Les hedge funds ont terminé le mois de janvier sur une perte de 0,17%, selon l’indice de référence de Preqin, le Hedge Fund Analyst. C’est la première fois depuis août 2013 que l’indice se retrouve en territoire négatif.Les meilleurs résultats ont été enregistrés par les stratégies relative value et event driven qui ont progressé respectivement de 0,77% et 0,66%. Les fonds long/short ont en revanche été pénalisés par la baisse des marchés, avec des reculs de 0,28% pour le long/short equity et de 1,45% pour le long bias.Les fonds Ucits ont eux aussi perdu du terrain, avec une baisse moyenne de 0,41% en raison des performances négatives enregistrées par les fonds long/short (-0,76%) et les fonds macro (-0,12%).
Franklin Templeton vient de lancer un fonds destiné à tirer parti des opportunités sur le segment des durations courtes dans l’univers obligataire européen, rapporte Citywire. Le fonds FTIF Franklin Euro Short Duration Bond, domicilié au Luxembourg, a été officiellement lancé le 21 février 2014.La stratégie sera pilotée par le patron de l’obligataire européen de Franklin Templeton, David Zahn, et le gérant Rod MacPhee, qui a rejoint la société en novembre 2013.Le fonds investira principalement dans des obligations de grande qualité à échéances courtes à taux fixe et variable.
Ignis a introduit des compartiments en dollar et en euro dans son Sterling Short Duration Cash Fund dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à quelque 1,3 milliard de sterling, ce qui permettra aux institutionnels investis en euro ou en dollar de s’exposer dans leur devise de référence sans prendre de risque de change.Le fonds Ignis Sterling Short Duration a dégagé une performance de 0,89% sur les douze mois au 31 janvier 2014 contre 0,51% pour le Libor britannique à trois mois.
Renaissance Asset Managers (AM) rationalise sa gamme de produits. Le gestionnaire d’actifs envisage en effet de fusionner son fonds Eastern European Allocation au sein du Ottoman Fund, croit savoir Citywire. La fusion sera proposée aux investisseurs du fund Eastern European Allocation en March et, si elle est approuvée, elle sera mise en œuvre en avril.Lancé en 1997, le véhicule Eastern European Allocation affiche 29 millions de livres d’encours, a été lancé en 1997 et est géré sur une base long/short multi-asset. Au cours des trois dernières, il a perdu 3,1 %. Egalement basé sur une approche long/short, bien que concentré exclusivement sur les actions et sur le Moyen-Orient, le Ottoman Fund (44 millions de livres d’encours) a pour sa part perdu 7,3% sur les trois dernières années. Renaissance AM a expliqué que la demande pour le fonds Eastern European Allocation «n’a pas atteint un niveau lui permettant d’être durable», mais la société de gestion a observé, a contrario, l’existence «d’une demande croissante» pour le fonds Ottoman dont l’approche d’investissement ne changera pas après cette fusion.
Allianz Global Investors (GI) va lancer sept fonds marchés dette émergente au premier semestre de cette année, malgré une hausse de la volatilité et les rachats des investisseurs sur ce secteur, rapporte le Financial Times fund management. La maison allemande a développé une gamme sous la houlette de Greg Saichin, qui a rejoint la société en juillet en provenance de Pioneer Investments. Les fonds couvriront différentes stratégies, dont les obligations à duration courte, le rendement absolu et la dette en devises locales.
Stefan Sluke, gérant fixed income chez GLG, a quitté la compagnie moins d’un an après le lancement de la version Ucits de son fonds, révèle Citywire Global. Stefan Sluke gérait en effet le fonds Nomura Man Systematic Fixed Income Ucits, lancé en juillet 2013, avec Andre Rzym, responsable du fixed income chez Man Systematic Stratégies.
Standard Life Investments a recruté l’économiste James McCann dans son équipe multi-classes d’actifs GARS, rapporte FundWeb. L’intéressé vient de Royal Bank of Scotland.
Le gérant de portefeuilles Jin Wong a quitté Ignis Asset Management après six ans passés au sein de la société de gestion, rapporte Citywire Global. Il travaillait dans l’équipe taux, qui supervise 33,5 milliards d’euros. Commentant ce départ, Ignis AM a déclaré : « nous ne remplacerons pas Jin immédiatement; et ce, en partie en raison d’une augmentation de l’automatisation qui permet de simplifier le processus de gestion; mais nous avons aussi recruté deux étudiants fraîchement diplômés qui, en reprenant une partie des tâches les plus basiques, vont libérer du temps pour les gérants ».
Axa Wealth a annoncé, ce 21 février, une croissance de ses ventes de 53 % en 2013, à 4,5 milliards de livres. Lors de l’exercice écoulé, ses actifs sous gestion ont progressé de 18 % pour atteindre 25,5 milliards de livres. A elle seule, sa plateforme Elevate a vu ses encours croître de 41 % pour ressortir à 7,5 milliards de livres, grâce à 2 milliards de livres de collecte.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton has launched a fund which is intended to benefit from opportunities in the short-duration segment in the European bond universe, Citywire reports. The FTIF Franklin Euro Short Duration Bond fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, was officially launched on 21 February 2014. The strategy will be led by the head of European bonds at Franklin Templeton, David Zahn, and manager Rod McPhee, who joined the firm in November 2013. The fund will invest primarily in high quality short duration fixed income and variable rate bonds.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ignis has introduced dollar and euro sub-funds of its Sterling Short Duration Cash Fund, whose assets under management total about GBP1.3bn, which will allow institutionals invested in euros or US dollars to expose themselves in their currency of reference without any currency risks. The Ignis Sterling Short Duration fund has earned returns of 0.89% in the 12 months of 31 January 2014, compared with 0.51% for the British Libor 3-month.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DNCA Finance is the most recent example of a firm convinced that the countries of Southern Europe are in a situation of sustained recovery, and asset management professionals are developing new product ranges developed especially for this region, such as Generali Investments Europe and the Spanish firm Bestinver, Les Echos reports. According to the newspaper, the independent boutique is planning to gamble on the future of the countries on the periphery of Europe and is expected to transform its European fund into a fund dedicated to the region. The move is still pending the approval fo the regulator. Isaac Chebar, a manager interviewed by Les Echos, says this allows a way to “extend the choice of securities selected and to invest in countries which have the common characteristics of deficit but which have put structural reforms in place.”
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Allianz Global Investors is planning to launch seven emerging market debt funds in the first half of this year, despite an increase in volatility and redemptions of investors in this sector, Financial Times fund management reports. The German firm has developed a range with the assistance of Greg Saichin, who joined the firm in July from Pioneer Investments. The funds will cover various strategies, including short-term bonds, absolute returns and debt in local currencies.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European securities markets authority (ESMA) has published its 2013 annual report on ratings agencies in the European Union. While welcoming progress made recently in transparency, ESMA claims that improvements are still needed in some areas, such as validation of ratings methodologies, which must take into account all components of risk. The report also cites internal governance at agencies, in order to avoid conflicts of interest and robust IT systems which can support the ratings process. In addition to these attention points, ESMA is now pursuing two studies to evaluate ratings of structured products and ratings of SMEs.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } More than 40% of US citizens who had hidden money outside their country had done so in accounts in Switzerland, according to a study which has recently been published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), dating from the first partial US tax amnesty in 2009. The study was carried out at the request of an ad-hoc US Senate committee. The data leave little room for interpretation: 5427 out of 12,899 accounts analysed were in Switzerland. This is followed by a group of countries, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Israel and Germany, which represent 24% of the total, with 8% in the United Kingdom and 4% each for the other countries. The US tax amnesty promised fraudsters reduced fined and an exemption from prison in exchange for settling up concerning their assets. More than 40,000 taxpayers came forward, which allowed the United States to recuperate USD5.5bn. The study also focused on the geographical origin of fraudsters. More than half of US fraudsters were in California, New York and Florida. California led with 24%, followed by New York (18%) and Florida (10%).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge funds have finished the month of January with losses of 0.17%, according to the Preqin benchmark index, Hedge Fund Analyst. This is the first time since August 2013 that the index has been in negative territory. The best results were for relative value and event-driven strategies, which gained 0.77% and 0.66%, respectively. Long/short funds, however, were penalised by the falling markets, with declines of 0.28% for long/short equity and 1.45% for long bias. UCITS funds also lost ground, with an average loss of 0.41% dur to the negative performance of its long/short funds (-0.76%) and macro funds (-0.12%).
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A flotilla of hedge funds is expected to be released in 2014, each with at least USD500m in seed money, the Wall Street Journal reports. One hedge fund is even starting up with USD2bn. The banks and lawyers who work with these funds say that it is expeted to be the busiest year in terms of launches since the financial crisis. Among the new arrivals this year are fund veterans who are going their own way, such as Herb Wagner, who had worked at Baupost Group, Metthew Sidman, from Highfields Capital Management, and Jim Parsons, from Viking.
Fidelity Investments on February 20 announced the appointment of Charles Morrison as president of the company’s Asset Management organization. He succeeds Ronald P. O’Hanley, who recently announced his plans to leave the firm.In his new role, Morrison, 53, will oversee Fidelity’s investment divisions that collectively manage USD1.9 trillion in retail and institutional assets on behalf of individual investors, intermediaries, and institutions worldwide. He will report to Abigail P. Johnson, president of Fidelity Financial Services.Morrison most recently served as president of the company’s more than USD750 billion Fixed Income division. He joined Fidelity as a corporate bond analyst in 1987, and, over the next several years, assumed roles with increasing responsibility including managing portfolios for Fidelity Management Trust Company.
On February 21, Legal & General Group agreed to acquire the business of Global Index Advisors (GIA), an Atlanta based investment advisor focused on target date funds. GIA is in the top 5 of target date providers in the US, according to Morningstar. The acquisition, by the Group’s subsidiary Legal & General Investment Management America, for a maximum consideration of USD50.4m, is expected to complete mid 2014, subject to fund shareholder approval.Legal & General has identified international expansion of asset management as one of its five key themes for growth, and with this acquisition LGIMA now has proforma assets which exceed USD50bn. The acquisition provides Legal & General with scale and distribution in the USD6 trillion US defined contribution market, where target date funds assets are forecast to double by 2017, according to a press release. The initial consideration is USD30.75m with deferred consideration of USD1.5m payable over the period of 2 years from the date of completion and further payments of up to a maximum of USD18.15m payable over 3 years from the date of completion, subject to performance and other conditions being met including additional assets.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The data research provider S&P Capital IQ has announced the arrival of Imogen Dillon Hatcher as chief commercial officer from 14 April. In her newly-created role, Dillon Hatcher will direct sales by S&P Capital IQ worldwide, customer services, and marketing and research activities. Dillon Hatcher previously worked at London Stock Exchange, where she was executive director for sales worldwide.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Paris office of Pictet, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, is preparing a new offensive on the French market. “We would like to get closer to our end clients. We would like to develop our relations with direct prescribers, independent wealth management advisers and investment advisers at banking networks and insurers,” Hervé Thiard, CEO of Pictet & Cie in France and head of Pictet Asset Management France & benelux, tells Newsmanagers. With this in mind, Pictet Paris is in the process of recruiting a salesperson, who will be dedicated to developing relatinoships with prescribers. With this in mind, “Pictet AM France is working to develop a new site with appropriate content which will allow for better communication with end clients or presribers,” Thiard says. Work is advanced and the site is expected to be operational in the next few weeks. Another project for 2014 is the redeployment of sales resources to intensify monitoring in the institutional investor segment. “In particular we would like to offer reporting which is better adapted to the new regulatory environment,” says Thiard. Institutionals now represent about 40% of clients, compared with about 50% for wholesale distributors and 10% for prescribers. There is a project of adapting an existing market neutral offshore strategy to European equities. “However, we have no plans for launches in the immediate future,” Thiard says, adding that the available range is already very large.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pimco has announced the appointment of successors for two funds previously managed by Mohamed El-Erian, co-CIO of Pimco, who has recently announced that he will be leaving in March this year. The bond manager Mihir Worah will replace El-Erian to manage the Pimco GIS Global Multi-Asset fund. He will work with the other two managers of the fund, Curtis Mewbourne and Vineer Bhansali. In a second change, Lupin Rahmatu, an emerging market specialist, is taking over El-Erian’s responsibilities for the Pimco GIS Global Advantage fund. She will work with Andew Ball and Ramin Toloui.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tim McCarthy has left his position as head of equities at Valartis Asset Management to take on a position as managing director at VTB Capital Investment Management, a boutique based in Geneva specialised in the Russian market, Citywire reports. This coincided with the selection by Valartis Bank, parent company of Valartis Asset Management, of VTB as outsourced manager of the Valartis Russian Market fund.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Credit Suisse Group (CS) has appointed Clarissa Haller as head of Corporate Communications. She will report directly to CEO Brady W. Dougan, Credit Suisse announced in a statement on 21 February. “Ms. Haller has long experience and will be responsible for communication within the business and communication concerning activities in our four regions of the world,” the CEO states. Before joining Credit Suisse, Haller had been head of the Corporate Communications Group at ABB. Haller succeeds Andrés Luther, who joins Hirzel.Neef.Schmid.Konsulenten as a partner.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa SPDB Investment Managers, the joint venture from the Axa group based in Shanghai, is planning to launch funds this year, including an internet-based financial product aimed at corporate investors, Asian Investor reports. The firm would meanwhile like to increase its assets under management by 50%, its Ceo, Diana Yu, states. Last year, assets under management already leapt 150%, to BMR32bn, or about USD5.27bn, of which RMB25bn are in segregated accounts. The growth strategy of the joint venture is based on three pillars: open-ended funds, segregated accounts, and an affiliate dedicated to segregated accounts. Axa SPDB Asset Management (located in the Shanghai free zone), which allows Chinese investors for the first time to buy assets on the primary market.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The international alternative management fund association MFA has published a hedge fund glossary on its website, the The Book of Jargon® – Hedge Funds, written by the law firm Latham & Watkins. Alongside important terms for beginners such as “basis point,” readers will find more obscure vocabulary such as “bear hug letter” and “Bermuda option.” The online dictionary of more than 900 terms comes as a complement tot he pedagogical range already available from the professional association.
Flows into – and out of -- equity and bond funds during the seven days ending February 19 stuck largely to the previous week’s script: Japan, US and Europe equity funds again attracted solid amounts of fresh money while redemptions from emerging markets equity and bond funds continued to moderate, according to EPFR.One difference, however, was the level of retail interest, especially in some bond classes, especially global bond funds and high yield bond funds. Overall, equity funds took in another USD13.3 billion during the third week of February and bond funds USD2.58 billion while USD44.5 billion flowed out of money market funds.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } March Gestión, the asset management affiliate of the Spanish March group, has finished the year 2013 with more than EUR4bn in assets under management, up 80% compared with 2012. This development is largely linked to a net inflow of EUR1.6m via funds registered in Spain, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. March Gestión has also benefited from its merger with Consulnor Gestión, which brought in nearly EUR500m in assets. In the past five years, the firm has tripled its assets under management, driven largely by sales of its products in Austria, Chile, Italy, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm BlackRock has increased its stake in the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo to 5.004%, according to the website of the italian group. BlackRock had previously owned less than 2% of capital. The US asset management firm becomes the second largest shareholder in Intesa Sanpaolo.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stefan Sluke, fixed income manager at GLG, has left the firm less than one year after the launch of the UCITS version of his fund, Citywire Global reveals. Sluke had been manager of the Nomura Man Systematic Fixed Income UCITS, launched in July 2013, with Andre Rzym, head of fixed income at Man Systematic Strategies.