Les stocks américains de pétrole brut ont reculé de 3,73 millions à 369,86 millions de barils la semaine dernière, selon l’EIA. Un chiffre plus fort que prévu, le consensus tablant sur un recul de seulement 0,3 million de barils. Idem pour les stocks d’essence qui ont reculé de 1,8 million de barils à 206,07 millions, contre une hausse de 1,1 million de barils prévue par le consensus.

La productivité du secteur non agricole aux Etats-Unis a progressé à un taux annuel de 1,6% entre avril et juin, contre une hausse de 1,3% prévue par le consensus. La production a augmenté de 2% au deuxième trimestre, mais les heures travaillées de seulement 0,4%. Le coût unitaire du travail a progressé de 1,7%, contre une hausse de 0,6% anticipée par le consensus.

Fitch a confirmé hier le AAA accordé à la dette souveraine allemande et sa perspective stable, soulignant la forte résistance de son économie et son «track record» robuste au cours des deux dernières années en dépit du ralentissement économique mondial et de la crise de la zone euro. Et de mettre la forte croissance et le déclin du chômage au profit des réformes structurelles passées. Le Trésor allemand a placé hier 3,4 milliards d’euros de dette à 10 ans lors d’une adjudication qui a suscité une demande solide, les investisseurs continuant de voir dans le papier allemand un placement refuge sur fond de crise de la zone euro, même si le pays espérait initialement lever jusqu'à 4 milliards d’euros. Le rendement moyen a légèrement progressé à 1,42%, contre 1,31% le mois dernier, mais la demande a été plus forte avec un ratio de couverture de 1,8 fois l’offre, contre 1,5 fois le 11 juillet.

Le pays d’Amérique centrale cherche à repousser le paiement de 544 millions de dollars. La banque centrale du pays dit disposer de trois scénarios dont elle compte discuter avec ses créanciers, dont la réduction des taux d’intérêts de 8,5% à 2%, en contrepartie d’un allongement de la maturité de 2029 à 2062. Le rendement de l’obligation concernée a augmenté de 5,22 points à 20,03% depuis un an.

Une mission de l’IGF (Inspection générale des finances) et du Conseil général des mines va se pencher sur la formation et la transparence des prix des carburants, a annoncé hier soir le ministre de l’Economie et des Finances, Pierre Moscovici. Mardi, il avait indiqué que le gouvernement n’excluait pas un blocage temporaire des prix des carburants s’ils continuaient à augmenter.

L'activité hexagonale devrait enregistrer une baisse de 0,1% au troisième trimestre, estime la Banque de France en première estimation dans son enquête de conjoncture de juillet publiée ce mercredi. De son côté le gouvernement a annoncé la poursuite du creusement du déficit commercial en juin.

Les commandes de l’industrie allemande ont chuté de 1,7% en juin sur un mois, contre un recul de 1% attendu par le consensus. «Les commandes de l’industrie ne révèlent actuellement aucune tendance claire», a précisé le ministère. Une chute des commandes industrielles principalement en provenance de la zone euro, en baisse de 4,9%.

ETPs have posted net inflows in July of USD22.6bn, according to statistics from BlackRock. Investors preferred equities for a total of USD21bn, largely via exposure to US equities. US large caps attracted USD6.9bn, while US small caps, which are more sensitive to the economic environment, posted inflows of USD2.3bn. ETPs offering exposure to European equities attracted USD2bn. ETPs dedicated to emerging market equities posted net inflows of USD3.6bn in the month under review, also distributed between global funds (USD1.7bn) and funds exposed to one country in particular (USD1.8bn). Inflows to bond ETPs in July totalled only USD2.4bn, far beyond the levels reach last May (USD10.9bn). Investors seeking returns have preferred high yield bonds for a total of USD2bn, investment-grade corporate bonds (USD1.6bn) and emerging market bonds (USD1.2bn). However, ETPs dedicated to traditional government bonds saw outflows of USD3.7bn. However, bond ETPs overall are in high demand, representing 35% of new inflows in the first seven months of the year.

Inflows to investment funds in Germany in June totalled EUR12.8bn, of which EUR11bn went to dedicated funds, according to statistics from the German association of fund managers (BVI). For open-ended funds, inflows totalled EUR1.7bn. In the first six months of the year, institutional investors placed EUR30.9bn in dedicated funds, an increase of one third compared with the fist half of the record year in 2010. Most of these investments went to securities funds, with a total of EUR29.5bn, while the remaining EUR1.4bn were invested in closed real estate funds. Since the beginning of the year, inflows to open-ended funds totalled EUR5.77bn. Bond funds finished the half with inflows of EUR11.2bn, while equity funds posted outflows totalling EUR5.2bn. Real estate funds, for their part, have posted inflows of EUR2bn, and diversified funds have brought in EUR1.5bn.

In second quarter 2012, only 417 funds were created in Europe, a 50% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2011, and 60% down on the peak in second quarter 2008, according to the most recent statistics from Lipper. In the same period, 535 funds were closed, which represents a 9% increase over one year previously, and 340 funds were merged. As of the end of June, the number of funds registered for sale in Europe totalled 31,787, compared with 32,158 as of the end of March. The universe of European funds contracted further in second quarter, following a first quarter in which the fund population had already declined. In the first three years of the year, only 506 funds were created in Europe, while 493 funds were liquidated and 205 were merged. Lipper nonetheless sees some cause for optimism in a decline in the number of funds merged in second quarter (-23%) and the fact that it is the lowest number of mergers in five years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has scheduled a vote on proposed tougher regulations for the money market fund market for 29 August, the Wall Street Journal reports. The proposals have been rejected by the industry, and by three SEC commissioners. They would require money market funds to allow their net asset value to “float,” rather than remaining set at USD1 per share, or else that funds set money aside in order to protect themselves against losses, while holding back a portion of investors’ money for 30 days when they seek to redeem their investments.

The French government on 7 August published a decree in the Official Journal which establishes a mechanism to tax modifications or cancellations of market orders related to high-frequency trading from 1 August. The decree defines a maximum time period of one half-second to identify high-frequency trades on capital securities, referring to the time between the issuance of an order and its modification or cancellation. “The degree to which this threshold is exceeded increases with the latency time ordinarily separating two events affecting a given share, understood as the duration of time separating a buy or sell order on a share and an instruction either to modify, or to cancel the aforementioned buy or sell order,” the decree explains. It also defines the threshold from which the tax will be levied on cancelled or modified buy or sell orders. Starting from 80% of orders cancelled or modified in a single trading day, the operator will be required to pay the tax on all cancelled or modified orders above that threshold. The decree comes as an addition to a law creating a tax on financial transactions, which came into force on 1 August. This tax, which has been doubled by the new government to 0.2%, applies to trades on shares in companies whose market capitalisation is over EUR1bn, and whose headquarters are in France. According to statistics from the French market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), high-frequency trading now represents about 50% of orders issues, and nearly 20% of trading volumes in Europe.

Rule no. 648/2012 of the European Parliament, and the ruling of the European Council of 4 July 2012 on over0the0coutner derivative products, central clearing houses and central reference numbers (EMIR) were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 July 2012, and will come into force on 16 August 2012. The French market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), adds in a statement released on 7 August that the new reguations still need to be supplemented by technical standards, which were the subject of a public consultation by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) held until 5 August, which will be submitted to the European Commission by 30 September 2012 at the latest. For the most part, publication of this consultation will permit for the regulations to come into full force. The AMF draws the attention of the parties concerned to the fact that all legislation will be applicable in France immediately. “The AMF is aware of the changes which these are likely to bring to current practices, and would like to assist actors in carrying out these reforms, which represent a key element in strengthening financial stability and security,” the AMF says. The practical terms of the assistance provided to actors will be described in a subsequent statement, the AMF states, adding that the major consequences of the EMIR regulation, applicable to counterparties, such as the requirement to compensate eligible over-the-counter derivatives, the development of risk management procedures for over-the-counter and uncompensated derivatives, and the requirement that transactions on derivative contracts be declared. The EMIR regulation may be consulted at the following address: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:201:000…

The hedge fund manager John Paulson, who finished 2011 with record losses, has seen further losses of 2% in July from the Advantage Plus fund, according to the Bloomberg news agency, which has obtained a copy of the monthly report sent to investors in advance. Since the beginning of the year, the fund would then have lost 18%. The Gold Fund from Paulson, for its part, gained 0.2% in July, and now shows losses of 23% since the beginning of the year. However, merger arbitrage funds, credit and recovery, which represent more than 60% of USD21bn in assets under management by the firm, have gained value since the beginning of the year, Paulson points out in his report.

After a year of talks with News Corp, the Church of England has decided to sell off all of its shares in the group controlled by Rupert Murdoch, in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Church authorities have serious doubts about the will of News Corp to reform. The news comes as a hard blow to Murdoch, although the size of the stake sold, at GBP1.9m, represents only a drop in the ocean of a market capitalisation of over USD57bn, or about GBP37bn.

The firm born of the merger of Old Mutual Asset Managers UK (OMAM (UK)) and Skandia Investment Group (SIG) is reorganising its sales team, according to a letter sent to clients. In the message, Warren Tonkinson, the new global head of distribution, announces that Simon Smith becomes head of UK distribution. Previously, he had been global head of marketing. The other contact person for the United Kingdom is Steven Brown, head of UK advisory distribution. The merger of OMAM (UK) and SIG was announced in late April. The new firm, led by Julien Ide, still has no official name. The merger led to the closure of the French office.

Kerry Drew, in charge of consultant relations at Legal & General Investment Management, is leaving the firm to join Vanguard, where he will hold a similar position, Financial News reports.

HSBC Global Asset Management on 7 August announced the appointment of Heiner Weber to the position of head of institutional distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Weber, who joined HSBC in early 1995, will retain his role as a member of the board of directors at HSBC Global Asset Management (Deutschland) GmbH. In his new role, he will be responsible for business centres dedicated to institutional investors in the EMEA region, including Germany, the UK, France, Austria and Switzerland.

The ongoing European crisis does not appear to be shaking the confidence of investors in other respects. Most investors in European bonds estimate that the euro zone will survive the pressure on it and pull through in its present form, according to the most recent quarterly survey by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings. The survey was conducted between 2 July and 2 August, and covered a sample of managers with cumulative assets of USD7.2trn. Only 5% of investors surveyed predict a large-scale dissolution of the euro zone. 9% of investors predict that there will be a series of sovereign defaults in the euro zone, but estimate that these events will not cause the euro zone to be dismantled, while 21% of investors predict that Greece and one or two other countries may leave the European project. Most predict a fiscal union (33%) or a «muddling through» (31%). The findings of the survey are relatively close to those in October last year, in which only 4% of investors predicted that the euro zone would fall apart. This means that despite the severity of the crisis, investors are thinking of the long term, and remain confident in the future of Europe. Fitch shares this point of view, estimating that a dismantlement of the euro zone is unlikely due to the enormous cost, and the engagement of politicians in favour of the Union. But the crisis has revealed the urgency of increased fiscal, financial and political integration.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced the addition of Peter Pergovacz to its Global Liquidity sales team covering EMEA. In his new role, he will be based in Frankfurt and will be responsible for sales into Germany and Austria. Peter Pergovacz joins from J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services where he was a relationship manager for clients from insurance companies, corporates, pension funds and in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He will report to Sven Lorenz, head of Global Liquidity in North Central and Eastern Europe. His hire brings J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s sales force to 35 globally.

Threadneedle Investments will manage in excess of USD800m in Global and Emerging Market equity portfolios for Stanlib, a South African investment manager which has assets under management over USD44bn.This arrangement will allow investors based in Africa to access Threadneedle’s investment expertise. Stanlib has a presence in eight African countries.The South African asset manager, which has retail and institutional clients, partners with offshore asset managers. It chose Threadneedle after an 18-month review process.

Thames River will be closing a fund of hedge funds with GBP54m in assets and reimbursing shareholders, Investment Week reports. The asset management firm explains that subscribers to the Multi Hedge Fund had called for a general shareholders’ meeting to be held on 11 September to liquidate the product, managed by Ken Kinsey-Quick, following a year of poor returns in 2011. The fund, which invests primarily in long/short equities, was launched in February 2004.

The British bank Standard Chartered, which is currently facing some difficulties with the financial authorities, is one of the largest positions in the portfolios of 60 British funds, Money Marketing reports. FE Analytics reports that Standard Chartered is one of the ten largest positions in the portfolios of 64 funds falling into the categories maintained by the IMA, the British asset management association. The team dedicated to Asian equities at Aberdeen has StanChart shares in several of its funds, including a 3.1% exposure of the Aberdeen Global Asia Pacific Equity fund as of 30 June. The fund has assets under management of GBP4.5bn. The Aberdeen Asia Pacific fund (GBP2.1bn) is 3.6% exposed. Overall, Aberdeen Asset Management is thought to hold about 6% of Standard Chartered shares.

Pioneer Investments on Tuesday announced the appointment of two analysts in Dublin for its European equity research team. Nick Aslibekian and Virna Valeti join the department as analysts, specialised in the health and finance sectors, respectively. Both will report to Marco Mencini, director of European equity research. Aslibekian previously worked at Standard Life in Edinburgh, as investment director, and was in charge of the health sector for Europe (ex UK) and management of an institutional mandate. Valenti previously worked at Pioneer as a senior credit analyst and equity analyst specialised in the financial sector.

East Capital launches a new alternative fund, the East Capital Russia Domestic Growth Fund. The fund is expected to have its first closing around end of August.The aim of East Capital Russia Domestic Growth Fund is to create a concentrated portfolio of between 10 and 20 different companies which generate at least half of the revenue in Russia. They will be listed companies with a market capitalization of above USD 500 million.The fund will operate across all sectors and invest in securities that are believed to be undervalued and so have significant performance potential. East Capital Explorer AB, a Swedish listed entity investing mainly in East Capital’s alternative funds, has committed to invest EUR 15 million in the first closing of the fund, which is domiciled in Luxembourg and open to other institutional and qualified investors.

The Swedish alternative management firm Brummer & Partners will in October be launching a hedge fund which will combind equities and bonds from businesses and governments. The fund, known as CARVE, for Cross-Asset Relative Value Equity focus, will be managed by Per Joseffson, Peter Thelin and Bo Börtemark, who had previously been managers of Zenit, a fund from Brummer’s sister company. Stefan Engstrand of Zenit and Christian Frederiksson of Goldman Sachs are also involved in the project. One further person from a credit specialist firm will be recruited. CARVE will be based on a global universe, and will bring together long/short equity and capital structure arbitrage strategies. The fund will be launched once the necessary licenses are received from the Swedish authorities.

Russell Investments announced on Monday that it is conducting a strategic review of its direct U.S. ETF business in an effort to focus more exclusively on its core competency – delivering multi-asset solutions to institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals globally.During the strategic review, the investment management team responsible for the firm’s U.S. ETFs will remain in place, and the products will continue to pursue their respective investment objectives. However, Russell is scaling back its dedicated U.S. ETF team, primarily based out of the firm’s San Francisco and New York City offices, according to a press release. Russell remains the underlying Index provider for many ETFs around the world, with more than USD80 billion in assets under management, and will continue its partnership with each of these ETF sponsors.The firm will announce additional details once the strategic review is completed.

Carmignac Gestion has registered the Carmignac Court Terme, a short-term money market fund which invests primarily in debts denominated in euros, with the CNMV, Funds People reports. Assets in the fund, managed by Rose Ouahba, total slightly over EUR500m. In first half 2012, the fund earned returns of 0.33%.

According to local banking sector sources, two ICBC affiliates, ICBC Asia and ICBC International, are offering 3-year corporate bonds denominated in Chinese yuan (Dim Sum), Agefi reports. The size of the issues is said not to exceed CNY1bn (EUR127m), and the returns on offer are said to be 3.15%. Five banks, including HSBC and Goldman Sachs, are organising the operation.

Russell Investments a annoncé le 6 août avoir lancé un examen stratégique de son activité ETF aux Etats-Unis afin de se concentrer sur son cœur de métier, la fourniture de solutions multi-classes d’actifs aux investisseurs institutionnels et aux conseillers financiers.Russell précise avoir d’ores et déjà décidé de réduire l'équipe dédiée aux ETF, basée principalement à San Francisco et à New York. Les actifs des ETF proposés par Russell s'élèvent à environ 300 millions de dollars. Russell Investments continuera toutefois de fournir des indices pour les ETF détenant plus de 80 milliards d’actifs sous gestion.