L’Union Financière de France lance le fonds à formule UFF CAC Sérénité - Oct 2021, en partenariat avec BNP Paribas. Le produit promet une participation à une éventuelle hausse du marché actions français, tout en s’assurant de récupérer, à l'échéance des 8 ans et demi, au moins le montant initialement investi. Calée sur l'évolution sur 8 ans et demi du CAC 40 (dividendes non réinvestis), la formule de remboursement dépend du niveau de clôture de l’indice du 15 avril 2013 pris en référence et des 36 dates de constatation mensuelles des 3 dernières années de vie du produit (soit du 15 novembre 2018 au 15 octobre 2021). A ces échéances, les niveaux de clôture de l’indice sont retenus qui permettront de calculer 36 performances de ce dernier par rapport à son niveau de référence. Au terme du contrat, la moyenne des 36 performances enregistrées est calculée. Si cette moyenne est positive, l’investisseur percevra alors 80 % de cette moyenne sous forme de gain, en plus du capital. Sinon, il récupérera seulement le capital.

L’Espagne s’apprête à émettre un emprunt syndiqué à 10 ans, ont annoncé lundi les banques chefs de file. Barclays, BBVA, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Santander et Société Générale sont teneurs de livres et de premières indications sur le prix d'émission pourraient être données dès mardi matin, en vue d’une mise à prix dans l’après-midi, ont ajouté les banques.

L'économie italienne affichera un rythme de croissance annuel de l’ordre de 1% à partir de 2014, a déclaré le ministre italien de l'Économie lundi, de quoi sortir le pays de deux années de récession mais insuffisant pour réduire de manière importante un taux de chômage à deux chiffres. «Ce n’est pas vraiment adéquat et le pays a besoin de mettre en oeuvre une série de réformes structurelles», a-t-il ajouté.

La Caisse d’amortissement de la dette sociale devrait émettre mardi un emprunt de référence en dollars à 5 ans qui inaugurera son programme d'émission 2013. Elle a mandaté à cet effet Daiwa Securities, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs et RBS. La marge indicative serait de 50 points de base au-dessus des swaps. La Cades prévoit de lever 30 milliards d’euros sur les marchés cette année, dont 20 milliards à moyen long terme.

Des membres du Parlement européen s’apprêtent à déposer une résolution demandant un réexamen des nouvelles règles sur les produits dérivés. Ils pointent notamment l’absence d’application de ces règles pour des acteurs non financiers tels que les compagnies aériennes, qui recourent aux dérivés pour se protéger de la volatilité des coûts du pétrole.

Les éoliennes en mer, symboles de «l’industrie du futur», pourraient faire l’objet d’un troisième appel d’offres gouvernemental en France, a annoncé lundi le Premier ministre Jean-Marc Ayrault. Le ministère de l’Ecologie a lancé il y a deux semaines le second appel d’offres en la matière pour deux parcs au large de l'île de Noirmoutier (Vendée) et du Tréport (Seine-Maritime).

Selon le président de l’institut Ifo, l’excédent de la balance allemande des comptes courants a dépassé un plafond fixé par la Commission européenne l’an dernier. La première économie d’Europe a affiché des comptes courants excédentaires de 169 milliards d’euros en 2012, soit 6,4% du PIB, a déclaré Hans-Wenner Sinn à Reuters. Bruxelles a introduit fin 2011 un plafond de 6% du PIB dans le cadre de sa procédure visant à éviter des déséquilibres économiques parmi les États membres.

Emerging markets are no safe haven. At a time when they figure in investment themes for 2013, emerging markets are not inspiring enthusiasm at M&G. Anthony Doyle, investment specialist director at M&G, who was on a visit to Paris on 18 January, says the time to avoid emerging marktes has come, particularly in the area of government debt. Emerging economies are doing well, Doyle admits, but valuations are often ahead of fundamentals. Therefore, caution is necessary. Some markets, and not small ones, are also the subject of some concern. These include China, where growth may fall back to a more moderate pace of 5% to 7%, at a time when inflation remains at high levels. China may continue to base its development on credit, and will need to move to a consumer-driven growth model. These reservations will not, however, prevent the firm from investing in some asset classes, such as emerging market corporate bonds. Another concern is inflation, which if not immediately, at least in the mid-term, is expected to return to the foregrouns, Doyle says, added that inflation does not appear to be a top concern for central banksers, who are more worried about weak growth and rising unemployment. Doyle cites the famous saying of Milton Friedman that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon,” and estimates that rising volumes on money markets, fed by hitherto unseen levels of quantitative easing, will eventually need to be corrected for.

Ennio Doris, head of Mediolanum, has announced that he is prepared to sell the firm’s stake in the Italian private bank Banca Esperia, which is 50/50 owned by Mediolanum and Mediobanca, Bluerating reportts. “If anyone is interested in the Italian market and would like a little treat, we can take them into consideration,” he said.

A study undertaken by the Kommalpha agency for the German BVI association of asset management firms has found that 134 institutional investors surveyed (with assets totalling EUR380bn) would like to reduce their allocations to institutional funds specialised in fixed income products to 40%, from 60% currently, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.When asked about the impact of regulations, they say that their allocation to government debt would fall to 9% from 18% currently if laws or regulations did not require them to invest in this asset class. They would also double their allocation to equities to 24%, and would increase their allocation to real estate funds, private equity and corporate bonds, to the detriment of government bonds, Pfandbriefe and liquid assets such as money market funds.

On Friday, the website of Standard Life Investments in Germany showed an “awaiting photo” message for its investment director for Germany and Austria. This appears to confirm reports in Fondsprofessionell that the business has parted ways with Michael Geier, who has served in the position until recently. Apparently, the role will be occupied for the interim by Asa Norrie, joint head of European business and head of the Nordic region.

Pascal Koenig is an Asset Management financial industry partner at Deloitte. He discusses the challenges faced by French asset management firms with Newsmanagers. This specialist in the sector says they will need to adopt a more industrial approach, particularly to the construction of their product ranges and customer relationships.

At closing time on 11 January, the Turner International Growth fund was “adopted” by John Hancock Funds (Manulife group), and renamed John Hancock International Growth Equity Fund (ticker JTIGX for the A share class, and JTTIX for I shares). The fund is available to retail investors via their financial advisers.The portfolio is composed of 60 to 80 positions, on international growth equities with cap sizes “generally” over USD2bn.Since 2007, the fund has been managed by Mark Turner, chairman and co-founder of Turner Investments (USD11.6bn as of the end of September), who remains at the helm. Assets as of 31 December 2012 totalled USD32.5m.

Assets under custody and administration at State Street as of the end of December 2012 totalled USD24.371trn, up 4% compared with the end of September, State Street announced at a release of its quarterly results. Assets under custody alone as of the end of December totalled USD17.806trn, compared with USD17.827trn. Assets under management as of the end of December totalled USD2.089trn, up 1.2% compared with the end of September 2012. Commissions related to services rose 4.5% in fourth quarter to USD1.2bn. Management commissions, for their part, totalled USD260m, up 3.6% quarter on quarter, due to an increase in performance comissions and the good performance of international equity markets.

Assets under management at the Société Privée de Gestion de Patrimoine (SPGP) as of the end of December 2012 totalled EUR800m. Net subscriptions totalled EUR23m. “The strongest subscriptions were for the Sélection High Yield 2015, Oblig Corporate 1-2 1/2 Y Euro, Sélection Action Rendement and Sélection Action Rendement International funds,” says Laurent Pluchard, director of sales for the French asset management firm.2013 will see the birth of a new product in the range. CBP Corporate has received a license from the AMF, and will be launched in first quarter 2013. Meanwhile, SPGP is continuing to restructure its range, which will be completed in March. Following various mergers of products, the range will include 17 funds, down from 25 previously. The objective is to “bring dynamism to the range,” says Pluchard, and to begin to offer a range of larger funds. Among the merged products is Neo Activa, which will be merged into Neo Arbitrage, the Emerging Commodities Fund, which will be merged into the Tectonic Fund, and the FP Dynamique and Sélection Flexible International fund of funds, which will be merged into the Gestion Diversifiée International. The restructuring comes at a time when SPGP has signed an amicable EUR100,000 settlement with the French financial regulator, the Autorité des marché financiers (AMF), over the FP Dynamique fund (see Newsmanagers of 18 January 2013). the AMF says SPGP charged higher fees than specified for the Sicav. The disappearance of the product following the merger is said by the asset management firm to have “no connection” with the AMF’s verdict.

As a part of its international development, Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg on Friday, 18 January announced that it was preparing to apply to the local regulator CSSF for an extension to its license as an asset management firm. “Currently, the Sicav is autonomous, and self-managed,” Eric Le Coz, managing director of Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg, explains to Newsmanagers. “Now, we have realised that our clients were asking who the manager was!” This is all the more regrettable for the firm based on Place Vendôme in Paris, since Luxembourg is the hub for the asset management firm’s European development. “We would like to make the structure of the group more legible, and easier to understand,” the head says.The entity in Luxembourg, which has historically been a global distributor, will become the asset management firm for the SICAV Carmignac Portfolio, which was launched in 1999, has seven sub-funds and assets of EUR5bn. In practice, the “new” asset management firm will be in a position to extend the activities of its affiliates beyond their roles as local promoters. “It is easy to find professionals who speak five or six languages in Luxembourg,” Le Coz says, “and our objective for the structure will be to attract talent which could then be sent to London, Frankfurt, Singapore, depending on our needs.”On the organisational chart, Le Coz and Davide Fregonese will become the two senior managers of the new, transformed Luxembourg-based entity, and will work in collaboration with Antoine Bruneau, currently Financial Controller for the group. Le Coz will retain responsibility for product development group-wide, and will remain a member of the investment committee, the strategic development committee, and the board of directors at Carmignac Gestion, a statement says. Fregonese will also remain responsible for the commercial development of the group, and will remain as a member of the strategic development committee and the board of directors of Carmignac Gestion.

The new infrastructure fund from Union Investment, UniInstitutional Infrastruktur SICAV-SIF, has acquired the Gunzenhausen wind farm, 40 kilometres south of Nuremberg, for an undisclosed amount, from RENERCO Renewable Energy Concepts AG (a wholly-owned subsidiary of BayWa r.e. Renewable energy GmbH). The property includes nine wind turbines, with a power of 2 megawatts each. The installation will continue to be operated by RENERCO.The total investment volume planned for the UniInstitutional Infrastruktur SICAV-SIF is EUR1bn, in 20 wind farms, and a corresponding number of solar power installations.At a recent first closing, the fund had raised EUR48m.

Invesco Perpetual has announced that Mark Armour will become CEO of the firm at the end of 2013, following a decision by James Robertson to leave his job for health reasons, Investment Week reports. Armour, who has been responsible for international institutional operations since 2007, will become director of the EMEA region, including the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the Middle East.

Mark Skinner, the head of retail for Europe at Henderson, left the firm in early January as part of the most recent reorganisation of the asset management firm, Investment Week reports. Meanwhile, Stephen Peak, who had been manager of the UK Alpha Fund, will transfer the fund, which has been underperforming, to Neil German and James Ross in early February.

Wells Fargo Asset Management has obtained licences to market 13 funds in France, in Ireland and in Sweden. Six of the funds, part of a Luxembourg based Sicav, cover Chinese equities, emerging equities, metals and US equities and bonds.In France, the asset manager, which targets funds of funds, pension funds, private banks et corporates, is already managing via segregated accounts USD1.7 for French institutional investors. In Europe, Wells Fargo AM manages USD5.2bn out of USD435bn.

Julius Baer has formed a Global Advisory Committee of former Merrill Lynch executives which will support the Bank in integrating Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management (IWM) business outside the United States. Meanwhile, the preparatory activities for the integration are well on track: the Principal Closing of the acquisition is expected for 1 February 2013, according to a press statement released on January 18. The following persons, who will report to CEO Boris F.J. Collardi, have been nominated to the Global Advisory Committee: Winthrop H. Smith, Jr., former Executive Vice President of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Chairman of Merrill Lynch International. Alfred P. Berger, former Chairman of Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets. Jose M. Malbran, former Chairman of Merrill Lynch’s Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa Private Client Group and Merrill Lynch International Bank. Raymundo Yu, former Chairman Asia Pacific of Merrill Lynch International and current Chairman Asia Pacific of Threadneedle Investments. Makram Zaccour, former CEO of Merrill Lynch in the Middle East.

The Italian bank Banca dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) on 17 January has announced that it is undertaking an urgent analysis of certain transactios dating back to previous fiscal years, after the news agency Bloomberg reported that the German bank Deutsche Bank in 2008 helped the bank to conceal losses through opaque instruments. An urgent analysis of the matter is now being carried out, covering certain structured transactions undertaken in previous fiscal years, BMPS announced in a statement on its website, without providing more details about the operations concerned. The analysis, which is still underway, is concentrating on legal, financial, accounting and transaction aspects, and aims in particular to evaluate any potential current or future impact precisely, the group has announced, promising to act as soon as possible. The bank will ensure that everything will be carried out in a manner as transparent to the markets and supervisory authorities as possible, BMPS concludes. The news agency Bloomberg has affirmed, on the basis of 70 pages of documents, that Deutsche Bank in December 2008 designed a derivative product for BMPS, which allowed it to conceal EUR367m in financial losses on a previous transaction with the German group. As part of the project entitled Santorini, from the name of a Greek island, Deutsche Bank is reported to have lent BMPS EUR1.5bn. According to Bloomberg, the consequences of the transaction for BMPS, which a few months later was required to seek Italian government aid, never appeared on its annual books.

The Italian insurance group Generali on 18 January annoucned that it has received non-binding offers for its Swiss-based private bank BSI, the news agency Reuters reports. At a conference in Milan, the CEO of Generali, Mario Greco, refused to give more details, indicating that such a transaction could take several months. According to the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Royal Bank of Canada, Julius Baer, UBP or Apax are on the list of potential buyers.

German cities offer the best growth outlooks in 2013 on the commercial real estate market in Europe, according to an annual survey led by ULI (Urban Land Institute) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) entitled “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013.” The approximately 500 specialists consulted as part of the survey estimate that the best growth outlooks are in Munich and Berlin, ahead of London, Istanbul and the third-largest German city, Hamburg. Investors, who continue to favour assets with no risk, estimate that the three German cities offer a solid micro-economic environment, while their respective real estate markets are highly resistant. London has gained seven spots in the 2013 rankings of the 27 most attractive cities on the commercial real estate front, due to the size, vigour and liquidity of its market. Paris holds steady in sixth place, followed by Zurich, Stockholm, Moscow and Warsaw, which has lost seven places at tenth place. Unsurprisingly, the worst-ranked cities are continuing to face the fallout from the financial crisis of 2008, including Athens, Lisbon, Dublin, Madrid and Barcelona.

The asset management activities of Morgan Stabley in fourth quarter 2012 brought in pre-tax profits of USD221m, compared with USD78m in fourth quarter 2011, according to figures released on 18 January by the group. For the year as a whole, operating profits totalled USD590m, compared with USD253m in the year 2011. Assets under management as of the end of December totalled USD338bn, up 18% year on year, Inflows to money market funds, and to a lesser extent positive market effects, explain this development. The wealth management unit at Morgan Stanley earned pre-tax operating profits of USD581m in fourth quarter, compared with USD238m in fourth quarter 2011. Operating profits for the 2012 fiscal year totalled USD1.6bn, compared with USD1.3bn in 2011. Client assets as of the end of December totalled USD1.8trn, of which USD573bn were commission-generating assets.

Capgemini on 18 January announced the appointment of Thierry Delaporte as CEO of the global unit dedicated to the financial services sector. Delaporte will succeed Aiman Ezzat, who became CFO for the group at the end of 2012. The appointment is effective immediately. Delaporte had been director of operations and sales at the entity Application Services One since the beginning of 2011. With over 17 years of experience at Capgemini, he served as CFO and chief operating officer at various entities in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.

Kempen Capital Management, the asset management firm from the Netherlands-based bank Kempen & Co, has licensed its first four funds in France. The range, registered in Luxembourg, includes a corporate bond fund denominated in euros (Euro Credit Fund), a dividend fund (Global High Dividend Fund), a European small cap fund (European Small Cap) and a European sustainable small caps fund (Sustainable Smallcaps). With this range, Kempen CM, which has assets under management of EUR27bn as of the end of September, is planning to develop in France, particularly serving multi-management firms, platforms, and insurers. Although it is now launching its own funds, the firm is already present in France with two mandates managed for the French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR). The first of these, for European small caps, was awarded to it in 2009, while the second, for European SRI equities, was announced in December. It also manages mandates for OFI Asset Management and Sycomore for two funds. This development has been led from Amsterdam by Vuk Srdanovic, head of international development for France, who joined Kempen CM nearly two years ago. The Danish citizen, who speaks fluent French, is focusing particularly on those locate din France who may introduce the firm to certain clients. “When I arrived, Kempen already had mandates from the FRR, OFI AM and Sycomore. Those relationships ensured a certain reputation in institutional circles,” Srdanovic explains to Newsmanagers. “Now, we would like to profit from that reputation to release our Sicav to other clients.” The head of international development for France will offer the asset management firm’s expertise in small caps, which was also selected by the FRR, via two funds. This universe is managed from Edinburgh (inherited by acquisition) by a team of nine people led by Rory Hammerson. Its unique characteristic is that it offers an engagement strategy for small caps. These efforts in France are part of an international development being led from Amsterdam by a team led by Hiko de Brouwer, and now composed of six people.

BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Management GmbH on Friday, 18 January announced that it has been awarded a mandate by Acorn Real Esrtate, the German corporate real estate platform from the US investment fund Oaktree Capital Management, to manage a portfolio of 22 properties, totalling 285,000 square metres, throughout Germany (Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Essen). The properties are occupied by about 250 tenants, a statement says. With this mandate, BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Management GmbH will now manage nearly 40% of the portfolio of German Acorn, and has a portfolio of 800 properties with a total area of about 5 million square metres.

Allianz Global Investors is to launch in the second quarter an infrastructure debt fund in the UK – the first of its kind – to help build schools, hospitals and roads, according to the Financial Times. The fund will raise GBP1bn initially, but has the potential to raise more. AllianzGI also plans to launch a similar sized infrastructure debt fund in Europe in the summer.

Julius Baer a annoncé le 18 janvier avoir mis sur pied un comité consultatif («Advisory Committee») pour l’intégration des activités de gestion de fortune de Merrill Lynch en dehors des Etats-Unis. Il est composé d’anciens managers de premier plan de Merrill Lynch qui vont conseiller la banque dans la mise en œuvre de l’intégration, indique un communiqué de la banque suisse.Font partie du comité Winthrop Smith, ancien executive vice president de Merrill Lynch & Co. et chairman de Merrill Lynch International, Alfred Berger, ancien chairman de Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) et de Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Jose Malbran, ancien chairman du Private Client Group Amérique latine, Europe, Moyen Orient et Afrique de Merrill Lynch, et de Merrill Lynch International Bank, Raymundo Yu, ancien chairman Asia Pacific de Merrill Lynch International, et Makram Zaccour, ancien CEO de Merrill Lynch au Moyen-Orient. L’intégration des activités de Merrill Lynch se déroule normalement, selon Julius Baer. Le bouclage formel de l’acquisition est prévue pour le 1er février, précise la banque.