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07/09/2010

Gérald Mathieu joins Barclays Wealth

Wealthbriefing reports that Barclays Wealth has appointed Gérald Mathieu, a former UBS senior manager, as head of the front office in Monaco at Barclays Wealth International Private Bank. In the newly-created position, Mathieu will act as director and head of day-to-day operation oversight, including the management of private bankers. In his previous position, Mathieu worked in Paris at UBS Wealth Management France, as branch manager and managing director.
07/09/2010

Equities management Asia ex Japan unit at Edram sets up shop in Hong Kong

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management announced on Monday, 6 September that it has installed its Asia ex Japan equities management team in Hong Kong. The arrival strengthens the firm’s presence in Asia. Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management has already been presence in the Asian markets since 1993, and in China for 12 years, a statement says. Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management Hong Kong, an affiliate of the management firm Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, was licensed in February 2008 by the Securities and Futures Commission to manage Chinese equities funds and to distribute the full range of its investment supports. In April 2006, La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild also received a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license, allowing it to become the first private bank to invest in A and G class shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen. With 15 personnel, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management Hong Kong has EUR1.3bn in assets under management. Asian management is directed by Yi Tang.
07/09/2010

Citi adds to private banking division

Fernando López, head of private banking at Citigroup for the Iberian peninsula, recruited two people this summer, Cotizalia reports. They are Javier Asterloa, head of investor relations at Metrovacesa, and José Toribio, who previously worked in the private bank at Merrill Lynch in Madrid. With the recruitments, Citi has doubled the size of its private banking team, which previously consisted of Miguel Forteza and Federico Limpenny.
07/09/2010

Morgan Stanley P2 Value to reopen to redemptions

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH is preparing to reopen redemptions from the open-ended real estate fund P2 Value. As the redemption freeze will end before the expiration of two years, the fund will not need to be liquidated, Handelsblatt reports. Walter Klug, one of the MDs of the asset management firm, estimates that after the revision of estimates for all properties in the portfolio, the fund may reopen with assets of EUR820-EUR870m, compared with EUR1.7bn as of the end of October 2008, when the redemption freeze was declared.
07/09/2010

DFH acquires Fürstenhof building in Frankfurt from Union

DFH Deutsche Fonds Honding has bought the Fürstenhof office and retail building (18,450 square metres), in the banking district of Frankfurt, for EUR126m from the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland, from Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE, German co-operative banks). The sale price of the property, leased in its near entirety to Commerzbank, corresponds to the most recent expert valuation, but is lower than the EUR129m paid by UIRE to Eurocastle Investment Limited in July 2008. Frank Billand, a member of the executive board at UIRE, says that the proceeds of the sale will be very quickly reinvested. Since the beginning of the year, UIRE has already dedicated EUR440m to the acquisition of office and retail properties in Germany.
07/09/2010

Wall Street Journal dubious of European bank stress tests

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday raised doubts about the results of stress tests undertaken of banks in the European Union, claiming that some risks the banks run had been underestimated. The tests “underestimated the amounts of potentially risky public debt held by some establishments, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis,” the New York newspaper writes, one and a half months after the publication of the results. The newspaper names the British bank Barclays and the French Crédit Agricole as among those for which it found a divergence of quarterly results and other financial documents on one hand, and results submitted for the stress tests on the other. “Crédit Agricole did not count the public debt held by its insurance affiliate,” the newspaper explains. The banks concerned have responded that they scrupulously followed the guidelines provided by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS).
07/09/2010

Invesco adds to product range in Italy

Invesco is adding to its product range in Italy with 11 new sub-funds and 10 coupon distribution solutions, Bluerating reports. Six of the new sub-funds belong to the Morgan Stanley range acquired by Invesco.
07/09/2010

South Africa sets up a code for responsible investment

Responsible Investor reports that a working group chaired by John Oliphant, chief investment officer of the pension fund for South African government employees, which manages about EUR75.4bn, has unveiled a responsible investment code for institutional investors. The eight-page document aims to articulate the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and to ensure that environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are treated to an “apply or explain” approach. The document is open to consultation until the end of October.
07/09/2010

ComStage lists two ETFs in Lisbon

NYSE Euronext has announced that it has admitted the ComStage ETF PSI 20 and ComStage ETF PSI 20 Leverage funds, both Luxembourg-registered funds from the ComStage affiliate of Commerzbank, to trading on Euronext Lisbon. Management commissions are set at 0.50% and 0.60%, respectively. With these two products, NYSE Euronext has 535 listings of 487 different funds based on over 300 indices. Since the beginning of the year, 48 new ETF funds have been admitted to trading on the European markets of NYSE Euronext.
07/09/2010

Only 27% of Portuguese funds show gains for the past 36 months

According to statistics from the APFIPP association of management firms, only 27% of the 211 Portuguese funds have posted positive results for the three years to the end of August. Four out of ten show average annual losses of over 5%. Diario Económico states that the best performance in the period under review belonged to the BPI Brasil fund (over 10% per year). Eight funds have posted annual gains of over 8%.
07/09/2010

Bank savings accounts have “stolen” EUR80bn from funds since 2007

Since the onset of the financial crisis, savings investors have lost confidence in investment funds. As of the end of July, the amount placed by retail clients in funds had fallen to EUR122.08bn (the lowest level since 1997, when statistics began), down from a total of EUR200bn in 2007, according to statistics from the Bank of Spain, Cinco Días reports. In the same period, bank savings deposits held by Spanish households rose from EUR329.54bn as of the end of July 2007 to EUR425.65bn three years later. This means that about EUR78bn moved from funds to savings accounts in the space of three years. The same phenomenon may be observed for non-financial sector businesses, whose portfolios in investment fund shares declined in the same period from EUR26.44bn to less than half that (EUR10.55bn), while bank savings deposits have increased to EUR111.4bn from EUR90bn.
07/09/2010

Bryan Chen leaves Edram Hong Kong

The head of marketing for Asia at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), Bryan Chen, left his job in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Asian Investor reports. Chen may join a sovereign fund or a private equity firm, a source cited by Asian Investor says.
07/09/2010

Ampega Gerling launches a diversified fund using ETFs and ETCs

Ampega Gerling in 1 September launched the Lacore All Assets AMI fund, a diversified fund which is aimed primarily at institutional investors, and which is managed by Kohlhase & Stöwer Asset Management. The product will invest primarily in indices and commodities via ETFs and ETCs. For institutional-class shares (at least EUR100,000), Ampega Gerling will charge no front-end or exit fees. Characteristics Name: Lacore All Assets AMI ISIN: DE000A0YAYC4 Front-end fee: 3% (currently 0%) Management commission: maximum 1.4% (currently 0.80%)
07/09/2010

Julius Bär plans to grow in Asia

The Julius Bär group is planning to enlarge its presence in Asia with the objective of making the region its second-largest market after Switzerland. Julius Bär will develop its activities in Hong Kong by the end of the year, open a representative office in Shanghai, and found a trust in Singapore next year, the firm announced on 6 September in a statement. The group is also planning to extend its business banking activities in the region. The decisions at Julius Bär originate from a management committee which for the first time met in Singapore to emphasize the importance the firm attaches to the Asian market. “Wealth used to be concentrated in major centres. Now, growth in emerging markets will allow the world to improve its quality of life, and to widen the distribution of wealth, in a process which will also benefit the investment professions,” says chairman Raymond J. Baer. Thomas R. Meier, a member of the executive board and CEO for Asia and the Middle East, reaffirmed that “Singapore and Hong Kong are our major entry-points to Asia, as the former will serve as regional headquarters for South-East Asia, and the latter for North Asia.” The group has more than 400 employees in Asia, out of total personnel of about 3,500.
07/09/2010

Major increase in profits at Partners Group

For first half 2010, adjusted net profits at Partners Group totalled a record CHF156.6m, compared with CHF85.1m for the corresponding period of last year. The increase is mainly due to investments by the Swiss management firm in its own products. Net EBITDA totalled CHF135.6m, compared with CHF114.4m. Assets as of the end of June for the first time totalled over EUR20bn, due to net subscriptions of EUR2.1bn (see Newsmanagers of 15 July). Partners Group is predicting net subscriptions for the year as a whole of EUR4bn (CHF5bn to CHF5.5bn).
07/09/2010

Stenham acquires Montier Partners

The British management firm Stenham Asset Management announced on 6 September that it has made a significant addition to its firepower with the acquisition of Montier Partners, a provider of discretionary investment solutions. The operation was completed on 1 September. Dominique Montier, founder of Montier Partners, and Jeremy Alun-Jones, CIO of Montier Partners, will join the investment committee at Stenham, which will now include nine investment professionals. The remainder of the team at Montier joining Stenham includes two senior analysts and four professionals specialised in client services and development. Assets under management at Montier Partners total over USD400m, bringing total assets under management at Stenham to USD3.5bn.
07/09/2010

Henderson adds to credit team

Henderson Global Investors has recruited Andrew Griffiths to the position of analyst for its credit team. He will report to Stephen Thariyan, director of credit at HGI. Griffiths previously served as senior credit analyst at Insight Investment.
07/09/2010

Two trusts turn backs on Gartmore

The board of one of Gartmore’s investment trusts, Gartmore Growth Opportunities, has taken steps towards severing ties with the group after one of its fund managers, Gervais Williams, quit, writes the Financial Times. Gartmore Irish Growth is also considering issuing a notice of termination to the fund manager. Both trusts account for a total of more than GBP100m of assets, adds the newspaper.
07/09/2010

Fund assets up in July

According to statistics from the Investment Management Association, assets in funds domiciled in the United Kingdom as of the end of July totalled GBP509.2bn, 4% higher than at the end of June (EUR488.2bn). As of 31 July 2009, it totalled GBP412.1bn. Retail net subscriptions totalled GBP2.2bn, compared with GBP2.1bn in June, and GBP2.3bn in the corresponding month of last year. Net inflows have thus been over GBP2bn in for the past 13 and 16 months. The strongest retail net subscriptions were for bond funds, at GBP928m, compared with GBP579m in June, while equities funds attracted GBP857m, the highest amount since November 2009. Funds domiciled abroad as of the end of July had assets of GBP23.4bn, compared with GBP22.4bn one month earlier, and GBP19.2bn as of 31 July 2009. The total as of the end of July 2010 is the highest since statistics began in July 2006. For these funds, retail net subscriptions in July totalled GBP385.4m, compared with GBP147.8m in June and GBP300.2m in the corresponding month of last year.
07/09/2010

iShares launches an ETF of Euro-denominated high yield bonds

On 3 September, iShares (BlackRock) launched the UCITS-compliant ETF iShares Markit iBoxx Euro High Yield (acronym IHYG), which physically replicates the Markit iBoxx Euro Liquid High Yield index, which includes 100 of the most liquid high yield bonds denominated in Euros, with issue volumes of at least EUR250m. So far, the product is licensed for sale only in the United Kingdom. It has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 6 September. Characteristics Name: iShares Markit iBoxx Euro High Yield ISIN: IE00B66F4759 Total expense ratio: 0.5%
07/09/2010

M&G launches a retail inflation-linked corporate bond fund

According to M&G Investments, the M&G UK Inflation Linked Corporate Bond Fund, which will be launched on 16 September in the United Kingdom, will be the first fund of inflation-linked corporate bonds to be offered on the British retail market. The fund will be jointly managed by Jim Leavies, head of the retail fixed income team at M&G, and Ben Lord, fund manager. The new product will invest in inflation-linked corporate bonds issued by British large caps, FRN, and a range of assets which will include government bonds and derivatives whose performance evolves in a manner similar to that of inflation-linked bonds. M&G is aiming for returns similar to the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) over the mid- to long-term. Front-end fees are set at 3%, and management commission for A-type shares in pounds Sterling will total 1%. Minimal initial subscription will total GBP500, or GBP10 per month for savings plans.
07/09/2010

Henderson launches a hedge fund focusing on soft commodity markets

Henderson Global Investors (HGI) has announced the launch of the Henderson Agricultural Fund, a hedge fund domiciled offshore, on 1 September. The fund is co-managed by Attunga Capital Pty Ltd., a firm based in Australia, in which Henderson Group, the parent company of HGI, holds a minority share. The Henderson Agricultural Fund will be released to institutional investors. It will focus on relative value alternative strategies, and will exploit price anomalies between futures and options on derivative and soft commodity markets. The fund will also invest directly in agricultural commodities.
07/09/2010

Threadneedle launches an absolute return fund

The range of absolute return funds from Threadneedle (GBP1.9bn in assets as of the end of June) has been enlarged with the addition of the UK Absolute Alpha Fund, which is managed by Mark Westwood and Chris Kinder, who have previous experience in long/short management. It is a UCITS-compliant fund, which will replicate the formula already used for Cayman Islands-domiciled funds in a UCITS III-compliant environment, in a manner similar to the Threadneedle Enhanced Commodities Fund (TECF) and the Threadneedle (Lux) American Absolute Alpha Fund (see Newsmanagers of 1 July and 25 June, respectively).
07/09/2010

Gartmore hands out shares to top management

The Telegraph reports that Gartmore has granted 3.5% of capital in the firm to a group of top management personnel, with the objective of encouraging them to remain at the firm. At share prices as of the close of trading on Friday, the operation represented about GBP13.5m. The newspaper reports that the board at Gartmore is planning to extend the operation to other staff. The remunerations committee is said to have considered the question. Gartmore has also held meetings with its clients to reassure them about the direction of activities at Gartmore, whose shares have lost more than 40% of their value since their IPO last December. An advertising campaign will also be launched later this autumn.
07/09/2010

GLG adds to emerging markets team

GLG Partners has hired Mark Diab for its emerging markets team. He joins from Amwal, a Qatari investment bank, where he was a managing director responsible for its equity asset management division.
07/09/2010

MSCI unveils new ESG indices

The index provider MSCI will this Tuesday unveil a new range of ESG Indexes which will include specifically environmental indices under the new brand name MSCI ESG Research, following the firm’s acquisition of RiskMetrics Group (RMG) in March of this year, Responsible Investor reports. The supplementary product range will include two environmental indices: a Global Environmenal Index which covers companies which earn more than 50% of their revenues from environmental technologies, and a MSCI Global Climate Index of the 100 largest firms considered to be top-ranking companies in the environmental segment.
07/09/2010

Stoxx launches sub-indices of Euro Stoxx 50

Stoxx Limited has announced the launch of the Euro Stoxx 50 Subindex France, Euro Stoxx 50 Subindex Italy and Euro Stoxx 50 Subindex Spain. The new country indices are subsets of the flagship Euro Stoxx 50 Index, representing all French, Italian and Spanish companies from the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, respectively.
07/09/2010

Edram se renforce en Belgique

La société de gestion Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management a ouvert une succursale de distribution en Belgique, rapporte L’Echo. Basée depuis quelques mois sur l’avenue Marnix, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management Benelux emploie quatre personnes et a pour but de «distribuer une gamme de 25 fonds actions, obligations convertibles et d’allocation d’actifs» sur les marchés néerlandais, luxembourgeois et belge. Ludwig Caluwé occupe la fonction de directeur général de la succursale.
07/09/2010
Fonds

Les dépôts bancaires ont "volé" 80 milliards d'euros aux fonds depuis 2007

Avec la crise, les épargnants ont perdu confiance en les fonds d’investissement. A fin juillet, le montant confié par les particuliers aux fonds est tombé à 122,08 milliards d’euros (le niveau le plus bas depuis 1997, début de la série historique) alors qu’il dépassait les 200 milliards en 2007, selon les statistiques de la Banque d’Espagne, rapporte Cinco Días.Pendant le même temps, les dépôts bancaires des ménages espagnols passaient de 329,54 milliards d’euros fin juillet 2007 à 425,65 milliards trois ans plus tard. Cela signifie que quelque 78 milliards d’euros ont été transvasés des fonds vers les dépôts en trois ans.Le phénomène vaut aussi pour les sociétés non financières, dont le portefeuille en parts de fonds est tombé dans le même temps de 26,44 milliards à moins de la moitié (10,55 milliards d’euros) pendant que les dépôts bancaires passaient à 111,4 milliards contre 90 milliards.
Fonds
07/09/2010

Citi muscle sa division banque privée

Fernando López, responsable de la banque privée chez Citigroup pour la Péninsule ibérique, a recruté deux personnes cet été, rapporte Cotizalia. Il s’agit de Javier Asterloa, responsable des relations investisseur chez Metrovacesa et de José Toribio, qui travaillait dans la banque privée chez Merrill Lynch à Madrid. De la sorte, Citi a doublé son équipe de banque privée qui comprenait déjà Miguel Forteza et Federico Limpenny.

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