State Street Corporation a annoncé le 23 mai avoir conclu un accord avec le groupe AllianceBernstein (AllianceBernstein) pour fournir à AllianceBernstein (Luxembourg) s.à.r.l. la production intégrale et la gestion des services liés à la publication du Document d’Informations Clés pour l’Investisseur (DICI) ou Key Investor Information Document (KIID). Ce contrat porte sur sa gamme complète de fonds conformes à la norme UCITS IV domiciliés à Luxembourg.
GLG Partners lance un fonds d’actions liées au développement durable, le GLG Global Sustainability equity fund, rapporte Investment Week.Le fonds coordonné investira dans des sociétés ou des secteurs bien positionnés pour tirer parti du thème du développement durable (entre autres santé, services liés à l'éducation, gestion de l’eau). Le gérant utilisera des critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG) dans son processus d’investissement afin de mettre en place un portefeuille concentré de titres de croissance tirés par une philosophie d’investissement responsable.
La société de multigestion du groupe Axa, Architas, vient de lancer trois fonds de fonds multi-classes d’actifs investissant dans des stratégies passives, rapporte Investment Week.Les trois fonds, Dynamic, Growth et Reserve Multi Asset Passive, auront un ratio du total des frais sur encours de 1,3%. Les pondérations des fonds entre obligations, actions et immobilier seront déterminées par la firme de modélisation financière eValue FE.
Les souscriptions nettes de parts d’OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro sont ressorties à 55 milliards d’euros au premier trimestre2011, tandis que les souscriptions nettes de parts d’OPCVM monétaires se sont établies à -10 milliards, selon les statistiques communiquées par la Banque centrale européenne.Ces souscriptions nettes ont contribué à une progression par rapport au trimestre précédent de 4 milliards d’euros de l’encours de parts émises par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro, les émissions nettes ayant été partiellement compensées par des baisses de la valeur des parts.L’encours de parts émises par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro est ressorti en hausse à 5751 milliards d’euros en mars2011, contre 5747 milliards en décembre 2010. Sur la même période, l’encours des parts émises par les OPCVM monétaires de la zone euro a diminué, revenant de 1107milliards d’euros à 1077 milliards.En ce qui concerne la ventilation par stratégies de placement, le rythme de progression annuel des parts émises par les fonds «obligations» est ressorti à 6,2% en mars 2011, tandis que les souscriptions nettes se sont élevées à 19 milliards d’euros au premier trimestre 2011. S’agissant des fonds «actions», le taux de croissance annuel est ressorti à 2,3% et les souscriptions nettes se sont inscrites à 7 milliards d’euros. Pour les fonds mixtes, le taux de croissance a atteint 6,3% et les souscriptions nettes se sont établies à 15 milliards d’euros.
Selon Investment Week, le groupe britannique Castlestone Management envisage de lancer un fonds dédié aux marchés frontières.Le fonds serait investi dans les pays regroupés sous l’acronyme Civets, à savoir la Colombie, l’Indonésie, le Vietnam, l’Egypte, la Turquie et l’Afrique du Sud. Il pourrait être lancé dans le courant de l’automne. Castlestone veut par ailleurs proposer une version au format Ucits de son fonds Next 11, qui investit également dans des pays du «Civets», à savoir, l’Indonésie, le Vietnam, l’Egypte et la Turquie. La version coordonnée du fonds Next 11, actuellement domicilié aux Iles Vierges, sera mise en œuvre un peu plus tard dans l’année.
Le fonds souverain Mubadala d’Abou Dhabi devrait boucler dans les prochaines semaines l’acquisition pour 500 millions d’euros de 71 % de la société basque Aernova, le principal constructeur aéronautique espagnol, rapporte Expansión. Il reprendrait les participations détenues par CCM (23 %), Espirito Santo (26 %), isolux (11 %) et la banque d’investissement EBN (11 %).Les 29 % resteront aux mains des dirigeants de l’entreprise, notamment le président Ignacio López Gandásegui.
On 19 May, Russell Investment launched six products in its new range of “investment discipline” ETFs on the NYSE Arca platform. With these new generation ETF products, Russell hopes to offer solutions that allow investors to construct portfolios and manage risks, on the basis of its expertise in manager selection and index construction. According to the management firm, the “investment discipline” ETF line represents the first range of ETFs to offer targeted, transparent and coherent exposure to US large caps, via six of the investment policies most commonly used by asset management professionals.The new team to manage the new products is mostly based in San Francisco, but may also rely on the support of the group’s global network of experts.The first six products in the range are the Russell Aggressive Growth ETF (NYSE: AGRG), Russell Consistent Growth ETF (NYSE: CONG), Russell Growth at a Reasonable Price ETF (NYSE: GRPC), Russell Equity Income ETF (NYSE: EQIN), Russell Low P/E ETF (NYSE: LWPE) and Russell Contrarian ETF (NYSE: CNTR). Each product replicates the corresponding Russell Investment Discipline index; the indices are composed of companies of the Russell 1000 index.
NYSE Euronext on 23 May announced the admission to trading on its Paris platform of a new ETF from HSBC, based on China. It is the HSBC MSCI China ETF, whose benchmark index is the MSCI China. The Irish-registered fund (IE00B44T3H88) charges fees of 0.60%, and brings the number of funds listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext to 558, of which 109 are new listings since the beginning of this year, of 83 new ETFs.
The fund of hedge fund management firm Palmer Square Capital Management has announced the launch of the Palmer Square Absolute Return Fund, its first open-ended mutual fund. The objective for the fund, launched in partnership with Montage Investments, is capital appreciation, with the emphasis on absolute returns and low correlation with equities and bond markets. The fund will rely on seven institutional managers, who will use a wide range of strategies, including event-driven, long/short, global macro, long/short international, and domestic equity, as well as convertibles arbitrage. Montage Investments currently manages about USD9bn on behalf of institutional and high net worth investors.
Pimco has launched a fund dedicated to banking sector debt, in partnership with the family office Fleming & Family Partners, with the objective of taking advantage of the new Basedl III regulations, Investment Week reports. The Pimco Capital Securities fund, domiciled in Dublin, will be managed by Philippe Bodereau, executive vice president and head of European credit. The fund will invest in high yield debt issued by banks, including cocos (contingent convertibles), as well as Tier One debt.
Investment Week reports that the British management firm Castlestone Management is planning to launch a fund dedicated to frontier markets. The fund will invest in countries of the CIVETS group: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa; it may be launched this autumn. Castlestone is also planning to offer a UCITS-compliant version of its Next 11 fund, which also invests in some CIVETS countries – Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. The UCITS-compliant version of the Next 11 fund, currently domiciled in the Virgin Islands, will be launched later this year.
The multi-management firm of the Axa group, Architas, has launched three multi-asset class funds of funds, which will invest in passive strategies, Investment Week reports. The three funds, Dynamic, Growth, and Reserve Multi-Asset Passive, will have a total TER ratio of 1.3%. The weighting of the funds between bonds, equities and real estate will be determined by the financial modelling firm eValue FE.
GLG Partners is launching a fund of equities related to sustainable development, entitled GLG Global Sustainability equity fund, Investment Week reports. The UCITS-compliant fund will invest in companies or sectors which are well-positioned to benefit from the theme of sustainable development (in the health, education services, and water management sectors, among others). The manager will use environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in its investment process, to create a concentrated portfolio of growth equities, guided by a responsible investment philosophy.
The legally-appointed trustee for the affairs of Bernard Madoff, Irving Picard, has filed lawsuits against the Swiss Banking establishment Banque Syz & Co, which he claims knew about Madoff’s fraudulent activities, Agefi reports. Picard, who has filed over 1,000 lawsuits, expects to recuperate USD73.3m with the suits.
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on 23 May announced that it has fined the management firm Nuveen Investments USD3m for failure to appropriately inform intermediaries of the liquidity risks association with auction-rate preferred stock (ARPS) in its closed funds. Nuveen Investments did not distribute the securities directly, but was supposed to inform brokers about their characteristics in sales brochures, which presented them as products with no liquidity risks. The market went on to collapse in February 2008.
Ricardo Comin will be joining the Madrid offices of BlackRock in the next few weeks, after a year and a half as senior sales manager for Spain at Pioneer Investments, Funds People reports. BlackRock Spain has been led by Armando Senra since late 2008, while the head of iShares ETFs is Iván Pascual.According to the most recent statistics from Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms, BlackRock has assets of EUR3.3bn in Spain, putting it in third place among foreign management firms, after JP Morgan AM and Amundi.
The US management firm Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) has registered its Pimco GIS EMErging Multi-Asset fund, a sub-fund of its Irish Global Investor Series (41 sub-funds, GBP46bn in assets), the PIMCO GIS EqS Emerging Markets fund, an emerging markets equity fund managed in London (see Newsmanagers of 28 April), and the Pimco CIS Euro Income Fund, which aims for annual returns of 5% with monthly distribution, with the CNMV for sale in Spain.
The French management firm Carmignac Gestion has registered its new diversified fund Emerging Patrimoine (see Newsmanagers of 25 January) with the CNMV, so that the fund may now be offered for sale in Spain.
Axa Investment Managers Deutschland (Axa IM) has announced that it has sold off a real estate property (in Via Viola in Rome) from the portfolio of its open-ended real estate fund Axa Immoselect (DE0009846451). The sale was at a price higher than the market value of the property, and the price at which the property was acquired in 2003.Ian Gordine, manager of the fund, says that with the sale, the Axa Immoselect fund has increased its liquidity rate by nearly two percentage points, to 12.7%.Axa IM has frozen subscriptions to the fund, with over EUR2.6bn in assets, from which redemptions have been frozen since 17 November 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 28 April).
On 23 May, WGF Finanzgruppe announced that it has received permission from BaFin to operate WGF Immobilien Investment GmbH, an institutional real estate fund management firm. It will offer custom products for insturers, pension funds and religious organisations, among others.Investments will be decided on by a committee composed of clients and management at the firm.WGF Immobilien Investment GmbH is led by Hans-Dieter Martin (chairman of the board of directors), who was one of the heads of LB ImmoInvest GmbH, also an institutional real estate management firm, and by Walter J. Helbach, who was one of the directors of ECE Projektmanagement GmbH, after serving in senior positions at Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH.
Bernd Vorbeck, CEO, has announced in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung that Universal Investment is planning to add to its product range with the launch of institutional real estate funds from this autumn. Universal has recruited Alexander Tannenbaum from Aberdeen to manage the portfolios. The firm is aiming for a market share of 15% in the mid-term. The market currently measures EUR30bn.
BlackRock on 23 May announced that it has added direct private equity investment to its range of alternative investments. The activity will be led by three reputable professionals in private equity: Nathan Thorne, George Bitar, and Mandy Puri, who launched the activity at Merrill Lunch in the 1990s.The three have joined BlackRock as managing directors, and will build a team to direct BlackRock’s international platform dedicated to private equity, which will include 20 professionals by next year.They will report directly to Matthew Botein, managing director and head of BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI). As of 31 March 2011, assets under management at BAI totalled Usd115.3bn, including hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, real estate, private equity funds of funds, opportunity-driven investment vehicles, commodities, and currencies.
For the second quarter of its current fiscal year (ending on 30 April), net income attributable to Eaton Vance Corp shareholders totalled USD62.48bn, compared with USD37.53bn for the quarter ending on 31 January, and USD36bn in the corresponding period of last year. For the first half of the fiscal year, profits totalled USD100.01m, compared with USD82.24m in the six months to the end of April 2010.As of 30 April, assets under management totalled a record USD203bn, 6% higher than at the end of January (USD191.7bn), and 15% higher than one year previously (USD176.2bn).Net subscriptions to long-term funds and mandates between the end of February and the end of April totalled USD2.9bn, compared with USD1.8bn the previous quarter, and USD5.3bn in the second quarter of the fiscal year, to 31 October 2010.
Following the departure of Franz Bartmann, who has joined BCA Austria, Jörg Westebbe has been appointed as a member of the board of directors and head of asset management at HSBC Global Asset Management Austria. He will work in concert with Walter Gleissinger, head of coordination of banking activities for HSBC in Austria, to direct the firm.Westebbe joined the asset management activities at HSBC Germany more than ten years ago, and worked primarily to set up distribution of open-ended funds in Germany and Austria. He will also remain as head of wholesale distribution for HSBC GAM in Germany.
Morningstar announced on Monday, 23 May, that it has appointed Christophe Tardy as director of strategy at Morningstar France. Tardy had previously been director of strategy at Morningstar. The newly-created position is part of the firm’s strategy on the French market, which has developed new product ranges including “Equity & Credit Research,” “Morningstar Indexes,” LIM Commodities,” “Variable Annuities,” and others, a statement says. Tardy joined Morningstar in 2006, and for 2 years was director of the group’s affiliate in South Africa.
According to information received by Newsmanagers, by this summer, and perhaps as soon as next month, Robeco Gestion will have successfully reconstituted its sales teams, following the movements of last year, and restored normality, with the recruitment of a director of sales. Two other sales personnel will be joining the firm in the relatively near future.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management is currently in the final phase of its expansion strategy, which has included over 1,000 recruitments worldwide, Financial Times Fund Management reports. In the past 18 months, the asset management firm has recruited sales staff in Italy, Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Spain, and France. Nick Phillips, head of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at GSAM, tells FT FM that the group hopes to become one of the five largest asset management firms in Europe in the next five years. It is planning to take advantage of the introduction of the UCITS IV directive.
Asset management firms with less than 10 funds have captured 26% of net inflows of European cross-border funds in first quarter, compared with 9% in 2010, and 3% in 2009, according to Lipper FMI, cited by Financial Times Fund Management. The market share for the major players, those with over 60 funds, has fallen to 64%, the lowest level since 2002. In France, small management firms such as Moneta, Metropole, Schelcher Prince Gestion and Rouvier have attracted large inflows, FT FM says.
State Street Corporation on 23 May announced that it has formed an agreement with the AllianceBernstein group (AllianceBernstein) to provide AllianceBernstein (Luxembourg) s.à.r.l. with integrated production and management of services related to the publication of Key Investor Information Documents (KIID). The contract covers its complete range of funds domiciled in Luxembourg and compliant with UCITS IV standards.
The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 23 May announced that it has revised its asset manager rating for DB Advisors upward, to “M2+” from “M2” previously. The ratings upgrade reflects a return to growth and modest profitability in 2010, Fitch says, pointing to the firm’s efforts to enlarge its range of products and services for institutional investors. The ratings agency also points to the particular attention paid to risk management.