Sébastien Ribeau, gérant monétaire chez Lazard Frères Gestion

Le président du Conseil italien, Silvio Berlusconi, a nommé Ignazio Visco au poste de gouverneur de la Banque d’Italie qu’occupait jusqu’alors Mario Draghi. En revanche, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, membre du directoire de la BCE, a décidé de ne pas démissionner pour laisser le poste à un Français après l’arrivée de l’Italien Mario Draghi à la tête de cette institution, contrairement à l’engagement pris, affirme vendredi Il Sole 24 Ore

L'écart entre le rendement des obligations d’Etat françaises à 10 ans (OAT) et celui des titres d’Etat allemands de même maturité (Bund) a atteint vendredi un record, les investisseurs anticipant de plus en plus un abaissement de la note de la France par les agences de notation. Pour la première fois, l'écart entre les taux des deux pays a atteint 119 points de base en fin de matinée. Le «spread» s’inscrivait ainsi en hausse par rapport à son niveau de jeudi, qui était de 115 points de base..

Les modifications du règlement général de l’AMF transposant la directive OPCVM IV et modernisant le cadre juridique de la gestion d’actifs, ont été homologuées par arrêté du 3 octobre 2011. Les principales modifications du livre III concernent les sociétés de gestion de portefeuille et les dépositaires d’OPCVM.

US prime money market funds have reduced their total exposure to French banks by 62% on a dollar basis between month-end May and month-end September 2011, according to Fitch. French banks exposure currently represents 6.7% only of total holdings of USD654 billion within the agency’s sample of the 10 largest U.S. prime money market funds. At its peak in the second half of 2009, exposure to French banks represented 16.4% of all assets.As of month-end September 2011, U.S. prime money market funds have also reduced their total exposure to European banks by 14% on a dollar basis relative to month-end August 2011. European bank exposure currently represents 37.7% of total holdings, a decrease from 42.1% of fund total assets as of month-end August and from 47.2% as of month-end July. ‘In percentage terms, the current exposure level is the lowest observed within Fitch’s historical time series, which dates back to second-half 2006,’ said Robert Grossman, group managing director, Fitch Ratings. Fitch also notes that over the same timeframe of May 2011 to present, money market funds’ exposure to Canadian banks increased by 12%, and is now the largest single country exposure at 10.7% of total assets.

Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) on 20 October admitted the first leveraged ETF based on the Ibex 35 index of the Spanish stock markets to trading. As its name indicates, the Lyxor ETF Ibex 35 Doble Apalancado Diario fund offers double the performance of the Ibex 35 index on a daily basis, Expansion reports.This product of Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) replicates the Ibex 35 Doble Apalancado index, which has been calculated in real time since 19 May.With this new product, the Spanish market now lists 66 ETFs.

SRI assets under management last year set a new record, with a total up 12% as of June 2011 compared with June 2010, at EUR84bn, invested in over 886 funds aimed at retail clients (+1%), according to the 11th edition of the Vigeo study “Green, Social and Ethical funds in Europe.” France retains a leading position in terms of assets, with a 38% share of the European market, and many SRI funds. The United Kingdom remains the second-largest market (15%), followed closely by Switzerland. Belgium retains the highest penetration rate for SRI funds aimed at retail investors (8.8%). The Netherlands has seen the highest growth in its penetration rate, with a market share up from 3.7% last year to 5.1% this year.

Credit Suisse is launching a new real estate fund, entitled “Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Global,” according to a statement published on 20 October. It is the first Swiss real estate fund to be listed on the stock market that allows clients to invest in a diversified and international real estate portfolio. The fist issue will run from 7 to 18 November 2011.

Assets in investment funds worldwide have held stable in second quarter, at EUR19.49trn, according to statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). In US dollars, assets increased 1.7%, to USD28.17trn. Net inflows totalled EUR147bn in second quarter, following an increase of EUR102bn in first quarter. Inflows to long-term funds (excluding money market funds) totalled EUR206bn, compared with EUR176bn in first quarter. Inflows incrased EUR48bn in Europe, though they remained stable in the United States at EUR98bn. Equity funds attracted EUR16bn, compared with EUR45bn in first quarter, while bond funds attracted EUR70bn, compared with EUR42bn. Money market funds finished the quarter with a net outflow of EUR59bn, compared with EUR74bn one quarter earlier. Outflows rose in Europe, from EUR9bn to EUR30bn in second quarter, while in the United States, outflows totalled EUR32bn in second quarter, compared with EUR57bn previously.

Assets under management in the wealth management unit of Nordea (private banking, asset management and Life & Pensions) brought in EUR13bn in assets in third quarter, to total EUR178bn at the end of September, down 7% compared with the end of third quarter, and 1% compared with September 2010. In private banking, assets under management have dallen 12% compared with second quarter, to EUR49bn. Assets under management in Asset Management, for their part, dell 4% quarter on quarter to EUR105bn. For the entire wealth management unit, the quarter brought a net outflow of EUR0.7bn, with redemptions from Scandinavian retail funds (-EUR0.7bn) and Scandinavian private banking (-EUR0.5bn) only partly offset by subscriptions from institutional clients (+EUR0.7bn). Operating profits fell 40% compared with the previous quarter, to EUR86m.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on 20 October announced that it has received a bond contract for EUR82m in assets from the BNL/BNP Paribas employee pension fund. The pension fund, which covers employees of the BNL/BNP Paribas group in Italy, is one of the largest pre-existing pension funds in Italy. SSgA has been mandated to manage the bond portfolio, which is benchmarked against a composite index including the JPM Global GPI EMU IG (50%) and Barcap Inflation Linked GBI€ (50%). The mandate will be managed in London by the SSgA team dedicated to the active management of bond investments. As of 30 June 2011, SSgA managed USD341bn in assets in bond strategies worldwide.

In order to offer exposure to businesses in the commodities prospecting, production and exploitation sectors, iShares (BlackRock group) has recently launched three UCITS-compliant, physical replication ETF funds in London, based on the S&P Commodity Producers series of indices. The Irish-registered funds are denominated in US dollars. They are the iShares S&P Commodity Producers Oil and Gas, iShares S&P Commodity Producers Gold and iShares S&P Commodity Producers Agribusiness. iShares S&P Commodity Producers Oil and Gas (SPOG)ISIN code: IE00B6R51Z18TER: 0.55% iShares S&P Commodity Producers Gold (SPGP)ISIN code: IE00B6R52036TER: 0.55%iShares S&P Commodity Producers Agribusiness (SPAG)ISIN code: IE00B6R52143TER: 0.55%

BlackRock will launch a version of its UK Focus fund aimed at the retail market, co-managed by Luke Chappell, managing director and co-head of the British equities unit, and Imran Sattar. The fund will invest in a selection of 20 to 25 of the best British shares picked by managers. The fund, which will be launched in late October, has already received a license from the British market authorities (FSA). The capacity of the fund has been set at GBP350m.

Henderson Global Investors will limit access by new investors to its two absolute return funds from the end of next month, Money Marketing reports. The two funds were closed due to substantial net inflows which ran the risk of diluting the potential performance of the funds. On 30 November, the open-ended fund Henderson UK absolute return (GBP386m in assets under management) and the Sicav Henderson Gartmore UK absolute return (nearly GBP326m) will no longer be available to new investors under the same terms. New investors will then be required to pay a front-end fee of 5%.

Fredéric Leroux, global manager at Carmignac Gestion, stuck to his guns at the most recent quarterly conference of the asset management firm: only creating inflation can save the euro zone. This “turn of the screw” will be necessary in order to prevent the “virtue” that combating the phenomenon would be from making the situation worse. The strategist thus recommends reducing interest rates to zero. “And when the euro has fallen, Europe will remember that it has some good exporters among its businesses,” he added, as the situation gets worse for the common currency. Clearly, the manager says, a rise in inflation would also need to be accompanied by a relation between incomes and price levels, in order to have a positive effect on households. Until that happens, “self-imposed” budgetary austerity is killing growth, and without growth, paying off debt is impossible, Carmignac Gestion complains. There is still a considerable problem, Leroux adds: convincing the German government to accept inflation, which it has historically considered a scourge. The German outlook on the situation may change when they themselves experience signs of weakness in their growth. “The sooner this realisation comes, the better,” Leroux predicts, as the measures announced so far will strengthen deflationary pressures. The economic slowdown will force good decisions to be taken: in addition to reducing interest rates to zero and monetising public debt, banks will have to be recapitalised and partial defaults will need to be accepted. “These decisions will then make fiscal integration possible, which will need to become a more and more explicit political objective,” the management team concludes.

Assets under management by the alternative management specialist Gottex as of the end of September totalled USD8.2bn, down 7.9% compared with the end of June, according to a statement from the firm released on 20 October. This evolution is due to the high volatility of the markets, the group says, adding that market neutral strategies outperformed their benchmarks by 2.5% to 3.5%. The Alternative Credit strategy also performed better than the index, by more than 6%.

The Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild in Geneva has appointed Manuel Leuthold as its deputy CEO and chief operating officer, Agefi Switzerland reports. Leuthold succeeds Jean-Pierre Pieren, who has chosen to retire, concluding a career of many years at the bank and in the group. He will be leaving the bank’s executive board at the end of April 2012. Leuthold has already assumed important responsibilities, including membership in the Swiss general management at the Wealth Management & Swiss Bank division. He will begin in his new role during first quarter 2012.

The technical committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 20 October published its final report on the impact of technical developments on the integrity and efficiency of markets. The report lays out a series of recommendations that aim to promote market integrity and reduce risks to the financial system due to the latest technological developments, including high-frequency and algorithmic trading. Following the publication of the recommendations, IOSCO is proposing to extend its work monitoring markets, in an effort to provide regulators with new tools. IOSCO has also called for a supplementary type of audit, to control all orders and operations involving a particular instrument. This would also involve a single point of reporting for all orders and transactions in each legal jurisdiction or geographical region, and for all asset classes, as well as the introduction of a single identifier for legal entities.

Renaud Martin is joining Mirabaud as head of convertible bond management, which falls within the Mirabaud Asset Management business line. He will be based in Paris. Renaud Martin had previously been in charge of the convertible bond department at Calyon, after previously serving at La Française des Placements.

Fival has had its asset management license revoked by the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The license was issued on 22 May 1990. “Having found that the portfolio management firm Fival SA did not satisfy the conditions and engagements to which its license was subject to, in the area of maintenance of financial and human resources, the college of the AMF has decided at its session on 6 September 2011, under article L. 532-10 of the monetary and financial code, to annul its license as a portfolio management business,” the regulator announced in a statement dated 20 October. The assets of the firm, an affiliate of the Geneva-based firm Caprinco, are not sufficient to ensure the stability of the structure, Marc Gilson, CEO of Fival, has explained to Newsmanagers. Its assets under management totalled only EUR10m, largely in mandates and two open-ended funds: Ariane Invest, a European equity fund, and Fival Réactif, a flexible fund of funds. As of the end of 2009, according to the French asset management association yearbook, assets at the firm totalled EUR35m. In the next few days, the assets will be taken over by another asset management firm, pending permission from clients. Fival will continue to exist, but in another form. “We will apply for a license as a financial investment adviser,” says Gilson. But staff will be cut back, from four currently to one. The cancellation of the license will take effect on 1 December. On this date, Fival will be placed in the control of Alain Hindié, who has been named by the AMF as trustee. In addition, the firm will be allowed to make only strictly necessary operations in order to conserve the interests of clients invested in funds and mandates it manages.

The US private equity investor Blackstone Group may have posted a net economic loss for third quarter 2011 of USD342m, compared with net profits of USD339m in the corresponding period of 2010, but for the first nine months of the year, net profits have risen 3% compared with January-September 2010, to USD929m.Distributable earnings were USD120m in third quarter, compared with USD166m in July-September 2010, while for the first three quarters of the year distributable earnings are up 8% to USD501m.As of 30 September, fee-earning assets under management totalled a record USD133bn, compared with USD104bn one year earlier. Total assets under management came to USD158bn (+32% year on year).

The decline in assets under management at Carmignac Gestion has totalled EUR10bn this year (as of the end of September), of which two thirds were due to net outflows, while the remaining one third was due to negative market effects, Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO of Carmignac Gestion, has said at a press conference. The head says that a closer reading of the figures reveals that in July and August, the asset management firm managed to stabilise outflows. From a geographical standpoint, outflows were heaviest in southern Europe, due to the larger presence of networks in this area than in the more variegated nothern European markets. Sales have been more muted, “but,” says Helderlé, “southern Europe is also the area where inflows were largest in the previous two years.”

Standard Life has revised its development model in Asia to orient itself more to institutional clients, Asian Investor reports. Since entering Asian markets in the early years of the last decade, the group had mostly focused on retail clients. The firm has renewed its staff and revised its product ranges. Standard Life has recently set up a range of mutual funds denominated in US dollars, Australian dollars and Singapore dollars. It had previously offered products denominated in pounds Sterling, which did not sell well to Asian clients. Standard Life has also strengthened its absolute return, alternative investment and multi-management offerings.

Nordea Fonder, the Swedish asset management firm from Nordea, will now be led by Sasja Beslik, current head of socially responsible investment, the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (Näringsliv) reports. Beslik succeeds Erik Feldt, who becomes head of human resources for the bank. The change comes at a time when Nordea Fonder has been the subject of criticism, after being named as the worst Swedish bank for fund management in a Morningstar study, the newspaper notes. But the two events are claimed to be unrelated.

The European Commission on 20 October unveiled proposals for revisions to the Markets in financial instruments (MiFID) directive. The proposals include one directive and one regulation, which aim to make financial markets more efficient, more relisient and more transparent, and to strengthen investor protections. “Financial Markets should work for the real economy, and not the reverse. Our legislation needs to be adapted to the changes which the markets have undergone in the past few years. The crisis has shown that some activities and some financial products have reached a level of complexity and opacity that makes changes indispansable. The proposals presented today will help to improve the functioning of financial markets, and to make them safer and more open,” says Michel Barnier, European commissioner in charge of the internal market and services, in a statement. The revised MiFID directive lays out stricter requirements for portfolio management, advising and investment in ranges of complex financial products, such as structured products. In order to avoid any conflict of interest, independent financial advisers and portfolio managers would not be allowed to receive payments (or other economic advantage) from third parties, nor to provide these to third parties. Lastly, rules on corporate governance and personal responsibility of management have been introduced for all investment businesses. The Commission’s proposals would also strengthen the role and powers of regulatory authorities. In cooperation with the European securities and markets authority, under specifically-defined circumstances, the supervisory authorities will have the power to forbit some products, services or practices which may endanger investor protections, financial stability or the proper functioning of the markets. The proposals also include strengthening oversight of commodity derivative markets, and introduct a requirement that positions be declared by category of operator, in order to allow regulatory authorities and market participants to determine the role played by speculation on these markets. For more information, see: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/securities/isd/index_fr.htm

The British asset management firm Baring Asset Management has announced that it has received a license from the German regulator, BaFin, to sell the Irish-domiciled fund Baring Dynamic Emerging Markets Fund, managed by Percial Stanion, director of the multi-asset class team (see Newsmanagers of 1 July) and Hartwig Kos, in Germany. The product is a sub-fund of OEIC Baring Investment Funds Plc, launched on 29 June. Its ISIN codes are IE00B5SPP393 for the institutional share class denominated in pounds Sterling, and IE00B404P481 for the retail share class in euros.

A spokesperson for BHF-Bank (an affiliate of Deutsche Bank) has confirmed to the Börsen-Zeitung that the firm is planning to lay off about 270 employees by the beginning of 2015, about one fifth of its 1,300 staff. The cutbacks will primarily affect IT and administration.The programme to modernise and focus on retail clients will result in a reduction of the total balance sheet to EUR10bn, from EUR12bn as of the end of 2010. High-risk assets have already been reduced by EUR1bn, or 25%.Handelsblatt reports that BHF saw a net loss in 2010 of EUR33m, and that financial sector observers are expecting further losses in 2011.

The 2,255 hedge funds which had published September results as of 20 October had lost an average of 3.96%, according to BarclayHedge. The cumulative losses since the beginning of the year come to 6.60%. Excepting equity short bias, nine funds which have made an average of 8.26%, and the 29 merger arbitrage funds, which have gained 0.08%, all strategies show losses, with the heaviest being 7.71% losses for the 337 emerging markets funds. In the first nine months of the year, three strategies show gains: equity short bias is up 14.57%, while merger and arbitrage funds have gained 1.41%, and the 25 convertible arbitrage funds have gained 0.31%.Two strategies show double-digit losses for January-September: emerging markets (-12.36%), and equity long bias (293 funds), which have lost 11.81%, and lost 6.18% in September.

At this stage, the impact of the market turbulence of third quarter on the value of the French pension fund, the Fonds de réserve sur les retraites (FRR)'s net assets has been limited, the fund says in a statement released on 20 October. AUM at end-September were EUR34.7bn vs EUR37bn at end-December, but FRR made a payment in excess of EUR2bn to Cades in the meantime.The financing ratio has been reduced, largely due to a reduction in interest rates, which has led to an increase in the current liability levels, for a ratio of 132% as of 30 September. This ratio si less comfortable than on 30 June (143%), but still ensures a high degree of security for payment of liabilities.Returns on overall net assets at the FRR since 1 January are -1%, and the annualised net performance of the fund after all fees since its inception totals 2.6%.

Fidelity Worldwide Investment has announced a strengthening of its multi-manager team with the appointment of James Bateman as portfolio manager. He will also lead the existing team of three portfolio managers and spearhead the development of the manager selection process for global equity products managed in London.James Bateman, who is expected to join in January, is presently vice-president, Multi-Manager and Fund Research at Barclays Wealth. He is responsible for five multi-manager funds comprising assets of GBP2.3bn and sole fund researcher for a further 40 third party funds.