Nouveau mois de recul sur les marchés d’actions en juin. Une baisse suffisamment forte pour qu’aucune société de gestion ne soit parvenue à résister, le rouge étant de mise au sein des mandats amLeague sur la zone euro, l’Europe ou «Global Equities». En chiffres, la zone euro a été la plus touchée. L’indice Eurostoxx NR a reculé de 5,48 % sur le mois contre -5,07 % pour le Stoxx 600 NR et -2,77 % pour le Stoxx 1800 NR. La zone euro moins exposée aux marchés émergents - plutôt éprouvés - en raison de l’absence des entreprises britanniques, a donc créé la surprise en résistant moins bien que l’Europe. En fait, le phénomène s’explique par la présence de la Suisse et des pays scandinaves dans l’indice Stoxx 600 moins «sensibles» aux économies émergentes. A ce titre, l’indice phare de la bourse Suisse n’a baissé que de 3,32% - tandis que le marché britannique a reculé de 5,58 %.Dans ces conditions, la gestion active a su s’illustrer dans les trois mandats principaux en plaçant 13 portefeuilles sur 19 au-dessus de la référence dans le cadre du mandat Actions-zone Euro, 15 sur 22 au sein du mandat Actions Europe et 8 sur 13 dans le mandat «global equities». Les changements les plus importants portent naturellement sur le classement des sociétés. Les gestions quantitatives malmenées lors des dernières hausses ont pris leur revanche en limitant les pertes. Sur la zone euro, Tobam (-2,15 %) devance Theam (-2,62 %) et à la quatrième place Swiss Life AM (-3,95 %). Ces portefeuilles se singularisent par des expositions au marché parmi les plus faibles du classement – avec un indice beta sensiblement inférieur à un. A noter qu'à la troisième place, le «stock-picker» Roche-Brune est lui aussi sous-exposé au marché. En bas de classement, la logique est aussi respectée. Mandarine Gestion (-8,05 %) et CCR AM (-5,87 %) occupent les deux dernières places avec des bétas supérieurs ou égaux à un. Sur l’Europe, le scénario se reproduit. Mais Swiss Life AM (-1,82 %) devance un autre quantitatif, Invesco AM (-1,84 %), Roche-Brune AM (-2,91 %) et Ossiam Europe Minimum Variance (-3,15 %). En bas de classement cependant, des changements sont intervenus dans les sociétés de gestion. Devant Mandarine Gestion (-7,76 %) figurent Sycomore AM (-6,97 %) et Petercam (-5,80 %) tandis qu’avec les contraintes imposées sur sa gestion , CCR se retrouve, pour sa part, dans la première moitié du tableau (-4,02 %). Enfin, les sociétés de gestion intervenant dans le mandat «global equities» affichent, grâce à la diversification des investissements, les pertes les plus limitées. Et, comme c’est le cas pour les deux autres mandats, les moins exposés au marché ont enregistré les baisses les plus faibles. Ossiam Global Minimum Variance arrive en tête devant Swiss Life AM et Theam aves des pertes respectives de -0,04 %, -1,53 % et -1,89 %. En bas de tableau, Petercam (-4,53 %), et EdRAM (-3,45 %) ont souffert d’un choix de valeurs négatif.

La filiale à Hong Kong de la société de gestion China Universal Asset Management, basée à Shanghai, prépare un ETF libellé en RMB à destination des investisseurs institutionnels étrangers qualifiés (RQFII), rapporte Asian Investor.La société entend ainsi utiliser une partie de son quota RQFII de 2 milliards de RMB (325 millions de dollars) reçu en mai pour lancer l’ETF qui va répliquer l’indice de référence chinois CSI 300.China AMC a déjà lancé un ETF répliquant cet indice en juillet 2012 et des sources de marché indiquent que Haitong Securities et HuaAn Funds envisagent de lancer des produits similaires prochainement.Après son lancement, China Universal prévoit de coter le nouvel ETF à l’international, entre autres à la Bourse de Tokyo.

Oddo Asset Management vient de recruter Patrice Dussol en tant que co-country head pour la Suisse. Il prendra principalement en charge la Suisse alémanique. L’intéressé est également nommé country manager sur l’Espagne et le Portugal. Il sera aussi en charge à moyen terme du développement des relations commerciales en Amérique du Sud.Avant de rejoindre Oddo AM, Patrice Dussol était successivement head of sales Suisse pour tout le groupe EdRAM après avoir été head of sales Europe (hors filiales). De 2006 à 2008, il occupait le poste de business development manager Europe chez Metropole Gestion.La nouvelle recrue va renforcer l’équipe commerciale suisse qui se compose déjà de deux membres : Edouard Vallette Viallard, country head, en charge de la clientèle institutionnelle, les banques privées et les family offices ; et Bruno Allain-Hemeray, en charge du développement de la relation avec les gérants indépendants. Il rapportera à Bertrand Levavasseur qui dirige l’équipe commerciale internationale.Outre ce recrutement, Oddo AM enregistre deux nouveaux fonds en Suisse : Oddo Haut Rendement Monde 2018 (un fonds obligataire daté majoritairement investi en obligations à haut rendement dont les émetteurs sont situés principalement en Europe et jusqu'à 50% en dehors de l’Europe, notamment dans les pays émergents) et Oddo Obligations Optimum (un fonds investi en obligations publiques ou privées, essentiellement Investment Grade de très court terme).Active auprès des clients suisses depuis six ans, la société de gestion française a ouvert en 2011 un bureau à Zürich.

Au 1er septembre, Raik Hoffmann rejoindra la boutique francfortoise FPM Frankfurt Performance Management (environ 500 millions d’euros d’encours).L’intéressé a été ces quinze dernières années analyste et gérant de portefeuille senior spécialiste des petites et moyennes capitalisations européennes chez DWS, puis Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). Depuis 2008 jusqu'à juin 2013, Raik Hoffmann était le gérant du DWS German Small/Mid Cap.Parallèlement, FPM annonce que l’un de ses deux fondateurs, Manfred Piontke, a décidé de se retirer le 31 décembre 2013 à la fois du directoire et de la gestion de fonds, pour se consacrer à la gestion de sa fortune personnelle. Il demeurera néanmoins actionnaire et conseiller de la société de gestion.

Faute d’encours suffisants, quatre ETF de ComStage ont été liquidés au 30 juin, a annoncé Commerz Funds Solutions SA.Il s’agit des produits suivants :ComStage ETF FTSE 250 TR ComStage ETF FTSE All-Share TR ComStage ETF FTSE 100 Short Strategy TRComStage ETF FTSE 100 Leveraged TR

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Due to a lack of sufficient assets, four ETFs from ComStage were liquidated on 30 June, Commerz Funds Solutions SA has announced.They are the following products:ComStage ETF FTSE 250 TR ComStage ETF FTSE All-Share TR ComStage ETF FTSE 100 Short Strategy TRComStage ETF FTSE 100 Leveraged TR

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Next Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a vote that will allow firms that raise funds through private investment, including hedge funds, to advertise, so long as they target high net worth clients, the Wall Street Journal reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hong Kong affiliate of the asset management firm China Universal Asset Management, based in Shanghai, is preparing an ETF denominated in RMB, aimed at foreign qualified institutional investors (RQFII), Asian Investor reports. The firm is also planning to use some of its RQFII quota of RMB2bn (USD325m), received in May, to launch an ETF which will replicate the Chinese CSI 300 benchmark index. China AMC launched an ETF which replicates this index in July 2012, and market sources say that Haitong Securities and HuaAn Funds are planning to launch similar products in the near future. After its launch, China Universal is planning to list the new ETF internationally, on the Tokyo stock exchange among others.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The average coverage rate for the liabilities of US corporate pension funds in the month of June rose by 3.1 percentage points to a total of 89.5%, its highest level since June 2011, when it stood at 91.4%, according to BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions Group. Since the beginning of the year, the coverage rate has gained 13.2 percentage points. In the month under review, assets in funds fell 1.6%, while US stock markets posted their first month of losses since the beginning of the year. Liabilities fell 5%, while the discount rate increased by 39 basis points to 4.69% for Aa-rated businesses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legg Mason Global Asset Management on 3 July announced the launch in France of the Brandywine Global Fixed Income Absolute Return fund (Brandywine GFIAR). The Brandywine GFIAR fund, domiciled in Ireland, invests primarily in government debt, with the possibility of investing opportunistically in government bonds. With a long/short approach, the maangers can adopt positions both on markets which they consider undervalued, and on overvalued markets, when liquidity levels allow it. Short positions are used only for government interest rate curves. The Brandywine GFIAR fund is co-managed by David Hoffman and Stephen Smith without reference to an index. Brandywine applies a value type top-down approach following rigorous, macroeconomic and systematic analysis, country by country, in all major global economies. The fund actively manages exposure to currency risks in order to protect capital and improve performance, and may take short positions on currencies which it considers undervalued. As of the end of May, the fund showed returns of 9.70% since its launch in early April 2012. Characteristics of the Brandywine Global Fixed Income Absolute Return ISIN code: IE00B59BT671 (classic A, USD capital share class) Assets: USD556m as of 28 June 2013 Front-end fee: no front-end fee paid to the fund Management fee: 1.35%, A-class shares (classic) The fund exists in a hedged version.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the United States, public sector pension funds which pay the highest investment fees do not necessarily earn the highest returns, a study undertaken by the Maryland Public Policy Institute and the Maryland Tax Education Foundation, cited by the Wall Street Journal, have found. In fact, rather the reverse is true. On average, the ten states which pay the highest management fees have posted lower returns on investment than the ten that paid the lowest fees between 30 June 2007 and 30 June 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Only 70 ETFs and other ETPs were launched in first half 2013, according to IndexUniverse, the Wall Street Journal States. That represents a decline of 44% compared with 126 in the corresponding period of last year. The decline is a sign that the ETF market has reached such saturation that the asset management firms are having difficulty finding niches which have not yet been exploited, the WSJ claims. This year, an ETF was released which tracks Nigerian equities, one which uses forensic accounting, and one which offers exposure to leverage on the Brazilian market. The recent difficulties may represent a problem for asset management firms such as Fidelity Investments, which covet the ETF market, the newspaper notes.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a research report on Retailisation in the EU, which examines the growth in the sale of complex financial products to retail financial consumers in the European Union (EU).ESMA’s research focused on two specific types of complex products, alternative UCITS – where assets under management grew from €20bn to €85bn between 2007 and 2012 - and structured retail products – whose outstanding amounts totalled EUR770bn at the end of 2012. The research found that while their sale to retail financial consumers has increased, there is evidence to show that both products have produced relatively low returns.The Report, comparing 600 alternative UCITS funds and 2750 structured products with capital protection sold across the EU to consumers between 2007 and 2012, found evidence that average returns for both products were relatively low at 3% for alternative UCITS and 2.5% for structured products.ESMA will use the reports’ findings in its policy work on improving investor protection by promoting better information disclosure at the point of sale about the total costs of investing in complex products and specific risks attached to each product.

The economic and monetary affairs committee of the European Parliament on 3 July passed amendments to the new UCITS V directive, which will regulate mutual funds.The new arrangements provide that the pay scale for a manager may be reduced, or blocked, if a UCITS product loses money. Half of performance commissions must be paid in the form of shares in managed funds, and at least 40% must be deferred, a statement says. In other words, MEPs are cointinuing with plans to limit variable pay scales for fund managers to the equivalent of their fixed salaries, as for bankers.“Mutual fund managers should not be betting investors’ money on high-risk financial instruments. The rules adopted will protect these investors with a clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the professionals who manage their money by introducing incentives to promote long-term performance of investments, rather than short-term gains,” says reporter Sven Giegols, cited in a statement. The draft adopted yesterday also includes a large section on depositories, which includes the clauses proposed by the Commission a year ago. Mutual funds will be required to designate a single depositary, whose liability will be engaged in the event of losses of assets, or in the use of sub-depositaries.The reception from professionals has been positive. The European fund and asset management association (EFAMA) claims that this vote illustrates the importance the European Parliament assigns to mutual funds and the protection of investors. The work is still far from done, and the professional association will continue its dialogue with the Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The self-invested personal pension (SIPP) Flexible Transition Account from London & Victoria (LV=) will now include 177 eligible funds. The insurer has announced that it has added five funds of the Consensus Funds range from BlackRock to its range, following requests from advisers.The new funds available are:BlackRock Consensus 35 BlackRock Consensus 60BlackRock Consensus 70BlackRock Consensus 85BlackRock Consensus 100

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based Baring Asset Management has announced the creation of a position for a chief financial officer (CFO) for Asia. The role will go to Eric Lee, who had been finance controller for Asia ex Japan since 2007 at BlackRock, after serving as senior finance manager at Value Partners.Lee, based in Hong Kong, will report to Julian Swayne, CFO of the Barings group, and Gerry Ng, CEO of Baring Asset Management (Asia) Limited.The appointment of Lee follows the growth of Asian activities of Barings, particularly following the acquisition of SEI Asset Korea, which becomes Barings Korea.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon has received permission from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to open a local specialist affiliate which will aim to create a separate managed accounts (SMA) platform. The platform, which would be the first of its kind in the region, may be created in the next few months, a statement from BNY Mellon says. It is especially designed for Asian clients, and will be offered to private banks and wealth management specialists, in ordre to allow them to better assist their high net worth clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franco Aletti and Alberto Lesma have joined Banca Esperia, a private banking firm created as part of a joint venture between Mediobanca and Mediolanum, Bluerating reports. The two join from Julius Baer Sim.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Jupiter High Income Fund will now be managed by Alastair Gunn, who becomes principal manager of the fund. He replaces Anthony Nutt from 1 July. Nutt will retire in 2014, a statement says.Gunn will be responsible for the management of the fund, particularly the equity allocation. The bond allocation will continue to be managed by Ariel Bezalel. He has been serving in this role since 2006. Gunn was recruited in 2007 by Nutt, to join the equity management team.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } J.P. Morgan Asset Management will merge three funds and launch a new retail product as part of a reshuffle of its British product range, Investment Week reports. The UK Equity, Emerging Markets Infrastructure and Institutional Balanced funds will be merged into others.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oddo Asset Management has recruited Patrice Dussol as co-country head for Switzerland. He will primarily become responsible for German-speaking Switzerland. Dussol is also appointed as country manager for Spain and Portugal. In the mid-term, he will be responsible for the development of commercial relationships in South America.Before joining Oddo AM, Dussol was successively head of sales for Switzerland for the entire EdRAM group, after serving as head of sales for Europe (excluding affiliates). From 2006 to 2008, he served as business development manager Europe for Metropole Gestion.The new recruit will strengthen the Swiss sales team, which already has two members: Edouard Vallette Viallard, country head, in charge of institutional clients, private banks and family offices, and Bruno Allain-Hemeray, in charge of developing relationships with independent managers.Dussol will report to Bernard Lavasseur, head of the international sales team.In addition to this recruitment, Oddo AM has registered two new funds in Switzerland: Oddo Haut Rendement Monde 2018 (a bond horizon fund investing primarily in high yield bonds, whose issuers are located primarily in Europe, and up to 50% outside Europe, mostly in emerging markets), and Oddo Obligations Optimum (a fund which invests in public and private bonds, largely very short term and investment grade).The French asset management firm, which has been active for six years in Switzerland, opened an office in Zurich in 2011.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 September, Raik Hoffmann will join the Frankfurt-based boutique FPM Frankfurt Performance Management AG (about EUR500m in assets).Hoffmann has spent the past 15 years as an analyst and senior portfolio manager for European small and midcaps at DWS, then at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). From 2008 to June 2013, Hoffman had been the manager of the DWS German Small/Mid Cap fund.Meanwhile, FPM has announced that one of his two founders, Manfred Piontke, on 31 December 2013 decided to withdraw both from the managing board and management of funds, in order to concentrate on the management of his personal wealth. He will remain a shareholder and adviser at the asset management firm.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP) and its founders, BNP Paribas Cardif, CNPAssurances, Crédit Agricole Assurances (via its affiliate Predica), and Sogécap (Société Générale group), on 3 July announced the first major investments by the FSP in two French businesses which are leaders in their sectors, Arkema and the SEB group. The investment of the capital in these businesses is a sign of the desire of the FSP to assist in their development as a long-term investor and to participate in their governance. The management of the FSP has been entrusted to the Edmond de Rothschild group as an independent asset management specialist. The 5% stake threshold in the capital of the two firms has been passed. As of today, the FSP controls 6.05% of capital in Arkema and 5.25% of capital in SEB SA. These stakes receive quality management, a robust model and strong governance, which offer long-term growth prospects.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi has appointed Eric Vandamme as chief risk officer, the asset management firm announced on 3 July. In this role, he will be a member of the executive board. Vandamme, responsible for the creation of the investor relations department at the Crédit Agricole SA group in 2002, since mid-2003 had been responsible for the affiliates and stakes of the Crédit Agricole SA group.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to several press reports, Jacques Tebeka, head of multi-management at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, is expected to leave the asset management firm based in Paris.The departure comes at a time when the Edmond de Rothschild group is working on a reshuffle of its management. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Edram is planning to announce a series of changes in autumn to its specialist management centres, based in variosu countries. All of multi-management would be grouped together at the Geneva management centre, and would be managed by the local team, led by Alexandre Col, currently responsible for multi-management for international clients. Paris would become the hub for traditional management, while emerging market management would be provided by management centres in Hong Kong and Frankfurt.The reshuffle would help the Edmond de Rothschild group to realise its international ambitions. Asset management is one of the two strategic professions for the group, which also includes private banking activities, and which currently has EUR54bn in assets. In spring, Laurent Tignard joined the group as global head of asset management, from HSBC Global Asset Management (France).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 31 May, assets in funds and mandates at Pictet Asset Management in France totalled slightly over EUR3.5bn, compared with EUR3.1bn as of 31 December. After market and currency effects, net subscriptions in the first five months of the year totalled about EUR260m, according to Hervé Thiard, managing director.The best net sales were for the emerging market local currency debt fund, the Japan fund and the Water fund. In terms of gross demand, the most popular funds were Timber, Water, Japan and emerging market debt in local currencies.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French asset management association (Association Française de la Gestion financière, AFG) and the Responsible investment forum (Forum pour l’Investissement Responsable, FIR) have decided to specify the definition of socially responsible investment (SRI). In a statement released on Tuesday, 2 July, the two organisations state: “SRI is an investment which aims to reconcile economic performance and social and environmental impact, by financing businesses and public entities which contribute to sustainable development regardless of their business sector. By influencing governance and the behaviour of players, SRI promotes a responsible economy.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fondsnieuws reports that Rabobank has notified shareholders in its Rabo RendeMix product that from 1 July, actively-managed diversified funds from Robeco which form a part of the composition of the portfolio will be replaced by tracker funds from BlackRock and ETFs from iShares.The change of asset management firms comes exactly on the date when the Japanese firm Orix announced that it had completed its acquisition of Robeco, which had previously been a Rabobank affiliate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tom Callahan, former CEO of NYSE Liffe US, will in September begin as deputy head of the cash management group at BlackRock, according to Bloomberg, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire.The cash management unit has over USD250bn in assets under management, or slightly less than 10% of the global market, says Richard Hoemer, head of cash management, in an internal memo.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of May, assets in funds managed by UK professionals totalled an all-time record of GBP739.63bn, compared with GBP726.12bn as of 30 April, and GBP589bn one year previously, the Investment Management Association (IMA) reports.Net subscriptions to retail products have fallen by far less than usual after the ISA season, as in May they totalled GBP2.07bn, compared with GBP2.1bn in April, compared with GBP1.3bn in the corresponding month of 2012. Institutional sales totalled GBP198m in May, compared with net outflows of GBP213m the previous month, and GBP1.4bn in May 2012.Daniel Godfrey, CEO of the IMA, says that equity funds posted the largest retail net inflows in May, with GBP781m (GBP50m in May 2012), while by sector, the highest inflows were for the retail targeted absolute return category, with GBP255m, when the average for the past twelve months was GBP97m.