Gerben Schreurs, qui vient de passer douze ans chez KPMG Advisory comme responsable des prestataires de services et la gestion des investissements, rejoint l'équipe de ventes institutionnelles de BlackRock aux Pays-Bas, rapporte Fonds Nieuws.

La Deutsche Börse a finalement annoncé le 8 octobre l’admission à la négociation sur le segment XTF de sa plate-forme électronique Xetra des deux ETF d’actions ComStage ETF FTSE China A50 UCITS ETF et ComStage ETF MSCI World with EM Exposure Net UCITS ETF, chargés à respectivement 0,40 % et 0,50 % (lire Newsmanagers du 4 octobre).De ce fait, le nombre d’ETF cotés à Francfort s'établit à 1.033.

Spécialisée dans les projets à forte croissance de l’Economie numérique et des Technologies de l’Information, la société de capital-risque Partech Ventures a annoncé mardi 8 octobre avoir levé 160 millions d’euros pour le lancement de deux nouveaux fonds. Le premier, Partech VI, sera doté de 130 millions d’euros et est dédié au capital-risque tandis que le second, Partech Entrepreneur, est consacré à l’amorçage et sera doté d’une capacité d’investissement de 30 millions d’euros. Ce fonds a été souscrit à hauteur de 15 millions d’euros par le Fonds National d’Amorçage (FNA) qui est géré par Bpifrance dans le cadre du Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir (PIA), associé à BNP Paribas, au groupe Econocom et à 40 entrepreneurs, indique un communiqué. Le Fonds National d’Amorçage (FNA) est aujourd’hui doté de 600 millions d’euros et ne finance pas directement des entreprises. 20 à 30 fonds d’amorçage sous-jacents sont animés par des équipes de gestion professionnelles, qui réalisent elles mêmes des investissements dans de jeunes entreprises innovantes en phases d’amorçage et de démarrage.

Schroders lance mercredi un fonds investi sur les actions du monde entier délaissées par les investisseurs appelé Global Recovery Fund, rapporte le Financial Times. Le fonds sera géré par Nick Kirrage. Schroders estime que le moment est venu pour lancer un tel fonds, car la reprise économique devrait aider les valeurs « horribles » à surperformer.

Allianz a annoncé mardi 8 octobre avoir réalisé un investissement de près de 165 millions d’euros dans le financement de la dette à long terme de la nouvelle rocade de Marseille (10km) qui doit relier les autoroutes A7 et A50. Pour une des toutes premières fois en France, indique Allianz, ce financement institutionnel est mis en place dès le début de la phase de construction, ce qui constitue une première, indique un communiqué. Allianz Global Investors gérera la dette pour le compte des sociétés du groupe Allianz sur une période de 30 ans. Avec cette opération, AllianzGI finalise, depuis la création de son équipe dédiée il y a un an, sa deuxième transaction de dette infrastructure en France. Le premier concernait le projet de la « Cité Musicale de l’Ile Seguin » en juillet dernier, réalisé par un groupement composé de Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France, Sodexo, TF1 et OFI InfraVia.

La boutique française Sycomore Asset Management envisage de rendre accessible son fonds actions long/short au format Ucits au-delà de son marché d’origine, rapporte Citywire Global.Le fonds Sycomore L/S Opportunities, géré par Gilles Sitbon et dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à 84 millions d’euros, n’est actuellement enregistré que pour la distribution en France. Alors que la stratégie célèbre son troisième anniversaire, Sycomore vient de la faire enregistrer en Allemagne et la Suisse et le Royaume-Uni seraient sur la liste des pays où le fonds pourrait être prochainement enregistré.Le fonds a dégagé une performance de près de 26% sur les trois ans à fin septembre 2013, à comparer à un rendement moyen de 10,73% pour le secteur Alternative Ucits Long/Short Equity.

Comme beaucoup de sociétés de gestion, Amplégest a engagé une réflexion autour du PEA-PME, enveloppe fiscale entérinée par le projet de loi de Finances 2014. La question de transformer le fonds Amplégest Midcaps s’est posée. «Si les critères retenus pour l’éligibilité d’une société au dispositif du PEA–PME sont les mêmes que ceux qui définissent une ETI/PME d’après l’INSEE, à savoir un effectif inférieur à 5.000 salariés et un chiffre d’affaires inférieur à 1,5 milliards d’euros et/ou un total de bilan inférieur à 2Mds€, dans ce cas le fonds Amplégest Midcaps ne fera pas l’objet d’une transformation», souligne Augustin Bloch-Lainé, co-gérant du fonds Amplégest Midcaps. Il ajoute que si d’autres critères devaient être retenus, telle que la capitalisation boursière notamment, «nous pourrions être amenés à faire d’autres choix».Pour qu’un fonds soit éligible au dispositif PEA–PME, il faut que 75% de son actif soit investi dans des valeurs dites éligibles. «Or à ce jour seulement 50% du fonds Midcapsest investi dans de telles valeurs. Pour qu’Amplégest Midcaps entre dans le cadre du dispositif, il faudrait réaliser une transformation à notre sens trop importante du fonds, avec 25% de l’actif à renouveler, sur une courte période. Un tel mouvement mettrait en risque la performance du fonds à court et moyen terme», ajoute Augustin Bloch-Lainé.A la place d’une transformation d’Amplégest Midcaps, l'équipe de gestion pourrait créer un nouveau produit focalisé sur les microcaps. «La création d’un nouveau fonds plus orienté sur les small caps et respectant les critères d’éligibilité nous paraît donc être la meilleure solution. Ce nouveau fonds sera complémentaire avec les fonds actuels, Multicaps et Midcaps, et permettra à Amplégest de détenir une gamme complète», conclut Augustin Bloch-Lainé. Au 8 Octobre 2013, les encours gérés par Amplégest s’élèvent à 593 millions d’euros.

Le 9 octobre, ALPS Advisors lance RiverFront Strategic Income Fund (code mnémonique : RIGS), un ETF obligataire à gestion active pour lequel le gestionnaire avait sollicité le premier agrément de la SEC il y a presque trois ans, rapporte Index Universe.Le portefeuille se composera de titres du monde entier avec des échéances comprises entre deux et dix ans, de différentes notations et en différentes monnaies. L'équipe de gestion pourra investir aussi bien en obligations d’entreprises qu’en titres publics.Le taux de frais sur encours est fixé à 0,22 %.

Sopra Banking Software et Gambit Financial Solutions viennent de conclure un partenariat, associant l’expertise des deux entreprises dans le domaine de la gestion du patrimoine. Sopra Banking est une société spécialisée en logiciels bancaires et services associés ; Gambit Financial Solutions est un expert spécialisé dans le conseil en investissement, l’optimisation de portefeuille et la gestion des risques. Leur offre conjointe a été pensée pour aider les banques à mieux servir leurs clients mass affluent et high net-worth.La gestion du patrimoine est un domaine très varié. La banque privée traditionnelle offre aux high net-worth individuals (HNWI) des conseils personnalisés visant à les aider à optimiser leur patrimoine. Cependant, les systèmes informatiques des banques privées, en particulier dans les régions en croissance, ne permettent pas toujours de bien saisir le profil des clients, ni d’apporter une analyse des risques en ligne avec ces profils.Par ailleurs, il existe un segment croissant se situant entre la clientèle de détail et les HNWI : les mass affluent. Cette dernière catégorie est encore très souvent servie par des banques de détail. « Nous avons remarqué que les banques de détail veulent offrir à ce type de clients des services à la hauteur de leur patrimoine, mais qu’elles ne disposent pas des systèmes adaptés, » explique François Moraux, Wealth Management Business Line Manager pour Sopra Banking Software.

Le fournisseur de services au secteur de la gestion d’actifs, Kneip, a annoncé le 8 octobre son déménagement dans de nouveaux locaux à Bruxelles. Située Avenue Louise, la nouvelle implantation rapprochera Kneip des autorités réglementaires et de parties prenantes comme l’association européenne des gestionnaires d’actifs (Efama), souligne la société dans un communiqué.Ce changement permettra aussi à Kneip de moderniser ses infrastructures.

For a small undisclosed total, Aberdeen Asset Management Denmark is taking over an asset management portfolio of residential and commercial properties located in central Copenhagen, estimated at about EUR495m, from Saxo Properties.The transaction also includes the transfer to Aberdeen of 16 employees from Saxo Properties. The management team at Saxo Properties will continue to work for Aberdeen under a consulting contract.

In September, Michael Millar joined the Asian equity team at the Scottish asset management firm Martin Currie in Edinburgh, the firm announced on 8 October. Millar will report to Andrew Graham, investment director, head of Asia.Millar had previously been managing director and regional head of research at Naeem Brokerage in Cairo. Before that, he spent seven years at Société Générale, where he served as director, head of Asia telecoms research.

On October 8th, STOXX Limited announced the launch of the STOXX Global Strong Quality 50, STOXX Europe Strong Quality 30, STOXX Asia/Pacific Strong Quality 30 and STOXX USA Strong Quality 50 indices, which represent strong quality companies in the respective region. The new indices are designed to act as an underlying for exchange-traded products and other investable products, and as a benchmark for actively managed funds that share the same investment philosophy, according to a press release.The index universe for the STOXX Strong Quality Indices is the STOXX Global 1800 Index. Each of the new regional indices is derived from the respective regional base index, i.e. the STOXX Europe 600, STOXX Asia/Pacific 600 and STOXX North America 600 indices. For the STOXX USA Strong Quality 50 Index, all Canadian stocks in the base index are excluded from the index universe.To be eligible for inclusion in the STOXX Strong Quality Indices, companies must have a minimum 3 month average daily trading volume of EUR10m for the global and USA indices, and EUR5m for the remaining indices. Furthermore, a set of strict numerical thresholds must be passed in order to establish desired company profitability and liquidity levels, and to build an investment margin of safety. Firstly, a company’s return on capital must be positive for each fiscal year during the last 36 months.Secondly, their operating liquidity - as measured by trailing 12 month current ratios - must be greater than one.Lastly, individual company EBITDA/EV readings are evaluated against the US AAA Bond Yield (where all companies with negative relative valuation yields are excluded).Companies are ranked from most to least attractive in each of the above three categories, and an average of the three is calculated. Companies with the best ranking are then selected for index inclusion until the respective number of components for the index is met.

A group of asset managers and owners have joined forces with the University of Cambridge in a three-year project designed to promote «understanding of how investors can realise positive long-term investment returns by understanding and managing for environmental and social factors,» according to a press statement. The Investment Leaders Group (ILG) currently comprises twelve members: Allianz Global Investors, Aviva Investors, Chandler Corporation, First State Investments, Loomis Sayles, Natixis Asset Management, Nordea Life & Pensions, PensionDanmark, PIMCO, Standard Life Investments, TIAA-CREF Asset Management and Zurich Insurance Group.The group, chaired by Philippe Zaouati, deputy CEO of Natixis Asset Management, head of Mirova investment division, «will work together to explore the degree to which economic, social and environmental factors can influence long-term value creation and become a more integral part of the investment process». Through a series of workstreams, the ILG will identify and test new investment practices involving evidence review, model development, empirical testing, engagement and thought leadership reports. The first workstream will concentrate on developing an understanding of the value of environmental and social factors in investment, while the second will look at how investors could measure and communicate how environmental and social factors can contribute towards a more stable economy and society. Through these activities, the group seeks to create outcomes that will influence the future of the investment industry by improving on current practices.

The Lyxor index of the hedge fund ector gained 1.13% in the month of September, and has gained 3.17% since the beginning of the year, the most recent Lyxor alternative management barometer indicates. Among the best performances last month were L/S Equity-Variable Bias strategies, with gains of 2.28%, L/S Equity – Long Bias, with +1.99%, and Event Driven – Special Situations, with +1.95%.

The HFRI Fund Weighted Composit inde gained 1.6% in September, its largest gains since the beginning of the year, and its best performance in the past 19 months, according to the data provider Hedge Fund Research (HFR). In the month under review, Equity Hedge strategies earned gains of 2.6%, also the highest since January this year. The performance in the first nine months of he year is 9.2%. Event-driven strategies also stood out, with returns of 2% for the month and 9% for the first nine months of the year. Activist strategies show gains of 3.2% in September, and 11.2$ in the first three quarters of the year. Macro funds lost 0.2% in September, while gains for Discretionary Maco funds partly wiped out losses for commodity and systematic strategies.For its part, the Lyxor index of the hedge fund sector gained 1.13% in the month of September, and has gained 3.17% since the beginning of the year, the most recent Lyxor alternative management barometer indicates. Among the best performances last month were L/S Equity-Variable Bias strategies, with gains of 2.28%, L/S Euqity – Long Bias, with +1.99%, and Event Driven – Special Situations, with +1.95%.

The future Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg, has announced that her government is planning to create a fund with NOK100bn in the next five years, which will be dedicated to infrastructure in the country, the Wall Street Jounral reports. The move comes as part of plans to boost spending by the government on roads, railways, high-speed Internet, etc. Unlike the USD750bn oil fund, which invests in equities, bonds and foreign real estate, the new USD16bn fund will offer stable capacities for projects within the borders of Norway. It is not yet known whether the government will take money from the Oil Fund to create the new vehicle.

The Eruopean federation of pension fund associations Pensions Europe has created a consulting committee on retirement for multi-national businesses, whose primary objective is to give the major groups an occasion to make their point of view heard on all issues related to retirement, the specialist website IPE reports. According to the CEO of PensionsEurope, Matti Leppäla, multinationals represent a major player in the debate over retirement, as they fact increased proprietary capital, reporting and owners’ equity requirements under the revised IORP directive concerning activities and surveillance of retirement institutions, as well as a movement to transfer from defined-benefit programmes to defined-contribution programmes. The consulting committee, which already includes five multi-nationals, including Shell, will be based in Paris, and will meet twice per year.

Generali Investments Europe, la société de gestion du groupe Generali, a recruté Wilfrid Pham en tant que responsable de l’équipe actions (head of equity) et Vivek Tawadey en tant que responsable de la recherche obligataire (head of credit research), rapporte Bluerating.Wilfrid Pham était précédemment CIO et responsable actions de Natixis Asset Management, tandis que Vivek Tawadey travaillait depuis 2000 chez BNP Paribas.

Germen Schreurs, who has spent 12 years at KPMG Advisory as head of provider services and investment management, is joining the institutional sales team at BlackRock in the Netherlands, Fonds Nieuws reports.

BATS Chi-X Europe has announced plans to launch its pan-European listings business and iShares, the exchange-traded funds (ETF) platform of BlackRock, will become the first issuer to list on the Regulated Market segment of the exchange. The initial ETFs, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (Ticker: IEEM) and iShares MSCI World Minimum Volatility UCITS ETF (Ticker: MVOL) are scheduled to commence trading on BATS Chi-X Europe in November 2013 as secondary listings.

The insurance group Allianz is planning to develop its asset liability management (ALM) capacities in Asia, with plans to install experts in this area at several entities in the region, Asian Investor reports. Allianz has live insurance activities in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, Sri Lanka and Laos. Assets under management in the general account in Asia, particularly in life insurance, total about USD25.6bn.

The asset management services provider Kneip on 8 October announced that it is moving to new offices in Brussels. The new location on Avenue Louise will bring Kneip closer to the regulatory authorities and participants such as the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA), the firm says in a statement. The change will also allow Kneip to modernize its infrastructure.

HSBC Global Asset Management has recruited the high yield bond specialist Mary Bowers as a senior member of its global fixed income team, Citywire reports. Bowers, who joins the bond team based in New York, previously worked for Aberdeen Asset Management/Artio Global Investors, where she managed about USD4bn in high yield strategies. In her new role at HSBC, Bowers will manage the HSBC GIF Global High Yield Bond fund, whose assets under management total USD1.1bn, and which was previously managed by Guy Dunham since its launch in 2012. Bower will also assume responsibility for the HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond fund, launched in July this year, whose assets under management total USD20bn.

HSBC Global Asset Management has recruited the high yield bond specialist Mary Bowers as a senior member of its global fixed income team, Citywire reports.Bowers, who joins the bond team based in New York, previously worked for Aberdeen Asset Management/Artio Global Investors, where she managed about USD4bn in high yield strategies.In her new role at HSBC, Bowers will manage the HSBC GIF Global High Yield Bond fund, whose assets under management total USD1.1bn, and which was previously managed by Guy Dunham since its launch in 2012. Bower will also assume responsibility for the HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond fund, launched in July this year, whose assets under management total USD20bn.

The bank Julius Baer is continuing its crusade to settle the issue of funds which are undeclared to tax authorities. In Europe, it is calling on all of its clients, where applicable, to regularize their situation, and is requiring supplementary documents, CEO Boris Collardi has told Finanz und Wirtschaft magazine. In Germany and France, the approach is working well, In Switzerland, by the end of the year, there will be virtually no German clients left who have not settled up with the tax authorities. In the case of the United Kingdom and Austria, tax issues have been resolved and the CEO is expecting progress in Italy as well after the political situation has stabilised. According to Collardi, the issue of funds not declared to tax authorities is expected to be settled by 2015, and he says he is serene with respect to Europe.

Funds controlled by the US BlackRock group control a cumulative stake of 5.13% in Telecom Italia, according to statistics released on 8 October by Consob, the regulatory authority of the Milan stock exchange. The Italian telecommunications operator has a market capitalisaiton of EUR11.7bn, according to statistics from Thomson Reuters.

According to Fonds Nieuws, Threadneedle Investment has launched the Z share class of fund shares without commissions to distributors in the Netherlands. It comes in addition to retail (R) and institutional (I) shares. A small number of funds have no Z share class, but I shares, also without commissions, are available in these cases.

Charles Schwab has announced that it has decided to postpone the launch of its 401 (k) retirement platform using ETFs, a project it had announced in March 2011, IndexUniverse reports. Some observers are still asking whether it is useful to be able to trade ETFs on a daily basis for retirement plans, but none deny that the transparency and low cost of ETFs would be welcome in the 401(k) universe. The firm had planned to launch the platform in late 2013. After having to delay the launch, Charles Schwab is no longer setting a date. Regulatory questions remain in suspense and the firm simply states that the launch may come by the end of the year or later.