Agefi Switzerland reports that the Geneva-based private bank Mirabaud is extending its range of services for onshore clients, developing its advising activities and consolidating its team dedicated to financial planning. Mirabaud is planning to extend its base of clients invited to make use of these services, which had previously been limited to ultra high net worth individuals. “We are currently adding to our team of financial planning advisers, so as to offer services to a wider range of clients and meet the needs of onshore clients in Switzerland, as well as in France and Spain,” Cédric Anker, head of domestic clients, explains.

The opposition party Partido Popular has obtained support from all other groups in the Senate to propose that the Senate economy and finance commission pass a motion calling on the Spanish government to introduce a limit on commissions charged by banks to retirement savings plans, and to set up a variable commission which would depend on performance, Cinco Días reports. The argument is that banks run no risks with these savings plans.

According to Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, director of the Swiss federal finance department, Switzerland and Germany are already close to reaching an agreement on the terms of an agreement to normalise wealth which German citizens have stashed in Swiss banks, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Almost all political issues are resolved. The legalisation will involve two components: a payment on taxes which were unpaid in the past, and an anonymous, flat withholding tax in the future. According to estimates, recuperation of back taxes could bring in EUR20bn for the German state’s coffers.

On 7 July, JPMorgan Chase & Co announced that it has reached a settlement with regulators (SEC, IRS, antitrust division of the Department of Justice, Comptroller of the Currency, the New York Fed and a group of attorneys general from several states), to end suits against several former employees of the municipal bond derivatives desk, an activity which the bank discontinued in September 2008.Under the agreement, the bank will pay a total of USD211.2m, and, according to reports in the press, a gross total of USD228m to settle the legal proceedings, which accused the bank of bid-rigging.

Ben Mooney, who had been director & client operations manager for operational and risk attenuation solutions for clients of Wellington Management International for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) has returned to State Street Corporation as vice president and transition manager for the EMEA region. He will report to Rick Boomgaardt, managing director and head of transition management for EMEA. Mooney already served as a transition manager at State Street from 2007 to 2010.

Aon Hewitt on 7 July released the European results of its global 2011 survey of risks related to social engagements at businesses (“Global Pension Risk Survey 2011.”) The survey brings together and analyses responses form multinationals in 13 countries of continental Europe, representing financial assets of EUR127bn, and over 1 million members.One of the major lessons of the study is that “de-risking,” or cancelling out risk factors, has become a top priority throughout Europe, and half of respondents would like to reach an economic level which would allow their pension regimes to be autonomous.A trend which could be considered realistic is developing: five times more businesses surveyed than in 2009 (when the last survey was undertaken) say that they are now planning to manage their pension regimes with a 20-year horizon in view. The survey also finds that employers are aware that they will need to bear costs related to retirements: more than half of respondents are planning to finance deficits through contributions alone.Among the other key findings: Fewer businesses are planning to change regimes, as those who are planning to modify their pension plans have already done so, and others are seeking to maintain their plans and are taking on the costs engendered themselves. In a large number of countries, the definition of the advantages and the rules as pension funds develop play a key role, particularly when risks can be managed, as they can, for example, in the choice of a new method for indexing incomes. More sophisticated risk-taking than in the past: employers are turning to alternative asset classes in order to bring in higher revenues, while running fewer risks related to derivatives and interest rates. There is still some way to go until coverage instruments are used more widely: 25% of businesses surveyed have no official policy about interest rates or hedging assets against inflationary risks. Hedging against risks related to longevity is a practice which is gaining popularity, particularly in the Netherlands, which appears to be following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom.

The Swiss private bank and asset management firm Clariden Leu (Credit Suisse group) has received sales licenses for Germany and Austria from BaFin and the FMA for the Luxembourg-registered, non-benchmarked Clariden Leu Global High Yield Bond fund, launched on 29 April, managed by the US firm Oaktree Capital Management.As its name indicates, the product is a fund investing in high yield bonds with lower sensitivity to variations in interest rates than higher-rated bond issues. The fund is available in a B USD share class (LU0614322484), H EUR B (LU0614322641) and H CHF B (LU0614322997).Management commission is set at 1.2%, and assets in all share classes currently total USD267.8m.

Money Marketing reports that HSBC is considering launching a low-cost actively-managed fund, to rival products of this type from Schroders and JP Morgan.According to the firm’s head of external distribution for the UK, Phil Reid, investors keep a close eye on the ratio of costs to returns, and it is therefore essential to offer them viable options which fall between active and passive management.

Amy Lo, head of Asian operations at UBS, on Thursday announced that the Swiss group is aiming for growth in the next three to five years of 10-20% in assets under management in Asia for high net worth clients (those with over USD50m in assets), Handelsblatt reports.To achieve that goal, the bank will recruit client advisers to increase their total numbers by one third, to 1,200 advisers, at a time when staff reductions will be ongoing in other regions.As of the end of 2010, 22% of CHF768bn in assets in UBS’ wealth management division came from Asia.

Dexia is reaping the rewards of its reorganisation, undertaken in 2009, and its client-centred approach. In first quarter 2011, net inflows totalled EUR400m, more than half of which went to alternative management, Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, chairman of the executive board at Dexia AM, announced at a press conference on 7 July.Assets under management held stable at EUR86.3bn, compared with EUR86.4bn as of the end of 2010. At the height of the financial crisis, assets under management fell to EUR73bn, and then rose back to EUR79bn at the end of 2009. For the year 2011 as a whole, inflow objectives have been set at about EUR5bn, of which about EUR4bn are to come from net inflows, and EUR1bn from market effects.According to Abou-Jaoudé, in addition to the benefits of diversification in terms of clients and asset classes, “our approach of creating alpha for clients, which we introduced nearly two years ago, is paying off. By being even closer to our clients and more responsive to their needs, we are continuing to generate added value by transposing our expertise and our convictions to high-performance, innovative solutions which create alpha.”From this point of view, the head of Dexia AM says he is “reasonably optimistic” about the future, and adds that he is planning to continue to develop Dexia primarily through organic growth. Dexia AM is planning to open an office in London by the end of the year, to accelerate its distribution in the United Kingdom, which is currently handled from Brussels. The firm is also considering opening a second branch office in the Middle East, in Dubai, to complement its office in Bahrain. Asia is also an area under consideration, but no decisions have been taken so far.As a part of Dexia AM’s autonomous development, Abou-Jaoudé says that he is planning to increase the percentage of non-captive assets, from 45% of the total currently to about 60% in the next three years.

Melissa Reagen will begin on 20 July as head of property research, Americas, at the UK based Aberdeen Asset Management. She will report to Andrew Allen, director of global research – property, who is head of a team that now includes 13 people in eight countries.Since 2005, Reagen had been at LaSalle Investment Management as lead strategist for the multifamily portfolio of LaSalle in the United States. She also advised the LaSalle US Property Fund (USD2bn).

Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers (EDRIM) announced on Thursday, 7 July that it is adding to its sales team, with the arrival of Audrey Walter. Walter, 29, will participate in the sale of structured products to French institutional investors, and will report to Jérôme Kelif, head of this activity.Walter began his career in 2003 at Dexia Asset Management, in the Risk department, and then joined Lyxor in 2005 as a product specialist, and then as a salesperson for structured products. In 2008, she joined Amundi, and dealt with sales of strucured products in the international sales team.

In first half, Financière de l’Echiquier has seen an increase in its assets of nearly EUR1bn, while the level of inflows in the same period have topped EUR700m, and EUR452m have been invested in funds from the management firm, putting it in second place, behind Rothschild 7 Cie Gestion, in the rankings of firms with the largest inflows this year.Between France and other countries, inflows are distributed relatively evenly, with France nonetheless still representing a majority (56% and 44%, respectively). Stéphane Toullieux, CEO of Financière de l’Echiquier, has focused particularly this year on institutional investor clients and key accounts (see Newsmanagers of 02/05/2011), and this strategy appears to be succeeding, as actors of this type were responsible for 60% of inflows, compared with 35% for distributors.In the product range, Agressor, the flagship fund from the management firm, has posted the largest net inflows (more than EUR270m). For its part, the ARTY fund has topped EUR100m in inflows. The Echiquier Major and Echiquier Patrimoine funds, for their part, have posted subscriptions of EUR40m each.Financière de l’Echiquier now manages EUR5.7bn in assets, of which 13% are from private management, 46% from distributors, and 41% form institutional investors and key accounts.

The French asset management firm DNCA Finance announced in Germany on 7 July that it has posted net subscriptions of EUR943m in the first six months of this year. As of 30 June, its assets totalled EUR5.9bn, or 21.5% more than as of the end of December (EUR4.9bn). About 60% of net inflows went to wealth management type diversified funds, such as DNCA Invest Eurose (ISIN: LU0284394235) and Evolutif (ISIN: LU0284394664), which alone attracted EUR566m. With the defensive fund Eurose, at EUR451m, these represent nearly three quarters of net inflows to diversified funds, while the flexible fund Evolutif attracted EUR115m, says Philippe Chamigneulle, manager of the Eurose fund.DNCA states that the funds are available in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, and Switerland, and that they are particularly well-suited to wealth managers and private banks.

“Tobacco bonds” issued by US states are bonds guaranteed by revenues from penalties paid by tobacco companies under settlements reached in the late 1990s. The bonds thus fall into the “municipal bonds” category, which Standard & Poor’s started downgrading in November, the Wall Street Journal reports. That has meant that funds specialised in muni-bonds, which are not allowed to have securities in their portfolios of less than investment grade, have been required to sell off the bonds at heavy losses.Several hedge funds, including Brigade Capital, GoldenTree Asset Management, Venor Capital Management and Foxhill Capital Partners, appeared to buy up the securities at low prices, and tobacco bonds gained 10% in June, and some gained as much as 60% !

Pimco has announced the recruitment of two former managers at Western Asset management, to take advantage of “multiple opportunities” in the municipal bond sector.Joe Dane will become director of the team specialised in municipal bonds, while Julie Callahan is joining Pimco as an analyst specialised in municipal bonds.

With the ETF iShares MSCI Japan Monthly EUR Hedged, iShares MSCI World Monthly EUR Hedged and iShares S&P500 Monthly EUR Hedged, BlackRock has increased the number of its ETFs registered with the CNMV in Spain to 96, including the iShares MSCI Poland and iShares MSCI USA sub-funds of its iShares V Public Ltd. Sicav. The three physical replication funds named above have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since October, and are hedged for currency risks.

In June, open-ended funds underwent net outflows of EUR3.1bn, compared with EUR1.74bn in May. These outflows affected Italian-registered funds to the tune of EUR1.83bn, and foreign funds for EUR1.27bn, Assogestioni reports. In the first five months of the year, net redemptions have totalled «only» EUR10.17bn, largely thanks to very strong net inflows to foreign-registered funds (EUR5.49bn) in first quarter.By fund category, the segments which saw the heaviest outflows were bond products, with net redemptions of EUR4.07bn in first half, and money market funds, with net outflows of UER6.31bn. Hedge funds also suffered, with outflows of nearly EUR1.29bn, from assets of only EUR11.34bn.Equities and diversified funds attracted only EUR16m and EUR370m, respectively, in six months, while flexible funds attracted EUR1.11bn.Total assets, meanwhile, continued to decline; as of 30 June, they totalled EUR441.21bn, compared with EUR447.98bn as of the end of May, EUR453.45bn as of the end of March, and EUR460.05bn as of the end of December 2010. Of total assets as of the end of June, foreign-registered funds represent 59.6%.

A survey in second quarter by Forsa on behalf of Union Investment, covering financial decision-makers aged 20 to 59 in 500 German households has found that now 45%, up from 42% in January-March, estimate that the ecological impact of financial investments is the most important criterion. Meanwhile, 49%, compared with 54%, feel that the social aspect is determinant for a sustainable investment.This development may be attributed to an increase in environmental awareness following the Fukushima disaster, says Daniel Günnewig, CEO of Union Investment Privatfonds. Meanwhile, 31% of respondents estimate that the sustainable development aspect of their investments is important (comppared with 32% in first quarter). The percentage who are not interested in these issues has fallen to 23%, from 27% in January-March.

Temasek, one of two sovereign funds in Singapore, on 7 July announced a net profit of SGD13bn, or about USD7.4bn, for its fiscal year ending on 31 March 2011, compared with SGD5bn one year previously.The asset portfolio has reached a record SGD193bn, compared with SGD186bn as of the end of March 2010. Asia will remain the priority region for investments by the holding company, which is present in the capital of a large number of businesses in the transport sector (Singapore Airlines), telecommunications, finance, and real estate. Asia represents 77% of the fund’s portfolio, with 32% for Singapore, followed by North American, Europe and Australia (at about 20% each).Temasek says in a statement that investments since March 2002 have earned annualised returns over nine years of 21%. Over ten years, the global portfolio shows annualised returns of 9%.

Il s’agit de sélectionner une société de gestion qui va accompagner l’Ircantec (Institution de retraite complémentaire des agents non titulaires de l'État et des collectivités publiques) dans la création et la gestion d’un organisme de placement collectif immobilier. Le marché sera conclu pour une durée de 4 ans à compter de sa notification, expressément reconductible pour une durée identique. Pour lire l’avis complet: cliquez ici

La CPRSNCF a décidé d’avoir une liquidité totale de ses placements, en passant de 85% à 100% d’investissements en fonds monétaires. La CPRSNCF s’est ainsi désengagée des BMTN, EMTN, crédits court terme et autres produits structurés. Cette décision s’explique par l’horizon très court terme de la CPRSNCF.

L’Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et l’Autorité des marchés financiers ont constaté une forte augmentation des propositions d’investissements sur le marché des changes auprès des particuliers. Cette alerte vise en particulier neuf sites internet pour lesquels aucun prestataire autorisé n’a pu être clairement identifié.

Le marché danois des obligations indexées sur des créances hypothécaires ne devrait pas subir de dégradation de la part de S&P, malgré les alertes de Moody’s sur les risques de refinancement que représentent de tels titres quand ils sont à taux variables. Realkredit, la filiale de Danske Bank, avait écarté Moody’s de la notation de ses émissions de «covered bonds» après que l’agence a menacé la banque de dégradation. Alan Boyce, directeur général de la coentreprise de George Soros, Absalon Project, a indiqué que les exigences de Moody’s étaient «ridicules». «Vous achetez des obligations danoises si vous ne souhaitez aucun risque de crédit et beaucoup de liquidité» a-t-il estimé.

L’investisseur a cédé 19,3 millions d’actions de classe B de sa société Berkshire Hathaway pour un montant de 1,5 milliard de dollars au titre de sa contribution annuelle à la fondation caritative de Melinda et Bill Gates, selon un communiqué. Les actions ont clôturé à 77,77 dollars hier à New-York. Le financier entend donner, à terme, 99% de sa fortune à des associations.

Après avoir vainement tenté de vendre sa filiale à LGT, la banque allemande négocie désormais avec la holding belge de Kleinwort Benson

Le ratio core tier 1 prend en compte les actifs détenus par leurs fonds de pension, et les prêts non performants seraient sous-estimés

Jean-Claude Trichet redit son opposition à un défaut même sélectif sur la dette grecque

Jean-Claude Trichet redit son opposition à un défaut même sélectif sur la dette grecque

Le gérant s'installe à Londres et à Dubaï cette année, et vise la Chine à plus long terme. L'objectif de collecte est de 4 milliards d'euros en 2011