Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. a annoncé hier le changement des administrateurs et dirigeants des entités Mizuho Bank, Ltd, Mizuho Trust & Banking Co., Ltd et Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd, dont le chairman Takashi Tsukamoto, à compter du 1er novembre prochain. Cette décision intervient alors que, selon Reuters, la deuxième banque japonaise par les actifs, a été épinglée le mois dernier par l’Autorité japonaise des services financiers (FSA) pour avoir maintenu pendant deux ans, en connaissance de cause, des prêts accordés à des individus ou organisations proches du crime organisé.

Les activités de gestion d’actifs du groupe UBS ont enregistré de bonnes performances d’ensemble, mais surtout en raison de la bonne tenue des marchés. Les actifs investis du Groupe se montaient à 2.339 milliards de francs suisses à la fin du troisième trimestre, en baisse de 9 milliards par rapport au trimestre précédent. Les actifs sous gestion de Wealth Management ont enregistré une hausse de 9 milliards à 871 milliards de francs, en raison de la performance positive des marchés de 17 milliards de francs, une collecte nette de 5 milliards de francs, en partie contrebalancées par des effets de change négatifs de 13 milliards de francs. Les actifs investis auprès de Wealth Management Americas ont reculé de 12 milliards de francs à 831 milliards de francs. En dollars américains, les actifs investis ont augmenté de 27 milliards à 919 milliards de dollars, reflétant une évolution positive des marchés de 25 milliards de dollars et une collecte positive. Les actifs investis de Global Asset Management se sont repliés de 6 milliards de francs à 580 milliards de francs au 30 septembre 2013, contre 586 milliards au 30 juin 2013 en raison des effets de change négatifs de 13 milliards de francs et des sorties nettes de fonds, en partie compensés par la bonne performance des marchés de 13 milliards de francs suisses.La division Wealth Management a dégagé un bénéfice avant impôts de 555 millions de francs, pratiquement inchangé par rapport à celui du trimestre précédent (557 millions de francs). La division Wealth Management Americas a réalisé un bénéfice avant impôts de 218 millions de dollars après un bénéfice record de 245 millions de dollars. La division Global Asset Management a dégagé un bénéfice avant impôts de 118 millions de francs contre 138 millions un trimestre plus tôt.Le résultat net revenant aux actionnaires d’UBS s’est établi à 577 millions de francs au troisième trimestre 2013, contre 690 millions de francs au deuxième trimestre 2013 et une perte de 2,1 milliards de francs au troisième trimestre 2012. Le résultat inclut des provisions pour actions en justice, questions réglementaires et similaires de 586 millions de francs et UBS s’attend à ce que des niveaux élevés de charges pour actions en justice et questions réglementaires continuent en 2014.

Ces douze derniers mois, les fonds qui ont offert les meilleures performances sont ceux spécialisés sur le marché italien, rapporte Plus, le supplément hebdomadaire d’Il Sole – 24 Ore. La Bourse de Milan a en effet bondi de 21,4 % contre 18,8 % pour le Stoxx. Au sein de la catégorie actions italiennes, le meilleur fonds est Fondersel Pmi, un produit investi dans les petites et moyennes entreprises, qui sur 12 mois a gagné 47,16 %. Le moins bon est Euromobiliare Azioni Italiane, qui a tout de même dégagé 23,4 %.

La société de gestion italienne Azimut a bouclé l’acquisition de 55 % du singapourien Athenaeum, qui gérait l’équivalent de 22,4 millions de dollars au 30 septembre.L’opération passera par la souscriptions à une augmentation de capital de 1,5 million d’euros pour financer le business plan. L’accord prévoit également des options d’achat et de vente et l’engagement de l’actuelle direction d’Athenaeum à coopérer avec Azimut pour la croissance de l’activité à Singapour.

Le gestionnaire danois Sparinvest ouvre dans un premier temps jusqu’au 14 novembre la souscription du Sparinvest – High Yield Value Bonds Short Duration 2017*, un fonds obligataire à échéance fixe, conçu afin de générer des rendements de l’ordre de 6,5% à 7,5% par an à l’horizon des quatre prochaines années.Pour ce produit, l'équipe de gestion dirigée par Klaus Blaabjerg mettra en œuvre la stratégie obligataire «value» de Sparinvest pour constituer un portefeuille d’environ 70 lignes. «Le fonds compte également parmi ses atouts une duration courte de seulement deux ans», précise la société.* Code ISIN: LU0975253583

ING Luxembourg vient de nommer Sandrine De Vuyst à la fonction de head of Private Banking à partir du 1er décembre 2013, date de son retour de congé de maternité. Sandrine De Vuyst a rejoint ING Luxembourg en 1996. Elle a été responsable du département en charge de la gestion de fonds de tiers et de la gestion des fonds de fonds pour ING Private Banking. En 2006, elle a repris les fonctions de «Head of Portfolio Management», en charge des activités de gestion conseil et de gestion discrétionnaire.

The Qatari sovereign fund (USD100bn in assets) is seeking to soften its image as an aggressive buyer of trophy assets, by investing in projects with social or environmental objectives, the Financial Times reports. Sources familiar with the matter say that the Qatar Investment Authority has begun to explore impact investing, which seeks to combine returns from private equity investment and measurable improvements in social and environmental areas. A month ago, Qatar Holding made an initial investment of about USD400,000 to improve the agricultural supply chain in East Africa.

The Danish asset management firm Sparinvest is initially opening subscriptions to the Sparinvest – High Yield Value Bonds Short Duration 2017 fund (ISIN code: LU0975253583) until 14 November. The bond fund has a set maturity date, designed to generate returns of about 6.5%, to 7.5% per year over the next four years.For this product, the asset management team led by Klaus Blaabjerg will use the Sparinvest value strategy to build a portfolio of about 70 positions. “The fund also counts among its advantages a short duration of only two years,” the firm says.

As its new head of global client group for France, Joseline Hobson is returning to direct sales and distribution teams at the Paris office of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM).Hobson had been head of institutional clients for France and Iberia at State Street, but she was head of DB Advisors (the institutional management division of Deutsche Bank) from 2009 to 2012.In her new role as managing director, Hobson will be based in Paris, and will report to Peter Roemer, head of global client group for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

Assets under management at Raymond James Financial rose 31% in the fiscal year to the end of September, to a new record total of USD56bn. Assets under administration, for their part, increased 10% to USD425bn.Asset management has posted excellent results in the last quarter of the fiscal year, with growth in pre-tax profits of 28% compared with the previous quarter. Assets under management rose 7% in fourth quarter, due to market effects and subscriptions.

For J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the insurance sector is obviously an area for future growth. “We would like to grow our activities in insurance,” Mike O’Brien, global director of the institutional unit at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, tells Newsmanagers at a press seminar held by the US asset management firm in London.“Insurers have USD25trn in reserves. Of this total, only 10% is outsourced,” says O’Brien, who sees strong potential for growth in the market, due to new regulatory constraints which are weighing down insurers, and a lack of internal human resources to invest in all asset classes. Our goal is to meet the needs of insurers who would like to outsource a part of their assets by setting up appropriate solutions with the assistance of all products offered by J.P. Morgan AM,” O’Brien explains, three years and a few days after taking over as head of the institutional unit.The United States remain a major area of activity in the new architecture of the institutional activity, with personnel of more than 100 out of a total of about 400, but this is now part of a larger original assembly.In Europe, 20 people serve the United Kingdom and 30 cover continental Europe. “60% of our revenues come from the United States, 20% from Asia and 20% from Europe, two thirds of that from continental Europe and one third from the United Kingdom,” says O’Brien. As of 30 September 2013, institutional assets worldwide represented USD383.8bn.

The ETF sponsor and manager WisdomTree has reported net profits for third quarter 2013 of USD15m, or 0.11 cent per share, comapred with USD12.2m in second quarter 2013, and USD4.5m in third quarter last year, according to figures released on 28 October.Assets under management as of the end of September totalled USD31.4bn, compared with USD16.8bn as of 30 September 2012, an increase of more than 86% year on year. Assets under management are up 8.2% compared with 30 June 2013 (USD29bn). Net inflows in the quarter totalled USD1.2bn, copared with USD5bn in second quarter 2013, and USD1bn in third quarter 2012.WisdomTree has also decided to change its back-office provider. The new service provider, State Street, which replaces BNY Mellon, will allow for savings of USD1.5m per quarter.

The Italian asset management firm Azimut has finalised the acquisition of 55% of the Singapore-based Thenaeum, which managed the equivalent of USD22.4m as of 30 September.The operation will be subject to subscriptions to a capital increase of EUR1.5m to finance the business plan. The agreement also allows for buy and sell options and engagements by the current management of Athenaeum to cooperate with Azimut to grow activities in Singapore.

The institutionalisation of the hedge fund industry is continuing, with increased attention to due diligence, risk management and the management of transparency. Meanwhile, the regulatory environment continues to develop, which creates uncertainty, and some significant complexity in pricing, according to a study by KPMG, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and the Managed Funds Association (MFA) (“The cost of compliance : 2013 KPMG/AIMA/MFA Global Hedge Fund Survey.”)The study funds that hedge fund managers want to respect the new regulatory requirements, and that they have decided to bear the additional costs rather than passing them on to their clients. Nearly two thirds of respondents (64%) say they are dedicating up to 5% of their total operating expenditures to new regulations, while 21% say they are committing more than 10% of their operating expenditures.Smaller hedge funds appear to be spending more than their large competitors. More than 35% of hedge funds with less than USD250m in assets under management dedicate more than 10% of their operating expenditures to regulations. No hedge fund with more than USD5bn, and only 14% of those with total assets of USD1bn to USD5bn fall into in this category.

The major developed global economies are expected to continue their growth in 2014, which will promote “modest” gains on equity markets and a rise in bond returns, according to the most recent quarterly predictions from Russell Investments.Doug Gordon, senior strategist for North America at Russell, expected a certain level of volatility to continue next year, which could be used to increase tactical positions on equities, particularly in multi-asset class portfolios.Strategists continue to give the preference to European equities, to the detriment of US equities, and they claim that emerging market equities offer new opportunities, with growth in profits that may reach double digits in 2014.For the first time since 2010, Russell predicts synchronised growth in the United States, Japan and Europe, says Andrew Pease, global head of investment strategy at Russell.

A statement from the Cologne-based private bank Sal. Oppenheim has announced that the firm (Deutsche Bank group) has not succeeded in convincing Ferdinand-Alexander Leisten to assist in a reorientation of the business of which he had been a member of the extended general management with responsibiilty for institutional cients. He had also been spokesperson (chairman) of the steering committee at the asset management firm Oppenheim Kapitalanlagegesellschaft.Leisten has expressed a desire to leave Sal. Oppenheim, where he had been working for 20 years, to “take on new professional challenges.”

In third quarter, Deutsche Bank has reported pre-tax profits of EUR283m for its asset and wealth management unit (AWM), compared with EUR82m in April-June and EUR113m in the corresponding period of last year. Operating profits at DeAWM totalled 78%, compared with 92% for the previous quarter, and 90% for July-September 2012, according to a quarterly report released on Tuesday.The improvement is related to a 12% decline in non-interest expenses related to the operational expenditure (OpEx) optimization programme, compensations, and provisions for litigation expenses.Assets were down by EUR9bn in third quarter to a total of EUR934m in September, with the decline due largely to currency effects and outflows of assets from low-profit asset classes, which were partly offset by positive market effects.

The Munich-based extra-financial ratings agency oekom research has announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Frankfurt-based Deutsche Performancemessungs-Gesellschaft für Wertpapierportfolios mbH (DPG) for analysis of portfolios according to sustainable development criteria.180 clients of DPG, with about 6,000 portfolios, will have access to sustainable development research at oekom out of more than 3000 businesses in 52 countries. Some basic information will be available for free to clients of DPG.

Asset management activities at the UBS Group have posted good overall performance, particularly due to the good performance of the markets. Assets invested by the group totalled CHF2.339trn as of the end of third quarter, down by CHF9bn compared with the previous quarter.Assets under management in Wealth Management were up by CHF9bn to CHF871bn, due to the positive performance of the markets for CHF17bn, net inflows of CHF5bn, partly offset by negative currency effects of CHF13bn.Assets invested with Wealth Management Americas were down by CHF12bn to CHF831bn. In US dollars, assets invested were up by USD27bn to USD919bn, reflecting a positive evolution of the markets for USD25bn, and positive net inflows.Assets invested by Global Asset Management were down by CHF6bn to CHF580bn as of 30 September 2013, compared with CHF586bn as of 30 June 2013, due to negative currency effects of CHF13bn, and net outflows from funds, partly offset by the good performance of the markets for CHF13bn.

Shareholders in Swiss publicly-traded businesses are availing themeselves of their rights more often. For the 20 companies of the Swiss Market Index flagship index, the average number of votes cast at general shareholders’ meetings in 2013 was 58%, up from 53% last year.Participation for companies whose shares are not part of the flagship SMI index is still higher, according to statistics released by the wealth management firm ZCapital. Companies covered by the extended Swiss Performance Index (SPI) in 2013 posted a participation rate equivalent to 63% of votes, compared with 59% in 2012.

As of 30 September, assets at Santander Asset Management in the form of managed portfolios and mandates totalled EUR23.057m, topping the volume in investment funds, which totalled EUR22.275m, Funds People reports.In total, assets at Santander AM as of the end of September came to EUR152.8bn, of which 89% were in Spain, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Mexico, with Spain accounting for 39% of the total, Brazil for 27%, the United Kingdom for 16%, and Mexico 7%.

BNP Paribas has announced the launch of 39 EasyTrackers in association with NYSE Euronext Paris for the occasion, in order to facilitate access to Exchange Traded Notes (ETN) for professional investors. Easy Trackers offers a range of expertise in several asset classes such as volatility, dividends, etc. Most products are entirely collateralised with European government bonds (minimal rating from Standard & Poor’s: AA-). To guarantee total transparency, the composition of their collateral and those of the underlying indices is public and accessible on the website easytrackers.bnpparibas.com, a statement says.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners has launched a closed-ended fund dedicated to bond issued by small and mid-sized Italian companies (minibonds), Bluerating reports, citing Marco Barbaro, deputy director of the Italian asset management firm from the French group. BNP Paribas Bond Italia PMI will be reserved for qualified investors.

In the past 12 months, the funds which offer the best returns have been the ones specialised in the Italian market, Plus, the weekly supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. The Milan stock exchange has gained 21.4%, compared with 18.8% for the Stoxx. In the Italian equity category, the best fund is Fondersel PMI, a product which invets in small and midcaps, which in 12 months has gained 47.15%. The worst is the Euromobiliare Azioni Italiane, which has earned 23.4%.

Fonds Nieuws reports that Kempen Capital Management has decided to reduce management commissions for its funds registered in the Netherlands by half, in a move which comes in the regulatory context of a prohibition on commissions in the country from 1 January 2014. In 2015 at the latest, all investment funds on sale in the Netherlands to end clients will have to be free of commissions. Previously, up to half of the management commission was used to pay off distributors.Shares without commissions have been created for Kempen CM funds registered in Luxembourg.

UK intelligence agents have held a series of meetings with several major asset management firms (Legal & General, F&C and Aviva) to seek to counter the growing threat of cyber-attacks, Financial Times fund management reports. They have asked representatives of the asset management firms to make information security a priority. This reflects fears on the part of intelligence of cyber-attacks on businesses.

Hugues Le Maire, co-founder with Christian Jimenez of Diamant Bleu Gestion (EUR180m) in 2009, will continue to manage the FCP Diamant Bleu Monde LFP (EUR20m) from the French firm’s new office in Montreal.Initially, the «light» license obtained from the Canadian authorities allows Le Maire to continue to manage the fund as close to the market as possible, isolating the noise coming from Europe, “where most managers share the same information and the same investment strategies,” Le Maire tells Newsmanagers. The Monde fund has large allocations to US and Canadian equities as well as Brazilian bonds, and is bathed an in environment of concerns which is highly different from those of the European microcosm.“Montreal has several advantages: language, being a genuine hub for the entire North American continent, and being regulated by a local authority which is ultimately very similar to the French AMF,” Le Maire says.In a second phase, if the experience is positive, it will be time to request licenses not only to manage but also to sell funds in Canada, the manager says. But the offices of Diamant Bleu Gestion (in which La Francaise AM controls a 15% stake via NExtAM) will remain in Paris, where six people currently work.

For seven funds* from the F&C MM Lifestyle and F&C MM Navigator ranges, F&C Investments and Fusion Wealth have started marketing on the Fusion Wealth Platform new D-class shares, a product launched in January 2013 designed to protect an investor’s original investment against a shortfall of up to GBP150,000 at death. According to F&C, these shares are the first of their kind in the UK.The funds are managed by Rob Burdett and Gary Potter, multi-manager co-heads of F&C Investments. Investors up to the age of 79 are able to buy into the protected share class on a whole of life basis, with no medical underwriting required. The annual management charge for the share class is 0.75 per cent for the Lifestyle range, and 1 per cent for the Distribution (Navigator) Fund, i.e. just 0.25 per cent higher than the corresponding funds’ standard B and C class shares.* F&C Lifestyle Defensive, F&C Lifestyle Cautious, F&C Lifestyle Balanced, F&C Lifestyle Growth, F&C MM Navigator Distribution Inc and Acc, F&C MM Navigator Moderate Acc et F&C MM Navigator Boutiques Acc

Assets under management on the Axa Elevate platform have risen 45% in third quarter 2013, from GBP4.8bn in third quarter 2012 to GBP6.9bn in third quarter 2013, largely due to net inflows of GBP1.5bn, Investment Week reports. The Architas investment platform, for its part, has posted growth of 12% to its assets under management to GBP12.6n in one year, while assets in the Corporate Investment Services unit were up 35% to GBP3.7bn. Assets under management at Axa Wealth gained 18%, to a total of GBP24.6bn as of the end of September, compared with GBP20.8bn one year earlier.

The alternative asset management firm BlueCrest Capital Management has recruited a team of credit traders from Brevan Howard, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The team of five people is reported to have left Brevan Howard in August this year, according to the register of the Financial Conduct Authority. One of the enw recruits, Leslie Wayne, is reported to have started at BlueCredit on 18 October this year, while Wayne joined Brevan Howard last year, from Goldman Sachs. Since the end of 2009, BlueCrest has more than doubled its assets under management, which now total about USD35bn.