Goldman Sachs Group va lancer une activité d’incubation de hedge funds, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.La banque a levé 600 millions de dollars auprès de clients (fonds de pension, familles fortunées et grandes institutions) pour un nouveau fonds dédié à cette activité.Elle prévoit d’investir dans 8 à 10 nouveaux hedge funds, selon des personnes proches du dossier. Chacun devrait recevoir entre 75 et 150 millions de dollars de la part du fonds, qui est censé lever un total de 1 milliard de dollars environ

Avec le fonds irlandais iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend créé le 25 novembre, BlackRock a fait admettre à la négociation sur le London Stock Exchange le 28 novembre un ETF à réplication physique suivant le Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index qui regroupe 100 sociétés de 18 pays émergents capables de servir un dividende élevé sur la durée.L’indice officiel du fonds (en livres) est la version net total return, mais en raison d’une difficulté technique iShares réplique pour l’instant la version gross total return.CaractéristiquesDénomination : iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend (SEDY)Code Isin : IE00B652H904Taux de frais sur encours : 0,65 %

La société de gestion britannique Brooks Macdonald Asset Management a recruté l’ancien gérant star de New Star, Toby Thompson, au poste de directeur des investissements, rapporte Money Marketing. Au cours de sa carrière, l’intéressé a géré des fonds chez Newton et Eagle Star Investment Managers.

Schroders va lancer le mois prochain une version onshore de son fonds domicilié au Luxembourg, le US equity alpha fund, rapporte Money Marketing.Le fonds, dont le lancement est programmé pour le 14 décembre, devrait réunir les meilleures idées de l'équipe dédiée aux grandes capitalisations américaines dirigée par Joanna Shatney. Dotée pour son lancement de 5 millions de livres, le fonds investira dans 20 à 30 valeurs avec une capitalisation de marché de 1 milliard de dollars au minimum. Il pourra disposer d’une poche de cash jusqu'à concurrence de 15%. Le fonds a un objectif de rendement de 3,5% net de commissions. Les frais de commissions s'élèvent à 1,5% par an avec un total de frais sur encours de 1,75% au maximum. L’investissement minimal a été fixé à 1.000 livres.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) is planning to introduce certain rules which are specific to ETFs, but there is no talk of creating an ETF-specific regime, the chairman of ESMA, Steven Maijoor, announced on 29 November at the Investment Management Forum of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).“The approach that ESMA intends to follow is to identify clearly those provisions which are relevant to all UCITS funds, with only some rules being specific to ETFs and reflecting their characteristics (for example, the aforementioned issues relating to the secondary market trading),” says Maijoor. For issues arising from securities lending activities, for instance, the approach that the regulator intends to follow is to cover all kinds of UCITS – ETFs and non-ETFs – engaging in such activity.Regarding the PRIPs initiatives, the range of products to be covered is quite broad and potentially includes collective investment undertakings, structured products, insurance-based investments and derivatives. Maijoor adds that for selling practices in particular, he is aware of the fact that a horizontal legislative approach may raise some issues in relation to the areas of competence of securities and insurance regulators in those EU Member States where they are not integrated and that the Commission already presented a proposal for the review of the MiFID rules. «Should the Commission decide not to adopt a horizontal legislative approach for the harmonisation of both disclosure rules and selling practices for PRIPs, I strongly hope that at least, in order to ensure the necessary consistency, the revised Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) will provide that the MiFID II rules on selling practices apply to those PRIPs which are within the scope of the IMD», he says.

The French asset management firm DNCA Finance (EUR5.3bn in assets) will open a branch office in Munich, at Ludwigstraße 8, on 1 December. In the new office, Guido Raddatz will join Jan Schünemann, head of distribution for Germany. In 2012, the two men will lead a charge, “but DNCA is naturally prepared to invest more in growth, if the evolution of the activity permits it,” Schünemann tells Newsmanagers.The opening of the Munich office is part of the French firm’s pan-European strategy. The firm has recently opened an office in Italy (see Newsmanagers of 21 September).Raddatz has spent his career as executive in distribution at DWS Investments, DJE Kapital, Hypo Invest and Zürich Invest.

Reinhold Hafner, CEO of Risklab GmbH since July 2010, has been appointed by Risklab’s parent company, Allianz Global Investors, to the position of CIO Global Solutions at AGI, from 1 January 2012, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Hafner joined Risklab as a financial engineer in 1997. He will report to Thomas Wieseman, head of Global Solutions.

Oliver Schlick, CEO of Bayern Invest, has announced that the institutional asset management firm (EUR33bn in assets) will be moving further afield from its traditional client base in savings banks, which now represent only 18% of its assets under management, down from one quarter a few years ago, Börsen-Zeitung reports. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to convince savings banks to accept core portfolio investments in emerging markets, as they focus more on euro zone equities.Currently, insurers are the top client category by far, with 31% of the total, followed by complementary employee savings plans (about 25%) and businesses (16%). Bayern Invest is planning to develop these client segments.

About 42% of hedge fund managers cite the possibility of a default or a restructuring of Italian or Spanish debt, according to a survey undertaken in the past few weeks by Aksia of 125 funds representing more than one third of all hedge fund assets. The survey finds that 60% of managers predict that Greece will exit from the euro. Two thirds of managers surveyed estimate that EU member states will have to issue Euro bonds. Nearly 94% of managers would like to see further easing of monetary policy in Europe. The best-performing strategy in the next twelve months may be global macro.

The gobal investor confidence index published by State Street Global Markets increased to 97.2 in November, up 2.0 points from October’s revised reading of 95.2. North American investor confidence increased 4.7 points to 95.2 from October’s revised reading of 90.5, while confidence among European institutional investors rose 5.4 points from October’s revised level of 96.1 to 101.5. The mood was slightly more subdued in Asia, where the investor confidence index fell 4.2 points to 94.6 from October’s revised reading of 98.8.

In third quarter, UCITS-compliant funds have posted a net outflow of EUR83bn, compared with net inflows of EUR18bn in second quarter, according to statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). For the first time since the outbreak of the sovereign debt crisis in second quarter 2010, UCITS funds have seen redemptions.Long-term UCITS funds, i.e. all funds except money market funds, finished the quarter with a net outflow of EUR78bn, a level not seen since first quarter 2009. Equity funds in particular have seen a net outflow of EUR43bn, compared with a net outflow of EUR8bn in second quarter. Bond funds have posted a net outflow of EUR22bn, following a net inflow of EUR10bn one quarter earlier. Diversified funds have seen a net outflow of EUR15bn, following a net inflow of EUR23bn in second quarter.Money market funds have also seen an outflow of EUR5bn in third quarter, compared with EUR30bn in second quarter.AUM in UCITS funds were down 7.1% in Q3, to EUR5.472trn as of the end of September. Taking into account non-UCITS-compliant funds, total net assets were down 5.4% in third quarter, to EUR7.667trn. Assets totalled EUR7.154trn as of the end of 2009, and EUR8.142trn as of the end of 2010.Despite events since March 2011, the earthquake in Japan, the Arab spring, and the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone, “the asset management sector still manages EUR1.7trn more than in March 2009. This figure allows us to put developments since the beginning of the year in perspective. Which doesn’t mean that we are not worried,” says the president of EFAMA, Claude Kremer, in a statement. “It is now clear that the crisis which broke out in 2007 will have a much more marked impact on our economies than we would have thought even a few months ago. In the meanwhile, our sector of activity should remain mobilised to play a central role in the return of consumer confidence,” Kremer adds.

The Hedge Fund Association has announced the opening of a chapter dedicated to Southern Europe. The office will be led by José Castellano, managing director of Pioneer Investments, and will aim to represent and promote hedge funds domiciled in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Eurekahedge reports that 406 hedge funds are based in Switzerland, Italy and Spain, with a total of over USD68.3bn in assets. HFA opened its first European office in London in September 2010.

Goldman Sachs Group is to launch a hedge fund incubation activity, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bank has raised USD600m from clients (pension funds, high net worth families and large institutions) for a new fund dedicated to this activity. It is planning to invest in 8 to 10 new hedge funds, according to sources familiar with the matter. Each one will receive USD75m to USD100m from the fund, which will aim to raise about USD1bn.

Strategic Insight has recently acquired a range of six products from Financial Research Corp (FRC), via its affiliae Asset International, Mutual Fund Wire reports. The Monitor, Lifecycle, Market Sizing, Sub-Advisory and Alternatives products and 529 college savings plans will continue to be sold under the FRC brand name. Mike Rosenthal, senior vice president of Asset International, will direct the new entity, Mutual Fund Wire reports.

In a hard-hit sector, European equity funds from independent asset management firms, especially French outfits, are bringing in subscriptions, a study from Fitch Ratings finds.Between July 2010 and July 2011, European equity funds in all categories combined had net outflows of EUR12.3bn. Despite that, 38% of European equity asset managers out of the 800 which are present in this segment enjoyed positive net flows. Of the 30 companies that had the largest net inflows, 18 are independent firms. Among them are many French companies: Edmond de Rothschild, Financière de l’Echiquier, Oddo AM, Mandarine, DNCA, Rothschild & Cie and Métropole.Despite the dynamism of these independent companies, the European equity fund segment remains in the hands of major players. One third of total assets (EUR264bn) are managed by just 13 investment management firms, and two thirds of it are managed by 53 companies. The largest player is Fidelity, which stands out with EUR21.6bn in assets, followed far behind by a group of firms with about EUR10bn each (BNP Paribas Investment Partners, BlackRock and Allianz Global Investors). Only 80 out of 800 players manage over EUR1bn in European equities.Fitch Ratings observes that the industry has been hit since 2007. Assets are down 46% since that year, due both to falling markets and to net redemptinos (EUR115.5bn). This situation is unique to these funds, as US equity funds have seen only 5% redemptions, compared with 20% for European equities. Emerging markets equity funds have not seen redemptions, and global equity funds have seen inflows of EUR115bn.

Société Générale has announced in a statement that a sale of its Californian asset management affiliate TCW is not on the agenda, contrary to reports by the news agency Bloomberg, Agefi reports. Bloomberg had claimed that a sale or IPO for the firm was imminent, at a valuation of USD1bn, SocGen has reiterated that an IPO could be a possibility in the next two to three years.

Gregory Skidmore, CEO and president, Brandon Lacoff, co-founder, and Timothy Davidson, senior portfolio manager at Belpointe Asset Management (USD82bn in assets under management), won a record USD254m prize in the Powerball Lottery, on a one-dollar bet, Das Investment reports. The partners have created the Putnam Avenue Family Trust to manage the prize money. After taxes and fees, the men will receive USD104m.

Russell Investments (USD137bn in assets) has announced that about 75% of its institutional clients in the United States have now opted for a liability-driven investment (LDI) formula for their defined-contribution retirement savings plans.In addition, bond assets in LDI products in the United States have increased to nearly 50% of their total bond assets in the country as of 30 June.This expansion has led Russell to create a position for a director, head of LDI solutions, Americas Instituitional, a position which is occupied by Martin Jaugietis, who had long been a senior consultant, says Michael Thomas, CIO of Americas Institutional, and also the hierarchical superior of Jaugietis. Jaugietis is also chairman of the LDI steering committee at Russell.

Pour 33 millions de dollars en actions, BNY Mellon acquiert Penson Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd (PFSA), qui deviendra filiale de sa boutique Pershing. La transaction devrait être bouclée avant la fin de l’année.PFSA est une société de compensation qui propose des services d’exécution et de compensation ainsi que le traitement des transactions sur les actions cotées locallement ainsi que pour les options traitées en Bourse.

In a SEC filing (form N1-A), Legg Mason ETF Trust has announced plans to launch the Legg Mason Western Asset Ultra-Short Duration ETF “as soon as possible.” The product will be a short-duration, actively-managed bond ETF fund. Fees for the product, which will be “sub-advised” by the firm’s affiliate Western Asset Management (Wamco) have not yet been set. The managers are Martin Hanley, Kevin Kennedy and Stephen Walsh. In normal conditions, the filing states, the effective duration of the portfolio will be at most one year.

La Française AM and Energy Funds Advisors have teamed up to launch LFP EFA Vision Pétrole, a French-registered, UCITS IV-compliant fund, in the diversified category, which aims to benefit from the geological rarity, delay in developing substitute products, and continuing growth in demand for oil.La Française AM will rely on the expertise of the financial investment advising firm Energy Funds Advisors (EFA), whose two founders have complementary experience as energy market specialists: Luca Baccarini, an expert at Energy trading, is former deputy CEO of Gaselys, and Olivier Rech, an energy economist, formerly of the French oil institute and the International energy institute.The fund will be diversified, and will invest in equities, currencies, bonds, and money market instruments, as well as instruments backed by commodities.CharacteristicsISIN code: FR0011091891Management fee: 1.70% (T.T.C.) maximumOutperformance commission: 20% (T.T.C.) on performance exceeding the benchmarkFront-end fee: 4% (not paid to fund)Withdrawal penalty: NoneSubscribers targeted: All investors, particularly institutionalsMinimal initial subscription: EUR150,000Benchmark index: MSCI World Index (net dividends reinvested) denominated in eurosCurrency: EuroValuation periodicity: Weekly (Thursdays)

The New York firm Business Capital Investors (BCI), which had promised annual returns of 15.5%, is suspected of funneling USD100m in a Ponzi scheme from 4,000 victims into a vast network of international accounts in Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, Spain and Canada, Fondsprofessionell reports. Three German citizens have been arrested.

A study by the Kommalpha agency of 150 decision-makers at institutional investors about the image of depository banks and asset management firms in terms of their perceived availability to clients, flexibility, and characteristics of expertise in their core professions, has found that 74% of respondents see image and brand as an important element in the selection of providers. The full results of the study will be made available in forst quarter 2012, Clemens Schuerhoff, a managing board member at Kommalpha, has told Newsmanagers.Dirk Bedarz, another board member at Kommalpha, points out that the first overall result is all the more important as depository banks and asset management firms, for their part, tend to strongly underestimate the importance of their image in winning over new clients.

The Swiss private bank Julius Baer on 30 November announced that it is opening a representative office in the Chinese city of Shanghai. The new location will be directed by Yan Sun as chief representative officer.Sun played a definitive role in obtaining a license from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CRBC) for the firm. She will report directly to Thomas R. Meier, CEO Asia and a member of the executive board at Bank Julius Baer. Sun had previously been chief representative officer at Credit Suisse Investment Bank, also in Shanghai.The office will primarily aim to support the relationship between Julius Baer, on one hand, and Chinese regulators and businesses on the other, to prospect on the local market in the area of wealth management in China, and to provide advisory services to other entities of the Julius Baer group in the area of wealth management.

Swiss-based Julius Baer announces it has improved the structure of its capital, through a placement to institutional and retail investors of CHF175m in unsecured, subordinated bonds, which will be put on the books as lower tier 2 owners’ equity.The bonds, which will mature on 23 December 2021, carry a 4.50% coupon and a clause for a single optional redemption window on 23 December 2016. The securities will be issued in CHF5,000 units.Julius Baer has sen a total BIS owners’ equity ratio objective of at least 16%, with a tier 1 ratio of at least 12%. As of the end of September, these ratios stood at 20.4% and 20.1%, respectively. As most owners’ equity had been composed of tier 1 equity, there had been room for improvement in the structure of capital.

Three former UBS executives, Andrée Arth, Thomas Krawietz and Nick Pfau, have joined forces in wealth management advising to create the firm Arth Krawietz Pfau, Agefi Switzerland reports. The three partners have acquired advanced expertise in all the professions of wealth management, and have a network which includes daily contact with important private investors internatinoally, which will allow them to be in step with their current requirements. They are planning to support their clients in the adoption of new business models as banking confidentiality is redefined, regulatory requirements increase, and margins shrink. This will involve a muti-disciplinary approach, complemented by experience in management of transitional periods, so as to allow private banks to find the best strategies to weather the current environment.

Since 29 November, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform lists 898 ETF funds, as Amundi has added four more French-registered equity products to trading.The new funds are the Amundi ETF MSCI Spain (FR0010655746), which charges 0.25%, the Amundi ETF MSCI World (FR0010756098), which charges 0.38%, and two ETFs for which the commission is set at 0.45%, the Amundi ETF MSCI EM Latin America (FR0011020973) and Amundi ETF MSCI EM Asia (FR0011020965).

With the Irish-registered iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend fund, created on 25 November, BlackRock on 28 November added a physical replication ETF fund which tracks the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index, including 100 companies in 18 emerging markets capable of paying high dividends over the long term, to trading on the London Stock Exchange.The official index for the fund (in pounds Sterling) is the net total return version of the inrex, but due to technical difficulties, iShares is currently replicating the gross total return version.CharacteristicsName: iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend (SEDY)ISIN code: IE00B652H904Total expense ratio: 0.65%

According to a study by the strategy consultant Booz, withdrawals of money and taxes paid by Swiss banks in the next two years due to tax agreements with Germany and the United Kingdom will represent about CHF47bn, Handelsblatt reports.Of the USD2.05trn in assets deposited in Switzerland by foreigners at the end of 2010, CHF60bn was from the United Kingdom and CHF210bn from Germany. Booz finds that about 60% of this money had not been declared to the tax authorities, and the 35 specialists surveyed by the agency estimate that 25% to 30% of that amount will be withdrawn from Switzerland, which will lead to a fall in revenues of CHF600m for banks.The owners of sums declared to the tax authorities may ask banks to lower fees. That may lead to a further gap for Swiss banks to make up of CHF500m, from 2013.

Open-ended funds sold in Italy have seen net outflows in October of EUR5.125bn, following outflows of EUR4.732bn in September, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. Since the beginning of the year, redemptions have totalled EUR18.516bn, bringing assets in open-ended funds to EUR431.658bn. In October, all categories of funds are in the red, but outflows have been particularly heavy from money market funds (-EUR2.059bn), and bond funds (-EUR1.763bn). In terms of fund domicile, Italian-registered products have seen the heaviest redemptions (-EUR3.197bn), while foreign-registered funds have lost EUR1.928bn. With the addition of closed funds and discretionary management, the Italian asset management industry has seen net outflows in October of EUR5.799bn, and assets totalled EUR958.300bn. In terms of asset management firms, Credit Suisse has done well, with net inflows of EUR119.8m, followed by Azimut (EUR112m) and Axa (EUR68.7m). At the other end of the spectrum, Pioneer has once again set a monthly outflow record, with EUR1.784bn, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo (EUR1.6bn) and AM Holding (EUR666.5m).