Dans un esprit d’architecture ouverte, Inversis Banco a annoncé mercredi un élargissement son offre de produits et de services. Sa plate-forme de négociation de plans d'épargne-retraite et fonds de pension individuels comporte désormais 64 fonds de 10 gestionnaires différents.Parallèlement, l'établissement lance une campagne «agressive» de captation de l'épargne valable jusqu’au 30 juin pour les transferts d’un minimum de 25.000 euros. Inversis Banco rémunèrera au maximum de 3.000 euros sur deux ans par client pour la souscription aux formules proposées par Aviva et El Corte Inglés, la bonification se limitant à 1.000 euros pour les autres promoteurs présents sur la plate-forme.

La Companie 1818 a annoncé le départ du gérant Brice Le Renard, selon Citywire. Il aurait rejoint une société de gestion concurrente. La gestion de ses fonds (Actif Reactif, Libre Actif, Reactif et Vega Monde Multi Secteurs) a été confiée à Sophie Ginistry et Eva Baligand.

Raphaëlle Gaillard vient d'être nommée directeur de clientèle institutionnelle, responsable du segment «Assurance et Banques» chez ING Investment Management France, le 3 mai 2010, en remplacement de Christèle Nouvellon, qui a quitté la société. Raphaëlle Gaillard a rejoint ING Investment Management, après avoir travaillé huit ans en tant que responsable commerciale au sein de l’équipe Institutionnelle France de BNP Paribas IP / Fortis Investments, et cinq ans chez Dexia Asset Management France. Elle est diplômée d’une Maîtrise de Sciences Economiques de l’Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas et titulaire d’un DESS de Finance de l’IEP Paris.

La société Crystal Finance, spécialisée dans le conseil en gestion de patrimoine auprès des Français expatriés, a annoncé le 5 mai la nomination de Philippe Brillant en tant que directeur France Métropole.Phlippe Brillant a rejoint Crystal Finance en avril 2008 en qualité de conseiller en gestion de patrimoine avant de devenir en novembre 2008, responsable régional France Nord Ouest, puis Directeur des bureaux de Paris en juillet 2009.

Le métier gestion d’actifs de BNP Paribas a accusé des rachats nets de 4,3 milliards d’euros au premier trimestre, essentiellement dans les fonds monétaires et actions. Les fonds obligataires ont en revanche enregistré des souscriptions. Cette décollecte a été compensée en partie par les souscriptions de 1,7 milliard d’euros de la banque privée. Au total, le pôle Investment Solutions affiche sur les trois premiers mois de l’année des sorties nettes de 0,2 milliard d’euros.Les encours sous gestion du pôle ont néanmoins augmenté à 874 milliards d’euros au 31 mars 2010 contre 838 au 31 décembre 2009 et 510 milliards au 31 mars 2009. Cela s’explique notamment par l’intégration des activités de BNP Paribas Fortis, notamment en banque privée et en gestion d’actifs. En outre, l’intégration des actifs de Fortis Investment se traduit par une baisse du poids relatif des actifs monétaires (de 31% à 22%) dans la Gestion d’actifs, au profit des actifs obligataires essentiellement, souligne BNP Paribas. Dans ce nouveau périmètre, les revenus du pôle, à 1.444 millions d’euros, sont en hausse de 26 % par rapport au premier trimestre 2009. A périmètre et change constants, ils progressent de 4,3 %. «Les revenus de Gestion Institutionnelle et Privée (+6,2%) sont tirés par la bonne performance de la gestion d’actifs et de la banque privée dans les réseaux domestiques», note la banque.Les frais de gestion, à 1.023 millions d’euros, sont en légère baisse par rapport au premier trimestre 2009 (-0,8 %) en raison des mesures d’ajustement des coûts prises dans l’ensemble des métiers en 2009. Cela permet au pôle de dégager une progression du résultat brut d’exploitation de 19,4 % par rapport à la période correspondante de l’année précédente. Ainsi, le résultat avant impôt s’élève à 467 millions d’euros, en hausse de 33,6 % par rapport à celui du premier trimestre 2009.

Amundi a anoncé mercredi le lancement de « Perco Intégral », une formule de placement dotée d’une garantie à l'échéance reposant sur un FCPE à compartiments. L’ensemble se décompose en 2 phases : une phase d’épargne permettant à son souscripteur de se constituer un capital-retraite et une phase de restitution du capital constitué sous la forme de 10 annuités garanties. Concrètement, durant la première phase qui s'établit sur 10 15 ou 20 ans, en fonction de l’horizon dont dispose le salarié avant son départ à la retraite, l’intéressé épargne à son rythme via son PERCO. Les sommes en question (issues de l’intéressement, la participation, des versements volontaires, etc) sont gérés activement et réparties selon l’évolution des marchés, entre des actifs « risqués » et actifs monétaires et obligataires. Au terme cependant, le salarié a la garantie de bénéficier de «100% de la plus haute valeur liquidative atteinte par le compartiment depuis sa création, soit au minimum de 100% des versements réalisés (hors frais de souscription)» , précise Amundi. Au cours de la seconde phase, pendant 10 ans à partir de la date d’échéance de la phase 1, le salarié dispose d’un montant annuel garanti, égal au dixième de son capital-retraite acquis. Quant au solde, il continue d’être géré activement et la performance éventuelle réalisée durant cette période est restituée sous la forme d’un dernier versement à la fin de la phase 2.

La société Maecenas Finance et Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers ont annoncé mercredi 5 mai leur alliance pour lancer un fonds de partage Maecenas Patrimoine. Fonds nourricier du FCP Saint-Honoré Bond Allocation, Maecenas Patrimoine est investi sur l’ensemble des marchés obligataires et reverse 25 % de ses revenus à des organismes «oeuvrant pour la préservation et la mise en valeur du patrimoine français». En contrepartie de la part partagée, l’investisseur institutionnel pourra bénéficier d’un avantage fiscal : une déduction de 60 % du don réalisé sur son impôt sur les sociétés de l’exercice.Les sommes sont reversées à cinq partenaires pour financer des plans de restauration, aménagements et préservation du patrimoine français. Le souscripteur est libre de choisir entre : - La Demeure Historique, qui représente les monuments historiques privés de France auxquels elle apporte expertise et conseil. Sa mission d’intérêt général s’articule autour des axes suivants : préserver, transmettre, partager, innover- La fondation du Patrimoine, qui a pour mission de promouvoir la connaissance, la sauvegarde et la mise en valeur du patrimoine national. Elle soutient la formation et l’insertion professionnelle des jeunes, et favorise la transmission des savoir-faire traditionnels.- Le Château de Versailles, qui conserve, protège, restaure et présente au public les biens culturels du musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon. - La Réunion des Musées Nationaux qui est l’un des premiers organisateurs d’expositions dans le monde. Producteur culturel, elle veille à l’organisation des manifestations, à leur promotion et à l’édition de leur catalogue. - Le Centre des Monuments Nationaux, qui est en charge de la conservation, la restauration, l’entretien et la présentation au public de près de 100 monuments nationaux.

Selon l’Agefi, les travaux liés à l’offre publique d’achat que veut lancer le fonds d’investissement Cinven sur le groupe Sperian se poursuivent en dépit de la fin de la période d’exclusivité qui s’est achevée le 30 avril dernier.

Le chiffre d’affaires de la gestion d’actifs d’Axa a augmenté de 10% au premier trimestre à 809 millions d’euros, principalement en raison d’actifs moyens sous gestion plus élevés. La décollecte nette s’élève à -12 milliards d’euros (contre environ -21 milliards d’euros au quatrième trimestre 2009), du fait notamment de la baisse significative de la décollecte d’AllianceBernstein sur le segment de clients institutionnels. La décollecte d’AXA Investment Managers provient principalement du segment des clients institutionnels (en grande partie chez AXA Rosenberg). Les actifs sous gestion s’élèvent à 877 milliards d’euros, nettement au-dessus des niveaux publiés au 31 décembre 2009 (845 milliards d’euros), bénéficiant de la hausse des marchés (+19 milliards d’euros) et d’un effet de change favorable (+25 milliards d’euros, en raison surtout de l’appréciation du dollar contre euro). Le chiffre d’affaires de l’activité vie, épargne, retraite est en hausse de 0,6% à 16,54 milliards d’euros. La collecte nette, positive, s’établit à +4 milliards d’euros en hausse par rapport à +3,3 milliards d’euros au premier trimestre 2009. Cette augmentation de 0,7 milliard d’euros est principalement due à la hausse de la collecte (+0,3 milliard d’euros) et à une plus forte rétention des clients (+0,4 milliard d’euros).

Henderson New Star a lancé à Luxembourg une version coordonnée de son hedge fund Global Currency domicilié aux îles Caïman, qui a affiché en moyenne depuis 2000 des performances annuelles de plus de 13 % (sauf les 3,4 % de 2008), rapporte Funds People. Ce produit investit à 70 % en monnaies du G 10, le reliquat étant placé en monnaies de pays émergents.

In first quarter, Wisdom Tree has seen net losses of USD3.6m by GAAP accounting standards, compared with USD5m in October-December and USD6.01m in the corresponding period of last year. As of March 31, 2010, assets under management managed by WisdomTree or against WisdomTree Indexes was USD7.4bn, up 11% and ETF AUM was USD6.7bn, up 12% from December 31, 2009. Net subscriptions to ETFs totalled USD582m, largely to funds specialised in emerging market currencies and equities.

In first quarter, net profits at Alliance Bernstein (USD148m) may have been higher than the USD37m the firm lost in January-March 2009, but they were lower than the USD192m negative result for October-December. Assets as of 31 March were up 1%, or USD5bn, compared with the end of December, and 22%, or USD90bn over the end of March 2009, to a total of USD501.3bn, but this increase is due exclusively to positive market effects, as the group saw net outflows in first quarter of USD6.4bn, a reduction of 62% compared with the previous quarter, and of 68% compared with the corresponding period of 2009, In January-March 2010, institutional investors in particular withdrew USD8.6bn.

Raphaëlle Gaillard has been appointed as director of institutional clients in charge of the banking and insurance segment at ING Investment Managment France, effective from 3 May 2010, replacing Christèle Nouvellon, who has left the firm. Gaillard joined ING Investment Management after eight years as head of sales for the French institutional team at BNP Paribas IP / Fortis Investments, and five years at Dexia Asset Management France.

In first quarter 2010, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has posted a net loss of USD88.6m, or USD1.07 per share. Assets under management as of 1 April totalled USD25.3bn, compared with USD23.5bn as of 1 January, and USD20.3bn as of 1 April 2009. At the beginning of May, assets under management totalled about USD26bn, due to net inflows of USD1.6bn and asset increases related to positive performance of about USD9bn.

La Companie 1818 has announced the departure of fund manager Brice Le Renard, says Citywire. He is understood to have moved to a rival asset manager.The running of Le Renard’s funds - Actif Reactif, Libre Actif, Reactif and Vega Monde Multi Secteurs - have been delegated to Sophie Ginisty and Eva Baligand.

Net asset outflows from BNP Paribas’ Investment Solutions division in first quarter totalled -EUR0.2bn, with good asset inflows in Private Banking (+EUR1.7bn) slightly more than offset by continued asset outflows in Asset Management (-EUR4.3bn) essentially from money market funds and equities, whilst flows remained positive for bond funds. After the integration of the BNP Paribas Fortis businesses, in particular in Private Banking and Asset Management, the Investment Solutions division took on new dimensions, as illustrated by the level of assets under management, which rose to EUR874bn as of 31 March 2010, compared with EUR510bn as of 31 March 2009. Assets were up 16% compared to 31 March 2009 at constant scope. In addition, the inclusion of Fortis Investment’s assets resulted in a decline in the relative weight of money market funds (from 31% to 22%) in Asset Management, primarily in favour of bond assets. In this new scope, the division’s revenues, at EUR1.444bn, were up 26.0% compared with first quarter 2009. At constant scope and exchange rates, they were up 4.3%. At EUR1.023bn, operating expenses were down slightly compared to first quarter 2009 (-0.8%2) thanks to cost-cutting efforts undertaken at all the business units in 2009. These operating performances helped the division to drive gross operating income up 19.4%2 compared with the same period a year earlier. Pre-tax income thus came to EUR467m, up 33.6%2 compared with first quarter 2009.

Mutual Fund Wire reports that Oppenheimer Funds is continuing its adaptation to the Lehman crisis, and will lay off 15 from its marketing team, and 10 others from its 519 savings plan activities. Meanwhile, Marty Willis, chief marketing officer, has recruited Lori Heinel, managing director and head of investment solutions at Citi Private Bank, to lead a new investor services team, which will be in charge of explaining investment decisions to clients.

Earnings for the asset management division at Axa were up 10% in first quarter to EUR809m, largely due to high average assets under management per client. Net outflows totalled EUR12bn, (compared with about EUR21bn in fourth quarter 2009), largely due to a significant decrease in outflows from AllianceBernstein in the institutional client segment. Outflows from AXA Investment Managers were largely in the institutional client segment (particularly at AXA Rosenberg). Assets under management totalled EUR877bn, well above the levels announced on 31 December 2009 (EUR845bn), due to rising markets (EUR19bn) and favourable currency effects (EUR25bn, largely due to a rising US dollar against the Euro). Earnings for life insurance, savings, and retirement activities were up 0.6% to EUR16.54bn. Net inflows were positive to the tune of EUR4bn, higher than the EUR3.3bn inflows in first quarter 2009. This increase of EUR0.7bn is largely due to an increase in inflows (of EUR0.3bn) and to a higher rate of retention of clients (EUR0.4bn).

Agefi Switzerland reports that the Christian Values Fund, launched in 2007 by Credit Suisse, failed to convince investors, and has been abandoned after only 18 months of activity. About EUR45m were invested in the portfolio, based in Luxembourg. The fund offered shares in businesses, bonds, and investments in currencies, washed of the sins of the conventional economy. The fund defended family values, environmental protection and fair trade. It recommended firms such as ABB, for its pro-family social policies, and Max Havelaar, who defends small banana and cocoa producers.

Legal & General Investment Managemetn has posted gross subscriptions of GBP10.9bn in first quarter 2010, GBP3.9bn more than in first quarter 2009. These inflows, as a result of rising markets, have allowed the UK asset management firm to increase its assets by GBP15bn in the first three months of 2010, to GBP330bn. This represents a 32% increase year on year.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has announced the appointment of Mike McNaught-Davis to the newly created role of Head of International Equities. Following a strategic review of SWIP’s international equity business, SWIP has taken the decision to combine global developed and global emerging markets to create an International Equities team. The team will drive performance across SWIP’s global, Japanese, US and emerging market equity funds, totalling GBP6.3 billion in assets. Mike McNaught-Davis joined SWIP’s Global Developed Markets team in March 2008 as Investment Director responsible for managing SWIP’s Europe, Australia and Far East (EAFE) funds and for researching the global pharmaceutical sector. Prior to joining SWIP, Mike worked at Martin Currie Asset Management and at F&C Asset Management. SWIP can also confirm that Andrew Ness, Jeff Casson, Mohammed Zaidi and Divya Mathur will be leaving its Global Emerging Markets team. A departure date has yet to be confirmed and in the meantime they will work with Mike McNaught-Davis and the International Equities team to ensure a smooth handover of responsibility and continuity of service for clients. Separately, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has announced the appointment of Peter Cockburn as Head of UK Equities. He has worked within SWIP’s UK Equities team for six years and has been acting Head of UK Equities since September 2009. In his new role, Peter Cockburn has overall responsibility for the management of UK equity funds across both the retail and institutional market places.

Andrew Ness, Jeff Casson, Divya Mathur and Mohammed Zaidi, who formerly belonged to the global emerging markets team at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), have joined the Scottish Martin Currie group, as additions to its global emerging markets team. They follow Kim Catechis and Alastair Reynolds, who were also previously at SWIP.

Le Temps reports that the Swiss asset management firm Genevalor, Benbassat & Cie announced on Wednesday that Finma has cancelled its license to act as a representative for foreign investment funds. The Geneva-based independent wealth management firm for years distributed a fund in Switzerland, France, and Germany entitled Thema International, from which investors’ money was channelled entirely into the Bernard Madoff fraud.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) announced yesterday that on 17 May it will be holding a series of round tables on proposed revisions to the MiFID directive. The transparency of equities markets will be the topic of discussion in the morning session, while the afternoon will cover transaction reporting, intermediaries, and investor protection.

A survey of 67 management firms undertaken between 22 March and 12 April by Feri EuroRating Services has found that 85% of respondents are expecting an increase in assets allocated to emerging markets. Emerging markets equities funds have the best potential for inflows, according to 14.1% of respondents, while 13.3% say that emerging market bond funds have the best chances. However, the asset classes which are said to have the highest odds of outflows are corporate bonds (by 24.7% of respondents) and inflation-indexed bonds (by 15.3%). European equities funds are said by only 10.7% of respondents to have favourable prospects for asset inflows.In general, 86% of managers surveyed have positive outlooks about the chances for inflows to diversified funds, and 78% say they have a positive opinion of the prospects for equities funds. However, no trend is apparent for bond funds, and professionals are pessimistic about money market and real estate funds, which are said to have limited potential on the distribution front. According to respondents in the survey, foreign management firms are best positioned to take advantage of the wave of investment in emerging markets. JPMorgan AM was most often cited as an important competitor in the area of equities funds, followed by Aberdeen, HSBC and Schroders, who share third place. For bond funds, managers cite Pictet as their major rival, followed by Swiss & Global, Franklin Templeton, and Schroders.

The Allianz group has earned net operating profits in first quarter of EUR1.7bn, an increase of about 20%, on earningf of over EUR30bn, thanks to strong growth in health insurance activities and asset management. Detailed results will be released on 12 May.

Ralph Stemper has joined Barclays as head of retail distribution for Germany and Austria. His responsibilities will include developing the Bmarkets platform. Stemper was previously a specialist in funds and certificates at Commerzbank, for ETFs of the Comstage bank and other products. At Commerzbank, he is replaced by Anouch Wilhelms.

After two consecutive quarters of net inflows, Asian hedge funds in January-March saw net outflows of about USD700m in first quarter, according to an estimate by Hedge Fund Research (HFR), which attributes this development to uncertainty related to strategic and regulatory risks. However, net outflows were more than offset by positive market effects of USD1.5bn, meaning that hedge funds focused on Asia had assets as of the end of March of USD77.15bn (compared with USD76.34bn three months earlier), and the number of funds had decreased slightly, to 1,036 (compared with 1,039), of which 19.35%, compared with 23.73%, are based in the United Kingdom, and 26.88%, compared with 24.52%, are domiciled in the United States. Though net outflows were modest, they are poor compared with global developments, as hedge funds have seen net inflows overall of USD13.7bn.

Asian Investor reports that Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management has hired Teddy Chu and Andrew Chanen to replace Shirley Yap and Helen Li, who left the firm in February this year, and have since joined the Swiss private bank Clariden Leu. Chu and Chan will begin in their new positions in the regional wealth management team on 19 April. Chu becomes head of wealth planning for nothern Asia, while Chan becomes a wealth planner. They will both be based in Hong Kong. Chu and Chan previously worked at HSBC Trustee, a division of HSBC Private Bank in Hong Kong.

Following the departure of Bill Muysken, who is returning to Mercer Investment Management, Thames River is planning to close its Currency Alpha fund, which was launched in late October, Investment Week reports. The fund of fund aims to invest in 15 to 25 funds and to earn returns 10 percentage points above the risk-free interest rate, before fees. As of the end of March, the fund had invested in 20 asset management firms, but returns since launch totalled 1.6%. The fund, which is compliant with UCITS III, has brought in virtually no external inflows, and has assets of only EUR19.7m.