Avec un chiffre d’affaires net de 65,2 millions d’euros, en croissance de 6% par rapport à 2012, la ligne de métier Investment Management au sein de BNP Paribas Real Estate a collecté plus de 800 millions d’euros de « new cash » en 2013, selon un communiqué publié le 6 mars. . En fin d’année, elle gérait près de 18 milliards d’euros d’actifs en Europe, dont 74% pour le compte d’investisseurs institutionnels. Au total, cette ligne de métier compte plus de 100 000 clients. L’acquisition de iii-investments, en Allemagne l’a fait passer en 2013 de la 17ème à la 9ème place européenne.

Un nouveau fonds d’investissement dédié à la e-santé en Europe de l’Ouest a fait son apparition : Extens. Ce dernier investira des tickets de 1 à 7 millions d’euros dans une dizaine de PME réalisant des chiffres d’affaires supérieurs à 1 million d’euros. Le fonds s’intéressera notamment à l’activité des logiciels hospitaliers, l’informatisation des professionnels de santé et les solutions autour du patient connecté à domicile ou en mobilité, avec pour marché cible l’Europe de l’Ouest qui compte près de 1.000 sociétés, dont plus de 200 en France. Créé par Arnaud Houette, ancien président de Capsule Technologie, éditeur français de logiciel hospitalier, et Quentin Jacomet, partner chez Pegasus Development, le fonds prépare un premier closing et vise un objectif final de 50 millions d’euros. La souscription minimale est de 1 millions d’euros.

Amundi Patrimoine est sur une bonne dynamique. Commercialisé depuis mai 2013 dans les réseaux bancaires français partenaires d’Amundi, ce fonds dédié à la clientèle patrimoniale affiche aujourd’hui entre 1,1 milliard et 1,2 milliard d’euros d’encours, a annoncé le 6 mars la société de gestion lors d’une conférence de presse. Lors de son lancement, l’encours d’Amundi Patrimoine – officiellement créé en février 2012 – s’élevait modestement à 112 millions d’euros.Cette forte croissance des actifs sous gestion s’explique en partie par une collecte de 200 millions d’euros sur l’ensemble de l’exercice 2013. Toutefois, l’essentiel des encours provient de l’apport de certains véhicules phares des réseaux bancaires qui ont été fusionnés dans Amundi Patrimoine.

BNP Paribas vient de nommer Stéphanie Sfakianos, responsable de Sustainable Capital Markets. Basée à Londres, elle aura pour mission de conseiller ses clients et répondre à l’intérêt croissant pour les actifs durables de Fixed Income, indique un communiqué qui précise que les marchés de la dette générant un bénéfice social ou environnemental suscitent un intérêt croissant. Ainsi, d’après l’organisation Climate Bonds Initiative, l’encours des obligations liées au climat se montait à 346 milliards de dollars en 2013, contre 174 milliards de dollars environ en 2012. Avant de rejoindre BNP Paribas en 2002 en tant que Head of Liability Management, Stéphanie Sfakianos a occupé plusieurs fonctions dans les activités de Fixed Income pour Deutsche Bank et HSBC.

En 2013, Schroders a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 7,9 milliards de livres, en léger ralentissement par rapport à 2012 où la collecte avait été de 9,4 milliards de livres.Néanmoins, la société de gestion britannique a affiché des revenus, un bénéfice et des encours d’un niveau record. Ses revenus nets sont ainsi ressortis à 1,4 milliard de livres, en hausse de 24 %, et son bénéfice avant impôts et éléments exceptionnels à 507,8 millions de livres, en augmentation de 41 %. Ses encours se sont établis à 262,9 milliards de livres, contre 212 milliards de livres fin 2012.En gestion d’actifs uniquement, Schroders a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 9,4 milliards de livres, contre 9,7 milliards de livres en 2012, dont 4,6 milliards de livres auprès des investisseurs institutionnels.

Le redressement d’Aviva Investors «devrait prendre du temps» a annoncé la maison mère de la société de gestion britannique à l’occasion de la présentation de ses résultats annuels. L’activité a accusé en 2013 des rachats nets de 5 milliards de livres, et ses encours sont ressortis à 241 milliards de livres. Par ailleurs, dans ses résultats annuels, Aviva annonce avoir découvert des preuves «d’allocations impropres» de négociations de titres obligataires de la part de deux anciens salariés d’Aviva Investors avant 2013. Cela va amputer le bénéfice d’exploitation de la société de 132 millions de livres. «Des mesures pour améliorer les contrôles ont été mis en place (…)», rassure Aviva.

Jeudi 6 mars, à l’occasion de la publication de ses résultats annuels, le groupe espagnol Banca March a fait état d’un bénéfice de 57,8 millions d’euros en 2013, après une perte de 141,8 millions d’euros en 2012. L’établissement financier a, en particulier, connu une bonne dynamique commerciale dans son activité de banque privée et patrimonial avec une croissance de 22,8 % de son chiffre d’affaires pour atteindre 10,4 milliards d’euros. Sa filiale de gestion, March Gestion a enregistré, pour sa part, une progression de 80 % de ses actifs sous gestion pour ressortir à 4 milliards d’euros fin 2013. A horizon 2016, Banca March entend désormais doubler son activité de banque privée et, pour y parvenir, elle souhaite disposer d’un total de 40 bureaux spécialisés, d’une nouvelle plate-forme informatique et mettre en place un plan de recrutement de nouveaux talents.

BondMatch s’enrichit d’un nouveau participant-intermédié. Depuis le 3 mars, la plateforme obligataire multilatérale, lancée par Euronext en 2011, a en effet enregistré l’arrivée d’APG, le plus important fonds de pension des Pays-Bas, devenant ainsi le premier investisseur institutionnel néerlandais sur BondMatch. APG a choisi KBL European Private Bankers comme intermédiaire de marché pour l’exécution de ses ordres.Avec un actif de près de 344 milliards d’euros, APG gère les régimes de retraite de plus de 30 % de l’ensemble des régimes collectifs des Pays-Bas pour le compte des principales caisses de retraite et offre ses services à plus de 4,5 millions de bénéficiaires.Lancée en 2011, BondMatch offre aux investisseurs professionnels la possibilité de négocier des obligations corporate, financières et foncières libellées en euro via un carnet d’ordres transparent recueillant exclusivement les ordres fermes. La plateforme compte actuellement plus de 2.000 titres émis pour plus de 500 émetteurs différents.

Falcon Investment Advisors, un family office basé à Dubai, va renforcer son équipe à Singapour dans le but de proposer ses services à plusieurs familles. La première étape de son développement a été franchie grâce au recrutement de Mark Prendiville, ancien directeur de la clientèle institutionnelle de Julius Baer à Singapour. Il est spécialisé dans la génération d’alpha, précise Asian Investor.

Dans le cadre de l’enquête sur la manipulation des taux de changes, BNP Paribas a suspendu Bob de Groot, son responsable du trading forex spot (trading de devises au comptant) basé à Londres, selon le Wall Street Journal. Il s’agit de la première suspension de la banque. Ni la banque, ni l’intéressé n’ont souhaité ou pu être joints. Figure bien connue au sein de l’activité des changes à Londres, Bob de Groot participe régulièrement aux réunions de professionnels sous la responsabilité de la Banque d’Angleterre. Cette suspension intervient un jour après que l’iinstitution a annoncé avoir suspendu un de ses salariés exerçant également dans ce domaine.

Invesco Perpetual a confirmé, ce 6 mars, la nomination avec effet immédiat de Mark Barnett en tant que responsable de la gestion des fonds Invesco Perpetual High Income et Invesco Perpetual Income en remplacement de Neil Woodford. Ce dernier, qui reste en poste jusqu’au 29 avril, doit en effet quitter la société de gestion pour rejoindre Oakley Capital où il va notamment constituer une nouvelle boutique d’investissement.Ce changement s’inscrit dans la continuité puisque Mark Barnett travaille en étroite collaboration depuis le 15 octobre 2013 avec Neil Woodford, actuel gérant des deux fonds concernés, afin d’assurer une transition en douceur.Arrivé chez Invesco Perpetual en 1996, Mark Barnett a débuté sa carrière dans la gestion chez Mercury Asset Management en 1992.

BNY Mellon Investment Management a confié à Michael Jasper le rôle de directeur de l’activité institutionnelle aux Pays-Bas, rapporte Bluerating. Il sera basé à Amsterdam et travaillera sous la responsabilité d’Adrian Gordon, responsable des institutionnels pour la région Europe, Moyen-Orient et Afrique. Auparavant, Michael Jasper officiait chez ING Investment Management où il était depuis 2008 responsable du développement de l’activité institutionnelle et de la gestion des relations avec les clients.

Au cours des neuf prochains mois, Candriam, l’ex-Dexia Asset Management, veut accélérer le développement de son activité auprès des institutionnels en Suisse et en Allemagne tout en augmentant son exposition à la distribution pour compte de tiers au Royaume-Uni, rapporte IPE.com. Dans un entretien accordé au site d’information, Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, directeur général de Candriam, précise que « l’activité institutionnelle au Royaume-Uni constitue une ambition mais qu’elle est plus réaliste dans un horizon de 18 mois ».

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has said that the rapid take up of technology in developing countries was endangering jobs to such an extent that it was becoming the “black swan of the times,” Financial News reports. The director was speaking on Wednesday at the annual conference of the National Association of Pension Funds in the United Kingdom. Fink added that he expects the term “emerging markets” to cease to have much relevance for investors, as the region is so heterogeneous.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } It is the end of an era at Henderson Global Investors (Henderson GI). After 17 years at the asset mangement firm, Patrick Sumner, head of global property equities since 2004, will be retiring this June.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Inflows to ETPs worldwide totalled USD27.2bn in February, according to initial estimates from BlackRock. Inflows to bonds in particular totalled USD19.6bn, a monthly record, due to outlooks of continued low interest rates and inflation at continuing highly moderate levels. Inflows to Treasury bonds represented USD11.4bn, with the corporate debt and investment grade segments bringing in USD3.6bn, and high yield USD1.4bn. Short maturity funds brought in USD7.4bn. In equities, inflows totalled USD5.8bn, with investors continuing to prefer exposure to developed markets outside the United States. Japanese equity funds attracted USD4.1bn, while pan-European funds drew in USD2.8bn. However, US funds finished the month with outflows of USD0.2bn, and funds dedicated to emerging markets had net outflows totalling USD4.5bn.

Asset inflows and strong developed-market equity returns helped long-term fund assets reach nearly USD23 trillion, up more than USD3 trillion from 2012, according to an an annual report released by Morningstar on 6 March.Although 2013 inflows of USD976 billion are only slightly higher than the previous record set in 2009, their composition is vastly different. Investors have rotated out of fixed-income investments, which garnered the majority of inflows over the last five years, and into equities.Equity funds enjoyed inflows of USD567 billion globally and an organic growth rate of 6%, the fastest since Morningstar began tracking worldwide flow data in 2007. Allocation funds had a strong year with inflows of USD220 billion, driven by double-digit growth in Europe and among cross-border funds.Among equity funds, passive funds continued to gain share in most regions in 2013. This shift has been driven largely by the increasing awareness among investors of the role of cost in investment outcomes. Another growth factor is the adoption of ETFs among advisors in the United States, although ETFs in Europe are having a tougher time making such inroads.Vanguard dominated worldwide flows again in 2013, as it did in 2012. The firm took in USD143 billion and now manages USD2.3 trillion in long-term mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets. On the other side of the spectrum, PIMCO, the beneficiary of the long bond bull market, saw outflows of USD29 billion for the year as investors’ fear of rising interest rates prompted a long-anticipated exodus from bond funds. 88% of PIMCO’s mutual fund and ETF assets globally resided in fixed-income products at year end.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The index of European investor sentiment by Invesco reflects a persistent appetite for high-risk asses. 55% of the 100 fund selectors surveyed, encouraged by confidence in the economy, were planning to increase their allocation to European equities in the next 12 months. 54% were planning to invest more in emerging markets, and 34% in the Asia-Pacific region. Bonds are the asset class which investors wish to reduce the most. About 28% are planning to reduce their investments in US Treasury bonds, compared with 21% in the prevoius survey, followed by euro zone government bonds (23%) and US corporate bonds (17%). The survey also finds that 46% of respondents have a favourable opinion of the global economy. “This percentage is lower than the 55% in June 2013, but far higher than the level 18 months ago, when only 17% were confident in the economic environment,” Invesco says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After a year in which deontology and cost reduction were at the top of the priority lists, US banks are seeking new areas for growth. According to a study by Fidelity Institutional entitled “Fidelity Bank Wealth Management Study,” banks want to develop their wealth management activities. More than half of heads surveyed as part of the study hope to increase income in wealth management by 25% in the next five years. More than 40% of banking managers say that wealth management has already become a driver of growth in recent years. One third of banks say that their divisions dedicated to wealth management have contributed an average of 28% to revenues at their firms. In the past to years, the contribution of wealth management came to 40%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With net earnings of EUR65.2m, up 6% compared with 2012, the Investment Management profession at BNP Paribas Real Estate brought in EUR800m in new cash in 2013, according to a statement released on 6 March. At the end of the year, it had nearly EUR18bn in assets in Europe, of which 74% were on behalf of institutional investors. Overall, this profession has over 100,000 clients. The acquisition of iii-investments in Germany took it from 17th to 9th place in Europe in 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Convertible assets at the US asset management firm Wellesley Investment Advisors, a specialist in the sector, have topped USD2bn. The firm, whose clients include high net worth private clients, institutionals and pension funds, has seen growing interest in convertibles on the part of investors, in an environment of low interest rates, stock markets reaching new peaks, and rising volatility.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US investment fund KKR has created a division specialised in energy, whose mission will be to invest in the market in the midst of a boom in schist oil and gas in North America. The fund has USD2bn, which KKR raised from pension funds, sovereign funds, insurance companies, banks, and individual investors, a statement says. The new fund, entitled EIGF, has already invested USD350m in eight projects, KKR explains. At the end of December 2013, KKR had USD94.3bn in assets under management, of which USD8.7bn were dedicated to energy and infrastructure.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Prudential Investors has launched the Prudential Jennison Rising Dividend Fund, which will invest as a priority in large caps listed in the United States, with the preference given to securities from businesses which distribute growng dividends. The fund is advised by the infrastructure return team at Jennison Associates, which uses a fundamental approach to select securities. The managers of the strategy are Shaun Hong and Bobby Edemeka, who manage funds of utilities, high yield equities, global infrastructure, and MLPs.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi Patrimoine is on the right path. The fund dedicated to wealth management clients, which has been on sale since May 2013 in French banking partner networks of Amundi, now has between EUR1.1bn and EUR1.2bn in assets, the asset management firm announced on 6 March at a press conference. At its launch, assets in Amundi Patrimoine, officially created in February 2012, totalled a modest EUR112m. This strong growth in assets under management is due partly to inflows of EUR200m over 2013 as a whole. However, most assets are due to the contribution of some flagship vehicles from banking networks which have been merged into Amundi Patrimoine.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lloyd George Management (LGM), an affiliate of BMO Global Asset Management, has appointed Thomas Vester as chief investment officer, Asia Asset Management reports. His mission will be to strengthen and co-ordinate investment processes and selection criteria for securities for BMO Global Asset Management across the LGM strategies in Asia and emerging markets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Falcon Investment Advisors, a family office based in Dubai, will be adding to its Singapore teams in order to offer its services to several families. The first step in its development was taken with the recruitment of Mark Prendiville, former director of institutional clients at Julius Baer Singapore. He is specialised in the generation of alpha, Asian Investor states.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The recovery at Aviva Investors “is likely to take some time,” the parent company of the British asset management firm has announced at a presentation of its annual results. In 2013, activities saw net redemptions of GBP5bn, and assets totalled GBP241bn. In its annual results, Aviva announced that it has discovered evidence of «improper» allocation of trades in fixed income securities by two former employees before 2013. There is a total adverse impact on operating profit from this activity of GBP132m. “Measures to improve controls have been put in place,” Aviva says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2013, Schroders posted net inflows of GBP7.9bn, down slightly compared with 2012, when inflows totalled GBP9.4bn. However, the British asset management firm has posted record revenues, profits and assets. Its net revenues totalled GBP1.4bn, up 24%, and its pre-tax profits and one-time elements total GBP507.8m, up 41%. Its assets came out to EUR262.9bn, compared with EUR212bn as of the end of 2012. In asset management alone, Schroders posted net inflows of GBP9.4bn, compared with GBP9.7bn in 2012, of which GBP4.6bn are from institutional investors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } SCOR Global Life, an affiliate of Scor SE, Swiss Re and Munich Re on 6 March announced that they have concluded a life expectancy policy with the British insurer Aviva. The extended life expectancy risks for these affiliates is transferred to the Aviva retirement regime under the reinsurance contract. The associated liabilities represent GBP5bn, making it the largest longevity swap ever concluded to date on the international market by a retirement regime. The transactions will take effect from 1 January 2014. For Scor, this is the fourth longevity swap signed in the United Kingdom, confirming the solidity of the commercial fund and the large expertise of the group in this growing market. The success in the United Kingdom in extending innoative longevity risk reinsurance solutions by SCOR in the Netherlands in December 2013 follows the path already blazed by SCOR Global Life in the implementation of the OptimalDynamics strategic plan. SCOR plans to double its longevity business volume within four months while maintaining a level of profitability in line with the objectives defined in OptimalDynamics, with a ROE 1000 basis points above the risk-free rate. For its part, Swiss Re has been present in the longevity market since 2007, with several operations in partnership with insurers and pension funds in the private and public sectors. The most recent are longevity contracts signed in 2012 with LV=Employee Pension Scheme for a total of USD1.3bn, and with Akzo Nobel (CPS) Pension Scheme for USD2.2bn. According to Paolo Martin, CEO of SCOR Global Life, “this important longevity transaction is fully in line with the appetite for risk of SCOR and the strategy employed by the Gruop in terms of longevity, and respects the profitability criteria of the Group. It comes only a few months after the signature of the transaction concluded with Aegon in the Netherlands, demonstrating the solid competence of SCOR Global Life in the global longevity market. SCOR is an important actor in this market; we plan to establish new partnerships in order to offer longevity solutions in the months and years to come.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco Perpetual on 6 March confirmed that effective immediately, it has appointed Mark Barnett as head of management for the Invesco Perpetual High Income and Invesco Perpetual Income funds, replacing Neil Woodford. Woodford, who will remain in the position until 29 April, is expected to leave the firm to join Oakley Capital, where he will form a new investment boutique. The change will occur in continuity as Barnett has been working in close collaboration since 15 October 2013 with Woodford, current manager of the funds concerned, to ensure a smooth transition. Barnett, who joined Invesco Perpetual in 1996, began his career in management at Mercury Asset Management in 1992.