Dans un entretien au Financial Times, Baudoin Prot, le directeur général de BNP Paribas, déclare qu’il veut rembourser l’ensemble des aides d’Etat, représentant 5,1 milliards d’euros, avant juin 2010. Après cette date, cela devient plus cher pour les banques.

Sébastien Clerc a été nommé responsable de la gestion pour compte de tiers au sein de la Banque de financement et d’investissement de Natixis. A ce titre, il a pour mission de poursuivre le regroupement et le développement de l’ensemble des activités de gestion exercées au sein de la BFI, en France comme à l’international. Sébastien Clerc était depuis 2005 le responsable mondial des financements de projets. En 1999, il rejoint le groupe pour fonder l’activité de conseil en financements de projets puis celle de gestion de fonds d’investissement dans le domaine des infrastructures et de l’environnement. De 1989 à 1999, il occupe des fonctions dans le domaine des financements de projets au Crédit Lyonnais Americas. De 1987 à 1989, il est analyste au cabinet Deloitte.Sébastien Clerc, 45 ans, est diplômé de l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris et titulaire d’un troisième cycle en histoire économique. Par ailleurs, Axel Richer rejoint la gestion pour compte de tiers et prend la responsabilité de la gestion des fonds de dettes. Il occupait précédemment les fonctions de responsable adjoint des financements de projets. Axel Richer bénéficie d’une solide expérience dans le crédit bancaire dont 18 ans dans les financements de projets. Après une première expérience en France de 1990 à 1991, il est détaché 3 ans chez FIT Ingénierie Financière, filiale de Natixis spécialisée en conseil juridique et financier pour les projets d’infrastructure. De 1995 à 1997, il intègre l'équipe Financements de Projets à Paris. Il part ensuite à Londres pour y développer cette activité ainsi que celle du crédit export. En 2005, il est nommé responsable adjoint du département des Financements de Projets. Axel Richer, 45 ans, est diplômé de l’ESC Tours et titulaire du Mastère de Techniques Financières de l’ESSEC.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch va lancer 12 hedge funds retail supplémentaires, en plus du York Event-Driven Ucits Fund annoncé lundi, rapporte Ignites Europe. Eric Personne, responsable EMEA des solutions de fonds chez Bank of America Merrill Lynch, indique que l’objectif de la banque est d’avoir 15 fonds et au moins 2 milliards de dollars d’encours sous gestion avec la Sicav luxembourgeoise Ucits appelée Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions.

Le Crédit Lyonnais a annoncé dans un avis financier paru dans la presse que la mise en paiement de la rémunération des titres participatifs émis en octobre 1984 interviendrait le 22 octobre prochain. Le montant payé sera de 5,08811 euros par titre, après retenu à la source donnant droit à un crédit d’impôt de 0,56535 euro, soit une rémunération globale de 5,65346 euros.

Selon L’Agefi suisse, China Investment Corp (CIC), le fonds souverain chinois, a annoncé mardi 22 septembre qu’il allait investir dans le groupe de Hong Kong spécialisé dans les matières premières et agricoles, Noble.Noble Group, coté à Singapour, a de son côté précisé qu’il allait vendre à China Investment Corp pour quelque 850 millions dollars d’actions, en majorité des actions nouvellement émises. L’accord final reste soumis aux conseils d’administration des deux entités.

La Bank of London and Middle East (BLME) a mandaté European Fund Administration S.A. (EFA) et la Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (BCEE) pour les services d’administration et banque dépositaire du premier fonds monétaire européen conforme à la loi Charia lancé au Luxembourg.Le fonds BLME Umbrella Fund Sicav-SIF, créé avec un capital de plus de 50 millions de dollars investi dans un portefeuille diversifié, de produits monétaires islamiques de première qualité, tels que les Murabahas (contrats d’échange), Sukuks (« obligations » islamiques) et Ijaras (mises d’actifs en location).Pour pouvoir servir BLME et répondre à la forte croissance du marché de la finance islamique, EFA a adapté ses outils de comptabilité et d’agent de transfert et a mis en place un programme de formations spécifiques pour ses équipes dédiées.

Après avoir déçu les investisseurs en 2008, certains fonds opèrent leur grand retour cette année, battant à nouveau les marchés, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. C’est le cas du Fidelity Magellan, du Legg Mason Value Trust et du Dodge & Cox International Stocks. Mais les souscriptions ne suivent pas. Pour certains de ces fonds, les investisseurs continuent même à sortir. Ces derniers leur préfèrent les fonds indiciels.

Vidacaixa, filiale de La Caixa, va devenir le gestionnaire des fonds de pension de Gas Natural (56 millions d’euros et 3.300 adhérents) et d’Unión Fenosa (295 millions d’euros et 3.912 adhérents), rapporte Expansión. Auparavant, ces fonds étaient gérés respectivement par le BBVA et par le Santander. La caisse d'épargne catalane devient aussi le dépositaire des deux fonds. Le transfert s’effectue avec l’accord des syndicats, fortement représentés dans les commissions de contrôle des fonds (Fenosa a été absorbée par Gas Natural, ndlr).Les gestionnaires concernés par cette réorganisation sont les trois premiers d’Espagne pour les fonds de pension. Dans ce domaine, le BBVA gère 6,65 milliards d’euros, avec une part de marché de 23,22 % et la Caixa 4,62 milliards ou 16,13 %. Quant au Santander, qui suit une politique très sélective, il affiche 1,07 milliard d’encours et 3,73 % de part de marché.

Catella Real Estate AG on Tuesday announced the appointment of Michael Denk as head of business development/high net worth. He will be in charge of managing the accounts of financial intermediaries, churches and charities, as well as assisting new high net worth private clients and family offices. He was previuosly director of UBS Deutschland in Munich, where his responsibilities as a certified financial planner (CFP) included the management of real estate assets for retail clients and real estate financing.

Selon les informations de la Börsen-Zeitung, la Deutsche Börse envisage de créer une plate-forme de négociation pour les ETN et les ETC.

In an interview with L’Agefi Switzerland, Joachim H. Strähle, executive president of Banque Sarasin, says organic growth is a first preference, but does not rule out an acquisition (of a firm with assets under management of at least CFH20bn), if an opportunity presents itself. “We see big opportunities in the next three to five years, especially in Asia and the Middle East. Private banking remains fundamentally a growth industry, with enough potential for all actors in the market. Consolidation is probable, even if it takes a while to fully appear. The recovery of the financial markets is helping to defer this process, and is inciting some actors to wait for a better sale price. In the longer term, the process is inevitable, particularly for banks whose private banking operations are not a core activity, who will need to divest in order to repay debts. Whatever happens, the next twelve months will be interesting,” the CEO of the Sarasin group explains.

The sovereign fund China Investment Corp (CIC) has acquired a stake of about 15% in Noble Group Ltd, a commodity trading group based in Hong Kong and listed in Singapore, which is planning to make new acquisitions in the agricultural sector with fresh capital, for about USD850m, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The operation will involve the issue of 438 million shares, and the acquisition of 135 million shares from the founder, Richard Elman. In 2008, Noble earned revenues of about USD36bn, which fell to USD13.3bn in the first half of 2009. In August, CIC announced that 87.4% of its assets of USD297.5bn were still held in the form of liquidity. The sovereign fund is reported to be in negotiations to acquire a stake in the American firm AES Corp., a builder of power stations.

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) on Tuesday listed ten French-registered EasyETF funds covering European, Euro zone and United States businesses and the Euro money market on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform from Deutsche Börse. The XTF segment now lists 496 ETF products. The products added to the listings in Frankfurt include the EasyETF DJ STOXX 600 Double Short (0.60% fees), EURO STOXX 50 Double Short (0.50%), EURO STOXX 50 (A Share), with 0.25% fees, like the EURO STOXX 50 (B Share). The STOXX 50 Europe (A Share) and the STOXX 50 Europe (B Share) carry 0.30% management commissions.

The Bank of London and Middle east (BLME) has mandated European Fund Administration S.A. (EFA) and the Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (BCEE) for administrative and depository banking services for the first European money market fund to comply with Sharia law, which has been launched in Luxembourg. The BLME Umbrella Fund Sicav-SIF, created with capital of more than USD50m, invested in a diversified portfolio of top quality Islamic money market products such as Murabahas (trading contracts), Sukuks (Islamic equivalents of bonds), and Ijaras (rental contracts for assets). In order to serve BLME and respond to the rapid growth of the Islamic finance market, EFA has adapted its accounting and transfer agency tools and has set up a special training program for its dedicated teams.

Some prominent mutual funds have made spectacular comebacks this year, says the Wall Street Journal. Fidelity Magellan, Legg Mason Value Trust and Dodge & Cox International Stock are among the funds beating the markets again. But investors aren’t following and many funds still are losing clients.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is to launch 12 more retail hedge funds, on top of the York Event-Driven Ucits Fund it announced yesterday. So reports Ignites Europe.Eric Personne, EMEA head of the fund solutions group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, says the bank’s target is to have around 15 funds and at least USD2bn in assets under management from its Ucits-compliant Luxembourg Sicav called Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions.

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that professionals estimate that the international high end real estate market, which was paralyzed last year by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is beginning to recover, thanks to vendors who have become more reasonable with their asking prices, and buyers tempted by the spectacular fall in prices. Fabienne Lenfant, director of the London office of the real estate firm Barnes, says the climate has become considerably warmer since April. “Transactions involving top quality properties have picked back up after six months of net downturn,” she says, as clients have been encouraged by prices that have fallen about 30% since their peaks in summer 2007, and the fall of the British pound (which is now worth only about EUR1.10, compared with EUR1.50 in mid-2007), which has brought in many foreign buyers.

The German insurer Allianz announced on 22 September that it will be calling off plans for an initial public offering on the New York stock exchange. Allianz will also be withdrawing from the London, Paris and Milan stock exchanges, as well as the Swiss stock market, the firm says in a statement. The German group “has informed the New York Stock Exchange, the operator of the New York market, of its plans to voluntarily cancel listing of its American Depositary Shares (ADS) and bonds,” according to a statement. Allianz says it plans to concentrate “on the Frankfurt platform, which has stronger liquidity,” as in recent years, “a good deal less than 5% of transactions on Allianz shares have taken place on foreign markets, though about 70% of shares in the firm are held by foreign investors.”

The recent financial turbulence has shown that the traditional economy does not have an appropriate awareness of the real life of the markets, and the potential impact of the markets on portfolios, according to a study by the Bank of New York Mellon and Investor Analytics. The study, entitled “Tomorrow’s Risk Management: How behavioural economics, cognitive studies and complexity science add up to more than their own sum,” suggests that the lessons of behavioural finance research show that humans develop a high aversion to risk when it creates potential to earn gains, though they develop an immoderate taste for risk when this causes losses. Not only the irrationality of the investor, but also the way in which these behaviours affect the decision-making process, must be taken into account. By integrating these elements, risk management may be completely transformed in the future, and may offer a much more relevant grid for the analysis of portfolio risks.

L’indice Baltic Dry, qui mesure l’évolution du prix du transport maritime international des matières premières, accuse une baisse de 46 % depuis juin

L’Agefi reports, citing the chairman of the bank, Frédéric Oudéa, speaking at a press conference in London on Monday 21 September, that Société Générale is still hoping to become “one of the five largest European banks in the next three to five years.” Although the countries of central and eastern Europe are the main cause for concern for the group in terms of risk costs, emerging countries are a priority for the retail bank. To this end, Poland and Egypt are cited as particularly important targets. The private bank is the other major area of development. Lastly, in investment banking, Michel Péretié, head of SG CIB, also states that the firm hopes to reach fifth place in Europe.

Marc Renaud’s boutique Mandarine Gestion has managed to accumulate EUR700 million in assets since its launch 18 months ago, says Citywire. In February 2008 the group had just assets of EUR250 million. A sixth fund is soon to be added, adds Citywire.

According to a survey by Open Europe* published on Monday, the AIFM directive will cost the private equity and hedge fund industries in the EU between EUR1.3bn and EUR1.9bn in the first year. The annual recurring cost is estimated at between EUR689m and EUR985m. On average, private equity and hedge fund firms estimate that their compliance cost could increase by 31.5% if the directive comes in to force. *The EU’s AIFM Directive, Likely impact and best way forward

The timetable for amending the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFM) is too ambitious, according to experts quoted by Ignites Europe. The proposed date for the first reading in the European Parliament, expected to take place in February 2010, is too soon.Speaking at last week’s Asset Management Conference in London, Peter De Proft, director general at Efama, said: «We are now moving towards having a general framework for non-Ucits funds; it is so important not to rush».

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that the OECD claims in its annual report on the European Union, published on 21 September, that “in many EU countries, uncertainties remain about the scale of problems with compromised assets remaining on banks’ balance sheets. There are continuing fears that banks lack sufficient capital to confront a possible further degradation in economic conditions.” “Systematic, rigorous and transparent stress testing is necessary to quantify the needs for owners’ equity at the various European banks,” the OECD states.

Despite the fact that the Treasury Department’s guarantee program expired Friday, money-market funds must continue to report holdings and valuation information to the SEC in certain circumstances, under an interim rule adopted Friday. If a fund’s net asset value per share falls below USD0.9975, it must notify the regulator and provide a portfolio schedule.

StartFragment--> Ignis Asset Management (EUR74bn in AUM) has announced the appointment of Rob Page to the role of Marketing Director. He will join the UK asset manager in early 2010 «to oversee a major drive to develop the Ignis retail brand». Rob Page joins from Liontrust where he was responsible for the promotion of funds to professional investors and advisers in the UK and Europe. Prior to this and until early 2008, he helped launch the New Star brand and was responsible for the group’s marketing and fund positioning. He is the eleventh person from New Star, bought by Henderson, to join Ignis AM. The asset manager has been hiring many people for the last months. Recently, it recruited nine people to develop Ignis’ European distribution business.

John McDonald, who was head of alternative sales & marketing at New Star Asset Management, has joined Impax Asset Management as head of sales & marketing. This is a newly-created position, which will make it possible to better coordinate the distribution of long-only products, hedge funds and private equity products of Impax (USD1.8bn in assets).

Hedge Fund Research (HFR) on Friday launched six new indexes, bringing the product range to 71 indexes. The new indexes are the HFRX Commodity: Agricultural Index, HFRX Commodity: Energy Index, HFRX Commodity: Metals Index, HFRX Alternative Energy Index, HFRX Energy Infrastructure Index and HFRX Real Estate Index, which, as their names indicate, cover commodities (soft commodities, energies, metals), alternative energies, infrastructure, and real estate. The indexes are calculated following a methodology compatible with the UCITS III directive.

In a letter to the Norwegian government, three Norwegian labour unions and the international food industry union IUF have jointly called on the minister of Finance to order an examination of practices at Nestlé by the Ethical Council of the Government Pension Fund - Global, IPE reports. They claim that the Swiss group’s refusal to include salaries in collective negotiations in Indonesia and India represent a clear violation of the principles of the international labour organisation (ILO), and the ethical principles of the fund. By size, Nestlé is the second-largest position in the fund’s portfolio.