Fin juin, Pictet Alternative Investments (PAI) décidera s’il convient de donner suite au projet de plate-forme de comptes gérés mis au point «avec un acteur existant maîtrisant la création de plates-formes privées», a annoncé Nicolas Campiche, CEO de PAI, lors d’une présentation à Paris."Dans un premier temps», cette plate-forme sera dédiée aux CTA, vu les avantages que cela présente en matière «de transparence, de liquidité et de gouvernance». Les gérants concernés utilisent pour l’essentiel des futures «liquides et peu onéreux» avec une approche quantitative.Ultérieurement, PAI pourrait élargir sa plate-forme pour accueillir entre 40 % et 50 % des 120 gérants avec lesquels la société travaille habituellement.PAI affichait fin décembre des encours de 12,3 milliards de dollars, dont 9,4 milliards en hedge funds (5,3 milliards) et fonds de hedge funds (4,1 milliards) et 2,9 milliards en private equity. Par souci d'éviter les conflits d’intérêt, aucun produit de Pictet Asset Management dans les portefeuilles. Les rentrées nettes se sont situées pour 2011 à 589 millions de dollars en hedge funds/fonds de hedge funds et 839 millions pour le private equity.A fin mars 2012, les actifs gérés avaient progressé encore, à 12,6 milliards de dollars, dont 200 millions environ provenant de souscriptions nettes.

La banque zurichoise Vontobel a annoncé le recrutement de deux spécialistes des investissements multi-classes d’actifs, Alan Zlatar et Arpad Pongracz.Le premier sera responsable adjoint du Group Investment Strategy et responsable de la division Multi-Asset Class Investments. Le second prend la responsabilité du pôle nouvellement créé Outcome Driven investments. Alan Zlatar travaillait précédemment à la Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Zürich en tant que responsable de la gestion de portefeuille. Arpae Pongracz était responsable des Global Balanced Solutions à l’Union Bancaire Privée (UBP).

The US department of Justice has opened a preliminary investigation into trading losses of at least USD2bn disclosed by the banking giant JP Morgan Chase on 10 May, the US press reports. The New York Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be leading the investigations under this procedure. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Fed and British regulators launched their own investigations of losses at the US banking group.

In 2011, 1,399 requests for consultations were received (compared with 1,397 in 2010), and 518 requests for mediation were made, the 2011 report of the mediator at the French financial regulatory authority, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) reports. This overall stability in requests conceals a decline in the number of requests for consultations (1,001 in 2010), which must be due to the creation of the AMF savings information service. However, there has been an increase in requests for mediation, from 396 in 2010. This significant increase was undoubtedly atetnuated by the legal possibility, provided to banking mediators since 2008, to handle claims in relation to financial instruments. Since that date, clients of banking establishments who would like to seek mediation in areas of sales and management of their financial instruments may, after making an initial internal effort at their establishment, call on the mediator at their bank or the AMF mediator. In the year 2011, 1,531 cases were handled, including 973 consultations and 578 mediations. 86% of requests for consultations were served in the same month they were received. Among 578 mediation requests completed in 2011, 46% resulted in satisfactory consideration of the request and concluded in agreement. 78% of mediation cases were closed within six months of opening. As in previous years, mediation in 2011 received numerous requests from savings investors calling into question the management of mutual funds, including innovation common investment funds (FCPI), following a significant decline in the value of shares. Sales of financial products to non-professional investors also represented a significant theme in mediation cases. These were regularly made by savings investors who contested their subscriptions to mutual funds, made at the advice of a financial intermediary. These cases are considered in the light of rules that lay out the obligations of financial intermediaries who sell mutual funds. Savings investors also initiated claims on issues related to management mandates, and the conclusion, execution and realisation of these mandates.

The pro-growth camp has new supporters. A growing number of investors are also estimating that monetary policy worldwide is “too restrictive” and are calling for new measures to stimulate growth, according to the most recent BofA Merrill Lynch survey, undertaken between 4 and 10 May, and covering a sample of 234 invetors represnting cumulative assets under management of USD526bn.The proportion of allocators who consider the policies in place too restrictive has more than doubled between April and May, to a net total of 23%, compared with 11% in April. Nearly two thirds of investors estimate that Greece could still hold some negative surprises in store this year, compared with 48% in April. Logically, 60% of respondents to the survey expect that the European Central Bank will launch a new phase of quantitative easing by the end of 2012, compared with 51% in April. Optimists who predict the global economy to improve in the next twelve months represent 15%, compared with 28% in February this year. Meanwhile, the percentage of investors who are concerned about runaway inflation is only 2%, compared with 21% in April. “Investors have lost hopes of growth and inflation which they had formed in the first months of the year, and they are now turning to political leaders to introduce measures to stimulate them,” says Gary Baker, head of European equity strategies at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. In this context, averation to risk remains pervasive, and 35% of investors say their risk levels are below normal, compared with 21% in April. 28% of investors are overweight in cash, compared with 24% last month. Underweight positions on bonds have fallen to 33% in May, compared with 48% the previous month, and overweight positions on equities total only 16%, compared with 28% in April. Appetite for commodities is also at a seven-month low, with 2% of respondents underweight on commodities, compared with 8% overweight in April.The study finds that demand for US equities has remained strong during the month under review, but may decline in the next few months. At the same time, optimism about outlooks for the Chinese economy have continued to decrease, with 10% of respondents betting that local conjuncture will improve in the next 12 months, compared with only 4% in April.With Greek risks once again flagging spirits, investors have also reduced their exposure to the euro, with 32% of respondents underweight in the euro compared with 20% in April and March. 49% predict that the European currency will depreciate in the next twelve months, compared with 32% in April.

The financial ratings agency Moody’s on 15 May announced the publication of quarterly studies of the money market fund sector. The first studies were published the same day. They concern the performance of money market funds denominated in US dollars, euros and pounds sterling in first quarter. They are available at the following addresses: - US dollar funds: http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_142098 euro funds: http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_141947 sterling funds: http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_141948

“With ETFs, we have a fantastic product, but recently we have focused above all on the bad points. In 2008, no ETFs were closed. When the Fukushima disaster happened, ETFs stayed open. That’s something we should stress. We deliver what we promise: we are diversified, we are regulated, and we are open for trading,” Thorsten Michalik, head of db x-trackers, said at an open session at the InsideETFs Europe days, held Tuesday and Wednesday in Amsterdam.Michalik claims this last point is one to emphasize now. He estimates that the ETF industry should do more to highlight the fact that ETFs are also trading tools, and to improve the tradability of these products, with lower spreads. Spreads remain higher in Europe than in the United States, he says.However, Michalik thinks that investors in ETFs are already using these products as trading tools. “Since 2011, for equities, investors in ETFs are more active than active managers themselves,” he says. The ETF turnover is 25% of equity turnover in the US, compared with 6% in Europe.There is thus huge potential for the ETF sector in Europe in this area.In order to make products more easy to trade, an area which Michalik considers more important than trading costs, the creation of an ETF association remains necessary, Michalik says. “EFAMA, the European fund and asset management association, may help us when there are problems, but in questions of trading, we need an association to represent us,” he says. When asked later about this subject, Michalik adds that such a structure will be created this year.“If we stress our strengths, which are that we are diversified, highly regulated and open for trading, the next few years will be fantastic for ETFs,” he concludes.

European Union finance ministers yesterday reached agreement on rules to increase the owners’ equity requirements for banks, after making numerous concessions to London, Les Echos reports. The initial proposal would have raised the “hard” limit on owners’ equity for establishments from 2% to 7% in the long term. Ultimately, the compromise found leaves a way for individual countries to set two parallel owners’ equity requirements, one at 3% for all bank risks, and one at 2%, for domestic risks only. London also received a commitment that the European regulator (EBA) would not be authorised to consider whether the 3% limit is discriminatory in certain countries. An agreement must now be reached at the European Parliament.

The German company Siemens on 15 May announced in a statement to the market that the sovereign wealth fund DIC Company Ltd, from the Emirate of Qatar, has passed the 3% threshold in its capital, and as of 7 May held 3.04% of voting rights. At current share prices (EUR66.55 on Xetra at closing time on Tuesday), that corresponds to an investment of about EUR2bn.

On 11 May, the CNMV issued a sales license for Spain to the ProActif Europe fund from the French firm Oddo Asset Management. The fund may vary its allocations to European equities and cash from 0% to 100%. As of the end of April, the fund was 36% invested in cash, and 64% in European equities, of which 9 points were hedged, so that net exposure was 55%.

UCITS-compliant funds have seen net inflows in March of EUR47bn, compared with EUR19bn in February, according to statistics commissioned by the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). Inflows to long-term UCITS funds, excluding money markets, totalled EUR32bn in March, compared with EUR18bn the previous month. Bond funds in particular saw exceptional inflows, with subscriptions totalling a net EUR26bn, compared with EUR9bn in February. Equity funds attracted a further EUR1.5bn in the month under review, comapred with EUR4bn in February. Diversified funds, for their part, attracted EUR4bn, four times more than in February. Money market funds finished the month with net inflows of EUR15bn, compared with EUR1bn in February. There were more limited inflows to dedicated funds, which posted subscriptions totalling EUR10bn, compared with EUR16bn in February. UCITS funds as of the end of March had total assets of EUR5.868trn, up 0.8% compared with the end of February, as non-UCITS funds for their part posted an increase of 0.9% to EUR2.289trn.

Long-term mutual funds (excluding money market funds) in April posted net inflows of USD20.8bn, compared with USD29.3bn in March, according to statistics from Morningstar. Since the beginning of the year, net inflows to mutual funds total USD124.96bn. Bond mutual funds have attracted a net total of USD16.9bn, compared with USD24.9bn in March. In the first four months of the year, bond mutual funds show net inflows of USD96.85bn. However, mutual funds dedicated to US equities have finished the month of April with net outflows of USD9.3bn, bringing redemptions since the beginning of the year to USD28.79bn. International equity funds nonetheless attracted USD5.03bn, and show inflows of over USD9bn since the beginning of the year. Money market funds show limited outflows of USD17.28bn, but since the beginning of the year, net redemptions total nearly USD131bn.

The Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) has retained the consultant KPMG to deliver a report on the state of responsible investment in Europe. The study, undertaken in late 2010, was released at the first ALFI conference on sustainable investment (http://www.alfi.lu//sites/alfi.lu/files/files/Publications_Statements/P…). It finds that the sector included 1,236 funds with total assets of EUR129.49bn. Sustainable investment in Europe represents nearly 1.6% of the European investment fund market in terms of assets, and 2.3% in terms of the number of funds.Multi-sectoral ESG (environmental, social and governance) funds represent the largest category, with a total of 704 funds. The environment is the preferred investment theme for asset managers. Four sub-categories - “climate change/renewable energies,” “environment/ecology,” “carbon” and “water” - represent EUR30.49bn in assets.The 42 Islamic funds counted in the survey totalled EUR0.94bn in assets.In geographical terms, with a market share of 28% in sustainable investment funds, Luxembourg is the largest domicile by the number of funds. France and Luxembourg share a market share of 45%. Luxembourg is the second-largest domicile in terms of assets.

The second hearing of representatives of Wegelin bank before the US courts is set for 23 May in New York, the city prosecutor’s office announced on 15 May. The Swiss private bank was subpoenaed in February by the US courts over allegations of tax fraud. An initial hearing was set in February, but no US lawyer representing the Swiss bank was in attendance. It was claimed that “the legal conditions for the opening of a criminal proceeding were not satisfied.” The bank had not received its subpoena in correct and due form. Wegelin was subpoenaed on 2 February by the United States as part of legal actions against two of its employees. Those employees between 2002 and 2011 offered their services to US taxpayers seeking to conceal their assets from the tax authorities via a series of smokescreens and anonymous accounts.

According to reports in the Econmic Observer relayed by Z-Ben Advisors, the first two cross-border ETFs in China, the China AMC Hang Seng Index fund and the E-Fund Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ETF are in the process of being licensed by the Chinese securities commission (CSRC) and may soon be released on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges, respectively.If they receive their licenses, these ETFs would allow holders of Qualified Somestic Institutional Investors (QDII) access to diversified exposure to the Hong Kong market.In addition to investments in Chinese yuan, the funds would also allow investors to use other currencies for subscriptions and redemptions.

The Zurich-based bank Vontobel has announced the recruitment of two multi-asset class investment specialists, Alan Zlatar and Arpad Pongracz.Zlatar will be deputy head of Group Investment Strategy and head of the Multi-Asset Class Investments division. Pongracz will be in charge of the newly-created Outcome-Driven Investments unit.Zlatar previously worked at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Zurich as head of portfolio management. Pongracz was head of Global Balanced Solutions at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP).

At the end of June, Pictet Alternative Investments (PAI) will decide whether to proceed with plans to create a managed account platform, developed “with an existing actor in the creation of managed account platforms,” Nicolas Campiche, CEO of PAI, has announced at a presentation in Paris.“Initially,” the platform will be dedicated to CTAs, due to the advantages these present in terms of “transparency, liquidity and governance.” The managers concerned will largely use “liquid and inexpensive” futures, with a quantitative approach.Later, PAI may extend the platform to accept 40% to 50% of the 120 hedge fund managers with whom the firm ordinarily works.As of the end of December, PAI had assets under management of USD12.3bn, of which USD9.4bn were in hedge funds (USD5.3bn) and funds of hedge funds (USD4.1bn), and USD2.9bn in private equity. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, no products from Pictet Asset Management are held in portfolios. Net inflows in 2011 totalled USD589bn in hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, and USD839m in private equity.As of the end of March 2012, assets under management had increased further, to USD12.6bn, of which about USD200m were from net subscriptions.

Joseph Poon, managing director and member of the executive board for Asia at Julius Baer, will join UBS on 2 July as head of ultra-high net worth individuuals (UHNWI) for South-East Asia. In this role he will report to Amy Lo, head of UHNWI for Asia-Pacific, Wealth Briefing Asia reports, cited by the German-language press.Daniel Harel, who is currently head of UHNWI South-East Asia, will on the same date become head of family offices South-East Asia at UBS. He will also be in charge of assembling a global team to serve family offices, and of recruiting new clients.

The Greek government has decided to fully repay a ten-year, EUR435m loan which matured on 15 May, which will bring gains for hedge funds such as Elliott Advisors, which had speculated that the debt would be repaid. The hedge funds would sued Greece if it had defaulted on this debt issue under international law, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.The Greek finance ministry says that this repayment do not guarantee that other borrowing under international law will also be repaid in full. In addition, the FAZ points out, the repayments will provoke lawsuits from investors who have previously agreed to a haircut.

A spokesperson for Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has confirmed to Financial News that the Swiss asset management firm will be closing its British institutional funds, an activity opened in 2007 and operated hitherto in partnership with Natixis Global Associates. The decision is said to follow redemptions on the part of major investors who had held about 90% of shares, finews reports.Despite the closure of these funds, UBP, which in 2010 created a British affiliate, UBP Investment Funds, will continue to manage assets for institutional investors in the United Kingdom.

In first quarter 2012, according to statistics from Pridham, assets in retail funds at Threadneedle in the United Kingdom totalled GBP472.1m, bringing total assets in these products to a record GBP20.8bn, putting the asset management firm ahead of Fidelity Investments and very close behind Invesco and M&G (see Newsmanagers of 2 and 10 May).

Eric Poon, regional head of business development, Asia Pacific at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), has joined Baring Asset Management (Barings) as regional head of institutional business, Asia ex-Japan. He will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Gerry Ng, CEO, Asia ex-Japan. He will be in charge of sales and development serving institutional clients, including sovereign wealth funds. Asia-Pacfic represents about USD4bn in institutional assets for the British asset management firm.Barings has also recruited Alexander Garton as director, client service & relationship management. Garton had been director in corporate broking at Evolution Securities. He will be based in London and will report to Tim Lord, head of client service & relationship development. His duties will include managing relationships with institutional clients in the United Kingdom.

The British asset management firm Neptune has appointed Andy Larkin as head of strategic partnerships in a restructured sales team, following the departure of John Lester, Investment Week reports.Larkin, who replaces Lester, had previously worked at M&G. Neptune has also recruited Nick Pogmore from Ignis and Harry Reeves from Artemis for its sales team. The new team will be operational by mid-August.

On 13 April, UBS Global Asset Management created the Basic Materials sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav UBS (Lux) Equity. The product invests in businesses which are active in the commodities sector, and which are likely to indirectly benefit from rising prices for these commodities. The fund, actively managed by Thomas Angermann, has an all-cap size approach and invests worldwide. The portfolio includes 40 to 60 holdings.The objective is to outperform the MSCI World Materials index.Characteristics:Name: UBS (Lux) Equity SICAV – Basic Materials (USD) P-accISIN code: LU0746412617Management commission: 1.80%

EDF a annoncé le lancement d’un fonds de capital-risque doté d’une capacité d’investissement d’au moins 60 millions d’euros, dédié aux entreprises énergétiques spécialisées dans les « cleantechs » ou écotechnologies (technologies innovantes respectueuses de l’environnement). Ce fonds, baptisé Electranova Capital, a pour vocation « de financer en France et en Europe, dans le secteur de l'énergie, de jeunes entreprises innovantes à fort potentiel de croissance via des prises de participation minoritaires », explique un communiqué du géant français de l'électricité. EDF, qui s’est associé pour créer ce fonds à Idinvest Partners (ex-AGF Private Equity), a défini « le périmètre d’investissement du fonds et apportera son expertise » dans les écotechnologies. Electranova Capital sera géré « avec une autonomie conforme aux pratiques de la profession », précise-t-on de même source. Un vaste champ d’action s’ouvre à Electranova, dans un secteur des écotechnologies en pleine éclosion : EDF évoque, entre autres, « l’essor des réseaux électriques intelligents », « l’avènement des véhicules électriques », « l’efficacité énergétique » et les énergies renouvelables, ou encore « le stockage de l'électricité ». En ce qui concerne le financement, EDF abondera lui-même la nouvelle structure à hauteur de 30 millions d’euros et l’assureur allemand Allianz y contribuera pour 10 millions d’euros. Des discussions approfondies « sont en cours avec d’autres partenaires de renom souhaitant être associés à ce projet aux côtés d’EDF et la recherche d’investisseurs se poursuivra pendant toute l’année 2012 », indique encore le communiqué.

Le 13 avril, UBS Global Asset Management a créé le compartiment Basic Materials de sa sicav luxembourgeoise UBS (Lux) Equity qui investit dans des entreprises active dans le secteur des matières premières et qui peuvent indirectement profiter de la hausse du prix de ces matières premières. Ce fonds géré de manière active par Thomas Angermann affiche une approche toutes capitalisations et investit dans le monde entier. Le portefeuille se compose de 40 à 60 lignes.L’objectif est de surperformer l’indice MSCI World Materials.Caractéristiques :Dénomination : UBS (Lux) Equity SICAV – Basic Materials (USD) P-accCode Isin : LU0746412617Commission de gestion : 1,80 %

Le 11 mai, la CNMV a délivré son agrément de commercialisation en Espagne au fonds ProActif Europe du français Oddo Asset Management, un fonds qui peut faire varier ses allocations aux actions européennes et aux liquidités de 0 à 100 %. Fin avril, le fonds était à 36 % en liquidités et donc 64 % en actions européennes, dont 9 points couverts, si bien que l’exposition nette était de 55 %.

Un porte-parole de l’Union Bancaire privée (UBP) a confirmé à Financial News que le gestionnaire helvétique va fermer ses fonds institutionnels britanniques, une activité lancée en 2007 et exploitée jusqu'à présent avec Natixis Global Associates. Cette décision ferait suite à des retraits de la part de gros investisseurs qui détenaient ensemble environ 90 % des parts, rapporte finews.Malgré la fermeture de ces fonds, UBP, qui a créé en 2010 une filiale britannique, UBP Investment Funds, continuera de gérer des encours pour le compte d’investisseurs institutionnels au Royaume-Uni.

Eric Poon, regional head of business development, Asia Pacific, chez Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), vient de rejoindre Baring Asset Management (Barings) en tant que regional head of institutional business, Asia ex-Japan. Il sera basé à Hong-Kong et placé sous la direction de Gerry Ng, CEO, Asia ex-Japan. Il aura la responsabilité des ventes et du développement auprès de la clientèle institutionnelle, dont les fonds souverains. L’Asie-Pacifique représente environ 4 milliards de dollars d’encours institutionnels pour le gestionnaire britannique.Barings a également recruté, comme director, client service & relationship management Alexander Garton, qui était director in corporate broking d’Evolution Securities. Il est basé à Londres et subordonné à Tim Lord, head of client service & relationship development. Sa mission sera de gérer le suivi de la clientèle institutionnelle au Royaume-Uni.

Au premier trimestre 2012, les encours des fonds retail de Threaneedle au Royaume-Uni ont porté selon les statistiques de Pridham sur un montant de 472,1 millions de livres, portant l’encours total de ces produits à un montant record de 20,8 milliards de livres, ce qui permet au gestionnaire de dépasser Fidelity Investments et de se classer très près derrière Invesco et M&G (lire nos articles des 2 et 10 mai).