Le groupe belge KBC a annoncé le 24 septembre avoir conclu un accord sur la vente de KBC Bank Deutschland AG, filiale à 100% de KBC Bank SA, à un groupe d’investisseurs parmi lesquels des entités de Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), Apollo Global Management, LLC, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc., et Grovepoint Capital LLP.Spécialisée dans les services bancaires et financiers aux moyennes entreprises allemandes, KBC Bank Deutschland est également active dans le financement immobilier professionnel, le financement d’acquisitions, la gestion d’actifs institutionnels et la gestion de patrimoine pour une clientèle allemande très aisée. La transaction doit encore recevoir l’aval des différentes autorités de tutelle. Dans l’intervalle, KBC Bank Deutschland, avec le soutien de KBC, continue de se consacrer entièrement à ses activités d’entreprise et à sa clientèle.La transaction libérera environ 0,1 milliard d’euros de capital pour KBC, essentiellement en réduisant les actifs pondérés, et n’aura pas d’incidence notable sur les résultats financiers de KBC. KBC améliorera ainsi sa position de solvabilité de quelque 15 points de base.

À partir du 1er octobre 2013, Petercam intégrera ses activités de gestion institutionnelle dans une filiale détenue à 100% et dénommée Petercam Institutional Asset Management SA (Petercam IAM SA), selon un communiqué publié le 24 septembre. Concrètement, les activités d’investissement, de vente et de marketing, ainsi que les activités de distribution de fonds pour la gestion institutionnelle seront transférées du groupe à cette filiale spécialisée. Elle accueillera également la gestion des mandats institutionnels individuels. Fin 2012, les actifs sous gestion institutionnels représentaient quelque 5 milliards d’euros,contre près de 9 milliards d’euros pour la gestion privée. Les montants gérés par Petercam IAM SA pour des clients institutionnels sont de l’ordre de 8,5 milliards d’euros. Petercam IAM SA a étendu ses licences afin de pouvoir couvrir l’ensemble des activités de gestion institutionnelle. Sous réserve de l’approbation des autorités réglementaires, Petercam IAM SA poursuivra l’optimisation de son administration de fonds par le biais d’une collaboration plus étroite avec Caceis, le spécialiste de l’asset servicing, et ce, tant en Belgique qu’au Luxembourg. La transaction concerne, d’une part, la vente par Petercam SA des activités de gestion institutionnelle concernées à Petercam IAM SA et, d’autre part, une augmentation de capital de 50 millions d’euros de la filiale, souscrite à 100% par Petercam SA. Le comité de direction de Petercam IAM SA se compose d’Hugo Lasat (CEO), Christian Bertrand, Johnny Debuysscher, Peter De Coensel, Francis Heymans et Guy Lerminiaux. Le Conseil d’administration se compose de Xavier Van Campenhout (Président), Geoffroy d’Aspremont, Christian Bertrand, Johnny Debuysscher, Peter De Coensel, Francis Heymans, Sylvie Huret, Hugo Lasat, Guy Lerminiaux, Pascal Minne et Pierre Lebeau. Selon Xavier Van Campenhout, Associé et Président du Management Board de Petercam, «cette transaction nous dote d’une structure optimale pour satisfaire également, à l’avenir, aux nouvelles exigences réglementaires qui nous incomberont, et nous continuerons à évoluer afin de répondre au mieux aux besoins de nos clients».

UK-based Miton has reported pre-tax profits for the half to the end of June of GBP300,000, compared with GBP500,000 in first half 2012, according to figures released by the firm.This development is due to spending of approximately GBP700,000 on the recruitment of four management professionals, the installation of a new IT system, the acquisition of PSigma, and the launch of two funds.Assets under management increased by 13% in the half under review, to GBP2.02bn. Net inflows totalled GBP121m.

The US asset management firm Wells Fargo Asset Management has registered 13 funds in Norway from its Luxembourg range Wells Fargo (Lux) Worldwide Fund, Sweden’s Fondbranschen reports. The firm is continuing its development in Europe. It has also registered its funds in France. The funds concerned are the following: China Equity FundEmerging Markets Equity FundEmerging Markets Equity II FundEmerging Markets Income and Growth FundGlobal Equity FundGlobal Opportunity Bond FundPrecious Metals FundUS All Cap Growth FundUS Dollar Short-Term Money Market FundUS High Yield Bond FundUS Large Cap Growth FundUS Premier Growth FundUS Short-Term High Yield Bond Fund

Aventicum Capital, a joint venture of Credit Suisse and Qatar Holding launched last year, is planning to provide seed capital for a new long/short hedge fund created by a former team from Pioneer, Financial News reports.

Dexia has sold its asset management division Dexia Asset Management to New York Life Investments for a set price of EUR380m, the Frenco-Belgian group announced during the night. The two firms had entered exclusive negotiations on 19 September. The agreement, which covers all shares held by Dexia in its division, comes after the collapse of an agreement to sell Dexia AM to GCS Capital of Hong Kong. The EUR74bn in asstes under management at Dexia AM will be added to the USD388bn in assets at New York Life Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurer New York Life Insurance Company (as of 31 July). «New York Life Investments constitutes a solid financial and operational partner, able to support Dexia Asset Management’s commercial development,» according to a statement.Finalisation of this transaction remains subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities. Dexia will release the impacts of the sale on its financial situation and its regulatory ratios when the transaction is closed.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI) for September 2013. fell to 101.4 in September, down 3.5 points from August’s revised reading of 104.9.The fall was driven by sentiment in North America, which declined 7.6 points to 104.5 from August’s revised reading of 112.1. Meanwhile, compared to their revised August readings, European confidence rose by 4.7 points to 101.7 while Asian confidence rose by 2.1 points to 95.3.

A new investment fund, the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF), structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allegedly, for the first time, allow individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries. “The GHIF will invest in new drugs and vaccines, emerging diagnostic tools, child-friendly formulations of existing products, expanding manufacturing capacity and other applications that will help bring affordable technologies to those most in need”, according to a press release.London-based LHGP Asset Management («Lion’s Head»), an asset manager specializing in sustainable development, will be responsible for originating, managing and exiting GHIF portfolio investments.With USD94m committed by a pioneering group of investors - including Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW) and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation - the Global Health Investment Fund («GHIF» or the «Fund») will help advance the most promising interventions to fight challenges in low-income countries such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality.To help mitigate the risk of investing in the clinical development of new technologies, the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have committed to partially offset potential losses in the Fund, which will seek a financial return for investors by targeting high-impact technologies with public health applications in both developed and emerging markets.

Jürgen Adam, who had been responsible for about EUR100bn in euro bond and money market portfolios at MEAG, has been recruited by Allianz Global Investors (AGI) as head of the portfolio management team for Germany for bonds. In this new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the management and development of bond portfolios for insurer clients of AGI in Germany. He will report to Karl Happe, CIO for insurance-related strategies.AGI has also recruited Grant-Yun Cheng, who on 1 Ocober will join the firm as manager of the Allianz BRIC Stars and BRIC Equity funds. Cheng replaces Michael Konstantinow, who left the business in early September. Cheng had previously been head of emerging markets at Union Investment.

From 1 October 2013, Petercam will merge it institutional management activities into a wholly-owned subsidiary entitled Petercam Institutional Asset Management SA (Petercam IAM SA), according to a statement released on 24 September.Investment, sales and marketing activities at the group, as well as fund distribution activities for institutional management, will be transferred from the group to the specialist affilite. It will also inclue management of indidivual institutional mandates.As of the end of 2012, institutional assets under management totalled about EUR5bn, compared with over EUR9bn in private management.

The chief sustainability investment officer at Erste Asset Management, Wolfgang Pinner, has been recruited by Raiffeisen Capital Mangement (RCM), and will on 1 November join the firm as chief investment officer for socially responsible investment (CIO SRI). He will belong to the fund management leadership team, alongside Kurt Kotzegger (equities and asset allocation) and Robert Senz (bonds) from the asset management firm of the Raiffeisen group.Gergard Aigner, one of the MDs of RCM, says that the recruitment corresponds to a desire to better position and accentuate the sustainable investment theme within the asset management activities of the group, Following the arrival of Pinner, RCM will develop and launch new strategies.Pinner is vice-chairman of Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlage (FNG), the sustainable investment association.

The US CommonWealth REIT on 23 Sepember announced that it is making changes to its management agreements with REIT Management & Research (RMR) and improvements to its governance, according to a statement from the firm which seeks to respond to criticisms levelled at it by the hedge fund Corvex Management and the real estate fund Related Fund Management.The two funds, which together control nearly 10% of capital in CommonWealth, had lively criticism for the billing system between CommonWealth and RMR. Management fees will now be calculated on the basis of a new formula, which will no longer be based on historic costs alone.In the area of governance, CommonWealth has decided that the number of independent trustees on its board would be increased from 60% to at leat 75%. Activist funds did not appear to have been convinced by the news, which has been called “empty rhetoric.”

The two private equity investors KKR and Sycamore Partners are planning to acquire the retail chain Jones Group in the next few days, according to the New York Post, citing several sources. KKR and Sycamore Partners have declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal had already a few days ago reported the potential for a joint bid from the two private equity groups.

Bogdan Popescu, former head of sales for French-speaking Europe at Skandia Invest Group, will in October join Hilbert Investment Solutions, a firm founded by Steve Lamarque, former head of structuration at Skandia Investment group in London, according to information obtained by Newsmanagers. The new firm, to be based in Paris, will specialise in the design and distribution of investment solutions based on structured products.

Open-ended funds on sale in Italy in August recorded net inflows of EUR3.267bn, nearly as much as in July, the most recent statistics from the Italian asset manager’s assocation Assogestioni reveal. Inflows were particularly driven by flexible funds, which attracted EUR2.316bn. Since the beginning of the year, Italian funds have attracted over EUR40bn. Taking into account closed funds and management under mandate, the Italian asset management sector in August took on EUR5.429bn. Since the beginning of the year, inflows have totalled EUR52.525bn, the same total as in all of 2005, Assogestioni notes, predicting a record 2013. In terms of inflows to open-ended funds and mandated management, the three firms which stood out in August were the Italian Intesa with EUR1.147bn in inflows, AM Holding with EUR1.041bn, and Poste Italiane with EUR639.8m. Among the few funds which had outflows are Generali (-EUR279.8m), BNP Paribas (-EUR142.3m) and Ubi Banca (-EUR93.8m).

Amundi and BFT Gestion on 24 September announced the launch of the first global absolute return fund of dividends: Amundi Funds Absolute Global Dividend. The new sub-fund of the Luxembourg-registered, UCITS-compliant Sicav Amundi funds offers investors a solution which allows them to capture the potential difference in estimated dividends – through futures contracts – from those which are eventually paid by businesses. The more the markets undervalue dividends, the mosr the potential gains from the fund will be.This approach is applied to the major global equity markets, through futures contracts on market index dividends. The impicit dividends (futures and swaps on dividends) allow the fund to take positions on the dividends paid by companies which belong to a market index (Euro Stoxx 50, FTSE 100, Nikkei 225 and S&P 500) in the course of a year. At maturity, these dividends converge towards the level of dividends actually paid.

A Federal court in the United States has proposed to settle the insider trading case against the hedge fund SAC Cpital Advisors for USD1.5bn to USD2bn, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources close to the case. Lawyers for SAC seek to obtain a lower fine and to deduct the USD616m already paid.

The consulting group Towers Watson has appointd Jayne Bok as head of consulting activities to governments, a newly-created position, Towers Watson reports. Bok had previously been head of investment advising for Korea in Seoul.Bok, who will now be based in Hong Kong, began in early September. She reports to Peter Ruyan-Kane, head of investment advising activities for the Asia-Pacitic region.“Governments are a universe unto themselves, which have problems that extend beyond those of other major institutional investors such as pension funds and endowments,” Ryan-Kane explains to Asian Investor.

Carol Wong, who has spent 15 years at ABN Amro Asset Management and then at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, most recently as head of sales, Hong Kong, China & South East Asia, will in November 2013 join Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) as managing director, head of distribution, Asia.Wong will be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Warren Tonkinson, head of global distribution. She will be responsible for developing the Asian strategy of OMGI, which seeks to increase its assets through sales of its products through multiplace channel, including large global financial institutions, regional banks, and wealth managers, while co-operating with Old Mutual Wealth, the wealth management unit of the group which also has expansion plans in the region.

Direct investment by sovereign wealth funds in energy has increased sharply in recent years. On the basis of data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, more than USD76.3bn have been invested in companies or assets related to energy between 2008 and August 2013. This takes into account energy producing companies, exploration companies, utilities and infrastructure related to energy. These direct investments in energy have profited Europe, which has attracted USD40.8bn in the period under review, in 254 transactions. In Europe, the United Kingdom is one of the major beneficiaries of this investment. Among companies which are particularly popular with SWFs are Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BG Group and Total. Eastern Europe and Russia have attracted a much more modest proportion of invetment by sovereign funds, and these investments have been largely carried out via invesmtent funds. Investments by SWFs in Europe have far outpaced those in North America, and total USD11.8bn in the period under review, in 191 transactions.

Chris Last has resigned from his position as chief executive at Cofunds after only four months at the head of the firm, FundWeb reports. Last joined Cofunds in May, following the departure of Martin Davis following the acquisition of Cofunds by Legal & General. The current managing director of Cofunds, David Hobbs, who also arrived in May, will take over from Last.

Martin Davis, the former head of Cofunds, will head Kames Capital, a subsidiary of Aegon Am, as chief executive officer from 1 October, FundWeb reports. His appointment comes after several changes to the management at Kames, including the departure of Andrew Fleming from his position as CEO at the end of March 2013. Sarah Russell has served as interim CEO of Aegon AM.

ECM Asset Management Ltd, the USD8.4 billion multi-asset credit investor owned by Wells Fargo, has hired Chris Telfer as specialist portfolio manager.He will trade financials and sovereigns across ECM’s strategies. He will report to Ross Pamphilon, co-CIO and portfolio manager.Prior to joining ECM, Chris Telfer spent three years as a credit trader at Barclays Capital in London.

The asset management activities of Close Brothers have returned to profitability in the fiscal year ending on 31 July 2013, according to provisional results released by the group.The contribution of asset management to operating profits totalled GBP4bn, equivalent to 2% of the group’s profits, after losses last year of GBP4.3bn.Assets under management have increased 9% to a total of GBP9.1bn.

Thomas Ross, portfolio manager and co-manager of the Credit Alpha fund at Henderson Global Investors (HGI), announced on a visit to Paris on 24 Sepember that the six-member team recruited from Delaware Investments earlier this year (see Newsmanagers of 6 February) will be given a global high yield fund, which is expected to be launched in November.Henderson is also seeking to recruit a team to set up an emerging market credit fund. The team also plans a global and an EM investment grade funds.

GLG Partners has closed its fund decicated to special situations on emerging markets, less than one year after the departure of its two co-heads of emerging markets, Karim Abdel-Motaal and Bart Turtelboom, Asian Investor reports.The GLG Emerging Markets Special Situations Fund saw a decline of about 60% in 2012. Investors were subject to three-year lock-up clauses, it is said.

Kaspar Müller, chairman of the Ethos Foundation and the Ethos Services company, has announced that he will not stand for re-election at the AGM in 2015, according to a statement released on 24 September. Müller has been a member of the board at the foundation since the creation of Ethos in 1997, and its chairman since 2007.In order to ensure continuity and strategic development, the Board at the Ethos foundaton and the Board of Directors at Ethos Services have decided to propose Dominique Biedermann, its current CEO, to become its new president from spring 2015. At that time, he will leave his position as CEO in order to concentrate on his new role.The board now has 18 months to locate and appoint a new director to head up Ethos. This time will allow to ensure that the changes in the management maintain the pioneering orientation of the Ethos Foundation in socially responsible investment and active shareholding.

The Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) has acquired a 12.5% stake in the Russian potassium producer Ukalkali, through a conversion of bonds, the news agency Reuters reports, referring to two sources familiar with the matter.The largest shareholders in Uralkali, the largest producer of potassium in the world, sold convertible bonds in November last year to Chengdong Investment Corporation, an affiliate of CIC, and to the second-largest bank in Russia, VTB, for about USD3bn.The foundation of the largest shareholder, Suleiman Kerimov, retains 21.75% of capital in Uralkali, and his partners, Filarev Glatchev and Anatoly Skourov, control 7%, and 4.8%, respectively. The remaining 53.95% of capital, has been the publicly-traded capital in the firm at the heart of a feud between Russia and Belarus since it ended a distribution agreement with the Byelorussian producer Belaruskali.

Credit Suisse is cutting back its offshore activities, which are deemed costly and restrictive. The Swiss group has told Tages-Anzeiger that it will be discontinuing its activities in some countries and closing the accounts of some clients.Credit Suisse has not revealed the number of countries, clients and sums concerned. But the bank would like to recenter on certain segments and regions. It will be completely pulling out of some markets, and partially from others.The processing of offshore activities has become complicated and risky as a result of the tax-relevant conflicts between Switzerland and several countries. Abroad, the bank is also unloading private clients with limited means. Credit Suisse accepts only clients with wealth of at least CHF1m.At the publication of its results for second quarter, the bank announced that it is abandoning certain markets, to allow for savings of nearly CHF150m by the end of the year.

BlackRock has closed an innovative retirement product in the United Kingdom, as it was unable to attract sufficient interest from consultants or clients, Financial News reports. The investment strategy, which is known as “DC Banking” had aimed to give members of the new defined-contribution plans, which do not offer any guarantee, more certainty about the results of their savings.