Les responsables de la politique monétaire américaine ont commencé à débattre d'un relèvement des taux d'intérêt, montrent les «minutes»

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Malgré un reflux du taux Eonia à 0,15%, les taux «forward» sont tombés à 0,10% sur les échéances allant de juillet à novembre prochains

Le rendement des obligations polonaises à 10 ans ne se tendait hier que de 4 pb, à l'instar de celui des titres russes libellés en dollars

Bien accueilli par la Place, le nouveau service suscite quand même des interrogations et n'a pas encore été vendu

Elle vient de confirmer ses règles qui seront très contraignantes pour les établissements ayant plus de 50 milliards de dollars d'actifs aux Etats-Unis

Malgré la crise politique, le rendement des obligations polonaises à 10 ans ne se tendait hier que de 4 pb, à l’instar de celui des titres russes libellés en dollar.

La faiblesse des dernières statistiques aux Etats Unis ainsi que la modération de la reprise en Europe favorisent l’attentisme des banques centrales

Unéo a l’intention d’augmenter la poche actions qui représente aujourd’hui 16% de son portefeuille d’actifs. « Nous sommes prêts à la renforcer jusqu'à 20% et même opportunément jusqu'à 25%, déclare Pascal Pigot, directeur général adjoint d’Unéo. Notre allocation actuelle privilégie l’Europe et les midcap. C’est la normalisation et le retour à la stabilité de l’Europe périphérique plus que la théorie du rattrapage qui nous incite à ce mouvement. Les midcaps dont le courant d’affaires est majoritairement intra-européen devraient en bénéficier et le PEA PME devraient aussi attirer les flux de liquidités encore très présents. En revanche, la question reste posée pour les pays émergents dont nous observons l'évolution depuis mars 2013. Nous sommes déjà indirectement exposés à ces pays via des fonds actions d’entreprises ayant un fort courant d’affaires dans les zones émergentes, contrairement aux investissements en direct qui offrent des volumes plus limités et qui nous obligeraient à être très sélectifs. Depuis trois ans, nous sommes également investis en actions américaines et considérons que le marché offre actuellement peu d’opportunité. » Dans le même temps, le renforcement de la poche actions devrait se faire au profit de stock-pickers. « Depuis plusieurs mois, nous étudions quelques fonds comme ceux de Fidelity, DNCA ou Tocqueville », précise Pascal Pigot. En 2013, Unéo a investi dans les fonds actions de Natixis AM, d’EDRAM et de Pastel & Associés. L’augmentation de la poche actions se fera au détriment de la poche taux qui va passer de 68% à 58% du portefeuille. De son côté, la poche de diversification devrait faiblement augmentée par rapport à l’année dernière. La mutuelle « envisage de poursuivre les investissements dans des fonds multi-stratégies comme Ginger 360 ou les fonds HDF Finance désormais chez Rothschild sous de nouveaux noms », développe son directeur général adjoint.

La France et l’Allemagne se sont mises d’accord aujourd’hui sur deux points concernant la taxe sur les transactions financières: les deux pays soutiennent une assiette incluant tous les produits dérivés, et veulent un accord entre les 11 pays membres de la coopération renforcée avant les élections européennes de mai prochain. «Je regrette bien sûr que nous n’ayons pu nous mettre d’accord dès aujourd’hui sur les modalités précises mais l’accord de principe sur un champ large est fondamental», a déclaré Pascal Canfin, ministre délégué chargé du Développement.

Les mises en chantier aux Etats-Unis ont subi en janvier leur chute la plus marquée depuis près de trois ans, sans doute en partie à cause des conditions météorologiques exceptionnelles, mais un troisième mois consécutif de baisse des permis de construire suggère aussi une tendance de fond au ralentissement du marché immobilier. Les statistiques publiées mercredi par le département du Commerce montrent un recul de 16,0% des mises en chantier à 880.000 en données annualisées et corrigées des variations saisonnières (CVS).

Le fonds souverain chinois China Investment Corp. vend ses participations dans l’énergie et les matières premières, tout en cherchant à profiter de la reprise des économies américaine et européenne, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. L’an passé, le fonds de 600 milliards de dollars a cédé des actions de sociétés dans l’énergie pour plus de 1,5 milliard de dollars. De plus, il envisage de vendre des participations directes dans certains actifs comme les projets de sables bitumineux. Dans le même temps, le fonds envisage de transférer sa base nord-américaine à New York (elle est actuellement à Toronto) et d’étendre sa présence à l’Europe. Il prend aussi des positions dans des sociétés américaines et européennes.

UBS is requiring independent asset managers to provide proof of taxation for their clients residing in Austria, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, countries of Eastern Europe, and Malta, Agefi Switzerland reports. The initiative, which exceeds (or precedes) the regulatory requirements in force, may become a new standard for all Swiss financial intermediaries, and put all actors on an even footing.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is adding to its range of SPDR ETFs. The US asset management firm has launched a new short maturity bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) entitled SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year Sterling Corporate Bond Ucits ETF. The vehicle, which is available for trading on the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse, allows investors to participate in the performance of corporate bonds denominated in pounds sterling. The underling index of the ETF includes businesses which operate in the industrial, utility and financial sectors, with a maturity of up to 5 years. Only investment grade bonds are included, and the composition of the index is reviewed every month.

The Amundi group and the smart beta index provider ERI Scientific Beta on 18 February announced that they are signing a strategic partnership which will combine the expertise of ERI Scientific Beta in the development of smart beta indices and the expertise of Amundi in the replication of indices and ETF construction. The partnership will include the construction of smart beta passive investment solutions and their promotion to a wide range of institutional clients. The range has been developed on the basis of the «Smart Beta 2.0” approach, which allows for smart beta indices to be designed as risk control instruments within a multi-smart beta allocation.

The California-based asset management group Pimco (Allianz) would like to buy a portfolio of real estate loans totalling EUR4bn from the Northern Irish national asset management association, SWF Institute reports. Several institutional actors have expressed an interest in this portfolio, which has led NAMA to publish a statement indicating that investor enquiries in relation to the portfolio will be examined on a case-by-case basis. However, the Pimco initiative is not fortuitous. The asset management firm has recently added to its staff in the European bond sector, including the real estate loan sector.

The hedge fund sector index calculated by Credit Suisse is down 0.29% in January, after growth of 1.19% in December, according to estimates released on 18 February. Half of the strategies on the index finished the month of January in the red, including managed futures (-3.42%) and emerging markets (-2.27%). Convertible arbitrage shows gains of 2.09%, after 0.54% in December, while bond arbitrage is up 1%, after 0.18% in December. The underlying Multi-Strategy index has gained 0.81% in January, after performance of 1.63% in December.

ERI Scientific Beta (an emanation of the Edhic-Risk institute) on 18 February announced that it is signing a partnership with Morgan Stanley, to offer innovative Smart Beta strategies to its institutional clients. The partnership will allow Morgan Stanley to deeply analyse the performance and risks of all Scientific Beta indices, and also offers a way to develop indices using the full Scientific Beta range on the platform http://www.scientificbeta.com/. ERI Scientific beta hopes to position itself as the top provider of a smart beta platform to help investors to understand and invest in advanced smart beta equity strategies.

Growing fears of a hard landing for China’s economy have further marginalized emerging market equities. But investors have sent a clear signal that sentiment toward developed world equities remains strong, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for February. An overall total of 222 panelists with US$591 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 7 February to 13 February 2014. A growing proportion of investors – 46 percent in February – say that a China hard landing and commodity collapse represents the biggest tail risk to the global economy. That figure compares with 37 percent in January and 26 percent in December. Is there a causal link? At any rate, belief in global economic growth has moderated. A net 56 percent expects the global economy to strengthen in the coming 12 months, down 19 percentage points from a net 75 percent last month. Global equity allocations are down; a net 45 percent of asset allocators say they are overweight equities, down from a net 55 percent in January. Average cash balances have increased to their highest level since July 2012 of 4.8 percent of portfolios, up from 4.5 percent. But regional data shows that concerns are focused on Global Emerging Markets (GEM), while optimism towards Europe and the U.S. remains strong. Allocations to GEM have reached a record low with a net 29 percent of asset allocators underweight the region. At the same time, a record net 40 percent of the global investor panel says that the eurozone is the region they most would like to overweight in the coming 12 months. U.S. equities are becoming more popular – a net 11 percent of asset allocators are overweight the U.S., up from a net 5 percent a month ago. “Investors remain firmly bullish towards developed markets and Europe in particular. But we would caution that current valuations in Europe already fully price in the region’s growth outlook,” said John Bilton, European investment strategist.

Santander Private Banking has recruited four people, Bluerating reports. In Brescia, Ivan Rodari and Mauro Vai have joined the team, from Banca Aletti, while in Milan, Annamaria Zotti and Lorenzo Cappello join from Unipol Banca.

The shareholders’ meeting at which the new chairman of Assogestioni, the Italian assocation of asset management professionals, will be named, will be held on 26 March, Bluerating reports. He will succeed Domenico Siniscalco, who resigned in November. Since then, his functions have been temporarily reassigned to vice-president Giordano Lombardo, chairman of Pioneer Investment Management.

A new study of the consequences of a prohibition on commissions and kickbacks received by financial advisers who sell investment products in the major international financial markets highlights the need for greater transparency for investors. The study, “Restricting Sales Inducements: Perspectives on the Availability and Quality of Financial Advice for Individual Investors,” covers efforts by international regulators and legislators to improve the quality of financial advising for investors. It also deals with the solutions proposed or implemented by regulators to palliate the problem of abusive sales and to explore future scenarios of business models for the industry. It finds that in the opinion of 70% of those surveyed, the poorly adapted character of distributor remuneration structures biased in favour of sales volumes or specific products, represent the main case of abusive sales. The three most popular solutions to combat abusive sales which do not involve a prohibition on commissions and kickbacks are the following: 1. Introduce precise standards for the presentation of fees to investors 2. Revise commission structures to remove those which are related to volume sales (progressive commissions) 3. Set uniform commission rates (a percentage of management fees) for all products in a single category

The hedge fund industry is to reach a record USD3 trillion by 2014 year end, up from USD2.6tn as of 2013 year end, driven by significant inflows, most notably from institutional investors, predicts Deutsche Bank in its twelfth annual Alternative Investor Survey.This is based on investors’ predictions of USD171 billion net inflows, according to 400 investor entities which participated in the survey, representing over USD1.8 trillion in hedge fund assets.Commitment from institutional investors continues to strengthen - nearly half of institutional investors increased their hedge fund allocations in 2013, and 57% plan to grow their allocations in 2014. Institutional investors now account for two thirds of industry assets, compared to approximately one third pre-crisis, according to the research. Investors are happy with hedge fund performance - 80% of respondents state that hedge funds performed as expected or better in 2013, after their allocations returned a weighted average of 9.3% in 2013. 63% of respondents, and 79% of institutional investors, are targeting returns of less than 10% for their hedge fund portfolios in 2014. Equity long short and event driven are the most sought after strategies.

Cheyne Capital Management, a London-based alternative asset mangement firm with USD6.5bn in assets under management, has launched a new fund dedicated to real estate debt. The vehicle, entitled Cheyne Real Estate Credit Holdings Fund III (CRECH III), is intended to “capitalise on the ongoing dislocation on European real estate debt markets and to meet growing demand for real estate financing,” the firm says in a statement. Like the first two funds of the same nature, CRECH III will invest in European “core” real estate markets, specifically the United Kingdom and Germany, via a wide range of instruments (CMBS, senior loans, mezzanine loans, equities and special situations). The team dedicated to real estate at Cheyne Capital Management currently manages over USD2bn in public and private funds.

SPGP is stepping up the pace of its recruitments. On 18 February, the asset management firm announced the arrival of three “experienced” bankers as additions to its private management department. Pierre-Romain Gorot joins the asset management firm to become director of the private management department. After beginning his career in portfolio management at Oddo Pinatton in 1996, he was appointed as managing partner at IPEN Group, before joining Banque Neuflize in 2001, where he served as a private banker. Since 2005, he had served at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, where he was responsible for the development of the high-potential client segment. Meanwhile, Aymeric Diday joins SPGP as director of mandated management. After beginning his career at Neuflize before joining private management at Richelieu Finance in 2005, Diday, 36, spent seven years at Banque Pictet & Cie in Paris, where he developed the mandated management. Lastly, Bérengère Garand-Clavel is appointed as private manager. She had previously, since 2006, served as private banker at Rothschld & Cie Gestion to develop the segment dedicated to corporates. She began her career at Société Générale in New York at the alternative management fund Amber Fund, before in 2003 joining DNCA Finance in collective management.

Le spécialiste de l’investissement et du trading en ligne Saxo Banque a annoncé le 18 février la nomination de Christopher Dembik en qualité d’analyste financier.Diplômé de Sciences Po Paris et de l’Institut d’Economie de l’Académie des Sciences de Pologne, Christopher a été assistant à la Mission Economique de l’Ambassade de France en Israël avant de prendre, en 2008, la direction du site d’informations et d’analyse du marché des changes Forex.fr qu’il a développé pour devenir un acteur de premier plan du trading Forex en France.

CM-CIC Asset Management has posted growth in its assets of 1.6% on the French market in 2013, to EUR58.7bn. This growth is largely due to inflows fo EUR525m to low-risk assets. Meanwhile, the relative proportion of asets in equity mutual funds has increased from 8.9% to 10.4% of the total, the management firm has stated in its annual report. In terms of growth within the equity asset class, the full mid-cap range grew by 48% in 2013, to represent EUR153m. Two funds were resized and renamed: Union Entrepreneurs and Union Mid Cap. Two PEA SMB funds have also been released: Union PME ETI Actions and Union PME ETI diversified. Lastly, the Europe thematic range has gained one Union Europe Rendement fund, whose assets have increased by 65% (EUR191m). In fixed income, CM-CIC AM at the end of the year launched Union Obli High Yield 2018, which combines high yield securities and a “founding” maturity management. For their part, new formula funds have made it possible to register overall inflows of EUR363m.

Amundi delivered a further improvement in results in 2013. Its full-year net income Group share was 444 million euros, an increase of 5.2% compared with 2012. Revenues increased by 3.0% over the year while operating expenses increased by 2.3%. The cost/income ratio therefore stood at «a continued highly competitive level» of 54.6% and 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Net income Group share was up 5.0% for the full year to 325 million euros. The asset management owned by French banks Crédit Agricole and Société Générale recorded net inflows in all customers segments, except for the French retail networks. Amundi attracted net inflows of 10.3 billion in 2013, including 12.7 billion euros from institutional investors and 4.8 billion euros from the international networks, driven by the Asian joint ventures. Lastly, third party distributors delivered net inflows of 2.8 billion euros, excluding money market funds. Net outflows across the French retail networks totalled 9.9 billion euros for the full year, lower than in 2012 with a sharp slowdown in the fourth quarter (-0.3 billion euros). Amundi’s share of this market increased by 0.3 percentage point over the year to 26.9%. Total assets under management amounted to 777.1 billion euros compared with 739.6 billion euros at 31 December 2012 (including the Asian joint ventures at 100%), an increase of 5.1%. This figure includes the consolidation of US company Smith Breeden, acquired in the third quarter of 2013 with its 4.7 billion euros of assets under management, and a positive market and currency effect of +22.4 billion euros. By asset class, inflows came mainly from long assets (+9.1 billion euros) while money market assets held up well and ended the year slightly positive, at +1.2 billion euros in a contracting market.

Axa IM, which has placed its first CLO since mid-2006, is planning to repeat the experience this year, although it may have to wait for some regulatory questions to be resolved. “Our objective is to work on two new US transactions for about USD400m in 2014,” explains Jean-Philippe Levilain, head of the structured financing team at Axa IM in the United States.

The administration services provider TMF Group has acquired the 49% of capital in Custom House Global Fund Services, a financial services provider for the alternative management sector, according to a statement released by TMF Group. TMF Group will be able to develop activities in the alternative management sector, including the private equity and real estate sectors. Assets under administration at TMF Group will now total nearly USD40bn.