Le plan stratégique à 2014 de la filiale française prévoit de ramener son coefficient d’exploitation à la moyenne du secteur en France, soit 63 % à cette échéance. Cela passera par 672 suppressions nettes de postes sur la période, gérées grâce aux départs naturels et aux préretraites.

Selon nos informations, Lazard Frères Gestion a confié la gestion d’un deuxième fonds actions émergentes à Lazard Asset Management, société de gestion cousine basée à New York. Baptisé Objectif Croissance Emergente, ce FCP de droit français a été agréé le 18 mars. Son prospectus simplifié est disponible depuis peu sur le site de l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

Les ventes au détail ont diminué de 1,1% au mois de mai dans les 17 pays de la zone euro. Sur un an, le recul ressort à 1,9%. Le marchait anticipait une baisse mensuelle de 1,0% et un repli annuel de 0,5%. Ces baisses s’expliquent principalement par le recul observé en Allemagne, première économie de la zone euro, alors que la Banque centrale européenne s’apprête à relever ses taux.

La croissance dans les services a ralenti pour le troisième mois d’affilée en juin dans la zone euro et ce recul de l’indice Markit est supérieur à celui qui avait été donné lors de l’estimation flash. L’indice s’est inscrit à 53,7 contre 54,2 en flash. En mai, il était ressorti à 56. La croissance est une fois de plus imputable aux performances honorables de l’Allemagne (56,7 après 56,1 en mai) et la France (56,1, son plus bas niveau depuis décembre, contre 62,5 en mai) qui confirment leur statut de locomotives de la zone euro contrairement à d’autres pays qui s’affaiblissent comme l’Italie qui pourrait retomber en récession.

La banque centrale de Suède a relevé mardi son principal taux directeur de 25 points de base pour le porter à 2% comme prévu. Il s’agit de son septième tour de vis monétaire consécutif, alors que des signes font pourtant entrevoir un ralentissement économique après une croissance record l’an dernier.

La banque centrale australienne a annoncé le maintien de son principal taux directeur à 4,75%, une décision attendue compte tenu de la mollesse de la conjoncture et des incertitudes sur les perspectives économiques. La Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) a annoncé sa décision à l’issue de sa réunion mensuelle de politique monétaire.

State Street Global Advisors on 4 July announced that new index-based funds for its SPDR ETF platform, specialised in equities and fixed-income products listed on Deutsche Börse are now available to French investors.The launch is a sign of SSgA’s desire to develop its ETF product activities in Europe, and these new products are additions to the existing range of SPDR funds, which have been admitted to trading on Euronext Paris.The new SPDR ETF funds include funds specialised in equities from emerging markets and global equities, which are the first European ETF funds to reproduce the indices of the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) and the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI) as well as the first fund specialised in fixed-income products which provides investors with access to emerging market debt denominated in local currencies.The new SPDR Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond ETF is a first on the European marke, and the SPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Bond ETF is the first ETF fund in the world to provide access to the investment-grade bond market denominated in pounds Sterling, reproducing the Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Index.The new SPDR ETF funds are the following/Xetra symbol Fixed income products SPDR Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF SYBMSPDR Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Bond ETF SYBASPDR Barclays Capital Euro Government Bond ETF SYBCSPDR Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ETF SYBBSPDR Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond ETF SYBUSPDR Barclays Capital US Treasury Bond ETF SYBTSPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Bond ETF SYBPGlobal equities Xetra symbolSPDR MSCI ACWI ETF SPYY SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF SPYI Emerging markets equitiesSPDR MSCI Emerging MarketsSM ETF SPYMSPDR MSCI Emerging MarketsSM Small Cap ETF SPYXSPDR MSCI EMSM Asia ETF SPYASPDR MSCI EMSM Latin America ETF SPYLSPDR MSCI EMSM Europe ETF SPYB

BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) on 4 July announced the launch of the first master/feeder fund solution to comply with the UCITS IV directive. The solution, designed to assist asset management to reach more final investors more efficiently, also introduces the concept of the fee-free feeder fund, a revolution in fund distribution.Margaret Harwood-Jones, head of the asset management clients segment at BNP Paribas Securities Services says of the launch in a statement that “with the imminent entry into force of the UCITS IV directive, we are very pleased to be the first to offer this solution for master-feeder funds. Out integrated service takes into account all combinations of master and feeder funds, and is available in most European countries.”The BNP Paribas range is unique in that it includes fund administration services, global custody, depository and reporting, all of it available for free to some feeder funds. Through the BNP Paribas solution, managers get a global view of master funds with a consolidated view of each fund, while automated trading limits manual operations. The synchronisation fo operations, the single platform and the global operational model at BNP Paribas contribute to maximise investment opportunities for managers, and optimises the alignment of performances for master-feeder structures. In this way, final investors get easier access to their investments.

As Newsmanagers announced last week, Ossiam, the asset management firm of the Natixis GAM group specialised in strategy ETFs, on Monday 4 July released its first six equities ETFs for sale on NYSE Euronext in Paris. Five of the funds, sub-funds of the firm’s Luxembourg-registered Sicav, have been listed since 27 June for trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform from Deutsche Börse, while the French market is the exclusive outlet for the Ossiam ETF CAC 40 Equal Weight NR.The latter fund belongs to the range of equally weighted index-based funds with net dividends reinvested which attributes equal weight to each share at rebalancing, regardless fothe cap size of the companies, unlike the classic index, in which market capitalisation determines the weight of companies. In practice, at each quarterly rebalancing, all businesses weigh 2.5%. With the other funds of the equally-weighted index strategies, the principle is identical. For the Ossiam ETF EURO STOXX 50® Equal Weight NR, each share weighs 2%; for the Ossiam ETF STOXX® EUROPE 600 Equal weight NR, shares represent 0.1667% each at each rebalancing – quarterly in both cases.The other family includes ETFs which follow the Minimum Variance strategy. The objective is to offer investors average volatility of lower by more than 30% than the benchmark universe, which is a de facto limit on drawdowns. The non-discretionary quantitative approach of the management firm has led it to develop the strategy index iStoxx Europe Minimum Variance (dividends reinvested) on the basis of the Stoxx Europe 600 index, which represents a “dynamic sample of the 300 most liquid equities, weighted in such a way as to minimise the volatility of the portfolio». For Ossiam ETF US Minimum Variance NR, the benchmark index is based on a dynamic sample of the 250 most liquid equities of the S&P 500 index. The strategy index is adjusted each month on a fixed date, the third Friday of the month. Characteristics of the fundsOssiam ETF CAC 40 Equal Weight (LU0599612768, TER : 0.30%)Ossiam ETF STOXX® EUROPE 600 Equal weight NR (LU0599613147, TER (*) : 0.35%) Ossiam ETF EURO STOXX 50® Equal weight NR (LU0599613063, TER: 0.30%)Ossiam ETF Europe Minimum Variance NR (LU0599612842, TER : 0.65%)Ossiam ETF US Minimum Variance NR (parts en euros : LU0599612685, TER: 0.65%) Ossiam ETF US Minimum Variance NR (parts en dollars : LU0599612412, TER: 0.65%).All of the funds are eligible for life insurance and PEA investment, except the Ossiam ETF US Minimum Variance NR, which is not eligible for equities savings plans.TER stands for Total Expense Ratio.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) from today, Tuesday, 5 July, has begun a process to harmonise the names of its funds. Initially, the funds will adopt the “Ednomd de Rotschild” prefix. Subsequently, the names will be simplified to the acronym “EdR.” The modifications to the names of funds in the range will have no effect on the technical characteristics of the funds.

Assets under management in European open-ended investment funds (excluding funds of funds), which totalled USD3.01trn as of the end of 2001, have since increased yb 81%, to total USD5.45trn as of the end of first quarter 2011. Of this total, 43% of assets are managed in funds which were launched in the first nine years, and thus represent 97% of growth in the sector, according to a Lipper study which compares the level of sales and new products with the level of sales for products launched in the previous years (“New product launches shed light on distribution in the fund industry.”)In other words, the study says, innovation and product development have played a crucial rolei n the evolution of the European asset management sector. The United Kingdom, where distribution is dominated by independent financial advisers, was the best-performing market in Europe in 2010. But it is also a market which has seen a strong percentage of inflows to funds launched in previous years (81% in 2010). There is not necessarily a causal relationship between the distribution channel and the preference for newer funds, as in the Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden, investors also give priority to funds with a longer track record.However, in the major European markets, where inhouse distribution channels dominate (France, Germany, Spain and Italy), inflows from funds launched in previous years totalled over 45% in 2010. In Germany, inflows went to new funds most of all, while funds launched in previous years saw net redemptions.

After a career at Skandia Investment Group, Aviva Investors and BNPP Paribas Asset Management, the Spanish citizen Natalia Santos has recently been appointed as head of channel marketing for Europe and vice president at Legg Mason Global Asset Management in London. Santos will be based in London, and will be in charge of coordinating marketing strategy for the US asset management firm in continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

EFG International on 4 July announced the appointment of Gerhard H. (Gary) Müller on 4 July as head of strategy for private banking activities in Europe, pending the approval of the regulatory authorities. Müller will also become a member of the board of directors at EFG Bank, a Swiss affiliate of EFG International.Müller will assist Alain Diriberry, CEO for private banking in Europe, in developing and rolling out strategy. Private banking activities in Europe, including Switzerland, Spain, France, Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Monaco, Liethtenstein and Gibraltar, represent a significant part of the mission which has been defined by John Williamson, the new CEO of the group, to review all of the operations of EFG International. This mission is ongoing, and hence the decision of EFG International to more effectively balance its desire to continue growth by adopting a more rigorous profit orientation.Before joining EFG International, Müller spent more than 16 years ato RBS Coutts, including periods as CEO of RBS Coutts Bank (since 2006) and RBS Wealth International (since 2009).

Tanja Engel, who spent seven years at American Express, most recently as director of taxation issues in Frankfurt, has been appointed as COO of Schroder Investment Management in Germany. She will report directly to Achim Küssner, CEO of Schroders Germany. She will be responsible for the compliance, legal, IT, planning and controlling sectors.

German-based Gothaer Asset Management, an affiliate of the insurer Gothaer, manages EUR25bn in assets. According to the Börsen-Zeitung, the firm is now planning to offer its six open-ended funds to retail investors; they had previously been distributed exclusively by the network of Gothaer travelling sales staff, in the frame of unit-linked policies. The plans to extend the sales will focus on the firm’s three multi-asset class funds, launched three years ago, which attracted EUR90m. They may invest in equities, bonds, commodities and real estate.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on Monday, 4 July announced that it has received a mandate in South Africa from the asset management division of Grindrod Bank Limited, Grindrod Asset Management, to provide custody and depository banking services for mutual funds.The mandate is a realisation of the SGSS strategy of adding to its cusoty range in South Africa, by setting up depository banking services for mutual fund managers as well as pension funds, a statement says. In the country, SGSS now offers local and international custody services, settlement and settlement/delivery (repos) for all asset classes, as well as securities lending and treasury services. The activities will be overseen by Hilda de Villiers, head of custody and depository banking for SGSS in South Africa.

Funds People reports that Javier Nuñez has left his position as CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) in Spain (EUR3.06bn in assets), a position he had held since 2009, when the firm merged with Fortis. He will be replaced by COO Manuel Méndez. Felipe Guirado will remain as director of sales to distributors, and Sol Hurtado de Mendoza remains as director of institutional sales.

Sarasin & Partners on 4 July announced that they have moved the domicile to Dublin for their range of funds domiciled in Guernsey (about Usd1bn in assets), from 1 July 2011, to allow investors to take advantage of all the flexibility offered by the UCITS IV directive.As a part of the move, the characteristics of the funds have been modified, including, for example, a reduction in administrative fees, set at at least 0.065%. Former name New name Sarasin CI EquiSar Sterling Global Thematic Fund Sarasin IE EquiSar – Global Thematic (GBP) Sarasin CI EquiSar Dollar Global Thematic Fund Sarasin IE EquiSar – Global Thematic (USD) Sarasin CI GlobalSar - Dynamic (GBP) Sarasin IE GlobalSar – Dynamic (GBP) Sarasin CI GlobalSar - Dynamic (USD) Sarasin IE GlobalSar – Dynamic (USD) Sarasin CI GlobalSar - Income (GBP) Sarasin IE GlobalSar – Income (GBP) Sarasin CI GlobalSar – Cautious (GBP) Sarasin IE GlobalSar – Cautious (GBP) Sarasin CI GlobalSar – Cautious (USD) Sarasin IE GlobalSar – Cautious (USD) Sarasin CI Real Estate Equity (GBP) Sarasin IE Real Estate Equity – Global (GBP) Sarasin CI Sustainable Equity - Real Estate Global (USD) Sarasin IE Sustainable Equity - Real Estate Global (USD) Sales of these funds will soon be authorised for the United Kingdom, South Africa, Jersey and Guernsey, Sarasin & Partners has announced, adding that the Sarasin group will remain present in Guernsey.

In a context marked by uncertainties about the strength of the global economic recovery and the Greek debt troubles, investors adopted a conparatively conservative stance in second quarter 2011.According to the most recent estimates from EPFR Global, bond funds in second quarter posted net inflows of USD54.89bn, while equities funds saw net outflows of USD2.1bn. In first quarter, net inflows to bond funds totalled slightly over UDS85bn, but equities funds totalled nearly Usd49.5bn.In the bond class, outflows continued from European bonds, with redemptions totalling USD6.05bn, compared with USD15.13bn in first quarter. High yield bond funds saw outflows of more than USD8bn in June, but for the quarter as a whole, outflows totalled slightly over USD1bn, following outflows of over USD15bn in first quarter.Emerging markets bond funds, which are continuing to attract investors, finished second quarter with net outflows of USD12.3bn, compared with USD14.19bn one quarter earlier.In equities, investors returned to emerging markets, with inflows of USD9.9bn in second quarter, while first quarter finished with net outflows of USD2.38bn. However, there has been a marked disaffection with US equities, which saw net outflows of USD4.74bn in second quarter, whereas they had seen net inflows of over USD20bn in first quarter.In sectoral terms, funds dedicated to health and biotech posted net inflows of nearly USD4bn between April and June, compared with USD3.48bn in first quarter.

The largest German asset management firms, like DWS, Deka, Union Investment, as well as foreign asset managers, can now no longer afford to have gaps in their product ranges, and they are now all offering wealth management funds, multi-asset class products, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The same is true of Franklin Templeton Investments, which had initially been known for its equity funds: its multi-asset class unit now employs 22 people, and manages USD30bn.

In June, according to statistics from Reuters relayed in Handelsblatt, many investors sold off their shares in ETF and ETC products investing in silver, as they estimated that the rise in the value of the metal was exaggerated.Net subscriptions to the ZKB Physical Silver and Julius Bär Physical Silver funds did not reverse the trend, and the ETF iShares Silver Trust, for example, was obliged to reduce its inventories by 4.1%, to about 320 million ounces. Platinum and palladium ETFs also saw net redemptions.However, small gold ETFs saw such huge inflows that they more than compensated for net outflows from large funds. The inventories of the SPDR Gold Shares (State Street) fell 0.2%, however, to 38.9 million ounces.

Tim Attias, former co-head of investment at Rubicon Fund Management, one of the top-performing hedge funds of the past three years, will launch his own hedge fund firm, Financial News reports.Catherine Cripps is leaving her position as chief investment officer and head of research in the multi-management team at GAM to join Attias.

La Banque Postale on 4 July announced the appointment of Pierre-Manuel Srocynski as CEO and a member of the board at La Banque Postale Asset Management.Srocyznski replaces Anne-Laure Bourn, who on 1 June 2011 was appointed as chief operating officer at La Banque Postale.Since 1 January 2006, Srocyznski was chief financial operations officer at La Banque Postale, and from 16 November 2009 he was chairman of the board of directors at Tocqueville Finance.

BNP Paribas Banque Privée this Tuesday, 5 July, is officially opening its wealth management office in Marseille, Les Echos reports. Following Bordeaux and Lille, the new location is part of a larger strategy of reorganising the wealth management network in France, with proximity as a level to win over new clients. Local offices will also be opened by the end of the year in Toulouse and Lyon.

Until recently, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) had been the custodian for mutual funds from Pioneer Investments (UniCredit group). Since June, Mutual Fund Wire states, BBH is also in charge of fund accounting, and the transition has already begun; it is slated for completion by the end of first quarter 2012. About half of the 41 employees in fund accounting services at Pioneer in Boston will be moved to similar positions at BBH.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the inflation team at Pimco (Allianz Global Investors), led by Mihir Worah, has earned capital gains of about USD50m, through an investment in TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) through first half, particularly as of the most recent auction on 23 June. Morgan Stanley, however, has seen major losses due to short-selling its TIPS, although the initial bet on the securities by Edward Glenn Hadden, head of the fixed income division, reportedly has made money.

Investment Europe reports that the Swiss branch of the international multi-family office Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P, GBP4bn in assets under management) has acquired the wealth management firm Gebhard, Corrodi & Partners (GCP, CHF1bn in assets). Urs Gebhard and Christoph Corrodi, two of the directors of GCP, have joined the board of FF&P (Switzerland). The seven employees of GCP are moving to the FF&P offices; the two firms are based in Zurich (Bahnhofstrasse for FF&P, and Zollikon for GCP). The transaction allows FF&P to more than double its assets in Switzerland.

Standard & Poor’s on 4 July announced the modification of outlooks for activities at the private bank and asset management firm of the Swiss Vontobel group from negative to stable. The ratings for Vontobel Holding (A/A-1) and Bank Vontobel (A+/A-1) have also been confirmed.

Between January and the end of June this year, assets under management in Chinese funds fell by CNY100bn (EUR10.67bn), to a total of CNY2.3trn (EUR245.43bn) as of 30 June.Z-Ben Advisors says the contraction is due to losses related to market effects, net redemptions, and a limited volume for funds launched in the period under review. The number of new funds however totalled 107, compared with 70 in the corresponding period of 2010.Equities funds in first half saw an average loss of 7.14%, while the CSI 300 market index lost only 2.69% in the same period.

The asset management firm Eden Financial on 4 July announced the recruitment of two former Gartmore managers, Dan Roberts and Leigh Himsworth, as part of its plans to develop its range of asset management activities. Both will begin in early July.Himsworth will manage the CF Eden UK Select Opportunities Fund, which is slated for launch in the near future. Roberts will be in charge of an income fund dedicated to international equities, whose launch is scheduled for slightly later in the year.