In a market statement published on the DGAP website on 18 August, Daimler announced that it has received notification that the BlackRock group on 11 August passed the 5% threshold in voting rights, and with its affiliates now controls 5.72% of the auto maker. The US management firm probably took advantage of a slump of about one third in Daimler’s share price since mid-July to increase its stake. BlackRock becomes the third-largest shareholder in Daimler, after Aabar Investments (Abu Dhabi) with 9%, and the Kuwait sovereign fund (7%), ahead of Renault/Nissan, which controls 3.1%.

Hans-Ulrich Meister, the new CEO of the private banking division of the Credit Suisse group, who has been in his position for only a few weeks, has announced that he will be undertaking measures to improve the operating efficiency of the division. Until early September, when the concrete measures will be laid out in detail, Meister is playing mucial chairs with directors in the division, Handelsblatt reports, citing an internal memo obtained by Reuters. On 1 September, Rolf Bögli will become COO, replacing Christoph Brunner, who will be replacing Hanspeter Kurzmeyer as head of private clients for Switzerland. Private banking Switzerland will now be led by Arthur Vayloyan, while Nicole Pauli is appointed as head of the investment services & products branch.

The fund management firm Midi Capital, a specialist in investment in non-public SMEs in a development or transitional phase, on 18 August announced the appointment of Lucie Berges Rosa as account manager. Berges Rosa previously worked at Mizuho in London, in the team arranging syndication of LBO debt.

Pimco has recruited two traders for its portfolio management team based in Newport Beach, United States. Jeremie Banet, a former trader at Nomura Fixed Income, joined the team on 1 August. Greg Sharenow will begin in his new position on 7 September. He was previously an energy sector trader at Hess Energy Trading Company.

Natixis Asset Management Advisors, L.P., Natixis ETF Trust and Natixis Distributors, L.P on 15 August submitted two joint applications to the SEC for licenses to list actively managed and traditional ETFs on the markets, potentially on the NYSE Arca platform.Mutual Fund Wire reports that the first traditional fund could replicate the Ossiam US Minimum Variance Net Return Index.

Assets under management by the asset management division of the Saxo Bank group totalled DKK32.9bn (about EUR4.42bn) as of the end of June, compared with DKK31.2bn as of the end of December 2010, Saxo Bank stated on 18 August at a presentation of its half-yearly results. Net profits for Saxo Bank totalled about DKK346m, down 37% compared with first half 2010, but up 375% compared with second half 2010. Saxo Bank says in its half-yearly report that it aims to enrich the range of products available from Saxo Asset Management as opportunities present themselves.

Saxo Properties, an affiliate of the Danish Saxo Bank, on 18 August announced the creation of a joint venture with the pan-European real estate fund Real Estate Advisers (Resolution Property, EUR1.5bn in assets). The objective of the partnership is to jointly invest about EUR250m in real estate properties in the centre of Copenhagen in the next three to five years.

For an undisclosed amount, State Street acquired a majority stake in the London-based firm InfraHedge in late July, thus adding a managed accounts platform to its range of services to institutional investors and hedge funds, which offers a complete range of services allowing these actors to operate managed accounts and allowing clients to remain independent of management firms in the selection of managers and the construction of their portfolios. As of the end of June, State Street had USD789bn in hedge fund assets under administration.

Mutual Fund Wire relays reports in Financial News that the US management firm Loomis Sayles (USD162.3bn in assets as of the end of June) is opening an office in London, which will be led by Jeff Sayer, managing director of European institutional services. Three other recruitments are planned by the end of the year. Other openings are planned for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the long term.

Argonaut Capital Partners is planning to become operationally independent of its partner, Ignis Asset Management, as a part of a process begun last year with Hexam, MoneyMarketing reports. Barry Norris and Olly Russ will continue to manage funds for Argonaut, which will now recruit staff with the intention of moving to a more independent management policy. The partnership between Ignis and Argonaut is currently structured as a 50/50 joint venture. Ignis appears to want to retain a financial stake in the firm, as in the case of Hexam, in which Ignis still retains a 35% stake. According to a spokesperson cited by Money Marketing, “We can confirm that Argonaut and Ignis are in talks over a potential modification to their partnership agreements. An announcement will be made when we consider the time appropriate. In the meanwhile, neither Argnoaut nor Ignis have any further comment.”

After serving as head of the San Francisco office of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Susan Raynes will be moving to London: she has been appointed as head of institutional activities for SSgA in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Africa, known as the UKMEA region. In her new position, Raynes will report to Greg Ehret, head of SSgA Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Raynes, who has been with SSgA for about 15 years, will also be a member of the European Executive Committee.

Past performance is not a predictor of future performance – and, according to TCF Investment, past performance is not an indicator of past performance, either.In the past 12 years, FCF Investment explains, the investment fund sector has undergone a 100% turnover of the overall range of funds on offer to retail clients and their advisers. The most recent annual statistics from the British investment management association (IMA), which cover data up to the end of 2010, reveal that in that period, there was more or less one new fund created every day, while another fund was closed or merged. Over 12 years, 2,660 funds were launched, and 2,486 funds were closed or merged. As of the end of 1999, the total number of funds available was 2,437. As of the end of December 2010, the number of funds available was 2,574.According to TCF Investment, it is highly unlikely that the turnover rate observed took place for the benefit of clients. The costs which closure, merger or launch of funds entails must have totalled millions of pounds in tax, legal and other costs, which would ultimately have been borne by investors.It is also reasonable to conclude, TCF Investment continues, that closed or merged funds are products which failed to meet expectations. In the 12 years under review, about half of all funds were closed or merged in any given five-year period, which means that their track records would also have been deleted and are no longer featured in the performance rankings.In other words, “anyone who considers the average performance of the sector over a five-year period takes into account only 50% of all track records, and the best 50% at that,” says David Norman, CEO of TCF Investment Funds. This means that “past performance does not represent a reliable guide to past performance, to say nothing of future performance.”

In an unstable market environment, funds of funds dedicated to Africa appear to be an oasis of stability. According to the hedge fund data provider PerTrac and HedgeNews Africa, a firm specialised in news about alternative management in Africa, African funds of funds have not only outperformed the market in periods of falling markets between July 2009 and July 2011, but they have even provided returns that are less correlated and volatile than the market. In bear markets in the past two years, the composite fund of fund index from HedgeNews Africa has outperformed the S&P 500 TR by 42.93%, and the MSCI EAFE-Neet by 38.55%. Returns for the composite fund of funds index remained in a range of total net fluctuation of -2% to +2%, while the S&P 500 TR and the MSCI EAFE-Net were in the -10% to +10% range. PerTrac has published the findings under a new agreement with HedgeNews Africa, whose database will be added to the PerTrac analysis platform aimed at fund investors and managers.

In difficult market conditions, hedge fund strategies earned good returns in July 2011, and outperformed equities markets, according to statistics from Edhec-Risk. The CTA Global strategy earned gains of 2.70% in July, following two months of negative returns. Global Macro strategy, meanwhile, earned gains of 1.49%. However, convertibles arbitrage finished the month down 0.37%, while the equity market neutral strategy held stable, with gains of 0.04%. Funds of funds, meanwhile, earned gains of 1.01% in July, outperforming the S&P 500 by more than 3%.

The private equity investment firms Fortress Investment Group, Colony Capital and Starwood Capital Group are among several actors in the sector which are currently raising real estate funds, the Boomberg news agency reports. According to statistics from Preqin, there are 441 private equity firms which are seeking to raise real estate funds, an increase of 63 compared with last year, and twice as many as in 2008. In this environment, commissions are on a falling trend. For funds seeking USD1bn or more this year, the average management commission has fallen to 1.33%, according to Preqin, compared with an overall average of 1.5%, and below the average observed between 2007 and 2008.

Global ETF assets under management could grow from approximately USD1.5 trillion today to between USD3.1 trillion and USD4.7 trillion by the end of 2015, according to a new report released by McKinsey & Company.Although the market is expected to grow strongly, it will also become more difficult, due to intensifying competition and regulatory uncertainties. A corollary of the rising number of players and products is that the number of failed launches increase. In 2009, nearly three-quarters of all launches “failed” (i.e., did not gather significant assets within two years), compared to a less than one-in-ten failure rate in the 2003 vintage. From 2000 through 2007, 10 ETFs were shuttered. In the following three years, more than 150 ETFs were shut down. McKinsey suggests that «the passive ETF market is getting closer to saturation».The limelight in the ETF sector is shifting to actively-managed ETFs, a trend which the authors of the study claim will be likely to accelerate. Currently, these products represent only 1% of the sector in the United States, but it may grow to USD1trn in assets in North America in ten years, McKinsey predicts. That will be a game-changer for the ETF sector and for asset management as a whole. “Many traditional asset managers are aware of the disruptive risk that active ETFs could pose. Indeed, sponsors have filed more than 800 applications for new active funds with the SEC. Many are from traditional managers without ETF products who are simply preserving their options in case the market expands,” the consulting firm says.In addition to intensifying competition in the passive ETF market and growth in active ETFs, McKinsey predicts that the ETP sector will globalise, with the arrival of American providers in Asia and Europe, and vice versa. The new era that the ETP market is set to enter, the consulting firm predicts, will ultimately drive asset management actors to adapt, whether or not they are currently present in the ETP market, and new models will emerge, such as specialists in certain types of ETF, or managers who pursue alpha.

Li Keqiand, vice prime minister of China, announced at a press conference on 17 August that the Chinese government is planning to authorise the launch of an ETF in continental China of equities listed in Hong Kong, to issue licenses to Hong Kong businesses to invest CNY20bn, or USD3.2bn in A-class shares (reserved for Chinese investors), and to develop placement of bonds denominated in Chinese yuan in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reports. The news led to a strong rise on the Hong Kong stock markets.

In July 2011, assets under management in Swiss investment funds totalled CHF620bn, which represents a 5% monthly decline, Agefi Switzerland reports. Of this total, CHF222.6bn are in Swiss funds intended for institutional investors, according to the Swiss Fund Association (SFA), based on figures from Swiss Fund Data SA and Lipper. The decline has affected all asset classes. Despite mitigated outlooks, the Swiss fund market in July still had net inflows of CHF545m.

The court-appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment & Securities (BLMIS), Irving Picard, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in which he is seeking USD2bn from the Swiss bank UBS, Cinco Días reports. Picard claims that the Swiss bank, which is thought to have made at least USD80m out of the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff, was complicit in fraud as the depository for the Luxalpha fund, to which UBS lent an “aura of legitimacy.” Picard accuses the bank of intentionally misleading Luxembourg’s CSSF and the US SEC about its ties to Madoff.

T. Rowe Price is launching a variable rate bond fund, entitled Floating Rate Fund. The product invests in bonds from businesses rated below investment grade. The objective is to protect investors from risks related to rising interest rates, a statement says. The fund is available to US investors with a minimal investment of USD2,500, or USD1,000 when subscribed from a retirement savings plan. The total expense ratio for the product is 0.85%.

Several big names in the European long/short fund community underwent heavy losses in early August, the Wall Street Journal reports. Funds managed by Lansdowne Partners, Ridley Park Capital, Horseman Capital Management and Henderson Global Investors were among the worst affected, while some funds saw all their gains since the beginning of the year wiped out. The Henderson European Absolute Return fund, managed by Stephen Peak, lost 15.64% in the month to 5 August, and has lost 32.46% since the beginning of the year.

The British management firm Schroder Investment Management is planning to launch a global version of its Asian high yield multi-asset class fund, Asian Investor reports. Since its launch last June, the Schroder Asian Asset Income Fund has brought in nearly USD800m, and will eventually have a total capacity of about USD2bn. Schroder IM is planning to register a similarly-managed UCITS III fund domiciled in Luxembourg by the end of the year, or early in 2012.

Aberdeen Immobilien KAG will be obliged to liquidate a second open-ended real estate fund, following the liquidation of the DEGI Europa fund (see Newsmanagers of 25 October 2010): the DEGI Global Business fund (launched on 1 November 2005), which as actually reserved for institutional investors, and which has net assets of EUR253.8m, will be «orderly» liquidated by 30 June 2014 at the latest. It will become the fifth German open-ended real estate fund to suffer the fate of closure.Both shares and credit will be reimbursed. Subscribers will receive half-yearly instalments, with the first to be paid in October 2011. Currently, the liquidity rate for the fund, from which redemptions have been frozen since 11 November 2009, is only 12.8%. The portfolio still contains 11 properties.As of 30 June, Aberdeen Immobilien has sold a property in Cologne and another in Helsinki for EUR55m (the book value of the property). Negotiations are already at an advanced stage for a sale of two more properties, with a book value of EUR50m.

On 18 August, DWS (Deutsche Bank) announced that the closed real estate fund DWS Access Deutsche Bank Türme has been fully subscribed. The product, which was created to mutualise the Deutsche Bank twin towers in Frankfurt, which the bank sold to its asset management affiliate for about EUR600m, raised EUR334m in owners’ equity. Deutsche Bank will lease the towers for 15 years. Subscribers can count on returns of 5% per year, starting from 2012.

As of 12 August, assets in European ETF funds totalled EUR208.31bn, compared with EUR209.64bn as of the end of 2010, a decline of 1%, according to a weekly report by Deutsche Bank (European ETF Market Weekly Review) dated 17 August. The three leaders in the market are, according to the rankings, iShares (BlackRock), with 36% of the market and a total of EUR75bn, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with 16% (EUR33.27bn), and Lyxor (Société Générale), with 15.3%, or EUR31.9bn. Only two other providers have assets under management of over EUR10bn. They are Credit Suisse, with EUR12.2bn, and a market share of 5.9%, and the Cantonal Bank of Zurich (ZKB), with EUR10.96bn and a market share of 5.3%. The bank states, however, that in July, European ETFs overall saw subscriptions of EUR6.2bn, of which EUR5.7bn went to equities ETFs (primarly EUR4.6bn for funds based on the German Dax index). Commodities ETC products saw net redemptions of EUR570m, while bond ETFs and products specialised in alternative asset classes saw net outflows of EUR39m and EUR41m.

The British investment management association (IMA) has launched a virulent criticism of the French-German proposal for a tax on financial transactions, FundWeb reports. The president of the professional association, Richard Saunders, claims that the tax revenues raised from trades rather than from businesses would really be taxes on the savings of small investors. “Political leaders need to understand that these taxes would not be paid by banks and other intermediaries. Like stamp tax in the United Kingdom, they would be a direct charge to the savings of investors,” he said.

Le 18 août, DWS (Deutsche Bank) a annoncé que le fonds immobilier fermé DWS Access Deutsche Bank Türme a été entièrement souscrit. Ce produit, qui a été créé pour mutualiser les tours jumelles de la Deutsche Bank à Francfort, que la banque avait vendu pour quelque 600 millions d’euros à sa filiale de gestion d’actifs, a levé 334 millions d’euros de fonds propres.La Deutsche Bank prend en location les deux tours pour 15 ans. Les souscripteurs peuvent compter sur un rendement de 5 % annuels à compter de l’exercice 2012.

Aberdeen Immobilien KAG se voit obligée de liquider un second fonds immobilier offert au public, après le DEGI Europa (lire notre article du 25 octobre 2010) : le DEGI Global Business (lancé le 1er novembre 2005), qui était réservé en réalité aux investisseurs institutionnels et qui affiche un encours net de 253,8 millions d’euros, va être liquidé «en bon ordre» d’ici au 30 juin 2014 au plus tard. Ce sera le cinquième fonds immobilier allemand offert au public à être fermé de la sorte.Il est prévu de rembourser à la fois les parts et les crédits. Les souscripteurs percevront des versements semestriels, la première tranche étant payée en octobre 2011. Actuellement, le taux de liquidité de ce fonds dont les remboursements sont gelés depuis le 11 novembre 2009 se situe à 12,8 % seulement. Le portefeuille comporte encore 11 actifs.Au 30 juin, Aberdeen Immobilien a réussi à vendre pour 55 millions d’euros (soit au niveau de la valeur vénale) un immeuble de Cologne et un autre situé à Helsinki. Des négociations sont déjà bien avancées sur la vente de deux autres immeubles d’une valeur vénale de 50 millions d’euros.

Dans un communiqué boursier publié sur le site DGAP le 18 août, Daimler indique avoir reçu notification que le groupe BlackRock a franchi le 11 août le seuil des 5 % des droits de vote et détenait avec ses filiales 5,72 % du constructeur allemand.Le gestionnaire américain a probablement profité de la chute d’un tiers du cours de l’action Daimler depuis la mi-juillet pour se renforcer.BlackRock est ainsi devenu le troisième plus gros actionnaire de Daimler, derrière Aabar Investments (Abou Dhabi) avec 9 % et le fonds souverain du Koweit (7 %), mais devant Renault/Nissan (3,1 %).

Les actifs sous gestion de la division gestion d’actifs du groupe Saxo Bank se sont inscrits à 32,9 milliards de couronnes danoises (environ 4,42 milliards d’euros) à fin juin contre 31,2 milliards de couronnes à fin décembre 2010, a indiqué Saxo Bank le 18 août à l’occasion de la présentation de ses résultats semestriels.Le bénéfice net de Saxo Bank s’est élevé à 346 millions de couronnes danoises, en recul de 37% par rapport au premier semestre 2010 mais en hausse de 375% par rapport au second semestre 2010. Saxo Bank souligne dans son rapport semestriel sa volonté d’enrichir, au gré des opportunités, la palette de produits de Saxo Asset Management.