Selon Coe-Rexecode, la croissance française sera inférieure en 2014 à celle de la région. Le chômage de longue durée illustre la profondeur de la crise

Jean-Louis Mourier, économiste chez Aurel BGC

Maud Minuit, responsable directionnel taux et aggregate chez Groupama AM

Le présent marché a pour objet la sélection de prestataires de services d’investissement pour la gestion de mandats investis en actions de petites capitalisations européennes (lot 1) et en actions de petites et moyennes capitalisations françaises (lot 2). Les mandats de gestion de portefeuille objets de la présente consultation constituent un marché à bons de commande sans minimum ni maximum (articles 77-i et 77-ii du Code des marchés publics). Lot nº: 1 : Actions de petites capitalisations européennes Ce lot concerne la gestion active d’un ou plusieurs mandats qui devront mettre en oeuvre une exposition aux actions de petites capitalisations européennes. L’univers d’investissement sera composé des sociétés cotées composant l’indice FTSE Developed Europe Small Cap (ou un indice équivalent) ainsi que des sociétés cotées dont le siège social est situé dans l’un des seize pays autorisés (Autriche, Belgique, Danemark, Finlande, France, Allemagne, Grèce, Irlande, Italie, Pays-Bas, Norvège, Portugal, Espagne, Suède, Suisse, Royaume-Uni). L’objectif de gestion assigné au(x) titulaire(s) du ou des mandat(s) de gestion sera de surperformer l’indice de référence sur un cycle complet de marché (trois ans glissants). L'écart de suivi (tracking error) ex ante maximal est fixé à 10 % per annum. Cette gestion active s’effectuera sans limites de déviation sectorielle ou pays. Il pourra être attribué jusqu'à cinq (5) mandats dans le cadre de ce lot 1. Concernant le lot 1 Actions de petites capitalisations européennes, à titre purement indicatif, le FRR estime que le montant global des fonds donnés en gestion pourrait être fixé à 500 millions d’euros. Lot nº: 2 : Actions de petites et moyennes capitalisations françaises Ce lot concerne la gestion active d’un ou plusieurs mandats qui devront mettre en oeuvre une exposition aux actions de petites et moyennes capitalisations françaises. L’univers d’investissement sera constitué des sociétés cotées composant un indice de petites et moyennes capitalisations françaises ainsi que des sociétés cotées dont le siège social est situé en France. Pour information, l’univers petites et moyennes entreprises de l’indice FTSE toutes capitalisations françaises (FTSE All Cap France) se situait au 29.3.2013 entre 150 M EUR et 11,5 M EUR en termes de capitalisation totale. L’Objectif de gestion assigné au(x) titulaire(s) du ou des mandat(s) de gestion sera de surperformer l’indice de référence sur un cycle complet de marché (trois ans glissants). L'écart de suivi (tracking error) ex ante maximal est fixé à 10 % per annum. Cette gestion active s’effectuera sans limites de déviation sectorielle. Il pourra être attribué jusqu'à cinq (5) mandats dans le cadre de ce lot 2. Concernant le lot 2 Actions de petites et moyennes capitalisations françaises, à titre purement indicatif, le FRR estime que le montant global des fonds donnés en gestion pourrait être fixé à trois 300 millions d’euros. Pour lire l’avis complet : cliquez ici

Les fonds de prêts aux Etats-Unis ont enregistré une collecte hebdomdaire record à la date du 10 avril, à 1,5 milliard de dollars, indique la recherche crédit Bank of America Merrill Lynch sur la base de statistiques d’EPFR. Sur 2013, les fonds de loans américains enregistrent déjà une croissance de 23,5% de leurs actifs, à 18 milliards de dollars. Par comparaison, les fonds d’obligations high yield n’ont attiré que 62 millions, la compression des spreads poussant les investisseurs à se reporter vers des prêts, qui offrent en outre une couverture contre le risque de hausse des taux.

La décollecte des OPCVM de droit français a atteint 6,27 milliards d’euros en mars, effaçant un effet marché positif et ramenant l’encours à 782 milliards, selon les statistiques d’EuroPerformance - a Six Company. Les fonds monétaires ont connu des sorties de 4,18 milliards d’euros, suivis par les fonds obligations euros (-1,24 milliard). Les fonds actions ont également décollecté lors d’un mois de mars marqué par les incertitudes liées aux élections italiennes et à la crise chypriote.

La Bourse de New York a ouvert dans le rouge vendredi, après l’annonce d’une baisse inattendue des ventes au détail aux Etats-Unis en mars. Vendredi, le département du Commerce a fait état d’une baisse de 0,4% des ventes au détail en mars, alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient en moyenne une stabilité de cet indicateur.

Riskergy a annoncé vendredi sa création à Paris et à Bruxelles pour proposer dès 2015 les services d’une agence de notation financière dédiée aux risques souverains. La société s’appuie sur une méthode de notation issue d’un programme de recherche collaborative et bénéficiant d’un soutien initial du Fonds unifié interministériel et de la région Ile de France.

L'évasion fiscale prive les pays de l’Union européenne (UE) de 1.000 milliards d’euros par an et les dirigeants de l’UE évoqueront ce thème lors de leur prochain sommet, prévu en mai, a annoncé vendredi Herman Van Rompuy, le président du Conseil européen.

Les ministres des Finances de l’Union européenne réunis aujourd’hui à Dublin ont accepté d'étendre de 7 ans la maturité des prêts d’urgence accordés à l’Irlande et au Portugal lors du sauvetage des deux pays. Ce report a pour but de faciliter le retour des deux pays sur les marchés financiers. Les 17 ministres membres de la zone euro en avaient déjà acté le principe vendredi matin. Le Portugal a par ailleurs présenté à ses partenaires européens un nouveau plan de baisse des dépenses publiques pour compenser la censure de certaines mesures d’austérité décidée la semaine dernière par la Cour constitutionnelle. Quelque 600 millions d’euros seront économisés par des baisses de dépenses dans chaque ministère et le reste sera obtenu par la mise en oeuvre anticipée de mesures pour 2014, dans les secteurs de la sécurité sociale, de la santé, de l'éducation et des entreprises publiques.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } On 11 April, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) listed five of its Luxembourg-registered ETFs of the db x-trackers brand on the Hong Kong stock exchange. For the first time, they offer local investors access to ETFs investing in the Singapore, Bangladesh and Pakistan markets. With the Philippines product, all of these funds replicate MSCI investable market (IM) indices.The fifth db x-trackers ETF newly listed in Hong Kong replicates an index of Asia ex-Japan equities that pay high dividends.The five funds are:db X-trackers MSCI Bangladesh IM Index UCITS ETF (LU0592216120)db X-trackers MSCI Pakistan IM Index UCITS ETF (LU0755277992)db X-trackers MSCI Philippines IM Index UCITS ETF (LU0592215668)db X-trackers MSCI Singapore IM Index UCITS ETF (LU0755279428)db X-trackers MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan High Dividend Yield Index (LU0592216120)DeAWM now has 35 ETFs listed in Hong Kong, making it the largest provider in this market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Due to the success of its Japan Hedged Equity Fund ETF (ticker on NYSE Arca: DXJ), which has USD6bn in assets, of which USD4.76bn are subscriptions in the past six months, WisdomTree is planning to launch a small caps version of the product, Index Universe reports. The WisdomTree Japan Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund will replicate an exclusive index weighted by dividends at companies listed in Tokyo, whose market capitalisation is at least USD100m, and which have paid at least USD5m in dividends per year. The average trading volume also needs to be at least 250,000 shares per month. Each position is limited to 2%, and each sector to 25%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The US firm Guggenheim Funds has notified the SEC of license applications for four more ETFs of its BulletShares product range, specialised in investment grade corporate bonds, Index Universe reports. They are funds with maturity dates ranging from 2022 to 2025, which will each charge 0.24%, and will be listed on the NYSE Arca electronic platform.The ETFs are the following:•Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE Arca ticker: BSCM)•Guggenheim BulletShares 2023 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCN)•Guggenheim BulletShares 2024 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCP)•Guggenheim BulletShares 2025 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCQ)

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The US firm Third Point is launching a hedge fund dedicated to Greece, the Third Point Hellenic Recovery Fund, which will invest in event-driven corporate situations, the news agency Reuters reports. The firm, based in New York, is planning to invest less than 1.5% of assets available to its hedge funds in the new strategy, while collecting new capital from institutional investors. With this strategy dedicated to Greek assets, Third Point joins several other major US players, such as Oaktree Capital Group and Fortress Investment Group, in the search for opportunities after five years of recession and prospects of a better day.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Horizons USA, an affiliate of the US firm Horizons ETF Management (USD7bn), itself an affiliate of the South Korean Mirae Asset Global Investments (USD58bn), has announced that it has applied to the SEC for a sales license in the United States for three ETFs of covered calls, which would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Horizons USA has also announced the recruitment of Joe Cunningham as executive vice president and head of capital markets. He had most recently been director of institutional ETF order flow & national account manager at ProShares.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss firm Tiberius Asset Management (TAM), based in Zug, has announced that it has taken over the Luxembourg fund VCH Expert Natural Resources (LU0184391075) from the German firm VCH Vermögensverwaltung AG (Altira group). The fund comes as an addition to a commodity fund of the Tiberius range which already includes long-only, long/short and global macro products. The product, launched on 5 July, 2004, as of the end of March had assets of EUR41.94m.Meanwhile, Tiberius has recruited Torsten Dennin, co-manager of the fund since July 2010.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The former head of credit and fixed income at Swisscanto, Mirko Santucci, has been recruited by Suva, one of the largest insurers in Switzerland, to develop its emerging market debt capacities, Citywire reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss Lombard Odier Investment Managers group has recruited the fixed income specialist Grant Peterkin, who had previously worked at Ignis Asset Management, Citywire Global reports. Peterkin will join the new team which unites the global bond and emerging market units, and takes responsibility for government bonds for the Total Return fund, managed by Gregor McIntosh, the head of fixed income and asset allocation.

A new Edhec-Risk Institute publication, “Hedging versus Insurance: Long-Horizon Investing with Short-Term Constraints,” produced as part of the BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) research chair on “Asset-Liability Management and Institutional Investment Management,” demonstrates that failing to separate long-term risk-aversion and short-term loss-aversion may lead to poor investment decisions. As an illustration, the research points to a 32% opportunity cost when managing maximum drawdown constraints inefficiently through an excessive level of hedging.This survey mainly shows that:• relatively simple solutions exist that can be implemented as dynamic asset allocation strategies in order to control short-term risk levels while maintaining access to long-term sources of performance. and that • these solutions are a substantial improvement over traditional strategies without dynamic risk control, which inevitably lead to under-spending of investors’ risk budgets in normal market conditions, with a strong associated opportunity cost, and over-spending of investors’ risk budget in extreme market conditions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Quantitative funds control nearly one third of all assets in the hedge fund sector, according to statistics from Hedge Fund Research, the news agency Reuters reports. These strategies have total assets of USD677bn, our of total assets of USD2.3trn. Last year, quantitative fund attracted nine tenths of net inflows to hedge funds, which brought their percentage of assets to about 30%, compared with 25% four years ago. More precisely, out of net inflows to hedge funds in 2012 of USD34.4bn, quantitative funds captured USD33.1bn. At the time of the market crisis and turbulence of 2008, systematic funds posted average growth of 18%. Since 2009, assets in quantitative funds have risen by more than 66%, at a time when assets in the hedge fund sector overall have risen by about 40%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US firm First Trust Advisors has listed three ETFs of its AlphaDex range for trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Dublin Stock Exchange (ISE), Index Universe reports. They include the First Trust United Kingdom AlphaDEX UCITS ETF, which replicates the FTSE 100, the First Trust US Large Cap Core AlphaDEX UCITS ETF (S&P 500), and the First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Ucits ETF (MSCI Emerging Markets).First Trust is planning to launch other products as demand increases.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Russell Investments has announced the appointment of Andrew Scherer as director of defined contributions and intermediary distribution to financial advisers. He will be based in Chicago, and will report to Michael Winnick, managing director sales and partnerships.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to sources familiar with the matter, Santander may be planning to sell a part of its asset management division (EUR140bn in assets as of the end of September) in order to comply with stricter European prudential requirements, but a spokesperson for the Spanish group declined to comment, The Wall Street Journal reports. The newspaper says, without giving names, that the bank has recently been in talks regarding the matter with a private equity investor or another financial group.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Sabrina Gan as head of retail distribution in Singapore, Asian Investor reports. Gan, who began in her new role late last week, worked at Schroders until 27 March this year, as head of sales and distribution.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The British wealth management firm Coutts, an affiliate of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has recruited Hussam Rinno as head of Middle Eastern clients. He had previously been head of private clients at Vontobel for Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, finews reports.Coutts has also recruited three executives from Deutsche Bank, Michael Dismorr, who had been chairman advisory board Middle East and head key clients Middle East & Africa, who joins the firm in Dubai, and Luc Voirol (in Dubai) and Martin Hungerbühler (in Geneva).Lastly, Nadim Khan, who had been responsible for ultra-high net worth retail clients at Emirates NBD, is also joining Coutts in Dubai.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Austrian asset management firm Raiffeisen Capital Management has signed a distribution agreement with the Italian group Banca Sella, Bluerating reports. The 39 funds from the Austrian firm will now be available via the network of financial advisers and private bankers of Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. and Banca Sella.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds on sale in Sweden in March recorded net inflows of SEK3.5bn, according to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association, Fondbolagens Förening. The largest net deposits were made in balanced funds, with SEK4.4bn. Equity funds had a total net inflow of SEK 1.5 billion. Mainly due to large net deposits in North American funds, Sweden funds, Global Funds and funds investing in Japan. Net withdrawals were, on the other hand, made from funds investing in emerging markets, mainly from Eastern European funds. Bond funds, on the other hand, recorded a net outflow of SEK 3.1 billion during the month. The total fund assets in Sweden amounted at the end of the month to record high SEK 2,180 billion.

Le britannique Charles Stanley Group a fait état d’encours sous gestion de 16,36 milliards de livres à fin 2012. Au cours du trimestre se terminant le 31 décembre 2012, les encours ont progressé de 4,6% comparé aux 15,64 milliards de livres à fin septembre. Les fonds à gestion discrétionnaire ont vu leurs encours augmenter de 7,1 %, de 5,35 à 7,73 milliards. Le bénéfice sur le trimestre sous revu s’est élevé à 31,1 millions de livres, contre 27,4 millions au trimestre précédent.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Man Group on 11 April announced that a change to its regulatory status, which will result in a limitation of its licensed field of action, will allow it to free up about EUR550m in owners’ equity.The reduction in regulatory owners’ equity reflects a change in the activities of Man Group, to require less owners’ equity than in previous years, such as for seed capital activities or for guaranteed products.Man Group states, however, that the new legal status has yet to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), probably in third quarter.Pending confirmation of the figures advanced, excess owners’ equity at Man Group may total about USD920m as of 1 January 2014, an increase in the cushion of about USD550m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that Scottish Widows has recruited Ronnie Taylor, workplace managing director and CEO of Vebnet, from Standard Life. He will be in charge of development for investment and corporate retirement units, and will report directly to Toby Strauss, CEO.