p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cazenove Capital confirmed on 9 December that it has received permission from the FSA, and is launching the Diversity Income Fund, which will be managed by Marcus Brookes and Robin McDonald. The objective of the product, launched on 15 December, is to generate capital in line with inflation over the mid-term, with average income of 4% per year. At launch, the managers are planning to invest 45% of the portfolio in equities, 45% in bonds, and 10% in alternative products, via 13 funds, including the following: M&G Optimal Income, Invesco Perpetual Tactical Bond, JOHCM UK Opportunities, M&G Global Dividend, and Jupiter Absolute Return.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 17 December, UBS Global Asset Management will launch the UBS Asian Consumption Fund, managed by its Asia ex Japan equities team, Fund Strategy reports. The new product will focus on equities from providers of consumer products to Asian consumers, as well as Asian companies which produce consumer products and services businesses with a global franchise.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French shareholder advising firm Deminor on 9 December called on European investors who were victims of the Madoff fraud not to rely exclusively on the action of the court-appointed trustee for the business in the United States, who it claims is not covering indirect clients. “Deminor has noted multiple legal actions recently filed by the administrator in the Madoff case,” the agency says. According to Deminor, these actions “have the objective of regaining as much money as possible for the ‘Madoff liquidation,’ to be redistributed to Madoff ‘clients.'” However, “the vast majority of European investors defended by Deminor had an indirect exposure to Madoff” via funds or banks, the agency points out. It says that “in order to avoid a potential dilution of their reimbursement, it is of the highest importance for investors not to rely on the actions of the US Trustee, and to undertake European initiatives .. in order to obtain complete indemnisation.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In Switzerland currently, institutional assets under management by BlackRock are estimated at CHF48bn, according to the IPE institute, a figure “which BlackRock does not deny,” Le Temps reports. This puts the firm in third place for Swiss institutional management, after Credit Suisse and UBS. Revenues at BlackRock are divided nearly equally in Switzerland, where the group is led by Heinz Rothacher, between passive and active management. There are still some gaps to fill, such as bonds denominated in Swiss francs, Swiss large cap equities, and come hedge fund strategies, as well as funds oriented to dividends. There are plans underway in these areas, the Swiss newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of November 2010, assets at the high-yield asset management firm Muzinich & Co topped USD9bn, of which USD2.690m were for five sub-funds of the Irish Sicav.The Paris office, led by Eric Pictet, stated on 9 December that “all funds have posted a significant increase in their assets due to net subscriptions” and positive market effects.Assets for the Enhancedyield € increased to USD415m (EUR342m) from USD73m as of the end of December 2009, while the Americayield $ rose to USD1.486bn from USD734m. The ShortDurationHighYield fund, launched only on 4 October, has already attracted USD168m.The conclusion of Muzinich is that “all funds now have sufficient assets to welcome all types of investors.”

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings announced on 9 December that it is moving its London headquarters to Canary Wharf. From 13 December, the new offices will be home to all of the group’s London-based activities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UK management firm Gartmore has been fined USD1.35m for allowing its US hedge fund AlphaGen RhoCas to short-sell shares in a firm last year, and then to participate in a capital increase at the same firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Natixis announced in a statement on 9 December that it has not yet received notification of a lawsuit from the legally-appointed trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BMIS”), but that it nonetheless rejects the plaints against it. Following a press statement released by the trustee, Irving Picard, the bank announced that “Natixis rejects the claims against it, and is planning to take the necessary measures to defend itself and ensure that its legal rights are protected.” Natixis says that it “has always acted in good faith and that it did not gain from, nor participate in, nor have knowledge of the fraud committed by Bernard Madoff. To the contrary, it is a civil party in the current penal legal action currently in the instruction process in Paris.” The statement points out that as of 31 December 2009, Natixis had set aside EUR463m, or 100% of its exposure to Madoff assets, minus insurance costs.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After Europe, the United States and Japan, Tobam is launching a version of its Anti-Benchmark process based on a global universe of businesses in developed countries. The new Anti-Benchmark World Equity strategy will be available via a French-registered FCP fund licensed by the French financial market authority (AMF). The French independent management firm was already offering its clients exposure to global equities via the Anti-Benchmark Global Equity fund, which combined the regional funds from the management firm. The new strategy will invest in the markets directly. The Anti-Benchmark World has already registered EUR150m in subscriptions, of which EUR50m are for the FCP fund, and EUR100m for a management mandate from a European pension fund. That will allow the management firm to increase its assets a little bit further, beyond the current total of USD1.35bn, managed largely for foreign investors (90%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former president of BNP Gestions and La Française des Placements, Arnaud Clément-Grandcourt, joined Diamant Bleu Gestion (EUR184m in assets currently) to manage the youngest fund in the product range, the contrarian international equities Sicav Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et Résilience, according to his principles (the other four products in the range are FCP funds). The Sicav fund was created on 22 November 2010, and began its operations on 6 December. It will have about 30 positions, and its benchmark is a hybrid of 60% Eurostoxx 50 with dividends reinvested, and 40% capitalised Eonia.At a presentation in Paris on 9 December, Christian Jimenez, co-founder and president of Diamant Bleu Gestion, explained that the new fund received an initial investment of EUR11.33m from a small circle of institutional and private investors. It will have about EUR15m by the end of December, and EUR30m by the end of January, based on commitments from investors who are already sold on the fund.The new fund has “two parts, which reflect two processes, with the common philosophy being risk control,” the manager continues. “Among the shares in the growth portion, there are shares which will outperform when the markets are rising; in the resilience portion, there are shares which will lose less, and even generate positive returns, when the markets are falling.”The formula is based on increased flexibility in allocation between the growth and resilience portions. The fund shall or should invest 60% to 100% in equities, and may if need be allocate up to 100% to resilient equities, though the manager will avoid allocating more than 50% to the growth portfolio. “We look for risk assymetries, knowing that negatives will be lower than positives,” says Clément-Grandcourt. The fund is managed with a mid-term and long-only approach, without leverage and without derivatives.CharacteristicsName: Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et RésilienceISIN codes: I shares: FR0010892588S shares: FR0010957936Management commission: I shares: 1.50% maximumS shares: 0.95% maximumPerformance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the benchmark, with high watermark

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } IFAs appear much more optimistic than their clients about outlooks for capital markets, according to the most recent quarterly survey by Russell Investments, “Financial Professional Outlook” (FPO). 59% of IFAs say they are optimistic about the outlooks for capital markets in the next three years, while only 7% of them say that their clients are optimistic. The study also finds that 78% of IFAs say their clients report that economic uncertainty presents an obstacle to the realisation of their financial objectives. 61% say that the volatility of the markets worries their clients. In other words, IFAs are facing an enormous job to rebuild relationships of trust with their clients, whose confidence was in many cases profoundly shaken by the financial crisis.

Wegelin Asset Management -a division of Swiss-based private Bank Wegelin- which started on the French market in January, has spent all this time since then to set the bases for its development en France. It has started to concentrate on institutional investors who are managing their own account, just like it does in Switzerland where the company has a broad client base among pension funds and insurance companies.However, to be successful on the French market, Wegelin wished to go further. In order to contact other professional investors (FoFs, private banks and so on), the asset management company recently passed a partnership with the third party marketer (TPM) Aloha Finance."This approach is adapted to the French market which is very fragmented but where private investors may have needs that are very similar to those of institutional investors. Thus, they are also very interested in our management strategies», says Pierre-Yves Cahart. If this double approach is successful in France, which is a sort or laboratory or testing ground for this kind of model, it could possibly also be used in other European countries, especially in Italy. «Provided that we find the right partners to develop our business», the head of institutional customers in France and French-speaking countries at Wegelin AM says.In the meantime, Wegelin is selling its active indexing equity strategy, managed by Daniel Leveau, the head of the quant management team. After been awarded a sales licence in July, the company started with the active sales drive of the range, which combines active and index-based, market picking strategies and consists of three Luxembourg domiciled UCITS III funds."The response of French institutional investors to this range has been very positive», the manager says. «One must say, though, that French institutional investors were themselves expressing interest for these products, which has prompted us to propose them in France», Cahart confirms.Other strategies might be proposed to French customers in the future, especially the «global diversification» one, which has no sales license in France yet. «We actually register a strong demand for product that include a pre-defined exposure to the different sources of risk», says Cahart.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Citi Private Bank has recruited John Woods as chief investment officer for the Asia-Pacific region, in order to extend its advising product range and adapt its regional allocation services to the needs of clients. Woods will be based in Hong Kong, and is seeking a portfolio manager to work alongside him. Woods previously worked as a partner at the alternative management firm Lincoln Vale in London, where he was responsible for Asian equities and fixed income.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Stefan Zayer will join Rupert Hengster as co-head of the German activities of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EdRAM). For the moment, the opening of the future Frankfurt offices is awaiting approval from the supervisory authorities, EdRAM announced on 9 December. Zayer will be director and vice-spokesman of the board of directors at EdRAM Germany, with responsibility for third party institutional activities. From 2005 to the present, he was head of the “new clients” activity in the institutional sales branch of Lazard Asset Management in Frankfurt. Philippe Couvrecelle, chairman of the board at EdRAM, told Newsmangers at the end of September that the Frankfurt office would eventually have five staff, and that it would initially target institutional clients (see Newsmanagers of 27 September).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 1 January 2011, the Hamburg private bank M. M. Warburg & Co KgaA will be taking over the remaining 49% stake which the savings bank of Bremen still held in the Bremen-based private bank Bankhaus Carl F. Plump & Co. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed. Warburg, which has owned 515 of Plump since 1999, will maintain the CEOs of Plump, Heinz Schwind and Marko Broischinski, in their positions.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US management firm Southeastern Asset Management, which is a shareholder both in the Spanish firm ACS and in the German firm Hochtief, in which it holds a 5.19% stake, is calling for the resignation of the managing board and the supervisory board at Hochtief, Expansión reports. It accuses the heads of the German group of having authorised a capital increase which allowed Qatar to take control of 9.1% of the business, which will require ACS to improve the terms of its takeover bid.Southeastern AM is upset by the outcome, as the Qatar sovereign fund will pay EUR57.114 per share, while shares in Hochtief were trading on the day of the announcement at EUR60.12.The German asset management firm DWS (Deutsche Bank) agrees with Southeastern’s criticisms, as the deal also dilutes its own stake.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Currently, the five funds from Diamant Bleu Gestion ( Diamant Bleu LFP, Diamant Bleu Monde LFP and Diamant Bleu responsable, the diversified funds, Diamant Bleu LFP Rotation Sectorielle and Diamant Bleu LFP Croissance et Résilience, the equities funds), have been on sale directly to pension funds, insurers and banks.“These products, which are also interesting for family offices and private banks, all have retail shares which so far have not been actively marketed,” Christian Jimenez, co-founder and CEO of Diamant Bleu Gestion and head of Imene Investment Partners (which controls 75% of DBG), announced on 9 December. He added that in agreement with the shareholder UFG-LFP (which controls 15% of shares), and which provides DBG with all of its middle office - as Hugues Le Maire, who controls 10% of shares, observes – the portfolios will be made available to IFAs from April 2011.Jimenez also announced that François-Xavier Chevallier joined DBG as a fund manager a few weeks ago. On 9 November he signed the first monthly economic letter from the management firm, as he has also become the director of economic studies.

In a meeting with Newsmanagers, Jean-Louis Laurens, managing partner, and Arnaud Perrier, director of development at Rotschild & Cie Gestion, discuss the plans which the management firm has for the near future, especially on the emerging markets. “We now have a fund of funds on these markets,” says Laurens, “but it must be admitted that it does not represent the management of our own firm.” The firm, aware of its late arrival on the market, is looking for an originality to set itself apart. The idea is to form partnerships with “local” management firms in some emerging markets, in order to profit from the high savings capacities in several countries, and their successes as exporters. Local managers will identify opportunities via a selection of shares, and Paris will handle the geographical and asset allocation. The project is at an advanced stage, insofar as discussions have already taken place with several emerging countries.As additions to the fund product range, the firm is also looking at alternative multi-management – but not necessarily in France, nor on the European continent, but most likely on the US market.Laurens also discusses the recent sale of the Sélection R platform, and explains that the sale was part of a natural “refocusing” of the asset management firm on the advising and management professions. “Operating the platform costs capital and a lot of administrative energy to manage,” he says. In addition, the platform, based on completely open architecture, was not a high-performance way to sell the house funds.” The situation will develop more favourably in the future. It will allow Rotschild & Cie Gestion to increase assets from EUR22bn currently, to EUR30bn by the end of 2014, according to the objective set by the directors of the firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 26 November, DWS Investments (Spain) registered the absolute return fund of funds DB Evolution Defensive, for which the minimal recommended investment duration is 3 years, with the CNMV. The fund aims for annual returns higher than the Eonia + 50 basis points with ex ante volatility lower than or equal to 5%, regardless of the evolution of the markets, but with no guarantee. Under normal conditions, the fund will be directly or indirectly exposed to equities to a total proportion of 0% to 30%, primarily mid and large caps. For bonds, there is no predefined rule as to average duration, nor as to minimal rating. Characteristics Name: DB Evolution Defensive ISIN code: ES0125755001 Management commission: 1.2% Performance commission: 9% of performance exceeding the Eonia + 50 basis points

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 9 December, ETF Exchange (ETFX) and Rabobank International announced that the ETF ETFX AMX Fund (EAMX NA), which replicates an index of the 25 largest Dutch midcaps, has been admitted to trading on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. The admission follows the listing in March of the ETFX AEX Fund (NTH NA), which replicates the 25 largest caps in the Netherlands. 9 December marks the beginning of the sales phase for this fund as well. Rabobank International is a member of the ETF Exchange consortium, which claims to be the largest platform in the world for multiple counterparties for swaps, which reduces counterparty risks. ETFs on this platform therefore use synthetic replication to reduce tracking error and costs. They all comply with the UCITS III directive.

Laurent Camilli, Philippe Croppi et Philippe Guezenec, les trois associés de DC Advisory France (ex-Close Brothers) qui viennent de quitter la société, ont fondé Easton Corporate Finance, a révélé CFNews. Conseil en M&A et en restructuration, la boutique ciblera les sociétés d’une valeur comprise entre 25 et 500 millions d’euros. L’équipe d’Easton devraitcompter 15professionnels début 2011.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a confirmé la signature d’un accord commercial avec Oddo Services pour développer une offre conjointe de services titres à destination des acteurs de la gestion privée de taille moyenne en France. Ces acteurs représentent quelque 500 établissements.

Le gérant américain a annoncé jeudi la cession d’un portefeuille de 11 milliards de dollars de parts de titrisation. La transaction se traduira par une perte après impôt de 350 millions dans les comptes du quatrième trimestre 2010. Elle devrait réduire les revenus 2011 de 375 millions. Le portefeuille incluait des titres adossés à des prêts hypothécaires américains et européens (4,1 milliards et 2,5 milliards) ainsi que d’autres prêts (ABS, 3,7 milliards et 0,6 milliard respectivement). State Street les avait notamment hérités des conduits ABCP qu’il sponsorisait. Le groupe réinvestira dans des titrisations notées AAA et AA, mais aussi en Treasuries et en dette émise par des agences gouvernementales. Il anticipe aussi l’éventuelle adoption des règles Bâle 3 aux Etats-Unis. Au 30 septembre 2010, en pro forma, l’opération fait passer son ratio de solvabilité Tier one common capital de 13,9% à 16,6%. Il serait de 8,8% sous Bâle 3. Le Wall Street Journal croit savoir que Barclays Capital et Goldman Sachs ont acquis « la plupart des titres ».

Dans une étude, la direction du Trésor estime que les investissements du Grenelle seront négatifs sur la croissance et l’emploi à partir de 2021

Selon l’étude Mergermarket/Merrill DataSite, le financement des transactions proviendra avant tout des ressources internes aux entreprises

Mardi et mercredi, les prix des contrats futures sur les maturités allant de janvier 2011 à mai 2012 ont dépassé ceux des contrats allant de juin à décembre 2012

Cette semaine, les prix des contrats à terme des maturités allant de janvier 2011 à mai 2012 ont dépassé ceux des contrats allant de juin à décembre 2012.

Leur actif net s'est accru de 1.200 milliards de dollars au cours du troisième trimestre, grâce au rebond des marchés boursiers

L'activisme du liquidateur américain Irving Picard pourrait léser indirectement les investisseurs européens floués par l'escroc, estime Deminor

La réforme de la comptabilité de couverture proposée hier par l’organisme devrait permettre d'élargir le champ d’application de cette règle et de mieux refléter la politique de gestion des risques des entreprises, avec une moindre volatilité des résultats.