Selon Responsible Investor, le fondateur et ancien chief executive de RiskMetrics, Ethan Berman, serait sur le point de quitter le groupe MSCI qui a récemment racheté RiskMetrics. Ethan Berman devait initialement partir à la fin du quatrième trimestre mais l’intégration rapide des deux sociétés aurait incité Ethan Berman à avancer son départ.

RBC Gestion de patrimoine, division de la Banque Royale du Canada dédiée à la gestion de patrimoine, vient de nommer Michael Lagopoulos, ancien président et chef de la direction de RBC Gestion de patrimoine - International, au poste de président délégué, Clientèle très fortunée, RBC Gestion de patrimoine - International. Il concentrera ses efforts sur «le développement des activités axées sur la clientèle très fortunée de RBC Gestion de patrimoine à l'échelle internationale, en renforçant les relations avec les clients existants et par l’acquisition de nouveaux clients très fortunés à l’extérieur du Canada», selon un communiqué de presse. Cette nomination s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une réorganisation de RBC Gestion de patrimoine visant à accélérer la croissance de ses activités internationales. Il continuera de siéger aux conseils des principales filiales internationales de RBC Gestion de patrimoine, tout en veillant aux activités d’acquisition et de formation de partenariats dans le segment de la gestion internationale de patrimoine, indique le communiqué. Dans le cadre de cette réorganisation, RBC Gestion de patrimoine passera de trois divisions géographiques à quatre : Canada, États-Unis, Royaume-Uni et marchés émergents. La nouvelle structure, qui comprendra notamment trois groupes aux activités transfrontalières - Gestion mondiale d’actifs, Services fiduciaires mondiaux et Services mondiaux de gestion de patrimoine –, prendra effet le 1er novembre 2010. RBC Gestion de patrimoine offre directement aux clients aisés et fortunés au Canada, aux États-Unis, en Amérique latine, en Europe et en Asie une gamme complète de solutions de placement, de services de fiducie et d’autres solutions de gestion de patrimoine. Elle offre en outre aux particuliers et aux investisseurs institutionnels des produits et des services de gestion d’actifs directement, par l’intermédiaire de sa division RBC Gestion mondiale d’actifs ainsi que de RBC et de distributeurs externes. RBC Gestion de patrimoine compte plus de 490 milliards de dollars canadiens d’actifs sous administration, près de 240 milliards de dollars canadiens d’actifs sous gestion et plus de 4.500 conseillers financiers, banquiers privés et chargés de comptes des services fiduciaires.

Le conseil de direction d’Assogestioni, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion d’actifs, a nommé Guido Giubergia en tant que référent du comité pour la Corporate Governance. L’intéressé, déjà membre du conseil de direction de l’association, est administrateur délégué du groupe Ersel et président d’Ersel Asset Management SGR. Le comité pour la Corporate Governance d’Assogestioni, créé en 1994 et composé de représentants des sociétés de gestion membres de l’association, a pour objectif de favoriser et stimuler la diffusion de la culture de gouvernement d’entreprise via l’étude et la promotion de bonnes pratiques de gouvernance d’entreprise pour le développement de marchés financiers transparents et efficients.

Le patron de la gestion de fortune chez Credit Suisse pour l’Amérique latine, Christian Wiesendanger, prendra au 1er octobre la direction de la gestion de fortune d’UBS pour la Suisse. Le 24 septembre, l’UBS a annoncé que l’intéressé sera directement subordonné à Lukas Gähwiler, CEO d’UBS Suisse (et qui a d’ailleurs lui aussi rejoint en provenance de Credit Suisse, en avril 2010).Christian Wiesendanger succède à Stefan Bodmer qui, au bout de 23 ans chez UBS, a décidé de donner un tour nouveau à sa carrière.

Jean-Yves Dumont, responsable de l'allocation stratégique de Dexia AM

Il faudrait un signal pour que la configuration technique à moyen terme passe haussière

La France pourrait convaincre Berlin de s'opposer au dernier projet présenté vendredi

Hugues de Montbel, gérant chez Aberdeen Asset Management France

Jean-Luc Proutat, responsable des économies OCDE chez BNP Paribas

Henri Delessy, économiste à La Banque Postale

Markus Wiedemann, responsable de la gestion du crédit investment grade chez DWS Investments

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor will launch a range of 10 ETFs in Italy, each of which will replicate a sector MSCI World index, bringing the number of ETFs listed on the ETFplus segment of the Milan stock exchange to 101, Bluerating reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Perella Weinberg Partners announced on 22 September that it has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The firm, a specialist in corporate consulting and asset management services, has also announced the recruitment of Jameel Akhrass and Nabil F. Lahham as partners; they will concentrate largely on the development of asset management and strategic advising activities in the Middle East. The two new partners previously worked at Nomura International for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Hesham Ali, who for 13 years has been a member of the asset management group at Perella Weinberg Partners, has also been appointed head of marketing and investor relations, as head of asset management in the Middle East.

On 23 September, DWS (Deutsche Bank) announced the creation of a team of 24 qualified professionals dedicated to multi-asset class management. The unit will start up with assets of about EUR7bn. The segment has already attracted over EUR10bn in investments in Germany since the beginning of the year, and DWS expects average growth in the mid-term of about 8% p.a. in this area.The team is led by Christian Hille and Udo Rosendahl. The unit includes four teams specialised in equities, bonds, currencies, volatility and commodities, which share a common investment process based on DWS projections for asset classes, regions and markets. In the fund management framework, the new group will have as much power as the equities and bond teams.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In addition to the creation of its institutional real estate fund management affiliate LaSalle Vermögensverwaltung in Munich (see Newsmanagers of 27 August and 20 September), Jones Lang LaSalle is reorganizing its German activities, combining real estate advisory services, investor consulting, project & development services and energy & sustainability services into a single unit. The new division will start at the beginning of October with 30 people, led by Ingo Weiß, who was previously head of portfolio management (160 people), in which role he will be replaced by Christina Hoffmann and Tina Reuter. By the end of 2011, the real estate advisory services unit will include 45 employees. Weiß will report directly to Andreas Quint, head of Germany.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BNY Mellon group has announced promotions in its management team. Thomas (Todd) Gibbons has been appointed chief financial officer of the firm, while Timothy Keaney becomes CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. Karen Peetz has been promoted to CEO of the Financial Markets and Treasury Services division. Lastly, Brian Rogan becomes vice chairman, and James Palermo, also vice chairman, has been granted new responsibilities as co-CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the most recent quarterly survey from Russell Investments, 57% of US managers estimate that the market is currently undervalued, one of the highest percentages in the history of the survey, and the highest level observed since March 2009. Only 7% of managers consider the market overvalued. However, the study finds that the fact that managers are talking about the undervaluation of the market does not necessarily mean that they expect a rally similar to the one which followed the low point of March 2009. But they do, however, seem to have recovered some optimism, based on the conviction that the economy will regain some of its health, although it is not necessarily at its best yet. Nearly half of managers (49%) estimate that the growth of the economy in the next 12 months will be led by investment spending. Only 9% predict a stagnation of the economy. This is a very low percentage in light of continuing widespread speculation that there will be a double-dip in the economy in the coming months.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Warren Buffett is continuing to sell off his shares in Moody’s, via his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, La Tribune reports. Early this week, he sold 56,000 shares, while earlier this month he sold 1.35 million shares. Since June 2009, his stake has fallen from 20.4% to 12.3%, in a less promising environment for ratings agencies, the newspaper notes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AQR Capital Management, which advises the AQR funds, has granted JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services a mandate for fund administration, prime custody and associated services for mutual funds representing assets of over USD2bn, out of total assets of about USD27bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A team of eight traders will be leaving Credit Suisse in the United States to start up a hedge fund backed by Blackstone Group, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The departures follow the passage of new regulations in the United States which limit proprietary trading. The team is led by George “Beau” Taylor, p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } currently Credit Suisse’s global head of commodities-arbitrage trading, and Trevor Woods, head of energy-arbitrage trading. The launch of the new fund is slated for early 2011, and Blackstone will invest USD150m.

Le Temps reports that the US market authority, the SEC, announced on 23 September that UBS had respected the requirements of the authority regarding its Auction Rate Securities (ARS), financial products which were described as safe, but which lost all of their value at the height of the crisis in February 2008. By the terms of the agreement with the SEC, UBS agreed to redeem USD18bn to clients who lost money on these products. This has now been achieved, and “nearly 100% of investors” have now received some compensation, the SEC notes. The agency will therefore not impose a fine on UBS.

Schroders is preparing to launch the Schroder Opus Trading Fund on GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access), its Luxembourg-based, UCITS III-compliant hedge fund platform. The new fund will bring the number of sub-funds in the Sicav to five, two of which are managed externally.The trading and macro fund, which invests in managed accounts and is managed by Schroders, is in fact already available in a UCITS-compliant form, but it is currently housed on the Credit Suisse platform. It is now being transferred to GAIA. By the end of the year, another fund – long/short credit – will be launched in the Sicav. And next year, three or four more funds will be added. The Sicav currently has assets of over EUR200m, as of 14 September.

Mirabaud & Cie, private bankers, active since 2001 in the institutional client sector, is now developing this activity in Zurich, the bank announced in a statement on 23 September. Matthias Schroedter and Thomas Brun have recently joined Mirabaud and taken charge of distribution of funds and mandates to financial intermediaries and institutional clients in German-speaking Switzerland.Schroedter, Mirabaud’s new head of distribution in German-speaking Switzerland to financial intermediaries and banks (wholesale), has over 10 years’ experience in distribution to the institutional sector. He previously worked for Invesco, Banque Sarasin and WMPartners. Brun, in charge of institutional client relationship management for German-speaking Switzerland, has been working for over 20 years in fund and mandate distribution to institutionals. He held key roles at Lombard Odier, Eurofima and Swiss Bank Corp.

Via its affiliate Santander Private Banking, the Spanish firm Santander has completed its acquisition, announced on 23 September, of 100% of Meliorbanca Private, the private banking division of Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna (BPER). Expansión reports that the transaction price has not been disclosed, but was about EUR32m.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish pension fund AMF has acquired the City Cronan office complex in Stockhom (42,000 square metres) from the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund. The acquisition price, the largest in Sweden in the past three years according to Deka Immobilien, has now been disclosed, but the sale took place at a price higher than the asset’s market value. The German management firm states that it is the twelfth sale this year above market value. In total, these sales have taken place at 13% above the market value of the properties concerned.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from VDOS Stochastics, 65 guaranteed funds with assets of EUR4.06bn will mature in Spain in fourth quarter, Expansión reports. 25 more funds will remain in a sales phase at that time. The largest of the maturing funds is the Foncaixa Garantia Renta Fija 15, with EUR969m. Total assets in guaranteed funds, at EUR49.33bn, represent 32.14% of assets under management in Spanish funds overall. Since the beginning of the year, bond guaranteed funds have posted net subscriptions of EUR3.81bn.

Schroders has appointed Tjeerd Voskamp as senior relationship director in the Global Financial Institutions Group with immediate effect. His role will involve expanding and deepening Schroders’ relationships with financial institutions that have global distribution and he will report to Robert Noach, head of Global Financial Institutions Group. Tjeerd has spent 10 years at Threadneedle Asset Management. He held several senior client facing roles with a particular focus on European distribution in Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia.

The clearing specialist firm Fidelity Clearing Canada has announced recruitments for its management team. Thomas A. White, former director and vice president of global markets and investment banking (GMI) services at Merrill Lynch Canada, has been appointed chief operating officer (COO). Ronald White becomes chief financial officer (CFO), and Bryan Moffitt becomes chief compliance officer (CCO). The three new arrivals will report to William (Bill) J. Henderson, CEO of Fidelity Clearing Canada.

According to statistics from the Austrian VÖIG association of asset management firms, 1,421 funds out of a total of 1,562 which have been in existence for over one year show positive twelve-month performance to the end of August, equivalent to 90.97% of the funds overall. Only 141 funds show losses. By an arithmetical average, without taking into account the size of individual funds, the average performance of Austrian funds comes to 8.26%, compared with 10.63% in July and 13.85% in June.The largest gains of the past twelve months, as in previous months, were for the Kepler Asset Backed Securities Fund, with 81.52%, while the worst performer was the sDoubleStock from the savings bank of Upper Austria (Sparkasse Oberösterreich KAG). Over three years to the end of August, the best Sharpe ratio was for the real estate fund Real Invest Austria (Bank Austria), with 2.18, just ahead of the EuroHighgrade funds from Pioneer Investments Austria (2.17) and the Tirolrent from Tirolinvest (2.11).

As announced (see Newsmanagers of 13 September), Vanguard has extended its range of passive funds, with the launch of seven equities tracker funds with institutional share classes, and ETF shares exposed to value, growth and blend segments of the Russell 1000 large caps index, and the Russell 2000 index of small caps.The ETF shares carry commissions of 0.12%, for the fund based on the Russell 1000, and 0.15% for the funds based on the Russell 1000 Value and Growth indices and on the Russell 2000, and 0.20% for funds based on the Russell 2000 Value and Growth. The Russell 3000 ETF charges 0.15%. Vanguard has also announced plans to launch its first three tracker funds of municipal bonds, with traditional and ETF share classes, which will replicate indices of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond series, and which will charge fees of 0.12%, in the next few months.