P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Although most Spanish funds were hurt by the financial crisis, which led to a fall on the markets and an exodus of subscribers, some original products, so-called “author funds,” have already made it through this difficult period, Cotizalia notes.The Pegasus fund from Renta4 (managed by Miguel Jiménez), has seen its assets which rise since 2007 from EUR14m to EUR60m, while the net asset value has increased by nearly 40%.Bestinvest, with the Bestinfond fund managed by García Paramés, Álvaro Guzmán and Fernando Bernad, has seen an increase in its NAV of 27% since 2007, as has the EDM Ahorro, managed by Karina Sirkia. The Cartesio X fund, managed by Cayetano Cornet and the BK Kilimanjaro by Vicente López, now has a NAV 20% and 9.7% higher than in 2007, respecitvely.The situation is, of course, more difficult for funds specialised in Spanish equities exclusively, since the Ibex index has lost a total of more than 40%. Even the BPA Fondo Ibérico Acciones, by Gonzalo Lardiés, has a NAV 21% lower than its pre-crisis levels.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Future Fund, which manages AUD80bn in assets (EUR62.5bn) in public employee pensions, at the end of February announced that it would be pulling its capita out of all makers of of tobacco worldwide, Les Echos reports. That represents about AUD222m (EUR174.2m, or 0.3% of assets), invested in 14 tobacco producers, including the global leaders Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco. The decision follows a review of responsible management policies.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The London Employment Monitor at the recruitment firm Morgan McKinley has reported a monthly increase of 11% in February 2013 in the availability of positions in the financial sector in London, to 2,583, compared with 2,331 in January. However, this result is 15% lower than the toal of 3,056 jobs, observed in February 2012.Morgan McKinley reports that the number of professionals who entered the labour market in February increased 4% compared with January, but is 13% down compared with the corresponding month of last year.Nonetheless, the rising trend in remunerations has continued, although not at such a fast pace as in January. In February, the increase was 10%, compared with 24% in January, and 7% in December.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Saudi Arabia-based investment platform Sedco Capital has launched an investment platform dedicated to Sharia-compliant institutional investors, Investment Europe reports. The platform provides access to seven funds, whose assets under management already total over USD1bn. Two new funds have been launched at the same time as the plaform, the SC Income Fund, which has USD100m in assets, and the SC Global Markets Sentiement Fund, which is starting out with USD150m. The two funds, managed by Credit Suisse, are aimed at high-end clients, high net worth retail investors, family offices, institutional investors and qualified distributors. The funds come in addition to other Luxembourg-domiciled funds, meaning that Sedco Capital Global Funds now includes 15 funds, with cumulative assets under management of over USD1.6bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The best-selling fund of 2012 in Europe was the AllianceBernstein – American Income Portfolio fund from the Axa – Alliance Bernstein group, with net inflows of EUR8.23bn, according to the annual European fund report from Lipper, published on Monday.Pimco takes the next three places, with the Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund (EUR8.06bn0, the Pimco GIS Global Investment Grade Credit (EUR5.86bn) and the Pimco GIS Diversified Income Fund (EUR5.58bn).In fourth and fifth place are UK asset management firms: Standard Life and M&G, with the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies (EUR5.49bn) and the M&G Optimal Income Fund (EUR5.14bn).In seventh and eighth place, the Axa group returns with two high yield bond funds, Axa IM FIIS – US Short Duration High Yield (EUR4.55bn) and AllianceBernstein – Global High Yield Portfolio (EUR3.79bn). Lastly, in tenth place is Pimco, with the Pimco GIS Unconstrained Bond Fund (EUR2.92bn). The rankings are clearly dominated by bond funds, which in 2012 recorded net sales of EUR22.62bn in Europe, while the sector overall had a net total of EUR225.2bn.The top equity fund places only 12th, with the M&G Global Dividend.Only two French groups place in the top 25 best-sellers: Axa, several times in the top ten, and Carmignac, with the Carmignac Patrimione, which in 2012 took in EUR1.97bn.The latter, however, remains the second-largest fund in Europe, with EUR2801bn as of the end of December. The largest fund has not changed: it is the Templeton Global Bond Fund, with EUR34.25bn. The Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund moves up from fourth to third place, with EUR25.83bn, overtaking the Templeton Global Total Return Fund.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published on March 11 the comment letters on the Consultation Report on Financial Benchmarks that was issued on 11 January 2013. The report sought comments from the public on policy issues arising from the work of its Board Level Task Force on Financial Market Benchmarks. More than 50 responses were received. The conclusions of the roundtable discussions the comment letters and the IOSCO Board deliberations in Sydney 21 – 22 March will inform the drafting of the final recommendations on financial benchmarks, after further public consultation in April.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 1 February, Barclays Wealth Managers España registered the Barclauys Renta Fija 2018 fund, a fund maturing on 1 February 2018 with non-guaranteed returns of 2.7% per year compared with its net asset value as of 15 March 2013, when subscriptions close, with the CNMV. It will invest primarily inSpanish government and corporate bonds.CharacteristicsName: Barclays Renta Fija 2018, FIISIN code: ES0118845009Front-end fee: 2%Management commission: 1%Early withdrawal penalty: 1%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } With the registration of the Digital Funds Luxembourg Sicav by the CNMV, J. Chahine Capital has become the first foreign asset management firm to enter Spain this year Funds People reports. The two sub-funds licensed by the Spanish regulator are the Digital Stars Europe and Digital Stars Europe Ex-UK.Funds People reports that 16 foreign asset management firms arrived in Spain in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is currently working to launch two ETFs to protect investors against inflation via TIPS, IndexUniverse reports. The funds, the SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF and the SPDR Barclays 1-10 Year TIPS ETF, are on the short and mid parts of the curve, as TIPS are generally offered with maturities of 5, 10 and 20 years. At a time when investors remain concerned by the potential rise of inflationary pressures, the market is currently offering 11 ETFs based on TIPS which have posted inflows of USD1.88bn in the past 12 months. The largest is the iShares Barclays TIPS bond fund, whose assets under management total USD22bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In February, funds on sale in Sweden recorded net inflows totalling SEK14.6bn (EUR1.9bn), according to the most recent report from the Swedish investment fund association, Fondbolagens Förening. This is the highest level since Otober 2009. Inflows went largely to equity funds (SEK8bn) and balanced funds (SEK7.6bn). Money market funds also attracted SEK3.9bn. For equity funds, Swedish products took the lion’s share of inflows, with SEK6.2bn. However, bond funds have seen outflows of SEK3.8bn. Since the beginning of the year, funds on sale in Sweden have posted net inflows of SEK22.8bn, of which SEK16.7bn went to equity funds. As of the end of February, assets in funds on sale in Sweden totalled SEK2.153trn, a record level, Of this total, 54% are managed in equity funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } MEP Sharon Bowles has proposed an amendment to the Prips directive on sales of retail investment products, which would create an online resource to allow investors to better estimate the value of their funds, after fees and commissions, Money Marketing reports. Bowles, chairwoman of the economic and monetary affairs commission of the European Parliament, took the initiative with the amendment after being approached by the pressure group True and Fair Campaign, which militates for transparency of fund fees and commissions. A resource of this type already exists in the United States, and there are plans to make one available on the website of the European Securities Markets Association (ESMA)

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Swiss bankers’ association (ASB) has appointed Peter Grünblatt to coordinate its Asset Management initiative, the association announced on 11 March.The project aims to improve overarching conditions in asset management, a sector which the ASB considers capital to the Swiss financial market.Grünblatt, 51, has served since 2001 in positinos of responsibility in the area of investment products at Credit Suisse, including the affiliate Banque Leu, which later became Clariden Leu, a statement from the ASB says.In a 20-page document, the association lays out the top objectives for the asset management sector, which has developed less in recent year than rival centres in London and New York. The reason given for this observtion is that “external” factors are affecting the legal and fiscal framework, which is less competitive, as well as “internal” factors such as a lack of promotion of asset management as a Swiss brand in and of itself.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Vontobel is this week launching an online platform for external asset managers (EAM), according to the website finews. The new resource, entitled Vontobel EAMNet, will be available to all external asset managers with a cooperation agreement with Vontobel. Users will have access to all updated research from Vontobel. Vontobel will compete with Credit Suisse, which has recently announced that it plans to launch an online platform of the same type in the next few weeks for external asset managers (Newsmanagers of 19 February 2013).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Beltrán Parages, head of sales at Bestinver (Acciona group) has announced in Funds People that the asset management firm in the long term is planning to manage more assets in its pension funds than in its investment funds, as pension funds are a better match with the firm’s management style, which is oriented to the long term and to regular subscriptions.Currently, Bestinver, led by Francisco García Paramés, has EUR6.3bn in assets under management, of which EUR3.7bn are in investment funds, and EUR65-m in pension funds, plus EUR400m in the Luxembourg Sicav, and the remainder in mandates.Bestinver manages three individual pension funds (Global Ahorro and Previsión), in addition to a platform for corporate plans and two EPSVs, special pension funds for the Basque country.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Funds People has announced that Alberto Roldán, head of research and strategy at Inverseguros, is joining Lloyds Investments España as chief investment officer, succeeding Benito del Rincón, who has been appointed as CEO, replacing José María Sáez Matesanz.Lloyds Investments España manages four investment funds, with total assets of EUR97m, as well as a Sicav.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Handelsblatt reports that the sale of BHF-Bank by Deutsche Bank to RHJ International (Kleinwort Benson), concluded in September 2012, has still not received approval from BaFin. This is due to the fact that the German regulator has yet to review the financials not onfly for the Kleinwort Benson group alone, but also for the buyers associated with the deal, BlackRock, the billionaire Stefan Quandt and the Chinese conglomerate Fosun. BaFin has confirmed that it is not yet in possession of all the required documents. However, permission is expected in April or May.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Russell Investments has announced that NYSE Euronext and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will exclusively offer options based on Russell indices. The agreement will reinforce the complementary strengths of the two operators, the largest on the US options market, according to a statement from Russell. The newagreement with CBOE, a pioneering operator in the development of the options and index options market, will also improve Russell’s capacity to provide education in options. Trading of Russell index options is expected to begin in late April.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In 2012 overall, assets under management at Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) increased by EUR47bn to EUR591bn, with the strongest net subscriptions coming from the United States, at EUR4.5bn, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Pierre Servant, CEO of NGAM, states that the holding company has since 2000 been run from Paris and Boston. As the global asset management market is 50% located in the United States and 30% in Europe, it is highly important to be Franco-American, the manager says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The AXA Private Equity firm, which since October 2012 has been the major shareholder in the industrial negineering group Fives, on Monday, 11 March announced that the firm has signed an agreement to acquire MAG Americas, an international group specialised in high-tech equipment. The operation is pending approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. MAG Americas has about 1,000 employees based in the United States, France, Canada, China and South Korea. In 2012, the firm had a portfolio of 100 patents, and earned revenues of about EUR400m, two thirds of which was in North America.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In line with what was recently announced in Paris (see Newsmangers of 27 February), Dominique Carrel-Billiard, CEO of Axa Investment Managers, has told Financial Times Fund Management (FTFM) that the firm he leads will be highly active in the recruitment of teams from competitors, a formula whose profitability is much more sure than external growth. The manager is particularly interested in emerging market, loans and liability-driven investment (LDI) teams.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Despite their exponential growth, ETFs remain products which some catgories of investors are still wary of. Three quarters of advisers do, of course, use ETPs, according to a surey by WealthManagement.com of 735 advisers («Advisor Use of ETPs –And Lessons From the Trenches,”) which nonetheless fins that one quarter are still not using ETFs in client portfolios. Among non-users, 42.5% of advisres say that they do not have adequate knowledge of these investment vehicles. Some (18.6%) also say that mutual funds are more appropriate products for their clients, while others (18%) say that ETPs are not products made for their clients. Many advisers claim that they need more and more robust information about ETPs. “It is normal that advisers are not yet completely at ease, since this is really a new sector of activity,” says Adam Patti, CEO and founder of the ETF provider IndexIQ. The survey also finds that advisers are attached to vehicles which they know well, such as actively-managed mutual funds. When asked about their vehicled of choice other than ETPs, 44.7% of adviers mention actively-managed mutual funds, well ahead of tracker mutual funds (25.6%). There is thus still a lot of work and education to be done. The primary sources of information for adviers who use ETPs are websites (52.9%) and documents provided by sponsors (50.4%). Far fewer are interested in independent research on the subject. Specialists regret that there is not yet a good reference resource for ETFs. The US asset management association (ICI) last autumn launched an informational website about ETFs (http://www.understandetfs.org), which represents an initial step in that direction.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } BNY Mellon has announced that it has been granted three patents on processes developed by the firm, which allow for commodities to be traded via ETFs. The commodities covered by the patents also include silver and other industrial and precious metals. “These patents recognize that BNY Mellon has created an innovative processes which transforms metal or other commodities which are generally an encumbrance into easily-traded securities,” says Joseph Keenan, head of the Global ETF Services unit at BNY Mellon. BNY Mellon acts as a custodian and administrator for about half of all ETFs traded in the United States.

EDHEC-Risk Institute, in a statement published on March 11th, disagrees with the position of the ESMA Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) in its advice to ESMA dated 26 February 2013, which not only makes the assumption that the governance approach and transparency approach are substitutable and that therefore a lack of transparency could be compensated by an improvement in the rules of governance, but also presents the governance approach as the high road and transparency as a fallback solution enabling external monitoring to be carried out in the absence of “sound governance mechanisms.” As an academic institution, EDHEC-Risk Institute wishes to recall that the position of the SMSG is in total contradiction with research results which show clearly that the efficiency and integrity of a market are directly related to the quantity and quality of the information available and not to the goodwill displayed by participants in the market. Edhec also points out that smart beta indices contain exposures to different risk factors than cap-weighted indices and rely on methodologies that obviously present model and parameter estimation risks. It is therefore essential for investors to be able to carry out risk analysis easily and to avail of non-biased information on the quality of track records and the robustness of the performance displayed by index providers. Providing the public with the information required to independently replicate an index for evaluation or research purposes should not be misrepresented as denying index providers the right to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. There are legal as well as contractual tools (e.g. licenses) to defend index providers against unauthorised uses of their methodologies and data, Edhec concludes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Major asset management firms such as BlackRock, TCW Group and Pimco are preparing for the day when interest rates begin to rise again, the Wall Street Journal reports. But instead of trying to guess exactly when that time will come, they are making purchases which are intended to pay off when interest rates rise again. That includes buying up debt with floating interest rates, as well as interest rate swaps and inflation-protected bonds. Other investors are protecting themselves against potential bond losses by making negative bets on US Treasury bonds via derivatives.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } US firms such as Pimco, Franklin Templeton and BlackRock were the asset management firms to post the largest inflows in Europe in the past 10 years (excluding money markets and ETFs). Pimco has posted average annual subscriptoins of USD8.668bn over the decade, ahead of Franklin Templeton (EUR7.824bn) and BlackRock (EUR7.797bn). Jn fourth place is one of the only French firms in the top 25, Axa, with EUR5.386bn. The other French firm is Carmignac, which is in sixth place (after M&G), with average annual subscriptions of EUR4.053bn. Lipper notes that the 20 firms in the rankings of best-sellers over the past decade have a different profile. There are independent firms, private banks and affilates of banks.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Last year, investors seeking returns as well as investments perceived as safe flocked to bonds. According to Morningstar statistics published in its first “Global Fund Flows Trend Report,” bond funds worldwide posted net inflows in 2012 of USD535bn, nearly 95% of long-term subscriptions, excluding money market funds. Total long-term inflows came to USD565bn, which corresponds to organic growth of nearly 4%. This is a significant inflows which, however, remains below 2009 and 2010 levels, when infloows came to USD746bn and USD672bn respectively. Vanguard and Pimco, respectively, attracted 16% and 18% of net subscriptions to mutual funds last year. US bonds were the largest global category of long-term assets, by far, with nearly USD2trn in assets under management. US investors contributed USD199bn to total bond inflows, which totalled USD227bn last year. Alongside this taste for bonds, the average management commission has fallen by spectacular proportions since 2007, meaning that investors are even more likely to seek lower-cost investments. Hence the growing interest in passive strategies. About 78% o mutual funds and ETFs worldwide are still actively-managed funds, but passive products have attracted 41% of net inflows, or about USD355bn. Excepting Australia and New Zealand, passive strategies have posted more rapid growth than actively-managed funds worldwide, where the clear winner is the United States. Morningstar observes that new funds, which do not yet have a three-year track record, attracted 87% of global inflows in 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 11 March, Aberdeen Asset Management (GBP193bn as of the end of December) released a British-registered OEIC fund, the Aberdeen Strategic Bond Fund, which is managed with a bottom-up, bond-picking style by the team led by Oliver Boulind, head of global credit & global high yield.The portfolio will be invested worldwide in investment-grade and/or speculative debt instruments, and bonds from governments, corporations, government agencies and supranational organisations. Asset allocation will be dynamic.Management commission is 0.5%, and minimal subscription is GBP500.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Total British wealth management assets set a record at GBP527bn in fourth quarter 2012, despite concerns about RDR regulations, which might have slowed inflows, according to statistics from ComPeer, reported by Investment Week. Inflows rose 9.2% in fourth quarter compared with the end of December 2011, and 3% compared with third quarter 2012. The average asset manager succeeded in reducing its costs by 3%, which may be surprising given the increases in spending related to the introduction og RDR regulations on 1 January.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Investment Week reports that Threadneedle is preparing to partially close the Pan-European Smaller Companies Fund, managed by Philip Dicken, with assets which have risen from EUR500m in early 2012 to EUR1bn currently, to subscriptions.

La réforme bancaire engagée au Royaume-Uni doit être encore durcie et permettre si besoin une séparation totale entre activités de détail et d’investissement de toutes les banques du pays, a insisté le 11 mars la commission parlementaire mise en place après le scandale du Libor. «Il reste beaucoup de travail à faire pour améliorer la loi» de réforme, débattue ce lundi à la Chambre des communes, a estimé Andrew Tyrie, le président conservateur de cette commission mise en place cet été. Le ministre des Finances George Osborne a déjà accepté certaines propositions de la commission, comme de donner au régulateur le pouvoir de décider d’une séparation totale - et pas d’un simple cloisonnement - des activités au cas où une banque ne joue pas le jeu. Mais il fut aller encore plus loin et permettre éventuellement «une séparation complète et à travers tout le secteur» bancaire, et pas seulement pour un établissement au cas par cas, a fait valoir Andrew Tyrie