Axa Rosenberg has appointed Robert Hegt as director of sales and marketing for Europe, Professional Pensions reports. He was previously at Wellington Management and Schroders.

The UK asset management firm Ignis Asset Management has hired a team of five people to develop its activities in continental Europe, and especially in France. The team, who will be joining Ignis at the beginning of September, is composed entirely of former sales staff from New Star, the asset management firm recently acquired by Henderson. Among them is Philip Goldsmith, who will lead manage the team, and was head of international development at New Star. At Ignis, as Managing Director Europe, he will be responsible for distribution in France and the French-speaking countries, and will be based in Valais, Switzerland. Goldsmith will report to Jonathan Polin, Ignis Sales & Marketing Director, and will work with André Haubensack, who will be in charge of German-speaking countries; Mauro Loran, for the Iberian region and Latin America; Arcangelo Barletta, for Italy, and Ghislaine Fournigault, for Benelux. Five others will be recruited in London to support this sales team, located throughout Europe. The five people will be responsible for the distribution of Ignis’s in-house products, as well as funds from its joint venture boutiques operations; Argonaut Capital, Cartesian Capital and Hexam Capital. Ignis AM, which managed GBP65bn in assets as of 31 March, has its own asset management teams, but has also supported the development of small specialised asset management firms in its orbit. The firm offers managers who want to found their own entity full administrative support in exchange for a stake in the capital. Hexam, a firm specialised in emerging markets, was founded by two managers from Barings, with the support of Ignis, which holds a 50% stake in the firm. Target clients in Europe will be initially banks (retail and private), funds of funds, insurers, family offices, mutuals, wealth managers, and institutional platforms.

According to data from the European asset management association (Efama), assets in investment funds worldwide totalled EUR13.640trn as of the end of first quarter 2009, compared with EUR13.590trn the previous quarter. Net subscriptions totalled EUR44bn in first quarter, the association notes. At the end of March 2009, 33% of assets were invested in equities funds, while bond funds accounted for 19% of assets, and 9% was invested in diversified funds.

NYSE Euronext on Thursday listed two new ETFs from Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management: CASAM ETF MSCI China USD and CASAM ETF MSCI India USD. NYSE Euronext now lists 417 ETFs based on more than 265 indexes. Since the beginning of the year, 75 ETF funds have been listed on the European markets operated by NYSE Euronext.

Citigroup agreed to sell Nikko Asset Management, its Japanese fund management arm, to Sumitomo Trust & Banking, Japan’s fifth-biggest bank, the Financial Times reports. The sale brings in Y112.4bn, or USD1.2bn, for Citigroup.

The banking group Vontobel has acquired Commerzbank (Suisse) AG, based in Zurich, whose assets total CHF4.5bn. The purchase price has not been disclosed. The two private client units will be combined to form a single entity in first quarter 2010. The units will operate under the Vontobel name.

To accelerate its growth, Sarasin bank is planning to open a third location in Germany. In addition, Sarasin is studying the possibility of opening a new branch office in China. The bank continued to attract net subscriptions in first half 2009. According to Le Temps, these subscriptions totalled CHF4.8bn. Assets totalled CHF79.9bn as of the end of June. In terms of results, net profits are down 28.5% year on year to CHF53.9m. “In terms of segments, the private banking unit has seen a fall of 92% in its pre-tax profits to CHF4m. Cost per product have deteriorated to 95% (from 70% one year earlier),” the newspaper states.

NYSE Euronext yesterday announced losses of USD182m (EUR129.4m) in second quarter, on consolidated net earnings of USD1.25bn (EUR890m). The business has seen high costs for its restructuring and large one-time charges, for which the price has been 290 layoffs in Europe and the United States, Les Echos reports.

The Asset Management unit of Lazard has seen a fall in its operating revenues to USD131.6m in second quarter of this year, compared with USD178.8m in the corresponding period of 2008. In first half, operating revenues totalled USD234.5m, below the USD347.3m in first half 2008. As of the end of June, assets at Lazard totalled USD98bn, an increase of 21% from USD81.1bn as of 31 March, largely thanks to net subscriptions of USD353m.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the sovereign fund China Investment Corp (USD200bn in assets) has allocated USD500bn to Blackstone’s fund-of-funds unit, and will provide more capital to Morgan Stanley’s asset-management unit. The move is a part of the sovereign fund’s strategy to invest more in hedge funds. The WSJ reports that CIC has selected firms it knows well, as it already holds stakes in both.

Patrick Evershed, the fund manager who claimed bullying was rife at his former employer New Star Asset Management, founded by John Duffield, has won the right to pursue a claim for compensation at an employment tribunal, according toThe Guardian. «Duffield made life impossible for us,» says Evershed. It is reported he could claim up to GBP1m. New Star has been bought by Henderson.

The UK alternative management firm RAB Capital has posted pre-tax losses of GBP2.7bn in first half, compared with profits of GBP12.5m one year previously. The losses are the result of a fall in revenues of GBP35.4m in June 2008, to GBP7.7m for the first six months of the year, due to low performance commission revenues and falling management fees. These fees are a function of assets under management, which totalled USD1.3bn as of 30 June, compared with USD1.9bn at the end of December, and USD5.9bn in June 2008.

According to the most recent study from VDOS Stochastics, cited by Citywire, Spanish funds saw an increase of 0.49% to their assets in July (as of the 24th of the month), to EUR168.7bn. This is far from their peak at EUR239bn in 2007. For the month, the sector has seen net redemptions for EUR410m.

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has posted an update of three documents online at its website. The documents include: Preparation guide for OPCVM mutual fund prospectuses; Summary of the findings of a study of the behaviour of OPCVM funds; Guide to best practices in the composition of sales documents. The AMF states that, as a part of its continual striving towards better regulation, it is committed to updating and releasing updates to its OPCVM doctrines twice per year.

In a decision that contrasts with the position of the French regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Italian regulator Consob has decided not to extend a ban on short-selling beyond 31 July.

Santander Asset Management a vu ses revenus décliner de 30,7 % au premier semestre sur un an glissant. Le bénéfice a chuté de 52 % à 40 millions d’euros, après déduction des dépenses opérationnelles et commissions versées aux réseaux commerciaux. Les encours totaux sous gestion sont ressortis à 105 milliards d’euros, soit 4 % de plus qu'à fin 2008, et ce, malgré la baisse des encours en Espagne de 7 % à 43 milliards d’euros.

Selon Citywire, Acropole AM a lance trois de ses fonds en Autriche : Acropole Convertibles Europe, Acropole Convertibles Monde et Acropole Convertibles Optimum. La société de gestion dédiée aux obligations convertibles lance par ailleurs une campagne pour attirer les investisseurs au Royaume-Uni, Allemagne, Espagne et Suisse, poursuit Citywire.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, la banque UBS est l’entreprise suisse qui jouit de la moins bonne réputation auprès de la population, selon un sondage réalisé par GfK Switzerland. Swatch Group arrive en première position.

Les investisseurs individuels ayant un compte chez Fidelity Investments pourront participer aux introductions en Bourse de sociétés et autres opérations souscrites par Deutsche Bank à compter de cette semaine en vertu d’un accord entre les deux groupes, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. L’accord a une portée plus large que celui signé le mois dernier par la société de gestion et Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Paul F. Healey vient de rejoindre Robeco Investment Management, la branche américaine du groupe Robeco, en tant que Senior Managing Director en charge des ventes, du marketing et des services clients. L’intéressé vient de Franklin Portfolio Associates, qu’il avait rejoint en 1997 en tant que vice-président senior et directeur des ventes et du service clients, pour devenir ensuite président en 2008. Franklin a été fusionné dans Mellon Capital Management en début d’année. Chez Robeco, dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Paul F. Healey remplace Paul Heathwood, qui va diriger les ventes intermédiaires et le marketing.

RWC Partners a procédé à plusieurs recrutements importants, afin de constituer une équipe autour de Mike Corcell, ex de Threadneedle, qui gérera des fonds long short US, rapporte HedgeWeek. Les nouveaux venus sont Gabe Marshank, Alex Robarts, Sam Weeman et Hayes Varey. RWC lancera les fonds RWC Biltmore et RWC US Absolute Alpha en octobre.

St James’s Place va confier la gestion de ses fonds UK and General (414 millions de livres) à John Wood de JO Hambro et Greater European (388 millions) à Peg McGetrick de Liberty Square Asset Management, rapporte Investment Week. Les fonds sont actuellement gérés par THS Partners.

Fitch Ratings a attribue à Mizuho Investment Management (UK), pour ses activités de gestion de leveraged loans, la note Asset Manager Rating de M2, qui remplace la note CDO Asset Manager Rating CAM2. Cela fait suite à l’adoption par l’agence de notation de nouveaux critères pour évaluer les gestionnaires crédit.

Au premier semestre 2009, Boursorama (groupe Société Générale) a ouvert 6.000 comptes épargne, portant le nombre de comptes à fin juin 2009 à 102.800, contre 93.290 à fin juin 2008. En assurance-vie, Boursorama enregistre une hausse de 5 % de ses encours à 1,66 milliard d’euros à fin juin 2009. En revanche, l’encours OPCVM chute de 20 %, à 1,20 milliard contre 1,49 milliard à fin juin 2008. Les encours d’épargne (OPCVM, Assurance Vie et Comptes sur Livrets) sont en léger retrait à 3,3 milliards d’euros (-3%) et le produit d’exploitation «épargne» s’établit à 5,8 millions au premier semestre 2009, contre 13,3 millions d’euros au premier semestre 2008.

«Avec 211 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion à fin 2008, Pictet a vu progresser ses encours à 214 milliards à fin mars 2009 (…)», rapporte L’Agefi, qui constate que le gestionnaire de fortune suisse a réussi à tirer son épingle du jeu pendant la crise. «Nous n’avons observé aucune décollecte. La baisse des encours entre 2008 et 2007 a été uniquement liée à l’effet marché. Nous n’avons par ailleurs été ni exposé au subprime, ni au scandale Madoff», indique à L’Agefi Dominique Benoit, directeur genéral France. Dans l’Hexagone, «nous ambitionnons de devenir une banque de référence en France, intégralement axée sur la gestion de fortune», indique le dirigeant parisien. Dans cette perspective, l’entité cherche à renforcer ses équipes.

Entrepreneur Venture annonce avoir réalisé une collecté 38 millions d’euros dans le cadre des FIP ISF. La société de gestion spécialisée dans le non coté a accumulé 90 millions d’euros sur les 2 premières campagnes TEPA ISF.

RWC Partners has made a series of important recruitments, to construct a team around Mike Corcell, formerly of Threadneedle, to manage long/short US funds, HedgeWeek reporrts. The new recruits are Gabe Marshank, Alex Robarts, Sam Weeman and Hayes Varey. RWC will launch the RWC Biltmore and RWC US Absolute Alpha funds in October.

The Banque Lombard Odier is planning “to invest in high-risk assets in the next few months, expecting the risk/profit profile to become more attractive as market actors fall into line with the direction of events.” In the past few weeks, the bank had positioned its portfolios “defensively,” it is stated in the most recent quarterly newsletter from the firm describing its investment strategies for private clients.

Onlinesim, an Italian online mutual fund distribution platform, has signed a distribution agreement with the French management firm Tocqueville Finance, the Italian firm has announced in a statement. Ten funds will be included in the partnership: Ulysse, Tocqueville Dividende et Odyssée (investis sur le marché français), Tocqueville Value Europe, Ithaque (European markets), Tocqueville Value Amérique and Tocqueville Small Caps Amérique (United States), and Tocqueville Patrimoine (diversified). Recently, Online Sim has also extended its product offerings with the addition of three funds from Pioneer Asset Management (Pioneer Funds - U.S. Equity 130/30 Classe F, Pioneer Funds - Indian Equity Classe F and Pioneer Funds - European Equity Growth Classe F).

L’Agefi Switzerland has revealed that UBS bank is the Swiss business with the poorest reputation among the population in the country, according to a survey undertaken by GfK Switzerland, which places Swatch Group at the top of the reputation rankings.