Selon le Monde, c’est aujourd’hui que François Pérol s’expliquera devant les députés sur les conditions de sa nomination contestée à la tête du groupe Caisse d'épargne - Banque populaire.

Selon Les Echos, Natixis Private Equity (NPE) ferme Providente, son fonds de restructuration d’entreprise, «dont la moitié des participations est à la dérive», rapporte le quotidien. Le fonds avait investi 50 millions d’euros.

Selon CercleFinance.com, Philippe Brosse, l’ancien directeur général de SGAM Alternative Investments, va rejoindre DB Alternative Investments en tant que président du comité stratégique.

Mediolanum a terminé 2008 sur un bénéfice net de 23,6 millions d"euros, contre 212 millions en 2007. Pro forma, c"est-à-dire hors effet Lehman Brothers, le bénéfice baisse de 38 % à 131 millions. Les encours sous gestion se tassent de 15 % à 29,5 milliards, bien que la collecte ait été positive à hauteur de 2,49 milliards d"euros.

Il faudra attendre : selon la Tribune, le Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) a décidé de reporter sa cotation à horizon 2010 du fait des conditions de marché actuelles.

Selon Les Echos, Li Lihui, le président de Bank of China, a dit, hier, espérer «pour très bientôt» une réponse «probablement» positive des autorités centrales pour la prise de participation de 20 % dans LCF Rothschild. L'établissement public chinois attend depuis septembre le feu vert des autorités de Pékin pour prendre, pour un montant de 236 millions d’euros, une participation de 20 % dans la banque française. Censée s’achever le 31 décembre, la période de validation de l’investissement avait été prorogée jusqu’au 1er avril.

Stifel Financial annonce que sa principale filiale Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, a conclu un accord exclusif avec UBS Financial Services pour l’acquisition de 55 bureaux appartenant au réseau d’UBS Wealth Management Americas. Ces 55 antennes, réparties dans 24 Etats, emploient environ 320 conseillers financiers qui gèrent quelque 15 milliards de dollars. En 2008, le produit cumulé réalisé par ces succursales s’est élevé à 116 millions de dollars. Les termes exacts de la transaction seront connus dans un délai de 35 à 45 jours et la transaction devrait être finalisée au troisième trimestre de l’exercice en cours.

Selon Libération, les cadres du courtier Cheuvreux, filiale du Crédit agricole, devraient percevoir 51 millions d’euros de bonus, alors que la banque a reçu 3 milliards d’euros de l’Etat sous forme de fonds propres et que 75 emplois vont être supprimés, suite à un plan de restructuration.

EFG Gestion Privée annonce le lancement d’une offre de fonds dédiés, destinés aux cabinets et groupements de conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants (CGPI). Ces FCP sur-mesure seront multi-gestionnaires et investis selon la méthodologie de gestion d"EFG Gestion Privée en fonction du profil de risque et des classes d"actifs choisis par les conseillers indépendants. Une des particularités de l’offre est de proposer aux CGPI des fonds en marque blanche.Les fonds dédiés peuvent être créés à partir d"un encours minimum de 5 millions d"euros. Pour les cabinets ne pouvant pas répondre à cette condition, EFG Gestion Privée donne la possibilité de créer des parts dédiées sur les deux FCP patrimoniaux multi-gestionnaires de sa gamme Cipango.

Selon Les Echos, l’agrément des autorités bancaires (CECEI) pour la création de la société commune de La Banque Postale avec la Société Générale active dans le crédit à la consommation, baptisée La Banque Postale Financement, est attendu dans les semaines à venir, pour un déploiement au premier trimestre 2010. «Dans le crédit aux entreprises, qu’elle n’est pas autorisée à commercialiser, La Banque Postale confirme son intérêt pour Banque Palatine, filiale de l’Ecureuil», ajoute le quotidien.

Selon La Tribune, le produit net bancaire de la Banque Postale n’a progressé que de 1,8 %, pour atteindre 4,8 milliards d’euros en 2008 mais l’enseigne a bien résisté à la crise financière.Bien que la Banque Postale ait renoncé a acquérir Palatine, filiale des Caisses d'Épargne spécialisée dans le financement des PME, elle pourrait revenir à la charge si le dossier se représentait, indique la Tribune.

Selon La Tribune, les trois mutuelles ont confirmé mardi leur intention de se rapprocher en 2009 sans fusionner pour autant. Le nouvel ensemble prendra la forme d’une Société de groupe d’assurance mutuelle (SGAM) dont la gouvernance est encore en débat, les partenaires examinant actuellement leurs comptes réciproques. A terme, d’autres petites mutuelles d’assurances du Gema pourraient rejoindre le nouvel ensemble qui ne prévoit pas de gestion commune des sinistres.

Selon La Tribune, Natixis Private Equity (NPE) vient de publier un bénéfice net de 12 millions d’euros en 2008, contre 253 millions l’année précédente, ce recul résultant du de la chute des marchés financiers. Toutefois, les actifs sous gestion ont progressé de 11% en 2008 pour atteindre 4,01 milliards, précise notamment le quotidien.

Selon l’Agefi, Providente, filiale dédiée aux «entreprises en discontinuité d’exploitation», va désormais être gérée de façon «extinctive».

The European equities management team at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, led by Philippe Lecocq under the responsibility of Bruno Vanier, director of equities management, consists of ten managers, one management assistant, and one analyst. As of 30 January 2009, it managed nearly EUR5bn in assets, and has recently been strengthened by the arrival of Olivier Huet, who will join the two managers specialised in large caps. Since October 2000, Huet has been an equities manager at OFI Asset Management.The European large caps equities team manages the Europe Rendement, Saint-Honoré Europe Synergie, Selective Recovery Europe, and Saint-Honoré Euro Opportunités funds. It also participates in the management of the Ecosphere Europe and Selective Recovery funds.

For 2008, profits at AWD Holding AG totalled EUR2.1m, compared with EUR55.2m the previous year (a fall of 96.2%), while pre-tax profits fell 73.7% to EUR22.7m, on earnings down ?only? 11.8% to EUR633m. The financial services provider, which is now owned by Swiss Life, will not distribute a dividend. The number of advisors has fallen 4.7% in one year to 6,009.

According to Lipper, assets under management in European ETF funds increased last year by 17.05%, to EUR108.42bn, while assets in equities ETFs, the most common type of ETF fund, increased by only 0.07%. However, ?other asset class? categories saw an increase of 130.16% to their assets, thanks in part to the success of come strategies such as short-selling, Funds People reports.

Franklin Resources, better known under the brand name Franklin Templeton Investments, has announced that it has increased its stake in Algebra Capital (Dubai), in which it purchased a 25% stake in September 2007, to 40%. In addition, William Y Yun, executive vice president of alternative strategies at Franklin Templeton, will become the director of Algebra Capital, alongside two other representatives of the American management firm. The operation will strengthen Franklin Templeton’s presence in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. The two partners have already launched five MENA equities funds. Franklin Templeton is planning to continue its cooperation with Algebra to develop products.

Liontrust Asset Management (GBP1.9bn as of 23 March) on Tuesday announced the recruitment of five partners from the European bonds team at Ilex Asset Management, and the takeover of a long/short credit fund from Ilex (Ilex Credit Fund, GBP41m), domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The firm’s CIO, Simon Thorp, senior portfolio manager James Sclater, the co-heads of research, Paul Owens and Quentin Peacock, and the COO, Gareth Roblin, will all join Liontrust.Liontrust has also announced that Jeremy Lang and William Pattisson, who managed three funds, will be leaving the firm on 15 April. They will be replaced by Gary West, James Inglis-Jones, Anthony Cross, and Julian Fosh, who were recruited by Lang and Pattisson (whose B-class shares in the firm will be repurchased by Liontrust). West and Inglis-Jones will take over the management of the Liontrust First Income and Liontrust First Large Cap funds, while Cross and Fosh will manage the Liontrust First Growth Fund. The appointments will take effect on 25 March.

Satisfaction all round. The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has welcomed the initiative by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSC) to create an improved framework and harmonize regulations governing short-selling activities. The professional association is particularly pleased with the IOSC’s recognition of the role played by short-selling in capital markets. It also agrees that it is necessary to introduce some discipline in the settlement of short-selling transactions, particularly in the case of uncompleted transactions.

Dedicated funds have become significantly less popular since last autumn. For the year 2008 as a whole, net inflows were down 25% to EUR8.32bn, according to data reported by the professional federation for closed funds (VGF, for Verband Geschlossene Fonds). Though funds invested in life insurance or private equity are down by 58% to EUR359m and 60% to EUR742m, funds invested in aerospace are up 165% to EUR703m. The two largest positions, real estate and maritime, are down by 26% to EUR3.05bn, and 22% to EUR2.48bn, respectively. IFA networks and banks last year accumulated a market share of 81% in the distribution of dedicated funds.

Prudential Asset Management has announced that it has reduced its staff by slightly under one quarter in Hong Kong, while Singapore staff has been reduced by 8%. The manager disputes reports in Asian Investor, which cited rumours that the firm had cut 10 out of 20 jobs in Hong Kong, and that one third of staff had been laid off on 20 March (which would amount to more than 20 layoffs).

Schroders announced on Tuesday that it has ?relaunched? a treasury, or ?liquidity? fund in Germany, under the name Euro Government Liquidity. The product is a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Schroder ISF, which was previously not available on the German market, where the SISF Global Government Bond platform is not available.Management commissions have been reduced to 0.15% for institutionals and 0.40% for retail investors, while front-end fees now total a maximum of 3% and 5%, respectively. As of 28 February, assets in the product total EUR9.7m. In its new form, the compartment was launched on 19 December 2008.The fund is managed by David Scammell, head of UK & European interest rate strategies.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Börse announced the addition of six new ETF funds, based on the Eurogov German government bond indexes (see Newsmanagers of 24 March), bringing the number of products listed on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform to 426. The management firm also states that, in order to be included in the composition of the Eurogov indexes, bond issues must measure at least EUR4bn.The Eurogov indexes are calculated by the Market Data & Analytics division, which produces a total of more than 2,600 indexes, which serve as the underlying for assets totalling approximately EUR12.8bn.

Mandarine Gestin, the management firm founded by Marc Renaud, is launching a socially responsible investment fund, Mandarine Engagements. It is managed by Patrick Savadoux, a specialist in SRI management, who has recently joined the firm, after spending several years at Natixis AM.The new fund invests in Euro zone businesses of all cap sizes which satisfy environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. Savadoux’s method is to apply an SRI filter beforehand. In other words, the 700 companies in the investment universe are filtered for selected ESG criteria, to leave only 150. Financial analysis comes as a second phase after this. Lastly, Savadoux chooses 50 businesses for his portfolio (currently 40).?This is not a best in class fund,? says Savadoux, who claims that method is nothing but index-based management in disguise. Some sectors are absent from the portfolio, such as the automotive sector at present, for ?social? reasons. The Mandarine manager no longer invests in some sectors by conviction, such as tobacco and nuclear, although these areas are not subject to a systematic exclusion.On the other hand, certain themes may be preferred at certain times. Currently, the environment is one such theme. The manager says 2009 will be the year of governance and social awareness. However, the fund remains ?generalist,? and maintains an equal weighting of its six ESG criteria: human rights, social engagement, environment, governance, client/supplier relations, and human resources.The fund is aimed at all types of clients: institutionals, of course, and employee savings, but also independent financial advisors, in whom Renaud sees a growing appetite for SRI.Currently, the fund has assets of EUR1.85m. The goal is to bring in EUR50m to EUR100m for this SRI theme, once equities, now close to zero, bounce back, says Renaud. When the horizon brightens somewhat, an employee partnership fund will also be launched.Mandarine Engagements joins three other funds from Mandarine, each managed by a different specialist. The firm is neglecting to integrate SRI into the management of its other products even though Renaud admits that ESG criteria are gradually gaining importance in the analysis of businesses.As of 31 December, Mandarine managed EUR251m, slightly more than the seed money it received at launch (EUR270m), even though the firm has received investments of EUR170m. ?The year 2008 was frustrating,? admits Renaud, ?but we are not worried about the future, thanks to owners’ equity of EUR4.8m.?

Aon Consulting on Tuesday announced that it will be extending its range of services for trustees and employers, to offer an integrated retirement solution, Aon Pension Solution, which combines asset and liability management for pension funds. The product will be launched in July 2009, and has been developed in cooperation with Russell Investments.

Mellon Transition Management (MTM), an affiliate of BNY Mellon, on Tuesday announced the recruitment of Tim Wilkinson and the team of six people he leads. The seven new arrivals, who all join the firm from Citi Transition Management, the transition management activity from Citigroup Markets, will be based in London, and will strengthen an operation which already has 50 employees worldwide.Tim Wilkinson was managing director at Citi, where he was responsible for Asia-Pacific and the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region. At MTM, he becomes managing director for the EMEA region.

Frank Dornseifer, legal director of the German alternative investment association (BAI), says the G20 summit in London will result in stricter regulation of hedge funds in the EU, but, even if the proposals of the European Commission are adopted, German chancellor Angela Merkel will not obtain complete and systematic control of all the financial markets, products and market actors, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Dornseifer points out that not all hedge funds are alike, and that one third of them use no leverage.

On Wall Street, shares in management firms gained ground after the announcement of the Geithner toxic asset buyback program, from which these firms would be the primary beneficiaries. Two management firms specialised in bonds, Pimco (Allianz group) and BlackRock, have already announced that they will participate in the plan, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Bill Gross, one of the heads of strategy at Pimco, says this is the first political initiative to remedy the crisis which will benefit all parties concerned. Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock, states that although the Geithner plan is not a panacea, it will at least have the positive effect of removing some excess supply from the market.

A spokesperson for Legg Mason has confirmed to Pensions & Investments that its affiliate, Western Asset Management (Wamco) has reduced its personnel by about 100 people, or 10%. The job cuts are largely in administrative services and operations. As of 31 December, assets at Wamco were down 13% compared with the end of September, at USD513bn, and down 19% over one year.