Hedge funds brought down by mediocre corporate results lost 1.9% in the month of October, according to estimates by Bloomberg. As a result of these losses, hedge funds show gains of only 1.3% since the beginning of the year, while equities worldwide in the period have gained 13%. Macro funds lost 0.6% in October, and 1.3% since the beginning of the year. The flagship fund from Brevan Howard Management had lost 0.2% in the month to 19 October, which reduces gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. Multi-strategy funds, for their part, lost 2.5% last month, and 7.1% since the beginning of the year, while long/short equity funds lost 1.2%, limiting gains since the beginning of the year to 1.5%. The hedge fund index is also down 11% compared with its peak of July 2007.

After a tough year in 2011, global real estate equity funds have posted a rebound in first half, according to S&P Capital IQ Research. The benchmark fund from the group has gained 12.6% in first half, while it had lost 7.8% in 2011, and 10.5% in 2010. Real estate equity funds have had two consecutive quarters of gains, as the good performance of the sector in second quarter was largely due to developed Asia, including China.

In its quarterly report, Old Mutual has announced that its plans to make Old Mutual Wealth a top-calibre wealth management firm “are progressing well,” although it is taking further measures to reduce costs, IFA Online reports, relayed by Investment Week.Assets at Old Mutual Wealth, which includes assets at Old Mutual Global Investors, among others, increased in July-September by GBP1.8bn, to a total of GBP67.8bn as of the end of third quarter, bringing the increase since the beginning of the year to GBP8.7bn, of which GBP4.1bn are due to the takeover of Old Mutual Asset Management (UK) in early April. Old Mutual Global Investors has seen an increase in its assets under management of 6%, to GBP13.2bn, due to net subscriptions of GBP0.1bn, and a positive market effect of GBP0.6bn.The Skandia UK platform has posted net inflows of GBP0.4bn, which contributed to an increase in assets to GBP21.7bn.At Skandia International, assets fell to GBP13.7bn as of 30 September, compared with GBP14.6bn at the end of June, solely due to the sale of Skandia’s Finland operation.

UK pension funds have more bonds than equities in their portfolios for the first time since the concept of the cult of equities first appeared in the 1950s, the Financial Times reports. The Pensions Regulator, which compiled data on 6,316 defined-benefit retirement plans, reports that British funds are 43.2% invested in bonds, compared with 38.5% in equities.

Investment Week reports that Marlborough Fund Managers and BNP Paribas have declined to comment on rumours that the British asset management firm is about to acquire the Investment Fund Services Limited (IFSL) platform founded in 2007 by the French group as an hosting umbrella for funds and to allow advisers, wealth managers and asset managers to launch funds domiciled in the United Kingdom or distributor-influenced funds (DIFs).Assets at IFSL are reported to total GBP700m, which would more than double the GBP600m in assets managed in the authorised corporate director (ACD) operation by Marlborough, whose assets total GBP1.6bn.

The wealth management firm Rathbone Brothers (Rathbones) has acquired the private wealth management activities of Taylor Young Investment Management. The sale price is expecetd to total GBP10m to GBP15m, depending on the total amount of assets to be transferred in the next 18 moths. The management team at Taylor Young has joined Rathbones as a part of the transaction, which will increase assets under management at Rathbones by about 2%, to GBP17.6bn.

Andrew Lake, head of high yield portfolio management at Aviva Investors in London, will on 3 January 2013 join Mirabaud Asset Management in London, as part of the Geneva-based asset management firm’s fund range development strategy, which has already also brought the recruitment of Daniel Tubbs and his team of emerging market analysts (see Newsmanagers of 18 Jjune and 14 July). The new recruit will report to Lionel Aeschlimann, a partner responsible for asset management at Mirabaud. He is responsible for the management of global high yield solutions for Mirabaud clients. Before joining Aviva Investors, Lake spent four years at F&C Asset Management, after starting his career in high yield at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) in 1998.

Asset managers and hedge funds are increasingly adept at outsourcing offers, according to a report published by Aite Group. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, investment companies have had to put in place efficiency and cost reduction policies with renewed vigour. The need to maximise performance while reducing risk has driven asset managers to find new technologies and to modify their infrastructures. Constantly changing regulatory requirements are also demanding more flexibility of the sector. In this environment, outsourcing offers have increased, and a growing number of asset managers are inclined to outsource part of their activities.

To rationalise its product range and eliminate erdundancies, Kleinwort Benson has decided to absorb 21 of the 22 funds of the Global Funds range into the corresponding funds of its Elite range, which have a lower TER, Fundweb reports.

The professional association representing investment trusts, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), on 7 November announced the publication of a new guide, calling on its members to publish all assets in their portfolios, fonce RDR regulations come into effect. The association suggests that members who are primarily invested in publicly-traded businesses should publish this information on a monthly basis, with a maximum delay of three months. For investors in private equity and more sophisticated asset classes, publication could be on a quarterly basis, with a delay of a maximum of three months.

The CNMV on 2 November issued a sales license for the Banif Revalorización Europea Euro II fund, created on 23 October by Santander Asset Management.This is the second edition of a bond fund launched in May (see Newsmanagers of 15 May), which at maturity (on 2 November 2016) guarantees the subscriber 95% of initial capital, plus, if applicable, 85% of gains for the EuroStoxx 50 index between 17 December 2012 and 24 October 2016. In other words, the maximal risk of loss is 1.31% per year, while the returns with a 30% gain for the index would be 4.92% per year (compared with 5.20% for the first edition of the product).CharacteristicsName: Banif Revalorización Europea Euro IIISIN code: ES0113487005Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 0.3% up to 17 December 2012 inclusive, and 1.6% thereafterWithdrawal penalty: 5%

TCW recorded a EUR +2.1 billion inflow in Q3, announced Societe Generale in its quarterly financial information document published this morning. The US asset manager’s disposal to Carlyle Group and TCW’s management was announced in August 2012. At EUR 104.7 billion, TCW’s assets under management increased by EUR +13.7 billion since the beginning of the year. This included an inflow of EUR +4.0 billion, a “market” effect of EUR +7.9 billion, a “currency” impact of EUR +0.3 billion and a “structure” effect of EUR +1.4 billion. At EUR 91 million, the asset management business line’s revenues rose +11.0% vs. Q3 11, benefiting from the good level of performance commissions at TCW. Gross operating income came to EUR +22 million in Q3 12 vs. EUR -5 million in Q3 11. The business line’s contribution to Group net income was EUR +39 million in Q3 (vs. EUR +16 million in Q3 11), including a EUR +26 million contribution from Amundi. The business line’s contribution to Group net income came to EUR -92 million for the first nine months of the year. If goodwill write-down is stripped out, the business line’s contribution amounted to EUR 108 million in 9M 12. Private Banking, Global Investment Management and Services at Societe Generale posted increased earnings for Q3 2012 vs. Q3 11, in an unfavourable market environment. This was mainly due to its efforts to control costs. At EUR 521 million in Q3, the division’s revenues were down -6.5% vs. Q3 11, while operating expenses fell -7.4% over the same period. Gross operating income amounted to EUR 58 million, up +1.8% vs. Q3 11. The division’s Q3 contribution to Group net income came to EUR 63 million, vs. EUR 60 million in Q3 11. Net banking income totalled EUR 1,607 million for the first nine months of the year, down -6.3% vs. the previous year. Operating expenses were -6.1% lower. The contribution to Group net income came to EUR 15 million. When restated for the goodwill write-down in respect of TCW recorded in Q2 12, the division’s contribution to Group net income was EUR 215 million in 9M 12, in line with the figure for 9M 11.

The two rival groups Citi and UBS have decided to join forces to create a joint venture specialised in post-market middle and back office services for broker-dealers in the Asia-Pacific region. Under the terms of the agreement, UBS will provide middle office services, including settlement, allocation and pre-matching, while Citi will provide clearance and custody services. The range of services appears to be particularly suited to the Asia-Pacific region, which continues to appear as a mosaic of highly fragmented markets.

The former Standard Chartered banker Sameer Sopori has been appointed as head of high yield capital markets for the Asian region at BNP Paribas, Finance Asia reports. He will be based in Singapore, and will report to Frank Kwong, head of syndicate Asia, and Chanant Charnchainarong, head of fixed income for South-East Asia.

Credit Suisse has appointed Paolo Mancini as head of ultra high net worth individuals in Italy, and managing director of the private banking division, Bluerating reports, citing the newspaper Milano Finanza. He replaces Francesco Lombardo di San Chirico, who has joined Citibank. Mancini had previously been managing director in the investment banking division at Credit Suisse, in charge of corporate clients in Southern Europe.

The German asset management firm Bantleon has registered two funds in Italy: the Bantleon Opportunities Fund S and L, Bluerating reports. The funds will be sold to retail clients. Bantleon is an independent asset management firm specialised in fixed income management.

Threadneedle has signed an agreement with Banca MPS Promozione Finanziaria in Italy for the distribution of 27 sub-funds of the Threadneedle (Lux) Sicav, Bluerating reports. Financial advisers at the MPS bank may now sell funds from the Sicav.

Taiwan is in talks with the Chinese central bank, for Taiwan financial establishments to obtain quotas denominated in RMB as qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), and to develop ETF product ranges, Asian Investor reports.

The Cairo-based asset mangement firm EFG Hermes is in the process of creating a joint venture with the Qatar-based firm Qinvest, which would increase its asset management activities by about 50%. The joint venture, which would be operational by the end of this month, aims to increase assets under management from USD3.4bn currently to about USD5bn within the next few years, the managing director in charge of the asset management unit at EFG Hermes, Kashif Siddiqui, has told Reuters. Siddiqui says the joint venture, which would be 60% owned by Qinvest, would allow EFG Hermes to penetrate new markets, due to Qinvest’s access to major sovereign funds in the region and to Islamic finance.

Following the departure of Patrik Janovjak at the end of October, the management of the Sarasin Sustainable Bond EUR (LU0158938935) and Sarasin-Fairinvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds (DE0006623077 for the institutional share class, and DE000A1C2XF8 for the retail share class) SRI funds have been taken over by Oscar Alberte at the Luxembourg-based asset management firm Sarasin Fund Management S.A. The successor to the departing manager since 31 October has been Johannes Weisser, who on 1 September took over as director of the fixed income & absolute return team. Weisser began in portfolio management at the Basel-based Banque Sarasin more than eight years ago; he was most recently head of fixed income mandates.

Dans le cadre de la remise en jeu de mandats de gestion dédiés, l’ANCV vient de lancer un appel d’offres restreint pour la gestion de cinq FCP dédiés : Lot 1 : 2 FCP obligataires diversifiés zone euro 1-3 ans Lot 2 : 2 FCP obligataires diversifiés zone euro 3-5 ans Lot 3 : 1 FCP monétaire dynamique zone euro 6-18 mois Le benchmark retenu pour les lots 1 et 2 et l’Euro MTS et l’Euribor pour le lot 3. Les montants investis par FCP ont été définis de la façon suivante : 75 à 150 millions d’euros au lancement 200 millions d’euros au maximum par la suite Les FCP obligataires auront une composante principale dette souveraine européenne notée AA au minimum. Une partie pourra être dédiée à des covered bonds et à des obligations corporate, mais « uniquement sur le secteur utilities, le secteur industriel étant jugé trop risqué ». La souscription d’obligations convertibles n’est pas autorisé par le règlement financier de l’ANCV. Le FCP monétaire dynamique devra répondre à une contrainte de notation A1P1. La contrainte ISR, qui représente 10 % des critères d’analyse, sera jugée d’après les dix principes du Pacte Mondial des Nations-Unies. Les autres critères auxquels l’ANCV prêtera attention sont « la performance, avec un rendement attendu entre 1 et 1,5 %, la stabilité des équipes de gestion, leur organisation et la variété de leurs compétences, la qualité du reporting et la bonne supervision de la notation des émetteurs ». La date limite de réception des candidatures est fixé au 10 décembre. Les candidats pré-sélectionnés devront ensuite répondre à un questionnaire élaboré par Morningstar Consulting, dont le mandat de conseil en investissements vient d'être renouvelé par l’ANCV (quatre ans maximum avec une possibilité de résiliation chaque année). La sélection finale interviendra « fin mars au plus tard », d’après le trésorier de l’ANCV, Alain Quinquennel. Un seul prestataire ne pourra remporter plus de deux lots. Les gestionnaires actuels des FCP, BNP Paribas AM, Natixis Global AM et Groupama AM, ont été sélectionnés en juin 2008 et leur mandat expire en juin 2013. En effet, il y a un an, l’ANCV avait sélectionné la société Morningstar Consulting (ex Seeds Finance) pour l’assister dans l’audit de portefeuille et la stratégie d’investissement. Au terme de ce contrat d’un an, en septembre 2012, l’ANCV, en la personne de son trésorier, Alain Quinquenel, s’estime déjà satisfaite du travail accompli par Morningstar Consulting mais souhaite désormais mettre en place un contrat sur 4 ans maximum, avec une possibilité de résiliation chaque année. Pour lire l’avis complet : cliquez ici

La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a appelé mercredi les dirigeants européens à s’entendre lors du sommet de décembre sur des mesures concrètes et ambitieuses pour une plus forte intégration budgétaire et économique de la zone euro. S’exprimant devant le Parlement européen à Bruxelles, Angela Merkel a précisé que cette feuille de route devrait être mise en œuvre dans les deux ou trois prochaines années. «Je ferai en sorte que nous nous mettions d’accord sur une feuille de route ambitieuse en décembre, afin de renouveler notre union économique et monétaire», a déclaré la chancelière.

Le nouveau programme d’achat d’obligations de la BCE lui permet des interventions illimitées sur les marchés de la dette souveraine et devrait apaiser des marchés qui craignent un éclatement de la zone euro, a déclaré le président de la BCE, Mario Draghi, lors d’une conférence bancaire. Mario Draghi a également observé que les investisseurs tendaient à nouveau à placer leur argent dans la zone euro.

Sanofi a annoncé avoir placé une émission obligataire de 750 millions d’euros à échéance 2017 à un taux intérêt annuel très bas 1%. BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, et Mitsubishi Securities ont agi en qualité de co-chefs de file de l’opération. «Cela faisait 3 ans que Sanofi n’était pas venu sur le marché des émissions en euro. Il y a eu un gros appétit de la part des investisseurs qui ont salué la qualité de crédit de Sanofi noté A2 par Moody’s», explique Jean-Philippe Brioudes, directeur des marchés de dettes et de capitaux chez HSBC France.

L’initiative Europe 2020 pour des emprunts obligataires consacrés à la réalisation de projets, qui vise à améliorer le financement d’infrastructures par les marchés de capitaux, a franchi la dernière étape de sa procédure d’adoption. Un accord de coopération ayant été signé entre la Commission européenne et la BEI pour clarifier le partage des risques, la phase pilote de ce projet va être lancée.

La commission des Affaires sociales du Sénat a rétabli le principe, supprimé par l’Assemblée nationale, d’une contribution sociale sur les revenus tirés de la gestion des fonds de placement à risque («carried interests»), estimant qu’ils ne devaient pas échapper au financement de la protection sociale. La commission a adopté au total 54 amendements dans le cadre du PLFSS 2013.

Rallonger les échéances des prêts internationaux à la Grèce et réduire les intérêts perçus sur ces derniers sont des moyens de réduire l'énorme dette publique de ce pays, sans passer par le biais d’une décote qui n’est ni à l’ordre du jour ni nécessaire, a déclaré le commissaire européen Olli Rehn. Les parlementaires grecs doivent se prononcer ce soir sur le paquet de réformes structurelles.

La plate-forme d'échanges électroniques entend profiter des évolutions apportées par la révision de la directive MIF en cours à Bruxelles

L'opérateur, qui a vu son chiffre d'affaires baisser de 21%, lance une plate-forme de trading commune avec ATG sur le marché des actions brésilien

La banque helvétique a annoncé la création d’Aventicum, coentreprise avec son actionnaire Qatar Holdings, entité du fonds souverain de l’émirat