Crédit Agricole (CASA) a annoncé le 22 novembre avoir cédé 3,2 millions d’actions Eurazeo représentant 4,68% du capital de la société d’investissement, dans le cadre du placement privé annoncé la veille au soir.Le produit brut du placement représente 173,92 millions d’euros, précise dans un communiqué la banque verte indiquant que le produit de cette cession sera consacré aux besoins généraux de financement du groupe.Cette transaction s’est réalisée à un prix de 54,35 euros par action, soit une décote d’environ 3% par rapport au cours de clôture de la veille, ont précisé des traders. A l’issue de l’opération, Crédit Agricole détiendra 13,57% du capital de la société d’investissement.La banque a également placé 4.421.376 obligations zéro coupon échangeables en actions existantes Eurazeo à échéance 2016 et d’un montant nominal initial de 293,18 millions d’euros. Ce montant est susceptible d'être augmenté d’au maximum 15% pour être porté à environ 337,16 millions d’euros en cas d’exercice en totalité, au plus tard le 4 décembre, de l’option de sur-allocation.
Global head of ETF product management, Rick Genoni a été promu principal, global head of index and ETF product management chez Vanguard, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. Rick Genoni est entré chez le gestionnaire américain il y a douze ans.
Afin de mieux coordonner ses activités en Europe, Morningstar a créé le poste de COO pour le Vieux Continent. Le titulaire en sera Mark Roomans, qui conserve par ailleurs ses fonctions de CEO de Morningstar Suisse et Morningstar Espagne, rapporte Funds People.
James Day (ex-UBS), Stephen Kiely (ex-Citigroup) et Paul Cook (ex-Solo Capital) ont été recrutés à Londres par BNY Mellon aux postes respectivement de head of EMEA securities lending, head of EMEA securities lending sales & business development et head of EMEA secured finance sales dans le pôle global collateral services (GCS).Les trois arrivants sont subordonnés à Jeannine Lehman, head of EMEA for GCS. Ces recrutements font partie d’une première vague d’embauches destinée à muscler le pôle GCS dans la région, en développant les activités de prêts de titres et de services de financement.
Saumil Parikh vient de quitter l'équipe de gestion du fonds Global Multi-Asset de Pimco, dont les actifs sous gestion s'élèvent à près de 3 milliards de dollars, rapporte Citywire.Basé à Londres, Saumil Parikh gérait le fonds depuis octobre 2012 avec le co-CIO et CEO Mohamed El-Erian, Curtis Mewbourne et Vineer Bhansali. Il va toutefois continuer de gérer le Pimco GIS CommoditiesPlus Strategy.
Nordea Asset Management est en train de mettre en place une nouvelle plateforme de distribution de ses produits Ucits à une clientèle institutionnelle à Singapour et envisage de conclure un partenariat avec une société de conseil à Hong Kong ou Singapour, rapporte Asian Investor.Dans cette perspective, Nordea va recruter un spécialiste des ventes senior pour la plateforme d’ici à la fin de l’année et pourrait embaucher un deuxième spécialiste en janvier, a indiqué Philippe Graffart, responsable de la distribution de fonds pour l’Asie-Pacifique de Nordea. Philippe Graffart n’a pas de projet immédiat de distribution auprès de la clientèle retail mais n’exclut pas une telle éventualité à l’avenir. Les actifs sous gestion de Nordea Asset Management s'élèvent à environ 150 milliards d’euros.
Patrick McCullagh, qui a occupé pendant les cinq dernières années la position de head of private equity et responsable immobilier pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique chez JP Morgan, va quitter la société. Il rejoint la société luxembourgeoise Alter Domus où il a été nommé global head of sales, une position nouvellement créée.
Tout le monde n’est pas convaincu par l’acquisition de Scottish Widows Investment Partnership par Aberdeen Asset Management, observe le Financial Times. Selon Jason Streets de Jefferies, ces dix dernières années, Aberdeen a dépensé environ 1 milliard de livres pour des acquisitions, qui ont dégagé seulement 5,5 % sur le capital après impôts. S’il y a des gains à court terme, garder les meilleurs talents est difficile et onéreux.
Le 22 novembre, le gestionnaire allemand HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland) a annoncé qu’il entame la commercialisation en Allemagne des fonds à haut rendement HSBC GIF Global High Yield Bond et HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond Fund qui sont gérés à New York par Mary Bowers, qui a rejoint récemment HSBC Global AM en provenance d’Artio Global Investors, une société de gestion achetée par Aberdeen AM à Julius Baer.Les deux fonds investissent principalement en titres de catégorie spéculative libellés en dollars, les placements en obligations en devises étant couvertes du risque de change.CaractéristiquesDénomination : HSBC GIF Global High Yield BondCode Isin : LU0780251400 (part A, capitalisation)Commission de gestion : 1,10 %Dénomination : HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond FundCode Isin : LU0922809933 (part A, capitalisation)Commission de gestion : 1 %
Le 20 novembre, KanAm Grund a lancé la commercialisation du premier fonds immobilier allemand offert au public créé après l’adoption de la nouvelle loi KAGB et prévoyant donc une période de détention minimale de deux ans ainsi qu’un préavis d’un an pour les rachats, le Leading Cities Invest (lire Newsmanagers du 24 septembre).Le gestionnaire lance un appel à souscriptions jusqu’à fin janvier 2014 pour l’acquisition des quatre premiers actifs du fonds, des immeubles situés en zones 1a à Berlin, Londres, Paris et Bruxelles.Par ailleurs, le gestionnaire allemand annonce pour la dernière semaine de novembre la distribution de 150 millions d’euros aux porteurs du KanAm grundinvest*. C’est le cinquième versement depuis l’annonce en juillet 2012 de la décision de liquider ce fonds qui pesait 6,4 milliards d’euros fin 2011. Cette distribution, rendue possible par la vente pour 2,4 milliards d’euros de onze des immeubles en portefeuille, porte à 666 millions le montant remboursé aux porteurs. Parallèlement, le gestionnaire a remboursé 1,3 milliard d’euros aux banques, sur un total de crédits de 2,3 milliards d’euros. KanAm a prévu de liquider le portefeuille et de redistribuer le produit des cessions d’ici à fin 2016.* DE0006791809CaractéristiquesDénomination : Leading Cities InvestCode Isin : DE0006791825Date de création : 15 juillet 2013Droit d’entrée : 5,25 %Commission de gestion : 0,8 % (maximum 1,5 %)Souscription minimale : 100 euros
Data collected in the 2012 fiscal year show a gross total of assets under management by asset management firms of EUR2.867trn as of 31 December 2012, an increase of 4.3$% compared with 2011, according to the annual report on asset maangement for third parties for 2012 published on 22 November by the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The distribution of assets under management between collective management and mandated management remains stable compared with last year. At 51%, collective management continues to represent the majority of assets under management.
On 22 November, the German asset management firm HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland) announced that it will begin offering the HSBC high yield funds HSBC GIF Global High Yield Bond and HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond Fund, which are managed in New York by Mary Bowers, who recently joined HSBC Global AM (see Newsmanagers of 9 October), from Artio Global Investors, an asset management firm which was acquired by Aberdeen AM from Julius Baer.The two funds invest primarily in non-investment grade securities denominated in US dollars, and investments in bonds denominated in other currencies are hedged for currency risks.CharacteristicsName: HSBC GIF Global High Yield BondISIN Code: LU0780251400 (A class, capitalisation)Management commission: 1.10%Name: HSBC GIF Global Short Duration High Yield Bond FundISIN code: LU0922809933 (A shares, capitalisation)Management commission: 1%
Selon l’Elite Report du Handelsblatt relayé par finews, les quatres principales banques privées suisses ont accumulé depuis 2008 et 2009des pertes de 130,1 millions d’euros sur le marché allemand.Julius Baer a perdu ainsi 61,1 millions d’euros entre 2009 et 2012, pendant que J. Safra Sarasin perdait 12,9 millions depuis 2008, malgré des bénéfices de 3,1 millions en 2010 et de 0,5 million en 2011. Depuis 2009, la Banque cantonale de Saint-Gall a pour sa part perdu 24,7 millions d’euros, soit le même montant que Vontobel.UBS et Credit Suisse ne sont pas prises en compte, parce qu’elles exercent également des activités de banque d’investissement en Allemagne. Mais leurs pertes cumulées dépassent aussi les 100 millions d’euros.
Total net profits at asset management firms fell sharply in 2012, by 30%, due to a return to 2010 levels of financial results, the AMF has announced in its annual report on asset management for thrd parties in 2012. However, this decline should be qualified, insofar as an artificial increase in operating profits of 206%, of which 73% is due to a single asset management firm, which was registered in 2011. As in 2011, about 22% of asset management firms have posted negative results.
In order to confront the challenges of regulations and new client needs, Neuflize OBC has decided to rethink its product range as well as the organisation of its asset management activities. “Our new architecture includes a regrouping of our asset management affiliates, more precisely the merger and absorption of Neuflize Private Assets into Neuflize OBC Investissements, the rationalisation of our product range, and centralisation of management across the group. In terms of the merger operation, we have an AMF license and the approval of the corporate board, which will allow shareholders to approve the move by the end of the year. I can state that our multi-boutique organisation will preserve the diversity of management styles,” says Philippe Vaysettes, chairman of the board at Neuflize OBC.“Our objective is to have a more mobile tool with critial mass of nearly EUR32bn by the end of October 2013. Our assets may reach EUR40bn in the next two to three years. Meanwhile, in our new organisation, we would like to stabilise personnel at about 112 full-time employees, compared with slightly over 120 currently, which will involve the transfer of some staff to Banque Neuflize OBC. In other words, the expected reduction of 8 positions will not imply a social plan. Due to developments and synergies with the bank, the cost/income ratio for asset management is expected to com out to less than 63% by 2016, compared with 68.9% currently for the two merged entities,” he continues.Before getting there, Neuflize OBC will recenter its range of OPCs on 33 funds, removing 13 funds in order to privilege performance and critical size so as to strengthen the legibility and visibility of the product range, as well as to adapt it to clients, particularly institutionals.
The asset management firm Salient Partners, based in Houston, has recruited Ben Hunt as chief risk officer. Hunt previously worked as a portfolio manager for Tiedmann Investment Group. A recognised scholar, he is also the author of the weeky newsletter Epsilon Theory, aimed at asset managers. Hunt, who is expected to begin in the role on 1 December, will aim to identify and reduce risks related to portfolio investments at the firm. Assets uder management at Salient Partners total USD18.7bn.
Rick Genoni, global head of ETF product management, has been promoted to principal, global head of index and ETF product management at Vangaurd, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Genoni joined the US asset management firm twelve years ago.
When interviewed by BlackRock in 2013, 88% of 1,414 US institutional clients of iShares ETF said that they use ETFs this year, compared with 70% in 2010.The most frequent uses were to implement tactical decisions (47%), core portfolio allocations (37%) risk management (34%) and rebalancing of the portfolio (32%), about 19% of respondents used ETFs for cash securitisation, while 19% use them for transitions. 11% say that they have never invested in ETFs.Daniel Gamba, head of iShares Americas Institutional Busienss, has emphasized that 42% of respondents are planning to extend the range of asset classes in which they would invest in ETFs. Institutional investors prefer US equity ETFs (78% compared with 70% in 2012), international equities (68% compared with 58%), US bonds (49% compared with 38%).For clients of this type, the two most frequently-cited advantages of ETFs are liquidity (79%), the low commissions (72%), diversification (44%) and transparency (42%).
Bloomberg reports that at a general shareholders’ meeting at Paulson & Co (USD19bn) on 20 November, John Paulson announced that he will not personally be investing more in his gold fund, the PFR Gold Fund, launched in early 2009, because he does not know clearly when inflation will accelerate.According to a source close to the case, the fund has lost 63% since the beginning of the year, while assets had fallen to USD370m (most of which is from Paulson himself), compared with USD1bn at the end of 2012.
Sol Kumin, chief operating officer at SAC Capital Advisors, the hedge fund firm in the midst of legal turmoil, has decided to resign, the Wall Street Journal reports. Kumin will leave at the end of January, the founder, Steve A. Cohen, has announced to employees in an internal memo. Kumin is the highest-ranked executive to leave the firm since it signed an agreement with the US government over accusations of insider trading.
Many new indices labelled at “smart beta” have appeared in the past few years in various asset classes and market segments. These are index-based strategies which differ from strategies founded on cap-weighted indices, which are most often used in index-based equity and bond management.But for iShares, the BlackRock company dedicated to ETFs, the name is “misleading.” It implies that strategies not founded on market capitalisations earn higher returns than those which are called “traditional” (and thus more widespread).“New sources of beta, including indices which are not weighted according to market capitalisation, are not necessarily better or more effective. They are simply different,” says Ursula Marchioni, iShares EMEA Investment Strategies and Insights at BlackRock, director, who on Friday presented its latest guide in Paris, the “art of index-based management.” For example, between 1996 and 2000, the equally-weighted S&P 500 index (each security has the same weight) outperformed the traditional S&P 500 index with dividends reinvested (cap-weighted). But between 2000 and 2003, the opposite is true, Marchioni shows.In order to better reflect reality, Benoit Sorel, director at iShares, thus proposes to call these indices “alternative beta.”At any rate, iShares is predictng growth in index-based management, both in terms of asset and available strategies. This trend will be driven by thee factors: increasing popularity with investors, extended product coverage and an increasing mixing of index-based vehicles. On this last point, Sorel deels that it will largely profit index-based funds, ETFs and segregated mandates, rather than derivative products, which are subject to stricter regulations.
About one third of women working in the asset management sector have suffered sexual harassment, and more than half have regularly endured sexist comments, the Financial Times claims. According to the results of a survey carried out by FTfm of 340 people employed in asset management, 55% of women say they have been the object of “inappropriate” behaviour at the office.
The hedge fund manager Blue Rice Investment Management, based in Singapore, has decided to close its two available strategies, and to reimburse investors by the end of the year, Asian Investor reports. The two strategies concerned are the Asian Credit fund, launched in 2009, and the Brim Asian Short Duration Fund, launched in June this year, with cumulative assets under management of lesss than USD100m. The flagship Asian Credit Fund is said to have been flat since the beginning of this year, after earning returns of 8.5% in 2012. The recently-launched strategy, for its part, shows gains of 1.14% between June and the end of October.
Credit Suisse has recruited Jason Teung as managing director in charge of ultra-high net worth clients in the China and Hong Kong region. Yeung previously worked at Julius Bär, finews reports.
In order to better co-ordinate its operation on the Old Continent, Morningstar has created the position of COO for Europe. The position will be occupied by Mark Roomans, who will also retain his position as CEO of Morningstar Switzerland and Morningstar Spain, Funds People reports.
James Day (ex UBS), Stephen Kiely (ex Citigroup) et Paul Cook (ex Solo Capital) ont été recrutés à Londres par BNY Mellon aux postes respoectivement de head of EMEA securities lending, head of EMEA securities lending sales & business development et head of EMEA secruted finance sales dans le pôle global collateral services (GCS).Les trois arrivants sont subordonnés à Jeannine Lehman, head of EMEA for GCS. Ces recrutements font partie d’une première vague d’embauches destinée à muscler le pôle GCS dans la région, en développant les activités de prêt de titres et de services de financement.
Nordea Asset Management is in the process of setting up a new distribution platform for its UCITS products in Singapore, and is planning to sign a paternship with a consulting firm in Hong Kong or Singapore, Asian Investor reports. With this in mind, Nordea will recruit a senior sales specialist for the platform by the end of the year, and may recruit a second spiecialist in January, Philipps Graffart, head of fund distribution for Asia-Pacific at Nordea, says. Graffart has no immediate plans to sell products to retail clients, but does not rule out such a possibility in the future. Assets under management at Nordea Asset Management total about EUR150bn.
UK-based RWC Funds on 8 November registered its Luxenbourg Sicav with the CNMV, including 10 funds (long/short and activist), Funds People reports. RWC had not been present on the Spanish market; its products will be sold through RBC Investor services.On the same day, Odey Investment registered the Irish Sicav Odey Investment Funds (which will be distributed by the Spanish affiliate of JP Morgan), while Wellington received a license for its Luxembourg global multi-asset class absolute return fund.Odey and Wellington had already received permission from the CNMV in May, both for Irish Sicavs.
La seule catégorie de fonds espagnols ayant subi une baisse d’encours sur les dix premiers mois de l’année a été celle des garantis, dont les actifs gérés ont baissé de 2,2 milliards d’euros ou de 4,4 % durant la période sous revue, selon Ahorro Croporación, rapporte Expansión.Pourtant, selon VDOS, c’est aussi la catégorie où il s’est créé le plus de fonds (53 sur un total de 169). Par l’encours, les fonds garantis représentent 48,7 milliards d’euros, soit 32,2 % du total de la gestion d’actifs espagnole, contre plus de 40 % en 2011 et 2012.Cette contraction tient au fait que les taux d’intérêt bas et le coût de la garantie ont réduit la rentabilité des fonds garantis auxquels les investisseurs préfèrent désormais les fonds à objectif de rendement.
As of the end of September in Germany there were 9,116 open-ended funds, compared with 9,209 three months earlier, Lipper reports, relayed by Fondsprofessionell.However, subscriptions in third quarter have totalled nearly EUR2bn, and assets have increased to EUR695bn, which is near the record of EUR731bn set in 2007.Between July and September, Lipper count4ed a total of 129 liquidated and 76 mergers of funds, while there were only 46 launches.