BNP Paribas is for the first time in France launching a savings product backed by an “Ethical Europe Equity” index composed of European businesses with the best practices in terms of social responsibility and which meet strict financial criteria. The product, entitled BNP Paribas Éthique Europe 2018, is available from life insurance policies and financial investment accounts until 14 March 2014. BNP Paribas notes in a statement that it has placed ethical ratings at the core of its mission. In learly 10 years, BNP Paribas has beena able to demonstrate its involvement in socially responsible investment (SRI), a genuine area for development. BNP Paribas has imposed itself as an actor of reference ranked as the top bank in the global Vigeo ratings and second for SRI in France. A growing interest in socially responsible investment is demonstrated by an increase in SRI assets in the French makrte, hich have risen from EUR50.7bn in 2009 to EUR149bn in 2012.

The asset management group Pimco and the ETF provider Source have announced the launch of the Pimco Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF (Ticker: COVR). The product allow investors to participate in the performance of globally issued covered bonds. It will combine the actively managed approach PIMCO takes to covered bonds alongside the various benefits of an ETF. The PIMCO Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF, managed by Kristion Mierau, senior vice president and head of PIMCO’s European covered bond portfolio management team, is the first actively managed covered bond exchange traded fund on the global market.Kristion Mierau said in a statement: “This expanding investment universe creates new opportunities for investors and fulfils their increasing demand for ‘safe assets’. “In the current low interest rate environment, covered bonds offer attractive risk-adjusted yields and are potentially a compelling alternative to broad European government bonds, as the asset class has historically provided higher returns with lower volatility and lower sensitivity to changes in market yield levels.” Launched on Deutsche Bourse’s ETF segment Xetra, the Pimco Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF tracks the Barclays Euro Aggregate Covered 3% Cap index, and its annual management fee is 0.38%. Distributions are paid on a monthly basis. Pimco has also entered into a cooperation with Clearstream, giving investors the possibility to order shares of an ETF through Clearstream’s Vestima platform as a mutual fund with daily fixing. This is a ‘first’ for Vestima and Pimco.

Brevan Howard, Cantab Capital and Bluecrest were among the least well-performing hedge fund firms in 2013, Financial Times fund management reports, citing a difficult context for commodity and emerging market managers. The worst fund in 2013 recorded by HSBC was the Special Situations fund from RAB, which lost 31.4% in its third year of double-digit losses.

John Havens, who was once second in command at Citigroup, is coming out of retirement to become chairman of Napier Park Global Capital, a hedge fund firm which he had supervised when it was part of the bank, the Wall Street Journal reports. He will assist the company, which has USD5.6bn in assets under management in credit to court investors. He will work three days per week at the headquarters of the Manhattan-based company.

Fondsweb states that several funds from DWS Investments have changed managers. Basler-International DWS (ISIN DE0008474297) is now managed by Gerrit Rohleder and co-managed by Michael Ficht. DWS Top Portfolio Balance (LU0868163691) is now managed by Julia Ollig, assisted by Werner Eppacher. Lastly, the DWS Invest US Value Equities fund will now be managed by Katharina Seller and co-managed by Ivo Weinoehrl.

US money market funds increased their exposure to European financial institutions by 1% in the months of October and November, while in the same period, euro and sterling money mrkt funds reduced their investments by 8% and 5%, respectively, according to data released by Moody’s. US money market funds increased their engagements to British and French financial establishments, by 335 and 11%, respectively, in the first two months of fourth quarter. The quality of US money market fund credit has deteriorated slightly in fourth quarter, as investments in Aaa shares fell to 18% from 20% previously.

The real estate fund division of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has carried out two transactions on behalf of its open-ended real estate fund Grundbesitz Europa, according to Fondscheck.de. The first acquisition is the “WestendDuo” building in Frankfurt, which has been purchased for about EUR240m from CBRE Global Investors. The property has 30,000 square metres of space. In the Paris region, the fund has purchased the “In Situ” property under construction for EUR104m, from an affiliate of Vinci Immobilier and Nexity Enterprises. The property is slated for completion in 2015. Grundbesitz Europa has total assets of about EUR4bn, and has 48 properties in its portfolio.

The former co-head of Long Term Capital Management in London, Hans Hufschmid, is returning to investing with his first tracker fund to follow the hedge fund industry, the Financial Times reports. His firm, Altß, will build an investment portfolio which will aim to reflect the fund universe, with larger weightings for the most common strategies, such as equity long/short or fixed income trading. Altß is based in New York and has already raised USD100m.

Asset management has positive momentum in Spain. In 2013, assets under management by Spanish securities funds increased by EUR31.5bn, or +25.8% year on year, to a total of EUR153.8bn, according to the agency EFE, citing data published by Inverco, the local association of asset management firms. The association notes that the sector has posted its best performance in 15 years. This success is due to very strong net inflows, which have topped EUR23bn for the year 2013 as a whole, allowing the sector to largely recuperate “redemptions suffered in 2011 and 2012,” according to Inverco. Better yet, investment funds posted average returns last year of 6.37%. Unsurprisingly, the rankings of asset management firms in Spain have largely continued to be dominated by the three firms Santander, BBVA and La Caixa. Santander has EUR25.6bn in asstes, up 38%, folowed by BBVA with EUR22.2bn in assets under management (+16.8%), and La Caixa with EUR21.7bn in assets (+27.14%).

Net inflows of EUR24.5bn and positive market effects in December took assets under management in ETFs and ETPs to a record USD2.4trn in December, according to initial estimates from ETFGI. As of the end of 2013, the secotr had 5,090 ETF/ETPs, via 10,072 listings from 218 providers on 60 markets. Assets in ETF/ETP increased 23% last year, under a positive market effect and a net inflow of USD242.8bn. Net inflows to equity ETF/ETPs alone totalled USD240.1bn, as subscriptions to bond ETF/ETP totalled EUR22.3bn. Commodity ETF/ETP, however, saw net outflows of USD39.7bn. iShares leads for subscriptions, with net inflows of USD61bn, followed by Vanguard (USD60.2bn). SPDR follows far behind, with USD18.3bn, PowerShres with USD15.4bn, and WisdomTree, with USD14.4bn. In the past year, 611 ETF/ETPs were launched, from 102 providers, compared with 595 products from 104 providers in 2012. 245 ETF/ETPs were closed in 2013, compared with 206 in 2012 and only 72 in 2011.

Aletti-Gestielle, the asset mangement firm owned by the Italian Banco Popolare group, is reportedly up for sale, according to reports from Il Sole – 24 Ore. The firm, led by Mario Valletta, has assets under management of EUR24.8bn, and places second in the rankings of Italian asset management firms. Among the potential buyers is Azimut. A potential merger would create a group with EUR67bn in asstes. But other firms, both Italian and foreign, are also reportedly interested.

Sarasin & Partners is renewing its global equity income funds. The asset management firm, which is 60% controlled by J. Safra Sarasin bank and had GBP13.8bn in assets as of the end of 2013, has added two new vehicles to its range. The products, entitled Sarasin Global Dividend Fund and Sarasin Global Dividend Fund (Sterling Hedged), are aimed at “providing a ‘total return’ appoach to global dividend investing”, the London-based firm says. The two funds are aiming for long-term capital growth by generating returns at least 15% above the benchmark (MSCI All Countries World Index). The second fund, however, stands out as it offers hedging for currency risks for investors in pounds sterling. The funds, managed by manager and partner Mark Whitehead, will carry annual management fees of 1.5%, with a minimal investment of GBP1,000. The new vehicles come as additions to the exiting range of global equity income funds, which is being extensively overhauled. The two existing funds Sarasin International Equity Income and Sarasin Global Equity Income (Sterling Hedged) have been renamed as Sarasin Global Higher Dividend Fund and Sarasin Global Higher Dividend Fund (Sterling Hedged).

Invesco Germany has appointed Norbert Welp as head of sales. Welp in March 2013 became head of the German office of Pioneer Investments in Munich, Fondscheck.de states. In his new role, he will oversee sales of Invesco products to banking networks.

Vacant positions increased 17% in 2013 in the finance sector in Switzerland. As of the end of December, the field had 3,602 vacancies, compared with 4,077 at the end of 2012. This slowdown of a trend which started at the beginning of last year has been confirmed, but the first signs of cooling have been noted, acording to the most recent edition of the Finews-JobDirectory index, published on 13 January. Banks had 1,207 vacancies, insurers 1,152, and other businesses active in the financial sector 1,242 places. In fourth quarter, a downturn in vacant positions was noticeable in the banking and insurance sectors. This situation reflects the “new reality” in the banking sector, Finews-JobDirector states, with stable assets under management, but lower margins and revenues, which have a direct impact on personnel numbers. At the large banks UBS and Credit Suises, the trend remains positive. At the end of 2013, UBS had 403 vacant positions, which corresponds to a 67% increase year on year, and Credit Suisse had 261, an increase of 20%.

Israel has summoned the ambassador of the Netherlands to oppose a decision by the pension fund PGGM to sell its stakes in five Israeli banks on the grounds that they finance Jewish settlements, IPE.com reports. The Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Frans Timmermans, has responded that the decision belongs to PGGM. The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post accuses PGGM of double standards, as the asset management firm does not exclude Chinese banks which invest in Tibet.

AXA Investment Managers on Monday announced the launch of the AXA WF Global Income Generation, a multi-asset fund which aims to provide regular income through yielding assets from quality issuers and long-term capital growth.AXA WF Global Income Generation takes an unconstrained, multi-asset approach to generate income, balancing higher yielding assets with long-term investments for capital growth. The investment process combines the benefits of bottom up portfolio construction with a ‘3D approach’ – diversification, dynamic asset allocation and downside risk mitigation. The new fund is managed by Anne Gagliardini part of AXA IM’s Flexible Balanced team. AXA WF Global Income Generation is a Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV. It has both retail and institutional share classes and is currently registered in Luxembourg. AXA IM is considering registration across a number of other European countries.

Real estate is exciting the appetites of asset managers. M&G Real Estate, an affiliate of M&G Investments, and Aberdeen Asset Management, have teamed up to create a new real estate fund structure estimated at GBP210m (EUR253m). The new entity, entitled Two Rivers Limited Partnership, has already acquired 100% of the Two Rivers Shopping Park in Staines-upon-Thames in the United Kingdom. Each partner holds 50%.

Multi-asset class funds were the category of fund in the most demand in 2013 on the British maket, according to activity figures released by the platform Skandia Investment Solutions. Throughout the past year, an average of nearly 30% of inflows each month have done to multi-asset class funds. British equity funds were the category in the second most demand, representing 18% of monthy average inflows, as interest has increased over the months, except for a dip in February. British bond funds, however, were unpopular, with only 8% of average monthly inflows. Cash represented only 0.9% of average monthly inflows.

The Danish asset management firm Maj Invest has opened an office in London and recruited Christine Bergstedt as senior client relationship manager, the Swedish website Fondbranschen reports. Bergstedt was previously head of sales for institutional clients at Barings. She also worked at Aviva Investors.

Times are changing at JO Hambro Investment Management (IM). The British asset management boutique on 13 January announced that it will be changing names to become Waverton Investment Management. The change follows the sale of JO Hambro IM by Credit Suisse in 2013 to its management and the Bermuda-listed financial group Somers Limited. The asset management firm provides discretionary portfolio management to private clients, charities and other institutions. It also offers a range of offshore funds through its Dublin-based Waverton funds.

Jupiter Fund Management is planning to sell its wealth management business, representing assets of GBP2.2bn, the Sunday Times reports. An unsolicited buyout offer led the firm to evaluate the future of the unit. Several investment companies specialised in private clients, including Rathbones, Towry and Quilter, are reported to be interested in the activity, which is estimated at GBP50m. The private client unit at Jupiter represents 7.5% of total assets, the Sunday Times reports.

BNP Paribas Securities Services vient de créer un nouveau rapport de gestion mensuel, conforme à la directive MIFID, auquel a souscrit KBL Richelieu Gestion pour l’ensemble de ses fonds. Ce nouveau reporting que BNP Paribas Securities Services propose désormais à l’ensemble de ses clients « a pour principal atout sa très grande flexibilité, s’adaptant aux besoins spécifiques de chaque société de gestion », indique un communiqué de presse.BNP Paribas Securities Services a mis en place une architecture ouverte lui permettant d’intégrer des données de portefeuilles multi-sources de façon fiable et industrielle. Grâce à une base de données complète et à son département de mesure de risque et de la performance (270 spécialistes), BNP Paribas réalise pour son client la collecte d’information et son enrichissement avec des données de marché, différents calculs d’indicateurs de risque et de performance ainsi que les répartitions sectorielles. Les éléments constitutifs de la factsheet, tant sur le fonds que sur la forme (marque blanche) étant prédéfinis par KBL Richelieu Gestion, la société de gestion reçoit un reporting clé en main pour diffusion à ses clients.

Le groupe de gestion Pimco et le fournisseur d’ETF Source ont annoncé le lancement du Pimco Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF (Ticker: COVR). Ce produit offre un accès au marché des obligations collatéralisées en tirant parti des avantages inhérents aux ETF et de l’approche éprouvée de Pimco en matière de gestion active. Géré par Kristion Mierau, senior vice president et responsable de l'équipe de gestion des portefeuilles d’obligations collatéralisées européennes de Pimco, le Pimco Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF est le premier ETF à gestion active axé sur les obligations collatéralisées accessible aux investisseurs, indique un communiqué. Si les obligations collatéralisées ont longtemps constitué une spécialité européenne (l’Allemagne ayant fait office de pionnière en la matière, imitée ensuite par d’autres Etats membres), elles apparaissent de plus en plus en dehors des frontières du Vieux Continent. « Cet univers d’investissement en pleine expansion crée de nouvelles opportunités pour les investisseurs et répond à la demande croissante de valeurs refuge. Dans le contexte actuel de taux d’intérêt bas, les obligations collatéralisées offrent des rendements corrigés du risque attrayants et constituent potentiellement une alternative intéressante au marché des emprunts d’Etat européens dans son ensemble, la classe d’actifs ayant historiquement affiché des rendements supérieurs assortis d’une faible volatilité et d’une moindre sensibilité aux fluctuations du marché », indique Kristion Mierau. Compte tenu du niveau actuel des spreads, les obligations collatéralisées sont également plus attrayantes et plus sûres que les titres de dette bancaire senior non garantis dans une optique d’exposition au crédit. D’un point de vue réglementaire, elles offrent des avantages supplémentaires à certains investisseurs institutionnels. S’agissant des banques, les obligations collatéralisées sont traitées comme des actifs pondérés par le risque (RWA) de niveau inférieur en vertu de Bâle III. Les obligations collatéralisées sont par ailleurs considérées comme des « actifs liquides » aux fins de la nouvelle réglementation Bâle III sur la liquidité (LCR). Les compagnies d’assurance peuvent bénéficier d’un traitement privilégié des obligations collatéralisées dans le cadre de la réforme Solvabilité II. Le Pimco Covered Bond Source UCITS ETF se négocie sur la Deutsche Börse et sa première commission de gestion annuelle s'élève à 0,38%. Les distributions sont versées mensuellement. En outre, Pimco a conclu un accord avec Clearstream, en vertu duquel les investisseurs peuvent acheter les actions d’un ETF par le biais de la plateforme Vestima de Clearstream en tant que fonds commun de placement avec fixing quotidien. Il s’agit d’une première, tant pour Vestima que pour Pimco.

Natixis AM a annoncé sur son site la création d’une nouvelle catégorie de part pour son fonds Croissance Diversifiée, à compter du 17 janvier 2014. Dénommée part « EGEVAL », elle est ouverte à tous souscripteurs, et plus particulièrement dédiée aux agents d’EDF, de GDF et de leurs filiales françaises ainsi qu’à ses membres fondateurs.Cette part revêt les caractéristiques suivantes :- Code ISIN FR0011685668- Frais de gestion maximum : 0.36% TTC de l’actif net- Pas de commission de surperformance- Aucune commission de souscription- Aucune commission de rachat- Valeurs liquidative d’origine de 30 euros- Décimalisation en dix-millièmes de parts- Minimum de souscription de un dix-milllième- Capitalisation et/ou distribution et/ou report des résultatsSimultanément, la part existante dont le code ISIN est FR0007480389 est renommée part « I ». Par ailleurs, le pourcentage d’investissement en OPCVM est modifié, passant de 10% maximum jusqu’à moins de 20% de l’actif net du fonds. En outre, la contrainte imposant que l’actif de l’OPCVM soit composé au minimum de 50% en valeurs françaises disparaît.

En matière de négociations salariales annuelles obligatoires (NAO) dans les banques françaises, le millésime 2014 fera lui aussi la part belle à la rigueur, rapporte L’Agefi. Les NAO sont toujours en cours dans la branche Caisse d’Epargne ou au Crédit Agricole. BNP Paribas pour sa part a opté cette année pour un complément d’intéressement de 1.000 euros. La Société Générale a aussi privilégié le versement d’une prime. Deux établissements se distinguent cependant : le Crédit Mutuel qui a accordé une hausse générale de 1,1% avec un plancher de 400 euros sur l’année et LCL qui a accordé sa première augmentation générale depuis 2001.

Auris Gestion Privée vient de recruter Nicolas Gautier et Christian Heinkele aux postes nouvellement créés de directeurs commerciaux de la gestion collective, anticipe Newsmanagers. Ils seront chargés de promouvoir l’expertise multicap européenne de la boutique française auprès d’une clientèle d’investisseurs institutionnels et des acteurs de la distribution externe. Nicolas Gautier travaillait précédemment chez Convictions Asset Management, où il était depuis 2009 responsable commercial en charge d’une clientèle de grands investisseurs. Christian Heinkele, de son côté, officiait chez Cogefi Gestion en qualité de directeur des ventes externes.

L’ancien co-responsable à Londres de Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), Hans Hufschmid, fait son retour avec le premier fonds indiciel qui suit le secteur des hedge funds, rapporte le Financial Times. Altß, sa société, va bâtir un portefeuille d’investissements destinés à refléter l’univers des fonds, avec des pondérations plus importantes pour les stratégies les plus répandues comme le long-short actions ou le trading obligataire. Altß est basée à New York et a déjà levé 100 millions de dollars.

Jacques Tebeka, l’ancien directeur de la multigestion diversifiée chez Edmond de Rothschild IM, aurait rejoint la société de gestion Markus AM qui a été créée l'été dernier et a reçu l’agrément de l’AMF le 14 octobre 2013, rapporte H24. La société compte 4 personnes, dont 2 gérants et dispose d’une gamme de deux fonds à vocation patrimoniale : Markus Optimal Income et Markus Patrimoine. Jacques Tebeka avait quitté EdRIM au cours de l'été dernier.

John Havens, qui a été autrefois numéro 2 de Citigroup, sort de sa retraite pour devenir président de Napier Park Global Capital, une société de hedge funds qu’il supervisait lorsqu’il faisait partie de la banque, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. Il aidera la société qui gère 5,6 milliards de dollars d’actifs dans le crédit à courtiser les investisseurs. Il y travaillera trois jours par semaine au siège de la société à Manhattan.

Le guide d’application du code Afep-Medef a été publié dimanche soir indique L’Agefi. Le Haut comité de gouvernement d’entreprise, auteur de ce guide, s’est concentré sur la nouvelle règle du «say on pay» introduite dans le code Afep-Medef en juin 2013. Les actionnaires doivent être appelés à voter - seulement à titre consultatif - sur le montant ou la valorisation des éléments de la rémunération due à chaque mandataire social au cours du dernier exercice. Le guide précise bien que le vote doit porter sur les rémunérations dues «par toutes les sociétés du groupe» et «sur les sommes facturées au titre d’une convention de prestations de services». Il propose également un exemple de tableau récapitulatif qui pourrait être repris dans le document de référence et dans le rapport du conseil présenté lors de l’assemblée générale. Si le code demande des résolutions séparées pour le directeur général ou le président du directoire et pour les directeurs généraux délégués ou les membres du directoire, le guide pratique recommande aussi une résolution séparée sur la rémunération du président d’administration non exécutif, note le quotidien.