Crédit Agricole and Santander have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to combining their custody and asset servicing operations. The new entity would combine CACEIS, the custody and asset servicing business of Crédit Agricole SA, and the Spanish, Brazilian, Mexican and Colombian activities of S3, Santander’s custody and asset servicing business. »

Macquarie Investment Management is to purchase the assets related to the mutual fund management business of Foresters Investment Management Company, an investment adviser of the First Investors funds, with approximately USD12.3 billion in assets under management. »

European institutions increased their allocations to ETFs by 50 per cent in 2018, according to the latest Greenwich Associates European ETF Study. »

Taking a high level view of Brexit, Bill Prew, CEO and founder of INDOS Financial believes that it’s not going to impact his depositary business unduly. »

Rowan Chaplin, a portfolio manager for the Japan Synthetic Warrant Fund from Dejima Asset Management describes the past 30 years of the Japanese market as a “litany of disasters for many fund managers”. »

By Roger Woolman, Business Development Director, Asset Management & Alternatives, SS&C Advent – Dual-authorised “Super ManCos" are an ever growing force in the EU investment management industry. Intense competition between asset managers, compressed margins, and the search for investors and investment returns are one factor, as they continue to reduce the barriers between the traditional and alternative investment worlds. Then there is the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and investment firms’ scramble to retain access to the European Single Market.  »

Last October saw BNP Paribas Capital Partners launch its European Special Opportunities fund. Gilles Guerin, CEO, explains that Capital Partners is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Asset Management, focusing on helping investors make allocations to alternative managers. »