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13/02/2014

Change of duties at Sanlam

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The financial services company Sanlam UK, which is owned by the eponymous South African group, has restructured its management groups, which is resulting in particular in the departure of Nigel Speirs from his position as CEO of Sanlam Private Wealth, Money Marketing reports. Speirs will be replaced by Alex Morley, who will retain his position as head of English Mutual. Speirs will remain at the firm at head of distribution. Sanlam, which acquired the consulting firm English Mutual in 2012, says that it hopes to continue its acquisition strategy in order to develop a wealth management activity which will be recognized by the market, according to the head of Sanlam, Lukas van der Walt.
13/02/2014

Michael Benz takes over private banking at Standard Chartered

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Standard Chartered has announced the appointment of Michael Benz as its new group head of private banking activities. He is expected to begin on 17 February this year, a statement says. Benz, who previously worked at Julius Baer, will be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Anna Mars, who becomes group head of private banking and commercial banking clients from 1 April. Assets under management at the private bank total over USD57bn, of which USD45bn come from Asia.
13/02/2014

JPMorgan AM recruits a sales manager for North of England

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management has recruited Keith Marcroft, who had worked at HSBC Global Asset Management, to direct its sales in the North of England and Scotland, Fund Web reports. Marcroft, who will be regional sales manager, will report to Rob Sedgley, head of IFA and regional discretionary sales.
13/02/2014

Dexia Asset Management rebrands as Candriam

Dexia Asset Management this morning revealed its new brand identity following its acquisition by New York Life Investments on February 3rd, 2014. The company will now move forward as Candriam. Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, CEO of Candriam and vice chairman of New York Life Investment Management International, explains: «Our new name Candriam is the acronym of our core company values: Conviction and Responsibility in Asset Management."Going forward, Candriam, with EUR73bn in assets under managament, expects continued interest from investors in its multi-asset solutions and its flagship strategies, in particular those related to Corporate and High Yield, Biotech, SRI, Quant and European equity strategies. Its Index arbitrage and other leading absolute return strategies, presenting interesting risk / return profiles, are already gaining momentum with investors.
13/02/2014

Fidelity to target women

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Investments will increasingly seek to attract female investors under the leadership of Abigail Johnson, who is positioning herself to succeed her father, Edward Johnson, aged 83, the Financial Times reports. “Across the board, women are unhappy with our industry,” she says in the Fidelity annual report. “Our research shows many lack confidence in their ability to make financial decisions, particularly younger women. Yet, at the same time, women are becoming increasingly powerful in our economy, controlling more wealth, often outearning their spouses, and making more retirement decisions.” Fidelity therefore wishes to encourage its advisers to involve both spouses in discussions of personal finance.
13/02/2014

Morgan Stanley declares ambitions in asset management

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The chairman of the wealth and asset management division of Morgan Stanley, Greg Fleming, has announced at a conference that Morgan Stanley Investment Management was aiming for total assets of USD500bn in 2016, compared with USD338bn currently, with returns on owners’ equity of 20%.
13/02/2014

Operating profits up 13% at Fidelity in 2013

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Investments is holding onto its lead. The US asset management giant in 2013 posted growth of 13% in its operating profits, to USD2.6bn, as investor appetite for equities boosted its assets under management. At the same time, its revenues rose 7.9% to USD13.6bn, the company has announced in its annual report. Over the 2013 fiscal year as a whole, assets under management rose 15%, to a record USD1.940trn. This development is largely died to significantly positive market effects. Last year, Fidleity saw a net outflow of USD1.1bn.
13/02/2014

Asset management at BNP Paribas posts outflows of nearly EUR16bn

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the whole of 2013, assets under management by the Investment Solutions division at BNP Paribas were virtually flat (-0.5%) compared to their level as at 31 December 2012, totalling EUR885bn as at 31 December 2013, according to figures published on 13 February. They were slightly up compared with 30 September 2013 (+1.3%). Net asset flows were negative (-15.8 billion euros for the year but only -300 million euros this quarter) with asset outflows in Asset Management, in particular in money market funds, but good asset inflows in Wealth Management and Insurance, in particular in Asia and Italy. The performance effect (+24.9 billion euros) was driven by the rise in equity markets over the period. The foreign exchange effect (-12.8 billion euros) was unfavourable due to the appreciation of the euro. A strategic plan for Asset Management was announced during the year in order to relaunch asset gathering with a target of a net total of 40 billion euros in asset inflows by 2016.
13/02/2014

AllianceBernstein triples its net profits in 2013

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } AllianceBernstein, the US-based asset management firm more than 60% controlled by the Axa gorup, has nearly tripled its net profits in 2013. As of the end of December, its net profits totalled USD517.6m, compared with USD188.9m in 2012, an increase of 174%. Over the past year, net earnings, for their part, posted an increase of 7%, from USD2.737bn in 2012 to USD2.915bnin 2013. As of the end of 2013, AllianceBernstein has USD450.4bn in assets under management, compared with USD430bn as of the end of 2012, an increase of 4.7% year on year. This performane is largely driven by a very positive market effect. Alliance Bernstein in fact had a large gap in the area of inflows For the past year overall, the asset management firm has seen a net outflow of USD12.3bn, of which USD10.3bn were in fourth quarter alone. This negative performance is directly related to the sale by Axa of its affiliate Mony Life Insurance Company on 1 October 2013. “A a result, AllianceBernstein lost USD6.8bn in fixed income assets in October, and these outgoing flows represent more than 70% of total net outflow in fourth quarter,” the US firm explains in a statement.
13/02/2014

Assets under management at Invesco down 1.8% In January

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco has reported assets under management in the month of January of USD764.9bn, down 1.8% over the period. This decline is related to a negative market effect, a negative currency effect and a net outflow. The effect of currencies in particular resulted in a decline in assets of USD2bn. Invesco states that inflows to long-term assets were positive for the month as a whole.
13/02/2014

Angel Oak continues to recruit from TCW Funds

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former head of sales from TCW Funds, Erlend Bo, has joined the asset management firm Angel Oak Capital as managing director, MutualFundWire reports. He will be responsible for strategy, sales and distribution for a range of products which includes mutual funds and alternative vehicles. He joins the former head of TCW Funds, Charles Baldiswieler, who joined Angel Oak at the end of December, immediately after resigning. Assets under management at Angel Oak Capital total about USD2.5bn.
13/02/2014

Vincent Manuel becomes head of CA Indosuez Gestion

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vincent Manuel was on 1 January 2014 appointed as CEO and director of management at CA Indosuez Gestion, an asset management affiliate of CA Indosuez Private Banking, which is active in two main professions: management under mandate and management of open-ended mutual funds designed especially for the needs of high net worth clients. Manual joined the Crédit Agricole S.A. group in 2008 as director of strategy and development, where he covered the private banking and asset management professions, and actively participated in development strategy in these areas of activity. In 2011, he was appointed director of marketing at Crédit Agricole Private Banking. CA Indosuez Private Banking is one of the largest private banks dedicated exclusively to wealth management for multiple clients (entrepreneurs, top managers, large families, associations and charities). It had over EUR22bn in assets under management as of 31 December 2012.
13/02/2014

Two promotions at the top of Natixis AM

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The current director of finance and operations and a member of the executive board, Jean-François Baralon, has been appointed as deputy CEO of Natixis Asset Management. Christine Lacoste, previously director of marketing, is also appointed as director of networks and sales support at the asset management firm. This role includes strategic steering, and the offices for networks, distribution services and communications. She also joins the executive board. The two new promotions will report direclty to Pascal Voisin, CEO of Natixis Asset Management. These changes follow the appointment of Philippe Zaouati as CEO of Mirova. He had previously been deputy CEO, a member of the executive board, in charge of development at Natixis Asset Management, a statement says. Baralon in 2000 joined IXIS Capital Markets as head of management controlling. In 2004, he was appointed as administrative and financial director at IXIS Asset Management.
13/02/2014

DNCA Finance reaches EUR10bn in assets

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of January, the French asset management firm DNCA Finance had EUR10bn in assets. This is almost double the level at the end of 2012, when assets totalled slightly over EUR5bn. This spectacular growth, which since 2008 had been regular, is largely the result of net inflows of EUR2.8bn during 2013. These inflows have gone largely to diversified management, Eurose, convertible bonds, and towards the end of the year, to the Evolutif and Value Europe funds, a spokesperson for the firm says.In 2014, DNCA Finance plans to open an office in Madrid and another one in Geneva, adding to those in Munich, Milan and Luxembourg.
13/02/2014

Vanguard launches ETF model portfolios

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vanguard is now offering model portfolios to help financial advisers to package ETFs, Ignites, a publication of FT, reports. There are 11 models, all designed by the investment strategy team at the asset management firm. The aim is to provide asset allocation suggestions. The models are updated each month, but the allocations do not vary enormously. The model portfolios are increasingly considered by ETF sponsors as a means to add value to their range and to provide concrete strategies to be deployed in a portfolio. BlackRock has been offering models on its site since 2012. SSgA and Charles Schwab also offer advisers tools to help them build ETF portfolios.
13/02/2014

Muted performance for LeggMason and Franklin Templeton in January

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } LeggMason and Franklin Templeton have had mixed fortunes in early 2014. In the month of January alone, Franklin Templeton has posted a decline of 2.50% in its assets under management, to USD857.2bn as of 31 January, comapred with USD879.1bn as of 31 December 2013. Legg Mason is not doing much better. As of the end of Janary 2014, its asstes have risen very modestly by 0.5%, to USD679.9bn, compared with USD679.5bn as of 31 December 2013. The asset management firm explains that “net inflows only partially offset market deprecation,” without revealing the total amount.
13/02/2014

Standard Chartered may sell its private bank in Switzerland

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Standard Chartered is seeking a buyer for its private banking activities in Switzerland, the British firm, largely active in emerging markets, announced on Wednesday. “The process is at a very preliminary stage,” a spokesperson for the bank told AFP in London. Standard Chartered would like to sell the activity, based in Geneva, which is aimed at high net worth private clients. It would, however, like to retain its commercial banking activity in the country, a spokesperson says, confirming reports in the Wall Street Journal.
13/02/2014

European Wealth launches a bond fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm European Wealth has launched its first bond fund, the European Wealth Sterling Bond Fund, aimed both at institutional and retail clients, wealth adviser reports. The fund, which is expected to earn far higher returns than cash, can invet only in simple bonds, which are well-rated and have short maturity dates.
13/02/2014

Woodford to launch first fund in May

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Neil Woodford, former star manager at Invesco, will launch a UK equity income fund when he joins Oakley Capital in May, according to reports in Investment Week. The fund is expected to have an offer period of three weeks. The news comes at a time when it has recently been learned that Woodford’s new firm, entitled Woodford Investment Management (WIM), was created in mid-January.
13/02/2014

Jupiter Climate Change Solutions fund changing names

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In order to better reflect the evolution of the sustainable investment sector, Jupiter has decided to change the name of the Jupiter Climate Change Solutions fund, managed by Charlie Thomas, to Jupiter Global Ecology Growth. The change has been effective since Janary 2014, and no modification has been made to the investment policy of the fund or its strategy, a statement says. The Jupiter Global Ecology Growth fund, launched in 2001, invests worldwide in businesses with a profound and long-term structural influence on the three crucial areas of infrastructure, management of resources, and demography. The objective of the fund is to generate long-term capital growth by investing internationally in busniesses which are confronting the challences of environmental sustainability and climate change.
13/02/2014

S&P Dow Jones Indices launches South African indices

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced the launch of nine indices to cover the South African stock market, including the S&P South Africa Composite, which measures the performance of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The S&P South Africa Composite, which covers all foreign and South African companies listed on the JSE with capitalisation of at least SAD 100m and annual trading volumes of SAD50m, includes the following eight indices: S&P South Africa Dividend Aristocrats• S&P South Africa Low Volatility Index• S&P South Africa Composite Capped• S&P South Africa 50• S&P South Africa 50 Equal Weight• S&P South Africa Completion• S&P South Africa Composite Shariah• S&P South Africa Composite Shariah Capped S&P Dow Jones Indices states that it has issued an operating license for two of these indices, Dividend Aristocrats and Low Volatility, to Grindrod Bank, which will use them to develop ETFs.
13/02/2014

ERI Scientific launches multi-strategy smart beta indices

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ERI Scientific Beta on 12 February announced the launch of a series of multi-strategy smart beta indices evailable for all geographical regions of the developed world (United States, United Kingdom, euro zone, continental Europe excluding the United Kingdom, developed Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, developed world ex United States, developed world ex United Kingdom and developed world). The indices provide a way to maximise diversification of strategic risks, and also earn returns on average 68% higher than traditional indices, a statement from ERI Scientific Beta points out.
13/02/2014

Assets in ETF/ETPs down 3.2% in January

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets in ETF/ETPs worldwide fell 3.2% in January to a total of USD2.320rn, according to initial estimates by ETFGI. This development is the result of the negative performance of the markets and a net outflow of USD7.6bn. ETF/ETPs dedicated to equities posted the largest outflow, to a total of USD11.8bn, followed by vehicles dedicated to commodities, which saw outflows of USD1.9bn. Bond ETF/ETPs, however, posted inflows of USD2.9bn. The largest inflows were at Vanguard, with a total of USD4.8bn, Nomura AM (USD2.4bn), and First Trust (USD1.5bn). However, SPDR ETFs has seen outflows of USD16.5bn, while iShares has seen redemptions totalling USD5.6bn.
13/02/2014

Oddo AM releases a flexible corporate bond fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oddo Asset Management has launched Oddo Strategic Corporate Bonds, a flexible bond fund which invests largely in European investment-grade rated corporate bonds. The investment strategy of the fund is based on 3 areas: flexible credit exposure, a wide range of sensitivity to interest rates, and extended geographical and sectoral exposure. In the first case, acording to market conditions, the fund may evolve without constrating within the investment grade ratings spectrum (BBB- to AAA). Only up to 10% of the assets in the fund may be placed in high yield or unrated bonds. In terms of sensitivity to interest rates, the duration of the portfolio may vary from 0 to 6. Lastly, geographical diversification allows for management to be exposed up to 30% to other issuers located outside Europe and in other currencies. For its part, sectoral diversification makes it possible to overweight more lucrative sectors, or underweight sectors which are less so. The fund is managed by Alex Eventon on the Fixed Income team led by Alain Krief, who joined the firm in 2013 to take over investment grade bond management. As of 11 February 2014, Oddo Strategic Corporate Bonds already has EUR129.5m in assets under management.
13/02/2014

B Riley AM launches an equity fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm B Riley Asset Management is launching a diversified equity fund, the B Riley Diversified Equity Fund. It is an open-ended fund which will seek to replicate the performance of the B Riley Diversified Equity Composite, an equally-weighted index calculated by Bloomberg Indexes, which was created by the research department at B Riley. Only companies which have a buy recommendation from analysts at B Riley can be included in the index.
13/02/2014

Xavier Parain promoted at the French regulator

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on 12 February announced the appointment of Xavier Parain as director of asset management in the position of deputy secretary general in charge of that directorate. He had previously been deputy to Guillaume Eliet in the directorate of asset management. Eliet, deputy secretary general, becomes responsible for the directorate of regulation and international affairs, from 1 March 2014. He succeeds Edouard Vieillefond, who is leaving the AMF after five years in financial regulation, and joins Covéa as head fo mission to the director general. Parain had previously been chairman of Merrill Lynch Invest France, the asset management firm specialised in structured funds from the Merrill Lynch group. In June 2010, he was appointed as CEO of Fundlogic SAS, an affiliate of the Morgan Stanley group. He joined the Autorité des marchés financiers in July 2011 as deputy director of the directorate of asset management.
13/02/2014

Loomis, Sayles releases an opportunistic emerging market fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Loomis, Sayles & Company has launched Loomis Sayles Emerging Markets Opportunities, an unconstrained bond strategy dedicated to all emerging markets. The fund will be co-managed by Peter Marber, David Rolley, Edgardo Sternberg and Peter Frick. The fund may invest in sovereign and corporate bonds denominated in local and hard currencies. As of the end of 2013, assets under management dedicated to emerging markets totalled about USD12bn.
13/02/2014

Permal Group launches a mutual hedge fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management firm Permal Group, an affiliate of the Legg Mason group, has launched the Permal Alternative Select Fund, its first open-ended alternative mutual fund. The multi-management strategy is sub-advised by a selection of hedge fund managers. The fund offers daily liquidity, and minimal investment is set at USD1trn. Via a tactical allocation programme, the fund aims to generate positive returns over a complete market cycle, with a combination of low correlation strategies, including equity hedge, event driven, global macro and relative value strategies. The initial strategies are sub-advised by Apex Capital for equity hedge, River Canyon Fund Management for event-driven, TT International for discretionary global macro, and BH-DG Systematic Trading for systematic global macro.
13/02/2014

Inès de Dinechin quitte Lyxor

Lyxor Asset Management a annoncé jeudi la nomination de Lionel Paquin au poste de président, à compter de ce jour. «Il remplace dans cette fonction Inès de Dinechin qui quittera prochainement le groupe», indique sobrement un communiqué de la filiale de la Société Générale. X Ensae, ancien inspecteur de la Société Générale, Lionel Paquin était précédemment responsable de la plate-forme de comptes gérés de Lyxor depuis 2011.
13/02/2014

La Turquie prépare une émission en dollars à 31 ans

La Turquie planche sur un emprunt obligataire en dollars à 31 ans, la plus longue maturité jamais émise en billet vert pour le pays. Le rendement indicatif de ces titres de maturité 2045 oscille entre 6,75 et 6,875%. La réussite du placment soulignerait la confiance des investisseurs pour les émissions en «hard currency» (par opposition à la devise locale) du pays. La livre turque s’est légèrement reprise face au dollar depuis la hausse des taux de la banque centrale, à 2,18 contre 2,39 au pic des turbulences sur les marchés émergents en janvier.

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