Avec l’UFF Oblicontext Septembre 2020, l’Union Financière de France (UFF) lance son sixième fonds à échéance d’obligations d’entreprises européennes et internationales sans prédominance sectorielle ou géographique tout en couvrant au mieux le risque de change afin qu’il demeure inférieur à 10%. La gestion financière de ce fonds a été déléguée à UBGI (France), du groupe Union Bancaire Privée (UBP).La gestion en sera flexible et diversifiée pendant la phase de construction du portefeuille, dans le but de générer des rendements tout au long de la vie du fonds (échéance au 30 septembre 2020). L’objectif de rendement moyen annualisé se situe à 5%. La stratégie de gestion vise à obtenir, en moyenne sur la durée d’investissements recommandée un objectif de rendement net de frais de gestion allant de 5% pour les parts A, à 6,05% pour les parts V.Le fonds cessera d'émettre de nouvelles parts passé le 25 octobre 2013. Il sera alors fermé à toute souscription.En cas de baisse des rendements actuariels moyens des titres détenus par le fonds de 1,50% ou plus pendant la période de souscription, la date de fermeture du fonds pourra être avancée. En revanche, la période de souscription pourra être rouverte si les rendements actuariels moyens des titres disponibles dépassent 7%.CaractéristiquesPart A (code Isin FR0011285634) : Seuil de souscription initial : 1 partPart C (code Isin FR0011311109) : Seuil de souscription initial : 1 part Part P (code Isin FR0011311117) : Seuil de souscription initial : 100 000 eurosPart V (code Isin FR0011311125) : Seuil de souscription initial : 1 000 000 eurosCommission de souscription (toutes parts): 4% maximum (non acquise à l’OPCVM). Cette commission n’est pas due dans le cadre d’un investissement au travers de contrats d’assurance distribués par UFFCommission de rachat : NéantFrais de gestion maximum TTC : Part A : 1,50% TTCPart C : 1,50% TTCPart P : 0,95% TTCPart V : 0.45% TTC

MyFlow qui mesure l’audience des sociétés de gestion auprès des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants (CGPI), via le trafic observé sur le site myflow.fr, vient de communiquer son classement pour le mois de septembre. «Avec 115 sociétés classées, l’attrait en nombre de sociétés est en baisse par rapport à la moyenne des trois derniers mois», a indiqué Frédéric Picard, le fondateur du site. A l'évidence, la prudence a été le maître mot puisqu'à l’exception de quelques nouveaux venus comme Nordea Investment Funds dans le radar des conseillers, ces derniers ont fait la part belle aux maisons renommées. De fait, le «Top 10" recense plus de 52% des visites contre 11% pour les 30 dernières sociétés du classement. «Sur les 4 derniers mois, à l’exception de Comgest qui a fait une entrée confirmée en septembre, note l'étude de Myflow, les neuf autres ont toujours été classées dans le top10.» Quant à la société de gestion britannique M&G, qui vient de fêter sa cinquième année de présence en France, elle continue de talonner la société leader Carmignac Gestion. Autre match entre anglo-saxons et français dans le haut du classement : Franklin Templeton au coude à coude avec DNCA Finance a repris en septembre l’avantage sur la société de gestion française. En outre, Fidelity progresse de 3 places et occupe la 5e position. Enfin, Financière de l’Echiquier progresse d’une place à la 6e position. De la 11e à la 30e place, Tocqueville Finance à la 15e place confirme son retour dans les sociétés préférées des conseillers, explique MyFlow. De même pour Oddo AM qui progresse de 4 places à la 16e position ou encore de Mandarine Gestion à la 17e place. De son côté, Lazard Frères progresse de 10 places à la 19e position. «Les mouvements les plus importants ont été enregistrés entre la 30ème et la soixantième place. «Avec dix entrées sur le mois, résume Frédéric Picard, cette catégorie est intéressante et permet de voir des sociétés de gestion nouvelles arriver dans le radar des conseillers comme Taurus Gestion et OFI AM, ou encore des sociétés plus petites présentes sur des niches comme Moneta SA sur les small caps ou Aliénor qui s’est illustré dans le domaine de la gestion flexible»... Enfin, à l’autre extrémité du classement, une dizaine de société sortent ce mois-ci du radar des CGPI (voir tableau en pièce jointe).

Les fonds ouverts américains ont enregistré en septembre une collecte nette de 16,5 milliards de dollars, les souscriptions dans les fonds obligataires (29,9 milliards de dollars) compensant très largement les rachats subis par les fonds actions (16,8 milliards de dollars), selon les statistiques publiées le 11 octobre par Morningstar.Les fonds d’obligations à moyen terme, la catégorie la plus importante au sein du fixed income, ont enregistré une collecte de plus de 13,2 milliards de dollars, dont 2,8 milliards de dollars dans les fonds Pimco et plus de 1,4 milliard de dollars pour DoubleLine.Au sein de la classe actions, toutes les catégories ont subi des rachats, notamment la catégorie «large-growth» qui terminé le mois sur une décollecte de 5 milliards de dollars. Les fonds diversifiés dédiés aux marchés émergents ont drainé près de 18 milliards de dollars depuis le début de l’année mais la collecte s’est nettement ralentie en septembre.Les fonds à dividendes ont en revanche attiré 17,3 milliards de dollars depuis le début de l’année alors que les fonds dédiés aux actions américaines ont subi des retraits pour un montant total de 82,6 milliards de dollars.Les fonds monétaires ont terminé le mois sur des rachats de près de 3 milliards de dollars, la décollecte sur l’ensemble de l’année tutoyant les 130 milliards de dollars.Du côté des distributeurs, les fonds de Pimco arrivent en tête au mois d’août, dernier mois disponible pour ces statistiques, avec une collecte de 8,92 milliards de dollars, devanrt Vanguard (3,8 milliards de dollars), JP Morgan (1,63 milliard de dollars) et DoubleLine (1,50 milliard de dollars). En revanche, sur huit mois, Vanguard est en tête avec 75,8 milliards de dolalrs, devant Pimco (42,43 milliards de dollars), JP Morgan (20,88 milliards de dollars) et DoubleLine (17,82 milliards de dollars).

En septembre, les actifs gérés par AllianceBernstein ont augmenté de 8 milliards de dollars pour remonter à 419 milliards de dollars en fin de mois, et trois autres grandes maisons, Franklin Templeton, Legg Mason et Invesco, ont enregistré une hausse totale de 51,1 milliards de dollars le mois dernier.Les deux plus fortes hausses d’encours, avec chacun 18,9 milliards de dollars, sont affichées par Franklin Templeton, à 749,9 milliards au 30 septembre, et Legg Mason, à 650,7 milliards. Invesco pour sa part a enregistre une hausse de 13,3 milliards de dollars de ses actifs sous gestion, à 683 milliards de dollars.Dans le domaine des actions pures, Franklin Templeton se distingue par une augmentation de 9 milliards de dollars (à 297,1 milliards), alors qu’Invesco affiche un accroissement de 5,4 milliards, à 300,6 milliards.

Au cours du Forum de la Gestion d’actifs 2012 qui s’est tenu hier à Paris a eu lieu la remise des prix amLeague-Newsmanagers consacrant au sein de la catégorie Euro Equities, de la catégorie Europe Equities et de la catégorie Multi Asset Class les sociétés de gestion les plus performantes sur les douze derniers mois (*) en tenant compte dans un cas la seule performance réalisée et dans un autre, la performance ajustée du risque. Dans la catégorie Euro Equities : Le prix de la meilleure performance sur un an a été remis à Allianz Global Investors Le prix de la meilleure performance ajustée du risque sur un an a été remis à Aberdeen AM Dans la catégorie Europe Equities : Le prix de la meilleure performance sur un an a été remis à Roche-Brune AM Le prix de la meilleure performance ajustée du risque sur un an a été remis à Invesco AM Dans la catégorie Multi Asset Class :Le prix de la meilleure performance sur un an a été remis à Allianz Global InvestorsLe prix de la meilleure performance ajustée du risque sur un an a été remis à Allianz Global Investors (*) Du 30 septembre 2011 au 30 septembre 2012

Groupe Primonial annonce avoir pris une participation majoritaire dans Roche-Brune Asset Management. Ce partenariat, annoncé par NewsManagers dans l'édition du 10 octobre, fait de Groupe Primonial l’actionnaire proche de 70% dans la société de gestion dirigée par Bruno Fine, qui gère près de 100 millions d’euros, principalement dans le capital développement et la gestion d’actions européennes.L’accord, sous réserve d’agrément de l’AMF, permettra à la société de gestion de faciliter son développement commercial et d’accroître sa visibilité auprès des institutionnels, family offices et multi gérants. Pour Groupe Primonial, ce nouveau pôle de gestion s’inscrit dans son modèle de «multi boutiques». Il donnera accès à l’expertise de Roche-Brune AM à sa clientèle de conseillers en gestion de patrimoine et d’institutionnels.

US open-ended funds in the month of September posted net inflows of USD16.5bn, as subscriptions to bond funds (USD29.9bn) comfortably offset redemptions from equity funds (USD16.8bn), according to statistics published on 11 October by Morningstar.Mid-term bond funds, the largest category within fixed income, posted inflows of over USD13.2bn, of which USD2.8bn were to Pimco funds, and more than USD1.4bn to DoubleLine.In the equity class, all categories saw redemptions, including the large-growth category, which finished the month with outflows of USD5bn. Diversified funds dedicated to emerging markets had attracted nearly USD18bn since the beginning of the year, but inflows slowed considerably in September.Dividend-focused funds, meanwhile, have attracted USD17.3bn since the beginning of the year, while funds dedicated to US equities have seen outflows of a total of USD82.6bn.Money market funds finished the month with redemptions of nearly USD3bn, putting outflows for the year as a whole to near USD130bn.Among distributors, Pimco funds did best in the month of August, the last month for which statistics are available, with inflows of USD8.92bn, followed by Vanguard (USD3.8bn), JP Morgan (USD1.63bn), and DoubleLine (USD1.50bn).However, for the past eight months, Vanguard leads with USD75.8bn, followed by Pimco (USD42.43bn), JP Morgan (USD20.88bn), and DoubleLine (USD17.82bn).

Stéphane Cros de la direction financière de Groupama Loire-Bretagne à la rédaction d’Instit Invest : En ce qui concerne les actions, nous sommes passés de 25% à 18%, nous avons profité depuis le début de l’année de la remontée des marchés financiers pour réduire notre poche, en cédant notamment les OPCVM actions détenus. Nous sommes dans une politique de désinvestissement de façon intelligente. Notre stratégie consiste à vendre des titres en plus et moins values tout en conservant les valeurs qui ont encore un potentiel de hausse. A ce titre, notre mandat de gestion nous permet d'échanger avec le gérant sur les différentes valeurs à désinvestir. En conséquence, nous disposons d’une poche de cash, qui oscille entre 10 et 12%. La baisse des taux de rendements monétaire ne nous inquiète pas tant que nous conservons notre capital. Nous sommes toujours dans une optique de renforcement de l’obligataire, à la recherche de rendement, nous nous sommes positionnés sur de la dette émergente ainsi que sur du high yield. Néanmoins, nous ne pouvons pas bâtir notre portefeuille sur ces produits, qui restent donc à la marge. Groupama Loire Bretagne a décidé d’investir dans les convertibles gérés par Groupama Asset Management. L’année 2013 nous semble loin, nous sommes en pleine incertitude actuellement, nous ne nous posons même pas la question de recommencer à investir.

Edith Jousseaume, directrice des investissements de l’Ircantec à la direction des retraites et de la solidarité dans un article publié dans l’Agefi Hebdo : Après avoir fait évoluer l’allocation du c??ur du portefeuille ces dernières années, l’IRCANTEC va se pencher sur la mise en place de poches de diversification sur de nouveaux pays, produits ou styles de gestion, et ce toujours avec une préoccupation ISR. Nous allons mener ces travaux en 2013. Déjà quelques pistes sont sur la table comme les obligations convertibles, les obligations des collectivités locales, le financement des PME et plus tard le private equity. Cette diversification pourrait se faire au travers de fonds ouverts.

Bloomberg reports that Pimco is opening an office in Rio de Janeiro, with 15 members, including some transferred from New York, and local recruitments. Alec Kersman, head of Latin America & Carribean Operations, says that Rio has ambitions to become the centre of gravity for the activities of Pimco in Latin America.

With the UFF Oblicontext Septembre 2020 fund, Union Financière de France (UFF) is launching its sixth bond target-date fund of European and international corporate bonds with no sectoral or geographical predominance, while better hedging for currency risks, to keep them below 10%. The annual return objective is 5%.Management will be flexible and diversified during the portfolio construction phase, in order to generate returns throughout the life of the fund (which matures on 30 September 2020).The management strategy aims to obtain a net return objective over the recommended investment duration, after management fees, of up to 5% for A-class shares, and 6.05% for V-class shares.The fund will cease to issue new shares after 25 October 2013. It will then be closed to all subscriptions.In case of a fall in average actuarial rates on securities held by the fund of 1.50% or more during the subscription period, the closure date for the fund may be moved forward. However, the subscription period may be reopened if average actuarial returns on available securities exceeds 7%.Financial management of the fund has been outsourced to UBGI (France), of the Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) group.CharacteristicsA share class (ISIN code: FR0011285634): Initial subscription threshold: 1 shareC share class (ISIN code: FR0011311109): Initial subscription threshold: 1 shareP share class (ISIN code: FR0011311117): Initial subscription threshold: EUR100,000V share class (ISIN code: FR0011311125): Initial subscription threshold: EUR1mSubscription commission (all share classes): Maximum of 4% (not paid into mutual fund). This commission is not payable in the case of investment via insurance policies sold by UFFRedemption commission: noneMaximum total management fees, including all taxes: A shares: 1.50% C shares: 1.50% P shares: 0.95% V shares: 0.45%

The Hennessee hedge fund index gained 1.26% in September, bringing gains since the beginning of the year to 5.03%. The global macro index posted gains of 1.10% in September, and 3.32% in the first nine months of the year. The emerging market index, for its part, has gained 0.57% for the month, and 2.59% since the beginning of the year.

The former head of the British equities unit at Alliance Trust, Neil Tong, has joined Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) as senior credit analyst in the fixed income team, Investment Week reports. Tong, who spent 16 years at Alliance Trust, until the British equity desk was closed in August, will report to Laurent Frings, head of credit research.

Ignis Asset Management will sell its 50% stake in the capital of Cartesian Capital Partners, as the two asset management firms have decided to end their joint venture, founded in 2005.Cartesian, a boutique specialised in UK equity management, was the last joint venture of Ignis AM, which has gradually pulled out of the other asset management companies in which it had bought stakes: Hexam and Argonaut. The Scottish firm in 2010 decided to end development of its network of partner boutiques in order to promote internal financial management.Cartesian Capital Partners will lose its independence. The boutique will reappropriate distribution of its funds and operational support, which had previously been provided by Ignis AM. The transition will take 9 to 12 months.

Annabel Gillard, who had been head of UK institutional business development at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), in September joined M&G Investments as UK sales director in the bond distribution team. As a first priority, she will be responsible for assisting UK-based consultants and institutional investors.Gillard will report to Bernard Abrahamsen, head of institutional sales & distribution.

Net sales of UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 24 billion in August, up from EUR 6 billion in July, according to statistics from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).This increase in net sales came on the back of a turnaround in net sales of money market funds, which ended the month with net inflows of EUR11bn, against net outflows of EUR18bn in July.Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) registered net inflows of EUR 13 billion in August, down from EUR 25 billion in July. Bond funds continued to record strong net inflows (EUR 18 billion), albeit down from EUR 24 billion in July. Equity funds recorded their fifth consecutive month of net outflows in August (EUR 10 billion, compared to EUR 3 billion in July). Balanced funds registered increased net sales in July (EUR 6 billion, compared to EUR 3 billion in July.Total net sales of non-UCITS reduced in August to EUR 5 billion, down from EUR 11 billion in July. Net inflows into special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) registered EUR 4 billion in August, down from EUR 9 billion in the previous month.Total net assets of UCITS increased by 0.3% in August to EUR 6,200 billion, whilst non-UCITS net assets increased 0.5% in the month to stand at EUR 2,458 billion.

The Basel Committee on 11 October published its recommendations on the treatment of systemic banks at a national level, which follow on from the recommendations for international systemic banks. The Committee has laid out a set of principles to establish a methodology for the evaluation of national systemic banks. The document also focuses on the potential impact of the bankruptcy of a systemic bank on the national economy. The principles will be applied from January 2016.

The wealth manager IIG Financial Services has retained RBC Investor Services to provide it with currency and custody services, according to a statement released by RBC. The Gibraltar-based business has awarded a mandate to RBC Investor Services as part of an international development strategy.

Newedge has launched an improved currency prime brokerage platform which offers institutional investors access to the international currency markets. Trading infrastructure has been updated and connections to electronic forex market platforms have been scaled up.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings has completed its examination of a group of major global banks, and their outlooks are stable, except for Société Générale, the agency has announced in a statement. The group of 13 institutions was established one year ago by Fitch as part of a vast evaluation of the major global financial groups. Fitch has confirmed its existing rating for 12 banks – Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Société Générale – the firm explains in a statement, adding that the 13th bank, HSBC, will be studied again in six months’ time. The two Swiss banking institutions, UBS and Credit Suisse, retain their A ratings, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale also retain their A+. Fitch is more prudent in the case of Société Générale, which gets a negative outlooks for its long-term debt, reflecting the rating for France. The lowering of the outlook implies a potential change to the rating in the mid-term, and reflects the engagement of the French state in the banking institution. More generally, for the sector, the outlooks are stable, according to Fitch, based on improved liquidity, financing, and capitalisation. Despite everything, banks continue to bear up to crosswinds, as the macro-economic environment continues to represent a challenge, as do market conditions that remain volatile, particularly in Europe.

The Spanish official gazette (BOE) has published announcements of four fines levelled by the CNMV against Ahorro Corporación for a total of EUR475,000, Funds People reports. The penalties are for failure to respect standards for valuation of assets in the portfolios of funds, in the period following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.Ahorro Corporación stresses that no shareholder suffered damages due to these methodological differences.

When the US Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, wants a first-hand run-down on the way the financial markets are interpreting the government’s policy or are reacting to the most recent crisis, he most often turns to Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the Financial Times reports. Fink appears more often than any other corporate chief in Geithner’s calendar, which is public, over an 18-month period. The two men have spoken on 49 separate occasions, or once every 11 days.

EDHEC-Risk Institute has released a comprehensive new study in response to the European Commission White Paper entitled “An Agenda for Adequate, Safe and Sustainable Pensions,” published on February 16th, 2012, which proposed a series of measures related to information and monitoring, European harmonisation and portability, and pension design.In a letter addressed to Mr László Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, on October 4, 2012, EDHEC-Risk Institute considers that the European Commission White Paper constitutes a first step but that the Commission should go further in terms of harmonisation and better take into account the specifics of the financial management of pension funds. As such, EDHEC-Risk has highlighted three key messages from its study:1. The current pension debate should be used by the Commission to foster increased coordination in pensions reform. When discussing the sustainability of public finance, one medium-term objective could be to recognise unfunded implicit pension commitments. 2. The prudential framework for pensions is bound to have far-reaching consequences, and it needs to respect the particularities of pension providers, which are not those of insurers. 3. New regulation should encourage the generalisation of asset-liability management practices, both for pension funds and individual retirement products, using the best available knowledge and techniques and evaluating micro as well as macroeconomic impacts. A move towards hybrid pensions could, with this objective in mind, provide a more adequate conceptual framework for European countries to converge towards.

Financing levels for pension funds in Switzerland overall fell in third quarter. The level of liabilities increased by 11%, while revenues from investments rose by a smaller amount, which resulted in a deterioration in coverage levels, according to the pension fund index “Swiss Pension Finance Watch,” calculated by Towers Watson and published on 11 October. The development in third quarter follows the trend in second quarter. Quarter on quarter, the index is at 88.4 in third quarter, after 89.4 in second quarter. At the beginning of 2012 it still stood at 90.4.

The Swiss asset management firm Swiss & Global Asset Management has become the eighth promoter to be licensed to sell its ETFs in Spain, Funds People reports. The first seven promoters are: Lyxor AM, iShares, Credit Suisse, db x-trackers, HSBC, Amundi and ETF Securities. Swiss & Global AM arrives on the market with four actively-managed products of the Julius Baer Smart Equity line, which have already been listed in Frankfurt since June: JP Smart Equity ETF World, JB Smart Equity ETF Emerging Markets, JB Smart Equity ETF Europe, and JP Smart Equity ETF Asia.

Andreas Schmid, who had been director of distribution for private banks and wealth managers at Fidelity Investment Services Germany, is joining Pimco as vice president global wealth management for Germany and Austria, Das Investment reports.

A statement to the market released on 11 October has announced that the two heads of the German financial service provider Aragon Financial Services AG, Sebastian Grabmaier and Ralph Konrad, have taken control of the business via their holding company. Aragon Holding has acquired a 40.7% stake in capital from Angermayer, Brumm und Lange Unternehmensgruppe GmbH (ABL Group). The other shareholders are Axa (27%), Citigroup Financial Products (10%) and Credit Suisse (8%).The transaction, whose amount was not disclosed, is justified by the fact that it is impossible to realise significant synergies between the financial product distribution activities of Aragon and the capital market operation of ABL Group.The deal, which will be completed by the end of the year, will result in a change in directors. The chairman of the supervisory board will be Herbert Walter (former chairman of the managing board at Dresdner Bank), while the co-chairman will be the lawyer Christian Waigel. Walter had previously been director. He replaces Harald Petersen as chairman of the supervisory board.

The Allianz group already manages assets of EUR1.3bn in shares in companies of the renewable energy sector and EUR1bn for other infrastructure (gas distribution, parking). It has now announced the establishment of a team at Allianz Global Investors (AGI) dedicated to private equity investment in the area of renewable energies and infrastructure, which complement the recently-created infrastructure debt team led by Deborah Zurkow (see Newsmanagers of 6 July).The first investment products are already in the process of development, and the team is planning to launch a diversified portfolio of investments in renewable energies aimed at institutional investors in the near future.Armin Sandhoevel, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Climate Solutions (ACS) for more than five years, will be director of the new team as director of private equity investment in Renewable Energies / Infrastructures. He will be assisted by five team members from the ACS investment team, including the portfolio managers Roderick MacDonald and Martin Ewald.The infrastructure debt team has been scaled up since July, with the arrival of four former members of Trifinium Advisors, an affiliate of monoliner MBIA, who followed their CEO, Deborah Zurkow, and who are specialists in long-term investment in infrastructure debt, with faultless track records in terms of defaults. The idea is to help to pick up the slack from governments, which no longer have the financial resources, due to their debt levels, and from banks caught up in the maelstrom of Basel III, on more rewarding projects, with a liquidity premium compared with classic corporate bonds, lower default rates, and recovery rates of about 80%.With Zurkow’s team, Allianz Global Investors is creating a platform for third-party institutional investors interested in liability-driven investment (LDI), for deals totalling between EUR10m and EUR200m, either in the form of funds or mandates.

The US life insurer MetLife on Tuesday launched an asset management activity, which will be focused on real estate and private investment in debt, Financial News reports. The group, which is one of the largest institutional investors in the world, already has about USD50bn in private investments, a portfolio of real estate loans of USD43bn, and investments in equity of real estate worth USD10bn. The new affiliate will be entitled MetLife Investment Management.

With the Russell Retirement Lifestyle Solution, Russell Investments has launched an investment and planning programme which aims to assist independent financial advisers to construct portfolios aimed specifically at preparation for retirement.The resource will be available exclusively via financial advisers. The underlying strategy is based on a adjustable investment system which aims to maintain the financing rate for the client at over 100% during retirement.The Retirement Lifestyle Solution aims to meet the three major concerns of clients: stability of income (reliability), concerns about losing money (sustainability) and concerns about retaining control over their assets (flexibility).Initially, the Retirement Lifestyle Solution will be available via some of the major clients of Russell among registered investment advisors (RIA) and two longstanding Russell partners, Cambridge Investment Research and Lincoln Investment Planning.