Gregory Skidmore ( CIO et président), Brandon Lacoff (co-fondateur) et Timothy Davidson (gérant de portefeuille senior), chez Belpointe Asset Management (82 millions de dollars d’encours) ont gagné la somme record 254 millions de dollars à la Powerball Lottery, pour une mise d’un dollar, rapporte Das Investment. Pour gérer ce pactole, ils ont créé le Putnam Avenue Family Trust. Après impôt et prélèvements divers, il leur reste 104 millions de dollars.

Par une notification à la SEC (form N1-A), Legg Mason ETF Trust a annoncé son intention de lancer «dès que possible» le Legg Mason Western Asset Ultra-Short Duration ETF. Il s’agira d’un ETF obligataire duration courte à gestion active. Le taux de chargement de ce produit «sous-conseillé» par la filiale Western Asset Management (Wamco) n’a pas été encore fixé. Les gérants seront Martin Hanley, Kevin Kennedy et Stephen Walsh.En période normale, précise la notification, la duration effective du portefeuille sera au maximum d’un an.

Strategic Insight a récemment racheté, via sa filiale Asset International, une gamme de six produits Financial Research Corp (FRC), rappelle Mutual Fund Wire. Les produits Monitor, Lifecycle, Market Sizing, Sub-Advisory, Alternatives et les 529 plans d'épargne pour les études supérieurs (college savings) vont continuer à être commercialisés sous la marque FRC. C’est Mike Rosenthal, senior vice président d’Asset International, qui va diriger le nouvel ensemble, précise Mutual Fund Wire.

Goldman Sachs Group va lancer une activité d’incubation de hedge funds, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.La banque a levé 600 millions de dollars auprès de clients (fonds de pension, familles fortunées et grandes institutions) pour un nouveau fonds dédié à cette activité.Elle prévoit d’investir dans 8 à 10 nouveaux hedge funds, selon des personnes proches du dossier. Chacun devrait recevoir entre 75 et 150 millions de dollars de la part du fonds, qui est censé lever un total de 1 milliard de dollars environ

Si, en moyenne, les investisseurs européens interrogés assimilent l’investissement responsable à un triptyque qui allie la sélection d'émetteurs sur des critères ESG, l’attention portée à leurs pratiques de développement durable et les exclusions éthiques, ces dernières prennent une importance très variable d’un pays à l’autre. Elles sont mises en avant par plus de 75% des Allemands, des Hollandais, des Danois ou des Suédois et par moins de 40% des Français et des Britanniques. L’exclusion d’entreprises ou de secteurs en raison des risques ESG qu’ils représentent arrive ensuite puisqu’elle est citée par 43% des répondants européens. Cette dimension est très présente dans certains pays comme le Danemark (73%) ou la Finlande (75%), elle l’est beaucoup moins dans d’autres puisqu’en France, par exemple, elle n’est mentionnée que par 28% des répondants. Entre 2010 et 2011, deux facteurs incitatifs pour l’intégration des critères ESG ont pris de l’importance : la contribution au développement durable est passée de 46% à 51% et la maîtrise des risques de long terme a gagné 6 points pour atteindre 25 %. Cela se traduit plus particulièrement par une reconnaissance de l’apport de l’analyse ESG à l’analyse financière. 53% des répondants déclarent qu’elle leur semble nécessaire pour tous les émetteurs afin d'élargir leur appréhension des risques et opportunités. Pour mettre en oeuvre des politiques d’investissement responsable, la meilleure source d’information semble être, pour les investisseurs interrogés, les agences de notation spécialisées (45% achètent leurs notes), la pratique la plus répandue est la mise en place d’une charte (42% en ont déjà une et 18% la préparent) mais ils ne sont que 25% à disposer d’analystes ESG internes. Bien que les investisseurs européens semblent prendre conscience de certains enjeux, cela ne se traduit pas forcément en actes puisque moins d’un quart d’entre eux déclarent avoir révisé leur politique d’investissement à la suite d'événements comme l’explosion de la plate-forme de BP ou les changements de régime liés au Printemps arabe. Dans le cas de l’explosion de la centrale de Fukushima, seuls 16% des investisseurs interrogés disent avoir revu leur exposition au secteur du nucléaire. Risque de réputation L’investissement éthique, qui consiste à exclure certains secteurs pour des raisons morales ou religieuses, est très lié au sentiment que peuvent avoir les répondants d’un risque de réputation auprès de leurs clients ou bénéficiaires, c’est-à-dire celui d'être mis en cause médiatiquement ou de faire l’objet de campagnes d’ONG sur la nature de leurs investissements. Cette crainte est très répandue en Europe du Nord, beaucoup moins dans le Sud. Il est intéressant de noter malgré tout la progression fulgurante de certains sujets. Les armes controversées (mines antipersonnel ou bombes à sous-munitions) sont mises à l’index par 80% des investisseurs interrogés. Cette thématique était inexistante il y a une dizaine d’années. Les paradis fiscaux et les matières premières semblent moins problématiques mais sont quand même mentionnés par respectivement 42% et 34 % du panel. Pour éviter d’avoir en portefeuille des titres à risques à la fois pour leur réputation et aussi parce que les entreprises controversées peuvent le payer cher en termes de résultats financiers, il faut souligner la montée en puissance d’une nouvelle pratique : l’exclusion normative. Parmi les 40% du panel qui intègre une analyse ESG pour tous leurs placements en actions, 62% font de l’exclusion normative qui consiste à éliminer les entreprises coupables de violations avérées des grandes conventions internationales. Pour télécharger l'étude complète: cliquez ici

La CPSSPH, Caisse de Pensions de la Société Suisse des Pharmaciens (720 millions de CHF) a remplacé un mandat (d’une dizaine de millions de CHF) géré par une Banque privée du groupe BBGI basée à Genève par Wegelin AM. Ce mandataire a été remplacé au sein de sa poche tactique dans laquelle les gérants sont plutôt libres dans leurs choix d’investissements. Trois mandats apparaissent dans la poche tactique du régime. Si la Caisse a remplacé l’un d’entre eux, c’est à cause d’une performance négative, de l’ordre de -15% similaire à la moyenne des fonds d’actions monde. Le nouveau gérant sera comparé à l’indice BVG 25 avec un objectif de volatilité maximale de 6%. La poche tactique qui représente 20% du Fonds contient 50% d’actions et 50% d’obligations. Le Fonds contient 20% d’actions, 20% d’obligations, 20% d’immobilier, 10% de crédit, 10% d’alternatif. (50% hedge funds et 50% private equity) La banque dépositaire Pictet gère des hedge funds et du private equity pour la Caisse qui travaille aussi avec Sarasin Investment Management et maintenant Wegelin.

Médicis, la mutuelle retraite des professionnels indépendants, annonce la création de son propre OPCI (Organisme de Placement Collectif Immobilier), afin d’y loger ses immeubles de placements et d’y développer sa politique immobilière. Détenu à 99,9% par la mutuelle Médicis, l’OPCI Médicis est géré par Corum Asset Management, la nouvelle structure d’asset management créée par Frédéric Puzin. « En externalisant nos immeubles de placements dans une structure dédiée à Médicis gérée par Corum AM, nous conservons le contrôle de notre stratégie immobilière, en bénéficiant des atouts de l’OPCI par rapport à la gestion immobilière traditionnelle,» souligne Christophe Cuvelier, directeur général adjoint de Médicis. L’OPCI Médicis représente un encours de 200 M€, pour 15 immeubles répartis sur tout le territoire français. « Dans le cadre de l’OPCI, notre mission va consister à gérer et à développer le patrimoine immobilier de la mutuelle Médicis par la mise en oeuvre d’un programme d’investissements. L’OPCI Médicis permet à la mutuelle d’avoir une parfaite lisibilité de la performance de son patrimoine immobilier à travers une valeur liquidative et les dividendes distribués » précise Frédéric Puzin, président de Corum Asset Management.

The British asset management firm Brooks Macdonald Asset Management has recruited the former star manager from New Star, Toby Thompson, as chief investment officer, Money Marketing reports. Over his career, Thompson has managed funds at Newington and Eagle Star Investment Managers.

Pour 33 millions de dollars en actions, BNY Mellon acquiert Penson Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd (PFSA), qui deviendra filiale de sa boutique Pershing. La transaction devrait être bouclée avant la fin de l’année.PFSA est une société de compensation qui propose des services d’exécution et de compensation ainsi que le traitement des transactions sur les actions cotées locallement ainsi que pour les options traitées en Bourse.

The mutual fund industry in Latin America could reach between USD2.8trn and 3.6trn in assets by 2020, while assets in pension funds could approach USD3trn, according to a study by Strategic Insight. That would mean total assets of more than USD6trn. Currently, the Latin American fund industry represents USD1.4trn, equivalent in size to Asia, while pension funds total USD850bn. Latin America is also home to the densest population of ultra-high net worth individuals in the world.This potential is already attracting some Western asset management firms. Several of these are already present in the region, especially in Brazil, which represents over USD1trn in assets, and in Mexico (USD250bn), Julius Baer has bought a stake in the wealth management firm GPS, while JP Morgan Highbridge has acquired Gàvea.European actors may also profit from the strong growth of UCITS funds in the region. Chilean pension funds now hold 45% of their USD155bn in assets in UCITS. Peru and Colombia are also widely using cross-border UCITS.

“Sometimes, I wonder what the point of my ratings is,” admits Valéry Lucas-Leclin, a senior SRI analyst at BofA Merrill Lynch in London, at a conference organized by Novethic on extra-financial ratings and measurement of ESG (environmental, social and governance) risks. “Even the best ESG analysis can’t predict a crash on the stock market,” he adds.Making a comparison with financial research, Lucas-Leclin notes that equity analysts establish recommendations based on the financial valuation of a share in 12 months’ time, while credit analysts calculate the likelihood of a default in the next 5 years. “These are two predictive and verifiable professions,” he says.For extra-financial analysis, things are more blurry: “Do we want to create a sort of standard by saying that companies shouldn’t behave in this or that way, or predict something?” he asks.Participating in the same round table, Nicole Notat observes that a growing number of investors want to use SRI as a way to control risks. But that process rarely results in a monetisation of risks.Notat points out that ratings by extra-financial ratings are used by investors to forge their own opinions. “We hope that we will never get to the point of what happens to financial ratings agencies, where the rating of a share is a sign to buy or sell,” says Notat.

Marie-Anne van den Berg, chairman of the managing board at LBBW Luxembourg, has been appointed as a managing board member at Hauck & Aufhäuser Banquiers Luxembourg. She joins Michael O. Bentlage and Bernd Sinnwell on the managing board of the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers KgaA.On Tuesday evening, the website of the Luxembourg bank had not yet been updated to reflect the appointment.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) is planning to introduce certain rules which are specific to ETFs, but there is no talk of creating an ETF-specific regime, the chairman of ESMA, Steven Maijoor, announced on 29 November at the Investment Management Forum of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).“The approach that ESMA intends to follow is to identify clearly those provisions which are relevant to all UCITS funds, with only some rules being specific to ETFs and reflecting their characteristics (for example, the aforementioned issues relating to the secondary market trading),” says Maijoor. For issues arising from securities lending activities, for instance, the approach that the regulator intends to follow is to cover all kinds of UCITS – ETFs and non-ETFs – engaging in such activity.Regarding the PRIPs initiatives, the range of products to be covered is quite broad and potentially includes collective investment undertakings, structured products, insurance-based investments and derivatives. Maijoor adds that for selling practices in particular, he is aware of the fact that a horizontal legislative approach may raise some issues in relation to the areas of competence of securities and insurance regulators in those EU Member States where they are not integrated and that the Commission already presented a proposal for the review of the MiFID rules. «Should the Commission decide not to adopt a horizontal legislative approach for the harmonisation of both disclosure rules and selling practices for PRIPs, I strongly hope that at least, in order to ensure the necessary consistency, the revised Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) will provide that the MiFID II rules on selling practices apply to those PRIPs which are within the scope of the IMD», he says.

The New York firm Business Capital Investors (BCI), which had promised annual returns of 15.5%, is suspected of funneling USD100m in a Ponzi scheme from 4,000 victims into a vast network of international accounts in Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, Spain and Canada, Fondsprofessionell reports. Three German citizens have been arrested.

A study by the Kommalpha agency of 150 decision-makers at institutional investors about the image of depository banks and asset management firms in terms of their perceived availability to clients, flexibility, and characteristics of expertise in their core professions, has found that 74% of respondents see image and brand as an important element in the selection of providers. The full results of the study will be made available in forst quarter 2012, Clemens Schuerhoff, a managing board member at Kommalpha, has told Newsmanagers.Dirk Bedarz, another board member at Kommalpha, points out that the first overall result is all the more important as depository banks and asset management firms, for their part, tend to strongly underestimate the importance of their image in winning over new clients.

According to a study by the strategy consultant Booz, withdrawals of money and taxes paid by Swiss banks in the next two years due to tax agreements with Germany and the United Kingdom will represent about CHF47bn, Handelsblatt reports.Of the USD2.05trn in assets deposited in Switzerland by foreigners at the end of 2010, CHF60bn was from the United Kingdom and CHF210bn from Germany. Booz finds that about 60% of this money had not been declared to the tax authorities, and the 35 specialists surveyed by the agency estimate that 25% to 30% of that amount will be withdrawn from Switzerland, which will lead to a fall in revenues of CHF600m for banks.The owners of sums declared to the tax authorities may ask banks to lower fees. That may lead to a further gap for Swiss banks to make up of CHF500m, from 2013.

Goldman Sachs Group is to launch a hedge fund incubation activity, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bank has raised USD600m from clients (pension funds, high net worth families and large institutions) for a new fund dedicated to this activity. It is planning to invest in 8 to 10 new hedge funds, according to sources familiar with the matter. Each one will receive USD75m to USD100m from the fund, which will aim to raise about USD1bn.

Strategic Insight has recently acquired a range of six products from Financial Research Corp (FRC), via its affiliae Asset International, Mutual Fund Wire reports. The Monitor, Lifecycle, Market Sizing, Sub-Advisory and Alternatives products and 529 college savings plans will continue to be sold under the FRC brand name. Mike Rosenthal, senior vice president of Asset International, will direct the new entity, Mutual Fund Wire reports.

In a hard-hit sector, European equity funds from independent asset management firms, especially French outfits, are bringing in subscriptions, a study from Fitch Ratings finds.Between July 2010 and July 2011, European equity funds in all categories combined had net outflows of EUR12.3bn. Despite that, 38% of European equity asset managers out of the 800 which are present in this segment enjoyed positive net flows. Of the 30 companies that had the largest net inflows, 18 are independent firms. Among them are many French companies: Edmond de Rothschild, Financière de l’Echiquier, Oddo AM, Mandarine, DNCA, Rothschild & Cie and Métropole.Despite the dynamism of these independent companies, the European equity fund segment remains in the hands of major players. One third of total assets (EUR264bn) are managed by just 13 investment management firms, and two thirds of it are managed by 53 companies. The largest player is Fidelity, which stands out with EUR21.6bn in assets, followed far behind by a group of firms with about EUR10bn each (BNP Paribas Investment Partners, BlackRock and Allianz Global Investors). Only 80 out of 800 players manage over EUR1bn in European equities.Fitch Ratings observes that the industry has been hit since 2007. Assets are down 46% since that year, due both to falling markets and to net redemptinos (EUR115.5bn). This situation is unique to these funds, as US equity funds have seen only 5% redemptions, compared with 20% for European equities. Emerging markets equity funds have not seen redemptions, and global equity funds have seen inflows of EUR115bn.

Société Générale has announced in a statement that a sale of its Californian asset management affiliate TCW is not on the agenda, contrary to reports by the news agency Bloomberg, Agefi reports. Bloomberg had claimed that a sale or IPO for the firm was imminent, at a valuation of USD1bn, SocGen has reiterated that an IPO could be a possibility in the next two to three years.

Gregory Skidmore, CEO and president, Brandon Lacoff, co-founder, and Timothy Davidson, senior portfolio manager at Belpointe Asset Management (USD82bn in assets under management), won a record USD254m prize in the Powerball Lottery, on a one-dollar bet, Das Investment reports. The partners have created the Putnam Avenue Family Trust to manage the prize money. After taxes and fees, the men will receive USD104m.

Russell Investments (USD137bn in assets) has announced that about 75% of its institutional clients in the United States have now opted for a liability-driven investment (LDI) formula for their defined-contribution retirement savings plans.In addition, bond assets in LDI products in the United States have increased to nearly 50% of their total bond assets in the country as of 30 June.This expansion has led Russell to create a position for a director, head of LDI solutions, Americas Instituitional, a position which is occupied by Martin Jaugietis, who had long been a senior consultant, says Michael Thomas, CIO of Americas Institutional, and also the hierarchical superior of Jaugietis. Jaugietis is also chairman of the LDI steering committee at Russell.

The French asset management firm DNCA Finance (EUR5.3bn in assets) will open a branch office in Munich, at Ludwigstraße 8, on 1 December. In the new office, Guido Raddatz will join Jan Schünemann, head of distribution for Germany. In 2012, the two men will lead a charge, “but DNCA is naturally prepared to invest more in growth, if the evolution of the activity permits it,” Schünemann tells Newsmanagers.The opening of the Munich office is part of the French firm’s pan-European strategy. The firm has recently opened an office in Italy (see Newsmanagers of 21 September).Raddatz has spent his career as executive in distribution at DWS Investments, DJE Kapital, Hypo Invest and Zürich Invest.

Reinhold Hafner, CEO of Risklab GmbH since July 2010, has been appointed by Risklab’s parent company, Allianz Global Investors, to the position of CIO Global Solutions at AGI, from 1 January 2012, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Hafner joined Risklab as a financial engineer in 1997. He will report to Thomas Wieseman, head of Global Solutions.

Oliver Schlick, CEO of Bayern Invest, has announced that the institutional asset management firm (EUR33bn in assets) will be moving further afield from its traditional client base in savings banks, which now represent only 18% of its assets under management, down from one quarter a few years ago, Börsen-Zeitung reports. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to convince savings banks to accept core portfolio investments in emerging markets, as they focus more on euro zone equities.Currently, insurers are the top client category by far, with 31% of the total, followed by complementary employee savings plans (about 25%) and businesses (16%). Bayern Invest is planning to develop these client segments.

The gobal investor confidence index published by State Street Global Markets increased to 97.2 in November, up 2.0 points from October’s revised reading of 95.2. North American investor confidence increased 4.7 points to 95.2 from October’s revised reading of 90.5, while confidence among European institutional investors rose 5.4 points from October’s revised level of 96.1 to 101.5. The mood was slightly more subdued in Asia, where the investor confidence index fell 4.2 points to 94.6 from October’s revised reading of 98.8.

In third quarter, UCITS-compliant funds have posted a net outflow of EUR83bn, compared with net inflows of EUR18bn in second quarter, according to statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). For the first time since the outbreak of the sovereign debt crisis in second quarter 2010, UCITS funds have seen redemptions.Long-term UCITS funds, i.e. all funds except money market funds, finished the quarter with a net outflow of EUR78bn, a level not seen since first quarter 2009. Equity funds in particular have seen a net outflow of EUR43bn, compared with a net outflow of EUR8bn in second quarter. Bond funds have posted a net outflow of EUR22bn, following a net inflow of EUR10bn one quarter earlier. Diversified funds have seen a net outflow of EUR15bn, following a net inflow of EUR23bn in second quarter.Money market funds have also seen an outflow of EUR5bn in third quarter, compared with EUR30bn in second quarter.AUM in UCITS funds were down 7.1% in Q3, to EUR5.472trn as of the end of September. Taking into account non-UCITS-compliant funds, total net assets were down 5.4% in third quarter, to EUR7.667trn. Assets totalled EUR7.154trn as of the end of 2009, and EUR8.142trn as of the end of 2010.Despite events since March 2011, the earthquake in Japan, the Arab spring, and the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone, “the asset management sector still manages EUR1.7trn more than in March 2009. This figure allows us to put developments since the beginning of the year in perspective. Which doesn’t mean that we are not worried,” says the president of EFAMA, Claude Kremer, in a statement. “It is now clear that the crisis which broke out in 2007 will have a much more marked impact on our economies than we would have thought even a few months ago. In the meanwhile, our sector of activity should remain mobilised to play a central role in the return of consumer confidence,” Kremer adds.

The Hedge Fund Association has announced the opening of a chapter dedicated to Southern Europe. The office will be led by José Castellano, managing director of Pioneer Investments, and will aim to represent and promote hedge funds domiciled in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Eurekahedge reports that 406 hedge funds are based in Switzerland, Italy and Spain, with a total of over USD68.3bn in assets. HFA opened its first European office in London in September 2010.

Open-ended funds sold in Italy have seen net outflows in October of EUR5.125bn, following outflows of EUR4.732bn in September, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. Since the beginning of the year, redemptions have totalled EUR18.516bn, bringing assets in open-ended funds to EUR431.658bn. In October, all categories of funds are in the red, but outflows have been particularly heavy from money market funds (-EUR2.059bn), and bond funds (-EUR1.763bn). In terms of fund domicile, Italian-registered products have seen the heaviest redemptions (-EUR3.197bn), while foreign-registered funds have lost EUR1.928bn. With the addition of closed funds and discretionary management, the Italian asset management industry has seen net outflows in October of EUR5.799bn, and assets totalled EUR958.300bn. In terms of asset management firms, Credit Suisse has done well, with net inflows of EUR119.8m, followed by Azimut (EUR112m) and Axa (EUR68.7m). At the other end of the spectrum, Pioneer has once again set a monthly outflow record, with EUR1.784bn, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo (EUR1.6bn) and AM Holding (EUR666.5m).

With the Irish-registered iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend fund, created on 25 November, BlackRock on 28 November added a physical replication ETF fund which tracks the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index, including 100 companies in 18 emerging markets capable of paying high dividends over the long term, to trading on the London Stock Exchange.The official index for the fund (in pounds Sterling) is the net total return version of the inrex, but due to technical difficulties, iShares is currently replicating the gross total return version.CharacteristicsName: iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend (SEDY)ISIN code: IE00B652H904Total expense ratio: 0.65%