p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Peter Kerger, head of DG Advisors for Asia-Pacific in Singapore, claims that inflation-linked products, which are theoretically the ultimate defence against inflation, are not the best solution to gain from inflationary trends. From this point of view, it’s a better idea to look to real assets such as commodities.The price of commodities rises in crises, he explains, while inflation-linked bonds are only attractive if prices rise further.Peter Kerger adds that Deutsche Asset Management, of which DB Advisors is the institutional unit, is seeking new solutions to cover against inflation, as part of its plans to become a niche player in Asia. It is planning to offer an unusual vehicle (other than an Asian equities product), which would be a complement to a fund of fund portfolio.In first quarter, Asian pension funds were widely demanding multi-asset class absolute return investments, in mandates totalling USD50m to USD500m, he says.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss private bank Julius Baer, which has ambitions to make Asia its second home market, announced in Hong Kong on 10 February that it is adding to its range of products denominated in Chinese yuan to meet growing demand from its clients. It is now offering CNY conversion services, current and fixed deposit accounts, CNY-denominated trusts, currency-linked investments and bonds. As the market grows, Julius Baer is also planning to offer other products, such as shares in investment funds.Julius Baer, the only private bank with a QFII license in China, which it received in December, obtained a complete banking license in Hong Kong late last year (see Newsmanagers of 4 November). It is also planning to open a representative office in Shanghai this year, and to create a trust company in Singapore, as previously announced (see Newsmanagers of 13 September 2010).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UK investment firm Martin Currie has recruited Jean-Luc Eyssautier as director of sales and client services for Asia. In this position, he replaces Chen Ee-Fang, who joined Northern Trust last October. In his new role, Eyssautier will be in charge of institutional investors and private banks, largely in Hong Kong and Singapore. Eyssautier was previously head of fund distribution in Asia at Axa Investment Managers.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hamburg-based wealth management firm Solit Management GmbH on 11 March will unveil the Liechtenstein-registered, UCITS-compliant fund FS Gold & Silver Reserve Fund, founded on 22 June last year, which has received a sales license for Germany. The product will be denominated in Swiss francs, and will specialise in shares in companies that operate silver mines (which represent 70% of the portfolio). The product is managed by Adrian Morgen at Everest Wealth Management (Liechtenstein). As of 3 March, the performance of the fund was 73%. Characteristics Name: FS Gold & Silver Reserve Fund ISIN code: LI0112163931

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } All of the various hedge fund strategies made money in February. The Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index (GGHFI) is up 1.28%, compared with +3.43% for the S&P 500 Total Return, +3.33% for the MSCI World Equity, and +2.24% for the FTSE 100.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For about EUR48m, the German management firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has acquired the Casal Bertone gallery shopping centre under construction in Rome (9,830 square metres, 56 shops) from the Italian promoter Immobiliare Europea. The property will be added to the EUR4.5bn commercial real estate portfolio, and will belong to the open-ended real estate fund ImmoInvest: Europa.The Casal Bertone gallery is a part of a 21,000 square metre shopping centre, in which the largest space will be an Auchan hypermarket.

Aviva Investors has announced that it has received a Securities Investment Consulting Enterprise (SICE) licence for Taiwan from the Financial Supervisory Commission. The licence allows the asset manager to open its own subsidiary and offer a broad range of products in Taiwan to both retail and institutional clients. Since entering Taiwan market in 2008, the licence means that Aviva Investors will have an official presence in Taiwan that allows it to provide on the ground services to local distributors and clients. Aviva Investors has two segregated mandates - Global High Yield and Emerging Market Bonds - and 13 registered SICAV funds in Taiwan.Aviva Investors also recently received its Capital Markets Services licence in Fund Management for Singapore.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legg Mason has announced that its assets as of the end of February totalled USD672.7bn, compared with USD671.8bn two months earlier. Equities assets totalled USD188.7bn, compared with USD185.6bn at the end of January, and USD184.2bn at the end of December, while bond assets totalled Usd353.4bn, compared with USD352.9bn and USD355.8bn, respectively. Money market funds, meanwhile, were down to USD130.6bn, compared with USD133.3bn at the end of January, and USD131.8bn as of the end of December.The fund manager explains that its assets were set back by the exit of an Asian equities manager, which reduced the total by about USD2.2bn.At Invesco, total assets as of 28 February totalled USD641.1bn, compared with USD623.1bn one month earlier, and USD616.6bn as of the end of December, while equities products accounted for USD304bn, compared with USD300bn at the end of January, and USD294.1bn two months earlier. Assets in UIT ETF and passive funds totalled USD88.7bn, compared with USD85.5bn and USD80.8bn, respectively.February’s increases are due to market appreciation, institutional investment subscriptions, and appreciation of other currencies against the US dollar.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Richard Davies, senior managing director, defined contribution & sub-advisory relationships at AllianceBernstein, will be joining Russell Investments on 1 June as managing director, defined contribution. He will become the new head of Russell’s activities in the area of defined contributions, which as of the end of December represented USD67bn in advisory assets and USD20bn in assets under management worldwide.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton has announced the appointment of Pierre Caramazza as head of sales to Registered Financial Advisers in the United States. Caramazza has several years of experience at the firm, most recently as head of the Fixed Income Product Management division.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Anil Kumar, a former partner at McKinsey, has testified in the trial of Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon, that he shared confidential client information with Rajaratnam, because he felt indebted due to personally receiving USD500,000 per year in consulting fees from him, the Financial Times reports. He told of how Rajaratnam advised him to open a Swiss bank account and an offshore account invested with Galleon, using the name of his housekeeper in order to avoid detection.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mutual Fund Wire reports that the board of trustees at RidgeWorth Funds last week granted its approval for the liquidation of three 130/30 funds. They are the RidgeWorth International Equity 130/30 fund (USD133.15m), Real Estate 130/30 (USD12.3m), and US Equity 130/30 (USD14.1m).

The French pension fund Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR)'s annualised performance net of expenses (determined as at 31st December 2010) since it commenced investment operations in June 2004 is +3%1. The Fund’s performance over the year 2010 is +4.2%.As at 31 December 2010, the FRR’s assets totalled 37 Bn euros : - performance assets represented 38.8% of net assets (of which 32.3% equities, 3.2% commodities, 2.1% real estate and 1.2% emerging markets debts); - liability hedging assets accounted for 61.2% of net assets. Pension reforms in 2010 clarified the FRR’s liabilities which now entail 14 annual payments of 2.1 billion euros to the Caisse d’amortissement de la dette sociale –CADES– (2011 to 2024) and confirmed the lump sum contribution owed by CNIEG to the CNAV in 2020. The FRR therefore adopted its strategic allocation plan on 13 December 2010 with a view to meeting its liabilities and achieving as high as possible a return on its investments by 2024. The search for performance will be driven by its assets (equities and bonds of developed and emerging economies, high yield bonds, real estate and commodities) which represent 40% of its portfolio (37.5 Bn euros) as at the beginning of March 2011.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dexia Asset Management has announced the launch of Dexia Global Opportunities, its 25th UCITS III-compliant hedge fund, with the objective of outperforming the Eonia over a recommended investment period of 3 years, with average volatility of about 6%. The mutual fund will rely on arbitrage strategies (long/short) and directional strategies (either long or short), investing in various asset classes (equities, fixed income, credit, currencies, commodities), either in European or international financial markets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GAM has announced the launch of the GAM FCM Catastrophe Bond Fund, which offers investors a way to gain from natural disasters such as earthquakes or tornadoes. The investment firm has formed a partnership with Fermat Capital Management, a specialist in catbonds. Minimal subscription for the fund is USD25,000.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal under the California Public Records Act, the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association pension fund is accusing BNY Mellon, its custodian, of failing in its fiduciary duty by making money on currency transactions initiated to facilitate the fund’s investments in foreign securities. The bank contests the conclusion, and claims that it was acting as a counterparty for the fund and its managers.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French financial market watchdog, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), issued a warning on 10 March over the activities of the company Altanus Limited, whose headquarters are located in the Netherlands, and its websites, swissmoneyreport.net and smr-news.com.The firm sends faxes to machines at businesses, as well as the phone numbers of private individuals, entitled “Swiss Money Report,” which contain highly optimistic views of the financial situation of companies listed on foreign markets (with limited market capitalisation), and predicting potential returns on very large investments, with predictions that share prices will rise by more than 50% in the short term, and over 200% in the mid-term.The AMF has warned investors that “such potential gains also presuppose significant potential losses, which may be accompanies by very high price volatility.” The AMF also states that the Swiss Money Report mentions a conflict of interest, as the publishers of the Swiss Money Report reserve the right to buy or sell shares in the businesses contained in the reports at any time. As a result, “the AMF recommends a high level of caution on the part of investors, and in general, invites the public to examine suggested investments which promise high returns, and not to pass these on to others in any form.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A wave of regulation now washing over the asset management industry in the wake of the financial crisis is leading major players in the United States, who are generally quiet in political matters, to make their voices heard, the Wall Street Journal reports. OpenSecrets.org reports that BlackRock spent nearly USD1.7bn on lobbying activities in 2010, compared with USD390,000 in 2009, and nothing in 2006. Fidelity Investments has increased its spending from 21% last year to USD3.5m. Legg Mason, for its part, spent USD1.07m last year, compared with USD580,000 in 2009. Vanguard Group spent USD1.2m last year, which remains stable compared with 2009, but more than double its lobbying spending in 2006.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets under administration by the Standard Life group totalled GBP196.8bn, up 16% year on year. Net inflows excluding British and Indian money market funds rose by 46% to GBP8.3bn, while long-term savings inflows rose 77% to GBP4.7bn. Assets under management for third parties at Standard Life Inestments (SLI) increased by 26% to a record GBP71.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in Citywire, the managers Dan Roberts, John Anderson and Leigh Himsworth and their teams will not be joining Henderson when the firm completes its acquisition of Gartmore. Their funds will be merged into other products over the summer. In total, Citywire reports, 14 Gartmore funds will be closed down. However, John Bennett, Charlie Awdry, Chris Palmer, Ben Wallace and Luke Newman will be joining Henderson.

In 2010, Schroders had net new business inflows of GBP27.1 billion (2009: GBP15.0 billion) taking funds under management at the year end to an all time high of GBP 196.7 billion (2009: GBP 148.4 billion). Net revenue was GBP 1.16 billion (2009: GBP 749.8 million) and profit before tax was GBP 406.9 million (2009: GBP 137.5 million).Net inflows into fixed income were particularly noteworthy at GBP 9.8 billion taking fixed income assets under management to GBP 33.8 billion, almost double the level of two years ago. Schroders also had GBP 5.0 billion of net inflows in multi-asset with major new mandates from UK and international clients.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Loomis, Sayles & Company, an affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management based in Boston, has launched the Loomis Sayles Absolute Strategies Bond Fund, to meet demand from investors for absolute return bond strategies in the United Kingdom and Europe. The all-weather product may invest in several asset classes and categories of shares, in order to manage market risks (bonds, equities, currencies, securitisations), and will use long/short positions and derivatives. The Loomis Sayles Absolute Strategies Bond Fund is co-managed by Matthew Eagan, a bond portfolio manager, Kevin Kearns, senior bond portfolio and derivative strategies manager, and Todd Vandam, a bond portfolio manager and credit strategist. The fund, registered in the United Kingdom on 2 March, is a sub-fund of the UCITS III-compliant Natixis International Funds I Sicav, and is available in euros and pounds Sterling.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } A reshuffle of the product offerings from BNP Paribas is continuing, Bluerating reports. This time, sub-funds of the Parworld Sicav will be involved in mergers.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The new range of UCITS-compliant hedge funds from Pictet will soon include a third product, with the release of the Callisto fund of funds (CTA, global macro and long/short equity), which received a license from the CSSF on 25 February (the fund is not yet licensed for sale in Switzerland or France). The fund (see Newsmanagers of 21 January) will be managed by Cristina Bangoli Mandic, who belongs to the team at Pictet Alternative Investments (PAI), led by Nicolas Campiche.Meanwhile, the absolute return market neutral fund specialised in China, Pictet Mandarin, launched on 1 October (see Newsmanagers of 27 September 2010 and 19 January 2011) has reached USD174m in assets, and has seen its first subscriptions from French institutional investors.The first product in the series, Corto Europe, launched on 12 April 2010 (see Newsmanagers of 7 April), now has EUR292m in assets, slightly less than one third of it sourced in France. One of the managers of the fund, Philippe Sarreau, initially estimated that the capacity of the fund would be about EUR250m. However, as the strategy’s limit is now about EUR700m, as the eligible investment universe has proven larger than expected, there is still about EUR240m in capacity available. The “model” fund registered in the Cayman Islands, Corto European (EUR171m), has seen much more limited subscriptions than its younger sibling which complies with UCITS III.

Le Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR) a souligné le 10 mars à l’occasion d’un point de presse que l’investissement socialement responsable (ISR) reste au cœur du dispositif dans le cadre de la nouvelle stratégie financière. «Les choses ne changent pas fondamentalement. La stratégie 2008-2012 reste le cadre de référence», a indiqué Raoul Briet, président du conseil de surveillance du FRR. Le conseil de surveillance a d’ailleurs réaffirmé l’identité d’investisseur responsable du Fonds. Dans le courant de l’année, les travaux vont ainsi se concentrer sur l’adaptation à la nouvelle structure de portefeuille et l’innovation, avec le renouvellement de mandats ISR (2006-2011), des réflexions sur les approches thématiques, l’amélioration du reporting ESG des gérants et la poursuite de la promotion de l’ISR. Avec la nouvelle donne, «un nouveau chapitre s’est ouvert mais ce n’est pas la fin de l’histoire», a estimé Raoul Briet. Le président du directoire du FRR, Augustin de Romanet, a pour sa part insisté sur la nécessité de faire du Fonds un instrument utile pour l’avenir. Dans cette perspective, le FRR doit être une institution «opérationnelle et efficace, dotée d’une gouvernance exemplaire et innovante». Sur le chapitre de la gouvernance, Augustin de Romanet a indiqué que le conseil de surveillance avait pleinement joué son rôle en soutenant en pleine crise l’exposition aux actions alors que le directoire avait de son côté anticipé la loi en s’imposant un passif qui n'était pas encore dans les textes. En outre, pour alimenter la réflexion sur le niveau du marché, un comité de stratégie d’investissement a été mis sur pied avec trois membres du conseil de surveillance (le président et les deux vice-présidents) et deux économistes (Bertrand Jacquillat et Marc de Scitivaux). Dans les vingt prochaines années, «nous allons manquer d’investisseurs de long terme», a relevé Augustin de Romanet,. «Nous sommes pour le moment cantonnés par la loi». Ce qui n’empêche pas toutefois le fonds de cultiver sa différence pour remporter d’autres mandats et pérenniser son rôle auprès des pouvoirs publics .

Fondations Capital, le fonds d’investissement indépendant créé par Xavier Marin et Philippe Renauld, a annoncé, jeudi 10 mars, la promotion de Jocelyn Olive à la fonction de directeur d’investissement. Ce dernier qui est entré chez Fondations Capital début 2008 en tant que chargé d’affaires a commencé sa carrière en tant que consultant chez Bird Consulting, où il s’est concentré sur des problématiques de retournement d’entreprise et d’opérations de financement.

A fin décembre, l’encours sous administration du groupe Standard Life ressortait à 196,8 milliards de livres, en hausse de 16 % sur un an. Les rentrées nettes hors fonds monétaires britanniques et indiens ont opéré un bond en avant de 46 % à 8,3 milliards de livres tandis que les flux d'épargne de long terme progressaient de 77 % à 4,7 milliards de livres. Quant aux encours sous gestion pour le compte de tiers de Standard Life Investments (SLI), ils se sont accrus de 26 % à un record de 71,6 milliards de livres.

La banque privée suisse Julius Baer, dont l’ambition est de faire de l’Asie son second marché intérieur, a annoncé à Hong-Kong le 10 février l'élargissement de la palette de ses produits en yuans pour satisfaire une demande croissante de la part de sa clientèle. Elle propose désormais à Hong-Kong et Singapour des services de conversion en yuans, des comptes courants et dépôt à terme fixe, des unit trusts libellés en yuans, des investissements liés aux devises et des obligations. En fonction de l'élargissement du marché, Julius Baer envisage aussi de distribuer d’autres produits, comme par exemple des parts de fonds d’investissement.Julius Baer, l’unique banque privée à bénéficier d’une licence QFII en Chine depuis décembre, a obtenu une licence bancaire complète à Hong-Kong en fin d’année dernière (lire notre article du 4 novembre). Elle devrait également ouvrir dans l’année un bureau de représentation à Shanghai et créer une trust company à Singapour, comme annoncé précédemment (lire notre article du 13 septembre 2010).

La société de gestion britannique Martin Currie vient de recruter Jean-Luc Eyssautier en qualité de directeur des ventes et des services à la clientèle pour l’Asie. Il remplace à ce poste Chen Ee-Fang qui a rejoint Northern Trust en octobre dernier. Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Jean-Luc Eyssautier sera responsable des investisseurs institutionnels et des banques privées, principalement à Hong Kong et Singapour.Jean-Luc Eyssautier était précédemment responsable de la distribution de fonds en Asie chez Axa Investment Managers.

Dans le cadre de l’expansion européenne d’Aviva Investors, qui devrait se concrétiser par la désignation très prochaine des membres d’un comité exécutif ad hoc pour seconder Jean-François Boulier, directeur général d’Aviva Investors Europe (lire notre article du 10 mars), le gestionnaire est en train de compléter son équipe en Allemagne.A Francfort, Aviva Investors compte déjà deux commerciaux et une personne pour le service clients, plus deux spécialistes de l’immobilier. Cette année, deux autres collaborateurs devraient être recrutés, un pour la clientèle institutionnelle et l’autre pour la distribution.Par ailleurs, une personne en Suède, une ancienne de SEB, a été engagée. Il est également prévu une embauche au Danemark et une, début juin, pour les Pays-Bas.