“Taking advantage of strong current demand for wholly-leased properties in London,” the German asset management firm Deka Immobilien has earned an undisclosed capital gain from a sale of the Lumina building on the corner of Oxford Street and Bond Street to Zara for EUR190m. The 7,000 square metre office and retail property had been a part of the open-ended real estate portfolio Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

Baring Asset Management is going to launch the Baring emerging market corporate debt fund, which will be managed by Faisal Ali, who joined the asset management firm in August 2011, Money Marketing reports. The product will invest at least 70% of its assets in emerging market corporate bonds, issued by businesses based in various countries, rated investment grade or below.

JP Hambro Capital Management will be launching a Global Opportunities fund, while its UK Opportunities fund, managed by the same managers, will be soft closed to new subscriptions, Investment Week reports. The British portfolio currently has assets of GBP900m, and is fast approaching its GBP1bn limit. The two funds are managed by John Wood and Ben Leyland.

Money market funds have been rescued by their parent companies more than 300 times since the 1970s, a study by the Securities and Exchange Commission cited by the Wall Street Journal has found. The unpublished document supports the thesis of Mary Shapiro, chairman of the SEC, that the industry, with USD2.6trn in assets, needs stronger regulation. Shapiro will present her case at a Senate debate on money market funds on Thursday, although she has not received the support of a majority of SEC commissioners.

The CNMV on 15 June issued a sales license for the Luxembourg-registered fund Bantleon Opportunities, from the German bond manager Bantleon (EUR5.1bn in assets). The fund, with about EUR49m in assets, managed by the Swiss team at Bantleon Bank, will be distributed by Capital Strategies Partners A.V., SA.The portfolio of the product, launched in 2008, includes the highest-rated government bonds with total time to maturity of 0 to 7 years, covered bonds, and 10% to 20% large cap equities. The objective, in addition to absolute return, is gains of 4% per year.

Lionel Aeschlimann, a partner at Mirabaud and head of the asset management operation, has told Funds People that the Swiss firm is continuing to add to its private banking team in Spain. The objective is to reach total assets in this area of EUR1bn to EUR1.5bn in three years. However, recruitments will not be made at the expense of profitability.

Exclusive talks with Guggenheim Partners over a potential sale of the US asset management firm RREEF (real estate and alternative investments) by Deutsche Bank have fallen through, and the two parties have agreed not to continue talk, Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday evening. Since then, the German bank, which has not managed to sell any of the other parts of its asset management unit either (DWS in Germany, Europe and Asia), has announced that it will disclose its long-term strategy for ita Asset & Wealth Management division in September.

Dexia Asset Management has recruited Patrick Kern in Switzerland, for the position of Senior Relationship Manager Institutional Clients for th German-speaking part of the market, finews.ch reports. He had previously been head of new client acquisition for German-speaking Switzerland at Reyl Asset Management.

The Swiss Partners Group has closed its global real estate programme, Partners Group Global Real Estate 2011, with USD800m in assets. Pamela Alsterlind, co-director of the Private Real Estate division, says that 2,200 projects have been analysed, and 43 executed under the programme. Others will be finalised soon.

The Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is seeking external growth opportunities in the Swiss market, finews.ch reports. It would like to acquire a wealth management firm, with total assets under management of CHF5bn to CHF10bn.

Dexia Asset Management poursuit l’extension de ses activités en Suisse, avec la nomination de Patrick Kern en tant que senior relationship manager, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Il sera en particulier chargé de la clientèle institutionnelle en Suisse alémanique. Patrick Kern était dernièrement en charge de la succursale zurichoise de Reyl Asset Management, où il était responsable de l’acquisition de clients en Suisse alémanique, Allemagne, Autriche et au Liechtenstein.

In April 2012, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was EUR10 billion lower than in March 2012, according to statistics released by the European central Bank. This decrease was due to a decline in share/unit prices.The amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds decreased to EUR6,056 billion in April 2012, from EUR6,066 billion in March 2012. Over the same period, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area money market fundsincreased to EUR967 billion, from EUR951 billion.Transactions1 in shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than moneymarket funds amounted to EUR1 billion in April 2012, while transactions in shares/units issued by money market funds amounted to EUR10 billion.In terms of the breakdown by investment policy, the annual growth rate of shares/units issued by bond funds was 3.2% in April 2012. Transactions in shares/units issued by bond funds amounted to EUR11 billion in April 2012. The annual growth rate and transactions of equity funds were -2.4% and minus EUR13 billion respectively. For mixed funds, the corresponding figures were -0.2% and EUR3 billion.

Carmignac Gestion no longer holds any German government bonds (Bund), Les Echos reports. For the past 2 years, the firm, which manages about EUR48bn in assets, has not held any other euro zone government bonds except Bunds. Carmignac Gestion estimates that German government debt “essentially represents a risk management tool. The idea of a larger role for Germany in undertaking the financial risks of the euro zone has been getting bandied about. As a result, the use of Bunds as a refuge security against European risk will be likely to become less effective,” Didier Saint-George, a member of the investment board, explains to Les Echos. Saint-George does not rule out the possibility of “using this management tool again in the future, even if it is not quite as effective as a year ago, when rates had much further to fall than they do now.”

Invesco Real Estate has announced the arrival of Timothy Bellman as head of global research, at its Dallas offices. In the global research team, Bellman will focus on global asset allocation and co-ordinating research activities undertaken by regional heads of research in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Before joining Invesco Real Estate, Bellman, 50, spent seven years at ING Real Estate Management, where he was global head of research and strategy, after serving as head of research and strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.

Tiffani Potesta, head of third-party insurance and DC I-0 divisions at DWS Investments, and previously a director at First Eagle Funds, is joining Schroders as head of advisory sales for the United States, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Potesta will report to Erin Brennan, head of intermediary key accounts.

Institutional investors are showing a growing interest in alternative management, which allows them to support their investment objectives, such as diversification and generating alpha, according to the most recent annual study by Russel Investments of alternative management (“2012 Global Survey on Alternative Investment.”)“In an environment characterised by low returns, a high level of economic uncertainty, and volatility on financial markets, alternative solutions represent an essential component of a multi-asset class diversified [approach]. With ongoing volatility and market shocks in mind, institutional investors are seeking to protect their portfolios by structuring them in such a way as to favour prudent risk management, while also seeking to earn returns in various market environments,” says Julia Cormier, director, head of alternative investments at Russell Investments.Institutional investors who participated in the Russell Investments study are highly exposed to alternative investment, with an average of 22%. Among the major reasons for this exposure, diversification is cited by 90% of investors. This is followed by volatility management and low correlation with traditional investments, cited by 64% of investors, and potential returns, cited by 45%.A large majority of respondents to the study say that they are planning to maintain or increase their allocations in the next three years to all alternative categories. 32% of participants are planning to increase their investments in hedge funds and private real estate, 28% for private infrastructure, 25% for private equity, 20% for commodities and 12% for infrastructure and public real estate.The study finds that 49% of investors in single hedge funds use the fund of fund vector, but a considerable proportion of them are planning to set aside this traditional model in favour of specific solutions.Private equity is dominant in North American portfolios, but Europe is not far behind. On both sides of the Atlantic, investors tend to prefer small or mid-sized buyout funds.Lastly, the study finds that investors overall are seeking further training in alternative management. Meanwhile, 91% of North American investors (compared with 68% worldwide) say that they undertake exhaustive due diligence before making new investments.

Only 52 companies, out of a universe of 4,001 worldwide in 2010, published a complete report on sustainable development, a study commissioned by Aviva Investors and undertaken by CK Capital has found («Trends in Sustainability Disclosure: Benchmarking the World’s Composite Stock Exchanges.») This figure is down compared with 2008, at a time when several European stock markets are requiring publicly-traded businesses to include detailed reporting on sustainable development in their financial reports. The figure, however, conceals a varied reality. Some countries stand out in comparison to others. The countries that are highest-ranked in terms of publicly-traded businesses releasing information on sustainable development are the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Spain, and South Africa. The Scandinavian countries place particularly well, with four of them in the top ten. Among emerging countries, two stand out particularly: South Africa (5th) and Brazil (9th). The rankings vary depending on the criteria analysed (energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, lost time due to work accidents, salaries, and staff turnover), and sectors of activity. By sector, the companies that most closely guard their sustainable development information are financial sector businesses, which are ranked bottom on all seven indicators (energy, grenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management and time lost due to workplace accidents). At the other extreme, utility companies dominate the rankings on most indicators, and take 1st place for release of information about greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, and staff turnover. Steve Waygood, director of management at Aviva Investors in London, says “we think that it would be highly opportune for public powers to intervene and define a universal palette of sustainable development indicators.”

Michel Barnier appears to have some scheduling problems. The European Commissioner in charge of the internal market and services on 19 June announced that the proposed PRIPS legislation (retail investment products) will finally be unveiled in early July. Since last autumn, the publication of the bill, which has been th subject of constant controversy, has already been delayed several times.In addition to the PRIPS bill, Barnier also announced two other initiatives at a conference of the European insurance intermediaries’ federation (Bipar), which will be unveiled in early July. On the one hand, Barnier proposes to revise the rules on the protection of retail investors under the revised MiFID directive, including stricter consequences for losses by financial instruments held at a depository bank.A revised IMD directive will also be presented, which will aim to better protect consumers of insurance products, in line with revisions to the MiFID directive in the area of sales practices, “in order to ensure that practices are consistent for all investment products, including unit-linked life insurance products.”

According to a survey of 722 of its members in the EU and Switzerland by the CFA Institute, investment professionals are concerned that imposing a tax on financial transactions, a tax on financial activities or a bank levy, all three solutions under consideration by the European Commission, will actually result in costs that end users of financial services will ultimately pay: 75% of the total in the case of a transaction withholding tax, 60% in the case of a financial activity tax, and 59% in the case of a bank levy. Meanwhile, specialists also estimate that if the financial transaction tax is not applied worldwide, it will lead to regulatory arbitrage, and will hurt the competitiveness of the European financial sector.

The UK asset management firm Liontrust Asset Management reached total assets of GBP2.1bn on 18 June 2012, the firm announced in its annual report. On 31 March, assets totalled GBP1.5bn, up since the beginning of April 2011, when they totalled GBP1.343bn. The increase is the result of net subscriptions totalling GBP152m, the acquisition of Occam and positive market effects. Liontrust has reported losses of GBP200,000, compared with losses of GBP4.6m in 2011. Adjusted pre-tax profits came to GBP1m, compared with losses of GBP1.7m in 2011.

Présent chez Allfunds Bank (filiale à 50/50 du Santander et de Intesa Sanpaolo) depuis la création en 2000, Borja Largo va quitter la direction des investissements, son dernier poste, pour devenir le patron des «global partnerships» et gérer les relations avec les fournisseurs, les sociétés de gestion, pour toutes les régions où Allfunds est présente, rapporte Funds People.Allfunds distribue plus de 23.000 fonds de 450 sociétés de gestion; le volume intermédié dépassé les 65 milliards de dollars. Elle dessert plus de 350 investisseurs institutionnels dans 25 pays.

Dexia Asset Management poursuit l’extension de ses activités en Suisse, avec la nomination de Patrick Kern en tant que senior relationship manager, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Il sera en particulier chargé de la clientèle institutionnelle en Suisse alémanique. Patrick Kern était dernièrement en charge de la succursale zurichoise de Reyl Asset Management, où il était responsable de l’acquisition de clients en Suisse alémanique, Allemagne, Autriche et au Liechtenstein.

Les actifs sous gestion de NBAD Private Bank (Suisse), basée à Genève, filiale à 100% de la National Bank of Abu Dhabi, s'élèvent à 2 milliards de francs suisses, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Installée depuis cinq ans en Suisse, la société, qui a dégagé l’an dernier un bénéfice de plus de 3 millions de francs, souhaite développer dans les prochaines années ses activités de private banking avec de nouveaux recrutements dès 2012. La société emploie actuellement 45 personnes.

Les négociations exclusives avec Guggenheim Partners au sujet d’une éventuelle acquisition par le gestionnaire américain de la société de gestion RREEF (immobilier et alternatif) auprès la Deutsche Bank ont échoué et les deux parties sont convenues de ne pas poursuivre les pourparlers, a annoncé la Deutsche Bank mercredi soir.Dès lors, la banque allemande, qui n’est pas parvenue non plus à vendre les autres composantes de de son pôle gestion d’actifs (DWS en Allemagne, en Europe et en Asie), annonce qu’elle communiquera en septembre sur la stratégie de long terme pour sa division gestion d’actifs et de fortune (Asset & Wealth Management).

Le régulateur espagnol CNMV a délivré le 15 juin son agrément de commercialisation au fonds de droit luxembourgeois Bantleon Opportunities du gestionnaire obligataire allemand Bantleon (5,1 milliards d’euros d’encours). Ce fonds d’environ 49 millions d’euros géré par l'équipe suisse de Bantleon Bank sera distribué par Capital Strategies Partners A.V., SA.Le portefeuille de ce produit lancé en 2008 se compose d’obligations gouvernementales de la zone euro les mieux notées d’une échéance comprise entre 0 et 7 ans, d’obligations sécurisées et une proportion de 10 à 20 % d’actions de grandes capitalisations. L’objectif, au-delà de la performance absolue, est un rendement de 4 % par an.

Lionel Aeschlimann, associé de Mirabaud et responsable du pôle gestion d’actifs, a indiqué à Funds People que l'établissement helvétique continue de renforcer son équipe de banque privée en Espagne. L’objectif est d’atteindre dans ce domaine un encours compris entre 1 milliard et 1,5 milliard d’euros d’ici à trois ans. Cela posé, les recrutements ne se feront pas au détriment de la rentabilité.

JO Hambro Capital Management va lancer un fonds Global Opportunities alors que son fonds UK Opportunities, géré par les mêmes gérants, va être provisoirement fermé aux nouvelles souscriptions, rapporte Investment Week. Le portefeuille britannique a actuellement un encours de 900 millions de livres et approche vite de sa limite de 1 milliard.Les deux fonds sont gérés par John Wood et Ben Leyland.

La société de gestion britannique Liontrust Asset Management a vu ses encours atteindre 2,1 milliards de livres le 18 juin 2012, annonce la société dans son rapport annuel. Le 31 mars, ils ressortaient à 1,5 milliard de livres, en hausse par rapport au niveau de début avril 2011, où ils étaient à 1,343 milliard de livres.C’est notamment le résultat de souscriptions nettes de 152 millions de livres, de l’acquisition d’Occam et d’un effet marché positif.Liontrust a accusé une perte de 200.000 livres, contre une perte de 4,6 millions de livres en 2011. Le bénéfice ajusté avant impôts est ressorti à 1 million, contre une perte de 1,7 million en 2011.

«Profitant de la forte demande actuelle d’immeubles entièrement loués à Londres», l’allemand Deka Immobilien a réalisé une plus-value non divulguée en revendant à Zara (groupe Inditex) l’immeuble Lumina sur Oxford Street et Bond Street pour 190 millions d’euros. Cet actif de 7.000 mètres carrés de magasins et de bureaux faisait partie du portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

Baring Asset Management va lancer le fonds Baring emerging market corporate debt qui sera géré par Faisal Ali, lequel a rejoint la société de gestion en août 2011, rapporte Money Marketing. Le produit investira au moins 70 % de ses actifs dans des obligations d’entreprises émergentes, basées dans différents pays et notées investment grade ou non.