On Monday, Wells Fargo & Co announced that it is recruiting 25 investment bankers who had previously worked at the hedge fund management firm Citadel, based in Chicago, and that it will also be taking over the transactions that the traders worked on, the Wall Street Journal reports.The recruitments will apparently not result in any settlements to Citadel, but Wells Fargo will pay back a portion of the fees earned on the operations which it is taking over, including on a stake in the consortium responsible for the initial public offering of Groupon Inc.

John Paulson has reduced his stake in Bank of America by half, according to the Financial Times. Paulson & Co held 60.5 million shares in the bank as of the end of June, a stake which was worth over USD780m as of the end of trading on Monday. The hedge fund has also reduced its stake in Citigroup by 19%, to 33.5 million shares, a stake which is now worth USD1.05bn; but the fund has increased its stake in Wells Fargo by two thirds, to 33.6 million shares, or USD840m. The largest publicly known position of the fund remains its investment in the ETF SPDR Gold Trust, valued at USD4.6bn.

Polar Capital va lancer un fonds Amérique du Nord pour ses nouvelles recrues Andrew Holliman et Richard Wilson, qui ont rejoint la société en provenance de Threadneedle en début d’année, rapporte Citywire.

Ten Cate has joined BNY Mellon AM as managing director for the Netherlands, IPE reports. In his new role, Cate will be the legal counsel for various services offered by the US group to Netherlands-based pension funds. BNY Mellon provides fund administration services for about 30% of Dutch pension funds, and handles asset management for roughly 12 of them.Cate previously worked at the UK firm Insight Investments (EUR150bn in assets under management), which was recently acquired by BNY Mellon.

Citi has set up a new business to service the ETF market in Asia. Citi ETF Services will cover the Asia-Pacific region and will provide a single channel for clients looking to launch ETFs within the region. It will offer integrated solutions for ETF issuers, combining market-making, seed capital, administration, custody and accounting. Citi ETF Services in Asia Pacific will be co-headed by Bob Simon and Jeff McCarthy. Simon is currently programmetrading head for Citi Global Markets, Hong Kong, and McCarthy is currently global head of ETF products for the securities and fund services business, based in New York. Both will maintain these existing roles and will jointly report to David Russell, head of securities and fund services for Citi in Asia Pacific, and Richard Heyes, head of Pan-Asia equities.

Christian Pellis, a managing board member, has told the Börsen-Zeitung that LGT Capital Management will be setting up distribution in the United Kingdom and Singapore by the end of September. In Germany, where LGT AM has been present for a year, assets total EUR304m, and the business has had EUR147 in net inflows since 1 January 2011.

The Government Pension Fund - Global returned 0.3 percent, or 4 billion kroner, in the second quarter of 2011 after rising bond prices outweighed a slump in large parts of the stock markets.The fund’s equity holdings returned -0.7 percent in the quarter, while fixed-income investments returned 1.8 percent, as measured in international currency. The overall return was 0.1 percentage point lower than the return on the fund’s benchmark indices. The market value of the fund rose 9 billion kroner to 3,111 billion kroner in the quarter. The fund returned 4 billion kroner in the period and had 53 billion kroner in capital inflows from the government. The krone strengthened against several of the currencies the fund invests in, reducing the market value by 48 billion kroner.The fund held 60.5 percent in equities, 39.4 percent in fixed-income securities and 0.1 percent in real estate at the end of the quarter.

According to the website ifaonline, Deborah Fuhr, who has recently left BlackRock, will be joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, as head of the Global Delta One strategy, which includes ETFs as its primary vehicle. Fuhr will report to Piers Butler, head of the EMEA Global Equity, Macro and Events group, and may begin in her new role in September.

The Austrian Marius Dorfmeister has been serving since 1 August as head of international wholesale and institutional operations at the Swiss bank Sarasin. In this position he reports to Aris Prepoudis, head of the Institutional Clients & Wholesale unit, who has also been serving in the interim in the role now delegated to Dorfmeister, who had previously been at Falcon Private Bank in Zurich and Vienna.Markets in Benelux, Italy, Scandinavia and central and eastern Europe, and operations in Asia and the Middle East will all be included in the International Institutional and Wholesale unit, which will be led by Dorfmeister. In Vienna, Alexandra Lang became head of institutional and wholesale clients for Austria and central Europe on 1 July 2011.Operations serving institutional clients of the Sarasin group as of the end of June had assets under management of CHF28.2bn, with net inflows of CHF1.9bn in first quarter.

Clariden Leu, an affiliate of Credit Suisse, posted net inflows of CHF3.3bn in first quarter 2011, for an annualised growth rate of 7%. Net profits totalled CHF155m, a strong increase compared with the CHF102m posted in the equivalent period last year, according to a statement released on 15 August.Despite strong net inflows, assets under management as of the end of June totalled CHF94bn, compared with CHF99bn as of the end of first quarter 2010, due to the rising value of the Swiss franc and market volatility.

The French financial market regulator, the Autortié des marchés financiers (AMF), on 12 August issued a statement warning the public against the activities of the Victory Suisse company, whose official headquarters are in Bernex, Switzerland. The firm offers retail investors investments which promise high returns of 6% to 8% per month, with a capital guarantee. The AMF notes that the Victory Suisse company and its distribution network, Victory Invest, and the other companies of the group, Sofinex, S.F. Vectory Consulting, S.F. Vectory Investment and Vectory France, are not licensed to provide investment services or financial investment advising in France, nor are they qualified to provide banking or financial services. As a result, the AMF recommends that investors not respond to solicitations for investments from any of these companies, and not to redistribute those solicitations to third parties in any form whatsoever.

The European Commission on 12 August welcomes the move to bar short-selling of financial sector shares undertaken by four euro zone countries (see Newsmanagers of 12 August), but stated that a European framework would be better adapted to managing such cases. “The European Commission … welcomes recent developments warmly. However, our policy would be even more effective and coordinated if we were to set up a European frameowrk to govern short-selling,” Chantal Hughes, spokesperson for the Commission, said in a press conference. Germany, for its part, on Friday announced that it was planning to propose an extension to the ban on naked short positions to all of Europe for equities, government bonds, and credit default swaps (CDS). According to a spokesperson for the German finance minister, Germany supports the similar measures which have been in effect since Friday in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, and adds that such a ban is the only way to confront “destructive speculation.” The British market authorities have stated that they have no current plans to forbid short-selling in the United Kingdom. The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) is not planning to extend the ban to short-selling in other European countries, but has not ruled out such a move completely, its president, Steven Majoor, has told Reuters.

nabInvest (AUD51bn in assets), the asset management affiliate of National Australian Bank (NAB), has acquired Aviva Investors Australia (AUD5.5bn) for an undisclosed amount. The transaction does not include the direct real estate activities of Aviva Investors Australia, nor any resources not directly related to the activities of the group in Australia.Aviva Investors is now planning to concentrate the development of its presence in Asia-Pacific in Singapore.

The French Banking Federation (FBF) has become the next body to respond to rumours that triggered an unprecedented tailspin for French banking sector shares last week. The professional association announced in a statement on 12 August that French banks may file lawsuits in reaction to the rumours, which are vigorously denied by Société Générale and BNP Paribas. “In light of the unfounded rumours that have persistently been circulating on the markets, French banks are examining all types of recourse at their disposal, including legal means,” the FBF says in a statement, which also welcomes the decision of the AMF to forbid short-selling of financial sector shares listed in France for a period of 15 days.

In a public letter published in the New York Times on Monday, the billionaire investor Warren Buffett has called on the “super committee” of the US Congress charged with finding means to reduce the national deficit, to increase taxes on households which earn over USD1m per year. “My friends and I have been pampered for a long time by a Congress which defends the cause of billionaires,” he writes. “The time has come for the government to get serious about sharing the sacrifices.”

The Canadian financial services firm Power Corp will acquire a 10% stake in the asset management firm China AMC, in which CITIC Securities had held a 100% stake, in violation of Chinese legislation which forbids foreign shareholders from controlling more than 49% in a local asset management firm, for CNY1.78bn, or USD280m, which according to Z-Ben Advisors corresponds to 8% of assets under management by the business. As of the end of June, assets at China AMC totalled CNY221.5bn, representing a 9.5% share of the Chinese market.Once the deal is approved by the Chinese regulatory authority, the CSRC, China AMC will legally become a joint venture, as Shandong Rural Economy Development & Investment Company has already acquired a 10% stake in the management firm for USD250m (CNY1.6bn), and South Industry Asset Management Company has acquired an 11% stake in the business for USD275m, or CNY1.76bn. Z-Ben Advisors reports that two other 10% stakes in China AMC will be sold off in the near future, probably to Chinese government-controlled companies.

Joseph “Skip” Skowron, a former hedge fund manager at FrontPoint Partners, on Monday pleaded guilty before a criminal tribunal to charges that he used inside information provided to him by the French doctor Yves Benhamou to make investments for six health sector funds from FrontPoint in January 2008, which allowed him to avoid millions of dollars in trading losses, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The US market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has launched an investigation into the calculation methods used by the financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) for their decision to lower the solvency rating for the United States, the Wall Street Journel reports on 13 August. According to the newspaper, citing sources familiar with the matter, the SEC has launched a vast investigation of practices at the ratings agency, including the methods used in the decision to withdraw the United States’ AAA rating on 5 August. Investigators from the regulatory authority are studying the models used for the calculations, which are contested by the US Treasury, which claims that there was a Usd2trn error in the budgetary projections by S&P, the newspaper explains. Investigators are also seeking to determine which employees at the agency were aware of the decision ahead of its announcement, in order to determine if any insider trading took place, the Wall Street Journal continues.

HSBC Singapore has appointed Paul Arrowsmith as head of retail banking and wealth management in Singapore, Wealthbriefing reports. In his new role, Arrowsmith will be in charge of all activities related to wealth management, including insurance and asset management. He will report to Alex Hungate, general group manager and chief executive for Singapore.

In July, Spanish securities funds underwent their fifth consecutive month of net outflows, with EUR570m, compared with EUR1.19bn in June, statistics from the Inverco association of asset management firms reveal. Assets as of 31 July totalled EUR132.15bn, 0.9%, or EUR1.19bn less than at the end of June. Assets totalled EUR138.08bn as of the end of December 2010.The seven largest asset managers in the country by asset volumes all saw net outflows last month, with the three largest seeing the heaviest outflows. Santander Assset Management (EUR22.63bn in assets under management) underwent outflows of EUR262.55m, while BBVA Asset Management (EUR20.54bn) posted outflows of EUR176.36m, and Invercaixa Gestión (EUR1618) faced outflows of EUR105.61m.However, the eighth-largest by asset volumes, Bansabadell Inversion (EUR4.49bn), saw net subscriptions of EUR76m.

Durant la seule semaine au 10 août, une période particulièrement agitée en raison de la perte de son triple A par les Etats-Unis, de rumeurs diverses et variées, de données macro-économiques décevantes et de la persistance de très fortes tensions sur le marché de la dette européenne, les transactions sur les fonds ont été marquées par une explosion des rachats dans la plupart des catégories, selon les estimations communiquées par EPFR Global.Les fonds actions ont ainsi subi une décollecte nette de 26,1 milliards de dollars, un niveau jamais vu depuis la fin du deuxième trimestre 2008. Et la théorie du découplage qui veut que les marchés émergents ne sont plus liés au destin des marchés développés, a été démentie par les chiffres. Les fonds actions dédiés aux marchés émergents ont subi des rachats nets de 7 milliards de dollars durant la semaine au 10 août, la plus importante jamais vue depuis début 2008. Même tendance du côté des fonds obligataires avec des sorties nettes de 10,4 milliards de dollars. Les seuls fonds obligataires à haut rendement ont représenté les deux tiers de cette décollecte malgré des taux de défaut encore relativement faible et l’engagement de la Réserve fédérale à maintenir les taux à un bas niveau pendant encore deux ans. Les fonds obligataires internationaux et européens ont enregistré des rachats nets de plus de 1 milliard de dollars. En revanche, les fonds monétaires, dont l’hémorragie s'était poursuivie la semaine précédente, ont attiré une collecte nette record de 49,8 milliards de dollars durant la semaine au 10 août.Autres bénéficiaires des turbulences estivales, les fonds de matières premières et tout particulièrement les fonds spécialisés sur l’or et les métaux précieux qui, depuis début juillet, ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de plus de 9 milliards de dollars. Une évolution toutefois tempérée par des rachats sur les fonds de matières premières industrielles.

Selon le portail d’information Ifaonline, Deborah Fuhr, qui a récemment quitté BlackRock, va rejoindre Bank of America Merrill Lynch à Londres en qualité de responsable de la stratégie Global Delta One, qui inclut les ETF, son cheval de bataille.Elle sera rattachée à Piers Butler, responsable du groupe «EMEA Global Equity, Macro and Events» et pourrait prendre ses fonctions en septembre.

En juin, les fonds européens ont accusé des rachats nets pour 25,2 milliards d’euros, alors qu’ils avaient enregistré des souscriptions nettes pour 24,1 milliards d’euros en mai, selon les dernières statistiques de Lipper. Hors fonds monétaires, le secteur affiche néanmoins un solde positif, de 640 millions d’euros, dopé par la collecte des ETF (à hauteur de 2 milliards d’euros). Sur le mois, les investisseurs sont sortis des fonds actions (-3,3 milliards d’euros hors ETF), explique Lipper. Dans le même temps, les fonds obligataires ont enregistré leur plus faible niveau de collecte depuis quatre mois (3,8 milliards d’euros). Les fonds obligataires à haut rendement, l’une des catégories qui avaient eu le plus de succès en 2011, sont passés dans le rouge (-3,6 milliards d’euros). Les fonds marchés émergents, en revanche, tirent leur épingle du jeu, tant du côté des fonds actions (2,1 milliards) que de celui des fonds obligataires (3 milliards). Dans ce contexte, Franklin Templeton et Allianz/Pimco ont été les deux sociétés ayant enregistré les plus fortes souscriptions nettes en juin, avec respectivement 3,2 miliards d’euros et 1,8 milliard. BlackRock a été pour sa part la société ayant vendu le plus de fonds actions (860 millions d’euros). Sur les six premiers mois de l’année, les souscriptions aux fonds actions vendus en Europe, de 30,5 milliards d’euros, ont été quasiment similaires à celles enregistrées sur la période correspondante de l’an dernier (28,5 milliards). Le vrai changement s’est opéré du côté des fonds obligataires et diversifiés, où les souscriptions ont chuté, revenant de 72,2 milliards d’euros à 26,4 milliards pour les premiers et de 39,4 milliards à 18,5 milliards pour les seconds. La collecte des fonds à rendement absolu a aussi fondu, de 17,4 milliards d’euros à 10,8 milliards. Au total, hors fonds monétaires, les souscriptions nettes ont baissé de 49 % sur un an à 90,7 milliards d’euros.

L’indice CAC 40 a clôturé hier sur un gain de 0,78% à 3.239,06 points, reprenant 7,86% en trois séances, dans des volumes limités à 82% de leur moyenne des trois derniers mois avec 2,4 milliards d’euros échangés hier. Le Crédit Agricole a signé la plus forte hausse de l’indice avec un gain de 3,31%, Axa s’octroyant 2,98%, la Société Générale 2,06% et BNP Paribas 0,81%.

L’Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique souhaite mener pendant trois ans des contrôles de sécurité sur 10% des réacteurs nucléaires dans le monde, dans le cadre d’un plan d’action destiné à prévenir de nouveaux accidents, selon un document de l’agence que s’est procuré Reuters. Une série de mesures dans dix domaines distincts est prévue afin d’améliorer la sécurité nucléaire, cinq mois après l’accident de Fukushima au Japon, tout en soulignant que la sécurité nucléaire relève avant tout de la responsabilité de chaque pays.

Le gouvernement s’est engagé à plafonner les nouvelles émissions de dette à environ 44.000 milliards de yens lors de l’exercice 2012-2013, qui débute le 1er avril. Les dépenses publiques, hors coût de la dette, seront limitées à 71.000 milliards de yens lors des trois prochains exercices. Ces objectifs n’incluent pas la dette émise pour financer les 10.000 milliards de yens nécessaires à la reconstruction des régions dévastées par le séisme. Le montant de la dette nouvellement émise représente déjà près de 40% du budget annuel. Tokyo a abaissé sa prévision de croissance pour l’exercice en cours à 0,5%, contre 1,5% initialement, mais prévoit une croissance comprise entre 2,7 et 2,9% lors du prochain exercice.

Il est plus important de réduire le déficit public espagnol que de relancer la croissance de l'économie du pays, a estimé vendredi la ministre de l’Economie Elena Salgado. «Plus important que la décélération de l'économie, nous allons poursuivre nos réformes et atteindre les objectifs de déficit budgétaire», a déclaré la ministre lors d’un entretien téléphonique avec Reuters.

Le plus important fonds de pension grec, Ika-Etam, a débusqué 1.473 «retraités fantômes» qui touchent une pension bien qu’ils soient officiellement déclarés décédés. Une fraude qui coûte environ 2 millions d’euros par mois à la collectivité. L’enquête sur ces retraités fantômes a été lancée par le gouvernement socialiste, soucieux de maîtriser un déficit public incontrôlé, afin de s’attaquer aux fraudes fiscales dans le pays.

Le risque de voir les Etats-Unis replonger en récession ont augmenté ces deux derniers mois, mais une contraction effective devrait vraisemblablement être évitée, a estimé hier Dennis Lockhart, président de la Réserve fédérale d’Atlanta. Selon ce dernier, la Fed dispose de quantité de moyens d’intervention si la situation devait se détériorer, dont une hausse des achats d’actifs. «Les événemens des dernières semaines viennent nous rappeler que des circonstances nécessitant des mesures de relance supplémentaires peuvent rapidement surgir», a-t-il dit.

L’agence a placé la note «BBB+» du pays sous surveillance avec implication négative, ouvrant la porte à une possible dégradation à l’issue de sa revue des projets économiques du gouvernement minoritaire au pouvoir. «En raison du départ d’un parti de la coalition, le Diko, le gouvernement chypriote est selon nous dans une situation plus fragile pour faire adopter des mesures budgétaires d’urgence au parlement», écrit S&P.