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16/12/2011

JP Morgan donne un coup de fouet au marketing

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. a décidé de revoir à la hausse le budget marketing et commercial de sa filiale dédiée aux mutual funds, annonce Mutual Fund Wire. L’objectif est d’attirer de nouveaux investisseurs en leur présentant les produits et thèmes d’investissement «avec des termes simples», précise le site.
16/12/2011
Fonds

Invesco lance le Invesco Premium Income Fund

Invesco vient de lancer son Invesco Premium Income Fund, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. D’un encours qui atteint d’ores et déjà 100 millions d’euros, le produit est composé de deux portefeuilles : un qui se concentre sur les valeurs à haut revenu, l’autre investi dans des obligations gouvernementales. Le fonds est géré par Scott Wolle, CIO d’Invesco Global Asset Allocation, aidé de Peter Ehret, responsable du high yield, Claudia Calich, responsable de la dette marchés émergents et Peter Hubbard de l'équipe preferred equity.
Fonds
16/12/2011
Fonds

Vinculum prépare un fonds d'actions américaines

Vinculum, la nouvelle société de gestion créée par l’ex-cofondateur de Liontrust, Nigel Legge, envisage de lancer un fonds dédié aux actions américaines dans le courant de 2012, rapporte Investment Week.La société a récemment annoncé le lancement début janvier d’un fonds d’actions internationales. Le nouveau fonds, tout comme le fonds d’actions internationales, sera géré en partenariat avec la société de gestion StockRate Asset Management, qui a mis au point un processus maison d’identification, d'évaluation et de sélection des sociétés.
Fonds
16/12/2011
Fonds

Les plans de retraite à prestations définies de plus en plus minoritaires

Le nombre de sociétés ayant fermé leurs plans de retraite à l’ensemble de leurs collaborateurs a augmenté d’un tiers entre 2010 et 2011, passant de 17% à 23% cette année, selon l’enquête annuelle publiée le 15 décembre par l’Association nationale des fonds de pension britanniques (NAPF). Le pourcentage était de seulement 3% en 2008.L’enquête indique que l’évolution vers l’adoption de régimes à contributions définies va se poursuivre. Parmi les sociétés ayant des plans de retraite fermés aux nouveaux collaborateurs mais encore ouverts aux anciens, 30% d’entre elles envisagent de fermer les programmes dans les cinq prochaines années. Une société sur dix maintient son plan à prestations définies mais en diminuant lesdites prestations, par exemple en prenant pour référence non pas les rémunérations de fin de carrière mais une moyenne. Seulement 19% des plans de retraite du secteur privé sont désormais ouverts aux nouveaux collaborateurs contre 88% il y a dix ans…
Fonds
16/12/2011

TPG buys a 30% stake in Saxo Bank

Saxo Bank, an online trading specialist, on 15 December announced that the investment fund TPG Capital that day acquired a 30% stake in the group. The Danish financial market surveillance authority, and other international authorities including the European Commission, have approved TPG Capital’s investment in Saxo Bank. The transaction was completed on 15 December, and the transfer of shares has been completed. TPG Capital acquired 30% of capital in Saxo Bank from existing shareholders, including General Atlantic, an international investment fund, and Banco Espirito Santo, one of the largest Portuguese banks. General Atlantic and Banco Espirito Santo invested in Saxo Bank in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Banco Espirito Santo and Saxo Bank will continue their commercial cooperation. As previously announced, the founders, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, will retain a majority stake in the firm, and will continue to serve as co-chairs of the group, Fournais Holding A/S and Lars Seier Christensen Holding A/S, each of which holds 29.95% of the bank. Following the change in shareholder structure, the board of directors at Saxo Bank now includes chairman Kurt K. Larsen, Dennis Malamatinas, professor Thomas Plenborg, and some new members: Asiff S. Hirji, a partner at TPG Capital, Karl I. Peterson, a partner at TPG Capital, and Jacob Polny (substitute), vice-president of TPG Capital.
16/12/2011

Deutsche Bank values asset management at EUR2bn

Deutsche Bank has priced its asset management business, which it has put up for sale, at EUR2bn, according to the Financial Times. The first bids are expected in spring. 50 firms are reported to be interested, including Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Canada and Ameriprise Financial, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the newspaper.
16/12/2011

Changes at the top at Allianz GI

On 1 January 2012, as planned, James Dilworth, CEO of Allianz Global Investors Germany, will begin in a new position as CEO for Europe, replacing Elizabeth Corley, who becomes global CEO. Dilworth will retain responsibility for distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As CEO Europe, he will be a member of the global executive committee.Thomas Wiesemann, chief market officer Europe, will on 1 January 2012 become head of the global solutions division, which includes strategic investment advising, risk management, the pension investments departments, and fiduciary management, as well as alternative beta indexing. The range of services offered by the unit is aimed at institutional investors with long-term investment objectives.The global executive committee will now include Corley (global CEO), Dilworth (CEO Europe), Andreas Utermann (CIO et Thomas Wiesemann (global solutions) and five more members : Wolfgang Pütz (Chief Financial Officer), Brian Gaffney (North America), Douglas Eu (Asia), George McKay (Chief Operating Officer) and John Maney (Chief Operating Officer USA).
16/12/2011

Emerging markets offer better pay

Asset management professionals seeking better pay should look to emerging markets, either with a mind to moving there physically, or to managing assets in these countries, according to the most recent study of pay scales by Reynolds Associates, cites by Financial Times Fund Management. Competition for talent is rife in these countries, which feeds a cycle of excessively high pay scales and a lack of employee loyalty, the report finds.
16/12/2011

S&P Capital IG introduces new peer groups

In order to refine its fund categorisation process in asset allocation, the research team at S&P Capital IQ has introduced new classes of funds, within a category which had previously been considered defensive. It has created two new subgroups: “defensive” and “neutral.”S&P Capital IQ will retain its two-stage classification system: in the first stage, specialists take into account the percentage allocated to the primary asset class, and in the second, they look at all high-risk investments, including volatility, downside deviation, and statistics on the maximal losses for the fund. The combination of these two types of analysis are then used to place the fund in a given category.The new ranges for the two stages are: for the first stage, defensive 0-40%, neutral 35-60%, balanced 60-85%, and dynamic > 85% for the second stage, defensive 0-45%, neutral 45-700%, balanced 71-95%, and dynamic > 95%For forex investments, the new categories will be as follows: for the first stage, defensive 0-35%, neutral 35-60%, and dynamic > 60% for the second stage, defensive 0.45%, neutral 45-70%, and dynamic > 70% For all currencies, the defensive and neutral categories are the same as for the pound Sterling. The balanced category does not exist, since deposits are too limited for funds outside the UK.
16/12/2011

Two former Theam members found a hedge fund unit at Scor GI

Xavier Lattaignant in November joined Scor Global Investments in Paris, the asset management firm of the French insurance group Scor, to head a new unit dedicated to alternative multi-management. In this role, he is appointed as head of alternative multi-management. In December he was joined by Frédéric Delleaux, as deputy head of alternative multi-management. The two investment professionals previously worked at the BNP Paribas group. Lattaignant is the former head of alternative investments at Harewood, which then became Theam after its merger with a team from BNP Paribas Asset Management. Delleaux had been an alternative investment manager at Harewood. The new desk at Scor GI will be dedicated to alternative multi-management. As of 30 June 2010, the asset management firm had nearly EUR13.6bn in assets under management, the group’s website states. The firm has been in operation since 2009, and handles the management of investment portfolios for all entities of the Scor group. It has also been accepting assets from third parties for some time.
16/12/2011

AGI releases Allianz Income&Growth fund in Spain

The CNMV has recently issued a Spanish sales license to the Allianz Income& Growth sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Allianz Global Investors Fund, Funds People reports. The product is the European version of a diversified fund launched in the United States in 2007, which delivers regular income to investors. The risk profile is moderate. The fund is currently 66% invested in bonds, and 30% in equities. Front-end fee is 2%, and the management commission is 0.28%.
16/12/2011

Old Mutual sells Skandia AB

Old Mutual will sell Skandia AB, which includes long-term savings and banking activities in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, to Skandia Liv, for GBP2.1bn (EUR2.5bn). Skandia Liv is a Swedish insurer which retains ties to Old Mutual (as it is an affiliate of Skandia AB, which in turn is an affiliate of Old Mutual), but which will no longer have ties to the firm after the transaction. Old Mutual will retain ownership of, and will continue to use the Skandia brand in markets outside Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Skandia Liv will use the brand in these three countries.
16/12/2011

French institutionals triple volume of assets in SRI govies at Petercam

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the Petercam L Bonds Government Sustainable fund from Petercam, which is based on an SRI analysis of sovereign debt, has increased from EUR80m to EUR240m in assets in three months, largely due to subscriptions from French institutional investors.Currently, the Belgian asset management firm has about EUR500m in assets under management in SRI, of which EUR300m are in two funds, the Government Sustainable and the Equities Europe Sustainable, which has about EUR50m in assets.Petercam is also planning to extend its range next year, and is considering a foray into emerging market debt in local currency.
16/12/2011

Henderson expects increase in profits for 2011

Henderson expects an underlying profit for the year ending 31 December 2011 between GBP155 million et GBP159 million, up from GBP100.7 million in 2010. Within this, it currently expects that performance fees will be approximately GBP11 million in 2H11.The fund manager will be announcing its results for 2011 on 29 February 2012.
16/12/2011

Octopus CIO resigns

The chief investment officer at the British firm Octopus Investments, Lothar Mentel, is leaving his job to dedicate himself to other activities, the firm announced in a statement on 15 December. He will not be replaced, a statement from Octopus says. Mentel joined Octopus three years ago, as CIO and head of the group’s multi-management team. The multi-management range from Octopus, which he helped to develop, now includes six products.
16/12/2011

First State recruits a natural resources manager

First State Investments has announced the appointment of Tal Lomnitzer as portfolio manager within the Global Resources team. He will be based at First State’s office in London and has commenced in his role earlier this week.Tal Lomnitzer joins First State from Merchant Global Resources Fund, which he founded and managed. Previously he was a partner and fund manager at NewSmith Capital and ORN Capital. The Global Resources team manages the GBP767m First State Global Resources Fund (as of 30 November).
16/12/2011

Defined benefit pension plans a dying breed

The number of firms that have closed down their pension funds for all employees increased by one third between 2010 and 2011, from 17% to 23% this year, according to an annual study published on 15 December by the British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF). The percentage had been only 3% in 2008. The study funds that a move towards the adoption of defined contribution schemes will continue. Among firms that have retirement plans closed to new employees but that remain open to more senior employees, 30% are planning to close down the programmes in the next five years. One firm out of ten (11%) has retained its defined-benefit scheme, but reduced the benefits, for example by basing them not on income at the end of the employee’s career, but instead on an average. Only 19% of pension plans in the private sector are now open to new employees (compared with 88% ten years ago).
16/12/2011

Gamax signs a partnership with L&G International

The German asset management firm Gamax Asset Management (EUR439m) has announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Legal & General International (Ireland) Limited, which will allow British clients and independent financial advisers to invest in Gamax investment funds from life insurance policies. Gamax funds are managed by the Munich-based wealth management firm DJE Kapital.
16/12/2011

Head of hedge funds leaves Unigestion

Philippe Gougenheim is leaving Unigestion, where he had been managing director head of hedge funds since 1 May 2010. Gougenheim had been based in Geneva, and directed the development of the funds of hedge funds team at the Swiss asset management firm. He had previously worked at Man Investments. Gougenheim has announced that he has decided to start his own asset management firm, in order to launch a single hedge fund.Philippe Gougenheim will be replaced by Nicolas Rousselet, who will become managing director, head of hedge funds on January 1st 2012, Unigestion has told Newsmanagers. He will also be a member of the executive committee. Nicolas Rousselet has been working at Unigestion since 2008 and is a strategy manager in charge of arbitrage, credit and equity hedge. He is also a member of the hedge fund investment committee. He had started his career at Fortis Investment Management.
16/12/2011

Raiffeisen offers ETFs on the Swiss stock exchange

The Swiss Stock Exchange SIX on 15 December announced the arrival of a new provider in the Exchange Traded Funds segment, Raiffeisen, which becomes the third major banking group and the first Swiss retail bank to offer ETFs on the exchange. With the four new ETFs from Raifeissen, which are backed by physical gold, the ETF segment of the SIX Swiss Exchange now includes 757 ETFs, of which 108 are listed in an alternative currency. Raiffeisen is the market maker for the new ETFs.
16/12/2011

CPR AM opts for cautious allocation

Due to continuing uncertainty, CPR Asset Management (EUR18bn in assets) has opted for a highly prudent asset allocation policy. That applies to the two flagship funds from the unit, with a total of EUR2.7bn in assets: the Réflexe Cible 100 fund currently has a 0% exposure to equities, while the Croissance Réactive, which may invest 20% to 80% of its assets in equities, currently has 50% exposure, Arnaud Faller, chief investment officer, explained on 15 December.More generally, the French asset management firm is underweight in equities, with a preference in this asset class for US over European equities. In bonds, Faller prefers investment grade corporate bonds, securitised financial sector shares and high yield due to the profitability of carry trades.
16/12/2011

Vincent Cornet replaces Bernard Descreux at LBPAM

Vincent Cornet has joined La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBPAM) has director of management, from 16 January 2012, the asset management affiliate of La Banque Postale announced on Thursday, 15 December. In this role, Cornet will also become a member of the board at the asset management firm, where he joins chairman Jean-Luc Enguéhard and secretary general Pierre-Manuel Sroczynski. Cornet, 52, who since 2009 had been director of investments at the Malakoff Médéric group and chairman of the board at Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs, succeeds Bernard Descreux, who after 11 years as director of management at La Banque Postale Asset Management has decided to take his professional career in a new direction. Descreux, who could not be reached yesterday, now appears on his LinkedIn profile as director of the asset management division of EDF, Agefi reported on Thursday.
16/12/2011

CalPERS continues infrastructure investments

The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 15 December announced that it has acquired a sake in the undersea cabling project Neptune Regional Transmission System from the Arclight Capital company, for an undisclosed amount. This is CalPERS’ second direct investment in infrastructure, following the acquisition of a stake in Gatwick airport in 2010. In the next three years, CalPERS is planning to invest up to USD5bn in infrastructure projects, of which USD4bn will go to the United States, and USD800m to California.
16/12/2011

Coller Capital takes over Crédit Agricole Private Equity

Crédit Agricole S.A. and Coller Capital have just announced an agreement for Crédit Agricole S.A.’s sale to Coller Capital of 100% of Crédit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE) and substantially all of the funds managed by CAPE and owned by Crédit Agricole Capital Investment Finance (CACIF), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A. The sale is subject to authorisation from the competent authorities, which should be obtained in the first quarter of 2012. «Crédit Agricole S.A.’s decision to sell CAPE forms part of a plan to optimise capital allocation and refocus the bank’s private equity activities on local business. The sale will reduce Crédit Agricole S.A.’s risk-weighted assets by about EUR900 million. Crédit Agricole S.A. will continue to provide financing for SMEs through the private equity vehicles owned by the Crédit Agricole Regional Banks, as well as through IDIA, a Crédit Agricole Group partner that provides equity and quasi equity financing to agrifood companies and agribusinesses», says a press release.
16/12/2011

Lyxor hedge fund index lost 0.44% in November

In the month of November, the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index has lost 0.44%. Since the beginning of the year, losses have totalled 6.26%, a statement says. For the month, the alternative strategies which performed best were the Lyxor L/S Equity Market Neutral Index (+0.7%), the Lyxor CTA Long Term Index (0.66%), and the Lyxor CTA Short Term Index (0.47%).
16/12/2011

Warburg Invest launches first German UCITS IV feeder fund

With the AFA Global Werte Stabilisierungs – Fonds, launched on 12 December, Warburg Invest claims to have become the first German asset management firm (KAG) to launch a Luxembourg-registered master-feeder sub-fund (Warburg Value Fund) which complies with the UCITS IV directive. The 5% of assets which are not placed in the Luxembourg-registered international equities fund will be invested in a risk management overlay to protect against cyclical downward phases on the equity markets.The strategy has been developed based on macroeconomic research from the Hamburg private bank M.M. Warburg & Co.CharacteristicsName: AFA Global Werte Stabilisierungs -FondsISIN code: DE000A0HGL63Front-end fee: 6.10%Management commission: 1.75%Depository banking commission: 0.05%
16/12/2011

Bankia Fondos completes rationalisation of fund range

Rocio Equiraun, CEO of Bankia Fondos, has told Funds People that the asset management firm, born of the merger of Gesmadrid, Bancaja Fondos and Ges Layetana, now has only 51 funds (excluding guaranteed products), compared with 197 before the merger. She says that assets total EUR6.4bn, and that Bankia Fondos has 315,000 clients.
16/12/2011

Standard Life changes strategic orientation of one of its funds

More than 90% of shareholders have agreed at an extraordinary general meeting to convert the OEIC Managed Fund from Standard Life Investments (SLI) into a Global Equity Income Fund. The change will take effect on 16 January.The objective for the fund, managed by Kevin Troup, will be to generate income with potential for capital gains over the long term, rather than focusing on capital growth, as previously. In order to achieve that, the manager will construct a diversified international equity portfolio which combined the best ideas from SLI analysts and equity managers.The portfolio of 70-80 positions will be benchmarked against the development of the global income equity sector of the IMA.
16/12/2011

Vinculum preparing a US equity fund

Vinculum, the new asset management firm founded by the former co-founder of Liontrust, Nigel Legge, is planning to launch a fund dedicated to US equities in 2012, Investment Week reports. The firm recently announced that in early January it is planning to launch an international equities fund. The new fund, like the international equities fund, will be managed in partnership with the asset management firm StockRate Asset Management, which has created a process to identify, evaluate and select businesses for investment.
16/12/2011

Alma Capital launches UCITS IV-compliant convertibles fund

Shenkman Capital Management will manage the Alma US Convertible Fund, a new sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Alma Capital Investment Funds which complies with the UCITS IV directive. The asset management firm for the fund is La Française AM International in Luxembourg.The objective for the diversified portfolio of convertible bonds in US dollars is to outperform the benchmark, the BofA/ML All US Convertibles ex. Mandatory Index (V0A0). Unlike other convertible strategies, Shenkman Capital approaches convertibles from a credit perspective, and seeks convertibles which are trading near their «bond floor», with the objective of reselling them when they dispaly excessive equity sensivity. The fund offers weekly liquidity; it is available in US dollars and in hedged euros. The management commission is 1% for the institutional share class.

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