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15/05/2012

Lyxor AM revises its organisation in passive management

Lyxor Asset Management has announced that it is scaling up its organisation with the creation of a new business unit dedicated to ETF and index-based investment solutions. The grouping of activities will aim to strengthen the growth of Lyxor in the ETF market, while offering clients a complete range of solutions in the area of index-based management, a statement says. “In this way,” Lyxor AM says, “we can respond to a strong trend among our international clients, who are seeking to invest both in a wide range of ETF funds, and in index-based products worldwide.”The team will be led directly by Alain Dubois, chairman of the board at Lyxor Asset Management. In addition to his role as head of ETFs for Europe, Simon Klein is appointed as global head of development for ETF & index-based solutions activities, and becomes a member of the executive board at Lyxor. He will work closely with Dubois and Christophe Baurand, global head of business development at Lyxor.Klein will be assisted in his new role by Nizam Hamid, head of ETF products, and François Millet, head of index-based solutions, who will oversee product development and strategy.
15/05/2012

Daniel Fighiera becomes director of management at Tocqueville Finance

Tocqueville Finance has appointed Daniel Fighiera as director of management. He replaces Marc Tournier, who left the asset management firm at the beginning of this year.Fighiera, 47, had been manager of the OPCVM fund Petites et Moyennes Capitalisations Zone Euro at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, where he began in 2004, after working at Crédit Lyonnais AM from 1997 as head of European midcaps management, and then from 2002 as head of management for European equities.
15/05/2012

Record subscriptions for MFS

The Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial has announced that its US affiliate MFS Investment Managemetn has posted operating profits in first quarter of USD70m, compared with USD66m in October-December and USD67m in the corresponding period of last year. Net profits totalled USD49m, compared with USD31m and USD42m for first and fourth quarter 2011.Assets as of the end of March totalled USD284.8bn, compared with USD253.2bn as of the end of December, and USD268.1bn one year previously. Net subscriptions contributed USD5.9bn to the increase, compared with USD1.7bn in fourth quarter 2011, and USD1.8bn in January-March 2011, while market effects were positive to the tune of USD25.7bn, compared with USD15.1bn and USD9.8bn.
15/05/2012

An appointment and a job opening at Carmignac Gestion

Carmignac Gestion has appointed Nick White as sales manager, based in its London office and reporting to head of country, Matthew Wright. He will take up his position at the end of June.Nick White will focus on developing the firm’s presence among discretionary fund managers and wealth advisors across the UK. He has previously worked with Martin Currie and Invesco Perpetual. Separately, according to Newsmanagers, Carmignac Gestion is looking for a head of marketing in Paris after the recent departure of Laurence Bertrand.
15/05/2012

Fitch places rating for SEB Investment under RWN

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 14 May announced that it has placed the M2 rating for SEB Investment on a negative watch, following the announcement of the liquidation of the Immoinvest fund.The ratings agency estimates that SEB Investment should be able to continue its activities without the support of the Immoinvest fund, but notes that the fund nonetheless represents about half of all real estate assets under management at the firm and a significant portion of its revenues.
15/05/2012

Banif launches a partially guaranteed fund based on EuroStocc 50

The private bank of the Santander group, Banif, on 11 May registered the bond fund Revalorizacion Europa Euro with the CNMV. The fund is managed by Santander Asset Management, and will mature on 23 May 2016. It guarantees a minimum of 95% of the initial net asset value as of 22 Jun e 2012 and will optimally generate annual returns of 5.20%, if the EuroStoxx 50 gains 30% over the life of the product.CharacteristicsName: Banif Revalorizacion Europa Euro FIISIN code: ES0113060000Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.3%Penalty for early withdrawal: 5%
15/05/2012

Significant increase in anti-money-laundering alerts in 2011

Financial intermediaries in 1625 cases sent notices last year, a 40% increase, on over CHF3bn in assets, more than the cumulative totals in the two previous years, but two thirds of this amount are in only 25 cases, Agefi Switzerland reports. “These figures are also due to the efforts of intermediaries, and particularly banks, who have considerably developed their internal compliance system,” says Jean-Luc Vez, director of the Swiss federal police office, speaking yesterday at a presentation of the annual report of the communications office on money-laundering.
15/05/2012

Chinese government liberalises QFII regime

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has announced that it is relaxing restrictions on foreign investors under its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program. Holders of a QFII license will no longer be required to invest more than 50% of their assets in the stock markets, Z-Ben Advisors reports.The CSRC also states that it will now be authorised to issue licenses to various investors within a single financial group, and to investors who issue structured products. However, these new quotas will not allow QFII license holders to sell structured products.
15/05/2012

Jamie Kiggen becomes president of Riverside

The private equity firm Riverside (EUR2.5bn in assets) has announced the appointment of Jamie Keegan as its president. The co-CIOs, Béla Szigethy and Stewart Kohl, say that the former senior managing director of Blackstone will work closely with the management team and teams at Riverside worldwide, from his base in New York.He will also be chairman of the Riverside Cabinet, which includes the two co-CEOs, fund managers and the COO.
15/05/2012

Plus Markets Group closes its doors

The stock market for small caps, Plus Markets Group, which had hoped to rival the AIM, on 14 May announced that it is discontinuing its activities, the Financial Times reports. Plus Markets, which was founded six years ago, and which had been seeking a buyer since February this year, listed over 150 small caps.
15/05/2012

Head of currencies at Insight departs

The head of currencies at Insight, Dale Thomas, will be leaving the firm after 17 years there, Investment Week reveals. He will be joining the London-based hedge fund firm Caxton Europe Asset Management as a manager and currencies specialist.
15/05/2012

Assets under management halved at Martin Currie

Assets under management at Martin Currie totalled GBP5.6bn as of 31 December 2011, compared with GBP11.3bn as of the end of December 2010, the British asset management firm stated in its 2011 annual report. Pre-tax profits last year were down to GBP2.3m, from GBP14.1m in the 2010 fiscal year. Net profits came to GBP1.7m, compared with GBP8.9m.
15/05/2012

Schroders poaches two fund managers from UBS GAM

Schroders has hired two fund managers from UBS Global Asset Management, Alix Stewart and Konstantin Leidman, for its fixed income team.Alix Stewart, previously head of UK fixed income at UBS Global Asset Management, joins Schroders’ credit team to enhance Schroders’ multi-sector specialist mandates in investment grade credit.Konstantin Leidman, previously high yield portfolio manager at UBS Global Asset Management, joins to enhance Schroders’ multi-sector specialist mandates in European high yield.At the same time, Sarang Kulkarni, currently fund manager for segregated credit strategies at Schroders, will see his role expanded to take on co-lead portfolio management responsibilities including the flagship Schroder ISF1 Global Corporate Bond.All three portfolio managers will report to Philippe Lespinard, Schroders’ CIO of Fixed Income.Schroders Fixed Income team of nearly 100 investment professionals globally manage in excess of GBP41 billion as at 31 March 2012.
15/05/2012

Solid first quarter at Allianz

The asset and investment management division of Allianz, which has recently been reorganised around the two pillars of Allianz Global Investors and the bond fund management firm Pimco, has performed “better than the market” in first quarter, the German group announced on 15 May in a statement confiming preliminary figures published last week.Assets under management as of the end of March totalled EUR1.7trn, compared with EUR1.5trn one year previously.The Allianz group earned net profits for the group share of EUR1.37bn for first quarter, up 60% year on year, and has confirmed its objectives for the current fiscal year, despite consistent headwinds.Allianz profited from a favourable comparison with the first quarter 2011, when results were penalised by a number of natural disasters. But it has also improved its results in life/health insurance and in portfolio activities.Allianz continues to project total operating profits of EUR7.7bn to EUR8.7bn this year, “despite the persistent public debt crisis, the volatility of the markets, and low interest rates,” says Oliver Bäte, a board member cited in the statement.
15/05/2012

Lyxor merges its ETF and index-based fund activities

Juan San Pio, who had previously been director of ETF sales to institutional clients for the Iberian peninsula and Latin America at Lyxor Asset Management, will now also be taking charge of sales of index-based products from the French asset management firm, Funds People reports.
15/05/2012

Swisscanto uses strict criteria for green fund

At a presentation in Paris, Gerhard Wagner, a member of the board at Swisscanto and senior portfolio manager for sustainable investments, stated that the Swiss asset management firm employs very strict exclusionary criteria for its four Green Invest funds, which have a total of about CHF2bn in assets (out of total assets at the firm of CHF53bn as of the end of March). The list of activities excluded includes businesses involved in the promotion of fossil energy sources, those who operate carbon or nuclear electrical plants, automobile makers and airlines, forestry businesses not focused on sustainable development, businesses involved in the production of weapons or tobacco, businesses involved in genetic engineering, and makers of PVC and vinyl chloride. Lastly, businesses in the gambling sector are not excluded as a whole, but don’t pass a ratings filter. The equity fund Swiss Canto (LU) Equity Fund Water Invest J (LU0302977094), launched on 18 September 2007, has posted performance since its inception of 0.06% per year, compared with losses of 1.01% p.a. for the MSCI World index, which meets the objective of outperforming the index, despite rigorous selection. The fund (50 holdings out of a universe of 200 eligible shares) had total assets of CHF105.82m as of the end of March. It is 70% invested in small caps and 25% in large caps, with overweight positions on utilities and industrials. Wagner states that the porftfolio is one third each invested in infrastructure, utilities and companies active in water conservation.
15/05/2012

EFG International appoints new CFO

EFG International has recruited Giorgio Pradelli, effective 1 June 2012, to be its new chief financial officer and member of the executive committee. He will replace Jean-Christophe Pernollet, who is leaving to pursue a new challenge following an appropriate handover period.From 2003-06, Giorgio Pradelli was deputy chief financial Officer of EFG Group, the largest shareholder of EFG International. Latterly he has been head of international at Eurobank, focused on «New Europe». In this capacity, he oversaw businesses with a combined network of more than 1,000 offices and total operating income of circa EUR700 million.
15/05/2012

Assets up at Julius Baer in January-April

As of 30 April, assets under management by the Julius Baer group totalled CHF178bn, which reporesents a 4% increase over the end of December, largely due to net subscriptions whose annualised growth rate has been above the 4-6% range which the group set for itself as a target. One year previously, assets totalled CHF173bn. The cost/income ratio has nonetheless deteriorated slightly, to over 70%.
15/05/2012

Alicia Koplowitz authorises competition at Morinvest

The agenda for the general shareholders’ meeting to be held in June for the Morinvest Sicav (EUR444m), dominated by Alicia Koplowitz, includes as its fifth point that the six directors of the fund will in the future be permitted to undertake investment activities similar to those of Morinvest, Cinco Días reports. They would thus in some way be able to compete with the Sicav, which is an innovation in Spain.
15/05/2012

Oddo Asset Management launches a fund in Italy

Oddo Asset Management has initiated the registration process for its Oddo Haut Rendement 2017 fund in Italy, so as to be able to release and distribute the fund in Italy, FondiOnline reports. The product is a target-date fund which invests in corporate and convertible bonds.
15/05/2012

Moody's cuts ratings for 26 Italian banks

The ratings agency Moody’s on 14 May announced that it is cutting the credit ratings of 26 Italian banks, two of which are the largest in the country, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo. The agency cites a deterioration in conjuncture in the Italian economy, in its financial sector, and “restricted access to market financing.” The reductions of long-term credit ratings range from one to four notches. For the country’s largest bank, UniCredit, and its rival Intesa Sanpaolo, which together control one third of assets at Italian banks, the rating is lowered one notch, to A3. For the third-largest bank in the country, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMDP), the rating is reduced two notches to Baa3, and four the number four bank, Banco Popolare, the rating is also reduced one notch to Baa3, just above junk.
15/05/2012

Pékin s’intéresse au trading algorithmique

Citic Securities, le plus important courtier chinois, a convenu d’acquérir de la technologie dédiée au trading algorithmique auprès de Progress Software, un groupe coté sur le Nasdaq. Un signe clair selon le quotidien que la technologie liée au trading automatisé à grande vitesse se déploie rapidement des marchés occidentaux vers l’Asie.

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