30 % des transactions notées par l'agence, contre une fourchette de 40 à 50 % préalablement indiquée, risquent d'être rétrogradées

44 sociétés ont vu le jour en 2010, correspondant à une création nette de 25 entreprises. Leur nombre s’élevait à 592 à fin décembre, contre 571 et 567 en 2008 et 2009, selon les chiffres de l’AFG. L’an passé, les encours gérés par le secteur ont crû de 1,7% à 2.656 milliards d’euros.

44 sociétés ont vu le jour l'an dernier, pour 25 créations nettes. Leur nombre s’élevait à 592 à fin 2010, selon les chiffres de l’AFG

La société de gestion alternative, qui vise 3 milliards d’euros d’actifs d’ici fin 2013, mise sur le développement des mandats dédiés

Même si les ventes commencent à repartir, gonflées par les saisies, les prix ont encore baissé en novembre 2010

La nouvelle législation instaure une durée minimale de détention pour les investisseurs institutionnels

L’institution recommande cependant des mesures politiques dans les économies avancées et en développement pour assurer une croissance durable

Le président américain a proposé un gel partiel des dépenses sur 5 ans afin de réduire le déficit de 400 milliards de dollars en 10 ans

Le quotidien avance que le fonds américain de garantie des dépôts bancaires pourrait annoncer aujourd’hui qu’un groupe d’investisseurs emmené par Colony Capital s’est vu attribuer la gestion de deux portefeuilles de créances hypothécaires commerciales et résidentielles hérités de banques en faillite et d’un montant de 820 millions de dollars.

Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière a levé hier 5 milliards d’euros de dette à 5 ans. L'émission inaugurale a attiré une demande record de 45 milliards.

L’émission obligataire à 5 ans inaugurale du Fonds européen de stabilité financière (EFSF), qui rentre dans le cadre du financement de sa contribution au plan d’aide à l’Irlande, a été plébiscitée par les marchés. «Le carnet d’ordres a atteint un record de 45 milliards d’euros avec plus de 500 ordres », précise Frédéric Gabizon, responsable dettes souveraines chez HSBC France, qui fait partie avec SG CIB et Citi du syndicat bancaire organisant l’émission. Le banquier ajoute que la fourchette de marge à l’émission indicative a été abaissée de 8-10 pb au dessus des taux mid-swaps à 6-8 pb et qu’il y a de fortes chances que la dette sorte sur la partie basse de la fourchette et soit placée pour un montant de 5 milliards. Sur le marché des taux, le taux du Bund à 10 ans se détendait ce matin de 3 pb à 3,11%.

Après une hausse de 2,7% en novembre, la consommation des ménages français en produits manufacturés a augmenté de 0,6% le mois dernier contre une hausse de 0,4% attendue par des économistes. Ceci est dû au soutien apporté par la prime à la casse automobile supprimée fin 2010, montrent les chiffres de l’Insee.

Les chutes de neige de fin d’année ont entraîné un recul inattendu de 0,5% du PIB britannique au quatrième trimestre 2010, selon l’estimation publiée ce matin par l’Office national de la statistique. Sur un an, la croissance est estimée à 1,7% au quatrième trimestre après un rythme de 2,7% au trimestre précédent.

La société française de multigestion alternative annonce la nomination prochaine de Pierre Lenders, ancien de JPMorgan, Murex et Oddo, au poste de directeur général. HDF Finance, qui revendique 1,5 milliard d’euros d’actifs gérés, entend aussi relancer sa marque auprès de la clientèle privée et développer de nouvelles offres pour la clientèle institutionnelle.

L’organisme a relevé sa prévision de croissance du produit intérieur brut mondial à 4,4% pour 2011, contre 4,2% dans sa précédente estimation d’octobre. La prévision est relevée de 2,2% à 2,5% pour les pays développés grâce aux Etats-Unis où la croissance attendrait 3% contre 2,3% auparavant, tandis que l’estimation reste inchangée à 1,5% pour la zone euro.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The independent asset management firm Altira Group on 24 January announced that it has recruited the Swiss Jens Schleuniger, who was manager of the DWS Invest Afrika fund (EUR340m). Schleuniger was also manager of the DWS GO Frontier Markets fund, and co-manager of the DWS Türkei.With the future African equities fund, Altira would be adding to a range which already includes a private equity fund, African Development Corporation, founded in 2007. In addition, Schleuniger may collaborate with experts in commodities and shares in commodity businesses at the group, who manage EUR110m in assets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oliver Morath, CEO of Baring Asset Management Deutschland, has been appointed head of Europe & MENA, effective immediately. He will continue to be based in Frankfurt, and will report to George Harvey, head of sales, client service & business development.His successor as head of sales at Barings Germany will be Howard Luder, who was previously director of business development, asset servicing, Germany, at RBC Dexia.Barings has also created positions for a head of Switzerland and a head of Northern Europe; the appointments will be made at a later date.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian sset management firm Azimut, which manages EUR14bn in assets, is planning to enter Asia, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Its Asian unit will be operational by the end of the year. The management firm is currently awaiting the necessary licenses to open its new activities. The group will transfer three of its managers currently based in Luxembourg to China, where they will join four local partners. Azimut’s plans for expansion don’t stop in Asia: “we would like to have managers not only in Europe but throughout the world. In four years, one employee our of three will be working abroad,” says Pietro Guiliani, head of Azimut. The firm is primarily looking at Brazil and Turkey. The firm may also make acquisitions, and in this connection, it is in contact with a company in a country close to Italy.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the asset management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January Allianz Global Investors made an implicit reply to the consumer defence association Stiftung Warentest (see Newsmanagers of 6 January 2011), with the announcement that its open-ended funds would not invest in businesses which are involved in the production of cluster bombs or land mines. In addition, the management firm has put in place the necessary procedures to avoid any investment in businesses of this type. For this, AGI Europe has set up a blacklist of businesses off limits to its open-ended funds. The list is updated regularly, to include the most recent information available on the subject.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } The CFA Institute on 24 January published a new study of questions related to market transparency and the workings of fair competition in the fragmented European equities trading markets. The study was released as part of a consultation over the MiFID directive to regulate markets for financial instruments, which runs until 2 February 2011, and at a time when the market is increasingly fragmenting.The study (http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/ccb.v2011.n3.1), which reviews the structure of European equities markets as well as the regulatory framework applicable to the various types of trading platforms (bilateral and multilateral), concentrates its analysis on the need for transparency on each platform. The report also empirically demonstrates a correlation between high levels of transparency and low trading spreads, a sign that investors would have a lot to gain from increased transparency in trading.The study also estimates that the quality and unity of post-transaction information could be improved, for example, by shortening the deadlines for the publication of information about transactions, as recommended by the CESR, and by setting up a consolidated tape system to collect market data.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the week to 19 January, investors steered clear of US municipal bond funds, while European bonds were also not on the agenda due to the government debt crises still raging there, according to the most recent statistics from EPFR Global. The week to 19 January ended with outflows of USD1.7bn.Outflows from US municipal bond funds totalled a record USD3.6bn. Since 11 November, investors have pulled USD17.6bn out of these funds.Inflows to equities funds, meanwhile, totalled USD10.1bn, of which USD6.9bn went to US equities funds. In other words, it was a sixth consecutive week of inflows for US equities funds, which have attracted USD17.3bn since the beginning of December, largely for large cap funds.Emerging market equities funds had total inflows of USD1.7bn for the week, while money market funds lost a further USD30bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to initial estimates from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) about capital flows towards emerging markets in 2010, presented on Monday, USD908bn in private capital were injected into emerging economies and their markets, of which USD227bn went to China, La Tribune reports. These flows are expected to reach USD960bn in 2011, and USD1.009trn in 2012.As of the end of 2009, emerging market equities accounted for 13% of the MSCI all-country World index, compared with 4.5% in 2003, the newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Lavin Mok as head of sales for Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Investor reports. It is a newly-created position, which marks the group’s desire to offer more Asia-themed products.Mok previously worked at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), where he started in March 2010. When asked about his departure from Edram less than one year after his arrival, Mok said effectively that BlackRock had made him an offer he could not refuse.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } About one year ago, the British asset management firm Jupiter entered the French market, with a partnership with the third party marketing firm Alfi Partners. One year later, Eric Bonneville, founding partner, says that “hundreds of millions of euros” have been raised for the London management firm from professional investors. This was no easy task in a market which is highly cautious of equities, Jupiter’s privileged asset class. “We largely benefited from arbitrages, particularly in multi-management,” explains Bonneville, adding that European equities were the most popular destination for investments, particularly the European Growth fund, managed by Alexander FC Darwall, which gained 26.84% in 2010. The New Europe fund, focused on central and eastern Europe, and the Global Convertible fund of global convertible equities were also popular with investors, Bonneville says. The products are part of the Luxembourg Sicav founded in 2001 in order to allow Jupiter to develop in continental Europe. The Sicav saw an increase in its assets from EUR700m to EUR1.3bn last year, while total assets have risen from EUR23bn at the end of 2009 to EUR28.4bn as of 31 December 2010. In 2011, Alfi Partners is hoping that investors will move a little more towards equities, which would work to Jupiter’s advantage. The TPM provider also works with the US independent management firm Brown Advisory, and is hoping to sign new partnerships in the near future in order to extend the range of funds it makes available.

At a press conference held on Monday, 24 January in Paris, Edouard Carmignac, chairman of the eponymous asset management firm, discussed the objectives for his management firm in 2011. As Eric Helderlé had told Newsmanagers a few days ago (see interview dated 20 January 2011), the release of a new fund, the Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine, will take place in the coming quarter – a rare occasion, says Carmignac, as the youngest fund currently in the firm’s range was launched in 2007.The new Luxembourg fund will invest in emerging markets, half in fixed income products and the other half in equities. The fixed income product portion, which will be managed by Charles Zerah, who joined the firm in October 2010. The other portion of the portfolio will be managed by Simon Pickard, and will be composed of shares in emerging market businesses, but may be hedged in times of turbulence.Carmignac Gestion aims the product at some clients in particular. “This fund may be especially suitable for investors who would like to invest in emerging markets, but who are not prepared to confront the volatility,” he explains. In an interview with Newsmanagers, Helderlé, CEO, and Carmignac say they are sure that the new fund will not cannibalise any of the other products in the range, including the Carmignac Patrimoine fund, which weighs in at nearly EUR28bn currently. Helderlé notes that the fund may very well form the lynchpin of a Carmignac product range in Asia, where the firm already has a representative office in Singapore, and where the firm is hoping to build a presence in the next three to four years.Carmignac has also confirmed the opening of a representative office in the United Kingdom, which will have three employees, and which will target independent financial advisers (IFAs) as well as pension funds.As of the end of 2010, assets at Carmignac Gestion totalled about EUR55bn, compared with EUR33bn as of 31 December 2009, with inflows of EUR16bn last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the pan-European platform Chi-X, based in London, last year processed EUR1.58trn in equities trades, putting it ahead of NYSE Euronext, which handled approximately EUR1.533trn in the same period, according to statistics compiled by the European stock market federation. Chi-X Europe, which was founded in 2007, and which is owned by Instinet and a dozen financial institutions (including BNP Paribas and Société Générale), has had a spectacular rise, making it a top player in Europe in a few short years. Chi-X has also become the second-largest stock market in Europe in terms of trading volumes, after the London Stock Exchange, which is host to more than 2 trillion trades a year.

Le FRR lance ce jour un appel d’offres pour sélectionner de nouveaux gestionnaires de mandats investis en actions des pays développés (gestion passive). Pour ce marché, la procédure de marché public retenue est celle d’un appel d’offres restreint composé de 2 lots : Lot 1: actions des pays développés-indices standards Lot 2: actions des pays développés-indices optimisés

BNY Mellon Asset Management a annoncé lundi 24 janvier le lancement en France du BNY Mellon Evolution Global Strategic Bond Fund, un compartiment de la sicav BNY Mellon Global Funds composé d’obligations internationales et piloté de façon flexible. Le produit est géré sous la responsabilité de David Leduc, directeur des investissements, de Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC, une des boutiques de BNY Mellon Asset Management, spécialiste de la gestion obligataire. Le fonds cherchera à générer des performances positives sur un cycle de marché en investissant sur un large éventail de secteurs, notamment des obligations souveraines des pays développés et émergents, des obligations indexées à l’inflation, des obligations d’entreprises notées «investment grade» et à haut rendement ainsi que des devises. A cela s’ajoute une gestion active de la duration via des produits dérivés afin de de créer de la valeur durant des périodes de hausse des rendements obligataires. Caractéristiques du fondsCode ISIN : Part EUR (A): IE00B4Z6HQ53 /Part EUR (C): IE00B4Z6LN01Frais de gestion : Part A : 1,40% / Part C : 0,75%Minimum de souscription : Part A : 5 000 EUR /Part C : 5 000 000 EUR