Olivier Chabrier on Wednesday joined Palatine Asset Management. He will handle commercial relationships with distributors (private banks, funds of funds, family offices) and independent fniancial advisers. Chabrier had previously been at Aviva Investors France, where he was head of external distribution. Previously, he had worked at East Capital.

Xavier Horasse, emerging market equity manager at Carmignac Gestion, says that emerging markets are the most promising markets in the long term. In the short term, he is more prudent about India, which is “rightly” rated BBB, investment grade, he says in Agefi Hebdo.“We are also overweight on equities from countries such as Indonesia, or countries known as “frontier” markets: Colombia, Peru, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, which have low levels of debt, significant reserves, and robust growth outlooks,” he adds.Carmignac Gestion prefers countries in which the interest rate hike cycle has been completed, such as Brazil, and countries where monetary policy is beginning to loosen again, such as China.

OFI Asset Management is planning to increase its investments in Egypt by up to 20%, according to Mena FM. Astrid Fredericksen, manager of the OFI Multiselect Brica Fund, whose assets under management total about EUR70m, says that she hopes to dedicate more cash to Egypt in the near future.The OFI Multiselect Brica fund was originally launched as a traditional BRIC fund, whose perimeter was adapted in November last year to include Africa and the Middle East.“Currently, we are still prudent, as there are presidential elections in Egypt next moth. Currently, we have 15% exposure to Egypt, but we are prepared to increase our allocation, as we are highly interested in opportunities in the country. Consumer spending in particular is an investment opportunity,” Fredericksen explains.

BNP Paribas will pay its employees nearly EUR490m in bonuses for 2011, half the amount it paid last year, according to an updated reference document published by the French bank on 7 May. 3,479 emplpoyees at the bank will share EUR488.67m in bonuses, an average of EUR140.465 each. Last year, BNP Paribas paid EUR1bn in bonuses. The finance and investment bank (BFI) gets the largest slice of the pie, with total bonuses of EUR464.5m. The French firm says in its reference document that 2011 bonuses will be paid half in the form of shares in the firm and the other half in cash. As regulations require, two thirds of bonuses will be subject to deferred payments between September 2012 and September 2015.

Agefi reports that China may authorise hedge funds to buy assets directly on its markets. So far, hedge funds seeking access to the Chinese market have had to pass through brokers who use their own QFII quotas to buy equities and bonds for the funds.

The Morgan Stanley director Zoee Cruz has announced to investors that she will be closing the hedge fund Voras Capital Management, which she launched two years ago, due to disappointing returns and a lack of popularity with investors, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Her firm, based in New York, never raised more than USD200m.

Natixis yesterday evening presented its results for first quarter 2012, with an increase in revenues for the Savings unit of 8% compared with the corresponding period of last year, to EUR512m. Investments in asset management have also results in revenues up 12% (+9% at constant exchange rates), to EUR411m. These good results were driven by strong performance in the United States, the firm says.Assets under management totalled EUR562bn as of 31 March 2012, compared with EUR544bn as of 31 December 2012. Net inflows were negative by -EUR2.2bn. However, excluding net outflows of EUR6.8bn from money market products, net inflows were positive to the tune of EUR4.6bn.In Europe, assets total EUR312bn, up 2% compared with 31 December 2011. Outflows (-EUR5.1bn) have been concentrated on money market instruments, Natixis notes. Excluding money markets, net inflows were positive to the tune of EUR1.6bn.In the United States, assets totalled EUR327bn, up 8% compared with 31 December 2011. Quarterly net inflows totalled EUR3.2bn, largely driven by Loomis and Harris Associates.In private banking, assets under management have been holding out well at EUR19.5bn, driven by the favourable evolution of the stock markets. Earnings are up 3% compared with first quarter 2011, at EUR26m.

On 9 May, Amundi (Société Générale group) listed the Amundi ETF S&P 500 EUR Hedged Daily fund (ISIN code: FR0011133644) for trading on the XTF Segment of the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse, a new product which charges fees of 0.28%. The fund replicates the S&P 500 EUR Daily Hedged Strategy Index.It is the 969th ETF to be listed on the XTF segment.

Between 9 and 18 May, the German asset management firm Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) Immobilien is collecting redemption orders for shares in its open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal (EUR6bn as of 31 March), as a redemption freeze will be lifted on 18 May after two years. On 21 May, if redemptions do no exceed available liquidity (sales of assets in the past two years have generated EUR1.5bn, or 25% of assets), the orders will be executed. If not, no orders will be executed and the fund will be liquidated. This solution has been approved by the German financial services watchdog, BaFin.Credit Suisse is thus following the same procedure chosen by SEB Asset management for its ImmoInvest fund. Like SEB AM, CSAM Immobilien says that if redemption demands do not exceed available liquidity, the fund may continue its activities, but under the new Anlegerschutz- und Funktionsverbesserungsgesetz (AnsFuG) investor protection laws, which allow only one liquidity window per year, instead of daily liquidity. CS EUROREAL EUR ISIN: DE0009805002 CS EUROREAL CHF ISIN: DE0009751404

Helen Lam, senior portfolio manager, announced in Paris on 9 May that asstes in the Allianz RCM Renminbi Currency fund (see Newsmanagers of 7 December) have already topped USD200m. The Luxembourg-registered fund, specialised in savings in Hong Kong yuan (CNH) has sold well to wealth managers, distributors and funds of funds, says Holger Wehner, product specialist. Lam says that savings deposits at 10 banks (rated at least single A) must have a maturity of over 90 days, and the objective is to keep them within a 1-2 month range. Since the fund was unveiled in France in early December (when the fund had USD80m in asstes), sales arguments have balanced out: the “currency gain” component has lost its charm, but the returns portion has become more convincing.

Funds People reports that Groupama Asset Management has received a license from the CNMV to release its dynamic asset allocation fund Groupama Risk Premium (formerly known as DPA Gestion Privée, see Newsmanagers of 28 November 2011) in Spain. The asset management firm states that in the first four months of the year, the fund has generated returns of 4.%, with volatility of 9.05%, while the MSCI EMU index has gained 4.1% with volatility of 15.46%.

After net subscriptions of USD65.4bn in first quarter (of which USD16.2bn were in March), ETPs in April posted only USD0.6bn in net inflows, meaning that assets as of the end of April were down by USD12bn in one month, to USD1.716trn, while they were still up by USD191bn compared with the end of December 2011.The BlackRock Institute also states that since the beginning of the year, 285 ETPs have been launched (for a total of 4,490 products), and these products had inflows of USD5.4bn, of which USD665m went to the Pimto Total Return ETF and USD319m to the iShares Barclays US Treasury Bond Fund.However, in absolute terms, the strongest net subscriptions were to the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (with USD7.04bn), the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (USD3.99bn), and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (USD3.02bn).

Oddo Asset Management is offering the Oddo Haut Rendement 2017 fund, a target-date fund investing in corporate and convertible bonds, to allow investors to benefit from growth opportunities on bond markets until 2017, for sale unilt 20 November 2012.The investment universe for the fund prefers securities estimated to have the strongest potential from the high yield bond universe (ratings of less than BBB-), or bonds with no rating. The target portfolio is composed of about 70 to 90 holdings, and can offer both sectoral diversification (all sectors of activity may be represented) and geographical diversification (may invest up to 50% outside Europe), a statement says. Gross annual returns at maturity are expected to be 7.52% as of 2 May 2012, barring default.Oddo Haut Rendement 2017 is managed by Xavier Hoche, Muriel Blanchier and Anne-Claire Daussun, who will be reinforced by the arrival of a new manager, Laure Desbrosses.CharacteristicsISIN codes: A class shares: FR0011237684/D class shares: FR0011249382/Part B FR0011237676Front-end fee: Maximum 4% including taxes on net assets not paid into OPCVMManagement fees: A and D share classes: maximum 1.4% including all tax on net assets; B class shares: maximum 0.6% of net assets including all taxesPerformance commission: 10% of outperformance exceeding 6 annual performance including all taxesBenchmark:: none

The US firm Van Eck Global added the Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (acronym HYEM) from its Market Vectors line to trading on NYSE-Arca on 9 May. The fund claims to be the first ETF listed in the United States to focus solely on the non-government high yield bond segment in emerging markets denominated in US dollars.HYEM aims to replicate the BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield US Emerging Markets Liquid Corporate Plus Index (EMHY).The TER for the new product is capped to 0.40% until at least 1 September 2013.

The Swedish asset management firm East Capital, a specialist in emerging markets, has received a sales license for France and Germany for two Chinese equity funds. The two products, East Capital (Lux) China East Asia Fund and East Capital (Lux) China Fund, have been added to the Luxembourg Sicav from the Scandinavian firm, following the acquisition of an asset management firm specialised in China, AGI, in 2010. The first of these, launched in 2005, is invested primarily in Chinese businesses listed on the Hong Kong or continental Chinese stock exchanges (65.9% of the portfolio as of 30 March), in Korea, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand. It currently has EUR223m in 50 holdings. The second fund, the China Fund concentrates on China (94.7% of the portfolio, with 5.3% invested in Taiwan). The fund, launched in 2007, now has EUR18m in 43 holdings. The two products are managed with a long-term approach and on fundamental analysis of businesses, like the Central and Eastern Europe funds from the product range at East Captial. They have been managed since their creation by Gustav Rhenman, who relies on a team of four analysts and one economist, based in Stockholm and Shanghai, and one consulting committee led by Karine Hirn, co-founder of East Capital, who has been based in China since 2010.At a presentation of its new fund to investors on Wednesday, Hirn and Kristina Sandklef, a macroeconomist specialised in Asia, sought to dispel a number of common misconceptions about China. They claim that they are not concerned about a slowdown of the Chinese economy, which was “desired and orchestrated by the government,” and are thus not concerned about a “hard landing.” Inflation is not a concern either, nor is dependence on exports, which is untrue, says Hirn. In the real estate sector, the founder of East Capital does not see speculation, and emphasizes that “it is so important that the government cannot let it slip.” She also points out that the government has been making efforts to stimulate the equity markets. China is facing some challenges related to its size, however, notes Sandklef, such as demographic issues, agriculture and the environment.

Tesco and the Pension Fund Trustees are establishing an in-house investment team to manage their pension scheme and increase net returns. Tesco has one of the largest private sector pension schemes in the UK, with over 170,000 employees part of its defined benefit scheme and investment assets worth over GBP6bn. The new in-house investment team will reduce dependence on external providers whilst governance will continue to be provided by the Trustees.A separate company, Tesco Pension Investment, has been set up and is now operational, having been granted FSA approval on 26th March 2012. The Pension Trustees will remain responsible for the long-term investment strategy and management of the Scheme’s assets. The new team will be led by Steven Daniels, Chief Investment Officer, while Tesco’s Group Pensions Director Ruston Smith will oversee the team. Daniels was Group Chief Investment Officer at Liverpool Victoria for 14 years.

F&C Asset Management has seen net redemptions of GBP1.715bn in first quarter 2012, despite net subscriptions of GBP13m to retail funds. Outflows were driven by strategic partners, who accounted for GBP972m.Despite this, due to positive market effects, the British asset management firm saw an increase in its assets under management of GBP1.7bn, to GBP101.8bn as of 31 March.F&C also states that the results of the second phase of a review of the group’s strategy currently underway will be presented on 15 May.

The hedge fund management firm Man Group on 8 May announced the appointment of Douglas Greenig as chief risk officer at AHL, and a member of the board of directors in the quantitative unit specialised in managed futures. Greenig previously worked at RBS Greenwich Capital and Fortress. Matthew Sargaison, currently chief risk officer, has been appointed as chief investment officer at AHL.

As taxation and the state of the economy represent the major concerns for clients, passive management is gaining in popularity, to the detriment of active management, whose attractiveness is becoming more questionable, according to a study by Patrimonia Congres, in partnership with Morningstar, of Belgian financial intermediaries. The study was undertaken in April of this year by Morningstar, with the support of key associations in the sector, and covered 201 Belgian financial intermediaries.The attractiveness of genuinely active managers appears to have been called into question, as 35% of those surveyed say they have a preference for actively-managed products with a low tracking error, and 22% say they have a preference for tracker products.The survey finds that financial advisers prefer low risk profile products for their long-term allocations and their clients are primarily oriented to bond and money market as well as emerging market assets.Belgian financial intermediaries also claim that European regulations are having a positive or neutral impact on their profession.

The M&G group infirst quarter became the top British asset management firm in termsof assets under management, overtaking Perpetual, according to themost recent Pridham report published by Fundscape.Assets under managementat M&G totalled GBP41bn, as the firm continued to benefit fromits expertise in bonds to attract new inflows.M&G has postedgross inflows in first quarter of GBP3.15bn, putting it ahead ofBlackRock, with subscriptions totalling GBP1.87bn. Net inlfows at M&Gtotalled GBP1.38bn, putting it far ahead of Standard LifeInvestments.GroupGross retail sales (£m)M&G3,153.50BlackRock1,876.50Invesco Perpetual1,716.50Fidelity1,235.40Threadneedle1,179.10Standard Life1,146.20BNY Mellon1,131.00Jupiter915.3Schroders839.5HSBC732.Top ten managers by net retail sales in Q1 (£m)GroupNet retail sales (£m) M&G1,386.40Standard Life 483.5Threadneedle472.1BNY Mellon469BlackRock314.2Kames306HSBC273.2Cazenove271.2Investec200.8AXA 196.8

Franklin Templeton and Allianz Global Invetors have registered one fund each in Italy, Bluerating reports. In the case of Franklin Templeton, the fund is the FTIF Templeton Emerging Markets Balanced, a fund which invests in equities and bonds from emerging markets. Allianz Global Investors, for its part, has registered the Allianz RCM Renminbi Currency fund, which allows investors to benefit from a rising renminbi against the US dollar.

The Pioneer Fondi Italia range has gained three new bond sub-funds with half-yearly distribution, Bluerating reports. The Pioneer Euro Covernativo Medio Termine invests primarily in bond and money market securities issued by European governments with a duration of over 2 years, while the Pioneer Obbligazionario Corporate America concentrates primarily on US corporate bonds with an investment grade rating. Pioneer Obbligazionario Globale High Yield is composed of bond issued by international businesses and governments with a rating below investment grade. Meanwhile, Pioneer is launching the Pioneer Obbligazionario Sistema Italia, a fund specialised in Italian government and corporate bonds.

La Commission des sanctions de l’Autorité des marchés financiers a annoncé mercredi avoir infligé une amende de 150.000 euros et un blâme à l’encontre de GSD Gestion pour divers manquements à l’égard des investisseurs, notamment dans la communication d’informations. Les PDG et directeur général délégué de la société, Jacques et Thierry Gauthier, écopent également d’un blâme.

Le taux de chômage australien a chuté de 5,2% en mars à 4,9% au mois d’avril, son plus faible niveau depuis le mois de décembre 2008, selon les chiffres publiés ce matin par le bureau des statistiques de Sydney. Une baisse surprise puisque le consensus Bloomberg tablait sur une hausse du chômage à 5,3%.

Le Japon a enregistré pour le deuxième mois consécutif un excédent de ses comptes courants en mars, à 1.590 milliards de yens (15,4 milliards d’euros) contre 1.430 milliards anticipés par le consensus. Un niveau qui reste qui reste cependant 8,6% moins élevé que celui enregistré un an plus tôt.

Le groupe de média américain a doublé de 5 à 10 milliards de dollars la taille de son programme de rachat d’actions annoncé l’été dernier. Le groupe a indiqué hier avoir passé une charge de 63 millions de dollar, soit 0,02 dollar par action, en raison des coûts liés à l’enquête toujours en cours sur les écoutes téléphoniques illégales pratiquées pendant des années par le tabloïd News of The World. Ce qui porte à 257 millions le total des charges passées à cause de l’enquête. Le groupe a dégagé un résultat net du groupe de 937 millions de dollars, soit 0,38 dollar par action, sur le troisième trimestre de l’exercice 2011-2012 contre 639 millions un an plus tôt. Chase Carey, le directeur général du groupe, a en outre démenti tout projet de scission des activités de publications et n’a pas donné d’orientation précise sur l’avenir de BSkyB. L’action grimpait de 3,5% dans les échanges après Bourse, à 20 dollars.

La Chine, qui encourageait jusqu’ici l’investissement direct en actions et obligations des investisseurs étrangers dans le cadre de la réforme de son secteur financier, pourrait faire un pas de plus et autoriser les fonds alternatifs à acheter en direct sur ses marchés. Pour l’instant, les hedge funds souhaitant accéder au marché chinois passent par leur courtier qui utilise ses propres quotas QFII pour acheter actions et obligations pour leur compte.

L’excédent commercial de la Chine a bondi à 18,4 milliards de dollars au mois d’avril, contre 9,9 milliards prévu par le consensus. Cette hausse cache cependant une hausse modeste des exportations de 4,9% sur un an (contre 8,5% prévu par le consensus) et une atonie des importations, en hausse de seulement 0,3%, contre 10,9% prévu par le consensus.

Selon un rapport de la Banque des règlements internationaux (BRI), le montant notionnel total des dérivés de gré à gré (OTC) en circulation sur le marché a décliné au deuxième semestre 2011, pour se positionner à 648.000 milliards de dollars. Dans le même temps, la valeur de marché brute, qui mesure le coût de remplacement des contrats existants, a grimpé à 27.000 milliards de dollars. A noter que sur la période concernée, la population des dealers sous revue a augmenté.

«Soyons bien clair, il n’y a pas de croissance économique sans consolidation budgétaire», a déclaré mercredi le Premier ministre portugais Pedro Passos Coelho, à l’issue d’un sommet avec son homologue espagnol, Mariano Rajoy. Ce dernier a estimé que seule une Europe unie pourrait surmonter les difficultés actuelles.