The Swiss firm Partners Group in first half had net subcsriptions of EUR2.1bn, compared with CHF3bn in the corresponding period of 2010. Assets as of the end of June totalled EUR22.8bn, compared with EUR21.4bn as of the end of December, and CHF26.5bn one year previously. Assets as of 30 June were divided between EUR16.1bn in shares that are not publicly traded, compared with EUR15.2bn six months earlier, EUR2.8bn in non-publicly traded real estate, compared with EUR2.5bn, EUR1.9bn compared with EUR2bn in non-publicly traded bonds, EUR1.2bn in non-publicly traded infrastructure, and EUR0.8bn, compared with EUR0.7bn, in companies of the group.

JPMorgan Chase on 15 July announced that it has sold its remaining 41% stake in the mutual fund management firm American Century Investments (USD112bn in assets as of the end of June) to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), for about USD848m in cash. Arithmetically, CIBC is thus paying the equivalent of 1.84% of assets for the corresponding stake that it acquires in the firm. The transaction will be completed in 60 to 90 days. The CIBC will have two representatives on the six-member board of American Century Investments. In addition to its economic participation of 41%, the Canadian group will also have 10.1% voting rights in American Century.

The board of directors at the asset management firm Eaton Vance Corp (USD200bn in assets) on 15 July decided to pay out a quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share. It has authorised the repurchase of up to 8 million shares without voting rights. Under an authorisation on 15 January 2010, Eaton Vance has already bought back 6.7 million shares.

Russell Investments on July 14th announced that the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) has selected the Russell Fundamental Developed Large Company Index for its new quasi-passive global mandate. APFC converted an existing market capitalization-weighted portfolio managed by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) to this new strategy. The initial mandate, which started July 1, is approximately USD640m.The new index suite, developed by Research Affiliates and Russell Investments, has been released approximately 5 months ago (see NewsManagers of February, 28th).

From 1 July, the Belgian management firm Petercam has modified the fee structures for institutional share classes in its Luxembourg Sicav Petercam L, in order to bring them into line with the situation that already obtains for institutional share classes of the Belgian Sicav Petercam (B). Petercam has also registered K and L shares in the Euroclear France, in order to more adequately meet the expectations of IFAs in terms of commission kickbacks. Management fees for A and B share classes (and consequently also K & L and E & F share classes) for some funds have been adjusted “in order to bring them more accurately into line with the market in strategies where Petercam’s added value is significant,” Ives Hup, sales director, tells Newsmanagers. “But, at any rate, that comes with a reduction of other fees inherent in the administration of the Sicav so that the total expense ratio (TER) for sub-funds will not be affected by the changes.” For funds on sale in France, Petercam has raised management fees for eight sub-funds of the Petercam (B) Sicav, while it has reduced them for one sub-fund, and they remain unchanged for four. For three sub-funds of the Petercam (L) sub-fund, fees have been raised, while they have been reduced for one sub-fund, and they remain unchanged for four.

Turgot Asset Management on Friday, 15 July announced that it has taken over management of Orelis Capital, a global equities fund which invests in large caps with the objective of outperforming a benchmark index composed 25% of the MSCI World index, 40% of the Eurostoxx 50 and 35% of the CAC40 index. According to a statement, the firm now has assets of EUR50m, and manages three other funds: Turgot Multicaps Europe, founded in January 2009, a “flexible” OPCVM fund which invests in equities of greater Europe; Turgot Asie Flexible, founded in September 2010, another “flexible” fund which invests in the entire Asia-Pacific region, and Turgot Multigest International, founded in February 2011, an international equities fund of funds which invests in 20 underlyings.

Hans Joachim Reinke, chairman of the board at Union Investment, has announced that the central management firm for the German co-operative banks posted net subscriptions in first half of EUR498m, and that assets have increased 5.7% to EUR177bn, “a relatively stable evolution,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. However, the tax optimisation fund Uni Opti 4 has seen outflows of EUR800m, and may yet see outflows of EUR1bn in second half. The open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global, meanwhile, whose redemptions were frozen following the Fukushima disaster, has been unable to value the Japanese assets in its portfolio. Union Investment has reopened the fund, but it has been obliged to support it with a repurchase of shares redeemed by subscribers with its own money.

On 8 July, Charles Schwab notified the SEC that Schwab ETFs has launched a new bond product, the Schwab US Aggregate Bond ETF, which charges fees of 0.10%. It is the 14th ETF from the promoter, which as of the end of June managed USD4.4bn in this segment.

Following the Credit Suisse 130/30 and the RAFI Long/Short, the US management firm ProShares (USD26bn) on 14 July announced that it is launching a third product in the Alpha ProShares range, the ProShares Hedge Replication ETF, with the acronym HDG on the NYSE Arca platform. The new product uses the hedge fund replication method adopted by Merrill Lynch, with the Merrill Lynch Factor Model – Exchange Series (MLFM-ES) as its benchmark index. The total expense ratio for the fund is 0.95%.

According to Mutual Fund Wire, Precidian Investments (formerly known as Next Investments) has launched what it says is the first ETF listed in the United States to replicate the Japanese Nikkei 225 index. The Maxis Nikkei 225 Index Fund charges a TER of 0.50%. The fund is sub-advised by Northern Trust. Precidian has received exclusive rights to use the Nikkei 225 index in the United States from Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management.

The Austrian-registered fund ESPA Stock BRICK from ERSTE Sparinvest (EUR116.42m in assets as of the end of June) on 14 July changed its name to ESPA Stock BRIC. The strategy of the fund remains unchanged, but the management firm, Erste Sparinvest (Erste Bank, Austrian savings banks) now considers South Korea (represented by the K in the acronym) to be a developed country, although MSCI Barra has not yet approved the move, due to the fact that the Korean won lacks adequate liquidity. Management commissions are 1.80%, while front-end fees are 4% for the four share classes in euros, and 5% for share classes in Hungarian forint and Czech crowns.

After a decline of 2.3 points to 86.9% in May, the coverage rate for pension funds at US businesses in June rose back to an average of 88.5%, according to statistics from BNY Mellon Asset Management, which suggest that the adjusted increase was 0.8 points last month. The average liabilities of funds fell 2.1% due to the fact that the discount rage rose to 5.53% from 5.34%. At the same time, assets fell 1.1% with the fall of US and international share prices.

As of 30 June, assets managed by Austrian funds totalled EUR142.4bn, according to the VÖIG association for the sector. That figure remains above the EUR141.5bn recorded twelve months previously, but assets have fallen from their levels at the end of May (EUR144.1bn) and at the end of December 2010 (EUR145bn).

On 20 June, the Luxembourg-based firm Hauck & Aufhäuser Investment Gesellschaft SA (H&A) launched two new sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav Structured Solutions, which have received sales licenses for Germany. The funds of funds may rely on physical replication as well as synthetic replication. The Structured Solutions Rare Earth / Strategic Metals Index Strategie Fonds (B and C share classes) will reproduce the Market Vectors Rare Earth / Strategic Metals (EUR) index, while the Structured Solutions UCITS HFS Investable Index Strategy Fund will reproduce the UCITS HFS Investable Performance-Index. Characteristics Name: Structured Solutions Rare Earth / Strategic Metals Index Strategie FondsISIN codes: B shares: LU0575319081C shares: LU0575320337 Front-end fee (B shares): 3% Management commission (B shares): 0.8% Depository banking commission (Hauck & Aufhäuser Banquiers Luxembourg S.A.), B shares: 0.1% Advising commission (Baader Bank AG): 0.1% Name: Structured Solutions UCITS HFS Investable Index Strategy FundISIN code: LU0575317382 Front-end fee: 3% Management commission: 0.8% Depository banking commission (Hauck & Aufhäuser Banquiers Luxembourg S.A.): 0.1% Advising commission (Structured Solutions AG): 0.1%

From 13 July to 7 October 2011, the Swiss bank Banque Sarasin and the German firm Catella Real Estate KAG are opening subscriptions to the Sarasin Sustainable Properties – European Cities, an institutional real estate fund which according to its makers will be the first in Germany to invest solely in sustainable properties located in growing European cities, initially in Germany, France and Scandinavia. The objective for the German-registered product is to generate annual performance of 5-5.5% per year, from investments primarily in commercial and office properties, with residential properties limited to 25% of the portfolio. The promoters are aiming for assets of EUR500m. IT is the first cooperation between a Swiss bank and a German management firm to create a German-registered fund. Minimal subscription is set at EUR0.5m, and front-end fees are 2.5%.

According to the most recent statistics from Morningstar, long-term funds (excluding money markets) in June saw net redemptions of USD4.5bn, after net inflows of USD22.6bn in May. In other words, these funds have seen their first net outflows since October 2010. In the first six months of the year, long-term funds attracted USD134.33bn, while money market funds saw net outflows of USD113.44bn. Aversion to risk led investors to withdraw about USD18bn from US equities funds in June, which represents the largest outflow from this asset class since the peak of the credit crisis in October 2008. Subscribers have also lost their appetite for credit risk, as they withdrew a net USD6.3bn from high yield funds. However, ETFs attracted USD9.8bn in June, following net outflows of USD3.1bn in May. For first half as a whole, ETFs have seen inflows of USD57.3bn. US equities ETFs in first half saw net subscriptions of USD23.6bn, while taxable bonds took on USD15.1bn, international equities funds took in USD11.4bn, and ETFs specialised in alternative assets attracted USD10.4bn. Only commodities ETFs saw net outflows, totalling USD3.91bn in first half, of which USD892m were in June.

According to statistics from Inverco, the Spanish association of management firms, assets in 1,277 individual retirement plans (pension funds) as of the end of June totalled EUR51.53bn, in 8.4 million accounts. Year on year, due to equities products (+13.09%) and products invested primarily in equities (+7.47%), average performance came out to 2.53%. Over 15 years, the rate stands at 2.93% annually, and over 20 years, 4.61% per year. The consultant Mercer finds, for its part, that over first half as a whole, the average performance of Spanish pension funds totalled 1%, largely due to gains of 1.6% for bond products, and 0.5% for equities funds in euros, which more than offset losses of 2.6% from non-euro equities funds.

According to the finance newspaper Finansavisen, relayed by Handelsblatt, the Government Pension Fund-Global, the Norwegian sovereign fund (formerly known as the Oil Fund, NOK3trn in assets) last year invested NOK84nb (EUR10.8bn) in Italian and Spanish government bonds, and then invested a further NOK2.9bn in first quarter 2011. According to calculations by the newspaper, the fund has already lost NOK3.3bn on these investments so far.

Véronique Leroux, directeur général adjoint administratif et financier revient sur les principaux chantiers actuels de PRO BTP dans un article paru dans Option Finance: D’abord, nous sommes en train de réfléchir à la mise en place d’une politique globale ISR pour l’ensemble des activités du groupe. PRO BTP, en tant qu’entreprise socialement responsable, se doit de réfléchir à l’ensemble des chantiers qu’elle pourrait mener dans ce domaine. Notre filiale PRO BTP Finance développe déjà sa propre recherche ISR et a lancé plusieurs fonds en la matière dont un fonds crédit corporate ISR en 2010. D’autre part, nous réfléchissons actuellement aux possibilités d’investissements dans des supports qui pourraient éventuellement permettre de financer le développement du secteur du BTP: investissements dans les collectivités locales, dans les fonds infrastructures, etc. Ce type d’investissements correspond à notre problématique d’engagements à très long terme et dans le même temps, permet le développement du secteur du BTP. Pour rappel, PRO BTP cumule 12.5 milliards d’euros d’actifs au 31 décembre 2010 sur l’ensemble de ses institutions, dont 84% proviennent de ses activités d’assurance de personnes et le solde correspondant à la gestion d’une partie des réserves de l’AGIRC ARRCO. La gestion financière est principalement réalisée au sein du groupe(86% des encours), la quasi totalité de ces encours étant confiée à PRO BTP Finance. Nous déléguons à d’autres sociétés de gestion autour de 430 millions d’euros sur deux types de stratégies. La première concerne le private equity (où nous sélectionnons des fonds de fonds) et l’immobilier papier pour un montant total de 130 millions investis. La deuxième concerne la gestion des provisions techniques de BTP Prévoyance (investies en actions et obligattions) sur laquelle nous avons mis en place trois mandats extérieurs pour étalonner notre gestion financière. Ces mandats, de 100 millions d’euros chacun, ont été mis en place en 2005 et renouvelés en 2009. L’allocation d’actifs est très hétérogène en fonction des portefeuilles de chaque institution. Mais en moyenne, nous possédons actuellement 27.3% d’obligations d’Etat, 32% d’obligations privées, 21.4% d’actions et convertibles, 8% de trésorerie, 5.7% d’immobilier pierre et papier et 5.2% de prêts au logement.

Samir Radouan, qui avait été nommé peu avant la chute d’Hosni Moubarak, a démissionné hier et va être remplacé par Hazem el Beblaoui, ancien conseiller économique du gouvernement. Le ministre de l’Industrie Samir el Sayyad quitte également le gouvernement.

Les projets du gouvernement japonais de reconstruction du pays prévoient un coût allant jusqu'à 107 milliards d’euros lors de ces cinq prochaines années, indique le journal Asahi dans son édition de samedi. Le gouvernement prévoit de présenter le projet de reconstruction avant la fin du mois de juillet.

Le groupe Dow Jones, appartenant à News Corp, a annoncé vendredi la démission de son directeur général, mêlé au scandale d'écoutes téléphoniques qui frappe l’empire médiatique de Rupert Murdoch. Les Hinton était chargé de superviser les journaux britanniques détenus par News Corp au moment des faits incriminés.

Niamey souhaite obtenir un meilleur prix sur ses exportations d’uranium, dont il est un important fournisseur du secteur nucléaire français, a déclaré samedi le président Mahamadou Issoufou à la télévision publique du pays. Le tiers des revenus à l’exportation du Niger provient de l’uranium.

La production manufacturière dans la région de New York s’est à nouveau contractée en juillet tout en montrant une légère amélioration par rapport au mois dernier. L’indice de la Réserve fédérale de New York est ressorti à -3,76, après -7,79 en juin et 4,50 attendu par les analystes.

La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a affirmé hier qu’elle n’envisageait pas de programme de restructuration de la dette grecque. «Ce que nous souhaitons, c’est prendre le moins de mesures possible. Une restructuration, comme on l'évoque constamment en ce moment, aurait l’effet négatif de pousser les pays à ne plus faire autant d’efforts», a déclaré Angela Merkel lors d’un entretien à la chaîne ARD. «Je ne travaille pas dans cette perspective. Nous faisons tout ce que nous pouvons pour éviter une issue encore plus rude, mais j’affirme clairement que le fait que les créanciers privés soient impliqués montre que nous avons un problème particulier en Grèce en raison du niveau très, très élevé de la dette», a-t-elle ajouté. La chancelière a par ailleurs indiqué qu’elle se rendrait jeudi à un sommet spécial des leaders de la zone euro sur la Grèce seulement si un plan de sauvetage clair est préparé en amont.

Le président de la BCE, Jean-Claude Trichet, a déploré la gestion de la crise de la zone euro par les Etats membres, et estimé qu’ils devaient faire preuve de plus de discipline. Dans un entretien au FT Deutschland à paraître aujourd’hui, il rappelle également que si un Etat membre de la zone euro venait à faire défaut sur sa dette, la BCE ne pourrait plus accepter ses titres obligataires en collatéral.

Le directeur du budget auprès de la Maison-Blanche, Jack Lew, a fait état hier d'«activité et de progrès» dans les négociations sur le relèvement du plafond de la dette américaine. Interrogé par CNN, il a également estimé que les membres du Congrès avaient bien conscience qu’un défaut des Etats-Unis sur le financement de leur dette n'était pas envisageable. A deux semaines de la date butoir à laquelle Washington se trouverait dans cette situation, la Maison blanche et les parlementaires ne parviennent toujours pas à s’entendre sur un accord budgétaire ni un relèvement du plafond légal de la dette. La limite a dans les faits déjà été atteinte, et le département du Trésor a dû recourir à des procédures techniques pour contourner l’obstacle. Le président Barack Obama avait mis en demeure les responsables du Congrès de présenter durant le week-end un programme permettant de conclure le débat.

La production industrielle des Etats-Unis a progressé de 0,2% en juin par rapport au mois précédent, a annoncé vendredi la Réserve fédérale. Le taux d’utilisation des capacités est resté stable à 76,7%.

Après les sénateurs la veille, les députés italiens ont adopté à leur tour, vendredi, le plan d’austérité présenté par le gouvernement, qui prévoit 48 milliards d’euros d'économies sur quatre ans. Les députés se sont prononcés par 314 voix en faveur du plan et 280 ont voté contre. Un peu plus tôt, ils avaient majoritairement accordé leur confiance au gouvernement de Silvio Berlusconi. Son objectif est de ramener le déficit public de 3,9% du PIB en 2011 à l'équilibre en 2014.

Le sentiment du consommateur américain s’est détérioré nettement plus que prévu en juillet pour tomber à un niveau sans précédent depuis mars 2009, plombé par la hausse du chômage et la baisse du pouvoir d’achat, révèlent les estimations provisoires de l’enquête Thomson Reuters / Université du Michigan publiées vendredi. Selon ces estimations, l’indice ressort à 63,8 après 71,5 en juin. Les analystes prévoyaient en moyenne 72,5.