The new head of Barclays Wealth for northern Asia, Pakorn Boonyakurkul, is hoping to double assets under management in Asia to more than USD50bn by 2014, Asian Investor reports. He is aiming at high net worth investors with wealth of over USD100m.The team will next month be strengthened by the addition of Januar Tjandra as head of Greater China. Tjandra previously worked at Goldman Sachs.Assets under management at Barclays Wealth total GBP170bn, of which about 10% come from the Asian region.

Invesco has launched an Italian-registered, pan-European real estate fund reserved for institutional investors, in partnership with Prima Sgr, Bluerating reports. Up to 25% of the portfolio will be invested in Italy, and will be managed directly by Prima Sgr. Invesco will be responsible for the European investment allocation via Invesco Real Estate.

BlackRock has appointed Benoit Sorel as senior head of clients for iShares in France. Sorel will report to David Benmussa, director of clients for iShares in France. The sales team at iShares now includes four professionals dedicated exclusively to French clients. Soreel previously worked at Crédit Agricole CIB in Paris, as an institutional salesperson for structured products in France.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 21 November announced that it has been awarded a mandate by the Spanish firm Banco Cooperativo to provide independent valuation services for its structured products.

Nine British investors out of ten are concerned by synthetic ETFs due to repeated warnings from regulators, according to a Morningstar survey of about 600 investors (“Morningstar UK ETF Survey,” November 2011). Investors are clearly highly sensitive to the low cost of ETFs, but 90% of them prefer physical ETFs due to the issues surrounding synthetic ETFs. Counterparty risks are an issue of concern to 90% of investors in the sample, compared with 82% at the time of the previous survey in September. This increase comes despite efforts on the part of suppliers to increase the level of transparency of products and to ensure better investor protection. The survey also finds that there is a need for more information about ETFs, both from private and professional investors. 65% of retail investors would like to know more about ETFs, compared with 77% last month. A higher number of institutional investors, however, (64%, compared with 47%), would prefer to increase their understanding of the product.

The asset management firm Forward Management, based in San Francisco, has launched a long/short strategy dedicated to the corporate debt sector, Hedgeweek reports.The Forward Global Credit Long/Short Fund comes as an addition to the long-only fund Forward EM Corporate Debt Fund, launched in May 2011. At least 10% of assets in the new fund must be invested in assets based outside the United States.The two funds are managed by SW Asset Management, a firm specialised in international credit markets.Forward Management now offers eleven alternative strategies, including six long/short funds.

Groupama AM has announced the launch of the Europe Actions Immobilier fund. The product will invest in publicly-traded realty firms in the European economic area. “Groupama Europe Actions Immobilier meets the needs of investors who are seeking an investment with controlled risk, combining visibility, regular returns, and immediate liquidity. Our investors will receive an annual dividend,” explains Arnaud Bertin, manager at Groupama Asset Management. Characteristics ISIN code: FR0011051655 Valuation: Daily Minimal initial subscription: EUR150,000 Maximal subscription commissions (not paid to mutual fund): 2.75% Maximal exit fee (not paid to mutual fund): none Direct management fees (maximum): 1.2%

Talence Gestion is launching Talence 2015, an equity fund which will invest in 40 positions on shares which are currently trading at a steep discount, and which are expected to return to a valuation in line with their fundamentals in the short- to mid-term (in the next three years). In the equally-weighted portfolio, Régis Lefort, manager of the fund, is including primarily French equities of all cap sizes, selected with a stock-picking approach. Once the price objectives have been met, the position is sold off. The proceeds of the sale are not reinvested in equities, but are instead placed in money market and bonds mutual funds. The fund will be dissolved once all the positions have been sold. The objective is to earn returns higher than the average performance of equities over the long term, estimated at 7%. Characteristics ISIN code: FR0011131804 Initial subscription period: 24 November 2011 to 30 January 2012 Front-end fee: none during the subscription period; 5% thereafter Withdrawal fees: 5% for exit before the dissolution of the fund; none at the time of its dissolution Management fee: maximum 2% Performance commission: 15% of the performance of the fund exceeding an annualised rate of 7% Initial value per share: EUR10,000 Valuation frequency: bi-monthly

According to a spokesperson for the cxourt-appointed trustee James W. Giddens, the financial hole in the accounts of clients of the broker MF Global Holdings Ltd may measure more than USD1.2bn, twice as much as previously estimated. MF Global bonds fell by 19% on the news on Monday.Since MF Global entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the trustee has distributed USD1.5bn in collateral to clients, and will distribute USD520m in cash, following a legal decision last week. The office of the trustee says that there is still about USD1.6bn to distribute, but that there will not be much left after 60% of client accounts are reimbursed.

Dan Franklin, who had been senior investment sales manager at Legal & General Investments, has joined Legg Mason Global Asset Management as director of business development for the United Kingdom, Fundweb reports.Franklin will report to Adam Gent, head of UK sales. He will join the sales team in the United Kingdom, and will focus particularly on assisting discretionary clients in the London region.

The UK asset management firm Henderson may reduce its staff as part of an ongoing examination of its acquisition of Gartmore in April this year, Money Marketing reports. Henderson emlpoys about 930 people.

According to the most recent Morningstar survey, 55% of professional investors and 35% of retail investors are reticent about ETFs which replicate indices via swaps. In March, those percentages were 33% and 23% respectively, Handelsblatt reports. The survey sample included 501 retail and 92 professional investors in the United Kingdom. 90% of respondents say they prefer physical replciation ETFs, while only 2% prefer synthetic replication, compared with 74% and 8%, respectively, in March. Lastly, 41% of investors say they are highly concerned by counterparty risks, compared with 29% in March.

Moody’s warned France on 21 November that a sustained rise in its debt yields coupled with weakening economic growth could harm its ratings outlook, fuelling worries it could lose its AAA. «Elevated borrowing costs persisting for an extended period would amplify the fiscal challenges the French government faces amid a deteriorating growth outlook, with negative credit implications,» the rating agency says. In mid-October, Moody’s gave itself three months to study whether it would need to revise its “stable” outlook on the rating. The agency now says that “last week, the yield differential between French and German 10-year government bonds topped 200 basis points, a new euro-era high” The agency calculates that an increase of 100 basis points in yields would result in additional funding costs of billions of euros per year. “With a government projection of barely 1% growth in GNP in 2012, a more burdensome interest rate would make it more difficult to achieve deficit reduction targets,” Moody’s says.

Assets under management by the 500 largest fund managers in the world increased by more than 4% in 2010. They total about USD65trn, which confirms a trend observed in 2009 when assets increased by 16% over the previous year, according to a joint study by Towers Watson and Pensions & Investments (“Pensions & Investments / Towers Watson World 500”).The study also finds that, despite increases in assets in 2009 and 2010, asset levels still remain below their 2007 levels, which were then over USD69trn. Thierry de la Noue, director of the investment department at Towers Watson Paris, stated that “2010 was another good year for most fund managers, and the majority of them were able to turn in solid results. Nonetheless, evolutions in the second half of 2011 are there to remind us how fragile and volatile the markets remain, and how much they also reflect the weakness of underlying economic fundamentals and the changing appetite for risk on the part of institutional investors.”The study finds that in terms of number, bank affiliates continue to dominate the top 20 spots in the rankings, even though the number of independent managers in this group is estimated to have increased. Eleven managers based in the United States rank in the top 20, and these manage 60% of these assets, while eight asset management firms are based in Europe, and only one is Japanese.According to the study, fund managers in emerging markets have more than doubled their proportion of assets under management, which have represented about 4% of total assets in the past ten years. In the same period, assets managed by the top 20 managers more than doubled. They total about USD26trn, and now represent about 40% of total assets.Since 2000, assets managed passively by the largest fund managers have increased by more than 13% per year, compared with 6% for the top 500 fund managers overall, in the same period.

The private equity firm KKR is reportedly close to an agreement to acquire a majority of the assets of Samson Investment, a family-owned gas and oil production firm, for a total of about USD7bn, Bloomberg reports, cited by Agefi. Reuters reports that it has obtained information that KKR has received the support the the Japanese trading form Itochu Corp for its bid.

Effective immediately, Saxo Bank is offering its clients a way to make online trades on 25 different stock markets of equities and ETFs that comply with Islamic law. Clients will receive assistance from the US firm IdealRatings Inc, an agency specialised in the selection of fund managers and financial instruments that meet the requirements of Shariah law.The selection of products is based on commonly accepted and transparent Islamic standards defined by IdealRatings in cooperation with the Shariah Review Bureau, which has locations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Each month, IdealRatings analyses and selects from over 12,000 equities and ETFs.

In October, the Lyxor hedge fund index has earned 0.75%, while in November (to 14 November), it has posted further gains of 0.26%. Losses are limited to 5.85% for January-October, and 5.61% from the beginning of the year to 14 November.The heaviest losses from the beginning of the year to 14 November have been for special situations (-15.14%) and equity short bias (-14.01%). Only two strategies show gains for this period: distressed security, with gains of 0.82%, and CTA short term, with returns of 5.16%.

The Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), being offered by Thomson Reuters from 22 November, offers Islamic banks which are committed to respecting Sharia a benchmark index which may replace conventional benchmarks such as the Libor, which they have relied on in the past due to a lack of an equivalent tool, the Börsen-Zeitung reports.Because the IIBR complies with Islamic law, it measures not interest rates but rather gains. The index will be calculated on a daily basis on the basis of data from 16 Islamic banks and Islamic banking departments at conventional banks. It will be published daily at 11:00 AM, Mecca time (GMT +3).

Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Christophe Cuvelier, directeur général adjoint, revient sur l’impact de la crise des dettes souveraines sur la gestion financière de la Mutuelle Médicis: Pour un investisseur long terme comme la Mutuelle Médicis et compte tenu du mode de détention utilisé pour la gestion de nos obligations, investir aujourd’hui dans de l’emprunt d’Etat allemand 10 ans rapporte trop peu. En effet, ce taux est inférieur à l’inflation. Face aux contraintes de rendements à servir à nos assurés, cela nécessite une légère prise de risques. Par exemple, actuellement, nous conservons nos positions sur les titres italiens. La crise de la dette en zone euro montre les limites actuelles de Solvabilité II. Cette réglementation devra nécessairement évoluer et tirer les enseignements de cette crise. Mais elle sera toujours en déphasage par rapport à la prochaine crise et les changements de calibrage qui en découleront.

Bank of China va se lancer en 2012 dans le trading, ce qui devrait accélérer la financiarisation d’un marché voué à gérer la volatilité

En annonçant hier des règles de liquidité strictes pour les filiales de ses banques, l'Autriche va accentuer la restriction du crédit dans la région

Standard & Poor's s'apprête à mettre en place sa nouvelle méthode pour le secteur bancaire, qui laisse craindre 20 % de déclassements

La Hongrie demande l’aide du FMI et de l’UE. Mais comme en 2008, c’est toute la région qui est pénalisée par le retrait des banques d’Europe de l’Ouest.

Menacé d'être dégradé en catégorie spéculative, le pays, qui s'était détourné de ses bailleurs de fonds, s'en remet de nouveau à eux

Les tensions sur le rendement de l'OAT pourraient peser sur les finances publiques, avertit l'agence

Le Premier ministre David Cameron a proposé un dispositif permettant aux nouveaux acheteurs de financer 95 % de la valeur de leur logement

Si la note des Etats-Unis ne devrait pas être affectée par cet échec, les coupes automatiques dans les dépenses bloquent tout programme de relance

Les tensions sur le rendement de l'OAT pourraient peser sur les finances publiques, avertit l'agence

Le pays a accusé un déficit commercial de 273,8 milliards de yens en octobre, contre un excédent de 39,9 milliards anticipé par le consensus