P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Scandinavian firm Tundra Fonder has launched an Asia ex-Japan equity fund for the former BankInvest emerging market specialist Jon Scheiber, Citywire Global reveals. Scheiber left BankInvest in May 2012, and joined Tundra in early 2013. The fund will have a quantitative approach, and will be entitled Tundra QuAsia fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In first quarter 2013, 435 funds were launched in Europe, whilst a total of 600 funds (396 liquidations and 204 mergers) were withdrawn from the market during the same period, as the industry continues to consolidate its fund ranges, according to Lipper.During the first three months of the year, 435 funds were launched in Europe, the lowest number for Q1 results of the last five years. This reflects a decrease of 46% compared with the peak in Q1 2010 and a decrease of 14% compared to the same period in 2012, when 506 funds were launched.The number of liquidations is also at its lowest Q1 level for the past five years. The 396 liquidations in first quarter 2013 were 30% fewer than the peak of 566 in first quarter 2009. Compared with first quarter 2012, the number of funds decreased by 20%.As at the end of March 2013, there were 31,854 mutual funds registered for sale in Europe, including 8,581 in Luxembourg and 4,907 in France.Equity funds continued to dominate the fund market in Europe, with 37% of the funds available for sale, followed by mixed-asset funds at 25%. Bond funds stood at 22%, whilst money markets represented 5%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Fundweb reports that Lloyds Bnaking Group will be selling an additional 15% stake in the asset management firm St. James’s Place (SJP) for GBP500m, in order to increase its capital.A stake of 20% was already sold in March, but the group is required to observe a 180-day minimum lock-in period before being allowed to sell its remaining 21% stake in SJP.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Emiel van den Heiligenberg, CIO of the multi-asset class solutions group at BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP), will be joining Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) later this year as head of asset allocation, replacing David North, who has left the business after twelve years, Fundweb reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Taiwan-based asset management firm Yuanta Securities Investment Trust has signed an agreement with China Resources to create a joint venture in Shenzhen. A fixed income fund will be launched later in the year, Asian Investor states. In 2014, a cross-border ETF will be created. It will be traded in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eva Gottfridsdotter-Nilsson, CEO of Länsförsäkringar Fondförvaltning, the asset management activity of the Swedish bank Länsförsäkringar Bank, has been reelected as chair of the Swedish investment fund association, Fondbolagens Förening, for an additional year. Peter Branner, of SEB Fonder, has been reelected as vice-chairman. Three new members have been admitted to the board of directors at the association: Thomas Hedberg (Swedbank Robur), Javiera Ragnartz (Handelsbanken Fonder) and Maria Rengefors (Nordea Fonder). Fondbolagens Förening has also admitted two new companies: M&G Investments and KPMG.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Lyxor is offering a new investment strategy in senior European debt, “Lyxor European Senior Debt,” which will be released by the British affiliate of Lyxor, Lyxor AM announced on 22 May at a press conference.The LBO loans market is not highly trafficked by institutional investors, who are generally exposed to senior loans via collateralized loan obligations (CLO). “The asset class is not highly present among institutionals, but the market is rather large to construct diversified portfolios,” says Thierry de Vergnes, head of debt management at Lyxor AM. The European loan market was driven by 245 businesses in 2011 and 2012, which borrowed a total of about EUR72bn. In first quarter 2013, EUR15bn in loans were issued.The financial crisis has resulted in the emergence of more favourable conditions for purchasers of loans at a time when investment capacity in CLOs is in the process of fading away. Weaker demand by European CLOs, whose reinvestment periods are generally maturing, and higher capital needs on the part of banks have led to an increase in margins on primary issues. This improvement in investment conditions has modified the investor base, as debt funds and direct investors are gradually replacing CLOs and banks. A considerable advantage compared with high yield bonds which have a set coupon is that loans have variable rate coupons, which represent partial coverage in the event of a rise in interest rates.The strategy offered by Lyxor, whose capacity may reach EUR200m, aims to generate annual returns 6% to 7% above the Eurbor 3-month rate on a 6 to 8 year horizon. Retail shares will aim to deliver annual revenues of approximately the Euribor 3-month +5%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US investment firm Capital Group has opened a local branch in Milan as part of a development of its private management distribution in Europe, Investment Europe reports. At the same time, Vlasta Gregis has joined the firm as head of development for Italy. She had previously been at Aviva Investors. The move follows the recent appointment of Grant Leon, formerly of Aberdeen Asset Management, as head of sales for the Private Wealth Distribution activity at Capital.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stefan Paulus, a specialist in funds at Bank Julius Baer, has been recruited as senior relationship manager at Dexia Asset Management, to serve institutional clients in German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein. About 80 funds (equities, bonds, SRI, hedge funds) from Dexia AM are licensed for sale in Switzerland.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Cinco Días reports that, since the close of trading on 29 April, Bankia shares have lost 87.6% of their value. Although retail investors were not able to play on this decline by selling shares as there were no more shares available to be lent, the British hedge fund management firm GLG Partners on 17 April declared a short position representing 0.52% of capital in Bankia, or 103,700 shares.Without any leverage, shares which were worth EUR12 and have now fallen to EUR1.40 will have brought GLG capital gains of EUR1.1m in slightly over one month.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Seven French-registered, UCITS-compliant ETFs replicating EuroMTS investment grade bond category indices have been moved by Lyxor Asset Management from a synthetic replication formula to a physical replication formula, fondsweb.de reports.The products are the following:LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 1-3Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010222224)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 3-5Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010037234)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 5-7Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010411413)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 7-10Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010411439)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 10-15Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010037242)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 15+ Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010481093) andLYXOR ETF EUROMTS GLOBAL INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010028860)

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Swiss Life Asset Managers has posted net inflows in first quarter of CHF1.6bn, according to figures released on 23 May by the insurance group Swiss Life.The firm has continued its growth in the area of wealth management serving external clients, thanks to additional mandates.The group has posted net returns for non-annualised investments of 1.4% between January and March, compared with 0.9% in the corresponding period of 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of distribution to professionals at FPM Frankfurt Performance Management, Oliver Fischer, will on 3 June join Charlemagne Capital as head of Germany/Austria, the German media is reporting. Fischer will replace Davut Deletioglu, who has decided to leave the company after 10 years.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “Taking advantage of an anticyclical opportunity to invest in a very well-located property,” the German firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the Ronda building located at San Pedro 5 in Barcelona from a family office.The 4,000 square metre property, with 2,600 square metres of office space and 1,400 square metres of shops, was acquired for EUR19m, and will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund WestInvest InterSelect (DE0009801423).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The London-based fund Balderton Capital has invested USD10.7m in a startup based in Lausanne, Urturn (formerly known as Webdoc), which develops a social network complementary to Facebook and Twitter. Urturn has raised a record total of USD13.4m, according to a statement from Balderton released on 22 May.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Singapore sovereign fund Temasek has bought a stake of about 10% in the London-based firm Markit, specialised in financial data and services, Les Echos reports. The operation, totalling about EUR500m, values Markit at about USD5bn. Three years ago, an investment by the private equity firm General Atlantic Partners valued Markit at USD3bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Tracy Collins, a senior associate partner in the charities team at Sarasin & Partners, will in July 2013 join Rothschild Wealth Management as director of the charities team. She will be based in London, and will report to Nadu Patel, head of charities in the wealth management unit in the United Kingdom. Patel joined from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in 2010.Meanwhile, Mark Kary, who joined Rothschild in 2010 and was appointed as head of wealth management in 2012 (he is the former CEO of Polar Capital), has announced the recruitment of Charles Costa Duarte and Jake van Beever, to form a team of wealth management client advisers. The two men had previously worked at TSB Private Banking, where they were responsible for assisting ultra-high net worth (UHNW) retail clients.

U.S. prime money market funds (MMFs) increased their exposure to eurozone banks in April, although asset allocations to these institutions remain well below 2011 levels, according to Fitch Ratings. As of end-April 2013, MMF allocations to eurozone banks represented 15.1% of assets under management within Fitch’s sample of the 10 largest U.S. prime money funds, a 14% increase over the prior month. MMFs’ eurozone allocations have almost doubled since end-June 2012, a sign of improving investor sentiment toward the region. This resumption in eurozone allocations also suggests that the March decline was a tentative retreat given the brief market uncertainty after the Cyprus banking system failure.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US manager Mary Chris Gay has left Legg Mason Capital Management, according to several sources. She has been replaced by her colleague, Sam Peters. Gay has since 1998 been manager of the Dublin-domiciled fund LMCM Value, whose assets under management total about USD2.3bn, and which had previously been managed by Bill Miller. Gay, who joined Legg Mason in 1988 as an analyst, would like to take her career in a new direction.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } LHI Leasing has selected Caceis as a depository bank for its dedicated funds, in compliance with the AIFM directive and its expected transposition into the German law on capital investments (KAGB0, according to a statement released on 22 May. LHI and Caceis will soon be creating the necessary organisation to create two large funds in the areas of real estate and renewable energies. “Caceis, as part of its depositary banking services, offers all asset classes which are indispensable to the creation of funds, and may integrate other asset classes. This factor played a crucial role in our decision,” says Oliver Porr, CEO of LHI Leasing and chairman of the board of directors at the German dedicated fund association (VGF). In addition to real estate and renewable energies, LHI is planning to launch funds specialised in reactors and aircraft leasing, for which Caceis will serve as depository bank.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } After beating its objectives for the 2012-2013 fiscal year ending in March, the Paris office of Legg Mason, led by Vincent Passa, has gotten a rolling start to the new fiscal year. Assets under management may top USD1bn by 2014, possibly duing first quarter, Vincent Passa has told Newsmanagers, at the annual Legg Mason conference in London. Passa intends to achieve his objective, largely by pushing an absolute performance bond strategy managed by Brandywine, a Legg Mason entity specialised in fixed income. Brandywine, which has about USD38bn in assets under management in fixed income, launched a new version of the bond strategy about one year ago, which allows negative bets on durations and currencies. The strategy, which has assets of about USD2bn (including mandates) is in the process of being registered in France, and in other European countries. In addition to this new product range, which is expected to be made available in the next few weeks, Legg Mason also plans to foreground complementary strategies on US equities, which have proven their mettle and which can offer attractive outlooks in a context of recovery in the US economy. This is the case with the Clearbridge US Aggressive Growth fund, whose assets under management total slightly over USD700m, an all-cap size fund which will soon be 30 years old, and which invests only in businesses which will be likely to provide sustained growth across cycles. The fund is currently underweight in tech and overweight in the biotech sector. Passa is also counting on two other US equity funds, the Royce Small Cap Opportunities (over USD600m in assets under management), which is expected to performe very well in rebound phases, and the Legg Mason Capital Management Opportunity fund, managed by Bill Miller. In addition to US equity funds, Passa is also counting on a fund of Asian debt denominated in local currencies from Western Am, which is expected to deliver returns of about 8% to 9%, with volatility of 8%. “We would like to offer French investors products which are appropriate for the environment and which perform well. That is the case for the products which we are highlighting and which are also complementary,” says Passa. If current trends continue, the Paris office, which has three employees and covers not only France but also Monaco and Benelux, may also be enlarged.

Le cabinet Agama Conseil et AMfine services & software ont annoncé hier avoir conclu un partenariat stratégique destiné à proposer une gamme de services aux prestataires de services d’investissement en ciblant prioritairement les acteurs de la gestion d’actifs. Les deux sociétés proposeront une gamme de services dont l’agrément des prestataires de services d’investissement et des véhicules d’investissements (OPCVM, OPCI, SCPI, FCPR…), conformité réglementaire (audit ponctuel, contrôle externalisé, contrôle périodique…),suivi et veille réglementaires, gestion et mesures des risques des portefeuilles, production des documents réglementaires obligatoires associés : KIDs, prospectus, FactSheets, SCR marché, AIFMD, KID for PRIPS…

Sept ETF coordonnés de droit français répliquant des indices EuroMTS d’obligations de catégorie investissement sont basculés par Lyxor Asset Management d’une formule de réplication synthétique à une réplication physique, rapporte fondsweb.de.Il s’agit des produits suivants :LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 1-3Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010222224)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 3-5Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010037234)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 5-7Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010411413)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 7-10Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010411439)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 10-15Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010037242)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS 15+ Y INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010481093)LYXOR ETF EUROMTS GLOBAL INVESTMENT GRADE (FR0010028860)

La société nordique Tundra Fonder a lancé un fonds actions asiatiques hors Japon pour l’ancien spécialiste des marchés émergents de BankInvest Jon Scheiber, révèle Citywire Global. L’intéressé avait quitté BankInvest en mai 2012 et rejoint Tundra début 2013. Le fonds aura une approche quantitative, et s’appellera Tundra QuAsia fund.

Eva Gottfridsdotter-Nilsson, directrice générale de Länsförsäkringar Fondförvaltning, l’activité de gestion d’actifs de la banque suédoise Länsförsäkringar Bank, a été réelue en tant que présidente de l’association suédoise des fonds d’investissement, Fondbolagens förening, pour une année supplémentaire.Peter Branner, de SEB Fonder, a été réelu vice-président. Trois nouveaux membres ont été accueillis au sein du conseil d’administration de l’association : Thomas Hedberg (Swedbank Robur), Javiera Ragnartz (Handelsbanken Fonder) et Maria Rengefors (Nordea Fonder).Enfin, Fondbolagens förening a intégré deux nouvelles sociétés : M&G Investments et KPMG.

La tendance à la consolidation observée durant les derniers trimestres s’est poursuivie début 2013 avec 600 fonds retirés du marché (liquidations et fusions) pour seulement 435 nouveaux véhicules. Le nombre de fonds lancés au premier trimestre 2013 en Europe s’est élevé à 435, un niveau en recul de 46% par rapport au pic du premier trimestre 2009 et une baisse de 14% par rapport au premier trimestre 2012, selon des statistiques communiquées par Lipper.Le nombre de lancements se retrouve ainsi à son plus bas niveau depuis cinq ans. Egalement à leur bas niveau depuis cinq ans, les liquidations, au nombre de 396, en recul de 30% par rapport au pic de 2009 et en reflux de 20% par rapport au premier trimestre 2012. Le nombre de fusions de fonds s’est stabilisé à 205 au premier trimestre 2013 contre 204 un an plus tôt. A la fin mars 2013, on comptait 31.854 OPCVM enregistrés à la vente en Europe, dont 8.581 au Luxembourg et 4.907 en France. Les fonds actions continuent de dominer le marché avec une part de 37%, contre 25% pour les fonds diversifiés et 22% pour les fonds obligataires.

Pour le premier trimestre 2013, le bénéfice net du pôle banque privée d’ABN Amro est ressorti à 35 millions d’euros contre 57 millions pour la période correspondante de l’année dernière, qui avait été marquée par un bénéfice exceptionnel important. De plus, la baisse s’explique par une légère diminution des marges et par un niveau plus élevé des charges de retraites.Au 31 mars, l’encours du pôle banque privée ressortait à 165,1 milliards d’euros contre 163,1 milliards trois mois plus tôt, et les flux d’entrées et de sorties se sont équilibrés.

La CNMV a autorisé la commercialisation en Espagne d’Eurizon MM Collection, une sicav luxembourgeoise à compartiments de l’italien Eurizon Capital comprenant trois compartiments spécialistes respectivement du Japon, de la Chine et du Brésil, rapporte Funds People. Il s’agit du Daiwa Equity Japan, géré par Daiwa AM, du Itaú Equity Brazil Domestic Dynamics, géré par Itaú Unibanco, et du Guosen RMB Fixed Income, géré par Guosen Securities.

Bart Vemer, directeur de la distribution chez BNP Paribas Investment Partners, a annoncé dans un entretien avec Fondsnieuws que sa société de gestion augmentera de moitié, de 5 points de base, sa commission de service sur ses fonds luxembourgeois.Cette majoration interviendra en deux étapes, la première en juin et la seconde en novembre.La décision a été prise dans la perspective de l’interdiction des commissions sur les services d’investissement, avant la publication des nouveaux DICI (KIIDs en anglais).Barbara Nieuwenhuijsen

La société Kneip qui fournit des services liés à la production et la publication d’informations réglementaires et contractuelles pour l’industrie de fonds, a annoncé mardi 21 mai l’arrivée de Lee Marshall comme head of Information Technology Infrastructure.Il sera responsable de la planification stratégique et du développement de la technologie et de l’infrastructure que Kneip utilise pour aider les gérants de fonds à répondre aux exigences réglementaires comme AIFMD. Lee Marshall travaillera en partenariat avec Yizhi Sun, Head of Information Technology Development.Auparavant, le nouvel arrivant travaillait chez J.P. Morgan Bank Luxembourg, où il occupait le poste de senior product manager responsable de la gestion européenne offshore.