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01/02/2011

Record assets for ETFs in the United States

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the SPDR ETF Outlook bulletin from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), assets in ETF funds in the United States totalled a record USD995bn as of the end of December, due to net subscriptions which “topped USD100bn for the fourth consecutive year,” a statement released on 31 January states.According to figures from BlackRock, in the most recent issue of its publication ETF Landscape, the ETF sector in the United States included 896 products from 28 providers, with total assets of USD891bn. According to this source, assets increased 26.3% last year compared with USD705.5bn as of the end of 2009. Net subscriptions totalled USD106.6bn, of which USD40.5bn went to Vanguard and USD27.5bn to iShares.
01/02/2011

RBS offers two retail volatility funds on British market

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is launching two retail volatility funds on the British market, the Volatility Controlled Cautious Managed Fund and the Volatility Controlled Balanced Managed Fund, two vehicles which offer the same levels of volatility that would ordinarily be expected for cautious and balanced funds, Fundstrategy reports.RBS says that independent financial advisers refuse to recommend 33% of balanced managed products and 28% of cautious managed products, as they consider the risk too high. But this does not prevent these advisers from investing 44% of their clients’ capital in cautious and diversified funds in second half 2010. A minority (8%) estimate that this percentage may decline in first half 2011.
01/02/2011

JP Morgan AM launches a low-cost fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that JP Morgan Asset Management has launched a low-cost actively-managed fund, the JPM UK Active Index Plus Fund (a modified version of the UK Active 350), whose total expense ratio (TER) is 0.55%. The product may compete with passive management products.Management fees have been lowered to 0.25% per year, with set costs of 0.15% per year. A performance commission of 10% will be limited to as to prevent the TER for the fund from exceeding 0.55%.A head at JP Morgan AM says that the product is the first, or at any rate one of the very first funds to comply with RDR regulations, in that all advisory commissions have been removed.
01/02/2011

Fidelity launches an opportunistic fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Fidelity International will launch an opportunistic fund on the British retail market on 10 February, which will be dedicated to British small caps. The new product aimed at retail clients will integrate the UK Opportunities fund, which is reserved for institutional clients. The fund will include 100 shares, 80% from small firms, while the remainder will be divided between mid- and large caps. The benchmark index will be the Hoare Govett Smaller Companies ex IC. No position will exceed 4% of the portfolio.
01/02/2011

UBP recruits five MENA specialists

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 31 January, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) announced that it has recruited a complete team from Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, a Dubai-based management firm. The five specialists, including two senior portfolio managers (Habib Oueijan, director, and Mahmoud El Safty), and three analysts, will continue to manage their MENA fund, which has recently been transferred to the Swiss firm, at UBP.In 2010, UBP recruited 11 investment professionals for emerging markets, and launched three equities funds (Emerging Europe, Turkey, and Russia) in connection with this theme, as well as a corporate bond fund and a fund of hedge funds.
01/02/2011

One departure and several appointments at SAM

SAM, the investment boutique focused on sustainability investing, part of Robeco, has announced the departure of its CIO, Stephanie Feigt and a series of appointments.Effective immediately, the head of portfolio management, Raimer Baumann, and head of research functions, Daniel Wild, will be represented on SAM’s executive committee. Neil Johnson, previously in charge of sales at SAM USA, has been appointed head of global clients & marketing and will also join the executive committee. He takes over the position that was vacant since the appointment of Michael Baldinger as CEO. The company’s executive team now consists of Michael Baldinger (CEO), Rainer Baumann (head of portfolio management), Stefan Gordijn (COO), Neil Johnson (head global clients & marketing), Andrew Musters (head of private equity) and Daniel Wild (head of research).
01/02/2011

Rozenn Le Cainec joins La Banque Postale AM

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } La Banque Postale Asset Management on 31 January announced the arrival of Rozenn Le Cainec as director of balanced management. Le Cainec will be in charge of the diversified portfolios of retail clients and legal entities that are clients of La Banque Postale.Le Cainec previously worked at Natixis AM, which she joined in 2002, and where since 2007 she had been head of benchmarked diversified management.
01/02/2011

Net increase in commissions at Waddell & Reed

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US publicly-traded management firm Waddell & Reed Financial on Monday reported a 39% increase year on year in its profits for fourth quarter, to USD46.4bn, Agefi reports. Commissions rose 15% to USD281m.
01/02/2011

Muzinich hits USD10bn in assets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets under management at Muzinich & Co reached USD10bn, more than USD3bn of which were in the Irish Sicav fund Muzinich Funds (see Newsmanagers of 22 November and 10 December 2010). The US management firm says that over USD1bn come from French-speaking countries of Europe, of which 50% is managed on behalf of French investors.Of the USD420m in net subscriptions to the Sicav from French-speaking Europe, USD200m were from French investors.Muzinich & Co is planning to continue its international development in 2011, with the registration of its fund range in the Netherlands and Belgium. The manager is predicting returns of 5% to 10% for its traditional funds, and 2-7% for its short-term funds.
01/02/2011

Assets in foreign funds increased 49% in 2010

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms, assets managed by foreign providers on the Spanish market as of the end of 2010 totalled EUR48bn, which represents a 49% increase compared with EUR32.2bn as of the end of 2009. According to institutions which provide statistics to Inverco, net subscriptions for last year as a whole totalled over EUR5.2bn. Extrapolating to all foreign asset management firms, these net subscriptions are estimated to have totalled about EUR9.5bn.Three French firms and/or their local affiliates were included in this list: Amundi Iberia has EUR3.855bn in assets, and is second among foreign firms, after JPMorgan Asset Management (EUR5.738bn). In third place is BNP Paribas IP (with Fortis Investments) with EUR3.061bn. In thirteenth place is Axa Investment Managers, with EUR594m.Twelve firms have over EUR1bn in assets, and eight have over EUR2bn. In addition to JPMAM, Amundi and BNPP IP, these include Schroders (EUR2.98bn), BlackRock (EUR2.79bn), Franklin Templeton (EUR2.5bn), Fidelity (EUR2.23bn), and DWS (EUR2.02bn).
01/02/2011

Hedge fund managers continue to privilege US equities

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The optimism of hedge fund managers about US equities continued in January, according to the most recent Trim Tabs/BarclaysHedge survey, undertaken at the end of the month. About 37% of 91 hedge fund managers are optimistic about the evolution of the S&P 500, compared with 46% in December, while 26.4% were predicting declines, compared with 18.7% the previous month.Hedge fund managers may be less pessimistic than last month, but 37.9% still say they predict falls for 10-year US Treasuries, compared with 53.5% the previous month.
01/02/2011

Developed markets favoured by investors

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Improved growth outlooks in the United States and Europe have supported the trend observed recently of renewed interest in developed markets to the detriment of emerging markets, according to the most recent statistics from EPFR Global. In the week to 28 January, equities funds dedicated to emerging markets posted their first outflows in five weeks. However, European equities funds, which investors had been avoiding in recent months, attracted more than USD1bn for the first time since June.
01/02/2011

HSBC Private Bank recruits a fund selection specialist from Singapore

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Alexander Kwan has joined HSBC Private Bank as senior director of fund selection in Singapore, a newly-created position.Kwan, who will lead a team which is already in place, previously worked at Société Générale Private Banking in Singapore.
01/02/2011

Russell has ambitious plans in the Middle East

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The 31 January marks the 35th anniversary of Russell Investments’ presence in the Middle East. For the occasion, the US management firm, which says that it has “forged close ties with Rayan Asset Management in Dubai, Jadwa Investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and more recently with the Saudi stock market company, Tadawul,” is planning to create a range of regional funds in the next five years, which will have USD5-10bn in assets. Russel is also “planning to increase its assets under management or advising mandate via fiduciary services and investment advising, to USD20bn in the next five years.”
01/02/2011

Mirae Asset sets up on Taiwan market

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Mirae Asset Global Investments has made a decisive step towards entering the Taiwan market, with the signature of an agreement in principle to acquire a 60% stake in TLG Asset Management, an affiliate of Taiwan Life Insurance. Assets under management at the management firm from Taiwan Life total USD270m. As of 30 November, assets under management by the Mirae Asset Global Investments group totalled over USD52bn.
01/02/2011

Berenberg absorbs Ukraine fund into Osteuropa fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 January, the former Baklan Baltikum Fonds from Berenberg Bank has absorbed the Berenberg Emerging Ukraine fund. The merged fund will become known as the Berenberg Osteuropa; the absorption will take place at one Osteuropa share for every two Emerging Ukraine shares, Das Investment reports, citing manager Peter Reichel.The Ukraine fund had only EUR7m in assets, and some institutional investors had been using the fund for short investment durations which hurt the performance of a product which was also penalised by transaction costs in Ukraine of 1% to 1.5%. The Ukrainian market is also of limited size, with an average daily trading volume of only EUR10m.The Osteuropa fund may hold 0% to 20% Ukrainian equities (currently 2.5%). The preferred countries for the manager are Kazakhstan, Romania and Croatia.
01/02/2011

Egypt: Over EUR2bn are potentially affected on German fund market

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to calculations by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, equities funds on sale in Germany and potentially exposed to Egypt have assets of over EUR2bn, of which EUR1.1bn are in funds which invest in North Africa, and slightly over EUR1bn in funds which invest in the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to which there are also allocations to emerging or frontier markets.Among the products which may be affected to varying extents depending on the weight of Egypt in their portfolios are the CS Sicav One (Lux) Equities Middle East & North Africa, the Deka Middle East and Africa, the DWS Invest Africa, the BB Africa Opportunities, the Silk African Lions, and the ING (L) Invest Mena funds.
01/02/2011

AcomeA takes over Leonardo Sgr

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AcomeA, the asset management firm created last July and led by Alberto Foà, has announced the acquisition of Leonardo Sgr, with which it will merge, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. The operation means that the former Banca Sai, in which FonSai controls 10%, will add the EUR120m in assets managed by Leonardo Sgr to its own assets of EUR450m. The agreement also states that funds managed by AcomeA will be distributed by the Leonardo Private Banking network.
01/02/2011

Deutsche Bank creates an international risk management centre

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Bank on 31 January announced the created of an international centre in Berlin dedicated to risk management. The objective for the new centre is to develop global monitoring models and processes for risk management, including market, liquidity and credit risks.The bank has already set up a team in Berlin with 50 members, including mathematicians and statisticians. By the end of the year, the centre will have about 300 people. Staff may increase to 500-700 people in the mid- to long-term.
01/02/2011

Non-financial risks are overlooked by fund sector, according to Edhec

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The fund sector in Europe has not paid enough attention to non-financial risks, such as liquidity, counterparty, compliance, and misinformation risks, and has not measured the operational consequences of financial innovation, the Edhec-Risk Institute finds in a new study undertaken with Caceis, by the research chair in “risks and regulation of the fund industry in Europe.” “Even the UCITS IV directive itself does not sufficiently take into account the operational consequences of financial innovation. Although investment funds are internationally diversified, use more derivatives and other complex strategies, and have developed in many areas, and although European regulations and recommendations have admitted, or fostered these changes, no study of their impact has been undertaken, and no regulations have been modified as a result,” the authors of the study continue. The Edhec-Risk Institute finds that “although member states of the European Union have not reached agreement on reforms, a distinction must be drawn between UCITS funds which are not exposed to non-financial risks, and more modern UCITS funds, which are potentially more exposed to non-financial risks.”
01/02/2011

Hedge funds seek clarity on “expert networks”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Richard Baker, president of the Managed Funds Association, on Monday asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide clear directives for its approximately 3,000 members, including many hedge funds, on the use of the services of “expert networks,” which have been the subject of a vast Federal investigation into suspected insider trading, the Wall Street Journal reports.The association is seeking to establish clearly whether or not hedge funds are allowed to use the often internal information which is provided by these expert networks, which employ as independent consultants people who may be employees of publicly-traded companies.
01/02/2011

Bond manager leaves Threadneedle

Roman Gaiser has quit Threadneedle, Citywire can reveal. He managed the EUR970 million Threadneedle European High Yield Bond fund and was co-manager on its Credit Opportunities fund. He is going to join another big London-based fund manager, according to a Citywire source.
01/02/2011

Barings repositions its emerging markets portfolios

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } James Syme, head of global emerging markets, has announced that Barings has repositioned its emerging markets strategies for the short to mid-term, to focus more on companies, particularly in South Korea, which are benefiting from global growth. Bets on household retail consumption is beginning to be integrated into the share prices on several markets.Currently, the portfolio includes South Korean exporters of refined materials, naval shipyards, automobile and technology manufacturers, Indian IT service providers and Taiwan consumer electronics companies. Barings is underweight on energy, but overweight on oil; in the materials sector, the British manager has a bias for bulk metals such as iron and nickel, as well as gold.Barings also says the strength of emerging economies represents a supporting factor for the currencies of these countries, which increases local purchasing power.Inflation remains a cause for concern, particularly in Indonesia and India. Returns on equities in these markets has been high, but valuations may be attractive elsewhere, particularly in Russia and South Korea.
01/02/2011

Roman Gaiser leaves Threadneedle

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barrie Whitman, manager of the Credit Opportunities Fund and head of the high yield team, will become the principal manager of the Threadneedle European High Yield Bond Fund (GB0009692087, GBP1.03bn in assets as of 31 December), which was previously managed by Roman Gaiser. Gaiser has resigned to return to Switzerland, according to a spokesperson for Threadneedle. Whitman, who set up the high yield strategy 12 years ago, will be assisted by Michael Poole for the management of the fund.Gaiser also co-managed the Credit Opportunities Fund (see Newsmanagers of 7 and 11 May 2009) with Whitman and Alasdair Ross.According to Funds People, Gaiser may soon join another London management firm.
01/02/2011

Several asset managers exposed to Egypt

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barings, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Investec, Schroders, and Silkinvest were invested in Egypt to varying extends as of the end of last year, according to Fund Strategy.The highest relative exposures are for the MENA fund from Barings (USD21.1m), with 21.7%, and the African Lions Fund from Silkinvest (21.67%).The Schroder ISF Middle East Fund (USD321m) was underweight on Egyptian equities as of the end of December, with 8.7%, where the benchmark index has a weight of 9.1% for Egypt.At BlackRock, exposure of the Frontier Investment Trust was “very minimal,” lower than the 1.6% allocation to Jordan.
01/02/2011

Guillermo Osses joins HSBC Global AM

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Guillermo Osses, formerly of Pimco, has joined HSBC Global Asset Management as head of emerging markets debt (EMD).Osses replaces Peter Marber, who had been appointed interim head until a replacement could be found for the three EMD managers, Denise Simon, Arif Joshi and George Varino, who moved to Lazard Asset Management last September.Marber will remain in the group as chairman for management of EMD operations and the development committee.
01/02/2011

Heptagon recruits two expert specialists

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alexander Gunz, who was most recently head of equities strategy and the edition of best ideas reports for institutional investors at Edison Invesment Research, has been recruited by Heptagon Capital (USD3.3bn in assets) as a fund manager in the asset management division, Hedge Week reports.Heptagon has also recruited Sebastian Hybinette, who was previously chief investment officer for a large family office in the United Kingdom, where he was in charge of a portfolio composed of private equity, hedge funds, real estate and publicly traded assets, as vice president of the ultra-high net worth investor (UNHWI) group, mainly to serve Scandinavian clients.
01/02/2011

Launch of the first ESG index covering Middle Eastern markets

Index provider Standard & Poor’s has announced the launch in early February of the first index to track and rate the level of transparency and performance for more than 100 companies listed on stock markets of the Middle East in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.The index is the fruit of a collaboration between Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance and Standard & Poor’s, with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).The index will be unveiled on 1 February (today) in Dubai.
01/02/2011

AIMCo and ANZFF acquire forestry assets of Great Southern Plantations

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Canadian Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), which represents 26 pension funds, foundations and governments in the province of Alberta, in partnership with the Australia New Zealand Forest Fund (ANZFF) from New Forests, has acquired about 2,500 square kilometres of forests and agricultural land for AUD415m, from Great Southern Plantations (GSP), a firm which has been under legal administration since May 2009.New Forests is an Australian management firm specialised in investments in forests and other themes related to the environment, such as water, biodiversity and carbon. The ANZFF, its first fund, was created in October, and has AUD500m in assets. The transaction is the largest ever realised by private investors in the area of forestry in Australia.

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