Since the end of 2006, assets in investment funds on sale in Spain have contracted by 36%. As of the end of May, the number of subscribers had fallen by nearly 3 million since the end of 2006, a decline of 33%, Cinco Días reports. Currently, there are 5.8 million investors in these funds, of whom 42% are invested in products with no or very low risk (money markets, short-term bonds, guaranteed bond funds), the highest number since 1997. In terms of assets, as of the end of May, 59% of total assets were in portfolios with no risk, the highest level since December 1997.Investors in equities funds or diversified funds predominantly invested in equities currently represent 5.2% of subscribers overall, the lowest level since December 1996. In terms of assets, Spanish equities funds and diversified funds invested predominantly in equities represent only 2.92% of total assets, the lowest level since 1993.

Nicola Horlick’s bid to acquire Bramdean Alternatives, via her firm Petersfield Asset Management, was rejected on Monday by the board of directors, the Financial Times reports. Petersfield nonetheless leaves its offer open.

Frank Hirschi, manager of the Lombard Odier Macquarie Infrastructure fund from Lombard Odier, says that the first companies to benefit from major investment in infrastructure are companies active in building and public works, such as Vinci and Bouygues in France, or Hochtief in Germany. “Infrastructure operators, such as Abertis or Eiffage, and private and institutional investors in infrastructure funds managed by specialists like Macquarie or Goldman Sachs will profit considerably from synergies and opportunities which will be created by economic stimulus packages,” the manager says in Le Temps.

Despite opportunities emerging in various places on the markets, high net worth families are remaining highly reticent to seize them. According to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Barclays covering high net worth Barclays clients, nearly 90% of respondents estimate that there are opportunities on the markets currently, but 68% of them add that the risk of further falls is too high to take on. The result is that a majority of respondents say thay will not be making any alterations to their asset allocations in the next twelve months.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) yesterday announced a public consultation running until mid-July to determine the criteria used to measure exposure to risk for UCITS funds. The CESR is planning to publish a consultation document in July which will treat risk management and measurement of risk.

Federal prosecutors in New York on Monday filed with U.S. District Judge Denny Chin statements from 113 alleged victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi fraud, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has also published the testimonials on its website.

Mid- to large sized financial services institutions are hiring again, although only at modest levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. Recruitment professionals estimate that the trend is being supported by rising financial markets and a return of investor confidence. They estimate that some companies laid off too many people at the beginning of the recession, and are now seeking to profit from a glut of talent on the job market. The most sought-after professionals are in credit, refinancing, wealth management and restructuring.

If regulations being considered by the European Union are passed, hedge funds and managers of other alternative funds sold to professional investors will need to bear a heavier burden for compliance than their counterparts in the retail fund sector. This could outweigh the benefits of such regulations, say UK and Dutch institutional investors in a letter to Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for the interior market, read by the Financial Times.

According to the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) at the European Business School of Oestrich-Winkel, there were a total of 294 sustainable development funds in the three German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as of 31 Mach 2009, with total assets of about EUR21bn.Five new funds (three equities funds and two funds of funds) with total volumes of EUR60bn were launched in first quarter. In addition, the SBI has recorded the launch of 19 other funds with about EUR865m in assets under management, which either already have sales licenses in other countries, or which have adopted sustainable development criteria. Four equities funds have been closed or merged with other funds since the beginning of the year.

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that a study by the Dow Jones Wealth Bulletin of 150 wealth management specialists, 100 high net worth clients and 65 intermediaries active in the industry finds that, although 80% of managers say their performance was good or very good during the crisis, only 30% of clients agree with this statement. 30% of clients also call their performance weak or very weak. Only one client out of four would be willing to recommend his or her manager to a friend or family member. A consequence of this difference in points of view is that more than 40% of high net worth individuals interviewed by Dow Jones say they are prepared to change managers or reexamine their relationship with their manager.

The Danish bank Saxo Bank has acquired 100% of capital in Capital Four Management Fondsmæglerselskab A/S, and a 51% stake in Global Evolution Fondsmæglerselskab A/S. The moves are a part of the firm’s commercial strategy, to develop the bank’s activities in asset management, with the goal of becoming a heavyweight actor in the Nordic asset management industry, according to a press statement. Saxo Bank also builds its expertise in corporate bonds with the acquisition of Capital Four, and in emerging markets fixed income and currencies with Global Evolution. The operation brings assets under management at Saxo Asset Management to DKK14bn.

The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute in the United Kingdom has recently asked its members for the first time if they believe in the theory of market efficiency, the Financial Times reports. The result is that two thirds of respondents no longer feel that prices integrate all the available information. More surprisingly, 77% of respondents disagree with the assertion that investors taken as a whole behave rationally.

As of 31 March, the portfolios of German open-ended real estate funds were 70.3% composed of assets located outside Germany, compared with 68.6% one year earlier, and 61.7% two years previously. Meanwhile, the proportion of German properties fell of 29.8% from 31.4% and 38.3%, according to statistics from the BVI association of asset management firms. France remains the largest country for investment by far, with 19 % of the total, compared with 19.2% one year ago.In the twelve months to the end of March, transactions involved 214 properties, compared with 511 in the corresponding period to the end of March 2008. The volume of these transactions fell from EUR22.9bn to EUR10.3bn. Purchases totalled EUR9.5bn, of which EUR7.8bn were spent on properties abroad and EUR1.7bn on properties in Germany, while sales totalled EUR0.8bn, of which half was abroad.The portfolio as of the end of March was composed 64.6% of office properties, compared with 66.3% one year previously and 68.1% at the end of March 2007, while commercial and restaurant properties represented 19.5% of the total, compared with 18.3% and 17.7%.

As of 1 August, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) will modify the way in which fees are calculated for 29 German-registered funds. The change will be applied to nearly all open-ended funds from AGI by early 2010. In particular, the management firm will introduce a flat rate, the precise percentage of which will depend on the new fee standards for various fund segments.The retail investor will thus pay an annual fee of 0.1% for a money market funds, 0.19% for a standard bond fund, and 0.3% for a standard equities fund. The highest fee (0.5%) will be for emerging markets equities funds.The management fees for some AGI equities funds will also be modified, and will be lowered by an average of 8 basis points. 12 funds will see increases to their fees, while 11 others will be lowered. Fees for the Concentra (EUR1.2bn in assets) will be lowered to 1.50% from 1.75%, while fees for the Allianz RCM Industrie will rise from 1.35% to 1.50%. No modifications are planned for the management commissions of 23 other equities products.AGI has also announced a performance commission for 19 classes of fund shares, while the performance commission currently charged on 16 other fund classes will be discontinued.No modifications are planned for funds taken over from cominvest.

Vanguard has announced plans to merge its Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (USD6.7bn) with the Vanguard Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund (USD21.8bn), whose fees are lower (0.15%, compared with 0.28%). The merger will take place in early August. The management firm has also frozen subscriptions to the Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund, which may slow the fund’s declining performance.

Fidelity Investments intends to begin charging financial advisers when the firm refers wealthy, or high net worth, clients to them, says the Wall Street Journal.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) yesterday modified its asset allocation, raising its exposure to private equity from 10% to 14% and its cash allocation from 0% to 2%. This is not a long-term strategy but the adjustment “reflects our preference for higher liquidity and moderate risk, and flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities on the markets,” CalPERS says in a statement. The equity allocation is lowered from 56% to 49%, while the bond allocation is raised from 19% to 20%, and exposure to real estate and inflation-linked assets remain at 10% and 5%, respectively.

BlackRock has announced that Henkel International has outsourced to it the management of all of its five defined-benefit pension funds, representing assets of EUR2bn. The funds are registered in the UK, Ireland, the US, Germany, and the Netherlands. BlackRock will manage the funds directly or will select third-party managers. For each fund, the mandate will be divided into a liability-driven portfolio (money markets, government bonds and swaps) and a performance portfolio (credit, equities, private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure, and commodities), Professional Pensions reports.

The French asset management firm Tobam, formerly known as Lehman Brothers Asset Management France, has hired Christophe Roehri as head of sales for France. Roehri joins from Fortis Investments France, where from 2006 onwards he was head of the retirement planning and pension segment within the institutional sales team. Before that, he spent three years at Crédit Agricole Asset Management in Paris, also in charge of institutional investors. “This is a newly-created position,” says Yves Choueifaty, chairman of Tobam. Funds from his firm were previously distributed by Lehman Brothers, he says. The new arrival is also a sign of a desire on the part of Tobam to “get closer to French institutionals.” The firm’s client base is currently largely made up of European pension funds, particularly in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. As of the end of May, Tobam managed EUR700m in its “anti-benchmark” product range, based on a quantitative management style designed to maximise the efficiency of an equities portfolio, to use the advantages of diversification. It aims to offer investors access to a more diversified exposure than market indexes weighted solely on the basis of capitalisation, and to improve the risk/return ratio. Choueifaty hopes to be able to double the assets under management by the end of the year or early next year, particularly after the release of a forthcoming new fund.

On 1 July, part of the traditional asset management activities of Credit Suisse will be sold to Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM). In France, Credit Suisse will sell the asset management firms Credit Suisse Asset Management (France) S.A. and its affiliate Credit Suisse Asset Management Gestion to Aberdeen Asset Management, pending the approval of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). Credit Suisse Asset Management (France) S.A. will be renamed as Aberdeen Asset Management France S.A. At that time, all French-registered Credit Suisse funds will be transferred to AAM. Some of the asset management firm’s Luxembourg-registered funds will move to AAM, while others will remain at Credit Suisse. Those which are to change management firms will adopt the Aberdeen brand name instead of their current denomination.

As previously reported by Newsmanagers, Eric Bourguignon has left the CCR group, where he served in a variety of positions from 1996 to 2009. He was CIO in 1996, and became deputy CEO of the firm in 2001. Bourguignon joins Swiss Life Asset Management, where he has been appointed head of fixed income and credit, in charge of the French and Swiss markets, with effect from 2 June.

Olivier Ménard, a former wealth management advisor, and Chantal Lienard, a portfolio manager at the Banque Leonardo, have joined forces to found the asset management firm Sunny Asset Management, L’Agefi Actifs reports on 12 June 2009. The creation of the new firm is undertaken with the partnership of OTC AM, an asset manager specialised in private equity. “The director of development at Sunny AM is none other than Christophe Tapia, who was director of development at Tocqueville Finance until recently,” L’Agefi Actifs reports.

Two years nearly to the day after he joined Fortress Investment Group as managing director and deep value portfolio manager, Henry McVey is returning to Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), Hedge Week reports. He will be responsible for portfolio management and will be director of the macroeconomic analysis team and asset allocation. From 2004 to 2007 he was chief US investment strategist at Morgan Stanley.

Citywire reveals that Credit Suisse Asset Management’s (CSAM) star emerging market debt manager Raphael Kassin has left the firm he joined in 2007. The reasons for Kassin’s departure and the identity of his replacement remain as yet unknown.

ETF Securities on Monday announced the appointment of Mark Weeks as CEO of its new ETF Exchange platform. Weeks was previously head of securities lending activities at UBS in Zurich.Assets at ETF Securities have recently topped USD12bn, for 140 exchange traded products (ETPs). These assets have more than doubled since November 2008.

According to a source close to the firm, cited by the Independent, Andy Brough, the manager of the Schroder UK Mid 250 and Smaller Companies retail funds from Schroders, is said to have doubled his stake in Liontrust to nearly 30%, following an acquisition of a 15% stake in the management firm from Fidelity International last week.

« Depuis la fin de l’année 2008, les fonds d’obligations convertibles présentent de très belles opportunités aux investisseurs institutionnels. Malheureusement, traumatisés par la crise, ces derniers investissent peu », regrette Gilbert Généré, Directeur des Gestions Convertibles chez Ofi Asset Management. L’homme reflète l’avis de nombreux de ses confrères. Car c’est bien le paradoxe dont souffre cette classe d’actifs : Les émissions s’accélèrent - 13 depuis le début de l’année en Europe avec notamment celle de Nexans lundi 15 juin – et les taux affichés sont très rémunérateurs pour des durées de l’ordre de cinq ans. De son coté, le marché des obligations classiques commence à être engorgé et risque de décevoir certains investisseurs qui seraient contraints de vendre avant les remboursements. Résultat, les investisseurs manquent une hausse importante des convertibles. « Les entreprises qui procèdent à des augmentations de capital voient leurs cours de bourse fortement pénalisés », note également Gilbert Généré. Aussi, certaines sociétés en profitent pour émettre des obligations convertibles qui se montrent à la fois plus performantes et moins sensibles aux effets des marchés actions ». En chiffres, depuis le début de l’année, l’indice ECI-Euro d’Exane affiche une progression de 8.37 % et s’illustre par une remarquable régularité. Sur la même période, l’indice actions DJ Stoxx 50 a marqué une progression proche de 6.19 % (dividendes inclus) en ayant néanmoins affiché une perte de plus de 20 % jusqu’à mi-mars 2009. A noter que le même indice d’obligations convertibles ECI-Euro affiche depuis le 31 décembre 2007, une baisse de -14.83 % contre -38.22 % pour l’indice actions DJ Stoxx 50 dividendes réinvestis. Dans ce cadre, Ofi Convertibles Taux Euro, le fonds à vocation défensive géré par Olivier Ravey chez Ofi AM, affiche un gain de 12,88 % en 2009. Depuis le 31 décembre 2007, le fonds réalise un très bon parcours en s’affichant presque à l’équilibre (-1.86 %).

Olivier Ménard, un ancien conseiller en gestion de patrimoine, et la gérante de Banque Leonardo Chantal Lienard viennent de fonder la société de gestion Sunny Asset Management, rapporte L’Agefi Actifs du 12 juin 2009. Cette création s’est faite en partenariat avec OTC AM, un gestionnaire spécialisé dans le non-coté. «Le directeur du développement de Sunny AM n’est autre que Christophe Tapia, jusqu’à il y a peu directeur du développement de Tocqueville Finance», précise L’Agefi Actifs.

Selon la Tribune, Delubac & Cie, présente dans la banque privée et la gestion d’actifs, va lancer une activité de banque d’affaires qui sera dirigée par Jean-Jacques Vaxelaire.

Bruno Patain, directeur de Generali Investments pour l’Espagne, a indiqué que le gestionnaire va lancer un fonds de droit luxembourgeois en joint-venture avec Valiance Capital. Le portefeuille sera investi en sociétés non cotées spécialistes des infrastructures et enregistrées dans les pays de la zone euro comme l’Espagne (qui représentera 25 % du portefeuille), l’Italie et l’Allemagne ainsi que dans les pays les plus stables d’Europe centrale, rapporte Funds People.La souscription minimale sera d’un million d’euros. Le fonds, d’une durée de 10 ans, aura une valeur liquidative mensuelle non auditée et une valeur liquidative annuelle auditée. La rémunération sera de 5 % la première année, puis de 5-7 %. Avec la cession des actifs, la rentabilité nette devrait être de 10-12 % annuels.L’encours sera plafonné à 1,5 milliard d’euros, dont 500 millions apportés par Generali.