Inflows to German funds have totalled EUR59.3bn in the first nine months of the year, including EUR49.2bn for institutional funds alone, according to the most recent statistics from the German asset management association (BVI). Institutional funds had not succeeded in attracting such a sum since 1998, when inflows over nine months totalled EUR47.2bn. Open-ended funds, for their part, posted net inflows of EUR16.1bn, while mandates saw redemptions totalling a net EUR6bn. For institutional funds, insurance companies represent 40% of assets (EUR1.036trn). In the first nine months of the year, inflows from insurers totalled EUR28.2bn, more than half of total subscriptions. Retirement institutions, for their part, have attracted EUR8.9bn. In the month of September alone, institutional funds have posted inflows of EUR4.2bn, of which EUR2.1bn were for insurers alone. In the open-ended fund segment alone, diversified funds attracted EUR9.4bn over nine months, compared with EUR9.2bn for bond funds. However, equity funds have posted outflows of EUR3.8bn over nine months.

International fund groups are making further inroads into Spain and Italy as investors lobby for access to third-party funds, according to the fourth quarter issue of The Cerulli Edge-Europe Edition. «Investors are demanding third-party funds like never before,» commented Barbara Wall, a Cerulli director. «Industry figures suggest that foreign funds are approaching EUR50 billion as investors switch from domestic products to global, emerging markets, and multi-asset funds."In Spain, non-domestic managers currently have around 30% of the whole market. Independent financial advisors (EAFI) are keen to play up their non-tied status and are certainly attracting high-net-worth clients. That has been enough to tempt foreign groups to woo them directly. With advised assets of around EUR15 billion, the independent channel has some way to go before it can significantly influence fund distribution in Spain, but Cerulli believes the clout of the EAFI sector is understated by industry and regulatory assets under advice figures.Like Spain, Italy’s independent intermediary channel is attracting the attentions of international fund groups. Products that are selling in Italy include asset allocation, absolute return, and, most recently, equity income products. Alternatives are also doing well.

Bill Sung has resigned from his positoin as chief investment officer at Absolute Asia Asset Management, and will be leaving the firm at the end of the year, Citywire Global reports. Sung has already been replaced as CIO by François Théret, former head of global emerging market equities at Natixis Global Asset Management in Paris.

Berkshire Hathaway, the company of Warren Buffett, has bought a USD3.7bn stake in ExxonMobil, in a vote of confidence in a company which has underperformed compared with its smaller rivals, the Financial Times reports. The acquisition was partly financed by the sale of USD500m in shares in ConocoPhillips, Exxon’s competitor. Buffett has also reduced his stake in GlaxoSmithKline and increased his stake in Davita Healthcare Partners.

The Swiss structured product market Scoach has added a new issuer with the arrival of the Royal Bank of Canada and its affiliates, which operate under the EBC brand name, according to a statement released on 14 November. The Royal Bank of Canada is the largest bank in Canada by stock market capitalisation assets and one of the largest banks worldwide in terms of assets ad market capitalisation. RBC has stable and solid ratngs (Aa3 / AA- / AA); its capitalisation ratios are high and returns on owners’ equity total 19.7%. RBC is one of the largest diversified financial services companies in North America, and worldwide offers banking services to retail and corporate clients, wealth management services, insurance services, investors services, and investment banking services.

M&G has reported steady inflows for the three months to the end of September 2013. Total net inflows for the quarter were GBP5.1 billion, taking the cumulative total since the start of the year to GBP8.9 billion.In retail, M&G’s European businesses continue to be the main engine of growth. During the first nine months of the year, net fund flows from Europe reached GBP6.4 billion, an 82 per cent increase over the same period in 2012. Total net retail inflows for the quarter were GBP1.1 billion and for the year-to-date amount to GBP5.9 billion, being 4 per cent lower than at the same stage in 2012, which was itself a record year. Retail funds under management (FUM) increased by 24 per cent year-on-year to GBP64.5 billion at 30 September 2013. Of this, FUM from European clients total GBP22.1 billion, up from GBP12.3 billion at 30 September 2012 and now account for over a third of total retail FUM.M&G Optimal Income and M&G Global Dividend remain the best sellers.The institutional business posted net inflows of GBP4.0 billion during the third quarter, resulting in total net inflows for the year of GBP3.0 billion. Total FUM have risen to GBP242.2 billion at the end of September 2013, up 12 per cent year on year. Over the same period, external client assets increased by 19 per cent to GBP124.3 billion; net inflows contributed 14 percentage points of this growth with the remaining 5 percentage points attributable to market movements. Prudential’s Asia asset management business, Eastspring Investments ended the quarter with funds under management (FUM) of GBP59.7 billion, up 7 per cent over the same time last year. FUM from external parties rose by 12 per cent to GBP18.5 billion, benefiting from third party net inflows of GBP2.0 billion (2012: GBP1.0 billion) in the first nine months.

Rothschild Wealth Management (UK) Limited has recruited the private bankers Paolo Lenzi and Francesca Speroni, Bluerating reports, citing Magstat. The two previously worked at Morgan Stanley.

Henderson Global Investors has acquired 100% of the equity of Australian and London-based alternative investment manager H3 Global Advisors. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.H3 specialises in active and enhanced commodities strategies and, managing approximately USD342 million on behalf of institutional and retail clients. The group was founded in 1996. Henderson manages USD123 billion (as at 30 September 2013) of assets.

The British firm Charles Stanley on 14 November announced at a publication of its results for the half that it has acquired the boutique specialised in passive management Evercore Pan Asset Capital Management. Charles Stanley will acquire 100% of the company, including the stake held by co-founder John Redwood and the 68% held b the US investment firm Evercore Partners. Redwood, chairman of the investment board at the firm, as well as CEO Christopher Aldous, have joined Charles Stanley in the wake of the acquisition. Assets under management at Evercore as of the end of October totalled GBP593m. The firm, which continued to show losses last year and which was near the breaking point this year, was expected to be “immediately profitable” following the acquisition, which will be accompanied by some savings measures, Charles Stanley says. Charles Stanley in the first half of its year to 30 September earned pre-tax profits of nearly GBP5m, up 44% compared with the first half of last year. Its assets under management as of the end of September totalled GBP18.5bn, comapred with GBP17.7bn as of 31 March 2013.

BATS Chi-X Europ on 14 November announced that Lyxor Asset Management would be listing two ETFs on the regulated BATS Chi-X Europe market on Monday, 25 November 2013. The Lyxor UCITS ETF MSCI Emerging Markets fund (code: LEMD) will be listed in USD, while the Lyxor UCITS ETF EURO STOXX 50 (Code: MSE) will be listed in EUR. Lyxor is the third-largest ETF provider in Europe, with more than USD41bn in assets under management. According to the CEO of BATS Chi-X Europe, Mark Hemsley, “Lyxor is a major Euoropean actor in the world of ETFs, and we are delighted to welcome pan-European listings to our platform. The decsion by Lyxor to list their funds on BATS Chi-X Europe is a sign of our desire to provide an efficient and borderless pan-European capital market, in the service of all market actors. … Thanks to the pan-European position of the BATS Chi-X Europe, we are able to offer issuers a neutral channel to reach all investors throughout Europe, while offering them simplified access to innovative products,” he adds.

Liechtenstein on 14 November announced that it would be coming into line on the criteria of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concerning automatic exchange of information to combat tax fraud. In a statement, Liechtenstein has announced that it “will sign” the multilateral Convention concerning administrative assistance in matters of taxation in November 2013, which “shows its engagement in favour of fiscal cooperation based on widely shared international rules.” Liechtenstein also insists that “automatic exchange of information in tax matters will be the future international norm,” and proposes to “actively participate” with the OECD in talks on the subject.

The Luxembourg boutique VAM Funds has announced the launch of an improved equity fund aimed at prudent investors, which aims to expose itself to equity markets. The new stategy gives the priority to protection against market declines, with a means to capture a larger part of rising movements. The VAM Funds (Lux) Enhanced Equity Fund (LU0910230084), with initial capital of USD15.5m, will be maaged by Jason Webster of Fleming Family and Partners.

Les prix à la consommation en zone ont enregistré leur plus faible progression en quatre ans au mois d’octobre. Selon Eurostat, la hausse des prix est de 0,7% sur un an. C’est la première fois depuis février 2010 que l’inflation passe sous la barre de 1%. Elle reste bien inférieure à l’objectif de la BCE, qui vise une inflation légèrement inférieure mais proche de 2%.

La Commission européenne a avalisé le projet de budget de la France pour 2014. Mais Bruxelles souligne que celui-ci n’offre aucune marge par rapport au respect des engagements français. «La Commission estime que le projet de budget est conforme aux règles du Pacte de stabilité et de croissance, sans toutefois de marge», écrit la Commission. Elle ajoute que les projets communiqués par la France pour conforter ses engagements ne comportent que «des progrès limités» sur le plan des réformes structurelles.

Le pays fait valoir qu'il a de quoi satisfaire ses besoins de financement, que son économie se redresse et que ses finances sont sous contrôle

Le discours accommodant prononcé hier soir par la future présidente de la Réserve fédérale devant la commission bancaire du Sénat américain, qui doit valider sa nomination, a permis au rendement des obligations du Trésor américain de reculer de 5 points de base, à 2,69%.

Devant le Sénat américain, la future présidente de l'autorité monétaire a assuré qu'elle conservera une politique monétaire accommodante

L’Espagne et l'Irlande optent pour une sortie «sèche» de leurs programmes respectifs, en dépit de possibles recapitalisations bancaires à venir

Les deux sociétés de private equity envisagent selon l’Australian Financial Review la cotation ou la vente du deuxième plus important opérateur hospitalier privé australien. Les conseillers pourraient être nommés avant Noël. TPG et Carlyle ont acquis Healthscope en 2010 pour 2,7 milliards de dollars locaux, l’équivalent de 3,2 milliards d’euros.

Le Luxembourg cherche «de manière agressive» selon le South China Morning Post à devenir un centre de référence pour les transactions en yuan. Le quotidien se félicite ainsi du fait que le pays a pour la première fois donné son approbation pour un fonds du programme RQFII (Renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor).

Le quotidien évoque une audience publique programmée par le responsable de la supervision des services financiers à New York, Benjamin Lawsky, sur le sujet des monnaies virtuelles. Le régulateur pourrait mettre en avant l’idée d’une licence faisant de ces monnaies comme Bitcoin des monnaies comme les autres dans un marché plus transparent.

Le quotidien analyse la sélectivité des investisseurs à l’occasion des opérations d’introduction en Bourse de New York, quelques jours après le succès de celle concrétisée par Twitter. Le cas de Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, un éditeur spécialisé dans l’éducation, est révélateur du climat. Certes le titre de HMH, mis en Bourse par des fonds alternatifs comme Paulson & Co et des sociétés de private equity comme Avenue Capital Management, a bondi hier de 32,2% à 15,86 dollars pour sa première séance de cotation. Mais cela au prix d’un abaissement du niveau d’entrée, la société ayant consenti une IPO à 12 dollars contre une fourchette indicative initiale de 14 à 16 dollars. Twitter avait relevé à plusieurs reprises cette fourchette.

La situation est très variable d'un pays à l'autre selon l'enquête de la Banque centrale européenne réalisée entre avril et septembre dernier

Le retour de l'activité française en zone de contraction au troisième trimestre s'est accompagné d'un reflux de l'inflation à 0,7% en octobre

Le hedge fund de Paul Singer a indiqué détenir une participation directe et indirecte de 21,13% au capital du groupe allemand Celesio, sous le coup d’une OPA de l’américain McKesson. Le fonds d’arbitrage américain s'était également invité au capital de Kabel Deutschland lors de l’OPA du britannique Vodafone.

Le ministre de l’Economie et des Finances, Pierre Moscovici, a signé avec l’ambassadeur des Etats-Unis en France l’accord de mise en œuvre de la loi Fatca (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) visant à développer l’échange automatique d’informations comme nouveau standard mondial pour lutter contre la fraude fiscale internationale. Le ministère précise que « la France continuera d’œuvrer pour faire en sorte qu’un projet multilatéral et réciproque d’échange automatique d’informations, sur un champ de revenus et d’actifs financiers aussi large que Fatca, voie le jour au niveau européen et au niveau mondial ».

L’encours des fonds collectifs français a selon Europerformance - a SIX Company - bondi de 17,0 milliards d’euros le mois dernier à 773,7 milliards, sous l’effet conjugué d’une collecte nette de 5,6 milliards (dont 5,2 milliards sur les fonds monétaires et 1,3 milliard sur les fonds actions) et d’un effet marchés de 11,3 milliards (dont 7,3 milliards sur les OPCVM actions).

Le gouvernement du Liechtenstein va signer la Convention concernant l’assistance administrative mutuelle en matière fiscale, qui autorise les autorités fiscales de ses adhérents à demander à leurs homologues d’autres pays des informations sur leurs contribuables. Le Liechtenstein prévoit en outre d’adhérer au système automatique d'échange d’informations développé par l’OCDE, qui devrait entrer en vigueur fin 2015 ou début 2016. Avec ce système, toute personne physique ouvrant un compte bancaire dans un pays autre que le sien verra cette information automatiquement transmise aux services fiscaux de son pays d’origine.

Le Liechtenstein a annoncé jeudi son intention de mettre fin au secret bancaire. Le gouvernement va signer la Convention concernant l’assistance administrative mutuelle en matière fiscale, qui autorise les autorités fiscales de ses adhérents à demander à leurs homologues d’autres pays des informations sur leurs contribuables. Le Liechtenstein prévoit en outre d’adhérer au système automatique d'échange d’informations développé par l’OCDE, qui devrait entrer en vigueur fin 2015 ou début 2016. Avec ce système, toute personne physique ouvrant un compte bancaire dans un pays autre que le sien verra cette information automatiquement transmise aux services fiscaux de son pays d’origine.

Auditionnée devant la commission bancaire du Sénat américain qui doit valider sa nomination à la tête de la Réserve fédérale (Fed), Janet Yellen a offert des garanties aux investisseurs sur le maintien d’une politique monétaire accommodante. «Je considère qu’il est impératif que nous fassions ce qui est nécessaire pour promouvoir une reprise très forte. Nous le faisons en poursuivant notre programme d’achats d’actifs (...) dans le but d’assurer une amélioration importante des perspectives du marché du travail», a-t-elle indiqué.