Le taux de couverture moyen des engagements des fonds de pension d’entreprise américains a progressé au mois de juin de 3,1 points de pourcentage pour s'établir à 89,5%, son plus haut niveau depuis le mois de juin 2011, où il s’'inscrivait à 91,4%, selon BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions Group. Depuis le début de l’année, le taux de couverture affiche un gain de 13,2 points de pourcentage.Durant le mois sous revue, les actifs des fonds ont diminué de 1,6% alors que les marchés boursiers américains enregistraient leur premier mois de perte depuis le début de l’année. Les engagements ont diminué de 5%, le taux d’actualisation augmentant de 39 points de base à 4,69% pour les entreprises notées Aa.

Gérant 5 milliards de dollars canadiens pour des fonds de pension, des caisses de retraite, des congrégations religieuses et environ 700 millions pour des banques privées, le groupe canadien Optimum qui développe des activités financières dont de l’assurance vie, de la réassurance vie et de la gestion d’actifs, vient de lancer en France un fonds investi dans des actions canadiennes. Interrogé par Newsmanagers, Benoît Lapointe directeur général délégué d’Optimum Gestion Financière basée à Paris, a justifié ce lancement compte tenu des atouts dont profite son pays. «L'économie canadienne représente 4,1 % dans le MSCI World, devrait afficher une croissance de 2,7 % pour 2014, dispose d’un système bancaire sain et, surtout, d’une forte exposition aux marchés émergents via des entreprises intervenant dans le secteur des ressources naturelles et de l'énergie», a-t-il indiqué.Géré en mixant une approche bottom-up et top down, la gestion suit une approche «value». Dans le détail, le portefeuille d’ Optimum Actions Canada est concentré en étant composé d’une quarantaine de valeurs. Il reflète néanmoins les grands secteurs d’activités au Canada, c’est-à-dire les matériaux, l'énergie et la finance qui représentent 77 % de l’indice MSCI Canada. L’univers d’investissement du fonds est essentiellement composé de «large caps» puisées parmi les 250 grandes valeurs de la bourse de Toronto. Outre ces titres figurent quelques «pépites» parmi les valeurs moyennes et petites qui peuvent occuper 20 % de l’ensemble. Comme les cinq autres fonds que gère Optimum Gestion Financière investis sur les grandes classes d’actifs – dont un fonds obligataire, un fonds diversifié et un autre fonds actions sur l’Europe - Optimum Actions Canada est un OPCVM de droit français. Pour son lancement, ce dernier a bénéficié d’un amorçage de la maison de 2 millions d’euros. Toutefois, selon Benoît Lapointe, la gestion peut d’ores et déjà tabler sur près de 20 millions d’euros d’engagements supplémentaires, un encours cible à la fin de l’année pour la société de gestion qui espère atteindre les 100 millions d’euros dans les deux ans à venir».Pour ce faire, la société de gestion compte naturellement sur sa clientèle principale - les investisseurs institutionnels - mais entend pousser les feux vers la banque privée et le family office, consciente que le ratio d’emprise pour les institutionnels pourra être un frein à la souscription du fonds. Dans la diversification de sa clientèle, le groupe affiche également ses ambitions auprès des épargnants en se développant auprès des plateformes et des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants. A ce titre, Optimum envisage d'être présent à la convention Patrimonia à Lyon en 2014. D’ores et déjà, sa filiale vie dispose d’un contrat d’assurance vie en euros et d’un contrat en unités de compte réservés aux OPCVM de la maison, le tout étant commercialisé via un réseau de courtiers indépendants. Outre sa volonté d'élargir encore sa clientèle, le groupe financier nourrit en France de grandes ambitions en termes de croissance externe et interne. Pour son activité vie tout d’abord, Optimum s’apprête à faire l’acquisition de deux portefeuilles, les opérations devant être réalisées au cours de l'été pour être soumise à l’Autorité de contrôle prudentiel à la fin septembre. Par ailleurs, toujours en «vie», la maison devrait renforcer rapidement ses équipes commerciales. Côté société de gestion, Optimum explore aussi le marché. «Nous sommes à la recherche d’une société de type patrimonial présentant un encours inférieur à 200 millions d’euros et présentant des similitudes en matière de gestion et de volonté de préserver le capital des investisseurs, détaille Benoît Lapointe. Reste que des dossiers «intéressants» seraient plus difficiles à trouver, selon le responsable qui a néanmoins une feuille de route de sa maison à respecter : réaliser une acquisition avant la fin de l’année. Enfin, la société s’apprête également à travailler, à la rentrée, avec un nouveau tierce party marketeer afin élargir sa diffusion à l’Europe. Caractéristiques : Fonds Optimum Actions Canada Code Isin : Part I : FR0011475003/Part R : FR0011475029Frais de gestion : 1,2 % (part I)/2,40 % (Part R) Part I : libellée en dollar canadien Part R ; libellée en euros

Au 31 mai, l’encours des fonds et mandats de Pictet Asset Management en France se situait à un peu plus de 3,5 milliards d’euros contre 3,1 milliards au 31 décembre. Compte tenu des effets de marché et de change, les souscriptions nettes se sont montées pour les cinq premiers mois de l’année à environ 260 millions d’euros, selon Hervé Thiard, managing director.Les meilleures ventes en net ont été réalisées sur le fonds de dette émergente en monnaie locale, le fonds Japon et le fonds Water. En demande brute, les fonds les plus recherchés ont été le Timber, le Water, le Japon et la dette émergente en monnaie locale.

Amundi vient de nommer Eric Vandamme comme directeur des risques, annonce la société de gestion le 3 juillet. A ce titre, il sera membre du comité exécutif.Il remplace Bernard De Wit, qui avait été nommé en février directeur des fonctions support et développement, mais avait gardé les risques jusqu’ici. A l’origine de la création du département des relations avec les investisseurs du groupe Crédit Agricole SA en 2002, Eric Vandamme était depuis mi-2003 responsable des filiales et participations du groupe Crédit Agricole SA.

Seulement 70 ETF et autres ETP ont été lancés au premier semestre 2013, selon IndexUniverse, cité par The Wall Street Journal. Cela représente une baisse de 44 % par rapport aux 126 de la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Le recul est le signe que le marché des ETF est arrivé à une telle saturation que les sociétés de gestion peinent à trouver des niches qui n’ont pas encore été exploitées, analyse le WSJ. Ainsi, cette année, on a vu apparaître un ETF qui suit les actions nigérianes, un qui utilise la comptabilité judiciaire et un autre qui offre une exposition avec effet de levier au marché brésilien. Ces difficultés récentes pourraient représenter un problème pour les sociétés de gestion comme Fidelity Investments qui convoitent le marché des ETF, note le journal.

Franco Aletti et Alberto Lesma viennent de rejoindre Banca Esperia, une société de banque privée née d’une joint venture entre Mediobanca et Mediolanum, rapporte Bluerating. Les deux viennent de Julius Baer Sim.

Le gestionnaire britannique Baring Asset Management a annoncé la création d’un poste de directeur financier (CFO) pour l’Asie. Ces fonctions seront remplies par Eric Lee, qui était finance controller for Asie ex Japan depuis 2007 chez BlackRock, après avoir été senior finance manager chez Value Partners.Le nouvel arrivant, basé à Hong-Kong, sera subordonné à Julian Swayne, CFO du groupe Barings ainsi qu'à Gerry Ng, CEO de Baring Asset Management (Asia) Limited.La nomination d’Eric Lee fait suite au développement des activités asiatiques de Barings, notamment après l’acquisition de SEI Asset Korea, qui devient Barings Korea.

BNY Mellon a reçu le feu vert de la Securities and Futures Commission de Hong Kong pour installer sur place une filiale spécialisée qui se propose de lancer une plateforme de comptes gérés séparés (SMA).Cette plateforme, qui serait la première de ce type dans la région, pourrait voir le jour dans les prochains mois, précise un communiqué de BNY Mellon. Elle est spécialement conçue pour une clientèle asiatique et sera proposée à des banques privées et des spécialistes de la gestion de fortune afin de leur permettre de mieux accompagner leur clientèle haut de gamme.

Au 1er septembre, Raik Hoffmann rejoindra la boutique francfortoise FPM Frankfurt Performance Management (environ 500 millions d’euros d’encours).L’intéressé a été ces quinze dernières années analyste et gérant de portefeuille senior spécialiste des petites et moyennes capitalisations européennes chez DWS, puis Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). Depuis 2008 jusqu'à juin 2013, Raik Hoffmann était le gérant du DWS German Small/Mid Cap.Parallèlement, FPM annonce que l’un de ses deux fondateurs, Manfred Piontke, a décidé de se retirer le 31 décembre 2013 à la fois du directoire et de la gestion de fonds, pour se consacrer à la gestion de sa fortune personnelle. Il demeurera néanmoins actionnaire et conseiller de la société de gestion.

Faute d’encours suffisants, quatre ETF de ComStage ont été liquidés au 30 juin, a annoncé Commerz Funds Solutions SA.Il s’agit des produits suivants :ComStage ETF FTSE 250 TR ComStage ETF FTSE All-Share TR ComStage ETF FTSE 100 Short Strategy TRComStage ETF FTSE 100 Leveraged TR

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Next Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a vote that will allow firms that raise funds through private investment, including hedge funds, to advertise, so long as they target high net worth clients, the Wall Street Journal reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Due to a lack of sufficient assets, four ETFs from ComStage were liquidated on 30 June, Commerz Funds Solutions SA has announced.They are the following products:ComStage ETF FTSE 250 TR ComStage ETF FTSE All-Share TR ComStage ETF FTSE 100 Short Strategy TRComStage ETF FTSE 100 Leveraged TR

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hong Kong affiliate of the asset management firm China Universal Asset Management, based in Shanghai, is preparing an ETF denominated in RMB, aimed at foreign qualified institutional investors (RQFII), Asian Investor reports. The firm is also planning to use some of its RQFII quota of RMB2bn (USD325m), received in May, to launch an ETF which will replicate the Chinese CSI 300 benchmark index. China AMC launched an ETF which replicates this index in July 2012, and market sources say that Haitong Securities and HuaAn Funds are planning to launch similar products in the near future. After its launch, China Universal is planning to list the new ETF internationally, on the Tokyo stock exchange among others.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legg Mason Global Asset Management on 3 July announced the launch in France of the Brandywine Global Fixed Income Absolute Return fund (Brandywine GFIAR). The Brandywine GFIAR fund, domiciled in Ireland, invests primarily in government debt, with the possibility of investing opportunistically in government bonds. With a long/short approach, the maangers can adopt positions both on markets which they consider undervalued, and on overvalued markets, when liquidity levels allow it. Short positions are used only for government interest rate curves. The Brandywine GFIAR fund is co-managed by David Hoffman and Stephen Smith without reference to an index. Brandywine applies a value type top-down approach following rigorous, macroeconomic and systematic analysis, country by country, in all major global economies. The fund actively manages exposure to currency risks in order to protect capital and improve performance, and may take short positions on currencies which it considers undervalued. As of the end of May, the fund showed returns of 9.70% since its launch in early April 2012. Characteristics of the Brandywine Global Fixed Income Absolute Return ISIN code: IE00B59BT671 (classic A, USD capital share class) Assets: USD556m as of 28 June 2013 Front-end fee: no front-end fee paid to the fund Management fee: 1.35%, A-class shares (classic) The fund exists in a hedged version.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the United States, public sector pension funds which pay the highest investment fees do not necessarily earn the highest returns, a study undertaken by the Maryland Public Policy Institute and the Maryland Tax Education Foundation, cited by the Wall Street Journal, have found. In fact, rather the reverse is true. On average, the ten states which pay the highest management fees have posted lower returns on investment than the ten that paid the lowest fees between 30 June 2007 and 30 June 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Only 70 ETFs and other ETPs were launched in first half 2013, according to IndexUniverse, the Wall Street Journal States. That represents a decline of 44% compared with 126 in the corresponding period of last year. The decline is a sign that the ETF market has reached such saturation that the asset management firms are having difficulty finding niches which have not yet been exploited, the WSJ claims. This year, an ETF was released which tracks Nigerian equities, one which uses forensic accounting, and one which offers exposure to leverage on the Brazilian market. The recent difficulties may represent a problem for asset management firms such as Fidelity Investments, which covet the ETF market, the newspaper notes.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The average coverage rate for the liabilities of US corporate pension funds in the month of June rose by 3.1 percentage points to a total of 89.5%, its highest level since June 2011, when it stood at 91.4%, according to BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions Group. Since the beginning of the year, the coverage rate has gained 13.2 percentage points. In the month under review, assets in funds fell 1.6%, while US stock markets posted their first month of losses since the beginning of the year. Liabilities fell 5%, while the discount rate increased by 39 basis points to 4.69% for Aa-rated businesses.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 1 September, Raik Hoffmann will join the Frankfurt-based boutique FPM Frankfurt Performance Management AG (about EUR500m in assets).Hoffmann has spent the past 15 years as an analyst and senior portfolio manager for European small and midcaps at DWS, then at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM). From 2008 to June 2013, Hoffman had been the manager of the DWS German Small/Mid Cap fund.Meanwhile, FPM has announced that one of his two founders, Manfred Piontke, on 31 December 2013 decided to withdraw both from the managing board and management of funds, in order to concentrate on the management of his personal wealth. He will remain a shareholder and adviser at the asset management firm.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP) and its founders, BNP Paribas Cardif, CNPAssurances, Crédit Agricole Assurances (via its affiliate Predica), and Sogécap (Société Générale group), on 3 July announced the first major investments by the FSP in two French businesses which are leaders in their sectors, Arkema and the SEB group. The investment of the capital in these businesses is a sign of the desire of the FSP to assist in their development as a long-term investor and to participate in their governance. The management of the FSP has been entrusted to the Edmond de Rothschild group as an independent asset management specialist. The 5% stake threshold in the capital of the two firms has been passed. As of today, the FSP controls 6.05% of capital in Arkema and 5.25% of capital in SEB SA. These stakes receive quality management, a robust model and strong governance, which offer long-term growth prospects.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi has appointed Eric Vandamme as chief risk officer, the asset management firm announced on 3 July. In this role, he will be a member of the executive board. Vandamme, responsible for the creation of the investor relations department at the Crédit Agricole SA group in 2002, since mid-2003 had been responsible for the affiliates and stakes of the Crédit Agricole SA group.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 31 May, assets in funds and mandates at Pictet Asset Management in France totalled slightly over EUR3.5bn, compared with EUR3.1bn as of 31 December. After market and currency effects, net subscriptions in the first five months of the year totalled about EUR260m, according to Hervé Thiard, managing director.The best net sales were for the emerging market local currency debt fund, the Japan fund and the Water fund. In terms of gross demand, the most popular funds were Timber, Water, Japan and emerging market debt in local currencies.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French asset management association (Association Française de la Gestion financière, AFG) and the Responsible investment forum (Forum pour l’Investissement Responsable, FIR) have decided to specify the definition of socially responsible investment (SRI). In a statement released on Tuesday, 2 July, the two organisations state: “SRI is an investment which aims to reconcile economic performance and social and environmental impact, by financing businesses and public entities which contribute to sustainable development regardless of their business sector. By influencing governance and the behaviour of players, SRI promotes a responsible economy.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to several press reports, Jacques Tebeka, head of multi-management at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, is expected to leave the asset management firm based in Paris.The departure comes at a time when the Edmond de Rothschild group is working on a reshuffle of its management. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, Edram is planning to announce a series of changes in autumn to its specialist management centres, based in variosu countries. All of multi-management would be grouped together at the Geneva management centre, and would be managed by the local team, led by Alexandre Col, currently responsible for multi-management for international clients. Paris would become the hub for traditional management, while emerging market management would be provided by management centres in Hong Kong and Frankfurt.The reshuffle would help the Edmond de Rothschild group to realise its international ambitions. Asset management is one of the two strategic professions for the group, which also includes private banking activities, and which currently has EUR54bn in assets. In spring, Laurent Tignard joined the group as global head of asset management, from HSBC Global Asset Management (France).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon has received permission from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to open a local specialist affiliate which will aim to create a separate managed accounts (SMA) platform. The platform, which would be the first of its kind in the region, may be created in the next few months, a statement from BNY Mellon says. It is especially designed for Asian clients, and will be offered to private banks and wealth management specialists, in ordre to allow them to better assist their high net worth clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UK-based Baring Asset Management has announced the creation of a position for a chief financial officer (CFO) for Asia. The role will go to Eric Lee, who had been finance controller for Asia ex Japan since 2007 at BlackRock, after serving as senior finance manager at Value Partners.Lee, based in Hong Kong, will report to Julian Swayne, CFO of the Barings group, and Gerry Ng, CEO of Baring Asset Management (Asia) Limited.The appointment of Lee follows the growth of Asian activities of Barings, particularly following the acquisition of SEI Asset Korea, which becomes Barings Korea.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franco Aletti and Alberto Lesma have joined Banca Esperia, a private banking firm created as part of a joint venture between Mediobanca and Mediolanum, Bluerating reports. The two join from Julius Baer Sim.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The self-invested personal pension (SIPP) Flexible Transition Account from London & Victoria (LV=) will now include 177 eligible funds. The insurer has announced that it has added five funds of the Consensus Funds range from BlackRock to its range, following requests from advisers.The new funds available are:BlackRock Consensus 35 BlackRock Consensus 60BlackRock Consensus 70BlackRock Consensus 85BlackRock Consensus 100

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a research report on Retailisation in the EU, which examines the growth in the sale of complex financial products to retail financial consumers in the European Union (EU).ESMA’s research focused on two specific types of complex products, alternative UCITS – where assets under management grew from €20bn to €85bn between 2007 and 2012 - and structured retail products – whose outstanding amounts totalled EUR770bn at the end of 2012. The research found that while their sale to retail financial consumers has increased, there is evidence to show that both products have produced relatively low returns.The Report, comparing 600 alternative UCITS funds and 2750 structured products with capital protection sold across the EU to consumers between 2007 and 2012, found evidence that average returns for both products were relatively low at 3% for alternative UCITS and 2.5% for structured products.ESMA will use the reports’ findings in its policy work on improving investor protection by promoting better information disclosure at the point of sale about the total costs of investing in complex products and specific risks attached to each product.

The economic and monetary affairs committee of the European Parliament on 3 July passed amendments to the new UCITS V directive, which will regulate mutual funds.The new arrangements provide that the pay scale for a manager may be reduced, or blocked, if a UCITS product loses money. Half of performance commissions must be paid in the form of shares in managed funds, and at least 40% must be deferred, a statement says. In other words, MEPs are cointinuing with plans to limit variable pay scales for fund managers to the equivalent of their fixed salaries, as for bankers.“Mutual fund managers should not be betting investors’ money on high-risk financial instruments. The rules adopted will protect these investors with a clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the professionals who manage their money by introducing incentives to promote long-term performance of investments, rather than short-term gains,” says reporter Sven Giegols, cited in a statement. The draft adopted yesterday also includes a large section on depositories, which includes the clauses proposed by the Commission a year ago. Mutual funds will be required to designate a single depositary, whose liability will be engaged in the event of losses of assets, or in the use of sub-depositaries.The reception from professionals has been positive. The European fund and asset management association (EFAMA) claims that this vote illustrates the importance the European Parliament assigns to mutual funds and the protection of investors. The work is still far from done, and the professional association will continue its dialogue with the Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tom Callahan, former CEO of NYSE Liffe US, will in September begin as deputy head of the cash management group at BlackRock, according to Bloomberg, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire.The cash management unit has over USD250bn in assets under management, or slightly less than 10% of the global market, says Richard Hoemer, head of cash management, in an internal memo.