Funds on sale in Sweden ended the year 2011 with net inflows of SEK16bn, or EUR1.8bn, the Swedish investment fund association Fondbolagens förening reports. This comes despite SEK53bn in net outflows from equity funds (EUR6bn). The money market fund category has seen the largest net inflows, with SEK35.5bn (EUR4bn), putting them ahead of balanced funds, with SEK29.2bn (EUR3.3bn). Bond funds have posted net subscriptions of SEK4.3bn (EUR0.5bn), and hedge funds show SEK0.7bn (EUR0.08bn). In equities, the funds which have seen the heaviest redemptions are Swedish equity funds (-SEK22.512bn, or EUR2.5bn), eastern European equities (-EUR12.088bnbn, or EUR1.37bn), and Swedish and global equity funds (-EUR9.078bn, or EUR1.03bn). The only categories to show positive inflows are global equities (+SEK9.639bn, or EUR1.09bn), North American equities (+ESEK4.27bn or EUR0.5bn), and Japanese equities (+SEK1.247bn, or EUR0.141bn). Overall, in 2011, assets in Swedish funds were down by SEK145bn (or EUR16.4bn), to SEK1.819trn (EUR206bn), of which 52% are in equity funds.

Arca Sgr, the asset management firm for the Italian co-operative banks, is said to be in exclusive talks with Norvega (formerly Vegagest) to acquire its funds, according to reports in Milano Finanza. The operation would allow Arca to increase its assets from EUR15bn to EUR16bn. Arca Sgr, which is owned by Ubi, Popolare Emilia Romagna and Banco Popolare, was recently in danger of becoming an acquisition target.

Tindaro Siragusano, who since early 2009 had been head of the asset management unit, in late 2011 took over as director of the private banking sector of activity, and is now director of both areas at Berenberg Bank. Markus Taubert, who had been head of private banking since September 2009, has resigned.

The UCITS platform from Morgan Stanley has added an Irish-registered fund managed by Claritas Administração de Recursos Ltda, which practices a market neutral long/short equity strategy on a portfolio of 40-60 Brazilian equities. Net exposure to the market ranges from -20% to +20%.Minimal subscription is set at EUR1m.CharacteristicsName: MS Claritas Long Short Market Neutral UCITS FundISIN code: IE00B3MQJZ41Management commission: 1.50%Performance commission: 20%

Threadneedle Investments has announced the appointment of Iain Richards as head of governance and responsible investment. He will lead a team of three and will be responsible for the environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, policy and engagement on behalf of the firm’s investment team. He will join the asset management firm officially on 20 February 2012 and report to Leigh Harrison, head of equities. Richards had previously been regional head of corporate governance at Aviva Investors.

In fourth quarter 2011, profits at British asset management firms fell for the first time since second quarter 2009, according to a quarterly survey by the British association for the industry and PwC. The cause of the development is a decline in activities, for the first time since March 2009, which resulted in a reduction in revenues (commissions, trading). The situation is not expected to improve particularly in first quarter 2012, which will most likely bring a further decline in profits. Jobs, which stabilised at the end of last year, are expected to begin increasing again in the next three months. Asset management firms are also planning to invest more in IT and marketing systems.

Greg Cooper is joining Kames Capital (formerly Aegon AM) has chief administrative officer (CAO), Fundweb reports. Cooper, who will report to Andrew Fleming, CEO, will be responsible for operations, information, performance measurement and portfolio reporting. Cooper replaces Philip Smith, chief financial officer (CFO), who had served in the position of CAO in the interim since the death of Christophe Ferrard in July.

79% of the 109 ETF funds launched in the United States in the first six months of the year attracted less than USD30m in assets, a profitability threshold for the sector, according to statistics from XTF prepared for the Financial Times. In 2010, the percentage was 62%, and in 2009, it was under 50%. Professionals say the decline in popularity is due to increasing saturation of the market, the FT remarks.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and Source on 10 January unveiled a new vehicle to invest in commodities, LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF, as announced by Newsmanagers in its 9 January issue. The fund will be a UCITS-compliant ETF fund, which replicates the LGIM Commodity Composite index, and which aims to provide diversified exposure to commodities via indices of representative commodity futures contracts. The LGIM Commodity Composite index aims to be a new type of benchmark index, with a broad exposure to commodities. Based on the expertise of LGIM as an index manager, and on its highly detailed quantitative and qualitative filtering, the index offers exposure to a wide selection of commodity type indices. At its launch, the LGIM Commodity Composite index includes the following indices: Barclays Capital Commodity Index Pure Beta TR (ticker : BCC1C1PT < Index>), Citi CUBES (Total Return) (CCUBDJTR < Index>), JPMCCI Ex-Front Month Energy Light (Total Return) (JMCXXELT < Index>), UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity (CMCITR < Index>). Investors seeking to expose their portfolios to the LGIM Commodity Composite index may do so via the LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF. The innovative ETF structure from Source combines physical investment in US Treasury bonds with a swap overlay that allows for more faithful replication of the index. In order to diversify counterparty risks and the composition of the index, the index relies on several sub-indices, and the fund will rely on several counterparties for its swaps. Source has named several swap counterparties for the product: Barclays Capital, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and UBS. The LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF is listed on the London Stock Exchange and traded in pounds Sterling and US dollars. It is licensed for sale in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, France, Germany, Finland, Italy (only for institutional investors), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. Main characteristics of LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF ISIN code: IE00B4TXPP71 Currency of reference: USD Currency of listing: GBP/USD Management fees: 0.40% per year Acronym: Bloomberg TGPLGCC Domicile: Ireland

On 16 January, LBB Invest will launch the multi-asset class fund PMIM Multi-Asset-LBB-Invest, whose management will be outsourced to the Hamburg firm Pall Mall Investment Management (PMIM).With the product, LBB Invest is offering institutional and also retail investors a resolutely conservative strategy assisted by the IT system “Risk@Work,” developed by PMIM, which aims to control and limit portfolio risks.Capital at risk shall initially be limited to 7% of the volume of the portfolio, and the objective is to outperform the Eonia by 200 basis points every year.At the time of launch, the fund will be about 50% invested in German government bonds and Pfandbriefe. The composition of the portfolio will be regularly optimised.CharacteristicsName: PMIM-MultiAsset-LBB-InvestISIN code: DE000A1CXYQ0Management commission: currently 0.9%

As the Henderson German Retail Income Fund (HGRIF) has managed to raise another EUR90m, Henderson Global Investors has decided to hold a second closing. Supplementary subscriptions to the institutional fund, a German-registered real estate product specialised in warehouse facilities for retail commerce, will have added firepower of EUR180m (including leverage). The total volume of the fund is now EUR350m.The portfolio is managed on behalf of 12 investors, most of whom are German insurers and corporate pension funds. The return objectives are at least 6% per year, with a final portfolio to include 12 to 15 properties. Four properties were acquired since the first closing in summer 2011; they represent an investment of EUR60m.

The French association of institutional investors (AF2I) has stated its position on proposed amendments to ratings agency regulations currently under consideration by the European parliament. While it is in favour of some proposals, such as the development of internal analysis, transparency standards for billing by agencies and measures to promote the issuance of unsolicited ratings, the AF2I disapproves of the principle of a required rotation of agencies, as their methodologies are not comparable, unlike account plans. The quality of the rating is closely tied to a very good long-term knowledge of issuers. The association also disapproves of the fact that a public regulatory authority should have the power to license, control and contest this or that point in global methodologies. This European particularism would appear not to make any sense on this point, to say nothing of the fact that it would run against intellectual freedom, the AF2I states, adding that it would prefer for the major ratings agenvies to continue to issue and widely distribute their methodologies, while also consulting on revisions to them. This is genuine progress, the AF2I claims, and hopes that the practice will become more established.

Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Global has acquired two commercial properties, one in Rotterdam and the other in Munich, for a total of CHF79.1m. The fund, which has been traded since 29 November 2011, has already invested one third of its assets in value properties abroad, according to a statement released on 10 January by the Swiss bank. In Rotterdam, the fund has purchased the PortCity III commercial property, which has office space of 6,900 square metres, spread out over seven stories and a ground floor. The second property is in Karlstrasse in Munich. The office property includes eight stories overall, two of which are underground, with 42 parking spaces. The rental area is over 11,500 square metres.

Le Fonds de pension de Bank of New York en Belgique est confronté à une diminution de sa base de cotisants en Belgique. Pour cette raison, le Fonds a décidé de mener une étude stratégique sur son allocation stratégique d’actifs avec l’aide de son consultant. L’allocation actuelle est la suivante: 62.5% d’obligations, 35% d’actions et 2.5% d’immobilier. Le Fonds a choisi la Banque Degroof comme unique gérant externe. Il n’est pas prévu d’en changer, ni de remettre en cause l’approche prudente du Fonds.

Une caractéristique des mutuelles par rapport aux autres acteurs du monde de l’assurance : la gouvernance de leur gestion d’actifs. « Grâce à la nouvelle réglementation, nous avons vu la naissance de comités financiers, de comités de placements avec une vraie réflexion des administrateurs sur l’allocation d’actifs, ce qui était moins marqué il y a quelques années », remarque Nicolas Demont, directeur général d’Egamo, société de gestion d’actifs qui gère une dizaine de mandats du monde de l'économie sociale. La MGEN a par exemple créé un Comité des placements, présidé par l'économiste Philippe Waechter. Nous avons tenu à cet ??il expert, explique Fabrice Henry, Trésorier général de la MGEN. Le comité est composé de techniciens, mais aussi de certains membres du conseil d’administration. Il semble logique que les responsables mutualistes soient très attentifs à ces aspects, qu’ils suivent les évolutions économiques et financières. Cela fait partie de notre volonté de transparence au niveau des élus, et de notre volonté d’acculturation aux problèmes économiques.

Leur taux de défaut devrait toutefois rester stable autour de 3%, selon Moody’s. Les volumes d’émissions devraient baisser après deux années records

Onze banques helvétiques sont visées par la justice américaine. Le Conseil fédéral a dû modifier la convention de double imposition

Une nouvelle baisse de taux est plutôt envisageable en mars. Quelques jours plus tôt, la BCE aura procédé à sa nouvelle LTRO à trois ans

Après onze mois de révisions en baisse des anticipations de résultats, leur pessimisme se tempère en ce début d'année

Après deux baisses des taux fin 2011, les économistes n’attendent pas de nouveau geste de la banque centrale lors de sa réunion demain. Mais son président Mario Draghi devra s’expliquer sur l’efficacité de l’injection de fonds à 3 ans, que les banques préfèrent déposer à la BCE.

Après 21 ans passés au sein de la filiale hexagonale du géant britannique, il va présider le comité exécutif de l'établissement genevois

La transaction pourrait donner une indication positive pour le refinancement des prêts sous-jacents aux CMBS

La Haute Court de Justice britannique a rejeté la demande du patron de Terra Firma de voir publier les rapports de valorisation et les communications écrites par PricewaterhouseCoopers et ses conseillers à l’occasion de la prise de contrôle d’EMI par Citigroup en février dernier. PwC était alors administrateur du groupe d’édition musicale.

Mario Monti réclame dans un entretien à Die Welt des concessions de la part de l'UE, alors que l'Espagne tient aujourd'hui une «journée investisseurs»

La chaîne de télévision japonaise croit savoir que le gouvernement de l’agglomération de la capitale nipponne envisage la création d’un fonds d’investissement dédié à l’énergie d’un montant de 20 milliards de yens, l’équivalent d’un peu plus de 200 millions d’euros. Le fonds consacrerait ses investissements notamment à l’éolien. Les autorités elles-mêmes investiraient 3 milliards.

Dans un entretien accordé au journal, le premier ministre écossais, Alex Salmond, estime que le Royaume-Uni doit s’inspirer du modèle écossais en «protégeant les investissements publics, accélérer l’accès au financement, et en renforçant la sécurité économique pour restaurer la confiance (…) plutôt que d’accentuer nos différences et mettre en péril les emplois et la croissance».

Citant le conseiller de la Banque centrale chinoise Xia Bin, le 21st Century Business Herald indique que les autorités chinoises devront maintenir pendant encore une année ou deux les mesures contraignantes sur le marché immobilier, afin d’en assurer une stabilisation en douceur. La réduction des investissements dans le secteur constitue en effet un risque majeur pour l’économie.

Tokyo a demandé à l’Arabie Saoudite et aux Emirats arabes unis (EAU) de lui fournir davantage de pétrole en cas de pénurie provoquée par de nouvelles sanctions occidentales contre l’Iran, a déclaré hier le ministre japonais des affaires étrangères. «Les EAU ont réagi de manière positive à la requête japonaise. Le Japon sera prioritaire en cas d’augmentation de la production des EAU», a ajouté Koichiro Gemba.

La société de private equity a annoncé l’acquisition (en association avec le fonds dédié à l’immobilier DDR à hauteur de 5%) d’un portefeuille de 46 centres commerciaux répartis dans 20 Etats américains pour 1,43 milliard de dollars, y compris 640 millions de dette. Une transaction réalisée par le biais du fonds Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII auprès d’EPN, filiale de la holding israélienne Elbit Imaging.

Selon les analystes de Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, le marché mondial des permis d'émission de dioxyde de carbone s’est élevé à 96 milliards d’euros l’an dernier, en hausse de 4% par rapport à 2010. Dans l’Union européenne, premier marché pour les émissions de carbone, la valeur du Système communautaire d'échanges de quotas (SCEQE ou ETS en anglais), a crû de 6% pour atteindre 76 milliards d’euros.