Reyl Asset Management has added to its Fixed Income department, with the recruitment of Gilles Pradère, a senior fund manager, who had previously worked at Calyon in London, Agefi Switzerland reports. Pradère, a specialist in non-directional relative value and global macro type strategies, will allow Reyl Asset Management to add long/short type products to its bond range, with absolute return type objectives and UCITS IV-compliant formats.

Detailed recommendations for the enactment of the Solvency III directive may only be completed in time for a crucial vote in the European Parliament which has been put off until April, Global Reinsurance reports. The European Parliament has announced that the Omnibus II directive, which includes the amendments to Solvency II, and which must therefore be passed for Solvency II to be enacted, will not go to a vote before April 2012. The vote had initially been scheduled for November, and was then delayed until the end of January 2012. In other words, details about Solvency II will be released after the vote in April, which will shorten the time frame needed for the directive to come into force after that.

The provider of services to the asset management sector Kneip, and the financial communications specialist Ebsylon claim, based on a study of 100 key investor information documents (KIID) from 29 asset management firms, in four languages – English, French, German, and Italian – that the content of these documents is unsatisfactory. They add that it would be possible to introduce a number of improvements to the form and presentation of these documents, which will be required from July 2012. “What our research finds is that asset managers have made a lot of progress in the content of KIIDs, but that the form still needs some work,” says Mario Mantrisi, head of innovation and product management and a member of the executive board at Kneip. Regulations are very clear and leave little room for interpretation, the study says. The document must identify the “objectives and investment policy” if the fund invests “primarily in equities,” while in its risk/return profile the document must indicate if the fund may invest “a substantial part of its assets” in government and corporate debt. Another inconsistency is that a benchmark indicator is mentioned in the Objectives, but is not mentioned in the chart of past performance, and vice versa. Emmanuel Bégat, managing partner at Ebsylon, says that “a vast majority of KIIDs use jargon or technical terminology, even though the regulations are clear about the need to avoid this vocabulary. Lastly, the research shows clearly that the devil is in the details when it comes to creating a KIID which is 100% compliant.”

Highland Funds Asset Management will become independent of its parent company, Capital Management, on 9 January 2012. The firm will then become known as Pyxis Capital. Its 19 mutual funds will be sold under the new name, and all employees of Highland Funds Asset Management will be joining the new structure.

Citywire reports that the singer Rod Stewart has agreed to present the next Carmignac investor conference in January.

The asset management firm Swisscanto, an affiliate of the Swiss cantonal banks, and the fourth-largest Swiss investment fund, is increasing its commercial operations in France, in an effort to make them one of the pillars of its new international deployment strategy. Swisscanto Asset Management on 14 December announced that it has registered several funds in France with the financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The funds registered represent the leading areas of expertise from Swisscanto, a sign of its engagement and convictions, from its Swisscanto Green Invest range, which has a track record of more than 10 years. In addition to its engagement to the sustainable investment fund sector, the Swisscanto group is also known for its management of North American equities, Japanese small and midcaps, and Euro credit. “Swisscanto’s deployment strategy responds to the typology of the French market, where instituitonals represent 80% of the French market (according to BCG), and where retail investors are currently averse to risk, and are orienting their savings to balance-sheet products. In a difficult market environment, the strong financial condition of Swisscanto, supported by 24 Swiss cantonal banks, is a gauge of its security and long standing,” says Ralf Branda, head of development for international activities. The group has been represented in France since March 2011 by its local partner, CS Funds. The year 2011 was dedicated to the establishment of the brand with institutional investors in various areas: retirement and retirement planning groups, mutual insurers, multi-managers and family offices. Last but not least, Swisscanto has also announced the launch of a French website, aimed at institutional investors: http://www.swisscanto.fr/. Assets under management at Swisscanto, which has nearly 400 employees totalled CHF51.5bn as of the end of September.

Dissymetrical management is a registered trade mark of La Française AM (LFAM) which the recent market turbulence has brought into the limelight, inspiring many emulators, or even imitators. Now, LFAM (EUR37bn in assets) would like to put the concept, which accounts for 90% of its assets under management outside of real estate (EUR7bn) and insurance (EUR12bn) back in the projector lights.A presentation for investors was held in Paris on 14 December to provide information about dissymmetrical management (GD), which provides decent income while limiting risks and ensuring liquidity, explains Nicolas Duban, director of institutional development for France. The strategy aims to keep long-term returns under control, while maximising market performance, optimising decorrelation, and controlling ex ante and ex post risks through the use of sophisticated tools, explained by Jacques Ninet, advisor for research, and Pascale Auclair, CIO.According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, LFAM may now be adding ts house expertise in “GD” to the reporting for five or six funds from early next year, to begin with, though that still requires a lot of industrialisation work.

Schelcher Prince Gestion, a French asset management boutique specialised in credit and convertibles, as of 9 December 2011 had registered net subscriptions of EUR535m. Of this amount, EUR371m went to convertible bonds management at the firm, while the remainder was for fixed income management, which nonetheless continues to represent the majority of assets. The new shareholder in Schelcher Prince, the Crédit Mutual Arkea group, which has controlled 51% of capital via its affiliate Federal Finance since July, contributed EUR292m of these net inflows. Overall, Schelcher Prince Gestion has assets of slightly over EUR2bn as of 9 December. In 2012, the asset management firm is planning to launch two new funds based on convertible bonds, as additions to its product range in this area, which already includes euro, Europe and global products. It is also planning to add to its credit analysis, with the recruitment of a head for the unit, which currently has three members.

Funds in Europe suffered redemptions of EUR19.7bn in October, a significant improvement on the previous two months, according to Lipper. In September, outflows reached EUR60.7bn.After stumbling badly last month, bond funds suffered much more manageable redemptions this month (-EUR1.2bn compared to -EUR17.2bn) and even equity outflows of EUR10.6bn were half the level endured in September (EUR21bn).There were also significant pockets of positive activity. After redemptions of EUR18.5bn over the past four months, high yield funds enjoyed a come back with inflows of EUR3bn. It was a boost for Muzinich and its Short Duration High Yield fund. The asset manager came second of the group sales chart this month with net sales of EUR680m, after Allianz/Pimco (EUR1bn) and ahead of Prudential/M&G (EUR550m).Finally, in the ongoing parade of potential safe haven products, USDbond funds made a strong showing (EUR580m) this month. And the gold experience was very positive in October, with commodity funds as a whole reversing last month’s outflows of EUR1.3bn to enjoy inflows this month of EUR520m. Sterling was most attractive to investors as euro and dollar money market funds suffered redemptions of EUR10.8bn, but sterling-denominated funds attracted EUR8bn.

Morgan Stanley has launched a market neutral long/short strategy, which will become a sub-fund of its Irish UCITS-compliant Sicav, and which will be managed by the Brazilian firm Claritas Administraçao de Recursos, Investment Europe reports. The fund, MS Claritas Long Short Market Neutral Ucits, provides access to the Brazilian source strategy. Morgan Stanley says it is the first UCITS-compliant absolute return strategy dedicated exclusively to the Brazilian equity markets.

Christophe Coquema has been appointed as global chief operating officer (COO) of Axa Investment Managers, in charge of control, finance, strategy, trading and shared operational functions. He succeeds Emmanuel Vercostre, who has joined Axa Banque in Belgium as head of Axa Bank Europe Financial Services. Coquema, a board member since 2007, had previously been head of Markets & Investment Strategy (MIS). In this position he will be replaced by Joseph Pinto, who also becomes a board member at AXA IM. Pinto, who joined Axa IM in 2007, had previously been head of sales for France, Southern Europe and the Middle East. His replacement is being sought, a spokesperson for the firm states.

Newcomers in the hedge fund sector are in an optimstic mood. Young start-ups estimate that their hedge funds may earn 10% or more in 2012, according to a survey of the US market by the conference organizer GAIM (Global Alternative Investment Management). Slightly over 50% of the 90 respondents, whose assets under management total USD250m or less, claim that they may be able to earn gains of over 10%, with 31% talking about gains of 15% or more. 81% of managers say the biggest challenge in the next few months will be raising capital. 40% claim they can raise more than USD50m, which would double assets for smaller actors, and would be an increase in assets of about 20% for the larger ones.

On 14 December, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles added six ETFs from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) to trading, including a fund based on the Ibex 35, and five leveraged products based on the Dax, the S&P 500 and the Euro Stoxx 50. Madrid now lists 27 db x-trackers products.The new ETFs added to trading are:db x-trackers IBEX 35® INDEX ETF db x-trackers LEVDAX® DAILY ETF db x-trackers SHORTDAX® x2 DAILY ETF db x-trackers S&P 500 2x INVERSE DAILY ETF db x-trackers S&P 500 2x LEVERAGED DAILY ETF etdb x-trackers EURO STOXX 50® LEVERAGED DAILY ETF

The Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings will buy a 40% stake in the British asset management firm NewSmith Capital Partners, FundWeb reports. The total price of the acquisition is GBP35m. Sumitomo Mitsui will have access to the equity fund product range from NewSmith, whose assets under management total GBP2.1bn. It may also benefit from the network developed by the British firm to serve institutional investors. NewSmith, for its part, may develop its client base in Asia, especially in Japan.

The deficit for British pension funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), as calculated by the British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has increased to GBP222.1bn as of the end of November, compared with GBP158.6bn as of the end of October. The professional association notes that the returns offered by British government bonds are currently being penalised by quantitative easing policies.

The South Korean financial market authority (FSC) has issued 13 licenses to asset management firms to launch hedge funds this month, Asian Investor reports. The companies concerned are Allianz Global Investors , Hanwha AMC, KB AMC, KDB AMC, Korea Investment Management, Kyobo Axa Investment Managers, Mirae Asset Global Investments, Mirae Asset Maps Global Investments, Samsung AMC, Shinhan BNP Paribas AMC, UBS Hana AMC, Tong Yang AMC and Woori AMC. Nine of these firms are planning to launch hedge funds in the month of December, totalling about USD450m overall. However, the hedge fund sector in Korea is only in its first teething stages, and may yet experience some setbacks due to the small scale of the market and inexperience of at least some asset management firms.

Barely three months after becoming an official dealer in government bonds in the United Kingdom and Germany, the US custodian State Street has invoked new rules, including the “Volcker rule,” to justify its withdrawal from the government bond markets in these countries, the Financial Times reports.The Volcker rule prohibits banks from proprietary trading. Exceptions are made for US Treasury bonds, but not for foreign government debt.Although market-making is allowed under the rules, bankers are afraid that the activity might be considered proprietary trading, which would limit liquidity.

Dans un article publié dans Option Finance, Francis Weber, directeur financier du groupe de protection sociale Réunica: Depuis le début de la crise sur les dettes souveraines, nous privilégions le crédit corporate plutôt que souverain. La part des obligations d’entreprises, actuellement déjà majoritaire dans un portefeuille d’assureur ou de caisse de retraite, pourrait donc encore augmenter.

La valeur boursière du portefeuille d’actifs de Curalia - Caisse de Prévoyance des Prestataires de soins s'élève à 460 millions d’euros. La part de l’immobilier dans le portefeuille (11%) a progressé suite à l’achat d’immeubles proches du siège social. D’autres projets immobiliers ont été engagés qui se concrétiseront dans les prochaines années, notamment dans le secteur des maisons de repos. L’allocation d’actifs de Curalia est la suivante: 39% d’obligations d’Etat, 19% d’obligations d’entreprises, 12% d’investissements mixtes, 11% d’actions, 11% d’immobilier et 8% de cash. Capital International est le gérant en charge des actions émergentes alors que Degroof et Econowealth ont une délégation de gestion sur les actions européennes. Curalia travaille également avec Lombard Odier sur un portefeuille obligataire, Pictet AM sur la dette émergente, et Petercam est mandaté sur les obligations high yield.

L’assureur mutualiste Maif a vendu au cours de l’année plus de la moitié des dettes souveraines et d’entreprises provenant des pays dits fragiles de la zone euro (Portugal, Irlande, Italie, Grèce, Espagne) qu’elle avait en portefeuille, a indiqué son directeur Pascal Demurger. Le groupe n’a pas vendu d’OAT, les obligations d’Etat émises par la France, a-t-il ajouté alors qu’il était interrogé lors d’une rencontre avec la presse. Les assureurs sont structurellement très exposés aux obligations souveraines et sont actuellement fragilisés par la crise de la dette en zone euro. La Maif a par ailleurs indiqué mercredi qu’elle ne cherchait pas à être sur de la croissance externe mais souhaitait plutôt se renforcer sur son coeur de métier et éviter des achats un peu hasardeux, alors que des incertitudes pèsent sur la situation financière de son homologue Groupama, qui a mené par le passé une politique de diversification à l’international.

Alors que le secteur manufacturier reste en zone de contraction, les investissements directs étrangers ont chuté pour la première fois depuis 2009

Le FTSE a relevé de 10 points à 25% son exigence de flottant minimum pour faire partie de ses indices. Ce n’est pas assez, loin s’en faut, pour l’association des fonds de pension britanniques, la NAPF, qui selon le quotidien réclame par la voix de son responsable de la gouvernance David Paterson un seuil plancher de 50% des titres librement négociables sur le marché.

Allianz Capital Partners, l’entité de private equity de l’assureur allemand, a selon le quotidien mandaté HSBC pour une revue stratégique de l’opérateur suisse de machines à café, numéro un européen du secteur. La mise aux enchères pourrait débuter au premier trimestre 2012 et l’opération pourrait représenter jusqu’à un milliard d’euros.

Avec une inflation en recul, une baisse du ratio des réserves de trésorerie est attendue d’ici fin mars 2012, mais pas de baisse de taux

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Le FMI redoute que les créanciers privés n'acceptent pas tous de passer une décote de 50 % sur leurs obligations grecques

Ce mécanisme n'est plus compréhensible par les salariés en raison de l'alourdissement de la fiscalité

Les investisseurs immobiliers ont nettement revu en baisse leurs prévisions sur l'activité locative

L’institut d’émission espère qu’elles utiliseront la nouvelle facilité de refinancement à trois ans pour regarnir leurs portefeuilles

Les nombreuses questions restant posées à l'issue du sommet du 8 décembre empêchent un reflux significatif de la volatilité longue