According to the ETFGI consultancy, founded by Deborah Fuhr, assets under management in 1,295 European ETFs (listed 4,579 times) as of the end of April totalled USD291bn, compared with USD301.3bn as of the end of March. They increased 8.8% since the beginning of the year, compared with USD267.6bn as of the end of December 2011.In April, European ETFs saw net outflows of USD4.7bn, due to net redemptions of USD5.2bn from equity ETFs, while ETFs replicating European equity indices underwent net redemptions of USD5bn. In the first four months of the year, ETFs saw net subscriptions of USD1.5bn.ETFGI states that in this period, the strongest inflows were to source Markets, with USD1.5bn, followed by UBS Global Asset Management with USD1.2bn, and ETFlab Investment (Deka) at USD0.8bn. On the other hand, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has seen the heaviest net outflows, with USD1.4bn, followed by ComStage (Commerzbank) and EasyETF, with USD0.6bn each. In April, iShares (BlackRock) saw net outflows of USD4.3bn.In terms of assets as of the end of April, iShares has USD113.9bn. The second-largest is db x-trackers with USD43bn. Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) takes third place with USD36.59bn.

The Nasdaq OMX group on 3 May announced that it has acquired BWise, a corporate governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) software specialist. The BWise GRC platform will be available via Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions, a dedicated software arm of Nasdaq OMX which helps businesses to minimise risks, increase efficiency and improve transparency through a range of products for corporate governance and investor relations.

The Credit Suisse group has announced that it will be converting six of its synthetic ETFs to physical ETFs during this month, at the request of many clients and the Swiss financial markets association, Finma. Once the conversions are completed, the number of ETFs to have transferred to a physical replication style in the past six months will total 10. At the end of November last year, the Swiss bank converted four of its 16 synthetic ETFs. Deborah Fuhr, cited by InvestmentEurope, says investors seem to show a marked preference for physical ETF funds. Last year, synthetic ETFs showed net outflows of USD4bn, while physical ETFs had net inflows of USD29bn.

Assets under management at the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) have increased 3% in first quarter, to a total of CHF79.4bn, the bank has announced in a statement released on 3 May. Net inflows totalled CHF149m. Gross profits at the BCV were up 2% in first quarter, to CHF121m, on earnings up slightly to CHF253m, from CHF251.6m. The BCV has called these results “very good,” and “in line with the trend in recent years,” but has not provided any information about the current development of activities or outlooks for annual results.

The Swiss structured products association (SVSP) has accepted a new observing member, Global Financial Products. The new member strengthens the presence of the structured products association on the Swiss financial market, the association says in a statement released on 2 May. Global Financial Products was founded in 2011, and has offices in Pfäffikon, Zurich and Lausanne. The association says that it now represents the interests of 18 issuers and five observing members, who together represent over 95% of the total volume in the structured product market in Switzerland.

The Swiss Vontobel group on 3 May announced the launch of a commodity fund, the Vontobel Fund Belvista Dynamic Commodity fund, which will be managed by an affiliate of Vontobel Asset Management, Harcourt, specialised in providing alternative solutions. Vontobel already has a widely renowned expertise in commodities, since the launch of the Vontobel Fund Belvista Commodity in 2007. The fund outperformed the DJ Commodity Total Return Index by 15.8% between April 2007 and March 2012. Major characteristics Vontobel Fund (SICAV) – Belvista Dynamic Commodity Domicile: Luxembourg Currency of reference: USD Share classes: USD, CHF, EUR Management fees: 0.75% per year for institutional shares; 1.5% for retail shares Performance commission: 10% per year on outperformance of the benchmark Benchmark index: Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Total Return Index Reference codes: B USD LU0759371569 I USD LU0759372880 H CHF LU0759371999 HI CHF LU0759372450 H EUR LU0759372021 HI EUR LU0759372534

The Swiss firm Cernegie Fund Services, a specialist in representation and distribution for foreign investment funds, will be opening an office in Zurich, Finews reports. The office will be led by Heinz Gloor. Carnegie Fund Services has over 200 clients for fund launches in Switzerland, influding CR Asset Management, DNCA, Gottex, Janus Capital, Lazard Frères Gestion and MFS, Finews reports.

GAM and Barclays Capital have launched the GAM Star Barclays Dynamic Multi-Index Allocation Fund in Switzerland. The product is compliant with UCITS IV. It will invest in quantitative indices from Barclays Capital, Finews reports.

Although the German market is very open, the penetration of Carmignac Gestion is more than twice as strong in Italy. The French asset management firm is now hoping to catch up with the help its Frankfurt office, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Eric Helderlé, COO, says that although Carmignac funds are already selling well via German IFAs, there is still some progress to be made with family offices and private banks.Last year, total assets at Carmignac Gestion fell by more than EUR9bn, 22% of which, says Helderlé, was due to market effects, while 78% was due to net redemptions of over EUR7.1bn. These outflows were largely to countries in southern Europe, while the German market was more resistant, which is also a reason that the French asset management firm is now looking to grow in Germany.

The US firm Van Eck Associates Corporation has announced that it is lowering the total expense ratio (TER) cap to 0.57% from 0.60% for its Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (acronym IDX), whose assets as of the end of March totalled USD537m. This is the second time in three years that Van Eck has lowered the TER for the product, which should not be confused with the Market Vectors Indonesia Small-Cap ETF (IDXI), which was launched recently (see Newsmanagers of 22 March).

Assets in the bond fund Pimco Total Return, managed by Bill Gross, have set a new record at USD258.7bn, largely due to USD2.7bn in net subscriptions in April, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Since the beginning of this year, the fund has gained 4.4%, allowing it to outperform 98% of products in its category.

As of the end of April, total assets in ETFs worldwide totalled USD1.5284trn, USD9.7bn less than at the end of March, despite net subscriptions of USD2bn. ETFGI, the consulting firm founded by Deborah Fuhr, estimates that total assets YTD increased 13.1%, or USD177bn, of which USD60.6bn were from net subscriptions.In the first four months of the year, the three largest net inflows were to Vanguard (USD21.8bn), iShares (USD15.7bn) and SPDR ETF (State Street Global Advisors, or SSgA), with USD6.7bn. The heaviest net outflows were from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with USD1.3bn, Polaris (USD0.8bn), and ComStage (Commerzbank), with USD0.6bn.The top three issuers remain unchanged. iShares has USd649.3bn in assets as of the end of April, followed by SPDR ETF with USD233.9bn, and Vanguard, with USD208.4bn. These three actors together control a market share of 71.4%.

Since Thursday, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse has listed 968 ETF funds, as db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has listed three new Luxembourg-registered bond ETFs for trading. The first two funds, with leverage of 2, one of them inverse, replicate the evolution of euro zone government bonds, while the third fund focuses on Bunds, with total maturities of 7 to 10 years.db x-trackers II Eurozone Sovereigns Double Long Daily ETFISIN code: LU0621755080Benchmark index: Deutsche Bank Eurozone Sovereigns Double Long Daily IndexTER: 0.30 %db x-trackers II Eurozone Sovereigns Double Short Daily ETFISIN code: LU0621755676Benchmark index: Deutsche Bank Eurozone Sovereigns Double Short Daily IndexTER: 0.30 % db x-trackers II iBoxx € Germany 7-10 TRI ETFISIN code: LU0730820569Benchmark index: iBoxx € Germany 7-10 IndexTER: 0.15 %

The fund platform of the Frankfurter Fondsbank (FFB), also known as FIL Fondsbank, from Fidelity Germany, has announced that it is adding to its activities. It will now be offering to process orders for about 70 ETFs from iShares (BlackRock) and ComStage (Commerzbank), as it already does for about 8,000 traditional funds. The ETFs selected replicate all the major global indices, and represent over 30% of trading volumes on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform from Deutsche Börse.For ETF buy and sell orders, FFB offers a flat price of 0.2% of trading volumes.FFB has assets under administration of EUR13.1bn, in 780,000 client accounts.

Assets under management at the British firm St James’s Place as of the end of March totalled a record GBP31bn, the firm announced in an interim report on 3 May. Net inflows in first quarter totalled GBP700m, compared with GBP770m in first quarter 2011. Taking into account positive market effects in the quarter under review, assets under management increased by a total of GBP2.5bn.

For the first quarter of this year, Schroders has posted net inflows of GBP1.6bn. These inflows totalled GBP1.7bn for the asset management portion of the business, while private banking showed slight outflows (GBP0.1bn). Assets increased from GBP187.3bn as of the end of December to GBP199.6bn as of the end of March, GBP183.2bn for the asset management portion, and GBP16.4bn for private banking. Pre-tax profits totalled GBP95.5m, down compared with the GBP103.8m in first quarter 2011. Net earnings totalled GBP282.7m, compared with GBP292m in first quarter 2011.

The largest investment bank in Brazil, BTG Pactual, which has recently held its IPO, on Thursday launched the largest investment fund for Africa in the world, with USD1bn in investments from Brazil, the firm’s chairman, André Esteves, has announced. The product will be the largest fund collected in Brazil to be specifically focused on the African continent. The creation of the investment fund is a demonstration of the enormous confidence and affinity which Brazil has with this region of the world, Esteves explained in an African investment seminar held by the Brazilian development bank (BNDES). The fund will invest primarily in infrastructure, energy and agriculture.

SCOR Global Investments (SGI), qui enregistre un rendement des actifs de 2,9 % sur le premier trimestre 2012 malgré un environnement économique et financier difficile, a engagé un programme de relèvement prudent du risque moyen du portefeuille de SCOR. Dans un contexte économique et financier toujours difficile, SGI a poursuivi sa stratégie dite de « rollover », qui consiste à maintenir une duration du portefeuille obligataire relativement courte et à générer des cash-flows récurrents, tout en gérant de manière active son portefeuille d’actifs. Au 31 mars 2012, les cash-flows attendus sur le portefeuille obligataire sur les 24 prochains mois s'élèvent à EUR 5,0 milliards (y compris les liquidités et investissements à court terme), la duration du portefeuille obligataire ayant été maintenue relativement courte à 2,9 ans (hors liquidités). Dès le début de 2012, après plusieurs mois d’accumulation volontaire et tactique de liquidités et placements à court terme, SGI a redémarré un programme d’investissement prudent. Les liquidités et placements à court terme ont ainsi été réduits de EUR 695 millions (-6 points), pour atteindre EUR 2 355 millions au 31 mars 2012 contre EUR 3 050 millions au 31 décembre 2011. Le portefeuille d’actifs a été réinvesti essentiellement en covered bonds et agency MBS (+3 points) et en corporate bonds (+3 points). Le portefeuille obligataire (y compris les placements à court terme), de qualité élevée avec une notation moyenne AA-, n’a toujours aucune exposition à la dette souveraine de la Grèce, de l’Irlande, de l’Italie, du Portugal et de l’Espagne, ni aux dettes émises par les Etats et municipalités des Etats-Unis. Sur le 1er trimestre 2012, le portefeuille d’actifs génère une contribution financière de EUR 92 millions, soit un rendement des actifs de 2,9 %, contre 3,7 % sur l’ensemble de 2011. La politique active de gestion conduite par SGI a permis au Groupe de réaliser EUR 29 millions de plus-values sur les trois premiers mois de 2012. Le Groupe a strictement appliqué une politique inchangée de dépréciations sur son portefeuille d’investissements, pour un montant total de EUR 6 millions sur le premier trimestre 2012. En prenant en compte les fonds détenus par les cédantes, le taux de rendement net des placements atteint 2,6 % sur la période, inchangé par rapport à l’ensemble de 2011. Les actifs (hors fonds détenus par les cédantes) s'élèvent à EUR 13 100 millions au 31 mars 2012 et sont constitués à 8 % de liquidités, 81 % d’obligations (dont 10 % de placements à court terme), à 5 % d’actions, à 4 % d’immobilier et à 2 % d’autres placements. Le montant total des placements s'élève à EUR 21 402 millions au 31 mars 2012, à comparer à EUR 21 053 millions au 31 décembre 2011.

Le nombre des inscriptions au chômage aux Etats-Unis a diminué plus qu’attendu durant la semaine au 28 avril, montrent les chiffres publiés par le département du Travail. Elles sont revenues à 365.000 alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient un chiffre de 380.000. Les inscriptions de la semaine précédente ont été révisées en légère hausse, à 392.000 contre 388.000 en première estimation.

L’indice ISM mesurant la croissance du secteur des services américains est revenu à 53,5, après 56,0 en mars. Les analystes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient un chiffre de 55,5. La composante de l’activité est tombée à 54,6 contre 58,9 en mars.

Le fonds américain Catterton va prendre 22% du capital de Baccarat via une émission d’actions que lui réserve la Société du Louvre, actionnaire majoritaire de la cristallerie. La filiale de Starwood verra sa participation diluée à 66,5%. Les fonds, 27,5 millions d’euros, doivent servir à financer les investissements de Baccarat. La Société du Louvre est conseillée par Rothschild.

Le gouvernement a annoncé prévoir de limiter la rémunération des comptes épargne à 70% du taux directeur Selic fixé par la banque centrale si ce dernier passe sous les 8,5%. Le taux des contrats à terme de janvier 2014 baissait de 3 points de base à 8,51% après avoir touché un record de 8,44%.

L'adossement d'HDF Finance, avec une option de prise de contrôle à 100%, témoigne des difficultés des fonds de hedge funds depuis le début de la crise

Le quotidien indique que Veolia Environnement a bel et bien reçu fin avril une offre de la part du fonds Cube pour sa part de 50% (aux côtés de la CDC) au capital de Veolia Transdev. Une participation valorisée 1,15 milliard d’euros, dont 900 millions de dettes. Le fonds exclut pourtant de reprendre la compagnie maritime SNCM, détenue à 66% par Veolia Transdev et à 25% par l’Etat.

Comme prévu, la BCE a maintenu hier ses taux inchangés. Son président, Mario Draghi, reste très prudent sur les perspectives économiques de la zone malgré les effets bénéfiques des opérations de refinancement à trois ans. Il a aussi précisé son idée d’un pacte de croissance.

Elles ont sélectionné trois banques chefs de file. Un road-show est prévu à la rentrée, avant l'émission

La banque centrale n'a pas modifié ses taux en attendant d'avoir plus d'éléments sur la situation économique dans la zone euro

La production en France a plongé de 31% au premier trimestre 2012, d'après l'organisme de garantie. Il prévoit un repli de 20% sur l'année

L’adossement d’HDF Finance à Rothschild & Cie Gestion est un nouvel épisode de la mutation du secteur des fonds de fonds alternatifs, imposée par la crise.

Le candidat socialiste à l’élection présidentielle française et qui a la faveur des sondages serait prêt à proposer des «solutions pragmatiques» en cas de désaccord avec la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel sur la renégociation du pacte fiscal européen. Des solutions qui pourraient déjà avoir l’aval de Berlin dans le cas de son élection dimanche.