A new sub-fund has been added to the UCITS-compliant Luxembourg Sicav Natixis Absolute Capital: Sixtina Harbert Event Opportunities fund, with a B1 share class in US dollars (LU0596929090; minimal subscription, USD250,000), and a B2 share class in euros (LU096929686; minimal subscription, EUR250,000), Natixis Alternative Investment France (NAI France) has announced. Management commission is set at 2%, and performance commission at 20%.The day-to-day management of the portfolio is undertaken by Harbert Management Corporation (HMC) under the responsibility of Neil B. Kennedy. The alternative management firm HMC had USD2.8bn in assets as of 1 November.The Sixtina Managed Fund Platform is operated by NAI France, which is part of the Natixis Alternative Assets group (NAA, over EUR4bn in assets).The fund invests in a risk-managed portfolio related to mergers or corporate events, and aims to generate absolute returns regardless of the direction of the markets. The issuer considers the launch date ideal, due to the strong increase in merger and acquisition activities observed in North America and Europe. The fund combines the expertise and reputation of HMC with the institutional and regulatory support of the Sixtina platform.

Selon Asian Investor, le marché coréen des ETF a continué de progresser durant les premiers mois de l’année 2011. La capitalisation du segment des ETF s’est accrue de 14% au premier trimestre par rapport à fin décembre 2010 à 6,25 milliards de dollars. L’an dernier, le marché avait déjà fait un bond de 60%, passant de 3,4 milliards de dollars fin 2009 à 5,45 milliards fin 2010. Depuis le début de l’année, dix nouveaux ETF ont été lancés, ce qui porte le nombre de véhicules cotés à 86. Les volumes de transaction sont également orientés à la hausse, avec une moyenne quotidienne de 163 millions de dollars au mois d’avril contre environ 110 millions au quatrième trimestre 2010. Au premier trimestre 2011, les ETF ont dégagé de meilleures performances que fonds d’actions locaux. Les ETF les plus en vue ont été ceux dédiés aux secteurs de l'énergie et de la chimie, de l’automobile et de la sidérurgie.

Au premier trimestre, Franklin Resources a vu ses encours augmenter de 32,8 milliards de dollars à 703,5 milliards de dollars, soit une hausse de 5 %. Cet accroissement a été alimenté par des souscriptions de long terme pour 55,6 milliards de dollars et par la hausse des marchés pour 23,4 milliards de dollars, qui ont compensé des rachats de long terme de 46,4 milliards de dollars. Sur 12 mois, les encours ont progressé de 116,7 milliards de dollars, ou 20 %, grâce à un effet marché de 68,7 milliards et des souscriptions nettes de 49,8 milliards de dollars.Dans ce contexte, Franklin Resources a dégagé un bénéfice net de 503,1 millions de dollars sur le trimestre, contre 501,2 millions sur le trimestre précédent et 356,7 millions sur le trimestre au 31 mars 2010. A noter que les encours gérés à l’international représentent 222,3 milliards de dollars, soit 32 % des encours, contre 31 % fin 2010 et 28 % un an plus tôt.

Le gérant britannique Standard Life Investments a décidé de sortir du secteur des fonds monétaires, en raison de la charge «substantielle» en fonds propres imposée par la réglementation sur ces véhicules, rapporte Investment Week.Les clients qui souhaitent garder ces fonds pourront le faire dans des véhicules similaires gérés par Deutsche Bank Asset Management. Le transfert des fonds devrait être effectué à la fin du mois prochain, Standard Life prévoyant un mouvement de l’ordre de 3,5 milliards de livres sur un encours de 6 milliards de livres. L’an dernier, le gendarme des marchés britanniques (FSA) avait infligé une amende de 2,45 millions de dollars à Standard Life pour informations trompeuses sur la sécurité de l’un de ses fonds monétaires.

A fin mars, les actifs sous administration du groupe Standard Life s'établissaient à 198,4 milliards de livres contre 196,8 milliards un an plus tôt.La collecte nette s’est élevée à 1,7 milliard de livres durant la période sous revue contre 2,3 milliards l’année précédente. Les encours sous gestion pour le compte de tiers a atteint le niveau record de 72,3 milliards de livres contre 71,6 milliards au 1er janvier 2011.

Trafalgar Asset Management, la société britannique de hedge funds dirigée par Lee Robinson et dont Goldman Sachs détient une participation, ferme son fonds vedette, le Trafalgar Catalyst Fund. Ce hedge fund de 450 millions de dollars est liquidé suite à d’importantes demandes de remboursements de la part d’investisseurs, selon les informations du Financial Times. Un souscripteur a confié au FT qu’ils s’inquiétaient de l’intention de Lee Robinson de lancer une nouvelle société.

Invesco Perpetual a décidé de reporter le lancement de son trust d’investissement Global Income en raison de la faible demande des investisseurs, rapporte FundWeb.Ce lancement est le troisième que la société de gestion abandonne ou retarde. Invesco Perpetual espère pouvoir relancer une offensive au quatrième trimestre 2011.

Asian Investor reports that the Korean ETF market has continued to grow in the first months of 2011. Capitalisation in the ETF segment has increased 14% in first quarter compared with the end of December 2010, to USD6.25bn. Last year, the market had already grown by 60%, from USD3.4bn at the end of 2009, to USD5.45bn as of the end of 2010.Since the beginning of the year, ten new ETF have been launched, bringing the number of vehicles listed to 86. Trading volumes have also been oriented upwards, with a daily average of USD163m in April, compared with about USD110m in fourth quarter 2010.In first quarter 2011, ETFs earned better returns than local equities funds. The most high-visibility ETFs were those dedicated to the energy, chemical, automotive and steel industries.

Socially responsible investment (SRI) is gradually becoming less marginalised. In 2010, assets in SRI products held by French clients increased 35%, to a total of EUR68.3bn, according to an annual survey of the French SRI market undertaken by Novethic. The conversion of major funds to SRI and the dynamism of savings explains this vigorous growth in a difficult global context for asset management, where assets increased by only 1.7% overall, AFG reports.Catherine Husson-Traoré, CEO fo Novethic, says that “the culture of SRI has pulled out of the niche,” and strong growth observed in 2010 would continue, under the impulsion of several factors - as conversion policies are often considered a strategic axis, SRI becomes a more powerful approach in risk management, integration practices develop, and solidaristic product ranges develop within solidaristic savings.Last year, the gap between collective management and dedicated management closed. With 39% growth, collective management now represents 59% of the SRI market, and its EUR40bn now exceeds the EUR28.2bn in dedicated management. The dominance of collective management which was observed in 2009 has continued, with the conversion of non-SRI funds totalling over EUR10bn to SRI, Novethic observes.This has allowed SRI assets to compensate for the EUR2bn in outflows observed in 2010 from collective management, specifically from SRI money market funds.For the second consecutive year, SRI employee savings have virtually doubled. With assets of nearly EUR10bn, these assets now represent 18% of employee savings overall. The impulse for this rise in popularity is a law which since the beginning of this year required businesses to offer at least one solidaristic fund in employee savings programs; this fund is often an SRI product.

In first quarter, Franklin Resources posted an increase of USD32.8bn in its assets, to USD703.5bn, an increase of 5%. This increase was driven by long-term inflows of USD55.6bn, and positive market effects of USD23.4bn. Which compensated for long-term redemptions of USD46.4bn. Over 12 months, assets increased by USD116.7bn, or 20%, due to market effects of USD68.7bn, and net subscriptions of USD49.8bn.In this environment, Franklin Resources earned net profits of USD503.1m for the quarter, compared with USD501.2m in the previous quarter, and USD356.7m for the quarter ending on 31 March 2010.International assets under management represent USD222.3bn, 32% of assets, compared with 31% as of the end of 2010, and 28% one year earlier.

Net profits at the Santander group in first quarter 2011 totalled EUR2.108bn, compared with EUR2.101bn in October-December, and USD2.215bn in the corresponding period of last year. The cost/income ratio deteriorated to 44.4%, compared with 41.5% in January-March 2010.Total assets in funds and Sicavs as of the end of March totalled EUR112.82bn, compared with EUR110.8bn twelve months earlier, of which EUR31.97bn, compared with EUR40.27bn, were in Spain, EUR14.2bn in the United Kingdom (compared with EUR11.92bn), and EUR63.59bn, compared with EUR54.45bn, in Latin America.Assets in pension funds fell to EUR10.92bn, compared with EUR11.31bn.In traditional management, assets in funds, Sicavs and pension funds rose 0.3% year on year, to EUR119bn.Net profits at Santander Asset Management in third quarter totalled EUR17m, which represents a 17.1% decline compared with the corresponding period of last year.

Credit Suisse has recruited Chiara Solazzo for its team dedicated to ETFs. As a product and sales specialist, Solazzo will contribute to the development of the ETF platform for the Swiss bank in Italy, and will report to Enrico Camerini, head of CS ETF for the Italian market. So far, Credit Suisse offers 49 ETFs to Italian investors. Solazzo was previously at UniCredit, where she was a specialist in ETFs in the ETF/ETC Market Making, Trding & Advisory team.

As of the end of December 2010, total assets under management worldwide in investment funds totalled EUR18.48trn, compared with EUR17.4trn three months earlier, which represents an increase of 6.5%, according to the European fund and asset managemetn association (EFAMA).Inflows observed in fourth quarter 2010 totalled EUR165bn, compared with EUR195bn in July-September. This reduction is largely due to a decline in net subscriptions to EUR23bn from EUR128bn for bond funds, and an increase in net outflows from money market funds (to EUR33bn, compared with EUR13bn).Long-term funds (excluding money market funds) posted net subscriptions of EUR198bn, compared with EUR208bn the previous quarter. As subscriptions to bond funds have declined significantly, equities funds have compensated, with EUR68bn in subscriptions, compared with net outflows of EUR16bn in third quarter.As of the end of December, equities funds represented 40% of total assets, while bond funds represented 20%, money market funds accounted for 18%, and diversified funds 10%.Taking into account non-UCITS-compliant funds, Europe’s share of the global market as of the end of December represented 36.1%, and the United States accounted for 42.9%. Excluding non-UCITS funds, these percentages stood at 29.6% and 47.2%, respectively.

According to a research by Ernst & Young, cited by Plus 24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore, there are significant overlaps between the Italian and Luxembourg-registered product lines from Italian asset management firms. The 12 major Italian investment firms may potentially merge 40 to 50 funds each. But these restructuring operations will not ncecessarily take place immediately, as they are particularly likely to lead to losses in terms of management fees.

Assets under administration at GlobeOp Financial Services totalled a record USD167bn as of 31 March 2011, a 12% increase compared with the end of December 2010, the firm says. In the past twelve months, assets under admiinstration have increased by 46%, GlobeOp says.

According to estimates by VDOS Stochastics, reported by Expansión, Spanish funds in April underwent net outflows of EUR1.03bn from 1 to 20 April, following two consecutive months of net subscriptions. As market effects were also negative for a further EUR53m, assets as of 20 April were down by EUR1.08bn, to EUR144.34bn.

The British management firm Standard Life Investments has decided to pull out of the money market fund sector, due to a “substantial” cost in tier 1 equity imposed by regulations governing these vehicles, Investment Week reports. Clients who would like to retain these funds may do so with similar vehicles managed by Deutsche Bank Asset Management. The transfer of funds is expected to be completed by the end of next month. Standard Life is predicting a movement of about GBP3.5bn, out of assets of GBP6bn. Last year, the British market regulator (FSA) fined Standard Life USD2.45m for issuing misleading information about the safety of one of its money market funds.

Invesco Perpetual has decided to put off the launch of its Global Income investment trust due to insufficient demand from investors, FundWeb reports. The launch is the third that the management firm has cancelled or delayed. Invesco Perpetual hopes to be able to restart the initiative in fourth quarter 2011.

Trafalgar Asset Management, the UK hedge fund run by Lee Robinson, in which Goldman Sachs holds a stake, is winding down its flagship fund, the Trafalgar Catalyst Fund. The USD450m hedge fund will be liquidated, following significant investor redemption demands, the Financial Times has learnt. One investor told the FT that they are concerned by Robinson’s plans to launch a new venture.

As of the end of March, assets under administration by the Standard Life group totalled GBP198.4bn, compared with GBP196.8bn one year earlier.Net inflows totalled GBP1.7bn in the period under reveiew, compared with GBP2.3bn the previous year.Assets under management for third parties totalled a record GBP72.3bn, compared with GBP71.6bn as of 1 January 2011.

For the entire fiscal year to 31 March 2011, Macquarie Group on 29 April announced net profits of AUD956m, which represents 9% decline compared with 2009-2010, while in second half net profits increased 37% compared with first half, to AUD553m.Macquarie states that its operating income increased 15% in 2010-2011 compared with the previous fiscal year, to AUD7.6bn, of which 60% were generated outside Australia (and as much as 64% in second half).The group estimates that currency effects were negative by about 5%, as the Australian dollar gained about 10% against the major global currencies.Assets under management as of the end of March totalled AUD310bn, compared with AUD326bn twelve months previously. This decline is due on the one hand to the transfer from Cash Management Trust to Cash Management Account in July 2010, and to a negative currency effect of AUD27bn, which more than offset AUD21bn in net subscriptions and market appreciation. The contribution of Macquarie Funds to operating profits came to AUD602m.

La Caisse d’amortissement de la dette sociale (Cades), l’un des premiers émetteurs de dettes souveraines sur les marchés internationaux, a émis en 2010 pour 13,8 milliards d’euros de dettes, dont 11,1 milliards d’euros à moyen et long-terme. Au 31 décembre 2010, la Cades a amorti 47,9 milliards d’euros de dette sociale. Le programme d’emprunt d’un montant de 35 milliards d’euros pour l’année 2011 est réalisé à ce jour à hauteur de 17,4 milliards d’euros.

L’argent a frôlé hier la barre des 50 dollars l’once, à 49,51 dollars, dépassant son précédent record d’il y a 30 ans quand les frères texans William Hebert et Nelson Bunker Hunt avaient cherché à accaparer le marché. L’or a pour sa part touché un nouveau record à 1.538,35 dollars l’once. Il a affiché record sur record au cours de neuf des dix dernières séances.

Jean-Claude Juncker, le président de l’Eurogroupe, a apporté jeudi son soutien implicite à une possible nomination de Mario Draghi à la présidence de la BCE. Alors que Nicolas Sarkozy a annoncé mardi qu’il appuyait la candidature de l’Italien, un rapprochement franco-allemand sur la question se dessine, des sources concordantes évoquant cette nuit que la chancelière Angela Merkel serait prête à faire de même. Elle se montrerait néanmoins réservée quant à un soutien officiel, craignant des réactions négatives de l’opinion publique allemande.

Les promesses de ventes de logements ont augmenté beaucoup plus qu’attendu aux Etats-Unis sur le mois de mars, selon les données publiées jeudi par l’Association nationale des promoteurs immobiliers. D’un mois sur l’autre, cette progression s'établit à 5,1%, alors que les analystes tablaient sur une augmentation de 1,5% après +0,7% (révisé de +2,1%) en février. Sur un an, les promesses de ventes s’inscrivent néanmoins en baisse de 11,4%.

La baisse des engagements est notamment liée à des transferts d’actifs en souffrance vers des établissements non bancaires, d’après la BRI

La croissance modérée de 1,8 % début 2010 conforte la politique accommodante de la Fed

La croissance modérée de 1,8 % début 2011 conforte la politique accommodante de la Fed

28 % des sociétés françaises prévoient une acquisition dans les six mois contre 33 % au niveau mondial, selon le dernier baromètre d’Ernst & Young

La Banque du Japon voit le PIB réel s'établir à 0,6 % en 2011, contre 1,6 % prévu en janvier, tout en relevant ses prévisions inflationnistes de 0,3 % à 0,7 %