p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi announced on Monday, 18 October that it has launched the Amundi Funds Multimanagers Long/Short Equity fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Amundi Funds. The sub-fund, managed by Amundi Alternative Investments, invests in UCITS III funds which use Long/Short or equities arbitrage strategies, as well as volatility management. Management of the portfolio will be undertaken in three stages. The first is analysis and selection of funds and due diligence; the second is portfolio construction and management, with a top-down approach that integrates the scenario and outlooks defined by economists and strategists at Anumdi. The portfolio is then optimised and the various allocations are adjusted according to the market outlooks of the Investment Committee and the constraints defined for the portfolio. Then, in the third step, the portfolio is protected against extreme risks. In periods of market stress in particular, the manager may choose to allocate up to 10% of assets from the sub-fund to funds specialised in volatility management strategies, a statement says.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to estimates from Europerformance, assets in French collective management as of the end of September totalled EUR838.59bn, compared with about EUR828.6bn three months earlier (see Newsmanagers of 20 July). In third quarter, funds saw net outflows of EUR7.18bn, while market effects were positive to the tune of nearly EUR15.95bn, compared with negative market effects of EUR13.88bn in April-June. The scale of the net outflows was considerably smaller than in second quarter (EUR28.l21bn), but in the twelve months to the end of September, the French mutual fund market has seen outflows of EUR58.6bn, compared with EUR50.8bn in the twelve months to the end of June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, HSBC is planning to launch six new ETF funds by the end of October, which would be listed in Paris.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds People reports that Eric Ollinger, deputy director, and his management team at Capital@Work in Spain have acquired the company from its Belgian parent Capital@Work Foyer Group, in an MBO which was approved in early July by the CNMV, and which was finalised on 14 October. The company’s brand name, methodology, analysts, managers, products and investment philosophy remain unchanged.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banque Sarasin has announced the launch of a new equities fund, entitled Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA. The fund is aimed at private as well as institutional investors, and allows them to participate in potential growth at US businesses which contribute to economic and social sustainability, the bank explains in a statement released on 18 October. In the past few years, the US government has passed stimulus measures to support sectors involved in sustainable development, such as clean and renewable energies and public transport. The Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA fund was launched to capture the economic potential resulting from these incitements. With the density of US regulations increasing and tax regulations expected to toughen in the US, the fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, offers an attractive alternative for investors who prefer to avoid direct investment in US equities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that Stefan Liniger will succeed David McLellan as CEO for global trust business at Rothschild Private Banking & Trust, and becomes a member of the group’s board. Over the past three years, Liniger had been head of the Wealth Planning department at Goldman Sachs in Zurich. He was head of development and project execution for for national and international clients, as well as of development for the business and intermediary client sectors. He will take up his new responsibilities at Rothschild on 3 January 2011, while McLellan will be appointed a non-executive director on the board of directors at Rothschild Private Trust Holding.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Zweiplus bank announced on 18 October in a statement that it has updated its multi-manager strategy. Clients now have a choice between six portfolio providers, the affiliate of Sarasin bank announced. In addition to the three current managers, Lombard Odier Asset Management, Rieter Fisher Partners and Solitaire Wealth Management, come Schroder Investment Management (Switzerland), Bank Sarasin & Cie, and Falcon Private Bank Ltd. “Multi-manager strategies offer highly flexible management, which allows the client to modify the strategy or portfolio initially selected at any time, without needing to change banking relationships.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of September, legal fees related to the Lehman liquidation totalled USD982m, while 35 law firms, consultants and advisers earned USD49m in fees, commissions and charges in the month, the Wall Street Journal reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } David Einhorn, head of the hedge fund management firm Greenlight Capital, revealed last week that he is shorting shares in the developer St. Joe Co., on the premise that the land the firm owns is worth only a fraction of what the firm values it at, the Wall Street Journal reports. Einhorn became famous due to his bets against Lehman. But Einhorn has found that St. Joe is one of the major bets of another hedge fund manager, Fairholme Capital Management, led by another emblematic personality, Bruce Berkowitz. Berkowitz, whose firm owns 29% of St. Joe, trusts the figures advanced by the firm.

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council will on Tuesday publish a list of 68 investment institutions who have submitted to the Stewardship Code, a set of seven principles designed to promote greater scrutiny of companies by their shareholders, according to the Financial Times. 48 asset managers are backing the new code, including BlackRock, Axa and Capital International. Calpers is also among the supporters.

Royal Bank of Canada and BlueBay Asset Management announced on Monday that their respective boards have reached an agreement on terms for a recommended acquisition of BlueBay by RBC. Under the terms of the acquisition, BlueBay shareholders will be entitled to receive 485 pence in cash for each BlueBay share. This represents a premium of 29 per cent to the last closing price of BlueBay shares, as at Friday, October 15, 2010. The acquisition values the issued share capital of BlueBay at approximately GBP963 million.The board of BlueBay has unanimously recommended that its shareholders vote in favour of the acquisition. It is anticipated that, subject to the satisfaction of all regulatory and other conditions, the acquisition will close by the end of December 2010. The transaction will be funded using RBC’s existing cash resources, and is not expected to have a material impact on RBC’s earnings per share in the near term. «This acquisition will further RBC’s strategy to leverage our position as a top 10 global wealth manager, and continue to expand our asset management solutions for the benefit of our clients around the world,» said George Lewis, group head, RBC Wealth Management. BlueBay is one of Europe’s largest independent managers of fixed income debt funds and products, with USUSD40 billion in assets under management (as at September 30, 2010) on behalf of institutional and high net worth investors in the UK, Europe, the U.S., the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. Based in London, BlueBay manages a combination of long-only and alternative investment strategies across the sub-asset classes of fixed income credit - primarily focused on European and emerging markets strategies - including: investment grade corporate debt, high yield corporate debt, emerging market debt, convertible bonds, distressed debt, and multi-strategy debt capabilities. BlueBay will retain its investment autonomy and related operational independence following the acquisition. The 220 employees of BlueBay will become valued members of RBC’s Global Asset Management business and collaborate with their new partners in RBC Wealth Management, RBC’s global segment for wealth and asset management solutions.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } In the 27th issue of its publication Viewpoint (http://www.chelseafs.co.uk/documents/Viewpoint-Issue27.pdf), Chelsea Financial Services has published its “Premier League” list of 96 funds which are recognised for their good returns, and 102 funds in the “relegation zone” for poor performance in the three-year period to 31 August; these funds (which include 24 multi-management products) have a total of GBP14.5bn in assets, while 85 funds fall into a “drop zone” with GBP13.2bn in assets. The funds which earn a place in the “dirty dozen” include six large funds with poor returns. The SWIP Multimanager UK Equities is the worst, with over GBP1.1bn in assets, followed by the L&G Multimanager UK Alpha fund, managed by Barclays Wealth (GBP877m). There are three Standard Life Investments products (SLI) among the six (3rd, 5th and 6th), while another SWIP fund takes 4th place. Four funds, meanwhile, show negative deviations of over 30% compared with the average for their sector over 3 years: Elite-Henderson Rowe Dogs FTSE 100 (33.64%), Legg Mason US Equity (33.13%), MFM Techinvest Special Situations (32.51%) and EFA New Horizon High Income (30.55%). The list is rounded out by SVM Global Opportunties (26.04%), and City Financial Str Global Bond (26.01%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German real estate fund management firm Warburg-Henderson KAG für Immobilien has acquired the office building located at 61-79 Buchanan Street in Glasgow for EUR42m. The property will be added to the portfolio of the institutional real estate fund RZVK-Immo-Fonds, which is managed on behalf of the pensions funds for the Rhineland region (Rheinische Versorgungskassen). Warburg-Henderson has also announced the appointment at the beginning of July of Rena Knöpke as director of marketing, distribution and client services. She was previously part of the the CRM institutional clients team at M.M. Warburg, after spending six years at Henderson Global Investors (2001-2007).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock will launch in Italy the BSF Funds of iShares range of funds invested in iShares ETFs. The range includes four portfolios with various risk and return characteristics: conservative, moderate, growth and dynamic. The funds invest in several geographical areas and asset classes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After joining BNY Mellon in 2006 and leading the corporate trusts public finance for the central United States region (200 employees and 16 locations for US state regional organisations, with 32,000 accounts and USD90bn in assets) until the present, Timothy Vara has from 1 January 2011 been appointed president of the Bank of New York Mellon Trust, replacing Troy Kilpatrick, who has recently been appointed head of global business development & marketing at BNY Mellon Trust. BNY Mellon Trust provides services on assets of about USD12bn, in 61 locations in 20 countries. Among its clients the business counts governments and their agencies, multinational businesses, financial establishments and other firms which have access to global capital markets. Among its principal services are bond debt trustee, paying agency and escrow activities.

AXA Real Estate has announced the appointment of Laurent Vouin as head of opportunistic funds.Based in Paris and reporting to Dennis Lopez, Axa Real Estate’s global chief investment officer, he will be responsible for overseeing the management of all the company’s opportunistic funds. Having joined AXA Real Estate in 2002, Laurent Vouin was previously head of Asset Management in France, overseeing a portfolio of assets valued in excess of EUR13 billion.

The fund management affiliate of Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe, UFG-LFP, is continuing its talks with the Cholet Dupont, with a potential takeover of the Cholet Dupont Partenaires platform dedicated to IFAs on the table, among other options.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge Week reports that the independent management firm Absolute Return Partners (ARP) will in the next few weeks make its debut on the UCITS fund market, with the launch of a UCITS equities fund entitled ARP Global Equity Alpha Fund, which will be domiciled in Dublin. Assets under management at ARP total about USD300m.

Pressure is mounting among hedge funds as European Union finance ministers prepare to debate new rules for the sector in Luxembourg on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. The negotiations is due to be discussed at 9.30am, ahead of the monthly meeting of finance ministers. Some hope Tuesday’s negotiations could finally lead to an agreement.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European asset management association (EFAMA) on 18 October called the reasons offered by the European Commission for introducing a tax on financial activities in the asset management sector “seriously biased.” EFAMA noted that the Commission does not take into account the fact that the asset management sector has not received government support, and that it does not enjoy the security assurances such aid would offer. An increase in costs related to the introduction of a tax on financial activities would probably be borne by the final consumer, i.e., the investor. The phenomenon could result in an undesired distortion in the matter of small investors’ choice between direct investment in equities and investment via collective funds. That evolution “should concern governments, who are seeking to encourage investors to invest responsibly for retirement,” says Peter de Proft, chairman of EFAMA, cited in a statement. EFAMA therefore encourages the Commission to enter into dialogue with the various sectors of the financial industry to ensure that measures are “targeted, effective, and adapted.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 2005, European equities fund managers have reduced their average exposure to Italian blue chips from 7.3% to 4.3%, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports, citing figures from Morningstar. Midcaps show a similar trend. Only Italian small caps are continuing to do well, with their presence in European portfolios increasing from 5.8% to 6.8%. However, the Frankfurt stock exchange is attracting asset managers: the exposure of funds to German large caps has increased from 10.4% to 15%. The weight of French and English stocks, on the other hand, have remained stable.

La politique accommodante des banques centrales américaine et britannique ne sont plus seules en cause

La société américaine propose 1,73 milliard de dollars pour le gérant d’actif Perpetual dans un marché qui pèse 1.300 milliards de dollars australiens

Des tensions sont réapparues sur la partie longue de la courbe des taux américaine

Des tensions sont réapparues sur la partie longue de la courbe des taux américaine

Selon une enquête, sept salariés sur dix n'ayant pas accès au dispositif souhaiteraient épargner en moyenne 9 % de leur salaire

Barclays réfléchit à un nouveau type d’obligations dont le coupon varierait en fonction du niveau de fonds propres de la banque

Le taux de rémunération des échanges interbancaires européens a été publié hier à 1 %. Une première depuis juillet 2009

Sur le marché des futures, les positions nettes acheteuses de devises japonaise et australienne s’établissent encore à des niveaux records

L’offre valorise le gérant britannique autour de 19 fois ses bénéfices estimés en 2011, un multiple supérieur à celui du secteur