Venant de Credit Suisse, où il travaillait depuis 2009, après avoir passé quatre ans chez Barclays Capital et avoir commencé sa carrière chez UBS en 1993, Reto Germann a été recruté par Unigestion pour piloter le renforcement de sa présence auprès de la clientèle institutionnelle en Allemagne et en Autriche. Il sera subordonné à Tom Leavitt, managing director et responsable de l'équipe clients institutionnels.

Le spécialiste de la retraite LV= vient d’annoncer qu’il avait ajouté sept fonds à sa liste de fonds disponibles pour les conseillers en gestion et leur clientèle.Il s’agit de trois fonds de Fidelity et de quatre fonds de Threadneedle : Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator Balanced Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator Defensive Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator Growth Threadneedle Global Equity Income Threadneedle UK Equity Income Threadneedle European Select Threadneedle Defensive Equity & Bond

Le nouveau UBS D German Logistics Property Fund 2 d’UBS Allemagne vise un rendement annuel de 7 %. Ce produit destiné aux investisseurs institutionnels se focalisera sur l’immobilier logistique locatif en Allemagne et utilise le statut de fonds institutionnel allemand (Spezialfonds). Le gestionnaire ambitionne un encours de 300 millions d’euros.CaractéristiquesDénomination : UBS (D) German Logistics Property Fund 2Code Isin : DE000A0DJ3L2Souscription minimale : 2,5 millions d’euros

Credit Suisse annonce avoir recruté plusieurs banquiers senior qui viendront renforcer son équipe banque privée pour la région Asie Pacifique. Song Kun a rejoint Credit Suisse Private Banking à Hong Kong en tant que managing director et senior client partner pour la région Grande Chine. L’intéressée travaillait auparavant chez Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd, où elle était managing director of investments pour la banque privée du groupe.Jimmy Lee, jusqu'à présent patron pour l’Asie de Clariden Leu, est nommé managing director, responsable de l’intégration des activités de Clariden Leu suite au rachat de la banque par Credit Suisse.Yee Chin Lit , également en provenance de Clariden Leu, devient managing director et responsable de marché indonésien.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a annoncé le 17 avril avoir été mandaté par la Banque Fédérale Mutualiste pour fournir des services de conservation globale sur un portefeuille de 1,2 milliard d’euros. SGSS offrira ses services en matière de fiscalité, avec notamment les traitements relatifs à l’application des taux d’imposition réduits à la source et des exonérations d’impôts, à la récupération fiscale, la gestion de la documentation fiscale, les reportings règlementaires auprès des administrations fiscales ainsi que les reportings fiscaux à destination de la clientèle.

La Française AM a mandaté BNP Paribas Securities Services pour la fourniture de services d’administration, de conservation, d’agent de transfert et de valorisation.Le mandat concerne les activités de La Française des Placements, LFP Sarasin AM, La Française Real Estate Managers et La Française AM International.

Oddo Asset Management va travailler avec le chinois Guosen Securities, lequel a signé lundi un protocole d’accord avec Oddo & Cie pour la gestion d’actifs ainsi que la banque d’affaires. Il s’agit du premier partenariat en Chine pour la société de gestion française. Concrètement, et dans un premier temps, Guosen conseillera Oddo AM pour le lancement d’un fonds obligataire en renminbi géré et distribué par la société française. Ce produit sera commercialisé en France mais également dans les autres pays où cette dernière est présente. De son côté, Oddo AM conseillera notamment son partenaire chinois pour le lancement d’un fonds thématique «global luxury and lifestyle» investi en actions mondiales liées au secteur du luxe géré et distribué en Chine continentale par Guosen Securities. Ce produit sera piloté par Emmanuel Chapuis et François-Régis Breuil. Le partenariat pourrait s’étendre à l’avenir sur le terrain de la gestion privée, a indiqué un porte-parole d’Oddo AM à Newsmanagers. En revanche, il n’est pas prévu de prise de participation ou de la création d’une structure commune. Par ailleurs, ans le domaine de la banque d’affaires, Oddo Corporate Finance et Guosen conseilleront des sociétés françaises souhaitant s’introduire en Bourse sur les places financières chinoises, mais également les sociétés chinoises souhaitant accéder aux marchés actions européens.Détenue à 70% par le gouvernement de la province de Shenzen, Guosen Securities est l’une des cinq premières sociétés de Bourse en Chine, d’après le communiqué de presse annonçant l’accord. Employant 12.000 personnes, elle est active dans le courtage, la banque d’affaires et la gestion d’actifs.A fin 2010 Guosen a dégagé un résultat net de 3,1 milliards de renminbi (environ 310 millions d’euros) et dispose de fonds propres à hauteur de 15 milliards de renminbi (environ 1,5 milliard d’euros).

Après le départ de Sergio Míguez, directeur des investissement de performance absolue, qui rejoint Lazard (lire Newsmanagers du 16 avril), le poste de directeur des hedge funds chez BanSabadell Inversión échoit à Félix Sánchez, qui était gérant de fonds de hedge funds depuis 2005, rapporte Funds People. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Félix Sánchez est subordonné directement à José Antonio Pérez Roger, directeur des investissements.Pour l’instant, BanSabadell Inversión ne gère que 41 millions dans des hedge funds, mais son encours alternatif se situe à 1,07 milliard d’euros en comptant les fonds de hedge funds, de matières premières, un fonds immobilier et des fonds quantitatifs de performance absolue.

Le fonds souverain Aabar d’Abou Dhabi, qui détient 6,5% du capital de la banque italienne UniCredit, entre avec deux membres dans son conseil d’administration dont sortent les Libyens, selon le quotidien Corriere della Sera.Aabar propose son président Khadem Abdulla Al Qubaisi, précisant que le président de Ferrari, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, entrera également dans le conseil en tant que représentant de ce fonds.La Libye reste dehors, rappelle le quotidien, à trois semaines de l’assemblée générale de 11 mai qui doit voter la composition du nouveau conseil d’administration. La Libye n’avait pas participé à la dernière augmentation de capital de 7,5 milliards d’euros lancée par UniCredit et qui s’est achevée en janvier, marquant la montée en puissance du fonds Aabar, devenu le premier actionnaire de la banque.

Invitée par l’AFIC à s’exprimer sur l’investissement en non coté, Hélène Falchier, responsable des investissements Private Equity chez CNP assurances, insiste sur l’importance, dans le processus de sélection, de pouvoir discuter ouvertement des frais auprès des sociétés de gestion, qui doivent être en adéquation avec la qualité du fonds : « ce signe d’ouverture est très important pour nous, investisseur de long terme, car s’il s’agit d’un sujet tabou qui présage de difficultés dans les discussions à venir sur un engagement de 10 ans. Il faudrait revoir les incentives, les frais de gestion, le partage de la plus-value. » Au sein de l’assurance, nous sommes très attachés à l’investissement dans les PME françaises, même si nous disposons aussi d’encours sur le non coté en Europe. Cela étant, CNP Assurances possède en majorité ses actifs en France. Pour la sélection des fonds, Hélène Falchier explique sa philosophie: « Nous sommes très attachés aux termes et conditions des fonds dans lesquels nous sommes investisseurs. Nous avons déterminé un questionnaire pour chaque nouvel investissement, inspiré de celui de la Caisse des dépôts. »

The international alternative investment management association (AIMA) on 17 April released a 40-page statement laying out and analysing the differences between the regulations proposed by the European Commission and the recommendations of the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) for measures to be included in the level 2 MiFID directive.The association explains that it is seeking to illustrate and analyse the marked divergences of the Commission’s text from the recommendations, and points out a few unseen consequences of the proposed modifications.The divergences between the Commission document and the ESMA recommendations appear to be both “significant and extensive.” In their current form, the rules proposed by the Commission could disturb the functioning of the asset management sector in the European Union and worldwide, and may also work against some of its declared objectives in the areas of investor protection and financial stability, the AIMA claims.

The US-based data provider S&P CapitalIQ on 3 April acquired the QuantHouse company from a group of investors led by Newedge (Société Générale and Calyon) for an undisclosed amount. QuantHouse is an independent provider of market data and fully automated trading solutions, offering ultra-low latency technologies, algorithms, proximity hosting and order routing services to hedge funds, market makers and prop desks.QuantHouse is led by Pierre-François Filet, CEO and co-founder, Pierre Feligioni (COO and co-founder) and Denery Fenouil, chief technical officer and co-founder. The 90 employees of QuantHouse in Paris, London and New York will be integrated into the “enterprise solutions” unit of S&P Capital IQ. Products and services will initially continue to be sold as stand-alone items, but gradually, all S&P Capital IQ and S&P Indices content will be included in QuantHouse data feeds. The acquisition of the French firm follows that of R2 Financial Technologies and precedes that of CMA, in deals which reportedly should allow S&P CapitalIQ to provide one of the most complete platforms in the sector in terms of market data and risk analysis.

Reto Germann has been recruited by Unigestion to oversee a additions to its presence serving institutional clients in Germany and Austria, from Credit Suisse, where he had worked since 2009, after two years at Barclays Capital, and a start to his career at UBS in 1993. He will report to Tom Leavitt, managing director and head of the institutional clients team.

La Française AM has retained BNP Paribas Securities Services to provide administration, custody, transfer agency and valuation services. The mandate includes the activities of La Française des Placement, LFP Sarasin AM, La Française Real Estate Managers and La Française AM International.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 17 April announced that it has been retained by Banque Fédérale Mutualiste to provide global custody for a portfolio worth EUR1.2bn. SGSS will offer taxation services, including handling of application of withholding tax breaks and tax exemptions, fiscal recuperation, management of taxation documentation, regulatory reporting to tax authorities, and tax reporting to clients.

The major causes of rising non-financial risks are increased complexity of operations (a cause considered significant by 77% of respondents), followed by reduced capacity on the part of some providers to guarantee deposited assets (59%), unclear or inadequate regulations (57%) and lastly, a total lack of responsibility on the part of asset management firms in relation to restitution of assets (53%), according to an Edhec-Risk survey. The study, entitled “Shedding Light on Non-Financial Risks – a European Survey,” was undertaken as part of the second year of work by the research chair in “Risks and regulation of the fund industry in Europe,” created in partnership with Caceis.The study clearly finds that regulatory priorities need to address themes to which the regulator has paid limited attention in its recent work, particularly the MiFID directive. The priorities cited are transparency, information and governance, in relation to regulation of non-financial risks, followed by financial responsibility in the industry. On this latter point, the fact must be underscored that non-financial risks are largely the result of decisions by the asset management firm.

The new UBS D German Logistics Property Fund 2 from UBS Germany aims for annual returns to 7%. The product, aimed at institutional investors, will focus on rental logistical real estate in Germany, and will have the status of a German institutional fund (Spezialfonds). The asset management firm is aiming for assets of EUR300m.CharacteristicsName: UBS (D) German Logistics Property Fund 2ISIN code: DE000A0DJ3L2Minimal subscription: EUR2.5m

On Wednesday, 18 April, Allianz Global Investors announced that it will be suspending redemptions of shares in the real estate fund of funds Allianz Flexi Immo (A and C share classes, ISIN codes DE0009797332 and DE0009797340,) until further notice. The move follows a wave of closures of open-ended real estate funds in Germany. Redemptions of over EUR200m since the beginning of 2011 wiped out most of the assets in the Flexi immo fund which could be liquidated at short notice, and the fund is now no longer invested in anything other than real estate funds whose redemptions are susptended or holdings which cannot be mobilised in the short term.The fund, launched on 16 September 2008, currently has assets of EUR170m.

A long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) by the European Central Bank has strengthened investor confidence, which has resulted in positive net inflows in February to all fund categories in Europe. UCITS continued to experience strong net inflows in February amounting to EUR 19 billion, albeit down from EUR 25 billion recorded in January, according to statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). Net sales of long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) remained steady in February registering net inflows of EUR 18 billion, compared to EUR 19 billion in January. Bond funds recorded net inflows of EUR 9 billion in February, down from EUR 13 billion in January, while net sales of equity funds registered net inflows of EUR 4 billion, the same level as in January. Balanced funds also enjoyed net inflows of EUR 1 billion during the month, compared to EUR 2 billion in January. Total non-UCITS recorded a jump in net sales in February to register net inflows of EUR 16 billion, up from EUR 7 billion in January. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) recorded an increase in net inflows in February of EUR 16 billion, compared to EUR 7 billion in January. Total assets of UCITS increased 1.9 percent in February to stand at EUR 5,821 billion at end February. Total assets of non-UCITS enjoyed an increase of 1.7 percent in February to EUR 2,268 billion at month end.

Lutz Morjan, who has been head of business services, public services and corporate pensions at the asset management firm Frankfurt Trust (BHF-Bank) since 2008, has been recruited as senior institutional sales director at ING Investment Management Germany. He will be in charge of client solutions for insurers and corporate pension funds in Germany, in which role he will work with Michael Schrinner, Thomas Wendt and Monika Ritter, on the institutional sales team.

Oddo Asset Management will work with the Chinese firm Guosen Securities, which on Monday signed an agreement protocol with Oddo & Cie for asset management and business banking. This is the first partnership in China for the French asset management firm. To begin with, Guosen will advise Oddo AM on the launch of a renminbi bond fund to be managed and distributed by the French firm in France and other countries where the asset manager is present. For its part, Oddo AM will advise its Chinese partner on the launch of a global luxury and lifestyle themed fund, which will invest in global shares connected with the luxuries sector, managed and distributed in continental China by Guosen Securities. The partnership may be extended in the future to include private management, a spokesperson for Oddo AM tells Newsmanagers. However, there are no plans for acquisition of any stakes or the creation of a joint venture. In the area of business banking, Oddo Corproate Finance and Guosen will advise French firms which are planning IPOs on Chinese markets, as well as Chinese firms seeking access to European equity markets. Guosen Securities, 70% owned by the Shenzhen provincial government, is one of the five largest stock market companies in China, according to a press statement. With 12,000 employees, it is active in brokerage, business banking and asset management. As of the end of 2010, Guosen earned net profits of RMB3.1bn (about EUR310m), and has owners’ equity totalling about RMB15bn (about EUR1.5bn).

Joël Séché's term as head of Saur will no longer be justified beyond its end on 27 May, the strategic investment fund (FSI), which controls 38% of capital in the third largest French water treatment business, announced in a statement on 17 April. The statement comes at a time when Séché Environnement, also chaired by Séché, and which controls one third of capital in Saur, declared late last year that it plans to exercise an option to buy FSI’s stake in order to take control of the business. “The FSI now observes that there is a complete stalemate between the management of the business and its chairman. All parties know that this situation is severely damaging the development of the business,” the Fund writes in a statement. “Mr. Séché has been appointed executive chairman of the firm ahead of the exercise of the buy option he had been granted. His term and the period in which he will be able to exercise this option will end on 27 May 2012. Beyond that date, in the absence of an exercise of the option giving control of the company to Mr. Séché, his term as chairman will not be justified,” the FSI adds.

Assets under management by the Investment Management unit at Goldman Sachs were down by USD4bn in first quarter, to USD824bn. The quarter under review saw a net outflow of USD26bn. This development was partially offset by positive market effects totalling USD22bn. Profits for the unit totalled USD1.18bn in first quarter, down 7% compared with fourth quarter, and 8% compared with first quarter 2011. The group has reported net profits for first quarter of USD2.08bn, more than double the corresponding period of last year.

The American hedge fund manager John Paulson has told Bloomberg that he is shorting European government bonds, and buying CDS on European debt in order to protect himself against defaults, Investment Week reports.

The private equity fund dedicated to financial services BlackFin Capital Partners on 17 April announced that it has acquired 100% of capital in the insurance product comparison firm Chiarezza, launched by Admiral Gorup Plc in Italy in February 2010. Chiarezza offers a free service at http://www.chirezza.it, which allows web surfers to compare a wide range of insurance products on the basis of their price and characteristics, and to complete subscriptions online or by telephone. Chiarezza works with a wide range of direct insurers, and operates on the model of brokers paid for subscriptions and insurance policy renewals. “This transaction represents BlackFun’s fifth investment, and illustrates the fund’s capacity to undertake proprietary operations in high-growth segments in the financial sector in Europe,” BlackFin says in a statement.

Although traditional private banks still control a majority of the market, universal banks have strengthened their positions in wealth management since the crisis in 2008, Les Echos reports.According to a survey by Eurogroup Consulting, the number of wealth management clients of major banking networks increased 19% between 2008 and 2011, while growth was limited to 4% for traditional establishments. Similarly, assets under management in this activity segment have increased by 39% at universal banks and 17% at pure private banks.“The major universal banks are now more engaged in this profitable profession, which is also advantageous in the new environment created by Basel III,” says Cécile Huntzinger, a director at Eurogroup Consulting and co-author of the study. But traditional private banks still have nearly four times more clients than the wealth management arms of generalists.

The billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Tuesday announced that he has prostate cancer, and that he will continue to manage Berkshire Hathaway during his treatment, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a letter to shareholders, the manager, 81, explains that he has stage 1 prostate cancer, an early and treatable form of the illness. He will begin two months of daily radiation treatment in mid-July.

The US bank Bank of America (BofA) is planning to sell its international asset management unit, in the hopes of generating USD3bn in cash, Agefi Switzerland reports, relaying reports from AFP. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment. The international asset management and investment division has seen a 22% declint in its net profits in fourth quarter 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, on unchanged earnings of USD4.2bn.

Assets under management at the GAM group as of the end of March 2012 totalled CHF110.6bn, comapred with CHF107bn as of the end of December 2011, the group announced in a statement published on 18 April. This development is largely due to positive market effects, which largely offset the negative impact of exchange rates. The group has also announced a slight outflow in the first three months of the year.Assets under management at GAM in the strict sense as of the end of March totalled CHF45.7bn, compared with CHF44.8bn as of the end of December.At Swiss & Global AM, assets under management at the end of the quarter came in at CHF80.5bn, up CHF3.6bn compared with the end of December. In addition to positive market effects, Swiss & Global has posted net subscriptions in first quarter, particularly to equity funds and ETFs dedicated to physical precious metals.

The Swiss group Aquila, specialised in wealth management, has received a banking license, the website Finews reports. Banking services offered by Aquila will be aimed both at partner companies of the group and at external independent asset management firms, family offices and their clients. With this move, the wealth management firm is hoping to make itself better armed than the competition to confront regulatory changes in Switzerland and more generally in Europe. Assets under management at Aquila total over CHF5bn.