Filiale du groupe allemand Allianz, Allianz Bank Bulgaria a sélectionné BNY Mellon comme conservateur global pour son propre compte ainsi que pour celui de quatre autres sociétés financières bulgares, Allianz Bulgaria Insurance Company, Allianz Bulgaria Life, Allianz Bulgaria Pension Company et Allianz Leasing Bulgaria.

Suite au départ de Patrik Janovjak fin octobre, la gestion des fonds ISR Sarasin Sustainable Bond EUR (LU0158938935) et Sarasin-FairInvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds (DE0006623077 pour la part institutionnelle et DE000A1C2XF8 pour la part retail) est reprise chez le luxembourgeois Sarasin Fund Management S.A. par Oscar Alberte.Le successeur du partant depuis le 31 octobre est Johannes Weisser, qui a pris au 1er septembre la direction de l'équipe fixed income & absolute return. Johannes Weisser a rejoint la gestion de portefeuilles du bâlois Banque Sarasin il y a plus de huit ans ; il y était en dernier lieu responsable des mandats obligataires.

Le groupe Credit Suisse a annoncé le 8 novembre le lancement de services de single family office en Inde. Cette nouvelle initiative devrait permettre de renforcer l’offre de produits sur le segment en forte croissance de la clientèle fortunée UHNW (Ultra-High-Net-Worth) et HNWI (High-Net-Worth-Individuals), souligne la banque dans un communiqué.L’indice compte actuellement quelque 158.000 millionnaires en dollars et ce chiffre pourrait progresser de 17% à 242.000 d’ici à 2017, selon le dernier Global Wealth Report de Credit Suisse.

Les actifs sous gestion du groupe Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) ont progressé de 6% ou 5 milliards de francs sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année pour atteindre 82,1 milliards de francs suisses, selon un communiqué publié le 8 novembre. La collecte nette s’est élevée à 718 millions de francs.Le bénéfice avant impôts a légèrement progressé à 364 millions de francs suisses pour janvier-septembre.

Andrew Lake, le patron de la gestion de portefeuilles haut rendement à Londres chez Aviva Investors, rejoindra le 3 janvier 2013 Mirabaud Asset Management à Londres, ce qui s’inscrit dans la stratégie de développement de la gamme de fonds de la maison genevoise qui s’est déjà concrétisée notamment avec le recrutement de Daniel Tubbs et de son équipe d’analystes pour les marchés émergents (lire Newsmanagers des 18 juin et 24 juillet).Le nouvel arrivant sera placé sous l’autorité de Lionel Aeschlimann, associé et responsable de la gestion d’actifs chez Mirabaud. Il est chargé de la gestion des solutions Global High Yield pour les clients de Mirabaud.Avant de rejoindre Aviva Investors, Andrew Lake a passé quatre ans chez F&C Asset Management après avoir débuté sa carrière dans le haut rendement auprès de Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) en 1998.

Investment Week indique que Marlborough Fund Managers et BNP Paribas ont refusé de commenter son information selon laquelle le gestionnaire britannique serait sur le point d’acheter la plate-forme Investment Fund Services Limited (IFSL) créée en 2007 par le groupe français pour héberger des fonds et permettre à des conseillers, des gestionnaires de fortune et des gestionnaires d’actifs de lancer des fonds domiciliés au Royaume-Uni ou des distributor influenced funds (DIF).L’encours d’IFSL serait de 700 millions de livres, ce qui ferait plus que doubler les 600 millions de livres d’actifs gérés par l’activité «authorised corporate director» (ACD) de Marlborough, dont l’encours total est de 1,6 milliard de livres.

Le gestionnaire de fortune Rathbone Brothers (Rathbones) vient d’acheter l’activité de gestion privée de Taylor Young Investment Management.Le montant de la transaction devrait être compris entre 10 et 15 millions de livres en fonction du montant des actifs qui seront transférés au cours des dix-huit prochains mois.L'équipe de gestion de Taylor Young a rejoint Rathbones dans le cadre de cette transaction qui devrait permettre d’accroître les actifs sous gestion de Rathbones d’environ 2% à 17,6 milliards de livres.

La CNMV a octroyé le 2 novembre son agrément de commercialisation au fonds Banif Revalorización Europea Euro II créé le 23 octobre par Santander Asset Management.Il s’agit donc de la deuxième édition d’un fonds obligataire lancé en mai (lire Newsmanagers du 15 mai) qui garantit au souscripteur, à échéance (2 novembre 2016), 95 % du capital initial plus, le cas échéant, 85 % de la hausse de l’indice EuroStoxx 50 entre le 17 décembre 2012 et le 24 octobre 2016. Autrement dit, le risque de perte maximale se situe à 1,31 % par an alors que le rendement avec un gain de 30 % de l’indice serait de 4,92 % par an (contre 5,20 % pour la première édition du produit).CaractéristiquesDénomination : Banif Revalorización Europea Euro IICode Isin : ES0113487005Droit d’entrée 5 %Commission de gestion : 0,3 % jusqu’au 17 décembre 2012 inclus, puis 1,6 %Pénalité de sortie : 5 %

Pour rationaliser son offre et éliminer les doublons, Kleinwort Benson a décidé de faire absorber 21 des 22 fonds de la gamme Global Funds par les fonds correspondants de sa gamme Elite, qui ont un TFE inférieur, rapporte Fundweb.

Dans son rapport trimestriel, Old Mutual indique que son projet de faire d’Old Mutual Wealth un gestionnaire de fortune de premier plan «avance bien», même s’il prend des mesures supplémentaires pour réduire ses coûts, rapporte IFA Online relayé par Investment Week.L’encours d’Old Mutual Wealth, qui recouvre entre autres ceux d’Old Mutual Global Investors, a augmenté en juillet-septembre de 1,8 milliard de livres pour atteindre 67,3 milliards à la fin du troisième trimestre, ce qui porte l’accroissement depuis le début de l’année à 8,7 milliards de livres, dont les 4,1 milliards provenant de la reprise, début avril, d’Old Mutual Asset Management (UK). Old Mutual Global Investors a vu ses actifs gérés augmenter de 6 % à 13,2 milliards de livres, grâce à des souscriptions nettes de 0,1 milliard et à un effet de marché positif de 0,6 milliard. La plate-forme Skandia UK a enregistré des rentrées nettes de 0,4 milliard de livres, ce qui a contribué à une hausse des encours à 21,7 milliards de livres. Chez Skandia International, l’encours a chuté à 13,7 milliards de livres au 30 septembre contre 14,6 milliards fin juin, exclusivement à cause de la vente de Skandia Finlande.

Threadneedle a signé un accord avec Banca MPS Promozione Finanziaria en Italie pour la distribution des 27 compartiments de sa Sicav Threadneedle (Lux), rapporte Bluerating. Ainsi, les conseillers financiers de la banque MPS pourront commercialiser les fonds de cette Sicav.

Credit Suisse a nommé Paolo Mancini en tant que responsable de la clientèle très fortunée (ultra high net worth individuals) en Italie et managing director de la division banque privée, rapporte Bluerating, qui cite le quotidien Milano Finanza. Il remplace Francesco Lombardo di San Chirico qui a rejoint Citibank. Paolo Mancini était précédemment managing director au sein de la division banque d’investissement de Credit Suisse en charge de la clientèle corporate en Europe du Sud.

Rainer Fritzsche, directeur depuis huit ans de la distribution et de la communication du gestionnaire alternatif britannique Man Investments pour l’Allemagne et l’Autriche, quittera ses fonctions fin février 2013, rapporte Das Investment. Selon ce site, l’intéressé est victime du programme d'économies de son employeur qui a accusé des sorties nettes de 4,6 milliards de dollars sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année et qui a annoncé une réduction de ses coûts de 100 millions de dollars sur les dix-huit prochains mois.

Matthias Schellenberg, qui était head of business development Europe & Latin America depuis fin octobre 2008 chez ING Investement Management, prendra début janvier les fonctions de head of Germany, Austria & Eastern Europe chez UBS Global Asset Management. Il succède à Andreas Varnavides, dont le mandat s’achève fin décembre.Sous réserve d’un agrément de la BaFin, Matthias Schellenberg devrait également faire son entrée au directoire d’UBS Deutschland AG. D’ici là, c’est le président du directoire d’UBS Deutschland, Axel Hörger, qui sera par intérim le responsable d’UBS Global AM au sein de ce directoire.

La société de gestion allemande Bantleon vient de faire enregistrer deux fonds en Italie : les Bantleon Opportunities Fund S et L, rapporte Bluerating. Ils pourront être commercialisés à une clientèle de particuliers. Bantleon est une société indépendante spécialisée dans la gestion obligataire.

The Credit Suisse group on 8 November announced the launch of single-family office services in India. The new initiative will allow the group to build up its product range in the fast-growing ultra-high net worth (UNHW) and high net worth individual (HNWI) client segments, the bank says in a statement. The index currently incoudes about 158,000 US dollar millionaires, and this number may rise by 17% to 242,000 by 2017, according to the Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse.

Assets under management at the Banque Centrale Vaudoise group (BCV) rise 6%, or CHF5bn in the first nine months of the year, to a total of CHF82.1bn, according to a statement released on 8 November. Net inflows totalled CHF718m. Pre-tax profits rose slightly, to CHF364m.

The CNMV on 2 November issued a sales license for the Banif Revalorización Europea Euro II fund, created on 23 October by Santander Asset Management.This is the second edition of a bond fund launched in May (see Newsmanagers of 15 May), which at maturity (on 2 November 2016) guarantees the subscriber 95% of initial capital, plus, if applicable, 85% of gains for the EuroStoxx 50 index between 17 December 2012 and 24 October 2016. In other words, the maximal risk of loss is 1.31% per year, while the returns with a 30% gain for the index would be 4.92% per year (compared with 5.20% for the first edition of the product).CharacteristicsName: Banif Revalorización Europea Euro IIISIN code: ES0113487005Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 0.3% up to 17 December 2012 inclusive, and 1.6% thereafterWithdrawal penalty: 5%

Taiwan is in talks with the Chinese central bank, for Taiwan financial establishments to obtain quotas denominated in RMB as qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), and to develop ETF product ranges, Asian Investor reports.

Hedge funds brought down by mediocre corporate results lost 1.9% in the month of October, according to estimates by Bloomberg. As a result of these losses, hedge funds show gains of only 1.3% since the beginning of the year, while equities worldwide in the period have gained 13%. Macro funds lost 0.6% in October, and 1.3% since the beginning of the year. The flagship fund from Brevan Howard Management had lost 0.2% in the month to 19 October, which reduces gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. Multi-strategy funds, for their part, lost 2.5% last month, and 7.1% since the beginning of the year, while long/short equity funds lost 1.2%, limiting gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. The hedge fund index is also down 11% compared with its peak of July 2007.

After a tough year in 2011, global real estate equity funds have posted a rebound in first half, according to S&P Capital IQ Research. The benchmark fund from the group has gained 12.6% in first half, while it had lost 7.8% in 2011, and 10.5% in 2010. Real estate equity funds have had two consecutive quarters of gains, as the good performance of the sector in second quarter was largely due to developed Asia, including China.

In its quarterly report, Old Mutual has announced that its plans to make Old Mutual Wealth a top-calibre wealth management firm “are progressing well,” although it is taking further measures to reduce costs, IFA Online reports, relayed by Investment Week.Assets at Old Mutual Wealth, which includes assets at Old Mutual Global Investors, among others, increased in July-September by GBP1.8bn, to a total of GBP67.8bn as of the end of third quarter, bringing the increase since the beginning of the year to GBP8.7bn, of which GBP4.1bn are due to the takeover of Old Mutual Asset Management (UK) in early April. Old Mutual Global Investors has seen an increase in its assets under management of 6%, to GBP13.2bn, due to net subscriptions of GBP0.1bn, and a positive market effect of GBP0.6bn.The Skandia UK platform has posted net inflows of GBP0.4bn, which contributed to an increase in assets to GBP21.7bn.At Skandia International, assets fell to GBP13.7bn as of 30 September, compared with GBP14.6bn at the end of June, solely due to the sale of Skandia’s Finland operation.

UK pension funds have more bonds than equities in their portfolios for the first time since the concept of the cult of equities first appeared in the 1950s, the Financial Times reports. The Pensions Regulator, which compiled data on 6,316 defined-benefit retirement plans, reports that British funds are 43.2% invested in bonds, compared with 38.5% in equities.

Investment Week reports that Marlborough Fund Managers and BNP Paribas have declined to comment on rumours that the British asset management firm is about to acquire the Investment Fund Services Limited (IFSL) platform founded in 2007 by the French group as an hosting umbrella for funds and to allow advisers, wealth managers and asset managers to launch funds domiciled in the United Kingdom or distributor-influenced funds (DIFs).Assets at IFSL are reported to total GBP700m, which would more than double the GBP600m in assets managed in the authorised corporate director (ACD) operation by Marlborough, whose assets total GBP1.6bn.

The wealth management firm Rathbone Brothers (Rathbones) has acquired the private wealth management activities of Taylor Young Investment Management. The sale price is expecetd to total GBP10m to GBP15m, depending on the total amount of assets to be transferred in the next 18 moths. The management team at Taylor Young has joined Rathbones as a part of the transaction, which will increase assets under management at Rathbones by about 2%, to GBP17.6bn.

Andrew Lake, head of high yield portfolio management at Aviva Investors in London, will on 3 January 2013 join Mirabaud Asset Management in London, as part of the Geneva-based asset management firm’s fund range development strategy, which has already also brought the recruitment of Daniel Tubbs and his team of emerging market analysts (see Newsmanagers of 18 Jjune and 14 July). The new recruit will report to Lionel Aeschlimann, a partner responsible for asset management at Mirabaud. He is responsible for the management of global high yield solutions for Mirabaud clients. Before joining Aviva Investors, Lake spent four years at F&C Asset Management, after starting his career in high yield at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) in 1998.

The Cairo-based asset mangement firm EFG Hermes is in the process of creating a joint venture with the Qatar-based firm Qinvest, which would increase its asset management activities by about 50%. The joint venture, which would be operational by the end of this month, aims to increase assets under management from USD3.4bn currently to about USD5bn within the next few years, the managing director in charge of the asset management unit at EFG Hermes, Kashif Siddiqui, has told Reuters. Siddiqui says the joint venture, which would be 60% owned by Qinvest, would allow EFG Hermes to penetrate new markets, due to Qinvest’s access to major sovereign funds in the region and to Islamic finance.

Following the departure of Patrik Janovjak at the end of October, the management of the Sarasin Sustainable Bond EUR (LU0158938935) and Sarasin-Fairinvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds (DE0006623077 for the institutional share class, and DE000A1C2XF8 for the retail share class) SRI funds have been taken over by Oscar Alberte at the Luxembourg-based asset management firm Sarasin Fund Management S.A. The successor to the departing manager since 31 October has been Johannes Weisser, who on 1 September took over as director of the fixed income & absolute return team. Weisser began in portfolio management at the Basel-based Banque Sarasin more than eight years ago; he was most recently head of fixed income mandates.

TCW recorded a EUR +2.1 billion inflow in Q3, announced Societe Generale in its quarterly financial information document published this morning. The US asset manager’s disposal to Carlyle Group and TCW’s management was announced in August 2012. At EUR 104.7 billion, TCW’s assets under management increased by EUR +13.7 billion since the beginning of the year. This included an inflow of EUR +4.0 billion, a “market” effect of EUR +7.9 billion, a “currency” impact of EUR +0.3 billion and a “structure” effect of EUR +1.4 billion. At EUR 91 million, the asset management business line’s revenues rose +11.0% vs. Q3 11, benefiting from the good level of performance commissions at TCW. Gross operating income came to EUR +22 million in Q3 12 vs. EUR -5 million in Q3 11. The business line’s contribution to Group net income was EUR +39 million in Q3 (vs. EUR +16 million in Q3 11), including a EUR +26 million contribution from Amundi. The business line’s contribution to Group net income came to EUR -92 million for the first nine months of the year. If goodwill write-down is stripped out, the business line’s contribution amounted to EUR 108 million in 9M 12. Private Banking, Global Investment Management and Services at Societe Generale posted increased earnings for Q3 2012 vs. Q3 11, in an unfavourable market environment. This was mainly due to its efforts to control costs. At EUR 521 million in Q3, the division’s revenues were down -6.5% vs. Q3 11, while operating expenses fell -7.4% over the same period. Gross operating income amounted to EUR 58 million, up +1.8% vs. Q3 11. The division’s Q3 contribution to Group net income came to EUR 63 million, vs. EUR 60 million in Q3 11. Net banking income totalled EUR 1,607 million for the first nine months of the year, down -6.3% vs. the previous year. Operating expenses were -6.1% lower. The contribution to Group net income came to EUR 15 million. When restated for the goodwill write-down in respect of TCW recorded in Q2 12, the division’s contribution to Group net income was EUR 215 million in 9M 12, in line with the figure for 9M 11.

The professional association representing investment trusts, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), on 7 November announced the publication of a new guide, calling on its members to publish all assets in their portfolios, fonce RDR regulations come into effect. The association suggests that members who are primarily invested in publicly-traded businesses should publish this information on a monthly basis, with a maximum delay of three months. For investors in private equity and more sophisticated asset classes, publication could be on a quarterly basis, with a delay of a maximum of three months.