Agissant pour le compte de la SCI Foncière 1, la société de gestion AEW Europe a vendu une plateforme logistique de 11.648 m² à Lieusaint. Cette plateforme, située au sein du pôle logistique de Parisud-Sénart et en façade de la francilienne, est vendue à un utilisateur qui convertira l’actif en un site à vocation industrielle.

Oddo Asset Management a été définitivement condamnée à rembourser l’intégralité du capital investi par un client professionnel dans le FCP Oddo Cash Arbitrage pour présentation mensongère de la composition de ce fonds et le transfert dans ce même fonds d’actifs investis dans les subprimes, rapporte L’Agefi Actifs dans sa lettre du 31 mars. Concrètement, les sociétés Oddo & Compagnie et Oddo Asset Management se sont désistées de leur pourvoi contre la décision de la Cour d’appel de Paris du 30 octobre 2012 (**) ayant retenu leur responsabilité. Le 25 mars dernier, la Cour de cassation (*) a ainsi acté ce désistement. Dans les faits, le FCP avait été liquidé par anticipation en juillet 2007 à la suite de la crise de liquidité survenue sur les marchés financiers. Ce fonds avait été partagé en deux poches distinctes, l’une à liquidité immédiate et l’autre à liquidité longue en sachant que les investisseurs qui ne précisaient pas le choix à opérer entre ces deux poches voyaient leurs avoirs immédiatement transférés sur le fonds à liquidité immédiate, ce dernier comportant un risque de décote importante. Dans cette affaire, un client professionnel qui n’avait pas répondu avait perdu 53% de son investissement.Caractérisée à l’appui de la sanction de l’AMF, la Cour d’appel a noté que «les supports d’information destinés aux porteurs du FCP Oddo Cash Arbitrages, institutionnels ou non, comportaient de réelles distorsions d’informations de nature à induire en erreur sur les risques de placement effectué et, d’autre part, la société Oddo & Compagnie, et par conséquent sa filiale Oddo Asset Management, avait bien eu début mars 2007 connaissance des risques accrus présentés par les produits de titrisation liés au marché immobilier américain, au point de décider entre le 5 mars et le 5 juillet 2007 de les transférer de son fonds monétaire classique (FCP Premium Oddo Cash) vers ses fonds monétaires dynamiques dont le FCP Oddo Cash Arbitrages, au mépris de l’intérêt des porteurs de parts de ces derniers. »La Cour d’appel relève que ce transfert d’actifs réalisé hors marché était à l’évidence contraire à la stratégie de gestion du fonds notamment présentée dans la fiche reporting d’avril 2007. En outre, « la fiche de reporting d’avril 2007 ayant spécifiquement pesé sur la décision d’investissement de la société était, si ce n’est équivoque compte tenu des énonciations du prospectus détaillé correspondant, à tout le moins incomplète et, quoi qu’il en soit, appelée à devenir, à très brève échéance, radicalement contraire à la réalité des faits, ce que Oddo AM ne pouvait ignorer. » (*) Cass. Com. du 25 mars 2014, n°13-10.890/ (**) CA de Paris du 10 octobre 2012 n°2012/00087

Le groupe américain de services financiers Rothstein Kass, notamment spécialisé sur la clientèle haut de gamme, a annoncé sa décision de renforcer son activité de family office avec le recrutement de huit nouveaux collaborateurs, selon un communiqué. Parmi les nouveaux venus figurent notamment deux professionnels senior des relations avec la clientèle, Joseph Fox et Marlon J. Dunbar, qui rejoignent Rothstein Kass en tant que director et chargé de clientèle senior respectivement. Le premier travaillait précédemment dans un cabinet juridique, le second, fiscaliste, travaillait en qualité de senior manager au sein du pôle family office du cabinet Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Company.

Natixis AM a annoncé qu'à partir du 3 avril prochain, les fonds à formule ci dessous pourront être investis en actions ou en OPCVM/FIA actions.Liste de fonds concernés : Fructizen (FR0010675611), Fructizen 2 (FR0010737502), Fructizen 3 (FR0010963397), Fructizen 4 (FR0011021211), Izéis Décembre 2017 (FR0010774984), Fructi Sécurité Avril 2016 (FR0010818575), Fructi Sécurité Septembre 2016 (FR0010874214), Fructi Sécurité Juillet 2017 (FR0010920348), Scintillance (FR0011071703), Scintillance 2 (FR0011159847), Scintillance 3 (FR0011228584), Scintillance 4 (FR0011304294), Kanji (FR0011352863).Pétillance 2 (FR0011167303), Pétillance 3 (FR0011230523), Pétillance 4 (FR0011305531), Capital Euro 50 (FR0010962464), Capital Euro 50 n°2 (FR0011021195), Capital Euro 50 n°3 (FR0011089705), Capital Sérénité (FR0010876839), Capital Sérénité 2 (FR0010941435), Playlist (FR0010807420), Playlist 2 (FR0010833590), Capital Locker 2 (FR0010833459), Capital Locker (FR0010766022), FCP Version Capital Avril 2021 (FR0011368398), FCP Version Capital Juillet 2021 (FR0011449636), Edition Limitée (FR0010766048).Eurostoxx Sérénité 2009 (FR0010761106), Eurostoxx Double Cliquet 2009 (FR0010812016).

Dans un entretien accordé à Financial News en début de mois, Edouard Carmignac, qui détient 70 % de Carmignac Gestion, revient notamment sur le sujet de sa succession. « Je n’ai pas l’intention de mourir à mon bureau », affirme-t-il. Il favorise une succession interne et souhaite ne jamais avoir à vendre sa société. « Un actionnaire institutionnel externe détruirait notre culture », pense-t-il. La solution évidente est de promouvoir sa fille, Maxime. « Le modèle que j’ai en tête est la troisième génération de Fidelity. Ne pas gérer les fonds, mais gérer la société », ajoute-t-il.

Aviva France a annoncé en fin de semaine dernière, la nomination de Julien Brami au poste de directeur de l’activité vie d’Aviva France. A ce titre il est membre du comité exécutif et directement rattaché au directeur général, Nicolas Schimel. Sa mission consistera à «développer de façon rentable l’activité d’assurance vie sous marque Aviva dont les contrats sont commercialisés par les réseaux d’agents généraux et de courtiers ainsi que par les réseaux de l’UFF», indique un communiqué. Julien Brami assurera également avec ses équipes un rôle transverse de soutien actuariel et technique à l’ensemble des activités vie d’Aviva France, notamment celles relatives à L’AFER et Antarius. Auparavant, le nouveau responsable était directeur adjoint du département développement, filiales et participations de la Caisse des dépôts en juillet 2009, avant de devenir en octobre 2012 directeur du développement de l’activité conseil en Assurance Vie du cabinet Towers Watson France.

Stéphane Vidal a été promu directeur général du groupe Primonial à compter du 31 mars 2014, a-t-on appris ce même jour. Depuis 2012, il occupait la fonction de directeur général délégué, en charge du développement.Avant de rejoindre le groupe, Stéphane Vidal avait pris la direction générale de Iselection, filiale du groupe Nexity, en 2008.

Sur avis de son comité de rémunération, la banque KBC a décidé d’attribuer aux membres du comité de direction pour l’exercice 2013 une rémunération variable liée aux performances de 83% (soit 83% de 300 000 euros pour son président, Johan Thijs et 83% de 200 000 euros pour les autres membres du comité de direction).Le paiement de la rémunération variable (individuelle et liée aux performances) annuelle totale des membres du Comité de direction est en principe réparti sur quatre années : 50% la première année, le solde étant réparti de manière égale sur les trois années suivantes. En outre, la moitié de la rémunération variable annuelle totale est attribuée sous la forme d’instruments liés à des actions et, en particulier, d’actions fantômes (phantom stocks) dont la valeur est liée au cours de l’action KBC Groupe SA, avec une période de rétention d’un an à compter de leur attribution. À l’instar de la composante en espèces de la rémunération variable, l’attribution des actions fantômes est répartie sur quatre ans.Dans certaines circonstances, indique l'établissement, il est possible de contrecarrer le paiement des montants différés mais non encore acquis ou de récupérer exceptionnellement la rémunération variable déjà acquise (claw back : par exemple en cas de fraude ou (d’utilisation) d’informations mensongères).Le projet de loi bancaire contient plusieurs dispositions spécifiques pour les établissements ‘bénéficiant d’aides publiques exceptionnelles’. En conséquence, le conseil d’administration a décidé de ne pas verser la rémunération variable octroyée aux membres du comité de direction pour l’exercice 2013, aussi longtemps que KBC répondra à la description d’un établissement bénéficiant d’aide publique exceptionnelle, telle que définie dans le projet de loi bancaire, et en tout cas pas en 2014. Le versement du montant intégral est en outre soumis à l’application éventuelle d’un malus.

Le fournisseur d’ETF Source a annoncé le 31 mars le lancement de l’ETF Source Russell Europe SMID 300 UCITS. Ce fonds permet de s’exposer à l’indice Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR («SMID»), qui vise à offrir une exposition liquide au marché européen des actions de petites et moyennes capitalisations. L’ETF permet ainsi d’accéder à un segment du marché qui retient de plus en plus l’intérêt des investisseurs, les ETF européens investis en petites et moyennes valeurs représentant 9 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion à fin février 2014, contre seulement 1,8 milliard d’euros fin 2012. L’indice de référence contient 300 actions très liquides. Les actions sont sélectionnées au sein de l’indice Russell Global Index, qui comprend environ 10 000 titres. Ensuite, les petites et moyennes valeurs européennes sont elles mêmes sélectionnées, correspondant aux entreprises classées entre le 75e et 95e centile en termes de capitalisation boursière dans l’indice Russell Global Index. Les actions avec un volume d’échange moyen quotidien inférieur à 2 millions d’euros sont ensuite exclues. Les titres restants sont finalement triés par «rapidité d’échange» afin de sélectionner les titres ayant la capitalisation boursière ajustée du flottant la plus faible comparé au volume d’échange quotidien moyen. Enfin, les 300 titres les mieux classés sont pondérés par la capitalisation boursière. L’indice est revu et rebalancé tous les ans. Cette approche permet à la fois de maximiser la capacité d’investissement et d’inclure des actions couvrant l’ensemble de l’univers en matière de capitalisations, sans compromettre la liquidité. L’indice Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR comprend des sociétés telles que Ingenico, Arkema ou Bourbon. En 2013, les petites et moyennes valeurs européennes ont mieux performé que les grandes capitalisations des pays développés. En Europe, l’indice Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR a surperformé l’indice Euro Stoxx 50 TR de 7,50% et aux Etats-Unis, l’indice Russell 2000 a surperformé l’indice S&P 500 TR de 6,70% sur l’année 2013. Selon la base de données Morningstar, comparé aux fonds actifs et fonds indiciels concurrents, l’indice SMID a largement surperformé les fonds small et mid-caps sur une période de 5 ans. Principales caractéristiques Nom du produit : Source Russell Europe SMID 300 UCITS ETF Code ISIN : IE00BJVD4K83 Devise de référence/cotation : euro/euro Code Bloomberg : SMLM GR Code Reuters SMLM.DE Frais de gestion : 0,35% Place de cotation : Xetra Domiciliation : Irlande

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British asset management industry is continuing to advance. As of the end of February 2014, the sector has a total of GBP783bn in assets under management, up 10.3% compared with the end of February 2013, according to figures released on 31 March by the professional association, the Investment Management Association (IMA). This growth has been driven by net inflows totalling nearly GBP2.7bn. This performance is due to the retail credit market, which for the eleventh consecutive month, has posted net subscriptions of over GBP1bn, with GBP1.8bn in February 2014, compared with GBP1.4bn in February 2013. Net inflows to institutionals also stay into positive territory, though down year on year, to GBP921m in February 2014, compared with GBP1.7bn in February 2013. However, the institutional segment did far better than in January, in which month the outflows totalled GBP911m. In terms of asset classes, equity funds are continuing to find favour with retail investors, with a net inflow of GBP681m in February. This puts them ahead of multi-asset classes, with GBP330m in net inflows, and property, with GBP298m in net subscriptions. Lastly, fixed income has posted net inflows of GBP179m (after outflows of GBP229m in January), the best net sales since May 2013.

Le fonds souverain de Singapour GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) a obtenu de la part des autorités chinoises, ce 28 mars, pour 500 millions de dollars supplémentaires de quota QFII (investisseur institutionnel étranger qualifié), rapporte Asian Investor. Le GIC détient désormais 1,5 milliard de dollars de quotas QFII, devenant ainsi le cinquième gestionnaire d’actifs à atteindre un tel seuil.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (Singapore GIC) obtained an additional Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license from the Chinese authorities on 28 March, for a further USD500m, Asian Investor reports. GIC now has USD1.5bn in QFII quotas, making it now the fifth-largest asset management firm by this measure.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sovereign fund Singapore GIC will be providing seed capital for the macro fund which the former chief investment officer (CIO) of GIC, Ng Kok Song, is planning to launch during the year, the SWF Institute reports. The sovereign fund has already assisted former heads to found their own alternative management firms several times. Song has left his position as CIO, but remains as an adviser to the sovereign fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom is planning to examine pay scales and bonus clawbacks for all regulated companies, including the 2,100 fund management firms supervised by the authority, Financial Times fund management reports. As a result, employees of asset management firms who have behaved reprehensibly are at risk of having to pay back their bonuses years after they earned them. Speialists in the sector think that asset management firms will be subject to the same rules as banks, for which the Bank of England has proposed restitution of bonuses up to six years later in cases of misconduct, shortfalls in risk management or heavy financial losses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock, Henderson Global Investors, Aberdeen Asset Management and Axa Wealth have teamed up with an investment consulting firm, Redington, to help to provide financial education to students at British schools, Financial Times fund management reports. In the United Kingdom, financial education will be introduced as part of the national programme from September, for children from 11 years of age and up. Paul Cribb, director of BlackRock, explains that as part of the agreement, the asset management firm provides offices, food and arranges for employees to be available to help teach subjects such as savings, borrowing, retirement, debt, and the functioning of stocks and bonds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British financial solutions firm River & Mercantile at the end of March announced the appointment of Paul Bradshaw as chairman. From his 40-year career, Bradshaw is largely known as the founder, managing director and chairman of Skandia Life. During his professional career, he has also served as CEO of Abbey Insurance (now Santander) and non-executive director for Sanlam in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The appointment comes at a time when the merger between River & Mercantile and P-Solve had recently been finalised.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HSBC Global Asset Management has recruited five people for its equity product team, Fund Web reports. Nacho Font joins from DIAM International to represent the smart beta range from the asset management firm to internal and external clients. Stephen Tong will be made responsible for global equities. He joins from Vontobel AM. Lastly, Emmanuelle Harboun and Yasmina Slimani have joined the British equity team, and Apiramy Jeyarajah has occupied the newly-created position of senior head of product development to develop the passive product range.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Hargreaves Lansdown has decided to set up an equity research team, according to Investment Week. The new team may offer clients of Hargreaves analyst ratings for equities, as well as the perspective of the firm. For the first time in its history, Hargreaves will publish buy/sell recommendations for British equities. The new team, which will be based in Bristol, will be managed by a new head of equity research, who is in the process of being recruited. The new unit comes as an addition to the “execution-only” brokerage activity at Hargreaves, which has progressed strongly in the past few months, due to a growing number of clients and IPOs for top firms such as Royal Mail and Direct Line. Assets under management or administration at Hargreaves Lansdown totalled GBP43.4bn as of the end of 2013, including GBP40.9bn for the Vintage platform.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carlo Roncalli has left Janus Capital International, where he had been director of sales in the Italian sales team since April 2012, Bluerating has learned. The former employee of JPMorgan Asset Management has decided to take a sabbatical leave.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dai-ichi Life is opening new horizons. The Japanese insurer has obtained permission from the local regulator to open an asset management division in Vietnam, entitled Dai-ichi Life Vietnam Fund Management, Asia Asset Management reports. The new structure will aim to provide asset management to the local insurer of the Japanese group, Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company of Vietnam. The newly-founded asset management firm has USD1.6m in seed capital (JPY120m), and a team of 10 people placed under the responsibility of Takashi Fiju, chairman of Dai-Ichi Life Insurance of Vietnam, who oversees the new entity.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish asset management firm Odin has merged the Odin Europa SMB fund (SEK2.7bn) into the Odin Europa fund (SEK1.7bn), Fondbranschen reports. The two funds are managed by Alexandra Morris.

Source on March 31 announced the launch of the Source Russell Europe SMID 300 UCITS ETF. The fund provides exposure to the Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index («SMID»), which is designed to offer liquid exposure to Europe’s small- and mid-cap equity markets. The ETF offers access to a segment of the market which is gaining increasing investor interest; there are currently EUR 9 billion assets in the ETF small and mid-cap space in Europe, up from EUR 1.8 billion in 2012.The index contains 300 highly liquid constituents. Constituents are selected from the Russell Global Index comprised of approximately 10 000 stocks. This is reduced to European small and mid-cap stocks, defined as those companies falling between the 75th and 95th percentile by market capitalisation of the Russell Global Index. Stocks with an average daily trading volume lower than EUR 2million are then excluded. The remaining eligible stocks are ranked by ‘speed to trade’ defined as those with the lowest free float market capitalisation relative to their average daily trading volume. The 300 highest-ranked stocks are selected and then weighted by free float-adjusted market capitalisation. The index is reviewed and rebalanced annually.This approach allows for both higher investment capacity and the inclusion of stocks from across the capitalisation range, without compromising liquidity. Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index comprises stocks like Baratt Developments Plc, easyJet Plc and Hargreaves Lansdown Plc.In 2013, small and midcap out performed large cap across developed markets. In Europe, the Russell Europe SMID 300 Net TR index outperformed the Euro Stoxx 50 TR index by 7.50%and in the US, the Russell 2000 index, outperformed the S&P 500 TR index by 6.70% over the year.According to the Morningstar fund database, when SMID is compared to other active and index fund peers, SMID performed strongly over a 5 year period vs. both small and mid-cap funds.

Amundi announced on March 31 the acquisition of the fixed income business of KAF Fund Management through Amundi Malaysia, its wholly owned subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur. The Kuala Lumpur based-KAF Fund Management, a subsidiary of the KAF Group, with more than USD1.2 billion in assets under management is an institutional fixed income specialist as well as a retail fund manager. «The purchase of the expertise and investment capabilities in fixed income will significantly strengthen Amundi’s range of product offerings and its positioning as a leading foreign asset manager in Malaysia,» according to a press release. Following the acquisition, Amundi Malaysia will be managing more than USD4.3 billion of assets and become the top foreign asset management firm in the country. “The acquisition of KAF Fund Management’s fixed income business is further evidence of Amundi’s commitment to Malaysia and Southeast Asia. It will enhance the range and the quality of our fixed income offerings to our clients globally,” said Pascal Blanqué, deputy chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Amundi.Following the acquisition, Roslina Abdul Rahman, managing director of Amundi Malaysia, will take on the role of managing director of the enlarged company. Roslina Abdul Rahman reports to Jenny Sofian, chief executive officer of Amundi in Southeast Asia and Australia. Thariq Ahmad, former chief executive officer of KAF Fund Management, will become senior advisor and head of fixed income strategies of Amundi Malaysia.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hervé Hanoune, head of global aggregate management since July 2008 at Amundi in London, left his position on Friday, 28 March, a spokesperson from the asset management firm has told Newsmanagers, confirming reports in Citywire. Hanoune, who joined Crédit Agricole Asset Management, which later became Amundi, in 1999, and spent most of his career at the French group. Laurent Crosnier, currently chief investment officer at Amundi London, will take over the role previously occupied by Hanoune.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Old Mutual Global Innvestors (Old Mutual GI) has recruited Michael Sullivan from Investec Asset Management as fixed income specialist, Fundweb reports. Sullivan will be responsible for product promotion and investment views for fixed income at the asset management firm. The team, led by Steward Cowley and Christine Johnson, manages about GBP2bn in assets. Before joining Old Mutual GI, Sullivan worked for 20 years as a fixed income product specialist and portfolio manager.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oddo Asset Management has received a final sentence which will require it to pay back all the money invested by a professional client in the fund Oddo Cash Arbitrage, for fraudulent presentation of the composition of the fund, and the transfer into the fund of assets invested in sub-prime, Agefi Actifs reports in its 31 March edition. The fund was liquidated in early July 2007, following the liquidity crisis on the financial markets. The fund was split into two distinct parts, one of which with immediate liquidity, and one with long liquidity, while invetors who did not specify a choice saw their assets immediately transferred to the immediate liquidity fund, which had a significant risk of loss. In this case, a professional client who never replied lost 53% of his investment. The appeals court noted that “information materials provided to shareholders in the Oddo Cash Arbitrages fund, whether or not they were institutional, included real distortions of information of a nature to erroneously induce risk errors in the investment made, and the firm Oddo & Compagnie, and consequently its affiliate Oddo Asset Management, knew already in early March 2007 of the increased securitisation risks presented by products related to the US real estate market, at the point of deciding between 5 March and 5 July 2007, to transfer them from its traditional money market fund (FCP Premium Oddo Cash) to its dynamic money market funds, including the FCP Oddo Cash Arbitrages, against the interests of shareholders in these funds.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The current head of treasury at Julius Baer, Jean-François Alarie, has decided to leave the firm, according to an internal memo which finews has obtained. This is an unexpected departure, which will take effect from July 2014. Alarie had served in the position since February 2011. His successor has not yet been appointed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alquity is entering the British retail market. The asset management firm, specialised in ethical investment, has launched three new funds in the United Kingdom via different platforms, FTAdviser reports. For three years, the firm has managed a fund dedicated to African equities, largely supported by Asian and South American investors. Alquity will now invest in the United Kingdom with these new products, launched on 2 April and manage by Mike Sell, formerly of F&C Investments, and Roberto Lampl, former head of emerging market equities at Barings. Sell will be responsible for the Indian Subcontinent and Alquity Asia funds, while Lampl will manage the Alquity Latin America fund. The three funds are products which comply with UCITS regulations and are domiciled in Luxembourg, the British website days. They will be available on several distribution platforms, including Skandia, Cofunds, Transact and Axa Elevate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Brazilian asset management firm Victoire Brasil Investimentos has received approval from the regulator to launch an asset management activity in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. The new entity, Victoire Asia Investments, is directed by Aquico Wen. Wen has recruited two people to provide development at the affiliate. Young Chow has been appointed as a senior analyst, while Josephine Lam takes over as head of operations. Both previously worked with Wen at Legg Mason. Another investment specialist is expected to join the firm soon, but Victoire Asia Investments refused to disclose its identity, the Asian website adds. Victoire Asia Investments is 50% controlled by the team members based in Hong Kong and 50% by Victoire Brasil Investimentos. Victoire Asia Investments targets professional investors with a strategy that aims to invest in undervalued small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) with an exposure to growth in South-East Asia. Unsurprisingly, Victoire Asia Investments will target fast-growing economies in the region, such as China, India, the Asean region and “frontier” markets. So far, the firm invests primarily in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banco Caminos is continuing its shopping spree. One week afer acquiring Bancofar (see Newsmanagers of 26 March), the Spanish bank has signed an agreement to acquire 75.53% of capital in the asset management firm Arcogest, which has EUR40m in assets under management or advised, Funds People reports. As a result of the operation, Banco Caminos gives a new dimension to his asset management and capital markets business, which now has USD800m in assets advised or managed.