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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

According to Fundweb, Legal and General Investments, Ignis Asset Management, Fidelity Worldwide Investments, Threadneedle Investments, Henderson Global Investors, Kames Capital, Investec Asset Management, Jupiter and Standard Life all announced on Thursday that they do not intend to follow the example of Witan Investment Services, which will be discontinuing trail commissions before the date that the Retail Distribution Review comes into effect on 31 December.

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.

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.

According to an SEC notification announcing that the PineBridge U.S. Micro Cap Growth Fund and PineBridge U.S. Small Cap Growth Fund will be integrated into the range of mutual funds from Jacob Asset Management, PineBridge Investments has announced plans to withdraw from the management of Us mutual funds, Mutual Fund Wire reports. On 30 June, PineBridge, a former AIG affiliate dedicated to mutual funds, announced assets of USD68.6bn.

With the recent recruitment of four managers by its affiliate FFTW (Boston) from Rexiter (see Newsmanagers of 1 October), the BNP Paribas Investment Partners group (BNPP IP) has completely modified its strategic approach to investment in emerging market debt, which accounts for about USD6bn in assets, largely in seven funds.John Morton, CIO, emerging market debt, told Newsmanagers during a visit to Paris that the major change compared with the previous management team is in the fact that the approach is more geographical now, with active exposure to countries, as the BNP Paribas group has specialists located virtually everywhere in the world. The process had previously separated local currency from interest rate aspects.The product range from BNPP IP in the area of emerging market debt is currently centered around three “global” funds (strong currencies, local currencies and corporate bonds), two multi-segment funds (investment grade and total return), and lastly, two regional products (emerging Europe and Asia ex Japan). According to John Morton, the possibility of adding a Latin America fund to the range has not been ruled out.

In September, assets under management by AllianceBernstein rose by USD8bn to a total of USD419bn at the end of the month, and three other major firms, Franklin Templeton, Legg Mason and Invesco, posted total increases of USD51.1bn last month.The strongest increases in assets, with USD18.9bn each, were for Franklin Templeton, with USD749.9bn as of 30 September, and Legg Mason, with USD650.7bn. Invesco, for its part, has posted an increase of USD13.3bn in its assets under management, to USD683bn.In the area of pure equity, Franklin Templeton stands out with an increase of USD9bn (to USD297.1bn), while Invesco has posted an increase of USD5.4bn, to USD300.6bn.

The pension fund CalPERS on 11 October announced that one of the members of its board of trustees, Priya Sara Mathur, will join the board of the association for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), which oversees the application of the Principles. Assets under management at CalPERS total about USD241bn. The network of SRI signatories includes over 1,000 international investors, representing about USD30trn in assets.

On 11 October, Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM) announced that it will be selling five of its US asset management affiliates, 2100 Xenon Group, 300 North Cpaital, Analytic Investors, Ashfield Capital Partners and Larch Lane Advisors, with total assets under management as of the end of June of UD11.7bn, to their managements, for an undisclosed amount.At the closing of the transactions expected by the end of this year, OMAM will have only nine asset management affiliates, with assets under management as of 30 June of USD196.9bn.Sales are expected to improve margins at OMAM in 2013 and to bring in USD100m for reinvestment.

Primonial Group has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Roche-Brune Asset Management. The partnership, announced by Newsmanagers in its 10 October edition, makes Patrimonial Group a nearly 70% shareholder in the asset management firm led by Bruno Fine, which has more than EUR100m in assets under management, mostly in venture capital and European equity management. The agreement, which is subject to approval by the AMF, would help the asset management firm’s commercial development and to increase its visibility to institutionals, family offices and multi-managers. For Groupe Patrimonial, the new asset management unit is a part of its multi-boutique model. It will provide access to the expertise of Roche-Brune AM for its independent financial adviser and institutional clients.

The CEO for Asia Pacific at ING Investment Management, Grant Bailey, will be leaving the firm, Asian Investor reports. The departure comes at a time when negotiations between Ameriprise Financial, its affiliate Threadneedle Asset Management and ING over the sale of the Asian activities of the latter have broken down. Bailey will be replaced by Satish Bapat, currently chief financial officer.

Credit Suisse AM is scaling up its product range on the Italian market with five equity products and six bond products, Bluerating reports. The funds are: Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Russia, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Asian Equity Dividend Plus, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Asia Consumer, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Biotechnology and Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Luxury Goods. Credit Suisse AM has also announced the arrival of four senior managers in the equity team led by Filippo Rima, and four experts in the fixed income management team led by Maurizio Pedrini and Michel Degen.

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.

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.

Safra Group on 11 October confirmed the provisional results of its takeover bid (OPA) for Sarasin, announced on Monday. At the expiration of their extended bid, on 5 October 2012, Safra controlled 98.73% of A and B classes of shares in Sarassin, representing 99.26% of voting rights.

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.

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.

Les inscriptions hebdomadaires au chômage ont, contre toute attente, très nettement reculé aux Etats-Unis lors de la semaine au 6 octobre, à 339.000, soit un plus bas depuis plus de quatre ans et demi, contre 369.000 (révisé) la semaine précédente, a annoncé le département du Travail. Les économistes attendaient en moyenne 370.000 inscriptions au chômage. La moyenne mobile sur quatre semaines s'établit à 364.000 contre 375.500 (révisé) la semaine précédente.