Jean-Sébastien Lyonnaz, Directeur Trésorerie, Financement et Gestion d’actifs de l’assureur April Group, à la rédaction de www.institinvest.com : Durant l'été, nous avons renforcé notre exposition aux actions à travers notre fonds de fonds car nous pensons qu’il y a un potentiel de rattrapage des marchés européens sous valorisés. En revanche, nous n’investissons plus dans l’alternatif car c’est une classe d’actifs qui manque de performance et est très couteuse en SCR. De plus, la fameuse décorrélation prônée par les gérants ne se vérifie pas. C’est pourquoi nous restons à l'écart. Par ailleurs, nous disposons de 25% de notre actif en comptes à terme déposés chez 6 banques françaises et européennes. Afin de limiter le risque, nous n’investissons pas plus de 5% dans chaque banque. Au travers de cet investissement, nous considérons jouer un rôle sociétal puisque les 200 millions d’euros prêtés aux banques doivent servir à financer l'économie de notre pays.

Olivier Arlès, directeur général adjoint en charge du pilotage économique et financier de la Macif dans un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1193 : Nous détenons actuellement 8 % d’actions, une part qui a diminué par rapport au début d’année puisque nous avons pris des profits à la suite de la hausse de cet été. Notre exercice permanent consiste ainsi à trouver de nouveaux segments porteurs dans lesquels investir. Outre les obligations d’entreprises, nous regardons également l’immobilier, qui représente déjà 5% de nos encours, tout en étant là encore très sélectifs. Nous investissons dans d’autres actifs réels comme les infrastructures. Nous avons également commencé à investir dans des créances immobilières ou des prêts à des PME.

A quels types de difficultés vous êtes-vous heurté lors de la sélection ? La nature hybride des obligations convertibles nécessite d'évaluer les qualités du gérant selon de multiples aspects. En effet, celui-ci doit être à même de démontrer des compétences à la fois macroéconomique afin de déterminer le positionnement du portefeuille en fonction du cycle économique et de sélectionner méticuleusement les titres entrant en portefeuille. Cette analyse se fait elle-même à plusieurs niveaux puisque le juste prix d’une obligation convertible dépend à la fois de la valeur de l’action sous-jacente, de la qualité de la signature et de facteurs techniques. La difficulté est donc de trouver une gestion qui couvre ces différents aspects afin d’exploiter pleinement le potentiel des obligations convertibles. Sur quels critères particuliers avez-vous mis l’accent pour sélectionner les vainqueurs ? 23 candidatures ont été reçues pour le lot 1 Europe et 18 pour le lot 2 Monde. La sélection s’est déroulée en deux étapes : une phase de sélection des candidatures au cours de laquelle l’ERAFP juge de la capacité technique, de l’expérience, notamment avec une clientèle institutionnelle et de la solidité financière de la société de gestion. 5 candidatures ont été retenues pour le second tour pour le lot 1 et 7 pour le lot 2. la phase de sélection des offres, pour laquelle seuls les candidats retenus à l’issue de la première phase sont admis à participer. A ce stade, l’un des principaux critères de sélection a été l’adéquation entre le processus de gestion présenté et celui recherché par l’ERAFP, i.e. une gestion active non benchmarkée et reposant sur une analyse fondamentale approfondie, notamment sur la composante Crédit. Par rapport aux autres investisseurs institutionnels, l’ERAFP a tendance à apporter davantage d’importance aux aspects ISR. L’aspect gestion ISR a t’il été bien documentée par les candidats ? l’application du principe best in class au regard du dispositif ISR de l’ERAFP sera t’elle suivie en interne ou en s’appuyant sur des ressources externes ? Alors que l’offre est encore peu développée en matière de gestion d’obligations convertibles, nous avons été agréablement surpris par la qualité globale des réponses sur ce thème. Le dispositif ISR qui sera mis en place est similaire à celui de nos mandats actions ou d’obligations d’entreprises, à savoir un principe de best-in-class conforme à nos 5 domaines de valeurs. La principale problématique est celle de la disponibilité de l’information, d’où la préférence qui a été accordée aux sociétés disposant de ressources internes dans ce domaine ou au sein du groupe d’appartenance qui offrent une meilleure réactivité et adaptabilité. Les deux lauréats ont présenté ce type de solution mais des offres faisant appel à des ressources externes figurent parmi les candidats standby. Quelles limites en terme de pondération par titre ont été fixées avec les vainqueurs ? Les limites en termes de pondération ont été fixées par l’ERAFP. Les bornes suivantes ont été retenues : 5% pour un émetteur de la catégorie Investissement 3% pour un émetteur de la catégorie Haut Rendement Une part significative du gisement des obligations convertibles n'étant pas notée par les principales agences de notations, les gérants d’obligations convertibles retenus utiliseront leur modèle de notation interne pour attribuer une note à ces titres.

Four portfolio managers from Russell Investments, Richard F. Johnson, Jr., Scott A. Maidel, Kal D. Sahlin and Rafael Zayas, have been tasked with the management of the new Russell Strategic Call Overwriting Fund, a product which aims to generate total returns with lower volatility than US equity markets, through sales of call options on an equity portfolio, and seeking revenues from dividends on equities in the portfolio.In detail, Russell will invest primarily in equities with ties to the US market for this fund, through the use of a quantitative multi-factor model to select mainly ordinary shares in companies with a large or mid-sized capitalisation. The management team will meanwhile sell call options on broader market indices. The process is known as call overwriting. The writing of call options aims to reduce the volatility of the fund compared with the US equity markets, and to generate revenues with cash premiums.

The success of the Objectif Alpha Obligataire 2018 fund, which posted inflows of EUR60m this year, has encouraged Lazard Frères Gestion to repeat the operation to meet customer demand, which is coming largely from IFAs and private banks: on 19 December, subscriptions will be closed for the new Objectif Oblisphère Emergente 2018. Lionel Clément, lead manager, and Laurent Colomer, head of institutional management at LFG, reasonably predict that the product will attract EUR40m to EUR50m.In order to calm the apprehensions of a certain fringe of clients, the new product will fundamentally be based on the same asset allocation, but will add securities from Western Europe (companies which have strong exposures to emerging markets, such as OHL, Abengoa, Lafarge and Heidelberger Cement), with an allocation of 16%, to lower the percentage of indigenous emerging market debt (currently 48% for Latin America, with Brazil at 30%, Mexico at 15%, Eastern Europe at 19%, and Asia at 18%).Also for this French FCP, management will be systematically based on a top-down approach. The advantage of the choice of a hold-to-maturity product (38 positions, with 30% investment grade, 40% BB and 30% B) is that it controls volatility and provides a way to calibrate the return target with more advisable diversification. The LFG team does not take any local currency risks, as positions are either in hedged US dollars or euros.LFG is also soon planning to offer its emerging market funds in France (local currencies, hard currencies, blend, and corporate), which represent USD4bn, and which are managed by teams in New York.

The private equity firm KKR has launched its first mutual funds in the United States, and is remaining modest with its ambitions, aware that it still needs to build its reputation in this area, the Wall Street Journal reports. The private equity giant has rented a booth at the annual investment management conference held by Charles Schwab in Chicago, and appointed high-level representatives to be present to answer questions, including George Roberts, co-founder and CEO.One of the funds proposed by KKR for a category of clients which is new to the firm is a high yield product, with a minimal subscription of USD2,500. The other, which will be released on 31 December, and for which the minimal subscription is 25,000, will invest in special situations such as European and Asian distressed debt. It will be available through Charles Schwab or directly from KKR.

BaFin and FMA have issued licenses, and the Schroder GAIA Global Macro Bond fund may immediately be sold on the German and Austrian markets, the German affiliate of the British asset management firm has announced. The product, launched on 1 October, is managed by Bob Jolly (head of global macro), with an absolute return objective (see Newsmanagers of 4 September), and which is aimed primarily at institutional investors. It is a UCITS-compliant long/short fund, which aims for returns 800 basis points above the Libor 3-month in US dollars, with ex ante volatility of a maximum of 8% over a complete cycle.CharacteristicsName: Schroder GAIA Global Macro BondISIN codes:C share class, EUR Hedged, capitalisation LU0827488734C share class, USD, capitalisation LU0827487413Benchmark index: BBA Libor EUR 3 Month Act 360Front-end fee: 3%Management commission: 1%Performance commission: 20% of performance exceeding the benchmark index, with high watermarkMinimal initial subscription: USD/EUR500,000

The Hong Kong market authority (SFC) has fined CIC Investor Services HKD4bn, or about USD516,000, for failure to respect rules concerning the treatment of professional clients, and of failing to retain recordings of client advising between 2004 and 2010, Asian Investor reports.

Andrea Wozniak has been appointed as a member of the board at the SRI asset management firm ökorenta, alongside founder and chairman Tjark Goldenstein, responsible for marketing, distribution and external sales, and Ingo Löchte, who is a member of the board at the affiliate ökorenta finanz. Wozniak had previously been a member of the board and principal actuary for the insurance group Münchener Verein, Das Investment reports. At ökorenta, she will be responsible for finance, risk management and development of sustainable insurance products.

Cinco Días reports that BlackRock has spent EUR236m to acquire 3.77% of Telefónica Deutschland at its recent initial public offering. The US asset management firm becomes the second-largest shareholder in the firm, after Telefónica, which retains 76.83%. BlackRock also owns 3.76% of Telefónica Spain, currently valued at EUR1.74bn. It also controls 0.48% of Telefónica Brazil and 1.56% of Telefónica Czech Republic, for a total of EUR314m.

The Standard Chartered group has announced the launch of an RMB index, which will provide a way to track the internationalisation process for the Asian currency, FinanceAsia reports. Standard Chartered states that RMB is expected to become an international reserve currency, which justifies the introduction of an index of this type. The index will track four types of products in Hong Kong, London and Singapore: offshore savings denominated in RMB, international settlements, dim sum bonds (offshore yuan), and savings certificates. In under two years, the inde has risen to 735, from an initial level of 100 at the end of 2010. This trend is expected to continue in the next few months.

The hedge fund sector in Asia has continued to grow in third quarter, due to the good performance of Asian emerging market strategies, according to the most recent statistics from HFR. The number of hedge funds has reached a record 1,128 vehicles, representing assets under management of USD84.3bn, an increase of 2.6% over the first nine months of the year. Market effects of USD1.9bn were partly offset by redemptions totalling a net USD900m. Assets under management in the hedge fund sector as of the end of third quarter totalled USD2.19trn. Asian hedge funds have generally posted excellent performance in the past few months. The HFRX India index gained more than 12% in third quarter, its best results since a gain of 38% in second quarter 2009. Since the beginning of the year, the index is up 22.4%, more than the benchmark index. The same trend may be observed for the HFRX Korea index, which has gained 7.6%, in line with gains for the Kospi index.

Renaissance Group has sold all of its investment banking activities, including Renaissance Capital and Renaissance Credit, to Onexim Group. According to Investment Europe, Renaissance would like to concentrate on asset management, which is considered more lucrative. Stephen Jennings remains CEO of Renaissance Group, which still owns its affiliates Renaissance Asset Managers, Rendeavour, Renaissance Credit Nigeria and Renaissance Real Estate.

As part of a strategic reorientation to the Private Banking segment and intermediary activities, VP Bank has announced the appointment of two new members of its management team, Martin Engler and Günther Kaufmann, according to a statement released on 15 November. Engler is currently director of Private Banking Liechtenstein, while Kaufmann is director of the Intermediaries & Transaction Banking division. = The two appointments will take effect from 1 January 2013.

FTSE has teamed up with NAREIT and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to develop the first investable green real estate indices for institutional and retail investors on the basis of FTSE NAREIT indices, combined with green data (LEED and Energy Star ratings). LEED is a global green certification programme for buildings, developed by USGBC. The indices are in the process of finalisation, and will be released in the near future. The attraction of the initiative is to bring together an index specialist with a specialist in the REIT market and a specialist in real estate environmental standards.

The US firm Guggenheim Investment Advisory, an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, on 14 November announced the launch of the Guggenheim Alternatives Platform, which will facilitate access to hedge funds for wealth management professionals. The web-based platform is designed especially for independent financial advisers, private banks, and trusts. Actors may use it to construct and deploy customised hedge fund portfolios for their clients, from a vast selection of over 50 selected hedge fund managers (some of whom have a capacity limit), from a universe of over 10,000 managers, with a thematic focus on “support.”The minimal limit for access to the service is very low (USD100,000), and flows are integrated into the Alternative Investment Products (AIP) service from the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which offers higher levels of transparency through standardised and simplified reporting, settlement, and constant monitoring of funds on the Guggenheim Alternatives Platform.

The asset management firm DoubleLine Capital LP, founded by Jeffrey Gundlach, founded on 14 December 2009, has now topped USD50bn in assets, with staff of 78 people, a press release on 14 November has announced. The majority of capital is controlled by employees. Oaktree Capital Management owns a minority stake.

Ossiam, an asset management firm specialised in strategy and smart beta ETFs, has appointed Michel Prouteau as head of sales for institutional clients in the Commercial Development team led by Isabelle Bourcier. Prouteau will aim to provide solutions appropriate to the needs of French institutional investors, a statement says. Before joining Ossiam, Prouteau worked on the French instutitonal market in particular in its role as a multi-asset class financial engineer within the “Solutions” teams at the investment bank at Société Générale between 2005 and 2010, and then as director of similar teams at Deutsche Bank in London from 2010 to 2012.

Atlanta-based eVestment, a global provider of comprehensive institutional investment data and cloud-based analytic solutions, on November 13th announced the acquisition of two New-York City-based firms: PerTrac, a provider of hedge fund analysis software and workflow solutions, and Fundspire, a cloud-based technology provider of hedge fund analytics.Terms of the deals were not disclosed.With the acquisitions, eVestment now serves over 2,500 world-class clients across the entire investment industry spectrum, including traditional and alternative money managers, consultants and financial advisors, funds of hedge funds, corporate and public pensions, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, banks and brokerages. Back in 2011, eVestment acquired Hedgefund.net (HFN), a leading provider of alternatives research and data, in 2011.

In a report, the SEC has pointed to a lack of involvement on the part of management at the nine largest ratings agencies. The regulator notes that there are many cases of conflicts of interest and a lack of governance, and that these problems have not always been taken seriously by the directors of these agencies. The SEC report does not provide the name of the agencies concerned in any particular failings, but half of them took place at one of the three major ratings agencies, which are Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, the Financial Times notes.

Betting against Japan hasn’t paid off most of the time, but US hedge fund managers are increasingly betting against major Japanese businesses such as Nippon Paper, Kobe Stel, Panasonic and Sony, the Wall Street Journal reports. The idea is that the health of many Japanese companies which are loaded down with excess debt are deteriorating, and that the cost of insurance against bankruptcy through CDS does not yet reflect this situation. Among the asset management firms cited in the article are GAM Holding, SAC Capital Advisors and Scoggan Capital Management.

Legg Mason Global Asset Management has added 41 sub-funds of its Irish Sicav to the “Fund centre” platform of its Italian bank Fineco, Investment Europe reports. These sub-funds are managed by affiliates of the Legg mason group, such as Western Asset Management, Brandywine Global, and Royce&Associates. The “Fund centre” provides access to 4,000 funds.

Assets at the asset management firm Wiséam, founded last year, are expected to top EUR100m by the end of this year. The joint venture of Witam and 123 Venture currently has two open-ended allocation funds, Apprécio (EUR65m), focused on “reactive and contrarian” management with moderate risk, and Andante (EUR10m), a prudent, all-class bond product.In addition to these wealth management, multi-asset funds, the firm has custom management mandates, a wealth management proposition for retail investors, and a Solvency 2 solution for mutuals or pension funds. For mandates, says François Jubin, chairman and portfolio manager, Wiséam accepts clients starting from EUR250,000.The asset management firm, which has no sales staff and which targets its shareholders and a few external IFAs, has a total of four staff. It has based its success on a nearly even balance of three factors: allocation strategy, portfolio construction, and highly transparent reporting, meaning that every client is immediately informed of every trade made.In 2013, Jubin is planning to launch a third open-ended fund, which will be “more aggressive.”

As of the end of 2011, the top five asset management firms in the United Kingdom had assets corresponding to 28% of the sector overall, compared with 30% previously, The CityUK reports in a study published by Fundweb. The largest players were BlackRock, with GBP556bn managed in the UK, putting it ahead of Legal & General and M&G Investments. More than half of total assets of GBP5.1trn were managed by foreign companies operating in the United Kingdom, while 37% of total assets, or GBP1.9trn, came from abroad. The CityUK reports that the management of funds generated an amount equivalent to roughly one percent of GDP last year, of the 9 percentage points contributed by the financial sector overall. Earnings represented GBP18.8bn, although the percentage margins for earnings remained lower than the 34% observed in 2007. Asset management had 35,000 employees, largely in London, but 9.9% of that total was in Scotland.

Assets under management at the Vontobel group as of 31 October totalled CHF96bn. Since the middle of this year, assets have increased by more than CHF5bn, Vontobel says in a statement published on 15 November. This development is due both to net inflows and to market effects. Vontobel also states that it has merged its onshore and cross-border private banking activities serving German clients, which is now led by a single management team. Operational responsibility for Private Banking Deutschland has been awarded to Roland Rötheli, who currently leads German activities in Zurich. Frank Wieser, former onshore head of Private Banking Deutschland, will be leaving Vontobel to take on new challenges.

Qatar has approved a merger of the commodity trading group Glencore and the mining group Xstrata. The sovereign fund, which controls 12% of capital in Xstrata, sees advantages in a merger of the two businesses, and says it is satisfied with the conditions offered, Agefi Switzerland says. On 20 November it will vote to approve the operation at a general meeting of Xstrata shareholders.

Le Sénat français a rejeté par 186 voix contre 156 le projet de loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale (PLFSS) pour 2013, les communistes ayant voté contre. Le groupe PC et apparenté du Sénat avait averti que, comme son homologue de l’Assemblée, il voterait contre ce budget jugé «insuffisant». Il a joint ses voix à celles de l’UMP et du groupe UDI (centriste). Seuls le groupe PS, les radicaux de gauche et les écologistes ont voté pour.

La France a théoriquement achevé son programme d'émission de dette à moyen et long terme de 2012 après avoir adjugé 8,82 milliards d’euros, dont 1,33 milliard d’euros de titres indexés sur l’inflation française et de la zone euro, à des conditions une fois encore améliorées. Selon l’Agence France Trésor (AFT) qui gère la dette de l’Etat, au terme de ces deux adjudications, le taux moyen de financement de la France sur les marchés est tombé à un plus bas record de 1,88% toutes maturités confondues, contre un précédent record de 1,93%. La France a émis depuis le début de l’année un montant brut de 195,8 milliards d’euros de dette à moyen (BTAN) et long terme (OAT) pour un programme d'émission annuel de 178 milliards d’euros nets des rachats.

Si les économies française et allemande sont parvenues à dégager une croissance de 0,2% au troisième trimestre, en revanche, l’institut européen de la statistique Eurostat a annoncé une contraction de 0,1% du PIB de l’ensemble de la zone euro au troisième trimestre, un recul plus faible que celui attendu par les économistes (-0,2%) mais qui marque une nouvelle entrée en récession, la deuxième depuis 2009. En France, l’activité a été soutenue notamment par la consommation des ménages et le commerce extérieur, alors que de nombreux économistes attendaient une stagnation. La France n’avait pas affiché de hausse de son produit intérieur brut (PIB) depuis un an (+0,2% au troisième trimestre 2011) et une entrée en récession sur les derniers mois de l’année était largement anticipée. L’activité du deuxième trimestre a en revanche été revue à la baisse à -0,1%, précise l’Insee. L'économie allemande a elle aussi crû de 0,2% au troisième trimestre, a annoncé l’Office fédéral de la statistique. Cette hausse, conforme aux attentes des économistes, marque un ralentissement de l’activité outre-Rhin après la progression de 0,3% constatée au deuxième trimestre. Ailleurs en Europe, le Portugal enregistre un recul de 0,8% de son PIB, l’Espagne perd 0,3% et l’Italie 0,2%, une baisse toutefois moins importante qu’envisagée. Quant à la Grèce, les chiffres non définitifs annoncent une chute de 7,2% du PIB.

L’Agence France Trésor annonce jeudi qu’elle a émis un total de 1,33 milliard d’euros d’obligations assimilables du Trésor indexées sur l’inflation de la zone euro (OATei) et de bons du Trésor à intérêts annuels indexés sur l’inflation française (BTANi) lors de son adjudication mensuelle.