Aviva Investors réorganise l'équipe commerciale dédiée à ses fonds britanniques. Simon Clark devient directeur des ventes du wealth management. David Robson occupera le même poste pour les ventes d’Aviva Life. Malcolm MacKenzie sera en charge des partenariats, notamment ceux conclus avec les conseillers en gestion de patrimoine et les plateformes.
JPMorgan Asset Management a annoncé jeudi le recrutement de Peter Aspbury, head of high yield research chez European Credit Management à Londres comme head of European credit research. Il rejoindra la société dans les prochains mois et sera basé à Londres. Il dirigera une équipe de plusieurs spécialistes qui couvriront aussi bien le crédit investment grade que le haut rendement.
Le Korea Teachers Credit Union (14 milliards de dollars) a signé avec Fidelity et Goldman Sachs AM un «partenariat stratégique». C’est une pratique de plus en plus commune, note Asian Investor. Ces partenariats débouchent la plupart du temps dans des mandats de gestion importants.
Les fonds luxembourgeois investis en immobilier en France sont bénéficiaires d’une exonération dans les deux pays, rapporte l’Agefi. Dans un projet de réforme, Bercy propose de revenir sur cette situation via une disposition «balai» imposant en France tout gain réalisé par un non-résident. De leur côté, les avocats fiscalistes annoncent des moyens de contourner le changement de statut des fonds en question avant 2011 pour ne pas payer la taxe sur les plus-values de 33,3%, en transformant notamment la SCI en société anonyme ou en transférant les fonds vers un OPCI.
Selon l’Agefi, Barclays qui rationalise son portefeuille d’activités en France dans la banque de particuliers et la banque commerciale a, selon des sources proches, cédé son activité épargne salariale au Crédit Mutuel-CIC. Avec 213 millions d’euros fin 2009 répartis sur 21 fonds, Barclays pointait au 21ème rang du secteur. La banque s’est refusée à tout commentaire sur le sujet.
Stabilité dans le palmarès des gestionnaires commercialisant leurs fonds en Allemagne. Comme au premier trimestre (lire notre article du 28 avril), Union Investment (banques populaires allemandes), en tête depuis septembre 2009, et Threadneedle affichent des taux supérieurs à 50 % de produits notés A ou B, avec respectivement 54,2 % (contre 55,4 % en janvier-mars) et 52,3 % (inch).Cela posé, les deux troisièmes n’atteignent pas les 50 % : il s’agit de LBB Invest et de LGT Group, qui affichent des taux de «bons» fonds de 48 %. Il détrônent Pictet (qui ne figure plus parmi les 10 premiers) et Universal Investment (qui tombe à la neuvième place avec 41,4 %.Parmi les gestionnaires qui commercialisent seulement entre 8 et 24 fonds en Allemagne, Vitruvius reste en tête, comme toujours depuis le 1er trimestre 2008, avec un taux de fonds A et B de 88,9 % (inch). DJE se classe deuxième avec 76,9 %, détrônant Star Capital, qui est troisième ex aequo avec Nevsky Capital et un taux de 75 % (StarCapital pointait à 87,5 % de A et B au premier trimestre). Carmignac Gestion reste sixième, avec le même taux de 66,7 % et Comgest arrive neuvième avec un taux de 63,6 %.
Grâce aux 15,13 millions d’euros du bénéfice net d’avril-juin qui se comparent à 15,62 millions pour janvier-mars et 18,23 millions d’euros pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier, le groupe comdirect (Commerzbank) affiche pour le premier semestre un bénéfice net stable de 30,81 millions d’euros contre 30,96 millions. Pour l’ensemble de l’année, le groupe ne compte plus que sur 80 millions d’euros de bénéfice net, au lieu «d’un montant à trois chiffres en millions d’euros» (lire notre article du 19 février).L’encours de la division B2C (comdirect bank) ressortait fin juin à 23,79 milliards d’euros et affichait ainsi une hausse de 7 % sur fin décembre (22,2 milliards) tandis que celui de la division B2N (eBase) enregistrait une progression de 3 % à 13,68 milliards d’euros, principalement en raison de souscriptions nettes.
Jeudi, la valeur liquidative du fonds allemand Morgan Stanley P2 Value a diminué de 4,43 euros pour revenir à 36,32 euros. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH explique cela tient au dividende d’un euro qui a été servi sur chaque part et pour le reste à la révision à la baisse des estimations concernant quatre immeubles du portefeuille, le Draycott Park de Singapour (- 10 %), le Citigroup Center Building à Tokyo (- 13 %), l’Etoile Pleyel à Paris (- 25 %) et le Legends Village West de Kansas City (- 26 %).
Le gestionnaire allemand Varengold Investment AG, qui a obtenu son agrément de la BaFin le 11mars mais s’appuie sur une expérience de 15 ans dans le domaine des managed futures (celle de Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank), annonce jeudi avoir ouvert pour les investisseurs institutionnels la plateforme Varengold Managed Account qui leur permettra d’investir dans les fonds des meilleurs gérants mondiaux dans les stratégies managed futures et global macro.Tous les gestionnaires présents sur cette plate-forme sont assujettis au droit allemand (donc ils sont fiscalement transparents) et sont soumis en permanence à une gestion du risque indépendante. En bref, résume Yasin Sebastian Oureshi, co-directeur général de Varengold Investment, «c’est l’Europe au lieu des Caraïbes».Steffen Fix, l’autre co-directeur général, précise que Varengold soumet chaque fonds à un processus sévère d’analyse et de sélection, ce qui simplifie la tâche des investisseurs institutionnels.
On Thursday, the net asset value of the German-registered Morgan Stanley P2 Value fund was lowered by EUR4.43 to EUR36.32. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH explains that the decrease is partly due to a paid dividend of EUR1 per share, while the remainder is related to a downward revision of valuations of four properties in the portfolio: the Draycott Park in Singapore (-10%); the Citigroup Center Building in Tokyo (-13%); the Etoile Pleyel in Paris (-25%), and the Legends Village West in Kansas City (-26%).
Due to EUR15.13m in net profits in April-June, compared with EUR15.62m in January-March and EUR18.23m in the corresponding period of last year, the comdirect group (Commerzbank) has posted stable net profits for first half of EUR30.81m, compared with EUR30.96m. For the year as a whole, the group is expecting only EUR80m in net profits, rather than a “triple-digit figure in millions of Euros” (see Newsmnagers of 19 February). Assets at the B2C division (comdirect bank) as of the end of June totalled EUR23.79bn, up 7% over the end of December (ERU22.2bn), while the B2B division (eBase) was up 3% to EUR13.68bn, largely due to net subscriptions.
Ky Myung (Kim) Hong, regional vice chairman and president of Asia Pacific at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has been recruited as managing director and head of Asia Pacific at Pimco (Allianz Global Investors) in Hong Kong. He will be in charge of the Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo offices. In addition, he will enter the global operating committee. He will report to Douglas Hodge, COO, who was previously head of Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, as a part of the development of its equities management, Pimco has recruited two people from Goldman Sachs Asset Management for its London office: Maria Gordon, as executive vice president and emerging market portfolio manager, and Melissa Turtle, as senior vice president and equity trader. Gordon managed the Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Fund and co-managed the BRIC fund from GSAM. For the New York office, the management firm has recruited four senior vice presidents. They are Rebecca Babin (formerly of Brigade Capital), for equity trade, Eteve Craige (from Franklin Templeton Mutual Series), as equity product manager, and Mark Cooper and Patrick Lawler as equity analysts, Cooper from Omega Advisors, and Lawler from Pequot Capital Management. More hires are to follow this year and in 2011 for the equities platform, says Neel Kashari, managing director and head of new investment initiatives.
On Thursday, Credit Suisse Gestión launched the CS Infrastructuras fund (ES0175449034), managed by Fernando Gil de Santivañes. The product will be at least 75% invested in equities and up to 25% in bonds. At least three quarters of the amounts invested in equities will be allocated to infrastructure firms. The portfolio will include 20 to 25 positions, on shares in companies worldwide, including emerging markets. Management commission is set at 1.5%.
Janus Capital Group Inc. on Thursday, 21 July announced a net profit for second quarter of USD30.2m, near to the net profits of USD31.3m it earned in first quarter 2010, and Usd15.8m in second quarter 2009. Operating margins for the business in second quarter 2010 came to 24.6%, compared with 27.3% in the first three months of 2010, and 23.5% in second quarter 2009. On average, assets under management in second quarter 2010 came to USD160.2bn, compared with USD160bn in first quarter 2010,a nd USD126.7bn in second quarter 2009. As of 30 June, total assets under management came to USD147.2bn, while they totalled USD165.5bn on 31 March, and USD132bn in second quarter 2009. USD17bn of he decline in assets under management in second quarter was due to market effects, and USD.13bn to net redemptions.
The German asset management firm Varengold Investment AG, which was granted a license by BaFin on 11 March, but which has 15 years of experience in managed futures (at Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank), announced on Thursday that it has opened the Varengold Managed Account platform for institutional investors. The platform will allow client to invest in funds from the world’s best managers in the area of managed futures and global macro strategies. All the managers present on the platform will be subject to German law (and therefore transparent from a taxation point of view), and will be subject to permanent and ongoing independent risk management. In short, says Yasin Sebastian Oureshi, co-CEO of Varengold Investment, “it’s Europe instead of the Caribbean.” Steffen Fix, the other co-CEO, says that Varengold submits each fund to strict analysis and selection, which simplifies the task for institutional investors.
For the third quarter of its fiscal year, ending 30 June, Raymond James Financial has published net profits of USD60.68m, compared with USD55.623m for the previous quarter. In the third quarter of its 2009 fiscal year, the firm posted net profits of USD42.59m. In the first nine months of 2010, net profits totalled USD159.21m, a 45% increase compared with the 2009 figures. Assets under management as of 30 June totalled USD27.5bn, compared with USD29.3bn as of 30 March, and USD22.6bn one year previously. Assets under administration totalled USD231bn as of the end of June, compared with USD242bn three months earlier, and USD196bn as of 30 June 2009.
The Korea Teachers Credit Union (USD14bn) has signed a “strategic partnership” with Fidelity and Goldman Sachs. The practice is increasingly common, Asian Investor notes. The partnerships usually result in large-volume management mandates.
In second quarter, economic net income at the Blackstone Group totalled USD205.24m, compared with USD180.84m in the corresponding period of last year, bringing the total in first half to Usd565.63m, compared with USD978.41m. By GAAP accounting standards, second quarter came out to a loss of USD193.32m, compared with USD164.28m. Fee-earning assets under management as of the end of June totalled USD101.42bn, compared with USD93.5bn twelve months previously. Of this total, private equity represented USD25.19bn, compared with USD25.24bn, and real estate USD23.84bn, compared with USD23.52bn. The difference was in the area of credit and marketable alternatives (CAMA), with a total of USD52.39bn, compared with USD44.74bn.
The rankings of managers with funds on sale in Germany are holding stable. As in first quarter (see Newsmanagers of 28 April), Union Investment (German co-operative banks), which has been the leader since September 2009, and Threadneedle have over 50% of their products rated A or B, with 54.2% (compared with 55.4% in January-March) and 52.3% (unchanged) of their products. However, the two third-place asset management firms are below 50%. They are LBB Invest and LGT Group, which have 48% “good” funds each. They thus surpass Pictet (which is no longer in the top 10) and Universal Investment, which has fallen to ninth place with 41.4%. Among the management firms which have between 8 and 24 funds on sale in Germany, Vitruvius remains at the top of the rankings as it has been since first quarter 2008, with 88.9% of its funds (unchanged) rated A or B. DJE is in second place, with 76.9%, overtaking Star Capital, which is in third place alongside Nevsky Capital at 75%. Star Capital had 87.5% A and B rated funds in first quarter. Carmignac Gestion remains in sixth place, with the same 66.7% percentage, and Comgest comes in ninth place with a rate of 63.6%.
According to Ibbotson Associates, an affiliate of Morningstar, net subscriptions to target-date funds in the United States totalled USD2.6bn in May and USD2.1bn in June, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Due to net outflows from equities funds in the same period, these results may appear flattering. But in reality, they conceal a considerable slowdown in net inflows, which have been decreasing by an average of USD3.9bn per month for the past three years.
Marisco Capital Management has lost a mandate for nearly USD1bn. USAA has withdrawn the mandate, which covered the management of the USAA aggressive Growth Fund (USD976m). The mandate has been awarded to Willington Management and Winslow Capital. USAA would like the fund to be managed more dynamically, Mutual Fund Wire comments. The two management firms will each be in charge of half of the assets in the portfolio.
According to the final statistics for 2009, the CNMV estimates that assets in the 582 foreign funds (a total number which remains unchanged compared with that reported in Newsmanagers on 27 May) as of the end of December totalled EUR25.2bn, which represents a 38% increase in one year. In its annual report, the regulator had previously estimated assets under management at EUR24.3bn, and the increase at 35%. In fourth quarter, the largest number of funds came from Luxembourg (275), France (178), Ireland (64), Austria (27) and Germany (17). The regulator also indicates that 96 of these funds had assets of over EUR30m.
JPMorgan Asset Management on Thursday announced the recruitment of Peter Aspbury, head of high yield research at European Credit Management in London, as head of European credit research. He will join the firm in the next few months, and will be based in London. He will be in charge of a team of several specialists, which will cover investment grade and high yield credit.
Aviva Investors is reorganising its sales team dedicated to British funds. Simon Clark becomes director of sales for wealth management. David Robson will hold the same position for sales at Aviva Life. Malcolm MacKenzie will be in charge of partnerships, particularly those signed with independent financial advisers and platforms.
At a presentation of its results for second quarter, Walter Berchtold, head of the private banking division on the board at Credit Suisse, has stated that, despite an episode in which stolen CD-ROMs stolen from the firm were sold to the German tax authorities, German clients withdrew only modest amounts from their accounts in Switzerland. To the contrary, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Credit Suisse added that its branches in Germany have seen significant net inflows. In second quarter, Credit Suisse has posted a net inflow for private banking of CHF5.6bn, from clients in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, compared with CHF2.4bn in January-March. The money is largely coming from Russia, the Middle East and onshore branches in various countries.
In a survey by Union Investment (the asset management firm for the German co-operative banks), covering a representative sample of 185 investment decision-makers at real estate businesses and German, French and British institutional investors, the percentage of “sustainable” properties in the portfolios of European professional investors is expected to strongly increase in the mid-term. 64% of respondents says that sustainable development criteria are now strongly anchored in their real estate investment strategy, while 62% are planning to invest significantly more in sustainable properties. French investors stand out with a desire to strongly increase their engagement in this area. It is also noteworthy that for 50% of the decision-makers surveyed, sustainable investment in real estate is part of a more global move towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). This percentage is as high as 60% for British investors.
For second quarter, Credit Suisse has posted net profits of CHF1.59bn, comapred with CHF2.05bn in first quarter, and CHF1.57bn in the corresponding period of last year. The private banking division has posted a pre-tax profit of CHF874m, compared with CHF892m in January-March, and CHF935m in second quarter 2009. The group states that net inflows totalled CHF13.8bn, which represents a significant decline compared with CHF18.6bn in first quarter (see Newsmanagers of 22 April), but remains high considering the context. This new investment money is coming largely from abroad. In asset management, pre-tax net profits fell to CHF22m, from CHF166m in January-March and USD55m in the corresponding period of last year. Credit Suisse points out that the division has posted net subscriptions without interruption over the past four quarters. In April-June 2010, subscriptions fell to CHF1.3bn, of which CHF1.1bn were for alternative investments, and CHF0.2bn for traditional investments, largely for consulting activities in Switzerland. In first quarter, net inflows totalled CHF11.2bn, of which CHF4.4bn were for multi-asset class solutions, and Chf4.3bn for alternative investments.
Amundi Japan has more in assets under management (EUR16bn as of the end of March 2010) than the Italian affiliate, and enjoys a remarkable balance between retail and institutional investors, Agefi reports. However, Amundi is planning to increase its assets under management for institutional clients by EUR2bn in the next three years, as Japanese pension reforms present opportunities for the management firm. The firm is also the number 3 foreign firm in collective asset management, and top for structured products among all actors in Japan. The business is hoping to develop relations with existing or new partners, and to increase collaboration between Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris offices. Overall, the firm is hoping to capture EUR8bn in additional net assets, the newspaper adds.
The French asset management firm Amundi will launch a seafood fund in Japan, after identifying a strong correlation between rising income in emerging markets and consumption of seafood. In China, for example, seafood consumption rose by 2 kilos per person per year between 2001 and 2007, to a total of 26.5kg, the Financial Times reports. The details of the fund remain to be finalised, but the portfolio will include fisheries and seafood processing companies, shipmakers that construct fhishing boats, and seafood restaurants, including Japanese sushi restaurant chains, to capitalise on the growing popularity of these inexpensive outlets in an economy ravaged by deflation. Masato Degawa, chief investment officer at Amuni Japan, says that assets in the fund will be limited to USD800m, due to the relatively small size of target companies.
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de juin 2010. Ces performances sont mises en perspective par le calcul de la volatilité et du ratio de Sharpe sur trois ans d’historique ainsi que du rendement depuis un an.