P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors at State Street Corporation has authorised the launch of a new ordinary share repurchase programme, for a maximum of USD2.1bn, by 31 March 2014.On 21 February, the firm announced that it is paying a dividend of 26 cents per ordinary share, payable on 12 April to shareholders registered on 1 April. This is higher than the dividend of 24 cents paid on 15 January.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carmignac Gestion on Tuesday, 19 March announced the arrival of Ivan Monème as head of communication. Monème will report to Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO, and is also a member of the strategic development committee at the asset management firm.Monème previously spent 12 years at Fidelity Investment Managers, where he successively served as head of institutional communication for France, and executive director responsible for institutional communication for Central Europe and Marketing for France.

On a visit to Frankfurt on Tuesday, Zeno Staub, chairman of the board at the Swiss private bank Vontobel, announced that Germany is the only European market outside Switzerland where he can imagine making external growth operations, even though this is not a priority, Handelsblatt reports.Georg Schubinger, head of wealth management, for his part, says that Vontobel is taking advantage of the opportune moment as its competitors are weak, recruiting advisers and attracting their clients.At the end of 2012, Vontobel had CHF7bn in assets under management from Germany, while the group’s total stood at CHF98bn.Staub admits, however, that Vontobel is not profitable in Germany. Nonetheless, this does not concern the German market in the strict sense, as the group in fact serves German clients in Switzerland.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Austrian-German asset management firm C-Quadrat on 19 March announced that its Viennese affiliate Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH has signed a cooperation agreement with Lion Global Investors (LGI), itself an asset management affiliate of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). LGI had about USD25.5bn in assets under management as of the end of December.The agreement gives APM exclusive rights to distribution in continental Europe (excluding France) for LGI funds licensed for sale in Europe. The OCBC affiliate is particularly well-known for its Asian Dividends and Asian Credits funds.In reality, the new cooperation agreement is an extension of an existing collaboration, as LGI exclusively manages the APM Asian Quality Bond Fund. There are also plans to launch an Asian Quality Stocks fund in the near future.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are increasingly confident in the outlooks for the US dollar and US equities, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for March undertaken between 8 and 14 March. An overall total of 254 panelists with US$691 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 8 March to 14 March.A net 72 percent of respondents now expect the U.S. currency to appreciate over the next year, a 30-point increase in a month. Bearishness on U.S. stocks has also reversed. A net 5 percent identify the U.S. as the regional market it most wishes to overweight, compared to January’s net 19 percent underweight. The U.S. also offers the best outlook of any region for corporate profits by far, investors believe.Against this background, investors remain positive on the global economy’s recovery and continue to increase exposure to equity markets. A net 61 percent expects macroeconomic performance around the world to strengthen over the next year, a slight increase on last month’s reading. A net 57 percent of asset allocators are now overweight equities, up from a net 51 percent in the two previous months.This positive stance offsets a gloomier view of China. Only a net 14 percent of regional investors now expect the Chinese economy to be stronger in a year’s time. This represents one of the sharpest falls in this reading in the survey’s history. Significantly increased fears of a hard landing in China are reflected in a shift out of emerging market equities and into developed markets (mainly the U.S. and Japan).“Relative U.S. economic outperformance on the back of the housing market’s ongoing improvement and the energy independence story will lead a secular uptrend in the dollar. U.S. equities’ leadership in the ‘Great Rotation’ suggests developed market equities are the likeliest winner in this scenario,” Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, said.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former head of the Bank of China, Xiao Gang, has been appointed to take over at the helm of the Chinese market regulatory authority, the CSRC, following the departure of Guo Shuqing, who has been appointed to other duties. Asian Investor reports that Xiao is expected to continue reforms begun by his predecessor. In the few days preceding his departure, Guo published no less than nine documents, including consultations and new regulations. In other words, the new director of the CSRC will initially have to address a number of projects which are already well underway, before making his mark. Though his predecessor was viewed as a reformer, Xiao is considered more conservative. He is particularly critical of shadow banking in China, and last year published an article on the proceeds of wealth management, likening them to a vast Ponzi scheme. However, it appears that reforms will continue. A consultation opened until 13 April stipulates a liberalisation fo the programme for Chinese qualified institutional investors (QDII). This would offer new opportunities for growth on the Chinese market for foreign asset management firms.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 31 March, Andrew Kewek, the current CEO for Singapore at Deutsche Asset Management and director of sales for DWS Asia will be leaving his job. The departure follows the union of asset management activities into a new asset and wealth management (AWM) unit at Deutsche Bank, Asian Investor reports. Kewek will not be directly replaced, as the responsibilities of various positions will be redefined.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Patrick O’Donnell from BNP Paribas Investment Partners as director of consultant relations for Asia ex-Japan. O’Donnell is based in Hong Kong. His role is to cultivate relationships with consultants in the region, and to ensure that the product range corresponds to the needs of institutionals, Asian Investor reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Of 13 hedge fund strategies regularly monitored by the Edhec-Risk Institute, three (CTA global, global macro and dedicated short bias) have posted losses in February, of 0.97%, 0.19% and 0.28%, respectively. However, in the first two months of the year, only dedicated short bias shows losses, of -4.8%.The best returns in February were for distressed securities (0.66%) and bond arbitrage (0.62%). In January-February, equity long/short has gained an average of 3.5%, putting it ahead of distressed securities (2.9%) and event-driven, as well as relative value, which both gained 2.6%.Edhec also reports that since January 2001, the two best-performing strategies have been distressed securities and emerging markets, with average annual gains of 10.5% and 10.3%, respectively. However, dedicated short bias is the only strategy to show a loss, of 1.2% per year.Lastly, of 13 strategies, only one has a Sharpe ratio of over 1: distressed securities, at 1.06.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RobecoSAM, which calculates the Dow Jones Sustainability indices (DISI) with S&P Dow Jones Indices, has announced that it will now ask publicly-traded businesses the same questions about climate change as those developed over the past decade by CDP, the provider of the only global environmental information system, and the annual Climate Disclosure and Climate Performance Leadership Indexes (CDLI & CPLI).The partnership will improve comparability of sustainable development data on the global market, while simplifying the job for businesses required to respond to multiple questionnaires requesting environmental information.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net profits at the wealth management firm Partners Group totalled CHF266m, up 25% compared with the previous year. The board of directors is proposing to pay an increased dividend of CHF6.25 per share, compared with CHF5.50, according to a statement released on 19 March.The firm has also confirmed previously released figures concerning the evolution of assets under management. Inflows totalled CHF4.9bn, compared with CHF4.2bn in 2011, and assets under management as of the end of December totalled CHF28.6bn.The firm has also confirmed its inflow objectives, in a range of EUR4bn to EUR6bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management is launching a range of five funds of funds, which will be led by Tony Lanning, former director of multi-asset at Henderson, who is joining the firm in May. He will replace Jonathan Shelon. The new range will be known as Fusion, and will offer products whose names reflect various risk profiles (income, conservative, balanced, growth and growth plus), Fundweb states.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Royal London on 19 March announced that it is acquiring the asset management and insurance activities of The Co-operative Banking Group for a total of about GBP220m.Assets under management at The Co-operative Asset Management (TCAM) total over GBP19bn. Assets under management at Royal London Asset Management will total about GBP70bn after the merger of TCAM into Royal London AM.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of risk at F&C Asset Management, Eric Mackay, has left the firm to join TT International, an equity management firm, as head of compliance, according to reports in Financial News. His departure follows several others from F&C AM, at a time when the firm is cutting its costs.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds on sale in Norway have for the first time topped NOK600bn in assets under management (EUR80bn), according to statistics from the Norwegian fund association Verdipapirfondenes forening (VFF). The industry recorded net inflows of NOK8bn in February, of which NOK5.7bn went to bond funds, and NOK2.6bn to equity and balanced funds. Institutional investors were the most active, with net inflows of NOK6.3bn in February, of which NOK4.9bn went to bond funds. Retail investors contributed NOK1.1bn.

Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) on 19 March announced that it has admitted the Lyxor ETF MTS Spain Government Bond All Maturity index, an ETF based on Spanish government debt, which the Société Générale affiliate has had listed on Euronext Paris for the past month (see Newsmanagers of 19 February), to trading.The addition brings the number of ETFs listed in Spain to 70. Trading volume for the first two months of the year have totalled EUR563m in 9,881 transactions. This is equivalent to 70% and 86% more, respectively, than in the corresponding period of 2012.

As part of a new area of activity in the monitoring of over 1,500 investment companies which have disclosed information to it under Dodd-Frank legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently focusing on “exotic” costs, such as travel, entertainment and consulting, which are charged to clients, the Wall Street Journal reports. The regulator is focusing on hedge fund and private equity managers in particular.

IntercontinentalExchange a annoncé la révision de la structure de sa fusion avec Nyse Euronext, officialisée en décembre. ICE prévoit d’acquérir Nyse Euronext par le biais d’une nouvelle holding, ICE Group. Les actions ordinaires d’ICE seront converties en droits d’acquérir un nombre identique d’actions d’ICE Group.

Le président de la commission des finances Philippe Marini a engagé des travaux visant à établir un nouvel indicateur des exils fiscaux. Il demandé aux services de la direction générale des finances publiques d’extraire les données concernant les départs à l’étranger de redevables à l’impôt sur le revenu sur une longue période et de les ventiler par tranche du barème et par pays de destination.

Le régulateur allemand des marchés financiers, la Bafin, s’attend à boucler son enquête sur le comportement de Deutsche Bank dans le scandale du Libor d’ici la fin mars. A ce stade, il n’entend pas rendre ses conclusions publiques et la directrice de l’autorité a refusé de s’exprimer sur le contenu de l’enquête, disant ne pas l’avoir consultée.

La banque américaine convient de verser 100 millions de dollars au courtier en faillite. JPMorgan restituera en outre 29 millions appartenant à MF Global et retenus dans ses comptes et renonce à réclamer 417 millions captés au moment du dépôt de bilan du courtier et par la suite restitués. Le liquidateur James Giddens s’est félicité de pouvoir grâce à cet accord restituer 300 millions supplémentaires aux anciens clients de MF Global.

L'effet de la baisse des taux directeurs a été tempéré par une fracture dans la coalition gouvernementale qui remet en cause le rythme des réformes

L'annonce ce midi de 2,5 milliards de livres d'économies supplémentaires dans le budget 2014 consacrées aux investissements ne devrait pas convaincre

Les parlementaires ont condamné avec force le projet de taxation des dépôts bancaires

Les parlementaires ont condamné avec force le projet de taxation des dépôts bancaires

Les autorités chinoises souhaitent selon le China Securities Journal alléger les exigences concernant les ventes à découvert. L’investisseur ne devrait plus justifier d’une expérience de 18 mais de 6 mois, tandis que le seuil minimum de fonds disponibles serait laissé à l’appréciation de chaque courtier.

Directeur financier du Groupe Humanis, Didier Bonneau a piloté la fusion des portefeuilles de Vauban et Humanis, sans faire appel à un gestionnaire de transition. Le rapprochement prochain avec les groupes Aprionis et Novalis-Taitbout prend le même chemin. Il explique ce choix pour le transfert des actifs gérés du groupe.

L’Etablissement de retraite additionnelle de la fonction publique (ERAFP) va lancer de nouveaux appels d’offres en 2013 : PME cotées françaises, actions et obligations américaines. Il doit aussi annoncer l’attribution du mandat de gestion multi-actifs lancé l’an dernier. Ultérieurement, un autre sera lancé sur les émergents. Pour rappel, L’ERAFP gère les retraites additionnelles des fonctionnaires (4,6 millions de personnes). Ses ressources proviennent des cotisations sur les rémunérations « accessoires » (primes, indemnités, heures supplémentaires, etc.). Il gère actuellement 14 milliards d’euros. Alors que la Cour des comptes a recommandé à l’Etat, le 14 mars, un suivi plus attentif des investissements, Philippe Desfossés demande à « faire évoluer les contraintes réglementaires des investissements de manière plus diversifiée et à trouver une respiration par rapport au Code des marchés publics. Cela nous aiderait à investir plus rapidement dans les marchés en fonction de nos convictions ».

Dans nos actifs de taux, nous détenons environ 10% de titrisations de crédits hypothécaires émis par les banques confie à l’Argus de l’Assurance, Jérôme Grivet, directeur général de Crédit Agricole Assurances. Les obligations sont passées de 80% à 85 % du total. Nous nous sommes désensibilisés de la dette souveraine ou de sociétés financières pour investir dans les obligations de très grandes entreprises. Mais aussi, et c’est nouveau, nous avons étendu le champ à des entreprises qui, ayant moins accès aux marchés, émettent des obligations sous forme de placement privé. Nous avons, avec les caisses régionales et CA CIB, ouvert ce marché inédit en France, avec Bonduelle comme première opération. Nous sommes actifs dans l’immobilier de bureaux qui offre de la sécurité et des rendements, reconnaît Jérôme Grivet, directeur général du Crédit Agricole Assurances. Et d’expliciter pourquoi le marché de l’immobilier résidentiel s’avère peu propice : Depuis plusieurs années, les investisseurs particuliers, incités par les dispositifs d’aide (Robien, Scellier...), ont pris une part importante dans les achats de logements locatifs neufs. Ceci a entretenu un mouvement de hausse des prix. Comme les loyers n’ont pas suivi, le rendement pour l’investisseur est tombé à des niveaux très bas, de l’ordre de 2%, incompatibles avec les contraintes des assureurs. Les assureurs restent intéressés à l’immobilier résidentiel, atteste Jérôme Grivet. Pour peu que l’offre tienne compte de nos contraintes, qui vont se renforcer avec le passage à Solvabilité 2. Nous étudions en ce moment quelques projets spécifiques.

Le président de la commission des finances Philippe Marini a engagé des travaux visant à établir un nouvel indicateur des exils fiscaux. Il demandé aux services de la direction générale des finances publiques d’extraire les données concernant les départs à l’étranger de redevables à l’impôt sur le revenu sur une longue période et de les ventiler par tranche du barème et par pays de destination.