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21/03/2012

New team in charge of retirement activities at Mercer France

Charles-Antoine Roger has become the new head ot retirement and international activities at Mercer France. Roger has been working at Mercer for 12 years, and has worked at the group’s offices in Paris, New York and Madrid, before moving to Paris three years ago. He is a specialist in assisting multinational companies with a wide range of local and global problems related to retirement regimes and health and retirement planning programmes: evaluating and consolidating social liabilities, establishing retirement regimes, risk governance and management, financing, pooling, mergers and acquisitions. Patrice Plouvier takes over as head of the retirement council in France at Mercer France. Plouvier will report to Roger, head of retirement and international activities at Mercer France. Plouvier joined Mercer in 2011. He is a specialist in retirement regimes (defined contributions, defined benefits, regimes for management), employee savings, and assistance to retirement funds.
21/03/2012

SG Private Banking obtains a certification for its asset allocation method

The firm of independent experts, Associés en Finance, headed by Bertrand Jacquillat, has certified the Dialogue & Asset Allocation method developed by Societe Generale Private Banking. Dialogue & Asset Allocation is an approach created by Societe Generale Private Banking for managing its private clients’ financial and non-financial assets. Inspired by institutional investment techniques, the approach is based on an analysis of how markets have evolved in the past in order to discern their possible future behaviour and thus the potential impact on the yield vs. risk ratio of a portfolio. This method allows private clients to: benefit from decision-making support in the context of the overall management of their investments, and achieve a better understanding of how financial markets evolve, notably under extreme conditions of market behaviour; obtain a complete diagnosis of their portfolios; carry out simulated reallocations to decide, with the help of their adviser, what changes should be made to their portfolio so that it more closely matches their expectations and constraints. Dialogue & Asset Allocation is based on a unique modelling system which takes into account an analysis of the behaviour of almost 500 indices covering every asset class, modelled for 2,000 possible market situations, over one and five years.
21/03/2012

Lazard Frères Gestion leads French Alpha League Table

There have been changes at the top of the Alpha League Table France 2012, which is designed by Europerformance and Edhec, and measures the level of alpha generated by asset management firms. This year, Lazard Frères Gestion leads the pack, with a rating of 2.89%. The firm, in second place last year, has benefited from its high level of alpha, at 4.54%, and a high frequency of alpha of 61.64%, to beat last year’s winner, Rothschild & Cie Gestion. This firm, with a rating of 2.06%, falls back to second place. In third place is Comgest, with a rating of 1.79%, up five places in the rankings. The rankings then feature Oddo Asset Management, Palatine Asset Management, Aviva Investors France, DNCA Finance, Paris Lyon Gestion and Generali Investment France. These three firms make their debut in the top 10. In tenth place is Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. More generally, the Alpha League Table France reveals that in 2011, French active management continued to stand out with a particularly high alpha level of 2.52%. Meanwhile, the average frequency of alpha has reached 35.2%, its highest level since the first edition of the rankings in 2007. The results of the Alpha League Table 2012 may be consulted in full.
21/03/2012

Paris Europlace publishes proposals to restart the economy

Ahead of the presidential elections in France, Paris Europlace has issued a white paper describing the essential role of the financial industry in assisting to finance the economy and the indispensable measures to be taken in 2012-2015, including learning the lessons of the financial crisis.The white paper points to the need to orient French savings to long-term investment, conslolidate existing long-term assets, and make higher-risk invesmtents, particularly in equities, be rewarded by a “more tax-favoured savings clause,” developing collective corporate retirement policies (Perco) and instituting a guarantee of fiscal and social stability for long-term savings.The document also insists on the acceleration of developments in sustainable finance in France and Europe.
21/03/2012
Gestion d'actifs

Le Fonds de pension Eurocontrol vient d'investir dans un fonds d'infrastructures en Europe

Le Fonds de pension Eurocontrol vient d’investir 20 millions d’euros dans un fonds d’infrastructures européennes, qui est géré par Amundi Asset Management. D’après Pierre Depireux, le gérant du Fonds de pension qui gère au total 700 millions d’euros d’actifs, cet investissement en infrastructures était programmé depuis juin 2011, et il s’agit de la dernière strate dans la stratégie de diversification d’Eurocontrol. Il n’y aura plus de changement en termes d’allocation stratégique d’actifs durant les deux-trois prochaines années. Pour rappel, le portefeuille d’Eurocontrol est structuré de la manière suivante: 45-50% d’obligations, 45-50% d’actions et 10% d’immobilier. Le Fonds de pension est conseillé par Towers Watson en Belgique (Bruxelles) Vanguard gère les obligations d’Etat en Europe, les obligations corporate IG, les actions eurozone et actions internationales. Capital International est le gérant délégataire sur les actions émergentes (gestion active). KBC AM est en charge de la gestion active sur les obligations indexées à l’inflation, l’immobilier est géré par UBS Global AM, Aviva/LaSalle et Petercam. Le Fonds est également investit en obligations émergentes (gestion active) via des fonds gérés par BlueBay AM et UBS Global AM. Enfin, sur les infrastructures, Eurocontrol avait déjà investi plus tôt sur des fonds de Macquarie Bank et AXA IM.
Gestion d'actifs
21/03/2012

Mutuactivos retains JPMAM to manage a convertible bond fund

The mandate for the first convertible bond fund from Mutuactivos, the Mutuafondo Bonos Convertibles, has been awarded to JPMorgan Asset Management, Funds People reports. The product aims to acquire a portfolio of bonds which will be retained until maturity. Subscriptions will remain open until 4 April.Minimal subscription is set at EUR100, and management commission at 1.9% (D share class).
21/03/2012

Deka acquires a 4-star property in Amsterdam

Germany’s Deka Immobilien has acquired the American Hotel in Amsterdam as part of a sale & lease-back deal, from Hampshire Hospitality, for an undisclosed amount. The property, with 175 rooms and 8,000 square metres, will be added to the open-ended sectoral real estate fund WestInvest TargetSelect Hotel.
21/03/2012

Invesco launches retail funds in China

Invesco Asset Management is for the first time offering Chinese retail investors two “A” class equity funds with its third quota, totalling USD100m as a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII), Asian Investor reports. The first, Invesco China Opportunity Fund III, will invest at least 70% of its assets in “A” class shares, while the second, Invesco PRC Dynamic Equity Fund, will invest in shares of various categories, including “A,” “B,” and “H,” as well as in collective investment vehicles.
21/03/2012

Primonial AM takes over management of two funds of funds from Allianz GI

Primonial Asset Management on Monday made its acquisition of two funds of funds from Allianz Global Investors official. According to reports in Citywire, confirmed to Newsmanagers by Primonial Am, they are the Allianz Multi Actions Or et Ressources Naturelles and Allianz Multi Emergents.The two products will now be known as Primonial Or et Primonial Multi Emergents. Primonial Or will be managed by Alexis Bienvenu, while the new manager of emerging markets fund of funds has yet to be announced.The acquisition of the two products follows the acqusition of W Finance, an affiliate of Allianz France, by Primonial in 2011.
21/03/2012

TIG Advisors closes a hedge fund dedicated to emerging markets

The alternative management firm TIG Advisors is liquidating its hedge fund dedicated to emerging markets, TIG Global Emerging Markets, according to a letter to investors which the Reuters news agency has obtained.Assets in the long/short equities hedge funds, which peaked at about USD1.5bn in 2008, then fell back to USD750m in April 2009, and most recently stood at USD210m.The hedge fund lost nearly 11% last year, a result only slightly better than the Eurekahedge Emerging Markets Long Short Equities index, which in the same period lost 13.6%, after gains of 9.7% in 2010 and 6% in 2009, below the gains of the index (+10.4% and +44.4%, respectively).As of the end of February, TIG Advisors managed about USD1.1bn in four other strategies.
21/03/2012

Aliénor preparing a global macro hedge fund

Aliénor Capital is preparing a global macro fund “We would like to move to a hedge fund product range, with a global macro product investing in equities, fixed income and currencies,” Arnaud Raimon, chairman of the French asset management firm, announced at a press conference. The product would be made available in two versions, one with high and one with low volatility. The firm has not yet set at timetable for the launch, which is still in the planning phases.Aliénor Capital has EUR250m under management in five funds and several mandates.
21/03/2012

Sal. Oppenheim releases a non-euro bond fund

With seed capital of EUR46.4m, the new open-ended fund SOP NonEuroQualitätsanleihen from Oppenheim KAG, an affiliate of Sal. Oppenheim, focuses on bonds in solid currencies, based on the financial solidity index from its parent company, which is updated at least twice per year. Currently, the eligible universe index includes Canadian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Swiss, Singapore, Australian and New Zealand bonds. The management team is permitted to improve the performance by adopting tactical positions on the rate curve and on currencies, updated once per month. In order to cushion interest rate risks, the duration of the portfolio may be reduced through the use of futures and swaps. The weighting of currencies is also planned to be managed through trades on currency futures independently of the bond portfolio.CharacteristicsName: SOP NonEuroQualitätsanleihenISIN codes:DE000A1JBZ85 (I shares)DE000A1JBZ77 (R shares)Front-end fee: 3%Management commission:I shares: 0.35%R shares: 0.90%Minimal subscription: EUr100,000 (I shares)
21/03/2012

db x-trackers lists two govies ETFs in Frankfurt

The listings on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform (Deutsche Börse) now include 944 products, with the arrival of two funds from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank group). These include two government bond ETFs, covering Germany and the euro zone, both Luxembourg-registered products which charge 0.15%.CharacteristicsName: db x-trackers II iBoxx € Germany 3-5 TRI ETFISIN code: LU0613540854Benchmark index: iBoxx € Germany 3-5 IndexTER: 0.15%Name: db x-trackers II iBoxx € Sovereigns Eurozone AAA 1-3 TRI ETFISIN code: LU0613540938Benchmark index: iBoxx € Sovereigns Eurozone AAA 1-3 IndexTER: 0.15%
21/03/2012

Two “minvar” ETFs from Ossiam debut in Frankfurt

As Newsmanagers announced on 16 March, the Ossiam ETF Emerging Markets Minimum Variance NR (EUR share class, LU0705291903) and the Ossiam ETF Emerging Markets Minimum Variance NR (USD share class, LU0705291812) were admitted to trading on the XTF segment of Xetra (Deutsche Börse) on 19 March. The Luxembourg-registered equity products charge 0.75%.
21/03/2012

Investors increasingly confident in growth

Investors are increasingly bullish about prospects for global growth and a diminishing number expect further rounds of quantitative easing (QE) by central banks, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for March. An overall total of 278 panelists with US$796 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 9 to 15 March. A net 28 percent of investors expect the world economy to strengthen in the coming 12 months – a large increase from a net 11 percent in February. As recently as January, the majority of respondents predicted that the economy would weaken. Eurozone confidence has risen – this month sees an even split between those expecting a stronger or weaker eurozone economy. In February, a net 35 percent predicted the economy would deteriorate. Investors are more optimistic about corporate profits. A net 6 percent of the panel expects corporate profits to improve in the coming year. A month ago, a net 11 percent predicted profits would decline. As a corrolary to this optimism, fewer investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to engage in further QE. Nearly half of the panel (47 percent) expects no further QE in the U.S., up from 36 percent in February. Thirty-nine percent predicts the European Central Bank will not extend QE, up from 23 percent a month ago. However, investors foresee higher inflation with a net 13 percent expecting it to rise in the coming year. Only last month, a net 16 percent predicted inflation would fall. Investors have regained confidence in Europe, the United States and Japan, while outlooks concern them on emerging markets. The numbers naming EU sovereign debt as their number one “tail risk” have declined sharply to 38 percent this month from 59 percent in February.
21/03/2012

Vontobel appoints a new head for private banking unit

As Peter Franconi has “decided to take on new professional challenges outside the group,” Vontobel (CHF132bn in assets) has appointed Georg Schubiger as head of its private banking unit. In the past few years, Schubiger “has served in various demanding management roles” at the Danish Danske Bank Group. He has first-hand experience of activities in Eastern Europe and Russia, two key markets for the Vontobel group.
21/03/2012

Nordea ends joint venture in Italy

The Scandinavian asset management firm Nordea Investment Funds is ending its partnership with its Italian counterpart Vegagest SGR, which gave birth to the asset management firm NorVega SGR, according to a statement released on 20 March. According to the Italian press, Nordea will sell its 40% stake in NorVega to its former partner, which controls the remaining 60%. The latter firm will then sell the firm to Arca SGR, the Italian press reports. The partnership between the two partners began two years ago, in March 2010. The “divorce” does not end Nordea’s adventure in Italy. The Scandinavian firm tells Newsmanagers that it will be reopening its representative office in Italy, with three senior sales staff.
21/03/2012

Schroders planning two new bond funds

On a visit to Paris on Tuesday, Bob Jolly (formerly of UBS GAM), head of global macro and manager of the Strategic Bond sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Schroder International Selection Fund (ISF), announced that his team is preparing to launch two new products, though no date has yet been set. The first of these funds will be a higher-risk version of the Strategic Bond fund, which he manages with Gareth Isaac (formerly of GLG), and the second will be a selection of best ideas in the area of fixed income, a go-anywhere fund.Jolly says of the Strategic Bond (USD1.15bn) fund that in the currently prevailing adverse environment for bonds, “alpha is made up of a mosaic of betas.” The manager does not hesitate to remodel the portfolio often, with a portfolio of nearly 240 positions, while keeping an eye on transaction costs.Currently, the portfolio is short on duration; the managers are positive about high yield and credit, but slightly less overweight than at the end of last year. They are also seeking to withdraw risk while being more aggressive about mispricings. In currencies, Jolly and Isaac favour the euro and the pound over the Australian dollar.
21/03/2012

Deutsche Bank publishes a positive CSR report for 2011

On 20 March, Deutsche Bank published its annual report on corporate social responsibility on the website www.db.com/csr, in which it credits itself for significant progress in sustainable development, particularly in the areas of energy and climate change policy.For example, as of the end of 2011, the asset management unit managed about EUR2.5bn, invested in line with environmental, social and governance (ESG) crtieria, including funds focused on climate change.Deutsche Bank has also been awarded mandates from the public sector for investment products designed to improve the quality of life in developing and emerging countries, and to combat climate change. These mandates are for the European Energy Efficiency Fund, the Clobal Climate Energy Fund and the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund.Lastly, in order to respond to the increasing importance of sustainable development to retail clients, the private & business clients business unit has created its own sustainability board, which aims to promote the development of sustainable investment products.
21/03/2012

WestInvest recruits for management team

The supervisory board at WestInvest Gessellschaft für Investmentfonds mbH has appointed Benjamin Klisa as a member of the board of directors from 1 April 2012. He will be in charge of the management team coordination, fund management controlling and personnel. Klisa has already worked at the real estate management group for the savings banks (EUR23bn in assets) since 2002, and was most recently director of Deka Immobilien, the other asset management firm of the group, in charge of the general management secretariat and business management and fund controlling as well as risk control.The other three members of the board are Torsten Knapmeyer, Burkhard Dallosch and Mark Wolter.
21/03/2012

Universal tops EUR100m in Spezialfonds

The Frankfurt-based firm Universal-Investment has announced that as of the end of February, it had over EUR104m in assets in institutional funds (“Spezialfonds”), a gain of 9.5% over twelve months.Net inflows to the white label funds specialist in 2011 totalled EUR6.7bn, CEO Bernd Vorbeck says.Assets under administration currently total about EUR138bn, in over 1,000 mandates.
21/03/2012

AllianceBernstein adds to staff in Asia

The AllianceBernstein group has announced the recruitment of Sun Hao, previously of Amundi, as managing director and head of institutional sales for Asia, Asian Investor reports. He will be based in Hong Kong. Last month, AllianceBernstein recruited six people for its institutional unit, in order to compensate for the departure in August 2011 of June Wong. The firm may announce a further recruitment in Hong Kong. AllianceBernstein has also recruited for its Asian team dedicated to fixed income, with the recruitment in the past few months of four people, bringing total staff to 14. Bonds represent about 80% of Asian assets under management outside Japan, totalling USD31bn ( with USD225bn in fixed income assets in total). The region has also gained value and growth teams in first half, with the emphasis on the value strategy, with 13 value specialists and only 3 growth experts, following the recent departure of two people.
21/03/2012

Lyxor uses a new Dow Jones index for its ETF of the Russian market

The index provider Dow Jones Indexes on 20 March announced the launch the same day of the Dow Jones Russia GDR Index, an index which currently covers 77% of the larger Russian TSM index, and which proposes to measure the performance of the major Russian global depository receipts (GDR) listed on the London Stock Exchange. At the same time, Dow Jones Indexes announced that Lyxor has acquired an operating license for the new index, which will be used as the basis for the Lyxor ETF Russia (Dow Jones Russia GDR Index). The euro-denominated version fo the ETF is listed on NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Börse, Borsa Italiana and Bolsa de Madrid. The US dollar-denominated versions are listed on the Swiss SIX exchange and in Singapore. The Lyxor ETF Russia (Dow Jones Russia GDR) is the largest vehicle of its type listed exclusively in Europe concentrated on Russian securities, with assets under managenent as of 14 March representing about EUR1.1bn. The ETF had previously used the Dow Jones RusIndex Titans 10 index as its underlying. The weightings of companies in the index may not exceed 20% at the time of quarterly revisions (March, June, September and December). As of 29 February, the ten largest components of the index were as follows: Firm Adjusted weight Gazprom OAO AD 19.67% Lukoil Holdings ADS 14.33% Surgutneftegaz JSC ADS 14.21% Sberbank Rossia ADS 11.03% Norilsk Nickel Mining & Metallurgical Co. ADS 7.41% Novatek GDR 7.02% Rosneft GDR 4.74% Uralkali GDR 4.25% Tatneft GDR 3.49% Magnit GDR 2.66%
21/03/2012

Good month in February for hedge funds

In February, the hedge fund indices calculated by the Edhec-Risk Institute virtually all finished the month in positive territory, as in January, with the exception of the short-selling strateegy, which lost 5.59%, after losses of 6,85% in January.The best-performing strategy was emerging markets, with gains of 3.33% in February and 7.4% since the beginning of the year.There were good returns for long/short equity, which gained 2.63% in February and 6% in the first two months of the year, distressed securities, with gains of 1.95% and 5.2%, respectively, and event driven, with gains of 1.76% and 4.7%.Convertibles arbitrage, which profited from its exposure to bonds, gained 2.03% for the month, and 4.4% since the beginning of the year.Funds of funds earned returns of 1.46% in February, and 3% since the beginning of the year.
21/03/2012

Man CEO gets USD7m

The CEO of Man Group, Peter Clarke, has received pay of USD7m for 2011, even though the firm suffered net redemptions and its share price fell over the period, the Financial Times reports. Although this amount makes Clarke one of the best-paid directors in the FTSE index, his pay is below that of other hedge fund directors in London, the City newspaper adds.
21/03/2012

RBS sells some of its asset management activities to RBC

The British Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on 20 March announced the intended sale by Coutts, its Wealth Management Division, of its Latin American, Caribbean and African private banking business to Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Wealth Management). The business manages approximately GBP1.5 billion of assets (or about EUR1.8bn) on behalf of clients located across the three regions, RBS says in a statement. The total price of the sale has not been disclosed. The activities will be integrated into RBC Wealth Management, the specialised affiliate of the Canadian bank. The operation will be completed towards the end of second quarter 2012. This intended sale is in line with Coutts’ strategy to focus its growth on key geographies which include the UK, Switzerland, Russia/CIS, the Middle East and selected markets in Asia. For the Canadian group, the acquisition will be an opportunity to strengthen its activities in the regions concerned serving ultra-high net worth clients.
21/03/2012

Rumours of an acquisition swirling at Henderson

Henderson Global Investors on Tuesday saw its share price leap in a falling market, for the second consecutive day, after rumours of an acquisition, Investment Week reports. According to the rumours, an international financial services giant is said to be in the process of building a stake in the British asset management firm, with the intention of launching a cash offer of over GBP2 per share.
21/03/2012

Le bénéfice net de Jefferies se replie

Le courtier américain a dégagé au titre du premier trimestre, clos le 29 février, un bénéfice net de 77 millions de dollars contre 87 millions le trimestre précédent. Le chiffre d’affaires net a atteint 780 millions de dollars, avec une hausse de 20% des revenus de banque d’investissement. Dans les produits de taux, les revenus se sont élevés à 339 millions de dollars.

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