2011 has not proved a vintage year for Carmignac. Its flagship fund, Patrimoine, finished the year with losses (of 0.7%), for the first time since 2001, Expansión reports. The fund, which became one of the largest in Europe during the crisis, although its assets have since shrunken back to EUR25bn, was defensively positioned against the euro crisis throughout 2011, but that didn’t prevent the fund from seeing losses.

The CFA Institute on 9 January expressed its reservations about the application and effectiveness of a tax on financial transactions in France. In a recent survey of members of the association in Europe, who are investment professionals, 48% consider the idea of a financial sector tax “justifiable,” while 49% consider it “unjustifiable.” “We are not against all taxation in principle, just because we’re working in the financial industry” says Agnès Le Thiec, director of capital market policies at the CFA Institute.However, Le Thiec continues, “44% of our members feel that a financial transaction tax would only be effective if it is applied at least to all G20 countries. Only 5% feel that it would be effective if applied in Europe, since financial transactions would move elsewhere.” It is therefore clear that if the tax were applied only in France, it would make even less sense.Such a tax would inevitably have negative consequences on the volume of activity in the French financial sector. “The revenues from such a tax would be quickly reduced by an equivalent proportion. It is therefore hard to see how a tax on financial transactions could be applied only in France, due to the global nature of the financial markets,” Le Thiec concludes.

The average age for directors of CAC40 businesses is 60.6 years, as calculated by Les Echos. Ethics & Boards, an international agency that observes board of directors and supervisory boards at publicly-traded companies, finds that the boards of directors for CAC40 businesses are getting younger, largely due to the presence of women, whose average age is 56.1 years. Men on boards are older, with an average age of 61.8 years.

In the wake of the Paris Europlace conference (see Newsmanagers of 9 January 2012), the French banking federation (FBF) has become the next entity to declare its opposition to a planned tax on financial transactions advocated by the French government. If a tax on financial transactions were introduced, it would have to be applied internationally, and theoretically globally, the professional association says in a statement, claiming that a “tax on financial transactions which was applied only in France would weigh on growth, would result in a loss of competitiveness, and would represent a significant handicap for financing to the entire French economy.” Such a tax, which would come in addition to numerous more specific taxes already in effect, would increase the cost of financial operations to a point that “on the one hand, it would drive actors to move a large part of their operations currently undertaken in Paris to other financial centres, and on the other hand, it would prevent the installation of new actors to finance the economy in our country.” In other words, at a time when the priority should be to allow the French financial sector to finance the economy by adapting to new, very strict regulations, in a highly degraded environment, “a purely national tax which rapidly produced negative effects would be very counter-productive,” the FBF claims.

The 1 January 2012 update to 38 sovereign ratings by the German ratings agency Feri EuroRating Services has brought a continuation of the status quo for 31 countries, and a ratings rise for seven countries. Australia now has a AA rating (up from A previously), putting it on a par with France, the UK, Canada, the US and China, as well as South Korea.The rankings include six AAA-rated countries: Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.Six countries from central and eastern Europe have also been upgraded: this is partly due to a change in methodology, which now assigns more weight to the condition of public finances, and less weight on external trade. Slovenia and the Czech Republic both now get A ratings, up from B+, while Estonia, Slovakia and Poland are upgraded to B+ from B in the first two cases, and C in the third. Latvia moves up from D- to D, meaning that default risks remain high, but less so than before.

Rainer Lenzin, head for wholesale clients in Switzerland at BNY Mellon Asset Management, has been appointed as head fo Switzerland at Pioneer Investments (UniCredit group), Investment Europe reports. He will report to Fabien Madar, head of Western and Northern Europe. Before joining BNY Mellon AM, Lenzin was director of institutional equity sales to Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany at Lehman Brothers in Zurich.

The Wegelin bank claims that it is not at risk of litigation in the wake of investigations of Swiss financial actors serving US clients, and charges against three of its employees, Agefi Switzerland reports. Wegelin & Co is not exposed to any danger if one of its employees is tried. The bank has responded to an article in the newspaper SonntagsZeitung, which claimed in its most redent issue that charges against an employee of the bank, Konrad Hummler, also endangered the bank. Wegelin claims that charges are not equivalent to a guilty verdict.

Philipp Hildebrand, chairman of the managing board at the Swiss National Bank (BNS), resigned on Monday, 9 January, having concluded that he was not in a position to provide irrefutable evidence that had no knowledge that his wife made the order for a currency trade on 15 August 2011.The board of directors at the BNS has issued a statement acknowledging receipt of the resignation, which it regrets. It also states that its monetary policy, focused on am exchange rate limit of EUR1.20 per Swiss franc, will remain unchanged, and “will be continued with all required determination.”The banking council at the BNS has accepted “the decision which Philipp Hildebrand has taken to protect the institution.” The vice chairman of the board of directors, Thomas Jordan, takes over and a definitive replacement will be installed as soon as possible” as chairman, a statement says.

Statistics from the German BVI association of asset management firms show that open-ended securities funds in January-November 2011 saw net redemptions of nearly EUR14.54bn.Two of the major firms have done well, however: Allianz Global Investors has posted net inflows of EUR1.465bn, due to net inflows of EUR5.58bn for its affiliate Pimco Europe. Meanwhile, BlackRock AM Deutschland claims a better result than the rest of the profession combined, with net subscriptions of nearly EUR8.05bn, for ETFs of the iShares brand.The other leaders are all in the red, with major net outflows, led by Deka (German savings banks) with net redemptions of EUR7.12bn, the Deutsche Bank family (DWS, DB Advisors and others) with net redemptions of EUR5.83bn, despite net inflows of EUR659m to db x-trackers ETFs, and Union Investment (German co-operative banks), with redemptions of more than EUR2.48bn.To round out the picture, ComStage, the ETF affiliate of Commerzbank, has posted an outflow of EUR36m in the first eleven months of the year, while net redemptions from ETFlab (Deka) totalled EUR1.35bn.

As of 31 December, assets in iShares ETFs in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region were up 4% in one year to USD105.9bn, BlackRock states.This increase is due to a 43% rise in net subscriptions to USD18bn (compared with USD12.6bn in 2010). The asset management firm estimates that it alone attracted 70% of net inflows in the region.

In a macroeconomic environment that remains highly difficult in Europe, negative ratings are expected to increase in the non-financial corporate high yield sector throughout the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), according to an article by the ratings agency Moody’s (“EMEA High-Yield Non-Financial Corporates : 2011/12 Review and Outlook”). However, Moody’s adds, the default rate, which remained under 3% in 2011, is not expected to rise by “spectacular” proportions in 2012. New issues on the market slowed in second half due to concerns about sovereign debt, but for the year as a whole, due to strong activity in first half, the sector issued a record USD70bn, compared with a previous record of USD65bn in 2010. In 2012, it will still be a buyers’ market, Moody’s predicts. Due to reduced financing options, high yield issues may include more favourable terms for investors, including more attractive pricing, more conservative structures, and increased transparency.

The majority of investors are planning to increase their allocations to CTA, Market Neutral and Volatility strategies, according to the most recent quarterly survey by the Swiss group Alix Capital, provider of an UCITS alternative fund index. About 58% of investors are planning to increase their exposure to CTA strategy in first quarter, while 48% prefer Market Neutral and Volatility strategies. However, 29% of participants are planning to reduce their exposure to fixed income, which earned 4.15% in 2011. Another finding of the survey is that more than two thirds of respondents estimate that UCITS hedge fund assets will continue to increase in 2012. 40% of respondents predict that the introduction of the AIFM directive will have a positive impact on the development of UCITS hedge funds. Investors still say that alternative asset management firms need to continue to offer both UCITS and non-UCITS hedge funds, and some add that certain alternative strategies would never be transposable into UCITS format.

In a contrast with the beginning of 2011, when investors pulled out of money market funds to invest in developed market equities, emerging market equities and bonds and high yield bond funds, at the beginning of 2012, investors are remaining on the defensive. In the week ending on 4 January, equity funds saw outflows of USD1.64bn, while bond and money market funds attracted USD3.45bn and USD2.07bn, respectively, according to statistics from EPFR Global. US equity funds started the year with net outflows of USD1.6bn. European equity funds posted net subscriptions for the first time in nine weeks. German equity funds, which in 2011 posted record inflows of USD18.7bn, started the year with outflows of USD139m. In bonds, US debt funds did best, while high yield funds for their part took in more than USD1bn.

As previously announced (see Newsmanagers of 6 December 2011), Russell Investments has made a recruitment for its new office in Frankfurt: Andreas Mittler, who had previously been vice president at MSCI, joins the team as head of acquisition of new institutional clients in Germany.

Heiko Schlag, who for the past year has been director of the private banking unit, has been promoted as of 1 January to the position of chairman of the board at Julius Baer Europe, in Frankfurt.In order to underscore the importance of the German market to the Swiss group, the board at Julius Baer Europe has also been enlarged, with the addition of Alexander Jecht, who will be in charge of investment solutions activities, development and IT.The board at Julius Baer Europe now includes three people: Schlag, Gerhard Grebe, and Jecht.Julius Baer Europe has a full banking license in Germany. It is present in the country with branches in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart, and with agencies in Kiel and Würzburg.

The Union Investment (co-operative banks) affiliate specialised in real estate, Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE), on 9 January announced that in June 2011 it received commitments from institutional investors for nearly EUR1bn to three new vehicles to be launched by Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH.The firm has attracted about EUR300m for a new institutional fund to specialise in commercial properties, UII Shopping Nr. 1, EUR250m for a fund focused on residential properties, Residential Value, and EUR350m for a dedicated fund launched on 15 December for a professional complementary retirement fund.Total assets at UIRE managed for institutional clients currently come to about EUR3.2bn.

RREEF Real Estate, an affiliate of Deutsche Bank specialised in real estate funds, has announced that in 2011 it made transactions totalling EUR1.925bn.For two open-ended funds, grundbesitz europa (EUR3.2bn) and grundbesitz global (EUR2.3bn), investments totalled EUR404m in five properties, while sales totalled EUR715m and six properties.For the range of nine institutional real estate funds (EUR3.3bn), RREEF invested EUR644m in 17 properties and one residential portfolio, while sales totalled EUR163m and three properties.In 2012, Georg Allendorf, CEO, says REEF is planning a similar volume of transactions to 2011 and new residential investments in Germany.He has also announced that returns for the grundbesitz europa and grundbesitz global funds in 2011 totalled 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively.

From about 50 potential buyers who until the middle of last week entered the fray with indicative bids for the asset management unit of Deutsche Bank, the vendor will now select no more than 10 to proceed to the second round, with a decision to come in mid-January, Handelsblatt reports.The sale will be led by Kevin Parker, head of asset management at the group, who sits on the executive committee at Deutsche Bank, Eric Eaton, head of financial institutions America, and William Nock, head of asset management America. According to Handelsblatt, the buyer will probably agree to keep Parker as head of the acquired activities, in order to prevent a brain drain.

Axa Investment Managers has announced the renewal of its partnership with Edhec-Risk Institute for its research chair on «Regulation and Institutional Investment». The next study to be produced as part of the 3-year extension will examine Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution arrangements, including the adequacy of risk-sharing mechanisms, and the appeal of hybrid solutions given the regulatory, social and economic environment.The scope of the May 2012 study will address competing European retirement models, with the research extending to the Asia Pacific region during the course of the 3-year partnership.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has been mandated by Repsol, the Spanish global energy company, to provide administration services for the International Executive Stock Plan and to act as the agent bank and settlement provider for the Employee Stock Plan. Both Plans were launched by the company in 2011. SGSS was first selected in May 2011, to provide a global administration solution for the Repsol Executive Stock Plan. In October 2011, SGSS was selected again by Repsol but in this case to provide agency and settlement services for Repsol Employee Stock Plan, a statement explains.

Scepticism of stock markets has reached a peak, according to the 15th edition of a TNS Sofres survey undertaken for La Banque Postale and Les Echos. After a virtually uninterrupted slide in the value of indices since summer, on the back of concern about sovereign debt, retail investors are massively turning away from the markets. Only 9% of French respondents consider it a “good time” to place some of their savings in the stock markets, a level not seen since the survey began in 2004, while 93% consider stocks risky, and 82% have the same opinion of bonds, also an all-time high. But investors’ scepticism also extends to other financial products: life insurance is less and less popular with French investors, who are instead opting for savings accounts.

Kevin Bull, head of strategic and distribution partnerships at Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM), has left the firm, Money Marketing reports. Bull joined Old Mutual in June 2004. OMAM had no comment on the reports.

Deutsche Bank has signed a partnership with Financial Risk Management (FRM, USD9bn in assets) to launch the first managed account seeding platform for hedge funds, dbalternatives Discovery. The project is an extension of the managed accounts platform dbalternatives (USD12bn), launched in 2002. The objective is to provide investors with reassurance in questions of fraud, transparency, liquidity and independent valuation.The seeding platform aims to identify promising new managers and to invest in their funds, providing strrategic assistance to support their expansion. To reward the capital to be invested, subscribers will earn dividends on the fund and a share of the manager’s earnings.As part of the project, FRM, via its hedge fund seeding affiliate, FRM Capital Advisors (FCA), will select and negotiate strategic investments in emerging managers, who will be managed via managed accounts on the dbalternatives Discovery platform.Deutsche Bank will also be in charge of raising seed capital to invest in the early stage hedge funds selected by FCA.

The year is going to be a busy one in the financial management of Italian pension funds, Plus24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore observes. 65 management mandates out of 141 are maturing, with assets under management of nearly EUR10bn, out of a total of EUR25bn in the category.

Only 15% of Italian funds outperformed their benchmark indices in 2011, according to a study by Plus24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore. The 85% of funds which underperformed the index did so by an average of 3.5 percentage points. This is the worst result ever recorded, except for 2007; it was largely due to balanced funds, which performed disappointingly, with only 8% of funds outperforming the benchmark.

Olivier Mareuse, directeur financier du groupe Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) dans Option Finance numéro 1155 du 09/01/2012: Nous avons très peu recours à la gestion déléguée. Nous gérons en direct les classes d’actifs core et nous déléguons seulement un peu plus de 1 milliard d’euros de nos encours à plusieurs sociétés de gestion spécialisées. Typiquement, nous gérons directement les actions européennes, les obligations investments grade. En revanche, nous avons recours à la gestion intermédiée sur des classes d’actifs satellites, par exemple pour les actions asiatiques ou américaines. Le processus de sélection nous conduit, pour chacune des classes d’actifs, à sélectionner deux catégories de gérants. Par exemple, pour les actions des pays émergents, nous recherchons d’abord des produits core qui s’approchent le plus d’une stratégie pure, et ensuite des gérants plus spécifiques avec des styles de gestion plus atypiques. Le processus de sélection est donc double, puisque nous recherchons des véhicules de base pour reconstituer la performance de la classe d’actifs et nous cherchons par ailleurs des styles intéressants et porteurs de surperformance en satellite. Nous avons mis à profit la conjoncture boursière encore favorable du premier semestre 2011 pour réaliser la quasi-totalité de nos programmes de dégagement de plus-values sur actions jusqu’en juillet. Nous avons ensuite pu réinvestir le produit des cessions en actions lorsque les marchés ont baissé, ce qui nous a permis de reconstituer les positions en actions que l’on avait pu céder dans de bonnes conditions en début d’année. Le portefeuille d’actions est actuellement composé d’actions européennes avec une forte pondération sur la France. Il est surpondéré sur les secteurs de croissance régulière et sous-pondéré sur les cycliques et les financières.

Laurent Lavergne, Head of Fund Management chez Axa Real Estate, explique que l’assureur s’adaptera à la conjoncture économique. « Le portefeuille que nous gérons pour Axa France représente à peu près 8,5Mds d’euros, soit 7% du bilan », décrit-il. Le portefeuille est investi pour moitié en immeubles de bureaux, pour un quart en commerces et centres commerciaux, pour environ 10% en habitation et le reste est réparti entre de l’immobilier de logistique, d’hôtellerie, avec un peu de foncier et des forêts. « Cela fait un moment que nous avons ce type d’allocation, explique Laurent Lavergne. Ce que nous cherchons, ce sont des immeubles efficients, bien localisés sur leur marché. Mais le mouvement entamé depuis quelques années, c’est de diversifier le patrimoine au-delà de la France. » Aujourd’hui, 10% des actifs immobiliers d’Axa France sont situés à l'étranger : en Angleterre, en Allemagne, en Espagne, avec l’objectif de porter cette exposition à 20%. « L’idée est de déployer progressivement un portefeuille international moins sensible à ce qui se passe sur un seul marché. » Autre avantage des actifs hors de France : la durée plus longue des baux. « Il y a des marchés où l’on peut trouver des baux très longs de 15 ou 20 ans, alors qu’en France c’est 5 à 6 ans. » Or, selon le raisonnement de Laurent Lavergne, en temps de crise, l’immobilier n’est un refuge que pour la durée des baux qui ont été signés. « S’il y a plus de chômage, il y aura plus de vacance dans les immeubles et donc une baisse des loyers. Ce qui paraît être un revenu garanti ne le sera plus. » Axa Real Estate va donc s’adapter à la conjoncture : « Si les prix continuent à monter nous serons plutôt vendeur qu’acheteur car nous considérerons qu’ils sont devenus trop élevés par rapport à ce que les actifs méritent intrinsèquement. » L’assureur ira alors investir encore un peu plus dans d’autres pays. Mais si les prix s’ajustent, il sera sans doute plus investisseur que vendeur. « Notre poche immobilière ne devrait de toute façon pas évoluer de façon significative. Les modifications tactiques dépendront des conditions du marché. » Le refuge ne semble plus si sûr qu’auparavant.

A dix mois de l'élection présidentielle américaine, Barack Obama a remanié l'état-major de la Maison blanche en nommant au poste-clé de secrétaire général l’actuel directeur du Budget, Jack Lew. Ce dernier remplace Bill Daley, qui a démissionné.

Le président de la Fed de New York a été nommé ce week-end à la présidence du comité sur le système financier mondial (CGFS). Son mandat court pour une durée de trois ans avec effet immédiat. Il succède à Mark Carney, gouverneur de la Banque du Canada et récemment nommé à la tête du Conseil de stabilité financière (FSB).

Le groupe indique que sa filiale Traiana est le premier acteur du marché à avoir reçu l’accréditation du Chicago Mercantile Exchange pour compenser les dérivés de changes sur le marché de gré à gré (OTC). «Lier Traiana Harmony et le CME réduira les coûts et la complexité pour l’industrie du forex», a souligné Gil Mandelzis, le directeur général de Traiana.