With the S&P Smit 40, S&P Dow Jones Indices is launching a new index which will cover equities in four emerging markets: South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey, Das Investment reports. It will include only companies whose market capitalisation is over USD1bn, and for which the daily trading volume is at least equal to USD5m over the past three months. The index will include the ten largest companies from each country.UniCredit has already acquired the license for the index.

As of 30 September, assets under management in hedge funds totalled a new record of USD2.19trn, beating the previous record set in March. Assets increased by USD80bn in third quarter, and USD183bn since the beginning of the year, according to statistics from Hedge Fund Research (HFR).Net subscriptions totalled USD10.6bn in July-September, and USd31bn in the first nine months of the year.However, despite these results, HFR estimates that if subscriptions continue at the same pace in fourth quarter, 2012 will have the lowest net inflows since 2009, a year when investors actually pulled out a net USD131bn from hedge funds.The HFRI Weighted Composite Index in third quarter posted an increase of 3%, meaning that performance effects generated an increase of about USD70bn in asset volumes.In detail, HFR states that the relative value arbitrage strategy posted a net inflow of USD12.6bn in third quarter, bringing total net inflows to USD35bn in the first three quarters of the year, and assets to USD586bn as of the end of September. This is the same total as for the equity hedge strategy, which has seen net outflows of USD5.2bn in July-September.

The asset management firm Sanlam Investment Management has acquired a majority stake in the Bermuda-based investment firm P2 International, Fund Web reports.The acquisition will allow clients of Sanlam to have access to international bond and equity strategies. For its part, P2 International may develop its activities in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

With 10 years of experience in the area of corporate trusts at BNP Paribas Securities Services, Christopher Meitzner is joining BNY Mellon as senior relationship manager for corporate trust activities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He will report to Thomas Brand, head of investment services at BNY Mellon for Germany.Chris Strakosh remains as sales manager for corporate trusts.

Institutional investors in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly taking an interest in ETFs, but the market is still very far from the sophistication to be found in the United States, according to a survey undertaken by Greenwich Associates on behalf of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA).Asian institutionals make most of their ETF investments offshore, generally in ETFs listed in the United States: four institutionals out of ten say that they acquire ETFs on foreign markets. This is unsurprising, since in this market segment, liquidity and products are more abundant in North America, and especially on the New York stock exchange. Assets in ETFs on the Tokyo Stock Exchange total USD44.5bn, a fraction of those in ETFs listed in New York, which represent about USD1.2trn. However, the Korean Stock Exchange is the most liquid in terms of annual trading volumes. But the US market is clearly much deeper than the Asian market, with the 10 largest ETPs representing 38% of ETP assets on the New York stock exchange, and the 10 largest ETPs in Tokyo accounting for 97% of assets.When asked about their ETF selection criteria, 85% of Asian institutional investors cite liquidity and trading volumes, followed by tracking error (61%) and total expense ratio (53%). This is followed by track record (44%), diversity of products (43%), and far behind, the company and team responsible for products (13%). Investment in ETFs is still an anonymous activity in Asia, and clients are not particularly interested in the issuer, the survey finds.The use of ETFs in Asia ex Japan is also much less sophisticated than in the United States. The major objectives sought are, firstly, core/satellite portfolio allocation (66% of respondents), followed far behind by risk management and hedging (38%). For US users, ETFs are used largely for tactical adjustments, portfolio rebalancing and transition management.According to Kevin Quigg, global head of the SPDR ETF strategy and advisory at SSgA, a large portion of the use of ETFs in the United States “is less about ‘F’ and more about ‘ET,’ and that influences the market, since ETFs have shown that they are effective for resolving market difficulties.”But Asian institutional investors are expected to gradually follow in the footsteps of their American counterparts. 40% of them want to increase their use of ETPs in the next few years, while 46% say they want to maintain their current allocations.

Thomas Steyer, one of the top hedge fund managers, has announced that he is leaving Farallon, the USD20bn firm which has led for 27 years, the Financial Times reports. In a letter to investors, the 55-year-old man says that Andrew Spokes, co-managing partner, will succeed him at the end of the year. Since its launch, the flagship fund from Farallon has earned average annual returns of 13.4% for investors, after fees.

For the first time in 17 years, US equities have outperformed most major asset classes, at a time when growth is slowing and profits are at their lowest levels since 2009.The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has gained 14% since the beginning of the year, outpacing US Treasury bonds, corporate bonds, commodities, the US dollar and Asian and European equities, according to statistics from the news agency Bloomberg.Treasuries have gained only 3.3% since the beginning of the year, compared with 9.9% for US investment grade corporate bonds, and 14% for high yield debt, according to figures from Barclays. The S&P GSCI commodity index has gained 1.7%, while the dollar index (DXY), which measures the US currency against six major trading partners, is down 0.7%.The last time US equities ranked on top, in 1995, the S&P 500 posted the strongest annual growth in the past 50 years. With a price to earnings ratio similar to the one currently observed, the index gained 93% in the two and a half years that followed.

US group Prudential Financial has announced that it has signed an agreement with Verizon Communications to transfer a pension scheme with a total of USD7.5bn in assets.The transfer, which will affect about 41,000 Verizon employees, is expected to take place in December this year.

Activities in the United States of the Lausanne-based Gottex Brokers Alternative will now be operated by Gottex Brokers Alternative USA, which has opened an office in Los Angeles, Investment Europe reports. The US affiliate will be led by Bruno Bardavid. It will offer services to hedge funds, funds of funds, family offices, third-party managers, public institutions, sovereign wealth funds, private and investment banks, investment advisers and pension funds.

Marie-Jeanne Missoffe is joining Mandarine Gestion as an addition to its “growth equities” management team. The former European equity manager at SPGP joins a team that includes Joëlle Morlet-Selmer and Diane Bruno, who are manager and co-manager, respectively, of the growth equity fund Mandarine Opportunités and Mandarine Unique - European Small & Mid cap funds. Missoffe left SPGP early this year. She was manager of the Cap Grande Europe fund. She had previously served as co-head of European small & midcap management at Ixis AM and European equity manager at CDC Gestion. “The arrival of Marie-Jeanne Missoffee at Mandarine Gestion will allow us to strengthen our management product range in growth equities, to respond to growing demand on the part of our investors, who are now showing a real appetite for this type of management,” says Rémi Leservoisier, CEO of Mandarine Gestion.

Collateralised loan obligations, the complex products at the core of the financial crisis, are making a comeback, as investors seeking returns are investing in the exotic instruments again, the Financial Times reports. The number of asset management firms creating CLOs has doubled in the United States, and total flows to these products now come to USD34.7bn, more than all of the past four years put together.

Guy Phillips, who had previously been head of global consumer & retail at the UBS investment bank, will now work in wealth management at the Swiss banking group. He will be responsible for the family offices team in emerging markets, Finews reports. Phillips’ former position will be taken over by Nick Hassall.

Swiss-based Partners Group has announced that it has led a financing operation for an acquisition of the Douglas group. Partners Group acted as the mandated lead arranger for mezzanine financing for a takeover bid presented by Beauty Holding Three (a subsidiary of Advent Capital) to shareholders in Germany’s Douglas Holding, the private investment group announced on 22 October.

Nearly two thirds of independent financial advisers estimate that one of the consequences of RDR regulations which will come into force in early 2013 in the UK will be that it will eliminate some retail clients, Fund Web reports. With the introduction of the new rules, portfolios of less than GBP50,000 will no longer be profitable, advisers claim, according to a survey undertaken by Allianz Global Investors of 166 IFAs.The survey also finds that 60% of advisers consider it inevitable that their product range will change, while 36% predict that their services to more modest clients will decline, 16% predict that they will no longer serve clients of this type, and 6% are unsure.About 14% of participants in the survey say that they have raised their prices for the most modest clients, while 13% say they will maintain their level of service to these clients, even if that decision entails losses.

Les plates-formes d’échange de dérivés auraient été dans l’incapacité de rivaliser avec la puissance combinée de Deutsche Börse et Nyse Euronext, ont estimé les régulateurs européens dans l’exposé des motifs du rejet du projet de fusion. Dans ce document de 447 pages, ils ont rejeté notamment l’argument des deux groupes selon lequel les dérivés de gré à gré entraient en concurrence avec ceux cotés sur les plates-formes.

Un fonds d’urgence de 170 millions d’euros sera mis en place début 2013 pour aider les départements à faire à leurs dépenses sociales, a déclaré lundi Jean-Marc Ayrault à l’issue d’une rencontre avec l’Assemblée des départements de France. Les départements français ont la charge de distribuer des aides sociales comme le revenu de solidarité active (RSA) mais n’ont pas toujours les ressources financières pour faire face à leurs augmentations en raison de l’envolée du chômage.

La plate-forme de négociation électronique a accordé à Lyxor une licence pour créer des ETF basés sur les indices obligataires souverains MTS France et MTS Italie. Ces indices répliquent la performance de l’ensemble des instruments de dette souveraine répertoriés par MTS et émis par les gouvernements français et italien (entre un et trois ans de maturité et plus de deux milliards de dollars en circulation).

360 Capital Partners vient de finaliser un premier closing de 60 millions d’euros pour son nouveau fonds qui réunira à terme plus de 100 millions d’euros. Ajouté aux fonds précédents, cela porte ses actifs sous gestion à plus de 300 millions d’euros. Comme ses prédécesseurs, ce nouveau fonds est destiné à financer des starts-up innovantes au sens le plus large du terme.

La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel et le Premier ministre irlandais Enda Kenny ont déclaré dimanche dans un communiqué commun que les dirigeants de la zone euro se pencheraient sur «le cas particulier» du secteur bancaire irlandais afin de le soutenir davantage. Les propos d’Angela Merkel sur les modalités du projet de supervision bancaire avaient suscité de vives réactions en Irlande, qui craint de voir s'éloigner un plan de soutien de grande envergure à son secteur bancaire. La chancelière allemande avait assuré vendredi que si le Mécanisme européen de stabilité (MES) pourra recapitaliser les banques quand l’union bancaire sera effective, il n'était pas question qu’il prenne en charge le legs du passé. «Il n’y aura aucune recapitalisation directe rétroactive», avait dit Angela Merkel. Enda Kenny rencontrera lundi à Paris François Hollande, pour la première fois depuis l'élection de ce dernier en mai.

A l’issue de l’augmentation de capital de 414 millions d’euros, le Fonds stratégique d’investissement reste le principal actionnaire de CGGVeritas avec 7,1% du capital, contre 6,5% précédemment, soit un total de 10,7% pour le concert FSI-IFPEN, qui maintient son niveau de détention.

Le président du groupe de private equity américain, Henry Kravis, indique dans un entretien à El Pais que sa société pourrait prendre une participation dans la bad bank espagnole ou acquérir directement ses actifs. La question clé est de savoir si les actifs sont transférés au véhicule à une valeur appropriée, s’interroge Henry Kravis.

La banque helvétique a mis en vente ses activités européennes d’ETF (exchange-traded funds), qui représentent 17,2 milliards de dollars (13,2 milliards d’euros), a indiqué Reuters de sources proches du dossier. BlackRock et State Street Global Advisors font partie des acquéreurs potentiels ayant présenté une offre. Avec 58 fonds indiciels cotés et une part de marché de 5,6%, Credit Suisse se classe au quatrième rang de ce marché en Europe à fin septembre, selon ETFGI.

L’ex-Avenir Entreprises investit, via son FCPR OC+, dans la société Leda Finances, Holding d’Otima (tôlerie fine), pour l’accompagner dans son développement en venant renforcer les fonds propres du groupe à hauteur d’un million d’euros. En parallèle, Alliance Entreprendre et Unexo, partenaires historiques du groupe, ont également choisi de procéder à une nouvelle levée de fonds.

La balance commerciale du Japon a enregistré un lourd déficit de quelque 558,6 milliards de yen (5,5 milliards d’euros) au mois de septembre (contre un excédent de d’environ 2,8 milliards d’euros un an auparavant), avec une chute des exportations de 10,3%, selon les chiffres publiés ce matin par le ministère des Finances. Les ventes vers la Chine ont plongé de 14,1% et celles vers l’Union européenne de 21,1%.

Selon le rapport Dividend Monitor de Capita cité par Bloomberg, les dividendes versés cette année outre-Manche vont atteindre un record, à 78,6 milliards de livres. Un montant en progression de 16% par rapport à 2011 et supérieur au précédent plus haut de 77 milliards établi en 2008. Le rythme de croissance des dividendes va ralentir l’an prochain selon Capita, qui table tout de même sur une hausse de 3% à 81 milliards.

Le spécialiste texan du logiciel d’entreprises, dont la capitalisation s’élève à 6,4 milliards de dollars, a, sous la pression de son actionnaire activiste Elliott Associates, répondu à l’expression d’intérêt de la part de sociétés de private equity comme Bain Capital, KKR et TPG. Des réunions ont eu lieu la semaine passée entre représentants de la cible pressentie et les fonds.

La chancelière allemande prévoit de lancer une alerte solennelle au Royaume-Uni en indiquant qu’il ne sert à rien de tenir un sommet européen si le Premier ministre britannique David Cameron persiste à dire qu’il mettra son veto sur tout budget qui ne prévoit pas un gel des dépenses, menaçant ainsi d’annuler purement et simplement le sommet, selon le Financial Times qui cite des sources proches.

Si le Parti Populaire de Mariano Rajoy remporte une victoire stratégique en Galice, le Pays basque est le théâtre d'une percée des indépendantistes

Après le succès inattendu du placement de BTP Italia, Rome a couvert 84% de ses besoins. Les taux à 10 ans sont au plus bas depuis juin 2011

La résistance des 2.610 points a sans doute mis fin au rally enclenché cet été