Global head of investor relations chez Citco Fund Services, Steve Pitkin a été nommé head of investor services dans la division hedge funds services au sein du pôle global transaction services de Citigroup. Il est subordonné à Mike Sleightholme, global head of hedge fund services.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, une nouvelle banque de gestion privée ouvrira ses portes à Zurich en octobre. Le groupe Cat Brokerage, fondé en 1988 et coté à la Bourse de Berne, a en effet obtenu le 3 septembre de la part de la Finma une licence bancaire à l’enseigne de la Banque Gutenberg. La banque sera notamment active en tant que banque dépositaire pour des gérants de fortune indépendants. Elle proposera aussi des services de conseils à une clientèle privée aisée en Suisse et à l'étranger, ainsi qu'à une clientèle institutionnelle.

Selon Wealthbriefing, un consultant bien connu en gestion de fortune, Ian Woodhouse, chez PricewaterhouseCoopers jusqu’en 2002, est de retour au sein du géant de l’audit et du conseil.Price a nommé Ian Woodhouse au poste de director au sein de la «practice EMEA Private Banking and Wealth Management». Basé à Londres, Ian Woodhouse, sera responsable des relations avec des clients privés haut de gamme et chargé de susciter des réflexions novatrices sur l'évolution du secteur.

Selon fundstrategy, Jeremy Lang et William Pattisson, deux anciens responsables de l’investissement chez Liontrust, reviennent sur le devant de la scène avec trois fonds de performance absolue que propose leur nouvelle structure, créée il y a quelques mois, Ardevora Asset Management.Les deux gérants, dont le départ de Liontrust en janvier 2009 avait provoqué une chute spectaculaire de plus de 30% du cours de Bourse de la société de gestion en l’espace d’une séance, espèrent obtenir le feu vert de la Financial Services Anthority (FSA) d’ici à la fin du mois.

Selon Citywire, le spécialiste des marchés émergents Dariusz Sliwinski doit quitter le 10 septembre Martin Currie après treize années passées au sein de la société.Depuis le recrutement par Martin Currie de quatre membres de l'équipe marchés émergents de chez Swip, Dariusz Sliwinski était en discussions avec le management sur l'évolution de la clientèle marchés émergents et sur sa position au sein de l’organisation.

Gottex Fund Management Holdings Ltd a annoncé pour le premier semestre une perte nette de 1,6 milliard de dollars pour un produit brut en recul de 29% à 32,9 millions de dollars. En juillet dernier, Gottex avait fait état d’un recul de ses actifs sous gestion de 8,3% à fin juin par rapport au trimestre précédent à 7,26 milliards de dollars.

Allianz Real Estate Germany GmbH indique avoir acheté pour le compte d’IVG Institutional Funds l’immeuble de bureaux Triton (29.000 mètres carrés) dans le Westend de Francfort pour environ 200 millions d’euros. Le vendeur est OVG Real Estate.

Credit Suisse (Deutschland) et la Deutsche Börse ont annoncé jeudi 9 septembre l’admission à la négociation sur le segment XTF de la plate-forme Xetra de 13 nouveaux ETF de droit irlandais et focalisés sur les pays ou régions émergents. Les taux de frais sur encours s'échelonnent entre 0,50 % et 0,75 %. Ces produits portent à 693 le nombre d’ETF désormais cotés sur Xetra.Selon Credit Suisse, ces ETF sont d’une nouvelle génération puisque le groupe lance là ses premiers produits à réplication synthétique, contrairement aux 32 autres déjà traités à Francfort et qui utilisent exclusivement la réplication physique. Les 13 fonds sont censés allier les avantages de la réplication synthétique avec la transparence des produits à réplication physique, la réplication synthétique présentant l’avantage de calquer plus précisément et plus efficacement des indices à faible liquidité, ce qui présente un avantage dans le cas des pays émergents. La composition du portefeuille sera publiée quotidiennement sur le site Internet. La contrepartie des swaps est le groupe Credit Suisse lui-même.Les nouveaux ETFDénomination ISIN Taux de frais sur encoursCS ETF (IE) on CSI 300 IE00B5VG7J94 0,50%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI South Africa IE00B4ZTP716 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI EM EMEA IE00B5W0VQ55 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Russia IE00B5V87390 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI EM Latin America IE00B5KMFT47 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Brazil IE00B59L7C92 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Chile IE00B5NLL897 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Mexico Capped IE00B5WHFQ43 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI India IE00B564MX78 0,75%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Korea IE00B5W4TY14 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Taiwan IE00B5VL1928 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI EM Asia IE00B5L8K969 0,65%CS ETF (IE) on MSCI Australia IE00B5V70487 0,50%

BlackRock annonce avoir obtenu de la part de Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS), le fonds de pension des médecins spécialistes néerlandais, un mandat de gestion fiduciaire afin de définir avec le fonds de pension une stratégie d’investissement et de gestion du risque. L’activité fiduciaire de BlackRock au Bénélux représente 20 milliards d’euros, indique le communiqué.

Depuis le 1er septembre, Christina Rustemeier, qui a quitté Credit Suisse, a rejoint l'équipe commerciale allemande de BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) qui dessert les gérants de fonds de fonds, les grandes banques, les banques privées, les family offices et les gestionnaires de fortune. Cette équipe comprend deux autres personnes.Au total, la force de vente de BNPP IP en Allemagne comprend actuellement 12 personnes, dont une moitié pour le retail et l’autre pour l’institutionnel.BNP IP emploie outre-Rhin une trentaine de personnes, anciens de Fortis compris, sous la direction de Martin Theisinger, head of distribution Deutschland, qui a dirigé Schroders Allemagne avant de passer par la case head of client relationship management for Germany chez Fortis Investments. La gestion locale de BNPP IP à Francfort occupe 5 personnes et affiche un encours compris entre 7 milliards et 7,5 milliards d’euros avec 20 milliards d’euros en ligne de mire à l’horizon de trois ans.

Selon la Börsen-Zeitung, Wolfgang Kirsch, président du directoire, a annoncé que la DZ Bank, l’une des deux grandes caisses centrales des banques populaires allemandes, caresse l’espoir d’acheter des portefeuilles de banque privée que les banques luxembourgeoises vont être obligées par la Commission européenne de vendre. En tous cas, la DZ Bank, qui vient de lancer des services à la clientèle haut de gamme avec la création de DZ Privatbank, est disposée à investir dans le développement de cette activité.

Désormais, Van Kampen Investments (120 milliards de dollars d’encours) est intégré dans Invesco qui a acquis ce gestionnaire retail auprès de Morgan Stanley pour 1,5 milliard de dollars (lire notre article du 20 octobre 2009). Cette transaction permet à Invesco d'élargir son offre notamment dans le domaine des stratégies value sur les marchés d’actions américain et japonais.La gamme d’Invesco s’enrichit ainsi de six fonds d’actions, qui deviennent des compartiments de la nouvelle Sicav luxembourgeoise Invesco Funds II ; ils étaient auparavant des compartiments de la sicav luxembourgeoise Morgan Stanley Investment FundsInvesco US Value Equity Fund, Invesco US Small Cap Growth Fund, Invesco Japanese Value Equity Fund, Invesco Japanese Equity Advantage Fund, Invesco Global Value Equity Fund et Invesco Global Small Cap Value Fund.Ces six produits ont aussi été enregistrés au Royaume-Uni, parallèlement à ceux d’Invesco Perpetual.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board at T. Rowe Price Group Inc (USD391.1bn in assets as of the end of June) on Wednesday evening authorised the buyback of a further 15 million shares, bringing the total of 22.4 million shares. Currently, the asset management firm has about 262 million shares in circulation.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } OFI Asset Management on Wednesday, 8 September announced the arrival of Jean-Philippe Dorp as a member of its research and credit analysis teams. Dorp will be in charge of a transversal, multi-sector credit research team which will include 6 people, a statement says. Since 2006, Dorp worked at Solent Capital Partners (London), where he was a credit manager and head of credit analysis.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 3 September, Janus ETF Trust and Janus Capital Management applied to the SEC for an exemption allowing them to launch open-ended actively-managed ETFs which would invest in equities or bonds traded in the United States or abroad, in repo and reverse-repo operations, or in other ETF funds. The funds would, however, not be authorised to invest in options, futures, or swaps.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The arrival of François Carlotti at Métropole Gestion as deputy CEO and director of development (see Newsmanagers of 06/09/10) – while Eric Boutchnei becomes deputy CEO and director of strategy at the managemetn firm – is a clear means for Métropole Gestion, the management firm led by François-Marie Wojcik, to realise its international ambitions. “Our goal,” he explained at a press conference on 8 September, “is to become the European management firm of reference in value management.” To achieve this, Métropole Gestion has engaged the services of the former chairman of the board at Sal. Oppenheim France and former manager of Franklin Templeton Investments, who the firm says is a global leader in value management. Eight more people will also soon be added to the sales team. The firm has already set up shop outside France, and international investors now represent 15% of the total, with regular presence in London as well as activities in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg, which are operated from Paris. In addition, this year saw the opening of an office in Germany with three people, which will aim to cover the German-speaking countries, including Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. Sweden is also on the agenda for the management firm, as well as the Middle East. In the next two to three months, Métropole Gestion is also planning to open an office in Milan, Italy. The firm’s goal is to attain assets under management of EUR3bn by 2012, and EUR5bn by 2015. When asked about the products the firm is planning to offer abroad, Wojcik confirmed that the market would ultimately decide. Clearly, equities funds will represent the firm’s foremost offerings, but multi-management wealth funds and corporate bond funds (Métropole MM Convictions Patrimoine and Métropole Corporate Bonds) may also be part of the selection.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DWS Investments on Wednesday announced the recruitment of Michael Hughes as director and senior account manager. He will be in charge of relations with banking and broker-dealer clients in the United States, national and regional. Hughes will be based in Chicago, and will report to Michael Woods, managing director, CEO and US head of distribution at DWS Investments Distributors Inc. Hughes was executive director in national accounts at Van Kampen, a retail asset management firm which was sold off in late October by Morgan Stanley to Invesco (see Newsmanagers of 20 October 2009). He had responsibility for the same activities which he will now direct at DWS.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UCITS funds in second quarter 2010 posted a net outflow of EUR28bn, compared with inflows of EUR48bn in first quarter, according to statistics from the European asset management association (EFAMA). Long-term UCITS funds, excluding money market funds, finished second quarter with net inflows of EUR23bn, compared with EUR86bn in first quarter. This development is probably related to investor concerns over the Greek crisis. Net outflows from money market funds increased in second quarter to EUR51bn, compared with EUR38bn in first quarter. The total value of assets in UCITS funds was down 0.5% in the quarter under review, to EUR5.606bn as of the end of June. Equities funds saw the largest decline (EUR76bn), followed by money market funds (EUR45bn). Assets in non-UCITS funds, for their part, increased 2.6% to EUR1.888bn as of the end of June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse on Wednesday announced that it has admitted the ETC db Physical Gold ETC (EUR), investing in physical gold, and the db Physical Silver ETC (EUR), investing in physical silver, from db ETC Index Plc (Deutsche Bank group) to trading on its Xetra electronic platform. The German-registered products (DE000A1E0HR8 and DE000A1E0HS6) charge commissions of 0.29% and 0.45%, respectively. The ETC segment of the Deutsche Börse now lists 178 instruments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Despite the downturn in the last week of August, the HFS UCITS hedge fund index has posted growth of 0.43% for the month of August as a whole, Hedgeweek reports. Eight strategies out of eleven finished the month with positive returns, with the best results for fixed income (+2.24%), credit and multi-strategy (with +1.83% each). The three strategies which showed losses were L/S equity (-0.49%), arbitrage (-0.27%), and convertibles (-0.20%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to estimates by TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge, hedge funds in July saw net outflows of USD2.9bn, equivalent to 0.2% of their assets, Hedge Week reports. This is the second consecutive month of net redemptions, and funds have seen net outflows in three of the past four months. Assets in the sector have seen their third consecutive monthly decline, to a total of USD1.53trn, their lowest level since November last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets in the major funds of hedge funds were down 0.6% in first half, according to the most recent statistics from InvestHedge Billion Dollar FOHF Club, reported by Hedgeweek. This development is in line with the average performance of funds of funds in the same period. Assets in the largest funds of funds, those with assets under management of over USD1bn, totalled USD595bn in first half. The top ten funds saw an increase in their assets of USD6.4bn during the period.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BarclayHedge hedge fund index of 835 funds which had published results as of 8 September reveals an average loss of 0.16% in August, and performance of 1.82% in the first eight months of the year. The largest gains in August were for the 6 equity short bias funds, with 2.23%, and the 16 convertible arbitrage funds, with 1.43%. However, the 93 equity long bias funds lost an average of 2.52%. In January-August, the 25 FI arbitrage funds finished on top, with performance of 8.35%, followed by the 16 convertibles arbitrage funds, which gained 6.77%. Equity long bias, however, has lost 2.25% in the first eight months of the year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Charles J. Pridgeon, who has previously served as CEO of Aareal Asset Management, will join Allianz Real Estate (ARE) this month as chief investment officer (CIO). He will be in charge of investment decisions for ARE’s global platform.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After two years without a sale of assets, Allianz Real Estate (ARE) has granted Richard Ellis a mandate to sell real estate assets for about EUR1bn, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The objective is to optimise the portfolio with a sale of small properties and acquisitions of new ones in better locations, in major cities, with stable revenue flows. Currently, EUR17bn are invested in properties and land, but the portfolio may rapidly grow to EUR25-30bn.

Paulson & Co, the world’s third-largest hedge fund manager, has seen another painful month, according to the Financial Times. The firm’s USD9bn Advantage Plus fund, its largest, lost 4.26 per cent in August, wiping out gains made in July. The fund is down 11 per cent so far this year.

According to sources familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal, the Advantage Plus hedge fund from John Paulson suffered losses in August of 4.3%. It has continued to suffer from premature bets on an economic recovery. In the first eight months of the year, cumulative losses total 11%. However, the Gold Fund from Paulson has posted performance of 9% in August.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HSBC Global Asset Management has added to the range of hedge funds in its Luxembourg Sicav, with the launch of the HSBC GIF European Equity Alpha and HSBC GIF Global Emerging Markets Equity Alpha, two absolute return UCITS III funds. The objective of the HSBC GIF Absolute Return Equity Alpha fund is to earn regular absolute returns higher than those of its benchmark index, with low correlation to the returns produced by European equities. The HSBC GIF European Equity Alpha fund, managed by a team of four people led by Vis Nayar, invests in a universe of nearly 700 securities, and will invest in about 80 of them, with 45 short positions, to diversify risk, and 35 long positions. The team will aim to profit from anomalies in the fundamental valuation of equities, using quantitative and qualitative strategies in complement to each other. The HSBC GIF GEM Equity Alpha fund, for its part, will aim to earn regular absolute returns higher than those of its benchmark index, decorrelated from the returns produced by emerging markets equities. The fund is managed jointly by Omar Negyal and Nick Timberlake, and invests in a universe of about 700 securities, selected from the countries of the MSCI Emerging Market index and some countries of the MSCI Frontier Markets index. HSBC GIF GEM Equity Alpha will then invest in 70 shares with 35 long positions and 35 short positions. The objective will be to generate alpha on both halves of the portfolio.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } GAM has announced the launch of its first market neutral credit fund, which is managed by the US firm CDI LLC, and is entitled GAM Star Diversified Market Neutral Credit. The UCITS-compliant product, which has been listed on the Irish stock exchange since 2 July, aims for absolute returns with low correlation to bond markets, investing in a highly diversified long/short portfolio of undervalued credit, most of it investment grade. DCI uses quantitative methods to determine default risks, and to precisely value credit issues. The management firm then constructs risk-adjusted and diversified long/short portfolios to exploit inefficiencies.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting of the Romanian compensation fund Fondul Proprietatea has confirmed a management mandate awarded to Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited (FTIML; see Newsmanagers of 1 March), Fonds Professionell reports. Mark Mobius, chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group, says that the decision opens the way for fund listings in Bucharest. FTIML has recently opened an office in the Romanian capital, with 17 employees. The fund has assets of EUR2.7bn.