Après les avoir testés en France, Axa Real Estate Invesment Managers (Axa REIM) a décidé d'étendre à l’Allemagne les «green leases», les «baux verts», pour les locations d’immeubles professionnels. Les clauses correspondantes comportent des engagements simples et réciproques entre le bailleur et le locataire comme des réunions régulières sur le thème du développement durable, l'échange de données sur l’efficience énergétique et la fixation en commun de projets de développement durable spécifiques à chacun des actifs, avec le contrôle de la mise en œuvre.Axa REIM gérait fin juin plus de 40 milliards d’euros d’encours dans des fonds pour dix sociétés d’assurances du groupe Axa ainsi que pour 120 investisseurs institutionnels externes du monde entier.

La plate-forme d’ETF de la Deutsche Bank, db X-trackers, a annoncé le 21 novembre, le lancement de ce qu’elle estime être les deux premiers ETF obligataires de droit luxembourgeois avec un objectif de distribution régulière de 4 %.de la valeur liquidative. Cette distribution du db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Sovereigns Eurozone TR Index 4 % - D ETF et du db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Germany TR Index 4 % - D ETF sera alimentée par le revenu des intérêts des obligations dans lesquelles ces fonds investissent directement. Il s’agit d’une sélection d’obligations souveraines de la zone euro pour le premier et d’obligations fédérales pour le second.Les swaps n’ont pas vocation à dépasser 2-3 % (pour un plafond de 10 % fixé par la directive OPCVM) et le portefeuille figure en intégralité, au jour le jour sur le site Internet.Ces nouveaux produits cotés à Francfort sont destinés à des investisseurs qui doivent pouvoir compter sur des distribution régulières si possible d’un montant assez constant, comme les caisses de retraite, les fondations ou les assureurs, a indiqué Thorsten Michalik, directeur de db X-trackers.Si les recettes des intérêts générés par les obligations dans le portefeuille sont inférieures à 4 %, le gestionnaire envisage de revendre une partie des titres pour parvenir aux 4 % annoncés. Si les revenus du portefeuille sont supérieurs à 4 %, l’excédent sera réinvesti dans de nouveaux titres.CaractéristiquesDénomination : db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Sovereigns Eurozone TR Index 4 % - D ETFCode Isin : LU0643975161Commission forfaitaire : 0,15 %Dénomination : db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Germany TR Index 4 % - D ETFCode Isin : LU0643975591Commission forfaitaire : 0,15 %

Invesco vient de lancer un fonds immobilier paneuropéen de droit italien réservé aux investisseurs institutionnels en partenariat avec Prima Sgr, rapporte Bluerating. Jusqu’à 25 % du portefeuille pourra être investi en Italie et sera géré directement par Prima Sgr. Invesco s’occupera de la poche des investissements en Europe via Invesco Real Estate.

Les actifs gérés par les 500 plus grands gérants de fonds du monde ont augmenté de plus de 4 % en 2010. Ils représentent environ 65 000 milliards de dollars, ce qui confirme la tendance amorcée en 2009 lorsque les actifs avaient augmenté de 16 % par rapport à l’année précédente, selon une étude réalisée conjointement par Towers Watson et Pensions & Investments (1).L'étude montre également que, malgré les hausses enregistrées par les actifs en 2009 et en 2010, ceux-ci restent toujours en dessous des niveaux de 2007, qui étaient alors supérieurs à 69 000 milliards de dollars. Selon Thierry de la Noue, Directeur du Département Investissement chez Towers Watson Paris, «2010 a été une autre bonne année pour la plupart des gérants de fonds et la majorité d’entre eux ont pu afficher des résultats solides. Néanmoins, les évolutions du second semestre de l’année 2011 sont là pour nous rappeler combien les marchés demeurent fragiles et volatiles et combien ils reflètent aussi la faiblesse des fondamentaux économiques sous-jacents et l’appétit pour le risque changeant des investisseurs institutionnels».L’étude révèle que, en termes de nombre, les gérants filiales de banques continuent de dominer les 20 premières places du classement, bien que le nombre de gérants indépendants ait augmenté dans ce groupe. Onze gestionnaires basés aux États-Unis figurent parmi les 20 premiers établissements, lesquels gèrent 60 % de ces actifs, alors que huit gérants sont basés en Europe et qu’un seul gérant est japonais.Selon l’étude, les gérants de fonds des pays émergents ont plus que doublé leur part d’encours sous gestion qui s’élève à environ 4 % du total au cours des dix dernières années. Sur la même période, les actifs gérés par les 20 premiers gérants ont plus que doublé. Ils s’élèvent à environ 26 mille milliards de dollars et représentent désormais environ 40 % du total des actifs.Depuis 2000, les actifs gérés de manière « passive » par les plus grands gérants de fonds ont augmenté de plus de 13 % par an, contre 6 % par an pour les 500 premiers gérants de fonds pris dans leur ensemble, au cours de la même période.(1) Pensions & Investments / Towers Watson World 500

Lyxor Asset Management a fait enregistrer ces dernières semaines 55 ETF supplémentaires auprès de la CNMV, le régulateur espagnol, rapporte Cinco Días. Cela porte à 91 le nombre total de ces produits enregistrés en Espagne par le gestionnaire français, dont 37 cotés sur la Bourse locale.Les ETF nouvellement enregistrés se répartissent en cinq groupes. Ceux qui répliquent des indices d’actions des pays développés et ceux qui suivent des indices d’obligations sectoriels européens et mondiaux et ceux focalisés sur les indices d’actions émergentes. D’autres ETF répliquent des indices d’obligations d’Etat. Enfin, Lyxor a aussi fait enregistrer des ETF sur des indices de stratégie avec effet de levier et/ou inversés (short).

Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Christophe Cuvelier, directeur général adjoint, revient sur l’impact de la crise des dettes souveraines sur la gestion financière de la Mutuelle Médicis: Pour un investisseur long terme comme la Mutuelle Médicis et compte tenu du mode de détention utilisé pour la gestion de nos obligations, investir aujourd’hui dans de l’emprunt d’Etat allemand 10 ans rapporte trop peu. En effet, ce taux est inférieur à l’inflation. Face aux contraintes de rendements à servir à nos assurés, cela nécessite une légère prise de risques. Par exemple, actuellement, nous conservons nos positions sur les titres italiens. La crise de la dette en zone euro montre les limites actuelles de Solvabilité II. Cette réglementation devra nécessairement évoluer et tirer les enseignements de cette crise. Mais elle sera toujours en déphasage par rapport à la prochaine crise et les changements de calibrage qui en découleront.

At the end of last month, assets under management by investment funds in Switzerland totalled CHF622.49bn, of which CHF224.6bn were in institutional products, compared with CHF612.08bn as of the end of September (revised figure). This increase of over CHF10bn in assets in October conceals net outflows of nearly CHF2.73bn, compared with CHF4.68bn the previous month, according to the Swiss Funds Association (SFA).Statistics show that commodities funds have earned net subscriptions of CHF667.3m, while high yield funds in US dollars have bseen CHF333.7m in inflows. Euro zone and German equity funds have attracted inflows of EUR222.8m and EUR139.1m, respectively.However, overall, equity and bond funds have seen net redemptions of CHF820.7m and CHF 749.2m. Outflows totalled EUR1.45bn from money market funds.The top three providers remain UBS, with assets of CHF143.8bn, up from CHF142.4bn as of the end of September, and a market share of 23.1%, Credit Suisse, with CHF91.96bn, compared with CHF90.66bn, or 14.77% of the market. Pictet is in third, with CHF44bn, compared with CHF44.95bn one month earlier, and a market share of 7.07%.

Over the past few weeks, Lyxor Asset Management has gradually registered 55 new ETFs with the CNMV, Cinco Días reports. The new funds bring the total number of products registered in Spain by the French manager to 91, of which 37 are listed on the local stock market.The newly-registered ETFs break down into five groups: those which replicate equity indices of developed countries, those which track European and global sectoral bond indices, those which focus on emerging market equity indices, those which replicate government bonds, and short and/or leveraged ETFs based on strategy indices.

According to the German BVI association of asset management firms, assets in Riester type unit-linked governement-subsidized retirement savings plans totalled nearly EUR8,07bn as of the end of September, in 2.92 million accounts. That may represent an increase of nearly 10% compared with the end of December 2010 (EUR7.37bn and 2.81 million policies), but the volume in those accounts as of the end of June was higher (EUR2.82bn in 2.88 million policies).Unit-linked policies as of the end of September represented 19.5% of the market for Riester plans, compared with 19.6% nine months earlier. Insurers continue to dominate the Riester field, with nearly 10.64 million policies and 70.9% of the market.

As the crisis rages at its height, Financial Times Fund Management asks in an article whether a break up of the euro zone would mean the end of the success of the UCITS. Peter de Proft, CEO of EFAMA, says the UCITS industry would survive such an eventuality. He points out that UCITS are sold in many countries that do not belong to the euro zone.

Several fund selectors have teamed up to found the Association for Professional Fund Investors, which aims to represent the interests of professionals investors, Citywire reports. The group was officially unveiled on Wednesday, at a gala dinner as part of an even in Berlin, organized by Citywire. The association was introduced by Luca De Biasi, Carlos Fernandez and Mussie Kidane.

Assets in shares in non-money-market ETF funds in the euro zone were EUR374bn lower in September 2011 than those recorded one year earlier, in June 2011, in a development due largely to a decline in market values, according to statistics from the European Central Bank.Assets in shares issued by long-term mutual funds in the euro zone were down to EUR5.417trn as of September 2011, compared with EUR5.791trn in June 2011. In the same period, assets in shares in money market mutual funds in the euro zone increased, from EUR1.048trn to EUR1.067trn.Net redemptions from non-money-market mutual funds in the euro zone totalled EUR42bn in third quarter 2011, while redemptions from money market mutual funds totalled EUR3bn.In terms of investment strategies, the annual pace of growth in shares in bond funds totalled 2.3% in September 2011, while redemptions totalled EUR15bn in third quarter. For equity funds, the annual growth rate comes out to 2.5%, while redemptions come to EUR28bn. For mixed funds, the growth rate is 3.2%, and redemptions totalled EUR13bn.

The asset management firm Forward Management, based in San Francisco, has launched a long/short strategy dedicated to the corporate debt sector, Hedgeweek reports.The Forward Global Credit Long/Short Fund comes as an addition to the long-only fund Forward EM Corporate Debt Fund, launched in May 2011. At least 10% of assets in the new fund must be invested in assets based outside the United States.The two funds are managed by SW Asset Management, a firm specialised in international credit markets.Forward Management now offers eleven alternative strategies, including six long/short funds.

Groupama AM has announced the launch of the Europe Actions Immobilier fund. The product will invest in publicly-traded realty firms in the European economic area. “Groupama Europe Actions Immobilier meets the needs of investors who are seeking an investment with controlled risk, combining visibility, regular returns, and immediate liquidity. Our investors will receive an annual dividend,” explains Arnaud Bertin, manager at Groupama Asset Management. Characteristics ISIN code: FR0011051655 Valuation: Daily Minimal initial subscription: EUR150,000 Maximal subscription commissions (not paid to mutual fund): 2.75% Maximal exit fee (not paid to mutual fund): none Direct management fees (maximum): 1.2%

The ETF platform from Deutsche Bank, db x-trackers, on 21 November announced the launch of what it claims to be the first Luxembourg-registered bond ETFs with a regular distribution objective of 4% of net asset value. This distribution from the db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Sovereigns Eurozone TR Index 4 % - D ETF and db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Germany TR Index 4 % - D ETF funds will be supplied by revenues and interest from bonds in which the fund invests directly. This is a selection fo euro zone government bonds, in the former case, and German federal government bonds in the second. Swaps may not exceed 2-3% (with a limit of 10% set by the UCITS directive), and the portfolio is disclosed in its entirety on the website on a daily basis. The new products, listed in Frankfurt, are aimed at investors who need to see regular distributions, if possible, of a sustainable amount, such as pension funds, charities and insurers, says Thorsten Michalik, director of x-trackers. If earnings from interest on bonds in the portfolio are lower than 4%, the management firm is planning to resell some of the bonds in order to make up the required 4%. If revenues from the portfolio are higher than 4%, the excess will be reinvested in new bonds. Characteristics Name: db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Sovereigns Eurozone TR Index 4 % - D ETFISIN code: LU0643975161Management commission: 0.15%Name: db X-trackers IBOXX® Euro Germany TR Index 4 % - D ETFISIN code: LU0643975591Management commission: 0.15 %

Effective immediately, Saxo Bank is offering its clients a way to make online trades on 25 different stock markets of equities and ETFs that comply with Islamic law. Clients will receive assistance from the US firm IdealRatings Inc, an agency specialised in the selection of fund managers and financial instruments that meet the requirements of Shariah law.The selection of products is based on commonly accepted and transparent Islamic standards defined by IdealRatings in cooperation with the Shariah Review Bureau, which has locations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Each month, IdealRatings analyses and selects from over 12,000 equities and ETFs.

In October, the Lyxor hedge fund index has earned 0.75%, while in November (to 14 November), it has posted further gains of 0.26%. Losses are limited to 5.85% for January-October, and 5.61% from the beginning of the year to 14 November.The heaviest losses from the beginning of the year to 14 November have been for special situations (-15.14%) and equity short bias (-14.01%). Only two strategies show gains for this period: distressed security, with gains of 0.82%, and CTA short term, with returns of 5.16%.

The Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), being offered by Thomson Reuters from 22 November, offers Islamic banks which are committed to respecting Sharia a benchmark index which may replace conventional benchmarks such as the Libor, which they have relied on in the past due to a lack of an equivalent tool, the Börsen-Zeitung reports.Because the IIBR complies with Islamic law, it measures not interest rates but rather gains. The index will be calculated on a daily basis on the basis of data from 16 Islamic banks and Islamic banking departments at conventional banks. It will be published daily at 11:00 AM, Mecca time (GMT +3).

According to a spokesperson for the cxourt-appointed trustee James W. Giddens, the financial hole in the accounts of clients of the broker MF Global Holdings Ltd may measure more than USD1.2bn, twice as much as previously estimated. MF Global bonds fell by 19% on the news on Monday.Since MF Global entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the trustee has distributed USD1.5bn in collateral to clients, and will distribute USD520m in cash, following a legal decision last week. The office of the trustee says that there is still about USD1.6bn to distribute, but that there will not be much left after 60% of client accounts are reimbursed.

Moody’s warned France on 21 November that a sustained rise in its debt yields coupled with weakening economic growth could harm its ratings outlook, fuelling worries it could lose its AAA. «Elevated borrowing costs persisting for an extended period would amplify the fiscal challenges the French government faces amid a deteriorating growth outlook, with negative credit implications,» the rating agency says. In mid-October, Moody’s gave itself three months to study whether it would need to revise its “stable” outlook on the rating. The agency now says that “last week, the yield differential between French and German 10-year government bonds topped 200 basis points, a new euro-era high” The agency calculates that an increase of 100 basis points in yields would result in additional funding costs of billions of euros per year. “With a government projection of barely 1% growth in GNP in 2012, a more burdensome interest rate would make it more difficult to achieve deficit reduction targets,” Moody’s says.

Nine British investors out of ten are concerned by synthetic ETFs due to repeated warnings from regulators, according to a Morningstar survey of about 600 investors (“Morningstar UK ETF Survey,” November 2011). Investors are clearly highly sensitive to the low cost of ETFs, but 90% of them prefer physical ETFs due to the issues surrounding synthetic ETFs. Counterparty risks are an issue of concern to 90% of investors in the sample, compared with 82% at the time of the previous survey in September. This increase comes despite efforts on the part of suppliers to increase the level of transparency of products and to ensure better investor protection. The survey also finds that there is a need for more information about ETFs, both from private and professional investors. 65% of retail investors would like to know more about ETFs, compared with 77% last month. A higher number of institutional investors, however, (64%, compared with 47%), would prefer to increase their understanding of the product.

Talence Gestion is launching Talence 2015, an equity fund which will invest in 40 positions on shares which are currently trading at a steep discount, and which are expected to return to a valuation in line with their fundamentals in the short- to mid-term (in the next three years). In the equally-weighted portfolio, Régis Lefort, manager of the fund, is including primarily French equities of all cap sizes, selected with a stock-picking approach. Once the price objectives have been met, the position is sold off. The proceeds of the sale are not reinvested in equities, but are instead placed in money market and bonds mutual funds. The fund will be dissolved once all the positions have been sold. The objective is to earn returns higher than the average performance of equities over the long term, estimated at 7%. Characteristics ISIN code: FR0011131804 Initial subscription period: 24 November 2011 to 30 January 2012 Front-end fee: none during the subscription period; 5% thereafter Withdrawal fees: 5% for exit before the dissolution of the fund; none at the time of its dissolution Management fee: maximum 2% Performance commission: 15% of the performance of the fund exceeding an annualised rate of 7% Initial value per share: EUR10,000 Valuation frequency: bi-monthly

Invesco has launched an Italian-registered, pan-European real estate fund reserved for institutional investors, in partnership with Prima Sgr, Bluerating reports. Up to 25% of the portfolio will be invested in Italy, and will be managed directly by Prima Sgr. Invesco will be responsible for the European investment allocation via Invesco Real Estate.

The new head of Barclays Wealth for northern Asia, Pakorn Boonyakurkul, is hoping to double assets under management in Asia to more than USD50bn by 2014, Asian Investor reports. He is aiming at high net worth investors with wealth of over USD100m.The team will next month be strengthened by the addition of Januar Tjandra as head of Greater China. Tjandra previously worked at Goldman Sachs.Assets under management at Barclays Wealth total GBP170bn, of which about 10% come from the Asian region.

BlackRock has appointed Benoit Sorel as senior head of clients for iShares in France. Sorel will report to David Benmussa, director of clients for iShares in France. The sales team at iShares now includes four professionals dedicated exclusively to French clients. Soreel previously worked at Crédit Agricole CIB in Paris, as an institutional salesperson for structured products in France.

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) on 21 November announced that it has been awarded a mandate by the Spanish firm Banco Cooperativo to provide independent valuation services for its structured products.

After testing them in France, Axa Real Estaet Investment Managers (Axa REIM) has decided to extend its “green leases” to Germany, for leasing of professional properties. The corresponding clauses include simple and reciprocal commitments between the lessor and tenant, such as regular meetings on the subject of sustainable development, exchange of information on energy efficiency, and the establishment of joint sustainable development projects specific to each property, with progress controls.As of the end of June, Axa REIM had EUR40bn in assets under management in its funds for ten insurance companies of the Axa group, and for 120 third-party institutional investors worldwide.

Assets under management by the 500 largest fund managers in the world increased by more than 4% in 2010. They total about USD65trn, which confirms a trend observed in 2009 when assets increased by 16% over the previous year, according to a joint study by Towers Watson and Pensions & Investments (“Pensions & Investments / Towers Watson World 500”).The study also finds that, despite increases in assets in 2009 and 2010, asset levels still remain below their 2007 levels, which were then over USD69trn. Thierry de la Noue, director of the investment department at Towers Watson Paris, stated that “2010 was another good year for most fund managers, and the majority of them were able to turn in solid results. Nonetheless, evolutions in the second half of 2011 are there to remind us how fragile and volatile the markets remain, and how much they also reflect the weakness of underlying economic fundamentals and the changing appetite for risk on the part of institutional investors.”The study finds that in terms of number, bank affiliates continue to dominate the top 20 spots in the rankings, even though the number of independent managers in this group is estimated to have increased. Eleven managers based in the United States rank in the top 20, and these manage 60% of these assets, while eight asset management firms are based in Europe, and only one is Japanese.According to the study, fund managers in emerging markets have more than doubled their proportion of assets under management, which have represented about 4% of total assets in the past ten years. In the same period, assets managed by the top 20 managers more than doubled. They total about USD26trn, and now represent about 40% of total assets.Since 2000, assets managed passively by the largest fund managers have increased by more than 13% per year, compared with 6% for the top 500 fund managers overall, in the same period.

The private equity firm KKR is reportedly close to an agreement to acquire a majority of the assets of Samson Investment, a family-owned gas and oil production firm, for a total of about USD7bn, Bloomberg reports, cited by Agefi. Reuters reports that it has obtained information that KKR has received the support the the Japanese trading form Itochu Corp for its bid.