Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a annoncé, lundi 10 octobre, avoir consolidé et perfectionné son système SMILE (System for Management of Issue-Linked Events ou système de gestion des événements liés à une émission de titres) afin d’optimiser les performances de ses services de middle office proposés aux banques d’investissement et aux émetteurs dans le monde entier. «Ce système totalement automatisé permet aux équipes dédiées de SGSS, basées au Luxembourg, d’établir une offre d’émission de titres au Luxembourg dans un délai de 3 heures après appel d’offre», ajoute un communiqué. «Le système SMILE intègre une base de données contenant toutes les informations sur les émissions de titres», explique SGSS. «Il permet de suivre les dates de paiement des intérêts et les dates d’échéance et comprend un outil de reporting. La principale innovation de cette plateforme permet à SGSS d’augmenter son taux de traitement des flux d’informations en continu (« Straight Through Processing ») et d’améliorer la qualité et la fiabilité de ses services tout en réduisant le risque opérationnel. Grâce à ce système, les clients reçoivent les notices des opérations sur titres et autres évènements dans des délais très courts. La société gère ainsi les options d’achat et de vente, les remboursements de parts, la perception des paiements échelonnés, les émissions partiellement payées et les rachats.

L’association américaine des fonds et sociétés d’investissement, l’Investment Company Institute (ICI), vient de lancer une branche internationale qui sera basée à Londres, l’ICI Global. Cette nouvelle association compte faire entendre la voix du secteur des fonds internationaux gérés activement. Elle inclura des fonds, enregistrés ou non aux Etats-Unis, qui sont proposés aux investisseurs dans le monde entier. «L’association cherche à faire avancer les intérêts et promouvoir la compréhension par le public des fonds d’investissement mondiaux, de leurs gérants et des investisseurs», précise un communiqué.Dan Waters, un ancien de la Financial Services Authority, a été nommé managing director d’ICI Global. Jamie Broderick, responsable de J.P. Morgan Asset Management en Europe, présidera le comité de direction d’ICI Global.Plusieurs sociétés de gestion internationales ont déjà annoncé leur intention de rejoindre l’association : Capital Research and Management, Federated Investors Funds, Franklin Templeton Investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Invesco, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Legg Mason, Nuveen Investments, PIMCO Funds, T. Rowe Price, Threadneedle et Vanguard.

L’achat du Banco Pastor par le Banco Popular pourrait remettre en cause l’accord de distribution exclusive en Espagne des fonds du portugais Banco Espírito Santo (BES), car le Banco Popular s’est engagé à vendre exclusivement les produits de sa propre société de gestion (Allianz Popular), dont Allianz GI détient la majorité, rapporte Funds People.La solution pourrait être que le Banco Popular indemnise le BES pour la rupture de l’accord qu’ils ont signé l’an dernier lors de l’acquisition de Gespator par le BES (pour 25 millions d’euros), parce que l’accord avec Allianz serait beaucoup plus difficile à dénoncer. Il porte en effet aussi sur l’assurance vie et les plans d'épargne retraite.Popular Gestión affiche un encours de 5,5 milliards d’euros répartis sur 72 produits tandis que Espírito Santo Gestión gère des actifs de 1,6 milliard d’euros sur 55 fonds.

Oliver Bilal, qui a récemment été promu responsable de la distribution institutionnelle et retail à l'échelon du comité exécutif de Pioneer Investment Deutschland, a annoncé trois recrutements pour l'équipe de distribution institutionnelle en Allemagne, indique Das Investment.Markus Becker (ex-Invesco) va être chargé des assureurs et Tobias Löschmann (ex-BNP Paribas Investment Partners) se voit confier les trésoriers d’entreprise et les fonds de pension. Holger Schäfer quitte également BNPP IP et sera responsable des ventes aux caisses complémentaires professionnelles, aux fondations et aux organisations sans but lucratif.

BNP Paribas Securities Services a annoncé, lundi 10 octobre, avoir été choisi pour produire le Document d’informations clés pour l’investisseur (DICI) - ou Key Investor Information Documents (KIID) - de la sicav de la société de gestion Duemme International Luxembourg à compter du premier trimestre 2012. Depuis le 1er juillet, la réglementation UCITS IV impose la réalisation d’un KIID aux sociétés d’investissement qui commercialisent leurs fonds dans l’UE. Les gérants doivent ainsi éditer un document d’information de deux pages dans un style vulgarisé et facile d’accès, dans la langue de chaque pays de commercialisation de leurs fonds, précise un communiqué.

Le groupe KBC a annoncé, lundi 10 octobre, avoir cédé sa filiale de banque privée KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) à Precision Capital pour un montant global de 1,05 milliard d’euros. Precision Capital est une entité luxembourgeoise qui représente les intérêts d’un investisseur de l’Etat du Qatar, précise un communiqué. La transaction inclut toutes les filiales de banque privée (Merck Finck, Richelieu Banque Privée, Brown, Shipley & Co et Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers), de même que les activités de dépôt de titres et d’assurance vie de KBL epb. La marque, l'équipe de management ainsi que les opérations de la société seront maintenues intégralement et resteront basés à Luxembourg. Au 30 juin 2011, KBL epb disposait de 47 milliards d’euros d’avoirs en gestion et de 38,2 milliards d’euros d’actifs en dépôt ainsi que, à travers sa participation de 51,13% dans EFA, de 87,5 milliards d’euros sous administration. Pour KBC, le capital libéré par cette transaction se montera plus ou moins à 0,7 milliard d’euros et renforcera le ratio Tier-1 de 0,6 %. La transaction qui reste soumise à l’aval des autorités de contrôle devrait être finalisée au premier trimestre 2012. Par ailleurs, L’Agefi rapporte qu’outre la banque privée KBL European Private Bankers qu’il vient de reprendre, l’investisseur qatari faisant partie de la famille royale Al-Thani selon le ministre des Finances du Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, était disposé à racheter la branche luxembourgeoise de Dexia, Banque internationale à Luxembourg (BIL). Celle-ci est à la fois banque de détail et banque privée. L’arrivée du Qatar dans le Grand-Duché doit favoriser la stratégie du pays visant à devenir la place centrale de la finance islamique en Europe, note le quotidien.

Threadneedle Investments vient de signer un accord avec la banque Internet suédoise Avanza Bank pour la distribution de 23 de ses fonds. La société de gestion britannique a enregistré 26 fonds en Suède en avril 2011.

Aviva Investors vient de nommer Patrick Chong aux fonctions de directeur du développement auprès des établissements financiers pour l’Asie Pacifique.Dans le cadre de ses fonctions, il sera chargé du développement et de la mise en œuvre de la stratégie de distribution à Singapour et en Asie Pacifique. Il travaillera depuis Singapour et sera rattaché à Erich Gerth, directeur général du développement Monde et Asie Pacifique."Le marché de l’Asie Pacifique est de plus en plus important pour Aviva Investors. Nous avons considérablement élargi notre présence dans la région ces 18 derniers mois, notamment avec l’implantation d’un siège régional à Singapour, et nous sommes désormais activement occupés à renforcer nos canaux de distribution sur ce marché. Notre objectif est de faire profiter à la région de l’ensemble de nos capacités «long only» et alternatives aussi bien avec les produits existants, qu’en élaborant des stratégies sur mesure pour les sociétés au service de la gestion privée et de la multi-gestion», commente Erich Gerth.Patrick Chong rejoint Aviva Investors après avoir travaillé pour Fullerton Fund Management, où il était senior vice président en charge du développement commercial. Avant il a été gérant de fonds pour Temasek Holdings et conseiller en investissement pour le Singapore Economic Development Board.

Selon Asian Investor, Anne Wong va rejoindre le pôle banque privée de Credit Suisse à Hong Kong en qualité de responsable de la région «Greater China», rapporte Asian Investor. Anne Wong, qui a annoncé il y a quelques jours son départ du groupe HSBC, où elle occupe encore des fonctions de responsable des services de courtage en Asie, est également membre depuis peu d’un comité consultatif qui conseille les autorités de marché de Hong Kong (Securities & Futures Commission).

L’indice Lyxor Hedge Fund Index, qui reflète la performance moyenne des 14 indices de stratégie, a enregistré une baisse de 2,86 % en septembre, indique Lyxor AM. Au 30 septembre, l’indice affiche une perte de 6,55% depuis le début de l’année.Sur le mois, les stratégies alternatives ayant affiché les plus fortes performances sont Lyxor L/S Equity Short Bias Index (+2,67%), Lyxor CTAs Short Term Index (+2,29%) et Lyxor CTAs Long Term Index (+0,07%).

After a daily trading average of 14,638 on-book trades per day in August, the European markets of NYSE Euronext posted a further 13,070 transactions per trading day in September. The growth rate in annual terms comes out to 56.1%, compared with 90.7% in August.In the first nine months of the year, the number of transactions increased by 26.6% compared with January-September 2010 (with an increase of 10.6% in January-August).NYSE Euronext reports an increase of 71.4% in September compared with August in the number of trades for ETFs replicating CDS swap indices.The daily trading volume in September stood at EUR558m, 82.3% higher than in the corresponding month of last year, compared with EUR618.2m and +108% in August. The increase in the first three quarters totalled 28.6%, compared with January-September 2010.NYSE Euronext also points out that in early July it launched a new version of its off-block trading services. Trades in this segment in September totalled EUR1.3bn, 273.3% more than in September 2010.The number of ETFs listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext as of the end of September totalled 586 (these funds are listed a total of 684 times, counting secondary listings). These products come from 18 providers. Since the beginning of the year, the number of newly-listed ETFs has totalled 139, of which 111 were primary listings, and 28 were cross-listings.The average spread for all listed ETFs in September totalled 38.83 basis points, compared with 28.5 basis points in August.Lastly, NYSE Euronext states that total assets of ETFs listed on its European markets totalled EUR124.5bn, 2.5% more than the EUR121.4bn at the end of September 2010. However, compared with August, assets under management have declined by 1.3%, with declines of 29.7% for agriculture ETFs, and 34% for industrial metals ETFs.

Between 2000 and 2010, of 1,549 European retail funds which changed their management fees, which represent 26% of the universe, 70% increased them, a research by Lipper (Thomson Reuters) of funds domiciled in Luxembourg and Ireland finds.Taking into consideration only actively managed equity funds, 784 funds changed their management fees, and 80% of these upwards. Where fees were raised it was by an average of 28 basis points. On the other hands, funds which lowered their fees reduced them by 39 basis points.In passive management, 16 ETFs and tracker funds changed their fees, and only 9 lowered them.Among money market funds 57% of funds which modified their fees have chosen to reduce them (71 funds out of 124). Among bond funds, a majority have increased their fees, but to a lesser extent than for equity funds, reflecting the greater cost sensitivity of this asset class. Of 480 bond funds which have modified their fees, 288 have increased them (60%), by an average of 17 basis points.The research also finds that fund fees do not tend to fall as assets increase, though they do tend to do so in the United States.

Tony Anderson, who has spent 9 years at UBS, the last six as tech and telecom equities manager, has been recruited as manager for digital communications in the thematic equities team at Pictet Asset Management. He will report to Hans Peter Portner, who himself is a UBS veteran who joined Pictet in 1997, Citywire reports.

Oliver Bilal, who has recently been promoted to head of institutional and retail distribution on the executive board at Pioneer Investment Deutschland, has announced three recruitments for the institutional distribution team in Germany, Das Investment reports.Markus Becker (ex-Invesco) will be in charge of insurers, while Tobias Löschmann (ex-BNP Paribas Investment Partners) will be in charge of corporate treasurers and pension funds. Holger Schäfer is also leaving BNPP IP, and will be in charge of sales to professional complementary retirement institutions, charities and non-profit organisations.

The board of governors at the Investment Company Institute (ICI) on 6 October elected Gregory Johnson, CEO of Franklin Resources, for a one-year term as its president. Johnson, who succeeds Edward C. Bernard, vice chairman of T. Rowe Price Group (who was re-elected for one year on 8 October 2010), will chair the board of governors and the executive committee of that board.The members of the ICI have also elected James Boyle, chairman of John Hancock Financial Services, Catherine L. Newell, general counsel at Dimensional Fund Advisors, and Mary Ann Tynan, independent director at Oppenheim funds, to terms as governors, until 30 September 2014.

Longacre Fund Management, a hedge fund firm led by three former Bear Stearns traders, is closing its main funds in the wake of redemption demands from investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm, which had managed as much as USD3bn, had only USD835m in assets as of February this year.

The US branch of Aberdeen Asset Management will be taking over two funds from Credit Suisse dedicated to the US market. The first, Credit Suisse Large Cap Blend Fund (USD273.5m in assets) will be merged into the Aberdeen U.S. Equity I Fund, which will at that time be renamed as Aberdeen U.S. Equity Fund. The second fund, Credit Suisse Large Cap Blend II Fund (USd65.6m) will be merged with the Aberdeen U.S. Equity II Fund.

At a macro-economic presentation on 10 October, Jean-Pierre Grimaud, president, and Eric Bourguignon, deputy CEO of Swiss Life Asset Management (France) told Newsmanagers that assets at the asset management firm have held stable since the beginning of this year, and currently stand at between EUR4.8bn and EUR5bn. The volume in money market funds has apparently fallen to EUR2.5bn.Overall, Swiss Life AM France has posted a net inflows of about EUR100-150m YTD, with net inflows to money markets and equities, largely from institutional clients, while net subscriptions to diversified funds came largely from distribution networks.The asset management firm is currently considering moving into master-feeder funds for networks, with a view to establishing a single product range if possible. However, regulatory and tax information about these areas is still incomplete, and a decision is therefore not necessarily imminent.

Threadneedle Investments has signed an agreement with the Swedish online bank Avanza Bank to distribute 23 of its funds. The British asset management firm registered 26 funds in Sweden in April 2011.

The acquisition of Banco Pastor by Banco Popular may call into question an exclusive distribution agreement in Spain for funds from the Portuguese Banco Espírito Santo (BES), since Banco Popular has agreed to exclusively offer products from its own asset management firm (Allianz Popular), in which Allianz GI controls a majority, Funds People reports.The solution may be the Banco Popular would indemnise BES for breaking the agreement which they signed least year at the time of the acquisition of Gespator by BES for EUR25m, since the agreement with Allianz would be much more difficult to cancel, as it also extends to life insurance and retirement savings plans.Popular Gestión has assets of EUR5.5bn in 72 products, while Espírito Santo Gestión has assets of EUR1.6bn in 55 funds.

Initial indications are that BaFin is inclining towards opposing the sale of BHF-Bank by Deutsche Bank to the private equity firm RHJ International, which is reported to have withdrawn its application for the acquisition, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. In April, the German regulator blocked the sale of BHF to Liechtenstein’s LGT.

In the week to 5 October, equities funds underwent net outflows of USD11.57bn, one of the worst results since the beginning of the year, according to statistics from EPFR Global. Bond funds finished the week with outflows of USD2.65bn, while money market funds underwent redemptions totalling USD5.84bn. A notable and unexpected exception is European equity funds, which have ended a four-week spell of outflows with subscriptions of an undisclosed amount, though this was largely due to subscriptions to ETF funds. Diversified funds, which are considered a defensive options, have seen redemptions for the sixth consecutive week. Net inflows to these funds since the beginning of the yar, which peaked at USD11bn as of the end of July, now stand at less than USD7.5bn.

The KBC group on Monday, 10 October announced that it has sold its private banking affiliate KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) to Precision Capital for a total of EUR1.05bn. Precision Capital is a Luxembourg firm which represents the interests of an investor in Qatar, a statement says. The acquisition includes all private banking affiliates (Merck Finck, Richelieu Banque Privée, Brown, Shipley & Co and Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers), and all securities custody and life insurance activities of KBL epb. The brand, the management team and the operations of the firm will be wholly maintained, and will continue to be based in Luxembourg. As of 30 June 2011, KBP epb had EUR47bn in assets under management, and EUR38.2bn in savings deposits, and EUR87.5bn in assets under administrattion, via its 51.13% stake in EFA. For KBC, the capital freed up by the transaction will total about EUR0.7bn, which will increase its Tier 1 owners’ equity ratio by 0.6%. The deal, which is pending the approval of the supervisory authorities, will be finalised in first quarter 2012.

Carmignac Gestion has announced the appointment of Matthew Wright as head of United Kingdom. His principal task will be to develop relations with financial distributors and wealth managers in the United Kingdom for the French asset management firm.He will report to Davide Fregonese, global head of sales and marketing at Carmignac Gestion.Wright will also be in charge of creating and directing the sales team in the United Kingdom, with a view to opening an a Carmignac Gestion office in London, planned for November 2011. Before joining Carmignac Gestion, Wright was head of professional clients at LV Asset Management.

Asian Investor reports that Anne Wong will be joining the private banking arm of Credit Suisse in Hong Kong as head of the Greater China region, Asian Investor reports. Wong, who a few days ago announced her departure from the HSBC group, where she still serves as head of brokerage services for Asia, has also recently become a member of the consulting committee which advises the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission.

Aviva Investors has appointed Patrick Chong as head of development for financial institutions in the Asia Pacific region. In this role, Chong will be in charge of development and deployment of the firm’s distribution strategy in Singapore and Asia Pacific. He will be based in Singapore and will report to Erich Gerth, CEO for global and Asia Pacific development. “The Asia Pacific market is increasingly important for Aviva Investors. We have considerably extended our presence in the region in the past 18 months, particularly with the creation of regional headquarters in Singapore, and we are now actively involved in strengthening our distribution channels in this market. Our objective is to bring the benefits of our long-only and alternative management to the region, both through our existing product range, and through developing custom strategies for businesses, in the service of private management and multi-management,” Gerth says. Chong joins Aviva Incestors after working for Fullerton Fund Management, where he was senior vice president in charge of commercial development. Before that, he was a fund manager for Temasek Holdings, and investment advisor for the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Michael Simpson, who had been manager of the Latin American portion of emerging markets portfolios at Wells Capital Management (San Francisco), has been recruited by the British asset management firm Barings Asset Management (Barings) as Head of Latin American Equities. He will report to Tim Scholefield, Head of Equities. Simpson will take charge of the management of the Baring Latin American Fund, an equities product launched in 1993, with assets of USD667m as of 31 August.

iShares (BlackRock) on 10 October announced in London that it has recruited Matt Mack as Head of Strategic Accounts, and Stephen Cohen as Head of Investment Strategies in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), effective immediately. They will report to David Gardner, Head of iShares Sales in EMEA. Mack, the new head of strategic accounts, will be in charge of monitoring relationships with financial establishments in the EMEA region. Mack was most recently Head of UK & Nordic Third Party Distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), and previously spent five years as Executive Director for EMEA Hedge Fund Sales, also at GSAM. In his new role, Cohen will direct the EMEA Investment Strategies and Insights team. He joins from Nomura, where he was Global head of Equity Linked Strategy, with responsibility for derivative products, convertibles and delta one.

Architas (Axa group) is planning to launch a European low-risk fund for the team’s multi-management team, led by Caspar Rock, according to Investment Week. The UCITS III fund Architas Conservative Europe will invest in collective investment funds, which will in turn invest in bonds.