C’est une constante du secteur depuis trois ans. Parallèlement à un mouvement de consolidation et de réorganisation/rationalisation du secteur, la dynamique de création de sociétés de gestion de portefeuille (SGP), notamment entrepreneuriales, s’est confirmée en 2013. Après 34 l’année précédente, 38 nouvelles sociétés de gestion ont été agréées en 2013, selon les statistiques de l’Association française de la gestion financière (AFG). Le nombre de sociétés s’est ainsi établi à 613 unités à fin 2013 contre 604 unités à fin 2012.Le marché français conforte ainsi son vaste tissu de sociétés de gestion entrepreneuriales spécialisées, notamment dans la gestion active, la gestion privée, la gestion alternative, la multigestion ou encore le capital investissement.L’AFG relève l’implication croissante de nombre de ces entreprises, comme des sociétés de taille plus importante, sur les marchés internationaux de la gestion s’est confirmée en 2013. Ce qu’il ne faudrait pas toutefois confondre avec l’amorce d’une stratégie de délocalisation, estime l’AFG. Les mouvements observés correspondent plutôt à un renforcement d'équipes situées hors de l’Hexagone…

Philippe Gragé est nommé directeur commercial du réseau Aviva Epargne & Conseils (AEC), acquis par l’UFF le 1er janvier 2014. Il conserve, en parallèle, sa fonction de directeur du développement de l’UFF. Il fait aussi partie du comité de direction.Rattaché à Paul Younès, directeur général délégué de l’Union Financière de France Banque, Philippe Gragé a pour mission de préparer la fusion opérationnelle des réseaux AEC et UFF, prévue en 2015.Il a la responsabilité de former et acculturer les 250 collaborateurs du réseau AEC au réseau UFF ; assurer l’animation commerciale du réseau AEC ; et accompagner l’harmonisation des pratiques des deux réseaux.

Société Générale Private Banking modifie son modèle pour muscler son activité de banque privée en France. La nouvelle offre abaisse le seuil d’accès à ses services. Le montant minimum pour y accéder passe de 1 million d’euros de patrimoine financier à 500.000 euros. Cet élargissement du périmètre à un niveau de fortune que Patrick Folléa, directeur de Société Générale Private Banking France juge «pertinent pour une offre de banque privée», va permettre de gonfler les encours gérés par Société Générale Private Banking à 50 milliards d’euros, contre 19 milliards actuellement. Les directions régionales déploieront la nouvelle offre dans 80 villes à partir du mois de mai. L’offre sera proposée à tous les clients disposant d’une fortune financière appropriée. Ces derniers n’auront pas besoin de changer d’agence. Société Générale Private Baking proposera parmi les produits «banque privée» un nouveau contrat d’assurance vie baptisé Ebène Private Banking et compte enrichir la gamme de fonds proposée aux clients. Une nouvelle gamme de produits structurés sera également mise en place. Pour soutenir cette nouvelle offre, 160 banquiers privés seront recrutés par le groupe, portant le total à 250. Une trentaine d’ingénieurs patrimoniaux sont également recherchés. Concernant le potentiel de croissance du marché de la banque privée, Patrick Folléa admet que le marché «s’est tassé». Il s’attend néanmoins à «un taux de croissance annuelle de 5% à 6% par an. Une croissance qui reposera également sur le retour des clients sur des classes d’actifs plus risquées telles que les actions. Société Générale compte également développer ses activités à l’international et prévoit d'être «parmi les acteurs de référence là où nous pouvons atteindre une taille critique», a souligné Jean-François Mazaud, directeur de Société Générale Private Banking. Il compte notamment renforcer l’activité au Luxembourg ou en Belgique. Concernant les activités asiatiques de Société Générale Private Banking, Jean-François Mazaud a refusé de commenter «les rumeurs de marché» sur les un éventuel rachat de la filiale asiatique de banque privée par le groupe bancaire de Singapour DBS Group Holdings, comme le rapportait en janvier Reuters.

Pioneer Investments a lancé un fonds obligataire mondial de type long/short visant à réduire l’exposition des investisseurs aux risques de taux et de crédit, croit savoir Citywire. Le Pioneer Funds Long/Short Global Bond a vu le jour fin 2013 en tant que fonds luxembourgeois. Un fonds du même nom a été lancé pour les investisseurs américains. Les deux sont gérés par Thomas Swaney, responsable de l’obligataire alternatif.

Amundi ouvre une filiale en Pologne, Amundi Polska, après avoir obtenu l’autorisation des autorités financières locales, KNF.Basée à Varsovie, Amundi Polska est dirigée par Eric Bramoullé, directeur général et président du comité exécutif (il était précédemment responsable de la gestion actions des réseaux retail d’Amundi). Les autres membres du comité exécutif sont : Ludmila Falak-Cyniak – directrice des investissements ou chief investment officer, Kazimierz Fedak, responsable commercial et marketing, et Julien Bernard, chief operating officer. « L’ouverture d’Amundi Polska illustre notre souhait de nous rapprocher de nos clients et de nos partenaires et d’établir une empreinte durable en Pologne », commente Eric Bramoullé, par voie de communiqué.

VTB Capital Investment Management vient de lancer un fonds obligataire dédié à la Russie et à la Communauté des Etats indépendants, rapporte Citywire.Le fonds domicilié au Luxembourg, VTB Capital IM Russia & CIS Debt, a été lancé avec un capital d’amorçage de 40 millions de dollars et 20 millions de dollars d’engagements non contraignants.Le fonds investira dans des obligations libellées en devises locales et en devises dures de l’ensemble des Etats de la région, dont de la dette high yield et en catégorie d’investissement émanant des gouvernements, des autorités locales et des entreprises.L'équipe obligataire de la boutique russe gère actuellement 3,2 milliards de dollars, le groupe pilotant au total 7,5 milliards de dollars.

Près des trois quarts des conseils d’arrondissements de Londres, qui gèrent des fonds de pension pour au moins 14 milliards de livres, se sont associés pour créer un véhicule d’investissement commun en vue de faire des économies sur les frais de gestion, rapporte Financial News. Selon le projet, le véhicule serait géré par une nouvelle société, qui demanderait un agrément de société de gestion auprès de la Financial Conduct Authority.

Selon Le Temps, la banque Syz a annoncé mardi en interne qu’elle envisageait d’externaliser ses services de «support» – les unités de back-office dans le jargon financier – afin de réduire ses coûts, selon des sources au sein de l’établissement. D’après ces sources, il a été notamment indiqué que des discussions étaient en cours pour confier la sous-traitance de ces fonctions à la société spécialisée B-Source.Contactée, la banque privée genevoise rétorque n’avoir pris «aucune décision».

KBL Swiss Private Banking a recruté Thierry Cottet pour occuper le poste de chief investment officer (CIO). L’intéressé rejoint la société en provenance de Merrill Lynch (Suisse), où il était également CIO. Il prendra ses nouvelles fonctions chez KBL Swiss Private Banking le premier mars, selon Finews.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cheyne Capital Management, a London-based alternative asset management firm with more than USD6.5bn in assets under management, has seen assets in its UCITS funds reach USD575m, Two years ago, they totalled only USD30m. Cheyne Capital has five UCITS funds: Cheyne European Mid Cap Equity Fund, Cheyne Glboal Credit Fund, Cheyne Convertibles Absolute Return Fund, Cheyne European Real Estate Bond Fund and Cheyne South East Asia Long/Short (Malacca) Fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pioneer Investments has launched a global long/short bond fund, which will aim to reduce the exposure of investors to fixed income and credit risks. Citywire reports. The Pioneer Funs Long/Short Global Bond fund was released in late 2013 as a Luxembourg-registered fund. A fund of the same name has been launched for US investors. The two funds will be manage by Thomas Swaney, head of alternative bond assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the context of ongoing debate about the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), the association of actors in the covered bond sector, the European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) on 4 February published a document which recommends that covered bonds be included in the highly liquid (level 1) class of assets under proposed LCR rules. “The inclusion of covered bonds in level 1 assets would make it possible to limit dependence on government debt in the European banking sector, and would facilitate the objective of delinking the government sector from the banking sector,” says Luca Bertalot, president of the association, in a statement.

French asset manager Amundi opens a subsidiary in Poland, Amundi Polska, after it has received the regulatory approval required from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the KNF3. Based in Warsaw, Amundi Polska is headed by Eric Bramoullé who is chief executive officer as well as president of the management board. The other members of the management board are: Ludmila Falak-Cyniak - chief investment officer, Kazimierz Fedak - chief sales & marketing officer and Julien Bernard - chief operating officer. Eric Bramoullé comments: “The opening of Amundi Polska TFI S.A. illustrates our wish to be closer to our clients as well as partners and to establish a lasting footprint in Poland. Poland is a high potential market, which is leader in asset management in Central and Eastern Europe where Amundi Polska TFI S.A. aims to become a key player”.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } VTB Capital Investment Management has launched a bond fund dedicated to Russia and the Community of Indepdendent States, Citywire reports. The Luxembourg-domiciled fund, VTB Capital IM Russia & CIS Debt, was launched with seed capital of USD40m and USD20m in non-binding engagements. The fund will invest in bonds denominated in local currencies and hard currencies from all governments of the region, including high yield and investment grade debt from governments, local authorities and businesses. The bond team from the Russian boutique manages USD3.2bn in assets, while the group has a total of USD7.5bn in assets under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Association financière de la gestion d’actifs (AFG), AFNOR, the Comité intersyndical de l’épargne salariale (CIES), Finansol, the Forum pour l’investissement responsable (FIR), Novethic, the Observatoire pour la responsabilité sociétale des entreprises (ORSE) and Paris Europlace have signed a joint statement expressing plans to create an SRI label. “The signatories feel that an SRI label which is publicly recognized and which would be supported by public incentives would make it possible to accelerte the growth of SRI, improve information for savers and to better orient the savings of French investors to businesses and public entities which are more outstanding in terms of the quality of their CSR, which contribute to sustainable development, and/or which favour ecological transition,” the declaration published yesterday says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) has registered a new multi-asset class fund in Spain, entitled Axa WF Global Income Generation, Funds People reports. The vehicle, already launched throughout Europe in early January (see Newsmanagers of 14 January 2013), is a Sicav fund domiciled in Luxembourg, which offers share classes both to institutional and to retail investors. Its objective is to generate regular revenues, by investing in a combination of assets from quality issuers which offer long-term capital growth. The investment process is based on a bottom-up approach, while concentrating on three key factors: diversification, dynamic asset allocation, and risk reduction. The vehicle may invest both in bond asset classes (high yield, investment grade corporate bonds, etc.), equities, and real estate. The management of the fund will be carried out by Anne Gagliardini, who will work with a team of four senior managers, while benefiting from the research of Axa IM in all asset classes.

Fitch Ratings’ 4Q13 reports on Europe-domiciled money market funds (MMFs) show that US dollar- and sterling-denominated funds in their search for yield have increased their unsecured financial exposures.As of December 2013 US dollar funds have seen their unsecured exposure to financial issuers rise to 71% of average portfolio assets, up from 57% a year ago. A similar shift was witnessed in sterling MMFs, albeit to a lesser extent, with unsecured financial exposures growing to 82% from 75%. Euro-denominated funds, on the other hand, have reduced their unsecured exposure to financials to 64% from 67%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The smart beta speicalist ERI Scientific Beta on 4 February announced that all smart beta indices, totalling 2,958, avaiable on the platform http://www.scientificbeta.com are now available under totally transparent terms. This transparency allows Scientific Beta indices to comply fully with the recommendations of the European Securities Markets Association (ESMA) concerning the transparency of financial indices. It also allows for counterparties on the index market to analyse the track records published by ERI Scientific Beta.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Lazard Asset Management (AM) is scaling up its presence in the Middle East. The US asset management firm, which has been present in Bahrain since 2008, and which has been managing assets for clients in the region since 1992, on 4 February announced that it is opening a new office in Dubai. On this occasion, Lazard AM has recruited Farah Foustok as managing director and senior executive officer of the Dubai office. Foustok, former CEO and chief investment officer at ING Investment Management Middle East, will be responsible for leading the growth and development of the activities of Lazard AM in the Middle East, including management of local investments and sales and distribution of strategies from the US firm in the region. Meanwhile, Lazard AM has recruited Fadi Al Said as director and analyst/portfolio manager, also from ING Investment Management Middle East, where he served as head of investments and portfolio manager. Al Said will lead a team of five people in charge of managing equity strategies in the Middle East and frontier markets for local and international clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } It has been a constant in the sector for three years. Alongside a wave of consolidation and rationalisation in the sector, the dynamic of creation of portfolio management companies (SGP), particularly entrepreneurial ones, has been confirmed in France in 2013. Following 34 creations the previous year, 38 new portfolio management firms were licensed in 2013, according to statistics from the French asset management association (AFG). The number of companies came to 613 at the end of 2013, compared with 604 at the end of 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to Finews, the Swiss wealth management firm Gottex Fund Management, a specialist in alternative management, has decided to open a representative office in Stockholm, in order to meet the growing demand of Scandinavian clients for its products. The office will be led by Peter Seippel, head of Scandinavian activities at Gottex Fund Management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nearly three quarters of the local boroughs in London, which manage pension funds totalling at least GBP14bn, have teamed up to create a joint investment vehicle in order to save on asset management fees, Financial News reports. According to the plans, the vehicle would be managed by a new company, which would seek a license as an asset management firm from the Financial Conduct Authority.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Julius Baer has recruited Stewart Edginton as head of discretionary specialists for its portfolio management unit, Fund Web reports. He will be based in the United Kingdom, and will supervise a team of 12 people.

M&G Investments has appointed John William Olsen to its global equities fund management team. He will start in April. John William Olsen has 16 years’ experience in equity investment. Most recently he was a portfolio manager at Danske Capital in Copenhagen where he managed the firm’s Global Stock Picking, Global Select and European Select equity funds. He joined Danske Capital from Danske Bank in 1998, working first in Danish equities and then global telecommunications and technology equities analysis.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Robeco has confirmed to IPE.com that it is mulling to open an office in London. A spokesperson has indicated that the Dutch asset management firm had studied the possibility of setting up a foothold in London as part of its growth strategy in Europe and the United States in the coming years. It adds that an office in London would be home mainly to a sales team, while the Robeco headquarters would remain in Rotterdam.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to Le Temps, the bank Syz on Tuesday announced internally that it is planning to outsource its support services, known as the back-office units in financial jargon, in order to reduce its costs, according to sources inside the establishment. According to these sources, talks were said to be in progress to outsource these functions to the specialist company B-Source. When contacted, the Geneva-based private bank replied that it had taken “no decision.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The year 2013 was marked by low growth of 3.1% of total assets under management in France, which now total EUR3.023trn, according to annual statistics unveiled on 4 February by the French financial management association (AFG). This development is largely due to a rebound on the equity markets, as inflows were largely disappointing, the professional association notes. Passing USD3trn is a result of the combined growth of mandates and foreign funds managed in France (+5.2%) and French-registered funds, which, however, have grown only by 1.2%. Assets under management under mandates excluding foreign-registered OPCs have increased by 5.4%, to nearly USD1.3trn. Financial management of foreign-registered OPCs in France top USD200bn (+4%), as a result of increased distribution to non-resident clients. With nearly EUR900m for alternative investment funds (FIA), net assets in French-registered OPC funds totalled USD1.523trn as of the end of 2013, up by EUR17bn for the year, compared with EUR119bn in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices on 4 February announced the launch of a new index which combines the two investment themes on the basis of volatility and returns. The S&P Europe 350 Low Volatility High Dividend index measures the performance of 50 companies that pay high dividends of the S&P Europe 350 index, which meet requirements for diversification, volatility and liquidity. This combination of low-volatility themes and high dividends has already been applied to the S&P 500 index.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Many hedge fund managers who started up their activities in the 1990s are now dreaming of retirement, the Financial Times observes. Two camps are shaping up. Many are choosing to give money back to investors and to close the business. Others feel that their company can survive them, and for that reason, succession plans at hedge funds have become a priority in recent years. Succession may be more or less simply. The transition could be easier for a quantitative fund, for example. However, large institutional investors now consider succession plans to be vital.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } After a mixed year in 2013, the sukuk market may this year rebound to top USD100bn for the third consecutive year, the agency Standard & Poor’s estimates in a study published on 4 February. Sukuk issues launched by businesses and infrastructure vehicles from the Gulf region are expected to post double-digit growth in 2014, largely due to enormous infrastructure financing needs. In 2013, issue volumes fell by 13%. For the first time since 2007, corporate issues rose 20% last year, at a time when government issues were down by 265. This trend may continue in 2014 and 2015. In African countries, government sukuks may slowly make a place for themselves as a means of diversification compared with traditional Asian issuers of the Gulf region. However, Standard & Poor’s estimates that new regulatory conditions are necessary to strengthen market regulations, lower barriers to entry and to deepen the liquidity of these markets.