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23/08/2011

Inflows down at GAM Holding in first half

The wealth management firm GAM Holding has reported a net profit for first half 2011 of CHF100.4m, a 6% decline year on year, but a 5% increase compared with second half 2010. Net inflows totalled CHF600m, GAM Holding says in a statement released on 23 August. In first half 2010, net inflows totalled CHF5.6bn. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled CHF113.5bn, down CHF4.3bn, or 4% from the end of December 2010. This development is exclusively due to appreciation of the Swiss franc against the main currencies in the portfolio (US dollars, euros, and to a lesser extent, pounds Sterling).
23/08/2011

UBS cuts 3,500 jobs, more than half of them in asset management

UBS on 23 August provided an update on its plans to eliminate expenses of a total of approximately CHF 2 billion from annual costs by the end of 2013, consistent with its announcement on July 26, 2011. “These plans include savings associated with headcount reductions of approximately 3,500, which will be achieved through redundancies as well as natural attrition, and further real estate rationalization,” the bank says in a statement. UBS expects to recognize restructuring charges of approximately CHF 550 million in connection with its cost reduction plans, approximately CHF 450 million of which will be booked in the second half of 2011. The substantial majority of the expected CHF 450 million charge will be recognized in the third quarter of 2011. Of the expected CHF 550 million in restructuring charges, approximately 55% is expected to be incurred in the Investment Bank, 30% in Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, 10% in Global Asset Management, and 5% in Wealth Management Americas. Of the expected 3,500 staff reductions, approximately 45% will come from the Investment Bank, 35% from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, 10% from Global Asset Management, and 10% from Wealth Management Americas.
23/08/2011

UBP appoints a new head of multi-management

Citywire reports that Reto Gehring is leaving UBP, only three months after being appointed as head of multi-management. He will be replaced by Didier Chan-Voc-Chun, former CIO of fund selection at Fortis Investments.
23/08/2011

SEI offers services to comply with UCITS IV standards

The US asset management firm SEI Investments (USD430bn in assets under management or administration) on 22 August announced the launch of new tools which allow asset managers to easily comply with some of the requirements of the European UCITS IV directive.The service is a web-based application which simplifies the creation of Key Investor Information Documents (KIID), and allows for some customisation of the document. The SEI Investment Managers Services division may also assist clients in editing and translating the KIID documents.SEI has also added to its portfolio of compliance monitoring services with the addition of monitoring for UCITS compliance, which allows clients to set risk level and exposure limits for positions and daily transactions. The results of this monitoring may be the subject of summary an detail daily reporting.
23/08/2011

Vanguard recruits a new manager

Vanguard has announced the recruitment of Gemma Wright-Casparius as a senior manager in its Fixed Income team. Wright-Caspariuus previously served as fixed income manager and deputy head of the macro-economic team for a sovereign fund affiliate in Singapore.
23/08/2011

Three former HDF heads move to Theam

According to information received by Newsmanagers, the three employees who left the French multi-management firm HDF Finance earlier this year (see Newsmangers of 7 February 2011) have joined Theam, the structure created from a merger of Harewood Asset Managmeent and the Sigma team from BNP Paribas Asset Management, and which is now a wholly-owned unit of BNP Paribas Investment Partners (see Newsmanagers of 16 March 2011). Eric Debonnet, the former head of research and risk management at HDF Finance, becomes head of alternative management at Theam. David Gilleron, who was co-CIO for equities at the French boutique, has been appointed co-CIO alternative multi-management at the BNP Paribas IP unit. Thierry de Rycke, previously co-CIO for fixed income, currencies and relative value at HDF Finance, has also joined Theam. The three HDF veterans rejoin Gilles Guérin, CEO of Theam, who spent a few months at HDF as CEO and vice-chairman of the board. Theam’s activities are structured around four specialties, including alternative management, which represents EUR5.4bn in assets, according to figures from March 2011. The other areas are guaranteed and protected funds (EUR25.1bn), ETF and index-based management (EUR15.9bn), and systematic active management (EUR2.4bn).
23/08/2011

Standard & Poor's to replace head

The president of Standard & Poor’s, Deven Sharma, will be leaving the business. He will be replaced by a director from the Citigroup bank, McGraw-Hill, the parent company of the ratings agency which recently lowered its rating of the United States, announced on 22 August. Douglas Peterson, 53, director of operations at Citibank, the umbrella entity for banking activities for the US Citigroup, will take over as head of Standard & Poor’s on 12 September, a statement says. Sharma, 55, will concentrate on overhauling the McGraw-Hill group’s strategy by the end of this year, and then will leave the business. “As we announced at the end of last year, Standard & Poor’s has been divided into two distinct organisations: S&P, which includes our credit ratings services, and McGraw-Hill Financial,” which includes analysis, financial data and market index activities, Harol McGraw, president and CEO of the group which bears his name, explained. “Deven helped us to create two high-growth segments, and was ready for new challenges after that. We have thus begun the search for a new director for S&P,” he added.
23/08/2011

FTC Capital recruits two big names in quantitative management

After its recent recruitment of one of the directors of Superfund, Helmut Spitzer (see Newsmanagers of 18 August) as its head of development, the Austrian management firm FTC Capital has announced the recruitment of economics professor Bernd Scherer as its CIO. Scherer, a former managing director of Morgan Stanley in London and holder of a chair from Edhec, is a specialist in quantitative management, as is the Romanian Stefanel Radu, who was head of research at Kaiser Trading Group in Melbourne, and has joined FTC Capital as head of research.
23/08/2011

S&P launches dividend indices

The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has added to its range of indices dedicated to Asia, with two dividend products developed for providers of ETF funds, Asian Investor reports. One of the indices will be the basis for the first ETF dedicated to high dividends in Hong Kong. S&P will unveil the S&P Pan Asia Select Dividend Opportunity Index on 22 August, along with an ethical version of the index. The first of these indices was designed for a management firm which plans to launch the first dividend ETF in Hong Kong, while the second was developed for a management firm in Malaysia which also plans to launch an ETF in Singapore.
23/08/2011

BNP Paribas SS scales up Corporate Trust Services range in Asia

BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNPP SS) announced on Monday, 22 August, that it is adding to its Corporate Trust Services (CTS) range in the Asia-Pacific region. The firm will now offer a complete range of services in the region, from traditional debt to structured and non-structured debt. For these services, BNPP SS has recruited Ben Lumley-Smith in Hong Kong as regional head of client development for debt markets. Lumley-Smith, formerly of Citigroup, JP Morgan and Hambros Bank, participated in the firm’s recent oversight of a major debt issue by Bank of China International, a statement says.
23/08/2011

HSBC rolls out a new fund administration model in Asia

Global Pensions reports that HSBC Securities Services (HSS) has created an infrastructure and an operating model for fund administration, which allows Asian pension fund and sovereign wealth fund clients to meet increasingly strict requirements for transparency in an environment of volatile markets and toughening legislation.The multi-asset class platform, available in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, will eventually serve about 4,600 funds, while HSS administers a total of 10,500 funds with a total volume of USD2.6trn (as of the end of June).Its services include the Multifonds accounting platform, the Cadis system for trade processing, the Mig-21 solution for compliance monitoring, the Actuate reporting data warehouse, Transaction Lifecycle Management for reconciliation, and AWD for workflow management.
23/08/2011

Pioneer Investments reconsiders presence in Russia

Pioneer Investments may sell off its activities in Russia, but Unicredit, its parent company, would retain its own activities there, Agefi reports. The newspaper cites a statement from the asset management unit of the bank, stating that it is finalising a new strategic plan to accelerate organic growth, and that as a part of that plan, it confirms that it is reexamining strategic options for its activities in Russia. The Russian unit represents only EUR63m out of the total of EUR178m in assets under management at Pioneer, an affiliate which is responsible for less than 10% of profits at UniCredit.
23/08/2011

Emerging markets attract a growing number of investors

Investors’ appetite for emerging markets appears to be growing. According to a study published recently by Baring Asset Management, 12% of investors are planning to increase their exposure to emerging markets in the next 12 months. Investors seeking opportunities in emerging markets have been on the continual increase since 2009, when they totalled 9%. Assets in equities funds dedicated to emerging markets, meanwhile, have increased from GBP6.2bn in 2009 to GBP9.6bn in 2010, and GBP13.1bn in 2011, according to statistics from the British investment management association (IMA). The study finds that in the short term and the long term, investors prefer diversification of their exposure to all emerging markets, which is essential in light of the highly disparate risk/return profiles these countries offer. 17% of men are planning to invest in emerging markets, compared with only 9% of women. However, women appear to be increasingly interested in emerging markets, as only 5% were interested in exposing themselves to this asset class in 2009.
23/08/2011

DWS offers a way to secure unit-linked life insurance contracts

In order to protect unit-linked life insurance policyholders against market shocks in the final phase of their policies, DWS (Deutsche Bank group) on 22 August announced the launch of DWS Shift, a solution which is tied to a guarantee system, DWS Flexible Portfolio Insurance. The solution allowed funds managed with it to be virtually completely sheltered from the recent market turbulence, or even allowed them to earn positive returns, the asset management firm says.In addition, DWS Shift has a 90% guarantee from DWS Investments SA on peaks recorded, valid for the last year of the contract for funds. More funds with a longer maturity will be gradually released.Currently, DWS Shift is being used to cover three funds (registered in Luxembourg, with maturities of 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5 years). The degree of exposure is constantly adapted to the market situation in the light of an analysis of trends and market volatility.For the three funds, the front-end fee may be up to 5%, and the management commission is 1.4%. The distribution commission is a maximum of 0.75% for the DWS Shift 2015, 1% for the DWS Shift 2016, and 1.25% for the 2017 funds. Meanwhile, the penalty for early withdrawal will be a maximum of 0.75%, 1% and 1.25%, respectively.
23/08/2011

Inflows to closed funds up

According to the VGF (Verband Geschlossene Fonds e.V.) association of German closed fund managers, the 45 member companies of the association in second quarter 2011 posted subscriptions of EUR1.06bn, compared with EUR803.2m in January-March, and over EUR1.18bn in the corresponding period of last year.Institutional investors contributed EUR86.9m to total inflows, compared with EUR48.2m in the previous three-month period, and EUR226.5m in second quarter 2010.Most new subscriptions went to funds specialised in German real estate, which took on EUR531m, compared with EUR248.3m in first quarter, and EUR346.7m in April-June 2010.
23/08/2011

Asian investors favour funds

In the second quarter of this year, investors in Asia Pacific invested a net total of USD26.9bn in domestic funds, Lipper FMI reports, the highest level since fourth quarter 2009. The investment flows follow three consecutive quarters of net redemptions. Several major asset management firms, such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, have also seen a boom in demand for UCITS funds domiciled in Europe from Asian subscribers in first quarter 2011.
23/08/2011

US money market funds reduce European exposure

US money market funds (MMF) have reduced their exposure to European banks, according to a research released on 22 August by Fitch Ratings. As of 31 July, exposure to European banks from the ten largest money market funds was down 9% compared with 30 June, and down 20.4% compared with the end of May. Exposure to European banks represents 47% of assets in money market funds in the Fitch sample (43% of total assets in US money market funds), compared with 48.7% as of the end of June.
23/08/2011

HSBC may sell its Canadian asset management unit

Agefi reports, citing a source familiar with the matter, that HSBC has commenced negotiations to sell its Canadian asset management affiliate as part of a global restructuring. Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper estimates the assets under management by the affiliate at about CAD30bn, Agefi states.
23/08/2011

Assekurata licensed as a European ratings agency

The German federal financial services surveillance authority (BaFin) has issued the Assekurata Assekuranz Rating-Agentur company, founded in 1996, a license as a European ratings agency. The business, based in Cologne, is focused particularly on ratings of primary insurance companies.Eight other firms so far have received the status of licensed European ratings agency, five of them German (Euler Hermes Rating, Feri EuroRating, Creditreform Rating, PSR Rating et GBB Rating), one Greek (ICAP), one Bulgarian (Bulgarian Credit Rating) and one Japanese (Japan Credit Rating).
23/08/2011

SPDR Gold Shares becomes world's largest ETF

The SPDR Gold Shares fund from State Street Global Advisors has become the world’s largest ETF by market value, the Financial Times reports. Assets in the gold fund have risen to USD76.7bn, putting it ahead of the SPDR S&P 500, with USD74.4bn, for the first time.
23/08/2011

Credit Suisse cuts Indian wealth management staff

The Credit Suisse group has decided to reduce its personnel in India in its wealth management division by 20%, as part of a global cost reduction programme, the Reuters news agency reports. Following the announcement of a 4% decline in pre-tax profits in second quarter 2011, to CHF843m, the Swiss group announced plans to reduce staff by about 4% in all divisions, equivalent to about 2,000 jobs.
23/08/2011

Lloyds Banking Group signs an outsourcing contract with State Street

State Street Corporation has announced that its existing contract with the Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has been renewed. State Street becomes the preferred provider, responsible for all middle office, securities custody, accounting, depository, securities lending and investment administration services for life insurance, retirement and investment affiliates (Scottish Widows), and asset management activities (Scottish Widows Investment Partnership) of LBG. The consolidated portfolios include investment accounting for over GBP200bn in assets. Services currently provided by other providers will be transferred to State Street in the next 18 months, the statement adds.
23/08/2011

Goldman banker joins Man Group

Jonathan Sorrell, one of the top bankers at Goldman Sachs, and son of Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, will be joining Man Group as a member of the executive board. According to the Financial Times, Sorrell will become head of strategy at the hedge fund firm.
23/08/2011

Investec launches an African bond fund

Investec has launched an African bond fund to be managed by the co-heads of fixed income, John Stopford and Andre Roux, who is based in South Africa, Investment Week reports. The Investec GSF Africa High Income Bond fund is a Sicav domiciled in Luxembourg, with indicative returns of 9.4%, on the basis of a portfolio managed by Stopford. The majority of the portfolio will be invested in South African corporate and government debt, with a very large exposure to the South African rand. The remainder of the portfolio will include exposures to fixed income from other African countries, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Angola and Ghana. One third of the portfolio is rated A, one third BBB, and the remainder is distributed between BBB- and BB+.
23/08/2011

Henderson GI recruits for European real estate fund

Henderson Global Investors on 22 August announced the recruitment of Sam Cotton as co-manager in the European retail sector for its European Retail Property Fund (EUR930m). Cotton, previously at Savills Commercial, will be based in London, and will be co-head of fund strategy deployment.
23/08/2011

Columbia launches an emerging markets fund and a Europe fund

Columbia Management (USD362bn in assets as of the end of June), an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial (like Threadneedle), has announced the launch of two international equities mutual funds. The two products, targeting firms with capitalisations of under USD5bn, will be managed by Columbia Wanger Asset Management (USD35.7bn), which already manages two other products of the Columbia Acorn range.The first of the new funds is the Columbia Acorn Emerging Markets Fund (acronym CAGAX), whose lead managers are Fritz Kaegi and Stephen Kusmierczak, and co-managers Zach Egan and Louis Mendes. The fund will invest at least 80% of their assets in companies headquartered in Brazil, China, India, or other emerging and frontier markets, or in businesses which export primarily to these countries. The objective is to identify small and innovative businesses which serve local consumers and have good long-term growth outlooks.The Columbia Acorn European Fund (CAEAX) will invest at least 70% of its assets in countries of western Europe. It may also have an exposure of up to 30% to central and eastern Europe, of which up to 10% may be to Russia and Ukraine. The lead manager is Andreas Waldburg-Wolfegg, with Stephen Kusmierczak as co-manager.
23/08/2011

Boom in real estate investment in Germany

According to statistics from CB Richard Ellis, relayed by Fondsprofessionell, investments in real estate in Germany in first half totalled EUR11.1bn, 28% more than in January-June 2010. EUR4.2bn of this total comes from foreign investors.As some transactions are beginning to reach large volumes, asset and fund managers were the largest category of investors, with nearly EUR2.6bn, or 23% of total volume, followed by open-ended real estate funds and institutional funds (Spezialfonds), with EUR2.3bn, or 21% of total volume.
23/08/2011
Fonds

DWS offre une formule pour sécuriser les contrats vie en unités de compte

Afin de protéger les détenteurs d’assurances vie en unités de compte contre de mauvaises surprises sur les marchés alors que leur contrat est proche de son échéance, DWS (groupe Deutsche Bank) a annoncé le 22 août le lancement de DWS Shift, une formule qui est couplée à un système de gestion de garantie, DWS Flexible Portfolio Insurance. Cette dernière a permis aux fonds ainsi gérés de se soustraire presque totalement aux dernières turbulences des marchés, voire d’afficher des résultats positifs, indique le gestionnaire.De plus, DWS Shift comporte une garantie par DWS Investments SA de 90 % des plus hauts atteints, valable sur la dernière année des fonds entrant dans le contrat. Au fur et à mesure, de nouveaux fonds avec une échéance plus lointaine sont lancés.Actuellement, DWS Shift couvre trois fonds (luxembourgeois à échéance avec des durées de 4,5, 5,5 et 6,5 ans. Le degré d’exposition est adapté en permanence à la situation du marché à la lumière d’une analyse des tendances et de leur volatilité des marchés.Pour ces trois fonds, le droit d’entrée peut aller jusqu'à 5 % et la commission forfaitaire de gestion se situe à 1,4 %. La commission forfaitaire de distribution se situe au maximum à 0,75 % pour le fonds DWS Shift 2015, 1 % pour le 2016 et 1,25 % pour le 2017. Parallèlement, la pénalité de sortie avant échéance se montera respectivement à un maximum de 0,75 %, 1 % et 1,25 %.
Fonds
23/08/2011

Le patron d'AWD va reconstruire la distribution d'Ergo

Selon les informations du Handelsblatt, Rolf Wiswesser, patron pour l’Allemagne du prestataire de services financiers AWD (groupe Swiss Life) remplacera dès cet automne Jürgen Vetter comme directeur de la distribution de l’assureur Ergo (groupe Munich Ré). Ergo a été secoué ces derniers temps par de nombreuses affaires de conseils financiers erronés et des scandales d’ordre sexuel.

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