p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Wall Street Journal reports that several investment firms in the United States have been overcharged for currency trades by their banks. The giant BlackRock has found that it and its clients have been overcharged for some currency trades by banks such as the Bank of New York Mellon, according to an internal investigation by the asset management firm one year ago. Now, BlackRock is @font-face { font-family: «Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: «Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: «Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } doing the trading itself or asking evidence from banks that it is receiving prevailing market rates. Clients of a major unit of Fidelity Investments have experienced the same problem.

The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, which oversees around USD11 billion in assets, filed a lawsuit against State Street Corp, according to The Wall Street Journal. It alleges that the bank for more than a decade violated law by overcharging customers for currency trades.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Equities funds on sale in Sweden had a strong start in 2011. According to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association (Fondbolagens Förening), these funds had net inflows of SEK6.4bn (EUR0.7bn) in January. Flows went largely to Swedish equities funds (SEK3.7bn) and Eastern Europe funds (SEK3.2bn). Balanced funds also had a positive month, with net inflows of SEK0.7bn. However, bond and money market funds saw net outflows, of SEK1.6bn and SEK2.6bn, respectively. Hedge funds also saw net redemptions, of SEK0.3bn. Overall, funds on sale in Sweden posted net inflows of SEK2.7bn (EUR0.3bn) in January, bringing total assets to SEK1.935trn (EUR219bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US life insurace specialist group Prudential Financial has reported net profits for 2010 of USD2.7bn for all of its financial services activites, compared with USD3.4bn for the previous year. Assets under management as of 31 December 2010 totalled USD784bn, compared with USD667bn one year earlier. Institutional net inflows totalled USD28.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Richard Evans, portfolio manager at Martin Currie Asset Management, only a few dozen securities in the Asian region merit interest, Asian Investor reports. “Is it too late to invest in Asian equities?” is the question which clients are now beginning to ask. Evans manages a concentrated portfolio of up to 50 positions (currently 30), with about USD300m in assets. All the assets are expected to outperform on a 5 to 10 year horizon. The manager is closely interested in the Hong Kong and Malaysian real estate markets. He is underweight on Australia, particularly banks, which managed to avoid the crisis largely due to exposure to commodities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An expert valuation of the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Axa Immoselect (EUR2.695bn) has resulted in a depreciation of 9.5% for two properties in France, one in Spain, and one in Belgium. As a result, the net asset value of the fund has fallen to EUR55.54, from EUR56.04.The suspension of redemptions from the fund, which was initially announced at the end of October 2009, was extended to mid-November 2010 (see Newsmanagers of 15 November 2010). Liquidity levels since that date have fallen to 8.5% from 9.2%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For last year as a whole, open-ended securities funds attracted a net total of EUR17.6862bn, according to the German BVI association of asset management firms. This total is only EUR113.1m away from the total for Pimco Europe alone (EUR17.5731bn), which gave Allianz Global Investors (AGI), its parent company, net subscriptions of EUR13.7436bn, and made it the top German asset management firm by inflow volume.Among the major asset management firms, the DWS/DB Advisors/Deutsche Bank family posted net inflows of slightly over EUR1.08bn, due to EUR5.44bn for db x-trackers, the ETF specialist of the group.However, Deka (German savings banks) and Union Investment (co-operative banks) saw net redemptions of EUR6.41bn and EUR2.81bn, respectively.In the area of ETFs, BlackRock (iShares) attracted a net total of EUR1.74bn, while ComStage attracted EUR880.7m, and ETFlab (Deka) drew EUR334.9m.Universal-Investment, the white label product specialist, attracted nearly EUR2.23bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 10 February announced the launch of a consultation on a revision of its analysis criteria for hybrid securities. The report and survey by the agency, which will aim to simplify the treatment of hybrid instruments, is open for comment until 15 March. The revision of analysis criteria will not have an impact on ratings for businesses in the EMEA/Asia region, Fitch predicts in a statement.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, socially responsible investment (SRI) funds on sale in France saw a 42% increase in their assets, to EUR48bn, according to the most recent statistics from Novethic. But 90% of this growth, or EUR12.6bn, was due to the adoption of SRI practices by traditional funds.The increase is thus driven by asset management firms and not by savings investors, who actually tended to divest from SRI funds in 2010. Funds saw net outflows of EUR0.5bn over the year. Investor redemptions from money market funds (-EUR480m) did not work to the benefit of equities funds, which also saw outflows (-EUR580m), Novethic reports. Only bond funds saw positive net subscriptions, of EUR620m.That didn’t stop the SRI portion of French collective management from continuing its growth, by 2.38% in 2009, and 3.6% in 2010.The conversion of funds also changed the situation in the rankings of asset management firms active in SRI in the French market. With nearly EUR10bn in assets, Natixis AM tops the list, with the conversion of its Fonsicav fund, a money market funds with several billion euros in assets, to SRI. This puts the firm just ahead of Amundi. Further behind, with under EUR4bn, are BNP Paribas IP, Allianz GI France and Edmond de Rothschild, which lands in fifth place due to the conversion of the Tricolore Rendement fund (EUR2.5bn).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RBC Dexia Investor Services has appointed Andreas Schmid as Director of Relationship Management for Switzerland, Agefi Switzerland reports. Schmid will take up his new role in April 2011. In his role as head of client relations, he will be in charge of winning new clients and strengthening relations with current clients of the wealth management firm and financial institutions in Switzerland and Luxembourg. He will report directly to Marco Siero, director of the Swiss affiliate of RBC Dexia.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish hedge fund management firm Epsilon Gestión Alternative, founded on 2 October 2008, has decided to change its name to match the brand name of its product, the multistrategy fund of funds BrightGate Absolute Return; the firm is now known as BrightGate Capital SGIIC. The Spanish hedge fund is advised by Permal Asset Management (Legg Mason group).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Franklin Templeton Switzerland has announced the recruitment of Martin Lasance as director of Swiss institutional clients. Lasance will be based in Zurich, and will be in charge of developing relations with pension funds, insurers and industrial groups. Lasance, who will report to Jens Kurse, director & country head for Switzerland, has spent the past five years as director of institutional management at BlackRock for Switzerland, after serving ain a similar role at Swiss Re.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British management firm Hargreaves Lansdown on 10 February announced a pre-tax profit of GBP56.2m for the half year to 31 December, up 41% compared with the six months to the end of December 2009. Assets under administration increased to GBP22.3bn as of 31 December 2010, compared with GBP17.5bn as of 30 June 2010, and GBP15.6bn as of the end of December 2009.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Between the end of 2009 and the end of 2010, assets at the Belgian asset management firm Petercam increased from EUR14.2bn to about EUR15bn, of which EUR8.2bn were in the firm’s Sicav, compared with EUR8.4bn and EUR6.4bn, and EUR5.7bn for direct mandates. In addition to these areas, the firm also manages money market funds. Since there has been a market appreciation effect on the AUM, the Belgian firm has obviously seen some net outflows, as some clients have been obliged to mobilise cash and/or take profits.The proportion of equities portfolios as of the end of last year declined to 40.95%, from 46.6% twelve months previously, while bonds increased to 39.2%, from 34%. The percentage for money markets has fallen to 11.2% from 13.4%.Petercam is continuing to recruit, with a healthcare analyst for equities, a credit analyst for bonds, and two recruitments in sales, one in sales support for Belgium and one for RFPs.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Henderson Global Investors is hoping to raise about GBP150m with the launch of an investment trust dedicated to international equities. The Henderson International Income Trust (HINT) will be managed by Ben Lofthouse, who will work with Job Curtis, co-manager of the Global Dividend Income fund. The trust will aim for returns of 4%, to increase from 5% to 10% per year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net inflows to British funds of funds have reached a record GBP6.8bn, up 76% compared with the previous year, according to statistics from the British Investment Management Association (IMA). Assets under management in funds of funds totalled GBP5.82bn, representing 10% of overall assets in funds. Net inflows to trackers reached a record GBP1.2bn, while assets under management set a record at GBP33.5bn as of the end of 2010, up 20% year on year. Ethical funds, for their part, attracted GBP280m in assets, up 80% compared with the previous year. Assets under management in these funds totalled GBP6.6bn as of the end of December (+16% compared with 2009).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Canadian-based Manulife has announced that net subscriptions for funds from its US affiliate John Hancock Funds increased 48% in 2010, to a record USD9.7bn. Assets totalled USD34bn as of the end of December, 25% more than one year previously.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Montpensier Finance on 10 February announced the recruitment of Philippe Caron as managing director of bond and diversified management, and manager of the M Convertibles fund. Caron began his career in bond management at Barclays Bank, and continued at CEPME, BIGT, and as head of fixed income and diversified management from 1994 to 2010 at Financière Atlas:Sal Oppenheim IM, where he was CEO.Stéphane de Buhren has joined Montpensier Finance as managing director in the major investor department. He was previously a managing partner at Tocqueville Finance, in charge of private management development.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Mandarine Reflex fund, which earned 13% in 2010, and at least 8% over a rolling twelve-month period, will be registered and released for sale in six European countries outside France (Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain), Marc Renaud, chairman and founder of Mandarine Gestion, announced on 10 February.Renaud has also unveiled plans for international development of the company. Mandarine already has an office in Frankfurt, and it relies on minority partners in the Spanish and Italian markets. In Austria, the firm will engage an agent.Meanwhile, Mandarine’s inflows continue unabated (see Newsmanagers of 20 December 2010). Net subscriptions since the beginning of 2011 represented about EUR100m, while assets are over EUR1.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Dauphine foundation, in partnership with the management firm Amundi, a leader in the French asset management industry, are for the first time in France endowing a chair wholly dedicated to Asset Management. The Chaire Asset Management at the Fondation Dauphine has three objectives: to develop research and education in asset management at the Université Paris-Dauphine; to complement the research that Amundi undertakes on behalf of clients, and to be a center for ideas and proposals to respond to the concerns of public authorities in the area of asset management. The partnership between the Fondation Dauphine and Amundi is exclusive, and is agreed for a period of four years.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bernard Delattre, formerly of Prigest, has created Altimeo Asset Management, with himself as chairman; the firm received its AMF license in early February. The firm’s strategy is conviction-based management, highly flexible and opportunistic.Altimeo is planning to launch an absolute return mutual fund registered in France, once the regulator has granted its permission, with exposure limited to 100%, which will use a macro and geopolitical approach with monitoring indicators for major aggregates, to select equities or bond issues from attractively-priced firms, while also relying on option and hedging strategies, as well as potentially on ETFs. The portfolio may invest in all asset classes.

Following the recent changes in the organisation of Edmond de Rothschild AM, which has moved from two divisions to eight management units (Newsmanagers of 14 January 2011), the new “roadmap” for the firm is no less ambitious. “In our range of 26 funds,” explains Philippe Uzan, director of management, “we would like to build a group of ten products with assets of over EUR1bn each, with the objective of making these ‘cornerstones,’ while not neglecting the other products in the range.” The ten core funds will be Tricolore Rendement, Europe Rendement, Saint-Honoré Europe Synergie, Saint-Honoré US Value & Yield, Saint-Honoré Chine and Saint-Honoré Convertibles, Goldsphere, Selective World, Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles, and Europe Flexible.In addition, the asset management firm also confirms that it has already been giving a priority to international development for several years. The objective is to find growth areas also for the French market. The management firm is also present in Latin America, in Chile. The choice of Chile owes nothing to chance. Edmond de Rothschild AM is working with Chilean pension funds which are expected to invest up to USD60bn outside their domestic market. “From this point of view,” says Uzan, “Chilean regulations stand out for their transparency, as they require pension funds to invest in open funds.” But this criterion is not without its limitations, particularly in terms of the leverage ratios for the funds in question. Hence the desire on the part of the management firm to increase assets in products likely to interest these institutional investors.In addition to this commercial development, the firm is considering several changes. “Alongside non-hedged shares, we would like to offer a wider range of investments which are systematically hedged for institutional investors,” explains Uzan. But, he adds, “we do not have a range in which our teams manage currency hedging dynamically.” From there, it is a small step for the management firm to decide to create a new unit dedicated to currencies. Uzan admits that this theme is of growing relevance to the firm, so this space is to be watched for further developments.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The index provider MSCI on 9 February announced that it has launched a consultation on a proposal to create international socially responsible investment indices. The consultation will deal with the objectives and the architecture of the indices. It comes in response to demand from investors seeking reference tools which would allow them to measure investments in terms of ethical and religious critieria. MSCI will announce its final decision on 4 March.

Les inscriptions hebdomadaires au chômage ont diminué plus que prévu aux Etats-Unis lors de la semaine au 5 février, à 383.000 contre 419.000 (révisé) la semaine précédente, tombant à un plus bas de deux ans et demi, a annoncé jeudi le département du Travail.

L’Université Paris-Dauphine et sa fondation ont lancé hier avec Amundi la première chaire française dédiée entièrement à l’Asset Management. Un partenariat exclusif a été signé pour une durée de quatre ans.

Elliott Associates a trouvé un nouveau combat. Le fonds alternatif américain a écrit aux membres du conseil d’administration de Danisco, dont il détient environ 1,2%, pour leur faire connaître son opposition à l’offre amicale de rachat de 5,8 milliards de dollars formulée par DuPont. Une cession à ce prix serait une trahison des intérêts des actionnaires, selon le gérant d’Elliott Franck Tuil interrogé par le quotidien.

Le rapport Lepetit-Dissaux se montre réticent sur le capital contingent et la participation des créanciers seniors aux éventuels sauvetages

Le rapport Lepetit-Dissaux, remis hier à Christine Lagarde, reprend la position des banques françaises sur la résolution des crises bancaires. Les projets de surcharge systémique et de participation des créanciers seniors aux pertes sont rejetés par les auteurs.

Elles bénéficieront d’une analyse financière largement diffusée à un coût réduit grâce à l’Observatoire du financement des entreprises par le marché

Après l’annonce des rapprochements Deutsche Börse-Nyse Euronext et London Stock Exchange-TMX, le Tokyo Stock Exchange n’a pas l’intention de suivre le mouvement. Le directeur général de la Bourse de Tokyo a indiqué «ne discuter avec personne à cet instant».