Le compromis européen sur la directive approfondit des principes déjà contenus dans AIFM, mais son application sera bien plus tardive

Ils ont adopté un rapport relevant certains dysfonctionnements du groupe formé par la BCE, le FMI et la Commission pour gérer la crise en zone euro

Le gouvernement avait promis d'agir vite après la censure du Conseil constitutionnel. Les travaux parlementaires ne reprendront que début avril

La probabilité est faible de voir la banque centrale engager un programme d’achats fermes d’actifs d’ici à la publication des résultats des stress tests

Un rapport sénatorial détaille les pratiques ayant favorisé l’évasion fiscale de clients américains

Un rapport sénatorial détaille les pratiques ayant favorisé l’évasion fiscale de clients américains

L’initiative devrait notamment favoriser l’implantation de banques chinoises à la condition qu’elles opèrent dans les services bancaires de gros

...

A l’occasion de la présentation des résultats des contrats d’assurance-vie du groupe MACSF, son Directeur Général Marcel Kahn a évoqué l’allocation d’actifs estimé au 31 décembre 2013 de MACSF Epargne Retraite. L’encours des provisions mathématiques en euros du RES et du RES Multisupport est passé en un an de 16,77 milliards d’euros à 17,74 milliards d’euros. Il représente 94,9% du total des actifs en euros gérés par MACSF épargne retraite. MACSF épargne retraite est reconnue pour être l’une des plus solides entreprises d’assurance vie pour sa solvabilité. Les faits marquants de l’année 2013 sont les suivants : Le portefeuille obligataire de MACSF épargne retraite est investi à 70% dans des obligations d’entreprises privées et de banques. Les emprunts d’Etats représentent 30%. Plus de 85% des notations des portefeuilles sont comprises entre AAA et BBB malgré la dégradation par les agences de notations de nombreuses signatures en 2013. La note moyenne du portefeuille reste dans la catégorie A. L’exposition aux dettes souveraines des pays périphériques européens (Irlande, Portugal, Italie et Espagne) a été réduite à moins de 2 % de l’actif total (en prix de revient). La part investie en actions cotées représente 4,70% de l’actif (en prix de revient). Avec la bonne performance des marchés actions, les plus values dégagées sont significatives et participent à l’amélioration du taux servi. Les obligations convertibles représentent plus de 10% de l’actif (en prix de revient). Elles ont cette année encore contribué à augmenter le rendement de l’actif. L’exposition dans les participations et le private equity (3%) a été augmentée en 2013. Le Directeur Général du Groupe MACSF Marcel Kahn a indiqué qu’en 2014, les investissements resteront largement guidés par les opportunités qu’offrira le marché primaire afin de capter les primes des nouvelles émissions. Les obligations d’entreprises privées seront privilégiées y compris celles d'émetteurs périphériques présents à l’international, présentant des maturités courtes et offrant un supplément de rendement. Allocation d’actifs MACSF Epargne Retraite (en prix de revient) :

Le parquet de Manhattan a envoyé des assignations Mt.Gox, ex-première plus importante Bourse de bitcoins qui a fermé son site cette semaine, et à plusieurs entreprises qui traitaient avec cette société basée à Tokyo, selon une source citée par Reuters. La justice américaine veut en savoir plus sur la nature des cyberattaques qui ont visé Mt.Gox et d’autres plates-formes spécialisées dans la monnaie virtuelle et sur la manière dont ces dernières ont réagi.

La Securities and Exchange Commission aurait signé un contrat pluri-annuel de 13 millions de dollars avec la société informatique Palantir Technologies afin de mieux détecter les transactions suspectes et les délits d’initiés, rapporte Reuters. Basée à Palo Alto et co-fondée par le milliardaire Peter Thiel, également à l’origine de PayPal, Palantir était jusqu'à présent connue pour travailler pour l’agence nationale anti-terroriste des Etats-Unis.

La société de gestion spécialiste des marchés émergents Ashmore a accusé des rachats nets de 2,9 milliards de dollars sur les six derniers mois de 2013, pâtissant des sorties sur la classe d’actifs. Les encours ont décliné de 2,7 %. Le bénéfice avant impôts a baissé à 79,5 millions de livres, contre 114,1 millions au premier semestre de l’année.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } F&C Asset Management has warned investors that income is expected to fall in second half 2013, after a decline in assets under management, Money Marketing reports. The warning comes in a letter to shareholders, laying out the timetable for the acquisition of the firm by BMO Global Asset Management. “Due to the decline in average assets under management in second half 2013, revenues are expected to be lower than in the first half of the year.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ashmore Group has suffered the full effects of the storm which is rocking emerging markets. The British asset management firm specialised in these markets has published disappointing results for the six first months. After the first half of its year, ending in December 2013, Ashmore Group has seen outflows of USD2.9bn. Although gross inflows have totalled USD7.3bn in the period, redemptions have totalled USD10.2bn. The result is that its assets under management are down 2.7%, to a total of USD75.3bn, compared with USD77.4bn as of the end of June 2013. In such a context, Ashmore Group has seen its earnings fall 18%, from GBP163.7m as of the end fo December 2012, to GBP134.6m as of the end of December 2013. Its pre-tax profits have meanwhile fallen 34%, to a total of EUR79.5m, compared with GBP120.2m one year previously.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Danish pension fund ATP, one of the largest in Europe (DKK592bn), has sold its German bonds and fixed income swaps for DKK20bn, in order to increase its investment in infrastructure, Financial Times fund management reports. It is the first major change for the fund since the arrival of its new CEO, Carsten Stendevad.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The data provider MSCI on 25 February published the results of its half-yearly study of allocation practices at pension and sovereign funds worldwide. The study was conducted in fourth quarter 2013 of 80 institutionals worldwide with nearly USD4trn in assets. “The study finds that the largest challenge for institutionals is to unify long-term objectives with the short-term character of asset management. It finds no consequence on the frequency of strategc allocation decisions, or on the methods used. This can lead to considerable variation in investment results,” says Neil Gilfedder, managing director and head of applied analytical research at MSCI, cited in a statement.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As part of the trial of four former employees of Bernard Madoff, his former secretary on Monday declared, in her own defence, that she considered the disgraced financier a “big brother” to her and that she granted him such trust that she never questioned his instructions, the Wall Street Journal reports. Annette Bongiorno, who worked with the fraudster for 40 years, considered him her “hero” and never imagined that he was orchestrating a massive fraud. The secretary said she learned everything from Madoff and was therefore not surprised that she often had to backdate documents.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The time bell has sounded for a cleanup at Ignis Asset Management (AM). The British asset management firm, an affiliate of the Phoenix insurance group, has announced a restructuring of its offshore fund range, in order to use Luxembourg as the single centre for its European funds. The merger of funds domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, into its Luxembourg structure aims to realise cost savings and to allow for greater growth of assets in the future. The Ignis AM Luxembourg Sicav currently has GBP2.6bn in assets (EUR3.15bn), compared with GBP300m (EUR363bn) for its Irish counterpart. “These changes will allow our activity to be concentrated on the most appropriate products, and those which we estimate are the most in phase with the future needs of our clients,” Ignis AM explains in a note.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The bank UBS is prepared to pay EUR180m to EUR200m to the German tax authorities to avoid charges over its role in tax evasion practiced by Germans, according to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The bank “is preparing” to have to pay a sum of this order, the newspaper reports on the basis of “financial sources.” It would be “the largest penalty ever paid by a bank in Germany for complicity in tax evasion,” Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The exact amount is subject to tough negotiations between the German authorities and the bank, the newspaper states. The regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2012 purchased a CD containing information on German tax evaders, some of whose money was placed at UBS in Switzerland. In total, about CHF20bn in untaxed assets may have been placed by Germans with UBS, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European acquisition financing landscape is changing considerably due to an increase in liquidity and a rapid inflow of alternative sources of capital offering new products, according to the 2014 report from DLA Paper on European acquisition financing, which surveyed more than 250 providers of debt, advising, sponsors and companies active in European financing markets. At the start of the year 2014, the outlooks for the European acquisition financing market appear much more optimistic than 12 years ago, with 70% of respondents expecting an increase in transaction activity this year, compared with 51% last year. In addition to a gradual increase in liquidity from traditional lenders, sponsors now have access to a wider range of debt providers, such as private debt fonds, bond funds and institutional investors. Private debt funds have a profound impact on the European market, participating in more than 50 deals in 2013, a significant increase over 2012. Given the volume of private funds raised and in pgrogess, with more than 30 having already raised funds, or in the process of doing so according to funds qurveyed. - this trend is expected to increase in 2014.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are heading for bond ETFs in large numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bond ETFs listed in the United States took in USD16bn between 1 and 21 February, according to TrimTabs Investment Research. It is expected to bring in the largest month since the launch of the first bond ETF in 2002, and double the monthly record set in May 2012 (USD84.bn). Among the ETFs which have benefited from this trend are the iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF, which has more than doubled its size to USD6.3bn, after receiving USD3.8bn since the beginning of February. The Pimco 7-15 Year U.S. Treasury Index ETF has seen its assets multiplied by six after subscriptions of USD57.3m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco Real Estate has officially announced the recruitment of Etienne Dupuy as director for Europe of asset management (see Newsmanagers of 18 February 2014). He will be based in Paris, alongside Paul Joubert, director for Europe of transactions, and will be responsible for leading valuation projects for European assets, and will oversee a team of 16 asset management and real estate professionals located in 6 European countries. In this role, he joins the Investment Committee as well as the Executive Board Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Morgan Stanley Wealth management has announced an addition to its range of consulting services for defined contribution retirement programmes, with the introduction of a new discretionary investment programme. The new programme allows retirement heads at Morgan Stanley and Graysone to assume some fiduciary responsibilities to assist the providers of retirement plans with allocation decisions and complex selections. The providers may use Morgan Stanley models based on risk, or new target date portfolios put in place by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

BNY Mellon on February 24 announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 65% interest of HedgeMark International, LLC, a current affiliate and a provider of hedge fund managed account and risk analytic services. It has held a 35% ownership stake in HedgeMark since 2011. BNY Mellon will integrate HedgeMark’s capabilities with its Global Risk Solutions offeringsThe deal is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2009 and headquartered New York, HedgeMark assists in the structuring, oversight, and risk monitoring of hedge funds, specifically dedicated managed accounts.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a long article, the Wall Street Journal discusses the departure of Mohamed El-Erian from Pimco, where he was CEO, and seeks to paint the mood which reigns at the US asset management firm, with its founder, the emblematic Bill Gross. “A high-pressure work environment that turned less collegial over the past year, a deteriorating relationship between the two senior executives and certain decisions by Mr. Gross that confused some employees” are said to be responsible for the departure of El-Erian. In June last year, Gross and El-Erian, who had long been considered a successor, confronted each other publicly over the subject of the conduct of the founder of the firm, the WSJ reports. In November, the executive board tried to make peace between them. El-Erian was offered more power. But he announced that he would be leaving. “You can’t leave,” Gross protested. “We need you.” Some thought that the two men would eventually overcome their differences. At the beginning of this year, El-Erian agreed to work with a mediator to fin a new way of making the company work, but Gross rejected the mediator. At the end of January, El-Erian therefore announced to Gross that he had taken his decision and left. The WSJ article also relates that Gross is a very demanding boss, that the working conditions are difficult, but that the firm pays some of the best salaries in the world of asset management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “A good year for asset management,” the chairman of the board at La Banque Postale, Rémy Weber, said at a presentation of the bank’s results. Assets under management at affiliates of the asset management unit of La Banque Postale last year rose 3.5%, to EUR150bn. Net banking proceeds are up 11.9% to EUR134m. Management costs ere stable at EUR68m, while gross operating results were up 27.2%, to EUR66m. The cost/income ratio improved by tens of basis points, to 52.7%. Net inflows at La Banque Postale Asset Management totalled over EUR900m, excluding CNP, driven by the dynamism of institutional clients and despite outflows from the retail segment. The good performance of the markets and the performance of management have also brought in a level of assets at the end of 2013 more than EUR4.5bn higher than 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management is planning to reduce its annual fees for the JPM Emerging Markets trust to 0.75% from 1%, if assets in the fund reach GBP800m after 1 July, Money Marketing reports. Assets under management in the strategy managed by Richard Tetherington currently total GBP688m, The performance commission will be maintained at 10%. In second half 2013, the trust was down 5.7%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index was down by only 1.4%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } St James’s Place has declared its appetite for growth. At the publication of its annual results, the British asset and wealth management firm has announced that it is “in advanced talks” to acquire Henley group, an investment advising firm which has GBP400m (USD665m) in assets under management, and 4,000 expatriate clients in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. It is the firm’s first attempt as part of a more long-term strategy of international expansion, which will target British clients living in the Middle East if the Asian experiment is as successful as hoped, says David Bellamy, CEO of St James’s Place. The British firm dares to declare its ambitions at a time when it has published impressive results. In 2013, St James’s Place earned GBP190.7m in pre-tax profits, up 42% compared with 2012. Its net inflows totalled GBP4.3bn, up 28% year on year, bringing assets under management to GBP44.3bn, up 27% compared with 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henderson Global Investors has promoted two fixed income managers in order to support John Pattullo and Jenna Barnard, FundWeb reports. Nicholas Ware has been appointed as co-manager of the Fixed Interest Monthly Income fund (GBP719.2m in assets) to work alongside John Pattullo and Jenna Barnard. Meanwhile, Rebecca Morris-Charles has been appointed as deputy manager for the Preference & Bond fund (GBP597.7m), also managed by Pattullo and Barnard.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } About 45.3 million shares in F&C Asset Management, equivalent to a stake of 7.8%, have been traded in a single block at 122 pence per share, the same value as the GBP700m bid by Bank of Montreal (BMO), the Financial Times reports. Aberforth Partners, the sixth-largest shareholder in F&C, is reported to be behind the sale, and BMO is said to be the buyer. F&C shares finished down 0.3% to 124.4 pence. The BMO bid requires the approval of 75% of shareholders. Aviva and the directors of F&C give it support representing 12.3% of capital. But other investors in F&C, including Standard Life, which owns 10.3%, are keeping their options open in case of a rival bid.