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01/02/2011

UBP recruits five MENA specialists

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 31 January, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) announced that it has recruited a complete team from Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, a Dubai-based management firm. The five specialists, including two senior portfolio managers (Habib Oueijan, director, and Mahmoud El Safty), and three analysts, will continue to manage their MENA fund, which has recently been transferred to the Swiss firm, at UBP.In 2010, UBP recruited 11 investment professionals for emerging markets, and launched three equities funds (Emerging Europe, Turkey, and Russia) in connection with this theme, as well as a corporate bond fund and a fund of hedge funds.
01/02/2011

One departure and several appointments at SAM

SAM, the investment boutique focused on sustainability investing, part of Robeco, has announced the departure of its CIO, Stephanie Feigt and a series of appointments.Effective immediately, the head of portfolio management, Raimer Baumann, and head of research functions, Daniel Wild, will be represented on SAM’s executive committee. Neil Johnson, previously in charge of sales at SAM USA, has been appointed head of global clients & marketing and will also join the executive committee. He takes over the position that was vacant since the appointment of Michael Baldinger as CEO. The company’s executive team now consists of Michael Baldinger (CEO), Rainer Baumann (head of portfolio management), Stefan Gordijn (COO), Neil Johnson (head global clients & marketing), Andrew Musters (head of private equity) and Daniel Wild (head of research).
01/02/2011

RBS offers two retail volatility funds on British market

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is launching two retail volatility funds on the British market, the Volatility Controlled Cautious Managed Fund and the Volatility Controlled Balanced Managed Fund, two vehicles which offer the same levels of volatility that would ordinarily be expected for cautious and balanced funds, Fundstrategy reports.RBS says that independent financial advisers refuse to recommend 33% of balanced managed products and 28% of cautious managed products, as they consider the risk too high. But this does not prevent these advisers from investing 44% of their clients’ capital in cautious and diversified funds in second half 2010. A minority (8%) estimate that this percentage may decline in first half 2011.
01/02/2011

JP Morgan AM launches a low-cost fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that JP Morgan Asset Management has launched a low-cost actively-managed fund, the JPM UK Active Index Plus Fund (a modified version of the UK Active 350), whose total expense ratio (TER) is 0.55%. The product may compete with passive management products.Management fees have been lowered to 0.25% per year, with set costs of 0.15% per year. A performance commission of 10% will be limited to as to prevent the TER for the fund from exceeding 0.55%.A head at JP Morgan AM says that the product is the first, or at any rate one of the very first funds to comply with RDR regulations, in that all advisory commissions have been removed.
01/02/2011

Fidelity launches an opportunistic fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Fidelity International will launch an opportunistic fund on the British retail market on 10 February, which will be dedicated to British small caps. The new product aimed at retail clients will integrate the UK Opportunities fund, which is reserved for institutional clients. The fund will include 100 shares, 80% from small firms, while the remainder will be divided between mid- and large caps. The benchmark index will be the Hoare Govett Smaller Companies ex IC. No position will exceed 4% of the portfolio.
01/02/2011

Egypt: Over EUR2bn are potentially affected on German fund market

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to calculations by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, equities funds on sale in Germany and potentially exposed to Egypt have assets of over EUR2bn, of which EUR1.1bn are in funds which invest in North Africa, and slightly over EUR1bn in funds which invest in the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to which there are also allocations to emerging or frontier markets.Among the products which may be affected to varying extents depending on the weight of Egypt in their portfolios are the CS Sicav One (Lux) Equities Middle East & North Africa, the Deka Middle East and Africa, the DWS Invest Africa, the BB Africa Opportunities, the Silk African Lions, and the ING (L) Invest Mena funds.
01/02/2011

Heptagon recruits two expert specialists

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alexander Gunz, who was most recently head of equities strategy and the edition of best ideas reports for institutional investors at Edison Invesment Research, has been recruited by Heptagon Capital (USD3.3bn in assets) as a fund manager in the asset management division, Hedge Week reports.Heptagon has also recruited Sebastian Hybinette, who was previously chief investment officer for a large family office in the United Kingdom, where he was in charge of a portfolio composed of private equity, hedge funds, real estate and publicly traded assets, as vice president of the ultra-high net worth investor (UNHWI) group, mainly to serve Scandinavian clients.
01/02/2011

Bond manager leaves Threadneedle

Roman Gaiser has quit Threadneedle, Citywire can reveal. He managed the EUR970 million Threadneedle European High Yield Bond fund and was co-manager on its Credit Opportunities fund. He is going to join another big London-based fund manager, according to a Citywire source.
01/02/2011

Barings repositions its emerging markets portfolios

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } James Syme, head of global emerging markets, has announced that Barings has repositioned its emerging markets strategies for the short to mid-term, to focus more on companies, particularly in South Korea, which are benefiting from global growth. Bets on household retail consumption is beginning to be integrated into the share prices on several markets.Currently, the portfolio includes South Korean exporters of refined materials, naval shipyards, automobile and technology manufacturers, Indian IT service providers and Taiwan consumer electronics companies. Barings is underweight on energy, but overweight on oil; in the materials sector, the British manager has a bias for bulk metals such as iron and nickel, as well as gold.Barings also says the strength of emerging economies represents a supporting factor for the currencies of these countries, which increases local purchasing power.Inflation remains a cause for concern, particularly in Indonesia and India. Returns on equities in these markets has been high, but valuations may be attractive elsewhere, particularly in Russia and South Korea.
01/02/2011

Roman Gaiser leaves Threadneedle

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barrie Whitman, manager of the Credit Opportunities Fund and head of the high yield team, will become the principal manager of the Threadneedle European High Yield Bond Fund (GB0009692087, GBP1.03bn in assets as of 31 December), which was previously managed by Roman Gaiser. Gaiser has resigned to return to Switzerland, according to a spokesperson for Threadneedle. Whitman, who set up the high yield strategy 12 years ago, will be assisted by Michael Poole for the management of the fund.Gaiser also co-managed the Credit Opportunities Fund (see Newsmanagers of 7 and 11 May 2009) with Whitman and Alasdair Ross.According to Funds People, Gaiser may soon join another London management firm.
01/02/2011

Several asset managers exposed to Egypt

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barings, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Investec, Schroders, and Silkinvest were invested in Egypt to varying extends as of the end of last year, according to Fund Strategy.The highest relative exposures are for the MENA fund from Barings (USD21.1m), with 21.7%, and the African Lions Fund from Silkinvest (21.67%).The Schroder ISF Middle East Fund (USD321m) was underweight on Egyptian equities as of the end of December, with 8.7%, where the benchmark index has a weight of 9.1% for Egypt.At BlackRock, exposure of the Frontier Investment Trust was “very minimal,” lower than the 1.6% allocation to Jordan.
01/02/2011

Guillermo Osses joins HSBC Global AM

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Guillermo Osses, formerly of Pimco, has joined HSBC Global Asset Management as head of emerging markets debt (EMD).Osses replaces Peter Marber, who had been appointed interim head until a replacement could be found for the three EMD managers, Denise Simon, Arif Joshi and George Varino, who moved to Lazard Asset Management last September.Marber will remain in the group as chairman for management of EMD operations and the development committee.
01/02/2011

Vanguard launches an international equities ETF

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 28 January, Vanguard launched the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), which replicates the MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index. The total expense ratio will be 0.20%, or about 60% less than the average for competing products.The ETF is a separate share class of the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, which was launched in 1996, and which is the second largest international index-based fund from Vanguard, with assets of USD51.4bn.The new ETF covers 98% of non-US markets, and includes more than 6,000 shares from 44 countries.Vanguard says that it launched 17 ETFs in 2010, a year in which its ETFs posted net subscriptions of USD35.4bn, about one third of inflows to funds of this type. Assets in its ETFs totalled about USD148bn, out of a total of USD1.6trn invested in mutual funds.
01/02/2011

Record assets for ETFs in the United States

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the SPDR ETF Outlook bulletin from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), assets in ETF funds in the United States totalled a record USD995bn as of the end of December, due to net subscriptions which “topped USD100bn for the fourth consecutive year,” a statement released on 31 January states.According to figures from BlackRock, in the most recent issue of its publication ETF Landscape, the ETF sector in the United States included 896 products from 28 providers, with total assets of USD891bn. According to this source, assets increased 26.3% last year compared with USD705.5bn as of the end of 2009. Net subscriptions totalled USD106.6bn, of which USD40.5bn went to Vanguard and USD27.5bn to iShares.
01/02/2011

AIMCo and ANZFF acquire forestry assets of Great Southern Plantations

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Canadian Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), which represents 26 pension funds, foundations and governments in the province of Alberta, in partnership with the Australia New Zealand Forest Fund (ANZFF) from New Forests, has acquired about 2,500 square kilometres of forests and agricultural land for AUD415m, from Great Southern Plantations (GSP), a firm which has been under legal administration since May 2009.New Forests is an Australian management firm specialised in investments in forests and other themes related to the environment, such as water, biodiversity and carbon. The ANZFF, its first fund, was created in October, and has AUD500m in assets. The transaction is the largest ever realised by private investors in the area of forestry in Australia.
01/02/2011

Launch of the first ESG index covering Middle Eastern markets

Index provider Standard & Poor’s has announced the launch in early February of the first index to track and rate the level of transparency and performance for more than 100 companies listed on stock markets of the Middle East in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.The index is the fruit of a collaboration between Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance and Standard & Poor’s, with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).The index will be unveiled on 1 February (today) in Dubai.
01/02/2011
Gestion d'actifs

Le Fonds de dotation du Louvre sélectionne de nouveaux gérants sur les obligations High Yield, Emergents et Corporate

Le fonds de dotation du Louvre (120 millions d’euros d’actifs), a récemment choisi BNP Paribas Asset Management pour gérer un mandat de 60 millions d’euros sur les obligations investment grade de la zone euro, et a ajouté quatre autres fonds obligataires actifs à la liste. Mercer Investment Consulting à Paris et Amadeis ont conseillé le fonds de dotation du Louvre. PIMCO et Loomis Sayles & Co héritent de 6 millions d’euros chacun sur des fonds d’obligations high yield tandis que Investec et Pictet ont été sélectionnés sur la dette des pays émergents (5 millions d’euros chacun dans des fonds ouverts). La prochaine étape, selon le directeur Thierry Brevet, sera de sélectionner des produits actions actifs sur les marchés émergents, et explique: « Dans les actions des marchés émergents, je pense qu’il y a de l’alpha pour la gestion active. Et ce seront les marchés émergents mondiaux, car nous n’avons pas la taille pour investir au niveau régional.
Gestion d'actifs
01/02/2011
Fonds

Record d'encours pour les ETF aux Etats-Unis

Selon le bulletin SPDR ETF Outlook de State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), l’encours des ETF aux Etats-Unis a atteint un record de 995 milliards de dollars fin décembre, grâce à des souscriptions nettes qui ont «dépassé 100 milliards de dollars pour la quatrième année consécutive», rapporte un communiqué diffusé le 31 janvier.D’après les calculs de BlackRock, dans la dernière livraison de la publication ETF Landscape, le secteur des ETF aux Etats-Unis comprenait 896 produits de 28 promoteurs pour un encours total de 891 milliards de dollars. Les encours se sont accrus selon cette source de 26,3 % l’an dernier par rapport aux 705,5 milliards de dollars de fin 2009. Les souscriptions nettes auraient porté sur 106,6 milliards de dollars, dont 40,5 milliards captés par Vanguard et 27,5 milliards par iShares.
Fonds
01/02/2011

Nette augmentation des commissions chez Waddell & Reed

La société de gestion cotée américaine Waddell & Reed Financial a fait état lundi d’une hausse de 39% sur un an de son bénéfice au quatrième trimestre à 46,4 millions de dollars, précise L’Agefi. Les commissions ont grimpé de 15% pour atteindre 281 millions de dollars.
01/02/2011

BofA indexe le bonus de son patron aux bénéfices futurs

Bank of America a lié le bonus 2010 de son directeur général à la performance de la banque sur les quatre prochaines années, rapporte le Financial Times. Ainsi, Brian Moynihan recevra 9,1 millions de dollars d’actions restreintes si le bénéfice de la banque reste supérieur à 0,80 % de ses actifs de 2011 à 2015.
01/02/2011
Fonds

Vanguard lance un ETF d'actions internationales

Le 28 janvier, Vanguard a lancé le Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), qui réplique le MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index. Le taux de frais sur encours se situera à 0,20 %, soit environ 60 % de moins que le taux de chargement moyen des produits concurrents.En fait, cet ETF est une classe de parts séparée du Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund qui a été lancé en 1996 et qui est le second plus important fonds indiciel international de Vanguard avec un encours de 51,4 milliards de dollars.Le nouvel ETF couvre environ 98 % des marchés non américains et coiffe plus de 6.000 valeurs de 44 pays.Vanguard précise qu’il a lancé 17 ETF en 2010, année où ses ETF ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 35,4 milliards de dollars, soit environ un tiers des montants collectés par ce type de fonds. L’encours de ses ETF totalise environ 148 milliards de dollars, sur un total de 1.600 milliards investis en mutual funds.
Fonds
01/02/2011

Muzinich atteint les 10 milliards de dollars d'encours

A fin décembre, les actifs sous gestion de Muzinich & Co sont parvenus à 10 milliards de dollars, dont plus de 3 milliards pour la sicav irlandaise Muzinich Funds (lire nos articles des 22 novembre et 10 décembre 2010). Le gestionnaire américain précise que plus d’un milliard de dollars proviennent d’Europe francophone, dont 50 % gérés pour le compte d’investisseurs françaisSur les 420 millions de dollars de souscriptions nettes provenant de la sicav d’Europe francophone, 200 millions ont été apportés par des investisseurs français.Muzinich & Co. entend poursuivre en 2011 son développement international, notamment à travers l’enregistrement de sa gamme de fonds aux Pays-Bas et en Belgique. Le gestionnaire table pour cette année sur une performance de 5-10 % pour ses fonds classiques et de 2-7 % pour ses fonds à duration courte.
01/02/2011

Advent investit dans Towergate

La société de private equity Advent International a prévu d’investir 200 millions de livres dans le courtier d’assurance britannique Towergate, ainsi que dans Cullum Capital Ventures, détenu par le PDG et fondateur de Towergate. L’opération est conditionnée à la levée de capitaux bancaires et obligataires d’ici la mi-février. Le courtier prévoit de lever au total 930 millions de livres (360 millions de livres de crédits bancaires et 570 millions d’obligations).
01/02/2011

Playcast lève 10 millions de dollars

L’acteur du cloud gaming a levé 10 millions de dollars auprès de deux actionnaires de référence, les fonds de capital risque, JVP et MK Capital, qui rejoignent Xenia au capital de la société.
01/02/2011

Les traders impatients pour la réouverture du marché carbone

Les traders sur les matières premières ont exhorté Bruxelles lundi à rouvrir les opérations sur le marché du carbone dans les prochains jours. La fermeture du marché a un impact sur les transactions physiques, une vente de 300.000 tonnes de carbone en Allemagne ayant été annulée aujourd’hui.
01/02/2011

L’Europe et l’Allemagne sur la même longueur d’onde

La Commission européenne et la Hongrie, qui préside actuellement l’Union européenne, soutiendraient selon le Financial Times Deutschland la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel dans son combat pour mener des réformes structurelles sur les régimes sociaux. La Commission prône l’allongement de l’âge de départ à la retraite en lien avec l’allongement de la durée de vie, la réduction des déficits publics et la hausse du taux d’emploi à 75%.
01/02/2011

Axel Weber a la cote auprès des Européens

Un candidat allemand à la tête de la BCE serait le mieux accepté par l’ensemble des pays de la zone euro, indique une enquête réalisée par le quotidien en association avec l’institut de sondage Harris. Le président de la Bundesbank, Axel Weber, serait ainsi le candidat qui aurait le soutien en Europe le plus important pour succéder à Jean-Claude Trichet, dont le mandat expire fin octobre. Jusqu’à présent, les déclarations très restrictives en termes de politique monétaire d’Axel Weber l’avaient desservi, mais il semble que la rigueur budgétaire et le dynamisme de la croissance allemande aient retourné l’opinion sur le sujet, selon le sondage.
01/02/2011

L'Egypte agite le pétrole

Les experts du marché du pétrole ont tempéré les effets de la crise égyptienne qui n’a pas encore provoqué de ruptures du transit de l’or noir.

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