The private equity firm Dyal Capital Partners (managed by Neuberger Berman), which has recently closed a private equity fund dedicated to minority stakes in alternative asset management firms, with USD1.28bn (see Newsmanagers of 5 December), has not announced that it has acquired a “passive minority stake” in the New York-based Pinnacle Asset Management L.P. The specialist in commodities investment has USD2.3bn in assets.The total size of the stake and the financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

The product range from Sal. Oppenheim in the area of UCITS-compliant hedge funds has been strengthened with the launch of a third product in the SOP range, the SOP AktienLongShort I. The equity fund follows the process of the SOP AktienMarktNeutral I, with the addition of tactical and beta-related considerations related for long and short positions.CharacteristicsName: Sop Aktien LongShort IISIN code: DE000A1JB0B0Management commission: 0.6%Performance commission: 20% on performance exceeding the hurdle rate Euribor 3 months + 300 bp, with high watermark

On 18 December, the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks, Union Investment, announced that as part of regular maintenance of its product ranges, on 28 June 2013 it will be closing six funds, whose assets are insufficient or which are redundant in light of other products.The funds include the UniBalancePlus (EUR19bn in assets as of the end of November), UniEuroBond (EUR70m), UniEuroRenta Absolute Return (EUR68m), UniReits (EUR7m), UniTrend: Global (EUR6m) and UniTrend: Global -net- (EUR7m).

Donald Pepper, investment director at the hedge fund division of TT International since 2010, after serving as head of hedge funds at New Star Asset Management (a position which he left when New Star was acquired by Henderson) has been appointed as managing director of alternatives at Old Mutual Global Investors. He will report to Warren Tonkinson, head of distribution. The new arrival is thus clearly in charge of product sales.Fund management in the strict sense for the alternative unit remains under the responsibility of Paul Simpson, head of alternatives.

Die Welt reports that, in the Feri Euro Rating Services rankings of the best managers of funds on sale in Germany as of 30 November, only Union Investment (co-operative banks) and Allianz Global Investors place on the leader board. Union is in fourth place, with 44% of products rated A or B (it had been 2nd, with 58%, as of the end of 2011), and AGI is in tenth place, with 41.03% of funds receiving good ratings (it had been 8th at the end of 2011, before Pimco went on its own footing).In the rankings, Deka gains five places to 19th (with 33.33%), and DWS falls from 15th to 22nd, with 31.37%.Feri puts Threadneedle, with 62.75% of A and B funds, ahead of Schroders (58%) and Lyxor (46.15%).

At the end of the trading day on 15 January 2013, Eaton Vance Atlanta Capital SMID-Cap Fund will be closed to new investors. Shares in the fund will then only be available for purchase by investors who already hold an investment in the product, and retirement savings plans. Assets as of 30 November totalled USD3.3bn, and the asset management firm estimates that the particl closure of subscriptions will protect the interests of existing clients.

At the recommendation of Rafferty Asset Management, adviser to the trust, the board of trustees at Direxion Shares ETF Trust has decided to liquidate three ETFs which had not succeeded in attracting sufficient subscriptions.Shares in the funds will cease to be traded on the NYSE Arca platform on 18 January 2013, and the liquidation of assets will be completed on 25 January 2013.The following funds will be affected:Direxion Large Cap Insider Sentiment Shares (Nyse ARCA ticker: INSD), USD4.13mDirexion S&P 1500 DRRC Volatility Response Shares (VSPR), USD4.25mDirexion S&P Latin America 40 DRRC Volatility Response Shares (VLAT), USD3.83m

Hervé Falciani, the former IT employee of HSBC Geneva accused of stealing bank data which was obtained by the French tax authorities, whose extradition is being sought by Switzerland, has been released on bail, a Spanish judge announced on 18 December. No verdict has been announced so far on his potential extradition.The Spanish national court heard arguments from the defence and the public prosecution, which sought bail due to the fact that examination of the extradition request will not be completed quickly, as other documents are required, according to the verdict of the judge.Switzerland issued an international arrest warrant against Falciani following the theft of confidential bank data from the Geneva affiliate of HSBC bank, which was then used by the French fiscal authorities. Following his arrest in Spain in early July, Switzerland issued an extradition application to the Spanish justice ministry on 5 July.

On December 19th, UBS announced in a price sensitive information that it agrees to pay approximately CHF1.4bn in fines and disgorgement to US, UK and Swiss authorities to resolve LIBOR-related investigations.As part of a proposed agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), UBS Securities Japan Co. Ltd. (UBSSJ) has agreed to enter a plea to one count of wire fraud relating to the manipulation of certain benchmark interest rates, including Yen LIBOR.UBS believes its fourth quarter net profit attributable to shareholders will show a loss of between CHF2bn and CHF2.5bn, primarily as a result of provisions for litigation and regulatory matters. UBS AG announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized settlements with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in connection with their investigations of benchmark interest rates. The proposed settlement with the CFTC is subject to the Commission’s approval. UBS has reached a settlement with the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) concerning its investigation. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) will also issue an order concluding its formal proceedings with respect to UBS. UBS agrees to pay a total of approximately CHF1.4bn in fines and disgorgement. UBS will pay GBP160m in fines to the FSA and CHF59m as disgorgement of estimated profits to FINMA. The Board has authorized a payment of fines totaling USD1.2bn to the DoJ and CFTC.

Under pressure from the California pension fund CalSTRS, which has placed USD750m with it, Cerberus Capital Management has announced plans to immediately commence liquidation of its stake in the weapons manufacturer Freedom Group, Die Welt reports. The private equity investor has merged the weapons manufacturer Bushmaster, acquired in 2006, whose AR15 model assault rifle was used in the Newtown shooting, into the group.

Wells Fargo Asset Management has acquired a minority ownership stake of 35% in the US fund of hedge fund firm The Rock Creek Group, which manages about USD7bn. The remaining capital remains in the hands of employees and management, while WFAM, whose assets under management totalled USD450bn as of 30 September, may increase its stake in the firm in the coming years. But for the moment, «this won’t be followed by a 100% acquisition according to the firm’s current plans,» says to a spokesperson. The deal, whose financial terms have not been disclosed, is being completed via the Affiliated Managers division of WFAM, which employs a multi-boutique model, and is headed by Tom Hoops. Under the transaction, the 50-member Rock Creek team will remain independent with no change in its structure, investment philosophy or process, team and investment committee composition, or location. All day-to-day management will reside with the current Rock Creek team, which will continue to be led Afsaneh Beschloss, founder, president and CEO of the firm, The former treasurer and chief investment officer of the World Bank founded Rock Creek in 2002. WFAM will give its investors access to funds of hedge funds from Rock Creek, as well as their own custom portfolios. The two partners will also work to create vehicles for institutional, retail and high net worth clients in the United States and worldwide. The acquisition comes as part of a consolidation in the fund of hedge fund industry, which a few days ago saw the sale of Fauchier Partners to Legg Mason by BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

The South Korean asset management firm Kimco (Korea Investment Management Company), which has about USD20bn in assets, is planning to buy a 49% stake, the maximum allowed, in a Chinese asset management firm, Asian Investor reports.A spokesperson for Kimco confirmed the plans, but did not wish to identify the target. According to other sources cited by Asian Investor, the firm targetted by Kimco is Soochow Asset Management, whose assets under management total about USD1.6bn.

Corporate bond issues worldwide in 2012 totalled a record USD3.9trn, in an environment in which borrowing rates have fallen to their lowest of all time, according to statistics from the news agency Bloomberg. These issues totalled USD3.29trn in 2011, and USD3.23trn in 2010.Corporate issues brought in returns of 11.5% in 2012, following 4.86% in 2011, and profits of 20.5% in 2009, according to statistics from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Investec will be merging its GBP26m European fund, managed by Ken Hsia, into its Global Franchise range on 4 January, Investment Week reports. The Europe ex United Kingdom category has seen a decline in interest and size in recent years, partly reflecting an unpromising economic context in the region, events in the euro zone and more attractive investment options than can be found elsewhere, the asset management firm says.

Standard Life Investments has announced the launch of a Global Emerging Markets Income Fund aimed at both retail and institutional investors. Manager of the fund Dr Mark Vincent will invest in a diversified portfolio of 60–100 emerging markets stocks with the objective of delivering a premium and sustainable level of income, targeting a yield of at least 115% of the MSCI Emerging Markets index.

The CEO of Odey Asset Management, David Stewart, is leaving the firm to found a company to assist UK firms get a foothold in emerging markets, Financial News reports. Stewart joined Odey, representing USD7bn, in September 2005.

The Basel Committee Banking Supervision on December 18 published a consultative paper entitled Revisions to the Basel Securitisation Framework. The performance of securitisations and the central role they played during the financial crisis were a key motivation for the Basel Committee to perform a broader review of its securitisation framework for regulatory capital requirements. The Committee’s objectives are to make capital requirements more prudent and risk-sensitive; to mitigate mechanistic reliance on external credit ratings; and to reduce current cliff effects in capital requirements, explains the regulator in a statement. In the coming months, the Committee will conduct a quantitative impact study (QIS) on the proposals. Responses to the public consultation, together with the QIS results, will be considered as the Committee moves forward to revise the securitisation framework. Comments on the proposals should be submitted by Friday 15 March 2013. .bis.org/publ/bcbs236.htm

Au terme d’un processus de consultation qui aura duré trois ans, le concepteur des normes comptables internationales, l’IASB, a publié le 18 décembre ses priorités pour les années à venir. Des discussions, rencontres, forums sur internet qui se sont déroulées dans plus de 80 pays, cinq grands thèmes se sont imposés. Tout d’abord, -et ce n’est pas la première fois-, les parties prenantes ont appellé de leurs vœux une pause réglementaire après une décennie de changements initerrompus. Ensuite, les participants ont été pratiquement unanimes à demander à l’IASB de donner la priorité à ses travaux sur le cadre conceptuel afin d’asseoir plus durablement les standards comptables. Troisième point, les participants ont demandé des améliorations ciblées afin de répondre aux nouveaux utilisateurs des normes IFRS. Quatrième point, l’IASB devrait davantage s’intéresser à la mise en œuvre et au suivi des normes internationales. Enfin, l’IASB devrait améliorer le processus de développement des nouvelles normes, en mettant en œuvre des analyses coûts/bénéfices plus rigoureuses et en déclinant les problématiques plus en amont.

Following the creation of the holding company Allianz Popular in March 2011, the various firms concerned are changing their names. Eurovida becomes Allianz Popular Vida, Europensiones becomes Allianz Popular Pensiones, and Popular Gestión becomes Allianz Popular Asset Management, with assets of EUR5.84bn in investment funds, of which those from Allianz Gestión, which was absorbed in September. Notwithstanding this point, Allianz Gestión will retain its asset management business license, Funds People reports. Allianz Popular AM is led by Miguel Colombás.Allianz controls 60% of the holding company Allianz Popular, while Banco Popular controls the remaining 40%.

Citi has won a mandate from Brummer & Partners to serve as custodian bank and prime broker for the new hedge fund from the Swedish asset management firm Carve. The US firm has recently entered the Swedish market.

Third Point, a hedge fund led by the US billionaire Dan Loeb, with USD10bn in assets under management, has made a gain of USD500m on bets that Greece would not be forced to leave the euro zone, the Financial Times reports. As part of a debt restructuring agreement signed by the Greek government on Monday, the fund tendered most of its USD1bn position on Greek government bonds, which it had built one month previously, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Credit Suisse (CS) is laying off 150 employees out of 500 in Germany at its wealth management activities. The German affiliate of Credit Suisse will close three of its 12 offices in the country, the bank announced to its employees in Germany on 18 December.A spokesperson in Zurich confirmed the news to ats. The branches in Düsseldorf and Cologne will be merged, while the Bielefeld, Braunschweig and Hanover offices will be combined in Hanover.The restructuring comes as part of a refocusing at Credit Suisse on Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in Germany.

Confidence in a recovering global economy is extending into 2013 as investor fears surrounding the fiscal cliff eased, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for December, between 7 and 13 December, of a sample of 255 participants with assets under management totalling USD664bn.A net 40 percent of investors believe the global economy will strengthen in the year ahead, a rise of six percentage points month-on-month and double the reading two months ago. The number of investors viewing the U.S. fiscal cliff as the biggest tail risk has fallen to 47 percent, down from 54 percent in November. Despite this fall, however, the fiscal cliff remains the number one worry.Emerging markets are the preferred region for the panel. Optimism about China’s economy has reached the highest level recorded by this survey. A net 67 percent of the regional survey respondents say China’s economy will strengthen in the coming year, up from a net 51 percent in November. A net 38 percent of asset allocators are overweight emerging market equities, double the level of September’s survey.The number of asset allocators overweight U.S. equities has fallen since November. But allocations to the eurozone are outweighing U.S. allocations for the first time since November 2010. The net percentage of asset allocators overweight eurozone equities has risen to seven, up from a net 1 percent in November.

The US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, giving in to pressure from public opinion, will sell Freedom group, the arms group which manufactured the rifle used in a massacre in Connecticut on Friday, the Financial Times reports. The move comes after the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the second-largest pension fund in the United States and one of the largest investors in Cerberus, announced that it was reviewing its investments in the firm following the shooting.

Société Générale yesterday announced the departure of Bertrand Badré, the group’s CFO, due to his appointment as CEO for Finance at the World Bank the same day. He will begin at the World Bank on 1 March 2013.

José María Díaz Vallejo is returning to Aviva Gestión, where he was a junior manager between 2008 and 2009, as a member of the equity management team, after stints at Renta 4 and Horizon Capital, Funds People reports.The recruitment will allow Aviva Gestión (EUR781m in assets) to add to its equity team, following the departure of its head, Iván Martín, in September, to join Santander AM as CIO for equities. Martín was himself replaced by Pablo Cano, who had been head of European equities.

Threadneedle has launched the Threadneedle (Lux) Multi Asset Target Alpha fund in Italy, a multi-asset class absolute return sub-fund, Bluerating reports. The product is managed by Toby Nangle, head of multi-asset allocation, with Matthew Cobon, head of fixed income and currencies.

Sur son site, L’Agefi Actifs indiquait hier que HSBC France projetterait d’arrêter les activités d’Ifa Services, l’entité dédiée au sein de HSBC Assurances Vie (France) aux Conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants (CGPI). Le niveau de la collecte de ce département qui dispose d’une offre de produits d’assurance vie et de capitalisation n’a pas été à la hauteur des attentes compte tenu du contexte économique et financier. A cela s’ajoutent des contraintes lourdes, notamment celles liées aux exigences du groupe en matière de conformité qui finissent par peser de manière trop importante sur la rentabilité de la filière CGPI. Pour les CGPI partenaires - ils sont environ 360 - le portefeuille devrait rester en gestion chez HSBC Assurances et le service aux clients continuerait d'être assuré, vraisemblablement par le biais d’une cellule dédiée, note l’Agefi Actifs.

Le capital-investisseur Dyal Capital Partners (géré par Neuberger Berman) a annoncé avoir acquis un «intérêt minoritaire passif» dans le new-yorkais Pinnacle Asset Management L.P. Ce spécialiste des investissements dans le domaine des matières premières affiche 2,3 milliards de dollars d’encours. Le montant de la participation et les modalités financières de la transaction n’ont pas été divulgués.Dyal CP vient de boucler à 1,28 milliard de dollars un fonds de private equity dédié à des participations minoritaires dans des gestionnaires alternatifs (lire Newsmanagers du 5 décembre).

SEB Wealth Management vient de lancer en France son Danish Mortgage Bond, un fonds investi sur les obligations hypothécaires danoises. Cette classe d’actifs qui peut apparaître comme une niche aux yeux d’investisseurs français pèse tout de même plus de 300 milliards d’euros, souligne Lars Juelskjaer, responsable des investissements obligataires & TAA de SEB Asset Management à Copenhague, de passage à Paris.Le terme « hypothécaire » est aussi susceptible d’évoquer de mauvais souvenirs. Mais on est loin du marché américain et de la crise du subprime, assure Lars Juelskjaer. « Le marché danois des obligations hypothécaires est l’un des plus réglementés au monde », explique-t-il. Au contraire du secteur du subprime, « aucun prêt n’est accordé à des emprunteurs ne présentant pas les garanties minimum. Et en cas de défaut, le propriétaire du bien immobilier devra rembourser toute sa vie », poursuit-il. Il ajoute que le marché, coté sur la Bourse de Copenhague, est très liquide. Si bien qu’au cours de ses deux siècles d’histoire, le marché obligataire danois n’a connu aucun défaut et la plupart des émetteurs sont notés AAA par S&P.L’importance de ce marché dans un si petit pays s’explique par le fait que la quasi-totalité de l’immobilier au Danemark, résidentiel et commercial, est financée par l’émission d’obligations hypothécaires. De fait, ces dernières sont devenues un « sport national » pour les Danois, qui n’hésitent d’ailleurs pas à les rembourser par anticipation lorsque cela est possible (environ la moitié des obligations hypothécaires danoises sont remboursables par anticipation).Le fonds de SEB sur ce marché (de droit luxembourgeois) représente un encours de 157 millions d’euros au 31 octobre 2012, sachant que l’équipe de quatre personnes qui le pilote chez SEB gère 9,4 milliards d’euros sur la classe d’actifs. Jusqu’ici plutôt cantonné à une clientèle danoise ou d’Europe du Nord, puis allemande, il commence désormais à séduire des investisseurs de Suisse, du Benelux et de France en quête d’alternatives aux obligations gouvernementales. Depuis le début de l’année, le fonds, pour sa part en euros, dégage une performance nette de frais de 3,84 %, après +8,96 % en 2011.