Eurazeo PME, filiale d’Eurazeo dédiée aux investissements majoritaires dans les PME, a annoncé le 2 décembre le recrutement d’Emmanuel Laillier en qualité de membre du directoire aux côtés d’Elisabeth Auclair, directeur financier, et d’Olivier Millet, président du directoire. Diplômé de l’Ecole Polytechnique, Emmanuel Laillier a débuté sa carrière en corporate finance chez Nomura, avant de devenir investisseur en 1999 dans l’équipe de Fonds Partenaire Gestion (Lazard). Il a ensuite passé neuf ans au sein d’EPF Partners en tant que directeur associé. Eurazeo PME dispose d’une équipe d’investissement de sept professionnels : Olivier Millet, président du Directoire, Emmanuel Laillier, membre du directoire, Pierre Meignen, directeur associé, Erwann Le Ligné, directeur associé, Mathieu Betrancourt, directeur d’investissements, Cédric Boxberger, directeur d’investissements, Rodolphe de Tilly, chargé d’affaires. L’équipe Corporate est conduite par Elisabeth Auclair et la direction Développement durable est assurée par Laurence Château de Chazeaux.

Le pourcentage de FCPE facturant des commissions de souscription indirectes a baissé, passant de 28% en 2009 à 18% en 2011, selon la quatrième édition de l’Argus des FCPE publié par Debory Eres (1). Les frais de gestion directs ont baissé, s’inscrivant à 0,64% en moyenne en 2011 contre 0,81% en moyenne en 2009. Les frais de gestion indirects présents dans 95% des FCPE ont baissé de 1,41% en moyenne en 2009 à 1,18% en 2011.La précédente étude de 2009 avait montré que frais et performance n’étaient pas liés. En 2011, cette conclusion est confirmée : les frais de gestion n’ont pas d’impact sur la performance (absence de corrélation statistique), quel que soit le type de fonds (monétaire, obligataire, diversifié et actions) et quelle que soit la période (1 an et 3 ans). Les fonds actions les plus performants sur 3 ans ont même des frais plus élevés que les fonds moins performants.Les benchmarks n’ont d’intérêt que pour les fonds monétaires qui utilisent tous le même benchmark (EONIA capitalisé) et sont toujours aussi peu pertinents sur les fonds obligataires, diversifiés et actions. En effet, en moyenne un même benchmark (qu’il soit composite c’est-à-dire composé de plusieurs indices ou non) est utilisé en moyenne par seulement 1,6 fonds diversifié et 2,5 fonds actions ou obligations. Il est donc préférable de comparer les FCPE entre eux plutôt qu’à leur indice de référence pour valider la qualité de la gestion.Sur le front de la transparence et de la qualité de l’information, la mise à disposition des documents sur internet (site public) progresse : 72% des sociétés de gestion présentent leurs fonds, soit 543 fonds au total et 86 FCPE de plus qu’en 2009 lors de la dernière édition de l’Argus des FCPE. Le nombre de FCPE pour lesquels tous les documents (notice, règlement, fiche et rapport annuel) sont consultables augmente aussi : 205 en 2011 contre 154 en 2009.A noter enfin une concentration des acteurs de la gestion et une rationalisation des gammes de FCPE commercialisés. Depuis le début des années 2000, le nombre de sociétés de gestion d’épargne salariale est en baisse constante (36 en 2011 contre 54 en 2003) ainsi que le nombre de fonds (1570 début 2011 contre 2022 en 2003). La répartition des encours est stable et le poids des fonds monétaires reste très important (49%) dans les encours des FCPE multi entreprises.(1) L’édition 2011 analyse plus de 550 FCPE multi-entreprises, c’est-à-dire accessibles à toutes les entreprises, gérés par 26 sociétés de gestion. Les FCPE analysés représentent 81% des FCPE multi-entreprises commercialisés et 79% des encours du marché

Fin novembre, les investisseurs sont restés à l’écart de la reprise du marché actions et n’ont pas non plus accru leur exposition à la dette de la zone euro, selon les statistiques hebdomadaires d’EPFR Global. Les fonds d’actions ont encore subi des rachats significatifs. Depuis le début de l’année, les fonds d’actions accusent une décollecte de 188,6 milliards de dollars, leur plus mauvais résultat depuis 2008. Dans le même temps, les ETF enregistrent une collecte de 79,8 milliards de dollars.A noter toutefois que la décollecte sur les fonds d’actions européennes s’élève à seulement 9,1 milliards de dollars sur onze mois contre 22,8 milliards de dollars l’an dernier sur la même période.Les fonds obligataires internationaux et européens ont de leur côté enregistré leur plus mauvaise semaine depuis trois ans, à l’exception toutefois des fonds d’obligations américaines.

Citigroup, facing accusations on the part of the Japanese regulator that it has failed to comply with transparency regulations in the sale of financial products, is preparing to take steps following the announcement of sanctions by the Financial Services Agency, and to make some changes to its Asian management, the Wall Street Journal reports.Darren Buckley, head of Citibank Japan, will be moved to another management position in Asia, but his destination has yet to be determined. He will be replaced by Peter Eliot, country officer and head of the institutional client group in Thailand. T.J. Della Pietra, general counsel at Citigroup for the Asia-Pacific region, will take up the newly-created position of COO Japan.According to sources familiar with the matter, Citigroup is reported to have retained the headhunting firm Egon Zehnder to find a permanent CEO for its Japanese activities.

Singapore, which has previously attracted hundreds of hedge funds, is in the process of putting new regulations in place which could make the market less attractive to alternative managers, the Reuters news agency reports. With the new regulations now in the birthing process, Singapore would come into step with the other major financial centres, but this update will have a cost which could endanger smaller structures, many of which will be forced to close or merge. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) would like ot make all asset management firms with assets of over SGD250m (slightly under USD200m) be licensed, while smaller entities would still be required to have a risk management system and would be subject to independent audits. The regulator has already consulted the firms, and the new rules, which are intended to ensure the survival of the sector, are slated to come into force in early 2012. The sector has about 400 hedge funds, with assets under management of SGD53bn.

Dans un article publié par IPE, Vincent Ribuot, directeur financier de l’UMR - Corem commente la décision du gestionnaire OFI AM d’intégrer une exposition sur l’Afrique au sein d’un fonds de fonds émergents. En effet, OFI AM a décidé de renommer le fonds OFI Multi Select BRIC en BRICA, ajoutant ainsi une expertise de gestion sur les marchés actions Afrique grâce à Silk Invest. Le gérant britannique se verra ainsi confié un mandat sur cette classe d’actifs. Vincent Ribuot déclare: Nous sommes le principal investisseur du fonds avec 30 millions d’euros d’actifs et nous soutenons complétement la décision d’OFI AM d’incorporer l’Afrique au sein du produit BRIC. Nous devons penser et investir à l'échelle mondiale, c’est à dire privilégier une logique de diversification tout en réduisant notre dépendance vis à vis des plus gros marchés émergents. Cela signifie d'être plus exposé à la croissance future des marchés frontières. L’UMR est déjà investie sur les marchés émergents, y compris frontières via deux fonds de fonds dont la sélection des sous jacents est conseillée par OFI AM: UMR Select Europe et UMR Select OCDE (550 millions d’euros d’actifs). Près de 8.3% du fonds Select Europe correspond à une allocation sur les émergents, et au moins 25% du fonds OCDE, dont 1.6% sur les marchés frontières. Sur l’ensemble des portefeuilles actions, près de 4.1% est consacré aux marchés émergents d’Europe et 13.5% à l’Asie (hors Japon) ainsi qu’au monde émergent.

Frey annonce le lancement, en partenariat avec Predica et AG Real Estate, de deux véhicules d’investissements : FREY RETAIL FUND 1 et FREY RETAIL FUND 2, dotés d’une capacité d’investissement totale de 200 millions d’euros et dont le financement sera réalisé pour moitié par fonds propres. Frey, acteur majeur des retail parks de nouvelle génération, à l’initiative de ce partenariat, s’associe à parts égales avec deux acteurs de premiers plans de l’investissement immobilier : Predica, premier bancassureur vie en France et filiale de Crédit Agricole Assurances, et AG Real Estate, premier groupe immobilier belge filiale d’AG Insurance. Ces deux investisseurs interviennent via des entités réglementées françaises (OPCI), gérées respectivement par Unibiens (filiale de Crédit Agricole immobilier) et par Vendôme Capital Partners. FREY RETAIL FUND 1 et FREY RETAIL FUND 2 auront pour cible des actifs commerciaux en exploitation, situés en périphérie urbaine, et recélant un potentiel de création de valeur. Cette stratégie s’appuie sur l’attractivité du format des retail parks (parc commercial) et l’expérience de Frey en matière d’immobilier commercial périurbain de nouvelle génération. En effet, la combinaison de loyers compétitifs et d’un renouveau des surfaces commerciales proposées contribuent à faire évoluer les surfaces commerciales des enseignes déjà présentes et à en attirer de nouvelles, renforçant ainsi le rayonnement de ces zones. AG Real Estate et Predica sont associés à Frey au sein de FREY RETAIL FUND 1 (créée sous forme de SAS) et de FREY RETAIL FUND 2 (créée sous forme de SCI). Tous les trois siègent au Comité stratégique desdits véhicules dont Frey assure respectivement la présidence et la gérance. Frey mettra au service de ces deux véhicules son expertise et son savoir-faire dans le domaine des retail parks en assurant les missions d’origination (sourcing) des dossiers, d’asset management et de property management. Frey dispose déjà d’un deal flow identifié d’actifs correspondants à des investissements potentiels cibles des véhicules. Cette opération s’inscrit dans la stratégie de Frey et renforce sa position d’acteur incontournable des retail parks tout en permettant une mutualisation de ses investissements. Jérôme Grivet, Directeur général de Crédit Agricole Assurances et de Predica déclare : « Ce partenariat s’inscrit pleinement dans la stratégie d’investissement de Predica, investisseur institutionnel de premier plan. Il vise à diversifier nos placements de manière prudente, aux côtés de partenaires de qualité tels que Frey et AG Real Estate, et à renforcer notre contribution au financement des territoires.» Xavier Pierlet, Head of Asset Management d’AG Real Estate : « Cette opération s’inscrit parfaitement dans la volonté d’AG Real Estate de se développer de manière importante sur le marché français, tant en investissement qu’en promotion ou en parkings. Nous sommes particulièrement heureux de nous associer pour ce faire avec FREY et Predica, et ce dans l’acquisition d’actifs commerciaux que nous apprécions. »

Dans le cadre du développement de la Direction de son bureau de Genève, la fondation Ethos qui compte 122 fonds de pension suisses comme adhérents, est à la recherche d’un Head Environmental and Social Sustainability chargé(e) notamment des tâches suivantes : Diriger le secteur Environmental and Social Sustainability Coordonner et effectuer les analyses et les études dans le domaine de la responsabilité environnementale et sociale des entreprises Mener les activités de dialogue (engagement) d’Ethos en matière de responsabilité environnementale et sociale des entreprises Candidatures à faire parvenir à M. Dominique Biedermann, Directeur Ethos, Place Cornavin 2, Case postale, 1211 Genève 1

The Liechtenstein-based private management and banking establishment LGT Group will open an office in Beijing, in order to develop its activities in the alternative management sector, Asian Investor reports. The project will initially aim to offer research to companies operating in continental China in the private equity and venture capital sectors.

Alberto Martínez, a portfolio manager at Banco Popular, has been recruited for the team at Natixis Global Asasociates in Spain, Funds People reports. He will report to Christian Rouquerol, director of sales to the Iberian peninsula. The team is led by Sophie del Campo.

The Swedish asset management firm East Capital has registered two sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav for sale in Spain, the Russian and Eastern European Funds, Funds People reports. The firm’s representative in Spain will be MCH Investment Strategies, led by Tasio del Castaño and Alejandro Sárrate.

The Ethos foundation, a specialist in SRI, with 122 Swiss pension funds as members, on 2 December published a job listing, announcing that it is seeking a head environmental & social sustainability for its Geneva offices, a position that is being held for the interim by director Dominique Biedermann since it was created.The position has already been held by one person who remains at Ethos, and who will now fully concentrate on business development. The change was rendered necessary by the growth of Ethos’ activities and growth in the volume of work to address member requests, Biedermann tells Newsmanagers.

The indices of the Russell/Nomura family, which cover 98% of the Japanese equity market, have added 14 new companies in their traditional annual review, Nomura Securities and Russell Investments have announced in a joint statement. The Russell/Nomura Total Market Index now includes 1,400 companies, in increase of 16 year on year. 50 companies have been removed from the index, and 66 companies have been added, 14 of them for the first time. The total capitalisation of the index has increased slightly, from JPY170.5trn to JPY173trn as of 14 October.A list of companies included in the index can be found at the following address: http://qr.nomuraholdings.com/en/frcnri/index.html.

Now that they have all the most obvious areas covered, ETF providers are venturing into increasingly narrow and surprising segments, such as Peru and smart phones, the Wall Street Journal reports. One of the reasons that ETF providers aren’t hesitating to experiment with new products is that it is relatively easy to liquidate ETFs. And there is always the potential that one of them should surprise the world by becoming a success, like the iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index, which has attracted USD270m.

A study by the consulting firm Fonds Consult, obtained by Handelsblatt, finds that wealth management products based on investment funds offered by banks generate disappointing returns: with the fees taken into account, all actors offer solutions which are less remunerative than their benchmarks, and often with higher volatility.Fonds Consult surveyed the eight unit-linked wealth management providers on the German market: Dekabank, Commerzbank, HypoVereinsbank, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Union Investment, DZ Privatbank and Fürst Fugger Privatbank, all of which offer profile-based solutions.The most conservative products lag furthest behind their benchmarks. For example, over three years, an index composed of 80% euro bonds and 20% equities earned 14.5%, but the best product, from Commerzbank, made only 12.3%, while the worst, from HypoVereinsbank, lost 3.4%. And in addition to that, there are fees averaging 1%!

As of the end of November, investors were keeping their distance from a potential recovery on equity markets, and had not increased their exposure to euro zone debt, according to weekly statistics from EPFR Global. Equity funds continued to see significant redemptions. Since the beginning of the year, equity funds have seen an outflow of USD186.6bn, their worst results since 2008. At the same time, ETFs have posted inflows of USD79.8bn. However, outflows from European equity funds have totalled only USD9.1bn in eleven months, compared with USD22.8bn in the same period last year. International and European bond funds, for their part, have posted their worst week in three years, except for US bond funds.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) held a seminar in Paris on 1 and 2 December, uniting national and international accounting authorities to debate the coherent and effective application of international IFRS accounting standards. The seminar organised by ESMA is a sign of its strong engagement to strengthen dialogue between accounting authorities in third-party countries “with the objective of improving cooperation and the consistent application of IFRS accounting standards worldwide,” ESMA says in a statement. Noting the necessity in Europe for close collaboration between accounting authorities in various countries to achieve a coherent application of the standards, Steven Maijoor pointed to the need to “extend cooperation to the global level,” adding that “ESMA is actively contributing to that end.”

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published new recommendations for information to be published about transactions in the high yield sector. Following consultations with buy-side and sell-side participants, the professional association has revised its 2008 recommendations for high yield debt issuers. The AFME has also responded to concerns on the part of investors, by creating a permanent discussion forum, the “High Yield Investor Issues Committee.”

Eurazeo PME, an affiliate of Eurazeo dedicated to investments in majority stakes in small and mid-sized businesses (SMB), on 2 December announced the recruitment of Emmanuel Laillier as a board member, alongside Elisabeth Auclair, CFO, and Olivier Millet, chairman of the board. Laillier, a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, began his career in corporate finance at Nomura, and then became an investor on the Fonds Partenaire Gestion (Lazard) team in 1999. He then spent nine years at EPF Partners as a managing partner. Eurazeo PME has an investment team composed of seven members: Miller, chairman of the board, Laillier, board member, Pierre Miegnen, managing partner, Erwann Le Ligné, managing partner, Mathieu Betrancourt, chief investment officer, Cédric Boxberger, chief investment officer, Rodolphe de Tilly, account manager. The Corporate team is led by Auclair, while Laurence Château de Chazeaux is director of sustainable development.

Laurent Dupeyron, former chairman of Olympia Capital Management, has been appointed as global head of wholesale and institutional equity derivatives distribution at UniCredit, effective immediately. He will report to TJ Lim, global head of markets at the Italian bank.Dupeyron left Olympia following its acquisition by Richmond Park Capital in April 2011. He joined the hedge fund firm in September 2008.

According to an internal memo, Edward C. Frost, who has 16 years of seniority at Goldman Sachs, has decided to resign from his position as co-head of investment management, in order to take on educational, artistic and philanthropic projects, the Wall Street Journal reports, adding that he will be replaced by Eric S. Lane, COO of the investment management division.

Inflows at Rothschild & Cie Gestion owe much to its conviction-based management, growing expertise and developments in Europe. Jean-Louis Laurens discusses these developments at the firm, in the broad sense of the term, with Newsmanagers. He also takes the occasion to offer his opinion about the current economic situation, and to blast the inadequate progress that is being made on the markets and at the banks.

The Sanctions Commission of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), confirmed on its website on Friday, 2 December that on 28 October this year the Tocqueville Finance company, and its CEO, Marc Tournier, were fined. In addition to a reprimand for both parties, the firm will pay a fine of EUR150,000, while Tournier will pay EUR250,000. “The Sanctions Commission has found that the parties were guilty of price manipulation in the acquisition of 9,637 shares in X [the price manipulation the regulator is referring to relates to shares in the car rental firm ADA] on 26 June 2009, even though, since the beginning of the year, the average daily trading volume was 85 shares, and following the action, representing 99.99% of all trades on the share, the share price for the firm had risen 41.25%,” a statement from the AMF says. The Sanctions Committee adds in its statement that the severity of the professional and pecuniary sanctions also reflects “the seriousness of the offence of price manipulation for a company and an individual who practice as providers of investment services, and who have already been sanctioned in these capacities on two previous occasions, in 2003 and 2004.” During the AMF investigation, Tocqueville Finance and Tournier denied accusations of price manipulations and pointed to the limited size of the publicly-traded capitalisation of the firm at the time the trades were undertaken. The verdict may be appealed under article R. 621-44 of the monetary and financial code.

Irving Picard, the trustee appointed by the courts to recover funds for victims of Bernard Madoff, has been granted clearance to appeal the verdict in a legal action against J.P. Morgan Chase, with nearly USD20bn at stake, the Wall Street Journal reports. In November, US Federal judge Colleen McMahon found that Picard did not have a standing against J.P. Morgan Chase.

Ahorro Corporación has announced that November was the worst month of the year for the Spanish fund management sector, with net outflows of EUR1.25bn, while the Inverco association of asset management firms estimates the net redemptions at EUR850m (see Newsmanagers of 2 December). These are the heaviest outflows since the EUR5.5bn outflow observed in November 2010.Funds People reports that Ahorro Corporación estimates total assets at EUR130.33bn as of the end of November, 3.2% less than at the end of October, and 10.3% less than as of 31 December 2010. In eleven months, assets in Spanish funds contracted by EUR15bn.

The AXA IM FIIS Europe Short Duration High Yield Fund, managed by Andrew Wilmont, head of European high yield (see Newsmanagers of 23 November), has been registered for sale in Germany, the asset management firm announced on 2 December. The Luxembourg-registered, UCITS-compliant product, which was launched on 2 August, combines short duration and high yield strategies from the asset manager.As of the end of July, Axa IM had about EUR10bn in assets under short duration management (Euro Short Duration Credit, Sterling Short Duration Credit and US Short Duration).The asset manager is planning to register the fund in other European countries.

Since 1 December, the SPDR ETF range from State Street Global Advisors (USD245bn in assets under management as of the end of September) includes 26 products, with the launch of the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Treasury ETF (acronym: SST) and the SPDR Barclays Capital Investment Frade Floating Rate ETF (FLRN), which have been admitted to trading on the NYSE Arca platform. The first fund replicates the Barclays Capital 1-5 Year Treasury index (114 positions, with an average duration of 2.8 years as of 18 November). The fund charges 0.12%. The SPDR Barclays Capital Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF aims to replicate the performance of the Barclays Capital US Dollar Floating Rate Note 5 Years index, which as of 18 November included a total of 320 positions, with an average duration of 1.71 years. The total expense ratio for the product is set at 0.15%.

Since 2 December, the Amundi ETF SP500 H fund has been available for trading on the NYSE Euronext Paris platform. The French-registered product (FR0011133644) replicates the S&P 500 EUR Daily Hedged index. It charges fees of 0.28%.The ETF becomes the 128th product to be launched for primary listing on the European platforms of NYSE Euronext since the beginning of this year.

The Portuguese government and the four largest banks in the country have reached an agreement, by which the government will be able to charge EUR5.6bn in taxes from the pension funds of the banking establishments, the Portuguese secretary of state for central administration, Helder Rosalino, announced on 2 December. Reuters reports that the transfer will allow Portugal to meet its budgetary requirements this year, as set out in the agreement it signed with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in order for the country to receive aid. Under the agreement, the government must reduce its budgetary deficit to 5.9% of GDP in 2011 and 4.5% in 2012, from about 10% in 2010.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on 2 December announced a consultation on the function of internal audits at banks. The objective for the Committee’s recommendations is to help supervisors to evaluate the effectiveness of the internal audit function at banks. The consultation will remain open until 2 March 2012.