The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 18 May announced that it has unanimously voted for stricter regulation of ratings agencies, in line with the Dodd-Franck law. However, the SEC proposal, which remains open for comments, does not include exhaustive treatment of conflicts of interest between ratings agencies and issuers.

Agefi reports that the private equity fund KKR will spend EUR240m to acquire the German telephone operator Versatel. Apax Partners, with 41.7% of capital in the firm, as well as Cyrte and United Internet, who control 25% each, have agreed to sell their stakes for EUR5.50 each. Shareholders holding the remaining 3% will be offered EUR6.70 per share.

The fund that bears John Paulson’s name, with assets totalling USD36bn, has bought a stake in the Hewlett-Packard group, with an acquisition of 25 million shares in the firm for about USD1bn, the news agency Bloomberg reports. Paulson & Co has also enlarged its stake in the capital of Transocean, with an acquisition of 17.3 million shares in one of the world’s largest offshore drilling firms, whose name is still tainted by association with the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. Paulson has maintained its stake of USD4.41bn in the SPDR Gold Trust, and strengthened its positions on several South African gold mines.

State Street Global Advisors has announced the launch of eight new ETF funds on the XTF segment of Deutsche Börse, Das Investment reports. Of the new products, six ETFs cover emerging markets: SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap ETF, SPDR MSCI Asia ETF, SPDR MSCI Latin America ETF, SPDR MSCI EM Europe ETF and SPDR Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF. Two other products are exposed to global markets: the ETF SPDR MSCI ACWI ETF and SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF.

Institutional investors whose allocation to emerging markets is over 5% should steer clear of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), and adopt a more diversified approach, similar to the approach they adopt for developed markets, according to a report by the consulting firm Cambridge Associates, cited by IPE.com. By adopting long-only strategies that focus on BRIC countries and multinational corporations, investors miss out on opportunities associated with small companies that are directly exposed to growth in emerging markets. The authors of the study also identify significant opportunities in private equity and hedge funds.

The Swiss Julius Bär group on 20 May announced a reorganisation of its private banking activities in Switzerland, which had previously been under regional direction, and will now be led by Yves Robert-Charrue, who from 1 July 2011 will become the new CEO for Switzerland. His current position will be taken over from 1 September by Hans F. Lauber, formerly Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for the Winterthur group, and founder and CEO of Arecon Asset Management in Zurich.The new strategy was launched by the bank 18 months ago, to promote growth throughout the Swiss market, including the 16 regions of the country covered by private banking activities, in order to offer a fuller range of products and services to clients.Venkatraman Anantha-Nageswaran, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Julius Bär, will be leaving the bank at the end of July, but will continue to be available to the group as an external consultant.

The management of the Swiss private bank Sarasin are pushing their majority shareholder, the Dutch firm Rabobank, to sell its stake in the bank as part of a management buyout for CHF3bn. «I make no secret of the fact that we would love to do an MBO,» Joachim Straehle, CEO of Sarasin, has told the Financial Times. He says that so far there have been no formal negotiations, but that there have been informal discussions. As part of an agreement, Straehle says that financing could come from the Middle East, Asia, and Switzerland, the FT adds.

It was a family office in Hong Kong that provided the inspiration. That investor no longer has confidence in short-term US Treasury bonds, and now is seeking to invest in a vehicle with limited risk, says Don Amstad, director of international development for Asian bond products at Aberdeen. Hence the idea for a fund which would invest in Asian government bonds, with two particular characteristics: a short duration, in order to reduce risks related to inflation and tightening monetary policy, and exposure to currencies from Asia ex Japan, in order to benefit from the appreciation of Asian currencies. The Luxembourg-registered fund, launched in early March, Aberdeen Global – Asian Local Currency Short Duration Bond Fund (as the name is a little long, investors refer to it as the Aberdeen “shorty” fund), has already collected about USD127m in investments. On a visit to Paris on 19 May as part of a European road show, Amstad pointed out that the new “plain vanilla” short-term strategy, with limited credit and interest risks, and no equities risks, is attracting lively interest from investors seeking a less risky form of exposure to the theme of Asian growth. Amstad says the strategy is virtually unique on the market, and that Asian bonds represent an asset class in its own right, which deserves a core allocation in all international portfolios. Meanwhile, investors are continuing to underweight the region, and their exposures are all too often derived from bond indices which have limited exposure to Asia. “That’s a classic, but all too common mistake. Bond managers need to change their attitudes,” says Amstad, adding that there are many reasons to invest in Asia, such as the strength of economic growth, the solidity of balance sheets, and the size of the Asian economy, whose GDP now accounts for 27% to 28% of the global economy, and which will account for 49% by 2050. Amstad also argues that Asian currencies will inevitably rise, given the desire of governments in the region to stimulate domestic demand in order to depend on exports less, the need to combat inflation, and the “de-dollarisation” of the region. “The offshore renminbi market in Hong Kong is growing fast,” says Amstad; the portfolio of the “shorty” fund currently has 23% of its assets positioned on Chinese bonds. Amstad predicts that the Chinese currency will gain at least 5% this year. In addition to the arguments for Asia, Amstad points to Aberdeen’s expertise in the region. Assets under management in Asian bonds have increased from about USD6bn at the end of 2010 to about USD6.8bn as of the end of April. Of this total, closed funds account for slightly over USD3bn.

MoneyMarketing reports that Apollo and JP Morgan are planning to launch new products in the absolute return segment. Apollo has no vehicle of this type in its range, and JP Morgan offers only one.

The American management firm William Blair Investment Management has launched a fund dedicated to emerging markets equities that complies with the European UCITS directive, Citywire reports. The Luxembourg-domiciled fund, Emerging Leaders Growth Fund, managed by Todd McClone and Jeff Urbina, will invest in shares in emerging markets funds with potential for growth and higher than average profits. The firm currently manages USD2.5bn in assets for European institutional investors, and its range of UCITS-compliant funds now runs to five products, including the new strategy.

Rothschild & Cie Gestion, which has assets of EUR22bn under management, has received sales licenses for its major funds on the German, Spanish, Netherlands and Luxembourg markets. These will allow the French firm to enlarge its presence in Europe, which had previously been limited to Belgium and Switzerland.The asset management firm has defined a distinct strategy for each country.In Germany, the affiliate of the Rothschild & Cie Banque group will rely on the German independent distribution specialist max.xs financial services AG. Through this partnership, Rothschild & Cie Gestion will offer intermediaries and German institutional investors a range of six equities, convertible bonds and flexible management funds.The Spanish market has since September 2010 been handled by Philippe Louisadat, head of external distribution. The range on offer includes seven equities, bond, convertible and flexible management funds.The Netherlands and Luxembourg will be overseen by Valérie Kaliski, head of development for Benelux. She will soon be assisted by a local recruit, who will focus more particularly on the Dutch-speaking markets. The team will have a range of five equities, bond, convertible and flexible management funds to promote.

BlackRock has announced that it has agreed to repurchase Bank of America Corporation’s remaining ownership interest in BlackRock totaling 13,562,878 of its Series B convertible preferred shares for approximately USD2.545 billion, or USD187.65 per share. The shares will be retired following the close of the transaction which will be immediately accretive to earnings per share. In connection with the transaction, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BlackRock have worked together to strengthen their enterprise-wide collaboration and enhance their ongoing strategic partnership, according to a press release.BlackRock intends to fund the purchase of the shares through available cash and a total of USD2.0 billion of commercial paper, medium-term and long-term debt. The purchase price represents a 3.6% discount to the average closing price for the immediately preceding 15 day trading period.

The 20 regional co-operative banks of the BPCE group have concluded a strategic reflection on their positioning for 2014, Les Echos reports. By the end of the year, they will be launching an “e-bank,” a new online banking site which will be oriented to sales advising, and will emphasize large businesses, private management, and banking-insurance. In order to develop its image as a private bank, communications from the business will be more targeted, and about 300 people will be trained or recruited to this end.

The Swiss UBP group (Union Bancaire Privée) has awarded Caceis a contract for administration of its Luxembourg and French fund ranges, Caceis announced in a statement on 19 May. Under the new partnership, which covers EUR7bn in assets in Luxembourg funds, and EUR550m in French funds, Caceis will provide a complete range of fund administration services, from its offices in Luxembourg and France. In the mid-term, UBP is planning to extends the partnership to other continental European markets.

The former M&G star manager David Jane has launched the first fund from his new asset management boutique, the TM Darwin Multi Asset Fund, which will be a rival to the M&G Cautious Multi Asset fund, Investment Week reports. The fund will be managed by Thesis Unit Trust Management and advised by Darwin Property Investment Management, and will be dedicated to the UK retail market. The asset management firm is planning to launch a second fund in September, which will be a multi-asset class absolute return fund.

Investec Asset Management has posted record net subscriptions of GBP7.4bn in the 12 months to the end of March 2011. The asset management firm has posted an increase in its assets under management to GBP59bn, also a record. Pre-tax operating profits rose 53%, to GBP127m.

Assets under management at Cazenove Capital Management as of 31 December last year totalled GBP15.4bn, largely due to net inflows of GBP600m (compared with GBP400m in 2009) in the wealth management unit (with assets of GBP11.1bn), but a slight net outflow from the investment funds unit (GBP4.3bn in assets, of which GBP3bn were invested in long-only funds). Net profits for the fiscal year were nonetheless down 37% to GBP11.3m, as performance commissions from hedge funds fell to GBP600,000 at the end of 2010, from GBP14.7m in 2009. Excluding performance commissions, profits rose 24% due to good results in the wealth management unit.

«Lumière» sera le maître mot de la présidence française du G20, selon la ministre de l’économie Christine Lagarde, invitée hier de la célébration du centenaire de l’Agefi. La France entend ainsi s’attaquer à la régulation des produits dérivés sur matières premières, notamment agricoles, par la mise en place de limites de positions. La France souhaite également encadrer le «shadow banking», superviser le trading de haute fréquence, alors que les consommateurs entreront également dans le cadre de la régulation.

Le gestionnaire américain lance Fidelity Funds China Consumer Fund, qui permet d’investir directement dans des entreprises de la Chine élargie (Chine, Hong Kong, Taiwan). Les valeurs du fonds comprennent des sociétés prenant part au développement, à la fabrication ou à la vente de biens ou de services destinés aux consommateurs chinois. Le gérant, Raymond Ma, s’appuie sur cinq analystes dédiés au secteur de la consommation en Chine.

La filiale de l’assureur français Axa envisage d’investir dans la privatisation des aéroports de Madrid et Barcelone, selon un article à paraître le mois prochain dans la revue Institutional Investing in Infrastructure. L’Espagne a annoncé en décembre sa volonté de privatiser partiellement l’opérateur aéroportuaire AENA, en cédant jusqu'à 49% du capital de la société pour en retirer environ 8,8 milliards d’euros.

Le spécialiste du diagnostic in vitro des allergies et des maladies auto-immunes tombe dans l’escarcelle de Thermo Fisher Scientific pour 2,47 milliards d’euros. Le groupe suédois était détenu par le fonds d’investissement britannique Cinven. L’opération, qui devrait être finalisée au quatrième trimestre, doit être relutive en 2012 à hauteur de 26 à 30 cents. Barclays Capital a conseillé Thermo, tandis que Phadia a été assisté par Goldman Sachs. Cinven avait acquis Phadia, ancienne filiale de Pfizer, à PPM Capital et Triton Advisers en 2007 lors d’une transaction valorisant le groupe à 1,28 milliard d’euros. Selon le gérant, cette opération lui offre un rendement plus de trois fois supérieur à son investissement initial. Pour l’acquéreur, ce rachat lui permet d'étoffer sa gamme de produits de diagnostics après la reprise de la société californienne Dionex pour 2,1 milliards de dollars. Une opération finalisée il y a trois jours.

La société d’investissement a dégagé sur l’exercice clos le 31 mars dernier un bénéfice net de 135,2 millions d’euros, en hausse de 15% sur un an. Au total, Gimv a investi 151,7 millions d’euros sur l’exercice repris au bilan. Les désinvestissements représentaient, au 31 mars dernier, une valeur totale de 59,1 millions d’euros.

L’indice des indicateurs avancés, qui préfigure la tendance générale de l'économie américaine pour les mois à venir, a reculé au mois d’avril pour la première fois depuis juin 2010. L’indice calculé par l’organisation patronale Conference Board a reculé de 0,3% en avril, après avoir progressé de 0,7% (révisé en hausse de 0,4%) le mois précédent. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters tablaient sur une augmentation de 0,1%.

Selon des sources citées par Bloomberg, Tony Hayward prévoit de lever au moins un milliard de livres à l’occasion de l’introduction en Bourse d’un fonds dédié à l'énergie. Ce véhicule d’investissement, soutenu par Nathaniel Rothschild et Julian Metherell (Goldman Sachs), sera coté sur le LSE dans les trois prochains mois. Tony Hayward travaille avec JPMorgan et Credit Suisse.

Le premier gérant mondial a décidé de racheter la totalité des actions entre les mains de Bank of America, mettant un terme à une longue relation capitalistique. BlackRock va verser 187,65 dollars par action, ou 2,54 milliards de dollars, pour les 13,6 millions d’actions préférentielles convertibles détenues par Bank of America. Ce prix représente une décote de 3,6% par rapport au cours de clôture moyen des 15 dernières séances.

Le fonds va consacrer 240 millions d’euros au rachat de la société allemande de téléphonie. Apax Partners, avec 41,7% du capital, Cyrte et United Internet, avec chacun 25%, ont accepté de céder leurs titres pour 5,5 euros pièce. Les actionnaires détenant les 3% restants se verront offrir 6,7 euros par action. Versatel a clôturé mercredi à 7,95 euros.

Les inscriptions hebdomadaires au chômage ont diminué aux Etats-Unis lors de la semaine au 14 mai, à 409.000 contre 438.000 (révisé) la semaine précédente a annoncé hier le département du Travail. Les économistes attendaient en moyenne 420.000 inscriptions au chômage. La moyenne mobile sur quatre semaines s'établit à 439.000 contre 437.750 (révisé) la semaine précédente.

Le premier opérateur américain sur les contrats à terme prévoit d’ouvrir un marché sur le blé en Ukraine. Un protocole d’accord doit être signé en ce sens avec Kiev. Les contrats qui auront pour lieux de livraison les ports de la Mer Noire seront négociés sur le système électronique Globex et devraient être compensés dans un premier temps par CME.

L’indice des conditions d’activité de la Réserve fédérale de Philadelphie est ressorti en forte baisse en mai et a largement manqué les attentes, atteignant un plus bas depuis octobre 2010. Cet indice s’inscrit à 3,9 en mai contre 18,5 en avril. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters l’attendaient à 20,0.

Le PIB japonais s’est contracté pour le deuxième trimestre consécutif, de 0,9 %, alors que le pays sortait juste de deux années de récession