Après deux mois consécutifs de décollecte, les fonds commercialisés en Suède ont enregistré en juillet des souscriptions nettes de 2,3 milliards de couronnes suédoises (0,2 milliard d’euros), selon l’association suédoise des fonds (Fondbolagens Förening).La collecte a été tirée à quasi-égalité par les fonds actions et les fonds obligataires, qui engrangent respectivement 1,5 milliard de couronnes et 1,6 milliard (environ 0,19 milliard d’euros). Concernant les fonds actions, les épargnants se sont surtout portés sur des fonds d’actions suédoises (1,7 milliard de couronnes).Les fonds diversifiés, les fonds monétaires et les hedge funds accusent tous de légères sorties nettes (-0,2 milliard, -0,4 milliard et -0,2 milliard respectivement).Depuis le début de l’année, les fonds vendus en Suède enregistrent des souscriptions nettes de 14 milliards de couronnes (1,7 milliard d’euros), dont 11 milliards pour les fonds obligataires.A fin juillet, les encours gérés par les fonds en Suède ressortaient à 1.927 milliards de couronnes (253 milliards d’euros), dont 52 % en fonds actions.

Les acifs sous gestion d’Invesco ont progressé en juillet de 2% par rapport au mois précédent pour s'établir à 659,5 milliards de dollars, selon les premières estimations d’Invesco communiquées le 9 août.Cette évolution est liée à des effets marchés et devises positifs et à des souscriptions nettes tant du côté de la gestion active que de la gestion passive. L’effet devises a représenté un montant de 0,5 milliard de dollars.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, la troisième compagnie d’assurance vie au Japon, va acquérir entre 15 % et 20 % de la société de gestion américaine Janus Capital Group dans le cadre d’une «alliance stratégique» annoncée le 10 août. Outre cet accord capitalistique, Dai-ichi Life va soutenir les initiatives de Janus en matière de distribution au Japon et prévoit de placer 2 milliards de dollars de son actif général auprès de la société de gestion, dont une partie servira de fonds d’amorçage pour des stratégies d’investissement.Un membre de l’assureur nippon entrera enfin au conseil d’administration de Janus.Janus a d’ores et déjà vendu à Dai-ichi Life une série d’options soumises à condition pour acquérir jusqu’à 14.000.000 actions ordinaires.A fin juin, Janus gérait 152,4 milliards de dollars dans le monde, tandis que Dai-ichi Life affichait à fin mars des actifs consolidés de 407,2 milliards de dollars.

La société de gestion italienne Anima, via sa maison mère Asset Management Holding (AMH), rachète l’activité de gestion d’actifs de la banque italienne Credito Valtellinese (Creval) représentant un encours de 2,5 milliards d’euros plus 600 millions d’euros de produits tiers. Concrètement, AMH, qui gère 35 milliards d’euros à fin juin 2012, va reprendre la totalité du capital d’Aperta, la société de gestion de Creval, ainsi que sa participation de 70 % dans LuxGest, sa société de gestion luxembourgeoise, pour un montant total de 33 millions d’euros (27 millions pour Aperta et 6 millions pour LuxGest).L’accord prévoit par ailleurs que Creval souscrive à une augmentation de capital réservée d’AMH qui lui permettra d’acquérir 2,8 % du capital.Cela permet à Credito Valtellinese d’externaliser sa gestion d’actifs, tandis que AMH, via Anima, renforce ses encours et conforte sa stratégie de devenir le partenaire clé des banques en matière de gestion d’actifs. La société travaille déjà pour le compte de Monte dei Paschi di Siena et Banca Popolare di Milano qui figurent parmi ses principaux actionnaires et sont à l’origine de sa naissance avec le fonds de private equity Clessidra.

Julius Baer, le principal groupe suisse de private banking, a annoncé le 13 avril l’acquisition auprès de Bank of America (BofA) de l’activité International Wealth Management (IWM) de Merrill Lynch basée hors des Etats-Unis et au Japon avec actuellement 84 milliards de dollars (81 milliards de francs suisses) au 30 juin 2012, et représentant plus de 2.000 employés dont plus de 500 conseillers financiers, sous réserve d’une approbation des organismes de réglementation et des actionnaires. Environ deux tiers des actifs sous gestion d’IWM proviennent de clients domiciliés sur des marchés en Asie, en Amérique latine et au Moyen-Orient. La transaction est composée d’une combinaison d’acquisitions d’entités juridiques et de transferts d’activités et devrait rapporter entre 57 et 72 milliards de francs suisses supplémentaires en actifs sous gestion d’ici la fin de la période d’intégration prévue sur deux années, dont environ deux tiers en provenance des marchés de croissance. Un niveau de 72 milliards de francs suisses d’actifs sous gestion supplémentaires augmenterait les actifs sous gestion existants de Julius Baer d’environ 40% à 251 milliards de francs suisses et les actifs totaux de ses clients à environ 341 milliards de francs suisses, tous deux sur une base pro-forma, à la fin de la période d’intégration de deux ans. Tandis que la plus grande partie des activités d’IWM se déroule dans des lieux où Julius Baer est déjà présent comme Genève, Londres, Hong-Kong, Singapour, Dubaï et Montevideo, cette acquisition permettrait d’ajouter au réseau existant de Julius Baer de nouveaux sites au Bahreïn, aux Pays-Bas, en Inde, en Irlande, au Liban, au Luxembourg, à Panama et en Espagne. Après cette intégration, Julius Baer sera présent dans plus de 25 pays opérant et 50 sites dans le monde. A un niveau de 72 milliards de francs suisses d’actifs sous gestion transférés, la part d’actifs sous gestion provenant des marchés de croissance devrait augmenter de plus d’un tiers actuellement à près de la moitié sur une base pro-forma. La compatibilité d’IWM avec les activités de Julius Baer est notamment mise en évidence par la composition comparable dans la répartition des actifs, ou par un niveau moyen d’actifs sous gestion par client similaire, impliquant une grande similitude dans les exigences des clients. De plus, près de la moitié des conseillers financiers d’IWM ont assisté les clients dans leur société pendant plus de dix ans. Dans le cadre de l’intégration, les entités juridiques acquises opéreront sous la marque Julius Baer. Le prix convenu de la transaction est de 1,2% sur les actifs sous gestion transférés (payables lorsque les actifs sous gestion seront transférées à Julius Baer). A supposer un niveau de 72 milliards de francs suisses d’actifs sous gestion transférés, le prix de la transaction s'élèverait à environ 860 millions de francs. Les coûts totaux de restructuration, d’intégration et de rétention liés au transfert de l’activité vers la plateforme de Julius Baer devraient s'élever jusqu'à environ 400 millions de francs suisses (312 millions de francs suisses après les taxes). Cette acquisition devrait contribuer à un accroissement des bénéfices à partir de la troisième année complète après l’opération principale de bouclage, c’est-à-dire la première année stationnaire complète après l’intégration. Quel que soit le niveau d’actifs sous gestion transférés, compris entre 57 milliards de francs suisses et 72 milliards de francs suisses, l’accroissement visé du BPA en 2015 est d’environ 15%.

After two consecutive months of redemptions, funds on sale in Sweden in July posted net inflows of SEK2.3bn (EUR0.2bn), according to the Swedish fund association (Fondbolagens Förening). Inflows were virtually equally driven by equity and bond funds, which took on SEK1.5bn and SEK1.6bn (about EUR0.19bn), respectively. For equity funds, savings investors went primarily for Swedish equity funds (SEK1.7bn). Balanced funds, money markt funds and hedge funds have all seen slight net outflows (-SEK0.2bn, -SEK0.4bn, and -SEK0.2bn, respectively). Since the beginning of the year, funds on sale in Sweden have posted net subscriptions of SEK14bn (EUR1.7bn), of which SEK11bn were for bond funds. As of the end of July, assets under management by funds in Sweden totalled SEK1.927bn (EUR253bn), of which 52% were in equity funds.

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, the third largest life insurer in Japan, plans to acquire between 15% and 20 % of Janus Capital Group’s outstanding common shares. It is part of a “strategic alliance” announced on August 10.As part of this alliance, Dai-ichi Life will support Janus’ distribution initiatives in Japan and plans to invest USD2 billion of its general account assets with the US asset manager, including seed capital for investment strategies.Finally, it is expected that an individual designated by Dai-ichi Life will be appointed to Janus’ board of directors.As part of the agreement, JCG sold Dai-ichi Life a series of conditional options to purchase, in aggregate, up to 14,000,000 shares of JCG’s common stock.

The hedge fund industry may be subject to stricter rules in terms of pay scales, such as bonus deferrals or clawbacks due to the AIFM directive, the Financial Times reports. The recommendations of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) last month did not include any explicit calls for national authorities to exempt certain categories of funds from the most severe restrictions.

A Federal appeals court in New York has overturned a decision by an inferior court, and has found that the Bayerische Landesbank may sue the alternative asset management firm Aladdin Capital Management for misleading it into the purchase of high-risk CDOs, without informing it of the associated risks. The Bayerische Landesbank lost all of its investment of USD60m in CDOs, which were sold to its as investment-grade securities. At least 11 of the underlying entities, including Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, underwent credit events.

Assets under management at Invesco have risen 2% in July compared with the previous month, to a total of USD659.5bn, according to initial estimates by Invesco released on 9 August. This development is related to positive market and currency effects, and net subscriptions for both active and passive management. Currency effects represented USD0.5bn.

The largest groups in terms of market capitalisation are posting lower returns than their sectors and the market, according to research by Robert Arnott and Lillian Wu, chairman and researcher, respectively, at Research Affiliates. The researchers point out that “being a top player clearly brings with it a burder to bear. Governments, regulators, experts, rivals and consumers all want your skin,” Les Echos reports. By growing beyond reason, these dinosaurs lose effectiveness, agility and flexibility, which among other factors may result in negative performance. Over a longer period (1982-2010), the largest market cap in a sector posts 4% lower returns than its industry in the following ten years. The penalty is even larger in countries such as Canada and Australia, where the leader lags 5% to 10% behind per year. France and Italy are about average (-3%- to -5%). By sector, telecommunications and finance are the sectors in which leaders are most affected.

Earnings on structured products on the Scoach derivatives market have increased 11% to CHF2.71bn in July compared with the previous month. Compared with January, the best month on record, earnings are down 20%, the Swiss structured product association (ASPS) says in a statement. The increase has been particularly noticeable month on month for leveraged products, which have contributed over 60% to total earnings. As of the end of July, 35,154 products were listed, with the majority of these leveraged products (66%). Second place goes to return optimisation products (21%). New issues in July totalled 4,272, of which 80% were leveraged products. The five largest issuers of structured products in July were the Cantonal Bank of Zurich (market share: 24.8%), UBS (24.3%), Julius Bär (17.0%), Vontobel (16.8%) and Credit Suisse (5.7%). Other issuers account for 11.5%.

Julius Baer, the largest Swiss private banking group, on 13 August announced that it is acquiring the International Wealth Management (IWM) activities of Merrill Lynch based outside the United States and Japan, which currently have USD84bn in assets as of 30 June 2012, and which have over 2,000 employees, including over 500 financial advisers, from Bank of America (BofA), pending approval from regulatory bodies and shareholders.About two thirds of IWM assets under management come from clients domiciled in growth markets in Asia (more than half), Latin America and the Middle East. The transaction is composed of a combination of acquisitions of legal entities and transfers of activities, and will bring in an additional CHF57bn to CHF72bn in assets under management by the end of the two-year integration period, about two third of which will come from growth markets.A level of CHF72bn in additional assets under management will increase assets under management at Julius Baer by about 40%, to CHF251bn, and total client assets to about CHF341bn, both on a pro forma basis, by the end of the two-year integration period. While the majority of iwm activities take place in places where Julius Baer is already present, such as Geneva, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Montevideo, the acqusition will add new locations to the existing Julius Baer network in Bahrain, the Netherlands, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Panama and Spain. After the integration, Julius Baer will be present in over 25 countries with 50 locations worldwide. With CHF72bn in asstes under management transferred, the proportion of assets under management from growth markets will increase from more than one third currently to nearly half on a pro forma basis.

Rwanda is planning to create a sovereign fund as part of a long-term project to enlist the help of other countries, Financial News reports, citing the local press.

The Libor inter-bank lending rate, which is embroiled in a manipulation scandal, is no longer serving its function and must be modified, the director of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Martin Wheatley, announced at a presentation of the agency’s recommendations, released on 10 August. “The existing Libor governance structure is no longer adapted, and reforms are necessary,” Wheatley, who was tasked by the British government with formulating recommendations to revise the system for setting Libor (the London Interbank Offered Rate), announced. The government may include the recommendations in a law on financial services currently being debated in the House of Lords. Wheatley, who is also responsible for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), proposes that more objective data be included in the method of calculating Libor, on the basis of actual transactions and not merely judgement, in order to reduce the ways in which the rate can be manipulated. Wheatley also states that other reference rates should be used as a basis for at least part of the Libor transactions. “In some cases, there are other rates which can be used more broadly,” he says. “In other cases, new reference rates could be identified and developed,” he claims. Lastly, Wheatley claims it is necessary to strengthen the powers of the legal authorities and market regulators to pursue violators. Actors in the sector have until 7 September to respond to the recommendations, which will then be finalised by the end of September.

The British Investment Management Association (IMA) has issued a statement welcoming technical standards proposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for European EMIR regulations of over-the-counter derivative products, central clearing houses and central registries. In its response to the ESMA public consultation, which closed on 5 August, the professional association suggests a new approach to compensation. “We would be in favour of the new clearing entity being able to identify the true owner of positions and assets at any time, so that the ownership of these can be established with certainty in the case of default of a clearing house member,” the IMA says, adding that the current system “obscures” the identity of the client originating the clearance operation, and complicates restitution of assets in default situations.

Skandia Investment Group (SIG)’s Francois Zagame has appointed Andrew Cupps of Cupps Capital Management to run a £44m mandate in the £1bn Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund.The Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund aims to provide long-term capital growth predominantly through investment in global equities. The appointment of Cupps Capital Management sees SIG strengthening the US manager line-up within the fund, adding aggressive exposure in US equities.Andrew Cupps is the CIO and founder of Cupps Capital, a Chicago based investment boutique, utilising an aggressive growth approach to investing. He focuses on the higher growth universe of the market and over his career has been able to derive significant alpha from opportunities in the more inefficient small and mid-cap segments. The result is that small and mid-cap stocks with high growth characteristics often play an important role in this all cap strategy.

In early 2009, all the funds by Jens Ehrhardt (head of DJE Kapital) had top ratings from Feri. As of 30 June, this remains true for only 57% of them, Handelsblatt reports. This is due to the fact that the Hamburg-based independent asset manager is highly oriented to equities. DJE now ranks 15th among 71 independent asset management firms in the rankings. It has lost ground since many of its rivals are doing better in the rankings by offering only their best funds, and focusing on highly specilised areas of expertise, while Jens Ehrhardt’s prestige requires him to compete in all categories. In addition, Ehrhardt is 70 years old, and must prepare for a transition at the firm to his son Jan, 37.

According to a study by Detlef Glow published by Handelsblatt, 294 of the 1,727 ETF funds on sale in Europe had not reached EUR100m in assets within three years as of 30 June. A Lipper expert says that on the basis of experience, this amount over this time is critical for the survival of an ETF fund. However, Detlef Glow does not predict consolidation in the industry, as issuers are seeking to attract new investors with a rising number of new strategies, particularly in actively-managed ETFs.

The Italian asset management firm Anima, via its parent company Asset Management Holding (AMH), is acquiring the asset management activities of the Italian bank Credito Valtellinese (Creval), representing assets of EUR2.5bn, plus EUR600m in third-party products. Concretely, AMH, which has EUR35bn in assets under management as of the end of June 2012, will take over all capital of Aperta, the asset management firm from Creval, and its 70% participation in LuxGest, its Luxembourg asset management firm, for a total fo EUR33m (EUR27m for Aperta and EUR6m for LuxGuest). The agreement enables Credito Valtellinese to outsource its asset management activities, while AMH, via Anima, will be strengthening its asset levels and pursuing its strategy of becoming a key asset management partner of banks. The firm already works for Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banca Popolare de Milano, which are among its largest shareholders.

A private equity fund from HgCapital has sold three wind park for a three-digit amount in millions of euros. Tir Mostyn (North Wales, 21 megawatts), Scout Moor (near Manchester, 65 megawatts) and Bagmoor (in Lincolnshire, 15 megawatts) have been sold to the German asset management firm MEAG, which is investing as part of the Renewable Energies & New Technologies (RENT) project by its parent company, Munich Re. The program has a total budget of EUR2.5bn, of which EUR600m have already been spent since the beginning of 2011, MEAG announced on Monday. Assets at MEAG total EUR226bn, largely for the Munich Re group.

M&G, the asset management unit of Prudential, has posted net inflows in first half of GBP4.9bn, Prudential announced on 10 August at a presentation of its results for the half. This development is largely due to the retail market, on which net inflows have risen 53% to GBP4.3bn, while subscriptions have slowed in second quarter to GBP1.9bn, compared with GBP2.4bn in first quarter. For institutionals, net inflows totalled GBP600m, compared with inflows of only GBP100m in first quarter 2011. Assets under management at M&G have remained virtually unchanged compared with the end of December 2011, at GBP204bn, compared with GBP205bn. This development, Prudential explains, is partly due to a decision on the part of M&G to reduce its stake in its South African affiilate. The unit dedicated to asset management in Asia, known as Eastspring, has posted a net inflow of GBP426m for first quarter, and its assets under management have risen 7%, to GBP53.8bn, compared with GBP50.3bn as of the end of December 2011. The Prudential group has earned results for the half of GBP1.2bn, up 13% compared with first half 2011, due to good results for the group in the United Kingdom, and to M&G, which has posted operating profits of GBP199m for the half.

The Danish asset manager Jyske Invest is going to close two funds, Jyske Invest Swedish Equities and Jyske Invest Global Real Estate Equities. “The reason why we wish to close the two funds is that the demand for investment certificates in the funds has been on the decline for a long time,” explains the asset manager.“The low demand for units of Swedish Equities and Global Real Estate Equities has resulted in too high costs for administration of the funds.”Moreover, Jyske Invest is converting Jyske Invest Eastern European Equities into Jyske Invest Russian Equities. From now on, the name of the fund is therefore Jyske Invest Russian Equities, and its investment universe is Russian equities.With the conversion, the fund changes its investment strategy but the change is limited as the fund’s portfolio was already composed of two thirds of Russian equities before the conversion. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has approved the closure and the conversion of the funds.

Asset management firms and ETF providers have asked the Singapore stock exchange to revise its mechanism for setting prices for ETFs, Asian Investor reports. Currently, the 93 ETF funds listed on the Singapore stock market are valued on the basis of their listing at the end of the trading day. Market participants would prefer to consider bid/offer prices, as is done on other stock markets, such as Hong Kong.

The Norwegian public pension fund, one of the largest sovereign funds in the world, has suffered from the falling stock markets in second quarter, the Norwegian central bank, responsible for managing the fund, announced on 10 August. The Norwegian fund, which is supplied by oil revenues from the country and invested in international equities and, to a lesser extent, real estate, underwent negative returns in the past quarter of 2.2%, a loss of about NOK77bn. The negative performance of investments in equities (-4.6%) wiped out gains on bonds (+1.5%). The market value of the fund was nonetheless up NOK65bn as of the end of June compared with the previous quarter, to NOK3,561bn, or nearly EUR490bn, due to inflows of new oil revenues (+NOK72bn) and currency effects related to a weaker Norwegian kroner compared with other currencies (+NOK70bn).

Bertrand Hau, directeur financier d’Ageas France dans le cadre d’un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1181 : Le portefeuille immobilier représente quant à lui 8 % de notre allocation d’actifs. Nous détenons, historiquement, en direct des immeubles de bureaux en région parisienne. Depuis deux ans, nous investissons également plus régulièrement dans des fonds dédiés réservés aux institutionnels, qui misent dans des locaux techniques, des commerces ou encore des bureaux. Grâce à cette stratégie, nous avons doublé notre poche immobilière en 2010 et 2011. Nous avons d’ailleurs pour objectif d’atteindre entre 9 à 10 % d’actifs immobiliers cette année. Pour atteindre ce but, nous comptons diversifier le portefeuille immobilier en investissant dans le secteur de la santé. De plus nous n’hésitons pas à réinvestir dans les fonds dans lesquels nous avons déjà investi quand l’opportunité se présente. Pour le moment, nous avons déjà sélectionné différents gestionnaires d’actifs comme la Française AM, BNP Paribas Real Estate ou encore des acteurs de plus petite taille comme Imocom Partners.

La Finlande reste opposée au rachat par la BCE d’obligations souveraines espagnoles et italiennes, prévient son Premier ministre, Jyrki Katainen, dans un entretien à Der Spiegel. D’autres solutions doivent être trouvées pour lutter contre la crise de l’euro, estime le dirigeant finlandais, qui souligne que les achats de dette menés par la BCE dans le passé n’ont été que des remèdes de court terme.

La Belgique manquera probablement son objectif de réduction du déficit, le ralentissement brusque et inattendu enregistré au deuxième trimestre (-0,6%) suggérant que l'économie du pays pourrait finalement se contracter cette année, a prévenu le gouverneur de la banque centrale belge, Luc Coene. Le pays veut ramener son déficit à 2,8% du PIB cette année, contre 3,7% l’an dernier.

Selon le département du Trésor, le déficit budgétaire des Etats-Unis a nettement reculé au mois de juillet en rythme annuel, reflétant une hausse des recettes publiques et une baisse des dépenses. Il s’est établi le mois dernier à 69,6 milliards de dollars (56,6 milliards d’euros) contre 129,4 milliards de dollars un an plus tôt.

L’ex-ministre allemand des Finances, l’un des adversaires potentiels de la chancelière Angela Merkel aux élections de 2013, s’est dit favorable à l'émission d’euro-obligations. Il a ainsi indiqué au Süddeutsche Zeitung soutenir l’appel de Sigmar Gabriel, président du SPD, à des émissions de dette commune et à une plus grande intégration budgétaire dans la zone euro.