Pour les neuf premiers mois de 2010, le bénéfice «économique» de DekaBank (bénéfice aux normes IFRS avant impôt plus résultat de la valorisation des instruments financiers) est ressorti à 677,9 millions d’euros contre 502,5 millions pour janvier-septembre 2009, soit un gonflement de 34,9 %. Il s’agit d’un nouveau record. Pour l’ensemble de 2009, le bénéfice économique s'était inscrit à 661,8 millions d’euros.Grâce à la bonne performance des fonds, les recettes de commissions se sont accrues de 19,2 % à 778,3 millions d’euros. Quant aux souscriptions nettes, elles ont porté sur 1,27 milliard d’euros contre 3 millions. Les sorties nettes de la division gestion d’actifs/valeurs mobilières ont diminué à 185 millions d’euros contre 1,9 milliard tandis que les rentrées nettes de la gestion d’actifs/immobilier se situaient à 1,5 milliard contre 1,19 milliard.Au 30 septembre, l’encours total des deux divisions de gestion d’actifs se situait à 153,8 milliards d’euros contre 151,2 milliards fin décembre et 150,5 milliards un an auparavant.

Le CGAP, centre de recherche indépendant hébergé par la Banque Mondiale, dont la vocation est l’accès aux services financiers pour les personnes pauvres, a créé, en partenariat avec UN PRI (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment), LuxFLAG et Eurosif, deux prix visant à encourager l’investissement responsable en microfinance, précise un communiqué publié mercredi 24 novembre. Dans le détail, le CGAP MIV ESG Awards récompense les trois fonds d’investissement en microfinance avec la meilleure intégration des critères ESG Environnementaux, Sociaux et de Gouvernance dans leur politique d’investissement. Quant au prix de la transparence ESG, il récompense les fonds d’investissement pour la transparence de leurs indicateurs de reporting extra-financier. Dédié à l’investissement dans des institutions de microfinance (IMF) de petite taille, le MicroFund crée en 2001 par le groupe PlaNet Finance et abondé par des dons, a reçu le Prix CGAP de la Transparence Financière. présentant un fort potentiel de croissance. Conseillé par PlaNIS, le MicroFund propose des prêts de 10 000 à 150 000 euros et offre des taux d’intérêt en dessous du marché.

La société Perceva Capital spécialisée dans l’accompagnement capitalistique et de proximité d’entreprises françaises en phase de redéploiement a annoncé, jeudi 25 novembre, la nomination de Véronique Cayrol Darnaudet au poste de directrice financière.Agée de 33 ans, l’intéressée a débuté sa carrière professionnelle en 2001 comme chargée d’affaires chez HSBC France, à la direction des Grands Clients puis avait rejoint en juin 2007 l’équipe de fonds de fonds de Groupama Private Equity en charge de la communication investisseurs et du suivi des véhicules d’investissement.

Selon un sondage réalisé par la société Preqin auprès de 180 fonds de capital investissement internationaux, 24% des fonds ont réduit les bonus en 2010, 28% les ont augmentés, rapporte l’Agefi.La distribution des bonus attribués sur la base des performances réalisées en 2009 constitue une réelle divergence entre sociétés, la base des salaires étant restée plutôt stable.

Le groupe alimentaire américain Del Monte Foods a annoncé le 25 novembre avoir conclu un accord avec un groupe d’investisseurs menés par le fonds américain Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) en vue de son rachat pour 4 milliards de dollars, auxquels s’ajoute une reprise de dette de 1,3 milliard."Del Monte Foods Company et un groupe d’investisseurs menés par des fonds affiliés à Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), Vestar Capital Partners et Centerview Partners, annoncent avoir signé un accord définitif selon lequel les investisseurs vont acquérir Del Monte pour 19 dollars par action», indique le groupe de San Francisco dans un communiqué. «La transaction, qui a été approuvée à l’unanimité par le conseil d’administration de Del Monte, est évaluée à environ 5,3 milliards, dont 1,3 milliard de dette nette», précise le communiqué.

«Nous avons participé activement à la concentration du marché de la gestion d’actifs, mais ce n'était pas une course à la taille : l’objectif a toujours été de nous procurer des expertises que nous n’avions pas. La dernière acquisition en date, celle du britannique Insight (171 milliards de dollars d’encours) n'était pas motivée par le fait que Lloyds Bank avait besoin de liquidités, mais parce qu’il nous manquait un spécialiste de l’investissement sous contrainte de passif (LDI) et parce que nous voulions renforcer notre pôle performance absolue». C’est en ces termes que Paul Feeney, global head of distribution, a expliqué jeudi soir à Paris la politique de croissance externe de BNY Mellon Asset Management (1.100 milliards de dollars), qui compte désormais dix-huit «boutiques» toutes indépendantes pour leur style de gestion et/ou leur(s) classe(s) d’actifs. «Nous nous sommes attachés à colmater les trous qu’il pouvait y avoir dans notre offre uniquement du point de vue manufacturier», insiste le manager. La seule centralisation qui s’effectue à l'échelon du groupe est la mutualisation de la distribution hors des Etats-Unis, qui emploie une force de vente de quelque 300 personnes. «Mais il n’y a pas de CIO mondial chez BNY Mellon AM : nous avons 18 CIO». «A présent, nous n’avons plus de carences notables et nous ne recherchons pas vraiment de nouvelles acquisitions. Cela posé, je reconnais qu’il nous manque peut-être une maison spécialiste des actions indiennes, mais actuellement ce type de gestionnaire est hors de prix. Nous n’avons pas non plus de filiale dans les ETF, mais cela ne correspond pas à notre doctrine, même si nous avons un spécialiste de la gestion passive avec Mellon Capital», explique encore Paul Feeney à Newsmanagers.Quatre méga-tendancesConcernant l'évolution du métier de la gestion d’actifs, Paul Feeney a mis en exergue quatre tendances lourdes. D’une part, le vieillissement des populations, qui implique un besoin de revenus croissants pour les retraités. Ensuite, l’accélération de la divergence entre l’alpha et le beta, qui induit une recherche de performances réelles absolues, en abandonnant les concepts de rendement relatif et d’indice de référence, parce que les retraités ont besoin d’un revenu absolu et non relatif.En troisième lieu, il faut prendre en compte la croissance des pays émergents, qui est un phénomène de long terme. Et enfin, les principaux fonds de pension ont besoin de solutions de gestion actif/passif (ALM).Ces facteurs doivent désormais être pris en compte «alors que le secteur a trop longtemps développé des fonds pour les distributeurs et non pour les besoins réels de la clientèle», insiste Paul Feeney.

RWC Partners a vu ses encours monter à près de 4 milliards de dollars après avoir enregistré d’importantes souscriptions ces derniers mois, rapporte Investment Week. Les nouveaux produits «income» de Nick Purves et Ian Lance, qui sont arrivés de Schroders, ont notamment suscité un fort intérêt auprès des investisseurs.

Les actionnaires des fonds de multigestion de F&C ont voté pour fusionner avec la gamme Thames River Multi-Capital, rapporte Investment Week. La fusion prendra effet le 10 décembre. Thames River Multi-Capital devient ainsi la plate-forme de multigestion du groupe F&C.

L'équipe commerciale bruxelloise d’Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram, lire notre article du 27 septembre) va s’enrichir prochainement d’un nouveau collaborateur en la personne de Filip Palmans, qui quitte Petercam Institutional Asset Management ce 26 novembre). Il est prévu que cette équipe de distribution, dirigée par Ludwig Caluwé, comprenne trois à quatre personnes.Filip Palmans sera conseiller senior institutionnel chargé de développer la clientèle institutionnelle.

Selon L’Echo, le Fonds de Réserve des Pensions Nationales (NPRF) est en danger. L’extrême sous-capitalisation des banques irlandaises a contraint le gouvernement, à court de liquidités, à puiser dans le fonds: 7 milliards en 2009 et vraisemblablement 3,7 milliards cette année, sur un total des encours de 24 milliards.Ce fonds risque désormais de disparaître avant même de pouvoir commencer à remplir sa mission initiale (renflouer les pensions irlandaises d’ici 2055). Les actions bancaires qui lui ont été imposées en portefeuille lui ont déjà valu des pertes de 400 millions d’euros, précise le quotidien.

Le 25 novembre, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) a admis à la négociation dix ETF de db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), ce qui porte à 53 le nombre d’ETF cotés à Madrid.Dans le détail, les nouveaux produits sont :db x-trackers DJ STOXX 600 BANKS ETF db x-trackers DJ EURO STOXX 50 SHORT DAILY ETF db x-trackers FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 ETF db x-trackers MSCI BRAZIL TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EM Asia TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EM LATAM TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EMERGING MARKETS TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers DAX ETF db x-trackers SHORT DAX DAILY db x-trackers S&P 500 ETF

BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNPPSS) a annoncé, jeudi 25 novembre, l’ouverture d’un bureau à Barcelone. Outre des services relatifs à la conservation et au règlement livraison de titres, BNPPSS va également offrir des services de sous-traitance liés aux opérations d’investissement et aux services de banque dépositaire pour les fonds communs de placement et les fonds de pension, précise un communiqué.A noter que BNP Paribas Securities Services dispose déja d’un bureau en Espagne, à Madrid.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Rocco Paduano, 41, has left his position as COO of the prime brokerage activity of Credit Suisse. Paduano, who joined the firm in September 2009, says that he would now like to take on a new challenge in Asia, either remaining in sell-side activities, or in a return to the buy-side, either in a position as CEO or COO at a hedge fund. Before joining Credit Suisse, the website reports, Paduano was head of risk management at Hindsight, a hedge fund firm based in Hong Kong.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNPPSS) on Thursday, 25 November announced that it has opened an office in Barcelona. In addition to services related to securities custody, settlement and clearance, BNPPSS will also offer subcontracting services related to investment operations and depository banking services for FCP investment funds and pension funds, a statement says. BNP Paribas Securities Services already has a Spanish office in Madrid.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “We actively participated in the concentration of the market in asset management, but that was not a path to a large-sized business for us: our objective was always to acquire the expertise that we did not have. Our most recent acquisition, of the British firm Insight (USD171bn in assets), was not motivated by the fact that Lloyds Bank needed cash, but rather that we did not have a specialist in liability-driven investment (LDI), and we wanted to strengthen our absolute return proposition.” So said Paul Feeney, global head of distribution, on Thursday evening in Paris, explaining the external growth strategy of BNY Mellon Asset Management (USD1.1trn), which now has 18 boutiques, all of them operating independently in their management style and/or asset class(es).“We are dedicated to filling the gaps that there may be in our product line, solely from a manufacturer point of view,” the manager says. The only centralisation which has been taking place group-wide is for distribution outside the United States, which employs a sales force of about 300 people. “But there is no global CIO at BNY Mellon AM: we have 18 CEOs.”“Currently, we don’t have any more significant gaps, and we are not really looking for more acquisitions. I admit that maybe we are missing an asset management firm specialised in Indian equities, but currently this type of management firm is beyond our price range, too expensive. We don’t have an ETF affiliate either, but that is not a part of our management doctrine, even though in Mellon Capital we do have a specialist in passive management,” Feeney told Newsmanagers.

Financial institutions are increasingly being asked by those they do business with to justify their investments, particularly in some potentially controversial sectors such as the weapons industry.Against this background, the members of the “Club Finance” at the French Social and Business Responsibility Observatory (Observatoire sur la responsabilité sociétale des entreprises, or ORSE) have set out to establish guidelines for the arms industry in terms of investment, financing, international commercial operations, and services.The white paper aims to define a common basis for an individual sectoral policy at each establishment. It may also potentially help to raise client awareness, ORSE explains.At the conclusion of their work, the members of the Club Finance decided not to exclude arms makers from the financial services they provide, even though several parties are calling on the financial sector not only to exclude any form of aid or assistance to businesses which are involved in the production of arms worldwide, but more generally to withdraw all assistance from the arms industry.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 25 November, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) admitted ten ETFs from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) to trading, bringing the number of ETFs listed in Madrid to 53. The new products are: db x-trackers DJ STOXX 600 BANKS ETF db x-trackers DJ EURO STOXX 50 SHORT DAILY ETF db x-trackers FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 ETF db x-trackers MSCI BRAZIL TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EM Asia TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EM LATAM TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers MSCI EMERGING MARKETS TRN INDEX ETF db x-trackers DAX ETF db x-trackers SHORT DAX DAILY db x-trackers S&P 500 ETF

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UCITS funds in third quarter saw net inflows of EUR46bn, following net outflows of EUR28bn in second quarter, according to the most recent statistics from the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA).Long-term UCITS-compliant funds, excluding money market funds, attracted a net total of EUR62bn in third quarter, compared with EUR23bn in second quarter. Net inflows to bond funds totalled EUR37bn, compared with EUR10bn in second quarter. Equities funds returned to positive territory, with net inflows of EUR4bn, following outflows of EUR12bn in second quarter. Investors remained highly cautious about their exposure to equities, however, EFAMA reports.Outflows continued for money market funds, but at a much more moderate pace, with net outflows of EUR16bn, compared with EUR51bn in second quarter. This development is due to a rebound in interest in money market funds in the month of August.In the first nine months of the year, net inflows to UCITS funds totalled EUR66bn, compared with EUR122bn in January-September 2009. This decline in net inflows is largely due to outflows from money market funds (EUR106bn). Long-term UCITS funds taken by themselves show net inflows in the first nine months of the year of EUR172bn, compared with EUR104bn in the first nine months of last year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Brussels sales team of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram, see newsmanagers of 27 September) will soon gain a new team member in the person of Philippe Balmans, who is leaving Petercam Institutional Asset Management on 26 November. The distribution team, led by Ludwig Caluwé, will eventually include three to four people.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Shareholders in F&C multi-management funds from F&C have voted to merge with River Multi-Capital, Investment Week reports. The merger will take effect from 10 December. Thames River Multi-Capital thus becomes the multi-management platform for the F&C group.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hamburg-based law firm Hahn Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft (hrp) on 24 November announced that it has filed lawsuits against banks in several German district courts (Landgerichte) in the name of four clients, for having provided erroneous advice concerning the open-ended real estate fund P2 Value (EUR1.4bn), from the Munich-based management firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH. A first lawsuit was filed in January against a bank for the same reason in the Berlin district court. The management firm announced on 26 October that it would be liquidating the fund, whose shares are currently trading at EUR18.30 each on the secondary market on the Hamburg stock exchange, for a cash value of 27.50%. According to hrp, subscribers, who for two years have been subject to a freeze on redemptions, will most likely see a loss of over 50% on their investment. Peter Hahn, a partner at hrp, claims that the P2 Value will cause losses for more than a million subscribers. The heavy losses of the fund will affect at least 13 real estate funds of funds. However, the lawyer expects that many banks and savings banks which sold shares in the P2 Value fund would prefer to find a compromise with subscribers. But the most important thing is that the faith of investors not be shaken in the meanwhile by the prescription, and hence the necessity of the current lawsuit, due to the suspensive effect of such a disposition.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In the wake of a bill recently passed by the government, real estate fund managers have finally succeeded in completing a joint proposal, issued by the German BVI association of management firms, the Börsen-Zeitung reports (on the morning of Friday, 26 November, though, the corresponding document was not yet available on the BVI website at this time).Professionals suggest that the minimal investment duration should be set at one year, rather than two. They are also calling for discounts for retail investors in the next two years to be reduced by half compared with the amounts set out in the government’s proposal.Managers agree about the creation of a new, totally distinct share class for professional investors, with more flexible rules.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RWC Partners has seen an increase in its assets to nearly USD4bn, in the wake of high subscriptions in recent months, Investment Week reports. The new income products by Nick Purves and Ian Lance, who joined the firm from Schroders, have sustained strong interest on the part of investors.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } L’Echo reports that the Irish National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) is in danger. The extreme undercapitalisation of Irish banks has forced the government, in search of liquidity, to dip into the fund, to the tune of EUR7bn in 2009, and most likely EUR2.7bn this year, out of total assets of EUR24bn. The fund is now in danger of disappearing, before even beginning to fulfil its mission of bailing out Irish pensions by 2055. Banking sector shares which were imposed on the portfolio have already led to losses of EUR400m, the newspaper reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the first nine months of 2010, “economic” profits at DekaBank (profits by IFRS accounting standards before taxes, plus the results of the valuation of financial instruments) totalled EUR677.9m, compared with EUR502.5m in January-September 2009, an increase of 34.9%. This is a new record. For 2009 as a whole, economic profits totalled EUR661.8m.Due to the good performance of funds, commission revenues increased 19.2% to EUR778.3m. Net subscriptions totalled EUR1.27bn, compared with EUR3m. Net outflows from the asset management/securities division fell to EUR185m, from EUR1.9bn, while net inflows for asset management/real estate totalled EUR1.5bn, compared with EUR1.19bn.As of 30 September, total assets in the two asset management divisions totalled EUR153.8bn, compared with EUR151.2bn as of the end of December, and EUR150.5bn one year previously.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After three years at Petercam Institutional Asset Management, where he primarily handled the Luxembourg and Belgian markets, Bernard Jans (formerly of KBC) is moving from Brussels to the active phase of marketing funds and mandates on the German market, a project on which the Belgian management firm has been working since late 2008. However, there are no plans to open a German branch office. Petercam has already received licenses from BaFin for four Luxembourg-registered bond funds (Petercam L Bonds EUR Quality, Petercam L Bonds Universalis, Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield and Petercam L Bonds Government Sustainable), for which the production of fiscal figures has been outsourced to EFA in Luxembourg, the administrative agent for the Sicav Petercam L Fund. However, for the Belgian-registered funds, the Petercam Bond Euro and the European benchmark strategy funds (Euroland/Europe/Europe Sustainable), the European thematic strategies (Dividend, Small Caps, Convergence, etc.) and global thematic strategies (Energie, Agriculture, Foundation for the Future), the integration into Petercam’s accounting systems of the necessary tools to calculate this fiscal information took more time than expected, which delayed registration of the funds. As things currently stand, the management firm hoped to be able to complete this step during first quarter 2011. Currently, Petercam has already signed initial distribution contracts with top-level actors (platforms, fund selectors). First contact has also been made with the two major IFA networks.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the website of the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), five people, including two former directors and a senior trader from the Blue Index Limited company have been charged with a total of 17 counts of insider trading. James Paul Sanders, director, and his wife Miranda Sanders, are said to have used confidential information to encourage their clients to buy shares in companies via CDS.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Malaysian stock exchange is planning to launch an environmental, social and governance (ESG) index in order to attract socially responsible investment funds, the website Responsible Investor reports.

Un des membres du comité de politique monétaire critique ouvertement le gouverneur dont il juge les propos trop politiques

Le débat sur un éventuel accroissement des 440 milliards d'euros de garanties du FESF témoigne de l'imperfection du dispositif