Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has announced the appointment of a new sub-advisor for its USD363m USD Skandia Greater China Equity Fund, with the fund’s management changing from First State Investments to MIR Investment Management as of March 5 2012. James Millard, chief investment officer for Skandia Investment Group said: “First State has been an excellent investment partner, but we are in agreement that further asset growth could be a future constraint in sustaining performance (...).”

Daniel Tubba, manager of the BGF Emerging Markets fund, whose assets under management total USD1.1bn, has left the group, Investment Week reports.Tubba has been co-head of a team dedicated to emerging markets worldwide, which also includes Diren Shah and Sam Vecht.Emerging markets funds, both offshore and onshore, will now be managed by Shah and Luiz Soares, who has joined the group from Axiom International Investors.

The British asset management firm Jupiter Asset Management has reported net inflows of about GBP750m for the 2011 fiscal year, after GBP2.3bn in 2010. The major contributors were mututal funds, which attracted a net total of GBP500m (compared with GBP1.9bn the previous year).Assets under management as of the end of the year totalled GBP22.8bn, compared with GBP24.1bn as of the end of 2010, while mutual funds had assets of GBP`17.2bn, compared with GBP18.4bn as of the end of 2010.Pre-tax profits were up to GBP70.3m, compared with GBP42.4m in 2010. The head of Jupiter, Edward Bonham Carter, says that the company is hoping to increase its distribution capacities, particularly in both French and German-speaking Switzerland. With this in mind, Jupiter has opened a representative office in Zurich. Evelyn Lederle, previously of Clariden Leu, will be in charge of development for activities in German-speaking Switzerland as senior sales manager.

The European association of investors in private real estate (INREV) on 7 March announced that Patrick Kanters, managing director Global Real Estate at the Netherlands-based APG Asset Management, will succeed Michael Morgenroth as its president on 24 April.Kanters was unanimously elected by the board at INREV, and his predecessor has to leave his position because he has recently been appointed to the board at the Austrian real estate fund management firm Signa Group (see Newsmanagers of 1 December 2011).

The index provider FTSE Group on 7 March announced that from the opening of the trading day on 19 March, the asset management firm Aberdeen Asset Management, which will have left the FTSE 250, will be one of the new components in the FTSE 100 index.

The Swedish investment fund association is opposed to proposals by the chairman of the taxation committee of Parliament which would require asset management firms to charge fund fees separately, rather than taking them out of assets, in order to promote transparency. In a statement released on Tuesday, Thomas Eriksson and Pia Nilsson, charman and CEO, respectively, of the Fondbolagens Förening association, explain why they find the proposals of Henrik von Sydow inappropriate. “In our opinion, that would have a negative impact on the capacity of investors to compare funds, without taking into account the bureaucracy which it would imply. Management fees are charged every day at 1/365. How often would invoices need to be sent?” they ask. They also point out that the Swedish market includes 5,000 funds, but there are only 800 Swedish-registered funds which would be affected by the proposed legislation. “Can we have different rules for Swedish and foreign funds?” they ask.

The European Commission proposed on March 7 to set up a European common regulatory framework for the institutions responsible for securities settlement, called Central Securities Depositories (CSDs). The proposal will bring more safety and efficiency to securities settlement in Europe. It also seeks to shorten the time it takes for securities settlement and to minimise settlement fails. The proposal now passes to the European Parliament and the Council (Member States) for negotiation and adoption.

A few months after his employer, FrontPoint Partners, closed down its boutique, Stphan Czech is seeking to raise USD1.5bn for a new hedge fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new firm will be known as Czech Asset Management, and will specialise in lending to mid-sized businesses (generally with USD20m to USD100m).

The US asset management firm Index IQ on 6 February submitted a form S-1 to the SEC to apply for a license to launch the first ETF investing in physical diamonds (which will be stored in Anvers), the IQ Physical Diamond Trust. The underlying assets will be industry-standard, 1-carater diamonds and diamonds parcels in various sub-categories. Index IQ is planning to use unly diamonds certified by the Geological Institute of America (GIA) after 1 January 2006.

Lazard Frères Gestion on 7 March announced that its SRI equities Sicav fund, Objectif Ethique Socialement Responsable, is changing its legal name, to become Objectif Investissement Responsable (ISIN codes: C shares: FR0000003998; D shares: FR0010990606).Objectif Investissement Responsable invests in euro zone large caps and adheres strictly to extra-financial criteria to construct a concentrated portfolio of 40 to 50 positions.“Objectif Investissement Responsable has a 10-year track record covering several phases of the economic cycle, from the Internet bubble to the recent crisis, including periods of market growth. Over this period, our management has outperformed the Eurostoxx index by 6%, with good regularity and low volatility. We select primarily profitable businesses, so as not to sacrifice economic performance,” says Axel Laroza, manager of the Sicav fund since its creation.

The US firm Oaktree Capital Management has raised a EUR3bn fund which will focus on European distressed businesses, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The vehicle, the European Principal Fund III, has raised 20% more than its initial objective of EUR2.5bn. According to Henessee Group, investment funds investing in distressed assets worldwide earned returns of 3.2% in January, compared with 2.1% one year earlier.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, the US affiliate of the Korean asset management firm, is now offering US investors its Global Dynamic Bond Fund. The product is the first bond fund from the firm to be offered in the United States. Mirae manages over USD50bn worldwide.

The alternative management firm The Gargoyle Group, specialised in equity options strategies, has launched a market neutral fund with a continuous hedging mechanism based on index options, FINalternatives reports. The fund uses a number of proprietary elements for the vehicle, which have contributed to the success of the flagship fund from Gargoyle, the Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund. The fund seeks to earn alpha from stock-picking and the addition of premiums from the sale of overvalued call options.

Among the six funds registered on 2 March by the CNMV was the Ahorro Corporación Garantizado Selección, a product guaranteed by Banco Mare Nostrum (BMN), whose complementary returns may vary from 0% at the worst to 5.09% at best at maturity (7 May 2015), depending on the evolution of the share prices of Telefónica, ENI, France Telecom, Inditex and TotalFina.CharacteristicsName: Ahorro Corporación Garantizado Selección, FIISIN code: ES0107438006Front-end fee: 5%Management fee: about 1.08%Withdrawal penalty: 5%

Deka Immobilien has acquired the Suite Novotel in Hamburg for one of its institutional real estate funds, from the German asset management firm iii-investments, for an undisclosed sum. The 8,700 square metre property has 186 rooms.

Although German investors have a reputation for being sensitive to environmental and social issues, savings investors pay virtually no attention to these aspects when they make their investment decisions. According to a recent study by Faktenkontor, only 4% of Germans choose their financial products on the basis of ethical criteria (ecological, social, governance, etc). Security remains the dominant criterion, with 49% of respondents prefering less volatile products. Performance tops the list of concerns for 21% of German investors.

Since 1 March, the external distribution team at Pioneer Investments Germany has taken on two newly-appointed sales directors. They are Ronny Alsleben (former portfolio manager at Top Vermögen) and Reinhold Dirschl (formerly of MEAG Munich Ergo KAG).Alsleben will focus on wealth management clients, some banks and family offices, while Dirschl will focus on savings and co-operative banks.

Assets under management at the private bank of the DZ group, DZ Privatbank, as of the end of 2011 totalled EUR12.7bn, up EUR2.2bn year on year.In addition to an increase in assets related to the merger with WGZ Bank (EUR0.7bn) and the acquisition of a significant stake in UniCredit Luxembourg (EUR2.1bn), net inflows in Germany have totalled over EUR1bn. This has largely offset the impact of negative market effects.

The Financial Times reports that, according to sources familiar with the matter, as part of an overhaul to the top management at Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday, the investment banker Michele Faissola will become the head of a new unit dedicated to asset and wealth management. [This profession already exists within the group, but as part of a larger unit known as PCAM, for private client & asset management -ed].

La Mutuelle Générale de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Industrie (MGEFI) gère 160 millions d’euros, dont 50 millions sont investis en immobilier (pierre). Sur la gestion des actifs, la couverture des engagements réglementés est assurée au travers d’un mandat de gestion obligataire de qualité Investment Grade. MGEFI a sélectionné un gestionnaire actif appliquant une approche buy and hold, essentiellement sur des titres de dettes d’entreprises. L’objectif est de dégager des coupons fixes tous les ans, tout en bénéficiant d’une bonne diversification, au niveau sectoriel (poids limité des financières), aussi bien qu’au niveau des émetteurs. Une grosse partie des obligations d’Etat est arrivée à échéance dernièrement, commente Frédéric Tinseau, le Responsable comptable de la gestion financière, et ne sera pas renouvelée, car la MGEFI privilégie le rendement sur les obligations corporate, même si cela coûte davantage en capital avec Solvabilité II. MGEFI utilise aussi des OPCVM dans une poche de diversification et performance (20% des actifs). Dans ce cadre, la gestion est plus souple, MGEFI s’autorisant à investir sur du HY (first), des obligations convertibles, mais aussi les marchés émergents (actions et dettes), les matières premières. Au total, MGEFI travaille avec 6-7 sociétés de gestion. Aujourd’hui, la Mutuelle reçoit beaucoup de propositions sur le crédit. Sa préférence se porte sur des fonds à échéance plutôt que certains fonds High Yield dont l’espérance de rendement peut apparaître plus élevée en contrepartie d’une probabilité de défaut plus forte. Frédéric Tinseau rappelle que les fonds fermés exonère l’asset manager de la contrainte de gestion des flux quotidiens de souscriptions et sorties. En termes de performances, MGEFI confesse que cette classe d’actifs a été la plus contributive aux résultats. A titre d’exemple, un fonds fermé sur 3 ans qui arrive prochainement à échéance aura généré 20% de performances (avec les coupons réinvestis). Enfin, un projet de rapprochement avec Istya est actuellement à l'étude, et devrait sans doute aboutir au cours de l’année 2012.

Le Monde rapporte que la société de gestion CFCI lancera mi-avril au plus tard une sicav basée sur les principes de la finance islamique. Dirigée par Anouar Hassoune, ancien vice-président de Moody’s, elle sera la première de ce type à être commercialisée en France auprès des particuliers.

La balance des comptes courants japonais a enregistré un déficit record au mois de janvier de 437,3 milliards de yens. Un déficit qui pourrait n’être que temporaire selon les économistes. «Couplés avec les récentes cessions de yens, ces chiffres ont conduit à se demander si la flambée des rendements d’Etat que beaucoup prévoient va réellement se produire» s’interroge Barclays Capital. Par ailleurs, la contraction du PIB au quatrième trimestre 2011 a finalement été de 0,7%, contre 2,3% initialement estimé.

Les nouvelles règles présentées hier par la Commission prévoient une séparation plus stricte entre activités bancaires et de règlement. Bruxelles veut aussi faciliter l’intervention des dépositaires nationaux sur des marchés tiers. Le délai de livraison sera enfin raccourci à deux jours.

Les nouvelles règles présentées mercredi prévoient une séparation plus stricte entre activités bancaires et de règlement

Le ministre allemand de l'économie juge décevante l’incapacité de la Grèce à accepter l’aide offerte par Berlin afin de réduire le poids de sa bureaucratie et relancer l’investissement privé en attirant les investisseurs étrangers. «L’aide a à peine été acceptée, beaucoup a été accompli en vain pour l’instant, cela est très décevant», explique Philipp Rösler dans un entretien accordé au quotidien.

China Development Bank (CDB), qui assure majoritairement ses financements à l’étranger en dollars, devrait signer un protocole d’accord à New Delhi avec ses partenaires brésilien, russe, indien et sud-africain le 29 mars prochain destiné à assurer des prêts multilatéraux libellés dans leurs monnaies locales respectives plutôt qu’en billet vert, selon le quotidien qui cite des sources proches du dossier. Moins de 13% des échanges chinois avec ses partenaires asiatiques se font en yuan, selon Helen Qiao, chef économiste Asie chez Morgan Stanley, citée par le journal. Une proportion qui pourrait grimper à 50% d’ici 2015, selon HSBC.

La banque centrale a souhaité frapper fort en annonçant cette nuit une baisse du taux directeur Selic de 75 points de base, à 9,75%

La banque centrale publie un rapport d'audit qui disculpe ses autres dirigeants de toutes les transactions discutables. Elle durcira son règlement

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Le scénario d'un déclenchement des clauses d'action collective et des CDS prend corps