When the US Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, wants a first-hand run-down on the way the financial markets are interpreting the government’s policy or are reacting to the most recent crisis, he most often turns to Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the Financial Times reports. Fink appears more often than any other corporate chief in Geithner’s calendar, which is public, over an 18-month period. The two men have spoken on 49 separate occasions, or once every 11 days.

The former head of the British equities unit at Alliance Trust, Neil Tong, has joined Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) as senior credit analyst in the fixed income team, Investment Week reports. Tong, who spent 16 years at Alliance Trust, until the British equity desk was closed in August, will report to Laurent Frings, head of credit research.

Ignis Asset Management will sell its 50% stake in the capital of Cartesian Capital Partners, as the two asset management firms have decided to end their joint venture, founded in 2005.Cartesian, a boutique specialised in UK equity management, was the last joint venture of Ignis AM, which has gradually pulled out of the other asset management companies in which it had bought stakes: Hexam and Argonaut. The Scottish firm in 2010 decided to end development of its network of partner boutiques in order to promote internal financial management.Cartesian Capital Partners will lose its independence. The boutique will reappropriate distribution of its funds and operational support, which had previously been provided by Ignis AM. The transition will take 9 to 12 months.

Annabel Gillard, who had been head of UK institutional business development at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), in September joined M&G Investments as UK sales director in the bond distribution team. As a first priority, she will be responsible for assisting UK-based consultants and institutional investors.Gillard will report to Bernard Abrahamsen, head of institutional sales & distribution.

With the UFF Oblicontext Septembre 2020 fund, Union Financière de France (UFF) is launching its sixth bond target-date fund of European and international corporate bonds with no sectoral or geographical predominance, while better hedging for currency risks, to keep them below 10%. The annual return objective is 5%.Management will be flexible and diversified during the portfolio construction phase, in order to generate returns throughout the life of the fund (which matures on 30 September 2020).The management strategy aims to obtain a net return objective over the recommended investment duration, after management fees, of up to 5% for A-class shares, and 6.05% for V-class shares.The fund will cease to issue new shares after 25 October 2013. It will then be closed to all subscriptions.In case of a fall in average actuarial rates on securities held by the fund of 1.50% or more during the subscription period, the closure date for the fund may be moved forward. However, the subscription period may be reopened if average actuarial returns on available securities exceeds 7%.Financial management of the fund has been outsourced to UBGI (France), of the Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) group.CharacteristicsA share class (ISIN code: FR0011285634): Initial subscription threshold: 1 shareC share class (ISIN code: FR0011311109): Initial subscription threshold: 1 shareP share class (ISIN code: FR0011311117): Initial subscription threshold: EUR100,000V share class (ISIN code: FR0011311125): Initial subscription threshold: EUR1mSubscription commission (all share classes): Maximum of 4% (not paid into mutual fund). This commission is not payable in the case of investment via insurance policies sold by UFFRedemption commission: noneMaximum total management fees, including all taxes: A shares: 1.50% C shares: 1.50% P shares: 0.95% V shares: 0.45%

Bloomberg reports that Pimco is opening an office in Rio de Janeiro, with 15 members, including some transferred from New York, and local recruitments. Alec Kersman, head of Latin America & Carribean Operations, says that Rio has ambitions to become the centre of gravity for the activities of Pimco in Latin America.

The Basel Committee on 11 October published its recommendations on the treatment of systemic banks at a national level, which follow on from the recommendations for international systemic banks. The Committee has laid out a set of principles to establish a methodology for the evaluation of national systemic banks. The document also focuses on the potential impact of the bankruptcy of a systemic bank on the national economy. The principles will be applied from January 2016.

Andreas Schmid, who had been director of distribution for private banks and wealth managers at Fidelity Investment Services Germany, is joining Pimco as vice president global wealth management for Germany and Austria, Das Investment reports.

A statement to the market released on 11 October has announced that the two heads of the German financial service provider Aragon Financial Services AG, Sebastian Grabmaier and Ralph Konrad, have taken control of the business via their holding company. Aragon Holding has acquired a 40.7% stake in capital from Angermayer, Brumm und Lange Unternehmensgruppe GmbH (ABL Group). The other shareholders are Axa (27%), Citigroup Financial Products (10%) and Credit Suisse (8%).The transaction, whose amount was not disclosed, is justified by the fact that it is impossible to realise significant synergies between the financial product distribution activities of Aragon and the capital market operation of ABL Group.The deal, which will be completed by the end of the year, will result in a change in directors. The chairman of the supervisory board will be Herbert Walter (former chairman of the managing board at Dresdner Bank), while the co-chairman will be the lawyer Christian Waigel. Walter had previously been director. He replaces Harald Petersen as chairman of the supervisory board.

The Allianz group already manages assets of EUR1.3bn in shares in companies of the renewable energy sector and EUR1bn for other infrastructure (gas distribution, parking). It has now announced the establishment of a team at Allianz Global Investors (AGI) dedicated to private equity investment in the area of renewable energies and infrastructure, which complement the recently-created infrastructure debt team led by Deborah Zurkow (see Newsmanagers of 6 July).The first investment products are already in the process of development, and the team is planning to launch a diversified portfolio of investments in renewable energies aimed at institutional investors in the near future.Armin Sandhoevel, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Climate Solutions (ACS) for more than five years, will be director of the new team as director of private equity investment in Renewable Energies / Infrastructures. He will be assisted by five team members from the ACS investment team, including the portfolio managers Roderick MacDonald and Martin Ewald.The infrastructure debt team has been scaled up since July, with the arrival of four former members of Trifinium Advisors, an affiliate of monoliner MBIA, who followed their CEO, Deborah Zurkow, and who are specialists in long-term investment in infrastructure debt, with faultless track records in terms of defaults. The idea is to help to pick up the slack from governments, which no longer have the financial resources, due to their debt levels, and from banks caught up in the maelstrom of Basel III, on more rewarding projects, with a liquidity premium compared with classic corporate bonds, lower default rates, and recovery rates of about 80%.With Zurkow’s team, Allianz Global Investors is creating a platform for third-party institutional investors interested in liability-driven investment (LDI), for deals totalling between EUR10m and EUR200m, either in the form of funds or mandates.

According to Fundweb, Legal and General Investments, Ignis Asset Management, Fidelity Worldwide Investments, Threadneedle Investments, Henderson Global Investors, Kames Capital, Investec Asset Management, Jupiter and Standard Life all announced on Thursday that they do not intend to follow the example of Witan Investment Services, which will be discontinuing trail commissions before the date that the Retail Distribution Review comes into effect on 31 December.

The wealth manager IIG Financial Services has retained RBC Investor Services to provide it with currency and custody services, according to a statement released by RBC. The Gibraltar-based business has awarded a mandate to RBC Investor Services as part of an international development strategy.

Newedge has launched an improved currency prime brokerage platform which offers institutional investors access to the international currency markets. Trading infrastructure has been updated and connections to electronic forex market platforms have been scaled up.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings has completed its examination of a group of major global banks, and their outlooks are stable, except for Société Générale, the agency has announced in a statement. The group of 13 institutions was established one year ago by Fitch as part of a vast evaluation of the major global financial groups. Fitch has confirmed its existing rating for 12 banks – Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Société Générale – the firm explains in a statement, adding that the 13th bank, HSBC, will be studied again in six months’ time. The two Swiss banking institutions, UBS and Credit Suisse, retain their A ratings, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale also retain their A+. Fitch is more prudent in the case of Société Générale, which gets a negative outlooks for its long-term debt, reflecting the rating for France. The lowering of the outlook implies a potential change to the rating in the mid-term, and reflects the engagement of the French state in the banking institution. More generally, for the sector, the outlooks are stable, according to Fitch, based on improved liquidity, financing, and capitalisation. Despite everything, banks continue to bear up to crosswinds, as the macro-economic environment continues to represent a challenge, as do market conditions that remain volatile, particularly in Europe.

Financing levels for pension funds in Switzerland overall fell in third quarter. The level of liabilities increased by 11%, while revenues from investments rose by a smaller amount, which resulted in a deterioration in coverage levels, according to the pension fund index “Swiss Pension Finance Watch,” calculated by Towers Watson and published on 11 October. The development in third quarter follows the trend in second quarter. Quarter on quarter, the index is at 88.4 in third quarter, after 89.4 in second quarter. At the beginning of 2012 it still stood at 90.4.

Safra Group on 11 October confirmed the provisional results of its takeover bid (OPA) for Sarasin, announced on Monday. At the expiration of their extended bid, on 5 October 2012, Safra controlled 98.73% of A and B classes of shares in Sarassin, representing 99.26% of voting rights.

The Hennessee hedge fund index gained 1.26% in September, bringing gains since the beginning of the year to 5.03%. The global macro index posted gains of 1.10% in September, and 3.32% in the first nine months of the year. The emerging market index, for its part, has gained 0.57% for the month, and 2.59% since the beginning of the year.

Net sales of UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 24 billion in August, up from EUR 6 billion in July, according to statistics from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).This increase in net sales came on the back of a turnaround in net sales of money market funds, which ended the month with net inflows of EUR11bn, against net outflows of EUR18bn in July.Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) registered net inflows of EUR 13 billion in August, down from EUR 25 billion in July. Bond funds continued to record strong net inflows (EUR 18 billion), albeit down from EUR 24 billion in July. Equity funds recorded their fifth consecutive month of net outflows in August (EUR 10 billion, compared to EUR 3 billion in July). Balanced funds registered increased net sales in July (EUR 6 billion, compared to EUR 3 billion in July.Total net sales of non-UCITS reduced in August to EUR 5 billion, down from EUR 11 billion in July. Net inflows into special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) registered EUR 4 billion in August, down from EUR 9 billion in the previous month.Total net assets of UCITS increased by 0.3% in August to EUR 6,200 billion, whilst non-UCITS net assets increased 0.5% in the month to stand at EUR 2,458 billion.

Le financement des plans de retraite en Suisse a globalement baissé au troisième trimestre. Le nombre d’engagements a augmenté de 11%, alors que les recettes des placements ont progressé de seulement, ce qui s’est traduit par une détérioration du degré de couverture, selon l’indice des caisses de pension «Swiss Pension Finance Watch» calculé par Towers Watson et publié le 11 octobre.L'évolution du troisième trimestre s’inscrit dans la tendance du premier semestre. En glissement trimestriel, l’indice s’est inscrit à 88,4 au troisième trimestre après 89,4 au deuxième. Au début de 2012 il figurait encore à 90,4.

Safra Group a confirmé le 11 octobre les résultats provisoires de son offre publique d’achat (OPA) sur Sarasin, publiés lundi. A l’expiration du délai supplémentaire de l’offre, le 5 octobre 2012, Safra détenait 98,73% actions A et B de Sarasin, représentant 99,26% des droits de vote.

Ignis Asset Management va vendre sa participation de 50 % du capital de Cartesian Capital Partners, les deux sociétés de gestion ayant décidé de mettre un terme à leur coopération lancée en 2005.Cartesian, une boutique spécialisée dans la gestion actions britanniques, était la dernière «joint-venture» d’Ignis AM, lequel s’est progressivement retiré des autres sociétés au développement desquelles il avait pris part - Hexam et Argonaut. La société écossaise a en effet décidé en 2010 de mettre un terme au développement de son réseau de boutiques partenaires afin de promouvoir sa gestion financière interne.Cartesian Capital Partners va ainsi prendre son indépendance. De fait, la boutique va se réapproprier la distribution de ses fonds et les fonctions support qui étaient jusqu’ici assurées par Ignis AM. La transition devrait prendre 9 à 12 mois.

Annabel Gillard, qui était head of UK institutional business development chez Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), a rejoint en septembre M&G Investments comme UK sales director de l'équipe de distribution obligataire. Elle sera prioritairement chargée du suivi des consultants et des investisseurs institutionnels britanniques.L’impétrante est subordonnée à Bernard Abrahamsen, head of institutional sales & distribution.

L’ancien patron du pôle actions britanniques chez Alliance Trust, Neil Tong, a rejoint Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) en tant que analyste crédit senior au sein de l'équipe fixed income, rapporte Investment Week.Neil Tong, qui a travaillé pendant 16 ans chez alliance Trust jusqu'à la fermeture du desk actions britanniques en août, sera rattaché à Laurent Frings, responsable de la recherche crédit.

Au mois d’août, les fonds coordonnés ont enregistré une collecte nette de 24 milliards d’euros, soit quatre fois plus que le mois précédent, selon les statistiques communiquées par l’Association européenne des gestionnaires d’actifs (Efama).Cette évolution est due pour l’essentiel au regain d’intérêt pour les fonds monétaires qui ont terminé le mois sur un montant de souscriptions nettes de 11 milliards d’euros après des rachats pour un montant de 18 millirds d’euros en juillet.Les fonds coordonnés à long terme (hors fonds monétaires) ont terminé le mois sur une collecte nette de 13 milliards d’euros contre 25 milliards d’euros en juillet. La collecte nette des fonds obligataires est revenue à 18 milliards d’euros contre 25 milliards précédemment, la décollecte des fonds d’actions augmentant par ailleurs à 10 milliards d’euros contre 3 milliards précédemment.Les fonds diversifiés ont de leur côté doublé la mise, avec une collecte de 6 milliards d’euros contre 3 milliards en juillet.La collecte des fonds non coordonnés a pour sa part reflué à 5 milliards d’euros en août contre 11 milliards en juillet. Les fonds dédiés ont réalisé une collecte de 4 milliards d’euros contre 9 milliards d’euros en juillet.Les encours des fonds coordonnés se sont accrus de 0,3% à 6.200 milliards d’euros, tandis que les actifs des fonds non coordonnés ont progressé de 0,5% à 2.458 milliards d’euros.

Le CEO pour l’Asie Pacifique d’ING Investment Management, Grant Bailey, va quitter la société, rapporte Asian Investor. Ce départ intervient alors que les négociations entre Ameriprise Financial, sa filiale Threadneedle Asset Management et ING sur la vente de l’activité asiatique de cette dernière ont été rompues. Grant Bailey sera remplacé par Satish Bapat, actuellement chief financial officer.

Bloomberg rapporte que Pimco ouvre un bureau à Rio de Janeiro avec 15 personnes, dont quelques-unes mutées de New York et des recrutements locaux. Alec Kersman, head of Latin America & Carribean Operations, a précisé que Rio a vocation à devenir le centre de gravité des activités de Pimco en Amérique latine.

Credit Suisse AM étoffe sa gamme sur le marché italien avec cinq produits actions et six produits obligataires, rapporte Bluerating. Ces fonds sont : Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Russia, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Asian Equity Dividend Plus, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Asia Consumer, Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Biotechnology et Credit Suisse Sicav (Lux) Equity Luxury Goods.Credit Suisse AM annonce en outré l’arrivée de quatre gérants senior dans l’équipe actions dirigée par Filippo Rima et de quatre experts dans l’équipe de gestion fixed income dirigée par Maurizio Pedrini et Michel Degen.

Le gestionnaire de fortune IIG Financial Services a fait appel à RBC Investor Services pour la fourniture de services de devises et de conservation, selon un communiqué publié par RBC.L'établissement basé à Gibraltar a sollicité RBC Investor Services dans le cadre de sa stratégie de développement à l’international.

L’indice Hennessee des hedge funds a progressé de 1,26% en septembre, ce qui porte la hausse depuis le début de l’année à 5,03%.L’indice global/macro a notamment dégagé un gain de 1,10% en septembre et de 3,32% sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année. L’indice des marchés émergents a pour sa part progressé de 0,57% sur le mois et de 2,59% depuis le début de l’année. L’indice Eurekahedge des hedge funds a pour sa part progressé de 1,02% en septembre. La progression est de 2,63% pour le troisième trimestre et de 4,23% pour les neuf premiers mois de l’année.

Newedge vient de lancer une plate-forme améliorée de prime brokerage devises qui propose aux investisseurs institutionnels un accès au marché international des devises.Les infrastructures de négoce ont été actualisées et les connexions aux plates-formes électroniques des marchés de devises ont été augmentées.