En difficulté depuis cet été, le hedge fund suisse GAM aurait entamé des discussions informelles avec des acquéreurs potentiels, selon une information de Bloomberg reprise par Les Echos. La société pourrait intéresser des sociétés de gestion d’actifs italiennes ou françaises ainsi que les activités de gestion de fortune des banques. Le gérant suisse a subi d’importants retraits ces derniers mois. Après avoir émis un avertissement sur résultats mi-juillet en raison de performances décevantes, GAM avait suspendu son gérant Tim Haywood, soupçonné d’infractions au code de conduite interne, provoquant un exode des investisseurs et une chute brutale du titre en Bourse.
Le fonds de pension sud-coréen National Pension Services (NPS) a nommé Ahn Hyo-joon en qualité de directeur des investissements permanent, en remplacement de Myoun-wook Kang qui a démissionné en juillet 2017. Ahn Hyo-joon, qui compte 18 ans d’expérience dans l’industrie, a rejoint NPS pour un mandat de deux ans. L’intéressé avait déjà évolué au sein du fonds de pension, ayant dirigé l’équipe en charge de la stratégie d’investissement entre 2011 et 2013 avant de devenir directeur général de Kyobo Axa Investment Managers en 2013. En 2016, il était devenu président de la division internationale du conglomérat financier BNK Financial Group, a poste qu’il a occupé jusqu’à sa nomination chez NPS.
La société de gestion italienne Etica SGR lance Etica Impatto Clima, un fonds diversifié investi dans des titres émis par des entreprises et des Etats et caractérisés par un profil élevé en matière de responsabilité sociale et environnementale, avec un biais particulier sur les thématiques liées au développement d’une économie bas carbone, rapporte Funds People Italia. Le fonds est investi jusqu’à 60 % du portefeuille dans des actions de sociétés de l’Union européenne, de l’Amérique du Nord et du Pacifique. Le fonds est investi en outre dans des obligations d’émetteurs souverains, d’organismes internationaux, d’obligations d’entreprises et d’obligations vertes appartenant principalement à la zone euro.
En septembre, Azimut a enregistré des souscriptions nettes pour 241 millions d’euros, portant la collecte depuis le début de l’année à environ 3,6 milliards. Le total des encours s’établit ainsi à fin septembre à 52,4 milliards d’euros, dont 41,2 milliards sous gestion. Sergio Albarelli a précisé que la collecte avait surtout été due aux activités à l’étranger.
Amundi a recruté Kaspar Elmgreen, en provenance de Nordea Asset Management, en qualité de responsable des actions, rapporte Financial News qui cite deux sources proches du dossier. Il remplace ainsi Diego Franzin qui a récemment quitté la société de gestion. Kasper Elmgreen était jusque-là responsable des actions fondamentales au sein de Nordea Asset Management (Nordea AM). Il avait intégré Nordea AM en 2014 en provenance de BankInvest Asset Management, une société de gestion indépendante danoise où il avait officié en tant que responsable des actions.
La société de gestion indépendante Vatel Capital, spécialiste de l’investissement dans les PME cotées et non cotées, a annoncé, hier, l’arrivée au sein de ses effectifs de Jean-Michel Ycre en qualité de directeur d’investissement et Benoît Gueguen au poste de chargé d’affaires.Jean-Michel Ycre, 44 ans, compte 17 ans d’expérience sur les marchés financiers et le conseil. En septembre 2001, il intègre le pôle gestion de fortune du Crédit Lyonnais, où il contribue à la mise en place de l’activité de gestion conseillée, puis gère des portefeuilles actions de clients discrétionnaires. Après un passage en vente institutionnelle chez Crédit Agricole Asset Management, il rejoint en janvier 2006 MEGA International où il réalise et supervise des missions de conseil en organisation et architecture d’entreprise, en France et en Europe. A partir de 2011, il poursuit cette activité au sein de Crédit Agricole Assurances. Après avoir obtenu un Mastère Big Data – Gestion et Analyse des Données Massives à Telecom Paris Tech, il rejoint Vatel Capital.Pour sa part, Benoît Gueguen, 29 ans, a débuté sa carrière en tant qu’assistant gérant au sein de la société de gestion Quantology Capital Management en 2016. Diplômé d’un Master Trading, Finance et Négoce international et Gestion d’Actifs de l’ESLSCA, il est également titulaire d’une certification en Finance d’entreprise d’HEC, du nivea 1 du CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) et suit actuellement un MBA Comptabilité et Finance d’entreprise.
Chahine Capital, société de gestion spécialisée dans la gestion momentum quantitative, a annoncé, ce 10 octobre, le lancement du Digital Stars EuroFlex, un nouveau fonds actions européennes flexible. La société dispose désormais de six fonds en gestion. Le Digital Stars EuroFlex a pour sous-jacent le fonds Digital Stars Europe Ex-UK et intègre en complément un moteur de couverture dynamique flexible 0-100% systématique, explique le gestionnaire dans un communiqué. « Les détenteurs de parts de Digital Stars EuroFlex profitent ainsi des capacités de surperformance de Digital Stars Europe Ex-UK et d’une couverture dynamique, calculée chaque mois, selon toute éventuelle perte du fonds sur un an glissant, ajoute Chahine Capital. La couverture s’effectue par l’utilisation de futures listés sur indices actions. »La gestion du fonds est assurée par Aymar de Léotoing. Selon Chahine Capital, ce nouveau produits présente « un profil particulièrement adapté aux besoins des family offices, des banques privées, des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine ou des investisseurs particuliers ».Le lancement de Digital Stars EuroFlex s’accompagne également de la création du fonds Digital Stars Eurozone, un fonds comparable à Digital Stars Europe – à savoir un fonds actions toutes capitalisations investi sur l’Union européenne, la Norvège et la Suisse – à la différence qu’il est exclusivement investi en valeurs de la zone euro.
Dominique Dorlipo a décidé de quitter ses fonctions de Président de Russell Investments France pour poursuivre un nouveau challenge personnel, probablement dans la gestion d’actifs, a appris NewsManagers. Son départ effectif est prévu pour le 7 novembre prochain. Il a passé 22 ans au sein du groupe Russell Investments. Ses fonctions de président seront assurés par intérim par Joe Linhares, responsable EMEA. Michael Sfez, actuel directeur général, dirigera désormais l’ensemble de l’activité en France. Le groupe prévoit rapidement le recrutement d’un directeur à Paris pour soutenir l’effort commercial et servir ses clients. «Nous travaillons actuellement avec l’AMF pour évaluer la bonne structure de gouvernance future», a précisé Michael Sfez à NewsManagers. Russell Investments célèbrera 25 ans de présence en France l’année prochaine et a, selon Michael Sfez, «clairement des ambitions fortes sur le marché institutionnel et de la distribution en France». Après 25 ans de présence, le groupe dispose d’une présence sur l’ensemble des canaux d’investissement (retraite complémentaire, épargne retraite, assurance, banques, CGPI,…). Russell Investments gère 11 milliards d’euros pour le compte de clients Français (2,7 milliards d’encours sous gestion, €700 millions d’encours conseillés et 8.6 milliards en stratégies overlay) dont plus de 1 milliard au sein de la société gestion locale, agréée en 2012.Russell Investments France se positionne comme un leader en solutions multi-actifs et services d’investissement (gestion de transition, overlay, etc…).
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has launched the Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity ESG Portfolio. The Portfolio seeks to provide investors exposure to emerging market companies which GSAM believes demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials. The long-only Portfolio will be managed by GSAM’s Emerging Market (EM) Equity team. The 30 person team currently manages USD3.5bn GS Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio. The portfolio will incorporate ESG criteria as part of a fundamental, bottom-up financial analysis. The Portfolio is a new sub-fund of the UCITS-qualifying Luxembourg-domiciled Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV. The Portfolio is offered to both institutional and retail clients and is registered for sale across a range of European countries.
@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }The independent asset management firm Vatel Capital, a specialist inpublicly-traded and private SMEs, yesterday announced the arrival ofJean-Michel Ycre as investment director, and BenoîtGueguen as account officer.Ycre,44, has 17 years of experience in financial markets and advising. InSeptember 2001, he joined the wealth management unit at CréditLyonnais, where he contributed to the creation of the advisedmanagement activity, and then managed equity portfolios fordiscretionary clients. After a stint in institutional sales at CréditAgricole Asset Management, in January 2006, he joined MEGAInternational, where he served on and oversaw organisational andcorporate architectural consulting missions, in France and Europe.From 2011, he continued this activity at Crédit AgricoleAssurances. After earning a Master’s degree in big data managementand analysis from Telecom Paris Tech, he joined Vatel Capital.Gueguen,29, began his career as an assistant manager at the asset managementfirm Quantology Capital Management in 2016. He holds a Master’sdegree in trading, finance and international trading and assetmanagement from ESLSCA, and also has a certificate in corporatefinance from HEC, level 1 Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst(CAIA), and is currently taking an MBA in business accounting andfinance.
Dominique Dorlipo has decided to leave his position as chairman of Russell Investments France, to take on new personal challenges, probably in the field of asset management, NewsManagers has learned. His departure will be effective from 7 November. Dorlipo spent 22 years at the Russell Investments group. His functions as chairman will be filled in the interim by Joe Linhares, head for EMEA.Michael Sfez, current CEO, will now direct all activities in France. The group is planning to recruit a director in Paris soon, to support commercial efforts and serve its clients. “We are now working with the AMF to evaluate the best future governance structure,” Sfez tells NewsManagers.Russell Investments will next year celebrate 25 years of being present in France, and Sfez says that the group “clearly has strong ambitions in the institutional and retail markets in France.” After 25 years in the country, the group has a presence in all investment channels (supplementary pensions, retirement savings, insurance, banking, IFAs, etc.) Russell Investments has EUR11bn in assets under management for French clients (EUR2.7bn in assets under management, EUR700m in assets advised, and EUR8.6bn in overlay strategies), with more than EUR1bn at the local asset management firm, which was granted a license in 2012.RIF positions itself as a leader in multi-asset and investment solutions (transition management, overlay, etc.)
Eaton Vance’s SRI subsidiary Calvert has appointed four senior ESG research analysts, all based in Washington and reporting to ESG research head Jessica Milano. Daniel Dorman joins Calvert from the US Treasury department where he held various positions at the offices of financial Institutions and Financial Stability, including senior advisor, senior policy advisor and senior investment manager. Prior to that, he served as a manager and analyst at JP Morgan Chase. Hellen Mbugua worked previously at IFG Development Group, where she was a vice president focused on due diligence and model construction and analysis. She also held roles at Adaris Capital, Pacific Alternative Asset Management and State Street Corporation. John Patrick Miller joins Calvert from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where he held multiple roles including branch chief, technical and policy advisor and energy industry analyst. Other roles were with IMG-Crown Energy Services JV, Platts McGraw Hill and Financial TTN. Before joining Calvert, Daniel Rourke worked at the US Department of Agriculture, where he served as senior policy advisor on infrastructure finance, economic development, impact analysis and other issues. He also spent some time at the US Treasury. Prior to his government service, he worked in real estate private equity for Cafritz Company, The Carlyle Group and The Archon Group. Calvert’s AUM were worth $15bn as at 31 July 2018.
@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Martin Gilbert, co-CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen, has resigned fromhis position as a director at Sky, the British television group,following the acquisition of the group by the US group Comcast. Hehad been a director since 2011, and had sat as chairman of anindependent committee created to study takeover bids for the group.Gilbert had already announced that he would be leaving his job whenthe saga of the acquisition of the British company would reach aconclusion. His position was under challenge due to the accumulationof multiple responsibilities. Gilbert had also sat on the board ofdirectors at Glencore.
GAM Holdings is in informal discussions with potential buyers, to sell all or part of the firm, as it seeks solutions to stabilise after a star manager was suspended, according to reports in Bloomberg. The talks are at an early stage, and may not result in a sale of the business, according to the sources, who prefer to remain anonymous. The news has boosted GAM stock prices. A spokesperson for the firm did not wish to comment.
The future is looking bright for French players in private equity. In the first half of 2018, the sector managed to raise EUR6.6bn, after EUR8.1bn in the first half of 2017, according to figures released yesterday by France Invest and Grant Thornton. “This is a high level, at a time when the discontinuation of the ISF PME fund, which raised EUR383m in the first half of 2017, has cut off a part of inflows,” France Invest comments in a statement.In the first six months of 2018, the capital raised has risen sharply from retirement funds and pension funds (+53% in one year), many of them foreign, and from sovereign funds (+75% compared with the first half of 2017), many of them Asian. Another reason to be pleased is that foreign investors represent 50% of inflows, which is “a positive sign about the attractiveness of French private equity,” France Invest says.In the first half of 2018, private equity players invested EUR6.1bn in 1,116 startups ,SMEs and mid-sized businesses, compared with EUR6.4bn in the first half of 2017. 19% of these investments were outside France, “2.6 times more than in the first half of 2017,” France Invest notes. The association also cites a steep rise in investment in innovation venture capital (+42% year on year to EUR809m), mainly in the range of single investments of EUR5m to EUR30m.Lastly, the liquidity of the private equity sector is becoming a reality. In the first half of 2018, 814 businesses were partially or totally sold.
@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }TheGenève Place Financière foundation on Wednesday, 9 October,announced that the banking sector contributes 12% of the grossdomestic product of the canton of Geneva, adding that financialintermediaries were expressing confidence for 2018 and 2019.Theinstitution is hoping to create a partnership between the privatesector and the Swiss public authorities at all levels, to apply taxreforms for moral persons and maintain reasonable tax levels fornatural persons.Thefoundation notes that during the financial crisis, relationshipscould sometimes be tense between the financial industry and publicbodies.“Theparadigm change has come largely since Switzerland has adoptedautomatic information exchanges, which has ushered in a new era ofpeaceful public-private partnerships,” it says.Taxationfor moral and natural persons represents a major challenge forGeneva, the foundation says.“Onthe one hand, as far as taxation of moral persons goes, Geneva cannotallow itself to fail to adopt the ‘PF 17’ reform, if it hopes toremain competitive with its neighbours, such as the Canton of Vaud,which has already adopted these measures. Meanwhile, taxation is anindispensable tool to keep taxpayers in Geneva who paid in more thanCHF400m for the canton in 2016. In these two areas, the financialmarketplace calls on the political circles to show pragmatism,” thefoundation says in a statement.Accordingto data reported by Genève Place Financière, the Geneva financialsector currently has 35,600 employees, and most bankingestablishments are planning recruiting personnel.
@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }In September, funds on sale inSweden overall saw net redemptions of SEK3bn, or EUR287m, afterattracting SEK4.5bn in Augut, the most recent statistics from theSwedish fund association FondbolagensFörening show. Outflows were mainly from equity funds, from whichSEK2.7bn flowed out. All other fund categories show inflows ornear-zero flow levels. Since the start of the year, Swedish fundshave shown net inflows of SEK39bn, with SEK14.9bn to diversifiedfunds, and SEK6.2bn for equity funds.InSeptember, assets in funds on sale in Sweden fell slightly, to atotal of SEK4.405trn, or EUR421bn, with 59% of this volume in equityfunds.
@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Chahine Capital, an assetmanagement firm specialised in quantitative momentum management, on10 October announced the launch of Digital Stars EuroFlex, a newflexible European equity fund. The firm now has six funds undermanagement. Digital Stars EuroFlex is based on the Digital StarsEurope Ex-UK fund as underlying, and includes a component of flexiblesystematic hedging for 0-100%, the asset management firm explains ina statement. “Shareholders in Digital Stars EuroFlex will alsobenefit from the outperformance capacities of Digital Stars EuropeEx-UK, and from dynamic hedging, calculated each month, for anypotential loss from the fund over a sliding one-year basis,”Chahine Capital adds. “Hedging relies on the use of listed futureson equity indices.”The management of the fund isprovided by Aymarde Léotoing. Accordingto Chahine Capital, the new product has “a profile which isparticularly well-suited to the needs of family offices, privatebanks, independent financial advisers and retail investors.”Thelaunch of Digital Stars EuroFlex has been accompanied by the creationof Digital Stars Eurozone, a fund compatible with Digital StarsEurope, being an equity fund for all cap sizes, investing in theEuropean Union, Norway and Switzerland, with the difference that itinvests exclusively in euro zone stocks.
Boston-based asset manager Loomis Sayles, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, is set to make a few changes on the management teams of two funds, NewsManagers has learned.Veteran bond manager Daniel Fuss, who has been working at Loomis Sayles since 1976, will no longer serve as co-portfolio manager of the Loomis Sayles Investment Grade Bond fund effective 1 November 2018. Matthew Eagan, Elaine Stokes and Brian Kennedy will remain co-portfolio managers of the fund whose assets under management were $5.6bn as of 30 September 2018.Another change effective 1 November 2018 will be on the Loomis Sayles High Income fund ($170.5m of AUM as of end June 2018). Todd Vandam and Brian Kennedy will be added to the current management team composed of Matthew Eagan and Elaine Stokes.In a statement to NewsManagers, Loomis Sayles explains guidelines changes will implemented on the Loomis SaylesInvestment Grade Bond Fund and the Loomis Sayles High Income Fund at the start of November."These changes are largely in response to feedback from clients, as well as demand for flexible fixed income solutions without the volatility that can accompany currency and equity positions,» says Loomis Sayles.Regarding the changes in the management team of both funds, the firm comments: «We believe this is a well-earned opportunity for these managers to oversee the transition of these Funds. This is a natural extension of the work they’ve long been doing for institutional clients, where they manage across the spectrum of guideline flexibility. Dan will continue to co-manage the funds that can draw on the full multisector toolbox.»
Nordea has reached an agreement with Norwegian company B2Holding for the sale of a portfolio of non-perfoming loans. Some 12,000 non-perfoming customer accounts, representing €388m of total debt, will be transferred to B2Holding, that operates debt collection company Nordic Debt Collection in Danemark.The transfer will occur on 31 October 2018. Furthermore six employees will be transferred to Nordic Debt Collection on 1 December 2018. Upon completion of the transaction, Nordea is expected to generate a capital gain of around €35-45m which will be included in the financial statements for 2019. “We let professional debt collection companies take over more of the non-performing accounts. Instead we can focus on our prevention work and help our customers avoid debt problems,” said Mads Skovlund, deputy head of Personal Banking, Denmark. B2Holding provides debt solutions to banks and institutional providers.
French boutique Amiral Gestion has registered its Sextant fund range in Switzerland in September, NewsManagers can reveal.The asset manager has confirmed the information. It is planning to register funds in Luxembourg and Italy.This includes the Sextant PME, Sextant PEA, Sextant Grand Large, Sextant Bond Picking, Sextant Autour du Monde and Sextant Europe funds.These Ucits funds are distributed through the Swiss firm ARM Swiss Representatives SA.Sextant PME had been reopened to subscriptions last 3 October after it was hard-closed in July 2017..
London-headquartered investment firm Smith & Williamson has appointed David Barfoot to the newly-created role of head of Fund Sales. Barfoot joins Smith & Williamson from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he was sales executive director, covering discretionary clients including wealth managers, DFMs, fund of funds and private banks. Reporting to Ed Rosengarten and based in London, Barfoot will oversee the sales team and focus on growing the group’s funds’ assets.This includes the Short-Dated Corporate Bond fund managed by Ian Kenny, the Global Inflation-Linked Bond fund headed by Thomas Wells, the Enterprise fund led by Mark Boucher, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) fund run by Chris Ford and Tim Day. Commenting on Barfoot’s appointment, David Cobb, co-chief executive at Smith & Williamson, said: “I am delighted that David has joined the firm to help accelerate the growth in this key area for Smith & Williamson. He has the right experience and ability to drive growth in our funds proposition, which includes access to exciting thematic opportunities as well as strategies providing diversified global inflation protection and proven UK equity long/short expertise.”
En dépit d’un été calme, il s’est investi 12,8 milliards d’euros en immobilier de bureaux francilien de janvier à septembre 2018, indique Immostat. Soit une hausse de 33 % par rapport à la même période de 2017. Sur la base d’un volume de 10 milliards en France au quatrième trimestre, les investissements dans l’Hexagone « devraient dépasser les 25 milliards » pour Knight Frank, voire « s’approcher des 30 milliards », selon CBRE, pour qui l’immobilier de bureaux dans Paris Centre Ouest pourrait atteindre « le record du siècle ».
Outre-Manche, les « Brexiters » ne sont pas de fins diplomates. Manifestement, les nerfs du secrétaire d’Etat britannique aux Affaires étrangères, Jeremy Hunt (photo), le lâchent à l’approche de l’échéance du 29 mars prochain. Il n’a pas trouvé mieux que d’assimiler le comportement de l’Union européenne dans les négociations du Brexit aux agissements de l’Union soviétique des pires heures. Ayant passé une partie de son existence dans le bloc soviétique, Donald Tusk, le président du Conseil européen, a jugé la comparaison insultante. Polonais et libéral, Donald Tusk passe aussi pour être un allié du Royaume-Uni au sein de l’UE. Jeremy Hunt a perdu une occasion de se taire.
Les échanges internationaux de services ne sont pas un problème pour Donald Trump. Et pour cause. Les Etats-Unis exportent plus de 70 milliards de dollars de services chaque mois et en importent de l’ordre de 45 milliards. Heureusement, car la Maison-Blanche aurait dû interdire la retransmission de la Coupe du monde de football. Le poste « propriété intellectuelle » de la balance commerciale a enregistré des importations supplémentaires de 600 millions de dollars en juin et juillet, des charges temporaires pour obtenir les droits de retransmission de la Coupe du monde de football, explique le BEA (Bureau of Economics Analysis).
Ciblée. La société de conseil Mercer (MMC) et le fournisseur de données et de recherche Morningstar se sont alliés pour proposer aux investisseurs une plate-forme digitale de données sur la gestion institutionnelle, des analyses de performances et de la recherche qualitative. Ce rapprochement combinera la recherche ciblée de Mercer (6.000 sociétés de gestion, 32.000 stratégies) avec la recherche indépendante de Morningstar et ses bases de données sur quelque 252.000 fonds ouverts et ETF (exchange-trade funds), plus les comptes gérés et indices. Il permettra d’offrir une vision élargie des coûts et des opportunités avant les décisions d’investissement.
Flotte. Après plusieurs années maussades, le transport maritime de marchandises se porte bien et la bataille tarifaire sur les échanges commerciaux que se livrent les Etats-Unis et la Chine ne devrait pas avoir de conséquences majeures sur les volumes d’échanges, à en croire les prévisions de la Cnuced. Le trafic maritime s’est accru de 4 % en 2017 et une croissance similaire est attendue pour l’année en cours, indique la Cnuced qui table sur une croissance annuelle moyenne de 3,8 % du transport par mer jusqu’en 2023. Ces prévisions sont susceptibles d’être remises en cause en cas d’escalade protectionniste, souligne l’organisation. La croissance du trafic est tirée par le transport de conteneurs et les vraquiers (vrac sec de matières premières). Les volumes transportés par tanker sont, en revanche, en recul. Le pavillon allemand est le principal transporteur par conteneurs avec une part de marché de 20 %. Les chantiers navals de Chine, du Japon et de la Corée réalisent 90 % de la production mondiale neuve de bateaux. Les chantiers de démolition se situent au Bangladesh, au Pakistan et en Inde.