While retaining his position as director of Reyl Private Office, Nicolas Duchêne will now also serve as CEO of Reyl Singapore, an affiliate of the Swiss Reyl group. Duchêne, who joined Reyl in 2009, becomes head of a team of professionals in Europe and Asia specialised in wealth management and legal and fiscal advising “in a multi-jurisdictional framework,” a presse release says.With the arrival of Duchêne, Reyl Singapore will also strengthen the promotion and distriubtion of its investment fund range managed by Reyl Asset Management, particularly to institutional actors, family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals located in Singapore and South-East Asia.Before being recruited by Reyl, Duchêne was international head of the fiscal and financial planning department at BNP Paribas Private Banking, simultaneously in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The US asset management firm AllianceBernstein has announced that the research firm Sanford C. Bernstein has scaled up its Asia team with the recruitment of three analysts.Kenneth Tsang, head of research & strategy for Asia Pacific at LaSalle Investment Management, will be specialised in Asian real estate, while Kevin Kwek (ex Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore) will cover banks in South-East Asia, and Vanessa Lau (ex Alcoa) will be responsible for metals and mining.

Francesco Fanti has been appointed as head of private banking at Banca Monte dei Paschi de Siena. He will aim to consolidate and relaunch the activities of the unit.

The new Swiss firm Globalance Bank is the first company in the world to integrate a balance sheet on the “sustainable” impact of investments in all asset classes in the real world into its traditional risk/return diagnostics of entire portfolios for each client, Handelsblatt reports.The Portfolio Footprint is calculated by specialists at Globalance on the basis of data from MSCI ESG Research, on the basis of nine criteria, with different weightings for a single criterion depending on the specific challenges of each sector or asset class, the CEO of Globalance, Reto Ringger, says.

The French financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), on 5 November issued a warning over the “Fairvesta” website. The Fairvesta International GmbH company, whose headquarters are located at sis Konrad – Adenauer Str. 15 D- 72072 Tübingen in Germany, and whose website is at http://www.fairvesta.com, offers real estate investments such as Mercatus VIII, Lumis, and Chronos, with high prospects of returns. These investments are often sold highly actively in France by individuals whose predictions are sometimes out of balance with the riks incurred. “These products do not satisfy regulations applicable to financial assets. The investments offered have not been elaborated with a key investor information document or reviewed by the AMF,” a statement says. The AMF states that “Fairvesta International GmbH, based in Germany, and the owner of the aforementioned website, is not authorised to offer investment services in French territory or to deliver banking or financial activities.”

In third quarter, according to estimates by the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms, foreign asset management firms which offer their products in Spain have posted net subscriptions of EUR3bn. In the first nine months of 2012, net inflows have totalled EUR7bn, 15% more than in the corresponding period of last year, Funds People reports.The strongest net subscriptions in July-September went to JPMorgan (EUR360m), BlackRock (EUR334m) and Puctet (EUR282m).The rankings in terms of assets under management remain unchanged, with JPMorgan AM leadnig with EUR6.21bn as of 30 September, followed by BlackRock (EUR4.7bn) and Amundi (EUR3.4bn). BNP Paribas IP and Axa IM are in fifth place, with EUR2.27bn, and fourteenth place with EUR1.02bn.The two strongest gains in assets since the beginning of the year have been at Pictet (+88.7% to EUR1.68bn), and M&G Investments (+66%, to EUR1.63bn, but as of the end of June).

Wells Fargo Asset Management is considering acquiring a fund of hedge fund operation with assets under management of up to USD12bn, Financial News reports.The head of Wells Fargo AM, Mike Niedermeyer, says he would like to provide clients with expertise in the area of allocation to and selection of hedge funds. “This is what clients ask for most often,” says Niedermeyer.Recenly, the private equity giant KKR acquired the FoF management firm Prisma Capital Partners, whose AUM total USD8bn, while Franklin Templeton has recently bought a majority stake in K2 Advisors, a FoF firm with USD9bn in AUM.

John K. Moninger will join Eaton Vance Distributors as director of retail sales on November 26, 2012, in which role he will be responsible for leading all sales and relationship management for Eaton Vance’s brokerage and independent channels. He will be based in Boston and report to Matthew J. Witkos, president of Eaton Vance Distributors. John K. Moninger comes to Eaton Vance from LPL Financial, where he was executive vice president of Advisory and Brokerage Consulting Services, responsible for the firm’s advisory and brokerage platforms and for leading a team of product consultants.

Sabine Fillias has been promoted to CEO of Chausson Finance. She will now be responsible for managing all fundraising activities, under the direction of Christophe Chausson. Fillias is an alumna of Sciences Po Paris, HEC and Telecom Paris. She joined Chausson Finance in 2006. She began her career as a junior analyst to the Economic Mission of Hong Kong, and then as research manager at Mappy.

Assets under management at the alternative management group Fortress Investment increased 8% in third quarter to a total of USD51.5bn as of 30 September, according to statistics released by Fortress. The increase is already 18% compared with third quarter 2011.Traditional asset management activities of Logan Circle finished the quarter with net inflows of USD2bn. Assets under management at Logan increased 14% compared with fourth quarter, at a total of USD20.6bn. All 15 strategies offered by Logan outperformed their respective indices in third quarter, while 14 out of 15 did to in the first nine months of the year.

Franklin Templeton Investments (a brand name of Franklin Resources) has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in K2 Advisors (USD9bn in assets, see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), a fund of hedge fund management firm founded in 1994 by William A. Douglas III and David C. Saunders, for an undisclosed amount. The proceeds of the transaction will allow K2 to acquire the entire stake previously held by TA Associates in its capital, as well as withdrawing all bonds issued buy K2 from the market.The current directors of K2 have not sold any of their stake in the business, nor received any compensation from the acquirer.Franklin Templeton is expected to acquire the remaining shares in K2 Advisors over a period of several years.

At the end of 2010, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management had EUR6bn in assets under management in France. The objective was then to double the size of these assets by 2014. But assets have fallen to EUR3.5bn currently. “We have posted redemptions from money markets, whose assets totalled EUR3.4bn four years ago, and EUR1.5bn today, and from structured products, which have seen their assets halved, from EUR1.5bn to EUR600m,” explains William Mussat, managing director wealth and investment management, at a press conference on Monday morning. The outflows are also due to the significant weight of internal networks as a part of Barclays WIM clients in France. But these are tending to shrink. The proportion was 90/10 three years ago. Now, the proportion of external clients stands at one third of assets, and the objective is to increase this proportion in order to ideally reach an even footing with group clients. In order to slow outflows and win over more external clients, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management in France has updated its product range. Since April, the firm has registered 16 sub-funds of its Global Access mandate fund range in France, which had previously been reserved for British clients. The funds, which invest in various asset classes and have EUR3.6bn in assets, have already attracted over EUR100m from French clients. Meanwhile, 17 French-registered funds, with a total of EUR1bn, have been merged with other Luxembourg-registered funds, as part of a vast reorganisation of the product range throughout Europe, benefiting from the possibilities offered by the UCITS IV directive. In total, the European product range from Barclays WIM is now composed of 40 funds, compared with 100 three years ago. These are now grouped into two product ranges, one of which includes funds dedicated to local markets, while the other is centred on profiled funds. With this framework in place, Paris remains the centre of management for European equity and convertible bond management, while multi-management is in London, euro fixed income in Madrid, and Asian equity management in Hong Kong and Singapore. While awaiting the results of this repositioning, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management have seen net redemptions in France of EUR250m since the beginning of the year.

BNP Paribas on 5 November announced the launch of BNP Paribas France Crédit, a common investment fund (FCP) which will allow it to place loans granted to mid-sized business totalling EUR250m over 3 years with its insurance affiliate, BNP Paribas Cardif.“With this deal, the BNP Paribas group fully confirms its desire to be present alongside businesses, and or orient the financial savings of the French towards financing them,” BNP Paribas says in a statement. The FCP BNP Paribas France Crédit invests primarily in mortgage debts with a maturity of under 6 years, acquired on the primary market, mostly within syndicated loans. It may also intervene in private corporate bond placements from businesses making their first issues on capital markets. The typical size of each investment by the fund is about EUR10m to EUR20m.BNP Paribas Investment Partners provides financial management of the FCP. In this role, it is responsible for analysis and selection of investment targets, in line with performance, security, and diversification objectives set by BNP Paribas Cardif.

“ America is facing an urgent crisis, barely discussed during the fall’s election campaign,” a group of asset management firms and pension funds warns in a one-page advertisement placed in several major United States newspapers on Monday, the Financial Times reports. BlackRock, which organised and financed the advertisement, says that the fiscal cliff is the largest concern for investors surveed in October, who have a collective total of USD5trn in assets under management.

Expansión reports that Bankinter has released the “Bankinter Ibex 2007 Garantizado,” a fund which guarantees capital invested as of 29 November 2012 at maturity on 1 February 2017, plus a return corresponding to 80% of the gains for the Spanish Ibex 35 index in the period of four years and two months, for sale.The fund, which offers a monthly redemption window with no fees, carries a management commission of 1.55%, and a depository banking commission of 0.10%.

The number of funds registered with the Maltese financial services authority continued to increase in first half 2012, according to statistics released by the Authority. The number of Professional Investor Funds (PIF) increased 4% compared with the end fo 2011, to a total of 460 as of the end of June 2012. The net asset value of PIF products in the same period rose by 23%, from EUR5.8bn in December 2011, to EUR7.2bn in June 2012. The registration of UCITS-compliant funds is also encouraging, with assets of EUR2.3bn as of the end of June, an increase of EUR0.7bn, or 40%, since December 2011. It is also notable that 40% of funds domiciled in Malta were managed by fund management firms based in Malta as of June 2012. Similarly, 70% of funds domiciled in Malta were administered in Malta in mid-2012.

BaFin has issued a sales license for the new short-duration emerging market debt fund from Axa Investment Managers (see Newsmanagers of 21 September), the Axa WF Emerging Markets Short Duration Bonds, launched on 5 September, in German. Axa IM has EM fixed income AUM of about USD2bn.The Luxembourg-registered product, managed by Damien Buchet, head of emerging markets fixed income, may be invested in all ratings categories from investment grade up to high yield, in both government and corporate bonds.The new fund comes as an addition to a range which already includes the AXA WF Global Emerging Markets Bonds and the AXA WF Emerging Markets Currency Bonds.CharacteristicsName: AXA WF Emerging Markets Short Duration BondsISIN code: LU0800572702 (capitalisation)Front-end fee: 3%Management commission: 1%

As of the end of October, the European markets of NYSE Euronext listed 589 ETFs 679 times, up from 587 funds 676 times at the end of September, while six new products were introduced during October, four of which were from Lyxor, one from Ossiam and one from Amundi.However, average on-book daily trading volumes for ETFs on the European markets of NYSE Euronext in October totalled EUR217.4m, down 10.15% compared with EUR241.9m in September, but total block trading volumes have increased to EUR740.1m, compared with EUR739.9m the previous month (+0.11%), to represent 14.6% of total trading volumes on regulated ETF markets, compared with 15.3% in September.The total value of on-book trades came to EUR5bn, compared with EUR4.8bn in September, a lower level than the average of 5% posted since the beginning of the year.NYSE Euronext states that in October, the median spread for all publicly-traded ETFs has been 37.4 basis points, compared with 26.8 basis points in September.

HSBC Global Asset Management UK has appointed Andy Clark as director general, replacing Simeon Brown, Money Marketing reports. Clark joined HSBC as head of British retail activities, and last year was appointed as regional head of wholesale for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Brown is leaving the firm to take on new challenges after 16 years of collaboration, including five years as head of British activities.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), whose assets as of the end of September totalled GBP391bn, has posted GBP4.6bn in net subscriptions (+28% year on year), largely due to its liability-driven investment (LDI) products and its actively-managed bond products, which have posted inflows of GBP3.3bn, through growth has come from abroad, with net inflows of GBP5.6bn, compared with GBP1.9bn in January-September 2011.LGIM states that its international assets have increased 25% over the end of 2011, to GBP39bn.

Lloyds Banking Group is planning to sell its 60% stake in St James’s Place, the Sunday Times reports. On the basis of a share price of 398 pence, the firm is valued at about GBP2bn. The proceeds of the sale may represent a total of over GBP1bn, which Lloyds would use to increase its capitalisation.

Assets under management at Alliance Trust Investments as of the end of September totalled over GBP1.7bn, following the acquisition of the socially responsible investment (SRI) activities of Aviva Investors in August this year.According to interim results released by Alliance Trust, this total of GBP1.7bn includes GBP578m in Alliance Trust funds, while the remainder consists of the SRI product range from Aviva Investors.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has been appointed by Merseyside Council to manage GBP1.4 billion in assets of its pension fund, bringing the assets SSgA manages for the Local Authority sector to more than GBP7 billion.

BNP Paribas annonce le lancement de BNP Paribas France Crédit, Fonds Commun de Placement (FCP) dont la vocation est de contribuer au financement des entreprises françaises à travers les ressources collectées par sa compagnie d’assurance. L’engagement de BNP Paribas Cardif, filiale assurance du Groupe, à hauteur de 250M€ dans le FCP sera réalisé progressivement sous la forme de tirages successifs des opportunités d’investissement. Par cette opération, BNP Paribas Cardif confirme son engagement d’investisseur de long terme pour le soutien à l'économie française et à ses entreprises. Il investit principalement dans des titres de créance de maturité inférieure à 6 ans, acquis sur le marché primaire, dans le cadre de crédits syndiqués pour l’essentiel. Il peut aussi intervenir dans le cadre de placements privés obligataires d’entreprises émettant pour la première fois sur les marchés de capitaux. L’ordre de grandeur typique de chaque investissement du fonds est de l’ordre de 10 à 20 millions d’euros. L’origination des dossiers de financement est principalement assurée par la banque BNP Paribas, tandis que la sélection des dossiers est effectuée de façon indépendante par le gérant BNP Paribas Investment Partners. A l’occasion de ce lancement, Eric Lombard, Président Directeur Général de BNP Paribas Cardif a notamment déclaré : « Avec le fonds BNP Paribas France Crédit, nous avons souhaité remplir pleinement notre rôle d’investisseur de long terme et contribuer ainsi efficacement au développement des entreprises. Cette création va nous permettre d'élargir notre horizon de placement, d’investir durablement dans l'économie française, et de répondre à ses besoins de rentabilité tout en servant les intérêts de nos assurés».

Groupama a cédé 1,6 milliards d’euros d’actions depuis le début de l’année, s’allégeant notamment sur Société Générale. La poche actions ne représente plus que 9,9% de ses placements, contre 12,8% fin 2011. Notre exposition actions sera un peu en dessous de 7,5% dans notre portefeuille à fin 2012, avance Thierry Martel, directeur général de Groupama SA dont l’ambition est de porter cette part à 5% dans les deux ou trois ans à venir.

L’agence de notation a relevé la note à long terme de la Turquie dans la catégorie investissement, de BB+ à BBB-, assignant par ailleurs une perspective stable, décision attendue depuis longtemps par Ankara. Pour justifier sa décision, Fitch met en avant les points forts de l'économie turque (diminution du poids de la dette publique, un système bancaire sain, bon potentiel de croissance à moyen terme) ainsi qu’un recul des risques à court terme.

La croissance de l’activité dans le secteur des services aux Etats-Unis a légèrement ralenti au mois d’octobre, en raison notamment d’une baisse des nouveaux contrats malgré une l’amélioration sur le front de l’emploi. L’indice ISM est ressorti à 54,2 le mois dernier, contre 55,1 en septembre et 54,5 attendus par les économistes. La composante de l’emploi a progressé à 54,9 après 51,1 en septembre.

L’Espagne s’oppose à la nomination d’Yves Mersch au directoire de la Banque centrale européenne, ont déclaré des responsables de l’Union européenne cités par Reuters. Des membres du Parlement européen et du Conseil européen, ce dernier représentant les Etats membres, ont indiqué que l’Espagne avait fait obstacle à une tentative d’assurer la nomination par le biais d’une méthode accélérée dite «procédure écrite».

Le jour où Louis Gallois propose une batterie de mesures pour accroître la compétitivité des entreprises françaises, le FMI participe au débat. Il a publié cet après-midi un rapport invitant la France à saisir «une opportunité unique pour entreprendre des réformes d’envergure». Les experts de Washington recommandant notamment de s’atteler à «corriger les dysfonctionnements du marché du travail qui entravent l’investissement, l’emploi et, en fin de compte, la croissance ; et accroître la concurrence dans le secteur des services».

Réuni pour deux jours à Mexico, les ministres des Finances des pays du G20 s’engagent à «faire en sorte que le rythme de la consolidation budgétaire soit adapté à la volonté de soutenir la croissance», selon un projet de communiqué. Ils disent également vouloir s’attacher «à assurer la viabilité des finances publiques conformément aux engagements de Toronto».