Berkshire Hathaway, the company of Warren Buffett, has bought a USD3.7bn stake in ExxonMobil, in a vote of confidence in a company which has underperformed compared with its smaller rivals, the Financial Times reports. The acquisition was partly financed by the sale of USD500m in shares in ConocoPhillips, Exxon’s competitor. Buffett has also reduced his stake in GlaxoSmithKline and increased his stake in Davita Healthcare Partners.

Union Bancaire Privée has recruited two analysts as additions to its team dedicated to Turkish equities. They will work in collaboration with Eli Koen, manager of the UBAM Turkey equity fund, Citywire reports. Ozgur Goker is joining UBP from the investment bank Yapi Kredi Yatirim Menkul Degerler, where he was an analyst. Mark Soryano had previously served at JP Morgan, also as an analyst.

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has signed an agreement in principle with the Russian sovereign fund RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) to create a cross-border platform which would make co-investments in private equity, Asian Investor reports. Two two sovereign funds have engaged to finance the platform initially with up to USD250m each. Assets under management at KIC total about USD65bn, while the Russian fund has USD10bn.

Swiss Life Banque Privée on 14 November announced the appointment of Simon Elbaz, director of the Wealth Management department, as a member of the executive board at the private bank. Elbaz, 55, has been directing the Wealth Management department at Swiss Life Banque Privée since December 2008. He began his career in 1987 as Deputy Director of La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. From 2006 to 2008, he joined Decia Paris as Head of Institutional Client Sales.

Mirabaud is strengthening its asset management business in Switzerland with the creation of a new entity - Mirabaud Asset Management (Suisse) SA - in January 2014. This company will have independent directors but will be wholly-owned by the Group’s future holding company, Mirabaud SCA, which in turn will be supervised by the Mirabaud Group’s six current partners. It will provide asset management and collective investment services as well as serving institutional clients. «The creation of a separate structure to oversee the bank’s asset management activities in Switzerland is an important part of Mirabaud’s growth plans and marks a major step forward in its strategy of organising its activity into business lines. The governance structure will bring the Swiss entity into line with the rest of the Group, enabling it to better meet the increasingly complex demands of its private and institutional clients», according to a statement published on November 14. The new entity will house all of Mirabaud’s asset management and fund distribution activities in Switzerland. It will be run by Lionel Aeschlimann, a managing partner, who will head a team of 45 top professionals in Switzerland. Along with its entities in London, Paris, Madrid, Luxembourg and Montreal, the asset management business line boasts nearly 90 staff members. «This new structure reflects our commitment to pursuing the asset management growth strategy we have been implementing for the past three years. It is an important step forward, designed to ensure we can meet our clients’ increasingly high standards, in particular in terms of governance. Ultimately, by strengthening this business line, which is key to our Group’s growth, we will be able to consolidate the Mirabaud Asset Management brand and continue to attract talent to our bank,» explained Lionel Aeschlimann in a statement. Mirabaud also announced that its subsidiary Mirabaud Asset Management (Europe) SA is about to be awarded an AIFM licence by Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the CSSF. The AIFM authorisation was introduced under new European regulations drawn up in the wake of the recent financial crisis. It will facilitate the distribution of non-UCITS funds - mainly hedge funds - to professional investors in Europe. Mirabaud Asset Management (Europe) SA, which inherited the Mirabaud Group’s pioneering capabilities in alternative investment management, will be able to use its AIFM authorisation to offer its alternative investment products throughout the European Union.

At the end of October 2013, Julius Baer Group’s assets under management (AuM) amounted to CHF 249 billion, an increase of 31% from the CHF 189 billion at the end of 2012, according to a statement published this morning. This includes approximately CHF 48 billion from Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management (IWM) business outside the US, which Julius Baer is in the process of acquiring, of which CHF 29 billion were booked on the Julius Baer platforms and paid for. Total client assets grew by 23% to CHF 341 billion.Outside the acquisition impact, the increase in AuM in the first ten months of 2013 was driven by net new money and a positive market performance, partly offset by a negative currency impact due to the strengthening of the Swiss franc against most leading currencies, not including the euro. Net new money continued to be driven by net inflows from the growth markets and from the local business in Germany, while the inflows from the cross-border European business were balanced by outflows from tax regularisations of legacy assets.The Group’s gross margin in the first ten months of 2013 declined to 97 basis points (bps), compared to 102 bps in the first half year of 2013. The cost/income ratio for the first ten months of 2013 was just above the 71.7% achieved for the full year 2012, up from 69.3% in the first half of 2013.

Vanguard Asset Management on November 14 announced reductions to the Total Expense Ratios (TERs) on 22 Irish-domiciled mutual funds. These changes will affect the EUR, USD, CHF and JPY share classes across a range of equity and fixed income mutual funds (see here). In addition, the TER for the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Market ETF, (which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange and NYSE Euronext Paris and Amsterdam) will be reduced from 0.45% to 0.29%.The changes for the mutual fund range and Vanguard FTSE Emerging Market ETF will take effect from the 3 December, 2013.As of 31 October, 2013 Vanguard held USD67.7 billion in total European assets under management (AUM) and recently its ETF range surpassed USD3.0 billion in assets.

The alternative UCITS fund sector has posted net inflows of EUR3.2bn in third quarter from single managers, according to statistics from MondoAlternative. Inflows to funds of funds, for their part, have totalled EUR93m. Assets under management in these funds totalled EUR109bn as of the end of September 2013, compared with EUR103.7bn as of the end of June 2013. Long/short equity and equity market neutral strategies were in most demand, with inflows of EUR2.3bn and EUR986m, respectively. As of the end of September, the most important strategies were fixed income, with assets of EUR30.3bn, long/short equity, with EUR16.3bn, and equity market neutral with EUR9.6bn. According to statistics from MondoAlternative, as of the end of August 2013 there were 12 UCITS platforms which managed more than EUR11.4bn in UCITS hedge funds. The most popular structure is Universal Investment Platform, which has EUR3.6bn, followed by Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions Platform (EUR1.9bn) and Schroder GAIA Platform (EUR1.8bn). Alternative UCITS platforms in the first eight months of the year have posted growth in assets of 10.9%. The performance of single managers has totalled 0.94% in third quarter, while funds of funds totalled 1.46%.

At a time when the Italian asset management firm Anima is preparing to hold its IPO, Bluerating observes that most funds on sale from the structure show disappointing returns. For example, since the beginning of 2013, Anima Fix Emergenti has lost nearly 8%, and Anima Obbligazionario Emergente has lost 7.3%. From November 2012 to the present, all Anima funds invested in emerging markets have lost money for their clients. Over three years, the results are the same.

Renaissance Asset Managers has announced that it has registered its Luxembourg fund range in Italy at InvestmentEurope’s Fund Selector conference in Milan, Investment Europe reports. The range includes the following funds: Global Emerging Market Yield, Sub-Saharan, Pan-Africa, Frontiers et Russia Equity Allocation. The range of funds based in Dublin is also expected to be registered soon.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published on November 14 its third annual Global Shadow Banking Monitoring Report. The report includes data from 25 jurisdictions and the euro area as a whole; these jurisdictions represent about 80% of global GDP and 90% of global financial system assets. For the first time the report also incorporates estimates from a hedge fund survey by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).The report finds that, on a broad estimate, the assets of non-bank financial intermediaries (excluding those of insurance companies, pension funds and public financial institutions) grew by USD5 trillion in 2012 to reach USD71 trillion. Non-bank financial intermediaries represent on average about 24% of total financial assets, and are equivalent to about half of banking system assets and 117% of GDP. These patterns have been relatively stable since the crisis.

The Swiss structured product market Scoach has added a new issuer with the arrival of the Royal Bank of Canada and its affiliates, which operate under the EBC brand name, according to a statement released on 14 November. The Royal Bank of Canada is the largest bank in Canada by stock market capitalisation assets and one of the largest banks worldwide in terms of assets ad market capitalisation. RBC has stable and solid ratngs (Aa3 / AA- / AA); its capitalisation ratios are high and returns on owners’ equity total 19.7%. RBC is one of the largest diversified financial services companies in North America, and worldwide offers banking services to retail and corporate clients, wealth management services, insurance services, investors services, and investment banking services.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Discussion Paper setting out its initial views on the implementing measures it will have to develop for the new Market Abuse Regulation (MAR).MAR aims to enhance market integrity and investor protection. It will achieve this by updating and strengthening the existing market abuse framework, by extending its scope to new markets and trading strategies, and by introducing new requirements.The closing date for responses is Monday 27 January 2014.

M&G has reported steady inflows for the three months to the end of September 2013. Total net inflows for the quarter were GBP5.1 billion, taking the cumulative total since the start of the year to GBP8.9 billion.In retail, M&G’s European businesses continue to be the main engine of growth. During the first nine months of the year, net fund flows from Europe reached GBP6.4 billion, an 82 per cent increase over the same period in 2012. Total net retail inflows for the quarter were GBP1.1 billion and for the year-to-date amount to GBP5.9 billion, being 4 per cent lower than at the same stage in 2012, which was itself a record year. Retail funds under management (FUM) increased by 24 per cent year-on-year to GBP64.5 billion at 30 September 2013. Of this, FUM from European clients total GBP22.1 billion, up from GBP12.3 billion at 30 September 2012 and now account for over a third of total retail FUM.M&G Optimal Income and M&G Global Dividend remain the best sellers.The institutional business posted net inflows of GBP4.0 billion during the third quarter, resulting in total net inflows for the year of GBP3.0 billion. Total FUM have risen to GBP242.2 billion at the end of September 2013, up 12 per cent year on year. Over the same period, external client assets increased by 19 per cent to GBP124.3 billion; net inflows contributed 14 percentage points of this growth with the remaining 5 percentage points attributable to market movements. Prudential’s Asia asset management business, Eastspring Investments ended the quarter with funds under management (FUM) of GBP59.7 billion, up 7 per cent over the same time last year. FUM from external parties rose by 12 per cent to GBP18.5 billion, benefiting from third party net inflows of GBP2.0 billion (2012: GBP1.0 billion) in the first nine months.

Rothschild Wealth Management (UK) Limited has recruited the private bankers Paolo Lenzi and Francesca Speroni, Bluerating reports, citing Magstat. The two previously worked at Morgan Stanley.

Henderson Global Investors has acquired 100% of the equity of Australian and London-based alternative investment manager H3 Global Advisors. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.H3 specialises in active and enhanced commodities strategies and, managing approximately USD342 million on behalf of institutional and retail clients. The group was founded in 1996. Henderson manages USD123 billion (as at 30 September 2013) of assets.

The British firm Charles Stanley on 14 November announced at a publication of its results for the half that it has acquired the boutique specialised in passive management Evercore Pan Asset Capital Management. Charles Stanley will acquire 100% of the company, including the stake held by co-founder John Redwood and the 68% held b the US investment firm Evercore Partners. Redwood, chairman of the investment board at the firm, as well as CEO Christopher Aldous, have joined Charles Stanley in the wake of the acquisition. Assets under management at Evercore as of the end of October totalled GBP593m. The firm, which continued to show losses last year and which was near the breaking point this year, was expected to be “immediately profitable” following the acquisition, which will be accompanied by some savings measures, Charles Stanley says. Charles Stanley in the first half of its year to 30 September earned pre-tax profits of nearly GBP5m, up 44% compared with the first half of last year. Its assets under management as of the end of September totalled GBP18.5bn, comapred with GBP17.7bn as of 31 March 2013.

BATS Chi-X Europ on 14 November announced that Lyxor Asset Management would be listing two ETFs on the regulated BATS Chi-X Europe market on Monday, 25 November 2013. The Lyxor UCITS ETF MSCI Emerging Markets fund (code: LEMD) will be listed in USD, while the Lyxor UCITS ETF EURO STOXX 50 (Code: MSE) will be listed in EUR. Lyxor is the third-largest ETF provider in Europe, with more than USD41bn in assets under management. According to the CEO of BATS Chi-X Europe, Mark Hemsley, “Lyxor is a major Euoropean actor in the world of ETFs, and we are delighted to welcome pan-European listings to our platform. The decsion by Lyxor to list their funds on BATS Chi-X Europe is a sign of our desire to provide an efficient and borderless pan-European capital market, in the service of all market actors. … Thanks to the pan-European position of the BATS Chi-X Europe, we are able to offer issuers a neutral channel to reach all investors throughout Europe, while offering them simplified access to innovative products,” he adds.

ETFs are increasingly occupying independent investors in Germany, according to a survey conducted in October by V-Bank in partnership with manager magazin. Nearly half of respondents to the survey say they have a maximum of 15% ETFs in their portfolios. But for about 40% of professionals surveyed, the proportion of ETFs represents 20% or more of their assets. The survey fins that the proportion of ETFs in the portfolio depends largely on the size of the companies: the larger the company is, the smaller the proportion of ETFs. The survey also finds that nearly 40% of participants are planning to increase the proportion of ETFs in their allocation in the next six months. About 86% of asset managers say that ETFs are a part of their allocation.

Russell Investments has recruited David Vickers in London for the team which oversees its multi-asset class fund, Citywire Global reports. Vickers joins from Sarasin,where he was lead portfolio manager in the balanced assets unit. Vickers will be responsible for strategy for the Russell Investments Multi-Asset Growth fund, with EUR2.2bn in assets.

Pavilion Energy, an energy firm owned by the Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, on 14 November announced that it has acquired 20% of three natural gas installations in Tanzania for USD1.3bn. The liquified natural gas from the Tanzanian project will provide another source for Asian markets, Pavilion explains in a statement. The acquisition, which remains subject to the approval of the authorities and shareholders in Ophir, is the first major investment to aim to form a diversified portfolio of natural gas sources in order to meet demand from Asia for clean energy, Pavilion adds. The development of natural gas in Tanzania has gigantic potential, not only for Pavilion Energy but also for Singapore and Asia, the chairman of Pavilion, Hassan Marican, says in a statement. The first gas deliveries are scheduled for 2020. The three natural gas installations, known as Tanzania Blocs 1, 3 and 4, are currently 60% owned by the British BG Group and 40% by its partner Ophir Energy. They are estimated to contain about 15 trillion cubic feet (28 billion cubic metres) at a shallow depth across Tanzania. According to the most recent official statistics (March 2013) published on its website, assets under management at Temasek total SGD215bn, or about EUR128bn. Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East represent 2% of its total investments.

Liechtenstein on 14 November announced that it would be coming into line on the criteria of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concerning automatic exchange of information to combat tax fraud. In a statement, Liechtenstein has announced that it “will sign” the multilateral Convention concerning administrative assistance in matters of taxation in November 2013, which “shows its engagement in favour of fiscal cooperation based on widely shared international rules.” Liechtenstein also insists that “automatic exchange of information in tax matters will be the future international norm,” and proposes to “actively participate” with the OECD in talks on the subject.

The Luxembourg boutique VAM Funds has announced the launch of an improved equity fund aimed at prudent investors, which aims to expose itself to equity markets. The new stategy gives the priority to protection against market declines, with a means to capture a larger part of rising movements. The VAM Funds (Lux) Enhanced Equity Fund (LU0910230084), with initial capital of USD15.5m, will be maaged by Jason Webster of Fleming Family and Partners.

Swiss Life Banque Privée a annoncé le 14 novembre la nomination de Simon Elbaz, directeur du département Wealth Management, en tant que membre du comité exécutif de la banque privée.Agé de 55 ans, Simon Elbaz dirige le département Wealth Management de SwissLife Banque Privée depuis décembre 2008. Il a débuté sa carrière en 1987 au poste de directeur adjoint de La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. De 2006 à 2008, il rejoint Dexia Paris en tant que responsable vente clientèle institutionnelle.

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) a signé un accord de principe avec le fonds souverain russe RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) pour la création d’une plateforme transfrontière qui réaliserait des co-investissements dans le private equity, rapporte Asian Investor.Les deux fonds souverains se sont engagés à financer la plateforme à hauteur dans un premier temps de 250 millions de dollars chacun.Les actifs sous gestion de KIC s'élèvent à environ 65 milliards de dollars alors que le fonds russe est doté de 10 milliards de dollars.

BATS Chi-X Europe a annoncé le 14 novembre que Lyxor Asset Management, allait coter deux ETF sur le marché réglementé de BATS Chi-X Europe le lundi 25 novembre 2013. Le Lyxor UCITS ETF MSCI Emerging Markets se négociera en dollars, le Lyxor UCITS ETF EURO STOXX 50 sera négocié en euros. Lyxor est le troisième fournisseur d’ETF en Europe avec plus de 41 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous gestion. Selon le directeur général de BATS Chi-X Europe, Mark Hemsley, « Lyxor est un acteur européen majeur dans le monde des ETF et nous sommes ravis de l‘accueillir sur notre plateforme de cotation paneuropéenne. La décision de Lyxor de lister leurs fonds sur BATS Chi-X Europe souligne notre volonté d’assurer un marché de capitaux paneuropéen efficace et sans frontières, au service de tous les acteurs du marché. » « Grâce à la position paneuropéenne de BATS Chi-X Europe, nous sommes en mesure de fournir aux émetteurs un canal neutre afin d’atteindre l’ensemble des investisseurs à travers l’Europe, tout en leur offrant un accès simplifié à ces produits innovants », ajoute-t-il. De son côté, le directeur monde de l’offre ETF et fonds indiciels chez Lyxor, Arnaud Llinas, souligne que « le partenariat avec BATS Chi-X Europe témoigne de notre volonté forte de fournir aux investisseurs d’ETF en Europe des solutions d’investissement innovantes. La fragmentation du marché européen constitue un défi pour les fournisseurs d’ETF du fait des restrictions importantes sur la liquidité des produits. En offrant une place de cotation paneuropéenne, BATS Chi-X Europe nous donne la possibilité d’augmenter la liquidité de nos fonds et d’accroître ainsi leur efficience. Il s’agit d’un développement extrêmement positif pour le secteur des ETF en Europe. » Avec sa place de cotation, BATS Chi-X Europe met en oeuvre des initiatives visant à améliorer le marché européen des ETF en travaillant étroitement avec les émetteurs, les investisseurs et les négociateurs. Cette initiative permet de répondre aux besoins de transparence et de liquidité des ETF. Le programme Competitive Liquidity Provider (CLP) fait partie de ces innovations : mis au point par BATS sur le marché US, il est conçu pour inciter les market makers à fournir des carnets d’ordres de qualité afin d’attirer un grand nombre d’investisseurs sur les ETF. Des informations complémentaires concernant la plateforme BATS Chi-X Europe, le programme CLP et la stratégie ETF sont disponibles sur www.batstrading.co.uk/etfs.

Sur les 10 premiers mois de l’année, Primonial a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 1,251 milliard d’euros, contre 947 millions d’euros sur la période correspondante de l’année dernière. Cela représente une hausse de 32 % à périmètre comparable.Sur l’ensemble de 2012, Primonial avait collecté 1,4 milliard d’euros. Au 30 septembre, la société affichait un encours géré ou conseillé de 6,3 milliards d’euros.

Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs a annoncé le lancement du fonds Fédéris Pro Actions ISR Euro, qui est investi en en actions des grandes entreprises les plus responsables de la zone euro avec un objectif de volatilité réduite. Le fonds s’adresse aux investisseurs institutionnels soumis aux règles prudentielles de l’assurance «qui ne souhaitent pas supporter l’intégralité de la volatilité des actions», précise Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs. La protection contre une baisse excessive des marchés actions sera assurée «grâce à la mise en œuvre d’une stratégie de couverture par achat de put financée par des ventes de call, suivant une méthodologie propriétaire réalisée uniquement sur le marché liquide et transparent des options listées», souligne un communiqué. Concernant la gestion ISR du portefeuille, la société de gestion du groupe Malakoff Médéric fait appel aux compétences de Vigeo et Eiris en matière d’analyse pour la sélection de titres. Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs gère plus de 27 milliards d’euros d’actifs au 30 juin 2013.Caractéristiques :Code Isin PART I : FR0011441591Frais d’entrée : 1%Frais de sortie : néantFrais courants : 0,50 % par an

La Financière Tiepolo annonce l’arrivée de Christoph Pradillon au poste d’analyste financier. L’intéressé a auparavant été en poste chez BNP Paribas AM comme assistant au sein de l’équipe d’analyse financière Europe « Buy Side », et chez Oddo Securities comme vendeur actions Europe. Au sein de la Financière Tiepolo, il travaillera sous la responsabilité de Dominique Dequidt, directeur adjoint de la gestion collective qui a pris en charge le département de l’analyse financière.La Financière Tiepolo gère au 12 novembre 550 millions d’euros d’encours.

Bill Sung a démissionné de son poste de directeur des investissements d’Absolute Asia Asset Management et il quittera la société à la fin de l’année, est en mesure de révéler Citywire Global. Bill Sung a déjà été remplacé en tant que CIO par François Théret, l’ancien responsable des actions émergentes mondiales chez Natixis Global Asset Management à Paris.