Fund Strategy reports that JP Morgan Asset Management is planning to launch a global emerging markets value fund, with an initial performance objective of 4%. The head of emerging markets equities activities at the group, Richard Titherington, will manage the fund as a diversified portfolio of 50 to 70 positions which distribute dividends.

The Nordea Responsible Investments (RI) Committee on June 4 2010 decided to divest from BP in the Nordea dedicated RI funds and mandates. Further on it was decided to suspend further investments in BP for all other Nordea funds until clarification from BP on systematic risk management has been evaluated. In total, some 20 Nordea funds available in the Nordic countries with BP investments are directly affected. The decision of the RI Committee was taken due to: the company has failed to comply with its own safety and environmental rules according to the informations available; the company does not disclose information and is not transparent regarding how other similar operations are managed from a safety and environmental perspective The RIG team (Responsible Investments & Governance) within Nordea is also currently conducting thorough analysis on the oil & gas sector companies in order to identify systematic safety and environmental risks associated with deep water drilling operations, adds Nordea.

With the sale of the Eugene Investment & Securities Building office property in Seoul for EUR123m, to the South Korean Public Officials Benefit Association, the German asset management firm Deka Immobilien, via its open-ended fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, has earned significant capital gains. The property, with about 40,000 square metres, was purchased for EUR70m in September 2004, and expert estimates value it in the current market at EUR95m.

Vontobel on 7 June announced the creation of a new entity, Swiss Wealth Advisors AG, which will assist US clients whose assets are declared to the US tax authorities. The unit will be based in Zurich, and will be subject to oversight by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the banking group says in a statement. The new entity will focus on custom wealth management adapted to the needs of US clients. Vontobel is planning to answer the European and Asian equity and currency investment needs of US clients, which US-based wealth management firms are not able to satisfy, or can only partially satisfy. The product range from Vontobel will also be aimed at US citizens domiciled outside the United States, and to non-US citizens living in the United States. Transactions will be provided by Vontobel Securities AG, which already has a license from the SEC.

Il Sole – 24 Ore reports that the international organisation of securities commissions (IOSCO) is planning to announce a survey of hedge funds, at the annual conference of the organisation, to be held Wednesday in Montreal. It will initially concentrate on the largest entities. The goal is to obtain data on the identity of hedge funds, their performance, the composition of managed activities, investments in derivatives, and the banking intermediaries with whom they have credit relationships.

Net equity fund sales in Asia rose strongly in the first quarter to over USD10bn, according to the Lipper FMI’s latest FundFlash. They were two and half times the level of the previous quarter. In China, equity fund sales rose by 30% to USD7.5bn. But the picture was not so rosy in other asset classes. Total sales fell to a modest USD9bn, less than a quarter of the flows seen in the final three months of 2009. The main reason was the outflow from money market funds which totalled nearly USD15bn, almost as much as had flowed into this asset class in the previous quarter. The main culprits behind the large money market fund outflows were Chinese and Indian investors. In China, redemptions may have been influenced by the impending introduction of exit charges at the end of March. In India, more than USD10bn was taken out of money market funds, and there were also significant outflows from bond funds. Most of the withdrawals were in March when the Indian fund industry recorded its highest ever net outflows. Quarter-end redemptions are normal in India as banks and companies take out the excess cash they have accumulated in fixed-income and cash funds during the quarter. March is also the end of the tax year when many fixed-term plans reach maturity, says Lipper FMI. Meanwhile, sales of bond funds more than halved. The region’s most enthusiastic fund investors were the Japanese. They bucked the general trend with a 6% rise in overall sales.

In May, the HFRX global hedge fund index from Hedge Fund Research came in at 1153.39. This represents a decline of 2.64%, the heaviest loss since November 2008 (soon after the collapse of Lehman Brothers), and follows a positive performance of 0.80% in April. Since the beginning of the year, the index has lost 0.26%. The Ucits HFS Index, which tracks the evolution of UCITS-compliant hedge funds, has lost 1.08% in May, compared with gains of 0.90% in April. Since the beginning of the year, these funds have earned average returns of 2.16%. The heaviest loss in May (5.58%) was for convertible funds, compared with gains of 1.36% in April. The strategy shows losses of 0.26% in the first five months of the year. In January-May, long/short equity funds have lost 0.40%, and CTA have lost 2.53%, Structured Solutions reports. The largest gains in the first five months of the year have been for global macro (8.55%) and fixed income (7.63%) strategies.

Asset managers enjoyed growth in assets of USD5,000bn in 2009, taking total assets to USD49,000bn EUR41,000bn), according to research from Cerulli Associates cited by Financial Times Fund Management. Mutual funds made up USD21,000bn of the total, showing growth of 16 per cent, but just one percentage point, or USD240bn, of that was due to new money from investors.

On 2 June, BBVA Asset Management registered the commodities fund of funds Quality Commodities, created on 26 May, with the CNMV. The new fund will be allowed to invest at least 50% of its assets in other funds with complete flexibility. BBVA AM will use a composite benchmark index, which will be 70% composed of the DJ UBS Commodity TR, while HSBC Global Mining TR will account for 19.5%, and the MSCI World Energy will represent 10.5%. The management team will be allowed to adopt short positions and to invest in derivatives of financial commodities indices traded on regulated markets. The product will offer daily liqudity, but the prospectus adds that a 10-day advance notice period will be required for all redemption demands. The minimal recommended investment period will be 5-7 years, and minimal subscription is set at EUR3,000, except for employees and pensioners from the BBVA group. A distribution agreement has been signed with BBVA Quality Funds. Characteristics Name: Quality Commodities FI Risk profile: Very high Manager: BBVA Asset Management Depository bank: Banco Depositario BBVA Management commission -direct: 0.95% of assets and 9% of performance -indirect: 3% of assets and 20% of performance

BlueBay Asset Management has announced that it has hired Mark Dowding to lead the development of a European government bond business at the firm. He comes to BlueBay from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was European Head of Institutional Fixed Income; and was previously at Invesco, where he worked closely with Raphael Robelin - BlueBay’s Head of Investment Grade Credit. Raphael and Mark, who joins as a Senior Portfolio Manager, will co-head the European Investment Grade team at BlueBay; with a focus on corporate and government bonds respectively. Following Mark Dowding’s arrival at BlueBay in early September, the firm will be launching funds in both the European government bond and European Aggregate space; the latter product combining both sovereign and corporate credit.

BNP Paribas announces that it is combining BNP Paribas’ existing private banking activities with those of Fortis Private Investment Management and Insinger de Beaufort UK under the BNP Paribas Wealth Management brand. The combined business will offer a broad range of investment and wealth management services in addition to financing and structuring solutions for both onshore and international clients. The new business manages over GBP5.5 bn in assets and employs 130 people and will be led by Ligia Torres. Ligia was previously Head of Fixed Income Corporate and SAS Origination and Sales, EMEA at BNP Paribas, responsible for developing strategic business with corporate, sovereign, agency and supranational clients. In addition to offering cross asset class investment solutions and tax, legal and fiduciary services BNP Paribas Wealth Management UK’s clients will benefit from dedicated teams focussing on tailor made investment products, philanthropy, art and estates. BNP Paribas Wealth Management will also offer a range of financing solutions, says BNP Paribas.

The Spanish government, in a cabinet meeting on Friday, has passed a draft royal decree which amends the regulations applicable to collective investment entities. The text will be published in the next few days in the official gazette (BOE). Among several modifications inspired by the impact of the financial crisis, the amendment will allow for the creation of side pockets, or “special objective funds.” The new law will also facilitate the liquidation of real estate funds and securities funds. The amendment also includes modifications intended to make restrictions on the activities of funds more flexible. It authorises the creation of ETFs in Sicav format, and creates a status for listed real estate investment companies (Socimi), the Spanish equivalent of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT). In addition, real estate funds will be allowed to invest in other real estate funds, but the legislation limits the amount invested in this way to 10% of assets. In practice, this is equivalent to maintaining the prohibition on real estate funds of funds.

The overall default rate for corporate debt issuers ranked in the speculative category fell to 7.5% in the month of May, compared with 9% in April, according to the most recent statistics from Moody’s. The default rate has thus fallen 44% since its peak in November 2009 (13.5%). In the United States, the default rate came to 9.5% in May, compared with 7.9% the previous month, from a peak of 14.5% six months earlier. In Europe, the default rate has fallen to 6.8%, compared with 7.8%, and a peak at 11.8% in November 2009. Moody’s is predicting an overall default rate of 2.4% by the end of the year, and of 1.9% in one year’s time. Outlooks for the United States and Europe are 2.7% by the end of 2010 for the United States, and 1.5% for Europe.

Les Echos reports that high volatility on the markets has led several firms to abandon or postpone their stock market IPOs. In total Thomson Reuters counts more than USD50bn in “aborted” operations worldwide, (including about USD5bn in Europe) since the beginning of the year, an all-time record since statistics began in 2000. Meanwhile, volumes for IPOs, though they are higher than the first half of 2009, remain relatively limited: they total GBP84.8bn worldwide, of which EUR17.4bn were in Europe.

Gilles Guérin quitte la vice-présidence du multigérant neuf mois après son arrivée. Jean-François Théodore entre au conseil de surveillance

Le fonds de stabilisation de l’euro est sur les rails mais le chantier de la gouvernance économique s’ouvre à peine

Le groupe Caisse d’Epargne a ouvert la voie fin mai après un mois au point mort. Dans la foulée, 8,5 milliards d'euros ont été placés

L'analyse des évolutions historiques valide le scepticisme à l'égard de la reprise en zone euro

RCM, le spécialiste de la gestion active actions du groupe Allianz Global Investors (AGI), a récemment organisé à Hambourg un séminaire sur l'Asie (Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons, lire notre article du 10 mai). Bien évidemment, la Chine a constitué le plat de résistance de cette manifestation, et Christina Chung, qui dirige la gestion de portefeuille sur les actions chinoises, a eu l'occasion de faire un point détaillé sur les grandes tendances des trois à cinq prochaines années.

Skandia va lancer une gamme de 20 fonds dont la gestion sera déléguée à un gérant spécialisé d’une autre société et qui s’adresseront à des conseillers financiers britanniques.Cette nouvelle gamme, appelée «Signature», donnera accès aux meilleurs gérants sélectionnés par les équipes de recherche de Skandia Investment Group dans 10 classes d’actifs (immobilier, obligataire UK, obligataire international, actions britanniques, Europe, Amérique du Nord, Japon, Asie hors Japon, Monde…). Un communiqué de presse précise que les noms des gérants choisis n’ont pas encore été confirmés, mais qu’il s’agira de professionnels de renom dont la plupart ne sont pas accessibles au marché britannique des particuliers car ils se cantonnent à une clientèle institutionnelle. Chaque fonds sera géré par une seule société de gestion.

Selon le Financial Times, Julian Barnett, l’ancien trader vedette du hedge fund londonien Polar Capital, a levé près de 200 millions de dollars pour son nouveau fonds, Ridley Park Capital. L’ex-gérant du fonds Paragon aurait initialement espéré réunir 500 millions de dollars.

BNY Mellon Asset Management va désormais distribuer les fonds et la gestion d’Insight Investment, société acquise à Lloyds Banking Group en novembre 2009, au marché des conseillers professionnels au Royaume-Uni. Dans ce cadre, les équipes de vente discrétionnaire et de service clients d’Insight Investment vont rejoindre BNY Mellon Asset Management à compter du 1er juin. Insight va continuer en revanche à servir directement le marché britannique institutionnel.

Selon Money Marketing, la société de conseil en gestion de fortune Towry a nommé Robert Dawkins en qualité de chief investment officer. Il devrait prendre ses fonctions le 6 septembre prochain.Robert Dawkins était responsable de la multigestion chez Aberdeen Asset Managers.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) a annoncé vendredi 4 juin la création d’Investment Banking Europe, une équipe spécifiquement dédiée à l’accompagnement des clients stratégiques en France, Italie, Allemagne, Espagne, Suisse, Pays-Bas et Royaume-Uni de l'établissement. Soit environ 200 grandes entreprises. Thierry Varène, responsable mondial Corporate Finance de BNP Paribas prend la direction d’Investment Banking Europe qui est composée de banquiers expérimentés et spécialisés. Ces derniers s’appuieront sur les plates-formes, l’expertise et l’offre produits de BNP Paribas CIB pour proposer à ces clients européens souvent très actifs à l’international des idées et solutions en ligne avec leurs objectifs stratégiques, précise la banque dans un communiqué.

La semaine dernière, la vente de KBC Private Equity à Axa et Sofina était dans l’impasse, rappelle L’Echo. Vendredi, le bancassureur flamand a purement et simplement annulé la vente de ses activités de private equity. En cause, la faiblesse des offres, a indiqué le groupe.

En Belgique, Rothschild & Cie Gestion est présente sur deux plans: la distribution d’une douzaine de fonds agréés via notamment des institutions tierces, et la banque privée (Rothschild Patrimoine), indique L’Echo. C’est cette dernière activité qui va être développée dans les années à venir.Jean-Louis Laurens, associé-gérant et président du directoire de Rothschild & Cie Gestion, souligne que «l’objectif est de faire passer les actifs de la banque privée de 6 à 10 milliards d’euros au niveau du groupe dans les 4 années à venir, ce qui se traduit pour Bruxelles par une hausse des actifs de 900 millions vers 2 milliards d’euros».

Depuis le point bas des marchés début 2003, le résultat net de Gamco, la société de gestion de Mario Gabelli, a augmenté de seulement 5 % à 56 millions de dollars, relate le Wall Street Journal. L’un des problèmes est la croissance molle des encours sous gestion, l’un des principaux moteurs des résultats. La rémunération de Mario Gabelli pèse aussi sur les bénéfices. En 2008, les encours de Gamco ont chuté d’un tiers et le bénéfice net est ressorti à 25 millions de dollars. Malgré tout, Mario Gabelli a perçu 46 millions de dollars en numéraires. Le WSJ note aussi qu’un éventuel acquéreur devra évaluer ce que vaudra la société sans Mario Gabelli, aujourd’hui âgé de 67 ans.

Selon Financial News Online, Alain Demarolle a quitté le hedge fund Eton Park après y avoir passé trois ans. Il y était managing director en charge des affaires européennes.

Jusqu’au 21 juillet 2010, LCL commercialise LCL Double Capture (Juin 2010), un fonds à formule d’une durée de 7 ans indexé sur un panier composé, à part égale, des 30 principales actions de l’indice Euro Stoxx 50. L’objectif du fonds est de restituer, à l’échéance fixée le 04/08/2017, le capital investi majoré de la performance des actions du panier, cette dernière étant limitée à 50% (soit un rendement annuel maximum de 5,96%). Le principe du fonds est basé sur un mécanisme de double cliquet pour capter et sécuriser les performances des actions du panier à +30% et à +50%. Tous les 6 mois, si une action du panier atteint une performance supérieure ou égale à 30% par rapport à son niveau initial, la performance de l’action retenue sera a minima de 30%, et ce même en cas de retournement ultérieur des marchés. Si la performance est supérieure ou égale à 50%, la performance de l’action retenue in fine sera égale à 50%, et ce quelle que soit son évolution par la suite. La performance de l’action sera donc comprise entre 30% et 50%, si elle a franchi au moins une fois le palier de 30%. Si aucun palier n’est franchi : la performance de l’action sera égale à sa performance finale. A l’échéance, la performance de LCL Double Capture (Juin 2010) sera égale à la moyenne des 30 performances des actions du panier (dans la limite de 50%, soit un taux de rendement annuel maximum de 5,96%). Caractéristiques : Code isin FR0010891242Montant de la part à l’origine 100 euros Minimum de la première souscription - sur le compte-titres : 1 part - sur un contrat d’assurance-vie : selon contrat Minimum des souscriptions ultérieures 1 millième de part Eligibilité : compte-titres et assurance-vie Durée de placement minimum recommandée 7 ans Commission de souscription maximum : compte-titres : 2,5% max. contrat d’assurance-vie : selon le contrat Commission de rachat - 0% à l’échéance - 1% au cours des fenêtres de sortie trimestrielles - 2% aux autres dates Frais de gestion maximum : 3% par an maximum

BeCitizen, Cobepa et La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild ont annoncé vendredi 4 juin la création de BeCapital Private Equity SCA SICAR. Ce véhicule d’investissement luxembourgeois réglementé est dédié à la prise de participations soutenant le développement d’entreprises éco-innovantes, dont les technologies répondent aux enjeux de l’Economie Positive, un concept développé par BeCitizen selon lequel la valeur économique croît avec le capital environnemental, précise un communiqué de presse de la société.Le périmètre d’activité de BeCapital couvre un grand nombre de secteurs industriels dont l’agriculture, l’énergie, les services environnementaux, le bâtiment, les transports etles applications Industrielles. La stratégie d’investissement de BeCapital se concentre sur les petites et moyennes entreprises ayant développé des technologies propriétaires innovantes, éprouvées etdéployables à grande échelle. BeCapital boucle actuellement sa première levée de fonds de 80,3 millions d’euros et réalise trois investissements. La société entend poursuivre sa levée de fonds dans les mois à venir afin d’atteindre un minimum de 100 millions d’euros d’ici au 31 décembre 2010. Enfin, un conseil de gérance assure la direction de BeCapital et agit en tant que comité d’investissement. Ses membres sont Philippe Bodson (Président), Hugo Ferreira,Jean-Marie Laurent Josi, Olivier et Paul Lippens, Marylin Mermod Schülé, Maximilien Rouer, Alexandre Schmitz, Léna Spinazzé et Christian Varin.