p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } All alternative strategies monitored by the Edhec-Risk Institute posted gains in September, except short selling, which lost 8.63%. Short selling was also the only strategy in the red since the beginning of the year, with losses of 9.4%. The best-performing strategy was emerging markets, which gained 4.63% in September. In the first 9 months of the year, convertibles arbitrage was the strategy which performed best, with gains of 8.5%. Fund of funds strategy has gained 2.2% for the month, and has returned to positive performance since the beginning of the year (+1.7%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Currently, the Irish-domiciled BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency fund, managed by Alexander Khozhemiakin at Standish, has USD4bn in assets, of which USD2bn in net subscriptions have come since the beginning of this year USD300m from France). The fund, which was once again presented to investors in Paris on 19 October, invests in government debts from emerging countries which are expected to generate double-digit performance, with returns of 6-6 1/2% and currency gains against the Euro of 4-5% per year. The management team reserves the right to use currency forwards to dissociate bets on currency rates from those on interest rates. The fund invests in 17 countries with liquid bond markets, with a vast range of maturities. About one third of the fund is invested in Asia, one quarter in emerging Europe, and one tenth in Brazilian debt, among others. The fund has no exposure to frontier markets. Khozhemiakin explains that the fund is focused on the safest investments in local currencies, the one which are privileged by the major local institutionals. The turnover rate is between 60% and 70%. The team currently includes 12 investment professionals in Boston and London. A senior analyst is now being recruited in Singapore.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent estimates by Preqin, about USD96bn remain available for hedge fund investments from institutional investors, who are moving into this asset class or who are seeking to increase their exposure, Hedge Week reports. Aside from insurers, all groups of investors have increased their allocation to hedge funds in 2009-2010, with the average increase representing 1.2% of total assets. A large part of this new capital will go to single manager funds. Preqin has observed that there is a trend this year to pull out of funds of hedge funds and move instead to direct investments. The portfolios of 50% of pension funds continue to be composed entirely of investments in funds of hedge funds, compared with 10% of endowments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “In the current market, investors are constantly seeking new means to bring the risk in their portfolios under control,” says Will Kinlaw, managing director and head of the Portfolio and Risk Management Research group at State Street Global Markets. That’s why State Street Global Markets has launched the Systemic Risk Index, which aims to measure the vulnerability of the US equities market to market fluctuations. The index examines the influence of a limited number of economic macro risk factors on the performance of equities, compared with information which is specifically tied to a particular share or industry. “The Systemic Risk Index from State Street is designed to provide institutional investors with a first indication of the fragility of the US market, to make them able to adjust their strategies as a result and to optimise their returns, in a difficult market environment,” adds Kinlaw. The composition of the Systemic Risk Index from State Street includes the entire US equities market, in nearly 60 sectors of activity, a statement says.

Some of the world’s biggest institutional investors have joined forces with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to try to recover losses on more than USD47bn in mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide Financial, bought by Bank of America, says the Financial Times. The eight investors, which include BlackRock, Pimco and MetLife, own more than 25 per cent of the voting rights on the securities.

The alternative management firm Quaesta Capital GmbH, based in Frankfurt with EUR2bn in assets, has announced the launch of the Bond Global Select fund, a UCITS III-compliant fund with an opportunistic / Macro Funds strategy, offering daily liquidity.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management announced on Tuesday, 19 October, that Alexandre Touma has joined the firm as a salesperson in the Institutionnel France team.Touma began his career in 2005 at Robeco. Since January 2008, he has served as an institutional salesperson for retirement, financial institutions and business clients. His arrival coincides with a desire at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management to strengthen its presence in the French institutional market. The “Institutionnels France” team, with 4 members, is led by Florence Dard, a statement says.

Pierre-Edourard Coiffard on 15 October joined Olympia Capital Management as deputy chief investment officer in charge of strategic analysis. He is based in London, and will report to Guido Bolliger, chief investment officer.Coiffard was previously director of management at Altigefi, a unit of Sal. Oppenheim and Deutsche Bank, and created the Altipro range, which he has managed since 1998. He founded LC & Co, which then gave birth to Altigefi, in which he was one of the largest shareholders until its sale in late 2007.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter, Bank of America Corporation reposted net losses of USD7.3bn due to a one-time charge related to goodwill for its global activities and credit cards totalling USD10.4bn. Aside from this non-tax deductible charge, net profits totalled USD3.1bn, compared with USD1bn in third quarter 2009. Net profits for asset and wealth management (AWM) in July-September totalled USD313m, compared with USD356m for second quarter, and USD234m in the corresponding period of last year. Meanwhile, assets as of the end of September totalled USD624.1bn, compared with USD603.3bn as of 30 June, and USD739.8bn as of 30 September 2009. In the first nine months of the year, net profits for AWM totalled USD1.129bn, compared with USD1.123bn in the corresponding period of 2009. The division states that its assets under management increased in July-September due to rising markets and higher subscriptions for high-return products, which led to an increase of USD14bn in deposits and USD6bn in long-term assets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 September, assets under management at BNY Mellon, excluding securities lending, totalled USD1.14trn, an increase of 9% compared with the end of June, and 18% year on year, while assets under custody and administration totalled a record USD24.4trn, 12% more than on 30 June, and 10% more than on 30 September 2009. These increases came largely from the acquisitions of Global Investment Servicing (GIS) on 1 July, and BHF Asset Servicing GmbH on 2 August. In third quarter, net inflows from asset and wealth management totalled USD11bn for long-term products, and USD18bn for short-term products. Group-wide, net profits available to holders of ordinary shares in third quarter totalled USD625bn, compared with USD688m in second quarter, and a loss of USD2.439bn in the corresponding period of last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter, Goldman Sachs has seen an increase of USD21bn in assets under management, to USD823bn, largely due to rising markets, which brought in USD34bn, and which offset net redemptions of USD13bn, largely from equities and money markets. Net revenues for the asset management division totalled USD1.02trn, 5% more than one year ago.

Petercam IAM has posted net inflows of about USD250m in France since the beginning of the year. For the year as a whole, assets under management at the firm, which currently total EUR15.3bn, may come out to about EUR16bn.In other words, says Yves Hup, senior sales & account manager France and Italy, levels are EUR3bn to EUR4bn below where they were before the crisis, but the important thing is perhaps not asset levels but maintaining a long-term relationship of trust with investors. “permanent contact with clients through the crisis, and efforts to be transparent about strategy, pay off in the long term,” he says.France is now at the core of the Belgian management firm’s strategy, and it has recently scaled up its sales presence in France with the recruitment of Thierry Minet as sales & account manager for France (see Newsmanagers of 2 September). Hup does not conceal the fact that the team may take on further additions in the next few months.Petercam is also working to develop new products, which could be offered by the end of the year or early 2011. A global metals & mining themed strategy is planned, as well as a real estate strategy, and early next year, a wealth fund.Meanwhile, assets in the Petercam L Bonds Euro Short Term High Dividend fund, launched recently, total USD27m. The fund is a complement to the Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield, launched ten years ago, with assets near EUR1bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the European Central Bank, assets in Euro zone investment funds excluding money market funds as of the end of August totalled EUR5.428bn, compared with EUR5.375bn one month previously, an increase of EUR53bn nearly equally attributable to market effects and net subscriptions (which totalled EUR28bn, compared with EUR20bn in July). Between the end of August and 30 September, assets under management in money market funds increased (for the first time in one year) by EUR37bn (of which EUR28bn were net subscriptions), to EUR1.18trn.

Between June 2009 and June 2010, assets under management in socially responsible investment funds in Europe increased 41% to EUR75bn, according to a Vigeo study of green, social and ethical funds. The number of funds also increased 29% to 879.France was the driver of this growth, with an increase of 92% in assets managed according to SRI principles. The country also retains its position as the leader in Europe, with a market share of 36%. Vigeo notes that Switzerland has seen a strong increase (+59%), followed by Sweden (+48%).SRI has grown in the United Kingdom and Germany as well, but to a lesser extent (+9% and +11%, respectively). Italy has returned to growth (+13%), after a year of stagnation. Belgium is the country with the largest number of SRI funds, which account for 10% of total assets under collective management in the country.Analysis of products by asset classes reveals a more marked growth for money market funds than for equities funds.

The 27 countries of the European Union on 19 October reached unanimous agreement on the planned AIFM directive, which will allow for the regulation of hedge fund managers. The bill will now go to a vote of the European Parliament at its session on 10 and 11 November, just before the Seoul G20 summit, which will be chaired by France.On the highly sensitive question of the European passport, the agreement will allow a passport for funds and asset management firms from countries outside Europe from 2013 for funds managed in the European Union, and from 2015 for funds registered in outside countries.France did not achieve its goal of making the new European financial market authority (ESMA) responsible for issuing the passport; approval may be granted by any of the 27 national supervisors in the Union. But ESMA will be systematically informed of all passport applications to a national supervisor, and will be able to step in to tell member state supervisors not to license or to suspend sales of foreign funds which threaten the security of investors or financial stability in Europe.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } US managers like Apollo, Fortress, Cerberus and Carval, specialised in distressed debt, have arrived in Spain in recent weeks, and will conclude acquisitions of distressed debt from banks and savings banks by the end of the year, Expansión reports. In total, there is a record volume of EUR102bn in distressed debt in Spain. Recovery management platforms such as Gescobro, Gesif and Lindorff are also studying the possibility of extending their activities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The CNMV issued licenses for 74 iShares ETFs, sub-funds of three Irish Sicav funds (iShares Public Limited Company, iShares II Public Limited Company, and iShares III Public Limited Company). The products come in addition to 17 others which BlackRock had previously registered in December 2009, when the iShares brand made its debut on the Spanish market. The manager is planning to register other iShares ETFs in the next few months, with the objective of becoming the provider with the largest product range in Spain.

Jersey’s fund servicing industry rose to 1,688 funds and subfunds at the end of June 2010 (1,654 funds a year ago), with total net assets of USD232.0 billion, says Lipper. Ed Moisson, Head of UKI & Cross-border Research, Lipper, said, “Confidence in the Jersey funds industry can be seen with the rise in the number of schemes being serviced there, despite the continued difficult market conditions.”The largest administrator of funds serviced in Jersey is State Street, with US$76.6 billion under administration. The largest asset classes of funds domiciled are private equity/venture capital funds (USD43.6 billion) and real estate funds (USD37.3 billion), together representing 57% of fund assets domiciled on the Island. The rise in interest in ETFs can also be seen with exchange traded commodity funds reaching assets of USD12.2bn.

The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on 19 October announced that it has revised the rating of Man Group downward to BBB/A-2, from a previous BBB+/A-2, with an outlook which has moved from negative to stable.The decision follows the acquisition of GLG Partners by Man Group. The agency says that the deal, announced on 14 October, has resulted in weakened financial stability for the group, which is nonetheless expected to find an improved profile once it has completed its integration of GLG Partners.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Graham Campbell, the founder of Edinburgh Partners who left the firm in December, has been appointed CEO of Saracem Fund Managers. Campbell will acquire a significant stake in the capital of the firm, which is moving its headquarters from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Investment Week reports. Saracem will soon be extending its range with the launch of new absolute return and fixed income products.

In the three months to 30 September 2010, Jupiter experienced net inflows of GBP734m. Cumulative net inflows in the first nine months of the year were GBP1,548m. AUM increased to GBP22.2bn as at 30 September 2010, up 12% from GBP19.8bn as at 30 June 2010.Separately, Jupiter has received regulatory approval to launch a global emerging markets unit trust in the fourth quarter. It will be managed by Kathryn Langridge who joined as an emerging markets fund manager in July.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fund Strategy reports that Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has recruited David Billyard, head of sales at Premier Asset Management, as business development manager. Billyard will be primarily in charge of promoting retail funds on the wholesale market, and will focus on London and South-West England.

Amundi ETF announced on Tuesday, 19 October that it has listed 23 more ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange, bringing the total number of its products available on the market to 43.The new series is composed of equities and bond ETF funds, including: 12 equities ETFs: of the US market, AMUNDI ETF NASDAQ-100, AMUNDI ETF MSCI USA and AMUNDI ETF S&P 500. Investors may also opt for an ETF which aims to replicate double the daily performance of the MSCI USA index. Also among the new additions, AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD EX EUROPE provides exposure to the global markets outside Europe with a single transaction; AMUNDI ETF MSCI NORDIC, for its part, offers investors a way to expose themselves to positive and negative performance of nearly 80 of the largest shares on the Scandinavian market (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). In addition, 3 equities ETFs invest in the major emerging markets, AMUNDI ETF MSCI CHINA replicates the positive and negative evolution of the 50 largest Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong; AMUNDI ETF MSCI INDIA allows exposure to nearly 60 shares of the Indian market, and AMUNDI ETF MSCI EASTERN EUROPE EX RUSSIA provides a way to profit from potenail growth of about 30 major stocks of central Europe excluding Russia. 2 new sectoral ETFs are also on offer: AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD ENERGY and AMUNDI ETF MSCI WORLD FINANCIALS. In bonds, 6 long and short ETFs of US government bonds are being made available. The ETFs aim to replicate the positive and negative performance of the Markit iBoxx $ Treasuries® family of indices for total maturities of 1 to 10 years. The indices are composed to government bonds issued by the US Treasury, denominated in US dollars. The range includes 3 long ETFs and 3 new short ETFs, to provide inverse daily exposure to the same indices, a statement says.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) for a partnership which will include ETFs replicating depositary receipts indices from BNY Mellon, which will be traded on the SSE. The stock market obtains the exclusive right to list ETFs based on these indices in China.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors have regained their appetite for risk, concentrating largely on emerging markets equities, in the expectation of a second wave of quantitative easing, according to the most recent survey by BofA Merrill Lynch of a sample of 194 management firms with USD492bn in assets between 8 and 14 October. The level of risk taken on by investors has not increased by such a large proportion since April 2009. The proportion of allocators who are heavyweight in equities has more than tripled, to a total of 27% in net, compared with 10% in September. They have also maintained underweight exposures to bonds, while only 6%, compared with 18% previously, are overweight in cash. The evolution worked largely to the advantage of emerging markets equities, in which 49% of allocators were overweight, a month on month increase of 17 percentage points. Appetite for US, European and Japanese equities remained stable, while respondents were less pessimistic about UK equities. Managers were also slightly more optimistic about the growth of the Chinese economy in the next 12 months (19% compared with 11% in September). Investors were also much more optimistic about the growth outlooks for corporate profits, as the percentage of allocators who are overweight in industrial shares increased from 4% to 15% in the space of one month. Investors would like to see businesses adopt a more aggressive investment policy, though last month many of them wanted to see them consolidate their balance sheets.

Assets at the 500 largest fund management firms worldwide increased 16% in 2009 to a total of USD62trn as of the end of the year, after they contracted by 23% in 2008. Though this was the second-largest increase in assets under management since the beginning of the data series (1996), according to the Pensions & Investments / Towers Watson World 500 Ranking, the level of assets remains below that observed at the end of 2006. In addition, Towers Watson remarks, only have of managers who posted the largest increases to their assets of the past five years say the increase is due to organic growth, while the other half did it through mergers and acquisitions.In fact, the market share for the 20 largest management firms has increased to more than 40%, compared with 38% in 2008. Of this group, asset management firms controlled by banks continue to dominate. Meanwhile, the study reveals that of the 20 largest management firms, 12 are domiciled in the United States, and 8 in Europe, of which 4 are in France (Axa, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis). The market share for emerging countries has more than doubled in ten years, to 4%, while Japanese management firms have fallen to under 7%, from over 13%.The study also reveals that assets for the major passive asset management firms has steadily increased in the past ten years. As of the end of 2009, they totalled USD7.3trn, up 62% compared with USD4.5trn as of the end of 2008, largely due to the acquisition of BGI by BlackRock, which took it up to USD1.7trn in passive assets, overtaking State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) with USD1.4trn.Among the winners in recent years, P&I and Towers Watson cite BlackRock, which has grown from 41th place to 1st, BNP Paribas (33rd to 7th), Federated Investors (72nd to 42nd), Wells Fargo (51st to 23rd), Crédit Agricole (24th to 12th), Goldman Sachs (25th to 14th) and Legg Mason (37th to 18th).See the rankings of the top 20 assetmanagement firms by assets below.

Entre juin 2009 et juin 2010, les encours sous gestion des fonds d’investissement socialement responsables en Europe ont augmenté de 41 % à 75 milliards d’euros, indique une étude de Vigeo portant sur les fonds verts, sociaux et éthiques. Le nombre de fonds a lui aussi bondi de 29 % à 879 unités.La France est la locomotive de cette croissance, avec une hausse de 92 % des actifs gérés selon des principes de l’ISR. Le pays conserve ainsi sa place de leader en Europe, avec 36 % du marché. Vigeo note que la Suisse connaît une forte augmentation (+59 %), suivie par la Suède (+48 %). L’ISR progresse aussi au Royaume-Uni et en Allemagne, mais dans une moindre mesure (respectivement +9 % et +11 %). L’Italie renoue avec la croissance (+13%) après une année de stagnation. La Belgique est le pays avec le plus grand nombre de fonds ISR, qui pèsent pour 10% dans le volume total des actifs en gestion collective dans ce pays.L’analyse par typologie de produits montre une croissance plus marquée des fonds monétaires que des fonds actions.

Selon les statistiques de la Banque centrale européenne, l’encours des fonds d’investissements de la zone euro hors fonds monétaires ressortait fin août à 5.428 milliards d’euros contre 5.375 milliards un mois auparavant, un accroissement de 53 milliards attribuable presque à égalité à l’effet de marché et aux souscriptions nettes (qui sont ressorties à 28 milliards contre 20 milliards en juillet).Il conviendra surtout de noter qu’entre fin août et le 30 septembre, les actifs gérés dans les fonds monétaires se sont accrus (pour la première fois depuis un an) de 37 milliards d’euros (dont 28 milliards de souscriptions nettes), à 1.180 milliards.

Selon les dernières estimations de Preqin, environ 96 milliards de dollars restent disponibles pour des investissements en hedge funds chez les investisseurs institutionnels qui se lancent sur cette classe d’actifs ou qui désirent augmenter leur exposition, rapporte Hedge Week. Hormis les assureurs, tous les groupes d’investisseurs ont augmenté leur allocation aux hedge funds en 2009-2010, l’augmentation moyenne représentant 1,2 % de l’encours total.Une grande partie de ces nouveaux capitaux ira aux fonds mono-gérants, Preqin ayant observé cette année une tendance à sortir des fonds de hedge funds au profit des investissements directs.Cependant le portefeuille de 50 % des fonds de pension reste composé uniquement de participations dans des fonds de hedge funds, contre 10 % pour les fondations (endowments).

Actuellement, le fonds irlandais BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency géré par Alexander Khozhemiakin, de Standish, pèse 4 milliards de dollars, dont 2 milliards de souscriptions nettes depuis le début de l’année (300 millions proviennent de France). Ce fonds, présenté une nouvelle fois aux investisseurs le 19 octobre à Paris, est un fonds pur d’obligations souveraines des pays émergents qui devrait générer une performance à deux chiffres, avec des rendements de 6-6 ½ % et des gains de change contre euro de 4-5 % par an.L'équipe de gestion se réserve comme possibilité d’utiliser les «currency forwards» pour pouvoir dissocier les paris sur les taux de change de ceux sur les taux d’intérêt. Le fonds est investi dans 17 pays qui ont des marchés obligataires liquides et présentant une vaste palette d'échéances. Environ un tiers du fonds est placé en Asie, un quart en Europe émergente et entre autres un dixième en titres brésiliens ; il n’y a aucune exposition aux marchés «frontière». Alexander Khozhemiakin explique que le fonds est focalisé sur des investissements qui sont les plus sûrs dans les monnaies locales, ceux que privilégient les grands institutionnels locaux. Le taux de rotation se situe pour sa part entre 60 et 70 %. L'équipe compte actuellement 12 professionnels de l’investissement à Boston et à Londres. Un analyste senior est en passe d'être recruté à Singapour.