Le fondateur de la société AWD, Carsten Maschmeyer, qui a démissionné la semaine dernière de sa fonction de membre du conseil d’administration de Swiss Life, s’est vraisemblablement défait comme annoncé d’un grand nombre d’actions Swiss Life, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Selon l’opérateur de la Bourse suisse, SIX Swiss Exchange, un «membre non exécutif du conseil d’administration» de Swiss Life a vendu le 7 décembre dernier 700.000 actions Swiss Life, d’une valeur de 64,75 millions de francs, ce qui correspond à 92,50 francs par action. Carsten Maschmeyer a annoncé récemment vouloir diminuer sa part dans Swiss Life, qui s'élevait à un peu plus de 5%, à moins de 3%.
Le fondateur de Microsoft Bill Gates a consolidé sa participation dans le groupe genevois Givaudan. Selon une publication de la Bourse suisse (SIX Exchange Regulation), Bill Gates détient désormais 10,29% du numéro un mondial des arômes et des parfums.Bill Gates a fait son entrée dans l’actionnariat du groupe suisse à la mi-février 2011 en acquérant 3,3% indirectement via Cascade Investment LLC, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation et Harris Associates. Il avait ensuite renforcé une première fois sa participation à 5,24% en juillet dernier.
Le gestionnaire suisse Partners Group a annoncé plusieurs promotions. Andreas Baumann a été nommé partner. L’intéressé est co-responsable du bureau de Singapour, qui coordonne tous les investissements dans la région Asie Pacifique.Dr. Michael Studer, qui accède également au grade de partner, est en charge de l'équipe portfolio & risk management.Par ailleurs, les personnes suivantes, membres des équipes de gestion, ont été promues managing director : Christian Ebert, Scott Essex, Sergio Jovele, Raphael Meier, Dr. Raymond Schnidrig, Alex Cho, Robert Collins.
JP Morgan Asset Management a annoncé le 12 décembre qu’il complétait son offre destinée aux investisseurs suisses en proposant de nouveaux fonds de placement couverts en francs suisses. «Suite aux fortes fluctuations du marché des changes et à la brutale ascension du franc suisse (CHF) au cours des derniers mois, les investisseurs suisses sont de plus en plus exposés à un risque de change indésirable sur leurs placements à l'étranger».Les portefeuilles sont exposés à des fluctuations inhabituellement élevées et les pertes de change réduisent à néant la plupart des profits réalisés sur les placements internationaux. «De nombreux investisseurs suisses ont exprimé qu’ils souhaitaient une solution adaptée aux besoins locaux, destinée aux investisseurs qui pensent en termes de franc suisse sans pour autant vouloir renoncer aux avantages reconnus de l’investissement à l'étranger», explique JP Morgan AM dans un communiqué. JP Morgan Asset Management a récemment complété son offre «couverte en CHF» pour le marché suisse des catégories suivantes : -JPMorgan Investment Funds – Income Opportunity Fund A (cap) - couvert en CHF -JPMorgan Funds – Global Strategic Bond Fund A (cap) - couvert en CHF-JPMorgan Funds – Highbridge Diversified Commodities Fund A (cap) - couvert en CHF-JPMorgan Funds – Global Consumer Trends Fund A (cap) - couvert en CHF
Sur les cinq prochaines années, Fiona Frick, directeur général d’Unigestion, souhaite faire croître l’activité de la société de gestion de 10-15 % par an, dont la moitié provenant de clients existants et l’autre de nouveaux clients, rapporte le Financial Times Fund Management. Une grosse partie des flux devrait venir d’Europe où la société suisse est bien implantée. Mais Unigestion a ouvert récemment un bureau en Asie. Et elle regarde les Etats-Unis. «Un jour, nous franchirons peut-être le pas», affirme Fiona Frick.
Invesco PowerShares a récemment lancé deux nouveaux ETN, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. Baptisés PowerShares DB U.S. Inflation ETN et DB U.S. Deflation ETN, ils suivent l'écart entre les TIPS (obligations du Trésor indexées sur l’inflation) et les bons du trésor sur les mêmes échéances.
Les hedge funds devraient terminer l’année 2011 sur une note positive. L’indice Globe Op Capital Movement Index des hedge funds ressort pour décembre 2011 à 141,01 points, soit 1,55 point de plus qu’en novembre. La progression résulte d’une hausse de 3,41 % de l’encours sous administration chez les clients de GlobeOP pour les souscriptions et d’une augmentation de 1,86 % pour les remboursements.Sur les douze derniers mois, l’indice marque une hausse de 14,40 points.
With the new Multi Asset Real Return sub-fund from Pioneer Funds, Pioneer on 17 November created a European mirror of a US product, with USD227.2m in assets, managed by the same team, including Michele Garau assisted by Kenneth Taubes, head of investment management US, and Howard Weis as associate portfolio manager, Citywire reports. Conviction-based bets are hedged with small exposures to asset classes with low correlation.
The Australian market authority (ASIC) will publish recommendations for hedge fund regulations in early 2012, Investor Daily reports. Following the publication of a consultation document in February this year, Australian hedge funds in the international investment management association (AIMA) entered into dialogue with ASIC, and agreed that there is a need to introduce some rules to better assist investors who would like to invest in alternative strategies. Issues of low liquidity and complex strategy need to be treated with much more precision in the informational documents, to ensure that investors fully understand what they are in for, and what problems they run a danger of encountering if there is trouble on the markets. Hedge funds based in Australia have about AUD50bn in assets under management.
Hedge funds are expected to finish the year 2011 on a positive note. The Globe Op Capital Movement Index of hedge funds for December 2011 shows 141.01 points, 1.55 points more than in November. Growth is due to gains of 3.41% in assets under administration for clients of GlobeOP for subscriptions, and an increase in 1.86% in redemptions. In the past twelve months, the index has gained 14.40 points.
Hans-Jürgen Gutenberger has announced that he will be exercising a clause in his contract which allows him to set his own retirement date, and will be leaving his job on 30 June 2012 as a managing board member at Deka in charge of distribution via savings banks, marketing, and treasury. He will be celebrating his 60th birthday next year, and has been a member of the board at Deka since 1 January 2000.A successor to Gutenberger has not yet been appointed.
Oldrik Verloop, who had been head of marketing strategy for institutional clients in Benelux and Scandinavia at the Swiss firm Wegelin, has been recruited by Aquila Capital (EUR3.4bn in assets) as director of sales for Benelux and Scandinavia. He will be in charge of distribution activities in northern Europe, excluding Germany.
In the next five years, Fiona Frick, CEO of Unigesdtion, would like to grow the firm’s business by 10-15% per year, half of which will come from existing clients, and the other half from new clients, Financial Times Fund Management reports. A large part of these inflows will come from Europe, where the Swiss firm has a strong presence. But Unigestion has recently opened an office in Asia, and is looking at the United States. “One day we may take the jump,” says Frick.
The Swiss asset management firm Partners Group has announced several promotions. Andreas Baumann has been appointed as a partner. He is co-head of the Singapore office, which is in charge of all investments in the Asia Pacific region. Dr. Michael Studer, who also becomes a partner, is in charge of the portfolio & risk management team. The following people, members of management teams, have been promoted to managing director: Christian Ebert, Scott Essex, Sergio Jovele, Raphael Meier, Dr. Raymond Schnidrig, Alex Cho, Robert Collins.
The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has consolidated his stake in the Geneva-based group Givaudan. According to a publication from the Swiss stock exchange (SIX Exchange Regulation), Gates now controls 10.29% of the world’s largest perfume and scent manufacturer. Gates made his first entry into the capital of the Swiss group in mid-February 2011, with an acquisition of a 3.3% stake indirectly via Cascade Investment LLC, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Harris Associates. He then increased his stake to 5.24% in July this year.
More than 26,000 people at AXA, representing more than 23% of staff concerned, have signed up for “Shareplan 2011,” the 2011 employee shareholding plan, announced by the insurer on 23 August.Total subscriptions come to over EUR332m, corresponding to the issue of nearly 37 million new shares, subscribed to at a price of EUR8.43 per share for the traditional offering, and EUR9.10 for leveraged shares. The new shares are eligible for dividends from 1 January 2011, a statement says.At the conclusion of this year’s campaign, employees at AXA control about 7.4% of its capital and 8% of voting rights.
The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 12 December announced that it has renewed its real estate consulting contract with the Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA), whose mandate was expiring. As of 30 September 2011, the value of the real estate portfolio of CalPERS totalled USd19.1bn, up 26% compared with the first nine months of the previous year.
Assets in Asian mutual funds have fallen 3% for Asia ex Japan in first half 2011, to USD1trn, due to mediocre market performance and net outflows in the two largest markets, China and Korea, according to an annual report from Cerulli on distribution trends in Asia (“Asian Distribution Dynamics 2011.”) Assets under management fell by 7.9% in China and 6.6% in Korea, while the other markets in Asia ex Japan had growth of greater or lesser amounts. Cerulli estimates that assets may increase to USD1.1trn by the end of the year.The research agency finds that the fundamental trend is headed upwards. In the past four years, to 2010, assets in funds in the region, including China, Korea, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, have posted average annual growth of 13.9%. Assets in Chinese funds have showsn the highest growth, at 29.4%, followed by India (17.6%). According to Cerulli, the trend is likely to continue until 2015 at a more modest annual pace of 11.2%, meaning that assets under management will total about USD1.8trn by 2015.
With the assistance of the consultant Strategic Investment Solutions and the finance ministry, the central bank of Chile has selected BlackRock and Rogge Global Partners to manage the assets of the corporate bond allocation from the nation’s pension reserve fund, while Mellon Capital Management and BlackRock have been granted the equities mandate, Funds People reports.The Fund managers USD4.49bn in assets, of which 20% will be invested in corporate bonds, and 15% in international equities.The transfer of assets will take place in the period from 1 March 2012 to 28 February 2013.
On Monday, Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM, CHF33.7bn in assets as of the end of September) announced that it has recruited Jan Straatman as chief investment officer (CIO). It is a newly-created position.Straatman will be based in London, will begin in his new role on 1 March 2012, and will report to Hubert Keller, managing partner at Lombard Odier and co-head of LOIM with Thierry Lombard.For two years, Straatman had been CEO and CIO of Pearl Group in London; from 2001 to 2006 he was CIO for capital markets at the Dutch pension fund ABP Investments.Mark Weber, currently a member of the managing committee at ING IM United States, will replace Straatman as CIO of ING, and will take on responsibility for Europe and Asia.
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Monday announced that it has signed an agreement with the Pearson group to acquire its 50% stake in FTSE International. The transaction, which is valued at GBP450m (EUR527m), will be completed in first quarter 2012, and will make LSE the sole proprietor of the index provider, in which it had already controlled the other half.
The insurance firm Friends Life has recruited the bond specialist team from LV=Asset Management, to direct strategies for this asset class, at a new entity dedicated to asset management, Friends Life Investments, which will be launched next year, Investment Week reports. Michael Wright, previously head of bonds at LV=AM, becomes director for fixed income. In this role, he will be in charge of asset allocation and direct management of government bond strategies. John Hampton will continue to handle the corporate bond portfolios as head of credit. He will oversee all institutional corporate portfolios, under the direction of Wright. Purna Bhudia and Nigel Bradshaw, who had previously worked with Hampton, will continue in their roles at Friends Life Investments as corporate bond fund managers.
Standard Life has added 12 of Vanguard’s core index funds to its pensions platform. The new funds will be available to both retail and corporate clients.The funds, which include both bond and equity index funds, will be available on the platform from 16 December 2011, with the exception of the SL Vanguard US Equity Pension Fund which will become available from the end of January 2012.Tom Rampulla, managing director at Vanguard UK comments: «Standard Life will be the first defined contribution (DC) platform in the UK to offer Vanguard funds».
Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) on 12 December announced that it has admitted the first inverse ETF with leverage of 2 based on the Ibex 35 index to trading. The fund is the Lyxor ETF Ibex 35 Doble Inverso Diario, issued by Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group). The product replicates the inverse of the daily evolution of the Ibex 35 index (2x), with dividends reinvested.The product is registered in France (FR0011042753) and charges fees of 0.40%. It becomes the 67th ETF listed in Madrid.
In November, balanced funds were the only category of funds to have recorded net inflows in Sweden. They have posted net inflows of SEK7.6bn, or EUR0.84bn, according to the most recent statistics from Fondbolagens Förening, the Swedish investment fund association. This comes despite the fact that the industry for funds on sale in Sweden has seen net outflows of SEK3.4bn (EUR0.37bn), driven by outflows of SEK9bn from equity funds (nearly EUR1bn). Since the beginning of the year, the balanced fund category has recorded inflows of SEK20.1bn, or EUR2.22bn, while the industry for funds on sale in Sweden has seen outflows of SEK7.7bn (EUR0.85bn). These outflows are entirely due to equity funds, which have seen redemption demands of SEK69.2bn, or EUR7.65bn. In addition to balanced funds, the other popular category since the beginning of 2011 has been money market funds, which have seen inflows of SEK34.8bn (EUR3.84bn). As of the end of November, assets in the sector totalled SEK1.782trn, or about EUR197bn, of which 52% remain in equity funds, Balanced funds, for their part, represent SEK380bn, or EUR42bn. Since the beginning of the year, assets have fallen by SEK182bn (EUR20bn).
PowerShares has recently launched two new ETNs, Mutual Fund Wire reports. The funds, entitled PowerShares DB U.S. Inflation ETN and DB U.S. Deflation ETN, track the difference between inflation-linked Treasury bonds (TIPS) and Treasury bonds with the same durations.
Currently, assets at the Spanish asset management firm Bestinver (Acciona group) total EUR6.1bn, in seven investment funds, four pension funds, and eight Sicav funds, as well as management mandates such as the one reiceved earlier this year from the Norwegian sovereign fund (Government Pension Fund-Global), Funds People reports. The total amount managed for foreign investors represents 30% of total assets.For investment funds, assets at Bestinver remain virtually unchanged compared with the EUR2.96bn recorded at the end of 2010, while Spanish funds on the whole have seen a fall of 9.3% in their assets under management.
JP Morgan Asset Management on 12 December announced that it is adding to its range of products aimed at Swiss investors, with an offer of new investment funds hedged in Swiss francs. “Following the high fluctuations in the currency market and the sharp rise of the Swiss franc (CHF) in the past few months, Swiss investors are increasingly exposed to undesirable currency risks on their foreign investments. Portfolios are exposed to unusually high fluctuations, and currency losses are reducing most profits made on international investments to near zero. Many Swiss investors have said that they would like a solution adapted to local needs, aimed at investors who think in terms of Swiss francs, without wanting to sacrifice the recognized advantages of investment abroad,” JP Morgan AM explains in a statement. JP Morgan Asset Management has recently added to its “CHF hedged” product range on the Swiss market, with the following offerings: -JPMorgan Investment Funds – Income Opportunity Fund A (cap) – hedged in CHF -JPMorgan Funds – Global Strategic Bond Fund A (cap) – hedged in CHF -JPMorgan Funds – Highbridge Diversified Commodities Fund A (cap) – hedged in CHF -JPMorgan Funds – Global Consumer Trends Fund A (cap) – hedged in CHF
Legg Mason Asset Management has launched its Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income fund, with USD34bn in assets, in the UK, Investment Week reports. The fund had originally been launched in June 2010 to a limited number of investors for a trial period. It has now been added to the Irish range LMGF.
UCITS-compliant funds continued to post redemptions in the month of October, related to outflows from long-term UCITS funds and money market funds. The month ended with net outflows of EUR30bn, compared with EUR49bn in September, according to statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA).This slowdown in outflows has been observed in virtually all asset classes. Long-term UCITS funds, meaning all funds excluding money markets, have posted outflows in October of EUR19bn, compared with EUR37bn in September, and EUR55bn in August.The same trend may be observed for equity funds, where outflows halved in October to EUR8bn, from EUR17bn in September (and EUR27bn in August).Bond funds finished the month under review with net outflows of EUR5bn, compared with EUR12bn in September. Diversified funds have seen outflows of EUR5bn, compared with EUR10bn previously.Money market funds, for their part, have seen net outflows of EUR10bn, compared with EUR12bn in September, as banks continue to compete with money market funds to attract investors to savings accounts.Total assets in UCITS-compliant funds as of the end of October totalled EUR5.487trn, up 2.2% due to rebounding markets. For non-UCITS funds, the increase totals 1%, to EUR2.13trn.