The conference of the Luxembourg Investment Fund Association (ALFI) has over the years become an obligatory event to catch up on all regulatory issues under debate. On 13 March in Luxembourg, ALFI put the emphasis on three themes: the Volcker Rule, the financial transaction tax, and the Fatca law.On the subject of the Volcker Rule, ALFI expresses surprise that US mutual funds, which are excluded from the Volcker Rule, are treated differently from UCITS funds, which offer the same guarantees as US-registered funds. The professional association points out that numerous comments sent to the US administration, and these may lead to a redrafting of the law, and a legislative report which will be delivered in July this year.On the proposed European directive to introduce a tax on financial transactions, the professional body repeats the arguments already often advanced: there is no positive contribution from such a tax if it is not applied internationally, investment funds are not the cause of the financial crisis, such a tax will hurt sales of European funds in non-European jurisdictions, and as the Swedish example shows, it may also lead to a rapid move of transaction activities elsewhere.The Ecofin meeting, held on 13 March, has also given positive signs, with an inviation to the European Commission to undertake a more detailed analysis of the fiscal burdens borne by the various member states, and to consider other types of taxation (stamp duty, for example).The Fatca law is also one of the hot topics on which ALFI has been seeking to form a more precise idea. While pointing to the confidentiality rules which forbid direct communications with the US tax authorities, the Association would like to be able to more precisely evaluate the impact of the law, via the first contracts to be concluded with the IRS, though it does not hope for much enlightenment from the US tax authorities, who are not known for their flexibility.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which has been in place for nearly a year now, is in the process of making a place for itself as an increasingly present actors in the European regulatory environment. With staff of under 50 at the beginning of 2011, the authority will have 100 employees by the end of the year, and is aiming for about 160 by 2013, the president of ESMA, Steven Maijoor, announced in Luxembourg on 13 March, at the spring conference of the Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI). This raises the question of the institution’s financing. The current model, which is based on mixed financing from the European Union and national authorities, is not well-adapted. “The European Union should provide 100% of the financing for ESMA’s budget,” the president says.Maijoor says the two major objectives of ESMA are to create a body of shared rules for all member states, and to set up appropriate supervision in order to ensure that the rules are applied consistently throughout all member states. In addition to these two long-term priorities, ESMA has several major projects underway, including surveillance of ratings agencies, which in 2012 will see the publication of a first report in the wake of inspections initiated in autumn 2011, rules for short-selling, and relations with outside countries. On this last point, Maijoor points out that ESMA has recently become an affiliated member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which he feels is the appropriate body to facilitate dialogue on various issues such as UCITS funds.In the area of financial innovation, Maijoor says that he has set up an ad hoc committee, which is currently concentrating on protection of retail investors and is gathering information from national regulators, in order to identify trends within this client segment.To this end, ESMA may issue warnings, which it has already done at least once, and may also be led to bar certain products, but it is still acting as a new power, whose contours have yet to be defined, particularly under the MiFID directive. Nonetheless, “the power to bar products may also help the financial sector in terms of reputation,” Maijoor says.

The US-based asset management firm Eaton Vance Corp (USD197bn in assets as of the end of January) has announced the election of Laurie G. Hylton and Daniel C. Cataldo as chief financial officer (CFO) and Treasurer, respectively. They replace Robert J. Whelan, who has resigned, and had previously held both positions.Since 1997, Hylton had been chief accounting officer. Cataldo, for his part, had been director of financial planning & analysis, since 2000.

Federal Finance has recruited Estelle Merger-Lévis as head of international development, a newly-created position, a sign of an ambition on the part of the asset management firm of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group to move beyond the borders of France. Merger-Lévis, who began in her new role on Monday, will be based in Paris, and comes as an addition to the external development team. Merger-Lévis will initially focus on Europe, and particularly Scandinavia and Switzerland, she tells Newsmanagers. She adds that all types of clients will be targeted. Funds from Federal Finance Gestion will be involved in this new international development strategy, as well as funds from Schelcher Prince Gestion, a firm in which the company has held a 51% stake since July. Merger-Lévis, who has 15 years of experience in financial markets, had since 2011 beetn at Viel Tradition, where she assembled a bond sales team targeting French mutualist banks. She had previously worked at Natixis, where she was director of a team of vendors specialised in structured products.

At a presentation of its 2011 annual results, La Banque Postale announced that its affiliate La Banque Postale Asset Management has posted inflows of EUR0.7bn, related to life insurance asset management. Assets under management total nearly EUR124.5bn as of the end of December 2011 (down by EUR1.5bn compared with the end of 2010). As of 31 December 2011, La Banque Postale Gestion Privée had EUR1.2bn in assets under management, with net inflows of EUR436m, and over 15,000 mandates managed by the affiliate.Tocqueville Finance, the affiliate dedicated to portfolio management specialised in value management, 90% controlled by La Banque Postale (see Newsmanagers of 25 January 2012), has EUR1.2bn in assets under collective management as of the end of December 2011.La Banque Postale has posted inflows to life insurance of EUR1.5bn in assets, in a declining market. Assets total EUR109bn as of the end of 2011, up 0.6% compared with 2010.Meanwhile, net banking income (NBI) totalled EUR5.231bn in 2011, up 0.3% compared with the previous year. NBI for the retail bank, which represents 96% of NBI for La Banque Postale, was stable (+0.2%). The contribution of asset management to NBI was 2.3% in 2011.

The retirement and health-benefits commission at CalPERS has recommended that the projected annual return of the fund be revised downward to 7.50% from 7.75%, the Wall Street Journal reports. If the motion is approved on Wednesday by a plenary session of the board of trustees, it would be the first time in nine year that CalPERS has lowered its global investment objective.In 2011, the fund earned returns of 1.1%, compared with an average of 8.3% in the past three years, and 5.1% over the past ten years. The chief actuary has supported the commission’s decision, as the current inflation projection is, in his opinion, too high.

Bob Reynolds, president and CEO of Putnam Investors, on 13 March announced the promotion of Scott C. Sipple, strategic relationship chief, as head of investment product management and development. This explicitly means that Jeff Carney, who has resigned, will not be replaced as head of marketing and product.Sipple, who joined Putnam in 2009 (and formerly worked at Fidelity, like Carney), will oversee both Mark McKenna, head of advertising and sport sponsorships, and Jon Goldstein, head of strategic communications. He will report to the global head of distribution, William Connolly.

PhiTrust Active Investors, a French asset management firm specialised in responsible investment, has acquired a majority stake in the venture capital firm LC Capital, specialised in financing and assisting technologically innovative private companies. “The experience of the LC Capital company will complement and strengthen the expertise of PhiTrust in financing and assisting social innovation, and will allow it to extend its product range to include FCPR/FCPI type funds,” a statement explains. As a part of the operation, the asset management firm LC Capital will become known as “PhiTrust Impact Investors.” It will aim to develop and manage thematic investment funds with a strong social and environmental impact.

Anne Courrier has been appointed as chairwoman of the managing board at Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs, an asset management firm of the Malakoff Médéric Group, which she joined in June 2010 a CEO and member of the board.Courrier had previously served in various positions at the French national pension fund, the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites, including the position of chief investment officer in charge of overseeing bond mandates, head of the publicly-traded asset management department, and head of delegated management, a statement says.Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs has EUR23.5bn in assets under management in mandated portfolios and OPCVM (mutual) funds.

Morningstar reports that US mutual funds in February posted their strongest net inflows in nearly two years, totalling USD43.8bn.However, US equity funds continued to see net redemptions, totalling only USD1.2bn, which is the lowest level in the past ten months for this category.Passive US equity funds collected a net total of USD20.1bn in the past twelve months under review, while actively-managed funds saw net redemptions of USD134.4bn.In February, Morningstar adds, the fund with the strongest net subscriptions, at USD2.4bn, was the DoubleLine Total Return. The fund with the largest net outflows (USD3.1bn) was the Growth Fund of America from American Funds.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on Tuesday, 13 March announced that it has been appointed following a call for proposals from the board of directors of the “Emergence” Sicav to provide depository and valuation services to the delegated manager of the fund, NewAlpha AM. Emergence, launched at the initiative of the Paris financial centre, with assets of EUR120m, allows young asset management firms to manage capital at their first inception, so that they can rapidly reach critical mass.To this end, SGSS has been retained due to its ability to meet information and reporting requirements of institutional investors, including the transparency requirements imposed by Solvency II regulations, a statement says.

The asset management boutique Credit Value Partners of New York has filed with the SEC plans to raise up to USD400m for a bond hedge fund specialised in debt from distressed businesses, entitled Credit Value Partners Distressed Duration fund, which is registered in Delaware, Investment Europe reports.The asset management firm, which has been independent since 2010, is led by four former Credit Suisse employees, and is not allowed to make public statements about strategy, as the fund will be offered as a private investment. Minimal initial subscription will be USD5m.

The AgriSar equity fund from Sarasin (Safra group), whose assets total GBP169m, also includes a new “D” share class, whose management commission is 1.75%, rather than 1.5% for the existing A class. However, the share class charges no commission (of 15%) on performance exceeding the MSCI World index, Investment Week reports. The fund, managed by Henry Boucher and Mark Whitehead, is focused on the global food and agriculture sectors.

UK-based Man Group is launching the Man Commodities funds, exposed to the Man Systematic Commodity Index, which is composed of 25 liquid futures contracts on precious and industrial metals, energy and soft commodities, Investment Europe reports.The UCITS-compliant, long-only product, which is managed by Scott Kerston, has seed capital of USD50m. Its objective is to outperform funds passively replicating indices, while limiting the risk of loss.The fund will be created in the Systematic Strategies unit led by Sandy Rattray, the founder of the VIX index, and will have a capacity of USD5bn, the Financial times reports.

The Spanish firm Renta 4 has kicked off its activities in Latin America with the acquisition of a 70% stake in the Chilean wealth management and advising firm K2 Corredores de Bolsa, S.A., via its affiliate Renta 4 Chile SaP, Funds People reports. The transaction is expected to be closed by 30 March.Renta 4 has also been offered the opportunity to acquire the remaining 30% of K2 during the 2017 fiscal year via a share exchange.

On Tuesday, Nomura announced that it had launched 35 new ETFs on its Navesis-ETF platform, largely focused on emerging markets, Handelsblatt reports. That brings the number of ETFs listed on the market reserved for institutional investors and limited to primary markets to 200.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Nicholas Kyprios, head of European Credit Sales at Credit Suisse in London, GBP210,000 for improper market conduct in disclosing client confidential information ahead of a significant bond issue in November 2009.Credit Suisse acted on behalf of Liberty Global, Inc. (Liberty) during its takeover of UnityMedia GmbH (UnityMedia) which was part-financed by a EUR2.5 billion bond issue. So that he could market the bond to clients, on 9 November 2009, Kyprios was wall-crossed regarding the takeover and the proposed bond issue. He was given confidential information by Credit Suisse, told that it was inside information and instructed in writing not to disclose it to third parties, explains the UK regulator. «On 11 November 2009 Kyprios called a fund manager to invite him to the bond issue road show. The fund manager told Kyprios he did not want to be wall crossed. Although Kyprios did not have a pre-meditated intention to disclose the client confidential information, the fund manager asked Kyprios about the bond issue and in response Kyprios engaged in a guessing game, including advising when the fund manager was “getting warmer”. Kyprios was an active participant in the guessing game and could have extracted himself before straying into dangerous territory but he did not do so.As a result of the guessing game, Kyprios signalled confidential information to the fund manager», according to the FSA.

Le français Société Générale vient de lancer en Espagne un service intégral de conseil, Private Investment Banking, qui s’adresses aux grandes fortunes qui contrôlent un holding ou qui disposent d’un family office, rapporte Funds People.Les solutions offertes se fondent sur l’expérience et la connaissance de la clientèle des équipes de Société Générale Private Banking et de Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking.Le développement de cette activité est confié à Galeazzo Pecori Giraldi.

While operating profits at Standard Life were up 28% to GBP544m, profits from asset management, mostly Standard Life Investments, increased by 21.4% in 2011, to GBP125m.However, net subscriptions fell to GBP4.3bn, compared with GBP6.2bn, of which GBP1.64bn were for British mutual funds, compared with GBP2.2bn.Assets at the end of the fiscal year for “fee business” (asset management for third parties) totalled GBP71.8bn, compared with GBP71.6bn as of 31 December 2010, but the transfer of Global Liquidity Funds (GBP3.9bn) and negative market effects slowed the increase, while gross inflows totalled GBP12.9bn.

JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has announced the appointment of Jemma Broadgate as head of pension fund and charity institution clients. Broadgate had previously served these clients at JP Morgan WSS, since 2007. Benjie Fraser has been appointed as global pensoin executive at WSS, also serving pension fund clients.

For 2011, the British Prudential group has announced operating profits of GBP2.07bn, compared with GBP1.94bn, of which GBP301m, compared with a record GBP246m in 2010 (an increase of 22%) are for the asset management firm M&G Investments, “on the basis of operating profit based on longer-term investment returns.” The cost/income ratio at M&G improved to 60% from 63%.Net subscriptions fell to GBP4.4bn, compared with GBP9.1bn, while the profession as a whole underwent net outflows of GBP69bn; total assets as of the end of December were up 2% for the year, at GBP201bn, of which GBP92bn (+3%) were for third parties.

David Hanratty, who joined the firm in January 2003, was appointed on 13 March as the sole director of institutional and wholesale distribution for the United Kingdom and Ireland and the Global Strategic Partners Group at Pioneer Investments. The two segments have been identified as important elements in the new five-year growth strategy announced by CEO Roger Yates. They have increasingly similar characteristics, and the creation of a single position for a director of both is a recognition of the importance of London in strategic selection by global platforms and institutional consultants.In practice, Hanratty will leave the Dublin hub to move to London, where he will lead a team of nine people focused on the UK and Ireland, located both in London and Dublin. He will also be in charge of five members of the Global Strategic Group in Singapore and London, and will coordinate with a specialist in New York for the offshore US market.

Although operating profits for the group in the half ending 31 January have remained virtually unchanged at GBP63.2m, compared with GBP63.4m in the corresponding period of 2010-2011, Close Brothers has posted a loss, “as expected,” of GBP2.6m, compared with GBP6m for its asset management activities.The division is now “in the final stages of its restructuring,” although Close Brothers is still expecting a “small” loss in the second half of its fiscal year.As of 31 January, assets under management totalled GBP6.9bn, compared with GBP6.5bn as of the end of July 2011 for “private clients,” and GBP8.6bn, compared with GBP9.6bn, for the division as a whole, due to the withdrawal of a GBP1bn mandate from an institutional investor.

Jamie Broderick, the European head of JP Morgan Asset Management, will be leaving the firm at the end of the year, according to reports in Financial News. He joined the firm in 1993. The firm has not stated where he will be going, nor who will replace him.

Jamie Broderick, the head of JP Morgan Asset Management Europe, will be leaving the asset management firm at the end of this year, according to reports that first appeared in the British press, and which were confirmed to Newsmanagers yesterday. The name of his replacement has not yet been announced, a spokesperson for the firm says, and neither has his destination. Broderick arrived at JPMorgan Asset Management in 1993.

The British firm Liontrust Asset Management plc on 13 March announced the acquisition for a total fo GBP12.35m of Walker Crips Asset Managers Ltd (WCAM) from Walker Crips Group (WCG). This acquisition price represents 2.04% of assets at WCAM, reported at GBP604m as of 29 February, in four retail funds (CF Walker Crips UK Growth Fund, CF Walker Crips Equity Income Fund, CF Walker Crips UK High Alpha Fund, CF UK Fund), with GBP441m, and GBP163m in two mandates. This will put assets under management at Liontrust above GBP2bn.The WCAM name will disappear, and the four retail funds will adopt the Liontrust name. The two co-directors of WCAM, Stephen Bailey and Jan Luthman, will join Liontrust when the acquisition is complete. They have agreed to forego the GBP2.4m which they would have been entitled to receive for their 20% stake in WCAM, preferring instead to negotiate an arrangement with Liontrust.The other three WCAM funds (CF Walker Crips Corporate Bond Fund, CF Walker Crips Select Income Trust and CF Walker Crips Global Growth Trust) will be transferred to a new asset management firm at WCG Group, as many WCG clients are invested in these funds.

Hedge funds will be required to pay an average of 5% to 10% more to buy insurance for their administrators and directors, due to an expected increase in litigation in the wake of insider trading investigations, the Financial Times reports, citing a survey by SKCG.

The Swiss asset management firm Partners Group has announced operating revenues for the 2011 fiscal year down 8% to CHF346m, on an EBITDA down to CHF212m, from CHF250m in 2010. Adjusted net profits were also down sharply, from CHF302m to CHF212m in 2011. At the end of 2011, Partners Group posted assets under management of EUR24.8bn. For the 2011 fiscal year as a whole, net inflows totalled EUR4.2bn (see Newsmanagers of 12 January 2012).

Man Group will launch a new quantitative fund investing in commodities, which will be directed by the former trader from Ospraie Management and Amaranth, Scott Kerson, the Financial Times reports. The fund will be created in the Systematic Straetgies unit led by Sandy Rattray, the founder of the VIX index, and will have a capacity of USD5bn.

Thomas Pickard, who had been associate director of B2B sales at DAB bank, has joined comdirect bank (Commerzbank group) as director fo B2B distribution, Fonds professionell reports. He will be in charge of independent financial services providers and institutional clients.