For an undisclosed amount, State Street acquired a majority stake in the London-based firm InfraHedge in late July, thus adding a managed accounts platform to its range of services to institutional investors and hedge funds, which offers a complete range of services allowing these actors to operate managed accounts and allowing clients to remain independent of management firms in the selection of managers and the construction of their portfolios. As of the end of June, State Street had USD789bn in hedge fund assets under administration.

Mutual Fund Wire relays reports in Financial News that the US management firm Loomis Sayles (USD162.3bn in assets as of the end of June) is opening an office in London, which will be led by Jeff Sayer, managing director of European institutional services. Three other recruitments are planned by the end of the year. Other openings are planned for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the long term.

Argonaut Capital Partners is planning to become operationally independent of its partner, Ignis Asset Management, as a part of a process begun last year with Hexam, MoneyMarketing reports. Barry Norris and Olly Russ will continue to manage funds for Argonaut, which will now recruit staff with the intention of moving to a more independent management policy. The partnership between Ignis and Argonaut is currently structured as a 50/50 joint venture. Ignis appears to want to retain a financial stake in the firm, as in the case of Hexam, in which Ignis still retains a 35% stake. According to a spokesperson cited by Money Marketing, “We can confirm that Argonaut and Ignis are in talks over a potential modification to their partnership agreements. An announcement will be made when we consider the time appropriate. In the meanwhile, neither Argnoaut nor Ignis have any further comment.”

After serving as head of the San Francisco office of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Susan Raynes will be moving to London: she has been appointed as head of institutional activities for SSgA in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Africa, known as the UKMEA region. In her new position, Raynes will report to Greg Ehret, head of SSgA Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Raynes, who has been with SSgA for about 15 years, will also be a member of the European Executive Committee.

Li Keqiand, vice prime minister of China, announced at a press conference on 17 August that the Chinese government is planning to authorise the launch of an ETF in continental China of equities listed in Hong Kong, to issue licenses to Hong Kong businesses to invest CNY20bn, or USD3.2bn in A-class shares (reserved for Chinese investors), and to develop placement of bonds denominated in Chinese yuan in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reports. The news led to a strong rise on the Hong Kong stock markets.

In difficult market conditions, hedge fund strategies earned good returns in July 2011, and outperformed equities markets, according to statistics from Edhec-Risk. The CTA Global strategy earned gains of 2.70% in July, following two months of negative returns. Global Macro strategy, meanwhile, earned gains of 1.49%. However, convertibles arbitrage finished the month down 0.37%, while the equity market neutral strategy held stable, with gains of 0.04%. Funds of funds, meanwhile, earned gains of 1.01% in July, outperforming the S&P 500 by more than 3%.

The private equity investment firms Fortress Investment Group, Colony Capital and Starwood Capital Group are among several actors in the sector which are currently raising real estate funds, the Boomberg news agency reports. According to statistics from Preqin, there are 441 private equity firms which are seeking to raise real estate funds, an increase of 63 compared with last year, and twice as many as in 2008. In this environment, commissions are on a falling trend. For funds seeking USD1bn or more this year, the average management commission has fallen to 1.33%, according to Preqin, compared with an overall average of 1.5%, and below the average observed between 2007 and 2008.

Global ETF assets under management could grow from approximately USD1.5 trillion today to between USD3.1 trillion and USD4.7 trillion by the end of 2015, according to a new report released by McKinsey & Company.Although the market is expected to grow strongly, it will also become more difficult, due to intensifying competition and regulatory uncertainties. A corollary of the rising number of players and products is that the number of failed launches increase. In 2009, nearly three-quarters of all launches “failed” (i.e., did not gather significant assets within two years), compared to a less than one-in-ten failure rate in the 2003 vintage. From 2000 through 2007, 10 ETFs were shuttered. In the following three years, more than 150 ETFs were shut down. McKinsey suggests that «the passive ETF market is getting closer to saturation».The limelight in the ETF sector is shifting to actively-managed ETFs, a trend which the authors of the study claim will be likely to accelerate. Currently, these products represent only 1% of the sector in the United States, but it may grow to USD1trn in assets in North America in ten years, McKinsey predicts. That will be a game-changer for the ETF sector and for asset management as a whole. “Many traditional asset managers are aware of the disruptive risk that active ETFs could pose. Indeed, sponsors have filed more than 800 applications for new active funds with the SEC. Many are from traditional managers without ETF products who are simply preserving their options in case the market expands,” the consulting firm says.In addition to intensifying competition in the passive ETF market and growth in active ETFs, McKinsey predicts that the ETP sector will globalise, with the arrival of American providers in Asia and Europe, and vice versa. The new era that the ETP market is set to enter, the consulting firm predicts, will ultimately drive asset management actors to adapt, whether or not they are currently present in the ETP market, and new models will emerge, such as specialists in certain types of ETF, or managers who pursue alpha.

In July 2011, assets under management in Swiss investment funds totalled CHF620bn, which represents a 5% monthly decline, Agefi Switzerland reports. Of this total, CHF222.6bn are in Swiss funds intended for institutional investors, according to the Swiss Fund Association (SFA), based on figures from Swiss Fund Data SA and Lipper. The decline has affected all asset classes. Despite mitigated outlooks, the Swiss fund market in July still had net inflows of CHF545m.

Several big names in the European long/short fund community underwent heavy losses in early August, the Wall Street Journal reports. Funds managed by Lansdowne Partners, Ridley Park Capital, Horseman Capital Management and Henderson Global Investors were among the worst affected, while some funds saw all their gains since the beginning of the year wiped out. The Henderson European Absolute Return fund, managed by Stephen Peak, lost 15.64% in the month to 5 August, and has lost 32.46% since the beginning of the year.

The British management firm Schroder Investment Management is planning to launch a global version of its Asian high yield multi-asset class fund, Asian Investor reports. Since its launch last June, the Schroder Asian Asset Income Fund has brought in nearly USD800m, and will eventually have a total capacity of about USD2bn. Schroder IM is planning to register a similarly-managed UCITS III fund domiciled in Luxembourg by the end of the year, or early in 2012.

As of 12 August, assets in European ETF funds totalled EUR208.31bn, compared with EUR209.64bn as of the end of 2010, a decline of 1%, according to a weekly report by Deutsche Bank (European ETF Market Weekly Review) dated 17 August. The three leaders in the market are, according to the rankings, iShares (BlackRock), with 36% of the market and a total of EUR75bn, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with 16% (EUR33.27bn), and Lyxor (Société Générale), with 15.3%, or EUR31.9bn. Only two other providers have assets under management of over EUR10bn. They are Credit Suisse, with EUR12.2bn, and a market share of 5.9%, and the Cantonal Bank of Zurich (ZKB), with EUR10.96bn and a market share of 5.3%. The bank states, however, that in July, European ETFs overall saw subscriptions of EUR6.2bn, of which EUR5.7bn went to equities ETFs (primarly EUR4.6bn for funds based on the German Dax index). Commodities ETC products saw net redemptions of EUR570m, while bond ETFs and products specialised in alternative asset classes saw net outflows of EUR39m and EUR41m.

Aberdeen Immobilien KAG will be obliged to liquidate a second open-ended real estate fund, following the liquidation of the DEGI Europa fund (see Newsmanagers of 25 October 2010): the DEGI Global Business fund (launched on 1 November 2005), which as actually reserved for institutional investors, and which has net assets of EUR253.8m, will be «orderly» liquidated by 30 June 2014 at the latest. It will become the fifth German open-ended real estate fund to suffer the fate of closure.Both shares and credit will be reimbursed. Subscribers will receive half-yearly instalments, with the first to be paid in October 2011. Currently, the liquidity rate for the fund, from which redemptions have been frozen since 11 November 2009, is only 12.8%. The portfolio still contains 11 properties.As of 30 June, Aberdeen Immobilien has sold a property in Cologne and another in Helsinki for EUR55m (the book value of the property). Negotiations are already at an advanced stage for a sale of two more properties, with a book value of EUR50m.

On 18 August, DWS (Deutsche Bank) announced that the closed real estate fund DWS Access Deutsche Bank Türme has been fully subscribed. The product, which was created to mutualise the Deutsche Bank twin towers in Frankfurt, which the bank sold to its asset management affiliate for about EUR600m, raised EUR334m in owners’ equity. Deutsche Bank will lease the towers for 15 years. Subscribers can count on returns of 5% per year, starting from 2012.

T. Rowe Price is launching a variable rate bond fund, entitled Floating Rate Fund. The product invests in bonds from businesses rated below investment grade. The objective is to protect investors from risks related to rising interest rates, a statement says. The fund is available to US investors with a minimal investment of USD2,500, or USD1,000 when subscribed from a retirement savings plan. The total expense ratio for the product is 0.85%.

The court-appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment & Securities (BLMIS), Irving Picard, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in which he is seeking USD2bn from the Swiss bank UBS, Cinco Días reports. Picard claims that the Swiss bank, which is thought to have made at least USD80m out of the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff, was complicit in fraud as the depository for the Luxalpha fund, to which UBS lent an “aura of legitimacy.” Picard accuses the bank of intentionally misleading Luxembourg’s CSSF and the US SEC about its ties to Madoff.

The British investment management association (IMA) has launched a virulent criticism of the French-German proposal for a tax on financial transactions, FundWeb reports. The president of the professional association, Richard Saunders, claims that the tax revenues raised from trades rather than from businesses would really be taxes on the savings of small investors. “Political leaders need to understand that these taxes would not be paid by banks and other intermediaries. Like stamp tax in the United Kingdom, they would be a direct charge to the savings of investors,” he said.

Compte tenu des «difficultés pratiques et des délais contraints», l’AMF a ajusté hier l’interdiction des ventes à découvert décidée le 11 août pour les valeurs financières. Un investisseur qui aurait créé avant cette date «une position courte nette via des instruments dérivés arrivant à terme peut procéder à un roulement de position conduisant à recréer une position courte nette sur une échéance plus éloignée, à condition que la position courte nette ainsi créée ne dépasse pas celle détenue avant l’échéance», explique l’autorité.

Irving Picard, le curateur (trustee) de l’ancienne société de gestion de Bernard Madoff, a ajouté hier un nouvel élément à sa plainte à l’encontre d’UBS, à qui il réclame 2 milliards de dollars. Il accuse la banque suisse, qui agissait comme conservateur des fonds nourriciers européens de l’escroquerie pyramidale, d’avoir trompé les régulateurs américain et luxembourgeois à propos de ses liens avec le gérant aujourd’hui en prison. UBS a réagi en qualifiant cette accusation d’infondée. Le curateur tente de reprendre la main alors qu’il a subi un revers fin juillet: un juge de la Cour fédérale de Manhattan avait rejeté une procédure en dommages et intérêts intentée par Irving Picard visant HSBC. Il a estimé que le curateur n’avait pas qualité à agir, étant donné qu’il ne représente pas les investisseurs des fonds nourriciers européens, seules parties légitimes, selon le juge, à poursuivre les banques conservatrices incriminées dans l’affaire.

Les cours de l’once d’or ont atteint hier un nouveau record à 1.825,99 dollars, avec la hausse des inscriptions au chômage aux Etats-Unis et la chute de l’Eurostoxx 50 de 5,34% à 2.206,61 points. «Nous relevons une accélération de la tendance haussière et une entrée en bulle. L’objectif du mouvement en cours est entre 2.060 dollars et 2.080 dollars», commente Valérie Gastaldy, analyste graphique chez Day By Day. Le cabinet GMFS estime pour sa part que la hausse de l’once devrait être limitée à 1.900 dollars dans les six prochains mois. Le Conseil mondial de l’or a estimé hier que la demande en or a diminué de 17% à 919,8 tonnes au deuxième trimestre, mais devrait progresser sur l’année. La hausse globale s’explique par l’accroissement des réserves des acheteurs asiatiques (notamment la Chine et l’Inde particulièrement actifs), ainsi que par l’attrait de cette valeur refuge renforcé par la crise de la dette en Europe et aux Etats-Unis.

L’indice des conditions d’activité de la Réserve fédérale de Philadelphie a plongé à -30,7 en août après 3,2 en juillet, atteignant un plus bas depuis mars 2009, alors que le consensus des analystes anticipait un léger rebond à 3,7. La composante de l’emploi a reculé de 14,1 points à -5,2, et la production manufacturière dans l’Etat de New York a accélérée sa contraction.

Le ratio de créances douteuses des banques espagnoles a diminué en juin mais se maintient à un niveau élevé, selon des données publiées par la Banque d’Espagne. Elles ont reculé de 818 millions d’euros pour s'établir à 116,6 milliards d’euros, soit 6,42% du total des crédits, contre 6,5%, un plus haut de 16 ans, atteint en mai. Le poids des créances douteuses a été multiplié par dix en Espagne depuis le milieu des années 2000.

L’agence de notation, qui a confirmé il y a deux jours le précieux «AAA» des Etats-Unis mis à mal par S&P, a précisé hier que «la situation du dollar américain comme réserve globale de change indique que le pays peut supporter des niveaux de dette dans son PIB plus importants que les autres pays notés «AAA».» Et d’ajouter que toutes polémiques concernant la dynamique de la dette et la volonté politique mises à part, «les Etats-Unis sont tout sauf juste un Etat parmi d’autres.»

Les inscriptions hebdomadaires au chômage ont augmenté lors de la semaine du 13 août, à 408.000 contre 399.000 la semaine précédente et 400.000 prévues par le consensus Reuters, a annoncé hier le département du Travail. La moyenne mobile sur quatre semaines s'établit à 402.500 contre 406.000 la semaine précédente.

Les ventes au détail ont progressé de 0,2% en juillet par rapport à juin après une hausse de 0,8% en juin, alors que les analystes anticipaient une hausse de 0,3%. En rythme annuel, les ventes sont restées stables. Une majorité de détaillants s’attend à une nouvelle détérioration des ventes dans les mois à venir.

Contraint de restreindre son plan ambitieux d’expansion de son réseau ferroviaire suite à l’accident mortel intervenu le mois dernier, le ministère des Transports chinois, un des ministères les plus emprunteurs, a levé hier seulement 20 milliards de yuans (2,2 milliards d’euros) sur les marchés à court terme. L’Etat a dû payer un taux de 5,25%, soit un peu moins que le taux de 5,55% payé à la dernière levée il y a deux semaines, et en ligne avec les 5,18% payés avant l’accident.

Valérie Pécresse, la ministre du Budget, a évoqué jeudi sur BFM une «contribution sur les rémunérations extravagantes, exorbitantes (...) au-dessus d’un million d’euros». La piste la plus fréquemment évoquée serait celle d’un prélèvement de 1% à 2%, sur ces revenus qui pourrait être acquitté soit par les contribuables eux-mêmes, soit par leur employeur. Les économistes estiment néanmoins que cette mesure, qui est loin de faire l’unanimité, devrait avoir une portée limitée, son produit s’annonçant très loin des montants jugés nécessaires pour tenir les objectifs de réduction des déficits, à 4,6% du PIB en 2012.

Les reventes de logements ont diminué de 3,5% au mois de juillet, alors que les analystes anticipaient une hausse de 3,8%, montrent les chiffres publiés par la NAR. Au total, elles sont ressorties à 4,67 millions contre 4,84 millions (révisé de 4,77 millions) le mois précédent.

Après la Finlande, l'Autriche, les Pays-Bas et la Slovaquie souhaitent à leur tour la mise en place d'un collatéral attaché aux prêts consentis à Athènes

Des responsables du ministère de l’Economie et de la Banque du Japon se sont réunis hier, alors que le yen est tombé à 76,48 contre dollar