P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British firm Standard Life Investments has launched a fund dedicated to emerging market corporate bonds, which will be managed by the team of Richard House, Citywire reports. The fund, which will be managed by House and Samantha Lamb, investment director for credit, will concentrate on bond issues denominated in US dollars, offered by financial establishments or businesses in emerging markets. The fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, will be based on the JP Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified as a benchmark.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Neptune has closed the Global Long/Short fund by Robin Geffen, two years after the departure of co-manager Ted Alexander, Investment Week reports. The fund did not succeed in interesting investors, and at its peak had GBP5m in assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor Asset Management is building a presence in the Spanish market. The asset management affiliate of Société Générale has registered seven new exchange-traded funds (ETF), four of which are equity funds and four are bond funds, Funds People reports. Among the equity ETFs, Lyxor has launched a sectoral vehicle, the Lyxor Ucits ETF EuroStoxx Banks, and three others which replicate emerging market indices, the Lyxor Ucits ETF MSCI EM Beyond BRIC, Lyxor Ucits ETF MSCI Select OECD Emerging Markets GDP, and lastly, Lyxor Ucits ETF MSCI Mexico. Meanwhile, Lyxor AM is adding to its range with three other ETFs which allow investors to construct short positions on the main public debt indices in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. They are the Lyxor Ucits Daily Double Short 10Y US Treasury, Lyxor Ucits ETF Daily Double Short 10Y Japan Govt Bonds and lastly, Lyxor Ucits ETF Daily Double Short 10Y UK Gilts.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schroders is continuing its efforts to add to its product range aimed at Spanish investors. The asset management firm has registered the Schroder ISF Credit Conversion fund with the local regulator, a product which invests in investment grade corporate bonds, whose objective is to outperform euro zone corporate debt funds, Funds People reports. The vehicle invests primarily in bonds denominated in euros, and its benchmark index is the iBoxx Euro Corporate BBB Index. Its investment strategy is to concentrate on the best ideas from the European corporate debt team at Schroders, as part of an investment process that combines a top-down and a bottom-up approach.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon IM on 21 January announced the launch of the BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Debt Fund Opportunistic Fund in France. It is the 4th emerging market debt fund in the range managed by Standish, asset management affiliate of BNY Mellon Investment Management, the specialist in this asset class. The fund, with daily liquidity, is a sub-fund of the SICAV BNY Mellon Global Funds, plc, domiciled in Dublin and UCITS licensed. The fund is managed by Alexander Kozhemiakin, director of bond strategies for emerging markets at Standish, who has solid experience in emerging market bond management and an excellent track record.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henderson Global Investors has promomted Paul O’Connor as co-director of its multi-asset class unit, Investment Week reports. He will assist Bill McQuaker to develop the firm’s international presence in institutional and retail markets. O’Connor’s promotion comes one year after he joined Henderson.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } M&G Real Estate is adding to its management. The affiliate dedicated to real estate at M&G Investments has recruited Tony Brown as chief investment officer and a member of its board of directors. Brown, former managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Lend Lease, joined the company on 12 January, and will report directly to Alex Jeffrey, CEO of M&G Real Estate. At Lend Lease, Brown was responsible for GBP2bn in assets in real estate, and GBP2.5bn in assets under management in infrastructure for 50 institutional investors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Philip Rodrigs, manager of the UK Smaller Companies fund from Investec, will be leaving the firm, Investment Week reveals. He will join River & Mercantile as a partner in March, and will take over the management of the UK Equity Smaller Companies fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nick Hamilton, head of institutional business at Colonial First State in Sydney, will move to Australia to work at Oakley Capital Management as part of the retail asset management activity of Neil Woodford, former star manager at Invesco, Investment Week reports. Before joining Colonial First State, Hamilton worked for 9 years as head of global equity products at Invesco Perpetual. Craig Newman, head of sales at Invesco, has also joined Oakley as head of retail asset management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the British boutique Cavendish Asset Management have increased by 42.75% in the year to the end of December, to a total of GBP1.16bn. In the past year, two funds from the firm have topped GBP100m in assets: Opportunities and Asia Pacific. The Worldwide Fund has seen its assets increse by 45%, to GBP98.1m. The directors of Cavendish are confident for 2014, particularly since their funds are now available on two new platforms, Fidelity since August last year, and Co-Funds since December.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The discreet asset management firm PGC, which in 2013 made waves with its recruitment of Cécile Imbert, former manager at Prigest, is now making news again. With the recruitment of Sebastien Lemonier, the firm has engaged the services of a widely-known manager. Lemonier, who worked for nine years at Tocqueville Finance, now part of La Banque Postale, spent five years working with Don Fitzgerald, during which time he managed one of the flagship funds of the range, Tocqueville Value Europe. After his departure in June 2012, the manager joined star manager Marc Tournier, formerly of Tocqueville Finance, with whom Newsmanagers understands he formed an ambition to found a joint company. The project was recently abandoned, and Lemonier is therefore returning to service at a small French “value” type asset management firm which is now changing names, as PGC will now be known as Mansartis. Mansartis, composed of two companies, Pgc Société Privée de Gestion et de Conseil and Pgc Colonne Vendôme, has nearly EUR600m in assets under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lombard Odier Investment Management has given its global energy fund to the former analyst Pascal Menges, the asset management firm tells Citywire Global. He replaces Michael Hulme, who joined Carmignac Gestion this week.

Pimco announced yesterday that its chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer Mohamed A. El-Erian has decided to step down from his role and leave the firm in mid-March. He will remain a member of the Allianz International Executive Committee and, as of mid-March, also advise the board of management of Allianz on global economic and policy issues. Pimco’s founder William H. Gross will continue to serve as the firm’s CIO. At the same time, the firm has appointed a new portfolio management and executive leadership team. They will immediately begin to transition into their new roles.Douglas Hodge is promoted chief executive officer. He is a managing director in the Newport Beach office and is currently Pimco’s Chief Operating Officer. Jay Jacobs becomes president. He is a Managing Director in the Newport Beach office and is currently the Head of Talent Management globally. Finally Craig Dawson is appointed Head of Strategic Business Management: Mr. Dawson is a Managing Director and is currently Head of PIMCO Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, based in the Munich office. This departure comes as Pimco’s flagship fund, the Pimco Total Return Fund, which is also the biggest bond fund in the world, recorded net outflows of USD41.1bn in 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Daniel Loeb, manager of the hedge fund third Point, with USD14bn in assets under management, has sent a letter calling for the Dow Chemical group, in which he holds his largest investment position (USD1.3bn, according to CNBC), to be split up, Agefi reports. The hedge fund estimates that the activity, which primarily has divisions in “commodities and energy” and “plastics and performance,” could generate an EBITDA of USD9bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian asset management firm Anima sgr has modified its governance with an eye to an initial public offering, Bluerating reports. Marco Carreri, who is already managing director and CEO of Anima sgr, has also been appointed as deputy director of Am Holding, the shareholder of Anima. Giuseppe Zadra, already chairman of Am Holding, has also been appointed as chairman of Anima sgr. Maurizio Biliotti, top director of Banca Popolare di Milano, is resigning from his position as deputy director of Am Holding and as chairman of Anima sgr.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The activist investor Elliott Management Corp has increased its stake in the German medical retailer Celesio, in which it now holds the equivalent of 24.08% of voting rights, compared with less than 20% previously, according to documents subitted to the Frankfurt stock exchange, the news agency Reuters reports. Elliott has increased its stake in the German business following the failure of a bid by McKesson for Celesio. Elliott also states in its documents submitted to the stock market that it holds convertible bonds representing an additional 7.93% of voting rights. In other words, Elliott has a theoretical total of 32.01% voting rights. As the convertibles have not yet matured, Elliott is not immediately required to submit a buyout offer, which is required under German lay whenever a stake exceeds 30%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS is adding to its team dedicaed to high net worth clients and family offices in Germany, according to Finews. The bank has receuited a complete team from Morgan Stanley for its Munich office. Carl von Wrede is joining UBS as head of ultra-high net worth clients. He will lead a team of 9 people. He will be assisted by two of his former colleagues from Morgan Stanley, Wolfgang Reuter and Ingo Stegmaier. A fourth person will join them during the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced that it has “successfully” implemented the asset management firm passport in Luxembourg and France, and selected BNP Paribas Securities Services as its depository and valuator for the management of its first French-registered fund with this model. The new contract strengthens the historic partnership between BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. In order to develop fund distribution in France to French institutionals, the asset management firm already relies on the capacity of BNP Paribas to offer global solutions, providing local expertise and proven experience in the area of risk management, via a dedicated “Fund hosting” product. With the implementation of this passport, the bank offers a new solution to assist asset management firms with their international distribution. “France is the first country where we has put in place this passport created by the UCITS IV directive, in order to offer our clients a range of locally-registered products which benefit from integrated management and a French depository,” explains Jon Griffin, manager at JPMorgan Asset Management (Europe) SARL.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carmignac Gestion has announced the recruitment of Michael Hulme as commodity manager. He is now responsible for the management of the Carmignac Commodities fund, which represents EUR670m in assets. Hulme succeeds David Field, who has decided to take a sabbatical after 10 years as head of the commodity team. The new fund manager will begin in his role on 14 February. The commodity team Hulme leads will be based in London, where, according to a statement, “the manager and Simon Lovat, commodity analyst, will contribute investment ideas in one of the major themes for the firm.” Before joining the group, Hulme managed the Lombard Odier Global Energy Fund, launched in 2010. He previously aorked at MFS International, where he successfully launched the Global Energy Fund in 2009.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The natural resources specialist from BlackRock, Richard Davis, has resigned from his responsibilities in fund management after 19 years, Citywire reports. A spokesperson for the firm tells Citywire Wealth Manager that Davis took the decision “to explore other career opportunities at BlackRock and elsewhere.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management (AM) has announced the appointment of Travis Spence as head of strategic relationships for the group in Asia-Pacific (ex Japan), in order to build its presence serving major intermediary clients, including third-party instituitonals such as banks, insurers and private banks, Asian Investor reports. Spence, based in Hong Kong, will report directly to Jed Laskowitz, CEO for Asia-Pacific at JP Morgan AM. Spence had previously been head of liquidity for Asia-Pacific, in charge of short-term bond activities primarily for institutional clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton Investments has appointed Scott Collison, based in Singapore, as head of sales for alternative management in Asia. He will report to Mark Browning, managing director for the region, and will work to accelerate the growth of the activity and sales of alternative products in the group within Asia, relying on local teams dedicated to institutional clients and retail distribution. Before joining Franklin Templeton, Collison was CEO of Talos Strategies, a financial advising structure for alternative and traditional asset managers.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In its “2014 Global Alternatives Reports,” Preqin notes that the alternative asset management industry has never been as large as it is now. Assets under management in hedge, private equity, infrastructure and real estate funds totalled USD6trn as of the end of June 2013. In detail, private equity has USD3.5trn, hedge funds USD2.6trn, real estate USD657bn, and infrastructure USD244bn. According to Preqin, the alternative management industry is expected to continue to grow. Investors appear satisfied with their investments, as 80% say that their investments exceeded objectives set in the past 12 months. 30% of investors surveyed want to increase their exposure to alternative asset in the next 12 months.

Investors start 2014 more optimistic about global growth prospects, especially for the U.S. but increasingly for Europe as well, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for January. An overall total of 234 panelists with US$653 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 10 January to 16 January 2014.The proportion of investors who believe the global economy will strengthen this year has risen to a net 75 percent from a net 71 percent in December, continuing a trend of rising optimism that started in late 2012. This optimism is reflected in rising expectations for corporate profits with a net 48 percent looking for an improvement, up from a net 41 percent in December. Among the regions, a net 29 percent of investors choose both the U.S. and Japan with the most favorable prospects for profits. Europe has improved to a net 8 percent expecting profit improvement from a net 4 percent expecting deterioration in the December survey.As investors’ growth convictions rise, investors’ preference for Global Equities remains strong. A net 55 percent say they’re overweight equities, continuing a trend which started in mid-2012 when a net 4 percent were underweight equities. Confidence in equities is maintained despite a net 7 percent of respondents believing equity markets are overvalued, the highest reading since 2000. As for Europe, a net 22 percent believe equities in the region are under-valued up from net 15 percent expecting the same last month.Risk-taking by investors is near historic highs. Tech, Industrials and Banks top their overweight lists while Utilities, Staples and Telecoms languish in underweight territory.“Managers are positioned for a strong profit recovery in Europe, and the upcoming earnings season is key to maintaining this stance; given the high sentiment, any earnings disappointment will likely be punished by investors,” said John Bilton, European investment strategist.Against the broader global background of rising optimism from growth and profits, Global Emerging Markets remain out of favor. A net 61 percent expect a sharp deterioration in profits in GEM equities, up from net 32 percent expecting the same in December. Furthermore, investors believe the biggest “tail risk” to the global outlook is a China hard landing and commodity collapse – some 37 percent of investors take this view, compared with the 14 percent given to each of the EU sovereign/banking crisis and a geopolitical crisis.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds on sale in Norway saw their assets increase by NOK106bn, or EUR12.6bn, in 2013, to a record of NOK663bn, or EUR79.25bn, the local fund association Verdipapirfondenes forening (VFF) reports. Net inflows contributed NOK16.8bn (EUR2bn) to this increase, of which NOK11.8bn (EUR1.4bn) came from institutional investors.

C’est une première depuis le début de la crise financière de 2007. L’endettement des Etats de la zone euro rapporté à la richesse nationale a reculé au troisième trimestre 2013 par rapport au trois mois précédents, selon l’Office européen des statistiques. Le ratio de dette sur PIB atteignait 92,7% fin septembre 2013, contre 93,4% à la fin du premier semestre, indique Eurostat. Les plus fortes baisses ont été enregistrées au Portugal (-2,6 points), en Finlande, en Belgique et en Allemagne. En France, la décrue est de 0,9 point. Sur un an, les ratios de dette sur PIB restent toujours en hausse: celui de la zone euro atteignait 90% fin septembre 2012.

Euronext a annoncé le lancement, courant 2014, d’un complexe colza proposant des contrats à terme et des options sur le tourteau et l’huile de colza en contrats individuel. Ce lancement complètera l’offre de contrats à terme et d’options sur le colza d’Euronext, créée en 1994. La croissance du contrat à terme a atteint 67% sur les cinq dernières années. En 2013, 1,9 million de lots ont été négociés, soit 93 millions de tonnes de colza.

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne a rejeté le recours du Royaume-Uni contre certaines dispositions du règlement sur les ventes à découvert. La Cour juge que les pouvoirs accordés à l’ESMA pour interdire les ventes à découvert sont suffisamment encadrés et que la base juridique sur laquelle s’appuie le règlement est appropriée.

Les volumes de repo et de reverse repo en Europe, qui excluent les transactions nouées avec la BCE, sont en recul de 8% par rapport au semestre précédent, selon l’enquête semi-annuelle de l’ICMA, l’association des professionnels du secteur, menée auprès de 68 institutions financières à la date du 11 décembre. A 5.499 milliards d’euros, les montants sont les plus faibles depuis 4 ans.

La Caisse des dépôts a fait part d’une collecte positive de 0,73 milliard d’euros en décembre pour le Livret A et le Livret de développement durable (0,35 milliard pour le premier et 0,38 milliard pour le deuxième). Un chiffre qui fait suite à trois mois de décollecte. Sur l’ensemble de l’année 2013, la collecte s’élève à 19,1 milliards, contre 49,2 milliards en 2012. A fin décembre et en tenant compte d’une capitalisation annuelle des intérêts pour un montant de 5,5 milliards, l’encours total sur les deux produits atteint 367,2 milliards d’euros. Décembre est généralement un mois de collecte positive car les salariés qui touchent des primes ou des treizièmes mois les déposent sur leurs livrets. Bercy a décidé de maintenir le taux du Livret A à 1,25% au 1er février prochain, alors que le ralentissement de l’inflation en France, qui est pris en compte dans son calcul, aurait pu le ramener à 0,75%.