La Banque Neuflize OBC annonce le regroupement sous une seule direction des expertises dédiées à la valorisation et à l’optimisation du patrimoine global de ses clients. La banque privée a baptisé la nouvelle unité «Direction du Conseil» et l’a placée sous la direction de Sophie Breuil, qui entre par la même occasion au comité de direction de la Banque Neuflize OBC. Le service compte une trentaine de collaborateurs spécialisés sur cinq expertises : ingénierie patrimoniale, financements structurés, fusions-acquisitions, immobilier et art. Dès ce mois de janvier, une activité de family office vient s’ajouter à cela, précise la banque privée. «La Direction du Conseil a pour vocation d’offrir à ses clients un conseil panoramique assis sur une vision consolidée des actifs patrimoniaux et porté par un objectif de préservation à long-terme des intérêts des familles. Pour Neuflize OBC, le conseil est un vecteur d’approfondissement de la relation avec le client. En effet, intervenir sur la cession d’une entreprise, conseiller sur une stratégie de transmission familiale ou encore vendre des œuvres d’art et/ou un actif immobilier permettent de construire une intimité avec le client, les générations futures et de proposer une offre de service adaptée et personnalisée», commente Sophie Breuil.Neuflize OBC gère 37,8 milliards d’euros d’actifs à fin décembre 2012.
L’indice de performance de l’immobilier français en Bourse, Euronext IEIF SIIC France, a reculé de 0,99% au mois de décembre mais affiche sur l’ensemble de l’année un gain de 12%, selon les chiffres communiqués par IEIF. «L’immobilier coté a connu une performance correcte mais nettement moindre que celle des actions en général», souligne l’IEIF dans un communiqué.L’indice Euronext IEIF REIT Europe a de son côté progressé de 0,19% en décembre et dégage sur douze mois un gain de 12,77%.
Schroders est sur le point de dévoiler un projet visant à déménager ses locaux à Londres, selon The Times. Le journal précise que la société de gestion va quitter son siège social, basé à Gresham Street, pour prendre possession d’un nouvel immeuble en cours de construction situé One London Wall Place. La construction est prévue pour être finalisée fin 2016. The Times précise que cette décision fait suite à l’acquisition l’an dernier de Cazenove Capital pour 424 millions de livres.
Simon Davies, l’ancien président de Threadneedle, vient d’être recruté par la société de conseil en investissement Square Mile Investment Research en qualité de président. Il était jusque-là president de J.P. Morgan Overseas Investment Trust. Auparavant, Simon Davies avait officié pendant 16 ans chez Threadneedle d’abord comme directeur des investissements, puis comme directeur général et, enfin, comme président, un poste dont il a démissionné en juin 2012. Sous sa houlette, la société s’était profondément transformée, passant d’un gestionnaire britannique de petite taille à un géant mondial de la gestion d’actifs.
Scottish Widows et Aberdeen Asset Management, sa nouvelle maison mère, ont tous les deux subi en 2013 des demandes de remboursement parmi les plus élevées en Europe, rapporte Financial Times fund management, s’appuyant sur des données Morningstar. Scottish Widows est l’une des sociétés de gestion les moins populaires en Europe sur les 11 premiers mois de 2013, avec des sorties nettes de 6,8 milliards d’euros sur ses fonds. Aberdeen AM figure parmi les 10 sociétés les moins prisées, avec 1,6 milliard d’euros de rachats nets.
Zoe Cruz, co-president of institutional securities and wealth management de Morgan Stanley entre 2005 et 2007, a rejoint le conseil d’administration d’Old Mutual en tant qu’administrateur non-exécutif. En 2009, elle avait fondé Voras Capital Management, un fonds qu’elle a géré jusqu’à sa fermeture en 2012.Adiba Ighodaro a aussi été nommée administrateur non-exécutif du groupe britannique. Elle a travaillé pour la Commonwealth Development Corporation et Actis.Ces nominations font suite à la démission de Bongani Nqwababa qui était administrateur non-exécutif depuis avril 2007.
JP Morgan Asset Management (AM) a remanié en profondeur les équipes de gestion de six fonds centrés sur le Royaume-Uni et l’Europe, totalisant plus de 3,1 milliards de livres d’actifs sous gestion, rapporte eFinancial News. Ainsi, à compter de début janvier, Ian Butler, Thomas Buckingham et Ben Stapley sont devenus les principaux gérants de la gamme de fonds OEIC (open-ended investment company) de JPMorgan AM. Dans le détail, Ian Butler pilote désormais le fonds UK Strategic Equity Income, pesant 138 millions de livres d’actifs. Il est également nommé au poste de gérant complémentaire pour le Europe Strategic Value Fund de 1,3 milliard de livres, aux côtés de Michael Barakos, le co-gérant du fonds. Thomas Buckingham assure, pour sa part, la responsabilité du UK Higher Income Fund, doté de 305 millions de livres d’actifs, ainsi que la co-gestion du Europe Strategic Dividend Fund (1,03 milliard de livres) avec le même Michael Barakos. Enfin, Ben Stapley est en charge du UK Strategic Growth Fund de 283,5 millions de livres d’actifs tout en étant nommé co-gérant du Europe Strategic Growth Fund (166 millions de livres).
Swiss & Global Asset Management a lancé un fonds ciblé sur « la nouvelle économie » de la Chine, JB China Evolution Fund, est en mesure de révéler Citywire. Ce fonds de droit luxembourgeois investira dans 30 à 50 sociétés des secteurs de la consommation et des technologies, tous les deux sous-représentés dans les fonds et indices existants, indique Swiss & Global. Le gérant principal du fonds sera Jian Shi Cortesi.
BlackRock renforce son équipe commerciale retail en Allemagne, selon Fondsprofessionell. Dieter Sutterlüti a été nommé responsable commercial pour les fonds offerts au public et disponibles sur les réseaux retail. Parallèlement, Britta Bene rejoint l'équipe Asset-Allocators en charge de la clientèle des gérants de fortune, des banques privées et des family offices. Les deux nouveaux arrivants travailleront sous la direction de Christian Machts, directeur de l’activité retail de BlackRock Allemagne et Autriche.
Anthony Wong a repris le 1er janvier un fonds actions chinoises d’Allianz GI, Allianz China A-Shares, précédemment géré par Christina Chung, est en mesure de révéler Citywire Global. Ce fonds pèse 42 millions de dollars.
Skagen a lancé le 1er janvier de nouvelles classes de parts pour trois de ses fonds actions : Skagen Kon-Tiki, Skagen Global et Skagen Vekst. Ces nouvelles classes de parts sont conformes aux réformes aux Pays-Bas et au Royaume-Uni où les sociétés de gestion n’auront plus le droit de payer des commissions aux conseillers ou des rétrocessions aux plates-formes ou distributeurs et doivent rendre accessibles des classes de parts sans rétrocessions.
Skagen has launched new unit classes for three of its equity funds – Skagen Kon-Tiki, Skagen Global and Skagen Vekst – on 1 January 2014.The new unit classes will comply with regulatory changes in the Netherlands and UK where investment managers will no longer be allowed to pay commission to advisors or retrocession to platforms or distributors and must make available so-called «clean share classes».
Alternative mutual fund assets under management (AUM) in Asia ex-Japan totaled USD20.7 billion as of September last year, about 6.1% higher than at the end of 2012, according to Cerulli Associates. Still, AUM in this space has mostly been on a slow uptick since 2009. Cerulli Associates believes that these allocations have primarily been driven by institutional and, to some extent, high-net-worth investors, rather than retail investors.Although alternative allocations are still small at most institutions, often accounting for less than 10% of their overall portfolios, it is notable that they are rising steadily. For example, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) had nothing in alternatives in 2008, but by 2012 it had allocated nearly 11% of its assets to alternatives, including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, commodities, and special investments. Recognizing institutions’ growing taste for alternatives, some global fund houses traditionally focused on long-only assets are stepping up their alternatives capabilities. There were notable acquisitions last year: Franklin Templeton in June bought the remaining 80% stake in Pelagos Capital Management, which manages a commodities, managed futures, and hedge fund replication strategy, while BlackRock announced in May an agreement to purchase MGPA, a London-based private equity real estate manager.
ETPs worldwide last year posted net inflows of USD235.5bn, the third-largest total on record, after 2008 and 2012, according to initial estimates from BlackRock. In the month of December alone, net inflows to ETPs worldwide accelerated to USD24.7bn, compared with USD16bn in November. Equity ETPs alone attracted a record USD247.3bn in the year as a whole, topping the previous record in 2008. Exposure to US equities represented USD147.8bn, followed by Japanese equities (USD38.2bn). Pan-European funds posted strong inflows in second half, to finish the year with net inflows of USD26.7bn, more than double those observed in 2012. Inflows to bonds remained high compared with the previous year, at USD27.5bn, due to engagements to short-maturity ETPs totalling USD35.9bn.
The level of fines, arrests and investigations for insider trading in 2013 leapt worldwide, which is putting asset management firms on red alert, Financial Times fund management reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States has promised to be particularly active this year in punishing insider trading. Howard Groedel, a partner at the law firm Ulmer & Berne, tells FTfm that asset management firms are scrambling to recruit compliant staff in order to ensure that they are protected.
Mirova has since 1 January become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Natixis Asset Management. The creation, announced on 6 January, strengthens the independence of management at Mirova, and aims to accelerate the development of the socially responsible investment (SRI) unit at Natixis AM. In the next five years, this will aim to make it a leader internationally, a statement says. Pascal Voisin, CEO of Natixis Asset Management, becomes chairman of the board of directors, while the position of CEO goes to Philippe Zaouati. Mirova, which claims to be the second-largest European manager of SRI funds and the leader in solidaristic management in France in Europe, has EUR3.4bn in assets under management and EUR23.6bn in votes and engagements. These figures are compared to EUR292.3bn at Natixis Asset Management.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has been appointed by The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), the largest public retirement system in Texas, U.S., to manage a new EUR135 million investment mandate, targeting mainly value-add investment opportunities in Northern Europe. TRS delivers retirement and related benefits authorized by the Texas Legislature and currently manages approximately USD120 billion trust fund established to finance member benefits. It is the sixth largest public pension plan in the U.S. and among the 20 largest funds in the world. More than 1.3 million public education and higher education employees and retirees participate in the system.
As recently announced by Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 13/11/2013), Gérard Moulin is entering a new phase in his career following his departure from Delubac AM. Moulin has joined the asset management firm Amplégest as head of European equity management. He is also responsible for the management of the Amplégest Multicaps fund. Moulin will be responsible for developing “pricing power” management of European large caps, a speciality he has already applied to the management of the Delubac Pricing Power fund. He will work in collaboration with a team composed of Saad Benlamine and Augustin Bloch-Lainé, managers at Amplégest Midcaps. Assets at Amplégest at the beginning of this year total EUR615m. The Amplégest Multicaps fund has EUR188m.
The Austrian asset management firm Myra Capital has recruited Sebastian Stahn, a specialist in absolute return management. He will take over open-ended funds at the institutional asset management firm. Stahn previously worked at the private bank Walser, where he was a portfolio manager, Das Investment reports.
The French boutiques Turgot Asset Management and Alienor Capital on 6 January announced in a joint statement that they have signed a memorandum of agreement to merge the two firms. Pending the agreement of the AMF, Turgot Asset Management will acquire a 35% stake in Alienor Capital as part of a capital increase slated for first quarter 2014. The sale price has not been disclosed. The new group will represent total assets under management of over EUR250m, 15 employees (including 7 portfolio managers) and a joint, in-house internal deontology control. At the end of 2012, assets under management at Aliénor totalled EUR122m. Operational synergies are already planned, with plans to benefit from the best practices at each of the two firms.
Banque Neuflize OBC has announced that it is grouping together its expertise dedicated to the valuation and optimisation of the total wealth of its clients into a single unit. Th private bank has entitled the new unit “Advising Direction” and has placed it under the leadership of Sophie Breuil, who at the same time joins the board at Banque Neuflize OBC. The department has 30 employees specialised in five areas of expertise: wealth engineering, financial structuring, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, and art. Since January, a family office activity has been added, the private bank states. “The Advising Director aims to offer clients panoramic advising based on a consolidated vision of their assets and riven by an objective of long-term preservation of family interests. For Neuflize OBC, advising is a vector which adds dimension to the relationship with the client. Acting as part of the sale of a business, advising a family transmission strategy or selling works of art and/pr real estate properties allows for intimacy with the client to be constructed for future generations, and to offer adapted and personalised service,” says Breuil. Neuflize OBC has EUR37.8bn in assets under management as of the end of December 2012.
BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Management France has appointed Paul Cornaille as deputy CEO. He will report to Jean-Claude Tanguy, vice chairman and CEO of the activity in France. Cornaille is also joining the board of director at BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Management France. In practice, Cornaille will be responsible for the management of real estate complexes whose teams are located at La Défense in Paris, as well as responsibility for all suppot functions at the business. Before joining ADYAL In January 2011 as president of ADYAL Property Managemnet, Cornaille worked at CBRE as CEO of Property Management for France.
The private equity firm Permira Advisers is planning to buy a majority stake in the online legal document provider LegalZoom.com, the news agency Reuters reports. According to the terms of the transaction, an ad-hoc company formed by Permira is expected to acquire shares in LegalZoom for more than USD200m. The company had initially planned an IPO, but ultimately preferred an agreement with Permira. The operation is expected to be completed in first quarter.
Lombard Odier & Cie (France) has recruited Nathalie Rossiensky as deputy director, responsible for major investors. Since December 2013, she has been working to strengthen the development of private banking activities in the European market. Since 2005, Rossiensky had worked at Goldman Sachs in London, and then in Paris, as executive director. She was previously at JP Morgan Private Bank.
Legg Mason on 6 January announced the appointment of Thomas Hoops to the position of executive vice president in charge of development. Hoops joined the asset management group on 6 January, and will be a member of the executive board, reporting to chairman and CEO Joseph Sullivan. He previously worked at Wells Fargo as head of affiliated managers at Wells Fargo Asset Management.
In an interview with Les Echos, Pierre Servant, CEO of Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) names an objective of EUR75bn in overall cumulative inflows by 2017. To achieve that, the asset management firm is planning to restart its activities in Europe, while its largest affiliate in Europe, Natixis Asset Management, has seen outflows in the past few years. “For our prospect of endogenous global cumulative inflows of EUR75bn by 2017, Europe is expected to contribute EUR5bn per year,” Servant explains to the economic newspaper. Servant would like to strengthen several areas of expertise, citing the need to have “more emerging market funds” as well as “more alternative expertise in volatility products and risk control.” The head of NGAM also admits that the firm does not have “enough equity products, particularly global funds,” which have been the most successful in the past few years.
Anthony Wong on 1 January took over a Chinese equity fund at Allianz GI, Allianz China A-shares, previously managed by Christina Chung, Citywire Global reports. The fund has USD42bn in assets.
BlackRock is adding to its retail sales team in Germany, according to Fondsprofessionell. Dieter Sutterlüti has been appointed as head of sales for open-ended funds available on the retail network. Meanwhile, Britta Bene is joining the Asset-Allocators group in charge of wealth management clients, private banks and family offices. The two new arrivals will report to Christian Machts, director of retal activity at BlackRock Germany and Austria.
The insurer Generali Switzerland has appointed René Schmidli to the position of chief investment officer (CIO), according to a statement released on 6 January. Schmidle began in his role on 1 January, and also joined the board of directors. Schmidli has since 2006 been responsible for asset management at Generali, and since 2010 has been deputy to the CIO, a statement from the Italian insurer states. The previous head, Karl Schönenberger, has become manager of the group in Switzerland.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Robert Taylor as head of wealth management and private banking in its supervision division. Taylor, who has 20 years of experience in financial services in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany, will begin in his new role in February 2014. He had previously been CEO of Kleinwort Benson, a position he held until 2011. He had previously spent a part of his career at Merrill Lynch, SG Hambro and Coutts.