Après une année 2011 difficile, les fonds d’actions immobilières globaux ont enregistré un rebond au premier semestre, selon S&P Capital IQ Fund Research.Le fonds de référence de ce groupe a progressé de 12,6% au premier semestre alors qu’il avait affiché des baisses de 7,8% en 2011 et de 10,5% en 2010. Les fonds d’actions immobilières ont connu deux trimestres consécutifs de hausse, la bonne tenue du secteur au deuxième trimestre étant due notamment à l’Asie développée, entre autres la Chine.

Les gestionnaires d’actifs et les hedge funds sont de plus en plus adeptes des offres d’externalisation, selon un rapport publié par Aite Group.Dans le sillage de la crise financière de 2008, les firmes d’investissement ont été contraintes de mettre en place des politiques d’efficacité et de réduction des coûts avec une vigueur renouvelée. La nécessité de maximiser la performance tout en diminuant les risques a poussé les gestionnaires d’actifs à trouver de nouvelles technologies et à modifier leurs infrastructures. En outre, les exigences réglementaires en constante évolution contraignent le secteur à davantage de flexibilité.Dans ce contexte, les offres d’externalisation se sont multipliées et les gestionnaires d’actifs sont de plus en plus enclins à externaliser une partie de leurs activités.

En janvier-octobre, les 2091 ETP européens ont collecté 24,2 milliards de dollars en net, dont 4,6 milliards pour octobre, ce qui a permis à leur encours de gonfler de 51,4 milliards de dollars pour atteindre 349,9 milliards, selon les estimations du BlackRock Investment Institute complétant celles publiées la veille.Sur les 24,2 milliards drainés durant les dix premiers mois de cette année, 13,2 milliards sont allés à iShares (groupe BlackRock), 4 milliards à Source et 2,6 milliards à ETF Securities. Les encours de ces trois acteurs ont augmenté de respectivement 23,9 milliards, 4,7 milliards et 4,2 milliards de dollars.Pour leur part, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) et Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) ont attiré respectivement 0,7 milliard et 0,1 milliard de dollars de souscriptions nettes pour janvier-octobre, et leurs actifs sous gestion ont augmenté de 5,1 milliards et 2,5 milliards.Au 31 octobre, iShares affichait avec 129,8 milliards d’encours une part de marché de 37,1 %, soit 1,6 point de plus que fin décembre, tandis que les parts de marché de db x-trackers et de Lyxor diminuaient de 0,7 (à 13,8 %) et de 1,2 point (à 11,6 %) avec des actifs sous gestion de 245 milliards et 230 milliards de dollars respectivement.Trois ETP européens ont affiché des souscriptions nettes supérieures à 1,2 milliard de dollars en janvier-octobre : il s’agit du Physical Gold source P-ETC (1.284 millions), du GBS Bullion Securities (1.232 millions) et du iShares Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ex-Financials (1.203 millions). Six des dix meilleures ventes sont des produits iShares.En revanche, seule le iShares eb.rexx Government Germany 1.5-2.5 (DE) a subi des sorties nettes supérieures au milliard de dollars (1.018 millions).

RWC a annoncé le 7 novembre le lancement d’un fonds activiste qui sera géré par l'équipe European Focus qui a récemment quitté Hermes pour rejoindre RWC.L'équipe dirigée par Maarten Wildschut et Petteri Soininen est actuellement responsable d’un peu plus de 300 millions de dollars d’actifs investis dans un fonds actions paneuropéen activiste. Le nouveau fonds, qui prendra la forme d’un véhicule maître-nourricier établi aux îles Caïman, investira sur le long terme dans un portefeuille concentré de 10 à 20 sociétés combinant des éléments value, de private equity et event driven.

La CNMV a octroyé le 2 novembre son agrément de commercialisation au fonds Banif Revalorización Europea Euro II créé le 23 octobre par Santander Asset Management.Il s’agit donc de la deuxième édition d’un fonds obligataire lancé en mai (lire Newsmanagers du 15 mai) qui garantit au souscripteur, à échéance (2 novembre 2016), 95 % du capital initial plus, le cas échéant, 85 % de la hausse de l’indice EuroStoxx 50 entre le 17 décembre 2012 et le 24 octobre 2016. Autrement dit, le risque de perte maximale se situe à 1,31 % par an alors que le rendement avec un gain de 30 % de l’indice serait de 4,92 % par an (contre 5,20 % pour la première édition du produit).CaractéristiquesDénomination : Banif Revalorización Europea Euro IICode Isin : ES0113487005Droit d’entrée 5 %Commission de gestion : 0,3 % jusqu’au 17 décembre 2012 inclus, puis 1,6 %Pénalité de sortie : 5 %

Pour rationaliser son offre et éliminer les doublons, Kleinwort Benson a décidé de faire absorber 21 des 22 fonds de la gamme Global Funds par les fonds correspondants de sa gamme Elite, qui ont un TFE inférieur, rapporte Fundweb.

Dans son rapport trimestriel, Old Mutual indique que son projet de faire d’Old Mutual Wealth un gestionnaire de fortune de premier plan «avance bien», même s’il prend des mesures supplémentaires pour réduire ses coûts, rapporte IFA Online relayé par Investment Week.L’encours d’Old Mutual Wealth, qui recouvre entre autres ceux d’Old Mutual Global Investors, a augmenté en juillet-septembre de 1,8 milliard de livres pour atteindre 67,3 milliards à la fin du troisième trimestre, ce qui porte l’accroissement depuis le début de l’année à 8,7 milliards de livres, dont les 4,1 milliards provenant de la reprise, début avril, d’Old Mutual Asset Management (UK). Old Mutual Global Investors a vu ses actifs gérés augmenter de 6 % à 13,2 milliards de livres, grâce à des souscriptions nettes de 0,1 milliard et à un effet de marché positif de 0,6 milliard. La plate-forme Skandia UK a enregistré des rentrées nettes de 0,4 milliard de livres, ce qui a contribué à une hausse des encours à 21,7 milliards de livres. Chez Skandia International, l’encours a chuté à 13,7 milliards de livres au 30 septembre contre 14,6 milliards fin juin, exclusivement à cause de la vente de Skandia Finlande.

Rainer Fritzsche, directeur depuis huit ans de la distribution et de la communication du gestionnaire alternatif britannique Man Investments pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche, quittera ses fonctions fin février 2013, rapporte Das Investment. Selon ce site, l’intéressé est victime du programme d'économies de son employeur qui a accusé des sorties nettes de 4,6 milliards de dollars sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année et qui a annoncé une réduction de ses coûts de 100 millions de dollars sur les dix-huit prochains mois.

Matthias Schellenberg, qui était head of business development Europe & Latin America depuis fin octobre 2008 chez ING Investement Management, prendra début janvier les fonctions de head of Germany, Austria & Eastern Europe chez UBS Global Asset Management. Il succède à Andreas Varnavides, dont le mandat s’achève fin décembre.Sous réserve d’un agrément de la BaFin, Matthias Schellenberg devrait également faire son entrée au directoire d’UBS Deutschland AG. D’ici là, c’est le président du directoire d’UBS Deutschland, Axel Hörger, qui sera par intérim le responsable d’UBS Global AM au sein de ce directoire.

La société de gestion allemande Bantleon vient de faire enregistrer deux fonds en Italie : les Bantleon Opportunities Fund S et L, rapporte Bluerating. Ils pourront être commercialisés à une clientèle de particuliers. Bantleon est une société indépendante spécialisée dans la gestion obligataire.

Threadneedle a signé un accord avec Banca MPS Promozione Finanziaria en Italie pour la distribution des 27 compartiments de sa Sicav Threadneedle (Lux), rapporte Bluerating. Ainsi, les conseillers financiers de la banque MPS pourront commercialiser les fonds de cette Sicav.

Credit Suisse a nommé Paolo Mancini en tant que responsable de la clientèle très fortunée (ultra high net worth individuals) en Italie et managing director de la division banque privée, rapporte Bluerating, qui cite le quotidien Milano Finanza. Il remplace Francesco Lombardo di San Chirico qui a rejoint Citibank. Paolo Mancini était précédemment managing director au sein de la division banque d’investissement de Credit Suisse en charge de la clientèle corporate en Europe du Sud.

Asset managers and hedge funds are increasingly adept at outsourcing offers, according to a report published by Aite Group. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, investment companies have had to put in place efficiency and cost reduction policies with renewed vigour. The need to maximise performance while reducing risk has driven asset managers to find new technologies and to modify their infrastructures. Constantly changing regulatory requirements are also demanding more flexibility of the sector. In this environment, outsourcing offers have increased, and a growing number of asset managers are inclined to outsource part of their activities.

European high net worth individuals have increased their exposure to sustainable and responsible investments by 58% in the past two years, to EUR1.15trn, the third Eurosif study on the subject, undertaken in partnership with Banque Sarasin shows. This compares to an 18% increase in overall European HNWI wealth over the same period. The growth mainly derives from inflow of new money from new clients (44%) and from existing clients deepening their commitment (37%). The report shows that the number of HNWIs with more than half of their assets attributed to sustainable investments has doubled over the last two years to reach 25% of respondents. Positive screening strategies (such as best-in-class) and sustainability-themed investments are still the most used. The most popular sustainability themes are clean energy, water and green technology. The study also covers impact investing for the first time. The survey shows that impact investing is common among HNWIs, with 1 out of 2 respondents allocating assets to this type of investment. The study also shows that the typical profile of a sustainable high net worth investor is a comparatively young woman, entrepreneur, with highly considerable financial resources. Looking to the future, 87% respondents continue to predict a steady or even sharp increase in sustainable investments by HNWIs, especially as more and more view sustainable investment as a financial discipline to be integrated across all assets.

RWC on 7 November announced the launch of an activist fund, which will be managed by the European focus team that has recently left Hermes to join RWC. The team led by Maarten Wildshut and Petteri Soininen is currently responsible for slightly over USD300m in assets invested in a pan-European activist fund. The new fund, which will take the form of a master-feeder vehicle registered in the Cayman Islands, will in the long term invest in a concentrated portfolio of 10 to 20 companies which combine value, private equity and event-driven elements.

In January-October, the 2091 European ETPs saw net inflows of USD24.2bn, of which USD2.4bn were in October, bringing assets up by USD51.4bn to USD349.9bn, according to estimates by the BlackRock Investment Institute in addition to those published yesterday.Of the USD24.2bn which these products attracted in the first ten months of the year, USD13.2bn went to iShares (BlackRock group), USD4bn to Source, and USD2.6bn to ETF Securities. Assets under management by these three providers have increased by USD23.9bn, USD4.7bn, and USD4.2bn, respectively. For their part, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) attracted USD0.7bn and USD0.1bn in net subscriptions in January-October, respectively, and their assets under management increased by USD5.1bn and USD2.5bn.As of 31 October, iShares had a market share of 37.1%, with USD129.8bn, 1.6 percentage points higher than at the end of December, while the market share for db x-trackers and Lyxor had fallen by 0.7% (to 13.8%) and 1.2% (to 11.6%), with assets under management of USD245bn and USD230bn, respectively.Three European ETPs have posted net subscriptions of over USD1.2bn in January-October: the Physical Gold Source P-ETC (USD1.284bn), GBS Bullion Securities (USD1.232bn), and iShares Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ex-Financials (USd1.203bn). Six of the ten best-sellers are iShares products.However, only the iShares eb.rexx Government Germany 1.5-2.5 (DE) has seen outflows of over USD1bn (USD1.018bn).

Matthias Schellenberg, who since the end of October 2008 had been head of business development Europe & Latin America at ING Investment Management, will at the beginning of January begin as head of Germany, Austria & Eastern Europe at UBS Global Asset Management. He will succeed Andreas Varnavides, whose term will end at the end of December.Pending approval by BaFin, Schellenberg will also join the managing board at UBS Deutschland AG. Until then, the chairman of th managinge board of UBS Deutschland, Axel Hörger, will serve as interim head of UBS Global AM on the board.

Rainer Fritzsche, who for eight years has been director of distribution and communications at the British alternative investment firm Man Investments for Germany and Austria, will be leaving his job at the end of February 2013, Das Investment reports. According to the website, Fritzsche has been the victim of the cost reduction programme at his employer, which has seen net outflows of USD4.6bn in the first nine months of the year, and which has announced USD100m in cost reductions over the next 18 months.

Taiwan is in talks with the Chinese central bank, for Taiwan financial establishments to obtain quotas denominated in RMB as qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), and to develop ETF product ranges, Asian Investor reports.

Hedge funds brought down by mediocre corporate results lost 1.9% in the month of October, according to estimates by Bloomberg. As a result of these losses, hedge funds show gains of only 1.3% since the beginning of the year, while equities worldwide in the period have gained 13%. Macro funds lost 0.6% in October, and 1.3% since the beginning of the year. The flagship fund from Brevan Howard Management had lost 0.2% in the month to 19 October, which reduces gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. Multi-strategy funds, for their part, lost 2.5% last month, and 7.1% since the beginning of the year, while long/short equity funds lost 1.2%, limiting gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. The hedge fund index is also down 11% compared with its peak of July 2007.

After a tough year in 2011, global real estate equity funds have posted a rebound in first half, according to S&P Capital IQ Research. The benchmark fund from the group has gained 12.6% in first half, while it had lost 7.8% in 2011, and 10.5% in 2010. Real estate equity funds have had two consecutive quarters of gains, as the good performance of the sector in second quarter was largely due to developed Asia, including China.

The CNMV on 2 November issued a sales license for the Banif Revalorización Europea Euro II fund, created on 23 October by Santander Asset Management.This is the second edition of a bond fund launched in May (see Newsmanagers of 15 May), which at maturity (on 2 November 2016) guarantees the subscriber 95% of initial capital, plus, if applicable, 85% of gains for the EuroStoxx 50 index between 17 December 2012 and 24 October 2016. In other words, the maximal risk of loss is 1.31% per year, while the returns with a 30% gain for the index would be 4.92% per year (compared with 5.20% for the first edition of the product).CharacteristicsName: Banif Revalorización Europea Euro IIISIN code: ES0113487005Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 0.3% up to 17 December 2012 inclusive, and 1.6% thereafterWithdrawal penalty: 5%

To rationalise its product range and eliminate erdundancies, Kleinwort Benson has decided to absorb 21 of the 22 funds of the Global Funds range into the corresponding funds of its Elite range, which have a lower TER, Fundweb reports.

The professional association representing investment trusts, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), on 7 November announced the publication of a new guide, calling on its members to publish all assets in their portfolios, fonce RDR regulations come into effect. The association suggests that members who are primarily invested in publicly-traded businesses should publish this information on a monthly basis, with a maximum delay of three months. For investors in private equity and more sophisticated asset classes, publication could be on a quarterly basis, with a delay of a maximum of three months.

TCW recorded a EUR +2.1 billion inflow in Q3, announced Societe Generale in its quarterly financial information document published this morning. The US asset manager’s disposal to Carlyle Group and TCW’s management was announced in August 2012. At EUR 104.7 billion, TCW’s assets under management increased by EUR +13.7 billion since the beginning of the year. This included an inflow of EUR +4.0 billion, a “market” effect of EUR +7.9 billion, a “currency” impact of EUR +0.3 billion and a “structure” effect of EUR +1.4 billion. At EUR 91 million, the asset management business line’s revenues rose +11.0% vs. Q3 11, benefiting from the good level of performance commissions at TCW. Gross operating income came to EUR +22 million in Q3 12 vs. EUR -5 million in Q3 11. The business line’s contribution to Group net income was EUR +39 million in Q3 (vs. EUR +16 million in Q3 11), including a EUR +26 million contribution from Amundi. The business line’s contribution to Group net income came to EUR -92 million for the first nine months of the year. If goodwill write-down is stripped out, the business line’s contribution amounted to EUR 108 million in 9M 12. Private Banking, Global Investment Management and Services at Societe Generale posted increased earnings for Q3 2012 vs. Q3 11, in an unfavourable market environment. This was mainly due to its efforts to control costs. At EUR 521 million in Q3, the division’s revenues were down -6.5% vs. Q3 11, while operating expenses fell -7.4% over the same period. Gross operating income amounted to EUR 58 million, up +1.8% vs. Q3 11. The division’s Q3 contribution to Group net income came to EUR 63 million, vs. EUR 60 million in Q3 11. Net banking income totalled EUR 1,607 million for the first nine months of the year, down -6.3% vs. the previous year. Operating expenses were -6.1% lower. The contribution to Group net income came to EUR 15 million. When restated for the goodwill write-down in respect of TCW recorded in Q2 12, the division’s contribution to Group net income was EUR 215 million in 9M 12, in line with the figure for 9M 11.

UK pension funds have more bonds than equities in their portfolios for the first time since the concept of the cult of equities first appeared in the 1950s, the Financial Times reports. The Pensions Regulator, which compiled data on 6,316 defined-benefit retirement plans, reports that British funds are 43.2% invested in bonds, compared with 38.5% in equities.

Investment Week reports that Marlborough Fund Managers and BNP Paribas have declined to comment on rumours that the British asset management firm is about to acquire the Investment Fund Services Limited (IFSL) platform founded in 2007 by the French group as an hosting umbrella for funds and to allow advisers, wealth managers and asset managers to launch funds domiciled in the United Kingdom or distributor-influenced funds (DIFs).Assets at IFSL are reported to total GBP700m, which would more than double the GBP600m in assets managed in the authorised corporate director (ACD) operation by Marlborough, whose assets total GBP1.6bn.

The wealth management firm Rathbone Brothers (Rathbones) has acquired the private wealth management activities of Taylor Young Investment Management. The sale price is expecetd to total GBP10m to GBP15m, depending on the total amount of assets to be transferred in the next 18 moths. The management team at Taylor Young has joined Rathbones as a part of the transaction, which will increase assets under management at Rathbones by about 2%, to GBP17.6bn.

Andrew Lake, head of high yield portfolio management at Aviva Investors in London, will on 3 January 2013 join Mirabaud Asset Management in London, as part of the Geneva-based asset management firm’s fund range development strategy, which has already also brought the recruitment of Daniel Tubbs and his team of emerging market analysts (see Newsmanagers of 18 Jjune and 14 July). The new recruit will report to Lionel Aeschlimann, a partner responsible for asset management at Mirabaud. He is responsible for the management of global high yield solutions for Mirabaud clients. Before joining Aviva Investors, Lake spent four years at F&C Asset Management, after starting his career in high yield at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) in 1998.

In its quarterly report, Old Mutual has announced that its plans to make Old Mutual Wealth a top-calibre wealth management firm “are progressing well,” although it is taking further measures to reduce costs, IFA Online reports, relayed by Investment Week.Assets at Old Mutual Wealth, which includes assets at Old Mutual Global Investors, among others, increased in July-September by GBP1.8bn, to a total of GBP67.8bn as of the end of third quarter, bringing the increase since the beginning of the year to GBP8.7bn, of which GBP4.1bn are due to the takeover of Old Mutual Asset Management (UK) in early April. Old Mutual Global Investors has seen an increase in its assets under management of 6%, to GBP13.2bn, due to net subscriptions of GBP0.1bn, and a positive market effect of GBP0.6bn.The Skandia UK platform has posted net inflows of GBP0.4bn, which contributed to an increase in assets to GBP21.7bn.At Skandia International, assets fell to GBP13.7bn as of 30 September, compared with GBP14.6bn at the end of June, solely due to the sale of Skandia’s Finland operation.