Vice president et global head of exchange traded products de NYSE Euronext à Paris, Scott Ebner a été nommé le 29 septembre managing director et global head of ETF product development de State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Il sera subordonné à James Ross, senior managing director et global head of ETFs, et basé à Londres.Scott Ebner est chargé de veiller à l’extension de la gamme SPDR.

Columbia Management veut faire économiser 30 millions de dollars aux investisseurs présents dans ses fonds, grâce à des économies réalisées par la baisse des frais et la fusions de certains produits. Les fonds concernés sont les suivants : Columbia High Income Fund, sera absorbé par le Columbia Income Opportunities Fund Columbia Asset Allocation Fund par le Columbia LifeGoal Balanced Growth Portfolio Columbia Asset Allocation II Fund par le Columbia LifeGoal Balanced Growth Portfolio Columbia Liberty Fund Columbia par le Columbia LifeGoal Balanced Growth Portfolio RiverSource Portfolio Builder Total Equity Fund par le Columbia LifeGoal Growth Portfolio RiverSource Income Builder Enhanced Income Fund avec le Columbia Income Builder Fund RiverSource Income Builder Moderate Income Fund avec le Columbia Income Builder Fund Columbia S&P 500 Index Fund, VS avec le RiverSource Variable Portfolio - S&P 500 Index Fund Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, VS avec le Seligman Variable Portfolio Growth Fund La fusion entre ces fonds devrait être effective avant la fin du premier semestre 2011, indique un communiqué de la société de gestion américaine.

Aviva Investors vient d’enregistrer deux fonds de droit français - Aviva Convertibles et Aviva Investors Valeurs Europe - à la distribution en Italie, rapporte le site Bluerating. Les investisseurs italiens avaient déjà accès à un autre fonds français, Aviva Investors Monétaire, disponible depuis le début de l’année.

Lundi, le conseil d’administration de l’Association italienne du private banking a élu Dario Prunotto, administrateur délégué d’Unicredit Private Banking Italia, en tant que president, rapporte Bluerating. Il succède à Paolo Molesini, de Banca Intesa San Paolo Private Banking.

Selon l’Agefi, le groupe de private equity Blackstone prévoit de verser 200 millions de dollars pour une participation de 40% dans Patria Investimentos, un gestionnaire d’actifs brésilien. Blackstone financera l’opération au travers d’une combinaison de numéraire et de titres, d’après une source proche dossier.

En Suisse, Robeco et sa filiale SAM Sustainable Asset Management vont optimiser leur structure organisationnelle et juridique. Les deux sociétés Robeco (Switzerland) et SAM fusionneront dans le courant du dernier trimestre 2010 et SAM (11,2 milliards d’euros d’encours) distribuera les produits de Robeco parallèlement à sa gamme de fonds de développement durable. Les personnels de Robeco Suisse seront transférés à la nouvelle entité.L'équipe commerciale commune sera placée sous la responsabilité de Michael Baldinger, membre du comité exécutif de SAM.

Ancien député européen et general manager and director du family office Schlumberger Primat de 1991 à 2008, Ian Dalziel a rejoint le britannique Threadneedle comme head of global private wealth and foundations. Il sera basé à Genève, compte tenu de l’importance de cette place financière.Avec ce recrutement, Threadneedle lance une nouvelle offensive commerciale en direction des fondations et des family offices pour les conseiller dans leur planification stratégique et leur allocation d’actifs.

Le programme brut à moyen long terme atteindra 186 milliards d'euros en 2011

Le programme brut à moyen long terme atteindra 186 milliards d'euros en 2011

Les régimes de croissance des pays de la zone euro étaient très différents avant la crise. Ils le restent aujourd’hui, puisqu’on distingue: ceux dont la croissance a été principalement tirée par le crédit et qui doivent corriger aujourd’hui un excès d’endettement, privé (Espagne, Irlande, Portugal) ou public (Grèce); ceux qui ont modérément utilisé le levier d’endettement mais axé leur croissance sur la demande domestique (France) et les exportations intra-Union (Italie); enfin ceux qui n’ont pas tiré leur croissance de l’endettement mais des exportations hors de l’Union, voire hors G7 (Pays-Bas) et ont renforcé la compétitivité-coût au détriment de la demande domestique (Allemagne, Autriche).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street Corporation on 28 September announced that it has extended its mandate with Lloyds Banking Group. The mandate now includes the provision of custody services, fund accounting, financial reporting, and clearing for three SICAVs containing 27 Luxembourg-domiciled funds. The funds are currently valued at nearly EUR2.4bn in assets. As a part of the extension of the mandate, ten Lloyds TSB employees will join State Street in November.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Expansión, cited by Funds People, Axa Investment Managers last week fired Iñigo Bilbao-Goyoaga, who had been its head for Spain and Portugal since 2002. The fund management firm, whose Spanish office employs four portfolio managers and has assets under management of EUR585m as of the end of August, has launched an internal and external search for candidates to replace Bilbao-Goyoaga. His successor will also be responsible for developing activities in Latin America. Since the beginning of the year, Axa IM has posted net subscriptions of EUR260m in Spain.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish Allfunds Bank (Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo) on 21 September launched its Islamic Services Unit, a completely automatised B2B fund platform, which so far is the only one to be completely compliant with Sharia Islamic law, and certified by a fatwa signed by four members of the Sharia Board of Amanie Dubai. Allfunds Bank offers over 80 Sharia-compliant funds from 15 providers based in Luxembourg, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Allfunds Bank is also extending its Islamic fund research services, to better assist its clients to select Islamic funds. This will involve the launch of a website dedicated to providing complete information about these funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } It’s “a real trend,” according to the CEO of Novethic, Anne-Cathering Jusson-Traore, who on 28 September presented the second edition of the SRI Label, for management firms which this year confirmed their interest in the label for funds whose management systematically take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and which meet high standards for transparency. The management firms which received the label last year all used the label in at least one communication, saus Husson-Traore, who says the number of applicants increased 50% in 2010. The range of funds with SRI labels has also widened. It now includes 50 more funds from 32 management firms, compared with 25 in 2009. The 142 funds to receive the label represent EUR22.7bn, or 54% of assets in SRI funds on sale in France as of the end of June 2010. In terms of asset classes, there are 91 equities funds, 24 bond funds, 17 money market funds, and 10 diversified funds. Among the 182 funds for which an application was submitted are all the funds which received labels in 2009, except four funds which have since been closed. With more than 80 new applications, the interest of management firms in the label is clear. Many of them applied with more funds than in 2009, and Amundi, the management firm for the LCL and Crédit Agricole groups, which did not apply in 2009, has requested the label for all of its retail SRI funds.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) announced on 24 September that it has selected the management firm Smith, Graham & Co to assist it in the management of MBS (mortgage-backed securities) for the US Department of the Treasury. As an agent of the US Treasury, SSgA manages a portfolio of about USD180bn in MBS issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Smith, Graham will provide expertise in the areas of portfolio analysis and reporting.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The asset management unit of the US bank Wells Fargo is now offering an equities fund dedicated to emerging markets, in the form of a Luxembourg Sicav, Investment Week reports. The Wells Capital Management (WCM) Emerging Markets Equity fund is a portfolio of 80 to 150 shares, managed by Jerry Zhang. It has a 13-year track record, and shows annual performance of 11% since 1997, compared with returns of 7.5% for the benchmark index, the MSCI Emerging Markets Free index. Zhang says that it is not too late to get involved in emerging markets, though they did surge 74% last year, according to data from Bloomberg. EFPR statistics show net inflows of USD45bn since the beginning of the year.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Paris Europlace, which has sought to extend its governance structures to a new generation of actors on the financial markets, on 27 September held the first meeting of its new Management Committee, chaired by Vivien Levy-Garboua, advisor to the chairman of BNP Paribas. The Management Committee will become a central organ, alongside the newly-created colleges of Businesses and Investors. It has redefined its missions in light of the work accomplished in the past year, and has set a new strategic objective, as France prepares to take over presidency of the G20. The missions defined by the new Management Committee are focused on three areas: aligning the visions of market actors (investors, issuers, bankers, cities and regions, and regulators) around a shared project and a collective dynamic, federating and coordinating market projects, and being a presence in proposals to the Paris Europlace Orientation Council and the High Market Committee (HCP). “Our strategy for this renewed and youthful committee is to put the Paris market and the financial power of the Euro zone at the service of economic actors and collective platforms. It is a good sign that the major market actors, such as Banco Santander, Commerzbank, Eurazeo, Goldman Sachs, Saint Gobain, … have joined Paris Europlace, confirming the vitality and necessity of its collective action,” Levy-Garboua says in a statement dated 28 September. The new members of the Management Committee are:- Stéphane Austry, legal partner, CMS Francis Lefebvre- Frédéric Bedin, president, Croissance Plus- Dominique Cerruti, deputy CEO, Nyse Euronext- Fabrice Demarigny, partner, Mazars- Sylvain de Forges, deputy CEO, AG2R- Stéphane Pallez, deputy CFO, France Telecom- Gilles Saint-Marc, lawyer, Gide Loyrette Nouel- Hervé Schricke, vice president, Association Française des Investisseurs en Capital (Afic)

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to reports in Die Welt, the crisis which on Monday provoked the suspension of redemptions from the real estate fund of funds Premium Mangaement Immobilien-Anlagen (PMIA) from Allianz Global Investors was brought on by Commerzbank, which was exclusive distributor of the fund, and which on Thursday decided to lower its rating to “uninteresting.” In addition, the bank is recommending that its clients transfer their assets to two open-ended real estate funds from its affiliate Commerz Real, with a reduced front-end fee of 3% instead of 5%. In one day, the move triggered outflows of more than EUR520m from PMIA. In addition, the fund of funds was invested in two real estate funds from Commerz Real. Before the suspension of redemptions, the EUR216m investment in the hausInvest europa was successfully liquidated. But Commerz Real refused to reimburse more than EUR40m from the hausInvest global.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Munich-based TMW Pramerica Property Investment GmbH on 28 September announced that the net asset value of shares in its open-ended real estate fund TMW Immobilien Fonds (whose redemption freeze has just been extended on 15 September) has been revised downward by 61 cents, to EUR50.48, a depreciation of 1.19%. The move was rendered necessary by a new expert opinion on the value of the Concord Terrace building, located in Sunrise, Florida. The property, previously valued at USD10.6m, is now listed on the books with a value of EUR0, as it has failed to attract tenants. The property was leased in 2006 to Nortel Networks, until March 2017. But since then, Nortel has gone bankrupt, and vacated the premises on 31 October 2009, at the hight of the real estate crisis in south Florida.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 28 September, iShares (BlackRock) admitted three new German-registered equities ETFs to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic platform, bringing the number of products listed in Frankfurt to 707. The first two, which charge fees of 0.59%, replicate the MSCI Australia (DE000A1C2Y78) and MSCI Canada (DE000A1C2Y86). The third, based on the MSCI South Africa (DE000A1C2Y94), carries a management commission of 0.74%.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Facing a fall in total assets to USD21bn, from USD40bn in 2008 (and to USD17bn compared with USD35bn for hedge funds alone), D.E. Shaw & Co has decided to lay off 150 people, about 10% of its staff, the Wall Street Journal reports.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } CDC Climat, an affiliate of the Caisse des Dépôts dedicated to fighting climate change, has founded a management affiliate, CDCClimat Asset Management, Les Echos reports. The firm will manage a EUR60m mandate for its parent company, with the objective of preventing the emission of at least 7 million tons of CO2. The management team includes Guido Schmidt-Traub, who has been recruited for the position, a former partner at the Swiss law firm South Pole Carbon, and Marianne Paris, in charge of governance at publicly-traded companies in which CDC already holds stakes.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “After 9 months of enforced holiday,” Christian Bito, former managing partner at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, has obtained a license from the AMF for his new management firm, CBT Gestion, which he is founding with Vladimir Danesi, former head of multi-management at Rothschild & Cie Gestion, and Jean-Luc Fargin, former treasurer of the Pasteur institute, who is administrative and financial head of the new firm. Due to the particular expertise of its founders, CBT Gestion will aim to provide traditional multi-management products, with adequate liquidity and diversification, with specific solutions in the area of portfolio risk profile control. The range will be aimed at CIFs (investment advisers), in the form of funds or mandates, and at financial institutions. “Our plans will initialls concern diversified management, wealth style, and Euro zone, PEA eligible equities portfolios,” says Bito, president and CEO of the new firm. Bito, who has developed a management technique based on risk levels (volatility), explains that the formula “allows for better adaptation of products to the expectations of investors. In particular, taking into account the expectations and behaviour of the markets gives high performance results on turbulent markets which need perhaps a few more years to stabilise.”

The asset management firm Ecofi Investments, an affiliate of the Crédit Coopératif group, has acquired a 58% stake in the capital of Financière de Champlain, a firm specialised in sustainable development, for an undisclosed amount. The shares were acquired from two “sleeping” partners, former employees of the small firm, who had been seeking to exit for some time already, each of whom represented 17% of capital, and a group of shareholders. Jean-François Descaves, president and founder of Champlain, has sold 17%, to allow Ecofi a majority stake. But he retains a 34% interest in the capital, alongside employees who control 8%, and will remain as chairman of the firm.The deal comes as Financière de Champlain has seen a decrease of EUR200m in its assets in one year, to EUR95m currently. However, Descaves refuses to call it a “bailout,” and insists that the firm has been profitable every year since 2004, and that it will be profitable in 2010. “We could very well have continued to survive as an independent,” he says. However, as Descaves admits, joining Ecofi will provide Financière de Champlain with the means to develop, and to reach new clients in the institutional investor category, which makes up most of Ecofi’s client base. The complementarity in terms of management is also another powerful argument for the operation.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a letter to subscribers, Threadneedle has announced that it has been granted permission by the FSA to propose to an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting which will be held on 20 October at the Menzies Hotel Swindon, at 1:30 pm local time, that the management firm be authorised to use serivatives and futures transactions for its UK Accelerando fund, which will not alter the fund’s performance objective or investment policy, while better allowing it to hedge risks for a portfolio which will remain concentrated and focused on British equities. According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the letter includes not only a request for permission to change the name to UK Extended Alpha Fund, but also a request for permission to end the limited issue status for the shares. Threadneedle’s proposals require a majority of at least 75% of votes cast.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 September 2010, assets under management at Man Group are expected to total USD39.5bn, compared with USD38.5bn as of the end of June. This total, however, compares with a level of USD44bn at the end of September 2009, according to provisional figures published on 28 September. The British management firm has also reported a reduction in net outflows in the second quarter of the year to USD0.6bn, which reflects an increase in inflows due to institutional mandates and an increase in demand for onshore regulated products. There was a positive investment movement of USD0.8bn in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Pre-tax profits for the half ending on 30 September are expected to total USD215m, compared with USD292m for the corresponding period of last year. Net revenues from commissions fell to USD205m from USD245m, due to a reduction in average assets during the period. Net revenues from performance commissions fell to USD10m from USD47m, as most AHL products were above the high watermark. The regulatory capital surplus totalled over USD1.5bn, with USD2.5bn in liquidity, though this regulatory capital surplus is expected to shrink to about USD300m with the completion of the acquisition of GLG, expected to go through on 12 October.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS on 28 September announced that it has appointed Alex Wilmot-Sitwell as co-chairman and co-CEO for the Asia-Pacific region. He will jointly direct the region with Chi-Won Yoon, current chairman and CEO. Wilmot-Sitwell will take up his new position from 1 November, and will work in Hong Kong. Carsten Kengeter, current co-CEO of UBS Investment Bank, becomes the sole head of the Investment Bank.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 27 September, Putnam Investments announced that it will be launching a series of three funds of all cap sizes specialised in US equities, with value, growth and blend approaches. The new fund in the range is the Putnam Multi-Cap Core Fund (PMYAX), which brings together growth and value styles. It is managed by Gerard Sullivan, who is also manager of the Putnam Investors Fund. The Putnam Multi-Cap Value Fund (PMVAX), a specialist in value shares, is managed by James Polk. It is the former Putnam Mid-Cap Value Fund, whose investment strategy has been extended to allow it to invest in all cap sizes. The Putnam Multi-Cap Growth Fund (PNOPX) is a conversion of the Putnam New Opportunities Fund. It is managed by Robert Brookby, who also manages the Putnam Growth Opportunities Fund. Putnam says its Vista Fund was absorbed during September into the new Multi-Cap Growth fund.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } CPR AM has announced the launch of CPR Global Infrastructures, a themed fund investing in international equities, with the objective of profiting from the dynamic infrastructure industry. The investment universe is large, including both emerging and developed markets at 50% each. CPR AM explains that the composition was selected because the two regions have different drivers of growth: demographic and economic growth on the one hand, and the “green revolution” on the other. “Whatever phase of the economic cycle they are situated in, developed and emerging countries engage in infrastructure investment programs which largely concern long-term projects (highways, rails, airports, electricity). The United States, for example, is about to launch a cast investment program in highway, airport and rail infrastructure, totalling nearly USD50bn,” says Cyrille Collet, director of equities management. Emerging markets, for their part, have considerable structural needs, particularly for transport, telecommunications networks, energy, and social infrastructure. The CPR Global Infrastructures Fund prefers a wider sectoral approach, in 23 sectors related to the infrastructure theme (heavy infrastructure, energy, communication, and social infrastructure). The final portfolio is diversified, and will invest in 150 to 200 shares. CharacteristicsISIN code:P shares: FR0010922633 I shares: FR0010922641 Subscription commission: 3% maximum for P & I sharesAnnual management fees:P shares: 1.80% max I shares: 0.90% max Performance commission: For P & I shares: 20% of performance exceeding the MSCI World + MSCI Emerging Markets composite index up to 1.50% of net assets (net dividends reinvested). Benchmark index: A composite of 50% MSCI World + 50% MSCI Emerging Markets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 28 September, NYSE Euronext admitted shares in four French-registered ETF funds launched by Lyxor Asset Management to trading. The funds replicate sectoral strategy indices from Stoxx Ltd, bringing the number of ETFs listed to 481. Since the beginning of this year, 81 new ETFs have been listed on the European markets of NYSE Euronext. The new funds, all of which have a TER of 0.45%, are: Lyxor ETF STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas Daily Short (FR0010916809)Lyxor ETF STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources Daily Short (FR0010916783)Lyxor ETF STOXX Europe 600 Banks Daily Short (FR0010916767)and Lyxor ETF STOXX Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts Daily Short (FR0010916759)