BNP Paribas a annoncé le 20 juin le lancement de nouvelles solutions d'épargne sécurisées avec notamment deux nouveaux fonds communs de placement éligibles à l’assurance vie et au compte-titres, BNP Paribas Gestion Active Octobre 2018 et Ceylan. Dans le cadre d’investissements en PEA, BNP Paribas propose également 3 DYN’Europe.BNP Paribas Gestion Active Octobre 2018 est un FCP à capital garanti à l’échéance, le 8 octobre 2018, permettant de profiter partiellement de la performance de différents marchés financiers, tout en bénéficiant, à l’échéance de 6 ans, d’une garantie du capital dont le niveau pourra être rehaussé par un mécanisme de cliquet quotidien, en fonction de l’évolution de la valeur liquidative du fonds.Ceylan est un FCP à capital garanti à l’échéance, le 18 octobre 2018, permettant de viser, sous condition, à horizon 2 ans, une dissolution anticipée du fonds accompagnée d’un gain fixe de 9% (soit un taux de rendement actuariel de 4,31%), ou de bénéficier, à horizon 6 ans, de 75% de la performance moyenne de l’Euro Stoxx 50.3 DYN’Europe est un FCP à capital protégé à 90% à l’échéance, le 18 octobre 2018, permettant de viser, sous condition, à horizon 3 ans, un gain de 20% (soit un rendement actuariel de 6,18%) en cas d’échéance anticipée, ou de bénéficier, à horizon 6 ans, d’une performance liée à la moyenne des performances annuelles d’un panier équipondéré de 3 indices sectoriels européens regroupant les sociétés leaders sur leurs secteurs d’activité respectifs.Caractéristiques : BNP Paribas Gestion Active Octobre 2018 (code ISIN : FR0011249390)Ceylan (code ISIN : FR0011244748) 3 DYN’Europe (code ISIN : FR0011238898)

Tiffani Potesta, responsable des divisions third-party insurance et DC I-0 chez DWS Investments après avoir été director chez First Eagle Funds, rejoint Schroders comme head of advisory sales pour les Etats-Unis, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. L’intéressée sera subordonnée à Erin Brennan, head of intermediary key accounts.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) a annoncé le 19 juin l’admission à la négociation sur la plate-forme NYSE Arca de deux nouveaux ETF de la marque SPDR, le SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Crossover Corporate Bond ETF (acronyme: XOVR) et le SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF (EMCD).Le premier, chargé à 0,30 %, réplique un indice BofA Merrill Lynch d’obligations d’entreprises notées BBB et BB libellées en dollars et émises sur le marché américain.Le second, chargé à 0,50 %, suit le BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Large Cap Senior Corporate Index qui reflète la performance d’obligations senior et sécurisées en dollars émises par des sociétés des pays émergents sur les marchés américain ou européen.

Avec le compartiment Emerging Markets Corporates, DWS commercialise désormais en France également un compartiment supplémentaire de sa sicav luxembourgeoise DWS Invest. Ce produit focalisé sur les obligations d’entreprises émergentes affiche un encours de l’ordre de 155 millions d’euros. Il est géré par Maruf Siddiquee.Le gestionnaire allemand affiche plus de 5,1 milliards d’euros d’obligations émergentesCaractéristiquesDénomination : DWS Invest Emerging Markets CorporatesCode Isin : LU0436052673Droit d’entrée : 3,00% Commission de gestion : 1,10%

Invesco Real Estate vient d’annoncer l’arrivée de Timothy Bellman au poste de directeur de la recherche mondiale, à son bureau de Dallas. Au sein de l’équipe de recherche mondiale, il va se concentrer sur l’allocation d’actifs mondiale et coordonner les activités de recherche menées par les trois directeurs de la recherche régionale en Amérique du Nord, Europe et Asie-Pacifique.Avant de rejoindre Invesco Real Estate, Timothy Bellman (50 ans) a travaillé ces sept dernières années chez ING Real Estate Management où il était directeur mondial de la recherche et de la stratégie, après avoir été directeur de la recherche et de la stratégie pour la région Asie-Pacifique.

Le gestionnaire américain Huntington Asset Advisors, filiale de la banque régionale Huntington Bancshares Inc, a annoncé la création de la gamme d’ETF à gestion active Huntington Strategy Shares.Le premier produit de cette série sera le EcoLogical Strategy ETF (acronyme HECO sur NYSE Arca), chargé à 0,95 % et géré Brian Salerno, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager.Le portefeuille sera investi au minimum à 80 % en actions de sociétés focalisées sur l'écologie et des produits positionnés pour profiter des évolutions continuelles de la législation, du comportement des consommateurs et des investissements des entreprises.L’EcoLogical Strategies sera distribué par SEI Investments Distribution Co.

JO Hambro Capital Management va lancer un fonds Global Opportunities alors que son fonds UK Opportunities, géré par les mêmes gérants, va être provisoirement fermé aux nouvelles souscriptions, rapporte Investment Week. Le portefeuille britannique a actuellement un encours de 900 millions de livres et approche vite de sa limite de 1 milliard.Les deux fonds sont gérés par John Wood et Ben Leyland.

La société de gestion britannique Liontrust Asset Management a vu ses encours atteindre 2,1 milliards de livres le 18 juin 2012, annonce la société dans son rapport annuel. Le 31 mars, ils ressortaient à 1,5 milliard de livres, en hausse par rapport au niveau de début avril 2011, où ils étaient à 1,343 milliard de livres.C’est notamment le résultat de souscriptions nettes de 152 millions de livres, de l’acquisition d’Occam et d’un effet marché positif.Liontrust a accusé une perte de 200.000 livres, contre une perte de 4,6 millions de livres en 2011. Le bénéfice ajusté avant impôts est ressorti à 1 million, contre une perte de 1,7 million en 2011.

«Profitant de la forte demande actuelle d’immeubles entièrement loués à Londres», l’allemand Deka Immobilien a réalisé une plus-value non divulguée en revendant à Zara (groupe Inditex) l’immeuble Lumina sur Oxford Street et Bond Street pour 190 millions d’euros. Cet actif de 7.000 mètres carrés de magasins et de bureaux faisait partie du portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

Baring Asset Management va lancer le fonds Baring emerging market corporate debt qui sera géré par Faisal Ali, lequel a rejoint la société de gestion en août 2011, rapporte Money Marketing. Le produit investira au moins 70 % de ses actifs dans des obligations d’entreprises émergentes, basées dans différents pays et notées investment grade ou non.

En avril 2012, l’encours de titres émis par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro était inférieur de 10 milliards d’euros à celui enregistré en mars 2012, selon les statistiques communiquées par la Banque centrale européenne. Cette évolution s’explique essentiellement par une diminution de la valeur des parts.L’encours de titres émis par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro est ainsi ressorti en baisse à 6.056 milliards d’euros en avril2012, contre 6.066 milliards en mars 2012. Sur la même période, l’encours des titres émis par les OPCVM monétaires de la zone euro a augmenté, passant de 951 milliards d’euros à 967 milliards.Les souscriptions nettes de titres d’OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro se sont inscrites à 1 milliard d’euros en avril 2012, tandis que les souscriptions nettes de titres d’OPCVM monétaires sont ressorties à 10 milliards.En ce qui concerne la ventilation par stratégies de placement, le rythme de progression annuel des titres émis par les fonds «obligations» est ressorti à 3,2 % en avril 2012 et les souscriptions nettes se sont élevées à 11 milliards d’euros. Dans le cas des fonds «actions», ce taux s’est inscrit à ‑2,4 % et les rachats nets à 13 milliards d’euros, respectivement. Pour les fonds «mixtes», le taux de variation s’est établi à ‑0,2 % et les souscriptions nettes à 3 milliards d’euros.

La BaFin a délivré un agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne du compartiment Global Strategic Bonds (ISIN LU0746604445) de la sicav luxembourgeoise Axa WF d’Axa Investment Managers (lire Newsmanagers du 1er juin).

Présent chez Allfunds Bank (filiale à 50/50 du Santander et de Intesa Sanpaolo) depuis la création en 2000, Borja Largo va quitter la direction des investissements, son dernier poste, pour devenir le patron des «global partnerships» et gérer les relations avec les fournisseurs, les sociétés de gestion, pour toutes les régions où Allfunds est présente, rapporte Funds People.Allfunds distribue plus de 23.000 fonds de 450 sociétés de gestion; le volume intermédié dépassé les 65 milliards de dollars. Elle dessert plus de 350 investisseurs institutionnels dans 25 pays.

Dexia Asset Management poursuit l’extension de ses activités en Suisse, avec la nomination de Patrick Kern en tant que senior relationship manager, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Il sera en particulier chargé de la clientèle institutionnelle en Suisse alémanique. Patrick Kern était dernièrement en charge de la succursale zurichoise de Reyl Asset Management, où il était responsable de l’acquisition de clients en Suisse alémanique, Allemagne, Autriche et au Liechtenstein.

Only 52 companies, out of a universe of 4,001 worldwide in 2010, published a complete report on sustainable development, a study commissioned by Aviva Investors and undertaken by CK Capital has found («Trends in Sustainability Disclosure: Benchmarking the World’s Composite Stock Exchanges.») This figure is down compared with 2008, at a time when several European stock markets are requiring publicly-traded businesses to include detailed reporting on sustainable development in their financial reports. The figure, however, conceals a varied reality. Some countries stand out in comparison to others. The countries that are highest-ranked in terms of publicly-traded businesses releasing information on sustainable development are the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Spain, and South Africa. The Scandinavian countries place particularly well, with four of them in the top ten. Among emerging countries, two stand out particularly: South Africa (5th) and Brazil (9th). The rankings vary depending on the criteria analysed (energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, lost time due to work accidents, salaries, and staff turnover), and sectors of activity. By sector, the companies that most closely guard their sustainable development information are financial sector businesses, which are ranked bottom on all seven indicators (energy, grenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management and time lost due to workplace accidents). At the other extreme, utility companies dominate the rankings on most indicators, and take 1st place for release of information about greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, and staff turnover. Steve Waygood, director of management at Aviva Investors in London, says “we think that it would be highly opportune for public powers to intervene and define a universal palette of sustainable development indicators.”

Institutional investors are showing a growing interest in alternative management, which allows them to support their investment objectives, such as diversification and generating alpha, according to the most recent annual study by Russel Investments of alternative management (“2012 Global Survey on Alternative Investment.”)“In an environment characterised by low returns, a high level of economic uncertainty, and volatility on financial markets, alternative solutions represent an essential component of a multi-asset class diversified [approach]. With ongoing volatility and market shocks in mind, institutional investors are seeking to protect their portfolios by structuring them in such a way as to favour prudent risk management, while also seeking to earn returns in various market environments,” says Julia Cormier, director, head of alternative investments at Russell Investments.Institutional investors who participated in the Russell Investments study are highly exposed to alternative investment, with an average of 22%. Among the major reasons for this exposure, diversification is cited by 90% of investors. This is followed by volatility management and low correlation with traditional investments, cited by 64% of investors, and potential returns, cited by 45%.A large majority of respondents to the study say that they are planning to maintain or increase their allocations in the next three years to all alternative categories. 32% of participants are planning to increase their investments in hedge funds and private real estate, 28% for private infrastructure, 25% for private equity, 20% for commodities and 12% for infrastructure and public real estate.The study finds that 49% of investors in single hedge funds use the fund of fund vector, but a considerable proportion of them are planning to set aside this traditional model in favour of specific solutions.Private equity is dominant in North American portfolios, but Europe is not far behind. On both sides of the Atlantic, investors tend to prefer small or mid-sized buyout funds.Lastly, the study finds that investors overall are seeking further training in alternative management. Meanwhile, 91% of North American investors (compared with 68% worldwide) say that they undertake exhaustive due diligence before making new investments.

Invesco Real Estate has announced the arrival of Timothy Bellman as head of global research, at its Dallas offices. In the global research team, Bellman will focus on global asset allocation and co-ordinating research activities undertaken by regional heads of research in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Before joining Invesco Real Estate, Bellman, 50, spent seven years at ING Real Estate Management, where he was global head of research and strategy, after serving as head of research and strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.

Carmignac Gestion no longer holds any German government bonds (Bund), Les Echos reports. For the past 2 years, the firm, which manages about EUR48bn in assets, has not held any other euro zone government bonds except Bunds. Carmignac Gestion estimates that German government debt “essentially represents a risk management tool. The idea of a larger role for Germany in undertaking the financial risks of the euro zone has been getting bandied about. As a result, the use of Bunds as a refuge security against European risk will be likely to become less effective,” Didier Saint-George, a member of the investment board, explains to Les Echos. Saint-George does not rule out the possibility of “using this management tool again in the future, even if it is not quite as effective as a year ago, when rates had much further to fall than they do now.”

Tiffani Potesta, head of third-party insurance and DC I-0 divisions at DWS Investments, and previously a director at First Eagle Funds, is joining Schroders as head of advisory sales for the United States, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Potesta will report to Erin Brennan, head of intermediary key accounts.

In April 2012, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was EUR10 billion lower than in March 2012, according to statistics released by the European central Bank. This decrease was due to a decline in share/unit prices.The amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds decreased to EUR6,056 billion in April 2012, from EUR6,066 billion in March 2012. Over the same period, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area money market fundsincreased to EUR967 billion, from EUR951 billion.Transactions1 in shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than moneymarket funds amounted to EUR1 billion in April 2012, while transactions in shares/units issued by money market funds amounted to EUR10 billion.In terms of the breakdown by investment policy, the annual growth rate of shares/units issued by bond funds was 3.2% in April 2012. Transactions in shares/units issued by bond funds amounted to EUR11 billion in April 2012. The annual growth rate and transactions of equity funds were -2.4% and minus EUR13 billion respectively. For mixed funds, the corresponding figures were -0.2% and EUR3 billion.

Michel Barnier appears to have some scheduling problems. The European Commissioner in charge of the internal market and services on 19 June announced that the proposed PRIPS legislation (retail investment products) will finally be unveiled in early July. Since last autumn, the publication of the bill, which has been th subject of constant controversy, has already been delayed several times.In addition to the PRIPS bill, Barnier also announced two other initiatives at a conference of the European insurance intermediaries’ federation (Bipar), which will be unveiled in early July. On the one hand, Barnier proposes to revise the rules on the protection of retail investors under the revised MiFID directive, including stricter consequences for losses by financial instruments held at a depository bank.A revised IMD directive will also be presented, which will aim to better protect consumers of insurance products, in line with revisions to the MiFID directive in the area of sales practices, “in order to ensure that practices are consistent for all investment products, including unit-linked life insurance products.”

According to a survey of 722 of its members in the EU and Switzerland by the CFA Institute, investment professionals are concerned that imposing a tax on financial transactions, a tax on financial activities or a bank levy, all three solutions under consideration by the European Commission, will actually result in costs that end users of financial services will ultimately pay: 75% of the total in the case of a transaction withholding tax, 60% in the case of a financial activity tax, and 59% in the case of a bank levy. Meanwhile, specialists also estimate that if the financial transaction tax is not applied worldwide, it will lead to regulatory arbitrage, and will hurt the competitiveness of the European financial sector.

With the Emerging Markets Corporates sub-fund, DWS is releasing in France a further sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav DWS Invest in France. The product, focused on emerging market corporate bonds, has assets of about EUR155m. It is managed by Maruf Siddiquee.The German asset management firm has assets of over EUR5.1bn in emerging market bonds.CharacteristicsName: DWS Invest Emerging Markets CorporatesISIN code: LU0436052673Front-end fee: 3.00%Management commission: 1.10%

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on 19 June has announced that it has added two new SPDR brand ETFs to trading on the NYSE Arca platform: the SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Crossover Corporate Bond ETF (acronym: XOVR) and the SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF (EMCD).The first of the two funds, which charges fees of 0.30%, replicates a BofA Merrill Lynch index of corporate bonds rated BBB and BB, denominated in US dollars and issued on the US market.The second fund, with fees of 0.50%, tracks the BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Large Cap Senior Corporate Index, which reflects the performance of senior secured bonds in US dollars, issued by emerging market businesses on US or European markets.

The US manager Huntington Asset Advisors has announced the creation of a range of actively-managed ETFs entitled Huntingdon Strategy Shares.The first product in the line will be the EcoLogical Strategy ETF (acronym HECO on NYSE Arca), which will charge fees of 0.95% managed by Brian Salerno, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager.The portfolio will invest at least 80% in shares in companies focused on the environment, and products positioned to profit from ongoing changes in legislation, behaviour of consumers, and corporate investments.The EcoLogical Strategies fund will be distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co.

BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany for the Global Strategic Bonds (ISIN LU0746604445) sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Axa WF from Axa Investment Managers (see Newsmanagers of 1 June 2012).

The CNMV on 15 June issued a sales license for the Luxembourg-registered fund Bantleon Opportunities, from the German bond manager Bantleon (EUR5.1bn in assets). The fund, with about EUR49m in assets, managed by the Swiss team at Bantleon Bank, will be distributed by Capital Strategies Partners A.V., SA.The portfolio of the product, launched in 2008, includes the highest-rated government bonds with total time to maturity of 0 to 7 years, covered bonds, and 10% to 20% large cap equities. The objective, in addition to absolute return, is gains of 4% per year.

Money market funds have been rescued by their parent companies more than 300 times since the 1970s, a study by the Securities and Exchange Commission cited by the Wall Street Journal has found. The unpublished document supports the thesis of Mary Shapiro, chairman of the SEC, that the industry, with USD2.6trn in assets, needs stronger regulation. Shapiro will present her case at a Senate debate on money market funds on Thursday, although she has not received the support of a majority of SEC commissioners.

The New York firm Market Vectors ETF (USD25.1bn in assets) has announced that its investment adviser, Van Eck Associates Corporation, has signed an agreement with Australian Index Investment (Aii) to create a joint venture entitled Market Vectors Australia Pty Ltd (AUD30m), in which the US partner will control a majority stake.Teams at Aii will be transferred to the new entity, which will be led by Annmaree Varelas, CEO of Aii.Market Vectors Australia will release and distribute ETFs, including the six existing sectoral funds of this type in the Aii S&P range (financials, financials x A-Reit, natural resources, industrials, energy and metals & mining). All of these Aii products replicate sub-indices of the ASX 200, except the last one, which tracks a sub-index of the ASX 300.The Australian ETF market is not yet highly developed, with only 70 funds, and total assets of AUD5bn, while assets under management by funds overall total AUD1.8trn.

The UK asset management firm Liontrust Asset Management reached total assets of GBP2.1bn on 18 June 2012, the firm announced in its annual report. On 31 March, assets totalled GBP1.5bn, up since the beginning of April 2011, when they totalled GBP1.343bn. The increase is the result of net subscriptions totalling GBP152m, the acquisition of Occam and positive market effects. Liontrust has reported losses of GBP200,000, compared with losses of GBP4.6m in 2011. Adjusted pre-tax profits came to GBP1m, compared with losses of GBP1.7m in 2011.