Despite uncertainty surrounding the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, there were very few corporate defaults in 2011, the financial ratings agency Moody’s reports in its latest annual study. Only 35 issuers rated by Moody’s defaulted in 2011, on a total of USD36bn in debt, the lowest level in four years, the agency states. The majority of defaults were in North America, with 25 issuers (USD26bn in debt), while the remainder were in Europe. Default rates for corporate issuers rated by Moody’s fell to 0.8% as of the end of 2011, compared with 1.3% the previous year. The agency says the default rate may come in at about 2.8% at the end of 2012.

Rolf R. Frehner, who for the past four years had been executive vice president for central and eastern Europe at Coutts Bank in Zurich, on 1 March began in his new position as a member of the general board at Bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Schweiz), in charge of private banking for eastern Europe.At Coutts, Frehner had been responsible for the markets of Russia and the CIS, after coorginating the entry of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank into the markets of eastern Europe. In 2007, he was also one of the founders and the president of the public association Swiss Russian Forum.

Jon Andrea von Planta has been appointed as co-head private clients at Rothschild Wealth Management in Zurich, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 march, and is co-head with Riccardo Petrachi of all private clients of the bank in Zurich. Von Planta spent 16 years at Morgan Stanley & Co International in London, where as project lead, he developed business with high net worth clients in continental Europe. After returning to Switzerland in 2008, Von Planta founded his own asset management consulting firm, in which he continued to manage the assets of high net worth clients as well as a private commodities fund.

The bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Switzerland) has appointed Rolf Frehner as head of its private banking activities in eastern Europe, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 March 2012. Frehner also becomes a board member at the firm. Frehner spent four years at Coutts bank, as executive vice president for central and eastern Europe.

A planned merger of the Geneva-based private bank Cramer and the Zurich-based Hottinger, announced in November 2011, has fallen through, according to a joint statement from the two groups. The two firms and the Geneva-based investment firm Norinvest, owned by Cramer, have decided to call off plans to merge, “for reasons related to the future strategic development of their activities.” The decision was taken by common agreement, and “the two groups will continue their activities independently, each developing their existing strategy and optimising their structure in order to achieve ongoing and sustainable growth.” Hottinger is present in Switzerland (Zurich, Basel and Geneva), New York, and the Bahamas. Cramer is present in Switzerland, where the bank has 45 employees, and the Bahamas.

The resignation of Bernard Joei, who has chosen to leave the group, will lead to two promotions in the asset management unit at Zurich Financial Services (ZFS). The outgoing Joei is replaced from 1 March as head of alternative investments by Urban Angehm, currently head of investment strategy implementation. Angehm will be based in New York, and will report to Cecilia Reyes, CIO. Angehm came to ZFS in 2007 from Winterthur Asset Management, where he had been head of allocation & strategy.Thomas A. Rogers, regional investment manager for Americas, has been appointed as Angehm’s successor as head of investment strategy implementation in Zurich. He will also report to Reyes.

As announced in an SEC filing of 7 July 2011, Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) on 1 March launched an ETF based on the Pimco Total Return fund by Bill Gross. The new product, whose acronym on NYSE Arca is TRXT, charges fees of 0.55%, as planned. It is also managed by Gross, founder and co-CIO of Pimco.The portfolio of the new fund will also be composed of high quality bonds; it will be actively managed, but will use neither options, futures, nor swaps.

On the basis of data communicated by the 16 major listed US businesses whose pension libilities exceed USD20bn, the performance of assets and the contribution of businesses was considerable in 2011, but that did not prevent liabilities from increasing more rapidly than assets, Russell Investments reports. The overall shortfall in financing for this group of funds as of 31 December came to USD173bn, compared with USD121bn one year earlier, which is largely due to a fall in the discount rate.The “USD20bn club” has overall pension liabilities of over USD750bn, and is thus representative of the developing situation for the entire sector. Although businesses have taken measures to reduce deficits for their pension funds, a decline in interest rates in 2011 led to a deterioration in the financial situation for all actors.In order to make up this deficit and comply with the requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, cash injections will need to be large not only in 2012 but also in subsequent years. According to Russell, businesses of the USD20bn club contributed USD114bn in the period from 2005 to 2011. Due to the deficit at the end of December last year, the total in the next seven years will probably have to be much closer to USD250bn.

The US firm Citi has appointed Cheeping Yap as its head of administration services for Asia, as part of an internal reshuffle which has also included the appointment of a new head for the Australian market, Asian Investor reports. Yap, who began in his new role on 1 February, covers alternative investment, long-only mutual funds, transfer agency services and fuduciary services. In the position he replaces Matt Brown, who takes up new responsibilities in fund administration for the EMEA region. Citi is also planning to create a position for a global head of ETFs, an activity which Citi would like to develop steadfastly.

Murielle Faure, chairwoman of IT AM, and Béatrice Philippe, chairwoman of PIM Gestion France, have announced the merger of their asset management firms. Faure says the decision was motivated both by highly similar philosophies at the two firms in management – equities, growth type and conviction-based – and by the considerable complementarity of the fund ranges from the two firms. “We are exclusively invested in the IT sector,” says Faure, “while PIM Gestion France invests in all industries except IT, which its management considered to be a gap.”Clients of the two asset management firms are also complementary, as IT AM largely serves investors such as private banks, wealth management advisers, etc., while PIM Gestion is largely known by multi-managers and institutionals. The merger will allow both firms to increase their fields of activity. “The merger will be completed retaining all management teams,” says Faure, adding that the two firms will join forces to form a single entity whose name will soon be announced, with EUR800m in assets under management. The remaining question is who will head up the new firm. “Governance will be known in May,” says Faure. “Meanwhile, teams will work to unite and become operational as soon as possible.”

Stephen Schwarzmann, founder of Blackstone, was the highest-paid chief in the private equity industry last year. He made USD213.5m in salary, dividends and cash. That puts him in first place in the profession, and represents a 33% increase compared with his 2010 income. However, last year he made 50% less than he did in 2006, when Blackstone held its IPO.

Convictions AM has announced the recruitment of Philippe Weller as head of international development for the French asset management firm. The German Weller, 41, had previously been head of international development at La Financière de Champlain, in charge of European, and then French clients, from 2007 to 2010.In his new role, he will be in charge of the commercial development of Convictions AM in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg. He joins Edoardo Chiozzi-Millelire, head of international development for the countries of southern Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, etc.), who joined the firm in 2010.“International markets currently represent 15% of our assets, and remain a strong area of development for Convictions AM. We have seen strong demand from private banks and family offices in European countries, particularly for our Convictions Premium fund,” says Hugues Riant, head of management mandates and communications at Convictions AM.

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with EUR42 billion of assets under management as at December 2011, has announced the launch of the Caesar Fund, having raised EUR118 million from Italian institutional investors at first close. The fund is targeting a EUR200 million total equity raise with a fund size of up to EUR400 million, once fully invested. It will be managed by AXA Reim SGR in Italy. AXA IM Italia and AXA Real Estate will jointly work in the second phase of the placement for reaching this target.The Caesar Fund has a nine year life and seeks to achieve an average annual dividend of 5.5% on invested capital and an IRR of 9%. The fund is reserved for institutional investors and will target investment in core office properties in the euro zone and Great Britain.

Assets under management at Man Group as of the end of December totalled USD58.4bn, compared with USD64.5bn as of the end of September, and USD69.1bn as of the end of March 2011, the alternative asset management firm announced on 1 March at a presentation of its results for the quarter and the first nine months of its 2011-2012 fiscal year. The first nine months of the fiscal year brought net outflows of USD1.5bn. In the quarter to the end of December alone, outflows totalled USD2.5bn. Over nine months, negative market and currency effects totalled USD4bn and USD1.7bn, respectively. Man Group states, however, that as of the end of February, assets under management totalled USD59.5bn, largely due to good results at GLG and a more modest positive contribution from AHL. “Investor confidence improved compared with the last quarter of 2011, and the slowdown in redemptions led to a significant decline in net outflows,” Man Group explains, adding that confidence remains fragile and that it will take more time for inflows to pick up again. Man Group states that performance was positive from the beginning of the calendar year to 24 February for the major UCITS strategies from GLG, with 6% for European Equity Alternative, 4% for North American Equity Alternative, 5.2% for Alpha Select, 8.4% for Global Convertibles, 6.9% for Emerging Markets, 19.3% for Japan Core Alpha, and 11.3% for Global Equity. Only the Atlas Macro fund has seen negative performance of 0.4%. Pre-tax profits in the first nine months of the year totalled USD262m, compared with USD599m for the year to the end of March 2011. The board has confirmed that it will recommend a final dividend of 7 cents per share for the nine months to the end of December, which brings total dividends for the period to 16.5 cents per share. Dividends for the fiscal year may total 22 cents.

Prashant Kothari, vice president and senior investment manager at ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, is joining the emerging market equities team at Pictet Asset Management in London, where he will continue to focus on Indian equities.According to some sources, Kothari may become co-manager of an Indian equity fund with David Chaterjee, replacing Oliver Bell, who has become manager of the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) fund at T. Rowe Price.Pictet AM says that its assets in emerging market equities total about GBP4.3bn.

Credit Suisse decided to reduce its stake in Aberdeen from 19.9% to 9.9% at the end of last week, Financial News reports. A second block of 57 million shares was placed yesterday by the bank at 240 pence each.

Brasilia a modifié une taxe de 6%, baptisée IOF, sur les prêts étrangers à court terme pour englober tous les prêts jusqu’à 3 ans afin de se défendre dans une «guerre des changes mondiale», selon le ministre des Finances,Guido Mantega. Une mesure qui n’a pas empêché le real de s’apprécier à 1,7112 hier. Il est en hausse de plus de 9% contre dollar depuis le début de l’année.

Le risque d’un brusque ralentissement économique mondial s’est estompé en raison des mesures prises par la zone euro pour résoudre sa crise de la dette, a estimé jeudi le Fonds monétaire international (FMI). L’institution a toutefois ajouté que les risques pesant sur la croissance mondiale restaient «clairement baissiers». La croissance économique mondiale devrait ralentir à 3,3% cette année contre 3,8% en 2011. Dans un rapport distribué aux ministres des Finances du G20 le week-end dernier à Mexico, mais publié seulement ce jeudi, le FMI souligne que la zone euro doit agir de manière décisive sur plusieurs fronts pour achever de résoudre sa crise de la dette. «Le risque principal réside dans la possibilité de voir les mesures prises ne pas orienter l’Europe vers un «bon équilibre (...)», relève le FMI, qui table pour la zone euro sur une contraction de l’économie de 0,5% en 2012.

Les revenus des ménages américains ont augmenté de 0,3% en janvier, mais l’inflation et la fiscalité ont effacé ces gains, ce qui fait que la consommation ajustée de la hausse des prix est resté inchangée, selon les chiffres publiés jeudi par le département du Commerce. Le taux d'épargne des ménages a atteint 4,6% contre 4,7% en décembre.

Le rythme de croissance du secteur manufacturier aux Etats-Unis a ralenti contre toute attente en février, selon l’indice des directeurs d’achats publié jeudi par l’Institute for Supply Management (ISM). L’ISM s’est établi à 52,4 contre 54,1 en janvier et 53,1 en décembre, alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters l’anticipaient en hausse, à 54,5.

Les parlementaires français ont adopté définitivement jeudi la proposition de loi UMP dont l’objet est d’empêcher le détournement d’actifs d’une entreprise défaillante comme cela est reproché dans le cas de la raffinerie Petroplus. La proposition de loi vise à faire face «efficacement aux comportements abusifs de ces tiers en permettant l’adoption de toute mesure conservatoire utile à l'égard de leurs biens».

La plus petite des six anciennes républiques de Yougoslavie pourrait demander le soutien du FMI, vu la détérioration de la situation économique, a indiqué jeudi la banque centrale. Le Fonds, qui a débuté la semaine dernière une visite de 14 jours sur place, indique que les négociations pourraient débuter rapidement si les autorités monténégrines en expriment le souhait.

La Chine devrait étendre ses relations commerciales avec les autres pays émergents, en plus de ses liens traditionnels avec l’Europe, le Japon et les Etats-Unis, afin d’accélérer son rythme de croissance, selon le journal officiel qui cite un membre du parti, Zhong Jingwen. Le gouvernement aurait également intérêt à développer la consommation intérieure à travers une augmentation du pouvoir d’achat des ménages.

Le gouvernement chinois pourrait porter à 5 milliards de dollars le montant maximal de levée de capitaux autorisé par les autorités pour les sociétés d’investissement étrangères, selon le journal qui cite des sources proches du dossier. Le programme dit «QDLP» des investisseurs étrangers qualifiés pourrait être annoncé avant la fin du mois.

La Chambre de commerce britannique compte demander une subvention d’un milliard de livres (1,2 milliard d’euros) destiné à financer les PME et à compenser leurs plans de réduction des coûts, selon le quotidien qui cite des propos du directeur de la Chambre, Adam Marshall. Il compte également plaider auprès du gouvernement pour l’abandon du projet d’augmentation de 5,6% de la taxe sur les sociétés.

L'organisation aimerait s'assurer que les agences sont le plus transparentes et rigoureuses possible lorsqu'il s'agit d'évaluer les prix

Réunis jeudi à Bruxelles, ils ont donné mandat au directeur général du FESF pour accompagner l’échange d’obligations grecques

L’Autorité pense qu’au-delà du seuil de 200 pb, dépassé par la France en septembre 2011, spreads obligataires et CDS évoluent conjointement

Pour les professionnels de l’Isda, il n’y a pas encore d'événement de crédit, mais une participation insuffisante à l’offre d'échange aurait un effet déclencheur.

Pour l'Isda, il n'y a pas encore d'événement de crédit sur la dette grecque. Mais l'association sur les dérivés restera attentive aux faits nouveaux