Dans un entretien avec la Börsen-Zeitung, Matthias von Randenborgh, fondateur, PDG et CIO du munichois RP Crest, indique que cette société essaimée par le gestionnaire quantitatif suisse Vescore en avril 2011, a bénéficié d’un amorçage de 180 millions d’euros pour son fonds de volatilité RP Vega Fonds lancé le 1er février 2012. Ce produit a depuis lors drainé des souscriptions nettes de plus de 70 millions d’euros malgré une performance de seulement 1,6 % pour un objectif de performance absolue de 8-12 %.L'équipe de gestion mise sur les primes de risque des actions, des obligations, des devises et des matières premières et complète d’un système de gestion du risque avec des stratégies censées être performantes en phases de soudaine montée de l’aversion au risque générant des événements extrêmes.D’autre part, Matthias von Randenborgh souligne que RP Crest se distingue par un modèle de prime aux salariés en fonction de la performance de long terme du fonds.

La BaFin a récemment octroyé son agrément pour la commercialisation en Allemagne du fonds indexé sur l’inflation AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds géré par une équipe de trois personnes sous la direction de Jonathan Baltora, annonce Axa IM le 30 octobre. Ce fonds de droit luxembourgeois a été lancé il y a trois mois. L'équipe de gestion indexée sur l’inflation est responsable au total de quelque 20 milliards d’euros d’encours chez Axa IM

La société de gestion Döttinger/Straubinger, filiale du family office Spudy & Co ont recruté deux anciens de Credit Suisse pour rejoindre leur directoire. Klaus Deng et Maik Käbisch étaient respectivement responsable des fondations et du marketing pour le premier et des family offices pour le second, précise Das Investment.

Pour la première fois depuis sa création en Allemagne (1964) et en Autriche (2002), la Steyler Bank lance un fonds offert au public, le Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig - Aktien, un fonds d’actions équitable et durable confié à Warburg Invest.Ce produit ISR s’appuie pour la sélection de titres sur la recherche d’oekom research. Il bénéfice d’un conseil éthique composé de missionaires de Steyler (ordre catholique) de spécialistes de l'éthique sociale et de professionnels de la finance. Il utilise aussi les informations remontant du réseau mondial des missionnaires de Steyler, baptisés «éclaireurs de la finance» (Finance-scouts).De plus, il est prévu une procédure d’engagement auprès des entreprises du portefeuille qui se rendraient coupables d’initiatives non éthiques (exploitation, pauvreté, injustice).Le fonds sera investi de manière équilibrée entre les différentes catégories de capitalisations. Il priviligériera les sociétés qui oeuvrent pour la préservation de la paix, au commerce équitable et à la préservation de l’environnement.En revanche, Steyler pratiquera l’exclusion à l’encontre de sociétés impliquées dans l’avortement, l’alcool, les drogues, le tabac, l'énergie nucléaire, la recherche sur les embryons, les jeux de hasard, le travail des enfants, les entorses aux droits de l’homme, la pornographique, l’armement et les armes de destruction massive, les expérimentations animales, etc.Les recettes tirées des commissions de gestion seront affectées au financement des projets d’aide des missionnaires de Steyler.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig - AktienCode Isin : DE000A1JUVL8Société de gestion : Warburg InvestDroit d’entrée : 4 % (1 % au-dessus de 100.000 euros)Commission de gestion : 1,7 % (1,2 % au-dessus de 100.000 euros)Commission de banque dépositaire : 0,1 %

Olivier Arlès, directeur général adjoint en charge du pilotage économique et financier de la Macif dans un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1193 : Nos encours sous gestion ont continué de progresser, pour atteindre actuellement 24 milliards d’euros dont 18 milliards d’euros en assurance vie, soit plus de 3 milliards d’euros supplémentaires par rapport à fin 2009. Nos investissements ou réinvestissements annuels représentent plus de 2 milliards d’euros, mais nous avons moins investi depuis le début de l’année, en maintenant une partie importante de l’encours en monétaire. A l’heure actuelle, la Macif détient 85% de produits de taux (obligations ou titres monétaires). Nous acceptons d’avoir une pénalisation immédiate sur nos rendements, en étant investis de manière plus importante en monétaire, car nous faisons le pari que les taux sont anormalement bas et qu’ils vont donc remonter à moyen terme. Depuis que nous sommes confrontés au risque sur les emprunts d'États et à la baisse des taux, nous détenons ainsi entre 7 et 9% de trésorerie contre 3 à 5% habituellement. En parallèle, nous avons revu à la baisse, sur décision de notre conseil d’administration, notre exposition plancher aux dettes souveraines, qui est passée de 35% en 2011 à 30% cette année. Nous avons poursuivi notre désengagement des dettes souveraines périphériques qui ne représentent aujourd’hui que 4% de nos placements. Nous avons vendu le deux tiers de notre exposition aux emprunts espagnols et commencé à nous séparer de nos titres portugais. Nous avons en revanche conservé nos emprunts italiens et irlandais. En parallèle, nous avons donc augmenté notre exposition aux obligations corporate, tout en restant très sélectifs sur cette classe d’actifs.

L’ERAFP procède actuellement à l’analyse des candidatures et les candidats retenus pour la phase d’offres devraient être informés au mois de novembre. L’ERAFP n’a pas souhaité indiquer combien elle avait reçu de dossiers dans le cadre de cet appel d’offres mais cinq dossiers seront retenus à l’issue de la première phase. Les trois attributaires dont deux stand by devraient être connus au cours du premier trimestre 2013, afin que le fonds, d’un montant indicatif de 100 millions d’euros, soit opérationnel en mars 2013. Par ailleurs, l’ERAFP a précisé que le portefeuille sera géré sous forme de FCP à vocation générale dédié, soit un « OPCVM traditionnel » et non un OPCVM contractuel. Les dispositions particulières d’application du Dispositif ISR de l’ERAFP au mandat de gestion multi-actifs n’ont pas encore été définies. Dans les classes d’actifs où la recherche ISR au niveau des émetteurs est disponible, l'éligibilité ISR d’un fonds pourrait être déterminée en fonction : du processus de gestion mis en ??uvre ; des notes ISR des émetteurs du fonds calculées selon une méthodologie s’approchant le plus possible de celle de l’ERAFP. Pour qu’un fonds soit éligible d’un point de vue ISR, un seuil minimal de conformité des émetteurs (en nombre ou en % de l’actif du fond) au Dispositif de l’ERAFP pourrait être défini. Par défaut, c’est-à-dire si la recherche ISR au niveau des émetteurs n’existe pas, l’accent pourrait être mis sur l'équipe et le processus de gestion mis en ??uvre : les approches basées sur l’intégration non/peu formalisée d’enjeux environnementaux, sociaux et/ou de gouvernance dans l’analyse financière ou sur des pratiques d’investissement favorisant les comportements d’entreprises responsables (ex. l’engagement) pourraient être considérées comme conformes aux attentes de l’ERAFP.

The level of sophistication applied to operational due diligence by institutional investors in hedge funds has increased considerably, according to a European survey undertaken by Deutsche Bank of fund of fund professionals and consultants, representing over USD411bn in assets under management. Institutional investors are requiring a much higher level fo transaprency of hedge fund managers, the survey says, adding that since the financial crisis, operational due diligence teams have been playing an increasingly major role, as 73% of funds of funds and 80% of consultants have set up dedicated teams which operate separately from the due diligence process applied to investment.In the past 18 to 24 months, operational due diligence teams have vetoed investments due to a lack of independent oversight, lack of transparency, valuation problems, or insufficient involvement in terms of capital engaged by managing partners in their funds.However, the survey funds that although investors now have much more powerful evaluation techniques, hedge funds have also met their new and increased requirements with significantly higher levels of transparency.

The Taiwan-based financial group SinoPac has recruited the former CEO of Oppenheimer Investments Asia, Steve Bernstein, to lead a new portfolio management services platform, which will be based in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports.The platform will begin trading on 1 December, Bernstein says, and plans to recruit for its functioning and development.Assets at SinoPac Financial Holding total about USD34bn.

European multi-asset class funds need to rethink their allocation strategies, in a context of high market volatility, according to a study which has recently been published by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings.Multi-asset class funds domiciled in Europe have recovered in third quarter, after a disappointing year in 2011, the agency reports. Average returns over three years in the Global Mixed Asset category from Lipper are more in line with investors’ expectations, but remain well below their requirements on a five-year horizon, according to Fitch, which expresses surprise that flexible allocation funds show particularly mediocre results on average.

The asset management firm Döttinger/Straubinger, an affiliate of the family office Spudy & Co, has recruited two Credit Suisse veterans for its board. Klaus Deng and Maik Käbisch had been head of foundations and marketing, and of family offices, respectively, Das Investment reports.

According to a survey of 80 German institutional investors with total assets of “well over EUR250bn,” Universal-Investment has drawn the conclusion that the current interest rate environment is leading professionals to noticeably revise their strategic asset allocation, Fondsprofessionell reports.One quarter of heads surveyed are planning to avoid traditional bond investments in the future, while 30% are planning to increase their exposure to equities, and 43% are planning to increase the proportion of their portfolios dedicated to real estate. Many are considering investments in loans or infrastructure.

For the month of October 2012, the State Street Investor Confidence Index is down 6.7 points, to 80.6 points, from a corrected level of 87.3 points in September. This significant decline for the global index is due to a decline in confidence in Europe. The European regional index has lost 10.3 points, to a total of 94.9 points in October. Appetite for risk on the part of institutional investors in North America has also fallen, with a decline of 2.7 points for the regional index, to 79.0 compared with a corrected level of 81.7 last month. Investors in Asia followed the same trend, with the regional index down 2.9 point to 84.5 points, its lowest level since the inception of the index. “Globally, the confidence of institutional investors is at its lowest level since the creation of the index in 1998,” says Ken Froot, author of the index. “The level observed today is 1.5 points lower than the previous lowest level, recorded in October 2008. Institutional investors are continuing to show a pronounced desire to orient their portfolios to allocations to bond and cash investments, to the detriment of equities, and this inclination, which appears to be a strong tendency, has gained momentum with the recent market correction.”

Peter Yarrow is joining Threadneedle Investments as client relationship director, in particular charge of monitoring the major partnerships of the asset management firm in the world of insurance, for example LV=.For the past five years, Yarrow has been managing director at Turner International, after serving as senior investment director at Fidelity Pensions Management. In these roles, Yarrow was responsible for developing relationships with major British institutional investors.

According to a joint study by Pension & Investments and Towers Watson, total assets under management by the 500 largest asset management firms in the world at the end of 2011 came to USD63trn, down 3% compared with the end of 2010, following increases of 16% in 2009 and 4% in 2010. In other words, assets under management as of the end of December had fallen to a level USD1trn lower than at the end of 2006.The analysis finds that the top 20 asset management firms in the world were the ones that lost the most assets in 2011, as their assets contracted by 7%.

The South African asset management firm Coronation Fund Managers (USD39bn in assets) has recruited Justin McKie as director for international sales and relationship management. He had previously been head of sales for the UK and Nordics at Russell Investments, Investment Europe reports.McKie will be based in Lonndon, after a period of acclimation to the Cape. He will report to Kirshni Toaram, head of institutional business, and will aim to develop the activities of Coronation outside Africa.

Richard Turnill , head of global equities, has been appointed by BlackRock as chief investment strategist for its “alpha strategies” group, Fundweb reports. Turnill will begin in his new role on 1 January 2013, and will be replaced by James Bristow, managing director and senior portfolio manager.Turnill will step down from the management of the portfolios of the BlackRock Global Equity Fund and BlackRock Global Income Fund (with Stuart Reeve), but will remain as an adviser until September 2013.Turnill will report to Quintin Price, head of alpha strategies.Meanwhile, BlackRock has recruited Teun Draaisma from TT International as macro-strategist, to head macro-economic research by the global equities team, a position which is currently held by Turnhill.

In an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung, Matthias von Randenborgh, founder, chairman, CEO and CIO of the Munich-based RP Crest, has announced that the firm, which was spun off from the Swiss quantitative management firm Vescore in April 2011, has received seed capital of EUR180m for its volatility fund RP Vega Fonds, launched on 1 February 2012. Since then, the product has attracted net subscriptions of over EUR70m, despite returns of only 1.6% on an absolute return objective of 8-12%.The management team bets on risk premia on equities, bonds, currencies and commodities complemented by a risk management system with strategies intended to allow for good performance in periods when sudden increases in aversion to risk provoke extreme events.Meanwhile, von Randenborgh says that RP Crest stands out for its salary bonus policy for employees, which depends on the long-term performance of the fund.

For the first time since its creation in Germany (1964) and Austria (2002), Steyler Bank is launching an open-ended fund, the Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig – Aktien, an equitable and sustainable equity fund to be managed by Warburg Invest.The SRI product will rely on stock-picking from oekom research for its selection of equities. It has an ethical council composed of Steyler missionaries (of the Catholic order), specialists in social ethics, and finance professionals. It also relies on information drawn from the global network of Steyler missionaries, known as Finance-scouts.In addition, the firm plans a process of engagement with businesses in the portfolio guilty of unethical practices (exploitation, poverty, injustice).The fund will be invested in a balanced manner in various cap sizes. It will prefer firms which operate to preserve peace, equitable commerce, and conservation of the environment. However, Steyler will exclude businesses which are involved in abortion, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, nuclear energy, embryonic research, gambling, child labour, violations of human rights, pornography, weapons of mass destruction, experimentation on animals, etc.Earnings from management commissions will be used to finance Steyler aid and missionary projects.CharacteristicsName: Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig – AktienISIN code: DE000A1JUVL8Asset management firm: Warburg InvestFront-end fee: 4% (1% for investments of over EUR100,000)Management commission: 1.7% (1.2% over EUR100,000)Depository banking commission: 0.1%

The US asset management firm William Blair & Company has launched a UCITS-compliant Sicav to invest internationally, in growth small caps. Global Small Cap Growth will be managed by Andrew Flynn and Matthew Litfin, Investment Europe reports. The portfolio will have 80 to 200 positions, invested in securities with a cap size of under USD5bn.

BaFin has recently issued a sales license for Germany for the inflation-linked fund AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds, managed by a team of three people, led by Jonathan Blatora, Axa IM announced on 30 October. The Luxembourg-registered fund was launched three months ago (see Newsmanagers of 23 July). The inflation-linked bond team is responsible for approximately EUR20bn in assets at Axa IM.

According to CBS News, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire, Vanguard’s adoption of indices from CSRP will result in an investment of USD1bn in shares in Berkshire Hathaway by the Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund. The CSRP index takes into account both B and A share classes in the firm, while the MSCI index considered only B shares.

Due to strong demand for high yield debt, Pyxis Capital is planning to launch the Pyxis/iBoxx Liquid Loan ETF, which will charge fees of 0.47%, Mutual Fund Wire reports. It will be the second ETF of its type in the United States, after the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio fund, launched in March 2011, whose TER is 0.76%.

Pending clearance from the supervisory authorities, the merger between Edram and Edrim will be completed on 1 December this year, Agefi reports, adding that, according to a source familiar with the matter, all expertise will remain following the merger. The group plans to improve readability of its asset management product range, and benefit from the complementarity of the two asset management firms.

Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO, has announced that Carmignac Gestion is planning to launch an emerging market debt fund aimed at European investors, Fundweb reports. Although the Carmignac asset management firm is not known as a specialist in bonds, it already has considerable experience in the area of emerging markets. But first, it will need to find suitable managers, says Helderlé,

Amundi on 30 October announced the appointment of Patricia Bouchard, previously CFO, as chief operating officer (COO). In this role, she will oversee all support functions and co-ordinate projects for the IDT unit. Since 2002, Bouchard had been chief financial officer of Crédit Agricole Asset Management, and then of Amundi from 2010. She will be replaced in this position by Nicolas Calcoen, who since July 2010 had been director of strategy and development at Amundi, in charge of strategy, strategic marketing and regulatory affairs. He will continue to be responsible for strategy and regulatory affairs. Bouchard and Calcoen are members of the executive board at Amundi. Meanwhile, Thierry Ancona becomes head of the Corproate client segment for France and internationally. He will be responsible for the commercial development of Amundi serving major corporate clients. Since 2010, Ancona had been deputy CEO of Ca Cheuvreux, in charge of Coverage for Major Clients. Jean Sorasio becomes head of the management team dedicated to insurance solutions. He joins from the AXA group, where he worked first at chief investment officer at Axa Life Japan, and then as chief investment officer of the Axa Group. Lastly, Christiam Lemaire becomes head of commercial development at Amundi for external insurers. He had previously been a special adviser to the General Management at CA-CIB. The appointments are all in the third-party investors and distributors unit at Amundi.

The California-based asset management firm Hennessy Advisors on 26 October officially announced that it had concluded the acquisition of the assets in six FBR funds, which have now been renamed under the Hennessy brand and which bring assets at Hennessy to USD3.1bn.

Laffitte Capital Management on 30 October announced the arrival of Nicolas Gambier as head of risk control and back-office.His role will be to contribute his expertise in the controlling and monitoring of regulatory and market risks. He will also oversee back-office functions at the asset management firm.After beginning his career at OFI AM has an analyst/IT deveoper and then as a structurer at SGAM AI, Gambier has been an analyst and portfolio manager in the alternative multi-management team at Groupama AM since 2005.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has been mandated in Italy by East Capital SICAV, to act as a local transfer agent. SGSS Will provide payment agency and investor relationship management services. SGSS offers a range of third-party services in Italy, including settlement custody and depository banking, fund administration, liquidity management and transfer agency services.

After recently announcing the launch of the bond product Emerging Market Debt OEIC Fund (see Newsmanagers of 26 October), Standard Life Investments (SLI) on 30 October released the Global Emerging Markets Unconstrained SICAV, another emerging market fund, which concentrates the best ideas from the British asset management firm from all sub-funds of the equity asset class, without constraints. The fund is managed by Ross Teverson, who will construct a concentrated portfolio of 30 to 50 holdings, focusing his exposure to maximise outperformance, by investing in companies which cover both emerging and frontier markets.

Le ministre français de l’Economie, Pierre Moscovici, a appelé à Berlin à une mutualisation des dettes à court terme au sein de la zone euro sans aller jusqu'à préconiser l'émission d’euro-obligations dont il a reconnu que le gouvernement d’Angela Merkel y était fermement opposé. Les propos de Pierre Moscovici semblent se référer au projet d’ «Eurobills» qui remonte à la fin de l’année dernière et porte sur une mutualisation partielle à très court terme des dettes souveraines de la zone euro.