The Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings will buy a 40% stake in the British asset management firm NewSmith Capital Partners, FundWeb reports. The total price of the acquisition is GBP35m. Sumitomo Mitsui will have access to the equity fund product range from NewSmith, whose assets under management total GBP2.1bn. It may also benefit from the network developed by the British firm to serve institutional investors. NewSmith, for its part, may develop its client base in Asia, especially in Japan.

Blanca Casas, who joined BBVA Asset Management in April 2010 on the team led by Gonzalo Meseguer, director of sales and marketing, will replace Beatriz de la Vega as director of marketing, Funds People reports. De la Vega has joined the marketing strategy team for the new global retail & business banking division at BBVA.Casas had previously worked at Allfunds Bank and ING IM.

The real estate asset mangement team at Aberdeen in Italy, which is composed of four people, will manage a fund aimed at institutional and qualified investors, which will invest solely in Italian shopping centres, Il Mondo reports. The real estate fund may be extended to high net worth private clients and family offices.

M&G has signed an agreement with the Italian platform WeBank, under which 25 of its retail funds licensed for sale in Italy will be available to clients of the bank, via the website www.webank.it, Bluerating reports. The agreement is a new step in the British asset management firm’s development strategy on the Italian retail market, which began slightly over two years ago, says Matteo Astolfi, director of M&G Investments in Italy.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has announced the launch of the European High Yield Bond Fund, which will be co-managed by Steve Logan, head of European high yield, and Lesley O’Neill, investment director, European high yield. The two managers joined SWIP in 2001.The portfolio will be managed with a “best ideas” approach, to identify the most attractive European high yield bonds, and to construct a portfolio of about 75 positions. Although it will be focused on European issuers, the fund also takes into account the best investment ideas from the SWIP high yield team based in New York. The product will have no benchmark index. The SWIP high yield team includes eight people, based in Edinburgh, London and New York, with about GBP2bn under management as of 30 September.

After the Petercam Equities Europe Dividend and Petercam Equities North America funds, the Belgian asset management firm Petercam has announced the launch of a third Belgian-registered fund in its dividend strategy, the Petercam Equities World Dividend, a sub-fund of the Petercam B Fund.The fund is not yet licensed for sale in France.The portfolio will include 60 to 100 positions, on equities which offer higher-than-average dividend returns and “sustainable” growth in these dividends.The fund will be managed by Moudy El Khodr and Kris Hermie, two veterans of ING IM, who joined Petercam in July 2011 and December 2010, respectively.CharacteristicsName: Petercam Equities World DividendISIN codes:Retail: BE6228798409 A BE6228801435 BInstitutional:BE6228799415 E BE6228802441 FIFA :BE6228800429 KBE6228803456 LManagement commission: A dn B share classes: 1.50%E and F share classes: 0.75%K and L share classes: 2.00%

Newcomers in the hedge fund sector are in an optimstic mood. Young start-ups estimate that their hedge funds may earn 10% or more in 2012, according to a survey of the US market by the conference organizer GAIM (Global Alternative Investment Management). Slightly over 50% of the 90 respondents, whose assets under management total USD250m or less, claim that they may be able to earn gains of over 10%, with 31% talking about gains of 15% or more. 81% of managers say the biggest challenge in the next few months will be raising capital. 40% claim they can raise more than USD50m, which would double assets for smaller actors, and would be an increase in assets of about 20% for the larger ones.

Highland Funds Asset Management will become independent of its parent company, Capital Management, on 9 January 2012. The firm will then become known as Pyxis Capital. Its 19 mutual funds will be sold under the new name, and all employees of Highland Funds Asset Management will be joining the new structure.

Citywire reports that the singer Rod Stewart has agreed to present the next Carmignac investor conference in January.

The asset management firm Swisscanto, an affiliate of the Swiss cantonal banks, and the fourth-largest Swiss investment fund, is increasing its commercial operations in France, in an effort to make them one of the pillars of its new international deployment strategy. Swisscanto Asset Management on 14 December announced that it has registered several funds in France with the financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The funds registered represent the leading areas of expertise from Swisscanto, a sign of its engagement and convictions, from its Swisscanto Green Invest range, which has a track record of more than 10 years. In addition to its engagement to the sustainable investment fund sector, the Swisscanto group is also known for its management of North American equities, Japanese small and midcaps, and Euro credit. “Swisscanto’s deployment strategy responds to the typology of the French market, where instituitonals represent 80% of the French market (according to BCG), and where retail investors are currently averse to risk, and are orienting their savings to balance-sheet products. In a difficult market environment, the strong financial condition of Swisscanto, supported by 24 Swiss cantonal banks, is a gauge of its security and long standing,” says Ralf Branda, head of development for international activities. The group has been represented in France since March 2011 by its local partner, CS Funds. The year 2011 was dedicated to the establishment of the brand with institutional investors in various areas: retirement and retirement planning groups, mutual insurers, multi-managers and family offices. Last but not least, Swisscanto has also announced the launch of a French website, aimed at institutional investors: http://www.swisscanto.fr/. Assets under management at Swisscanto, which has nearly 400 employees totalled CHF51.5bn as of the end of September.

Christophe Coquema has been appointed as global chief operating officer (COO) of Axa Investment Managers, in charge of control, finance, strategy, trading and shared operational functions. He succeeds Emmanuel Vercostre, who has joined Axa Banque in Belgium as head of Axa Bank Europe Financial Services. Coquema, a board member since 2007, had previously been head of Markets & Investment Strategy (MIS). In this position he will be replaced by Joseph Pinto, who also becomes a board member at AXA IM. Pinto, who joined Axa IM in 2007, had previously been head of sales for France, Southern Europe and the Middle East. His replacement is being sought, a spokesperson for the firm states.

Dissymetrical management is a registered trade mark of La Française AM (LFAM) which the recent market turbulence has brought into the limelight, inspiring many emulators, or even imitators. Now, LFAM (EUR37bn in assets) would like to put the concept, which accounts for 90% of its assets under management outside of real estate (EUR7bn) and insurance (EUR12bn) back in the projector lights.A presentation for investors was held in Paris on 14 December to provide information about dissymmetrical management (GD), which provides decent income while limiting risks and ensuring liquidity, explains Nicolas Duban, director of institutional development for France. The strategy aims to keep long-term returns under control, while maximising market performance, optimising decorrelation, and controlling ex ante and ex post risks through the use of sophisticated tools, explained by Jacques Ninet, advisor for research, and Pascale Auclair, CIO.According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, LFAM may now be adding ts house expertise in “GD” to the reporting for five or six funds from early next year, to begin with, though that still requires a lot of industrialisation work.

Schelcher Prince Gestion, a French asset management boutique specialised in credit and convertibles, as of 9 December 2011 had registered net subscriptions of EUR535m. Of this amount, EUR371m went to convertible bonds management at the firm, while the remainder was for fixed income management, which nonetheless continues to represent the majority of assets. The new shareholder in Schelcher Prince, the Crédit Mutual Arkea group, which has controlled 51% of capital via its affiliate Federal Finance since July, contributed EUR292m of these net inflows. Overall, Schelcher Prince Gestion has assets of slightly over EUR2bn as of 9 December. In 2012, the asset management firm is planning to launch two new funds based on convertible bonds, as additions to its product range in this area, which already includes euro, Europe and global products. It is also planning to add to its credit analysis, with the recruitment of a head for the unit, which currently has three members.

Julius Baer on 14 December announced the appointment of Luigi Vignola as its new regional head for the Markets & Custody division in Asia. Vignola will work to develop these activities in Singapore, from 1 January 2012, a statement says. Vignola succeeds Gérard Berclaz, who has returned to Switzerland to occupy a key position in the Markets & Custody division.

Reyl Asset Management has added to its Fixed Income department, with the recruitment of Gilles Pradère, a senior fund manager, who had previously worked at Calyon in London, Agefi Switzerland reports. Pradère, a specialist in non-directional relative value and global macro type strategies, will allow Reyl Asset Management to add long/short type products to its bond range, with absolute return type objectives and UCITS IV-compliant formats.

The British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) would like to see the index provider FTSE increase the minimal limit for publicly-traded capital to 50% for companies registered in the United Kingdom. Other professional associations are also said to be in favour of a minimum limit of 25%, according to the British press. The current legislation requires a minimum of 15%, but a company with capitalisation of over USD5bn may have a float of only 5%. Investors claim that it is too easy to list a company in London, and the index provider last month launched a consultation on the subject, following the IPOs of several companies with small floats. The pension fund association claims that a 25% minimum would not be enough to ensure the protection of minority shareholders who may want to block resolutions by majority shareholders.

The deficit for British pension funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), as calculated by the British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has increased to GBP222.1bn as of the end of November, compared with GBP158.6bn as of the end of October. The professional association notes that the returns offered by British government bonds are currently being penalised by quantitative easing policies.

Dans un article publié dans Option Finance, Francis Weber, directeur financier du groupe de protection sociale Réunica: Depuis le début de la crise sur les dettes souveraines, nous privilégions le crédit corporate plutôt que souverain. La part des obligations d’entreprises, actuellement déjà majoritaire dans un portefeuille d’assureur ou de caisse de retraite, pourrait donc encore augmenter.

La valeur boursière du portefeuille d’actifs de Curalia - Caisse de Prévoyance des Prestataires de soins s'élève à 460 millions d’euros. La part de l’immobilier dans le portefeuille (11%) a progressé suite à l’achat d’immeubles proches du siège social. D’autres projets immobiliers ont été engagés qui se concrétiseront dans les prochaines années, notamment dans le secteur des maisons de repos. L’allocation d’actifs de Curalia est la suivante: 39% d’obligations d’Etat, 19% d’obligations d’entreprises, 12% d’investissements mixtes, 11% d’actions, 11% d’immobilier et 8% de cash. Capital International est le gérant en charge des actions émergentes alors que Degroof et Econowealth ont une délégation de gestion sur les actions européennes. Curalia travaille également avec Lombard Odier sur un portefeuille obligataire, Pictet AM sur la dette émergente, et Petercam est mandaté sur les obligations high yield.

L’assureur mutualiste Maif a vendu au cours de l’année plus de la moitié des dettes souveraines et d’entreprises provenant des pays dits fragiles de la zone euro (Portugal, Irlande, Italie, Grèce, Espagne) qu’elle avait en portefeuille, a indiqué son directeur Pascal Demurger. Le groupe n’a pas vendu d’OAT, les obligations d’Etat émises par la France, a-t-il ajouté alors qu’il était interrogé lors d’une rencontre avec la presse. Les assureurs sont structurellement très exposés aux obligations souveraines et sont actuellement fragilisés par la crise de la dette en zone euro. La Maif a par ailleurs indiqué mercredi qu’elle ne cherchait pas à être sur de la croissance externe mais souhaitait plutôt se renforcer sur son coeur de métier et éviter des achats un peu hasardeux, alors que des incertitudes pèsent sur la situation financière de son homologue Groupama, qui a mené par le passé une politique de diversification à l’international.

Deloitte Luxembourg a annoncé le 14 décembre avoir choisi Finesti, la société spécialisée dans les informations relatives aux fonds d’investissement, afin d’enrichir son offre d’une série d’activités permettant de satisfaire aux exigences spécifiques de UCITSIV. Les services que Finesti fournira aux clients de Deloitte sont notamment le dépôt électronique et la diffusion des DICI (document d’information clé pour l’investisseur, ou KIID en anglais). Parmi ces clients, figurent aussi bien des fonds d’investissement que des sociétés de gestion de fonds installés au Luxembourg et dans d’autres pays. Finesti a créé un service de notification faisant partie de sa plate-forme e-file.lu que les fonds luxembourgeois utilisent actuellement pour la transmission de rapports réglementaires et statistiques aux autorités. Dans le cadre de UCITS IV, Finesti étend désormais l’accès à cette plate-forme à toutes les autorités de contrôle de l’UE, et non seulement à celles du Luxembourg. Deloitte souhaite recourir à cet outil dans le cadre de ses services d’enregistrement transfrontalier de fonds afin de faire parvenir le fichier de notification initiale à la CSSF et, le cas échéant, aux autorités de surveillance étrangères compétentes pour les activités de commercialisation transfrontalière des fonds. Deloitte Luxembourg assiste actuellement 53 clients et 189 véhicules domiciliés dans 6 pays et distribués dans 31 pays.

Avec une inflation en recul, une baisse du ratio des réserves de trésorerie est attendue d’ici fin mars 2012, mais pas de baisse de taux

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Le FMI redoute que les créanciers privés n'acceptent pas tous de passer une décote de 50 % sur leurs obligations grecques

Ce mécanisme n'est plus compréhensible par les salariés en raison de l'alourdissement de la fiscalité

Les investisseurs immobiliers ont nettement revu en baisse leurs prévisions sur l'activité locative

L’institut d’émission espère qu’elles utiliseront la nouvelle facilité de refinancement à trois ans pour regarnir leurs portefeuilles

Les nombreuses questions restant posées à l'issue du sommet du 8 décembre empêchent un reflux significatif de la volatilité longue

Dans sa nouvelle version, le SoFFin accepte désormais aussi de reprendre à son compte les dettes souveraines détenues par le secteur

Le ralentissement de l'activité économique et la faiblesse de l'offre neuve constituent des freins à l'acquisition