Old Mutual va vendre Skandia AB, qui regroupe son activité d’épargne longue et de banque en Suède, Danemark et Norvège, à Skandia Liv pour 2,1 milliards de livres (2,5 milliards d’euros). Skandia Liv est une société d’assurance suédoise encore liée à Old Mutual (étant filiale de Skandia AB elle même filiale de Old Mutual) mais qui ne le sera plus à l’issue de la transaction. A noter que Old Mutual restera propriétaire et continuera à utiliser la marque Skandia dans les marchés extérieurs à la Suède, au Danemark et à la Norvège. Skandia Liv utilisera en revanche la marque dans ces trois pays. Skandia a des actifs nets de 1,9 milliard de livres au 30 juin et des fonds sous gestion de 14 milliards.

La CNMV a récemment accordé son agrément pour la commercialisation en Espagne du compartiment Allianz Income&Growth de la sicav luxembourgeoise Allianz Global Investors Fund, rapporte Funds People.Ce produit est la version européenne d’un fonds diversifié lancé aux Etats-Unis en 2007 et qui sert des revenus réguliers aux investisseurs. Le profil de risque des “modéré”. Il est actuellement investi à 66 % en obligations et plus de 30 % en actions.Le droit d’entrée est de 2 % et la commission de gestion de 0,28 %.

Rocio Equiraun, administrateur délégué de Bankia Fondos, a indiqué à Funds People que la société de gestion issue de la fusion Gesmadrid, Bancaja Fondos et Ges Layetana gère désormais seulement 51 fonds (hors produits garantis) contre 197 avant la fusion. Elle a précisé que l’encours se situe à 6,4 milliards d’euros et que Bankia Fondos compte 315.000 clients.

Shenkman Capital Management assure la gestion du fonds Alma US Convertible Fund, le nouveau compartiment de la sicav luxembourgeoise conforme à la directive OPCVM IV Alma Capital Investment Funds. La société de gestion du fonds est La Française AM International à Luxembourg.L’objectif de ce portefeuille diversifié d’obligations convertibles en dollars américains est de surperformer son indice de référence, le BofA/ML All US Convertibles ex. Mandatory Index (V0A0).A la différence d’autres stratégies de convertibles, celle de Shenkman Capital approche les convertibles dans une perspective crédit et recherche des convertibles qui se négocient près de leur «plancher obligataire» avec l’objectif de les revendre quand elles affichent une sensibilité excessive aux actions.Le fonds offre une liquidité hebdomadaire; il est disponible en dollars et en euros couverts. La commission de gestion est de 1 % pour la part institutionnelle.

Dans le cadre d’une table ronde organisée par amLeague et Newsmanagers, Thierry Dissaux, président du Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts: Nous sommes un investisseur assez particulier parce que nous avons une exigence de fond : nous devons à tout moment pouvoir liquider l’intégralité ou la majeure partie de nos actifs pour intervenir lors d’une défaillance bancaire, soit intervenir en remboursement des déposants ou intervenir dans une résolution de crise bancaire. Les deux premières exigences qui sont les nôtres sont celles de liquidité et de sécurité, la performance venant en second. Nous avons à peu près deux milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion, essentiellement sur des produits monétaires court terme pour les raisons que je viens d’indiquer. Notre allocation d’actifs aujourd’hui, c’est à peu près 75 % de fonds monétaires court terme, 20 % d’obligataires, mais avec une duration inférieure à deux ans, et une poche actions qui représente à peu près 5 % de nos actifs. Notre gestion est externalisée. Nous sélectionnons de manière régulière des sociétés de gestion sur chacune de ces trois poches et exclusivement sous la forme de fonds dédiés. On remet régulièrement en cause ces mandats avec un rythme de 3 à 5 ans. Nous travaillons avec une douzaine de sociétés de gestion et beaucoup d’entre elles interviennent sur la partie monétaire. Nous avons a priori une allocation d’actifs qui reste figée, sauf catastrophe particulière. Rien ne nous empêche à tout moment de débrancher un gérant et de basculer sur un autre en tant que de besoin, mais, généralement, nous ajustons la composition entre les sociétés de gestion en fonction de leurs performances et de leurs rentrées de trésorerie. Nous prenons les gérants les plus performants a priori. Cela s'équilibre ou se déséquilibre au fil du temps. Notre horizon de jugement par essence ne peut pas être court. On donne toujours le temps aux sociétés de gestion de montrer leurs performances, surtout quand on traverse une période compliquée comme celle d’aujourd’hui. Nous nous sommes interrogés sur la possibilité d’utiliser soit de la gestion indicielle, soit des ETF, évidemment. Et nous nous y sommes refusés. Si nous nous portons sur la gestion indicielle, nous allons utiliser un gérant pour faire des choses qui sont le décalque du marché et cela ne nous intéresse pas beaucoup. Si nous nous lançons dans l’indiciel pur, nous choisirions un produit de type ETF. Mais en procédant ainsi, nous nous placerions dans une position vers laquelle on se refuse complètement d’aller : nous poser la question tous les matins de savoir si nous restons dans le marché ou si nous en sortons. Ce n’est pas notre métier. Notre métier est d’abord d’intervenir dans des difficultés bancaires à partir de la masse d’actifs qui est la nôtre. Ce n’est pas de suivre au quotidien le marché pour savoir s’il faut rentrer ou sortir. C’est vraiment le travail des gérants. Cela nous ramène à la gestion active. J’ajoute que ce qui nous retient aussi d’aller vers l’indiciel est également lié à nos contraintes. Nous avons construit des mandats de gestion d’actions qui sont en dehors du secteur financier. L’idée n’est pas de se méfier du secteur financier. Nous pensons que les banques sont solides et peuvent performer sur les marchés actions. Simplement, notre risque principal est celui des banques. Donc nous décorrélons une partie de notre gestion d’actifs via des mandats actions hors secteur bancaire. C’est le cas pour tous nos mandats actions.

Shenkman Capital Management will manage the Alma US Convertible Fund, a new sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Alma Capital Investment Funds which complies with the UCITS IV directive. The asset management firm for the fund is La Française AM International in Luxembourg.The objective for the diversified portfolio of convertible bonds in US dollars is to outperform the benchmark, the BofA/ML All US Convertibles ex. Mandatory Index (V0A0). Unlike other convertible strategies, Shenkman Capital approaches convertibles from a credit perspective, and seeks convertibles which are trading near their «bond floor», with the objective of reselling them when they dispaly excessive equity sensivity. The fund offers weekly liquidity; it is available in US dollars and in hedged euros. The management commission is 1% for the institutional share class.

The CNMV has recently issued a Spanish sales license to the Allianz Income& Growth sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Allianz Global Investors Fund, Funds People reports. The product is the European version of a diversified fund launched in the United States in 2007, which delivers regular income to investors. The risk profile is moderate. The fund is currently 66% invested in bonds, and 30% in equities. Front-end fee is 2%, and the management commission is 0.28%.

Old Mutual will sell Skandia AB, which includes long-term savings and banking activities in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, to Skandia Liv, for GBP2.1bn (EUR2.5bn). Skandia Liv is a Swedish insurer which retains ties to Old Mutual (as it is an affiliate of Skandia AB, which in turn is an affiliate of Old Mutual), but which will no longer have ties to the firm after the transaction. Old Mutual will retain ownership of, and will continue to use the Skandia brand in markets outside Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Skandia Liv will use the brand in these three countries.

The hedge fund sector in Canada may double its assets under management in the next five years, according to the president of the Canadian Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA Canada), Gary Ostoich. Assets under management by hedge funds now total about USD30bn. This may seem small compared with the approximately USD2trn under management worldwide, but, the AIMA says, in the wake of the financial crisis, investors are highly sensitive to stricter regulations in the sector, which is subject to the same rules as mutual funds, and the generally highly prodent approach of Canadian financial establishments.

In the month of November, the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index has lost 0.44%. Since the beginning of the year, losses have totalled 6.26%, a statement says. For the month, the alternative strategies which performed best were the Lyxor L/S Equity Market Neutral Index (+0.7%), the Lyxor CTA Long Term Index (0.66%), and the Lyxor CTA Short Term Index (0.47%).

With the AFA Global Werte Stabilisierungs – Fonds, launched on 12 December, Warburg Invest claims to have become the first German asset management firm (KAG) to launch a Luxembourg-registered master-feeder sub-fund (Warburg Value Fund) which complies with the UCITS IV directive. The 5% of assets which are not placed in the Luxembourg-registered international equities fund will be invested in a risk management overlay to protect against cyclical downward phases on the equity markets.The strategy has been developed based on macroeconomic research from the Hamburg private bank M.M. Warburg & Co.CharacteristicsName: AFA Global Werte Stabilisierungs -FondsISIN code: DE000A0HGL63Front-end fee: 6.10%Management commission: 1.75%Depository banking commission: 0.05%

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the Petercam L Bonds Government Sustainable fund from Petercam, which is based on an SRI analysis of sovereign debt, has increased from EUR80m to EUR240m in assets in three months, largely due to subscriptions from French institutional investors.Currently, the Belgian asset management firm has about EUR500m in assets under management in SRI, of which EUR300m are in two funds, the Government Sustainable and the Equities Europe Sustainable, which has about EUR50m in assets.Petercam is also planning to extend its range next year, and is considering a foray into emerging market debt in local currency.

In order to refine its fund categorisation process in asset allocation, the research team at S&P Capital IQ has introduced new classes of funds, within a category which had previously been considered defensive. It has created two new subgroups: “defensive” and “neutral.”S&P Capital IQ will retain its two-stage classification system: in the first stage, specialists take into account the percentage allocated to the primary asset class, and in the second, they look at all high-risk investments, including volatility, downside deviation, and statistics on the maximal losses for the fund. The combination of these two types of analysis are then used to place the fund in a given category.The new ranges for the two stages are: for the first stage, defensive 0-40%, neutral 35-60%, balanced 60-85%, and dynamic > 85% for the second stage, defensive 0-45%, neutral 45-700%, balanced 71-95%, and dynamic > 95%For forex investments, the new categories will be as follows: for the first stage, defensive 0-35%, neutral 35-60%, and dynamic > 60% for the second stage, defensive 0.45%, neutral 45-70%, and dynamic > 70% For all currencies, the defensive and neutral categories are the same as for the pound Sterling. The balanced category does not exist, since deposits are too limited for funds outside the UK.

Rocio Equiraun, CEO of Bankia Fondos, has told Funds People that the asset management firm, born of the merger of Gesmadrid, Bancaja Fondos and Ges Layetana, now has only 51 funds (excluding guaranteed products), compared with 197 before the merger. She says that assets total EUR6.4bn, and that Bankia Fondos has 315,000 clients.

Xavier Lattaignant in November joined Scor Global Investments in Paris, the asset management firm of the French insurance group Scor, to head a new unit dedicated to alternative multi-management. In this role, he is appointed as head of alternative multi-management. In December he was joined by Frédéric Delleaux, as deputy head of alternative multi-management. The two investment professionals previously worked at the BNP Paribas group. Lattaignant is the former head of alternative investments at Harewood, which then became Theam after its merger with a team from BNP Paribas Asset Management. Delleaux had been an alternative investment manager at Harewood. The new desk at Scor GI will be dedicated to alternative multi-management. As of 30 June 2010, the asset management firm had nearly EUR13.6bn in assets under management, the group’s website states. The firm has been in operation since 2009, and handles the management of investment portfolios for all entities of the Scor group. It has also been accepting assets from third parties for some time.

More than 90% of shareholders have agreed at an extraordinary general meeting to convert the OEIC Managed Fund from Standard Life Investments (SLI) into a Global Equity Income Fund. The change will take effect on 16 January.The objective for the fund, managed by Kevin Troup, will be to generate income with potential for capital gains over the long term, rather than focusing on capital growth, as previously. In order to achieve that, the manager will construct a diversified international equity portfolio which combined the best ideas from SLI analysts and equity managers.The portfolio of 70-80 positions will be benchmarked against the development of the global income equity sector of the IMA.

Vinculum, the new asset management firm founded by the former co-founder of Liontrust, Nigel Legge, is planning to launch a fund dedicated to US equities in 2012, Investment Week reports. The firm recently announced that in early January it is planning to launch an international equities fund. The new fund, like the international equities fund, will be managed in partnership with the asset management firm StockRate Asset Management, which has created a process to identify, evaluate and select businesses for investment.

The Swiss Stock Exchange SIX on 15 December announced the arrival of a new provider in the Exchange Traded Funds segment, Raiffeisen, which becomes the third major banking group and the first Swiss retail bank to offer ETFs on the exchange. With the four new ETFs from Raifeissen, which are backed by physical gold, the ETF segment of the SIX Swiss Exchange now includes 757 ETFs, of which 108 are listed in an alternative currency. Raiffeisen is the market maker for the new ETFs.

Due to continuing uncertainty, CPR Asset Management (EUR18bn in assets) has opted for a highly prudent asset allocation policy. That applies to the two flagship funds from the unit, with a total of EUR2.7bn in assets: the Réflexe Cible 100 fund currently has a 0% exposure to equities, while the Croissance Réactive, which may invest 20% to 80% of its assets in equities, currently has 50% exposure, Arnaud Faller, chief investment officer, explained on 15 December.More generally, the French asset management firm is underweight in equities, with a preference in this asset class for US over European equities. In bonds, Faller prefers investment grade corporate bonds, securitised financial sector shares and high yield due to the profitability of carry trades.

Vincent Cornet has joined La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBPAM) has director of management, from 16 January 2012, the asset management affiliate of La Banque Postale announced on Thursday, 15 December. In this role, Cornet will also become a member of the board at the asset management firm, where he joins chairman Jean-Luc Enguéhard and secretary general Pierre-Manuel Sroczynski. Cornet, 52, who since 2009 had been director of investments at the Malakoff Médéric group and chairman of the board at Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs, succeeds Bernard Descreux, who after 11 years as director of management at La Banque Postale Asset Management has decided to take his professional career in a new direction. Descreux, who could not be reached yesterday, now appears on his LinkedIn profile as director of the asset management division of EDF, Agefi reported on Thursday.

The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 15 December announced that it has acquired a sake in the undersea cabling project Neptune Regional Transmission System from the Arclight Capital company, for an undisclosed amount. This is CalPERS’ second direct investment in infrastructure, following the acquisition of a stake in Gatwick airport in 2010. In the next three years, CalPERS is planning to invest up to USD5bn in infrastructure projects, of which USD4bn will go to the United States, and USD800m to California.

Crédit Agricole S.A. and Coller Capital have just announced an agreement for Crédit Agricole S.A.’s sale to Coller Capital of 100% of Crédit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE) and substantially all of the funds managed by CAPE and owned by Crédit Agricole Capital Investment Finance (CACIF), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A. The sale is subject to authorisation from the competent authorities, which should be obtained in the first quarter of 2012. «Crédit Agricole S.A.’s decision to sell CAPE forms part of a plan to optimise capital allocation and refocus the bank’s private equity activities on local business. The sale will reduce Crédit Agricole S.A.’s risk-weighted assets by about EUR900 million. Crédit Agricole S.A. will continue to provide financing for SMEs through the private equity vehicles owned by the Crédit Agricole Regional Banks, as well as through IDIA, a Crédit Agricole Group partner that provides equity and quasi equity financing to agrifood companies and agribusinesses», says a press release.

Philippe Gougenheim is leaving Unigestion, where he had been managing director head of hedge funds since 1 May 2010. Gougenheim had been based in Geneva, and directed the development of the funds of hedge funds team at the Swiss asset management firm. He had previously worked at Man Investments. Gougenheim has announced that he has decided to start his own asset management firm, in order to launch a single hedge fund.Philippe Gougenheim will be replaced by Nicolas Rousselet, who will become managing director, head of hedge funds on January 1st 2012, Unigestion has told Newsmanagers. He will also be a member of the executive committee. Nicolas Rousselet has been working at Unigestion since 2008 and is a strategy manager in charge of arbitrage, credit and equity hedge. He is also a member of the hedge fund investment committee. He had started his career at Fortis Investment Management.

Deutsche Bank has priced its asset management business, which it has put up for sale, at EUR2bn, according to the Financial Times. The first bids are expected in spring. 50 firms are reported to be interested, including Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Canada and Ameriprise Financial, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the newspaper.

On 1 January 2012, as planned, James Dilworth, CEO of Allianz Global Investors Germany, will begin in a new position as CEO for Europe, replacing Elizabeth Corley, who becomes global CEO. Dilworth will retain responsibility for distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As CEO Europe, he will be a member of the global executive committee.Thomas Wiesemann, chief market officer Europe, will on 1 January 2012 become head of the global solutions division, which includes strategic investment advising, risk management, the pension investments departments, and fiduciary management, as well as alternative beta indexing. The range of services offered by the unit is aimed at institutional investors with long-term investment objectives.The global executive committee will now include Corley (global CEO), Dilworth (CEO Europe), Andreas Utermann (CIO et Thomas Wiesemann (global solutions) and five more members : Wolfgang Pütz (Chief Financial Officer), Brian Gaffney (North America), Douglas Eu (Asia), George McKay (Chief Operating Officer) and John Maney (Chief Operating Officer USA).

Asset management professionals seeking better pay should look to emerging markets, either with a mind to moving there physically, or to managing assets in these countries, according to the most recent study of pay scales by Reynolds Associates, cites by Financial Times Fund Management. Competition for talent is rife in these countries, which feeds a cycle of excessively high pay scales and a lack of employee loyalty, the report finds.

Henderson expects an underlying profit for the year ending 31 December 2011 between GBP155 million et GBP159 million, up from GBP100.7 million in 2010. Within this, it currently expects that performance fees will be approximately GBP11 million in 2H11.The fund manager will be announcing its results for 2011 on 29 February 2012.

The chief investment officer at the British firm Octopus Investments, Lothar Mentel, is leaving his job to dedicate himself to other activities, the firm announced in a statement on 15 December. He will not be replaced, a statement from Octopus says. Mentel joined Octopus three years ago, as CIO and head of the group’s multi-management team. The multi-management range from Octopus, which he helped to develop, now includes six products.

First State Investments has announced the appointment of Tal Lomnitzer as portfolio manager within the Global Resources team. He will be based at First State’s office in London and has commenced in his role earlier this week.Tal Lomnitzer joins First State from Merchant Global Resources Fund, which he founded and managed. Previously he was a partner and fund manager at NewSmith Capital and ORN Capital. The Global Resources team manages the GBP767m First State Global Resources Fund (as of 30 November).

The number of firms that have closed down their pension funds for all employees increased by one third between 2010 and 2011, from 17% to 23% this year, according to an annual study published on 15 December by the British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF). The percentage had been only 3% in 2008. The study funds that a move towards the adoption of defined contribution schemes will continue. Among firms that have retirement plans closed to new employees but that remain open to more senior employees, 30% are planning to close down the programmes in the next five years. One firm out of ten (11%) has retained its defined-benefit scheme, but reduced the benefits, for example by basing them not on income at the end of the employee’s career, but instead on an average. Only 19% of pension plans in the private sector are now open to new employees (compared with 88% ten years ago).