F&C Thames River envisage de fusionner deux fonds dédiés aux actions britanniques dans des véhicules plus importants, rapporte MoneyMarketing.C’est ainsi que le F&C UK growth & income fund (31 millions de livres) pourrait être intégré dans le F&C UK equity income fund dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à près de 190 millions de livres. De la même façon, le F&C UK opportunities (62,4 millions de livres) pourrait rejoindre le F&C UK equity fund (152,8 millions de livres), renommé le 24 juin prochain F&C alpha fund, afin de mieux refléter l’approche du gérant Peter Lees. Le vote des actionnaires est programmé pour le 15 juin. Les fusions pourraient alors intervenir vers la fin du mois.

Following products from Fulcrum, Ferox Capital and Odey Asset Management, MCH Investment Strategies will now also offer the US Equity Growth, US Equity Value, US Equity Small Caps and American Fund from the US management firm Brown Advisory in Spain, Funds People reports. The Irish-registered products comply with UCITS III.

The Hamburg-based independent management firm Luther Asset Management, a specialist in eastern Europe with a branch office in Kiev, will advise the new fund LAM Balkan-Baltikum plus AMI, which will focus on emerging countries in the Balkans and the Baltics, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and the three Baltic states, as well as Greece and Turkey. The fund will also make investments in Hungary and Georgia. The minimal market capitalisation for companies whose shares are included in the portfolio is set at EUR25m.

On 31 May, the Munich-based firm TMW Pramerica Property Investment announced that it is permanently suspending subscriptions and redemptions for its open-ended real estate fund TMW Immobilien Weltfonds, which will be liquidated by 31 May 2004. It will be the fourth product of its type to be liquidated in Germany.The proceeds of sales of assets in the portfolio, minus fees, will be distributed to subscribers, with two initial payments scheduled for January and July 2012. Assets most recently totalled EUR730m.TMW Pramerica apparently has stated that it is unable to raise the necessary liquidity to achieve a reopening of the fund, which would have been required by 8 February 2012 at the latest, two years after redemptions were initially suspended.

AllianceBernstein has launched a UCITS-compliant bond fund, which will invest in bonds denominated in Chinese renminbi outside China, and in other Asian bond issues from outside Japan, Citywire reports. The RMB Income Plus Portfolio fund will aim to profit from growth outlooks for the Chinese economy, appreciation of the Chinese currency, and higher returns in the Asian region. AllianceBernstein is planning to invest at least 50% of the fund in investment-grade shares, while using coverage strategies in order to ensure that the fund is exposed virtually exclusively to the renminbi.

Merchant Capital, the asset management unit of Merchant House Group, has announced the inception of an advising partnership with Ignis Asset Management, Hedgeweek reports. The British firm has also helped Ignis to set up its UCITS structure domiciled in Luxembourg, Ignis Global Funds (Sicav).

Among the products that the Paris office of ING IM (about EUR3bn in assets) has given a pole position this year in its shop windows is the contrarian fund ING (L) Invest Europe Opportunities, managed by Hans van de Weg, head of one of the group’s 12 boutiques, which deals in “specialty” products (European and sectoral equities products) with total assets of about EUR7bn. The Europe Opportunities strategy represents a total of about EUR750m, including mandates.The fund, specialised in western European equities, had EUR262m in assets as of the end of April, compared with EUR60m at the end of 2009, and it has outperformed the MSCI (DM) Europe (Net) Index by 580 basis points per year since its launch (in August 2006). Since the beginning of 2011, the product has gained 6.5%, compared with 4% for the benchmark index; the manager attributes this outperformance to “equities not in the portfolio,” which he had the foresight to avoid.The Europe Opportunities fund, which is concentrated and long-only, invests in 61 positions with the objective of a tracking error of 3-6%, and annual outperformance of at least 200 basis points. To achieve that, van de Weg has chosen the tip of the sword as his emblem, and as his slogan, “buy the fear, and sell the greed of the other actors on the market.” 80% of the positions in the portfolio are active bets. They are mostly «boring» large caps whose ability to retain their potential for long periods of time is manifest, avoiding the picks of consensus and sell-side analysts and instead choosing neglected shares in a variety of sectors. However, depending on the phase of the market, the turnover rate may vary from 50% to 450%.

The head of the emerging markets unit at Templeton, Mark Mobius, estimates that the increasing use of derivative products could cause another financial crisis, Bloomberg reports. The lack of regulations governing these products and their multiplication were the cause of the last financial crisis, Mobius points out. “We shouldn’t be surprised if another financial crisis is waiting for us around the corner, since we haven’t resolved any of the issues that caused the last one,” Mobius says. Due to the high level of directional bets, he adds, there will be crises on equities markets in an environment of increased volatility.

The recently-published 2011 Global Wealth report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) finds that the world’s population of millionaires rose 12.2% in the space of one year, and that there are now 12.5 million millionaire households, Les Echos reports. But the face of private wealth is changing. Although North America continues to dominate the global rankings, with a growth rate of 10.2% (compared with +4.8% in Europe), and 5.2 million households, the Asia-Pacific region now has a record growth rate, with assets under management up 17.1% in 2010. According to the study, India and China are likely to see the largest annual grwoth rates in their private wealth, of 18% and 14%, respectively, by 2015, bringing up the relative proportion of that wealth located in the Asia-Pacific (ex Japan) region to 23% by 2015, from 18% in 2010.

AXA announced on Tuesday, 31 May, that it has signed an agreement to sell its Canadian damage and life insurance, savings, and retirement activities to Intact Corporation Financière, for a total of CAD2.6bn in cash (about EUR1.9bn). The sale will generate a one-time capital gain of about EUR0.9bn, which will go on the books as net profit. In addition, AXA may receive up to CAD100m (about EUR72m) in added payments, depending on whether the firm meets profit objectives over a 5-year period, a statement says. Earnings at Axa Canada in 2010 totalled EUR1.559trn, of which EUR132m were for life insurance, savings, and retirement activities. Operating profits for Canadian activities totalled EUR139m from damage insurance, and EUR10m from life insurance, savings and retirement.

The French electrical engineering group Spie has been sold for a total of EUR2.1bn to a consortium led by the investment fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in partnership with Axa Private Equity and the Caisse des dépôts du Québec, a joint statement released on31 May announces. On 24 March of this year, PAI Partners announced jointly with the management of SPIE that it was planning to consider the next phase of development for the business, and the evolution of its shareholder structure. “Of the expressions of interest presented to PAI Partners, the strategic plan that Clayton, Dubilier & Clay and Axa Private Equity have laid out with the management team appeared to be the best solution. It guarantees the development of the business, largely by involving partners of the group in the success of the businesses as part of an employee shareholding plan,” the statement says. The investment fund PAI Partners bought Spie for EUR9890m in 2006, from the British firm Amec. It owns 87.25% of its capital, while the remaining 12.75% are in the hands of 230 executives and some employees at the business. Spie, which has 28,600 employees in 30 countries, last year earned net profits of EUR91m, slightly higher than the previous year (EUR86m). Its earnings totalled EUR3.75bn (+0.7%), of which 62% were earned in France.

Assya, a financial company, on Tuesday, 31 May announced that it has added to its unit dedicated to asset management, with the acquisition of Global Financial Services (GFS). GFS, a specialist in fund selection, with EUR730m in assets, helps management firms to present their funds to qualified institutional investors in France and internationally.The merger with the financial company Assya will allow GFS to cover various asset classes (long-only and hedge funds, structured products, real estate and private equity funds), and to meet the needs of investors in terms of time to market, a statement says.GFS, which will retain its name within the Assya group, will also offer qualified institutional investors expertise in advising.

At an investor conference held on Wednesday, 1 June in Paris, the management team of Axa group will unveil its “Ambition AXA” strategic plan, particularly the group’s financial and operational priorities in each of its professions (life insurance, savings, retirement, damage insurance and asset management). “Our profession as an insurer and asset manager is a long-term element, as it meets the fundamental needs of consumers worldwide, which are reinforced by demographic trends and the rapid development of emerging economies,” says Henri de Castries, chairman and CEO of AXA. “With Ambition AXA, our new strategic plan for the next five years, we are today affirming our objective of becoming the preferred company in our industry, relying on our geniune client orientation and a profound culture of trust and success in our teams.” The following is extracted from an AXA statement. Major financial objectives for 2015 in Ambition AXA Group’s global ambitions Growth in operating profits per share of 10% per year until 2015 EUR24m in cumulative available cash flow between 2011 and 2015 15% ongoing ROE in 2015 EUR1.5bn in pre-tax savings in mature markets by 2015, of which EUR0.8bn are to be made by 2013 Life insurance, savings, and retirement In life insurance, savings, and retirement, the objective is to accelerate grwoth of retirement planning and health activities, to optimist our traditional savings activities and increase the percentage in unit-linked policies, to extract more value from what is now one of the largest portfolios of activity in mature markets, and to accelerate our development in growth markets. This will involve the following goals: Available operational cash flows of EUR11bn from 2011 to 2015, of which EUR6bn will be between 2011 and 2013 A margin on new business of 28% by 2015 An internal rate of return (IRR) of over 15% in 2015 A reduction in the operating ratio of 5 points by 2015, particularly through savings of EUR0.5bn before taxes in mature markets Asset management In asset management, our objective is to fully profit from the potential for rebound at our two asset management firms, AXA IM and AllianceBernstein. Recovery in inflows in 2011 4% to 5% net inflows per year from 2012 to 2015 (as a percentage of average assets under management)

In March of this year, Jim McCool, executive vice president of institutional business at Charles Schwab Corp, caused a stir with his announcement at an asset management conference that the broker would soon be offering 401(k) retirement savings plans which would invest solely in ETFs, and that clients would be able to trade the funds with no fees, the Wall Street Journal reports. The first meetings with plan sponsors will begin this autumn.Schwab, which is a dwarf to the 401(k) market, sees ETFs as a means to compete with giants such as Fidelity, Aon Hewitt and Vanguard.

The Cetrel Securities company, which operates in the area of the transmission of secure transactions, and Kneip, a company specialised in collecting, management and diffusion of data related to funds, on Tuesday, 31 May announced the creation of a new platform dedicated to the management and registration of funds under new UCITS IV legislation. The service will follow new notification and registration procedures, so as to facilitate in part cross-border distribution of mutual funds in Europe.The platform, which will be operational from June 2011, will bring asset managers and promoters a simplified procedure in terms of compliance with regulations, as well as increased visibility in the notification process.

Following the resignation of Thomas Seip, who had held the position for over 10 years, Thomas Richter has been appointed as CEO of the German BVI association of management firms (85 members, EUR1.8trn in assets), from 1 July. Since October 2010, Richter had been a member of the board at the firm, with responsibility for lobbying activities in Germany and abroad for the investment fund sector, largely in Berlin and Brussels.The chairman of the BVI is Thomas Neiße, who is also head of Deka, the central management firm for the German savings banks. The association currently has staff of 53.Before joining the BVI permanently, Richter was global head of communication and relations with politicians, as well as associations with DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank group).Richter told Newsmanagers on Tuesday that he plans to keep a hand in lobbying, “a central function” in Berlin and Brussels, and that he will divide his time between Berlin and Frankfurt, where most of the association’s members are.He will also endeavour to gather more information about the hitherto unknown future UCITS V directive, now under preparation.

The US management firm Neuberger Berman announced on 31 May that it has appointed Nick Hoar as its new head of distribution for the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan and Korea), following the departure of Tony Edwards. Hoar, who was previously based in London and serving European clients, will move to Hong Kong in September. Neuberger Berman has two major distribution networks in the region, in Hong Kong and Singapore. In Hong Kong, staff, who currently total 27, are likely to be increased.

Nearly one third (31%) of investment companies in the UK have a total expense ratio (TER) of less than 1%, and nearly two thirds of companies have a TER of under 1.5%, according to a study by the British association of investment companies (AIC), covering 242 companies on the basis of Lipper statistics, excluding performance commissions.On the basis of data going back to November 2010, the average TER came in at 1.70%, compared with 1.76% in January 2010. Taking performance commissions into account, the average TER comes to 1.82%, compared with 1.83% in January 2010, and 1.56% in October 2008. In March 2011, 54% of companies in the sample had a performance commission in place, for a total of 130 companies, of which 45 had paid a performance commission.

With the db x-trackers MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan High Dividend Yield Index ETF, db x-trackers has launched an ETF specialised in Asian securities which offer higher-than-average dividend yields. The securities must bring returns on dividends at least 30% higher than the average for those in the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index. Meanwhile, the ETF platform from Deutsche Bank has also launched the db x-trackers MSCI Philippines IM TRN Index ETF and the db x-trackers MSCI BRIC TRN Index ETF. The three synthetic replication products all charge 0.65%, says Manooj Mistry, director of db x-trackers for the United Kingdom.

LV = Asset Management (LVAM) on 31 May launched an income fund dedicated to US equities, Investment Week reports. The fund will aim for returns more than one and a half times higher than the average for companies of the S&P 500. The portfolio will include 40 to 70 businesses, of which at least 80% will be US companies, with no position allowed to exceed 5% of the portfolio. The fund is aimed primarily at discretionary mandates, institutional investors and funds of funds.

F&C Thames River is planning to merge two funds dedicated to UK equities into larger vehicles, MoneyMarketing reports. The F&C UK growth & income fund (GBP31m) may be merged into the F&C UK equity income fund, whose assets under management total roughtly GBP190m. In the same way, the F&C UK opportunities fund (GBP62.4m) may join the F&C UK equity fund (GBP152.8m), which will be renamed as the F&C alpha fund from 24 June, in order to better reflect the approach of manager Peter Lees. A shareholder vote is scheduled for 15 June. The mergers, once approved, could then be carried out by the end of the month.

Après ceux de Fulcrum, Ferox Capital et Odey Asset Management, MCH Investment Strategies va commercialiser également en Espagne les fonds US Equity Growth, US Equity Value, US Equity Small Caps et American Fund de l’américain Brown Advisory, indique Funds People. Ces produits de droit irlandais sont conformes à la directive OPCVM III.

Le 31 mai, le munichois TMW Pramerica Property Investment a annoncé qu’il suspend définitivement les souscriptions et rachats du fonds immobilier offert au public TMW Immobilien Weltfonds, qui sera liquidé d’ici au 31 mai 2014. Ce sera donc le quatrième produit de cette catégorie à être dissous en Allemagne.Le produit de la cession des actifs du portefeuille, moins les frais, sera redistribué aux souscripteurs, deux premiers versements étant prévus pour janvier et juillet 2012. L’encours se situait en dernier lieu à 730 millions d’euros.Manifestement, TMW Pramerica a constaté qu’il lui serait impossible de lever les liquidités nécessaires pour faire face à une réouverture qui devait impérativement avoir lieu le 8 février 2012 au plus tard, soit deux ans après le début de la suspension des rachats.

Dans un entretien avec la Börsen-Zeitung, Eric Helderlé, directeur général, annonce que Carmignac Gestion va implanter une succursale en Allemagne, à Francfort, en ciblant principalement la clientèle institutionnelle. Jusqu'à présent, le marché allemand, le troisième par importance pour la société de gestion française, était couvert à partir de Luxembourg.

Spécialiste de l’Europe orientale et disposant d’une succursale à Kiev, le gestionnaire indépendant hambourgeois Luther Asset Management va conseiller le nouveau fonds LAM Balkan-Baltikum plus AMI qui se focalisera sur les pays émergents des Balkans et de la Baltique, notamment la Roumanie, la Bulgarie, la Croatie et les trois Républiques baltes. Le fonds investira aussi en Grèce et en Turquie et a également prévu de réaliser des investissements en Hongrie et en Georgie. La capitalisation boursière minimale des entreprises dont les actions seront entrées en portefeuille est fixée à 25 millions d’euros.

Suite à la démission de Thomas Seip, qui était en poste depuis une dizaine d’années, Thomas Richter a été désigné directeur général de l’association allemande BVI des sociétés de gestion (85 membres, 1.800 milliards d’euros d’encours) à compter du 1er juillet. Il était depuis octobre 2010 membre du directoire de l’association, avec la responsabilité de l’activité de lobbying en Allemagne et à l'étranger pour le secteur des fonds d’investissement, principalement à Berlin et à Bruxelles.Le président du BVI est Thomas Neiße; qui est aussi le patron de Deka, la société de gestion centrale des caisses d'épargne allemandes. L’effectif de l’association est actuellement de 53 personnes. Avant de rejoindre le BVI comme permanent, Thomas Richter a été le directeur mondial de la communication ainsi que des relations avec les milieux politiques et avec les associations chez DWS Investments (groupe Deutsche Bank). Interrogé par NewsManagers, Thomas Richter a précisé mardi qu’il entend conserver la haute main sur l’activité de lobbying, «une fonction centrale» à Berlin et Bruxelles, tout en partageant son temps entre Berlin et Francfort, où se trouvent le plus de membres de l’association.D’autre part, il compte approfondir tous les dossiers concrets du moment, dont le moindre n’est pas la préparation de la future directive OPCVM V.

La Mondiale vient de lancer un nouveau contrat d’assurance-vie à annuités variables baptisé «Amadia», assez proche des autres de son offre. Selon La Tribune, lui aussi propose une garantie de rendement de 4,5 % net de frais de gestion. Cette garantie coûte jusqu'à 2,5 % par an. Les frais sur versement s'élèvent à 4,5 % maximum.

Dans un entretien à La Tribune, Tobias Schmidt, président de Feri EuroRating, présente sa structure et reviens sur ses ambitions en Europe. La filiale à 100 % de Feri AG ne vend pas de produits d’investissement, et en ce qui concerne la notation du risque de crédit souverain, «notre modèle économique est basé uniquement sur la rémunération par les investisseurs de nos services», insiste-t-il. La structure dispose de bureaux à Londres, Paris et New York. «Notre ambition est cependant de nous développer à l'étranger, notamment en France. Actuellement, nos activités à Paris reposent surtout sur les activités de banques de données, mais nous envisageons de développer la notation. À terme, des embauches sont envisageables», annonce Tobias Schmidt.

La société de gestion américaine Neuberger Berman a annoncé le 31 mai la nomination, avec effet immédiat, de Nick Hoar en qualité de nouveau patron de la distribution pour la zone Asie-Pacifique (hors Japon et Corée) suite au départ de Tony Edwards.Jusqu’ici basé à Londres et en charge de la clientèle européenne, Nick Hoar va s’installer à Hong Kong d’ici au mois de septembre. Neuberger berman dispose de deux grands réseaux de distribution dans la zone, Hong Kong et Singapour. A Hong Kong, l’effectif, actuellement composé de 27 personnes, devrait être renforcé.

AXA a annoncé, mardi 31 mai, la conclusion d’un accord afin de céder ses activités canadiennes d’assurance dommages et vie, épargne, retraite à Intact Corporation Financière pour un montant total de 2,6 milliards de dollars canadiens en numéraire (soit environ 1,9 milliard d’euros). Cette cession devrait générer une plus-value exceptionnelle d’environ 0,9 milliard d’euros, qui sera comptabilisée en résultat net. De plus, AXA pourra recevoir jusqu’à 100 millions de dollars canadiens (soit environ 72 millions d’euros) en paiement différé conditionné à l’atteinte de mesures de profitabilité sur une période de 5 ans, précise un communiqué.Le chiffre d’affaires d’Axa Canada s’est élevé en 2010 à 1 559 millions d’euros dont 132 millions pour l’activité Vie, épargne, retraite. Le résultat opérationnel des activités canadiennes a atteint 139 millions d’euros en assurance dommages et 10 millions d’euros en assurance vie, épargne, retraite.