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04/02/2010

Neuberger Berman builds presence in Asia

The management firm Neuberger Berman announced on 2 February that it has appointed Jason Henchman as chief operating officer, and Chris Gunns as head of consultant relations for the Asian region. Both will be based in Hong Kong in their new positions. Henchman was previously head of legal affairs and compliance at Legg Mason. Gunns was regional manager for institutional distribution and development of activities at ING Investment Management Asia Pacific. As of 31 December 2009, assets under management at Neuberger Berman totalled over USD173bn.
04/02/2010

State Street sued by a pension fund

The US asset management company State Street is being sued by Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds Medewerkers Apotheken (PMA) after a strategy allegedly cost the fund a reported USD76m, says Citywire. The figure had been invested through the firm’s Europe Edge Fund, a 120/20 European equities fund that sought to outperform the MSCI Europe Index. The Dutch pension fund accuses State Street of mismanagement and deceit, claiming the asset manager transferred ownership of all the fund’s securities to Lehman Brothers without their knowledge.
04/02/2010

Spain wants stricter rules for foreign hedge funds

Spain, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wants foreign hedge funds and private-equity funds that market their services in the European Union to make their annual report available to investors and regulators as well as be subject to close scrutiny by a regulator that shares information with EU authorities, says the Wall Street Journal, citing a legislation drafted by the Spanish government. The foreign-funds clause has been one of the more contentious aspects of the EU’s controversial Alternative Investment Fund Managers legistlation, adds the newspaper.
04/02/2010

Andrew Balls to manage five more funds at Pimco

The Pimco manager Andrew Balls will be put in charge of the management of five more European bond funds, Fondsprofessionell reports. The funds are the following: Allianz Pimco Euro Rentenfonds, Allianz Pimco Europazins, Allianz Pimco Europa Renten T, Adirenta, and Adiropa. Total assets in these funds add up to EUR1.5bn.
04/02/2010

La FSA pénalise un gérant de BlueBay

Mercredi, la Financial Services Authority (FSA) a annoncé avoir retiré son agrément à Simon Treacher, un gérant de fonds senior au sein de l'équipe marchés émergents du gestionnaire alternatif BlueBay Asset Management. L’intéressé -au nom prédestiné- a falsifié des données émanant de courtiers entre août et octobre 2008, provoquant un sinistre pour les investisseurs de l’ordre de 650.000 dollars. Cette somme a été entièrement remboursée aux souscripteurs par Blue Bay.En plus de son interdiction professionnelle, Simon Treacher, qui a entre-temps été licencié par BlueBay, a été condamné à 140.000 livres d’amende. Il a bénéficié d’un abattement de 30 % sur le mondant la pénalité pour avoir accepté une transaction au stade initial de la procédure.
04/02/2010

Managers underestimate the impact of proposed AIFM directive

According to a survey by BDO of British managers, the planned AIFM directive does not appear to be a central concern of actors in the hedge fund industry. When asked to identify major risks in 2010, only 3% of managers mentioned the directive now being debated by the European parliament. In the opinion of managers, the foremost risk in 2010 is a potential lack of investors, mentioned by 42% of respondents, while market volatility takes second place. Another major risk, mentioned by 10% of respondents, is the danger of a talent drain in the industry.
04/02/2010

ETFX volumes top USD350m

ETF Securities has announced that its platform dedicated to equities ETFs, ETF Exchange (ETFX), on 20 January passed USD350m in trading volume. ETFX was launched last year (see Newsmanagers of 7 April 2009).
04/02/2010

Kiener scandal: Barclays and HSBC face legal action

Klaus Nieding, a lawyer at the Protect Invest Alliance, has told Handelsblatt that he is preparing lawsuits against Barclays and HSBC on behalf of investors who have lost as much as EUR30m due to the fraud perpetrated by Helmut Kiener, the German “mini-Madoff.” Kiener has been in custody since late October. Kiener’s hedge funds K1 Invest and K1 Global attracted more than EUR500m in investments, and the Wurzburg prosecutor’s office accuses Kiener of defrauding Barclays and BNP Paribas of EUR280m. Barclays issued a certificate based on the performance of the K1 Global Fund, while HSBC Geneva was the commissioner for one of Kiener’s companies.
04/02/2010

Feri: Union Investment was the best management firm in 2009

The quarterly rankings by Feri EuroRating Services released on 31 December 2009 give top honours to Union Investment as the best management firm in the period, though it finished in fourth place in the rankings released at the end of 2008: the proportion of funds rated A and B at Union (German co-operative banks) was 62% (50 out of 80), compared with about 48% twelve months earlier. The improvement was largely in bond management, where 64% of funds were well-rated, compared with 31%. Feri EuroRating Services states that Threadneedle is in second placve, with 52%, followed by State Street (48%). Deka Investment (German savings banks), with 45/103 and 43%, and BlackRock, in fifth place with 49%, also managed to make the top 10 for last year. Fidelity takes fourth place, with 46.5%. Among the “small” management firms (between 8 and 24 funds rated), Vitruvius remains the number one, with 88.9% of its funds well-rated, followed by StarCapital, with 87.5%, and Baring AM, with 71.4%.
04/02/2010

ING products urgently need a fresh start

ING Investment Management manages EUR414bn, of which EUR137bn are in Europe, and EUR1bn in Germany, Handelsblatt reports. Since mid-2009, the manager has reprofiled itself as an independent boutique, similar to BNY Mellon Asset Management, and according to the firm’s head of European strategy, Jan Straatment, performance is beginning to improve. But according to rankings by Feri EuroRatings, ING IM is far down in the rankings of major fund managers. Only two of the 36 funds ING offers in Germany have a higher-than-average rating, the worst result for any manager in its class.
04/02/2010

Senior manager leaves Man Investments

After spending 16 months at Man Investments, Philippe Gougenheim is leaving the firm, where he held the position of senior portfolio manager. He contributed to the idea of the AHL + Gold product, which was launched at the beginning of February. His replacement has not been named.
04/02/2010

SAM head resigns

Sander van Eijkern is stepping down as member of the management board of Robeco as of February 1st, 2010 as a consequence of a difference of opinion with respect to the future strategy of Robeco, says a press release. The responsibilities of Van Eijkern as a member of the management board of Robeco will be taken over by its other five members. Van Eijkern will remain a member of the supervisory board of Robeco’s subsidiary Transtrend.At the same time Sander van Eijkern will step down as CEO of SAM. Stephanie Feigt and Michael Baldinger, currently CIO and head global clients & marketing at SAM respectively, will jointly pick up the responsibility of CEO of SAM during the process of appointing a successor. Leni Boeren will become responsible for SAM on the management board of Robeco.
04/02/2010

Top French banks in commodities push

French banks are seeking to develop their activities in markets dedicated to commodities, La Tribune observes, adding that these markets represent a global total of about USD15bn, much of it from businesses seeking to protect themselves against fluctuations in the price of oil, gold, and other commodities. The three largest French banks are aiming to eventually earn up to one third of their revenues from institutional investors and fund managers, while currently, 75% is earned from businesses at Société Générale, and 90% at BNP Paribas, the newspaper states. To accompany this development, French banks will hire traders in 2010, many of them in the United States and Asia. Some firms will recruit a few talented managers, while the more ambitious will hire dozens.
04/02/2010

TIAA-CREF plans move to India

Abby Cohen, spokesperson for TIAA-CREF, has confirmed that the pension fund is planning to move some of its back-office processes to India. The move will affect fewer than 100 jobs in the United States, Mutual Fund Wire reports. An outsourcing contract has been signed with Tata Consultancy.
04/02/2010

Skandia to gradually shut down its private banking network

“For strategic reasons,” Skandia (Old Mutual group) will gradually reduce the number of independent financial advisors it employs in Spain, which the market is interpreting as a sign that the business will be making an orderly exit from its private banking activities, despite the denials of José Ramón Morso, head of Skandia for Europe, Expansión reports. Skandia employs between 20 and 30 advisors. Skandia Global Funds and Skandia Seguros de Vida will not be affected by the group’s withdrawal from wealth management.
04/02/2010

Managers reduce cash allocation

According to the most recent edition of the Fund Barometer by Lipper, the major Spanish asset management firms reduced their allocation to the risk-free asset, cash, to an average of 18.92% of their portfolios in January, compared with 20.19% in December, Cinco Días reports. This is the lowest level since June 2008, three months before the Lehman bankruptcy. Professionals increased their exposure to equities (to 41.6% from 41.1%), and to bonds (to 36.39%, up from 35.6%). 92.3% of managers surveyed say that their management firm will launch new products in the next six months, while 71.4% estimate that most new funds launched this year will be guaranteed funds.
04/02/2010

New appointment at GLG Partners

GLG Partners, the asset manager, has announced the appointment of Raffaele Costa as the co-head of marketing. He will work alongside Emmanuel Roman, the firm’s co-CEO, to develop and execute GLG’s global product and distribution strategy.
04/02/2010

Net inflows down at RLAM

Royal London Asset Management has seen a 20% fall in net subscriptions, to GBP589m in the 12 months up to 31 December last year, Investment Week reports.
04/02/2010

Management reshuffle at Alcentra

Paul Hatfield, currently CIO and head of US operations of Alcentra, is to become global CIO, based in London. Hatfield joined Alcentra in 2003 as a portfolio manager for Alcentra’s European CLOfunds. He will start this new role in April 2010. Julian Colville (head of business development) and Ron Grobeck (senior US portfolio manager) have been appointed co-heads of the US business. In Europe, Simon Perry is promoted to head of business development EMEA ex-Japan. Alcentra’s asset management and investment activities are focused on the sub-investment grade debt markets, with offices in London and New York. The group has 52 professionals and almost USD18 billion assets under management globally across 43 investment funds.
04/02/2010

Barclays failed to inform clients of change in risk category for funds

Barclays has admitted that it did not inform clients when it increased the risk category of some funds, Money Marketing reports. In mid-2007, the bank introduced a new system to evaluate clients’ risk appetite, and reevaluated all products which it distributed according to the new system.
04/02/2010

AMP and AXA leave the way open for competing bid from National Australia Bank

La Tribune reports, on the basis of information form sources close to the matter cited by Reuters, that the Australian wealth management firm AMP will not seek to extend its exclusive agreement with Axa as part of a joint offer to acquire the Australian affiliate of the French firm, Axa Asia Pacific, for USD11.4bn. The move will allow the National Australia Bank to renew its USD11.8bn bid for the business, the newspaper notes.
04/02/2010

Neuberger Berman se renforce en Asie

La société de gestion Neuberger Berman a annoncé le 2 février la nomination de Jason Henchman au poste de chief operating officer et Chris Gunns au poste de responsable des relations avec les consultants pour la région. Tous deux seront basés à Hong Kong pour mettre en œuvre ces nouvelles fonctions.Jason Henchman était précédemment responsable des affaires juridiques et de la compliance chez Legg Mason. De son côté, Chris Gunns était regional manager pour la distribution institutionnelle et le développement des activités chez ING Investment Management Asia Pacific.Au 31 décembre 2009, l’encours des actifs sous gestion de Neuberger Berman s'élevait à quelque 173 milliards de dollars.
04/02/2010
Fonds

Les fonds fermés perdent du terrain

Selon la fédération VGF des fonds fermés, les souscriptions nettes de 2009 ont chuté de 37 % à 5,23 milliards d’euros, ce qui constitue le second recul consécutif alors qu’en 2007 le secteur avait encore drainé plus de 11 milliards d’euros, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung. Au total, les 122 promoteurs de fonds fermés ont investi l’an dernier 9,46 milliards d’euros, contre 15,4 milliards en 2008. Le portefeuille total à fin décembre représentait 163,6 milliards d’euros.En matière de collecte, toutes les catégories ont accusé des baisses à deux chiffres en pourcentage, sauf les fonds immobiliers allemands, les fonds d’infrastructures et les fonds énergie, ces derniers attirant même 556,5 millions d’euros, soit 151,9 % de plus qu’en 2008.
Fonds
04/02/2010

Les produits d'ING ont un urgent besoin de nouveau départ

ING Investment Management gère 414 milliards d’euros, dont 137 milliards en Europe et 1 milliard en Allemagne, indique le Handelsblatt. Depuis la mi-2009, le gestionnaire s’est réorganisé en boutiques autonomes, un peu comme BNY Mellon Asset Management et, d’après le patron de la stratégie Europe, Jan Straatman, la performance commence à s’améliorer.Mais d’après le classement de Feri EuroRating, ING IM est tout en queue du classement des grands gestionnaires de fonds. Seulement deux des 36 fonds ING commercialisés en Allemagne obtiennent une note supérieure à la moyenne, ce qui est le plus mauvais résultat par rapport à tous les grands concurrents.
04/02/2010
Fonds

Deka lance un fonds obligataire marchés émergents

Le gestionnaire des caisses d'épargne allemandes, DekaBank, a annoncé le lancement d’un nouveau fonds à échéance - le 23 décembre 2014 - de droit allemand sur les obligations de 30 Etats et sociétés de pays émergents, le Deka-RentSpezial EM 12/2014 qui est géré par Oliver Kastner. Les investissements en devises sont couverts du risque de change.Caractéristiques : Dénomination : Deka-RentSpezial EM 12/2014ISIN : DE000DK1CMK0Droit d’entrée : 1,75 %Commission de gestion : 0,5 %Autres frais forfaitaires : 0,2 %
Fonds
04/02/2010

Feri : Union Investment a été la meilleure société de gestion

Le classement trimestriel de Feri EuroRating Services au 31 décembre 2009 a couronné Union Investment comme la meilleure société de gestion alors qu’elle était encore quatrième au classement de fin 2008 : la proportion de fonds notés A et B chez Union (banques populaires allemandes) a été de 62 % (50 sur 80) contre 48 % environ douze mois auparavant. L’amélioration provient surtout de la gestion obligataire, avec 64 % de fonds biens notés contre 31 %.Feri EuroRating Services précise que Threadneedle arrive deuxième avec 52 %, suivi de State Street (48 %). Deka Investment (caisses d'épargnes, 45/103 ou 43 %) et BlackRock (5ème avec 49 %) ont également réussi l’an dernier à faire leur entrée dans le «top 10". Fidelity se classe quatrième avec 46,5 %.Parmi les «petites» sociétés de gestion (entre 8 et 24 fonds notés), Vitruvius est demeuré le numéro un avec un taux de 88,9 % de fonds biens notés, suivi de StarCapital, avec 87,5 % et de Baring AM, avec 71,4 %.
04/02/2010

Le trésorier de Deka rejoint Prime Capital

DekaBank a refusé mercredi de commenter l’information interne selon laquelle son trésorier, Thomas Keller, part rejoindre Prime Capital, une société de conseil en gestion du risque et de constitution de portefeuilles créée en 2006 par Wolfgang Stolz, ancien membre du directoire de la banque d’investissement d’UBS, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Thomas Keller serait chargé chez Prime Capital du développement de la branche restructuration des bilans et gestion du risque.
04/02/2010
Fonds

DJE Investment reprend la gestion de son fonds en interne

La société de gestion DJE Investment a décidé de gérer son fonds or Gold Port Stabilitätsfonds P en interne, rapporte Fondsprofessionnel. Le conseiller en investissement Wilhelm Peinemann demeure consultant en investissement sur le fonds, qui garde la même stratégie qu’auparavant. La taille du fonds demande davantage de capacités de recherche et d’analyse, explique DJE Investment.
Fonds
04/02/2010

Lampe renoue avec les bénéfices

Dans un entretien avec la Börsen-Zeitung, Stephan Schüller, associé-gérant, indique que le bénéfice de 2009 de Bankhaus Lampe sera publié début avril et devrait être supérieur à celui de 2007 (24 millions d’euros). Pour 2008, du fait de la chute de plus de 80 % du cours d’Aareal Bank (dont Lampe détient 6 %), le résultat avait été négatif de 12 millions d’euros.Stephan Schüller indique qu’il compte renforcer la desserte des institutionnels et freiner l’expansion de la gestion d’actifs.
04/02/2010
Fonds

Franklin Templeton élargit sa gamme obligataire

Les autorités allemandes et autrichiennes ont octroyé leur agrément de commercialisation au compartiment Templeton Euro Money Market Fund de sa sicav luxembourgeoise FTIF lancé le 23 octobre et dont l’encours fin décembre se montait à 23,4 millions d’euros. Ce fonds géré par John Beck est celui qui présente le moins de risque de toute la gamme obligataire de Franklin Templeton.D’autre part, le gestionnaire annonce que la stratégie du compartiment Templeton Euroland Bond Fund a été modifiée et que le nouveau nom de ce fonds est Templeton Euro Government Bond : désormais l’essentiel du portefeuille sera investi en obligations d’Etats de la zone euro. Cette réorientation est allée de pair avec l’abaissement de 0,15 point de la commission de gestion, à 0,50 %, avec effet au 30 novembre.
Fonds

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