After a three-month mission at Aviva Investors as a bond management consultant, Tim Jagger is joining the British group in Singapore as senior vice president, portfolio manager for Asian bonds, with a specialty in high yield credit. Jagger previously worked at Royal Bank of Scotland as a credit specialist.

Ampere Equity Fund, Antin, Cube, Eiser, Hg Capital, Infrared, KGAL, KKR, MEAG, RREEF and Riverstone Holdings, eleven infrastructure fund management firms which have announced investments of EUR9bn in Spain, on 3 July sent a letter to the president of the Spanish government, warning that if energy reforms now under preparation by the Spanish ministry of energy and industry are passed in their present form, they will reduce their investments in the country, and will take legal action, Expansión reports. It is the second letter they have sent to the prime minister to seek legal protection for their assets in Spain. This time, they have toughened the tone of their missive, as they are concerned that the reforms will compromise the profitability of their investments in renewable energies, with a “retroactive and discriminatory” reduction of earnings.

The 25 major European bakns need to find at least EUR40bn in savings in order to return to profitability of near 10% in the next three years, which would at least allow them to compensate the average cost of their capital, says Roland Berger, Les Echos reports. In case economic and fiscal conditions deteriorate, Berger estimates that the banks would need to reduce their costs by EUR68bn to compensate for increased pressure on their revenues. This is the concrete realisation of their declared objective of reducing their average operating ratio from 61% to 55% by 2016. Such a reduction would represent a tripling of annual productivity gains compared with the past 15 years. No profession will be spared, as cost reduction efforts are estimated at 10% to 15% in asset management.

Initial public offerings with a total value considerably higher than EUR8bn were postponed or cancelled on stock markets worldwide in first quarter, according to the “IPO Watch Europe” study from PwC. During this period, many businesses seeking a stock market debut ultimately abstained due to increasingly serious concerns about global economic growth, particularly in China, but also due to the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone. Volatility indices have reached their highest levels since November 2011. After an encouraging first quarter, activities slowed considerably in second quarter. The 80 operations completed raised only EUR0.7bn, while the number of launched and funds raised fell by 40% and 95%, respectively, year on year. In second quarter 2011, 134 operations generated EUR13.4bn (of which EUR6.9bn were due to the Glencore IPO). This slowdown is the result not only of difficult conjuncture, but also of the fact that many businesses have postponed their stock market debys for 6 to 12 months due to deteriorating market conditions in the second half of 2011. The European market was the most severely affected of the major markets, and risks remaining at a flatline for a good part of second half, until investor confidence in the markets returns. Only three IPOS were completed in Paris in the quarter, raising EUR42.8m, a 31% increase in value compared with second quarter 2011 with an equivalent volume, when 3 IPOS raised EUR29.7m.

A joint survey by KPMG and the international AIMA association of alternative managers (“The Evolution of an Industry») has found that 150 respondents feel that the most remarkable phenomenon since the beginning of the financial crisis is the increasing importance of institutional investors.The time when hedge funds were aimed exclusively at high net worth private investors or family offices has long changed. These two categories now represent only 24% and 19% of total assets, respectively, while pension funds and funds of hedge funds account for 17% each, and other institutionals represent another 23% of the total. Thus, overall, these three categories account for 57% of hedge fund assets.With toughening regulations, this institutionalisation phenomenon has certainly contributed both to an increasing focus on due diligence, and has also led fund managers to make increased efforts at transparency.

The Geneva-based private bank Reyl is continuing its development in Zurich, where it has moved into new facilities. The move is a sign of the bank group’s desire to set up on the German market for the long term, Agefi Switzerland reports. The objective is to reach over CHF1bn in assets under management by the end of 2013. The Reyl bank in Zurich includes the activities of Reyl 7 Cie AG, founded in 1973, and the wealth management firm Solitaire Wealth Management AG. In this environment, Zurich Reyl Overseas Ltd, which has a license from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been created. The Zurich office of Reyl bank is led by Thomas H. Dürmüller, chairman of the board, and Sales Bischofberger, a board member.

The day following the signature of a term sheet to acquire the British firm BCM, which has EUR800m in assets (see Newsmanagers of 3 July), the Austrian-German asset management firm C-Quadrat has filed an ad-hoc statement that it has also signed an agreement in principle to acquire 100% of the Viennese firm Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH (APM), whose assets total EUR430m.At the current stage of negotiations, the sale price would be about EUR1.6m, and the transaction would be completed in equity; it would be signed by the end of July, so long as the Austrian securities commission, the FMA, does not bar the deal.APM is focused on absolute return funds, micro-finance and commodity funds.

The countries of the European Union on 4 July passed a bill to regulate derivative products, the Council of the European Union has announced in a statement. The text will increase the transparency of derivative products, while reducing risk on over-the-counter derivative markets.EU countries, the Commission and the European Parliament in February reached agreement on the question. It was passed on Tuesday in a plenary session of Parliament in Strasbourg, and its passage by member states will mean the law will be applied by the end of 2012, the Council states.From this date, all information about transactions involving derivative products traded in Europe will be collected by central data registries, under the oversight of the European securities markets authority (ESMA).All derivative products, including over-the-counter products (which represent 80% of trades), are required to pass through clearing houses, which ensure that operations proceed correctly and act as a guarantee fund.The new European legislation reflects the gradual application of decisions taken in September 2009k one year afte the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, US.

After raising EUR130m in owners’ equity for its first two closed residential real estate funds, DWS Access Wohnen 1 and 2, the asset management firm for the Deutsche Bank group is launching a third product in the range, the DWS Access Wohnen 3, whose objective has been set at a minimum of EUR60m. 16 properties in nine German cities have been reserved for the new portfolio, for which subscriptions will close on 30 September. The management of the properties concerned will be outsourced to alt+kelber.Minimal subscription is set at EUR10,000, and front-end fee is set at 5%. DWS is planning to pay a coupon of 3% before taxes from 2013, and distributions are then intended to gradually increase to 6.25% per year by 2021.

The German private equity firm Deutsche Beteilungs AG (DBAG), on 29 June, after barely two months, managed to collect investment commitment of EUR451m for its private equity fund DBAG Fund VI, focused on “Mittelstand” or German small and mid-sized enterprises. 80% of these commitments are from primarily international institutional investors. The remaining 20% will be contributed by DBAG, which is planning to invest in businesses in the portfolio in parallel.The objective is to reach EUR650m for a second closing in a few weeks, and DBAG expects strong subscriptions.The DBAG Fund VI will specialise in production and industrial services businesses in the engineering, mechanical and automotive subcontracting sectors in particular.DBAG also states that at this time, the DBAG Fund V, specialised in MBO operations, is in its investment phase. With the allocation of owners’ equity from DBAG, it has EUR539m, of which 80% have been called in.

The European investment fund Marguerite, focused on energy, climate change and infrastructure, on 4 July announced the acquisition of a 45% stake in Autovia del Arlanzón, the contractor responsible for constructing the A-1 motorway in Spain, for a total of EUR24.5m.The vendor, Sacyr Vallehermoso, retains a 50% stake in the project, while its Valoriza Conservación de Infraestructuras retains the remaining 5%. The transaction represents the first investment of the Marguerite fund in the transport sector. The fund has so far made over EUR100m in investments in four projects. The Marguerite fund was created in 2010 by the major European national financial institutions, along with the European Investment Bank (BEI) and the European Commission, to invest in new infrastructure and infrastructure extension projects in the transport, energy and renewable energy sectors in the 27 EU countries.

The hedge fund manager David Einhorn has announced that his flagship fund, Greenlight Capital, finished the month of June with returns of 0.3%, the news agency Reuters reports. It has earned 3.7% in the first six months of the year. Daniel Loeb, for his part, has announced that his largest fund, Third Point Offshore Fund, with assets under management totalling about USD4.5bn, has posted returns of 3.9% since the beginning of the year. Hedge funds have earned an average of 1.22% in first half.

In second quarter, assets under management by Chinese funds increased 11.6% compared with January-March, to a total of CNY2.4trn as of the end of June. According to Z-Ben Advisors, this all-time large increase may be partly attributed to the success of several funds launched in April-June, and partly to “organized” inflows to bond funds.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Fletcher International Ltd last week asked a Manhattan court for Chapter 11 protection under US bankruptcy law for one of its hedge funds based in the Cayman Islands. The fund’s administrators are seeking to retain control of assets and manage the liquidation, rather than allowing liquidators at Ernst & Young appointed by a Cayman Islands court, which found that the fund was insolvent on the basis of its cash flow, to complete it. The situation has emerged since the fund was not able to satisfy redemption demands from three Louisiana public pension funds.

The specialist in real estate services to the health sector, Primary Health Properties (PHP), has become the first REIT in the United Kingdom to offer retail bonds. The bonds on offer to retail investors will provide fixed returns of 5.375% twice per year, in January and July, with the last payment scheduled for 23 July 2019, and the first for 31 January 2013. The shares, which will then be listed on the London Stock Exchange, will be made available to wealth managers and brokers for a minimal subscription of GBP2,000, until 16 July.

As part of Paris Europlace, NYSE Euronext and the US firm TradingScreen on Wednesday announced that they have signed a partnership to facilitate access for institutional investors to corporate bond trading platforms which meet criteria defined by the Cassiopée committee, which NYSE BondMatch belongs to.By the terms of the agreement, NYSE Euronext will bear the costs for three months of software to allow institutional investors to view the European Central Order Book (ECOB), which displays the liquidity of NYSE BondMatch, and in a few weeks will also display the liquidity of Galaxy, when it is launched. When institutional investors concerned are prepared to trade on ECOB the screens will be reconfigured by TradingScreen from “display” to “trading” mode, and the cost of the license will then be borne by the intermediaries/market participants who have decided to execute orders.The ECOB will consolidate virtually all orders from bond platforms compliant with the Cassiopée project. It was developed under the leadership of the NYSE BondMatch strategic committee.

LGT Group on 4 July announced the opening of an affilaite in Dubai. LGT (Middle East) Ltd, positioned in private banking, will manage clients in the Gulf region, the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Africa and South Asia. Tamer Rashed, formerly of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has been appointed CEO of the entity, the Liechtenstein bank has announced in a statement. Rashad reports to the CEO of LGT Private Banking, Thomas Piske, and will be based in Dubai. Pending approval from the Dubai supervisory authorities, LGT Middle East will be operational from fourth quarter 2012. LGT Middle East will also manage clients in Bahrain, Geneva and Zurich, the bank states.

BlackRock a trouvé un accord définitif pour reprendre Swiss Re Private Equity Partners (SRPEP), le fonds de fonds d’investissement dans le domaine private equity et infrastructure de Swiss Re qui gère des investissements d’une valeur de 7,5 mrd USD à la fin mai 2012. Le prix n’est pas dévoilé. BlackRock et Swiss Re ont aussi signé un accord stratégique d’investissement alternatif, centré sur BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI), qui renforce les investissements en cours de Swiss Re dans les produits SRPEP et permet de fixer le cadre d’autres investissements futurs de Swiss Re sur cette plateforme BAI, selon un communiqué diffusé mardi. La plateforme BAI représente un engagement de la clientèle de 15 mrd USD. L'équipe en place s’occupe avant tout de fonds, de fonds de fonds et de programmes de co-investissements directs. SRPEP, qui est présent à Zurich et à Genève, sera intégré dans le fonds de Blackrock Private Equity Partners (BRPEP). Il lui permettra de renforcer sa présence en Europe et en Asie. David Blumer, Chief Investment Officer de Swiss Re, a indiqué dans le communiqué que l’expérience de BlackRock dans la gestion de fonds de private equity est très complémentaire à SRPEP. Le renforcement de la relation avec BlackRock offrira des bénéfices stratégiques significatifs et de grandes opportunités pour nos clients et nos employés. Russell Steenberg, Managing Director et Head de BRPEP continuera à diriger l’unité combinée. Christian Hinze, Chief Executive Officer de SRPEP, rejoindra BlackRock comme Deputy Head du business combiné. La stratégie d’investissement ne sera pas modifiée. Pour rappel, Philippe Hildebrand, ancien président démissionnaire du directoire de la Banque nationale suisse, deviendra dès octobre sera le numéro deux opérationnel de Blackrock, qui gère 3684 mrd USD.

Le conseil des ministres a examiné un décret sur le relèvement du traitement des 1,1 million de fonctionnaires français, dans le sillage de la hausse du smic au 1er juillet. Dans la fonction publique, le relèvement du traitement conduit à une rémunération mensuelle brute de 1.426,13 euros. Cette hausse représente pour l’ensemble des employeurs publics un coût de 546,9 millions d’euros en année pleine et de 273 millions d’euros pour la seule année 2012.

Le besoin de financement de l’Etat français a été revu en baisse pour 2012 compte tenu du PLFR présenté par le gouvernement pour 2012. Il s’établit désormais à 180,3 milliards d’euros contre 184 milliards précédemment, selon l’Agence France Trésor. Le montant des émissions à moyen long terme nettes des rachats reste inchangé à 178 milliards d’euros. En revanche la variation nette des BTF est portée à -7,7 milliards d’euros contre -4,3 milliards dans la loi de finances du 14 mars.

Selon Reuters, l’Espagne met la dernière main à un plan qui devrait lui rapporter jusqu'à 30 milliards d’euros. Il impliquerait, au niveau de la hausse des recettes, une augmentation du principal taux de TVA, la création d’un prélèvement sur l'énergie et de nouveaux péages autoroutiers. La baisse des dépenses serait obtenue par une réforme du système de retraites, une baisse des traitements dans la fonction publique et une nouvelle réduction importante des budgets des ministères et des régions.

Le projet de budget rectificatif pour 2012, présenté au Conseil des ministres, prévoit 7,2 milliards d’euros d’impôts supplémentaires. Les nouvelles hausses d’impôts porteront à 53% sur les ménages et 47% sur les entreprises, les ménages les moins aisés et les «classes moyennes» étant épargnés. Pour 2013, la hausse des recettes serait de 13,3 milliards d’euros. Les sommes les plus importantes attendues pour 2012 viennent notamment d’une contribution exceptionnelle sur la fortune pour les contribuables assujettis à l’ISF, des prélèvements sur les secteurs bancaires et pétroliers et de la suppression des exonérations sur les heures supplémentaires dans les entreprises de plus de 20 salariés. Le régime des successions est durci et une taxe sur les dividendes est créée, tandis que la «TVA sociale» est supprimée. Le gouvernement va relever de 8 à 10% le forfait social qui pèse sur l’intéressement et la participation, dont il compte engranger 550 millions au profit de la sécurité sociale. Les stock-options sont dans le collimateur. La contribution sociale patronale doit passer de 14 à 30 %, la part salariale à 10%. Enfin la taxe sur les transactions financières est relevé de 0,1 à 2%, celle sur les risques systémiques passe de 0,25 à 05%.

Les ventes au détail ont progressé plus que prévu en mai dans la zone euro, mais pas assez pour effacer le fort déclin connu en avril, ont montré les données d’Eurostat. Ces ventes sont ressorties en hausse de 0,6% sur le mois de mai.

La contraction dans les services en zone euro a légèrement décéléré en juin, alors que les entreprises ont réduit leurs prix, nourrissant les attentes de baisse de taux de la BCE cette semaine. L’indice PMI des services est ressorti à 47,1 en juin, contre une première estimation de 46,8. Il était de 46,7 en mai. En France, l’activité dans le secteur des services s’est contractée en juin à un rythme moins soutenu que le mois précédent. L’indice PMI sectoriel s’est inscrit à 47,9 contre 45,1 en mai. En Allemagne, l’activité dans les services a stagné en juin, mettant fin à huit mois consécutifs d’expansion. L’indice PMI des directeurs d’achats est tombé 49,9 à en juin. C’est un plus bas depuis septembre 2011.

AXA PE annonce aujourd’hui avoir signé un accord en vue de l’acquisition d’une participation de 45 % du capital d’Arkadin, un des leaders mondiaux des services de collaboration à distance. Cette opération, menée aux côtés d’Olivier de Puymorin, fondateur et dirigeant de la société, s’effectue dans le cadre de la sortie des investisseurs historiques, Apax Partners, Altamir Amboise, Innovation Capital et UFG-Siparex.

La plate-forme dédiée aux obligations d’entreprise de Nyse Euronext a suscité le débat lors du forum Paris Europlace ce matin. «BondMatch, c’est un outil fantastique, mais au final il n’y a pas de volume» a déploré, Christophe Mianné, directeur adjoint de Société Générale CIB. Et d’ajouter «Un marché efficient, c’est un marché où il y a du volume». Le secrétaire général adjoint de l’AMF, Edouard Vieillefond, a en revanche imploré les banques d’aider des plate-formes comme BondMatch «Si vous les aidez, cela va marcher», a-t-il rétorqué.

Le secteur des services chinois a connu en juin sa croissance la plus faible en dix mois après un plus haut de 19 mois en mai, montre l’indice PMI calculé par la banque HSBC. L’indice des directeurs d’achat de HSBC est ressorti à 52,3 en juin contre 54,7 le mois précédent.

L’Agence de gestion de la dette allemande a placé 3,294 milliards d’euros d’obligations à cinq ans (Bobl), suscitant une demande beaucoup plus forte que lors de sa précédente adjudication le mois dernier, a annoncé la Bundesbank. Le ratio de couverture (2,7) a été bien plus élevé que celui du 6 juin (1,6) et le taux de rendement moyen s’est établi à 0,52%, contre 0,41%.

La dollar australien a atteint un plus haut de deux mois contre le billet vert, mais les marchés anticipent une nouvelle baisse de 25 pb en août

Le Wall Street Journal croit savoir que la mise en vente de l’agence photo contrôlée par Hellman & Friedman a suscité l’intérêt de nombreuses sociétés de private equity, dont KKR et TPG avec des offres voisines de 4 milliards de dollars. Le Financial Times avance de son côté que Hellman & Friedman vise une part majoritaire du consultant dans l’énergie Wood MacKenzie, valorisant ce dernier à 1,1 milliard de livres.