iShares, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) platform from BlackRock, on Thursday, 30 June 2011 announced that it is registering four new ETFs in France, with the objective of offering exposure to specific regions and to the theme of sustainable investments, via indices offered exclusively on the French market.In terms of regional ETFs, iShares is offering the iShares MSCI Poland, the first European physical replication ETF offering exposure to the Polish market. It will invest largely in the financial sector, and in the utilities, materials, energy, telecommunications and industrial sectors.In addition to this ETF, the firm is offering the iShares MSCI USA, which comes as a complement to the iShares ETF based on the S&P 500. In both cases, the fund will issue capitalisation shares. Dividends will be automatically reinvested, rather than being paid out to investors, as the latter approach is more administratively burdensome.For ETFs covering the theme of sustainable investment, iShares has registered the iShares Dow Jones Global Sustainability Screen and iShares Dow Jones Europe Sustainability Screened funds.The new iShares European and Global Sustainability Screened ETFs combine positive filtering and sectoral exclusion, in order to offer exposure to a wide range of shares.

At the international financial industry conference Paris Europlace, held on 5 and 6 July, Finance Innovation will present the Emergence incubation fund, which it is calling the first seed money fund to be offered on the Paris market.The fund will bring together the major investors in the Paris market to contribute seed money to young asset management firms and accelerate their development in their first few years of existence.The fund will offer investors the performance associated with incubated funds, and a participation in future revenues from the management firms. It will also allow them to identify the most promising management teams, and contribute to their growth by providing them with capital to manage. The project, which is pending AMF approval, is being led by the global competitiveness unit Finance Innovation, with the support of the AFG (the French asset management association) and Paris Europlace.

State Street on 29 June announced that it has launched a new activity offering services to hedge funds in the Asia-Pacific region, and has plans to develop services for real estate and private equity in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. With this in mind, State Street has apopinted Carol Hall has senior managing director and head of alternative investment services in the Asia-Pacific region. She will be based in Hong Kong.

The private wealth management unit of JP Morgan in Asia has recruited Edward Lim, Gabriel Chan and Patrice Huang, all three from the private banking unit of the DBS group, to serve the Chinese market, FinanceAsia reports. Eric Goh, previously of BNP Paribas, is also joining the wealth management unit of the firm in Singapore.

On Wednesday, Bank of America (BofA) agreed to pay USD8.5bn to investors (including BlackRock, Pimco, and MetLife), who had lost money on sub-prime mortgage products. Several months ago, the hedge fund manager John Paulson advised the management of BofA not to negotiate with the institutional investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. Paulson’s firm is the eighth-largest shareholder in BofA, in which it held 123 million shares as of the end of March.Paulson was of the opinion that the bank had enough arguments to defeat the plaintiffs’ suits, and that there were too many legal obstacles for the plaintiffs to have had any chance of winning the lawsuits.

The UCITS IV directive states that the requirement to provide key investor information documents (KIID) to investors in shares in investment funds must come into force by 1 July 2012 throughout Europe, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Germany has made its move ahead of the required deadline, and is requiring “Beipackzettel” from 1 July 2011.

Lafitte Capital Management, which at the beginning of the year had announced ambitions to achieve EUR250m in assets by the end of December (see Newsmanagers of 09/02/2011), is on track to exceed these objectives. Currently, the firm is set to reach EUR200m, an increase of nearly 60% in the space of six months, with inflows shared by the flagship fund, Lafitte Risk Arbitrage, dedicated to mergers and acquisitions arbitrate in the Euro zone and the United States (EUR165m), and the firm’s newest fund, Lafitte Equity Arbitrage, launched 18 months ago, with assets of nearly EUR12.8m.This growth in assets under management is in line with the firm’s objectives, which are to rebalance the provenance of incoming investments, the vast majority of which come from inside France, to include more European investors. From a percentage of 100% France and 0% Europe one year ago, the ratio is now 80/20, and is set to move towards 50/50, says David Lefant, “with a major contribution from Luxembourg and Italian investors.” The client mix is considered balanced in that it is evenly distributed between private management clients, institutional investors, and multi-managers. In addition to this, there are independent wealth management advisers, who clearly represent an area that still needs to be worked on. “Currently, these professionals represent only 3% to 4% of our assets,” says Lenfant, who remarks that this is an are for strong future development for his firm, comparable to falling returns from funds in Euros, which is affecting funds such as those from Lafitte CM. All of this “good news” is also leading to some evolution in human resources at the firm, which recruited a “special situations” manager earlier this year, and has recruited a fourth manager for its flagship fund dedicated to mergers and acquisitions arbitrage earlier this year. Support functions for sales and marketing and middle office have also been scaled up. One other development, this time in management, is that the Lafitte Risk Arbitrage fund is moving to daily liquidity, from its current weekly liquidity format. The fund has earned annualised returns of 5.3% since its creation in late 2007, with volatility of under 2%, while the firm’s second fund has earned 4.75% since the beginning of the year.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners announced on Thursday, 30 June that it has appointed Helena Viñes Fiestas as co-head of SRI research, joining Jacky Proudhomme. Viñes Fiestas joins the research team, and will oversee all analysis and research dedicated to SRI themed funds, which privilege investments in companies which deliver solutions to environmental or social problems, a statement says.Viñes Fiestas, 39, served as Policy Adviser for the Private Sector team at Oxfam (Oxford Committee for Famine Relief), a non-governmental organisation that fights injustice and poverty, which she joined in 2005. There, Viñes Fiestas was in charge of development of the NGO’s institutional investor engagement strategy, and led the “Better Returns in a Better World” project.

As the necessary licenses were issued at the end of May, Didier Pruvost, former CEO of Oddo AM, and Xavier Fauquet, former chairman and CEO of NSM Art and director of Neuflize bank, have founded their own management firm, DDF Exclusive, and their first investment fund.The two heads are already planning to make themselves stand out in management with a different approach. They are not planning to make a name for themselves with stock-picking from a universe of French of European small and midcaps: many have already done that. “That window is closed now,” the executives say, and they prefer to focus on a less overpopulated niche: absolute returns. Pruvost says that this is in fact a gigantic niche, given the fall in returns from life insurance, from which his fund is likely to profit. Hence the fact that the DDF Opportunités fund is expected to be the firm’s only product.The mutual fund is based on diversified management, with a total annual performance objective of 5% to 8%, over an investment horizon of three years, all with volatility of 5/6. Our experience allows us to say today that, although investors agree not to profit from the entirety of increases on the market, they are in less danger of losing,” says Fauquet. The priorities of the management team, which is composed of a former hedge fund manager, Laurent Denize, and a macro manager, Eric Debry, are transparency, liquidity, and risk control; these also form the foundations of the fund. The fund also carries a UCITS 3 label, and offers daily liquidity. This is also the reason that the firm has refused to make use of leverage. The fund will be available in two share classes, one reserved for institutional investors, with management fees of 0.5% pr year, and the other aimed at retail clients, with management fees of 1.5% Success fees will total 20% on performance exceeding the Eonia with high watermark. For institutionals, the minimal subscription is EUR150,000, and for retail clients, EUR50,000 (minimum of 50 shares).

Caceis on 30 June announced that it is merging its two Luxembourg entities, Caceis Bank Luxembourg and Fastnet Luxembourg, which the group fully controls, following its recent acquisition of the remaining 47.8% of capital in the firm.Fastnet Luxembourg will join Caceis Bank Luxembourg from 1 July 2011. The new entity will operate under the name Caceis Bank Luxembourg. Pierre Cimino, deputy director of Caceis Bank Luxembourg, says “with this merger, Caceis is taking a new step which will allow it to strengthen and reinforce its development in Luxembourg.”

The German asset management association BVI on 30 June announced the opening of an office in Brussels, which begins operating on 1 July.“This presence in the political centre of the European Union gives us a way to more effectively employ the expertise of German asset management in the European legislative process,” the new director of the association, Thomas Richter, says in a statement.A series of new European regulations (AIMF, UCITS directive, MiFID directive) necessitate an increased level of attention on the part of professionals. “Ordinances and directives are formulated in Brussels, but the details of putting these directives into practice will now also be dictated more from Brussels in the future,” Richter says.With this in mind, the association considers it indispensable to instigate and maintain dialogue with political leaders, and to intensify cooperation with the European asset management association (EFAMA). “With locations in Frankfurt, Berlin and Brussels, we are now well-placed to maintain dialogue with politicians in the places where policy is decided,” Richter says.The Brussels office will be led by Ulrike Kohl, who is already familiar with the workings of Brussels, having worked with several members of European Parliament at the European federation of savings associations.

The day after the announcement of the forthcoming launch of the multi-asset class fund Sauren Emerging Markets Balanced (see Newsmanagers of 30 June) on 25 July, the German asset management firm Sauren Fund-Research announced that the front-end fee will be 5%, the management commission will be 0.55%, and the distribution commission will be 0.65%, for the new fund. In addition, there will be a 15% commission on performance exceeding 5% per year. Initially, the fund of funds will invest primarily in equity funds from emerging Asian countries, at 19.5%, and 13% in global emerging markets equities funds. Exposure to emerging markets bond funds will be 22%, while hedge funds will represent 15%.

La commission des sanctions de l’AMF a tenu hier des auditions sur deux dossiers différents concernant Natixis et OFI AM. Il est reproché à Natixis Securities des lacunes dans le contrôle d’opérations de facilitation (vente et achat de bloc sur le marché). Une sanction de 690.000 euros au total a été requise contre la banque, qui se défend d’avoir violé les règles en vigueur. Dans le deuxième dossier, le représentant du collège de l’AMF a requis contre OFI AM une amende de 600.000 euros assortie d’un blâme pour plusieurs griefs, dont le principal est le manquement à la primauté de l’intérêt des clients. Il est reproché au gérant d’actifs d’avoir incité en 2008 les clients d’un de ses fonds à en sortir alors que quelques jours plus tard, il conseillait aux clients d’un autre fonds d’y investir. La représentante du collège de l’AMF a par ailleurs demandé au conseil de rendre publique sa décision. Dans les deux cas, ces dernières devraient être connues dans quelques semaines.

Selon une évaluation de Barclays Capital, les investisseurs ont retiré 7 milliards de dollars en mai des marchés de matières premières, un niveau de décollecte jamais observé depuis la crise financière. Les actifs concernés sous gestion ont fondu de 26 milliards de dollars, à 425 milliards.

Une proposition législative, accompagnée d'une étude d'impact détaillée, sera présentée après l'été. La taxe entrerait en vigueur d'ici à 2018

Le prélèvement sur les transactions financières devrait entrer en vigueur au plus tard en 2018, d’après la Commission européenne qui mise sur ce nouvel impôt pour financer en partie son budget. Une proposition législative détaillée sera publiée après cet été.

La profession dans son entier doit composer avec l'accumulation de réformes, et l'entrée en vigueur aujourd'hui de la directive

Les analystes d'UBS voient l'opérateur boursier américain offrir, au maximum, 1.150 pence par action LSE, soit 11 % de prime par rapport au cours d'hier

Le gouvernement maintient les forfaits fiscaux mais durcit les critères de seuil. Ces aménagements pourraient doubler les recettes de la Confédération

Certains émetteurs corporates ont profité de l'amélioration des conditions pour placer de la dette et rouvrir le compartiment

Le prix moyen des dernières transactions a atteint en valeur d’entreprise 12,5 fois l'excédent brut d'exploitation contre 10,5 fois auparavant

S'il améliore les conditions pour les banques, il ne réduira pas en revanche la charge de la dette de la Grèce

Le quotidien avance que l’Etat exigerait de la place de marché où se traitent les quotas de CO2 la TVA non remboursée par certains de ses membres. L’Etat réclamerait 350 millions d’euros. Ce qui va à l’encontre de la position de la justice, souligne le quotidien. Un débat contradictoire est en cours avec l’administration fiscale a confié le président de BlueNext, François-Xavier Saint-Macary.

Jean-Claude Trichet, président de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), a estimé jeudi que la mise en place de taxes sur les transactions financières limitées à l’Europe se traduiraient par d’importantes pertes d’activité pour la région. S’exprimant devant la commission des affaires économiques et monétaires du Parlement européen, il a également déclaré que l’idée de mettre sur pied de nouvelles agences de notation était un chantier en cours.

Le produit intérieur brut de la Turquie a bondi de 11% en rythme annualisé au cours du premier trimestre, dépassant largement les anticipations des économistes, ce qui fait craindre une surchauffe. Les données publiées jeudi par Ankara mettent en outre en évidence l’une des faiblesses de l'économie turque : son déficit commercial de plus en plus marqué. En mai, ce dernier s’est accru de 104% pour atteindre 10,06 milliards de dollars, après une hausse de 42,6% des importations et de 11,7% des exportations.

La consommation des ménages français a de nouveau nettement diminué en mai, un recul qui confirme que ce poste clé risque d'être un frein à la croissance globale de l'économie au deuxième trimestre. Les achats de biens des consommateurs ont diminué de 0,8% le mois dernier après des replis de 1,4% en avril et de 0,9% en mars. Il faut remonter à l'été 2008, juste avant l'éclatement de la crise financière, pour retrouver trois mois consécutifs de baisse de la consommation en France.

La dette publique de la France a augmenté de 54,9 milliards d’euros au premier trimestre pour atteindre fin mars 1.646,1 milliards, selon l’Insee. Elle représente 84,5% du PIB, soit une hausse de 2,2 points par rapport au trimestre précédent. La dette publique au sens de Maastricht comprend la dette de l’Etat (1.286,5 milliards en hausse de 41,5 milliards d’euros) et celles des administrations de sécurité sociale (191,2 milliards fin mars) des administrations publiques locales (156,5 milliards) et des organismes divers d’administrations centrales (11,9 milliards).

L’inflation sur un an dans la zone euro a atteint 2,7% en juin, selon une première estimation de l’organisme européen Eurostat. Ce chiffre est identique à la mesure définitive de l’inflation au mois de mai. Les analystes interrogés par Reuters attendaient en moyenne une légère accélération, à 2,8%.

Axa Private Equity, une filiale du groupe d’assurances Axa, a annoncé jeudi l’achat d’un portefeuille d’une valeur de 740 millions de dollars (environ 520 millions d’euros) d’actifs de fonds de private equity auprès du groupe britannique Barclays. Cette opération est la seconde transaction d’envergure réalisée récemment par Axa PE, après le rachat le 8 juin dernier d’un portefeuille de 1,7 milliard de dollars d’actifs à Citigroup. Le prix de la transaction n’a pas été dévoilé mais Barclays a précisé qu’elle dégagerait une petite plus-value sur cette opération. En 2010, l’activité fonds de fonds d’Axa Private Equity avait investi plus de trois milliards de dollars principalement par l’acquisition de deux portefeuilles importants de fonds de private equity et d’investissements directs, respectivement auprès de Bank of America (1,8 milliard de dollars) et de Natixis (900 millions de dollars).

Le nouveau gouvernement portugais va probablement accélérer l’adoption des mesures d’austérité convenues dans le plan de sauvetage accordé au pays et pourrait en présenter de nouvelles au parlement ce jeudi, rapporte la presse locale. De telles mesures pourraient consister en une taxe exceptionnelle qui reviendrait à supprimer les primes de fin d’année ou un impôt spécial sur les hauts revenus.