La dégradation de l'emploi américain reste très brutale, et les indicateurs avancés montrent que la zone euro est loin d'être sortie d'affaire

Seul un gérant s’attend à un écartement des spreads sur le mois à venir. Ils maintiennent dans l’ensemble une exposition neutre à la classe d’actifs

Le « Panel Allocation d’actifs » milite pour une approche moins défensive, en réduisant sa part de cash de 10 % à 6 % en un mois

« L’Agefi » lance un « Panel Allocation d’actifs » qui fera un suivi mensuel des positions des gérants français

Legg Mason has announced that it has paid off debts and modified its agreements with creditors, which has allowed it to sell the remaining USD49m in SIVs which had remained on its balance sheet since it removed all SIVs from its money market funds on 5 March 2009. The manager is expecting to receiev a tax credit due to these operations of about USD520m. When these transactions have been concluded, cash at Legg Mason will total USD1.5bn, of which USD600m are working capital. The manager will also re-report USD450m in tax rebates on its taxes this year.

The Netherlands-based management firm Robeco has scaled up its third-party distribution operations with the recruitment on 1 April of Bernd Riedel as director Third Party Key Accounts and director of the south German region. Riedel, who will report to Kai Röhrl, head of third party distribution for Germany at Robeco Deutschland, joins from UBS Global Asset Management, where he was in charge of banking and fund of funds clients within third-party distribution.

KanAm has announced that it has invested CHFR35.6m in the acquisition of the Holiday Inn Zürich Messe, a three-star hotel which was opened on 19 March 2009, which will be added to the portfolio of the institutional fund KanAm Spezial grundinvest. The property, which is the first investment in the hotel sector for the fund, is leased for 20 years to Holiday Inn (InterContinental Hotels Group).

Fabrice de Cholet on 24 March 2009 succeeded his brother Philippe de Cholet as vice president and deputy CEO of Cholet Dupont.Fabrice de Cholet has served as a portfolio manager at Cholet Dupont since 1988. He has also been head of institutional relations since 2000.?Philippe de Cholet will continue to actively participate in the development of the family group, and will take charge of development and communication,? says a press release.

From 1 April, Manish Bhatia, who joined Schroders in Hong Kong in September 2008 to replace Millicent Lai, and has since worked alongside Louisa Lo, director of Asian equities ex Japan, will be taking over responsibility for the Schroder ISF Indian Equity and Schroder ISF Pacific Equity funds. When he joined Schroders, Bhatia left Manulife Asset Management, where he managed Asian equities portfolios and country funds focused on India and Taiwan.

At the end of 2008, assets in equities and bonds managed on behalf of institutional investors totalled EUR344bn, a decline of 15% compared with June 2008, according to the latest statistics from Bfinance. Including money markets, delegated management in France represents EUR588bn, a 10% decrease in six months.The overall decline is, unsurprisingly, on the equities side, which has shrunk 25% to EUR162bn. The management firms which dominate the delegated management market (excluding group assets, captive assets, and life insurance) are all affiliates of major French banking groups. They are BNP Paribas IM (EUR85.2bn, up 7% in six months), Crédit Agricole AM (EUR77.6bn, -15%), Natixis AM (EUR73.9bn, -12%), SGAM (EUR43.8bn, -13%). The top 10, also include Lyxor, Axa IM, Allianz GI, CMC CIC AM, Groupama AM and La Banque Postale AM.Excluding money markets, actors are virtually the same, with the exception of OFI AM and Dexia AM, in ninth and tenth place. In the equities rankings, dominated by Lyxor, BNP Paribas and SGAM, are where actors differ slightly, with Comgest, BGI and State Street Global Advisors also in the top ten, with EUR4bn to EUR5.5bn each.Bfinance notes that foreign firms have maintained their market share at about 8-9%. The top 5 consists of Fortis IM, SSGA, BGI, Robeco and Credit Suisse AM.

Following equities SRI, Groupama Asset Management is moving into the management of socially responsible corporate bonds. In December, the management firm created an FCP to invest in debt from Euro zone companies, with an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bias. ?The fund has two objectives: to be more virtuous and to perform better than its benchmark index, the Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Credit Corporate,? says Philippe-Henri Burlisson, director of fixed income management at Groupama AM.To select the bonds in a way that integrates a ?responsible? dimension, Groupama AM has created a special method, based on a system of pluses and minuses for candidate issuers. ?Thus, the most virtuous issuers receive an expected performance bonus, while less virtuous issuers receive a negative adjustment of their expected performance,? explains Burlisson, adding that ?the system is determined by sector and by curve segment.?The plus/minus system leads to an adjustment of returns, on the basis of which the portfolio is constructed.The identification of the best and worst companies in terms of ESG is based on extra-financial research which has been undertaken by Groupama for several years, and which is oriented around three major areas: environmental, social, and governance issues.This plus/minus approach ?preserves access to all issuers on the rate curve,? explains Burlisson, which an exclusionary approach would not. The fund currently weighs EUR95m, out of a total of EUR24bn in credit bond management. Until 31 March, the fund was available only to founding members. Now, it will be made available to all types of clients. It may also be accessed from life insurance policies within the group.Following on this venture into corporate bonds, Groupama is planning to further extend its SRI coverage, and is considering government bonds in particular.

In 2008, the total volume of calls for tenders to select asset managers launched by French institutional investors fell 33% to EUR18.1bn, compared with EUR27bn (excluding overlay) in 2007, and EUR11bn in 2006, according to Bfinance.The number of operations has fallen back to 2004 levels, with eight calls for tenders for a total volume of EUR7.8bn. These represent 43% of the market, compared with 34% in 2007.

AllianceBernstein Holding LP and AllianceBernstein LP (in which Axa controls about 65.1%) on Thursday announced cost-saving measures which are resulting in a reduction in global personnel to about 4,760 as of the end of March, compared with 4,997 at the end of December, which corresponds to a reduction of about 4.7%. The number of investment professionals (analysts, portfolio managers, chief investment officers, directors of research and traders) has been reduced to 540 from 571. In third quarter, total staff is expected to shrink by a further 75 people, most of them staff members who are not investment professionals.Last year, assets at the management firm fell 42% to USD462bn as of the end of December. Of this USD338bn decline, USD292.4bn was due to market effects, and USD44.2bn to net redemptions.

The annual report from the Swiss Fund Association (SFA), published on Thursday, reveals that assets in funds included in statistics for the Swiss fund market were down at the end of December by 24.7% in one year to CHF452bn, of which CHF230.8bn were in Swiss-registered funds (+9%), putting these funds for the first time ahead of foreign-registered funds (CHF221.2bn). In total, net redemptions represented CHF6.3bn, while market effects had a negative impact of CHF142.2bn. The only two categories which registered net subscriptions are money market funds, with EUR30.4bn, and real estate funds, with EUR1.9bn, while bond funds showed the heaviest net outflows (EUR21bn).The SFA reports that as of the end of 2008, the number of funds and sub-funds which were licensed for general retail sale increased by 628 to total 6,423, including 1,299 Swiss-registered sub-funds and 5,124 foreign-registered products (of which 3,833 are Luxembourg-registered).

As of the end of 2008, assets under management at the Church Pension Group (CPG) were down to USD7.45bn from USD8.89bn twelve months earlier, largely due to falling equities markets. A 33% allocation to bonds has allowed the pension fund for the Episcopalian church to limit its losses somewhat, Global Pensions reports. In the past ten years, the fund has posted an average performance of 9.3%.

In its annual report for 2008, the Ethical Council for the Swedish public pension funds AP reports that thirteen companies remain on its watch list, IPE reports. Six of these are on the list exclusively due to environmental issues: Chevron Corporation (in Ecuador), Duke Energy Corporation (in the United States), Freeport-McMorran Copper & Gold (in Indonesia), Grupo Ferrovial (in Poland), PetroChina (in China), and Rio Tino (in Indonesia), while Vedanta Resources is on both lists due to environmental and human rights issues in India. AES Corp and Yahoo! are both accused of shortfalls in human rights in Panama and China, respectively. Three companies are on the list due to labour rights questions: Bridgestone in Liberia, Toyota Motor in the Philippines, and Wal-Mart Stores in the United States. Lastly, Thales is on the list due to corruption in South Africa.Last year, the Ethical Council removed Sodexo, BHP Billiton and the Nigerian affiliate of Chevron from the list due to improvements in their performance in 2007. L3 Communications was removed from the list since the AP funds decided to liquidate their participations in the firm due to violations of human rights in an Iraqi prison and due to the fact that two affiliates of the group are involved in the manufacture of cluster bombs.

In a market statement, The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), led by Christopher Hohn, announced on Thursday that on 1 April it reduced its stake in Deutsche Börse from 10.06% to 0.96%.

The Children’s Investment Fund, a London-based hedge fund with Usd9.5bn in assets, is betting that the Japanese stock market will fall, and is taking up short positions on major companies in the country totalling more than USD1bn, the Financial Times reports. Among its short positions are Sony, Sharp, Olympus, Mizuho and Bridgestone.

The Austrian banker Julius Meinl V, accused of fraud, abuse of confidence and abusive commission charges, has been conditionally released from prison on bail of EUR100m and the surrender of his British passport, Handelsblatt reports. The money posted for bail came from Meinl’s personal accounts and not from the bank. Meinl-Bank, a wealth management specialist, is accused of manipulating the share price of its affiliate Meinl European Land (MEL) to the detriment of investors. Investigations began nearly two years ago.

US federal prosecutors have filed their first criminal charges against a US client of UBS, Steven M. Rubinstein, following agreements with the bank, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rubinstein is accused of filing a false income tax declaration.

The new joint venture from Clessidra and Banca MPS in asset management will unveil its plans by the end of April, Il Sole - 24 Ore reports. The agreement was officially signed on Thursday. Clessidra Sgr indirectly acquired 67% of the Banca MPS companies in asset management (MPS Asset Managament Sgr and ABN Amro Asset Management Italy Sgr), while the remaining 33% will be retained by MPS. The new entity manages EUR20bn in assets.

Selon une analyse de Hay Group pour le compte de The Wall Street Journal, le salaire et les primes moyen des CEO des 200 plus grandes sociétés américaines (plus de 5 milliards de dollars de chiffre d’affaires) a baissé en moyenne de 8,5 % l’an dernier, à 2,24 millions de dollars. Si l’on ajoute à cela la contrevaleur des actions, stock options et autres mesures incitatives de long terme, la rémunération totale directe a diminué de 3,4 % à une moyenne de 7,56 millions de dollars, ce qui représente la première baisse depuis sept ans et seulement la seconde depuis le début de la série en 1989. De fait, les salaires se sont accrus de 4,5 %, mais les primes ont chuté de 10,9 % parce que les bénéfices ont pour leur part baissé de 5,8 %.Dans la banque et le courtage, la rémunération moyenne annuelle en numéraire a plongé de 43 % à 976.000 dollars et la rémunération directe totale s’est contractée de 14,2 %, à 7,6 millions de dollars.

Pour 2008, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt (gestion de fortune, clientèle d’entreprises et clientèle institutionnelle) affiche un bénéfice net de 89,6 millions d’euros contre 144 millions d’euros pendant que le bénéfice d’exploitation se tassait d'à peine 2 % à 201 millions d’euros, rapporte la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Le président du directoire, Andreas Schmitz s’attend pour 2009 à un bénéfice d’exploitation tendanciellement moins élevé que celui de l’an dernier. Le premier trimestre devrait avoir néanmoins produit un résultat «solide».

Accusé d’abus de confiance, d’escroquerie et de commissions abusives, le banquier autrichien Julius Meinl V a obtenu sa mise en liberté sous conditions moyennant une caution de 100 millions d’euros et le dépôt auprès du parquet de son passeport (britannique), rapporte le Handelsblatt. L’argent provient de son escarcelle privée et non de la banque. Il est reproché à la Meinl-Bank, spécialiste de la gestion de fortune, d’avoir manipulé le cours de sa filiale immobilière Meinl European Land (MEL) au détriment des investisseurs. L’enquête a débuté il y a presque deux ans.

Martin Blessing, président du directoire de la Commerzbank, négocie âprement avec la Commission européenne pour que cette dernière accorde son feu vert à l’entrée de l’Etat fédéral dans le capital de la banque, avec une injection de 18 milliards d’euros en deux tranches. D’après le Handelsblatt, la Commerzbank préparerait aussi des mesures de restructuration nettement plus sévères que celles déjà annoncées et prévoyant 9.000 suppressions d’emplois. D’autre part, l'état-major de la banque s’attend à une assemblée générale houleuse le 15 mai et a déjà réservé la salle pour deux jours. Trois actionnaires individuels ont réussi à faire inscrire à l’ordre du jours une motion de défiance à l’encontre de Martin Blessing ainsi que la nomination d’un auditeur qui sera chargé d’enquêter sur le bien-fondé de l’acquisition de la Dresdner Bank pour 4,7 milliards d’euros ainsi que sur les fautes éventuellement commises par les dirigeants de la Commerzbank.

Selon l’association allemande de la gestion d’actifs (BVI), les fonds immobiliers ouverts allemands ont continué de s’intéresser à l'étranger l’an dernier. Actuellement, les biens détenus en Europe représentent 58,2% du total, le stock hors Europe 11,9% et le parc allemand 29,9%. Il y a encore quatre ans, environ 50% du stock se trouvait en Allemagne. Hors Allemagne, la destination préférée des fonds est la France, avec une part de 19%, devant la Grande-Bretagne (9,9%), les Pays-Bas (6,5%) et l’Italie (4,6%). Les fonds immobiliers ouverts allemands gèrent actuellement 1.578 biens en Allemagne et à l'étranger représentant un patrimoine de 89 milliards d’euros et une surface de 25,1 millions de m2. En 2008, le montant total des transactions à l’achat ou à la vente (455, dont 282 ventes) s’est élevé 18,3 milliards d’euros.La BVI souligne qu’elle a réalisée une étude montrant que la dispersion géographique des investissements réalisés par les fonds ouverts contribue à une structure de portefeuille équilibrée qui permet de réduire les risques. Autre facteur favorable à l'équilibre du portefeuille, la dispersion dans le temps de l'échéancier des contrats de location. Par ailleurs, plus des deux tiers des biens détenus par les fonds ont moins de 10 ans, ce qui limite les dépenses d’entretien et permet de mieux valoriser les fonds.

Selon le Financial Times, les banques américaines qui ont reçu l"aide du gouvernement, dont Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley et JPMorgan Chase, envisagent d"acquérir des actifs toxiques qui seront vendus par leurs concurrentes, en vertu du plan du Trésor de 1.000 milliards de dollars pour ranimer le secteur financier.

Selon Les Echos, le G20 s’est engagé à augmenter de mille milliards de dollars les ressources du Fonds monétaire international (FMI) et de la Banque mondiale, a indiqué le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown. Le total se décompose en 250 milliards supplémentaires de droits de tirages spéciaux pour le FMI, disponibles pour tous les pays membres ; 500 milliards de ressources supplémentaires provenant de prêts de pays membres, dont 100 milliards chacun par l’Union européenne et le Japon et 40 milliards par la Chine ; un soutien financier de 250 milliards sur deux ans au commerce international. En outre 50 milliards supplémentaires sont dégagés pour les pays pauvres. L’argent proviendra de la vente d’or du FMI.

Aviva a annoncé la suppression de 1.690 emplois dans sa division Norwich Union Life, rapporte le Financial Times.

En 2008, le volume global des appels d’offres en sélection de gérants lancés par les investisseurs institutionnels français a chuté de 33 % à 18,1 milliards d’euros, contre 27 milliards (hors overlay) en 2007 et 11 milliards en 2006, selon Bfinance.Le nombre d’opérations est revenu à son niveau de 2004 avec 106 recherches de gérants, contre 130 en 2007. Le FRR reste le principal animateur du marché, avec huit appels d’offres portant sur un volume total de 7,8 milliards d’euros. Il représente 43 % du marché contre 34 % en 2007.