In the most recent edition of its publication “Global Perspective,” Standard Life Investments (SLI) estimates that investors would do well to diversify their portfolios further at this time, though equities have recently proven to bring in better returns than government bonds and cash. SLI experts estimate that wider diversification of portfolios to combine equities, commercial real estate, and government bonds, is likely to generate the best returns for investors in the decade to come. The difference in performance between asset classes is expected to decrease, reflecting the observation that the structural declines in inflation and interest rates, which were the determining elements in returns in the 1980s and 1990s, are now coming to an end. Now, outlooks for global economic growth and therefore of cash flows at businesses will be likely to remain less robust than they have been historically, which will influence the performance of equities. However, following a period of volatile and weak returns, equities will be likely to be the best-performing asset class in the coming decade, which will provide investors with good inflation-adjusted returns, says Richard Batty, global investment strategist at SLI.

RBC Dexia Investor Services has been selected by Vontobel Asset Management, an affiliate of the Swiss firm Bank Vontobel, to provide depository banking, fund administration, transfer agency, and record-keeping services for its Swiss-registered funds.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has estimated that the total deficit for 7,400 defined-benefit (DB) pension funds as of the end of August was GBP173.2bn, compared with GBP158.1bn one month earlier, and GBP133.9bn one year previously. The total deficit for 6,304 funds which show less than 1005 coverage increased to GBP194.6bn, from GBP179bn one month previously, and GBP92.7bn as of the end of August 2008, while total surplus for funds which show a surplus rose to GBP21.4bn, from GBP20.9bn one month earlier, far below the total of GBP53.4bn measured one year previously.

Since July, the management team in charge of the diversified fund Deka-Stiftungen Balance, led by Thorsten Rühl, has been working in cooperation with the agency imug, to determine a universe of ethically correct shares, from which the asset management firm for the German savings banks will then construct the portfolio of the product, aimed primarily at small and mid-sized charities, but which is also available to pension funds, to savings banks for investments on their own behalf, and to religious organisations. Initially, the investment universe will be limited by exclusionary criteria such as sales of services or products related to abortion or the production of land mines. Selection then takes into account a variety of characteristics, such as the attitude of target firms to human rights, corruption, and animal testing of cosmetics. imug does not limit its analysis to equities and corporate bonds. With the assistance of the British agency EIRIS, it also ranges covered bonds (Pfandbriefe), as well as government bonds. The allows for SRI analysis of the complete portfolio. The fund was launched on 28 April 2003.

Invesco Real Estate has announced that it has invested EUR75m in two buildings, in France and the United Kingdom, on behalf of the iii-BVK Europa-Immobilien-Spezialfonds, a German-registered institutional fund which the management firm has managed since 2000 for the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK). The properties include a building in Edinburgh, purchased for about EUR65m, and a extension to an existing logistical platform in Orléans, currently under construction, acquired for EUR10.5m.

Chen Deming, Chinese commerce minister, has announced that regulations governing foreign investment will be gradually liberalised, Die Welt reports. The Chinese government is seeking to encourage investors to place their capital in alternative energies as well as in less-developed provinces in the central and western regions of the country.

CCR Asset Management, born of the merger of the asset management affiliates of the CCR Group with UBS Global Asset Management France (SA) on 30 June 2009, to create a wholly-owned affiliate of the UBS group, on 1 July transformed its Centrale Actions Europe fund into a sustainable development fund entitled CCR Actions Engagement Durable. The new fund invests in all market cap sizes within the Euro zone. Value-style financial management is coupled with an engagement policy which involves active dialogue with firms to move them towards governance practices which are more respectful of ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues, explains Axylia, the advisor to CCR AM in the creation of the product. The investment process also involves the exclusion of certain practices and sectors, and the inclusion in the investment management process of ESG dimensions.

As of the end of August, assets in securities funds on sale in Portugal represented nearly EUR15.56bn, 4.4% more than one year earlier; the increase comes to 8.5% for the first eight months of the year (EUR14.34bn as of the end of December). However, the APFIPP association says, this total is still 19.4% below levels at the end of August 2008 (EUR19.29bn). The sector registered net subscriptions of EUR512m in August, which brings the total since the beginning of the year to EUR8.7685bn. On one year, funds have seen net outflows of EUR2.43bn. The three largest asset management firms by asset volumes are Caixagest, with EUR3.63bn, Esaf, with EUR3.18bn, and Santander Asset Management, with EUR2.88bn. The affiliate of the Spanish group is also the firm which has posted the largest increase in its assets under management since the beginning of the year, with growth of 25.2%, thanks to net subscriptions of EUR521.4m, putting it ahead of Esaf (+15% and EUR244.5m). Barclays Wealth Managers Portugal, which has EUR461.6m in assets, has posted a 65.1% increase in eight months, and net subscriptions of EUR158m (of which EUR45.2m were in August).

According to the annual rankings from Watson Wyatt, assets in the world’s 300 largest funds in 2008 fell by USD1.5trn to a total of USD10.4trn, of which USD4.7trn is in North America, USD3trn in Asia, and USD2.5trn in Europe, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some European funds saw particularly severe contractions, such as the Netherlands fund ABP, whose assets fell to USD243bn from USD315bn, or the Norwegian state pension fund, which lost USD32bn. In the case of the latter fund, capital losses were significantly higher, but tax revenues compensated for part of the losses.

Overlay Asset Management (OAM, BNP Paribas Investment Partners group) has announced the launch of the SingleHedge Currency Options Fund and the SingleHedge Multi-Strategy Currency Fund, Irish-registered products aimed at institutional clients in the currency alpha category. The former of these funds aims for positive returns from active positions on currency volatility and on directional bets on spot rates. The product is managed by Xavier Lefevre, head of portfolio management and trading. The Multi-Strategy Currency Fund is a feeder fund which combines exposure to three programs managed by OAM: the Developed Markets diversified Program, the Emerging Markets Currency Program, and the aforementioned currencies strategy. Investments in the underlying strategies are made in share classes that carry no fees.

According to reports in Mutual Fund Wire, Jefferies Asset Management, an affiliate of Jefferies Group, has applied to the SEC for permission to release an ETF replicating a US equities index, the Initial Equity Fund, and a bond index, the Initial Fixed Income Fund.

Following the EasyETF iTraxx® Europe HiVol and EasyETF iTraxx® Crossover funds, launched in 2008, EasyETF is now offering a third tracker of European credit derivatives markets: EasyETF iTraxx® Europe Main. The fund is a Luxembourg-registered FCP, which charges a management commission of 0.15%. The benchmark index includes 125 equally weighted credit derivatives of investment grade European businesses, whose ratings are above BBB- (Standard & Poor’s) or Baa3 (Moody’s). the market-maker for the EasyETF iTraxx Europe Main is BNP Paribas.

Fairfield Greenwich Group, considered to be the largest feeder of investors to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, agreed to pay USD8 million to settle civil fraud charges filed by Massachusetts Secretary of State Willial Galvin, says the Wall Street Journal. The sum will be shared among 15 investors who lost money in the scheme.

Money Marketing reports that Garratt Property Group is launching a Luxembourg-registered real estate fund aimed at investors hoping to profit from a rebound in the British residential real estate market. The management firm is offering the product to qualified and institutional investors, with a minimal subscription of GBP20,000. Garratt is aiming for assets of GBP50-100m, and total performance of 70-100% over five years.

The Swiss asset management firm Julius Baer Holding announced on Wednesday that its US affiliate Artio Global Investors Inc. (parent company of Artio Global Management LLC) has placed 23.4 million ordinary class A shares on sale ahead of a listing on the stock exchange, with a greenshoe option totalling 3.51 million shares. The proceeds of the placement will be used to buy 21 million ordinary class C shares, corresponding to 50% of the stake held by Julius Baer Holding, and the two lots of 1.2 million ordinary shares held by Richard Pell and Rudolph-Riad Younes, respectively. The new shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ART).

Investors in PAI Partners will meet on Wednesday to discuss the fate of the private equity firm, as a battle for control rages. Some large investors told the FT that they would push for a reduction of 30-50% reduction in its new EUR5.4bn fund, raised last year.

La Tribune asks whether, with the arrival of Quote MTF in Hungary, the stock markets have entered the low-cost era. The alternative platform is not exempt from the financial market instruments directive (MiFID), but it does profit from a more attractively-priced labour market. But it is not quite so easy to operate in isolation from the financial community, the newspaper reports. Quote MTF has chosen to locate its IT resources in London. But to attract users of the platform more readily, the platform is offering lower prices than its competitors in London.

In first half 2009, the asset management affiliates of La Banque Postale performed very well. The Banque Postale benefited from the “sustained development” of its affiliates, the group says in a statement. Net inflows to La Banque Postale Asset Management in the half show net inflows of EUR4.24bn. As of 30 June 2009, La Banque Postale Asset Management managed EUR118.1bn, compared with EUR109bn as of 31 December 2008, an increase of 8.35%. This puts it in sixth place among management firms on the French market. According to statistics from Europerformance, the OPCVM market share for La Banque Postale was up to 4.23% as of the end of June 2009, from 3.93% at the end of 2008. La Banque Postale states that, following a record year in terms of net inflows to OPCVM funds in 2008, with more than EUR6.5bn, activities serving institutional investors have been particularly dynamic in first half. Net inflows have exceeded EUR4.6bn, compared with EUR1.5bn in first half 2008.

On its website, La Tribune reports that consumer credit fell by 10.4% year-on-year in July in the United States, a record decline for a single month. Assets in consumer credit fell by USD21.5bn in July compared with June, while economists were predicting a fall of USD4bn.

Les Echos reports that the price of gold on 8 September passed the psychologically significant barrier of USD1,000 per ounce, peaking at USD1,007.70 early in the trading day, and then falling back but still above the USD1,000 mark. This is the third time that the price of gold has topped USD1,000 since 13 March 2008, when it passed this threshold for the first time in its history. Some of the most reputable experts remain doubtful that gold will be able to remain above this limit for sustained periods of time.

Alors que Volkswagen prépare une émission d'ABS de crédits automobiles, les marchés attendent un dégel du marché des RMBS britanniques

Selon l’Agefi, la Société Générale envisage de céder ou fusionner ses activités de conservation de titres. Une décision peu surprenante, la banque ayant décidé de céder l’essentiel du contrôle de sa gestion d’actifs au Crédit Agricole. A ce titre, précise le quotidien, les rumeurs vont bon train au sujet d’un rapprochement entre Caceis (dont la banque verte détient désormais 85 % après avoir acquis 35 % auprès de Natixis) et Société Générale Security Services (SGSS).

DB Platinum, plate-forme de la Deutsche Bank, s’est associée avec Millenium Global, un gestionnaire spécialiste des devises et de l’alternatif (11 milliards de dollars d’encours) pour le lancement du fonds Millenium Global Systematic Alpha, un produit conforme à la directive OPCVM III offrant une liquidité jouranlière.Il s’agit d’un produit ouvert censé générer une performance liée à celle du programme Millenium Global Systematic Alpha qui repose sur une approche systématique diversifiée avec huit stratégies d’investissement couvrant les devises, l’obligataire, les actions et les matières première. Il s’agit d’une gestion combinant des approches market neutral et directionnelle court terme. Le taux de frais sur encours (TFE (voi ci-dessous) n’inclut pas des frais de 0,99 % à l'échelon du panier.

L’Impax Asian Environmental Markets sera le nouvel «investment trust» qu’Impax Asset Management (1,8 milliard de dollars d’encours) compte lancer en coopération avec le gestionnaire hong-kongais Ajia Partners (2 milliards). Comme son nom l’indique, ce nouveau produit sera focalisé sur les entreprises du secteur environnemental basées dans la région Asie-Pacifique. Le fonds sera géré par Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, managing director chez Impax, et par David Li, d’Ajia Partners. Le fonds sera coté sur le marché principal du London Stock Exchange.

Le gestionnaire de fortune britannique Brooks Macdonald Group a annoncé le 7 septembre l’acquisition de la société basée à Canterbury Lawrence House Fund Managers Limited. Il s’agit de la première opération de croissance externe réalisée par Brooks Macdonald, souligne le groupe dans un communiqué.Les actifs sous gestion de Lawrence House s'élèvent à environ 60 millions de livres, répartis dans un OEIC avec trois sous-fonds et un certain nombre de portefeuilles dédiés. Ces fonds seront intégrés dans Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, la société de gestion du groupe spécialisée dans l’accompagnement des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants. Dans le cadre de cette transaction, deux membres du staff vont s’installer dans les bureaux récemment ouverts de Tunbridge Wells : Alan Stokes en tant que fund manager et Carol Evins en tant membre de la nouvelle équipe de développement des activités. L’ancienne société mère de Lawrence House, le conseiller en gestion de patrimoine Pharon Independent Financial Advisers Limited, ne fait pas partie de la transaction et restera indépendante. Mais Pharon passe une alliance stratégique avec Brooks Macdonald Asset Management pour la fourniture de services de gestion à ses clients.Les actifs sous gestion du groupe Brooks Macdonald, qui a des bureaux à Londres, Manchester, Winchester et Tunbridge Wells, s'élevaient à fin juin 2009 à près de 1,4 milliard de livres, en progression de 17% sur douze mois.

Une réorganisation au sein de Scottish Widows Investment Partnership a conduit au départ de Graham Wood, le directeur des investissements pour les actions, rapporte le Scotland On Sunday. Il sera provisoirement remplacé par Dean Buckley, managing director of SWIP.

The Telegraph croit savoir que Schroders a pris contact avec le prince Andrew, le deuxième fils de la reine d’Angleterre, pour lui confier le cas échéant un rôle d’ambassadeur pour son activité internationale, notamment auprès des fonds souverains. Le prince est le représentant spécial du gouvernement britannique pour le commerce international et le développement.

First State Investments enrichit sa gamme de produits investis en Asie-Pacifique et dans les marchés émergents en lançant le Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Fund que gère David Gait. L’objectif de ce fonds désormais distribué auprès des investisseurs français et qui vient aussi d’obtenir son agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne, en Autriche et en Suisse consiste à «exploiter la croissance des pratiques commerciales durables au sein des pays émergents». Dans sa gestion, le Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Fund qui est évalué par rapport à l’Indice Libre Marchés Emergents MSCI cible des sociétés «leaders de la durabilité» dont les modèles d’entreprise sont bien positionnés pour tirer directement profit de nouvelles opportunités dans les domaines de l'énergie renouvelable et plus propre, de l’efficacité énergétique, de la gestion des déchets et de la pollution, de la gestion de l’eau, des produits et services de consommation sensibilisés à l’environnement et le développement durable général. Caractéristiques du fonds Code ISIN : GB00B64TSB19 (part libellée en euro) Frais d’entrée : 4 %Frais de gestion : 1,55 % Montant de la part : 130 euros (environ) Investissement minimum : 1 500 euros

Selon les statistiques d’InvestHedge relayées par Hedge Week, les actifs gérés par les plus grands fonds de hedge funds, ceux du «Billion Dollar Club» se sont contractés au premier semestre de 13,5 % pour revenir à 613 milliards de dollars au 30 juin. Si l’on y ajoute les autres gestionnaires de fonds de hedge funds, le total atteint 735 milliards de dollars soit environ 40 % des 1,7 billion de dollars de l’encours des hedge funds.Les trois plus grands gestionnaires de fonds de hedge funds étaient fin juin UBS Global Asset Management A&Q avec 31 milliards de dollars, voire 33,3 milliards si l’on compte UBS Wealth Management USA, suivi de Man Investments (26,4 milliards) et de Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (25 milliards).

L’obsession des grands gérants pour la gestion des risques et la pérennisation des patrimoines et des rendements n’est pas fortuite. Les actifs des 300 plus gros fonds de pension de la planète sont retombés l’an dernier à leur niveau de 2006, selon des données publiées par Pensions & Investments et Watson Wyatt. Les actifs de ces fonds se sont contractés l’an dernier de 13 % à 10.400 milliards de dollars, soit un recul d’environ 1.500 milliards de dollars sur un an. Toutefois, le taux de croissance annuel cumulé sur une période de cinq ans se maintient encore autour de 10 %.L'étude montre aussi que les Etats-Unis restent la première place mondiale avec 41 % des actifs des fonds de pension (4.700 milliards de dollars), mais sa part de marché culminait à 53 % en 2003. La faiblesse du dollar et la montée en puissance des fonds souverains seraient à l’origine de cette évolution. Le Japon occupe la deuxième place avec une part de marché de 19 % (contre 14 % en 2007), pour l’essentiel en raison de la position dominante du fonds souverain du Japon, le Government Pension Investment Fund, qui mène une politique d’allocation très conservatrice et occupe la tête du classement depuis plusieurs années, avec des actifs à fin 2008 de près de 1.300 milliards de dollars.Et avec une croissance continue de ses actifs au cours des cinq dernières années, la région Asie-Pacifique a pour la première fois dépassé l’Europe. Son encours atteint quelque 3.000 milliards de dollars contre 2.500 milliards pour l’Europe. En 2008, la zone Asie-Pacifique a d’ailleurs été la seule à progresser, avec une croissance de 11 %.Dans le sillage des années précédentes, les vingt premiers fonds ont fait mieux que tous les autres : ils accusent un recul limité à 4 %, contre une chute de 13 % pour les autres fonds. Sur les cinq dernières années toutefois, les vingt premiers affichent une croissance de 14 % contre 7 % pour le reste du peloton.