L’allemand max.xs financial services AG (max.xs), spécialiste de la distribution B2B de services financiers et de produits de gestion d’actifs sur le marché germanophone, a annoncé le 23 janvier avoir conclu un accord de coopération avec le pourvoyeur britannique de données FE.Ce dernier va mettre en place des pages avec des données complètes (analyses de fonds, données financières) provenant des partenaires de max.xs sur un portail d’information Internet destiné aux investisseurs et aux intermédiaires allemands et autrichiens.max.xs est le distributeur de First Private Investment Management KAG, Gamax Management AG, Kleinwort Benson Investors, Rothschild & Cie Gestion et Veritas InvestmentTrust pour les fonds de valeurs mobilières et Wölbern Invest KG pour la partie fonds immobiliers. Ce nouveau service sera présenté les 25 et 26 janvier dans le cadre du Fondskongress de Mannheim.

Avenue Capital, qui investit dans la dette d’entreprises ou d’Etats en difficultés, a levé 2 milliards de dollars pour son deuxième fonds européen, rapporte le Financial Times. Le gestionnaire a l’intention de créer une plate-forme qui rachèterait la dette du secteur privée due par les gouvernements européens. Par exemple, les systèmes de santé en Espagne, Grèce, Italie et Portugal doivent 25 milliards d’euros à de grandes entreprises pharmaceutiques. Avenue créerait une entité indépendante qui reprendrait le risque aux sociétés pharmaceutiques et traiterait avec les gouvernements pour leurs comptes.

Axa Wealth est en train de restructurer ses activités outre-Manche, avec notamment une segmentation de ses clients IFA (conseillers) qui pourrait se solder par une réduction d’effectifs d’une cinquantaine de collaborateurs, rapporte Fund Web. Le nombre de responsables régionaux pourrait être ramené de neuf à quatre.Selon David Thompson, responsable du marketing et de la distribution chez Axa Wealth, la nouvelle organisation doit notamment permettre de proposer diverses expertises en fonction du segment dans lequel travaille le conseiller. Une nouvelle équipe notamment sera responsable des grands comptes.

M&G Investments vient de recruter Phil Cliff. Cet ancien gérant actions européennes de Threadneedle et Occam Asset Management va gérer le fonds M&G Pan European Dividend Fund, en étroite collaboration avec Stuart Rhodes. Cette nomination permettra à Richard Halle, qui pilotait jusqu'à présent les fonds M&G European Strategic Value Fund et M&G Pan European Dividend Fund, de se concentrer sur ses portefeuilles de valeurs européennes value, précise la société de gestion dans un communiqué.

JO Hambro Capital Management a annoncé la réouverture aux investisseurs du fonds UK Equity Income après le «soft closing» mis en œuvre il y a près d’un an, selon FundWeb.La société de gestion a revu à la baisse les frais d’entrée de 5% pour les nouveaux investisseurs et révisé la capacité du fonds à 1 milliard de livres. Les actifs du fonds s'élèvent actuellement à 918,8 millions de livres.

Bridgepoint Capital va racheter la société de gestion de fortune au Royaume-Uni de Morgan Stanley, Quilter, selon les informations du Financial Times. L’entité, qui représente 7,6 milliards de livres d’encours sous gestion, est valorisée à environ 180 millions de livres. L’opération souligne l’intérêt du private equity pour les services financiers ; elle pourrait être annoncée dès mardi.

Le groupe de gestion britannique MAM Funds a indiqué le 23 janvier que ses actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient à 1,7 milliard de livres à fin décembre, un montant pratiquement inchangé par rapport à fin 2010. Les rachats nets subis par les fonds Midas ont été largement compensés par la collecte sur la gamme des fonds Miton, précise MAM Funds qui ajoute que le fonds récemment lancé Acium UK Multi Cap Income Fund affichait fin décembre une collecte de plus 10 millions de livres.

Jeanne Duvoux a été nommée directeur général et administrateur délégué de Société Générale Securities Services en Italie (SGSS S.p.A.), selon un communiqué du 23 janvier. Elle est rattachée à Bruno Prigent, directeur du métier Titres de Société Générale. Sa nomination est effective et a été approuvée par le conseil d’administration du 19 janvier 2012. Jeanne Duvoux succède à Massimo Cotella qui a rejoint le comité exécutif de SGSS, en charge de la supervision de l’activité commerciale et marketing ainsi que des services de Liquidity Management de SGSS. «Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Jeanne Duvoux poursuivra activement le développement des activités de SGSS aujourd’hui leader de l’industrie des titres en Italie», précise SGSS. Depuis octobre 2010, Jeanne Duvoux dirigeait les fonctions corporate et business de SGSS S.p.A. en tant que directeur général délégué et représentant légal de SGSS en Italie.

Roger Yates, le CEO de Pioneer, souhaite porter les encours de la société de gestion italienne aux Etats-Unis à environ 60 milliards d’euros sur les cinq prochaines années, contre 35 milliards d’euros aujourd’hui, selon le Financial Times Fund Management, qui a interrogé le dirigeant sur ses projets. Ce dernier cible aussi l’Asie, et plus particulièrement aujourd’hui le marché coréen. Par ailleurs, le CEO de Pioneer annonce une simplification de la gamme de produits. Enfin, il souhaite lancer un plan d’intéressement afin que les salariés de Pioneer aient une participation dans la société. Pioneer devrait dégager cette année des résultats similaires à ceux de 2010 (chiffre d’affaires de 834 millions et bénéfice avant impôts de 330 millions), indique le FT FM.

EFG Asset Management, la filiale de gestion d’actifs du groupe suisse EFG International, va commercialiser en France quatre compartiments de sa sicav de droit irlandais New Capital. Pour cela, elle vient de recruter à Londres Isabelle Hargreaves, une ancienne de Janus Capital et d’Investec Asset Management, en tant que responsable des marchés francophones.Le groupe suisse basé à Zurich est déjà présent en France au travers des anciennes équipes de Sycomore Gestion Privée, la structure de gestion de patrimoine de la boutique de gestion française rachetée en 2008, désormais renommée EFG Gestion Privée. Mais cette structure fait partie du pôle banque privée d’EFG International, tandis qu’EFG Asset Management est l’entité de gestion d’actifs du groupe. «Nous avons un actionnaire commun mais nous ne faisons pas partie du même pôle et disposons de deux gammes distinctes. Cela posé, des partenariats ne sont pas à exclure», indique Isabelle Hargreaves. La gamme, justement, se compose aujourd’hui de quatre compartiments, qui viennent tout juste d’être agréés en France. Les deux fonds les plus anciens sont obligataires. Il s’agit du New Capital Total Return Bond Fund (127 millions de dollars) et du New Capital Wealthy Nations Bond Fund (615 millions de dollars), tous les deux gérés en partenariat avec Stratton Street Capital, une société de gestion américaine. Les deux autres produits sont investis sur les actions. Le New Capital US Growth Fund (79 millions de dollars) est investi sur des actions américaines et sa gestion est déléguée à Mazama Capital Management. Enfin, le New Capital Asia Pacific Equity Income Fund (34 millions de dollars) est géré en interne par un ancien gérant de la boutique asiatique Atlantis, lequel investit sur des sociétés de croissance versant des dividendes. La clientèle visée est celle des fonds de fonds, banques privées et family offices. Isabelle Hargreaves couvrira aussi le Luxembourg, la Belgique, Monaco et la Suisse francophone. Cette implantation en France s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une stratégie de développement à l’étranger impulsée par EFG International pour sa partie gestion d’actifs. La société a ainsi recruté, outre Isabelle Hargreaves, plusieurs commerciaux, dont deux pour le Royaume-Uni, un pour la Suisse germanophone et un pour Singapour. Cette équipe est placée sous la responsabilité directe de Moz Afzal, basé à Londres, CIO d’EFG Asset Management et CEO de la structure au Royaume-Uni. L’idée est de suivre l’exemple des autres banques privées suisses comme Pictet ou Lombard Odier qui ont tissé leur toile dans toute l’Europe… Avec comme objectif de développer les encours, qui se montent à 7 milliards de dollars pour la partie gestion d’actifs dont 1 milliard pour l’offre long only de la sicav irlandaise.

Le gestionnaire suédois East Capital (3,4 milliards d’euros) a conclu un accord de coopération avec l’allemand DAB Bank, a annoncé Olle Olsson, directeur du bureau de Paris, le 23 janvier. Cette banque directe commercialise avec effet immédiat les fonds coordonnés East Capital (Lux) Russian Fund et East Capital (Lux) Eastern European Fund, des produits à liquidité journalière.

Pour l’investisseur que je suis, tout ceci ne change rien commente Mory Doré, Responsable du département Risques Financiers à la Caisse d’Epargne Loire Drôme Ardèche, Groupe BPCE. D’une part, les limites d’investissement de la plupart des grands investisseurs institutionnels sont souvent des limites par tranches de ratings : de AAA à AA-, de A+ à A- , de BBB+ à BBB- , en deca de BBB- le cas échéant. Il ne faut pas attendre des réallocations de portefeuilles significatives suite à des dégradations de AAA à AA. De même, les nouveaux ratios de liquidité qui vont contraindre les banques notamment à constituer une réserve d’actifs liquides ne devraient pas là aussi impacter le comportement des investisseurs suite à une dégradation de AAA à AA ; En effet les critères d'éligibilité à cette réserve de liquidité sont basés sur des ratings de notation supérieure à AA- pour les actifs dits de niveau 1 (donc considérés comme « super » liquides et à privilégier).

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) will present its detailed proposals for new ETF regulations on 30 January, the news agency Reuters reports. After a two- to three month consultation period, ESMA will publish the final version of the rules, which may then optionally be adopted by the various regulatory authorities of member states. The agency states that the new rules will not be legally binding.

Banks may be forbidden from providing both synthetic ETFs and counterparties of these ETFs, if the recommendations of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group are adopted, Deborah Fuhr, independent strategist, tells Financial Times Fund Management. “Many banks and brokers are likely to find being a provider of ETFs without also being able to be a swap counterparty to their ETFs will reduce the profitability of their businesses ...” She claims that would compel banks to sell or pull out of their ETF operations.

Despite the highly perilous fiscal year that hedge funds have just been through, with average annual returns of -5%, institutional investors appear not to have held it against them. Nearly 38% of those investors are planning to increase their allocations to single hedge funds in the next twelve months, though this compares with 54% last year, according to the fifth annual study by SEI in collaboration with Greenwich Associates.15% of investors are planning to reduce their allocations, compared with 11% the previous year. But in October 2011, allocations to hedge funds by institutionals participating in the study (slightly over 100) represented 16.7% of their portfolios, compared with 12% in 2008. In addition, 60% of them say they are satisfied with the returns earned in the first six months of 2011 (an average of 6.2%, compared with 9.2% in 2010).The top challenge for the current year is returns, for 36% of participants. Transparency, the major challenge in the years 2009 and 2010, is now far outpaced by other concerns. Nearly one third of respondents, compared with 21% the previous year, say the number one objective with alternative investment is absolute returns, while in 2011, the priority was uncorrelated investment strategies.Three of the four objectives cited by institutional investors are related to investment risk: uncorrelated strategies, diversification, and reduction of volatility. This means that institutional investors appear to want to use hedge funds not only to find returns, but also to reduce portfolio risks.The study finds that direct investment in hedge funds is continuing to gain ground. 40% of institutionals say that they invest only in single-manager funds, compared with 24% one month earlier, and twice as many as in 2008. Direct investment is clearly more widespread among major investors, as 56% of clients with over USD56bn in assets say that they invest only in single-manager funds.Long/short equity strategies are currently the preferred strategies for nearly 82% of institutionals, largely outstripping event-driven (53%) and credit strategies (42%).

Since the beginning of this year, the German asset management firm ETFlab (Deka) and the French firm Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) have been named as “Star Partners” of the direct bank DAB Bank. This means that clients of DAB Bank may purchase ETF funds from the two issuers online for a commission of only EUR4.95. The offering includes 109 ETF funds from Lyxor, and 40 from ETFlab, for orders of at least EUR1,000.The agreement concerns products that replicate the major equity and bond indices, and for the first time from DAB, strategy funds, either short or leveraged.DAB Bank states that iShares left the “Star Partners” program at the end of 2011. As a result, fees for ETF orders from that promoter will be charged at normal DAB Bank rates.

The German-Swiss bond management firm Bantleon had assets as of the end of December up 30% (excluding market effects), to EUR5.28bn, due to net subscriptions of EUR1.2bn, compared with EUR4.1bn, and EUR846m as of the end of 2010, and EUR3.2bn/EUR1.2bn as of the end of 2009. Net subscriptions from retail investors totalled EUR62m.Assets under management as of the end of 2011 totalled EUR2.34bn for open-ended funds, and EUR2.94bn for institutional funds.The strongest net subscriptions, at EUR827m, went to absolute return strategies of the Bantleon Opportunities range. The two open-ended funds Bantleon Opportunities S and Bantleon Opportunities L attracted EUR288m in total, and have assets of EUR658m as of the end of December, in addition to which EUR540m in net inflows came into institutional funds.Since the beginning of this year, the Bantleon Opportunities S fund has posted further net subscriptions, putting assets over EUR500m.

The Luxembourg-based independent management firm LRI Invest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Augur Financial Holding VSA, has announced that it has obtained permission from BaFin to open an office in Germany. It will be located in Frankfurt, where it plans to assist fund providers seeking to launch Luxembourg-registered or German-registered funds with LRI Invest. All fund administration will continue to be undertaken in Luxembourg.The two directors of the new branch office will be Dirk van Dreumel (former director of institutional business at WGF, until the end of 2011), and Ingo Steffenhag, who previously worked at LBBW Asset Management and G&P Institutional Management.LRI Invest is a specialist in white-label products, which manages about EUR8bn in about 200 funds. The objective for the Frankfurt office is to benefit from the new UCITS IV directive.

The German firm max.xs financial services AG (max.xs), a specialist in B2B distribution of financial services and asset management products in the German-speaking countries, on 23 January announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the British data provider FE. FE will set up pages with complete data (fund analysis, financial data) from max.xs partners, on a website aimed at German and Austrian investors and intermediaries. max.xs is the distributor for First Private Investment Management KAG, Gamax Management AG, Kleinwort Benson Investors, Rothschild & Cie Gestion and Veritas Investment Trust for securities funds, and Wölbern Invest KG for real estate funds.

According to a study by Yale and Maastricht Universities for the Financial Times, private equity makes more money for fund managers than for US pension funds. From 2001 to 2010, US pension funds earned returns of 4.5% per year on their investments in private equity, but in that period they paid 4% in management commissions. In addition, private equity funds charge many other fees, and charge a 20% commission on performance.According to Martijn Cremers (Yale), taking “normal” performance commissions of 20% as a basis, about 70% of gross performance has been paid in the form of fees in the past ten years.

In terms of development, Carmignac Gestion, which has EUR45bn in assets, looked beyond the borders of France in fourth quarter 2011. After opening an office in Frankfurt, the asset management firm did the same in London in early November. It has also recruited a head, who has already hired two more people, pending the arrival of a third professional this year. The asset management firm has retained its place as an asset management largely oriented to international markets, as on 23 January it invited the international press to Paris to hear Edouard Carmignac discourse on the European growth of his asset management firm, and his vision for the major economic challenges ahead in 2012.“Aside from France, Germany and Italy are the largest markets for us,” explains Didier Saint-Georges, a member of the investment committee. Logically, the United Kingdom is also expected to be a key market for the asset management firm, a majority of whose assets now come from abroad. In order not to flop in its debut on the British market, Carmignac Gestion has been careful to offer all of the funds of its range denominated in pounds Sterling. “The perception of prospective investors who meet our team in London is now very positive,” says Saint-Georges, who adds that the independent management style of Carmignac Gestion is highly regarded in the UK.In terms of management teams, one thing is sure: the firm is not planning to spread out its teams to the far corners of the globe it covers. “We are not planning to have managers in Hong Kong or Brazil,” says Saint-Georges, “since it’s very important for us that managers see each other and talk to each other, even if the downside to having management centred in Paris is travelling often.”

Aberdeen Asset Management on 23 January announced that it has appointed Sandra Craignou and Frédéric Lejeune as co-heads of its French activities, replacing Philippe Troesch, who, according to information obtained by Newsmanagers, will be joining Meeschaert Gestion Privée, while Meeschaert Asset Management has just announced that its CEO Marc Favard was leaving the group. Craignou and Lejeune will retain their respective responsibilities as chief investment officer and head of development. Aberdeen manages EUR5bn for French clients.

Le Temps reports that the Swiss private bank Wegelin has let go one of its partners, Christian Hafner. The suspension is related to a clash with the United States over taxation, in which three Wegelin employees have been charged. In early January, three bankers from Wegelin were indicted in New York for helping US taxpayers to evade taxes.

Sarasin bank has filed a complaint with the Swiss Press Council against the weekly newsmagazine “Weltwoche,” which broke the Hildebrand scandal earlier this year. The complaint concerns an erroneous article related to a violation of banking secrecy by a former employee of the bank’s IT department.Sarasin bank claims in a statement released on 23 January that the magazine has “severely violated its journalistic duties on several levels.” It has also damaged the reputation of the Basel-based private bank, and those of the client advisor who Weltwoche inaccurately cited as a source.Sarasin bank adds that Weltwoche did not adequately evaluate its sole source for the information. In addition, ahead of its 5 January issue, the magazine ignored information and contact from the Basel-based bank which would have allowed the German-language magazine to correct the erroneous article in time.

The hedge fund management firm Diamondback Capital Management will pay USD9m in fines to settle a civil case for insider trading. It has also reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to prevent any future lawsuits related to potential criminal investigations, the Wall Street Journal reports.Since being searched in November 2010, the asset management firm has seen its assets decline by half, to USD2.5bn.

Between January 2002 and October 2011, assets in alternative UCITS funds increased from EUR5.40bn to nearly EUR150bn, PerTrac reports in a 30-page study published on 23 January.The analysis shows that more than 80% of the 1,210 funds in the universe are domiciled in three countries: Luxembourg (49.92%), Ireland (18.84%), and France (11.90%).In terms of type, the most popular strategy is long/short equity, with more than one quarter of the total, followed by global macro, CTA/managed futures and multi-strategy, with 11% each. Bonds represent 11% of the total.

Olle Olsson, director of the Paris office, announced on 23 January that the Swedish asset management firm East Capital (EUR3.4bn) has signed a cooperation agreement with the German firm DAB Bank. The direct bank will offer the UCITS-compliant funds East Capital (Lux) Russian Fund and East Capital (Lux) Eastern European Fund, both products which offer daily liquidity, effective immediately.

Managed ETF portfolios, more than 50% of whose assets are invested in ETFs, are one of the most dynamic segments in the managed accounts universe, according to a report published on 23 January by Morningstar (“ETF Managed Portfolio Lanscape Report,” January 2012).Morningstar, which in September announced plans to scale up its coverage of these portfolios, says that it is now monitoring nearly 370 strategies from 95 firms representing advised assets of USD27bn as of September 2011. Morningstar estimates that assets under management in managed ETF portfolios total USD40bn to USD100bn, taking into account discretionary and non-discretionary portfolios.In the past twelve months, assets in ETF managed portfolios have increased by about 43%. About 30% of these strategies have been launched in the past three years. Nearly three quarters of strategies applied in managed portfolios are global strategies, which allow the investor exposure to international markets.

The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 23 January announced that it has earned returns of 1.1% for the 2011 calendar year. This return is “modest but positive,” CalPERS admits; it blames the poor performance on the volatility of equity markets, largely related to the euro zone debt crisis. The equity portfolio finished the year with losses of 7.9%, with -0.3% for US equities, but -13.9% for international equities. All other asset classes show gains, including bonds, with returns of 12.4%, and private equity, with similar returns of 12.4%. Investments in real estate have earned returns of nearly 10%. CalPERS has also announced that it has unanimously re-elected Rob Feckner as chairman of the board of trustees for the pension fund.

On 1 March, Sal. Oppenheim, Hauck & Aufhäuser (Switzerland) and the Munich-based Meyer & Cie will be launching the diversified fund Nachhaltig Aktiv OP, for which subscriptions will remain open from 23 January to 29 February. For the ethical/sustainable development fund, the three partners will share responsibilities for exclusion (weapons, violations of human rights, experimentation on animals) and positive crieria, which, according to the providers, will provide a more satisfactory end result than a best-in-class approach.The investable universe of 500 businesses and countries is selected by the ethical committee at Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A), while the portfolio will undergo analysis every six months by specialists at the Munich-based ethical ratings agency oekom research.Asset allocation and weighting are then regularly updated by Meyer & Cie. The equities allocation is limited to 30%, and bonds may represent up to 100% of the portfolio.The final selection of securities is shared between Sal. Oppenheim for the bond portion (bond management and duration management), and H&A for the equities portion.In bonds, most of the portfolio will be composed of corporate bonds, Pfandbriefe and government bonds denominated in euros, with at least one investment-grade rating. For equities, most investments will be made in shares in European companies.The objective is to generate returns of 3% to 5% per year over a three-year period.CharacteristicsName: Nachhaltig Aktiv OPISIN codes:I-class shares: LU0650607525R-class shares: LU0650605669Front-end fee:I-class shares: maximum 3%R-class shares: maximum 3%Depository banking commission: 0.10%Management commission:I-class shares: 0.85%R-class shares: 1.40%Performance commission: 10% of performance exceeding the benchmark (80% BofA ML EMU Broad Market 1-10Y and 20% MSCI Europe EUR)