Du fait d’une charge exceptionnelle de 142 millions de dollars liée au pôle G1 Execution Services (G1X) d’exécution des ordres de particuliers, le courtier E*Trade Financial Corp a accusé pour le deuxième trimestre une perte de 54 millions de dollars contre un bénéfice de 40 millions pour avril-juin 2010, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Le chiffre d’affaires a fléchi de 2,7 % en glissement annuel, à 440 millions de dollars.Dans le communiqué sur ses résultats, E*Trade annonce qu’il veut vendre G1X, avec l’engagement de transférer à l’acquéreur un certain volume d’affaires.

L’Agefi Quotidien Edition de 14h reprendra sa parution le 26 août

L'activité a augmenté de 0,6% entre avril et juin contre 0,3% le trimestre précédent grâce aux dépenses des ménages et des entreprises

Epaulé par son consultant Insti 7, IRP Auto a procédé à la mise en concurrence de gérants sur la retraite complémentaire (500 millions d’euros sous gestion au total) : Lazard Frères Gestion a gagné le mandat Actions Zone Euro, HSBC AM a remporté le mandat obligataire (il gérait auparavant un mandat diversifié), Russell Investments France a gagné le mandat multigestion Actions Internationales. Il y a avait également un autre lot sur les Obligations. L’allocation d’actifs d’IRP Auto (sur la partie prévoyance) est d’environ 80/85% d’obligations, entre 15 et 20% d’actions et un peu de monétaire pour la trésorerie.

La mairie de Madrid a annoncé que le groupe américain lui avait acheté dix-huit lots d’habitations à loyers réglementés pour 125,5 millions d’euros. Blackstone contourne ainsi la Sareb, le fonds de défaisance chargé de céder les actifs à risque des banques espagnoles, pour racheter directement des actifs à des propriétaires en mal de liquidités comme les collectivités locales.

La filiale indienne du laboratoire français et la société américaine de private equity négocient selon Reuters chacune de leur côté la reprise de l’activité de formulation de l’indien Elder Pharmaceuticals pour 400 à 450 millions de dollars. Les génériques représentent 90% des ventes du secteur en Inde.

Les autorités fédérales américaines pourraient bien selon des sources concordantes engager dès aujourd’hui des poursuites pénales à l’encontre du fonds alternatif fondé par Steven Cohen. Ce dernier échapperait pour l’instant à titre personnel à ces poursuites, étape clé dans une enquête ouverte il y a près de sept ans sur des soupçons de délits d’initiés.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs a publié une collecte nette négative à hauteur de 8 milliards de dollars au deuxième trimestre. Soutenu par un effet marché favorable, le montant des actifs sous gestion a reculé de 3,4 milliards à 614,0 milliards. Le résultat net du trimestre écoulé a toutefois progressé de 20%. Le gestionnaire a fermé en mai neuf de ses quinze centres d’accueil des investisseurs, se tournant davantage vers le téléphone et internet pour répondre à leurs besoins.

L'activité continue de se contracter en France, dans une moindre mesure qu'auparavant

L'activité continue de se contracter en France, dans une moindre mesure qu'auparavant

La banque a dénoncé l’accord de cession de sa filiale de gestion mais espère encore la boucler, d’ici au 30 juillet, au prix convenu

Sumitomo va reprendre la filiale japonaise de gestion de fortune de la banque française, quelques mois après une sanction du régulateur local

Le gouvernement veut aider les petites entreprises et encourager les projets ferroviaires alors que le ralentissement économique se précise

La dernière enquête trimestrielle de la BCE témoigne toujours d'un durcissement des conditions de prêt, malgré l'amélioration du climat

Dexia a annoncé hier avoir dénoncé l’accord de cession de sa filiale de gestion d’actifs au hongkongais GCS Capital. La banque espère encore parvenir à un accord d’ici au 30 juillet, alors que le prix arrêté en décembre pourrait poser problème.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At a time when it had officially been aiming for USD3.5bn (and internally predicting USD4bn), Brookfield Asset Management, based in Toronto, has managed to raise USD4.4bn for its new global real estate fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. It becomes one of the largest real estate funds to be created since the crisis.The largest investor in the new fund is an affiliate of Brookfield AM, which provided USD1.3bn.The new fund has already invested about USD1.1bn, of which GBP210m were in June, to acquire the British logistics firm EZW Gazeley, and USD500m in 2012 to acquire the Australian hotel group Thakral Holdings.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The bank of the bishopric of Essen, Bank in Bistum Essen, a specialised institution working for ecclesiastical organisations and charities as well as their employees, has granted a mandate to the asset management firm Monega KAG for an ethical bond portfolio to satisfy the strictest requirements in terms of risk and return profile. The selection of securities, small and mid-sized corporate bonds, primarily, will be invested for the institutional fund by Johannes Führ Asset Management, with the assistance of the extra-financial ratings agency imug.The portfolio will be constructed after exclusion of shares in companies which earn a “significant” portion of their earnings in the following areas: weapons, stem cell research, alcohol, tobacco, nuclear energy, gambling, pornography, products and services related to abortion. In addition, the asset management team will exclude issues by businesses which flagrantly violate the standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) or human rights.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Munich-based asset management firm TMW Pramerica Property Investment has announced that it has sold the Vista Tower in Puteaux, near Paris, to a British real estate fund management firm, for EUR87m, while the property, which had been in the portfolio of the TWM Immobilien Weltfonds (which is required to be liquidated by 31May 2014) had been valued by experts at EUR98.5m on 9 February. The markdown is thus about 12%, and the transaction lowers the net asset value of the fund by EUR0.80, to EUR29.80 per share.The property, with 16,777 square metres, required an investment of only EUR119.79m. It is currently 77.4% occupied. The transaction went on the book on 17 May 2013, but was only publicly announced after a pre-emptive deadline for the city of Paris expired.The sale price totalled EUR0.6m. After credit and associated fees are paid off, the net proceeds of the sale total EUR32.7m, and have been wholly applied to the redemption of other debts.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carmignac Gestion has liquidated its Carmignac Market Neutral fund, Citywire reports. With EUR122m in assets under management at the time of closure, the product had been managed by Vincent Steenman since January, replacing Maxime Carmignac, then on maternity leave. Steenman remains a member of the management team, as an analyst for the industrial sector, a spokesperson for Carmignac Gestion states. The Paris-based asset management firm has admitted that the fund did not meet the expectations of the team. Over three years to the end of June, the fund shows losses of 4.6%, Citywire notes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Guy Stern, who has been appointed as head of multi-asset & macro investing at Standard Life Investments (SLI) following the announcement of the departure of Euan Munro (who becomes CEO of Aviva Investors in January 2014), has announced that SLI plans to revise its incentivation policy in order to win the loyalty of fund managers.The Global Absolute Return Strategies, or GARS unit, with GBP18bn in assets, which Munro had been head of, already lost three managers in September 2012: David Miller, Dave Jubb and Richard Batty, who moved to Invesco Perpetual.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Italian asset management firm Azimut has announced that it has achieved a total net inflow in June of EUR136.4m, of which more than EUR40m went to the Luxembourg sub-funds of Luxembourg funds AZ Fund 1 And AZ Fund Multi Asset, bringing net subscriptions in fist half to EUR1.4957bn, 73% more than in January-June 2013. Azimut has fully satisfied its inflow objectives for all of 2013, and 95% of all net subscriptions in 2012, in first half alone, says Pietro Giuliani, chairman and CEO of the group.Assets under management and administration as of 30 June totalled EUR121.1817bn, 8.1% more than as of the end of December, of which EUR18.9915bn are assets under management (+8.6%), while assets in funds totalled EUR16.6618bn (+6.3%).Investment Europe reports, for its part, that Paolo Martini has recruited four private bankers from Banca Esperia, Lorenzo Lamberti Scagliano, Cristiano Esclapon, Dario Giudici and Paolo Dameno Rota, for the firm’s wealth managemet team based in Milan.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Anne Lui, head of marketing & communications at Value Partners Group in Hong Kong, after serving as head of business media relations for Asia ex Japan at Nomura (formerly Lehman Brothers), has been recruited by Baring Asset Management as head of marketing, Asia ex Japan. She continues to be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Claire Fraser head of marketing & communications, who is based in London, and who has recently been appointed to the position, replacing Ian Pascal (see Newsmanagers of 17 July).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } NYSE Euronext on 23 July announced that it had admitted a new EasyETF from BNP Paribas Investment Partners Luxembourg, the EPRA Euro, to trading on the Paris exchange. The European markets of NYSE Euronext now list 673 ETFs, of which 584 are primary listings.CharacteristicsName: EasyETF EPRA EuroIndex; FTSE EPRA EurozoneTotal expense ratio: 0.45%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Paris office of Muzinich & Co, which also covers Luxembourg, Belgium, Monaco, Geneva and Lausanne, has posted net subscriptions in firs half of USD840m, for assets of “over USD5bn,” Eric Pictet, CEO of the Paris office, has told Newsmanagers. The number of active clients is about 150, distributed between private banks, family offices, insurers, pension funds and funds of funds.The largest net subscriptions went to Americayield and ShortDurationHighYield, followed by Enhancedyield, Europeyield and the LongShortCreditYield, while the Transatlanticyield posted slight redemptions.Groupwide, assets as of the end of June totalled USD23.8bn, of which USD15.4bn are in UCITS-compliant funds, which attracted USD2.49bn in first half. Of this total, the ShortDurationHighYield accounted for more than half, followed by the Americayield and Enhancedyield funds, while the Europeyield and Transatlanticyield underwent slight net outflows. The LongShortCreditYield, the youngest fund, launched in June 2012, posted net inflows of nearly USD100m.Among plans for the future, Muzinich is preparing a UCITS-compliant mixed short duration emerging market debt fund (high yield, investment grade, govies and financials). The product will be a sub-fund of the Irish Sicav managed by a new team, the first members of which were recruited a few months ago.Muzinich is also at work on an absolute return bond fund, which is already on sale in the United States, and which may be released in a UCITS-compliant version in a few months.Two private placement funds are also in preparation, one of which will invest in Italian businesses with an EBITDA of EUR5m to EUR50m.Pictet also states that the two “loan” funds (bank credit securitisations), launched in 2006 and 2008, represent USD120m. It is an attractive asset class, but the products are naturally not UCITS-compliant.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Private Banking has announced the appointment of Olivier Gérard as head of the portfolio management and strategy & expertise unit for private banking assets, replacing Stéphane Wathier.Gérard will be based in Luxembourg, and will aim to co-ordinate and promote portfolio management activities (discretionary management and management advising) serving the international private banking network, as well as services and recommendations provided by the unit he will lead.He will report directly to Bruno Lèbre, head of wealth management solutions. In addition to his new responsibilities, Gérard will retain his position as head of Prime Market Access.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss hedge fund management firm Gottex Fund Management holdings on 23 July announced that it plans to announce a “small” operating loss for first half.It has also stated that its fee-earning assets as of the end of June totalled USD5.94bn, counting GBP325m at the British firm Frontier Investment Management, which were only officially consolidated on 4 July, compared with USD6.36bn as of the end of March That represents a decline of 6.5% in April-June.For GPM in the strict sense, assets fell by 5.7% over the quarter to USD5.27bn, due to net redemptions of USD170m, currency effects and “technical factors” which siped out USD210m, and a capital loss of USD30m.For the division specialised in Luma GSS services, assets fell by USD100m between the beginning of April and the end of June, to USD0.67bn, due to net redemptions of USD130m, and gross susbscriptions of USD30m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The firm formerly known as EFG Financial Products, now Leonteq, on 23 July presented strongly improved results: pre-tax profits in first half 2013 rose 142% year on eyar, to CHF24.7m, while the cost-income ratio improved to 70% from 84% in January-June 2012, and net profits rose 124%, to CHF21.5m.Transaction volumes, for their part, increased 34%, to CHF7.8bn, and the number of clients in first half totalled 515, compared with 406 one year earlier. Operating profit margins per transaction totalled 105 basis points, which represents a decline of 4% compared with January-June 2012 (109 basis points), but an increase of 3% compared with July-December last year.Leonteq has also announced that it plans to close its Madrid office, opened in 2011, since it has not achieved critical size.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As the firm Johannes Führ Asset Management (JFAM) acquires three quarters of VCH (see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Institutional Money reports that JFAM on 23 July announced that its founder, Johannes Führ, has resigned from his position as chairman of the advisory board and left the busness. He no longer had any operational responsibilties, and no longer holds a stake in the firm.In early 2013, high net worth private clients who had held 50% of JFAM since 2010 acquired the remaining capital in the firm.The firm continues to be led by management composed of Karl-Heinz Pfarrer, chairman and CIO, assisted by Allan Ricardo Valentiner, head of fixed income, and Thomas Mûhlberger (portfolio management).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The managing board and the supervisory board at Altira AG on 30 August decided at a general shareholders’ meeting to remove shares in the Entry Standard company from the Frankfurt stock exchange. A takeover bid will be offered to minority shareholders.In order to focus on its profession of financing German SMEs (Mittelstand), Altira has also sold the 74.5% stake it had held via the wealth management firm VCH Vermögensverwaltung AG in VCH Asset Management for an undisclosed amount, to a firm controlled by Johannes Führ, who controls the asset management firm Johannes Führ Asset Management.VCH will become known as Führ Capital Partners Vermögensverwaltung AG, an affiliate of Führ Capital Partners Asset Management, while Johannes Führ will become chairman of the supervisory board. The remaining shares in VCH remain in the hands of Robert Depner, who continues to serve as a MD.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cotizalia reports that BlackRock, which has recently passed the 3% threshold in Ferrovial, has increased its stake in the Spanish firm Cie Automotive to 4.48%, buying the stake previously held by Portobello for USD29m on 12 July. At trading price on Monday (EUR6 per share in Cie Automotive), BlackRock’s stake is worth over EUR30m.