According to the Financial Times, fund managers at SAC Capital Advisors, Citadel, Janus Capital and Wellington Management have received requests for documents from federal investigators examining insider trading practices on Wall Street.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that in the United States, the Republicans, who accuse the Fed of setting the stage for runaway inflation by weakening the dollar, have proposed a bill which would simplify the Fed’s responsibilities, removing the responsibility to maintain full employment in order to concentrate on price stability. The bill has little chance of passing.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a Funds People study based on data from Allfunds Alternative and KdK AM, the number of UCITS-compliant funds of hedge funds available in Spain now totals over 50. According to KdK AM, the most commen fee structure includes a management commission of 1.5% and a performance commission of 10%. About 80% of funds are absolute return products, while less than 20% use the Libor +. More than 70% of these funds are available in several countries.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Swiss Life on 23 November announced that Tanguy Polet has been appointed CEO of Swiss Life Banque Privée, and a member of the executive board of Swiss Life France. Tanguy Polet, a lawyer by training, joined Swiss Life Belgium in 2005, and then took over as CEO of Swiss Life Luxembourg in 2008.

BNP Paribas Real Estate on 23 November announced the appointment of David Aubin as CEO for the international Investment Management operation (REIM), from 1 November 2010. He will report to François Benfeghoul, deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate He was previously director of FIG Europe (Financial Institutions Group, a team of senior bankers in charge of banks and insurers) at BNP Paribas.Aubin, a member of the executive board of BNP Paribas Real Estate, aims in particular to carry out the assets under management growth objectives of BNP Paribas REIM, via ambitious equity inflows, and international development (BNP Paribas REIM now operates via seven affiliates in Western Europe).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Frédéric Lauprêtre, director and head of investment solutions and development at Edmond de Rothshild Investment Managers, has been appointed to the newly-created position of director of sustainable development at La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild (LCF Rothschild).In his new position, Lauprêtre will propose and deploy a general sustainable development policy, and orient and coordinate the initiatives of the bank and its affiliates.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European organisation for the promotion of socially responsible investment (SRI) has welcomed two new members, AG2R La Mondiale and Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS). Eurosif now has over 80 members.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eaton Vance Corp (USD185.2bn in assets as of the end of October) has acquired the assets of the Managed ETFs LLC company, which develops intellectual property in the ETF domain, for an undisclosed amount. Managed ETFs controls intellectual property, including patents, which may be used for more effective ETF trading and facilitate the creation of “non-transparent,” actively-managed ETFs.The sale of the technologies acquired by Eaton Vance at this time would require a license from the SEC.The co-founders of Managed ETFs are Gary L. Gastineau, former managing director for ETF product development at Nuveen Investments, who is also the principal of ETF Consultants LLC, and Todd J. Broms, who is CEO of Broms & Company LLC.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Robin Edme has announced that he is leaving the French Forum for Responsible Investment, of which he was one of the founders in 2001, and has been president since 2003. He has decided to hand over power to a new management, stating that the job which was set out for him, to make the FRI a tool for socially responsible investment for its members, has been completed, a statement says. He will present his resignation to the board of directors on 15 December, and the FRI office will propose Bertrand Fournier, vice president of the FRI and chairman of the board at LFP-Sarasin AM, as its new president at that meeting.Edme will continue to work at the FRI; he will handle the international portion of the representation on the French forum, where he will continue to represent the board of directors of Eurosif, on which he is vice-chairman, and will continue the work begun with European bodies (he is coordinator of the ECRA initiative, which includes 10 European investor organisations and promotes the integration of extra-financial reporting into financial reporting). “The next few years will see an increase of my involvement with these European bodies, to strengthen our relations with our international counterparts, make the voice of our organisation heard, and promote the principles of a modern and pioneering French approach to SRI, in a market environment in which these approaches often remain dominated by a highly anglo-saxon philosophy,” says Edme.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Barclays on 23 November announced the launch of the Barclays Equity Euro Market Neutral fund, a Luxembourg-domiciled fund registered in France. The objective of the fund is to generate returns of about 7%, with volatility limited to 5%, through a market neutral strategy.To adhere to a neutral strategy, the fund will invest in European equities through a process of acquisition in pairs. For every share selected for a long position the manager will select another share from the same sector for a short position. The two shares will have identical weight in the portfolio.The investment process will rely on three engines to identify market opportunities. They form an initial filter to identify a number of opportunities.A first engine studies the valuations of the Price Earning Ratio compared with a market average, and determines which are likely to show a pertinent buy or sell signal. The second engine studies upward and downward revisions to corporate results over one-week, one-month and three-month intervals, to evaluate the shares selected. The third, qualitative engine, applies fundamental analysis by the research team, on the basis of more traditional criteria. The three engines create a list of 40 to 50 investment pairs. In a second stage, the management team evaluates the resulting list, and verifies that the pairs selected correspond to genuine investment opportunities, and are not due to structural movements. This results in a list of 20 to 25 pairs. Last of all, the investment team intervenes to undertake a StockRatio calculation. This ratio synthesizes the valuations of each of the pairs selected, taking into account the valuation levels of the two shares from a historical point of view to determine the timing of the investment. The highly selective process results in a final portfolio of 10 pairs with good diversification. The entry of a share into the portfolio triggers the setting up of a stop loss, as well as a stop gain, which are alarms that would lead to the removal of a share from the portfolio if it exceeds the set limits. Major characteristics of the fund Legal format: Luxembourg SICAV (UCITS III) AMF category: Diversified fund ISIN Code: Retail LU0450749949 Launch: 1 October 2010 Investment horizon: 5 years Management fee: Retail 1.20% Institutional 0.8%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In third quarter 2010, Franklin Templeton posted net subscriptions in Italy of EUR1.676bn, and had assets under management as of the end of September of over EUR12.3bn, Bluerating reports, citing figures from Assogestioni. Sergio Albarelli, senior director of Franklin Templeton for Italy, Spain and France, would like to make the business one of the top 10 Italian management firms in 2011. As the firm now ranks 11th behind Azimut, which has EUR13.9bn in assets, Bluerating estimates that the task may not be altogether impossible.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In its special supplement dedicated to the Feri EuroRating Awards 2010, the Börsen-Zeitung highlights the fact that Fidelity Investment Managers won the prizes for best fund in two categories, and the prize for best asset management firm in the generalist provider category. Second in the rankings is Aberdeen Asset Management, with first place in emerging market equities and the equities fund manager category. Allianz Global Investors (AGI), which was not nominated in 2009, was crowned as best bond fund manager. The best management firm in the absolute return special category went to Swiss & Global Asset Management, while DJE Kapital won the prize for best manager for specialist products.

L’entreprise d’investissement a fait part de la création d’un département commodities qui proposera aux clients professionnels une gamme de services sur quatre lignes de produits: l’environnement, l’énergie, les métaux et l’agriculture. Jérôme de Preneuf, nommé directeur du nouveau département, entend notamment «développer une force de vente dédiée aux ETF sur commodities».

Les syndicats du Portugal organisent ce mercredi leur première grève générale commune depuis 1988 pour protester contre les mesures d’austérité du gouvernement. Le premier ministre José Socrates a d’ores et déjà prévenu qu’il maintiendrait ses projets de baisse des salaires et de hausse de la fiscalité pour ne pas subir le même sort que l’Irlande et la Grèce.

L’UE et le FMI apporteront 85 milliards d’euros à l’Irlande, selon le média irlandais RTE. «Le paquet permettrait de porter le niveau de fonds propres des banques irlandaises de 8 à 12% et ce afin de remonter la confiance des déposants du système financier», explique la RTE sur son site.

Les taux actuels de la dette souveraine irlandaise dépassent nettement ceux utilisés dans les tests de résistance publiés en juillet dernier

Tandis que les banques allemandes ont réduit leurs émissions, des établissements de tous horizons se financent à présent sur ce marché

L'Espagne a dû payer hier le prix fort pour ses émissions de bons du Trésor

L'Espagne a dû payer hier le prix fort pour ses émissions de bons du Trésor

Alors que le nouveau round d'assouplissement quantitatif a été diversement perçu, les membres du FOMC ont évoqué des options plus radicales

NYSE Euronext prévoit de créer quelque 40 nouveaux centres de données dans le monde dans des villes telles que Sao Paulo, Tokyo ou Francfort afin de développer les capacités des systèmes existants ainsi que le système de maintenance des réseaux, indique le quotidien qui cite Stanley Young, directeur général de NYSE Technologies.

Ewald Nowotny, membre du conseil des gouverneurs de la Banque centrale européenne, a indiqué sur la télévision autrichienne ORF qu’il serait logique que les porteurs d’obligations d’Etat soient également financièrement solidaires en cas de mise en place d’un plan de sauvetage d’un Etat de la zone. Il estime néanmoins que «cela ne peut se produire que dans des cas extrêmes».

Le Secrétaire général de l’Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole (Opep), Abdullah El-Badri, a estimé dans un entretien accordé au quotidien que le marché du pétrole risquait le «chaos» faute de la mise en place d’une réglementation appropriée visant les instruments financiers liés aux produits pétroliers. Ces derniers ont davantage d’influence que les réalités physiques de l’offre et de la demande.

L’AMF a approuvé un éventail de dispositions communes à l’AGF, à l’Afic et à l’Aspim. Ces règles visent à éviter les facteurs de risque

Les membres du FOMC ont débattu de plusieurs options pour la politique monétaire. Les bénéfices éventuels du «QE2» ont été diversement commentés.

Le collège de l’AMF a approuvé un ensemble de règles professionnelles destinées à mieux encadrer les politiques de rémunérations dans le secteur de la gestion. L’Afic, l’AFG et l’ASPIM ont œuvré à l'élaboration de ces normes de place qui entrent en vigueur le 1er janvier.

Une première depuis la chute de Lehman. Un émetteur français, Banque PSA Finance, a émis la semaine dernière une tranche de 500 millions d’euros notée AAA du Fonds Commun de Titrisation (FCT) Auto ABS Compartiment 2010- 1, adossé à des contrats de location 100% allemands.

Banque PSA Finance vient d'émettre une tranche AAA de 500 millions d’euros du Fonds commun de titrisation (FCT) Auto ABS Compartiment 2010- 1

Le Collège de l’AMF a approuvé en qualité de règles professionnelles les dispositions communes à l’Association française de la gestion financière (AFG), l’Association française des investisseurs en capital (AFIC) et l’Association française des sociétés de placement immobilier (ASPIM) sur les politiques de rémunération au sein des sociétés de gestion.

Près de neuf professionnels sur dix (89%) s’attendent à recevoir un bonus au titre de l’année 2010 et près de la moitié (48%) pensent qu’il sera plus élevé que celui de l’an dernier, indique une enquête de eFinancialCareers.fr, site international d’offres d’emploi dans les secteurs de la banque et de la finance.