Of USD26.67bn in net inflows in January-November to European ETP products (ETF, ETC, and ETN), iShares (BlackRock) has accounted for EUR17.8bn, or two thirds. With EUR104.6bn in assets as of 30 November, the asset management firm has a market share of 33.9%, or 1.7 percentage points more than at the end of 2010.According to the most recent issue of the «ETF Landscape» newsletter from BlackRock, the second-best in terms of net subscriptions in the first eleven months of the year has been UBS Global Asset Management, with USD4.8bn in subscriptions, and assets as of the end of November of USD13.8bn. It is followed by Amundi ETF (USD2.6bn in net subscriptions and USD8.5bn in assets), Source Markets (USD2.5bn and USD7.6bn), and Credit Suisse Asset Management (USD2.3bn and USD16.2bn).db x-trackers/db ETC (Deutsche Bank) had net outflows of USD1.1bn in November, limiting net subscriptions in the first eleven months of the yar to USD1.8bn. Its assets totalled USD44.8bn as of 30 November, and its market share has fallen by one point since the beginning of 3011, to 14.5%. Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), with USD36.6bn as of the end of November, has seen a contraction of USD15.8bn in its assets under management from January-November, of which USD8.4bn were due to net redemptions. Its market share has fallen 4.7 percentage points, to 11.9%.

The financial ratings agency Moody’s on 12 December confirmed that it will be reevaluating its sovereign debt ratings for euro zone and European Union countries, in first quarter 2012, due to the lack of decisive action at the European summit last week. The lack of measures to staibilize the markets in the short term is a sign that the euro zone, and the European Union more broadly, continues to run the risk of more shocks, and the cohesion of the euro zone continues to be in danger, the agency explains in a statement.

In October, net redemptions from open-ended funds in Germany totalled EUR962.7m, compared with EUR2.766bn in September. In the first ten months of the year, outflows have totalled EUR8.56bn, compared with net subscriptions of EUR21.83bn. Since the beginning of 2011, institutional funds (Spezialfonds) have seen net inflows of EUR25.73bn, compared with EUR51bn, while mandates managed outside investment funds have seen outflows of EUR1.52bn, compared with EUR582m.In the first ten months of the year, the top score for net subscriptions goes to BlackRock, for its iShares ETFs, totalling EUR8.01bn, followed by Allianz Global Investors (AGI), with EUR1.98bn (thanks to EUR6.18bn for Pimco Europe). Meanwhile, Deka (savings banks) has seen net outflows of EUR6.59bn, followed by the DWS/DB Advisors/DB family, with EUR4.2bn, and Union Investment (co-operative banks, EUR2.14bn).Among the ETF promoters other than BlackRock, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) attracted EUR1.48bn, and ComStage (Commerzbank) took on EUR33.7m. ETFlab (Deka) has seen net outflows of EUR965m.

Financière de l’Echiquier has announced the arrival of Bertrand Merveille as head of compliance and internal control (RCCI). Merveille, 31, had previously been director of the investment services providers division of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). At the AMF, where he began in 2003 as a mutual fund analyst, Merveille then took charge of portfolio management firms, and then become deputy head of the investment services providers division, and then director of the division, in 2009.

Invesco Real Estate has added to its team dedicated to Europe, in order to improve solutions and services to international clients interested in investing in Europe. Sébastien Daguenet joins the team as fund and product manager – France. In this newly-created position, he will be in charge of the develpopment and management of funds in France, with the goal of offering French clients investment solutions from Invesco Real Estate. Daguenet, 34, had worked at CNP Assurances since 2004, where he served as a real estate portfolio manager for three years, and then as responsible for investments in non-publicly traded real estate funds. Tom Emson, currently head of transactions in France and Belgium, joins the New York office of the firm from 2 January 2012, to provide his European experience to international clients of Invesco Real Estate seeking to diversify their real estate portfolios in Europe, a statement says. Stéphanie Bensimon, who had previously been at CarVal Investors, where she was a specialist in opportunistic and high added value operations, joins the Paris office of Invesco Real Estate, replacing Emson as director of transactions for France and Belgium.

On 1 December, the Spanish regulator CNMV registered the Convictions Premium fund from the French asset management firm Convictions AM, the fifteenth foreign asset management firm to enter the Spanish market since the beginning of this year.Patrick Serre, a member of the executive committee and head of investor relations, tells Newsmanagers that Convictions is not opening an office in Spain for the moment, but that it has signed a partnership with the Madrid company Selinca AV, and with Pablo Chiodi in Paris.The French asset management firm, about 17% of whose EUR800m in assets come from abroad, is planning to register its other two flexible funds (Europactive and ActivInflation) in Spain, when they have EUR100m in assets and an adequate track record.Convictions is methodically continuing its expansion beyond the borders of France. Its flagship fund has been registered in Italy (March), Switzerland (September) and Germany (October), and the manager has recruited an Italian and a German in Paris to serve the Italian and German-speaking markets. Serre is optimistic about the firm’s penetration abroad, as the Premium fund has a “strong” qualitative rating from Fitch, and a AA+ from the German ratings agency Telos.

The Hartford and Wellington are scaling up their collaboration. Recently, the US insurer announced that Wellington will now be the sole sub-advisor for its 77 funds. The agreement also concerns bond funds from The Hartford, for which the sub-advisor had previously been its own asset management affiliate, Hartford Investment Management Company.

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services has launched ETF-Fusion, which offers a variety of services aimed at ETF professionals. The DASH interface puts providers and distributors in touch, while the GENUIS database offers inventory and accounting services.

The British asset management firm Aberdeen has confirmed to Newsmangers reports in Investment Week that the multi-management funds Aberdeen Multi-Manager Equity Managed Portfolio (GBP56m) and Aberdeen Multi-Manager Multi-Asset Distribution Fund (GBP16m) will be absorbing two and three other funds, respectively.The former fund will take over the assets of the Multi-Manager UK Growth fund (GBP17m), Multi-Manager International Growth (GBP25m), and the Multi-Manager Emerging Markets (GBP12m). The second fund will take over the assets of the Multi-Manager UK Income (GBP21m) and the Multi-Manager Sterling Bond (GBP14m).

Institutional investors, including pension funds, insurers and sovereign funds, are prepared to increase their exposure to real estate as an asset class, according to the findings of the Vision Focus study “Real Estate: New Opportunities for Institutional Investors,” published by State Street Corporation. But these investors, made awake to risks by the financial crisis, are demanding more control and flexibility for their exposure to this market. “Investors want closer relationships with fund managers, and are demanding more information, not only at the start, but also over the life cycle of the fund,” State Street says. Institutionals are also looking for more transparency in their underlying investments and management fees. Investors are becoming more prudent, and are taking their time to make a final decision, and paying much more attention to the due diligence process. Since 2007, the typical length of time between the start and the completion of an agreement has nearly doubled, State Street notes. These expectations taken together will lead to increased reporting requirements for asset management firms. According to State Street, major fund managers may respond to these requirements by strengthening their internal systems. Others, meanwhile, may decide to outsource their operations to service providers. Consolidating these functions with other fund managers may allow for economies of scale.

After insurers, pension funds are the largest investors in German institutional funds (Spezialfonds). Complementary retirement schemes, retirement funds and pension funds as of the end of October held nearly EUR138bn in assets of this type, the BVI association of asset management firms reports. Since 2004 (EUR49.4bn) these assets have nearly tripled.

The supervisory board at Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) on Friday decided to sell the civil operations of the Blohm+Voss shipyards o the British private equity firm Star Capital, according to reports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The sale is reported to have been for a double-digit amount in millions of euros.The activities sold include construction, repair and engineering, with 1,500 employees and a turrnover of EUR500m.

63 percent of pension executives now employ an LDI investment approach – more than triple that of 2007 (20 percent), according to a new survey by SEI*.In terms of asset allocation, long-duration bonds continue to be a popular strategy (74 percent in 2011), as bonds and liability values are similarly sensitive to interest rates. Short-duration cash management is also commonly used with 40 percent of respondents using it this year. Newer LDI products, such as emerging market debt (37 percent), continue to grow in popularity, but investments in interest-rate derivatives remained low again this year (26 percent).*The global poll was conducted by SEI’s Pension Management Research Panel and included 100 pension executives from the United States, Canada, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.

Guy d’Albrand, formerly of Société Générale and Newedge, has been appointed as head of securities lending at RBC Dexia Investor Services, which has also unveiled its new global Market Products & Services (MPS) business model. D’Albrand will begin in his new role in London in 2012. He will report to Susan Pike, global head, MPS.Meanwhile, Morgan McDonnell, head of foreign exchange, will assume the newly-created position of head of global foreign exchange, cash & credit markets. He will be in charge of the new grouping resulting from the merger of the product management and development teams of the forex and cash & investment finance (IF) unit.Susan Coleman, who had been head, cash & IF product management, becomes head of cross-product initiatives, a position in which she will be in charge of cross-product and collateral management strategy for the MPS division.Fay Coroneos, who had been head of risk & investment analytics, becomes head of MPS service delivery, the team which handles all delivery functions.Blair McPherson, currently head of portfolio solutions, has been appointed as head of market product innovation.

“Our forecasting model is currently as bearish as it was at the start of autumn 2008, in spite of the optimism that spread through markets in October,” says Hans-Olov Bornemann, head of the quantitative team at the Swedish bank SEB and manager of SEB Asset Selection, a managed futures fund. “The problem in Europe is that it has been borrowing money for 30 years, and hasn’t been using that money to invest, but to spend. This problem applies to governments as well as to individuals,” says Bornemann in an interview with Newsmanagers. There is no easy fix to combat the perverse effects of this “addiction to consumption,” and whatever the solution is, it will be painful. According to the head of quantitative management at SEB, the only way to get out of the cycle is to confront reality and to attack the debts. The second major problem to sort out is the lack of competitiveness of some countries, such as Italy and Spain. The solution will need to involve considerable budgetary cutbacks and a clearing-out of the balance sheets of financial institutions, which will have an impact on demand and corporate profits, and means that we can look forward to several difficult years. But for Bornemann and his SEB Asset Selection fund, it’s not that important whether the markets are rising or falling when there is a clear underlying trend. His fund seeks to earn returns both long and short, via derivative instruments based on four asset classes (equities, bonds, currencies and commodities). SEB Asset Selection continues to be positioned for a negative equity market development, a positive bond market development, an appreciation of safe haven currencies such as the USD & JPY and a declining commodity market. SEB Asset Selection, launched in October 2006 by the quantitative management team at the Swedish bank, now represents assets of about EUR1.5bn.

Agefi relays reports in the Journal du Dimanche that the Caisse des dépôts et placements du Québec (CDPQ) is said to be at an advanced stage in negotiations to acquire Axa Private Equity for EUR500m. Axa would retain a minority stake in the affiliate.

The Dutch pension fund ABP (EUR240bn in assets) has filed suit against the investment bank JP Morgan Chase over losses on MBS investments, IPE.com reports. According to a spokesman for the bank, the firm alleged to the fund that CDOs were less risky than they actually were.

Bloomberg reports that three German real estate funds, facing liquidation in spring, are seeking to sell EUR2.7bn in top-quality assets, including properties on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, and the London headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Agefi reports. The three funds, managed by KanAm Grund and the dedicated affiliates of Credit Suisse and the Swedish firm SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken), had total assets of EUR16.4bn in May 2010, when they were frozen.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Schroder Investment Management’s (Schroders) ‘M1' Asset Manager rating. The rating covers the company’s London-based investment activities with the exception of the alternative asset management business. Asset manager operations in the ‘M1' category demonstrate the lowest vulnerability to operational and investment management failure. According to the ratings agency, Schroders’ key strengths reside in its global, diversified, long-established franchise and a solid risk management framework. Disciplined, research-driven investment processes across asset classes and a robust operational infrastructure also differentiate Schroders from peers.

The Asia Leaders fund from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), managed by Thomas Gerhardt, the new head of the emerging markets team, and David Gaud, Asian equity manager, is now available for sale in Germany. The product was launched on 26 October (see Newsmanagers of 14 November).As of 31 October, EDRAM had assets of EUR13.1bn, compared with EUR14bn as of the end of 2010.

Global X Funds has announced the launch of an ETF based on Greece, which it says is the first of its kind. The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF fund, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, provides investors with exposure to the FTSE/ATHEX 20 Capped index, composed of the 20 largest caps on the Athens stock exchange. Total capitalisation of the Athens Stock Exchange has fallen off a peak of USD200bn by nearly 90%, to USD28bn as of November 2011.

In early December, at a time when the euro zone debt crisis continues to dominate headlines, investors have confirmed their preference for US funds, amidst timid but positive signs about the evolution of the macroeconomic environment in the United States. In the week to 7 December, funds dedicated to US equities posted their seventh week of net inflows in the past nine weeks, and US high yield bond funds posted net inflows of over USD2bn, according to statistics from EPFR Global. Overall, equity funds have seen net outflows of USD481m, while bond funds have posted net inflows of USD1.4bn. Money market funds have attracted USD36.4bn, for their fifth consecutive week of inflows. Some of these inflows are related to the liquidation of assets in European banks by some major US money market funds. EPFR Global finds that equity funds which emphasize dividends have posted net inflows of over USD35bn since the beginning of the year. Equity funds dedicated to emerging markets have seen net outflows since the beginning of the year of about USD36bn, while equity funds dedicated to developed countries have posted net inflows of USD79.9bn, compared with USD77.1bn in the corresponding period of 2010.

Alain Wicker, one of the emblematic figures at the French asset management firm La Française AM, discusses developments in the sector. The firm, facing strong competition from multiple sides, has already entered a consolidation phase. But there is a lack of candidates in France, despite the good reputation that the French asset management firm enjoys.

La Tribune has procured a list of the companies which were invested in the Madoff feeder fund Luxalpha in December 2008 (on behalf of themselves, their clients, or as a settlement market maker). La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild the European urology association, the French Senate, Téthys (the holding company for Liliane Bettencourt), the International Olympic Committee, HSBC Private Banking Paris, and Aforge Capital Management: the list includes asset management firms, private banks, family holding companies, family offices, associations, and one French public institution, La Tribune notes.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the business interests of Bernard Madoff, has filed suit in a New York court against Julius Bär and the Zurich-based private bank Falcon, the news agency Bloomberg reports. It is seeking USD37m from Julius Bär and USD39m from Falcon. Picard says these are the sums placed by various investors in the Bernard Madoff firm Fairfield Sentry, which were then placed in the two Swiss banks.

It may become illegal for asset management firms owned by US banks to manage money for European or Asian investors, according to one interpretation of the Volcker rule, Financial Times Fund Management reports. According to the current version of the bill, US mutual funds regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940 are exempt from the Volcker rule, which means that asset management firms owned by banks may continue to offer these services without restrictions. But there are no exemptions for European UCITS funds or Japanese trusts.

The French-registered fund EdR Millésima 2016, launched by Edmond de Rothschilid Investment Managers on 15 November 2011, was registered for sale in Spain by the CNMV on 25 November. The horizon fund (maturing on 31 October 2016) is based on carry trade strategies on senior industrial and financial sector bonds, with a maximum of 35% in high yield. Subscriptions are open until 29 February 2012. The fund will be available from Allfunds Bank and Banco Inversis.

Agefi relays reports by the news agency Reuters that China is planning to create another investment vehicle, which will aim to provide it with higher returns than its traditional investments. The vehicle will be controlled by the central bank, and will manage two funds, one of which will invest in the United States, and the other in Europe, with combined total assets of USD300bn. The new Chinese sovereign fund will have to outperform the CIC. Since its inception four years ago, the CIC fund has earned average annual returns of 6.4%.

Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Denis Metzger, directeur financier de la Mutuelle Générale évoque les projets d’investissement en cours: Jusqu'à début septembre, nous n’avons ni vendu ni acheté de nouvelles positions. Par chance, notre politique de gestion d’actifs n’est pas contrainte par des rachats comme dans l’assurance vie. Cela nous a donc laissé le temps de repenser plus globalement notre allocation d’actifs. Nous avons ensuite donné de nouvelles orientations à cette dernière mi-octobre. Nous nous intéressons désormais à la dette émergente en devise locale. Les pays émergents sont souvent en bien meilleure santé financière, offrent des taux de rendement très intéressants et leurs devises s’apprécient contre le dollar. Ce sont donc des placements qui font vraiment du sens en termes de diversification. Nous souhaitons par ailleurs mettre en avant une deuxième catégorie obligataire, à savoir le high yield. Nous nous intéressons, plus particulièrement, aux titres notés BB ou B. Ils offrent des spread de 300 à 400 pb avec un taux de défaut très peu supérieur à celui de l’investment grade. Et de plus, crise aidant, on y trouve de très grands noms comme Renault, Lafarge, Peugeot... Du côté des actions, nous avons décidé d'être exposés aux pays émergents au sens large, c’est à dire l’Europe de l’Est, l’Amérique latine ou l’Asie du Sud Est à travers des fonds thématiques globaux. Nous allons donc diversifier notre allocation d’actifs avec ces nouvelles catégories qui pourront représenter un maximum de 5% de nos encours.

Markus Wiedemann, responsable de la gestion investment grade chez DWS Investments