Serge Janowski, who had been CEO for wealth management at BNP Paribas for Hong Kong and North Asia, has joined Crédit Agricole Suisse as CEO of its Hong Kong arm, a role in which he will develop its local private banking activities, Asian Investor reports. The new recruit will report to Georges Zecchin, CEO of Crédit Agricole Suisse in Asia since June.

According to the most recent study by the World Gold Council, central banks bought 148.4 tonnes of gold in third quarter 2011, taking advantage of a low price for the metal, Les Echos reports. For the year as a whole, their purchases, which already total 348 tonnes, may rise to as much as 450 tonnes. This level has not been seen since 1972, when the Bretton Woods system came to an end, and along with it free convertibility of currency into gold.

Following on the observation that the Paris market is poor in quantitative alternative management firms, QuantValley, an association with 20 founding partners, including eight asset management firms, academic institutions (Paris-Dauphine, Institut Louis Bachelier, Ensae), the competitiveness unit Finance Innovation and SMBs – has unveiled its initiative entitled “Paris: City of Quants 2020,” Agefi reports. The objective is to make this strategy represent 10% of assets under diversified management in France, as their percentage of assets in London is ten times higher. The initiative hopes to eventually make Paris the top centre in continental Europe for active quantitative management. On Thursday, 17 November, at the inception of the project, it was announced that a research project had been initiated, entitled “Development of quantitative management.” The research will be carried out by Paris-Dauphine university and ENSAE ParisTech.

Oddo Securities has appointed Marlène Denize Navarro as head of Sales Program Trading & ETFs, and Jean-Philippe Lhomme as sales trader Program Trading & ETFs. The two newly-promoted employees will work to strengthen the market share for the firm’s Program Trading & ETFs activities. Oddo Securities is present in European markets, including in the areas of equity market intermediation, bond market intermediation, equities financial analysis and credit analysis, a statement says. Denize-Navarro had since April 2005 been a Sales Trader Program Trading & ETFs at Exane BNP Paribas. Lhomme, for his part, worked at BNP Arbitrage in the Delta One team, as a Trader (2007-2009) and as Sales (2010-2011) at Credit Suisse.

The asset management firm Tobam and the index provider FTSE Group on Thursday, 17 November announced that they are launching a new family of eight indices, entitled FTSE-TOBAM Maximum Diversification Index Series. The indices aim to maximise a mathematical definition of diversification, the “diversification ratio,” in order to provide institutional investors with the most diversified portfolio possible, in equities, for each investment universe, either international or domestic, worldwide. The sub-funds of the indices in question all belong to the FTSE All-World Index, and are weighted depending on the amount that each risk factor contributes to equially-weighted portfolio risk, as opposed to a weighting by cap size. The methodology used in the contruction of the portfolio used for the contruction of the series of indices has already been adopted by major investors, including CalPERS. The series of indices will initially be composed of 5 regional indices: FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed World Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed World ex-North America Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Eurobloc Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed Europe Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Developed Asia Pacific ex-Japan IndexIn addition to this, there will be three country indices:FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification UK Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification USA Index FTSE TOBAM Maximum Diversification Japan Index The indices in question may be retained in order to become the basis for publicly traded instruments such as ETFs, structured products, and tracker funds.

The California pension fnud CalPERS on 17 November announced that it has appointed Sean Tracy to the newly-created position of head of strategy and performance. In his new role, Tracy, who previously worked in the California state government, will have particular responsibility for the development and monitoring of strategic projects for the fund, and monitoring of the development of performance measures.

Janus Capital International, the division of Janus Capital dedicated to international activities, has appointed Jamie Wong as head of consultant relations, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. Wong will be based in London, and will supervise and develop the asset management firm’s activities alongside major local and international consultants. Wong will report directly to Augustus Cheh, president of Janus Capital International. Wong previously served as senior vice president at Lazard Asset Management, in charge of developing relations with international consultancy firms. Before joining Lazard Asset Management, Wong worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

At Investor Day 2011, UBS unveiled the results of its strategic reflections, undertaken jointly by its board of directors and its management, which have placed wealth management activities at the core of the firm’s operations, while risk-weighted assets in the sense of the Basel III regulations may be reduced by CHF145bn in the investment banking unit, from a current level of CHF300bn. This downsizine will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs out of 18,000 by the end of 2016.“The growth and success of UBS will confirm its dominant place in wealth management activities, where the firm has a total of nearly CHF1.4trn in assets under management. UBS plans to strengthen this position in Switzerland, Europe, Asia-Pacific and emerging markets. The bank “will be careful to continue on the brilliant path set out on by Wealth Management Americas,” a statement says.The Global Asset Management unit will continue to offer investment services to its clients via diversified investment capacities. It will develop its third-party wholesale activities, relying on the advantages it has in Asia-Pacific and Switzerland, and will continue to provide its services to clients of UBS wealth management activities.The return on equity objective is about 12% to 178% for the group from 2013, with a tier 1 ratio of 13% (under Basel III) by 2013. Among the objectives announced for each division are the following:Wealth Management - Annual growth rate in net new money (NNM): 2-4% - Gross annual margin: 95-105 basis points (bp) - Cost/income ratio: 60-70%Wealth Management Americas - Annual growth in NNM: 2-4% - Gross annual margin: 75-85 bp - Cost/income ratio: 80-90%Global Asset Management - Annual growth rate in NNM: 3-5% - Gross annual margin: 32-38 bp - Operating ratio: 60-70%

Henderson Global Investors France has sold an office and commercial property from the portfolio of the Warburg-Henderson Pan-Europa Nr.1 fund. The net sale price for the building is EUR22.2m. The property, which has a usable floor area of about 2,500 square metres, had been acquired by Warburg-Henderson KAG in September 2005. Henderson states that the returns earned on the property were 8.6% per year, with an internal rate of return of nearly 30%.

In the face of difficulties with its value and growth strategies, AllianceBernstein is playing the diversification card, and is currently putting its weight behind thematic management, which often brings returns when exited from during turbulent market times. “This is not a time for us to abandon value or growth approaches, which represent cumulative assets of more than USD130bn as of the end of September, and which are still an integral part of our product range, but with an eye to diversification, we feel that a thematic approach could make is possible to identify companies likely to benefit from the innovative ideas of tomorrow,” says Catherine Wood, senior vice president at AllianceBernstein and head of thematic management, on a visit to Paris. In this thematic management, Wood manages about USD5bn in two major funds, one of which is focused on the United States, the Alliance US Thematic Research fund, which has about USD4bn in assets, and the other international, Alliance Global Thematic Research (USD1bn). The international strategy has been available to European investors since late 2009, while the US strategy has been available since July 2010, with assets of USD170m and USD80m, respectively. The thematic portfolio includes six major areas: the genome revolution, transformation of energy, reform to the financial system, intensification of cyclical markets, web 2.0, and reemergence of the middle classes. The criteria used in the selection of themes include their global and long-term character, their power to rupture existing ways with profound changes, and their multi-sectoral implications.

Legg Mason Capital Management (LMCM) and its star manager, Bill Miller, on 17 November announced that from 30 April 2012, Peters will become the sole manager of the Value Trust and Value Equity strategies, and CIO of LMCM, while Bill Miller will remain as chairman of LMCM.Miller, who has managed the Value Trust since its inception on 16 April 1982, will continue to manage the LMCM Opportunity Trust with Samanths McLemore as co-manager. McLemore will remain as manager of the Opportunity Fund portfolio, domiciled in Dublin.Peters, who had been co-manager of the Value Trust fund for six months (see Newsmanagers of 22 May), will remain as co-manager of the Special Investment Trust and the MidCap strategy, with Albert Grossman.Chris Gay will remain as assistant portfolio manager of the Value Trust fund, and manager of the Irish Value Fund portfolio and the US Equity Fund, domiciled in London.

Scott Ebner, global head of development for SPDR ETF at State Street Global Advisors, who was in Paris on 17 November 2011 along with Marco Fusco, head of SSgA France, did not come to the city empty-handed. At a press conference, the two heads announced the launch of three new ETFs in France. The funds include one ETF – SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Government Bond ETF, which is listed on Deutsche Börse and which invests in European short-term government bonds – and two ETFs – SPDR S&P US Divident Aristocrats ETF and SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF – which both invest in equities that produce high dividend returns.The SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Government Bond ETF replicates the Barclays Capital 1 – 3 Year Euro Treasury Bond Index, which includes about 75 investment grade bonds from public entities with set rates, from countries in the European single currency area. Only investment grade bonds issued in euros or in a pre-existing currency with a residual maturity of one to three years are included, a statement adds. The SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF replicates the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which includes 60 equities from the S&P Composite 1500 Index, which have paid a high dividend every year for the past 25 years. The individual positions are limited to 4% of the portfolio each, in order to ensure diversification. Lastly, the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF replicates the S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Opportunities Index, which includes 100 liquid equities that serve high dividends, from 20 emerging countries, which have shown stable or positive evolution in their dividend levels in the past three years. The individual positions are limited to 3%, while concentration by country and sector is limited to 25%, in order to ensure diversification. CharacteristicsSPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Euro Govt Bond ETF ISIN code: IE00B6YX5F63 SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (GBP) ISIN code: E00B6YX5B26 SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF $ (USD)ISIN code: IE00B6YX5B26SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF (GBP) ISIN code: E00B6YX5D40 SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF$ (USD)ISIN code: IE00B6YX5D40

The Sanctions Committee of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has fined SGAM (now integrated along with CAAM into Amundi) and SGAM AI (now part of Lyxor, in the SocGen group) EUR1m, with a pecuniary sanction of EUR1.5m. These penalties are linked to the way both affiliates of SocGen tried to fix the liquidity crisis after the 2007 forex crisis. The watchdog also charges the two asset management companies of breaching some compliance rules.

The Aviva Investors Sustainable Future Pan-European Absolute Return Fund is now registered for sale in Spain, Funds People reports. The “sustainable” absolute return product is managed by Derek Lygo, who will aim to construct a high-conviction long/short portfolio with a large exposure to European equities and their derivatives, without sectoral or country restrictions. He may rely on the expertise of the SRI team at Aviva Investors, which has 11 members.

Agefi reports, citing information from Reuters, that Deutsche Börse and Nyse Euronext are prepared to sell off their equity options activities in Europe and let their competitors into Euroex Clearing, in order to lessen their dominant position on derivatives markets. The date on which the European Union is to review the proposal has been delayed from 22 December to 23 January, the newspaper reports.

Giles Swan will join the new association ICI Global, founded by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) to defend the interests of international investment fund managers, in January 2012. Swan, a specialist in policy related to collective investment plans at the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), will become director of global funds policy, and will report to Dan Waters, managing director, Investment Europe reports.Swan joined the FSA in May 2005. He was in charge of negotiations with the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on the subject of the AIFM directive, and directed one of four task forces at the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA). He was also in charge of supervision of asset management firms, before taking additional responsibility for supervision of the operations of the largest life insurers in Asia, the United States and Europe.

Europe Pension reports that the Netherlands federation of retirement institutions (OPF) has announced that pension funds will now notify their members and other beneficiaries of all costs related to management of pension savings and asset management. This is a simple recommendation, without any obligation, meaning that the Federation is asking its members to comply, or else to explain why they are not doing so.A better overall vision of costs makes boards more accountable and allows them to personalise communications for various target groups. However, as the Federation is aware that this innovation will require considerable effort on the part of pension funds, it recommends a gradual application.

The Hollandhaus building in Bonn (11,000 square metres) has been resold by the open-ended real estate furm DEGI Global Business to IVG Institutional Funds, for an undisclosed price slightly low its most recent expert valuation, Aberdeen Immobilien KAG has announced. The property, the former, renovated embassy of the Netherlands to West Germany, is wholly leased to Deutsche Post Immobilien. It had been acquired for EUR17.2m in November 2007. Aberdeen Immobilien announced on 18 August that the DEGI Global Business fund would gradually be liquidated by 30 June 2014 at the latest.

George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 17 November announced the sale of Northern Rock Plc, which was nationalised on 23 February 2008, to Virgin Money. The Treasury will see GBP747m on the sale, and that amount may increase in the future to GBP1bn.Virgin Money has pledged not to undertake any involuntary redundancies, in addition to those already announced, for the next three years following the conclusion of the transaction (which will be completed by 1 January 2012).On 1 January 2010, Northern Rock was spun off into two entities, Northern Rock Plc, and Northern Rock (Asset Management) Plc.

Dominic Grinstead, managing director of MetLife UK, has announced that the US group may launch an asset management firm in the United Kingdom by 2013, though no final decision has yet been taken, Money Marketing reports. The site adds that FriendsLife announced at the beginning of the month that it is launching an asset management affiliate in the United Kingdom, which it aims to have operational by the second half of 2012.

The Vietnamese government on 16 September announced that from next year, it will allow transactions on commodities ETFs on the Hanoi stock exchange, Handelsblatt reports. The corresponding regulations are expected to be passed by the end of this year. The objective is primarily to attract institutional investors.

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index has bounced back off its losses in September to post returns of 1.85% in October, while long/short equity gained 5.27%. However, the index as a whole has lost 6.04% from the beginning of the year until 11 November. Managed futures and convertibles arbitrage were the only two strategies to show losses in October, running to 5.07% and 0.52%, respectively. However, all categories show a loss between 1 January and 11 November, particularly event-driven (-11.60%), global macro (-8.92%), convertibles arbitrage (-7.14%). Bond arbitrage is the only strategy in positive territory for this period, with a gain of 0.30%.

The US index provider Indxis has teamed up with the Swiss firm GAIA Capital Advisors to create the GAIA Farming Index, which will serve as the basis for an ETF or other structured products, Hedge Week reports. Backtesting reveals that the new product has earned annualised returns over three years of 20.29%. It brings together equities in companies worldwide which own or operate agricultural land, most often with a large vertical integration, in order to cover a significant segment of the value chain. The index will be administrated and calculated by Indxis, while GAIA will be in charge of the management of the index, which will include all sectors of production (meat, grains, cooking oils, dairy products, fish, diversified operations, plantations in all geographical zones).

On the occasion of the publication of the Water Discolure Global Report 2011 by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has announced that it will be calling on companies whose shares feature in its portfolio to issue more appropriate communications on the subject of their exposure to “water” risk, and the measures they are taking to manage this risk in their operations and supply chain. NBIM, an affiliate of the Bank of Norway in charge of managing the Government Pension Fund – Global (GPFG), formerly known as the Oil Fund (DKK3.157trn), says that a survey undertaken this year of over 400 companies in its portfolio found that the companies that provide adequate information on water risks were far too few and far between, particularly companies which provide information about their supply chain. The asset management firm claims that although climate change issues are a global phenomenon which requires international action and regulations, water is a resource whose management is optimal on the local scale. The CDP report shows that shortages of water can have a negative influence on the activity and profitability of businesses, but that efforts to manage risks related to water remain far behind measures that aim to bring the effects of climate change under control.

Le Aviva Investors Sustainable Future Pan-European Absolute Return Fund est désormais enregistré pour la vente en Espagne, rapporte Funds People. Ce produit «durable» de performance absolue est géré par Derek Lygo qui a pour mission de construire un portefeuille long/short de haute conviction à forte teneur en actions européennes et de leurs dérivés, sans restriction de secteur ou de pays. Il peut s’appuyer sur l’expertise de l'équipe ISR d’Aviva Investors, qui compte 11 personnes.

Les fonds d’investissement de Pictet AM sont désormais disponibles dans toutes les agences bancaires de Citibank España, rapporte Funds People. Cette coopération rentre dans le processus d’architecture ouverte mis en oeuvre par Citibank en Espagne.

Serge Janowski, qui était CEO de la gestion de fortune chez BNP Paribas pour Hong-Kong et l’Asie du Nord, rejoint Crédit Agricole Suisse comme CEO de ses succursale de Hong-Kong afin de développer sur place son activité de banque privée, rapporte Asian Investor. Le nouvel arrivant est subordonné à Georges Zecchin, CEO de Crédit Agricole Suisse en Asie depuis juin.

Chez Union Investment (banques populaires allemandes), Christian Eckert quittant son poste à la fin de l’année de sa propre initiative, il sera remplacé à la mi-janvier par Frank Engels comme directeur de la gestion des fonds obligataire, et ce sous la responsabilité d’Anja Mirkus, responsable de la gestion de portefeuille au sein du comité exécutif.L’impétrant aura la responsabilité d’un encours de 74 milliards d’euros. Après avoir été head of emerging market debt de juin 2008 à septembre 2010 chez Union Investment, il avait rejoint Barclays Capital en octobre 2010 comme global head pour la stratégie d’allocation d’actifs mondiale et co-head des affaires économiques européennes.

L’immeuble Hollandhaus de Bonn (11.000 mètres carrés) a été revendu par le fonds immobilier offert au public DEGI Global Business à IVG Institutional Funds pour un montant non divulgué mais légèrement inférieur à la dernière valeur d’expertise, a annoncé Aberdeen Immobilien KAG.Cet actif, l’ancienne ambassade des Pays-Bas restructurée, est entièrement loué à Deutsche Post Immobilien. Il avait été acquis pour 37,2 millions d’euros en novembre 2007.Aberdeen Immobilien avait annoncé le 18 août que le DEGI Global Business sera progressivement liquidé d’ici au 30 juin 2014 au plus tard.

Jusqu’au au 30 mars 2012, le courtier Arca Patrimoine commercialise Premium Multigestion 4, un produit reposant sur un titre de créance dédié à une clientèle de particuliers. Ce dernier offre une protection du capital investi à hauteur de 90% à l‘échéance des 10 ans et une performance qui repose sur un ensemble de quatre fonds diversifiés et multigestionnaires : Axiom Obligataire (35%), Carmignac Patrimoine (25%), Fox France (20%) et Fox Sélection (20%). La gestion est fonction de la volatilité : en fonction du niveau de risque, un indice dédié Premium Diversifié 3 permet une augmentation de l’exposition effective de l’indice à l’allocation en cas de faible volatilité, ou une diminution en cas de forte volatilité. A l’échéance des 10 ans, la Valeur Finale Retenue de l’indice Premium Diversifié 3 est égale à la moyenne des 5 plus hautes valeurs de l’indice Premium Diversifié 3 observées aux dates de constatations annuelles. Dans tous les cas, la valeur Finale Retenue de l’Indice Premium Diversifié 3 ne peut être enregistrée à un niveau inférieur à son niveau initial - ce minimum ne s’applique qu’à la valeur finale de d’indice et ne constitue par une garantie minimum de valeur pour le titre de créance Premium Multigestion 4. Un mécanisme exclusif de levier interne a été mis en place pour dynamiser la performance. L’investisseur bénéficie ainsi d’un montant supplémentaire investi dans le produit, équivalent à 120% de son investissement initial. Ce montant supplémentaire est remboursable au terme à un taux fixe de 4,14% par an. Premium Multigestion 4 est commercialisé au sein des contrats d’assurance vie Imaging et Imaging+ assurés par Inora Life France.