Pour 150 millions d’euros environ, l’allemand Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) a acheté à l’autrichien Klapsch Immobilien l’immeuble de bureau Euro Plaza 4 (48.500 mètres carrés) situé dans le centre de Vienne.Cet actif est versé au portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public UniImmo: Deutschland.Désormais, les fonds immobiliers offerts au public d’UIRE ont investi 400 millions d’euros dans la capitale autrichienne.

Le rapprochement envisagé des structures de gestion d’actifs d’AG2R La Mondiale, Agicam et La Mondiale Gestion d’Actifs (LMGA)* et la constitution d’une seule société de gestion de portefeuilles devrait notamment se traduire par l'émergence d’un ensemble multigestion de taille respectable avec 4 milliards d’euros actuellement, apportés pour moitié chacune par les deux entités participantes. La rationalité devrait aussi être respectée avec l'émergence d’une direction des investissements unifiée.* lire Newsmanagers du 24 octobre

Le FCP de droit français CPR Silver Age, lancé le 22 décembre 2009, atteint à présent 80 millions d’euros et a collecté 28 millions depuis le début de cette année. La barre des 100 millions semble à portée pour la fin de cette année, et CPR Asset Management (groupe Amundi) a obtenu début octobre l’agrément de la BaFin pour la commercialisation en Allemagne tandis qu’un dossier d’homologation a déjà été déposé auprès de la Finma suisse. La Suède est également dans le collimateur et CPR n’exclut pas de créer un clone luxembourgeois, pour toucher une clientèle encore plus vaste (lire également Newsmanagers du 4 octobre)L’idée de base consiste à utiliser la tendance séculaire du vieillissement de la population pour créer un portefeuille d’une cinquantaine de valeurs susceptibles de connaître sur le long terme une croissance supérieure à celle de l'économie et des marchés européens. Depuis le lancement, le fonds affiche (au 15 octobre) une performance de 29,9 % (22,3 % depuis le début de l’année) contre 16,9 % (13,3 %) pour le MSCI Europe en euros, dividendes réinvestis, qui est un repère commercial, les gérants Vafa Ahmadi (responsable de la gestion actions thématique) et Clément Maclou construisant un portefeuille de conviction très actif (environ 50 valeurs) qui s'éloigne très sensiblement de cet indice.Cela se traduit par des surpondérations très importantes pour les valeurs correspondant aux sept macro-secteurs pertinents (épargne financière, dépendance, équipements de santé, loisirs & mode de vie, produits de soin, pharmacie et sécurité). Sans qu’il s’agisse d’un fonds ISR, les gérants incorporent une dimension éthique à leur choix de valeurs, en s’aidant des travaux de Vigeo et d’Amundi ISR. Le fonds bénéficie aussi des conseils d’un comité d’experts de 9 membres dirigé par Gilles Duthil, président de l’institut Silverlife, centre de recherche sur l'économie du vieillissement.Au démarrage, ce fonds a surtout intéressé des investisseurs institutionnels, des mutuelles et des structures d'épargne salariale. A présent, il semble éveiller de l’appétence chez les banquiers privés, les multigérants et les allocateurs.

Morgan Stanley a annoncé le 24 octobre le lancement d’un nouveau fonds dans le cadre de son offre FundLogic Alternatives. En partenariat avec Equinox Fund Management, le MS QTI Ucits Fund est le premier fonds d’une série de quatre stratégies CTA conformes au format Ucits.Equinox est une société de multigestion basée aux Etats-Unis et spécialisée dans la construction de portefeuilles constitués de programmes de CTA. Ses actifs sous gestion s'élèvent en nominal à plus de 2 milliards de dollars. La stratégie systématique proposée par Morgan Stanley a été conçue par Quest Partners, un gérant de CTA basé à New York.

La collecte nette du groupe Credit Suisse s’est élevée au troisième trimestre à 5,3 milliards de francs suisses contre 4,4 milliards de francs au deuxième trimestre, selon le communiqué publié le 25 octobre par le groupe.Les actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient fin septembre à 1.251 milliards de francs suisses, contre 1.213 milliards de francs fin juin. Le pôle Private Banking a dégagé un bénéfice avant impôts de 689 millions de francs au troisième trimestre, avec une contribution de 206 millions de francs du segment «Corporate & Institutional Clients». La collecte nette s’est élevée à 5,2 milliards de francs, grâce aux «rentrées dans les Booking Centers en dehors de la Suisse, qui ont été partiellement effacées par des sorties sur la plate-forme suisse dans les marchés matures, principalement en Europe occidentale». La collecte du segment Wealth Management représente 5,1 milliards de francs, celle des «Corporate & Institutional Clients» 0,1 milliard de francs. Les actifs sous gestion du pôle Private Banking ont dépassé les 1.000 milliards de francs pour la première fois depuis 2007 à 1.023 milliards de francs, ce qui constitue une hausse de 35,7 milliards de francs par rapport au deuxième trimestre 2012. Le pôle Asset Management a terminé le trimestre sur un bénéfice avant impôts de 222 millions de francs, ce résultat incluant un gain de 140 millions de francs suite à la vente de la participation résiduelle de 7% dans Aberdeen Asset Management et une dépréciation de 38 millions de francs liée à Asset Management Finance LLC (AMF). Le pôle a subi une décollecte nette de 0,5 milliard de francs, «avec des sorties liées aux placements traditionnels et aux placements diversifiés, partiellement neutralisées par des rentrées liées aux investissements alternatifs».

La Suisse paie ses chefs d’entreprises et les autres membres de la direction générale mieux que les autres pays européens. C’est ce qui ressort d’une étude non encore publiée de la société zurichoise de conseil en management Hostettler, Kramarsh & Partner, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. L’analyse comparée porte sur les entreprises européennes les plus importantes dans 12 pays. En 2011, le salaire moyen d’un chef d’entreprise était de 5,7 millions d’euros. Joseph Jimenez (Novartis) et Severin Schwan (Roche) faisaient partie du top 10, alors qu’on ne trouve aucun représentant d’un groupe suisse parmi les dix derniers. La Suisse rémunère particulièrement bien les présidents des conseils d’administration: ceux qui portent les couleurs de Novartis, Nestlé et Roche se trouvent largement en tête. L’importance de leurs émoluments s’explique aussi, il est vrai, par le fait que, contrairement à leurs collègues d’autres pays européens, ils exercent leurs fonctions à plein temps et assument nettement plus de responsabilités, relève le quotidien.

Les gestionnaires de hedge funds macro les plus renommés, comme Moore Capital, Tudor Corporation et Caxton Associates, ont du mal à honorer leur réputation. Selon Hedge Fund Research, les hedge funds macro ont gagné seulement 0,7 % en moyenne cette année et 1,52 % par an en moyenne ces trois dernières années. Mais certains gérants macro réussissent. Ce qui semble les rassembler est un plus grand focus sur les économies émergentes. Parmi eux figurent le fonds macro marchés émergents de BTG Pactual, Autonomy Capital Research, Pivot, Armajaro Emerging Markets et Pharo Capital.

Les fonds ouverts commercialisés en Italie ont enregistré en septembre des souscriptions nettes de 1,4 milliard d’euros, selon les dernières statistiques d’Assogestioni, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion. Cette collecte – uniquement le fait de fonds de droit étranger - a été alimentée par les fonds obligataires, à hauteur de 1,8 milliard d’euros, et les fonds diversifiés, pour 1,3 milliard d’euros. En revanche, les fonds actions voient sortir 378 millions d’euros et les fonds monétaires, 1,1 milliard d’euros.En ajoutant les fonds fermés, la gestion collective a affiché des entrées nettes de 1,6 milliard d’euros en septembre. En revanche, les gestions sous mandat ont vu sortir 1 milliard d’euros, dont 904 millions côté institutionnels.Du côté des acteurs, Banco Popolare se classe au premier rang en termes de souscriptions nettes avec 573 millions d’euros, devant Invesco (301 millions d’euros) et Ubi Banca (268 millions d’euros). Dans le bas du classement figurent en revanche Generali (-492 millions d’euros), BNP Paribas (-239 millions) et Credit Suisse (-190 millions).A fin septembre, les fonds ouverts vendus en Italie représentaient un encours de 494 milliards d’euros, tandis que la totalité du secteur transalpin de la gestion d’actifs (incluant fonds fermés et mandats) pesait 990 milliards d’euros.

La plateforme Z Platform Solution, qui offre des services de gestion et de conseil en investissement pour les conseillers financiers a signé un accord de partenariat avec la banque italienne Banca Sella pour la distribution. La plateforme propose 82 OPCVM de 32 sociétés de gestion.

A survey for the most recent edition of the CDP Global Water Report of 185 mid-sized businesses finds that this year, 53% of firms surveyed, compared with 38% in 2011, suffered a negative impact due to problems related to water (drought, flooding, increase in compliance costs, regulatory uncertainty, and poor water quality). Now, 68% of respondents, up from 59%, estimate that water represents a substantial risk to their activities, while 71%, compared with 63% see a commercial opportunity in responsible water strategy. However, 29% of respondents are still unable to wholly perceive the risks to their activities related to water. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the Government Pension Fund – Global (GPFG, former Norwegian Oil Fund), estimates that companies need to provide more information on the way in which they manage risks related to water.

At the end of third quarter, net profits at comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) were down 6.3% compared with January-September 2011, to a total of EUR53.93m.Assets under administration as of 30 September totalled EUR47.91bn, compared with EUR39.40bn one year earlier, while assets on the B2B platform (ebase) totalled EUR20.62bn, compared with EUR15.20bn.

Open-ended funds in Italy posted net subscriptions in September of EUR1.4bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of management professionals. These inflows, entirely to foreign-registered funds, were driven by bond funds, with EUR1.8bn, and balanced funds, with EUR1.3bn. However, equity funds saw outflows of EUR378m, and money market funds, EUR1.1bn. With the addition of closed funds, collective management posted net inflows of EUR1.6bn in September. However, mandated management saw outflows of EUR1bn, of which EUR904m were to institutionals. In terms of players, Banco Popolare ranks first, with net subscriptions of EUR573m, followed by Invesco (EUR301m) and Ubi Banca (EUR268m). At the bottom of the rankings, however, are Generali (-EUR492m), BNP Paribas (-EUR239m) and Credit Suisse (-EUR190m). As of the end of September, open-ended funds on sale in Italy had assets of EUR494bn, while the entire Italian asset management sector (including closed funds and mandates) had EUR990bn.

La CNMV a donné son agrément à la commercialisation du fonds à compartiments Fongrum FI d’Inversis Banco, rapporte Funds People. Ce véhicule comporte les fonds Fongrum/Valor et Fongrum/Renta fija mixta. La gestión est confiée à atl2 Capital Gestión.

A Paris court of appeals yesterday confirmed a five-year prison sentence, with a minimum of three years hard time for the former Société Générale trader Jérôme Kerviel, the news agency Reuters reports.Kerviel, who was sued for losses at the bank of EUR4.9bn in 2008, will also have to repay damages. The verdict confirms that the young man has been found guilty of “abuse of confidence, false statements and fraud, and introduction of fraudulent information into an IT system.”David Koubbi, Kerviel’s counsel, says he is studying the possibility of an appeal, and says that the verdict is an “absolutely lamentable injustice.”Kerviel walked out of court free, as the court did not require his detention.

Judge jed Rakoff has setenced Rajat gupta to two years in prison and a fine of USD5m, Les Echos reports. The former McKinsey head, who was found guilty in June this year of insider trading after disclosing insider information to the Galleon fund about Goldman Sachs, will enter detention on 8 January. He is planning to appeal the verdict. Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the speculative fund Galleon, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. He is awaiting a verdict on his appeal on Thursday.

Rajat Gupta, former head of McKinsey, has been sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of USD5m, the Financial Times reports. Gupta was found guilty in June of providing insider information he was privy to as a board member at Goldman Sachs to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group. The secrets included details of a capital injection of USD5bn from Warren Buffett.

Old Mutual Global Investors, born of the merger of Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK), or OMAM, and Skandia Investment Group (SIG), with assets of GBP13bn as of 30 September, has unveiled its growth strategy, which is based on “active expansion” of its direct asset management capacities.The new entity will rely on the distribution capacities of Old Mutual Wealth, its parent company, which is a specialist in wealth management solutions, while strongly developing its third-party distribution via IFAs, wealth managers, and banks, via strengthened relationships with platforms in the United Kingdom and internationally.The core driver of growth will be investment in areas an asset classes in which new product ranges can be envisioned, whie extending existing areas of expertise. To extend its range, Old Mutual GI has “significantly invested” in scaling up its capacities in product development.The new logo has been adopted, and the new brand will be gradually rolled out throughout 2013, starting in first quarter.Meanwhile, the asset management firm, whose activities are divided into four units (equities, fixed income, alternative and multi-management) has unveiled the composition of its top management:– Julian Ide, Chief Executive Officer– James Millard, Director of Investments– Ashton Bradbury, Head of Equities– Stewart Cowley , Head of Fixed Income– Paul Simpson, Head of Alternatives– John Ventre, Head of Multi-Manager– Paul Nathan, Chief Operating Officer– Mitchell Dean, Chief Financial Officer– Warren Tonkinson, Head of Distribution– Celeste Dias-Brennan, Head of Product– Marcus Bolitho, Head of Marketing– Karen Barnett, Head of Human Resources

The wealth management firm Quilter has confirmed to FundWeb that it is about to acquire Cheviot Asset Management.The private equity group Bridgepoint, which acquired Quilter earlier this year, will facilitate the merger of the two entities specialised in wealth management, with assets under management of about GBP12bn.The sale price is said to be less than GBP100m.

Morgan Stanley on 24 October announced the launch of a new fund as part of its FundLogic Alternatives range. In partnership with Equinox Fund Management, the MS QTI UCITS Fund is the first fund in a series of four CTA strategies that comply with UCITS format. Equinox is a multi-management firm based in the United States, specialised in the construction of portfolios constructed from CTA programmes. Its nominal assets under management total over USD2bn. The systematic strategy offered by Morgan Stanley was designed by Quest Parntners, a CTA management firm based in New York.

The French-registered FCP fund CPR Silver Age, launched on 22 December 2009, now has EUR80m in assets, and has posted EUR28m in inflows since the beginning of this year. The EUR100m threshold appears likely to be passed by the end of this year, and CPR Asset Management (Amundi group) received a license from BaFin early in October to sell the fund in Germany, while a license application has also been submitted to the Swiss agency Finma. Sweden is also on the hit list, and CPR has not ruled out creating a Luxembourg-registered clone of the product, to reach a broader client base (also see Newsmanagers of 4 October).The basic idea is to use the secular trend of an ageing population to create a portfolio of 50 securities likely to see long-term growth exceeding that of the economy and European markets. Since launch, as of 15 October, the fund shows returns of 29.9% (22.3% since the beginning of the year), compared with 16.9% (13.3%) for the MSCI Europe index in euros, with dividends reinvested, which is a commercial landmark. The managers, Vafa Ahmadi (director of thematic equity management) and Clément Maclou, have constructed a highly active conviction-based portfolio of about 50 holdings, which differs considerably from this index. This results in significant overweight positions in stocks corresponding to the seven relevant macro-sectors (financial savings, dependency, health equipment, leisure & lifestyle, health products, pharmaceuticals, and security). Though it is not an SRI fund, the managers have incorporated an ethical dimension in their selection of stocks, with the assistance of Vigeo and Amundi ISR. The fund is also advised by a 9-member committee of experts led by Gilles Duthil, chairman of the Silverlife institute, a think tank specialised on the economy of ageing populations.At launch, the fund was primarily of interest to institutional investors, mutual insurers and employee savings structures. Now, it appears to be pertinent to private bankers, multi-managers and asset allocators.

Kevin Scherer, a former portfolio manager at Citadel, is planning to launch a hedge fund dedicated to commercial and residential mortgage debt and ABS the news agency Bloomberg reports. The new vehicle, entitled Continuum Investment Management, will be launched in January 2013 by Scherer, with the assistance o three former colleagues from Citadel. It will aim for assets of USD250m.

BNY Mellon in March launched the BNY Mellon Absolute Return Bond Fund, a UCITS IV-compliant version of the absolute return bond fund managed by its boutique Insight Investments (USD280bn in assets under management). The product, managed by Peter Bentley, head of global and British credit, is now on sale in France. The BNY Mellon Absolute Return Bond Fund, which is based on a strategy developed by Insight Investment since 2006, invests both in long and short positions on government bonds, corporate and investment grade debt, corporate high yield debt, ABS, emerging market debt, cash, and money market instruments. The fund, which currently has USD125m in assets, aims to outperform the Euribor 3-month money market index by 3% per year. Risk controlling, a real demand of institutional investors, is an integral part of the fund. Portfolio risks are evaluated with the assistance of a VaR system. The management team defined a “risk unit” framework on the basis of an in-house model, in order to allocate risk within the portfolio. Characteristics ISIN code: IE00B706BP88 Minimum investment: EUR5m Annual management fees: 0.50% Maximum front-end fees: 5% Performance commission: 10%

The recent arrival of Guillaume Jonchères at Banque Leonardo is accompanied by the arrival of Jacques Loussert. Loussert had been manager of the Sarbacan Fund at Sarbacan Capital Limited, with whom the former chairman of Cogefi Gestion had worked when the two asset management firms were integrated into Cogefi. The Imago fund, whose creation at Banque Leonardo Newsmanagers announced a few days ago, will be an exact copy of the Sarbacan fund.The long/short fund, investing in European stocks, can claim a track record since 2006, with annual performance of 5.18%, slightly under the equity markets, but with volatility of less than 5. It will be likely to be attractive to private clients of Banque Leonardo, as it is eligible for equity or life insurance savings plans. According to its managers, the fund aims to position itself between funds in euros with steeply falling returns, and funds exposed to equity markets.

The Blackstone group is preparing to launch a fund which will acquire stakes in hedge fund management firms on the secondary market, as traditional actors such as banks are now pulling out due to sometimes disappointing returns from the sector and regulations, the Reuters agency reports.The activities of Blackstone related to hedge funds have assets under management of USD46.2bn.The size of the new fund, which has not been closed, may reach as much as USD2bn to USD3bn, it is said. Few actors are intervening in this niche activity. One of the largest actors is Neuberger Berman, with its Dyal fund.

The German asset management firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has acquired the Euro Plaza 4 office building (48,500 square metres), located in the centre of Vienna, from the Austrian firm Klapsch Immobilien, for about EUR150m.The property will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland.Open-ended real estate funds from UIRE have now invested EUR400m in the Austrian capital.

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) has sanctioned two firms, Plus500UK Limited and James Sharp and Company, for failing to send detailed reports within the required deadlines on transactions completed between 2007 and 2011. The two firms have been fined GBP205,128 and GBP49,000, respectively. The FSA has also filed actions against former independent financial advisers who no longer had licenses to practice their activities.

Adam Smears, head of investment research at Skandia, has left the firm to pursue other opportunities, Investment Week reports. He had been working at the firm since 2003. Old Mutual Global Investors has also announced that Anthony Gillham has been appointed as the sole manager of the Skandia Strategic Bond fund.

Ten Carmignac Gestion funds are now available via the UK Novia platform. These funds are made accessible to IFAs for the first time via a UK wrap platform. Carmignac Gestion recently registered these RDR-ready sterling share classes which are now on the Novia platform:•Carmignac Investissement I GBP acc•Carmignac Investissement D GBP inc •Carmignac Grande Europe I GBP acc•Carmignac Grande Europe D GBP inc •Carmignac Emergents I GBP acc•Carmignac Emergents D GBP inc •Carmignac Emerging Discovery I GBP acc •Carmignac Commodities I GBP acc •Carmignac Patrimoine I GBP acc•Carmignac Patrimoine D GBP inc •Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine I GBP acc•Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine D GBP inc •Carmignac Market Neutral I GBP acc •Carmignac Global Bond I GBP acc•Carmignac Global Bond D GBP inc •Carmignac Cash Plus I GBP acc

The head of strategic alliances at Aviva Investors, Malcolm Mackenzie, will be leaving the firm as part of a reconstruction of the sales team, Fund Web reports. A head of sales, Nick Hendy, will also be leaving. Earlier this year, Aviva Investors announced that it is laying off 160 employees worldwide, including the closure of the European, emerging markets, international and IRS equities desks.

Nicola Muirhead, a former manager at Neptune Investment Management, has joined River and Mercantile Asset Management as an analyst in the gloal equity division led by Alex Stanić. At Neptune, which she joined in 2008, she was an analyst specialised in the mining sector and a manager. Among others, she managed the UK Alpha fund, which was closed due to a lack of assets. Muirhead will be the fifth member of the team founded n 2009, following the recruitment of Stanić and Alex O’Reilly from Newton. R&M has GBP2.7bn in assets under management.