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13/09/2012

Skandia joins Old Mutual Wealth

Skandia’s activities in the Old Mutual group will be merged into a new entity known as Old Mutual Wealth, according to a statement from Skandia published on 12 September.Skandia UK, Skandia International and Skandia’s activities in Europe, excepting Scandinavian countries, will addopt the Old Mutual Wealth brand name in 24 months, which will prevent any confusion with Skandia Liv, which has acquired the Scandinavian activities of Old Mutual which formed a part of Skandia.The new entity Old Mutual Wealth (formerly Old Mutual Wealth Management) will be managed by Paul Feeney as CEO, with the assistance of two heads, Peter Mann for the Britih market, and Steven Levin for international markets.The current legal strucrure Skandia Link, based in Spain, will be merged with the new Luxembourg entity Skandia Lifa SA on 1 October 2012. As a result, Skandia France which is an arm of hte Spanish entity, becomes an arm of the Luxembourg entity. The organisation and the current functioning of Skandia in France will remain unchanged.
13/09/2012

Further increase in hedge fund returns in August

August has been a third consecutive month of gains for hedge funds, which were supported by equity hedging and event-driven strategies. The HFRI hedge fund index gained 0.8% in July, and has gained a further 3.5% since the beginning of this year. Equity hedging strategies gained 1.2%, while event-driven gained 1.1%, and relative value strategies, 0.9%. However, macro strategies lost 0.16% overall, with declines of 0.9% for the diversified/CTA index, but a gain of 1% for discretionary macro strategies. The fund of fund index also maintained its positive orientation in August, with gains of 0.64%.
13/09/2012

Significant redemptions from hedge funds in July

The hedge fund industry redeemed USD7.4 billion (0.4% of assets) in July, building on outflows of USD4.2 billion in June, according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs. Based on data from 3,119 funds, the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report estimated that industry assets were USD1.87 trillion in July, down 23.2% from their June 2008 peak of USD2.4 trillion.The industry experienced outflows in seven of the 12 months from August 2011 to July 2012, losing a net USD29.3 billion. From August 2010 to July 2011, the industry gained USD96.2 billion with inflows in 10 out of 12 months.
13/09/2012

Deutsche Bank places emphasis on HNWIs and ETFs

Michele Faissola, head of the asset and wealth management (AWM) unit at Deutsche Bank, on Wednesday announced that its affiliate DWS is seeking to increase the number of its funds which receive top ratings by 15-20%. A cost savings programme announced by the bank on Tuesday (single strategy, shared IT and distribution) is expected to generate cost reductions of EUR700m for AWM, Die Welt reports.Growth will come primarily through development of the ultra-high net worth client segment (clients with financial savings of over EUR70m), particularly in Asia, and ETFs. Its affiliate db x-trackers, which has been detached from the investment bank and is now part of the AWM unit, will no longer be limited to Europe, where it has EUR35bn in assets under management, but will release its products worldwide. The US market will significantly contribute to a 50% increase in volume in three years.
13/09/2012

Deka becomes single outlet for savings banks in securities

The board of directors at DekaBank on Wednesday has approved an extension of the firm’s operations. Deka, which is already the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, will now also offer certificates to retail clients of these banks, with the ultimate objective of making Deka the central asset management firm for the savings banks in the whole securities spectrum, says Oliver Behrens, interim chairman of the board. Deka will also rely on the expertise of the Landesbank Berlin in this area.Meanwhile, Deka has confirmed rumours that the management at Deka Investments, the active open-ended fund and institutional fud asset management specialist affiliate, will be reshuffled. Viktor Moftakhar will become co-CEO on 1 October, alongside Thomas Neiße, while Frank Hagenstein, head of fixed income management, will be appointed CIO, and will also be responsible for equity and multi-asset class management.
13/09/2012

S&P Capital IQ doubles coverage of private business stats

The data provider S&P Capital IQ on 12 September announced that it has signed an agreement with Dun & Bradstreet, to considerably extend its range of financial data on non-public companies in Europe and North America. In particular, it is extending coverage of key markets such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Market actors will be offered standardized, traceable information worldwide, as complements to credit analyst, risk management and merger and acquisition activities. “This is a significant step forward for the market. S&P Capital IQ will offer an extended range of quality information on non-public businesses, which is often difficult to obtain. The new data will be subjected to our cutting-edge validation and reprocessing process,” explains Silvina Aldeco-Martinez, head of Development for Europe at S&P Capital IQ. The new data will be included in flagship solutions from S&P Capital IQ, including desktop platforms and data feeds.
13/09/2012

Stoxx creates new indices in Maximum Dividend range

The Swiss asset management firm Stoxx Limited on 12 September announced the launch of Stoxx Global Maximum Dividend 40, STOXX Asia?Pacific Maximum Dividend 40, STOXX North America Maximum Dividend 40 and STOXX Japan Maximum Dividend 40 indices in its Maximum Dividend Strategy range. The indices may be used as a basis for actively-managed funds, ETFs, or other investable products. The new indices replicate a hypothetical portfolio which aims to optimise dividend yields from the STOXX Global 1800, STOXX AsiaPacific 600, STOXX North America 600 and STOXX Japan 600 indices, by selecting 40 businesses from these indices which have paid the highest dividends historically. To be eligible, shares must belong to Maximum Dividend indices, pay a dividend in the upcoming quarter, have a listed free-float of at least EUR1bn, and an average trading volume of at least EUR4m per day in the three months preceding selection.The composition of the index will be updated on a quarterly basis, following the last trading days in January, April, July and October.
13/09/2012

Allianz and Union attract strong subscriptions

In the first seven months of the year, German open-ended security funds have posted net inflows of EUR5.58bn. However, several asset management firms have seen net redemptions, including the Deka group (EUR3.14bn) and Deutsche Bank (EUR4.52bn). However, Allianz (with Pimco) has managed to attract EUR13.08bn, and Union Investment has posted net inflows of EUR2.11bn, the German BVI association of asset management firms reports.ETF promoters are not doing well either, with the exception of ETFlab (Deka), which has attracted EUR325m in seven months. BlackRock, with its iShares ETFs, has seen net outflows of EUR927m, while net redemptions totalled EUR797m for ComStage (Commerzbank). db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has posted redemptions of EUR1.73bn.
13/09/2012

Institutional funds continue to attract most inflows

In January-July, German funds and mandates posted net inflows almost three times higher than in the first seven months of 2011, at EUR44.36bn, compared with EUR15.17bn. Of this total, institutional funds (Spezialfonds) attracted EUR36.44bn, while open-ended funds attracted EUR7.99bn (of which EUR2.41bn were for real estate funds), and mandates underwent net outflows of EUR70.5m.As of 31 July, assets totalled EUR1.926trn, of which EUR925bn were in Spezialfonds, EUR701bn in open-ended funds (including EUR82.9bn in real estate funds), and EUR300bn in mandates.The German BVI association of asset management firms states that 57% of assets in institutional funds are managed by external managers, compared with 37% at the end of 2005.
13/09/2012

BBVA AM outsources management of a fund to Bancomer

BBVA Asset Management has registered the bond fund BBVA Bonos Internacional Flexible, which will be managed by BBVA Bancomer Gestión, in Spain. This is the first time that the Spanish asset management firm has outsourced the management of a fund to its Mexican affiliate, Funds People says.The portfolio will be invested directly in equities, or in shares in mutual funds which will in turn invest 80% in global debt and 20% in Latin American bonds. This allocation in particular will be managed by Bancomer Gestión (EUR28.7bn in assets, 73 funds), including Bancomer’s Renta Fija Latam fund, which is already registered for sale in Luxembourg.The new product will charge a direct management commission of 1%, and a commission of 15% over the benchmark index. Minimal subscription is EUR600. Indirect commissions are 2% for management and 17% on outperformance.
13/09/2012

Bankinter offers guaranteed fund which pays more than 4%

On 7 September, the CNMV registered a new guaranteed bond fund from Bankinter, the Bankinter Renta Fija Ambar Garantizado which promises a redemption at maturity (23 May 2016) of 115.45% of the initial net asset value as of 9 October 2012. That corresponds to an effective annual return of 4.05% over less than four years. The portfolio will be primarily composed of Spanish government debt, acquired a few weeks ago.CharacteristicsName: Bankinter Renta Fija Ambar GarantizadoISIN code: ES0130356001Front-end fee: 5% from 9 October, or assets of EUR30mManagement commission: 0.3% until 9 October0.9% after 9 OctoberPenalty for early withdrawal: 3%
13/09/2012

Mirabaud replaces its CIO

Pierre Pinel, head of institutional management at Paribas Asset Management in Switzerland, was on 1 September appointed as chief investment officer for balaned mandates and asset allocation funds at Mirabaud’s asset management division. He will also hold the positition of head strategist for private management.Pinel replaces Edouard Crespin-Billet, who is going independent in Geneva.
13/09/2012

UBS turns its back on ETNs

UBS has decided to discontinue sales of 12 ETN products based on S&P 500 Futures indices, which will mature on 6 September 2014. Lack of interest in the products led the Swiss bank to take the decision, Finews reports.
13/09/2012

Prudential Real Estate Investors recruits a co-manager

Prudential Real Estate Investors has recruited Michael Gallagher as co-manager of real estate investment strategies in the United Kingdom and Europe. He will be based in London. Before joining PREI, Gllagher was assistant fund manager at Aviva Investors.
13/09/2012

Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) recruits head of credit research

Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) has recruited Tim Barker to the newly-created position of head of credit research in its fixed income and macro team, Fundweb reports. Barker had previously been head of European credit research at Société Générale.
13/09/2012

Slight decline in profits for UK's Ashmore

The British asset management firm Ashmore, a specialist in emerging markets, has reported pre-tax profits for the fiacal year to 30 June of GBP243.2m, a slight decline compared with the GBP245.9m posted for the previous fiscal year. Management commissions were up 21%, o GBP302.6m, but performance commissions fell from GBP85.4 tp GBP25.4m. Assets under management were down 3% in the period under review, from GBP65.8bn to GBP63.7bn.
13/09/2012

Janus hires a head of international marketing

Janus Capital International Limited has announced the appointment of Karen Bennett as head of marketing and communications for its non-US business. Her responsibilities cover Janus Capital’s European, Middle Eastern and Asia Pacific businesses.Effective immediately, Karen Bennett is based out of Janus Capital’s London office and reports to Nigel Austin, the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, EMEA and Gigi Chan, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific.Karen Bennett joins Janus from Aegon Asset Management where she was head of corporate communications globally. Prior to that, she had led the marketing and communications functions for ING Asia/Pacific.
13/09/2012

Hugh Mullan becomes interim head of FundsNetwork

Fidelity Worldwide has announced that David White, who is resigning, has been replaced by Hugh Mullan as CEO of FundsNetwork, Money Marketing reports. Mullan will serve in this position alongside his position as director of Fidelity’s defined contribution and UK retail activities.Paul Richards, head of sales at FundsNetwork, becomes deputy head of FundsNetwork, in addition to his current position.Mullan and Richards will serve in these roles until a permanent successor to White is appointed.
13/09/2012

Three Italian bond ETFs listed in Frankfurt

db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) on 12 September listed three new Luxembourg-registered ETFs on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform (Deutsche Börse). All three are products which replicate MTS indices of Italian bonds denominated in euros.With these three additions, the number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt now comes to 1,003, down from 1,004 on 22 August.CharacteristicsName: db x-trackers II MTS Ex-Bank of Italy BTP ETFISIN code: LU0613540185Benchmark index: MTS Italy BTP - Ex-Bank of Italy IndexTER: 0.20%Name: db x-trackers II MTS Ex-Bank of Italy BOT ETFISIN code: LU0613540268Benchmark index: MTS Italy BOT – Ex-Bank of Italy IndexTER: 0.15%Name: db x-trackers II MTS Ex-Bank of Italy Aggregate ETFISIN code: LU0613540698Benchmark index: MTS Italy Aggregate - Ex-Bank of Italy IndexTER: 0.20%
13/09/2012

Bond funds post record inflows in July

Bond funds enjoyed inflows of EUR21.7bn in July, the largest one month total in more than ten years, according to Lipper. This takes net sales for the asset class in 2012 over the EUR100bn mark (EUR107bn).Underpinning the broad move into bonds was renewed appetite for high yield and emerging market funds. The former saw record-breaking inflows of EUR7.1bn, while inflows for the latter reached EUR3.5bn (of which local currency funds accounted for EUR1.1bn). The emerging market theme was also reflected on the equity side, with global emerging markets easily the most popular equity sector (EUR550m) this month.While equity funds suffered redemptions for the fourth consecutive month, this total did improve in July, albeit to -EUR4.2bn. As a result long-term fund sales (ie excluding money market funds) reached a 4-month high of EUR14.9bn in Europe. Significant volumes moving out of money market funds (-EUR12.5bn) again looked to have helped long-term funds and suggest the most concerted move out of this asset class since the first half of 2010.The best-selling groups this month were PIMCO (EUR3.2bn), AXA (EUR2bn), BlackRock (EUR1.2bn), Pictet (EUR960m) and Carmignac (EUR910m).
13/09/2012

GSAM launches range of funds replicating GIVI indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices on 12 September announced the launch of a new family of equity indices within the S&P GIVI range. The new product is the S&P GIVI Global Growth Markets tilt Index, which combines growth and value characteristics with a macro-economic factor. It is composed of the base S&P GIVI index and S&P GIVI Weighted indices, which provide lower volatility.Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), for its part, has launched a range of UCITS-compliant funds based on the GIVI concept, which replicates the performance of the various GIVI sub-indices.The three products registered for sale in Germany are:- Goldman Sachs GIVI Growth & Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio- Goldman Sachs GIVI Europe Equity Portfolio- Goldman Sachs GIVI Global Equity – Growth Markets Tilt Portfolio
13/09/2012

ECB to play a key role in supervision of euro zone banks

The European Commission on 12 September laid out its proposals to create a a single supervisory mechanism (SSM) for banks in the euro area. As a part of the new single mechanism, the European Central Bank will be ultimately responsible for specific surveillance activities concerning financial stability of all euro zone banks. The national supervisory authorities will continue to play an important role in ongoing surveillance of banks, as well as developing and applying ECB decisions. The Commission has also proposed that the European banking authority (EBA) should create a Single Supervisory Handbook to preserve the integrity of the single market and to ensure coherent bank surveillance in the 27 EU countries. The Commission calls on the Council and European Parliament to adopt the proposed regulations by the end of 2012, together with the other three components of an integrated «banking union» – the single rulebook in the form of capital requirements, harmonized deposit protection schemes, and a single European recovery and resolution framework.
13/09/2012

EFAMA defends UCITS brand

The European asset management association (EFAMA) claims that a consultation launched in July this year on the proposed UCITS VI directive, which will treat eligibility of asset classes for UCITS fund status, may endanger the UCITS brand, Citywire reports.“We are very closely studying the question of eligibility of our assets. We estimate that UCITS funds are attractive insofar as funds which carry the UCITS label follow the same rules, and this characteristic should me maintained,” the president of EFAMA, Claude Kremer, said at a press conference in London.Comments by the professional association, which claims that the consultation may result in a reduction or increase in UCITS-branded funds, also responds to concerns on the part of some foreign investors, such as the Hong Kong asset managers’ association, which had expressed a desire to see UCITS funds become more transparent and less complex.
13/09/2012

Julius Baer head prepared for challenge of Merrill integration

“At Julius Baer we have a proven record on managing costs,” Boris Collardi, CEO of the Swiss bank, says, talking about the challenges of the integration of the non-US wealth management assets of Merrill Lynch for Julius Baer. With a cost-income ratio of 105 per cent, the Merrill unit is not profitable, and margins are lower in Asia, the Financial Times observes. The cost side of the equation will be improved by merging offices, joint-purchasing and also through job cuts.
13/09/2012

Carmignac hires two people for its Swiss sales team

Katja Wiechers and Alexander Bischoff joined the Swiss sales team of Carmignac Gestion to strengthen the relationship with Swiss clients. They will focus on the distribution of Carmignac Gestion’s investment funds through independent financial advisors, family offices, banks, insurance companies and other third party channels. They will report to Marco Fiorini, head of professional clients in Switzerland. Katja Wiechers brings more than 8 years of experience in the fund management industry including 4 years at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Vienna as senior sales director. She started her career at Fortis Investments in Brussels, gradually taking on the role of Head of Global Fund Promotion.Before joining Carmignac Gestion, Alexander Bischoff built up his 4-year sales experience at Fisch Asset Management in Zurich as deputy head Swiss clients and at Falcon Private Bank where he started his career as junior relationship manager.
13/09/2012

Gottex posts losses in first half

The hedge fund investment specialist Gottex Fund Management has posted losses of USD5.5m in first half 2012. Last year at the same time, it showed slight gains of USD0.4m. Management commissions were down 24% to USD19.7m, whereas performance commissions continued to represent more than 25% of commissions in first half 2011, at a total of USD0.8bn. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled USD7.41bn, up 2.1% compared with the end of March.
13/09/2012

L'ancien CEO d'OFI réapparait chez Twenty First Capital

Après son départ d’OFI AM au printemps dernier, Thierry Callault si l’on se réfère aux indications apportées sur le réseau social professionnel Linked-in, occupe désormais la fonction de chairman au sein de la société Tewenty First Capital. xxxxxxxxx
13/09/2012

SGSS awarded a mandate by Mantex Sicav in Italy

Société Générale Securities Services Italy (SGSS S.p.A.) on 12 September announced that it has been awarded a mandate by Mantex Sicav as a local transfer agent to provide settlement agency and mutual fund relationship management services for investors in Italy. SGSS Italy has been selected by Mantex Sicav “for its recognized international expertise as a transfer agent, its ability to provide services adapted to the specific needs of its clients, and a large network of placement agents.” Mantex Sicav is an open-ended collective investment fund registered in Luxembourg. The self-managed umbrella fund is on the official list of collective investment organisms, and was founded at the initiative of Nextam Partners S.G.R. S.p.A., an Italian independent asset management firm.
13/09/2012

Fitch confirms M2 rating for Sycomore AM

The financial ratings agency Fitch Rating on 12 September announced that it has confirmed its Asset Manager rating of M2 for Sycomore Asset Management. The rating reflects the discipline of a proven stock-picking process, the solidity of the risk management framework, and the effectiveness of the operational platform, which is adapted to the types of assets traded. The rating also takes into account the development of the firm in the past several years in terms of human resources, development of activities and associated support functions (risks and controls). The primary challenge for Sycomore remains continuation of its international development and the development of its product range of genuinely diversifying assets, in order to generate further assets and further reduce its exposure to euro zone equity markets.
13/09/2012

Henderson to create a US high yield team

Henderson Global Investors will develop a bond team in the United States, to create a global high yield fund, Citywire Global reports. The objective is to release the fund by the end of the year.

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