P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to sources familiar with the matter, Cinco Días, reports, the Qatari Diar fund will soon acquire the W hotel in Barcelona, known as Hotel Vela, which is owned 25% each by FCC, OHL, Comsa Emte and Grupo Godia, for EUR200m.The property, with 473 rooms and suites, is operated by the US chain Starwood, and opened in 2009. Its construction by Ricardo Bofill cost EUR260m.In Spain, Qatari Diar already owns Marina Tarraco, a leisure and luxury yacht complex located in Tarragon. It also owns several other hotels operated by Starwood.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The fund manager Massimiliano Gnesi will be leaving Vontobel, where he had managed the Vontobel Fund Absolute Return Bond strategy since the end of 2012, Citywire reports. Paul Nicholson has been appointed as principal manager of the fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Zurich-based TCMG Asset Management, an affiliate of Notenstein Private Bank and thus of the Raiffeisen group, is continuing to deploy a multi-boutique strategy, and as part of this has acquired a minority stake in the Geneva-based firm Dynagest SA, Beat Whitmann, CEO of TCMG, has announced.Dynagest, founded in 1993, itself controls a majority stake in the Luxembourg-based Dynamic Asset Management Company.TCMG’s investment in Dynagest marks a new stage in its cooperation with Dynagest SA and Dynapartners AG in the areas of development of financial products and fund administration in Luxembourg, a press release says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For an undisclosed amount, the German firm IVG Immobilien, which administers assets of EUR21.1bn, has acquired the Galileo office tower in Frankfurt (136 metres, 40,000 square metres), constructed in 2004, as part of a club deal with South Korean institutional investors.The property, originally the second Frankfurt headquarters of Dresdner Bank, was acquired by Commerzbank in 2008. The German bank will continue to occupy the property on a long-term lease.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The number of new hedge funds launched in first quarter 2013 totalled 297 funds, according to the most recent edition of the HFR Market Microstructure Industry Report. Creations of hedge funds thus show their fourth consecutive increase in a quarter. Liquidations of hedge funds have meanwhile fallen to 196 in first quarter, compared with 211 and 238 in the two previous quarters. Creations of hedge funds dedicated to equities led launches in first quarter (132), followed by macro funds (93) and relative value arbitrage funds (26). The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite index gained 3.6% in the quarter, and 5.3% for the twelve months to the end of March 2013.

Intervalor, a third party marketer of international asset management products in the Nordic region, is strengthening its board of directors with two members; Lars Nyberg and Benny Karlsson. At the same time Lars Spongberg will be leaving the board after 12 years.Lars Nyberg brings experience from his 13 years as deputy governor of the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbanken), as CFO at Swedbank and as head of Handelsbankens investment bank.Benny Karlsson joins from Vattenfall Pension Foundation where he has been the CEO since its creation.Intervalor AB was founded in 1992 to bring international asset managers’ products and services to the Nordic market place and to complement them by local service. At present, Intervalor represents the following asset management companies, each of which has been chosen for their specific expertise in one or several asset classes: Banque de Luxembourg Investments, BPT, Brown Advisory, Craton Capital, Ermitage, Global Evolution, IS Asset Management, LVD Investment Advisors et SG Alpha.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The two sub-funds of the Sicav Hedge Invest International Funds, founded by Hedge Invest to offer investors a way to invest in alternative management giants in a UCITS-compliant context, are now available on the Allfunds Bank platform, Bluerating reports. Inflows to the two funds have topped EUR130m. The first sub-fund, the HI Numen Credit Fund, is a long/short type credit fund with a performance objective of a net average of 7-8% per year. The HI Principia Fund is a long/short equity fund targeting Northern Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 3 May, the French firm Syquant Capital has been offering the Luxembourg fund Helium Performance (ISIN code: LU0912262358), which combines a trend-following strategy with merger arbitrage, event-driven, dividend arbitrage and mean reversion strategies. Helium Performance has a more aggressive approach than Helium Opportunités, with more leverage on arbitrage strategies in particular, and an extended gross exposure of 300%, with an average net exposure of 25%.The equity fund is not on sale in France to non-qualified investors at present. It charges fees of 1.50% with a 15% performance commission, based on a hurdle rate corresponding to the Eonia and a high watermark.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UCITS attracted increased net inflows in April of EUR 44 billion, up from EUR 38 billion in March, according to statistics from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA). This increase came on the back of bond funds attracting their highest level of monthly net inflows since EFAMA began collecting monthly data in 2008. Bond funds recorded a surge in net sales to EUR 30 billion, up from EUR 15 billion in March. Net sales of equity funds reduced to EUR 1 billion, compared to EUR 9 billion in March, while net sales of balanced funds remained steady in April at EUR 13 billion. Net sales of long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) registered a rise in net inflows to EUR 50 billion, compared to EUR 41 billion in March. Money market funds registered net outflows of EUR 7 billion in April, compared to net outflows of EUR 2 billion registered in March. Total non-UCITS recorded increased net sales of EUR 20 billion, up from EUR 18 billion in March. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) recorded net inflows of EUR 18 billion, up from EUR 15 billion in the previous month.Total net assets of UCITS stood at EUR 6,781 billion at end April 2013, representing a 1.2 percent increase during the month. Total net assets of non-UCITS increased 1.8 percent to stand at EUR 2,692 billion at month end. Overall, total net assets of the European investment fund industry stood at EUR 9,473 billion at end April 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schwartz Investment Counsel has announced that its range of Catholic mutual funds, Ave Maria Mutual Funds, now has over USD1bn in assets, which in the event coincides with the 10th anniversary of two of the ten products, the Ave Maria Growth Fund (ticker AVEGX) and the Ave Maria Bond Fund (AVEFX).All investments in Ave Maria funds are filtered for standards by a Catholic advisory board to ensure that they do not violate the teachings of the Catholic Church.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After UBS, France is now investigating the private bank Reyl & Cie, Agefi reports. The Paris prosecutor’s office has initiated a legal action against the Swiss firm, following claims by one of its former employees that, among other points, French taxpayers, including politicians, had assets deposited there. The prosecutor’s office on 31 May opened an investigation into money-laundering and tax fraud at the bank.

Slightly more than one year ago, Nuno Teixeira became CEO of Schroders France, replacing Philippe Lecomte. He describes to Newsmanagers the major outlines of the strategy of Schroders to develop on the French market. With a particular emphasis of IFA clients, Schroders is planning to achieve the means to make a presence in the highly contested independent financial adviser market in France.

On June, 14th, JPMorgan Chase announced that the partners of One Equity Partners (OEP), the firm’s private equity unit, will begin to raise their next fund from an external group of limited partners and become independent from JPMorgan Chase.One Equity Partners currently manages approximately USD4.5bn of investments for JPMorgan Chase in direct private equity transactions.OEP will continue to make direct investments for JPMorgan Chase for an interim period and will still manage the existing group of portfolio companies for JPMorgan Chase.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bradley T. Galko, vice president and senior equity analyst for the investment products sector at Pioneer Investment Management, on 17 June will join Eaton Vance Corp as a senior research analyst, in which role he will report to Charles Gaffney, director of equity research. Galko will have the title of vice president at Eaton Vance Management. He will belong to the global research team for industrials.As of 30 April, assets at Eaton Vance totalled USD260.3bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Among the top four firms which publish total assets under management for the previous month in the middle of the following month, Franklin Templeton stands out with a monthly gain of USD23.8bn to its assets, to USD847.5bn as of the end of May, which is due partly to the bond funds, whose AUM has increased to USD383.7bn from USD369.2bn as of the end of April .The equity portfolio, for its part, has gained USD6bn, to USD325.9bn.As of end May, Invesco had assets of USD751.8bn, USD3.3bn more than one month previously, while the equity portfolio is reported to have posted stronger gains, of USD4.4bn (to USD331.1bn).For their part, Legg Mason and AllianceBerstein have seen declines in their AUM, to USD654.3bn from USD655.4bn, and USD452bn from USD453bn.

Amundi, which has made it part of its strategic development plan to strengthen its relationships with external distributors globally, on 14 June announced that it is creating a dedicated global business line. As of the end of March 2013, Amundi manages EUR160bn on behalf of banking networks, third-party distributors, private banks, platforms and fund selectors, out of approximately EUR750bn of assets under management.“Amundi’s key strategic objectives are twofold: to reinforce its leading position as a provider of savings solutions to partner networks, and to pursue its business development initiatives with both institutional clients worldwide and third party distributors globally,” explains Pascal Blanqué, head of institutional investment and third party distributors of Amundi.Appointed last January to strengthen Amundi’s distribution business, Christian Pellis, head of global external distribution, has organised the business line geographically in order to best serve clients. He comments: «The business line manages and oversees the efforts of sales forces dedicated to providing solutions to our customers. With 55 professionals around the world (36 in Europe, 14 in Asia, and 5 elsewhere), it benefits from having an established and experienced sales force, which will be further strengthened with new recruits. Our goal is to provide local support for the specific needs of our customers and major external distributors.» To support the development strategy of its new business line, Amundi has introduced dedicated marketing tools and developed a range of flagship products providing solutions for individual investors seeking to build their wealth with moderate risk. In addition, it has created a new share class to accommodate the European regulatory changes on costs associated with rebates. Finally, Amundi is offering its clients local customer services and training programs led by fund managers, analysts and other investment experts.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Justin Onuekwusi, lead manager for multi-asset class funds from Aviva Investors, has joined Legal & General, Investment Week reports. His new responsibilities have not been disclosed, but LGIM already has capacities in the area of multi-asset class investment.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the fiscal year ending on 31 March, Walker Crips Group (WCG) has posted pre-tax profits of GBP9.1m, compared with GBP0.6m, largely due to a one-time capital gain of GBP11.7m, from the sale of Walker Crips Asset Management (WCAM) to Liontrust Asset Management (see Newsmanagers of 14 March 2012).As of 31 March, total assets under management or administration were up by 43% to about GBP2bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mirabaud Asset Management has recruited Anu Narula to lead a team responsible for global equities, which two others will soon join. Narula joins from Axa Framlington, where he had served as co-manager of the Global Opportunities fund and manager of the Global High Income fund. At Mirabaud AM, where he will work from 24 June, he will take over management of existing products and mandates, and will develop new investment solutions in the area of high dividends.The two additional members of the team will arrive during the year. The recruitments come as part of the development of the asset management team at Mirabaud AM in London. Several professionals have already joined the Swiss firm, including Dan Tubbs, formerly of BlackRock, who is appointed as head of equities for Global Emerging Markets, Andrew Lake, formerly of Aviva, who becomes head of high yield bonds, and Pierre Pinel, from BNP Paribas.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schroders, Legal & General Investment Management, and charities and pension funds have formed a working group which is studying the creation of an Investor Forum, which would bring together the 15 largest shareholders in the United Kingdom, and would seek to limit excesses by boards of directors, the Financial Times reports The initiative is one of 17 recommendations made by professor Kay in his report on equities. The forum would meet once per month.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the British firm Polar Capital have risen by 41% in the period to the end of March 2013, to a total of USD7.2bn, compared with USD5.1bn one year previously. Net inflows totalled USD1.61bn, while positive market and currency effects for their part represented slightly over USD500m. Pre-tax profits have risen to GBP15.3m, compared with GBP9.6m previously, an increase of nearly 60%.

After more than ten years with Cazenove Capital, Chris Rice confirms he will depart Cazenove Capital Management, which is being bought by Schroders. «He will work closely with the team to ensure a thorough handover of portfolios and clients before his departure in July 2013,» according to a press statement. He has no immediate plans, but it is his intention to take a break. Steve Cordell, manager of the Cazenove Pan Europe Fund, will assume responsibility for the Cazenove European Fund and the Cazenove European Equity (ex UK) Fund. The Cazenove European Income Fund will continue to be managed by James Sym, current co-manager. Management responsibilities of the European funds will take effect immediately. Julie Dean, director and fund manager at Cazenove Capital will head up the business cycle team. Chris Rice comments «After 22 years in the industry, I feel that I need a break and the transaction has crystallised those thoughts. It would be unfair on all concerned not to be open about this. I am very supportive of the transaction and have a great amount of respect for Schroders: I see it as a natural home for the team. Steve Cordell will make an excellent manager for the funds, we have worked together for 15 years, both at Cazenove Capital and HSBC, and I will retain a significant investment in them».

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former head of liability-driven investment (LDI) at Axa Investment Managers, Shalin Bagwan, has been recruited by Ashburton Investments, the new asset management firm of the South African financial services group FirstRand, Financial News reports. He is appointed head of solutions for institutions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Danish investment firm Sydbank has recruited Jens Erik Boesen as an addition to its emerging market debt team, and its affiliate EM Quest Capital, following the departure of Holger Friedrich to join Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Citywire Global reports. The new recruit previously worked at the central bank of Denmark.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Labour unions at BNL (BNP Paribas group) have expressed their opposition to an “external” network of IFAs in Italy, Bluerating reports. The creation aims to recruit advisers with a single-provider agency contract and not a banking contract.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Jersey-based asset management firm Ashburton has launched its second Luxembourg fund, Ashburton Global New Energy fund, Citywire global reports. The fund, managed by Richard Robinson, will invest in companies in the oil, gas, coal, renewable and other energy sectors, without geographical constraints.

Axa Private Equity a annoncé être entré en négociations exclusives avec les fonds d’investissement 3i et TCR Capital en vue du rachat de Trescal, société française spécialisée dans la métrologie. La filiale de capital investissement de l’assureur Axa explique qu’elle entend reprendre 82% du capital de la société Trescal, valorisée à 250 millions d’euros environ. Détenu depuis 2010 par 3i et TCR Capital, Trescal a réalisé un chiffre d’affaires de 157 millions d’euros en 2012.

La banque centrale indienne a laissé ses taux d’intérêt inchangés après trois baisses successives ces derniers mois, en mettant en avant l’augmentation des risques inflationnistes liés à la dépréciation de la roupie et à l’augmentation des prix alimentaires. La Reserve Bank of India (RBI) a également lancé un appel à la vigilance face aux incertitudes entourant la croissance mondiale, évoquant les risques d’une inversion des flux de capitaux vers les marchés émergents.

La hausse des taux interbancaires à 6,88% a affecté l'adjudication du Trésor chinois qui n'a levé vendredi que 63% de son objectif initial

Après un mois de correction sur les marchés, la réunion ce mercredi de la banque centrale est très attendue