The California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS, USD111.6bn in assets) has called on the 300 largest companies in which it is invested to put in place responsible policies on management compensation, and to allow shareholders to hold advisory votes on these policies. The goal is to reward long-term thinking and improve pay-for-performance practices while deterring excessive risk taking.

For first quarter 2009, the Blackstone Group announced ?economic? losses on Wednesday of USD93m, compared with USD827m in October-December, and USD94m in the corresponding period of last year. By US GAAP accounting standards, the private equity investor posted a loss of USD232m, of which USD192m are related to transactions, compared with USD251m in January-March 2008, which included transaction-related charges of USD226m. The quarterly dividend will be 30 cents per ordinary share.Revenues from management and advising totalled USD344.6m, compared with USD389.2m for fourth quarter 2008, and USD320.8m in the corresponding period of last year, on assets of USD92.2bn as of 31 March, compared with USD91bn at the end of December, and USD92.9bn twelve months previously.

Long-term bonds from the US Treasury are one of the asset classes showing the worst performance this year, but several renowned bond managers think this stretch of poor performance is nearing its end, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Barclays Capital Long-Term Treasury index shows losses of 10.2% since the beginning of the year as the ?fear factor? dominates the markets. In the same period, returns on 10-year Treasury bonds passed the psychologically significant 3% mark last week (it was 3.152% on Wednesday night). But many specialists estimate that the rate will stabilise between 2.75% and 3.25% until the end of the year: each time it passes above 3%, alarm bells go off for Tim Geithner, jokes Warren Pierson, senior portfolio manager at Baird Advisors.

The board of directors at Société Générale in a meeting yesterday selected Frédéric Oudéa to succeed Daniel Bouton as head of the bank. His appointment will take effect on 24 May. Oudéa, 45, is currently CEO of the firm, and will now assume the responsibilities of both chairman and CEO. A graduate of the ENA (Ecole Nationale d"Administration) and the polytechnic, the new chairman and CEO of Société Générale joined the bank in 1995, after several high-level government positions, including a position in the Sarkozy cabinet as Budget minister. The favourite for the position as of yesterday, Anthony Wyand, former head of Aviva, director and chairman of the accounting committee, has been appointed vice-chairman of the board of directors at Société Générale. The board of directors of Société Générale also paid homage to Bouton’s service to the firm as its head since November 1997, and awarded him an honorary chairmanship.

In first quarter 2009, the asset management unit at Société Générale, Société Générale Asset Management, posted net redemptions of EUR2.2bn, compared with -EUR7.3bn in Q1 2008.The outflows are particularly heavy from alternative management at SGAM AI, says a statement, which has seen outflows of EUR3.1bn. TCW, the US affiliate of the firm, has posted net redemptions of EUR2.1bn, and SGAM UK (which has been sold to GLG Partners) saw outflows of EUR0.6bn. SGAM (which is in the process of merging with Crédit Agricole Asset Management) has posted net subscriptions of EUR3.5bn.Société Générale states that ?regular money market funds drew in subscriptions of EUR3.2bn, while equities and diversified funds on the one hand, and alternative management on the other hand, have shown outflows, of EUR2.0m and EUR3.6m, respectively.? Due to negative market effects of EUR6.6bn, which were partially compensated for by positive currency effects of EUR3.8bn, assets under management at SGAM totalled EUR264.2bn as of the end of March 2009. These include EUR164.6bn for SGAM of which EUR112.4bn (68.3% were in fixed income products, and EUR47.4bn (28.8%) in equities and diversified funds. This amount represents the perimeter which will be applied in the merger with CAAM. In addition to this are EUR73.1bn contributed by TCW; the EUR20.1 from SGAM AI, and EUR4.7bn from SGAM UK.Net banking proceeds for asset management total EUR137m in Q1 ’09, while the balance was negative at -EUR13m for Q1 ’08, and -EUR15m in Q4 ’08.In first quarter 2009, the impact of the crisis represents EUR29.6m, of which EUR7.5m are due to reduction in leverage at hedge funds, EUR19.3m due to supporting liquidity in dynamic money market funds (residual assets of EUR0.8bn), and EUR2.8m due to complementary write-downs on share investments. Complementary write-downs of EUR20.6m were registered for ?seed money.?Management fees are down 16.4% (-11.4% in ongoing data) compared with Q1 ’08, ?revealing the first effects of the reorganisations underway,? says Société Générale.As a result, SGAM is posting a gross operating result of -EUR41m, compared with -EUR214m in Q1 ’08, and a net result for the part of the group of -EUR26m, compared with -EUR135m one year previously.

The asset management unit at Axa has posted net outflows in first quarter of EUR17bn, of which EUR15bn came from AllianceBernstein, and EUR2bn from Axa Investment Managers.In total, assets under management fell by EUR29bn in first quarter, to EUR787bn, which were divided between EUR310bn for AllianceBernstein, and EUR477bn for Axa IM.Revenues for asset management are down 34%, to EUR762m, in line with the trend observed in Q4 2008 (-32%), ?due to lower revenues from commissions (-37%), largely due to a lower volume of assets under management (-27%), and an unfavourable evolution of the product mix (-10%), and to a lower contribution from distribution commissions,? says a statement.

Fortress Investment Group, a publicly-traded hedge fund and private equity firm, has published a net loss of USD67m, or 67 cents per share, for Q1, compared with losses of USD68.9m in the corresponding period of 2008, the Financial Times reports. Assets under management at the firm declined by 10% to USD26.5bn, largely due to redemptions.

La Tribune reports that the US regulator has brought its first case of insider trading on credit derivative markets to court. The facts date back to 2006. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuses a manager at Millennium Partners, an arbitrage fund, and a vendor at Deutsche Bank Securities, of profiting from insider information about a bond issue from VNU holding, which influenced an increase in the price of CDS contracts to protect against the risk of defaults by VNU.

Juan Carlos Ureta, chairman of Renta 4, on Wednesday announced that he is in contact with ten competitors, and that he is planning to conclude an acquisition of two of them by the end of the year, Cinco Días reports. The asset management firms that Renta 4 is considering have total assets of EUR150m to EUR200m, according to a statement submitted to the CNMV. The chairman of Renta 4 had not ruled out acquisitions abroad, but the problem is valuations, since the market has continued to be based on prices at the time when La Caixa bought the asset management arm of Morgan Stanley.

In first quarter, net profits at Munich Ré fell to EUR420m from EUR777m, due to amortisations of overvalued assets, capital losses on investments due to falling operating revenues , and losses on a transfer of assets to safer investments, Die Welt reports. Now, half of the portfolio is invested in government bonds, and allocation to equities has been reduced to 1.4%.

Le Temps reports that a new private bank has been created in Geneva by veterans of UBS. The Banque Pâris Bertrand Sturdza will target international high net worth families, individuals and family offices, largely in Europe, but also in the Middle East and India. The founders envision a model which avoids the errors that provoked the financial crisis, and disallow ?all financial activities which carry potential risks to the bottom line.?

Rajesh Gill, an independent day trader, has won GBP20m in damages and interest in a lawsuit against MF Global, the Financial Times reports. One of the brokers at the firm lied to the trader about its performance. Damages related to lost gains are rarely awarded in the United Kingdom, the FT comments.

La Tribune reports that the investment firm Eurazeo may be planning to acquire a large part of the management firm Candover Partners, which has been in severe difficulty since the onset of the financial crisis, as the net value of its assets has been halved. The firm, currently 10)% owned by the British holding company Candover partners, would largely be carried out via an exchange of shares.

The board of advisors at JPMorgan Investment Funds has decided to abosorb the Europe Select Mega Cap Fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav (EUR9.8m in assets as of the end of February) into the Europe Select Equity Fund, due to the considerable similarities between the processes and management objectives of the two products, and the low level of assets in the Mega Cap. The merger will be undertaken via an exchange of shares on 12 June.

La banque de trading en ligne et d"investissement annonce l"ouverture de son bureau à Dubaï au sein du DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre). Ce nouveau bureau a pour vocation de renforcer la présence de Saxo Bank dans le golf persique et représente la première ouverture d"une banque danoise dans les Emirats Arabes Unis.

Juan Carlos Ureta, président de Renta 4, a révélé mercredi être en contact avec une dizaine de concurrents et qu’il compte boucler l’acquisition de deux d’entre eux avant la fin de l’année, rapporte Cinco Días. Les sociétés de gestion d’actifs que vise Renta 4 affichent des encours compris entre 150 et 200 millions, précise un communiqué remis à la CNMV. Le président de Renta 4 n’exclut pas des achats à l'étranger, mais le problème est celui des valorisations parce que le marché est resté figé sur les prix de l'époque où La Caixa avait racheté la gestion d’actifs de Morgan Stanley.

Selon Le Temps, une nouvelle banque privée vient d"être créée à Genève par des anciens professionnels d"UBS : la Banque Pâris Bertrand Sturdza vise les grandes fortunes privées internationales, personnes physiques ou family offices, principalement d"Europe, mais aussi du Moyen-Orient et de l"Inde. Les fondateurs ont imaginé un modèle en vue d"éviter les erreurs qui ont provoquées la crise financière et s"interdisent #toutes activités financières comportant des risques bilantaires potentiels#.

Selon L"Agefi suisse, Eric Sturdza, propriétaire de la Banque Baring Brothers Sturdza, participe à la création d"une nouvelle banque privée, Pâris Bertrand Sturdza SA ou PBS. La structure, qui va profiter de l"expérience et de la caution morale d"Eric Sturdza, sera dirigée par deux anciens d"UBS, Pierre Pâris et Olivier Bretrand qui soulignent que les grandes fortunes internationales ont compris ce que pouvaient leur apporter les banques privées en termes d"indépendance, de flexibilité et de transparence. Par ailleurs, la taille ne protège plus forcément contre une éventuelle défaillance. Conséquence : le développement des boutiques, déjà en cours depuis plusieurs années dans la banque d"affaires, touche dorénavant la gestion de fortune.

LGT Capital management, filiale gestion d’actifs de banque de la famille princière du Liechtenstein (LGT Bank) lance le fonds de droit local LGT Equity Fund Europe Sector Trend (EUR), son troisième produit de finance comportementale, géré de manière active [après le LGT Equity Fund Global Sector Trends (USD) et LGT Equity Fund North America (USD)]. Ce fonds d’actions investit principalement en titres d’entreprises dont le siège se trouve en Europe ou dont l’essentiel de l’activité s’effectue sur le Vieux continent. L’objectif est de surperformer le MSCI Europe avec un portefeuille long-only d’une quarantaine de lignes. La gestion est assurée en direct par deux spécialistes de la finance comportementale, Volker Hergert et Oliver Günter, qui se contentaient auparavant de façonner la sélection de valeurs.

UBS réorganise les activités de sa filiale italienne, rapporte Il Sole ? 24 Ore. UBS Italia continuera à se spécialiser sur la gestion de patrimoine, mais s"intéressera plus à la clientèle haut de gamme (plus d"un million d"euros). A fin 2008, UBS gérait en Italie des encours de 15,1 milliards d"euros.

Le conseil d’administration de JPMorgan Investment Funds a décidé de faire absorber le compartiment Europe Select Mega Cap Fund de la Sicav luxembourgeoise (9,8 millions d’euros d’encours fin février) par le Europe Select Equity Fund en raison des grandes similitudes dans le processus et les objectifs de gestion ainsi qu'à cause de la fonte des encours du Mega Cap. La fusion interviendra par échange de parts le 12 juin.

Bank of New York Mellon Corporation a annoncé mercredi la création en Belgique de The Bank of New York Mellon SA/NV qui sera l’entité de tête pour un certain nombre d’activités du groupe en Europe, notamment pour le global custody, le global collateral management et la banque dépositaire. D’ici à la fin de l’année, ce nouvel établissement prendra en charge les activités de l’agence de Bruxelles ainsi que du néerlandais BNY Mellon Asset Servicing B.V. qui est présente à Londres, Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Breda, Luxembourg et Francfort. Avec un total de bilan de 44 milliards d’euros, la nouvelle filiale sera la sixième banque belge. Elle comptera environ 1.500 salariés en Europe (1.000 pour l’agence de Bruxelles, 500 pour la filiale néerlandaise).

Aberdeen Asset Management has announced that it is still in search of acquisitions, even as it digests its recent acquisition of a part of Credit Suisse, the Financial Times reports.

The Investment Solutions unit at BNP Paribas has posted net subscriptions of EUR13.4bn in first quarter, better than all inflows in 2008 put together (+EUR10.6bn). In asset management, net inflows total EUR8.8bn, ?largely to money market funds, due to the continued high levels of aversion to risk on the part of investors,? says a press statement.These inflows, combined with positive currency effects, have contributed to an increase in assets under management of 1.3% compared with 31 December 2008, to EUR510bn.Revenues for the unit are down 9.2% compared with first quarter 2008, at EUR1.147bn. They have been affected by a decrease in the valuation of assets under management (-6.9% as of 31 March 2008), and of transaction volumes, by a concentration of inflows on short-term products with lower levels of added value, and by write-downs on the equities portfolio in insurance. Excluding this last effect, the decline in revenues comes to only 3.8%, BNP Paribas explains.Due to savings plans underway in all areas, management fees have fallen 3.0% to EUR820m, the bank adds.Pre-tax earnings total EUR302m, compared with EUR430m in first quarter 2008.

Shares in Legg Mason lost 20% in trading on Tuesday after the management firm posted a net quarterly loss of USD325m, 30% higher than one year previously, and cut its dividends heavily, the Financial Times reports. Over the quarter, investors withdrew USD43bn from funds at the firm, and assets have fallen to USD632bn, from over USD1trn in 2007.

As of the end of March, assets at Aberdeen Asset Management had declined to GBP96.3bn, from GBP107.3bn one year previously, and GBP111.13bn as of the end of September 2008. Net outflows in the half to the end of March totalled GBP8.52bn, compared with net subscriptions of GBP0.5bn in the half to the end of March 2008.Earnings fell to GBP192.2m from GBP201.5m, and profits before exceptional items and amortisation of intangibles contracted to GBP33m from GBP47.3m.

The fund platform Allfunds, a joint venture from Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo, has concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with Visual Trader, an affiliate of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), to improve services and develop internationally, Expansión reports. The agreement will make it possible for institutional clients of Allfunds to use Visual Trader to operate on the major markets of the world at no added cost, through the BME affiliate’s network of more than 1,000 brokers. In addition, Allfunds clients will have access to integrated information on their funds and equities.

In first quarter, revenues for the German financial services provider AWD fell 21% to EUR130m. AWD posted the heaviest losses in Great Britain and Austria, two markets which have been particularly heavily affected by the financial crisis, says Swiss Life, the 100% owner of AWD. Earnings at AWD in Germany also contracted by 11%, to EUR85m.Due to these falling earnings, the AWD group has posted a loss before interest and taxes of EUR6m. ?facing a persistently difficult market environment and a deteriorating economic situation, AWD has taken measures to improve the situation in terms of revenues and profits,? says Swiss Life.

3i Deutschland has announced that the group partner and managing director for the German-speaking countries, Stephan Krümmer, has leaft his job as director ?for personal reasons? as of 30 April. He will be replaced by Ulf von Haacke and Peter Wirtz, both group partners in the area of buyouts.

Thomas Müller has resigned ?for personal reasons? from his position as CFO and head of risk management at Swiss Life, and will be leaving the company at the end of June. He will be replaced by Bruno Pfister, CEO, who will simultaneously hold all three positions, Le Temps reports.