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14/06/2011

BarCap launches a UCITS-compliant returns fund in Singapore

Barclays Capital Fund Solutions, the asset management unit of Barclays Capital, late last week announced the launch of a UCITS format return fund in Singapore, entitled Barclays Real Return USD Fund, Asian Investor reports. The fund will invest up to 70% of its assets in bonds, including inflation-linked bonds. The remaining 30% will be invested in commodities and money markets, depending on market conditions.
14/06/2011

“Our challenge is to detect new talent”

The official appointment of Xavier Guillon as head of Oyster Funds, the investment fund division of Banque Syz & Co, was announced on12 October. The manager has now passed the starting line, and is into the course, and so can now talk to Newsmanagers about the major outlines of his development strategy.
14/06/2011

Pictet polishes up long/short credit offerings

As Newsmanagers announced on 25 May, Pictet Asset Management is putting the finishing touches on a credit fund which will aim to capture as much as possible of gains and to protect the portfolio, or to come out a winner in falling markets.The fund is a UCITS long/short fund, which has not yet received a sales license from Luxembourg’s CSSF, but which has been fully tested in the asset management firm’s incubator. It will use a relative value approach to credit, and will be a multi-strategy product, with directional and non-directional bets, active positioning in trading, and an event-driven aspect. It will invest primarily in investment-grade securities, without a regional constraint, but with hedging for currency and duration risks.The Swiss asset manager is also preparing an Asian version of the fund, which may be launched in fourth quarter, and a long/short equities products, which, if all goes well, will be released on the market early next year.
14/06/2011

Equity funds in Europe regained a lot of ground in April

In April, net inflows to funds in Europe were at their highest levels for 6 months, at EUR24.8bn, excluding money market activity, and EUR28.6bn including money market funds (of which EUR2.4bn were for French products), according to statistics from Lipper. The top three asset management firms in terms of subscriptions were Franklin Templeton, which holds onto the top spot with EUR3.3bn, followed by Allianz Global Investors/Pimco with EUR2bn, and GAM Holding with EUR1.3bn. Although net sales of bonds funds have increased for the fourth month in a row, to EUR7bn (compared with EUR4.7bn in March; see Newsmanagers of 13 May), equity funds have seen a spectacular recovery, with EUR12.9bn in net inflows, compared with EUR8.5bn in net outflows the previous month. Funds on sale across borders have seen net subscriptions of EUR10.6bn for bonds, and EUR7.8bn for equities, while Italian, Dutch and Spanish investors have made net redemptions. Lipper also points to good results for commodities and raw materials funds, which have attracted EUR960m and EUR860m in subscriptions, respectively, bringing the total for the first four months of the year to EUR3.7bn and EUR4.4bn.
14/06/2011

Schroder GAIA tops USD1bn in assets

The Hedge Fund Journal reports that assets under management by the Schroders UCITS-compliant hedge fund platform Schroder GAIA have topped USD1.03bn, only 18 months after the launch of the platform. The platform now includes five funds of which three are managed by external hedge fund managers, and two are internally managed. The most recent fund offered to investors is the Schroder GAIA CQS, a long/short credit strategy.
14/06/2011

Institutionals call on Russell 1000 companies to integrate ESG criteria

30 institutional investors, with combined assets under management of about USD1trn, have sent a letter to companies of the Russell 1000 index, calling on them to accept the “new reality” of ESG (environmental, social and governance) risks, and to plan for it in their business planning. These issues cannot be considered areas “off the balance sheet,” the investors say. “They are rather concrete financial issues which represent both risks and opportunities for the long-term success of businesses,” they say. The Californian pension funds CalPERS and CalSTRS, which are among the signatories, had already announced last month that they had decided to better integrate ESG criteria into all of their investment decisions.
14/06/2011

BBVA AM acquires the remainder of BBVA & Partners

The alternative boutique BBVA & Partners (EUR200m in assets) from Saragossa is now wholly owned by BBVA Asset Management, which has been joined by its three partners, León Baltolomé, Pablo Gil and Juan Uguet, who had previously owned 30% of the former firm.Funds People also reports that the BBVA & Partners funds have been transferred to the Luxembourg Sicav from BBVA Durbana International Fund, which has a sales license for Spain. The funds include the BBVA & Partners Retorno Absoluto FIL (EUR21m), BBVA Partners Ahorro Dinámico, BBVA Partners Augustus, BBVA Partners Dynamic and BBVA Partners European Absolute Return.
14/06/2011

DnB NOR AM enters Austrian market

The website e.fundresearch.at has announced that the Scandinavian institutional management firm DnB NOR Asset Management (EUR57bn in assets) in May acquired an operating license for Austria.Mike Judith, vice president of the firm and head of distribution for Germany, says that the nine best-known equities funds from the Carlson Funds brand are now available on the local market.
14/06/2011

State Street Global Advisors France wins a mandate from FRR

At the conclusion of a call for bids which opened on 22 October last year, for a renewed overlay management mandate, the French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), on 10 June announced that it has awarded the mandate to State Street Global Advisors France. The mandate will be for a renewable two-year period. The mission of the provider will be to inform and advise the FRR, to ensure currency risk management and to manage exposure of various asset classes defined by the FRR board, the fund says in a statement.
14/06/2011

BNP Paribas veut céder la gestion privée de Fortis outre-Manche

La banque privée londonienne de Fortis ne va finalement pas fusionner avec BNP Paribas Wealth Management, révèle L’Agefi, mais va être vendue, selon une source proche du dossier. De taille modeste, Fortis Private Investment Management, est axée sur la clientèle domestique mais ne peut s’appuyer sur un réseau bancaire tandis que le dispositif onshore (pour résidents) de BNP Paribas Wealth Management repose sur la banque de détail du groupe, explique le quotidien.
14/06/2011

BNP Paribas veut céder la gestion privée de Fortis outre-Manche

La banque privée londonienne de Fortis ne va finalement pas fusionner avec BNP Paribas Wealth Management, révèle L’Agefi, mais va être vendue, selon une source proche du dossier. De taille modeste, Fortis Private Investment Management, est axée sur la clientèle domestique mais ne peut s’appuyer sur un réseau bancaire tandis que le dispositif onshore (pour résidents) de BNP Paribas Wealth Management repose sur la banque de détail du groupe, explique le quotidien.
14/06/2011

US money market funds reduce exposure to Euro zone banks

According to the most recent statistics from JPMorgan, exposure by US money market funds to securities issued by Euro zone banks as of the end of May had fallen to USD361bn, about 40% of the USD902bn allocation to non-US banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. As of the end of March 2010, when the debt crisis broke, the percentage was 50.9%. Exposure to Spanish banks had fallen 85%, to USD6bn, compared with USD40bn as of the end of March 2010. It had fallen 70% for Belgian banks, and 75% for Italian banks. It has also fallen 25% for German banks, and 9% for French banks. However, exposure to Swedish banks has risen 95%, while exposure to Norwegian banks has increased 53%, and to Canadian banks, 49%.
14/06/2011

Swedish investors turn away from equity funds in May

In May, Swedish investors once again turned their backs on equity funds, though they had massively returned to them in April. Equity funds on sale in Sweden saw net outflows of SEK1.9bn last month, according to statistics from Fondbolagens Förening, the Swedish investment fund association. In April, funds posted net inflows of SEK9.3bn, following two months of net outflows. Since the beginning of the year, equity funds saw net outflows of SEK1bn. In May, funds on sale in Sweden show net inflows, due to subscriptions to other asset classes, particularly money market funds (SEK1.7bn), and bond funds (SEK1.3bn). As of the end of May, funds in Sweden represented assets of SEK1.971trn, of which SEK1.169trn were invested in equity funds.
14/06/2011

SEC refuses to disclose details of SAC Capital case to Sen. Grassley

In a letter cited by the Wall Street Journal, the head of enforcement at the SEC, Robert Khuzami, has refused to disclose details to Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, Republican head of the legal commission, about the way in which the regulatory authority has made use of referrals from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) about questionable transactions by the hedge fund management firm SEC Capital Advisors. The senator says that he considers the response unacceptable.
14/06/2011

Three former Galleon managers found guilty

Zvi Goffer, a former Galleon Group trader nicknamed Octopussy, as well as his brother Emanuel Goffer and Michael Kimelman been found guilty of insider trading, according to the Financial Times. They are accused of trading ahead of corporate takeover announcements of which they learnt from two Ropes & Gray lawyers advising the companies on the deals.
14/06/2011

JPMAM doubles sales personnel for insurance

Markus Novak, who had served at Skandia at head of distribution clients, wealth management firms and banks in Germany, has joined JPMorgan Asset Management as second in command to Charles Neus, concentrating on sales to insurers and their networks.
14/06/2011

UK asset management association militates for financial compensation scheme reform

The British investment management association (IMA) claims that reforms to the financial services compensation scheme (FSCS) could make the British market more attractive as a platform for international management groups. The failures of the past three years (the Keydata affair not least) had a cost of about EUR500m for the financial services industry, the chairman of the professional association, Douglas Ferrans, says, and calls on the FSA to make reform of the compensation regime a priority.
14/06/2011

Helios raises record assets for an African private equity fund

Helios Investment Partners, a pan-African private equity group co-founded by a former TPG exécutive, has raised USD900m, the largest ever amount of money for a new private equity fund targeting Africa, according to the Financial Times. Helios sourced its funding from US university endowments, Asian sovereign wealth funds, large African corporate pension funds and European and American fund of funds as well as development finance institutions.
14/06/2011

Former multi-managers from Gartmore join North IP

The former Gartmore multi-managers Ari Towli and Nick Roberts have joined the multi-management boutique North Investments Partners, Investment Week reports. The two will work with Nick Stanhope on the range of multi-management products, whose assets under management as of 31 May totalled GBP450m. Both of them will report to the chief executive of North IP, John Husselbee.
14/06/2011

Man recruits Warren Shiels as director of retail sales for the United Kingdom

After eleven years at Gartmore, where he was most recently head of intermediary sales, Warren Shiels was recruited by Man Group on 6 June as director, UK retail. He will be in charge of overseeing sales of long-only and absolute return funds from Man as well as GLG to third parties such as life offices, platforms, and IFAs.
14/06/2011

Pictet recruits an Asia specialist from Gartmore

Anthony Cheung, a fund manager specialised in China in the global emerging markets team at Gartmore Investment Management, has been recruited by Pictet Asset Management, and has joined the Asian total return team, in which he will be co-manager of long/short funds, under Nidhi Mahhurkar, CityWire reports.
14/06/2011

BBVA obtains permission to transform Propriedad fund into REIT

On 10 June, the CNMV announced that it has granted permission, at the request of the asset management firm BBVA Asset Management and of BBVA as the depository, to convert the real estate fund BBVA Propriedad into a REIT format real estate investment firm. Assets in the fund as of the end of April, according to statistics from the Spanish Inverco association of management firms, totalled EUR1.3bn.
14/06/2011

Lyxor and EDRIM register funds in Spain

The Spanish arm of Société Générale was issued a license by the CNMV on 10 June to release the Lyxor Active Commodities Fund and Lyxor Epsilon Global Trend Fund sub-funds of its Irish Sicav Investments Strategies Plc.The regulator has also issued sales licenses to Allfunds Bank for the C, I and S share classes in the French-registered fund Saint-Honoré Signatures Financières (see Newsmanagers of 20 April), from Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers (EdRIM).
14/06/2011

CNMV wants to charge users for ratings

Julio Segura, president of the Spanish securities commission (CNMV), says that rating agencies continue to be subject to conflicts of interest, so long as they are paid by issuers that they rate, Cinco Días reports. At an unveiling of a book entitled “A century of Spanish financial history,” at the Bank of Spain, Segura stated that the solution would be to make ratings be paid for by those who use them, since the creation of an official agency would run the risk of creatind problems when it came to ratings of government bonds.
14/06/2011

Gold mining firms increase dividends to combat ETFs

Since the launch of the first physical gold ETF fund in 2003, funds of this type have attracted a total of USD70bn in assets which would otherwise have been invested in gold mines equity, the Wall Street Journal claims.According to the independent research institute MineFund, thirteen of the largest gold producers will distribute a total of USD2bn in dividends, in a bid to win back the interest of investors. Among the firms are Barrick Gold, Newmount Mining and Goldcorp. Newmont has even defined a dividend indexed to the price of gold, which would increase its dividend by USD0.20 for every USD100 rise in the price of the precious metal.
14/06/2011

BofA Merrill Lynch offers green bonds from World Bank

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the World Bank have announced plans to offer a periodical range of green bonds from the World Bank, aimed at investors at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. The first World Bank green bonds, which offer environmentally-friendly solutions via an investment grade bond investment, were launched in second quarter 2011.
14/06/2011

Central banks cool investor appetite for equity funds in early June

The US Federal Reserve does not appear to be in a hurry to enter a new phase of quantitative easing, at a time when the European Central Bank has implied that it may raise its rates in July, so that investors rolled their portfolios over into bonds in the first days of June. According to the most recent estimates by EPFR Grlobal, bond funds attracted a net total of USD5.98bn in the week to 8 June. Money market funds, for their part, have posted net inflows of over USD26bn, while equity funds saw outfllows of USD7.74bn. Funds dedicated to US equities, in particular, have posted their heaviest outflows since mid-August 2010. Inflows to European equities remained positive, with inflows of USD236m in the week to 8 June. However, institutional engagements have gone mostly to German equities in 2011. Now counting flows which have totalled over USD6bn since the beginning of the year, European equity funds have seen outflows of over USD1.5bn. Diversified funds posted net inflows of USD219m, which brings inflows since the beginning of the year to over USD15.3bn.
14/06/2011

SSgA to launch its first ETFs in the UK

State Street Global Advisors will be launching its first range of ETFs in the United Kingdom next quarter, Investment Week reports. In total, the US management firm, which is one of the largest ETF suppliers in the United States, is planning to launch 50 products in the UK in the next two years.
14/06/2011

Vanguard planning to extend UK product range

By the end of the year, Vanguard Investments UK (GBP1.9bn in assets) is planning to increase the number of its funds on sale in the UK from 14 currently to 25, Fundweb reports. Among the products for which a sales license has been applied for from the FSA are some ETFs, risk objective funds, horizon funds, and a strategic allocation fund. Tom Rampulla, CEO, also says that personnel will be increased by the end of the year to 105, from 68 currently.

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