Avec une collecte nette de 9,5 milliards d’euros depuis début janvier, 2013 est la meilleure année pour Pioneer Investments depuis la crise, qui est également la première après la fin du processus de redéploiement. Cette collecte s’avère de surcroît bien répartie entre classes d’actifs et régions géographiques. Elle était de «seulement» 7,7 milliards d’euros à fin septembre, a rappelé Sandro Pierri, le CEO, lors d’une présentation à Paris jeudi. Cela ne signifie pas pour autant que la société de gestion ait l’intention de lever le pied sur les investissements en distribution et en talents, qui ont absorbé en moyenne 15 % des bénéfices de 2011 et 2012.L’encours ressort actuellement à 175 milliards d’euros, contre 168,9 milliards fin septembre et quelque 158 milliards fin décembre de l’an dernier. En Europe occidentale (France, Suisse, Benelux et nordiques), dont Fabien Madar est le directeur général régional, les actifs sous gestion représentent 6,2 milliards d’euros, dont 2,1 milliards de souscriptions nettes. Pour la France, l’encours se situe à 3,7 milliards, la collecte nette s’est établie à 1,2 milliard d’euros et l’effet de marché à 300 millions.La collecte a porté sur huit types de produits : actions européennes, y compris petites capitalisations, obligataire «aggregate» (alpha portable), haut rendement européen, haut rendement américain, et des fonds dans le bas de la courbe des taux (corporates et cash +). A cela s’ajoutent un fonds d’analystes sur les Etats-Unis et un fonds défensif de 40 lignes, US fundamental growth.Fabien Madar a indiqué que l’objectif qui lui a été fixé pour 2014 est de continuer à développer la clientèle et de collecter 1 milliard d’euros, dont 400 millions en France.

Selon Morningstar, les fonds de long terme ont enregistré en octobre des souscriptions de 22,3 milliards d’euros en octobre, montant le plus élevé depuis juillet. Au mois d’octobre, les investisseurs ont privilégié les fonds actions au cours du mois d’octobre. Les flux collectés ont atteint 15,3 milliards d’euros, les fonds actions affichant leur plus forte collecte mensuelle depuis janvier. La demande pour les fonds d’allocation a également été soutenue, avec une collecte de 7,8 milliards d’euros, tout comme pour les fonds alternatifs (1,7 milliard d’euros). A l’inverse, les fonds matières premières et obligataires ont subi une décollecte de respectivement 419 et 988 millions d’euros. Parmiu les fonds actions, les fonds de la catégorie grandes capitalisations ont attiré 2,4 milliards d’euros d’actifs, niveau le plus élevé depuis que Morningstar compile les données en 2007. La demande a également été soutenue sur les fonds haut rendement en dollars américains.Les fonds obligataires ont représenté 6 des 10 catégories les moins recherchées. Le fonds Invesco Perpetual Income a subi 1,1 milliard d’euros de retraits, soit la plus forte décollecte au cours du mois d’octobre. Templeton Global Bond, le plus gros fonds ouvert, a subi 579 millions d’euros de décollecte, faisant d’octobre le cinquième mois consécutif de décollecte pour le fonds. Depuis le début de l’année, c’est BlackRock qui a connu les souscriptions les plus fortes dans l’industrie avec 22,8 milliards d’euros (hors ETF iShare). «La bonne tenue des marchés actions, le déclin de la volatilité et le resserrement des spreads de crédit ont poussé les investisseurs a prend plus de risque en octobre, les fonds actions profitant de leur plus fort mois de collecte en octobre depuis le début de l’année. Les flux vers les fonds de long terme, toutefois, sont encore bien en-deçà des niveaux vus avant le scénario de réduction des achats d’actifs par la Réserve fédérale, qui avait provoqué un mouvement de vente indiscriminée au cours du troisième trimestre 201", commente Ali Masarwah de l'équipe de recherche européenne de Morningstar.

The beginning of mutual recognition between Hong Kong and China is reportedly near, the deputy CEO of the market authority in the city-state, Alexa Lam, has announced at a press conference in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. Teh mutual recognition agreement will provide Hong Kong with the first roles in the development of offshore RMB Lam declined to give a sate, emphasizing that Hong Kong and China are putting the finishing touches on the details of the accord.

The Frankfurt-based PPM Private Property Investment Management on 15 November announced in a filing that it has launched the institutional fund PPM-Immobilien-Spezialfonds 01, specialised in residential real estate (collective properties) and mixed residential/commercial properties.The properties will be located in mid- to large-sized German cities, from 50,000 inhabitants up, as properties in large cities are too expensive.The promoter is aiming for a volume of EUR200m, of which EUR110m are owners’ equity. PPM is aiming for a maturity of 10 years for the fund, with a two-year investment period (August 2015). The performance objective is an average of 4.5% annually.The fund will be administered by HansaInvest, which will also handle accounting and risk management.CharacteristicsName: PPM-Immobilien-Spezialfonds 01ISIN code: DE000A1JXM84Management commission: 0.4%Minimal subscription: EUR5m

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on 5 December announced his decision to cancel a 0.5% stamp duty on ETFs from April 2014. The Chancellor had previously cancelled the stamp duty on equities listed on the AIM market. “Today, we are taking further measures to make our tax regime more competitive. The announcement that stamp duty on shares listed on the AIM would be cancelled was welcomed throughout the world. Today, we are also cancelling the stamp duty on shares purchased in ETFs, in order to encourage these funds to domicile themselves in the United Kingdom,” Osborne says. A large majority of ETFs escape stamp duty as they are domiciled outside the United Kingdom.

Edward S. Lampert, who is seeking to stem the losses at Sears Holdings, is facing an exodus of clients from his hedge fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund has redeemed billions of dollars to clients of Goldman Sachs Group, which had invested in ESL Investments in 2007, according to sources familiar with the matter. That is estimated to represent about USD3.5bn. These recent events represent a setback for Lampart, an investor who has been praised for his qualities, and who bet that he could bring about a recovery at Sears. Lampert became CEO of the retail company in January, but could not turn the firm around.

Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE), the real estate affiliate of the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks, Union Asset Management Holding, has acquired the future Main Tor Porta office building in Frankfurt (22,500 square metres) from DIC Asset.The property is slated for completion in mid-2014, and will host the headquarters of Union Investment. It will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund reserved for institutional investors, UniInstitutional European Real Estate.

Charlotte Sillèn has left her position as leading manager of the Swedish short-term bond fund from Handelsbanken (USD4bn in assets), Citywire Global reports. She had been manager of the Handelsbanken Fds Swedish Sh Term Assets fund since January 2011. She has been replaced by Erik Gunnarsoon. Sillèn will remain as assistant to the fund, and will continue to supervise the Handelsbanken Funds Euro Liquidity, Handeslinvest Virksomhedsobligationer and Handelsbanken Yrityskorko funds.

Net inflows to equity ETFs/ETPs have totalled USD213.5bn in the first eleven months of the year, compared with only USD124.4bn in the corresponding period of 2012, according to estimates by ETFGI. Bond ETFs/ETPs take second place, with net inflows of USD22.4bn over 11 months, down compared with last year (USD61.6bn). Commodity ETFs/ETPs have seen a net outflow of USD34.7bn as of the end of November, while the first 11 months of 2012 brought net inflows of USD22.4bn. Assets in ETFs/ETPs as of the end of November set a record USD2.4trn, under the effect of the positive performance of themarktes and a net inflow of USD17bn. Over eleven months, assets were up 21% due to the good performance of the markets and a net inflow of USD220.6bn. Also over eleven months, the larget ETF provider is iShares, with a net inflow of USD57.3bn, followed by Vanguard (USD55.7bn), WisdomTree (USD13.6bn), PowerSHares (USD13.3bn) and SPDR (USD11.5bn). Transparent aset ETFs/ETPs, which have been much discussed recently, still represent only a small segment of the sector, with 126 products and cumulative assets of USD20.9bn, less than 1% of total ETFs/ETPs assets worldwide.

Global fund groups are diversifying sources of income by expanding into new markets and moving quickly to capitalize on new product trends, but managers in Europe and Asia also need to work at improving asset retention rates, according to the December issue of The Cerulli Edge-Global Edition.Within Europe, Germany and Switzerland are the key distribution targets for managers, followed by Italy and Spain and then France. However, raising assets and retaining assets do not go hand in hand. Since 2005, the annual redemption rate for cross-border funds in Europe has ranged between 48% and 97%, observes Cerulli. In the United States, the range is between 24% and 36%."A Cerulli survey of 153 fund selectors found that asset managers are failing to communicate their investment philosophy to buyers, an omission that is especially costly during short-term underperformance when a deep understanding of the managers’ process can help retain the client,» commented Barbara Wall, a Cerulli director.The problem of asset retention is particularly acute in Asia. A new product may raise significant assets under management (AUM) at the launch stage, only to see assets dry up after that. Cerulli found that investors typically hold their funds for short periods of less than a year. In Taiwan, for instance, retail investors hold their funds for about six to nine months, while in China the holding period can be as brief as one month!

As of 30 June, according to the CNMV quarterly report, JPMorgan Asset Management remained the largest active foreign manager in Spain, with EUR5.3bn, followed by Carmignac Gestion, with EUR3.84bn, according to the CNMV quarterly report. However, with the addition of EUR2.87bn in active funds at BlackRock and EUR2.6bn in iShares ETFs, the US asset management firm was the largest.Amundi takes 13th place, with EUR1.07bn, and Axa IM is in 17th place, with EUR911m.Overall, foreign asset management firms had EUR48.23bn in assets, out of a total of EUR215.22bn for funds and investment companies in Spain. Assets at foreign funds have increased 26.9% in first half, and 39.5% in one year. Their market share has increased by 2.58 points in six months, and 4.14 points in one year, to 22.4%, and the number of subscribers has increased by 16.4%, to 950,000 in first half.

With Zelf Vermogensopbouw, ING has launched a new execution only platform aimed at clients who wish to invest in funds themselves, without any advice, Fonds Nieuws reports. According to Karin van Gennip, head of private banking and investments, the platform stands out from the Robeco and and future ING Investment Management platforms due to the fact that it covers funds from all promoters.Currently, about 10% of the product range is composed of tracker funds. Zelf Vermogensopbouw includes equity funds, bond funds, real estate funds and multi-asset class funds. They are distributed over seven risk profiles.

Stoxx Limited has introduced the iStoxx Global ESG Select 100 Index. The new index screens the components of the Stoxx Global ESG Leaders Index for high dividend paying companies which also have low volatility, thus creating a hybrid portfolio of ESG, maximum dividend and low volatility strategies. The new index is designed to act as an underlying to exchange-traded funds and other investable products, such as structured products.

Lawrence Kemp, US growth large caps manager at BlackRock, has won back a USD1.8bn mandate from Charles Schwab, which he had managed when he worked at UBS Global Asset Managemnent, Financial News reports. Kemp joined BlackRock in February.

BNY Mellon Investment Management is seeking opportunities in France. “We would like to develop our expertise in alternative management and European equities more. Our strategy is to do it via acquisition, but to integrate teams into our existing boutiques. With this in mind, I have looked at the investment teams in France in the past twelve months, and I am still looking,” PeterPaul Pardi, global head of distribution at BNY Mellon IM, has explained to Les Echos. The asset management affiliate of the US bank now earned USD600m in revenues in Europe, and is aiming for USD1bn in five years’ time.

Amundi Real Estate, as part of development of its retail Opcimmo, has acquired its first office property in London, in partnership with Knight Frank Investment Management (KFIM). The office property, Defoe Court, Featherstone Street, located at the heart of London’s tech centre, was renovated in 2008 and has an exceptional location at the north end of the City. With a total floor area of 4,000 square metres on 5 floors, the property is wholly leased. According to Carmen Lopes, a manager at Opcimmo, “after a first co-investment in the United Kingdom in 2012, this acquisition confirms our desire and our capacity to invest in the British market. It reinforces our development strategy on this high-potential market. Our strategic partnership with Knight Frank Investment Management will allow us to extend our presence in London into the future.”

The Japanese police on Thursday arrested a Deutsche Bank employee in Tokyo. He is suspected of offering meals and travel worth JPY900,000 (EUR6,500) to the manager of the Mitsui pension fund, who, in return, is claimed to have invested JPY1bn (EUR7.2m) in products from Deutsche Securities, an affiliate of Deutsche Bank, Handelsblatt reports.According to the local press, the Japanese financial regulator may take legal action against Deutsche Securities in connection with the case.

With net inflows of EUR9.5bn since January, 2013 has been the best year for Pioneer Investments since the crisis, and also the first since the end of the redeployment process. What’s more, these inflows are distributed well between asset classes and geographical regions. They were “only” USD7.7bn at the end of September, Sandro Pierri, CEO, reminded at a presentation in Paris on Thursday. This does not mean, however, that the firm is planning to let up investing in distribution and talent, which absorbed about 15% of profits in 2011 and 2012.Assets now total EUR175bn, compared with EUR168.9bn as of the end of September, and about EUR158bn at the end of December last year.In continental Europe (France, Switzerland, Benelux and Scandinavia), where Fabien Madar is the regional CEO, assets under management total about EUR6.2bn, of which USD2.1bn are net subscriptions. For France, assets total EUR3.7bn, while net inflows totalled EUR1.2bn, and market effects are EUR300m.Inflows have totalled eight types of products: European equities, including small caps, “aggregate” bonds (alpha portable), European high yield, US high yield, and funds at the bottom of the rate curve (corporate and cash +). In addition, there is a fund of analysts of the United States and a defensive fund with 40 positions, entitled US fundamental growth.Madar states that the objective which has been set for him in 2014 is to continue to develop clients and to bring in EUR1bn in inflows, of which EUR400m are to be in France.

The United Arab Emirates asset management firm, Emirates NBD Asset Management, has signed a partnership agreement with the British firm Jupiter Asset Management, which will advise it on four global funds, Bloomberg reports. The multi-management team at Jupiter will provide advising on assets of about AED400m, or USD109m, distributed over four Emirated NBD funds, David Marshall, one of the directors of the firm, says. Assets under management at Emirates NBD have risen 43% this year to about AED7.7bn, Marshall says, adding that the expertise provided by Jupiter will allow for assets in the four funds advised to reach a range of AED750m to AED1bn in the next 12 to 18 months.

The new Japanese reduced-tax savings account, the NISA, which will be launched on 1 January, is expected to attract JPY6trn to JPY14trn per year in the next five years, with potential for JPY68trn, or about EUR490bn, according to a joint study published by Cerulli in partnership with Nomura Research Institute (“Asset Management in Japan 2013: Opportunities and Challenges for Foreign Managers”). “Growth projections for the market for new accounts appears to mark a considerable evolution in the mentality of the mentality of Japanese households, and a larger propensity to leave the sanctuary of risk-free assets,” says Yoon Ng, director at Cerulli Associates. It should also be mentioned at modifications to retirement regulations and the prospect of rising interest rates are expected to incite retail investors to protect their assets.

Carmignac Gestion has signed an agreement with one of the largest banks in Japan, to distribute its EUR24bn Patrimoine fund to local investors, Citywire Global can reveal. The asset management firm based in Place Vendôme in Paris has not revealed the name of the bank, but it is reportedly one of the largest in the country.

The head of private banking activities in Singapore at VP Bank, Patrick Donaldson, has left the firm. Donaldson joined the bank in March 2012, in charge of private baking for Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. VP Bank has found a successor for Donaldson, who will begin in January 2014. The bank previously had a turbulent period about a year ago. It then lost a number of employees, which gave rise to rumours that VP Bank was planning to cease its activities in Asia. The bank denied the rumours.

The Canadian asset management firm AGF Investments has launched a range of UCITS-compliant funds domiciled in Dublin. The firm has also opened a representative office in London. The two strategies on offer via the new platform are AGF Global Core Equity Fund and AGF Emerging Markets All Cap Equity Fund. The two funds already have capital from investors based in Europe, with USD65m for the first, and USD425m for the second.

La Bundesbank a relevé ses prévisions de croissance 2013 et 2014 pour l’Allemagne. La banque centrale allemande anticipe désormais une hausse de 0,5% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) cette année et une nouvelle augmentation de 1,7% l’année prochaine. Elle prévoyait auparavant des taux de croissance de respectivement 0,3% et 1,5%. Dans ses projections semestrielles, l'établissement voit le PIB croître de 2% en 2015.

Le déficit commercial de la France s’est contracté à 4,697 milliards d’euros en octobre contre 5,636 milliards en septembre du fait d’une baisse de la facture énergétique avec le recul des prix du pétrole en euro, selon les statistiques des Douanes. Le déficit de septembre avait été annoncé à 5,824 milliards d’euros en première estimation. Les exportations diminuent légèrement à 36,53 milliards d’euros, contre 36,64 milliards un mois plus tôt, tandis que les importations ont reculé, à 41,22 milliards contre 42,27 milliards. Sur les dix premiers mois de l’année, le déficit commercial atteint 50,54 milliards, contre 56,86 milliards pour la même période de 2012.

UBS a annoncé que John Fraser, PDG de l’activité de gestion d’actifs du groupe depuis 2001, allait quitter ses fonctions opérationnelles pour garder le titre de président. Ulrich Koerner, actuel directeur des opérations (COO), qui a supervisé le programme de recentrage et de réduction de coûts de la banque suisse, prendra la direction générale d’UBS Global Asset Management le 1er janvier 2014. Ses fonctions seront reprises par Tom Naratil, qui reste directeur financier.

La banque et l’agence de notation font l’objet d’une plainte déposée par un groupe de seize investisseurs institutionnels européens devant la justice néerlandaise. Ces derniers leur reprochent des pertes sur des produits financiers complexes au plus fort de la crise, et réclament jusqu'à 250 millions de dollars de dédommagements. La plainte concerne des CPDO (constant proportion debt obligations), des produits de crédit à effet de levier créés en 2006 par ABN Amro. Ces derniers, dont la qualité suscitait déjà un vif débat entre agences de notation, avaient été notés AAA par S&P.

La banque centrale norvégienne a reporté d’un an la date de remontée de son taux directeur. La Norges Bank, qui a maintenu son principal taux à 1,5%, précise que la première hausse devrait intervenir durant l'été 2015. «Les perspectives de croissance de l'économie norvégienne se sont quelque peu détériorées. Les prix immobiliers ont récemment baissé alors que la dette des ménages reste élevée», a-t-elle reconnu.

Le PIB américain a progressé de 3,6% en rythme annualisé sur la période juillet-septembre, après 2,5% sur les trois mois précédents et 2,8% annoncés en première estimation, selon le département du Commerce. La révision provient d’un effet restockage dans les entreprises, ce qui laisse attendre un ralentissement de la croissance au dernier trimestre 2013.

La filiale de gestion d'UniCredit a drainé 9,5 milliards d'euros depuis janvier, dont 1,2 milliard auprès de ses clients français