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09/02/2011

LaSalle IM opens an office in Dubai

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nick Brooks, regional director, who for eight years has been client services manager for the Middle East in London, will be the head of the new representative office which LaSalle Investment Management has opened in Dubai to serve the markets of the region.
09/02/2011

LBPAM releases an SRI credit fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } LBPAM Responsable Obli Crédit, which has been available since 10 November 2010, is an SRI (socially responsible investment) fund of pure credit, aimed at legal entities. Its investment universe is composed of bonds and securitisations traded on the private sector, denominated in euros and rated investment grade (fixed rate, variable rate, revisable rate, or inflation-linked). The portfolio of the fund, managed by Samir Bederr in close collaboration with the SRI team at Banque Postale Asset Management, is composed of 40 to 45 positions. In terms of the choice of securities, the average ESG (environmental, social and governance) risk for the portfolio must be lower than or equal to the ESG risk for the benchmark index, Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate 500MM corporate. The aerospace and defence sectors are excluded from the investment universe, as are issuers with an ESG rating of 5, the lowest rating. Characteristics ISIN: FR0010957878 Date of creation: 10 November 2010 Total assets as of 31 December 2010: EUR29.5m Real management fees: 0.70% TTC per year, 0.50% TTC until 1 March, during the fund’s launch period Results: Capitalisation Currency: euroMinimal initial subscription: EUR3m
09/02/2011

Asia specialist sets up shop in Europe

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Matthews International, an investment boutique based in San Francisco and specialised in Asia, which created a Luxembourg Sicav in 2010, has obtained approval to promote three of its funds on the Swiss and British markets, Citywire reports. The three vehicles are the Pacific Tiger (Asia ex Japan), the China fund, and the Asia Dividend fund. These products use the same investment strategies as in the United States, and will be managed by the same team, with a bottom-up process based on fundamental research. Assets under management at Matthews International total about USD19bn, making it the largest US investor specialised in Asian markets.
09/02/2011

Architas launches three passively-managed funds of funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Architas, the multi-management arm of the Axa group, is planning to launch three passively-managed funds of funds as additions to its existing range, MoneyMarketing reports. The calendar for the launches is not set, but the objective is to strengthen the range, which already includes three passively-managed funds of funds launched in November 2008. Eventually, Architas hopes to offer six passive and six active funds, each corresponding to one of the 17 categories of risk defined by the management firm.
09/02/2011

Robeco Boston Partners already planning a soft closing fro US Premium Equities fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Duilio R. Ramallo, manager of the Luxembourg fund Robeco US Premium Equities I USD shares (LU02269543469), told Newsmanagers on 8 February that the US equities product with USD4bn in assets last year attracted about USD1.2bn in net subscriptions, in addition to over USD400m in positive market effects related to a return of about 14% (the strategy, initiated in October 2005, weighs in at USD7bn, of which USD200m are for the US mutual fund, launched in July 2002).The portfolio includes about 110 positions, of which the largest is JP Morgan (3.5%), out of a universe of 4,000 shares. Although the benchmark index is the Russell 3000 value, about 75% of the shares in the portfolio are not part of this index. Stock-picking is bottom-up, of equities which present the double advantage of having low valuations, healthy balance sheets with rising profits, and a catalysing factor in the judgement of the manager. In addition, active bets may involve not only overweight positions but the shares which are in the index and that the fund deliberately doesn’t own.When asked about the capacity limitations of the Luxembourg fund, Ramallo estimates that Robeco will need to soft close the fund when it nears USD8bn. This may take the form of a closure to new investors and a discontinuation of active marketing.
09/02/2011

SEB AM adds to sales staff

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 1 February, Kai-Uwe Pohl has joined the sales team at SEB Asset Management Germany as head of institutional distribution. He was most recently head of distribution at WestLB Mellon Asset Management KAG in Düsseldorf, and previously head of the institutional fund management division at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt. The recruitment of Pohl is part of a growth drive at SEB AM in the institutional area.
09/02/2011

Shedlin hires a director from Charlemagne

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dennis Selinas, country manager and managing director for Germany at Charlemagne Capital, has been recruited by Shedlin Capital as head of property investments. He will be in charge of local investment teams and will share his time between the the Nuremberg, London and Bucharest offices.
09/02/2011

Berenberg and Universal launch a German value equities fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hamburg branch of Berenberg Lux Invest and Germany-based Universal-Investment are joining forces to launch the German-registered fund Berenberg Deutschland Dividenden PLUS-Universal, which aims for regular returns through investment in equities from German companies which pay high dividends and earning premiums on options, while limiting risk with a covered call strategy, relying on volatility data which make it possible to actively manage maturities for each option. Stock-picking relies on a quantitative process which identifies businesses with solid balance sheets, higher than average profits, and attractive dividends.CharacteristicsName: Berenberg Deutschland Dividenden PLUS-UniversalISIN: DE000A1C7DF9Front-end fee: 5.50% maximumManagement commission: currently 1.55%Performance commission: 10% of outperformance on the Dax, with high watermark
09/02/2011

ETFlab launches four French government bond products

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse has gained four ETFs based on French government bonds. They replicate four of the five indices of the new Eurogov France range from Deutsche Börse for French government bonds in euros. The bond issues must have residual assets of at least EUR4bn and zero coupon issues are excluded from the universe. The number of issues incuded in the index is limited to 15.ETFlab, an affiliate of DekaBank, has released the ETFlab Deutsche Börse EUROGOV France, ISIN: DE000ETFL425, ETFlab Deutsche Börse EUROGOV France 1-3, ISIN: DE000ETFL391, ETFlab Deutsche Börse EUROGOV France 3-5, ISIN: DE000ETFL409 and ETFlab Deutsche Börse EUROGOV France 5-10, ISIN: DE000ETFL417, all of which charge fees of 0.15%. The new products bring the total number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 771.
09/02/2011

Bernard Stadler elected chairman of board of directors at Banque Heritage

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the board of directors at Banque Heritage has elected Bernard Stadler as chairman of the board of directors. Jorge Esteve has also been appointed as a member of the board. Stadler, chairman of the board of directors at the Banque Cantonale du Valais (BCVs), served in several positions at UBS, Citibank, the Clariden group, and Clariden Leu between 1991 and 2007, including CEO, a position he held for 10 years. Esteve previously worked at HSBC Mexico.
09/02/2011

Pension fund assets up 12% in 2010

As of the end of 2010, assets in pension funds in the 13 largest retirement markets in the world (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) totalled USD26.496trn, an increase of 12% compared with the end of 2009. This is a record level, according to Towers Watson, the compiler of the data. However, this total represents only 76% of GDP, which is lower than the percentage in 2007 (78%). Growth is largely due to the good performance of financial markets.In 2010, retirement assets expressed in US dollars increased in all markets analysed by Towers Watson, except Ireland and France.The largest pension fund market remains the United States, at 58%, far ahead of Japan and the United Kingdom, at 13% and 9% respectively.But the country which showed the largest increase in assets in US dollars is South Africa, with 28%Pension fund allocations from the seven largest retirement markets (Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) remained relatively unchanged compared with 2009: 47% in equities, 33% in bonds, 1% in cash and 19% in other asset classes (real estate and other alternative investments). The United Kingdom, the United States and Australia had the highest exposure to equities compared with other markets.In France, Towers Watson estimates that pension fund assets total Usd133bn, or only 5% of GDP (the lowest percentage in any of the 13 countries). As of the end of 2000, this total was USD85bn.
09/02/2011

Hennessee hedge fund index up 0.65% in January

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The consulting firm Hennessee Group LLC on 9 February announced that its hedge fund benchmark index gained 0.65% in the month of January, while the S&P 500 index gained 2.26%.
09/02/2011

GAM launches a tech stock fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that GAM is launching a long-only fund dedicated to IT sector equities, the GAM Star Technology fund, to benefit from new trends in the sector and the “profound defiance” which it inspires. The manager of the fund, Mark Hawtin, will invest in IT sector shares worldwide, particularly in the United States, which will represent more than 70% of the portfolio. Hawlin says that research into IT shares has considerably diminished since the bubble of 2000, as a result of which the sector is misunderstood and there are many price aberrations. Management fees are set at 1.50% per year, and performance commissions are 10% of gains exceeding the benchmark index (MSCI World IT).
09/02/2011

Jean-Pierre Mustier to join UniCredit

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jean-Pierre Mustier, the former head of Société Générale’s corporate and investment bank, has been selected to head the corporate & investment banking division of UniCredit, replacing Sergio Ermotti, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports, confirming speculation in recent weeks. The choice of the Frenchman was announced on Tuesday by the appointments committee. It will become official on Thursday at an extraordinary ad-hoc board meeting.
09/02/2011

Italians pull out of money market and bond funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In January, funds on sale in Italy posted experienced net outflows of EUR3.7bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni (the Italian association of asset managers). Bond funds and money market funds both saw redemptions of EUR2.2bn. Hedge funds are also in the red, with outflows of EUR514m. Flexible funds, balanced funds and equities funds, however, had net inflows (of EUR745m, EUR304m and EUR171m, respectively). At the end of January, assets were down to EUR446bn, from EUR452bn as of the end of December, of which 23% were in equities funds, 4.8% in balanced funds, 40.9% in bond funds, 13.4% in money market funds, 15.1% in flexible funds, and 2.7% in hedge funds. Asset management firms with the largest inflows in January were Gruppo Generali (EUR169.6m) and JP Morgan Asset Management (EUR66.6m). The firms with the heaviest net outflows were Pioneer Investments (EUR732.9m) and Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo (EUR680.2m).
09/02/2011

Arrests in US insider trading investigation

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Federal prosecutors in Manhattan yesterday announced the arrest of two hedge fund managers, Agefi Switzerland reports. Samir Barai, head of Barai Capital Management, and Donald Longueuil, who in the past had worked for the titan SAC Capital Advisors. According to legal documents, Barai is accused of market fraud, conspiracy and obstructing law enforcement. Two other professionals – Noah freeman, former analyst at Sonar Capital and later portfolio manager at the Boston office of SAC Capital until January 2010, and Jason Pflaum, an analyst who worked with Barai – have chosen to plead guilty. Although the name SAC has come up frequently in investigations, the newspaper reports, the hedge fund is not directly implicated in the investigations.
09/02/2011

Consumer protection will be an area of focus for French G20 presidency

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French minister of the economy, Christine Lagarde, on 8 February announced at the convocation of the financial sector consulting committee (CSSF) that she would like to make consumer protection an area of focus for the French presidency of the G20. At the G20 Finance summit on 18 and 19 February, Lagarde will propose to her counterparts that the G20 Finance meeting in October 2011 should be a time to lay out common consumer protection principles for financial products. At the October meeting of G20 finance ministers, Lagarde will hold a high-level conference on consumer protection for financial products, in partnership with the OECD, to which she will invite G20 finance ministers. Lagarde stated in her address to the CSSF that the French G20 presidency represents “an opportunity not to be missed to protect consumers of financial products,” as, she said, “not to team up with consumers would be to forget that irresponsible sales practices for loans in the United States contributed to the sub-prime crisis.”
09/02/2011

CalPERS sues former Lehman executives

Calpers is suing former Lehman Brothers executives and investment banks that served as underwriters on the bond offerings of the bank, accusing them of misleading investors about the bank’s condition, according to the Financial Times. The US pension fund is seeking to recover losses it experienced on Lehman stocks and bonds that it had bought between June 2007 and September 2008.
09/02/2011

HSBC adds to Asian firepower in wealth management

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that HSBC Global Asset Management has scaled up its capacities in the wealth management sector in Asia, particularly in the multi-asset class segment, with the objective of diversifying to counterbalance the volatility expected to affect all asset classes in 2011. With this in mind, HSBC has recently transferred Simona Paravani from London to Hong Konf as global chief investment officer for wealth management.
09/02/2011

DBS recruits for Indonesia

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DBS Private Bank has recruited two senior bankers, as additions to the team specialised in Indonesia, which will now have 40 members, FinanceAsia reports. Stanley Puah Soon Kwang and Tan See Wee joined DBS in January of this year, and are both based in Singapore. Indonesia, like China, India and Taiwan, are priority growth markets for DBS, which employes more than 330 people in the region. Kwang, who was previously senior director at HSBC Private Bank in Singapore, joined DBS as senior vice president, in charge of a team of 10 private bankers. Wee, who previously worked at the regional entity Great Eastern Life Assurance as chief strategist, joined DBS as senior vice president and deputy team head.
09/02/2011

Laffitte Capital Management doubles AUM in one year

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After a difficult start, marked by the financial crisis and then the Lehman Brothers crisis, Laffitte Capital Management, an asset management firm founded in 2007, has finally had a “normal” year in 2010, says David Lenfant, founding partner at the firm, which also includes three other market professionals. The firm’s flagship fund, the Laffitte Risk Arbitrage, dedicated to merger and acquisition arbitrage in the Euro zone and the United States, now has nearly EUR100m in assets. The second fund, the Laffitte Equity Abitrage, launched in late 2009, has only about EUR6m in assets. But the asset management firm is planning to more actively market this fund this year. In total, assets at the firm represent EUR127.3m, more than double the total as of the end of 2009 (EUR45.6m). They are managed in equal proportions for institutionals, retail investors, and multi-management. International investors represent 20% of assets. The asset management firm has signed distribution agreements in Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, and is now planning to develop in southern Europe. The declared objective is to reach EUR250m in assets in 2011.
09/02/2011

Benjamin de Frouville joins M&G France

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Benjamin de Frouville, head of development at Keren, will soon join M&G France, where he will succeed Violaine de Serrant, who left the firm a few weeks ago (see Newsmanagers of 20 December 2010). De Frouville will start in his new role in early March. Like de Serrant, he will be in charge of services to the IFA market.
09/02/2011

UFF posts increase in assets under management

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Union Financière de France on February, 9th, announced that as of 31 December 2010, total assets under management came to EUR7.2bn, up from EUR6.8bn as of 31 December 2009. This increase in assets is partly due to valuation of assets (market appreciation), and partly to net subscriptions of EUR48m.In terms of product sales, UFF reports that flexible and corporate bond funds have been popular with clients, which “boosted new business in life insurance on the retail market,” with contributions up 10%.Sales of real estate investments were poor (-11%), after a very dynamic year in 2009.UFF announced a consolidated net profit of EUR35.9m, compared with EUR21.3m in 2009.
09/02/2011

Alicia Frank joins BNPP IP

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alicia Frank, portfolio manager and analyst on a Fidelity team in charge of USD6bn in assets in emerging markets equities, has joined BNP Paribas Investment Partners as senior portfolio manager in the global emerging equity assets team, which managed USD3bn as of the end of December, with a growth bias.Frank will be based in Boston, and will report to Gabriel Wallach, CIO for global emerging markets equities. Overall, BNPP IP manages more than USD60bn in emerging markets equities.
09/02/2011

Huge increase in assets at Harvest Global

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 18 months after taking on the greater China assets of its minority partner Harvest Fund Management, Deutsche Asset Mangemetn, Harvest Global Investments (HGI), an affiliate of the Hong Kong-based Harvest FM, has announced that its assets have increased to Usd3bn from USD1.6bn. HGI has also announced that its CEO, Michele Bang, who was the driving force behind its expansion, will be returning to Deutsche AM. Z-Ben Advisors reports that his replacement as CEO and vice chairman will be Choy Peng Wah, who was deputy CEO of Fullerton Asset Management.
09/02/2011

Optima Holding opens an office in Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Belgian group Optima Holding has for the first time opened an international rep office, and appointed Antonio Suárez, who is also CEO of Leo & Partners, as CEO for Spain at Optima Planificación Fiscal Patrimonial, Funds People reports.
09/02/2011

Popular and BBVA announce rebate for transfers into their funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In order to stem outflows of assets, BBVA and Banco Popular have announced that they will pay a bounty on fund share trades in favour of their products, Cinco Días reports. BBVA Asset Management will pay from 0.25% (short-term bonds) and 1% (guaranteed and equities funds) of the gross total transferred from other asset management firms. But clients will need to pledge to keep their money in the fund(s) until 27 March 2014.Banco Popular is offering between 0.35% for trades into its money market funds, and 1.25% for Spanish equities funds. The minimal period to remain invested in the funds is one year.
09/02/2011

Ignis reshuffles UK equities team

In order to address the recent sub optimal performance of its UK Life Company funds and to build a stronger UK equity proposition for the future, Ignis has taken the decision to restructure the US equity team. Since his appointment as CIO equities in October 2010, Mark Lovett has conducted a detailed review of Ignis’ UK equity proposition. «Whilst the performance of our third party retail funds has improved substantially our Life Company funds have performed below expectations», Ignis said. As a result of Mark Lovett’s review, Ignis has taken the decision to restructure the team. Head of UK equities, Neil Richardson, and four other members of the UK equity team will be leaving their current posts (Gary McAleese, Finlay MacDonald and Jon Stewart). Stacey Cassidy will also be leaving the team but will be joining the Asia Pacific team. «We are currently consulting with former members of the team concerning opportunities that may exist in the new structure or elsewhere within the company», Ignis adds. Mark Lovett will become head of UK equities as well as CIO of equities and will be directly responsible for the management of the Life Co funds. Management of retail funds – which are performing well - remains unaffected. Ralph Brook-Fox, Martin Brown and David Clark will remain lead managers of their respective funds – UK Focus, Equity Income and Smaller Companies.
09/02/2011

Ignis AM redéploie sa gestion actions britanniques

Selon Money Marketing, Mark Lovett, CIO d’Ignis Asset Management, a passé les fonds d’actions britanniques au banc d’essai et a decide de se séparer de Neil Richardson, head of UK equities ainsi que de quatre analystes, dont un - Stacey Cassidy- a été réaffecté à l'équipe Asie. Les trois analystes restant et Neil Richardson sont toujours en attente d’autres mission au sein d’Ignis.
09/02/2011
Fonds

Les fonds de pension voient leurs encours croître de 12 % en 2010

Fin 2010, les encours des fonds de pension des 13 principaux marchés de la retraite dans le monde* atteignaient 26.496 milliards de dollars, soit une augmentation de 12 % par rapport à la fin 2009. Il s’agit d’un niveau record, selon Towers Watson, qui publie ces chiffres. Néanmoins, ce montant ne représente que 76 % du PIB, ce qui reste inférieur à la proportion de 2007 (78 %). La croissance s’explique principalement par la bonne performance des marchés financiers. En 2010, les actifs de retraite exprimés en dollars ont augmenté dans tous les marchés analysés par Towers Watson, à l’exception de l’Irlande et de la France. Le principal marché des fonds de pension reste celui des Etats-Unis, avec 58 %, loin devant le Japon et le Royaume-Uni, avec 13 % et 9 % respectivement. Mais le pays ayant enregistré la plus forte croissance des actifs en dollars est l’Afrique du Sud, à 28 %. L’allocation des fonds de pension des sept principaux marchés de retraite (Australie, Canada, Japon, Pays-Bas, Suisse, Royaume-Uni et Etats-Unis) est restée relativement inchangée par rapport à 2009 : 47 % en actions, 33 % en obligations, 1 % en liquidités et 19 % pour les autres classes d’actifs (immobilier et autres placements alternatifs). Le Royaume-Uni, les Etats-Unis et l’Australie ont les plus fortes expositions aux actions par rapport aux autres marchés. En France, Towers Watson estime les actifs des fonds de retraite à 133 milliards de dollars, soit seulement 5 % du PIB (le plus faible pourcentage des 13 pays). Fin 2000, le montant était de 85 milliards. * Australie, Brésil, Canada, France, Allemagne, Hong Kong, Irlande, Japon, Pays-Bas, Afrique du Sud, Suisse, Royaume-Uni et Etats-Unis.
Fonds

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