Le président de la Fed de Richmond considère que la banque centrale américaine doit mettre rapidement un terme à son programme d’achats obligataires et que cette issue est désormais «en vue». Dans un entretien au WirtschaftsWoche, il pointe le niveau relativement bas de l’inflation et une baisse plus rapide que prévu du taux de chômage aux Etats-Unis.

La Chine prévoit de lancer un audit national des emprunts publics afin de déterminer l’étendue des mauvaises créances pouvant peser sur l’économie. Une demande a été faite en ce sens par le Conseil des affaires de l’Etat au bureau national d’audit. Une première inspection en 2010 avait révélé 10.700 milliards de yuans (1.280 milliards d’euros) d’engagements.

De nouveaux prêts octroyés au pays ou un retour précoce sur les marchés avec une obligation à court terme figurent parmi les options qui devraient être débattues par le gouvernement grec avec les créanciers internationaux en vue de combler un déficit de financement de 3,8 milliards d’euros attendu l’an prochain dans le cadre du plan de renflouement.

Selon les médias nippons, le chef du gouvernement japonais a demandé à son équipe d'étudier les conséquences sur l'économie et sur les prix de quatre scénarios de réformes possibles de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée, dont la hausse a déjà été entérinée l’an dernier par le précédent gouvernement. Shinzo Abe a démenti avoir donné pour l’heure de telles instructions (lire aussi page 2).

Dans une lettre à la directrice générale du FMI, le ministre brésilien des Finances a demandé à l’institution de Washington de revoir la manière dont il calcule la dette brute du pays, estimant que sa méthodologie gonfle l’indicateur. Selon Guido Mantega, ce problème a déjà été abordé à plusieurs reprises avec les équipes du FMI au cours des dernières années.

Les normalisateurs comptables internationaux - l’International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) et le Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) - ont dévoilé le projet de création d’un groupe de travail conjoint destiné à finaliser la convergence vers un standard commun sur la reconnaissance du revenu. Ce groupe aura pour tâche de faire remonter les informations des utilisateurs.

CIC a fait état vendredi d’un rendement de 10,6% de son portefeuille mondial en 2012, signant ainsi un retour aux bénéfices après la contre-performance du fonds souverain chinois enregistrée en 2011. Près de 64% de ses actifs ont été gérés par des tiers l’an dernier, alors que cette proportion n’était que de 57% en 2011.

Un accord a été scellé samedi pour mettre un terme au contentieux commercial qui opposait la Chine à l’Union européenne sur les exportations de panneaux solaires chinois sur le Vieux Continent. Après six semaines de tractations, les négociateurs sont tombés d’accord sur un prix plancher, proche de celui du marché, pour ces exportations chinoises dont le montant a atteint 21 milliards d’euros l’an passé. «Je suis satisfait de l’offre d’engagement de prix présentée par les exportateurs de panneaux solaires chinois», a commenté Karel De Gucht, commissaire européen au Commerce. De source européenne, on précise que le prix négocié est de 0,56 euro par watt, alors que la Chine a vendu des panneaux à des prix allant jusqu'à 0,38 euro par watt. La Commission européenne menaçait d’alourdir ses tarifs douaniers à compter du 6 août, avec une taxe portée à 47% contre 11,8% depuis le mois de juin.

Fundweb rapporte que JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) a décidé de liquider huit compartiments luxembourgeois dans le cadre d’un toilettage important de sa gamme de fonds. Ces produits seront liquidés le 30 août et les porteurs ont déjà a été avisés.Il s’agit des compartiments Global Agriculture fund, Global Infrastructure Trends fund, Global Mining fund, Japan Small Cap fund, Pacific Technology fund, UK Equity fund, Japan Behavioural Finance Equity fund et JP Morgan Series II GBP fund.

Pour un montant non divulgué, TCMG Asset Management, filiale de la banque privée Notenstein (groupe Raiffeisen) a acquis une participation majoritaire dans Vescore Solutions, spécialistes de l’allocation d’actifs dynamique, et la performance absolue et des investissements alternatifs. Cette transaction permet à TCMG de poursuivre sa politique multi-boutiques et de profiter des implantations de Vescore pour alimenter sa croissance en Allemagne (au travers de Vescore Deutschland), en Suisse et à l’international.Un communiqué précise qu’au travers de sa stratégie multi-boutiques, TCMG AM s’efforce d’acquérir des participations dans des sociétés de gestion d’actifs aux solutions de placement novatrices et bénéficiant d’historiques de performance intéressants. L’objectif consiste à prendre part à la croissance et à la consolidation du marché de gestion d’actifs. Dans le cadre de cette stratégie, les différentes boutiques de gestion d’actifs conservent dans une large mesure leur propre marque et leur indépendance.

Au terme du trimestre se terminant le 30 juin, le gestionnaire de fortune Brooks Macdonald gère des encours de 5,11 milliards de livres, contre 3,52 milliard au 30 juin 2012. Comparé au trimestre précédent, la hausse des encours représente 2,8%. Depuis le début de l’année, la hausse est de 45 % (25,6 % hors encours liés à l’acquisition de Spearpoint).Les activités immobilières, logées au sein de Braemar Estates, ont vu leurs actifs sous administration progresser de près de 20% et passer à 1,040 milliard de livres contre 865 millions de livres à la fin du deuxième trimestre 2012.

Au deuxième trimestre 2013, le pôle banque privée et gestion de fortune de Credit Suisse, qui comprend la gestion de fortune (wealth management clients), le segment corporate & institutional clients et la gestion d’actifs, a dégagé un bénéfice avant impôt de 917 millions de francs suisses contre 881 millions pour janvier-mars, tout en demeurant inférieur aux 977 millions de la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Pour la gestion de fortune, le bénéfice avant impôt a représenté 529 millions de francs contre 511 millions en janvier-mars, avec des entrées nettes de 7,5 milliards de francs, contre 5,5 milliards au premier trimestre. Au 30 juin, l’encours se situait à 1.297 milliards de francs, soit 7 % de plus qu’un an auparavant.De son côté, la gestion d’actifs a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 1,5 milliard de francs contre 6,4 milliards pour le premier trimestre.Le Credit Suisse, dont le bénéfice net distribuable est ressorti à 1.045 millions de francs pour le deuxième trimestre contre 1.303 millions pour le premier et 788 millions pour avril-juin 2012, précise que les rentrées nettes de la gestion de fortune provient de la persistance de souscriptions importantes en provenance des marchés émergents et de la clientèle de particuliers très haut de gamme (UHNWI), partiellement neutralisées par des sorties de capitaux en Europe de l’Ouest. Pour la gestion d’actifs, les rentrées ont principalement concerné les produits de crédit, les hedge funds, les obligations et les actions ainsi que les solutions multi-classes d’actifs, mais les stratégies indicielles ont subi des rachats nets. De plus, Credit Suisse a subi des sorties nettes d’un milliard de francs sur des activités qu’il a décidé d’abandonner.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } At the conclusion of the quarter ending on 30 June, the wealth management firm Books Macdonald has assets of GBP5.11bn under management, compared with GBP3.52bn as of 30 June 2012. Compared with the previous quarter, the increase in assets represents 2.8%. Since the beginning of the year, the increase is 45% (25.6% not including assets related to the acquisition of Spearpoint). Real estate activities, housed at Braemar Estates, have seen an increase in their assets under administration of nearly 20%, to GBP1.04bn, from GBP865m as of the end of second quarter 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to a survey undertaken by Baring Asset Management, two thirds (66%) of pension fund managers are currently concerned about the high level of volatility on the markets, and 22% of them are of the opinion that increases in volatility are becoming more of a concern than an opportunity.In addition, Barings has been able to determine that nearly two fifths (38%) of professionals surveyed are planning to ease the impact of volatility by moving their portfolio to multi-asset class products, while 19% of pension funds are already invested in funds of this type. Overall, 70% of pension funds are using multi-asset class strategies, which include a performance objective, a diversified growth allocation and a dynamic asset allocation. Only 65% of respondents said so in the November 2012 survey. Lastly, Barings reports that 46% (compared with 43%) of pension fund managers have increased their exposure to diversified growth funds. The survey also finds that pension funds tend to position themselves on emerging markets via multi-asset class vehicles: 14% use this means to expose themselves to emerging market equities, compared with 11% in the previous survey.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } The alternative asset management firm SAC Capital Advisors is now subject to criminal charges, as the public prosecutor’s office accuses it of having been in on insider trading activities as “a magnet for market cheaters,” the Wall Street Journal reports.In a civil suit which was filed simultaneously, the government indicates that its objective is to recover all assets from the firm (those of Steve A. Cohen and employees of SAC), which it estimates at USD10bn, out of a total of USD14bn, according to sources familiar with the matter.The bold move comes as the prosecutor’s office has recently determined that it does not have sufficient evidence to personally indict Steve A. Cohen, the founder and CEO of SAC.US Attorney Preet Bharara states that the government has not frozen any assets, and declines to comment on the sum that the authorities are seeking to recuperate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which on 1 April took over the responsibilities of the former Financial Services Authority (FSA) not assigned to the new Prudential Regulations Authority (PRA), has published a first report on the implementation of Retail Distribution Review (RDR) regulations, and has found that the majority of firms subject to the regulations have made progress and are willing to adapt to the new rules.However, three common points continue to pose problems for many firms surveyed. On the one hand, the fact that commissions are expressed as percentages rather than cash amounts confuses many consumers. On the other hand, several businesses which say they are independent have a tendency in reality to select only a restricted number of products and providers. Lastly, many clients complain that they do not receive clear explanations of the service they receive for the commissions they pay.The report is the first of three which are planned throughout the year to judge the progress that advising firms are making in investing to comply with the requirements of RDR regulations. In parallel to the survey, the FCA is publishing the findings of a study it commissions which examines the extent to which documents and material provided by advising firms genuinely help consumers to understand the fees they will pay and the service they can expect. The study points to the need to provide clear and concise information if it is desired that consumers be in a position to understand and compare services and prices.The FCA is also sending a fact sheet to more than 6,000 financial advising firms to help them determine whether the shared preoccupations of the sector that have been identified apply to them as well.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After more than two months of investigation, the Spanish securities commission (CNMV) has nearly completed its reconstruction of orders issued on 23 May, when Bankia shares lost 51.4% of their value in trading volume of 49.4 million shares, five times its float. Cinco Días reports that, according to the chairwoman of the CNMV, Elvira Rodriguez, those at fault are foreign institutional investors “who will be punished as God commands.” The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has also been notified.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } GenCap Ventures, which acquired FactorShares last year, has filed an application with the SEC to launch actively-managed ETFs, and hopes to receive a license to launch such a product of Mongolian equities in the near future, IndexUniverse reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } GenCap Ventures, which acquired FactorShares last year, has filed an application with the SEC to launch actively-managed ETFs, and hopes to receive a license to launch such a product of Mongolian equities in the near future, IndexUniverse reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } CPR AM has announced the launch of CPR Global Return Bond, a flexible fund of international bonds, aimed at all types of investors (institutional, corporate and wealth management). It is a transformation of the FCP fund CPR World Capi as of 1 July 2013. “We think the bond market has entered a new phase, which will eventually certainly bring interest rate increases. Although short-term rates appear to be at a coherent level to us, long-term rates are far too low, and we estimate that they can be expected to reach about 4% in 2-3 years. Also, we have considered a type of approach which allows us to exploit the diversity of sources of returns in the international bond universe without being subject to risks related to rising interest rates,” says Eric Bertrand, deputy director of investments and director of fixed income and credit management at CPR AM. The management of the fund combined a “carry active” engine, which is based on a quantitative process that aims to select 85 positions from a large international universe (nominal interest rates, real interest rates, credit, currencies, inflation, arbitrage curves, geographical trades, etc.) which offer the best potential for returns. Then, the “classic discretionary” engine managed according to a traditional approach based on the fixed income management process at CPR AM select according to macroeconomic and financial scenarios by managers and strategists. Dynamic allocation between the two portions can vary significantly, according to the outlooks of managers, in order to prefer the “carry active” approach where possible (0% to 80% of the portfolio), or the “classic discretionary” approach (0% to 100% of the portfolio). CPR Global Return Bonds aims to outperform the JPM Government Bond Global Index hedged in euros over the long term. The maximal tracking error is 6% compared with its benchmark index. The actively-managed sensitivity range for fixed income can vary from -6 to +12. Characteristics Date of introduction of new management process: 01/07/2013 ISIN codes: I share class: FR0011486661 P share class: FR0010325605 Minimal initial subscription: I share class: one share – P share class: 0.001 of one share Subscription commissions: I share class: none – P share class: 3% Redemption commission: I share class / P share class – none Annual management fees: I share class: 0.80% including all taxes / P share class: 1.40% Performance commission: P and I share classes: 20% including all taxes, on performance exceeding the benchmark index, earned by the fund during the fiscal year, limited to 2% of assets including all taxes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } Ning Jing, manager of the BGF China fund, on 21 June left the asset management firm BlackRock. She had been manager of the fund for over five years, Asian Investor reports. Following the departure of the manager, the fund, which has USD1.27bn in asets, is currently managed by Andrew Swan, head of the Asian fundamental management team, and Emily Dong, co-manager of the BGF Asian Growth Leaders Fund. Asian Investor does not report where Ning has gone.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } BNP Paribas Securites Services on 25 July announced that it is acquiring the depository banking activities of Commerzbank dedicated to mutual funds and institutional funds domiciled in Germany, as well as open-ended real estate funds. 80 employees of Commerzbank involved in these activities “will have the opportunity to join BNP Paribas Securities Services,” a statement says. As of the end of April 2013, assets retained at the depositary banking activity of Commerzbank represented about EUR93bn. “This expansion confirms our status as a leader on the German market, and allows us to strengthen our position on the mutual fund segment through our mandate to Allianz Global Investors, one of the largest asset management firms in Germany, and on the other hand, to develop a new range of services to real estate funds,” says Gerald Noltsch, head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Germany.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Assets under management by Janus Capital Group as of 30 June totalled USD160.6bn, compared with USD163.8bn three months earlier, although they remain higher than USD152.4bn as of the end of June 2012. The decline in assets in second quarter is due to net outflows of USD5.4bn from long-term products, which were only partially offset (USD2.2bn) by market appreciation.Janus has also reported net profits in April-June up to USD15.8bn, compared with USD28m in January-March and USD23.4m in the corresponding period of last year.Parallel to this presentation of quarterly results, Janus has announced that its chief financial officer (CFO), Bruce Koepfgen, has been promoted to the newly-created position of chairman. As CFO, he will be replaced by Jennifer J. McPeek, currently senior vice president and treasurer, who joined Janus in 2009 from ING Investment Management – Americas Region where she was senior vice president of strategic planning. The two promotions take effect from 1 August 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } As of 30 June, assets at T. Rowe Price Group totalled USD614bn, which represents a decline of USD3.4bn compared with 31 March. Of this total as of the end of June, USD379.5bn correspond to mutual funds sold in the United States, while USD234.5bn correspond to “other portfolios.”Positive market effects of USD4.6bn were more than offset by net outflows of USD8bn in second quarter 2013. However, total assets under management remain considerably higher than the USD576.8bn recorded at the end of June 2012.For the second quarter, the firm has announced net profits of USD247.8bn, compared with USD241.9bn in first quarter, and USD206.8m in April-June 2012. For first half as a whole, net profits increased to USD489.5m, compared with USD404.3m in the corresponding period of last year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } As of the end of the first quarter of the 2013-2014 fiscal year, ending on 30 June 2013, assets under management by Legg Mason Inc totalled USD644.5bn (see Newsmanagers of 15 July), for a decline of USD9.3bn compared with the end of May, and of USD20.1bn compared with the end of March.The contraction observed in April-June is due to both negative performance and currency effects of USD11.6bn, as well as to net outflows of USD8.7bn from liquidity products (which represent 20% of total assets), at a time when long-term assets posted net inflows of USD0.2bn. Compared with 30 June 2012 (USD631.8bn), assets under management are up 2%.The quarterly report also shows that Legg Mason in April-June earned net profits of USD47.8m, which represents an increase of 64% compared with USD29.2bn in January-March. In the corresponding period of 2012, the firm lost USD9.5m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Austrian firm Erste Asset Management has announced that it has signed the Investor Statement on Bangladesh dated 16 May 2013, promoted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which aims to require heads in the textile industry sector to promote better practices in terms of labour rights and safety for their employees.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The universe of the RMB (renminbi or yuan) currency pool is continuing to grow with new opportunities for (non-Chinese) asset management firms being issued as quotas, Z-Ben Advisors reports.Teams at HSBC AM have received permission from regulators in Beijing for an RQFII license. Z-Ben Advisors estimates that a larger number of individual licenses will follow by the end of the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale has announced the sale of its private banking activity in Japan to the Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). According to Agefi, the transaction covers USD3.1bn (EUR2.3bn) in assets under management. “We had accepted a spontaneous bid from Sumitomo,” says a spokesperson for Société Générale Private Banking (SGPB), which had EUR87.9bn in assets under management as of the end of March 2013. “We decided to invest them in order to concentrate on the centres of expertise where we are best positioned to grow,” meaning in Europe, China-Singapore and the Middle East.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } NexT Advisor, an affiliate of La Française dedicated to assisting independent players in the distribution of financial savings product in France and internationally, has announced that it has signed an initial partnership to acquire a minority stake in the capital of Groupe Crystal, founded in 1992 by Bruno Narchal and Yves Martin. The Groupe Crystal has three main entities, Crystal Finance, Union Financière George V and Assinter Assurance Internationales. “This first partnership at Next Advisor is particularly emblematic of our ambitions: to provide ourselves with the means to set up minority distribution partnerships, and to assist leading actors on the market with their distribution and development strategy,” says Patrick Rivière, CEO of La Française. La Française currently has a total of over EUR37bn in assets under management. The Groupe Crystal has 15,000 clients and nearly EUR800m in assets controlled.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } After a disappointing start to the year, Lazard yesterday released adjusted net profits up 81% year on eyar, to USD59.9m (EUR45.3m). In second quarter, its operating revenues reached a recordf EUR511m (+12%).According to Agefi, this peak is due to the good health of asset management, which has set revenue records at USD243m (+18%). Lazard has, however, seen a decline of 5% in assets under management, which now total USD163bn as of 30 June. Assets were affected by a net outflow of USD4bn, due to an underperforming equity fund, according to the bank.The second key area for Lazard and the trademark of the French-US firm, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and other advising professions, were up 9% year on year, to USD263m.