State Street Global Advisors is planning to create an educational website about ETFs, aimed at retail investors, Jim Ross, global head of ETFs at the firm, has announced. The website will be available at www.SPDRETFFactorFiction.com, and will aim to dispel a number of misconceptions about ETF funds.

Jerry Szilagyi, president of Vice Advisor USA Mutuals, has confirmed to Mutual Fund Wire that before the end of December, it will be creating two new share classes (A and C) in its Vice Fund, aimed at financial advisers. The firm will also soon recruit for its sales team, in order to increase its client base in this segment, the article adds.

Oddo AM on 8 December unveiled an equity fund with a rather contrarian approach: it invests in a range of European banking sector equities. The fund will aim to outperform the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Net Return index, with a minimal investment horizon of 5 years. The fund will invest exclusively in European financial sector shares (banks and insurers, though insurance sector shares are limited to no more than 15% of assets). The fund will be managed by Alain Dupuis, who has covered the banking sector as a financial analyst for over 15 years, including 11 years at Oddo Securities, and in the thematic equity management team at Oddo Asset Mangaement, led by Emmanuel Chapuis. The launch of the fund comes in an environment in which many consider the banking sector to be trapped in a vicoius circle: sovereign crisis, refinancing crisis, fast-paced regulatory changes, and a virtual recession in Europe. These are all interconnected problems which feed one another. However, following a 45% fall in the banking sector since the beginning of the year, and valuation levels which have already integrated projections of major stress, the banking sector offers opportunities for entry with a long-term horizon, so long as shares are acquired highly selectively. According to Dupuis, “the current valuation of banks has integrated heavy losses on sovereign debt, but also a scenario of a deeper than expected recession, and massive recapitalisation. Even a partial improvement in the economic or political situation would have a positive effect on the valuation of the entire sector, which is now trading at all-time low ratios.” Characteristics of the fund ISIN code: A shares: FR0010493957/ B shares: FR0011156215 Legal format: French-registered FCP AMF classification: International equities Benchmark: Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Net Return Subscription commission: Maximum 4%, including all taxes, of net assets, not paid back to fund Management fees: A class shares: maximum 2% of net assets, including all taxes; B shares: 1% of net assets, including all taxes Performance commission: 20% of outperformance exceeding the benchmark, if the performance of the fund is positive, including all taxes Minimum initial subscription: A shares: 1 thousandth of one share; B shares: EUR1m

Schelcher Prince Gestion is converting the horizon fund Schelcher Prince Horizon 2012, which invests in government and corporate bonds, into the Schelcher Prince Horizon 2016, adding four years to its lifespan. The fund was launched in 2009 to take advantage of “an exceptional situation in terms of spreads,” with an objective of 20% over three years. This goal was met, with over 22% returns, says Bruno Promonet, deputy CEO of Schelcher Prince Gestion. This time the performance objective is 30% over five years. The management constraints for the Horizon 2016 fund remain the same as for the Horizon 2012 fund. The portfolio will be at least 80% investted in bonds rated investment grade or better by one of the major ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s and others). It may invest up to 20% of its assets in bonds with no ratings or rated below investment grade, with a limit of BB-. Bonds in the fund will mature on or before 31 December 2016. The fund, which now has assets of about EUR60m, is open to current investors and to new subscribers. Exit fees have been set at 1% (paid into the fund), up to the end of December 2015. After that, there will be no withdrawal penalty.

In November, the coverage rate for US pension funds improved slightly, with an increase of 0.3 percentage points to 75.1%, according to statistics from BNY Mellon Asset Management. Since the beginning of this year, the coverage rate has now fallen by ten percentage points.

The real estate fund management firm RREEF (Deutsche Bank group) has announced that it has resold the PEP shopping centre in Munich-Neuperlach to the US firm TIAA-CREF for EUR408m. It is the largest and one of the most profitable transactions in 2011 in the German commercial real estate market. The property was acquired for about EUR54m in July 1984. Since then, RREEF has invested about EUR170m in renovations and works. PEP had been in the porfolio of the open-ended real estate fund grundbesitz europa, whose portfolio is 27% invested in the United Kingdom, 21% in France, 16% in Germany, 13% in Spain, and 10% in the Netherlands. As of the end of November, the fund had assets of EUR3.2bn, with 41 properties in the porfolio. Additional sales of assets are planned in the next few months.

As Jeremy Podger, head of global equities, has left the business in order to manage a special situations fund at Fidelity, under his erstwhile boss Dominic Rossi (global CIO for equities), Threadneedle (EUR71.9bn in assets as of the end of September) has now appointed William Davies to replace him. Since 1999, Davies had been director of the European equity management team. He will now be in charge of developing global equity management, particularly on international markets. Davies, who joined Threadneedle at its inception in 1994, will report directly to Leigh Harrison, head of equities.

The US firm Prudential Retirement, an affiliate of Prudential Financial, is becoming one of the life expectancy risk insurers for Deutsche Bank and its client, the Rolls Royce pension fund. The coverage will extend to pension benefit liabilities totalling about GBP500m.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has sentenced Integrated Financial Arrangements plc GBP3.5m for failure to meet its obligations to protect the assets of clients. The firm owns the world’s largest custom product package platform, Transact. It is accused of failing to undertake all necessary verifications to ensure that client assets were kept separate from the assets of the business between 1 December 2001 and 30 June 2010.

The 12 ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) admitted to trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be withdrawn from trading, and their licenses will be cancelled by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on 13 March 2012, Handelsblatt reports. The last day of trading for the funds will be 7 March 2012.The decision by Lyxor is related to the fact that all ETFs listed in Hong Kong are synthetic replication products, which are subject to close monitoring by th Securities & Futures Commission (SFC). The Commission stipulated in September that managers of derivative-based ETF funds would be required to provide additional guarantees on their swaps.

The head of international equities at Threadneedle, Jeremy Podger, has left the firm to join Fidelity as a senior manager in the team dedicated to international equities, Investment Week reports. Podger will take charge of the Global Special Situations fund, with assets under management toalling GBP1.5bn. The current manager of the fund, Jorma Korhonen, will be leaving Fidelity. Podger will work closely with Richard Lewis, the recently-appointed head of the international equities unit.

Paul McLaughlin has joined State Street Alternative Investment Solutions in Guernsey, where he is now head of operations, Hedgeweek reports. His responsibilities include strengthening the alternative investment services offered to clients based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), including private equity and real estate funds. McLaughlin previously worked at BNY Mellon in Dublin, where he held a similar position.

FTSE Group pulled the Investec group (banking and asset management) from the FTSE 100 index at its most recent quarterly revision. Investec, along with Lonmin and Inmarsat, will join the FTSE 250 at the end of this month. The three firms that will join the FTSE 100 will be the construction materials group CRH, the steel maker Evraz, and the precious metals specialist Polymetal International. The changes announced will be applied at the close of trading on 16 December, and will take effect from 19 December.

2011 will have been the second-worst year for hedge funds since 1990, while the worst remains 2008. Statistics from Hedge Fund Research (HFR) show that on average, these funds have lost 4.37% since the beginning of the year, which is not terribly severe, but must come as a shock for managers who are accustomed to earning absolute returns, the Financial Times notes.Nonetheless, Brevan Howard, the largest global macro fund manager, has stepped clear of outsized bets on the euro zone, and its USD24bn flagship fund has earned returns of 13% since the beginning of the year, largely due to big gains on US Treasuries in August. Meanwhile, the flagship fund from Bridgewater, managed by Ray Dalio, has made returns of 26%.

The Luxembourg-based Aberdeen Global Services has announced to subscribers to the Balanced Global, Constellation Global, Equity Europe and Moderation funds from Aberdeen MultiFund (Lux) that the funds will be abandoned on 16 December, and assets and responsibility for the assets will be transferred to the Multi-Manager World Equity Fund sub-fund from Aberdeen Global.The board of directors at Aberdeen Global Services estimates that assets in the abandoned funds were too slight, and that the merger would serve the interests of shareholders by provideing them with access to a product with a larger universe.Though the asset transfers will result in an increase in the total expense ratio (TER) compared with the current limits for investors in the Aberdeen MultiFund (Lux) – Moderation and Aberdeen MultiFund (Lux) – Balanced Global, investors in the Aberdeen MutiFund (Lux) – Constellation Global and Aberdeen MultiFund (Lux) – Equity Europe sub-funds will receive a lower TER rate in the new fund.However, the asset management firm states, “in parallel with the transfer of assets, the current TER limit applicable to the abandoned funds, and originally applicable to the temporary fund used for the transfer of abandoned Credit Suisse funds to Aberdeen Asset Management, will be removed. As a result, the relative TER of the fund maintained will be lower than those which would have been applied to each of the abandoned funds once that limit is removed.”

Pour trouver 114,7 milliards d’euros d’ici juin, le secteur pourra émettre des «CoCos», mais pas liquider ses dettes souveraines ou resserrer le crédit.

Le secteur a aussi été placé sous surveillance négative par S&P. Les CDS bancaires se sont à nouveau élargis hier

La banque centrale élargit son arsenal, mais écarte tout programme d'achat massif d'emprunts d'Etat

La banque centrale élargit son arsenal, mais écarte tout programme d'achat massif d'emprunts d'Etat

Dans un entretien accordé au quotidien avec Benjamin de Rothschild, Michel Cicurel dresse un bilan de son action à la tête de la Compagnie financière Edmond de Rothschild, après que le président du directoire de la banque a présenté hier au conseil son souhait de mettre un terme à ses fonctions. Ce départ est programmé pour septembre. Michel Cicurel, partant «l’âme en paix», estime «qu’il est temps de passer le relais à la prochaine génération». Benjamin de Rothschild avance que la succession de Michel Cicurel, qui rejoindra le conseil de surveillance, sera assuré «en coordination» avec lui.

Le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres. Le quotidien américain relève ainsi que le fonds familial de George Soros a acquis environ 2 milliards de dollars de dette européenne précédemment détenue par MF Global, par l’intermédiaire de l’offre présentée par l’administrateur de la faillite à Londres, KPMG. Cette dette précisément a précipité la mise en faillite de MF Global le 31 octobre dernier.

Le gouvernement devrait annoncer une augmentation des tarifs réglementés du gaz limitée à 4,3% applicable au 1er janvier prochain, selon le quotidien qui ne cite pas ses sources. Après la suspension de la décision de gel des prix du gaz par le Conseil constitutionnel, le premier ministre, François Fillon, s’était engagé sur une hausse qui n’excède pas 5%.

Les dirigeants européens se sont mis d’accord sur un nouveau traité à 17 qui met fin au PSI et prévoit une contribution de 200 milliards au FMI

A l’issue de la séance du 5 décembre, Marie-Pierre Peillon a été élue présidente du Conseil d’administration de la Société française des analystes financiers. Elle succède à Ibra Wane, qui ne souhaitait pas se représenter, et qui demeure administrateur de l’association.

La caisse de retraite de l’Etat du New Jersey a proposé hier lors d’une réunion publique d’investir 1,5 milliard de dollars dans quatre comptes distincts gérés par Blackstone et 300 millions de dollars dans trois fonds traditionnels.

Natixis Global Asset Management étend sa présence en Asie avec la finalisation de l’acquisition de 25% du capital de la filiale de gestion d’actifs du groupe indien de services financiers IDFC. Celle division disposait au 30 septembre dernier de 5,6 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous gestion.

L’autorité grecque de régulation des instruments financiers a décidé hier de prolonger jusqu’au 27 janvier l’interdiction des ventes à découvert à la Bourse d’Athènes. Cette mesure venait à expiration aujourd’hui même. L’Italie a pris une mesure similaire le mois dernier portant sur les ventes à découvert à nu.

La Banque centrale du Danemark a réduit hier son taux d’intervention de 40 points de base à 0,8%. Cette réduction est supérieure à celle d’un quart de point annoncée en parallèle par la BCE. La Nationalbank a en outre réduit le couloir entre le taux d’intervention et le taux des certificats de dépôt «afin de réduire la possibilité de fluctuations sur le marché monétaire».

Le Conseil des gouverneurs de la BCE a indiqué n’avoir aucune objection à la candidature du Français Benoît Coeuré en remplacement de l’italien Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. Si cette désignation se confirme au terme des procédures prévues par les textes européens, Benoît Coeuré entrera en fonctions début 2012.

La société vient de lancer Oddo European Banks, un fonds investi dans les actions de banques européennes avec un horizon de placement de 5 ans. Oddo AM, qui juge certaines valeurs sous-valorisées, a en revanche repoussé à 2012 l’idée de lancer un fonds sur la dette financière.