La barre des 2.600 points devrait forcer l’indice à se réorienter vers la région des 1.930 points

Réunis en Russie, les 21 pays membres du Forum de coopération économique Asie-Pacifique ont rejeté la tentation du protectionnisme

Le représentant du Collège de l'AMF, qui a aussi mis en cause un ex-salarié, déplore que le fonds Kingate n'ait pas été commercialisé correctement

Le projet de loi de Finances pour 2013 sera présenté le 28 septembre. Il devrait être basé sur une prévision de croissance voisine de 0,8%

La mise en place d’un Haut conseil des finances publiques permettra de vérifier les hypothèses sur lesquelles les budgets sont bâtis. Alors que la prévision de croissance pour 2013 sera «sans doute de 0,8%», selon François Hollande, la loi de Finances sera présentée le 28 septembre.

Avec son plan audacieux, Mario Draghi semble avoir forgé le maillon manquant à la chaîne de décisions prises au fil du temps pour surmonter la crise de la zone euro. Car une voie de rémission se dessine en particulier pour l’Espagne. On y a fait peu attention mais le président de la BCE n’imagine pas pour ce pays qu’un accord de sauvetage du type grec ou portugais, mais aussi une procédure peu connue ouverte par le sommet européen de juillet 2011. Calquée sur le modèle des lignes de précaution du FMI, il s’agit d’une ligne de crédit pouvant aller de 2 à 10% du PIB du pays considéré, soit pour l’Espagne de 25 à 120 milliards d’euros. Madrid pourrait trouver la formule moins humiliante et contraignante qu’un plan de sauvetage complet. Venant s’ajouter aux 100 milliards maximum d’aide bancaire déjà assurés, ce prêt autoriserait en outre la double intervention de la BCE sur la dette de moins de trois ans et des fonds de sauvetage européens sur le marché primaire de maturité plus longue. Mises bout à bout, ces aides de diverses natures sont impressionnantes. Elles pourraient convaincre les investisseurs privés de racheter de la dette de l’Espagne, d’autant que ni la BCE ni, dans le cas particulier de ce pays, les fonds de sauvetage européens n’auront de rang privilégié par rapport à eux. Si Madrid, mystérieux sur ses intentions, donnait rapidement corps à ce scénario, un pas considérable serait franchi vers la résolution de cette crise historique.

L'Irlande vient tout juste de faire son retour sur les marchés, tandis que le Portugal espère l'imiter en 2013

Le quotidien cite une étude du consultant Aon Hewitt soulignant le recours toujours plus fort des responsables des fonds de pension d’entreprises au Royaume-Uni des services de prise de décision en matière d’investissement. 27% des «trustees» interrogés délègue cette mission, dix points de plus que lors de la précédente enquête menée l’an passé.

Jean-Luc Proutat, responsable économies de l'OCDE chez BNP Paribas

Matthieu Grouès, associé-gérant, responsable des gestions chez Lazard Frères

Maryannick Plomion, gérante diversifiée chez Allianz Global Investors France

Samir Bederr, gérant-analyste à La Banque Postale Asset Management

Le programme de 1.000 milliards de yuans de dépenses en infrastructures risque d'enterrer la transition de l'économie vers la consommation

Assets under management and administration in Guernsey as of the end of June totalled GBP270.8bn, up 0.3%, or GBP711m, compared with first quarter 2012, according to statistics from the Guernsey financial services commission. Open-ended funds domiciled in Guernsey as of the end of June totalled GBP53.1bn, down 4.8% quarter on quarter, and 10%, or nearly GBP6bn, year on year. However, closed funds domiciled in Guernsey finished second quarter with GBP126.1bn, up 1.8% quarter on quarter, and 3.1%, or GBP3.8bn, year on year.

UK-based Liontrust has confirmed that on 4 September it closed its Irish-registered fund Emerging Markets Opportunities, due to insufficient asset levels, FundWeb reports: assets in the fund, which was acquired with the purchase of Occam Asset Management in October 2011, have since fallen from GBP60m to GBP8m. The two managers of the product which is no longer economically viable, Eoghan Flanagan and James Mellersh, will be leaving Liontrust.

In August, the UCITS Alternative Global index calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital increased by 0.18%, compared with 0.84% in July, bringing gains for UCITS hedge funds to 0.68%, while non-UCITS hedge funds have posted gains of 2.02% in the first eight months of the year, according to the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index.Of 11 strategies in the UCITS Alternative Global index, six show losses for August – especially CTA strategies, with losses of 1.47%. Only three sub-indices show losses in January-August, particularly equity market neutral, which has lost 1.44%. However, bonds show the largest gains, with 3.19%. The total assets managed by UCITS hedge funds remained unchanged in August at EUR133bn.

Alexandra Podvin is joining Commerz Real France as a Technical Asset Manager. She will be based in Paris, and joins the team led by Raphaël Colombu, Head of France, and will be in charge of a portfolio of nearly EUR2bn. Podvin, a graduate of the Aix-la-Chapelle Polytechnic university and EPFL in Switzerland, previously worked as an adviser to Curry & Brown, and has 10 years’ experience at Valode & Pistre Architectes, where she developed projects for BMW, L’Oréal and Air France.

As part of development of wealth management – private management activities at the Retail Banking unit of the Caisse d’Epargne Nord France Europe (CENFE), Jean-Luc Reynaert has been appointed as director of wealth management – private management, and a member of the executive board. Reynaert began at CENFE on Monday, 3 September, 2012. Reynaert had served since 2005 as international director of development at CIC Banque Privée, in charge of the product range, sales and communications. He will be assisted in developing these activities by Eric Fanien, who becomes director of wealth management.

Rothschild & Cie Gestion is preparing to announce the appointment of Marc Romano as CEO of Rothschild HDF Investment Solutions (Rothschild HDF IS), the entity born of the merger of its multi-management activities with HDF Finance this past spring. Romano will replace Lenders, who, following his appointment as CEO of Rothschild HDF Investment Solutions at its inception in May, stepped down from the role on Friday, 7 September, to pursue other personal interests.In an interview with Newsmanagers, Jean-Louis Laurens, managing partner of Rothschild & Cie Gestion, claims that Lenders, whose primary objective at the head of HDF Finance had been to find a shareholder for the asset management firm, soon afterwards announced a desire to become involved in SRI alternative management. The head had already founded a business to this end, Prius Ltd, which is active in this area. “Due to a coincidence, we recently learned that Romano, who was living in London, wanted to return to Paris,” says Laurens. “We are familiar with the high level of expertise of this professional in several areas, including structuring, with significant additional expertise in the world of insurance. Events gathered pace from then on.”Lenders will continue to collaborate with Rothschild HDF Investment Solutions, however, under a cooperation agreement with his own firm, which will provide research services in the area of SRI alternative management, which Laurens is enthusiastic about. Rothschild HDF IS is also planning to become more involved in governance. “We are convinced that this activity is attractive, and I also observe that many hedge funds are highly active in this area,” the managing partner says.Romano, for his part, will be leaving his position as CEO of Schroders New Finance Capital, an affiliate of Schroders plc. specialised in alternative multi-management. He has also in the past served in several positions at the Crédit Agricole group, including CEO for multi-management at Crédit Agricole Asset Management, deputy CEO of Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management and Managing Director of Calyon.

The collapse of the open-ended real estate fund industry will inevitably have repercussions on real estate funds of funds: more than 90% of these funds of funds are facing a threat of closure or liquidation, the Berlin-based ratigns agency Scope observes. In first half, four more funds entered into liquidation (DWS ImmoFlex Vermögensmandat awith EUR100m in assets, Stratego Grund (LB Berlin Investment) with EUR300m, Allianz Flexi Immo-A-EUR with EUR230m, and Santander Vermögensverwaltungsfonds Kapitalprotekt Substanz (managed by SEB AM) with EUR200m.)Currently, assets in real estate funds of funds and diversified funds for which redemptions have been frozen total EUR2.1bn, with EUR1.88bn of this total in open-ended real estate funds which have been frozen or which are in the liquidation process.As an example, Scope points out that the 13 funds of funds in its sample hold over EUR240m in shares in the TMW Immobilien Weltfonds, EUR230m in Axa Immoselect, EUR180m in the KanAm grundinvest fund, and EUR100m in Morgan Stanley P2 Value.Under these conditions, the Berlin-based agency estimates that real estate funds of funds will no longer be able to bounce back, since three quarters of their overall portfolios consist of shares in open-ended real estate funds that are experiencing difficulties.

Fondsprofessionell reports that Deutsche Bank on Friday declined to comment on an article in Handelsblatt stating that the group is planning larger cuts to its personnel than initially envisaged.Of the 1,900 layoffs announced in late July, 1,500 will be in investment banking. But the wealth management unit is now also slated to be downsized and reorganized.According to Handelsblatt, Deutsche Bank is preparing to delist some complex products, cut back its equity trading activity, focus on a smaller number of countries, and to update its IT infrastructure.The two co-chairs of the board, Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, are expected to unveil the strategy on 11 September.

The founder of ETF Global X Funds is planning to recruit in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, with two products, the FTSE Norway 30 and FTSE Nordic Region, Investment Europe reports.The two ETFs, which have been well-received by investors, have been largely subscribed to by US investors, but Europeans also appear interested.

The number of UCITS-compliant hedge funds has increased to 292 in second quarter from 282 in first quarter, with assets up 7.4%, to EUR82.5bn, according to statistics from Alceda Fund Management.Long/short equity funds have experienced a spectacular reversal of fortunes, with performance down 2.77% for the quarter.However, forex strategies have earned 3.54% in the first six months of the year, while credit strategies, for their part, have gained 2.64%.

The activist fund Knight Vinke, a shareholder in the commodity giant Xstrata, on 9 September announced that it is rejecting an increased bid by Glencore to merge the businesses. The investor has called on Xstrata to “seek the highest price possible.” Glencore, facing a failure of its bid, on Friday raised its bid for Xstrata, which now stands at USD37bn. Glencore has raised its proposed trade ratio to 3.05 shares in Glencore for each share in Xstrata, from 2.8 shares previously. The Glencore bid also specifies that its CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, would become head of the new firm. “Glencore’s most recent proposal clearly states that the transaction implies a change of control, which, we continue to claim, should imply the consequent payment of a premium,” Knight Vinke says in a statement. For its part, Xstrata on Friday claimed that the improved bid was “significantly lower than what might be expected for such a takeover.” Its heads have sent a letter to Glencore asking for “clarification” of the bid.

The convertible bond specialist Fisch Asset Management on 7 September announced the recruitment from 1 September of Hanspeter Diem and Holger Leppin, as senior heads of sales and client relationships. The recruitments are related to gorwth in assets under management, which have recently reached a record CHF6.3bn. In his new role as senior head of sales & client relationships, Diem, 50, will be responsible for institutional clients in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Befoire joining Fitch Asset Management, he served as director of institutional business at BlackRock Asset Management Suisse SA. Previously, he served as head of Swiss activities at Barclays Global Investors. The economist has a master’s degree in economics and business administration from the University of Basel, and over 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Leppin, 46, joins Fisch Asset Management as the firm’s new senior head of sales & client relationships, an addition to sales for funds in Germany. Before joining Fisch, he led the communications and distribution department at FondsMedia Sàrl, and served in a variety of management roles at MPC Capital SA.

The average coverage rate for liabilities of US corporate pension funds increased by 1.8 percentage points in June to 73.2%, according to estimates from BNY Mellon. This improvement is due to the good performance of the equity markets in the United States and worldwide, as well as to an increase in actualization rates for AA-rated businesses, to 3.72%, which reduced liabilities by an average of 0.9%.

The German asset management firm Deka Immobilien Investment has sold off a mixed hotel/office property located at Via Melchiorre Gioia 6-8 in Milan (13,300 square metres) to Hines Italia SGR, for EUR38m. The transaction brings capital gains for the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilianGlobal.Meanwhile, Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE) has announced that it has sold the Alstertor property (office and commercial space) in Hamburg to a dedicated fund from PlusAlpina Real Estate Advisors. The property had been acquired for the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Europa, but no longer corresponds to the UIRE strategy, which is now to focus on properties valued at over EUR30m. The sale price has not been disclosed.

Last month, the Lyxor global hedge fund index posted further gains of 0.41%, following gains of 1% in July. In the first eight months of the year, the index has gained 1.96%, compared with 1.54% at the end of July.Only three strategies out of 14 monitored by Lyxor show losses for August: CTA long term (-1.71%), CTA short term (-0.80%), and convertible bonds & volatility arbitrage (-0.56%).However, credit arbitrage, L/S equity long bias and fixed income arbitrage strategies have gained 1.51%, 1.47% and 1.24%, respectively.In January-August, two strategies show losses: L/S equity variable bias (-1.52%) and CTA long term (-1.35%). The two best-performing segments in the first eight months of the year were fixed income arbitrage, with 7.23%, and L/S equity long bias, with 7.14%.

The US investment fund Carlyle has scaled up its presence in the energy sector, with the acquisition of a portfolio of assets from Goldman Sachs, which had been held by the Cogentrix Energy company, according to a statement released by Carlyle on 7 September. The purchase price, which will be finalised in fourth quarter, has not been disclosed. Carlyle will acquire the assets via its fund Carlyle Infrastructure Partners, which has USD1.14bn in assets under management. Carlyle acquires five power stations (coal and solar) in Florida, Virginia, Colorado and California, as well as less advanced projects in renewable energy and pipelines. These properties have a cumulative production capacity of 550 megawatts.

The New York firm Global X Funds (USD1.2bn in assets) has announced the launch of what it claims is the first ETF of “junior miners,” or “young” mining companies worldwide, not only of gold, but also of coal, copper, iron, nickel, silver, titanium, and other metals. The acronym of the Global X Junior Miners ETF on NYSE Arca is JUNR; its ISIN code is US37950E6308, and the TER for the fund is 0.69%.The benchmark index is defined by Structured Solutions AG. The top four positions are Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp (silver, 2.59%), AuRico Gold Inc (gold, 2.57%), Alumina Ltd (aluminium, 2.29%) and China Molybdenum Co (molybdenum, 2.23%).