P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish asset management sector has posted the best first quarter in its history. According to provisional data published by the professional association Inverco, net inflows totalled EUR9.7bn after the first three months of the 2014 fiscal year. This is a level of performance not seen since 1998. In the month of March alone, net subscriptions totalled EUR2.65bn. In such a context, assets totalled EUR165.08bn as of the end of March, up by 1.7%, or EUR2.69bn compared with February, the 15th consecutive month of growth. Better yet, “in 10 years we have not seen growth in assets on such a scale in a first quarter,”Inverco says. The professional association states that, since December 2012, assets under management in the sector were up by EUR43bn, for growth of 35%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Bartosz Pawlowski, who had previously been global head of emerging market startegy at BNP Paribas, will be joining the hedge fund Finisterre Capital. Pawlowski will serve as manager, from May, according to sources familiar with the matter. The London-based hedge fund, founded in 2002, has USD1.7bn in assets under management, Financial News reports. It is primarily invested in emerging markets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } As part of a development of its Spanish office, Robeco has recruited Pilar Garicano, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as head of the institutional segment, Funds People reports. Garicano will aim to provide promotion and development of investment capacities at Robeco for Spanish institutional investors, and in order to achieve this, it plans to rely on the management centres of the company based in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Boston in the USA, and Hong Kong in Asia.

Un projet européen sur des informations clés que les petits investisseurs devraient recevoir avant de signer un contrat a été conclu le 2 avril entre les négociateurs du Parlement et les représentants du Conseil. Des informations claires, comparables et exhaustives sur tout produit d’investissement devront être fournies dans un document d’informations clés obligatoire, de trois pages en format A4. Le Parlement se prononcera sur ces dispositions lors de la session plénière d’avril à Strasbourg. L’association allemande des gestionnaires d’actifs (BVI) a salué cet accord qui va rendre possible la comparaison entre de très nombreux produits financiers, préalable indispensable à une décision d’investissement.Avant de signer un contrat, tous les petits investisseurs (non professionnels) devraient recevoir un document standard d’informations clés (Key Information Document - KID) de trois pages A4. Ce document les aidera à comprendre et à comparer les produits d’investissement de détail ainsi que les produits d’investissement basés sur les assurances, et à estimer les coûts totaux de leur investissement tout en connaissant leur profil de risque et de rémunération. Ces documents devraient être distincts des produits publicitaires, compatibles avec tout document contractuel contraignant et conçus par une entité clairement identifiable. Les négociateurs du Parlement ont veillé à ce que les investisseurs soient également informés si leurs investissements contribuent à un quelconque projet environnemental ou social. Lorsque cela s’avère nécessaire, les documents d’informations devraient inclure une «mise en garde générale» mentionnant l’avertissement suivant: «vous vous apprêtez à acheter un produit complexe qui pourrait être difficile à comprendre».Les nouvelles dispositions s’appliqueraient à tous les produits d’investissement destinés aux petits investisseurs. Cependant, les nouvelles règles ne s’appliqueraient pas aux cas suivants: les produits d’assurance non-vie; les contrats d’assurance vie lorsque les prestations prévues par le contrat sont payables uniquement en cas de décès ou d’incapacité due à un accident, à une maladie ou à une infirmité; ou encore les dépôts autres que les dépôts structurés et les titres.Les régimes de retraite officiellement reconnus, les produits de retraite reconnus par le droit national comme ayant pour objectif premier de fournir à l’investisseur un revenu pendant la retraite, et les produits de retraite individuels pour lesquels une contribution financière de l’employeur est requise seraient également exclus du champ d’application de la législation.Les documents d’informations clés ne doivent pas induire les investisseurs en erreur. Si un investisseur a pu démontrer que des pertes ont été causées par une information identifiée dans le document, ou si l’information était inexacte ou incohérente par rapport à un document contractuel contraignant, alors le concepteur du produit d’investissement pourrait être tenu responsable en vertu du droit national.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aberdeen Asset Management yesterday laid out the terms of its acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) from Lloyds Banking Group. The operation was carried out on the basis of an exchange of 9.9% of capital in Abereen, and an additional payment of EUR47.7m (a total of about EUR666m). The merger also makes it possible to develop a strategic long-term relationship with Lloyds and its wealth management, insurance, commercial and retail banking activities, the asset management firm says. The addition of a further EUR167bn in assets under management at SWIP gives Aberdeen AM EUR393bn in assets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Assets under management at the Centrum Bank group, composed of Centrum Bank in Vaduz, Centrum Bank Switzerland and Belvédère Asset Management in Zurich, fell by 12.2% in 2013, to a total of CHF7.8bn as of the end of 2013, according to a statement released on 2 April. This development is largely due to a net outflow of CHF868m, though the previous fiscal year ended with a net inflow of CHF268m. Centrum states, however, that the situation has improved in first quarter, with “significant” net inflows in the period, the group says in its statement. Net profits at the group are down 62.6% to CHF1.7m.

As of the end of 2013, there were 9,869 cross-border funds, on sale in at least 3 countries, in the world, compared with 9,436 at the end of 2012, according to PwC, which has recetly published the 2014 edition of “Global Fund Distribution.” This number has been constantly growing since 2001, when there were only 3,260 cross-border funds.Of this total, 6,000 funds are domiciled in Luxembourg, confirming the hegemony of the Grand Duchy in this area, and the dominance of Europe. Ireland is a distant second, with slightly under 2,000 funds.Among the markets that are most sought-after for cross-border funds are Germany, with 7,403 cross-border fund registrations, Switzerland (5,689), Austria (5,382) and France (5,261), out of a total of 76,500 fund registrations worldwide.Although Europe is the largest market for cross-border funds, US firms make the most use of them, with 19% of the companies offering the funds based in the United States. They are followed by British firms (10%) and Swiss firms (7%). French companies are in fourth place, with 4%.In the rankings of the 100 largest cross-border management firms worldwide, Franklin Templeton, which sells its funds in 50 countries, beats out HSBC (43), BlackRock (41), BNP Paribas (38) and Fidelity (37).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The US private equity firm KKR is seeking to raise USD2bn for its second fund dedicated to investment in infrastructure, Bloomberg reveals. The vehicle, entitled KKR Global Infrastructure Investors II LP, has brought in twice as much money as the previous fund, launched in 2012, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the news agency. The fund will invest primarily in renewable energies, pipelines and assets related to the utility and transport sectors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Inflows to ETPs worldwide in the month of March totalled USD12.9bn, largely due to equity funds, which attracted USD15.4bn, according to estimates by BlackRock. Emerging market equity ETPs finished the month of March with outflows of USD1.8bn, but the last six days of the month brought a rebound in subscriptions. However, Japanese and pan-European equity funds went slack after strong inflows throughout the year 2013. Japanese equity ETPs saw outflows of USD0.7bn, the first observed in two years. Pan-European ETPs ended two months of consistent inflows with redemptions totalling a net USD0.9bn. Bond ETPs finished the month under review with outflows of USD3.2bn, due to USD9.5bn in redemptions from ETPs dedicated to US Treasury bonds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UCITS hedge fund index calculated by Alix Capital is up 0.14% from the beginning of the year to 2 April. The best strategies in the period were long/short equity and equity market neutral, which have gained 2.41% and 2.30%, respectively. However, CTA, FX and Emerging Markets strategies are down by 4.13%, 2.41%, and 1.89%, respectively. The index gained 0.19% in the week to 2 April, with the best returns for CTA and Multi-Strategies, with gains of 1.22% and 0.77%, respectively.

Worldwide long-term funds registered net inflows of EUR 888 billion in 2013, thanks to large net inflows across all categories of funds, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).The United States recorded net inflows into long-term funds of EUR 355 billion, with Europe registering net inflows of EUR 313 billion. Overall in 2013 worldwide investment funds attracted net sales of EUR 839 billion, up from EUR 828 billion in 2012. Investment fund assets worldwide stood at a new all-time high of EUR 23.79 trillion at end 2013, reflecting growth of 1.8 percent during the fourth quarter and 7.3 percent since end 2012. In U.S. dollar terms, worldwide investment fund assets totaled US$ 32.81 trillion at end 2013. Worldwide net cash inflows increased in the fourth quarter to EUR 229 billion, up from EUR 182 billion in the third quarter. This increase is attributable to strong net inflows into long-term funds (all funds excluding money market funds) : they recorded net inflows of EUR 193 billion during the fourth quarter, up from EUR 100 billion in the previous quarter. Long-term funds registered increased net inflows on both sides of the Atlantic as Europe attracted EUR 72 billion in net inflows and the United States attracted EUR 87 billion.Equity funds attracted a strong increase in net inflows to EUR 107 billion, up from EUR 61 billion in the third quarter, whereas bond funds experienced a second quarter of net outflows totaling EUR 11 billion, albeit lower than the net outflows of EUR 37 billion in the previous quarter. Balanced funds registered a rise in net inflows to EUR 52 billion, up from EUR 47 billion in the third quarter. Money market funds registered net inflows of EUR 36 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to EUR 81 billion in the third quarter of 2013. This result is largely attributable to positive net sales recorded in the United States of EUR 28 billion, whereas Europe registered net outflows during the quarter of EUR 21 billion. At the end of 2013, assets of equity funds represented 40 percent (compared to 37 percent at end 2012) and bond funds represented 22 percent (compared to 24 percent at end 2012) of all investment fund assets worldwide.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jose Costa Buck has left T. Rowe Price, where he had managed the EUR686m Latin American Equity fund, Citywire Global reports. He will be replaced by Varena Wachnitz, who has worked in the team for over 10 years.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) licenses are growing fast. The Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has announced that it has awarded USD1.45bn in quotas to six foreign financial institutions in the month of March, Asia Asset Management reports. The European Reinsurance Company of Zurich (an affiliate of Swiss Re), the Monetary Authority of Macao and Hua Nan Investment Trust Corporation received respectively USD100m, USD500m and USD50m quotas. Some actors who already have QFII quotas have received additional quotas, such as the Singapore sovereign fund GIC (USD500m), Mega International Investment Trust (USD100m), and lastly, Macquarie Bank (USD200m). As of the end of March 2014, the Chinese’s SAFE awarded a total of USD53.58bn in QFII quotas to 241 financial institutions. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities in March awarded CNY18.9bn (USD3.1bn) in renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) quotas to 17 financial institutions, bringing the total RQFII quotas issued to RMB200.5bn. Among the new firms receiving licenses are UBS Global Asset Management, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong, and Fortune SG Asset Management (HK) which each received RMB1bn in quotas.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nordea Asset Management has announced that it has obtained a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license, issued by the Chinese government. The license authorises Nordea Asset Management to trade shares directly on the Shanghai and Shanzhen stock markets, on the China A-share securities markets, a statement says. Nordea Asset Management has also signed a financial management partnership with Libra Capital Management, a consulting firm specialised in securities on the Chinsese A-share market, based in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Swiss federal financial market surveillance authority (FINMA) on Wednesday announced the opening of bankruptcy proceedings for the company Premier Investment SA. Entities of Premier Investment SA and Premier Investment Asset Management SA have been prohibited from performing any legal actions without the permission of the head of the investigation. One of the products offered by Premier Investment, Arka Trader, which had used an account in Great Britain and an internet platform in Costa Rica to offer spread betting on the direction and volatility of the markets, was subject to a number of doubts, according to the newspaper Le Temps. “It was a high-risk product and these risks were detailed and explained greatly and at length in the documentation which the client signs,” the asset management firm claims.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the AMF asset management firm database, 45 AIFMD licenses had been issued to asset management firms as of 31 March 2014.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Allianz Global Investors has recruited Thomas Hammer as head of regional account management in Frankfurt, Investment Week reports. Hammer joins from Carmignac Gestion, where he had been sales manager. Before that, he worked at Pioneer Investments and Robeco AM. Allianz GI will be responsible for distribution of funds to regional partners such as banks, German savings banks, asset management firms, and independent consultants. He will report to Mathias Müller, head of retail distribution in Germany.

EFG Asset Management (EFGAM) has launched the New Capital Swiss Select Equity Fund, an open-ended equity fund that will invest in 35 to 45 Swiss stocks across all market capitalisations.The new fund will be managed by Urs Beck, a Zurich-based Swiss equity fund manager who recently joined EFGAM. Prior to joining EFGAM, Urs was head of Swiss equities at Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), running both institutional and retail Swiss equities mandates for seven years.The New Capital Swiss Select Equity Fund is the eighth sub-fund in its New Capital mutual fund range – the New Capital UCITS Fund PLC – and joins the New Capital Dynamic European Equity Fund as part of the New Capital portfolio of European funds. The fund is currently open to institutional and qualified investors only but will be available to retail investors pending registration in Switzerland, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden.

More than USD30 billion in economic activity was generated by retirement benefits paid by the State’s pension fund, according to a study released by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). Its benefits created 113,664 jobs throughout California.Investments in California accounted for USD20.7 billion, or approximately 8.9 percent, of the CalPERS portfolio. «This study clearly illustrates that public pensions are one of the most powerful engines that drive California’s economy,» said Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer for CalPERS. «CalPERS investment of $20 billion in California, combined with the benefits paid to our members, truly serves to stimulate our local and State economies and the creation of jobs.»

La Banque centrale européenne a décidé jeudi de laisser son taux directeur inchangé, à 0,25%, et de maintenir à zéro le taux de sa facilité de dépôt. Les économistes, dans leur majorité, n’attendaient pas de geste de l’institution malgré les signes croissants de désinflation en zone euro, et même de déflation dans certains pays comme l’Espagne. La publication lundi d’une inflation en zone euro tombée à 0,5% en mars, son plus faible niveau depuis 2009, a montré les limites de la politique actuelle de la BCE. Mercredi, la directrice générale du FMI, Christine Lagarde, a estimé que «la zone euro a besoin de plus d’assouplissement monétaire, y compris à travers des mesures non conventionnelles», alors que plusieurs années de faible croissance attendent encore la région.

La France va discuter avec ses partenaires européens du rythme de la réduction de ses déficits publics, a déclaré jeudi le nouveau ministre des Finances et des Comptes publics Michel Sapin, au lendemain de sa nomination. «Les objectifs sont des objectifs que nous tiendrons, ça fait partie du cap, il n’est pas question de changer ce cap, a dit Michel Sapin sur France Inter. C’est le chemin, c’est le rythme lui-même qui sera discuté dans un intérêt commun». Avec un déficit équivalent à 4,3% du PIB en 2013, supérieur aux prévisions, la possibilité de passer sous la limite européenne de 3% fin 2015, comme la France s’est engagée à le faire, s’est éloignée.

L’opérateur boursier allemand a assuré que sa filiale Clearstream coopérait avec les autorités américaines, qui enquêtent sur une violation présumée de la législation sur le blanchiment d’argent et les sanctions imposées à l’Iran. «L’enquête est à un stade très préliminaire», précise Deutsche Börse. En janvier, Clearstream avait accepté de verser 152 millions de dollars afin de régler une autre affaire relative à une infraction présumée concernant les sanctions imposées à l’Iran.

La directrice générale du FMI, Christine Lagarde, a estimé que la BCE devrait à nouveau assouplir sa politique pour lutter contre le risque d’inflation faible en zone euro. «La zone euro a besoin de plus d’assouplissement monétaire, y compris à travers des mesures non conventionnelles», a-t-elle estimé à la veille de la publication par le FMI de ses prévisions de printemps.

Les autorités chinoises ont dévoilé deux premières mesures destinées à relancer la croissance du pays, à savoir une baisse d’impôt pour les petites entreprises et l’accélération de la construction de lignes de chemin de fer. La baisse d’impôt sera réalisée en assouplissant le critère qui permet aux petites entreprises de réduire de moitié leur imposition, un dispositif qui s'étalera jusqu'à la fin 2016.

La société de private equity a annoncé l’ouverture de négociations exclusives avec la famille Le Mer concernant la cession de sa participation majoritaire au capital du fabricant finistérien d’échangeurs thermiques gaz à condensation en inox, anciennement Giannoni. Fondateur et président de Sermeta, Joseph Le Mer assure souhaiter en devenir le principal actionnaire. Le dirigeant se prévaut du soutien de Bpifrance et d’Arkéa Capital Partenaire.

La Grèce entrevoit le bout du tunnel après avoir été frappée de plein fouet par la crise de la dette et pourrait à nouveau émettre des obligations d’ici à trois mois, a déclaré hier à Reuters le Premier ministre Antonis Samaras. Les ministres des Finances de la zone euro ont officialisé mardi l’octroi d’une nouvelle tranche d’aide de 8,3 milliards d’euros qui permettra au pays d’honorer ses échéances de mai.

Pour le président de la Fed d’Atlanta, il faut que l'économie américaine affiche une croissance d’environ 3% (en termes annualisés) pour justifier une hausse des taux d’intérêt de la part de la Réserve fédérale au cours du second semestre de 2015.

Le département américain du Trésor a repoussé de dix jours - du 25 avril au 5 mai - la date limite donnée aux institutions financières étrangères pour adresser leurs informations aux autorités dans le cadre du Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca). Notamment celles portant sur les comptes offshore de plus de 50.000 dollars.

Le nombre de conditions que le Fonds monétaire international attache à ses prêts a augmenté au cours des dernières années. En moyenne, 20 conditions étaient assorties à chacun des prêts au cours des deux dernières années, selon l’organisme Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development). C’est davantage que les constatations faites dans deux précédents rapports. Ces conditions portaient dans la plupart des cas sur des éléments sensibles politiquement, tels que des diminutions de salaires dans la fonction publique ou des réformes dans le secteur privé. En 2011, le FMI s'était pourtant engagé à une «conditionnalité parcimonieuse et focalisée sur des enjeux macroéconomiques critiques». En réponse, le FMI a estimé que le rapport d’Eurodad ne prenait pas pleinement en compte l’environnement économique et les circonstances particulières des pays dans lesquels ces conditions ont été posées.

L'afflux inattendu de charbon américain sur les marchés internationaux faute de débouchés locaux bouleverse le marché