In a context of ongoing euro zone crisis in early 2012, the European economy is facing a slight recession, and it is not yet known whether it will worsen or lessen. “We have entered a world full of uncertainty and unknown factors, but we have also entered a world full of opportunities,” said Valentijn van Nieuwenhuijzen, economist in chief and strategist on the asset allocation team at ING IM, at an investment committee meeting on 24 January. In this unstable environment, in which limited growth and muted returns are the norm, the worst case is not a certainty. “The cost of a collapse of the euro would be so monumental that European political leaders have a will to avoid such a scenario,” the ING IM strategist says. Since 2008, the environment has completely transformed, and for a long time. “The first thing for an investor to do is to accept the new environment and to move over to a passive vision of investment. To finds returns in all market conditions, investors now need to adopt a dynamic tactical approach, take risks, if there are strong convictions, but also to expect unexpected shocks and manage the risk pudget over the whole portfolio,” he explains. With this in mind, ING IM currently has a marked preference for high yield and emerging market debt. Michel Ho, investment specialist in the credit team at ING IM, says “the credit cycle is continuing to improve, with a minority of firms losing money and default rates expected to remain at a low level in 2012.” The signs are pointing to weak economic growth, or even a slight recessino, which would net necessarily have an impact on this asset class. At least in an unexpected collapse of the euro zone, high yield would post double-digit growth this year, says Ho. The other major opportunity at the moment is in emerging market debt, where investments have increased impressively. This is a rapidly-growing asset class, which already accounts for over USD10trn, which is not closely monitored by analysts, and which offers significant diversification, with excellent fundamentals and improving quality, and which, as a result of what has come before, offers far higher returns that bonds on developed markets. Rob Drijkoningen, co-director of the emerging market debt team at ING IM, recommends an overweight position on government bonds in hard currencies which will continue to resist these headwinds. He is neutral on corporate debt due to the potential impact of emerging markeet growth and European crisis, but remains underweight on emerging market currencies, with a potential reduction in this position of global growth is better than expected and if extreme risks are reduced in Europe.

From 1 January, Marcel Schnyder, head of multi-asset class products, has been apopinted as chief investment officer (CIO) at LGT Capital Management. He joined the firm in 2005. Rolf Jutos, head of investment management, retains responsibility for sustainable development initiatives at LGT CM, and in addition to these duties, will set up a corporate investment operation and coordinate strategic projects groupwide.

Yam Invest has announced the appointment of Pierre Coloin as CEO and board member at the group. Before joining the investment firm, Colin served as chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch for France. Via its affiliates Time Investors, Helse and Yareal International, Yam Invest is specialised in investments in mid-sized European businesses, particularly in the health and real estate sectors. The firm’s tier 1 equity totals over EUR350m, a statement says.

Marc Tournier has left Tocqueville Finance, confirming an information which had leaked in the press late last year (see Newsmanagers of 23 December 2011). The star manager of the Ulysse fund is no longer employed by the asset management firm, where he had been deputy CEO, and is also no longer a shareholder. At the end of the negotiations which have taken place over the past several days, the Banque Postale has acquired the 15% stake in the capital in Tocqueville that had been held by Tournier. The firm now controls 90% of the company. The sale price for the stake has not been disclosed.The departure of Tournier comes shortly after the sanctions commission of the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), in early December issued a sanction against Tocqueville Finance. This included a fine of EUR250,000 for the fund manager and EUR150,000 for the asset management firm, for price manipulation of shares in the rental car business Ada (see Newsmanagers of 5 December 2011). This event is not said to have been the reason for the fund manager’s departure. Bruno Julien, CEO of the asset management firm, tells Newsmanagers that it “was a personal decision on which we have no comment.” Julien also says that Tocqueville Finance has no intention at this time to appeal the AMF’s verdict. Tournier may yet appeal the decision in a personal capacity.In now appears that the graft of a manager known as a firebrand and free spirit to La Banque Postale, which invested in the capital of Tocqueville Finance in 2009, never took root. The arrival of the partner firm in the capital of the asset management firm, however, helped to reassure clients of the asset management firm and cemented its position in the competitive independent financial adviser market. For its part, the firm contributed a value management style, which the group had not previously had, and a “flagship” manager. “The increased stake in the capital of Tocqueville Capital is a successful integration.” says La Banque Postale. “Following the departure of Tournier, the ADN for active management at Tocqueville Finance, the firm he founded, will remain unchanged,” says Julien.In practice, the departure of Tournier will lead to changes in the management of funds: the man who had been co-manager of the Ulysse and Odyssée funds with Didier Roman will be replaced by Jacques Burlot, head of collective management, who is already manager of the Tocqueville Dividende fund, another heavyweight in the range, with EUR318.1m in assets as of the end of 2011, compared with EUR354.3m for the Ulysse fund, and Tocqueville Olympe Patrimoine.“Our organisation allows managers to continue to realise our value management philosophy with complete independence,” says Julien. “The solid shareholder which is La Banque Postale allows us to plan for the forthcoming development of our management teams and fund launches, while continuing to work to meet client expectations.”

The global network of UBS, including professional areas such as wealth management, Swiss banking, global asset management and investment banking, will now be supplied with environmental, social and governance (ESG) data by RepRisk, and the data will also be integrated into the compliance database at the banking group, particularly for “controversial” businesses.This will allow the bank to improve risk management and control new, onboarding, clients and investments, as well as to undertake due diligence on transactions. UBS has pledged not to provide financial services and not to use any provider whose primary activities or revenues may carry risks related to environmental and social issues.

The institutional asset management firm specialised in convertible bonds, Fisch Asset Managemnt, on 24 January announced a net inflow of CHF900m for 2011. Assets under management have increased by about 20%, to a record level fo CHF5.2bn, despite a strong appreciation in the franc against the euro and US dollar in particular.The firm ,which mostly serves institutional clients in German-speaking countries, now has 49 employees, following the recruitment of several convertibles specialists. Fisch AM also states that it has improved its client reporting.

Assets under management in Swiss investment funds as of the end of December 2011 totalled about CHF621bn, up by slightly over CHF4bn compared with the end of November, according to statistics from the Swiss Funds Association.Net inflows in December totalled CHF923.2m. The “other funds” category, which includes commodities funds, funds of hedge funds and private equity funds, attracted slightly over CHF1bn. Equity funds posted net inflows of CHF244m, while bond and money market funds saw redemptions totalled CHF76.3m and CHF81.4m, respectively. Asset diversification funds finished the month with net outflows of CHF174.2m.

Valiant bank has lost several executives from its Bern offices in the past few months in investment advising, Agefi Switzerland reports. Four directors and a client adviser in this segment, who had joined the Private Banking department, have left to join competitors. The style of management of the head of private banking and board member Martin Gafner is said to be the cause.

Standard Life Investments has teamed up with Swedish banking group Länsförsäkringar to distribute its GARS fund to investors in Sweden.The fund will be available to the Swedish retail marketplace through Länsförsäkringar’s unit linked platform. Länsförsäkringar is Sweden’s only customer-owned and locally based banking and insurance group.

On 20 January, the CNMV issued a license for a new bond fund maturing on 30 April 2014, created by InverCaixa on 10 January, and entitled Foncaixa Objetivo Abril 2014. The fund has two share classes, with performance targets of 2.5% per year (Estandar share class) and 2.75% (Extra share class), between 29 March and maturity.The portfolio will be invested until maturity in government bonds and bonds guaranteed by EU governments. It may invest up to 20% of its assets in private bonds.InverCaixa has scheduled eight intermediate liquidity windows, at which times investors will be permitted to subscribe or redeem parts without paying a 4% commission.CharacteristicsName: Foncaixa Objectivo Abril 2014 EST and Foncaixa Objectivo Abril 2014 EXTISIN codes: ES0137777001 and ES0137777019Management commission: 0.775% (EST) and 0.55% (EXT)Minimal initial subscription: EUR600

Daniel Mudd, CEO of the hedge fund management firm Fortress Investment Group, resigned on Teusday from his position on the board and from the firm, slightly over one month after the SEC filed civil charges against him for securities fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mudd has been accused of fraud during his time as CEO of Fannie Mae (a position from which he was ousted in September 2008), and of failing to accurately disclose risks that the government-backed mortgage lender bore on the sub-prime mortgage markets. Fortress (USD43.6bn in assets as of the end of September) says that Randal Nardone, one of the co-founders of the firm, will continue to serve as interim CEO, which he has done since Mudd began a leave of absence in December.

Allen Stanford told “lie after lie” to investors in order to be able to use their money to finance his lavish billionaire lifestyle, as part of a Ponzi-type fraud scheme, a US prosecutor claimed in the first day of Stanford’s trial on Tuesday, the Financial Times report. Robert Scardino, Stanford’s lawyer, replied that his client was a “Texas boy” who did not lie to investors. Stanford will plead not guilty to all charges.

The alternative management specialist boutique Hermes BPK Partners has launched a managed futures fund, Alpha Vault Managed Futures, whose assets under management already total USD275m, Hedge Week reports. The solution provides protection for institutional investors in periods of high market turbulence, via investments concentrated in mid-term CTA. Assets under management at Hermes BPK Partners, which is also a fund of hedge fund manager, total over USD2.3bn.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the Blackstone Group has received investment commitments totalling over USD6bn for its new real estate fund Blacksone Real Estate Partners VII, which will invest most of its portfolio in distressed assets, the Financial Times reports. Fundraising began last spring, and the closing will come later this year.The previous fund, Real Estate Patners CI, closed in 2008, raised USD10.9bn. Tony James, chairman of Blackstone, has said in the past that he expects REP VII to be at least as large as its predecessor.

The German asset management firm Sauren Fonds Service (EUR2.1bn in assets under management) has announced that it has added a share class to its Sauren Global Defensiv fund of funds (EUR1.24bn), launched in February 2003, that pays 3% annually. The Global Defensiv is a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Sauren Fonds-Select. Subscriptions for the new 3F share class (ISIN LU0731594668) will be open from 9 to 28 February 2012. Front-end fees are 3%, and the management commission is 0.45%, while sales commission is 0.35%.Sauren will charge a 10% commission on performance exceeding the annual 3%.

On 26 January, about 90,000 shareholders in DEGI Europa (ISIN code: DE0009807800) will receive a third payment as part of the liquidation of the open-ended real estate fund, announced on 22 October 2010, Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland has announced. The distribution this time will be EUR3 per share, which represents a total of EUR78.6m, or 8.5% of remaining assets of EUR921.9m as of 31 December.The fund had already paid out EUR9.70 per share on 24 January 2011, and EUR1.85 on 25 July 2011. The next distribution will take place in July 2012, and its amount will depend on the liquidity generated from sales of properties. The final liquidation of the fund is scheduled for 30 September 2013.

The 875 hedge funds identified by the German firm Absolute Research in 2011 posted an average loss of 4.5%, while the Dax and EuroStoxx 50 indices lost 13% and 15%, respectively. They also lost less than offshore hedge funds.As of the end of December, UCITS-compliant hedge funds had assets of about EUR118bn, which represents an increase of 25% year on year. The largest strategies were fixed-income (EUR40bn), equities and multi-asset classes, with about EUR30bn each.Overall, about 30% of UCITS-compliant hedge funds earned gains last year; the best-performing product in this universe, the Credit Suisse Custom Markets Global Carry Selector, is a volatility fund which earned returns of 40.82%. The best in the equity class was the long/short fund C-Quadrat IQ European Equity ETF, with 19.12%.At the other end of the spectrum, only 10% of these funds underperformed the Dax or Euro Stoxx 50 indices, with the worst result going to the Huserinvest New Horizon (L/S Equity), with losses of 53%.

Investment professionals estimate that a joint euro-bond issue could ease the euro zone crisis, so long as the issue is accompanied by a series of structural reforms, fiscal integration, and a solid joint governance framework.According to a survey by CFA of its European members, including in Switzerland, the majority of respondents estimate that a joint euro-bond issue from euro zone member countries would make it possible to reduce the size of the sovereign debt crisis (55%), strengthen financial stability in the euro zone (52%), and facilitate the transmission of monetary policy in the euro zone (56%).As to the structure of the euro-bond issue, 64% of CFA Institute members claim that a joint and solidaristic guarantee from participating governments would be the most effective. 64% of members are in favour of the euro-bond issue being only a partial substitute for national bond issues: part of the financing needs for governments would thus be covered by these euro-bonds, while the remainder would be provided by national government bonds.The survey finds, however, that a moral hazard in certain member countries that may lack budgetary discipline, with limited involvement in the cost of financing, is an enormous source of concern to members of the CFA Institute.As a result, some elements appear to be essential preconditions for a euro-bond issue, including strengthened economic, financial and political integration of member states (which is considered essential by 86% of CFA Institute members), increased and intrusive surveillance of, and the elaboration and introduction of national fiscal policies (essential according to 88% of members), and lastly, limited access to euro-bonds for member states that do not comply with the governance framework of the euro zone (which is favoured by 90% of respondents).

The German asset management firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the Edinburgh One office building (5,100 square metres) from Friends Provident Life Assurance for EUR28m. The property, located in Edinburgh, is wholly leased to Scottish Widows, and will be added to the portfolio of an institutional real estate fund.

With the DB Platinum Omega Fund (ISIN LU0712203206), Deutsche Bank is releasing a UCITS-compliant version of the long/short fund Omega Overseas Partners Fund, which will invest with a long bias in US large and small caps, but which may also adopt positions on bonds, commodities and currencies. The fund carries a management commission of 1.50%, and a performance commission of 20% with high watermark.

La Mutuelle Générale Environnement et Territoires (MGET) est passée d’un modèle de gestion interne des actifs en tenant compte des différentes strates de passifs, à une gestion discrétionnaire externe sous mandat pour la quasi totalité des encours (170 millions d’euros). La MGET conserve la gestion de sa trésorerie courante et a délégué la gestion de ses fonds propres et de ses engagements réglementés à EGAMO. La gestion de trésorerie est réalisée grâce à des OPCVM monétaires mais aussi avec l’utilisation de comptes sur livret et papiers bancaires. La MGET a confié à EGAMO une politique financière à respecter avec des bornes mini et maxi par classe d’actifs. Il appartient à EGAMO de respecter ces bornes et d’assumer la tactique en fonction des conditions de marché. Le fait d’avoir une société de gestion dédiée offre plusieurs avantages à la MGET, notamment la possibilité de percevoir des rétrocessions sur les frais de gestion et d’avoir accès à des conditions préférentielles aux marchés obligataires. De plus, dans le cadre de l'étude QIS5, les fonds propres de la MGET étaient largement suffisant pour couvrir le SCR et autorisaient même à prendre un peu plus de risque marché et particulièrement actions pour pouvoir booster les rendements. Actuellement la proportion d’actions est d’environ 5%, dont l’essentiel est investi en parts ou actions de sociétés partenaires de la MGET comme la CNP ou la Banque Fédérale Mutualiste (pour le non coté). Outre une ligne importante d’actions en direct, la MGET a recours aux OPCVM ouverts.

« Bâle III reste au c??ur des préoccupations du Crédit Agricole Nord Midi Pyrénées » affirme une source proche des décisions financières de la caisse régionale. La stratégie financière de la structure a été mutualisée avec la caisse régionale de Toulouse et l’allocation d’actifs est revue ce mois-ci pour harmoniser les placements et faciliter la gestion. Les problématiques des caisses régionales sont très distinctes de celles de la maison-mère. Avec les spécificités de gestion de la caisse de Toulouse, il faut s’attendre à des modifications de placement confirme notre source, rappelant au passage le souci de protéger les 5 millions de provisions et les 750 millions d’euros de fonds propres détenus par la caisse début 2011. Au cours de l’année 2011, la priorité avait été de diminuer la part des actifs les plus risqués. En 2012, l’exposition aux obligations limitées au simple A devrait passer de 70 % à 60 %, la caisse régionale privilégiant les deux fonds dédiés gérés par Amundi et Baltard Finance et Patrimoine. La caisse régionale se concentre aussi sur les mécanismes de soutien de la maison-mère, le Crédit agricole S.A., qui met actuellement en place de nouveaux montages financiers destinés à remplacer les avances en fonds propres et à respecter le ratio de solvabilité exigé par Bâle III.

La banque centrale a baissé hier le ratio des réserves de trésorerie de 6% à 5,5% et ouvert la porte à une baisse future des taux directeurs

Président des Trustees de la Fondation IFRS depuis le début de l'année, Michel Prada dévoile à L'Agefi ses priorités

Les professionnels regrettent le manque de liquidité de certains titres et appellent à accroître la transparence des produits

Le pays a émis 4,75 milliards de livres à 50 ans hier. La Banque d'Angleterre doit décider en février si elle étend son programme de rachats de Gilts

L'activité a progressé en Allemagne et en France au mois de janvier, mais a ralenti dans le Sud

L'activité a progressé en Allemagne et en France au mois de janvier, mais a ralenti dans le Sud

Les négociations avec le Parlement vont cependant reprendre la semaine prochaine sur la base d’un nouveau compromis entre Etats membres

Martin Wheatley, qui va diriger la nouvelle autorité financière britannique issue de la scission de l’autorité actuelle qui aura lieu l’année prochaine, a indiqué au journal qu’une attention toute particulière sera portée aux consommateurs qui ne fonctionnent pas de manière «rationnelle», afin qu’ils aient recours à des produits financiers adaptés.