With the publication of its group preliminary results for the year to end September, which produced a profit before tax of GBP 28.6 m vs GBP29.9m, Brewin Dolphin stressed that RDR’s full implementation in 2013 has intensified the competitive environment. The move away from financial advice for the mass market and increased pricing transparency has prompted a change in client behaviour.Clients are increasingly sophisticated and using more complex technology which is leading to the development of new propositions and fuelling a real trend towards self-directed solutions. Investors are becoming more sceptical of in-house funds and products and also expect more education and guidance from their advisers. Scale has become a more important consideration as investors require reassurance regarding the security of their assets as well as the robustness of the organisation dealing with their money. One of the consequences of RDR has been the creation of the so called ‘advice gap’, which has led to a large potential market for investors seeking some guidance but who are unable to justify paying for full advice or have no such requirement. New propositions are being created to address this new market which could present a threat to established providers as they fully leverage the capabilities of today’s technology. In addition, there is increased competition for high net worth clients and these are two of the key challenges facing the sector.Brewin Dolphin also stated that its total managed funds rose to GBP28.2bn at 29 september 2013 vs GBP 25.9bn one year earlier and that discretionary funds areached GBP21.3bn vs GBP18.2bn.

Sonja Laud will leave Schroders before the end of 2013, has announced the UK fund company.Ian Kelly, manager of the Schroder ISF European Equity Yield will take on her fund management responsibilities for the Schroder ISF Global Equity Yield and Schroder Global Equity Income Fund, in conjunction with Jamie Lowry. The latter currently manages the Schroder ISF European Equity Alpha.Ian Kelly and Jamie Lowry will also take on responsibility for the equity component of the Schroder ISF Global Dividend Maximiser, which is co-managed by Thomas See.There will be no change to the investment objectives of any of these funds, states Schroders.

The British investment firm Polar Capital is proposing an interim dividend of 4 pence, up from 2 pence previously, Citywire reports.Net pre-tax profits at Polar Capital in the six months to the end of September totalled GBP10.1bn, up by 165% compared with the corresponding half of the previous year.Inflows in the period totalled USD3.2bn, largely due to strong demand from investors for strategies focused on Japan. Positive market and currency effects contributed USD955m. Assets under management totalled USD11.4bn as of the end of September, compared with USD7.2bn as of 30 March 2013.The Polar Capital Japan fund, managed by James Salter and Gerard Cawley, has earned returns of 22.3% over the three years to 3 December, compared with 18.6% for the benchmark index.

The Dutchman Hans Benenga, who joined Aberdeen in 2005, and more than two years ago was appointed as director of development for continental Europe, after serving in the same role for Benelux (see Newsmanagers of 2 February 2010), has been promoted to deputy to the global head of sales, John Brett, Fonds Nieuws reports.

London will set up a shareholders’ forum by June 2014, Les Echos reports. The aim of the forum is to allow British shareholders to coordinate with larger international investors who also hold shares in British firms, to combine forces to confront boards of directors. In other words, they seek to increase pressure to fight the excesses that have led some directors to be paid salaries considered excessive. The forum is supported by the British insurers’ association, the Investment Management Association (IMA) and the national pension fund association.

Legg Mason Global Asset Management has launched a global macro bond fund via its bond affiliate Western Asset, Investment Week reports. The Legg Mason Western Asset Macro Opportunities fund is co-managed by Kenneth Leech, co-CIO of Western Asset, and Prashant Chandran.

According to statistics from the Investment Management Association (IMA), total assets in UK domiciled funds set a new record at GBP765bn as of 31 October, compared with GBP739bn as of the end of September, GBP636bn one year previously, and a previous record of GBP743.9bn as of 31 July this year.Retail net subscriptions totalled GBP1.9bn in October, while institutional funds underwent outflows of GBP568m.Since the beginning of the year, net retail sales have totalled GBP16.3bn, compared with GBP11.7bn in the corresponding period of 2012.The IMA also notes that tracker funds have posted retail net subscriptions of GBP448m, the highest level ever recorded.Net retail sales of ethical funds have totalled GBP38m in October, their highest since April 2011. As of 31 October, assets in ethical funds totalled GBP9bn, 1.2% of total assets in UK-domicled funds.

Morningstar has launched a range of ratings and qualitative research on passive funds covering the 25 most-popular index-based funds in the United Kingdom, Investment Europe reports. Morningstar is expected to gradually grow its range with other funds from the United Kingdom and other markets of continental Europe.

The asset management boutique Smead Capital Management, based in Seattle, has made its first incursion into Europe with the launch of a UCITS-compliant value fund dedicated to US equities, Citywire reports. The Paretun Smead US Value Fund was formally launched at the end of November. The fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, combined the characteristics of two Smead mutual funds: the Smead Value Fund and its flagship fund, the US Large Cap. The management of the strategy will be supervised by the firm’s CIO, William Smead, who will be assisted by the co-portfolio manager and head of research, Tony Scherrer. The two will use a conviction-based appreoach, with 25 to 30 positions in the portfolio, with a preference for large caps of at least USD5bn in capitalisation. Assets under management at Smead Capital Management total about USD700m.

Feri EuroRating Services has released rankings of the asset management firms which as of the end of September had the highest percentage of well-rated funds (A and B) in seven European countries. Threadneedle leads in five countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy) and places second in France (after Schroders).The French firms are vegetating at the bottom of the rankings. Lazard AM is the only large actor (more than 25 funds rated) to place in the top 10 in France, in ninth place.Among firms with 8 to 25 funds rated, Lyxor, Natixis and Carmignac Gestion are in a tie for 10th place in Italy, while Comgest takes sixth place in France and ninth in Austria.

According to Funds Europe, Jupiter Asset Management will serve as delegate investment adviser for a range of funds from Emirates NBD Asset Management, the fund management unit of the largest bank in Dubai. The London-based asset management firm will also serve in this role for the Emirates Global Quaerterly Income Fund, a sub-fund of the Lxuembourg Siacav from Emirates NBD AM.

Two of the largest actively-managed equity funds from Swedbank, Allemansfonden and Kapitalinvest, have outperformed their benchmarks only one year out of ten. In this context, the Swedish consumer protection agency will review whether marketing by the Scandinavian bank was misleading, Svenska Dagblatet reports. Both funds are managed by the Swedbank asset management firm, Robur.

From January 1, 2014, Geneva’s Private Bankers will be replaced by the Association of Swiss Private Banks, according to a statement published on December 4. This creation follows announcements by several private banks of plans to change their legal structure to that of a limited company.Geneva’s Private Bankers will undergo significant changes, broadening its scope so as to include both the institutions which recently changed their legal status (La Roche 1787 Private Bankers, Lombard Odier & Cie, Mirabaud & Cie and Pictet & Cie), and private bankers who were not previously members of this group. Renamed Association of Swiss Private Banks (ASPB), it thus intends to become a national-level organisation representing privately-owned Swiss banks. The founding members of the ASPB are Bordier & Cie, E. Gutzwiller & Cie, Gonet & Cie, La Roche 1787 Private Bankers, Lombard Odier & Cie, Mirabaud & Cie, Mourgue d’Algue & Cie, Pictet & Cie, Rahn & Bodmer Co. and Reichmuth & Co.Christoph B. Gloor will serve as the chairman of the new association. From January 1, 2014, only 7 members will remain within the Swiss Private Bankers Association. The organisation will be scaled down and its objectives limited to defending the specific interests of private bankers.

With the Sauren Absolute Return Dynamic, managed by HansaInvest, investment advisor Eckhard Sauren has announced the launch of a dynamic fund of fund on 27 December 2013, managed with an absolute return outlook, and aiming for returns higher than the Sauren Absolute Return fund, while accepting a higher level of volatility.CharacteristicsName: Sauren Absolute Return DynamicISIN code: DE000A1WZ3Z8Front-end fee: 3%Management commission: 0.80%Distribution commission: 0.55%Performance commission: 15% on performance exceeding 4% with high watermark

In 2012, 73% of European third-party marketers raised less than EUR100m, a new research* by Sagalink Consulting shows. The largest proportion of these players (36%), which help asset management firms to distribute their funds, took in EUR10m to EUR50m.These sums contrast with levels observed in North America, where 70% of TPMs raised more than EUR100m last year.This gap is due to a “more mature and more structured” market in North America, Sagalink explains. In Europe, the profession is more recent, and it is sometimes used as a “transitional solution” by some sales professionnels when they find themselves unemployed. The differences between European and North American TPMs does not stop there, however.71% of European TPMs have an average contract duration of 1 to 3 years, while in North America, 70% of TPMs have relationships with their clients of over 4 years. Sagalink suggests that this volatility in the TPM profession in Europe “is also comparable to the custom among foreign asset management firms, and particularly British and American ones, to use TPMs to test foreign markets, before either hiring local sales teams of their own or pulling out.”As a logical result, North American TPMs negotiate remuneration contracts which offer better financial conditions, with 85% of TPMs able to obtain a fixed monthly remuneration of USD7,000 on average, in addition to which they receive a variable rate of about 20%. The main source of remuneration in Europe is variable pay, whose average is higher in the United States (40% of management fees).In terms of product range, most North American TPMs sell alternative funds such as real estate, private equity and hedge funds. Due to restrictive regulations, European players are more concentrated on long-only expertise. Another difference is that US TPMs are focused on a few funds, often with only one star manager, while the majority of Europeans have a catalogue of over 6 funds.*The study covered 100 TPMs based in 20 countries.

Investors who track commodity indices are fleeing the strategy at a record pace, the Financial Times reports. New estimates by Citi finds that USD36bn left passive commodity investments in the year to the end of November, while for the year 2012 overall, net subscriptions totalled USD27.5bn. Assets under management in commoditites totalled USD273bn in October, compared with a peak of USD380bn in April 2011.

The Italian asset management firm Wise is launching Wise Private Debt, a fund which invests in non-publicly traded corporate bonds, until they mature, Bluerating reports. The fund is aimed at institutional investors, and will aim for a volume of EUR200m. The minimum investment is EUR5m to EUR20m, and the expected return is over 8%.

UBS has announced several changes in its management and its Corporate Center division. Ulrich Körner, currently chief operating officer (COO), will from 1 January 2014 become chief executive officer (CEO) of Global Asset Management (GAM), in addition to his role as CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a statement from the bank released on 5 December. He will replace John Fraser, chairman and CEO of Global Asset Management, who has decided to step down from his role as CEO and board member from 31 December. The chief financial officer (CFO), Tom Naratil, will from 1 January, in addition to his current responsibilities, assume those of group chief operating officer (COO). His area of responsibility will include the IT sector, group operations, corporate services and the industrialisation programme at the bank. The Corporate development will also be overseen by the CFO.

Aviva Investors has recruited Mark Versey, chief investment officer at Friends Life, as its new director of client solutions, Investment Week reports. He will report directly to CEO Euan Munroy. Both will join in January.

Credit Suisse Group has sold its stake in DLJ Merchant Banking Partners to the UK private equity partner Coller Capital, finews reports, on the basis of a Federal Trade Commission document. The sale price has not been disclosed.DLJ Merchant Banking Partners is specialised in LBO transactions. Credit Suisse has also sold another private equity activity, DLJ Investment Partners, to the US firm Portfolio Advisors.

Mirabaud Asset Management has joined its first British platform, which will allow British retail clients access to Mirabaud funds via Raymond James Investment Services, according to Wealth Adviser.The new initiative is the most recent sign of rapid development of asset management activities at Mirabaud in the United Kingdom, in the wake of the recruitment of several big names and the launch of several funds in the past two years.According to Lionel Aeschlimann, head of asset management at Mirabaud, “our strategy is largely to diversify our institutional activities and make ourselves more accessible to retail clients. This is a first step to make our range of funds more available to British retail clients.”Client assets present at Raymond James total GBP3.51bn.

The pension fund for Taiwan public services (PSPF) has launched its first request for proposals, for two international equity mandates based on smart beta strategies, representing a total of USD1bn, Asian Investor reports. The pension fund, whose assets under management total about USD18bn, has announced that it is planning to double the size of these mandates if the performance is satisfying. The mandates are awarded for a period of four years, with a maximum of two managers for each strategy.

Tobias Petz, head of Ethenea Independent Investors for Germany and Austria, has been recruited as director of distribution at Jupiter Asset Management for southern Germany. He will report to Andrej Brodnik, director of distribution for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who himself joined the British asset management firm five months ago (see Newsmanagers of 27 June), from BlackRock.A few weeks ago, Jupiter recruited Peter Peterburs (see Newsmanagers of 14 October) as vice president, retail business for Northern Germany.The distribution team for Germany at Jupiter now includes five people.

The Israeli Bank Leumi, which in January-September has posted net profits of NIS1.6bn (USD452m), compared with NIS1.19bn in the corresponding period of 2012, has announced that it has made an additional provision of NIS190m (USD54m) to cover additional costs the group may face as a result of investigations by the US authorities concerning the activities of Leumi between 2002 and 2010 with clients that are US taxpayers. A provision of NIS340m (USD96m) was previously made for the 2012 accounts.As of the end of September, assets under management by Leumi represented NIK1.039trn, or USD294bn, which represents an increase of 9.4%, compared with NIS950bn (USD269bn) one year previously.

Despite his losses on Herbalife, William Ackman finished the month of November with further gains, the news agency Reuters reports. Its flagship fund, the Pershing Square L.P., whose assets under management total about USD12bn, has posted gains of 1.4%, after commissions, for the month of November, which brings returns in the first eleven months of the year to 10%, according to updated figures distributed to clients and obtained by Reuters.

The funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan in November improved 2.1 percentage points to 93.9 percent, the highest level since September 2008, as higher interest rates lowered liabilities, according to the BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions Group (ISSG). The funded ratio for corporate pension plans is up 16.8 percentage points since the beginning of the year. For U.S. corporate plans, assets increased 0.4 percent and liabilities fell 1.8 percent. The decline in liabilities was due to a 15-basis-point increase in the Aa corporate discount rate to 4.85 percent. Plan liabilities are calculated using the yields of long-term investment grade bonds. Higher yields on these bonds result in lower liabilities.

The Austrian asset management firm Erste Asset Management has announced the launch of the Erste Responsible Bond Emerging Corporate Fonds, which will invest in corporate bonds from emerging countries selected according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria from a universe comparable to that of the CEMBI index from JPMorgan.The portfolio of the fund, managed by Peter Varga, will not include any bonds rated less than B-, and all issues selected are required to have a higher-than-average volume, for reasons of liquidity.ISIN codes:AT0000A13EF9 (A, distribution share class)AT0000A13EG7 (T, accumulation share class)AT0000A13EH5 (VT total accumulation share class)

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) conceived by the United Nations as its financial arm in the battle on climate change, opened its head offices in Seoul on 4 December. The symbolic coffers of the fund are still empty, Reuters reports.The Fund, which is expected to attract most of about USD100bn (EUR74bn) which developed countries are planning to dedicate to this cause each year from now until 2020, is not expected to be operational before the second half of 2014.Richer countries affected by the financial crisis have not paid the sums promised, meaning that the GCF has only USD40m at its disposal, from a contribution by South Korea, which is also intended to cover administrative costs.

The Californian pension fund CalPERS has adopted a set of core competencies that are desired for those that might serve as a member of the CalPERS board of administration. The complete list of competencies, recently adopted by the Pension Fund’s Board, specify more than 20 criteria in the areas of board governance, health care, pension plans, financial markets and communication, a statement from CalPERS released on 4 December states. The pension fund emphasises that the new initiative represents one more step in CalPERS efforts to strengthen the accountability, transparency and ethics of its board. Assets under management at CalPERS currently total over USD278bn.

As George Muzinich had announced to Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 7 October), Munizich & Co is releasing the Irish-registered Global Tactical Credit Fund, managed by Mike McEachern, for sale.McEachern will make an effort to select the best credit investments on bond marktes worldwide, on the basis of the best relative values in terms of ratings, duration and geographical region, all coupled with rigorous bottom-up analysis of corporate bonds and loans in the IG and HY grades.The manager will be able to use portfolio heding techniques to reduce short-term volatility in periods of rising rates or widening spreads.The fund is not yet licensed for sale in France.CharacteristicsName: Muzinich & Co Global Tactical Credit FundISIN codes :IE00BF5S8N25 (distribution shares in GBP)IE00BF5S8J88 (accumulation shares in GBP)IE00BF5S8R62 (distribution shares in CHF)IE00BF5S8Q55 (distribution shares in EUR)IE00BF5S8P49 (distribution shares in USD)Front-end fee: 1%Management commission: 0.55% (distribution shares in GBP)0.29% for all other share classes