Legg Mason Capital Management (LMCM) et son gérant-star Bill Miller ont annoncé le 17 novembre qu'à compter du 30 avril 2012 Sam Peters deviendra l’unique gérant des stratégies Value Trust et Value Equity. Il sera également CIO de LMCM tandis que Bill Miller en demeurera le chairman.D’autre part, Bill Miller, qui gère le Value Trust depuis son lancement le 16 avril 1982, continuera de gérer le LMCM Opportunity Trust avec Samantha McLemore comme co-gérante. Cette dernière reste gérante du portefeuille de l’Opportunity Fund, domicilié à Dublin.Sam Peters, qui était co-gérant depuis six mois (lire newsmanagers du 22 mai) du Value Trust, reste co-gérant du Special Investment Trust et de la stratégie MidCap, avec Albert Grosman.Enfin, Chris Gay reste assistant portfolio manager du Value Trust et gérant de portefeuille du Value Fund irlandais ainsi que du US Equity Fund, domicilié à Londres.

Janus Capital International, la division dédiée à international de Janus Capital, vient de nommer Jamie Wong responsable des relations avec les consultants pour l’Europe, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique (EMEA) ainsi que pour l’Asie. Basée à Londres, la nouvelle promue aura pour rôle de superviser et de développer l’activité de la société de gestion aux côtés de grands consultants locaux et internationaux. Jamie Wong reportera directement à Augustus Cheh, président de Janus Capital International. Auparavant, elle occupait la fonction de senior vice president chez Lazard Asset Management, chargée de développer les relations avec les cabinets internationaux de consultants. Avant de rejoindre Lazard Asset Management, elle travaillait pour Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

L’américain CHF Development Finance International, holding de l’organisation mondiale de développement et d’assistance humanitaire CHF International, indique avoir levé 1,6 million de dollars en cédant 20 % de son capital au fonds de private equity luxembourgeois BlueOrchard, spécialiste de la microfinance.Cette transaction est la première d’une série d’injections de capital que CHF Development Finance International projette de drainer de la part d’investisseurs «sociaux» du secteur privé partageant ses valeurs, afin de consolider plusieurs autres de ses activités de microfinance tout en s’implantant dans de nouveaux pays.L’apport de BlueOrchard s’effectue avec une prime de 30 % sur la valeur comptable. BlueOrchard gère environ 1 milliard de dollars.

Le fonds de pension californien CalPERS a annoncé le 17 novembre la nomination de Sean Tracy dans la fonction nouvellement créée de responsable de la stratégie et de la performance.Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Sean Tracy, qui travaillait précédemment dans l’administration californienne, sera plus particulièrement chargée du développement et du suivi des projets stratégiques du fonds ainsi que de la surveillance du développement des mesures de la performance.

Dominic Grinstead, managing director de MetLife UK, a indiqué que le groupe américain pourrait lancer avant 2013 une société de gestion au Royaume-Uni, bien qu’aucune décision définitive n’ait encore été prise, rapporte Money Marketing. Ce site rappelle que FriendsLife a annoncé en début de mois le lancement d’une filiale de gestion d’actifs au Royaume-Uni pour le second semestre 2012.

A l’issue de l’Investor Day 2011, UBS a présenté au public le résultat de la réflexion stratégique menée conjointement par son conseil d’administration et son directoire, qui place les activités de gestion de fortune au coeur de son dispositif tandis que les actifs pondérés en fonction du risque au sens de Bâle III doivent être réduits de 145 milliards de francs pour le pôle banque d’investissement par rapport aux 300 milliards actuels. Ce rétrécissement coûtera 2.000 enmplois sur 18.000 d’ici à fin 2016."La croissance et le succès d’UBS découleront de sa place dominante dans ses activités de gestion de fortune», qui gèrent au total près de 1.400 milliards de francs. Cette position, UBS prévoit de l’étendre en Suisse, en Europe, en Asie-Pacifique et dans les pays émergents. La banque «veillera à continuer sur la brillante lancée de Wealth Management Americas», précise le communiqué.Le pôle Global Asset Management continuera d’offrir des services d’investissement à sa clientèle au travers de capacités d’investissement diversifiées. Il développera ses activités wholesale tierces, en s’appuyant sur les atouts dont elle dispose en Asie Pacifique et en Suisse, et continuera de fournir ses services aux clients des activités de gestion de fortune d’UBS.L’objectif de rendement des fonds propres est de l’ordre de 12% à 17% pour le groupe dès 2013, avec un ratio de fonds propres tier 1 (selon Bâle III) de 13 % pour 2013.Parmi les objectifs annoncés pour chaque division, on retiendra les suivants :Wealth Management - Taux annuel de croissance de la collecte nette d’actifs: 3-5%- Marge brute annuelle: 95-105 points de base (pb)- Coefficient d’exploitation: 60-70% Wealth Management Americas - Taux annuel de croissance de la collecte nette d’actifs: 2-4%- Marge brute annuelle: 75-85 pb- Coefficient d’exploitation: 80-90% Global Asset Management - Taux annuel de croissance de la collecte nette d’actifs: 3-5%- Marge brute annuelle: 32-38 pb- Coefficient d’exploitation : 60-70%

Serge Janowski, qui était CEO de la gestion de fortune chez BNP Paribas pour Hong-Kong et l’Asie du Nord, rejoint Crédit Agricole Suisse comme CEO de ses succursale de Hong-Kong afin de développer sur place son activité de banque privée, rapporte Asian Investor. Le nouvel arrivant est subordonné à Georges Zecchin, CEO de Crédit Agricole Suisse en Asie depuis juin.

Le Aviva Investors Sustainable Future Pan-European Absolute Return Fund est désormais enregistré pour la vente en Espagne, rapporte Funds People. Ce produit «durable» de performance absolue est géré par Derek Lygo qui a pour mission de construire un portefeuille long/short de haute conviction à forte teneur en actions européennes et de leurs dérivés, sans restriction de secteur ou de pays. Il peut s’appuyer sur l’expertise de l'équipe ISR d’Aviva Investors, qui compte 11 personnes.

Les fonds d’investissement de Pictet AM sont désormais disponibles dans toutes les agences bancaires de Citibank España, rapporte Funds People. Cette coopération rentre dans le processus d’architecture ouverte mis en oeuvre par Citibank en Espagne.

George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 17 November announced the sale of Northern Rock Plc, which was nationalised on 23 February 2008, to Virgin Money. The Treasury will see GBP747m on the sale, and that amount may increase in the future to GBP1bn.Virgin Money has pledged not to undertake any involuntary redundancies, in addition to those already announced, for the next three years following the conclusion of the transaction (which will be completed by 1 January 2012).On 1 January 2010, Northern Rock was spun off into two entities, Northern Rock Plc, and Northern Rock (Asset Management) Plc.

Dominic Grinstead, managing director of MetLife UK, has announced that the US group may launch an asset management firm in the United Kingdom by 2013, though no final decision has yet been taken, Money Marketing reports. The site adds that FriendsLife announced at the beginning of the month that it is launching an asset management affiliate in the United Kingdom, which it aims to have operational by the second half of 2012.

The Vietnamese government on 16 September announced that from next year, it will allow transactions on commodities ETFs on the Hanoi stock exchange, Handelsblatt reports. The corresponding regulations are expected to be passed by the end of this year. The objective is primarily to attract institutional investors.

The Sanctions Committee of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has fined SGAM (now integrated along with CAAM into Amundi) and SGAM AI (now part of Lyxor, in the SocGen group) EUR1m, with a pecuniary sanction of EUR1.5m. These penalties are linked to the way both affiliates of SocGen tried to fix the liquidity crisis after the 2007 forex crisis. The watchdog also charges the two asset management companies of breaching some compliance rules.

On 17 November, Baring Asset Management announced the launch of the Baring India fund on 7 December. The fund will be managed by Ajay Argal, who was recruited in September in Hong Kong and who had previously been the lead manager of the India Advantage Fund and the India Excel Fund from the asset management firm Birla Sunlife.The portfolio will be at least 70% composed of equities or securities related to equities from companies listed in India, or which undertake most of their economic activities in the country. Argal may also invest up to 30% of the portfolio in companies listed outside India on the Indian subcontinent, which realise a significant percentage of their activities in India.The fund will have a relatively high concentration with 30 to 50 positions.As of the end of October, Barings managed USD288m in Indian equities.The Baring India Fund will be a sub-fund of the Irish-registered, UCITS-compliant OEIC fund Baring Investment Funds Plc. Management commission is 1.5% for the A share class, and 0.5% for the I share class.

Oddo Securities has appointed Marlène Denize Navarro as head of Sales Program Trading & ETFs, and Jean-Philippe Lhomme as sales trader Program Trading & ETFs. The two newly-promoted employees will work to strengthen the market share for the firm’s Program Trading & ETFs activities. Oddo Securities is present in European markets, including in the areas of equity market intermediation, bond market intermediation, equities financial analysis and credit analysis, a statement says. Denize-Navarro had since April 2005 been a Sales Trader Program Trading & ETFs at Exane BNP Paribas. Lhomme, for his part, worked at BNP Arbitrage in the Delta One team, as a Trader (2007-2009) and as Sales (2010-2011) at Credit Suisse.

The asset management firm Tobam and the index provider FTSE Group on Thursday, 17 November announced that they are launching a new family of eight indices, entitled FTSE-TOBAM Maximum Diversification Index Series. The indices aim to maximise a mathematical definition of diversification, the “diversification ratio,” in order to provide institutional investors with the most diversified portfolio possible, in equities, for each investment universe, either international or domestic, worldwide. The sub-funds of the indices in question all belong to the FTSE All-World Index, and are weighted depending on the amount that each risk factor contributes to equially-weighted portfolio risk, as opposed to a weighting by cap size. The methodology used in the contruction of the portfolio used for the contruction of the series of indices has already been adopted by major investors, including CalPERS. The series of indices will initially be composed of 5 regional indices: FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed World Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed World ex-North America Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Eurobloc Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed Europe Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed Asia Pacific ex-Japan IndexIn addition to this, there will be three country indices:FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification UK Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification USA Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Japan Index The indices in question may be retained in order to become the basis for publicly traded instruments such as ETFs, structured products, and tracker funds.

The California pension fnud CalPERS on 17 November announced that it has appointed Sean Tracy to the newly-created position of head of strategy and performance. In his new role, Tracy, who previously worked in the California state government, will have particular responsibility for the development and monitoring of strategic projects for the fund, and monitoring of the development of performance measures.

Janus Capital International, the division of Janus Capital dedicated to international activities, has appointed Jamie Wong as head of consultant relations, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. Wong will be based in London, and will supervise and develop the asset management firm’s activities alongside major local and international consultants. Wong will report directly to Augustus Cheh, president of Janus Capital International. Wong previously served as senior vice president at Lazard Asset Management, in charge of developing relations with international consultancy firms. Before joining Lazard Asset Management, Wong worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

Agefi reports, citing information from Reuters, that Deutsche Börse and Nyse Euronext are prepared to sell off their equity options activities in Europe and let their competitors into Euroex Clearing, in order to lessen their dominant position on derivatives markets. The date on which the European Union is to review the proposal has been delayed from 22 December to 23 January, the newspaper reports.

Europe Pension reports that the Netherlands federation of retirement institutions (OPF) has announced that pension funds will now notify their members and other beneficiaries of all costs related to management of pension savings and asset management. This is a simple recommendation, without any obligation, meaning that the Federation is asking its members to comply, or else to explain why they are not doing so.A better overall vision of costs makes boards more accountable and allows them to personalise communications for various target groups. However, as the Federation is aware that this innovation will require considerable effort on the part of pension funds, it recommends a gradual application.

Following on the observation that the Paris market is poor in quantitative alternative management firms, QuantValley, an association with 20 founding partners, including eight asset management firms, academic institutions (Paris-Dauphine, Institut Louis Bachelier, Ensae), the competitiveness unit Finance Innovation and SMBs – has unveiled its initiative entitled “Paris: City of Quants 2020,” Agefi reports. The objective is to make this strategy represent 10% of assets under diversified management in France, as their percentage of assets in London is ten times higher. The initiative hopes to eventually make Paris the top centre in continental Europe for active quantitative management. On Thursday, 17 November, at the inception of the project, it was announced that a research project had been initiated, entitled “Development of quantitative management.” The research will be carried out by Paris-Dauphine university and ENSAE ParisTech.

Legg Mason Capital Management (LMCM) and its star manager, Bill Miller, on 17 November announced that from 30 April 2012, Peters will become the sole manager of the Value Trust and Value Equity strategies, and CIO of LMCM, while Bill Miller will remain as chairman of LMCM.Miller, who has managed the Value Trust since its inception on 16 April 1982, will continue to manage the LMCM Opportunity Trust with Samanths McLemore as co-manager. McLemore will remain as manager of the Opportunity Fund portfolio, domiciled in Dublin.Peters, who had been co-manager of the Value Trust fund for six months (see Newsmanagers of 22 May), will remain as co-manager of the Special Investment Trust and the MidCap strategy, with Albert Grossman.Chris Gay will remain as assistant portfolio manager of the Value Trust fund, and manager of the Irish Value Fund portfolio and the US Equity Fund, domiciled in London.

Scott Ebner, global head of development for SPDR ETF at State Street Global Advisors, who was in Paris on 17 November 2011 along with Marco Fusco, head of SSgA France, did not come to the city empty-handed. At a press conference, the two heads announced the launch of three new ETFs in France. The funds include one ETF – SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Government Bond ETF, which is listed on Deutsche Börse and which invests in European short-term government bonds – and two ETFs – SPDR S&P US Divident Aristocrats ETF and SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF – which both invest in equities that produce high dividend returns.The SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Government Bond ETF replicates the Barclays Capital 1 – 3 Year Euro Treasury Bond Index, which includes about 75 investment grade bonds from public entities with set rates, from countries in the European single currency area. Only investment grade bonds issued in euros or in a pre-existing currency with a residual maturity of one to three years are included, a statement adds. The SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF replicates the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which includes 60 equities from the S&P Composite 1500 Index, which have paid a high dividend every year for the past 25 years. The individual positions are limited to 4% of the portfolio each, in order to ensure diversification. Lastly, the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF replicates the S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Opportunities Index, which includes 100 liquid equities that serve high dividends, from 20 emerging countries, which have shown stable or positive evolution in their dividend levels in the past three years. The individual positions are limited to 3%, while concentration by country and sector is limited to 25%, in order to ensure diversification. CharacteristicsSPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Govt Bond ETF ISIN code: IE00B6YX5F63 SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (GBP) ISIN code: E00B6YX5B26 SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF $ (USD)ISIN code: IE00B6YX5B26SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF (GBP) ISIN code: E00B6YX5D40 SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF$ (USD)ISIN code: IE00B6YX5D40

Henderson Global Investors France has sold an office and commercial property from the portfolio of the Warburg-Henderson Pan-Europa Nr.1 fund. The net sale price for the building is EUR22.2m. The property, which has a usable floor area of about 2,500 square metres, had been acquired by Warburg-Henderson KAG in September 2005. Henderson states that the returns earned on the property were 8.6% per year, with an internal rate of return of nearly 30%.

In the face of difficulties with its value and growth strategies, AllianceBernstein is playing the diversification card, and is currently putting its weight behind thematic management, which often brings returns when exited from during turbulent market times. “This is not a time for us to abandon value or growth approaches, which represent cumulative assets of more than USD130bn as of the end of September, and which are still an integral part of our product range, but with an eye to diversification, we feel that a thematic approach could make is possible to identify companies likely to benefit from the innovative ideas of tomorrow,” says Catherine Wood, senior vice president at AllianceBernstein and head of thematic management, on a visit to Paris. In this thematic management, Wood manages about USD5bn in two major funds, one of which is focused on the United States, the Alliance US Thematic Research fund, which has about USD4bn in assets, and the other international, Alliance Global Thematic Research (USD1bn). The international strategy has been available to European investors since late 2009, while the US strategy has been available since July 2010, with assets of USD170m and USD80m, respectively. The thematic portfolio includes six major areas: the genome revolution, transformation of energy, reform to the financial system, intensification of cyclical markets, web 2.0, and reemergence of the middle classes. The criteria used in the selection of themes include their global and long-term character, their power to rupture existing ways with profound changes, and their multi-sectoral implications.

Giles Swan will join the new association ICI Global, founded by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) to defend the interests of international investment fund managers, in January 2012. Swan, a specialist in policy related to collective investment plans at the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), will become director of global funds policy, and will report to Dan Waters, managing director, Investment Europe reports.Swan joined the FSA in May 2005. He was in charge of negotiations with the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on the subject of the AIFM directive, and directed one of four task forces at the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA). He was also in charge of supervision of asset management firms, before taking additional responsibility for supervision of the operations of the largest life insurers in Asia, the United States and Europe.

The Aviva Investors Sustainable Future Pan-European Absolute Return Fund is now registered for sale in Spain, Funds People reports. The “sustainable” absolute return product is managed by Derek Lygo, who will aim to construct a high-conviction long/short portfolio with a large exposure to European equities and their derivatives, without sectoral or country restrictions. He may rely on the expertise of the SRI team at Aviva Investors, which has 11 members.

According to the most recent study by the World Gold Council, central banks bought 148.4 tonnes of gold in third quarter 2011, taking advantage of a low price for the metal, Les Echos reports. For the year as a whole, their purchases, which already total 348 tonnes, may rise to as much as 450 tonnes. This level has not been seen since 1972, when the Bretton Woods system came to an end, and along with it free convertibility of currency into gold.

Investment funds from Pictet AM are now available in all branches of Citibank España, Funds People reports. The cooperation is a part of the open architecture process employed by Citibank in Spain.

Serge Janowski, who had been CEO for wealth management at BNP Paribas for Hong Kong and North Asia, has joined Crédit Agricole Suisse as CEO of its Hong Kong arm, a role in which he will develop its local private banking activities, Asian Investor reports. The new recruit will report to Georges Zecchin, CEO of Crédit Agricole Suisse in Asia since June.