L’Agefi rapporte qu’Axa Investment Managers (IM) a décidé de reprendre en main sa filiale de gestion quantitative américaine Axa Rosenberg. Mercredi 9 juin, dans une lettre envoyée à ses clients, la société de gestion a annoncé qu’elle allait racheter la participation de 25% encore détenue par les deux fondateurs, Barr Rosenberg et Kenneth Reid. Cette décision s’inscrit dans la stratégie de la compagnie de développer un modèle de multi-experts de la gestion d’actifs. Barr Rosenberg, le fondateur, quittera définitivement le conseil d’administration d’Axa Rosenberg, mais conservera un poste de consultant exclusif, directement rattaché au directeur général, Stéphane Prunet. A terme, d’autres évolutions devraient intervenir au niveau du conseil d’administration et de l’organisation de la compagnie, précise l’Agefi. Axa IM entend également travailler à une meilleure intégration des différentes fonctions internes (recherche fondamentale, gestion des modèles, gestion des portefeuilles) mais devra surtout s’atteler à redresser une entité en perte de vitesse, enregistrant toujours des rachats nets et une érosion de ses encours de 41 milliards de dollars actuellement.

Selon Les Echos, Aforge Finance, la maison de conseil en fusions-acquisitions et gestion de patrimoine spécialisée sur les valeurs moyennes ouvre un bureau en propre à New York. Elle a recruté René-Pierre Azria, un ancien banquier de Rothschild aux Etats-Unis, pour piloter son activité outre-Atlantique.

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), filiale de Robeco, annonce avoir bouclé un premier tour de table de 200 millions de dollars pour son fonds de private equity Robeco SAM Clean Tech Private Equity III. Grâce à «une forte demande de la part d’investisseurs institutionnels», comme l’indique le communiqué, SAM se dit confiant d’atteindre le volume cible de 500 millions de dollars pour son fonds. L'équipe de gestion investit dans des entreprises en croissance, actives dans les énergies renouvelables, l’efficience énergétique, le recyclage, les immeubles «verts», l’eau ou encore l’agriculture.

As ETFs celebrate the tenth anniversary of their launch in Europe, it appears that the market for these publicly-traded tracker funds has matured to a large extent. According to the most recent statistics from BlackRock, 932 ETF funds were available to investors in Europe as of the end of April, from 36 management firms, with total assets of EUR234.3bn. In its fifth edition, the ETF Survey from the Edhec-Risk Institute at its 2010 conference of institutional management finds that 96% of 192 respondents say they use equities ETF funds. This percentage has held stable for several years, while growth has been strongest in the use of bond ETFs (68%) and credit ETFs (60%). Despite the entry of the market into this mature phase, “there is still a lot of room for innovation in the ETF market, particularly for new products,” says Felix Goltz, director of studies at the Edhec-Risk Institute. The study echoes high demand on the part of investors for products in asset classes or geographical regions which do not yet have such robust offerings. For example, “52% of those surveyed would like to see the creation of ETFs based on emerging market equities, while 37% would like bond products in this area, and 34% for high yield bonds,” says Goltz. Investors also want ETFs based on these alternative asset classes. According to the Edhec study, 39% would like to see commodity ETF products launched, while the percentage is 28% for currencies, 27% for hedge funds, 19% for real estate and 18% for infrastructure. Demand on the part of investors for new products will benefit the current market configuration for ETF promoters in Europe. This market is not at all in a phase of consolidation, says Valérie Baudson, director of Amundi ETF. “The ETF market is currently a fairly concentrated market, where new providers are still arriving. These new arrivals are adding their new product ranges to the market. Meanwhile, already established actors are continuing to add to their range of ETF products,” she explains. The future will thus bring many new ETFs, “which will sell at increasingly low prices due to increased competition,” Baudson says.

L’Agefi rapporte qu’Axa Investment Managers (IM) a décidé de reprendre en main sa filiale de gestion quantitative américaine Axa Rosenberg. Mercredi 9 juin, dans une lettre envoyée à ses clients, la société de gestion a annoncé qu’elle allait racheter la participation de 25% encore détenue par les deux fondateurs, Barr Rosenberg et Kenneth Reid. Cette décision s’inscrit dans la stratégie de la compagnie de développer un modèle de multi-experts de la gestion d’actifs. Barr Rosenberg, son fondateur, quittera définitivement le conseil d’administration d’Axa Rosenberg mais conservera un poste de consultant exclusif, directement rattaché au directeur général, Stéphane Prunet. A terme, d’autres évolutions devraient intervenir au niveau du conseil d’administration et de l’organisation de la compagnie, précise l’Agefi. Axa IM entend également travailler à une meilleure intégration des différentes fonctions internes (recherche fondamentale, gestion des modèles, gestion des portefeuilles) mais devra surtout s’atteler à redresser une entité en perte de vitesse, enregistrant toujours une collecte négative et une érosion de ses encours de 41 milliards de dollars actuellement.

Agefi reports that Axa Investment Managers (IM) has decided to fully take over its US-based quantitative asset management affiliate Axa Rosenberg. On Wednesday, 9 June, in a letter to clients, the fund manager announced that it was going to buy up the 25% stake in the firm still held by its two founders, Barr Rosenberg and Kenneth Reid. The decision comes as part of the company’s strategy to develop a multi-expert asset management model. Barr Rosenberg, founder of the firm, will definitively depart from the board of directors at Axa Rosenberg, but will retain his position as an exclusive consultant, and will report directly to CEO Stéphane Prunet. Eventually, other changes may follow on the board of directors and the organisation of the firm, Agefi reports. Axa IM is also planning to work on a closer integration of the various internal functions (fundamental research, model management, portfolio management), and will focus initially on bringing recovery to a business which is losing momentum, and which is experiencing negative outflows that are eroding its assets of USD41bn currently.

Les Echos reports that several UK hedge funds have left the City for Switzerland, including BlueCrest, the third largest hedge fund in London, with more than USD15bn in assets, and the largest hedge fund in Europe, Brevan Howard, which manages a portfolio of USD27bn. The moves are said to be the result of rising taxes and toughening regulations in the United Kingdom.

On Thursday, China-Kinwa High Technology announced that it has acquired a 23% stake in the fund management firm China Nature, in a deal which values the business at CNY331.45m, or 7.5% of its assets. Z-Ben Advisors says this amount may be high, as China Nature ran a loss 2008, and at best broke even in 2009. Assets at China Nature total CNY4.4bn, for seven products.

Schroders on 9 June announced the introduction of shares denominated in Polish zloty for two Asia funds, the Schroder ISF Asian Total Return and Schroder ISF Asian Convertible Bond, in response to an expected rise for the Polish currency against the US dollar, and the good condition of the Polish economy. The two funds are already available in Euros and US dollars.

Deutsche Bank today announced the appointment of Nasim Ahmad as Regional Head for Global South Asia, covering South Asia, the Middle East and Pakistan for the Private Wealth Management division. He will be based in Dubai, and will report to Salman Mahdi, head of Private Wealth Management, Global South Asia.

According to a Kommalpha survey of 76 investment professionals (insurers, asset managers, wealth managers, and banks), IT budgets in 2009 fell to 58% of what they had been in 2008. But budgets for 2010 have risen back to 81% of that level. According to respondents to the survey, 2008 levels will be reached again only in 2013, and will not rise above what they were in 2008 until 2014. Investment professionals dedicate a growing proportion of this amount to control and administration, particularly risk control and reporting. Investments will focus on these areas in the next 12 months. The study is available for free at the following address: http://www.kommalpha.com/kommalpha/studien.php

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), an affiliate of Robeco, has announced that it has completed an initial round of fund raising at USD200m for its private equity fund Robeco SAM Clean Tech Private Equity III. Thanks to “strong demand on the part of institutional investors,” a statement says, SAM is confident that it will reach its target volume of USD500m for the fund. The management team will invest in growth businesses, active in renewable energies, energy efficiency, recycling, “green” real estate, water, and agriculture.

The chief financial officer of Fidelity International’s investments division, Andrew Steward, has left the company, Financial News has learnt. His departure marks the latest in a series of changes to top management at the asset management firm over the last six months.

The British investment management association (IMA) announced on 9 June, following its general assembly on Tuesday, 8 June, that it has reelected Douglas Ferrans for a new two-year term as chairman of the board at the association. Claude Chene, chief executive at AllianceBernstein, Richard Kushel, vice chairman at BlackRock Investment Management (UK), and Campbell Fleming, head of distribution at Threadneedle Asset Management, were also appointed to the board. Following the departures of Matthew Stemp (formerly of UBS Global Asset Management Funds) and Ian Trevers (Invesco Perpetual), the board now has 16 members: in addition to Ferrans as chairman, there are Alan Brown – Schroders, Peter Chambers, Claude Chene - AllianceBernstein Limited, Alain Dromer - Aviva Investors, Hendrik du Toit - Investec Asset Management Limited Campbell Fleming - Threadneedle Asset Management, Robert Higginbotham - Fidelity International Richard Kushel - BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd, Helena Morrissey - Newton Investment Management, Will Nott - M&G Securities, Richard Saunders - (Chief Executive) IMA , David Semaya - Barclays Wealth Management, Keith Skeoch - Standard Life Investments, Bill Smith - Lazard Asset Management Ltd, and Bob Yerbury - Invesco Perpetual.

Les Echos reports that the American Scott Rothstein was yesterday sentenced by a Florida judge to 50 years in prison for setting up a Ponzi scheme, a fraud similar to the one orchestrated by Bernard Madoff. Rothstein’s fraud measured USD1.2bn, compared with USD65bn for Madoff. The investor, who had connections in local political circles, recruited his “clients” from among rich Florida investors, promising them high returns on their investments.

Goldman Sachs is being sued for USD1bn by Basis Yield Alpha Fund (Master), an Australian hedge fund, which claims that the bank made “misleading statements” in connection with Timberwolf, a complicated mortgage security the bank sold in 2007, says the Financial Times.

The US-based asset management company Legg Mason is launching the Legg Mason Permal Global Absolute Fund, an absolute return global macro fund, on the French market. The product, which is made available in a UCITS III-compliant format, was designed in partnership with Permal, the Legg Mason unit specialised in funds of hedge funds, which has about USD20bn in assets under management. The fund does not, strictly speaking, replicate the global macro strategy managed by Permal, but is strongly inspired by it. A quantitative model analyses the portfolio of the Permal Macro Holdings fund, and draws lessons from it in terms of asset allocation. This information is complemented by input from an investment committee, which results in a distribution between various asset classes (equities, fixed income, real estate and infrastructure, commodities, currencies, alternative strategies, etc). The objective of the fund is to earn returns of 8-10% over 3 to 5 years, with volatility limited to 6-10%. As a UCITS III-compliant product, the fund offers weekly liquidity and offers share classes hedged for forex risks.

Les Echos reports that Aforge Finance, a mergers and acquisitions and wealth management advising firm specialised in midcaps, has opened a New York office. It has recruited René-Pierre Azria, a former banker from Rothschild in the United States, to run its North American operations.

According to the most recent survey by Hedge Fund Research (HFR), the number of hedge fund liquidations, which had consistently diminished over the previous four quarters, increased to 240 in January-March 2010, compared with 165 in October-December 2009. The closures significantly affected funds of hedge funds, with 102 liquidations. Liquidations of funds of hedge funds exceeded the number of launches of new products for the seventh quarter in a row. However, overall, the number of new funds launched was higher than the number of liquidations, at 254. HFR also states that the average leverage rate has continued to fall compared with its level five years ago. More than half of funds have a total leverage rate of 1 to 2, but nearly 30% of funds with more than USD1bn in assets have leverage of over 2. Performance commissions are also tending to fall, insofar as performance is tending to decrease. The average rate of performance commissions fell 8 basis points from the previous quarter, to 19.12%, which represents the largest fall since second quarter 2008, while management commissions remain unchanged at an average of 1.58%. The wide distribution of returns has fallen, with the top 10% of funds posting average returns of 15.2%, and the bottom 10% posting average losses of 8.6%.

Structured Solutions has teamed up with EFG Financial Products to create the Solactive Rare Earth Performance Index, which replicates the performance of up to 15 mining companies in the rare-earth sector, most of them Canadian and Australian, Das Investment reports. The advisor to the index is Commodity Capital.

L’Echo reports that Deminor, an agency specialised in defending the interests of minority shareholders, may soon file a penal case in Luxembourg against UBS and Ernst & Young, in connection with the Madoff scandal. The case will hinge on the question of what contractual ties connected the depository bank (UBS Luxembourg) to the Luxalpha investment fund. “Our position is that UBS Luxembourg and Ernst & Young Luxembourg did not act as an ordinarily prudent and diligent bank and auditor would have done,” explains Edouard Fremault, senior analyst at Deminor. “We think UBS and Ernst & Young made misleading declarations to the financial sector supervisory commission (CSSF, the Luxembourg market regulator), when the Luxalpha fund was approved,” the analyst says.

Seule la partie deux ans ne suscite pas de réelles inquiétudes, certainement jusqu’au premier trimestre 2011

Paris et Berlin pressent Bruxelles d'agir. Les députés français débattent aussi du sujet

En mai, les OPCVM commercialisés en Italie ont accusé des rachats nets pour 3,5 milliards d’euros, indique Assogestion, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion d’actifs. La décollecte a été alimentée par les fonds actions (-1,6 milliards d’euros) et les fonds monétaires (-2,38 milliards d’euros). Les hedge funds sont aussi dans le rouge, avec -55 millions d’euros. En revanche, les fonds obligataires ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 343 millions d’euros, tandis que les fonds flexibles et les fonds diversifiés engrangent respectivement 173 millions d’euros et 49 millions.A la fin mai, les encours du secteur ressortaient à 444,5 milliards d’euros, en repli par rapport aux 451,9 milliards de la fin avril. Les groupes ayant affiché les plus forts remboursements nets sont Pioneer Investments (-642,2 millions d’euros), Bipiemme (-588,6 millions d’euros) et Anima SGR (-586,7 millions). A contrario, les groupes ayant tiré leur épingle du jeu en mai en enregistrant les plus fortes souscriptions sont Mediolanum (185,1 millions d’euros), Banca Carige (29,2 millions) et Azimut (24,3 millions).

Avec la crise et la hausse des coûts, la délégation de gestion, par laquelle une société de gestion demande à une autre de gérer un de ses fonds, se développe de plus en plus en Italie, observe Plus, le supplément «argent» de Il Sole – 24 Ore. Résultat, les acteurs finissent par se spécialiser soit sur la gestion pure, soit sur la distribution.

BNY Mellon a nommé Sasha Evers directeur de son bureau à Madrid après le départ de Jaime Gil-Delgado, patron The Bank of New York Mellon pour l’Espagne. L’impétrant conserve parallèlement son poste de directeur général de BNY Mellon Asset Management Iberia (lire notre dépêche du 11 septembre 2008).Par ailleurs, César Valcárcel, directeur général, a été nommé responsable commercial pour la Péninsule ibérique du métier Asset Servicing ainsi que de la relation client.

José Eustasio del Castaño Villanueva et Alejandro Sarrate Bruno ont rejoint les six associés de MCH Private Equity (500 millions d’euros d’encours) pour lancer la société de courtage MCH Investment Strategies que la CNMV a enregistrée le 16 octobre 2009 et qui jouera un rôle de third party marketer (TPM).D’après Funds People, la nouvelle entité a pour vocation de sélectionner au maximum six gestionnaires affichant des performances stables dans des classes d’actifs différentes et de les représenter en exclusivité auprès des investisseurs institutionnels en Espagne et au Portugal. Ils ont d’ailleurs déjà conclu des accords avec trois gestionnaires indépendants : Ferox Capital, Fulcrum Asset Management et Odey Asset Management.

Les grandes sociétés espagnoles de gestion de fonds d’investissement et de fonds de pension, celles du BBVA et du Santander, sont parvenues à compenser grâce à l’Amérique latine les remboursements nets qu’elles subissaient en Espagne. Elles ont drainé sur le sous-continent plus de 25 milliards d’euros et leurs filiales locales gèrent des encours supérieurs à ceux qu’elles ont en Espagne, souligne Expansión.BBVA Asset Management est le plus gros acteur espagnol en Amérique latine, avec 77 milliards d’euros d’encours, devant Santander Asset Management, avec 55 milliards.

Le spécialiste estonien de l’investissement socialement responsable, Limestone Investment Management, lance en Suède un fonds ISR investissant en Europe centrale et orientale, le New Europe Socially Responsible Fund, rapporte Citywire. Le fonds, géré par Alvar Roosimaa, a un univers de 300 entreprises qui cherchent activement à se conformer aux règles internationales en matière d’environnement, de social et de gouvernance, en accordance avec les Principes pour l’investissement responsable. Il évite aussi certains secteurs (alcool...).

Selon IPE.com, les encours gérés pour le compte d’investisseurs institutionnels européens sont ressortis à 5.200 milliards d’euros fin 2009, en hausse de 8,3 % par rapport à l’année dernière. Grâce à la fusion avec BGI, BlackRock prend la tête du classement des dix plus grands gestionnaires institutionnels européens avec 465,8 milliards d’euros, devant Legal & General IM et Natixis Global AM. BlackRock est aussi numéro à l'échelle mondiale, avec 2.334 milliards d’euros, devant State Street Global Advisors et Allianz Global Advisors. Le premier français dans le classement mondial est Amundi, issu de la fusion entre CAAM et SGAM, qui s’est hissé à la huitième place, juste devant son compatriote BNP Paribas Investment Partners, qui a absorbé Fortis Investments, indique IPE.com.