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23/03/2011

Robeco still on the cutting edge as a responsible manager

Robeco, which has been highly active for several years in sustainable development, will soon offer transparent reporting on the political group’s political engagement, with quantitative figures on the subject, Ali Ould Rouis, chairman of Robeco Gestions, announced on 22 March at a presentation of the Robeco Global Consumer Trends Equities fund. The thematic fund is constructed entirely around three major long-term trends: rising buying power of populations in emerging countries, e-commerce and digital technologies, and lastly, development of “green” consumer markets. Companies with a SAM rating of less than 40 out of 100 cannot be included in the portfolio. The fund, whose assets under management as of the end of February totalled about EUR380m, has earned annualised returns of over 15% in the past three years, compared with 4.03% for the benchmark MSCI World Consumer Discretionary index. Last year, the fund earned returns of 38.47%, compared with 19.53% for the benchmark index.
23/03/2011

European money market funds selectively extend their maturity dates

In its most recent report on European money market funds (“European Money Market Funds – Sector Update,”) the ratings agency Fitch Ratings reports that money market funds are selectively extending their maturity dates, but that they remain prudent about peripheral European countries, while maintaining a minimal exposure to interest rate risks. In fourth quarter 2010, assets under management in the broader universe of European money market funds fell for the second consecutive month, by 2.7%, to EUR1.18trn as of the end of December, not only due to low interest rates, but also to increasing appetite for risk and increased competition from banks in search of savings deposits.
23/03/2011

ETFlab launches a bond ETF

The 804th ETF to be listed on the XTF segment of the Zetra electronic platform is the ETFlab iBoxx € Liquid Non-Financials Diversified, a German-registered physical replication product (DE000ETFL383) which charges fees of 0.20%, and tracks the Markit iBoxx € Liquid Non-Financials Diversified index.As its name indicates, the fund invests in corporate bonds from non-financial sectors. The index includes up to 40 positions, bonds issued by companies whose main headquarters are located in the Euro zone, in Denmark, the UK, Norway, Sweden, or Switzerland, with minimal volume of EUR750m. The limit for each position is set at 7.5%, and the portfolio may not include more than two issues from the same company.
23/03/2011

German multi-managers prefer equities funds from industrialised countries

The 2011 survey by Pioneer Investments Germany of 20 major German multi-managers has revealed that these specialists this year are preferring equities funds focused on industrialised countries, particularly Germany. Commodities funds are increasingly occupying the attention of fund selectors, and global emerging markets funds have become a core element in portfolios, though they are not presently on the list of priorities.Aside from these three major trends, the survey has also found that 25% of multi-managers are already using UCITS-compliant hedge funds, and that a growing number of them are planning to use them, but for “conservative” investments.Two multi-managers out of three have no ETFs in their portfolios, while others use the products as hedge for their core portfolio. In addition, some multi-managers feel that ETFs include hidden costs in their spreads, and that the tactic of rapid buying and selling of ETFs could lead to an increase in volatility. According to Evi Vogl, CEO of Pioneer Investments Deutschland, a growing number of managers admit that ETFs are not the panacea that they had been thought to be, and that they only serve to achieve limited objectives.The survey has also found that sustainable investments play virtually no role for multi-managers, at least aside from dedicated mandates. Only a minority of respondents estimate that the theme will gain importance in the next few years.
23/03/2011

Polaris launches an ETF dedicated to China

The asset management firm from Taiwan Polaris Securities Investment Trust, which has recently been granted a license to invest as a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII), is planning to launch its first onshore ETF dedicated to China, which will give retail investors direct access to the Chinese equities market, Asian Investor reports. The new vehicle will replicate the Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 Index.
23/03/2011

Threadneedle recruits a head of products for Asia

Threadneedle has appointed Andrew Chan as head of product and business development for Asia Pacific, as the firm continues to expand its Asian team in order to drive regional growth. In this new role, Andrew Chan will oversee the development and delivery of client-focused product and service solutions to meet the needs of investors in a range of Asian markets. He will report to Asia Pacific Chairman Raymundo Yu and will be based in Threadneedle’s Singapore office. Supporting Andrew Chan, Threadneedle has also recently appointed Tony Poon, head of client service and business manager, North Asia, and Harry Tan, head of client service and business manager, South Asia.
23/03/2011

Franklin Templeton development in Italy in high gear

In January, Franklin Templeton had net inflows in Europe of EUR2.6bn, while the industry took in EUR23.1bn, Bluerating reports. Italy contributed EUR653m to this result. In 2010, Italian inflows totalled EUR9bn, which brought assets at the firm in the country to EUR15bn.
23/03/2011

State Street announces an increase in dividends and share buybacks

State Street has recently announced a 0.17% increase in its quarterly dividends, from USD0.01 to USD0.18 per share. The dividend will be paid on 15 April to shareholders registered on 1 April.The group has also announced that its management committee has granted permission for a share buyback program totalling USD675m in 2011.
23/03/2011

Dimitri Boismare joins Groupama AM

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Dimitri Boismare has left Rothschild & Cie Gestion, where he was a fund analyst, to join Groupama Asset Management. Boismare was previously at FundQuest.
23/03/2011

Putnam releases a range of absolute return funds for retirement

With 75 million American baby boomers reaching the age of 65 this year, at a rate of about 7,000 per day, Putnam Investments has created a range of three absolute return income funds, with three risk profiles: Putnam Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle I, Putnam Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle 2, and Putnam Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle 3.The first and most conservative of the funds, the former Putnam RetirementReady Maturity Fund, combines the Putnam Absolute Return 100, 300 and 500 funds, the Putnam Asset Allocation: Conservative Portfolio and the Putnam Money Market Fund.The second, balanced portfolio, will be a new fund combining the Putnam Absolute Return 100, 300, 500 and 700, US and global equities, convertibles, and bonds.The third and most dynamic fund is the former Putnam Income Strategies Fund, which will be modified to include a combination of the Putnam Absolute Return 700, US and global equities, convertibles, and bonds.The funds will be managed by Jeffrey L. Knight, head of global asset allocation at Putnam, Robert J. Kea and Robert J. Schoen.
23/03/2011

Castlestone launches a precious metals equities fund

The US management firm Castlestone Management has created an equities fund dedicated to precious metals and gold, Investment Week reports. The new fund, Aliquot Gold and Precious Metals Equities fund, whose benchmark index is the FTSE gold mining index, has a diversified allocation in terms of geographical regions, sizes and investment styles. It may also invest in physical gold, in order to protect itself against the effects of macroeconomic and geopolitical developments.
23/03/2011

IndexIQ launches its first agriculture ETF

The US management firm IndexIQ has announced the launch on January 22 of its first agriculture ETF on NYSE Arca. The IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap ETF (CROP) charges 0.75%. The new product offers exposure to small caps worldwide in the areas of agricultural machinery, breeding, agricultural production, biocarbons and alternative energies, replicating the performance of the IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap Index before fees. To be included in the index, companies must have a minimal average capitalisation of USD150m in the 90 days preceding admission, and a minimal daily trading volume of USD1m per day.
23/03/2011

Man Group sells off its stake in BlueCrest

Man Group on 22 March sold off the 25% stake which it had held in the Guernsey-based hedge fund manager BlueCrest, for USD633m, back to BlueCrest Capital Management. The transaction will generate pre-tax profits of about USD250m. The proceeds of the sale will increase the regulatory capital surplus at Man Group by more than USD500m, from a level of about USD300m at the end of 2010.
23/03/2011

Two sales staff cover French market for F&C

At the end of last year, Aurélien Lafaye left F&C, leaving the Paris representative office of the British asset management firm unoccupied (see Newsmanagers of 6 December 2010). The asset management firm is not giving up on the French market yet. Institutional investors will now be served by Michel Bernard, who is based in London. “Wholesale” clients (funds of funds, etc.) have been taken over by James Beddall, in the sales department at Thames River Capital, the firm acquired by F&C in 2010, who served the French market from Luxembourg. The division of institutional and wholesale clients corresponds to a Europe-wide decision following the acquisition of Thames River by F&C.
23/03/2011

Jamie Stuttard leaves Schroders

Jamie Stuttard is leaving Schroders «to pursue other opportunities». Following this departure, the fund management company announces that Philippe Lespinard, fixed income chief investment officer and also lead manager of the Global Multi-Strategy team, will take over responsibility for the UK and Euro Aggregate portfolios, that is to say the Schroder ISF Euro Short Term Bond, the Schroder ISF Euro Bond, the Schroder Special Situations Fund Sterling Broad Market Libor and the Schroder Institutional Sterling Broad Market. Wes Sparks, head of US Fixed Income, continues as co-fund manager for Global Credit portfolios (Schroder ISF Global Credit Duration Hedged and Schroder ISF Global Corporate Bond) but his remit has expanded beyond his current focus on the US component of the strategy to include the asset allocation process for the broader strategy.
23/03/2011

M&G recruits a bond manager

M&G Investments has hired James Tomlins from Cazenove Capital Management to join its retail fixed income investment team.James Tomlins, deputy fund manager of the Cazenove Strategic Bond Fund, will work alongside Stefan Isaacs and Richard Woolnough. He has worked previously for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now Blackrock) and KBC Alternative Investment Management before signing up with Cazenove Capital Management in February 2006. He will join M&G on 20 June.
23/03/2011

db x-trackers launches a real estate ETF

With the db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ETF, db x-trackers on 22 March launched an ETF on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) which invests in publicly-traded real estate worldwide, via REITS or stocks from publicly-traded realty firms. The new fund, which charges fees of 0.6%, replicates the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate index.
23/03/2011

Bancaja launches a fund portfolio management service

Clients of Ibercaja Patrimonios with at least EUR20,000 in assets may use a new discretionary fund portfolio service, Funds People reports. The offer includes three profiled portfolios, one “balanced,” with 0-20% equities, one “growth” portfolio (20-60% equities), and on e”dynamic” (50-100% equities). The products will invest exclusively in inhouse funds (Ibercaja Gestión, EUR4.5bn in assets in 73 products).The new service is exempt from management fees until the end of the year, and Ibercaja will charge only a half-yearly performance commission.
23/03/2011

Joaquin Almunia défavorable au modèle Deutsche Börse

Le commissaire européen à la Concurrence a exprimé ses doutes pour la concurrence concernant les schémas d’intégration verticale tels que celui qui résultera de la fusion entre Deutsche Börse et Nyse Euronext. Le nouveau groupe détiendra à la fois des marchés boursiers et des activités de post-marché (Eurex Clearing, Clearstream). «Du point de vue de la concurrence, j’ai tendance à préférer les modèles qui ne sont pas en intégration verticale», a déclaré Joaquin Almunia lors d’une audition au Parlement européen.
23/03/2011

Le FMI souhaite concurrencer la Fed

Le Fonds monétaire international serait en train d’élaborer une proposition afin de devenir un prêteur plus important en devises en période de crise, partageant ainsi plus équitablement le rôle de prêteur en dernier ressort avec la Fed, indique le quotidien qui ne cite aucune source. L’institution fournirait ainsi en devises les banques centrales des pays en voie de développement quand elles en manqueraient.
22/03/2011

Le montant de l'intervention sur le yen se précise

Les pays du G7 pourraient avoir vendu un total de 530 milliards de yens (6,5 milliards de dollars) le 18 mars pour faire baisser la devise nippone, selon des statistiques monétaires publiées mardi par la Banque du Japon. S’il se confirmait, ce montant serait inférieur aux rumeurs de vente de 2.000 milliards de yens qui ont circulé sur le marché.
22/03/2011

L'inflation britannique à un plus haut de 28 mois sur un an en février

L’inflation en Grande-Bretagne a progressé plus que prévu en février, pour atteindre son plus haut niveau depuis octobre 2008. Les prix à la consommation ont augmenté de 0,7% le mois dernier et de 4,4% sur un an, selon les chiffres publiés par l’Office national des statistiques (ONS).
22/03/2011
Fonds

L'Asie adopte les ETF

Les investisseurs asiatiques sont de plus en plus nombreux à considérer les ETF comme un moyen de diversifier leurs investissements dans la zone. Daniel Farley, qui chapeaute les stratégies d’allocation pour la clientèle institutionnelle de State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), indique que les investisseurs asiatiques utilisent la classe d’actifs pour développer une exposition contrôlée à certains pays de la zone, rapporte Asian Investor. La zone asiatique hébergeait 318 ETF à fin décembre avec des actifs de 84,1 milliards de dollars, loin derrière les 1.663 ETF répertoriés en Europe totalisant 318,5 milliards de dollars. State Street estime que l’intérêt pour les ETF est lié à leur liquidité, leur transparence et l’exposition plus facile à des actifs parfois difficilement accessibles, comme les actions cotées en Chine.
Fonds
22/03/2011
Fonds

Une année 2010 mitigée pour l’industrie belge des fonds

L’industrie belge des fonds de placement a connu une bonne année 2010, constate L’Echo. L’encours des fonds distribués publiquement en Belgique a augmenté de 2,2 % pour atteindre 127,03 milliards d’euros, selon les chiffres de l’Association Belge des Asset Managers (BeAMA). C’est l’effet de marché qui a permis de gonfler l’actif net de l’industrie. Ce sont surtout les fonds à revenu variable qui sont à l’origine de cette évolution, avec des souscriptions nettes de 120 millions d’euros et des gains de cours à hauteur de 2,93 milliards d’euros.Au niveau des fonds d’actions purs et des fonds mixtes, la Belgique a suivi la tendance européenne en 2010, soit un mouvement à la hausse. En revanche, les fonds obligataires belges se sont inscrits en recul en 2010 (alors qu’ils progressaient en Europe), tandis que l’actif net des fonds monétaires a progressé en Belgique alors qu’il reculait en Europe.
Fonds
22/03/2011

Axel Schwarzer refait surface à la tête de la gestion d'actifs de Vontobel

L’homme qui a redressé Scudder et qui a passé 22 ans de sa carrière dans le groupe Deutsche Bank, avec notamment des postes de grande responsabilité chez DWS, Axel Schwarzer, prendra le 4 mai 2011 les fonctions de patron de la gestion d’actifs du groupe suisse Vontobel (119 milliards de francs suisses d’encours fin 2010). Il avait quitté DWS en tant que responsable des partenariats stratégiques en matière de distribution à la fin de l’an dernier (lire notre article du 30 décembre 2010).Axel Schwarzer remplace Zeno Staub, qui va prendre les fonctions de CEO en succédant à Herbert J. Scheidt, lequel deviendra président du conseil d’administration.
22/03/2011

Credit Suisse Private Banking prévoit une forte collecte nette en Asie

La division Private Banking du Credit Suisse dépassera peut-être ses objectifs 2012 en termes de collecte nette en Asie hors Japon, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. C’est ce que Walter Berchtold, CEO de la division en question, a affirmé le 21 mars à Singapour, lors d’une interview télévisée. En 2009, la banque avait manifesté son intention de recueillir entre 35 et 45 milliards de francs de nouveaux capitaux d’ici 2012. Depuis cette date, Credit Suisse a accumulé environ 18,5 milliards de francs d’argent frais, totalisant 78,5 milliards de francs d’actifs sous gestion.

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