La société de gestion Amplegest a converti son fonds Amplegest Midcaps, lancé en 2007 sous la forme juridique de FCP (fonds commun de placement), en sicav, rapporte Investment Europe. Selon le site, le fonds géré par Augustin Bloch-Lainé, gère environ 133 millions d’euros. Cette conversion suit celle déjà opéré par d’autres sociétés de gestion française comme Financière Arbevel ou Flornoy & Associés Gestion

Robeco has launched Robeco Global FinTech Equities. The fund invests in stocks of listed companies which benefit from the increasing digitization of the financial sector. Robeco Global FinTech Equities is a benchmark-agnostic fund and holds a concentrated portfolio of equities. Companies in the proprietary constructed investment universe will be part of one of the three following segments: today’s winners, Fintech enablers and challengers. Today’s winners include companies that already have a competitive advantage in this space, FinTech enablers include companies that facilitate the digitization trend, and challengers are the companies that could be the future winners. This spread across segments ensures that the fund is diversified over different drivers and risk characteristics.Patrick Lemmens, who also manages Robeco New World Financial Equities, and Jeroen van Oerle, both part of Robeco’s Trends Investing team are the portfolio managers of the fund. The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and is after registration available in Robeco’s key markets according to investor demand. The Trends Investing team manages approximately EUR 3.2 billion (end September 2017) and the current Trend product range includes: Robeco Global Consumer Trends Equities, Robeco New World Financial Equities, Robeco Global Industrial Innovation Equities, Robeco Property Equities, Robeco Global Growth Trends Equities and Rolinco.Robeco adds that the current name of the fund, Robeco Global FinTech Innovation Equities, will be changed to Robeco Global FinTech Equities per December 2017.

In the third quarter of 2017 the outstanding amount of shares/units issued by investment funds other than money market funds was EUR269 billion higher than in the second quarter of 2017. This development was accounted for by EUR209 billion in net issuance of shares/units and EUR60 billion in price and other changes, according to the lasts statistics of the ECB. The annual growth rate of shares/units issued by investment funds other than money market funds, calculated on the basis of transactions, was 7.7% in the third quarter of 2017. Within the assets of investment funds other than money market funds, the annual growth rate of debt securities was 8.5% in the third quarter of 2017, with transactions amounting to EUR109 billion during this period. In the case of equity, the corresponding annual growth rate was 4.9%, with transactions of EUR99 billion in the third quarter of 2017. For holdings of investment fund shares/units, the annual growth rate was 10.1% and transactions in the third quarter of 2017 amounted to EUR41 billion. In terms of the type of investment fund , the annual growth rate of shares/units issued by bond funds was 9.5% in the third quarter of 2017. In the same period transactions in shares/un its issued by bond funds amounted to EUR80 billion. In the case of equity funds, the corresponding annual growth rate was 4.5%, with transactions of EUR50 billion in the third quarter of 2017. For mixed funds, the corresponding figures were 8.5% and EUR60 billion.The outstanding amount of shares/units issued by money market funds was EUR1,154 billion, EUR18 billion higher than in the second quarter of 2017

The Swiss UBS group has announced that its Shanghai-based affiliate has launched the UBS (CN) China Equity Private Find Series 1, making it the first foreign asset management firm to offer onshore equities in China. The fund, which will invest primarily in the A equity market, is available both to institutional and high net worth investors (HNWI), a statement says.

The Allianz group on 17 November announced that it has signed a partnership with TH Real Estate to create ERES APAC II – China Outlets, a closed real estate fund, denominated in US dollars and dedicated to premium outlet shopping centres in China. The transaction has been executed by Allianz Real Estate, the real estate asset management affiliate of the German insurer. “This operation is an integral part of the strategy at Allianz to allocate about 5% of its global portfolio to the Asia Pacific region,” the group says in a statement. The ERES APAC II – China Outlets fund plans to raise USD750m in capital (EUR640m) to acquire two shopping centres, namely Florentia Village Jingjin (located between Beijing and Tianjin) and Florentia Village Shanghai. Allianz will be the principal investor, and will control 30% of the platform, while the remainder will be controlled by long-term institutional investors, including TH Real Estate on behalf of TIAA. TH Real Estate will act directly as a fund manager. The RDM Asia company, a member of the Italian Fingen group, will manage the properties. The Chinese platform marks an expansion of the relationship between Allianz and TH Real Estate and an extension of their partnership in outlet shopping centres, following similar investments in Europe in 2004 and the United Kingdom in 2008.

La Française Real Estate Partners on 20 November announced that it has signed the lease for the first Aldi supermarket in Paris, at a property it manages on behalf of an institutional investor. The property is located at 129 boulevard Davout (20th district of Paris), directly next to a new student residence. The Aldi group is a major player in retail distribution, with 8,000 locations. It will develop a new concept adapted to city centres, in a total area of 980 m². Customers will have 95 parking spaces situated immediately next to the shop. Opening is scheduled for 22 November.

Laurent Sécheret, previously director of marketing and communication at La Financière de l’Echiquier, has joined Candriam Investors Group (Candriam) since 20 November, NewsManagers has learnt. Sécheret will serve as Global Head of Communications, succeeding Marion Leblanc-Wohrer, who left the asset management firm several months ago. Sécheret joined La Financière de l’Echiquier in January 2015. He began his career in 2001 at the Axa group in the communications department, as head of internal communciations, and then as international press spokesperson. In January 2010, he joined Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM), first as head of internal communications and press relations, and then as head of internal and external communications. In late 2012, he was promoted to head of communications at the Axa IM group.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has hired Neil Johnson as head of US institutional business development. He joins BNPP AM from RobecoSAM, where he worked for nearly seven years and served as executive director, head of sales US as well as head of global clients and marketing. He was also a member of the executive committee. Prior to joining RobecoSAM he worked for Credit Suisse Asset Management, AIG Global Investment Group and Neuberger Berman.In his role, Neil Johnson will lead BNPP AM’s US business development strategy with asset owners in all market segments and assist the firm with its US product strategy. He will report to Daniel Klein, CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management, North America, and will be based in New York.

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) on 20 November announced the recruitment of Roger Miners as chief marketing officer. He succeeds Anthony Finan, who will dedicate his time to personal projects outside the BNP Paribas group. Miners will be based in London and will report to Sandro Pierri, global head of client group, the global sales and marketing arm of BNPP AM. Miners had most recently been chief marketing officer at Allianz Global Investors, where he served in a variety of senior positions in sales and marketing over a 15-year period. Miners previously served at CEO UK and global sales manager at RCM/Allianz Global Investors, after leading the product specialist team. Miners holds degrees in business management (1998) from London Business School and in investment management (2003), and attended an executive programme at Harvard Business School (2009).

In an interview with the Swedish website Realtid.se, Martin Gilbert, co-CEOof Aberdeen Standard Investments, says that the first step after the merger is integration. This will tate three years. He also poiints out that he has always said he wanted the company to be larger in the United States. The firm is also planning to grow in Japan, Australia and Sweden, organically.When asked about potential layoffs in Stockholm, Gilbert says that there will be none. “We want to grow in Stockholm. Stockholm is going well for us. Northern Europe is a large market for us. (...) Stockholm, Denmark and Finland are doing well.”Gilbert also says that fund management firms have been facing the most difficult period in their history over the past 10 years. “There are a lot of headwinds,” he says. He cites MiFID 2, which will cost the company USD20-25m.

Solactive is announcing the launch of the Solactive-ProShares Bricks and Mortar Retail Store Index, the first public index composed of leading brands in the U.S. retail sector that rely principally on in-store sales. The index is exclusively licensed to ProShares. The starting universe for the index includes companies domiciled and listed on a U.S. stock exchange with a market capitalisation of at least USD500 million and 6-month ADV of at least USD1 million. To be included in the index, at least 50% of global revenues must come from retail operations, of which 75% must be generated from in-store sales. As of November 15, the index was composed of 56 companies that included department stores, supermarkets and sellers of apparels, consumer electronics and home improvement items. Examples of constituents comprise brands such as Macys, Sears, Gap, and Tiffany.

Most international investors estimate that Europe has become a more attractive place to invest, which can be expected to attract more engagements, according to a survey commissioned by the European venture capital association Invest Europe. The Global Investment Decision Makers Survey was undertaken by Ipsos Mori at the commission of Invest Europe, covering 260 American, Chinese, German, British and French corporate directors.Three quarters of investors in China, and 71% of investors in the United States estimate that Europe is a more attractive investment destination than five years ago. Nine Chinese respondents out of ten feel that investors will increase their investment in Europe in the next five years, while 74% have this opinion of the United States. Lowering taxes should be a priority for European political leaders who want to attract more investment, according to 43% of investors in France, 38% in the United States, and 37% in China. The need for better incentives for investment is considered very important by 37% of US and Chinese respondents, and 26% of German respondents. When investors are asked to compare Europe, the United States and China as investment destinations, 74% of respondents rank Europe first due to its commitment to sustainable development and the environment. Nearly three quarters of respondents feel that sustainability is an important factor in their decision-making. Brexit does not appear to have a very significant impact on investment decisions. 58% of respondents in China sayt that they are more likely to invest in the United Kingdom in the next five years due to Brexit, compared with 47% for the European market. Most US investors do not foresee any change in their investment strategies in the United Kingdom or Europe due to Brexit. However, 55% of investors in Germany, and 52% in France say that the chances they may invest in the United Kingdom are reduced as a result of Brexit.

It gets a lot of attention, but bitcoin, launched in 2009, does not dominate the cryptocurrency market. According to the first complete study of the entire cryptocurrency market between 2013 and 2017, no virtual currency showed any major selective advantages compared with the others, and the destiny of all cryptocurrencies remains uncertain."Evolutionary dynamics of the cryptocurrency market,” by Abeer ElBahrawy, Laura Alessandretti, Anne Kandler, Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, Andrea Baronchelli, appears in Royal Society Open Science. The study reveals that investors in cryptocurrencies, a market which represents about USD100m in capitalisation as of June, appear to be allocating all of their money without taking into account factors such as the prices of cryptocurrencies or the properties of the underlying technologies. By adopting an ecological perspective, the authors demonstrate that a simple evolutionary model can produce different key empirical results, such as distribution of cryptocurrencies (1,469 cryptocurrencies were launched between April 2013 and May 2017, and these are appearing and disappearing constantly), the market capitalisation, ro the turnover rate for the first positions. The results suggest that the evolution of the cryptocurrency market has hitherto been controlled by “neutral” forces, in which no cryptocurrency has shown any strong selective advantage over the others. “Bitcoin has regularly fallen when faced with other currencies which compete with it, and users do not appear to have paid much attention to technological progress, so far. However, our results present a scenario in which investors choose the cryptocurrencies they invest in proportionately on the cryptocurrency market, and nothing else. Bitcoin is not the only one, nor is it invincible, and we think that our study represents a first step toward better comprehension of the cryptocurrency market,” comments the coordinator of the study, Andrea Baronchelli, a professor of mathematics at City, University of London.

Jupiter Asset Management has signed a distribution agreement in Italy with Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, a structure from Deutsche Bank dedicated to high net worth clients. This will allow clients to access 19 sub-funds from the asset management firm registered for sale in Italy.

La reprise économique en zone euro est «solide et généralisée», mais la région a toujours besoin d’une «ample» dose de soutien monétaire car l’inflation reste trop faible, a déclaré lundi le président de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), Mario Draghi. S’exprimant devant le Parlement européen à Bruxelles, le banquier central a ajouté que l’inflation «devait encore donner des signes convaincants de rebond auto-alimenté» malgré l’amélioration de la conjoncture. L’inflation en zone euro s’est établie à 1,4% sur un an en octobre et devrait provisoirement diminuer vers la fin de l’année, en raison essentiellement de la baisse des prix de l'énergie par rapport à 2016, a indiqué Mario Draghi. La BCE a un objectif d’inflation tout juste inférieur à 2%. «Les améliorations constatées sur le marché du travail mettront encore du temps à se traduire par une croissance plus dynamique des salaires», a-t-il ajouté.

La Commission électorale britannique a annoncé lundi l’ouverture d’une enquête sur Vote Leave Limited, qui a mené la campagne officielle en faveur du Brexit lors du référendum du 23 juin 2016 sur l’appartenance du Royaume-Uni à l’Union européenne. La commission soupçonne que des infractions aux règles sur le financement des campagnes électorales ont été commises. De précédentes vérifications menées l’hiver dernier n’avaient pas abouti. Mais la commission fait état de «nouvelles informations» justifiant l’ouverture d’une enquête.

Les 27 ont tiré au sort entre Dublin et Paris, arrivés ex aequo au troisième tour. Amsterdam récupère l'Agence européenne des médicaments.

Le négociateur en chef de l’Union européenne (UE) pour le Brexit, Michel Barnier, a affirmé lundi que l’UE était prête à proposer à Londres l’accord commercial «le plus ambitieux» après le Brexit, à condition que le Royaume-Uni respecte les conditions du divorce. «Si nous parvenons à négocier un retrait ordonné et à établir des règles du jeu équitables pour l’avenir, notre future relation aura toutes les raison d'être ambitieuse», a affirmé M. Barnier lors d’un discours devant un think tank à Bruxelles. Ces conditions sont notamment les conséquences de la séparation pour l’Irlande ou le règlement financier. Le président du Conseil européen, Donald Tusk, a donné jusqu'à début décembre au Royaume-Uni pour avancer sur ces dossiers prioritaires.

Janet Yellen quittera le conseil des gouverneurs de la Réserve fédérale (Fed) dès que Jerome Powell aura été officiellement investi pour lui succéder à la présidence de la Fed, a-t-elle annoncé lundi. Le mandat de Janet Yellen en tant que présidente de la Fed expire en février, mais elle pourrait techniquement continuer à exercer son mandat distinct de gouverneur jusqu’en 2024. Conformément à la tradition, Janet Yellen écrit cependant dans une lettre adressée au président américain Donald Trump qu’elle démissionnera quand Jerome Powell aura prêté serment. D’ici là, elle s’engage à faire «tout son possible pour garantir une transition en douceur».

L’indicateur avancé du Conference Board aux Etats-Unis a crû de 1,2% en octobre (à 130,4), après avoir augmenté de seulement 0,1% en septembre et de 0,4% en août. Constitué de dix composantes, dont les premières demandes d’allocations chômage, les commandes aux usines et l'évolution de l’indice S&P 500, l’indicateur a vocation à avertir des évolutions notables de l'économie et à lisser une partie de la volatilité de chaque composante. «L’indicateur a nettement progressé en octobre, grâce à la dissipation des conséquences des ouragans, a expliqué Ataman Ozyildirim, directeur de la recherche économique de l’institut de conjoncture. La croissance de l’indicateur, couplée à la robustesse de ses diverses composantes, laisse augurer de la poursuite d’une croissance soutenue aux Etats-Unis durant la période des fêtes et en début d’année prochaine.»

BlackRock, numéro un mondial de la gestion d’actifs, a décidé de confier à des machines le soin de déterminer certains choix d’investissements via la création de nouveaux fonds indiciels cotés (ETF). Ces ETF laisseront un programme informatique choisir et classer les actions, montrent des documents remis à la SEC, le gendarme des marchés financiers aux Etats-Unis. Ces fonds, baptisés «iShares Evolved», qui relèveront de la gestion active, cibleront de grands ensembles sectoriels: la finance, la santé, les médias, les biens de consommation courante, les biens de consommation discrétionnaire et la technologie. «Le système de classification permet à une entreprise d'être classée dans plusieurs secteurs plutôt que d'être assignée uniquement à un seul secteur, reflétant la nature multidimensionnelle de ces entreprises. [...] Il faut s’attendre à ce que les éléments composant un secteur évoluent de manière dynamique avec le temps pour refléter des changements de modèles d’entreprise», écrit BlackRock dans ses documents. BlackRock poursuit ses efforts pour s’appuyer sur des produits relevant de sa propre propriété intellectuelle, plutôt que de suivre des références conçues par des fournisseurs d’indices comme S&P ou MSCI.

Primonial Partenaires, société dédiée aux conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants (CGPI), vient de franchir le cap du milliard d’euros de collecte brute pour l’année 2017.

Laurent Sécheret, jusque-là directeur marketing et communication au sein de La Financière de l'Echiquier, a rejoint Candriam Investors Group (Candriam) depuis le 20 novembre.

La Commission électorale britannique a annoncé lundi l’ouverture d’une enquête sur Vote Leave Limited, qui a mené la campagne officielle en faveur du Brexit lors du référendum du 23 juin 2016 sur l’appartenance du Royaume-Uni à l’Union européenne. La commission soupçonne que des infractions aux règles sur le financement des campagnes électorales ont été commises. De précédentes vérifications menées l’hiver dernier n’avaient pas abouti. Mais la commission fait état de «nouvelles informations» justifiant l’ouverture d’une enquête.

La reprise économique en zone euro est «solide et généralisée», mais la région a toujours besoin d’une «ample» dose de soutien monétaire car l’inflation reste trop faible, a déclaré lundi le président de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), Mario Draghi. S’exprimant devant le Parlement européen à Bruxelles, le banquier central a ajouté que l’inflation «devait encore donner des signes convaincants de rebond auto-alimenté» malgré l’amélioration de la conjoncture économique.

Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) a recruté Freddie Woolfe en tant que responsable de l’investissement responsable et de la bonne conduite («stewardship»). L’intéressé vient de Newton Investment Management où il était analyste « investissement responsable », couvrant principalement les secteurs de la santé, des technologies, médias et communications. Il a aussi travaillé chez Hermes Equity Ownership Services en tant que directeur associé, responsable de l’engagement au Royaume-Uni. Freddie Woolfe, qui a rejoint la société le 13 novembre, travaillera avec les équipes de gestion de fonds de la société et sera rattaché à Richard Buxton, le responsable des actions britanniques. « Freddie jouera un rôle clé dans la détermination et le pilotage du travail de « stewardship » d’OMGI (…). Il sera en outre responsable de la supervision d’un programme mondial de vote pour OMGI. Il travaillera avec des gérants pour s’assurer que les décisions d’investissement sont prises dans le meilleur intérêt des clients et sont alignées avec le code de stewardship d’OMGI qui encourage les gérants à prendre en considération l’impact des sujets environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance dans les rendements potentiels des investissements », commente un communiqué.

Charlemagne Capital cherche à limiter les flux dans le deuxième fonds de Dominic Bokor-Ingram and Stefan Böttcher, deux mois seulement après avoir appliqué des restrictions au fonds frontières géré par le duo, rapporte Citywire Selector, citant Citywire Deutschland. La société de gestion va appliquer des frais de 5 % aux nouveaux investisseurs dans le fonds Charlemagne OAKS Emerging and Frontier Opportunities. Le fonds a dépassé les 200 millions d’euros d’encours.