Raymond James Asset Management International on 3 October announced the appointment of Janane Carmoun as director of commercial development and marketing. Carmoun joins from Sanso Investment Solutions (Sanso IS), where she had previously served as head of commercial and marketing development. Camoun has over 15 years of experience in the finance sector, serving institutional and distribution clients. “This appointment comes as part of a reinforcement of commercial strategy, to carry the new strategic growth ambitions of the group,” Raymond James Asset Management International explains in a statement. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }
The co-head of European equity management at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management is leaving the firm. After 15 years at the asset management firm, Pierre Nebout is leaving his position at the helm of several funds, including the Edmond de Rothschild Tricolore Rendement fund, for which he was the principal manager. “We thank him for his engagement and contribution to the development of our activities, and wish him much success in his future professional projects,” EdRAM commented in a note to NewsManagers.Following the departure, Marc Halperin, who joined the group nearly 10 years ago as a European equity manager, has been appointed as co-head of European equity management, also under the direction of Philippe Lecoq. He becomes principal manager of the Edmond de Rothschild Tricolore Rendement fund, alongside François Breton, who has been co-manager of the fund since his arrival at the group in 2008, and Ariane Hayate.
Michael Nadeau has stepped down from his roles of deputy chief information officer at Amundi Asset Management Americas and chief technology officer at Amundi Pioneer Americas, NewsManagers has learned. He joined Los Angeles-based firm Oaktree Capital Management at the start of October 2018 as global chief information officer and managing director.Before the merger between Amundi and Pioneer Investments, Nadeau was chief technology officer within Pioneer where he spent over four years. Additionally, he held roles at Boston Financial and Wellington Management.Oaktree Capital Management managed some $122bn as at 30 June 2018.
French equity crowdfunding fintech Anaxago has been granted an asset management license for its new entity Anaxago Capital on 21 September 2018. Anaxago Capital will develop on three alternative asset classes - real estate private equity, venture capital and private debt - to support the development of SMEs across Europe.Speaking to NewsManagers, Joachim Dupont, co-founder of Anaxago and Anaxago Capital’s CEO, says «the establishment of an asset management company is a logical step in our development. Since we launched in 2012, we have raised over €105m to finance 188 projects. «Through the platform, our investments vary from €500,000 to €2m. But the needs for financing become ever more important and the demand from institutional investors for such investment products is soaring since they want to diversify their investments. Having our own asset management company will enable us to meet both demands from operators which need financing support up to €10m and from institutional investors."Investment products proposed by the new asset manager will target niches with strong investment return potential."We consider launching our first real estate private equity fund in 2019. It will look at thematics such as proptech, fintech and healthcare,» explains Dupont.Anaxago Capital will address both retail and qualified investors and currently tallies three employees including Sabrina Lenczner, who joined from AMF as managing director in charge of compliance and internal control. A portfolio manager is to be hired over the coming months.Anaxago Capital has set a target of managing €200m of assets by the end of 2020.
The investment company Ardian yesterday announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Inula company from Vendis Capital, Dominique Baudoux (founder and chairman) and Sergio Calandri (CEO). The details of the operation have not been disclosed. The Inula group was created from the union of Pranarôm et de HerbalGem, two laboratories that were pioneers in the area of natural therapies, founded in 1985 and 1986, respectively. Inula is now a group specialised in plant-based remedies. As part of the operation, Sergio Calandri, CEO of the group, will reinvest alongside Ardian, along with Vendis Capital and Baudoux, the founder of Pranarôm. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }
Allfunds has added to its resources in Asia, with the recruitment of three professionals based in Singapore. Oliver Stewart-Malir joins the firm as chief operating officer for Asia, after 13 years at Goldman Sachs. He was Asia Pacific Head of Liquidity & Collateral Opoerations and Head of Asia for Derivative Projects. Vinita Badlani also joins Allfunds as head of funds group for Asia. Before this, she served in a senior role at Navigator, an investment platform from Aviva. Edwin Tan is the new head of client services for Asia. He joins from Citco Fund Servies. Stewart-Malir and Tan will report to Alexis Fosler, regional manager for Asia at Allfunds, while Badlani will report to Borja Largo, global head of the funds group. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }
Degroof Petercam France, the French asset management arm of Belgian group Degroof Petercam, has appointed Laurent Le Grin as head of Convertible Bonds in September 2018, NewsManagers can reveal.Le Grin was formerly overseeing the convertibles bonds team at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management he left this summer after he was replaced by Cristina Jarrin at the start of August. Before joining EdRAM in 2010, Le Grin has worked as convertibles bonds senior portfolio manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management and Fortis Investments. He has also run European equities and country funds.
US asset manager Guggenheim Investments is set to liquidate its Guggenheim Event Driven and Distressed Strategies fund next 30 October, NewsManagers has learned. This follows a recommendation of Security Investors, the investment adviser of the fund, to close and liquidate the vehicle last August, said the firm in a shareholder letter.The fund, run by Michael Byrum and Ryan Harder, is only available to US investors and had less than $800,000 of assets under management as of 2 October 2018. AUM of the fund neared $3bn last June. Guggenheim Investments’ AUM stood at $208bn as of end June 2018.
The Echiquier Agressor fund is changing managers again. La Financière de l’Echiquier (LFDE) yesterday announced the recruitment of Frédéric Buzaré as manager of the flagship fund from the firm, from 1 October 2018. He replaces Guillaume Dalibot, who has left the firm, NewsManagers has learned from a spokesperson for LFDE. Dalibot himself took over the management of the fund in early 2017 following the departure of Damien Lanternier to join DNCA. Kevin Guillot, also recruited in June 2017 to co-manage Agressor, a fund with about EUR855.3m in assets, also left the firm only six months after his appointment at La Financière de l’Echiquier.Buzaré will work in close collaboration with Didier Le Menestrel, founder of the asset management firm, and of Echiquier Agressor in 1991, the asset management firm says in a statement.Buzaré has over 20 years of experience in European equity markets, at major financial establishments, the Banque de France, and the Singapore sovereign fund, Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), based in London. Buzaré has degrees from IEP in Paris and from the Société Française des Analystes Financiers (SFAF), and began his career in 1995, at the Banque de France, and then at Axa Investment Managers and BNP Paribas, as manager of European equity funds. In 2007, he became manager of the equity team at Dexia AM in Brussels, and in 2012, joined GIC In London, where he was senior vice president and manager of the European equity fund.According to the information sheet for the fund available from La Financière de l’Echiquier, Agressor has EUR955.3m in assets under manaement as of 2 October 2018.
The French financial management association (AFG) and the French association of institutional investors (Af2i) have jointly released a new series of standard questionnaires to improve the knowledge investors may have of portfolio management companies (SGP) and their product ranges. More than 20 companies in the Paris industry have joined forces to form a working group dedicated to re-creating the standard questionnaires made available since 2012 by the AFG and Af2i for clients (institutionals or fund selectors) as part of due diligence procedures. They were unveiled on 2 October to SGPs and investors. The first questionnaire aims to provide an overview of the asset management firm, while the second one details the characteristic of the open investment fund offered, and the third questionnaire contains specific information for requests for proposals. These now integrate new aspects such as new regulatory constraints and issues related to socially repsonsible investment. Like the previous questionnaires, developed in 2012 as part of the SGP investor charter between the AFG and Af2i, which is still active, the objective is to create standard questionnaires which can be filled out and updated over time by most actors (for example, quarterly or semi-annual updates). This due diligence for the marketplace standardizes the main questions which an institutional investor will ask when getting into contact with an SGP. They also aim to facilitate the creation of SGP-Investor relationships, when they are planning to work together. Portfolio management firms seeking to offer products to institutional investors can keep these materials available. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }
The board of directors of the G Fund SICAV on 2 October, 2018 decided, in accordance with the terms of the current prospectus, to activate restrictions applicable to subscriptions and conversions (hard-close) the G Fund Avenir Europe sub-fund, dedicated to European SMEs. From 3 October, GC, ICHF, ICHFH, IUSD, IUSDH, NCHF, NCHFH, NUSD, NUSDH, P, OD, R and VC share classes in the G Fund – Avenir Europe sub-fund will beclosed to all new subscriptions, according to a statement released on Wednesday. G Fund – Avenir Europe was created on 12 December 2014 as an addition to the range of Avenir funds from Groupama Asset Management, founded on equity small and midcap expertise. Since then, assets under management have reached EUR778m as of 28 September 2018. In one year, the fund has seen over EUR500m in net subscriptions (as of 30 September). In this environment, “the board of directors of the Sicav fund, in agreement with Groupama Asset Management, has decided to limit subscriptions to these sub-funds to protect the interests of shareholders and maintain the integrity of the investment strategy. “The objective for the hard close is to ensure appropriate management of the capacities of the sub-fund and the regularity of performance levels. This will allow the managers to continue to apply their strategy with coherence and conviction,” a statement explains. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }
Mapfre Asset Management, the investment subsidiary of Spanish insurer Mapfre, has received the green light from French financial markets authority AMF for the marketing of two funds, Mapfre AM Behavioral and Mapfre AM Capital Responsable, NewsManagers has learned.Both funds were launched last June within the manager’s Luxembourg Sicav. At least 75% of the net assets of the Mapfre AM Behavioral fund are invested in equities while the Mapfre AM Capital Responsable fund consists of a balanced portfolio of equities and bonds issued by public and private entities based in Europe and meeting the firm’s SRI standards.In November 2017, Mapfre had purchased a 25% share in French SRI-focused boutique La Financière Responsable through a strategic partnership.
A moyen-long terme, le Brexit, qui plus est dans sa version « hard », amputerait la croissance potentielle de l’économie britannique de 1 point de PIB. Les calculs des économistes sont ce qu’ils sont, mais 1 point de PIB de perdu, c’est énorme. Tous les économistes ne semblent pas être d’accord. « Le monde en 2030 », le catalogue de 75 économies passées en revue par les économistes de HSBC, dresse un classement des PIB en 2018 et en 2030. France et Royaume-Uni sont au coude à coude en ce moment. Dans douze ans, le Royaume-Uni sera passé devant la France… Exit le Brexit.
C’est une des mesures de représailles à la guerre tarifaire lancée par l’administration Trump contre les importations chinoises aux Etats-Unis. Les exportations américaines de porcs vers la Chine ont chuté. Les autorités chinoises se sont tournées vers la Russie pour s’alimenter en viande de porc. Sans doute moins regardant sur les contrôles sanitaires de la gent porcine, Moscou a exporté des individus grippés. Le quart de la population mondiale de porcs serait régulièrement infecté, mais comme le taux de mortalité de la grippe porcine est faible, les gorets chinois sont contaminés en masse. Du moment que ce n’est pas au Novichok.
… de dollars. C’est le montant au 24 septembre de l’encours obligataire mondial dont le rendement est négatif. Le retour en zone positive est rapide. A son sommet en juin 2016, la valeur de marché du stock à taux négatifs était de 12.100 milliards, rappelle Legg Mason. En mars 2010, avant la généralisation des achats d’actifs par les banques centrales, il était de 425 milliards. En dix ans, les taux négatifs sont passés du statut de curiosité intellectuelle et théorique à celui de déterminant majeur des marchés obligataires et des actifs sans risque.
La dette publique de la France franchira-t-elle le seuil des 100 % du PIB ? La dimension symbolique de ce seuil n’échappe à personne, même si les acheteurs d’OAT s’en contrefichent. L’art de la statistique ou plus crûment le bidouillage des séries étant ce qu’il est, la France a en réalité franchi ce seuil en 2017 (vous ne le saviez pas !) avant de repasser dessous : 100,7 % et 100,9 % pour les deux premiers trimestres de 2017… et 99 % au printemps dernier, nous dit l’Insee. Pas grave, l’essentiel est de savoir que la Sécurité sociale a supporté tout l’effort : -20 milliards (de 232 à 212 milliards) en un an. Quant aux autres administrations…
Substitution. Le Nafta (Alena), l’accord de libre-échange nord-américain créé en 1994, laisse la place à l’USMCA (AEUMC), l’«Accord Etats-Unis-Mexique-Canada ». Ce nouvel accord tripartite a été signé in extremis le 30 septembre, quelques minutes avant l’ultimatum fixé par les Etats-Unis. Les agriculteurs américains auront accès à 3,5 % du marché laitier canadien, estimé à 16 milliards de dollars. Une bonne nouvelle, à quelques semaines des élections mid term, pour l’agriculture des Etats-Unis affectée par le conflit tarifaire avec la Chine sur les exportations de soja. Le Canada et le Mexique pourront exporter, chacun, 2,6 millions d’automobiles chez leur voisin, des niveaux supérieurs aux volumes d’exportations actuels. En revanche, les tarifs sur les exportations canadiennes d’acier et d’aluminium n’ont pas trouvé de solution. L’ensemble des trois pays représente une zone d’échanges commerciaux de 1.200 milliards de dollars.
Surchauffe. Le rapport UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2018 d’UBS Global Wealth Management s’est penché sur le risque de bulle des marchés du résidentiel dans les principaux centres financiers. En tête, Hong Kong, Munich, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam et Londres. D’importants déséquilibres sont aussi manifestes à Stockholm, Paris ou Francfort. Les valorisations sont élevées à Zurich et Genève, ainsi qu’à Los Angeles, Tokyo et New York. A l’inverse, les marchés immobiliers semblent être à leur juste valeur à Boston, Singapour et Milan, voire sous-évalués à Chicago. Paris connaît les prix les plus prohibitifs d’Europe continentale. Pour acheter un logement de 60 m², un salarié qualifié dans le secteur tertiaire doit y consacrer 14 ans de salaire. UBS estime improbable la poursuite de la hausse des prix à ce rythme. Le rapport prix/revenu médian des villes analysées a progressé de 5,5 en 2008 à 7,5 en 2018. Comme le logement devenait inabordable au cours des cinq dernières années, presque toutes les villes devenues trop chères ont introduit de nouvelles règles, comme l’imposition de droits de timbre ou un contrôle des loyers.
Reconnaissance. Après MSCI en mai dernier (première vague) puis cet été (seconde vague), c’est au tour de FTSE Russell d’inclure les A-shares chinoises dans ses indices mondiaux. Le fournisseur d’indices envisage de porter leur pondération dans ses indices clé à 20 %. Cette intégration se déroulera en trois phases entre juin 2019 et mars 2020. FTSE Russell a confirmé que les actions chinoises A allaient être promues au statut de marché émergent secondaire suite à la révision annuelle de sa classification pays menée en septembre et pour sa gamme FTSE Global Equity Index Series (FTSE GEIS). Après la fin de la première phase, les actions chinoises A constitueront environ 5,5 % du total de l’indice FTSE Emerging, contre 0,57 % pour le FTSE Global All Cap Index. La Chine sera ajoutée à sa liste de surveillance pour une possible inclusion dans ses indices obligataires mondiaux.
Dilution. Lentement mais sûrement, le nombre de sociétés cotées aux Etats-Unis diminue. De plus de 8.000 dans la seconde moitié des années 1990, il est passé à moins de 4.500. Les sorties de la cote ont accompagné le vaste mouvement de rachats d’actions qui doit atteindre cette année le niveau record de 1.000 milliards de dollars, indique une étude de Natixis. Ce processus risque de faire disparaître le rôle du marché actions comme source de financement de l’économie et de mesure de la valeur des entreprises, indique la note. Autre conclusion, ce processus implique que les Etats-Unis évoluent vers un modèle d’entreprises non cotées (private equity…), à la place du modèle d’entreprises cotées.
C’est le taux de croissance pour 2017 des actifs investis en microfinance, selon le 2018 Symbiotics MIV Survey, qui montre que les fonds apportés par les investisseurs institutionnels privés augmentent de 27 %, les fonds publics de 17 % et les fonds apportés par les investisseurs particuliers et à hauts revenus de 16 %. Ces sommes ont financé des prêts à 655.000 emprunteurs, surtout des femmes (69 %), et en zone rurale (55 %). Le montant du prêt moyen s’élève à 2.432 dollars.
Dans sa croisade pour davantage de transparence, la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), qui vient de proposer la suppression de l’intraday net asset value qui permet aux investisseurs de comparer le prix d’un fonds par rapport à la valeur de ses sous-jacents toutes les 15 secondes, se penche désormais sur la fourchette bid/ask. Cet écart détermine la liquidité, donc le coût, d’un ETF (exchange-traded fund). La SEC insiste pour que cette donnée soit communiquée aux investisseurs sur l’exercice le plus récent pour une meilleure comparaison entre les produits. BlackRock et State Street contestent la méthode…
L’Association Française de la Gestion financière (AFG) et l’Association française des investisseurs institutionnels (AF2I) ont réalisé une nouvelle série commune de questionnaires standards, destinés à améliorer la connaissance que peuvent avoir les investisseurs des sociétés de gestion de portefeuille (SGP) et de leurs offres, ont-elles annoncé par communiqué hier. Ces nouveaux questionnaires standards mis à disposition des clients (institutionnels ou sélectionneurs de fonds), dans le cadre de procédures de due diligence, ont été élaborés avec plus d’une vingtaine de sociétés de la Place de Paris. Ils ont été soumis le 2 octobre aux SGP et aux investisseurs. Le premier questionnaire vise à présenter la société de gestion, le deuxième détaille les caractéristiques du fonds d’investissement ouvert proposé, le troisième comporte des informations spécifiques en cas d’appel d’offres. Ces documents intègrent désormais de nouveaux aspects tels que les nouvelles contraintes réglementaires ou les problématiques liées à l’investissement socialement responsable.