p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Thz Barclays UK Retirement Fund has launched its own asset management firm, Oak Pensions Asset Management, Financial Times Fund Management reports. The objective is to accelerate decision-making for investments in uncertain times.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Goldman Sachs has rejected accusations that its trading practices contributed to the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds in 2007, the Financial Times reports. In documents submitted to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the bank endeavours to prove that its valuation of MBS held by the fund had a limited impact on their financial health.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Securities and Exchange Commission has notified Danny Bogar, former president of brokerage operations at Stanford International Bank, and several other brokers in recent months that it plans to file civil charges against them as part of the investigation into the fraud orchestrated by Allen Stanford, the Financial Times reports. @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; }

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Melissa Lee, who since 2006 has been in charge of development and management of relations with Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong-based institutional clients at Pioneer Global Investments, is joining Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd as head of institutional clients, EdRAM announced on 13 December.Lee’s mission will be to develop commercial relations throughout Asia, promote EdRAM’s expertise in terms of equities management, convertible bonds and asset allocation, and to distribute all products of the range registered in the region, managed from Paris and Hong Kong.The statement adds that Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, was granted a license by the Securities and Futures Commission in February 2008 which allows it to manage funds and distribute all local as well as foreign investment vehicles. It now has 18 employees and manages assets of over EUR1.6bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Morningstar statistics reveal that the Pimco Total Return fund, managed by Bill Gross, which has about USD256bn in assets, saw net outflows fo USD1.9bn in November, Mutual fund Wire reports. It is the first time in two years that the fund has seen such a setback. The Pimco Total Return lost 1.5% last month, its worst result since September 2008. The Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index, for its part, lost 0.57% in the same period.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research has announced the recruitment of two senior SRI and sustainable development analysts, Sarbjit Nahal and Valery Lucas-Leclin. Both join from Société Générale. They will be based in London, and will be repsonsible for development of SRI research worldwide and integration of ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria into all research products from BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cristina García de Sola Riera, who was previously head of client services, marketing and sales support at BlackRock in Spain, on 1 December joined M&G Investments, whose team in Spain includes two people aside from the director, Ignacio Rodríguez Añino. García de Sola Riera will be in charge of development for M&G in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Chile.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss UBS group has recruited several specialists as a part of its wealth management development strategy in Asia. UBS has hired three private bankers from Credit Suisse and two from DBS, all of whom will be based in Singapore. Gary Goh, previously of Credit Suisse, joins UBS as executive director and desk head. Yvonne Koh and Loh Swee Sung, both formerly of Credit Suisse, join UBS, the first as director and client advisor, and the second as associate director and client advisor. Tan Yeu Cheng and Wendy Toh, previously of DBS, join UBS as executive director and associate director, respectively.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HFT Investment Management, a Chinese joint venture from BNP Paribas, is planning to launch its first offshore fund in the next three months via its new Hong Kong affiliate, in order to accelerate its international expansion, its CEO announced on 13 December. HFT Investment is 49% owned by BNP Paribas and 51% by Haitong Securities, the third-largest Chiense brokerage firm by capitalisation. HFT Investment is also hoping to launch its second foreign investment fund for Chinese investors in the next month, as part of the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program, Tian Rencan announced at the Reuters Chinese investment summit. The new fund from HFT Investment is targeted in particular to high net worth retail investors. Investments will be largely focused on equities.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Man Group, which has launched an asset management firm in Italy, will release an Italian-registered fund of hedge funds, which is currently in the license application process, according to Plus 24, the money supplement of Il Sole – 24 Ore. The product will use the firm’s managed accounts platform.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 13 December, db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), whose 160 ETF funds to date have all used synthetic replication, timidly took its first steps into a new era. “In response to demand from clients,” the German management firm has listed its first two physical replication products on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform (Deutsche Börse), both Irish-registered SRI products: db x-trackers STOXX Europe Christian ETF (DR) and db x-trackers Global Fund Supporters ETF (DR).Thorsten Michalik, head of db x-trackers, says that his firm will continue to privilege synthetic replication unreservedly, except in cases where clients explicitly demand a physical replication product. He admits that physical replication may in some cases present fiscal advantages for some types of investors, or be more convenient for subscribers whose status does not allow them to invest in funds which make use of derivatives. These funds will be demarcated with the suffix “DR” for “direct replication.”The Stoxx Europe Christian Index replicates the evolution of shares in companies selected on the basis of Christian criteria from the Stoxx Europe 600 index. This excludes businesses which are active in the areas of pornography, birth control, weapons, and gambling. Respect for these values is overseen by an independent commission composed of investment specialists and experts from Christian Brothers Investment Services Inc. Currently, the index includes 545 shares.The Dow Jones Global Fund 50 index, which is the underlying index for the second fund, replicates the evolution of the 50 largest caps which support the Global Fund, a multilateral institution which finances prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV.The two ETFs bring the number of funds listed on XTF to 761.Characteristics of the first two “DR” funds from db x-trackersName: db x-trackers STOXX Europe Christian ETF (DR)ISIN code: IE00B3QWFQ10TER: 0.40%Name: db x-trackers Global Fund Supporters ETF (DR)ISIN code: IE00B46F7724TER: 0.25%

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bank Sarasin announced on 13 December that it has appointed Christian Mosel as head of institutional and wholesale business in Germany. Since the beginning of December, he is in charge of all institutional operations for the German market, based in Frankfurt, the bank says in a statement. Mosel was previously head of institutional clients at HCI in Hamburg.

The world’s hedge fund industry employs an estimated 300,000 people. That’s according to the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) – the global hedge fund industry association. It’s the first time the number of jobs created by the sector globally has been assessed. The totals include both those employed directly within the hedge fund sector and those jobs generated by the industry among service providers like administrators, lawyers and accountants. The ratio of direct jobs to indirect jobs was found by AIMA to be generally 1:2, so the number of direct jobs within the industry globally is 100,000 with a further 200,000 indirect jobs generated by the industry.The regional breakdown of the figures is 240,000 in North America, 50,000 in Europe and 10,000 in Asia-Pacific.

Out of 29 of the largest asset managers operating in the UK, five do not have any publicly available policy explaining their approach to incorporating environmental, social and governance issues into investment activities, according to a new research by FairPensions. Of those asset managers who do have such a policy, nine provide detail with respect to governance issues but only a general overview on how environmental and social issues are incorporated. However, the number of asset managers who make public a comprehensive policy on how they incorporate environmental and social issues, in addition to governance issues, has increased from three in 2008 to ten in 2010. FairPensions reveals a gulf between the best and worst performers in the UK’s asset management industry on voting and engagement disclosure. Top performers include F&C Asset Management (scoring 95%), Baillie Gifford (90%) and Newton Investment Management (88%); with Morgan Stanley, Wellington Management and INVESCO Perpetual as the bottom three. Firms making a significant positive breakthrough in performance compared to previous years include Henderson, Threadneedle, Capital and State Street.Although not included within the ranking criteria, the report includes an analysis of the compliance statements issued in response to the Stewardship Code. While the Code has attracted significant industry support - with 24 of the 29 asset managers surveyed publishing a compliance statement - the research finds that the quality of these statements is highly variable. For example, the quality of disclosure on vitally important conflicts of interest policies ranges from cursory one-line statements to - in a minority of cases (fewer than 10) - detailed, stand-alone policy documents listing all relevant conflicts and the arrangements in place to manage these effectively.A further notable feature of the compliance statements reviewed is the absence of reference to management of environmental and social risks, even in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill which should have removed all doubt as to the financial relevance of environmental and social issues.

L’encours des OPCVM français affiche un repli de 2,7 % en 2010 à fin novembre à 834 milliards d’euros, selon EuroPerformance - SIX Telekurs

Le sommet européen de cette semaine lancera les travaux sur le mécanisme de stabilisation de l'euro

Après McDonald's et Caterpillar, VTB vient d’émettre en yuans. BP pourrait suivre sur ce marché naissant et encore très contraignant

La croissance réelle des résultats des entreprises américaines et la courbe de variation du taux de chômage tendent à évoluer de concert

Le FOMC attendra des signes tangibles de reprise avant de se prononcer sur l’avenir de sa politique d’assouplissement quantitatif

Dans son rapport d'étape sur la régulation des marchés agricoles, Christian de Boissieu appelle à une mise en commun des informations sur le marché OTC

Le gérant américain s'est associé à Source pour lancer une plate-forme de fonds indiciels obligataires. La concurrence est féroce sur ce marché

Leur accord commercial confie la conservation des actifs à Société Générale et les outils d'information et de tenue de compte à Oddo & Cie

Le sommet européen de cette semaine lancera les travaux sur le mécanisme de stabilisation de l'euro

Des pertes potentielles liées aux achats d'obligations depuis mai suscitent des inquiétudes. La BCE envisagerait de doubler son capital

Moody’s estime les besoins de recapitalisation des banques espagnoles à 17 milliards et Nouriel Roubini s'inquiète de la situation de la France

Le marché des matières premières chinois devrait lancer le premier contrat international sur l’or libellé en yuan dès le début de l’année prochaine, indique le quotidien qui cite des propos de Haywood Cheung, président du Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Cette initiative fait suite à la très forte augmentation de la demande d’or, alors que le gouvernement chinois cherche à internationaliser l’utilisation de sa monnaie.

Les associés des deux cabinets ont décidé de donner naissance le 1er janvier prochain au cabinet Frieh Bouhenic. La nouvelle structure, dotée de dix associés, dispose d’une expertise notamment dans les domaines du private equity et des restructurations.

Confirmant des informations parues dans le Financial Times, la société d’investissement a fait part lundi de la démission de son directeur financier Peter Nachtwey. Le directeur exécutif Glenn Youngkin le remplacera jusqu’à ce qu’un successeur soit désigné. Selon Reuters, le calendrier potentiel d’une introduction en Bourse reste inchangé.

HFT Investment Management, une coentreprise chinoise de BNP Paribas, compte lancer dans les trois mois son premier fonds offshore par le biais de sa nouvelle filiale de Hong Kong, a déclaré lundi son directeur général. La société espère également lancer d’ici un mois son deuxième fonds d’investissement étranger pour les investisseurs chinois suivant le programme Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII), a précisé Tian Rencan, lors du sommet Reuters sur l’investissement en Chine.

BRE/Hospitality, entité gérée par Blackstone et détenant les murs de neuf hôtels haut de gamme en Europe, a restructuré une dette de 480 millions d’euros en étendant sa maturité de cinq ans. Un syndicat bancaire - Aareal, Citibank, Deutsche Postbank, ING et Swiss Re Capital - apporte 330 millions de dette senior, tandis qu’un fonds de Morgan Stanley prend 150 millions de mezzanine.