The Hamburg-based Hansinvest Hanseatische Invesment GmbH (Signal Iduna bank) on 15 September launched the National-Bank Stiftungsfonds 1, which as its name indicates, is aimed at charities. Minimal subscription is set at EUR25,000, and management commission totals 1.01%. Front-end fee is 3%. The German-registered product (DE000A1H44D5), actively managed by the National-Bank of Essen, is composed of a core portfolio which invests in top-rated bonds, and which therefore present low levels of risk, and a satellite allocation to be placed in corporate bonds, Pfandbriefe and value equities. Risk management relies on a dynamic overlay. The management team is permitted to use derivatives. The fund will distribute dividends twice a year, and the recommended investment duration is over 3 years.

In third quarter 2011, operating profits from asset management at the Allianz group incrased by 3.1% compared with the corresponding period of last year, to EUR537m, while in the first nine months of the year, assets increased by 6% to over EUR1.59bn.However, the cost-income ratio for January-September deteriorated to 59.2%, from 57.8%.Assets as of 30 September reach a new record of EUR1.592trn, compared with EUR1.443trn one year previously. Of this total, assets managed for third parties represented EUR1.222trn, compared with EUR1.131trn.Overall, in July-September the Allianz group posted a net profit of EUR258m, compared with EUR1.3bn in third quarter 2010, a decline of 79.7% due to non-operational losses of EUR931m, largely on stakes in the financial sector and on the portfolio of Greek government debt. For the first three quarters of the year, net profits are down 44.3%, to EUR2.24bn.

Capital Strategies Partners, MCH Investment Strategies and Selinca AV, all three Spanish securities agencies specialised in distribution of funds from independent asset management firms in Spain, have decided to create a third-party marketing (TPM) association, to promote asset management firms of this type, Funds People reports. The association will be operational in early 2012, and the promoters of the idea invite all independent managers with a “regulated” presence in Spain to join.

UniCredit is expected to unveil a capital increase of EUR7-7.5bn this Monday, and a three-year industrial plan based on drastic cost reductions, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Announcements are also expected about the future of Pioneer, the group’s asset management firm, which is one of the few companies to have remained outside the intra-group integration process of the past few years, the Italian newspaper reports.

The Swiss Federal financial market supervision authority, Finma, “has issued a clarification of the relationships between 20 Swiss banks with ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEP). In four cases, the Finma has initiated enforcement procedures,” a statement on money-laundering published on 10 November says. Finma, however, does not name the four incriminated institutions.

Facing the continuing Euro zone debt saga, investors have recently shown a preference for US equity and bond funds. In the week to 9 November, net inflows to these funds totalled USD11bn, according to statistics from the agency EPFR Global. Inflows to US equity funds alone totalled USD7.3bn, while large cap ETFs represented about 80% of this total. Another winner on turbulence in the European markets is emerging market equity funds, which have earned net inflows of USD2.1bn. Equity funds overall have posted a net inflow of USD9.59bn, while bond funds have earned net subscriptions totalled USD4.07bn.US money market funds, for their part, have attracted USD23.8bn, despite returns of only about 0.02%. European money market funds have also been popular.

After five months in a row of withdrawals, equity funds on sale in Sweden have returned to net inflows. In October, they recorded net inflows of SEK5.5bn (EUR0.6bn), according to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association. But they remain negative, at -SEK60.2bn (-EUR6.62bn) since the beginning of the year. Balanced funds had net inflows of SEK1.4bn (EUR0.15bn). However, bond funds saw outflows of SEK5.4bn (EUR0.59bn), while money market funds had outflows of SEK2.6bn (EUR0.28bn), and hedge funds lost SEK0.1bn (EUR0.01bn). Overall, the fund industry in Sweden had outfows in October of SEK1.1bn (EUR0.12bn). Since the beginning of the year, these funds have seen outflows of SEK4.2bn (EUR0.46bn). As of the end of October, the Swedish fund sector represented assets of SEK1.804trn, of which SEK958bn were in equity funds (about EUR198.5bn and EUR105.4bn, respectively).

The asset management division of Deutsche Bank has acquired the remainder of capital in its joint venture with UFG Asset Management, Deutsche UFG Capital Management, for an undisclosed amount. At the creation of the joint venture in 2008, the German group bought a 40% stake in UFG Invest, the asset management affiliate of Russia’s UFG AM. Deutsche UFG Capital Management has assets of EUR370m, and is one of the top ten Russian asset management firms. It will become a part of DWS Investments, the retail fund affiliate of Deutsche Bank. Florian Fenner will remain as chairman of Deutsche UFG Asset Management, and will also join the regional executive board for Russia at Deutsche Bank

The Prudential group will add to its range of funds managed as a function of risk with the launch of four new funds which offer various levels of exposure to equities, Money Marketing reports. The four new products are the Prudential PruFund 0-30, the Prudential PruFund 10-40, the Prudential PruFund 20-55, and the Prudential PruFund 40-80.

Russell Investments has announced that it has selected the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information provider Sustainalytics to assist it in the analysis of client funds and portfolios. The development will allow Russell to develop investment services for clients seeking increased integration of ESG criteria into their portfolios. Sustainalytics integrates 60 to 100 performmance indicators, weighted depending on the industrial sector in which they are applied.

EFG Financial Products (Europe) will very soon be opening a branch office in Paris, specialised in distribution of structured products from the EFG Financial Products group. The group, based in Zurich, has already opened a branch office in London, which will distribute the group’s structured products on the British market. EFG Financial Products (Europe) GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EFG Financial Products Holding AG. The Paris office of EFG Financial Products (Europe), which has been licensed for the French market since April 2011, offers investment services to its institutional clients. EFG Financial Products AG, the main operational section of the EFG Financial Products group, is the tenth-largest issuer of investment products on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX).

As of the end of October, assets under management by Franklin Templeton Investments (Franklin Resources) totalled USD694.1bn, compared with USD659.9bn as of the end of September, and USD664.3bn one year previously. Assets are thus up by USD34.2bn or 5.2% in October.At Invesco, assets under management increased in one month by USD37.3bn, or 6.2%, in October, to finish the month at USD635.7bn.Equity assets at Franklin Templeton increased yo USD281.9bn, compared with USD254.2bn one month earlier, while Invesco’s equity assets totalled USD279.5bn, compared with USD253.2bn as of the end of September.

Despite losses of EUR24m for the part of the group in third quarter, due to depreciation of Greek government debt, the “asset management, insurance and private banking” unit of Amundi has earned net profits for the part of the group of EUR766m in the first nine months of the year, down 32.4% compared with the first nine months of 2010. Excluding the impact of the European bailout plan for Greece, net profits for the part of the group totalled EUR479m for the quarter, and EUR1.35trn for the first nine months of this year, a statement from the firm says.

Amundi (including the asset management operations of BFT acquired on 1 July 2011) showed its good ability to adapt in a weakened environment, according to Crédit Agricole. Growth in new inflows continued in the institutional investor segment, with 7.7 billion euros in the first nine months of 2011, driven primarily by sovereign funds. Inflows from employee savings rose to a record high of 3.4 billion euros. These two segments partly offset outflows from the branch networks and third-party distributors, which amounted to 16.2 billion euros, including outflows of 8.1 billion euros from money market funds. Outflows from the corporate segment were 6.5 billion euros, including 7.2 billion euros from money market funds. Furthermore, the negative market and currency impact came to 19.3 billion euros in line with market trends since the beginning of the year. Net income for the asset management at Crédit Agricole was 324 million euros in the first nine months of 2011, up 5.1% compared to the same period one year ago. Revenues moved down 9.1% owing to the decline in performance-based commissions, while management fees proved resilient. Expenses fell by 4.9% (excluding restructuring costs in 2010), reflecting the full effect of synergies linked to CAAM-SGAM merger. The cost/income ratio was held down to a competitive 56.4%. In the third quarter, netincome was 79 million euros, registering a bigger decline of 32.2% compared with the second quarter of 2011. This downturn must be weighed against severe deterioration in the markets: the CAC 40 lost 25% in the third quarter alone, which cut into assets under management and performance-based commissions. To limit the impact, Amundi continued efforts to lower the breakeven point and reduced expenses by 13.5% between the second and third quarters of 2011.

Ignis Asset Management has announced the appointment of Liisa Juntunen who will join Ignis’ distribution team in January 2012. She will take a leadership position in Ignis’ institutional business development team with a focus on consultant relations. With her experience she will also help to develop and position Ignis’ equity and real estate offerings. Liisa Juntunen has been responsible for marketing and sales, product development and consultant relations at AllianceBernstein since 2001 and has 17 years’ industry experience.She will report to Claude Chene, director and head of global distribution. The latter worked with Liisa Juntunen at AllianceBernstein prior to joining Ignis in October 2011.Ignis has made a number of senior appointments over the past 18 months and Liisa Juntunen’s appointment will help to further develop the company’s existing and future institutional offerings.

“Due to major growth in its international role in the Long Term Savings division at Old Mutual,” Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has decided to move to London, and to leave its head offices in Southampton. The move will be completed by the end of 2013. Currently, two thirds of the 57 employees at SIG are based in Southampton, while the others work in London, where SIG “hopes” that most Southampton employees will agree to move with the business.

The British Schroders group has earned net inflows in the first nine months of the year of GBP5.1bn, the firm announced in a statement on 10 November. In the quarter to 30 September, net inflows to institutional investors totalled GBP2.8bn, but at the same time, the sector saw net outflows of GBP2.7bn, and the private bank underwent net redemptions totalled GBP100m. As of 30 September, assets under management totalled GBP182.2bn. Groupwide, pre-tax profits in the first nine months of the year rose to GBP317.3m, compared with GBP282.7m in the corresponding period of 2010. Pre-tax profits at the asset management unit totalled GBP295.8m, compared with GBP263.2m.

The Barclays Private Equity fund, a specialist in investment in non-publicly traded businesses, has been taken over by six executives, and will continue to operate in the future under the name Equistone Partners Europe, according to a statement released by the business on 11 November. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but Barclays will remain an investor in funds managed by Equistone, “along with many other institutional investors.” The decision is a sign of the increasing disinterest of traditional banks in an activity that consumes capital, at a time when solvency requirements are requiring them to significantly increase their owners’ equity levels. Since 1996, Barclays Private Equity has invested EUR5.3bn in 214 transactions. The fund, which states that its investments have allowed it to earn “excellent returns on behalf of its investors,” is specialised in mid-sized businesses. Equistone operates out of six offices, in France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with 35 managers. The fund ia planning to focus on acqusitions with a total value of EUR50m to EUR300m, the statement says.

Lors d’une table ronde organisée par Option Finance, Jean-Marc Boyer, directeur général du Groupe Pasteur Mutualité a jugé les relations existantes avec les sociétés de gestion et les stratégies privilégiées: Le Groupe Pasteur Mutualité n’a pas récemment investi dans l’alternatif ni dans les ETF. Nous ne ciblons aucun indice, mais nous devons rester dans la moyenne du marché. Notre gestion est désormais contrainte par des reportings de performances trimestrielles. Nos préoccupations relèvent plus des perspectives de rendements que nous pouvons attendre. Nous avons des obligations allemandes qui peuvent rapporter du 2%, ce type de placement est sûr, mais ne rapporte rien actuellement net d’inflation. Alors que la collecte nette du Groupe Pasteur Mutualité est en forte hausse, la décollecte des produits en assurance vie est un autre sujet qui inquiète le marché à l’heure actuelle. La crise ne semble pas avoir transformé la vision des gérants qui se concentrent toujours purement sur la gestion de nos actifs, alors que nous raisonnons en termes de risque de marché à la fois sur le passif et sur l’actif. Les gérants devraient donc mieux intégrer l’ALM. De plus, à l’intérieur de leur mandat, les gérants d’actifs essayent de déplacer la responsabilité sur le mandant. A cet égard, dès que nous avons enregistré des dégradations de notation sur un émetteur en portefeuille, les gérants nous demandent ce qu’il faut faire. On voit bien qu’il est difficile de prendre la responsabilité de céder maintenant des titres dans cet univers très incertain. Dans ces conditions, le partage de responsabilité n’est pas forcément très simple entre le mandataire et le mandant. En plus, il y a parfois eu des problèmes de communication, puisque de notre côté nous pouvions parfois aimer le risque de taux à l’actif, compte tenu de la longueur de certains passifs. Nous raisonnons en effet actif-passif en termes de risque. Dans les cas d’anticipation de baisse des taux, nous pouvons souhaiter rallonger la duration d’actifs presque à hauteur de la duration du passif.

Si la Caisse régionale collabore étroitement avec les structures du groupe concernant son offre de solutions patrimoniales, l'établissement indique toutefois travailler en architecture ouverte. Les unités de compte adossées à certains de nos produits ne proviennent pas nécessairement de la société de gestion Amundi. 60% d’entre elles émanent d’ailleurs d’autres structures commente Bernard Roy, responsable du marché patrimonial. La banque a notamment tissé au fil des années un partenariat solide avec la Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. En assurance vie, les conseillers peuvent également proposer des contrats gérés par d’autres assureurs pour répondre aux demandes spécifiques de certains de leurs clients. Parallèlement à Prédica, ils font ainsi appel à Generali et AG2R La Mondiale. Source: L’Agefi Actifs

Ses prévisions sont inférieures à celles du gouvernement. Elle n'exclut pas que l'Europe puisse plonger en récession même si ce n'est pas son hypothèse centrale

Bruxelles va présenter demain de nouvelles mesures d’encadrement du secteur. Les règles déjà adoptées ne sont pas encore totalement appliquées

L'écart avec les taux allemands s'est détendu vendredi mais reste à des niveaux historiquement élevés

Rome teste l'appétit des investisseurs au lendemain de l'arrivée aux affaires de Mario Monti

Les opérations exceptionnelles de refinancement de la BCE, et la récente baisse de taux, apaisent cependant nettement les tensions

Rome teste l'appétit des investisseurs au lendemain de l'arrivée aux affaires de Mario Monti

Emmanuel Morano, responsable de la gestion actions à la Française AM

Jean-Louis Mourier, économiste chez Aurel BGC

Le président de la Bundesbank réitère son opposition catégorique à une intervention massive de la BCE sur le marché obligataire italien

Hadia Guergouri, analyste crédit chez Allianz Global Investors