Tobias Pross, director of institutional distribution, on 5 September announced that Allianz Global Investors (AGI) will be offering its clients a way to reduce counterparty risks on their over-the-counter derivatives (OTC) from December: transactions made in this area from client portfolios will go via a central counterparty. AGI will thus allow investors to benefit from the protection provided by European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), which is expected to come into force sometime in 2013.

The joint venture Ping An Russell Investments is preparing to launch a multi-managed fund aimed at high net worth individual (HNWI) clients early in fourth quarter, Hedge Week reports. The new product, known as MoM, will provide access to the same local hedge funds selected by Russell Investment for US dollar investors via the future QFII fund reserved for qualified foreign institutional investors.

The CNMV has issued sales licenses to two more UCITS-compliant hedge funds from BlackRock, Funds People reports. They are products with daily liqudity, the BSF Absolute Return Bond Fund, a bond fund managed by Ian Winship, and the BSF Americas Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund, an equity fund to be managed by Raffaele Savi and Travis Cooke.

Switzerland, for the fourth consecutive year, tops the overall rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013, released on September 5 by the World Economic Forum. France has lost three places to 21st place, due to the declining confidence of investors in tax policies that heavily penalise investment decisions. Singapore remains in second position and Finland in third position, overtaking Sweden (4th). These and other Northern and Western European countries dominate the top 10 with the Netherlands (5th), Germany (6th) and United Kingdom (8th). The United States (7th), Hong Kong (9th) and Japan (10th) complete the ranking of the top 10 most competitive economies. The report indicates that Switzerland and countries in Northern Europe have been consolidating their strong competitiveness positions since the financial and economic downturn in 2008. On the other hand, countries in Southern Europe, i.e. Portugal (49th), Spain (36th), Italy (42nd) and particularly Greece (96th) continue to suffer from competitiveness weaknesses in terms of macroeconomic imbalances, poor access to financing, rigid labour markets and an innovation deficit. Despite growing its overall competitiveness score, the United States continues its decline for the fourth year in a row, falling two more places to seventh position. In addition to the burgeoning macroeconomic vulnerabilities, some aspects of the country’s institutional environment continue to raise concern among business leaders, particularly the low public trust in politicians and a perceived lack of government efficiency. On a more positive note, the country still remains a global innovation powerhouse and its markets work efficiently. The large emerging market economies (BRICS) display different performances. Despite a slight decline in the rankings of three places, the People’s Republic of China (29th) continues to lead the group. Of the others, only Brazil (48th) moves up this year, with South Africa (52nd), India (59th) and Russia (67th) experiencing small declines in rankings.

The number of fallen angels, or companies whose ratings have fallen from investment grade into the speculative category, totalled 30 in second quarter, compared with 6 in the previous quarter, and 25 one year earlier, according to the financial rating agency Moody’s which is offering a new quarterly review of changes in ratings for investment grade corporate issuers. Moody’s sates that 26 of the fallen angels in second quarter, 87% of the total, were based in Europe, which brings the rate of fallen angels in Europe to 3.3% compared with 0.8% in first quarter 2012. This percentage is only 0.1% in North America and 0.0% in Asia, while the global rate was 1.2%, compared with 0.2% in first quarter. Moody’s estimates, however, that the rate of fallen angels will fall to 0.8% in third quarter, with rates of 0.5% in North America, 0.2% in Asia and 1.6% in Europe. This significant improvement in the European rate is said to be related to stabilising outlooks for the financial sector due to poor results in second quarter. Only 12% of firms in the financial sector are on a negative ratings watch at the end of second quarter, compared with 55% at the end of first quarter 2012.

On 6 August, the US firm Eaton Vance completed its acquisition of 49% of the Canadian firm Hexavest (CAD10.8bn in assets as of the end of July). On 4 September, Eaton Vance (USD192.9bn in assets as of 31 July) announced that it is launching four equity funds, which will be managed by the Hexavest team led by Vital Proulx, chairman and CIO.The funds are the Eaton Vance Hexavest Emerging Markets Equity Fund (Class A: EHEAX, Class I: EHEIX), Eaton Vance Hexavest Global Equity Fund (Class A: EHGAX, Class I: EHGIX), Eaton Vance Hexavest International Equity Fund (Class A: EHIAX, Class I: EHIIX) and Eaton Vance Hexavest U.S. Equity Fund (Class A: EHUAX, Class I: EHUIX). These products will be managed with a method that combines Hexavest’s proprietary fundamental approach with quantitative models.

Vanguard Group has announced that Edward Owens, senior vice president of Wellington Management Company, which manages 20 Vanguard funds, will be retiring at the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Owens manages the Vanguard Health Care Fund, whose assets total USD22.4bn.Owens will be replaced by Jean Hynes, associate portfolio manager, who has been a part of the fund’s management team since 1991.

The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations this morning signed an agreement with China Development Bank, its Chinese counterpart, to invest in French and Chinese SMEs, Les Echos reports. The two partners are creating a fund with EUR150m in assets, to be managed by Cathay Capital. The fund offers a way for China to invest in French SMEs with EUR10m to EUR200m in earnings, and for France to invest in Chinese businesses, with investments of EUR3m to EUR15m. Two investments have already been identified.

Last month, daily trading volumes for on-book trades of ETFs on European markets of NYSE Euronext fell 16.4% compared with the previous month, to EUR191.7m, compared with EUR239.7m in July, and EUR257.7m in June. There were no new launches in August, and at the end of the month, the number of publicly-traded ETFs totalled 676, of which 587 were primary listings, comapred with 687 and 593 at the end of July.Block trades in August totalled EUR521.2m, compared with EUR741.5m in July (-29.7%), and EUR733.4m in June. They also represented 11.8% of total trading volume, compared with 14.1% in July The median spread in August stood at 28.1 basis points, compared with 29.7 points the previous month, and 31.15 points in June.

The 2008 financial crisis altered the behaviour of hedge funds in terms of risk management. A new study from the Managed Funds Association (MFA), BNY Mellon, and HedgeMark outlines new data showing that hedge funds are continuing to develop risk management practices that fit the needs of investors and fund managers alike.Managers of hedge funds have reinforced their internal controls with key recruitments, and considerably increased the amount of information released to investors on a regular basis. They have also made an effort to express their approach to risk management in comprehensible language, and are not hesitating to go into detail.The survey finds that 79% of firms now separate their risk manager and fund manager functions entirely to ensure independent oversight. More than 50% of participants estimate that independent verification of positions is an essential element in hedge fund surveillance.Institutional investors have welcomed the moves, and are not concealing their appetite for ongoing training in risk management. Efforts by hedge funds and professional associations are a step in the right direction, but need to be sustained in order not to be overtaken by developments in the sector.The survey finds that many hedge funds claim that practices put in place for risk management may generate alpha, and may allow them to stand out from the competition. In any case, reporting to investors will be produced on a daily or weekly basis for the next five years, compared with only 12% in 2007.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has appointed Calum Smith to the newly-created position of head of the “Global Aggregate” unit, in the fixed income team based in Edinburgh, Investment Europe reports.Smith previously worked at BlackRock. The fixed income team at SWIP manages about GBP70bn in assets.

At a time when investors continue to prefer bonds, a survey by Neptune Investment Management finds that equities will be the preferred asset class for independent financial advisers (IFA) in 2012-2013.Neptune finds that 60% of advisers say equities will be investors’ preferred asset class, followed by fixed income (23.5%), commodities (3.5%) and real estate (2.4%). The survey also finds that investors continue to prefer British products to the detriment of international products.

The range of eight tracker funds from HSBC Global Asset Management will gain the addition of a share class that complies with RDR regulations, with a management commission of 0.10%, Fundweb has announced. The shares will be available from independent financial advisers (IFA) via a certain number of platforms, institutions and discretionary managers.Overall, with registration fees, the products will cost 0.15%, compared with 0.25% net of front-end fee currently.Total TER varies depending on the product (see attached table).

Ignis Asset Management has hired Joanna Howley as product specialist LDI and fixed income. She will be responsible for helping to grow Ignis’ fixed income and liability driven investment (LDI) business and will work closely with Ignis’investment professionals as well as clients, and will interact with all distribution channels.Jo Howley joins Ignis from BlackRock where she had worked since 1997. There, she held fixed income and LDI product specialist positions. Her responsibilities included mandateoversight, consultant liaison and client relationship management. She played a key role in helping to establish BlackRock as one of the UK’s leading providers of LDI solutions.

Hargreaves Lansdown announced on 5 September, at a release of annual results, that the co-founder of the firm, Stephen Lansdown, plans to resign from the board of directors at the next general shareholders’ meeting. Pre-tax profits at the group totalled GBP152.8m for the half-year to 30 June, compared with GBP126m the previous year, an increase of more than 20% year on year. Assets under administration as of 30 June totalled GBP26.3bn, up 7% compared with the previous year.

The flagship index of the Paris stock exchange may be changed at the end of this week, Les Echos reports. Peugeot may be remoed from the index, to be replaced by the chemist Solvay, according to market specialists. Arkema and Sodexo are also among the candidates to join the CAC 40, where they would join Alcatel-Lucent and STMicroelectronics. The decision may be taken later this week, this evening or tomorrow, marking the first changes to the flagship index for nearly one year.

Frédéric Luyet, most recently deputy head of private banking at Credit Suisse for the Geneva region, will be joining the Basel-based Banque Sarasin as director of the French-speaking Swiss private banking unit in Geneva.Luyet will report to Bas Rijke, head of the Geneva office, and will lead a team of more than 20 people, composed of experienced client advisers and credit specialists, investment advisers and financial planners.Sarasin business with private clients based in Switzerland will be increased considerably from Geneva.

A merger announced between the two Swiss commodity specialist groups Glencore and Xstrata appears to have suffered a major setback, the New York Times reports. Shareholders in Xstrata will on Friday vote on the proposed operation, which would create a giant valued at about USD86bn. However, Qatar Holding, which is owned by the Qatar sovereign fund, is opposed to the terms of the merger. Qatar Holding, which owns 12% of Xstrata, is said to favour a ratio of more than 3 Glencore shares to one Xstrata share, while Glencore, which controls 34% of Xstrata, is offering 2.8 shares for each one.

Partners Group and Avista Capital Partners have acquired the US medical shoe and clothing maker Strategic Partners, in partnership with management of the firm. Strategic Partners is a leader in its sector, as well as in school uniforms, a statement released on 6 September says. The acquisition price has not been disclosed.

Senait Asgede has become the next to leave the Swedish team at Aviva Investors, the Swedish website Fondbranschen reports. She has joined Credit Suisse Asset Management in Stockholm. She there joins Tove Bångstad, who has made the same move, and who is now in charge of Scandinavian markets at Credit Suisse AM.

The Australian firm AMP Capital is planning to develop in Asia from its Hong Kong offices, which opened on 4 September, Asian Investor reports. The asset management firm has also given its international CEO, Anthony Fasso, responsibility for clients based in Australia. Assets under management at AMP Capital total about USD125bn, of which 85% come from Australian clients. Fasso says that although the Australian market remains an essential one for its activities, the most dynamic areas in terms of growth are now abroad, including Japan and parts of Europe. AMP Capital is planning to develop its fixed income activities in Asia. Organic growth remains a priority, but the firm has not ruled out acquisitions if occasions present themselves.

Funds People reports that, according to Expansión, Santander is planning to merge its ten foreign asset management affiliates in a single holding company. The project is already well-advanced, as Spanish, UK, Argentinian and Luxembourg asset management firms have already been integrated, and the Mexican asset management firm of the group will soon be added as the bank in this country holds its IPO.The group will gradually transfer the Brazilian, Chilean, Polish, Puerto Rican and Swiss asset management firms to the holding company, while Santander Asset Management has recently founded a German affiliate, which will soon open in Frankfurt.

Selon nos informations, la Banque Postale pour compte propre a terminé une phase de sélection pour un gestionnaire de fonds contractuel dédié portant sur la multigestion alternative. Le montant serait de l’ordre de 50 millions d’euros avec la prise en compte de filtres ISR dans la sélection. A l’issue de la procédure d’appel d’offres restreints (3 finalistes), le choix s’est porté sur Amundi IS en association avec Morningstar comme advisor. Contacté à ce sujet, la Banque Postale n’a pas souhaité commenter cette information.

La CNMV a donné son agrément de commercialisation à deux fonds alternatifs coordonnés supplémentaires de BlackRock, rapporte Funds People. Il s’agit de produits à liquidité journalière, le BSF Global Absolute Return Bond Fund, un fonds obligataire géré par Ian Winship, et le BSF Americas Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund, un fonds d’actions confié à Raffaele Savi et Travis Cooke.

Ignis Asset Management vient de recruter Joanna Howley en tant que spécialiste produits pour la gestion sous contrainte de passif (liability driven investment ou LDI) et l’obligataire. Elle vient de BlackRock, où elle travaillait depuis 1997 et occupait des responsabilités similaires à celles qu’elle vient de se voir confier.Chez Ignis, Joanna Howley contribuera à la croissance de l’activité obligataire et de gestion sous contrainte de passif de la société de gestion britannique.

La gamme de huit fonds indiciels de HSBC Global Asset Management va être dotée d’une classe de parts conforme à la réglementation RDR avec une commission de gestion de 0,10 %, annonce Fundweb. Ces parts seront accessibles aux conseillers financiers (IFA) au travers d’un certain nombre de plates-formes, d'établissements et de gestionnaires discrétionnaires.Au total, avec les frais d’enregistrement, les produits seront chargés à 0,15 % contre 0,25 % sans droit d’entrée actuellement.Le total des frais sur encours varie en fonction du produit (voir tableau joint).

Hargreaves Lansdown a annoncé le 5 septembre à l’occasion de la publication de ses résultats annuels que le co-fondateur de la société de gestion Stephen Lansdown quitterait le conseil d’administration lors de la prochaine assemblée générale.Le bénéfice avant impôts du groupe s’est élevé à 152,8 millions de livres pour l’exercice au 30 juin, contre 126 millions de livres l’année précédente, soit une progression de plus de 20% d’une année sur l’autre. Les actifs sous administration s'élevaient au 30 juin à 26,3 milliards de livres, en hausse de 7% par rapport à l’année précédente.

Le ministre des Finances allemand s’est dit convaincu que la zone euro compterait toujours 17 membres l’an prochain, renforçant ainsi le sentiment que Berlin n’entend pas en voir la Grèce écartée. Les inspecteurs de la «troïka» des créanciers de la Grèce sont attendus à Athènes cette semaine pour faire le point sur les réformes en cours, qui visent à réduire les dépenses budgétaires de 12 milliards d’euros en deux ans.

Le Trésor néerlandais a émis mercredi pour 3,5 milliards d’obligations à 3 ans en dollars, à un coupon de 0,25%. De sources de marché, il s’agit du coupon le plus bas jamais enregistré pour un émetteur non américain. Le rendement à l'émission a atteint quant à lui 0,507%.

La hausse de la productivité non agricole aux Etats-Unis a été plus marquée au deuxième trimestre que précédemment estimé, alors que le coût unitaire du travail augmentait plus modérément, a indiqué le département du Travail. La productivité, qui mesure la production horaire par salarié, a crû de 2,2% en rythme annuel, alors que sa hausse avait auparavant été estimée à 1,6%. Elle avait reculé de 0,5% au premier trimestre.