State Street has announced the acquisition of the Boston-based brokerage firm Pulse Trading. The transaction will be completed in fourth quarter. Pulse Trading, which is specialised in equities brokerage serving institutional clients, employs 40 people in several locations.

Ceres, an association to promote sustainable development, has published a guide which aims to help investors to handle environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, which account for an increasing proportion of resolutions at general shareholders’ meetings of US companies. “Investors can no longer afford to ignore or abstain from taking positions on environmental and social challenges which their companies are going to have to confront, particularly in relation to climate change, shortages of water and human rights,” says Mindy Lubber, chairwoman of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), which represents about USD10trn in assets. Shareholders should use proxy voting rights to take stands on these issues, but all too often, they don’t do so, due to overly vague voting recommendations. ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) has compiled a list of over 720 resolutions on environmental and social issues in the past 10 years. Despite the rise of these issues, “the largest asset management firms have often failed to take the occasion to promote key reforms in sustainable development and governance at large corporations, including reforms that would perhaps have prevented the most recent financial crisis,” Ceres claims.

In early September, Cattolica Assicurazioni and Banca Popolare de Vicenza dissolved their joint venture in asset management, BPVI Fondi Sgr, founded four years ago, Bluerating reports. Cattolica will take over its assets of EUR3bn, and BPVI Fondi Sgr will be 100% integrated into Banca Popolare di Vicenza.

La Banque Postale AM, which three years ago set itself ambitious goals to increase its market share among key accounts, is well on the way to meeting its objectives, which makes it a challenger in RFPs that the firm's chairman, Jean-Luc Enguéhard, likes. The asset management firm is also extending its fund range, in order to meet the expectations of its clients of all types, with a policy of going out and finding outside expertise when the firm doesn't have it internally.

Spain won’t be obliged to wait for the new government resulting from the general elections on 20 November to adopt the UCITS IV directive . Funds People reports that the final plenary session of the Spanish Congress on 22 September definitively passed reforms to the collective investment law of 2003. Now the publication of the Official Gazette (BOE) is the only remaining step.

Richard Walsh, the head of emerging debt at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, is leaving the firm after one year. This departure comes at a time when LOIM is strengthening its London-based fixed income expertise by re-locating its emerging market debt team there from Geneva in October 2011. The team will also be reinforced by the appointment of senior portfolio manager Michal Wozniak of JP Morgan, who co-manages an emerging market debt portfolio at JPMorgan Asset Management in London in a team responsible for USD14 billion.LOIM’s credit team made the transition to London in August 2010. Stéphane Monier will remain based in Geneva and be supported from London by Ian Clarke, Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the unit who joined in June 2011 after working as head of fixed income at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Michal Wozniak, working with co-fund manager Guilherme Maciel De Barros, will take over management of the LOF Emerging Local Currencies and Bond Fund and the LOF Emerging Market Bond fund. They will be supported by Laurent Moulin, LOIM’s fixed income economist. Richard Walsh was also involved in managing these funds since joining the firm last year.

The New York-based asset management firm Secor Asset Management has opened an office in London, to offer advising services to European pension funds, the website IPE reports.Assets advised by the firm, which has nearly 30 employees, total USD7.5bn.Secor AM was founded in August 2010 by Tony Kao, former chief investment officer at General Motors Asset Management, and Raymond Iwanowski, former head of quantitative investment strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Since the beginning of this year, 14 foreign asset management firms have registered funds with the CNMV for sale in Spain, while 24 firms use “paratroopers,” i.e. heads of sales who commute regularly to Spain without being based there.Among the French firms, Amundi, Axa IM, Lyxor Asset Management, Natixis AM and UFG-LFP, Neuflize Private Assets and Mandarine are the most recent to release products in Spain.

On Saturday, the UBS Board of Directors accepted Group CEO Oswald J. Grübel’s decision to resign from the bank and asked Sergio P. Ermotti to take up the position of Group CEO on an interim basis, the appointment taking effect immediately. According to the press release, «the Board regrets Oswald Grübel’s decision. Oswald Grübel feels that it is his duty to assume responsibility for the recent unauthorized trading incident. It is testimony to his uncompromising principles and integrity». And «the Board is deeply disappointed by the recent loss arising from unauthorized trading. It will fully support the independent investigation and will ensure that mitigating measures are implemented to prevent such an incident from recurring."Elsewhere, «the Board reconfirmed the Group’s integrated strategy, with its wealth management, investment bank, asset management and Swiss retail and corporate businesses as essential and complementary pillars of UBS’s unique client franchise. The Board of Directors has asked the Group Executive Board to accelerate the implementation of the Investment Bank’s client-centric strategy, concentrating on advisory, capital markets, and client flow and solutions businesses. This strategy is consistent with the industry’s changing capital requirements and will lead to a reduction in complexity."In other words, Kaspar Villiger, chairman, explained that «the Investment Bank will be less complex, carry less risk and use less capital to produce reliable returns and contribute more optimally to UBS’s overall objectives.»

The depression on equities markets is hitting many small North American asset management firms hard, creating a promising market for companies seeking acquisitions, says Stephen McPhail, head of the Toronto-based asset management firm CI Financial, one of the largest actors in the sector in Canada, the news agency Reuters reports.Assets under management and administration by CI total nearly CAD100bn.McPhail also claims that on the Canadian market, many firms may begin alternative management activities.

AXA announced this morning that it has successfully completed the sale of its Canadian operations in Property & Casualty and Life & Savings insurance to Intact Financial Corporation for a total cash consideration of CAD 2.6 billion (or ca. Euro 1.9 billion). In addition, AXA is entitled to receive up to CAD 100 million (or ca. Euro 72 million) in contingent consideration based on profitability metrics over a period of 5 years. This transaction generates an exceptional capital gain of approximately Euro 0.9 billion, which will be accounted for in Net Income.

On 19 September, the CNMV issued a sales license for the BBVA Consolidación Doble Oportunidad BP, a variable return guaranteed fund which will be released for sale on 8 November 2011, and which at maturity (on 28 November 2014) guarantees a minimum of 90% of initial assets as of 8 November 2011.Returns will depend on the evolution of the share price of Telefónica and Repsol. Maximal returns at maturity are estimated at 7.83%, while maximal losses are 3.39%.CharacteristicsName: BBVA Consolidación Doble Oportunidad BPISIN code: ES0114229000Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.7%Penalty for early withdrawal: 5% between 9 November 2011 and 27 November 2014Minimal subscription: EUR3,000

Due to sales of properties totalling 86,000 square metres, and acquisitions of 35,000 square metres of properties which will boost the performance of the retained portfolio, the open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest (DE0009802306, EUR6.32bn) is hoping to be able to reopen redemptions by the end of 2011, though they had been suspended theoretically until 5 May 2012 (see Newsmanagers of 28 April).SEB Asset Management has also explained that sales of assets totalled EUR218m, at an average of 5% above the market value of the properties. Other sales will soon be announced, which will allow the fund to take on sufficient liquidity to be able to guarantee a sustainable reopening of redemptions.As of 31 August, the fund had earned annualised returns of 1.7% since the beginning of the year, and 3.8% per year in the past five years, compared with averages of 1.1% and 3.6% for all German open-ended real estate funds, according to the BVI association of asset management firms.

Via its asset management affiliate Oppenheim Fonds Trust (OPFT), Sal. Oppenheim is planning to launch the OP Aktien Marktneutral fund, which will be available in institutional and retail share classes. It is a long/short market neutral fund, whose long positions will largely be on European equities and derivatives, and short positions on derivatives.The objective will be to generate higher returns than the money markets, via active quantitative management.CharacteristicsName: OP Aktien Neutral I (institutional share class)OP Aktien Marktneutral R (retail share class)ISIN codes: DE000A1JBZ69 (I shares)DE000A1JBZ51 (R shares)Launch: 4 October 2011Fund Management firm: Oppenheim KAGFront-end fee:0 % (I shares)3 % (R shares)Depository banking commission: 0.05%Management commission:0.50 % (I shares)1% (R shares)Performance commission: maximum 20% of performance exceeding the Euribor +200 basis pointsMinimal subscription:EUR50,000 (I shares)EUR100 (R shares)

Klimek Advisors Fund Consulting has announced the release of the LFP Klimek Advisors Dolphin Fund in Germany. The fund, launched on 30 June 2011, is managed jointly by the French asset management firm La Française AM (previously known as UFG-LFP) and Klimek Advisors. The portfolio of the UCITS IV product, with 20 to 30 positions, is invested in shares in listed asset management firms, which earn at least 75% of their profits from management commissions charged to clients. These include firms such as BlackRock, Schroders and Invesco.

La Tribune reports that as of 31 August, exposure to European banks by the ten largest US money market funds analysed by the ratings agency Fitch Ratings had fallen 8% since the end of July, and 27% since the end of May. Exposure totalled USD676bn, the newspaper reports.

Dans un entretien accordé au magazine Option Finance, Didier Bonneau, directeur financier de Vauban Humanis (Groupe Humanis) revient sur les changements intervenus récemment au niveau de la stratégie d’investissement. Notre allocation d’actifs se répartit en moyenne, d’une part, à 70% en taux et 30% en actions pour nos institutions de retraite complémentaire, et, d’autre part à 80% en taux et 20% en actions/fonds diversifiés pour nos institutions du pôle assurance de personnes. Plus spécifiquement, pour le compte de nos institutions de retraite, nous investissons 55% en obligataire, 5% en monétaire et 10% en obligations convertibles, 25% en actions et 5% diversifiés et alternatifs. Le portefeuille des mutuelles se répartit quant à lui à 70% en obligations, 5% en monétaire et 5% en obligations convertibles et 20% en supports actions ou diversifiés. Ces pourcentages représentent des moyennes, mais nous avons des marges de man??uvre de plus ou moins 5% pour les actions et les obligations, ce qui nous permet de prendre en considération les évolutions de marché à court terme. Concernant les obligations, nous privilégions les obligations du secteur privé (corporate), dont la notation moyenne est de A. Du côté des actions, notre préférence va plutôt vers les actions de la zone euro. Notre stratégie consiste à nous renforcer en actions quand les marchés baissent et à les alléger dans les phases de remontée. Cette stratégie nous a ainsi permis d’alléger nos positions au cours du 1er semestre sur des niveaux de CAC 40 compris entre 3900 et 4100 points, et ensuite de réinvestir progressivement entre 3000 et 3600 points durant l'été. Nous menons une politique identique sur les obligations. Pour nos portefeuilles de retraite, nous étions déjà désengagés des obligations d’Etat grecques dès mai, mais nous conservons dans des fonds dédiés des emprunts d’Etats souverains comme l’Italie. En assurance de personnes, même si nous avons très peu d’obligations souveraines de pays PIIGS, nous possédons tout de même 3% d’emprunt grec que nous serons peut être amenés à provisionner en perte. La baisse des marchés boursiers depuis cet été va très certainement affecter nos performances et nos résultats financiers 2011, sans remettre en cause nos objectifs de moyen/long terme qui consistent à battre l’inflation + 1% sur cinq ans pour nos caisses de retraite et à maintenir nos niveaux de marge de solvabilité en assurance de personnes.

Selon une enquête d’AsiaHedge, trois-quarts environ des actifs des hedge funds spécialisés sur l’Asie (145 milliards de dollars à fin juin, en repli de 5% sur le semestre écoulé) sont gérés depuis cette zone, contre 60% environ il y a trois ans. Hong Kong a renforcé ces derniers mois sa position de force en la matière, en s’arrogeant la domiciliation de plus d’un quart des fonds concernés.

Via un véhicule d’acquisition contrôlé par des entités affiliées, le fonds de capital investissement vient d’acquérir la totalité du capital d’eFront, éditeur de solutions logicielles dédiées aux métiers de la finance. Le prix d’acquisition de 18 euros par action correspond à une valeur des capitaux propres d’environ 68 millions d’euros sur une base totalement diluée.

Dans une note, l’Autorité des marchés financiers estime que pour les deux catégories d’OPCVM qui bénéficient de la présomption d'éligibilité (monétaire et monétaire court terme), une vérification régulière de la performance historique est importante pour confirmer le caractère négligeable du risque de variation de valeur. Pour les autres OPCVM, l’AFM juge impératif de mettre à jour l’analyse des 4 critères (placement court terme, très liquide, facilement convertible en un montant connu de trésorerie et soumis un risque négligeable de changement de valeur).

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

Jean-François Virolle, directeur général délégué chez Assya Asset Management

La correction baissière enclenchée en février dernier à 3.075 points est vraisemblablement entrée dans sa dernière phase

Le Fonds estime que la BCE est le seul acteur suffisamment fort pour effrayer les marchés mais Berlin rejette une telle éventualité

Les nouveaux développements dans la crise de la zone euro ont bouleversé la hiérarchie sur le marché des dérivés de crédit

Joël Konop, responsable de la gestion diversifiée chez UFG-LFP

Présenté le 28, le projet de loi de Finances table encore sur une croissance de 1,75 %, près du double des prévisions de certains économistes

Jean-Luc Proutat et Raymond Van der Putten, économistes chez BNP Paribas

Michael Mewes, gérant crédit chez JPMorgan AM

Lors de son assemblée annuelle, le Fonds monétaire international a estimé que la Banque centrale européenne était le seul acteur en mesure d’effrayer les marchés. Mais l'éventualité de voir la BCE plus fortement impliquée ne fait pas l’unanimité, en particulier du côté de Berlin.