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12/10/2010

Jean-François Bay nommé DG de Morningstar France

Jean-François Bay vient d’être nommé directeur général de Morningstar France. L’intéressé était co-fondateur et directeur général de Seeds Finance et Multiratings ; il a rejoint Morningstar lors de l’acquisition de Seeds Group en juillet 2010.L’équipe de direction de Jean-François Bay est composée de Ludovic Jouvray, directeur des opérations, et d’Emmanuel Bordes, directeur commercial, qui étaient déjà tous les deux chez Morningstar, et Vianney Dubois, directeur du consulting, issu de Seeds. Morningstar emploie 46 personnes à Paris.
12/10/2010

Stoxx grants Barclays Cap license for a new index

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss management firm Stoxx Ltd (Deutsche Börse, SIX Swiss Exchange) announced on 11 October that it has launched the Euro Stoxx 50 Volatility Mid-Term Futures index (VSTOXX Mid-Term Futures Index), which comes as an addition to the range of VSTOXX Short-Term futures indices. A license for use of the new product has been granted to Barclays Capital to use it as underlying for an exchange-traded note (ETN). The VSTOXX Mid-Term Futures Index replicates a hypothetical portoflio which measures a rolling investment in four VSTOXX futures contracts traded on Eurex with residual maturities of four, five, six and seven months.
12/10/2010

Extraordinary general shareholders' meeting for Madoff victim Luxinvest and Luxalpha funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } La Tribune reports that the liquidators of the Madoff victim funds Luxinvest and Luxalpha have been scheduled for 21 October and 9 November, respectively. The agendas for the meetings have not yet been released, but may include proposals related to negotiations with Irving Picard, the trustee for Madoff’s assets, the newspaper notes.
12/10/2010

Financière de l’Echiquier launches a fund in Italy

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financière de l’Echiquier has launched the Echiquier Global fund in Italy, an equities fund which invests in leading companies worldwide, FondiOnline reports. The product has been available in France since April, and has already received EUR30m in subscriptions.
12/10/2010

Madoff affair: two law firms sue SEC

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Expansión reports that Gaytri Kachroo, founder of the law firm Kachroo Legal Services, who represents Harry Makropoulos (the financier who warned the SEC several times about the Madoff fraud), has announced that she will be filing a lawsuit at the end of November against the US regulator for incompetence and lack of diligence in the 20-year period during which it oversaw the business of Bernard Madoff. The suit will be filed in the name of North American clients, as well as Latin American, Spanish, French and German clients who will be represented by the Spanish law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo.
12/10/2010

Barclays Infrastructure Funds concludes fundraising for sixth infrastructure fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays Capital announced on 11 October that its dedicated affiliate Barclays Infrastructure Funds has completed fundraising for its sixth infrastructure fund. The Barclays Integrated Infrastructure Fund raised GBP645m from long-term investors (pension funds, insurers, management firms and sovereign funds). Barclays Infrastructure Funds, which has offices in London and Paris, will concentrate the fund on infrastructure projects supported by the public sector, in the United Kingdom and Euro zone countries. Assets under management at Barclays Infrastructure Funds currently total about GBP1.2bn.
12/10/2010

Janus launches US fund in Europe

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Janus Capital International Limited, the international division of Janus Capital Group Inc., has launched Janus US Fund, a sub-fund of Janus Capital Funds plc, its Dublin-domiciled range of UCITS III-compliant funds. The product will invest in US large caps, and will be managed with the same investment philosophy as the Janus Fund, based in the United States, which has a 40-year track record (since its launch in 1970, it has earned 12.06% per year, compared with gains of 9.76% for the S&P 500). Management is provided by the co-CIO of Janus Capital Management, Jonathan Coleman, and Dan Riff, who has co-managed the Janus Fund since 2007. “The launch of our flagship fund in Europe to target international investors is part of a strategy to optimise our product platform, and marks a new stage in the growth of our international activities,” says Dick Weil, president and CEO of Janus Capital Group, in a press statement. Several other funds (global and bonds) will be launched soon, reflecting the firm’s desire to extend its offerings outside the United States.
12/10/2010

“We need to build our reputation, and grow”

With a strong presence in the institutional investor segment, CPR AM is now focusing on independent financial advisers, though the firm has long had connections among those professionals. To build the firm's presence in that segment, Jean-Eric Mercier, CEO of the management firm, is planning to foreground the “boutique” side of the business and its management, and to also use products from its parent company, Amundi Group.
12/10/2010

A new EMTN from HSBC France

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Until 23/10/2010, HSBC France is offering HSBC Chrono 2018, an EMTN whose capital invested until maturity, a term of six years, is guaranteed (excluding front-end fee and management fee for life insurance policy or capitalisation). Performance at maturity will be equal to the evolution of the best of two baskets of representative Euro zone equities (EUROSTOXX 50 index) and emerging markets (MSCI Emerging Markets), up to a maximum of 45%, an annualised gross return rate of 6.39%. In subsequent years, the investor will earn a quarterly coupon equal to the Euribor 3-month. All withdrawals from the fund outside the anniversary dates (6, 7 and 8 years) will take place under market conditions, with a risk of capital loss. Characteristics: Name: HSBC Chrono 2018 ISIN code: XS0538124495 Value of one share: EUR1000Eligible for life insurance policies and capitalisation:- For subscriptions and inscriptions until 23/10/2010 - For subsequent contributions and trades until 13/11/2010
12/10/2010

BlackRock releases a European equities newcits funds in France

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 6 August, BlackRock launched the BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund (EDEAR), a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav BlackRock Strategic Funds (BSF). As its name indicates, the product aims for absolute returns (in fact, it is calibrated for 12.5% gains, after fees), with an ex ante volatility of 10%, using a UCITS-compliant version of an equity market neutral strategy inherited from BGI, which the scientific active European equity management team has managed since 2002, and which has generated returns of 12.2% in 2008, and then 21% in 2009. The fund, which started up with seed capital of USD6m, now has assets of USD13m, and is aimed at funds of funds and retail investors, Richard Mathieson, director, Scientific Equity Portfolio Management Group, explains to Newsmanagers. But this does not mean that the management firm is neglecting wealth management clients, who are hungry for funds of this type with high returns and risk control. A license from the AMF was issued on 20 August, and BlackRock will now be releasing the fund in France. The product, which offers daily liquidity, is managed by Simon Weinberger (who is head of portfolios representing a total of USD20bn, in London), and Rob Fisher, with 1,500 to 2,000 positions. Gross exposure may run as high as 600%, with synthetic long and short positions (CFD), but the fund has a neutral exposure at all times. Characteristics Name: BSF BlackRock European Diversified Equity Absolute Return FundISIN code: LU0525202155 for main retail A2 share class in eurosFront-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%Performance commission: 20% for performance exceeding the hurdle rate, the Libor 3-month euro, with high watermarkMinimal subscription: EUR5,000
12/10/2010

Robin Parbrook promoted at Schroders

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robin Parbrook, already fund manager of the Schroder ISF Asian Total Return fund, has been appointed as manager of the Schroder ISF Pacific Equity fund (USD598.2m in assets as of the end of August, LU0248184466), effective immediately, replacing Manish Bhatia. Since its launch in 2007, the Asian Total Return fund has generated returns of 34.9%, compared with 18.6% for its benchmark index, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan. The ISF Pacific Equity fund, for its part, showed returns as of 8 October of 24.60% since its launch on 22 March 2006. Parbrook, based in Hong Kong, will continue to report to Louisa Lo, head of equities Asia ex Japan. In addition to the management of the Asian Total Return and Pacific Equity funds, Parbrook will play a more active role in the management of other Asian equity funds, and to assist in the regional direction of the firm. He will help to oversee the investment offices of Schroders in Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia, to make sure they operato along the group’s investment methods.
12/10/2010

Swedish fund AP3 highly critical of management pay scales

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish pension fund AP3, with about EUR22.2bn in assets under management, has voted against or abstained from 60% of votes on proposals related to the remuneration of management at general shareholders’ meetings in which it participated outside Sweden, according to the most recent annual report on corporate governance (July 2009-June 2010). In many cases, opposition to the board’s resolutions was due to inadequate information, as the requirements are generally higher for Swedish pension funds. More generally, AP3 abstained from or voted against one in four resolutions by boards of directors.
12/10/2010

BBVA launches campaign for institutional clients

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Personnel at the wholesale banking & asset management division of BBVA will be increased by 25% in the next three years, bringing it to 5,000 overall, Expansión reports. This will mean the recruitment of over 1,000 employees in one year in the United States, Europe and Asia. The Spanish group is seeking to gain clients by leveraging its knowledge of the Latin American markets and its position in China, where it controls 15% of Citic. A concentrated effort will go to courting major international funds and family offices, a client segment in which BBVA is still underrepresented.
12/10/2010

GLG launches UCITS global macro fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GLG Partners has announced the launch of a UCITS-compliant version of the hedge fund GLG Atlas Macro (USD250m in assets). The new product, domiciled in Ireland, is entitled Atlas Macro Alternative Fund, and will aim for returns and volatility of 10-15% p.a., investing in all asset classes, with care to preserve the liquidity of the portfolio. It is the eighth absolute return newcits product from the British asset management firm. The manager is Driss Ben-Brahim, assisted by Jamil Baz, chief investment strategist.
12/10/2010

Deutsche Bank PWM recruits a big name from Lombard Odier

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 8 October, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (PWM) announced the recruitment of Arnaud Apffel as managing director and head of global investment solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He was previously co-head of private banking investment services and head of the key clients division at Lombard Odier. Apffel is based in Geneva, and reports to Marco Bizzozero, head of private wealth management EMEA and CEO of Deutsche Bank (Switzerland), and to Kevin Lecocq, head of global investment solutions for the PWM division of Deutsche Bank.
12/10/2010

CalPERS drops PCG and keeps Aviva Capital

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) announced on 11 October that it is discontinuing its relationship with Pacific Corporate Group (PCG) following a strategic re-examination of its programs and partnerships in private equity. The Californian pension fund also announced that it will be retaining Aviva Capital LLC (Aviva), which will continue to manage over USD1bn in investment vehicles dedicated to emerging markets, Global Opportunities Fund 1 and 2. CalPERS has also called in Capital Dynamics, which will take over the management of its Clean Energy and Technology fund (USD480m in assets under management), launched in 2007, which was previously managed by PCG. The alternative management portfolio at CalPERS (AIM program), with about USD28bn in assets, earned 30.9% in the twelve months to the end of March 2010.
12/10/2010

Edouard Carmignac calls for a more aggressive ECB in currency war

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a statement published yesterday in French newspapers Les Echos and Le Monde, Edouard Carmignac addressed the currency war between the major global economic powers. On the one hand, he explains, there are countries like China which is unwilling to revalue the yuan despite record and growing commercial surpluses, and on the other side are nations like the United States and Japan which appear determined to release large quantities of currency in order to become more competitive by lowering the value of their currencies. The big loser in the war, says Carmignac, is Europe, which is town between inflationary fears in Germany, and which therefore would not view an appreciation of the euro all that negatively, and countries of Southern Europe, where deflationary pressures are an issue. The president of the management firm sees the currency war as a historic opportunity for the European Central Bank to extend its mandate. “The strong upward pressures on the euro should reassure Germany over the inflationary pressure while justifying an ambitious program to buy up debt from countries of the Community in difficulty,” he explains. Therefore, Carmignac calls on the ECB to enter the fray of the currency war, rather than continuing to restrict the mass of money in circulation, which would have a positive effect on short-term interest rates.
12/10/2010

Jean-François Bay appointed CEO of Morningstar France

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jean-François Bay has been appointed CEO of Morningstar France. He was co-founder and CEO of Seeds Finance and Multiratings; he joined Morningstar at the time of its acquisition of Seeds Group in July 2010. Bay’s management team is composed of Ludovic Jouvray, COO, and Emmanuel Bordes, director of sales, who were both already at Morningstar, and Vianney Dubois, director of consulting, who comes from Seeds. Morningstar has 46 employees in Paris.
12/10/2010

SRI label for BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises renewed

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises announced on Monday, 11 October that it has been granted a renewal of the socially responsible support label for its range by the inter-union employee savings committee (CIES). All of the funds are part of the Multipar Philéis range, created in 2003, which respects all criteria defined by the CIES, as “financial and administrative management, legal format and commercial diffusion are regularly analysed,” a statement says. As of 30 June 2010, BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises had assets under management of EUR207m.
12/10/2010

Chongyang recruits CEO of Bank of Communications Schroders

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Just ahead of the Chinese national holidays, Bank of Communications Schroders has announced the resignation of its general manager, Mo Taishan. He will be joining the private funds promoter Chongyang Investment in Shanghai (about CNY4bn in assets), where he will take over as general manager. There, he will join the former CIO and former head of marketing from Bank of Communications Schroders, who joined Chongyang in 2009 and the beginning of this year, respectively. Z-Ben Advisors reports that Taishan was previously director of the investment funds department of the Chinese regulator (CSRC). His recruitment by Chongyang may mean that investment boutiques may hope that liberalisation of the market will also apply to them, and not only to the major firms. They have already begun to encroach on the client bases of the well-established asset management firms in segregated accounts and specialised wealth management products.
12/10/2010

F&C recruits a manager from Henderson

F&C Investments has hired Henderson Global Investors’ Alice Evans to co-manage its Stewardship International Fund alongside Sophie Horsfall, says Responsible Investor. She will join in November.
12/10/2010

Sally Tennant devient CEO de Kleinwort Benson

Le 11 octobre, Kleinwort Benson Bank, qui appartient au capital-investisseur RHJ International après avoir été dans le giron de la Commerzbank et de la Dresdner Bank, a annoncé la nomination de Sally Tennant comme CEO à compter de la mi-janvier 2011 et sous réserve de l’accord du régulateur. Elle était jusqu'à présent CEO de la banque privée de Lombard Odier à Londres et remplacera Robert Taylor, qui était en poste depuis 2004 et qui a «l’intention de faire une pause». (take a breakA cette occasion, Kleinwort Benson indique que l’acquisition de KBC Asset Management Ltd (Dublin) a été bouclée le 11 octobre et que la société de gestion est rebaptisée Kleinwort Benson Investors Dublin Limited. Cette transaction porte les encours sous gestion à plus de 10 milliards d’euros.
12/10/2010

Santander AM recruits a manager from LVAM

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Simon Brooks, who assisted Tom Caddick, head of multi-manager at LV= Asset Management (LVAM), will take over the complete range of eight funds previously managed by Caddick with the assistance of CIO Piers Hillier, as Caddick is joining Santander Asset Management with Toby Vaughan, principal fund manager in the multi-management division. Caddick and Vaughan will report to Keith Speck, head of multi-manager at Santander AM. They previously worked together at F&C until 2007.
12/10/2010

F&C hires an SRI specialist from Henderson

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Alice Evans, who most recently managed the Industries of the Future fund at Henderson Global Investors, has been recruited as a senior portfolio manager at F&C Asset Management, where he will assist Sophie Horsfall, head of global thematic equities, from next month, in managing the SRI fund Stewardship International (GBP310m). She will also be granted other sustainable development portfolios in the future.
12/10/2010

Two British groups plan IPOs for their management activities

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jupiter is setting an example. According to the Independent newspaper, the success of the British management firm’s initial public offering, as its shares were trading at the end of last week at over 253 pence, compared with 165p at the time of the initial offering, has inspired two City groups, Standard Life and Prudential, to consider an IPO for their asset management activities, Standard Life Investments and M&G, respectively. Standard Life, which closed at 229.9p on 8 October, estimates its intrinsic value at about 300 pence per share.
12/10/2010

BNP Paribas IP makes appointments to executive committee

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Investment Partners announced on 11 October that it has appointed Charlotte Dennery as Chief Operating Officer, and Pascal Biville, deputy CEO, to the newly-created position of head of the Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa regions. He will be in charge of developing the region/country strategies and supervising the local entities and joint ventures. As Chief Operating Officer, Dennery will direct transversal functions including finance, IT systems and operations, as well as legal. Dennery will also retain her position has global head of FundQuest, which she has directed since 2009. Biville, who has been Chief Operating Officer since 2005 and deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners since 2009, will oversee the merger with Fortis Investments. Dennery, who was hitherto global head of FundQuest at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, was previously director of finance and strategy at BNP Paribas Assurance for five years, director of development and strategy for the North American region for two years, and head of elaboration of strategy at BFI for the BNP Paribas group.
12/10/2010

Groupama AM creates a position for international director of sales

Groupama Asset Management has appointed Arnaud Ganet to the newly-created position of director of international sales, in order to “accompany the international development of these activities.”Ganet had been deputy director and CEO of Groupama AM SGR since January 2007. He remains deputy director of the Italian affiliate. However, his responsibilities as CEO of Groupama AM SGR will devlove to Alberico Potenza, who joined Groupama AM SGR as head of institutional clients, a position he held from 2007 to 2009. The Italian affiliate of Groupama, which has been in operation since 2006, now has over EUR1bn in assets under management from outside the group. Counting assets managed on behalf of the group, its assets are over EUR4.5bn, while Groupama AM has a total of EUR91.5bn in assets (as of 30 June 2010).
12/10/2010

Inflows continue for Swedish funds

In September, net sales of funds marketed in Sweden totalled SEK 3.6 billion (EUR388m). Bond funds had a net inflow of 3.9 billion and balanced funds had a net inflow of 3.5 billion, according to the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens Förening. Also equity funds recorded net inflows of SEK 1.3 billion, mainly due to net inflows into Sweden-, Asia- and sector funds. Money market funds, on the other hand, recorded a net outflow of SEK 4.2 billion. So far in 2010, total net sales of funds amounts to SEK 54.3 billion. «New savings in funds have been positive in all months from December 2008, except in May this year when equity markets around the world were marked by heavy turbulence,» says Pia Nilsson, managing director of the Swedish Investment Fund Association. Total net assets of funds at the end of September amounted to SEK 1,823 billion (EUR196.6bn), of which more than 1,000 billion were invested in equity funds.
11/10/2010

Siemens Autriche vend Innovest à Macquarie

Pour un montant non divulgué, Siemens Autriche vend à Macquarie Investment Management la société de gestion institutionnelle Innovest Kapitalanlage AG dont l’encours se situe à 3,5 milliards d’euros. La transaction devrait être bouclée en décembre.Innovest, qui est active en Autriche et en Allemagne, conservera son siège à Vienne et l’ensemble de l'équipe restera en place. Le comité de direction composé de Johann Maurer et Konrad Kontriner sera complété d’Alexander Köb, head of Austria de Macquarie Investment Management, et de Micharl Walsch, responsable des participations chez Macquarie Investment Management.

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