La justice américaine épingle Standard & Poor’s sur les subprimes
Le Département de la Justice a lancé une procédure concernant les conditions de notation des titrisations avant la crise de 2008
L’incubateur Emergence prépare un deuxième compartiment pour les gérants actions
Il espère collecter entre 150 et 300 millions d'euros. Son premier compartiment, dédié aux fonds de performance absolue, est quasiment investi
La Commission s'inquiète des contrôles de capitaux des régulateurs bancaires
Bruxelles redoute que certains pays protègent leur secteur financier domestique au détriment du reste de l'Union européenne
Julius Baer entend accélérer la cadence avec l’intégration de Merrill
La collecte a atteint 9,7 milliards de francs suisses en 2012, portant les actifs sous gestion à 189 milliards avant l’apport international de Merrill Lynch
La Bourse de Moscou se valorise plus de 3 milliards d'euros
L'opérateur a fixé sa fourchette de cotation en vue de son introduction en Bourse. L'opération vise à redorer le blason de la Place russe
Le risque politique reste présent en Europe
Les scandales en Espagne et en Italie ont servi de prétexte à des prises de bénéfices sur les taux
L'affaire SNS fragilise les créanciers subordonnés bancaires en Europe
En effaçant la dette subordonnée du bancassureur nationalisé SNS Reaal, les Pays-Bas ouvrent la voie à d'autres actions de ce type
S&P salue le rééquilibrage des balances des paiements des périphériques
Dans une étude Standard & Poor's souligne que les pays de la périphérie font des progrès rapides dans la réduction de leur déficit commercial
Le risque politique reste présent en Europe
Les scandales en Espagne et en Italie ont servi de prétexte à des prises de bénéfices sur les taux
Coface a sélectionné une société de gestion pour intégrer et centraliser sa gestion d'actifs
Amundi a été retenu par la Coface pour intégrer et centraliser sa gestion d’actifs. Le process de sélection des candidats pour ce projet au caractère très transversal s’est révélé long et complexe. Dans un premier temps, une soixantaine de sociétés ont répondu à la pré-alerte lancé en mai 2012 par bfinance, qui conseille la Coface dans la définition de ses besoins, la conduite de l’appel d’offres et le déploiement de la solution retenue. Puis, 25 sociétés ont été présélectionnées et au final dix ont remis une offre, avec, selon la nationalité des candidats, français, anglo-saxons, allemands, suisses ou encore luxembourgeois, différents types de véhicules juridiques proposés pour recueillir l’ensemble des actifs de la Coface. L’organisme d’assurance-crédit et de gestion des garanties publiques va donc pouvoir commencer le déploiement de la première phase de son chantier stratégique de centralisation de sa gestion de portefeuille. Amundi sera en effet chargé d’apporter des services opérationnels et de conseil à la Coface dans le pilotage centralisé et la mise en ??uvre intégrée de ses placements sur l’ensemble de son périmètre international. La seconde phase du chantier démarrera dès février avec le lancement de différents appels d’offres pour sélectionner les gérants qui intègreront la plateforme pilotée par Amundi.
Sicav Emergence est en train de finaliser un deuxième compartiment
Au sein du premier compartiment de la sicav Emergence, Emergence Performance Absolue, le fonds d’incubation lancé par le pôle de compétitivité Finance Innovation, un placement devrait être décidé en comité d’investissement dans les jours qui viennent, rapporte L’Agefi. Selon nos informations, il pourrait s’agir de la société de gestion Eperam. L’incubateur envisage aussi d’ouvrir une poche annexe pour maintenir un guichet en gestion alternative. Plus important, Emergence est en train de finaliser un deuxième compartiment pour environ 70 millions d’euros. Il privilégiera les fonds investissant en actions ou en quasi-fonds propres (convertibles, etc.).
Les risques restent élevés en Espagne
Selon le Fonds monétaire international, les risques pour l’économie espagnole et son secteur financier restent élevés, même si des progrès majeurs ont été accomplis jusque là pour mettre en œuvre les réformes du secteur financier. La Commission européenne, de son côté, a estimé que le pays ne devait pas relâcher ses efforts pour remettre en ordre son secteur bancaire.
Etats-Unis : hausse moins forte que prévu des commandes à l’industrie
Les commandes à l’industrie américaine ont progressé de 1,8% en décembre, un chiffre moins bon que prévu, selon des chiffres publiés lundi par le département du Commerce. Cette statistique est parfois présentée comme un baromètre de la volonté d’investir des entreprises. Hors transports, les commandes à l’industrie ont progressé de 0,2% après une baisse de 0,2% en novembre.
Détente des relations commerciales entre l’UE et les Etats-Unis
L’Union européenne a levé lundi les restrictions qu’elle faisait peser sur l’importation de plusieurs viandes américaines, une décision constituant le premier pas vers un accord de libre-échange qui concernerait près de la moitié de la production mondiale. Cette décision constitue le premier pas vers un accord de libre-échange qui concernerait près de la moitié de la production mondiale.
Madrid prépare une triple adjudication
Le Trésor espagnol compte émettre jeudi entre 3,5 milliards et 4,5 milliards d’euros d’obligations. L’adjudication comprendra trois types d’obligations, arrivant à maturité le 31 mars 2015, le 31 janvier 2018 ou le 31 janvier 2029, et respectivement assorties de coupons à 2,75%, 4,5% et 6%.
04/02/2013
Short-selling: ESMA publishes recommendations and exemptions
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final Guidelines and a Feedback Statement on the exemption for market making activities and primary market operations under the Short Selling Regulation. The Guidelines will be translated into all the official EU languages and will be applicable two months after the translations are published.ESMA will publish on its website the lists of those entities who have been granted exemptions without further details on the financial instruments and markets, with this latter information being available to national authorities.
04/02/2013
“My roadmap could be summed up in two words: development and industrialisation”
Stéphane Müller, who in mid-January was appointed as chairman of the boards at Federal Finance, which include two asset management firms, Federal Finance Gestion and Schelcher Prince, arrives with precise objectives, which are expected to make the firm better known abroad, soon to include Asia and South America. The business insider, who had previously been head of Suravenir Assurances, the insurance affiliate of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, is planning to rationalise the group.
04/02/2013
OFI AM launches two target date funds
OFI Asset Management has announced the launch of two 2018 target date credit funds. OFI High Yield 2018 and OFI Haut Rendement 2018 are both French-registered FCP funds, investing in high yield corporate bonds. The investment universe is composed of bonds issued in euros, larley from companies in OECD member countries in the case of the first fund. The second fund is diversified over issues from emerging countries in currencies other than the euro. Characteristics OFI High Yield 2018 ISIN codes: C share class: FR0011398809 • C/D share class: FR0011412584 Management fees: 0.50% TER Front-end fees: maximum 5%, including taxes Withdrawal penalty: 5% until 31 December 2012, 4% until 31 December 2014, 3% until 31 December 2015, 2% until 31 December 2016, 1% until 31 December 2017, and no charge after that until maturity of the fund
04/02/2013
Longevity risks oblige ABP to reduce benefits
The pension fund for public employees in the Netherlands, ABP, with 2.8 million members, on 1 February confirmed that a reduction of benefits by 0.5% planned for this year will be applied from 1 April 2013, as the increased life expectancy for the Dutch has reduced the coverage rate to 96% as of the end of 2012 (compared with 97% as of the end of September), below the 104.3% required by the legislator.Henk Brouwer, chairman, has also announced that if coverage rates do not improve, benefits may be reduced by approximately a further 1.6% in 2014.Assets increased by EUR35bn in 2012 to EUR281bn, due to returns of 13.7%, representing EUR34bn. But liabilities were revised upwards by EUR29bn in one year, to USD292bn. With interest rates virtually unchanged, the revision is almost entirely imputable to the most recent projections by the Netherlands Statistical Office (CBS) about the longevity of the population. This means that ABP will be required to pay out pensions for a longer time, and concretely, that liabilities will increase by 1.8 percentage points as a result of this fact.
04/02/2013
Axa Real Estate raises EUR209m for its Caesar fund
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has announced that its Italian regulated subsidiary AXA REIM SGR has raised EUR209 million at the close of the Caesar Fund. This exceeds the target equity set out when Caesar was officially launched with a first close of EUR118 million in March 2012 and gives a total potential fund size of around EUR420 million once fully invested.AXA Real Estate, supported by the full capabilities of its parent company AXA IM in Italy, raised the money from 13 Italian institutional investors that have committed to invest alongside AXA Insurance companies, which represent around 20% of the total commitment. Caesar is a regulated closed ended fund for institutional investors and will target investments in well let “CORE” office buildings. The Fund aims to provide an annual average net dividend distribution of over 5.5%2 on capital invested, once the investment phase is completed, and a 9%2 IRR net of fees.The Fund will seek investments in eurozone countries and the United Kingdom and will have a particular focus on investments on France, Germany and United Kingdom for the first 12 months, while maintaining a watching brief on opportunities in Benelux. No single investment will exceed 15% of the Fund’s target portfolio value. AXA Real Estate plans to complete the investment phase of the Fund in the next 24 months, at which time, under the Italian law for regulated funds, it will have the option to reopen the Caesar for further subscriptions. The Caesar Fund will be managed by AXA REIM SGR in Italy and will benefit from the expertise and resources of AXA Real Estate’s European real estate investment and asset management platform.
04/02/2013
Four promotions in asset allocation at Putnam
Following the departure of Jeff Knight, head of the global asset allocation (GAA) team, Putnam Investments on 1 February announced the appointment with immediate effect of four co-heads for the strategy, for which the asset manager has a total of 13 employees, and assets of about USD10bn.The four new co-heads, who joined Putnam between 1998 and 2000, will retain their current responsibilities, and will “work in close cooperation” with Walter C. Donovan, CIO.James Fetch will remain as head of portfolio construction and risk management, while Robert Kea will continue to direct top-down analysis, Robert Schoen remains responsible for equities, and Jason Vaillancourt remains head of the global macro approach.
04/02/2013
Amundi aims for USD100bn in assets in Asia
The asset management firm Amundi, who is celebrating 30 years of presence in Hong Kong, is aiming for USD100bn in Asia “in the next fie years,” according to CEO Yves Perrier, Les Echos reports. The asset management firm currently has USD70bn, out of just under USD1trn in assets under management worldwide (EUR711bn as of 30 September). “Among the asset management firms present in Asia, whether they be foreign or local, Amundi has one of he most complete personnel teams, and we have room to grow everywhere to increase our presence,” Perrier says.
04/02/2013
Assets under management at Legg Mason down
The US asset management firm Legg Mason has reported assets under management of USD648.9bn for the third quarter of its 2012-2013 fiscal year, ending on 31 December, compared with USD650.7bn as of the end of September, according to statistics released on 1 February. Outflows in the quarter totalled USD7.5bn, and were only partially offset by a positive market effect of USD5.7bn, while assets under management have nonetheless risen 3% compared with their levels at the end of December 2011. Legg Mason has announced that outflows from equities totalled USD8.3bn, while outflows from bonds totalled USD6.8bn. Money market funds, however, attracted USD7.6bn in fourth quarter. As of 31 December, assets under management consisted 57% of bonds, compared with 22% for equities. 60% of clients are American. Legg Mason finished the quarter to the end of December with a net loss of USD453.9m, or USD3.45 per share, compared with net profits of USD80.8m, or USD0.60 per share in the quarter to the end of September, and USD28.1m, or USD0.20 per share in fourth quarter 2011. Losses in the quarter under review are due to charges for depreciation of intangible assets totalling USD734m.
04/02/2013
Assets and profits up at Franklin Templeton
As of 31 December, Franklin Resources, which is known as Franklin Templeton Investments, had assets under management of USD781.8bn (see Newsmanagers of 14 January), which represented an increase of USD31.9bn, or 4%, in the first three months of fiscal 2013, due to market effectss of USD24.8bn, and USD8.7bn due to the acquisition of K2Advisors (see Newsmanagers of 6 November 2012).Compared with October-December 2011, assets have increased by USD111.5bn, or 17%, largely due to USD94bn in market effects and USD13.6bn in net subscriptions.Net profits for the California-based asset management firm in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending on 30 September 2013 totalled USD516.1m, compared with USD492.1m in July-September, and USD480.8m in the corresponding period of 2011.
04/02/2013
Cécile Imbert leaves Prigest
After eight years at Prigest, Cécile Imbert left the firm ten days ago. The fund manager, who had worked alongside Matthieu Rollin on the Prigest Europe and Prigest US funds for three years, will not be replaced, Christian Cambier, CEO of the asset management firm, has told Newsmanagers. However, the departure of the manager will result in a reorganisation. “Rollin and I will now work as a pair,” the manager explains, while unlike in the case of Imbert, “there will not be a two-headed management structure, but instead management with a head.” In practice, Rollin will have control of Prigest Europe and Prigest USA, while ValFrance and Prigest Pacifique will be led by Cambier. The departure of Imbert comes at a time when Prigest has seen a reduction in assets in its equity funds. Alongside Valfrance, the flagship fund from the asset management firm, which has net assets of only EUR170m, the US fund has only EUR27m, and the Europe fund has only EUR38m in assets under management, while the Pacific fund has EUR52m. As part of the changes, the question of merging the France fund and the European fund has been raised. “That would depend on the major shareholder, SwissLife Banque Privée,” Cambier says, suggesting that the merger between the asset management firm and its shareholder may come more rapidly than expected, justifying the choice not to replace the manager. In June 2011, SLBP announced that it had acquired a 25% stake in the capital of Prigest, stating that its “engagement” would eventually result in a wedding. The big step has been set for “two years from now,” but SLBP could increase its stake to 51% within a shortened time.
04/02/2013
Operating profits at Ameriprise up 11% in fourth quarter
Pre-tax operating profits for the asset management unit of the US group Ameriprise Financial totalled USD141m in fourth quarter, up 11% compared with third quarter 2011, according to statistics released by the group. Assets under management at Columbia Management and Threadneedle as of the end of 2012 totalled USD455bn, up 5% compared with the end of December 2011. Assets under management at Threadneedle have incerased 12% to USD128bn, while Columbia assets have risen by a more limited 1%. The asset management unit finished the year with outflows of USD3.9bn, largely due to net redemptions totalling USD3.6bn to institutional clients.
04/02/2013
Julius Baer enregistre une collecte de près de 10 milliards de francs en 2012
Les actifs sous gestion de Julius Baer ont progressé l’an dernier de 11%, soit 19 milliards de francs suisses, à 189 milliards de francs suisses, slon un communiqué publié le 4 février. La progression des actifs sous gestion résulte d’un impact positif de la performance du marché de près de 11 milliards de francs suisses grâce à des améliorations substantielles dans plusieurs catégories d’investissement, notamment les actions, d’une collecte nette de de 9,7 milliards de francs et enfin d’incidences de change négatives de 1 milliard de francs, dues principalement au recul de la valeur du dollar vers la fin de l’année. Comme les années précédentes, si toutes les régions ont produit une contribution positive, la majorité de la collecte provient des marchés de croissance - Asie, Amérique latine, Moyen-Orient, Russie et Europe centrale et de l’Est.
04/02/2013
Julius Baer posts inflows of nearly CHF10bn in 2012
Assets under management at Julius Baer increased by 11%, or CHF 19 billion, to CHF 189 billion in 2012. The increase in AuM was the result of a positive market performance of almost CHF 11 billion on the back of significant improvements across many investment categories, especially equities, net new money of CHF 9.7 billion and a negative currency impact of CHF 1 billion, mainly due to the decline in the value of the US dollar towards the end of the year. As in previous years, while all market regions contributed positively, the majority of inflows originated from the growth markets – Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and Central & Eastern Europe. Separately, in January 2013, Julius Baer strengthened its presence in the Japanese private wealth market through a 60% equity participation in TFM Asset Management Ltd. (TFM), a Swiss-registered independent asset management company. TFM was founded in 1996 and has offices in Tokyo and Zurich. The company holds investment advisory and investment management licences granted by the Japanese FSA and concentrates predominantly on serving Japanese high net worth private clients. TFM manages a few hundred million CHF of client assets. Julius Baer will have the right to take full ownership three years after the closing planned for April 2013. Both parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
04/02/2013
Credit Suisse publishes revised results adapted to the new architecture of the group
Credit Suisse bank on 1 February published revised results, adapted to the new structure of the group. In the Private Banking & Wealth Management (BP&WM) division, asset management profits are now declared as a separate unit, as are resuls for Wealth Management Clients and Corporate & Institutional Clients. Securities trading in Switzerland has been largely transferred from the business bank to the PB&WM division, Credit Suisse says in a statement. These changes will have an effect on results for the three units of the PB&WM division, and on the business bank. The changes, and the transfer of securities trading, will have no effect on consolidated profits or net profits for Credit Suisse, however, which will adapt its figures retroactively to 2008. Credit Suisse in November 2012 announced a reorganisation of its organisation and its management, and plans to transfer private banking and asset management units to the PB&WM division.
04/02/2013
Julius Baer enregistre une collecte de près de 10 milliards de francs en 2012
Les actifs sous gestion de Julius Baer ont progressé l’an dernier de 11%, soit 19 milliards de francs suisses, à 189 milliards de francs suisses, selon un communiqué publié le 4 février. La progression des actifs sous gestion résulte d’un impact positif de la performance du marché de près de 11 milliards de francs suisses, d’une collecte nette de de 9,7 milliards de francs et d’incidences de change négatives de 1 milliard de francs, dues principalement au recul de la valeur du dollar vers la fin de l’année. Comme les années précédentes, si toutes les régions ont produit une contribution positive, la majorité de la collecte provient des marchés de croissance - Asie, Amérique latine, Moyen-Orient, Russie et Europe centrale et de l’Est.Par ailleurs, Julius Baer indique avoir le mois dernier renforcé sa présence sur le marché japonais de la gestion de fortune, en prenant une participation de 60% dans TFM Asset Management Ltd. (TFM), société de gestion d’actifs indépendante enregistrée en Suisse. Fondée en 1996, TFM a des bureaux à Tokyo et Zurich. La société détient des licences de conseil en placements et de gestion d’investissements délivrées par la FSA japonaise et se concentre essentiellement sur le service aux clients privés japonais à haut potentiel financier. TFM gère quelques centaines de millions de francs suisses d’actifs de clients. Julius Baer aura un droit de propriété intégrale trois ans après l’opération de bouclage prévue pour avril 2013. Les deux parties sont convenues de ne pas divulguer le prix d’achat.