Meeschaert Gestion Privée, qui ne cache pas sa préférence actuelle pour les actions, a récemment lancé un FCP dédié à l’Afrique, MAM Actions Afrique dont l’objectif de gestion est d’offrir une croissance du capital à long terme à travers l’exposition sur des actions d’entreprises des marchés internationaux dont l’activité principale est située en Afrique. Pour le gérant du fonds, Guillaume Chaloin, de multiples facteurs militent pour l’Afrique. Outre que les ingrédients sont réunis pour un décollage économique du continent africain avec une croissance moyenne de 5% par an depuis 2000, la région est encore peu travaillée par les investisseurs en tant que zone d’investissement. MAM Actions Afrique a choisi une approche d’investissement tournée vers l'éveil de la consommation, à travers notamment les biens de consommation, les services, les télécoms. Les zones géographiques retenues sont l’Afrique du Nord, l’Afrique subsaharienne ainsi que l’Afrique du Sud. Le portefeuille devrait comporter une quarantaine de valeurs «buy and hold». Principales caractéristiques Code ISIN : FR0010916171Frais d’entrée : aucun jusqu’au 30 septembre 2010Frais de gestion : 2% TTC maximum

On 15 September, Feri Finance Group announced that it has recruited Wilfried Hoffmann as director of the activities fo Feri Family Trust (which manages the assets of 250 families) for southern Germany. Hoffmann has spent more than six years as head of Merck Finck Treuhand. Merck Finck & Co was acquired in May by the Indien Hinduja group when the latter bought KBL European Private Bankers.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } IC Immobilien Holoding (EUR5bn in assets under management) has acquired PropertyOne (EUR2.8bn), financing the acquisition through a capital increase via an injection of capital. The merged entity will become a new firm, IC PropertyOne Asset und Real Estate Management GmbH, with assets of EUR7.8bn, according to a statement to the market dated 15 September. The business will have total staff of about 7,000, and the total area of properties will add up to about 3.7 million square metres, including about 700 properties. Shareholders in PropertyOne will control about 7% of the new entity, including a 4.8% stake for the US private equity investor Cerberus. The objective of IC Immobilien is to reach EUR10bn in assets under management by the end of 2011.

Jupiter is expanding its continental Europe sales team in Munich, Germany, to facilitate the company’s continued sales drive in the German, Swiss and Austrian markets. The office, managed by Martina Guenzl, sales director, Europe, will soon be joined by Daniel Blum, sales manager, Europe, who has worked for Jupiter since September 2005, and a dedicated sales support assistant.The local office has been expanded to address the growing demand for Jupiter’s funds from professional buyers including private banks, fund of funds, family offices and wealth managers, says a press release.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a statement published on 15 September, Banque Sarasin announced that it is planning to exploit the current favourable prevailing conditions on the Swiss capital market with a mid-term bond issue, in order to “diversify financing strategy.” Banque Sarasin has mandated UBS to manage the issue.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banque Sarasin announced on 15 September that it has added to its range of offerings for high net worth private clients, with the launch of the Private Solutions brand, which provides global wealth management advising and sophisticated solutions for the needs of non-bankable assets such as real estate properties, participations in private companies, intellectual property and lifestyle assets. The range is aimed to respond first and foremost to fundamental neets in relation to non-bankable assets, such as generating liquidity, improving returns, and reducing risk. Bankable assets, i.e. cash, securities, and precious metals, generally represent only a fraction of the total wealth of European high net worth clients. Most of the assets are located outside the world of banking, and are in principle declared in the country of domicile of the owner of the assets at book value. Real estate properties, stakes in private companies, intellectual property and lifestyle assets are a part of this largely unexploited and attractive realm of assets, the bank says in a statement.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the second consecutive month, Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco, Allianz group) has reduced its allocation to US government debt, as returns on Treasuries has fallen to historic all-time lows, the Wall Street Journal reports. US public debt in the portfolio of the Pimco Total Return Fund (USD247.9bn), managed by Bill Gross, were down to 36% as of the end of August, compared with 54% in July, and 63% in June, while mortgage-backed securities (MBS) totalled 21%, compared with 18% in July and 16% in June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The global transaction services unit at Citi is now offering a range of support services in relation to regulatory requirements and compliance issues for hedge funds and private equity funds, Hedgeweek reports. Similar services already exist for investment advisers and mutual funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } CamGestion, an affiliate of BNP Paribas which changed its name slightly over one year ago, is planning to develop abroad, particularly in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Benelux. The wealth management specialist of the BNP Paribas Investment Partners group has seen inflows of about EUR500m since the beginning of the year, following EUR2.6bn in inflows in 2009. Assets as of 31 March totalled EUR12.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Citi Private Bank has recruited Roger Bacon, previously at Union Bancaire Privée, as head of managed investments (MI) and advising for the Asia-Pacific region. In this newly-created position, Bacon will be in charge of sales of MI products, sales, and development of custom portfolios as well as administration of MI products. Bacon will report to Debashish Dutta Gupta, head of investments in the Asia-Pacific region.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The intervention of the Bank of Japan on Wednesday to weaken the Yen (which fell 3%) was a hard hit for hedge fund specialists in fast-trading who had accumulated profits through betting on rises in the Japanese currency, the Wall Street Journal reports. John Taylor at FX Concepts (USD7.8bn), for example, has stated that several funds from his firm lost about 2% on Wednesday. According to financial industry sources, Aspect Capital and Winton Capital Management, among others, were also affected.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Axa announced on 15 September that it has finalised its sale of the following activities based in the United Kingdom: traditional life insurance and retirement; collective retirement planning and pensions distributed by independent financial advisers; and annuities, all for an overall sale price of GBP2.75bn (about EUR3.3bn). The amount received in cash by the group is EUR1.7bn, the group says in a statement. “The operation is a key element in our strategy to better optimise the allocation of capital within the group, while concentrating on higher growth and profit operations on the British life insurance, savings, and retirement market,” Denis Duverne, the deputy CEO of Axa says in a statement.

F&C Investments is rebranding its UK retail range to Thames River following the merger of the two companies, writes Money Marketing. The fund manager is going to retain the F&C brand for the UK institutional side and switch to F&C Thames River in the rest of Europe.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sam Catalano, who was head of the equities research team specialised in metals and mining in Europe for Macquarie in London, has joined the global equities team at Schroders, led by Virgini Maisonneuve, head of global and international equities, as a portfolio manager specialised in the global materials sector. Giles Money, a recent university graduate, has also been recruited as a portfolio manager and analyst specialised in climate change. He will report to Simon Webber, co-manager of the Schroder Global Climate Change Fund.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Chris McGolpin, associate director of KPMG in the United Kingdom, has joined Schroders as head of client service & business management for institutional activities. The position is newly-created. McGolpin will report directly to Miles O’Connor, head of UK institutional.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reports that Export-Import Bank of China and the Chinese sovereign fund CIC have invested USD300m each in a fund which will finance projects in energy and infrastructure in South-East Asia. The fund will have USD10bn in assets in eight years’ time.

Frankie Lee has decided to leave Henderson to join another asset manager based in Hong Kong. He has been managing the USD355 million Henderson HF Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund since 2008. Henderson is currently in the market to hire an equal replacement for Frankie Lee but until it has done so, Patrick Sumner, head of property equities, will be responsible for the management for the USD800 million Asian property equities assets the asset manager manages on behalf of its clients on a segregated and pooled basis, including the Henderson HF Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund. In addition, to ensure the smooth management and running of the Fund and to assist in finding a replacement Patrick Sumner will move to Singapore in October until such a time as Henderson feel is appropriate following the recruitment of a replacement, says Henderson. Frankie Lee will continue his involvement in the fund until his day of departure on the 1st of December 2010 or until his replacement arrives.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Premier Asset Management, whose assets under management total about GBP2.5bn, has launched a multi-asset class portfolio, which includes five funds, UK Money Market, Conservative Growth, Multi-Asset Distribution, Multi-Asset Growth and Enterprise Funds, which offer several ways to invest in money markets, equities, fixed income, structured products and real estate.

Jupiter Asset Management has announced that Simon Somerville has been appointed deputy manager of the Jupiter Global Managed Fund. The GBP275m fund covers a broad spectrum of global markets and sectors with individual stocks selected by eight of Jupiter’s regional managers including Cedric de Fonclare, manager of the Jupiter European Special Situations Fund, Derek Pound, co-manager of the Jupiter Primadona Investment Trust, Sebastian Radcliffe, manager of the Jupiter North American Income Fund and Ben Surtees, manager of the Jupiter Asian Fund,. Overall asset allocation is set by John Chatfeild-Roberts, who has lead-managed the fund since November 2001.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 15 September, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) admitted 45 ETF funds from Credit Suisse to trading, 13 of which were also admitted to the ETFPlus market at Borsa Italiana in Milan (see list below). The London Stock Exchange now lists 327 ETF funds from 11 providers, while the Milan stock exchange had 478 products from 11 issuers.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Luxembourg-registered fund Emerging Markets Corporate Value Bonds, the Danish Sparinvest is extending its range of typically value funds, with a product which will invest exclusively in corporate bonds from firms with low levels of debt in emerging markets, with no supplemental exposure to government debt, which differentiates the product from many competing products. The fund is also available in Germany and France from 15 September. Sparinvest has already obtained EUR45m in subscriptions from Danish institutional investors for the fund, managed by Sune Jensen and Toke Hjortshøj, with the method which has also been successful for the Sparinvest High Yield Value Bonds fund. Characteristics Name: Sparinvest Emerging Markets Corporate Value Bonds ISIN code: LU0519053697 Management commission: 1.25% Front-end fee: 2%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nevin Shapiro, the former owner and CEO of Capital Investments USA, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money-laundering, over charges that he orchestrated a USD880m Ponzi scheme related to his grocery wholesale business, the Wall Street Journal reports. Shapiro admits that the fraud damaged 50 investors, who lost a total of USD50m to USD100m. A verdict in the case will be delivered on 4 January.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 15 September, the Austrian management firm Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) launched its new Luxembourg Sicav container for several sub-funds which are clones of Austrian-registered funds: Raiffeisen Emerging European Equities, Raiffeisen Russian Equities, Raiffeisen Emerging Markets Equities and Raiffeisen Emerging Markets Local Bonds. The products will initially be registered in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Singapore, the main countries where RCM products are sold. Registration in other countries is planned. Aside from the Russian Equities fund, which is denominated in US dollars, all other funds are denominated in Euros. Shares in pounds Sterling, US dollars and Euros are planned for a later date. For retail investors, minimal subscription is set at EUR2,500. Management commission is 1.75% for equities funds, and 1% for bond products. The choice of a Sicav wrapper for the fund is due to the fact that about three quarters of cross-border sales are of products in this legal format. The Luxembourg Sicav vehicle will allow the firm to improve its access to major opportunities in Europe and Asia and to develop international distribution. RCM states that its assets increased by EUR1.6bn, or 6% in the first eight months of the year, to EUR28.5bn as of the end of August. Including advisory mandates, the total comes to EUR30.7bn. Profits are slightly superior to expectations.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to statistics from the Austrian VÖIG association of management firms, assets in funds as of the end of August totalled EUR143.9bn, compared with EUR142.1bn as of the end of July. Compared with 31 December 2009 (EUR136.7bn), this represents an increase of 5.27%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Californian pension fund CalPERS, with about USD208bn in assets under management, on 15 September announced two “significant reforms,” which will aim to restore investor confidence. Firstly, a position has been created for a senior chief risk officer, who will concentrate on risk management; and secondly, an ethics helpline has been created, which will identify fraud, conflicts of interest, and all other types of abuse. These new efforts come in addition to those already engaged in by the pension fund in the past 12 months to “restore confidence, integrity, and accountability in everything we do,” CalPERS says in a statement.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 13 September, Rydex ETF Trust registered a series of 19 new ETF funds which do not rely on leverage, replicating 16 Russell indices and 3 MSCI indices, with the SEC. All the products carry the suffix “equal weight,” indicating that the securities in the index are considered equally weighted. Management commissions range from 0.55% to 0.90%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European Commission on 15 September unveiled proposed regulations to improve the security and transparency of over-the-counter (OTC) derivative markets. Under the proposed regulations, the EU would require information on over-the-counter derivative contracts to be disclosed to central reference points, and that they be made available to surveillance authorities. Other information would also be made available to all market participants. The Commission is also proposing that normalised over-the-counter derivative contracts should be handled by centralised clearing-houses, which would have the effect of reducing counterparty credit risks, or the danger that the other party might default on a contract. The proposals by the Commission, which are in line with engagements by the EU and the G20 and the approach adopted by the United States, will now be examined by the European Parliament and member states. Once passed, the regulations would come into force in the second half of 2012. While welcoming the Commission’s proposals, the professional associations have expressed some reservations. The European asset management association (EFAMA) says that all participants should benefit from the new regulations, which will also protect users of the markets, including buy-side investors. The European banking federation (EBF), for its part, says that the Commission has perhaps gone a step too far in its enthusiasm for regulation, for example, with the clearing-house requirements. The Commission has also passed proposed regulations for short-selling and some aspects of credit default swaps (CDS). The bill will impose more transparency, reduce risks, and create a harmonised framework which will allow coordinated action throughout Europe. The new regulations grant national and European regulators clear authority to act when necessary in a coordinated manner to improve the functioning of the internal market. The proposal has been handed over to the European Parliament to be passed, and would come into force on 1 July 2012.

Le mois d’août confirme la reprise en Ile-de-France, mais le volume d’actifs neufs tend à diminuer face à la chute des mises en chantier

Le rôle systémique des chambres de compensation nourrit le débat chez les professionnels

La baisse des transactions engagée depuis deux ans est enfin enrayée grâce à un rebond des grandes surfaces au premier trimestre