As of the end of March, assets under management at Legg Mason totalled USD684.5bn, compared with USD681.6bn as of the end of December, and USD632.3bn twelve months earlier. However, as of the end of September 2009, total assets came to USD702.7bn. The strongest increase was for assets in equities funds, which came to USD173.8bn as of the end of March, compared with USD168.7bn as of 31 December, and USD126.9bn as of the end of March 2009.

The resignation earlier this week of Bruno Crastes, CEO and CIO of Amundi London and deputy director of the institutional and third-party distribution profession, followed by the announcement on Wednesday of the departure of Vincent Chaillet and Jean-Noël Alba, two other heads based in London (*), has led the asset management firm, an affiliate of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, to reshuffle its UK teams. From 19 April, Pascal Blanqué, CIO of Amundi group and director of the institutional and third-party distributors profession, will also become CEO of Amundi London. However, Blanqué will exercise his functions from Paris, while Laurent Crosnier, currently deputy head of fixed income and credit management, who from next week will occupy the position of CIO of Amundi London, will be moving to the British capital. He will work alongside Hervé Leclercq, previously head of risk at Amundi Paris, who becomes deputy CEO and COO of Amundi London. In practice, the departure of Crastes will take place “gradually.” Thus, says Amundi, he will continue to be present in London for a while longer, in order to see the transition through. Some observers have doubts about the operation. “Bruno Crastes’ management style is characterized by the large degree of latitude he leaves to teams, and a management style based largely on ‘intuitu personae,'” one multi-management professional in Paris says. “It is also probable that fund selectors will express dissatisfaction with his departure,” he adds. As to what the near future holds for the outgoing managers, Amundi states that their departures were motivated by a desire to bring a new orientation to their professional careers. On Wednesday, Agefi suggested that they may team up again in the future to create an entrepreneurial project. (*) Vincent Chaillet is head of international bond and absolute performance activities, while Jean-Noël Alba is deputy CEO of CAAM London Branch.

ING Investment Management announced on Wednesday, 14 April, that its French arm has had net inflows of more than EUR300m in first quarter 2010, which brings total assets managed by ING Investment Management in France as of 31 March 2010 to EUR2.7bn. French investors largely went for High Dividend equities strategies (more than EUR120m in net inflows in the period under review), and for funds which invest in bonds from emerging markets, denominated in strong currencies and in local currencies (more than EUR50m), via the funds ING (L) Renta Fund Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency and ING (L) Renta Fund Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency & Local Bonds, the asset management firm says in a statement. The rest of the inflows registered were largely for the money market sub-fund ING (L) LIQUID EURO, and the equities product ING (L) Invest Global Opportunities.

Net profits from asset management activities at JP Morgan Chase in first quarter totalled USD392m, USD168m or 75% higher than in first quarter of last year. This result is still below profits in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management totalled USD1.2trn as of the end of the quarter, a 9% increase from the end of 2009. This increase is due to positive market effects, while net inflows to equities and bonds were largely offset by outflows from short-term products.

For the AGM of Partners Group to be held on 6 May 2010, the fourth point on the agenda authorizes the board of directors to proceed with a public share buyback program, which will aim to buy back up to 10% of the floated capital or voting rights in the company over a period of three years. The equities will then be cancelled. The volume of repurchases will be determined on the one hand by available liquidity, and on the other by the board of directors’ estimation of market conditions. The ensuing reduction in capital will be subject to approval by vote at subsequent general shareholders’ meetings. Partners Group is also proposing to pay out a dividend for 2009, on 14 May, of CHF4.50 per share, up from CHF4.25 in 2008.

On Thursday, the Chinese National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) announced the names of foreign management firms selected in 2009 to manage an offshore portfolio of more than USD5bn. The NCSSF announced 13 active equities mandates, and the names of the 12 winning managers, all of whom are multi-asset class management firms, but only two of which (Martin Currie and Bosera) were previously known to have ties to the NCSSF, which as of the end of 2009 managed about CNY776.9bn, or USD113.7bn, in assets. For Chinese equities traded abroad, the winning bidders were Schroders, Bosera and Barings. For Asia-Pacific ex Japan equities, the NCSSF retained Martin Currie, JF and principal, while for emerging markets equities, the winners were Batterymarch, Morgan Stanley and Schroders. For European equities, the management firms selected were Fidelity and Newton, while for global equities, the two management firms selected were Prudential and Wellington.

The Swiss firm SAM Sustainable Asset Management, an affiliate of Robeco, announced on Wednesday that it is launching its twelfth annual operation to evaluate the world’s major corporations in terms of economic, ecological, and social criteria. The questionnaire, which covers 100 topics, will be sent out to the 2,500 largest companies in the world on the basis of the volume of publicly traded capital. The analysis of the firms from a sustainable development standpoint will allow the firms which receive the highest scores to be included in the sectoral Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI). SAM states that, in the period from 2001 to 2008, the “sustainability leaders” in its rankings earned performance on average 148 basis points p.a. higher than those of the “sustainability laggards.”

After a three-year campaign in Spain (since September 2007), the private bank Sarasin is packing its bags, on the back of losses of EUR1.6m in 2009, Expansión reports. The firm had teamed up with Alén Gestión Patrimonial, and was known in Spain as sarasin Alén. The firm, which had offices in Madrid and La Coruna, managed as much as EUR200m, and had 14 professionals on it staff at the end of 2009.

Denis Clough, a former star manager from Schroder Tokyo, who left the management firm in 2004, has joined the management team at Morant Wright specialised in Japanese equities, which is composed of six people. Morant Wright manages GBP1.86bn in assets.

CDC Infrastructures, an affiliate of the Caisse des Dépôts dedicated to investment in infrastructure, and its UBS International Infrastructure Fund announced on Wednesday, 14 April that they have signed a purchase agreement via their affiliate Njord Gas Infrastructure AS, to acquire a 9.4% stake in the capital of Gassled, which was previously owned by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway. The agreement is pending permission from the Norwegian authorities and the financial conclusion of the operation, which would allow CDC Infrastructure and UBS International Infrastructure Fund to be partners in the firm, with 18% and 22% stakes, respectively. In practice, the company and its staff will be based in Stavanger, Norway. Gassled is a joint venture providing a gas transport and export network for the Norwegian continental shelf. About 16% of European demand (93 billion cubic metres of gas per year) are transported by the company; it delivers about one third of the gas consumed in France.

Thee South African company Mirae Asset Securities has launched the first CTA fund to be made available to qualified Korean investors, Asian Investor reports. The strategy is managed by Transtrend, a firm which is 100% controlled by Robeco Asset Management. Transtrend manages about USD8bn in assets. “One of the advantages of this CTA fund is its low correlation with other traditional asset classes, which provides a further improvement to an investor’s return/risk profile,” says Won Hwoi-ku, head of strategy and planning at Mirae Asset Securities, who would like to develop activities serving hedge funds.

The Pimco Total Return Fund, a bond product with about USD220bn in assets, has reduced its exposure to US debt to 33% as of the end of March, compared with 35% one month earlier, according to figures from the firm. The total Return Fund has also increased its exposure to emerging markets from 5% to 6%, while it has maintained its exposure to corporate bonds at 16%, and high yield at 3%. The cash allocation has been raised to 5% from 2% at the end of February.

Prosecutors are examining whether a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director, Rajat Gupta, gave inside information about the bank to Galleon hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam during the height of the financial crisis, people close to the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

Citigroup vient d’annoncer la vente de son activité de hedge funds à la société américaine d’investissements alternatifs SkyBridge Capital, se délestant ainsi d’un actif non stratégique. Concrètement, la transaction, dont le montant n’a pas été dévoilé, porte sur Citi Alternative Investments (CAI), qui représente un encours géré et conseillé de 4,2 milliards de dollars. Cela porte les encours de SkyBridge à 5,6 milliards de dollars, le plaçant parmi les «principales sociétés de gestion alternative dans le monde», indique un communiqué. Raymond Nolte, qui dirige les activités de CAI depuis 2005, va devenir directeur des investissements (CIO) et managing partner de SkyBridge. Son équipe se compose de 20 personnes.

A fin mars, les actifs sous gestion de legg Mason ressortaient à 684,5 milliards de dollars contre 681,6 milliards fin décembre et 632,3 milliards douze mois plus tôt. A fin septembre 2009, l’encours total ressortait à 702,7 milliards de dollars, toutefois.La plus forte hausse a été enregistrée par l’encours des fonds d’actions, qui ont porté sur 173,8 milliards de dollars fin mars contre 168,7 milliards au 31 décembre et 126,9 milliards fin mars 2009.

Le résultat net des activités de gestion d’actifs de JP Morgan Chase s’est élevé au premier trimestre à 392 millions de dollars, en hausse de 168 millions ou 75% par rapport au premier trimestre de l’année précédente. Ce résultat s’inscrit toutefois en retrait par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2009.Les actifs sous gestion totalisaient 1.200 milliards de dollars à la fin du trimestre, en hausse de 9% par rapport à la fin 2009. Une progression due à l’effet marché alors que la collecte nette en actions et obligations a été largement effacée par la décollecte sur les produits courts.

Le fonds obligataire de Pimco, le Total Return fund, qui pèse quelque 220 milliards de dollars, a réduit son exposition à la dette américaine à 33% à fin mars contre 35% un mois plus tôt, selon les données de la société.Le Total Retrun Fund a par ailleurs porté à 6% contre 5% précédemment son exposition aux marchés émergents, tout en maintenant les obligations corporate à 16% et le high yield à 3%. La poche de cash a été relevée à 5% contre 2% fin février.

Denis Clough, ancien gérant star de Schroder Tokyo, qui avait quitté la société de gestion en 2004, rejoint l'équipe de Morant Wright spécialisée dans les actions japonaises, composée de six personnes. Morant Wright gère 1,86 milliard de livres.

ICBC Credit Suisse sera le 15 avril le premier gestionnaire de fonds en Chine à lancer un second fonds QDII, le Global Enhanced Equity Fund, assorti d’une commission de gestion de 1,80 %. Ce fonds sera investi en actions dans une proportion de 60 à 95 %. Il aura le même gérant de portefeuille que le premier fonds QDII de ICBC Credit Suisse, qui est centré sur l’Asie et qui se traite actuellement sous sa valeur liquidative initiale de 100 yuans.Selon l’agence Z-Ben Advisors, il s’agit d’un projet ambitieux alors que E-Fund et China Merchants n’ont réussi à drainer que respectivement 592 millions et 553 millions de yuans pour leurs derniers fonds. Cependant, ICBC Credit Suisse possède un atout de taille, la force de placement de sa maison-mère ICBC, ce qui, selon Z-Ben Advisors, devrait lui permettre de lever entre 800 millions et 1 milliard de yuans durant la période d’offre initiale.

La convocation à l’assemblée générale du 6 mai 2010 de Partners Group prévoit au point 4 de l’ordre du jour que le conseil d’administration sera autorisé dans le cadre d’un programme public de rachat d’actions valable trois ans de racheter jusqu'à 10 % du capital social et des droits de vote qui seront destinés à être annulés.Le volume des rachats sera déterminé d’un côté par celui des liquidités disponibles et de l’autre de l’appréciation des conditions de marché par le conseil d’administration. La réduction du capital qui en découlera sera soumise au vote de futures assemblées générales.Par ailleurs, Partners Group propose de servir au titre de 2009, le 14 mai, un dividende de 4,50 francs suisses par action contre 4,25 francs au titre de 2008.

A l’occasion de l’assemblée générale d’UBS, son directeur général, Oswald Grübel, a souligné qu’il fallait s’attendre, malgré la remise en ordre de marche de la banque, à ce qu’elle subisse «encore des sorties de fonds». De 226 milliards de francs l’année précédente, les sorties de fonds ne se montaient plus qu’à 147 milliards de francs l’an dernier, «mais ce résultat ne nous satisfait pas encore et une de nos priorités absolues est de stopper les sorties de fonds », a insisté Oswald Grübel.

L’assemblée générale d’UBS a refusé avec une majorité de 53 % d’accorder le quitus aux dirigeants de la banque de leur gestion pour l’exercice 2007. Cette première dans l’histoire boursière concerne l'état major qui entourait Marcel Ospel, président du conseil d’administration, et Peter Wüffli, président du directoire, précise la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. En revanche, le quitus a été voté pour les exercices 2008 et 2009. En février et mars 2009, la présidence du directoire et celle du conseil d’administration ont été assumées par Oswald Grübel et Kaspar Villiger.Inspirés par la fondation Ethos, les actionnaires ont par ailleurs été 40 % à voter contre le rapport sur les rémunérations

Jeudi, le Conseil national chinois de la Sécurité sociale (National Council for Social Security Fund ou NCSSF) a dévoilé le nom des gestionnaires étrangers d’actifs qu’il a désignés en 2009 pour gérer un portefeuille offshore de plus de 5 milliards de dollars. Le NCSSF a annoncé 13 mandats actions actifs et le nom des 12 gestionnaires gagnants qui sont tous des gestionnaires multi-classes d’actifs, mais dont deux seulement (Martin Currie et Bosera) étaient connus jusqu'à présent pour avoir des liens avec le NCSSF qui gérait fin 2009 environ 776,9 milliards de yuans ou 113,7 milliards de dollars.Pour les actions chinoises cotées à l'étranger, les gagnants sont Schroders, Bosera et Barings. Dans les actions Asie-Pacifique hors Japon, le NCSSF a retenu Martin Currie, JF et Principal tandis que pour les actions marchés émergents les vainqueurs ont été Batterymarch, Morgan Stanley et Schroders. Pour les actions européennes , les sélectionnés ont été Fidelity et Newton tandis que pour les actions monde, les deux gestionnaires retenus sont Prudential et Wellington.Z-Ben Advisors souligne que le NCSSF n’a communiqué ni la taille des mandats ni les objectifs de performance. Il est raisonnable de penser que les mandats portent sur 100-200 millions d’euros, que Pékin veut un rendement de 300 points de base supérieur aux indices et qu’il a imposé des commissions très faibles.

La société sud-coréenne Mirae Asset Securities vient de lancer le premier fonds CTA distribué auprès des investisseurs coréens qualifiés, rapporte Asian Investor. La stratégie est gérée par Transtrend, une société contrôlée à 100% par Robeco Asset Management. Transtrend gère quelque 8 milliards de dollars d’actifs."L’un des avantages de ce fonds CTA est sa faible corrélation aux autres classes d’actifs traditionnelles, ce qui améliore encore le profil rendement/risque d’un investisseur», relève Won Hwoi-ku, responsable de la stratégie et de la planification chez Mirae Asset Securities, qui souhaite développer ses activités auprès des hedge funds.

More than one year after the acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Commerzbank, the transaction has now been completed in Luxembourg also, where Dresdner Bank Luxembourg has merged with Commerzbank International SA Luxembourg (Cisal), the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The transaction means that Commerzbank makes the Grand Duchy a key axis and centre of expertise for international wealth management.

In the month of February, hedge funds attracted an estimated USD16.6bn in inflows, according to Hedge Week, citing data from Trim Tabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge. Assets in hedge funds totalled USD1.5trn as of the end of February.

Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been named as managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, says the Financial Times. He replaces his brother, Sheikh Ahmed, who died when his glider crashed. Sheikh Hamid holds several government positions.

According to reports in the Immobilien Zeitung, relayed by Handelsblatt, iii Investments, an affiliate of HypoVereinsbank (HVB), is planning to merge its two open-ended real estate funds. The Euro Immo-Profil fund will be absorbed by the Inter Immo-Profil. The products represent a total of EUR420m in assets, making the new structure the smallest open-ended real estate fund in Germany.

Financial difficulties at the real estate fund MSREF VI International from Morgan Stanley, which faces a risk of losing USD5.4bn from a portfolio of USD8.8bn, will oblige the manager to sell the Sony Center in Berlin, a complex which is reported to have been acquired for EUR600m from Sony. The real estate management firm Corpus Sireo has acquired a 10% stake, which it intends to keep, Die Welt reports. The buyer is the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS, USD201bn in assets), which is reportedly prepared to spend EUR500m for the 132,500 square-metre property, according to a London broker. The MSREF VI fund also owns the new headquarters of the ECB in Germany.

In Germany and Austria, Schroders is launching a “Euro hedged” share class with a fixed dividend of 7% per year of the Schroder ISF Emerging Markets Debt Absolute Return fund, an absolute return product with assets as of the end of February of about USD6.55bn. The Luxembourg-registered fund (LU01777222394) invests primarily in bonds from emerging markets denominated in local currencies. Achim Küssner, head at Schroder Investment Management for Germany, Austria, Benelux and central and eastern Europe, has announced that other funds with fixed returns will be launched. With that said, it appears that sales of such products are not planned in France.