We know that big data and artificial intelligence are IT tools which interest the asset management industry in France, not only for the abilities to analyse and anticipate the financial markets which they promise, but also for their abilities to analyse the behaviour of clients. “We cannot yet see use of big data at financial companies in France for commercial purposes, but we know very well that it will come,” Claire Castanet, director of relations with savings investors at the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), warned at a press conference. “We are vigilant in this area and to prepare we are going to watch the various players and our colleagues internationally who are already facing this development,” adds Olivier Fliche, director of the commercial practices unit at the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR). The two regulatory bodies argue that the essential point to watch out for is hypersegmentation of clients through data analysis, which may lead to exclusion of some categories of clients. “We have seen cases of algorithms which create social biases and in some way become racist,” explains Olivier Fliche. In his opinion, one of the solutions will involve the training of engineers who develop algorithms in such a way as to ensure that they prevent exclusion or commercial bias.

East Capital Explorer changes its name to Eastnine AB (publ), with new Nasdaq Stockholm ticker symbol “EAST”. The name change to Eastnine is a result of the company’s ongoing transformation from an externally managed investment company to a focused real estate company in the Baltics. ”With the new name Eastnine we want to highlight the new phase that our company is entering. The name Eastnine is based on the geographical direction for our investments, as well as on the date 9 November when the Berlin wall came down in 1989, which ultimately unlocked the Baltic countries for foreign investors”, says Lena Krauss, CFO at Eastnine. In conjunction with the name change, the company’s ticker symbol on Nasdaq Stockholm will change from ”ECEX” to ”EAST”, which is expected to be effective on 2 June, 2017.

Intercontinental Exchange, a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Global Research division’s index platform from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The BofAML indices are the second most used fixed income indices by assets under management (AUM) globally, says the press releas, and upon closing, the AUM benchmarked against the combined fixed income index business of ICE will be nearly USD1 trillion. Upon closing, the indices will be re-branded as the ICE BofAML indices. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017. The financial impact of the transaction is expected to be immaterial in 2017.The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research index platform encompasses more than 5,000 fixed income, currency and commodity (FICC) indices that are relied upon by thousands of investors and market participants around the world. Through ICE Data Services, ICE is positioned to enhance and grow the platform to meet customers’ needs across index management, analytics and valuations.Following the close of the transaction, the BofAML Global Research FICC indices will become part of ICE Data Services, a global leader in proprietary market data, analytics, desktops and connectivity solutions. “As the demand for independent indices rises, we are pleased to monetize this valuable set of benchmarks with a strategic owner,” said Candace Browning, head of Global Research, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “

Credit Suisse on 1 June announced that the Qatar sovereign fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), now holds 5.01% of capital in the Swiss banking group. “In an informational report dated 30 May 2017, Credit Suisse Group AG has been informed that as of 24 May 2017, Qatar Holding LLC, controlled by the state of Qatar, held 17.98% of voting rights listed on the commercial register (5.01% of equities, 12.96% of buy options),” a statement from the Swiss group states.In a market statement released in November 2016, the stake held by Qatar Holding in Credit Suisse was 4.93%. The majority of the total stake of 17.98% held by QIA in Credit Suisse is composed of conditional convertible bonds (cocos), which are converted into equities if the ratio of base capital to banking capital falls below a certain level.

As the week of sustainable development is in ful swing, BNP Paribas Asset Management has announcd that its Aqua investment strategy has posted record net inflows of EUR323m in the first four months of the year, largely thanks to subscriptions from retail investors on the BNP Paribas netwok in Belgium, France and Italy, compared with net inflows of slightly over EUR270m over all of last year. The main fund for the strategy, BNP Paribas Aqua, has assets of EUR1.8bn as of the end of April 2017. The fund has earned annual returns of 16.14% since its launch in December 2008, compared with 14.43% for its benchmark index, the MSCI World, the statement says.With inflows of EUR4.5bn in 2016, SRI assets at BNPP AM totalled EUR25bn as of the end of December 2016. BNPP AM is planning to continue the development of its range of SRI funds, “particularly in innovative themes,” to continue to offer clients “solutions with high added value,” the statement concludes.

NewAlpha Asset Management, which claims to have launched the first French venture capital fund dedicated to fintech startups in November 2015, on 1 June announced its sixth fintech investment, which represents a first international investment. The target is wikifolio.com, a website specialised in online trading. NewAlpha states that it is a lead investor in a round of fundraising which also includes historic shareholders at wikifolio.com.

KKR has announced the final closing of KKR Asian Fund III, a USD9.3 billion fund focused on investments in private equity transactions across the Asia Pacific region. The fund surpasses KKR’s USD6 billion Asian Fund II to become the largest private equity fund dedicated to investing in the region, according to Preqin. It received backing from a diverse group of new and existing global investors, including public and corporate pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, family offices and high net worth individual investors."The Firm, along with KKR employees, committed approximately USD800 million, marking it our second-largest commitment to a KKR fund. This highlights our focus on the alignment of KKR’s interests alongside our fund investors, coupled with the excitement for the investment opportunities we are seeing across the region,» added Alisa Wood, KKR Member and Head of Private Market Products Group.With the closing of this fund, KKR’s private equity business manages over USD68 billion in assets under management worldwide (using valuations for existing funds as of March 31, 2017).

At a time when it has just finalised its investment in Smile (see Newsmanagers of 2 May 2017) for EUR47m, the investment company Eurazeo PME, a wholly-owned affiliate of Eurazeo, has announced that it has raised nearly EUR600m with its new fund Eurazeo PME III. Alongside the engagement of Eurazeo owners’ equity for EUR400m, EUR186m were raised from historic investors, as well as from new institutions in France, Europe and the United States. The fund remains open to new subscribers.The group points out that Eurazeo PME had raised EUR520m, including EUR156m from third parties.

Roland Lescure, who in April left the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, where he had been chief investment officer, has joined the new party of Emmanuel Macron, La République en Marche, Bloomberg reports. He is standing for the legislative elections, and has one one of the 11 seats reserved for expatriates.

The Spanish asset management industry is still doing well. According to preliminary statistics released by Imantia Capital, Spanish mutual funds have posted net inflows of EUR1.87bn in May. As a result, since the start of the year, the sector has posted EUR9.95bn in net subscriptions. Gross inflows total EUR2.42bn in May, up 1% compared with April, Imantia Capital states. Since the beginning of 2017, gross inflows thus total EUR13.95bn, up 5.9% compared with the end of December 2016. In this context, assets under management in the sector totalled EUR251.52bn as of the end of May 2017.

BNP Paribas Asset Management confirms the creation of a Private Debt & Real Assets Investment Group and announces senior hires. BNPP AM’s Private Debt & Real Assets Investment Group, headed by David Bouchoucha, invests in syndicated loans, direct loans and private bonds that finance corporates or real assets, and consists of three main teams. The Real Assets, SME (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) Lending and Structured Finance team, headed by Laurent Gueunier, is positioning itself for future growth through the recent addition of three team heads: Philippe Deloffre joined in March as Head of Real Estate Debt, Karen Azoulay was appointed Head of Infrastructure Debt in April and Christophe Carrasco joined as Head of SME Lending, in May. They will complement the existing teams already in place, in particular the Structured Finance team, headed by Stéphane Blanchoz, which currently manages European ABS assets and has a solid track record. The team now comprises 10 dedicated professionals. With these recent developments, BNP Paribas Asset Management aims to accelerate its development across the full spectrum of private debt solutions, after having successfully closed a €500 million European SME lending fund in September 2016.The Global Loans team, headed by Vanessa Ritter is a truly global platform, comprising 20 dedicated experts in New York and Paris, and specialising in leveraged loan financing. It manages leveraged loan funds and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs), as well as being a market leader in private placements, having launched the Novo fund in 2013. Since 2010 the team has built up a strong track record and experienced a rapid growth in assets, and will continue to expand and innovate in the area of leveraged loans and mid-market financing.The SME Advanced Solutions is a new team headed by Fabrice Susini, who also recently joined BNP Paribas Asset Management. It consists of an innovative alternative pan-European SME lending platform. The creation of this platform within BNP Paribas Asset Management will enable to offer clients unique access to scale in the direct lending space, by providing a powerful origination engine to ramp up SME loan funds. This team will be reinforced with new hires in the near future

In a double move, the OFI group, an affiliate of Macif and Matmut, has this morning announced that it has acquired a 34% stake the Crystal group, a specialist in advising and distribution of wealth management solutions in France and internationally. With this reinforcement, the Crystal group, for its part, has announced that it is acquiring the wealth management consulting firm Expert & Finance. The objective is clear: become the brand of reference in the wealth management and independent investment consulting market in five years. For the OFI group, which had EUR68bn in assets under management as of the end of 2016, this operation in Crystal is a realisation of its multi-channel distribution strategy serving retail clients, and comes as part of the implementation of the “OFI 2020” strategic plan to extend its client base.With the acquisition of the Expert & Finance network, the Crystal group becomes the second-largest independent French network of independent financial advisers (CGP). With the addition of 20,000 clients from Expert & Finance, and its own 35,000 clients, 5,000 of them abroad, it now has 220 employees, 490 partners in the accounting professions, and 300 professional wealth management partners. The two groups say in a statement that they are now planning to engage in work to implement operational and commercial synerrgies following this strategic takeover. “Beyond development and commercial synergies, we are convinced that sharing in terms of experience, expertise, manageent and development between the Crystal group and the OFI group will be a real benefit. In addition, the strategic orientation of the OFI group is in sync with the vision of the Crystal group, and opens real new opportunities for development,” says Bruno Narchal, chairman and founder of the Crystal group, in a statement.

AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets announces the further expansion of its North American team with the appointments of Rob Neiffer as director of asset management, Shawn Duggal as vice president of acquisitions, Victoria Rozman as U.S. director of accounting, and Jimmy Lagreca as senior analyst to the asset management team.As director of asset management, Rob Neiffer will assume responsibility for designing and implementing strategies for maximizing the value of assets within the U.S. portfolio, reporting to Steve McCarthy, head of North America. Rob Neiffer joins AXA IM - Real Assets from Amazon Worldwide, where he held the role of Northeast regional asset manager, responsible for the management of all Amazon properties/facilities in the northeast U.S. and Canada. Prior to that, he spent over 10 years at Invesco Real Estate based in New York.Shawn Duggal joins as vice president of Acquisitions having spent the past two and a half years as assistant vice president of direct real estate Investments at the Partners Group in San Francisco. He reports to Aaron Kutner, U.S. director of acquisitions.Victoria Rozman, the newly appointed U.S. director of accounting, will be responsible for finance and accounting operations, reporting to Caryn Lombardi, U.S. head of finance and operations. Victoria Rozman joins AXA IM - Real Assets following over five years at JP Morgan Chase in New York where she held the role of vice president of alternative investments and private equity.In addition, Jimmy Lagreca joins as senior analyst to the asset management team from JP Morgan Chase Global Real Assets, and will be reporting to Soo Rhim, vice president of asset management.

Charles-Henri Herrmann has been chosen as head of the French office of Janus Henderson, the firm born of the merger of Janus Capital and Henderson Global Investors, NewsManagers has learned. It will thus be a man drawn from the former Parisian ranks of Henderson who will take over as director of the entity created in France with teams from Janus, as appears to be the case elsewhere in Europe also. The head of the French office of Janus had quit the US firm a few months ago.Herrmann was promoted in late March to the position of director of development for France, Geneva and Monaco at Henderson GI, succeeding Patricial Kaveh, who was dismissed after 13 years at the company. He joined Henderson in 2010 as senior sales manager.The head of Janus Henderson for France will report to Ignacio de la Maza, who has just been appointed as director of wholesale for continental Europe and Latin America, a newly-created position. De la Maza had previously been head of sales for Latin America and the Iberian peninsula at Henderson Global Investors, positions which he will continue to occupy. He joined the British firm in 2009 following the acquisition of New Star Asset Management.Meanwhile, Steven de Vries becomes director of global financial institutions. He had previously been director of retail development for Europe at Henderson Global Investors, a position which he will no longer hold. The Dutchman joined the firm in 2001, after working for Axa Investment Managers and ING Group.Both will report to Greg jones, director of distribution, EMEA and Latin America.One further person will be recruited in the next few months to assist de Vries in his new role.

Robeco announces that its Robeco Chinese A-share Equities fund is now open for external subscriptions from institutional investors. The fund offers European investors direct access to the growing potential of China’s economy and markets. The fund is a Luxembourg domiciled actively managed UCITS V compliant A-share equities fund.Robeco’s Chinese A-share Equities fund invests in the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets. The portfolio is constructed based on macro investment themes, including demographic, economic and social developments in China. The fund combines disciplined, fundamental research with input from Robeco’s proprietary quantitative model. Robeco Hong Kong is responsible for the day-to-day management of Robeco Chinese A-share Equities, while Robeco Shanghai provides local advice on the fund’s investment strategy.The fund follows a high conviction philosophy which leads to a concentrated portfolio of 30-50 stocks. It is benchmark agnostic and uses the MSCI China A International Index as a reference index. The fund is registered in Luxembourg, additional registrations and availability will be based upon investor demand in Robeco’s key markets in Europe. The fund is not yet registered locally in Asia.

Le responsable de la conformité et des affaires publiques de PAI Partners, Blaise Duault, va rejoindre Téthys, la société holding qui gère la fortune de la famille Bettencourt-Meyers, qui détient une participation dans L’Oréal, rapporte Private Equity News. Cela faisait 16 ans que Blaise Duault travaillait pour PAI Partners.

Roland Lescure, qui a quitté en avril la Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, où il était directeur des investissements, a rejoint le nouveau parti d’Emmanuel Macron, La République en Marche, rapporte Bloomberg. Il est candidat aux législatives, ayant remporté l’un des 11 sièges attribués aux expatriés.

Le groupe allemand Union Investment a annoncé ce 1er juin l’acquisition pour le compte de son fonds réservé à la clientèle institutionnelle UII German M, d’un ensemble immobilier commercial à Nuremberg. L’ensemble, qui comprend quatre immeubles, développe une surface commerciale d’environ 40.600 m2. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été divulgué.

Robeco a annoncé que son fonds Robeco Chinese A-share Equities, investi en actions A chinoises, était désormais ouvert aux investisseurs institutionnels européens. Ce fonds de droit luxembourgeois, conforme à la directive OPCVM V, est investi sur les marchés des actions A à Shanghai et Shenzhen. La gestion en est confiée à Robeco Hong Kong, tandis que Robeco Shanghai fournira des conseils locaux sur la stratégie d’investissement.Le portefeuille, concentré autour de 30 à 50 titres, est bâti en se fondant sur des thèmes macro, dont les développements démographiques, économiques et sociaux en Chine. Il est géré en associant recherche fondamentale et informations issues du modèle quantitatif de Robeco. Le fonds n’a pas de contraintes vis-à-vis de son indice de référence, le MSCI China A International.Le fonds est enregistré au Luxembourg et il sera agréé dans d’autres marchés d’Europe. Il n’est pas enregistré en Asie.

La banque privée J. Safra Sarasin a racheté à son homologue genevoise BNP Paribas (Suisse) un bâtiment en plein coeur de Genève, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Les deux établissements ont confirmé à l’agence AWP une information du magazine financier Bilan. Le bimensuel avance un prix de vente de 80 millions de francs suisses, un montant que les principaux intéressés n’ont pas souhaité commenter. Dans une prise de position, J. Safra Sarasin indique avoir acquis le bâtiment pour son propre usage, afin de soutenir son développement tant à Genève qu’en Suisse. La banque emploie 200 personnes à Genève. Elle n’a pas fourni de précisions quant à l’extension des activités ou à la future évolution du personnel dans la Cité de Calvin. BNP Paribas (Suisse) dispose pour sa part encore de trois immeubles à Genève (place de Hollande, boulevard de la Tour et rue de l’Ecole-de-Chimie). Elle va concentrer ses activités sur ces sites. «La vente s’inscrit dans la stratégie de BNP Paribas en Suisse et de sa gestion immobilière. Avec la volonté de construire une banque plus digitale, nous mettons en place de nouvelles méthodes de travail au bénéfice à la fois de nos clients et de nos collaborateurs», assure Laurence Anthony, porte-parole.

La boutique espagnole Fidentiis Gestion renforce ses équipes d’analystes et de gestion actions ibériques avec le recrutement de Leon Izuzquiza au poste d’analyste senior, rapporte le site spécialisé Funds People. L’intéressé, qui compte plus de 11 ans d’expérience comme analyste financier, arrive en provenance de JB Capital Markets où il a officié pendant sept ans comme directeur du département d’analyse.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs néerlandais Kempen Capital Management vient de rejoindre l’association Urban Land Institute en tant que « membre corporate ». L’Urban Land Institute est une association mondiale à but non lucratif spécialisée dans la recherche et l’éducation autour de l’immobilier et du développement urbain. L’association compte plus de 40.000 membres répartis dans le monde entier.

Responsable du marché institutionnel néerlandais pour Amundi Asset Management Nederland, Tim Kruis rejoint Invesco comme directeur des ventes institutionnelles pour le Benelux, rapporte le site spécialisé Fondsnieuws. L’intéressé sera subordonné à Jilbert Blom, responsable des ventes institutionnelles au Benelux et dans les pays scandinaves.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs et de fortune britannique Charles Stanley vient de renforcer ses équipes commerciales en charge des intermédiaires en recrutant Chetan Mistry et Simon Lloyd, rapporte Investment Week. Chetan Mistry arrive en provenance d’Axa Life Invest où il officiait en tant que spécialiste de la retraite. Avant cela, il avait travaillé chez Antonor et Scottish Widows. Pour sa part, Simon Lloyd travaillait précédemment chez Meteor Structured Products au sein de son équipe en charge des ventes auprès des intermédiaires.Dans le cadre de leurs nouvelles fonctions respectives, Chetan Mistry sera responsable du développement du réseau d’intermédiaires de la société dans Londres et ses environs tandis que Simon Lloyd se concentrera sur le développement de l’activité auprès des conseillers financiers dans la région du sud-ouest de l’Angleterre.

Tierce Partie Marketer (TPM) depuis 2004 à Paris, Investeam annonce l’ouverture d’un bureau à Londres. «Malgré le Brexit, Londres reste une place incontournable pour l’industrie financière. La présence locale d’Investeam UK, structure commerciale agréée par la FCA, sera un atout majeur pour la réussite des sociétés de gestion souhaitant atteindre les investisseurs professionnels britanniques», souligne un communiqué.Sous la direction de Thierry Sebton, partenaire historique d’Investeam – notamment dans la création en France des premiers fonds Micado de prêts à l’économie - Investeam UK comprend quatre commerciaux. Depuis Londres, Thierry Sebton a dirigé par le passé les équipes de titrisation de Paribas, IBJ, RBS et Calyon. «De nombreux fonds français, pourtant performants, n’ont pas pénétré le marché britannique où les actifs sous gestion représentent 7.000 milliards de livres. Nous sommes convaincus que les sociétés de gestion que nous représenterons sauront gagner la confiance des investisseurs professionnels britanniques : notre équipe est composée d’experts qui opèrent au Royaume-Uni depuis de nombreuses années», commente Thierry Sebton, CEO d’Investeam UK, cité dans le communiqué.

Susa Fund Management, le hedge fund en actions géré par Reza Amiri, rend leur capital aux investisseurs, rapporte Bloomberg. Le fonds Susa European Equities a enregistré une performance en baisse de 2,2% depuis le début de l’année à fin avril sur sa part en dollars, après avoir perdu 4% l’an dernier, selon des indications données par mail à Bloomberg par le directeur des opérations Graeme White. Ce dernier a confirmé que le hedge fund londonien rendait l’argent aux investisseurs sans donner de plus amples explications. L’agence rappelle qu’en 2016, un nombre record de hedge funds ont fermé leurs portes en raison de performances décevantes et d’une pression accrue sur les prix. Susa Fund Management gère 450 millions de dollars d’après Bloomberg.

Alan Glendon, ancien directeur des ventes britanniques chez Janus Capital, qui vient de boucler sa fusion avec Henderson, a quitté le nouveau groupe pour rejoindre Principal Global Investors en qualité de responsable de la distribution pour le Royaume-Uni, rapporte le site spécialisé Investment Week. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Alan Glendon sera chargé de renforcer et développer les relations entre Principal, dont les encours s’élèvent à 424 milliards de dollars, et les banques privées, les gestionnaires de fortune, les family offices et les brokers au Royaume-Uni, en Irlande et dans les îles anglo-normandes. Alan Glendon sera rattaché à Nick Lyster, responsable mondial des services de conseil en gestion de fortune.