Nuveen Asset Management has appointed Ron Perry as senior vice president and portfolio manager on its team specialised in separated managed accounts (SMA). Perry, who will be based in New York, previously worked at Western Asset Management, where he was already a specialist in SMA accounts.

The Blackstone fund will return the Hilton hotel group to public trading in first half 2014, six years after taking it private for over USD26bn, Hilton Worldwide has engaged Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, to carry out an operation which will require refinancing in advance of the large levels of debt the hotel group has – about USD13bn. Blackstone, which also hopes to make a profit on improvement in the hotel industry, is also planning to sell off other hotel assets, including the La Quinta china, also by the end of the year if possible, through a sale or IPO.

Pioneer Investments has selected the Japanese asset management firm Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management to manage the Pioneer Funds – Japanese Euqity fund, Citywire reports. The objective for the partnership is to increase expertise at Pioneer in the Japanese market.

Assets under management at Banca Mediolanum totalled EUR53.5bn at the end of first half, up 4% compared with the beginning of the year, and 9% compared with the end of June 2012. Banca Mediolanum in ist half posted net inflows of EUR1.23bn, with subscriptions to collective investment funds totalling a net EUR2.58bn. The group has earned net prpfits of EUR199.5m, down 8% compared with the corresponding period of 2012.

In the opinion of most European investors, the banking union act currently being debated in Brussels would not reduce the default risk for euro zone banks, according to a study of investors managing a total of EUR5.6trn in assets carried out in July, and published on 8 August by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings. More than one third of them (39%) claim that the risk will not be reduced, since the three pillars of reform (single supervision, resolution mechanism and a guarantee for deposits) will not be applied in full. One quarter of invetors surveyed (27%) also think that the establishment of a non-public resolution mechanism suggests that the banks would have less chance of being bailed out in the case of bankruptcy. According to the study, only 28% of investors feel that the changes to European legislation would permit default risks ot be reduced, a sentiment which has however, improved since the publication on 10 July this year of a draft resolution mechanism for banking crises. The ratings agency Fitch estimates that the first area of banking union, single supervision, will bring coherence and will allow for the risk levels at varius euro zone banks to be compared, which would allow for bankruptcy risks ot be reduced. However, the resolution mechanism makes a public solution for banks less likely, according to Fitch, which could lead investors to favour establishments which are considered safer. The study also finds that investors are increasingly trusting the banking sector in general, as reflected in their portfolios and their recommendations.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese central bank is considering launching a new sovereign fund in order to give a new breath to competition to manage the country’s currency reserves, Les Echos reports. There are already four of them, including the two largest, SAFE and CIC, as well as the National Social Security Fund and the China Africa Development Fund, focused on Africa. Chinese currency reserves (USD3.5trn) are subject to an intense power struggle between the Chinese central bank, which is allied with the SAFE fund, and the finance minister, who supplies the CIC. Currently SAFE is the largest sovereign fund in the world, with about USD750bn, followed by the Norwegian oil fund. CIC has about USD580bn. The rivalry may be due to their performance and some adventurous investments.

Ludovic Chechin-Laurans is leaving his position as a member of the executive board and director of Private Banking Switzerland at EFG International, the bank has announced in a statement released on 8 August. The departure is for personal reasons. Chechin-Laurans is returning to the Bahamas, where he will develop new activities and collaborate with EFG International on them. He is leaving the firm on good terms, according to the release.

After strong inflows of GBP5.6bn in first quarter, Schroders in second quarter 2013 posted net outflows totalling GBP1.1bn, the British asset management firm has announced at a publication of its interim results. The outflows were concentrated in the month of June. According to an article in Investment Week, this could be partly due to the departure of manager Richard Buxton, the head of UK equities. Overall, in first half, Schroders nonetheless posts a positive balance of GBP4.5bn in inflows, which remains well above the total recorded in the corresponding period of 2012 (GBP2.7bn). Assets also increased 21% year on year, to GBP225.7bn, including GBP6.6bn from STW, a US asset management firm whose acquisition was completed in April. Profits before tax and exceptional items rose 29%, to GBP228m, and profits before tax increased to GBP221.7m.

Threadneeedle Investments has appointed Alastair Caw as head of wholesale clients in the United Kingdom, Investment Week reports. He replaces Gary Collins, who has been promoted to head of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Assets under management at the asset management firm Henderson Global Investors as of the end of June totalled GBP67.9bn, compared with GBP65.6bn as of the end of December 2012, the firm announced as of 8 August, 2013. In fist half, Henderson posted net inflows of GBP0,6bn to the retail segment, but on the institutional side, the half brought net redemptions totalling GBP2bn, largely due to the defection of a former Gartmore client. Market effects and currency movements generated an increase in assets of GBP3.7bn. The group in first half earned pre-tax profits of GBP101.1m, compared with GBP82.8m in first half 2012. Performance commissions increased to GP57.5m, compared with GBP22.2m.

In first half, operating profit generated by Aviva Investors was GBP31m, an increase of GBP17m compared with the prior year. This improvement was driven by higher revenues, reflecting positive market movements and performance fees, and lower costs as a result of the cost saving initiatives undertaken over the last year. Overall operating expenses have fallen by GBP4 million compared with the first half of 2012, with reductions in staff and recruitment expenditure. However, Aviva Investors continues to be viewed within the group as a “turnaround” business, according to the first half report released on Thursday. “Aviva Investors has underperformed from a shareholder perspective and we expect it to play a more prominent role in the group going forward. We have recently appointed Euan Munro who will play a pivotal role helping Aviva Investors, a core part of the Group, improve its profitability and contribution to Aviva,” the financial document says. In the first six months of the year, the asset management firm has seen net outflows of EUR2.333bn. Its assets have nonetheless increased by GBP8.5bn, to GBP344.7bn.

The asset management firm Standard Life Investments in first half posted record external net inflows of GBP7.1bn, compared with GBP0.6bn in first half 2012, the Standard Life group announced on 8 August in a statement. The firm adds that 51% (GBP3.6bn) of these inflows came from outside the United Kingdom. External assets under management as of the end of June totalled GBP93.4bn, compared with GBP83bn as of the end of December. Pre-tax operating profits at Standard Live Investments rose 37%, to GBP93m. Assets under administration by the group increased 7% in first half, to GBP232.8bn.

Skandia has formed a strategic alliance with the financial sector service provider International Finance Data Sergvices (IFDS), in order to improve its range of services to financial advisers and their clients in the United Kingdom. Some positions will also be outsourced to IFDS, which will allow Skandia to improve and strengthen its range of products and services.

The Norwegian oil fund, which has USD760bn in assets under management, wants to create a corporate governance advisory board, the Financial Times reports. After quadrupling its assets in the past 8 years, the sovereign fund is seeking to play a larger role in the selection of directors at major businesses in its portfolio. The committee will include three British governance and finance experts: Peter Montagnon, John Kay and Tony Watson.

Au premier semestre 2013, les fonds allemands ont enregistré une collecte nette de 41 milliards d’euros, selon les statistiques communiquées par l’association allemande des gestionnaires d’actifs (BVI). Sur ce total, les fonds dédiés se taillent la part du lion avec une collecte nette de 32, 6 milliards d’euros, les fonds ouverts affichant en net 10,6 milliards d’euros de souscriptions.Les compagnies d’assurances et les institutions de retraite ont représenté les trois quarts de la collecte des fonds dédiés, avec un montant de 25,2 milliards d’euros.Les encours des fonds dédiés s'élèvent à 1.004 milliards d’euros, dont 60% en provenance des assureurs et des institutions de retraite. Les actifs sous gestion des fonds ouverts se montent pour leur part à 675 milliards d’euros.L’association professionnelle relève que la collecte a fortement progressé au premier semestre alors même que l’offre de nouveaux fonds a diminué. Les sociétés de gestion n’ont lancé que 219 nouveaux fonds, contre une moyenne de 330 au cours des premiers semestres des années 2007 à 2012.

Ashmore Investments a converti au format Ucits quatre de ses fonds afin de les distribuer plus largement en Europe, rapporte Citywire. Les fonds concernés sont Ashmore Global Small Cap fund; Ashmore Latin American Small Cap fund; Ashmore Middle East fund; Ashmore South Asian Stars fund.

L’agence de refinancement hypothécaire a fait savoir hier que son bénéfice du deuxième trimestre avait presque doublé en glissement annuel pour atteindre 10,1 milliards de dollars, ce qui lui permettra de verser un dividende de 10,2 milliards de dollars au Trésor américain en septembre. Après ce paiement, Fannie Mae aura ainsi versé quelque 105 milliards de dollars de dividendes au Trésor, soit quasiment 90% de l’aide publique perçue.

Les inscriptions hebdomadaires au chômage ont enregistré une hausse moins importante que prévu aux Etats-Unis lors de la semaine du 29 juillet au 3 août mais restent proches de leur plus bas niveau antérieur à la crise financière, un signe encourageant pour l'économie américaine. Les inscriptions se sont élevées à 333.000, contre 328.000 (révisé) la semaine précédente.

Le taux de chômage a atteint en Grèce un nouveau record en mai, à 27,6%, contre 27,0% (chiffre révisé) en avril, soit plus du double du taux moyen de la zone euro, qui était de 12,1% en juin, selon des données officielles publiées hier. Ce taux est le plus élevé depuis que le service de la statistique Elstat a débuté la publication de cet indicateur en 2006.

Selon des données publiées hier par les douanes, les exportations chinoises ont augmenté de 5,1% en juillet par rapport à il y a un an, contre -3,1% en juin et un consensus des économistes de +3%. Comme les importations ont bondi de 10,9%, soit plus de cinq fois plus que prévu, l’excédent commercial, à 17,8 milliards de dollars, est ressorti à un niveau inférieur aux attentes.

Contrairement à la BoE, les investisseurs estiment qu’il faudra moins de trois ans pour que le chômage britannique passe sous le seuil de 7%

Tokyo s’est engagé hier sur une réduction des dépenses de 62 milliards d’euros sur deux ans, mais hésite encore à relever le taux de TVA

Des résultats trimestriels prometteurs et un rebond des fusions-acquisitions ont soutenu les performances des fonds arbitragistes

Les injections de liquidités sont l’occasion pour la banque centrale d’imposer des rendements en baisse pour soulager les tensions monétaires

La Banque Populaire de Chine a injecté 27 milliards de yuans (3,3 milliards d’euros) hier sur le marché monétaire par le biais d’opérations de reverse repos, en fixant le taux moyen à des niveaux en baisse de 40 points de base par rapport à sa précédente intervention la semaine dernière.

La plupart des économies riches connaissent « une amélioration limitée de la croissance » selon les indicateurs composites avancés de l'OCDE

Après avoir trébuché en juin, les fonds arbitragistes se sont repris en juillet: l’indice composite Hedge Fund Research affiche une performance positive de 1,36%, qui porte son gain depuis le début de l’année à 4,73%. Portées par des résultats trimestriels prometteurs, les stratégies consacrées aux actions sont les plus performantes.

La plupart des économies riches connaissent « une amélioration limitée de la croissance » selon les indicateurs composites avancés de l'OCDE.

The British investment management association (IMA) is planning to add to the fixed income sector, with the introduction of a new category, which would include emerging market bond funds, Fundweb reports. The new category, IMA Global Emerging Markets Bond, will be released on 31 December 2013, while modifications have also been made to other fixed income categories. The definition of the Global Bond sector will need to be clarified in order to take into account the introduction of the new category. All of these modifications will also be introduced at the end of December 2013, with a transitional period to run until 31 March 2014. Funds will be eligible to be classed in this category if they invest at least 80% of their assets in emerging market bonds, as defined by a known emerging market bond index. The funds must also respect a geographical diversification imperative. Emerging market debt represents an established asset class, with known and recognised funds such as the Pictet Emerging Local Currency debt (GBP7.8bn in assets under management), the Templeton Emerging Markets Bond (GBP5.4bn), and the Pimco GIS Emerging Local Bond (GBP5bn). The professional association has also published its 11th annual report on the asset management sector, which observes that assets under management in the United Kingdom as of the end of 2012 reached a record GBP4.5trn. The report points out a few major trends, particularly a propensity for portfolios to be rendered less sensitive, resulting in a modification of allocations. An emblematic example of this trend is a long-term declining trend for equity funds, which accounted for 52% of total assets under management in funds in 2012, compared with 89% in 2013. The origin of this development is diversification and the objective announced in recent years to seek returns while also requiring capital protection.

The Swiss Federal financial market surveillance authority, Finma, claims that the recovery and liquidation capacity of banks which are “too big to fail.” With this in mind, on 7 August it released a position paper on recovery and liquidation of banks operating internationally. A credible threat of bankruptcy is essential to ensure a certain rigour in a market-based economic system, Finma claims. An “effective and co-ordinated” international recovery and liquidation strategy is thus “of central importance in the context of the ‘too big to fail’ issue, which affects banks of systemic importance,” the financial market watchdog adds. Finma recommends an approach in which the national watchdog authority co-ordinates recovery and liquidation for the entire group. The surveillance authority must, for example, be able to impose participation by landers to the bank who have suffered losses. In particular, creditors of bank loans may also participate in recapitalising the firm. That would also win time to reorganize the viable banking sector, and to transfer to a viable business model, says Finma, which prefers this approach.