The Ethos Foundation on 22 June announced the creation of a non-profit association to serve private shareholders. The aim of the Ethos Académie is to promote the principles of socially responnsible investment in civil society. With this initiatives, the Foundation, which represents institutional investors, “is seeking to provide private individuals with a way to contribute to the development of a healthy and sustainable economy,” the chairman of the Ethos foundation, Kaspar Müller, says, cited in a statement. The mission of the new entity is primarily to stabilise. Concretely, “its strong points will be holding public events, conferences and debates on current topics in corporate and investor social responsibility. Studies in the areas of expertise of Ethos will be undertaken,” says Ethos.

On Friday, the Swiss federal financial market authority (Finma) approved a proposed acqusition of a 46.07% stake in the capital, and a 68.63% stake in the voting rights of the Basel-based Banque Sarasin (see Newsmanagers of 28 November 2011) by the Safra group.Pending final approval by various international regulatory authorities, the transaction (CHF1.04bn) may be completed by July 2012.The board of directors at Banque Sarasin will be composed of Dagmar D. Wohrl, Pierre-Alain Bracher, Philippe Dupont, Hans-Rudolf Hufschmid, Sergio Penchas, Jacob J. Safra, Sipko N. Schat et Marcelo Szerman.

It is still a little early to measure the effects of the UCITS IV directive, but “I can tell you at this stage that it’s not a revolution,” says the re-elected president of the French financial management association (AFG), Paul-Henri de La Porte du Theil, in an interview with Les Echos. “One year on, the passport for asset management firms is not widely-used. The product passport, an innovation of the previous directive, works better. However, the master/feeder framework, which was created to promote the recovery of certain financial management industries in France, has left us cold. Exports of French ‘feeder’ funds are now possible, but creations of master funds, unfortunately, are now happening more in Luxembourg than Paris. That’s where regulations face considerable competition: asset management is strategic for Luxembourg, and its regulator, the financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF),” the AFG president explains.

The money manager J. Exra Merkin has agreed to pay about USD410m to settle claims that he transferred billions of US dollars of investors’ money to Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agreement will be announced on Monday.

After managing not only to stabilize its high net worth client base, but also to enlarge it a bit, Lazard Frères Gestion (LFG) is resolutely moving into “conquering” mode and is now also targeting its rivals' customer base, with the choice of a dedicated management approach for each of its clients.

The board of directors at the Italian Banca Generali has approved a proposed merger via incorporation of its asset management affiliate, BG SGR, which was first proposed in December, a press statement announced on 21 June. The operation has also been approved by the Bank of Italy and the shareholders of BG SGR. The integration comes as part of a planned rationalisation of management activities at Banca Generali, begun in September last year with the sale of BG SGR’s funds to Generali Investments Italy. The merger, which is the second stage in the project, will allow Banca Generali to reintegrate the remaining activities of BG SGR into the perimeter of Banca Generali, including mandated management, which represents EUR3.1bn. These activities will become an independent division within the bank, specialised in mandated management.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged that a former broker in Orlando defrauded investors in an astrology-based Ponzi scheme.The SEC alleges that Gurudeo “Buddy” Persaud lured family, friends, and others into investing in his firm, White Elephant Trading Company LLC, by falsely guaranteeing their money would be safe and yield lofty returns ranging from 6 to 18 percent. Persaud told investors he would invest in the debt, stock, futures, and real estate markets, but did not reveal that his trading strategy was based on his belief that markets are affected by gravitational forces.According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Persaud used investors’ money to make payments to other investors, the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme. Persaud also lost USD400,000 of investor funds through his trading and diverted at least USD415,000 to pay for his personal expenses, the SEC alleged. The same month Persaud began receiving investor money, he started using some of that money for his personal expenses. The SEC said that Persaud created phony account statements to hide his trading losses and give investors a false sense of security.The SEC alleges that in making trading decisions, Persaud chiefly relied on an Internet service that provided directional market forecasts based on lunar cycles and gravitational pull. Persaud’s strategy was premised on the idea that gravitational forces affect mass human behavior, and in turn, the stock market. For example, Persaud believed that when the moon exerts greater gravitational pull on the Earth, people feel dejected and are more inclined to sell securities.In all, Persaud raised more than USD1 million from at least 14 investors between July 2007 and January 2010.

BaFin has issued a sales license for Germany to the equity fund Axa WF Framlington LatAm, created on 14 May, and managed by Julian Thompson, global head of emerging markets at Axa Framlington (see Newsmanagers of 15 June).The Luxembourg-registered fund, distributed by Axa Investment Managers (LU0746602159), charges fees of 1.5% to retail investors (no minimal subscription), and 0.75% for institutional investors (from EUR0.5m).Axa IM states that it is planning to apply for a sales license in other European countries.

The first payment to shareholders in the German open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal (EUR6bn in assets as of the end of April), which Credit Suisse has decided to liquidate (see Newsmanagers of 22 May) will be made on 3 July. It will be EUR4.50 for each share in euros (DE0009805002) and CHF6.70 for each share in Swiss francs (DE0009751404). Overall, Credit Suisse will distribute EUR446.9m, or 7.7% of total assets in the fund.The next payment will come with the fund’s annual distribution in December 2012. Its total amount will depend on the volume of properties sold off, on the one hand, and on the results of negotiations over potential early repayment of bank loans, on the other. As for all credit, lenders must be paid off before shareholders.

On Thursday, Deutsche Börse admitted the iShares DJ Emerging Markets Select Dividend ETF to trading on the Xetra electronic trading platform. On Friday, the German-registered product was followed by two Luxembourg-registered products from UBS Global Asset Management.The new additions bring the number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 984. This represents some recent stagnation, as the number of products was 983 on 18 June, and 986 on 10 June.CharacteristicsName: iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select DividendISIN code: DE000A1JXDN6Benchmark index: Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select DividendTER: 0.65%Name: UBS-ETF MSCI Pacific (ex Japan) IISIN code: LU0446734799Benchmark index: MSCI Pacific ex JapanTER: 0.30%Name: UBS-ETF FTSE 100 IISIN code: LU0446735176Benchmark index: FTSE 100TER: 0.23%

Exposure of US money market funds to European banks continued to fall in May, to a total of about 12% of assets in funds, the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings reports in its latest study of money market funds (“U.S. Money Fund Exposure and European Banks: Disengagement Continues.”) The slight increase in the exposure of US money market funds to European banks in the first two months of the year was ultimatel a sop, quickly wiped out when investor concerns about the situation in the euro zone returned to the foreground. Since late November 2011, the exposure of US money market funds to European banks have remained at about 12%, after a steep fall in this exposure level in the first part of second half 2011. For the first time, Fitch Ratings is offering a temporal data series for the proportion of pension assets collateralised with US Treasury debt.

The Euorpean hedge fund manager Brevan Howard Asset Management is currently seeking to get USD20m together for a debt fund, Bloomberg reports. The fund, Brevan Howard Credit Value Master Fund, will invest in mortgage-backed securities (MBS), CDOs backed by real estate, and illiquid shares which are trading below their intrinsic value, Brevan Howard says in sales documentation obtained by the news agency.

Aberdeen Asset Management established the presence of Fujitsu Technology Solutions SA in the building River Plaza in Asnières ( 92 ), through a green lease of 6 years. This building, property of the DEGI Europa Fund, is currently 92 % let to 4 prime tenants.

In the equity universe, midcaps in general, and US midcaps in particular, are not taken adequately into account, claims Steven Pollack, manager of the Robeco Boston Partners Mid Cap Value Equity fund at Robeco for more than 10 years. “A US pension fund will look at large caps as a first priority, or at small caps with an eye to diversification, but in few cases will they look specifically at midcaps,” Pollack opined last week on a visit to Paris. The Los Angeles-based manager, whose midcaps fund has nearly USD2bn in assets, and whose strategy has been available since September 2011 as a Luxembourg Sicav, U.S. Select Opportunities (USD50m in assets as of the end of May), claims that the US midcaps universe, made up of over 2,000 companies, and exploited in the United States by mutual funds, is too neglected by institutional investors, even though it offers real opportunities, and historically better returns than small or large caps. The fund managed by Pollack, which is highly diversified, with about 120 holdings, is primarily interested in companies which meet three requirements: attractive valuation, solid fundamentals, and growth outlooks. “If one of these three selection criteria deteriorates, we sell,” says Pollack. Currently, the fund’s largest position is CBS, at 2%, followed by Moody’s (1.6%) and Wesco (1.6%). Overweight sectors include consumer services, health and technologies. However, the fund is underweight in utilities, energy and transport. Since the beginning of the year, the fund has earned net performance after commissions of 5.21% compared with 3.98% for the Russell Midcap Value Index. It has earned annual returns of 19% over three years, compared with 18.57% for the benchmark index, and nearly 12% since its launch in May 1995, compared with 10.38% for the benchmark.

Swisscanto at the end of last week announced that it is launching four passively-managed equity funds aimed at private and institutional investors. The funds, which are closer to the reality of the financial market than traditional ETFs or tracker funds, have better risk/return properties. Instead of basing investment selections on market capitalisation, they take into account the current ecnomic performance of businesses and fluctuations in their value. Additional risks are avoided by steering clear of derivative instruments and securities lending. Name of fund, fees for B/J share classes (B capitalisation share class for private investors, J capitalisation share class for institutional investors) Swisscanto SmartCore® Global Equity (ex CH) 0.65%/0.45% Swisscanto SmartCore® European Equity (ex CH) 0.60%/0.45% Swisscanto SmartCore® North American Equity 0.65%/0.45% Swisscanto SmartCore® Asia Pacific Equity 0.70%/0.50%

The Hamburg-based sustainable investment specialist Pure Blue GmbH is launching its first fund specialised in forestry, the closed fund Pure Forest I, to mature in 15 years, and to serve its first dividend of about 8% in four years, fondsprofessionell reports. This visibility is due to the fact that the portfolio will be invested in teak forests which have already been planted (for 4 to 17 years) in the Panamanian province of Ciriqui. The objective is to promote the plantation of bio-diverse forests after the valuable wood is harvested. Minimal subscription is set at EUR5,000, and front-end fee at 5%.

On Thursday, the Austrian firm conwert Immobilien Invest SE announced that it has been selected to manage a third closed residential real estate fund for DWS (Deutsche Bank group), the DWS Access Wohnen III, which will invest exclusively in existing housing units in Germany, with a volume expected to total EUR120m. Subscribers can expect a dividend of 6% per year from 2014.The concept of the DWS Wohnen III is to hold 70% of assets for a period of 10 years, while the remaining 30% will be in the trading portfolio. So far, the fund has invested EUR24m in nine properties, mainly in Berlin, Potsdam and Leipzig.As for the DWS Access Wohnen I and II funds, conwert will be responsible for all duties from acquisition of the properties to sale of each apartment, including administration and development. It also provides the entire asset management of the portfolio.

According to a survey by RBC Dexia undertaken on 31 May, thus after the presidential election, of 55 French asset managers, 78% said they have little or no confidence in the present government to bring about an economic recovery (see sttachment).A majority of 62% do not feel that governments worldwide are able to resolve the crisis either, and the majority of participants (60%) estimate that it will take another four to five years for the crisis to end, although 55% are of the opinion that outlooks in the current crisis are too pessimistic. French asset managers also believe the government estimate that austerity alone will not be enough to resolve the crisis in the euro zone: 65% do not feel that this strategy will be effective.Lastly, about 42% of those surveyed feel that the French equity market will rise by the end of 2013, compared with only 29% who think that it will fall, and 27% who predict that it will remain at current levels.

In an effort to reinforce its sales teams, re-edit its domestic products, and eventually release them throughout Europe, the British asset management firm M&G Investment (EUR243m in assets) has now adapted most of its teams and product range to the changes in demand observed since the onset of the last crisis, as Johnathan Willcocks, head of sales, explained in London on Friday.Concretely, sales staff in Paris and Milan has been doubled. “We are going to actively release our Global Macro Bond Fund, which will add a ‘portfolio diversification’ element to a product range which we had voluntarily limited to three products in France, starting in second half,” Willcocks tells Newsmanagers.M&G, which has recently opened offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, has also in the space of only two years concluded nine global distribution partnerships, largely with major banks, in order to promote partnership relations over vendor-client relationships. The asset management firm is also studying the possibility of opening an office in Dubai and a location directly in Latin America.On the subject of changes to the product range, Willcocks emphasizes multi-asset class products, which are “less volatile than single strategy funds, and which meet the requirements of clients who are now in search of both revenues and solutions.” M&G is in the process of revising a series of four Episode products in the United Kingdom which comply with the UCITS directive, and which will subsequently be released for sale in continental Europe. M&G will also be releasing a global real estate fund which was launched as a British product (NURS) in April 2008 as a UCITS product. The M&G Global Real Estate Securities Fund, which will receive a sales license for the United Kingdom in the next few days, and which can then be sold in continental Europe, has EUR75m in assets. Managed by Gillian Tiltman, the fund will invest 70-80% of its assets in REITs, and the remainder directly in real estate.

Neuberger Berman is in talks with several major financial adviser networks to distribute its funds in Italy, Marco Avanzi Barbieri, executive director of the firm, has announced to the Italian website Bluerating. Behind the name Neuberger Berman is concealed the former asset management activities of Lehman Brothers, the website points out. The new structure, based in New York, is seeking to grow in Europe. An office was opened in Italy in November 2011, and other offices may soon be opened in Europe.

Après être parvenu non seulement à stabiliser sa base de clientèle haut de gamme, mais à l'élargir quelque peu, Lazard Frères Gestion (LFG) passe résolument en mode "conquête" et vise désormais celle de ses concurrents. En misant sur une approche de gestion dédiée pour chacun de ses clients.

Selon le baromètre mondial Coller Capital publié ce lundi, les investisseurs s’inquiètent de la situation dégradée du capital-risque. Un tiers des investisseurs ont perdu leur mise dans des fonds de capital-risque européens ou ont obtenu moins de 5 % de rendement. Aux Etats-Unis, le retour moyen est plus élevé, entre 6 et 10 %, quand l’Asie se place bien au-dessus, de 11 à 15 %. Les trois quarts des investisseurs admettent du coup que, en Europe, les fonds dédiés à l’innovation ne survivront pas sans un soutien significatif du gouvernement. Les investisseurs asiatiques et américains se montrent néanmoins plus sceptiques.

L’autrichien conwert Immobilien Invest SE a annoncé jeudi qu’il a été retenu pour gérer un troisième fonds immobilier résidentiel fermé de l’allemand DWS (groupe Deutsche Bank), le DWS Access Wohnen III, qui investira exclusivement dans des immeubles de logements existants en Allemagne et dont le volume doit être de 120 millions d’euros. Les souscripteurs peuvent escompter un dividende de 6 % annuels à compter de 2014.Le concept du DWS Wohnen III consiste à détenir 70 % des actifs pendant une période de 10 ans, les 30 % restant faisant partie du portefeuille de négoce.Jusqu’à présent, le fonds a investi 24 millions d’euros sur neuf sites, notamment à Berlin, Potsdam et Leipzig.Comme pour les fonds DWS Access Wohnen I et II, conwert assume toutes les tâches depuis l’acquisition des actifs jusqu'à la vente de chaque appartement en passant par l’administration et le développement. Il assure aussi la totalité de la gestion des actifs du portefeuille.

Lespécialiste hambourgeois des investissements durables Pure Blue GmbH lance son premier fonds spécialiste des forêts, le fonds fermé Pure Forest I, avec une échéance de 15 ans qui servira son premier dividende d’environ 8 % dans quatre ans, rapporte Fondsprofessionell. Cette visibilité est due au fait que le portefeuille sera investi dans des surfaces forestières de teck déjà plantées (depuis entre 4 et 17 ans) dans la province panaméenne du Chiriqui. L’objectif est de promouvoir après l’abattage des bois précieux la plantation d’une forêt aux essences diversifiées. La souscription minimale est fixée à 5.000 euros, plus 5 % de droit d’entrée.

Le fonds d’investissement direct russe (RDIF) de 10 milliards de dollars, a reçu une contribution de 500 millions de la part du fonds souverain du Koweït, rapporte L’Agefi. Goldman Sachs, Templeton Asset Management et BlackRock ont également accepté de s’associer au programme. L’objectif du fonds est d’investir un minimum de 100 millions de dollars dans des sociétés russes qui prévoient de se faire coter dans les 18 prochains mois spécifiquement à la Bourse de Moscou. Début juin, précise le quotidien le RDIF avait déjà passé un accord avec le fonds chinois China Investment Corp pour créer un véhicule commun de 2 à 4 milliards de dollars.

Jusqu’au 29 mars 2013, la société de gestion Keren Finance commercialise Keren 2018, un fonds obligataire à échéance qui n’investit que dans de la dette corporateLe portefeuille est composé à 20% minimum en obligations Investment Grade de notation inférieure à BBB- ou non notés (High Yield), et à 30% maximum en obligations convertibles. L’ensemble qui compte 43 lignes est constitué d'émetteurs français et européens. Le risque de change ne peut excéder 10 %.Caractéristiques Code ISIN: FR0011274208Frais de gestion : 1,2% TTCDroits d’entrée max.: 4%Droits de sortie: AucunDurée minimum de placement recommandée: 31/12/2018Commission de surperformance: 10% TTC au-delà d’une performance annualisée de 6%

Eurosic a confirmé la finalisation de la vente à un fonds d’investissement conseillé par J.P.Morgan Asset Management des immeubles «52 Hoche» et «Avant Seine» situés à Paris. Le fonds avait pris au mois de mars une option pour les deux immeubles, qui totalisent près de 54.500 m². Le montant de la transaction s'élève à 508 millions d’euros.

Aberdeen Asset Management vient de pérenniser l’implantation de Fujitsu Technology Solutions SA dans l’immeuble River Plaza à Asnières (92) au travers d’un bail vert de 6 ans. Cet immeuble, propriété du fonds DEGI Europa, est actuellement loué à hauteur de 92% à 4 utilisateurs de premier rang.

JP Morgan Asset Management a annoncé que Chris Willcox va devenir responsable mondial du fixed income et des devises, rapporte Investment Week. Il succède à Seth Bernsten, nommé par la société de gestion pour diriger son activité multi-asset dans un nouveau groupe appelé asset management solutions.

Florent Combes, le responsable des taux d’Ecofi Investissements, a quitté la société après y avoir passé neuf ans, selon Citywire. Il rejoint le Crédit Mutuel en tant que responsable taux et devises. Bernard Angéniol reprend ses responsabilités chez Ecofi. Il est désormais le responsable de la gestion de la société de gestion, indique Citywire. Précédemment, il était responsable des risques.