UBS has sold its commodity derivative activities to the US firm JPMorgan, according to a statement released on 6 August. The transaction does not include the precious metals sector, nor that for instruments backed by indices. The two partners have agreed that the portfolio market risks will be borne by the US bank.

JP Morgan has recently announced its candidacy for a renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) license in China, Asian Investor reports. The asset management firm also reopened its JP Morgan China Pioneer A-Share fund in June, with USD710m in assets, after receiving a QFII quota for USD150m in May.

The Pan-European real estate investment manager AEW Europe has further strengthened its platform with the appointment of Tim Hennes as head of asset management Germany and Central Europe. He will be based in Düsseldorf and will report to Stephan Boenning, head of Germany, who has taken on additional responsibility for Central Europe. His promotion sees him managing a team spread across 5 European countries; Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Germany.Germany and Central Europe are growing and important regions representing more than 16% of the EUR17.6bn of assets that AEW Europe manages across Europe.

The German reinsurer Munich on 6 August announced at the release of its results for the half that it is aiming for returns on its investment portfolio of 3.3% for the year 2013 as a whole. In first half, annualised returns totalled 3.2%. the portfolio is massively invested in bonds, with 87% of the group’s total investments, totalling EUR189bn. Equities represent 3.5% of the portfolio, compared with 3.4% in 2012, and real estate accounts for 2.4%. This percentage remains unchanged compared with the end of December 2012. In second quarter, Munich Re has posted net profits down 34.5% year on year to EUR529m, largely affected by the cost of the floods in central Europe in June.

Two organisations involved in the promotion of sustainable development, Ceres and CCR (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) have published documents which aim to help investors include sustainable development in their investment decisions. ICCR states that the primary responsibility for controlling greenhouse gas emissions rests with political leaders, but that investors can also influence the strategies of industrial sector firms through activist engagement.

The Hedge Fund Association announced on August 6 the appointment of global wealth consultant Hannah Shaw Grove to its High-Net-Worth Advisory Board.Hannah Shaw Grove is one of the world’s leading authorities on the high-net-worth population. She is a founder and executive editor of Private Wealth, a publication for high-end service professionals with ultra-affluent clients. She is also the author of 10 books on topics including family offices, hedge funds and wealth management.

With estimates of US 2Q13 growth, July’s employment numbers and a Federal Reserve statement looming, investors took their foot off the pedal going into August as they waited for clues about the future of the Fed’s current quantitative easing program.Overall flows into equity funds during the week ending July 31 totaled USD6.6 billion, a four week low, according to the latest EPFR figures. Japan equity funds posted outflows for the first time since early January, with USD383 million redeemed. Although the outlook for corporate earnings remains good investors are starting to focus on the reforms Shinzo Abe’s government may or may not make. Bond and money market funds recorded net outflows of USD1.55 billion and USD10.29 billion respectively. Spanish bond funds absorbed almost USD300 million. It was not, however, enough to offset redemptions from Europe regional, Germany, Switzerland and UK Bond Funds.

M&G Investments on Tuesday announced that its distribution shares will now be available to retail investors in France for 14 funds (see list below). The funds concerned are (for a more detailed list, see the attached statement): Equities: M&G Global Basics FundM&G Global Dividend FundM&G Global Real Estate Securities FundM&G Pan European Dividend FundBonds:M&G European Corporate Bond FundM&G European High Yield FundM&G Emerging Markets Bond FundM&G Global Macro Bond Fund – Euro AM&G Global Macro Bond Fund – Euro A-HM&G High Yield Corporate Bond FundM&G Optimal Income FundMulti-assets :M&G Dynamic Allocation FundConvertibles:M&G Global Convertibles Fund - Euro AM&G Global Convertibles Fund - Euro A-H

The independent asset management firm Brown Advisory has announced the launch of a fund dedicated to US small caps, the US Small-Cap Blend Fund. The new fund will be integrated into the product range in UCITS format domiciled in Dublin. The fund provides investors with access to a very wide range of US businesses, combining growth and value strategies from Brown Advisory dedicated to small caps.

ETPs have returned to net inflows in July, with slightly over USD44bn worldwide, according to BlackRock and ETFGI, who both published statistics on the sector on Tuesday. In June, these products suffered net redemptions of USD5.2bn. July also becomes the most important month in terms of inflows since September 2012, BlackRock observes. Equity ETPs were the category which attracted the most money, with USD39.3bn counted by BlackRock and USD41.62bn according to ETFGI. However, gold ETPs continued to post outflows, of -USD2.6bn in July, BlackRock points out. Since the beginning of the year, redemptions have totalled USD30.9bn from these gold products, at a time when ETPs overall posted net subscriptions of USD143.3bn. In July, SPDR ETFs takes the top spot in terms of net subscriptions, with USD17.8bn, according to ETFGI. But since the beginning of the year, Vanguard stands out, with USD36.17bn. iShares (BlackRock group) is in second place, both in July and since the beginning of the year, with USD10.9bn and USD32.47bn, respectively. As of the end of July, assets in ETPs totalled about USD2.160trn.

The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has fined Société Générale EUR500,000 for shortfalls in its auditing system as part of depository control activities. The French bank had already been fined EUR280,000 a few days ago for its asset management activities. “The difficulties with with the control mission sought to retrace the real number of OPCs whose statutory ratios were effectively controlled serve to confirm the weaknesses of procedures and controls in use by Société Générale,” a verdict released on 5 August states. “In light of the number of asset management firms and OPCs for which it serves as depository, Société Générale does not have the human and material resources required for its depository activity, which must be carried out with diligence, loyalty, equity, and respect for the primacy of the interests of OPCs, investors or shareholders and the market as a whole.”

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined UBS approximately USD50m for failing to comply with legislation concerning the structuring and sale of collateralized debt obligations (CDO), the SEC announced in a statement on Tuesday. UBS did not disclose rebates of USD23.6m at the time the credit default swaps (CDS) which were used as collateral for the securities were purchased, the SEC explains. Instead of transferring the rebate to the CDOs, the bank held onto the money, deceiving investors with respect to the cost of buying the CDS, the SEC says. The sum to be paid by UBS consists of the USD23.6m amount plus taxes of USD10.8m, interest of USD9.7m, and a fine of USD5.7m.

The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have announced in parallel on Tuesday, 6 August, that they have filed civil suits against Bank of America (BofA), which they accuse of “failing to reveal determining risks” related to residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and of “misrepresenting the mortgages” on which they were based. “Bank of America structured, offered and sold” financial securities backed by mortgages which had been issued to insolvent borrowers, bot presented to investors as “safe” investments, the Department of Justice claims. The total volume of sales was USD855m. BofA is accused of having “lied to investors about the risks to which real estate lending was exposed,” the structure of the securities it was selling, “of making false statements after having intentionally not carried out the necessary research with respect the quality of the loans, of placing disproportionate amounts of high-risk loans issued by third parties into these structured products,” the Department of Justice states. Losses for investors due to the mortgage derivative products concerned “are estimated to exceed USD100m,” according to the Department of Justice. The SEC cites a figure of USD120m in total.

J O Hambro Investment Management (JOHIM) on August 5 announced the completion of its acquisition by Bermuda National Limited (BNL) and management, following approval from the FCA. JOHIM was previously owned by the Credit Suisse Group. JOHIM is a London-based specialist investment manager which focuses on discretionary portfolio management for private clients, charities and institutions as well as offering a suite of specialist managed investment funds. As at June 30th 2013 JOHIM had assets under management of approximately GBP 3.9 billion. Hugh Grootenhuis, CEO of JOHIM, said “To reflect the change in ownership, we are currently in the process of developing new branding, details of which we will announce shortly. There are no plans to change our people, business model or investment process.”

The global macro systematic manager Cantab Capital has recruited Adam Glinsman as managing partner, Investment Europe reoprts. Glinsman will begin in his new role in September. He has worked at Lansdowne Partners, where he was COO and a partner.

Aviva Investors has hired Abigail Herron as head of engagement in the global responsible investment team, a newly created position. She joins Aviva Investors from Co-operative Asset Management where she headed the corporate governance function, leading engagement, analysis and policy across environmental, social and governance issues including remuneration, gender and diversity, the governance of sustainability, finance and the built environment. She also oversaw the sustainability aspects of the CIS external property fund portfolio. She sits on the UKSIF Leadership Committee, the FTSE4Good Banking Sector Working Group, the Travis Perkins Non-Executive Environmental Advisory Forum and the 30% Club Investor Group.In her role at Aviva Investors, Abigail will develop strategy for the firm’s engagement covering all relevant asset classes across equity, fixed income, sovereign debt, property, private equity and multi manager portfolios. She will lead and support Aviva Investors fund manager engagement with senior management across all holdings and asset classes. She reports to Steve Waygood, chief responsible investment officer.

Chris Crawford, head of sales and marketing at Jupiter, will be leaving the firm at the end of September, after seven years there, Investment Week reports. He will be returning to Australia.

ING Investment Management has recruited Shek Chee Seng as its new CEO for Singapore, Asian Investor reports. Shek joins from CIMB Securities, where he had been vice president for retail dealing in Singapore. Shek replaces Steven Billiet, who has left ING. The change comes at a time when the future of the Asian activities of ING is uncertain, Asian Investor comments.

Pimco in June launched a fund which invests in bonds denominated in Asian local currencies via its Sicav domiciled in Dublin, Money Marketing reports. The Pimco Asia Local Bond is managed by Ramin Toloui and Roland Mieth.

L'activité n'augmenterait que de 0,1% au troisième trimestre selon la Banque de France, après 0,2% au deuxième, les commandes aux entreprises baissant légèrement

Le Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites a souhaité prendre part aux côtés de la Caisse des Dépôts et des Consignations et de la CNP à l’initiative de place rassemblant 18 grands assureurs et destinée à accroître le financement des entreprises françaises de taille moyenne. Il a ainsi fait part de son intention d’investir 120M€ dans les fonds obligataires de prêts à l'économie NOVO. Dans son intervention du 10 juillet 2013, à l’occasion de leur lancement par le ministre de l'économie et des finances M. Pierre Moscovici, Alain Vasselle Président du Conseil de Surveillance du FRR a tenu à rappeler les deux principales raisons qui ont conduit le FRR à cette décision. D’une part, celle-ci s’inscrit pleinement dans la logique de son allocation stratégique, très diversifiée et sécurisée. Le FRR, comme de nombreux investisseurs, recherche des produits présentant des rendements plus élevés que ceux des obligations gouvernementales des pays développés mais cette recherche de rendement ne saurait s’accomplir en dehors d’un cadre de risque maîtrisé. De ce point de vue, les fonds NOVO présentent un bon équilibre entre les rendements et les risques pris grâce à la qualité des dettes et des projets de développements des entreprises qu’ils permettront de financer. « Nous avons en effet une allocation d’actifs très diversifiée destinée à procurer le meilleur rendement possible ajusté du risque et à servir le passif de 2,1 milliards d’euros versés chaque année à la CADES. Cette allocation nous a bien protégé des chocs financiers en 2011, elle nous a permis de réaliser une très bonne performance en 2012 et elle continue à bien jouer son rôle de lissage des mouvements, parfois violents, des marchés financiers. Les fonds dans lesquels nous avons décidé d’investir améliorent encore cette diversification de nos actifs. » Cette décision participe également d’une volonté de contribuer au financement de l'économie française. Ce second objectif s’inscrit pleinement en cohérence avec l’objet même du FRR qui est de contribuer au financement du régime public de retraite par répartition. Au sein de son allocation diversifiée, un accent est volontairement mis sur le financement de l'économie française : détentions d’actions, en particulier dans les ETI et PME, d’obligations d’entreprises de toutes tailles et, aujourd’hui, intention d’investir dans des parts de fonds finançant l'économie. Enfin le FRR est sensible à l’accent porté sur la dimension socialement responsable lors de la sélection des entreprises financées par les fonds. L’investissement socialement responsable est en effet au coeur de la stratégie financière du FRR. Présent à tous les niveaux du processus d’investissement, du choix de la société de gestion au suivi de ses investissements, il est encore renforcé en 2013 par l’activation de nouveaux mandats ISR sur les petites et moyennes capitalisations de la zone euro, et de mandats investissant dans des thématiques liées à l’environnement et au développement durable, ainsi que par le renouvellement de son marché de prestataire d’analyse extra-financière.

Le géant suisse de l’alimentation Nestlé a sélectionné PIMCO pour gérer le fonds Robusta Global Credit Bond. PIMCO va collaborer avec Robusta Asset Management, qui gère la trésorerie de Nestlé et son fonds de pension, pour assurer la gestion du fonds Robusta Global Credit Bond. PIMCO a été officiellement retenu le 30 juillet, avec effet à partir du 31 juillet. Le fonds Robusta Global Credit Bond a été créé en décembre 2004. Le rapport 2012 du groupe Nestlé indique que Robusta supervise actuellement 7,1 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion. Robusta Asset Management (8,8 milliards de francs suisses à fin 2012) avait déjà sélectionné Schroders en février 2012 pour gérer un fonds sur les marchés émergents.

Le déficit commercial des Etats-Unis s’est nettement réduit en juin de 22,4% par rapport au mois précédent, pour tomber à 34,2 milliards de dollars, sous l’effet conjugué d’une hausse des exportations de 4,1 milliards à 191,2 milliards et d’un recul des importations de 5,8 milliards à 225,4 milliards, selon des chiffres publiés par le département du Commerce.

L’Allemagne ne doit pas adopter des objectifs trop ambitieux en matière d’assainissement de ses finances publiques car elle risquerait de fragiliser la croissance de la première économie européenne, dont dépend celle de l’ensemble de la zone euro, a averti le FMI. Dans sa revue annuelle de l'économie allemande, le Fonds maintient sa perspective d’une croissance de 0,3% cette année et salue le léger assouplissement de la politique budgétaire décidé par Berlin.

Les commandes à l’industrie ont augmenté de 3,8% en juin, leur plus forte progression depuis le mois d’octobre, tirées par une reprise de la demande au sein de la zone euro et par la signature d’importants contrats, selon les statistiques publiées par le ministère de l’Economie. Le recul de mai a en outre été révisé fortement, à -0,5% au lieu de -1,3% initialement annoncé.

Le déficit commercial de la France s’est établi juste sous le seuil de 30 milliards d’euros au premier semestre, en baisse de 16% par rapport au six premiers mois de 2012, a indiqué la ministre du Commerce extérieur Nicole Bricq. La ministre, dont les propos sont rapportés dans Les Echos ce matin, souligne que, hors importations d'énergie, le déficit des six premiers mois est en recul de 40%.

Le ministre de l’Economie Pierre Moscovici s’est dit d’accord avec le FMI, qui a exhorté la France à prendre garde à ne pas casser la reprise annoncée par une consolidation budgétaire trop brutale. «A cet égard, le projet de loi de Finances pour 2014, qui sera présenté en septembre, poursuivra l’effort de remise en ordre des finances publiques tout en soutenant la croissance. Il privilégiera les économies de dépenses par rapport aux hausses de prélèvements obligatoires», a déclaré Pierre Moscovici. Le projet de loi, qui sera présenté en septembre, devrait toutefois inclure des hausses d’impôts pour un montant de 6 milliards d’euros, sur un effort total de 20 milliards d’euros.

C’est finalement Raghuram Rajan, principal conseiller économique au ministère des Finances depuis août 2012 et ancien économiste au FMI, qui a été nommé hier par le gouvernement indien au poste de gouverneur de la banque centrale du pays (RBI) pour un mandat de trois ans. Il succédera à Duvvuri Subbarao, qui quittera ses fonctions le 4 septembre après avoir dirigé la banque centrale durant cinq ans. Il aura la lourde tâche de s’attaquer à la chute vertigineuse que connaît la roupie qui est tombée hier à 61,64 contre dollar, son plus faible niveau historique.

Le ralentissement de la contraction du PIB italien à -0,2% au deuxième trimestre a permis à l’euro de poursuivre son rebond face au dollar

A l’occasion de la publication aujourd’hui de son rapport trimestriel sur l’inflation qui scellera le sort de son programme de rachats d’actifs, la Banque d’Angleterre devrait, sous l'ère de son nouveau gouverneur Mark Carney, également répondre à Londres en reliant sa politique monétaire à l’évolution des variables économiques, telles que le taux de chômage ou la croissance du PIB.