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03/02/2012

Two new UBS ETFs released in Frankfurt

The XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform (Deutsche Börse) on 2 February added two new funds from UBS (Irl) ETF plc, bringing the number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 923.The funds are two classes of shares in a fund which replicates the MSCI USA Infrastructure Index, while the I share class is reserved for institutional investors, and A shares for retail investors.CharacteristicsName: ETF UBS ETF MSCI USA Infrastructure (USD) IISIN code: IE00B6T8VP86TER: 0.48%Name: ETF UBS ETF MSCI USA Infrastructure (USD) AISIN code: IE00B6RPTB32TER: 0.65%
03/02/2012

Swedish financial management association broadens its membership rules

The Swedish investment fund association has for the first time since its inception in 1979 modified its membership rules, in order to widen its member base. Managers with asset management activities not previously defined as such may now join the association, which has also created a membership status for associate members, to apply to all firms with ties to the accounting and legal providers, system providers, and fund administrators. The association currently has 38 members.
03/02/2012

Robeco recruits a CEO for Middle East

Graham Elliot, CEO at BNP Paribas Investment Partners for the Middle East, on 1 January joined Robeco as CEO for the Middle East, the Netherlands-based asset management firm announced on 2 February. Elliot replaces Douglas Hansen-Luke, and will be responsible for distribution to institutional investors and key clients (including sovereign funds) in the Gulf region. Elliot will be based at the Dubai International Financial centre, and will aim to develop Robeco’s expertise in the area of frontier markets.
03/02/2012

Four bidders in the running to acquire asset management arm of Deutsche Bank

Fonds Professionell relays reports in dpa/AFX and Bloomberg that only four financially solid asset management firms are still in the running to acquire the asset management unit of Deutsche Bank (excluding DWS Germany, Europe and Asia): they are the Australian firm Macquarie and the US firms JPMorgan, Ameriprise Financial (owner of Columbia and Threadneedle) and State Street. The second round of bidding will conclude at the end of next week.
03/02/2012

Profits down at BBVA in 2011

Following a one-time write-down due to depreciation of the goodwill on its operations in the United States, BBVA has announced a contraction of 34.8% in its net profits in 2011, to EUR3bn, excluding one-time elements. Profits without taking the depreciation into account fell 12.8% to EUR4bn.Net profits for the wholesale banking and asset management unit, which includes corporate and investment banking, global markets and asset management, totalled EUR1.122bn, compared with EUR1.224bn in 2010.BBVA states that total assets in asset management worldwide (investment and pension funds) as of the end of December totalled nearly EUR73bn.
03/02/2012

Losses at Blackstone down in 2011

By GAAP accounting standards, the Blackstone Group has seen a net loss of USD269m, compared with USD370m in 2010, both of which take into account net charges related to the group’s IPO and acquisitions.As of the end of December, total assets under management were up 30% compared with the end of 2010 to USD166bn, while fee-earning assets were up 25% to a record USD137bn.
03/02/2012

Pictet France has a good start to 2012

“Our product range has lined up well with current market demand at the start of this year, as investors have largely wanted to take on risk again. That applied to institutional investors and funds of funds in particular,” Hervé Thiard, CEO of the Paris office of Pictet & Cie Europe has told Newsmanagers. This taste for emerging market debt, credit, high yeild and US equity products has resulted in net inflows of about EUR150m, putting assets at about EUR2.7bn. Assets under management totalled EUR2.8bn thirteen months ago (see Newsmanagers of 13 December 2010), but 2011 was a year of transition, with major flows in both directions, while 2010 will go down as an outstanding fiscal year which brought Pictet inflows of a net EUR800m to high-risk assets.
03/02/2012

Swan Capital launches a multi-managed absolute return fund of funds

The multi-management specialist Swan Capital Management on 2 February announced the launch of an absolute return fund of funds entitled Alpha Multistratégies. The French-registered FCP fund, under the regulatory authority of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), will aim to earn returns higher than those of the capitalised Eonia, over a recommended investment duration of over 3 years, with volatility near that of the bond market, and certainly lower than 6%. Alpha Multistratégies aims to meet increasingly strong demand from clients, institutional investors, businesses and retail investors to earn positive returns higher than those of money market instruments and euro-denominated insurance policies, with the lowest possible correlation to the movements of the financial markets. In order to satisfy the objectives it has set itself, namely to provide decorrelated investments that deliver regular returns with a relatively low level fo risk, excellent liquidity and total transparency, Alpha Multistratégies will rely on diversification of asset classes, managers and strategies. Depending on the expected direction of the markets, the absolute return construction of the Alpha Multistratégies fund will be the result of several absolute return or directional funds. More precisely, 75% to 100% of the portfolio will be invested in absolute return strategies, while the remaining 1% to 25% will be invested in convex directional strategies via equity, bond, convertible, currency and commodity funds. Major characteristics of the fund ISIN code: FR0011163732 Front-end fee: maximum 1% Management fee: maximum 1.5% Performance commission: 10% of net performance exceeding the Eonia Size of fund at launch on 23 January 2012: EUR9m
03/02/2012

Axa IM offers new share classes in Axa World Funds range

Axa Investment Managers (AXA IM) has launched new share classes which will aim to weather the current shocks that equity investors are confronting on the markets, through the use of an overlay strategy (hedgeing for various asset classes). The share classes, entitled SolEx, are aimed at institutional investors, and overlay equity management with a systematic hedging strategy through the use of liquid derivative instruments, a statement says. SolEx shares are currently available for the Axa WF Framlington Eurozone fund, and will soon be available for other funds of the Axa World Funds range.
03/02/2012

Changes at the helm of Axa IM and Lyxor AM

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) on Thursday, 2 February announced the appointment of Laurent Seyer as global head of investment solutions. He will begin in his new role on 2 May this year, and will then become a member of the management board at AXA IM. He will report to Dominique Carrel-Billiars, CEO of AXA IM. Seyer, who has been CEO of Lyxor Asset Management since 2006, replaces Thibaud de Vitry, who left Axa IM a few weeks ago (see Newsmanagers of 9 January 2012).“Laurent Seyer will aim to maintain our cutting-edge innovative solutions in all areas: ALM management (LDI, fiduciary management and Solvency II solutions), multi-asset class management, and management of funds of hedge funds integrated within global solutions, and to accelerate commercial development so as to create more visibility for our product ranges,” says Carrel-Billiard, CEO of AXA Investment Managers. At Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, the announcement of Seyer’s departure was followed on the same day by the announcement that Inès de Dinechin has been appointed as CEO of Lyxor Asset Management. The appointment will be effective from the end of March 2012.De Dinechin has spent most of her career in market activities, before being appointed as global head of fixed income, currency and credit structured products. She was appointed as director of human resources at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in 2009, when sh also become a member of the extended executive board at SG CIB.“Her experience will be a real advantage in consolidating leadership at Lyxor Asset Management in her four areas of expertise: alternative management, index-based and ETF management, quantitative management, and structured management,” a statement from SG CIB says.
03/02/2012

Franklin Templeton posts net outflows for October-December

As of the end of December, assets under management at Franklin Templeton totalled USD670.3bn (see Newsmanagers of 13 January 2012), and the US-based asset management firm has announced on the occasion of the publication of its results, that it has seen net redemptions ni the first quarter of its fiscal year, ending on 30 September 2012, of USD15.6bn, compared with net subscriptions of USD3.1bn in July-September 2011, and USD3.2bn in the corresponding period of 2010.Net profits in October-December totalled USD480.8m, compared with USD416m in the third quarter of the calendar year 2011, and USD501.2m in October-December 2010.
03/02/2012

Tikehau IM takes on EUR300m in inflows in 2011

The asset management firm Tikehau IM, a specialist in bond management, has posted inflows of over EUR300m in 2011, bringing its total assets under management to over EUR700m as of 31 December.Inflows went to the full range of funds on offer, including open-ended and closed funds, co-investment vehicles and mandates. More precisely, Tikehau IM has more than doubled its assets under management in 2011, with EUR150m in inflows to the open-ended fund and dedicated management mandate segment. With nearly EUR70m, the flagship fund Tikehau Crédit Plus, which follows a mostly high yield bond strategy, has tripled its assets.Another high-profile fund, TK Rendement 2016, a horizon fund launched on 7 December last year, has seen inflows of nearly EUR8m in less than two months. The fund has an indicative performance objective of 77% per year, and as of January 2012 has already earned 3.03%.In the closed and dedicated fund segment (FCT and FCPR), Tikehau IM has seen inflows of over EUR200m, “confirming the attraction for investors and issuers of ‘private debt,’ which has become the private equity of financing operations,” a statement says.
03/02/2012

Strong net subscriptions at AMG

Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) has reported an increase of USD7.41bn, or 2.3% in its AUM for the 2011 fiscal year, to USD327.46bn as of 31 December. This increase represents only one third of net subscriptions, which totalled USD22.92bn. AMG has seen inflows to mutual funds (USD5.47bn), from institutionals (USD16.45bn), and from high net worth private clients (USD1bn).Net profits increased 16.6%, or USD26.3m, compared with the previous year, to USD164.9m.
03/02/2012

Schroders France hopes to do as well in 2012 as in 2011

Philippe Lecomte, CEO of Schroders France, is satisfied with the results for 2011. “We had a good year in 2011. Net subscriptions totalled EUR500m, 70% of it from institutional investors, who have been particularly interested in emerging markets equities, emerging market fixed income, and high yield credit,” the head of the Paris office says. In Paris, assets under management as of the end of 2011 totalled EUR3.5bn. In 2012, Lecomte is predicting subscriptions “on the same level as in 2011.” For the moment, the year appears to have started well, as “inflows are going well,” Lecomte says. In order to reach its inflow objectives, the CEO of Schroders France would like to launch a sales offensive, particularly in first quarter, for products dedicated to Asian equities such as the Schroder ISF Asian Bond Absolute Return and the Schroder ISF Asian Equity Yield.
03/02/2012

TPG Capital soon to acquire fund administrator GlobeOp

The private equity firm TPG Capital has announced that it has made a formal offer to acquire the fund administrator GlobeOp for a total of about USD800m. GlobeOp found the terms of TPG Capital’s offer “honest and reasonable.” Assets under management at TPG Capital, largely in financial services, total about USD48bn.
03/02/2012

Inès de Dinechin nommé directeur général de Lyxor AM

Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking a annoncé le 2 février la nomination d’Inès de Dinechin au poste de Directeur Général de Lyxor Asset Management. Elle remplace Laurent Seyer qui quittera prochainement le groupe Société Générale pour poursuivre d’autres opportunités (lire par ailleurs). Cette nomination sera effective à compter de fin mars 2012.Inès de Dinechin a effectué l’essentiel de sa carrière dans les activités de marché, occupant plusieurs postes de responsable marché (ingénierie et vente de produits dérivés) avant d'être nommée responsable mondial des produits structurés de taux, change et crédit. Elle a été nommée Directeur des Ressources Humaines de Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking en 2009, date à laquelle elle est également devenue membre du Comité Exécutif élargi de SG CIB."Son expérience constitue un véritable atout pour consolider le leadership de Lyxor Asset Management dans ses quatre domaines d’expertise : la gestion alternative, la gestion indicielle & ETF, la gestion quantitative, et la gestion structurée», souligne un communiqué de SG CIB.
03/02/2012

OFI Infravia recruits for investment team

OFI Infravia, an infrastructure sector specialist asset management firm which manages the investment fund InfraVia, with about EUR200m in assets, has announced the recruitment of Bruno Candès as chief investment officer, and Vincent Ménager and Romain Dechelette as account managers. Candès had previously been a founding member and principal chief investment offiver at Fiera Axium Infrastructure. He has also served as director of the infrastructure division of Babcock & Brown for North America, and in the Infrastructure Capital group at the bank ABN Amro, where he was responsible for development and financing of infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, renewable energies, and social infrastructures. Ménager had previously worked at Amber Infrastructure; he joined that firm after serving in the project financing teams at Natixis. Dechelette previously worked at ETDE, the energies and services unit of the Bouygues Construction group, largely in the development of public-private partnership contracts.
03/02/2012

Erste Sparinvest appoints a head of sustainable development

Wolfgang Pinner, who was already head of the sustainable investment team at Erste Sparinvest, has been appointed as Chief Sustainability Investment Officer. The Austrian asset management firm has assets of EUR630m in its sustainable investment funds, and Pinner will aim to develop cooperations with businesses and institutions in the sustainable development sector, to establish strategies for the exercise of voting rights at shareholders’ meetings, to develop key performance indicators, and to define exclusionary criteria. In this connection, Erste Sparinvest has also announced that since the beginning of this year, all of its actively-managed investment funds are barred from investing in businesses which are active in the area of weapons prohibited by the United Nations. To this end, Erste Sparinvest will rely on the assistance of the German ethical ratings firm oekom research.
03/02/2012

BlackRock plans to launch a strategic bond fund

BlackRock is planning to launch a strategic bond fund this year, in order to meet investors’ desire for stable and recurrent revenues, Money Marketing reports. Last October, BlackRock released an absolute return bond fund.
03/02/2012

Taiwan pension fund issues a request for proposals for equity mandates

The Taiwanese pension fund LPF (Labour Pension Fund) has issued a request for proposals for six four-year mandates totalling a cumulative USD1bn, Asian Investor reports. The mandates will be for two portfolios to be at least 70% invested in local equities. Commissions paid to the manager selected have been set at 0.07%, or 0.1% if the manager outperforms the benchmark, the weighted index Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TSEC). The request for proposals will remain open until 20 February.
03/02/2012

ESMA creates a central ratings database

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 2 February announced the creation of a central ratings database (Cerep), which will provide information on credit ratings issued by 15 ratings agencies registered or certified in the European Union.The database for the first time gives investors a way to evaluate the performance and reliability of credit ratings over different types of ratings, asset classes and regions in a selected period for the first time.“With the release of this central registry, ESMA is making it possible to increase the transparency of ratings issued and consequently to improve investor protection,” ESMA’s president, Steven Maijoor, says.Statistics from Cerep are based on quarterly ratings track records provided by the ratings agencies, which will be subject to standardisation.The registry may be accessed directly at the following address: http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web
03/02/2012

ABP cuts back pension benefits

In 2011, the coverage rate for the Dutch pension fund ABP deteriorated by 10 percentage points to 94%, while the volume of liabilities increased by EUR36bn, to EUR261bn. ABP has provisionally decided to lower its benefits by 0.5% from 1 April 2013, if the financial situation does not improve.In addition, a temporary supplementary contribution of 1 percentage point (tijdelijke herstelopslag) to balance the books has been tripled from 1 January 2012, up to the end of 2013, a statement released on 1 February has announced.Last year, ABP had cancelled plans to index its benefits (see Newsmanagers of 5 December). It has now announced that the planned changes may now go ahead.The objective set by the regulator, the Bank of the Netherlands (DNB), is to reach a coverage rate of 105% by the end of 2013. Henk Brouwer, chairman of ABP, admits that “alas, this is not good news, but this reduction of 0.5% ultimately represents an average reduction of only EUR3.50 in benefits to members.”
03/02/2012

Amundi releases two funds powered by TCW in Spain

Heinrich Riehl, director of sales in Europe for the US firm TCW (Société Générale group) has announced that Amundi (Crédit Agricole et Société Générale) will be releasing an absolute return bond fund in Spain, entitled Amundi Funds Bond US Opportunistic Core Plus, and a growth equity fund, the Amundi Funds Equity US Concentrated Core. The two funds will be based on products from TCW (USD118bn in assets), Funds People reports.
03/02/2012

FSA presents its last budget

Ahead of the breakup of the British Financial Services Authority into two separate entities in 2013, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 2 February submitted its Annual Funding Requirement (AFR), a 198-page document containing its proposed budget for 2012-2013. The proposed budget is 15.6% larger, at GBP578.4m, with the majority of the increase to be paid by large businesses. The share of the burden to be borne by fund managers would increase by GBP9.1m, or 32.4%, to GBP37.3m, largely due to enforcement activities and costs related to combating market abuses.
03/02/2012

Pension funds have unprecedented firepower

2011 has been a record year for pension funds. According to a study of assets in pension funds worldwide published by Towers Watson, institutional pension funds in 13 major markets have seen growth of 4% in their assets in 2011. As of the end of 2011, these funds set a new record, with USD28trn in assets, up from USD26trn in 2010. The United States, Japan and the UK remain the largest pension fund markets, representing 59%, 12% and 19%, respectively, of total assets in pension funds worldwide. Assets in pension funds worldwide have increased by an average of more than 6% per year (in US dollars) since 2001. For allocation of assets in “P7” funds, which include the seven largest pension fund markets, excluding Brazil, Germany, France, Ireland, Hong Kong and South Africa, the proportion of assets invested in bonds fell by 3% of total assets in the past 16 years, from 40% to 37%. The proprtion of equities has fallen by 8% in the same period, to 41%. the majority of this decline took place in 2011 (7%). Allocation to alternative assets, particularly real estate, and to a lesser extent hedge funds, venture capital and commodities, have gained ground. P7 funds have dedicated 5% to 20% to these assets since 1995.
03/02/2012

Sovereign fund assets up 9% in 2011

As of the end of 2011, assets in sovereign wealth funds had increased 8% over twelve months, to a record USD4.8trn. In addition to that, USD7.2trn are held in other sovereign investment vehicles, such as pension reserve funds, development funds, or funds depending on government-owned businesses, while USD8.1trn were held in official currency reserves, the Sovereign Wealth Funds 2012 report from TheCityUK, sponsored by Invesco, reports. The study finds that there are two types of sovereign funds: on the one hand, funds which are supplied from exports of commodities, which represent USD2.7trn, and on the other hand, funds whose capital comes primarily from currency reserves, with USD2.1trn. Direct investments by sovereign funds in 2011 totalled USD60bn, one quarter less than in 2010, and 40% less than their record 2009 level.The document also finds that the United States and the United Kingdomn are the largest destination countries for sovereign fund investments, with 19% and 17% of total investments, respectively, over the past six years. London is also the largest centre for management of these funds, and the place where transactions are cleared.
03/02/2012

L’indépendance de la BNS remise en cause

Après le départ de son ancien président, Philipp Hildebrand, la banque nationale suisse (BNS) pourrait voir son indépendance menacée par le pouvoir politique du fait de la polémique sur le coût potentiel que pourrait induire la politique de change de la banque centrale, s’est inquiété l’actuel président dans un entretien accordé au quotidien. Thomas Jordan remet ainsi les pendules à l’heure en indiquant que «il ne peut y avoir absolument aucun doute sur la capacité de la BNS de maintenir son taux de change plancher». Et d’ajouter que «nous sommes préparés à acheter des devises étrangères en quantité illimitée si nécessaire».

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