Echaudé par les difficultés des stratégies value et growth, AllianceBernstein joue la carte de la diversification et pousse actuellement les feux de la gestion thématique, souvent payante au sortir de phases de marché turbulentes. «Il ne s’agit pas d’abandonner les approches value ou growth, qui représentaient un encours cumulé de plus de 130 milliards de dollars à fin septembre, et qui continuent de faire partie intégrante de notre offre mais, dans une optique de diversification, nous estimons qu’une approche thématique peut permettre d’identifier les sociétés susceptibles de tirer parti des idées novatrices de demain», a souligné Catherine Wood, senior vice president chez AllianceBernstein et responsable de la gestion thématique, de passage à Paris. Dans le cadre de cette gestion thématique, Catherine Wood gère quelque 5 milliards de dollars au travers de deux grands fonds, l’un axé sur les Etats-Unis, Alliance US Thematic Research, qui pèse environ 4 milliards de dollars, l’autre sur l’international, Alliance Global Thematic Research (1 milliard de dollars). La stratégie internationale est accessible aux investisseurs européens depuis fin 2009, la stratégie américaine depuis juillet 2010, avec des encours de respectivement 170 millions et 80 millions de dollars. Les portefeuilles thématiques comportent six grands domaines: la révolution du génome, la transformation de l’énergie, la réforme du système financier, l’intensification de la cyclicalité, le web 2.0 et la réémergence des classes moyennes. Les critères participant au choix de ces thèmes sont notamment leurs caractéristiques globales et de long terme, leur pouvoir de rupture annonciateur de mutations profondes et leur application multisectorielle.

State Street Corporation annonce avoir été sélectionné par AllianceBernstein pour lui fournir des services d’externalisation des opérations de middle office portant sur 300 milliards de dollars d’actifs. La gamme de services comprendra le règlement des opérations, l’administration et la réconciliation de portefeuilles, les opérations sur produits dérivés, le reporting client, et la mesure de la performance des comptes institutionnels d’AllianceBernstein.

Nuveen Investments, fournisseur de services d’investissement à une clientèle d’institutionnels et de particuliers, a annoncé avoir conclu un accord avec Gresham Investment Management pour une prise de participation de 60 % dans le capital de ce dernier. Basé à New York, Gresham Investment Management gère environ 14 milliards de dollars, principalement dans des fonds spécialisés dans les matières premières.

La plate-forme BNY Mellon OnCore permettra de fournir à Bridgewater Associates des services de data warehouse, de traitement des transactions, de comptabilité des portefeuilles et de traitement des dérivés pour les 125 milliards de dollars dont les services de back et middle office viennent d'être sous-traités, après appel d’offres, à BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. Il s’agit d’une extension des prestations de BNY Mellon AS, qui servait déjà Bridgewater Associates depuis 1994 en lui fournissant des services de conservation, de comptabilité de fonds et d’administration de fonds. Le nouveau contrat se traduira par le transfert d’environ une centaine d’experts en logiciels, de business analysts, de comptables et d’autres salariés de Bridgewater chez BNY Mellon AS.

Global investors are seeking respite from troubles in the eurozone by turning to U.S. and emerging market equities, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for November to which an overall total 258 panelists with USD665 billion of assets under management participated. Globally, investors have slightly increased their exposure to equities since October’s survey. A net 5 percent of the panel is underweight equities, down from a net 7 percent a month ago. The proportion of investors overweight U.S. equities rose sharply to a net 20 percent from a net 6 percent in October. A net 27 percent of investors are overweight emerging markets, up from a net 9 percent last month. The eurozone remains the least popular region, but the proportion of investors underweight eurozone equities ticked down just one percentage point to a net 30 percent. That may appear surprising, insofar as gloom within the eurozone has intensified. A net 72 percent of European respondents to the regional survey believe Europe will experience recession in the coming 12 months, up from a net 37 percent in October. Fears of a global recession have eased. A net 31 percent of investors expect the world economy to avoid a recession, up from a net 25 percent last month. Behind the increased exposure to emerging market equities is increased faith in the resilience of China’s economy, says BofA Merrill Lynch. More than three-quarters of the panel (78 percent) expect a soft landing, with China delivering better than 7 percent growth during the year. The proportion of regional investors believing that China’s economy will weaken in the coming year has fallen to a net 25 percent from a net 47 percent in October. For the first time since March 2009, investors predict that short-term rates will fall in the next 12 months. A net 5 percent of the panel say rates will be lower a year from now, compared with a net 9 percent predicting higher rates last month – a potential signal that as concerns about inflation in emerging markets erode, the question of deflation could be on investors’ minds.

Dexia Asset Management, the asset management company of Dexia Group, has opened an office in Dubai. Sami El-Eid who heads the Bahrain office will also take responsibility for the new office in DIFC Separately, Nabil El-Asmar has been promoted and will assume responsibility for the Client Relations activity at Dexia AM’s Spanish branch, which serves the company’s Spanish, Portuguese and Andorran clients. In his new post, he reports to Javier Ruiz-Villabrille, global head of international client relationship management.

Unlike the vast majority of asset management firms whose emerging markets funds have recently adopted a “growth” orientation, M&G Investments has oped for a “highly value” and “smidcaps” approach, says Matthew Vaight, director of global equities, of the British-registered fund M&G Global Emerging Markets, which he unviled in Paris on 15 November.The product, launched on 5 February 2009, currently has nearly EUR650m in assets, compared with EUR600m at the end of 2010, with 61 positions and a turnover rate of about 25%.In general, companies whose shares are selected for the portfolio offer better returns, are better managed, or have better business models than many big names in developed countries.Currently, the fund is 21% invested in small caps, 35% in midcaps, 24% in large caps, and 16% in “mega-caps.” The portfolio is overweight on Brazilian, Mexican, Thai and South African equities, while it is underweight in South Korea, Taiwan and eastern Europe.

“Frontier markets” refers to all those fast-growing countries that remain largely ignored by most investors. Naturally, these markets are a subject of many kinds of fear for investors, though they present real potential for returns, not unlike the traditional emerging markets at their beginnings. Sven Richter, head of frontier markets at Renaissance Asset Managers, tells Newsmanagers about the added value to be found in these markets, which he says have their own rightful place in an asset allocation.

For multiple services to its international funds in Spain and Mexico (EUR23bn), BBVA Asset Management has selected the Derivatives360 offering from BNY Mellon.The solution offers the Spanish group a variety of custom middle office services, including over-the-counter (OTC) transaction notification and confirmation, independent third-party valuation, portfolio reconciliation, collateral management, and custody.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined the asset management firm McInroy & Wood Limited (MWL) GBP15,050 The regulator finds that the firm failed to comply with a requirement that client assets must be held in “trust” accounts, which are clearly separated from the company’s assets. The objective is to protect clients in case the firm goes bankrupt.

Anthoney Lawler, head of portfolio management at Man Group since 2009, has joined GAM Global Asset Management (CHF50.7bn in assets) in London, as a member of senior management, and the investment committee of its hedge fund multi-management unit. He will be in particular charge of developing activities serving institutional clients, primarily in the United States, through the creation of customised fund of hedge fund portfolios. In will also serve as co-manager for the GAM Diversity Institutional strategy, alongside David Smith. Smith will be his hierarchical superior, as CIO of GAM Multi-Manager and a member of the executive board at GAM.

The OnCore platform from BNY Mellon will provide Bridgewater Associates with data warehousing, transaction processing, portfolio compatibility and derivatives trading services on USD125bn in assets whose middle- and back-office services have recently been outsourced, following a request for proposals, to BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.The tender is an extension of the existing services from BNY Mellon AS, which has been serving Bridgewater Associates since 1994, with custody, fund accounting and fund administration services. The new contract will involve the transfer of about 100 software experts, business analysts, accountants and other Bridgewater employees to BNY Mellon AS.

State Street Corporation has announced that it has been appointed by AllianceBernstein to provide investment operations outsourcing services covering more than USD300 billion in client assets.Building on its more than 30-year relationship with AllianceBernstein, State Street will provide a range of services including trade settlement, portfolio administration and reconciliation, derivative operations, client reporting, and performance measurement for AllianceBernstein’s institutional accounts. As a result of this mandate, approximately 100 employees will transition from AllianceBernstein to State Street to provide global servicing support.

Amidst rumours that the Dutch firm Rabobank was planning to sell off its 46% stake in the capital of Banque Sarasin (with 69% voting rights), the employees of the latter firm have begun to mobilise. Hundreds have attended video-conferences on sites in Basel, Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, Bern and Lucerne. The employees, fearing for their jobs, are hoping to avoid an acquisition by Julius Baer or the Raiffeisen group. According to a statement from the Swiss banking employees’ association (ASEB), employees “have approved a letter to Rabobank, asking it to take into account the long-term interests of clients of Banque Sarasin and the loyalty and engagement of its employees.” The statement from the ASEB adds that “this is also an announcement addressed to institutions that may be interested in acquiring Rabobank’s stake: employees want to continue to work at Banque Sarasin, following the sustainability principles they have embraced. They have mandated their personnel commission and the ASEB to defend their interests.” Banque Sarasin is subject to the labour conditions for banking industry employees, which state that the ASEB may intervene at the request of employee representatives.

Threadneedle is the biggest provider of onshore funds which have outperformed their benchmarks over five years, according to a study by Fund Strategy. With 19 funds out of a total of 254, or 8%, Threadneedle tops the rankings, followed by BNY Mellon Asset Management, with 12 funds, or nearly 5% of the total, and M&G Investments, with 10 funds, or about 4% of its total. These are followed by BlackRock, Henderson and Jupiter, with 8 funds each. The study also finds that only 18% of funds outperformed the benchmarks for their class.

After losses averaging 3.96% in September (for a sample of 2,555 products), the 1,799 hedge funds which had submitted results to BarclayHedge as of 15 November earned average returns of 3,63% in October, which reduces cumulative losses since the beginning of the year to 3.54% (compared with losses of 6.60% as of the end of September).Only the equity short bias strategy (5 funds) saw losses in October (of 8.77%), while it is up by 4.53% for the first ten months of the year.The two strategies with the best results in October were equity long bias, with 6.53% (234 funds) and emerging markets, with 4.16% (282 funds). These two strategies are also the ones which have seen the heaviest losses in January-October, with 6.51% and 8.68%, respectively.

GLG is launching a Strategic Bond fund which will invest in government and corporate debt, convertibles, convertible preference shares, index-linked securities, derivatives, money market instruments, deposits and cash or equivalents, FundWeb reports. The fund, which aims for a return above three-month GDP LIBOR and the IMA £ Strategic Bond sector average, will be managed by the bond manager Christophe Akel. Minimal investment has been set at GBP1,000 for retail shares, with a front-end fee of 3.5% and a management commission of 1.25% per year.

In the past few months, European ETPs have attracted a net USD1.3bn, and their assets as of 31 October totalled USD327.6bn, but some actors saw net outflows, including Lyxor Asset Management, part of the Société Générale group (-USD1.2bn), UBS Global Asset Management (-USD0.5bn), and ETF Securities (-EUR0.4bn). ComStage (Commerzbank) and Source have seen net redemptions of USD0.1bn each, according to statistics from BlackRock.However, iShares (BlackRock) has attracted USD2bn; the Cantonal Bank of Zurich has attracted USD0.5bn, and db x-trackers/db ETC (Deutsche Bank) saw inflows of USD0.3bn.In the first ten months of this year, net subscriptions to the entire industry in Europe totalled USD28bn, of which USD17.5bn were for iShares. The next-best inflows were at UBS Global AM (USD4.5bn) and db x-trackers/db ETC, with USD2.9bn.However, Lyxor has seen net outflows of USD7.7bn. Since the beginning of January, assets have fallen by USD12.2bn to USD40.1bn, and its market share has fallen 4.4 percentage points, to 12.2%.In the first ten months of 2011, db x-trackers/db ETC has seen a decline in its assets of USD0.6bn, to USD48.5bn, and its market share has fallen by 0.8 points. iShares, meanwhile, has posted an increase of USD9.3bn in its assets, to USD111.1bn as of the end of October, giving it 1.6% more market share.

On the markets, calls for decisive action by the ECB are building, Agefi reports. The central bank did buy up bonds yesterday, but it is doing it reluctantly, which undermines the effectiveness of the intervention. “Either things go on like this, and Italy will probably soon find itself short of financing options, or Germany resolves to accept real quantitative easing measures,” says Keith Wade, economist in chief at Schroders. The European Financial Stability Facility, for its part, is suffering due to the troubles of the governments that guarantee its AAA rating.

According to the Wealth-X agency of Singapore, which advises businesses and financial institutions specialised in ultra-high net worth clients, there are 185,795 people in the world who have USD25trn in wealth between them, equivalent to 40% of global GDP or seven times the GNP of Germany, Cinco Días reports.Of this total, 1,235 people are US dollar billionaires, who control total wealth of USD4.18trn, or USD3.3bn each, while the remaining 97.5% have between USD30m and USD500m each.In North America, predominantly the United States, there are 57,860 “mega-rich” individuals with a total of USD7.6trn, ahead of Europe (54,325 people with USD6.8trn), and Asia (42,525 people with USD6.2trn). Asia should overtake Europe in 2024, and the United States in 2032.

The Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF on 15 November issued a warning in relation to a company entitled CulverHouse Capital, which claims to be based at L-1248 Luxembourg, rue de Bouillon (website: www.culverhousecapital.com). According to information obtained by the CSSF, the firm offers those contacted investment and investment advising services. “The CSSF informs the public that CulverHouse Capital does not have the necessary licenses for the provision of financial services in or from Luxembourg,” the Commission says in a statement.

Faurecia, équipementier et fournisseur de l’industrie automobile, gère 40 millions d’euros en France à travers un régime de retraite Article 83, 25 millions d’euros en plan d'épargne salariale et 1 million d’euros en plan d'épargne inter-entreprise (PERI). Aline Astier, Compensation and Benefits Manager, espère mettre en place un PERCO et retirer le PERI crée en 2010 qui a peu attiré les employés. Pour la mise en place du PERCO, Faurecia travaillera avec les gérants d’actifs qui sont déjà en charge des plans d'épargne existants. Il y aura certainement une convergence entre les fonds proposés au sein du plan d'épargne salariale et ceux du PERCO. Le PERCO et le plan d'épargne salariale sont structurés autour d’une offre de fonds parmi lesquels les employés peuvent choisir. Les investissements ne sont pas garantis. Contrairement au régime Article 83, assuré par Cardif, dont les investissements sont garantis.

Les parlementaires européens ont approuvé en séance plénière une réglementation visant à empêcher la vente à découvert et les contrats d'échange sur risque de crédit (CDS), des produits financiers qui visent à protéger contre le défaut de paiement. Le règlement amendé a été adopté par 507 voix pour, 25 contre et 109 abstentions.

La Réserve fédérale de New York a indiqué qu’elle allait relever ses exigences en termes de garanties auprès de vingt-et-un animateurs du marché des titres adossés à des créances immobilières, les mortgage-backed securities ou MBS. Cela afin de limiter le risque de contrepartie.

Si l'Italie et l'Espagne souffrent, la France et les autres pays de la zone euro voient leurs rendements s'écarter vis-à-vis de l'Allemagne

La banque helvète espère dégager 200 millions de francs d’économies en année pleine. Environ 550 postes seront supprimés dans le groupe

Tiré par l'Allemagne, le PIB de la zone a progressé de 0,2 % au troisième trimestre. Mais il se contractera à la fin de l'année, même dans les pays cœur

Des désaccords au sein de la Commission l’obligent à « différer » certaines mesures

Des désaccords au sein de la Commission l’obligent à « différer » certaines mesures

Même si les taux de défaut demeurent raisonnables, l’augmentation du chômage pourrait peser sur la performance des transactions