Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has selected OrbiMed Capital to manage the Skandia Healthcare Fund. It replaces Carnegie Asset Management, which has been managing the fund since inception in April 2006.As part of the mandate, OrbiMed will manage the Skandia Healthcare Fund on an exclusive basis subject to certain conditions for at least the next three years. OrbiMed is a specialist healthcare and life sciences investment boutique with over USD4bn of assets under management. The firm’s 40-person investment team, one of the largest in the sector, includes over a dozen former medical doctors and scientists.

In the twelve months to the end of June, German open-ended real estate funds have posted net subscriptions of EUR2.1bn, which makes it the third largest category for net inflows, after diversified and bond funds.The four largest real estate fund managers are Union Investment Real Estate (co-operative banks) with 18.4% of the market, Deka Immobilien (savings banks) with 15.6%, Commerz Real Investmentgessellschaft (CRI, Commerzbank group) with 12.8%, and SEB Investment (8%). On a closer inspection of the figures, however, the Kommalpha consultancy notes, it appears that net subscriptions to the top four actors in the sector totalled EUR4.4bn. The combined assets of the four leaders increased in the period by EUR4bn (to EUR48bn), to total 54.7% of total assets in the sector, compared with about 50% one year earlier. This means, in other words, that the other 14 actors must share 45.3% of the management market.In first half 2010, the gap widened between the top four and the rest of the pack: the top four posted combined net subscriptions of about EUR1.7bn, or about 80% of all net inflows. This result is all the more significant as CRI has posted net outflows.

State Street Corporation has announced that it has been selected by the Strategic Investments Group (SIG) to provide investment and fund administration services to its new UCITS product, Strategic Active Trading Funds, launched last May, which has a total of USD250m in assets.

On Tuesday, due to the relevant authorized persons being on holiday, Lyxor Asset Management was not able to confirm to Newsmanagers reports in several British media sources that the asset manager has recruited Nizam Hamid, head of sales strategy at iShares Europe since November 2008. Hamid would take over responsibility for global ETF sales, which Dan Draper left behind to join Credit Suisse (see Newsmanagers of 9 February), and which were taken over for the interim by Isabelle Bourcier. Apparently, Bourcier will retain her role as global head of ETFs at Lyxor AM, as part of her responsibilities as head of marketing & sales for listed products at Société Générale.

Though with 24%, it is already the largest individual shareholder in Campofrío since its merger with Smithfield, and also the largest lender to Panrico, of whose debt it controls 20%, the U.S. hedge fund firm Oaktree Capital did not yet have a stable presence in Spain. Now, Expansión reports, the firm is setting up shop there, and has recently recruited Carlos Gila, head of the consulting firm Gila & Co and former vice president of La Seda de Barcelona.

Expansión reports that the US management firm BlackRock has topped 3% of capital in Repsol, with a total stake of 3.023%, according to statistics from the CNMV. BlackRock thus owns more than 36.9 million shares in the Spanish oil company, which represents an investment at current share prices of EUR658m. In early June, BlackRock’s stake in Repsol was 2.979%.

According to statistics from the CNMV, the Sicav funds of the fifteen most wealthy Spanish families (Amancio Ortega, Alicia Koplowitz, Rosalía Mera, the Polanco family, the Del Pino family, Ram Bhavnani, and others) were 16.11% invested as of the end of June in bank savings accounts, compared with 6.3% as of the end of 2009, and only 0.98% in 2001, Expansión reports. The high net worth investors see these passive products as a means to obtain good returns without being exposed to the turbulence of the markets. Morinvest (Alicia Koplowitz) had EUR124.93m in investments in bank savings accounts as of the end of June, equivalent to 28.36% of its assets. Keblar (Amancio Ortega) had EUR39.59m in bank savings accounts, equivalent to 26.84% of its total assets. In terms of products, the favourites of the high net worth segment are Banesto and La Caixa.

The Irish Finance Act 2010 includes a clause which exempts non-resident investors from making a tax declaration for investments in Irish-registered funds, as they are not liable to pay taxes on these investments anyway. The Irish tax authorities considers it more worthwhile to concentrate its attention on the small number of Irish residents investing in these funds, who are subject to tax on their investments.

Jim Davey, Vice President and director of corporate retirement plans-Investment products division at The Hartford, has been appointed head of the mutual funds business for the United States and Canada. He will also be responsible for 529 savings plan activities. He will report to David Levenson, who was appointed head of wealth management in July, Mutual Fund Wire reports.

Hedgeweek reports that the Boston investment firm Moody Aldrich Partners has signed an agreement with Wilshire Funds Management, by which Wilshire will help Moody Aldrich to develop its new hedge fudn financing platform, MAP Harvest Fund. Wilshire will be resopnsible for operational due diligence, risk management, and annex services. MAP Harvest Fund will financially assist promising independent hedge funds, and assist them in the development of their key administrative functions and investment tools.

Agefi Switzerland reports that the private bank Hyposwiss yesterday kicked off its first advertising campaign, which appears to mock UBS’ slogan “You & Us.” Its message, “It will never be about you and us. It will always be about your money,” the newspaper suggests, may be interpreted as a frontal attack on UBS and on its former advertising slogan. “It could be read that way, but it is not an attack on UBS,” says Declan McAdams, CEO of Hyposwiss, in Geneva. “This campaign is the result of a deep analysis of our clients and our partners internally,” he says. “We want to stand out from the major banks, and our objective is to foreground what is important for clients directly and simply. It is time to insist a little more on management of the client’s money, and less on the relationship aspect.”

GAM Holding SA on 24 August announced an increase of 36% in its profits for first half, to CHF106.3m, from CHF78.1m one year earlier on a pro forma basis. Last year’s results are given on a pro forma basis and corrected for the IPO of the firm’s US affiliate Artio, its takeover of Augustus Asset Managers, and other one-time elements. The group has posted a net inflow of CHF5.6bn, compared with outflows of CHF1.6bn one year earlier. Inflows of new money totalled CHF3.6bn for the GAM division, compared with -CHF5bn previously, and CHF7.4bn for Swiss & Global, compared with CHF3.7bn previously. Assets under management totalled CHF116.6bn as of the end of June, up 11% year on year, and up 3% compared with the end of December 2009. GAM has also announced the launch of a new share buyback program, which will extend to up to 10% of capital in two years. The program fulfils GAM’s intentions in terms of dividends, as the group is planning to give back 50% of profits to shareholders in the form of dividends, says Johannes de Gier, chairman of the board of directors and CEO, cited in a statement.

Asian Investor reports that Russell Investments has a growing presence on the Asian high net worth client services market. Since first quarter 2010, Russell has been offering its dedicated fund platform OpenWorld to private banks in the region, as well as to family offices and high net worth private clients. The platform, launched on the European market in autumn 2008, offers 18 major investment strategies, each of them managed by a single manager. It currently manages USD450m worldwide.

The British management firm Threadneedle is scaling up its teams in South-East Asia and Taiwan, Asian Investor reports. The group is currently seeking a head of institutional clients for North Asia, and is planning to set up a research team in Singapore in early 2011. In the short term, Sandra Cheng, previously of Deutsche Bank, joins Threadneedle in September as head of institutions for South-East Asia. Sheila Tan, previously based in Hong Kong, will take over as head of activities in Taiwan, where Threadneedle is planning to develop its presence in the institutional client segment. Threadneedle is also in talks with various financial partners in South Korea. Threadneedle is also working to develop new products, including funds denominated in Chinese renminbi.

Les Echos reports that fiscal instructions which aim to make Paris a hub for Islamic finance in continental Europe were published on 24 August by the French government. The instructions cover “sukuk” operations (issuing securities representing cooperative ownership of a tangible asset or the proceeds of the asset), “murabaha” (when the issuer acts as an intermediary: a vendor sells an assets to an Islamic financial actor, who resells them to an investor for a price payable at some time in the future), “ijara” (a type of rental, in which the investor buys equipment and rents it to a business), and “istisna’a” (a contract by which one party asks another party to build a project in exchange for payment, which is guaranteed when construction is complete).

Werner Kolitsch, head of Germany & Austria at Threadneedle, has told Fondsprofessionell that Gerald Saam is leaving the German affiliate of the British management firm, where he was director of institutional sales since last year, by mutual agreement. He joined Threadneedle in October 2007. Saam’s replacement will be appointed by the end of November at the latest.

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced on 24 August that it has levelled a record fine of GBP2.27m against Zurich Insurance plc, an affiliate of Zurich Financial Services Group (ZFS), for losing data on 46,000 clients. It is the largest fine ever from the FSA for lost data.

RBC Dexia Investor Services has appointed David Dibben as head of global fund products. Based in London and reporting to Rob Wright, global head, product & client segments, he will be responsible for the strategic direction, planning and continued overall success of RBC Dexia’s Fund Products business. Prior to this role, David Dibben was most recently with HSBC Global Asset Management in London as chief operating officer of their global fund ranges where he oversaw the significant growth of their Luxembourg- and Dublin-domiciled funds. He has also held senior management roles with M&G (Prudential), Henderson Global Investors and Norwich Union, and provided consultancy services to a number of major players in the investment industry.

In first half 2010, Jupiter, which made its initial public offering on 21 June, posted net subscriptions of GBP814m, due to inflows to its mutual funds (GBP873m). At the same time last year, the management firm had inflows of GBP917m. For the half, assets are up 2% to GBP19.8bn, compared with GBP19.5bn as of the end of 2009, and GBP15.5bn as of the end of June 2009. Earnings totalled GBP11.7bn, up 40% year on year, due to an increase of GBP29m in net management fees. Pre-tax profits totalled GBP14.6m, compared with a loss of GBP6.5m in the corresponding period of 2009. EBITDA is up 64%, to GBP59.1m.

Long-term UCITS-compliant funds (excluding money market funds) finished the month of June with outflows again in Europe, though they were much less pronounced than in May, according to statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). Outflows totalled EUR200m, compared with EUR8.4bn in May, largely due to a major increase in net outflows from equities funds, from EUR11bn in May to EUR2bn in June. UCITS funds overall posted a net outflow of EUR31bn in June, compared with EUR23bn in May. This development was due to an acceleration in outflows from money market funds, from EUR14bn in May to EUR31bn in June. Bond funds also saw net outflows, of EUR3bn in June, compared with EUR2bn in May. However, diversified funds attracted a net inflow of EUR3bn in June, and dedicated funds attracted a record EUR12bn. Non-UCITS funds, for their part, posted a net inflow of EUR13.2bn in June, compared with EUR3.5bn one month earlier.

The hedge fund market transaction platform Chi-X Europe announced on 24 August in a statement that it may sell off all or part of its activities, after being approached by a third party whose identity has not been revealed. Chi-X “confirms that it has received a request from a third party, which may or may not lead to an offer to acquire all or part of the business,” the group says in a statement. The potential acquirer’s “interest in Chi-X Europe is the result of our track record, which has made us a top European trading platform in the past three years, and our profit situation in 2010. We were not seeking a deal, and the option to maintain our independence would allow us to increase value for our shareholders,” Chi-X adds, without providing details. Chi-X Europe, which is currently owned, among others, by BNP Paribas “BNP.PA,” Société Générale, Citadel, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Fortis, GETCO Europe, Goldman Sachs, Instinet Holdings, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Optiver and UBS, last year represented a market share of 15.6% on the basis of data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Agefi Switzerland reports that UBS on 24 August announced that it has received approval from the British financial market regulator, the FSA to launch its own European equities trading platform, UBS MTF, whose creation was announced in March. The bank adds that it is planning to launch the alternative equities market by the end of the year. It will be based in London.

The British investment management association (IMA) announced at the beginning of this week that it has concluded its examination of the absolute return sector, and concluded that no modifications will be introduced at this time. The professional association says in a statement that debates over the sub-categorisation of absolute return funds was no longer ongoing, as the sector is not yet large or mature enough to make changes. The sector, introduced in 2008, was the first IMA category to accept offshore funds. The sector now includes 48 funds, with cumulative assets under management of GBP13.6bn. Of these 48 funds, 10 are offshore funds, with total assets under management of GBP1.2bn.

Philippe de Weck, who is already manager of the Pictet Clean Energy fund, will be appointed as manager of the Environmental Megatrend Selection fund (see Newsmanagers of 29 July). The product will take advantage of the pooling scheme offered by Luxembourg law to invest in four “green” in-house funds: Water (EUR2.32bn), Clean Energy (EUR484m), Timber (EUR84m) and Agriculture (EUR122m). It will have 200 to 240 positions overall. The themes are the same as those of the fund which is already much more actively managed (60 positions) by Arnaud Bisschop (manager of the Pictet Water fund for the past 19 months), on behalf of Union Financière de France, and entitled UFF Capital Planète (see Newsmanagers of 27 July).

The central bank of the kingdom of Bahrain has issued a category 2 investment company license to Sarasin-Alpen (Bahrain) BSC. The license allows the new entity, an affiliate of Sarasin bank and Alpen-Capital, to offer advising services to high net worth private clients.

La société de gestion britannique Threadneedle renforce ses équipes en Asie du Sud-Est et à Taiwan, selon Asian Investor. Le groupe recherche actuellement un responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle en Asie du Nord et envisage d’installer une équipe de recherche à Singapour début 2011.Dans l’immédiat, Sandra Cheng, précédemment à la Deutsche Bank, rejoint Threadneedle en septembre en qualité de responsable des institutions pour l’Asie du Sud-Est. Sheila Tan, précédemment à Hong Kong, va prendre la responsabilité des activités à Taiwan où Threadneedle entend se développer auprès de la clientèle institutionnelle. La société de gestion est également en discussions avec différents partenaires financiers en Corée du Sud.Threadneedle travaille par ailleurs à l’élaboration de nouveaux produits, y compris des fonds en renminbi.

Selon Asian Investor, Russell Investments est de plus en plus présent sur le marché asiatique des services à la clientèle fortunée.Russell propose depuis le premier trimestre 2010 sa plate-forme de fonds dédiés OpenWorld aux banques privées de la région, aux family offices ou encore aux particuliers fortunés. Lancée sur le marché européen à l’automne 2008, cette plate-forme propose dix-huit grandes stratégies d’investissement, chacune pilotée par un seul gérant. Elle gère actuellement 450 millions de dollars à travers le monde.

A fin 2009, l’encours des fonds de fonds bénéficiant d’un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne affichait un gonflement de 15 % en un an à 52,6 milliards d’euros (contre 44,9 milliards au 31/12/2008), c’est-à-dire pratiquement son niveau de fin 2007 (53 milliards d’euros), selon une étude de Fidelity International en coopération avec Morningstar.La tendance à l’architecture ouverte se confirme, puisque les fonds investissant également dans des fonds externes représentent 63 % de l’encours total, contre 62 % fin 2008 et 56 % fin 2007. L’augmentation des encours de ces fonds «ouverts» a atteint 17 %, contre 12 % pour les fonds de fonds-maison.Les trois premiers acteurs sur le marché allemand des fonds de fonds demeurent Deka (15,18 milliards d’euros contre 13,93 milliards fin 2008, soit une part de marché de 28,9 % contre 30,5 %, devant DWS avec plus de 5,14 milliards contre 4,26 milliards et Union Investment, avec 3,26 milliards contre 2,92 milliards. DWS a vu sa part de marché augmentée» à 9,8 % contre 9,2 %, comme Union, qui passe à 8,2 % contre 7,9 %. A signaler aussi qu’Axa (1,24 milliard) passe à 2,4 % de part de marché, contre 2,3 %.L'étude montre aussi que Deka demeure avec 8,5 milliards d’euros le principal fournisseur de fonds-cibles ce qui s’explique en bonne partie par le fait que le gestionnaire des caisses d'épargne investit majoritairement dans ses propres fonds Le numéro deux est BlackRock, avec 4 milliards d’euros, grâce à l’acquisition de Barclays Global Investors (et donc des ETF de la marque iShares). Fidelity note à ce propos que db x-trackers, le spécialiste des ETF chez Deutsche Bank, a enregistré l’an dernier un gonflement de 31 % des encours utilisés par les fonds de fonds, à 1,5 milliard d’euros ; il passe ainsi du sixième au quatrième rang.

Sur les douze mois à fin juin les fonds immobiliers offerts au public ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 2,1 milliards d’euros, ce qui en fait la troisième catégorie pour les rentrées nettes après les fonds diversifiés et les fonds obligataires.Les quatre principaux gestionnaires de fonds immobiliers sont Union Investment Real Estate (banques populaires) avec 18,4 % du marché, Deka Immobilien (caisses d'épargne) avec 15,6 %, Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft (CRI, groupe Commerzbank) avec 12,8 % et SEB Investment (8 %).En analysant les chiffres de plus près, toutefois, note l’agence Kommalpha, il s’avère que les souscriptions nettes des quatre premiers acteurs du secteur ont porté sur 4,4 milliards d’euros. L’encours combiné de ces quatre leaders a augmenté durant cette période de 4 milliards d’euros (à 48 milliards d’euros), pour atteindre 54,7 % de l’encours total du secteur contre environ 50 % un an plus tôt. Cela signifie en d’autres termes que les 14 autres acteurs doivent se contenter de 45,3 % du gâteau. Pour le premier semestre 2010, la distorsion s’est accentuée entre les premiers et le peloton : les quatre leaders ont en effet enregistré des souscriptions nettes combinées d’environ 1,7 milliard d’euros, soit environ 80 % du total des rentées nettes. Un résultat d’autant plus significatif que CRI a accusé des sorties nettes.

Werner Kolitsch, head of Germany & Austria chez Threadneedle, a indiqué à Fondsprofessionell que Gerald Saam quitte en plein accord la filiale allemande du gestionnaire britannique, dont il était le directeur des ventes institutionnelles depuis l’an dernier. Il avait rejoint Threadneedle en octobre 2007. Le remplaçant de Gerald Saam sera nommé au plus tard fin novembre.