Selon Il Sole – 24 Ore, la procédure de vente de Pioneer serait suspendue en attendant que les dirigeants d’UniCredit fournissent aux candidats au rachat des informations sur deux points décisifs : les risques liés aux investissements dans les fonds de Bernard Madoff et surtout les accords de distribution qui seront établis avec le nouvel acquéreur. La transmission de ces informations donnera le coup d’envoi à une période de trois semaines pendant laquelle les offres des candidats (Amundi, Natixis et Resolution) devront être présentées. La nouvelle échéance est donc repoussée à fin mars. Il Sole estime que la procédure pourrait encore être retardée car le nouvel administrateur délégué d’UniCredit, Federico Ghizzoni, semble vouloir prendre son temps. Peut-être pour laisser du temps à Intesa Sanpaolo de peaufiner un rapprochement italien avec Eurizon…

La société de gestion immobilière italienne Hines Italia a acquis la division de fonds immobiliers de Prima Sgr, la société de gestion des groupes italiens Clessidra Sgr, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Sienna et Bipiemme, cette dernière souhaitant se recentrer sur la gestion de valeurs mobilières. Avec cette acquisition, Hines Italia porte ses encours sous gestion à 2,5 milliards d’euros, un montant qu’elle voudrait porter à 3 milliards d’euros d’ici à la fin de l’année, rapporte Il Sole - 24 Ore.

Axa Asia Pacific Hondings (AXA APH) a indiqué le 7 mars que la Cour suprême de Victoria avait donné son accord au projet de rachat des activités australiennes et néo-zélandaises d’AXA APH par le gestionnaire de patrimoine australien AMP et la revente par ce dernier des activités asiatiques d’AXA APH à AXA. Le feu vert de la Cour suprême devrait être transmis à l’autorité des marchés australienne ce mardi 8 mars, date à compter de laquelle le projet deviendra juridiquement effectif. Le même jour, les actions AXA APH seront suspendues en fin de séance. Les actions ordinaires qui seront émises pour les minoritaires d’AXA APH devraient être négociables dès le 9 mars.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based Schroder Investment Management has announced the recruitment of Caterina Zimmermann for its German and Austrian distribution team; she will be based in Frankfurt. Zimmermann will be in charge of assisting wholesale clients, largely funds of funds and wealth managers.Zimmermann, who will report to Joachim Nareike, head of distribution, spent four years at ABN Amro in Singapore, firstly as an international client representative, and then as a private banker specialised in European clients in Asia and Europe.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, the German private bank Delbrück Bethmann Maffei had EUR16.5bn in assets under management, EUR3.7bn more than one year previously, largely thanks to EUR1.35bn in new inflows, Horst Schmidt, chairman of the board, states. Schmidt reports that clients are not concerned by the fact that the firm has a guarantee from the Dutch government, as its parent company is ABN Amro, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.The manager says that about 40% of assets come from clients with financial savings of at least EUR25m. In the past two years, Delbrück Bethmann Maffei has recruited 40 client advisers, bringing the total number to 100 specialists, out of total personnel of 550, of whom 330 are in private banking.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Il Sole – 24 Ore reports that the procedure to sell Pioneer has been suspended until the top management of UniCredit provides potential acquirers with information on two all-important points: risks related to investments in funds with ties to Bernard Madoff, and distribution agreements to be signed with the new buyer. Transmission of information on these points will trigger a three-week period, at the end of which bids from the candidates (Amundi, Natixis and Resolution) will need to be submitted. The new deadline is thus pushed back to the end of March. Il Sole estimates that the procedure may be delayed further, as the new deputy director of UniCredit, Federico Ghizzoni, appears to be taking his time – perhaps the time needed for Intesa Sanpaolo to work out the details of an Italian merger with Eurizon.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian real estate management firm Hines Italia has acquires the real estate fund division of Prima Sgr, the management firm of the Italian Clessidra Sgr, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Sienna and Bipiemme groups, as these groups are planning to concentrate on the management of securities. With the acquisition, Hines Italia increases its assets under management to EUR2.5bn, a total which is expected to increase to EUR3bn by the end of the year, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports.

Highbridge Capital Management, the alternatives investment management arm of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, has launched the Highbridge Diversified Commodities Fund offering investors access to commodities futures in a UCITs III format. The actively managed fund will invest in 25-30 of the most liquid, major commodities and will have a long bias but will also have the ability to short commodities should the investment team see an opportunity. The fund will invest in commodities via the futures market and meets the UCITs III rules through the use of a total return swap. The fund’s management is entrusted to a team of six professionals, who have many years of experience trading in the global financial markets and in the commodities area. It is headed by Sassan Alizadeh and Mark Nodelman.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schroders on 7 March announced the launch of a fund dedicated to European equities, the Schroder ISF European Equity Focus, a concentrated fund with no constraints, which complies with UCITS III, and is aimed at retail and institutional clients. The portfolio of the fund is composed of a choice of “best ideas,” with European large caps as the top priority, and up to 35 positions.The fund will be managed by Rory Bateman, head of European equities at Schroders, who will make the final decisions on the selection of stocks and the construction of the portfolio.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays Capital is launching two new OEIC funds exposed to the FTSE 100, Investment Week reports. They are the IFSL Barclays FTSE 100 Trend fund, which aims to bring investors positive returns tied to the FTSE 100 Trend Total Return index, and a defensive version of the fund, which offers protection for 80% of invested capital.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 7 March, Skandia Investment Group (SIG) announced the launch of the Skandia Asian Equity Fund, a UCITS-compliant product, which will be managed by the high-conviction management firm MIR (USD1.4bn in assets as of the end of June 2010), which for nearly two years has managed the Asian equities allocation from the Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund (GBP1bn in assets as of the end of December 2010), managed by François Zagame.MIR will use a value and momentum management style with a process that allies quantitative and qualitative management, applied to a highly diversified portfolio of 60 to 100 Asian equities (ex Japan). The benchmark index is the MSCI Asia Pacific Ex Japan GDP Index, which is weighted according to the GDP of the countries concerned.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January, retail net subscriptions to funds domiciled in the United Kingdom totalled GBP891m, less than half the monthly average for the past twelve months of GBP2bn, according to statistics from the Investment Management Association (IMA). Institutional funds saw net outflows of GBP1.18bn.As of the end of January, assets in retail funds domiciled in the United Kingdom totalled GBP569.3bn, compared with GBP468.9bn one year earlier, while for funds domiciled abroad, assets totalled GBP26.8bn, compared with GBP23.9bn as of the end of January 2010. In January, these funds posted net inflows of GBP292.3m, compared with net redemptions of GBP134m for the corresponding month of last year.Net subscriptions to equities funds totalled Gbp534m, compared with an average of GBP624m for the past twelve months, while balanced funds totalled GBP231m, for an average of GBP299m, and bond funds fell to their lowest level since October 2008, at GBP37m, whereas the average over the past twelve months was GBP584m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Chris Burvill, a fund manager at Gartmore, will be transferred in April to take over the equities allocation of the Henderson Managed Distribution Fund, replacing Trevor Green. Green will join the British equities management team at Aviva Investors at the end of May, and will handle high alpha mandates. He will succeed Mervyn Douglas, who is leaving the firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The private equity firm Duke Street has acquired a majority stake in IFA UK Wealth Management (UKWM, ex Yorkshire Investment Group), for a total of over GBP10m, Fund Strategy reports. The management firm currently has GBP1.5bn in assets under management, but its objective is to achieve GBP5bn in five years’ time.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } William Lowndes has resigned from his position as head of distribution for Asia at Threadneedle Asset Mangaement, Asian Investor reports. A replacement will soon be appointed. Lowndes is seeking a new employer in the Hong Kong area, in asset management or private banking, Asian Investor reports.

Aberdeen Asset Management has been appointed to manage a Nordic property portfolio of a total value of EUR537million. Portfolio properties are mainly located in Denmark, Sweden and Finland and consists of retail and residential properties. The portfolio was previously managed by Danish property asset manager, Property Group.The take-on of this portfolio comes a week after Aberdeen in Sweden was chosen to manage distressed assets to the value of EUR308 million on behalf of Danish financial institutions. With the addition of these two portfolios, the asset manager in the Nordics has grown its property assets under management by EUR846 million to EUR9.9 billion.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Francesco de Ferrari, managing director and CEO of Credit Suisse Private Banking Italy, will begin on 1 August 2011 as head of market area for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. He will report to Marcel Kreis, head of private banking Asia Pacific, and will be based in Singapore.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Peter Siber, head of credit advisory & structuring at the Zurich headquarters of Bank Julius Baer, has been appointed as chief risk officer for Asia and the Middle East, effective immediately. He will be based in Singapore, and will report regionally to Thomas R. Meier, CEO Asia & Middle East, and functionally to Bernhard Hodler, group chief risk officer. Bank Julius Baer has over 500 employees in Asia and the Middle East.

In the first two months of this year, Mandarine Gestion has taken on a net total of EUR150m in subscriptions, which is a good sign, barring any bad surprises, for the firm’s ambitions to attract EUR600m in subscriptions this year, after EUR500m in 2010 (see Newsmanagers of 11 February). Net profits last year totalled about EUR5m, as in 2009.Assets as of the end of February, at the end of three years in business, totalled EUR1.785bn, compared with “over EUR1.6bn” one month ago, of which 5% are from Germany, and 15% from French-speaking Switzerland.Marc Renaud, chairman and founder of the management firm, has unveiled the firm’s international distribution plans. In Germany, the firm’s “second domestic market,” the Frankfurt office, led by Andreas Krebs, concentrates on institutional clients, private banking and funds of funds; it may eventually take on recruitments, once it tops EUR100m in assets.Mandarine has also signed a distribution agreement for Austria with Tury Investment. The “minority” partner with whom the firm was in talks a month ago to invest in the Spanish and Italian markets is UFG-LFP, which controls 15% of Mandarine Gestion, and will distribute the Mandarine Valeur fund (about EUR1.2bn in assets) in these countries, as well as the Luxembourg-registered smidcaps fund Mandarine Unique, launched in March 2010, which has already received EUR40m in subscriptions in France and Germany. The Luxembourg vehicle may also be used to sell UCITS-compliant products in Asia or elsewhere in the world.The objective for 2011 is to bring in 30% to 35% of inflows from abroad, compared with one quarter in 2010, says Rémi Leservoisier, deputy CEO. To accompany this overall increase in assets, the firm, which has 19 employees, has recruited Mélanie Pauchard, who joins Yann Baudin in marketing, and further recruitments are planned for the legal department as well as the middle office (one for each unit).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyle LaMothe is leaving his position as head of Merrill Lynch US Wealth Management, an internal memo obtained by Financial News reveals. A successor has not yet been appointed.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At a press conference organised by Reuters on Monday, 7 March, Financière de l’Echiquier admitted that it has received enquiries from companies throughout the world (United States, Great Britain, and elsewhere), but stated that the candidates under study for potential acquisitions are exclusively French, Agefi reports. As Didier le Menestrel last year told Newsmanagers (see article on 15 February 2010), a logic of complementarity is now necessary for operations of this type in areas of specialised expertise or activity.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The management firm Rivoli Fund Management has announced that it topped EUR500m in assets in 2010 (EUR510m, to be exact). Inflows from France and abroad from all types of clients (institutionals, family offices, IFAs, etc.) were largely concentrated on the equities fund Rivoli Equity Fund and the bond fund Rivoli Long Short Bond Fund. As of the end of 2010, the first fund had nearly EUR200m in assets under management (with returns of 17.45% year on year), while the second had assets of EUR100m (with gains of 11.17%). As Newsmanagers reported on 14 October 2010, Rivoli Fund Management, which is planning to continue its development in the IFA segment, is planning to recruit two new specialist partners for its marketing and sales team to serve these clients.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The alternative management firm Ciam (Charity Investment Asset Management) was founded by three women, Catherine Berjal, Anne-Sophie d’Andlau and Frédérique Barnier-Bouchet, La Tribune reports. The firm, which received a license from the AMF in late 2009, is specialised in merger and acquisition arbitrage, and only trades on operations of over USD500m. The portfolio at Ciam totals USD40m, and the managers are aiming for eventual assets of USD700m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 7 February, Bank of America announced that Stuart Hendel has been recruited as managing director and head of global prime brokerage. He will join BofA in June, and will be based in New York. He will report to Tom Patrick and Mike Stewart, co-heads of global equities. The global futures & derivatives clearing services group will be placed under the joint responsibility of Hendel and Denis Manelski, who will remain as head of global short rates trading. Since 2009, Hendel has been head of global prime services at UBS, following his return from Morgan Stanley in 2007 as global head of prime brokerage. In 2004, he joined the hedge fund firm Eton Park. According to the Wall Street Journal, two partners of Hendel also left UBS on Monday: Jonathan Yalmokas, U.S. head of prime-brokerage sales, and Charlotte Burkeman, European head of prime brokerage.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announced on Monday, 7 March that it has appointed Matt Christensen as director of socially responsible investment, from 2 May 2011. Christensen will be based in Paris, and will report to Christophe Coquema, a member of the board at AXA IM, director of Markets & Investment Strategy.Before joining AXA IM, Christensen was executive director of Eurosif, a European think tank in the area of socially responsible investment, which works with 85 member businesses representing EUR1trn in assets under management.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Duemme SGR, the asset management firm of the Italian Banca Esperia group, has launched the Duemme CoCo Credit Fund, an Italian-registered hedge fund which invests in “coco,” or contingent convertible bank bonds, which are transformed into equities when the bank is in difficulty. For the fund, the Italian firm has formed a partnership with the British firm Algebris Investments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The wealth management firm VCH Vermögensverwaltung, a member of the Altira group, on 23 February announced the launch of a Luxembourg-registered fund, whose management will be contracted out to Hauck & Aufhäuser Investmentgesellschaft, where it will be managed by a former DWS manager, Jens Schleuniger (see Newsmanagers of 25 January 2011). The product is an equities fund specialised in firms whose headquarters are located in Africa, primarily in South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya. A significant portion of the portfolio will be placed in companies of the commodities sector in the broader senst (prospecting, refining, transformation, sales).CharacteristicsName: VCH AfricaISIN code: LU0563445195Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 0.40%Depository banking commission (Hauck & Aufhäuser Banquiers Luxembourg S.A.): 0.10%Advising commission: 1.45%Performance commission: 10%, with high watermarkMinimal subscription: EUR500

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January 2011, the German asset management industry posted net subscriptions of EUR6.62bn, compared with EUR6.56bn in December, and EUR13.51bn one year previously, according to figured published on 7 march by the German BVI association of asset management firms. These results are due to institutional funds, which attracted EUR5.6bn, open-ended real estate funds, which raised EUR599m, and mandates, which brought in EUR360m. Open-ended securities funds attracted only EUR65.6m, as bond products saw net outflows of over EUR1.62bn.Among the major asset management firms, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) saw net redemptions of EUR786.8m, while Deka (savings banks) and Union Investment (co-operative banks) posted redemptions of EUR513.2m and EUR123.6m, respectively. The DWS/DB Advisors/DB Group (Deutsche Bank) family, however, posted net inflows of EUR541m.Except ETFlab (Deka), which saw net outflows of EUR470m, ETF specialists took on net subscriptions: EUR349.4m for BlackRock (iShares), EUR78.7m for ComStage (Commerzbank), and EUR349.9m for db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The central management firm for the German co-operative banks, Union Investment, on 7 February announced the launch of the Luxembourg-registered bond fund UniRentaEurolandPlus 5J, which will reach its first maturity on 31 January 2016, after which the life of the fund may be extended.The product will invest primarily in government bonds, corporate bonds and European securitised bonds from very highly-rated issuers, but may also invest up to 40% of its asstes in government or corporate bonds from emerging markets in local currencies. However, for the moment, Union has not invested the fund in any of the peripheral countries of the Euro zone (PIIGS).The fund, managed by Dmitri Barinov, invests solely in assets whose maturity falls before the end date of the fund at the latest. Before this date, the fund may adopt a more defensive policy and invest in money market instruments.CharacteristicsName: UniRentaEurolandPlus 5JISIN code: LU0578911900Front-end fee: 2%Management commission; 0.7% (maximum 1%)Depository banking commission: 0.05%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 3 March, Global X Funds (USD1.5bn in assets as of the end of February) launched what it claims is the first ETF in the world to track the Argentinian market. The product is the Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF, acronym ARGT. The new product charges fees of 0.75%.