iShares a déposé une demande d’agrément à la SEC pour la création d’un ETF obligataire sur l’Amérique latine, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. L’iShares Latin America Bond Fund devrait suivre l'évolution d’un indice Barclays dénominé en dollars et composé d’obligations souveraines et d’entreprises basées dans la région.

La France Mutualiste, mutuelle Nationale d’Epargne Retraite, a annoncé la nomination d’Anne Mazzanti au poste de directeur général délégué, suite au départ de Christian Oyarbide, dont elle reprend les attributions.Anne Mazzanti a exercé des responsabilités au sein de divers établissements bancaires, avant d’intégrer en 2003 la direction financière de La France Mutualiste. En 2007, elle est nommée directeur financier, puis en 2011, directeur général adjoint en charge des opérations financières.

Societe Generale Securities Services in Italy has been appointed by Alceda Fund Management S.A. to act as its local Transfer Agent in Italy, providing it with paying agent and investor relations management services for its fund AC and its Sicav AC Quant.Based in Luxembourg, Alceda Fund Management S.A. is a wholly independent subsidiary of the Aquila Group. With over EUR 5.3 billion in assets under administration, Alceda is a leading provider of structured investment solutions to institutional investors, asset/fund managers, banks and family offices.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 22 May announced that it is lowering its credit rating for Japan by 2 notches to A+. The ratings adjustment is for “a borrower which is considered solid but likely to be affected by changes in the economic situation.” The agency has also maintained its negative outlook on the Japanesee rating, which has been in place since 2011. «The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,» said Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch. Fitch points out that Japanese government debt is set to peak at “239% of GDP by end-2012, by far the highest for any Fitch-rated sovereign.” This percentage is much higher than those observed for euro zone countries in financial difficulty, such as Spain (80.9%, according to the most recent statistics from the European Commission), Italy (123.5%), and Greece (160.6%). In addition, debt levels are increasing rapidly, up 61 percentage points since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008-2009. This trend, which was aggravated by reconstruction needs following the devastating earthquake of 11 March 2011, is not likely to reverse itself, as the Japanese government is planning to finance more than half of its 2012-2013 budget through issues of new bonds.

The number of mediation requests in the UK for investment products fell 4% during the 2011-2012 financial year to 31 March, according to the most recent annual report on mediation. The number of requests related to investment products and pensions totalled 14,862, their lowest levels since 2008, when requests peaked at 26,565. Requests for portfolio management remained highly stable at 1,152, compared with 1,148 previously. Requests concerning pensions, however, rose 28%, to 3,454.

L’Orias (Organisme pour le Registre des Intermédiaires en Assurance) a précisé le 22 mai les modalités de mise en place du registre unique en janvier 2012. La plupart des textes d’application (trois décrets et trois arrêtés) relatifs à la mise en place du Registre unique regroupant les intermédiaires en assurance (IAS), les intermédiaires en opérations de banque et de services de paiement (IOBSP), les conseillers en investissements financiers (CIF) et les agents liés des prestataires de services d’investissement financier (ALPSI), a été publiée.Afin d’aider les professionnels concernées à préparer la mise en œuvre de ces nouvelles obligations, l’ORIAS a créé un espace dédié sur son site web: https://www.orias.fr/orias/public/registre2013.html

In a new report, Fitch Ratings details its rating considerations for passive funds, as a complement to its Fund Quality Rating criteria (see «Fund Quality Ratings Criteria - Assessing Funds’ Investment Processes and Operational Attributes» at www.fitchratings.com).

The French financialregulatory bodies, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) andthe Autorité de contrôle prudentiel (ACP) on 22 May published anew, updated list, warning retail investors against proposedinvestments in the forex markets.The websites ofentities who have complied with French law have been removed from thelist, either because they have discontinued their activities onFrench territory, or because the proposed investments offered ontheir websites are now offered through intermediaries licensed toprovide investment services in France.The updated list is asfollows:www.bforex.com / BFOREX Limited http://www.gcitrading.com / GCI Financial Limited www.fxcast.com / Surplus Finance SA www.instaforex.com / InstaForex Companies Groupwww.finanzasforex.com / Evolution Market Group Incwww.ikkotrader.com / Ikko Investments.Ltdwww.trader369.com / IP International ServiceThe AMF and the ACP also describe some generalrisks related to forex products offered to retail investors(http://www.amf-france.org/documents/general/10067_1.pdf).

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. USD3.5 million for providing inaccurate mortgage performance information, supervisory failures and other violations in connection with subprime residential mortgage-backed securitizations (RMBS).Issuers of RMBS are required to disclose historical performance information for past securitizations that contain mortgage loans similar to those in the RMBS being offered to investors. Historical data on mortgage performance is material to investors in assessing the value of RMBS and in determining whether future returns may be disrupted by mortgage holders’ failures to make loan payments.

Selon nos informations, au cours du premier trimestre 2012, l’Institut Pasteur a procédé à la sélection d’un gérant actions euro large cap dans le cadre d’un fonds dédié de 60 millions d’euros. Les fonds patrimoniaux de l’Institut Pasteur sont gérés par plusieurs établissements financiers spécialisés, dans le cadre de conventions de gestion avec l’assistance d’un consultant, Amadeis. L’allocation d’actifs retenue, dans une perspective à long terme, correspond à un équilibre entre les actions et les obligations. Pour rappel, en 2011, il avait aussi été décidé d’investir 23 millions d’euros au travers d’un FCP dédié sur des actions de la zone euro ISR.

Chez GL Events, les outils d'épargne salariale existent mais restent limités. En 2007, le groupe a signé avec ses partenaires sociaux un accord de participation (obligatoire dans les entreprises de plus de 50 salariés) portant sur l’ensemble des filiales françaises. Le calcul de la participation se fait selon la formule prévue par la loi comme étant le seuil minimum. Les salariés ont, par ailleurs, accès à un PEE comprenant une offre relativement simple : cinq FCPE multi-entreprises gérés par Amundi (un monétaire, un garanti, un obligataire, un diversifié, ainsi que le fonds solidaire, qui constitue une obligation légale dans tout PEE). GL Events n’a pas encore mis en place de Perco, mais la directrice des ressources humaines, Patricia Ardillier voit un certain intérêt dans ce dispositif. « Dans une entreprise de croissance comme la nôtre, la passerelle offerte entre le compte épargne temps et le Perco pourrait être très intéressante », estime Patricia Ardillier. Mais lorsqu’on se bat contre des concurrents plus gros et plus anciens, il faut savoir gérer ses priorités.

iShares has filed an application with the SEC to create a bond ETF focused on Latin America, Mutual Fund Wire reports. The iShares Latin America Bond Fund will track the evolution of a Barclays index denominated in US dollars, composed of government and corporate bonds based in the region.

Le fonds d’investissement européen pour l'énergie, le changement climatique et les infrastructures, ou fonds Marguerite, a annoncé le 22 mai l’acquisition d’une tranche de 36 mégawatts du projet de centrale solaire au sol de Massangis mis en œuvre par EDF Energies Nouvelles. Le Fonds a obtenu le financement de la construction de sa tranche de 36MW dans le cadre d’un prêt accordé par Crédit Agricole CIB.A ce jour, le Fonds Marguerite a investi 80 millions d’euros dans trois projets dits «greenfield» du secteur de l’énergie solaire et de l’éolien offshore pour une capacité totale prévue de 500 mégawatts et un coût de projet supérieur à 1,5 milliard d’euros. La réalisation de ces projets de grande ampleur, en partenariat avec des sociétés de premier plan de l’industrie de l’énergie, contribuera de manière significative à remplir les objectifs de l’Union européenne pour combattre le changement climatique. Le fonds a un programme d’investissements bien avancé dans tous ses secteurs cibles au sein des 27 pays de l’Union et prévoit de réaliser plusieurs transactions en 2012. Pour mémoire, le Fonds Marguerite a été mis mis en place en 2010 par les principales institutions financières nationales européennes, aux côtés de la BEI et de la Commission européenne, pour investir dans des nouveaux projets d’infrastructures et des projets d’extension dans les secteurs des transports, de l’énergie et des énergies renouvelables dans les 27 pays de l’Union européenne.

BlackRock has announced the appointment of Justin Arter as country head of BlackRock Australia. He will commence in September. Until then, Michael McCorry, BlackRock Australia’s head of scientific investments, will be acting country head.Justin Arter will join BlackRock from Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) where he currently serves as chief executive officer. Prior to his appointment with VFMC, he had an 18 year career at Goldman Sachs JB.Justin Arter will focus on the development and growth of BlackRock Australia as it delivers investment, advisory and risk management solutions to its clients. He will report to Mark McCombe, BlackRock’s chairman, Asia Pacific, and become a member of BlackRock’s executive committee in Asia Pacific.BlackRock has also announced the appointment of Jane Leung as head of iShares Asia Pacific. She succeeds Nick Good who was appointed as BlackRock’s head of strategy and business development, Asia Pacific in February.Jane Leung has more than 10 years’ experience with BlackRock. She currently serves as the head of BlackRock’s Asia Pacific Index Equity team, responsible for the team’s portfolio management activities.In her new role, Jane Leung will be responsible for driving the regional growth strategy and business operations of iShares. She will become a member of BlackRock’s executive committee in Asia Pacific and the Global iShares executive committee. Jane Leung will also report to Mark McCombe and Mark Wiedman, global head of iShares.

The Swedish alternative asset management firm Brummer & Partners is closing the Orvent fund, Dagens Industri reports. The equity fund represents 2.38% (SEK760m) of the multi-strategy fund from Brummer & Partners, which has a total of SEK32bn in assets. Orvent has seen losses of 7.28% in 2011, and since the beginning of the year is down another 2%. The fund has no investor other than the multi-strategy fund from Brummer.

At a time when SEB Asset Management and Credit Suisse AM Immobilien have recently announced that they are throwing in the towel and liquidating the SEB ImmoInvest and CS Euroreal funds, real estate funds with assets of EUR6bn each, Deka Immobilien is making a show of its good health, with an announcement on 22 May that from 1 January to 15 April, its three open-ended real estate funds (Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and WestInvest InterSelect) have purchased four properties for EUR750m, and have sold seven for EUR640m.Deka Immobilien has also announced that it has invested EUR53.7m in the office property City Green Court in Prague, sold by the Swedish developer Skanska. The 17,300 square metre property, with platinum LEED certification, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa. The transaction brings the percentage of Czech properties in the portfolio of the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund from 1.5% to 2.1%.

The German asset management firm Credit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien has announced that total redemption demands for shares in the open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal (EUR6bn in assets) accumulated between 9 and 21 May totalled a volume of about EUR3bn, far higher than initial estimates, while available liquidity totalled only EUR1.6bn.This is the reason for the firm’s decision to liquidate the fund over five years, by 30 April 2017 (see Newsmanagers of 22 May), as the level of outflows would have obliged the management team to sell too many assets and thus to sacrifice the quality of the portfolio, a letter to shareholders says.

Plusieurs entreprises se préparent à s’introduire en Bourse, en Asie, rapporte Les Echos. Le joaillier britannique Graff Diamonds et la structure qui gère la formule 1 viennent de lancer leur processus d’entrée aux Bourses de Hong Kong et Singapour. Le groupe de matières premières Felda Global Ventures, qui vient de signer un partenariat avec Louis Dreyfus, se prépare de son côté à entre en juin à la Bourse de Malaisie. Les projets en Europe sont également nombreux mais tous ne pourront pas se faire, compte tenu des turbulences sur les marchés,souligne le quotidien.

The index provider Dow Jones Indexes and the Parala company will this Wednesday, 23 May launch a new index, with an original methodology which takes into account macroeconomic factors to weight the components of the index. The Dow Jones Parala Global Sector Macro Allocation Index, which includes 19 sectoral sub-indices of the Dow Jones Sector Titans, has a top-down approach, which initially will systematically analyse market and economic trends to determine its allocation. Among the macroeconomic factors taken into account by the index are short-term interest rates, spreads, returns from dividends, commodity spot prices, US industrial production, and the consumer price index for developed countries. This data taken as a whole makes it possible to overweight or underweight the underlyings of the new index as compared with their weighting.

A growing number of institutional investors are taking an interest in emerging market debt, but few genuinely appreciate the risks related to this strategy. This is the point of view embraced recently by the head of emerging markets at Standish, Alexander Kozhemiakin, at a press conference held by BNY Mellon in Paris. Institutionals too often tend to underestimate the risks related to emerging markets. “In developed countries, where governments are crippled by problems related to reducing their debts, emerging markets clearly represent good opportunities,” Kozhemiakin explains. “However, investors need to make sure to understand why less rich countries have a lower GDP than rich countries, and why they have not been able to develop as fast as they should have.” His colleague, Colm McDonagh, head of emerging markets at Insight, sounds similar. “Emerging markets are a fascinating asset class, but it must be invested in with discernment. I would not touch a Chinese business, for example,” he says. The head of Standish takes it a step further. “If you consider a country like Russia, for example, I would not touch corporate debt, due to the fact that corruption completely wipes out the potential for profit. However, I would gladly invest in government debt.” In other words, a lack of transparency and political risks remain major obstacles to investment in some emerging markets such as China and Russia. Nonetheless, the two heads also claim that the interest shown by institutionals in emerging markets is still far from being concretised in allocations. McDonagh suggests that allocation to emerging markets could be up to 30% of an institutional portfolio. Such an allocation would not be extravagant, if one wants to believe that emerging markets will account for about 50% of global GDP in ten years. Allocation to emerging markets needs to be diversified, so as to select the best picks, however. With this in mind, McDonagh is betting on corporate bonds, most of them still investment grade, but he also expects to include higher-risk categories in the next few years as the market gains more depth.

In an environment well-suited to “real assets,” the German firm DWS is currently highlighting its expertise in the area of equities in the agricultural sector as a whole, known as “agribusiness,” which represents assets of about USD4bn at the firm. This strategy, which among others, includes several sub-funds of the Luxembourg Sicav DWS Invest, is operated by a spinoff company, Global Thematic Partners (GTP), based in New York, whose total assets are about USD13bn. The managers remain the same as at the inception of that company (in September 2006) by DWS, and returns over the past three years have been about 20% per year. Since the beginning of the year, funds in this strategy have earned slightly under 4%.Ralf Oberbahnscheidt, managing direcrtor and head of agribusiness at GTP (founded in 2010), on Tuesday explained at a presentation in Paris that DWS agribusiness funds do not use derivatives. The eligible universe (liquidity, capitalisation, purity of criteria) is composed of about 500 businesses worldwide (out of a total of 800), while the portfolio contains 75 to 85 shares selected with a bottom-up approach; it is not too concentrated, the manager claims. Currently, 30% of its investments are concentrated in emerging markets, where there are the most market inneficiencies. The effective turnover rate for businesses in the portfolio is limited to 30% per year, but with adjustments to positions, it may be as much as 90%.

According to BarclayHedge, the 2,262 hedge funds which have published their results as of 8:20 CST on 22 May have posted an average loss of 0.50% in April, but they nonetheless show returns of 4,99% since the beginning of the year. Only five strategies remained in positive territory last month, with the strongest performance (3.61%) for the 5 equity short bias funds, which are also the only ones to show a loss in the first four months of 2012 (of 13.58%).The best returns in January-April were for equity long bias (287 funds), with average gains of 7.97%. In the “specialties,” however, the healthcare & biotechnology strategy (21 funds) shows even higher returns, with 8.14%.

The European Union may assign EUR230m from its budget to incite private capital to invest in strategic infrastructure projects, the Danish EU presidency announced on 22 May. An agreement has been reached betweem European governments and the European Parliament to launch the operation, considered a pilot phase of in the issue of European bonds to finance the project, known as the Project Bond Initiative. The multiplying effect of EU funds would allow for up to EUR4.6bn to be unlocked, the Commission explains. The objective is to raise capital from pension funds, insurers and other private investors.

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) on 22 May announced that it is continuing its initiative to create a label for covered bonds, which should be officially launched during fourth quarter 2012. The planned label would meet demand from participants, issuers, investors, and regulators, for improved standards and transparency on the market. The label, which defines a clear perimeter for the asset class, foregrounds the main characteristics of covered bonds, with the objective of improving their transparency and liquidity. The association is inviting issuers of covered bonds to participate in the project.

Investment professionals estimate that the issuance of joint euro-bonds could attenuate the euro zone crisis, on the condition that the bonds are associated with a series of structural reforms, fiscal integration, and a solid common governance structure, according to a survey undertaken by the CFA Institute of its European members, including Switzerland. Euro-bonds, which are thought of as a potential remedy for the current lack of liquidity that some euro zone countries are currently confronting, and as a way to strengthen the financial stability of the euro zone, raises number of interesting questions for investors and capital markets. The results of the survey, to which 798 members of the CFA Institute responded, have been sent to the European Commission, which is also a subject of concern for professional investors. Most businesses estimate that a joint issue of euro bones by euro zone member states could reduce the scale of the government debt crisis (55%), that it would strengthen the financial stability of the euro zone (52%), and that it would facilitate the transmission of monetary policy throughout the euro zone (56%). As to the structure of euro-bonds, 64% of members of the CFA Institute claim that a joint and solidaristic guarantee by participating governments would be the most effective. The survey also finds that 64% of members are in favour of this issue of euro bonds being only a partial substitute for national issues: part of the financing needs of member states would thus be covered by these euro-bonds, while the rest would be supplied through national bond issues. Moral hazards, meaning the dangers related to a lack of budgetary discipline in some member countries with limited implications for financign costs, are of huge concern to members of the CFA Institute. As a result, several points appear to be prior conditions which would be essential for the issue of euro-bonds. These include strengthened economic, financial and political integration of member countries (which is considered essential by 86% of members of the CFA Institute), and increased and intrusive monitoring of the development and deployment of national fiscal policy (which 88% of members consider essential). Lastly, 90% of respondents say they are in favour of limited access to euro-bonds for member states who to not respect the governance framework of the euro zone.

The current environment is causing concern among finance sector employee in Frances. 71% of them say that they are not prepared to leave their jobs for another position currrently, according to the findings of a recent survey published by the website dogfinance.com, undertaken between 7 and 21 May, of 9,231 current employees.In the asset management sector, “this percentage is even over 75%,” says Sébastien Guichard, cuauthor of the survey.The first reason cited for this paralysis is the current crisis, cited by 62% of employees. Only 21% of those in “efficiency mode” cite the state of affairs at their current company, with 13% expecting their company to grow.The most desirable sectors as potential destinations according to survey respondents (who had the ability to choose several) are financial analysis (295), controlling (26%), investment banking (23%), accounting (21%) and auditing/advisory (19%).

Sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année, la collecte du Livret A s'élève à près de 10 milliards d’euros (9,69 milliards), contre un peu moins de 9 milliards d’euros pour la période correspondante de 2011, selon les derniers chiffres de la Caisse des dépôts publiés le 22 mai. Au cours du seul mois d’avril, le Livret A a collecté 2,53 milliards d’euros contre 1,28 milliard un mois plus tôt et 1,86 milliard en avril 2011.

Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, has announced the recent launch of two new applications as part of the organization’s extensive Enterprise Collateral Management offering that automate the process of moving collateral between the custodian and Pershing Prime Services. Called PrimeConnect™, the system provides transparency and control of collateral selection and movements to hedge fund managers using BNY Mellon to hold unencumbered assets. PrimeConnect40™ also offers transparency and online collateral movement to ’40 Act fund managers using the tri-party structure to support alternative strategies.The current financial volatility has elevated the role of collateral management to a key risk management function, says a press release.

La France Mutualiste, a French national retirement savings entity, has announced the appointment of Anne Mazzanti to the position of deputy CEO, following the departure of Christian Oyarbide, whose position she will now be taking over. Mazzanti has previously served at a number of banking establishments, before joining the financial management of La France Mutualiste in 2003. In 2007, she was sppointed as CFO, and then in 2011 became Deputy CEO in charge of financial operations.

The Frankfurt-based private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) has announced that from 1 July 2012, Richard Pfingsten will become chief investment officer of its wealth management activities, for both retail and corporate clients. He will be based in Frankfurt, and will also be in charge of defining the investment strategy for the bank as a whole.Pfingsten will thus be leaving Sal. Oppenheim, where he had most recently been director of portfolio management in the private banking unit. According to Michael Schramm, CEO of H&A, the arrival of Pfingsten will allow for development of the bank’s offerings as an asset manager to family offices and other major clients such as foundations.Before joining Sal. Oppenheim in 2007, Pfingsten served in management positions at Commerzbank and DekaBank.