Les souscriptions pour le fonds diversifié Vanguard Wellington TM Fund (68 milliards de dollars) et le fonds d’obligations municipales Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (39 milliards de dollars) sont fermées depuis le 28 février pour les nouveaux clients, qu’ils soient conseillers financiers ou investisseurs institutionnels. Vanguard cherche en effet à freiner les souscriptions, qui restent possibles pour ces deux catégories de clients, mais uniquement pour ceux d’entre eux ayant déjà acheté des parts des fonds. Pour l’instant, les investisseurs retail peuvent continuer à souscrire de nouvelles parts et à ouvrir de nouveaux comptes sur ces deux produits.D’autre part, Vanguard a annoncé une nouvelle rafale de baisse de taux de frais sur encours (TFE) sur ses ETF. Cela concerne huit fonds en dehors du produit marchés émergents Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Index ETF (VWO) pour lequel l’abaissement a déjà été annoncé (lire Newsmanagers du 4 mars).Cette fois, les huit fonds concernés sont les suivants, selon Mutual Fund Wire et Index Universe :Baisses de 0,03 point de pourcentage :FTSE All-World ex-US, à 0,15 %FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap, à 0,25 %Global ex-US Real Estate, à 0,32 %High Dividend Yield, à 0,10 %Baisses de 0,02 point de pourcentageMSCI Europe, à 0,12 %MSCI Pacific, à 0,12 %Total International Stock, à 0,16 %Total World Stock, à 0,19 %

L’entité de gestion alternative de Citigroup, récemment renommée Napier Park Global Capital, vient de boucler son spin-off de Citigroup, rapporte Hedgeweek.Les actifs sous gestion de Napier s'élèvent à quelque 6,8 milliards de dollars. Autrefois partie intégrante de Citi Capital Advisors, la société est désormais contrôlée par ses employés mais Citi conserve une participation minoritaire au capital de la nouvelle entité. Les modalités de la transaction n’ont pas été divulguées.

Le fonds pan-européen NEIF (Next Estate Income Fund) vient de réaliser une seconde transaction en Allemagne, avec l’acquisition d’un immeuble de bureaux de plus de 14.000 m² à Francfort, représentant un volume d’investissement d’environ 65 millions d’euros.Cet immeuble est situé sur Mainzer Landstrasse, un des axes principaux du quartier central des affaires à Francfort. Il bénéficie d’excellentes caractéristiques techniques et architecturales et vise la certification DGNB. Le projet a été acquis auprès de fonds gérés par Oaktree Capital Management LP, représenté par son Asset Manager local German Acorn.Next Estate Income Fund, lancé fin 2010 avec le concours de BNP Paribas Real Estate, est un fonds d’investissement immobilier non-coté de droit luxembourgeois dont la valeur du portefeuille se situe, à ce jour, au-delà de 200 millions d’euros. Il a pour objectif la constitution d’un portefeuille de bureaux modernes, de grande qualité environnementale, loués à des locataires de premier plan et vise par ailleurs une diversification pan-européenne. A ce titre, NEIF a déjà acquis un immeuble HQE à Paris, ainsi qu’un immeuble labellisé DGNB Silver, à Hambourg et poursuivra en 2013 ses investissements principalement en Italie et en Europe du Nord.Le portefeuille ainsi constitué dépassera 300 millions d’euros et devrait assurer dès 2013 un niveau de distribution au-delà des objectifs initiaux du fonds.

Pimco a nommé Eve Tournier comme gérante principale de deux fonds de stratégies obligataires, en remplacement de Luke Spajic, rapporte Citywire Global. Il s’agit du Pimco GIS Euro Credit, de 455 millions d’euros, et du Pimco GIS Euro Income Bond, de 138 millions d’euros. Cela porte à quatre le nombre de produits qu’elle gère.

La société de hedge funds Marshall Wace et le groupe financier asiatique GaveKal Holdings ont décidé de dissoudre leur joint-venture créée en juin 2008, rapporte Financial News. Les deux parties ont constaté un manque de synergies. Marshall Wace va absorber les fonds long short de la co-entreprise et GaveKal reprend la gestion des fonds long only.

Morgan Stanley a l’intention de vendre son activité de gestion de fortune en Europe (hors Suisse), selon finews qui cite Financial News. Le Credit Suisse serait intéressé et aurait commencé à regarder le dossier de près.La gestion de fortune de Morgan Stanley affiche en Europe, Moyen-Orient et Afrique un encours de 18 milliards de dollars.

Les fonds de hedge funds ont bien démarré l’année 2013, avec une performance de 2,10% en janvier dernier, selon la dernière édition du Hedge Fund Spotlight publiée par Preqin. Il s’agit de la meilleure performance enregistrée depuis plus de deux ans. L’an dernier, les fonds de hedge funds ont enregistré des rendements de 4,63%, avec des performances de plus de 7% pour les meilleurs et même de plus de 24% pour le véhicule le plus rentable. Les performances des fonds de hedge funds restent toutefois modestes sur longue période, avec des taux annualisés de 1,79% sur trois ans et de -0,25% sur cinq ans. Ce qui peut expliquer la forte des baisse des actifs sous gestion qui après avoir culminé à 1.200 milliards de dollars en 2008, s’inscrivaient le mois dernier à 810 milliards de dollars. En Europe, les fonds de hedge funds ont vu leur encours revenir de 375 milliards de dollars fin 2011 à 280 milliards de dollars en décembre 2012. L’Amérique du Nord est la seule région du monde où les actifs sous gestion se sont accrus, passant de 485 milliards de dollars fin 2011 à 508 milliards de dollars en décembre 2012. Il faut dire aussi que les fonds de hedge funds exposés à l’Amérique du Nord ont enregistré de meilleures performances que ceux exposés à l’Europe pendant onze sur douze mois en 2012. Les créations de fonds de hedge funds ont aussi fortement diminué. On en a dénombré 59 en 2012, un niveau jamais vu depuis l’année 2000, contre 79 l’année précédente et 142 en 2010, selon les statistiques de Preqin. Enfin, 65% des investisseurs intègrent les fonds de hedge funds dans leur allocation dans les hedge funds mais seulement 12% d’entre eux envisagent d’augmenter leur allocation aux fonds de hedge funds en 2013 alors que 53% prévoient de maintenir en l'état leur exposition. Sur les 35% qui envisagent de réduire cette exposition, plus d’un sur d’eux évoque des problèmes de performance à l’origine de leur décision.

Dans un entretien à L’Agefi suisse, Antonio Palma, CEO et associé-gérant de Mirabaud et Lionel Aeschlimann, associé-gérant responsable de l’asset management, qui s’expriment sur le changement de statut de Pictet et Lombard Odier, ne ferment pas la porte à une éventuelle modification du statut de Mirabaud. «Comme toutes les banques, Mirabaud a toujours réfléchi à l’adéquation de sa structure par rapport à son développement. Nous n’avons pas aujourd’hui décidé d’un changement, mais rien n’est fermé pour l’avenir. Notre réflexion est permanente. Elle est influencée par l’évolution des affaires et des réglementations. Nous sommes convaincus que la responsabilité illimitée, dans le monde bancaire et financier, comporte des vertus. Quelle que soit l’issue de nos réflexions, nous ne changerons pas nos valeurs fondamentales: nous voulons rester indépendants et la banque doit demeurer entre les mains des associés-gérants. Nous relevons par ailleurs que déjà aujourd’hui près de 50% des collaborateurs de Mirabaud travaillent dans des structures de sociétés anonymes. Pour celles-ci, nous avons déjà mis en place une structure similaire à celle voulue aujourd’hui par Pictet et Lombard», expliquent au quotidien les deux responsables.

Les actifs sous gestion du suisse GAM s’inscrivaient fin 2012 à 116,2 milliards de francs suisses, contre 107 milliards de francs suisses fin 2011, selon un communiqué publié le 5 mars.La collecte nette s’est élevée l’an dernier à 2,4 milliards de francs suisses après une décollecte de 3,8 milliards de francs en 2011.Le gestionnaire de fortune a réalisé l’an dernier un bénéfice opérationnel de 161 millions de francs au niveau du groupe, en recul de 2% d’une année sur l’autre.

SIX Swiss Exchange launches a segment for Sponsored Funds. The first sponsor and market maker for over 250 products is Bank Julius Baer., according to a press release published on March 4.With this new segment, investors in traditional mutual funds can trade funds like shares. Thanks to the continuous pricing and instant order execution, investment decisions in fund trading can now be implemented immediately and at known prices. The segment for Sponsored Funds is another service that SIX Swiss Exchange is launching as part of its «Over the Exchange» initiative.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the Investment Management Association (IMA), net sales of shares in retail funds domiciled in the United Kingdom in January fell to GBP567m, compared with USD1.2bn in December, which is the worst result since August 2012.However, Daniel Godfrey, CEO of the IMA, says that these fugres represent a continuation of the decline in net subscriptions to bond funds observed since summer (they have undergone their first net outflows since October 2008), while net sales of shares in equity funds have increased for the fifth consecutive month.Institutional funds have seen net outflows of GBP79m, while funds domiciled abroad posted net inflows of GBP191m, their strongest since September 2012.Assets in retail funds as of 31 January set a new record at GBP688bn, comapred with GBP659bn one month earlier. Compared with the end of January 2012, the increase totals 16%.

AXA Investment Managers has announced the launch of AXA WF Equity Volatility «offering institutional investors cost efficient, positive exposure to the implied volatility of major equity markets», according to a press statement. AXA WF Equity Volatility, managed by Laurent Ramsamy, seeks to capture significant increases in equity volatility in the European and/or US equity markets while partially mitigating the cost of carry of this exposure. The fund achieves this by building a long position in implied volatility of the S&P 500 index and/or the Euro Stoxx 50 index through derivatives. In order to mitigate the cost of carry of this long position, the fund has the flexibility to opportunistically take short positions on the near term implied volatility through the use of indices futures.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds People reports that Lausanne-based Diapason Commodities Management has launched a Luxembourg-registered SIF, the Diapason Relative Value Pertroleum Industry fund, a sub-fund of Diapason Funds, which deploys a relative value strategy via oil derivatives. The fund is managed by Sean Corrigan, aims for absolute returns (10-12%), with total ex ante volatility of 6% to 7%.In Spain, Diapason is represented by Atrium Portfolio Managers.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Global Unconstrained Bond fund, Schroders will be offering a new bond sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Schroder International Selection Fund (Schroders ISF) from this April, which may invest unconstrained and globally, and whose outperformance objective is 4-5% above the benchmark per year, over a full interest rate cycle.The benchmark index will be the Barclays Capital Glboal Aggregate Bond USD Hedged Index over a sliding 3 to 5-year period. Management will be assumed by the global multi-sector team, which includes 100 investment professionals worldwide. The team is led by Bob Jolly, head of global macro, and Gareth Isaac, bond fund manager. They will use a top-down, diversified approach, and will work to generate stable returns by exploiting the potential offere dby a wade range of sources of outperformance.The new product, which is not yet licensed for sale in France, will be managed with the same approach as the existing Schroder ISF Global Bond, ISF Strategic Bond and Schroder GAIA Global Macro Bond portfolios.

In 2012, investment fund assets in Europe increased by 12.4 percent to EUR 8,944 billion, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association’s latest quarterly statistical release. Overall, net assets of UCITS increased by 11.7 percent to EUR 6,295 billion. Net assets of non-UCITS increased by 14.1 percent to EUR 2,649 billion.Net Sales of UCITS reached EUR 201 billion: net sales of UCITS returned to positive territory in 2012 after recording net outflows of EUR 97 billion in 2011. Long-term UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 239 billion in 2012, after registering net outflows of EUR 64 billion in 2011. Bond funds made up the lion’s share of net inflows (EUR 203 billion), eclipsing the net inflows into equity funds (EUR 2 billion) and suggesting investors remained risk-averse and cautious about the economic outlook almost until the end of 2012. Money market funds continued to suffer from a low interest rate environment: they recorded net outflows of EUR 39 billion, up from EUR 33 billion in 2011. Net sales of non-UCITS increased in 2012, up from EUR 99 billion in 2011. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) attracted EUR 112 billion in net new money, compared to EUR 94 billion in 2011.Buoyant cross-border fund business dominated by two countries, according to the EFAMA. The market share of Luxembourg and Ireland in the UCITS assets increased to 47.2 percent at end 2012, compared to 45.8 percent a year earlier. Total net sales of UCITS in these countries reached EUR 187 billion or 93 percent of total UCITS net sales in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The amLeague rankings (see the top three in each category below) reveal that in February, Ossiam has posted the best returns of all asset management firms in the competition, with gain of 6.54% for the Global Equities mandate, followed by Delubac am, with 5.64% on the Europe Equities mandate. They take first place by large margins in the Euro Equities (Roche-Brune, 2.26%) and Multi Asset Class (CCR AM, 1.75%) categories.The rankings are virtually unchanged in the first two months of the year, as the front-runner remains Delubac AM with 9.10%, followed by Ossiam Global MinVar (7.92%), TOBAM (7.11%), Euro Equities, and Vivienne Investissement aux Multi Asset Class with 3.07%.Euro Equities MandateYTDTOBAM team 7,11 %Roche-Brune AM B. Fine, G. Laverne 6,28 %BNPP IP team Theam 4,55 %Average 3,15 %Eurostoxx Net Return 2,32 %February 2013Roche-Brune B. Fine, G. Laverne: 2,26 %BNPP IP team Theam 1,94 %Tobam team 1,93 % Average- 0,01 %Eurostoxx Net Return : - 0,80 %Europe Equities MandateYTDDelubac AM : G. Moulin, S. Alluin : 9,10 %Federal Finance team : 7 %Invesco AM M. Kolrep, M; von Ditfurth : 6,87%Average : 4,64 %Stoxx 600 Net Return : 3,99 %February 2013 Delubac AM G. Moulin, S. Alluin : 5,64 %Aberdeen AM J. Whitley+ team 3,85 %Invesco AM M. Kolrep, M. von Ditfurth : 3,66 %Average : 1,78 %Stoxx 600 Net Retun : 1,15 %Global Equities MandateYTDOssiam Global Minimum Variance team 7,92 %BNPP IP équipe Theam 7,44 %Swiss Life Asset Managers P. Guillemin, D. Corbet 6,91 %Average 6,48 %Stoxx 1800 Net Return : 6,14 %February 2013 Ossiam Global Minimum Variance team 6,54 %BNPP IP team Theam 6,52 %Swiss Life Asset Managers 5,21 % Average 4,48 %Stoxx 1800 Net Return: 4,02 %Multi Asset ClassYTDVivienne Investissement G. Perrin, L. Jaffrès 3,07 %CCR AM F. Foy, R. Lahoste 1,74 %Federal Finance équipe 1,50 %Average 1,14 %February 2013CCR AM Foy, R. Lahoste, 1,75 %Sycomore AM S. de Bailliencourt, E. de Sinety 1,63 %Vivienne Investissement G. Perrin, L. Jaffrès 1,30 %Average : 0,54 %

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse has announced that Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) has released two volatility ETFs to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform. The Luxembourg-registered products, the Lyxor ETF Dynamic Long Vix Futures Index – EUR (ISIN code: LU0871960976) and Lyxor ETF Dynamic Short VIX Futures Index – EUR (LU0871961511) charge 0.75% and 0.40%, respectively. With the new funds, the listings on the XTF segment include 1,024 ETFs (compared with 1,025 as of 27 February).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pimco has appointed Eve Tournier has lead manager of two bond strategy funds, replacing Luke Spajic, Citywire Global reports. They are the Pimco GIS Euro Credit, with EUR455m, and the Pimco GIS Euro Income Bond, with EUR138m. These bring the number of products she manages to four.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The alternative asset management arm of Citgroup, which has recently been renamed Napier Park Global Capital, has completed its spinoff from Citigroup, Hedgeweek reports. Assets under management at Napier total about USD6.8bn. The firm, formerly a part of Citi Capital Advisors, is now controlled by its employees, but Citi retains a minority stake in the capital of the new firm. The terms of the sale have not been disclosed.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The pan-European Next Estate Income Fund (NEIF) has made a second transaction in Germany, with the acqusition of an office building of over 14,000 square metres in Frankfurt, representing a total investment of about EUR65m. The property is located on Mainzer Landstrasse, one of the major thoroughfares in the central business district in Frankfurt. It has excellent technical and architectural characteristics, and is aiming for DGNB certification. The property under construction was purchased from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP, represented by its local German asset manager Acorn. Next Estate Income Fund, launched in late 2010 with the support of BNP Paribas Real Estate, is a Luxembourg-registered private real estate investment fund, whose portfolio is currently valued at over EUR200m. The portfolio will now swell to over EUR300m, and will in 2013 exceed the initial distribution objectives for the fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street Global Advisors is planning to launch a fourth ETF dedicated to dividends, this time with particular attention to global markets, in order to diversify exposure to securities that offer high dividends in a persistent context of very low bond yields, IndexUniverse reports. The SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF fund will choose stakes in a selection of companies from developed and emerging countries such as Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The fund, which is inspired by the S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Index, joins the three available ETFs dedicated to dividends, the SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEArca: SDY), the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: EDIV) and the SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DWX).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 March, Russell Investments launched a campaign to update its indices, which will conclude on 1 July, with a provisional list of the components of the Russell 3000, Russelll Microcap and Russell Global indices to be published on 14 June. The US group has already announced that it will reclassify Greece, which is moving from the developed to the emerging markets category. In the three-year observation period, Greece has not satisfied the macroeconomic and operational risk criteria which constitute developed market status, but it does satisfy the criteria in place for emerging markets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds of hedge funds started 2013 well, with returns of 2.10% in January, according to the most recent edition of the Hedge Fund Spotlight published by Preqin. This is the best result in more than two years. Last year, funds of hedge funds posted returns of 4.62%, with returns of over 7% for the best, and even over 24% for the most profitable vehicle.The performance of funds of hedge funds, however, remains modest over the long term, with annualised rates of 1.79% over three years, and -0.25% over five years. This may explain the steep fall in assets under management, which, after peaking at USD1.2trn in 2008, last month stood at USD810bn.In Europe, funds of hedge funds have seen an increase in their assets from USD375bn at the end of 2011 to USD280bn in December 2012. North America is the only region of the world where assets under management increased, from USD485bn as of the end of 2011 to USD508bn in December 2012. Funds of hedge funds with exposure to North America also posted better returns than those exposed to Europe in 11 out of 12 months of 2012.Creations of funds of hedge funds also fell sharply. There were 59 in 2012, a level not seen since 2000, compared with 79 the previous year, and 142 in 2010, according to statistics from Preqin.According to Preqin, 65% of investors have funds of hedge funds as part of their allocation to hedge funds, but only 12% of them are planning to increase their allocation to funds of hedge funds in 2013, while 53% are planning to maintain their exposure. Of the 35% who are planning to reduce their exposure, more than half cite performance problems as the reason for their decision.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The average daily trading volume for on-book ETP transactions on the European markets of NYSE Euronext increased in February by EUR252m, which represents a 14.9% increase over the EUR228m announced for January, while the total volume has fallen 3.6% compared with January, to EUR5.05bn.The volume of block trades in February increased by one third compared with January, to EUR1.12bn.The median trade spread has fallen to 24.4 basis points, compared with 25.1 in January.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the Swiss firm GAM as of the end of 2012 totalled CHF116.2bn, compared with CHF107bn at the end of 2011, according to a statement released on 5 March. Net inflows last year totalled CHF2.4bn, after outflows of CHF3.8bn in 2011. The wealth management firm last year earned operating profits of CHF161m groupwide, down 2% year on year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } It appears that Morgan Stanley is planning to sell its wealth management activities in Europe (excluding Switzerland), which are experiencing a sensitive period, and finews reports that, according to financial news, Credit Suisse is interested in the acquisition and has already begun studying the case.Wealth management at Morgan Stanley in Europe, the Middle East and Africa has assets of USD18bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Following Spanish royal decree 4/2013 of 22 February, which modifies the pension fund law, Funds People reports, Spanish pension funds are now authorised to invest in securities listed on the Mercado Alternativo Bursátil (MAB), in Sicav funds, private equity firms, Socimi (real estate investment companies), and in securities which will be listed on the future Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija (MARF) which the Spanish government is preparing.Pension funds have assets of EUR86.5bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oliver Clasen, CEO of Allianz Global Investors KAG from 2007 to 2011, and then an independent consultant for real estate, venture capital and questions related to capital markets, Oliver Clasen is joining Long-Term Investing Research AG, based in Karlsruhe, as a managing board member.Clasen was also a board member at the German BVI association of asset management firms, where he represented AGI KAG.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to initial estimates by the BlackRock Institute, th 4,798 ETPs worldwide at the end of February (compared with 4,793 at the end of January) posted inflows of USD10.6bn last month (compared with USD37bn in January, USD38.7bn in December, and USD15.6bn in February 2012).Year to date, net inflows have totalled USD47.6bn, of which USD37.7bn have been in the United States, and USD7.9bn in Europe.As of 28 February, assets were down by USD7bn in one month, to USD2.037trn, but remain higher than USD1.944trn in assets as of the end of December, and USD1.720trn as of the end of February 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Source on 4 March announced that UBS has been named as an authorised participant (AP) and swap counterparty for the Man GLG Europe Plus ETF (MPFE SW), a single product which invests in European equities, listed in London (LSE), Switzerland (SIX), and Germany (Xetra). With this sixth partner, Source ETF further strengthens the diversification of its swap counterparties. With assets under management of USD950m, the Man GLG Europe Plus Source fund is one of the most successful Source equity ETFs. Its objective is to outperforme the European equity markets overall, through investent recommendations from brokers. Man GLG exploits the best investment ideas from nearly 65 major brokerage firms to create a liquid and highly diversified European long only equity index. In 2012, the index outperformed the MSCI Europe index by 5.34% Due to the size and the growth of MPFE, supplementary trading resources are necessary to continue to ensure its development.