Les émissions corporates atteignent des records, encouragées par un afflux de liquidités

Après 300 millions de dollars de capitaux sortis en mars, les produits indiciels en Europe ont subi une nouvelle décollecte de 800 millions de dollars en avril

Le passage de ce taux, aujourd'hui à 0%, en territoire négatif pourrait nuire aux fonds monétaires, au marché du repo, voire au crédit

L'activité sur le marché primaire des obligations sécurisées a rebondi en avril en Europe après une chute des volumes d'émissions au premier trimestre

Membre de la Commission sur les marchés à terme aux Etats-Unis, la CFTC, Bart Chilton assure dans un entretien que la monnaie électronique fait l’objet d’une attention particulière et sera régulée par l’autorité si elle sert de support à des contrats de produits dérivés. «De vraies personnes peuvent courir un vrai risque avec ces instruments» souligne le responsable de la CFTC.

Les autorités chinoises ont interdit selon le quotidien au fonds souverain China Investment Corp d’investir au Royaume-Uni avant que les deux pays ne mettent un terme à une mésentente causée par la rencontre l’an passé entre le Dalaï-Lama et David Cameron. De quoi remettre en cause la participation de CIC notamment dans le programme nucléaire ou le train à grande vitesse.

Henri Chaffiotte, Directeur général délégué de la CARMF lors d’une table ronde organisée par amLeague et Newsmanagers : Nous essayons de réduire un peu la volatilité dans les fonds. Je n’ai pas fait d’analyse fine, fonds par fonds. Depuis le début de l’année, alors qu’on avait eu une fin d’année 2012 assez optimiste, il y a plus de volatilité, et les comportements sont plus heurtés. Nous l’analysons plus comme étant des conséquences des problèmes externes, exogènes comme le problème de l’euro, de Chypre, etc. Ce sont des facteurs essentiellement psychologiques, donc des facteurs qui influent d’une manière générale sur le marché, donc le bêta. Ensuite, cela dépend de la volatilité du style de gestion de chacun des gérants. D’une manière générale, nous essayons de baisser la volatilité, mais nous ne le faisons pas pour une raison conjoncturelle. Ce n’est pas parce que nous avons connu les quatre mois récents qu’on le fait. Nous le faisons dans une perspective de moyen terme. En fait, le placement actions est pour nous presque un placement par défaut. Nous n’avons rien à attendre des taux, les rendements obligataires sont très faibles, sauf à se gorger de high yield... Les actions dans un environnement économique mondial qui reste quand même relativement positif sont l’alternative. Le seul risque que je vois serait des soubresauts sur l’Europe qui peuvent affecter les marchés européens. C’est pour cela que nous essayons de diversifier quand même notre portefeuille et de prendre des valeurs européennes qui soient liées à la croissance mondiale. Là aussi, il faut se méfier des cycliques, parce que les cycles peuvent être assez violents. Et puis il y a encore pas mal de volatilité sur ces titres. Aussi, nous cherchons plutôt à réduire la volatilité en conservant l’Europe qui n’est fondamentalement pas chère.

L’Italie peut redresser son économie sans creuser davantage sa dette, a lundi Enrico Letta, dont le gouvernement de coalition, à peine formé, souffre déjà de tiraillements sur la question des finances publiques. Ministre délégué à l’Economie, Stefano Fassina a jugé dimanche que l’Italie devrait pouvoir laisser filer son déficit en 2013.

Dans le cadre de ses efforts pour équilibrer ses finances et éviter un plan de sauvetage, la Slovénie envisage de privatiser le premier opérateur télécoms, dont il détient 74% du capital, ainsi que la banque publique Nova KBM (contrôlée à 80%). La capitalisation de cette dernière s’élève à 90 millions d’euros. Une cession pourrait intervenir avant la fin de l’année, selon Reuters.

Les pays de la zone euro doivent garder la maîtrise de leurs finances publiques, et tout particulièrement les plus endettés d’entre eux qui ne doivent pas chercher à relancer la croissance en tournant le dos aux efforts budgétaires, a déclaré Mario Draghi, le président de la BCE, lors d’un discours prononcé à Rome.

Selon un rapport de mission du FMI, la Grèce a fait des progrès dans la réduction de la dette publique et l’amélioration de sa compétitivité mais doit aller plus loin dans les réformes structurelles. L’institution cite notamment la lutte contre l’évasion fiscale et la libéralisation du marché du travail, afin que l’austérité ne pèse pas de manière disproportionnée sur les salariés et les retraités.

La filiale de financement du constructeur automobile prévoit d’émettre 2 milliards de dollars d’obligations afin de contribuer au rachat des activités international d’Ally Financial et au remboursement de la dette. L’opération devrait comprendre des titres à 3 ans, 5 ans et 10 ans. Par ailleurs, Thomas Marano quitte la direction de Residential Capital, filiale en faillite d’Ally Financial.

Le gouvernement chinois a demandé l'élaboration d’un plan détaillé pour parvenir à la convertibilité totale du yuan, ce qui laisse entrevoir une possible accélération des réformes. «Nous devrions avoir des plans opérationnels permettant la convertibilité du renminbi (yuan) pour les comptes de capitaux», a déclaré le Premier ministre Li Keqiang. Aucun agenda précis n’a toutefois été donné.

A la tête de Source, le plus "jeune" des acteurs dans le monde des ETF qui s'est hissé en sixième position en l'espace de quatre ans, Ted Hood revient notamment sur l'intérêt des ETF gérés activement et sur la volonté de sa maison de se renforcer sur ce segment. Le manager s'inquiète cependant de la taxe sur les transactions financières qui ,si elle était appliquée telle quelle, porterait un coup sévère tant aux promoteurs d’ETF qu'aux gestionnaires d’actifs dans leur ensemble…

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ewgeni Smuskovich has been appointed as director of the Vienna location of the Swiss firm Julius Baer, succeeding Erich Gröger, who is retiring. Smuskovich joined the Swiss group in 2011, and led the team in Vienna which serves Russian and Eastern European clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the US firm Och-Ziff totalled USd35.6bn as of 1 May, compared with USD30.1bn as of the end of March 2012. Two factors contributed to this development, a positive market effect of USD1.8bn, and a net inflow of USD1.2bn compared with 31 December 2012. The OZ Master Fund, whose assets under management totalled USD22.2bn as of the end of March 2013, earned returns of 5.4% in the first four months of the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } While remaining as co-manager of the “intermediate tax-free” strategy, John Boritzke will now act as managing director, with the role of head of fixed income at BMO Global Asset Management (USD125bn as of the end of January), the firm has announced. Boritzke joined the firm in 1983. He will report to Craig Rawlins, Cio of BMO Asset Management US.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After winning an auction held in 2012 by the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) for the Catalan business Unnim, BBVA has absorbed the firm Unnim Gesfonds SGIIC, which has now been liquidated, Funds People reports. As a result, the number of asset management firms registered with the CNMV has declined to 102.BBVA Asset Management, the largest security management firm in Spain, has assets of EUR19.13bn in 207 products. Unnim at the time of its demise had 15 funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henderson Global Investors has recruited a senior analyst, in the person of Graeme Clark, as an addition to its team specialised in tech sector equities, Citywire reports. Niall Holleran, who had previously been an intern on the team, has also now been promoted to research assistant.In the past three years, the Henderson HF Global Technology fund, whose assets total about EUR3bn, has earned returns of 23.3%, compared with 25.9% in the same period for the MSCI AC World/Information Technology.

Source, founded only in April 2009, already has USD13.8bn in assets, of which one quarter are in ETCs, and three quarters in ETFs. Net subscriptions total EUR665m for the year to date, and USD3.97bn in 2012, of which USD2.76bn ere for funds launched with Man GLG, LGIM and Pimco. The CEO of the firm, Ted Hood, tells Newsmanagers he is concerned that the financial transaction tax will put an end to the growth of the ETF market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Last year, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) intensified its efforts to combat excessive pay scales, voting against 126 pay policies and 22 chairmen of remuneration committees at companies it had invested in, Financial Times Fund Management (FTfm) reports.Among the firms concerned are WPP, Barclays, Pendragon, novartis, UBS, Credit Suisse and UniCredit.LGIM states that it has extended its voting rights policy to emerging markets, now that it is more exposed to these countries.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Azimut Global Advisory, the new division of the Italian asset management firm Azimut dedicated to fee-based financial advising, has recruited several professionals, Bluerating reports. They are Leonardo Abbate and Paolo Bonavita, two veterans of MPS Private Banking, Luca Pitton and Davide Semprini, formerly of Deutsche Bank Private Banking, Daniela Iachini, Davide Zambello, Mara Lunghini and Giovanni Panno, formerly of UniCredit Private Banking, and Roberto Salvi, who has left Deutsche Bank Private Banking.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the alternative management boutique Man Group as of the end of March totalled USD54.8bn, compared with USD57bn as of the end of December 2012, according to a statement released on 3 May.This decline in assets is due to a net outflow of USD3.7bn, resulting from subscriptions of USD2.5bn, and redemptions totalling USD6.2bn. This increase in redemptions is due to the loss of three major low-margin mandates, the CEO of Man Group, Manny Roman, says in a statement.In addition to this currency effects had a negative impact of USD1.6bn, due to the strength of the US dollar against the yen, euro and pound sterling.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management by the wealth management unit of the British RBS group, including the Coutts private bank, as of the end of March totalled GBP30.8bn, up 7% compared with the end of December 2012, according to an interim report released on 3 March by RBS. This development is largely due to a rebound on the markets in first quarter, RBS says, which offset outflows of low-margin assets and transfers of funds due to the sale of activities in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.

Aviva Investors has hired Adeline Diab as head of integration for its global responsible investment team, the asset management company announced on May 2. She reports to Steve Waygood, chief responsible investment officer.Adeline Diab joins Aviva Investors from APG Asset Management in the Netherlands where she was responsible for embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) into the investment process across asset classes. Her role also involved active engagement with companies across a broad range of areas. Prior to this, she held roles with London-based hedge fund, GLG Partners, where she managed a sustainable investment strategy in addition to two equity funds, and HSBC Asset Management in Paris, where she co-established the ESG research team.In her role at Aviva Investors, Adeline Diab will lead the responsible investment officer analyst network, supporting them in identifying material ESG issues and seeking out global opportunities to integrate ESG into mainstream investment processes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The London-based real estate fund management firm Pradera has announced that due to the passage of a new German law on investments, it is modifying the status of its German-registered open-ended real estate fund Pradera Open-Ended Retail Fund (DE000A0RG928), whose assets total EUR145m in institutional funds (Spezialfonds), Das Investment reports. The move is due to the fact that the German legislation no longer allows large institutional investors to subscribe to shares in open-ended funds. The asset objective for the fund remains at EUR500m, with target returns of 7% to 10% over 10 years, and a distribution of 5-6% per year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurt-based third-party marketer accelerando associated on 1 May recruited Michael Geier as director of third-party marketing in Frankfurt, and Chrisian Parrado Myrom as associate director & analyst in Valencia. Geier has 20 years of experience in the area of fund sales. He was most recently head of Germany & Austria at Standard Life Investment in Edinburgh, after working for ABN Amro Asset Management Germany and Mellon Global Investment. Parrado had previously worked at Allfonds Bank.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton has opened three offices in Italy, in Rome, Florence and Padua, Bluerating reports. These locations come in addition to the Milan offices. The US asset management firm, which as of the end of March had EUR27.4bn in assets under management in Italy, is preparing to launch its roadshow in Italy to meet professional investors throughout the country.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The SPDR Gold Trust ETF is the most popular ETF with hedge funds, according to the most recent rankings by Insider Monkey. Paulson & Co, First Eagle Investment Management and Empyrean Capital Partners are some of the major hedge funds which have bet on the ETF. Unfortunately for them, the fund has lost about 12% since the beginning of this year. The second most popular ETF with hedge funds is the Financial Select Sector SPDR, which has gained nearly 14% since the beginning of the year, and has been selected by Renaissance Technologies, Moore Global and Tudor Investment, among others. Ishares MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the third product in the rankings, is the favourite of Duquesne Capital and Arrowstreet Capital, among others. It has lost nearly 3% since the beginning of the year. In fourth place, iShares FTSE/Xinshua China 25 index is down more than 7% since the beginning of the year, while the iShares Russell 2000 Index, selected by Dreman Value Management and D.E. Shaw & Co, has gained more than 11% since the beginning of the year. SAC Capital and Caxton Associates can be glad to have put their money on the iShares MSCI Japan Index, which takes sixth place, and which has gained 19.64% since the beginning of the year. However, the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF, held by Soros Fund Management and Tiger Management, has lost more than 36% since the beginning of the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } European investors are continuing to seek returns, according to the most recent statistics on European inflows from Morningstar. Long-term funds (excluding funds of funds and feeder funds) have posted record net inflows of EUR115.12bn in first quarter. And money market funds have seen redemptions in the first three months of 2013, which means that investors are continuing to seek returns rather than security despite the euro zone crisis. In the month of March alone, investors continued to invest in bond funds, which posted inflows of EUR15.1bn. Allocation funds posted a net inflow of EUR8.8bn, and equity funds took in EUR4.2bn in new money. Diversified bond funds denominated in US dollars or euros and British mixed large cap funds posted the heaviest outflows in March. Redemptions totalled over EUR2bn for bond funds, and EUR843m for the British funds. Templeton Global Total Return Fund takes first place among long-term funds in Europe, both in March and for first quarter, with inflows of EUR1.72bn and EUR4.29bn, respectively. For first quarter, it is followed by the Pimco GIS Unconstrained Bd, with EUR2.538bn, JP Morgan Asia Pacific Income Fund (EUR2.47bn) and Templeton Glb Bond (EUR1.99bn).