L’expertise du portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public Axa Immoselect (2,695 milliards d’euros) s’est traduite par une dépréciation de 9,5 % sur deux immeubles en France, un en Espagne et un en Belgique. De ce de fait, la valeur liquidative du fonds, est ramenée à 55,54 euros contre 56,04 euros.La suspension des remboursements du fonds, initialement annoncée fin octobre 2009, a été prorogée à la mi-novembre 2010 (lire notre article du 15 novembre 2010). Le taux de liquidités a depuis cette dernière date diminué à 8,5 % contre 9,2 %.

La société de gestion britannique Hargreaves Lansdown a annoncé le 10 février un résultat imposable de 56,3 millions de livres pour le semestre au 31 décembre, en hausse de 41% par rapport aux six mois à fin 2009.Les actifs sous administration se sont accrus à 22,3 milliards de livres au 31 décembre 2010 contre 17,5 milliards de livres au 30 juin 2010 et 15,6 milliards à fin décembre 2009.

Selon Investment Week, Henderson Global Investors espère lever quelque 150 millions de livres avec le lancement d’un investment trust dédié aux actions internationales.Le Henderson International Income Trust (HINT) sera géré par Ben Lofthouse, qui travaille avec Job Curtis, co-gérant du Global Dividend Income fund. Le trust vise un rendement de 4%, en progression de 5% à 10% par an.

Le canadien Manuvie (Manulife) a annoncé que les souscriptions nettes enregistrées par les fonds de sa filiale américaine John Hancock Funds ont progessé en 2010 de 48 % à un record de 9,7 milliards de dollars américains. L’encours a atteint 34 milliards de dollars fin décembre, soit 25 % de plus qu’un an auparavant.

Le groupe américain spécialisé dans l’assurance-vie Prudential Financial a fait état pour l’exercice 2010 d’un bénéfice net de 2,7 milliards de dollars pour l’ensemble de ses activités de services financiers contre 3,4 milliards de dollars pour l’exercice précédent.Les actifs sous gestion s'élevaient au 31 décembre 2010 à 784 milliards de dollars contre 667 milliards un an plus tôt. La collecte nette institutionnelle a totalisé 28,6 milliards de dollars.

Selon l’Agefi, le projet de fusion entre Nyse Euronext et Deutsche Börse prévoit 300 millions d’euros de synergies de coût issues, entre autres, des opérations de compensation. Détenue à hauteur de 83% par les utilisateurs et 17% par les Bourses (dont 9% par NYSE Euronext), la chambre de compensation LCH.Clearnet pourrait voir son activité menacée si les deux opérateurs boursiers optaient pour l’infrastructure post-marché en silo de Deustche Börse, composée d’Eurex Clearing côté compensation, et de Clearstream coté règlement-livraison. Mais les effets négatifs de la fusion pourraient être partiellement amortis par la montée en puissance des activités de LCH.Clearnet sur le marché gré à gré des CDS, du change, et des swaps de taux d’interêt, sur lesquelles Deutsche Börse n’est pas un acteur important, précise le quotidien.

Pour le premier mois de cette année, NYSE Euronext a enregistré 54 introductions de 53 ETF, dont 45 de Credit Suisse à Paris, un d’Amundi à Paris, un d’EasyETF coté à Paris et Amsterdam, quatre iShares à Amsterdam et deux de Lyxor à Paris.Au total, la cote européenne de NYSE Euronext comprend 544 ETF cotés 621 fois et lancés par 17 émetteurs. Ces produits couvrent 353 indices.Le nombre journalier de transactions s’est accru en janvier de 17,7 % par rapport au mois correspondant de l’année dernière tandis que le volume journalier de transactions affichait un gonflement de 37,8 % à 473,4 millions d’euros. Le spread moyen s’est situé à 28,5 points de base.A fin janvier, l’encours total des ETF cotés sur les places européennes de NYSE Euronext représentait 140,8 milliards d’euros, soit 32,8 % de plus qu’un an auparavant.

Martin Lasance a pris ses fonctions le 10 février en tant que directeur des activités institutionnelles au sein de Franklin Templeton en Suisse, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Il sera chargé de poursuivre le développement de ce secteur et de conseiller les caisses de pension, les compagnies d’assurance et les grands groupes de la région de Zurich. Martin Lasance développera ses activités sous la direction Jens Kruse, responsable de Franklin Templeton Suisse. Le nouveau directeur a récemment travaillé cinq ans pour BlackRock en Suisse.

Franklin Templeton Switzerland a annoncé le recrutement de Martin Lasance comme directeur de la clientèle institutionnelle suisse. Basé à Zurich, il sera chargé de développer les relations avec les caisses de retraite, les compagnies d’assurances et le groupes industriels.L’intéressé, qui sera subordonné à Jens Kruse, director & country head pour la Suisse, a été ces cinq dernières années le directeur de la gestion institutionnelle de BlackRock pour la Suisse, après avoir rempli les mêmes fonctions chez Swiss Re.

RBC Dexia Investor Services a appelé Andreas Schmid au poste de Director of Relationship Management pour la Suisse, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. En sa qualité de responsable des relations avec la clientèle, il aura pour tâche de gagner de nouveaux clients et de renforcer les relations avec la clientèle actuelle de gérants de fortune et d’instituts financiers en Suisse et au Luxembourg. Il sera subordonné directement à Marco Siero, directeur de la filiale suisse de RBC Dexia.Andreas Schmid devrait prendre ses fonctions en avril 2011.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US life insurace specialist group Prudential Financial has reported net profits for 2010 of USD2.7bn for all of its financial services activites, compared with USD3.4bn for the previous year. Assets under management as of 31 December 2010 totalled USD784bn, compared with USD667bn one year earlier. Institutional net inflows totalled USD28.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Richard Evans, portfolio manager at Martin Currie Asset Management, only a few dozen securities in the Asian region merit interest, Asian Investor reports. “Is it too late to invest in Asian equities?” is the question which clients are now beginning to ask. Evans manages a concentrated portfolio of up to 50 positions (currently 30), with about USD300m in assets. All the assets are expected to outperform on a 5 to 10 year horizon. The manager is closely interested in the Hong Kong and Malaysian real estate markets. He is underweight on Australia, particularly banks, which managed to avoid the crisis largely due to exposure to commodities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Equities funds on sale in Sweden had a strong start in 2011. According to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association (Fondbolagens Förening), these funds had net inflows of SEK6.4bn (EUR0.7bn) in January. Flows went largely to Swedish equities funds (SEK3.7bn) and Eastern Europe funds (SEK3.2bn). Balanced funds also had a positive month, with net inflows of SEK0.7bn. However, bond and money market funds saw net outflows, of SEK1.6bn and SEK2.6bn, respectively. Hedge funds also saw net redemptions, of SEK0.3bn. Overall, funds on sale in Sweden posted net inflows of SEK2.7bn (EUR0.3bn) in January, bringing total assets to SEK1.935trn (EUR219bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An expert valuation of the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Axa Immoselect (EUR2.695bn) has resulted in a depreciation of 9.5% for two properties in France, one in Spain, and one in Belgium. As a result, the net asset value of the fund has fallen to EUR55.54, from EUR56.04.The suspension of redemptions from the fund, which was initially announced at the end of October 2009, was extended to mid-November 2010 (see Newsmanagers of 15 November 2010). Liquidity levels since that date have fallen to 8.5% from 9.2%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of December 2010, MFC Global Investment Management has changed names, and is now known as Manulife Asset Management worldwide, except in the United States, where it will retain the name John Hancock Asset Management, due to the reputation of the brand name.Assets managed for third parties at Manulife Asset Management and its affiliates as of the end of December totalled CAD182bn, CAD65bn more than at the end of Seprtember. CAD61bn of this increase is due to reintegration of sums mandated out to external management firms. As of the end of December 2009, assets were declared as CAD110bn.Manulife Asset Management at the end of 2010 managed a total of CAD209bn, for internal and external clients.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ucits Hedge reports that the independent asset management firm Zadig Gestion (Luxembourg) SA has launched a new Ucits III long only fund, entitled Memnon Fund, which will be advised by Zadig Asset Management in London, Ucits Hedge reports. The fund was launched on 1 February, with USD125m in assets and commitments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Henderson Global Investors is hoping to raise about GBP150m with the launch of an investment trust dedicated to international equities. The Henderson International Income Trust (HINT) will be managed by Ben Lofthouse, who will work with Job Curtis, co-manager of the Global Dividend Income fund. The trust will aim for returns of 4%, to increase from 5% to 10% per year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net inflows to British funds of funds have reached a record GBP6.8bn, up 76% compared with the previous year, according to statistics from the British Investment Management Association (IMA). Assets under management in funds of funds totalled GBP5.82bn, representing 10% of overall assets in funds. Net inflows to trackers reached a record GBP1.2bn, while assets under management set a record at GBP33.5bn as of the end of 2010, up 20% year on year. Ethical funds, for their part, attracted GBP280m in assets, up 80% compared with the previous year. Assets under management in these funds totalled GBP6.6bn as of the end of December (+16% compared with 2009).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British management firm Hargreaves Lansdown on 10 February announced a pre-tax profit of GBP56.2m for the half year to 31 December, up 41% compared with the six months to the end of December 2009. Assets under administration increased to GBP22.3bn as of 31 December 2010, compared with GBP17.5bn as of 30 June 2010, and GBP15.6bn as of the end of December 2009.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS relayed by Expansión, 191 guaranteed funds, including 133 equities funds and 58 bond funds, will mature this year, for a total of EUR10.75bn.This will particularly affect BBVA Asset Management, with a total of 31 products and EUR3.03bn in assets to mature, Ahorro Corporación (25 funds and EUR938m), and Santander AM (24 funds and EUR1.1bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 10 February announced the launch of a consultation on a revision of its analysis criteria for hybrid securities. The report and survey by the agency, which will aim to simplify the treatment of hybrid instruments, is open for comment until 15 March. The revision of analysis criteria will not have an impact on ratings for businesses in the EMEA/Asia region, Fitch predicts in a statement.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The index provider MSCI on 9 February announced that it has launched a consultation on a proposal to create international socially responsible investment indices. The consultation will deal with the objectives and the architecture of the indices. It comes in response to demand from investors seeking reference tools which would allow them to measure investments in terms of ethical and religious critieria. MSCI will announce its final decision on 4 March.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Canadian-based Manulife has announced that net subscriptions for funds from its US affiliate John Hancock Funds increased 48% in 2010, to a record USD9.7bn. Assets totalled USD34bn as of the end of December, 25% more than one year previously.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Montpensier Finance on 10 February announced the recruitment of Philippe Caron as managing director of bond and diversified management, and manager of the M Convertibles fund. Caron began his career in bond management at Barclays Bank, and continued at CEPME, BIGT, and as head of fixed income and diversified management from 1994 to 2010 at Financière Atlas:Sal Oppenheim IM, where he was CEO.Stéphane de Buhren has joined Montpensier Finance as managing director in the major investor department. He was previously a managing partner at Tocqueville Finance, in charge of private management development.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Mandarine Reflex fund, which earned 13% in 2010, and at least 8% over a rolling twelve-month period, will be registered and released for sale in six European countries outside France (Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain), Marc Renaud, chairman and founder of Mandarine Gestion, announced on 10 February.Renaud has also unveiled plans for international development of the company. Mandarine already has an office in Frankfurt, and it relies on minority partners in the Spanish and Italian markets. In Austria, the firm will engage an agent.Meanwhile, Mandarine’s inflows continue unabated (see Newsmanagers of 20 December 2010). Net subscriptions since the beginning of 2011 represented about EUR100m, while assets are over EUR1.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Dauphine foundation, in partnership with the management firm Amundi, a leader in the French asset management industry, are for the first time in France endowing a chair wholly dedicated to Asset Management. The Chaire Asset Management at the Fondation Dauphine has three objectives: to develop research and education in asset management at the Université Paris-Dauphine; to complement the research that Amundi undertakes on behalf of clients, and to be a center for ideas and proposals to respond to the concerns of public authorities in the area of asset management. The partnership between the Fondation Dauphine and Amundi is exclusive, and is agreed for a period of four years.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bernard Delattre, formerly of Prigest, has created Altimeo Asset Management, with himself as chairman; the firm received its AMF license in early February. The firm’s strategy is conviction-based management, highly flexible and opportunistic.Altimeo is planning to launch an absolute return mutual fund registered in France, once the regulator has granted its permission, with exposure limited to 100%, which will use a macro and geopolitical approach with monitoring indicators for major aggregates, to select equities or bond issues from attractively-priced firms, while also relying on option and hedging strategies, as well as potentially on ETFs. The portfolio may invest in all asset classes.

Following the recent changes in the organisation of Edmond de Rothschild AM, which has moved from two divisions to eight management units (Newsmanagers of 14 January 2011), the new “roadmap” for the firm is no less ambitious. “In our range of 26 funds,” explains Philippe Uzan, director of management, “we would like to build a group of ten products with assets of over EUR1bn each, with the objective of making these ‘cornerstones,’ while not neglecting the other products in the range.” The ten core funds will be Tricolore Rendement, Europe Rendement, Saint-Honoré Europe Synergie, Saint-Honoré US Value & Yield, Saint-Honoré Chine and Saint-Honoré Convertibles, Goldsphere, Selective World, Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles, and Europe Flexible.In addition, the asset management firm also confirms that it has already been giving a priority to international development for several years. The objective is to find growth areas also for the French market. The management firm is also present in Latin America, in Chile. The choice of Chile owes nothing to chance. Edmond de Rothschild AM is working with Chilean pension funds which are expected to invest up to USD60bn outside their domestic market. “From this point of view,” says Uzan, “Chilean regulations stand out for their transparency, as they require pension funds to invest in open funds.” But this criterion is not without its limitations, particularly in terms of the leverage ratios for the funds in question. Hence the desire on the part of the management firm to increase assets in products likely to interest these institutional investors.In addition to this commercial development, the firm is considering several changes. “Alongside non-hedged shares, we would like to offer a wider range of investments which are systematically hedged for institutional investors,” explains Uzan. But, he adds, “we do not have a range in which our teams manage currency hedging dynamically.” From there, it is a small step for the management firm to decide to create a new unit dedicated to currencies. Uzan admits that this theme is of growing relevance to the firm, so this space is to be watched for further developments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, has been appointed to act as mediator between the owners of the New York Mets and Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the business interests of Bernard Madoff, in a court decision on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Picard is seeking about USD1bn from the owners of the Mets, claiming that they made no effort to verify that Madoff’s activities were legitimate, despite some warnings and evidence to the contrary.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German asset management industry finished last year with all-time record assets of EUR1.8296trn, compared with EUR1.7061trn as of the end of 2009. Of increase of EUR123.5bn, EUR70.9bn (or 57.41% of the total) is due to net subscriptions to institutional funds (Spezialfonds), of which EUR29.6bn, compared with EUR13.6bn, were from insurers, and EUR19.3bn for open-ended funds, while mandates saw net outflows of EUR3bn.Thomas Neiße, president of the German BVI association of management firms, announced on 10 February that institutional assets had increased to EUR812.5bn as of the end of December, compared with EUR729bn one year previously, while open-ended funds totalled EUR710bn, compared with EUR651.6bn, and mandates totalled EUR307.1bn, compared with EUR325.5bn.In open-ended funds, diversified funds attracted a net total of EUR13.8bn, while equities funds attracted EUR10.2bn, and bond funds EUR9.9bn, and money market funds saw net outflows of EUR16.8bn.In addition, ETFs attracted a net total of EUR8.6bn in 2010, compared with EUR10.7bn for actively-managed funds. Among equities funds, inflows to ETFs totalled EUR6.6bn, compared with EUR3.6bn for actively-managed products.