In 2011, net profits from investment funds at Santander fell 38.9%, to EUR43m, while pension fund managmeent profits fell 4.8% to EUR10m. Total revenues from asset management and pension funds fell 2%, to EUR1.251bn.As of 31 December, assets in investment funds were down 9.6% to EUR102.61bn, of which EUR27.42bn, compared with EUR34.31bn, were from Spain (-20.1%), while pension funds contracted by 12% to EUR9.64bn.The cost-income ratio for the group deteriorated last year to 44.9%, compared with 43.3% for 2010, and 41.7% for 2009.Net profits fell 34.6% compared with 2010, to EUR5.35bn (compared with EUR8.18bn), after a contributed ot EUR3.18bn to emergency reserves to confront real estate difficulties.

Natixis has announced the appointment of Philippe Jeanne to the position of head of management for Financial Management (ALM). He will report to Luc-Emmanual Auberger, director of Finance and Risk, and a member of the board of directors at Natixis.Jeanne, 48, joined the Calyon bank in London in 2003 as global head of trading for emerging markets, and arrived at Natixis in 2005, where he had previously served as head of forex activities, a statement says.

The Meeschaert group has confirmed that Philippe Troesch is joining the firm as director of management, chairman of the board at Meeschaert Asset Management, and a member of the executive board at Meeschaert Gestion Privée. Troesch had previously been CEO of the Paris office of Aberdeen Asset Management (see Newsmanagers of 24 January 2012).

In the space of the last 12 months, the Blackstone Group has invested USD11bn on a recovery in the commercial real estate market, which has been facing high vacancy rates and competition from online retail, the Wall Street Journal reports. The private equity investor has become one of the largest owners of shopping centres in the United States. Now, these bets appear to be paying off. The 588 shopping centres acquired from Centro Property are generating returns of 8%, while the 36 grocery stores acquired from Equity One General are generating 7.5% returns, as is a 95% stake in big box centers from EPN Group.

As of the end of 2011, the Paris office of Muzinich managed USD1.8bn, and had USD250m in inflows since the beginning of the year. According to Eric Pictet, CEO for the French-speaking countries, net subscriptions last year totalled over USD900m, half of which came from France, while the remainder was divided between Luxembourg, Belgium, Geneva and Monaco.In terms of products, Muzinich is planning to launch a fund in autumn (September-October) which will give managers very broad freedom to invest in all grades of investment, and to hedge these positions, “but we are in a study phase right now,” the Paris head says.Across the Muzinich group, assets in funds have increased spectacularly in the past few years, from USD471m as of the end of 2008 to USD6.4bn as of the end of 2011 (compared with USD3.02bn twelve months earlier), while total assets have risen to USD13.77bn as of the end of last year, compared with USD9.94bn as of the end of 2010, USD6.32bn as of the end of 2009, and USD3.14bn as of the end of 2008. In other words, funds represent about 50% of total assets, while the remainder is distributed between mandates and white-label products (sub-advisory).Although Muzinich is a US company, 90% of its assets come from Europe. “We are planning to launch our first mutual fund in the United States in March. It will be a near-reproduction of the UCITS-compliant fund Short Duration, with 10% to 20% loans. We have recruited two people from Seix, Michael Eachern, who will manage the new product, and Sam Zona, director of marketing at Seix, who will be responsible for development on the US market,” Pictet concludes.

Etienne Gorgeon, head of fixed income and credit management at Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers (EDRIM), on 31 January announced that in the current environment, investors, particularly private banking clients, are seeking extremely simple products, which has led the manager to extend the subscription period until 15 April for two horizon share classes in the EdR Millésima 2016 fund (ISIN Codes; C share class (retail): FR0011138395; I share class (instituitonal): FR0011142090), based on a buy and hold strategy. The closing date for the fund, launched on 15 November, was originally scheduled for 1 March. But the product has already attracted EUR160-170m, and EDRIM is therefore planning to keep the subscription window open for extra time.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Divesh Makan, who was then a client adviser at Goldman Sachs, has been clever enough to contact with the founders of Facebook since 2006, and has become the wealth management adviser for several of them, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg and founding chairman Sean Parter, as well as the CEO of Zynga, Mark Pincus. Makan will be among the beneficiaries of the Facebook initial public offering. In December, he went independent with his colleagues, Chad Boeding and Michael Anders to found Iconiq Capital LLC.

The US ETF specialist WisdomTree has announced net profits for fourth quarter 2011 of USD0.9m, up from USD0.6m in fourth quarter 2010, and USD1.4m in the previous quarter. For the year 2011 as a whole, net profits total USD3.1m, compared with losses of USD7.5m in 2010. The firm has announced net subscriptions of USD756m in 2011. As of the end of the year, assets under management totalled USD12.2bn.

The three equity funds (Ibex 35, Euro Stoxx 50 and S&P 500) and profiled funds (Conservador, Moderado and Dinámico) from ING Direct Spain will now invest in Amundi funds and not funds from InverCaixa, Funds People reports. ING Direct has decided to hand the management of six of the seven funds to the joint venture of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, and to withdraw them from the Spanish firm InverCaixa (La Caixa). Amundi was already manager of the VaR fund from ING Direct. The management policies and commission levels for the transferred funds will remain unchanged.Renta 4 will retain management of the euro zone government and corporate bond fund from ING Direct.The seven funds from ING Direct represent assets of EUR735m.

The British firm M&G Investments on 31 January announced the appointment of Alex Jeffrey as CEO of Prupim, the real estate asset management arm of the group.Jeffrey previously worked at MPGA, the independent connsulting agency specialised in real estate, where he had most recently been chief investment officer.Jeffrey will begin in his new role in July 2012. He will report to the CEO of M&G, Michael McLintock.Assets under management at Prupim total about GBP15bn.

Pension systems in Asia are in urgent need of modernisation in order to ensure current employees that they will have an income at retirement which is sure, sufficient and sustainable, according to a new report from the OECD (“Pensions at a Glance: Asia/Pacific.”) The report observes that many retirement systems in the region are poorly prepared to confront a rapid ageing of the population which will take place in the next two decades. Between now and 2050, the population aged over 65 in economies of the Asia/Pacific region not belonging to the OECD will virtually triple, from 6% to 17%.Currently, pension levels are high compared with revenues from work, in some countries such as China, Vietnam, and Pakistan. The young age of retirement, particularly for women, creates additional financial pressures. Pension systems in many countries would be hard-put to provide sure incomes to the elderly, for four reasons: the range of application of official pension systems is relatively limited; it often happens that the savings are withdrawn before retirement; savings for retirement are often liquidated in the form of cash, with the risk that people will use the money up too quickly; and benefits paid out are not automatically adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living.The report analyses retirement systems in 16 Asian countries, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. The dissemination for official pension systems in the Asia/Pacific region is far more limited than in OECD countries, the report notes. The rate is 56% in Hong Kong, but only 5.8% in India and 4% in Pakistan. In China, although there are 159 million members of pension schemes, the coverage rate is only 17%. By comparison, the average for OECD countries is 63%, and it is no less than 75% in Japan.Gross replacement rates, which express the level of benefits as a proportion of average wages for workers in their active life, varies widely in the Asia/Pacific region, from 12.7% in Singapore to 80.9% in the Philippines. Replacement rates tend to be higher in South Asia, ranging from 65% in India and 69% in Pakistan to 49% in Sri Lanka. In South-East Asia, the replacement rate is about 30% in Malaysia and in Hong Kong, while it is 77.9% in China, for an average income. The average for OECD countries is 57%.

The global State Street Investor Confidence Index came out to 92.4 points in January, down 2.1 points compared with a corrected level of 94.5 in December. Institutional investors had the highest aversion to risk in North America, where the regional index was down 0.1 points to 89.8 compared with a corrected level of 89.9 in December. Confidence in Europe was down 10.1 points, from 101.7 points (corrected level) in December to 91.6 points in January. “European institutional investors are reallocating assets outside their basic positions on equities,” State Street notes. Investors in Asia have increased their allocations to equities, and the regional confidence index has risen 3.3 points to 96.9 from a corrected level of 93.6.

In fourth quarter 2011, only five of the 19 foreign asset management firms that have disclosed their results to the Spanish association Inverco posted net subscriptions. Overall, foreign asset management firm saw net redemptions of EUR1.7bn, at least for the companies that disclosed data to Inverco.Inverco says that the five firms which posted net inflows are JP Morgan AM (EUR107.16m), BNP Paribas (EUR59.3m), Robeco (EUR19.55m), Pictet (EUR13.47m) and EDM (EUR37.43m).The strongest outflows were EUR416.4m from Amundi Iberia, EUR303.13m from Franklin Templeton Investments, EUR278.58m from BlackRock, and EUR253.3m from Schroders.Overall, according to estimates from Inverco, assets at all foreign asset management firms probably fell by 10% in second half, to EUR45bn. For the 21 asset management firms which have reported their asset levels, assets under management as of the end of December totalled EUR31.14bn.The largest manager is JPMorgan AM with EUR5.42bn, followed by BlackRock with EUR3.25bn, and Amundi Iberia with EUR2.74bn. Then come Franklin Templeton, with EUR2.38bn, and BNP Paribas with EUR2.25bn.

L’établissement prévoit de lancer à Hong Kong le premier fonds indiciel coté en yuan répliquant la performance du prix de l’or à Londres (fixing en dollars). L’opération vise à tirer profit d’une abondante liquidité en yuan présente chez les investisseurs hongkongais, lesquels sont positifs à long terme sur les prix de l’or et l’appréciation de la devise chinoise.

L’autorité britannique des marchés financiers, la Financial Services Authority, a infligé une amende record de 2,87 millions de livres à Ravi Sinha, l’ancien responsable des activités européennes de JC Flowers, pour des fraudes commises entre avril et octobre 2009. La FSA lui a également interdit à vie de pratiquer toute activité dans le secteur financier régulé.

L’économie russe a enregistré une croissance de 4,3% en 2011, grâce à une envolé de 16,1% de la production agricole. Le risque est une chute du prix du pétrole, les exportations de matières premières pesant plus de 25% du PIB russe. Le pays a accusé des sorties de capitaux de 84,2 milliards de dollars en 2011, soit 5% du PIB. Le FMI prévoit une croissance de 3,3% cette année.

Selon une étude réalisée par le Club des marchés financiers et par la SFAF, 80% des valeurs moyennes sondées considèrent que l’entrée en Bourse a répondu aux attentes des actionnaires. Seuls 16% aimeraient sortir de la cote. 45% souhaiteraient une cotation au fixing 1 à 2 fois par jour, pour 47% de PME opposées. Les trois quarts sont favorables à des allègements réglementaires. Les valeurs moyennes attendent plus de services de la Bourse.

Le Trésor roumain a émis 1,5 milliard de dollars d’obligations à 10 ans à un taux de 6,875%. Sa première émission libellée en dollars. «L’intérêt a été énorme» s’est félicité le ministre des finances Bogdan Dragoi, qui a précisé que les offres avaient atteint 7 milliards. Le CDS de la Roumanie a baissé de 50 points de base depuis le début de l’année, à 399 pb.

Le gouvernement rejette l'idée d'un deuxième plan de sauvetage et s'en tient à ses objectifs malgré la dégradation de la conjoncture

L'indice Case-Shiller a encore chuté de 3,7% en novembre sur un an. Mais une stabilisation du marché se dessine

La proposition de Nicolas Sarkozy pourrait à la marge augmenter l'offre de logements et donc accompagner la baisse des prix attendue

Cette classe d'actifs suscite l'appétit des investisseurs américains, notamment par sa moindre exposition à la crise de la zone euro

Selon les prévisions du Congressional Budget Office, 2012 marquerait la quatrième année consécutive au-delà d'un tel seuil

Le quotidien croit savoir que Starwood Capital entend boucler «d’ici à un mois ou deux» la cession du pôle d’hôtellerie de prestige du Groupe du Louvre, valorisé entre 700 et 800 millions d’euros pour huit établissements. Un consortium du Moyen-Orient ainsi qu’un tandem formé d’Accor et d’Unibail-Rodamco se disputeraient l’affaire. Le premier «tiendrait la corde».

L'indice PMI manufacturier est resté ancré au-dessus du seuil de contraction à 50,5 points en janvier, alors que la banque centrale observe le statu quo

Selon la dernière édition du Purple Book publié chaque année outre-Manche par le Pension Protection Fund et le régulateur du secteur, citée par le quotidien, les sociétés britanniques auraient eu besoin à fin mars 2011 de quelque 470 milliards de livres pour couvrir intégralement leurs obligations cumulées.

La nouvelle réglementation des dérivés de gré à gré et des chambres de compensation reste suspendue à un accord entre le conseil des ministres des finances et le parlement. Suite au compromis entre ministres de la semaine dernière, on s’attendait à une conclusion des discussions ce mardi. Mais le Parlement veut clarifier les conditions de saisine de l’Autorité européenne des marchés (AEM) en cas de désaccord sur l’octroi d’une licence à une chambre de compensation nouvelle. Les députés ont déjà beaucoup reculé mais ils demandent que, dès lors que les deux tiers des membres votants d’un collège de superviseurs se sont opposés à une autorité (une majorité qui sera très difficile à réunir compte tenu de la petite taille du collège), alors la saisine de l’AEM aille pratiquement de soi. L’AEM serait alors en position de décider pour l’ensemble des superviseurs. Le Royaume-Uni notamment tenait à ce qu’une nouvelle majorité des deux tiers soit réunie pour ce faire. La présidence danoise de l’Ecofin doit à présent sonder les capitales pour refaire une proposition de compromis.

Le rendement de la dette portugaise à deux ans a atteint un nouveau pic depuis la création de la zone euro, les investisseurs n’excluant pas un deuxième plan d’aide pour le pays à l’instar de la Grèce. Le rendement du papier portugais à deux ans s’est tendu mardi matin de 36 points de base (pdb) pour atteindre 21,61%, tandis que le coût des credit default swaps (CDS) atteignait lui aussi un nouveau record. Il fallait débourser 4,2 millions d’euros pour assurer 10 millions d’euros de dette portugais à plus de cinq ans.

La production industrielle japonaise a augmenté plus que prévu en décembre, les entreprises ayant surmonté les perturbations causées par les innondations en Thaïlande, mais la reprise est loin d'être garantie en raison de la hausse du yen qui handicape les exportations. La production industrielle a augmenté de 4% en décembre sur un mois, alors que le marché attendait un rebond de 3%, après une baisse de 2,7% en novembre, selon les chiffres publiés mardi par le ministère du Commerce.

Les rendements de la dette belge à court terme ont légèrement augmenté lors d’une adjudication mardi, se tendant de nouveau après avoir atteint un plus bas de 18 mois mi-janvier. La Belgique a levé 1,64 milliard d’euros à trois mois, avec un rendement moyen de 0,506%, contre 0,429% lors de la précédente émission de ce type le 17 janvier. Le ratio de couverture ressort à 2,70. Le royaume a également émis 940 millions d’euros à six mois avec un rendement de 0,710%, contre 0,364% précédemment.