A compter du 17 octobre prochain, Rothschild & Cie Gestion harmonise la dénomination de ses fonds étendards et les renomme en les faisant débuter par l’initiale R en référence au nom Rothschild, précise un communiqué. L’objectif affiché par la direction commerciale et marketing de la société de gestion consiste à renforcer la transparence de son offre, de faciliter l’accessibilité des produits auprès des investisseurs et d’améliorer la lisibilité des expertises de gestion de la maison. De fait, les fonds R gérés en lignes directes se distingueront des OPCVM de multigestion qui, pour leur part, débuteront par R OPAL pour leur dimension «d’Open Architecture» et d’Allocation d’actifs au delà de la seule sélection des fonds.Liste des fonds renommés (toutes classes d’actifs confondues) : Elan Sélection France R devient Conviction FranceElan Midcap France devient R Midcap FranceElan Euro Dynamique devient R Euro DynamiqueElan Euro Valeurs devient R Conviction EuroElan Midcap Euro devient R Midcap EuroElan Sélection Europe devient R Conviction EuropeElan Sélection USA R devient Conviction USAR Allocation Modérée devient R Allocation ModéréeElan Club devient R Club

L’allocation du portefeuille de la MACSF privilégie la sécurité. Allocation d’actifs de la MACSF au 31/08/2011: Obligations à taux fixe: 62.5% Obligations convertibles: 13.3% Obligations à taux variable : 11.5% Actions: 6.7% Immobilier: 2.8% Monétaire: 2.6% Gestion alternative: 0.6% Une faible exposition à la dette des pays périphériques de la zone euro L’exposition du fonds en euros de la MACSF à la dette souveraine obligataire à l’ensemble des pays périphériques de la zone euro est limitée à 6% en dettes souveraines du Portugal, de l’Irlande, de l’Italie, de la Grèce et de l’Espagne, dont moins de 2 % sur la Grèce. Allocation d’actifs sur les souverains périphériques européens (en prix de revient) au 12/09/2011: Irlande: 1.94% Grèce: 1.92% Portugal: 0.90% Italie: 0.88% Espagne: 0.61%

The Luxembourg-based Alceda Fund Management (EUR2.8bn in assets under management, EUR4.5bn in assets under administration), has announced that three more foreign asset managers have agreed to offer a UCITS-compliant version of their funds on the UCITS-compliant platform. The new firms are the US-based ED Capital Management, with the Hudson River Russia Growth Fund (LU0639320356), the Swedish RPM Risk & Portfolio Management, with the RPM Directional Fund (LU0594789157), and the British Tideway Investment Partners, with the Global Navigator UCITS Fund (LU0639321321).

JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) a annoncé le 14 septembre avoir remporté un mandat d’administration et de conservation de la gamme d’ETF actions QuantShares lancée par la société FFCM LLC. La gamme sera «market neutral». JP Morgan WSS fournit actuellement des services d’administration à 200 ETF totalisant des encours de plus de 100 milliards de dollars.

Selon le Financial Times qui cite des personnes proches du dossier et une lettre envoyée aux clients, Goldman Sachs ferme le Global Alpha Fund, un important hedge fund quantitatif, après que le portefeuille a fortement chuté et que les investisseurs ont cherché à sortir. Depuis le début de l’année à fin août, le fonds perd 12 %. Dans la lettre aux investisseurs, Goldman annonce avoir commencé à liquider les actifs, ce qui devrait être bouclé mi-octobre. Il restait 1 milliard de dollars dans le fonds.

Au total, les actifs gérés au 31 août par Franklin Resources, Invesco et Legg Mason avaient chuté en un mois de 66,2 milliards de dollars, une contraction imputable essentiellement à une baisse de 63,5 milliards de dollars de l’encours des produits actions.La chute la plus forte des actifs sous gestion en août été accusée par Franklin Resources avec 30,8 milliards de dollars à 716,4 milliards en fin de mois, la diminution sur la poche actions représentant 26,5 milliards.Chez Legg Mason, les encours totaux ont baissé de 12 milliards de dollars en août (et de 13,6 milliards pour les actions), revenant à 643,4 milliards de dollars.Enfin, pour Invesco, l’encours s’est réduit de 23,4 milliards de dollars (ce qui correspond exactement à la baisse du portefeuille actions), pour revenir à 629,4 milliards de dollars.

Selon une enquête de Preqin, 70% des investisseurs en private equity (limited partners, LP) attendaient à fin juin un rendement de leur portefeuille de plus de 400 points de base (pb) au-dessus du rendement des marchés publics de référence contre 53% un an plus tôt. Cette évolution semble aller de pair avec la plus grande satisfaction des LP vis-à-vis de leurs investissements. Le pourcentage de LP dont les placements ont donné des rendements inférieurs à leurs attentes a été ramené de 22% à 19% cette année, tandis que 13% des personnes interrogées ont reçu de meilleures rémunérations que prévu contre 9% l’an passé. Un retour de la confiance des investisseurs est ainsi perceptible et 98% des LP interrogés envisagent de remettre au pot dans les 12 prochains mois.

Le nombre de hedge funds lancés au deuxième trimestre s’est inscrit à 280, un chiffre en légère baisse par rapport aux 298 fonds créés au premier trimestre, selon les statistiques communiquées par Hedge Fund Research.Sur les six premiers mois de l’année, le nombre de créations s’est élevé à 578, un niveau jamais vu depuis le premier semestre 2007. Les actifs gérés par les hedge funds ont atteint le niveau record de 2.040 milliards de dollars. Selon le président de HFR, Kenneth J. Heinz, le premier semestre a été particulièrement favorable pour les créations de hedge funds et le secteur est bien parti pour battre le record de 2007 où 1.200 hedge funds avaient vu le jour. Les investisseurs ont donné la préférence aux véhicules single manager, avec 245 créations au deuxième trimestre, un niveau jamais vu depuis le deuxième trimestre 2007, à comparer à seulement 35 créations de fonds de fonds. Le nombre de liquidations a légèrement augmenté du premier au deuxième trimestre, passant de 181 à 191. Les frais de gestion et les commissions de surperformance se sont inscrits en baisse d’un trimestre sur l’autre. Les frais de gestion ont reculé d’un point de base à 1,57%, les frais des fonds de fonds demeurant inchangés à 1,3%. Les commissions de surperformance ont reculé à 18,81% en moyenne au deuxième trimestre contre 18,95% un trimestre plus tôt, le taux moyen des douze derniers mois ressortant à 17,56%, son plus bas niveau depuis 2005.

In response to a consultation announced by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on proposals for level 2 of the AIFM directive, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) claims that many of the Authority’s proposals are “moderate,” but that many points need to be amended.In a document of over 100 pages, the trade body sought to measure the economic impact of the directive, and also offers a detailed legal analysis.In its analysis of the impact of the directive on depositories, the AIMA estimates the total cost to hedge funds of the strictest measures included in the proposed directive at USD6bn. This particularly high sum is due to the steep increase in commissions which depositories will be required to impose in order to meet their requirements to cover potential losses at unaffiliated sub-depositories. The AIMA claims that these coses will “inevitably” be passed on to investors such as pension funds and insurers.According to the CEO of the AIMA, Andrew Baker, proposals relative to depositories are welcome, but “some of the options proposed are so extreme that the resulting regime would be not only inapplicable, but also potentially dangerous, as it would increase systemic risks by a considerable amount.”

280 hedge funds were launched in second quarter 2011, a slight decline compared with the 298 funds created in first quarter, according to statistics from Hedge Fund Research. In the first six months of the year, the number of jobs created totalled 578, a level not seen since first half 2007. Assets managed by hedge funds set a new record at USD2.04trn. According to the president of HFR, Kenneth J. Heinz, first half was particularly favourable for hedge fund creations, and the sector is well on the way to beating the 2007 record of 1,200 hedge funds launched. Investors have preferred single manager vehicles, with 245 new funds created in second quarter, a level not seen since second quarter 2007, compared with only 35 new funds of funds. He number of funds liquidated increased slightly from first to second quarter, from 181 to 191. Management fees and performance commissions were down from one quarter to the next. Management fees have fallen to a low of 1.57%, while fees for funds of funds remain unchanged at 1.3%. Performance commissions have fallen to an average of 18.81% on average in second quarter, compared with 18.95% one quarter earlier, while the average in the previous twelve months was 17.56%, its lowest since 2005.

According to reports in Funds People, the BBVA has decided to reposition its asset management activities, which will be transferred from the global division (wholesale banking) to the retail banking division. The move will not involve any change to the asset management organisational chart, except for one point: institutional management, led by Julián Ide, will be discontinued.BBVA Asset Management, led by María Luisa Gómez Bravo, will now report to José María García Meyer-Doher, global head of retail banking. The products line (Sergio Fernandez Pacheco), the Quality Funds platform (García Hidalgo) and investment funds (Julio Sobremazas) will be transferred as a whole to the retail bank.Geographically, BBVA asset management will continue to be divided into three regions: Europe, led by Paloma Piqueras, Mexico, led by Jaime Álvarez Meyer, and the rest of Latin America.Institutional clients will now be served by local affiliates.

Funds People reports that its director of marketing and community manager, a former head of sales at Bestinver, has joined the independent management firm EDM as head of institutional clients and development for Latin America. He will be based in Madrid, and will also be in charge of communications and marketing.

The Netherlands-based pension fund Vervoer, whose assets under management total about EUR11bn, on 15 September announced that it has awarded a mandate to Robeco, from 1 January 2012, to manage the entirety of its assets on an integrated basis. Robeco will be responsible for the selection and supervision of external managers for the Pensionenfonds Vervoer. It may also contribute to strategy and operational asset management architecture. Robeco succeeds Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), which in June 2010 completed a four-year mandate from Vervoer; the pension fund was not satisfied with its performance. As of the end of August, the coverage rate for Vervoer was 98.6%.

The board of directors at ABP on 15 September elected Henk Brouwer as chairman (bestuursvoorzitter) for the pension fund for Dutch public employees ABP (Stichting pensioenfonds ABP, EUR242bn in assets), from 1 January 2012. Brouwer, who at 65 has left the Netherlands central bank (De Nederlandsche Bank or DNB), has in the past two years been a director in charge of supervision of the banking sector and general surveillance (he joined DNB as a “directeur” in 1997), and previously served as general treasurer at the Finance ministry, until 1998. Brouwer succeeds Ed Nijpels, who resigned in February 2010 following the collapse of DSB Bank, where he had been director (see Newsmanagers of 23 February 2010).

Lars Walter on 1 October will rejoin the distribution team at Threadneedle Investments as sales director for southern Germany, and for a selection of key accounts. He had previously worked for the firm until 2005, before joining cominvest (Commerzbank), and subsequently Fidelity Investment Managers, where he was director in charge of relations with private banks, asset managers, and family offices. He will now report to Werner Kolitsch, head of Germany and Austria.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has appointed Jochen Meyers as head of sales for Germany and Austria. He will report to Mathieu Maurier, head of sales at SGSS. SGSS Deutschland (KAG) mbH, led by Frédéric Barroyer, country head for Germany at SGSS, has doubled the volume of its asstes under management since 2007, for a total of EUR69bn (as of 30 June 2011), with 562 funds (as of 30 June 2011) administered for various businesses, a statement says.

Stefan Mülheim, who had been head of marketing at Bridge Asset Management in London, has been appointed as Senior Managing Director at Sciens Fund of Funds Management Holdings, an affiliate of Sciens Capital Management Group.Mülheim, who will report to Stavros Siokos, president of fund of hedge funds and of the managed accounts platform, will be in charge of development for institutional clients in German-speaking countries.The position is newly created, and will aim to serve German insurers in particular, who are facing the implementation of Solvency II legislation.

Total assets under management as of 31 August at Franklin Resources, Invesco and Legg Mason fell by USD66.2bn in one month, a contraction largely imputable to a decline of USD63.5bn in assets in equity products.The largest decline in assets under management recorded in August was at Franklin Resources, where assets fell by USD30.8bn, to USD716.4bn as of the end of the month, while the decline for the equities portfolio alone totalled USD26.5bn.At Legg Mason, total assets fell by USD12bn in August (and USD13.6bn for equities), to a total of USD643.4bn.For Invesco, assets fell by USD23.4bn (which corresponds exactly to the decline for the equities portfolio), to a total of USD629.4bn.

According to reports received by Newsmanagers, Christophe Valette is joining UBI, the French structure of the Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privée. Like many others who have recently joined the Swiss bank, Valette is a veteran of Fortis Investments. He was previously head of institutional investor relations at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, who then joined Fortis Investments.

BNP Paribas Securities Services on 15 September announced that it is extending its European clearing activities, to become “the first player able to provide third-party clearing services on bond markets in France, Spain, and Italy.” For settlement of bond products on these markets, operators had previously been required to become direct members of a central clearing house. By becoming members of LCH.Cearnet SA and CC&G for bond markets, BNP Paribas now offers a complete range of solutions to optimise post-execution processing and liquidity requirements. “Bond markets are returning to the good graces of investors, and a growing number of our clients are turning to clearance flows to reduce counterparty risks, as opposed to bilateral transaction settlement,” says Philippe Ruault, head for clearing, settlement and custody services at BNP Paribas Securities Services. “Meanwhile, legislation such as EMIR and Dodd Frank are bringing new instruments into play in standardised clearing infrastructures. The combination of these factors is leading to a real increase in demand,” Ruault continues. “Last year, the nominal value of repurchase operations and transactions on European government bonds cleared by LCH.Clearnet rose by about 30%, and that figure is likely to increase further between now and 2013,” Ruault concludes. The bank is also planning to become a member of other central counterparty clearing houses, in order to meet rising demand and volumes from its clients.

The Swiss banking group UBS announced on 15 September in a brief statement that a broker at the investment bank inolved in unauthorised trading had generated losses estimated at about USD2bn. Though the investigation is ongoing, UBS declares in the statement that no client positions have been affected, but adds that the problem may lead to a loss in third quarter. The news comes at a time when the Swiss national council has voted 115 to 45 to reject “Too Big to Fail” legislation proposed by the Federal council.

The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation to determine whether Société Générale helped to make the job easier for Texan accused fraudster R. Allen Stanford, by failing to look into suspicious transactions. Stanford is accused of orchestrating a Ponzi pyramid scheme worth USD7bn, the Wall Street Journal reports.The case concerns the bank account of one of Stanford’s companies with SG Private Banking (Suisse) SA, which is suspected of having been supplied by investor subscriptions, and of being used for payments to Stanford’s personal accounts and for paying bribes to the auditor in Antigua.As a part of the criminal investigation, authorities are seeking to determine whether Société Générale failed to apply due diligence procedures, or to ask questions about irregular banking activities, according to sources close to the case.

The Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published its report on Principles for the Regulation and Supervision of Commodity Derivatives Markets. The report, prepared by the Task Force on Commodity Futures Markets, addresses the G20’s November 2010 request for further work on regulation and supervision of physical commodity derivatives markets.The Principles are aimed at ensuring a globally consistent approach to the oversight of commodity derivatives markets which will deliver effective supervision, combats market manipulation and improves price transparency. They are aimed at contributing to enhanced price discovery in commodity derivative markets as opposed in themselves to addressing absolute price levels or price volatility in an underlying physical commodity.The Task Force continues to work with the International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on a report on how oil spot markets are assessed by Price Reporting Agencies and how this affects the transparency and functioning of oil markets, which was requested by the G20 in its Seoul Summit Leaders Declaration of November 2010.

Hedge Week reports that Citigroup has recruited David Murphy, co-head of the prime finance operation at Deutsche Bank, to direct his own prime finance activity in the Asia-Pacific region. Murphy, who will join the firm in December, will report to Nick Roe, global head of prime finance & futures, based in London, and Rodrigo Zorilla, head of markets for Asia-Pacific.Hannah Goodwin, who is currently head of prime finance activities for Asia, will remain in that position until Murphy’s arrival, and will then report to him. She will then become head of prime brokerage for Asia Pacific, and will manage all client-facing business.

Schroders, which has now reached assets of USD3.6bn under management in the country (as of the end of May), with the help of Celfin Capital, with whom it has been working since 2003, has now decided to open its own office in Chile.The new Latin American location, following offices opened in the 1990s in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, will initially have a staff of three, led by Alex Toledo, head of distribution, who joins from Pioneer Investments, and who will report to Gonzalo Binello, head of distribution Latin America ex Brazil.Now that Schroders is opening its own office, its cooperation with Celfin will cease, and the two businesses will cooperate to ensure a smooth transition for existing activities to the new structure.

The CEO of Legg Mason, Mark Fetting, has announced that the group is planning to increase its alternative management manpower, and to develop its activities in Asia, Asian Investor reports.Among the companies of the Legg Mason galaxy, whose assets under management total about USD655bn, are the fund of fund specialist Permal (USD23bn in assets under management), which brings in 16% of the group’s earnings. Fetting estimates that the group needs to develop new areas of alternative management expertise, either through the acquisition of new teams which would join Permal, or through the creation of new structures within the group, in all areas (single hedge funds, private equity funds, funds of funds, private equity funds of funds, real estate, commodities, and infrastructure).Another area of development for the group is Asia, which represents slightly under 15% of assets under management for the group. There is talk of opening a representative office in Beijing. Staff in the region, who currently number about 200 in Japan and 80 in Asia ex Japan, will also be sized up.

Old Mutual Asset Managers is to launch a UK equities long/short fund, managed by Simon Murphy, Investment Week reports. The Dublin-domiciled fund, UK Opportunities Fund, will be released in fourth quarter.

Following the departure of Paul Boughton from Neptune, where he had been in charge of development for continental Europe, the European sales team at the UK asset management firm remains in place, a spokesperson has told Newsmanagers. Philippe Bretaudeau and Henry Foster will continue to work with European client base, particularly in France, where Neptune funds have been licensed for sale since March 2010. Patrick Berton, sales director at Neptune, has assumed overall responsibility for our European sales initiatives on an interim basis. Boughton joined Mirabaud after three and a half years at Neptune. He had previously been at Legg Mason.

Following warnings in Spring 2001 from the Financial Stability Board, the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, providers of ETF funds are increasingly improving their transparency. “Until the end of 2010, the level of transaparency for synthetic ETFs was low,” a Morningstar research of synthetic ETFs presented on 15 September, entitled “Synthetic ETFs Under the Microscope,” observes. The composition of collateral and substitution asset baskets was only disclosed once or twice per year, and often only at the demand of investors. “Real progress has been made in this area, largely due to pressure from investors on ETF providers,” the study funds. Some synthetic ETF providers are now publishing data on the composition of asset baskets on a daily basis, and several players have recently announced that they are also planning to do the same. This is a sign of goodwill which will be bound to improve or revive investor confidence in an environment of widespread suspicion, as the regulatory authorities lag behind common practice. However, “there is still room for improvement in transparency,” the study finds, suggesting several areas, including generalisation of the daily publication of asset basket composition. “Daily updates are all the more pertinent in periods of high volatility on the markets, and in the wake of events such as the Lehman bankruptcy or the recent earthquake in Japan.” The authors of the study also estimate that daily information should not be limited to the composition of a single basket, but might also include sector allocation, country allocation, exposure to currency risks, and credit ratings for bonds. The study also calls for increased transparency about the cost of swaps, which are often not included in the total expense ratio (TER).

The Financial Times reports, citing sources familiar with the matter and a letter to clients, that Goldman Sachs is closing the Global Alpha Fund, a major quantitative hedge fund, after the portfolio showed heavy losses, and investors sought to pull out. From the beginning of the year to the end of August, the fund has lost 12%. In its letter to investors, Goldman announced that it has begun to liquidate assets, a process which will be completed by mid-October. About USD1bn in assets remain in the fund.