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28/09/2010

Cullen Capital Management selects RBC Dexia Investor Services

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RBC Dexia Investor Services has been selected by Cullen Capital Management, a New York-based management firm, to provide custody, fund administration, cash management and transfer agency services to its new UCITS-compliant fund domiciled in Dublin, specialised in high dividend strategies, Hedge Week reports.
28/09/2010

France advances in sustainable development

According to the most recent edition of a half-yearly study of sustainable development in OECD countries by Petercam, Sweden continues to lead, while Switzerland has taken a place in the top three for the first time.The study, based on 53 indicators in five categories (democracy, environment, education, economy, health, and distribution of wealth), finds that France has improved its position in the rankings, rising from fifteenth to twelfth place, largely due to improvement in environmental issues. France has one of the best indicators of environmental performance, and does honourably in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, its ecological footprint, and protected land area as a percentage of overall land area. But the debate now raging over pension reforms reveals its true scale in a country in which the ratio of population dependent on retirement as a percentage of the overall population is one of the highest. France ranks between Mexico and Japan, in 32nd place. Sweden remains the leader in terms of sustainable development, and does respectably in all categories. It is followed by Norway, which is top in environmental protection. Switzerland and Denmark tie for third place. With the best result in the areas of health and distribution of wealth, Switzerland has gained three places in the rankings, and now nudges out Finland and the Netherlands.
28/09/2010

Wealth managers cost too much

40 per cent of wealthy investors’ expected portfolio returns are being swallowed up by fees and other charges, according to research by Royal Bank of Scotland cited by the Financial Times Fund Management. European private banks and other wealth managers have maintained their cost base over the past two years, despite plunging investment returns and declining assets under management, eroding returns for their clients.
28/09/2010

max.xs takes over distribution of First Private funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurt-based distributor max.xs financial services AG has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with the management firm First Private Investment Management KAG, also based in Frankfurt, as exclusive distributor of First Private funds to bank advisers and IFAs. max.xs has about 27,000 advisors as members. Since March, it has also been distributor of funds from Veritas Investment Trust GmbH, a promoter of ETF funds. Previously, First Private (with assets of between EUR750m and EUR800m) had distributed its products only to institutional investors, funds of funds, and family offices, due to a lack of human resources.
28/09/2010

Axa Real Estate appoints a new head of sustainable development

Axa Real Estate, a specialist in real estate with over EUR39.5 billion of assets under management, wholly-owned by Axa IM, has appointed Jean-Francois Le Teno as global head of sustainable development. He will take over from Gilles Bouteloup who will retire at the beginning of October. Jean-Francois Le Teno has worked for Axa Investment Managers for 3 years across a number of areas of the business, including international projects management, organisation, management control and IT. He previously held similar roles at Société Générale CIB. Jean-Francois Le Teno will form an integral part of Axa Real Estate’s Sustainable Steering Committee, which, chaired by the global heads of asset and fund management, ensures that sustainability remains an essential part of Axa Real Estate’s daily business.
28/09/2010

Credit Suisse has ambitions in French private banking market

Agefi reports that Credit Suisse is predicting 15% growth for its net inflows for private banking activities in France in 2010. The growth objective for inflows group-wide is set at 65 per year.As of the end of June 2010, assets under management by Credit Suisse in France totalled EUR4.5bn, the newspaper notes.
28/09/2010

Lazard AM recruits three former HSBC fund managers

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Denise Simon, Arif Joshi and george Varino, who previously managed the GIF Global Emerging Marekets Bond, GIF New World Income and GIF Global Emerging Markets Local Debt funds at HSBC, are joining Lazard Asset Management, Investment Week reports. They will be based in New York, and will be responsible for creating a range of emerging market bond funds to be sold worldwide. Three research analysts will soon be joining them.
28/09/2010

The Hartford plans to launch ETF funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 22 September, The Hartford submitted a license application to the SEC (form 40-App 1), to create The Hartford Exchange-Traded Fund Trust. The firm plans initially to launch two passive bond ETFs, but other products, including equities products, may follow. The adviser for the funds will be Hartford Investment Financial Services, but the group is also planning to call in sub-advisers from within or outside The Hartford.
28/09/2010

BNP Paribas SS launches a bond clearing service in RMB in Hong Kong

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Securities Services announced on 27 September that it has launched a complete range of custody and settlement services for Chinese bonds denominated in RMB, in Hong Kong. Its first settlement operation took place on 22 September 2010. The new range of offerings comes as part of ongoing innovation at BNP Paribas Securities Services in the Asia-Pacific region, and its complete international network. It provides a full range of new investment opportunities in RMB to its current and future clients, based in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world. Trading volumes in RMB settled throughout the region have been steadily rising, and now represent an average of CNY7.2bn per month since February 2010, which opens up new horizons to international investors. “Concretely, this agreement between Hong Kong and China will allow any investor of any type to achieve exposure to Chinese renminbi via the Hong Kong market,,” says Lawrence Au, head of Asia-Pacific at BNP Paribas Securities Services. In addition, “Hong Kong is becoming not merely a gateway to China, and we are very pleased to help our clients to seize opportunities which present themselves on this market.”
28/09/2010

Temenos adds to private banking and wealth management product range

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Temenos Group SA announced on 28 September that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Luxembourg-based software company Odyssey Group SA. The firm offers software solutions for private banking and wealth management, and is in line to post earnings this year of USD75m. The takeover will be largely financed with liquidity and credit totalling USD81m. Temenos will also take on Odyssey’s debt, totalling USD20.3m, which values the Luxemburg firm at USD101.3m.
28/09/2010

Merrill Lynch Bank (Switzerland) appoints an interim CEO

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Merrill Lynch Wealth Management on 27 September announced the appointment with immediate effect of Mario Alini as interim chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch Bank (Switzerland) S.A. Alini will divide his time between Geneva and Zurich. He will report to David Jervis, head of the Wealth Management sector for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. He will also retain his position as chief administration officer (CAO) of MLCM, in which position he reports to Franz Barthel, CAO of the Capital Markets sector of Merrill Lynch in Germany. Alini joined Merrill Lynch in 2007 as CAO for Capital Markets activities in Switzerland, and continues to occupy that position currently.
28/09/2010

Threadneedle focuses on charities and family offices

The asset management firm Threadneedle announced on Monday, 27 September that it has launched a service which will aim to assist charities and family offices in their asset allocation and strategy.At the same time, the fund manager has also announced the arrival of Ian Dalziel, who will take over as head of the new activity, in the newly-created position of Head of Global Private Wealth and Foundations. He will be based in Geneva. Dalziel is a former conservative member of the European parliament, co-founder of the private bank Adam & Company in Edinburgh in 1983, and from 1991 to 2008 was general manager and administrator of the family office Schlumberger-Primat.
28/09/2010

Manager with ties to Madoff dies

Stanley Chais, a Beverly Hills investment manager facing a civil lawsuit and criminal investigation over his ties to Bernard Madoff, died of natural causes, writes the Financial Times.Aged 84, Chais was one of Madoff’s earliest and largest investors, channelling more than USD900m of clients’ money through conduit “feeder funds” to the Ponzi-scheme operator, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
28/09/2010

Mark Allpress appointed as head of retail distribution at Liontrust

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Liontrust announced on 27 September that it has appointed Mark Allpress from 30 September as head of retail distribution. In his new role, Allpress will be responsible for the sales team, with particular attention to advisers, wealth managers, platforms and life insurance companies. Allpress previously worked at Old Mutual Asset Management.
28/09/2010

Aberdeen AM a collecté cet été

Aberdeen Asset Management a indiqué que la demande pour ses fonds actions pendant l’été lui a permis d’attirer 621 millions de livres de souscriptions nettes en juillet et août, soit 85 % de plus que ces trois derniers mois, rapporte le Financial Times. Mais la collecte sur les fonds alternatifs plus fortement margés a reculé de 8,3 % à 27,7 millions.
28/09/2010

AGI suspends subscriptions and redemptions for Premium Management Immobilien-Anlagen

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Buy and sell orders for shares in the German-registered real estate fund of funds Premium Management Immobilien-Anlagen – P – EUR (ISIN DE000A0ND6C8) have been suspended from 27 September, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) announced on Monday. The suspension is justified by redemption demands for about EUR1bn from the beginning of the year, half of which was from early September. The fund invests primarily in open-ended real estate funds which themselves have suspended their redemptions, and in properties which it is difficult to liquidate in the short term. As of 24 September, Premium Management Immobilien-Anlagen showed assets of about EUR1.7bn, compared with EUR1.96bn as of 31 March, and EUR2.4bn as of 30 September 2009. The fund was launched on 19 May 2008 by cominvest Asset Management GmbH.
28/09/2010

Primus AM launches a UCITS L/S fund which aims for 12% returns

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Armin Grabowski, founder of Primus Asset Management in Zug (Switzerland), is the manager of the new Flexile Fund – Multi Assets, a Luxembourg UCITS fund launched by Axxion SA, which has recently received a sales license for Germany from BaFin. The long/short product offers daily liquidity, and aims for returns of 12% per year, with average volatility of 5%, investing in equities, commodities and derivatives, with weighting that will depend on the situations in the various markets. The emphasis will be on equities and commodities. The portfolio will include about 25 positions. The largest are currently Metro, Nestlé, BMW and Volkswagen. Stock-picking will depend on fundamental criteria, but buy and sell orders will be triggered by a trend-monitoring system. Sales to retail and institutional investors in Germany will be provided by Dyas Beratungsgesellschaft GmbH of Hamburg. CharacteristicsName: Flexile Fund - Multi AssetISIN Code: LU0493120595Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 2%Performance commission: 20% maximumMinimal subscription: EUR1,000
28/09/2010

Eaton Vance closes Global Macro Absolute Return Fund to new subscribers

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 27 September, Eaton Vance Management, an affiliate of Eaton Vance Corp., announced that from 1 October, it is suspending subscriptions to its Global Macro Absolute Return fund, which had USD6.4bn in assets as of the end of August. Current investors and pension fund subscribers may continue to invest in the product. The manager explains that the freeze for new subscriptions is due to the fact that investments in frontier markets are an important element in strategy, which imposes capacity restrictions. Eaton Vance has also announced that its Option Absolute Return Strategy Fund will be launched by Thursday this week.
28/09/2010

Invesco rationalises its product range

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 30 September, Invesco is closing seven funds in its range to subscriptions. The funds will be liquidated by 29 October 2010. The funds are the following: Invesco Alternatives Opportunities FundInvesco FX Alpha Strategy FundInvesco FX Alpha Strategy Fund PlusInvesco International Growth Equity FundInvesco Structured Growth FundInvesco Structured Value FundInvesco Van Kampen Global Bond Fund In addition, the firm has announced that it will be discontinuing the B class of shares in all its funds, which will be converted into A shares.
28/09/2010

Spanish government gives once-over to Sicav taxes

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On Friday, the Spanish cabinet announced that capital reductions by Sicav funds, the preferred means used by Spanish high net worth families to extract liquidity at a tax rate of only 1%, the same as for investment funds, will be taxed as capital gains, at 19% up to EUR6,000, and 21% above that threshold. Cotizalia reports that the move is included in the draft budget for 2010. The finance minister says the change will apply to all Sicav funds, regardless of their country of domicile. In other words, it will not help to move Sicavs to Luxembourg or Malta, as many specialists are recommending.
28/09/2010

Julius Baer opens a desk dedicated to Russian clients in Singapore

Agefi Switzerland reports that the Julius Baer group is opening an office in Singapore aimed primarily at Russian high net worth clients seeking to seize opportunities to invest in Asia. Julius Baer will be competing with UBS and Credit Suisse in Singapore, as well as BSI, which in March transferred its services for eastern European clients, particularly Russians, from Zurich to Singapore. According to estimates, assets under management in the region for Russian clients may more than double in five years, to USD50bn, according to Roman Scott, CEO of Calamander Capital, based in Singapore.
28/09/2010

Skandia chooses Fisher for an emerging markets fund

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has appointed Fisher Investments, a US-based global and emerging markets specialist, to run its new Skandia Global Emerging Markets fund. Fisher Investments, founded in 1979 by Ken Fisher – a Forbes investment columnist and son of the legendary growth investor Phil Fisher – is a large, well resourced private investment firm with over USD35bn of assets under management. SIG believes that Fisher’s unique, top-down investment approach gives them a competitive advantage in the management of emerging market equities.
28/09/2010

Lyxor offers 10 more ETFs in London

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) has announced that it has listed ten new Global Sector ETF funds for trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) from 27 September. The funds are listed in pounds Sterling and US dollars, and have a total expense ratio of 0.45%. The funds are:Lyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Discretionary TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Staples TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Energy TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Financials TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Health Care TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Industrials TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Information Technology TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Materials TRLyxor ETF MSCI World Telecommunication Services TRand Lyxor ETF MSCI World Utilities TR
28/09/2010

Jupiter AM launches two funds

Jupiter Asset Management is to launch two funds on 1st October 2010. The Jupiter Strategic Total Return fund and the Jupiter Global Convertibles fund, which have been authorised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) and registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will be UCITS III sub-funds of the Luxembourg-domiciled Jupiter Global Fund Sicav which is registered in a number of jurisdictions across Europe and Asia. Both funds will be managed by Miles Geldard and Lee Manzi, who recently joined Jupiter from RWC Partners. The two fund managers have worked together for 12 years and have 40 years’ combined investment experience. The Jupiter Strategic Total Return fund will aim to generate positive long term returns across varying market conditions, from an actively managed portfolio of different asset classes, including equities, bonds, convertible bonds, currencies and money market securities on an international basis. The Jupiter Global Convertibles fund aims to achieve long term capital growth through investment in a portfolio of convertible bond securities on a global basis. It is a long only fund which will seek to maximise the asymmetric return characteristics of the asset class. It will be diversified globally and can invest in any country, industry sector, credit rating or market capitalisation.
28/09/2010

Edrim registers a fund in Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers (Edrim) on 24 September registered the Saint-Honoré Active Strategies fund with the CNMV. The French-registered product will be sold in Spain by Allfunds Bank, Banco Inversis, CM Capital Markets Bolsa, Self Trade Bank and Tressis. The sales license applies to C, E and I class shares.
28/09/2010

Architas registers a unit trust in Spain

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Architas (Axa group) has registered the Architas Multi-Manager (SA) Unit Trust, domiciled in Ireland with 18 sub-funds, with the CNMV, Funds People reports. The fund will be made available in Spain through the local branch of BNP Paribas Securities Services.
28/09/2010

Arca Previdenza absorbs Gestielle Pensione e Previdenza

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian pension fund regulator, Covip, on 9 September authorised Arca SGR to take over management of the open-ended pension fund Gestielle Pensione e Previdenza (EUR90m in assets and 4,000 members), which will be absorbed by the open-ended pension fund Arca Previdenza as of 1 January 2011. The merger will make Arca Previdenza the largest open-ended pension fund (FPA) in Italy, with assets of over EUR1bn, and 122,000 members. It is also the leader in terms of the number of collective policies, with over 3,000 agreements with businesses and organisations. Since the beginning of the year, Arca Previdenza also registered over 4,000 new members, 50% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
28/09/2010

IMA launches a call for bids

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British asset management association (IMA) has launched a call for bids to outsource its fund surveillance, fundstrategy reports. The professional association says that UCITS regulations allow funds to invest more easily in derivative products, which make the verification process more difficult as to how well the funds are in line with the IMA’s sectoral nomenclature. Interested candidates should present themselves by mid-October and submit a bid by 19 November.
28/09/2010

Eiris launches a service dedicated to ethical engagement

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ESG (environmental, social and governance) analysis agency Eiris is taking growing interest in sustainable investment as an occasion to launch a service dedicated to ethical engagement on the part of investors in businesses. The new Eiris Engagement Service was unveiled on 27 September in London. It will be unveiled worldwide on 4 October in San Francisco, at a conference organised by UN PRI. The service set up by Eiris involves all phases of responsible engagement, selection of themes and companies, and the publication of recommendations for businesses, the establishment of contracts, and the organisation of conferences. It also proposes to assist investors in enacting the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, and the new British governance code.
28/09/2010

Stoxx launches an investable volatility index

Stoxx Limited, a global index provider and creator of the leading European equity indices, has announced the launch of the Euro Stoxx 50 Investable Volatility Index. The new index complements the existing VStoxx index by measuring forward implied volatility in a replicable format that can serve as the basis of financial products.

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