Le Fonds d’investissement franco-russe (RFIF) a été lancé le 1er novembre à Moscou par CDC International et le Fonds russe d’investissements directs (RDIF) en présence du Premier ministre français, Jean-Marc Ayrault, et du Premier ministre russe, Dmitri Medvedev, indique un communiqué de la Caisse des dépôts.Doté d’un milliard d’euros, le RFIF doit permettre de renforcer les opportunités de coopération économique entre les deux pays en drainant des investissements attractifs dans des secteurs et des classes d’actifs très diversifiés, contribuant ainsi à la croissance et à la prospérité des économies françaises et russes.

L’Agefi rapporte que selon des investigations ordonnées par la Finma, l’autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés financiers, Josef Ackermann, l’ancien président du conseil d’administration de Zurich n’a pas exercé de «pression indue» ou de conduite inappropriée vis à vis de Pierre Wauthier, le directeur financier de la compagnie d’assurances qui s’est donné la mort à son domicile de Zoug en août dernier. Dans une note laissée par Pierre Wauthier, ce dernier évoquait des relations conflictuelles avec l’ex-patron de Deutsche Bank, lequel a démissionné trois jours après le drame pour préserver la réputation du groupe.

Miklos Vidak , COO de JP Morgan asset Management en Suisse, a quitté la société pour rejoindre un autre groupe bancaire, selon finews. Il ne sera pas remplacé à poste égal. A partir de janvier 2014, ses fonctions opérationnelles seront assurées par Philipp Pfenniger, country head Suisse. Les responsabilités dans le domaine du marketing seront partagées entre Nadja Huber pour la Suisse germanophone et Céline Cantatore pour la Suisse romane.

Valiant et Swiss Life ont annoncé le 5 novembre la signature définitive de l’accord de partenariat annoncé début août. Les deux établissements financiers suisses ont désormais rédigé et signé un contrat-cadre en ce sens. Suite à ce partenariat, Swiss Life a acquis une participation de 1,9 % dans Valiant. Valiant et Swiss Life sont «des partenaires solides dans les domaines de la banque de détail, de la prévoyance et de l’assurance en Suisse». Les deux entreprises entendent exploiter leurs compétences complémentaires pour offrir ensemble à leurs clients «un conseil encore plus complet en matière de financement, de placement ainsi que de prévoyance et d’assurance», précise un communiqué.Ce partenariat s’appuie sur les compétences traditionnelles spécifiques des deux entreprises. «Ce partenariat assure à nos clients un conseil et un suivi complets», explique Martin Gafner, CEO par intérim de Valiant. «Contrairement aux modèles de bancassurance, chacun des établissements conserve ses compétences fondamentales». En d’autres termes, les collaborateurs Valiant sont spécialisés dans les questions de financement et de placement, tandis que les conseillers en prévoyance de Swiss Life sont chargés d'élaborer des solutions de prévoyance complètes. Le partenariat sera mis en oeuvre graduellement à compter du 1er janvier 2014. Globalement, il s’articule autour de : la transmission mutuelle de solutions hypothécaires ; la transmission par Valiant de prestations de Swiss Life Immopulse (soutien à la vente, l’achat et lors de la transformation de biens immobiliers) ; la transmission par Swiss Life de solutions de placement de Valiant ; la distribution par Valiant de solutions de prévoyance Swiss Life destinées aux personnes physiques et morales ; la distribution de nouvelles combinaisons de solutions bancaires, d’assurance et de prévoyance.Des combinaisons de solutions bancaires et de prévoyance viennent compléter les offres de services des partenaires. Thomas Bahc, Directeur de Multichannel Management chez Swiss Life Suisse a ainsi déclaré : «Dans le cadre du partenariat, nous entendons développer et introduire conjointement de nouveaux produits tenant compte des besoins les plus divers des clients en matière de sécurité, d’acquisition de la propriété, de constitution de patrimoine et de prévoyance. Pour souligner l’importance et la pérennité du partenariat, Swiss Life possède désormais une participation de 1,9 % dans Valiant».Outre la collaboration dans le domaine de la distribution de produits, il est prévu que des sites communs soient mis en place. Les équipes de conseil de Valiant et Swiss Life assureront le suivi de la clientèle sur une sélection de sites sous un même toit et avec une offre de conseil commune, en conservant toutefois la séparation entre les différents segments de produits. Le partenariat entre Valiant et Swiss Life devrait renforcer la qualité du conseil et de la satisfaction des clients en exploitant les synergies communes. Une éventuelle expansion géographique du modèle sera testée suite à l’analyse des résultats de la phase pilote.

Le Groupe Mirabaud & Cie a annoncé la nomination au poste de directeur de la succursale zurichoise de René Hermann et ce afin de «continuer à développer et renforcer de manière ciblée (ses) domaines d’activité que sont la banque privée, les services aux gérants de fortune externes et de l’asset management (gestion d’actifs)». René Hermann a précédemment occupé les fonctions de directeur du service banque privée au sein de Valartis Bank AG et de Maerki Baumann & Co AG, où il était principalement responsable du développement et de la consolidation des différents métiers en contact avec la clientèle, ainsi que des services de gestion de portefeuille et des activités de conseils.

Le groupe UBS envisage de créer une filiale dans laquelle pourraient être logées plusieurs activités dont le département Retail & Corporate et la gestion de fortune en Suisse, selon la NZZ qui a repéré quelques lignes sur ce projet dans le dernier rapport trimestriel de la banque.Il s’agit d’une décision stratégique d’UBS qui ne veut plus être «too big to fail», souligne le quotidien suisse. A noter toutefois que les décisions définitives sur les contours de cette nouvelle structure n’ont pas encore été prises.

Union Bancaire Privée a confié à Geneva Capital Management, société basée à Milwaukee, son mandat actions américaines croissance, est en mesure de révéler Citywire. La société de valeurs moyennes remplace Calamos Investment, qui gérait UBAM Calamos US Equity Growth depuis décembre 2003. Le fonds sera renommé UBAM - GCM Midcap US Equity Growth.

McKinley Capital, an asset management firm based in Alaska, is launching three funds in Europe and the United Kingdom. The three products, in UCITS format, are all growth equity funds. The first is an emerging market fund, the second a dividend fund, and the third is a global fund.

SAC Capital Advisors, the hedge fund run by Steven Cohen, has pleaded guilty to insider trading and agreed to pay a fine of USD1.8bn, the Financial Times reports. Investigators are continuing to investigate transactions by the founder of SAC Capital, however, which suggests that uncertainty still surrounds him. The hedge fund has agreed to stop its activities for third parties. The fine includes USD1.2bn to settle criminal charges and USD616m to settle civil accusations. It becomes the largest fine ever paid for fraud.

Willem Jillema, manager of the Luxembourg-based Robeco Momentum Equities I Eur fund, has announced that for the product, launchd on 22 August 2012 (with assets limited to EUR3.5m), it is using a new quantitative model to select equities with positive momentum, while controlling risks by limiting transactions, although this creates some slight added volatility. The objective for the fund, which has received a sales license for Germany, is to profit from the market momentum anomaly and the factoral premium associated with it.Since the launch of the fund, cumulative performance as of 30 September totals 14.73%, or 344 basis points more than the MSCI World Index (net return), but the fund, whose currency of reference is the euro, has no benchmark currency.Currently, the largest positions in the portfolio are Johnson & Johnson, Roche Holding, Gilead Science, ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Bayer and Dürr.CharacteristicsName: Robeco Momentum Equities I EURISIN code: LU0803250884Front-end fee: maximum 0.5%Total expense ratio: 0.94%

BaFin has awarded a sales license for Germany to the Global SmartBeta Equity sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Axa WF, an equity fund managed by Rosenberg. The fund, aimed at institutionals (I shares) and large institutionals (ZI shares) aims to benefit over the long term “in a diversified, effective and inexpensive manner” from rising equity markets. The objective is to generate outperformance of 100 to 200 basis points over a complete cycle with a volatility 80% of that of the market. The management team will work to avoid speculative bubbles and to limit losses in declining periods (see Newsmanagers of 26 February 2013).Axa IM states that it has about EUR3.1bn in assets under management in smart beta strategies in including EUR1.2bn in bonds and EUR1.9bn in equities.The characteristics of the fund are available as a pdf attachment.

The Pimco Total Return Fund, managed by Bill Gross, has lost its title as the largest fund in the world to the Total Stock Market Index Fund from Vangard, the Financial Times reports. This is a sign of the disaffection of investors with bonds in favour of equities. The Vanguard fund now has assets of USD250bn, while the Pimco flagship fund has seen its assets fall to USD248bn as of the end of October, following further redemptions.

The European socially responsible fund sector has reached assets of EUR108bn as of the end of June 2013, a gain of 14% year on year, according to the report “Green, Social and Ethical Funds in Europe,” of which Plus24 has obtained a copy. The study takes into account 922 funds, compared with 884 the previous year. In geographical terms, France remains the largest market for SRI retail funds, but its share has fallen to 7%, with EUR38bn. The United Kingdom comes next (EUR10.5bn), followed by the Netherlands and Switzerland (EUR10bn). Italy, with its 12 SRI funds, represents EUR2.3bn, 2% more than in 2012.

Avec l’agrément de la BaFin, Commerz Real (34 milliards d’euros) a cédé pour un montant non divulgué sa filiale de fonds immobiliers institutionnels Commerz Real Spezialfondsgesellschaft mbh (CRS) à Internos Global Investors. La vente avait été conclue dans son principe 30 juin (lire Newsmanagers du 1er juillet).CRS détient un portefeuille immobilier de 68 actifs en Europe (bureaux, commerce, hôtels et bâtiments logistiques) correspondant à un volume de 1,6 milliard d’euros. La transaction s’accompagnera du transfert de 17 collaborateurs de CRS chez Internos.Andreas Muschter, président du directoire de Commerz Real a précisé que la société qu’il dirige continuera d’être présente dans l’espace institutionnel, mais sous d’autres formes, comme par exemple des «club deals» ou des investissements dans les énergies renouvelables et les infrastructures. D’autre part, la participation majoritaire dans Amprion (qui exploite le réseau haute tension de RWE) sera conservée dans le portefeuille de Commerz Real.CRS, en revanche, est spécialisée sur des actifs de petite taille qui lient beaucoup de ressources, de sorte qu’elle est moins rentable que d’autres activités de Commerz Real. Mais cette focalisation convient parfaitement pour Internos, qui se concentre déjà sur les fonds institutionnels.

The Blackstone group has acquired a 40% stake in the SCP company, which manages shopping centres in China, Finance Asia reports. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but a specialist in the sector values Blackstone’s stake at about USD400m. ICBC International, for its part, has acquired a 6% stake in SCP. The investment in SCP represents the largest investment by Blackstone in shopping centres in the Asia-Pacific region.

The British asset management firm Jupiter now has a team of four people in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports. Jupiter is seeking a fifth person, as it is preparing to occupy permanent offices in the city-state, and is preparing distribution agreements.

Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced plans to launch a fund managed by its multi-asset class team in first quarter 2014, aimed at subscribers to defined-contribution retirement savings plans, known as the Enhanced Diversification Growth Fund (EDGF).The objective will be to generate returns similar to those from equities over a cycle, but with lower volatility. To do this, the management team will use a larger number of strategies than for traditional “growth” investment approaches.Louise Kay, head of UK institutional business, adds that SLI will launch a support service intended to help employers and consultants inform and educate members of defined-contribution savings plans about the brand.

The hedge fund Naya estimates that the share price of Essilor, in which it holds a short stake, is worth EUR60, compared with nearly EUR77 currently, due to inadequate organic growth and rising competition in the future, the firm announced at an annual hedge fund conference, the Sohn Conference, in London, Les Echos reports. The young fund, launched in 2012, has been one of the emblematic launches of the past 18 months in equities. Its founder, Masroor Siddiqi, is a former employee of the activist fund The Children’s Investment fund (TCI). Naya, which has over USD1bn, is supported by the highly influential investor Blackstone, which has invested its own money. The hedge fund is enthusiastic, however, about the luxuries group Salvatore Ferragamo, a share which it feels is worth at least EUR35, compared with EUR25 currently.

According to FundWeb, Barclays Wealth & Investment is to cut 100 private banker jobs, 35% of its private banker worforce, as the bank looks to further streamline its wealth management services. However, the bankers have been incentivised to stay until February 2014.The job cull is partly due to the acquisition of Gerrard 12 years ago when Barclays inherited a number of clients with portfolios under GBP500,000. As a result of the restructure, the clients will be transferred to a section of the banked called «Private Clients» were they will receive a «lighter touch» service.

Salaries for junior professionals working in the hedge fund sector increased for the third consecutive year, to USD335,000 for 2013, according to the most recent edition of the Glocap Hedge Fund Compensation report, the International Business Times reports. The average salary for an analyst at a moderately-well performing hedge fund firm was inflated by bonuses equivalent to up to 10%. The most experienced professionals in the sector also received significant raises, with portfolio managers at the largest firms pocketing an average of USD2.2m per year. Bonuses for experienced professionals ranged, however, from -5% to +20%. For the hedge fund sector overall, the average income has increased by a range of 5% to 10%, in a sign of investor confidence.

Jos Ter Avest, who joined ABN Amro in 1985 and is currently head of trading and compensation, will on 1 December become CEO of the private bank ABN Amro MeesPierson, Fonds Nieuws indicates.Avest will replace Frans van Lanschot, who becomes senior adviser to the board of directors, and who will concentrate on managing relationships with major bank clients.

Cotizalia rapporte que BlackRock détient des actions espagnoles de l’IBEX 35 pour un montant de 9 milliards d’euros. Le gestionnaire américain est présent dans toutes les sociétés de cet indice phare, avec des participaztion supérieure à 3 % dans huit d’entre elles. Les plus importantes sont celles de 5,18 % dans Grifols et de 4,97 % dans Amadeus. Les six autres sont Dia (3,14 %), Iberdola (3,04 %) Banco Sabadell et Técnicas Reunidas (3,01 %), Telefónica (3,89 %) ainsi que Viscofan.Par ailleurs, BlackRock détient 1,55 % du BBVA, 1,92 % du Santander, 0,85 % dans Bankinter et 0,34 % dans CaixaBank.

In third quarter 2013, euro money market funds shows higher allocation towards top-held ‘F1+' banks and quasi-sovereigns, amid a portfolio rating mix dominated by ‘F1' issuers, and a lengthening of portfolios’ average maturity to compensate for low yields, according to Fitch Ratings’ 3Q13 quarterly report. Fitch-rated European MMFs denominated in euros have on average about half of their portfolio assets concentrated in 20 entities, led by Rabobank (AA/F1+) and other highly rated banks, such as Nordea Bank, HSBC, Svenska Handelsbanken, or Standard Chartered Bank (all rated AA-/F1+).. ‘F1'-rated banks, such as Barclays, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, saw the biggest fall in fund allocation over the past year, although they remain among the top held names, notably as repurchase agreement counterparties. Yet, the average portfolio rating mix is now showing a predominance of investments rated ‘F1', or equivalent, at 54% of portfolios on average, up from 35% until June this year. This is due to the downgrade of France’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating to ‘AA+' in July, followed by the downgrade of the most widely held French banks to ‘F1' from ‘F1+'.

Legal & General Investment Management has obtained permission to launch a Sicav with three sub-funds in Luxembourg, Financial Times fund management reports. Five other sub-funds are expected to follow. The British firm will license the funds in 12 other European countries. This marks the first incursion by L&G IM outside the United Kingdom in 177 years. The firm will target high net worth private investors.

Following the integration of the private banking activities of Lloyds, as of 1 November, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) is hoping to grow on the British market. “We don’t have any foreign acquisition plans, except perhaps in London, We are going to take advantage of the integration of Lloyds to strengthen our presence in the United Kingdom. It is currently difficult to provide growth for a Swiss bank without a presence on the European market,” the CEO of UBP, Guy de Picciotto, has told Agefi Switzerland, and has confirmed that the firm has not made a bid for BSI.

Mirabaud & Cie has announced the appointment of René Hermann as head of its Zurich branch, to “continue to expand and strengthen our core business lines of wealth management, asset management and intermediation.” Hermann was previously head of private banking at Valartis Bank and at Maerki Baumann & Co, where he was responsible for the development and expansion of their front office, as well as for advisory and portfolio management services. He has a Swiss Federal Diploma from the Advanced College of Business and Management (HWV) (today Graduate of University of Applied Sciences in Economic and Business Administration) and is a graduate of the Swiss Banking School. Hermann began his career as a private banker with Credit Suisse in Zurich.

Miklos Vidak, COO of JP Morgan Asset Management in Switzerland, has left the firm to join another banking group, according to finews. He will not be replaced in the position. From January 2014, his operational functions will be taken over by Philipp Pfenniger, country head for Switzerland. His responsibilities in the area of marketing will be split between Nadja Huber for German-speaking Switzerland and Céline Cantatore for French-speaking Switzerland.

DBX Advisors, which is owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), as well as Harvest Global Investment, the Hong Kong-based firm in which DeAWM controls 30% is this week in New York expected to launch the first offshore ETF under RQFII mandates (RMB qualified foreign institutional investor), Asian Investor reports. According to a Hong Kong manager, this would be a less costly means to access the European market, since creating a London office is too expensive. According to various sources, the db x-trackers Harvest China Fund, which replicates the CSI 300 index, may be listed on the New York Stock Exchange on 6 November.

Axa Investment Management would like to develop its activities with third-party clients clients, Joseph Pinto, global head of markets and investment strategy, stated before the weekend at a weekly press conference. Pinto did not quantify the objectives of the firm, as the developments planned will depend on the geographical situation and the structure of the markets considered. Currently, captive assets under management represent 67% of total assets, compared with 33% for external clients, of which 19% are for institutional investor clients. In Europe, Axa IM is targeting a market share of about 2% in the United Kingdom. Currently, its retail market share has slightly over 2%, but its institutional market share is lower than 0.5%. In Asia, although activities are having difficulty getting started in India, joint ventures in Korea and China are functioning very satisfactorily. Inflows to joint ventures with Kyobo in Korea and Shanghai Pudong development Bank in China have totalled nearly EUR1bn since the beginning of the year, distributed equally between the two firms, Pinto states.

The UBS group is planning to create an affiliate in which several activities could be housed, including the Retail & Corporate department and wealth management in Switzerland, according to NZZ, which has detected a few entries related to the project in the latest quarterly report from the bank. This is related to a strategic decision by UBS not to be “too big to fail,” the Swiss newspaper says. However, it should be noted that final decisions concerning the contours of this new structure have not yet been taken.