L’encours de titres émis en juin 2012 par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro était quasiment identique à celui enregistré un trimestre plus tôt en mars 2012, selon des statistiques communiquées par la Banque centrale européenne. Ce résultat s’explique par les émissions nettes, qui ont été compensées par des diminutions de la valeur des titres.L’encours de titres émis par les OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro a légèrement progressé à 6.065 milliards d’euros en juin 2012, contre 6.064 milliards en mars 2012. Sur la même période, l’encours des titres émis par les OPCVM monétaires de la zone euro a augmenté, passant de 957 milliards d’euros à 969 milliards. Les souscriptions nettes de titres d’OPCVM non monétaires de la zone euro se sont inscrites à 36 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre 2012, tandis que les rachats nets de titres d’OPCVM monétaires sont ressorties à 5 milliards. En ce qui concerne la ventilation par stratégies de placement, le rythme de progression annuel des titres émis par les fonds «obligations» est ressorti à 4,7% en juin 2012 et les souscriptions nettes se sont élevées à 54 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre 2012. Dans le cas des fonds «actions», ce taux s’est inscrit à -3,3% et les rachats nets à 15 milliards d’euros sur la même période. Pour les fonds «mixtes», le taux de croissance s’est établi à -1,4% et les rachats nets à 8 milliards d’euros.

Les hedge funds dans le monde ont accusé pour juin des remboursements nets de 4,9 milliards de dollars, représentant 0,3 % de leur encours, après des souscriptions nettes de 1,1 milliard de dollars en mai, d’après l'étude mensuelle de TrimTabs et de BarclayHedge. Les 3.012 fonds concernés affichaient au 30 juin un encours de 1.710 milliards de dollars, contre 1.730 milliards (- 1,3 %) au 31 mai. Ce montant est inférieur de 29,5 % au plus haut de 2.400 milliards enregistré à fin juin 2008.Sur les douze mois à fin juin, le secteur mondial des hedge funds a subi des sorties nettes de 32,1 milliards de dollars contre des rentrées nettes de 103 milliards de dollars pour la période de douze mois précédente.Par ailleurs, l’indice BarclayHedge des hedge funds, sur la base des données communiquées au 17 août par 1.797 fonds, a gagné 0,80 % en juillet contre 0,66 % en juin. Sur les sept premiers mois de l’année, l’indice est en hausse de 3,13 %. Sur les 17 sous-indices, seul celui des 51 fonds d’actions du bassin Asie-Pacifique est en baisse pour le mois dernier (- 0,24 %). Pour janvier-juillet, la seule stratégie dans le rouge est l’equity short bias (- 7,33 %). La plus forte hausse sur cette période est celle de 6,06 % affichée par les 27 fonds d’arbitrage de convertibles.Les treize stratégies de hedge funds régulièrement suivies par Edhec Risk Institute ont quant à elles affiché pour juillet des résultats positifs, les meilleures performances étant enregistrées par le CTA global (+3,05 %) et le global macro (+ 1,51 %). Depuis le début de l’année, douze stratégies sont dans le vert, notamment l’arbitrage de convertibles (+ 6 %) et l’arbitrage obligataire (+ 5,1 %), alors que les ventes à découvert (short selling) accusent une perte de 7,4 %.Aucune stratégie n’affiche de surcroît de performance par rapport au risque, puisque tous les ratios de Sharpe sont inférieurs à 1. Seules les distressed securities s’en approchent avec 0,96, tandis que les ventes à découvert et les fonds de fonds affiche des ratio de Sharpe négatifs avec respectivement 0,26 et 0,11.

Les treize stratégies de hedge funds régulièrement suivies par Edhec Risk Institute ont affiché pour juillet des résultats positifs, les meilleures performances étant enregistrées par le CTA global (+3,05 %) et le global macro (+ 1,51 %). Depuis le début de l’année, douze stratégies sont dans le vert, notamment l’arbitrage de convertibles (+ 6 %) et l’arbitrage obligataire (+ 5,1 %), alors que les ventes à découvert (short selling) accusent une perte de 7,4 %.Aucune stratégie n’affiche de surcroît de performance par rapport au risque, puisque tous les ratios de Sharpe sont inférieurs à 1. Seules les distressed securities s’en approchent avec 0,96, tandis que les ventes à découvert et les fonds de fonds affiche des ratio de Sharpe négatifs avec respectivement 0,26 et 0,11.

Russell Investments a annoncé le 15 août le lancement de deux nouveaux fonds, le Russell Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund, et le Russell U.S. Strategic Equity Fund, ainsi que l’actualisation de l’allocation actions américaines de plusieurs portefeuilles. Parmi les changements mis en œuvre figurent notamment des modifications dans les stratégies, les dénominations et les indices de référence du Russell U.S. Growth Fund et du Russell U.S. Quantitative Equity Fund. Ces deux fonds deviennent respectivement le Russell U.S. Defensive Equity Fund et le Russell U.S. Dynamic Equity Fund.

Jon Corzine, l’ancien patron de MF Global, envisage de lancer un hedge fund afin de s’adonner à sa passion pour le trading, rapporte MarketWatch, citant The New York Times. «Si Corzine parvient à afficher des rendements décents pendant quelques années, il pourrait bien sauver sa capacité à se rendre dans un cocktail à Wall Street sans que les gens ne détournent le regard et ricanent», ironise le site Internet.

Citywire rapporte que Jean-Pierre Salles a quitté Aviva Investors France pour prendre sa retraite. Paul Gagey a repris la gestion des fonds Aviva Oblig International, Aviva Interoblig et Aviva Convertibles tandis qu’Alban Tourra prend en charge Aviva Signatures Europe et que Jean-François Chambon est aux commandes des fonds Aviva Japon et Aviva Investors Japon. Enfin, la gestion de l’UFF Diversifié est partagée entre Paul Gagey et Françoise Labbé.

Les rémunérations variables des salariés des banques d’investissement et des sociétés de gestion devraient progresser moins que prévu au mois de mai, selon des données compilées par le cabinet new-yorkais Johnson Associés et citées par Les Echos. Globalement, les bonus devraient osciller entre la stabilité et une croissance «modérée», ne dépassant pas 20 % dans le meilleur des cas contre 25 % dans sa précédente estimation. Selon les projections de Johnson Associés, les métiers du conseil, du primaire actions et dette seront les plus mal lotis avec une évolution des bonus n’augmentant pas de plus de 5 % et surtout pouvant aller jusqu'à baisser de - 10 %. Les bonus des métiers de gestion d’actifs, quant à eux, évolueront dans une fourchette comprise entre la stabilité et une hausse de 10 %.

Ikano Fonder, société de gestion détenue par la famille suédoise Kamprad, fondatrice d’Ikea, va fermer boutique et céder ses trois fonds de droit luxembourgeois au danois Sparinvest. «Les fonds sont devenus si petits qu’il ne sont plus économiquement viables», explique à Privata Affärer Jesper Nielsen, le directeur général d’Ikano Fonder. Selon l’agence suédoise TT, les encours d’Ikano Fonder représentent 200 millions de couronnes suédoises environ, soit 22 millions d’euros. Sparinvest reprendra les fonds le 28 septembre et les fusionnera avec les siens. Par exemple, le fonds global d’Ikano sera intégré dans le Sparinvest Global Value. Le groupe Ikano gérait des fonds depuis 1999. Les trois fonds de la gamme étaient le Global Strategy, le European Equity et le All Seasons. Ils étaient commercialisés à des clients individuels et institutionnels au Luxembourg, en Suède, aux Pays-Bas et au Danemark.

iShares is setting up a new team in Asia-Pacific specialised in ETFs, which will help clients and distributors to better understand the technical aspects of ETFs (product liquidity, construction of indices, and comparisons between products), Asian Investor reports. The new head of iShares for Asia-Pacific, Jane Leung, who began in the role last month, claims that the recent introduction of ETFs dedicated to A-class shares under RQFII (qualified foreign institutional investors in RMB) quotas are not expected to reduce the popularity of its FTSE A50 China ETF. Assets under management in the FTSE A50 China ETF s of 30 June totalled USD5.73bn. It is the largest A-class equity ETF in the world by asset volume.

US president Barack Obama also has the support of influential figures in the world of finance, Financial News reports, citing the blog OpenSecrets.org. Among his financial donors are Jon Corzine, former head of MF Global, Marc Lasry, founder of the hedge fund Avenue Capital, and Mark Gallogly, co-founder and principal manager of the hedge fund Centerbridge Partners.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is postponing regulations which would allow hedge funds to more broadly solicit investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The decision is a victory for those who claim that excessively rapid changes to the advertising rules could increase fraud. The chairwoman of the SEC, Mary Shapiro, had planned to pass the rules this Wednesday, but on Thursday announced that she intended to hear comments on the new rules before finalising them.

The business bank Rothschild will be launching a fund in September dedicated to financing European SMEs, Agefi reports, citing statements form a director of the bank on Friday. The fund, with EUR400m to EUR500m in assets, will specialise in high yield and mezzanine debt.

Russell Investments on 15 August announced the launch of two new funds, the Russell Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund and the Russell U.S. Strategic Equity Fund, as well as an update to the US equity allocaiton for several portfolios. Among the changes introduced are modifications to strategies, currencies and benchmark indices for the Russell U.S. Growth Fund and the Russell U.S. Quantitative Equity Fund. The two funds become the Russell U.S. Defensive Equity Fund and the Russell U.S. Dynamic Equity Fund, respectively.

Jon Corzine, the former head of MF Global, is planning to launch a hedge fund to engage his passion for trading, MarketWatch reports, citing the New York Times. “If Corzine can show a few years of decent returns he just may be able to salvage his ability to walk into a Wall Street cocktail party without people looking away and snickering,” the website quips.

Assets in shares issued in 2012 my non-money market mutual funds in the euro zone have remained virtually unchanged compared with those recorded one quarter previusly in March 2012, according to statistics released by the European Central Bak. These results are due to net issues, which were offset by a decline in the value of shares. Assets in shares issued by non-money market mutual funds in the euro zone increased slightly, to EUR6.065trn in June 2012, compared with EUR6.064trn in March 2012. In the same period, assets in shares issued by money market mutual funds in the euro zone increasedc from EUR957bn to EUR969bn. Net subscriptions to shares in non-money market mutual funds in the euro zone totalled EUR36bn in second quarter 2012, while net subscriptions to money market mutual funds were negative by EUR5bn. In terms of ventilation by investment strategy, the annual pace of share issues by bond funds came out to 47% in June 2012, while net subscriptions totalled EUR54bn in second quarter 2012. For equity funds, the figure was -3.3%, and net subscriptions were -EUR15bn in the same period. For mixed funds, the rate of growth was -1.4%, and net subscriptions were -EUR8bn.

With the institutional (I) and retail (A) share classes in its newly-listed equity fund replicating the MSCI Brazil index, UBS Global Asset Management has given the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform its 998th and 999th listed ETFs. They are Luxembourg-registered products, which track an index that includes 78 Brazilian mid- and large caps, which collectively represent 84% of the floating capital on the Sao Paulo stock exchange. As for the other ETFs from UBS Global AM, the market maker is Commerzbank.Characteristics:Name: UBS (Irl) ETF plc – MSCI Brazil (USD) I-disISIN code: IE00B7VZ2C84TER: 0.43%Name: UBS (Irl) ETF plc – MSCI Brazil (USD) A-disISIN code: IE00B6SBCY47TER: 0.60%

According to a monthly survey by TrimTabs and BarclayHedge, hedge funds worldwide in June saw net redemptions of USD4.9bn, representing 0.3% of their assets, following net subscriptions of USD1.1bn in May. The 3,012 funds concerned as of 30 June posted assets of USD1.710bn, compared with USD1.730bn as of 31 May (-1.3%). This figure is 29.5% lower than the peak of USD2.4trn recorded at the end of June 2008.The BarclayHedge hedge fund index, meanwhile, on the basis of results released by 1,797 funds as of 17 August, gained 0.80% in July, compared with 0.66% in June. In the first seven months of the year, the index is up 3.13%. Of the 17 sub-indices, only the 51 equity funds of the Asia-Pacific region show losses last month (-0.24%). In January-July, the only strategy that shows losses is equity short bias (-7.33%). The strongest gains in the period were 6.06% for 27 convertible arbitrage funds.

The 13 hedge fund strategies regularly monitored by the Edhec Risk Institute in July have posted positive results, with the best result for CTA Global (+3.05%) and global macro (+1.51%). Since the beginning of this year, 12 strategies show gains, including convertible arbitrage (+6%) and fixed income arbitrage (+5.1%). while short selling showed losses of 7.4%.No strategy shows excess returns as compared to risk: all Sharpe ratios are lower than 1. Only distressed securities comes near with 0.96, while short-selling and funds of funds have negative Sharpe ratios of 0.26 and 0.11. The BarclayHedge hedge fund index, meanwhile, on the basis of results released by 1,797 funds as of 17 August, gained 0.80% in July, compared with 0.66% in June. In the first seven months of the year, the index is up 3.13%. Of the 17 sub-indices, only the 51 equity funds of the Asia-Pacific region show losses last month (-0.24%). In January-July, the only strategy that shows losses is equity short bias (-7.33%). The strongest gains in the period were 6.06% for 27 convertible arbitrage funds. According to a monthly survey by TrimTabs and BarclayHedge, hedge funds worldwide in June saw net redemptions of USD4.9bn, representing 0.3% of their assets, following net subscriptions of USD1.1bn in May. The 3,012 funds concerned as of 30 June posted assets of USD1.710bn, compared with USD1.730bn as of 31 May (-1.3%). This figure is 29.5% lower than the peak of USD2.4trn recorded at the end of June 2008.

The supervisory board at the German investment bank Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank, a specialist in asset management (managed futures) and brokerage, has appointed one of its founders and a member of its managing board, yasin Sebastian Qureshi, as its chairman.The managing board remains unchanged in its overall composition, with Steffen Fix, who created a quantitative trading technique, and Mohammad-Hans Dalmatschi (managed futures), who joined the board on 6 March. The three men are founders of Varengold, a stock-exchange filing says.Meanwhile, Willi Müller is stepping down as chairman of the supervisory board, a position which will now be occupied by Hans J. M. Manteuffel. Müller remains a member of the supervisory board, along with Peter Andree.

SIX Swiss Exchange has announced that it has admitted seven new ETFs from iShares (BlackRock group) to trading. They are Irish-registered physical replication funds for which the market maker is Susquehanna; TERs range from 0.20% to 0.65%. ETF ISIN code TER iShares Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Local Govt Bond IE00B5M4WH52 0.50% iShares Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ex-Financials IE00B4L5ZG21 0.20% iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend IE00B652H904 0.65% iShares Markit iBoxx $ High Yield Capped Bond IE00B4PY7Y77 0.50% iShares MSCI Japan Monthly EUR Hedged IE00B42Z5J44 0.64% iShares MSCI World Monthly EUR Hedged IE00B441G979 0.55% iShares S&P500 Monthly EUR Hedged IE00B3ZW0K18 0.45%

Since February, Vanguard has been aggressively lowering its TER rates for its ETFs, which has allowed it to gain market share on the US market. The Börsen-Zeitung reports that that the market is now expecting the leader, iShares, to be obliged to lower its prices in retaliation. Smaller producers are withdrawing some of their ETFs from the market, when they do not completely liquidate the activity (as Scottrade is doing with its MocusShares line, or as Russell is considering doing). This will be a cause for concern for European providers too, as Vanguard arrived in May in London with five products.

Variable pay for employees of investment banks and asset management firms are expected to increase less than expected in the month of May, according to statistics compiled by the New York research form Johnson Partners, Les Echos reports. Overall, bonuses are expected to vary from stable to “moderate” growth of no more than 20% in the bast case, and not 25% as previously estimated. According to projections by Johnson Partners, the professions of consulting, equity primary and debt will be the worst-hit, with increases of no more than 5% to bonuses, and potential declines of up to -10%. Bonuses in the asset management profession, for their part, will range from stable to 10% growth.

Citywire reports that Jean-Pierre Salles has retired from Aviva Investors France. Paul Gagey has taken over management of the Aviva Oblig International, Aviva Interoblig and Aviva Convertibles funds while Alban Tourra will take over Aviva Signatures Europe, and Jean-François Chambon takes charge of the Aviva Japon and Aviva Investors Japon funds. Management of the UFF Diversifié fund will be shared by Paul Gagey and Françoise Labbé.

The sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding will pay EUR607m for a 10.6% stake in British Airport Authority (BAA), which is owned by FGP Topco, the arm of the Spanish Ferrovial group in the United Kingdom, Expansión reports. It will also acquire 5.63% of BAA from Britannia Aiport Partners, and 3.75% from the Singapore sovereign fund GIC. Following the transaction, Ferrovial will retain a 39.37% stake in BAA.Overall, the Qatari SWF will be investing EUR1.14bn, which values BAA at under EUR6bn, while Ferrovial paid EUR12.4bn in 2006. But since then, the British regulator has required Ferrovial to sell the Gatwick, Edinburgh and Stansted airports. Ferrovial is currently appealing that verdict in the British courts.

Henderson Global Investors has appointed the former vice-chairman and chief investment officer (CIO) of Threadneedle, Saah Arkle, as non-executive dir4ector of its board of directors, Money Marketing reports. Arkle is also non-executive director at Foreign & Colonial.

The Asian bond team at Western Asset Management (Legg Mason group) in Singapore, which has been led by Chia-Liang Lian since 2011 (see Newsmanagers of 29 May) is being expanded from three to seven members, with three recruitments inlcuding Desmond Soon (formerly of ST Asset Management) as portfolio manager, Investment Week reports. The other three new arrivals are analysts, as Swee Ching Lim (formerly of Barclays Capital in London) becomes a credit research analyst, Wontae Kim is appointed as a portfolio analyst for risk management, and Desmond Fu (formerly of APS Komaba) joins as a portfolio analyst. There are also plans to recruit a senior credit analyst. Western AM has posted assets in Asian ex Japan bonds of USD3.8bn.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has reported a net outflow in first half of GBP310m, due to a reduction by three clients of their exposure to bonds. Assets under management have nonetheless increased by GBP900m, to GBP44.9bn as of 30 June 2012, according to interim results published on 17 August. RLAM has also announced that its assets under administration on the Ascentric platform increased 16% in the period under review, to GBP4.3bn.

As offshore business from tax dodgers dries up, Swiss banks are seeking areas for growth in investment funds and institutional clients, Handelsblatt reports. These areas are less profitable than other areas of banking activity, but also less risky. Trade bodies and political leaders have seen the writing on the wall and are now planning an offensive: they are planning to seek to prevent excessive regulation in a misguided effort to protect investors. Switzerland is also benefiting from the fact that London no longer has as much support from the British government as in the past.

HSBC Global Asset Management has announced the launch of a UCITS format Indian bond fund, which will give British retail investors investors access to the Indian market for the first time. The new fund, HSBC GIF India Fixed Income fund, will be integrated into the Luxembourg-registered Global Investment Fund (GIF) range from HSBC. It will invest in government and corporate bonds denominated in Indian rupees, but may also invest in bonds denominated in other currencies closely tied to India. The minimal investment is USD5,000, and management fees have been set at 1.1% per year. HSBC claims that the Indian market is underdeveloped considering the growth the Indian economy has undergone, but adds that it has potential to develop considerably in the next decade. However, the Indian bond market has earned returns averaging 7.5% per year since 2000.

The chief investment for fixed income and fundamental portfolios at BlackRock, Rick Rieder, has told the Wall Street Journal that BlackRock has bought up Spanish and Italian short-term government bonds in recent weeks. These assets nonetheless represent only a very modest portion of bond assets at BlackRock, which total about USD620bn. The decision to return to peripheral euro zone debt is related to efforts on the part of European political leaders to manage the euro zone crisis, which are considered more credible than in the past.