Le Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR) a annoncé pour le premier semestre une performance globale de 3,9% qui résulte d’un rebond des marchés actions au cours du premier trimestre et de la poursuite de la baisse des taux d’intérêt de la majorité du portefeuille obligataire.Au 30 juin 2012, l’actif net du FRR s’élevait à 34,4 milliards d’euros. «Ce montant doit être apprécié au regard de la valeur de l’actif net au 31 décembre 2011 (35,1 milliards d’euros) et du versement annuel de 2,1 milliards d’euros au bénéfice de la CADES qui est intervenu le 25 avril», souligne le FRR dans son communiqué. Le ratio de financement se situe à 139% (136,5% au 31 décembre 2011). Au 30 juin, la poche de couverture représentait 58% du total des actifs et la poche de performance 42%.En ce qui concerne les actifs de performance (+3,8% au premier semestre), la période peut se décomposer en deux parties. Le début de l’année a été très soutenu par la détente de la perception du risque sur la conjoncture et sur l’euro et par la mise en place des opérations de refinancement à long terme (LTRO) de la BCE. Ceci s’est traduit sur les marchés financiers par une re-corrélation de la performance des actifs risqués : les actions ont progressé de 10 à 12% en zone euro, aux Etats-Unis et dans les pays émergents au premier trimestre ; les actifs de diversification ont également participé à la hausse en affichant des progressions importantes sur les emprunts d’État des pays émergents (autour de 5%) et sur les dettes privées à haut rendement aux Etats-Unis (+5.3%) et en zone euro (+12.5%). Au printemps toutefois, la remontée de la perception du risque global, déclenchée par les difficultés budgétaires et la crise bancaire en Espagne ainsi que par le ralentissement chinois, a entraîné des corrections sur les indices actions. La performance de l’indice Euro Stoxx a été ramenée à 3% sur l’ensemble du premier semestre, celle des actions émergentes à 4.9% et celle des matières premières, qui ont le plus pâti de ce retournement, à -10.9%. Les actions américaines ont très bien résisté avec une hausse de 9.5% sur le premier semestre, de même que les actifs de diversification avec des progressions importantes sur l’obligataire. Enfin, l’immobilier coté a affiché sa meilleure performance avec une hausse de près de 18%. Au total, avec une hausse de 3.9% au premier semestre, les actifs de performance du FRR ont bénéficié de leur diversification géographique et en termes de classes d’actifs.

Le britannique GLG, filiale de Man Group, lance sur le marché ibérique le hedge fund long/short coordonné GLG Financials Alternative. Le portefeuille de ce produit market neutral de performance absolue comporte entre 30 et 60 lignes, des actions du secteur financier, rapporte Funds People.Selon Kyril de Saxe-Cobourg, directeur général de Man GLG pour l’Espagne et le Portugal, ce fonds a réalisé sur ses dix années d’existence une performance annualisée de 9,70 % avec 9,30 % de volatilité.

Responsable de la distribution chez ING Investment Management, Rogier Westhuis a été recruté comme directeur de la distribution pour les Pays-Bas et les pays nordiques par Pioneer Investments. Basé à Amsterdam, l’impétrant travaillera avec Michel van Mazijk, responsable de la clientèle institutionnelle, et sera placé sous la responsabilité directe de Fabien Madar, Rresponsable de l’Europe de l’Ouest et du Nord.

La collecte nette de Citi dans la région Asie-Pacifique s’est élevée à plus de 3 milliards de dollars sur les douze derniers mois, en progression de quelque 80% d’une année sur l’autre, rapporte Asian Investor.Les actifs sous gestion dans la région dépassent désormais la barre des 200 milliards de dollars. Paul Hodes, responsable de la gestion de fortune pour l’Asie-Pacifique chez Citi, souligne qu'à la différence de nombreux distributeurs, son groupe n’a pas réduit son nombre de fournisseurs, actuellement autour d’une centaine sans compter les fournisseurs d’ETF. En revanche, Citi a réorienté l’allocation d’actifs selon une approche moins centrée sur les Etats-Unis.

The British firm GLG, an affiliate of Man Group, is launching the UCITS-compliant long/short hedge fund GLG Financials Alternative on the Spanish market. The portfolio of the market neutral absolute return product includes 30 to 60 holdings, of financial sector equities, Funds People reports.Kyril of Saxe-Coburg, CEO of Man GLG for Spain and Portugal, says that in the past ten years the fund has earned annual returns of 9.70%, with volatility of 9.30%.

The Inverco association of Spanish asset management firms has announced that assets in security funds as of the end of August totalled EUR123.288bn, EUR1.980bn more than at the end of July, Cinco Días reports.This increase is due to market effects, while funds underwent net redemptions of EUR360m, half of the amount recorded in August 2011, and the lowest total since February this year.

Axa Real Estate Managers, which manages over EUR42bn in real estate assets as of 30 June 2012, has recruited Dietrich Heidtmann as global head of investor relations and capital markets, following a decisino by Antoine Jozan, currently head of investor relations and marketing, to retire at the end of December 2012, after 12 years of service. Before joining Axa Real Estate, Heidtmann was managing director – capital markets at Grosvenor, where he was in charge of fundraising and investor relations activities for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America. He reports directly to Deborah Shire, global head of business development. He will also be a member of the board of directors at Axa Real Estate, and will be based in Paris. Heidtmann and Joan will work together until the end of this year, to ensure a smooth transition. Jozan will then continue to work part-time, retaining responsibility for investor relationships in Canada and the Middle East,

Gérard Roubach, who had been chairman of CM-CIC Asset Management, left the asset management firm on 30 June. Roubach, 62, whose departure had been slated for 2012, is retiring. He has been replaced by Olivier Vaillant, who has been an executive at the group for 10 years. Vaillant, 41, has also served at Banque Transatlantique as head of financial savings at the establishment.

In its half-yearly financial report, published on 31 August, La Banque Postale reported a decline in net banking proceeds from its asset management activities of nearly 12%, to EUR60m, compared with EUR68m one year earlier.The net banking proceeds for La Banque Postale Asset Mangement fell 2.8% to EUR45m, “Equity assets at LBPAM suffered from falling equity markets in second quarter, while money market mutual funds did well,” the bank notes. Inflows to the segment form institutional clients have brought assets under management to EUR128bn as of the end of June 2012, the bank says.Assets and inflows at Toqueville Finance were below expectations, which has resulted in a decline of EUR4m to EUR9m in net banking proceeds for Tocqueville compared with June 2011, the document states, adding that profits at Tocqueville are now 90% integrated into La Banque Postale, following the departure of former director Marc Tournier, who controlled 15% of the firm.Management mandate activities, for their part, are down, resulting in a decline in net banking proceeds at La Banque Postale Gestion Privée of EUR2m, to EUR8m. In the new future, this area of activity may see modifications to its perimeter. Les Echos newspaper reports on 25 July that La Banque Postale has been in talks with Crédit Mutuel Arkéa to acquire its private bank for high net worth private clients.Lastly, in its semiannual financial report, La Banque Postal claims that it has brought costs under control (-EUR7m), which has allowed the asset management sector to earn a stable net profit as a part of the group compared with first half 2011 of EUR17m.

For institutional investors, changing managers after a period of underperformance of three years on average results in lower returns than those that would have been obtained by retaining an active manager or allocating the mandate to passive strategies, a Towers Watson study cited by the Financial Times finds. “The results and experience show that retaining an underperforming manager is more profitable than replacing him or her,” says Robin Penfold of Towers Watson. This year, pension funds may replace underperforming managers representing USD100bn in equity mandates.

As of the end of June, funds from Franklin Templeton held Irish bonds totalling EUR6.1bn, according to figures by the Financial Times. The largest amount was in the name of the Templeton Global Bond fund, managed by Michael Hasenstab. The US asset management firm is the largest private creditor to Ireland.

In the last week of August, investors made Chinese equities and volatility funds their top priorities. Volatility funds have posted subscriptions in the past few weeks totalling about USD1bn, according to statistics from EPFR Global. Emerging market equity funds absorbed fresh money for the fifth week running in late August, their longest inflow streak since the first quarter, with Asia ex-Japan equity funds absorbing the majority of the new money. Investors committed USD500 million to China Equity Funds during the week ending August 29. However, investors remained prudent about developed market equities, with net outflows of over USD1bn from European equity funds. Overall equity funds nonetheless absorbed USD2.1 billion and their first weekly inflow in four weeks. High yield bond funds continued to show inflows of over USD1bn in the week under review. Bond funds overall finished the week to 29 August with subscriptions totalling USD5.3bn, bringing net inflows since the beginning of the year to over USD270bn.

The Swiss private banking unit of the HSBC group has reported profits for fits half of CHF188m, down 4.1% compared with the first six months of 2011, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The news agency points out that this development is due to redemptions from clients, but also to the various factors which are affecting HSBC in Switzerland, including the resignation of its CEO, Alexander Zeller, and theft of data, as well as, at group level, suspected tax fraud in the United States.

After two years, Russell has discontinued its passively-managed ETF activity, which is symptomatic of a phenomenon now affecting the entire industry, with assets rising (+13% YTD, to USD1.7trn), but profits falling, as competition drags down prices, the Financial Times reports.Many small ETF providers are suffering losses on funds which have not been successful, and are being obliged to close down. However, large players will retain their funds which lose money, if that lets them win over clients for other products.Some asset management firms are seeking to diversify, by offering bond or commodity ETFs, while others are offering ETFs specialised on Asian markets. Lastly, some providers are turning to actively-managed ETFs, which are harder to copy, and which bring in higher commissions. However, with the exception of actively-managed ETFs from Pimco, average assets in actively-managed ETFs listed in the United States are only USD76m, according to estimates by XTF, a data-provider.

The French pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), has announced overall returns in first half of 3.9%, resulting from a rebound of the equities markets during the first quarter and continued falls in interest rates in the majority of the bonds portfolio.As at 30th June 2012, the FRR’s net assets totalled 34.4 billion euros. «This figure has to be considered in light of the value of its net assets at 31st December 2011 (35.1 billion euros) and the annual payment of 2.1 billion euros made to CADES on 25th April», the FRR says in a statement. The gearing ratio1 is at 139% (136.5% at 31st December, 2011). As of 30th June, the hedging component accounted for 58% of total assets and the performance component, 42%. Against this background, annualised performance of the FRR’s management since 2004 (+2.65% measured as at 31 December 2011) has now increased to +3%.

Investment Europe is reporting that Henderson has removed the possibility of limiting redemptions (known as a “gate”) for its AlphaGen Rhocas fund. The fund is part of the AlphaGen range taken over by Henderson with the acquisition of Gartmore. Paul Graham, global head of hedge funds, has announced that “gating” rules will be removed from all hedge funds except the AlphaGen Volantis, a fund specialised in British small caps. Gates have been removed for the Rhocas fund for more than a week; they will be removed from other funds gradually, at meetings of their respective boards of trustees.The manager says most hedge funds of the brand operate on deep enough markets to be encashed within three days if need be. Graham also says that some hedge funds currently in the process of being launched will allow investors a choice between share classes with or without a gate (which generally limits redemptions to 25%).

Anja Balfour, previously manager of the Aa Framlington Japan fund, has joined Martin Currie Pacific Trust, as non-executive director, Investment Week reports. The Martin Currie Pacific Trust, whose assets under management total GBP248m, is managed by Andrew Graham.

BlackRock Investment Management has launched the North American Income Trust, which will offer an annual dividend of 4%, Money Marketing reports. The trust, which will focus on US large caps, will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, and will seek to outperform the Russell 1000 Value Index.

Net inflows to Citi in the Asia-Pacific region have totalled over USD3bn in the past twelve months, an increase of nearly 80% year on year, Asian Investor reports. Assets under management in the regino now total over USD200bn. Paul Hodes, head of wealth management for Asia-Pacific at Citi, says that unlike many distributors, his group has not reduced the number of providers it works with, which currently total about 100, not counting ETF providers. However, Citi has reoriented its asset allocation to an approach less focused on the United States.

The Japanese public retirement fund, GPIF, has announced that its asset portfolio between April and June generated JPY2.069trn in losses (EUR21bn), Les Echos reports. The public pension fund has reopened a debate in Japan over investment strategies. The fund, which controls a total of EUR1.09trn in assets, is considering new investment opportunities to increase its gains, and is seeking to confront an increasingly rapidly ageing Japanese population.Between April and June, foreign assets, which represent 11.14% of the fund’s investment portfolio, showed losses of 7.55%, while Japanese equities, which also account for 11.14% of the portfolio, lost 9.93%. Foreign bonds, which were punished by the European crisis, are equivalent to 8.86% of total investments, and lost 3.46%. However, Japanese government bonds, which represent 64.92% of the investments of the GPIF, gained 1.04%, and brought a total loss for the fund of only 1.85%.

On Sunday, Samsung Asset Management Company announced that it has received a further Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) quota from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of USD150m, bringing the total quota for the asset management firm to USD450m, with quotas issued in 2008 and 2010.Z-Ben Advisors reports that the pace at which SAFE has been awarding quotas set a record in first half 2012, at CNY10.4bn, more than double the amount issued in January-June 2011.

At a time when uncertainty reigns over the ratification of an agreement on withholding taxes between Switzerland and Germany, an agreement of the same type with the United Kingdom has been passed without any problem, Agefi Switzerland reports. The passage of the legislation was not even announced in a statement from the Swiss bankers’ association. Some have expressed surprise at the lack of publicity given to the ratification of an agreement which affects 6% to 8% of all wealth management clients in Switzerland, and which has similarities with an agreement with Germany which has been signed, but not yet ratified.

Invesco has launched four funds for the Italian retail market, Bluerating reports. They include the Invesco US High Yield Bond Fund, Invesco Renminbi Fixed Income Fund, Invesco Asian Focus Equity Fund and Invesco US Equity Fund.

Stefano Calvi has left Vontobel, where he was executive director in charge of private banking for Italy, according to reports in Bluerating. His new destination will be announced in early October.

In July, the three largest Italian asset management firms by the volume of assets under management in the country posted the largest redemptions. The largest group, Intesa Sanpaolo, with EUR215bn in assets under management, has seen net outflows of slightly over EUR1bn. In second place, Generali (EUR139bn) has seen net outflows of EUR507m, Lastly, in third place, Pioneer Investments (EUR99bn) has posted net redemptions of EUR507m.At the other end of the spectrum, Ubi Banca has posted net subscriptions of EUR644m. The firm has assets under management of EUR29bn. Banco Popolare has taken on EUR529m (EUR18bn in assets).Among French groups, Amundi has seen outflows of EUR135m, and BNP Paribas has seen outflows of EUR191.4m, while Axa shows inflows of EUR19m.

The Schroder UCITS-compliant platform GAIA (Global Alternative Investor Access, GBP1.42bn in assets as of the end of June) will in October add a new Schroders product which had previously been managed internally, the Schroder GAIA Global Macro Bond fund, which does not yet have a sales license for France. The product aims for gross annual outperformance of 800 basis points over Libor, using strategies on forex, government bonds and corporate bonds.The fund will be managed by the multi-sector fixed income team at Schroders (10 investment professionals and 7 European credit portfolio managers), led by Bob Jolly, who joined the British asset management firm in September 2011 as head of global macro.

In a highly competitive fund distribution market, the weight of a product makes all the difference, Fitch Ratings claims. With at least EUR1bn in assets, flagship funds are what European firms are missing to compete with their Anglo-American rivals, the ratings agency says in a recent study.On the cross-border fund distribution market (excluding money market funds), UK and US asset management firms lead the pack. Among the firms with the strongest concentration of flagship funds, Robeco is the only non-Anglo-American firm. M&G takes first place, with 34% and 11 flagship funds out of 30, followed by Pimco (29%), Vanguard (21%), BlackRock (19%) and Franklin Templeton, with 17% of funds on sale being of flagship size.At the other end of the extreme, Fitch says, European asset management firms have overly wide product ranges, with few or no flagship funds. Of the ten firms with the fewest funds weighing in at over EUR1bn, all are of continental European in origin, except HSBC. Paribas has 469 funds, but only 8 have over EUR1bn in assets.Only in the specialist asset management firm segment do we find flagship funds, on sale from European Firms such as Skagen, Carmignac Gestion, DNCA and Comgest.Having large funds has several advantages, says Fitch. Flagship funds allow for larger operational efficiency in the area of administration and reporting, for example. Managers who manage fewer funds also have less addministrative burden and can concentrate more on management and generating new ideas. Flagship funds are more visible in rankings and advertising, and are more easy to sell via promoters, Fitch notes. Front-end fees for investors may be higher, however. The complete study is available as an attachment.

SEB Asset Management on 3 September announced that it has sold four properties located in Düsseldorf, Berlin and Luxembourg for EUR51.8m from the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest. The product must be liquidated by 30 April 2017 (see Newsmanagers of 9 May). The four properties were sold “on average” at their most recent expert valuation price.

Nine senior partners have left the asset management activity of State Street Global Advisors in London, Financial News reports. They include Ben Clissord, who had been liability manager, Moira Gorman, head of relations with local authorities, and Vin Battacharjee, head of European intermediated activities.

Matthew Joyce (ex Occam Asset Management) and Jingjing Cui (ex JPMorgan Asset Management) have been recruited as senior analysts in the multi-asset class team at Schroder Investment Management (Schroders), which has 90 members. They will report to Nicolaas Marais, head of multi-asset investments & portfolio solutions.