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14/10/2013

Good results for asset management at JP Morgan in third quarter

Asset management activities at the JP Morgan group in third quarters brought net profits of USD476m, up 7% compared with third quarter 2012, but doen compared with second quarter 2013 (USD500m). Income from private banking was up 9% to USD1.5bn, while retail was up 36% to USD722m, but the institutional unit was down 2% to USD553m. Assets under management increased 12%, or USD139bn, year on year to a total of USD1.5trn, due to inflows and market effects. Assets under administration, for their part, were up 9% or USD56bn to USD706bn. The JP Morgan group nonetheless finished the quarter with net losses of USD880m due to significant legal expenses, though it earned profits of USD5.7bn in third quarter 2012. Legal costs in the quarter before taxes totalled USD7.2bn.
14/10/2013

Retirement assets at Wells Fargo up 11% in third quarter

The wealth management, brokerage and retirement unit at Wells Fargo in third quarter earned net profits of USD450m, up by USD16m or 4% compared with second quarter 2013, and USD112m or 33% compared with third quarter 2012. The assets of wealth management of clients increased by 5%, to USD209bn, while assets in institutional retirement plans are up 11% to USD288bn. Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRA), for their part, were up 10%, to USD326bn.
14/10/2013

Assets up by more than USD70bn for four major asset managers

As of 30 September, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Legg Mason and AllianceBernstein posted total assets of USD2.6912trn, which represents an increase of USD71.2bn, or 2.71%, in one month.The largest increases, at USD25.8bn and USD25.4bn, to USD745.5bn and USD844.9bn, respectively, were registered by Invesco and Franklin Templeton, For their part, Legg Mason and AllianceBernstein saw increases in their assets under management of USD11bn to USD656bn, and USD9bn, to USD445bn.
14/10/2013

Pimco alters investment policy for Total Return Fund

According to a statement from Pimco, the allocation of the largest bond fund in the world, the Total Return fund, managed by Bill Gross (about USD250bn), has been retouched, Handelsblatt reports. Real estate represented only 35% in September, compared with 36% in August, while bonds from developed countries other than the United States have been increased to 4% of the portfolio from 2%. However, allocation to US government bonds has remained unchanged.
14/10/2013

Financial analysts desert Paris for the City

Analysts and traders at French brokers have been transferred to London, and recruitments are being made often abroad recently, in the City and elsewhere, Les Echos reports. This phenomenon has not yet spread to all French players, but several examples are striking. Exane BNP Paribas is undoubtedly the most emblematic example of this trend. The broker has developed considerably in London in recent years: the Paris office is home to only 30% of the 115 employees in equity reseach (cash equity), commpared with 605 of 105 in 2007. However, 65% of analysts are in the City. The distribution is globally the same for stock market order execution (including sales). Acording to several market sources, Société Générale also has a strong presence in the United Kingdom. Equity analysts are also said to predominate there, according to information conveyed by Thomson Reuters, but the bank does not wish to offer any details about its research personnel.
14/10/2013

Invesco lists Chinese A-shares ETF

Since 10 October, the NYSE Arca platform has been listing the PowerShares China Ashare Portfolio (ticker: CHNA), which Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLE claims is the first ETF to allow exposure to the Chinese A-class equity market, investing primarily in securities filtered from the SGX FTSE China A50 index. It is an actively-managed product, using a quantiative strategy. The portfolio may be invested in instruments other than futures on the SGX FTSE A50 index, such as ETFs of the largest companies in the A-class equity universe and directly in A-class shares in proportions allowed under Chinese law.The total expense ratio is estimated at 0.50%.
14/10/2013

State Street offers ETF to combat interest rate increases

To meet demand from investors who are increasingly concerned about the risk of rising interest rates, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has launched a very short-term bond ETF, in a niche in which net subsriptions have already reached USD9.4bn in the first nine months of the year, according to Morningstar.This time it is an actively-managed ETF, the SSgA Ultra Short Term Bond ETF (ticker: ULST), listed on the NYSE Arca platform since 10 October, which offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of bonds with ultra-short term durations. The product allows clients to earn additional returns without sacrificing liquidity, says James Ross, senior managing director and global head of SPDR ETFs at SSgA.The fund charges fees of 0.20%.
14/10/2013

Hedge funds not interested by individual clients

Hedge fund and private equity firms have not rushed to sell their businesses to high net worth individuals, although they are now allowed to promote their products to US investors, the Financial Times observes. “The Goliaths in our industry are not going to advertise,” agreed Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, a hedge fund of funds. “They think it is gauche and déclassé, and their partners already have their private planes and their beachside mansions in the Hamptons, so why disrupt the business model?”
14/10/2013

Barings promotes frontier markets equity fund

The Baring Frontier Markets Fund, launched on 24 April, now has assets of USD24bn, and the British asset management firm is beginning to actively promote the Irish-registered UCITS fund on the European continent. The Baring Asian Frontier Markets fund, for its part, already has USD500m in assets.Michael Levy, principal manager of the new fund, pointed out on Friday in Paris that although frontier markets are a little more “expensive” than emerging markets in terms of price/earnings (11.2% compared with 9.5% P/E) and price to book value (P/B of 2.2 compared with 1.3) in 2014, they are far more profitable in terms of dividend returns (5.5%, compared with 3.3%) and returns on owner’s equity (ROE), at 20.1% compared with 13.3%.Additionally, the portfolio of 55 positions includes a lot of shares that are not in the MSCI Frontier Markets TNR index, which is considered too narrow, and Levy points out that 70% of performance comes from the stock-picking.CharacteristicsName: Baring Frontier Markets FundISIN code: IE00B8BVS817 (A shares)Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 2%Minimal initial subscription: USD5,000
14/10/2013

Newton liquidates European equity fund

According to Fundweb, Newton Investment Management (BNY Mellon group) on 13 December decided to liquidate its equity fund Newton European Higher Income, launched on 30 January 2007, and managed by Rajesh Shant since March 2012. The British-registered product has only GBP25.6m in assets.
14/10/2013

Bankinter plans to take exclusive control of Mercavalor

Funds People understands that Bankinter will soon complete its acquisition of the three quarters of capital in the broker Mercaval which it does not already own. The firm is planning to buy the stakes of 24.99% held by Bankia and Banco Cooperativo Español as well as the 25.01% held by Banco Popular.Bankinter is planning to appoint Javier Bollaín, who is head of the asset management firm Bankinter Gestión de Activos (EUR5.6bn in assets) since 1989, as head of Mercaval. Bollaín’s former position may now fall to Miguel Artola, chief investment officer since 2011.
14/10/2013

Fidelity will invest heavily in its distribution platform

According to reports in Investment Week, Fidelity is planning to invest GBP250m in the next five years to develop its British open architecture platform. As a part of this programme, the asset management firm is planning a new programme focused on fund managers, entitled Access, which will aim to promote products from these asset management firms to clients worldwide, with marketing and client relationship efforts in exchange for access to less costly share classes.Member groups will have easier access to end users, as the Fidelity platform has 1.1 million retail clients in the United Kingdom, and 10,000 member advisers.Fidelity will also scale up its marketing activities for users of its platform in the United Kingdom, which includes FundsNetwork, the personal investment operation and the defined contributions unit.
14/10/2013

Kames Capital scales up distribution team

Laurence Chapman has left RBS to join the European distribution team at the British firm Kames Captial (EUR61bn in assets), which would now like to extend its activities to the German and Austrian markets. The new arrival will report to Richard Dixon, head of wholesale, continental Europe. She will work in the two German-speaking markets in tandem with Barnaby Woods.Currently, five funds in the range have a sales licene for Germany and Austria: Kames Absolute Return Bond, Kames High Yield Global Bond, Kames Investment Grade Global Bond, Kames Strategic Global Bond and Kames Global Equity Income.
14/10/2013

European investors continue to prefer physical ETFs

The European ETF market is continuing to give its preference to physical replication, and several major providers are now trying to get in tune with this major trend, IndexUniverse reports. According to data from Deutsche Bank, 23 European providers out of 35 give the priority of physical ETFs, of which 17 offer only physical replication funds. In Europe there are now 762 synthetic products, compared with 550 physical products. Physical ETFs have posted inflows of abou EUR80bn since 2011, compared with barely EUR10bn for synthetic ETFs in the same period. Assets in physical replication ETFs represent over EUR173bn, compared with slightly over EUR90bn for synthetic vehicles. Amundi, Source, Ossiam and ComStage are primarily providers of synthetic products, while major actors such as Vanguard, iShares and HSBC have more than 99% of their assets in physical replication ETFs. Deutsche Bank and Lyxor, which are highly engaged in the synthetic segment, are now developing their ranges of physical replication products. Lyxor now offers 16 physical replication ETFs, whose assets under management total EUR2.2bn.
14/10/2013

Credit Suisse AM recruits from Alken

On 14 October, Fairouz Bouhmida joins the wholesale fund distribution unit at Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) in Zurich as vice president. She will be responsible for relationships with German- and Italian-speaking clients. She had previously been head of distribution in the German-speaking countries for the British boutique Alken AM, and will now report to Reto Eisenhut, director/head of third party retail clients for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, who in turn reports to Anton Commissaris, head of wholesale clients Swtizerland/EMEA.
14/10/2013

British insurers revise regulations for unit-linked accounts

The association of British insurers (ABI) will make improvements to its recommendations for unit-linked accounts, following an enquiry by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which found “specific” shortfalls at certain insurers concerning monitoring of policies, Investment Week reports. The FCA did not detect signs of systemic risks which threaten the entire sector, but the anomalies identified may disadvantage investors in these policies.
14/10/2013

Asia-Pacific: market fragmentation slows international development

The priority for asset management actors in the Asia-Pacific region is expansion into new markets in the region, but this development is running up against a major obstacle in the fragmentation of markets, a study carried out by State Street in partnership with Longitude Research, covering more than 200 managers in the asset management sector in the region finds.The suvey reveals that 42% of managers surveyed predict growth into new markets in the region, and that 298% of respondents even say that this is their number one engagement. This priority for new markets is particularly strong in Japan (52%), Hong Kong (285), China (23%) and Australia (also 23%).China is one of the most cited targets, but frontier markets are also among the possibilities envisaged, including Malaysia and Thailand.But these expansion plans are, according to a majority of respondents, running up against market fragmentation and the diversity of regulations, which impede product innovation. “The region is more fragmented than any other in the world in terms of size, geoography, language, culture, regulations and taxation,” says Damien Barry, senior vice president, Offshore Funds Services at State Street.The regional initiative launched recently for a passpot for Asian funds is a move in the right direction but its contours are still blurry. Meanwhile, 51% of respondents surveyed say that major adaptations have to be made to develop solid risk management strategies adapted to each market.
14/10/2013

Inflows severely impacted by US budget impasse

The budget impasse in the United States drove investors away from all US asset classes in the first few days of October. Retail outflows from Us equities reached levels not seen in nearly six months. Europe, Japan, and to a lesser extent China, profited from this development, but not to the extent of offsetting the massive redemptions observed in the United States.In the week to 9 October, equity funds overall posted a net outflow of USD6.45bn, according to statistics communicated by EPFR Global. European equity funds, however, continued to attract investors, while Japanese equity funds have posted a net inflow of over USD1bn for the third time in five weeks.Bond funds finished the week with redemptions of USD1.82bn. European bond funds attracted nearly USD800m, one third of which went to Spanish bond funds.Money market funds, for their part, saw outflows of USD23.3bn.
14/10/2013

UBS Global AM replaces head of bond management

Following the resignation of Rob Gambi, who is expected to join a competitor, UBS Global Asset Management has promoted John Dugenske as head of fixed income. Dugenske was already head of North American fixed income.In his new role, Dugenske will report directly to the Australian John Fraser, chairman & CEO. He will continue to be based in Chicago.
14/10/2013

Invimit, asset management firm for public real estate assets, launched

The Bank of Italy has granted a license for Invimit, the asset management firm founded by the minister of the Economy to value and sell the real estate assets of the italian government, Bluerating reports, citing Reuters. Invimit, founded in May, is led by Vincenzo Fortunato, head of Giulio Tremonti’s office at the Treasury in Silvio Berlusconi’s government. The asset management firm will receive an initial allocation in 2013 equivalent to EUR800m.
14/10/2013

Aquila Capital goes into private equity

As an addition to its product range aimed at retail invetors, the independent asset management firm Aquila Capital has opened a new office and to this end, in early October, recruited Christian Brezina and Jan Peters, who will be responsible for creating a private equity segment. Brezina becomes head of private equity investments. He had previously been director of the private equity and multi-asset class sectors at Blue Capital and WealthCap, where he had most recently been responsible for assets of EUR1.3bn. Peters was a member of Brezina’s team at Wealthcap, where he was responsible for the management of existing funds and the structuring and design of new funds, as well as the selection of partner funds.
14/10/2013

Jupiter recruits for distribution in Germany

Peter Peterburs, who has spent six years at BlackRock in Germany, four of them as vice president, retail business, for the North of the country, has joined Jupiter Asset Management as sales manager for the same region. He will report to Andrej Brodnik, head of sales for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.Max Günzl, who had been European sales director at Jupiter, has been promoted to business development & oerpations director.
14/10/2013

L'inflation à son plus haut niveau en sept mois en Chine

Le taux d’inflation annuel en Chine a atteint en septembre son plus haut niveau en sept mois, à 3,1%, les mauvaises conditions météorologiques ayant entraîné à la hausse les prix des denrées alimentaires. Les prix alimentaires ont augmenté de 1,5% en septembre par rapport à août, en raison de sécheresses et d’inondations dans plusieurs régions.
14/10/2013

Le prix Nobel d'économie revient à trois américains

Le prix Nobel d'économie a été attribué aux américains Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen et Robert Shiller. «Les lauréats ont posé les bases de la compréhension actuelle des prix des actifs. Celle-ci repose en partie sur les fluctuations du risque et les attitudes envers le risque, et en partie sur les biais comportementaux et les frictions des marchés», souligne l’Académie royale des Sciences de Suède.
14/10/2013

Vers une amélioration des données sur la dette des collectivités locales

Dans un rapport sur les finances publiques locales diffusé ce lundi, la Cour des compte émet plusieurs recommandations pour faciliter l’accès au crédit des collectivités locales. Elle propose entre autres d’adapter les exigences en matière d’information et de données des états financiers sur la dette, en les modulant selon le seuil démographique des collectivités et des établissements publics locaux concernés et en simplifiant ou en aménageant les états qui peuvent l’être eu égard à la nature des emprunts concernés. Cet effort passerait également par la mise en place de statistiques globales au niveau national, notamment en termes de maturité et d’exposition au risque de taux.
Photo: PHB
14/10/2013

Coface place les Etats-Unis sous surveillance positive

L’assureur-crédit Coface a assorti sa note A2 pour les Etats-Unis d’une surveillance positive, à l’occasion de sa révision des risques pays, malgré la paralysie budgétaire. «Notre scenario principal à ce stade est que cette impasse devrait être évitée in extremis, si bien que la consommation privée et l’investissement resteraient robustes, malgré d’éventuelles nouvelles coupes budgétaires», estime Coface. En revanche, l’assureur crédit a placé sous surveillance négative la note de deux autres pays, le Brésil et la Thaïlande, tous deux notés A3, en raison de problèmes structurels pour le premier et de l’endettement des ménages pour le second.
14/10/2013

Athènes prépare la reconduction d'obligations

La Grèce prévoit de combler partiellement un déficit de financement l’an prochain via la reconduction volontaire (roll-over) d’environ 4,5 milliards d’euros d’obligations arrivant à échéance en mars prochain que le gouvernement a émises pour soutenir ses banques, a indiqué le ministère grec des Finances. Le déficit de financement est estimé par la Commission européenne à 3,8 milliards d’euros pour 2014, tandis que le FMI le voit à 4,4 milliards d’euros.
14/10/2013

Les investisseurs s'inquiètent du budget

Le ministre de l’Economie Pierre Moscovici doit s’exprimer aujourd’hui lors d’un colloque sur le projet de loi de Finances et le financement des PME alors que plusieurs amendements au budget adoptés par les députés en commission des finances sont contestés par les investisseurs.

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