Recherche
S'abonner
Connexion
Asset Management
Accueil Asset Management Actualités
08/06/2010

Former Métropole Gestion manager moves to Skandia

Anne-France Gauthier, who previously served as director of retail activities in France at Métropole Gestion, whose departure was announced in Newsmanagers (see article on 28/04/10), is joining Skandia as director of sales for major client and private banking partnerships. Gauthier, 42, will be responsible for defining and deploying the organisation and commercial strategy of Skandia Labels, a product range which will be aimed at asset management firms, private management departments, and private banks, according to a statement from Skandia. She will also be in charge of the organisation and commercial development of Skandia Labels in France, and for promoting the range of products and services in question and developing synergies with other activities of the group, such as marketing, products, back-office, Service Partners, finance, and others.
08/06/2010

Jean-François Théodore joins HDF Finance

Jean-François Théodore, former deputy CEO of NYSE Euronext, on 6 May joined the supervisory board at the asset management firm HDF France. In addition to this responsibility, Théodore, who will remain as non-executive director of the stock exchange company, will “assist HDF with regulatory developments,” a statement says. In addition, HDF Finance has announced that it is in the process of recruiting a team member in the United States to replace one US-based departure, Gilles Guérin, at the end of June. The fund manager is also planning to request an SEC license for its US unit. In Switzerland, HDF has also recruited Joseph Steiger, formerly of Credit Suisse and SAM Asset Manaegment, to develop the German-speaking Swiss institutional client base. The Swiss affiliate of the asset management firm now has two offices: one in Geneva, for private banking clients, and one in Zurich. Some funds from the management firm are now in the process of being licensed in the country.
08/06/2010

SRI funds from Nordea divest from BP

The Nordea Responsible Investments (RI) Committee on June 4 2010 decided to divest from BP in the Nordea dedicated RI funds and mandates. Further on it was decided to suspend further investments in BP for all other Nordea funds until clarification from BP on systematic risk management has been evaluated. In total, some 20 Nordea funds available in the Nordic countries with BP investments are directly affected. The decision of the RI Committee was taken due to: the company has failed to comply with its own safety and environmental rules according to the informations available; the company does not disclose information and is not transparent regarding how other similar operations are managed from a safety and environmental perspective The RIG team (Responsible Investments & Governance) within Nordea is also currently conducting thorough analysis on the oil & gas sector companies in order to identify systematic safety and environmental risks associated with deep water drilling operations, adds Nordea.
08/06/2010

Spanish government passes amendment to collective investment institution regulations

The Spanish government, in a cabinet meeting on Friday, has passed a draft royal decree which amends the regulations applicable to collective investment entities. The text will be published in the next few days in the official gazette (BOE). Among several modifications inspired by the impact of the financial crisis, the amendment will allow for the creation of side pockets, or “special objective funds.” The new law will also facilitate the liquidation of real estate funds and securities funds. The amendment also includes modifications intended to make restrictions on the activities of funds more flexible. It authorises the creation of ETFs in Sicav format, and creates a status for listed real estate investment companies (Socimi), the Spanish equivalent of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT). In addition, real estate funds will be allowed to invest in other real estate funds, but the legislation limits the amount invested in this way to 10% of assets. In practice, this is equivalent to maintaining the prohibition on real estate funds of funds.
08/06/2010

BlueBay launches European government bond activities

BlueBay Asset Management has announced that it has hired Mark Dowding to lead the development of a European government bond business at the firm. He comes to BlueBay from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was European Head of Institutional Fixed Income; and was previously at Invesco, where he worked closely with Raphael Robelin - BlueBay’s Head of Investment Grade Credit. Raphael and Mark, who joins as a Senior Portfolio Manager, will co-head the European Investment Grade team at BlueBay; with a focus on corporate and government bonds respectively. Following Mark Dowding’s arrival at BlueBay in early September, the firm will be launching funds in both the European government bond and European Aggregate space; the latter product combining both sovereign and corporate credit.
08/06/2010

BNP Paribas Wealth Management makes UK debut

BNP Paribas announces that it is combining BNP Paribas’ existing private banking activities with those of Fortis Private Investment Management and Insinger de Beaufort UK under the BNP Paribas Wealth Management brand. The combined business will offer a broad range of investment and wealth management services in addition to financing and structuring solutions for both onshore and international clients. The new business manages over GBP5.5 bn in assets and employs 130 people and will be led by Ligia Torres. Ligia was previously Head of Fixed Income Corporate and SAS Origination and Sales, EMEA at BNP Paribas, responsible for developing strategic business with corporate, sovereign, agency and supranational clients. In addition to offering cross asset class investment solutions and tax, legal and fiduciary services BNP Paribas Wealth Management UK’s clients will benefit from dedicated teams focussing on tailor made investment products, philanthropy, art and estates. BNP Paribas Wealth Management will also offer a range of financing solutions, says BNP Paribas.
08/06/2010

FSA proposes ethics and governance standards for IFAs

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published proposals to strengthen the abilities of individuals active in the distribution of financial services, such as independent financial advisers (IFA), with an emphasis on ethical behaviour. The FSA plans to define a 30-month period, during which those affected would be required to undergo training in the practice of their profession. Provisional rules which had previously allowed these persons to practice their profession without qualifications will be annulled. The proposals come as an addition to the proposed Retail Distribution Review (RDR) legislation, and to rules already in place for investment advising. The consultation will remain open until 6 September.
08/06/2010

Deka Immobilien earns capital gains in Seoul

With the sale of the Eugene Investment & Securities Building office property in Seoul for EUR123m, to the South Korean Public Officials Benefit Association, the German asset management firm Deka Immobilien, via its open-ended fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, has earned significant capital gains. The property, with about 40,000 square metres, was purchased for EUR70m in September 2004, and expert estimates value it in the current market at EUR95m.
08/06/2010

New deputy CEO at Ceres AM

The asset management firm Ceres Asset Management announced on Monday, 7 June that it has recruited Franck Vivier as deputy CEO. Vivier will be responsible for Ceres Japan and Ceres Greater China, among others. Vivier began his career at Indosuez New York,a nd later became CEO of Daiwa France Gestion. Since 1995, he had been director of systematic management at Société Générale.
08/06/2010

BNY Mellon launches a USD700m rights issue

BNY Mellon at the end of last week announced the launch of an issue of ordinary shares totalling about USD700m (25.9 million shares at USD27 per share), to finance an acquisition of PNC Global Investment Servicing. The offer will remain open until 9 June. The co-bookrunners are Goldman Sachs and Citi, while BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley will act as co-managers.
08/06/2010

Helvetia Wealth acquires Mercury Wealth Management

The Swiss wealth management firm Helvetia Wealth AG has announced that it has acquired the investment advising firm Mercury Wealth Management, based in Dublin, which is one of the largest distributors of protected-capital investment products on the Irish market. The acquisition price has not been disclosed. Helvetia Wealth states that its assets have increased due to the acquisition by CHF70m. Gareth Fahey, who founded Mercury Wealth in 2003, will continue to lead the business.
08/06/2010

Vontobel founds an entity dedicated to US clients

Vontobel on 7 June announced the creation of a new entity, Swiss Wealth Advisors AG, which will assist US clients whose assets are declared to the US tax authorities. The unit will be based in Zurich, and will be subject to oversight by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the banking group says in a statement. The new entity will focus on custom wealth management adapted to the needs of US clients. Vontobel is planning to answer the European and Asian equity and currency investment needs of US clients, which US-based wealth management firms are not able to satisfy, or can only partially satisfy. The product range from Vontobel will also be aimed at US citizens domiciled outside the United States, and to non-US citizens living in the United States. Transactions will be provided by Vontobel Securities AG, which already has a license from the SEC.
08/06/2010

IOSCO to survey hedge funds

Il Sole – 24 Ore reports that the international organisation of securities commissions (IOSCO) is planning to announce a survey of hedge funds, at the annual conference of the organisation, to be held Wednesday in Montreal. It will initially concentrate on the largest entities. The goal is to obtain data on the identity of hedge funds, their performance, the composition of managed activities, investments in derivatives, and the banking intermediaries with whom they have credit relationships.
08/06/2010

PGGM invests EUR75m in British real estate

Standard Life Investments has announced that the pension fund PGGM, one of the largest real estate fund managers in Europe, has invested about GBP75m in the Standard Life Investment UK Shopping Centre Trust, a portfolio which is currently valued at about GBP1.2bn.
08/06/2010

GBP2.3bn in net inflows in the UK in April

According to the most recent statistics from the British investment management association (IMA), net inflows totalled GBP2.3bn in April, their highest level since November 2009. Bonds remained the most popular asset class, with net inflows of GBP629m (27% of the total), compared with GBP412m for equities, GBP434m for diversified strategies, and GBP233m for real estate. As of the end of April, assets under management totalled GBP510.9bn, their highest level of all time, compared with GBP375.2bn in April 2009. For the first time, the association is providing statistics for distribution platforms, on the basis of five actors representing 85% of the market (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Landsown, Skandia, and Transact). In April, gross sales via these platforms totalled 3.3bn, about 37% of gross retail sales. In the first four months of the year, sales via platforms totalled GBP11.9bn (also 37% of retail sales). Institutional funds, notably, also posted net inflows in April of GBP1.13bn, after outflows of GBP535m in March.
08/06/2010

Justin Craib-Cox joins Aviva Investors

Justin Craib-Cox, a former equities analyst for Morningstar in the United States, is leaving M&G Investments, where he was co-manager of funds, to become a fund manager in the convertible bonds team at Aviva Investors. He will assist senior managers David Clott and Shawn Mato, based in Boston.
08/06/2010

Net inflows slow at M&G

M&G net inflows for the first five months of 2010 were at GBP3.4 billion (2009 May year to date: GBP7.9 billion), says Prudential in a press release. Net inflows in the Asian asset management business were GBP0.3 billion (2009: GBP1.5 billion).
08/06/2010

First fund from Querns Asset Managers

The new asset management firm Querns Asset Managers will soon launch its first fund, an equities/bonds diversified product, the Querns Income Funds. It will primarily invest in UK equities and British corporate bonds. The fund, in which partners will invest GBP5m as seed capital, carries no front-end fee, and charges a management commission of only 0.75%. Querns Asset Managers was recently founded by the managers Phil Roantree and Stephan Whittaker, two former New Star managers, and Peter Gardner (formerly of Invesco Perpetual) and John Tierney (formerly of selectfunds and Perpetual). The objective for Querns AM is to reach assets of GBP250m in five years.
08/06/2010

M&G launches a “newcits” fund

Dave Fishwick and Eric Lonergan are the managers of the new M&G Macro Episode Fund, a UCITS-compliant rendition of the Prudential Life hedge fund, launched in early 2001, and another M&G hedge fund domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The product, which relies on behavioural finance techniques, is initially restricted to institutional and qualified retail investors, with a minimal subscription of GBP1m, Investment Week reports. The fund managed for Prudential has earned average annual returns of 12.2% since its launch, Hedge Week reports. The fund includes share classes in unhedged US dollars, and classes in pounds Sterling and Euros hedged for forex risks against the dollar.
08/06/2010

Martin Currie promotes a manager of flagship Japan fund

Martin Currie has announced the promotion of Clair Marwich from early June as co-manager of the Japan Alpha Fund, alongside Keith Donaldson and John-Paul Temperley. Marwick joined the Japan specialist team in August 2007. Martin Currie has also announced that it is planning to close the fund at GBP175m in assets. The Japan Alpha Fund is a conviction-based fund, with 30 to 40 positions. Since the beginning of the year, the GBP32m fund has earned returns of 23.6%, compared with 14.6% for the Topix index.
08/06/2010

JP Morgan plans to launch emerging markets value fund

Fund Strategy reports that JP Morgan Asset Management is planning to launch a global emerging markets value fund, with an initial performance objective of 4%. The head of emerging markets equities activities at the group, Richard Titherington, will manage the fund as a diversified portfolio of 50 to 70 positions which distribute dividends.
08/06/2010

Hedge funds lost more than 2.6% in May, according to HFR

In May, the HFRX global hedge fund index from Hedge Fund Research came in at 1153.39. This represents a decline of 2.64%, the heaviest loss since November 2008 (soon after the collapse of Lehman Brothers), and follows a positive performance of 0.80% in April. Since the beginning of the year, the index has lost 0.26%. The Ucits HFS Index, which tracks the evolution of UCITS-compliant hedge funds, has lost 1.08% in May, compared with gains of 0.90% in April. Since the beginning of the year, these funds have earned average returns of 2.16%. The heaviest loss in May (5.58%) was for convertible funds, compared with gains of 1.36% in April. The strategy shows losses of 0.26% in the first five months of the year. In January-May, long/short equity funds have lost 0.40%, and CTA have lost 2.53%, Structured Solutions reports. The largest gains in the first five months of the year have been for global macro (8.55%) and fixed income (7.63%) strategies.
08/06/2010

Assets rose in 2009, but subscriptions remain weak

Asset managers enjoyed growth in assets of USD5,000bn in 2009, taking total assets to USD49,000bn EUR41,000bn), according to research from Cerulli Associates cited by Financial Times Fund Management. Mutual funds made up USD21,000bn of the total, showing growth of 16 per cent, but just one percentage point, or USD240bn, of that was due to new money from investors.
08/06/2010

BBVA AM launches a commodities fund of funds

On 2 June, BBVA Asset Management registered the commodities fund of funds Quality Commodities, created on 26 May, with the CNMV. The new fund will be allowed to invest at least 50% of its assets in other funds with complete flexibility. BBVA AM will use a composite benchmark index, which will be 70% composed of the DJ UBS Commodity TR, while HSBC Global Mining TR will account for 19.5%, and the MSCI World Energy will represent 10.5%. The management team will be allowed to adopt short positions and to invest in derivatives of financial commodities indices traded on regulated markets. The product will offer daily liqudity, but the prospectus adds that a 10-day advance notice period will be required for all redemption demands. The minimal recommended investment period will be 5-7 years, and minimal subscription is set at EUR3,000, except for employees and pensioners from the BBVA group. A distribution agreement has been signed with BBVA Quality Funds. Characteristics Name: Quality Commodities FI Risk profile: Very high Manager: BBVA Asset Management Depository bank: Banco Depositario BBVA Management commission -direct: 0.95% of assets and 9% of performance -indirect: 3% of assets and 20% of performance
08/06/2010

BNY Mellon lance une émission de 700 millions de dollars

BNY Mellon a annoncé en fin de semaine dernière le lancement d’une émission d’actions ordinaires pour un montant d’environ 700 millions de dollars (25,9 millions de titres à 27 dollars l’unité) afin de financer l’acquisition de PNC Global Investment Servicing.L’offre est ouverte jusqu’au 9 juin. Les co-teneurs du livre sont Goldman Sachs et Citi, BofA Merrill Lynch et Morgan Stanley opérant en tant que co-managers.
08/06/2010
Fonds

Fermeture du fonds de voitures de stock-car

Selon un avis publié par la SEC, le Stockcar Stocks Index Fund sera liquidé d’ici au 1er août, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Ce fonds spécialiste des voitures de stock-car et des courses du Nascar affichait un encours de seulement 4 millions de dollars.
Fonds
08/06/2010

Paulson, TPG et Apollo prennent 15,6 % de Harrah's

En échange d’obligations de Harrah’s Entertainment de presque 1,12 milliard de dollars de valeur faciale, Paulson & Company, TPG Capital et Apollo Management ont pris 15,6 % de la société de casinos, dont 9,9 % pour Paulson et 5,7 % pour les deux autres gestionnaires alternatifs. Harrah’s a vendu à Paulson pour 351 millions de dollars en numéraire des obligations de 532 millions de dollars arrivant à échéance entre 2015 et 2017 ; TPG et Apollo ont acquis pour 200 millions de dollars d’autres obligations Harrah’s d’un volume de 303 millions.
08/06/2010
Fonds

M&G lance un "newcits"

Dave Fishwick et Eric Lonergan sont les gérants du nouveau M&G Macro Episode Fund, version conforme à la directive OPCVM III d’un hedge fund, le Prudential life fund lancé au début de 2001 ainsi que d’un autre hedge fund de M&G domicilié aux îles Caïman. Ce produit, qui fait appel à la finance comportementale, est initialement réservé aux investisseurs institutionnels et aux particuliers avertis, avec une souscription minimale fixée à 1 million de livres, indique Investment Week. Le fonds géré pour Prudential affiche une performance annuelle moyenne de 12,2 % depuis le lancement, précise Hedge Week.L’objectif est de générer à l’aide d’une stratégie long/short sur des indices de plusieurs classes d’actifs (actions, obligations d’Etat, obligations d’entreprise, devises et cash) une performance supérieure à celle des actions mondiales sur le moyen terme, mais avec une volatilité inférieure.Le fonds comporte des classes de parts en dollars non couvertes, en livres et en euros couvertes du risque de change sur le dollar.
Fonds
08/06/2010
Fonds

Premier fonds pour Querns Asset Managers

La nouvelle société de gestion Querns Asset Managers va lancer son premier fonds, un produit diversifié actions/obligations, le Querns Income Funds. Il investira principalement en actions britanniques et en obligations d’entreprises britanniques. Ce fonds, dans lequel les associés investiront 5 millions de livres pour l’amorçage, ne comporte pas de droit d’entrée et affiche une commission de gestion de 0,75 %.Querns Asset Managers a été créée récemment par les gérants Phil Roantree et Stephen Whittaker, deux anciens de New Star, ainsi que par Peter Gardner (ex Invesco Perpetual) et John Tierney (ex selectfunds et ancien de Perpetual). L’objectif de Querns AM est d’atteindre un encours de 250 millions de livres sous cinq ans.
Fonds
08/06/2010

BNP Paribas Wealth management fait son apparition outre-Manche

BNP Paribas a annoncé, lundi 7 juin, le rapprochement au Royaume-Uni de ses activités de gestion privée avec celles de Fortis Private Investment Management et Insinger de Beaufort UK, sous le nom BNP Paribas Wealth Management. L’entité, qui va gérer près de 5 milliards de livres sterling d’actifs et emploiera 130 personnes, proposera des services d’investissement, de gestion de patrimoine, et des solutions de financement et de structuration à une clientèle britannique et internationale. «Au delà des solutions d’investissement dans les différentes classes d’actifs, des conseils juridiques et fiduciaires, BNP Paribas Wealth Management UK va mettre à la disposition de ses clients des équipes spécialisées dans des produits d’investissement sur mesure, mais aussi la philanthropie, l’art et l’immobilier. Elle va également pouvoir proposer des solutions de financement», précise un communiqué de la banque. Le nouvel ensemble sera dirigé par Ligia Torres, ancien responsable Fixed Income Corporate /SAS Origination and Sales, pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Asie, chez BNP Paribas.

Sujets d'actualité

Tous les sujets