The SEC commissioners on Wednesday, by a vote of four to one, agreed to raise a decades-old ban on advertising by hedge funds for private investments, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In order to settle legal actions, Citigroup has agreed to pay USD590m to its shareholders who purchased their shares in 2007 and 2008, and who claim that the bank concealed the scale of its exposure to toxic sub-prime assets from them, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Carmignac Gestion has decided to offer its clients a wider variety of share classes to invest into its funds. In addition to the current existing share classes, Carmignac Gestion’s clients will now have access to both accumulating units denominated in CHF and USD and distributing units denominated in EUR. For units denominated in a currency other than euro, currency risk vis-à-vis the euro is systematically hedged. List of funds concerned: Carmignac Investissement (A) EUR / accCarmignac Investissement (E) EUR / accCarmignac Investissement (D) EUR / incCarmignac Investissement (A) CHF / accCarmignac Investissement (A) USD / accCarmignac Euro-Entrepreneurs (A) EUR / accCarmignac Emergents (A) EUR / accCarmignac Emergents (E) EUR / accCarmignac Emergents (D) EUR / incCarmignac Emergents (A) CHF / accCarmignac Emergents (A) USD / accCarmignac Patrimoine (A) EUR / accCarmignac Patrimoine (E) EUR / accCarmignac Patrimoine (D) EUR / incCarmignac Patrimoine (A) CHF / accCarmignac Patrimoine (A) USD / accCarmignac Euro-Patrimoine (A) EUR / accCarmignac Euro-Patrimoine (D) EUR / incCarmignac Euro-Patrimoine (A) CHF / accCarmignac Euro-Patrimoine (A) USD / acc Carmignac Investissement Latitude (A) EUR / accCarmignac Profil Reactif 100 (A) EUR / accCarmignac Profil Réactif 75 (A) EUR / accCarmignac Profil Réactif 50 (A) EUR / accCarmignac Sécurité (A) EUR / accCarmignac Sécurité (D) EUR / incCarmignac Sécurité (A) CHF / accCarmignac Sécurité (A) USD / accCarmignac Court Terme (A) EUR / accCarmignac Court Terme (A) CHF / accCarmignac Court Terme (A) USD / acc

The financial ratings agency Moody’s on 29 August announced that it has lowered its long-term credit rating for 3i Group from Baa1 to Baa2, with a stable outlook. Moody’s explains in a statement that several factors contributed to this decision, including pressure on revenues for the group in a difficult environment in Europe, where 3i retains 76% of its investment portfolio as of the end of March 2012, and uncertainties about the ability of the group to generate cash flow now that it has moves its strategy toward asset management.

The wealth management firm Dynapartners is building its presence in the luxuries sector with the recruitment of a former Clariden Leu manager, Makiko Zürcher-Hosaka, who will begin on 1 October, the news agency finews reports. The luxuries specialist will be responsible for investments in the sector. Dynapartners is also planning to launch a fund dedicated to luxuries by the end of the year. Dynapartners has also engaged the British James Ogilvy as independent adviser from 1 September. Ogilvy, founder of the magazine “Luxury Briefing,” is one of the top international consultants in the luxury sector.

Assets under management by the top 100 alternative investment managers have reached over USD3trn, with a total of about USD3.136trn as of the end of 2011, according to a Towers Watson investigation undertaken in partnership with the Financial Times, Global Alternatives Survey, which also includes private equity and hedge funds.Among the top 100 managers, real estate management firms hold the largest share of assets (35%), followed by private equity managers (22%), hedge funds (21%), private equity funds of funds (9%), funds of hedge funds (6%), infrastructure (4%), and commodities (3%).More generally, data also shows that total global alternative assets now total USD4.9trn, distributed over various asset classes in similar proportions to those observed for the top 100 asset managers, excepting real estate, which falls to 28%, and funds of funds, which increase to 9% of the total.Assets in pension funds represent 33% of total assets under management by the top 100 asset managers, followed by insurers, sovereign funds and foundations. According to Thierry de la Noue, head of the Investments department at Towers Watson France. “The current global economic crisis has led all types of institutional investors to investment or diversified placement portfolios. Allocations to alternative assets in particular now represent nearly 20% of all assets in international retirement funds, compared with 5% 15 years ago.”De la Noue adds that “retirement funds that carry a pension liability have always been and still remain the central clientele for alternative asset management firms. However, demand from other types of very long-term investors such as sovereign funds will continue to increase in the future.”North America remains the primary destination for alternative management (48%), excepting infrastructure, which is doing well in Europe. More generally, one third of assets are invested in Europe, one tenth in Asia-Pacitic, and 5% in the rest of the world.De la Noue estimates that “the current economic uncertainty will likely encourage investors to hold on equities such as growth shares, and to use alternative investments more. If we think that such an effort at diversification is worth the trouble, investors still need to be prudent in their choice of the most effective investment vehicles, while taking into account the most economic means to improve the effectiveness of investments, such as the use of “Smart Beta,” for example.”No French company places in the rankings of the top 10 (see below). AXA Real Estate is in eleventh place, with assets under management of USD54.54bn. rank Manager Cdomicile Total assets under management (millions of USD) Asset class 1 CBRE Global Investors United States 94.100 Real Estate 2 The Carlyle Group* United States 90.741 Private equity 3 Macquarie Group Australia 88.665 Infrastructure 4 Brookfield Asset Management Canada 84.346 Real Estate 5 Goldman, Sachs & Co. United States 78.000 Private equity 6 BlackRock United Kingdom 77.335 Consumer products 7 Bridgewater Associates United States 76.100 Speculative funds 8 UBS Global Asset Management United Kingdom 59.971 Real Estate 9 RREEF Alternatives Germany 57.419 Real Estate 10 Morgan Stanley United States 56.391 Real Estate

What is the favourite sector for sovereign funds in the mid- to long-term? Between 2005 and 2011, sovereign funds have invested primarily in the finance sector, according to statistics from the SWF Institute. In this period, investments by sovereign funds in finance sector shares totalled USD164.91bn. It is followed by real estate, with a total of USD54.49bn, and then energy, infrastructure and utilities. The least popular sectors were health and IT.

Ping An Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in China, will be one of the first to take advantage of a new law authorising insurers to employ external asset managers, Financial News reports, citing Z-Ben Advisors. Requests for proposals have been announced to this end. Ping An has a portfolio of about EUR123bn.

Assets under management at Piguet Galland & Cie, the new private banking unit of the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV), remained stable in first half 2012 at CHF7.6bn, Agefi Switzerland reports. Piguet Galland earned consolidated net profits in first half of CHF8.3m, on earnings of CHF35.2m, down 2.6%. Between January and June, gross profits rose 6% compared with the same period of the previous year, from CHF6.3m to CHF6.7m. This increase is largely due to a reduction in operating costs due to a merger of Banque Piguet and Franck Galland, announced by BCV in late 2010.

Handelsblatt relays reports in Bloomberg citing John Gilbert, head strategist for the British General Re-New England Asset Management, a company of the Warren Buffett empire, as claiming that French government bonds are not better value than Spanish or Italian ones. France is clearly overvalued, he says in a letter to his clients, and OATs should be paying 4.5% to 5%. Businesses in the country have become less competitive in the past decade, and personnel costs are higher in France than Germany.Buffett also last month told CNBC that he had reduced his exposure to Spanish, Italian and French bonds two years ago. Jamie Stuttard, CIO fixed income at Fidelity in London, says that French fundamentals provide no support for bonds: unemployment is rising, while budget and payments deficits are increasing.Nicholas Spiro, of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London, says the problem is that François Hollande is hesitating. He has manoeuvered himself into a political impasse, and the only thing that will make him announce significant reforms will be market pressure.

In first half 2012, DekaBank, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, has announced an “economic profit” (pre-tax profits according to IFRS accounting standards, plus the results of a valuation of financial instruments) of EUR313.8m, compared with EUR336.6m in the corresponding period of last year.As of 30 June, assets were down 0.8% compared with the end of December, at EUR149.8bn, compared with EUR151bn.Real estate funds from Deka posted net subscriptions of EUR1.1bn, compared with EUR0.3bn in January-June 2011, while securities funds had undergone net outflows of EUR3.2bn, compared with EUR3.6bn. In total, the firm has posted net redemptions of EUR2.109bn in first half, compared with EUR3.311bn in January-June 2011.

Das Investment reports that Frankfurt-based MainFirst Asset Management has announced plans to recruit three teams as additions to its European corporate bond, emerging market bond and multi-asset class personnel.It is recruiting Frank Schwartz, Adrian Daniel and Patrick Vogel from Deutsche Asset Management, to begin at the start of September on its new multi-strategy/absolute return team.The emerging markets team will be led by Cornel Bruhin and Dorothea Fröhlich, who join from Clariden Leu.Four recruitments are planned for the European corporate bond team, but their identities have not yet been disclosed.

Due to market turbulence, the fund management firm for the German savings banks, DekaBank is predicting difficulties in second half 2012. As a precaution, Handelsblatt reports, Deka has set aside EUR80m to cover potential depreciations or a modification to its ratings. But Oliver Behrens, interim chairman of the managing board, is confident: he says economic profit at Deka will be higher in 2012 overall than 2011 (when it fell 58.6% to EUR383.1m, ed).

The German firm Feri EuroRating Services is planning to create a “structured finance & covered bond rating” unit, which will be dedicated to ratings of structured collateralised bonds and covered bonds. The new operation will be led by Gerald Dorsch, who has been recruited from Deutsche Postbank in Frankfurt, where he had been head of portfolio transactions in the area of liquidity and capital management, as well as ratings and reporting on Pfandbriefe.

The bank owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein, LGT Group, has declared a net profit for first half of CHF129.8m, which represents a 58.1% increase over the corresponding period of last year. The cost-income ratio improved to 65% from 75% (excluding charges related to the sale of LGT Bank Deutschland) last year.As of 30 June, total assets were CHF94.7bn, compared with CHF86.8bn as of the end of December (+9%), largely due to net inflows of CHF5.5bn, which represents an annualised increase of 13%.

In January 2012, Principal Global Investors received a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) license from the Chinese securities commission (CSRC). Now, Z-Ben Advisors reports, the US asset management firm has received a QFII quota from the State Agency of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of USD150m.Principal has already opened an office in Beijing, and its QFII investment team will be based in Hong Kong. Its Chinese joint venture, CCB-Principal Asset Management Co Ltd, has been retained as a consultant, but will not participate in the investment decision process.

In a filing to the CNMV, BBVA Asset Management has announced that it has now completed its acquisition of Unnim Gesfonds, an affiliate of the Unnim savings bank, which it acquired for a symbolic price of one euro (see Newsmanagers of 8 March), Funds People reports. BBVA AM thus adds EUR219m to its EUR18.5bn in assets (as of the end of June), in 11 Unnim Gesfonds products.

Asset management firms in the Netherlands have seen an increase in their institutional assets under management of 8.4% in 2011, to a total of over EUR696bn, according to a 2012 IPE survey of the 400 largest asset management firms. Nearly all asset management firms in the Netherlands have seen increases in their assets. The only exception is ING Investment Management, which has seen a decline in institutional assets under management of EUR1.2bn, to EUR52.7bn.

This summer, the Swedish firm Fonder Stockpicker sold its two funds Stockpicker Norden Aktiv and Stockpicker J.F Commodity Energy to the asset management firm GustaviaDavegårdh Fonder. This is the most recent example of consolidation in the asset management industry in Sweden, the online newspaper Privata Affärer notes. Ola Gilstring, one of the founders of Gustavia Fonder, suggests two reasons for this trend: decreasing interest on the part of the public in equity funds, a large sector in Sweden; and the growing weight of compliance, which is leading to rising costs. Gilstring adds that there are currently many asset management firms up for sale in Sweden.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has appointed Alan Bridges as chief investment officer for UK rates, Fund Web reports. He previously worked at UBS Global Asset Management as a senior portfolio manager.

The Norwegian asset management firm Skagen Fonder lost NOK570m on Monday as Samsung shares fell, the Norwegian newspaper Finansavisen reports. Shares in the South Korean firm shed 7.7% following a severe verdict against it in a lawsuit against Apple. Three funds from the asset management firm held Samsung shares in their portfolios (Skagen Global, Skagen Kon-Tiki and Skagen Vekst).

The Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI), represented by its director general, Camille Thommes, claims that the AIFM directive “represents a unique opportunity for Europe to create a global brand on the alternative investment market, inspired by UCITS. With AIFMD, the European Union is creating the first regulatory framework for alternative investments worldwide.”As the Luxembourg Finance ministry has recently submitted its proposed transposition of the directive to Luxembourg’s legislature, “ALFI welcomes the ambition of the Luxembourg government to open the way to becoming one of the first member countries to transpose this directive.”The professional association also notes that the proposed Luxembourg legislation has two major characteristics which will be likely to inspire professional interest on the part of alternative management professionals. On the one hand, the creation of a special limited partnership company, which complements fund product ranges with a flexible and safe partnership relationship, will be particularly suitable for investors who are used to this structure inspired by the Anglo-American partnership model. The proposed legislation also clarifies the tax regime for capital gains.

Selon nos informations, la Coface pour compte propre a lancé un appel d’offres avec le soutien de bfinance pour intégrer et centraliser sa gestion d’actifs. La société de gestion retenue devra héberger des fonds sélectionnés et gérés en externe, dans le cadre d’une solution multi-managers pour un encours global de 2 milliards d’euros.

Selon une proposition faite par l’autorité américaine des marchés financiers, les hedge funds pourraient être autorisés à mener de vastes campagnes de publicité plutôt que de devoir démarcher les investisseurs particuliers derrière des portes closes. La proposition soumise à consultation prévoit une communication vis-à-vis d’un large public mais les investisseurs éligibles devront répondre à certains critères (au moins 1 million de dollars d’actifs, hors résidence principale, ou un salaire annuel de plus de 200.000 dollars).

Les stocks américains de pétrole brut ont enregistré la semaine dernière une hausse inattendue, montrent les données de l’Agence américaine d’information sur l'énergie (EIA). Les stocks de brut ont augmenté de 3,78 millions de barils à 364,52 millions alors que les économistes attendaient en moyenne une baisse de 1,5 million de barils. Les stocks d’essence ont parallèlement diminué de 1,51 millions de barils, soit 110.000 barils de plus que prévu.

Les promesses de ventes aux Etats-Unis ont progressé plus fortement que prévu immobilières le mois dernier, selon les chiffres de l’Association nationale des agents immobiliers (NAR). L’indice des promesses de ventes calculé par l’association a progressé de 2,4% en juillet par rapport au mois de juin, à 101,7, son plus haut niveau depuis avril 2010. Le marché l’attendait en hausse de 1,0%, après une baisse de 1,4% en juin (inchangé par rapport à la première estimation).

Les dirigeants européens doivent améliorer la coordination avec Bruxelles et la Banque centrale européenne au cours des prochains mois pour faire face à un avenir incertain, a déclaré aujourd’hui la chancelière allemande, Angela Merkel, à l’issue d’une rencontre avec le Premier ministre italien, Mario Monti, à Berlin. Elle a ajouté que les dirigeants européens disposaient à ses yeux «des moyens nécessaires pour renforcer et stabiliser la zone euro». Angela Merkel a enfin jugé que l’octroi d’une licence bancaire au MES (Mécanisme européen de Stabilité) serait incompatible avec les traités européens.

Selon les chiffres du département du Commerce, le produit intérieur brut des Etats-Unis a augmenté de 1,7% en rythme annualisé sur le trimestre avril-juin. Une première estimation fin juillet l’avait donné à 1,5% et le panel Reuters prévoyait un relèvement de 0,2 point de cette évaluation. La progression plus forte qu’estimé des exportations a compensé un ralentissement du mouvement de restockage des entreprises.

L’indicateur du climat général des affaires en France s’est stabilisé en août à 87 points, ses composantes sectorielles gagnant un point dans l’industrie manufacturière et le bâtiment, deux points dans le commerce de détail mais reculant de deux points dans les services, a annoncé l’Insee dans son enquête mensuelle de conjoncture. L’indicateur synthétique du climat des affaires dans l’industrie manufacturière a progressé d’un point à 90.

Les dirigeants grecs se sont mis d’accord sur les grandes lignes du plan d’austérité exigé par les créanciers internationaux, mais poursuivent leurs discussions sur sa mise en œuvre afin d’atténuer l’impact de ces mesures sur les plus modestes et les retraités, ont indiqué des responsables du gouvernement et des partis de la coalition au pouvoir. La Grèce doit réduire ses dépenses d’environ 12 milliards d’euros sur les deux prochaines années afin de satisfaire aux conditions de ses bailleurs de fonds.