Jess M. Ravich, managing director and head of capital markets at the investment bank Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin Inc, is joining TCW as group managing direcor and head of alternative products. He will be responsible for developing the alternative management platform, and will report directly to the chairman & CEO of TCW< David Lippman.Meanwhile, TCW has announced the creation of a joint venture with Scoggin Capital Management (which includes Scoggin LLC and Old Bellows Partners), which will be known as TCW Scoggin, and will be led by Ravich, to manage distressed and event-driven alternative strategies. Scoggin has assets of USD1.5bn.Lastly, TCW is acquiring the Special Situations Funds group (SSF) from Regiment Capital Advisors for an undisclosed amount; this will be led by Ravich. SSF has about USD2bn in assets. It is led by Rick Miller and includes six investment professionals based in Boston and New York. They will all join TCW and will remain at the two sites.

Dexia has entered into exclusive negotiations with GCS Capital, based in Hong Kong, for the sale of its asset management unit Dexia Asset Management, thus initiating one the last disposals of the Group’s main commercial franchises as presented within the framework of the orderly resolution plan announced in October 2011. Neither the Belgo-French financial group nor GCS Capital gave many details on the talks, but a deal for the European asset manager could be worth up to EUR500m, according to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the transaction. If a deal is completed, GCS Capital which is run by two former senior investment bankers at HSBC, plans to maintain the current regional footprint revolving around competence centers in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg and Sydney. It will also seek to deepen the already robust commercial relations which Dexia Asset Management has developed with its institutional and private clients, and particularly the well-established collaborations with Belfius and Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, according to a statement published on 4 December. Assets under management at Dexia AM total EUR78bn as of the end of 2011.Headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in London and Beijing, GCS Capital is «a strategic investor supported by institutions with strong financial resources and strategic capabilities. It will be able to implement a growth strategy for Dexia Asset Management focusing on targeted international development in the world’s fastest growing regions whilst continuing to invest in Dexia Asset Management’s excellent platform», according to the statement.

Federico Garcia Zamora, who had been co-manager of international and global bond funds as well as «inflation opportunities» funds at American Century Investments, has been recruited by Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC (USD104bn in assets), a Boston-based affiliate of BNY Mellon.He joins the firm as a senior portfolio manager for forex strategies, with responsibility for issuing investment recommendations for sectoral and multi-sectoral bond strategies. He will also be responsible for the management of absolute return currency strategies, which Standish will be launching soon.In this newly-created position, Zamora will report to David Leduc, CIO of Standish.

The Meeschaert group on 4 December announced the acquisition of EFG Assurances, a life insurance solution brokerage structure, The operation falls fully within the strategic developments planned by the group, and represents an opportunity for its four units of activity: private management, asset management, family office and private equity, according to a statement from the group. The acquisition coincides with the arrival of Maxime Vermesse as a member of the board and director of private management. After serving in several roles related to private management and asset management activities at the BNP Paribas group, Vermesse served as director of private management for Europe and Latin America at BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco from 2008. At the end of 2010, he became CEO of EFG Banque Privée France. In order to accelerate the development of the family office activity, created for the Meeschaert family in France in 2003, Charles Bienaimé, a board member, will now dedicate himself entirely to surveillance selection and wealth monitoring services dedicated to high net worth families.

The markets are more attractive for investors when there is strong competition between traditional and alternative platforms, according to a study recently published by the CFA Institute.The study, “Dark Pools, Internalization, and Equity Market Quality,” evaluates the impact of dark trades, which take place often in dark pools and internationalization of brokers, on measures related to the quality of the market such as bid/offer spreads and the depth of the market. The study finds that although originally an increase in dark trading is synonymous with an improvement in the quality of the markets, they deteriorate when a majority of trades are conducted opaquely.The CFA Institute study proposes that regulatory measures be put in place to encourage healthy competition and protect investors who make trades on traditional markets. These recommendations include the following points: Internalisation of orders placed by retail investors should be required. It brings a real improvement in prices, which means significant savings for small shareholders, and protection for those who make their trades on traditional markets. Regulators should monitor and measure transactions in dark pools and take necessary measures if they increase excessively; Alternative platforms should voluntarily allow investors and regulators to take clearer decisions about their use.

The Munich-based DAB bank has announced the creation of the security indices FIPOX-S and FIPOX-C, which aim to measure the performance of independent asset managers, the first being a prudent (Safety) version, and the other more dynamic (Chance).The indices replicate the exposures of the ten best portfolio managers among clients of DAB bank, which include two thirds of German professionals in the sector with a BaFin license. The direct bank will each year establish which managers generated the best returns over the past three years. The best in the bond and fixed income funds categories will be included in the FIPOX-S, while the best in equities, certificates and diversified funds will be included in the FIPOX-C. The weighting of assets will be updated monthly.The calculation, composition and publication of the two indices will be released by ICF Kursmakler with a per-minute value for each index.

The executive director for Swiss & Global Asset Management for Swiss wholesale activities, Reto Meisser, on 1 December became CEO of Invesco Asset Management (Switzerland).He is joined by three others, Alexandre Sauteret, who had been senior sales director at Fidelity International, and who becomes head of Invesco for French-speaking Switzerland and key clients in Zurich.Martina Brückner (formerly legal & compliance officer at Xing) becomes director of compliance at Invesco Switzerland, while Emmanuel Armbruster joins the customer services team led by Rolf Hans Elsener.

The Edmond de Rothschild private banking group is looking to accelerate the growth of its assets under management in the period 2013-2016. It is aiming for an increase of over 20% to its assets under management, for an operating ratio of 66%, an improvement of about 17%. “These objectives are proportionately applicable to the Groupe Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild S.A.,” the Geneva-based private management bank announced in a statement released on 4 December. The objectives are a part of the strategic plan for 2013-2016 unviled to employees by the new CEO, Christophe de Backer. In an environment of economic pressure and regulatory requirements, the plan aims to harmonise the organisation of the group in order to accelerate domestic and international development. “The strategic plan continues and amplifies the strategy engaged since 1997,” which had no concrete figures, the statement says.

Le Comité de politique financière (FPC), une nouvelle autorité issue de la refonte complète de la réglementation outre-Manche et dépendant de la Banque d’Angleterre, estime que les banques britanniques devraient afficher des ratios de fonds propres reflétant une « valorisation appropriée » de leurs actifs et des « estimations réalistes » du coût des scandales dans lesquels elles sont impliquées, rapporte Les Echos. Ce forum chargé de veiller aux risques systémiques enjoint donc certaines banques à se restructurer ou à renforcer leurs fonds propres. S’il n’a pas précisé le montant, les analystes ont déduit de ses publications qu’entre 20 et 50 milliards au total pourraient être nécessaires.

At the beginning of next year, DoubleLine Capital will launch its sixth fund, DoubleLine Floating Rate Fund, Investment News reports, relaying information in Mutual Fund Wire. The portfolio will be invested in bank loans, inflation-linked bonds, MBS and ABS. It will be managed by Bonnie Baha and Robert Cohen.

The New York-based asset management firm Wisdom Tree (USD17.2bn in assets) has announced the liquidation of three ETF funds whose assets were insufficient on 3 December.The funds are the WisdomTree LargeCap Growth Fund (NYSE Arca ticker: ROI), with USD13.9m under management, the WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand Fund (SZR), with USD4.4m in assets, and the WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen Fund (JYF), with USD6.2m in assets. The funds represent only 0.15% of ETF assets at Wisdom Tree.Shareholders who have not requested redemption of their shares by 10 December will automatically receive a redemption in cash corresponding to the net asset value of their shares at the close of the trading day.

On 6 December, Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC (USD74bn in assets) is planning to launch the PowerShares S&P 500® Downside Hedged Portfolio (Arca ticker PHDG), an ETF which offers hedged positions on the US S&P 500 index.Through dynamic allocation to futures on the VIX and cash, depending on volatility, the actively-managed product, which charges fees of 0.39%, aims to protect investors on the “broad” US equity market.PHDG will use a quantitative strategy which aims to generate returns corresponding to those of the S&P 500 Dynamic VEQTOR index.

Nicholas Rowe de Focus Capital Wealth Management a été condamné par le régulateur, la Finra, à rembourser 1,8 million de dollars de pertes subies par ses clients sur des ETF à effet de levier ou inversés, rapporte le Handelsblatt. Il est reproché au conseiller en investissement des négligences, une escroquerie et d’autres fautes.Dans cette affaire, les clients lésés percevront 1,3 million de dollars de dédommagement et 500.000 dollars pour les droits, les intérêts et les dépenses.

The head of institutional operation at F&C Asset Management, Richard Wilson, has been appointed CEO, and will begin in the new role on 1 January 2013. He joins the board immediately as executive chairman, as Edward Bramson will become non-executive chairman following the presentation of provisional financial results for the group for 2012 (see Newsmanagers of 3 December).

The number private bank branches of UBS Germany will be reduced to ten, and as many as 35 employees will be laid off as a result of the cuts.In a note to German clients, the Swiss group has announced that at the end of 2012, the Wiesbaden branch will be closed, with clients now served from Frankfurt, and that in July 2013, the Dortmund and Essen branches will disappear, to be served from Düsseldorf, and the Rosenheim branch will be closed, with clients served from Munich.From July 2013, the private banking network at UBS in Germany will thus only include Berlin, Bielefeld, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

Les banquiers suisses ont très vivement réagi à la publication récente par l’Autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés financiers (Finma) de nouvelles et très strictes exigences concernant le traitement des rétrocessions, pour adapter sa pratique à un récent arrêt du Tribunal fédéral (Newsmanagers du 4 décembre), rapporte L’Agefi suisse.En obligeant les banques à contacter tous les clients potentiellement concernés par cet arrêt, le régulateur s’immisce dans leurs relations privées avec leurs clients et cela, sans consultation préalable, estime l’Association suisse des banquiers (ASB). Doublement impensable pour l’Association suisse des banquiers, qui demande le «réexamen» de ces mesures.

Nearly half of European institutional investors say that the financial crisis has had no impact on their integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into asset management, according to a Novethic study published on Tuesday. Even 10% consider it an obstacle. The annual study of the integration of ESG criteria by European institutional investors was undertaken with the support of BNP Paribas Investment Partners, and covered 115 directors of major financial institutions in 111 countries with a total of EUR4,470trn in assets under management.With more precise regard to ESG analysis of governments, three quarters of investors say that the euro zone crisis has had no decisive influence on the evolution of ESG ratings charts of countries. It has led only one quarter of investors to revise their analysis of sovereign issuers.ESG practices are changeing nonetheless. For three years, the notion of control of long-term risks with the objective of helping institutional investors to integrate ESG criteria has been gaining popularity. 30% now cite this factor as a reason to practice this type of management, compared with 19% in 2010, while the factor “contribution to sustainable development,” which remains the most popular with 43%, is trending down (46%).The study also finds that normative exclusions are the dominant practice, as 57% of institutional investors say they have defined lists which exclude businesses responsible for severe violations of human rights and damage to the environment. These are often associated with engagement policies, which are deployed by 54% of respondents. The best in class approach has gained popularity, and now stands at 37%.This is a sign of a considerable diversity of approaches, which can also be found across countries. “In terms of SRI, European countries don’t speak the same language,” says Anne-Catherine Husson-Traore, CEO of Novethic, who presented the study on Tuesday.

JP Morgan Asset Management has recruited Tai Hui to the newly-created position of chief strategist for the Asia-Pacific region, Asian Investor reports. Tai, who had previously worked at Standard Chartered, will be based in Hong Kong, where he will oversee the Global Market Insight Strategy team, in order to assist Asian clients with investment decisions. The Asian team, which includes five people, offers a quarterly guide, which follows a top-down approach covering equities, bonds, and to a lesser extent, commodities.

“In terms of integration of environmental, social and governance criteria, the Netherlands are the leading market at the moment,” says Anne-Catherine Husson-Traore, CEO of Novethic, who on Tuesday presented the findings of a étude pan-Euorpean study of the ESG strategies of institutionals. She claims that the pension funds APG and PGGM are powerful drivers of this market. The annual study of the use of ESG criteria by European institutional investors was undertaken with the support of BNP Paribas Investment Partners. It covered 115 directors of major financial institutions in 11 countries with a total of EUR4.47trn in assets under management. 77% of institutional investors in the Netherlands have already formed a socially responsible investment policy, and 15% would like to do so soon, the study finds. Control of long-term risks represents the most important factor supporting integration of ESG criteria (46%). But a growing number of respondents want to protect their reputation, the study finds: 31%, compared with 10% in 2011. It must be said that Dutch institutionals are regularly attacked in the media over the nature of their investments, Novethic notes. In 2007, an article in the press drove the pension fund APG, with EUR300bn in assets, to adopt ESG criteria. Adeline Diab, senior expert on integration of and engagement with responsible investment strategies by Netherlands institutionals, explains that the fund is accountable to the Dutch Parliament, as it manages the money of public employees. In terms of practices, Dutch institutional investors “are at the crossroads of Scandinavian markets and the British market, with a strong reliance on normative exclusion and shareholder engagement,” says François Passant, CEO of Eurosif. The two approaches are cited by more than 85% of respondents. At APG, a team of 9 people is responsible for integration of ESG criteria in various asset classes. In terms of alternative invesments (hedge funds, private equity, real estate, etc.), extra-financial criteria come at the time of due diligence. For capital markets (equities, bonds, etc.), specific strategies are applied to each asset class with a risk-targeted approach. Lastly, APG has a broad engagement policy which falls into three parts: engagement by businesses to adhere to the United Nations Global Compact; engagements from selected businesses each year in each sector; and lastly, participation in collective action in partnership with other institutional investors. However, unlike the practices common in the Netherlands, Diab says APG does not practice exclusion. The only exclusions are Wal-Mart and PetroChina, two businesses for which engagement, which in general lasts three years, failed.

Stolen data concerning clients of UBS which was obtained by the tax authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia were photographed by an employee of the bank, the Tages Anzeiger newspaper reports in its 4 December issue, citing a German lawyer. The attorney general of Bochum is continuing his investigations.“The data were photographed with a screen, and assembled piece by piece,” Jörg Schauf, a tax lawyer representing a client of the Swiss bank, says. “It was the work of an internal source,” the lawyer adds, claiming that the data which the tax authorities of the German region are of “remarkable” quality.“Everything is listed: structures, comparison before and after the financial crisis, basic data, the structure of foundations, a complete view of the wealth of clients, and the names of advisers,” he told the newspaper.The CD purchased by the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia is said to have contained information on 750 foundations and investments totalling CHR3.5bn overall. The most recent data is from March 2010. The Bochum attorney general has so far examined 115 cases out of a total of 1,300. The cases of fraud discovered total EUR204m.

Dans l’attente du rapport Berger-Lefebvre, les gérants français font entendre leurs voix. L’association française de la gestion financière (AFG) a ainsi dévoilé ce matin une série de propositions en vue d’encourager l’épargne longue. Aux côtés des OPCVM existants, à liquidité quotidienne, «nous réfléchissons à des OPCVM, qui pourraient être baptisés fonds communs d’investissement productif de long terme, dans la lignée de ce qu’a esquissé la commission européenne cet été», indique Paul-Henri de La Porte du Theil, président de l’AFG. Ce produit pourrait être investi à plus de deux tiers en titres longs d’entreprises avec une part minimum en actions. L’AFG préconise par ailleurs un élargissement du Perp (Plan d’épargne retraite populaire) à l’univers non assurantiel et plaide pour la levée de certaines contraintes européennes

L’Autorité des marchés britannique a lancé une consultation pour réformer le Libor, qui fait suite au rapport de l’un de ses membres, Martin Wheatley, et aux propositions d’amendements législatifs faits par le Trésor. Le Libor sera dans un premier temps le seul benchmark régulé en Grande-Bretagne, mai le cadre proposé pourra être étendu à d’autres indices de référence.

L’Espagne a adjugé 4,3 milliards d’euros de dette à échéances 2015, 2019 et 2022, non loin du maximum visé. Le Trésor espagnol a levé 2,124 milliards d’euros à échéance du 31 octobre 2015, avec un rendement moyen en baisse à 3,390% contre 3,617% lors de la précédente adjudication de ce type. Sur l'échéance 2019, il a adjugé 1,004 milliard d’euros de titres, à un rendement de 4,669% (contre 4,541% précédemment). Madrid a également émis 1,123 milliard d’euros de dette à échéance 2022. Le rendement ressort à 5,290% (5,458% précédemment).

Le rendement de l’emprunt d’Etat français à 10 ans (OAT) est tombé à un plus bas historique sur le système de transaction Tradeweb, passant sous le niveau de 2,010% atteint début août. Vers 13h20, le rendement de l’OAT 10 ans était 2,008%. L'écart de taux avec l’emprunt allemand à 10 ans (le spread) était quant à lui stable à environ 64 points de base. Les rendements français et allemands se sont détendus après une adjudication du Trésor espagnol qui n’a pas atteint l’objectif maximum annoncé.

La commission des sanctions de l’Autorité de contrôle prudentiel a prononcé un blâme et une sanction financière de 300.000 euros à l’encontre de Bank Tejarat Paris. Elle a également suspendu son directeur général adjoint Hossein Fazeli pour une période de trois mois. L’ACP reproche à la succursale française de la banque iranienne de ne pas avoir respecté les dispositions relatives au gel des avoirs.

Le rythme annuel de croissance du PIB australien a ralenti à 3,1% au troisième trimestre, après une croissance révisée à 3,8% au trimestre précédent, selon les chiffres publiés ce matin par le Bureau national des statistiques. La consommation des ménages a contribué à hauteur de 0,2 point à la croissance du pays, après une contribution de 0,7 point au trimestre précédent.

Une Cour d’appel de justice américaine a rejeté la proposition faite par les fonds menés par d’Elliott Associates de contraindre le gouvernement argentin à constituer un fonds d’au moins 250 millions de dollars garantissant le remboursement de ses dettes auprès des créanciers n’ayant pas souscrits aux restructurations, dans le cas où ces derniers auraient gain de cause dans l’affaire qui les oppose à Buenos Aires.

Eric Moncada, trader sur le New York Mercantile Exchange, ainsi que BES Capital et Serdika, se sont vus accusés par la CFTC, qui a déposé plainte auprès du tribunal de Manhattan, d’avoir manipulé les cours de contrats à terme sur le marché du blé au mois d’octobre 2009. Les opérateurs auraient réalisé des allers-retours sur les contrats afin d’en influencer le cours.

Dans le cadre du projet de loi de finances rectificative 2012, les députés français ont adopté hier soir le dispositif du crédit d’impôt pour la croissance et l’emploi (CICE), mesure-phare du pacte pour la compétitivité qui entrera en vigueur le 1er janvier 2013, par 117 voix contre 33. L’amendement présenté par le ministre de l’Economie Pierre Moscovici prévoit l’instauration d’un crédit d’impôt pour toutes les entreprises employant du personnel salarié, ce crédit étant égal en 2013 à 4% de la masse salariale brute pour les rémunérations inférieures ou égales à 2,5 fois le Smic, puis à 6% en 2014. Un autre amendement comporte les mesures destinées à financer pour moitié - le reste reposant sur des économies supplémentaires en dépenses - le CICE dont le montant total s'élève à 20 milliards d’euros. A compter du 1er janvier 2014, le taux de TVA réduit de 5,5% sera ramené à 5%, le taux intermédiaire étant porté de 7 à 10% et le taux normal de 19,6 à 20%.

Les parlementaires néerlandais ont validé le dernier plan d’aide à la Grèce en date qui comporte des mesures censées permettre à Athènes de ramener le poids de son déficit à 124% de son PIB. Cette décision était largement attendue, le Parti libéral de Mark Rutte et ses alliés du Parti travailliste ayant déjà annoncé leur soutien.