La Bourse de Londres (London Stock Exchange) a annoncé le 30 maique db x-trackers (groupe Deutsche Bank) a fait admettre à la négociation huit nouveaux ETF obligataires qui répliquent les indices Markit CDX North America aussi bien en catégorie investissement qu’en dérivés de crédit à haut rendement. Cela porte à 25 le nombre d’ETF obligataires lancés depuis avril. Au total, le LSE cote plus de 100 ETF obligataires.

Thomas d’Hauteville, qui était en charge des relations investisseurs Nord et Sud-Ouest de la France chez DNCA Finance, a quitté la société de gestion hier, selon nos informations. Il rejoindra, à compter du 1er septembre prochain, le bureau de M&G Investments France à Paris dirigé par Brice Anger. Thomas d’Hauteville travaillera au sein de l'équipe ayant en charge la promotion des produits de M&G auprès des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants, les banques privées et les family office.

La boutique de gestion américaine Strategic Fixed Income, spécialisée sur le segement des taux et devises américains, a remporté un mandat obligataire de 329 millions de dollars auprès de Russell Investments, rapporte Citywire.Strategic Fixed Income devient ainsi le cinquième sous-conseiller sur les fonds domiciliés à Dublin Global Bond et Global Bond (Euro Hedged), ainsi que sur le fonds basé en Australie, International Bond. Les actifs sous gestion de ces fonds s'élèvent à environ 4,1 milliards de dollars. Les autres gestionnaires de ces trois fonds sont Pimco (rotation sectorielle macro), Colchester Global (taux et devises), Brookfield Investment Management (crédit hypothécaire) et Loomis Sayles (high yield et marchés émergents).

L’antenne britannique du groupe Old Mutual Asset Managers a nommé Steven Brown au poste de responsable de la distribution auprès des conseillers, priorité étant donné aux partenariats stratégiques sur le marché britannique wholesale dans la perspective de l’introduction de la réglementation RDR le 1er janvier 2013.Steven Brown travaillait précédemment chez RBS Global Banking & Markets. Il prend ses fonctions le 1er juin.

L’autrichien Partner Bank commercialise désormais en Allemagne le Kopernikus-Index-Korb, un modèle de gestion de fortune à base d’ETF exclusivement à réplication physique qui a été lancé en Autriche en mai 2011et n’a affiché en 2011 qu’une perte maximale de 15 % tout en étant investi à 100 %, rapporte Fondsprofessionell. Pour les quatre premiers mois de 2012, ce produit enregistre une performance de 6,3 %, net de frais.

Depuis mercredi, la cote du segment XTF de la plate-forme de négociation électronique Xetra (Deutsche Börse) comporte un total de 981 références, avec l’adjonction de sept ETF de droit irlandais lancés par UBS Global Asset Management.En fait, il s’agit de trois nouveaux produits répliquant des indices MSCI USA, USA Value et World, mais disponibles à chaque fois en parts I (institutionnelles) et A (retail). Le septième réplique le S&P 500. Ces ETF affichent des taux de frais sur encours (TFE ou TER) compris entre 0,23 % et 0,45 %.

Investec Asset Management vient de recruter Tom Nelson et Charles Whall qui vont gérer le fonds global energy, rapporte Money Marketing.Ils vont remplacer Mark Lacey et Jonathan Waghorn dont le départ a été annoncé le mois dernier et qui devraient quitter la société courant juillet. Tom Nelson travaillait précédemment chez Guinness Asset Management, Charles Whall chez Newton. Ils devraient prendre leurs fonctions en septembre pour le premier, un peu plus tard pour le second.

Au lieu de se rapprocher de la société de gestion d’Unicaja comme cela semblait prévu, Liberbank Gestión va fusionner avec Ibercaja Gestión (4,43 milliards d’actif gérés fin avril), ce qui créera la sixième société de gestion espagnole avec des fonds d’un encours de 5,33 milliards, rapporte Funds People, passant devant Ahorro Corporación (4,78 milliards). Actuellement Ibercaja Gestión est le septième gestionnaire espagnol et Liberbank Gestión, le 24ème.Les cinq premiers sont, dans l’ordre, Santander AM (20,3 milliards), BBVA AM (19,15 milliards), InverCaixa (14,9 milliards) et Popuylar Gestió, (6,19 milliards).

Christopher Faddy, Asia head of distribution pour le pôle gestion d’actifs de Barclays, a été recruté comme head, asset management distribution pour l’Asie hors Japon (NJA distribution) par Credit Suisse à Hong-Kong. Il sera plus particulièrement chargé de la distribution de prestations de gestion des investissements pour les fonds souverains (sovereign wealth funds), les investisseurs institutionnels et les distributeurs extérieurs.

Des jours sombres attendent les nouveaux entrepreneurs du monde de la gestion de fonds, selon Mattias Hagen, responsable de la recherche de gérants pour SEB Wealth management, interrogé par Citywire. En effet, les obstacles réglementaires devraient saborder leurs rêves de lancer une nouvelle entreprise. Il pense également que nous allons faire face à une concentration du secteur de la gestion d’actifs, tant du côté des producteurs que des distributeurs.

La société de gestion américaine Eaton Vance Management a annoncé le lancement de deux fonds Ucits investis sur les marchés émergents et les actions monde, rapporte Citywire. Sa filiale Parametric Portfolio Associates gérera ces deux produits, appelés Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Emerging Markets Core et Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Global Equity.

L’allemand SEB Asset Management (SEB AM) a annoncé le 30 mai le lancement du SEB Asia Pacific REIT Fund, un FCP de droit luxembourgeois dont l’administration est assurée par Universal-Investment-Luxembourg (filiale du francfortois Universal-Investment) et qui investira exclusivement dans des real estate investment trusts (Reit) de la région Asie-Pacifique.Ce produit conforme à la directive OPCVM IV est destiné à des investisseurs désirant des revenus élevés et des distributions régulières sans encourir de risques «incalculables».La gestion est assurée par une équipe répartie sur les sites de Francfort et Singapour et dirigée par Thomas Körfgen, head of real estate equities ainsi que Julian Mittag, gérant de fonds Reit.CaractéristiquesDénomination : SEB Asia Pacific REIT FundCodes IsinParts A : LU0753286219 Parts C : LU0757781637Souscription minimale : 5 millions d’euros (parts A)Distributions : février, mai, août et novembreCommission de gestion : 0,40 % (parts A et C)

The Wall Street Journal cites the examples of P. Schoefeld Asset Management, Marathon Asset Management, Octavian Advisors and Strategic Value Partners, as signs that a growting number of US alternative management firms are “hopping the pond,“ i.e., crossing the Atlantic to invest or open offices in Europe at a time when high yield investments are becoming scarcer in the United States. Some hedge fund managers think that banks will be required to sell assets at fire sale prices, while others are looking for shares which have been driven too low, or corporate debt which will need to be restructured in times of crisis.

BNY Melllon has announced the recruitment of two people for its team dedicated to outsourcing. Paul Gately has been appointed as head of global outsourcing business. He will report to John Lehner, who has also recently been appointed.

According to Agefi, citing information from Reuters, Affiliated Managers Group, Federated Investors, New York Life Insurance and Permira are planning to make bids for Dexia AM. Macquarie is also reportedly in the process of evaluating the asset management firm. Dexia is hoping to sell off its asset management division, which as of the end of December had EUR78bn in assets, for about EUR750m.

The timetable to enact Basel III legislation remains unchanged, despite the euro zone debt crisis, the head of the financial stability board (FSB), Mark Carney, stated on 30 May. The new Basel III standards, passed in 2010, will gradually be enacted from 2013, and will be fully in force by 2019, the head said following a meeting in Hong Kong of the banking regulatory organism. “I would not call this timetable aggressive. It is a timetable established by consensus. It will not change,” the head, who is also governor of the Canadian central bank, told the press. Many US banks are said not yet to have fully applied Basel III standards, published in 2004, which have been rolled out in Europe. Some actors in the sector nonetheless claim that the rules adopted are too strict at a time when the world is facing a credit drought provoked by the debt crisis in Europe. “It is absolutely essential … that banks be correctly capitalised,” says Carney. Applying the measures “will contribute to financial stability and growth worldwide, including in Europe,” the head adds.

Several Chinese asset management firms, including China Universal, E-fund, Harvest, ICBC-Credit Suisse, Full Goal and Yinhua, are currently in talks with the Shanghai (SSE) and Shenzhen (SZSE) stock exchanges to launch money market ETFs, ahead of applying to the Chinese regulator (CSRC) for a license, Z-Ben Advisors reports. If the plans are approved by the authorities, cash deposits in securities accounts could be used to buy shares in these money market ETFs. Currently, asset management firms are still facing several technological problems such, for example, as T+0 transactions, which would then help to ensure liquidity.

The US asset management firm Eaton Vance Management has announced the launch of two UCITS funds investing in emerging markets and global equities, Citywire reports. Its affiliate, Parametric Portfolio Associates, will manage the two products, known as Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Emerging Markets Core and Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Global Equity.

The US asset management boutique Strategic Fixed Income, specialised in the US fixed income and currency segment, has won a USD329m bond mandate from Russell Investments, Citywire reports. Strategic Fixed Income becomes the fifth sub-adviser to the Dublin-domiciled funds Global Bond and Global Bond (Euro Hedged), as well as a fund based in Australia, International Bond. Assets under management in these funds total about USD4.1bn. The other managers of the three funds are Pimco (macro sectoral rotation), Colchester Global (fixed income and currencies), Brookfield Investment Management (mortgages) and Loomis Sayles (high yield and emerging markets).

According to VDOS Stochastics, relayed by Cotizalia, Spanish investment funds have seen a decline in their assets of EUR2.53bn in May, due to losses of EUR1.58bn and net redemptions of EUR956m.

An expected wave of mergers and acquisitions is not materialising as predicted, according to a report published on 30 May by the asset management firm RW Baird of M&A activities in Europe, the United States, Asia and worldwide. In the first four months of the year, the number of transactions worldwide was down a record 5.4% compared with its 2011 levels. In Europe, the number of transactions has fallen by as much as 22.9% in April to 706 deals, its lowest level since August 2009. The attraction of businesses for mergers and acquisitions, however, is on the increase. Despite an unstable economy in the second half of 2011 primarily affecting the banking sector and the euro zone, a study by Grant Thornton also published on 30 May (in the International Business Report) finds that interest of business heads in mergers and acquisitions has increased, and that they are now seen as an essential tool for growth to achieve set expansion goals. The global number of businesses with plans for a merger-acquisition operation has risen from 26% in 2010 to 34% in 2012. This percentage includes both domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. France is in line with this global statistic, as 34% of French businesses are planning such an operation in the next three years. Internationally, Canada (42%), Braxil (40%), and the United States (37%) are the countries where the highest number of heads are considering growing their activities through merger or acquisition by 2015. only 28% of businesses have such plans in Europe, and 25% in Asia-Pacific. This percentage is falling all the more rapidly in countries where the economy remains uncertain, such as Greece, Ireland and Spain, where only 16% of corporate heads are currently planning a merger in the near future. The International Business Report also finds that among businesses planning to grow via an acquisition, 33% are planning to do so outside their home country, compared with 28% in 2010 (global average). European businesses are most interested in making an international deal (44%) to enter new markets.

The German asset management firm SEB Asset Management (SEB AM) on 30 May announced the launch of the SEB Asia Pacific REIT Fund, a Luxembourg-registered FCP fund whose administration is provided by Universal-Investment-Luxembourg (an affiliate of the Frankfurt-based Universal-Investment), which will invest exclusively in real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the Asia-Pacific region. The product is compliant with UCITS IV, and is aimed at investors seeking high returns and regular distributions without “incalculable” risks. Management is provided by a team at offices in Frankfurt and Singapore, and led by Thomas Körfgen, head of real estate equities, and Julian Mittag, manager of REIT funds. Characteristics Name: SEB Asia Pacific REIT Fund ISIN codes: A share class: LU0753286219 C share class: LU0757781637 Minimal subscription: EUR5m (A share class) Distribution: February, May, August and November Management commission: 0.40% (A and C share classes)

The Austrian Partner Bank is now offering the Kopernikus-Index-Korb, a wealth management model based exclusively on physical replication ETFs, launched in Austria in May 2011 and which in 2011 only made a maximal loss of 15%, while remaining 100% invested, in Germany, Fondsprofessionell reports. In the first four months of 2012, the product has posted gains of 6.3%, after fees.

Since Wednesday, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse) lists a total of 981 funds, with the addition of seven Irish-registered ETF funds launched by UBS Global Asset Management. There are in fact three new products which replicate the MSCI USA, USA Value and World indices and which are each are available in I (instutional) and A (retail) share classes. The seventh product replicates the S&P 500. The ETFs have total expense ratios ranging from 0.23% to 0.45%.

La polémique autour de la prime de non-concurrence de 400.000 euros versée à l’ex-patron d’Air France-KLM pourrait bien se transformer en casse-tête juridique, voire même en crise de gouvernance pour l’entreprise, rapporte Les Echos. Car, même si la majorité des actionnaires, réunis demain en assemblée générale à Paris, se rangeait derrière la décision de l’Etat actionnaire de voter contre, la convention prise en octobre dernier entre Pierre-Henri Gourgeon et son ancienne entreprise ne sera pas annulée pour autant. Quel que soit le vote des actionnaires, ce contrat d’une durée de trois ans, dont l’exécution a déjà commencé puisque les 400.000 euros ont déjà été versés à Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, resterait en effet parfaitement valide et rien n’obligerait ce dernier à rembourser, selon les juristes d’Air France-KLM.

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) yesterday issued a warning in relation to unlicensed web guides to high yield investment programmes (HYIP). The AMF has found that there are a number of websites which contain information on supposed high yield investment programmes (HYIP), which offer web surfers what claims to be advice about the quality of these HYIP> the websites rank or categorise the HYIPs on the basis of selected qualitative or quantitative criteria. The AMF warning is particularly in relation to the following sites, for which no authorised provider was clearly identified: www.hyip-france.com www.hyip-top-monitor.com www.hyip.com www.top-placements-hyip.com As a result, the AMF recommends that investors disregard advice from these sites, and not redistribute it to third parties in any form.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings estimates that fund financing will be likely to grow in size in the future, as debt reduction now being required of the banking sector will favour a strong desintermediation movement. Corporate and real estate loans will be the most highly financed by funds, which will often use debt to increase the returns paid out to pension funds or insurers. Fitch reports that these funds are often incorporated as limited partnerships, closed funds or vehicles with very limited regulations, and invest in private equity, loans, bonds and real estate. These funds, similar in many ways to structured products such as CLOs, nonetheless differ in several points, Fitch remarks, such as legal structure, flexibility of assets, and sources of financing.

Funds domiciled in the United Kingdom in April posted net retail subscriptions of GBP2.07bn, compared with GBP1.4bn in March and GBP3.21bn one year previously, according to statistics from the Investment Management Association (IMA). This is the highest amount since April 2011.However, institutional investors in the same period withdrew GBP1.31bn, following net subscriptions of GBP231.7m the previous month, and GBP536.7m in April of last year.Total assets in retail funds domiciled in the United Kingdom, for their part, fell to GBP607.3bn as of 30 April, compared with GBP613.3bn as of the end of March, although it has increased compared with GBP605.2bn twelve months previously.Meanwhile, assets under management by funds domiciled abroad as of the end of April totalled GBP36.8bn, compared with GBP37.1bn one month earlier, and GBP34.7bn as of 30 April 2011. Net subscriptions totalled GBP592.5m, compared with GBP282.4m in April and GBP418.8m in the corresponding month of last year.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) on 30 May announced that db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank group) has launched eight new fixed income ETFs which replicate Markit CDX North American indices in the investment grade and high yield categories of credit derivatives. The new funds bring the number of newly listed bond ETFs listed since April to 25. Overall, the LSE lists over 100 fixed income ETFs.

The Börsen-Zeitung has obtained a copy of proposed legislation to govern high frequency trading, which the German federal finance ministry has completed much earlier than expected. The proposals would require high-frequency traders to register with BaFin, and would subject them to banking and securities laws. In addition, BaFin would have the power to demand information including details of algorithmic trades and the systems used as well as their strategies, parameters and trading limits. The proposals could be passed by the Cabinet and put before Parliament for a first debate even before the summer break.