P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The proposed joint financial transaction tax that France and Germany are preparing may include derivatives from the outset, German legislators have indicated, the news agency Bloomberg reports. French and German negotiators have set an objective of reaching agreement with nine other countries by 25 may, before the European elections. France had declared that it wished to gradually introduce the tax, initially limiting its applicability to equities, but the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, on 5 March said that it would not be out of place to include derivative transactions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor Asset Management (Lyxor AM) is adding to its ETF range aimed at Spanish investors. The French asset management firm has registered a new vehicle which replicates the MSCI World index, with monthly hedging for currencies, entitled Lyxor UCITS ETF MSCI World – Monthly Hedged D - EUR, Funds People reports. The registration of the new ETF on the Spanish market comes a few weeks after the launch of three «double-short» ETFs by Lyxor, which allow investors to construct shorts positions on the main public debt indices.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Fidelity China Special Situations trust will cut its annual management fees from 1 April, at the same time that Anthony Bolton hands over to Dale Nicholls, Fund Web reports. Asset management fees will be set at 1%, compared with 1.2% currently. They had previously been cut from 1.5% to 1.2% last year. The trust has assets of GBP815.4m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Vontobel Asset Management has decided to call in the services of Kneip to manage its data and produce regulatory documents such as KIID. Vontobel will rely on the services of Kneip for its full fund ranges domiciled in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } James E. Stowers, Jr., the founder of American Century Investments in 1958, died on Monday aged 90, the Wall Street Journal reports. His firm now has USD141bn in assets.

Manulife Asset Management has hired Michael P. Evans as a managing director, portfolio specialist, with a primary focus on the firm’s U.S. equity teams. He is based in Boston and reports to Jeffrey Santerre, CAIA, senior managing director, global head of the portfolio specialist team.Most recently, Michael P. Evans spent ten years at Evercore Asset Management as a senior equity research analyst focusing on small- and mid-cap core investment portfolios for institutional clients.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The benchmark index for UCITS hedge funds, the UAI Blue Chip, calculated by Alix Partners, lost 0.20% in the week to 19 March, which has contributed to a decline of 0.01% since the beginning of the month. However, the index is up 0.15% since the beginning of the year. The best returns were for the FX, Volatility and Equity Market Neutral strategies, which have posted growth of 1.05%, 0.21% and 0.11%, respectively. The less well-performing strategies, Event-Driven and CTA, have lost 0.81% and 0.60%, respectively.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rickesh Kishnani and David Robertson will in June launch the Platinum Whisky Investment Fund, the first private equity fund which proposes to make subscribers money off the growth in the price of Scotch single malt whisky, The Asset.com reports. The fund will take positions on single malt productions. The two co-heads of the fund are whisky lovers. Robertson was master distiller at the Scotch distillery The Macallan. The fund is registered in Hong Kong and has begun fundraising, with a target of USD10m. The minimal investment is USD250,000.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The South African asset management firm Investec Asset Management has opened an office in Milan, Bluerating reports. It has also appointed Marco Orsi as head of sales for Italy, who joins from Allianz Global Invetors, where he had been head of retail distribution for Italy. He will work alongside Sarah Pastore, sales manager dedicated to the Italian market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Bankinter’s private bank has topped the threshold of 300 Sicavs in its portfolio, which gives it a market share of 10% in this activity, compared with 7% one year ago, Cotizalia reports. Bankinter as of the beginning of March had 305 Sicavs, up 20% year on year, in addition to which there are five other vehicles domiclied in Luxembourg, where the Spanish bank has acquired the Dutch entity Van Lanschot. This growth has resulted in a growth of 45% in tis assets since 2012, bringing it to EUR1.878bn in assets under management. In addition to this figure come assets in the five Luxembourg-domiciled vehicles, which, as of the end of 2013, had a total of EUR300m in assets under management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eight months after the acquisition of Cazenove, the British asset management firm Schroders has added a number of funds from Cazenove Capital Holdings to its range of products available in Spain, Funds People reports. The range from Schroders gains some of the best vehicles dedicated to fixed income, European equities (long/short and long-only) and British equities from Cazenove. “The new funds which we have registered are highly complementary with our range,” Carla Bergareche, CEO of Schroders for Spain and Portugal, explains to Funds People, and goes on to welcome the addition of the managers Steve Cordel and Julie Dean. As a part of the move, Schroders has registered six Caxenove products with the CNMV, the Spanish regulator. The products have now been integrated into the Luxembourg Sicav from the British asset management firm, Schroders ISF. The six funds concerned are: Schroder ISF European Opportunities (former Cazenove Pan European), Schroder ISF UK Opportunities (ex-Cazenove UK Equity), Schroder ISF European Equity ex-UK (Cazenove European Equity ex-UK), Schroder ISF Strategic Credit (Cazenove Strategic Debt), Schroder ISF European Equity Absolute Return (Cazenove European Equity Absolute Return), and Schroder ISF European Alpha Absolute Return (Cazenove European Alpha Absolute Return).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has reduced its stake in Telecom Italia from 7.789% as of December last year to 4.8%, Milano Finanza reports. The deal was carried out on 12 March. The US giant had increased its stake as far as 10.12%. It now places third among shareholders in the Italian company, after Telco and Findim.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset administration specialist Mitsubishi UFJ Fund Services on 19 March announced the acquisition of Meridian Fund Services Group, whose assets under administration total USD14bn. The acquisition will increase assets under administration at UFG Fund Services to about USD165bn. The firm, which is owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, offers a full range of services to hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity, real estate funds, mutual funds and family offices.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The J. Safra Sarasin bank on 19 March announced the creation of a centre of expertise to assist foundations. The activity is from 1 March led by Ingeborg Schumacher-Hummel and Bernhard Gick in Luxembourg. The objective for the firm is to advise foundations and to develop product ranges in the context of specific charitable or environmental investments (mission-related investing, MRIs), the institution said in a statement on 19 March. A growing number of foundations worldwide are investing a part of their assets in sustainable projects. This trend is also confronted by the fact that this type of investment is also profitable.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Steve Conway, the head of the Citigroup unit dedicated to hedge funds, has left the bank, Financial News reports. He had submitted his resignation last week, and is expected to occupy a new buy-side role, according to sources familiar with the matter.

French bank Crédit Agricole wants to strenghten its asset management business and is targeting assets under management of EUR1,000bn in 2016 with its subsidiary Amundi, according to its new strategic plan unveiled on Thursday. As of December 2013, Amundi had assets under management of EUR777.1bn.In asset management, the bank plans to acquire a medium-sized player, if a good opportunity arises.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asset management firms subject to the AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Managers) directive will have to revise the pay scales for many of their employees, the law firm Duhamel Blimbaum warns in a study on the problem, entitled “Pay scales under AIFM.” The remuneration of professionals whose activities have “a significant impact on the risk profile of the asset management firms or the AIF which it manages” are now subject to very restrictive rules. This definition of the profile of the employees concerned in practice aims to cover many positions, not only managers and risk controllers, but also, for example, heads of legal or development, the authors of the study say. Precisely, at least 50% of the variable pay may be paid in the form of “financial instruments” (shares in funds, etc.), and the payment of 40% to 60% of this variable pay scale must be deferred for “an appropriate period,” of at least 3 to 5 years. This delay, according to the European Commission and the European Parliament, should make it possible to potentially “claw back” bonuses in the event of a fall in performance or fraudulent conduct. It will not be easy to avoid. Asset management firms operating in France will be subject to the law, as will firms operating abroad, but which sell FIAs under a European passport. However, the “principle of proportionality” means that there will be the potential for asset management firms of a smaller size to be exempt from certain obligations: the obligation to pay a part of the variable pay in the form of financial instruments, to subject this portion to retention, etc. At the same time, in the very common potential case in which the company has alternative investment funds under management as well as OPCVM mutual funds, two remuneration “piles” could be defined: this, for example, could be done for a manager who dedicates 75% of his time to managing an FIA, who would be subject to the AIFM directive rules for only 75% of his pay. Following the new rules for alternative fund managers, similar rules will also be brought into force for the pay scales of OPCVM managers. The European Parliament, Commission and Council have agreed on this point, as part of the composition of the future UCITS V regulations.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The most recent alterations to the draft Solvency II directive, which make it more favourable in terms of owners equity, will not necessarily incite European insurers to develop their securitisation activities, Standard & Poor’s finds in a study released on 18 March (“EIOPA’s Revised Solvency II Calibration Still Risks Turning European Insurers Away From Securitizations.”) The most recent revision, published in December 2013, defines some securitisations as “type A” exposures, which are treated more favourably than other securitisations (“type B”). According to the study, the latest proposals show signs that European political leaders are becoming aware that securitisations are not all alike and that the disastrous performance of transactions related to the US sub-prime market were rather the exception. “Most European asset classes eligible for securitiesation have very good returns over the six years since the sub-prime crisis broke out in the United States,” says Mark Boyce, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } SecondMarket is seeking to open a private fund investing in bitcoin to ordinary investors from fourth quarter, the Wall Street Jornal reports. The firm, which launched the Bitcoin Investment trust in September for high net worth investors, has called in lawyers and investment bankers to assist in the process. The fund buys and sells bitcoins, and has assets of USD54m. It would compete with the Winklevoss Investment Trust, a vehicle sponsored by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sustainable development multi-management specialist Cedrus Asset Management will on Friday, 28 March launch an international equity fund of funds, which is based on an innovative approach based on Megatrends, major social and environmental changes expected in the next few years. The Cedrus Sustainable Megatrends fund proposes to invest in three megatrends which will affect all facets of society in the coming years: energy transition, management of natural resources, and human development. “For us, this fund represents SRI 2.0: more simple, more legible and less complex in terms of its performance generation ambitions,” the chairman of Cedrus, Benoit Magnir, says. Assets managed and advised by Cedrus, which receive capital (20%) and operational support from NexT AM, total about EUR400m, of which about EUR70m are assets under management, including the Cedrus Sustainable Opportunities fund. In order to assist managers, Cedrus has set up a partnership with the experts at the RGreen company, specialised in the implementatin of infrastructure products for environmental activities, which acts as second adviser for the development of thematic convictions and due diligence on external funds. The fund, which is already being well received by institutional invetsors, will have initial capital of EUR40m to EUR50m, and will be offered as a priority to institutionals. It has a capacity of about EUR500m. With this new vehicle, which brings the number of funds managed to three, assets under management at Cedrus AM are expected to far exceed the EUR100m which would allow the firm to more solidly ensconce its asset management activities, which are still quite young.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The daily on-book trading volume on the European markets of NYSE Euronext as of the end of February totalled EUR250.2m, down by 7.2% compared with January, and 1% compared with February 2013, according to monthly statistics released by Euronext. The total on-book trading volume for the month under review comes to EUR5bn, down by 19.3% for the month, and 1% compared with February 2013. Bloc trades totalled EUR1.41bn in February, up 23.6% compared with January, and 26.3% compared with February 2013. The median spread last month came to 24.9 basis points, a growth of 9% compared with January, and 2% compared with February 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Asian Investor, sharia-comliant financial assets managed by the 50 largest asset management firms for this type of product rose by 25.6% in 2013, to USD86.4bn. Islamic equity funds last year posted growth of 48.6% to USD29.3bn. Sharia-compliant alternative assets as of the end of 2013 came to a total of USD8.5bn, up by 43.2%. The growth of sukuks (islamic bonds) an Islamic money market funds was more modest (3.5%), to USD20.5bn. The three largest asset management firms in terms of Islamic-compliant assets are BlackRock (via iShares) with USD28.5bn, followed by the Malaysian asset management firm Public Mutual (USD8.14bn) and the Saudi firm NCB Capital (USD7.4bn).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fullerton Fund Management, the asset management affiliate of the Singapore sovereign fund Temasek Holdings, has recruited three new senior managers as additions to its investment team dedicated to equities, the firm has announced. Jason Zhu, former head of equities at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management, joins Fullerton in the position of head of Chinese equities. Meanwhile, Ian McCallum, previously chief investment officer for Bedlam Asset Management in London, joins the Singapore firm as global head of emerging markets. Craig Mitchell, former manager from Capital Group, will be repsonsible for launching and developing the absolute reutrn equity strategy in Asia.

Dutch pension fund PFZW (Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn), which manages €137.3 billion, and Rabobank have entered into a risk sharing transaction regarding a portfolio of corporate loans originated by Rabobank, have annouced the two companies on a press release on march 18th. The private risk sharing transaction refers to a portfolio of €3.2 billion consisting of more than 500 corporate loans of which more than half is provided to Dutch companies. The amount invested by PFZW was not disclosed. However, «this transaction offers PFZW access to a portfolio of credit risk that helps diversifying the asset mix of the pension fund in an efficient manner, said PFZW in the statement. Through this transaction, PFZW expects to achieve a stable and robust long-term return."For Rabobank, this transaction offers a reduction of the credit risk it holds regarding this underlying loan portfolio. In addition, the reduction in capital required to be held by the dutch bank can be re-used for new lending to corporates.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } MoraBanc is opening new horizons. The Andorran banking group has opened a UCITS fund management firm in Luxembourg, entitled Mora Asset Management Luxemnbourg, whose activities started up on 11 February this year, Funds People reports. The new structure is the first platform from the banking group within the European Union. It comes as an addition to the MoraBanc geographical matrix, which already includes offices in Zurich, Miami, Montevideo and Dubai. Mora Asset Management Luxembourg, led by Maria Victoria Simon, will assume the management of the Mora Fund Sicav, which has several sub-funds with various types of assets and different investment philosophies.

L’Union européenne, notée AAA/Aaa/AA+ par Fitch, Moody’s et S&P (avec perspectives stables), a lancé son premier emprunt syndiqué de l’année. La taille de l’emprunt était limitée par le montant des prêts à financer pour le soutien à l’Irlande et au Portugal. L’obligation d’un montant de 2,6 milliards d’euros et de maturité 2024, porte un coupon annuel de 1,875% et son prix a été fixé à 9 points de base au-dessus du taux mid-swap. Les teneurs de livre associés étaient BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, HSBC, JPMorgan et UniCredit.

La Banque de France a pour la première fois publié hier la balance mensuelle des paiements selon la nouvelle méthode internationale. Celle-ci se traduit notamment par l’enregistrement des opérations de négoce international parmi les échanges de biens, alors qu’auparavant elles étaient enregistrées parmi les services. Certaines opérations financières, auparavant classées en revenus, sont enregistrées désormais en tant que prestation de service. Le déficit des transactions courantes s’établit à 3,9 milliards d’euros (cvs-cjo) en janvier 2014, compte tenu d’un déficit des échanges de biens de 5,1 milliards d’euros, d’un excédent des échanges de services de 1,9 milliard et d’un déficit des revenus de 0,8 milliard. Selon l’ancienne méthode, le déficit des échanges de biens du mois de janvier serait ressorti à 5,9 milliards, l’excédent des services aurait été identique et les revenus auraient présenté un déficit de 0,5 milliard.

La présidente du gendarme américain des marchés, Mary Jo White, a assuré que la SEC étudie actuellement d’éventuelles évolutions au cadre réglementaire s’imposant aux cabinets de conseil en vote. Ces proxy advisory firms sont accusées par certains de ne pas faire tout leur possible pour faire part d’éventuels conflits d’intérêts ou d’avoir une influence trop prononcée sur des gestionnaires d’actifs trop passifs face à leurs recommandations.

La société d’investissement a commencé selon Reuters a assuré la promotion d’une titrisation adossée à des loyers tirés de biens résidentiels saisis aux Etats-Unis durant la crise. Le produit, deuxième «REO-to-rental» seulement après celui lancé par Blackstone en novembre dernier, atteindrait selon IFR qui cite des investisseurs un montant de 500 millions de dollars. JPMorgan et Credit Suisse mènent l’opération.

La SEC et la CFTC ont toutes deux lancé des enquêtes visant le traitement privilégié accordé aux traders par les opérateurs boursiers