Dévoilées hier, les coupes budgétaires pour 2015-2016 devraient encore se prolonger d’au moins deux ans en raison de la faiblesse de l’économie

La Commission européenne souhaite mettre en place des fonds européens d'investissement à long terme pour financer les projets d'infrastructure

Les modalités définitives du premier emprunt conjoint entre l’Etat fédérale allemand et certains Länder ont été fixés et les banques doivent le mettre à prix mercredi à un spread d’un point de base au-dessus de la courbe des swaps, a confié mercredi à Reuters l’un des chefs de file de l’opération. De même source, les ordres ont dépassé les trois milliards d’euros. Les titres seront émis à une maturité de sept ans et devraient être notés AAA par Fitch.

Le ministre britannique des Finances George Osborne a dévoilé mercredi au parlement une nouvelle série de coupes budgétaires d’un montant de 11,5 milliards de livres (13,5 milliards d’euros) pour l’exercice 2015-2016. Les budgets des collectivités locales sont particulièrement affectés. Une partie des économies ainsi réalisées seront reversées dans des programmes sociaux.

L’Euribor pourrait progressivement disparaître et être remplacé en l’espace d’un an, de plus en plus de banques prenant leurs distances vis-à -vis de ce taux interbancaire de référence, selon des sources au fait du dossier citées par Reuters. Une soixantaine de grandes banques étudieront cette éventualité, ainsi que la définition d’une nouvelle référence, à l’occasion d’une rencontre avec des responsables de la BCE début juillet à Bruxelles.

Le gouvernement italien a publié un décret avec effet immédiat repoussant la hausse prévue du taux principal de TVA d’un point de pourcentage d’octobre à juillet. La mesure doit toutefois être approuvée par les parlementaires sous soixante jours. Le parlement pourrait encore prolonger ce gel, qui coûte environ 1 milliard d’euros, s’il parvient à le financer sans accroître le déficit.

Le fondateur du géant des matières premières Glencore (appelé alors Marc Rich + Co) est décédé à l’âge de 78 ans dans un hôpital lucernois. Poursuivi par les Etats-Unis pour fraude fiscale et commerce avec l’Iran, il avait été gracié in extremis par le président Bill Clinton. Le financier, qui avait renoncé à la nationalité américaine, disposait de passeports suisse, israélien, belge et espagnol.

Il est nécessaire de regrouper au sein d’une agence unique les nombreux acteurs chargés d’aider les entreprises françaises à se développer à l’international, selon un rapport remis mercredi à Nicole Bricq, ministre du Commerce extérieur. Cette agence pourrait être construite à partir d’Ubifrance, qui serait transformée en société anonyme avec à son capital l’Etat, bpifrance, les régions, les chambres de commerce et d’industrie (CCI) et le secteur privé, préconise le rapport.

Le Trésor italien a démenti mercredi que le recours à des contrats de dérivés sur une partie de la dette publique fasse courir des risques aux finances de l’Etat, après des articles de presse évoquant une perte potentielle de plusieurs milliards d’euros. Le Financial Times et La Repubblica rapportent que huit contrats de dérivés, restructurés en 2012 en pleine crise de la zone euro, pourraient se solder par des pertes de 8 milliards d’euros environ sur la base des cours au 20 juin.

La politique monétaire de la Banque centrale européenne restera accommodante aussi longtemps que nécessaire et de nouvelles actions sont envisageables en fonction de l'évolution de l'économie, a déclaré mercredi Christian Noyer, membre du conseil des gouverneurs de la BCE. La prochaine réunion du conseil des gouverneurs de la BCE se tiendra le 4 juillet.

Le PIB des Etats-Unis a crû de 1,8% en variation annuelle, selon le chiffre définitif publié mardi par le département du Commerce. Ce dernier avait auparavant estimé la croissance à 2,4%, après une croissance de 0,4% au dernier trimestre 2012. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters pensaient que l’estimation de 2,4% serait confirmée. Les dépenses de consommation, qui représentent plus des deux tiers du PIB, ont augmenté de 2,6% (3,4% lors de l’estimation précédente), après une progression de 1,8% au quatrième trimestre 2012. Les exportations, d’abord annoncées en hausse, se sont finalement contractées de 1,1%, retranchant 0,15 point à la croissance du PIB, tandis que l’investissement des entreprises a à peine progressé.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Fidelity Active Strategy (FAST) range has been extended with the addition of the FAST US Fund, which may invest 90% to 110% of its assets in US equties, and up to 30% in short positions on equities considered less attractive. The number of long positions will total 60 to 80, while the number of short positions will be 15 to 30.The management team is led by Adrian Brass (see Newsmanagers of 29 May). The fund is aimed at qualified investors, like all others products in the «active extension» series, Fidelity Worldwide Investment Germany states.CharacteristicsName: FAST US FundISIN codes:LU0363262121 A-Acc-USD sharesLU0363262808 Y-ACC-USD sharesMinimal subscription: USD50,000 (A share class)USD1m (Y share class) Management commission:1.5% (A share class)1% ( Y share class) Performance commission: 20% of performance after fees exceeding the S&P 500 + 200 basis points

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The CNMV on 14 June issued a license to the Robeco Afrika Fonds (ISIN code: NL0006238131), a UCITS-complient equity product which invests in Africa, including South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria. The fund, launched on 9 June 2008, is managed by Nornelius Vlooswijk, and has about EUR59m in asset under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 25 June announced the appointment of Eric Baggesen senior investment officer (SIO) for asset allocation and risk management. Baggesen officially succeeds Farouki Majeed, who left CalPERS last year. His current position as CIO for international equities will be taken over by Ran Bienvenue, senior portfolio manager for this asset class. Baggesen joined CalPERS in 2004, from State Street Global Advisors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } France is prepared to play a “central role” in allowing the Chinese currency to be better used in international transactions, president François Hollande announced on 25 June. The French government wants to set up a currency swap with China in order to make Paris a major financial centre for transactions in yuan in Europe, to compete with London. “The current rebalancing of Chinese growth in favour of domestic demand, and measures taken by the management for increased flexibility of the currency regme, all is in the interest of China and Europe,” Hollande said at a meeting with Chinese entrepreneurs in Paris. “Here in France, we are prepared with the Paris market to play a central role in the process of internationalizing the yuan to allow better use of this currency in the settlement of international transactions,” the head of state added. “There will be a swap agreement in the next few days between the Bank of France and the Bank of China, and talks are already well advanced with the European Central Bank,” he added. Savings deposits in yuan in Paris total CNY10bn (EUR1.23bn), putting the French capital in second place in Europe after London.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The fifth annual Morningstar survey of the perception and use of alternative investments by financial advisers has found that institutional investors are beginning to consider alternative mutual funds a good stand-in for hedge funds, and that a growing number of financial advisers are integrating these liquid and transparent investments into the portfolios of their clients.The survey was carried out in March 2013 by Morningstar and Barron’s, on 235 institutional investors and 471 advisers. It also found that institutional investors, like financial advisers, “are continuing to find value in alternative products.”Responses have also shown that institutional investors continue to be interested in long/short equity strategies, although financial advisers tend to focus on returns above all.Lastly, it has been noted among the primary findings that although alternative investments still meet a diversification need, the high level of commissions has replaced liquidity and transparency as a primary motive for institutionals and financial advisers to forego investments in hedge funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale is in July next year planning to launch a new product dedicated to longevity risks, to offer near-zero correlation with traditional asset classes, Asian Investor reports. The product will be aimed at sovereign funds, insurers and reinsurers. The concept for the new vehicle, which syndicates longevity risks totalling about EUR200m, is similar to the logic underlying catastrophe bonds. Société Générale hopes to create a similar market for longevity risk, and is working with Risk Management Solutions, a California-based provider of catastrophe risk models, to develop models for life expectancy. A top-calibre Asian institutional investor is reported to have already subscribed to the new vehicle, says Jeff Mulholland managing director and head of insurance and pension solutions in New York at Société Générale, a few days ago at conference held by Société Générale and Asia Risk magazine.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Indian asset management firm UTI Asset Management is seeking to register two UCITS funds in France, Praveen Jagwani, CEO of Uti International, has announced at the Fund Forum International in Monaco. “That could happen in the next two months,” he says.The two products, one an Indian fixed income fund and the other an Indian equity fund, were launched in December last year and February this year, via the Milltrust platform. UTI AM is planning to develop in Europe, in order to get «steady money» whereas Asian investors are more volatile. The idea is also to bring European investors the benefit of the expertise of UTI AM, all of whose USD26bn in assets are invested solely on the Indian market, in equities, fixed income, and private equity.USD2bn are already managed for international clients, including Japanese and German clients, and the Indian firm has signed partnerships with several well-konwn banks in these countries to distribute funds. In the same style, UTI AM is preparing to announce an agreement in September with a French bank. In France, the Indian firm is working with Amadé Global Partners, a European TPM which is also working with Brazil’s Victoire Brazil Investimentos.Jagwani states that UTI AM, which has opened offices in Singapore, Dubai, London and soon the United States, is the oldest asset management firm in India, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1964. The firm is now 74% controlled by government-owned financial institutions, while T. Rowe Price has owned the remaining 26% since 2010.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Bank of America Merrill Lynch group has published its annual report on corporate social responsibility (CSR), including lead projects completed in 2012, key figures, market trends and strategic objectives of the group. Last year the group engaged USD50bn in a ten-year programme to confront needs related t climate change and the impact on natural resources. Bank of America Charitable Foundation has also dedicated over USD200m to philanthropic investments worldwide.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Frankfurt-based firm Acatis Investment (EUR1.85bn, including EUR200m in net subscriptions since the beginning of 2013. Net inflows in 2012 totalled EUR280m) has recently acquired a minority stake in the new asset management firm Multi-Asset Absolute Return Asset Management (MARS AM), which was founded by three managers from SEB AM in Frankfurt, who apparently did not wish to relocate to Stockholm.In order to selectively assist its new partner, Acatis will place the management of two funds of funds and EUR50m in total which had previously been managed internally with MARS AM, founded by Jens Kummer, Damian Krzizok and Andreas Bichler, Faik Yargucu, one of the three partners at Acatis, tells Newsmanagers.The co-operation between the two firms will extend to questions of investment strategy, but allocation will remain the domain of MARS.Citywire reports that BaFin has issued a license which will allow MARS AM to launch its own funds, and that the fist products will be launched next month.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The “sustainable development” sentiment index for German institutional investors developed by Union Investment with professor Henry Schäfer (University of Stuttgart) in a survey conducted from February to April 2013 came to +5.41%, compared with +4 last year, on a scale from -100 to +100.The central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks spoke to 201 institutional investors with total assets of over EUR1trn, and 48% of respondents claimed to take sustainable development criteria into account in taking investment decisions, a percentage which reaches 74% among the 16% of respondents at foundations and churches.Overall, institutional investors allow themselves to be led by the values of their own business (86%), but 56% of those surveyed say they would like to optimise their risk management through sustainable development. Among sustainable assets, bonds represent 45%, followed by real estate (20%) and equities (14%).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Bradesco Asset Management has registered its Sicav in Italy and Spain, Joaquim Levy, CEO of the Brazilian asset management firm, has announced in an interview with Newsmanagers at the Fund Forum International in Monaco.The Sicav, which now has USD2.5bn in assets out of USD140bn at the group, has six sub-funds, all of which are oriented to the Brazilian market. It has already been licensed for sale in France, as well as Portugal and Switzerland. The funds to be foregrounded in particular are two bond funds, one in hard currencies, and the other in local currencies, and a Brazilian small and midcaps fund.Italy and Spain are covered by Ileana Salas, who is already responsible for the French market. In France, the head of sales says that the firm has been particularly successful with family offices and funds of funds. She adds that the firm shows net inflows.Expansion in Europe, led from London, will not stop there, as Bradesco AM is now exploring the Scandinavian countries. However, the asset management firm is currently not entering Germany and Austria, preferring to grow gradually.In terms of products, Levy states that a Latin America fund has recently been launched. It will be actively sold from the end of this year, or the beginning of next year, once a track record has been established.Despite this diversification, Bradesco AM remains completely confident in Brazil. Levy says that current demonstrations cannot be compared to the troubles in Turkey or to the Arab Spring. “These are not unemployed people fighting for their freedom demonstrating,” he says. The trigger may have been a rise in public transport prices, he says, but since then, the movement has extended to other issues. “The objective is to make the government more effective.” As a privileged observer of these movements, he says he considers them to be highly positive, like a Brazilian “May 1968.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } “The asset management sector is at a turning point. The sector is on the verge of a new period of growth.” On this note of optimism, Tom Brown, a partner at KPMG and global head of the Investment Management Practice, opened the debate at the Fund Forum International, being held until Thursday in Monaco.In addition to the improving economic context, three factors will drive this growth, he says: opportunities due to mega-trends (demography, scarcity of resources, etc.), reforms in the banking sector, and lastly, retirement and health.CEOs invited to speak on panels are calling for better education of investors. Some asset management firms are already participating in such errors, such as Nikko Asset Management and Franklin Templeton. Robert Higginbotham, chairman of T. Rowe Price, called on asset management firms to put regulatory issues in the foreground and to set higher standards for fiduciary duty.In an intervention designed to raise audience awareness, the musician and activist Sir Bob Geldof, also chairman of a private equity firm, called on investors to look to Africa.Emerging markets also take a place of honour at this year’s Fund Forum International, not only in interventions in this area. Several asset management firms from these countries are present, with stands, in order to increase their reputations in Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The monthly index of institutional investor confidence published by State Street gained 11.9 points in June, to 106.8, from a level of 94.9 (in corrected figures) for May. The appetite for risk of investors in North America is largely the cause of this increase, as the regional index rose 11.4 points to 114.0, from a level of 102.6 (corrected data) last month. The confidence of investors in Europe and Asia is also up, with a gain of 4.7 points for the European regional index to 98.4 from 93.7 (in corrected data) in May, while the regional index for Asia rose from 86.0 (in corrected data) to 89.1 in June, up by 3.1 points.“We observed sales of US equities, purchases of European equities, and major acquisitions of emerging market equities. These reallocations come in contract to price movements in the period; however, it should be noted that the sample of data covers the period ending on 21 June, and thus does not reflect the recent fall in stock prices. Overall, our data indicates that institutional investors are satisfied to go ‘against the grain’ of these price movements,” the authors of the study comment.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Funds People reports that M&G Investments, whose assets in Spain total EUR3bn, has recruited Borja González Rueda for its sales team at the Madrid office, led by Ignacio Rodríguez Añino. The new recruit had been a fund analyst in the investment department at Bankia Banca Privada.The British asset management firm M&G Investments (EUR297.7bn in assets) began in Spain in February 2006. Its Spanish team also serves Portuguese and Chilean clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Amundi is seeking to reinforce its management team dedicated to distribution in Asia, in order to achieve its objective of a 40% increase in assets under management in the region in three years, Asian Investor reports. The asset management firm would particularly like to strengthen its teams based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Recruitments will take place this year, says Xiaofeng Zhong, CEO for Northern Asia at Amundi. They will include sales, marketing and product specialists.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Axa Rosenberg has launched a global smart bets strategy in Asia, marking a desire on the part of the firm to reanimate the interest of Asian investors in quantitative management, Asian Investor reports. The Axa Rosenberg approach stands out from its counterparts in that the firm bases its choices on particularly detailed analysis of the fundamentals at businesses, taking 200 items into account. So far, only the Axa group, for USD2.5bn, has invested in this strategy, the website says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } TG Lee senior director of BNP Paribas Investment Partners in charge of the development of institutional clients in Hong Kong is leaving the firm, Asian Investor reports. BNPP IP has confirmed the departure of Lee, but did not wish to provide further information, the newspaper reports. Lee spent six years in the position, where he served pension funds, central banks, charities and businesses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The head of product management and development at Legal & General Investments, Andrew Thomas, will be leaving the firm at the end of June, Money Marketing reports. Thomas joined Legal & General in 2010 from Invesco Perpetual. His departure is said to be related to internal restructuring.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Odey Asset Management has reduced its stake in Man Group, following a fall in the share price of the hedge fund firm in the past few weeks, the news agency Reuters reports. Man Group’s stake, which peaked at 7.37% last month, stood at 6.72% as of 20 June. Odey, which reported a stake in Man Group in October last year, has taken the occasion of the good performance of the shares in the first five months of the year. However, since 22 May this year, shares in Man Group have lost nearly 40% of their value. The European fund from Odey is one of the best-performing hedge funds since the beginning of the year, with gains of 22% between January and May, after returns of over 30% in 2012.