Et de 51 ! Avec l’arrivée du groupe Pasteur Mutualité au sein du Club des investisseurs, la société amLeague compte désormais 51 membres - hors les cinquante caisses de pension fédérées par le GIP, un groupement de fonds de pension suisses. Les membres du Club investisseurs d’amLeague ont notamment la possibilité de suivre et de juger la qualité de la gestion active de 22 sociétés de gestion participant aux championnats organisés sur les marchés européens et de la zone euro, avec un mandat «full invested» et/ou «flexible» et/ou un mandat de type «asset allocation long only».

L’Association européenne de la gestion financière (Efama), en coopération avec Swift, a publié le 5 décembre son dernier rapport sur l'évaluation de l’automatisation et de la standardisation des ordres reçus par les agents de transfert au Luxembourg et en Irlande au premier semestre 2011.Le standard de messagerie ISO continue de gagner du terrain avec un taux d’utilisation de 37,3% au deuxième trimestre contre 35,4% l’année précédente, au détriment du transfert de dossiers par des systèmes propriétaires. Le Luxembourg affiche un taux de plus de 50%.Le taux d’automatisation des deux grands centres de traitement des ordres atteint désormais 75,1% contre 74,8% un an plus tôt.Le nombre total d’ordres traités par les agents de transfert au premier semestre s’est élevé à 13,2 millions. Ce chiffre représente un volume mensuel de 2,2 millions, en progression de 16% par rapport au premier semestre 2010.

La société de gestion Muzinich & Co envisage de lancer un fonds long/short au mois de février 2012, rapporte Citywire.Le Hedge Yield fund, domicilié en Irlande, sera géré par Clinton Comeaux et Jason Horowitz.

SIX Swiss Exchange a annoncé le 5 décembre l’intégration d’un nouvel émetteur dans le segment ETF, Ossiam. Cette filiale de Natixis Global Asset Management met en cotation sur la Bourse suisse cinq Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), précise SIX dans un communiqué. Ces ETF sont basés sur des indices européens et américains. Désormais, le segment ETF comprend 753 ETF.

John Paulson a encore perdu de l’argent en novembre, rapporte le Financial Times. Advantage Plus, son fonds phare, a cédé 3,6 % sur le mois et abandonne 46 % depuis le début de l’année, selon les investisseurs. Son fonds Advantage, qui suit la même stratégie, mais sans levier, a perdu environ un tiers de sa valeur cette année.

Graham Tuckwell, fondateur, actionnaire majoritaire et président d’ETF Securities, met en vent sa société pour un montant d’environ 1 milliard de livres, rapporte Investment Week, faisant écho à des informations du Financial Times.Le fondateur de la société a confié un mandat de vente à Goldman Sachs. Des sociétés de gestion et des groupes de capital investissement seraient sur la liste des acheteurs potentiels. Les propositions d’acquisition devraient être transmises avant Noël. Début décembre, les actifs sous gestion d’ETF Securities s'élevaient à 28,2 milliards de dollars, dont 17,7 milliards de dollars, soit 63% du total des encours, investis dans des métaux précieux physiques.

L’ex-responsable mondiale de la recherche sur les ETF chez BlackRock, Deborah Fuhr, n’a finalement pas rejoint Bank of America Merrill Lynch à Londres en qualité de responsable de la stratégie Global Delta One, comme annoncé précédemment (NewsManagers du 12 août 2011).Selon l’agence Reuters, Deborah Fuhr n’a jamais démarré ses activités au sein du groupe américain et n’a pas non plus donné d’explications sur les raisons de sa décision. Selon des sources proches, des divergences de vues entre Deborah Fuhr et BofA Merrill Lynch sur le périmètre de son activité seraient à l’origine de son désistement. Depuis quelques semaines, elle se présente en public comme experte indépendante sur les ETF. Deborah Fuhr n’a pas encore décidé quelle orientation elle allait donner à sa carrière et a précisé à Reuters qu’elle prenait le temps de la réflexion avant d’opter pour un nouvel engagement.

According to the independent consultant Z-Ben, based in Shanghai, the collective management market in China accounts for CNY2.1trn (EUR245bn), and may more than triple to CNY6.9trn by 2016, Agefi reports. 26 foreign actors are now present in the country via joint ventures, up to a legal limit of 49%. The interest of actors is not letting up, the newspaper reports, as evidenced by the record 200 funds launched in 7 operating licenses issued this year, bringing the total number of managers to 69.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 5 December issued a warning to investors inclined to agree to trade with firms which offer investment services on the currency markets, but who are not licensed to undertake these operations.The warning is related to an increase in some European countries in the number of trades on currency markets made by firms or platforms, ESMA says in a statement, which also lays out for retail investors the major risks related to currency trading.

As part of measures by the new Italian government, a new stamp duty on securities will be introduced, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. It will apply to all financial instruments, including funds (except pension funds). The duty will be proportional to the value of financial instruments. The proposed legislation, which is being debated by Parliament, proposes a rate of 0.1% per year in 2012 and 0.15% from 2013.

Agefi reports that the court-appointed trustee for the M-Invest fund, a “feeder fund” for the fraud orchestrated by Bernard Madoff, are seeking USD900m from the auditing firm Ernst & Young, which it accuses of negligence in audits undertaken between 2003 and 2007. The M-Invest fund was created by Union Bancaire Privée, the newspaper notes.

In two years, guaranteed funds in Spain have taken on more than EUR10bn, and have doubled their market share to 26.6% from 13.4%, Expansión reports. They have dethroned short-duration bond funds as the largest category of funds by asset volume, with EUR34.4bn in assets under management.This total may increase further, as some products are generating returns of over 4% per year due to the debt crisis. But that is a double-edged sword, since these funds hold EUR25bn in Greek, Spanish and Italian public debt.The strongest inflows for guaranteed products have been for InverCaixa, with net subscriptions of EUR3.5bn since the beginning of this year, following EUR2bn in 2010, while in second, third and fourth place are Santander (EUR1.15bn), Bankia (EUR750m) and Banca Civica (EUR400m).

On the Bank of America Merrill Lynch UCITS-compliant fund platform, German retail and institutional clients now have access to three long/short funds managed by Perella Weinberg Partners, TT Financials and Westchester, respectively, Das Investment reports. Minimal subscription is set at USD1,000.The funds are the Perella Weinberg Partners Sustainable Resources Long-Short Ucits Fund, managed by Rod Parsley and Douglas Millet, the TT Financials Long-Short Ucits Fund, managed by Mark Eady, and the Westchester Merger Arbitrage Ucits Fund, managed by Roy D. Behren and Michael T. Shannon.

The asset management firm Muzinich & Co is planning to launch a long/short fund in the month of February 2012, Citywire reports.The Hedge Yield fund, domiciled in Ireland, will be managed by Clinton Comeaux and Jason Horowitz.

On 18 December, Deka will launch the Deka-Deutschland Balance fund, which will invest in German government equities and governement bonds, with a weekly computer-assisted rebalancing that aims to optimise allocation to the two types of assets.The new product is a German-specialist version of the Deka-Euroland Balance fund, launched in July 2003, which as of the end of November 2011 had earned average annual returns of over 4%. For the Deutschland Balance fund, Deka is aiming for returns higher than those of the German bond market.According to the manager of the fund, Thorsten Rühl, German equities are currently attractively priced, and Federal bonds («bunds») are considered a refuge asset.The new fund is in a “conservative” positioning: in a “neutral” position, the portfolio would be composed of 15% equities and 85% bonds. Depending on the state of the markets, the equity allocation may vary from 0 to 30%, while the bond allocation will range form 50% to 100%. In extreme situations, the fund may invest up to 50% in time deposits.CharacteristicsName: Deka-Deutschland BalanceISIN codes:ClassicFonds (CF) version: DE000DK2CFB1TradingFonds (TF) version: DE000DK2CFC9Management commission: 0.85% (CF)1.20% (TF)Administrative commission: 0.16% (CF and TF)

From 1 January 2012, First State will limit access to seven of its emerging markets funds, which have posted significant inflows of subscriptions. This will be achieved through an across-the-board mandatory penalty of 4% on inflows coming either directly from investors, or indirectly, via platform.The measure will apply to the following sub-funds of the First State Investments ICVC range: First State Asia Pacific Sustainability, First State Indian Subcontinent, First State Global Emerging Markets Sustainability, First State Latin America and First State Greater China Growth.However, the fee will not apply to the First State Asia Pacific Leaders and First State Global Emerging Markets Leaders funds.First State is also temporarily suspending subscriptions to the First State Hong Kong Growth Fund and First State Indian Subcontinent Fund, sub-funds of First State Global Umbrella Fund PLC.

The European financial and asset management association (EFAMA), in cooperation with Swift, on 5 December released its most recent report on the evolution of automatisation and standardisation of orders received from transfer agents in Luxembourg and Ireland in first half 2011.The ISO message standard continues to gain ground with a penetration rate of 37.3% in second quarter, compared with 35.4% the previous year, to the detriment of transfers via proprietary systems. Luxembourg has a rate of over 50%.The automatisation ratio for the two major order processing centres now totals 75.1%, compared with 74.8% one year earlier.The total number of orders processed by transfer agents in first half totalled 13.2 million. This figure represents a monthly volume of 2.2 million, up 16% compared with first half 2010.

John Paulson lost more money in November, the Financial Times reports. Advantage Plus, th flagship fund from Paulson, is down 2.6% in the month, and has lost 46% since the beginning of the year, according to investors. The Advantage fund, which uses the same strategy, but without leverage, has lost about one third of its value this year.

On 5 December, Stoxx Ltd unveiled its new product, the STOXX Europe Maximum Dividend 40 Index. As its name indicates, the index includes 40 European shares, selected on the basis of their high dividend returns and their liquidity, with a weight limited to 10% for each position.In order to be included in the index, companies must belong to the Stoxx Europe 600 and pay dividends in the upcoming quarter, have a minimal market capitalisation of EUR1bn, and daily trading volume of at least EUR4bn in the three months preceding selection.With this new product, Stoxx is providing the markets with an underlying for new ETFs and other investable supports. The index will be calculated in short, net return and gross return versions. It will be available in euros and US dollars, with backtesting to 20 March 2000.

In November, average on-book trades for ETFs on the European markets of NYSE Euronext fell further to 10,965, from 11,250 in October, 13,070 in September and 14,658 in August. This remains higher than the 14.2% observed in November 2010.Averag daily trading volumes have fallen to EUR405.8m, compared with EUR433.6m the previous month. Volumes were EUR558m in September and EUR618.2m in August. Compared with November 2010, they are down 8.4%. In the first eleven months of the year, however, trading volumes have increased 24.7%.NYSE Euronext also reports that block trading totalled EUR975m in November, compared with EUR1.1bn in October 2011, and EUR352.7m in the corresponding month of last year.In November, the European markets of NYSE Euronext included 694 listings of 596 ETF products, up from 593 one month earlier.The average spread in November came to 40.2 basis points, compared with 36.3 in October, 38.83 in September, and 28.5 in August.

The SIX Swiss Exchange on 5 December announced that it has added a new issuer in the ETF segment: Ossiam. The affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management is listing five Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) on the Swiss stock exchange, SIX says in a statement. The ETFs are based on European and U.S. indices. The segment now includes 753 ETF funds.

Carlos Böhles has been recruited as head of institutional business for Germany and Austria at Schroders. Böhles will report to Achim Küssner, CEO of Schroder Investment Management GmbH, and will oversee a team of four people who will soon be strengthened with the addition of a senior sales officer.Before joining Schroders, Böhles spend seven years as director of European equity at Merrill Lynch International Bank Limited in Frankfurt.Böhles replaces Robert Schlichting, who was recruited in 2007, and who according to reports in the local press, appears to have been dismissed with effect from 31 December; he has already left the business.

On 1 November, Russell Investments opened a branch office in Frankfurt, on Bockenheimer Landstraße. The two people in the office, Sebastian Hofmann-Wether, director, and Philip Hofmann, have now moved into the Opernturm skyscraper and in early January will welcome a new sales representative. There are no plans for the new office to employ portfolio managers: it will be dedicated exclusively to distribution of all of the products of the Russell range (indices, funds, execution, consulting, etc).The new location is intended to bring Russell Investments closer to its German-speaking clients, particularly in Germany and Austria.

Graham Tuckwell, founder, largest shareholder and president of ETF Securities, has put his company up for sale for about EUR1bn, Investment Week reports, echoing reports in the Financial Times. The founder of the firm has retained Goldman Sachs to sell the firm. Asset management firms and capital management groups are reportedly on the list of potential buyers. Their bids are to be submitted before Christmas. In early December, assets under management at ETF Securities totalled USD28.2bn, of which USD17.7bn, or 63% of total assets, are invested in physical precious metals.

The flormer global head of ETF research at BlackRock, Deborah Fuhr, did not ultimately join Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London as head of Global Delta One strategy, as previously announced (Newsmanagers of 12 August 2011).According to the Reuters news agency, Fuhr never began work at the US group, and has not given any reasons for her decision. According to sources familiar with the matter, differences in point of view between Fuhr and BofA Merrill Lynch about the perimeter of its activities are said to be the cause of the disaffection. For several weeks, Fuhr has been presenting herself in public as an independent ETF expert.Fuhr has not yet decided what direction she will give to her career, and has told Reuters that she will be taking some time to think before accepting a new position.

Public awareness is there: actively-employed French citizens know that the reforms being passed do not resolve the problems in the long term. Though a slight majority consider the 2010 reforms necessary to preserve the French system of distribution of assets, two thirds feel that it is inadequate to preserve the system sustainably, according to the Deloitte study “The French and retirement,” undertaken by Harris Interactive. The survey was undertaken between 28 September 2011 and 11 October 2011, and covered a sample of 2,000 French respondents aged over 25, composed of 18% pensioners and 82% actively-employed persons. Actively-employed respondents have also taken on board the increase in the retirement age to 66, and are aware of the importance of preparing for their retirement (57%).Concerns about retirement are equally substantial. 55% of the actively employed say they are worried or very worried by the issue of retirement, with 72% very worried or worried about preparing for it. As to the retirement age, 81% say they are concerned, an opinion shared by all age groups.Although a lack of money is the major obstacle to putting aside savings for retirement, a high majority of actively-employed people are aware of the need to personally finance a future complementary source of income (83%). Actively-employed persons are preparing or planning to prepare for their retirement before the age of 50.The need for information remains, as two actively-employed respondents out of three consider the level of information insufficient, both about their future situation and about the means to prepare for it. More than 75% have no or little idea about the future level of income they will receive at retirement, and more than 50% of these have at least a vague idea, which overestimates that amount. Four actively-employed respondents out of ten have no confidence in any public or private institutional source. Obligatory retirement organisms are viewed as the most reliable source, but only for about one in three actively-employed respondents. In this situation, pension funds and the Internet are preferred sources of information for research, with the Internet the information channel used by more than four out of ten actively-employed respondents.58% of actively-employed respondents are setting aside savings when they can, and 25% are planning to do so. 42% of the youngest of them (25-34) are already preparing. More than half of assets are being directed primarily to traditional products (savings accounts and life insurance), which offer flexibility and security for their savings efforts and retirement. Existing dedicated retirement savings products are not preferred as they do not satisfy all the concerns of French clients, either for the long term (retirement) or the short term (helping loved ones, covering health-care costs). This situation is all the more regrettable as retirement is now the number one savings priority for the French.

TCW, a US asset management affiliate of Société Générale (which controls 80%, while Amundi owns 20%), may be sold by SocGen, Bloomberg reported last week. According to La Tribune, Morgan Stanley has received five or six offers for the asset management firm.According to reports in the newspaper, the head of TCW, Marc Stern, is seeking an alliance with a private equity fund for a management buy-out (MBO). The newspaper names JC Flowers & Co and KKR.

Skandia Investment Group’s (SIG) portfolio manager Lee Freeman-Shor is bringing back Wellington Management fund manager Dirk Enderlein into his Skandia European Best Ideas Fund (EBI) after a two year break.Dirk Enderlein left EBI following his move from RCM to Wellington some two years ago. Since then he’s been establishing in his activities with the US fund management giant.Now after two years, Dirk Enderlein has agreed to run a EUR34m mandate from Lee Freeman-Shor who regards Dirk Enderlein as Europe’s premier growth manager.Given that Lee Freeman-Shor currently has ten managers he has therefore decided to remove incumbent manager James Buckley.

Barclays Capital is planning to launch an onshore version of its Radar fund in February 2012, Investment Week reports. The absolute return fund replicates the investment strategy of the UCITS-compliant fund, domiciled in Ireland and launched in February 2009.The co-managers of the offshore portfolio, Jason Smith and Ian Mizrahi, will also manage the new fund, which will concentrate on indices of international equity markets, government bonds, commodities and currencies.

On Monday, the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced that it has fined HSBC a record GBP10.5m, The regulator claims that one of the bank’s affiliates, NHFA Limited, “inappropriately” sold complex securitisation products to 2,485 elderly and “vulnerable” clients between 2005 and 2010. These clients were investing largely to finance their health-care expenses. The FSA notes that in some cases, the life expectancy of these clients was less than five years, the recommended investment period for products of this type.In addition to the fine, HSBC must pay damages and interest totalling GBP29.4m, which NHFA will pay out to victims.