Mark Dunn, head of strategic business development at LV= Asset Management (LVAM), is joining Carmignac Gestion as sales director for the United Kingdom, according to reports in the British press.Dunn will report to Matthew Wright, who has recently been appointed as head of country UK at Carmignac Gestion (see Newsmanagers of 11 October). Wright had previously been head of professional clients at LVAM.

Le conseil d’administration d’Investa Foundation Property Trust a décidé de mettre fin au mandat de gestion confié à Invista Real Estate Investment Management (IREIM), rapporte Fund Web.Le mandat a été confié à Schroder Property Investment Management (Schroder PIM) dont la commission annuelle de gestion devrait s'élever à 1,1%. Selon le Trust, ce changement devrait entraîner une économie de l’ordre de 1,8 million de livres par an.

Threadneedle Investments has appointed Neil Robson as fund manager in its global equities team, reporting to Jeremy Podger, head of global equities. He will join in November 2011 and will be lead manager on the Threadneedle (Lux) Global Focus Fund. Neil Robson joins from Martin Currie Investment Management where he was global portfolio manager. Prior to this he was head of global equities at Pioneer Asset Management, having joined the company in 2003. Neil Robson’s appointment brings Threadneedle’s global equity team to a total of eight. The team manages EUR2.0bn.

CaixaBank has become the next firm to enter the fray in a battle for Spanish savings. The Catalan firm on 3 November launched a three-year structured note with an annual coupon of 3.25%, aimed at clients of its private banking operation, Cinco Días reports.Capital is guaranteed at maturity, and on that date, subscribers may receive an additional coupon of 15%, if over the three-year life of the product, the sum of the monthly performance of the Euro Stoxx 50 index is positive, with a limit of 1% per month.Minimal subscription is EUR50,000. The product will have a monthly liquidity window.CaixaBank is aiming for assets of EUR200m for the product.

Henderson Global Investors’ property business, which manages around GBP12.4 billion of property assets, has hired Michael Samuel as an asset manager for its GBP1.3 billion North American Property Business. He will be based in Henderson’s Chicago office where he will be responsible for the ongoing management of operations, value enhancement and dispositions of a portfolio of North American fund and separate account assets, including industrial, multifamily and retail property types. Prior to joining Henderson, Michael Samuel was a senior associate and loan officer with Transwestern Investment Company (now Pearlmark Real Estate), where he was responsible for the origination and asset management of commercial real estate mezzanine loans on behalf of a series of institutional investment funds. He was also responsible for the workout and resolution of distressed loans and REO.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 31 October announced that it has issued registrations to the three major global ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, and to the Canadian agency DBRS. “In order to be allowed to operate in the European Union, Union regulations require that ratings agencies be registered,” ESMA says in a statement. Following the registration, ESMA may verify if the ratings agencies adhere to certain criteria, including independence, governance, and transparency. Registration of ratings agencies authorises ESMA to “set up on-site inspections in order to evaluate how agencies respect governance, conflict of interest and transparency regulations,” the chairman of ESMA, Steven Maijoor, says in a statement. The requirement to register is one in a series of measures announced in October 2009 by the European Union to regulate ratings agencies.

For third quarter 2011, the Credit Suisse Group has announced pre-tax profits of CHF1.036bn, compared with CHF1.08bn one quarter earlier, and CHF753m in third quarter 2010, and has also announced further cost and risk reduction measures, according to a statement published on 1 November. Pre-tax profits distributable to shareholders totalled CHF683m as of the end of September, compared with CHF768m in second quarter 2011, and CHF609m in third quarter 2010. The Swiss group has also announced further cost and risk reduction measures, which will result in the loss of about 1,500 jobs. Net inflows in third quarter totalled CHF7.1bn, compared with CHF14.3bn in second quarter 2011, and CHF14.6bn in third quarter 2010. Assets under management as of the end of September totalled CHF1.1968trn, compared with CHF1.233trn one quarter earlier, and CHF1.251trn in September 2010. The Asset Management (AM) unit of Credit Suisse earned pre-tax profits in third quarter of CHF92m, down by CHF110m (54%) compared with second quarter 2011, and CHF43m from second quarter 2010. Net inflows for the Asset Management unit totalled CHF0.2bn, of which CHF4.2bn were in alternative investments, with subscriptions to private equity, real estate, commodities and hedge funds, and net redemptions of CHF4.2bn from traditional investments, largely from Swiss advising activities and multi-asset class solutions, reflecting inherent difficulties in these markets. In the Private Banking division (global Wealth Management Clients and Corporate & Institutional Clients in Switzerland), Credit Suisse has earned pre-tax profits of CHF183m, including provisions for legal actions of CHF295m for a tax fraud case in the United States, and CHF183m (EUR150m) in relation to the tax scandal in Germany. Credit Suisse had reported pre-tax profits of CHF843m for second quarter 2011, and CHF836m for third quarter 2010. Wealth Management Clients posted a pre-tax loss of CHF34m in third quarter, due to provisions for the aforementioned legal actions, totalling CHF478m. The Private Banking unit earned net inflows of CHF7.4bn. The Wealth Management Clients unit attracted CHF6.6bn in net subscriptions, with strong contributions from the UHNWI and emerging markets sectors. Compared with third quarter 2010, assets under management in Private Banking are down 4.7%, with strong net inflows more than offset by unfavourable movements related to currencies, mostly due to a weakening US dollar and euro against the Swiss franc, and other negative market evolutions.

The Vontobel group on 1 November announced the opening of a branch office dedicated to private banking in Dubai, to assist high net worth local clients in the region. The office will be led by Ramzi Charaf, who is a dual citizen of Switzerland and Lebanon, and who joined Vontobel with a team of experts this summer. Vontobel says that Middle Eastern clients will now have access to its expertise in the areas of structured products, which had previously been available only in Switzerland and Germany.

On 31 October, the Parisian platform of NYSE Euronext admitted three new French-registered ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management to trading. The products replicate Russell indices; they are the RUSG, RUSV and RUS2 funds, all of which charge fees of 0.40%.The European platforms of NYSE Euronext now list 594 ETF funds 692 times. Since the beginning of this year, 153 ETF funds, of which 125 are primary listings and 28 secondary listings, have been added to trading.CharacteristicsName: Lyxor RUSGUnderlying index: Russell 1000 GrowthTER: 0.40%Name: Lyxor RUSVUnderlying index: Russell 1000 ValueTER: 0.40%Name: Lyxor RUS2Underlying index: Russell 2000 Net 30%TER: 0.40%

Four ETFs from Invesco PowerShares were admitted to trading on the NYSE Arca platform on 1 November. They replicate indices from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) and Invesco; there is no unitary fee for the products until 1 February 2012. This is made possible by the fact that all of the major partners of Invesco PowerShares have also agreed to waive commissions.Invesco PowerShares has become the exclusive partner of KBW since State Street Glboal Advisors (SSgA) made S&P its index provider.The four new sectoral funds are:PowerShares KBW Bank Portfolio (acronyme : KBWB)PowerShares KBW Capital Markets Portfolio (KBWC)PowerShares KBW Insurance Portfolio (KBWI) andPowerShares KBW Regional Banking Portfolio (KBWR)

Clients of John Paulson have chosen to remain invested in his hedge fund, in a sign of their confidence in the manager’s ability to cancel out his recent losses, the Financial Times reports. In a letter to investors, Paulson says that gross redemptions are estimated to represent less than 8% of the firm’s total assets under management. Subscribers had until 31 October to apply for redemption before the end of the year.

Anthony Zammar has become director of one of the two desks dedicated to Saudi Arabia at UBS Geneva, Agefi Switzerland reports. He will report to Ali Janoudi, who oversees wealth management for Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa. With more than 20 years of experience in the Saudi market, Zammar joins UBS from J.P. Morgan, where he had been managing director and senior client advisor for the Middle East, and previously Head of Sales Management for the region.

The ABI association of British insurers is preparing a request to exclude newly-listed companies from indices such as the FTSE 100, for a period of three months. The rule would prevent ETFs from investing in these firms, the ABI claims, according to Money Marketing, which cites reports in the Mail on Sunday that ETFs have recently driven up the share prices of companies that have recently arrived on the market. These firms are said to include mining companies which joined the FTSE 100 as soon as they were admitted to trading in London.

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 31 October launched a consultation on the calculation of regulatory commissions. The FSA is proposing to modify the way in which commissions are calculated, so as to be based not on the number of qualified personnel, but on the regulated earnings of the firm. The initiative is related to the MiFID directive, which introduces a different distribution system for authorised personnel. Regulated earnings are earnings resulting from advising, brokerage, commissions, and other revenues related to regulated activities of companies, the FSA says.

The board of directors at Investa Foundation Property trust has decided to withdraw a management mandate from Invista Real Estate Investment Management (IREIM), Fund Web reports. The mandate has instead been awarded to Schroder Property Investment Management (Schroder PIM), with an annual management commission of 1.1%. According to the Trust, the change will bring savings of about GBP1.8m per year.

The asset management firm Octopus Investments has added to its multi-manager range with two new products, one global absolute return fund, and one fund dedicated to emerging markets, Investment Week reports. Both funds, IM Octopus Global Strategies and IM Octopus Emerging Market Equity, will be launched on 8 November. The absolute return fund will invest in alternative strategies, including long/short equity funds and thematic funds offering low correlation to high-risk assets. The fund dedicated to emerging markets will invest largely in BRIC countries, via 30 funds, two third of them based on active strategies, while the remainder are ETFs.

Reuters croit savoir que le gestionnaire alternatif a informé ses clients que les demandes brutes de rachat pour la fin de l’année, qui devaient être formulées avec le 1er novembre, ont été limitées à moins de 8% des actifs sous gestion s’élevant à 30 milliards de dollars. Paulson & Co avaient nourri les pires craintes après avoir indiqué que 20 à 25% des actifs étaient potentiellement éligibles.

Selon des sources citées par les agences de presse, le groupe de private equity mène des discussions exclusives en vue du rachat de Samson Investment, un groupe gazier et pétrolier américain non coté en Bourse. Le groupe serait valorisé de 8 à 10 milliards de dollars.

Alors que les économistes anticipaient une croissance de 0,3%, le PIB britannique a progressé de 0,5% de juillet à septembre

Une réunion de crise aura lieu aujourd’hui à Cannes avec les représentants européens et le FMI

Le rendement du papier à 2 ans a touché 5,75% hier, du jamais vu depuis 1997, malgré l'intervention de la Banque centrale européenne

Une réunion de crise aura lieu aujourd’hui à Cannes avec les représentants européens et le FMI

Chahutés hier après l’annonce du référendum grec, les établissements hexagonaux devraient publier dans les prochains jours des résultats en recul.

Les marchés n'escomptent pas de baisse des taux de la BCE. Ils espèrent que la Fed évoquera d'autres outils de soutien à la reprise

Le 21st Century Business Herald indique que Pékin a durci les conditions d’investissement pour les gestionnaires d’actifs dans l’immobilier et la gestion de fortune. Les professionnels sont appelés à un «nettoyage». En parallèle, Pékin envisage d’assouplir les règles applicables aux assureurs pour les investissements en actions, selon Financial News qui cite le vice-président du régulateur de l’assurance, Chen Wenhui.

Sur les vingt dernières années, elles combinent surperformance et moindre volatilité

Les économistes estiment que les ventes massives de yen par Tokyo ne sont pas de nature à inverser la tendance à l'appréciation de la devise

L’inflation est restée inchangée à 3% au mois d’octobre en rythme annuel, légèrement au-dessus des attentes du marché, montre la première estimation publiée lundi par Eurostat. Les analystes interrogés par Reuters attendaient 2,9%. Le taux de chômage dans la zone euro a légèrement augmenté en septembre, à 10,2%, selon les chiffres publiés lundi par l’institut européen de la statistique Eurostat, les économistes attendaient en moyenne un taux de chômage stable d’un mois sur l’autre, à 10%.

La Banque centrale européenne (BCE) est intervenue sur le marché pour acheter de la dette italienne et espagnole à court terme, pour contrer le creusement de leur écart de rendement avec les Bunds, rapportent des traders. En fin de matinée, le rendement de l’emprunt italien à deux ans reculait à 4,92% contre 5,12% plus tôt. Celui de l’emprunt italien à 5 ans recule à 5,88% contre 5,92% auparavant.

Les ventes au détail ont augmenté moins que prévu en septembre en Allemagne, a annoncé lundi l’Office fédéral de la statistique. Leur hausse est de 0,4% réel, alors que le consensus des analystes interrogés par Reuters était de 1%. Annuellement, ces ventes progressent de 0,3% (consensus +0,9%).