BT Pension Scheme (BTPS), le principal fonds de pension britannique du secteur privé avec environ 50 milliards de livres d’actifs, a annoncé la nomination avec effet immédiat de Morten Nilsson en qualité de directeur général de BT Pension Scheme Management Limited (BTPSM). L’intéressé sera directement rattaché à Paul Spencer, président du conseil d’administration de BTPS et président de BTPSM. Morten Nilsson a effectué l’essentiel de sa carrière dans le secteur des services financiers. Il a rejoint l’industrie de la gestion et des fonds de pension en 2001 et a passé plus de 10 ans au sein d’ATP, le fonds de pension danois où il a occupé différents postes à responsabilité. En 2010, il a rejoint Londres pour fonder NOW : Pensions dont il a été le directeur général. Il avait quitté NOW : Pensions en septembre 2017.

A Mayfair, d’anciens banquiers de Morgan Stanley ont discrètement bâti une société de gestion qui a désormais une influence énorme sur un certain nombre de sociétés de gestion bien connues en Europe, rapporte le Financial Times. Silchester International Investors est l’un des principaux actionnaires de plusieurs sociétés de gestion cotées, dont GAM, Jupiter, Man Group et Janus Henderson. Sa maison mère, Silchester Partners, a des participations dans 10 sociétés de gestion non cotées représentant 100 milliards de livres d’actifs cumulés. Pourtant, peu dans le secteur de la gestion d’actifs ont déjà entendu parler de Silchester. Ce manque d’attention n’a pas limité Silchester ni SII, sa société de gestion phare. SII est devenue l’une des principales boutiques de gestion avec 30,7 milliards de livres, appartenant principalement à des clients américains.

Un nombre record d’entreprises ont été visées jusqu’ici cette année par des fonds activistes, qui parviennent de plus en plus souvent à obtenir des sièges dans les conseils d’administration, selon une étude trimestrielle réalisée au niveau mondial par la banque Lazard. Les investisseurs activistes ont ciblé 174 entreprises au cours des trois premiers trimestres de cette année, contre 169 pour toute l’année 2017, selon cette «revue de l’actionnariat activiste».

Leurs nouveaux placements sur ces actifs sont tombés à des niveaux extrêmement faibles depuis février, retirant au marché un potentiel facteur de soutien.

La société Exclusive Partners, qui sélectionne et commercialise des solutions d’investissement pour les conseillers en gestion de patrimoine et les banques privées, a annoncé hier le décès brutal de Carole Savary, associée fondatrice et dirigeante. «Carole était pour nous une entrepreneuse et une dirigeante à l’écoute et pleine d’énergie. Elle laisse le souvenir d’une très belle personne empreinte d’altruisme et de douceur», indique un message envoyé à L’Agefi. La cérémonie d’adieu se tiendra jeudi 11 octobre à 15h00 en l’église Saint François Xavier à Paris.

Les fonds spéculatifs signent une performance moyenne négative le mois dernier, sauf les stratégies macro, selon HFR.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram) a annoncé hier la nomination de Kris Deblander, 45 ans, au poste de directeur des gestions actions et dettes d’entreprises. Il était déjà directeur adjoint de ce département et reporte désormais à Philippe Uzan. Il devient également gérant principal de ce fonds. Kris Deblander est épaulé par Marc Halperin, qui est promu co-responsable de la gestion actions européennes après le départ de Pierre Nebout, et devient gérant principal du fonds phare Tricolore Rendement, et par Jacques-Aurélien Marcirea, nommé co-responsable actions internationales et directeur adjoint des gestions actions en charge d’une mission transversale sur l’innovation (lire par ailleurs en rubrique Nominations). Pierre Nebout, qui était coresponsable de la gestion actions européennes, part après quinze années passées au sein de la société de gestion.

La société Exclusive Partners, qui sélectionne et commercialise des solutions d’investissement pour les conseillers en gestion de patrimoine et les banques privées, a annoncé le décès brutal de Carole Savary, associée fondatrice et dirigeante. «Carole était pour nous une entrepreneuse et une dirigeante à l’écoute et pleine d’énergie. Elle laisse le souvenir d’une très belle personne empreinte d’altruisme et de douceur», indique un message envoyé à L’Agefi. La cérémonie d’adieu se tiendra jeudi 11 octobre à 15h00 en l’église Saint François Xavier à Paris.

Global equity portfolio manager Odon de Laporte has departed from Paris-based boutique Gestion Financière Privée (GEFIP) he joined at the start of 2018 as partner and fund manager, NewsManagers has learned.It is understood the move happened in September and that de Laporte has since then resurfaced within the Oddo BHF group.De Laporte had previously worked at Mainfirst where he focused on telecoms and prior that, he had been Kepler Cheuvreux’s head of Research for tech stocks in London.

Northern Trust Asset Management has appointed Wouter Sturkenboom as chief investment strategist for its Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.In this newly created role, Sturkenboom will be responsible for designing, implementing and communicating global investment strategy to the firm’s investors.Based in the Netherlands, Sturkenboom reports to Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist, Northern Trust. In his role, he is responsible for helping develop tactical and strategic investment strategies and supporting Northern Trust Asset Management’s multi-asset class initiatives worldwide.This hire follows that of Marie Dzanis, who was named as head of Northern Trust Asset Management’s business for EMEA in July 2018.Sturkenboom most recently spent six years at Russell Investments as a senior investment strategist first based in London and then in New York. Prior to this he served in a similar role at Kempen Capital Management in Amsterdam during six years.Northern Trust AM had $954.4bn of assets under management as of end June 2018.

Allianz Global Investors’ chief investment officer credit Europe Vincent Marioni has given his outlook for the European credit market at the occasion of a press event in Paris on 8 October 2018.Says Marioni, the gradual correction observed on the European credit market has enabled it to retrieve fair valuations and beyond. He added that fundamentals in the asset class remain robust (issuers’ indebtedness levels are reasonable in Europe, default rates are low and companies are liquid enough) while risk is well rewarded.Marioni outlined the European central bank provides further visibility with the ceasing of its corporate sector purchase programme scheduled for next December. «Markets have priced in the ECB stopping the CSPP since March-April 2018. It is somewhat secondary for us. We are convinced spreads of eligible and non-eligible securities to the CSPP will converge,» he explained. However Allianz GI’s CIO Credit Europe highlighted several uncertainties linked to geopolitical risk, including Italy and Brexit for the European segment as well as a soaring risk in emerging countries such as South Africa, Turkey or Brazil. Additionally Marioni observed markets are less indulgent with corporate bond issuers now compared to the start of 2018 and last year.Questioned over the likelihood of a global recession, Marioni said he cannot picture such event occurring before 2020. «A crisis has not occurred in 2017, some see it happening in 2020. We cannot say what would be the catalyst but a recession could happen in 2020 as monetary policies tighten, financing cost rise and eventually recession could start in the United States. But it is a theme we are likely to consider at the end of 2019."As for 2019, the market environment makes it attractive for European credit. Recession survenes when we expect it the least. Nobody would have bet on such strong growth in the US. It is a very long cycle. Consequently, a market reversal is even more feared, especially in the US,» said Marioni.The state of Italian banks has also been highlighted by Simon Outin, portfolio manager and analyst focusing on European banks at Allianz GI. Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit are both plays of the Allianz Euro High Yield fund.Outin pointed out the Italian sovereign exposure of Italian financials was still strong. Moreover, even if they have reduced their exposure to non-performing loans, Italian banks do not benefit from it because of the risk that currently weighs on Italian sovereigns.

Rocket Software, a global technology provider, announced the signing of a definitive agreement for Bain Capital Private Equity to acquire a majority stake in the company. The enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $2 billion. Rocket Software will continue to operate under its current management team, led by President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Youniss.“This new relationship will allow us to devote significant resources to our new global R&D organization, while developing and delivering even more solutions that help our customers both optimize and modernize their applications, data, and security infrastructure on IBM Z, IBM i, and MultiValue application platforms.”, said Youniss.Bain Capital Private Equity has made investments in a wide range of software companies including Applied Systems, BMC Software, CentralSquare Technologies, MYOB, Skillsoft, SunGard Data Systems, Symantec, Viewpoint Construction Software, Vertafore, and Waystar.The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including requisite regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Credit Suisse served as financial advisors and Dechert LLP served as legal advisor to Rocket Software. Kirkland & Ellis is serving as legal counsel, and PwC is acting as accounting advisor to Bain Capital Private Equity.

Amundi announced yesterday the launch of its 2021 Action Plan, with the aim of strengthening its engagement in responsible investment. It will be based on 4 main line of actions. The firts is to have 100% ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) issuer rating, investment management and voting policy at general meetings. Extra-financial analysis based on ESG criteria will be extended to all the investment strategies, both active and passive, wherever technically feasible,ESG performance will systematically be taken into account by Amundi in its shareholder dialogue with issuers and in its voting decisions at general meetings, which are already based on a stand-alone analysis,The second is strengthening of advisory activities for institutional clients to support them in their ESG strategies and in implementing innovative initiatives,The group has also the ambition to double the amounts invested in initiatives related to the environment and with a high social impact, by increasing the volume of thematic funds to €20bn,Amundi wants as well a stronger commitment to social businesses, by increasing the amounts invested in the social and solidarity economy from €200m to €500m."Right from its inception, Amundi considered responsible investment as one of its four founding pillars. This choice was based on two convictions: the necessary responsibility of companies and investors towards society, and the fact that building responsible investment into investment policies is also a guarantee of financial performance when taking a long-term view. With its three-year plan, Amundi is strengthening its engagement and meeting the expectations of its retail and institutional clients.», comments Amundi CEO Yves Perrier. Well aware since its creation of its responsibility towards society, Amundi already boasts €280bn in responsible investment assets under management. 19% of the Group’s total assets already take ESG criteria into account, in addition to traditional financial analysis criteria.

Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM) is continuing to add to its convertible bond expert unit in Paris, at Degroof Petercam Partners (DPG), its management centre in the French capital. Following the arrival of Laurent Le Grin from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management as head of the convertible bond team (see NewsManagers of 4 October 2018), Boris Rochereuil now becomes the next to join Degroof Petercam Gestion, “to manage and develop convertible bond expertise out of Paris,” a statement says. Rochereuil will serve as convertible bond manager. “DPAM is taking an important new step in its development,” say Peter De Coensel, a member of the board at DPAM and DPG, and Laurent Gaetani, head of DPG, in a statement. “Le Grin will direct our efforts to construct an expertise in convertible bonds at Degroof Petercam Gestion in Paris.” Rochereuil holds a Master’s degree in finance from Neoma Business School, and a Master’s from the Université Paris Dauphine, and joins from Mirabaud & Cie, which firm he joined in 2013 as head of fundamental analysis. Before that, he had served from 2011 at Amundi as a specialist in common investment funds (FCP). p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

Reyl Overseas, an affiliate of Swiss wealth management group Reyl that provide investment advisory services to US clients, has named René Marty as its new chief executive officer. The entity is registered with the SEC - the US financial markets authority - as an investment advisor. Before joining Reyl Overseas, Marty worked as managing director and CEO of UBS’s SEC-licensedsubsidiary, Swiss Financial Advisers, from 2009 to 2017. Reyl Overseas was launched in 2011.

Zurich-based multi-family office Belvoir Capital hasrecently purchased a stake as an anchor investor in the German fintech WMD Capital that specialises in the selection of asset managers. Through the transaction, whose financial details were not disclosed, Belvoir Capital aims at pursuing the path of shaping digitalisation in the asset management industry and opening up new client segments that attach particular importance to modern and efficient asset management. Steffen Bauke, founding partner and CEO at Belvoir Capital, said : « The financial world is undergoing breathtaking changes as well. We see this transformation as an opportunity to develop new solutions for our clients. Our aim is to be abreast of the times and to continuously work on an optimal and needs-based offer for our clients. « With our investment in WMD Capital GmbH, we aim to be on the forefront of this step into the digital world. We see the portal as a tremendous opportunity to reach many new clients who have hitherto been poorly and insufficiently serviced or who have not yet dared to approach the subject of asset management. » WMD Capital was founded in 2016 by Andreas Hauenstein, Jürgen Gerleit and Norbert Schauermann.

The Swiss asset management firm Unigestion on 8 October announced the appointment of Didier Anthamatten as senior investment manager, and the promotion of Nicolas Poignant as assistant investment manager on the equity derivatives team. Both will concentrate on the management of volatility strategies, the asset management firm says in a statement. Anthamatten, who has over a decade of experience in managing strategies specialising in derivatives, joined Unigestion during 2018. He had previously been head of equity derivative trading at Pictet & Cie, a firm he joined in 2011 as a proprietary trader on equities derivatives. Before joining Pictet, he was an equity derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank from December 2007, after beginning his career a few months earlier at Goldman Sachs in the equity derivatives sales department. Poignant joined Unigestion in February 2015 as a quantitative analyst specialised in risk modelling and optimisation. He had previously done an internship as part of the quantitative team at RMA Asset Management in 2014. Unigestion currently has over USD3bn in liquid alternative assets distributed over all asset classes, with a significant proportion of strategies related to volatility, the asset management firm says. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

It is the end of an era: after 32 years at Janus Henderson Investors, Tim Stevenson, director of pan-European equities, has decided to retire at the end of first quarter 2019, the asset management firm has announced. Stevenson will remain as part of the team to ensure a smooth transition. Stevenson is a veteran at Henderson, which he joined in 1986. As a result of his decision, Janus Henderson Investors has appointed James Ross as the sole manager of the Janus Henderson Horizon Pan European Equity fund. Ross had previously been co-manager, and has been working closely with Stevenson to manage pan-European equity portfolios since August 2016. Ross has been a member of the European equity team for several years, after serving as a British equity fund manager. He has 11 years of experience in the asset management sector. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

The NovESS fund, dedicated to financing the social and solidaristic economy, has announced that over the summer it has acquired five stakes, totalling EUR4.5m, to assist in the development of projects. The investments are in UCPA Sport Loisirs, an association of the UCPA group, for a total of EUR2.5m in associative shares; Kelbongoo, a company specialised in the sale of farm products through co-operatives, for EUR500,000 in shares and convertible bonds; Illusion & Macadam, a collective interest cooperative company, via a stake of EUR300,000 in participative shares; and lastly, Learn Enjoy, a company specialised in the design and distribution of educational apps to help children with learning difficulties, in which NovESS has bought a stake of EUR250,000 in shares. NewsManagers has previously reported on this investment of 12 September. The NovESS fund is acting under a mandate from the Banque des Territoires (CDC group), BNP Paribas, BNP Paribas Cardif, CNP Assurances, Crédit Coopératif, Ircantec, Mutuelle Nationale Territoriale, Union Mutualiste Retraite and ERAFP, with management outsourced to Mandarine Gestion. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

Atream, an asset management firm specialised in hotel real estate investment, yesterday announced the launch of SCPI Pierre Altitude, dedicated to mountain tourism real estate. The variable capital SCPI aims to constitute and manage rental real estate assets over the long term in the mountain tourism sector. Pierre Altitude will invest primarily in real estate properties to be used as hotels, tourist residences and managed hotel residences at popular cross-country skiing locations. Subscriptions to the SCPI will be open from 15 October 2018, and the recommended investment duration is set at 10 years. The subscription price is EUR250 for one share. The subscription commission and management commission are 10% before tax, or 12% with all taxes included. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

The private equity firm Ardian on Monday, 8 October announced that it has signed an agreement with Moonlake Capital for the sale of ADA Cosmetics Holding GmbH (ADA International), a European specialist in the manufacture of high-end cosmetic products aimed at the hotel industry. The financial details of the operation have not been disclosed. Ardian Expansion acquired the firm in 2014 via its Ardian Expansion Fund III. Since then, the firm has developed through a buy-and-build strategy, with the acquisitions of Scandinavian Amenities, Pacific Direct and RDI Malaysia. Earnings have nearly doubled, and now exceed EUR110m. Meanwhile, the client base has grown from 15,000 to more than 25,000, and the number of employees has more than doubled, to 700 people. ADA International was founded in 1979 in Kehl, Germany. The firm is a specialist in the production and sale of high-end products such as shampoo, shower gel, soap, body lotions and other accessories for the hotel industry. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

Le multi-family office zurichois Belvoir Capital a investi dans la fintech allemande spécialiste de la gestion d’actifs en ligne WMD Capital, basée à Munich, sans préciser ni la part du capital acquise ni le montant de l’opération. Belvoir Capital a simplement indiqué être devenu un investisseur de référence de la fintech.A travers cette acquisition, la compagnie suisse entend poursuivre son développement sur la digitalisation de sa gestion d’actifs et ainsi de s’ouvrir à de nouveaux segments de clientèle.Steffen Bauke, fondateur et directeur général de Belvoir Capital, a déclaré qu’il voyait le portail en ligne de WMD Capital comme une opportunité d’atteindre beaucoup de nouveaux clients jusqu’alors délaissés, insuffisamment servis ou qui n’ont pas daigné encore approcher l’univers de la gestion d’actifs.WMD Capital a été lancée en 2016 par Andreas Hauenstein, Jürgen Gerleit et Norbert Schauermann.

Copenhagen-headquartered boutique C WorldWide Asset Management has hired Peter O’Reilly as global equities portfolio manager in October, NewsManagers can reveal.O’Reilly has ended an 18-year stint with Canadian mutual fund provider IG Wealth Management where he served as head of Global Equities and fund manager while based in Dublin. Prior to that, he managed global equities funds for Royal and Sun Alliance. Earlier this year, C Worldwide Asset Management had welcomed Abhinay Rathee as emerging equities portfolio manager.

Natixis Investment Managers yesterday announced the appointment of Suhail Albaz as executive managing director and regional head for the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. In his new role, Albaz will steer institutional, wholesale and family office activities in this large region. Albaz will be based in Dubai, and will report to Oliver Bilal, head of international sales and marketing. Albaz joins from Columbia Threadneedle, where he served for nine years, most recently as head of institutional and wholesale activities for the Middle East. He began his career as an analyst at Mashregbank, and then became head of products and commercial development at Sinogulf Real Estate Investments and Abu Dhabi Investment Company. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }

Trois hedge funds ont fermé boutique en moins d’une semaine, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. Tourbillon Capital Partners a annoncé lundi aux clients qu’il allait les rembourser et liquiderait son fonds principal. La semaine dernière, Highfields Capital Management et Criterion Capital Management ont annoncé qu’ils allaient restituer des milliards de dollars aux clients. Tourbillon, qui gérait environ 4 milliards de dollars en 2016, perdait de l’argent depuis un moment. Son fonds phare était en repli de 3,2 % cette année au 28 septembre, selon des informations obtenues par The Wall Street Journal. La société avait des actifs d’environ 2 milliards de dollars.

Natixis Investment Managers a annoncé, hier, la nomination de Suhail Albaz en qualité de « executive managing director » et responsable régional pour le Moyen-Orient, l’Afrique et l’Asie centrale. Dans le cadre de ses nouvelles fonctions, l’intéressé pilotera les activités institutionnelles, « wholesale » et family office dans cette vaste région. Basé à Dubai, il sera rattaché à Oliver Bilal, responsable des ventes internationales et du marketing.Suhail Albaz arrive en provenance de Columbia Threadneedle où il a officié pendant 9 ans, dernièrement en tant que responsable des activités institutionnelles et « wholesale » pour le Moyen-Orient. Il a débuté sa carrière en tant qu’analyste chez Mashregbank avant d’être en charge des produits et du développement commercial chez Sinogulf Real Estate Investments et Abu Dhabi Investment Company.

Le fonds de hedge funds hongkongais Penjing Asset Managementa annoncé avoir trouvé un accord avec Watercourse Advisors (Watercourse), hedge fund global macro également basé à Hong Kong, pour l’incubation de ce dernier. Wei Liao, fondateur de Watercourse, rejoindra Penjing Asset Management tout en continuant de gérer le fonds Watercourse Macro, qui consiste en une stratégie long/short global macro autour de thèmes-clés globaux et des opportunités de trading tactiques et couvre plusieurs classes d’actifs (obligations, actions, matières première, devises). La stratégie était déjà disponible sur la plateforme de fonds dédiés aux institutionnels d’OP Investment Management (OPIM), un asset manager hongkongais, depuis près d’un an sous un autre format. OPIM continuera de soutenir le fonds de Watercourse. Penjing Asset Management a été créé en 2005.

UBS Asset Management (UBS AM) a fermé, le 28 septembre, le fonds A&Q Diversified Alternative Portfolio Ucits, un fonds de fonds logé dans la structure irlandaise UBS (Irl) Alternative Solutions, a appris Citywire Selector. Cette dernière devrait également être fermée en temps voulu à l’issue de la liquidation de la stratégie A&Q. Cette décision fait suite à la fermeture de deux autres fonds, à savoir les O’Connor Opportunistic Ucits et O’Connor Opportunistic II Ucits.

La société de gestion Value Partners, dont les quartiers généraux se situent à Hong Kong, a ouvert un bureau en Malaisie.La succursale malaisienne, Value Partners Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a obtenu une licence du régulateur local pour gérer des fonds, a expliqué le groupe dans un communiqué.L’antenne de Kuala Lumpur est destinée à devenir un hub en Asie du Sud-Est pour le développement ainsi que la distribution de produits de Value Partners dans cette région.Value Partners y développera des solutions d’investissement quantitatives. De nouvelles opportunités comme les fonds Shariah-compliant seront également exploitées.La société gérait 16,6 milliards de dollars en date du 31 août 2018 et dispose de bureaux à Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapour et Londres.