Les indices CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) et CVIX qui mesurent respectivement la volatilité sur les marchés d’actions et des changes sont retombés à leur plus bas niveaux depuis la mi-juin 2007. Le discours rassurant de la BCE depuis septembre a renforcé la confiance.

Le Trésor italien a émis vendredi pour 5 milliards d’euros d’obligations dont 3,5 milliards d’euros à échéance 2015 à moins de 2%. Les taux italiens à 10 ans reculent à environ 4,11%. L’appétit des investisseurs pour les pays de la périphérie de la zone euro se renforce.

La définition de l'indice sera affinée, le nombre de maturités de référence réduit et le contrôle de la qualité des contributions renforcé

François de Varenne, CEO de Scor Global Investments dans un entretien accordé à Option Finance numéro 1203 : Pour la France, nous avons ensuite diminué par cinq notre exposition avant sa dégradation S&P. Notre exposition à la dette souveraine a ainsi été, de manière volontaire et anticipée, très fortement réduite passant à 26% aujourd’hui contre 38% actuellement constitué de 81% d’obligations, dont 29% d’obligations corporate, seulement 26% de dettes souveraines, 10% de titres à court-terme, 10% de covered bonds et Agency MBS et 6% de produits structurés et titrisés (MBS,ABS...). Notre poche actions, que nous avons réduite volontairement d’environ 30% en juin 2011 juste avant la très forte chute des marchés de l'été, s'élève aujourd’hui à 4%. Nous possédons également 4% d’immobilier, essentiellement à travers des immeubles de bureaux détenus en direct. Nous privilégions sur ce segment des actifs localisés dans des zones géographiques de première catégorie, avec un bail sécurisé sur du moyen terme et un locataire de qualité. Comme nous craignons à moyen terme et un locataire de qualité. Comme nous craignons à moyen terme un retour de l’inflation, l’immobilier nous paraît un bon placement que nous comptons renforcer à l’avenir. Dans beaucoup de pays, les loyers sont en effet indexés directement ou indirectement sur l’inflation, cet actif constitue donc une très bonne protection contre ce risque. Nous avons des cash flows prévisionnels très importants sur notre portefeuille obligataire. Ainsi, sur un portefeuille d’investissement d’environ 13.5 milliards d’euros, nous allons récupérer 5.7 milliards de coupons ou de remboursement obligataires dans les 24 mois à venir. Dans un environnement hautement incertain, dominé surtout par des décisions politiques, nous sommes convaincus qu’une maîtrise et une disponibilité à court terme de nos cash flows peuvent nous permettre de protéger la valeur de nos actifs et de saisir des opportunités quand elles se présenteront. Nous continuons également à accentuer la granularité et la diversification de notre portefeuille, par zone géographique, par classes d’actifs mais également par typologie de stratégies et de pay-offs, afin de stabiliser au mieux notre rendement en cas de choc sur le marchés.

The US asset management firm ProShares (USD21bn in 139 ETF funds, mostly inverse or leveraged ETFs) has filed a license application to the SEC for an infrastructure ETF, the ProShares Global Direct Infrastructure ETF, which would replicate the NMX 30 Infrastructure Global Index from the Zurich-basedd firm LPX GmbH, which covers the 30 largest publicly-traded companies in the sector worldwide, Index Universe reports.So far, ProShares has not announced the acronym or TER for the product.

OFI InfraVia on 10 January announced that InfraVia, its first infrastructure fund, has finalised its acquisition of a 55% stake in the capital of the ADTiM company, which had been owned by ETDE, Axione and Eiffage. The remaining 45% are controlled by the Caisse des dépôts (30%) and eTde/axione (15%). The Crédit Agricole group also financed the acquisition via a line of senior debt. ADTiM is the concessionary firm which has held a contract since 2008 to complete, operate and develop a high/very high broadband telecommunications network for the Drôme and Ardèche provinces under a contract from the public utilities. Axione, an affiliate of Bouygues Construction, retains responsibility for the operation of network developments.

Swiss banks have done relatively well in their effort to overcome the effects of the global financial and debt crises: three quarters of firms say that they are even stronger, the 2013 Banking Barometer, unveiled on 10 January by the law firm Ernst & Young, reports, on the basis of a representative survey of the Swiss market, not including the two major banks. The profession still subject to strong pressures is currently private banking. About 60% of establishments in all categories surveyed, compared with 35% in 2011, say that private banking is the sector facing the greatest challenges and the toughest competition.

Galena Asset Management, which offers investments via specialised commodity funds, has closed the first round of fundraising for its Private Equity Resource Fund with USD275m, Agefi Switzerland reports. The fund will invest in the capital and current liabilities of mining and metallurgy SMEs involved in development or production. Galena will benefit from its parent company, the commodity trader Trafigura, to invest in young mining sector businesses. Maximilian Tomei, head of marketing at Galena, says “We are expecting to close more rounds of fundraising in 2013, and are aiming for a final closing at USD600m at the end of the year.” The fund will be managed by Jesus Fernandez, chief mining sector investment officer since 2005.

Mirabaud Asset Management has launched a new multi-asset strategy “Dynamic Allocation”. The strategy will offer flexible management on all traditional asset classes and aims for long term capital appreciation and protection in case of market losses through its reactivity and flexibility in tactical choices. Mirabaud AM has appointed Pierre Pinel, CIO for Asset Allocation Products and Balanced Mandates to manage the new strategy. From 1993, Pierre Pinel spent much of his career at Paribas and then BNP Paribas in the asset management business.

The Credit Suisse group on 10 January announced the recruitment of Claudio de Sanctis as managing director, in charge of private banking activities in South-East Asia. De Sanctis, who will begin on 1 April 2013, will be based in Singapore. He will report to Francesco de Ferrari, head of private banking activities for the Asia-Pacific region. De Sanctis previously worked as managing director and head of Iberian and Scandinavian markets at UBS Wealth Management Europe.

According to Z-Ben Advisors, cited by Asian Investor, assets under management by Chinese funds totalled CNY2.8trn as of the end of December, 30% more than one year previously.Asset management firms launched 260 funds and attracted CNY644.7bn in 2012, but the increase in volume is partly due to a surge on A equity markets (7.55% for the year), and particularly to the launch of a large number of money market funds in fourth quarter, to preserve the rankings of various asset management firms as a whole. Assets in money market funds totalled 20% of assets managed in funds overall, compared with 14% at the end of December 2011.

Simon Frank, who had been a portfolio manager in the multi-asset class team at DWS (Deutsche Bank) has joined the Frankfurt-based multi-family office Focam as a specialist in allocation, fund selection and stock-picking, Das Investment reports.At his previous employer, where he managed among others the Luxembourg fund DWS BestSelectBranchen (LU0107864448), Frank focused on equities, convertible bonds and alternative investments in the area of fund selection and of funds of funds management.

According to the German BVI association of asset management firms, net subscriptions in January-November of EUR17.713bn for all reporting open-ended security funds, with the Allianz group alone posting net inflows in this area fo EUR24.3409bn, of which EUR19.5209bn went to Pimco.The other major firm to show inflows is Union Investment (co-operative banks), which attracted a net EUR2.7562bn in the period under review.However, Deka (savings banks) has seen outflows of EUR4.2967bn, and Deutsche Bank as a whole has seen net outflows of EUR3.383bn.Only ETFlab (Deka group) has done well in the ETF segment, with net subscriptions of EUR530m in January-November. However, BlackRock has seen net outflows from iShares of EUR1.4652bn, just slightly more than EUR1.3889trn in outflows from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank). ComStage (Commerzbank) has posted net redemptions of EUR1.0203bn in the first eleven months of the year.

As of the end of November, asset management firms in Germany had an all-time record total of EUR2.00999trn in assets under management, compared with 1.98969trn one month earlier, and EUR1.75574trn one year previously, statistics from the professional association BVI reveal.In the first eleven months of the year, the sector posted net inflows of EUR77.82bn, compared with EUR24.81bn in January-November 2011. In the month of November alone, net inflows totalled EUR10.8bn, with EUR5.75bn for open-ended funds, nd EUR5.67bn for institutional funds (Spezialfonds), but a net outflow of EUR622.6m from mandates outside funds.The BVI stresses that open-ended funds have posted their strongest net subscriptions since January 2009.

Sönke J. Siemßen, who joined Sal. Oppenheim on 1 April 2012 as head of management for fixed income portfolios (see Newsmanagers of 7 May 2012), on 2 January 2013 became «head of investment» at Nomura Asset Management Deutschland KAG in Frankfurt. Newsmanagers understands Siemßen replaces Hanno Kühn, who was MD and «CIO».

More than 80% of private equity investors who make merger/acquisition operations have reduced the price of a target or called off the deal due to poor appreciation of ESG criteria, according to a survey by the international United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) network. Three quarters of private equity firms surveyed say that poor performance in the area of ESG had prevented a deal from going through.

The Chicago-based asset management firm Citadel has announced annual returns of about 25% for its two hedge funds, Wellington and Kensington, in a letter to investors, the Financial Times reports. Assets under management at the firm increased to USD14bn, from USD11bn in 2011.

Julien Moutier is joining Groupama Asset Management as a manager/analyst. He joins the directional multi-management teams of the investment solutions department, and will report to Henri Chabadel. Since 2007, Moutier had been a senior multi-manager at FundQuest (an affiliate of BNP IP), with a particular focus on fixed income and absolute return strategies. The firm recently reorganized, abandoning fund management to become a consulting structure. Moutier is a graduate of IESEG. He has also been a professor at SFAF(Société Française des Analystes Financiers) since 2005.

Northern Trust has announced that it has been selected by Bridgewater Associates to provide middle- and back-office services for USD140bn in assets in its hedge funds (USD75bn for pure alpha strategies,a nd USD65bn for all-weather funds). The services include various administrative processes, transaction processing, real-time reporting, cah management, accounting and collateral management.The contract will allow Northern Trust (USD4.8trn in assets under custody and USD749.7bn in assets under management as of 30 September) to create 100 jobs in Chicago and Stamford, Connecticut.

ERAFP, the additional retirement establishment for French public sector employees, with EUR14bn in assets, is joining the Initiative for Transparency in the Mining Industries and the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change Paris, the investment firm announced on 10 January 2013. The Initiative for Transparency in Mining Industries (ITIE), founded in 2002, seeks to develop an efficient system of information on payments to governments of countries rich in natural resources by mining, oil and gas sector businesses. The International Investor Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) brings together institutional investors over the issue of climate change. The joint initiative intends to promote a low-carbon economy, through sharing of experiences on investment practices, and supporting international public policies to this end. ERAFP is already a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

Ron Redell, chairman of DoubleLine Funds Trust and executive Vice president of DoubleLine Capital, has told Mutual Fund Wire that the firm founded by Jeff Gundlach is planning to make a number of recruitments to confront strong growth of its activities. DoubleLine is for instance seeking five analysts to assist the two equity portfolio managers Brendt Stallings and Husam Nazer, who have recently been recruited (see Newsmanagers of 3 January).The asset management firm is also planning recruitments for client service, including wholesale, and for administrative positions (legal, compliance, accounting and operations).

Cinco Días reports that Banco Popular is selling EUR264m in debt from the Alteco and Mag Import companies from Joaquín Rivero and Bautista Soler to Blackstone private equity funds. The debt is guaranteed by shares of the French RE firm Gecina.

Since the closure of its Spanish office, Domingo Torres-Fernández, head of institutional commercial relationships with European clients, has become head of distribution for Spain for products from the French asset management firm Lazard Frères Gestion (EUR10.8bn), and is based in Paris, Funds People reports.

Aberdeen Asset Management has acquired two residential real estate properties in Södertälje, a city in the Stockholm region of Sweden, for about SEK90m, Realtid.se reports, citing fastighetsvärlden. The properties were acquired for the Aberdeen Residential Sweden fund, which has raised SEK970m from institutional investors.

JP Morgan AM is planning to double its market share in mutual funds worldwide, particularly in Asia, Asian Investor reports. This is a challenge, the website says, insofar as Asian households in emerging markets invest only 23% of their assets in bonds or equities, compared with 45% in developed Asian countries, and 67% in the United States. Assets in Asian funds of JP Morgan currently total slightly over USD55bn.

On Thursday, 10 January, four former top directors of UBS testified before a British Parliamentary commitee about the Libor scandal. Le Temps reports that they were forced to admit responsibility, but that they have the single line of defence that they didn’t know about it. The four men were in control of the bank from 2005 to 2010, when nearly 50 traders manipulated the Libor inter-bank lending rate to improve their profits: Marcel Rohner, CEO from 2007 to 2009, Huw Jenkins, who was director of the investment bank until 2007, and his two successors, Jerker Johansson and Alex Wilmot-Sitwell.

A group of copper users may appeal a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve the first investment product in the United States to invest in copper, the Financial Times reports. The move would delay the launch of the ETF by JPMorgan. Copper users claim that the SEC had insufficient evidence to conclude that the launch of the product would not affect supplies of the metal.

The Herbalife company, which has been accused by William Ackman of Pershing Square of being a giant pyramid scheme, has received the powerful support of another activist funds with USD10bn in assets, Third Point by Dan Loeb, Les Echos reports. In a letter to investors dated 9 January, which Les Echos has obtained, Loeb gives a 3-page justificatino for his investment in 8.2% of capital in the business, purchased when the stock price fell 40% in four days in late December. Loeb finds the presentation by his colleague “long” but “lacking anything new,” and claims that it provided “no proof that the group has crossed a line which would lead regulators to close down the firm.” Herbalife should thus be able to respond to its detractor and to convince Wall Street. Third Point claims that shares in the firm are worth USD55 to USD68 each, compared with slightly over USD40 at the start of trading yesterday.

The Libor interest rate manipulation scandal has led to more lawsuits, including actions against the banks Barclays and UBS by eight Californian cities, and other public institutions have also filed suit, according to reports by the news agency Bloomberg published on 9 January. There is also a class action lawsuit by owners of real estate properties in New York against 12 banks, including UBS. The agency has counted 30 other lawsuits in the United States filed by homeowners and others, who say they have been disadvantaged by the manipulation. UBS in late December pleaded guilty and must pay a fine of CHF1.4bn to various financial regulatory authorities. Barclays got off with a fine of USD450m.

Jupiter Asset Management has cancelled plans to convert its European Income fund to a global fund, as it did not receive permission from shareholders, FundWeb reports.