Joel Ross, a New Jersey doctor, has declared before a jury that he delivered Matthew Martoma, a former manager at SAC Captial Avisors, the results of experimental tests on Alzheimer drugs, in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in consultation fees and contacts for his clinical practice, the Wall Street Journal reports. The man is a key witness for the government in the insider trading trial of Mathew Martoma. Ross claims that he supplied confidential information to Martoma several times.

The asset management division at JP Morgan earned net profits of USD568m in fourth quarter 2013, up 19% compared with the previous quarter, and 18% compared with fourth quarter 2012, according to statistics released on 14 January by the banking group. Assets under management increased by 12%, o USD172bn, to a total of USD1.600trn as of the end of December, due both to inflows and positive market effects. The group posted net profits of USD5.3bn in fourth quarter, compared with USD5.7bn one year previously, and USD17.9bn for the year as a whole, compared with USD21.3bn in 2012. Results were affected by the resolution of the Madoff affair, as the bank recently agreed to pay USD2.6bn to settle claims by the government and in the private sector.

The German reinsurance group Munich Re has decided to launch a ratings activity in partnership with TÜV, Handelsblatt reports. Munich will provide ratings of risks related to infrastructure projects (“Project Risk Rating,”) wich will interest many investors, including insurers, seeking attractive investment opportunities in a low-interest rate environment.

Amundi and UniCredit have signed a partnership to finance the real economy through loan funds for German small and medium companies, the two firms announced on Tuesday. The first transaction to be signed in the form of a “Schuldscheindarlehen” (a type of private investment specific to Germany) totals EUR25m. As part of the agreement, Unicredit Bank AG will act as a partner bank to Amundi. The partnership offers a way to invest in various transactions initiated by Unicredit Bank AG, including bilateral loans, syndicated loans or club deals, “Schuldscheindarlehen” and bonds transacted in the form of private investments.

The Geneva-based asset management firm Argos Investment Managers is planning to develop in France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, Investment Europe reports. The firm, founded in 2005, offers a number of investment strategies, including the micro-capitalisation fund Argonaut, mnaged by Philip Best and Marc St John Webb.

BlackRock is profoundly overhauling its management teams in Asia Pacific. According to eFinancial News, the asset management firm has separated the responsibilities for its funds in the region, which represent USD600m, following the departure of director Robert Weatherston, responsible for the funds, who left the business last week after 18 years. Weatherston had been director of the Japan Value Equity team, oversaw the Japan Value, International Value and Pacific Equity portfolios. His departure thus introduces a new distribution of responsibilities at BlackRock in the region. Marc Desmidt, head of alpha strategies and management of strategic products for Asia-Pacific, has been promoted to the position of lead manager of the BGF Japan Value Fund (USD275m in assets) and BGF Japan Fund (USD90.4m in assets). Meanwhile, Andrew Swan has been appointed as lead manager of the BGF Pacific Fund, which has USD231m in assets, while providing management of several other funds in the region. Finally, BlackRock has announced the appointment of Oisin Crawley as head of research for the Asian fundamental equity research team, based in Hong Kong.

Despite a debate over the 30-year period of gains on government loans, Aberdeen Asset Management is of the opinion that government bonds still have a role to play in portfolios. Government bonds represent a tool for diversification compared with other asset classes, such as equities. They represent a source of income, and if the valuation of some securities may potentially be affected in the short term, they have historically allowed for capital to be preserved well over the long term. “Bonds play an important role in diversified portfolios, due to the regular income that they bring and their defensive qualities. Investors nonetheless need to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff with selectivity. Portfolios which are excessively exposed to the national bond market, and/or which are heavily weighted in bonds from countries with high debt levels, all present a concentration risk. The diversification of investment opportunities based on economic fundamentals will represent a key factor for success on fixed income markets in the next few years,” Joanne Gilbert, bond investment specialist, explained on 14 January during a visit to Paris. In this environment, Aberdeen in October 2013 launched the Aberdeen Global – World Government Bond Fund, which offers extremely diversified exposure to international government bonds. The fund, whose assets already total USD100m, will allow investors to diversify their own portfolios and to stabilise their performance, via government and quasi-government bond issues worldwide. The management of the fund will aim to seek out issues with the best prospects for appreciation, income or stability, through a rigorous bottom-up selection process which fully takes advantage of the local presence of Aberdeen and its significant global research resources. The fund will limit its exposure to non-investment grade debt and will seek to maximise its absolute returns through investment grade government bond issues which continually show near-zero default rates. Unlike the vast majority of global bond products, the performance of the fund will be compared o that of a benchmark index weighted by GDP. It is a more epresentative global index, which concentrates more on economic forces relative to countries than to the volume of debt issued. As a result, the fund strongly prefers growth economies which generate high revenues (through higher returns), while presenting lower levels of public debt (expressed as a percentage of GDP). The strategy is calibrated in order to take advantage of the gradual convergence between fixed income markets in emerging and developed economies, due to a mnagement style which is based on criteria common to both markets.

Assets under management at the Ashmore group, specialised in emerging markets, at the end of December 2013 totalled USD75.3bn, compared with USD78.5bn as of the end of September, according to a statement released on 14 January. The decline in assets is due to a net inflow of USD3.5bn, which has been marginally compensated by a positive market of USD0.3bn. Most strategies have seen redemptions, with the notable exception of corporate debt strategies, which have finished the half with assets of USD7bn, compared with USD6.4bn as of the end of September.

Assets under management at the Ashmore group, a specialist in emerging markets, at the end of December 2013 totalled USD75.3bn, compared with USD78.5bn as of the end of September, according to a statement released on 14 January. The decline in assets is the result of a net outflow of USD3.5bn, marginally offset by a positive market effect of USD0.3bn. Most strategies have seen redemptions, with the notable exception of corporate debt strategies, which have finished the quarter with assets of USD7bn, comapred with USD6.4bn in assets as of the end of September.

RBC Global Asset Management has announced the addition of 10 global equity specialists to its investment management team in London. The team of specialists, led by Habib Subjally, join from First State Investments (UK) where they previously managed USD2.5 billion in a variety of global equity strategies for institutions and private clients over the past eight years. Habib Subjally will assume the position of senior portfolio manager and head of global equities. Neil Abbott, Luis Benoliel, Marcus Lun, Jeremy Richardson, Julie Thomas, Dag Wetterwald, Perry Winfield and Ben Yeoh are joining as senior portfolio managers, and Romain Scampini will join as portfolio manager.The new global equity team joins investment professionals at RBC Global Asset Management-UK specializing in emerging markets and European equities, as well as global and emerging markets fixed income. In total, the London office currently comprises 34 investment professionals and staff (including five from the new global equity group). That number will grow to 39 when Habib Subjally and the remaining members join in early March.

John Yule, head of retail clients in the United Kingdom at F&C, has left the firm, Investment Week reports. He was previously sales director at Thames River, and served in a variety of sales positions at F&C since 1994. His responsibilities will be taken over by Rob Thorpe, who joined F&C in December to become head of consumer clients.

Assets under management at the Swiss group Bordier remained stable in 2013, at over CHF10bn, Grégoire Bordier, a partner at the private bank, has told Agefi Switzerland. “The markets have had a positive effect and restructuring asset have had a negative effect, since we are very clearly in the category of the declared money strategy,” says Bordier, who says that net inflows have been negative overall, but positive outside Switzerland, particularly in Singapore, where Bordier now has about CHF1bn in assets under management.

As an addition to its investment expertise unit, Hottinger & Cie has recruited a team specialised in management of commodity investment funds and energies, Agefi Switzerland reports. Pierre Martin, 38, will manage a range of funds specialised in natural resources. He worked for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and then URAM in Geneva. Thomas Couvret, 33, becomes Product Specialist, in charge of sales of funds managed by Hottinger & Cie. He has worked for PIM Gestion France (now known as FourPoints Investment Managers since its merger with IT AM) and then URAM.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) board of administration unanimously re-elected Rob Feckner as board president and elected Priya Mathur as vice president, according to a statement released on 14 January. Feckner will be serving his 10th term as president, while it will be Mathur’s first vice presidential term. She replaces George Diehr who has served as vice president for the last six years.

Robeco is adding to its team in Asia-Pacific. Ryan Changwon Kim last month joined the Dutch group in Seoul as head of its South Korean office. His mission will be to provide development of activities in Korea. Kim, who had previously served as head of investment advising at Mercer, replaces Ken S. Park, who in July last year joined Oaktree Capital Management in Hong Kong as vice president in charge of marketing and client relationships.

High-net-worth investors in the U.S. (investable assets greater than USD5 million) maintain an average of 4 investment provider relationships, according new research from Cerulli Associates."Wealth provides many investors with the privilege of benefiting from institutional products and prices across asset managers, and it also grants them the ability to leverage their status among providers and advisors,» states Donnie Ethier, associate director at Cerulli. «High-net-worth investors continue to steadily diversify their advice providers.» «Overall, high-net-worth investors appear reluctant to terminate existing relationships,» Ethier explains. «In fact, nearly one-quarter of high-net-worth households report their primary provider controls at least 90% of their investable assets.»

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management has put in place a fee limitation agreement which will reduce total charges on assets in the db X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (ASHR), which will fall from 1.08% to 0.82%, Wealth Adviser reports Since the launch of the fund on 6 November 2013, with an initial investment of USD108m, assets under management have virtually doubled to USD212m. The good reception for the strategy has made it possible to pass on savings on costs to investors, the firm says.

The daily trading volume of on-book trades on the European markets of NYSE Euronext in December totalled EUR231.9m, up 19% compared with the previous month, and 20% compared with December 2012. Trading volumes totalled EUR4.6bn, up 13.3% compared with November, and 14.4% compared with December 2012. Block trades totalled EUR249.5m, up 80% compared with November, but down 79.4% compared with December 2012. As of the end of December, assets under management in all ETFs listed on the markets of Euronext totalled EUR160.2bn.

Les actifs sous gestion du groupe suisse Bordier sont demeurés stables en 2013, à plus de 10 milliards de francs suisses, indique à L’Agefi suisse Grégoire Bordier, associé de la banque privée. «Les marchés ont eu un effet positif et la restructuration des avoirs, un effet négatif, car nous nous inscrivons très clairement dans la stratégie de l’argent déclaré», explique Grégoire Bordier qui précise que la collecte nette a été globalement négative mais positive hors de Suisse, notamment à Singapour, où Bordier gère désormais environ 1 milliard de francs.

Afin de compléter son pôle d’expertise en investissement, Hottinger & Cie a recruté une équipe spécialisée dans la gestion de fonds de placements sur les matières premières et les énergies, rapporte L’Agefi suisse. Pierre Martin (38 ans) assurera la gestion d’une gamme de fonds spécialisée sur les ressources naturelles. Il a travaillé pour Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank puis URAM à Genève. Thomas Couvret (33 ans) devient Product specialist, en charge de la commercialisation des fonds gérés par Hottinger & Cie. Il a travaillé pour PIM Gestion France (devenue FourPoints Investment Managers après sa fusion avec IT AM) puis URAM.

Sur les 11 premiers mois de l’année écoulée, le petit nombre de fonds alternatifs dirigés par une femme dans le monde a enregistré une performance de 9,8% alors que l’indice global HRFX Global Hedge Fund progressait de 6,13% seulement, selon le cabinet spécialisé Kass, qui a créé son propre indice des fonds gérés par des femmes. Les chiffres sont encore plus parlants sur la période de janvier 2007 à juin 2013: les hedge funds gérés par des femmes ont enregistré un rendement moyen de 6% alors que l’indice de référence HRFX perdait 1,1%. Sur la même période, l’indice Standard & Poor’s 500 de la Bourse de New York a progressé de 4,2%. L’excès de testostérone rendrait les hommes moins sensibles aux signaux risque-rendement, selon Kass.

Les négociateurs de la Commission européenne et du Parlement ont trouvé mardi tard dans la soirée un accord sur la révision de la directive et du règlement marchés d’instruments financiers (Mifid et Mifir). Le nouveau texte a mis plus de deux ans et demi à aboutir. Il donne notamment des pouvoirs accrus à l’Autorité européenne de supervision des marchés (Esma) pour limiter les prises de positions spéculatives, et vise également à encadrer le développement du trading haute fréquence. Les textes posent aussi des obligations de transparence forte quels que soient les lieux de négociation. Ils créent un nouveau type de plate-forme de négociation, les organized trading facilities (OTF).

L’Allemagne a emprunté en 2013 un solde net de 22,1 milliards d’euros, moins que l’objectif qui avait été fixé à 25,1 milliards, a annoncé mercredi le ministère des Finances. Les dépenses de l’Etat fédéral se sont montées à 307,8 milliards d’euros et les recettes à 285,7 milliards. Le déficit budgétaire est ressorti à 0,1% du produit intérieur brut.

La filiale du groupe OFI a annoncé que son second fonds infrastructures, InfraVia European Fund II, a acquis auprès de Dalkia France sa participation de 24% au capital du réseau de distribution de gaz de la ville de Bordeaux et de 45 communes avoisinantes. Régaz est le plus important distributeur de gaz indépendant en France.

Les ventes au détail ont progressé plus que prévu en décembre aux Etats-Unis, donnant à penser que l'économie a gagné en dynamisme à la fin de l’an passé. Le département du Commerce a en effet fait part d’une progression des ventes au détail hors automobile, essence, matériaux de construction et services alimentaires de 0,7% après un gain de 0,2% en novembre.

L’excédent des comptes courants de l’Allemagne a vraisemblablement atteint un nouveau record en 2013, à environ 190 milliards d’euros, une part élevée du produit des exportations ayant été investie à l'étranger, selon l’institut Ifo. Avec un excédent courant représentant 7,3% du PIB, l’Allemagne dépasse une nouvelle fois la limite haute de 6% recommandée par l’Union européenne en la matière.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs spécialisé sur les marchés émergents a concédé au quatrième trimestre 2013 une décollecte de 3,5 milliards de dollars. De quoi entraîner un repli de 4,1% des actifs sous gestion à 75,3 milliards au 31 décembre dernier. Ashmore précise que la majorité des sorties nettes sont le fait d’un nombre restreint de mandats regroupant de la dette gouvernementale et d’entreprises ainsi que de la gestion de devises.

Amundi et UniCredit ont dévoilé la signature d’un partenariat portant sur le financement de l’économie réelle par le biais de fonds de prêts au bénéfice des PME allemandes. Les partenaires ont annoncé la signature d’un premier financement de 25 millions d’euros sous forme de «Schuldschein». Responsable mondial des gestions taux chez Amundi, Eric Brard s’est félicité de pouvoir offrir aux investisseurs «des opportunités de solutions très diversifiées en ligne avec (les ambitions d’Amundi) dans le domaine des fonds de loans».

Le bureau de l’Unédic a adopté hier une prévision de déficit de 4,3 milliards d’euros en 2014, contre un déficit confirmé à 4 milliards pour 2013. Cette prévision est fondée sur l’hypothèse d’une croissance de + 0,8% et sur une hausse modérée du nombre de demandeurs d’emploi indemnisés (+13.900 sur l’année). La dette augmenterait de 24,2% sur un an pour atteindre 22,1 milliards à fin 2014.

Bruxelles pourrait proposer une réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 35% ou 40% d’ici 2030 pour l’Union européenne, ce qui constituerait un objectif moins ambitieux que précédemment. La proposition doit être officiellement présentée le 22 janvier lorsque l’exécutif européen dévoilera sa stratégie en matière de politique énergétique et climatique pour les deux prochaines décennies. Il s’agira d’une mise à jour des objectifs fixés pour 2020, qui constituent la référence depuis 2007.