Robert Senz, CIO fixed income, and Christian Link manager, have unveiled the Austrian government bond fund Global-Fundamental-Rent (AT0000A0KRS5, distribution shares; AT0000A0KRU1, capitalisation shares; AT0000A0LY69, special distribution shares) to French investors. The fund has seen inflows of about EUR300m in one and a half years in existence, which is one of the best sales results for Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM), along with the Global Allocation Strategies Plus.Currently, the managers told Newsmanagers, the fund is invested in bonds from 13 developed and emerging countries (out of an eligible universe of 36 countries, with a limit of 16 and a minimum of 8), depending on the ratings awarded to these countries for eight equally-weighted indicators: GDP growth, trade & financial balance, balanced budget, public debt, currency reserves, external debt, corruption index and workforce turnover rate.The largest exposures (12.5%) are for Russia, Norway, and Indonesia, which rank both in the “top 8” and the “top growth” lists. The only euro zone countries are Germany, Austria and Slovakia, with 3.1% each, and the portfolio includes no US or Japanese securities, nor French, Italian or British. However, Switzerland, Sweden, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand weigh in at 9.4% each.Average returns for the portfolio are 3.6% for a duration of 4.9 years, with public debt at 40%, an average growth rate of 4%, a trade surplus of 6%, and a budget deficit of 1% for these countries on average.RCM has seen net inflows of EUR500m abroad (EUR5bn in assets) in the first four months of 2012, and has seen net outflows of EUR500m from horizon funds, due to competition from banking sector bonds being pushed by networks in Austria. Overall (including funds and mandates), RCM has about EUR30bn in assets under management.

Schroders has announced the launch of its Global Multi-Asset Income fund, a sub-fund of its Schroder ISF Sicav, in France. The fund, founded in April (see Newsmanagers of 19 April 2012), is invested in a range of high yield assets, from the bond markets (credit, high yield, emerging market debt, etc.) or equity markets (developed and emerging). In France, Schroders is planning to highlight EUR hedged shares as a priority. The asset management firm states that distribution shares are appropriate for investors from a securities account, while from a unit-linked life insurance policy, capitalisation shares should be preferred.

The alternative asset management firm Mason Capital Management has decided to sell its stake of nearly 19% in the Canadian Telus group, the Globe and Mail reports.The hedge fund has awarded Blackstone a mandate to sell the stake of approximately USD2bn.

With the Emerging Market Corporate Bond Fund (acronym: TRECX), T. Rowe Price has launched a third bond fund focused on emerging markets. The product, managed by Mike Conelius, invests in corporate bonds from emerging markets, issued largely in US dollars. The fund will be diversified over 30 countries, and 50% of the portfolio will be allocation to investment grade securities. Duration is approximately 5 years.The total expense ratio for the fund is 1.15% for investor class shares, and 1.25% for advisor (no-load) shares, and are available from IFAs.As of 31 March, T. Rowe Price managed about USD13.3bn in emerging market bond strategies.

The Russell Investments group on 6 June announced the launch of a new fund dedicated to emerging markets. The Emerging Markets Extended Opportunities Fund includes several mandates (global, regional, national and capitalisation markets), which will be awarded to seven external providers, while direct management of the investment portfolio will be handled by Russell. Unlike the majority of emerging market funds, the new product aims to offer optimal access to small cap and frontier market opportunities, which have strong potential for returns, with active management. The fund uses the Russell Emerging Extended Index Net as its benchmark, whose performance since the beginning of 2012 has been over 12%. It covers frontier markets, which makes it the largest representative sample of opportunities in the emerging asset class. Annual management fees for the fund at the time of its launch are 1.30%. The fund is initially composed of seven managers, two of which cover global markets, and five others which are specialised in a specific segment which Russell estimates has high and sustainable potential under active management. The structure of the product will evolve depending as the manager search process continues to identify the most talented professionals in attractive segments of the emerging asset class.

Aviva Investors on 6 June announced the launch of Aviva Investors – Global Short Duration High Yield Bond Fund, in order to meet growing demand from institutional investors seeking less volatile and more consistant income.Applying a strategy which is new for Aviva Investors, the fund comes as an addition to the existing range of bond products, whose assets total EUR257.4bn (GBP165.7bn). The fund will invest in high yield bonds whose average maturity is less than five years, issued by businesses from all regions of the world.The fund is managed by the team dedicated to high yield bonds at Aviva Investors, led by Todd Youngberg, with assets of over USD4.5bn. Jeremy Hughes, senior portfolio manager specialised in high yield, oversees management of the fund, with the help of five other portfolio managers and 26 credit analysts based in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. By adopting a global approach, the team hopes to maximise investment opportunities in the short duration high yield bond segment, and to exploit a fundamental trend in favour of multi-currency issues.

The asset management firm Dragon Capital is planning to launch open-ended funds on the Vietnamese market, via a local import, VietFund Management, a joint venture with Sacombank, Asian Investor reports. Dragon Capital is planning to offer equity and fixed income vehicles.The initiative remains subject to a decision by the local authorities to lift a ban on foreign asset management firms in the local mutual fund sector. The lifting of the ban could come by the end of this year.

The US group BNY Mellon has made an announcement in Dublin of plans to acquire the remaining 50% stake in the asset management firm WestLB Mellon Asset Management from the German asset management firm WestLB. Pending permission from regulatory authorities, the transaction, for a price which has not been disclosed, will be completed in third quarter, Fondsweb reports.

The private equity investor RHJ International on Wednesday confirmed that it has found co-investors to acquire the German firm BHF-Bank from Deutsche Bank, and that informal discussions have been held with BaFin on the subject, Handelsblatt reports. According to financial sector sources, there may be as many as five partners, one of which is rumoured to be BlackRock. RHJ is said to be planning to merge BHF-Bank (1,500 employees) with Kleinwort Benson, which it already owns, if it is successful, and its partners in the transaction would receive stakes in the bank resulting from the merger.

The Swiss private banking group EFG International on 6 June announced in a statement that its exposure to Greek debt now represents only 0.5% of its assets. Furthermore, EFG International committed to its regulator that it would not increase its exposure to Greece. Exposure has reduced to the point where EFG International no longer has any direct exposure to Greece, and exposure to European subsidiaries of Greek banks is just 0.3% of total assets. EFG points out that it has been driven to make these disclosures because “there have been a number of articles in the Swiss press which have shown a disregard for the facts. There have been suggestions that EFG International is particularly exposed to Greece, simply on account of the Greek heritage of its major shareholder and the fact that the latter had a substantial shareholding in a Greek commercial bank. This is completely without foundation,” EFG International says. EFG International operates in 30 locations worldwide, but is not present in Greece. EFG International is entirely separate from the Greek commercial bank, Eurobank EFG although it has a common major shareholder.

Bank Linth LLB AG has announced the appointment of David Sarasin as chairman of the board, Agefi Switzerland reports. Heinz Knecht, for his part, joins the board at the group, and at the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). Sarasin will begin in his new role on 1 July 2012, replacing Knecht as chairman. Knecht will take over the responsibility of the retail and corporate banking division.

Rothschild & Cie Gestion, which had to replace Daniel Fighiera, a euro zone small and midcaps mutual fund manager who moved to Tocqueville Finance a few days ago, has recruited Alban Seydoux as head of management for european midcaps. Seydoux, 37, had previousl been in charge of management of midcap funds at Allianz Global Investors France, before becoming a financial analyst in the mergers & acquisitions department at Rothschild & Cie Banque in 2000 and 2001. Rothschild & Cie Gestion has also hired Raphaël Gallardo as head of economic research. Gallardo, 37, had since October 2007 been in serve at AXA Investment Managers as a strategist, and then as head of economic research. The asset management firm has also created a new position to strengthen its credit team. It has recruited Jérôme Loire as head of credit analysis. Loire, 44, had previously served as a credit analyst in several sectors at Natixis Asset Mnaagement, since 2007.

Alliance Bernstein has announced the appointment of Christopher Bricker, senior vice president, as head of alternatives business strategy. Bricker, a 20-year AllianceBernstein veteran, will assume overall responsibility for the success and profitability of the firm’s USD13 billion alternatives platform. He will retain his duties as the firm’s head of product development. Bricker will work closely with Michael Gaviser, who has been appointed the sole head of alternatives sales and client service. Gaviser has been with AllianceBernstein for 14 years, and most recently served as co-head of alternatives sales and client service with John Akkerman, who has left the firm to pursue another opportunity.

Axa Investment Managers has recruited Luisa Florez, formerly of Groupama AM and Vigeo, as senior fixed income analyst for its responsible investment team. The brings the number of members of the unit to 10, following the arrival in January of Vincent Compiegne as a quantitative analyst. Axa IM also states that it has recruited June Choi as senior corporate governance analyst.The arrival of Florez is also accompanied by an extension of ESG research to include bonds. The RI Search© tool from Axa IM, which allows for the integration of ESG research into investment decisions, and for evaluation of existing portfolios, will now cover corporate and government bonds worldwide. That brings the number of securities analysed by the platform to 2,500.ESG criteria may be used at the discretion of managers. Axa IM also has an SRI bond range.Axa IM has also extended its exercise of voting rights to include emerging countries. In this geographical region, the asset management firm has also signed a partnership with Responsible Research, an independent provider of ESG research with a methodology adapted to emerging markets.As of the end of 2011, Axa IM managed about EUR3bn in SRI assets, out of EUR512bn in assets under management.

“Due to political and economic events affecting Europe,” Oppenheimer Gunds has published its exposure to this market.As of 31 May, aggregate exposure to the euro and to European assets represented USD6.36bn and USD10.26bn, respectively, which corresponds to 3.7% and 5.9% of total assets at Oppenheimer (USD172.65bn).

Guillaume Nicoulaud, a former manager from Avenir Finance, is joining the French asset management boutique Day Trade Asset Management (DTAM), the founder of the firm, Adrien Fuchs, has confirmed to Newsmanagers, following reports in Citywire.Nicoulaud will manage a fund which applies the same type of strategy as the US Opéra fund, which he had managed at his previous employer. “The aim is to find 50 US shares of the S&P 500 index which offer the highest risk premiums,” Fuchs explains.The arrival comes a few months after DTAM parted with its co-founders, as a part of which Fuchs took over the entirety of the structure.

Eaton Vance has announced the recruitment of a head for institutional clients. Michael T. Dirstine will be based in Boston, and will cover the south-eastern United States region in particular. Dirstine previously worked as head of institutional sales at State Street.

The Finnish hedge fund Estlander Partners officially opened an office in Zurich in March, Agefi Switzerland reports. The fund, which has been present in Switzerland since last summer, was founded in 1991, and already has several representative offices, particularly in Helsinki and Munich. The group manages slightly under USD1bn. It has 60 employees, including 11 investment professionals.Christoffer Dahlberg, head of Estlander Switzerland in Zurich, says that “the objective of an office in Zurich is to increase our proximity to other hedge funds, and our local activities as well as in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg).”

According to a Edhec-Risk study sponsored by Eurex, the use of a long position on volatility has a strongly negative correlation with the underlying equity portfolio, which can improve the risk-adjusted performance of this portfolio. The beneficial effect is strongest for long exposures to volatility, and is most sensitive in times of falling markets.

Six managers from Savoy Investment Management, an affiliate of Ashcourt Rowan, will be joining Walker Crips Stockbrokers, Fund Web reports. Ashcourt announced last year that Savoy IM would be integrated into Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management, to become a division dedicated to high net worth clients at the asset management firm. This is the reason for a decision on the part of several managers to leave the firm with the agreement of Ashcourt, which will receive GBP425,000 from Walker Crips as a part of the arrangement.

The alternative asset management firm Commonwealth Capital Management, based in London, has launched a multi-management strategy on dbSelect, the Deutsche Bank platform dedicated to liquid hedge fund strategies, Citywire reports.The strategy proposed by Commonwealth includes exposure to Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA), and to other managers in the alternative sphere.

Major institutional trades for corporate bond ETFs may result in distortions in the price of funds, analysts and investors claim, cited by the Financial Times. That could result in volatility for funds and discourage retail investors from using them.

In order to respond to rising demand from institutional investors seeking less volatile and more constant revenues, Aviva Investors on Wednesday released the Global Short Duration High Yield Bond Fund, an addition to a bond range whose assets total USD257.4bn, or GBP165.7bn. The portfolio will be invested in corporate bonds domiciled throughout the world, with maturities of under 5 years. The strategy is managed by the high yield team at Aviva Investors (USD4.5bn in assets), led by Todd Youngberg, global investment director of fixed income & head of high yield investments, but the principal manager of the fund is Jeremy Hughes, senior high yield portfolio manager, with the assistance of five portfolio managers and 26 credit analysts in the United States, the United Kingdom, continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Synthes va quitter la Bourse suisse SIX Swiss Exchange en raison de sa fusion avec le géant américain Johnson & Johnson, selon un communiqué boursier publié le 6 juin. Dès le 14 juin, l’action du spécialiste des implants orthopédiques sera remplacée par celle de Geberit au sein de l’indice vedette SMI.Le dernier jour de négoce effectif de Synthes aura lieu le 13 juin. Les indices de la Bourse suisse seront modifiés ce jour-là après la clôture des marchés.Le spécialiste des techniques sanitaires Geberit fera ainsi son entrée dans le SMI, indice regroupant les 20 valeurs vedettes de la Bourse suisse. Le fabricant de matériaux spéciaux pour la construction Sika rejoindra l’indice des «blue chips» élargi SLI (30 titres, dont les 20 du SMI). Le groupe de négoce DSKH sera admis dans le SMI Expanded.

Le hedge fund finlandais Estlander Partners a officiellement ouvert un bureau à Zurich au mois de mars, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Présent en Suisse depuis l’été dernier, le hedge fund finlandais créé en 1991 détient déjà plusieurs bureaux de représentation. Notamment à Helsinki et à Munich. Le groupe gère un peu moins d’un milliard de dollars. Il comprend 60 collaborateurs, dont 11 chargés de l’investissement. Selon Christoffer Dahlberg, responsable d’Estlander Suisse à Zurich, «l’objectif d’une implantation à Zurich est d’accroître notre proximité avec d’autres hedge funds, ainsi que nos activités à l’échelle locale, mais aussi au Benelux (Belgique-Pays-Bas-Luxembourg).»

La société de gestion alternative Mason Capital Management a décidé de vendre sa participation de près de 19% dans le groupe canadien Telus, rapporte le Globe and Mail.Le hedge fund a confié à Blackstone un mandat pour la cession de cette participation de quelque 2 milliards de dollars.

Schroders annonce le lancement, en France, de son fonds Global Multi-Asset Income, compartiment de sa Sicav Schroder ISF. Créé en avril, le fonds est investi sur un éventail d’actifs à haut rendement, issus des marchés obligataires (crédit, high yield, dette émergente...) ou des marchés actions (développés et émergents).En France, Schroders compte mettre en avant prioritairement les parts couvertes du risque de change (euros hedged). La société de gestion souligne que les parts de distribution sont intéressantes pour un investisseur dans le cadre d’un compte titre, alors que dans le cadre d’un contrat d’assurance-vie en unités de compte, ce sont les parts de capitalisation qui sont privilégiées.

Eaton Vance a annoncé le recrutement d’un responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle. Michael T. Dirstine sera basé à Boston et couvrira tout particulièrement la région sud-est des Etats-Unis. L’intéressé travaillait auparavant comme responsable des ventes institutionnelles chez State Street.

L’Agefi rapporte que le Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris a débouté deux syndicats de courtiers et François Nocaudie qui demandaient l’annulation de l’assemblée générale de 2010. «Toutes les demandes contestant la gouvernance de l’Afer ont été rejetées», précise l’association d'épargnants dans un communiqué.

Avec le Emerging Market Corporate Bond Fund (acronyme : TRECX), T. Rowe Price vient de lancer un troisième fonds obligataire focalisé sur les pays émergents. Ce produit géré par Mike Conelius investit dans des obligations d’entreprises des pays émergents émises principalement en dollars. Il sera diversifié sur plus de 30 pays et 50 % du portefeuille seront alloués à des titres de catégorie investissement. La duration est approximativement de 5 ans.Le taux de frais sur encours se situe à 1,15 % pour les parts «investor class» et à 1,25 % pour les «advisor shares» qui ne comportent pas de droit d’entrée et sont disponibles au travers des conseillers financiers.Au 31 mars, T. Rowe Price gérait environ 13,3 milliards de dollars en stratégies obligataires émergentes.