Finesti, the Luxembourg agency for European funds information, reported strong growth in new clients and in its overall fund coverage in 2011. At the end of 2011, the Finesti database contained information on 39,771 share classes of investment funds, an increase of 9% compared to 2010. This growth was from both Luxembourg and non-Luxembourg domiciled funds. There was also a corresponding increase in the number of documents in the database. The number of prospectuses, simplified prospectuses, annual reports and semi-annual reports grew by 22% to 98,279 from 80,743 in 2010. This does not include new Key Investor Information Documents, or KIIDs, which were introduced at the beginning of July 2011. Services related to the collection and dissemination of KIIDs were launched throughout 2011. A part of the UCITS IV requirements, Key Investor Information Documents are being phased in during a transition period until 1 July 2012. Finesti KIID services allow all European-domiciled funds to comply with the obligations for distribution and publication of their KIIDs. These services proved popular with promoters and asset managers and by the end of 2011, there were 19,622 KIIDs in the Finesti database, bringing the total number of documents to 117,901. In conjunction with its notifications and KIID services, it also launched a range of other services focussing primarily on European fund distribution. As at 31 December 2011, Finesti was linked with sixty distribution platforms.

Dow Jones Indexes has announced that Tebyan Asset Management has licensed the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) CHIME Index to benchmark its new fund, the Tebyan CHIME Opportunities Fund, launched on Monday.The DJIM CHIME Index is designed to measure the performance of 100 leading stocks from China, India and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region that pass rules-based screens for Shari’ah compliance. Tebyan Asset Management Limited is a partnership between Gulf Mena and Qatar First Investment Bank, providing wealth and asset management services to the Islamic investment community.

The United Kingdom on 16 January signed an agreement with Hong Kong, which will one day make the City of London an extra-territorial financial centre for trading in yuan, the Chinese currency. London thus cements its place as a leading centre in currency markets, which will mean added revenues and jobs. The British chancellor, George Osborne, on a visit to Asia, and Norman Chan, head of the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong, have created a forum to consider synergies between the two markets in the areas of settlement and clearance and liquidity, and to conceive of new products denominated in renminbi, the official name of the Chinese currency.

The US investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors, with about USD200bn in assets under management, has recruited a Fidelity veteran, Carlo Venes, to develop its activities serving institutionals in the Asia ex Japan region, Asian Investor reports.Venes, former head of institutional management at Fidelity for Asia ex Japan, will move to Asia, to a location still to be determined.

Since summer 2011, when the euro zone crisis worsened, Coface has observed a net breakdown in the payment behaviour of businesses, with a net increase in outstanding payments, Coface reports at its 16th Country Risk conference. For 2011 as a whole, Coface has recorded a 19% increase in payment incidents worldwide, with a particularly pronounced increase of 28% for euro zone businesses. This degradation of the average solidity of businesses proves that the crisis has entered a new phase, and is reaching a global systemic dimension, since the crisis in Italy began. “In the absence of rapid response to the crisis on the part of institutions, negative anticipations on the part of the financial markets have caused actors in the real economy to become defiant. Paradoxically, businesses, which are better-managed than ever, have borne the brunt of this crisis. In 2012, the conjunction of very weak growth in Europe and a potential drying up of credit may noticeably affect credit risk for businesses concerned,” says François David, chairman of Coface.In this degraded context, Coface is lowering its valuation of Italy and Spain by one notch, to A4, as these countries have been rendered more fragile by their massive public debts on one hand, and debts in the private sector on the other. These two major southern European economies will also contract in 2012. Since the beginning of 2011, Coface has observed an increase of about 50% in business payment incidents in the two countries.The wave of political trouble in North Africa and the Middle East in 2011 has been a turning point for emerging ecnomies: the return of political risk. Coface in 2011 also recorded several payment incidents due to political risk. The valuation of Egypt, whose public finances and external accounts are under pressure, has been downgraded to C, partly due to major uncertainty about the political scenario in 2012. Syria has been downgraded to D, as the extremely tense situation and international sanctions will have unfavourable repercussions on economic growth and public finances.

The Italian asset management firm Prisma, specialised in real estate, has appointed Frederico Musso as its head of sales. He had previously worked at Zero Sgr, a firm which was merged into Prisma. In addition to this appointment, the Italian asset management firm has recruited three people: Paolo Rela, as head of real estate management, Alberto Pandolfi, head of administration and finance, and Cristiano Carraroli, head of strategy, development and communication. Prisma has recently launched a real estate fund in partnership with Invesco.

In 2011, assets at Amundi ETF increased by 22%, from EUR5.3bn as of the end of December 2010 to EUR6.5bn as of the end of 2011, while the European market held stable overall. In terms of net inflows, according to the Deutsche Bank 2011 ETF Market Review of January 2012, Amundi was the third-largest ETF provider in Europe, with EUR1.7bn in assets.The firm extended its product range in 2011, and now offers 102 funds, following the launch of 8 new products last year. The Amundi ETF product range now includes more than 400 cross-listings and listings in six European countries: France (102), Germany (73), Italy (73), the Netherlands (73), Switzerland (50) and the UK (41).

Pioneer Investments is planning to recruit to increase its sales team by 10% this year, Joe Kringdon, director of retail sales and marketing for the United States, has told Mutual Fund Wire. Currently, the sales team includes 57 people in wholesale and external sales, and 36 for internal sales. For 2012, the asset management firm based in Boston is aiming for an increase of 13% to 15% in sales of mutual funds.

Threadneedle Investments is in the process of opening a new office in Stockholm, following the registration of its SICAV funds with Sweden’s regulator Finansinspektionen last year and a distribution agreement with Avanza Bank in October. The Stockholm office will serve its existing institutional clients in the region and will allow Threadneedle to develop new relationships and expand its client base in Sweden. The opening reflects Threadneedle’s commitment to continue its international development and the encouraging demand for its funds in the Nordics.Jalil El Khalifi, sales manager and a Swedish national ,will focus on Swedish wholesale distribution, funds of funds and platforms and report to Nina Movin, Threadneedle’s Nordics Sales Director, who will continue to be based in Copenhagen. Threadneedle actively manages around EUR72bn of assets on behalf of individuals, pension funds, insurers and corporations (as of 30 Sept 2011).

The Bénédict Hentsch & Cie SA bank on 16 January announced that it has appointed Andreas Stricker as its new CEO, from 1 February 2012. In this position, he replaces Robert Pennone, who served in the position in the interim for five months. Pennone will take up the seat he had held on the board of directors.Enrico Chiabudini, former head of brokerage activities at Pictet & Cie, also joins the board at the bank, and has been in charge of private banking and asset management activities since 1 January 2012, according to a statement. The top priority for the new CEO will be to increase Swiss clients and to develop a range of multi-family office services. The new CEO has 25 years of experience in banking and has been on the board at Bordier & Cie and Union Bancaire Privée. Chiabudini previously worked at Pictet as deputy CEO in charge of brokerage activities serving institutional clients.

Ratings downgrades for France and other countries of the euro zone are causing concern to major investors such as pension funds, which are asking whether it might not be a better idea to pick indices which are not weighted on the basis of issue volumes for European government debt, which privileges the countries with the highest levels of debt, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s why Italy accounts for 20% of indices, while the Netherlands, which still has a AAA rating, accounts for only 6%.The Netherlands-based Syntrus Achmea (EUR52bn in assets), which manages pension funds, has opted for an index weighted by GDP, and 75% of its portfolio of European government bonds is invested in German, French and Dutch securities.Robeco, for its discretionary mandates, invests over 60% in bunds and Netherlands government bonds.But the danger with this type of strategy is that it may create portfolios that are concentrated on a small number of countries, some of which, such as Norway for example, have very narrow bond markets.

The New York-based services group Direct Access Partners (DAP) has announced the launch of the Liquid ETF platform, which offers training at improved cost and more market depth to institutional clients of DAP.The new platform allows for international trading on the basis of net asset value (NAV) of underlying equities of ETFs, and not only on the basis of supply and demand on the US market.

The bond management team at Fidelity Investments in London now has 20 investment professionals, working both for Fidelity (US mutual funds) and Pyramis Global Advisors (institutional clients). The group has recently created a position for a UK fixed income CIO, and appointed Mark Flaherty, who has 12 years of seniority and who will be based in London, where he will report to Charlie S. Morrison, president of fixed income. Since 2005, Flaherty had been managing director of research for municipals.

The British asset management firm Schroder Property on 16 January announced that it has won two mandates from Invista Foundation Property Trust (IFPT) and Equitable Life Assurance Society (ELAS). The gross cumulative value of the two portfolios is about GBP600m. A team of eight real estate professionals from Invista are joining the team at Schroder Property from 16 January.Duncan Owen, previously CEO of Invista Real Estate Investment Management (IREIM), is joining Schroder Property as head of Property Funds, in charge of products and product development.Assets under management at Schroders in real estate total about GBP9.5bn, or about EUR11bn (as of 30 September).

From 1 April, the asset management firm Helaba Inest KAG (EUR72bn in assets) will take charge of the administration of all financial investments of the insurance group Vereinigte Postversicherung (VPV), totalling about EUR8bn.In addition to an administrative centralisation of investments, Helaba Invest will take charge of accounting, declarations to regulatory authorities, collateral monitoring, reporting, stress testing and analysis of scenarios according to BaFin instructions.

The Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) is planning to sell its stake in Swisspartners, Agefi Switzerland reports. The bank currently controls 67% of the firm active in wealth management. The sale will be completed in first half. The first talks have begun. The institution is planning to concentrate on its core profession. Last September, it already sold off a minority stake it had held in the life insurer Elips Life.

The Mirabaud Group has acquired 100% of the capital of its Spanish subsidiary, Mirabaud Finanzas Sociedad de Valores, SA. This agreement, which has just been approved by the CNMV, completes the process of integrating the two entities, which began in 2010 when the Mirabaud Group took a 25% interest in the capital of the Spanish broker-dealer Venture Finanzas, the name of which was changed to Mirabaud Finanzas in mid-2010.Following the acquisition, the management team of Mirabaud Finanzas is made up of Antonio Palma as chairman, Alejandro Pérez Calzada as first vice chairman and CEO, Javier de Zunzunegui as second vice chairman, Luis Pujol as general manager, Lionel Aeschlimann (the head of asset management of the parent company) as chairman of Mirabaud Gestión (EUR100m in AUIM), Tomas Termens as head of Personal banking, Antonio Hormigos as the head of asset management in Spain, and Ignacio Méndez as head of strategy. Antonio Palma, partner and CEO of Mirabaud stated: “Our growth target for Spain is in line with our targets for the rest of the group, namely 10% a year for assets under management”. He underlines that “Spain is a very attractive market, as there are still very sizeable fortunes to be invested, in spite of the crisis. It also represents a magnificent stepping-stone to Latin America, where there are huge opportunities for our sector.” Mirabaud’s offer (EUR20bn of assets under management) in Spain and in the rest of the group focuses on three business lines : private banking, asset management and brokerage.

With the Sabadell BA Garantia Fija 10, Banco Sabadell on 13 January registered with the CNMV a fund which guarantees not only initial capital invested on 9 February 2012, but also a return of 4.4% at maturity.The portfolio will be invested in AA- rated bond underwritten by the Kingdom of Spain, with a maturity similar to the guarantee. During the guarantee period, up to 25% of assets may also be invested in high quality public and private bonds, securitisations, and non-publicly traded money market instruments with at least an average rating. CharacteristicsName: Sabadell BS Garantia Fija 10ISIN code: ES0175088006Initial subscription: EUR600Front-end fee (outside subscription period): 5%Total expense ratio: 0.62%Penalty for early withdrawal: 2%

Since 16 January, the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse) lists 908 ETFs. The new fund is the iShares Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond, a German-registered fund which replicates a Barclays index of US bonds (Treasuries, securitisations, corporate bonds), with a residual maturity of one year.The fund (DE000A1JNCQ2) charges fees of 0.25%.

Deutsche Bank has added a systematic fund managed by the alternative management firm Fortinbras Asset Management to its dbSelect UCITS platform.The DB Platinum IV Fortinbras Prism Index uses an algorithm to monitor trends on bond markets, interest rates, currencies and commodities. The partnership with Deutsche Bank will allow for distribution of the fund not only in Europe, but also in Asia.dbSelect offers over 150 hedge fund programmes, with total assets under management of over USD5bn.

On 30 March, Union Investment (the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks) will launch the guaranteed fund UniGarantExtra: Deutschland (2019), which will mature on 22 March 2019. Subscriptions are open until 27 March.The product invests in German equities, and guarantees redemption of initial capital at maturity, plus a share of the evolution of the “Aktien Deutschland RC (Risiko Control) -10%” German equities index, with the high watermark for the index during the life of the product captured as a reference. There will be a 2% penalty for early withdrawal. As of the end of October, Union managed EUR16.3bn in 94 guaranteed funds.CharacteristicsName: UniGarantExtra: Deutschland (2019)ISIN code: LU0707763248Front-end fee: 4%Management commission: 0.80% (maximum 1.5%)Depository banking commission: maximum 0.05%

Investors who had a highly wait-and-see attitude at the beginning of the month appear to be slightly more optimistic about the ability of the European Union to make it through the year without plunging the global financial system into another major crisis. The result is that bond funds have earned net inflows in the week to 11 January of USD6.39bn, a level not seen in 18 months, according to statistics from EPFR Global.Global bond funds attracted a net total of over USD2bn, while high yield bond funds attracted over USD1bn, and for the first time since the beginning of September, investors returned to European bond funds. Only emerging market bond funds have seen redemptions.Equity funds have seen inflows of over USD6bn, while emerging market equity funds alone represented USD1.84bn. For the first time since the beginning of November 2011, actively-managed funds posted net subscriptions.Inflows to money market funds ttoalled USD15.8bn, while European money market funds represented 60% of this total.

Aberdeen Immobilien KAG has announced that its DEGI Europa fund (DE0009807800), whose liquidation was announced on 22 October 2010, has sold the Sophienhof shopping centre in Kiel to the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland from Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE). The transaction was made at a price slightly higher than the most recent independent expert valuation of the property.The proceeds of the sale have allowed for a loan to be repaid, bringing the fund’s debt level down to 26.9% from 31.5%, while the liquidity rate has increased 5 points, to 18%.As of the end of October, the DEGI Europe fund had assets of EUR917.7m, compared with EUR1.3bn at the time that the liquidation of the fund on 30 September 2013 was announced.

On 1 January 2012 the total number of monetary financial institutions in the euro zone (MFIs, which include financial institutions based in the euro zone and money market funds) stood at 7,533, according to statistics from the European Central Bank (ECB). This is a net decrease of 332 units (4%) in comparison with the situation a year ago. In relative terms, the decrease was particularly pronounced in Ireland (-15%), Luxembourg (-8%), Cyprus (-6%), France (-5%) and Greece (-5%). In absolute terms, Ireland (-106), France (-59), Luxembourg (-48) and Germany (-43) were the main contributors to the net decrease of 332 units in the euro area. 2011 saw a substantial decrease in the number of money market funds, as an MFI sub-sector, owing in part to their new definition, under Guideline ECB/2011/13, which is more closely in line with that used for supervisory purposes. The contraction in this sub-sector was most prominent in Ireland (-97), Luxembourg (-46) and France (-29).

Syz & Co is adding to its range of funds aimed at French investors. The Swiss asset management firm has announced that it has obtained licenses to sell the three new sub-funds of the Oyster Sicav in France. Oyster Global High Yield invests in high yield bonds worldwide. The portfolio is managed by Seix Investment Advisors, a specialist asset management firm based in the United States. Oyster European Selection is aimed more particularly at institutional investors. The fund invests in European equities with strong potential for growth in the next five years. The manager, Eric Bendahan, prefers businesses with ties to flourishing economies in emerging markets, high-quality growth shares and undervalued businesses.Finally, Oyster Absolute Return aims to deliver absolute returns via a diversified portfolio composed of equities, bonds, hedge funds and other publisly-traded securities. The portfolio may also be invested in savings accounts and money market instruments. The Oyster range, available to French investors, now includes 25 sub-funds. ISIN codes OYSTER Global High Yield – EUR share class: LU0688633683OYSTER Global High Yield – EUR I share class: LU0688634061OYSTER Global High Yield – USD share class: LU0688633410OYSTER European Selection – EUR I share class: LU0688633170OYSTER Absolute Return EUR – EUR2 share class: LU0536156861

Investments by Swiss pension funds developed positively in fourth quarter 2011, according to an index calculated by Credit Suisse, Agefi Switzerland reports. The index gained 3.12 points in this period, equivalent to 2.57%, and as of 31 December 2011, stood at 124.63 points. The month of October contributed 1.62%, while December contributed 1.15%. However, November brought a decline of 0.21%. The areas of foreign equities (1.41%), Swiss equities (0.75%), bonds denominated in foreign currencies (0.23%) and in Swiss francs (0.14%), and real estate (0.13%), posted positive returns in the period under review.

Très attentistes en tout début d’année, les investisseurs semblent un peu plus optimistes quant à la capacité de l’Union européenne à passer l’année sans plonger le système financier mondial dans une nouvelle crise majeure. Résultat, les fonds obligataires ont réalisé durant la semaine au 11 janvier une collecte nette de 6,39 milliards de dollars, un niveau jamais vu depuis dix-huit mois, selon les statistiques communiquées par EPFR Global.Les fonds obligataires globaux ont drainé en net plus de 2 milliards de dollars, les fonds obligataires high yield ont attiré plus de 1 milliard de dollars et pour la première fois depuis début septembre, les investisseurs sont revenus sur les fonds obligataires européens. Seuls les fonds obligataires émergents ont subi des rachats. Les fonds d’actions ont enregistré une collecte de plus de 6 milliards de dollars, les seuls fonds d’actions émergentes représentant 1,84 milliard de dollars. Pour la première fois depuis début novembre 2011, les fonds gérés activement ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes. La collecte des fonds monétaires s’est élevée à 15,8 milliards de dollars, les fonds monétaires européens représentant 60% de ce total.

A fin 2011, l’industrie mondiale des Exchange Traded Products (ETP) totalisait des encours sous gestion de 1 525 milliards de dollars. Soit une hausse de 2,9% par rapport aux encours de 1 482 milliards de dollars enregistrés à fin 2010. C’est ce que révèlent les dernières données publiées par BlackRock Investment Institute. L’an dernier, les souscriptions nettes sur les ETP se sont élevées à 151,9 milliards de dollars. Ce sont les ETP obligataires qui ont connu la plus forte croissance en 2011, avec une hausse de 50,6 milliards de dollars des encours (+24,4%) par rapport à fin 2010, à 258 milliards de dollars. Les ETP actions développées ont enregistré une croissance de 3,3% en 2011. Leur collecte nette s’est élevée à 93 milliards de dollars. Pénalisée par un effet marché négatif de -65,5 milliards de dollars, la croissance nette des actifs sous gestion est donc de 27,7 milliards de dollars sur cette catégorie d’ETP. Selon BlackRock, les ETP offrant une exposition aux Etats-Unis et à l’Europe ont attiré en 2011 respectivement 48,8 milliards de dollars et 15 milliards de dollars, malgré des conditions macro-économiques difficiles. En revanche, les ETP actions marchés émergents ont reculé de 18,7%, souffrant d’un effet marché négatif de -43 milliards de dollars et d’une décollecte nette de 1,8 milliard de dollars en 2011. En 2010, cette catégorie avait attiré des souscriptions nettes de 40,5 milliards de dollars.

Le nombre des institutions financières monétaires (IFM, qui recouvrent notamment les établissements de crédit résidents et les OPCVM monétaires) de la zone euro s'élevait au 1er janvier à 7.533 au total, soit une diminution nette de 332 unités (4%) par rapport à la situation un an auparavant, selon les statistiques communiquées par la Banque centrale européenne (BCE).En termes relatifs, la diminution a été particulièrement prononcée en Irlande (-15%), au Luxembourg (-8%), à Chypre (-6%), en France (-5%) et en Grèce (-5%). En termes absolus, l’Irlande (-106), la France (-59), le Luxembourg (-48) et l’Allemagne (-43) ont été les principaux pays à l’origine de cette diminution nette de 332 unités dans la zone euro. Le nombre d’OPCVM monétaires a fortement diminué en 2011, en partie en raison de leur nouvelle définition, conformément à l’orientation BCE/2011/13, qui correspond mieux à celle utilisée à des fins de surveillance. La contraction observée dans ce sous-secteur a été particulièrement marquée en Irlande (-97), au Luxembourg (-46) et en France (-29).

La CNMV vient d’octroyer son agrément à l’acquisition par le suisse Mirabaud des 75 % qu’il ne détenait pas encore dans Mirabaud Finanzas, l’ex Venture Finanzas, dont il avait acheté 25 % à la mi 2010.L'équipe dirigeante demeure en place. Elle se compose d’Antonio Palma, président (qui est associé et CEO de Mirabaud), d’Alejandro Pérez Calzada comme premier vice-président et administrateur délégué, Javier de Zunzunegui comme second vice-président, Luis Pujol comme directeur général, Lionel Aeschlimann (le patron de la gestion d’actifs du groupe helvétique) comme président de Mirabaud Gestión (100 millions d’euros d’encours fin 2011), Tomas Termens comme directeur de la banque pour particuliers, Antonio Hormigos comme responsable de la gestion d’actifs en Espagne et Ignacio Méndez comme directeur de la stratégie.Antonio Palma a précisé que l’objectif de croissance pour l’Espagne «est conforme à celui qui a été fixé pour l’ensemble du groupe et se situe aux alentours de 10 % par an pour les actifs sous gestion». Le patron de Mirabaud souligne que l’Espagne demeure un marché attrayant malgré la crise, où il existe toujours des patrimoines très importants à investir. «Il s’agit par ailleurs d’une passerelle idéale vers l’Amérique latine, où les opportunités sont actuellement nombreuses pour notre secteur», ajoute Antonio Palma.L’offre de Mirabaud (20 milliards d’euros d’encours), aussi bien en Espagne que dans le reste du groupe, se concentre sur trois métiers : la banque privée, la gestion d’actifs et l’intermédiation.