La SNCF, Orange, PSA Peugeot Citroën et Total se sont associés pour créer Ecomobilité Ventures, la première société d’investissement en Europe portée par un groupe d’industriels dédiée à la mobilité durable. Ecomobilité Ventures disposera d’un capital de 30 millions d’euros afin d’investir dans de jeunes entreprises innovantes.

Equistone Partners Europe annonce la reprise de la société de gestion Barclays Private Equity. Equistone, société indépendante créée pour l’opération, reprend la gestion des Fonds BPE I, II et III, dans lesquels Barclays reste investisseur aux cotés de nombreux autres investisseurs institutionnels.

La production industrielle laisse augurer une récession probable en Europe. Elle s’est contractée de 2% mensuellement en septembre, alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient -2,2%, après une hausse de 1,4% en août, a fait savoir Eurostat lundi. La production en Allemagne et en France a baissé de 2,9% et de 1,9% respectivement en septembre par rapport à août.

Le PIB du Portugal s’est contracté de 0,4% au troisième trimestre par rapport au trimestre précédent, la récession s’aggravant sous la pression des mesures d’austérité, montrent les données publiées par l’Institut national de la statistique INE. L’estimation flash de l’INE donne une contraction annuelle du PIB de 1,7% durant le trimestre, conséquence d’un net fléchissement de la consommation et de l’investissement.

Le Trésor italien a fixé lundi à 6,29% le rendement de nouvelles obligations à cinq ans, un niveau sans précédent depuis la création de l’euro, lors de sa première adjudication depuis la désignation de Mario Monti pour former le nouveau gouvernement. Le montant levé a atteint 3 milliards d’euros, soit le point haut de la fourchette indicative, pour une demande qui a représenté 4,4 milliards d’euros. En dépit des signes d’apaisement relatif des tensions sur la dette italienne, le rendement servi lundi est en nette hausse par rapport à celui de 5,32% atteint lors d’une adjudication comparable le mois dernier. Sur le marché secondaire, le rendement de l’obligation septembre 2016 se situait lundi juste au-dessus de 6,40%. Par ailleurs, la Banque centrale européenne aurait commencé à acheter de la dette italienne. Un trader a dit que la BCE achetait du papier à échéance 2018 et un autre a signalé qu’elle portait son effort sur le papier de quatre à cinq ans.

La chancelière Angela Merkel a déclaré, à l’occasion d’un discours prononcé devant son parti, l’Union chrétienne-démocrate (CDU), que des mesures de sauvegarde s’imposaient pour préserver l’intégrité de l’euro et que l’Europe devait développer de nouvelles structures, ce qui impliquait plus d’Europe et non pas moins. La chancelière a également prôné des sanctions automatiques pour les pays qui enfreignent le Pacte de stabilité et de croissance.

Bond funds had greater outflows in September, increasing from -EUR13.0bn in August to -EUR17.4bn, according to Lipper. Emerging market debt (outflows of EUR3.4bn) and Global bonds (-EUR3.0bn) were the hardest hit, while different High Yield sectors of various currencies suffered again (redemptions of EUR5.9bn brought the total over the last four months to -EUR18.6bn). By contrast, corporate bonds denominated in USD and GBP picked themselves up off the canvas and pulled in EUR840m and EUR500m respectively.Equities were also badly hit, with redemptions of EUR21.2bn, which was nonetheless an improvement on last month. Long-term funds in Europe suffered redemptions of EUR46.2bn in September. The European industry as a whole suffered outflows of EUR60.7bn (the worst since Oct 2008).Prudential/M&G attracted the largest proportion of sales by one group (EUR600m), ahead of Comgest (EUR430m) and Threadneedle (EUR370m).

The Continental European Equity Fund (LU020915757), a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Henderson Horizon, has been renamed, under an application submitted on 7 October, to become the “Euroland Fund” (LU0011889846) as of 8 November, and at the same time the investment strategy of the manager is being changed. As the new name of the fund indicates, the portfolio will now focus on solid and undervalued equities from euro zone equities, rather than on continental Europe. The euro-denominated product will invest at least 75% in shares in businesses domiciled in the euro zone, or which realise most of their activities there. The benchmark index will now by the MSCI EMU Net Return Index, instead of the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index. The new manager is Nick Sheridan, who replaces Paul Casson. As of the end of September, assets in the fund, launched in July 1984, totalled EUR46.18m.

The board of supervisors (BoS) of the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has elected Martin Wheatley, managing director, Conduct Business at the British FSA, as a member of its board. Wheatley replaces Alexander Justham, who was elected to the position in January, but who has recently left the FSA. Wheatley will become CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority. His term at the ESMA will run until July 2013. The board at the ESMA includes five members. In addition to its German chairman Karl-Burkhard Caspari, (BaFin), the board includes Jean Guill (CSSF), Raul Malmstein, of Estonia’s Finantsinspektsioon, Kurt Pribil (FMA, Austria) and Fernando Restoy (CNMV, Spain).

Russell Investments has announced that it has selected the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information provider Sustainalytics to assist it in the analysis of client funds and portfolios. The development will allow Russell to develop investment services for clients seeking increased integration of ESG criteria into their portfolios. Sustainalytics integrates 60 to 100 performmance indicators, weighted depending on the industrial sector in which they are applied.

EFG Financial Products (Europe) will very soon be opening a branch office in Paris, specialised in distribution of structured products from the EFG Financial Products group. The group, based in Zurich, has already opened a branch office in London, which will distribute the group’s structured products on the British market. EFG Financial Products (Europe) GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EFG Financial Products Holding AG. The Paris office of EFG Financial Products (Europe), which has been licensed for the French market since April 2011, offers investment services to its institutional clients. EFG Financial Products AG, the main operational section of the EFG Financial Products group, is the tenth-largest issuer of investment products on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX).

As of the end of October, assets under management by Franklin Templeton Investments (Franklin Resources) totalled USD694.1bn, compared with USD659.9bn as of the end of September, and USD664.3bn one year previously. Assets are thus up by USD34.2bn or 5.2% in October.At Invesco, assets under management increased in one month by USD37.3bn, or 6.2%, in October, to finish the month at USD635.7bn.Equity assets at Franklin Templeton increased yo USD281.9bn, compared with USD254.2bn one month earlier, while Invesco’s equity assets totalled USD279.5bn, compared with USD253.2bn as of the end of September.

Amundi (including the asset management operations of BFT acquired on 1 July 2011) showed its good ability to adapt in a weakened environment, according to Crédit Agricole. Growth in new inflows continued in the institutional investor segment, with 7.7 billion euros in the first nine months of 2011, driven primarily by sovereign funds. Inflows from employee savings rose to a record high of 3.4 billion euros. These two segments partly offset outflows from the branch networks and third-party distributors, which amounted to 16.2 billion euros, including outflows of 8.1 billion euros from money market funds. Outflows from the corporate segment were 6.5 billion euros, including 7.2 billion euros from money market funds. Furthermore, the negative market and currency impact came to 19.3 billion euros in line with market trends since the beginning of the year. Net income for the asset management at Crédit Agricole was 324 million euros in the first nine months of 2011, up 5.1% compared to the same period one year ago. Revenues moved down 9.1% owing to the decline in performance-based commissions, while management fees proved resilient. Expenses fell by 4.9% (excluding restructuring costs in 2010), reflecting the full effect of synergies linked to CAAM-SGAM merger. The cost/income ratio was held down to a competitive 56.4%. In the third quarter, netincome was 79 million euros, registering a bigger decline of 32.2% compared with the second quarter of 2011. This downturn must be weighed against severe deterioration in the markets: the CAC 40 lost 25% in the third quarter alone, which cut into assets under management and performance-based commissions. To limit the impact, Amundi continued efforts to lower the breakeven point and reduced expenses by 13.5% between the second and third quarters of 2011.

Despite losses of EUR24m for the part of the group in third quarter, due to depreciation of Greek government debt, the “asset management, insurance and private banking” unit of Amundi has earned net profits for the part of the group of EUR766m in the first nine months of the year, down 32.4% compared with the first nine months of 2010. Excluding the impact of the European bailout plan for Greece, net profits for the part of the group totalled EUR479m for the quarter, and EUR1.35trn for the first nine months of this year, a statement from the firm says.

The platform, which is the result of close cooperation between Syz Asset Management and UBS Investment Bank, features substantial advantages in terms of transparency, risk management and reporting. As part of this cooperation, Syz Asset Management will select managers to be included on the platform and will manage investment mandates as well as other investment vehicles. Syz Asset Management selected the UBS platform for the flexibility it offers to hedge fund managers, its extensive reporting and highly sophisticated risk management. Compared with competing structures, it is a high

Hyposwiss Private Bank is launching the Hyposwiss (Lux) Fund – African Daws (USD). The fund will be actively managed, and will invest in businesses whose headquarters are in Africa, or which are domiciled outside the continent, but which operate there. Management will be based on an optimistic scenario for Africa, due to several factors, a statement says. These include the demography of the continent and the fact that there are a lot of young people, who are increasingly better-educated, improvement in fundamentals, with limited levels of public debt; increasing capital flows, particularly from foreign direct investment from countries such as China and India, and from large businesses such as Siemens and Nestlé; the appearance of a new middle class, in the wake of urban development and urbanisation; and the development of infrastructures. Characteristics ISIN code: LU0653670769 Benchmark: DJ African Titans 50

Capital Strategies Partners, MCH Investment Strategies and Selinca AV, all three Spanish securities agencies specialised in distribution of funds from independent asset management firms in Spain, have decided to create a third-party marketing (TPM) association, to promote asset management firms of this type, Funds People reports. The association will be operational in early 2012, and the promoters of the idea invite all independent managers with a “regulated” presence in Spain to join.

Prospects for the asset management sector in China remain highly limited in the short-term, i.e. in the next six to twelve months, according to an annual study of China recently published by Cerulli (“Cerulli Quantitative Update: China 2011.”) In the longer term, however, it is an attractive proposition to be present on this market, whose contours remain somewhat undefined. Until 2015, assets under management in Chinese investment funds will grow by an average of 13.6% per year, to as much as RMB4.6trn, or about USD711.6bn. Last year, Cerulli predicted growth in assets to RMB5.3trn by 2014. A downward revision in outlooks is due to a downturn on Chinese stock markets, which provoked outflows from Chinese equity and bond funds, which represent 60% of the market. Investors attracted by the Chinese market should nonetheless bear in mind that the market is attractive for its potential. Chinese regulators are still in an experimental phase, and have not yet set final regulations for the asset management sector.

Assets under management at the Julius Baer group as of the end of October totalled CHF166bn, unchanged compared with the end of June 2011, the group announced in a statement on 14 November. Julius Baer states that net inflows had a positive effect, and offset the negative effect of the evolution of the markets, particularly in Europe and Asia. Inflows increased in all global regions, particularly emerging countries, and in private banking activities in Switzerland and Germany.

State Street on 10 November announced that it is extending its 13-year partnership with the Lufthansa German Airlines company, to offer securities lending for assets in various regions, with a total volume of EUR9bn in assets under custody. In 1998, State Street was selected by Lufthansa for a contract on securities custody and accounting services for the German fund KAG Spezialfonds. The mandate has since been extended to offer a range of services in several domiciles, such as investment compliance, performance analysis and risk analysis.

Nicolas Walewski is not highly optimistic about the investment theme “France.” “We are highly prudent about France,” the founder of the asset management firm Alken Asset Management, and manager of the Alken European Opportunities fund, announced on 10 November at an investor conference. “We have never had such a low exposure to France. We have no visibility on this market. In our investment choices, we need to focus on companies which do not depend on local financing,” Walewski added. Exposure to France totals about 10%, compared with an average of about 16%. However, exposure to British equities totals 36%. “The British economy isn’t doing much better, but the country has never been in default. Financing costs will remain lower,” Walewski predicts. As of 28 October, assets under management in the firm’s flagship fund, Alken European Opportunities, totalled about EUR1.93bn, compared with EUR2.64bn as of 30 June. Negative market effects are mostly to blame for this development. One client may have sought to liquidate an equities portfolio for about EUR130m, but assets under management remain highly stable since the beginning of the year, Isabel Ortega, head of clients, continues, adding that the fund has seen inflows in the tens of millions of euros since the beginning of the year.

The asset management division of Deutsche Bank has acquired the remainder of capital in its joint venture with UFG Asset Management, Deutsche UFG Capital Management, for an undisclosed amount. At the creation of the joint venture in 2008, the German group bought a 40% stake in UFG Invest, the asset management affiliate of Russia’s UFG AM. Deutsche UFG Capital Management has assets of EUR370m, and is one of the top ten Russian asset management firms. It will become a part of DWS Investments, the retail fund affiliate of Deutsche Bank. Florian Fenner will remain as chairman of Deutsche UFG Asset Management, and will also join the regional executive board for Russia at Deutsche Bank

The Prudential group will add to its range of funds managed as a function of risk with the launch of four new funds which offer various levels of exposure to equities, Money Marketing reports. The four new products are the Prudential PruFund 0-30, the Prudential PruFund 10-40, the Prudential PruFund 20-55, and the Prudential PruFund 40-80.

The Barclays Private Equity fund, a specialist in investment in non-publicly traded businesses, has been taken over by six executives, and will continue to operate in the future under the name Equistone Partners Europe, according to a statement released by the business on 11 November. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but Barclays will remain an investor in funds managed by Equistone, “along with many other institutional investors.” The decision is a sign of the increasing disinterest of traditional banks in an activity that consumes capital, at a time when solvency requirements are requiring them to significantly increase their owners’ equity levels. Since 1996, Barclays Private Equity has invested EUR5.3bn in 214 transactions. The fund, which states that its investments have allowed it to earn “excellent returns on behalf of its investors,” is specialised in mid-sized businesses. Equistone operates out of six offices, in France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with 35 managers. The fund ia planning to focus on acqusitions with a total value of EUR50m to EUR300m, the statement says.

Ignis Asset Management has announced the appointment of Liisa Juntunen who will join Ignis’ distribution team in January 2012. She will take a leadership position in Ignis’ institutional business development team with a focus on consultant relations. With her experience she will also help to develop and position Ignis’ equity and real estate offerings. Liisa Juntunen has been responsible for marketing and sales, product development and consultant relations at AllianceBernstein since 2001 and has 17 years’ industry experience.She will report to Claude Chene, director and head of global distribution. The latter worked with Liisa Juntunen at AllianceBernstein prior to joining Ignis in October 2011.Ignis has made a number of senior appointments over the past 18 months and Liisa Juntunen’s appointment will help to further develop the company’s existing and future institutional offerings.

“Due to major growth in its international role in the Long Term Savings division at Old Mutual,” Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has decided to move to London, and to leave its head offices in Southampton. The move will be completed by the end of 2013. Currently, two thirds of the 57 employees at SIG are based in Southampton, while the others work in London, where SIG “hopes” that most Southampton employees will agree to move with the business.

The British Schroders group has earned net inflows in the first nine months of the year of GBP5.1bn, the firm announced in a statement on 10 November. In the quarter to 30 September, net inflows to institutional investors totalled GBP2.8bn, but at the same time, the sector saw net outflows of GBP2.7bn, and the private bank underwent net redemptions totalled GBP100m. As of 30 September, assets under management totalled GBP182.2bn. Groupwide, pre-tax profits in the first nine months of the year rose to GBP317.3m, compared with GBP282.7m in the corresponding period of 2010. Pre-tax profits at the asset management unit totalled GBP295.8m, compared with GBP263.2m.

The Swiss Federal financial market supervision authority, Finma, “has issued a clarification of the relationships between 20 Swiss banks with ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEP). In four cases, the Finma has initiated enforcement procedures,” a statement on money-laundering published on 10 November says. Finma, however, does not name the four incriminated institutions.

UniCredit is expected to unveil a capital increase of EUR7-7.5bn this Monday, and a three-year industrial plan based on drastic cost reductions, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Announcements are also expected about the future of Pioneer, the group’s asset management firm, which is one of the few companies to have remained outside the intra-group integration process of the past few years, the Italian newspaper reports.

The Hamburg-based Hansinvest Hanseatische Invesment GmbH (Signal Iduna bank) on 15 September launched the National-Bank Stiftungsfonds 1, which as its name indicates, is aimed at charities. Minimal subscription is set at EUR25,000, and management commission totals 1.01%. Front-end fee is 3%. The German-registered product (DE000A1H44D5), actively managed by the National-Bank of Essen, is composed of a core portfolio which invests in top-rated bonds, and which therefore present low levels of risk, and a satellite allocation to be placed in corporate bonds, Pfandbriefe and value equities. Risk management relies on a dynamic overlay. The management team is permitted to use derivatives. The fund will distribute dividends twice a year, and the recommended investment duration is over 3 years.