P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firm First State Steward has announced in a letter to its shareholders that it may be required to soft close 11 of the 13 funds in its offshore range dedicated to emerging markets, due to strong demand from investors, Investment Week reports. Last year, First State Stewart soft closed its Hong Hong Growth and Indian Subcontinent funds. Last month, First State redoubled its efforts to limit inflows to the Asia Pacific Leaders fund, managed by Angus Tulloch, with assets under management of about USD7.4bn, by asking wealth managers to avoid large investments.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 8 April 2013, Mark Hamilton has been CIO, asset allocation, at OppenheimerFunds, a newly-created position. He reports to Art Steinmetz, CIO. Hamilton spent 19 years at AllianceBernstein, most recently as investment director in the dynamic asset allocation team.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon Asset Management has announced that it has recruited a team of Japanese equity specialists (managers, analysts, and one trader) led by Miyuki Kashima, from ING Investment Managers. Ms. Kashima joined ING IM in mid-2009, after working at Merrill Lynch Mercury (which has since become BlackRock).The professionals will report to Shizu Kishimoto, representative director and president of BNY Mellon AM Japan, and the regional CEO, Alan Harden. ING IM calls the changes a “transfer” following a decision no longer to actively manage equity portfolios for external clients in Japan. The team will continue to be sub-advisor to the portfolio it currently manages.BNY Mellon AM had previously had only one Japanese equity fund in its range, the BNY Mellon Japan Equity Value Fund, an Irish-registered product managed by Andrew Jenner and Mike Morris.Douglas L. Hymas, president & CEO of ING Mutual Funds Management Company (Japan) Ltd, says that the strategy of his business is to focus increasingly on distribution of foreign assets to external clients, while Harden says that BNY Mellon is “aggressively” developing its asset management activities in Asia-Pacific with Japan a key element in this strategy.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Kerstin Behnke, a member of the board of directors and director of distribution, has announced that Veritas Investment has recently recruited two sales specialists, who will report to her. They are Annabelle Bannach, who joined the firm in mid-March as manager of customer service and assistant to the board of directors, and Marcel Andretzki, who joined the firm in early april as a sales manager in charge of independent distributors, wealth managers, broker pools and fund platforms. Bannach has previously worked at Fidelity and Gartmore with Andretzki, who most recently was a client executive at SEB Asset Management, responsible for independent financial advisers, fund platforms, co-operative banks and savings banks.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Index Universe reports that Direxion has launched two leveraged ETFs (3x) based on Brazil and South Korea on NYSE Arca. The Direxion Daily Brazil Bull 3x Shares (ticker: BRZU) and the Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU) charge fees of 1%. Direxion is also awaiting permission from the SEC to launch four pairs of ETFs (bull and bear 3x) based on Chile, Mexico, Hong Kong and Japan.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The arm of Van Eck Global specialised in ETFs, Market Vectors, has submitted an application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch an equity ETF dedicated to Israel, IndexUniverse reports. The Market Vectors Israel ETF, which will charge 0.59%, will be based on an index created by BlueStar Indexes. At least 80% of assets in the fund will be invested in the index, which as of 1 March 2013 included 94 shares in companies with an average market capitalisation of USD1.9bn. The ETF is the second product dedicated to the Israeli market, following the iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund, whose assets under management total USD83.4m.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stirling House Financial Services is launching five new funds of funds aimed at private clients, which will be managed by Sarasin & Partners, Investment Week reports. Four of the funds have already been launched: HC Stirling House Defensive, HC Stirling House Balanced, HC Stirling House Growth and HC Stirling House Dynamic, which range from the middle to the top end of the risk scale. The fifth fund, HC Stirling House Adventurous, is expected to be launched in the next few months, with an inflow objective of over GBP100m. The funds have recently been licensed by the FSA as vehicles which do not comply with UCITS, with a minimal investment of GBP5,000 and a management commission of 0.70% per year.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former director of sales from LGIM, Franck McGarry, is joining Psigma Investment Management as director of marketing and development, Investment Week reports. McGarry will report to John Howard-Smith, CEO of Psigma.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robert James is joining the British equity management team at Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) as a senior analyst, from Aviva Investors, where he had most recently been an analyst for pan-European financial sector stocks. In this way, says Julian Ide, CIO of OMGI, the British large caps team will be completed, following the recruitments of Richard Buxton, Errol Francis and Ed Meier.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Subject to the permission of the regulatory authorities, Siobhan Boylan is appointed as chief financial officer (CFO) at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM, GBP406bn as of 31 December 2012), a position in which she will report to CEO Mark Zinkula. Boylan has served as CFO of Aviva North America in Chicago, where she was responsible for the finances of the Aviva group in the United States and Canada. From 2007 to 2011, she was CFO of Aviva Investors in London.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British boutique Hermes Investment Management has recruited Joseph Murrat as a senior analyst for its team dedicated to commodities, Citywire reports. Murray previously worked for Aon Hewitt and BT Pension Scheme Management. In his new role, Murray will be responsible for execution of orders and coverage of the industrial and precious metal markets.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frenchman Jean-François Hautemulle, director of fund selection at the private banking unit of UniCredit, has joined JPMorgan Asset Management as director of the product strategy division, Citywire reports. He will now be based in London, and will thus be leaving Milan.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Berkeley Group Holdings plc has sold a portfolio of residential properties which had been partly financed by the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), for GBP105.4m to M&G Real Estate, which had formerly been known as Prupim (GBP17bn). The portfolio includes 534 housing units, located on 13 sites in Greater London, as well as in South-East England. Berkeley will retain a minority stake. The day-to-day management of the portfolio will be provided by Savills.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of March, assets under management at the four largest US firms were up by USD35.2bn compared with their levels one month previously.The two largest increases were at Invesco, with USd729.3bn, compared with USD713.8bn at the end of February, and Franklin Templeton, with USD823.7bn, compared with USD818.3bn.The volume at AllianceBernstein was up USD6bn, to USD443bn, while at Legg Mason it was USD664.6bn, compared with USD661bn.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Long-term funds, meaning all mutual funds not including money market funds, posted a net inflow of EUR28.8bn in Europe n February, down 47% ompared with January, but above the EUR20bn threshold for the seventh consecutive month, according to the most recent Lipper Fund Flash, released on 10 April.Money market funds posted a marginal inflow of EUR240m, as investors pulling out of money market finds denominated in pounds sterling and euros invested in funds denominated in US dollars. Taking into account these movements overall, net inflows total EUR29bn.Diversified funds finished the month of February with inflows of EUR22.2bn (excluding money market funds), down 50% compared with January, but above the monthly average of EUR18.3bn observed in 2012.JP Morgan has returned to the top three distributors in Europe , with inflows of EUR1.6n, behind BlackRock (EUR3.2bn), and Pimco (EUR2bn), but ahead of Aberdeen (EUR1.4bn) and Franklin Templeton (EUR1.3bn).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Market Neutral Portfolio, AllianceBernstein has launched a new sub-fund of its ACMBernstein Luxembourg Sicav which may invest in ordinary or preferential stocks, ETFs, and derivatives, with both long and short positions. The management team is permitted to take positions both directly on shares and on indices. Characteristics Name: ACMBernstein SICAV – Market Neutral Portfolio ISIN code: LU0861580784 Management commission: 1.14% Performance commission: 20% with high watermark
L’Association française de la gestion (AFG) a publié son enquête annuelle sur la participation des sociétés de gestion de portefeuille (SGP) aux assemblées générales. En 2012, celle-ci a continué à augmenter avec a global 13.255 participations, soit un accroissement de 10% (après +20% en 2011 et +13% en 2010). «Les votes contre ne sont pas une exception : ils représentent près d’un cinquième des votes et les SGP ont voté au moins une fois contre à plus de 80% des AG françaises», précise l’AFG.
Le Trésor italien a emprunté jeudi un montant total de 7,17 milliards d’euros, avec un rendement des titres à trois ans au plus bas depuis janvier, à la faveur d’un afflux d’investisseurs en quête de rendements. L’Italie a placé pour 4 milliards de nouveaux BTP à échéance du 15 mai 2016, à un rendement moyen de 2,29%, contre 2,48% lors de la dernière opération de maturité comparable le 13 mars et 2,21% de rendement moyen depuis de début de l’année. La demande a représenté 1,4 fois le montant alloué, un ratio à comparer à 1,28 lors de la précédente adjudication. Il a aussi adjugé pour 1,67 milliard de titres à échéance du 1er septembre 2028, à un rendement de 4,68%, et 1,5 milliard d’euros de titres à taux flottants, à échéance de juin 2017, à un rendement brut de 2,74%.
Les prix à la consommation ont augmenté de 0,8% en mars après une hausse de 0,3% le mois précédent, pour progresser de 1,0% sur un an en données corrigées des variations saisonnières, selon les statistiques publiées jeudi par l’Insee. Cette augmentation reflète une hausse des prix des produits manufacturés après la fin des soldes et de services liés aux vacances d’hiver, précise l’institut de la statistique. Les prix de l'énergie, notamment ceux des produits pétroliers, ont en revanche baissé
Les présidents de la Commission des finances de l’Assemblée nationale et du Sénat, Gilles Carrez et Philippe Marini, se rendront ce jeudi au ministère des Finances afin de demander des explications à Pierre Moscovici sur l’affaire Cahuzac. Les deux parlementaires UMP entendent «vérifier les informations diffusées par Valeurs actuelles», indique Gilles Carrez dans un communiqué. L’hedomadaire affirme que le ministre des Finances savait dès le mois décembre que Jérôme Cahuzac possédait un compte non déclaré à l'étranger. Pierre Moscovici a formellement démenti.
La Bourse de Singapour pourrait démarrer son projet de cotation d’actions libellées en yuan dès cette année, indique le journal qui cite des propos du directeur général du Singapore Exchange, Magnus Bocker. Le dirigeant ajoute que d’autres types de produits financiers libellés en devise chinoise seront également mis en place à Singapour durant l’année 2014.
Le seuil d'imposition minimum pour les millionnaires et la taxation des profits sur les produits dérivés suscitent de vives critiques sur le budget 2014
Les actionnaires ont rejeté hier à 63,9% le rapport des rémunérations des dirigeants. La banque espère intégrer 80% des actifs rachetés à BoA cette année