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02/03/2011

Schroders recruits for distribution

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Leonardo Fernández, client director, has been appointed as head of sales, in charge of intermediaries at Schroders España, Funds People reports. He will report to Carla Bergareche, CEO for Spain.The British asset management firm currently employs 11 people in Spain, where its assets totalled about EUR2.9bn as of the end of 2010.
02/03/2011

Goldman Sachs launches Next-11 Equity Fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Goldman Sachs Asset Management has announced, in a filing submitted to the SEC on 16 February, the forthcoming launch of the N-11 Equity Fund, with four share classes. The promoter emphasizes that the product is “non-diversified” under the terms of the Investment Company Act of 1940.Under normal circumstances, the portfolio will invest at least 80% in equities from “next eleven” countries, or N-11, or other businesses which are active in N-11 countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam). The fund will not invest in issuers domiciled in Iran, in light of US economic sanctions against the country.The TER for A class shares (GSYAX) is set at 1.90%, while the rate is 2.65% for C class shares (GSYCX). For Institutional shares (GSYIX), the fees are 1.50%, for IR shares (GSYRX), the rate is 1.65%.
02/03/2011

Top 10 hedge funds made USD28bn in second half

The top 10 hedge funds made USD28bn for clients in the second half of 2010, according to the Financial Times which cites data calculated by LCH Investments, an investor in hedge funds run by Edmond de Rothschild Group. This is USD2bn more than the net profits of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and HSBC combined, underlines the newspaper. The 10 funds have earned a total of USD182bn for investors since they were created, with George Soros making USD35bn for clients – after all fees – since he set up his Quantum Fund in 1973.
02/03/2011

Banif Inmobiliario reopens to redemptions

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Two years after redemptions from the Banif Inmobiliario real estate fund were frozen by Santander, the fund’s 44,033 shareholders have begun receiving their money back. They will receive EUR1,211.05 per share, or 11.9% less than their value when redemptions were suspended, Cinco Días reports. In 2009 and 2010, the net asset value of the fund fell by 12.4% and 6.3%, respectively. Since the beginning of 2011, the fund has lost another 0.6%.
02/03/2011

First net subscriptions to Spanish funds in 16 months

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In February, Spanish securities funds posted gross subscriptions of EUR5.12bn, and net subscriptions of EUR74m, the first net subscriptions after a 16-month spell of net redemptions, according to statistics from the Inverco association of asset management firms.Total assets as of 28 February totalled nearly EUR138.89bn, which represents an increase of EUR717m, or 0.5%, compared with the end of January, making February the second consecutive month of increase in assets under management.In January-February, the two top management firms in the country, Santander Asset Management and BBVA Asset Management, saw declines in their assets of EUR364.6m and EUR69.3m, respectively, while assets under management at Incercaixa Gestión (La Caixa) increased by EUR804.24m.In the month of February alone, Santander AM saw net outflows of EUR386.9m, while BBVA AM saw net redemptions of EUR146.18m. Of the top 10 Spanish management firms, six saw net redemptions in February, including Ahorro Corporación Gestión, with net outflows of EUR112.43m.However, Invercaixa Gestión stands out with net subscriptions of EUR769.22m in February. The other two major beneficiaries of net inflows are Bestinver Gestión (Acciona), with EUR50.09m, and Mutuactivos (Mutua Madrileña).
02/03/2011

Doughty Hanson acquires two shopping centres in Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The private equity investor Doughty Hanson & Co real Estate has acquired the shopping centres El Rosal (51,000 square metres) in the province of León, and Plaza Eboli (31,000 square metres) in the province of Madrid, fron Sonae Sierra, for EUR120m, Cotizalia reports.
02/03/2011

Threadneedle AM recruits in Hong Kong

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The management firm Threadneedle on 28 February announced the appointment of Albert Lee as a senior advisor. Lee, who will be based in Hong Kong, will be in charge of laying out the group’s strategy in Asia, in close collaboration with the president for Asia-Pacific, Raymondo Yu. Lee previously worked at Merrill Lynch Securities. He is currently also senior advisor to the wealth management department at Nomura International in Hong Kong.
02/03/2011

IFAs see potential for fund sales

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A survey conducted in January by YouGov Psychonomics AG on behalf of Frankfurter Fondsbank (FFB, EUR16.6bn in assets under administration), an affiliate of Fidelity, covering 1,199 independent financial advisers (IFAs), finds that 66% of professionals see the most potential for sales of traditional investment funds to their clients until the end of this year. Other products are considerably less popular with IFAs: 47% favour Riester retirement savings products, 42% vote for current accounts, 30% for unit-linked life insurance, 28% for ETFs, and 22% for savings accounts. In terms of asset classes, IFAs clearly prefer equities, and recommend Asian equities (70%), followed by European equities (65%), while African equities are more popular even than American shares, at 27% and 18%.
02/03/2011

quirin bank turns a profit in 2010

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In its fourth fiscal year in 2010, quirin bank, founded by Karl Matthäus Schmidt, has posted its first profits, of EUR0.5m, compared with losses of EUR7.4m in 2009, and EUR12.9m in 2008. The first bank to operate exclusively on a fee basis now has 7,500 clients, and in 2010 posted net inflows of EUR553m. Assets as of the end of December totalled over EUR2bn, compared with about EUR1.6bn twelve months earlier.The number of employees at the bank was down to 227 at the end of 2010, from 236 at the end of 2009.The owners’ equity ratio stands at 10.3%, compared with 10.9%.
02/03/2011

comdirect offers a bounty on incoming transfers from rival banks

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors who transfer shares in investment funds from another bank or management firm to comdirect bank by 31 March will receive a 1% bonus on the amount transferred, up to a limit of EUR250. The bonus will not be applied to transfers from Commerzbank or ebase.The Commerzbank affiliate also announced on 1 March that clients opening a new share account will receive free account maintenance for three years. The offer will be extended if the shareholder makes at least two orders per quarter, uses the free comdirect current account, or makes payments to a securities savings plan.comdirect will also charge only 50% of the commission on orders for all German stock markets, excluding Eurex, and for all off-market transactions.Lastly, clients who buy or transfer fund shares totalling at least EUR5,000 in the three months after opening an account will receive a EUR50 bonus.
02/03/2011

VZ Holdings expands in Germany

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The financial services provider VZ Holding has opened a branch office in Düsseldorf, the firm announced on 1 March in a statement. The success of the VZ branches in Munich, Frankfurt and Nuremberg show that geographical proximity to the client is a major advantage in exploiting the potential of the market, the firm says. The new branch will be led by Michael Huber, director of VZ Frankfurt, and Oz Güven, a partner at VZ Munich.
02/03/2011

Europa Feldberg adds to its management team

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurt-based real estate fund management firm EuropaFeldberg, a 50/50 joint venture of Europa Capital and Feldberg Capital (EUR7bn in assets), on 1 March announced the recruitment of Stephan Schaal as investment director. He will be in charge firstly of the launch of the Core-Büroimmobilienfonds, which will be specialised in western Europe, soon to be launched by EuropaFeldberg. The management team now has five members.Schaal joins from Curzon/AEW, where he was director in London, after working at Henderson Global from 2005 to 2007.
02/03/2011

Deka invests in Bergheim

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The real estate fund management firm Deka Immobilien (German savings banks) on 1 March announced that it has acquired the TK Maxx logistical centre in Bergheim from an institutional investor for about EUR20m. The property, with 30,000 square metres of area near Cologne and the Dutch border, is primarily used by the discount retailer TK Maxx as a distribution and transloading centre. It will be added to the portfolio of an institutional real estate fund.
02/03/2011

Ignis AM launches an absolute return government bond fund

Ignis Asset Management is to launch the Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund at the end of March. The fund will target net returns of 2% to 3% per annum in excess of cash2 by actively trading a portfolio of global government bonds and currencies.The fund will be managed by head of rates, Russ Oxley, and chief economist, Stuart Thomson, and will be the first retail proposition from Ignis’s rates team, which manages in excess of GBP28 billion on behalf of institutional investors.The fund, a Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS III SICAV, will invest primarily in government bonds, but will also take long and short positions in money market instruments and derivatives. Foreign currency exposure will be limited to 25%.
02/03/2011

New CEO for UBI Pramerica

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Andrea Pennacchia has been appointed CEO of UBI Pramerica SGR, the Italian management firm co-owned by UBI Banca and Prudential, from 1 March. He replaces Diego Cavrioli, who has left UBI Pramerica to take over as head of finance at UBI Banca. Since 2009, Pennacchia has been head of the Gruppo UBI Banca organisation.
02/03/2011

Aviva Investors is a shareholder in Azimut

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 24 February, Aviva Investors Global Services Limited has been controlling 2.01% of publicly-traded capital in the Italian management firm Azimut Holding spa, Bluerating reports, citing Consob.
02/03/2011

Neuberger Berman appoints a managing director

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US management firm Neuberger Berman has announced the arrival of David Kupperman as managing director of NB Alternatives Investment Management, the fund of hedge fund activity of the group. He was previously a partner and member of the investment committee at Alternative Investment Management, a fund of hedge funds.
02/03/2011

NewAlpha Asset Management makes a recruitment

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } NewAlpha, an affiliate of the OFI group which provides institutional investors with access to new managers via incubation funds, announced on Tuesday, 1 March that Fabien Dersy has joined the firm as head of sourcing, selection and relationship management for incubated managers. Dersy will be a senior analyst in charge of incubation projects. Dersy was previously head of the range of volatility arbitrage funds at Dexia Asset Management.
02/03/2011

Acropole AM to add to alternative management unit

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Acropole Asset Management, a French asset management boutique dedicated to convertible bonds, is planning to develop its alternative management activities, one of its three units, alongside traditional convertibles and credit management. So far, these activities are focused on long/short (with the Acropole LS Convexité fund) and convertibles arbitrage (with the Acropole Convertibles Arbitrage). “We are going to add a third area: volatility,” Jacques Joakimides, the CEO of the firm said. To do this, the asset manager will be recruiting for its teams. Acropole AM, with slightly over EUR700m in assets under management and 17 employees, is also in the process of recruiting a head for external distribution, to replace Marc Auchabie.
02/03/2011

CalPERS appoints a chief risk officer

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The California pension fund CalPERS on 1 March announced that it has appointed Larry Jensen to the newly-created position of chief risk officer. The position is intended to improve the risk management programme at the pension fund, CalPERS says in a statement. Jensen was previously director of the new Office of Enterprise Risk Management at the pension fund from 1 October, and was in charge of a risk evaluation mission.
02/03/2011

Strong increase in profits at Fortress

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 31 December, assets at Fortress Investment Group totalled USD44.6bn, 42% higher than one year previously, and its pre-tax distributable earnings for the year 2010 totalled USD372m, compared with USD172m. GAAP net income, excluding principals agreement compensation came to USD170m, compared with USD43m in 2009, while GAAP net loss attributable to Class A shareholders increased to USD285m from USD255m.Fortress states that it has raised new third-party capital totalling USD5.3bn, of which USD2.6bn were included in the books as of the end of December. The remaining USD2.7bn are commitments which have not yet been called in.Lastly, the asset management firm states that of this freshly-raised USD5.3bn, USD3.1bn will go to credit private equity funds, USD447m to credit hedge funds, and USD1.7bn to liquid hedge funds.
02/03/2011

German real estate funds likely to pull out of Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Expansión reports that it is likely that German real estate funds will seek to liquidate most of their assets in Spain before the entry into force of a new double taxation agreement, which was concluded on 3 February between Spain and Germany, and would probably come into force on 1 January 2012. One of the terms of the agreement would make sales of properties subject to taxes in the country where the property is located, which in these cases would mean Spain. These sales would be subject to a 19% tax, without the exemption from article 14 of the Spanish last on taxation of non-residents, which applies only to dividends and not to capital gains on assets.
02/03/2011

Management firms in better health than in 2007

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asset management firms are completing their recovery. In fourth quarter 2010, operating margins in the asset management industry improved in the United States, according to a study by the New York consulting firm kasina, cited by Mutual Fund Wire. They now stand at 31.4%, compared with 27.5% in fourth quarter 2009. Net margins for 17 management firms analysed are also up, at 23.4%, compared with 21.2% one year previously. These figures signify that asset managers are now in better shape than they were in 2007 and 2008, kasina states. Among the best performers in terms of margins, Franklin Templeton and BlackRock had the best satisfactory figures among the major players. Among the smaller firms, Pzena Investment Management and Calamos Investments came out on top.
02/03/2011

Sparinvest takes over asset management activities of Atrium Partners

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Danish asset management firm Sparinvest announced on 1 March that it has acquired Atrium Asset Management, the portfolio management affiliate of Atrium Partners, for an undisclosed amount. The firm manages two European small caps funds with total assets of EUR55m, entitled Atrium Value Partners SICAV - European Small Cap (domiciled in Luxembourg) and Atrium Value Partners – Europa Small Cap (domiciled in Denmark).The two managers of Atrium Asset Management, Karsten Løngaard and Lisbeth Søgaard Nielsen, will join the value equities team at Sparinvest, led by Jens Moestrup Rasmussen, which currently manages EUR3.4bn.
02/03/2011

Ole Søeberg joins Skagen Funds

Ole Søeberg is joining Skagen Funds as a portfolio manager to further strengthen the global and Norwegian equity fund SkagenVekst. He will be responsible for analysing existing and potential investments alongside a team comprising 9 fund managers. Søeberg has extensive experience in both global and Danish capital markets. He joins Skagen from his position as managing director of the insurance company Tryg where he was responsible for investor relations since 2006. For the past four years Søeberg has been a member of the board of directors of Skagen AS. He has stepped down from the Board to assume his new position. Ole Søeberg will take up his new role at Skagen in the first half of 2011.
02/03/2011

Ed Rosengarten joins Eden Group

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former head of equities at M&G. Ed Rosengarden, has joined Eden Group as head of asset management, Investment Week reports. In his new role, Rosengarten will be in charge of developing the client base and creating new products.
02/03/2011

State Street extends its cooperation with Britain's PPF

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street on 28 February announced that it has been reappointed for a five-year mandate by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), from 1 January 2011. The mandate, on assets of GBP5bn, has covered the provision of custody and administration services since 2005. In 2008, the mandate was extended to include risk analysis and independent valuation of OTC derivatives. The PPF has added securities lending services within the renewed mandate.
02/03/2011

FSA publishes first report on consumer protection

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As a part of its strategy to protect consumers and prepare for the application of the new regulations arising from the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the British FSA has published its first study of the risks related to the conduct of businesses in regard to consumers, the Retail Conduct Risk Outlook (RCRO), which, along with the forthcoming Prudential Risk Outlook, will replace the former Financial Risk Outlook. The report draws particular attention to distributor influenced funds (DIF), structured funds such as open-ended investment companies (OEIC), in which the distributor, generally an advising firm, has some control over the architecture or the management of the fund. The FSA states that there are at least 40 firms which offer DIF products to their clients. Assets under management in these funds total about GBP2bn. The control exercised by advising firms on these funds, though partial, presents a number of risks, among them the risk of conflicts of interest, as the advising firms distributing DIF products often have a direct financial interest in the products, to which they are meant to be providing consulting services. The report also points to the increasing popularity of complex investment products, including ETFs, “relatively new products” both for retail investors and for advising firms. In addition to counterparty and collateral risks, the FSA mentions conflicts of interest related to the structuring of ETFs and legal issues related to the domicile of underlyings. The marketing and promotion of complex ETFs does not always appropriately reflect the various risks related to these products, and the FSA says it has intensified its surveillance in this area and is prepared to intervene if necessary.

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