A group of leading international investment institutions with USD 5.8tn of assets has urged tough new public disclosure rules for oil, gas and mining companies listed in Canada, even as it has warned against the US rolling back its own disclosure rules in this area, according to a press statement released on August 28.In separate letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the investors - among which Amundi, Allianz GI, Aviva Investors, ING IM and UBS GAM, have urged the adoption of a consistent global standard for all significant tax and royalty payments made by extractive companies across their global operations.The move reflects a growing global trend aimed at deterring corruption in resource-dependent countries, beginning with the passage in 2010 of tough extractive sector transparency provisions within the US Dodd Frank Act. This was followed by equivalent requirements in the EU’s Transparency and Accounting Directives in June 2013, following which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans at the G8 Summit in June to follow suit with similar regulations for Canadian-listed extractive companies.However, a July ruling in a US District Court on a suit filed by the American Petroleum Institute threatens to set back this effort by seeking to block the US regulation, and raises uncertainty for companies and investors operating internationally. Investors have therefore come together to highlight the importance of high standards of transparency as well as consistent global regulation.

Zurich Insurance Group on 29 August announced that the chairman of the board of directors, Josef Ackermann, has informed it of his decision to step down from all of his responsibilities as a member and chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately. Ackermann will be replaced as chairman of the board of directors by the vice-chairman, Tom de Swaan. The board says that it respects his decision, which it has accepted with “profound regret,” and thanks Ackermann for his contribution to the success of the group. Ackermann explains that his decision is due to the recent death of the CFO of Zurich, Pierre Wauthier. “The sudden decease of Pierre Wauthier has profoundly shocked me,” says Ackermann, cited in a statement.

The Zurich-based private bank Rothschild Bank is seeking to develop its international wealth management activities in Asia. To this end, Alois Müller has been recruited from early September as Managing Director, responsible for the Rothschild Wealth Management arm in Northern Asia, with headquarters in Hong Kong, a statement released on Wednesday states. Asia is a central axis in the growth strategy for wealth management, the bank notes. Müller joins from UBS, where he served in various management rols for 35 years, in Zurich, London, New York, and most recently, Hong Kong.

The Hedge Fund Association on August 28 announced that it has formed a new academic advisory board to empower and educate students and others about the hedge fund industry.The board will hold HFA symposiums on campuses featuring well-known hedge fund managers and investors as guest speakers, along with hosting online webinars to teach the next generation of professionals not only about the industry, but also finance and ethics.The Hedge Fund Association is an international not-for-profit organization made up of hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, financial advisors, service providers and students.

For Swiss banks, the requirements of MiFid II and the financial services law (LSFIN) do not represent an insurmountable obstacle to the continuation of their activities abroad. Swiss banks estimate that international activities will remain attractive for it, despite regulations now in preparation, particularly in Europe. They see particular potential for growth in wealth management mandates, a durvey by PwC published n 28 August entitled “Barometer Investor Protection Rules,” concerning the impact of investor protection on the Swiss financial market, states. Swiss financial service providers are continuing to bet on cross-border acivities, although a future requirement for Swiss banks located outside the European Union to have a branch inside the European Union governed by MiFID II, the Euorpean directive concerning financial instrument markets, has often been mentioned, the survey finds. Two thirds of investment banks and 44% of cantonal and regional banks intend to remain attractive to clients in the European Union, and to attract them. All participants in the survey say that they would like to grow in the wealth management mandate section as a priority, where margins are comfortable. In this sector, spending related to the introduction of new regulatory rules is “relatively low” and banks could realise significant economies of scale. Another lesson of the survey is that nearly three quarters of participants would like to restrict the current diversity of complex products offered to their clients. They are planning “a general reduction in the complexity of the number of investment products, followed immediately by a decline in volume for these products.” The survey covered 30 Swiss financial service providers with a banking license in Switzerland, or licensed there for securities trading. These are investment banks (foreign and Swiss private banks and wealth managers) and cantonal or regional banks.

The Bank of Thailand is planning to create a sovereign fund in order to use its excess currency reserves and increase the revenues of the central bank, the Bangkok Post reports. The government of the central bank has for years been calling for the creation of a sovereign fund. This time, the return of this project to the foreground is related to the delicate financial situation at the central bank, which has seen losses of THB531bn, or over EUR12bn, largely due to its intervention in the currency markets to stabilise the currency. The sovereign fund, which will be known as the New Opportunity Fund, will be managed as a separate entity or by the central bank itself. The size of the fund has not been specified yet. Currency reserves in Thailand total about USD172bn.

Baring Asset Management has hired James Ross to the newly created role of director of investment process. Alongside overseeing the investment process for existing products, this role has been created to develop, implement and regularly review the investment processes for the suite of new products.James Ross was previously at Alliance Bernstein since 2001. From 2009, he was head of senior portfolio managers, Global Growth; involved in the management of the firm’s global growth equity. He starts on 2 September and will report to Marino Valensise, chief investment officer and be based in London.

Renaissance Asset Management is planning to merge its Russian infrastructure fund and its Russian equity fund, Citywire reports. In a letter to shareholders, the asset management firm states that it feels the Renaissance Russian Infrastructure Equities fund will be more useful as part of a larger strategy.

According to statistics from the Luxembourg financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF), net assets at collective investment organisms totalled EUR2.523186trn as of 31 July. 3,884 OPC funds have been counted, of which 2,530 have multiple sub-funds. These number 12,215, in which net assets represent EUR2.287086trn, the CSSF states. As of 30 June, total assets in collective investment organisms in Luxembourg totalled EUR2.48658trn, which represents a decline of EUR97.51bn compared with the end of May.

The Australian fund management firm AMP Capital has already raised AUD305m for its second infrastructure fund, which it hopes to close with about AUD1bn in early 2014, Asian Investor reports. Most investors in the AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund II are Japanese insurers and pension funds, but one of the largest South Korean insurers is also present, as well as Chinese insurers and pension funds. The fund will invest in subordinate debt on infrastructure assets for services including water, gas electricity, transport and communication in Europe, North America and Australia. An initial investment of GBP50m was made in late July in the form of a subordinate loan to Heathrow airport.

The British firm Legal & General Investments has launched an inflation-linked fund, the Global Inflation Linked Bond Index Fund, at the request of independent financial adivsers (IFA), Fund Web reports. The fund, which will charge 0.2% per year, will be based on the Barclays World Government ex UK Inflation Linked Bond fund, composed of inflation-linked bonds issued by governments not including the United Kingdom. The bonds included in the index must be rated at least A- for G7 countries and the euro zone, and AA- for other issuers.

The alternative asset management group Man Group has decided to close some products which had aimed to protect the capital of their clients against potential losses, which did not meet their performance objectives, Bloomberg reports. The Man Vision fund, whose assets under management total USD40m, and which aims for returns of over 10% per year, has been closed, according to a letter sent on 12 August to clients, which was obtained by Bloomberg. Man Group has also closed other similar products whose performance was related to that of AHL Diversified, the largest hedge fund from the firm, whose assets under management total about USD14bn, and which has been affected by the announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it is gradually phasing out its quantitative easing. Man Vision, whose assets under management totalled USD160m one year ago, has lost about 5.6% in first half 2013, according to statistics from Bloomberg. The fund also shows a loss of 12% since its launch in July 2008. Assets under management by the guaranteed products unit have fallen 64% in the past two yearsa, to a total of USD4.7bn.

M&G has been required to adjust the income paid to clients for the second consecutive month after accounting errors which led it to overpay investors in its High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (GBP1.3bn), Fund Web reports. About 32,000 subscribers received an excessive sum in May. In July, payments were reduced to take that error into account, but an M&G investigation has found that the firm had excessively reduced the payments. As a result, the next payments, on 31 August, will be more than normal.

The CAC 40 is calculated not including dividends, unlike the German DAX. The Paris stock exchange would now light to emphasize profitability on the index, which includes dividends, Les Echos reports. The various indices of the Paris stock exchange are price indices which do not take into account dividend payments to shareholders. The CAC 40 price index has risen 8.77% since the beginning of the year, while the profitability index, for its part, is up by 11.95%.

The investment office of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) would like to increase its exposure to Asia by a factor of seven in the next few years, Asian Investor reports. The Office currently has nine investment professionals in Hong Kong, and is already planning to increase its investment capacity in private equity and consequently to increase its personnel by at least 30% by the end of the year. The only problem is that it is currently difficult to find private equity specialists in the region, Asian Investor observes. Assets under management by the investment office of the CPP total about CAD189m.

La banque centrale indonésienne (BI) a relevé de 50 points de base ses principaux taux directeurs jeudi pour tenter de défendre la roupie, l’une des monnaies les plus touchées ces derniers mois par le désengagement massif des capitaux étrangers des marchés émergents. Le taux de référence atteint ainsi 7% et le taux de rémunération des dépôts bancaires au jour le jour (FASBI) 5,25%.

Thierry Brevet, directeur du fonds de dotation du Louvre à la rédaction de www.institinvest.com : Nous disposons d’un volant de liquidités de l’ordre de 15 % du portefeuille, en attente d’investissement. Même si le monétaire ne rapporte rien, il reste pour nous une alternative valable à un investissement obligataire qui peut enregistrer une perte en capital significative (pour mémoire, le fonds de dotation du Louvre ne peut pas comptabiliser ses obligations au prix de revient amorti à l’instar de ce que font les assureurs ou les mutuelles). Nous souhaitons continuer notre montée en charge sur les actions. Les produits de crédit à taux variable sont une piste de diversification potentielle, mais la réglementation actuelle nous limite dans nos possibilités d’investissement. Une autre possibilité que nous étudions serait de mettre en place des mandats obligataires dits « absolute return » comportant une très grande latitude de gestion. Mais certains de ces fonds ont enregistré des performances décevantes malgré leur profil diversifié et leur pilotage souple de la duration. A titre de curiosité, si l’on compare la structure du portefeuille du fonds de dotation à celle des grandes fondations américaines, on constate la différence suivante. Le fonds de dotation n’est investi ni en « hedge funds », ni en « private equity », alors que le poids de ces deux classes d’actifs est respectivement de 23 % et de 7 % pour les « endowments funds » américains, qui, en contrepartie, sont nettement moins exposés aux obligations. Les fondations américaines retirent pas mal d’avantages de leurs placements alternatifs en termes de rendement ajusté du risque. Nous n’envisageons pas d’investir dans des « hedge funds » pour un certain nombre de raisons. En revanche, nous pourrions nous poser la question d’investir en « private equity », une catégorie de placements en adéquation avec la philosophie d’investisseur à long terme du fonds de dotation.

Le gouvernement italien est parvenu à un accord sur la réforme de la très impopulaire taxe d’habitation, l’IMU. Celle-ci sera abrogée à compter du début 2014, a déclaré le président du Conseil, Enrico Letta, et remplacée par un prélèvement appelé «taxe de service». Les deux acomptes de l’IMU dus en septembre et décembre 2013 seront supprimés.

Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière a placé 3 milliards d’euros d’obligations arrivant à maturité en 2034. Le spread ressort à mid-swap plus 37 points de base, ce qui donne pour les investisseurs un rendement de 3,04%. Barclays, Deutsche Bank et RBS ont piloté l’opération. Le FESF n’a réalisé que deux émissions impliquant une maturité égale ou supérieure à 20 ans depuis janvier 2011.

Six autorités de régulation américaines ont proposé hier une nouvelle version des règles de rétention du risque applicables aux titrisations. Elles proposent des assouplissements par rapport au projet présenté en 2011. Une consultation est ouverte jusqu’en octobre.

Le gouvernement égyptien a adopté un programme d’investissements de 22,3 milliards de livres égyptiennes (2,4 milliards d’euros) sur les 10 prochains mois. Le vice-Premier ministre, Ziad Bahaa el Dine, a indiqué que ce plan serait présenté aux pays du Golfe, en particulier aux Emirats arabes unis qui ont déjà accepté de financer des projets de santé et d’infrastructures agricoles dans le pays.

Contrairement à ce que nous indiquions hier, les placements privés dits US PP ne sont pas concernés par la réforme de la SEC. Celle-ci concerne deux types de placements privés de dette ou d’actions (Reg D et 144A). Par ailleurs, la levée de l’interdiction sur la sollicitation des investisseurs est déjà appliquée depuis le mois de juillet. Les autres mesures sont encore en consultation.

La Chine prévoit de taxer davantage de produits de luxe et pourrait étendre une taxe sur l’immobilier actuellement expérimentée à Shanghai et Chongqing, a déclaré mercredi le ministre des Finances, Lou Jiwei, cité par l’agence Chine nouvelle. Il a ajouté que Pékin taxerait aussi les biens à l’origine de pollutions environnementales ou de surexploitation de ressources.

Les promesses de vente immobilière ont diminué de 1,3% en juillet, leur deuxième baisse consécutive, la remontée des taux des crédits immobiliers pesant sur la reprise du marché, selon les chiffres de l’Association nationale des agents immobiliers (NAR). L’indice des promesses de vente calculé par la NAR s’est établi à 109,5 en juillet, contre 110,9 pour le mois de mai.

Le moral du consommateur allemand est légèrement retombé après avoir atteint un pic de près de six ans, selon l’enquête mensuelle de l’institut d'études GfK. Son indice de confiance censé mesurer les perspectives de la consommation en septembre recule à 6,9 contre 7,0 (confirmé) en août, alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters prévoyaient en moyenne une légère progression à 7,1.

Le pays, qui connaît sa deuxième récession en 4 ans, a levé hier 4 milliards d’euros à travers une émission obligataire à 5 ans assortie d’un coupon de 1,125% et d’un rendement de 1,18%. Le carnet d’ordres émanant de 101 investisseurs, principalement des fonds de pensions, a atteint 6,9 milliards d’euros. Environ 20% des titres ont été achetés par des investisseurs domestiques.

L’Etat nigérian a choisi hier Goldman Sachs, UBS et Credit Suisse pour gérer environ 20% de son fonds souverain qui totalise un milliard de dollars. L’objectif de ce fonds de stabilisation est de protéger le pays des aléas des cours du pétrole.

La croissance de la masse monétaire dans la région a été de 2,2% et les prêts au secteur privé se sont contractés à un rythme plus rapide qu’en juin, selon des chiffres publiés mercredi par la BCE. En moyenne mobile, sa croissance ressort à 2,5% sur la période de mai à juillet contre 2,8% entre avril et juin. Les crédits au secteur privé ont baissé de 1,9% annuellement en juillet, contre une diminution moyenne de 1,6% prévue par les économistes.

La hausse des prix du pétrole menace d'aggraver leurs déficits courants et emporte leurs monnaies

Malgré la baisse annoncée des rachats de la Réserve fédérale, la liquidité mondiale continuera à affluer sur les marchés