Le forum britannique de l’investissement durable (UKSIF) a publié le 2 septembre son troisième rapport sur le traitement des problématiques de développement durable par les fonds de pension britanniques «Responsible Business : Sustainable Pension 2011").Deux ans après la publication du dernier rapport, la dernière enquête montre que les fonds de pension continuent d’approfondir leurs pratiques en matière de développement durable. Ne serait-ce qu’en termes d’intérêt pour le développement durable, la participation des fonds de pension à l’enquête s’est améliorée à un participant sur cinq, contre un sur huit il y a deux ans. L’investissement responsable s’applique désormais à un plus large éventail de classes d’actifs. Le capital investissement, l’obligataire et l’immobilier affichent une forte croissance du recours aux politiques de développement responsable par rapport à 2009. Près d’un tiers des fonds utilisent des mandats spécialisés pour mettre en œuvre leur politique d’investissement responsable. La proportion a doublé depuis 2009, souligne le rapport. Ces exemples d’amélioration, qui s’inscrivent dans le contexte plus large d’un meilleur encadrement des pratiques d’investissement responsable, notamment avec la publication l’an dernier du «Stewardship Code», sont autant de signes positifs qui ne doivent pas pour autant occulter le fait que la majorité des fonds de pension doivent encore forcer le train pour mettre en œuvre des pratiques d’investissement responsables susceptibles de répondre efficacement aux défis soulevés par les problématiques ESG. Le rapport décline une série de recommandations qualifiées d’urgentes, entre autres la gouvernance du développement durable qui implique notamment que les principaux fonds aient au moins un membre expert sur les questions de développement durable, la transparence sur les stratégies mises en œuvre, la signature des Principes pour l’investissement responsable des nations Unies (UN-PRI), ou encore l’intégration de l’investissement responsable dans les négociations sur les transferts de risques. En attendant, trois fonds ont atteint l’excellence, le BT Pension Scheme, le Co-operative Pension Scheme (PACE) et le F&C Asset Management Ltd. Pension Plan. Un seul fonds avait atteint ce niveau au cours des deux éditions précédentes de l’enquête.

Le britannique Barclays Wealth vient de recruter un ancien gérant de Goldman Sachs, Kevin Shone, qui va rejoindre l'équipe dédiée à la clientèle fortunée UHNW, rapporte Wealthbriefing.Kevin Shone devrait rejoindre l'équipe en qualité de managing director en novembre prochain. Il travaillait depuis 2008 en tant que managing director chez Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management.

Les investisseurs, dépités par la décélération de la croissance des deux côtés de l’Atlantique, continuent de s’intéresser aux marchés émergents et aux hedge funds dédiés à la classe d’actifs. Selon Hedgeweek, les dernières statistiques de Hedge Fund Research montrent que les hedge funds dédiés aux marchés émergents ont vu leurs actifs s’accroître de 1,4 milliard de dollars au deuxième trimestre sous l’effet d’une collecte nette de 300 millions de dollars et d’un gain de 1,1 milliard de dollars lié à la performance.Après quatre trimestres consécutifs de hausse, les actifs des hedge funds dédiés aux marchés émergents ont ainsi atteint le niveau record de 123 milliards de dollars. Les hedge funds macro avec un biais marchés émergents se sont particulièrement bien comportés au deuxième trimestre, enregistrant une hausse de 9% alors que les stratégies global macro ont perdu dans le même temps 1,67%. A noter toutefois que sur les six premiers mois de l’année, les hedge funds dédiés aux marchés émergents n’ont pas fait des étincelles. Le HFRI Emerhging Markets (Total) Index, qui était à l'équilibre à fin juin, affichait fin juillet un gain de seulement 0,22%.

Enrique Chang, CIO, a annoncé le 1er septembre que les fonds American Century Growth, American Century Focused Growth et VP Growth, qui représentent au total environ 14 milliards de dollars d’encours, ont été fermés aux nouveaux investisseurs le 31 août.Cette mesure est destinée à protéger la performance de ces produits de la stratégie «growth», mais les souscripteurs existants pourront continuer à en acquérir des parts et à y réinvestir leurs dividendes.American Century précise que ses clients qui n'étaient pas investis dans les fonds qui viennent d'être fermés aux souscriptions mais qui souhaiteraient se positionner sur des grandes capitalisations de croissance peuvent encore investir dans les fonds American Century Select ou American Century Ultra.

BlackRock Fund Advisors, Spruce ETF Trust et BlackRock Investments ont collectivement sollicité de la SEC le 1er septembre une dérogation à l’Investment Company Act of 1940 pour être autorisés à lancer 13 ETF à gestion active qui seraient «non-transparents» en ce qu’ils ne publieront pas la composition de leur portefeuille sur une base journalière (*).La valeur indicative intrajournalière (indicative intraday value) serait publiée en temps réel, mais les parts ne pourront être négociées à la valeur liquidative qu’une fois par jour. Cette formule devrait éviter des écarts significatifs entre les prix acheteur/vendeur et la valeur liquidative.Pour BlackRock, cela ne devrait pas poser de problème réglementaire nouveau, mais permettrait au contraire de limiter les risques de «front running"(fuite d’informations privilégiées) et de «free riding» (parasitisme) auxquels sont exposés les autres ETF gérés activement et qui publient la composition de leur portefeuille.Chacun des ETF actifs non-transparents investira ou prendra des positions à découverts principalement dans les 1.200 plus grandes capitalisations américaines telles que définities par The Frank Russell Company.(*) Large Cap Fund, Large Cap Value Fund, Large Cap Growth Fund, Large/Mid Cap Fund, Large/Mid Cap Value Fund, Large/Mid Cap Growth Fund, Large Cap Long-Short Fund, Large Cap Value Long-Short Fund, Large Cap Growth Long-Short Fund, Large/Mid Cap Long-Short Fund, Large/Mid Cap Value Long-Short Fund, Large/Mid Cap Growth Long-Short Fund et Large Cap Growth Active Insights Fund.

Hedge Week relays reports in Financial News that RiverCrest Cfapital, a new London-based absolute return specialist, is planning to launch the Global Equity Fund (long/short, top-down), managed by Alastair McLeod and Peter Simon, two former Lansdowne managers, in October.The firm is also planning the European Equity Alpha Fund (market neutral, bottom-up), managed by Giles Worthington and Tim Short, from M&G Investments, for launch by the end of this year.

Hedge Week reports that the SEC has filed charges in the US District Court of New Jersey against James F. Turner II, his hedge fund management firm, Clay Capital Management, his brother-in-law, one of his friends, and a neighbour for illegally making USD3.9m off the use of insider information about the Moldflow Corporation, Autodesk and Salesforces.

The head of multi-management at Invesco AM discusses the causes of the crisis on the financial markets, and the outlooks for the most severely affected asset classes. Bernard Aybran notes in this regard that the equities markets of the euro zone are now much more attractive, both in terms of valuations and returns. Hence his reconstitution of positions on equities markets, via futures on the Eurostoxx 50 index and arbitrage bets on small and midcaps.

The Western financial press editorialised considerably over the publication on 1 September in the Chilean official gazette, the Diario Oficial, of a decision by the pension fund regulator, the Comisión Clasificadora de Riesgo (CCR, www.ccr.cl). Following a downgrade of the credit rating for Ireland to the junk category by Moody’s, the CCR has decided to place 135 UCITS-compliant funds domiciled in Ireland on a list of restricted-access investments. This does not mean that pension funds will no longer be allowed to invest in these funds, or that they will have to sell off shares. But investments in these funds are now subject to stricter regulatory constraints.On the six-page list includes a total of 25 issuers, including 33 ETFs from iShares (19 of them equities funds), 14 products from BNY Mellon Global Funds, 12 funds from Pimco, and 12 sub-funds of the SEI Global Master Fund, 11 funds each from Axa Rosenberg Equity Alpha Trust, Invesco Funds, Legg Mason Global Funds and Baring, and eight products from Skandia Global Funds.Three Irish-registered funds from French issuers are also on the list: SPDR Europe Plc - Amundi ETF S&P Europe 350 Fund, the BNP Paribas GLF EUR funds, and BNP Paribas GLF USD from BNP Paribas Global Liquidity plc.

The Swedish asset management firm RPM Risk & Portfolio Management AM (USD6bn in advised assets) has received a sales license from the Luxembourg regulator (CSSF) for the UCITS fund RPF Directional Fund, launched on 1 September in cooperation with Alceda Fund Management SA, Hedge Week reports. The multi-strategy fund will rely primarily on trend-following models and short-term fundamental strategies. Allocations of the portfolio will be subject to dynamic monitoring, and will be adjusted according to the evolution of the markets.

After seven years as deputy CEO of SBI Fund Management, a joint venture of the State Bank of India and Amundi, Didier Turpin has moved to Madrid as CEO of Amundi Iberia, which provides distribution management and advising to Amundi in Spain, and serves as the development platform for the group in Portugal, Andorra, and Latin America, with a total of EUR5bn under management.Turpin will be assisted by Nuria Trip, who joined Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) in 2001, as deputy CEO in charge of sales, marketing and products.Alexandre Lefebvre, who joined Amundi Iberia in 2010 as director of controlling and development, is promoted to deputy CEO, in charge of controlling and development. He left IDEAM in 2005 to join CAAM.

On 1 September, the CNMV registered the former BBVA Propriedad real estate fund as its ninth “real estate investment firm” (SII), the Spanish equivalent of REITs (see Newsmanagers of 14 June). The new entity, managed by BBVA Asset Management (ES0108933005), was created on 13 July, and starts up with capital of over EUR1.03bn. Annual management commission is set at 1.5%.

The pension fund APG Group, which manages about EUR275bn in assets, and the ministry of Internal Affairs have announced that on 1 November, Tjerk Kroes will become director of strategy at APG Group (APG, Cordares and Loyalis), IPE reports. For the past nine years, Kroes has been employed at the ministry of Social affairs and Labour, for the past six years as director of the labour market and socioeconomic affairs.

The CNMV has recently issued a sales license for Spain to the Euro Covered Bonds (LU0629527333) sub-fund of the General Investments Sicav, Funds People reports.The product, launched on 6 July, has assets of EUR85m. It invests primarily in investment-grade covered bonds denominated in euros, excluding German Pfandbriefe (which reduces the universe to about 500 securities), but the manager, Guido Favaretto, may also adopt tactical positions on other UCITS-compliant funds (up to 10%), interest rate derivatives, currencies, cash, government bonds, money market instruments, or savings accounts, up to a maximum of 30% of assets.Generali Investments manages about EUR24bn in covered bonds. The benchmark index for the fund is the BofA Merrill Lynch Euro Non-Pfandbriefe Covered Bond Index.

Enrique Chang, CIO, on 1 September announced that the American Century Growth, American Century Focused Growth and VP Growth funds, which represent a total of about USD14bn in assets under management, have been closed to new investors from 31 August.The move aims to protect the performance of these growth strategy products, but existing subscribers will be allowed to continue to acquire shares in the funds and to reinvest their dividends.American Century states that clients who had not been invested in the funds which have been closed to subscriptions, but who would like to take up positions on growth large caps may still invest in the American Century Select or American Century Ultra funds.

BaFin has issued a license for the sale in Germany of a fund from the Swiss firm Bellevue Asset Management, focused on shares in Asian publicly-traded entrepreneurial businesses. The fund is the BB Entrepreneur Asia (Lux), which was launched on 30 April 2011, and whose portfolio includes 50 to 70 positions. It comes as an addition to a product range which already includes the BB Entrepreneur Europe and the BB Entrepreneur Switzerland funds.Bellevue Asset Management will be assisted for the management of the Asia fund (whose currency of reference is the US dollar) by the HSZ Group, a management boutique based in Hong Kong.CharacteristicsName: BB Entrepreneur Asia (Lux) FondsISIN codes: LU060528926 (shares in US dollars)LU0605289775 (shares in euros)Benchmark index: MSCI AC Asia ex JapanFront-end fee: Maximum 5%Management commission: 1.60%Performance commission: 10%, with high watermark

Fidelity has launched the FF European Dynamic Value Fund. The new fund fills a gap within its European equity product range and offers investors the opportunity to invest in a European equity value fund. It will be managed by Neil Madden, who has been at Fidelity for nine years. FF European Dynamic Value Fund seeks to identify cheap and disliked stocks with improving fundamentals. Stocks in the portfolio have an asymmetric return profile: downside is limited because bad news has at least already been priced in; upside potential is significant as even a marginal improvement will trigger earnings upgrades and an improvement in sentiment and valuation. Neil Madden aims to hold between +3% to +5% overweight holdings in his high conviction ideas and at least +1% active position in his other holdings. The fund will be concentrated, with between 35 - 50 names.

Guillaume de Corbiac, gérant du fonds AXA WF Framlington Emerging Markets Talents, a quitté la société de gestion. Son fonds a été repris par Charles Firmin-Didot, fondateur et CIO des fonds Talents, a indiqué un porte-parole d’Axa Investment Managers à Newsmanagers.Guillaume de Corbiac avait rejoint l’équipe Talents, dédiée à la fois à la recherche d’entrepreneurs, en mars 2004 après deux années d’expérience professionnelle en France et à Singapour. Il était gérant du fonds AXA WF Framlington Emerging Markets Talents depuis début 2009, après l’avoir suivi en tant que gérant back-up entre sa création en septembre 2005 et fin 2008.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management has recruited Pascal Luccini as head of its newly-created team for reporting and clients. In addition to the director, the team includes six people. The French asset management firm is hoping to strengthen “its ability to assist and the quality of its service to French and international institutional clients.”Luccini joins from Allianz Global Investors, a firm which he joined in 1996, where he became head of client services in 2002.

US money market funds reduced their exposure to euro zone banks for the second consecutive month in August, the Financial Times reports. Some funds have begun to completely avoid French institutions. Legg Mason says that its money market teams have considerably reduced their exposure to euro zone banks due to headline risks and not credit issues.

Guillaume de Corbiac, manager of the AXA WF Framlington Emerging Markets Talents fund, has left the asset management firm. His fund has been taken over by Charles Firmin-Didot, founder and CIO of the Talents funds, a spokesperson for Axa Investment Managers has told Newsmangers.De Corbiac joined the Talents team, which is dedicated to the search for entrepreneurs, in March 2004, following two years of professional experience in France and Singapore. He had been manager of the AXA WF Framlington Emerging Markets Talents fund since early 2009, following a period in which he was a back-up manager for the fund, from its creation in September 2005 to late 2008.

UCITS funds in second quarter posted a net inflow of EUR18bn, compared with EUR30bn in first quarter, according to statistics from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA). This development is largely due to redemptions from money market funds totally EUR30bn in second quarter, compared with EUR9bn in first quarter.Long-term UCITS funds, or all funds excluding money market funds, however posted a net inflow of EUR48bn in second quarter, compared with EUR39bn in first quarter, with net subscriptions for all categories of long-term funds. Net inflows to equities funds totalled EUR8bn, compared with EUR5bn in first quarter. Net inflows to bond funds totalled EUR10bn (compared with EUR7bn), while diversified funds posted inflows of EUR23bn (compared with EUR20bn).In the first six months of the year, net inflows to UCITS funds totalled EUR48bn, compared with EUR55bn in first half 2010. Long-term UCITS funds attracted EUR87bn in first half, compared with EUR142bn in first half 2010. This development is the result of a loss of investor confidence due to ongoing destabilising events (such as the Arab spring, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and concerns about government debt).EFAMA reports, however, that UCITS funds domiciled in France saw a net outflow of EUR23bn in second quarter, largely due to redemptions from money market funds totalling EUR20bn. In the first six months of the year, outflows totalled EUR37.6bn. However, Ireland finished the half with inflows of over EUR39bn, and Luxembourg had inflows of EUR31.6bn.

According to sources familiar with the matter cited by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the private equity investor Bridgepoint has acquired the Swiss firm Infront, a specialist in sales of broadcast rights for sporting events, which in 2010 made more than EUR600m in revenues, for EUR550m. The vendors are Andreas Jacobs and Nicole Junkermann, who had held 60% and 40% of capital in the firm, respectively.

Banque Alterantive Suisse SA on 2 September announced the appointment of Martin Lukas Rohner as its CEO, from 1 January 2012. He had previously been director of the Max Havelaar foundation, a statement from the bank says. Rohner succeeds Sven Thali, who left the bank in March due to differences over the strategic direction and positioning of the bank. Assets under management at the bank as of the end of December 2010 totalled CHF935m.

Ulrich Hax, who had spent 22 years at Sal. Oppenheim, most recently as director of alternative investments, has been recruited as director of the private equity team at UBS Germany, Das Investment reports.

Investors discouraged by slowing growth on both sides of the Atlantic are remaining interested in emerging markets, and in hedge funds dedicated to this asset class. Hedgeweek reports that the most recent statistics from Hedge Fund Research reveal that hedge funds dedicated to emerging markets have seen an increase in their assets of USD1.4bn in second quarter, due to net inflows of USD300m and gains of USD1.1bn due to positive returns. After three consecutive quarters of rising levels, assets in hedge funds dedicated to emerging markets have reached a record USD123bn. Macro hedge funds with an emerging markets bias have performed particularly well in second quarter, with gains of 9%, while global macro strategies lost 1.67% in the same period. However, in the first six months of the year, hedge funds dedicated to emerging markets have not performed outstandingly overall. The HFRI Emerging Markets (Total) Index, which showed zero gains as of the end of June, as of the end of July showed gains of only 0.22%.

First State Investments has announced that it has decided to limit access by new investors to five funds specialised on Asia-Pacific and emerging markets, in order to protect the interests of existing investors. The funds affected are the First State Asia Pacific (GBP229m), First State Indian Subcontinent (GBP293m), First State Global Emerging Markets Sustainability (GBP161m), First State Latin America (GBP117m), and First State Greater China Growth (GBP623m).

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Michel Bernard is leaving F&C. Bernard, who is based in London, was head of F&C for France, and was responsible for institutional investor clients of the UK asset management firm in particular. He took up the position following the departure of Aurélien Lafaye in late 2010, and was also in charge of other markets, including the Scandinavian countries. When asked about the departure, a spokesperson for F&C states that institutional activities in France “and in other markets where F&C does not have a local presence” are overseen by Julian Lyne, global head of consultants, and his 13-member team. One person dedicated to the French market will be appointed «in due course», the spokesman adds.

The British firm Barclays Wealth has recruited a former manager from Goldman Sachs, Kevin Shone, who will join the team dedicated to UHNW clients, Wealthbriefing reports. Shone will join the team as managing director in November. Since 2008, he had worked as managing director at Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management.

Assets under management at Hargreaves Lansdown rose 41% in the year to 30 June, to total GBP24.6bn, the firm has announced in a statement.This development is the result of an increase in net inflows to GBP3.5bn, compared with GBP3.3bn the previous year, and to positive market effects of GBP3.6bn.The asset management firm has seen a 46% in its pre-tax profits, to GBP126m.