Sa directrice générale, Christine Lagarde, appelle les banques centrales à la patience dans le retrait des mesures de soutien

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Les législateurs européens ont scellé mardi soir un accord sur la révision de la directive MIF où persistent d'importantes différences entre classes d'actifs

Les législateurs européens ont scellé mardi soir un accord sur la révision de la directive sur les marchés d’instruments financiers où persistent d’importantes différences entre classes d’actifs. Le texte crée notamment un nouveau type de plates-formes de négociation, les OTF.

Le conseiller de la Commission, Philippe Maystadt, fait valoir que les élections européennes tout comme l'adoption de normes importantes approchent

La Banque mondiale estime qu'une crise désordonnée pourrait conduire à une chute des entrées de capitaux de 80% dans les économies émergentes

Les autorités préparent les réformes réglementaires nécessaires mais se plaignent de l'interférence des régulations européennes et américaines

QFS Asset Management ferme son hedge fund devises et restitue près de 1 milliard de dollars à ses clients, rapporte le quotidien américain. La stratégie avait perdu 8,7 % en 2013 et 8,6 % en 2012. C’est la première fois en vingt ans que QFS perd de l’argent deux années de suite.

La société de gestion et d’investissement spécialisée dans les infrastructures a désigné Olivier Brousse pour succéder à Adrian Ewer au poste de directeur général. Cette nomination sera effective à compter du 1er mars 2014. Olivier Brousse, qui sera basé à Londres, arrive de la Saur dont il était jusqu'à la semaine dernière le président exécutif.

«La circulaire (publiée fin juin, ndlr) a permis à ce jour à 11.000 personnes de venir se régulariser devant l’administration fiscale, ce qui représente une recette potentielle de plus d’un milliard d’euros», a indiqué mercredi le ministre du Budget Bernard Cazeneuve lors de la séance des questions au gouvernement à l’Assemblée nationale.

L'économie américaine a continué à croître à un rythme modéré de fin novembre jusqu'à fin 2013, rapporte la Réserve fédérale dans son nouvel état des lieux de la conjoncture. Dans son «Livre beige», la Fed a ajouté que les deux tiers des douze districts ont vu augmenter le rythme des embauches. Cette progression soutient la thèse selon laquelle la forte baisse des créations d’emplois annoncée en décembre est due au froid glacial qui a paralysé une partie du pays pendant un mois. «Les perspectives économiques sont positives dans la plupart des districts, certains d’entre eux s’attendant à ce que la croissance se poursuive au même rythme et certains tablant sur une accélération de la croissance», signale la banque centrale. Ces résultats, tirés de données collectées jusqu’au 6 janvier inclus, sont globalement conformes aux récentes statistiques qui ont montré un raffermissement de l'économie à la fin de l’an dernier.

L’Union européenne doit évoluer si elle veut garder la Grande-Bretagne parmi ses membres et ne peut que décliner si elle résiste au changement, a déclaré mercredi le ministre britannique des Finances, George Osborne. «Notre détermination est claire : il faut réformer puis laisser le peuple décider», a-t-il ajouté, évoquant la promesse du Parti conservateur qui s’est engagé à consulter les Britanniques par référendum sur le maintien dans l’UE s’il est reconduit au pouvoir en 2015.

La trajectoire d'économies dans les dépenses publiques est pour l’instant inchangée, avec 18 milliards d’euros prévus en 2015, autant en 2016 et 13 milliards en 2017, mais d’autres économies seront bientôt programmées, a rapporté hier Reuters d’une source à l’Elysée. Ces économies supplémentaires, trouvées notamment à la lumière des travaux sur le «pacte de responsabilité» avec les entreprises, qui doit se traduire par une nouvelle baisse du coût du travail, modifieront cette trajectoire.

«Aujourd’hui, l’euro a atteint un niveau surprenant étant donné, par exemple, que les prévisions de croissance sont meilleures pour les Etats-Unis que pour l’Europe», a déclaré mercredi Anne Le Lorier, premier sous-gouverneur de la Banque de France, lors d’un débat organisé par la Bundesbank à Sarrebruck. Elle a toutefois ajouté que la balance commerciale de la zone euro était plus équilibrée que celle des Etats-Unis. «Quand on regarde la balance commerciale, on remarque que celle de l’Europe est très bonne, alors que celle des Etats-Unis est en déficit», a-t-elle dit.

Luis de Guindos, le ministre de l’Economie espagnol, a annoncé une réforme fiscale destinée à diminuer l’impôt sur les sociétés tout en réduisant les niches fiscales. «L’idée est de rendre le système plus favorable à la croissance», a-t-il indiqué, sans plus de précisions. Un groupe d’experts doit présenter d’ici à fin mars ses pistes de réforme.

Allianz Global Investors (GI) has launched a new fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, dedicated to emerging market equities, which will be managed by its US office based in San Diego – for a good reason. The vehicle, entitled Allianz Emerging Markets Equity Opportunities, already has a solid track record in the United States. The fund, now registered in Luxembourg and aimed at investors in Europe, will be managed by a team of 8 people based in the United States, led by Kunal Ghosh, who currently manages overall USD1.8bn in assets. The fund offers investors a way to gain access to emerging markets via a disciplined approach to stock-picking, with the objective of locating activities which show potential for profits. The product will invest in 100 to 150 positions.

The European mutual fund industry, with overall net inflows of EUR12.7bn for long-term mutual funds, showed a healthy growth pattern for November 2013, according to Lipper’s latest Fund Flash. The inflows were mainly driven by inflows into equity funds (+EUR9.8bn) and mixed-asset funds (+EUR4.8bn). Over the course of the year 2013 so far the European fund industry enjoyed net inflows of EUR177.2bn, equally driven by net inflows into bond funds (+EUR95.8bn) and equity funds (+EUR95.7bn). In contrast, money market funds showed the highest net outflows (-EUR86.3bn).BlackRock, with net sales of EUR2.6 bn, was the best selling group of long-term funds for November, ahead of JP Morgan Asset Management (+EUR2.0 bn) and Schroders (+EUR1.2 bn).

Tobam on Tuesday, 14 January announced the launch of the Anti-Benchmark All Countries World Fund. Its objective is to offer broad diversification via a very large investment universe, the MSCI ACWI, which currently includes 23 develped markets and 21 emerging markets, or about 2,500 securities, the asset management firm says. The Anti-Benchmark All Countries World Equity fund has USD80m in seed capital from a major European pension fund. “In April 2013, at the request of an institutional investor, we launched a USD325m mandate with ‘All Countries’ coverage. Since then, we have sought to create an open-ended vehicle, in order to make the strategy available to a larger base of investors. In 2014, we intend to continue to add to our range of maximal diversification solutions, in order to respond to the evolving needs of our clients,” says Christiphe Roehri, director of development at Tobam.

Amundi and UniCredit have signed a partnership to finance the real economy through loan funds for German small and medium companies, the two firms announced on Tuesday. The first transaction to be signed in the form of a “Schuldscheindarlehen” (a type of private investment specific to Germany) totals EUR25m. As part of the agreement, Unicredit Bank AG will act as a partner bank to Amundi. The partnership offers a way to invest in various transactions initiated by Unicredit Bank AG, including bilateral loans, syndicated loans or club deals, “Schuldscheindarlehen” and bonds transacted in the form of private investments.

The German reinsurance group Munich Re has decided to launch a ratings activity in partnership with TÜV, Handelsblatt reports. Munich will provide ratings of risks related to infrastructure projects (“Project Risk Rating,”) wich will interest many investors, including insurers, seeking attractive investment opportunities in a low-interest rate environment.

The Geneva-based asset management firm Argos Investment Managers is planning to develop in France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, Investment Europe reports. The firm, founded in 2005, offers a number of investment strategies, including the micro-capitalisation fund Argonaut, mnaged by Philip Best and Marc St John Webb.

BlackRock is profoundly overhauling its management teams in Asia Pacific. According to eFinancial News, the asset management firm has separated the responsibilities for its funds in the region, which represent USD600m, following the departure of director Robert Weatherston, responsible for the funds, who left the business last week after 18 years. Weatherston had been director of the Japan Value Equity team, oversaw the Japan Value, International Value and Pacific Equity portfolios. His departure thus introduces a new distribution of responsibilities at BlackRock in the region. Marc Desmidt, head of alpha strategies and management of strategic products for Asia-Pacific, has been promoted to the position of lead manager of the BGF Japan Value Fund (USD275m in assets) and BGF Japan Fund (USD90.4m in assets). Meanwhile, Andrew Swan has been appointed as lead manager of the BGF Pacific Fund, which has USD231m in assets, while providing management of several other funds in the region. Finally, BlackRock has announced the appointment of Oisin Crawley as head of research for the Asian fundamental equity research team, based in Hong Kong.

Fitch Ratings has updated its global criteria for rating money market funds, consistent with its practice of reviewing rating criteria on an annual basis. The changes to the criteria are limited, reflecting certain market developments and clarifying some aspects of criteria application. No rating changes are expected. Regulatory proposals under consideration by US and European regulators would, if enacted, fundamentally change the frameworks under which MMFs operate. The proposals have not, however, been finalized yet and there is a wide range of possible outcomes. This updated criteria report reflects, therefore, the current regulatory status quo.

The daily trading volume of on-book trades on the European markets of NYSE Euronext in December totalled EUR231.9m, up 19% compared with the previous month, and 20% compared with December 2012. Trading volumes totalled EUR4.6bn, up 13.3% compared with November, and 14.4% compared with December 2012. Block trades totalled EUR249.5m, up 80% compared with November, but down 79.4% compared with December 2012. As of the end of December, assets under management in all ETFs listed on the markets of Euronext totalled EUR160.2bn.

Assets under management at the Swiss group Bordier remained stable in 2013, at over CHF10bn, Grégoire Bordier, a partner at the private bank, has told Agefi Switzerland. “The markets have had a positive effect and restructuring asset have had a negative effect, since we are very clearly in the category of the declared money strategy,” says Bordier, who says that net inflows have been negative overall, but positive outside Switzerland, particularly in Singapore, where Bordier now has about CHF1bn in assets under management.

As an addition to its investment expertise unit, Hottinger & Cie has recruited a team specialised in management of commodity investment funds and energies, Agefi Switzerland reports. Pierre Martin, 38, will manage a range of funds specialised in natural resources. He worked for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and then URAM in Geneva. Thomas Couvret, 33, becomes Product Specialist, in charge of sales of funds managed by Hottinger & Cie. He has worked for PIM Gestion France (now known as FourPoints Investment Managers since its merger with IT AM) and then URAM.

Despite a debate over the 30-year period of gains on government loans, Aberdeen Asset Management is of the opinion that government bonds still have a role to play in portfolios. Government bonds represent a tool for diversification compared with other asset classes, such as equities. They represent a source of income, and if the valuation of some securities may potentially be affected in the short term, they have historically allowed for capital to be preserved well over the long term. “Bonds play an important role in diversified portfolios, due to the regular income that they bring and their defensive qualities. Investors nonetheless need to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff with selectivity. Portfolios which are excessively exposed to the national bond market, and/or which are heavily weighted in bonds from countries with high debt levels, all present a concentration risk. The diversification of investment opportunities based on economic fundamentals will represent a key factor for success on fixed income markets in the next few years,” Joanne Gilbert, bond investment specialist, explained on 14 January during a visit to Paris. In this environment, Aberdeen in October 2013 launched the Aberdeen Global – World Government Bond Fund, which offers extremely diversified exposure to international government bonds. The fund, whose assets already total USD100m, will allow investors to diversify their own portfolios and to stabilise their performance, via government and quasi-government bond issues worldwide. The management of the fund will aim to seek out issues with the best prospects for appreciation, income or stability, through a rigorous bottom-up selection process which fully takes advantage of the local presence of Aberdeen and its significant global research resources. The fund will limit its exposure to non-investment grade debt and will seek to maximise its absolute returns through investment grade government bond issues which continually show near-zero default rates. Unlike the vast majority of global bond products, the performance of the fund will be compared o that of a benchmark index weighted by GDP. It is a more epresentative global index, which concentrates more on economic forces relative to countries than to the volume of debt issued. As a result, the fund strongly prefers growth economies which generate high revenues (through higher returns), while presenting lower levels of public debt (expressed as a percentage of GDP). The strategy is calibrated in order to take advantage of the gradual convergence between fixed income markets in emerging and developed economies, due to a mnagement style which is based on criteria common to both markets.

Assets under management at the Ashmore group, specialised in emerging markets, at the end of December 2013 totalled USD75.3bn, compared with USD78.5bn as of the end of September, according to a statement released on 14 January. The decline in assets is due to a net inflow of USD3.5bn, which has been marginally compensated by a positive market of USD0.3bn. Most strategies have seen redemptions, with the notable exception of corporate debt strategies, which have finished the half with assets of USD7bn, compared with USD6.4bn as of the end of September.

Assets under management at the Ashmore group, a specialist in emerging markets, at the end of December 2013 totalled USD75.3bn, compared with USD78.5bn as of the end of September, according to a statement released on 14 January. The decline in assets is the result of a net outflow of USD3.5bn, marginally offset by a positive market effect of USD0.3bn. Most strategies have seen redemptions, with the notable exception of corporate debt strategies, which have finished the quarter with assets of USD7bn, comapred with USD6.4bn in assets as of the end of September.

RBC Global Asset Management has announced the addition of 10 global equity specialists to its investment management team in London. The team of specialists, led by Habib Subjally, join from First State Investments (UK) where they previously managed USD2.5 billion in a variety of global equity strategies for institutions and private clients over the past eight years. Habib Subjally will assume the position of senior portfolio manager and head of global equities. Neil Abbott, Luis Benoliel, Marcus Lun, Jeremy Richardson, Julie Thomas, Dag Wetterwald, Perry Winfield and Ben Yeoh are joining as senior portfolio managers, and Romain Scampini will join as portfolio manager.The new global equity team joins investment professionals at RBC Global Asset Management-UK specializing in emerging markets and European equities, as well as global and emerging markets fixed income. In total, the London office currently comprises 34 investment professionals and staff (including five from the new global equity group). That number will grow to 39 when Habib Subjally and the remaining members join in early March.