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24/03/2014

HSBC Private Bank appoints a head for Asia

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HSBC Private Bank has promoted Bernard Rennell to the position of head of private banking for Asia-Pacific as part of a reshuffle of its management, Asian Investor reports. Rennell, who is currently serving as CEO of private banking for Northern Asia, will now serve as head for the entire region, as the bank has decided to merge its two Northern and Southern Asian centres. The appointment comes at a time when Amit Gupta, currently CEO of private banking for Southern Asia, has decided to take a leave of absence for personal reasons. Rob Ioannou and Sandeep Sharma have been promoted to co-heads for South-East Asia. Ioannou had previously been head of private banking activities in Singapore, while Sharma had serevd as head for India.
24/03/2014

Swedish hedge fund closed after poor results

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish asset management firm CB Fonder, managed and owned by Carl Bernadotte, is closing its hedge fund CB Hedge, Privata Affärer reports. The fund, launched in 2007, had aimed to earn returns of 10-15% per year. Last year, the fund lost 9.5%, while its benchmark index was gaining 21.2%. The liquidation of the fund will take place on 31 March, and investors will be redeemed on 9 April, pending the permission of the Luxembourg authorities.
24/03/2014

EDRAM releases its QUAM strategy on the French market

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Edmond de Rothschild group has recently announced the release on the French market of its Quantitative Asset Management (QAM) strategy. The strategy, which now has EUR3bn in assets under management in funds and mandates, will be offered both to retail and institutional clients. It had previously been available from the Geneva-based Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild, which has since been merged into the group. The QUAM methodology is a strategy founded on a mathematical model. It identifies market trends and optimises positive market trends, through flexible asset allocation which aims to increase the value of invested assets through risk control management. The objective is to participate in positive market trends through flexible asset allocation to traditional asset classes, while retaining capital in the event of an established falling trend. The QUAM investment fund range, which has a total of EUR1.2bn, is composed of three products, EdR Fund Quam 5 EuR, EdR Fund Quam 10 EUR, and EdR Fund Quam 15 EUR. The investment universe for the underlying fund, composed of long-only UCITS IV funds with daily liquidity, covers the full range of asset classes: equities, bonds, diversified and money markets, across all geographical sectors and regions. The management team is led by Mathieu Gilbert, director of quantitative and overlay management (EUR10bn under management) at the Edmond de Rothschild group.
24/03/2014

TCW wins a mandates off Pimco

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The TCW group, an asset management firm based in California, on 20 March announced that it had been selected by Columbia Management, an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial, to sub-advise and manage a fund integrated withing the Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II. TCW takes on a role which had previously been occupied by Pimco. The fund concerned, previously known as the Pimco Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund, will be renamed as the TCW Core Plus Bond Fund. TCW will single handedly serve as manager of the bond vehicle, which had about USD1.3bn in assets as of 31 December 2013. The fund, launched initially in 2010, has significant investments in mortgage instruments with very high ratings, and aims to offer investors and shareholders both income and capital appreciation. TCW currently has over USD130bn in assets under management, while Columbia Management had USD356bn in assets under management as of 31 December 2013.
24/03/2014

Two CEOs for the equity boutique at Vontobel AM

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vontobel Asset Management has appointed Rajiv Jain and Philipp Hensler as co-executive officers of its Quality Growth boutique, specialised in equities. They will begin in their new role from 1 July. Jain will retain his position as chief investment offiver, whie Hensler will be responsible for managing sales (customer relationships, development, etc.)
24/03/2014

Pay scales up at asset management firms

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Double-digit growth in profits at several major asset management firms have led to major pay raises for employees at all levels, Financial Times fund management reports. A study by FTfm covering the 10 largest publicly-traded asset management firms reveals that Allianz Asset Management, the parent company of Pimco and Allianz Global Investors, was the most generous group last year, paying its employees an average of GBP436,000. Man Group takes second place, with GBP232,000, and Henderson third, with GBP215,000. These figures top the average salaries in the banking sector, which were GBP212,000 last year, according to PwC. BlackRock, Schroders and Aberdeen fall just below this level.
24/03/2014

Standard Life in takeover talks with Ignis Asset Management

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Consolidation in the asset management sector is gathering pace. The British life insurance group Standard Life has announced that it is in “advanced and exclusive” talks with the insurer Phoenix Group to acquire its asset management affiliate Ignis Asset Management, the Financial Times reports. Analysts estimate the value of Ignis at about GBP400m, the British newspaper says.
24/03/2014

Newton IM reshuffles its management teams

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Newton Investment Management (Newton IM), an asset management based in London affiliated to BNY Mellon, on 20 March announced a reshuffle of its asset management teams for two funds, the Newton Higher Income Fund and Newton Oriental Fund. After a strategic review, the asset management firm has decided that the roles of the lead managers for its active equity and equity income vehicles would be more effective if they were separated. As a result, for the management of the Global Equity and Emerging Equity funds, Newton IM has decided to have separate lead managers, as it has for the Newton Higher Income Fund and Newton UK Equity Fund. Consequently, Christopher Metcalfe is appointed to the position of lead manager for the Newton Higher Income fund. Metcalfe had previously served as manager of the Global Growth & Income fund and the Newton Managed Fund. Metcalfe replaced Richard Wilmot, who will continue to manage the Newton UK Equity Fund while serving alongside Paul Stephany, who remains the lead manager for the vehicle, as manager of the Newton UK Opportunities Fund. Meanwhile, Caroline Keen has been promoted to the position of lead manager of the Newton Oriental Fund. Since 2013, she had served in a role supporting Jason Pidcock as co-manager of the vechile, and since 2009 she had also been “an important member” of the team dedicated to Asian equities.
24/03/2014

Changes to come in Asset Management at UBS

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS may be making changes in its Asset Management activities. Ahead of the publication of its first quarter results and its investors’ day on 6 May, the newspaper SonntagsZeitung has reported that speculation is surrounding the subject. Several investors are expecting strategic measures on the part of the bank, for example, withdrawing from unprofitable products and markets where profits are too low and volumes too small. Analysts, for their part, are predicting information about cost reduction programmes in progress and about a reorientation in Asset Management. UBS is declining to comment.
24/03/2014

“Since January, we have posted net inflows of EUR2bn”

In 2013, French boutique DNCA Finance recorded net inflows of EUR3bn and doubled its assets under management, which have topped EUR11bn. Joseph Châtel, chairman of the asset management firm, discusses the reasons for his success and lays out his plans for 2014. On the agenda: opening offices in Geneva and Madrid.
24/03/2014

French regulator cracks down on references to ratings in asset management prospectuses

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Agefi, for several weeks, the prospectuses for new products have been frozen by the French regulator AMF, a manager warns. “We have asked for some further information but this is certainly not happening in the majority of cases,” says Xavier Parain, deputy secretary general in charge of the asset management directorate at the French financial market authority Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), who says that this occurs in only a few cases per week. The point at issue is new rules concerning reference to ratings in documentation from asset management firms. This concerns OPCVM Funds, alternative investment funds (FIA) and management mandates. The European text has been transposed into French law, and was then transposed into AMF regulations on 25 July last year. It has now been in practical application by the AMF since the beginning of the year. The regulation aims to prevent managers from referring only to ratings in their management decisions.
24/03/2014

Former head of equities at UBS launches a firm dedicated to Africa

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Yassine Bouhara, a former head at UBS, where he had been co-head of the equity team, is preparing to launch a consulting and brokerage firm dedicated to Africa, Financial News reports. Bouhara, who resigned from UBS in October 2011 during the scandal surrounding trader Kweku Adoboli, without facing any charges, would like to recruit 30 people for his new activity, and open offices in Paris, Dubai and Algiers, He is also considering opening a London office. His company is expected to offer consulting and brokerage services in French-speaking African countries, while also planning to launch an asset management and private equity activity. Although the name of the business has yet to be finalised, Bouhara is aiming for a launch in early June, and is expecting to gain a few consulting contracts, the English language website adds. The firm is also planning to launch a brokerage activity in Algiers dedicated to domestic equities. Bouhara is following in the footsteps of Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays, who recently created the firm Atlas Merchant Capital, and who recently brought in GBP200m with an IPO on the London Stock Exchange in December for his vehicle Atlas Mara, dedicated to Africa.
24/03/2014

ESMA holds consultation on shareholding disclosure

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on March 21 launched a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the revised Transparency Directive relating to the notification of major shareholdings and the indicative list of financial instruments subject to notification requirements. The revised Directive harmonises transparency requirements relating to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on an EU regulated market.The consultation runs until 30 May 2014.
24/03/2014

Communication avancée : la BCE n'adoptera pas de seuils

La Banque centrale européenne ne reliera pas sa politique de taux d’intérêt à des seuils économiques particuliers, a déclaré son vice-président Vitor Constancio. «Je pense que ce ne serait pas utile», a-t-il estimé samedi lors d’une conférence organisée à par la Réserve fédérale à Washington. La banque centrale américaine a intégré des seuils dans sa communication avancée sur les taux pendant un peu plus d’un an avant d’y renoncer la semaine dernière.
24/03/2014

Patronat et syndicats s'accordent sur l'assurance chômage

Le patronat et les syndicats CFDT, FO et CFTC ont conclu dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi un accord sur une nouvelle convention d’assurance chômage, qui doit encore être approuvé par leurs instances dirigeantes et agréé par le gouvernement. Pour parvenir à ce compromis, les organisations patronales ont dû réduire leurs exigences en matière d'économies - 400 millions d’euros nets au lieu d’un milliard. Elles ont notamment renoncé à leur proposition d’aligner sur le régime général le régime spécifique des intermittents. De leur côté, les syndicats signataires, qui ne comprennent pas la CGT et la CFE-CGC, ont mis en sourdine leur demande de contribution supplémentaire des entreprises, notamment par le biais d’une sur-taxation des contrats courts. La future convention mettra en oeuvre les «droits rechargeables», un mécanisme permettant aux demandeurs d’emploi qui alternent contrats courts et périodes de chômage de garder leurs droits à allocations quand ils retrouvent un travail.
24/03/2014

Herman Van Rompuy évoque l'euro fort

Invité à s’exprimer lors d’un colloque organisé par le German Marshall Fund of the United States, un cercle de réflexion américain, le président du Conseil européen juge l’euro trop fort pour les exportateurs de la zone euro. «L’euro est même devenu, avec la crise dans les pays émergents, une sorte de refuge. Donc je dis souvent que la menace existentielle est derrière nous mais que les problèmes ne sont pas réglés», a ajouté Herman Van Rompuy.
24/03/2014

Décès d'Adolfo Suarez, l'un des pères de l'Espagne moderne

L’ancien président du gouvernement espagnol Adolfo Suarez, l’un des principaux artisans de la transition de l’Espagne vers la démocratie après la mort de Francisco Franco, est mort dimanche à l'âge de 81 ans. L’actuel président du gouvernement, le conservateur Mariano Rajoy, a annoncé trois jours de deuil national à partir d’aujourd’hui.

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