Le new yorkais Market Vectors ETF (25,1 milliards de dollars d’encours) a annoncé que son conseiller en investissements Van Eck Associates Corporation a conclu un accord avec Australian Index Investment (Aii) pour créer la coentreprise Market Vectors Australia Pty Ltd (30 millions de dollars australiens) dans laquelle le partenaire américain aura la majorité.Les équipes d’Aii seront transférées à la nouvelle entité, qui sera dirigée par Annmaree Varelas, CEO d’Aii.Market Vectors Australia commercialisera et distribuera des ETF, y compris les six fonds sectoriels de ce type existant dans la gamme Aii S&P (financials, financials x A-Reit, resources, industrials, energy et metals & mining). Tous ces produits Aii répliquent des sous-indices du ASX 200, sauf le dernier, qui suit un compartiment de l’ASX 300.Le marché australien des ETF n’est pas encore très développé, avec seulement 70 fonds et un encours total de 5 milliards de dollars alors que les actifs gérés par l’ensemble des fonds représentent 1.800 milliards de dollars australiens.

Money market funds have been rescued by their parent companies more than 300 times since the 1970s, a study by the Securities and Exchange Commission cited by the Wall Street Journal has found. The unpublished document supports the thesis of Mary Shapiro, chairman of the SEC, that the industry, with USD2.6trn in assets, needs stronger regulation. Shapiro will present her case at a Senate debate on money market funds on Thursday, although she has not received the support of a majority of SEC commissioners.

Exclusive talks with Guggenheim Partners over a potential sale of the US asset management firm RREEF (real estate and alternative investments) by Deutsche Bank have fallen through, and the two parties have agreed not to continue talk, Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday evening. Since then, the German bank, which has not managed to sell any of the other parts of its asset management unit either (DWS in Germany, Europe and Asia), has announced that it will disclose its long-term strategy for ita Asset & Wealth Management division in September.

In April 2012, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was EUR10 billion lower than in March 2012, according to statistics released by the European central Bank. This decrease was due to a decline in share/unit prices.The amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds decreased to EUR6,056 billion in April 2012, from EUR6,066 billion in March 2012. Over the same period, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area money market fundsincreased to EUR967 billion, from EUR951 billion.Transactions1 in shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than moneymarket funds amounted to EUR1 billion in April 2012, while transactions in shares/units issued by money market funds amounted to EUR10 billion.In terms of the breakdown by investment policy, the annual growth rate of shares/units issued by bond funds was 3.2% in April 2012. Transactions in shares/units issued by bond funds amounted to EUR11 billion in April 2012. The annual growth rate and transactions of equity funds were -2.4% and minus EUR13 billion respectively. For mixed funds, the corresponding figures were -0.2% and EUR3 billion.

Only 52 companies, out of a universe of 4,001 worldwide in 2010, published a complete report on sustainable development, a study commissioned by Aviva Investors and undertaken by CK Capital has found («Trends in Sustainability Disclosure: Benchmarking the World’s Composite Stock Exchanges.») This figure is down compared with 2008, at a time when several European stock markets are requiring publicly-traded businesses to include detailed reporting on sustainable development in their financial reports. The figure, however, conceals a varied reality. Some countries stand out in comparison to others. The countries that are highest-ranked in terms of publicly-traded businesses releasing information on sustainable development are the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Spain, and South Africa. The Scandinavian countries place particularly well, with four of them in the top ten. Among emerging countries, two stand out particularly: South Africa (5th) and Brazil (9th). The rankings vary depending on the criteria analysed (energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, lost time due to work accidents, salaries, and staff turnover), and sectors of activity. By sector, the companies that most closely guard their sustainable development information are financial sector businesses, which are ranked bottom on all seven indicators (energy, grenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management and time lost due to workplace accidents). At the other extreme, utility companies dominate the rankings on most indicators, and take 1st place for release of information about greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, and staff turnover. Steve Waygood, director of management at Aviva Investors in London, says “we think that it would be highly opportune for public powers to intervene and define a universal palette of sustainable development indicators.”

Michel Barnier appears to have some scheduling problems. The European Commissioner in charge of the internal market and services on 19 June announced that the proposed PRIPS legislation (retail investment products) will finally be unveiled in early July. Since last autumn, the publication of the bill, which has been th subject of constant controversy, has already been delayed several times.In addition to the PRIPS bill, Barnier also announced two other initiatives at a conference of the European insurance intermediaries’ federation (Bipar), which will be unveiled in early July. On the one hand, Barnier proposes to revise the rules on the protection of retail investors under the revised MiFID directive, including stricter consequences for losses by financial instruments held at a depository bank.A revised IMD directive will also be presented, which will aim to better protect consumers of insurance products, in line with revisions to the MiFID directive in the area of sales practices, “in order to ensure that practices are consistent for all investment products, including unit-linked life insurance products.”

According to a survey of 722 of its members in the EU and Switzerland by the CFA Institute, investment professionals are concerned that imposing a tax on financial transactions, a tax on financial activities or a bank levy, all three solutions under consideration by the European Commission, will actually result in costs that end users of financial services will ultimately pay: 75% of the total in the case of a transaction withholding tax, 60% in the case of a financial activity tax, and 59% in the case of a bank levy. Meanwhile, specialists also estimate that if the financial transaction tax is not applied worldwide, it will lead to regulatory arbitrage, and will hurt the competitiveness of the European financial sector.

“Taking advantage of strong current demand for wholly-leased properties in London,” the German asset management firm Deka Immobilien has earned an undisclosed capital gain from a sale of the Lumina building on the corner of Oxford Street and Bond Street to Zara for EUR190m. The 7,000 square metre office and retail property had been a part of the open-ended real estate portfolio Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

Baring Asset Management is going to launch the Baring emerging market corporate debt fund, which will be managed by Faisal Ali, who joined the asset management firm in August 2011, Money Marketing reports. The product will invest at least 70% of its assets in emerging market corporate bonds, issued by businesses based in various countries, rated investment grade or below.

JP Hambro Capital Management will be launching a Global Opportunities fund, while its UK Opportunities fund, managed by the same managers, will be soft closed to new subscriptions, Investment Week reports. The British portfolio currently has assets of GBP900m, and is fast approaching its GBP1bn limit. The two funds are managed by John Wood and Ben Leyland.

Lionel Aeschlimann, a partner at Mirabaud and head of the asset management operation, has told Funds People that the Swiss firm is continuing to add to its private banking team in Spain. The objective is to reach total assets in this area of EUR1bn to EUR1.5bn in three years. However, recruitments will not be made at the expense of profitability.

Dexia Asset Management has recruited Patrick Kern in Switzerland, for the position of Senior Relationship Manager Institutional Clients for th German-speaking part of the market, finews.ch reports. He had previously been head of new client acquisition for German-speaking Switzerland at Reyl Asset Management.

The Swiss Partners Group has closed its global real estate programme, Partners Group Global Real Estate 2011, with USD800m in assets. Pamela Alsterlind, co-director of the Private Real Estate division, says that 2,200 projects have been analysed, and 43 executed under the programme. Others will be finalised soon.

The Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is seeking external growth opportunities in the Swiss market, finews.ch reports. It would like to acquire a wealth management firm, with total assets under management of CHF5bn to CHF10bn.

Dexia Asset Management poursuit l’extension de ses activités en Suisse, avec la nomination de Patrick Kern en tant que senior relationship manager, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Il sera en particulier chargé de la clientèle institutionnelle en Suisse alémanique. Patrick Kern était dernièrement en charge de la succursale zurichoise de Reyl Asset Management, où il était responsable de l’acquisition de clients en Suisse alémanique, Allemagne, Autriche et au Liechtenstein.

The UK asset management firm Liontrust Asset Management reached total assets of GBP2.1bn on 18 June 2012, the firm announced in its annual report. On 31 March, assets totalled GBP1.5bn, up since the beginning of April 2011, when they totalled GBP1.343bn. The increase is the result of net subscriptions totalling GBP152m, the acquisition of Occam and positive market effects. Liontrust has reported losses of GBP200,000, compared with losses of GBP4.6m in 2011. Adjusted pre-tax profits came to GBP1m, compared with losses of GBP1.7m in 2011.

BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany for the Global Strategic Bonds (ISIN LU0746604445) sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Axa WF from Axa Investment Managers (see Newsmanagers of 1 June 2012).

The CNMV on 15 June issued a sales license for the Luxembourg-registered fund Bantleon Opportunities, from the German bond manager Bantleon (EUR5.1bn in assets). The fund, with about EUR49m in assets, managed by the Swiss team at Bantleon Bank, will be distributed by Capital Strategies Partners A.V., SA.The portfolio of the product, launched in 2008, includes the highest-rated government bonds with total time to maturity of 0 to 7 years, covered bonds, and 10% to 20% large cap equities. The objective, in addition to absolute return, is gains of 4% per year.

With the Emerging Markets Corporates sub-fund, DWS is releasing in France a further sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav DWS Invest in France. The product, focused on emerging market corporate bonds, has assets of about EUR155m. It is managed by Maruf Siddiquee.The German asset management firm has assets of over EUR5.1bn in emerging market bonds.CharacteristicsName: DWS Invest Emerging Markets CorporatesISIN code: LU0436052673Front-end fee: 3.00%Management commission: 1.10%

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on 19 June has announced that it has added two new SPDR brand ETFs to trading on the NYSE Arca platform: the SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Crossover Corporate Bond ETF (acronym: XOVR) and the SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF (EMCD).The first of the two funds, which charges fees of 0.30%, replicates a BofA Merrill Lynch index of corporate bonds rated BBB and BB, denominated in US dollars and issued on the US market.The second fund, with fees of 0.50%, tracks the BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Large Cap Senior Corporate Index, which reflects the performance of senior secured bonds in US dollars, issued by emerging market businesses on US or European markets.

The US manager Huntington Asset Advisors has announced the creation of a range of actively-managed ETFs entitled Huntingdon Strategy Shares.The first product in the line will be the EcoLogical Strategy ETF (acronym HECO on NYSE Arca), which will charge fees of 0.95% managed by Brian Salerno, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager.The portfolio will invest at least 80% in shares in companies focused on the environment, and products positioned to profit from ongoing changes in legislation, behaviour of consumers, and corporate investments.The EcoLogical Strategies fund will be distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co.

Invesco Real Estate has announced the arrival of Timothy Bellman as head of global research, at its Dallas offices. In the global research team, Bellman will focus on global asset allocation and co-ordinating research activities undertaken by regional heads of research in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Before joining Invesco Real Estate, Bellman, 50, spent seven years at ING Real Estate Management, where he was global head of research and strategy, after serving as head of research and strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.

Carmignac Gestion no longer holds any German government bonds (Bund), Les Echos reports. For the past 2 years, the firm, which manages about EUR48bn in assets, has not held any other euro zone government bonds except Bunds. Carmignac Gestion estimates that German government debt “essentially represents a risk management tool. The idea of a larger role for Germany in undertaking the financial risks of the euro zone has been getting bandied about. As a result, the use of Bunds as a refuge security against European risk will be likely to become less effective,” Didier Saint-George, a member of the investment board, explains to Les Echos. Saint-George does not rule out the possibility of “using this management tool again in the future, even if it is not quite as effective as a year ago, when rates had much further to fall than they do now.”

Tiffani Potesta, head of third-party insurance and DC I-0 divisions at DWS Investments, and previously a director at First Eagle Funds, is joining Schroders as head of advisory sales for the United States, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Potesta will report to Erin Brennan, head of intermediary key accounts.

Institutional investors are showing a growing interest in alternative management, which allows them to support their investment objectives, such as diversification and generating alpha, according to the most recent annual study by Russel Investments of alternative management (“2012 Global Survey on Alternative Investment.”)“In an environment characterised by low returns, a high level of economic uncertainty, and volatility on financial markets, alternative solutions represent an essential component of a multi-asset class diversified [approach]. With ongoing volatility and market shocks in mind, institutional investors are seeking to protect their portfolios by structuring them in such a way as to favour prudent risk management, while also seeking to earn returns in various market environments,” says Julia Cormier, director, head of alternative investments at Russell Investments.Institutional investors who participated in the Russell Investments study are highly exposed to alternative investment, with an average of 22%. Among the major reasons for this exposure, diversification is cited by 90% of investors. This is followed by volatility management and low correlation with traditional investments, cited by 64% of investors, and potential returns, cited by 45%.A large majority of respondents to the study say that they are planning to maintain or increase their allocations in the next three years to all alternative categories. 32% of participants are planning to increase their investments in hedge funds and private real estate, 28% for private infrastructure, 25% for private equity, 20% for commodities and 12% for infrastructure and public real estate.The study finds that 49% of investors in single hedge funds use the fund of fund vector, but a considerable proportion of them are planning to set aside this traditional model in favour of specific solutions.Private equity is dominant in North American portfolios, but Europe is not far behind. On both sides of the Atlantic, investors tend to prefer small or mid-sized buyout funds.Lastly, the study finds that investors overall are seeking further training in alternative management. Meanwhile, 91% of North American investors (compared with 68% worldwide) say that they undertake exhaustive due diligence before making new investments.

Le groupe de retraite et de prévoyance Apicil ne s’intéresse que de loin à l’ISR, mais il a en revanche développé une politique de vote stricte pour l’ensemble de sa gestion actions. En tant qu’institution paritaire, nous estimons être un lieu de débat pertinent sur la politique de vote, explique Bertrand Jounin, directeur des activités financières du groupe Apicil, dans le cadre d’une conférence organisée par l’Agefi. Nous n’hésitons pas à voter contre certaines résolutions soumises au vote des assemblées générales. Il s’agit donc d’une démarche de responsabilité actionnariale, réalisée en partenariat avec Proxinvest. C’est une façon d’intégrer des critères extra-financiers à notre gestion, sans pour autant faire de l’ISR proprement dit.

The New York firm Market Vectors ETF (USD25.1bn in assets) has announced that its investment adviser, Van Eck Associates Corporation, has signed an agreement with Australian Index Investment (Aii) to create a joint venture entitled Market Vectors Australia Pty Ltd (AUD30m), in which the US partner will control a majority stake.Teams at Aii will be transferred to the new entity, which will be led by Annmaree Varelas, CEO of Aii.Market Vectors Australia will release and distribute ETFs, including the six existing sectoral funds of this type in the Aii S&P range (financials, financials x A-Reit, natural resources, industrials, energy and metals & mining). All of these Aii products replicate sub-indices of the ASX 200, except the last one, which tracks a sub-index of the ASX 300.The Australian ETF market is not yet highly developed, with only 70 funds, and total assets of AUD5bn, while assets under management by funds overall total AUD1.8trn.

Dans un entretien à Die Zeit, le Premier ministre français Jean-Marc Ayrault admet qu’il faudra «sans doute plusieurs années» avant de pouvoir lancer des euro-obligations. A plus court terme, le chef du gouvernement estime que «nous devons aller vers une supervision bancaire commune, avec un système européen de garantie des dépôts. Nous pouvons aussi trouver des solutions pour faciliter l’accès au financement des Etats, par exemple par des émissions à court terme ou par la proposition des Sages allemands sur le fonds d’amortissement».

Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière a décidé de renforcer son obligation à 7 ans, lancée le 24 avril dernier, à hauteur d’un milliard d’euros. Le spread d’émission ressort à 75 points de base au dessus du taux mid swap, ce qui implique pour les investisseurs un rendement de 2,409%. Barclays, Deutsche Bank et SG CIB ont pris en charge l’opération.

La banque centrale norvégienne, qui a laissé son taux d’intervention à 1,5%, pense qu’il faudra ultérieurement les relever plus vite que prévu pour éviter une surchauffe économique. Elle voit son taux d’intervention autour de 1,7% d’ici la mi-2013 et de 2% d’ici la fin de l’année prochaine, alors qu’elle projetait en mars 1,54% et 1,87% respectivement.