The asset management affiliate of Banco Espirito Santo (Bes) has registered the ES Etico y Solidario fund with the CNMV, a global ethical and solidaristic product, all of whose investments will comply with principles and values corresponding to the social doctrine of the Catholic church, Funds People reports. This means that the management team will exclude shares in companies involved in the manufacture of weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and all products detrimental to health. It will also abstain from investment in the capital of companies which do not recognize the rights of workers, or which inflict damage on the environment. In government bonds, the ES Etico y Solidario will invest only in debt issued by countries that have signed the Kyoto protocol, and which have laws to prevent child labour and promote equality. In addition, the manager will contribute 0.25% of assets to charities which apply the social doctrine of the Catholic church and which respect human dignity. Currently, the charities are Cáritas Española and La Bruixa D’Or.

L’Agefi Switzerland reported that Switzerland and India will soon conclude a revised double taxation agreement. Negotiations will begin by the end of the year. The ruling Congress Party in India is under pressure from the opposition to provide precise information about Indian holders of Swiss bank accounts.

In the first seven months of the year, in Portugal, there were 13 mergers of funds, compared with 5 in 2008 and 2 in 2007, according to Negocios, relayed by Funds People. Since the beginning of the crisis in June 2007, assets in funds have declined by more than 50%, from EUR40.1bn to EUR14.9bn.

Eaton Vance plans to launch a mutual fund - Eaton Vance Build America Bonds Fund -, which will invest mostly in Build America Bonds, taxable debt instruments which are part of the federal stimulus program, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Les Echos reports that central bankers on Sunday, 6 September agreed on new measures to strengthen supervision of banks, including the adoption by 2011 of a leverage limit, previously used primarily by US banks, which ties banks’ overall balance sheets to their levels of capital. French bankers have made two suggestions toward the new leverage rules: the inclusion in the numerator of assets not included on the balance sheet, which have previously not been included in the American ratio, and a clear definition of assets not included on the balance sheet on both sides of the Atlantic. .

The French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), on 7 September declared its support for the initiative for transparency in the mining industries (ITIE), in keeping with its investment strategy, adopted in April 2008. As signatories of the initiative, it joins other institutional investors, as well as several governments, including France, businesses, representatives of civil society and international organisations The ITIE aims to strengthen transparency and responsibility of actors in the mining industries through verification and complete publication of payments made by these businesses and revenues earned by governments from the exploitation of mineral, oil and gas resources. “By supporting the ITIE, the FRR invites all businesses in sectors directly or indirectly concerned in which it is currently a shareholder to participate, and those businesses who are already involved to suppose the inititative by taking an active role in putting it into action,” the Fund says in a statement.

HSBC is reported to have offered more than GBP1bn to acquire the private banking activities of ING, according to the Sunday Times. The British group is reported to be one of five candidates to acquire the business, alongside the Singapore fund DBS and Julius Baer. The buyer will be selected in the next six days. In Asia, AUM for the business represent USD16bn, while in Switzerland, they total about USD15bn.

Mónica Vidal is leaving her position as director of alternative asset management at the Spanish management firm N+1 to become commercial director for the Alternatives unit at JPMorgan Private Bank in New York, Funds People reports. She will be in charge of product placement (hedge funds, private equity, real estate) serving Latin American clients.

The hedge fund manager Och-Ziff is reportedly about to re-establish performance commissions on all of its assets, totalling USD2.17bn, Hedgeweek reports. The flagship fund from Och-Ziff, the Och-Ziff Master Fund, has gained 17.6% since the beginning of the year, which means that it has nearly offset all of its losses in 2008. Various sources estimate that Och-Ziff funds will now begin to show net inflows. The founder of Och-Ziff, Daniel Och, estimated last month that inflows to funds remained modest. “It will take a little time for them to gain size,” he added. In second quarter 2009, Och-Ziff made a net loss of USD88.3m.

DB Platinum, a platform from Deutsche Bank, has teamed up with Millennium Global, a manager specialised in currencies and alternative assets (USD11bn in assets) to launch the Millennium Global Systematic Alpha fund, a product which complies with the UCITS III directive and offers daily liquidity. The open-ended product aims to generate returns related to those of the Millennium Global Systematic Alpha program, which is based on a systematic diversified approach involving eight investment strategies including currencies, bonds, equities, and commodities. This fund management method combines market neutral and short-term directional approaches.

As its new head of product & sales, Beatrix Purchart becomes the new head of strategic development of distribution and products at the Swiss asset management firm Rising Star. She was previously head of institutional distribution in Germany and set up a distribution network in France for RMF Investments, since the acquisition of that firm by UK-based Man Group.

Michael Bücker has been appointed as chairman of the board at Commerz Real (EUR43bn in assets), an affiliate of Commerzbank, from 1 October. He will replace Hubert Spechtenhauser, who was head of CommerzLeasing & Immobilien from 2002 to 2007, and then of Commerz Real since the merger in 2007 of CommerzLeasing with Commerz Grundbesitz. The appointment of Bücker who has been head of the corporate banking activities of Commerzbank in the Munich region since 2005, is related to a repositioning of Commerz Real being planned by the group, whose details will be revealed in the coming months.

Sahba Hadipour, Director, Private Equity and Wealth Management at CIC Holding (Invesco Holding), has been recruited by Barclays Wealth as director of its international private banking team in the Middle East, TradeArabia news Service reports. He will report to Fawaz Baba, managing director of the Dubai International Private Banking Office, and will be based in Dubai. He will be in charge of focusing on high net worth and ultra-high net worth client markets in the United Arab Emirates.

The Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), which is wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has announced its acquisition of Charered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Chartered) for SGD2.68 per share, which represents about SGD2.5bn (USD1.8bn). The amount of the transaction, which is expected to be concluded during fourth quarter, is about SGD5.6bn, or USD3.9bn, when outstanding debt is included. The agreed price represents a markup of 14.2% over the trading price in the past 30 periods on the Singapore stock exchange (SGX), and of 44.6% over its trading price in the past six months. Currently, Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek owns 62% of Chartered. The acquisition of Chartered will allow ATIC to exploit synergies with the Global Foundries platform, a joint venture created in March with AMD. Pending the necessary regulatory approval, Doug Grose, CEO of Global Foundries, would become CEO of the business born of the merger, while Chia Song Hwee, CEO of Chartered, would become COO, with particular responsibility for overseeing the integration process.

Les Echos reports that Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners has become the largest shareholder in the firm that operates the channel tunnel, with 21.2% of capital, far outstripping the M & G fund (Prudential group), which held a 7% stake at the beginning of the year. Small shareholders retain about 30% of the firm. This increase in Goldman’s stake is the expected consequence of a restructuring plan, a capital increase of EUR800m launched in March 2008 which allowed the firm to pay off part of its debts. Redeemable bonds were issued as part of the Eurotunnel safeguard plan. The operation was undertaken through bonds convertible into equities, of which 82% were subscribed to by two funds from Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, which then decided, one and a half years later, to convert its bonds into shares.

Christine du Fretay, the widow of Gilles du Fretay, has been appointed chairwoman of the board at HDF Finance, while Gilles Guérin on 1 September became CEO and vice-chairman of the board. Since 2007, Guérin has been CEO of Alphasimplex, an alternative management firm founded by Andrew Lo, which specialises in overlay management and market risk control. Christian de Juniac, who in June accepted a position as chairman of the board at HDF Finance, replacing Gilles du Fretay (who died on 7 August), has been promoted to vice president of HDF Group SAS, the holding company which includes all HDF’s affiliates and participations.

Nine months after the acquisition of its parent company, National City Corporation, by PNC Financial, Allegiant Asset Management will merge with the management firm PNC Capital Advisors INC, to form a new entity to be known as PNC Capital Advisors LLC. Following the merger, John Abunassar, chairman of Allegiant, will leave the firm. Kevin McCreadie, CEO of PNC Capital, will direct the new entity, which will have a total of USD37bn in assets under management.

The Telegraph claims to have information that Schroders has contacted Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, to offer him a potential role as ambassador for its international activities, particularly in its interactions with sovereign funds. The prince is the special representative of the British government for international commerce and development.

The British wealth management firm Brooks Macdonald Group on 7 September announced its acqusition of the Canterbury-based business Lawrence House Fund Managers Limited. This is the first external growth operation undertaken by Brooks Macdonald, the group says in a statement. Assets under management at Lawrence House total about GBP60m, distributed between an OEIC with three sub-funds and a number of dedicated portfolios. These funds will be integrated into Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, the management firm of the group specialised in assisting independent financial advisors. As a part of the transaction, two members of staff will move to the offices of the business recently opened in Tunbridge Wells: Alan Stokes, who will be a fund manager, and Carol Evans, as a member of the new activities development team. The former parent company of Lawrence House, the independent financial advisory firm Pharon Independent Financial Advisers Limited, is not included in the transaction and will remain independent. But Pharon will form a strategic alliance with Brooks Macdonald Asset Management to provide management services to its clients. Assets under management at the Brooks Macdonald group, which has offices in London, Manchester, Winchester and Tunbridge Wells, totalled nearly GBP1.4bn as of the end of June 2009, an increase of 17% in twelve months.

A shake-up at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has led to the departure of Graham Wood, the chief investment officer of equities, Scotland on Sunday reports. He will be temporarily replaced by Dean Buckley, managing director of SWIP.

Banque Sarasin has selected 64 real estate firms as eligible providers to its sustainable development criteria, out of a universe of 160 businesses in 17 countries. The study “Auf nachhaltige Gebäude bauen,” by Klaus Kämpf, a specialist in sustainable development research, has determined that the top two firms in the rankings are the British firms Land Securities and British Land. The French firms Gecina and Unibail-Rodamco also show above-average results, as does Mitsubishi Estate. However, says Sarasin, there are several firms which have received a lower-than-average sustainable development rating, particularly in the Americas and Asia, regions where environmental standards are based on voluntary compliance and certificates, while in Europe, the requirements are set by law.

Lloyds Banking Group veut réduire sa dépendance vis-à-vis du gouvernement britannique, précise l’Agefi. La banque cherche en effet à diminuer sa participation dans le plan gouvernemental de garantie des actifs (Asset Protection Scheme ou APS) qui lui coûterait 15,6 milliards de livres de commissions payables en actions pour faire assurer 260 milliards de livres de créances douteuses.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme), le principal fonds de pension des retraites universitaires et académiques au Royaume-Uni et deuxième fonds de pension britannique, confie l’administration de ses hedge funds au groupe bancaire helvétique. Sur un portefeuille de 23 milliards de livres, 20 à 25% sont destinés à des investissements alternatifs, dont une moitié aux hedge funds. USS sélectionnera vingt-cinq gérants dans les deux ans à venir, dotés chacun de 50 millions de livres.

Rathbones lance un nouveau service dédié à destination des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine qui souhaitent externaliser tout ou partie de la gestion des actifs de leurs clientèle. Ce service sera disponible pour les groupes de clients disposant de 25.000 livres ou plus à investir. Les conseillers auront ainsi accès à deux nouveaux fonds de fonds multi classe d’actifs. Ces véhicules incluent un portefeuille strategic growth multi classe d’actifs visant l’inflation plus 5% et un portefeuille total return visant le taux du marché monétaire plus 2%.Rathbones, qui va présenter sa nouvelle offre courant septembre, gère actuellement quelque 10 milliards de livres par le biais de sa gestion discrétionnaire pour le compte de 150 gérants.

Samedi, American International Group (AIG) a annoncé la vente pour environ 500 millions de dollars d’une partie de son activité de conseil en investissement et de gestion d’actifs à Bridge Partners, une filiale de Pacific Century Group (PCG) de Hong-Kong. Sur ce montant, AIG percevra 300 millions de dollars en numéraire au moment du bouclage de la transaction.Les activités ainsi vendues se situent dans 32 pays et représentent des encours d’environ 88,7 milliards de dollars, soit 15,6 % du total, gérés tant pour le compte d’investisseurs institutionnels que pour des particuliers en utilisant diverses stratégies comme le private equity, les fonds de hedge funds, les actions cotées et l’obligataire. Win J Neuger restera CEO de l’ensemble et l'équipe de direction demeurera en place.AIG conserve ses activités de gestion en interne qui représente un encours d’environ 480 milliards de dollars et dont la responsable en tant que senior vice president et CIO reste Monika M. Machon.

Selon le Financial Times, Barclays Capital (CarCap) envisage de s’associer à des fonds souverains pour acquérir des actifs dans le domaine des ressources naturelles, ce qui signifie au passage que la banque britannique ouvrirait pour la première fois sa filiale à des investisseurs externes. Barclays a déjà investi 1 milliard de dollars dans cette filiale ces quatre dernières années et serait à un stade de négociations avancé pour obtenir un investissement de 400 millions de dollars du Natural Resource Fund de Corée du Sud. Barclays a l’intention de constituer un fonds de plusieurs milliards de dollars qui investirait en Amérique latine, en Afrique et en Asie des actifs d’une valeur de 50-100 millions de dollars avant de les revendre sous trois à cinq ans à d’autres groupes de ressources naturelles.

Roger Polani qui gère plus de 250 millions d'euros via ses fonds actions explique l'évolution de la gamme de la SPGP et revient, notamment, sur le succès de son fonds d'obligations convertibles. Sans exclure quelques a-coups à venir, il reconnait également que les marchés retrouvent désormais un comportement normal. Et compte en profiter...

Confrontée à la fin du secret bancaire, la gestion de fortune suisse doit se réinventer, selon Le Temps. Les banques suisses devront gérer les avoirs de leurs clients de façon plus dynamique, notamment pour concurrencer les établissements britanniques. Cela les contraindra à abaisser les frais de transactions facturés aux clients, traditionnellement hauts en comparaison internationale. Elles devront enfin viser une clientèle moins élitaire.

La filiale de la banque privée helvétique Bank of China (Suisse) SA, BOC (Suisse) Fund Management SA vient d’obtenir le feu vert de la Finma (Autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés) pour le lancement de 24 classes de son fonds BOCS Fund , dont une partie sera libellée en renminbi chinois.Cette gamme complète de fonds de droit suisse est dotée de 12 compartiments avec 24 classes, dont la moitié est investie en actions et l’autre partie en obligations. Chacun des douze compartiments est proposé en deux classes de devises différentes, la principale innovation étant que la plupart d’entre eux offre une classe libellée en renminbi chinois, une première mondiale, souligne un communiqué de la société.Les investisseurs chinois pourront ainsi investir dans les marchés financiers internationaux sans s’exposer au risque de change et les investisseurs internationaux pourront bâtir à travers des produits d’investissements régulés en Suisse, leur exposition stratégique à la devise chinoise et aux marchés chinois. Autre innovation majeure, relève le communiqué, BOCS Fund apporte au Groupe Bank of China une expertise et des produits dans une approche de gestion Total Return, complétant ainsi l’offre du Groupe dans les trackers et les produits benchmarkés.La gamme de fonds BOCS Fund applique à d’autres marchés et classes d’actifs la philosophie Total Return et le processus de gestion d’investissement qui caractérise le fonds existant en actions chinoises Total Return de droit suisse lancé en 2006. Celui-ci affiche une performance de 46.6% du 1er Janvier 2009 au 31 août 2009, ce qui le classe parmi les meilleurs fonds actions chinois. Le Groupe Bank of China est aujourd’hui l’un des plus importants gestionnaires institutionnels sur le marché financier chinois et l’un des rares groupes chinois à offrir ses services de gestion à l’extérieur de la Chine. C’est aussi l’un des principaux acteurs pour les trackers et pour la gestion de produits benchmarkés sur les marchés chinois.

Les fonds de fonds de Bernd Greisinger, fortement contaminés par Madoff, sont fermés et les actifs inaccessibles aux souscripteurs depuis le 17 décembre 2008. Ces derniers ne savent même pas combien ils vont pouvoir récupérer sur leur investissement, constate das investment. Bernd Greisinger compte ouvrir à nouveau les fonds de fonds au troisième trimestre et réfléchit actuellement à la possibilité de fusionner plusieurs d’entre eux. A l’avenir, l’ancien gérant star prévoit de miser en priorité sur des produits « simples », comme les fonds indiciels, précise-t-il.