Morningstar Credit Ratings a annoncé le recrutement de Calvin Wong en qualité de chief credit officer, notamment responsable de l’amélioration du contrôle interne des notations.Calvin Wong, qui travaillait précédemment chez Standard & Poor’s où il s’occupait de la notation des financements structurés, sera basé à New York et rattaché à Vickie Tillman, président de Morningstar Credit Ratings.

La société de gestion alternative Elliott Management a relevé son offre sur Riverbed Technology de 9% à 3,36 milliards de dollars, rapporte l’agence Reuters. Le 15 janvier dernier, Riverbed avait rejeté une offre d’Elliott valorisant la société à 3,08 milliards de dollars.Elliott, qui a une participation de 10,5% au capital de Riverbed, propose désormais 21 dollars par action, soit une prime de 5,8% par rapport au cours de clôture du lundi 24 février, et indique pouvoir relever encore son offre afin d’avoir accès aux livres de la société et initier un examen détaillé de ses comptes.

Virginie Maisonneuve, fraîchement arrivée chez Pimco comme directeur adjoint des investissements, envisage de lancer une nouvelle stratégie actions qui inclurait une différenciation des régions d’investissement et utiliserait davantage les techniques de couverture contre les risques extrêmes, rapporte Financial News. « Rien n’est gravé dans le marbre, mais nous allons envisager avec soin d’ajouter de nouveaux piliers actions pour compléter ceux que nous avons déjà… Cela pourrait inclure des manières d’exploiter les inefficiences de marché », a-t-elle indiqué.

En 2013, KBL Richelieu Gestion, filiale de KBL Richelieu Banque Privée a accusé des rachats nets de 103 millions d’euros. Sachant que l’encours total géré par la société de gestion est investi à 60% en actions, à 23% sur des produits de taux et à 17% en produits diversifiés, certains y verront un résultat indéniablement décevant. D’autres pourront être tentés de relativiser en pointant le poids des produits monétaires dans les sorties nettes. Avec leurs rendements peu attractifs et peu rémunérateurs pour la société, ces produits de taux sont responsables à eux seuls de rachats nets représentant 92 millions d’euros. Tenté de passer à autre chose, KBL Richelieu Gestion met en avant les premières semaines 2014 durant lesquelles le montant de son encours total a progressé de l’ordre de 9 % - soit près de 80 millions - pour atteindre 940 millions d’euros."Une hausse qui résulte à la fois d’un effet marché et d’un effet collecte», relève Nathalie Martin-Pelras, directeur de la gestion de KBL Richelieu Gestion et gérante du fonds KBL Richelieu Spécial, sans préciser pour autant leur poids respectif. Dans les faits, la responsable compte profiter cette année de plusieurs thématiques porteuses sur lesquelles la société de gestion considère avoir une forte légitimité. Il s’agit tout d’abord du phénomène de rattrapage dont devraient continuer de bénéficier les petites et moyennes capitalisations. Leur surperformance significative en 2013 peut suggérer que l’essentiel de ce rééquilibrage haussier a déjà eu lieu. Cependant, selon Nathalie Martin-Pelras, cette dynamique peut se prolonger en 2014, comme en témoigne la surperformance récente du CAC Mid & Small qui a progressé de 6,12 % depuis le début de l’année (*) contre une hausse respective de 2,18% et 1,98% pour l’Euro Stoxx 50 et le CAC 40. Et ce d’autant que, comme le fait remarquer la gérante, les petites et moyennes capitalisations sont généralement moins exposées que les large caps aux marchés émergents, ce qui leur confère un avantage comparatif tant que les craintes sur ces marchés persistent. En outre, en France, l’apparition du nouveau PEA-PME devrait contribuer à la surperformance des petites et moyennes capitalisations. A ce titre, KBL Richelieu s’apprête à lancer dès la fin février un fonds éligible au PEA et dédié au PEA PME-ETI : KBL Richelieu Medium Companies. Celui-ci sera investi en small caps européennes puisqu’il doit comporter au moins 75% de titres émis par des entreprises répondant aux critères ETI. «Lesquels s’avèrent parfois très restrictifs», regrette Nathalie Martin-Pelras, «comme par exemple le seuil des 5000 salariés qui élimine des sociétés dont l’activité nécessite de gros effectifs bien qu’elles soient parfois faiblement capitalisées.» Pour s’affranchir en partie de ces critères ETI, le fonds KBL Richelieu Medium Companies pourra être investi jusqu’à 25% sur des grosses capitalisations. Enfin, dans le but de réduire le risque de liquidité, la gestion a fait le choix de limiter l’exposition de son nouveau fonds aux micro caps, ainsi que son exposition aux capitalisations inférieures à 100 millions d’euros. Leur part n’excédera jamais 10%. A noter que pour ne pas contraindre sa gestion, le fonds Croissance PME qui figure dans la gamme de la maison n’a pas été retenu pour être éligible au nouveau PEA PME-ETI. Dans un autre genre, Nathalie Martin-Pelras entend profiter en 2014 d’une thématique portant sur le retour de cash à l’actionnaire. «Dans ce cadre, le fonds KBL Richelieu Europe Dividend sera bien placé», laisse entendre la responsable qui table également sur un bon comportement de KBL Richelieu Flexible pour profiter d’une exposition variable aux marchés actions via une sélection de valeurs et un niveau d’exposition gérés de façon dynamique.En dépit de son optimisme et de ses espoirs, la société de gestion n’entend pas, à court terme, renforcer les effectifs de la société de gestion. «Les fonds nouvellement créés ne nécessitent pas de nouvelles compétences» précise la responsable, qui estime que les 10 gérants de son équipe cumulent des compétences complémentaires et un savoir-faire reconnu, a fortiori dans le « stock picking ». Cela étant, dans un horizon un peu plus lointain, KBL Richelieu Gestion ne s’interdit pas de se développer si cela lui permet d’acquérir une réelle valeur ajoutée en termes de compétences.(*) au 21/02/2014

iShares envisage de lancer deux ETF dédiés aux pays du Golfe, l’un sur le Qatar, l’autre sur les Emirats Arabes Unis, rapporte le site invezz.Les deux nouveaux véhicules, MSCI Qatar Capped ETF et MSCI UAE Capped ETF, vont répliquer le MSCI All Qatar Capped pour le premier et le MSCI All UAE Capped Index pour le second.

Les fonds ouverts commercialisés en Italie ont enregistré en janvier des souscriptions nettes de 3,9 milliards d’euros, selon les dernières statistiques d’Assogestioni, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion d’actifs. 2014 démarre donc en fanfare pour la gestion collective italienne, après une année 2013 record.La collecte a été portée par les fonds flexibles, qui ont engrangé à eux seuls 3,5 milliards d’euros, devant les fonds diversifiés, qui recueillent 1,2 milliard d’euros. Les fonds actions enregistrent quant à eux des souscriptions nettes de 728 millions d’euros.En revanche, les fonds obligataires ont vu sortir 944 millions d’euros, les fonds monétaires 466 millions d’euros et les hedge funds 92 millions d’euros.Côté gestions sous mandat, le bilan est moins flatteur, celles-ci ayant accusé des rachats nets de 5,4 milliards d’euros.En termes de collecte nette sur les fonds et les gestions sous mandat, Generali s’est illustré en janvier, avec des souscriptions nettes de 4,4 milliards d’euros, devant Poste Italiane (1,8 milliard d’euros) et le groupe Intesa Sanpaolo (1,4 milliard). En revanche, les trois plus mauvaises sociétés du mois sont Mediolanum, qui accuse des rachats nets de 13 milliards d’euros, Franklin Templeton (-558 millions d’euros) et Amundi (-117 millions).En ne comptant que la collecte sur les fonds, les meilleures sociétés sont Anima (732 millions d’euros), Banco Popolare (647 millions) et Intesa Sanpaolo (604 millions), tandis que les moins bons sont Franklin Templeton Investments (-558,5 millions), Pioneer Investments (-351 millions) et Amundi (-234 millions).

La National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) au Royaume-Uni a lancé son premier fonds d’infrastructures, dans le cadre d’un investissement de 2 milliards de livres, rapporte Financial News. Le premier fonds a levé 260 millions de livres jusqu’ici, auprès de cinq des investisseurs fondateurs : les fonds de pension de British Airways, le Pension Protection Fund, le Railways Pension Scheme, le Strathclyde Pension Fund et le West Midlands Pension Fund. Il est limité à 500 millions de livres. Le fonds sera géré par Dalmore Capital.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The asset management firm Nikko Asset Management has obtained a license from Deutsche Börse to use the DAX benchmark index, according to a statement released on 25 February. Nikko AM will launch a passive strategy on 10 March which replicates the index of the main German shares. “In light of the launch of tax-fee savings accounts (ISA) last month, cross-border investment, largely through index-based funds, have returned to the limelight in Japan,” says Kunihiro Asai, global head of products at Nikko AM.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The central bank of Ireland has published its priorities for 2014. Among them is governance of investment funds and fund management firms. Assets under administration in Ireland total about EUR2.5trn, double the level observed in 2009. In addition, a growing number of funds is domiciled in Ireland, which poses the question of their effectiv surveillance, according to a Reuters study published last year. Legislation requires that a fund domiciled in Ireland be sponsored by two local residents. The number of funds these can be responsible for is unlimited but a code of conduct developed in 2012 stipulates that it is possible to renounce responsibilities in order to limit the number of mandates.

Capital market volatility and swings in interest rates in the second half of 2013 impacted the Asset Management business of German group Allianz. However, due to a strong first six months, revenues in the segment increased overall by 5.9 percent to 7.1 billion euros for 2013 from 6.7 billion euros the previous year, . Adjusted for foreign currency exchange effects, internal growth reached 8.8 percent. The improvement came from higher management and loading fees which more than offset lower performance fees.Operating profit rose 7.0 percent to 3.2 billion euros for the year from 3.0 billion euros in 2012. The cost-income ratio improved to 55.9 percent in 2013 from 56.5 percent the year before.Total assets under management reached 1,770 billion euros as of December 31, 2013, declining 4.4 percent from 1,852 billion euros at the end of 2012. Third-party assets under management declined over the same period to 1,361 billion euros from 1,438 billion euros. The decrease of 64 billion euros resulted mainly from negative foreign currency exchange effects of the weak US-dollar. Adjusted for these effects, the decline amounted to one percent. Asset Management saw third-party net outflows of 12.0 billion euros in 2013, compared to net inflows of 113.6 billion euros in the previous year."Our Asset Management has further diversified its products and geographic base. Thus, even though growth in assets under management went through a lull in 2013, I am optimistic about the continued strength of the segment,» said Dieter Wemmer.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors have this year shown a much more marked appetite for risk, according to the most recent annual study of the major investment trends worldwide performed by Schroders in January, and covering more than 15,700 investors in 23 countries, unveiled on 26 February in London. Nearly 70% of participants estimate that equities will be the best-performing asset class this year, at a time when commodities are looking more atrophied. For 39% of participants, the Asia-Pacitic region may be the best-performing region in the world, compared with less than noe third for the United States and 27% for Europe. The results of the study of the French market will be the subject of a special presentation in Paris next week.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm BlackRock has decided to close shares in its Asia Extension fund, managed by Jeff Shen, its head of emerging markets, to all new susbcriptions from investors, Citywire reports. The firm “closed” the fund, launched in February 2012 and domiciled in Luxembourg, as of 20 December 2013, at a time when its assets totalled USD193m. The vehicle invests in equities of the Asia-Pacific region ex Japan.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Open-ended funds on sale in Italy in January posted net inflows of EUR3.9bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset management professionals. 2014 is starting out with a fanfare for Italian collective management, after a record year in 2013. Inflows were driven by flexible funds, which alone took in EUR3.5bn, followed by balanced funds, which have taken on EUR1.2bn. Equity funds, for their part, have posted net subscriptions of EUR728m. However, bond funds have seen outflows of EUR944m, money market funds EUR466m, and hedge funds EUR92m. In mandated asset management, the results are less flattering, with net redemptions of EUR5.4bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In 2013, KBL Richelieu Gestion, an affiliate of KBL Richelieu Banque Privée, saw net outflows of EUR103m. Money market funds alone are responsible for net redemptions representing EUR92m. KBL Richelieu Gestion is tempted to move on to other things, and has spent its first weeks in 2014 building up its total assets by about 9%, or nearly EUR80m, for a total of EUR940m. “This increase is the result of both market effects and an inflow effect,” says Nathalie Martin-Pelras, head of investments at KBL Richelieu Gestion and manager of the KBL Richelieu Spécial fund, without specifying their respective weights. The head plans to seize the occasion this year for several promising themes which the asset management firm considers to have high legitimacy. These include, firstly, a catch-up phenomenon which is expected to continue to profit small and midcaps. In France, the appearance of the new PEA-PME is expected to contribute to the outperformance of small and midcaps. For this reason, KBL Richelieu is preparing to launch a fund eligible for investment from PEA retirement savings accounts by the end of February, dedicated to PEA PME-ETI: KBL Richelieu Medium Companies. In another area, Martin-Pelras plans to take 2014 as the occasion for a theme focused on returning cash to the shareholder. Despite its optimism and hopes, the asset management firm has no plans in the short term to add to its personnel.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lazard Asset Management is adding to its product range. The asset management firm has launched a Dublin-domiciled version of its Global Equity Income fund, managed by Pat Ryan, with share classes in pounds sterling and US dollars, FT Adviser reports. Tony Maddox, head of third-party distribution at Lazard, has explained that the launch was driven by client demand.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Morningstar Credit Ratings has announced the recruitments of Calvin Wong as chief credit officer, particularly as head of imrovement of internal ratings controls. Calvin Wong, who had previously worked at Standard & Poor’s, where he had been responsible for ratings of structured finance, will be based in New York, where he will report to Vickie Tillman, chairman of Morningstar Credit Ratings.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The National Association of Pension Funds in the United Kingdom has launched its first infrastructure fund, as part of an investment of GBP2bn, Financial News reports. The first fund has raised GBP260m so far, from five founding investors: the pension funds for British Airways, the Pension Protection Fund, the Railways Pension Scheme, the Strathclyde Pension Fund and the West Midlands Pension Fund. It is limited to GBP500m. The fund will be managed by Dalmore Capital.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Shares in Logitech will make their debut on the Stoxx Europe 600 index, according to a statement from Stoxx. However, shares in the Swiss cantonal bank (BCV) and Valiant will pull out. The changes come as part of a quarterly revision of the index. They will be effective from 24 March 2014.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } iShares is planning to launch two ETFs dedicated to Gulf countries, one of them Qatar, the other the United Arab Emirates, the website invezz reports. The two new vehicles, the MSCI Qatar Capped ETF and the MSCI UAE Capped ETF, will replicate the MSCI All Qatar Capped for the former and the MSCI All UAE Capped Index for the latter.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fullerton Fund Management is taking the first step in its international expansion. The asset management firm based in Sinapore, an affiliate of the sovereign fund Temasek Holdings, has made the first moves to establish an office in London and will soon apply for the appropriate licenses from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the British regulator, the British treasury announced on 26 February. This will be the firm’s first location outside Asia. It will allow Fullerton to build new partnerships in the United Kingdom and to grow its client base in Europe. The announcement comes as part of a “financial dialogue” agreement concluded between the British and Singapore authorities, which aims to increase their financial and economic cooperation, while boosting the renminbi markets outside Greater China. The arrival of Fullerton on British soil also follows the launch by the British government of its “Investment Management Strategy” programme, which will aim to improve the competitiveness of the United Kingdom as an asset management centre.

River and Mercantile Asset Management, an equity management business, and P-Solve Limited, an investment consultancy and solutions provider, announced on February 26 their agreement to merge, «creating a diversified, client-led investment business», according to a press release. The new business will be known as River and Mercantile Group (R&M Group).The merger is subject to regulatory approval from the FCA.R&M Group will also explore the possibility of an IPO to raise capital for further investment in its growth strategy.R&M now manages assets in excess of GBP2.1bn as of December 2013, including assets in transition. As at 31 December 2013 P-Solve has an estimated GBP31.5bn of assets under advice and GBP8.2bn of assets under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The British Aviva Investors has launched an integrated multi-broker commission sharing management system, developed by the consultant Commcise, which helps asset managers to adapt to new regulations and evolutions of market practice.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «Lohit Hindi"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } The New York hedge fund Elliott Management on Wednesday revealed that it holds an 11% stake in F&C, the British asset management firm which is subject to a buyout offer from the Bank of Montreal, the Financial Times reports. Analysts think the hedge fund, which is becoming one of the most prominent activist investors in the United States, will use the GBP80m stake to attract new candidates to the bidding and to get a better price. The Canadian firm’s bid comes in at GBP700m.

Andrew Formica does not conceal his satisfaction. “I am pleased to announce record profits,” the CEO of Henderson announced yesterday at the publication of its annual results. The figures give him cause: Its pre-tax profits total GBP190.1m as of the end of 2013, up by 24.2% compared with the GBP153m posted in 2012. After taxes, profits are up by about 17.8% to GBP125.1m in 2013, compared with GBP106.4m one year previously.Assets under management at the group, for their part, are up by 14.6% to GBP75.2bn as of the end of 2013, compared with GBP65.6bn at the end of 2012. This development has been driven both by a positive market effect, and, above all, a net inflows of GBP2.5bn. However, most subscriptions came in the fourth quarter. After outflows of GBP210m in the first nine months of the year, Henderson has taken in GBP2.7bn in fourth quarter, including GBP2.5bn from retail clients, and GBP197mfrom institutional clients. In total, in the institutional client segment alone, the asset management firm has seen outflows of GBP2bn for the year 2013 overall. These outflows are largely compensated for by net inflows to the retail segment, which total GBP4.4bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The banking group EFG International has posted net subscriptions in 2013 of CHF3.2bn, compared with CHF3bn in 2012. Over the year as a whole subscriptions are up slightly, but “the evolution of net inflows of new capital have proven disappointing in second half, reflecting market conditions and substantial outflows from funds due to the abandonment of low-value accounts in Hong Kong following regulatory modifications applicable to high net worth clients,” the group has explained in a statement. As of the end of 2013, assets under management which generate revenues were up to CHF75.9bn, compared with CHF78.7bn as of the end of 2012. This decline reflects a decline of CHF6.0bn following sales (EFG Financial Products and Canada) and the abandonment of activities, and a reclassification of assets under administration totalling CHF1.0bn, compensated for by a contribution of CHF1.8bn due to currency and market effects.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Swiss financial market is continuing to benefit from the preferences of Famiy Offices in the area of wealth management, Agefi Switzerland reports. Although Luxembourg is also favoured by some, emerging financial centres such as Singapore are still playing a minor role in this area, the most recent edition of the study of family offices carried out for Complementa Investment Controlling, with the cooperation of KPMG and others, reveals. “Family offices are generally oriented to the long-term and are relatively little influenced by current developments,” Wolfgang Gerke, co-author of the study and chairman of the Bavarian finance centre, explained at a conference in Zurich. The possible reasons for a move in wealth management might include protection from regulatory intrusion, obtaining increased legal security, and ensuring greater discretion. But the heads of family offices surveyed are far from considering such changes in the management of their wealth.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Net profits in the wealth management unit of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) totalled CAD235m in first quarter 2014, which is up by CAD6m, or 3%, compared with the previous quarter, according to a statement released on 26 February. This evolution is largely due to an increase in average assets related to paid services to clients associated with capital appreciation and a high net inflow. Assets under management are up 10% in first quarter, to a total of CAD412bn. For their part, assets under administration are up 8% to CAD675bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Allianz Global Investors on 20 February closed two funds, according to Fondsweb. They are the Allianz Asia Pacific Equity (LU0204481138) and Allianz Discovery Europe Strategy (LU0384027578).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) on 26 February announced the launch of several bond and equity ETFs from db x-trackers listed on Deutsche Börse. On the bond side, DeAWM is launching ETFs which offer protection against potential hikes in interest rates, one of the central concerns of investors. The ETFs offered are the iBoxx Sovereigns Eurozone Yield Plus UCITS ETF, iBoxx EUR Liquid Corporate UCITS ETF, iBoxx EUR Liquid Corporate Financials UCITS ETF, and - iBoxx EUR Liquid Corporate Non-Financials UCITS ETF, the first of which charges 0.15% per year, while the others charge 0.20%. DeAWM has also added to its range of equity ETFs with two physical vehicles, one of them based on the MSCI All Country (AC) World, the MSCI AC World Index UCITS ETF (DR), and the other dedicated to high dividends, entitled db x-trackers MSCI North America High Dividend Yield Index UCITS ETF (DR). The first of these charges 0.39% per year, and the second 0.50%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Following the departure of one of the two founders of the Frankfurt-based boutique FPM Frankfurt Performance Management, Mandred Piontke, in December 2013, a new manager is now responsible for three funds of the range. According to Citywire, the funds FPM Funds Stockpicker Germany All, FPM Funds Stockpicker Germany Small/Mid Cap and FPM Funds Stockpicker Germany Large Cap have since the beginning of the year been managed by Raik Hoffman, who joined the group last year.