L'étau se resserre autour de Jamie Dimon, tout-puissant PDG de JPMorgan, rapporte L’Agefi. Tandis que le titre a plongé d’environ 18% depuis la révélation du scandale le 10 mai, le Wall Street Journal de vendredi cité par le quotidien écrivait que les positions prises sur le marché des dérivés de crédit par le trader Bruno Iksil pourraient faire perdre jusqu'à 5 milliards à la banque. De quoi renforcer les soupçons sur la nature de l’activité du CIO, qui ne devait en principe servir qu'à couvrir les positions des clients. La perte de trading pose d’autres questions. Notamment l’absence d’alerte, notamment de la part des registres de données, lesquels jouent un rôle déterminant dans le marché des dérivés de gré à gré, rappelle L’Agefi.

Sous la pression de la Commission européenne, la mise en vente de l’activité d’assurance vie en Asie d’ING constitue une belle opportunité pour beaucoup, rappelle L’Agefi. A ce titre, une poignée de fonds de private equity étudieraient le dossier, dont JC Flowers. Outre l’assurance vie, ING met également en vente en Asie dans une procédure distincte sa gestion d’actifs, pour laquelle elle a reçu la semaine passée une dizaine de propositions allant de 500 à 600 millions de dollars, précise le quotidien.

EFG Asset Management vient de recruter Mansfield Mok en tant que responsable de l’investissement actions en Chine, basé à Hong Kong.Ce spécialiste des actions chinoises était précédemment gérant de fonds senior chez GAM, où il co-gérait le fonds GAM Star China Equity Fund de 1,5 milliard de dollars.Cette arrivée fait suite au recrutement de Tony Jorda, qui gère le New Capital Asia Pacific Equity Income Fund d’EFG AM. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre de la volonté de la société de gestion du groupe suisse de développer son offre asiatique.

La filiale de gestion d’actifs du groupe d’assurances Generali lance un fonds obligataire dédié aux obligations souveraines et corporate de la zone asiatique, rapporte Das Investment.Le Generali Investments Sicav Asian Bond (LU0577419962) investit notamment dans les obligations en monnaie locale de la Corée du Sud, de Singapour, de l’Indonésie, de la Malaisie, des Philippines, de la Thaïlande , de la Chine et de Hong Kong.Le fonds est géré par Hong Xie, responsable du segment des fonds obligataires en Asie et qui a déjà une expérience de plus de dix ans dans les produits de fixed income.

La banque suisse Sarasin continue de recruter chez l’ex-Clariden Leu, récemment intégrée dans le groupe Credit Suisse, pour compléter et renforcer ses équipes en Asie, rapporte finews.David Louie, qui dirigeait précédemment l'équipe de gestion d’actifs (une cinquantaine de personnes) de Clariden Leu à Hong Kong, va ainsi renforcer le bureau de Hong Kong en qualité de managing director et vice chariman.Sarasin, qui a été récemment racheté par le groupe financier brésilien Safra, a ainsi recruté pas moins de sept anciens collaborateurs issus de l’ex-Clariden Leu. Il est vrai aussi que Sarasin a dû compenser la perte récente d’une équipe de huit chargés de clientèle qui ont rejoint Julius Baer.

Selon Globalcustody.net, BNP Paribas Securities Services a annoncé avoir été sélectionné par Clearstram en Turquie pour assurer l’activité de sous-conservateur auprès de TEB Securities Services (TEB). La société française interviendra dans le cadre des règlements locaux et l’activité de compensation en livre turque. En Turquie, Clearstream se concentre principalement sur ce type d’activité à destination des investisseurs institutionnels.

Henderson Global Investors va lancer lundi sa première société de gestion d’actifs en Australie, selon le Financial Times. Le groupe britannique a nommé Rob Adams, l’ancien directeur général du gestionnaire australien Challenger Funds Management, pour diriger ses nouvelles activités à Sydney. L’intéressé prévoit de cibler les investisseurs institutionnels et de créer un certain nombre de fonds à rendement absolu, investis en actions et obligations.

Le site Immoweek a annoncé la semaine dernière le rachat, par le fonds d’investissement américain Pramerica Real Estate Investors, de l’hôtel particulier parisien d’EuropaCorp, siège de la société du cinéaste Luc Besson. La transaction portant sur cet hôtel particulier de 4.200 m² situé dans le huitième arrondissement de la capitale s’est élevée à 56 millions d’euros.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) délaisse l’approche orientée sur l’offre produits pour donner la priorité à une approche qui met le client au centre de sa stratégie. Dans cette perspective, le groupe américain a créé un nouveau pôle mondial, l’Investment solutions Group (ISG), qui intègre l’ancienne division dédiée aux multi-classes d’actifs.Le nouveau pôle, mis progressivement en place depuis l’automne dernier compte actuellement 58 membres spécialistes de la stratégie répartis dans huit grands centres financiers, Boston, Montreal, Londres, Dublin, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney et Hong Kong. Pour répondre aux besoins locaux de la clientèle, ils peuvent s’appuyer sur plus de 400 professionnels de l’investissement, du risque, de la réglementation et de la déontologie. Sous la houlette de Dan Farley, Chief Investment Officer, le pôle Investment Solutions Group (ISG) est structuré en trois divisions, la première dédiée à la gestion de portefeuille, qui englobe la gestion multi-classes d’actifs mais aussi l’allocation stratégique et tactique, la deuxième division dédiée à la stratégie et à la recherche afin d’aider les clients à identifier leur problématiques d’investissement et trouver les solutions adaptées à leur besoin, et enfin, la division spécialisée dans les services fiduciaires. La gestion de portefeuille de l'équipe ISG s’appuie sur l’ensemble de l’expertise de SSgAdans chacune des classes d’actifs (actions, obligations, monétaire, matières premières, etc) et comprend toute la palette des stratégies en matière de gestion diversifiée. Elle est pilotée au niveau européen par Frédéric Dodard, responsable EMEA (Europe, Moyen Orient, Afrique). «Nous souhaitons ainsi pouvoir répondre de façon plus coordonnée et beaucoup plus globale aux problèmes d’investissement complexes qui peuvent toucher nos clients, qui veulent contrôler leurs risques dans un environnement de marché toujours très difficile tout en visant des objectifs de rendement forcément plus modestes que par le passé», expliquait récemment Dan Farley, de passage à Paris. «Nous avons constaté qu’il était de plus en plus difficile d’atteindre des objectifs avec une approche orientée sur les produits d’où notre volonté de mettre le client au centre de notre nouveau dispositif. Cela nous permet d'être plus proches de notre clientèle tout en ayant la possibilité de tirer parti de toutes nos expertises au niveau mondial». D’ici à la fin 2012, il n’est d’ailleurs pas exclu que le pôle ISG renforce ses effectifs, notamment à Boston et à Londres.

Mauvais temps pour ABN Amro. Le groupe néerlandais a notamment annoncé mercredi dernier un bénéfice net de 454 millions d’euros pour le premier trimestre 2012 contre 539 millions d’euros l’année dernière pour la période correspondante. Coïncidence ou non, Neuflize OBC, la filiale du groupe en France, pousse son effort en direction des investisseurs institutionnels comme l’atteste, entre autres, l’arrivée récente d’Olivier Maestracci (lire Newsmanagers du 10/04/2012) au sein d’une équipe de sept personnes dédiée à cette clientèle. En chiffres, au sein de Neuflize OBC, les institutionnels représentent quelque huit milliards d’euros tandis que l’activité banque privée-patrimoniale pèse 21 milliards d’euros, dont 15 milliards pour la gestion d’actifs. «Notre objectif est désormais d’accroître leur poids ", a confirmé à Newsmanagers, Philippe Vayssettes, président du directoire, qui entend profiter de la complémentarité existant entre les deux clientèles, «tant en matière de volumétrie de gestion d’actifs, qu’en termes d’ingénierie ou d’image», précise-t-il. A ce titre, le dirigeant fait part d’objectifs ambitieux : «nous voulons au moins atteindre les 15 ou 16 milliards d’euros, c’est-à-dire doubler les actifs sous gestion dans les deux ans à venir». Pour cela, la société entend capitaliser sur la très bonne image d’ABN Amro auprès des institutionnels, et participe à un nombre croissant d’appels d’offres. Cela étant, Philippe Vayssettes n’entend pas chercher la concurrence avec les géants de la place, ou se présenter comme un compétiteur dans des grandes catégories comme les actions européennes. «Nous voulons aller là où nous avons un droit à gagner», résume le dirigeant. «Autrement dit, sur des niches comme les «commodities» ou le «clearing». Nous sommes également en mesure de mettre en place des solutions personnalisées via des mandats de gestion, ou des mandats de conseils. Et nous pouvons intervenir dans le cadre de la réglementation où nous avons des compétences.» Neuflize OBC entend aussi répondre présent dans des «poches» de plus en plus demandées, comme les «actions flexibles», les «taux», les «obligations convertibles» ou «absolute return». «Enfin, nous comptons nous renforcer dans le domaine des obligations à haut rendement», conclut Philippe Vayssettes.

Le conseiller financier indépendant Abaco Capital Investmlents EAFI a été choisi par UBS Gestión comme conseiller pour son nouveau fonds flexible, Abaco Global, qui vient d’obtenir de la CNMV l’agrément de commercialisation en Espagne, rapporte Funds People. Les idées d’investissement seront générées par Abaco mais le choix des lignes incombera à UBS Gestión.Le nouveau produit est assorti d’une commission de gestion de 0,654 % et d’une commission de performance de 5,9 %. Il peut aller de 0 à 100 % en actions, en liquidités et en devises.

José Pons, directeur de la gestion de fortune de Citibank España, a annoncé que les fonds de BBVA Asset Management rejoignent désormais ceux des quatorze autres gestionnaires distribués par le réseau Citibank en Espagne, rapporte Funds People.Les autres partenaires de Citibank sont: Legg Mason, Santander AM, Carmignac Gestion, Pioneer Investments, Goldman Sachs AM, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Schroders, AllianceBernstein, MFS, J.P. Morgan AM, Invesco, Pictet et BlackRock.

With a leaderless Greece seemingly circling the drain leading to exit from the Eurozone, investors spent the second week of May looking for asset classes and countries that offer some degree of protection if the currency union begins to unravel, according to EPFR. EPFR Global-tracked Japan Equity Funds and Germany Equity Funds both attracted over USD750 million during the week ending May 16, and US Bond Funds absorbed over $4 billion for the fifth week in a row. Financial Sector Funds also found themselves under fire as the risks of a disorderly Greek default mounted. Redemptions from this fund group hit levels last seen in early 4Q08.US Equity Funds unexpectedly saw fresh money from retail investors for the first time since early July 2011.Overall, EPFR Global-tracked Equity Funds posted outflows of USD5.12 billion while Bond Funds took in a net USD6.64 billion. Money Market Funds saw USD6.57 billion pulled out with European Money Market Funds seeing a five week inflow streak come to an end.

Plans to create a “European ratings agency” by the German consulting firm Roland Berger (see Newsmanagers of 30 April) have largely been favourably received by the German ratigns agency Feri, IPE reports – on the condition that the new firm does not compete with Feri.“In principle, more competition is welcome, and is a positive development, both for investors and for the ratings agencies which currently dominate the market,” says Tobias Schmidt, a board member at Feri EuroRatings Services.Markus Krall, the head-designate of the new ratings agency, tells IPE that talks are underway with several major investors, and that the legal structured (a foundation and a limited liability company) will be in place in the next few weeks.“With an initial investment of EUR300m, we hope to capture a market share of about 5% to 10% in the foreseeable future,” says Krall, who will be leaving Roland Berger to ensure the independence of the agency.The agency will have the same coverage perimeter as the other three major agencies, including countries, large businesses, banks and structured products. Feri is also planning to publish its first ratings of structured products this year.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is dropping its approach oriented to its product range in order to give top priority to an approach which puts the client at the centre of its strategy. With this in mind, the US group is creating a new global unit, the Investment Solutions Group (ISG), which will take over from the old division dedicated to multi-asset class strategies. The new unit, which has been in a gradual creation process since last autumn, currently has 58 members specialised in strategies based in wight major financial centres: Boston, Montreal, London, Dublin, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and Hong Kong. In order to meet the local needs of clients, the unit can rely on over 400 investment, risk, regulation and deontology professionals. Under the leadership of Dan Farley, Chief Investment Officer, the Investment Solutions Group (ISG) unit is structured into three divisions: the first is dedicated to portfolio management, which includes multi-asset class solutions and strategic and tactical allocation, while the second is dedicated to strategy and research to help clients identify their investment problematics, and a third division specialised in fiduciary services. Portfolio management by the ISG team relies on the full expertise of SSgA in each asset class (equities, bonds, money markets, commodities, etc), and includes the full range of strategies in diversified management. It is managed throughout Europe by Frédéric Dodard, head of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). “We would also like to be able to respond in a more coordinated and much more global manner to the complex investment problems which may affect our clients, who are seeking to control their risks in a market environment which continues to be highly difficult, aiming for performance objectives which are necessarily more modest than in the past,” Farley recently explained on a visit to Paris. “We found that it was increasingly difficult to achieve objectives which an approach oriented to products, in light of our desire to put the client at the centre of our new framework. That change has allowed us to be closer to our clients, while providing a means to draw on all of our global expertise.” It is a possibility that the ISG unit will recruit by the end of 2012, particularly in Boston and London.

At Neuflize OBC, institutional investors represent about EUR8bn in assets, while private banking and wealth management weigh in at EUR21bn, of which EUR15bn are in asset management. “Our goal is now to increase our presence,” Philippe Vayssettes, chairman of the board, has confirmed to Newsmanagers. Vayssettes is planning to take advantag of the existing complementarity between the two categories of client, “both in terms of asset management volumetry, and in terms of engineering and image,” he says. With this in mind, the head has ambitious objectives: We would like to have at least EUR15bn to EUR16bn under management, which would beam doubling assets under management in the next two years.”In order to achieve that, the firm is planning to capitalise on the very good image of ABN Amro, its parent company, with institutional clients, and to participate in a larger number of requests for proposals. Vayssettes does not plan to seek to compete with the major players in that market, or to present the firm as a rival in the major categories such as European equity management. “We would like to go where we have a chance of winning,” the director says. “In other words, niches like commodities and clearing. We are also in a position to set up custom solutions via management mandates or advising mandates. And we can partipate in regulation where we have competence.” Neuflize OBC is also planning to position itself in increasingly numerous niches such as flexible equities, fixed income, convertible bonds, and absolute return. “Lastly, we are planning to recruit in the area of high yield bonds,” Vayssettes concludes.

The independent financial adviser Abaco Capital Investments EAFI has been selected by UBS Gestión to advise its new flexible fund, Abaco Global, which has recently received a sales license from the CNMV for Spain, Funds People reports. Investment ideas will be generated by Abaco, but selection of holdings will be undertaken by UBS Gestión.The new product carries a management commission of 0.654%, and a performance commission of 5.9%. It may invest from 0% to 100% of its assets in equities, currencies and liquidity.

The asset management affiliate of the insurance group Generali is launching a bond fund dedicated to government and corporate bonds from the Asian region, Das Investment reports. The Generali Investments Sicav Asian Bond fund invests largely in bonds denominated in local currencies from South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and Hong Kong. The fund is managed by Hong Xie, head of the bond fund segment in Asia, who already has over 10 years of experience in fixed income products.

ING’s offering of its Asian life insurance activities for sale under pressure from the European Commission represents a fine opportunity for many potential acquirers, Agefi reports. Several private equity funds are studying the case, including JC Flowers. In addition to life insurance, ING is also putting its asset management activities in Asia up for sale in a separate process, and last week received 10 offers for this, ranging from USD500m to USD600m, the newspaper reports.

For several weeks, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) appears to be in a frenzy of reforms in an effort to win over Chinese and foreign investors. In addition to a large extension to the QFII programme for qualified foreign institutional investors, which will now have a total size of as much as USD80bn, up from only USD30bn previously, the authorities have announced that they will be authorising the Guangdong province pension fund to invest in the local equity market, in limited proportions. There are now plans to extend this offer to foreign pension funds also, and the Chinese government is studying the possibility of also opening these markets to foreign hedge funds.

The Hong Kong Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) last month found that George Stairs, who in 2009 managed two funds for Fidelity, was guilty of misuse of insider information in a sale of shares in Chaoda Mordern Agriculture ahead of an announcement of a capital increase, which he had learned of from speaking with the management, the Financial Times reports. Stairs will find out this Monday if the MMT will bar him from equity trading in the future. Fidelity «respectfully» disagrees with the MMT’s conclusions.

The trial of the former head of McKinsey, Rajat Gupta, on charges of insider trading, begins this Monday, Les Echos reports. The former chairman of McKinsey from 1999 to 2003, also a memnber of the board at Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, is accused of handing private information about the two firms to the manager of the speculative fund Galloen, Raj Rajaratnam.

The Swiss asset management firm Lombard Odier is one of the least covered by the French media of the asset management firms, but it has a strong reputation in some specific areas, such as fundamental bonds, convertibles and risk parity. The director for French clients at the firm explains to Newsmanagers that the firm's inventiveness aims to overcome the handicap that merely moderate size represents in the eyes of investors and prospective investors.

Since the beginning of 2012, the US asset management firm Muzinich has taken on over USD2bn in net subscriptions, and as much as USD2.56bn including two mandates. Its assets as of mid-May totalled USD17.5bn, Eric Pictet, director of the Paris office, tells Newsmanagers, adding that half of these net inflows have gone to UCITS products. The Paris office (which also serves Geneva, Belgium, Luxembourg and Monaco) has attracted a net total of about USD550m since the beginning of the year, and now has USD2.5bn in assets under management.Muzinich is planning to extend its product range. “In June, we will be adding a seventh product, a long/short fund, to our UCITS-compliant range, which already includes four startegies focused on high yield, and two based on a mixed high yield/investment grade universe. This long/short credit fund is the logical complement to existing products, which are aiming for 200 to 300 additional basis points of returns, and volatility one percentage point below the 8-9% volatility of the Americayield fund. The credit fund will charge management fees of 1%, and a performance commission of 10% with high watermark. There will be share classes in euros, US dollars, pounds sterling and Swiss francs,” says Pictet. He adds that “gross returns, after fees, will be in the mid-teens, as we are planning to achieve returns on the long porttion of the high yield allocation of 8-9%, and we are planning to add 400-500 basis points with the short, arbitrage and short-maturity allocations thanks to our management.”

The XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse) as of 18 May includes a total of 974 ETFs, with the addition of four new SPDR funds from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). The four bond products replicate British indices from Barclays Capital, 3 of which are of gilts, and one of corporate bonds.CharacteristicsName: SPDR Barclays Capial 1-5 Year Gilt ETFBenchmark: The Barclays Capital Gilt 1-5 Year IndexISIN code: IE00B6YX5K17TER: 0.15%Name: SPDR Barclays Capital 15+ Year Gilt ETFBenchmark index: The Barclays Capital UK Gilt 15+ Year IndexISIN code: IE00B6YX5L24TER: 0.15%Name: SPDR Barclays Capital UK Gilt ETFBenchmark index: The Barclays Capital UK Gilt IndexISIN code: IE00B3W74078TER: 0.15%Name: SPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Corporate Bond ETFBenchmark index: The Barclays Capital Sterling Corporate Bond IndexISIN code: IE00B4694Z11TER: 0.15%

Hedge fund and private equity funds have amassed nearly EUR60bn to acquire loans from European banks in the next few years, according to a PwC survey cited by the Financial Times. European banks have about USD2.5trn in non-core assets which they may sell off, PwC reports.

The US firm Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney and Strauss (BHMS, USD66bn in assets), a specialist in value style management, has been selected by the British firm F&C Investments to manage the new F&C Barrow Hanley US Trust, a closed-end fund investing in US large caps. The portfolio of the trust, which will be launched in late June on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) will incude 40 to 50 holdings. The objective is to deliver a dividend higher than the returns on the S&P 500 index.F&C is planning to raise about GBP100m for the new product, which will charge fees of 0.75%. Initial net asset value per share will be 98 pence on an issue price of 100 pence.

The British firm Hearthstone Investments is planning to launch its first regulated residential real estate fund in the United Kingdom, after receiving clearance from the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), FundWeb reports. The TM Hearthstone UK Residential Proeprty fund may be made available by September 2012. It will be managed by David Gibbins and Lucy Hawkins. According to Christopher Down, founder and chief executive of Hearthstone Investments, residential real estate accounts for over GBP4trn and represents the largest asset class in the United Kingdom, larger than equities and commercial real estate combined. But there had previously been no licensed fund in this sector.

Former heads from the asset management firm Close Asset Management have founded the asset management firm TIME Investments, specialised in real estate, Money Marketing reports. The managing director of TIME investments will be Nigel Ashfield, former managing director of the real estate division at Close Brothers. He will be assisted by two former managers from Close Brothers, Stenven Oliver as deputy managing director, and Anthony Buckley, chief operating officer. TIME Investments will offer two products: Freehold Income Trust and Capital Trading Companies. It is planning to add to its product range in the next few months.

The financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on 18 May announced that it has confirmed its long-term and short-term ratings of BBB and A-2 for the Brtish Man group, but has modified its outlook from stable to negative. Standard & Poor’s explains that the decision is a result of mediocre performance for the flagship funds from the group, and continuing outflows. According to the agency, there are also potential reputation risks due to the pressure being put on the firm by shareholders, which may have a negative influence on inflows.