Morningstar France Holding, a annoncé, lundi 17 mai, l’acquisition de la société Seeds Group et de ses filiales Seeds Finance et Multiratings, deux sociétés de conseil en investissements financiers et de recherche sur les OPCVM en France. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été divulgué - confirmant ainsi, selon la réglementation américaine, que le prix de l’opération est inférieur à 2 % du chiffre d’affaires de Morningstar. Selon Joe Mansueto, le président directeur général de la maison mère, l’acquisition de Seeds Group, qui compte une trentaine de clients va permettre à sa société d’étendre ses services de conseil en investissements financiers en France. Cette opération va également donner la possibilité à l’entreprise d’approcher plus précisément une clientèle d’investisseurs institutionnels. Cette nouvelle confirme également la politique d’acquisition soutenue du groupe. Après avoir débuté dans l’activité des fonds d’investissement et leur étude, ce dernier s’est diversifié dans d’autres secteurs comme la recherche actions ou la notation. Apparue en 2000 aux Etats-Unis, la recherche actions de l'établissement américain a élargi son univers en incluant aujourd’hui 300 titres européens. Morningstar offre ce type de services depuis huit mois en France et, selon Frédéric Lorenzini, son directeur de la recherche, s’apprête à passer un accord avec un établissement français qui, pour sa part, compte externaliser sa recherche «actions Amérique du Nord». Outre l’ouverture sur une nouvelle clientèle dont compte profiter Morningstar via Seeds Group, l’entreprise entend bénéficier de l’expertise de l'établissement dans le domaine de la gestion alternative et accroitre ses capacités de conseil en fonds de fonds. Quant à Multiratings.com, le site délivrant des analyses sur les OPCVM et de la formation financière à destination des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine et des investisseurs institutionnels, il devrait dans un premier temps fonctionner de façon indépendante. A noter enfin qu’une fois l’acquisition de Seeds sera finalisée, Jean-François Bay et Vianney Dubois, co-fondateur et directeur général, continueront de diriger l’activité de la nouvelle filiale de Morningstar.

AXA WF Global Inflation Bonds est un fonds d’obligations indexées sur l’inflation principalement sur la zone euro, les Etats-Unis, le Royaume-Uni, la Suède, le Canada, le Japon et l’Australie. En étant composé d’instruments financiers à long terme, le fonds affiche une duration relativement longue et se trouve de fait sensible aux variations de taux.Aussi, AXA IM offre désormais la possibilité de choisir entre deux types de parts :- des parts standards avec une duration classique (de l’ordre de 9 années en moyenne) permettant aux investisseurs d'être entièrement exposés aux effets de la variation des taux sur la valeur nette du fonds. - des parts «Redex» à duration réduite qui avec la mise en place d’une stratégie de couvertures permettent d’atténuer l’exposition des investisseurs au risque de taux. Dans ce contexte, les investisseurs ne sont que partiellement exposés aux effets de la variation des taux sur la valeur nette du fonds.Une fois leur investissement réalisé, les investisseurs sont libres de passer d’une part à l’autre en fonction de leurs objectifs et de leur stratégie. Dans un premier temps, les parts Redex sont appliquées au fonds AXA WF Global Inflation Bonds. Elles concerneront par la suite d’autres fonds de la gamme obligataire d’AXA IM. Caractéristiques d’AXA WF Global Inflation BondsCodes ISIN LU0266009793 (A)/ LU0227145629 (C)/LU0227145975 (D) Sicav luxembourgeoise AXA World Funds créée le 13/09/2005Indice de référence Barclays World Government Inflations Linked Bonds All Maturities 3 Droits d’entée maximum (A) : 5,5%Droits de sortie maximum (A) -Frais de gestion (A) 0,6% (+0,05% pour la part Redex)Souscription initiale minimum (A) : -Souscriptions suivantes minimum (A) : -

Lundi, la Deutsche Börse a annoncé l’admission à la cote du segment XTF de sa plate-forme électronique Xetra de 14 ETF actions de droit luxembourgeois, dont 6 émis par db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), 5 de ComStage (Commerzbank) et trois de Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale). Ces produits portent à 669 le nombre d’ETF cotés à Francfort.Dans le détail, il s’agit des produits suivants :db x-trackers- db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Real Estate ETF (LU0489337690, commission de gestion 0,20 %)- db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Eurozone Real Estate ETF (LU0489336965, commission 0,15 %)- db x-trackers MSCI Canada TRN Index ETF (LU0476289540, commission 0,15 %)- db x-trackers MSCI Europe Value TRN Index ETF (LU0486851024, commission 0,20 %)- db x-trackers MSCI Mexico TRN Index ETF (LU0476289466, commission 0,45 %) et- db x-trackers S&P 500 ETF (LU0490618542, commission 0,05 %).ComStage - ComStage ETF Cac 40 (LU0419740799 ; commission de gestion 0,20 %)- ComStage ETF Cac 40 Short TR (LU0419740955 ; commission 0,35 %)- ComStage ETF Cac 40 Leverage (LU0419741094, commission 0,30 %)- ComStage ETF S&P 500 (LU0488316133, commission 0,18 %) et - ComStage ETF NYSE Arca Gold Bugs (LU0488317701, commission 0,65 %)Lyxor Asset Management- Lyxor ETF S&P 500 (LU0496786574, commission de gestion 0,20 %)- Lyxor ETF S&P TSX 60 (LU0496786731, commission 0,30 %) et- Lyxor ETF S&P ASX 200 (LU0496786905, commission 0,30 %)

Le prestataire de services financiers MLP a déclaré pour le premier trimestre 2010 un bénéfice net de 2 millions d’euros contre 0,1 million tandis que le bénéfice avant impôt et charges financières (EBIT) affichait une augmentation de 26 % à 4 millions d’euros.Les actifs sous gestion se sont accrus à 17,7 milliards d’euros (au 31 mars) contre 17 milliards fin décembre. Les recettes de commissions provenant de la gestion de fortune (pour l’essentiel de Feri) se sont accrues de 7 % à 18,3 millions d’euros.MLP vise toujours pour fin 2012 une marge d’EBIT de 15 % contre 7,9 % pour 2009.

Le 24 juin, le conseil d’administration de DekaBank devrait se prononcer sur la reconduction des mandats d’au moins trois des membres du directoire, à savoir le président Franz Waas, le directeur financier Friedrich Oelrich et le patron des fonds de valeurs mobilières Oliver Behrens. Compte tenu du blocage entre des Landesbanken qui pourraient être amenées à liquider leurs participations, et les caisses d'épargne, le mandat des membres du directoire reconduits pourrait être limité à 2 ans au lieu des 5 ans habituels. Les caisses d'épargne, qui contrôlent 50 % de l'établissement, sont préoccupées par les risques que prend l'équipe dirigeante tandis que les Landesbanken prennent ombrage du développement des activités de marché, qu’elles pratiquent également, souligne la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.Actuellement, les transactions effectuées par les fonds Deka représentent 85 % de l’activité de la salle des marchés de la DekaBank, mais l'état-major estime que cela ne représente qu’entre 25 et 40 % des opérations et qu’il subsiste là un gros potentiel, surtout si l’on compte que l’encours des fonds représente quelque 100 milliards d’euros. page 14, Kno./ham.

On Monday, Deutsche Börse announced the admission to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic platform of 14 Luxembourg-registered equities ETF funds, of which 6 are from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), 5 from Comstage (Commerzbank), and three from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale). The products bring the number of ETF funds listed in Frankfurt to 669. The new funds include the following products: db x-trackers - db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Real Estate ETF (LU0489337690, management commission 0.20%) - db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Eurozone Real Estate ETF (LU0489336965, commission 0.15%) - db x-trackers MSCI Canada TRN Index ETF (LU0476289540, commission 0.15%) - db x-trackers MSCI Europe Value TRN Index ETF (LU0486851024, commission 0.20%) - db x-trackers MSCI Mexico TRN Index ETF (LU0476289466, commission 0.45%) and - db x-trackers S&P 500 ETF (LU0490618542, commission 0.05%). ComStage - ComStage ETF Cac 40 (LU0419740799; management commission 0.20%) - ComStage ETF Cac 40 Short TR (LU0419740955 ; commission 0.35%) - ComStage ETF Cac 40 Leverage (LU0419741094, commission 0.30%) - ComStage ETF S&P 500 (LU0488316133, commission 0.18%) and - ComStage ETF NYSE Arca Gold Bugs (LU0488317701, commission 0.65%) Lyxor Asset Management - Lyxor ETF S&P 500 (LU0496786574, management commission 0.20%) - Lyxor ETF S&P TSX 60 (LU0496786731, commission 0.30%) and - Lyxor ETF S&P ASX 200 (LU0496786905, commission 0.30%)

Les Echos reports that the 27 European Union member states will today vote to pass the planned AIFM directive, without opposition from the United Kingdom. The UK government announced yesterday evening that it would accept the compromise offered by the Spanish EU presidency. For the moment, the British will abandon their efforts to allow asset management firms based outside Europe to apply for a “European passport” which would allow them to make their funds available throughout the EU as soon as they have obtained authorisation from any single EU member state. This position will now be brought into line with that of the European Parliament, whose specialised commission yesterday evening announced its support for the planned directive, in a vote in favour of a passport for asset management firms from countries outside the EU.

La Tribune reports, citing estimates from Credit Suisse, that measures by the Basel Committee to strengthen the regulation of the global banking industry as part of Basel III and the introduction of double taxation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could cost European banks EUR244bn. The weight of these costs could put the banks at a competitive disadvantage compared with US banks, though these banks will also be required to pay “IMF tax” as part of the same initiative.

As part of its strategy to make Asia its second domestic market, the bank Julius Baer (CHF175bn in assets under management as of the end of April) has announced 11 recruitments for its private banking and products team. Among the senior relationship managers joining the team are the country market manager for Singapore and Malaysia from Société Générale, Vincent Lim Chuan Hoo, who becomes team head of private banking for South East Asia. Evelyn Yeo joins from the private wealth management division of Deutsche Bank to become head of investment advisory services. The other recruitments include specialists in structured products, capital markets and government bonds.

Thanks to market appreciation, SRI assets under management at Dexia Asset Management rose 12% last year to EUR18bn, according to the 2009 sustainable development report published by Dexia. The 2009 fiscal year however ended with net outflows of EUR99m while 2008 had generated EUR500m in net inflows. Dexia AM’s share of the European SRI market dropped 11.1% to 5.6% from 6.3% in ’08 and 7.5% in ’07. This decrease might possibly be ascribed to the arrival of new competitors on the market, but it also could be blamed on Dexia’s lower returns. The asset manager experienced the loss of an SRI mandate from the French Fonds de réserve des retraites (FRR) at the beginning of this year. Since March, Isabelle Cabie a taken over the sustainable and responsible investment operation, replacing Gaëtan Herinckx, who quit to develop a personal project from South Africa.

State Street Global Advisors (SsgA) and Nuveen Asset Management (an affiliate of Nuveen Investments) have announced the launch of an ETF fund based on US municipal bonds, the SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Build America Bond. Management fees are set at 0.35% per year. The ETF will seek to replicate the performance of the Barclays Capital Build America Bond fund, which as of 30 April this year was invested in 85 bond issues. Build America Bonds, created as part of last year’s recovery and stimulus program (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), will attract investors for whom investment in traditional municipal bonds represent a tax reduction, insofar as these bonds are taxed, but also offer returns equivalent to those of corporate bonds with much lower risk. Between the launch of the program in April 2009 and 31 March this year, there have been 1,066 issues of Build America Bonds totalling over USD90bn.

Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors (FTREA) has recruited Joyce T. Shapiro as managing director for its new team specialised in multi-management of «real» assets. She was previously at Brookfield Asset Management. The new team will cover infrastructure, energy, water, agriculture, and timber.

The pension fund for New York teachers, TIAA-CREF, is planning to develop its investment management activities serving charities, Bloomberg reports. Goldman Sachs and Pacific Investment Management (Pimco) have already made moves into this market. US charities are expected to invest over USD500bn through external management firms by the end of 2012, according to estimates by Casey & Associates LLC. Most outsourcing candidates are organisations with assets ranging from USD250m to USD750m.

Morningstar France Holding announced on Monday, 17 May, that it has acquired the Seeds Group and its affiliates, Seeds Finance and Multiratings, two financial investment consulting and fund research companies in France. The acquisition price was not revealed. Joe Mansueto, president and CEO of Morningstar Inc, says the acquisition of Seeds Group, which has 30 clients, will allow the firm to extend its financial investment advisory services in France. Morningstar is planning to rely on the expertise of the firm in the area of alternative management, and to increase its fund of fund advising capabilities. With multiratings.com, the group will have a site offering analysis of UICTS funds and financial training for independent financial advisers and institutional investors. Once the acquisition is completed, Jean-François Bay and Vianney Dubois, co-founders and CEO, will continue to lead the activities of the new Morningstar affiliate.

The new long-only CIO of Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) from this summer will be Jean-Baptiste Segard, who was previously head of business development at GLG Partners in London, and CEO of Société Générale Asset Management Royaume-Uni (SGAM UK).In his new role, Segard will supervise the existing long-only investment centres of UBP in Europe, and “will undertake an expansion of the group’s resources and expertise in this segment worldwide.” Segard’s immediate priorities will include setting up several funds managed by the UBP Multi-Asset team in Geneva, and continuing to strengthen the group’s expertise in emerging markets.

The financial services provider MLP has announced net profits in first quarter 2010 of EUR2m, compared with EUR0.1m, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were up 26% to EUR4m. Assets under management increased to EUR17.7bn as of 31 March, from EUR17bn as of the end of December. Commission revenues from wealth management (largely from Feri) increased 7% to EUR18.3m. MLP is still aiming for an EBIT margin of 15% by the end of 2012, compared with 7.9% in 2009.

Reyl Asset Management has launched an Irish hedge fund firm specialised in seed and development capital for hedge funds. The Reyl Accelerator Fund will be advised by FRM Capital Advisors, which will select hedge fund managers eligible for the fund, which will aim to unite a diversified portfolio of managers practicing a wide range of strategies (directional trading, relative value, equity long short, specialist credit, and idiosyncratic strategy).

Hedge funds posted gains of 1.35% in April, bringing performance in the first four months of the year to 4.63%, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund index calculated by BarclayHedge. Three strategies finished in the red in April: European equities (-0.05%), health and biotechnologies (-0.02%), and equity short bias (-5.46%).

The Dreyfus Corporation, a part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the launch of the Dreyfus Global Return Fund, an absolute return fund managed by Newton Capital Management, a boutique belonging to BNY Mellon AM specialised in regional and international equities and bonds, as well as in multi-asset class absolute return funds. The fund will concentrate its investments in international equities, bonds, and cash, and to a lesser extent in real estate, commodities, currencies, alternative and non-traditional assets.

The Dreyfus Corporation, a part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the launch of the Dreyfus Global Return Fund, an absolute return fund managed by Newton Capital Management, a boutique belonging to BNY Mellon AM specialised in regional and international equities and bonds, as well as in multi-asset class absolute return funds. The fund will concentrate its investments in international equities, bonds, and cash, and to a lesser extent in real estate, commodities, currencies, alternative and non-traditional assets.

The global investible hedge fund index from Lyxor Asset Mangement which is down 1.02% for the 1st-11th May period, in April posted a gain of 0.92%, compared with 2.12% in March (see Newsmanagers of 12 April), bringing performance in the first four months of the year to 2.96%. Three strategies were in the red for April, including long/short equity short bias (-1.64%) and L/S equity statistical arbitrage (-1.04%). In January-April, long/short equity short bias is the only category showing a loss (-11.06%). However, the strategy gained back 2.56% between 1st and 11th May, reducing its losses since the beginning of the year to 8.78%.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 17 May published two consultation documents on the subject of ratings agencies. The first concerns the supervision of ratings agencies by the competent authorities under the terms of article 21.3(a) of the regulation which stipulates that the CESR will publish recommendations in this area by 7 September 2010. The second document covers recommendations in relation to the applicable standards to evaluate the suitability of methodologies employed by ratings agencies to the regulatory requirements set out in article 8(3). These recommendations will also be published by 7 September of this year. The two consultations will remain open until 18 June.

On Monday, HSBC launched a new sub-fund of HSBC ETFs plc, the Irish-registered fund HSBC S&P 500 ETF, which replicates the US S&P 500 index. Farley Thomas, head of ETFs at HSBC, says the new product, denominated in US dollars and listed on the London Stock Exchange, will physically replicate the US large caps index, to minimise tracking error. Characteristics Name: HSBC S&P 500 ETF ISIN: IE00B5KQNG97 Management commission: 0.15%

The German group M.M. Warburg & Co KGaA on Monday announced the acquisition of an 80% stake in the Zurich-based Family Office Bank Private Client Partners AG, in which a 20% stake continues for the moment to be controlled by the founder and CEO, Andreas Bodemann. Warburg has an option to later increase its participation to 100%. The operation will allow the German private bank to build its presence in the family office market, a sector of activity in which it began in 1998, and since concentrated in its Hamburg-based affiliate Marcard, Stein & Co. Private Clients Partners will retain its operational independence. The acquisition price has not been revealed.

Grail Advisors on Monday registered a new ETF fund in its ETF Trust range with the SEC (form N-1A), entitled Grail Western Asset Enhanced Liquidity ETF. The product will be actively managed and will use a short-term bond strategy established by Western Asset Management (WAM), a Legg Mason affiliate which manages USD478bn. The new product will be listed on NYSE Arca, will charge a 0.30% management commission, and will be managed by four people: Kenneth Leech, Stephen Walsh, Martin Hanley, and Kevin Kennedy.

The Managed Funds Association, which is the biggest lobbying group for hedge funds, has handed over names and contact information for its more-than 2,600 members to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission under threat of subpoena from the congressional commission, according to a letter the lobbying group sent to member, says the Wall Street Journal. The lobbying association also said in the letter that the commission intends to ask funds directly about «specific trading information» related to Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch & Co. from 2007 to the present. The commission also wants to ask hedge funds about their leverage and short-selling.

La Tribune reports, citing the consulting firm Pensions Investment Research Consultants, that shareholders in HSBC may be allowed to vote against management bonuses. The head of the investment bank, Stuart Gulliver, for example, was paid 1,125% of his salary last year.

According to the Financial Times, Jupiter Asset Management, which manages GBP20bn, will on Tuesday announce its intention to list its shares publicly on the London Stock Exchange, potentially capitalising the group at up to GBP1bn. The fund manager is hoping the listing will raise up to GBP200m to GBP250m from new shares and from staff selling some of their shares.

The British alternative management firm Man Group on 17 May announced the acquisition of GLG Partners for a total of about USD1.6bn. The new entity will have approximately USD63bn in assets under management (of which Man accounts for slightly over USD39bn as of 31 March this year). The transaction is composed of two parts: a cash offer for GLG shareholders, and an offer in shares for the main partners at GLG, including Noam Gottesman, Pierre Lagrange, and Emmanuel Roman. By the terms of the agreement, GLG shareholders will receive USD4.50 per share, about 55% above their closing price on Friday, 14 May. The main shareholders and associated entities will be offered 1.0856 net Man share for each ordinary GLG share, valuing GLG shares at USD3.50. Man says the cost savings generated by the deal, which is expected to close by the end of September, could total about USD50m per year. Noam Gottesman, chairman and co-CEO of GLG, says the two firms have highly complementary activities insofar as both firms pursue long-term performance objectives with different client bases and investment strategies.

Alexander (Sandy) Black, who was head of equities at Insight Investment after serving as head of European equities at Deutsche Asset Management, has been recruited at investment director by J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM). He is a full-time replacement for Vicky Hastings, who had served in this role part-time since September 2006. For a few months, Hastings will remain at the firm to ensure a smooth transition.