Assets under management and administration at the Banque cantonale de Genève (BCGE) increased in first half by CHF0.4bn, to a total of CHF18.5bn, according to a statement released on 14 August. The BCGE says in a statement that its “commercial and financial solidity” allowed it to earn gross profits of CHF70.2m, up 26.3% compared with first half 2011, and a net profit, after a write-down of provisions for general banking risks, of CHF36.5m (+31.56%).

Since the dismissal of Franz Waas on 2 April, Oliver Behrens has been serving as interim chairman of the managing board at DekaBank. He now becomes vice-chairman of the board (a newly-created position), and will report to Michael Rüdiger, who has been appointed by the board of directors as chairman of the managing board.Rüdiger, who will be joining the firm “as soon as possible,” had previously been CEO for Central Europe at Credit Suisse, in charge of private banking, asset management and investment banking.The board at the central asset management firm for the German savings banks, which is now complete, includes, in addition to the chairman and vice-chairman, Friedrich Oelrich, Matthias Danne and Georg Stocker (who began in the position on 1 August). As of the end of June, Deka had EUR88.4bn in assets in open-ended securities funds, EUR21bn in open-ended real estate funds, EUR50bn in institutional securities funds, EUR1.73bn in institutional real estate funds, and EUR10.74bn in securities mandates.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 14 August announced that it is updating its criteria for ratings of bond funds. The analysis framework remains unchanged, and Fitch estimates that the process of updating the previous table, released on 16 August 2011, will not result in modifications to the ratings of the various types of bond funds concerned.

The board of trustees at the California pension fund CalPERS on 15 August approved its new five-year strategic plan, CalPERS has announced in a statement. The new plan aims for more balance between risks assumed and returns achieved, and for increased attention to all governance issues.

Disclosures to the SEC for second quarter reveal that several eminent hedge fund managers have reduced their exposure to the financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. Soros has liquidated his positions on JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, whlie Paulson no longer has holdings in Metlife or Sun Trust.Berkshire Hathaway has considerably reduced its exposure to Kraft and Procter & Gamble (P&G), while Pershing Square Capital Management is reportedly liquidating its position on Kraft but increasing its position on P&G. Trian Fund Management has also reduced its investments in Kraft and Domino’s Pizza.

Francisco Gómez-Trenor y García del Moral has joined Mirabaud Finanzas as CEO of wealth and asset management for Spain, Funds People reports. He had previously been director of Bankia Banca Privada.

The Spanish BBVA group has recently announced the creation of a new division, Banca Retail, which includes retail banking activities worldwide and South American affiliates. The new structure will be led by Ignacio Deschamps, who had previously been CEO of the Mexican affiliate BBVA Bancomer. Deschamps will be replaed in this position by Vincente Rodero, who had previously been director of the South American operations of the BBVA group.Banca Retail will include the areas of insurance, means of payment, private banking, consumer credit and asset management.

In first half, Santander Asset Management has generated a net profit of approximately EUR32m, or 28.6% less than in the corresponding period of 2011, and assets fell 1% compared with the end of December, to EUR137.5bn, of which EUR107bn were for investment and pension funds, EUR7bn for dedicated portfolios and institutional mandates, and EUR23bn in management mandates for other entities of the Santander group.The quarterly report states that traditional management as of the end of June represented about EUR134bn, 85% of it in four countries (Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain and Mexico), while in “non-traditional” management (real estate funds, hedge funds and private equity), the volume remained stable at EUR3.5bn.Funds People, for its part, on 8 August announced that Santander am is planning to create a branch office in Frankfurt to manage portfolios and provide investment advising.

Robeco, the asset management unit of Rabobank, recorded net cash inflows of EUR17bn in the first half year, against EUR7.6bn for the entire year 2011.“Net cash inflow from institutional clients was strong, deriving particularly from the Netherlands and increasing the proportion of institutional assets to Robeco’s total assets under management to 51% from 46% in the first half of 2011,” according to a press release.Assets under management increased to EUR 179bn at 30 June 2012, vs EUR 150bn at the end of 2011.But net profit decreased to EUR 97m, against EUR 105m one year earlier.Commenting on the half year results, Roderick Munsters, CEO of Robeco Group said: “The 19% growth in assets under management in the first half of 2012 is supported by a combination of significant net cash inflows and strong investment performance, giving us confidence in this period in which Robeco is working closely with Rabobank on the strategic review of the business”.

Investor sentiment has risen sharply from the lows of July and fund managers have increased allocations to equities, real estate and commodities, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for August (an overall total of 232 panelists with USD640 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 3 August to 9 August). A net 15 percent of the 173 panelists participating in the global survey believe that world economy will get stronger in the coming 12 months. This represents a monthly swing of 28 percentage points, the largest leap in confidence since April to May 2009. In July, a net 13 percent said the economy would weaken. A corrolary of this development is that fears about the outlook for corporate profits have reduced since July. A net 21 percent of the panel expects profits to deteriorate in the coming year, down from a net 38 percent a month ago. The fresh optimism comes amid growing expectations of intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB). The proportion of the panel ruling out more quantitative easing by the ECB has halved to 9 percent, while 38 percent expect the ECB to act during the third quarter (up from 29 percent in July). BofA Merrill Lynch reports that this surge in confidence seems to be more a triumph of policy projection and potential than positive economic data. In other words, the risk is now that inaction by policy makers would lead to a negative reaction in global markets. Investors’ positions remain highly prudent: bond allocations remain high and investors are shunning the most cyclical equity sectorsHaving turned their backs on Europe, especially the eurozone, for much of 2012 investors are becoming far less bearish on the region. A net 5 percent of investors want to underweight eurozone equities – down from a net 18 percent in July. A net 9 percent wants to underweight the U.S., compared with a net 6 percent looking to overweight U.S. equities in July.

According to Inverco statistics as of the end of June, Spanish funds had average assets of EUR50.2m, compared with EUR82m as of the end of 2007, and EUR76m in 2000. The largest average volumes were for Bestinver (EUR3.1bn in nine funds), with EUR344m per fund, followed by Cartesio (EUR134m), Funds People reports.As of the end of June, Inverco counted 2,447 investment funds, with a total of EUR122.84bn. Only eight of these products have assets under management of over EUR1bn; the top two are FonCaixa Estabilidad (EUR2.35bn) and Santander Banif Inmobiliario (EUR2.33bn). However, 435 funds have less than EUR5m in assets, and 211 of them have assets of under EUR3m, the minimal level required by the CNMV to be recognised as a collective investment vehicle.

After joining Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) in April 2011 from BlackRock, William Low has been director of the global equities team at the Scottish asset management firm. He has now been promoted to director of equities, replacing Andrew November, who has held the position since August 2010, Fudweb reports. November has been appointed to the newly-created position of investment propositions director, and will be in charge of developing SWIP’s product range aimed at clients of the Lloyds Banking group.

Despite an increase of GBP600m in second quarter (the third quarter of its fiscal year, ending on 30 September 2012) in its assets in equities, to GBP93.5bn, Aberdeen Asset Management has seen a decline in its assets in the period under review of GBP2bn in its total assets under management, to GBP182.7bn.However, the Scottish asset management firm took in a gross GBP8.79bn, and a net GBP305m, with net inflows to high-margin products, which offset net redemptions from less lucrative products. Overall, net subscriptions in April-June are expected to generate an additional GBP15m in annual commission revenues. However, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Aberdeen has seen net redemptions of GBP74m, compared with GBP379m for the half ending on 31 March.

The asset management firm M&G has beat out its competition in retail sales in second quarter, according to a report by Pridham published by Fundscape, Fund Web reports. Activities at M&G, and several other actors including Invesco Perpetual, Fidelity and Kames, were driven by sales of bond products. Net inflows for the quarter at M&G totalled GBP1.3bn, while gross inflows totalled GBP2.9bn. They are followed by BlackRock, with total net retail sales of GBP566.8m, Standard Life Invesments with a total of GBP478m, BNY Mellon (GBP420m), and Kames (GBP258m).

Standard Life Investments has reported net inflows of GBP0.6bn in first half for its activities dedicated to clients external to the group, according to a statement released on 14 August. Assets under management in this activity now total GBP74.3bn, compared with GBP71.8bn as of the end of December 2011. The lead product line from Standard Life, GARS (Global Absolute Return Strategies), has continued to grow in first half, and now totals over GBP17bn. Pre-tax operating profits totalled GBP68m in first half, compared with GBP67m one year previously.

Assets under management at Henderson Global Investors as of 30 June 2012 totalled GBP63.6bn, compared with GBP64.3bn at the beginning of 2012, according to an interim report published by the asset management firm. The half finished with net outflows of GBP2.1bn, which completely offset positive market and currency effects totalling GBP1.4bn. In first half, institutional redemptions totalled nearly GBP1.2bn, while at the same time, outflows from the retail unit of only GBP110m in first quarter accelerated yo GBP792m in second quarter. Operational margin increased, however, to 36.8%, compared with 36.1% in first half 2011, and 36.3% in 2011 overall.

Ghadir Abu Leil-Cooper, head of the EMEA Equity Team at Baring Asset Management, is receiving reinforcement: the British asset management firm on 16 July recruited Mike Levy as senior investment manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) equities. Levy had previously been manager of an international and emerging markets equity fund, including the EMEA region, at AllianceBernstein. He also managed frontier markets equity portfolios focused on Africa. He had previously been an analyst at Alliance Capital Management.

Pimco has appointed Phil Michels of Schroders as account manager for the Benelux region, Investment Europe reports. He will be based in Schiphol. The recruitment aims to extend growth at Pimco in wealth management into the Benelux countries, as well as distribution networks for the retail market.

Selon le Premier ministre Wen Jiabao, cité par des médias officiels, l'économie chinoise est confrontée à des vents contraires violents même si le ralentissement de l’inflation donne une plus grande marge de manœuvre en matière de politique monétaire. Ces déclarations font suite à la publication de statistiques montrant que la deuxième économie mondiale n’a pas retrouvé son rythme de croisière. «La pression pesant sur notre économie est toujours forte et les difficultés pourraient persister un certain temps», a déclaré Wen Jiabao.

L’inflation britannique a augmenté de manière inattendue à 2,6% en juillet après 2,4% en juin, en raison notamment d’un renchérissement des prix des billets d’avion de 21,7% sur le mois, selon les chiffres publiés par l’Office national de la statistique mardi. Les promotions sur l’habillement ont en outre été moindres car elles avaient été faites essentiellement en juin pour cause de climat anormalement pluvieux pour la saison.

L’indice RICS du marché immobilier britannique est ressorti à -24 au mois de juillet, après -22 le mois précédent, ce qui indique une accélération de la baisse des prix. «Un nombre élevé de vendeurs mettent leur bien sur le marché et les problèmes actuels d’accès à un financement abordable n’aident pas. Si les vendeurs souhaitent céder leur bien rapidement, ils doivent se montrer réalistes quant à leur attentes en matière de prix», indique Peter Bolton King, directeur chez RICS.

Bratislava a revu à la hausse son estimation des économies et recettes fiscales supplémentaires qu’elle devra dégager pour atteindre l’an prochain son objectif d’un déficit public ramené à moins de 3% du PIB. Ces économies représentent 0,8% du PIB slovaque, a estimé mercredi le vice-ministre des Finances, Peter Pellegrini, qui s’est engagé à minimiser leur impact sur les couches les plus modestes de la population. Le gouvernement espère afficher cette année un déficit de 4,6% du PIB.

Le gouvernement brésilien a présenté mercredi un plan d’investissements d’un montant de 66 milliards de dollars pour la modernisation ou la construction de routes et de voies ferrées sur les 25 prochaines années.

Contre toute attente, l’activité manufacturière dans l’Etat de New York s’est contractée en août, pour la première fois depuis octobre 2011, affectée par une nouvelle chute des commandes. L’indice dit «Empire State» est tombé à -5,85 contre 7,39 en juillet. La composante des commandes nouvelles s’est de nouveau repliée, pour toucher un plus bas depuis septembre 2011 à -5,50 contre -2,69 le mois dernier, augurant d’une nouvelle baisse de l’activité le mois prochain.

Le Caire va demander au Fonds monétaire international (FMI) une aide supérieure de 50% à celle initialement réclamée, alors que le pays s’attend à manquer son objectif de déficit budgétaire cette année. Le ministre des Finances, Momtaz El-Saieed, a ainsi indiqué qu’il solliciterait un prêt de 4,8 milliards de dollars, au lieu des 3,2 milliards de dollars évoqués. Le déficit budgétaire pourrait dépasser de 135 milliards de livres égyptiennes (22 milliards de dollars) selon les prévisions gouvernementales.

Le nombre de Britanniques sans emploi est tombé à son niveau le plus bas depuis près d’un an sur les trois mois à fin juin, selon des données officielles publiées mercredi. En suivant les normes du Bureau international du travail (BIT), il a baissé de 46.000 sur les trois mois à fin juin, pour revenir à 2,564 millions. Le taux de chômage s’est établi à 8,0%, une amélioration vraisemblablement redevable en grande partie aux Jeux olympiques.

La confiance des promoteurs immobiliers aux Etats-Unis a progressé de manière inattendue en août, montre l’enquête mensuelle de la National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). L’indice NAHB-Wells Fargo du sentiment des promoteurs est monté à 37 contre 35 en juillet, à son plus haut niveau depuis février 2007. Il avait déjà enregistré en juillet sa plus forte hausse sur un mois depuis dix ans, passant de 29 à 35, et les économistes s’attendaient à ce qu’il reste stable en août. Cet indicateur a plus que doublé en un an. Mais il reste loin du seuil de 50, qui correspond à l'équilibre entre optimisme et pessimisme sur l'évolution du marché et qu’il n’a pas dépassé depuis avril 2006. Quant aux dépenses de construction, elles ont augmenté de 0,4% en juin, à 842 milliards de dollars en rythme annualisé. Les dépenses de construction résidentielle ont bondi de 1,3% en juin, illustrant le redressement du marché.

Si la hausse des prix de gros a ralenti à 6,87% en juillet, l'inflation sous-jacente a enregistré un rebond annuel à 5,44% après 4,9% en juin

Les banques espagnoles ont emprunté un montant record de 402 milliards d’euros auprès de la BCE au mois de juillet, soit 10% de plus qu’en juin

La collecte a été soutenue par les investisseurs institutionnels néerlandais. La couverture sur les changes pèse sur le résultat