L’économiste en chef de la banque centrale souligne ainsi son opposition au programme de rachat de dettes souveraines, très mal perçu en Allemagne

Global Logistic Properties (GLP), filiale du fonds souverain de Singapour (GIC), prépare la cotation de ses actifs japonais, une opération qui lui permettrait de lever au moins 100 milliards de yens (950 millions d’euros), a rapporté Reuters de sources proches du dossier. GLP a mandaté Citigroup, Goldman Sachs et Nomura comme souscripteurs principaux.

Directeur général d’HSBC à Hong Kong, Mark McCombe va prendre la responsabilité des activités de BlackRock sur le continent asiatique. Le gestionnaire d’actifs pourra compter sur son expérience, puisqu’il a dirigé HSBC Asset Management pendant plusieurs années. Il a notamment été en charge d’HSBC AM Europe à Paris, au début des années 2000 après le rachat du CCF.

Les autorités américaines disposent désormais de données statistiques en provenance de dix banques suisses soupçonnées par la justice d’avoir aidé leurs clients basés aux Etats-Unis à frauder le fisc, a rapporté samedi le Neue Zürcher Zeitung. TagesAnzeiger, un autre journal suisse, a écrit de son côté que les banques suisses ont maintenant jusqu’au 23 septembre pour fournir des informations plus spécifiques sur leurs clients.

Le déficit du budget de l’Etat français s'établit à 86,6 milliards d’euros à fin juillet contre 93,1 milliards un an plus tôt, selon les données publiées vendredi par le ministère du Budget. L'évolution d’une année sur l’autre est marquée notamment par une dégradation de 10,9 milliards du solde des comptes spéciaux, liée principalement aux décaissements du prêt octroyé à la Grèce. Le solde du budget général s’est parallèlement amélioré de 17,4 milliards d’euros.

La production industrielle de la France a rebondi de 1,5% en juillet après un recul de même ampleur en juin, montrent les statistiques publiées vendredi par l’Insee. La production manufacturière, c’est-à -dire hors énergie mais en incluant l’agroalimentaire, a progressé de 1,4% après une baisse de 1,8%.

La Chine devrait très probablement rendre le yuan convertible sur les comptes de capitaux avant 2015, a déclaré vendredi Li Daokui, conseiller de la banque centrale chinoise. Il n’a toutefois pas précisé si la convertibilité du yuan pourrait être totale ou limitée.

On 1 November, Frank Pörschke, who until 31 August had been chairman of the management board at Eurohypo, will join the Jones Lang LaSalle Germany group as international director. He will then become CEO from 1 January 2012, replacing Andreas Quint, who has directed the German operations of Jones Lang LaSalle for the past three years, and who has been promoted to head of the pan-European corporate finance unit, a position in which he will shuttle between London and Frankfurt.

The Singapore sovereign fund Temasek has recruited Tan Chong-Lee as co-CIO (chief investment officer), Asian Investor reports, adding that it was unable to confirm the information. Tan previously worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for investment banking activities for South-East Asia.

Neil Hounslow, head of prime brokerage services for Asia-Pacific at Credit Suisse, and two members of his team have left the firm, Asian Investor reports.Hounslow is replaced by Dereke Seeto, previously based in Sydney, where he had been director of prime brokerage services for Australia. Hounslow may join JP Morgan, Asian Investor states.

Ignis Advisors, a multi-manager business unit established in November 2010 by Ignis AM, has recruited Aoifinn Devitt, principal and founder of Clontarf Capital, as head of client strategies. She was previouslya specialist consultant at Cambridge Associates in London and Boston, and at Goldman Sachs. Aoifinn Devitt will be joined by two of her associates at Clontarf Capital, Javier Herranz and Cian O’Sullivan,who will further strengthen the investment team. She will be working closely with Claude Chene, Ignis Asset Management’s recently appointed global head of distribution, to bring Ignis Advisors’ capabilities to a wider client base.Ignis Advisors has also hired a chief operating officer. Mark Long, who held roles as senior vice president operational due diligence, European general counsel and head of corporate development at FRM, has joined with responsibility for operational due diligence, product development and operations. Andreas Schroeder, formerly of ABP, has joined as head of quant analytics, responsible for risk modelling and quantitative asset allocation.

The time when managers could impose commission increases on funds has come to an end. At a time when costs are rising, asset managers are now having to accept reductions in their income. According to a study by Cerulli Associates (“European Fund Fee Analysis,” August 2011), the rise of passive management, regulatory changes, and recurrent criticism of fee levels are requiring active managers to change their positions on commissions and management fees. In order to remain competitive, reduced commissions appear to be inevitable, Cerulli estimates. The power to dictate prices remains the privilege of the best managers, and as in the luxuries sector, those who can offer something more than their rivals also have the pricing power, Cerulli observes. Less well-performing actors, who do not have good distribution networks, or who don’t have the best track records, will realise that it is increasingly difficult to justify high commissions in comparison with beta rivals, explains Yoon Ng, a senior analyst at Cerulli in London. However, the active management model is far from outmoded. Passive funds have managed to outperform active funds in only two asset classes out of five: diversified funds and commodities. Active funds performed better over three years in equities, alternative assets and bonds, even with administrative and management fees taken into account.In order to prove their superiority, active managers have often offered emerging markets equities funds or absolute return funds whose average fees total 2% and 1.6%, respectively; these are currently the best-selling funds.Ultimately, a vast majority of managers have ultimately moved to diversify their model and to offer both active and passive strategies. Among the elite management firms in terms of assets under management, only one firm is not yet offering passive strategies.Active managers with no passive funds in their product range have recently been launching low-cost active funds. Cerulli finds that this trend is not new, and that a recent study undertaken in partnership with Ignites Europe found that half of managers surveyed offered funds with a total TER of less than 1%, and that 60% of managers said they were planning to launch low-cost funds. Cerulli says growth in the low-cost actively-managed fund sector will be driven not only be active managers, but also by tracker funds, providers of ETFs, and fund of fund assemblers.

The B2B distributor max.xs, an affiliate of the publicly-traded financial group cash.life AG, has recruited four people for its client assistance deparment, serving investors and its product partners, the asset managers First Private Investment Management, Gamax Management, Kleinwort Benson Investors, Rothschild & Cie Gestion and Veritas Investment Trust, and the broker Wölbern Invest KG.Thomas Dinges (ex FPM) and Thomas Gils (ex Franklin Templeton) have been recruited as senior sales managers, while Sybille Schrempp (ex Meta Communication, formerly of Threadneedle) joins client service. In October, Alexandre Flechsig (ex Silk Invest) will join the marketing team.The new recruits will report to Rainer Ottemann, Managing Director and Head of Distribution, and Oliver Roll, Managing Director and Head of Fund Selection & Institutional Business.

Now that the German savings banks are the sole proprietors of DekaBank (EUR96.75bn in assets in open-ended retail funds, over EUR20bn in real estate funds, and EUR50.8bn in institutional funds as of the end of July), the command structure for the central asset management firm for the savings bank network is set to evolve. Since Walter Groll’s term as head of capital market operations was not renewed in June (see Newsmanagers of 8 April), the board will now be composed of only five members. Development of derivative transactions was clearly not a priority for the savings banks, who also were loath to forgive Groll for tax-optimistation deals to the profit of certain clients, as procedure had not been respected in these cases, and they cost the firm more than EUR60m in profits in 2010.Oliver Behrens, in charge of securities asset management, will now be responsible for trading activities, and thus all capital market products from the group. Matthias Danne, CFO and head of the asset management/real estate division, takes charge of all credit activities. Hans-Jürgen Gutenberger, who had been in charge of retail distribution, is now also head of treasury.The responsibilities of Franz S. Waas, chairman of the board, and Friedrich Oelrich, chief risk officer, will remain unchanged.

Mining companies, which are confronted with significant environmental, social and governance issues due to their commodity extraction activities, dislose little information about sustainable development, a research by Novethic and be-linked, covering 23 businesses in the industry with a total turnover of over EUR386bn, has found. More than half of the companies in the study had not made voluntary commitments concerning issues in the sector. Only ten companies out of 23 had joined the ITIE, an initiative which encourages signatory companies to publish information about the value of the minerals they mine, and encourages signatory governments to disclose information about how much money they receive. Six businesses out of 23 had a public policy of adhering to the Voluntary Principles to protect human rights, which aim to limit violations of human rights by security companies and national armies employed by the mining companies to protect their sites and operations. Among the few good practices, the study notes that nine businesses in the study had formed collaborative partnerships with NGOs. But in general, those relationships had involved some conflict. “The major mining groups are often challenged, locally and internationally, by many organisations who point to their poor environmental policies, and the facts that they ferret away riches and fail to respect the rights of local populations,” say the authors of the research. Pressure on the companies from NGOs may eventually drag down their financial results. The “media firepower” which they have at their disposal is also likely to damage the reputation of businesses, but may also represent an operational risk for them, as sites may get picketed. In addition to this, there are legal and financial risks due to legal actions against businesses. “At a time when mining companies are posting exceptional economic perforamnce, we wanted to raise the awareness of responsible investors about risks in this sector,” said Anne-Catherine Husson-Traore, CEO of Novethic.

The 2011 annual report from the association dedicated to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI) has found an increasing level fo investor engagement with responsible investment.In the year to the end of August 2011, the report counted 209 new signatories to the PRI, bringing the total number of signatories to 900 companies, with assets of about USD30trn under management.The 2011 report finds that 94% of institutional investors and 93% of asset managers had an established responsible investment policy in the past twelve months. The previous year, the totals were 94% and 87%.Responsible investment is also globalising. The percentage of signatories with an established responsible investment policy increased from 84% to 96% in Latin America, largely due to progress in Brazil, and from 71% to 81% in Asia.

La banque helvétique Credit Suisse étudierait, selon La Tribune, qui cite la presse suisse, la possibilité de retirer son activité de banque privée des États-Unis. Elle doit en effet y faire face à la pression des autorités américaines, décidées à lutter contre l'évasion fiscale.

Bloomberg reports that the wealth management division of UBS in Zurich has recruited seven specialists from Turkey, including four advisers and three assistants, who previously worked at Credit Suisse. They will report to Beat Frey, head of the Turkey team.

Hedge funds have been affected by a move by the Swiss National Bank (BNS) to fix the value of the franc against the euro, Agefi Switzerland reports. Global markets and quantitative funds have been among the largest victims of the exceptional measure taken on Tuesday. By introducing a limit of CHF1.30 to EUR1, the BNS cost operators who bet on the Swiss franc as a safe heaven asset.

Dario Carfizzi has left Eurizon Capital, the asset management firm of the Intesa Sanpaolo group, where he had been a fund selector and manager, to join Groupama Asset Management Sgr in Italy, Bluerating reports. He will be Institutional Business Development Executive for the Italian market.

Kames Capital (formerly Aegon Asset Management) is to launch an absolute return fund, which will be managed by Stephen Snowden and Colin Finlayson, Investment Week reports. It is the first product to be offered since the change of names. The Kames Absolute Return Bond Fund, which will invest in the entire curve, will be launched by the end of the month, and will represent the first addition to the Kames product range since the arrival of Stephen Snowden at the firm a few months ago (see Newsmanagers of 7 April 2011).

Qosmos (www.qosmos.com), a leader in intelligent network technologies, on 8 September announced that it has raised EUR19.8m from a group of investors including the European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, the Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) and Alven Capital. The operation will increase owners’ equity at Qosmos, via a capital increase and an issue of convertible bonds, and also includes the repurchase of shares from the former investor Sofinnova by the three firms cited above. Krishna Viavanathan, a partner at DFJ Esprit, and a representative of the FSI will join the supervisory board at Qosmos. The round of fundraising will provide financing for expansion at Qosmos in North America and Asia-Pacific, and to support the development of new products, international marketing activities, and potential acquisitions. Qosmos, which has been profitable since 2009, in 2010 posted earnings up 40%.

Although the firm showed a net outflow in first half 2011, in phase with a market trend for OPCVMs, inflows to La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBPAM) from retail investors and entities turned positive again in July and August 2011, the firm announced on 8 September at a presentation of its quarterly results. As of 30 June 2011, LBPAM had nearly EUR126bn in assets under management, which puts it in fifth place among asset managers in France. Global earnings from retirement planning (individual and collective) managed by La Banque Postale Prévoyance, a joint venture owned 50/50 by La Banque Postale and CNP Assurances which provides the retirement planning product range from La Banque Postale, totalled Eur209bn as of the end of 2011 (+0.8% compared with 2010).

Sycomore Asset Management is beginning to offer its funds in Germany and Switzerland, Laurent Deltour, the firm’s president, announced on the occasion of the asset manager’s 10th birthday. In order to offer its products in Germany, the French boutique is working with an independent partner, Kerstin Fischer, managing director of Fischer Financial.Deltour also points out that Sycomore has recently added to its management team with the recruitments of Olivier Mollé, in charge of the Sycomore L/S Market Neutral fund, and Arnaud d’Aligny, an analyst and manager for European equities. In addition, the firm has recently launched an emerging markets fund and an SRI fund.

Fitch Ratings on 8 September announced that it is maintaining its asset manager rating of M2- for Sycomore Asset Management. In general, firms rated M2 are thought to be less vulnerable to operational and management errors.The ratings agency’s comments are full of praise, and highlight the stability of teams at Sycomore, which have recently been strengthened with the recruitment of four managers to assist in the development of new products.Fitch also emphasizes that the primary challenge for Sycomore remains international development and development of long/short and diversified fund management, and adapting processes and decision-making tools to a more extensive product range and to new market conditions. The “company and teams” and “investment administration” ratings have been improved slightly, to 2.75 from 3, and 2.25 from 2.50.

Citi Global Transaction Services (GTS) has won a mandate from the fund of fund specialist Sandalwood Securities, to provide administration and custody services.

In an article on BlackRock, the Economist observes that the size of the world’s largest asset manager may already be a problem. According to analysts, the firm has seen about USD149bn in outflows since 2010, many pension funds feeling that they have too much money invested with BlackRock. Due to its size, the firm may be declared a “systemically important financial institution” by the US government in the next few months. Another source of concern is how BlackRock will grow. One of the answers is to develop more on the retail market. But the hardest challenge for the management giant, in these volatile markets, will be to maintain its performance.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 8 September announced the appointment of Paloma Pedrola as international head for custody and depository services. Pedrola will be based in Paris and will report to Etienne Denau, and will be in charge of coordination of existing custody and depository services in Western Europe (Germany, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom), central and eastern Europe (Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Slovenia) and Africa (Egypt, Morocco and South Africa). She will also be responsible for development of services in new countries, particularly Tunisia, Ivory Coast and Bulgaria. Pedrola was appointed head of SGSS for Spain in 2006. Nathan Derhy has been appointed country head of Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) for Ireland. He is responsible for development of the main activities of SGSS in the country, particularly for custody and depository services, fund administration and distribution services. Derhy, reviously head of SGSS in India, replaces Christian de Beaufort. He will report to Bruno Prigent, who will become Director of SGSS from 1 October. De Beaufort has been appointed as head of investor services for SGSS in Spain. He will report to Etienne Denau, Director of custody and depository services. De Beaufort is in charge of developing the services of SGSS in that country. Murali Narasimhan has been appointed as the new country head and head for SGSS in India. He will report to Philippe Huerre, deputy director of emerging markets at SGSS. He also becomes deputy CEO at SBI-SG Global Securities Services Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of SGSS and State Bank of India, the largest public sector bank in the country; the joint venture provides custody services to local and foreign investors in India.

The US banking group Wells Fargo has announced its acquisition of the administration services provider Lacrosse Global Fund Services from Cargill. The operation will bring the group and its specialised affiliate Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services (CTS) a complete range of hedge fund administration services.

The coverage rate for US pension funds in the month of August fell 5.6 percentage points, to 78%, according to monthly statistics from BNY Mellon Asset Management. The coverage rate, which is affected both by falling assets and by an increase in liabilities for the second consecutive month, is at its lowest level since September 2010.