Peter Gabriele has been appointed as chief investment officer for private clients at J.P. Morgan in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Agefi Switzerland reports. He will report to James Walker, International Head of Investments and Capital Advisory for the group’s management bank. Gabriele has 25 years of experience at J.P. Morgan, in the investment bank and private management. He was previous based in Chicago, where he was chief investment officer for the south central United States.

KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm, has named John Budzyna and Maurice Holmes to key posts in its alternative funds team.Budzyna has been named KPMG’s national leader, market development for alternative investments. Holmes has been named managing director, market development for alternative investments. Budzyna served most recently as CEO of Cutting Hedge Consulting Co. LLC, an advisory firm to the hedge fund industry, and also serves as the chairman of the board of Hedge Funds Care, one of the charitable organizations supported by the hedge fund community. Holmes most recently served as a director in the Credit Suisse Investment Banking Division, where he oversaw prime services sales for emerging markets, and served as global leader of its hedge fund consulting services.

The US banking group Wells Fargo has agreed to sell off its majority stake in the alternative management firm Overland Advisors, the news agency Bloomberg reports.Wells Fargo’s stake will be sold to a new firm controlled by Gordy Holterman, the CEO of Overland, and Derek Dunn, its chief investment officer. The San Francisco-based bank will retain a minority stake in the firm.Wells Fargo created Overland in January 2010, to put in place a dedicated independent entity for proprietary activities on behalf of the bank, which at the time represented assets of about USD4.3bn.Assets under management at Overland Advisors currently total about USD2.2bn, of which a total of USD1.6bn are from Wells Fargo.

La Mutuelle Générale gère un actif côté d’environ 1,5 milliard d’euros. Afin de sécuriser cet actif, La Mutuelle Générale a lancé un appel à candidature afin de sélectionner les prestataires qui seront consultés dans le cadre d’un appel d’offres. Le prestataire retenu à l’issue de l’appel d’offres devra prendre en charge cette gestion dans le cadre d’un mandat unique. Le prestataire devra maîtriser Solvabilité II et ses implications. La mission portera sur les 6 thèmes suivants : la gestion proprement dite, l’allocation, la conservation, la valorisation, le reporting réglementaire, la comptabilité. Le candidat devra notamment: Être de droit français et exercer son activité à Paris Gérer un actif pour compte de tiers supérieur ou égal à 15 Mds € Exercer son activité depuis une durée minimum de 10 ans Gérer au moins un mandat diversifié pour le compte d’un institutionnel de l’assurance Démontrer une expertise sur toutes les classes d’actifs habituellement présentes dans une gestion de portefeuille d’assurance Démontrer une parfaite connaissance de Solvabilité II et de ses implications La candidature devra être accompagnée du questionnaire mis en place à cette fin par L’AFG et l’AF2I disponible sur le site de l’AFG http://www.afg.asso.fr/ et dénommé « Charte SGP - Investisseur / Questionnaire de référence AF2I/AFG». Voir le RFI en pièce jointe

La CPJU, Caisse de Pensions de la République et Canton du Jura (950 millions de francs suisses d’actifs sous gestion) est actuellement en train de choisir un gérant d’actions suisses qui sera en charge d’un mandat d'à peu près 80/100 millions de francs suisses. La décision devrait être prise avant fin mars. La Caisse n’a pas été épaulée par un consultant dans cette recherche. C’est un mandat qui est actuellement géré en interne et qui était 2 % en dessous de l’indice. C’est pour cette raison que le Fonds fait appel à un gérant externe. L’idée est d’avoir une tracking error de 1-2 %. De plus, le mandat est géré de manière passive. Le gérant sélectionné devra délivrer de la sur performance avec un mode de gestion active. Au second semestre, la CPJU remplacera certains fonds pour investir dans les actions internationales. Mais aucune décision n’a pour l’instant, été prise. La Caisse souhaite un c??ur sur des produits indiciels et du satellite qui ne soient pas corrélés au MSCI World. La CPJU attend aussi les résultats d’une étude ALM menée l’an dernier pour modifier son allocation stratégique. L’allocation d’actifs intègre : 11 % en obligations suisses, 14 % en obligations en autres devises, 15 % en actions suisses, 18 % en actions internationales, 4 % en actions pays émergents, 22 % en immobilier local, 3 % en immobilier international, 6 % en hedge funds, 7 % en matières premières (passif). DE Planification à Neuchâtel et CBR (La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild) à Genève sont les deux gestionnaires de couverture de change mandatés par la Caisse.

Net inflows to bond funds in the month of January totalled GBP671m, their highest level since October 2010 and far above the monthly average of GBP376m in the past twelve months, according to statistics from the British Investment Management Association (IMA). Corporate bond funds in particular attracted GBP303m, their highest level since August 2010, and well above the monthly average of GBP17m. Diversified funds also did well, with monthly net inflows of GBP135m. Equity funds also ended four consecutive months of net redemptions, with net inflows of GBP63m. Overall retail inflows totalled GBP998m in January, their highest level since August 2010. This amount is, however, far lower than the monthly average of GBP1.6bn over the past twelve months. Assets under management as of the end of January totalled GBP589.5bn, up 2% compared with January 2011.

Jupiter Asset Management is planning to launch an offshore version of the Jupiter Strategic Bond fund, managed by Ariel Bezalel (GBP695m) in second half of the year, Money Marketing reports. The product will be included in the Jupiter Global Funds Sicav, based in Luxembourg.

Schroders is going to launch on 7 March the Schroder ISF European Total Return, a European equity product that aims to offer investors access to long-term capital growth while using derivatives and other instruments to lower the targeted volatility of those returns. The fund, which is launching on 7 March, will be managed by Nicholette MacDonald-Brown, Senior Portfolio Manager on the European Equities team. She joined Schroders on August 2011 from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners. She will seek to achieve returns through fundamental stock selection (40 to 60 stocks) but with lower volatility by adjusting the fund’s exposure to the market through the tactical use of cash, futures and derivatives.

Oddo Asset Management has licensed two more sub-funds for sale in Italy: Oddo Convertibles Taux and Oddo Proactif Europe, Bluerating reports. The funds will be available to retail clients. Oddo Valeur Rendement, meanwhile, has been licensed for sale to Italian institutional investors. Nine months after the launch of its activities in Italy, Oddo AM has 11 funds in the country, says Jurgen Mahler, head of Oddo AM for Italy.

Pioneer Investments is planning to enter Korea and to build a dedicated sales team in Singapore to target the institutional market place in Asia, the CEO of the firm, Roger Yates, announced in London at a presentation of a five-year business plan for the asset management firm of the UniCredit group. Developing in Asia is one of the major areas for development at Pioneer, which has also recruited a former employee of Janus Capital, Jack Lin, as its head for Asia and the Middle East. The UniCredit affiliate, which manages a total of EUR162bn in assets as of the end of December, is also hoping to accelerate its growth in Taiwan, where it posted net subscriptions in 2011 of more than EUR700m. Pioneer is also planning to increase its presence in the United States, a market in which it has long been present, particularly serving institutional and retail channels. In Europe, the asset management firm is planning to set up management capabilities in Germany, where the firm manages EUR19bn, and is planning to launch a Sicav in the United Kingdom, in order to support activities dedicated to private banks. In terms of investments, in addition to the creation of an emerging market management platform in London, which has already been unveiled, Pioneer Investments is planning to construct a high dividend centre in Dublin. In the United States, the firm is recruiting professionals in parallel for bonds and US equities, and is planning to develop international equities, an asset class which is popular in North America. Pioneer has also announced that it has overhauled its pay scales in order to “promote our performance-oriented culture,” according to a statement. A long-term incentive plan for “key personnel” will be launched as a part of this initiative. The objective for the five-year plan is to “accelerate organic growth,” Pioneer says. This follows several months of uncertainty at the firm, which has undergone a strategic review which considered several options, including a sale of the firm. This phase was completed in April last year, when UniCredit decided that the asset management firm would concentrate on organic growth.

The Dutch minister of social affairs, Henk Kamp, claims in a bill proposed to parliament that pension funds need to be able to set up boards of trustees composed exclusively of external professionals, the website IPE reports. However, every board of experts would be required to be approved by employers, employees and beneficiaries of the pension programme. Another model would have boards including social partners on the one hand, and beneficiaries of pension funds on the other, with the latter not allowed to occupy more than one quarter of the seats on the board.

According to the most recent edition of the Observatorio Inverco, five out of ten Spanish asset management firms are expecting net subscriptions of less than EUR5bn for the profession in 2012, while three out of ten are hoping for net inflows of more than EUR5bn, Funds People reports.The survey took in asset management firms representing about 80% of total assets in Spanish funds.Meanwhile, 85% of asset management firms surveyed are planning to launch new products, and 78% are expecting the UCITS IV directive to have a positive effect or no effect on the Spanish fund sector.

BNP Paribas Securities Services has announced that it has been awarded a mandate by the Chinese asset management firm Harvest Global Investments, which manages USD37bn in assets. BNPSS has been selected to provide custody and fund administration services, and forex services for a fund which invests in Mongolia.

GAM Group AG (GAM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAM Holding AG, announced on 28 February that it will soon be acquiring Arkos Capital SA, a Swiss independent wealth management firm, whose assets under management total CHF664m. The transaction will be completed by the end of second quarter 2012, pending approval from regulatory authorities. All key employees will be retained, including fund managers. They will continue to be based in Lugano, Switzerland. By the terms of the agreement, GAM will acquire 74.95% of share capital, once approval from the relevant regulatory authorities has been obtained, likely by the end of second quarter 2012. The remaining 25.05% stake, currently held by the management of Arkos, will be acquired via payments in various forms, depending on the future development of activities. The acquisition will have the effect of increasing profits at GAM from day one.

The asset management unit of Wells Fargo & Co has sold a majority stake in the hedge fund manager Overland Advisors LLC (USD2.2bn in assets) to a new firm, which will be controlled by Gordy Holterman, CEO of Overland Advisors, and Derek Dunn, CIO of the firm, Bloomberg reports.The terms of the sale have not been disclosed. Wells Fargo will retain a minority stake in Overland, which it founded in January 2010 and in which it has invested USD1.6bn.

The CEO of Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, has told the Financial Times that his group is planning to develop its wealth management activities through acquisitions or purchases of assets from European banks which are trimming back their activities. Stumpf says that he has looked at the asset management activities of Deutsche Bank, which in November last year announced that it had begun exploring all strategic options for its asset management activities, including the activities of DWS in the United States. Among the other candidates rumoured to be interested are Ameriprise, Guggenheim Partners, Macquarie, Power Financial and State Street.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Europanel Research and Alternative Asset Management’s (ERAAM) Asset Manager Rating at ‘M2-' for its fund of hedge funds (FoHF) investment activities and withdrawn the ratings.Fitch has withdrawn the rating as ERAAM has chosen to stop participating in the rating process.

The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 27 February announced that it has created a standard reporting structure for its private equity activities, inspired by the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), for all general partners of the fund. The new format will allow private equity activities undertaken within CalPERS Alternative Investment Management (AIM) to better account for risk management, transparency and good governance, CalPERS says in a statement. All general partners and fund of fund managers will be required to apply the new rules by 1 March 2012. As of 30 June 2011, CalPERS’ engagements in private equity totalled USD49.5bn.

The HSBC group announced at a presentation of its annual results that two new members have joined its board of directors, Joachim Faber and John Lipsky, who replace two outgoing members, Sir Brian Williamson and Gwyn Morgan. Faber resigned in late 2011 from the board at Allianz, where he had most recently been CEO of Allianz Global Investors. Lipsky is a widely known and respected economist, who recently, in November 2011, left his position as first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Retail Banking and Wealth Management unit of the HSBC group, which includes Global Asset Management activities, last year earned pre-tax profits of USD4.3bn, up 11% year on year. The Global Private Banking unit, for its part, earned pre-tax profits of USD944m, compared with USD1.05bn in 2010. The group overall earned pre-tax profits of USD21.9bn, up 15% compared with 2010. The group says in a statement that in Wealth Management, modest progress has been made towards the mid-term objective of a further USD4bn in growth in revenues, with an increase last year of USD300m. Revenues from Global Asset Management have remained virtually unchanged, due to difficult market conditions, particularly in second half.

BlackRock is seeking a new head for iShares in Asia-Pacific, after appointing Nick Good, who had previously served in this role, to the newly-created position of head of strategy and development for the region, Asian Investor reports.

L'Efama, lobby de la gestion d'actifs, assure que les fonds pâtiraient de la rotation de leur portefeuille et perdraient un point de performance

La performance de la classe d'actifs ressort à près de 10% depuis début janvier. Les fonds ont fortement collecté

La part croissante du financement assuré par la BCE et les covered bonds relèguent au second plan les autres créanciers seniors

Le ministère des Finances japonais envisagerait de relancer les émissions d'obligations indexées sur l'inflation, en sommeil depuis juin 2008

Le lobby européen de la gestion, l’Efama, assure que les fonds monétaires en seraient réduits à mettre la clé sous la porte si la taxe sur les transactions financières proposée par la Commission européenne en septembre dernier leur était appliquée en l'état.

Le Bundestag a voté hier en faveur du plan de 130 milliards d'euros. L'aval des Pays-Bas, de la Finlande et de l'Italie est encore attendu

Le gestionnaire entend accroître sa part de marché aux Etats-Unis, en Allemagne et en Asie tout en simplifiant son organisation

Standard & Poor's a annoncé hier soir la dégradation de la note à long terme «CC» et la note à court terme «C» de la Grèce à «SD» (Défaut sélectif)

Même si le gouvernement devrait obtenir un satisfecit de ses bailleurs de fonds internationaux, les perspectives paraissent incertaines