirios US Equity, Schroders has announced, via Funds People. The product is a long/short fund of US mid- and large cap equities (see Newsmanagers of 29 January), which replicates the Sirios US Equity Long/Short fund, launched in July 1999.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Henderson Global Investors rose slightly last year to GBP66bn as of the end of December, compared with GBP64.3bn as of the end of December 2011, but pre-tax profits were down 8%, to GBP146.5m, according to statistics released on 27 February.The group has undergone a net outflow of about GBP4bn, as redemptions from the retail portion alone represented about GBP1.2bn. Equities underwent outflows of GBP3.3bn, offset by a positive market effect of GBP3.4bn. In bonds, outflows totalled GBP871m, but positive market effects totalled GBP2.14bn.Earnings on performance commissions, for their part, fell 48% to GBP33.9m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Due to the acquisition for GBP83.5m of the private clients division of Newton Management Limited (GBP3.6bn), announced on 27 February, Standard Life Wealth (SLW) will triple its discretionary assets. The transaction is expected to increase profits at SLW starting from the first full year following the operation, which is expected to take about seven months.The 79 direct employees of Newton Private Clients will all be transferred to SLW. Newton serves about 3,000 high and ultra-high net worth private clients, as well as 120 charities.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Not long after the announcement that he would be resigning from his position as managing director for Benelux (see Newsmanagers of 15 February) at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), Marc van Heel is joining iShares to replace Roel Thijssen as head of iShares Benelux, Fondsnieuws reports, adding that ven Heel will begin in his new position in May.Van Heel will report to Leen Meijaard, head of iShares for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who succeeded Gardner. He had also continued to serve simultaneously as head of BlackRock Benelux.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Invesco has begun to build t management team which will be based in Singapore. The first recruit is Abdul Jalil Rasheed, who is currently CEO of Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management. He will leave this job on 7 March, according to Asian Investor. At Invesco, he will manage the Asean equity fund from 1 April. Gerald Ambrose, managing director for Malaysia, will serve as CEO of Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors in money market funds are divided on the question of the impact that reforms of money market funds which included dropping constant net asset value in favour of variable NAV, according to a survey of European treasurers undertaken by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings in partnership with Treasury Management International (TMI).The three areas affected by the transition to variable NAV, a proposal which has been made on both sides of the Atlantic, would be the clarity of the investment product, accounting and fiscal treatment of the product, and lastly, the fund’s risk profile.The top concern is clarity of the product, as 27% estimate that the new rules would result in a loss of clarity, while 42% are preferring to wait and see. A part of the problem is due to the lack of such funds in some regions, such as the United Kingdom, meaning that investors don’t know much about how these funds function.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In addition to the forthcoming opening of a permanent office in Zurich, Carmignac Gestion on Wednesday, 27 February announced the arrival of Benjamin Boyer on the Swiss team, as sales manager. He will aim to strengthen relationships of the asset management firm with independent financial advisers, family offices, banks, insurers and other third-party distribution networks in French-speaking Switzerland, a statement says. He will work in collaboration with Magali Di Filippo, who will be returning from maternity leave in April. Boyer spend several years at HSBC Global Asset Management, where he serves as head of wholesale in Switzerland, and helped to launch the Geneva office.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } EFG International has returned to profitability in 2012, following a variety of reorganisation measures undertaken and a positive development of activities in most sectors. The Zurich-based wealth management firm earned net profits of CHF111m, compared with a loss of CHF2489m the previous year, according to a statement released on 27 February. Net profits, excluding recurrent charges, rose 71%, to CHF142.5m. Assets under management which generate revenues totalled CHF78.7bn as of the end of December 2012, which represents an increase of CHF300m compared with the end of December 2011, despite the impact of abandoning some operations as part of a review of the activities of EFG International. Net inflows totalled CHF3bn for contined activities, up by CHF0.6bn compared with the previous year.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Raiffeisen banking group has paid CHF560m to acquire the non-US activities of the Swiss Wegelin private bank, which have since been transferred to the new Notenstein bank, according to the Handelszeitung. This total comes from a document formulating the recommendations of the New York state prosecutor’s office for criminal charges against Wegelin in the United States. The transaction was announced in January 2012, shortly before Wegelin was accused of helping US taxpayers to conceal their assets from the tax authorities. The sale price has not then been revealed. With these figures, the prosecutor intends to demonstrate that Wegelin is able to quickly pay the sum in question (USD75m) to settle charges against it.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The day after launching a db x-trackers ETF replicating the Nikkei 225 (see Newsmanagers of 26 February), Amundi has listed another Japan ETF for trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform (Deutsche Börse), this time a French-registered fund, the Amundi ETF Topix EUR hedged daily. The addition brings the number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 1,025. The portfolio is hedged daily for variations in the excange rate between the euro and the yen.CharacteristicsName: Amundi ETF TOPIX EUR Hedged DailyISIN code: FR0011314277Benchmark index: TOPIX Euro Daily Hedged IndexTER: 0.48%
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An analyst for the hedge fund GLG was arrested on Wednesday morning in London, the Financial Times reports. He is accused of insider trading by the FSA. Man, the parent company of GLG, has announced that the analyst has been charged personally, and not as an employee of the business .Man is no longer under investigation.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In October-December 2012, assets under management by Chinese funds increased by 29%, to CNY2.8trn, or USD449bn, according to Z-Ben Advisors, Asian Investor reports. The increase was primarily triggered by a seasonal trend at Chinese asset management firms to boost their rankings by placing money market fund shares, a category which alone has attracted CNY200bn in net subscriptions.The two largest firms in terms of growth in fourth quarter are asset management affiliates of banks. Bank of China Investment Management is a joint venture of BOC and BlackRock, while CCB Principal is a joint venture of the China Construction Bank, Principal Financial and the China Huadian Group, whose assets have increased to CNY100.1bn and CNY94.5bn, respectively, as they were able to rely on the networks of their parent companies to boost inflows to their money market funds.
Le gestionnaire américain Invesco a commencé à constituer une équipe de gestion qui sera basée à Singapour. La première recrue est Abdul Jalil Rasheed qui est actuellement CEO d’Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management. Il quittera cette fonction le 7 mars, selon Asian Investor. Il pilotera chez Invesco le Asean equity fund, à partir du premier avril. C’est Gerald Ambrose, managing director pour la Malaisie, qui assurera son poste de CEO chez Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management.
La CNMV a délivré son agrément de commercialisation en Espagne au fonds alternatif coordonnéGAIA Sirios US Equity, annonce Schroders par l’intermédiaire de Funds People. C’est un long.short actions de moyennes et grandes capitalisations américaines (lire Newsmanagers du 29 janvier) qui réplique le Sirios US Equity Long/Sort lancé en juillet 1999.
Outre l’ouverture prochaine d’un bureau permanent à Zurich, Carmignac Gestion a annoncé mercredi 27 février l’arrivée de Benjamin Boyer au sein de l'équipe suisse en tant que sales manager. Il aura pour objectif de de renforcer les relations de la société de gestion avec les conseillers financiers indépendants, les « family offices », les banques, les compagnies d’assurance et autres réseaux de distribution tiers établis en Suisse francophone, indique un communiqué. Il travaillera en collaboration avec Magali Di Filippo qui sera de retour de congé de maternité en avril. Benjamin Boyer a passé sept ans chez HSBC Global Asset Management, où il a exercé la fonction de Head of Wholesale en Suisse et contribué au lancement de la succursale à Genève.
Grâce à l’acquisition pour 83,5 millions de livres de la division private clients (3,6 milliards de livres) de Newton Management Limited annoncée le 27 février, Standard Life Wealth (SLW) va tripler ses encours discrétionnaires. Cette transaction devrait augmenter les bénéfices de SLW dès la première année pleine après le bouclage de l’opération, ce qui devrait prendre environ sept mois.Les 79 salariés directs de Newton Private Clients seront tous transférés chez SLW. Newton sert environ 3.000 particuliers haut et très haut de gamme ainsi que 120 organisations caritatives.
Un analyste du hedge fund GLG a été arrêté mercredi matin à Londres, indique le Financial Times. Il est accusé de délit d’initié par la FSA. Man, la maison mère de GLG, a indiqué que l’intéressé était inculpé par le régulateur à titre personnel, et non en tant que salarié de l’entreprise. Man ne ferait pas l’objet d’une enquête.
Les actifs sous gestion de Henderson Global Investors ont légèrement progressé l’an dernier à 66 milliards de livres à fin décembre contre 64,3 milliards de livres à fin décembre 2011 mais le bénéfice avant impôts a reculé de 8% à 146,5 millions de livres, selon les chiffres communiqués le 27 février.Le groupe a subi une décollecte nette d’environ 4 milliards de livres, les seuls rachats de la partie retail représentant quelque 1,2 milliard de livres. Les actions ont subi une décollecte de 3,3 milliards de livres, compensée par un effet marché positif de 3,4 milliards de livres. Du côté des obligations, la décollecte s’est élevée à 871 millions de livres mais l’effet marché positif a totalisé 2,14 milliards de livres. Les revenus des commissions de performance ont chuté de leur côté de 48% à 33,9 millions de livres.
KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) a annoncé le 26 février la désignation de Frédéric Genet au poste de chief executive officer, Professional Services, pour le Groupe. Il sera basé à Luxembourg.Dans cette fonction nouvellement créée au sein du comité de direction, il mettra l’accent sur le renforcement des services offerts par les departments Global Investor Services, Global Financial Markets, Assets & Liabilities Management et Credit du groupe. Frédéric Genet a précédemment occupé le poste de CEO à la Société Générale Bank & Trust, deuxième plus grande banque au Luxembourg. En plus de sa position de responsable Pays pour la Société Générale à Luxembourg, il a été également membre du conseil d’administration de la Bourse de Luxembourg et de l’Association des Banques et Banquiers, Luxembourg. Suite à la désignation de Frédéric Genet, le comité de direction de KBL epb est dorénavant composé des membres suivants : Jacques Peters, Group Chief Executive OfficerFrédéric Genet, Chief Executive Officer, Professional ServicesOlivier de Jamblinne de Meux, Chief Executive Officer, LuxembourgMarc Lauwers, Chief Operating OfficerYves Pitsaer, Chief Financial Risk OfficerYves Stein, Chief Executive Officer, Private Banking
Le groupe bancaire Raiffeisen a versé 560 millions de francs pour acquérir les activités non américaines de la banque privée suisse Wegelin, transférées depuis dans la nouvelle banque Notenstein, selon le Handelszeitung. Ce montant ressort d’un document formulant les recommandations du ministère public new yorkais au juge dans le cadre des poursuites pénales contre Wegelin aux Etats-Unis.Cette transaction avait été annoncée en janvier 2012, peu avant l’inculpation de Wegelin pour avoir aidé des contribuables américains à cacher leurs avoirs au fisc. Son prix n’avait alors pas été révélé.Avec ces chiffres, le ministère public compte montrer que Wegelin est en mesure de payer rapidement la somme d’argent prévue (75 millions de dollars) pour clore les poursuites à son encontre.