Amundi ETF a annoncé, jeudi 9 juin, avoir introduit 17 ETF actions supplémentaires sur le London Stock Exchange (LSE), portant à 33 le nombre total de ses produits.Dans le détail, la nouvelle offre est composée de : - 2 ETF sur les indices phares du Royaume-Uni (FTSE 100® et FTSE 250®) : Amundi ETF FTSE 100 et Amundi ETF FTSE 250 - 1 ETF région avec l’indice MSCI Europe ex UK en référence : Amundi ETF MSCI Europe EX UK, qui offre une exposition à environ 15 pays européens hors Royaume-Uni, - 2 ETF styles avec les indices FTSE Dividend+® et Euro Stoxx® Small en référence : Amundi ETF FTSE UK Dividend Plus qui permet aux investisseurs de répliquer le plus fidèlement possible la performance des actions britanniques ayant des taux de dividendes les plus importants, et Amundi ETF Euro Stoxx Small Cap qui offre, pour sa part, une exposition à une centaine de petites capitalisations cotées sur la zone euro, - 11 ETF secteurs européens avec en réplication des indices MSCI Global Sectors (dont « Europe Materials », « Europe Energy », etc), - 1 ETF inédit sur des technologies vertes, Amundi ETF Green Tech Living Planet, qui a pour objectif de répliquer le plus fidèlement possible la performance de l’indice Living Planet Green Tech Europe, un indice élaboré par Living Planet Fund Management Company S.A. (filiale de WWF International) et les équipes de recherche ISR (investissement socialement responsable) de CA Cheuvreux. Cet ETF offre une exposition aux actions de sociétés européennes qui génèrent au moins 20 % de leurs chiffres d’affaires consolidés grâce à des activités liées aux technologies vertes (efficience énergétique, gestion de l’eau, énergies renouvelables, gestion des déchets, etc), précise un communiqué.

Le norvégien Skagen Funds a recruté à Londres (lire notre article du 19 février) Tim Gordon (ex Liontrust) pour le recrutement de nouveaux clients retail et Nich Henderson (ex Financial Dynamics) pour le développement des relations clientèle, du marketing et de la communication, rapporte Das Investment.

Selon les dernières estimations de Chelsea Financial Services, les actifs investis dans des fonds sous-performants s'élèvent désormais à près de 26 milliards de livres, en hausse de 41% par rapport au dernier sondage réalisé fin 2010, rapporte FundWeb.Chelsea a dénombré treize fonds en situation de sous-performance dont les actifs dépassent la barre des 500 millions de livres, contre seulement quatre précédemment. Le plus gros fonds sous-performant est le Halifax UK Growth Fund (4,16 milliards de livres), devant le Prudential UK Growth (2,4 milliards de livres) et le Legal and General European Index fund (1,9 milliard de livres). Le nombre de fonds sous-performants est passé de 86 à 94, tandis que le nombre de nouveaux entrants dans la liste globale s'établit à 58.

Legal & General Investment Management a annoncé le lancement du Global Environmental Enterprises Fund, un produit de gestion passive censé tirer profit de la transition vers un monde où les émissions de gaz carbonique seront réduites. Pour ce faire, LGIM s’est associé au gestionnaire indépendant spécialiste de l’environnement Osmosis Investment Management, dont l’indice Osmosis Climate Solutions (OCS) servira de base à la constitution du portefeuille. Cet indice couvre une centaine de sociétés «pure play» du monde entier qui doivent bénéficier des mesures destinées à contrer la pénurie d'énergie, des pressions qui s’exercent sur les ressources naturelles et de la réduction des émissions polluantes.Le portefeuille sera pondéré davantage par secteur que par capitalisation boursière. La commission de gestion est fixée à 1,25 % et LGIM reversera 0,40 % aux conseillers qui commercialiseront le produit. Aucune rétrocession néanmoins ne sera consentie pour les parts institutionnelles.

Le Real Madrid négocie avec le club S.L. Benfica le transfert de l’ailier portugais Fábio Coentrão pour la saison 2011-2012 de la Liga BBVA. Si les deux clubs tombent d’accord sur la somme de 25 millions d’euros, le Benfica Stars Fund, percevra 5 millions d’euros, alors que le joueur ne valait comptablement fin mai que 2,27 millions d’euros, rapporte Funds People.Le Benfica Stars Fund est un fonds d’investissement spécial de droit portugais qui détient les droits de 16 footballeurs portugais. Les trois les plus cotés sont Oscar René Cardozo (2,8 millions d’euros), Airton Ribeiro Santo et Alan Kardec Junior (2,43 millions chacun).

Dans un communiqué commun, jeudi 9 juin, Crédit Agricole CIG et CITIC Securities ont annoncé qu’un accord a été trouvé dans lequel CITICS va se porter acquéreur de 19,9% du capital de CLSA ainsi que de 19,9% du capital de Cheuvreux, pour un montant total de 374 millions de dollars. Sous réserve de l’approbation des autorités de tutelle compétentes et des instances représentatives du personnel, les deux établissements envisagent de rapprocher Cheuvreux, acteur majeur du courtage et de la recherche actions en Europe, avec CLSA, leader du courtage et de la recherche actions en Asie, et qui bénéficie d’une présence aux États-Unis.Selon les termes de l’accord conclu, la clôture de l’opération devrait intervenir avant le 31 décembre 2011.

On 9 June, the Frenchman Marc Saluzzi, a partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), was elected unopposed as the only candidate to become chairman of the Luxembourg investment fund association (Alfi), replacing Claude Kremer, who has already served two two-year terms as head of the association, and who will most likely succeed Jean-Baptiste de Franssu as head of Efama (the European Fund and Asset Management Association).Saluzzi has been a board member at Alfi for ten years. He is also a member of the OCP investment fund commission at the Luxembourg financial supervisory commission, the CSSF.

En Suisse, le Pensionskasse der Gemeinde Thalwil (95 millions de francs suisses d’actifs) réfléchit à la possibilité de réduire son exposition aux obligations gouvernementales internationales et à l’immobilier. Le Fonds pourrait aussi se décider à investir en actions. Les obligations gouvernementales ne sont pas très rentables, et le Fonds pourrait plutôt s’orienter vers des obligations corporate. Le Fonds, pour cette classe d’actifs, travaillerait avec l’un de ses gérants existants, pour réduire les frais. Une discussion concrète concernant l’immobilier et les actions se tiendra au dernier trimestre 2011. La stratégie d’investissement est actuellement la suivante : 1% de liquidités, 34% d’obligations en francs suisses, 7,5% d’obligations étrangères, 10% en actions domestiques, 17,5% en actions internationales et 30% en immobilier.

Hedge funds posted their first losses in nine months in May. The HFRI composidte index was down 1.28% in May, its heaviest losses since May 2010, with losses for macro strategies (-2.54%) and commodities only partially compensated for by gains for relative value arbitrage strategies. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse index lost 1.71% in May, while the Hennessee index lost 0.50%. Since the beginning of the year, the Hennessee index has gained 3.20%, while the Dow Jones Credit Suisse index has gained only 0.47%. The HFRI index of funds of funds, for its part, was down 1.46% in May.

n 2010, sovereign funds, which aim to increase earnings on their country’s wealth, made more modest direct investments, and increasingly turned to emerging markets, at a time when the European and United States economies were areas of concern, Les Echos reports. With USD52bn in assets as of the end of 2010, direct investments in sovereign funds were 50% less than in 2007 or 2008. “They have continued to diversify their investments in several sectors. However, three activities – financial services, natural resources and associated industries – represented 80% of total investments, and more than half of total transactions by number,” a report by the Monitor says. Four funds in particular stand out (Qatar, China’s CIC, Singapore’s Temasek and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala), as responsible for more than two thirds of these investments.

Helmut Fischer, head of the alternative products activity in Germany, has announced that assets in UCITS-compliant hedge funds from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Europe total USD2.3bn, compared with USD1bn at the beginning of the year, and that assets may run as high as USD4bn by the end of 2011, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.Currently, the asset management firm offers 14 strategies in UCITS III-compliant formats. Three new managers were selected this year: Och-Ziff, Perella Weinberg Partners and AQR.

Morningstar, Inc on June 9th announced its plans to introduce forward-looking, analyst-driven, qualitative, global fund ratings and a uniform approach for global fund research reports. The ratings and reports will be based on analysts’ convictions about a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group and/or relevant benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. The «star» ratings, which are quantitative, remain in place, though.The company said it plans to launch the new ratings and research reports in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in the fourth quarter.The new Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for funds will be assigned as one of five ratings—AAA, AA, A, Neutral, or Negative. Analysts arrive at a rating through an evaluation of five key pillars Morningstar believes are crucial to predicting the future success of a fund: People, Process, Parent, Performance, and Price.

Morningstar a annoncé le 9 juin son projet de migration de son système de notation prospective des fonds, Morningstar Qualitative Rating TM, en Europe et en Asie, vers une nouvelle échelle globale de notation des fonds. La société adoptera parallèlement une approche unique pour la publication des rapports de recherche de fonds. Le lancement des nouvelles notations et des rapports de recherche en Europe et en Asie est prévu au quatrième trimestre. La notation qualitative des fonds en Europe et en Asie a été lancée par Morningstar en février 2009. Les nouvelles notations et les rapports d’analyse demeureront fondés sur la conviction des analystes selon laquelle un fonds peut surperformer son univers concurrentiel et/ou son indice de référence à long terme, sur une base ajustée des risques. Le nouveau système de notation des fonds, baptisé Morningstar Analyst RatingTM, appliquera un barème de cinq notes: AAA, AA, A, Neutral (neutre) ou Negative (négatif). La notation résulte de l’analyse de cinq facteurs-clés considérés par Morningstar comme les piliers de l’évaluation de la réussite future d’un fonds : l’équipe de gestion, le processus d’investissement, la société de gestion, la performance et les frais. Une notation positive (AAA, AA, ou A) attribuée à un fonds signifie que les analystes de Morningstar ont une haute opinion du fonds et s’attendent à ce qu’il surperforme ses pairs et/ou son indice de référence sur une base ajustée des risques et sur un cycle de marché complet d’au moins cinq ans. La nouvelle notation de fonds, à l’instar des notations qualitatives actuelles qu’elles remplaceront, seront disponibles gratuitement sur les sites Internet Morningstar en Europe et en Asie. Pour l’ensemble des fonds couverts par Morningstar à l’échelle mondiale, la note et le rapport de recherche qui lui est associé seront disponibles sur Morningstar DirectSM, la plate-forme Morningstar dédiée aux investisseurs institutionnels.

According to reports in Il Sole – 24 Ore, the Italian bank Ubi Banca is preparing to sell its hedge funds operation to the asset management firm Tages Group, which has been freshly founded by Panfilo Tarantelli, formerly of Schroders and Citigroup. The funds are reported to represent total assets of EUR300m. Tages is aiming to become a centre for hedge funds.

François Carlotti, head of development at Metropole Gestion, told Bluerating that the French asset managers plans to open an office in Milan in the next few months. The company, which has EUR2.6bn in AUM, already holds a sales license for three funds in Italy : Metropole Sélection, Metropole Euro and Metropole Avenir Europe.

Pilar Vila, head of marketing and sales for Valiance Advisors in London, will be replacing Mencía Barreiros Juste as head of marketing and communication for Spain and Portugal at Schroders. She will report to Carla Bergareche, CEO for the two countries. Barreiros Juste recently joined the BBVA group as director of marketing for wholesale banking and asset management (see Newsmangers of 18 April).

Agefi reports that the additional public functionaries’ retirement establishment (ERAFP) has announced a restricted call for proposals for a real estate asset management mandate in order to diversify its assets. With a maximal total of EUR40m, and a total duration of 5 to 8 years, the fund will be required to respect the establishment’s SRI charter, and will be concentrated on the acquisition and management of an office property in Paris.

AllianceBernstein on 9 May announced that its assets under management as of 31 May were down 2.5%, to USD473bn, compared with USD485bn as of the end of April, according to preliminary estimates. The development is due to negative market effects and net outflows, largely from institutional clients, AllianceBernstein says in a statement.

Real Madrid is in talks with S.L. Benfica to transfer the Portuguese player Fábio Coentrão from the BBVA Liga for the 2011-2012 season. If the two firms reach agreement about the EUR25m price tag, the Benfica Stars Fund will receive EUR5m, although the player was valued as of the end of May at only EUR2.27m, Funds People reports. The Benfica Stars Fund is a Portuguese special investment fund which holds the rights to 16 Portuguese footballers. The three most valuable are Oscar René Cardozo (EUR2.8m), Airton Ribeiro Santo, and Alan Kardec Junior (EUR2.43m each).

Amundi ETF on Thursday, 9 June announced that it has launched a further 17 equities Etfs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), bringing the total number of products to 33.The new range includes: 2 ETFs based on key UK indices (FTSE 100® et FTSE 250®) : Amundi ETF FTSE 100 and Amundi ETF FTSE 250 1 regional ETF based on the MSCI Europe ex UK index, entitled Amundi ETF MSCI Europe EX UK, which offers exposure to about 15 European countries outside the UK 2 style ETFs, with the FTSE Dividend+® and Euro Stoxx® Small as benchmarks: Amundi ETF FTSE UK Dividend Plus, which allows investors to replicate the performance of UK equities with the highest dividends as faithfully as possible, and the Amundi ETF Euro Stoxx Small Cap, which offers exposure to 100 small caps listed in the euro zone; 11 European sectoral ETFs, replicating MSCI Global Sectors indices (including “Europe Materials,” “Europe Energy,” and others); 1 new ETF, based on green technologies, the Amundi ETF Green Tech Living Planet, which will aim to replicate the performance of the Living Planet Green Tech Europe index, an index defined by Living Planet Management Company S.A. (an affiliate of WWF International) and SRI (socially responsible investment) teams at CA Chevreux, as faithfully as possible. The ETF offers exposure to equities from European companies which generate at least 20% of their consolidated earnings from activities related to green technologies (energy efficiency, water management, renewable energies, waste management, etc), a statement says.

Legal & General Investment Management a annoncé le lancement du Global Environmental Enterprises Fund, un produit de gestion passive censé tirer profit de la transition vers un monde où les émissions de gaz carbonique seront réduites. Pour ce faire, LGIM s’est associé au gestionnaire indépendant spécialiste de l’environnement Osmosis Investment Management, dont l’indice Osmosis Climate Solutions (OCS) servira de base à la constitution du portefeuille. Cet indice couvre une centaine de sociétés «pure play» du monde entier qui doivent bénéficier des mesures destinées à contrer la pénurie d'énergie, des pressions qui s’exercent sur les ressources naturelles et de la réduction des émissions polluantes.Le portefeuille sera pondéré davantage par secteur que par capitalisation boursière. La commission de gestion est fixée à 1,25 % et LGIM reversera 0,40 % aux conseillers qui commercialiseront le produit. Aucune rétrocession néanmoins ne sera consentie pour les parts institutionnelles.

According to the most recent estimates from Chelsea Financial Services, assets invested in underperforming funds now total nearly GBP26bn up 41% compared with the most recent survey, conducted at the end of 2010, FundWeb reports. Chelsea has identified 13 funds which are underperforming their benchmarks and which have assets of GBP500m, compared with only 4 founds previously. The largest underperforming fund is the Halifax UK Growth Fund (GBP41.6bn), followed by the Prudential UK Growth (GBP2.4bn) and the Legal and General European Index Fund (GBP1.9bn). The number of underperforming funds has increased from 86 to 94, while the number of new additions is 58.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that DWS made a discreet afffair of its launch of the long-awaited total return fund Concept Kaldemorgen. However, with the product, the Deutsche Bank affiliate is seeking to gain a foothold in the wealth management fund market, as the Carmignac Patrimoine fund has excited a good deal of envy with its success. Klaus Kaldemorgen is aiming for EUR500m in assets in the first year.The fund was actually launched in May, which was “a difficult month,” the manager says. Thus, the fund is currently only 30% invested in equities, while in normal periods, the percentage is ideally meant to be 70%.

The Hamburg-based management firm Warburg-Henderson KAG für Immobilien has announced the launch of the institutional real estate fund Warburg - Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr. 2, which will be aimed at German and Austrian clients, with volume limited to EUR300m, while minimal subscription is set at EUR5m. The fund actually went on sale about a year ago, and several institutional investors from these countries have subscribed.The portfolio will ideally include 10 to 15 core-plus properties in Austria (office and commercial), and will generate an internal rate of return of 7% per year, after fees, over a 10-year period.The previous fund, Warburg - Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr. 1, still has assets of EUR230m, invested in 11 properties, though the phase is now in a divestment phase. Since its launch in December 2002, the fund has generated an internal rate of return of over 6%, and has distributed 5.5% per year.

Plans to recruit for sales teams for the institutional management portions of the Belgian Petercam group are gaining momentum (see Newsmanagers of 17 November 2010). A marketing vell with two members (soon to be three) is being created in Brussels, to serve the Belgian and European markets.Petercam is also planning to hire a salesperson for Spain, where the asset management firm already offers nearly all of its funds on the Allfunds and Inversis platforms. The recruit will report to Tomás Murillo, who had previously been solely responsible for the market, in additon to the Belgian market, from a base in Brussels.For the Italian market, a recruitment is also planned to support Ives Hup, sales director, who is based in Brussels, and who has already been reinforced by the recruitment of Thierry Minet for the French market, who has thus far also been the only one serving Italian clients.Petercam will also soon finalise the recruitment of two people for institutional business in Switzerland, and eventually, the management firm may be able to set up a modest presence in Luxembourg, and later, Scandinavia. Meanwhile, Bernard Jans will continue to oversee sales in Germany, from Brussels (see Newsmanagers of 26 November 2010).

The Norwegian asset management firm Skagen Funds has recruited Tim Gordon (formerly of Liontrust) for recruitment of new retail clients in London, and Nich Henderson (formerly of Financial Dynamics) for development of customer relationship, marketing and communication, Das Investment reports.

Since the beginning of the year, Neptune Investment Management has posted an increase in its assets of GBP5bn, to GBP7.7bn. This increase is largely due to net inflows, says Paul Boughton, in charge of European development for the UK asset management boutique specialised in equities.Most inflows came from British retail clients, who form the core of Neptune’s activities (about 55% of assets, compared with 20% for institutionals, and the remainder for funds of funds).But international assets are not being overlooked. Continental Europe now represents about GBP1bn in assets. In Europe, Boughton says that France and Switzerland are the most successful markets, both of them served from London, with two sales staff.

Bill Street, co-head of Active Fixed Income at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), based in London, has been appointed at global head of Fixed Income Alpha Strategies. He will report to Kevin Anderson, global CIO for Fixed Income & Currency, and will be in charge of all portfolio managers, analysts and stategists in the area of active bond management. He will also be in charge of recruiting a global head of Fixed Income Research. Brian Kinney has been promoted to the position of global head fo Fixed Income Beta Solutions, and will also report to Anderson. He was most recently head of the Government Solutions group at SSgA, a position which he will retain alongside his new responsibilities.

Russell Investments vient de recruter deux «development managers», Theresa Brennan et Tom Jenkins, pour renforcer son équipe de vente sur les ETF, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. Cette annonce fait suite au lancement récent par Russell de ses premiers ETF (NewsManagers du 24 mai et du 3 juin).Theresa Brennan travaillait précédemment chez Fidelity Investments, tandis que Tom Jenkins arrive de chez MSCI.

CCR Asset Management on Thursday, 9 June announced that it has recruited Edouard Legrez as head of institutional clients. Legrez, 38, has international experience, and has served as a sales person for institutional investors at AX AIM, Schroder Investment Management and ABM Amro, successively, a statement says.