Fidelity is reorganising its activities in Asia. The decision came on Monday, 26 October, with the departure of Arne Lindman, who had served as chairman and CEO for Asia-Pacific. Asian Investor reports that the recent appointment of Mark Talbot as managing director for Asia ex Japan raised questions about potential redundancies. Ultimately the position of CEO for Asia-Pacific has been discontinued by Fidelity, which is seeking to “simplify its structure in the region,” a spokesperson has told Asian Investor.

Driven by ECB policy actions, long-term UCITS-compliant funds in third quarter posted net inflows of EUR51bn, compared with EUR8bn in second quarter, according to statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA). Bond funds finished the quarter with net inflows of EUR50bn, compared with EUR42bn in second quarter. Diversifeid funds, which posted outflows in second quarter, posted subscriptions totalling a net EUR10bn. Equity funds saw further outflows, but totalling only EUR9bn, compared with EUR28bn in second quarter. Money market funds finished third quarter with outflows of EUR31bn, while second quarter brought outflows of only EUR1bn. Overall, UCITS funds posted a net inflows of EUR20bn, compared with EUR7bn in second quarter. Assets in UCITS funds increased by 3.7% in third quarter, to total EUR6.174trn as of the end of September. Bond and equity funds gained 5.6% each in the quarter under review. Diversified funds gained 4.5%, while money market funds contracted by 2.5%. Non-UCITS-compliant assets, for their part, gained 3.3% in third quarter, to a total of EUR2.567trn. Inflows to dedicated funds increased further, by EUR16bn, compared with EUR21bn in second quarter, putting assets in these funds up 4.5%.

Generali has started up a sale process for its wealth management affiliate BSI, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The Italian insurance group has retained JP Morgan Chase and Mediobanca for the process. Among the potential candidates are the private equity investor Apax Partners and the Canadian bank Royal Bank of Canada. The book value of BSI is repoted to be about EUR2.3bn. Assets under management at BSI totalled CHF81.5bn as of the end of June, up more than 5% compared with the end of 2011.

The Italian asset management firm Beni Stabili Sgr and the German group IVG have created a joint venture in Italy, Bluerating reports. The target is to raise EUR100m by next summer for a pan-European real estate fund aimed at Italian institutional investors. As a part of the agreement, Beni Stabili has acquired 5% of capital in IVG Sgr, which will eventually increase to 49%.

Effective from 2 October 2013, DWS Investment GmbH is discontinuing its management retainer for the real estate fund of funds DWS ImmoFlex Vermögensmandat (Gemischtes Sondervermögen), which will be liquidated in April 2015. Shareholders will receive liquidity arising from the sale of properties up to two times per year.The management firm explains that the fund (DE000DWS0N09), launched on 10 August 2008, with assets of EUR96.45m (as of 22 November), was invested in nine German open-ended real estate funds. All of these funds have suspended their redemptions, and eight of them are now in liquidation.Liquidity in the fund as of 31 October was only 11.4%, well below what is needed to reopen a redemption window which has been closed since April 2012.DWS states that from 1 December 2012, it is reducing the TER for the product to 0.1%, from 0.95% currently.

BlackRock has recruited a team to create a unit to invest in the infrastructure market, the Financial Times reports. The unit will be based in London. The asset management firm is seeking to take advantage of the vacuum left behind by banks, which are less inclined to finance larger projects.

The alternative management firm CQS, led by Michael Hintze, has appointed Marc Hotimsky as its chairman, a newly-created position, according to a statement from the firm. As a senior member of the management team, Hotimsky will assist in the development of CQS’ activities in the institutional sphere. Hotimsky assisted Michael Hintze at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB, 1992-2000) in fixed income. He then became head of activities at New Finance Capital, a firm specialised in hedge fund firms, which was acquired by Schroders in 2006. Assets under management at CQS, which launched its first hedge fund in 2000, now total nearly USD12bn. The product range from CQS includes multi-strategy products, convertibles, ABS, mortgage credit, and equities. In the first ten months of the year, the CQS Directional Opportunity Fund has gained 29%, the CQS ABS Fund has gained 14%, and the CQS Diversifeid Fund has gained 9.1%.

Grant Peterkin, co-manager of the Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond fund from Ignis Asset Management, has decided to leave the firm, to pursue other opportunities outside the asset management sector, according to reports in Investment Week. The manager is expected to cease working at Ignis by the end of the year. Peterkin joined Ignis last year, and was co-manager of an absolute return fund launched in March 2011, whose assets under management totalled GBP513.1m. Ignis has announced that there are no plans to replace Peterkin, and the fixed income team will continue with a staff of eight people.

The number of asset management firms created in France fell by more than one quarter in 2011 compared with the previous year. In its report on asset management for third parties in 2011, recently published by the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on its website, the regulator states that 39 licenses were issued to portfolio management firms, of which nine were to end suspensions. The AMF also withdrew no less than 30 licenses in 2011, as in 2010, which is a high number. 28 were cancelled at the request of asset management firms, of which 15 were due to reorganisations by the parent group, while in six more cases, the closure was due to limited or no management activities. Seven cancellations have been announced without an effective date so far, until documents are supplied for the cases, the AMF states. Lastly two cancellations were announced at the initiative of the regulator, including the closure of the asset management firm Fival S A, on 1 December 2011. In terms of trends, 79% of newly-licensed firms are entrepreneurial structures, a level comparable to previous years (75% in 2009 and 79% in 2010). The AMF also notes a decrease in private equity activities. The firms in question accounted for only 13% in 2011, compared with 36% in 2010. This development is partly due to the Basel III and Solvency II directive, which have reduced the permitted exposure to risk by banks, and a reduction in tax breaks for some products (FCPI, FIP). However, the AMF notes, 15% of firms licensed last year are specialised in real estate management, up 20% year on year. Overall, the market regulatory authority counts 599 existing firms as of December 2011, but a part of the study covered 566 firms, “due to 13 firms in the process of closure and/or liquidation, 6 firms closing before 30 June 2011 for the 2011 fiscal year, and 14 firms which have recently received licenses, whose first day of trading was completed only in 2012.”

Lawrence Kemp, who was head of US large-cap growth at UBS, will join BlackRock on December 10, 2012 to head the firm’s fundamental large cap growth team. He is expected to assume leadership of the BlackRock Capital Appreciation, BlackRock Focus Growth and related Fundamental Large Cap Growth portfolios on January 1, 2013. Jeff Lindsey, current head of the team and portfolio manager for the funds will work with Lawrence Kemp on transitioning the portfolios. Jeff Lindsey announced his decision to leave BlackRock, which will be effective on February 28, 2013.

Greek bonds have reached peaks (+150% since May), and the Athens stock market is outperforming the Dax (+24% since the beginning of the year. And the incontestable beneficiaries are hedge funds which have been counting on fat profits ever since the European financial stability facility (EFSF) is supposed to buy up Greek bonds, Die Welt reports. The funds have been massively buying up Greek bonds and equities at clearance prices.Among the asset management firms concerned are Greylock Capital, Third Point, Fir Tree Partners and Appaloosa Management.

Global Custodian reports that Deutsche Bank is planning to recruit for its departments dedicated to recently-created funds, and has announced two appointments: Deborah Thompson, who joined the bank in March 2012, is promoted to global head of sales, and will report to Olivier De Groot.Robert Coates, who had previously worked at Man Investments, becomes head of the sales team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will report to Simon Behan, head of sales for the region.The department for services dedicated to funds at Deutsche Bank includes administrative services, custody and banking services for ETFs, UCITS, hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity funds, or funds investing in real estate properties or other alternative investment instruments.

The German professional software publisher SAP is planning an initial public offering in China in order to be able to take advantage of the financial resources of one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. SAP is already listed in Germany and New York. “We are considering the possibility of a third listing,” a spokesperson fro the group has said, cited by the news agency Reuters. To do that, SAP would need to wait for China to finalise a planned international segment of the Shanghai stock exchange. The group, which would like to invet USD2bn in China by 2015, has set a goal of earnings in the mid-term of USD1bn in China, where software sales have increased 40% in third quarter, making it the group’s sixth-largest market.

Sergi Pallerola, CEO of Trea, is joining the Andorran group Andbank as chief global portfolio officer for the group, Cotizalia reports. He will be responsible for all portfolio management, with a team of 25 people. He will also be part of the board of directors at Andbank.

Wells Fargo Asset Management has increased the number of funds which will be available to Swiss investors, Investment Europe reports. 13 sub-funds are now available in Switzerland.

Fidelity Worldwide Investment is planning to launch an Asia fund, which will come as an addition to the range of Fidelity active strategies (FAST), Money Marketing reports. The new fund is expected to outperform the MSCI Asia-Pacific fund, and use short-selling and leverage to reduce volatility. The FAST range from Fidelity currently includes six strategies, one emerging market fund, one Europe fund, one European Opportunities fund, one Japan fund, one Optimised European market neutral fund and one UK fund.

Les négociations engagées par Chypre en vue d’une aide financière ont progressé mais aucun accord n’a été signé pour l’instant et les pourparlers vont se poursuivre, ont déclaré vendredi les bailleurs de fonds internationaux. «Les discussions devraient continuer entre les sièges respectifs dans le but de progresser encore vers un éventuel programme», ont déclaré dans un communiqué la Commission européenne, la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) et le Fonds monétaire international (FMI). «Les premiers résultats d’un exercice d’inspection approfondie (‘due diligence’) bancaire, attendus dans les prochaines semaines, alimenteront les discussions entre les prêteurs officiels et Chypre sur des solutions de financement compatibles avec la soutenabilité de la dette», ajoutent-ils. Une analyse de la situation des banques chypriotes est attendue d’ici au 3 décembre.

Le président du Conseil européen Herman Van Rompuy devra poursuivre les discussions dans les semaines à venir.

Dylan Grice, membre avec Albert Edwards de l'équipe de stratégistes mondiaux régulièrement primée dans les enquêtes réalisées auprès des investisseurs et connue pour sa vision assez noire des marchés, a annoncé son départ dans une note à ses clients. Il va rejoindre une société d’investissement.

La croissance du produit intérieur brut (PIB) allemand a été de 0,2% en données corrigées des variations saisonnières, après 0,3% au deuxième trimestre, montrent les chiffres définitifs de l’Agence fédérale de la statistique publiés vendredi. Sur un an, la croissance du PIB s'élève à 0,4%. La croissance au troisième trimestre est à mettre au crédit d’une augmentation de 1,4% des exportations, ainsi que d’une hausse de 0,4% des dépenses publiques et de 0,3% la consommation privée. Par ailleurs, l’indice Ifo du climat des affaires outre-Rhin a augmenté en novembre alors qu’il était attendu en baisse pour un septième mois consécutif.

Malgré l’approbation du gouvernement fédéral allemand et du Bundestag, le Bundesrat allemand a rejeté l’accord fiscal signé entre l’Allemagne et la Suisse. Ce texte prévoyait le paiement d’un impôt libératoire par la Suisse pour régulariser les fonds déposés dans ses banques par des citoyens allemands. Des accords similaires ont été ratifiés avec le Royaume-Uni et l’Autriche et des négociations sont en cours avec l’Italie et la Grèce.

Au cours de l’année 2011, 39 nouvelles sociétés de gestion de portefeuilles ont été créées portant ainsi leur nombre à un niveau historique de 599 (contre 590 en 2010), selon le rapport annuel de l’AMF sur le secteur, publié vendredi. En revanche, la baisse moyenne de 5% des encours (à 2.503 milliards d’euros) a engendré un recul mécanique de 3,2% du chiffre d’affaires. « Dans ce contexte, 143 sociétés, soit un quart des sociétés de gestion existantes, ont un résultat d’exploitation déficitaire, contraignant l’AMF à accroître sa vigilance en matière de surveillance du niveau de fonds propres des acteurs », souligne l’Autorité des marchés financiers.

Les rendements français avaient peu réagi à la perte du AAA chez Moody’s en début de semaine. Ils n’ont pas plus prêté attention vendredi à la confirmation par S&P du AA+ de la France. A 13 heures, le taux à 10 ans se détendait de 2 points de base à 2,15%. L’agence de notation estime que l’objectif gouvernemental de réduction du déficit public ne sera pas tenu en 2013. La perspective négative signifie qu’il y a au moins une chance sur trois qu’un nouvel abaissement de note intervienne au cours de l’année prochaine.

«Le FMI a accepté que la dette grecque soit considérée comme soutenable si elle atteint 124% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) en 2020», a expliqué à Reuters une source gouvernementale à Athènes, soulignant que le Fonds assouplit ainsi l’objectif précédent d’une dette à 120% du PIB. «L’Eurogroupe a déjà trouvé un terrain d’entente pour réduire la dette grecque à 130% du PIB d’ici à 2020, donc il reste l'équivalent de 5 à 6 points de pourcentage du PIB à négocier, soit environ 10 milliards d’euros» a-t-elle ajouté, alors que d’autres sources évoquent un montant bien supérieur. Les bailleurs de fonds internationaux de la Grèce envisagent la restitution par la BCE de 9 milliards d’euros de profits réalisés sur ses obligations d’Etat grecques, la baisse du taux d’intérêt des prêts accordés à Athènes avec un report d'échéance, ainsi qu’un rachat de dette de 10 milliards d’euros par l’Etat.

L’indicateur du climat général des affaires en France a progressé de deux points en novembre, à 86 points, mais reste néanmoins nettement en dessous de sa moyenne de longue période, annonce vendredi l’Insee dans son enquête mensuelle de conjoncture. L’indicateur du climat des affaires dans l’industrie manufacturière a lui aussi rebondi de trois points à 88.

Le leader de l’opposition, favori pour devenir le nouveau Premier ministre japonais et qui a multiplié les déclarations en faveur d’une relance massive à la fois monétaire et budgétaire pour sortir l’économie de la récession et de la déflation, a néanmoins précisé dans un entretien accordé au Wall Street Journal qu’il sera plus réticent que l’actuel gouvernement à avoir recours à une intervention directe sur le marché des changes pour enrayer l’appréciation du yen. La devise se reprenait légèrement ce matin à 82,37 contre dollar, après avoir atteint 82,84 hier, son plus faible niveau depuis le 4 avril. Shinzo Abe a également indiqué que son but premier était de sortir de la déflation, exhortant la BoJ à relever son objectif à 2%. « Mais cela ne peut être réalisé uniquement par la politique monétaire », ajoutant qu’en cas de victoire aux élections du 16 décembre, il lancerait un plan de relance budgétaire de 200.000 milliards de yens (1.900 milliards d’euros).

La mise en vente par EQT Partners de l’éditeur allemand Springer Science & Business Media a selon Bloomberg éveillé l’intérêt de Bertelsmann ainsi que des financiers KKR, Carlyle et Providence Equity Partners. Le montant de la transaction pourrait osciller entre 3 et 4 milliards d’euros. Bertelsmann pourrait s’associer à KKR ou à un fonds souverain.

Le quotidien croit savoir que le fonds a cédé pour 250 millions d’euros l’hôtel des Douanes, situé rue de l’Université. Un transfert réalisé au bénéfice de «deux compagnies d’assurance (Predica et vraisemblablement la CNP)». En dépit d’une «remise au goût du jour», le quotidien souligne qu’«il reste encore un tiers des surfaces de bureaux à louer».

La société a écrit à des investisseurs potentiels pour leur préciser l’échéance du mois de février prochain afin de souscrire à son nouveau fonds. Permira se démène depuis septembre 2011 pour ce fonds de 6,5 milliards d’euros dont le premier closing dans trois mois pourrait s’effectuer à environ 2 milliards. Le fonds précédent est actuellement investi à 90%.

Les négociations achoppent toujours sur la contribution des pays au rabais accordé au Royaume-Uni et sur le montant de coupes dans les dépenses