p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Chinese management firm Harvest Global Investment (HGI), in which Deutsche Asset Management (Asia) owns a 30% stake, has signed an outsourcing deal with State Street, Asian Investor reports. By the terms of the agreement, State Street will provide middle office services, which will allow HGI to reduce its costs. This is the first time that State Street has won a mandate of this type from a Chinese management firm.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For its institutional real estate fund WestInvest TargetSelect Hotels, Deka Immobilien has acquired the Atlantic Congress Hotel in Essen from Zech Group GmbH. The sale price has not been disclosed. The property is a four-story hotel with 248 rooms and measuring 18,000 square metres.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Hedge Fund.net, the hedge fund industry in October posted the highest net subscriptions since November 2009, as investors regained confidence in signs of economic stabilisation and strong increases on the markets, The Wall Street Journal reports. These net subscriptions totalled USD18.4bn, compared with USD12.2bn in September, USD6.73bn in August, USD7.72bn in July, and net redemptions of USD2.54bn in June.Average performance was 2.23% for October, bringing the total for the first ten months of the year to 7.42%. Assets as of the end of October totalled USD2.41trn, including USD52.7bn in market effects and USD18.4bn in net subscriptions.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are flocking to ETFs specialised in precious metals, and assets in the SPDR Gold Shares fund from State Street total nearly USD60bn, The Wall Street Journal reports, adding that the fund owns more gold than all the central banks in the world save five. The iShares Gold Trust (BlackRock), with USD4.8bn, has gained a lot of assets since it split its shares on a 10-to-1 basis, which appears to prove that retail investors are flocking to the previous metals ETF segment at a time when there is a major risk of a correction.The iShares Silver Trust, for its part, has seen a 15% increase in the number of shares since 1 September, and has USD9.6bn in assets. Among the other ETFs with less than USD1bn in assets are the ETFS Physical Gold Shares from ETF Securities and the Sprott Physical Gold Trust. For silver, there are also the ETFS Silver Trust and the Powershares DB Silver Shares (Invesco).The ETFS Physical Platinum Shares and Physical Palladium Shares were launched this year, and made a very good start in terms of inflows.

Calpers has signed an agreement to license proprietary portfolio management software from Ermitage – one of Europe’s oldest quantitative hedge fund managers, according to the Financial Times. The pension fund is now going to roll out the trading software, known as Optics, across its long-only and absolute return portfolios.

The California pension fund CalPERS on 15 November announced that it has adopted a new strategy of engagement with underperforming businesses. Rather than publicly denounce them in its “Focus List,” as it has done each spring for 20 years, CalPERS will now make direct contact with firms, and propose resolutions at general shareholders’ meetings.The change is inspired by the observation that name and shame tactics, though still effective a few years ago, no longer bring the desired results. According to a study by Wilshire Consulting of 155 businesses between 1999 and 2008, the 96 firms which were not on the Focus List but which were closely monitored by CalPERS instead far outperformed the 59 businesses which were placed on the Focus List for five-year periods.At its 2011 general shareholders’ meetings, CalPERS will deploy a new selection process, based on financial and extra-financial criteria, which will aim to propose resolutions at firms which had previously been consigned to the Focus List.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the first nine months of the year, MLP posted net profits of EUR12.5m, compared with losses of EUR2.3m the previous year, while profits for continued operations increased from EUR11.7m to EUR17m, on earnings of EUR348.8m compared with EUR345.3m. In third quarter, net profits totalled EUR6.8m, compared with EUR4.6m for the corresponding period of last year. Due to net subscriptions from retail and institutional investors, and to positive market effects, assets at MLP as of 30 September totalled a new record of EUR19.3bn, compared with EUR18.7bn as of 30 June, and EUR12.5bn one year previously. The number of clients as of the end of September totalled 771,000, compared with 767,000 as of the end of June, and 781,000 one year previously. The number of client advisers fell to 2,317 as of the end of September, from 2,359 as of the end of June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2009, the French financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), granted only 25 licenses to management firms, compared with 50 in 2008, a decline of 50%. In the same period, 29 licenses were cancelled. This represents a 71% increase year on year, which is due partially to difficult market conditions, and partly to a consolidation in the profession. As a result, the number of active asset management firms has fallen slightly to 567 as of 31 December 2009, the AMF reports in its report on asset management for third parties in 2009, published on Monday. This level remains high, the AMF says. This development did not prevent assets from increasing, as, following a decline in 2008, they increased by 12% both for mandated and collective management, to EUR2.533trn. This increase in assets did not directly result in an increase in earnings at portfolio management firms (-8%), as the sector was penalised by unfavourable declines in assets in second half 2008 and a product mix oriented to more prudent but less lucrative strategies, the AMF reports. After heavy declines in 2008 (-34.5%), operating results at portfolio management firms remained stable in 2009, at EUR2.2bn. Operating margins recovered, from 18% in 2008 to 20% in 2009, but nonetheless remain well below their peaks in 2006 (25%). In 2009, the number of management firms to have posted operating losses remains high, at 123 (23% of the total), compared with 137 firms in 2008, while entrepreneurial management firms represent the largest number of firms to have posted operating losses.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German-Austrian management firm C-Quadrat, in which AmpegaGerling Asset Management last month acquired a 32.6% stake (see Newsmanagers of 14 October), has announced net profits for the first nine months of the year of EUR9.3m, compared with EUR3m in the corresponding period of last year. In the period under review, assets in funds increased from EUR2.66bn to EUR3.04bn, while assets under management overall increased to EUR4.86bn from EUR4.51bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On Tuesday, 16 November, Barclays France launched Bmarkets, the listed structured products platform from Barclays Capital. About 200 certificates are on offer to French private investors on Euronext Paris, including 100% Open-End certificates and leveraged certificates known as Turbos Infinis. The certificates are based on a wide range of underlying assets, including CAC 30, French large caps, European and American shares, international indices. Barclays will also offer stock-picking based on specific themes, sectors or regions via exclusive indices. The first available series, the Chips indices (a reference to “blue chips”), aim to provide access to selections of quality shares (China Chips, Euro Chips, Green Chips, etc). As investors are tending to avoid more complex products, Bmarkets does not aim to revolutionise the product range for structured products, but merely to offer investors solutions which will allow them to imagine and deploy their strategies. ‘The current situation does not lend itself to fantasy or to experimentation. Bmarkets aims to simplify investors’ lives as much as possible,” explained Estelle Elbaz, head of the Euronext-listed structured products at Barclays Capital, at a press conference on 15 November. With this in mind, Bmarkets offers several informational resources for pedagogical purposes, a quarterly magazine, SimpliCity, a weekly newsletter, SimplyFi, and video and radio programs. The objective of Bmarkets in France is to gradually enrich the product offerings to achieve about 1,000 products during the year 2011. Bmarkets, created in 2009, is now active in several European countries, including Germany, where it has over 4,000 products, and where it is aiming for 20,000 by the second half of 2011, and in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore). The next steps are Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in Europe, and China and India in Asia.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco Ltd and Morgan Stanley announced at the end of last week that the 30.89 million ordinary shares being placed on the market by an affiliate of Morgan Stanley (see Newsmanagers of 12 November) will be offered as part of a secondary placement at USD21.48 each, which will bring in revenues for the vendor of USD664m. On Friday, the closing price of the shares was USD22.13, down 1.43% from the previous day.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pershing, an affiliate of BNY Mellon, has announced its acquisition of the custody and clearance activities of Jeffereies & Company. The sale price has not been disclosed. By the terms of the agreement, Jefferies will gradually transfer its broker-dealer clients to Pershing, which will offer them its full range of services.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that Axa Investment Managers has launched a Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond fund, aimed at the British retail market, which aims to reduce its sensitivity to interest rates. The launch of the product closely follows the launch of the US Short Duration High Yield fund, aimed at institutional investors, which was in great demand from discretionary managers and funds of funds. The new fund, managed by Julie Lamirel, invests in investment grade corporate bonds which will mature less than five years after their acquisition date. The fund hopes thus to reduce the potential impact of potential increases to the interest rate by the Bank of England.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fundstrategy reports that a survey by Fidelity FundsNetwork of major management firms finds that 32% of them estimate that the FSA will be required to delay the deployment of the new RDR regulations for retail investment markets, beyond the planned date of 31 December 2012. However, they all predict that it will be effectively put into force. 32% of management firms surveyed estimate that the RDR will undertake a reduction of the size of platforms, while 37% think the opposite, and 26% are predicting a continuation of the status quo.

EuroPerformance-SIX Telekurs fait état d’une collecte encore négative (de 2,58 milliards d’euros) mais dans des proportions moindres qu'en septembre

Tandis que l'indice iTraxx Crossover s'est tendu de 26 pb la semaine passée, Doux SA a dû reporter une émission de 400 millions d'euros

Après la Thaïlande, la Corée du Sud et l’Indonésie songent à mettre en place une taxe sur les obligations détenues par les non-résidents

Le métal jaune n’est pas seulement un actif « refuge » en cas de crise, mais joue un rôle clé de protection à long terme contre l’inflation

Le gouvernement de Dubai aurait pris la main sur le plan de restructuration de Dubai Holding, le groupe d’investissements financiers et immobiliers de la région, en injectant quelque 2 milliards de dollars dans le groupe qui possède 12 milliards de dettes, selon le quotidien qui cite des propos de Mohammed al-Shaibani.

La nouvelle vice-présidente de la Réserve fédérale américaine a insisté, dans un entretien accordé au quotidien, sur le fait que la banque centrale n’avait aucunement pour intention d’affaiblir le dollar ou de raviver les tensions inflationnistes aux Etats-Unis. Le programme de «quantitative easing» est justifié, selon Janet Yellen, par le fait que les Etats-Unis connaissent à la fois une inflation très faible et un taux de chômage élevé, à 9,6%. La politique de la Fed est soumise à vives critiques internes, les républicains exerçant des pressions pour que Ben Bernanke abandonne son programme de rachat de 600 milliards de dollars d’obligations d’Etat.

Après la révision par Eurostat des déficits 2006 à 2009, le chiffre de 2010 devrait atteindre 9,4 % du PIB cette année au lieu des 7,8 % promis

La banque sud-coréenne offrirait jusque 3,1 milliards d’euros pour les 51% détenus par le fonds texan, mettant en péril la candidature d’ANZ

Les différentes possibilités d'aide à Dublin seront débattues ce jour par l'Eurogroupe

Après ceux de Nyse Euronext et TradingScreen, le projet de MTS pour le marché secondaire a été jugé conforme aux attentes de la Place

La situation irlandaise et l'utilisation des différents leviers dont l'Europe dispose seront au centre de la réunion de l'Eurogroupe ce soir

Le pôle immobilier du gestionnaire de fonds a obtenu auprès d’Aaeral Bank un crédit de 109 millions d’euros destiné à refinancer quatre actifs logés au sein de son premier fonds hôtelier. Ce dernier est presque totalement investi, avec plus de 655 millions d’euros d’actifs sous gestion. Invesco Real Estate a par ailleurs annoncé son intention de lancer un deuxième fonds début 2011.

Dès aujourd’hui, la banque britannique propose aux investisseurs privés français près de 200 certificats sans maturité qui peuvent, soit répliquer le cours de leur sous-jacent, soit démultiplier les performances d’un actif. La liste de sous-jacents est large et inclut le CAC40, les grandes sociétés françaises et étrangères, les devises ou encore les matières premières. Bmarkets espère porter son offre à 1.000 certificats en 2011.

La société de capital investissement a cédé Sophis, un éditeur de logiciels de gestion des risques sur les marchés financiers, à Misys pour une valeur de fonds propres de 273 millions d’euros. La valeur d’entreprise de la cible atteint 435 millions d’euros. La finalisation de la transaction est attendue d’ici la fin du mois de février 2011.

Selon le site internet des Echos, le déficit budgétaire pour l’année en cours devrait s’établir à 149,7 milliards d’euros, au lieu des 152 milliards prévus en septembre. Le collectif budgétaire est examiné demain en Conseil des ministres.

La Grèce a confirmé qu’elle tiendrait son engagement de ramener le déficit budgétaire en-dessous de la barre des 3% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) en 2014, conformément aux exigences de l’Union Européenne, en dépit d’une révision à la hausse du chiffre de l’an dernier à 15,4% du PIB par Eurostat contre une estimation initiale de sa part de 13,6% et une projection de 13,8% du gouvernement grec. Le déficit budgétaire grec atteindra cependant 9,4% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) en 2010, a annoncé le ministère des Finances, au lieu des 7,8% prévus il y a encore un mois. La dette de la Grèce devrait elle gonfler pour atteindre 144% du PIB cette année contre 126,8 % du PIB en 2009. Par ailleurs, le Premier ministre grec George Papandréou a accusé l’Allemagne de faire courir à certains pays de la zone euro un risque de faillite en raison de sa position instransigeante sur la dette.