Rockspring, a British asset management firm specialised in real estate investments, has sold the B building of the Orléans Plaza complex from its PanEuropean fund to Primonial Reim. The property is wholly leased to GMF and Pôle Emploi. The investment volume totals EUR13.8m.

The stock market company BATS Global Markets (equities and options) has announced that BlackRock will be listing its first iShares brand ETF on the primary listing of its electronic trading platform on 24 January. The fund will be the iShares MSCI Norway Capped Investable Market Index Fund (ticker: ENOR). Seven other funds will be introduced soon thereafter: • iShares MSCI Australia Small Cap Index Fund (EWAS)• iShares MSCI Canada Small Cap Index Fund (EWCS)• iShares MSCI Finland Capped Investable Market Index Fund (EFNL)• iShares MSCI Germany Small Cap Index Fund (EWGS)• iShares MSCI India Index Fund (INDA)• iShares MSCI India Small Cap Index Fund (SMIN) et• iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index Fund (EWUS)

The German firm Warburg-Henderson KAG für Immobilien has acquired a 10,400 square metre commercial property located in Mariahilfer Straße in Vienna, which since 2003 had been owned by the open-ended real estate fund WestInvest ImmoValue from Deka Immobilien, for an undisclosed amount. For Deka, the sale means a more marked orientation to office properties for the WestInvest ImmoValue fund. The proceeds of the sale will be used shortly for new acquisitions.

Lyxor AM is launching the Lyxor ETF MSCI All Country World fund on the Milan stock exchange, Bluerating reports. The product replicates the MSCI All Country World index, which includes 2,500 businesses worldwide.

Thames River has recruited Brett Golledge, who joins the Global Credit team from UBS where he was head of credit trading until November 2011. He will will become co‐manager of the team’s funds alongside Stephen Drew, who heads the team. The recruitment comes as a part of a restructuring of the team, which has led to the departure of Mehrdad Noorani, portfolio manager, and Chris Currington, the Global Credit team’s chief operating officer. Another person has also been recruited, from Gruss Asset Management: Jennifer James, as head of research.

The asset management firm Polar Capital has posted net inflows for the three months to the end of December of USD193m, the firm announced on 13 January. In the first nine months of the year, net inflows have totalled USD826m, with net subscriptions of USD889m for long-only funds, but net redemptions of USD63m from hedge funds. Assets under management, which totalled USD4.28bn as of the end of November, totalled USD4.24bn as of the end of December.

Robert Talbut, director and chief investment officer at Royal London Asset Management (RLAM), has been appointed by the board of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) as chairman of the ABI investment committee. He will take over from Alain Dromer, CEO of Aviva Investors, who is stepping down in recognition of the significantly increased time commitment required on stewardship activities and the Government’s Kay Review. Robert Talbut, who is currently deputy chairman of the committee, takes over as chairman of the ABI investment committee on January 17, 2012 and is appointed to the ABI Board with immediate effect.

Despite a difficult environment, the hedge fund sector has had a good year in 2011. The average size of a new hedge fund totalled about USD40m, similar to the amount observed in Europe, BNY Mellon observes in a report on hedge funds in Asia. However, most funds launched in the region have generally not met their initial objectives, or have been delayed. In 2012, the situation is expected to remain difficult, BNY Mellon estimates, although there is a trend to maintain allocations to emerging markets. In Sinagpore, new hedge fund regulations planned for early 2012 include the appointment of independent administrators. This move favours a “new status quo” in the sector which will favour inflows, particularly as attention paid to good governance, particularly counterparty risks, were central concerns of last year. With the development of better governance in mind, BNY Mellon touts the development of prime custody structures, which merge the roles of the custodian and prime broker. The establishment of sophisticated prime custody services will also allow hedge funds to improve execution and collateral management, which may favour reduction in costs and improved reporting.

The Managed Funds Association is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw a rule that forbids hedge funds from advertising publicly and soliciting investors, the Financial Times reports. The rule (rule 502 (C) of Regulation D) is so broad in its application that most hedge funds are not allowed to communicate with unqualified third parties, including the press.

2011 was a difficult year for contrarian and value managers. However, due to the nature of its fund product range and its variety, Mandarine Gestion has posted both net inflows and only a slight decline in its profits compared with 2010. The firm is planning to methodically continue its foreign expansion.

The exponential growth of the ETF Sector may be slowed in 2012. Recommendations which will very soon be published by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) are expected to be rather strict, with the emphasis on counterparty risk and systemic risk controls, according to a study of the European market published recently by the research agency Celent. As a result, volumes under management in the synthetic ETF sector may decline, Celent estimates. Synthetic ETF fund creations were highly intensive between 2006 and 2010, a year when nearly 90% of releases of new synthetic products were in Europe (compared with 6% in the United States). The proportion of synthetic ETFs in the ETF market now represents 45% by value, compared with slightly over 20% in 2005. The synthetic ETF sector may begin to approach levels observed in the United States, where assets under management in the sector are lower due to regulatory restrictions. In Asia, where the market is just beginning, synthetic ETFs may play a major role in Hong Kong and Singapore, Celent predicts in another study dedicated to ETFs in Asia. But there again, regulations may have a lasting impact on the terrain. The Hong Kong market regulator (SFC) last year established rules to reduce counterparty and collateral risks, and to improve the transparency of synthetic products. Lyxor threatened to leave the market at that time. In Singapore, the regulator is planning to make changes to regulations similar to the European ones. If the modifications introduced are less rigorous than those put in place in Hong Kong, the Singapore market may overtake Hong Kong. Of the other Asian markets, Australia, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, investors prefer physical ETFs. In other words, volumes in physical ETFs may well continue to increase, but for synthetic ETFs, it is more likely that there will be stagnation or slight growth in the synthetic market, in both Asia and Europe.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, has filed a lawsuit against investors who received payouts from the fraudster, via Fairfield Security and Kingate Global Fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. Picard is also seeking USD77m from Banco Itau Europa Luxembourg SA and Banco Itau Europa International, USD30.6m from Crédit Agricole SA and its Swiss affiliate, USD43.4m from Arden Asset Management and several of its affiliates, and USD36.5m from the British asset management firm Grosvenor Investment Management and its affiliates.

Cinco Días has provocatively published an article only shortly after the credit ratings of many euro zone countries were downgraded, entitled “Should AAA ratings be the only point of reference for the markets?” Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has replied that the answer is no, for two reasons that have nothing to do with errors of judgement on the part of ratings agencies. The first reason is that ratings from the three major ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch) do not mean exactly the same thing, and so attention must be paid to methodology. The second reason is that the best ratings are much more rare as a result of the crisis. As there are fewer AAA ratings, S&P recommends that courageous investors adopt positions on investors with slightly lower ratings, but should continue to rely on their own research, and take decisions on the basis of the reasons for the rating, and not the rating itself.

Barclays estime que le secteur de la gestion alternative pourrait attirer une collecte nette positive de quelque 80 milliards de dollars dans le monde cette année, soit le meilleur solde depuis 2007.

Les OPCVM français ont subi le mois dernier une décollecte de près de 15 milliards d’euros, dont 8,7 milliards sur les fonds monétaires

Jean-Louis Mourier, économiste chez Aurel BGC

Eric Bourguignon, directeur général délégué de Swiss Life AM (France)

Le lobby des fonds de pension et gestionnaires d'actifs veut profiter des travaux actuels de la Commission pour promouvoir un label européen

Très prisés jusqu'ici, les centres commerciaux vont subir cette année les effets de la stagnation de la consommation

Marjorie Sonigo, à la gestion privée de Credit Suisse France

Matthieu Grouès, responsable de la gestion collective et institutionnelle de Lazard Frères Gestion

Mark Carney, nommé président du Financial Stability Board (FSB) en novembre dernier, a indiqué au quotidien son intention de faire toute la lumière nécessaire sur la finance de l’ombre, ou « Shadow banking », dont le poids ne cesse de grandir. Mark Carney a également indiqué que les banques devaient cesser de reporter les réformes en espérant retrouver une « activité normale ».

Alors que la récession menace, George Osborne pourrait signer un accord aujourd’hui permettant à la City d’être un centre de trading en renminbi

Le quotidien britannique mise sur la possibilité enfin ouverte cette année aux investisseurs internationaux d’intervenir directement sur le marché boursier d’Arabie Saoudite. Les autorités auraient demandé conseil à des banques locales et étrangères ainsi qu’à des grands gestionnaires d’actifs sur la meilleure voie à suivre. Selon Sam Vecht, gérant senior sur les marchés émergents chez BlackRock, l’ouverture pourrait avoir lieu au premier semestre, voire au premier trimestre. Mais le pays restera prudent. Le système des investisseurs qualifiés (QFII, Qualified foreign institutional investor) tel que développé en Chine pourrait servir de modèle.

Mario Monti avance que la décision de l'agence constitue un problème supplémentaire dans la mesure où elle rend certains investissements impossibles

Suspendues depuis vendredi et jusqu'à mercredi, les négociations achoppent encore sur le coupon et la maturité des nouvelles obligations

Tout à leur consternation quant aux conséquences de la décision de Standard & Poor’s vendredi sur les souverains européens, les décideurs politiques ne doivent pas sous-estimer l’avertissement que leur donne l’agence sur la cause profonde de la dégradation de la situation en zone euro : une approche purement budgétaire du problème au détriment d’une démarche économique d’alimentation de l’activité par la mise en œuvre d’une politique de croissance coordonnée. C’est à juste titre que S&P relève que les différentiels de compétitivité s’y creusent, ce qui se traduit par des déséquilibres d’endettement très élevés entre Etats-Membres. Logique avec elle-même, l’agence a conservé leurs notes à ceux d’entre eux qui sont les plus gros créateurs nets d’épargne. On peut bien sûr le critiquer puisque ces amas d’épargne, notamment en Allemagne, sont une partie du problème posé et que s’ils se poursuivent, ils auront pour contrepartie l’anémie de leurs partenaires. Mais cette analyse a au moins pour vertu de rappeler que pour l’heure, la question d’une politique coordonnée de croissance de la zone euro attend toujours sa solution. Cela passe bien sûr par des politiques symétriques de quête de compétitivité pour les uns et de relance de l’activité pour les autres qui ne sont faciles à faire admettre pour personne. Reste que faute de la trouver dans les plus brefs délais, la zone ne pourra que continuer à s’enfoncer dans un masochisme budgétaire débilitant.

Le FESF va probablement perdre son AAA. L'impact est plus discuté pour le Mécanisme européen de stabilité, qui n'est pas encore noté

L’indice consolide les gains de décembre avant de viser à nouveau le seuil des 2.500 points

La dégradation du pays affaiblit Paris vis-à-vis de Berlin et la capacité d'action du FESF