Le 8 octobre, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (PWM) a annoncé le recrutement d’Arnaud Apffel comme managing director et head of global investment solutions pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique (EMEA en anglais). L’intéressé était jusqu'à présent co-head of private banking investment services et head de la division grands comptes (key clients) chez Lombard Odier. Arnaud Apffel est basé à Genève et subordonné parallèlement à Marco Bizzozero, head of private wealth management EMEA et CEO de Deutsche Bank (Suisse), et à Kevin Lecocq, head of global investment solutions pour la division PWM de la Deutsche Bank.
Déjà responsable du Schroder ISF Asian Total Return, Robin Parbrook a été nommé avec effet immédiat gérant du compartiment Schroder ISF Pacific Equity (598,2 millions de dollars fin août, LU0248184466) en remplacement de Manish Bhatia. Depuis son lancement en 2007, l’Asian Total Return a généré une performance de 34,9 % contre 18,6 % pour son indice de référence, le MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan.L’ISF Pacific Equity affiche pour sa part au 8 octobre une performance de 24,60 % depuis le lancement le 22 mars 2006.Robin Parbrook, basé à Hong-Kong, restera subordonné à Louisa Lo, responsable des actions asiatiques, hors Japon (head of equities Asia ex Japan). En dehors de la gestion du Asian Total Return et du Pacific Equity, Robin Parbrook sera appelé à jouer un rôle plus actif dans la gestion d’autres fonds d’actions asiatiques et à exercer un rôle de direction à l'échelon régional. Il devra notamment veiller à ce que les bureaux d’investissement de Schroders en Corée, à Taïwan et en Indonésie mettent bien en œuvre les méthodes d’investissement du groupe.
Barclays Capital a annoncé lundi 11 octobre avoir bouclé son sixième fonds dédié aux infrastructures, à l’issue d’une levée de capitaux de 645 millions de livres (737 millions d’euros), rapporte l’Agefi. Barclays Integrated Infrastructure Fund sera fidèle au thème de l’infrastructure sociale, en partenariat avec pouvoirs publics et industriels. Il est notamment question de constructions et de gestions d'écoles ou d’hôpitaux.
F&C Investments vient de recruter Alice Evans de Henderson Global Investors pour co-gérer son fonds Stewardship International (310 millions de livres) aux côtés de Sophie Horsfall, rapporte Responsible Investor. L’intéressée rejoindra F&C en novembre.
Le 11 octobre, Kleinwort Benson Bank, qui appartient au capital-investisseur RHJ International après avoir été dans le giron de la Commerzbank et de la Dresdner Bank, a annoncé la nomination de Sally Tennant comme CEO à compter de la mi-janvier 2011 et sous réserve de l’accord du régulateur. Elle était jusqu'à présent CEO de la banque privée de Lombard Odier à Londres et remplacera Robert Taylor, qui était en poste depuis 2004 et qui a «l’intention de faire une pause».A cette occasion, Kleinwort Benson indique que l’acquisition de KBC Asset Management Ltd (Dublin) a été bouclée le 11 octobre et que la société de gestion est rebaptisée Kleinwort Benson Investors Dublin Limited. Cette transaction porte les encours sous gestion à plus de 10 milliards d’euros.
Simon Brooks, qui était l’adjoint de Tom Caddick, head of multi-manager chez LV= Asset Management (LVAM), va reprendre avec l’aide du CIO Piers Hillier toute la gamme de huit fonds que gérait Tom Caddick, lequel rejoint Santander Asset Management avec Toby Vaughan, le principal gérant de fonds de la division multigestion. Ils travailleront sous les ordres de Keith Speck, head of multi-manager de Santander AM. Auparavant, ils avaient déjà été ensemble chez F&C jusqu’en 2007.
Alice Evans, qui gérait en dernier lieu le fonds Industries of the Future chez Henderson Global Investors, a été recrutée comme gérante de portefeuille senior par F&C Asset Management afin de seconder à partir du mois prochain Sophie Horsfall, head of global thematic equities, pour la gestion du fonds ISR Stewardship International (310 millions de livres). Il est prévu de lui confier d’autres portefeuilles «développement durable».
Jupiter suscite des vocations. Selon le quotidien The Independent, la réussite de l’introduction en Bourse de la société de gestion britannique Jupiter, dont les titres se négociaient en fin de semaine à plus de 253 pence contre 165 pence au moment de la mise sur le marché, incite deux groupes de la City, Standard life et Prudential, à envisager une introduction en Bourse de leurs activités de gestion d’actifs logées dans Standard Life Investments et M&G respectivement.Standard Life, qui a clôturé à 229,9 pence le 8 octobre, estime ainsi que sa valeur intrinsèque se situe autour de 300 pence.
GLG Partners a annoncé le lancement d’une version conforme à la directive OPCVM du hedge fund GLG Atlas Macro (250 millions de dollars d’encours).Le nouveau produit, domicilié en Irlande, a pour nom Atlas Macro Alternative Fund et visera une performance ainsi qu’une volatilité de 10-15 % en investissant sur toutes les classes d’actifs et en prenant soin de préserver la liquidité du portefeuille. C’est le huitième newcits de performance absolue lancé par le gestionnaire britannique.Le gérant est Driss Ben-Brahim, assisté de Jamil Baz, le chief investment strategist.
L’effectif de la division wholesale banking & asset management du BBVA va être augmenté de 25 % sur les trois prochaines années, pour le porter à 5.000 personnes, rapporte Expansión. Cela se traduira par le recrutement de plus de 1.000 collaborateurs en un an aux Etats-Unis, en Europe et en Asie. Le groupe espagnol cherche à gagner des clients en faisant valoir sa connaissance des marchés latino-américains et sa position en Chine, où il détient 15 % de Citic. Un effort tout particulier sera consenti pour courtiser les grands fonds internationaux et les family offices, une clientèle que le BBVA connaît encore mal.
Le California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) a annoncé le 11 octobre qu’il se séparait de Pacific Corporate Group (PCG) dans le cadre de l’examen stratégique de son programme et de ses partenaires dans le private equity. Le fonds de pension californien a par ailleurs indiqué qu’il maintenait Aviva Capital LLC (Aviva), qui continuera de gérer plus de 1 milliard de dollars dans véhicules d’investissement dédiés aux marchés émergents, Global Opportunities Fund 1 et 2.CalPERS a également fait appel à Capital Dynamics qui doit reprendre la gestion de son Clean Energy & Technology fund (480 millions de dollars d’actifs sous gestion), lancé en 2007 et piloté précédemment par PCG. Le portefeuille de gestion alternative de CalPERS (AIM program), qui pèse quelque 28 milliards de dollars, a dégagé une performance de 30,9% sur les douze mois à fin mars 2010.
Juste avant la fête nationale chinoise, Bank of Communications Schroders a annoncé la démission de son general manager, Mo Taishan. Ce dernier va rejoindre le promoteur de «private funds» Chongyang Invesment de Shanghai (environ 4 milliards de yuans d’encours) pour y prendre les fonctions de general manager. Il y retrouvera l’ancien CIO et l’ancien patron du marketing de Bank of Communication Schroders, qui ont rejoint Chongyang respectivement en 2009 et au début de cette année. Z-Ben Advisors souligne que Mo Taishan a été par le passé le directeur du département des fonds d’investissement du régulateur chinois (la CSRC). Dès lors, son recrutement par Chongyang pourrait signifier que les boutiques d’investissement espèrent que la libéralisation du marché s’appliquera aussi à elles et non seulement aux grandes maisons. Elles ont en tout cas déjà commencé à empiéter sur la base de clientèle des gestionnaires d’actifs bien installés au moyen de comptes cantonnés (segregated accounts) et de produits spécialisés de gestion de fortune.
La société de courtage américaine Louis Capital Markets (LCM), créée en 1999, vient d’ouvrir des bureaux à Genève. Plus connue pour sa clientèle principalement institutionnelle, la société vise également les sociétés de gestion depuis l’ouverture de ses bureaux à Paris en 2008. Dans un entretien à L’Agefi suisse, Gilles Aupin, CEO, qui s’est également chargé de l’ouverture des bureaux de LCM à Paris, et qui met actuellement en place une équipe qui comprendra à terme une quarantaine de personnes, indique que «Genève nous permet d’accéder plus facilement à un ensemble de clientèle plus varié, notamment les family offices, mais aussi à l’arrivée plus massive des hedge funds».
Total sales of funds in Europe were EUR49bn in August, EUR26bn of which came from a strong revival in interest for money market funds, according to Lipper. Increased money market sales did not lead to a drop in sales for bond funds (EUR16.2bn). Equity sales came back strongly to EUR2.6bn, but still below the 2010 monthly average. ETF contributed to 90% of the equity total.Emerging markets were definitely flavour of the month, with both bond (EUR3.2bn) and equity (EUR2.5bn) products topping the sector rankings, adds Lipper. Allianz/Pimco took the top spot for best overall group with net flows of EUR2.9bn, over 85% of which came from their range of bond funds. In the equity arena, five asset managers exceeded sales of EUR500m, with BlackRock’s EUR950m coming out on top, thanks to a rise in ETF interest.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedgeweek reports that Salus Alpha is planning to launch a UCITS-compliant long/short Asian equities fund in first quarter 2011. The fund will invest in 30 to 40 mid- to large caps. It will avoid all companies related to real estate. Like all other funds from Salus Alpha, the product will be domiciled in Austria.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, UniCredit is unlikely to agree on a merger partner for its Pioneer asset management unit before the end of 2010 as it plans talks with at least four candidates, said two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.The Italian bank is looking for a strategic partner for Pioneer Global Asset Management and plans to remain a shareholder after merging the businesses, said the people. The deal would likely involve a stock deal with a French or other European firm.
According to the Financial Times, ABN Amro’s private banking arm is to begin actively selling Lyxor hedge funds to its EUR150bn client base as part of a new partnership agreement signed with the subsidiary of Société Générale.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 8 October, the Indian Hunduja group became the last of the candidates for the acquisition of BHF Bank to make its announcement, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The other three are Bankhaus Lampe (with KKR), LGT, and Apollo. The bank of the Liechtenstein royal family is the front-runner. In Germany, Hinduja already indirectly controls the Munich-based private bank Finck & Co., via KBC Europe. BHF Bank, which was owned by Sal. Oppenheim, has been put up for sale by Deutsche Bank.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European Bank for Fund Services GmbH (ebase), an affiliate of Commerzbank via comdirect, on 3 October announced that it has completed the integration of funds from the management firm Ampega Gerling Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (Talanx group) into its depository platform with about EUR1bn in assets. The deal was announced slightly over three months ago (see Newsmanagers of 28 June). Previously, the depository for the funds concerned was X ISG, an affiliate of Fondsdepotbank (a joint venture of Xchanging and Allianz Global Advisors (AGI).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since the announcement of a takeover bid by the Spanish firm ACS for Hochtief, the shareholder structure of the German construction group has changed significantly, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Frankfurt financial circles report that hedge funds have bought 15% to 20% of Hochtief. According to the Financial Times, Centaurus has announced that it favours the ACS bid, and has recommended to the board of Hochtief to abstain from any anti-takeover measures.
On Tuesday, 12 October, Dexia Asset Mangement opens its tenth European alternative management road show, which will nearly coincide with the launch of new products in three weeks’ time. Alternative management at Dexia AM has assets of EUR5.5-5.6bn, excluding mandates, in 22 UCITS-compliant funds, Fabrice Cuchet, head of the activity, stated on Friday. Since the beginning of the year, the division has raised EUR500m in net subscriptions, of which EUR150m have come since the beginning of September. The two strategies which have attracted the most investment, and earned the best returns, are merger and acquisition risk arbitrage (for which the corresponding fund is in a soft close), and emerging markets. Cuchet also reports that as of the end of August there were 615 newcits hedge funds, of which 38% are long/short equity, and of which 46% are managed by British and 16% by French managers. Assets represent EUR100bn. The Dexia head points out that this type of product was the result of accelerated adoption of the new financial and regulatory framework, driven forward by desire for liquidity, transparency, and regulatory stability. As to the impact of Basel III and the Solvency II directives on clients, Dexia AM has announced that in an effort to be as transparent as possible, it is soon planning to include figures on the consumption of regulatory capital by each of its funds as a part of monthly reporting information.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pershing Square Capital Management has pulled off an exemplary raid on J.C. Penney, the Wall Street Journal reports. The hedge fund management firm led by William Ackman first bought slightly under 5% of the retailer in August, and then waited for the right moment to discretely pick up an option on 4 million more shares. In total, the hedge fund manager paid UDS903m for its stake in J.C. Penney, while the ordinary shares alone are already worth USD1.14bn, following the announcement of the deal. In addition, Pershing Square has teamed up with Vornado Realty Trust, which itself on Friday announced that it controls 9.9% of J.C. Penney.
Siemens Austria has sold the institutional management firm Innovest Kapitalanlage AG, with assets of EUR3.5bn, to Macquarie Investment Management, for an undisclosed amount. The sale will be completed in December.Innovest, which is active in Austria and Germany, will retain its Vienna headquarters, and the entire management team will remain in place. The board of directors, composed of Johann Maurer and Konrad Kontriner, will gain Alexander Köb, head of Austria at Macquarie Investment Management, and Micharl Walsch, head of participations at Macquarie Investment Management.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } While she was at Oppenheimer & Co., the fund manager Meredith Whitney gained notoriety largely because she predicted that dividends at Citigroup would fall. But, since she created the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group in February 2009, she has been less fortunate, Die Welt am Sonntag says, relaying reports by Bloomberg. In the first nine months of this year, she has made 6 correct and 13 incorrect and loss-making predictions. The information is included in the Bloomberg Market rankings, which are topped by Goldman Sachs with 30 winning bets on 79 financial sector stocks. In second place is Sanjay Sakhrani of KBW, while Whitney does not make the top ten.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } iShares has recruited Sandra Lee as head of sales for the Asia-Pacific region, Asian Investor reports. Lee, previously regional deputy at Morgan Stanley IM, will be based in Hong Kong, and will start in the position in November. She succeeds David Gardner, who will take a new position in Europe as head for Northern Europe and the Middle East, from February 2011.
Muzinich & Co on 8 October announced the arrival of Laurence Remusat as head of institutional clients at the Paris office led by Eric Pictet.Remusat previously worked at Carmignac Gestion, as director of sales and institutional development. Muzinich & Co, a specialist in management of high yield corporate debt, had EUR5.6bn in assets as of the end of August 2010, managed on behalf of European (85%) and US (15%) institutional clients.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Professor Martin Weber of the University of Mannheim, one of the pioneers of behavioural finance in Germany, launched the diversified ETF Arero – Der Weltfonds on 20 October, 2008. The fund is administered by DWS (Deutsche Bank). Without any promotion, the product now has EUR100m in assets, which is an impressive achievement in a country where funds are not wpurchased by investors but rather sold by advisers, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung says. The synthetic replication fund (LU0360863863) replicates a hybrid benchmark index (70% MSCI World (EUR), and 30% REX Performance Index). It is rebalanced on an annual basis to achieve a 60% equities, 25% bonds and 15% commodities distribution. Management commission is set at 0.45%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Universal-Investment on 4 October announced the launch of the German-registered fund Berenberg Emerging Market Bond Selection R, a product which invests at least 51% of its assets in government bonds from emerging countries, with varying maturities. The management team at Berenberg may also rely on CDS to hedge country risks and derivatives to protect itself from fixed income risks. Characteristics Name: Berenberg Emerging Market Bond Selection R ISIN code: DE000A1C2XK8 Front-end fee: 5% Management commission: 1.25%
From 8 to 15 October, nine German-registered geographical ETFs from HSBC Global Asset Management will be admitted to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform. Other products based on country or sectoral indices are in preparation. Total expense ratios for the products range from 0.15% to 0.60%.The new funds are the following:HSBC EURO STOXX 50 ETF, DE000A1C0BB7HSBC FTSE 100 ETF, DE000A1C0BC5HSBC MSCI BRAZIL ETF, DE000A1C22N1HSBC MSCI EM FAR EAST ETF, DE000A1C22Q4HSBC MSCI EUROPE ETF, DE000A1C22L5HSBC MSCI JAPAN ETF, DE000A1C0BD3HSBC MSCI PACIFIC EX JAPAN, DE000A1C22P6 HSBC MSCI USA ETF DE000A1C22K7 and HSBC S&P 500 ETF DE000A1C22M3. The new funds mark the beginning of a major sales offensive by HSBC in Germany, where the group will also offer market-making services for third-party ETF providers. The new products are aimed at institutional as well as retail investors and private banks, says Heiner Weber, a member of the executive committee at HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland) GmbH. Lars Hofer, who jnoined HSBC in 1998, was appointed on 1 October as director of HSBC ETF and third-party ETF sales for Germany and Austria.