Bpifrance vient de finaliser les processus de regroupement des différentes entités d’investissement du groupe et la constitution d’une société de gestion unique, Bpifrance Investissement. Créée le 31 décembre 2012, la Banque Publique d’Investissement avait enregistré en juillet 2013 les apports des différentes entités jusqu’alors détenues par la Caisse des Dépôts et l’Etat à Bpifrance SA. Restait à regrouper les structures dédiées au capital investissement dans une société de gestion unique. C’est donc chose faite, ce qui «permet aujourd’hui à Bpifrance de mettre pleinement en oeuvre les synergies entre les différents métiers de l’investissement d’une part mais aussi et surtout avec les métiers de Bpifrance Financement», selon un communiqué .Dès lors, en comptant près de 300 collaborateurs et en disposant notamment de 20 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion, la société de gestion est présentée comme la plus importante en Europe spécialisée dans les PME et ETI. «D’ici à 2017, elle devrait investir 8 milliards au capital des entreprises», annonce Bpifrance.

Jusqu’au 30 juin 2014, la Société Générale commercialise trois fonds à formule. Le premier, SG Hexalys 6 Plus, n’offre pas de garantie en capital contrairement aux deux autres, SG Multilys 6 Plus et Europe Trio 2 Garanti.La performance de SG Hexalys 6 Plus est liée à l'évolution des marchés actions européens. Le capital est protégé jusqu’à une baisse de 40% à l’échéance en 2022 (soit dans huit ans), avec un effet amortisseur additionnel. Des possibilités de remboursement par anticipation chaque année sont prévues, sous conditions, avec un gain annuel de 6,60%. Pour sa part, SG Multilys 6 Plus offre des opportunités de remboursement par anticipation chaque année, sous conditions, avec un gain annuel de 6,10%. De son côté, Europe Trio offrira une performance liée à l'évolution des marchés actions européens. A l'échéance du fonds en 2024 (soit dans dix ans), le capital investi est intégralement garanti. Cependant, au cours des dix ans, le fonds offre 2 opportunités de remboursement par anticipation à 4 ans ou à 6 ans, sous conditions, avec un gain de 4,75% par année écoulée. SG HEXALYS 6 PLUS Code Isin : FR0011744754 SG MULTILYS 6 PLUS Code Isin : FR0011710292 EUROPE TRIO 2 GARANTI Code Isin : FR0011710524

Le fonds Total Return de Bill Gross a été battu par 94 % de ses concurrents en mars, accentuant la pression sur le légendaire fondateur de Pimco, rapporte le Financial Times. Les chiffres de Morningstar montrent que le fonds obligataire de 232 milliards de dollars est en-dessous de son indice de référence de 40 points de base : il perd 0,57 % en mars, contre une baisse 0,17 % pour le Barclays aggregate. L’agence estime aussi que les investisseurs américains ont retiré 3,1 milliards de dollars du fonds Total Return en mars, soit le 11ème mois consécutif de rachats, lesquels ont atteint 52,1 milliards de dollars depuis avril dernier.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management a vendu à la banque espagnole Santander son activité à Miami, a indiqué mardi le groupe bancaire français aux «Echos», confirmant l’information de Funds Society, site d’informations spécialisé américain. Les actifs gérés par BNP Paribas à Miami s’élèveraient à 3 milliards d’euros d’après les analystes d’Ahorro Corporación. L’opération s’inscrit dans le cadre de la stratégie de croissance ciblée du groupe bancaire français sur les marchés où son réseau de détail et ses activités de banque privée sont plus développés.

La société de gestion alternative Ares Management a déposé un dossier le 31 mars dans la perspective d’une prochaine introduction en Bourse, rapporte l’agence Reuters. Il s’agirait de la première introduction d’une société de gestion alternative depuis l’arrivée sur le marché du groupe Carlyle, il y a deux ans.

La société américaine de hedge funds DE Shaw a recruté à la mi-mars Stephen Michel, l’ancien responsable non-core and legacy d’UBS pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique, rapporte Financial News. Il travaillera sur les opportunités d’investissements dans le crédit.

Après des débuts laborieux, le secteur des hedge funds en Corée du Sud semble avoir pris son envol, les fonds de pension et autres investisseurs institutionnels diversifiant leur allocation dans la gestion alternative.Les actifs sous gestion du secteur pourraient doubler d’ici à 2015 pour atteindre 5 milliards de dollars, rapporte Asian Investor qui précise que le pays compte environ 24 hedge funds gérés par douze sociétés de gestion locales.

BNY Mellon a annoncé avoir mis en place un processus d’automatisation du calcul des exigences en collatéral sur le marché des ETF.Les améliorations introduites par BNY Mellon devraient permettre de réduire les erreurs et d’améliorer la capacité des participants autorisés (PA/APs) à gérer et à allouer les fonds. Les participants autorisés étaient jusqu’ici notifiés par un processus manuel sur les montants nécessaires de collatéral.

Le secteur des mutual funds dans le monde a connu une croissance exceptionnelle au cours des dernières années, selon une étude que vient de publier ICI Global. Les actifs du secteur ont été multipliés par sept au cours des deux dernières décennies. Les actifs sont ainsi passés de 4.000 milliards de dollars en 1993 à presque 29.000 milliards de dollars en septembre 2013. Cette évolution reflète des progressions dans quatre grandes régions du monde : les Etats-Unis, l’Europe, l’Asie-Pacifique et le reste du monde.Durant la période sous revue, les actifs du marché américain ont progressé de près de 600% à 14.300 milliards de dollars que les marchés européens enregistraient une hausse de 640% à près de 9.000 milliards de dollars. Dans la zone Asie-Pacifique, les actifs ont fait un bond de 450% à 3.300 milliards de dollars tandis que dans le reste du monde, avec notamment le Canada, le Chili et le Brésil, les actifs ont augmenté de 2.200% à 2.300 milliards de dollars.Plusieurs facteurs ont contribué à cette évolution : outre le développement économique, la profondeur et la liquidité des marchés ont également facilité la croissance. Autre élément essentiel, l’existence de plans de retraite à contributions définies dans lesquels les mutual funds peuvent investir.

La holding d’investissement Salvepar vient d’investir 20 millions de dollars pour acquérir le groupe MultiPlan aux côtés de Starr Investment Holdings.Implanté aux Etats-Unis, le groupe Multiplan offre des solutions aux payeurs de soins de santé pour faire des économies sur les coûts de remboursement des prestations de santé. Il génère plus de 11 milliards de dollars d’économies de coûts médicaux pour environ 40 millions de demandes par an.

Depuis le 1er avril, la société de capital-risque Truffle Capital commercialise un nouveau fonds commun de placement dans l’innovation, le FCPI Truffle Fortune 6.Trois secteurs sont ciblés : l'énergie, les sciences de la vie et les technologies de l’information. Le fonds investira principalement au capital de jeunes entreprises innovantes issues de spin-offs mais n’exclut pas d’autres types d’investissement dans des entreprises innovantes. Caractéristiques :- Montant de la part : 100 euros- Durée de blocage : 7 ans prorogeable jusqu'à 3 ans (sur décision de la société de gestion).- TFE : 4.26%- Réduction de l’ISF de 45% de l’investissement dans la limite d’une réduction de 18.000 euros

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Due to turbulence in Ukraine, funds from Michael Hasenstab, the star bond manager at Franklin Templeton, have seen outflows of USD5.5bn, Financial Times fund management reports. The manager holdd one third of international Ukrainian bonds denominated in US dollars. The Templeton Global Bond fund has seen redemptions of USD3.6bn since the beginning of the year, while Global Total Return has seen outflows of USD1.9bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bank of America Merrill Lynch has teamed up with Sandell Investment Services, an asset management firm based in New York, to found an alternative UCITS fund, Citywire Global reports. The fund, Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions – Castlerigg Equity Event and Arbitrage UCITS Fund, is launched via the Sandell affiliate Castelrigg Master Investments. It reflects the strategy of a fund managed by the Sandell asset management arm. The fund is registered for sale in France.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The investment service provider SEI has launched a series of tax-efficient ETF strategies aimed at financial advisers facing growing demand for low-cost strategies. The new range includes five strategies with various risk levels, conservative, moderate, market growth, aggressive and equity, which provide a way to better manage the impact of taxation while maintaining the performance/risk characteristics of a given portfolio.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After laborious years, the hedge fund industry in South Korea appears to have taken off, as pension funds and other institutional investors diversify their allocation to alternative management. Assets under management in the sector may double by 2015 to a total of USD5bn, Asian Investor reports, stating that the country has about 24 hedge funds managed by 12 local asset management firms.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian financial market authority (Consob) will this autumn launch a portal dedicated to financial education, Bluerating reports, relaying information from Giuseppe D’Agostino, deputy CEO at the regulator. In April, the authority will also launch a training cycle for consumer associations.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Total Return fund from Bill Gross was beaten by 94% of its rivals in March, accentuating pressure on the legendary founder of Pimco, the Financial Times reports. Figures from Morningstar reveals that the USD232bn bond fund is below its benchmark index by 40 basis points: it lost 0.57% in March, compared with a decline of 0.17% for the Barclays aggregate. The agency also estimates that US investors withdrew USD3.1bn from the Total Return fund in March, the 11th consecutive month of redemptions, which totalled USD52.1bn since April last year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) is recruiting for its team dedicated to coverage for institutional clients in Asia-Pacific, with the appointment of two senior management figures, Asia Asset Management reports. Ken Tam has joined the German asset management firm, from JPMorgan Asset Management, to serve in the newly-created position of head of institutional clients in the «global client group» division for Asia-Pacific ex Japan. His mission will be to promote products and services from DeAWM to institutional clients throughout the region. Meanwhile, Rajan Raju has been appointed as head of intermediaries in the «global client group» team for Asia-Pacific (ex Japan). Raju has been present in the Deutsche Bank group since 2010, and is responsible for setting up sales and distribution strategies to intermediaries throughout the region.

Threadneedle Investments on April 1 announced that it has entered into a promotion and referral agreement with South African investment manager Stanlib to introduce its clients globally to the latter’s Africa strategies. Stanlib will similarly offer African investors access to Threadneedle’s capabilities. The South African fund manager, which manages over USD45 billion for retail and institutional clients, specialises in South African and African investments across all major asset classes including property.The agreement follows the announcement in August 2012, that Stanlib had selected Threadneedle to manage in excess of USD800 million in Global and Emerging Market equity and Global Balanced portfolios as part of its offshore investment range. Today, Threadneedle manages in excess of USD1 billion on behalf of Stanlib.Strategies that Threadneedle will introduce include: Africa ex South Africa Equity, a strategy focusing on investment in Africa’s frontier markets, Global Emerging Market Property and Direct Property investment opportunities. The two partners do not hide that they want to tap the African market. “Collectively, Africa’s economy is around USD2.0 trillion and is expected to reach USD2.6 trillion by 2020,» observes Dylan Evans, head of International Business Development at Stanlib. “The outlook for 2014 is promising, with Africa’s GDP growth expected to grow by around 5.5% in 2014.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Julius Baer is adding to its teams in Southern Europe. The Swiss asset management firm has appointed Carolina Martinez-Caro as its new head for the Iberian market, and also as a member of the board of directors for the Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Martinez-Caro replaces Rafael Zimenez de Embun, who has recently left his job to continue his career outside the firm. Martinez-Caro has 20 years of experience in the industry. She joined Julius Baer in 2013, at the same time as the Madrid-based team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as part of the integration in to the international wealth management division of the US bank, where she had served as head of high net worth clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors at Union Investment has unanimously decided to appoint Andreas Zubrod as a board member from 1 June 2014, according to a statement released on 1 April. Zubrod, currently head of the Legal & Public Affairs division, will be responsible for the same activity on the board. He will also oversee auditing, taxation, and investment controlling.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of strategic relations with family offices at Berenberg, Dominicius von Nerée, has decided to leave Berenberg private bank to join LBBW/BW-Bank, Das Investment reports. From 1 April, von Nerée will strengthen wealth management activities at LBBW serving family offices, family businesses and high net worth clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US hedge fund firm DE Shaw in mid-March recruited Stephen Michel, former head of non-core and legacy at UBS for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Financial News reports. He will work on credit investment opportunities.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The alternative asset management firm Ares Management on 31 March submitted an application for a forthcoming initial public offering, the news agency Reuters reports. This would be the first IPO for an alternative managemnet firm since the arrival of the Carlyle group on the market, two years ago.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The investment boutique Meriten Investment Management, which belongs to the BNY Mellon group, has obtained its AIFM license from BaFin, Fondsprofessionell reports. “An important step” in the growth strategy of the firm, and a “strong signal” to clients about the desire to adapt to new regulatory challenges, Werner Taiber, spokesman for the board at Meriten IM, says. Assets under management at Meriten as of the end of 2013 totalled more than EUR23bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Wells Fargo Asset Management is joining the Nordnet distribution platform on the Finnish market, on which 11 sub-funds from the Luxembourg Sicav Worldwide Fund UCITS will now be available to local investors, Investment Europe reports. Among the 11 funds concerned, there are 8 equity vehicles and 2 bond products. “The fund market in Finland is a dynamic industry, and it represents a significant part of our investment and our growth in Europe,” says Ludger Peters, managing director in charge of development for international activities at Wells Fargo AM.

F&C Investments on April 1 announced the expansion of its multi-manager team with the hiring of Scott Spencer. He will join the team, led by Rob Burdett and Gary Potter, in July 2014.Scott Spencer joins from Aberdeen’s Multi Asset Solutions team where he was responsible for the management of several multi-asset and single country funds. Between 2004 and 2009, he was a portfolio manager within Credit Suisse Asset Management’s multi-manager division, founded by Rob Burdett and Gary Potter.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UK asset management group Aviva Investors is seeking to add to its distribution team in Switzerland. The Swiss team had previously included five people, led by Fabio Ferra. At the beginning of the year, Ferra took on a more international role. As Global Head Financial Institutions, he now leads a team of 12 people. Aviva, largely known for its bond expertise, is now seeking to grow in absolute return strategies. The British firm is also hoping to build its presence in western Swtzerland and the wholesale institutional market. Aviva, which has been present in Zurich for three years, has CHF2bn in assets under management locally in Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain.

Hermes Fund Managers has hired Michael Russell as deputy portfolio manager of Hermes US Small and Mid Cap Equities. His most recent role has been senior portfolio manager of the Global Developed Markets Equity funds at Nomura Asset Management.Based in London, Michael Russell will report into Mark Sherlock, lead portfolio manager.

TIAA Henderson Real Estate (TH Real Estate) launched on 1 April 2014. The company is born from two organisations (TIAA-CREF & Henderson Global Investors) with a combined track record of over 90 years in global real estate. Its focus will be pure real estate."Henderson has long recognized that its property business would benefit from greater scale and access to capital to accelerate its future growth. The formation of TH Real Estate is a dynamic example of our response to investors’ increasing preference for alignment of interest, which TH Real Estate will be able to betterachieve via co-investment and seeded investment opportunities. The result will be superior service to clients on a global scale,» said Andrew Formicachief executive of Henderson Group.TH Real Estate consists of TIAA-CREF’s European real estate business and Henderson Global Investor’s European and Asia Pacific-based real estate businesses. It has a dedicated global presence with offices across Asia and Europe, managing EUR16.4bn of real estate assets across c.50 funds and mandates. TIAA-CREF owns a 60 percent interest in TH Real Estate. The remaining 40% is owned by Henderson.Simultaneously, TIAA-CREF has completed the acquisition of Henderson’s North American property business. This business (EUR1.9 bn) is being managed as a distinct, yet complementary operation within the existing TIAA-CREF North American real estate platform.TIAA-CREF will manage and service its existing EUR35billion real estate platform which invests on behalf of the TIAA General Account, retirement participants, and institutional and individual investors worldwide, focusing on the core real estate space.TH Real Estate intends to build «a world class sales, product development and client servicing organization» that will ultimately provide global coverage across the global platform. Together, the TIAA-CREF real estate and TH Real Estate platforms have a combined total of EUR52bn in real estate assets under management.