p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After a continual increase from 2001 to 2007, management commissions earned by portfolio management firms (SGP) last year fell for the second consecutive year, by 7%, from EUR10.34bn to EUR9.66bn, the AMF indicates in its report on third-party management in 2009, published on 15 November. Over two years, the decline represents nearly 20%. Nevertheless the proportion of management commissions for operating products has increased slightly, to 87%. Management commissions are composed 98% of mandated management commissions and mutual fund management commissions, while the remainder consists of commissions related to the management of foreign-registered funds. After a disintegration in the proportion of OPC commissions from operating products in the past three years, the AMF in 2009 observed a return to 2006 levels, with 79.4% of total operating proceeds. The proportion of mandate commissions from operating products is down slightly, to 6%, from 6.7% one year previously. Management firms with over EUR1bn in assets under management accounted for 87% of all commissions, down from 89% in 2008. They also accounted for 58% of managers (compared with 57%), and 22% (compared with 24%) of management firms. Commissions for all SGP activities, defined as the ratio of total management commissions over total assets under management, were 0.34% in 2009, compared with 0.41% in 2008, with strong disparities depending on the type of management undertaken. Generalists managing less than EUR500m charged 1.19%, compared with 1.55% in 2008, while private management firms charged a rate of only 0.13%, compared with 0.41% one year previously.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent statistics from Europerformance-Six Telekurs, the category of equities funds shows an average variation of 3.4% to its assets, considerably more than the bond fund category (0.1%) and money market funds, which have seen their assets continue to decline (-1.1%). For equities products, internationally-invested funds have seen the strongest increase in their assets (4.7%), followed by funds composed of European equities (3.6%). At the other end of the spectrum, French equities funds posted the most moderate increase (2.6%). Once again, outflows from money market funds was strong (-4.94%), while dynamic type money market funds posted net inflows of 1.16%. For bond funds, Euro zone mutual funds posted outflows of 0.2%. However, high yield funds saw net inflows of 0.13%. A study of performance confirms that it has been a good month for equities funds, which show average gains of 2.86%, with an increase of 3.57% for French equities funds, just behind funds invested in the Euro zone, which posted the highest average gains (3.70%). International funds saw gains of 2.03%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge Week reports that in early 2011, the Austrian management firm Erste Sparinvest will launch the ESPA Alternative Diversified Fund, its first UCITS-compliant hedge fund, an Austrian-registered product which will start up with seed capital of EUR50m. The management of the fund will be entrusted to the Alternative Investment Group at Erste Bank, led by Mark Cachia, a team which manages USD650m in multi-strategy funds of hedge funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and US Attorney’s office in Manhattan are investigating whether hedge fund Harbinger misled investors by failing to disclose in a timely fashion a USD113m personal loan it extended to its founder Philip Falcone, according to The Wall Street Journal. The authorities are also looking at whether the hedge fund asset management company allowed some clients to withdraw money after the financial crisis while barring others from doing so.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For its institutional real estate fund WestInvest TargetSelect Hotels, Deka Immobilien has acquired the Atlantic Congress Hotel in Essen from Zech Group GmbH. The sale price has not been disclosed. The property is a four-story hotel with 248 rooms and measuring 18,000 square metres.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish RMBS Fund from Renta 4 will be absorbed into the Spanish-registered fund of hedge funds Minerva from the same management firm, Funds People reports. The Spanish RMBS, launches slightly over one year ago, was never actively promoted, and its assets essentially consist of the seed capital. Renta 4 retains two other hedge funds, Accurate Global Assets and Mosaic Iberia.

In its most recent fiscal year, ending on 30 September 2010, Franklin Templeton Investments has posted net inflows in Europe of USD24bn via distributors and institutional investors, making it one of the largest destinations of inflows in the region.Franklin Templeton says in a statement that France has participated in this trend, as Templeton France SA in the period saw all-time high net inflows of EUR1.2bn for the sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav Franklin Templeton Investment Funds (FTIF), which has a total of USD72bn in assets under management in Europe. Assets under mangaement in France totalled USD3.2bn as of 30 September 2010.Inflows went both to fixed-income and equities products. For bonds, subscriptions largely went to the Templeton Global Bond Fund and Templeton Global Total Return Fund. In the equities category, inflows were largely concentrated on emerging markets equities, via the Templeton Asian Growth Fund.These results confirm the group’s resolutely international model, with half of net sales now consisting of international sales (outside the United States).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The index provider S&P Indices on 15 November published the results of a study which reveals that small caps in emerging markets perform better than large caps in the same markets. The S&P Emerging SmallCap Index has posted an annualised growth rate of 16.6% over the ten years to 30 September 2010, compared with a rate of 13.2% for the S&P Emerging LargeMidCap. S&P says that the small cap index beat the LargeMidCap index in eight out of ten years between 2001 and 2010. The performance difference was particularly marked in the past year, with performance as of 30 September of 17.2% for the SmallCap index, compared with 10.9% for the large cap index. Despite this evolution, many investors still are not exposed to small caps in their emerging markets portfolios. As of 30 September this year, the S&P Emerging SmallCap Index included 1,648 shares from 19 countries, of which 397 were from Taiwan, 359 from China, 241 from India and 130 from Brazil.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the first nine months of the year, MLP posted net profits of EUR12.5m, compared with losses of EUR2.3m the previous year, while profits for continued operations increased from EUR11.7m to EUR17m, on earnings of EUR348.8m compared with EUR345.3m. In third quarter, net profits totalled EUR6.8m, compared with EUR4.6m for the corresponding period of last year. Due to net subscriptions from retail and institutional investors, and to positive market effects, assets at MLP as of 30 September totalled a new record of EUR19.3bn, compared with EUR18.7bn as of 30 June, and EUR12.5bn one year previously. The number of clients as of the end of September totalled 771,000, compared with 767,000 as of the end of June, and 781,000 one year previously. The number of client advisers fell to 2,317 as of the end of September, from 2,359 as of the end of June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese management firm Harvest Global Investment (HGI), in which Deutsche Asset Management (Asia) owns a 30% stake, has signed an outsourcing deal with State Street, Asian Investor reports. By the terms of the agreement, State Street will provide middle office services, which will allow HGI to reduce its costs. This is the first time that State Street has won a mandate of this type from a Chinese management firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } CB Richard Ellis Investors, a real estate fund management firm, on 15 November announced the appointment of Jean Lamothe as president of CB Richard Ellis Investors Europe. He will direct the UK and European platforms, and will also be responsible for strategic orientation, operational management, financial results and leadership of a single European platform.

The California pension fund CalPERS on 15 November announced that it has adopted a new strategy of engagement with underperforming businesses. Rather than publicly denounce them in its “Focus List,” as it has done each spring for 20 years, CalPERS will now make direct contact with firms, and propose resolutions at general shareholders’ meetings.The change is inspired by the observation that name and shame tactics, though still effective a few years ago, no longer bring the desired results. According to a study by Wilshire Consulting of 155 businesses between 1999 and 2008, the 96 firms which were not on the Focus List but which were closely monitored by CalPERS instead far outperformed the 59 businesses which were placed on the Focus List for five-year periods.At its 2011 general shareholders’ meetings, CalPERS will deploy a new selection process, based on financial and extra-financial criteria, which will aim to propose resolutions at firms which had previously been consigned to the Focus List.

Calpers has signed an agreement to license proprietary portfolio management software from Ermitage – one of Europe’s oldest quantitative hedge fund managers, according to the Financial Times. The pension fund is now going to roll out the trading software, known as Optics, across its long-only and absolute return portfolios.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Hedge Fund.net, the hedge fund industry in October posted the highest net subscriptions since November 2009, as investors regained confidence in signs of economic stabilisation and strong increases on the markets, The Wall Street Journal reports. These net subscriptions totalled USD18.4bn, compared with USD12.2bn in September, USD6.73bn in August, USD7.72bn in July, and net redemptions of USD2.54bn in June.Average performance was 2.23% for October, bringing the total for the first ten months of the year to 7.42%. Assets as of the end of October totalled USD2.41trn, including USD52.7bn in market effects and USD18.4bn in net subscriptions.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are flocking to ETFs specialised in precious metals, and assets in the SPDR Gold Shares fund from State Street total nearly USD60bn, The Wall Street Journal reports, adding that the fund owns more gold than all the central banks in the world save five. The iShares Gold Trust (BlackRock), with USD4.8bn, has gained a lot of assets since it split its shares on a 10-to-1 basis, which appears to prove that retail investors are flocking to the previous metals ETF segment at a time when there is a major risk of a correction.The iShares Silver Trust, for its part, has seen a 15% increase in the number of shares since 1 September, and has USD9.6bn in assets. Among the other ETFs with less than USD1bn in assets are the ETFS Physical Gold Shares from ETF Securities and the Sprott Physical Gold Trust. For silver, there are also the ETFS Silver Trust and the Powershares DB Silver Shares (Invesco).The ETFS Physical Platinum Shares and Physical Palladium Shares were launched this year, and made a very good start in terms of inflows.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco Ltd and Morgan Stanley announced at the end of last week that the 30.89 million ordinary shares being placed on the market by an affiliate of Morgan Stanley (see Newsmanagers of 12 November) will be offered as part of a secondary placement at USD21.48 each, which will bring in revenues for the vendor of USD664m. On Friday, the closing price of the shares was USD22.13, down 1.43% from the previous day.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pershing, an affiliate of BNY Mellon, has announced its acquisition of the custody and clearance activities of Jeffereies & Company. The sale price has not been disclosed. By the terms of the agreement, Jefferies will gradually transfer its broker-dealer clients to Pershing, which will offer them its full range of services.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German-Austrian management firm C-Quadrat, in which AmpegaGerling Asset Management last month acquired a 32.6% stake (see Newsmanagers of 14 October), has announced net profits for the first nine months of the year of EUR9.3m, compared with EUR3m in the corresponding period of last year. In the period under review, assets in funds increased from EUR2.66bn to EUR3.04bn, while assets under management overall increased to EUR4.86bn from EUR4.51bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2009, the French financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), granted only 25 licenses to management firms, compared with 50 in 2008, a decline of 50%. In the same period, 29 licenses were cancelled. This represents a 71% increase year on year, which is due partially to difficult market conditions, and partly to a consolidation in the profession. As a result, the number of active asset management firms has fallen slightly to 567 as of 31 December 2009, the AMF reports in its report on asset management for third parties in 2009, published on Monday. This level remains high, the AMF says. This development did not prevent assets from increasing, as, following a decline in 2008, they increased by 12% both for mandated and collective management, to EUR2.533trn. This increase in assets did not directly result in an increase in earnings at portfolio management firms (-8%), as the sector was penalised by unfavourable declines in assets in second half 2008 and a product mix oriented to more prudent but less lucrative strategies, the AMF reports. After heavy declines in 2008 (-34.5%), operating results at portfolio management firms remained stable in 2009, at EUR2.2bn. Operating margins recovered, from 18% in 2008 to 20% in 2009, but nonetheless remain well below their peaks in 2006 (25%). In 2009, the number of management firms to have posted operating losses remains high, at 123 (23% of the total), compared with 137 firms in 2008, while entrepreneurial management firms represent the largest number of firms to have posted operating losses.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On Tuesday, 16 November, Barclays France launched Bmarkets, the listed structured products platform from Barclays Capital. About 200 certificates are on offer to French private investors on Euronext Paris, including 100% Open-End certificates and leveraged certificates known as Turbos Infinis. The certificates are based on a wide range of underlying assets, including CAC 30, French large caps, European and American shares, international indices. Barclays will also offer stock-picking based on specific themes, sectors or regions via exclusive indices. The first available series, the Chips indices (a reference to “blue chips”), aim to provide access to selections of quality shares (China Chips, Euro Chips, Green Chips, etc). As investors are tending to avoid more complex products, Bmarkets does not aim to revolutionise the product range for structured products, but merely to offer investors solutions which will allow them to imagine and deploy their strategies. ‘The current situation does not lend itself to fantasy or to experimentation. Bmarkets aims to simplify investors’ lives as much as possible,” explained Estelle Elbaz, head of the Euronext-listed structured products at Barclays Capital, at a press conference on 15 November. With this in mind, Bmarkets offers several informational resources for pedagogical purposes, a quarterly magazine, SimpliCity, a weekly newsletter, SimplyFi, and video and radio programs. The objective of Bmarkets in France is to gradually enrich the product offerings to achieve about 1,000 products during the year 2011. Bmarkets, created in 2009, is now active in several European countries, including Germany, where it has over 4,000 products, and where it is aiming for 20,000 by the second half of 2011, and in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore). The next steps are Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in Europe, and China and India in Asia.

Le gestionnaire austro-allemand C-Quadrat, dont AmpegaGerling Asset Management a acquis 32,6 % il y a un mois (lire notre article du 14 octobre) déclare pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année un bénéfice net de 9,3 millions d’euros contre 3 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Durant la période sous revue, l’encours des fonds est passé de 2,66 milliards à 3,04 milliards, tandis que l’ensemble des actifs sous gestion augmentait à 4,86 milliards contre 4,51 milliards.

Début 2011, rapporte Hedgeweek, l’autrichien Erste Sparinvest lancera l’ESPA Alternative Diversified Fund, son premier fonds coordonné de hedge funds, un produit de droit autrichien qui bénéficiera d’un amorçage de 50 millions d’euros. La gestion en sera confiée au Alternative Investment Group d’Erste Bank, dirigé par Mark Cachia, une équipe qui gère 650 millions de dollars en fonds de hedge funds multistratégies.

La société de gestion chinoise Harvest Global Investment (HGI), dans laquelle Deutsche Asset Management (Asia) détient une participation de 30%, a signé un accord d’externalisation avec State Street, rapporte Asian Investor. Aux termes de cet accord, State Street fournira des prestations de middle office, ce qui permettra à HGI de réduire ses coûts. C’est la première fois que State Street remporte un mandat de ce type auprès d’une société de gestion chinoise.

Pour le compte de son fonds immobilier institutionnel WestInvest TargetSelect Hotels, Deka Immobilien a acheté à Zech Group GmbH l’Atlantic Congress Hotel d’Essen. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été divulgué. L’actif est un hôtel quatre étoiles de 248 chambres et 18.000 mètres carrés.

Pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année, MLP affiche un bénéfice net de 12,5 millions d’euros contre une perte de 2,3 millions d’euros ; celui des activités conservées est passé à 17 millions d’euros contre 11,7 millions pour un chiffre d’affaires de 348,8 millions d’euros contre 345,3 millions. Au troisième trimestre, le bénéfice net est ressorti à 6,8 millions d’euros contre 4,6 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Grâce aux souscriptions nettes des particuliers et des institutionnels ainsi qu'à l’effet de marché, l’encours de MLP a atteint au 30 septembre un nouveau record de 19,3 milliards d’euros contre 18,7 milliards au 30 juin et 12,5 milliards un an auparavant. Le nombre de clients à fin septembre ressortait à 771.000 contre 767.000 fin juin et 781.000 il y a un an. Quant au nombre de conseillers, il s’est tassé à 2.317 fin septembre contre 2.359 fin juin.

Sur son dernier exercice fiscal arrêté au 30 septembre 2010, Franklin Templeton Investments a enregistré en Europe une collecte nette de 24 milliards de dollars auprès de distributeurs et d’investisseurs institutionnels, le plaçant ainsi parmi les premiers collecteurs sur la zone.Franklin Templeton souligne dans un communiqué que la France participe à cette dynamique puisque Franklin Templeton France SA a réalisé sur la période une collecte nette historique de 1,2 milliard de dollars au sein des compartiments de la Sicav luxembourgeoise Franklin Templeton Investments Funds (FTIF), qui totalise 72 milliards de dollars d’encours gérés en Europe. Les encours sous gestion s’établissent ainsi en France à 3,2 milliards de dollars au 30 septembre 2010. La collecte a été réalisée à la fois sur les produits de taux et les actions. Pour les obligations, les souscriptions se sont portées principalement sur les fonds Templeton Global Bond Fund et Templeton Global Total Return Fund. Pour la catégorie actions, la collecte a surtout concerné les actions émergentes à travers le fonds Templeton Asian Growth Fund.Ces résultats confirment le modèle résolument international du groupe, dont les ventes nettes sont aujourd’hui constituées pour moitié des ventes à l’international (hors Etats-Unis).

CB Richard Ellis Investors, société de gestion de fonds d’investissement immobilier, a annoncé le 15 novembre la nomination de Jean Lamothe au poste de président de CB Richard Ellis Investors Europe. L’intéressé dirigera les plateformes aux Royaume-Uni et Europe continentale. Il sera également responsable de l’orientation stratégique, de la gestion opérationnelle, des résultats financiers et du leadership d’une plateforme européenne unique.

Julius Baer SIM a remanié sa direction en Italie. Le conseil d’administration a nommé Gian Paolo Bardelli en tant que nouveau CEO de Julius Baer SIM SpA. Il remplace à ce poste Stefano Canossa, qui retourne à Zurich pour occuper «un poste important dans des projets de développement», selon un communiqué de presse. Depuis 2006, Gian Paolo Bardelli était responsable de la banque privée internationale chez Julius Baer à Singapour, où il était aussi membre du comité exécutif Asie.Dans le même temps, Giovanni Flury, membre du comité exécutif, est nommé nouveau vice-président du conseil d’administration de Julius Baer SIM. Ces nominations vont contribuer à l’expansion de Julius Baer sur le marché italien, où la banque suisse souhaite étendre son réseau de clients, indique le communiqué.

Le Spanish RMBS Fund de Renta 4 va être absorbé par le fonds de hedge funds de droit espagnol Minerva du même gestionnaire, indique Funds People.Lancé il y a à peine plus d’un an, le Spanish RMBS n’a jamais été commercialisé activement et son encours se résume au capital d’amorçage. Renta 4 conserve deux autres hedge funds, Accurate Global Assets et Mosaic Iberia.

Selon le site internet des Echos, le déficit budgétaire pour l’année en cours devrait s’établir à 149,7 milliards d’euros, au lieu des 152 milliards prévus en septembre. Le collectif budgétaire est examiné demain en Conseil des ministres.