Selon les statistiques de la Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF) au Luxembourg, l’actif net des organismes de placements collectifs s’est élevé à 2 523,186 milliards d’euros au 31 juillet dernier. 3884 OPC ont été recensés dont 2 503 à compartiments multiples. Ces derniers sont 12 215 dans lesquels l’actif net représente 2 287,086 milliards d’euros, indique la CSSF.A noter qu’au 30 juin, l’encours total des organismes de placement collectifs au Luxembourg est ressorti à 2.486,58 milliards d’euros, ce qui représentait une diminution de 97,51 milliards sur fin mai.

Zurich Insurance Group annonce ce 29 août que le président du conseil d’administration Josef Ackermann l’a informé de sa décision d’abandonner toutes ses fonctions en tant que membre et président du conseil d’administration, avec effet immédiat.Josef Ackermann sera remplacé à la présidence du conseil d’administration par le vice-président, Tom de Swaan. Le conseil dit respecter cette décision, qu’il a acceptée avec un «profond regret», et remercie Josef Ackermann pour sa contribution au succès du groupe.Josef Ackermann explique sa décision par le décès récent du CFO de Zurich, Pierre Wauthier. «Le brusque décès de Pierre Wauthier m’a profondément choqué», déclare Josef Ackermann, cité dans le communiqué.

La banque privée zurichoise Rothschild Bank veut développer ses activités internationales de gestion de fortune en Asie. A cet effet, Alois Müller a été engagé, à compter de début septembre, en tant que managing director, responsable de la succursale Rothschild Wealth Management pour l’Asie du Nord, dont le siège est à Hong-Kong, indique un communiqué publié mercredi.L’Asie est un axe central de la stratégie de croissance dans la gestion de fortune, note la banque. Alois Müller vient d’UBS, où il a exercé diverses fonctions d’encadrement pendant 35 ans, à Zurich, Londres, New York et, en dernier lieu, Hong-Kong.

Le gestionnaire de fonds australien AMP Capital a déjà levé 305 millions de dollars pour son deuxième fonds d’infrastructures qu’il espère boucler autour du milliard de dollars début 2014, rapporte Asian Investor.La plupart des investisseurs dans le AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund II sont des assureurs et des fonds de pension japonais, mais l’un des plus importants assureurs sud-coréens est également présent ainsi que des assureurs et fonds de pension chinois.Ce fonds sera investi dans la dette subordonnée d’actifs d’infrastructures de services dont l’eau, le gaz, l'électricité, les transports et les communications en Europe, en Amérique du Nord et en Australie. Un premier investissement de 50 millions de livres a été réalisé fin juillet sous la forme d’un prêt subordonné à l’aéroport d’Heathrow.

La Banque de Thaïlande envisage de créer un fonds souverain afin d’utiliser ses excédents de devises et d’accroître les revenus de la banque centrale, rapporte le Bangkok Post.Le gouvernement et la banque centrale évoquent depuis des années la création d’un fonds souverain. Cette fois, le retour de ce projet sur le devant de la scène est lié à la situation financière délicate de la banque centrale qui accuse des pertes de 531 milliards de baht, soit plus de 12 milliards d’euros, dues principalement à ses interventions sur le marché des changes pour stabiliser la devise.Le fonds souverain, qui serait dénommé New Opportunity Fund, serait géré par une entité séparée voire par la banque centrale elle-même. La taille du fonds n’a pas non plus été arrêtée. Les réserves de change de la Thaïlande s'élèvent à environ 172 milliards de dollars.

Pioneer Investments vient de recruter Nils Hemmer en tant que responsable commercial pour la distribution (wholesale and third party), couvrant les assureurs, les banques, les gestionnaires de fortune, les réseaux de distribution et les conseillers financiers indépendants, rapporte Investment Europe. Il vient de Fidelity Worldwide Investments où il était responsable commercial en charge des compagnies d’assurances depuis 2008. Il sera placé sous la responsabilité d’Oliver Bilal, responsable de la distribution pour l’Allemagne chez Pioneer.

Pour janvier-juin 2013, le bénéfice d’exploitation de la BHF Bank, qui devrait incessamment être achetée à la Deutsche Bank par RHJ International, est ressorti à 6,8 millions d’euros contre 5,4 millions, confirmant ainsi le succès du plan de redressement.Parallèlement le total du bilan a été réduit à 7,5 milliards d’euros contre 8,4 milliards un an plus tôt.Quant aux encours sous gestion, ils sont demeurés stables à 37 milliards d’euros.

Le bénéfice économique (bénéfice aux normes IFRS avant impôt, plus résultat de la valorisation des instruments financiers) de Deka a progressé au premier semestre de 3,2 % à 323,8 millions d’euros contre 313,8 millions et, surtout, le gestionnaire central des caisses d’épargne a affiché pour janvier-juin des souscriptions nettes de 4.768 millions d’euros contre des remboursements nets de 1.876 millions pour la période correspondante de 2012.Les souscriptions nettes pour les fonds immobiliers ont atteint 1,2 milliard d’euros contre 1,1 milliard au premier semestre de l’an dernier, tandis que l’encours au 30 juin atteignait 26 milliards d’euros contre 25,2 milliards.A fin juin, l’encours total des fonds de Deka représentait 177 milliards d’euros contre 158,3 milliards fin décembre.

The Australian fund management firm AMP Capital has already raised AUD305m for its second infrastructure fund, which it hopes to close with about AUD1bn in early 2014, Asian Investor reports. Most investors in the AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund II are Japanese insurers and pension funds, but one of the largest South Korean insurers is also present, as well as Chinese insurers and pension funds. The fund will invest in subordinate debt on infrastructure assets for services including water, gas electricity, transport and communication in Europe, North America and Australia. An initial investment of GBP50m was made in late July in the form of a subordinate loan to Heathrow airport.

Renaissance Asset Management is planning to merge its Russian infrastructure fund and its Russian equity fund, Citywire reports. In a letter to shareholders, the asset management firm states that it feels the Renaissance Russian Infrastructure Equities fund will be more useful as part of a larger strategy.

According to statistics from the Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF), net assets at collective investment organisms totalled EUR2.523186trn as of 31 July. 3,884 OPC funds have been counted, of which 2,530 have multiple sub-funds. These number 12,215, in which net assets represent EUR2.287086trn, the CSSF states. As of 30 June, total assets in collective investment organisms in Luxembourg totalled EUR2.48658trn, which represents a decline of EUR97.51bn compared with the end of May.

Baring Asset Management has hired James Ross to the newly created role of director of investment process. Alongside overseeing the investment process for existing products, this role has been created to develop, implement and regularly review the investment processes for the suite of new products.James Ross was previously at Alliance Bernstein since 2001. From 2009, he was head of senior portfolio managers, Global Growth; involved in the management of the firm’s global growth equity. He starts on 2 September and will report to Marino Valensise, chief investment officer and be based in London.

Switzerland and the United States will soon sign an agreement on a solution to settle the problem of Swiss banks. The Swiss Federal Council, which yesterday examined the solution proposed by the US government to regularise the past, has approved in principle the creation of a joint agreement, according to a brief statement released on 28 August. The Federal Council has made the Federal finance department responsible for “carrying out the necessary work.” Once the joint declaration with the United States is signed, the regulatory text will be released. The signature of the joint declaration will allow Swiss banks to settle the difference over taxation which has opposed them to the United States in the existing legal order, and which in the past has damaged relations between the two countries. The Swiss banking association (ASB) has welcomed the positive decision by the Federal Council on the programme by the US authorities to regularise the situation at Swiss banks. According to the organisation, the last step to find a solution has been taken, and the United States can now launch the programme. “The programme allows Swiss banks a rapid and final settlement of their past with the United States, and creates the necessary legal security,” the ASB writes in a statement.

Auditing companies will in the future be controlled by the Swiss federal revision surveillance authority (ASR), and no longer by the financial market surveillance authority (Finma). The Federal Council on 28 August submitted a proposal to this effect to Parliament. A part of the transfer of competence has already taken place. Since September 2012, the ASR has taken over surveillance of account auditing at banks, insurers and publicly-traded collective capital investments. The other competences of Finma will be transferred after the Federal parliament has granted its approval. Currently, the ASR oversees revision firms, and Finma oversees auditors, though these activities partially overlap. The need to regroup these competences was observed in light practical experience in the past five years, and the lessons drawn from the financial crisis. The restructuring will allow for some administrative redundancies to be eliminated, structures to be rationalised, expertise to be concentrated and the quality of surveillance to be maximised, the government states.

A group of leading international investment institutions with USD 5.8tn of assets has urged tough new public disclosure rules for oil, gas and mining companies listed in Canada, even as it has warned against the US rolling back its own disclosure rules in this area, according to a press statement released on August 28.In separate letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the investors - among which Amundi, Allianz GI, Aviva Investors, ING IM and UBS GAM, have urged the adoption of a consistent global standard for all significant tax and royalty payments made by extractive companies across their global operations.The move reflects a growing global trend aimed at deterring corruption in resource-dependent countries, beginning with the passage in 2010 of tough extractive sector transparency provisions within the US Dodd Frank Act. This was followed by equivalent requirements in the EU’s Transparency and Accounting Directives in June 2013, following which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans at the G8 Summit in June to follow suit with similar regulations for Canadian-listed extractive companies.However, a July ruling in a US District Court on a suit filed by the American Petroleum Institute threatens to set back this effort by seeking to block the US regulation, and raises uncertainty for companies and investors operating internationally. Investors have therefore come together to highlight the importance of high standards of transparency as well as consistent global regulation.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) on 28 August launched a consultation on methodology to evaluate key attributes of resolution regimes for systemic financial institutions. The Council has laid out a draft methodology with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as normalisation organisms. The methodology proposes a series of evaluation criteria for each international standard, as well as examples and explanations to guide interpretation of the standards. This represents a significant step in settling the problem of institutions that are “too big to fail,” the Council says in a statement. On 12 August, the Council had previously submitted proposals for a financial resolution mechanisms aimed at systemic non-financial institutions.

Assets under management at the LGT group, a specialist in private banking and asset management, as of the end of June totalled CHF108.7bn, up by about 7% compared with the end of December 2012, according to a statement released on 28 August. This development is largely due to a net inflows of CHF4.8bn in first half, down slightly compared with first half 2012 (CHF5.5bn), but which represents an annual growth rate of 9%, which it considers “encouraging.” Net profits, however, were down 33% in first half, to CHF86.3m, due to an increase in provisions to confront changed fiscal conditions, including a tax withholding agreement signed between Switzerland and the United Kingdom, a statement says.

MetLife Advisors has selected ClearBridge Investments, an affiliate of Legg Mason, to manage a growth fund, according to an SEC document cited by Mutual Fund Wire. The fund had previously been managed by Janus, and will thus be changing names, to become the ClearBridge Aggressive Growth Portfolio II.

Sweden’s East Capital, a specialist in emerging and frontier markets, will launch a master-feeder structure in line with the possibilities provided by the UCITS IV legislation.The asset manager’s five Swedish UCITS funds will be converted into feeder funds investing their assets in the corresponding master funds, under East Capital’s existing Luxembourg SICAV umbrella. Implementation is planned for October 1. The master funds are managed by East Capital’s dedicated management company in Luxembourg – East Capital Asset Management SA.“The master-feeder structure will enable East Capital to increase operational efficiency and enhance its distribution efforts internationally, while ensuring its investment approach remains consistent”, according to a press statement. The new structure will also enable investors in the Luxembourg SICAV funds to invest into three new funds; East Capital Baltic Fund, East Capital Balkan Fund and East Capital Turkey Fund.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners is planning to transfer all of its Eastern European management, including management from Paris, to its subsidiary Alfred Berg, based in Stockholm, Sweden, Realtid reports, citing an article in the Swedish daily business newspaper Dagens Industri. “We are going to become the centre for BNP Paribas IP for the management of assets in Eastern Europe, particularly for equities,” Thomas Scherp, CEO of Alfred Berg, has told Dagens Industri. So far, Alfred Berg has about SEK5bn in assets under management in a Russian fund in Stockholm. Dagens Industri esimates BNP Paribas IP’s Eastern European asset management at about USD2bn.

Funds People reports that N mas1 AM in July registered the Spanish hedge fund QMCII Iberian Capital Fund with the CNMV, which aims to acquire large but not majority stakes (between 5% and 20%) in five to seven Spanish and Portuguese small caps (up to EUR1bn in market cap), and which uses the IBEX Small Cap as its benchmark index. The fund manager may also invest in convertible bonds in exceptional cases.The fund is available in four share classes, with fees of 1.35% for the A share class, 1.55% for the B share class, 1.75% for the C share class, and 0.95% for the D share class. All of these charge a performance commission, of 15% for A, B and C share classes, and 10.5% for the D share class. This commission will be charged only of internal returns for the subscriber exceed 7.5% p.a..

Zurich Insurance Group on 29 August announced that the chairman of the board of directors, Josef Ackermann, has informed it of his decision to step down from all of his responsibilities as a member and chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately. Ackermann will be replaced as chairman of the board of directors by the vice-chairman, Tom de Swaan. The board says that it respects his decision, which it has accepted with “profound regret,” and thanks Ackermann for his contribution to the success of the group. Ackermann explains that his decision is due to the recent death of the CFO of Zurich, Pierre Wauthier. “The sudden decease of Pierre Wauthier has profoundly shocked me,” says Ackermann, cited in a statement.

The Zurich-based private bank Rothschild Bank is seeking to develop its international wealth management activities in Asia. To this end, Alois Müller has been recruited from early September as Managing Director, responsible for the Rothschild Wealth Management arm in Northern Asia, with headquarters in Hong Kong, a statement released on Wednesday states. Asia is a central axis in the growth strategy for wealth management, the bank notes. Müller joins from UBS, where he served in various management rols for 35 years, in Zurich, London, New York, and most recently, Hong Kong.

The Hedge Fund Association on August 28 announced that it has formed a new academic advisory board to empower and educate students and others about the hedge fund industry.The board will hold HFA symposiums on campuses featuring well-known hedge fund managers and investors as guest speakers, along with hosting online webinars to teach the next generation of professionals not only about the industry, but also finance and ethics.The Hedge Fund Association is an international not-for-profit organization made up of hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, financial advisors, service providers and students.

Pioneer Investments has recruited Nils Hemmer as head of sales for wholesale and third party distribution, covering insurers, banks, wealth managers, distribution networks and independent financial advisers, Investment Europe reports. He joins from Fidelity Worldwide Investments, where he was head of sales in charge of insurance companies since 2008. He will report to Oliver Bilal, head of distribution for Germany at Pioneer.

In January-June 2013, operating profits at BHF Bank, which is on the verge of being acquired by RHJ International from Deutsche Bank, totalled EUR6.8m, compared with EUR5.4m, confirming the success of the firm’s recovery plan.Meanwhile, the total assets have been reduced to EUR7.5bn, from EUR8.4bn one year earlier.Assets under management have remained stable at EUR37bn.

Economic profits (pre-tax profits according to IFRS accounting standards, plus the results of valuation of financial instruments) at Deka in first half were up 3.2%, to EUR323.8m, compared with EUR313.8m, and in particular, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks has posted net subscriptions in January-June of EUR4.768bn, compared with net redemptions of EUR1.876bn in the corresponding period of 2012.The net subscriptions to real estate funds totalled EUR1.2bn, compared with EUR1.1bn in the first half of last year, while assets as of 30 June totalled EUR26bn, compared with EUR25.2bn. At end-June, total AUM reached EUR177bn, vs 158,3bn six months earlier.

For Swiss banks, the requirements of MiFid II and the financial services law (LSFIN) do not represent an insurmountable obstacle to the continuation of their activities abroad. Swiss banks estimate that international activities will remain attractive for it, despite regulations now in preparation, particularly in Europe. They see particular potential for growth in wealth management mandates, a durvey by PwC published n 28 August entitled “Barometer Investor Protection Rules,” concerning the impact of investor protection on the Swiss financial market, states. Swiss financial service providers are continuing to bet on cross-border acivities, although a future requirement for Swiss banks located outside the European Union to have a branch inside the European Union governed by MiFID II, the Euorpean directive concerning financial instrument markets, has often been mentioned, the survey finds. Two thirds of investment banks and 44% of cantonal and regional banks intend to remain attractive to clients in the European Union, and to attract them. All participants in the survey say that they would like to grow in the wealth management mandate section as a priority, where margins are comfortable. In this sector, spending related to the introduction of new regulatory rules is “relatively low” and banks could realise significant economies of scale. Another lesson of the survey is that nearly three quarters of participants would like to restrict the current diversity of complex products offered to their clients. They are planning “a general reduction in the complexity of the number of investment products, followed immediately by a decline in volume for these products.” The survey covered 30 Swiss financial service providers with a banking license in Switzerland, or licensed there for securities trading. These are investment banks (foreign and Swiss private banks and wealth managers) and cantonal or regional banks.

The Bank of Thailand is planning to create a sovereign fund in order to use its excess currency reserves and increase the revenues of the central bank, the Bangkok Post reports. The government of the central bank has for years been calling for the creation of a sovereign fund. This time, the return of this project to the foreground is related to the delicate financial situation at the central bank, which has seen losses of THB531bn, or over EUR12bn, largely due to its intervention in the currency markets to stabilise the currency. The sovereign fund, which will be known as the New Opportunity Fund, will be managed as a separate entity or by the central bank itself. The size of the fund has not been specified yet. Currency reserves in Thailand total about USD172bn.

The investment company Eurazeo has returned to profitability in first half, announcing net profits of EUR328.8m, compared with a loss of EUR126.6m in the same period of last year. In the year 2012 as a whole, Eurazeo posted a net loss for the part of the group of EUR198.5m related to one-time charges. Consolidated net income totalled EUR1.1bn in second quarter, down 1.8% year on year. For the half, it is down 2.2% to EUR2.1bn, according to a statement from the group. The amount of proceeds from sales is EUR853m since the beginning of the year, a statement says. Re-evaluated net assets (RNA), which are considered the most relevant figure for investment companies to measure the value of its stakes as a whole, totalled EUR58 per share as of 30 June 2013, up 7.2% compared with the end of 2012. The firm has since the beginning of the year made four acquisitions for a total of EUR100m (IES, Idéal Résidences, Peters Surgical and Cap Vert Finance), two of which are in the key target strategic sectors of health and the environment.