For January-June, the ABP pension fund for about 2.8 million public sector employees and teachers in the Netherlands has posted returns of 4.6%, and its assets as of 30 June totalled EUR218bn, compared with EUR208bn at the end of 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gains are largely due to investments in corporate and government bonds, emerging markets equities, private equity and hedge funds. However, the coverage ratio for the fund has fallen to 95% at the end of June, compared with 104% at the end of December, while the legal minimum is 105%. This decline is largely due to historically low long-term interest rates.

On 9 July, the CNMV registered the Irish-domiciled Sicav Old Mutual Dublin Funds Plc from Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM), including its sub-funds Global Bond Fund (bonds), Global Equity Absolute Return Fund, UK Dynamic Equity Fund and UK Select Smaller Companies Fund (equities). The products are available on the Allfunds Bank platform.

From 1 July, management commissions have been reduced for 36 products from The Hartford Mutual Funds (USD95.8bn as of 31 March). The asset management subsidiary of The Hartford has reduced fees for institutional, retirement and retail shares in the Diversified International, Fundamental Growth, Global Research, International Growth, International Opportunities and Value funds by 30 basis points. The objective is to put these funds in the foreground compared with their peers in their respective Morningstar categories, Keith Sloane, senior vice president at The Hartford Mutual Funds, announced on Wednesday. Fees have also been reduced by 15 basis points for institutional and retirement share classes in 30 other funds, with the goal of increasing institutional market share by targeting consultants and IFAs.

The Spanish Inversis Banco is marketing a structured product issued by Morgan Stanley which uses the Carmignac Patrimoine fund as its underlying, Funds People reports. The product guarantees 100% of invested capital after four years, plus 80% of the performance of the Carmignac Patrimoine fund during this period. Minimal subscription is set at EUR20,000, and the distribution commission is 3%. Inversis Banco is the sole distributor of the product until the end of the month.

The Santander Absolute Strategy fund, which Santander Asset Management has registered with the CNMV, becomes the first newcits fund from the management firm. It is a fund with daily liquidity, which invests in 15 to 25 UCITS III-format hedge funds. It will be available on the Allfunds Bank platform, and will be advised by Allfunds Alternative, Funds People reports. The objective is to achieve net annual performance of 5-7%, with volatility of 3-8%.

The global hedge fund index calculated by Greenwich Alternative Investments lost 0.84% in the month of June, while the S&P 500 lost 5.23%. However, merger and acquisition arbitrage strategies earned gains of 70 basis points, while bond arbitrage funds gained 1.06%. However, the long/short equity index lost 1.57%.

On 29 October 2010 and 16 June 2011, DWS Investments will liquidate the DWS Hedge L/S Global Macro and DWS Hedge L/S Currency funds, its last German-registered hedge funds, the asset management firm from Deutsche Bank confirmed to Newsmanagers on Thursday evening. The DWS website actually states that the last date to accept subscriptions for the DWS Hedge L/S Global Macro fund, launced on 1 August 2005, was 30 June, and that assets now total only EUR0.01m. The performance of the fund has been 1.90% per year since its launch. However, the closure date for the DWS Hedge L/S Currency fund published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is not yet mentioned in the documentation for the fund (launched on 1 July 2004), which has assets of EUR10.42m. Performance has totalled 3.58% per year. DWS Investments had already liquidated the DWS Invest Dynamic fund last year, then, in April 2010, the DWS Hedge L/S Equity Opportunistic and the DWS Hedge L/S Market Neutral. Like other German asset management firms, DWS is reeling from the consequences of legislation which has complicated sales (warnings on documents, only private placement for single hedge funds). In addition, hedge funds have had a negative image in Germany since the “locust” controversy.

As of 31 July 2012, Allianz Global Investors will close the Allianz PIMCO Genusscheinfonds (formerly cominvest Genusscheinfonds), which was launched on 16 July 2001, and which has assets of over EUR130m. Subscriptions and redemptions for the fund of entitlement warrant notes had been frozen since 3 March 2009. In light of the highly limited liquidity of the market segment, the assets in the fund could not be dispersed at suitable prices, while reopening the redemption window would most likely result in redemption requests that would exceed available liquidity. The date of liquidation has been set according to the maturity dates of most of the securities remaining in the portfolio.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 15 July announced that Goldman Sachs will pay a fine of USD550m and will modify its practices. The SEC says in a statement that it is the largest fine ever paid by a Wall Street firm. The SEC opened an investigation into transactions at Goldman Sachs related to sales of a sub-prime structured product related to real estate (CDO), at a time when the US real estate market was collapsing. It accused Goldman Sachs of concealing the role of the speculative fund Paulson & Co. in the selection of assets in the CDO, created in early 2007, from investors. Goldman Sachs ultimately admitted that information given to clients was incomplete.

According to estimates by Morningstar, US mutual funds posted net subscriptions in June of USD13.5bn, compared with net redemptions of USD13.2bn in May (see Newsmanagers of 14 June). Net inflows in January-June totalled USD166.7bn, 24% more than in the corresponding period of last year. Despite a decline for the MSCI EAFE index and concerns due to falling foreign equities markets, international equities funds posted net subscriptions of USD19.6bn in first half, while US equities funds saw net outflows of nearly USD17bn. Morningstar points out that alternative mutual funds, many of which have been launched since the credit crisis, have posted record net inflows, such as the Pimco Fundamental Advantage Total Return, which took in more than USD3.3bn in the 12 months to the end of June. However, money market funds lost USD790.5bn in assets in the 12 months to the end of June, of which nearly 80% of outflows were from institutional share classes. For ETFs, net subscriptions in June (USD9.9bn) brought total net inflows since the beginning of the year to USD34bn. Two two funds with the strongest net subscriptions in June were the SPDR S&P 500 SPY, with USD2.6bn, and the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, with USD2.1bn. Morningstar points out that aside from the MSCI Germany Index EWG and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25, which were apparently used by investors repositioning themselves in view of the looming government debt crisis in Europe, the vast majority of single country ETFs saw net outflows in June.

The California pension fund CalPERS has reported estimated returns of 11.4% for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, ending on 30 June 2010. As of 30 June last year, the market value of the fund’s assets totalled USD200bn. “Excepting real estate, all asset classes earned positive returns this year,” sayd Joe Dear, chief investment officer at CalPERS, adding that an overhaul of investment policies, processes and strategies is on course. It has allowed CalPERS to save USD100m in fees to external managers, to remove the least well-performing funds from its portfolio, and to develop new risk management tools. In the various asset classes, fixed income has gained 19.5% in the fiscal year, private equity has gained 30.9%, and equities are up 14.4%. However, real estate was down 37.1% as of 31 March, and valuations as of the end of June have not yet been completed.

According to a survey by the consulting firm Preqin in June, more than one third of institutional investors in funds of hedge funds are planning to withdraw their money from the sector to reallocate it to single hedge funds, the Financial Times reports. Preqin finds that 80% of investors who have already withdrawn their money from funds of hedge funds did to after the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. The most frequently cited reason for the withdrawals is high levels of fees.

The European fund and asset management association on 15 July published a report on recent trends in the standardisation and automatisation of orders for investment funds receievd by transfer agencies in Ireland. The report covers nearly 80% of total order volumes for Irish funds. The report finds that the rate of automation for orders treated by transfer agents came to 86% in fourth quarter 2009, a sign of the very limited level of manual trearment. The percentage of orders relying on proprietary messages totalled 78% last year, compared with 8% for orders undertaken on the basis of ISO 20022 messages. Efama notes that in autumn it will publish a report on the Irish cross-border fund market, and that it will then offer two reports per year on issues in the standardisation and automatisation of orders.

Prudential Real Estate Investors (Prei) and Mubadala Development Company have announced that they have signed an agreement to create a joint venture to raise capital from investors, with the objective of investing in real estate projects in Abu Dhabi and other international markets. The joint venture is entitled Mubadala Pramerica Real Estate Investors. As of 31 March this year, gross real estate assets at PREI totalled about USD43.8bn (USD22.8bn net).

Société Générale Private Banking on 16 July announced the appointment of Mrs. Hsiao-Yun Lee as CEO of Société Générale Private Banking in China. Mrs. Lee will aim to promote the products and services range of the private bank to high net worth clients in China. She joined Société Générale Private Banking (Asia Pacific) in Hong Kong in 1997, to develop a wealth management product range aimed at Chinese high net worth clients, and was subsequently appointed head of Private Banking China in Shanghai in 2007.

On Thursday, Union Bancaire Privée announced that it has recruited Michel Longhini, CEO of the international private bank at BNP Paribas since 2008, as CEO for its private banking division. Longhini will begin in his new position in early September, and will take a seat on the executive board at UBP. Longhini’s close ties to the Asia-Pacific region, where he worked for many years, are considered a prime advantage by his new employer, which is in the process of developing its activities in emerging markets with a central axis in growth strategy. He will primarily aim to open new markets in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The BSI index of investment adviser morale, undertaken by TNS Infratest for Robeco Deutschland, has slipped by 0.2 points in second quarter compared with January-March, to 100.1. Robeco Germany observes that the opinions of professionals as to sales of bond funds have returned to a near-normal level, with 17% satisfied, compared with 10% in first quarter. For the next six months, 13% of advisers (compared with 12%) predict that sales will increase. Among the other findings of the survey of 350 client advisers at commercial banks, savings banks and co-operative banks in Germany are that 35% of specialists are optimistic about the evolution of sales of open-ended funds by the end of December (compared with 36%), and that 46%, compared with 45%, are convinced that sales of equities funds will increase. However, advisers’ estimation of sales of money market funds in second quarter fell to all-time low levels, with only 13% satisfied. And for the next six months, only 7%, as in first quarter, are optimstic.

Bobbie Collins, a spokeswoman for BlackRock, has confirmed the authenticity of an internal memo reported by Bloomberg detailing a reshuffle of management at the asset management firm. Rich Kushel, head of international businesses, is appointed to the new position of head of portfolio management, where he will be in charge of investment management and information sharing. Charles Hallac, co-COO with Sue Wagner, becomes the sole COO, while Wagner will join a new executive team including CEO Laurence D. Fink and president Robert Kapito, as well as Blake Grossman, former head of Barclays Global Investors, and Kendrick Wilson III, a banker who joined the firm from Goldman Sachs. BlackRock has also created three regional entities, one for the Americas, one for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, led by James Charrington, and one for Asia-Pacific, led by Rohit Bhagat.

Philippe Marchessaux, who since July 2009 has been head of the asset management profession at BNP Paribas (EUR542bn as of 31 March), is not concealing his satisfaction. The merger with Fortis Investments, which has allowed BNP Paribas IP to become Europe’s third-largest asset management firm, and putting it in the top 10 worldwide, is going well. “The process is proceeding as planned. In the wake of the legal merger of the holding companies in April 2010, the country-by-country process is now almost complete,” says Marchessaux, who succeeded Gilles Glicenstein as director and CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners, and CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management. Other major areas of the merger which occupies a dedicated task force, such the migration of the IT systems, and mergers of products and product ranges, are at an advanced stage. “The migration of IT systems will be completed by fourth quarter 2010,” says Marchessaux, who adds that mergers of ranges will take slightly more time. “But by second quarter 2011, that process will be completed,” he says.

Bloomberg reports that Nelson Saiers, managing director at Deutsche Bank in charge of proprietary derivatives trading, has left the largest German bank to join a hedge fund specialised in options, Alphabet Management LLC. According to an internal source at the hedge fund cited by the firm, Saiers joined Alphabet this week. Alphabet, whose assets under management totalled USD170m at the end of first half, has earned gains of 11% in the period, while equities hedge funds hve seen average losses of 1.6%. Following losses during the financial crisis, Deutsche Bank has considerably reduced its proprietary trading activities. The credit desk has been closed, and the allocation to equities trading has been reduced by 90%. The head of proprietary equities trading, Pablo Calderini, has also left the bank to join a hedge fund.

JP Morgan Chase has reported net profits for second quarter of USD391m, an increase of 11% compared with second quarter 2009, largely due to an increase in revenues of 4%, to USD2.1bn. The activities of the institutional unit were down 11% to USD433m, but all other divisions were oriented upward, with gains of 9% to USD695m for private banking, 17% to USD482m for retail, and 4% to USD348m for private wealth management. Assets under management totalled Usd1.161trn, a decline of 1% or USD10bn, due to outflows from money market products, which were largely offset by inflows to bonds and equities, as well as market effects. Group-wide, net profits for the quarter totalled USD4.8bn, up 76% compared with second quarter 2009.

DWS Investments has released three new funds domiciled in Luxembourg on the British retail market: DWS Invest Top Dividend, Diversified Fixed Income Strategy, and Global Thematic, according to Fund Strategy. DWS returned to the British market last year with a series of regional and thematic funds, after withdrawing from the market five years ago with the sale of its full range to Aberdeen Asset Management. To strengthen its coverage of the British market, DWS has also appointed Stephen Moore as head of sales for the United Kingdom. Moore was previously at Julius Bär Asset Management.

The German management firm Deka Immobilien has announced that it resold the office property St. James House in London to Standard Life on 1 July for EUR53.5m. The 3,317 square metre property was purchased for EUR45.5m in March 2003 for an institutional fund from Deka Immobilien; it is wholly leased to Jeffries International Ltd. It becomes the third property to be sold above market value by the management firm in three months (the first two were in Korea and Germany).

The Fitch ratings agency announced on 15 July that it has confirmed its M2+ rating for Man Investments for its alternative multi-management activities. The rating reflects the stabilisation of multi-management activities by the firm in the wake of its restructuring. The agency also notes that multi-management activities have largely not been affected by the acquisition of GLG, but that cross-border functions such as sales, risk, and middle office will need to be integrated.

Fund Strategy reports that Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has reassigned five of its funds to new managers following the departure of the heads of emerging markets and developed market equities. Ian Fulton, manager of the Swip Global fund, has replaced Kim Catechis, formerly head of emerging markets, as manager of the Swip Emerging Markets fund. Johnny Russell has taken over sole management of the Swip SRI fund, following the departure of Ian Vose, head of developed market equities. Ken Adams becomes sole manager of the Clerical Medical Adventurous fund. Jeff King, head of diversified funds, has pulled out of the co-management of the fund. Following the resignation of Chris Bamberry, Gregor McDonald becomes the sole manager of the Swip UK Smaller Companies fund, while Guy Skinner has been appointed lead manager of the Clerical Medical International fixed Income fund.

In October, Jim Cielisnki, who has spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), most recently as managing director and head fo global investment grade credit, will join the management team at Threadneedle as head of the fixed income desk, a team with 38 investment professionals, on 31 March. As of the end of March, the team managed GBP22.6bn in assets.

According to reports in Cotizalia, the González Delgado family has asked the Knight Frank consulting firm to reinvest the remaining capital gains on the sale of its 6% stake in El Corte Inglés for EUR500m in the British real estate market. Through its portfolio management firm Hemera Capital, the family has already bought the Fortis Bank headquarters in calle Serrano in Madrid (3,300 square metres) from Standard Life Investments, and another property in Madrid, located on Arturo Soria avenue.

Fidelity has appointed Pete Burtonshaw has head of platforms, including FundsNetwork and platforms dedicated to defined contribution programmes. Burtonshaw, who has been at Fidelity since 2008, will begin in his new role in August, replacing his predecessor as head of FundsNetwork, david Dalton-Brown, who left last October.

Until 30 September, it is free to join the dating section of the website hereisthecity.com. The dating section of the professional news site for the finance industry, which also has football and careers sections, was the idea of a former head of marketing from UBS. The premise of the dating site is that busy finance professionals, who often work longer hours than the legal limit, simply don’t have the time to go out and find a partner outside their business.

Philippe Marchessaux, qui pilote depuis juillet 2009 le métier gestion d’actifs au sein de BNP Paribas, ne cache pas sa satisfaction. Le rapprochement avec Fortis Investments, qui permet à BNP Paribas IP de devenir le troisième acteur européen de la gestion d’actifs et d’intégrer le top 10 mondial, est en bonne voie. «Le processus se déroule comme prévu. Dans le sillage de la fusion juridique des holdings en avril 2010, la déclinaison par pays est aujourd’hui pratiquement terminée», précise Philippe Marchessaux qui a succédé à Gilles Glicenstein comme administrateur directeur général de BNP Paribas Investment Partners et CEO de BNP Paribas Asset Management.Autres gros chantiers de l’intégration qui occupe une task force dédiée, les migrations informatiques et les fusions de produits et de gammes sont également bien avancées. «La migration des systèmes d’information devrait être bouclée d’ici au quatrième trimestre 2010», estime Philippe Marchessaux qui ajoute que les fusions de gammes devraient prendre un peu plus de temps. «Mais d’ici au deuxième trimestre 2011, ce chantier devrait être bouclé», indique-t-il. Il est important d’aller vite dans un processus d’intégration afin de gagner en fluidité et de rassurer les clients sur la continuité de l’activité."Notre tout premier chantier a été de désigner les 200 principaux cadres dirigeants et d’annoncer aux clients qui était en charge de leur portefeuille et de leur relation commerciale, ce que nous avons fait dès la fin 2009. " souligne Philippe Marchessaux. «Je puis vous dire que nous avons su fidéliser nos clients tout au long du processus d’intégration», assure-t-il. Tout au plus quelques clients des deux enseignes ont-ils réduit la voilure afin d'éviter une surexposition au nouvel ensemble. Cette intégration menée tambour battant a aussi donné un nouvel élan à BNP Paribas IP dont les actifs sous gestion s'élevaient au 31 mars 2010 à quelque 542 milliards d’euros. Outre qu’elle va permettre à BNP Paribas IP de renforcer ses positions en Europe, entre autres avec Alfred Berg en Scandinavie et avec une «présence très forte " sur le marché néerlandais des fonds de pension, l’intégration de Fortis est aussi l’occasion de nourrir de nouvelles ambitions en Asie. " Avec quelque 60 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion, nous sommes déjà un gérant important dans la zone Asie-Pacifique mais nous souhaitons doubler ce montant dans les trois ans à venir pour entrer dans le top ten des acteurs régionaux», souligne Philippe Marchessaux qui évoque les multiples zones de croissance de la région, la Chine bien entendu, mais aussi l’Australie avec sa forte communauté chinoise, l’Indonésie, la Corée «où avec une position de n°2 sur le marché, nous avons su développer avec succès l’activité de Shinhan» et le Japon «où nous avons atteint la taille critique».