More than two in five affluent French investors (44%) say they check the performance of their funds less than monthly or not at all - even though they have high expectations on the level of retirement income they hope to live on – according to new research from Schroders.As part of the Schroders European Wealth Index, a rolling study that explores attitudes to investment and retirement across 10 European countries, Schroders asked more 1,400 affluent investors how often they checked the performance of their funds and their attitudes to getting professional financial advice.French investors were the least likely in Europe (9%) to say they checked the performance of their investments on a daily basis although 23% claimed to check their funds on a weekly basis and a further 16% once a month. However, a large proportion of French investors (23%) claimed they only checked their investments on an infrequent basis, less than once a month, and more than one in five (21%) claimed they never checked them at all.The relative lack of vigilance in tracking investment performance can, in part, be explained by the large proportion of French investors that said they would seek professional financial advice before buying products. More than two in five French investors (43%) said they would not buy shares before getting financial guidance (higher than the European average of 34%) and 40% said they would seek third party advice before buying any form of long-term investment plan. A surprise from the survey of French investors was that whilst a large number said they would seek guidance on investments and shares before buying any products, only 10% said they would also look for expert guidance when it came to their pension. This was a surprise given French investors had high expectations of what they wanted to live on in retirement – 57% of respondents said they aimed for a retirement income that was equivalent to 60% or more of their current annual salary.

The 12th annual rankings accompanying the Asset Management Grand Prizes (GPGA) from Agefi are mostly made up of new entries since last year. Only three funds have managed to retain their leading positions, and nearly two thirds of the prizewinners are new arrivals since 2010. In the 15 main categories, three have seen their top three places completely changed.Credit Suisse Fund Equity Management has done well, with two top places, in International Equities (Credit Suisse Equity Fund Global Value CHF) and Sectoral Equities (Credit Suisse Equity Fund Global Prestige). Foreign (7) and French funds (8) share the rankings. And the top fund management firms (Schroders, Invesco, Morgan Stanley, Axa, Aviva, Allianz and Amundi) have held out well, Agefi Weekly reports.Despite the rankings being dominated by these big names, some boutiques have represented well this year. La Finance de L’Echiquier has placed highly in European equities (Echiquier Major), while Martin Maurel Gestion has done well in Emerging Markets Equities (Essor Emergent), and Amplégest has done so in Euro Equities (Amplégest Multicaps) alongside the likes of Rothschild & Cie Gestion this year.The novelty is in the come-back of bond funds, which are generally considered to have a limited capacity to generate outperformance. The fund which generated the most alpha was Amundi Funds Bond Global Aggregate AU.

In an empirical study of 3,571 hedge funds over 19 years (January 1990-March 2009), on the basis of the Barclay hedge fund database, three University of texas researchers (Gökce Soydemir, Jan Smolarski and Sangheon Shin) have drawn the conclusion that funds which rely on hurdle rates and/or high watermarks tend to underperform funds which do not use them. 74.5% of funds which use high watermarks do not offer hurdle rates. Emerging markets funds, equity funds and funds of funds also tend to significantly underperform other types of funds.Funds which charge high performance commissions also tend to outperform funds which charge more moderate commissions.In general, setting a high watermark or hurdle rate appears insufficient to generate higher returns; to contribute to higher returns, the hurdle rate or high watermark strategy needs to be accompanied by a high performance commission, in order to allow the fund to more easily achieve higher risk-adjusted returns.In the figures which accompany the survey, the authors observe that 855, or 24% of hedge funds use a hurdle rate, and 2,974 (83.3%) offer a high watermark to attract investors. Among these, 2,215, or 74.5%, do not use a hurdle rate.In total, 759 funds (21.3%) use both a hurdle rate and a high watermark, while 501 funds (14%) use neither. Lastly, hedge funds which charge a high watermark chage an average of 15.3% performance commissions, which is five times higher than those which do not use one.

The European fund and asset management association Efama has welcomed the most recent efforts by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA). “We are highly satisfied and positive about the document published last week. We are also more satisfied that our voice has been heard and taken into account on several points, for example, on the question of equivalence,” the director of Efama, Peter de Proft, told Newsmanagers at the annual alternative management conference organised by the association of the Luxembourg fund industry Alfi.In addition to this glowing report, a round table dedicated to enacting the MiFID directive has also shown that the debate which has surrounded the making of this text is far from over. In the chapter on the responsibilities of the securities depositories, for example, Patrice-Bergé-Vincent, director of the asset management regulation division at the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), who led the Esma working group on depositories, had highly nuanced comments to make on the impact of the bill. While defending clauses limiting depository responsibilities, Bergé-Vincent also pointed out some shortcomings in the area of transfer of responsibility to sub-custodians, as level 1 measures in the document were too restrictive, from his point of view.Jean-Marc Goy, counsel for international affairs at the Luxembourg regulator CSSF, says the role of depositories is worrying, as it may be counter-productive. “These measures will result in an increase in costs, which will ultimately affect the client. This is the opposite of the objective of protecting the investor,” Goy claims. Some players in the sector are at risk of abandoning this activity, which would reduce the number of players and increase systemic risk. This is another consequence which would run against the declared objective of the directive, to reduce systemic risk. “We have expressed some reservations, but they have not been taken into account,” Goy says.Despite his satisfaction, de Proft admits that there is no doubt that the directive will have a cost. He also points out to changes in the field now underway. “The Commission, Esma, and the European Parliament want more protection for investors. That is of concern to everybody, but with the crisis, the issue of responsibility is at the heart of the debate,” de Proft says, adding that in the current environment, Europe wants to show that it is taking good decisions, and that its objective is to protect investors.

The Turkish asset management industry represented assets of USD26.7bn as of September 2011, according to Financial Times Fund Management, which has published an article on this promising market. With the exception of Is Asset Management, most of the major asset management firms in the country are controlled by European or US asset management firms. Citibank, Unicredit, BBVA, ING, HSBC, and BNP Paribas IP are all present in the top 10, and other companies will soon join them, the weekly newsmagazine reports. Franklin Templeton has teamed up with Ak Bank to offer the Franklin Templeton Bric equity fund in Turkish lira, and Garanti and Fidelity are in negotiations to do similarly.

Despite the market turbulence, DekaBank, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, in third quarter posted economic profits (profits according to IFRS accounting standards, plus the result of a valuation of financial instruments) of EUR4.1m, but in the first nine months of the year, they have fallen 45.5% to EUR340.7m, compared with EUR625.6m.Assets as of 30 September contracted by 8.1% compared with the end of December, to EUR142.63m, compared with EUR155.22m. That result is largely due to net outflows of EUR6.98bn from the asset management and capital markets (AMK) unit, compared with EUR2.03bn in the first nine months of 2010. In this area, the decline has affected largely open-ended funds and unit-linked wealth management, with net redemptions of EUR5.45bn, compared with EUR3.69bn, while net outflows from institutional funds and mandates were limited to EUR591m, compared with net inflows of EUR3.5m in January-October of last year.However, the asset management/real estate (AMI) unit continued to post net subscriptions, of EUR531m, compared with EUR1.38bn, with a contraction to EUR464m from EUR1.38bn for open-ended real estate funds.

Three sources familiar with the matter say that Steven A. Cohen, head and founder of the alternative asset management firm SAC Capital Advisors, is in the running to acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, which is in bankruptcy. He is not the only one, as other billionaires are interested in the opportunity to pick up a major league baseball (MLB) team.The sale is being handled by the Blackstone Group, which appears not to be considering offers below USD1bn. The case is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to estimate the advertising revenues of the Dodgers after 2013.

As of the end of October, assets in 196 Portuguese UCITS-compliant funds (OPCVM) totalled EUR6.496bn, down 1.1% compared with the end of Septmeber, while assets in 110 “special” funds (FEI) were down by 0.4% in one month, to EUR4.5026bn. According to the Portugese securities commission (CMVM), average assets in funds totalled EUR33.1m, compared with EUR33.5m for OICVM funds, and EUR40.8m compared with EUR41.7m for FEI funds.In other words, total assets of EUR10.9811bn as of 31 October are 22.4% lower than where they were as of the end of December 2010. And the Portuguese association of asset management firms Afpipp explains that the decline is due, in addition to market effects, to net redemptions of EUR181m in October, and EUR2.561m in the first ten months of the year.The top four asset management firms in the country are Caixagest, with a market share of 23.1%, ESAF (18.5%), BPI Gestão de Activos (17.4%), and Santander Asset Management (14.4%). Crédit Agricole Gestão places tenth, with a market share of 1.2%.

In January-September, the volume of transfers from one fund to another in Spain totalled EUR22.74bn, which represents about 16.8% of average assets of EUR135.75bn, the Spanish Inverco association of asset management firms reports. The amount announced also represents 54% of gross subscriptions in the first nine months of the year (EUR41.47bn).

Raiffeisen remains the leading candidate to acquire Sarasin. A firm offer has been made by the co-operative banking group, Finanz und Wirtschaft reports, citing sources close to Raiffeisen. Julius Bär has also made a bid, the newspaper reports. Rabobank, which controls Sarasin, is expected to make its choice by the end of November, possibly even this week. Julius Bär is interested only in a complete takeover of the Basel-based bank, while the Raiffeisen group is reportedly prepared to acquire only one third of capital. The purchase price is expected to be under CHF1bn for Raiffeisen. Sarasin is currently valued at CHF2.1bn.

UBS and Credit Suisse are going back to basics. The two major Swiss banks this mouth announced that they are planning to scale down their investment banking and strenghten their wealth management in order to boost revenues and earn more reliable profits, the Financial Times reports. Wealth management is a more regular activity than investment banking, has lower costs, and consumes less capital.

Two asset management firms, EIM France SAS (EIM) and Alternative Leaders France (ALF) have been sentenced to pay fines of EUR300,000 and EUR150,000, respectively, by the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), for shortfalls in the establishment of and adherence to procedures which could have allowed them to identify the risks related to some “Madoff” investments.The verdict of the Sanctions Commission of the regulator, published on the regulator’s website on 22 November, and dated 21 October 2011, cites failures at the two asset management firms concerning their due diligence obligations and professionalism in risk controlling for third-party investments.Concretely, following the discovery of fraud on the part of Bernard Madoff, controls were undertaken by the AMF “to determine, in general, whether procedures established by portfolio management firms to identify the nature of risks concerned and the level of these risks which may be tolerable, when selecting and monitoring hedge funds in which they invest.” The Commission adds that “the companies which received sanctions did not have the elements which would have been likely to constitute a reliable support for the investment decisions that needed to be taken, not in opacity, without access either to the premises or the teams at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, nor to the economic models employed, but in clarity, after creating diligence which is indispensable to protect the interests of shareholders.”

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Invstment Securities (BLMIS), has obtained a refund of USD326m in taxes from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which were paid by Bernard Madoff to lend an illusion of legitimacy to his activities, the Wall Street Journal reports.Since the beginning of 2003, Madoff paid about USD330m to the IRS in the name of 145 foreign account holders who made dividends on their investments with Madoff. However, as the manager was fraudulent, he was not really paying such dividends, which would have been subject to withholding tax.The USD326m will be repaid to investors who lost money in the scheme.

Rupert Clarke, CEO of Hermes Fund Managers, will be stepping down and Saker Nusseibeh, current Head of Investment, will take over the role of acting CEO pending the completion of an external search for a replacement.Rupert Clarke was appointed CEO of Hermes at the end of 2007 after being chief executive of Hermes Real Estate Investment Management. Saker Nusseibeh had joined Hermes in June 2009 after working at Fortis Investments.

WGF Westfälische Grundbesitz und Finanzverwaltung AG (WGF) has announced that it has sold a planned 362-unit residential property (totalling 31,000 square metres) to Aberdeen Immobilien KAG. Construction is expected to begin on the “La Vie” project in Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin. The housing units will be added to an institutional real estate fund from Aberdeen Immobilien.

Sur un an, les volumes d’échange de la plupart des contrats sont en forte hausse. Celui sur le lait lancé à l’automne 2010 n’a pas encore décollé

L'adjudication ratée d'hier témoigne d'un phénomène de défiance généralisée vis-à-vis de la zone euro

Les 10 % des foyers les mieux dotés possédaient l’an dernier 48 % de la masse du patrimoine, alors que le dernier décile n’en détenait que 0,1 %

L'adjudication ratée d'hier témoigne d'un phénomène de défiance généralisée vis-à-vis de la zone euro

Malgré une petite amélioration par rapport au mois d'octobre, l'indice des directeurs d'achats signale toujours une récession

Les représentants de la région ont livré leurs recommandations pour résoudre la crise européenne, lors d'une conférence à Paris

Le résultat définitif des stress tests, basé sur les expositions au 30 septembre, est attendu d'ici à la fin du mois. Il crée la polémique outre-Rhin

Dans son rapport mensuel publié ce matin, le gouvernement nippon s’inquiète également des fluctuations de change et de la situation en Thaïlande

Le gouverneur de la Banque centrale thaïlandaise, Prasarn Trairatvorakul, a confié au quotidien japonais que son institution est désormais la seconde après celle du Nigéria à avoir diversifié ses réserves dechanges en accordant une place au yuan. Ce dernier représente certes encore moins de 1% des 169,4 milliards de dollars de réserves à fin septembre, mais cette part pourrait augmenter à la faveur d’une plus grande liquidité mondiale.

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En arrière-plan de ces propositions à traité constant se profile une négociation plus large incluant une réforme du traité européen

La Commission a présenté hier ses propositions, à traité constant, pour créer des euro-obligations et resserrer le contrôle budgétaire des Etats européens. Elles s’inscrivent dans une négociation plus large, en vue du sommet du 9 décembre, visant cette fois à réformer le traité européen.

KPMG, l’administrateur de la filiale britannique de MF Global, a confirmé que la participation de 4,7% du courtier en faillite dans le London Metal Exchange (LME) serait reprise par JPMorgan. Il a refusé de chiffrer le montant de l’investissement, mais Reuters évoquait mardi une somme de 25 millions de livres. KPMG a par ailleurs indiqué avoir arrêté un calendrier pour le remboursement des actifs et des fonds de la clientèle.

La banque suisse a acquis 30 millions d’actions du premier conglomérat financier colombien, pour un total de 506 millions de dollars, afin de contribuer au financement du rachat des actifs sud-américains d’ING. Cette opération s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une levée de fonds globale de 3.500 milliards de pesos (1,4 milliard d’euros). International Finance Corporation, Socidedad Bolivar SA et un troisième co-investisseur y ont pris part.

L’AMF a infligé des sanctions de 300.000 euros à l’encontre d’EIM France et de 150.000 euros à l’encontre d’Alternative Leaders France (ALF). L’AMF a retenu un défaut de diligence et de professionnalisme dans le contrôle des risques liés à leurs investissements «Madoff».