Ashmore Investment Management Limited, specialist manager of emerging market debt and equity securities, with assets under management of USD58.9 billion has announced the launch of the Ashmore SICAV Emerging Markets Global Equity Fund and the Ashmore SICAV Emerging Markets Global Small-Cap Equity Fund, which further complement its existing SICAV fixed income funds. These two new SICAV funds bring the total of equity-focused Ashmore SICAV funds to three and complement the existing Ashmore SICAV Emerging Markets Fixed Income range of 13 funds, with a total of USD6.4bn of assets under management across all SICAVs. All Ashmore funds focus exclusively on emerging markets. The emerging markets fixed income strategies include external debt, local currency, local currency bond as well as corporate debt, blended debt (“total return”) and multi strategy investing. The Ashmore SICAV Emerging Markets Global Equity fund will invest in equities issued by corporates and quasi-sovereigns whereas the Ashmore SICAV Emerging Markets Global Small-Cap Equity fund will invest in equities issued by small-cap corporates with a market cap of up to USD2 billion and quasi-sovereigns. The funds will be managed by AshmoreEMM, a member of the Ashmore Group.

The Liechtenstein private bank Frick has obtained permission from the British authorities to open an office in London, Agefi Switzerland reports. The bank is hoping to make it possible for British taxpayers to legalise their worldwide savings which are not subject to tax.

The Canadian asset management firm Manulife has announced net inflows of USD2.9bn in third quarter for its United States affiliate John Hancock Mutual Funds, up 27% compared with third quarter 2010. In the first nine months of the year, inflows totalled USD10bn, already more than all inflows in 2010 (USD9.7bn). Assets under management at John Hancock totalled USD33.4bn as of 30 September 2011, up 6% year on year. Manulife Asset Management, for its part, finished the quarter with USD173.3bn in assets under management for external clients. These assets are down by USD5.3bn compared with 30 June 2011, largely due to negative market effects, which were slightly offset by net subscriptions and the appreciation of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar. Total assets under management at the group as of 30 September totalled USD492bn, up by USD11bn compared with 30 June, and by USD16bn compared with 30 September 2010. The profitability of investments has contributed to a gain of USD13bn in twelve months. The Manulife group nonetheless saw a net loss of CAD1.27bn in third quarter, compared with a loss of CAD2.25bn in the corresponding period of 2010. In nine months, the group has posted net profits of CAD198m, compared with a loss of CAD3.46bn in the first nine months of 2010.

Aberdeen Asset Management has launched an additional multi-asset class fund for Mike Turner, with an emerging markets bias, Investment Week reports. The Aberdeen Diversified Growth fund will have a reduced exposure to equities, instead favouring bonds and alternative assets.

British retail investors may now complement their allocation to equity and bond products with the Skandia Global Futures Fund, which invests in the managed futures market (with a volume of USD290bn). Sales and distribution of the Irish-registered, UCITS-compliant product, a sub-fund of the Skandia Global Funds Sicav, will be provided for Skandia Investment Group (SIG) by the London-based Aspect Capital, a manager specialised in managed futures, with assets as of 1 October of USD6bn. The fund will start up with USD25m in investments from SIG clients. With the choice of Aspect Capital as a partner, SIG is seeking returns comparable to those of the Diversified Programme from Aspect Capital, Aspect’s flagship strategy, which is available to qualified institutional investors, and which has a track record of over 12 years. Characteristics Name: Skandia Global Futures Fund ISIN codes: IE00B4Z94309 (GBP share class)IE00B6SRG396 (Usd share class) Management commission: 2% Performance commission: 20%, with high watermark

Julia Reher, senior institutional sales manager at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) in Munich, has joined the institutional distribution team at Pioneer Investments Germany as senior director – institutional clients. She will be in charge of relationship management for business clients and pension funds.Pioneer has also recruited a new senior sales officer for Spain and Portugal, Teresa Molins, who will be the alter ego of Almudena Mendaza, and will report to José Castellano, head of the Iberian markets, North America (offshore) and Latin America.Molins had previously been in charge of investor relations for the wedding specialist website Bodaclick.com, after serving as director of bond sales at Dresdner Kleinwort and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.

Joseph Linhares, managing director, has announced that iShares is currently considering launching ETFs of equity and bond ETFs.The head of the firm for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region has revealed that the asset management firm is considering importing asset allocation solutions to Europe based on quantitative models, which would invest in ETFs without necessarily being ETFs themselves. iShares may also design products using fundamental methods, but that would probably pose both legal and industrial secrecy issues, related to timing disclosure of the composition of portfolios so as not to reveal the alpha signal too quickly. But this would be something near active management...However, Linhares is hostile to the notion of launching reverse and/or leveraged ETFs, which may be dangerous for retail investors, who find it difficult to understand the methodology and performance of these products over the long term.

The largest savings bank in Hamburg, Hamburger Sparkasse, or Haspa, has awarded an institutional fund administration mandate to BNY Mellon Service KAG, to monitor investment limits on assets of EUR1.4bn. The bank becomes the eighth German client to outsource its funds administration to the German affiliate of the BNY group.

Eaton Vance Management has announced the launch of a mutual fund investing in a wide range of asset classes. The Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy All Market Fund may invest in equities, bonds, and alternative investments, allocating the fund’s assets to portfolios from Eaton Vance. The product is managed by the Eaton Vance Customized Solutions Group team, which reports to Jeffrey Rawlins and Dan Strelow. Target volatility for the Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy All Market Fund is 4% to 14% per year, a statement adds.

The German asset management firm SEB Asset Management on 3 November announced that its open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest (DE0009802306), from which redemptions have been frozen for one and a half years (see Newsmanagers of 10 May 2010), has successfully sold 10 properties for EUR680m.The properties are located in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France and the United States, and are said to have been sold at an average of 0.5% above their current market value. The sales will increase liquidity in the fund to 21.8% of assets (EUR6.33bn as of the end of September), or EUR1.4bn. Total property sales now come to 14 properties, for over EUR910m.In these conditions, SEB AM remains confident that it will be possible to reopen the fund before the deadline of 5 May 2012, beyond which date the firm would be legally required to liquidate the product.

On its website, HypoVereinsbank (HVB, UniCredit group) is recommending an investment in shares in the open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal from Credit Suisse Germany to investors. However, Die Welt reports, redemptions from the EUR6.1bn funds are frozen.Although the bank considers that this well-managed real estate fund offers attractive prospects of returns for long-term investors, consumer defence associations in Hamburg and Bremen have called the recommendation “scandalous,” because the risks are so high. If the asset management firm does not manage to mobilise enough liquidity, the fund may have to be liquidated from May 2012.Die Welt has also pointed out that shares in the CS Euroreal fund sold by HVB generate 5% commissions for the bank, which neglects to mention to investors that they can buy shares in the fund on the stock market, currently at a 17.7% discount.

Clients of Allianz Germany who subscribed to the DEGI International fund, a real estate fund whose liquidation was announced on 25 October, may be offered redemption of their shares at EUR42.78 each, under certain conditions.As of 3 November, the theoretical redemption price was EUR42.80 per share.Fondsprofessionell reports that the offer, valid until 15 February 2012, is restricted to investors who bought their shares in the fund before redemptions were frozen by Aberdeen on 17 November. The shares also need to be held in an account at Allianz Bank or Allianz Global Investors.

Assets under management at the alternative management firm Och-Ziff Capital Management Group as of the end of September totalled USD28.8bn, compared with USD29.8bn as of 30 June 2011, and USD26.5bn as of the end of September 2010. Growth of USD2.3bn, or 9%, year on year reflects net inflows of USD1.6bn and performance-related appreciation of USD767.6m. Och-Ziff in third quarter earned profits of USD49.9m, compared with USD52.1m in third quarter 2010.

For third quarter 2011, Prudential Financial has announced net profits of USD1.5bn, compared with USD1.16bn in the corresponding period of last year. Operating profits for the asset management activity totalled USD123m, compared with USD148m in July-September 2010. Assets in the asset management division as of 30 September totalled USD599.4bn, up 16% (USD518.1bn) year on year. For the group as a whole, assets totalled USD871bn, compared with USD784bn as of the end of December, and USD750.1bn as of the end of September 2010.

Schroders has recruited two former employees of Axa Investment Managers for its sales teams based in Paris. Aurore Wannesson-Raynaud, who had previously been director, senior product specialist, fixed income at Axa IM, has been appointed as head of sales for institutional clients. She will report to Mustapha Bouheraoua, director of institutional clients at Schroders France. Thomas Strievi, who had served as product specialist at AXA IM in the Invesments Solutions division, becomes head of commercial distribution. He will report to Alexandre Gabus, director of distribution at Schroders France. The recruitments, which were expected, follow a reorganisation of the sales team at Schroders in Paris (see Newsmanagers of 27 April 2011).

PAI Partners on 3 November announced the arrival of Charles Bouaziz in the consumer goods activity based in Paris. He will oversee the Portfolio Performance Group, which is dedicated to optimising the operational performance of companies in the PAI portfolio. Bouaziz had previously been senior adviser to PAI for nearly a year. From 1991 to 2010, he was one of the major architects of growth at PepsiCo in Europe, where he began as head of the French franchise and eventually became CEO for western Europe.

Le fonds de dotation du Louvre (120 millions d’euros d’actifs) s’intéresse aux actions des marchés frontières. La fondation envisage également de modifier la répartition de ses actifs de 30 à 40 % d’actions. Nous réfléchissons à la meilleure façon d’investir dans les marchés émergents a déclaré le directeur du fonds de dotation, Thierry Brevet au site d’informations Mandatewire. Il affirme sa préférence pour l’investissement dans des entreprises implantées au sein des marchés émergents plutôt que les multinationales qui y sont exposées, en privilégiant l’investissement dans les moyennes entreprises. Mais identifier ce type d’investissement avec un quelconque degré d’incertitude s’avère compliqué ajoute-t-il. Le plus efficace à ce stade serait d’investir dans un fonds Monde, tout en surveillant la qualité des actions qu’il contient. Le fonds de dotation est déjà présent sur les marchés émergents de manière passive avec de la société de gestion BlackRock. Son directeur souhaiterait plus activement détenir des encours sur ces marchés. De plus, la fondation a élargit son horizon jusqu’en 2016 et a revu à la hausse la proportion d’actions dans son portefeuille, afin de passer de 30 à 40 %. Pour Thierry Brevet, une période plus longue autorise de prendre un peu plus de risques et permet ainsi de profiter d’actifs plus attractifs. En contrepartie, la part obligataire du portefeuille a été réduite du côté de la dette souveraine pour ne conserver que des encours d’excellente qualité. En septembre, la proportion de dette souveraine dans le portefeuille de la fondation était de plus de 35 %. L’allocation stratégique est désormais composée de 40 % d’actions (large et mid caps mondiales, small caps aux Etats-Unis en Europe et dans les pays émergents) et 60 % d’obligations (à taux fixe, les obligations gouvernementales étant indexées sur l’inflation en euros ou en obligations couvertes et les entreprises en euros ou couverts).

Emergence, le fonds d’incubation pour les sociétés de gestion, devrait être lancé officiellement fin novembre, rapporte L’Agefi Hebdo. Le fonds était quasiment prêt fin juillet pour un lancement en septembre. Toutefois, après l'été complexe traversée par la Bourse, ce n'était plus le moment, explique Alain Leclair, qui pilote le projet Emergence en tant que membre du comité de direction de Finance Innovation et président d’honneur de l’Association française de gestion financière (AFG). En plus de la Caisse des dépôts, qui a immédiatement manifesté son intérêt, plusieurs compagnies d’assurances et caisses de retraite vont également prendre part au projet. Nous avions initialement envisagé de lever 250 millions d’euros de capitaux mais nous allons nous lancer avec 100 millions, puis effectuer un deuxième appel début 2012, expose Alain Leclair.

Georges Papandréou, qui demande ce soir la confiance du parlement, est prêt à abandonner le projet contre un gouvernement d’union nationale.

La banque a massivement vendu ses positions, notamment en dette italienne, essuyant au passage plus de 800 millions d’euros de pertes en quatre mois. La baisse de son bilan lui coûtera par ailleurs au moins 750 millions de résultat brut en année pleine, dont les deux tiers en BFI.

Six députés italiens jusqu’ici fidèles à Silvio Berlusconi ont appelé dans une lettre à la formation d'un nouveau gouvernement

Georges Papandréou, qui se soumet ce soir à un vote de confiance, cherche à former un gouvernement d'union nationale avec l'opposition

Le nouveau plan quinquennal chinois va élargir le spectre des secteurs ciblés pour favoriser la constitution de « champions globaux »

La croissance du PIB chinois au quatrième trimestre pourrait ralentir à environ 8,8%, selon le China Securities Journal qui cite le directeur des prévisions économiques au centre d’information de l’Etat chinois, Fan Jianping. Ce dernier estime que l’enjeu est de trouver un équilibre entre la croissance et la maîtrise des prix.

Une dizaine de pays s'engagent à accroître leurs contributions. Les sherpas des chefs d'Etat planchaient toujours hier soir sur les moyens de l'EFSF

L'Agence France Trésor a émis pour près de 7 milliards d'euros de titres hier à des rendements attractifs pour les investisseurs

L'autorité bancaire européenne les encourage à réduire leur exposition souveraine. Les rendements italiens restent supérieurs à 6 %

La perspective d'une récession modérée en fin d'année a poussé la BCE à une baisse de 25 pb

La perspective d'une récession modérée en fin d'année a poussé la BCE à une baisse de 25 pb

Au 30 juin, les encours gérés des Perco atteignaient 4,8 milliards d’euros. Plus de 890.000 salariés ont déjà effectué des versements, soit une progression de 30 % sur 6 mois et 40 % sur un an, selon un communiqué de l’AFG. Du 1er janvier au 30 juin, les flux d’alimentation se sont élevés à 807 millions d’euros, ce qui marque une progression de 21 % par rapport à la même période de 2010.