p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Lavin Mok as head of sales for Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Investor reports. It is a newly-created position, which marks the group’s desire to offer more Asia-themed products.Mok previously worked at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), where he started in March 2010. When asked about his departure from Edram less than one year after his arrival, Mok said effectively that BlackRock had made him an offer he could not refuse.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } About one year ago, the British asset management firm Jupiter entered the French market, with a partnership with the third party marketing firm Alfi Partners. One year later, Eric Bonneville, founding partner, says that “hundreds of millions of euros” have been raised for the London management firm from professional investors. This was no easy task in a market which is highly cautious of equities, Jupiter’s privileged asset class. “We largely benefited from arbitrages, particularly in multi-management,” explains Bonneville, adding that European equities were the most popular destination for investments, particularly the European Growth fund, managed by Alexander FC Darwall, which gained 26.84% in 2010. The New Europe fund, focused on central and eastern Europe, and the Global Convertible fund of global convertible equities were also popular with investors, Bonneville says. The products are part of the Luxembourg Sicav founded in 2001 in order to allow Jupiter to develop in continental Europe. The Sicav saw an increase in its assets from EUR700m to EUR1.3bn last year, while total assets have risen from EUR23bn at the end of 2009 to EUR28.4bn as of 31 December 2010. In 2011, Alfi Partners is hoping that investors will move a little more towards equities, which would work to Jupiter’s advantage. The TPM provider also works with the US independent management firm Brown Advisory, and is hoping to sign new partnerships in the near future in order to extend the range of funds it makes available.

At a press conference held on Monday, 24 January in Paris, Edouard Carmignac, chairman of the eponymous asset management firm, discussed the objectives for his management firm in 2011. As Eric Helderlé had told Newsmanagers a few days ago (see interview dated 20 January 2011), the release of a new fund, the Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine, will take place in the coming quarter – a rare occasion, says Carmignac, as the youngest fund currently in the firm’s range was launched in 2007.The new Luxembourg fund will invest in emerging markets, half in fixed income products and the other half in equities. The fixed income product portion, which will be managed by Charles Zerah, who joined the firm in October 2010. The other portion of the portfolio will be managed by Simon Pickard, and will be composed of shares in emerging market businesses, but may be hedged in times of turbulence.Carmignac Gestion aims the product at some clients in particular. “This fund may be especially suitable for investors who would like to invest in emerging markets, but who are not prepared to confront the volatility,” he explains. In an interview with Newsmanagers, Helderlé, CEO, and Carmignac say they are sure that the new fund will not cannibalise any of the other products in the range, including the Carmignac Patrimoine fund, which weighs in at nearly EUR28bn currently. Helderlé notes that the fund may very well form the lynchpin of a Carmignac product range in Asia, where the firm already has a representative office in Singapore, and where the firm is hoping to build a presence in the next three to four years.Carmignac has also confirmed the opening of a representative office in the United Kingdom, which will have three employees, and which will target independent financial advisers (IFAs) as well as pension funds.As of the end of 2010, assets at Carmignac Gestion totalled about EUR55bn, compared with EUR33bn as of 31 December 2009, with inflows of EUR16bn last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The independent asset management firm Altira Group on 24 January announced that it has recruited the Swiss Jens Schleuniger, who was manager of the DWS Invest Afrika fund (EUR340m). Schleuniger was also manager of the DWS GO Frontier Markets fund, and co-manager of the DWS Türkei.With the future African equities fund, Altira would be adding to a range which already includes a private equity fund, African Development Corporation, founded in 2007. In addition, Schleuniger may collaborate with experts in commodities and shares in commodity businesses at the group, who manage EUR110m in assets.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oliver Morath, CEO of Baring Asset Management Deutschland, has been appointed head of Europe & MENA, effective immediately. He will continue to be based in Frankfurt, and will report to George Harvey, head of sales, client service & business development.His successor as head of sales at Barings Germany will be Howard Luder, who was previously director of business development, asset servicing, Germany, at RBC Dexia.Barings has also created positions for a head of Switzerland and a head of Northern Europe; the appointments will be made at a later date.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian sset management firm Azimut, which manages EUR14bn in assets, is planning to enter Asia, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. Its Asian unit will be operational by the end of the year. The management firm is currently awaiting the necessary licenses to open its new activities. The group will transfer three of its managers currently based in Luxembourg to China, where they will join four local partners. Azimut’s plans for expansion don’t stop in Asia: “we would like to have managers not only in Europe but throughout the world. In four years, one employee our of three will be working abroad,” says Pietro Guiliani, head of Azimut. The firm is primarily looking at Brazil and Turkey. The firm may also make acquisitions, and in this connection, it is in contact with a company in a country close to Italy.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the asset management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi and Natixis are the only two remaining candidates to acquire Pioneer, Financial News reports. Resolution has pulled out of the running. The newspaper reports that a deal will eventually fall in the EUR1.5bn price range, well below the valuation of the management firm on the books of its parent company UniCredit (EUR3bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January Allianz Global Investors made an implicit reply to the consumer defence association Stiftung Warentest (see Newsmanagers of 6 January 2011), with the announcement that its open-ended funds would not invest in businesses which are involved in the production of cluster bombs or land mines. In addition, the management firm has put in place the necessary procedures to avoid any investment in businesses of this type. For this, AGI Europe has set up a blacklist of businesses off limits to its open-ended funds. The list is updated regularly, to include the most recent information available on the subject.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German bank Berenberg on 24 January announced that it would like to develop a private banking activity on the British market. The firm has already been present in the UK since 2003 in investment banking, with 100 research and sales staff.Berenberg says in a statement that it hopes to have a team specialised in private banking by the end of the year, with 10 members. The new unit will be led by Ross Elder and Fred Hervey, both of whom join from Barclays Wealth.The bank estimates that there is high demand in the United Kingdom for high net worth advising from independent firms. Berenberg states that it has a leading position in strategic asset allocation, and that it is not seeking to push products on clients, but that it is in the service of the client with custom solutions.Assets under management at the bank total over EUR25bn, with about 1,000 employees.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 21 January, UBS Global Asset Management registered the Global Equities UBS (Lux) Islamic Fund (LU0108058487), a product with 30-60 positions launched on 19 May 2000, with assets as of the end of December of USD33.27m, with the CNMV. The benchmark index for the product is the Dow Jones Islamix Market 100 Titans. The average annual performance of the product in the past five years was 2.18% in US dollars; in euros, the fund has lost an average of 0.42%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { } The CFA Institute on 24 January published a new study of questions related to market transparency and the workings of fair competition in the fragmented European equities trading markets. The study was released as part of a consultation over the MiFID directive to regulate markets for financial instruments, which runs until 2 February 2011, and at a time when the market is increasingly fragmenting.The study (http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/ccb.v2011.n3.1), which reviews the structure of European equities markets as well as the regulatory framework applicable to the various types of trading platforms (bilateral and multilateral), concentrates its analysis on the need for transparency on each platform. The report also empirically demonstrates a correlation between high levels of transparency and low trading spreads, a sign that investors would have a lot to gain from increased transparency in trading.The study also estimates that the quality and unity of post-transaction information could be improved, for example, by shortening the deadlines for the publication of information about transactions, as recommended by the CESR, and by setting up a consolidated tape system to collect market data.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 24 January, Pimco Source launched its first two Irish-registered ETFs, which are listed exclusively in Frankfurt on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse. These include the PIMCO European Advantage Government Bond Index Source ETF (IE00B5VJLZ27), which charges 0.30%. It replicates the PIMCO European Advantage Government Bond Index, which is weighted according to GDPs, so as not to give excessive weight to countries with high levels of debt, as capitalisation-based indices may do.The other new product is the PIMCO EUR Enhanced Short Maturity Source ETF (IE00B5ZR2157), which is actively managed, and whose benchmark is the Eonia index. This product charges 0.35%, and is aimed at investors who have significant cash positions and who would like to improve performance without losing sight of capital preservation and liquidity. The actively-managed portfolio includes diversified bonds with maturities that may range up to one year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Skandia Investment Group (SIG) on 24 January announced the launch of a local currency emerging market debt fund, the Skandia Local Currency Emerging Market Debt, which will aim to profit from long-term outlooks for emerging market bonds and currencies.SIG has awarded a management mandate for the fund to the fixed income specialist Stone Harbor Investment Partners, to which Skandia had already assigned a mandate for USD60m in September 2008, for the Skandia Emerging Market Debt fund. The fund now has nearly USD500m in assets.The fixed income specialist at SIG, Anthony Gillham, says in a statement that three factors make the fund an attractive investment. Firstly, it offers a good way to capture growth in emerging markets; secondly, local currencies are undervalued; and lastly, the emerging markets in local currencies are three times larger than the emerging markets denominated in US dollars.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 17 December 2010, Swiss & Global Asset Management launched a UCITS-compliant local currencies emerging markets inflation-linked bond fund, the Emerging Markets Inflation Linked Bond Fund, a sub-fund of the Sicav Julius Baer Multibond.The benchmark index is the Barclays Emerging Markets Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index ex Argentina, ex Colombia, constrained, unhedged USD. The reference currency is the US dollar, but the management firm also offers shares in Euros and Swiss francs, hedged for currency risks. The eligible investment universe totals USD350bn, and includes 10 countries.CharacteristicsName: Julius Baer Multibond - Emerging Markets Inflation Linked Bond FundISIN code: LU0564969805Front-end fee: 3% maximumManagement commission: 1.30%

La présidence française souhaite notamment la création d’une base de données mondiale sur la production et les stocks de matières premières agricoles.

Nicolas Sarkozy en a fait la proposition lundi, à l'occasion du lancement de la présidence française du G20

L’association souhaite que soit réalisé un plus grand nombre de transactions sur des marchés organisés

La dette émergente locale et le high yield devraient encore bénéficier de nouveaux flux en 2011

Les plus solides auront intérêt à rappeler leurs lignes existantes d’ici à 2013. Les autres devraient jouer la montre

Une première audience s'ouvre aujourd'hui devant la justice à Milan au sujet de la liquidation d'un fonds immobilier de BNP Paribas REIM

Le carnet d’ordres intentionnels ouvert hier aurait atteint à mi-séance 13 milliards d'euros

La ministre de l’Economie et des finances a indiqué souhaiter réformer l’impôt au profit des PME sur les sociétés mais pas en 2011. A 33,3%, le taux nominal d’impôt sur les sociétés en France est le plus élevé d’Europe après Malte. «Nous avons un système de fiscalité, en particulier d’impôt sur les sociétés, qui a un taux facial élevé et toute une catégorie de niches fiscales diverses et variées», a déclaré la ministre.

Le gestionnaire alternatif américain a informé ses clients qu’il avait engrangé un gain de plus d’un milliard de dollars grâce à sa participation au sein de la banque au cours des dix-huit derniers mois. Cet investissement a été le plus rentable au sein du fonds vedette Advantage. Le hedge funds assure n’avoir aucun souci de taille, face aux «énormes» opportunités de marché.

Le carnet d’ordres intentionnels ouvert hier aurait atteint à mi-séance 13 milliards d'euros

Le rachat en LBO par Advent de la chaîne de cliniques Priory pour 925 millions de livres sera refinancé à hauteur de 600 millions sur le marché obligataire, avec des titres de maturité 2018 et 2019. Une ligne revolving de 70 millions d’échéance 2017 est aussi prévue. Deutsche Bank, RBS et Credit Suisse dirigentle refinancement.

La banque centrale hongroise a décidé de relever son principal taux directeur d’un quart de point à 6%, ce qui représente la troisième hausse consécutive. La banque centrale prévoit que l’inflation devrait rester au-dessus de son objectif de 3% durant les deux prochaines années.

Nicolas Sarkozy, président de la République, «espère un accord dès février prochain» sur une définition commune des critères de déséquilibres mondiaux entre ministres des Finances du G20. Ce G20 Finance se tiendra les 17 et 18 février prochains à Paris. La mise en place d’un étalon commun de mesures des déséquilibres mondiaux, appelé «lignes directrices», est vue comme une étape préalable à la réforme du système monétaire international. Nicolas Sarkozy a réitéré lundi le souhait de la France d'élargir les pouvoirs du FMI pour que celui-ci puisse exercer sa surveillance sur ces critères. Il a aussi renouvelé son appui à une éventuelle taxation des transactions financières, n’excluant pas que la France, avec d’autres pays, puisse «donner l’exemple».

Le hedge fund Macquarie Asian Alpha Fund de la banque australienne Macquarie a enregistré en 2010 une performance de 15,97 %, indique Hedgeweek. Investi selon la stratégie du market neutral equity, le fonds a triplé ses encours à 640 millions de dollars australiens l’an dernier.

L’indice DB Hedge Fund a progressé de 2,33% en décembre, selon les dernières statistiques communiquées par la Deutsche Bank.Les stratégies ayant contribué à la performance de l’indice ont été l’Equity Hedge, l'évenementiel, le Systematic Macro, le Global Macro et les indices crédit et convertibles.