P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Brazilian asset management firm Bradesco Asset Management, which has USD130bn in assets under management (EUR94bn), has launched its first global equity fund, Funds Europe reports. With this new range, the asset management firm is hoping to gain notoriety beyond its domestic Brazilian market. The fund, entitled Bradesco Global Fundo de Investimento Multimercado – IE Fund, targets Brazilian investors who would like to have global exposure. The fund, which invests in liquid stocks with growth potential and mid- and long-term profits, aims to earn higher returns than the MSCI World index.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that an internationally active German investor, Carsten Maschmeyer, has submitted a lawsuit for violation of banking confidentiality against the bank J. Safra Sarasin with the Zurich public ministry. The case is related to an article published two weeks ago by the magazine Stern, which attacked Maschmeyer for his investments in tax havens, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The funds were sold by Sarasin, and Maschmeyer suspects a leak at the Basel-based bank, the German newspaper says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Goldman Sachs Asset Management has announced the launch of the Goldman Sachs Global Income Builder Portfolio, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV. The fund invests in equities and bonds, “both on traditional and non-traditional market segments,” a statement says. The portfolio will be managed by Global Fixed Income and Fundamental Equity teams at GSAM, which include more than 300 investment professionals specialised in specific industries and sectors. The portfolio will be concentrated on high-quality equities and bonds which offer the highest returns in industries least sensitive to market cycles. “The flexibility of this fund allows it to invest in non-traditional asset classes, including convertible bonds, bank credit, preferential equities, real estate investment funds, and energy infrastructure securities,” says Nick Phillips, head of third-party distribution at GSAM for the EMEA region. The fund will be available for a minimal investment of USD5,000, and offers a base allocation of 60% to bonds, and 40% to equities, “with flexibility to adapt this allocation to market opportunities,” the asset management firm says.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ren Asset Management confirmed the launch on 24 April of a fund which will invest in Nigerian equities. The UCITS product will be based in Dublin, and will be managed by Sven Richter, head of frontier markets at the Russian firm. Its capacity will be limited to USD50m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish asset management firm Spiltan Fonder has launched a high yield fund, Spiltan Högräntefond. The actively-managed fund will be primarily invested in corporate bonds from northern Europe, but may also be invested in corporate bonds or preferential equities. The duration of the securities may be up to 10 years. The new fund will be managed by Lars Lönnquist.

The final days of March saw emerging markets Equity funds make a modest but perceptible start on reversing the more than USD40 billion worth of outflows – a quarterly record – they chalked up during the first three months of 2014, according to EPFR Global. China funds saw outflows of USD3,5 billion during February and March. Investors were less risk averse when it came to developed markets asset classes. Funds dedicated to corporate and junk bonds, the equity of Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal and European sovereign debt all fared well with year-to-date flows into Europe Bond Funds already ahead of last year’s record setting total. Overall, based on combined monthly and daily data through the end of March, bond funds posted their biggest inflow since 1Q13 while net flows into all equity funds were less than half the USD111 billion they pulled in during the final quarter of 2013. Dividend equity funds experienced net quarterly redemptions for the first time since 2Q10. Institutional investors were the main drivers of overall flows into both bond and equity funds. In the case of the latter, they redeemed over USD20 billion between late January and mid-February before turning around and committing over USD40 billion during the remainder of the quarter. Retail investors continued to pull money out of equity funds but crept back into Bond Funds during the final seven weeks of 1Q14. Two fund groups that started the year strongly, healthcare/biotechnology sector and Japan equity funds, saw flows falter heading into the second quarter, observes EPFR.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco has launched a fund of Mexican equities called Mexican Equity, Citywire Global reports. The product will invest both in companies listed in Mexico and in companies listed abroad, but which derive at least 50% of their earnings from Mexico. It will be managed by Compass Group, a firm based in the United States, which specialises in Latin America.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has recruited Gilles Maréchal as head of sales for institutional investors in France. He will report to Jean-François Marchand, director of sales at SGSS in France. Since the end of 2011, Maréchal had been director of commercial development at Axeltis, an affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } La Française is continuing its engagement to ESG with the appointment of Elisabeth Cassagnes as head of sustainable development. She will report to the general management. Following the signature of a strategic partnership with the Canadian research agency IPCM (Inflection Point Capital Management) for equity expertise, the appointment “marks a desire on the part of La Française to strengthen its footing as a socially responsible business”, stresses Elisabeth Cassagnes. Cassagnes will be responsible for co-ordinating RSE at the group, and for promoting and representing La Française as a top-calibre business in this area. Cassagnes took responsibility for analysis and SRI development at La Française AM in 2012, after serving as deputy director fo management and head of development at Sarasin AM-UFG-LFP. LF IP, the new entity born of the partnership, announced between La Française and IPCM at the end of 2013 (see Newsmanagers of 2 December 2013), has been in existence since 1 April. The IPCM UK company controls a 49% stke in the joint venture, while La Française controls 51%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Edmond de Rothschild Group on 3 April announced growth in its assets of 8.8%, to EUR133.6bn (CHF164bn) for the 2013 fiscal year. Private banking assets under management rose 4.8% to a total of EUR63.2bn (CHF77.6bn), while assets in asset management were up 12.7%, to a total of EUR70.4bn (CHF86.5bn0. The Edmond de Rothschild group attributes this good performance to positive net inflows of EUR1.7bn (CHF2.1bn) due to asset management activities serving international institutional clients and international and domestic private banking activities in France, without providing more details. Last year, the Edmond de Rothschild group earned net profits of EUR87m (CHF107m).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Like the past two years, 2013 was a disappointment for the asset management industry in France, where the market has posted outflows of EUR77bn. “Meanwhile, the asset management industry is living in a mature and highly competitive environment, where the margins for actors are falling,” says Pascal Koenig, partner in charge of asset management at Deloitte, at a conference about major trends in Asset Mangement held on Thursday, 3 April. Asset management firms are placing inflows at the heart of their development. According to the consultant, the main point of reflection for asset management firms is their operational organisation. “We see tht many activities are outsourced, such as back office and support functions,” says Koenig. They are also beginning to think about the efficiency of their front office teams. Structures will also have to take into account the increased importance of product specialists and sales and marketing teams in general. “French asset management firms are far behind their British and American counterparts in reshuffling sales teams, though this is a key point,” says Koenig. These teams will be likely to grow and develop to better support sales of the product ranges. Asset management firms are also seeking to bring new dynamism to communication and marketing, also in an effort to support inflows. “but the desire to raise communication and marketing budgets is not always there,” the head says, adding that although asset management firms want to develop internationally, they are still not in good control of the budgets they allocate to foreign markets in terms of marketing and press relations to support internationalisation of their activities. Lastly, French firms lag behind in terms of digital communication in particular.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US asset management firm Muzinich will build an asset management team in Milan, Bluerating reports. It will be composed of seven analysts and managers, who will be responsible for the Luxembourg-registered closed fund Italian Private Debt, which invests in bonds from Italian small and midcaps. These professionals will be based at Senato 12, and will also include three sales professionals. The Italian team will be led by Federico Marzi, the new director of sales for Italy at Muzinich. The US firm already manages EUR2.8bn for Italian insitutional investors, via its London office.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Natixis Global Asset Management, a company led by Antonio Bottillo in Italy, has signed a distribution agreement with Skandia Vita in the Peninsula, Bluerating reports. Due to this agreement, a selection of funds from the French asset management firm may be inserted into life insurance portfolios via the Skandia Vita life insurance platform. So far, the Natixis GAM range available in Italy includes 52 funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has already announced that it controls 5.7% of the Italian bank MPS, but it may hold as much as 8.5% of capital, Milano Finanza reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former global head of equity finance at JP Morgan Chase, Andrea Angelone, and three other bankers have launched a hedge fund in London, Bloomberg notes. Angelone, who spent more than 20 years at JP Morgan, Amit Jain, a former equity derivative trader at JP Morgan, Simone Russo, ex-managing director of Goldman Sachs, and Guido Miani, a former bond trader at UBS, have launched Amagis Capital, which will invest primarily in businesses seeking acquisitions, or which have equity buyback programmes, with the objective of benefiting from the recovery in corporate activity in Europe. Amagis is planning to start its activities on 1 May, with USD35m from six investors. The firm, which is planning to open an office in Monaco, hopes to have USD100m in assets under management by the end of the year, and USD500m in three years.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } St James’s Place will reallocate GBP7bn in mandates currently managed by Invesco Perpetual to Neil Woodford and Threadneedle, Investment Week reports. Woodford Investment Management, the company of the eponymous asset manager, who had previously worked at Invesco, will manage the High Income, Uk Equity and Income Distribution funds at SJP, which represent about GBP3.65bn in assets. Richard Colwell, stephen Thornber and Jim Cielinsky from Threadneedle will manage GBP3.35bn for SJP, for its diversified funds. Lastly, Doug MCGraw and Paul Boyne from Manulife will take over the management of the GBP720m St James’s Place Global Equity Income fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Concentration in the British asset management sector has accelerated. Ingenious Asset Management and Thurleigh Investment Managers on 3 April announced that they have signed an agreement to merge the two firms. “The deal has received FCA approval and is scheduled to complete on 30 April 2014,” the two firms announced in a joint statement. The new entity will manage GBP1.8bn in assets, including GBP1.5bn from Ingenious Asset Management.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management a annoncé le lancement du fonds Goldman Sachs Global Income Builder Portfolio, compartiment de la sicav luxembourgeoise Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV. Le fonds est investi dans les actions et les obligations, « à la fois sur des segments de marché traditionnels et non-traditionnels », indique un communiqué. Le portefeuille sera géré par les équipes Global Fixed Income et Fundamental Equity de GSAM, qui comptent plus de 300 professionnels de l’investissement spécialisés sur des industries et secteurs spécifiques. Le portefeuille se concentre sur des actions de haute qualité et des obligations offrant les plus hauts rendements dans les industries les moins sensibles aux cycles du marché. « La flexibilité de ce fonds lui permet d’investir dans les classes d’actifs non traditionnelles, comprenant les obligations convertibles, les crédits bancaires, les actions privilégiées, les fonds de placement immobiliers, et les titres d’infrastructures énergétiques », détaille Nick Phillips, responsable de la distribution pour compte de tiers de GSAM pour la région EMEA. Accessible à partir de 5.000 dollars, le fonds propose une allocation de base de 60% en titres obligataires et de 40% en actions, « avec la flexibilité d’adapter cette allocation de manière opportuniste », précise la société de gestion.

La société de gestion brésilienne Bradesco Asset Management, qui gère 130 milliards de dollars d’actifs (94 milliards d’euros), vient de lancer son premier fonds actions mondial, révèle Funds Europe. Avec cette nouvelle offre, le gestionnaire d’actifs espère ainsi gagner en notoriété au-delà de son marché domestique brésilien.Baptisé Bradesco Global Fundo de Investimento Multimercado – IE Fund, ce nouveau véhicule cible les investisseurs brésiliens souhaitant avoir une exposition mondiale. Investissant dans des actions liquides ayant un potentiel de croissance et de bénéfices à moyen et long terme, ce fonds a pour objectif de dégager un rendement supérieur à l’indice MSCI World.

Le groupe Julius Bär a annoncé le 3 avril avoir finalisé la fusion des deux gestionnaires de fortune WMPartners et Infidar. La société consolidée opérera sous le nom de WMPartners Vermögensverwaltungs, précise la banque dans un communiqué. Julius Bär avait annoncé le rachat du gestionnaire de fortune indépendant WMPartners en novembre dernier. Avec le rapprochement d’Infidar déjà en main du groupe, il constitue un des plus gros gestionnaire de fortune en Suisse. WMPartners Vermögensverwaltungs gèrera, avec près de 50 collaborateurs, plus de 4 milliards d’actifs placés dans environ 30 banques.

La société de gestion suédoise Spiltan Fonder a lancé un fonds à haut rendement, Spiltan Högräntefond. Activement géré, le fonds sera principalement investi dans des obligations d’entreprises d’Europe du Nord, mais il pourra aussi se diriger vers des obligations convertibles ou des actions préférentielles. La duration des titres pourra aller jusqu’à 10 ans. Le nouveau fonds sera géré par Lars Lönnquist.

Michael Chae, qui a été envoyé à Hong Kong il y a trois ans pour diriger les activités asiatiques de private equity de Blackstone, retourne aux Etats-Unis, rapporte le Financial Times. Il continuera néanmoins à s’occuper de l’activité, en plus des investissements médias et télécoms.

La CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), chargée aux Etats-Unis de superviser les dérivés, enquête sur le trading à haute fréquence pour déterminer s’il enfreint ses règles, a déclaré hier son président par intérim Mark Wetjen. La CFTC s’intéresse en particulier à des accusations de «spoofing», pratique qui consiste à envoyer un grand nombre d’ordres qui sont rapidement retirés par la suite, afin de donner l’illusion d’une forte activité sur le produit et d’attirer ainsi d’autres intervenants.

A peine installée dans ses nouvelles fonctions, la ministre de l’Ecologie Ségolène Royal s’est prononcée hier en faveur d’une «remise à plat» de l'écotaxe, et de la recherche d’alternatives pour financer les infrastructures de transport. Elle s’est également dite ouverte à un ré-examen du dossier sur le gaz de schiste, précisant que les «économies d'énergie» et la «mutation énergétique» seraient ses priorités.

Idinvest Partners, l’ex-équipe d’AGF Private Equity, a annoncé la clôture définitive de la collecte de son deuxième fonds de fonds, pour un montant de 214 millions d’euros, dépassant de 14 millions son objectif initial. La société de gestion avait réalisé un closing intermédiaire à 100 millions d’euros en septembre 2013; elle avait indiqué en décembre avoir atteint 170 millions d’engagements. Allianz, son ancienne maison-mère, s’est engagé à apporter 40 millions. Près de 67 millions ont déjà été déployés dans des véhicules d’investissement destinés aux PME.

C'est la conclusion à laquelle parvient une étude de l'AMF qui analyse l'évolution des volumes sur plus de deux ans sur les marchés transparents

L'institut prévoit une progression du PIB français de 0,1% au premier trimestre et 0,3% au deuxième, contre 0,4% et 0,3% dans l'ensemble de la zone

Le groupe franco-suisse pâtit aussi de la lutte contre l’évasion fiscale mais mise sur ses relais de croissance internationaux

La banque centrale indienne a interdit les achats étrangers de titres à court terme, mais augmenté le quota autorisé en obligations longues

C’est la conclusion à laquelle arrive l’AMF dans une étude sur l’impact de la taxe adoptée par la France en 2012. L’impact sur les spreads ou les quantités disponibles aux meilleures limites sur Euronext n’est en revanche pas évident. Le report des actions vers les CFD non plus.