Oddo Asset Management has signed an agreement with Allfunds Bank to offer ten funds in Italy which already have a sales license for the country, Bluerating reports. The move comes as part of the French asset management firm’s development strategy in Italy, aimed particularly at retail investors, Jurgen Mahler, head of Oddo AM for Italy, explains. The range from Oddo AM offered by Allfunds includes three funds of convertible bonds, one high yield fund maturing in 2017, one flexible fund, one long/short and five equity funds. The funds from Oddo are also available from Ifigest Fundstore and IW Bank.

As Renta 4 Gestión did two weeks ago, the Spanish firm A&G Fondos has decided to convert its fund of hedge funds A&G Multistrategy into an absolute return UCITS-compliant fund, with a performance objective of 4-7%, which would invest solely in UCITS-compliant hedge funds, Funds People reports.A&G Fondos thus withdraws completely from the world of non-UCITS hedge funds. Currently, it manages EUR107m in six investment funds and 19 Sicavs and several Luxembourg products, with assets of EUR794m. A&G Fondos is the asset management firm for the A&G group (EUR4bn), in which the largest shareholder is EFG International.

For an undisclosed amount, Union Investment Real Estate has acquired a commercial property on the pedestrian shopping street Bahnhofstraße in Ulm from Achim Griese Treuhandgesellschaft mhH. The property, which is wholly leased, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland (DE0009805507).Currently. Union Investment is focusing its investments on retail commerce in shopping centres or specialised commercial areas, in urban areas with over 100,000 inhabitants. The asset management firm is interested in properties requiring an investment of over EUR15m.

The wealth of high net worth individuals, i.e. their investment capacity, fell in all regions in 2011, except in the Middle East. The decline of 1.7% is the first since the global economic crisis of 2008, a year in which the wealth of millionaires declined by 19.5%, according to the World Wealth Report 2012, published on 19 June by Capgemini and its new partner, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The number of high net worth private investors increased by 1.6% in the Asia-Pacific region, to 3.37 million in 2011. This region for the first time leads, with the largest number of millionaires, ahead of North America with 3.35 million. North America remains the region where the largest amount of wealth is concentrated, with USD114trn, compared with USD107trn in the Asia-Pacific region. Following strong growth in 2010 (+8.3%), the number of high net worth individuals worldwide increased 0.8% to 11 million in 2011. This slight increase is largely due to high net worth individuals who have USD1m to USD5m in assets. This group, which has grown by 1.1%, represents 90% of all millionaires worldwide. By comparison, the wealth of the largest fortunes in the wold in 2011 fell by 1.7%, to a total of USD430trn (compared with an increase of 9.7% in 2010, to a total of USD427trn). The number of individuals worldwide in the highest net worth category fell 2.5% in 2011, and their total wealth fell 4.9%, following an increase of 10.2% and 11.5%, respectively, in 2010. In the rankings of the 12 countries with the largest numbers of millionaires, South Korea has overtaken India in 12th place, whie the top three countries (United States, Japan and Germany) include 53.3% of high net worth individuals, a slight increase compared with 2010 (53.1%), Mong this group of countries, Brazil has seen the higest growth rate, with the number of millionaires up 6.2%. Following a nearly normal period in 2010, volatility levels peaked in November due to concerns of potential contagion of the euro zone debt crisis to some other major economies. In the light of this chronic instability, many investors turned to refuge assets in 2011. The economic drivers of wealth were also diverse. They involved several asset classes and produced variable results: equities and commodities performed less well, while tangible investments lost value, as investors preferring to preserve their capital preferred money market and bond investments. The latter represented the best-performing category: the price of US long-term Treasury bonds reached all-time highs. In conclusion, the report finds that high net worth individuals should prepare themselves for a long-term volatility on the markets, and two-speed returns, which may be extremely positive or extremely negative, rather than evenly distributed.

At a presentation in Paris, Franck Dixmier, CIO for European fixed income, announced that Allianz Global Investors (AGI) is planning to mutualise its credit and equity research resources, a project which will be completed by the end of this year.The move affects five analyst and ten managers in credit, in Paris, and about 70 equity analysts throughout the network. The compliance department last week approved the proposal to connect the credit department up with equity research.The association between the two asset classes has its limits, however, as the issuers monitored by one or the other part of the activity are not necessarily the same. The objective is clearly an exchange of information, not to establish an investment model common to the two teams, says David Manoux, head of credit analysis. The move will, however, allow for knowledge to be shared between equity specialists, who intimately know the history of businesses, and credit experts, who have good knowledge of the financial realities of balance sheets.In Paris, AGI has about EUR16bn under management in credit, in the form of mandates and funds, while equities represent about EUR7.5bn, according to Catherine Garrigues, head of European equities for France. Overall, assets at AGI in France represent EUR70bn, of which EUR57bn are in fixed income (with slightly over 50% of that in govies). Multi-management and money markets have respective assets of EUR3.5bn and EUR3bn.

The Canadian firm Manulife is seeking to sell its products on Hong Kong banking platforms, Asian Investor reports. Manulife has already signed distribution agreements with banks in the territory, including Bank of China and Bank of East Asia, but would also like to be featured on the platforms of other major actors in the region, such as Citi, HSBC and Standard Chartered. The firm has also announced that Myles Morin, vice president and head of investment funds at Manulife Hong Kong, will be leaving the territory in mid-July to deploy a similar development strategy for distribution channels in Canada.

The major hedge fund managers are betting on a massive sell-off of German government bonds in the next few months, the Financial Times reports. At the GAIM sector conference in Monaco, more than 50% of respondents said they are expecting returns on Bunds to double in one year. Gavyn Davies, the founder of Fulcrum Asset Management, explains that returns on German government bonds have been eroded by a flight of capital from other euro zone countries. But this pressure will not continue to hold down returns indefinitely.

The financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is predicting a rise in corporate defaults in 2012. In a study published on 19 June (“Eurozone Stress Pressures Corporate Defaults,”) the agency reports that in first quarter, defaults were limited by various injections of liquidity by the ECB in late 2011.The default rate over a rolling 12-month period, which at the end of March stood at 4.7%, compared with 2.6% as of the end of December 2011, may reach as much as 6.4% by the end of March 2013, the agency predicts.If there is a more severe recession (which the agency estimates as a 40% risk), the 12-month default rate may even top 8%. Standard & Poor’s explains that in the sample of 678 businesses taken into account in the study, 37% of businesses presented a major default risk (B- or lower). The study considered a sample of 678 speculative grade businesses in the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 61% of which are based in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Greek and Cypriot businesses represented 1.4% of the sample.In peripheral European countries, the default rates are higher than average. In Spain and Italy, the cumulative default rate between the beginning of 2008 and March 2012 is over 45%, far higher than those for other major European countries.In the United Kingdom, default rates over the past 12 months are high (7.5%). Since 2008, the cumulative rate is over 30%. In the vast majority of casis, these defaults are the result of pre-crisis LBOs.French businesses have low default rates (1.6% over 12 months, 21% since 2008). However, their credit quality is lower than for German or British businesses: 42% of French businesses in the sample are rated B- to CCC, compared with 34% in the United Kingdom and an average of 36% in Europe. This phenomenon may be due to the dissuasive cost of bankruptcy procedures, and incentives to preserve jobs.

Bill Gross, founder and co-CIO of Pimco, says a bubble has formed in the German government bond market, due to the fact that Germany is assuming the ever-increasing burdens of the European sovereign debt crisis, Handelsblatt reports. There is little likelihood that German federal bonds may develop positively. The manager of the largest bond fund in the world says that Germany represents a credit risk, and that it is not an attractive market.

Hubertus Bäumer, who since 2008 had been head of indirect investments and fund development at Generali Immobilien, will at the end of July be joining Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH (EUR3.2bn), in the team under CEO Christoph Schumacher. He will be in charge of product development, client recruitment, and relationship management for institutional investors.

According to Financial Times Deutschland, relayed by Die Welt, Björn Jesch has resigned for personal reasons from his position as CIO of the private wealth management unit at Deutsche Bank. The departure, which is expected in third quarter 2012, is reportedly related to restructuring at the bank.

In order to improve the speed and robustness of its data management for UCITS-compliant hedge funds, and the calculation of its UCITS Alternatives index, the Swiss firm Alix Capital has selected the new FDM financial data management platform from Soft-Finance.FDM integrates a lot of functionalities, and allows for simultaneous access to data such as performance analysis, information on investment management, risk management, client relationship management (CRM) and document management.

The Liechtenstein banking group LGT on 19 June announced that its Asset Management activities would on 1 July be moving internally to LGT Capital Partners, a specialist in alternative management. Traditional and alternative wealth management had recently been in two separate entities, LGT Capital Management and LGT Capital Partners, respectively. Assets under management at the two divisions total about CHF40bn. LGT estimates in a statement that the borders between traditional management and alternative management have been breaking down over the past few years, which justifies such a decision. The redeployment will also allow the bank to optimise its product range and client advising. New new structure will also allow the firm to earn larger growth and to realise synergies, the nature of which have not been disclosed. LGT Capital Partners will continue to position itself as an alternative asset management firm, with expertise in various sectors, such as private equity and hedge funds. The CEO of LGT Capital Partners, Roberto Paganoni, will direct the new structure from 1 July. Torsten de Santos, CEO of LGT Capital Management, will be leaving the bank. He will, however, remain as a consultant to LGT and as a member of the board of directors for various fund companies.

Axa Investment Managers has recruited Shalin Bhagwan, of Legal & General Investment Management, and Lucy Barron, who has worked at Insight Investment Management, to create a new liability-driven investment (LDI) activity in the United Kingdom, Financial News reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The British asset management firm Aberdeen Asset Management has recruited Alex Kim as head of development in Korea, Asian Investor reports. Kim previously worked at Russell Investments, where he served in a similar role.

Stuart Sharp va quitter Franklin Templeton dont il est «vice president» le 22 juin, rapporte FundWeb. Paul Spencer et Richard Bullas vont reprendre la gestion du fonds Franklin UK Smaller Companies.

Stuart Sharp will be leaving Franklin Templeton, where he is vice president, on 22 June, FundWeb reports. Paul Spencer and Richard Bullas will take over management of the Franklin UK Smaller Companies fund.

The Luxembourg Sicav Investec GSF is adding a new sub-fund, the Latin America Smaller Companies Fund, managed in the Americas by Compass Group, Investment Week reports. The fund of Latin American small caps is starting our with external assets of USD100m. It is managed by Carina Güerisoli, CIO for equities at Compass. The benchmark index is the MSCI EM Small Cap Latin America.

The British firm Schroders has launched a fund which offers annual returns of 7.5% over half of a 20-year life cycle, Investment Week reports. The fund is a hybrid product, with the characteristics of a unit trust and a structured product, insofar as it has a well-defined life cycle, but also charges the same price as another unit trust offered by Schroders. The fund will be managed by the multi-asset class team, led by Johanna Kyrklund.

M&G has extended its range of multi-asset class funds, with the addition of a defensive portfolio, the M&G Episode Defensive, Investment Week reports. The product will be managed by Eric Lonergan. The asset management firm has also re-named its multi-asset class fund range as “Episode.”

Les créanciers internationaux vont renégocier avec Athènes les détails du deuxième plan de sauvetage accordé à la Grèce, sans en modifier la substance, car les modalités d’application de ce plan sont aujourd’hui dépassées, a affirmé un responsable de l’Eurogroupe. «Quand nous aurons trouvé un terrain d’entente satisfaisant, nous signerons un nouveau protocole d’accord qui comprendra, comme il se doit, les objectifs à remplir et les remboursements à effectuer», a-t-il ajouté.

Les mises en chantier de logements ont diminué en mai, mais les permis de construire ont rebondi à leur plus haut niveau en plus de trois ans, selon les données publiées par le département du Commerce. Les mises en chantier ont reculé de 4,8% pour revenir à 708.000 unités en rythme annuel, après 744.000 en avril (révisé de 717.000).

Le Fonds monétaire international n’a pas vocation à renflouer la zone euro même s’il peut être mis à contribution pour des pays en grande difficulté comme la Grèce, a déclaré François Hollande en marge du sommet du G20 à Los Cabos, au Mexique. La France et l’Allemagne ont conscience que la réponse à la crise qui ébranle les pays de la zone euro ne peut venir de l’extérieur, a ajouté le président français.

Le taux de chômage a augmenté contre toute en attente en Suède en mai, atteignant un plus haut depuis près d’un an à mesure que l’impact de la crise de la dette de la zone euro, principal marché à l’exportation pour le pays, commence à se faire sentir. Il s’est élevé à 8,1% le mois dernier, selon l’Office des statistiques suédois. C’est le plus haut taux de chômage enregistré en Suède depuis juin 2011.

Le ministère des Finances finlandais a revu à la baisse sa prévision de croissance pour 2013, la ramenant de 1,5% à 1,2%, arguant de la fragilité du contexte économique en Europe. La semaine dernière, la banque centrale de Finlande - l’un des quatre pays de la zone euro encore noté AAA par les trois grandes agences - avait abaissé ses propres projections pour 2013 en raison de la crise de la dette.

L’indice ZEW du sentiment des analystes et investisseurs allemands s’est révélé négatif en juin et nettement inférieur aux attentes, à -16,9 points, contre 10,8 en mai et 4 attendu par le marché. L’institut Zew note que la dégradation de la situation des banques espagnoles et l’incertitude autour des élections en Grèce ont certainement contribué à la chute. Il s’agit de la plus forte baisse du sentiment depuis octobre 1998.

L’inflation en Grande-Bretagne a reculé de façon inattendue en mai à un plus bas de deux ans et demi en raison d’un ralentissement dans la hausse des prix de l’alimentation et des carburants, donnant plus de marges de manœuvre à la Banque d’Angleterre (BoE) pour procéder à de nouvelles injections de liquidités dans l'économie. L’Office national des statistiques (ONS) a annoncé mardi que, sur un an, l’inflation était retombée à 2,8%, contre 3% en avril.

L’indicateur du climat général des affaires en France a reculé d’un point en juin, à 90, et la dégradation a touché tous les secteurs à la seule exception du commerce de détail, annonce l’Insee mardi dans son enquête mensuelle de conjoncture. L’indicateur synthétique du climat des affaires dans l’industrie manufacturière a diminué de même d’un point à 92, soit le niveau attendu par les économistes.

Le Trésor espagnol a placé sur le marché plus de trois milliards d’euros de papier à court terme mardi, une somme qui correspond au haut de la fourchette annoncée, mais il a dû consentir des rendements au plus haut depuis la création de l’euro. Il a adjugé 2,40 milliards d’euros de bons à 12 mois avec un rendement moyen de 5,074% contre 2,985% lors d’une précédente opération de même maturité le mois dernier. Madrid a également placé 640 millions d’euros de bons à 18 mois à un rendement moyen de 5,107% contre 3,302% précédemment.

Agregator Capital SCA annonce l’enregistrement de son document de base par l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) en date du 18 juin 2012 dans le cadre de son projet d’introduction en bourse sur le marché réglementé. Agregator Capital est né du Club d’Entrepreneurs Associés Agregator créé en 2002 par des entrepreneurs dont Guillaume-Olivier Doré, actuel Président du Gérant d’Agregator Capital. Ce Club réunit plus de 400 dirigeants de sociétés françaises.