Although it has already instituted thorough reforms of the US money markets, the SEC is planning more radical changes, including the introduction of a net asset value (NAV) float, which is a subject of grave concern on the part of professionals, the research agency Celent reports in a study of US money market reforms (Money Market Reform: The Uncertain Future of the Money Market Fund). “An NAV float would reduce the attraction for investors to buying and selling money market funds to zero, and would eventually wipe out a sector which has about USD2.7trn in assets,” says Scott Sullivan, senior analyst at Celent and author of the study, which also discusses other measures such as new reserve requirements and 30-day cooling-off periods for complete redemptions of funds. The proposals come as part of a larger initiative by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and international regulators to avoid market turbulence of the kind which led to the demise of Lehman Brothers. Several decades were needed to bring into force the regulations which were in place before 2008, and the deployment of multiple reforms in a relatively short time may have the opposite of the desired effect, the study warns. The money market fund sector is essential to the good functioning of the economy. The money market provided up to 36% (25% currently) of short-term assets to the US economy. If investors decided to withdraw a significant portion of their short-term financing, which already brings only limited retursns, and whose costs are continuing to increase, liquidity would be reduced to a significant degree in very little time, Celent claims. Other unpredictable consequences could endanger economic growth.

Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has published operating profits for 2011 up 14% year on year, to GBP234m. High-margin products were particularly attractive to investors, Investment Week reports. As of the end of 2011, assets under management totalled GBP371m, up 5% compared with assets of GBP354m as of the end of 2010.

20 employees in sales at Ignis Asset Management, in London and Glasgow, are under “review,” and their jobs may be at risk, FundWeb reports. According to a spokesperson cited by the website, “there will be a two-week consultation and some people will be offered new roles at Ignis and others will be made redundant”. Nick Pogmore, head of strategic partnerships in the United Kingdom, has already been let go.

Long-term UCITS funds, including all funds except money market funds, in January posted net inflows of EUR19bn, while in December they had posted net redemptions totalling EUR7bn, according to the most recent statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). “2012 started on a prudently optimistic note,” says the head of economy and research at EFAMA< Bernard Delbecque, due to monetary policy measures taken by the ECB in December and encouraing US macroeconomic data. UCITS funds as a whole posted net inflows of EUR25bn, compared with outflows of EUR6bn in December. UCITS funds show positive inflows for the first time since May 2011. All categories of long-term funds show inflows in January. Equity funds attracted a net EUR4bn, while they finished the month of December with outflows of EUR6bn. Bond funds increased their net inflows to EUR13bn in January, compared with EUR4bn one month earlier. Diversified funds, for their part, finished the first month of the year with net inflows of EUR2bn, while they saw outflows in December totalling EUR3bn. Net inflows to money-market funds totalled EUR6bn, compared with EUR1bn in December. Dedicated funds posted half the net inflows they had the previous month, with EUR6bn, compared with EUR13bn in December. Assets in UCITS funds increased 3% in January compared with the end of 2011, to EUR5.711trn. Non-UCITS funds, for their part, grew by 1.3%, to EUR2.230trn.

Trecento Asset Management is launching the first two funds in its range. The new asset management firm, which opened its doors in December 2011 (see Newsmanagers of 15 December 2011), has received licenses for two UCITS IV-compliant FCP funds. The first of these, Trecento Market Neutral, is an equity arbitrage fund which aims to benefit in the short term from differences in intra-sectoral valuation, while neutralising its exposure to equity markets. Trecento Market Neutral is managed by Julien Bourret, former manager of the pair-trade allocation from the long/short fund from Sycomore Asset Management. The second fund, Trecento European Equities, is a European equity fund whose portfolio is composed of high-quality businesses which have valuations that the management team considers particularly attractive. It aims to offer performance higher than the Stoxx Europe 600 index, via an active strategy of buying and selling on European equity markets. Franck le Franc, previously an equity manager at Neuflize, then Somangest, is manager of the fund. Characteristics Name: Trecento Market Neutral ISIN code: FR0011188317 Management fees: 1.5% after tax Performance commission: 20% after tax on performance exceeding 4% Front-end fee: maximum 5% after tax Withdrawal penalty: 0% Name: Trecento European Equities ISIN code: FR0011188291 Management fee: 2.5% after tax Performance commission: 20% after tax on performance of the FCP exceeding its benchmark Recommended investment duration: 5 years Front-end fee: maximum 5% after tax Withdrawal penalty: 0% Both funds are eligible for investment from PEA plans.

Late January, Vienna-based Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) has been granted a sales license for France for the Raiffeisen GlobalAllocation-Strategies Plus (GASP) fund, whose assets total EUR180m, and which was released to retail investors in 2010, after previously being reserved to internal asset allocation funds since April 2008.The product has generated annual net returns of 10.82% per year from 4 April 2008 until the end of Fenruary 2012. It is characterised, firstly, by risk parity management with a 3-5 year horizon, which determines asset allocation, with a maximal volatility objective of 10% (currently 7%). This risk parity and asset allocation is fundamentally the same as for the Raiffeisen 337 fund, whose performance has averaged 50 basis points lower, since the team led by Kurt Schappelmann (13 people and EUR6bn in assets) uses an active management overlay with three asymmetrical strategies to limit the risk of loss (by about half) and to provide decent participation (80-90%) in periods of gain.In France and Benelux, RCM has assets of about EUR600m, with net inflows of EUR70m in 2011 corresponding in fact to two mandates, one for emerging markets equities, and one multi-asset class, says Philippe Leroy, country head for France/Benelux.

Florian Esterer, based in Zurich, will manage the first North American equities fund from the German asset management firm MainFirst Asset Management, which will be launched in mid-April, Citywire reports. He will deploy the strategy which he had used for one of his funds at Swisscanto, where he was head of global equities.MainFirst is also planning to launch a UCITS-compliant long/short equity fund, which will also be managed by Esterer.

The Swiss firm Vescore and the German firm Universal Investment on 2 January launched the Beta Opportunities II, an absolute return multi-asset class fund which will make long/short investments in equities and duration, and volatility and market neutral investments in commodities.The fund will aim for returns 300 basis points higher than the Euribor 3 month, with volatility of 5% to 7%.CharacteristicsName: Beta Opportunities UIISIN code: DE000A1JLRB6Front-end fee: maximum 5%Management commission: 1.6% maximum (currently 1%)Performance commission: 10%, with high watermarkHurdle rate: Euribor 3-monthMinimal subscription: EUR100,000

Universal Investment has announced that BaFin on 9 March issued a sales license for Germany for its Luxembourg-registered fund Berenberg Renminbi Bond Opportunities UI (see Newsmanagers of 10 February). The product will be available in the country in two share classes, one in US dollars (LU0679891639), and the other in euros (LU0679891803).

The Spring 2012 conference of the Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) has demonstrated that the publication last month of proposed legislation laying out the terms ofhte so-called Facta law represent a genuine subject of concern for a growing number of players present in the asset management sector. But efforts to take this new legislation into account are laborious and remain partial, partly due to the unclarity which continues to surround some parts of the proposed legislation. Geoffroy Bazin, chief operating officer in the Investment Solutions division of BNP Paribas, declared at a round table on the subject that at the end of 2011, he had received only one request for information about the Facta law from a major asset management actor. Asset management firms are nonetheless beginning to be concerned about the problem, and major actors such as BNP Paribas and professional associations have made the Facta law a top priority. “Asset management firms will need to pay attention to the basic elements of the Facta law now, if they do not want to be overtaken later,” says Roger Exwood, head of product taxation for the EMEA region at BlackRock. BlackRock is planning to begin to actively communicate with distributors on the subject. Major players are considering enlarging their product ranges, and BNP Paribas is studying new ranges of services, which may concern registration, client identification or deductions. There are still many points to clarify, including “pass-through payment,” (payment from non-US sources), and the question of the treatment of sub-funds. These are complex questions for the intergovernmental approach, as the application of the Fatca law is slated to be undertaken by the US, British, German, Spanish and Italian governments, which adds further uncertainty about the legal and regulatory framework to be introduced. The European financial and asset management association (EFAMA), which claims that relaxations of the law are still possible, is actively working on the subject and is hoping to present its questions by mid-April.

Funds People reports that Allianz Global Investors (AGI) has recently registered its three-year-old Allianz Volatility Strategy (AVS) fund, which has earned annual returns of 9% with volatility of 8%, with the CNMV. Assets in the Luxembourg product, managed by Stefan Kloss, total EUR295m.

Selon KPMG, Paris arrive deuxième derrière Londres en Europe en termes d’investissements internationaux, mais à la sixième place mondiale

La finalisation du plan grec ainsi que l’activisme de la BCE ont contribué à redonner de la visibilité au marché

La demande a légèrement reculé l'an dernier en région. La rareté de l'offre neuve contribuera à une poursuite de la tendance en 2012

La recherche de rendement a poussé les investisseurs immobiliers à revenir sur des opérations plus risquées l’an dernier. Après 17 transactions en Vefa (vente en l'état futur d’achèvement) en 2011, le marché reste actif, mais le difficile accès au crédit risque de freiner le mouvement.

Les programmes de bureaux non loués situés dans la Première Couronne de Paris offrent des rendements autour de 8%

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Même si les prix ont baissé depuis mi-2011, les Etats-Unis, l'Europe et le Japon restent trop dépendants de la Chine sur ce marché en devenir

Une offre de gaz plus diversifiée sur le Vieux Continent devrait accélérer la baisse des prix sur les marchés organisés et ceux de gré à gré

L'agence a revu de «stable» à «négative» sa perspective sur la note, reflétant une probabilité de dégradation légèrement supérieure à 50%

Le voyagiste a selon le quotidien reçu au moins huit propositions pour le rachat de sa participation de 77% au capital de sa filiale indienne, dont la valeur de marché s’élève à 200 millions d’euros. Le groupe a dévoilé ce projet le mois dernier. Son issue est attendue cet été. Parmi les prétendants figurent KKR et Carlyle, ainsi que Everstone Capital, TA Associates ou Actis.

Même si les prix ont baissé depuis la mi-2011 sous l’effet de la crise, à moyen terme, ils seront tirés à la hausse par la demande en terres rares face à la limitation des quotas d’exportations chinois. Le développement d’une filière rentable hors de Chine prendra des années.

Les deux sociétés de gestion vont se réunir, Amilton Asset Management (gestion sous mandat, gestion de fonds) prenant une participation majoritaire dans Swan Capital Management (multigestion dédiée aux clients professionnels). Les encours consolidés du nouvel ensemble s’élèveront à près de 400 millions d’euros.

Le groupe de private equity et Onex cherchent à introduire Allison Transmission Holdings en Bourse sur la base d’une valorisation presque trois fois supérieure au montant versé pour le fabricant de pièces automobiles en 2007. Allison prévoit d’offrir 21,7 millions de titres pour un prix unitaire compris entre 22 et 24 dollars. En milieu de fourchette, la société est ainsi valorisée autour de 4,2 milliards.

La filiale de gestion d’actifs de l’assureur a nommé Franck Dixmier chief investment officer Europe pour les activités de gestion de taux et de portefeuilles d’assurance. Il est membre du comité exécutif européen d’Allianz Global Investors et directeur général d’Allianz GI France. Amine Benghabrit a pour sa part été nommé directeur commercial de l’entité française.

La banque centrale norvégienne a procédé mercredi à un abaissement surprise de son principal taux directeur, qui passe de 1,75% à 1,5%, alors que le pays scandinave est confronté à un faible taux d’inflation et au renchérissement de sa devise. La Norges Bank a par ailleurs revu à la baisse sa prévision de croissance pour 2012, hors secteur pétrolier, à 3,25% contre 3,75%.

La Réserve fédérale des Etats-Unis a ouvert un compte officiel sur Twitter, où elle publiera notamment des liens vers des communiqués de presse, déclarations et rapports mensuels. Le compte officiel de la Fed, @federalreserve, a été lancé avec «l’objectif d’accroître l’accessibilité et la disponibilité des informations sur le conseil des gouverneurs», précise un communiqué.

La Grande-Bretagne va lancer la semaine prochaine son plan destiné à faciliter l’accès au crédit des petites entreprises, a annoncé mercredi le ministère britannique des Finances, après le feu vert de la Commission européenne au projet. Fin novembre, le chancelier de l'Échiquier George Osborne avait annoncé que Londres garantirait 20 milliards de livres (24 milliards d’euros) de prêts aux PME dans le cadre d’un plan de relance.

Selon les chiffres provisoires publiés par l’OCDE, la croissance économique des pays du G20 a ralenti à +0,7% au quatrième trimestre 2011, après +0,9% au troisième. Sur l’ensemble de 2011, la croissance s’inscrit à 2,8% dans les 20 plus grandes économies mondiales, en net ralentissement par rapport à 2010 (5 %). Dans l’Union européenne, comme dans la zone euro, le PIB a reculé de 0,3% au quatrième trimestre, la première baisse depuis le deuxième trimestre 2009.

En raison d’une progression des importations et d’un repli des exportations, le déficit des comptes courants des Etats-Unis s’est creusé à 124,1 milliards de dollars au quatrième trimestre 2011, montrent les données publiées mercredi par le département du Commerce. Les économistes interrogés par Reuters tablaient sur un déficit de 114,2 milliards de dollars.