p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Muzinich has launched the UCITS-compliant Short Term Duration High Yield fund, which is available from 30 September, in Ireland. The short-term product is aimed at the most conservative credit investors, who aim for gross annual average performance 300 basis points above that of US public debt of similar durations, with low volatility. The management team invests in high-yield bonds mostly rated B or BB, with a residual duration of 2 years. Management commission is 0.8% (1.1% for the R class).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi reported on Wednesday, citing the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that ratings agencies can expect to see an increase in supervision, as their activities have a major impact on financing costs for debt issuers, and may affect financial stability. The report on global financial stability from the IMF will be published next week, the newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse announced on 29 September that it has admitted ten Luxembourg-registered ETF funds which Lyxor has had listed since Monday on the London Stock Exchange (see Newsmanagers of 28 September) to trading on the XTF segment of its electronic platform. The additions bring the number of ETFs listed on XTF to 717. The funds added to trading, all of which have a TER of 0.45%, are:Lyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Discretionary TR LU0533032008Lyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Staples TR LU0533032263Lyxor ETF MSCI World Energy TR LU0533032420Lyxor ETF MSCI World Financials TR LU0533032859Lyxor ETF MSCI World Health Care TR LU0533033238Lyxor ETF MSCI World Industrials TR LU0533033402Lyxor ETF MSCI World Information Technology TR LU0533033667Lyxor ETF MSCI World Materials TR LU0533033824Lyxor ETF MSCI World Telecommunication Services TR LU0533034129 and Lyxor ETF MSCI World Utilities TR LU0533034558

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Asian asset management arm of Generali will be based in Singapore and Hong Kong, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports, under a plan by deputy director Giovanni Perissinotto. From next year, the joint venture created with the firm’s Chinese partner Guotai will be operational in Hong Kong. Singapore will be the site of the Asian headquarters of BSI, the group’s Swiss structure specialised in private banking.

Ignis Asset Management has recruited Mark Lovett as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) - Equities. He will join Ignis on Monday 4 October and will be responsible for overseeing more than GBP10 billion of institutional and retail equity assets across Ignis’ proprietary fund range. Most recently Mark Lovett was CIO UK and European Equities in London for Allianz RCM. He was also chairman of the Allianz RCM asset allocation committee in London and a board member of the London executive committee. In addition, Mark Lovett was also a member of Allianz RCM’s seven European Management Group responsible for the management of all aspects of the investment platform across both London and Frankfurt. Mark Lovett will report directly to Ignis’ CIO, Chris Fellingham, who recently joined Ignis Asset Management from Soros Fund Management.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Scott Ebner, vice president and global head of exchange traded products at NYSE Euronext in Paris, was appointed on 29 September as managing director and global head of ETF product development at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). He will report to James Ross, senior managing director and global head of ETFs, based in London. Ebner will be in charge of overseeing the extension of the SPDR range.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Continuing its policy of converting various hedge funds to UCITS-compliant formats, and in view of significant demand on the part of investors, Threadneedle announced on 29 September that it has launched the Threadneedle (Lux) Absolute Emerging Market Macro Fund, an absolute return fund aimed at investors seeking to profit from the potential of emerging market debt and currencies. The objective is to generate total returns of 7.5% to 12.5% over the long term on an annualised basis. The new product will use a methodology previously used for the hedge fund Emerging Currencies Crescendo Fund. The principal manager is Richard House, head of emerging market debt, who also manages the Threadneedle Emerging Market Bond Fund. He will be assisted by Agnès Belaisch, head of emerging market strategy, as co-manager.

Le 24 septembre, la CNMV a enregistré Goldman Sachs Funds II, une sicav luxembourgeoise avec six compartiments : Dynamic Alternative Strategies Portfolio, GMS Asia (ex-Japan) Equity Portfolio, GMS Europe Equity Portfolio, GMS Global Equity Portfolio, GMS Japan Equity Portfolio et GMS US Equity Portfolio.Ces produits seront commercialisés en Espagne par Allfunds Bank.

C’est entre Singapour et Hong Kong que naitra le pôle asiatique de Generali dans la gestion d’actifs, selon Il Sole – 24 Ore, qui rapporte les propos de l’administrateur délégué Giovanni Perissinotto. A partir de l’année prochaine, la joint venture créée avec le partenaire chinois Guotai sera opérationnelle à Hong Kong. Singapour sera le lieu du siège asiatique de BSI, la structure suisse du groupe spécialisée dans la banque privée.

Le gestionnaire américain a lancé en Irlande le fonds coordonné Short Term Duration High Yield qui est disponible à compter du 30 septembre. Il s’agit d’un produit à duration courte destiné aux investisseurs crédit les plus conservateurs qui vise une performance brute moyenne annuelle supérieure de 300 points de base à la dette publique américaine de duration semblable, avec une faible volatilité. L'équipe de gestion investit en obligations à haut rendement d’entreprises principalement notées B ou BB avec une échéance résiduelle de 2 ans.La commission de gestion annuelle est de 0,8 % (1,1 % pour la classe R).

Aviva Investors vient d’enregistrer deux fonds de droit français - Aviva Convertibles et Aviva Investors Valeurs Europe - à la distribution en Italie, rapporte le site Bluerating. Les investisseurs italiens avaient déjà accès à un autre fonds français, Aviva Investors Monétaire, disponible depuis le début de l’année.

Lundi, le conseil d’administration de l’Association italienne du private banking a élu Dario Prunotto, administrateur délégué d’Unicredit Private Banking Italia, en tant que president, rapporte Bluerating. Il succède à Paolo Molesini, de Banca Intesa San Paolo Private Banking.

La Deutsche Börse a annoncé le 29 septembre avoir admis à la négociation sur le segment XTF de sa plate-forme électronique les dix ETF de droit luxembourgeois que Lyxor a fait coter depuis lundi sur le London Stock Exchange (lire notre dépêche du 28 septembre). Cela porte à 717 le nombre d’ETF traités sur XTF.Les fonds nouvellement admis à la négociation, tous avec un TFE de 0,45 %, sont :Lyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Discretionary (TR LU0533032008)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Consumer Staples (TR LU0533032263)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Energy (TR LU0533032420)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Financials (TR LU0533032859)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Health Care (TR LU0533033238)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Industrials (TR LU0533033402)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Information Technology (TR LU0533033667)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Materials (TR LU0533033824)Lyxor ETF MSCI World Telecommunication Services (TR LU0533034129)et Lyxor ETF MSCI World Utilities (TR LU0533034558)

Le programme brut à moyen long terme atteindra 186 milliards d'euros en 2011

Le programme brut à moyen long terme atteindra 186 milliards d'euros en 2011

Les régimes de croissance des pays de la zone euro étaient très différents avant la crise. Ils le restent aujourd’hui, puisqu’on distingue: ceux dont la croissance a été principalement tirée par le crédit et qui doivent corriger aujourd’hui un excès d’endettement, privé (Espagne, Irlande, Portugal) ou public (Grèce); ceux qui ont modérément utilisé le levier d’endettement mais axé leur croissance sur la demande domestique (France) et les exportations intra-Union (Italie); enfin ceux qui n’ont pas tiré leur croissance de l’endettement mais des exportations hors de l’Union, voire hors G7 (Pays-Bas) et ont renforcé la compétitivité-coût au détriment de la demande domestique (Allemagne, Autriche).

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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Munich-based TMW Pramerica Property Investment GmbH on 28 September announced that the net asset value of shares in its open-ended real estate fund TMW Immobilien Fonds (whose redemption freeze has just been extended on 15 September) has been revised downward by 61 cents, to EUR50.48, a depreciation of 1.19%. The move was rendered necessary by a new expert opinion on the value of the Concord Terrace building, located in Sunrise, Florida. The property, previously valued at USD10.6m, is now listed on the books with a value of EUR0, as it has failed to attract tenants. The property was leased in 2006 to Nortel Networks, until March 2017. But since then, Nortel has gone bankrupt, and vacated the premises on 31 October 2009, at the hight of the real estate crisis in south Florida.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 28 September, iShares (BlackRock) admitted three new German-registered equities ETFs to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform, bringing the number of products listed in Frankfurt to 707. The first two, which charge fees of 0.59%, replicate the MSCI Australia (DE000A1C2Y78) and MSCI Canada (DE000A1C2Y86). The third, based on the MSCI South Africa (DE000A1C2Y94), carries a management commission of 0.74%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Facing a fall in total assets to USD21bn, from USD40bn in 2008 (and to USD17bn compared with USD35bn for hedge funds alone), D.E. Shaw & Co has decided to lay off 150 people, about 10% of its staff, the Wall Street Journal reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } CDC Climat, an affiliate of the Caisse des Dépôts dedicated to fighting climate change, has founded a management affiliate, CDCClimat Asset Management, Les Echos reports. The firm will manage a EUR60m mandate for its parent company, with the objective of preventing the emission of at least 7 million tons of CO2. The management team includes Guido Schmidt-Traub, who has been recruited for the position, a former partner at the Swiss law firm South Pole Carbon, and Marianne Paris, in charge of governance at publicly-traded companies in which CDC already holds stakes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “After 9 months of enforced holiday,” Christian Bito, former managing partner at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, has obtained a license from the AMF for his new management firm, CBT Gestion, which he is founding with Vladimir Danesi, former head of multi-management at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, and Jean-Luc Fargin, former treasurer of the Pasteur institute, who is administrative and financial head of the new firm. Due to the particular expertise of its founders, CBT Gestion will aim to provide traditional multi-management products, with adequate liquidity and diversification, with specific solutions in the area of portfolio risk profile control. The range will be aimed at CIFs (investment advisers), in the form of funds or mandates, and at financial institutions. “Our plans will initialls concern diversified management, wealth style, and Euro zone, PEA eligible equities portfolios,” says Bito, president and CEO of the new firm. Bito, who has developed a management technique based on risk levels (volatility), explains that the formula “allows for better adaptation of products to the expectations of investors. In particular, taking into account the expectations and behaviour of the markets gives high performance results on turbulent markets which need perhaps a few more years to stabilise.”

The asset management firm Ecofi Investments, an affiliate of the Crédit Coopératif group, has acquired a 58% stake in the capital of Financière de Champlain, a firm specialised in sustainable development, for an undisclosed amount. The shares were acquired from two “sleeping” partners, former employees of the small firm, who had been seeking to exit for some time already, each of whom represented 17% of capital, and a group of shareholders. Jean-François Descaves, president and founder of Champlain, has sold 17%, to allow Ecofi a majority stake. But he retains a 34% interest in the capital, alongside employees who control 8%, and will remain as chairman of the firm.The deal comes as Financière de Champlain has seen a decrease of EUR200m in its assets in one year, to EUR95m currently. However, Descaves refuses to call it a “bailout,” and insists that the firm has been profitable every year since 2004, and that it will be profitable in 2010. “We could very well have continued to survive as an independent,” he says. However, as Descaves admits, joining Ecofi will provide Financière de Champlain with the means to develop, and to reach new clients in the institutional investor category, which makes up most of Ecofi’s client base. The complementarity in terms of management is also another powerful argument for the operation.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a letter to subscribers, Threadneedle has announced that it has been granted permission by the FSA to propose to an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting which will be held on 20 October at the Menzies Hotel Swindon, at 1:30 pm local time, that the management firm be authorised to use serivatives and futures transactions for its UK Accelerando fund, which will not alter the fund’s performance objective or investment policy, while better allowing it to hedge risks for a portfolio which will remain concentrated and focused on British equities. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the letter includes not only a request for permission to change the name to UK Extended Alpha Fund, but also a request for permission to end the limited issue status for the shares. Threadneedle’s proposals require a majority of at least 75% of votes cast.

@font-face { font-family: «Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: «Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } The Financial Services Authority has fined Fabio Massimo de Biase, a former broker for TFS Derivatives, more than GBP250,000 and banned him for life from working in the financial services industry, says the Financial Times. The former broker paid kickbacks to a hedge fund trader - Anjam Ahmad at AKO Capital - in return for broking business.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in Die Welt, the crisis which on Monday provoked the suspension of redemptions from the real estate fund of funds Premium Mangaement Immobilien-Anlagen (PMIA) from Allianz Global Investors was brought on by Commerzbank, which was exclusive distributor of the fund, and which on Thursday decided to lower its rating to “uninteresting.” In addition, the bank is recommending that its clients transfer their assets to two open-ended real estate funds from its affiliate Commerz Real, with a reduced front-end fee of 3% instead of 5%. In one day, the move triggered outflows of more than EUR520m from PMIA. In addition, the fund of funds was invested in two real estate funds from Commerz Real. Before the suspension of redemptions, the EUR216m investment in the hausInvest europa was successfully liquidated. But Commerz Real refused to reimburse more than EUR40m from the hausInvest global.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Paris Europlace, which has sought to extend its governance structures to a new generation of actors on the financial markets, on 27 September held the first meeting of its new Management Committee, chaired by Vivien Levy-Garboua, advisor to the chairman of BNP Paribas. The Management Committee will become a central organ, alongside the newly-created colleges of Businesses and Investors. It has redefined its missions in light of the work accomplished in the past year, and has set a new strategic objective, as France prepares to take over presidency of the G20. The missions defined by the new Management Committee are focused on three areas: aligning the visions of market actors (investors, issuers, bankers, cities and regions, and regulators) around a shared project and a collective dynamic, federating and coordinating market projects, and being a presence in proposals to the Paris Europlace Orientation Council and the High Market Committee (HCP). “Our strategy for this renewed and youthful committee is to put the Paris market and the financial power of the Euro zone at the service of economic actors and collective platforms. It is a good sign that the major market actors, such as Banco Santander, Commerzbank, Eurazeo, Goldman Sachs, Saint Gobain, … have joined Paris Europlace, confirming the vitality and necessity of its collective action,” Levy-Garboua says in a statement dated 28 September. The new members of the Management Committee are:- Stéphane Austry, legal partner, CMS Francis Lefebvre- Frédéric Bedin, president, Croissance Plus- Dominique Cerruti, deputy CEO, Nyse Euronext- Fabrice Demarigny, partner, Mazars- Sylvain de Forges, deputy CEO, AG2R- Stéphane Pallez, deputy CFO, France Telecom- Gilles Saint-Marc, lawyer, Gide Loyrette Nouel- Hervé Schricke, vice president, Association Française des Investisseurs en Capital (Afic)

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS on 28 September announced that it has appointed Alex Wilmot-Sitwell as co-chairman and co-CEO for the Asia-Pacific region. He will jointly direct the region with Chi-Won Yoon, current chairman and CEO. Wilmot-Sitwell will take up his new position from 1 November, and will work in Hong Kong. Carsten Kengeter, current co-CEO of UBS Investment Bank, becomes the sole head of the Investment Bank.

@font-face { font-family: «Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: «Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Gartmore is poised to lose one of its flagship investment trusts – the Gartmore Growth Opportunities trust - after the departure of fund manager Gervais Williams. The GBP 51m trust said that it planned to combine with Artemis Alpha Trust. The enlarged vehicle will be managed by Artemis’ John Dodd and Adrian Paterson.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 September 2010, assets under management at Man Group are expected to total USD39.5bn, compared with USD38.5bn as of the end of June. This total, however, compares with a level of USD44bn at the end of September 2009, according to provisional figures published on 28 September. The British management firm has also reported a reduction in net outflows in the second quarter of the year to USD0.6bn, which reflects an increase in inflows due to institutional mandates and an increase in demand for onshore regulated products. There was a positive investment movement of USD0.8bn in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Pre-tax profits for the half ending on 30 September are expected to total USD215m, compared with USD292m for the corresponding period of last year. Net revenues from commissions fell to USD205m from USD245m, due to a reduction in average assets during the period. Net revenues from performance commissions fell to USD10m from USD47m, as most AHL products were above the high watermark. The regulatory capital surplus totalled over USD1.5bn, with USD2.5bn in liquidity, though this regulatory capital surplus is expected to shrink to about USD300m with the completion of the acquisition of GLG, expected to go through on 12 October.