Selon une notification de Carlyle Group à la SEC, les trois fondateurs du groupe de private equity, David Rubenstein, William Conway et Daniel D’Aniello ont chacun perçu un salaire de 275.000 dollars, une prime de 3,5 millions et une participation de 134 millions de dollars aux bénéfices réalisés par l’entreprise sur ses investissements, rapporte The Wall Street Journal.Cela posé, les fondateurs continuent aussi de verser de l’argent dans leurs fonds. En 2010, William Conway a investi 164 millions, Daniel D’Aniello a placé 98 millions et David Rubenstein a réinvesti 97 millions. Et ils se sont ensemble engagés à investir 490,7 millions supplémentaires dans les fonds Carlyle.

Ébranlée par un conflit de gouvernance en 2009 qui a entraîné le départ de ses deux dirigeants et la division par deux de la taille de son dernier fonds, la société d’investissement PAI Partners a redressé la barre et envisage de lever au premier semestre un sixième fonds de 3 milliards d’euros, rapporte Les Echos. «Nous allons engager la levée d’un nouveau fonds au printemps. Notre ambition est de lever un véhicule équivalent au précédent, de l’ordre de 3 milliards d’euros. Nous avons la certitude que l’appétit des investisseurs est bien là. Contrairement à 2009, les investisseurs américains ou asiatiques, qui recèlent des bassins d'épargne importants, ne se perçoivent pas en crise. Ils continuent d’allouer une part significative de leurs avoirs à cette classe d’actifs», indique dans un entretien aux Echos le PDG de PAI, Lionel Zinsou.

Natixis Asset Management lance jeudi 12 janvier Natixis Min Variance Monde, un fonds dont l’objectif est de réaliser de la performance à partir d’un univers d’investissement composé d’actions internationales et ce avec une volatilité réduite.Dans le détail, le fonds géré par Nicolas Just, responsable de la gestion actions core de Natixis Asset Management, suit une stratégie de gestion quantitative. En tentant d’amortir les baisses de marchés, la gestion « minimum variance » vise à augmenter la probabilité de délivrer des performances supérieures aux marchés actions mondiaux sur un cycle boursier. Le processus d’investissement de Natixis Min Variance Monde se déroule en trois étapes :Dans un premier temps, à partir du MSCI Monde All Countries, la gestion applique des filtres quantitatifs et qualitatifs pour construire un portefeuille diversifié. Les valeurs internationales retenues apparaissent statistiquement moins volatiles selon Natixis AM et présentent une meilleure résistance aux mouvements baissiers en contrepartie d’une moindre participation à la hausse du marché. Ensuite, le portefeuille type est construit en minimisant la volatilité via une analyse du profil de risque des valeurs et identification des titres à faible volatilité et à corrélation réduite. Enfin, le portefeuille final est élaboré en retenant un ensemble composé de 60 titres au minimum avec un taux de rotation estimé de l’ordre de 100% sur l’année, précise un communiqué.Caractéristiques :Code Isin : FR0011108315 (Part I) /FR0011108331(Part R) / FR0011108349 (Part HI)Part I et R libellées en euros, part HI en dollarsDroits d’entrée : Néant/ 4 % / NéantFrais de gestion maximum : 0,8 % / 1,6 % /0,8%Décimalisation en nombre de parts : Dix-millième/Dix-millième/Dix-millièmeSouscription minimale initiale /ultérieure : 50 000 € / Un dix-millième de part (I) / Néant (R ) / 50 000 USD / Un dix-millième de part (HI)Valeur liquidative d’origine 10 000 €/ 100 € /10 000 USDTous souscripteurs

Pimco a confirmé mercredi que la version indicielle cotée à bas coût du fonds Pimco Total Return Fund géré par Bill Gross (244 milliards de dollars) sera lancée le 1er mars, rapporte Investment Week.Ce produit, qui sera investi dans le même éventail diversifié d’obligations que son modèle, sera chargé à 0,55 % pour les investisseurs américains. Le fonds original affiche pour sa part une commission de gestion de 0,9 %.

OFI AM a présenté le 11 janvier à l’occasion de sa conférence annuelle sa nouvelle conception de la multigestion (environ 3 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion) qui a entraîné des modifications significatives dans son organisation. Confronté aux exigences des investisseurs, aux changements réglementaires, et aussi au feu nourri de critiques dans le sillage de la crise financière, le modèle de multigestion développé au début des années 90 a été dépassé par ces évolutions, ce qui a poussé OFI AM à faire évoluer son modèle. «Le business model ne pouvait pas continuer à survivre dans sa forme actuelle compte tenu notamment des attentes des investisseurs», a estimé le directeur général délégué d’OFI AM, Thierry Callault. «Nous avons repensé notre modèle, nous avons fait évoluer notre façon de construire nos portefeuilles et nous avons modifié notre organisation pour améliorer nos sources de valeur ajoutée», a souligné pour sa part Eric Bouffort, directeur adjoint de la multigestion. A titre d’exemple, le processus de sélection traditionnel a été amélioré par une approche plus intrusive fondée sur l’analyse historique des portefeuilles et une meilleure appréhension de la complémentarité des gérants entre eux. Les gérants ainsi sélectionnés se voient confier un compartiment de la plate-forme luxembourgeoise SSP (Single Select Platform, 502 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion) où seule la multigestion et les sociétés du groupe OFI peuvent investir, où le gérant sélectionné agit dans un cadre définit par OFI, et où les montants investis sont dès le lancement significatifs. Les marchés retenus dans un premier temps sont l’Europe et les Etats-Unis. Premiers résultats de ce nouveau modèle, deux gérants actions Europe ont été sélectionnés, les compartiments correspondants étant en cours de création sur la plate-forme. Cinq autres gérants ont été entendus dans le cadre d’un premier appel d’offres sur les actions européennes. Enfin, dix questionnaires ont été adressés pour une sélection de gérants actions européennes de croissance et actions américaines. Au total, l’objectif est de créer six à huit compartiments avant juin. OFI AM a également initié un partenariat avec Morningstar afin de développer son offre de fonds de fonds sur la plate-forme retail OMS (200 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion).

L’ancienne Aegon AM, Kames Capital, a annoncé trois recrutements pour son équipe de gestion obligataire. Selon Fundweb, il s’agit de Debbie King (ex analyste financière chez Intergen), de Garvin Peoples (ex PwC) et Paul Dilworth, qui vient en fait de l'équipe de mesure de la performance de Kames.

Schroders a annoncé mercredi la nomination de Ian Maybury, qui prendra en avril 2012 le poste nouvellement créé de head of Solutions Management au sein du département Multi-Asset et Portfolio Solutions de la société de gestion britannique. L’intéressé était précédemment co-head of Asset Liability Management & Investment Strategy chez Redington. Il renforce chez Schroders l'équipe dédiée aux solutions de gestion de portefeuille qui couvrent la multigestion et les stratégies de gestion des risques, notamment les solutions LDI.

Le segment XTF de la plate-forme électronique Xetra a accueilli le 9 janvier sept nouveaux ETF de db X-trackers II (groupe Deutsche Bank), ce qui porte à 907 le nombre des ETF cotés à Francfort.Les nouveaux produits comportent quatre fonds sur des dérivés de crédit et trois ETF sur des indices obligataires. Tous sont des fonds luxembourgeois ; les commissions de gestion s'échelonnent entre 0,15 et 0,34 %.La liste de ces fonds est disponible en pièce jointe.

Thorsten Michalik, qui dirige l’activité ETF de la Deutsche Bank (db x-trackers) estime que le marché européen peut connaître une expansion de 15 à 20 % cette année, soit de 25-30 milliards d’euros, si l’environnement demeure inchangé, rapporte le Handelsblatt. Pour profiter de cette évolution, Thorsten Michalik prévoit de lancer une trentaine de nouveaux ETF. En janvier, il fait coter en Allemagne 7 de ces produits sur des obligations d’Etat et des dérivés de crédit, et 6 autres à Hong Kong. Les autres ETF seront des fonds-pays, notamment sur les émergents, et des produits sur des indices d’actions équipondérés sur les principaux marchés.En 2011, le marché européen des ETF s’est rétréci de 1 % à 229,5 milliards d’euros. Mais, cette année, il ne devrait plus y avoir de nouveaux obstacles réglementaires, car l’AEMF (ESMA en anglais) devrait publier ce mois-ci de nouvelles règles pour les fonds indiciels cotés ainsi que pour d’autres fonds. Ces règles concerneront les actifs qui pourront être entrés dans les portefeuilles. Cela devrait surtout aider les particuliers à mieux comprendre les produits.

Michel Denizot, directeur des affaires internationales, a indiqué à IPE qu’AG2R La Mondiale envisage de créer un fonds de pension transfrontalier, mais uniquement si la Commission européenne fournit certaines garanties sur la révision de la directive IRP (IORP en anglais). Ce fonds se focaliserait uniquement sur la France et ne rechercherait pas de souscripteurs ailleurs en Europe. Il pourrait couvrir tous les actifs concernant les deuxième et troisième piliers gérés par AG2R La Mondiale.

OFP Hydralis est chargé de gérer les pensions légales des agents statutaires de Vivaqua. L’allocation des 400 millions d’euros d’actifs du régime est la suivante: 60.6% d’obligations, 27.6% d’actions et 11.8% d’immobilier. Les actifs sont gérés séparément par un ou plusieurs asset managers désignés dans le cadre d’une procédure de mise en concurrence et sont répartis comme suit: Obligations d’Etat zone Europe: BNP Paribas Investment Partners Obligations Corporate EMU: Allianz Global Investors Actions zone Europe de petite et moyenne capitalisation, actions EMU de grande capitalisation, actions mondiales hors EMU: Dexia Asset Management et Petercam Immobilier zone euro: Axa Investment Management Hydralis OFP a démarré une étude actuarielle à la fin de l’année 2011, qui devrait déboucher sur une revue stratégique des investissements en 2012.

La Maif a réduit de moitié en 2011 son exposition aux obligations des pays dits « PIIGS », Portugal, Italie, Irlande, Grèce, Espagne. « Nous avons une gestion financière qui se veut adossée et prudente, comme la majorité des assureurs, explique Benoit Jullien, directeur des placements et des investissements. Nous avons donc privilégié les placements obligataires bien notés à taux fixe et indexés sur l’inflation. » Mais la détérioration rapide de la qualité de crédit des émetteurs des pays périphériques a poussé l’assureur à opérer des ajustements en 2011: les obligations des pays périphériques représentaient initialement 11% des placements réglementés. « Nous avons réduit de moitié cette exposition. Parallèlement, la part totale d’obligations a légèrement augmenté, avec des investissements sur des titres de maturité plus longue, et plus récemment sur des obligations indexées sur l’inflation et des obligations convertibles.» « Les obligations françaises nous placent face à un dilemme, confirme Benoit Jullien de la Maif. L’exclusion des émetteurs des pays périphériques et de certains émetteurs du secteur financier nous amène à être particulièrement concentrés sur certains émetteurs qui pourraient devenir de « faux amis ». Ainsi, les OAT représentent entre 40 et 55% des placements obligataires de la Maif, qui possède également des obligations d’entreprises françaises. « Imaginez que l’Etat français soit dégradé dans quelques jours, la moitié de notre portefeuille sera dégradé avec lui. » La Maif croit au scénario de hausse des prix et a augmenté récemment sa part d’obligations indexées sur l’inflation. Mais Benoit Jullien impose une limite : « L’inflation n’est pas forcément une garantie que l'émetteur remboursera. Il ne faut pas oublier que l’Etat peut être fragilisé par l’inflation et finir par ne plus rembourser sa dette. Donc le pari est le suivant : il faut qu’il y ait de l’inflation, mais pas trop forte, sans quoi l'évolution de la prime de crédit émetteur viendra annihiler le bénéfice de l’indexation à l’inflation. » L’assureur doit donc avoir une gestion beaucoup plus dynamique que par le passé, et s’adapter à la conjoncture.

The most recent statistics published in the Towers Watson quarterly observer of the performance of M&A operations have shown that in 2011, on average, buyers continued to outperform the MSCI Global index, and posted adjusted returns 2.9 basis points above those of the index for the year under review. Buyers continued to earn outperformance for their share prices compared with their respective indices, despite unfavourable market conditions and a steeply reduced level of confidence in businesses. The most recent edition of the study by Towers Watson on the basis of a quarterly analysis by the Cass Business School, also finds that buyers in the Asia-Pacific region who completed deals in 2011 generated more shareholder value, outperforming their regional index by 6.7 basis points, compared with outperformance of only 4.8 basis points for European buyers compared with their respective indices. The North American buyers who finalised deals in 2011 show a less significant outperformance, with returns of over 1.4 basis points compared with their regional index. Taking into account the previous 16 quarters of the study, the figures also show a marked difference between regions in terms of the time taked to execute transactions. On average, it took buyers in the Asia-Pacific region 108 days to complete a transaction, compared with barely 57 days for their North American counterparts, nearly half. The time taken for European buyers to execute transactions was about 89 days.

PwC is predicting that European markets will see a regain in the number of initial public offerings, but that the rise may not come until third quarter of the year, according to the most recent IPO Watch Europe study from PwC. There are also a large number of companies prepared to seize the opportunity if the right market conditions present themselves. Philippe Kubisa, partner in the capital markets department at PwC in France, says: “Companies planning an initial public offering in 2012 need to prepare and position themselves so that they can be in a position to seize the opportunity as soon as it presents itself. The exact date on which the markets will pick up again remains uncertain. Companies need to ensure that they’ve got the bases in place well ahead of time in order to be able to seize key opportunities for initial offerings in 2012.” The European IPO market in 2011, overall, finished on a hard fourth quarter. In fourth quarter 2011, 78 initial offerings raised only EUR866m, down 81% in value compared with third quarter 2011, and down 83% year on year. Despite a weak second half in 2011, European initial offerings for the year mobilised EUR26.5bn, an amount comparable to 2010. The number of initial offerings increased 13%, to 430. London generated EUR14.6bn, more than half of funds raised, though it accounted for only one quarter of European operations. The 15 largest operations raised EUR20bn, 75% of the total value in European initial offerings in 2011. These include offerings from Glencore, Vallares, and Justice in London, and Bankia et Dia in Spain, which alone represented EUR14.6bn. Kong Kong saw a 43% decline in funds raised, although in the course of the year it managed to attract several international groups in the luxury sector, such as Prada. In the United States, a return to a high number of large operations in first half 2011 meant a total of USD25.6bn were raised in 2011, down 13.4% compared with 2010, largely thanks to the colossal IPO of General Motors.

The Living Planet Fund Management Company, an affiliate of WWF International, and the European broker Cheuvreux on 11 January announced the annual revision of the Living Planet Green Tech Europe Index, a green market index launched jointly by them. Four companies are being removed from the index: Wavin NV, Roth & Rau Ag, Q-Celles and Solar Millennium, while five companies are joining the index: Derichebourg (about 2%), Enel Green Power SpA (3.1%), Pfeiffer Vacuum Tech (0.8%), Spirax-Sarco Engineering (3.1%) and Umicore SA (1.1%). The index, whose value is calculated and published in real time by Standard & Poor’s, includes 50 publicly-traded European companies. The companies deliver sustainable solutions that respond to environmental challenges the planet is facing currently. The index includes several sectors of green tech, including energy efficiency, water management, renewable energies, alternative energies and transport, ecological products and services, biomass, and waste management.

The executive board at the Oddo Group on 11 January announced the arrival of Nicolas Chaput as CEO of Oddo Asset Management. He becomes a member of the executive board at the Oddo Group. He will begin in the new role on 1 February 2012. Chaput succeeds Guido Mundt, who successfully contributed to the merger between Oddo & Cie and the Banque d’Orsay. Mundt will continue to oversee searches for new partnerships, with a view to accentuate the presence of the group in the German-speaking countries. Since November 2008, Chaput has been head of fixed income management at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Chaput supervised 8 management centres (Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, London, Now York, Tokyo, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur), where a total of 120 professionals manage EUR228bn in assets (as of the end of June 2010).

Regions Financial Corp is selling its regional brokerage firm Morgan Keegan to Raymond James Financial for USD930m, while Morgan Keegan will pay a one-time dividend of USD250m to Regions before the transaction is completed, the Wall Street Journal reports.Regions also agreed to indemnify Raymond James for any litigation related to Morgan Keegan, which has already paid the SEC USD200m to settle a civil suit over a fraud case.With Morgan Keegan, Raymond James will have staff of over 6,000 financial advisers.

According to a SEC filing from Carlyle Group, the three founders of the private equity group, David Rubenstein, William Conway and Daniel D’Aniello have each earned salary of USD275,000, a bonus of USD3.5m and a USd134m stake in the profits earned by the firm on its investments, the Wall Street Journal reports.However, the founders are continuing to invest money into their funds. In 2010, Conway invested USD164m, D’Aniello placed USD98m, and Rubinstein reinvested USD97m. They have collectively pledged to invest a further USD490.7m in Carlyle funds.

“The future development of La Financière Responsable will be partnerships,” says Olivier Johanet, president and largest shareholder in the asset management firm dedicated to socially responsible investment, in an interview with Newsmanagers. The director sees three types of possible collaboration. Firstly, sales agreements, such as the one LFR signed a year ago with the Banque Martin Maurel, by which the latter, which has no SRI funds in its range, offers clients products from the asset management boutique. This search for sales partnerships would not be limied to France, as Johanet would like to develop the structure in other countries, including Germany, Scandinavia and the Latin countries, and is seeking partnerships with third-party marketing firms to this end. The second area fo growth is expertise partnerships. LFR has already signed one such partnership with Diamant Bleu Gestion, which resulted in the creation of a flexible diversifeid SRI fund to which each firm contributed its expertise: flexible management by Diamant Bleu and socially responsible investment by LFR. Johanet also has nothing against an investment by another company. Last year, he announced that he was seeking a partner, though none have come forward to date. The objective is to increase assets, which would allow the firm to attract more institutional investors. Johanet regrets that many of them are hesitant to invest in funds which are too small. At LFR, none of the three funds ever reached over EUR25m. In 2011, LFR has seen a decline in its assets, from EUR51m to EUR46m (in the three funds), largely due to declining markets. However, Johanet says that he has not yet seen redemptions, and even some subscriptions to the solidaristic fund, which has increased from EUR1.5m in assets to EUR3m. The other good news for the year is that LFR has been qualified as a young enterprising firm, for its work in the area of SRI, and this means a tax credit which will be used to support R&D.

The XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform on 9 January added seven new ETFs from db X-trackers II (Deutsche Bank group), bringing the number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 907.The new products include four funds based on credit derivatives, and three ETFs based on bond indidces. All of them are Luxembourg-registered funds; management commissions range from 0.15% to 0.34%. A list of the funds is attached.

Thorsten Michalik, director of ETF activities at Deutsche Bank (db x-trackers), claims that the European market may expand by 15-20% this year, or EUR25-30bn, if the environment remains unchanged, Handelsblatt reports. In order to profit from this development, Michalik is planning to launch 30 new ETF funds. In January, 7 products have already been listed in Germany investing in government bonds and credit derivatives, while 6 others will be listed in Hon Kong. The other ETFs will be country funds, focused on emerging countries, and products based on equally-weighted equity indices of the major markets.In 2011, the European ETF market contracted by 1% to EUR229.5bn. But this year, there will be no further regulatory obstacles, as ESMA will this month publish new rules for listed tracker funds and other funds. The rules will concern assets that may be included in the portfolios, and will allow retail investors to better understand products.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EdRam) is launching Edmond de Rothschild Euro Convictions, a fund which will invest in strong convictions in the euro zone via four equity strategies from the asset management firm in Europe: Edmond de Rothschild Europe Synergy, Edmond de Rothschild Europe Value & Yield, Edmond de Rothschild Selective Europe and Edmond de Rothschild Euro Leaders. Edmond de Rothschild EdR) Euro Convictions, representing the strongest euro convictions of the European equity management team, benefits from the most promising market themese and trends, in order to outperform the market at every stage in the economic cycle (value shares, potential takeover targets, distressed shares, etc.). In practice, the shares which make up the investment universe for the EdR Euro Convictions fund – which has about 100 to 150 positions – are held in four equity portfolios. Shares which do not come from the euro zone are then removed from the universe, in order to reduce it to 80 to 90 shares. Then, a bottom-up approach complemented by examination of the macroeconomic and market environment defines 30 to 50 shares which make up the final portfolio. Meanwhile, a tactical adjustment of positions is made in order to optimise the risk/return ratio for the portfolio. “At this stage, particular attention is paid to the sectoral and geographical distribution of the portfolio, in order to avoid excessive exposure to a particular sector or country,” a statement says. EdRam states that it has been managing a euro equity fund for more than two years on behalf of an institutional investor with a strategy similar to that of the Edmond de Rothschild Euro Convictions. With gains of over 24% since 3 July 2009, the fund has earned gross outperformance of 15% compared with its benchmark, the MSCI EMU (EUR), with net dividends reinvested, as of 30 December 2011, the asset management firm says. Characteristics ISIN code: C share class: FR0011158641 / I share class: FR0011171438 Front-end fee: maximum 4.5% Exit fee: none Management fees: C share class: 2% - I share class: 1% Performance commission: 15% on outperformance exceeding the MSCI EMU (EUR) index Minimal initial subscription: C share class one share – I share class: EUR500,000 Benchmark: MSCI EMU (EUR) The four strategies found in the four EdRam funds: Edmond de Rothschild Europe Synergy is a European equity fund which combines complementary drivers of performance which seek out special situations that have their own potential for appreciation: on the one hand, merger and acquisition operations, and on the other, distressed shares and shares in transformation. Edmond de Rothschild Europe Value & Yield is a European equity funds with wealth management objectives, largely investing in stock market large caps which have attractive valuation and/or which pay recurrent dividends. Edmond de Rothschild Selective Europe is a European equity funds which invests in shares most likely to profit from global growth through a long-term structural trend, growth in emerging countries, and conjunctural factors which offer them an undeniable competitive advantage. Edmond de Rothschild Euro Leaders is a euro equity fund with a growth strategy which aims to detect the leaders of tomorrow among the firms which might be considered established. Leaders in their sectors have regular growth in cash flow and high visibility, as distinct from companies which might be considered up and coming, which have strong growth in their earnings and profits.

Schelcher Prince Gestion, an asset management firm dedicated to credit and convertible bonds, has created two new convertible bond funds.The first of these, Schelcher Prince Convertibles Global World, will invest in a global universe (Europe, the United States, Japan, Asia). “As a convertibles specialist, with EUR800-900m in assets under management, we needed top have a fund like this in our range, which includes a euro fund and a Europe fund,” Sébastien Barbe, CEO of Schelcher Prince Gestion, explains to Newsmanagers. The fund will be managed with the same process as the other two, but will not be hedged for currency risks.The second fund, Schelcher Prince Convertibles Mid Cap Euro, will be invested in convertible bonds issued by mid-sized businesses (less than EUR2bn in cap size). The fund is more original, and was conceived with the idea that financing for mid-sized businesses will become more difficult to come by, and that these businesses will make increased use of convertible bonds to finance their growth.The two funds, which are each starting up with EUR4m in assets, will be managed by the convertible bonds team at Schelcher Prince, led by Hubert Lemoine. In total, Schelcher Prince Gestion, which is 51% controlled by Federal Finance, had assets of slightly over EUR2bn as of 9 December last year.

Pimco on 11 January announced the launch of the Pimco Dividend and Income Builder Fund and Pimco EqS Dividend Fund, two new actively-managed mutual funds which come as additions to the range of products from the group investing in international equities. The two funds are sub-funds of PIMCO Funds: Global Investors Series plc (GIS). The fund, which relies on active management directed by two experts in equity investment and Pimco’s macroeconomic analysis resources, has two objectives: on the one hand, attractive revenues and growth, and on the other hand, long-term appreciation of capital. The Pimco EqS Dividend Fund is aimed at investors seeking a product focused on equties, while the PIMCO Dividend and Income Builder Fund combines international equity investments and carefully selected bond investments. With their flexible mandates, the two funds provide a way to benefit from the most attractive opportunities in terms of revenue and capital appreciation, without constraint in terms of geographical or sectoral allocation, or as to the size of issuers. The funds will be managed by Brad Kinkelaar and Cliff Remily, both of whom are executive vice presidents and portfolio managers, based in Newport Beach. Between them, they have 25 years of experience in the area of investments, and have proven themselves as stock-pickers and portfolio managers. They also have extensive expertise in high-dividend equities. Bond positions for the PIMCO Dividend and Income Builder Fund will be managed by Eve Tournier, executive vice president and portfolio manager. The funds come as additions to the product range of the Global Investor Series (GIS) Sicav from Pimco, which complies with UCITS regulations. “This Dublin-registered range of products now includes 46 sub-funds with GBP55bn (EUR65bn) in assets under management as of 30 June 2011. In addition to daily liquidity, they offer investors a way to gain exposure to a wide range of asset classes from traditional global and regional bond funds to credit portfolios, alternative solutions, and asset allocation. The funds are available in various share classes denominated in several currencies, depending on the needs of the client.”

Michel Denizot, director of international business, has told IPE that AG2R La Mondiale is planning to create a cross-border pension fund, but only if the European Commission provides certain guarantees about revisions to the IORP directive. The fund would be focused solely on France, and would not seek subscribers elsewhere in Europe. It may include all assets in the second and third pillars managed by AG2R La Mondiale.

Pimco on Wednesday confirmed that the tracker fund version of the Pimco Total Return fund, managed by Bill Gross (USD244bn) will be launched on 1 March, Investment Week reports.The product, which will invest in the same diverse range of bonds as its model, will charge 0.55% to US investors. The original fund charges a management commission of 0.9%.

The investment firm PAI Partners, hit by a governance conflict in 2009 which led to the departure of its two directors and the division of its last fund into two smaller units, is now making a recovery and is planning to raise a sixth fund in first half with EUR3bn in assets, Les Echos reports. “We may raise a new fund in spring. Our ambition is to rise a vehicle equivalent to the previous one, with about EUR3bn, We are certain that investor appetite is there. Unlike in 2009, US and Asian investors, who are at major lows in their savings, are not seeing a crisis. They are still allocating a significant portion of their assets to this asset class,” PAI chairman and CEO Lionel Zinsou tells Les Echos.

Partners Group as of the end of 2011 had assets under management of EUR24.8bn, compared with EUR22.8bn at the end of first half. For the year 2011 as a whole, net inflows have totalled EUR4.2bn, after EUR2.1bn as of the end of June, the Swiss wealth management firm reports in a statement published on 12 January. Of total assets of EUR24.8bn, about EUR17.7bn in assets under management are in the Private Equity division, EUR2bn are in the Private Debt unit, EUR3.3bn in the Private Real Estate unit, and EUR1.2bn in Private Infrastructure. In the current fiscal year, the firm is predicting inflows of EUR4bn to EUR5bn, despite the fact that the economic situation appears less good this year than last, a statement says. Demand from North America and Asia remains strong, particularly from pension and sovereign funds, Partners Group states.

AllianceBernstein on 11 January announced the launch of the Short Duration High Yield Portfolio (LU0654559516), a fund which invests in high yield securities whose average maturity is under four years, in Europe. In a context which has recently been dominated by a contraction in spreads and an increase in volatility, the new Luxembourg-registered fund will aim for returns on high yield assets which have a more limited risk profile. The portfolio prefers corporate bonds of a rating below investment grade, as well as government and quasi-government bonds from developed and emerging markets. The strategies used to reduce volatility include a preference for short-term bonds, high-quality issuers within the high yield issue universe (excluding issuers rated CCC or lower), and the use of hedging techniques including particular protection against issuers taken singularly, and options on bond indices or interest rates. Research by AllianceBernstein finds that by shortening the duration of bond positions, investors lose relatively little performance over a complete market cycle, but gain some stability in times of crisis. The fund is managed by a team with average experience in the high yield sector of 14 years, and is benchmarked against the Barclays Capital Global High Yield Corporate 1-5 Years.

The CNMV has issued a sales license for Spain to four absolute return funds from the Absolute Insight range from Insight Investment, an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management, Funds People reports. They are the Absolute Insight Credit Fund, Absolute Insight Currency Fund, Absolute Insight Emerging Market Debt Fund and Absolute Insight UK Equity Market Neutral Fund.