Un plan de départs volontaires est ouvert jusque fin 2012, visant 66 postes en France. La quasi-totalité des effectifs a été sollicitée

Nyse Euronext a annoncé qu'il reprenait ses opérations après deux jours de fermeture des marchés américains

Wall Street devrait ouvrir normalement aujourd’hui après deux jours de fermeture exceptionnelle en raison du passage de l’ouragan Sandy.

Les règles pourraient améliorer la confiance des investisseurs dans les titrisations adossées à des prêts hypothécaires résidentiels

A l’instar du rachat d’Aegis Group par le groupe japonais Dentsu qui attend toujours l’aval des autorités chinoises, les délais d’approbation pris par Pékin dans les opérations de fusions-acquisitions de sociétés nipponnes aurait augmenté depuis quelques semaines à 30 jours, voire même 60 jours ou six mois, selon le journal qui cite des sources juridiques. Un allongement qui correspond au début du conflit sino-japonais.

Malgré la dégradation de la note du pays par S&P et la décision défavorable de la cour de New-York, Buenos Aires «ne remboursera jamais» les fonds vautour

Dans un souci d’apaisement des craintes des investisseurs internationaux face au système juridique local, l’Arabie Saoudite serait selon le quotidien, qui cite des sources proches, en pourparlers avec le gouvernement britannique afin de pouvoir mettre en œuvre à Londres un tribunal dédié au règlement des litiges commerciaux avec le Royaume du Golfe.

Le groupe de private equity s’est adjoint les conseils de JPMorgan pour évaluer les options s’offrant à ATU Auto-Teile Unger, la première chaîne indépendante de réparation automobile en Allemagne. Parmi les options figurent un appel au marché obligataire, une cession ou une introduction en Bourse, selon Bloomberg. KKR a racheté l’activité en 2004 à Doughty Hanson pour 1,45 milliard d’euros.

La société de capital investissement a mis en place un financement additionnel de 100 millions d’euros pour soutenir le développement du laboratoire vétérinaire international. Axa PE avait effectué un premier investissement de 30 millions d’euros en 2007. Cette ligne de financement se fait sous la forme d’obligations en complément des lignes de financement bancaires existantes.

L’ERAFP procède actuellement à l’analyse des candidatures et les candidats retenus pour la phase d’offres devraient être informés au mois de novembre. L’ERAFP n’a pas souhaité indiquer combien elle avait reçu de dossiers dans le cadre de cet appel d’offres mais cinq dossiers seront retenus à l’issue de la première phase. Les trois attributaires dont deux stand by devraient être connus au cours du premier trimestre 2013, afin que le fonds, d’un montant indicatif de 100 millions d’euros, soit opérationnel en mars 2013. Par ailleurs, l’ERAFP a précisé que le portefeuille sera géré sous forme de FCP à vocation générale dédié, soit un « OPCVM traditionnel » et non un OPCVM contractuel. Les dispositions particulières d’application du Dispositif ISR de l’ERAFP au mandat de gestion multi-actifs n’ont pas encore été définies. Dans les classes d’actifs où la recherche ISR au niveau des émetteurs est disponible, l'éligibilité ISR d’un fonds pourrait être déterminée en fonction : du processus de gestion mis en ??uvre ; des notes ISR des émetteurs du fonds calculées selon une méthodologie s’approchant le plus possible de celle de l’ERAFP. Pour qu’un fonds soit éligible d’un point de vue ISR, un seuil minimal de conformité des émetteurs (en nombre ou en % de l’actif du fond) au Dispositif de l’ERAFP pourrait être défini. Par défaut, c’est-à-dire si la recherche ISR au niveau des émetteurs n’existe pas, l’accent pourrait être mis sur l'équipe et le processus de gestion mis en ??uvre : les approches basées sur l’intégration non/peu formalisée d’enjeux environnementaux, sociaux et/ou de gouvernance dans l’analyse financière ou sur des pratiques d’investissement favorisant les comportements d’entreprises responsables (ex. l’engagement) pourraient être considérées comme conformes aux attentes de l’ERAFP.

Olivier Arlès, directeur général adjoint en charge du pilotage économique et financier de la Macif dans un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1193 : Nos encours sous gestion ont continué de progresser, pour atteindre actuellement 24 milliards d’euros dont 18 milliards d’euros en assurance vie, soit plus de 3 milliards d’euros supplémentaires par rapport à fin 2009. Nos investissements ou réinvestissements annuels représentent plus de 2 milliards d’euros, mais nous avons moins investi depuis le début de l’année, en maintenant une partie importante de l’encours en monétaire. A l’heure actuelle, la Macif détient 85% de produits de taux (obligations ou titres monétaires). Nous acceptons d’avoir une pénalisation immédiate sur nos rendements, en étant investis de manière plus importante en monétaire, car nous faisons le pari que les taux sont anormalement bas et qu’ils vont donc remonter à moyen terme. Depuis que nous sommes confrontés au risque sur les emprunts d'États et à la baisse des taux, nous détenons ainsi entre 7 et 9% de trésorerie contre 3 à 5% habituellement. En parallèle, nous avons revu à la baisse, sur décision de notre conseil d’administration, notre exposition plancher aux dettes souveraines, qui est passée de 35% en 2011 à 30% cette année. Nous avons poursuivi notre désengagement des dettes souveraines périphériques qui ne représentent aujourd’hui que 4% de nos placements. Nous avons vendu le deux tiers de notre exposition aux emprunts espagnols et commencé à nous séparer de nos titres portugais. Nous avons en revanche conservé nos emprunts italiens et irlandais. En parallèle, nous avons donc augmenté notre exposition aux obligations corporate, tout en restant très sélectifs sur cette classe d’actifs.

In an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung, Matthias von Randenborgh, founder, chairman, CEO and CIO of the Munich-based RP Crest, has announced that the firm, which was spun off from the Swiss quantitative management firm Vescore in April 2011, has received seed capital of EUR180m for its volatility fund RP Vega Fonds, launched on 1 February 2012. Since then, the product has attracted net subscriptions of over EUR70m, despite returns of only 1.6% on an absolute return objective of 8-12%.The management team bets on risk premia on equities, bonds, currencies and commodities complemented by a risk management system with strategies intended to allow for good performance in periods when sudden increases in aversion to risk provoke extreme events.Meanwhile, von Randenborgh says that RP Crest stands out for its salary bonus policy for employees, which depends on the long-term performance of the fund.

For the first time since its creation in Germany (1964) and Austria (2002), Steyler Bank is launching an open-ended fund, the Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig – Aktien, an equitable and sustainable equity fund to be managed by Warburg Invest.The SRI product will rely on stock-picking from oekom research for its selection of equities. It has an ethical council composed of Steyler missionaries (of the Catholic order), specialists in social ethics, and finance professionals. It also relies on information drawn from the global network of Steyler missionaries, known as Finance-scouts.In addition, the firm plans a process of engagement with businesses in the portfolio guilty of unethical practices (exploitation, poverty, injustice).The fund will be invested in a balanced manner in various cap sizes. It will prefer firms which operate to preserve peace, equitable commerce, and conservation of the environment. However, Steyler will exclude businesses which are involved in abortion, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, nuclear energy, embryonic research, gambling, child labour, violations of human rights, pornography, weapons of mass destruction, experimentation on animals, etc.Earnings from management commissions will be used to finance Steyler aid and missionary projects.CharacteristicsName: Steyler Fair und Nachhaltig – AktienISIN code: DE000A1JUVL8Asset management firm: Warburg InvestFront-end fee: 4% (1% for investments of over EUR100,000)Management commission: 1.7% (1.2% over EUR100,000)Depository banking commission: 0.1%

BaFin has recently issued a sales license for Germany for the inflation-linked fund AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds, managed by a team of three people, led by Jonathan Blatora, Axa IM announced on 30 October. The Luxembourg-registered fund was launched three months ago (see Newsmanagers of 23 July). The inflation-linked bond team is responsible for approximately EUR20bn in assets at Axa IM.

According to CBS News, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire, Vanguard’s adoption of indices from CSRP will result in an investment of USD1bn in shares in Berkshire Hathaway by the Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund. The CSRP index takes into account both B and A share classes in the firm, while the MSCI index considered only B shares.

Due to strong demand for high yield debt, Pyxis Capital is planning to launch the Pyxis/iBoxx Liquid Loan ETF, which will charge fees of 0.47%, Mutual Fund Wire reports. It will be the second ETF of its type in the United States, after the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio fund, launched in March 2011, whose TER is 0.76%.

The US asset management firm William Blair & Company has launched a UCITS-compliant Sicav to invest internationally, in growth small caps. Global Small Cap Growth will be managed by Andrew Flynn and Matthew Litfin, Investment Europe reports. The portfolio will have 80 to 200 positions, invested in securities with a cap size of under USD5bn.

Laffitte Capital Management on 30 October announced the arrival of Nicolas Gambier as head of risk control and back-office.His role will be to contribute his expertise in the controlling and monitoring of regulatory and market risks. He will also oversee back-office functions at the asset management firm.After beginning his career at OFI AM has an analyst/IT deveoper and then as a structurer at SGAM AI, Gambier has been an analyst and portfolio manager in the alternative multi-management team at Groupama AM since 2005.

Pending clearance from the supervisory authorities, the merger between Edram and Edrim will be completed on 1 December this year, Agefi reports, adding that, according to a source familiar with the matter, all expertise will remain following the merger. The group plans to improve readability of its asset management product range, and benefit from the complementarity of the two asset management firms.

Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO, has announced that Carmignac Gestion is planning to launch an emerging market debt fund aimed at European investors, Fundweb reports. Although the Carmignac asset management firm is not known as a specialist in bonds, it already has considerable experience in the area of emerging markets. But first, it will need to find suitable managers, says Helderlé,

Amundi on 30 October announced the appointment of Patricia Bouchard, previously CFO, as chief operating officer (COO). In this role, she will oversee all support functions and co-ordinate projects for the IDT unit. Since 2002, Bouchard had been chief financial officer of Crédit Agricole Asset Management, and then of Amundi from 2010. She will be replaced in this position by Nicolas Calcoen, who since July 2010 had been director of strategy and development at Amundi, in charge of strategy, strategic marketing and regulatory affairs. He will continue to be responsible for strategy and regulatory affairs. Bouchard and Calcoen are members of the executive board at Amundi. Meanwhile, Thierry Ancona becomes head of the Corproate client segment for France and internationally. He will be responsible for the commercial development of Amundi serving major corporate clients. Since 2010, Ancona had been deputy CEO of Ca Cheuvreux, in charge of Coverage for Major Clients. Jean Sorasio becomes head of the management team dedicated to insurance solutions. He joins from the AXA group, where he worked first at chief investment officer at Axa Life Japan, and then as chief investment officer of the Axa Group. Lastly, Christiam Lemaire becomes head of commercial development at Amundi for external insurers. He had previously been a special adviser to the General Management at CA-CIB. The appointments are all in the third-party investors and distributors unit at Amundi.

The California-based asset management firm Hennessy Advisors on 26 October officially announced that it had concluded the acquisition of the assets in six FBR funds, which have now been renamed under the Hennessy brand and which bring assets at Hennessy to USD3.1bn.

The Taiwan-based financial group SinoPac has recruited the former CEO of Oppenheimer Investments Asia, Steve Bernstein, to lead a new portfolio management services platform, which will be based in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports.The platform will begin trading on 1 December, Bernstein says, and plans to recruit for its functioning and development.Assets at SinoPac Financial Holding total about USD34bn.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has been mandated in Italy by East Capital SICAV, to act as a local transfer agent. SGSS Will provide payment agency and investor relationship management services. SGSS offers a range of third-party services in Italy, including settlement custody and depository banking, fund administration, liquidity management and transfer agency services.

Peter Yarrow is joining Threadneedle Investments as client relationship director, in particular charge of monitoring the major partnerships of the asset management firm in the world of insurance, for example LV=.For the past five years, Yarrow has been managing director at Turner International, after serving as senior investment director at Fidelity Pensions Management. In these roles, Yarrow was responsible for developing relationships with major British institutional investors.

According to a joint study by Pension & Investments and Towers Watson, total assets under management by the 500 largest asset management firms in the world at the end of 2011 came to USD63trn, down 3% compared with the end of 2010, following increases of 16% in 2009 and 4% in 2010. In other words, assets under management as of the end of December had fallen to a level USD1trn lower than at the end of 2006.The analysis finds that the top 20 asset management firms in the world were the ones that lost the most assets in 2011, as their assets contracted by 7%.

The South African asset management firm Coronation Fund Managers (USD39bn in assets) has recruited Justin McKie as director for international sales and relationship management. He had previously been head of sales for the UK and Nordics at Russell Investments, Investment Europe reports.McKie will be based in Lonndon, after a period of acclimation to the Cape. He will report to Kirshni Toaram, head of institutional business, and will aim to develop the activities of Coronation outside Africa.

Richard Turnill , head of global equities, has been appointed by BlackRock as chief investment strategist for its “alpha strategies” group, Fundweb reports. Turnill will begin in his new role on 1 January 2013, and will be replaced by James Bristow, managing director and senior portfolio manager.Turnill will step down from the management of the portfolios of the BlackRock Global Equity Fund and BlackRock Global Income Fund (with Stuart Reeve), but will remain as an adviser until September 2013.Turnill will report to Quintin Price, head of alpha strategies.Meanwhile, BlackRock has recruited Teun Draaisma from TT International as macro-strategist, to head macro-economic research by the global equities team, a position which is currently held by Turnhill.

European multi-asset class funds need to rethink their allocation strategies, in a context of high market volatility, according to a study which has recently been published by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings.Multi-asset class funds domiciled in Europe have recovered in third quarter, after a disappointing year in 2011, the agency reports. Average returns over three years in the Global Mixed Asset category from Lipper are more in line with investors’ expectations, but remain well below their requirements on a five-year horizon, according to Fitch, which expresses surprise that flexible allocation funds show particularly mediocre results on average.

The level of sophistication applied to operational due diligence by institutional investors in hedge funds has increased considerably, according to a European survey undertaken by Deutsche Bank of fund of fund professionals and consultants, representing over USD411bn in assets under management. Institutional investors are requiring a much higher level fo transaprency of hedge fund managers, the survey says, adding that since the financial crisis, operational due diligence teams have been playing an increasingly major role, as 73% of funds of funds and 80% of consultants have set up dedicated teams which operate separately from the due diligence process applied to investment.In the past 18 to 24 months, operational due diligence teams have vetoed investments due to a lack of independent oversight, lack of transparency, valuation problems, or insufficient involvement in terms of capital engaged by managing partners in their funds.However, the survey funds that although investors now have much more powerful evaluation techniques, hedge funds have also met their new and increased requirements with significantly higher levels of transparency.