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03/10/2012

FSA plans to strengthen transparency at publicly-traded businesses

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 2 October presented new, stricter governance rules for businesses listed in London. The proposals follow a consultation launched in January, which covered the questions of traded capital, protection of minority shareholders, and governance. The FSA would like to see an agreement put in place to regulate relations between controlling shareholders and the business. The FSA would also like to give more influence to independent directors on boards of directors.
03/10/2012

Record net subscriptions to ETPs in September

Last month, ETPs (ETF, ETC and ETN) posted net subscriptions worldwide of USD43.3bn, the highest level since USD51.3bn in December 2008. In August, they attracted USD11.6bn, according to statistics from the BlackRock Investment Institute.In the first nine months of the year, ETPs attracted a record total of USD182.6bn, while the previous record dates from January-September 2008, with USD164.8bn. These products have already seen higher net inflows than the USD173.4bn posted in all of 2011 (USD173.4bn).The BlackRock Investment Institute states that of USD43.3bn in net subscriptions in December, USD23.4bn went to US equity funds. Gold ETPs attracted USD3.8bn last months, which brings the total for January-September to a record USD7.4bn.Emerging market equity ETFs also attracted USD26.9bn in the first nine months of the year, compared with USD5.8bn in January-September 2011, and USD9.7bn in all of 2011.In January-September, net subscriptions to bond ETPs represented 30% of the total, with USD54.1bn, compared with USD35.2bn in the first nine months of last year, and USD49.9bn in all of 2011.
03/10/2012

Global mergers and acquisitions down by 19.4% in the past nine months

Global mergers and acquisitions are down 19.4% to USD1.4265trn in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from mergermarket. In third quarter, transactions resumed freefall after a brief spike in second quarter. Transactions in third quarter totalled USD433.5bn, down 20.2% from second quarter 2012. In Europe, deals were down 23.2% over the nine months, and posted their lowest third quarter since third quarter 2009. Transactions in second quarter totalled USD99.2bn, down 46.1% compared with the previous quarter. Germany remained the most active region in Europe, with 27.6% market share. The decline was much more moderate in other regions of the world. In Asia-Pacific, the decline over nine months was 14.8%. while third quarter ended with an increase of 20.8%, to UDS73.4bn. In the United States, deals fell by 3.4% in third quarter, to USD178.3bn, while the balance for the first nine months of the year comes out down 23.1% to USD483.6bn.
03/10/2012

Schroders launches three emerging market debt funds in France

The British asset management firm Schroders has launched three funds specialised in emerging market debt in France. The first, Schroder Emerging Market Sovereign Bond, invests in government bonds, with the JPM CEMBI Broad Diversified index as its benchmark. The fund is managed by Jim Barrineau, head of bonds for Latin America, with the support of Alexander Moseley, Fernando Grisales and Chris Tackney. The second new fund is the Schroder Emerging Market Corporate Bond, focused on corporate bonds. The fund ia managed by Rajeev de Mello, head of Asian bond management, and will also have the JPM CEMBI Broad Diversified index as its benchmark. The third fund to have received a license is a mixed product which combined government and corporate bonds, which will invest both in issues denominated in local and in strong currencies, entitled Schroder Emerging Market Bond. The fund will be managed by the team based in New York, but will rely on de Mello’s team for Asia. The benchmark index is a combination of JPM indices, reflecting the hybrid character of the fund. The emerging market debt team at Schroders, led by Barrineau and de Mello, includes nine managers.
03/10/2012

Martin Theisinger joins Oppenheim KAG

Martin Theisinger, head of distribution in Germany for retail and wholesale products at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in Frankfurt, and previously of Fortis Investments and Schroder Investment Management, is joining the executive committee of the asset management firm Oppenheim Kapitalanlagegesellschaft in Cologne (an affiliate of Sal. Oopenheim, Deutsche Bank group). He will be responsible for institutional clients in the German-speaking countries, particularly insurers, pension funds and consultants.
03/10/2012

BNY Mellon acquires remainder of WestLB Mellon AM

BNY Mellon has acquired a 50% stake in its joint venture with Portigon AG (formerly WestlB), WestLB Mellon Asset Management (170 employees and EUR25bn in assets), for an undisclosed amount. The joint venture was founded in 2006.The new spokesperson (chairman) for the managing board at WestLB Mellon Asset Management will be Werner Taiber, who had previously been a member of the board at Portigon, pending approval from BaFin.Taiber will report to Mitchell Harris, chairman of BNY Mellon Investment Management, and Curtis Arledge, CEO of that firm.
03/10/2012

Pioneer launches EM high yield debt fund

With the Emerging Markets Corporate High Yield Bond sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Pioneer Funds, Pioneer is beginning to realise its plans for emerging market funds (see Newsmanagers of 5 September). The new product is a high yield emerging market coporate debt fund, managed by Greg Seichin, who is also head of emerging market & high yield portfolio management at Pioneer.The portfolio will be evenly distributed between emerging markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America, with active management of duration and hedging via equity options and currency futures. The manager may also invest in government bonds, in order to provide a more defensive orientation to the fund depending on the market situation.CharacteristicsName: Pioneer Funds – Emerging Markets Corporate High Yield BondISIN codes:LU0765561054/A1J0EX (capitalisation)LU0765560916/A1J0EZ (distribution)Front-end fee: 2.50%Management commission: 1.55%Performance commission: 15% on performance exceeding the benchmark index, with high watermark
03/10/2012

Fund closures in Sweden gather pace

In the past few months, several funds, especially small ones, have had to close down in Sweden, the Swedish economic daily newspaper Dagens Industri reports on its website. On Monday, the liquidation of the hedge fund Concepio, managed by Ragnhild Wiborg, was announced. Brummer & Partner and Swedbank Robur have also closed funds. Morningstar reports that in the past ten years, more than 300 funds registered in Sweden have been liquidated. There now remain 741 funds. This trend is due to toughening regulations, which make the operation of funds more costly.
03/10/2012

Carmignac was being watched by Italian counterpart of AMF

In Mid-December 2010, Consob, the Italian financial market authority, sent an informational letter concerning Carmignac Gestion to its French counterpart, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), Plus, the weekly supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore reveals. The note focused particularly on the firm’s use of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. The revelation comes at a time when Carmignac Gestion has reached a compromise with the AMF, in which it will pay EUR500,000 for shortfalls in transparency in the use of derivatives.
03/10/2012

Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust launched

Several star managers in the City in London have joined forces to launch the Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust (BACIT), a trust which has already attracted GBP500m. 1% of total assets have already been paid to cancer research organisations. No management fees will be charged to investors. The product, listed in London, will raise funds to support actions to promote the fight against cancer, the Daily Mail reports.
03/10/2012

Liikanen report favours separation of high-risk activities from banking

The riskiest activities undertaken by banks should be separated from the rest of their activites and grouped together into entities which are separate from the banking groups, according to a report submitted on 2 October to the European Commission. The report from the working group chaired by the governor of the Bank of Finland, Erkki Liikanen, much-awaited by the banking industry, was submitted yesterday to the European commissioner for the interior market and services, Michel Barnier.In brief, the group recommends action on the five following points:* requirement that owners’ equity trading and other high-risk market activities be separated,* means to separate other activities in accordance with bailout and default resolution plans,* means to modify the use of internal liquidity mechanisms as an instrument to resolve crises,* revision of owners’ equity requirements compared with assets held for transactional purposes and real estate lending, and* strengthened governance and controls at banks.“This report will feed our reflections on further measures to take. I will now consider the next steps, as a part of which the Commission will study the impact of these recommendations,” said Barnier, in a statement. The Commission will launch consultations before deciding whether to apply the report in the form of legislative proposals.
03/10/2012

Schroders registers its last new fund in Spain

Cinco Días reports that the British asset management firm Schroders has registered a new sub-fund of its Luxembourg UCITS-compliant platform GAIA, the Global Macro Fund (see Newsmanagers of 4 September), with the CNMV. The product aims for outperformance of 800 basis points over Libor.
03/10/2012

Investors steer clear of equity funds in August

Investors have once again steered clear of European equity funds in August, while investing an impressive net inflows of EUR16.95bn in bond funds, according to statistics from Morningstar. The situation is similar in the United States, where net inflows to bonds have topped USD30bn. Although inflows in Europe remain above the record posted in July of EUR22.9bn, the rush in bonds has only marginally slowed, compared with inflows to European bond products in previous months. Equity funds have posted an outflow of EUR7.02bn; the Morningstar United States mixed large caps category has been hardest-hit, with net redemptions of EUR810m. A few isolated categories of equity funds have seen positive inflows in August: US equities hedged for currency risks have seen the most sustained demand from investors, with net inflows of USD324m. Hedge funds have made a comeback, with net inflows of EUR713m. Allocation funds have posted net inflows of EUR587m; the Euro Prudent Allocation category continues to lead with positive inflows of EUR356m. The rankings of promoters with the largest inflows are topped by Pimco, with EUR3.1bn, excluding money market funds, followed by BlackRock (EUR2.07bn), KLP (EUR913m), Natixis (EUR872m), AXA (EUR842m) and Carmignac (EUR779m).
03/10/2012

Banks losing teams to asset management firms

On Wall Street, traders, analysts, strategists and staff of the back office are leaving banks to join asset management firms or other financial institutions where they can work free of the regulatory constraints they had been subject to previously, the Financial Times observes. This trend follows a toughening of regulations following the financial crisis. The FT cites the examples of traders Jerry and Michael Cudzi, who have recently joined TCW and Pimco, respectively.
03/10/2012

BlackRock to integrate alternatives in target-date funds

From 27 November, Mutual Fund Wire reports, the BlackRock Prepared Portfolios will disappear, to be replaced by LifePath Active Portfolios, which will include a larger exposure to alternative investments. In a SEC filing, the asset management firm says that its target-date mutual funds will include more exposure to real estate. The iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Major Index Fund, iShares FTSE EPRA?NAREIT Developed Real Estate ex-U.S. Index Fund, as well as the BlackRock Commodity Strategies Fund will now be eligible for use in the portfolios, whose performance will be measured with the inclusion of additional indices such as the MSCI ACWI ex US IMI Index and FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index.When the shareholder retires, porfolios will include 38% equities and 62% fixed income.
03/10/2012

SocGen recruits for private investment banking activity

Société Générale on 2 October announced that Giovanni Ortolani is appointed Senior Banker for Societe Generale’s Private Investment Banking activity in Geneva, Switzerland effective October 1st 2012. In this newly created position, Giovanni Ortolani is responsible for launching the Private Investment Banking activity by developing the offer with large family holding companies and family offices in Switzerland. In addition, Renaud Billard is appointed Relationship Manager in the United Kingdom for the Private Investment Banking offer. Giovanni Ortolani and Renaud Billard report functionally to Galeazzo Pecori Giraldi, Head of Private Investment Banking. Giovanni Ortolani was previously Chief Country Officer for Italy since 2007. He joined Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking as Senior Banker and Head of public sector coverage in Italy in 2005. Billard joined Société Générale Private Banking in 1999 as a private banker serving French clients. In 2004, he joined the French team at Société Générale Private Banking Hambros in London, as Senior Private Banker, to develop the product range aimed at French and French-speaking residents of the United Kingdom, and has been Head of the France team since 2009.
03/10/2012

Mike Godfrey joins Marathon

The emerging market specialist Mike Godfrey, who left M&G Only a few days ago, will be joining Marathon Asset Management, an asset management boutique based in London which works primarily with institutional clients, Investment Week reports.Godfrey, who had been manager of the GEM Fund from M&G, whose assets under management total over GBP680m, will begin in the role in December. He will be responsible for directing strategies dedicated to emerging markets and Asia ex Japan.
03/10/2012

ETF Securities recruits from BoAML

The new head of distribution for Europe, Middle East and Africa at ETF Securities is Matt Johnson, who had been co-head of derivative sales for the same region at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Fundweb reports. Johnson will report directly to Graham Tuckwell, chairman and CEO.
03/10/2012

L&G IM targets chairs of remuneration boards

Legal & General Investment Management, one of the largest shareholders in the United Kingdom, with 4% of the British stockmarket, has voted against 18 chairmen of remuneration committees on boards of directors since the beginning of this year, the Financial Times reports. This is the first time that an L&G asset management firm has voted against those in charge of setting pay scales for management. Some of the opposition votes were at WPP, Barclays and Trinity Mirror.
03/10/2012

Alain Defise joins Pictet in London

Swiss-based Pictet has created an emerging market corporate bond specialist team, for which it has recruited Alain Nsiona Defise, who had previously been head of emerging market corporate debt at J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), which he joined from Fortis Investments. At JPMAM, he was responsible for a unit with USD2bn in assets.Defise, based in London, will be responsible for a team of three analysts specialised in emerging market corporate debt, including Vencent Feraton, Rosemary Fu and Teck Hoon Low. “These four have an average experience of more than 15 years in the areas of bond analysis and investment in emerging market corporate bonds,” says Pictet.Funds People reports, for its part, the Pictet has recruited Juan Carlos Martín Aparicio in Spain as a senior private banker. He had previously worked at Barclays Wealth in Madrid.
03/10/2012

S&P Capital IQ recruits for research

S&P Capital IQ, a provider of multi-asset class data and research to institutional investors, independent financial advisers and wealth managers, has announced the recruitment of Roger Hirst in London as vice president and director of European equity research operations, and the analysts William Mack and Roderick Wallace. In New York, the firm has recruited two equity analysts, Barbara Coffey and David Lewis.
03/10/2012

Valartis opens an affiliate in Lugano and optimises its organisation

Valartis on 2 October announced the opening of a branch office in Lugano, and an optimisation of its organisational structure, with an eye to improving its corporate governance and controlling costs.The presence of the firm in Ticino is part of a larger development in the Swiss banking environment, which has also led the bank to build its personnel in Geneva n Zurich in recent months. The appointment of the new CEO of Valartis Switzerland, Vincenzo Di Pierri, a Swiss-Italian dual citizen, should be understood as a recognition of the growing importance of the Italian market for the bank, a statement says.Within the Valartis group, Executive Management will be reduced from five to four people from 1 November 2012. It will be composed of Gustav Stenbolt (Group CEO), George M. Isliker (Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer), Vincenzo Di Pierri (CEO of Valartis Bank SA, Switzerland), and Andreas Insam (CEO of Valartis Bank (Liechtenstein) SA).In order to better respond to regulatory requirements, Valartis has also revised its organisation, with the introduction of an organisational matrix for the entire group, for its Finance, Risk Management and Compliance activities, which will also allow it to better take advantage of potential synergies within the group.As a part of the new organisation, Ernst Traun, CEO of Valartis Bank (Austria) SA) for several years, will be resigning at the end of October from his position in Vienna and from the Executive Management Group, to concentrate on developing the client base and front-office activities. With important prerogatives, Traun is expected to provide new impetus to developing private management activities within the group.
03/10/2012

Julius Baer to recruit in India

With the acquisition of the activities of Merrill Lynch outside the United States, Julius Baer will gain control of the private banking activities in India of DSP Financial Consultants, finews reports. Overall, a staff of 125 people will join the Julius Baer affiliate in India. The transaction must still be approved by the Indian supervisory authorities, including the central bank and the financial market authority. This process may take up to 18 months.
03/10/2012

Irene Tse leaves JP Morgan to found a hedge fund

Irene Tse, who joined JP Morgan less than two years ago as chief investment officer for North America, is leaving the firm to launch her own hedge fund next year, Bloomberg reports.Before joining JP Morgan, Tse worked at a hedge fund, Dusquesne Capital Management, where she was a portfolio manager. She previously spend 14 years at Goldman Sachs, where she was co-head of US fixed income trading.
03/10/2012

Gemway Assets on the starting blocks

Bruno Vanier and Michel Audeban, a former manager at EDRAM And a former director of sales and distribution at Fidelity France, respectively, are preparing to officially unveil their new asset management firm in the second half of October. Gemway Assets, with Vanier as chairman and Audeban as CEO, received a license from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on 18 September.Gemway Assets, partly owned by Financière de l’Echiquier, with 34% of capital, is specialised in emerging markets. A Gemequity fund was launched in mid-June, and was managed by Vanier, at the offices of Financière de l’Echiquier, before being taken over by the asset management firm on 1 October. The OPCVM fund, which was “seeded” by the asset management firm of Didier le Menestrel and 10 investors, has assets of EUR10m, and has investmtent commitments of a total of a further EUR50m, Audeban tells Newsmanagers.The fund, which is already listed on several platforms for independent financial advisers (Cardif, Selection 1818, etc.), is expected to continue to be listed on other platforms in coming weeks.ISIN code: FR0011268705
03/10/2012

Raman Srivastava joins Standish

Standish Mellon Asset Management Company, the Boston-based fixed income specialist for BNY Mellon, has hired Raman Srivastava as co-deputy chief investment officer and managing director of global fixed income, with responsibility for overseeing all global and non-U.S. fixed income strategies.In this newly created position, Srivastava will report to David Leduc, Standish’s chief investment officer. Srivastava, Leduc and David Horsfall, co-deputy chief investment officer will be responsible for managing Standish’s multi-sector and absolute return fixed income strategies. Brendan Murphy, director of global fixed income, and Rebecca Braeu, head of global sovereign research, will report to Srivastava.Srivastava has spent his entire investment career focused on fixed income. He most recently was a senior investment professional and portfolio manager for Putnam’s core plus, global fixed income and absolute returns teams.
03/10/2012

Vanguard drops MSCI for FTSE and CSRP

The US asset management firm Vanguard (USD1.95trn in assets as of the end of September) has announced that it will be migrating its international equity tracker funds to indices from the British provider FTSE, while 16 of its US and diversified equity tracker funds will adopt new underlying indices developed by the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) at the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago.Vanguard says that it had previously been using MSCI indices, but will realise “considerable savings” for shareholders in these funds, over time. Gus Sauter, CIO, says long-term licensing agreements which have been negotiated will allow for management fees for the tracker funds and ETFs concerned to be reduced over time.
03/10/2012

IAIS publishes its first report on insurance market

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on 2 October published its first report on the global insurance market (Gimar, or Global Insurance Market Report).The report points out that the sector has resisted the financial crisis, and lays out the major developments in the global insurance market.In the period from 2007 to 2011, the investment portfolios of insurers underwent a strong reduction in their sensitivity to risk. The proportion of bonds in these portfolios went from 56% in 2007 to 61% in 2011, due largely to an increase in the proportion of available for sale securities (AFS) to 50% from 44% previously.Meanwhile, the percentage of equities in portfolios fell to 7% from 11% in 2007.The profitability of investments by insurers varied in the period between a minimum of 2.47% (2010) and a maximum of 2.80%) (2011).
03/10/2012
Fonds

Pioneer lance un fonds de dette émergente à haut rendement

Avec le compartiment Emerging Markets Corporate High Yield Bond de sa sicav luxembourgeoise Pioneer Funds, Pioneer commence à concrétiser ses projets en matière de fonds émergents (lire Newsmanagers du 5 septembre). Il s’agit d’un produit d’obligations à haut rendement d’entreprises des pays émergents confié à Greg Saichin, qui est également head of ermerging market & high yield portfolio management de Pioneer.Le portefeuille sera réparti de façon équilibrée entre les pays émergents d’Europe, d’Asie et d’Amérique latine, avec une gestion active de la duration et une couverture au moyen d’options sur actions et de contrats à terme sur les devises. Le gérant pourra également investir en obligations d’Etat pour donner une orientation plus défensive au fonds en fonction de la situation de marché.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Pioneer Funds – Emerging Markets Corporate High Yield BondCodes Isin :LU0765561054/A1J0EX (capitalisation)LU0765560916/A1J0EZ (distribution)Droit d’entrée : 2,50 %Commission de gestion : 1,55 %Commission de performance : 15 % de la surperformance par rapport à l’indice de référence, avec high watermark
Fonds

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