Selon les proches du dossier, les capital-investisseurs BC Partners et Silver Lake Partners achètent MultiPlan à Carlyle Group à la faveur d’un «secondary buy out» qui valorise la société à 3,1 milliards de dollars, rapporte The Wall Street Journal. Il semble que Carlyle récupère plus de trois fois sa mise initiale de 2006. MultiPlan est l’un des plus importantes «preferred-provider organizations» ou PPO, des Etats-Unis. Il s’agit d’une entreprise qui monte des réseaux de médecins pour les assureurs.

Malgré le flou entourant certaines hypothèses des régulateurs, les valeurs bancaires ont bien réagi

BNP Paribas Wealth Management a annoncé le 7 juillet sa décision de faire évoluer son organisation en rassemblant l’ensemble des acteurs de la gestion privée au sein d’un même métier, Wealth Management, sous la responsabilité de Jacques d’Estais qui conserve ses fonctions de responsable du pôle Investment Solutions.Il a été ainsi décidé de créer une gouvernance regroupée, afin d’accentuer la transversalité entre les zones et les fonctions supports :- 5 zones géographiques sont définies : Asie Pacifique, Marchés Domestiques Euro et Nouveaux Marchés Domestiques, Europe Internationale (incluant Moyen-Orient et Amérique Latine) et Luxembourg. Elles sont confiées respectivement à Mignonne Cheng, Marie-Claire Capobianco pour l’ensemble des marchés domestiques, Pascal Boris et Patrice Crochet.- 3 fonctions transversales viendront appuyer le développement de ces zones : Produits & Services, sous la responsabilité d’Olivier Maugarny. Un pôle d’expertise UHNWI (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals) est constitué ; son organisation sera précisée ultérieurement. Enfin, un ensemble COO regroupant les fonctions du métier sera confié à Vincent Lecomte.Mignonne Cheng, Marie-Claire Capobianco, Pascal Boris, Patrice Crochet, Olivier Maugarny et Vincent Lecomte seront, au côté de Jacques d’Estais, membres du Comité Exécutif de BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

Palatine Asset Management, l’entité de gestion d’actifs de la Banque Palatine - banque des entreprises et du patrimoine du Groupe BPCE - en collaboration avec C&M Finances, société de gestion indépendante – ont annoncé le 7 juillet le lancement du FCP Export Europe Palatine, le premier fonds commun de placement de droit français exclusivement consacré aux sociétés européennes exportatrices.L’objectif est de profiter des performances des entreprises européennes en zone euro et exposées aux marchés dont les monnaies se sont réévaluées. Les sociétés composant ce fonds sont exportatrices aux Etats-Unis, au Japon, en Chine et dans les principaux marchés émergents. Au cours du premier semestre 2010, les devises de ces pays (dollar, yen, Yuan, roupie indienne, réal brésilien et peso mexicain…) se sont réévaluées en moyenne de 15%. Actuellement, l’exposition des groupes cotés européens sur les seuls pays émergents, en très forte croissance économique, est de 25%. Les sociétés composant Export Europe Palatine profitent donc à plein du niveau attractif de l’euro. Ce FCP Export Europe Palatine se concentre actuellement sur les valeurs industrielles et les biens de consommation et exclut des secteurs entiers : financières, bancaires, assurances, télécoms, pétrole et gaz...caractéristiques :Code Isin : FR0010915181Droits d’entrée : 2.00% maxFrais de gestion : 1.20% TTC max + 10% surperformance au delà de l’indice coupons réinvestis +3%

Acropole Asset Management a annoncé le 7 juillet le lancement de son premier fonds thématique Acropole Euro Converti’i dont l’objectif est de participer à la hausse des marchés actions sans prendre le risque d’une remontée des taux. Acropole propose en outre un fonds à rendement Acropole Mix Income. Acropole Euro Convert’i et Acropole Mix Income seront respectivement lancés les 8 et 13 juillet 2010.La stratégie adoptée pour Acropole Euro Convert’i consiste à construire un portefeuille d’obligations convertibles européennes, privilégiant les valeurs et secteurs particulièrement corrélés à l’inflation, avec au lancement, une couverture du risque de taux (sensibilité entre 0 et 2)Dans le cadre de sa gestion de conviction, Acropole Asset Management retient ainsi les thèmes suivants : minerais, matières premières, agriculture, actifs réels/immobilier et pricing power.Pour réaliser cette stratégie, le processus d’investissement est principalement basé sur l’appréciation de 3 paramètres : - analyses conjuguées top down et bottom up du gisement des obligations convertibles et des sous-jacents (130 noms suivis)- analyse crédit sur les recommandations de Cheyne Capital associées au rating interne d’Acropole AM - analyse des paramètres techniques des obligations convertibles (volatilité, convexité, gestion du delta, concentration des risques). Sur le thème du rendement et dans la continuité d’Acropole Convertible Optimum et d’Acropole 2012 lancés en février 2009, Acropole Asset Management propose par ailleurs Acropole Mix Income, fonds d’obligations convertibles et privées High Yield, dont le taux de rendement actuariel est aujourd’hui de l’ordre de 10% (taux brut et en l’absence de tout défaut). La stratégie adoptée par Acropole Mix Income consiste à construire un portefeuille d’obligations convertibles et d’obligations privées High Yield. Pour réaliser cette stratégie, le processus d’investissement s’appuie sur : - la sélection des obligations convertibles et corporate High Yield grâce à une analyse fondamentale sur les zones européenne, Etats-Unis et Asie l’utilisation de filtres crédit, liquidité et valorisation, la revue de la concentration des risques avec le suivi des limites géographique, émetteur, secteur et % d’investissement. En complément de l’analyse crédit de son actionnaire Cheyne Capital avec lequel elle possède un partenariat exclusif, Acropole Asset Management a également développé un modèle de rating interne de crédit qui permet d’attribuer une note à toutes les obligations convertibles qui ne disposent pas d’un rating d’agence de notation soit plus de 40% du gisement mondial.

On Wednesday, Deutsche Börse admitted four Luxembourg-registered ETFs from ComStage (Commerzbank) to trading, including three equities funds, the ComStage ETF DAX FR and the ComStage ETF EURO STOXX 50 FR, which charge fees of 0.15%, and the ComStage ETF FTSE 100 TR, with management commissions of 0.25%. The last product is a bond fund: the ComStage ETF iBoxx € Germany Covered Capped Overall TR, with management commission of 0.17%. With these four funds, the XTF segment now lists 678 ETFs.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management on 7 July announced its decision to develop its organisation, bringing together all private management actors within a single professional unit, Wealth Management, which will be led by Jacques d/Estais, who will also retain his responsibilities as head of the Investment Solutions unit. The firm has also decided ot create a new governance format, to accentuate the transversality of geographical regions and support functions. 5 geographical regions have been defined: Asia-Pacific, Euro Domestic Markets and New Domestic Markets, International Europe (including the Middle East and Latin America), and Luxembourg. These regions will be led by Mignonne Cheng, Marie-Claire Capobianco for all domestic markets, Pascal Boris and Patrice Crochet. 3 transversal functions will aim to develop these regions: Products & Services, led by Olivier Maugarny; an UGNWI )ultra high net worth individuals) expert unit, which has recently been created, and whose organisation will be announced subsequently; and a COO unit, which will include the professional functions overseen by Vincent Lecomte. Cheng, Capobianco, Boris, Crochet, Maugarny and Lecomte will join d’Estais as members of the Executive Board of BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

Following the completion of the acquisition of PNC Global Investment Servicing, BNY Mellon has announced the creation of a new GFI (global financial institutions) group, which will concentrate on banking, mutual fund and insurance clients. The unit will be directed by Nadine Chakar, previously head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Steve Wynne, previously CEO of PNC Global Investment Servicing, becomes CEO of US fund services (mutual funds, closed funds, ETFs).

Palatine Asset Management, the asset management entity from Banque Palatine, the business and wealth management bank of the BPCE group, in collaboration with C&M Finances, an independent management firm, on 7 July announced the launch of the FCP Export Europe Palatine, the first French-registered common investment fund (FCP) dedicated exclusively to European exporters. The objective is to profit from the performance of European, Euro zone businesses which are exposed to markets in which currencies are being revalued. The businesses the fund invests in export to the United States, Japan, China, and the major emerging markets. In the course of first half 2010, the currencies of these countries (dollar, yen, Yuan, Indian Rupee, Brazilian Real, Mexican Peso and others) have been revalued by an averge of 15%. Currently, the exposure of European publicly-traded groups to emerging markets alone, which are undergoing very strong economic growth, is 25%. Companies in the Exposure Europe Palatine fund will thus fully profit from the attractiveness of the Euro. The FCP Export Europe Palatine is currently concentrated on industrial shares and consumer goods, and excludes the following sectors completely: finance, banking, insurance, telecommunications, oil, and gas. Characteristics ISIN: FR0010915181 Legal format: French-registered FCP fund eligible for PEA AMF classification: Equities from within the European community Date of creation: July 2010 Benchmark index: Stoxx Europe 50 Valuation: Daily Management fees: 1.20% TTC max +10% outperformance of the benchmark index with dividends reinvested +3% Front-end fee: 2.00% maximum Exit fees: none Allocation of results: Capitalisation Minimal recommended investment duration: 5 years Subscriptiond and redemptions: Centralised daily before 11 am at Banque Palatine, and executed on the basis of the next daily net asset value

Acropole Asset Management on 7 July announced the launch of its first themed fund, Acropole Euro Convert’i, which will aim to profit from rising equities markets, without exposing itself to risk of rising interest rates. Acropole will also offer the Acropole Mix Income fund for higher yields. Acropole Euro Convert’i and Acropole Mix Income will be launched on 8 and 13 July, respectively. The strategy adopted for Acropole Euro Convert’i will be to construct a European convertible bond portfolio, which will privilege shares and sectors which are particularly highly correlated to inflation, with currency risks hedged at launch (with sensitivity of 0 to 2). As part of its conviction-based management, Acropole Asset Management has chosen the following themes: minerals, commodities, agriculture, real estate and realty assets, and pricing power.

Last week, BlackRock lowered the management commission for its iShares Comex Gold Trust ETF (acronym IAU) be more than one third, to 0.25%. The fund has assets of only USD3.3bn, though it is nearly identical to the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund from State Street, which has USD50.6bn, and charges a management commission of 0.40%, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to specialists, the new range from BlackRock is highly attractive, but those who make frequent trades and who already have shares in SPDR would probably do best, for tax reasons among others, to stay put. However, the new range from BlackRock is priced more attractively than the ETF Securities offering, with the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL), with USD587m, which charges 0.39%.

Jürgen Rauhaus, head of investments at Pioneer Investments Deutschland, has announced that the affiliate of UniCredit will on 26 July launch its first ecological and sustainable development balanced fund, the Pioneer Investments Balanced Ecology. The German-registered product is managed by Johannes Sienknecht and Reinhard Stork. It excludes in advance any shares in companies in the areas of alcohol, nuclear energy, gambling, pornography, arms and tobacco, as well as companies which admit to environmental damage, falsification of the balance sheet, or corruption. However, the portfolio will invest in shares in companies which respect high ecological and sustainable development standards. For bonds, the fund will not invest in securities from governments which possess nuclear weapons or which breach human rights. Maximal allocation to equities will be 50%, while exposure to bonds may total 100%. Preselection of securities will be entrusted to oekom research, and the portfolio will include 30 to 50 equities and 20-30 bond positions.CharacteristicsName: Pioneer Investments Balanced Ecology A EUR DAISIN: DE000A0RL2G4Front-end fee: 4%Management commission: 1.20%

In the first five months of the year, German fund management firms posted net subscriptions of EUR37.2757bn, compared with EUR15.6862bn in the corresponding period of 2009.In May, net subscriptions totalled over EUR3.86bn, compared with EUR2.37bn for Spezialfonds and EUR1.83bn for open-ended funds, despite net redemptions of EUR1.44bn for real estate funds, and EUR1.11bn for money market funds. Despite net subscriptions, total assets in funds and mandates fell by more than EUR4.8bn in one month, to EUR1.75717trn as of the end of May.

Allianz Global Investors (AGI) announced on Wednesday that its US affiliate Pimco has recently released its value equities funds PIMCO EqS Pathfinder Fund™ et PIMCO EqS Pathfinder Europe Fund™ (see Newsmanagers of 21 June and 19 April) in Germany. The products are sub-funds of the Irish-registered, UCITS-compliant Sicav Global Investor Series (GIS).

In the first five months of the year, open-ended securities funds in Germany attracted nearly EUR11.08bn. Of this total, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) took in EUR6.09bn, of which EUR5.6bn went to Pimco Europe. The second-largest inflow went to BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland, whose iShares brand ETF funds drew in EUR3.17bn. ETF promoters have seen significant net inflows, as ComStage (Commerzbank) has attracted EUR565.1m, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) has posted net inflows of EUR756.7m, and ETFlab (Deka) has posted net subscriptions of EUR2.26bn. Among the major management firms, the DWS/FB Advisors family (Deutsche Bank) is the only one, aside from AGI, to post net inflows, with EUR810m. Deka (savings banks) and Union Investment (co-operative banks) saw respective net outflows of EUR3.37bn and EUR2.72bn.

The alternative management firm Salus Alpha on Wednesday announced that its Austrian-registered UCITS-compliant fund Salus Alpha RN Special Situations (see Newsmanagers of 22 February) has been approved by BaFin for sales in Germany, and that it has attracted USD25m since its launch on 22 March, when it already had USD20m in assets. Its performance comes in at 2.85%.

On Wednesday, BNY Mellon and the International Derivatives Clearing Group (ICDG) announced that the BNY affiliate BNY Mellon Clearing LLC will become a clearing member of the International Derivatives Clearinghouse LLC, a derivatives clearing structure regulated by the US Commodity Futures trading Commission (CFTC). BNY Mellon says that joining the body will allow it to offer clients central counterparty clearing for fixed income derivatives, which are an important tool in the management of financial risk for businesses, investors, and municipalities.

On Wednesday, State Street announced that in second quarter it recorded a second quarter 2010 after-tax charge of USD251m or USD0.50 per share, including a related cash contribution to certain common and collective trust funds managed by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) that engage in securities lending (the SSgA lending funds). The USD330m transfer will allow SSgA to raise restrictions on redemptions from its lending funds from August 2010. State Street has also announced that in second quarter it had a revenue of USD2.3bn, and profits per share of USD0.87, taking into account the one-time charge of USD251m mentioned above, and a tax expense of USD180m for restructuring of assets in non-US conduits.

Nielsen has found that Franklin Resources was the US mutual fund manager which spent most on advertising in first quarter, with USD3.7m, compared with nearly USD0.51m in the corresponding period of last year, Mutual Fund Wire reports. Franklin Resources was followed by T. Rowe Price (USD2.97m), Vanguard (USD2.13m), Fidelity (USD2.05m), and Power Corp of Canada (the owner of Putnam Investments) with USD2.03m.

Fabrice Cuchet, head of alternative management at Dexia Asset Management, says UCITS III hedge funds, known as newcits, “do not aim to replace hedge funds, but to bring a complementary range of products, more liquid and more regulated.” But there are many pitfalls, and one should not assume that newcits create liquidity. “Newcits are not miracle products which will deliver the same performance as hedge funds while offering more liquidity and less risk,” he says. It is likely, in fact, that the average performance of UCITS hedge funds will be lower than those of the hedge fund industry, partly due to a more restrictive UCITS environment for managers, and partly since not all strategies and assets are eligible for UCITS, which reduces the potential sources of performance. Dexia AM offers 22 UCITS III funds, covering 15 different alternative strategies in all asset classes.

The head of emerging markets at Axa Framlington, William Calvert, is leaving the group, along with two of his managers, Ming Kemp and Neil Denman. Calvert is lead manager of the Framlington Emerging Markets fund (GBP241.4m). The team will continue to provide management of the product for three months, and will then be replaced by Mark Beveridge and Irina Topa-Serry until successors for the trio can be found.

BNY Mellon Asset Management announced on Wednesday that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has authorised BNY Mellon and Western Securities to create a fund management joint venture in China, BNY Mellon Western Fund Management Company Limited. The joint venture will be 49% controlled by BNY Mellon, and 51% by Western Securities. BNY Mellon FM will start out managing Chinese “domestic” securities in several funds aimed at retail investors. It will later develop new products, relying on the expertise of the BNY Mellon group. Distribution will focus on banking and brokerage networks in China. The CEO of the new firm is Bin Hu.

Agefi reports that an annual study by the Scorpio Partnership agency (Global Private Banking KPI Benchmark 2010) has found that the ten largest actors in wealth management now account for nearly two thirds of the market. The volume of assets worldwide increased last year by 17%, to USD16.5trn. Bank of America retains its place at the top of the list, with assets of USD1.74trn, followed by UBS and Morgan Stanley.

Henderson Global Investors and Aviva Investors on 7 July announced that Aviva Investors will become the manager and “Authorised Corporate Director” of the Henderson International Property Fund, from 2 August 2010. Aviva Investors is planning to merge the assets of the Henderson International Property Fund (GBP183m as of 30 June) with the GBP223m (also as of 30 June) in its European and Asia-Pacific real estate funds. The larger size will allow for more diversification and reliance on the expertise of regional teams.

Since the beginning of the month, Alexander van den Berg has become sales manager Germany at Henderson, where he will be in charge of wealth manager, fund of fund, and IFA clients. He will report to Lars Albert, head of sales, Germany. Van den Berg was previously head of wholesale distribution for Germany and Luxembourg at the German fund management firm SEB Asset Management.

According to a survey of 60 German institutional investors, of whom 17% have assets of over EUR10bn, the Kommalpha agency has found that professionals are clearly intending to increase their exposure to the health sector. 68% of them say this taste is due to a megatrend which profits the sector, while 50% are attracted by the potential for growth, and only 29% cite an attractive return/risk ratio as a motive in their investment decision, while 15% explain it as related to the low correlation of the sector with other asset classes. The three best-known funds in the sector are the BB Biotech Lux from Bellevue Asset Management (cited by 56% of those surveyed), the PF (Lux) Biotech I from Pictet Funds, and the DWS Biotech-Aktien from DWS, cited by 50% and 46%, respectively.

For 2009, BHF-Bank has declared net profits of EUR13m, compared with EUR198m, and a cost-income ratio up to 95% from 52.4%. At the end of last year, the private bank had assets of EUR43bn, and profits of EUR18m, compared with EUR21m. Assets under management at the affiliates Frankfurt Trust Investment Gesellschaft (Allemagne) and Frankfurt Trust Invest Luxembourg as of the end of December represented EUR17.1bn, of which EUR7.7bn were in open-ended funds, and EUR9.4bn in institutional funds and mandates. The total represents an increase of about 8% over their levels at the end of 2008. Profits for asset management are down to EUR12m from EUR14m. In 2010, BHF, which was taken over by Deutsche Bank at the time of its acquisition of Sal. Oppenheim, is planning to open a private banking affiliate in Singapore. In asset management, Frankfurt Trust will continue to develop quantitative and asset allocation products.

Fund Strategy reports that Charles Wilson, managing director at Lazard Asset Management, is leaving the firm to join Investec. Wilson worked at Lazard AM for 13 years. Fund Strategy reports that Bill Smith, CEO for the UK, will take over Wilson’s responsibilities until a successor can be found.

The Scottish management firm Martin Currie on 6 July announced that it has added to its sales team with the arrival of John Long as sales manager. He will aim to develop intermediated activities of the firm in London. Long will join Martin Currie on 2 August, and will report to Alan Burnett, head of intermediated distribution for the United Kingdom. Long previously worked at Stenham Group.

According to a study by the British association of investment companies (AIC), the average TER of investment companies, including performance commissions, came to 1,83% in 2009, compared with 1.56% in October 2008, and 1.74% in June 2007. In January 2010, 54% of companies charged a performance commission, compared with 51% in October 2008. Excluding performance commissions, 60% of investment companies had TERs of less than 1%, and 58% had a TER under 1.5%.