The public pension fund Första AP-fonden (AP1) has announced losses for 2008 of SEK48bn (less than EUR4.6bn), or 21.9%, on its investments, bringing assets as of the end of December to less than SEK172bn, from SEK219bn.The fund is planning to reduce staff dedicated to active management, to focus on its core profession, strategic asset allocation. This will result in the loss of 20 jobs and a 25% reduction in annual operating costs after the reduction.

Eaton Vance Corp (USD124.9bn in assets as of the end of December) has announced the appointment of Niall Michael Quinn as managing director of Eaton Vance Management International in Boston, where he will be in charge of development the American management firm’s activities abroad. He will report to Lisa Jones, head of institutional. Quinn was previously head of business development at Gartmore Investment Management Ltd in London.

Van Kampen Investments (USD84bn in assets under management or administration) has announced that it has recruited Elizabeth Hughes Eginton as managing director, head of product and marketing. She will report to Jerry Miller, president and CEO, and will be in charge of direction and development of products and marketing. She will be leaving Legg Mason Capital Management, where she was senior cive president and director of corporate strategy, after serving as head of asset management at McKinsey & Company.

The Harvard University endowment (which weighed USD36.9bn at the end of June) declared a portfolio to the SEC of 70 positions on shares and publicly traded funds, totalling USD571m, as of the end of December, compared with about 200 positions on shares and other vehicles worth USD2.9bn three months previously, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Nearly 700 directors at Merrill Lynch got cash bonuses of more than USD1m each for 2008, the Financial Times reports. Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, called the bank’s decision to pay nearly USD4bn to its employees a ?surprising display of irresponsibility.? An investigation will be launched into pay policies at Merrill Lynch.

Confronted with the rise of IFAs and distribution platforms, also known as wealth management professionals, in private management, La Française des Placements (LFP) has built a sales team which already includes three specialists (Emmanuel d’Ythurbide, Stéphane Petit et Percilia Antunes), and which has recently gained a director, in the person of David Edmond, who from 2000 to 2008 was head of partnerships at Les Assurances Saint-Honoré Patrimoine (Groupe LCF Rothschild).LFP now has a special range of funds dedicated to wealth management professionals, consisting of P-class shares in funds launched between 10 January 2001 (LFP Obligations Latitude) and 5 September 2008 (LFP Activinflation). It also includes the Convictions Premium LFP, LFP Avantages Compétitifs and LFP Allocation funds, as well as several horizon funds.The management firm states that an action plan has been put in place, which calls for a strengthening of partnerships with platforms and a high profile in assisting wealth management agencies, including direct meetings with them, and organising roadshows in Paris and the French provinces.

The wife of Bernard Madoff, Ruth, withdrew a total of USD15.5m from Cohmad Securities, a Massachusetts broker which supplied clients to her husband, in the three weeks before his arrest on 11 December, according to evidence submitted by the Massachusetts state market regulators, the Financial Times reports.

Pensions & Investments reports that Grantham Mayo von Otterloo (GMO) on Wednesday evening confirmed the appointment of Marc Mayer as CEO. Mayer, who spent 20 years at AllianceBernstein (Axa IM group), where he was most recently executive vice president and CIO for the asset allocation group, will join GMO in March. He will be the first CEO of GMO with more than 10 years of experience in a pension-oriented management setting.At AllianceBernstein, Seth J. Masters will replace Mayer as head of the defined contribution division.

Eric Daniels, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, on Wednesday agreed not to receive his 2008 bonus of GBP2.3m, the Financial Times reports, even though Lloyds earned profits last year, excluding losses brought on by the merger with HBOS.

Following the retirement of Dwight Churchill, 55, Fidelity Investments has appointed Charles Morrison as its interim CIO for bonds, Handelsblatt reports. Morrison will also continue to serve as head of money market fund management.

Standard Life will spend GBP100m to reimburse investors in the Pension Sterling Fund, a money market fund which was supposed to be a safe investment but which in fact lost money through investments in exotic products, the Financial Times reports. In one day, the fund lost 4.8%, as Standard Life revised its valuations of asset-backed securities (ABS) which constituted half of its portfolio.

?The fact of being multidispliplinary has made us able to hold out fairly well,? said Xavier Lépine, chairman of UFG, on Wednesday. The management firm may have seen net redemptions of EUR1.86bn from alternative management in 2008, bringing total assets in this area down from EUR3.54bn at the end of 2007 to EUR1.49bn at the end of 2008, but these outflows were partly compensated for by net subscriptions in all other professions: real estate (+EUR402m), securities (+EUR664m), private equity (+EUR28m), and insurance (+EUR163m). In total, UFG had net redemptions for the year of only EUR612m, and has seen a decline in its assets to EUR19.5bn, from EUR21bn at the end of 2007.In January of this year, although outflows have continued for alternative management (-EUR84bn), UFG has posted net subscriptions of EUR812m, largely in securities, which have brought assets back above the EUR20bn threshold.In 2009, UFG will enrich its product range with a new theme: socially responsible investment. The firm has acquired a majority stake in Sarasin AM, the French affiliate of the Swiss firm Sarasin, from which it will create a management firm, UFG Sarasin, which will start out with EUR500m in assets.As a part of this project, all equities management at UFG will be ?SRIzed,? in the words of Bertrand Fournier, chairman of the board at Sarasin AM. But SRI is also applicable to other asset classes managed by UFG. In real estate, the firm has recently launched an SRI OPCI fund (see article dedicated to the subject). SRI projects are also under consideration in private equity and alternative management.

Deutsche Bank Fund Solutions has raised USD24m since its launch on 19 January, and is now releasing its new DB Platinum CROCI Asia Pacific Fund, aimed at institutionals, in Luxembourg and Singapore. The product is available in other European and Asian countries in the form of a private investment.The fund replicates the Deutsche Bank CROCI Asia Pacific Fund (CROCI is an abbreviation for Cash Return on Capital Invested), which aims to identify equities for which the valuations are the most attractive in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan. The portfolio includes 30 positions, from a universe of 150 shares with the largest floats.Deutsche Bank states that management commission for the institutional portion of the fund is 0.75%, and that the fund, in keeping with the UCITS III directive, offers daily net asset value reporting.

According to experts in the world of philanthropy, the Madoff scandal will affect millions of people, since it will cost charities and endowments at medical and scientific research institutions in nearly all areas from diabetes to palliative care, the Wall Street Journal reports. The victims of the fraud include big names in philanthropy such as Mortimer Zuckerman, Leonard Feinstein and Carl Shapiro, and also... the Bernard L. And Ruth Madoff Foundation.

The Irish leveraged product broker Delta Index on Wednesday opened its German-language X-Deal platform for contracts for difference (CFD), on which it is possible to trade about 500 CFDs initially. Transaction costs for orders on X-Deal are 0.1% of the volume traded.Delta Index states that it has about 3,000 clients in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Hungary.

For 2008, DekaBank has posted ?economic? profits (the sum of pre-tax IFRS and total valuation of financial instruments) of EUR167.9m, which represents a fall of 67.3% from 2007 results, and, despite net losses ?of an amount in the low hundreds of millions of Euros,? the asset management firm for the German savings banks is planning to pay out an unchanged dividend, totalling about EUR30m.Net subscriptions fell 84.4% to EUR1.94bn (for securities as well as real estate), while assets as of 31 December totalled EUR142.5bn, which represents a 13.8% decrease in one year. Gross inflows to open-ended funds fell to EUR48bn, from EUR49bn in 2007.

Robert L. Reynolds, president and CEO, announced on Thursday that Putnam Investments (USD101bn in assets) will be laying off 260 employees, equivalent to about 10% of its personnel. The measure will primarily affect distribution and operational areas, but some sales staff will also be cut, Pensions & Investments reports. In addition, Putnam will be scaling down its distribution efforts outside the United States.

According to preliminary estimates on the basis of 58% of assets in the sample, the Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index is estimated to have earned performance of 0.80% in January. The two strategies that have posted the best results are convertible arbitrage (+7.43%) and global macro (+2.54%), while the heaviest losses were for multi-strategy funds (-1.59%) and long/short equity (-1.17%).

The Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF) on 10 February decided to withdraw the Sicav Herald (Lux) from trading and to require its liquidation. The US Absolute Return Fund, a sub-fund of the Sicav, was exposed to Bernard Madoff.The verdict comes as a part of an effort ?to establish the responsibilities of various parties in relation to the Herald (Lux) and its depository bank, HSBC Securities Services (Luxembourg) S.A., and to better safeguard the rights of investors,? the regulator explains.

The German private equity firm Arques Industries has announced that it has acquired the British School of Motoring Ltd for an undisclosed amount from RAC plc, an affiliate of Aviva. The driving instruction network employs about 2,700 monitors and operates 100 service centres. It is the leader on the British market, with a market share of about 10%, and revenues of GBP34m in 2008. Arques states that, in keeping with its business model, it has acquired BSM without debt. For Aviva, the sale is a part of a move to concentrate on its core activities.

According to the Spanish Inverco association of management firms, total assets in funds at the end of January totalled EUR227.62bn, which is EUR1.19bn or 0.52% less than at the end of December. For securities funds, assets under management, at EUR165.39bn, were down by EUR2.24bn, or 1.3%, in one month, while net redemptions, at EUR1.81bn, were at their lowest levels since July 2007, with the exception of August 2008. In January, net subscriptions totalled EUR156m for long-term bond funds and EUR53m for emerging market bonds.Assets in Sicav funds, for their part, increased by EUR192m to a total of EUR26.97bn as of the end of the month, while assets in real estate funds fell by EUR152m or 2.1% to more than EUR7.25bn. Lastly, assets under management by foreign management firms are estimated by Inverco at EUR28bn at the end of January, or EUR1bn, (3.7%) more than at the end of the previous month.

According to a study by A.T.Kearney entitled ?Green Winners: The Performance of Sustainability-focused Companies in the Financial Crisis,? which surveys 99 of the largest firms considered ?sustainable? by dint of featuring on the Dow Jones Sustainability or the Sustain Focus List from Goldman Sachs, share prices in this category outperformed their sectoral averages by an average of 15% in 16 out of 18 industrial sectors, in the period from May to November 2008. In terms of market capitalisation, this outperformance corresponds to an average of USD650m per firm.

The Financial Times reports that the Financial Services Authority was concerned about risk management at HBOS as early as 2002, it emerged on Wednesday. At the same time, Sir James Crosby, former CEO of the bank, resigned from his position as vice-chairman of the FSA, in the wake of accusations that he ignored warnings about the rapid growth of HBOS.

#Le Crédit Agricole a une chance historique de prendre le contrôle de Caceis pour un prix modeste. S’ils ne proposent pas une offre d’ici à la fin du mois, Natixis retirera le dossier de la vente», peut-on lire dans les colonnes de la Tribune qui cite une source proche du dossier. Initialement, la banque verte devait prendre le contrôle de Caceis à hauteur de 55 %, le solde étant racheté par un fonds d’investissement, probablement TPG, précise le quotidien.

Face à la montée en puissance des CGP et des plates-formes, les «professionnels du patrimoine», au sein de la gestion privée, La Française des Placements (LFP) a structuré une équipe commerciale comprenant déjà trois spécialistes (Emmanuel d’Ythurbide, Stéphane Petit et Percilia Antunes) et à laquelle elle vient de donner un responsable en la personne de David Edmond. L’impétrant a été de 2000 à 2008 responsable des partenariats chez Les Assurances Saint-Honoré Patrimoine (Groupe LCF Rothschild).LFP dispose désormais d’une gamme de fonds spécifique pour les professionnels du patrimoine, avec des produits dont le lancement s’est échelonné (parts P) entre le 10 janvier 2001 (LFP Obligations Latitude) et le 5 septembre 2008 (LFP Activinflation). Elle comporte également les fonds Convictions Premium LFP, LFP Avantages Compétitifs et LFP Allocation ainsi qu’une gamme de fonds à échéances. Le gestionnaire précise qu’un plan d"action a été mis en place qui prévoit un renforcement des partenariats avec les plateformes et une forte présence aux côtés des cabinets de gestion de patrimoine, en allant à leur rencontre directement et au cours de réunions à Paris et en province.

Selon La Tribune, après les 2 milliards d’euros perçus en décembre, Allied Irish bank et Bank of Ireland vont à nouveau recevoir 3,5 milliards chacune sous forme de capitaux Tier 1 de la part du gouvernement irlandais. En échange de cette aide, les banques se sont notamment engagées à réduire d’au moins un tiers la rémunération des dirigeants, précise le quotidien.

«Le fait d'être pluridisciplinaires nous a permis de résister relativement bien», a déclaré mercredi Xavier Lépine, président d’UFG. En 2008, la société de gestion a certes accusé des rachats nets de 1,86 milliard d’euros sur l’alternatif, et vu ses encours dans ce domaine revenir de 3,54 milliards fin 2007 à 1,49 milliard d’euros fin 2008.Mais cette décollecte a en partie été compensée par des souscriptions nettes sur tous ses autres métiers : l’immobilier (+402 millions d’euros), les valeurs mobilières (+664 millions), le private equity (+28 millions) et les assurances (+163 millions). Au total, UFG limite sur l’année les rachats nets à 612 millions d’euros et voit ses encours baisser à 19,5 milliards d’euros, contre 21 milliards fin 2007. En janvier de cette année, bien que la décollecte se poursuive sur la gestion alternative (-84 millions), UFG enregistre des souscriptions nettes de 812 millions d’euros, notamment grâce aux valeurs mobilières, ce qui permet à la société de repasser la barre des 20 milliards d’euros d’encours. En 2009 toujours, UFG va enrichir son offre avec un nouveau thème : l’investissement socialement responsable. La société a en effet acquis une participation majoritaire dans Sarasin AM, la filiale française de la banque suisse Sarasin, avec laquelle elle va créer une société de gestion, UFG Sarasin, qui démarrera avec 500 millions d’euros d’encours. Dans ce cadre, l’ensemble de la gestion actions d’UFG sera ainsi «ISRisée» comme le dit Bertrand Fournier, président du directoire de Sarasin AM. Mais l’ISR a aussi vocation à s’appliquer aussi aux autres classes d’actifs gérées par UFG. Ainsi, sur l’immobilier, la société de gestion vient de lancer un OPCI ISR (lire article sur le sujet). Des réflexions sont aussi menées sur le private equity et même la gestion alternative.

Selon La Tribune, James Crosby, le vice-président du régulateur financier britannique, proche de Gordon Brown, le Premier ministre britannique, a démissionné hier, car il était suspecté d’avoir été trop laxiste quand il était à la tête de HBOS. James Crosby, était directeur de HBOS jusqu’en 2006, c’est-à-dire avant sa nationalisation.

Le capital-investisseur allemand Arques Industries indique avoir acquis pour un montant non communiqué la société d’auto-écoles British School of Motoring Ltd auprès de RAC plc, filiale d’Aviva. Il s’agit d’un réseau employant environ 2.700 moniteurs et exploitant une centaine de centres de services. C’est le leader sur le marché britannique, avec une part de marché d’environ 10 % et un chiffre d’affaires de 34 millions de livres en 2008. Arques précise que, conformément à son business model, il a repris BSM sans dette. Pour Aviva, cette cession entre dans le cadre d’une politique de centrage sur son c?ur de métier.

le fonds de pension public Första AP-fonden (AP1) indique avoir réalisé pour 2008 une perte de 48 milliards de couronnes (moins de 4,6 milliards d’euros) ou de 21,9 % sur ses investissements, son encours à fin décembre ressortant à un peu moins de 172 milliards de couronnes contre 219 milliards.Le fonds a l’intention de réduire l’effectif dédié à la gestion active pour se focaliser sur son c?ur de métier, l’allocation d’actifs stratégique. Cela se traduira par la suppression de 20 emplois et par une diminution de 25 % par an des charges d’exploitation une fois cette réorganisation parachevée.