M&G will launch a Global Corporate Bond fund for Ben Lord next week, Investment Week has learned. The manager is already responsible for a series of bond funds, including the Short Dated Corporate Bond fund. With the new fund, Lord will aim to invest in corporate bonds worldwide, with a less marked bias for British corporate bonds than with other portfolios from the group.

The British ETC provider ETF Securities has announced that it has signed a partnership with the Royal Mint, by which retail shareholders in Gold Bullion Securities (GBS) listed in London will be allowed to exchange their shares for sovereigns or Brittania coins, the most popular gold coins in the United Kingdom.ETF Securities claims to be the first ETP provider to offer such an option, which is made possible due to the physical gold backing of GBS, which was launched in 2004, and which currently has assets of USD4.6bn.

With the assistance of Rheinishce Portfolio Management, which is responsible for managing its portfolio, and the Munich-based extra-financial ratings agency oekom reseach, for the sustainable development aspect, Warburg Invest has released a diversified fund for sale which invests in equities in German companies which are well-rated for their environmental, social and governance performance, in German inflation-linked bonds and gold, to be entitled Transparente Invest.The portfolio will be constructed on the bases of risk parity. Equities will be selected according to their inclusion in the sustainable development index DAXglobal Sarasin Sustainability Germany. The fund was launched on 18 February, and is aimed primarily at “defensive” investors.CharacteristicsName: Transparente InvestISIN code: DE000A1JUVV7Front-end fee: 0%Management commission: 0.75%Depository banking commission: 0.05%Minimal subscription: EUR1,000

The New York-based asset management firm Oppenheimer Funds Inc (OFI) has announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with lawyers representing the plaintiffs in six class-action lawsuits concerning the performance of the Rochester National Municipals, Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals, Oppenheimer Rochester Fund Municipals, Oppenheimer Rochester AMT-Free New York Municipal Fund, Oppenheimer New Jersey Municipal Fund et Oppenheimer Pennsylvania Municipal Fund at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.OppenheimerFunds has agreed to pay USD89.5m, which will be distributed to the plaintiffs. The cases had been filed in Colorado Federal court.OppenheimerFunds states that the agreement does not include a class-action lawsuit related to the performance of the Oppenheimer California Municipal Fund, also in 2008, as it maintains that that claim is baseless.

Allianz Global Investors a réduit ses effectifs de 150 personnes après avoir lancé une réorganisation stratégique, rapporte le Financial Times funds management. Cela ramène les effectifs à 1.650 employés. La maison allemande a indiqué avoir externalisé plusieurs postes dans l’informatique, le middle et le back-office.

The interim report from Investeringsforeningen Jyske Invest International, published on Friday, reveals that the 32 sub-funds which make up the fund as of the end of June had assets of DKK6.915bn, compared with DKK7.130bn as of the end of December. This decline of 3% is due to DKK161m in net outflows (compared with DKK74m in the corresponding period of 2012), largely for high yield equity and bond funds, a capital loss of DKK46m, and a negative currency effect of DKK8m. The report states that operating revenues have thus been unsatisfactory throughout first half 2013.Equity funds generated average returns of 1.86%, while bond funds lost 3.80%, and strategy funds posted returns which varied from -2.96% to +8.86%. Strategy funds and developed country bond funds posted net subscriptions.As of the end of June, assets in strategy funds were up to 41% of the total AUM, compared with 38.8% six months previously, while bond funds from developed countries were up to 13.1%, compared with 12.8%. The proportion for equity funds was down to 21% from 22.9%, while high yield bond funds were down by one point to 24.9%.

The Italian government has exempted pension and sovereign funds from paying the financial transaction tax (FTT), which will be introduced on 16 October, IPE.com reports. The Minister of the Economy, Fabrizio Saccomanni, has announced that sovereign funds will not have to pay tax on investments they make in government debt, while pension funds are exempt from tax on the entities or organisations in which they traditionally invest. He added that the purchase of shares or any operations related to ethical funds, or the management of ethical or socially responsible portfolios would not be exempt from the tax.

After the Diversified Currency Income Fund (aconym EAIIX), launched in 2007 (USD800m as of 31 July), Eaton Vance Management has announced the launch of the Eaton Vance Currency Income Advantage Fund (ECIAX), a fund which invests in currencies which are likely to appreciate against the dollar.The new product aims for higher returns and performance than the first fund, with “commensurately” higher risk. Issuers are selected according to whether they are based in countries where the policy mix and economic environment are likely to ensure long-term growth, and thus to attract foreign investors.The ECIAX is managed by a team led by Eric Stein, vice president and co-director of the global income group at Eaton Vance, along with Michael Cirami, his alter ego, and John Bauer, vice president of Eaton Vance and director of global portfolio analysis.As of the end of July, the Boston-based Eaton Vance group, of which Eaton Vance is an affiliate, had assets of USD268.8bn.

A fund from DRA Advisors LLY has sold the office buildings Research Park III and IV (33,000 square metres), in Austin, Texas, to the German firm Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE), for USD103m.The property, leased in its entirety on long-term leases, to tenants including Visa USA and Charles Schwab, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate portfolio UniImmo: Europa, which had already acquired the 555 Mission Street building in San Francisco in June 2012, for USD446.5m.Currently, Union Investment is invested in eight buildings in the United States, and logistical sites, for a total of EUR1.4bn. Martin Brühl, director of international investment management at UIRE, has said that more acquisitions are in preparation in the United States in growing cities, with a focus on core assets in a middle price range.

Rosalind Mann, who has spent the past five years as an investment consultant at Towers Watson, has joined the UK strategic solutions team at Schroders, which has six members and is led by Mark Humphreys.

The wealth management firm St James’s Place has announced the launch of an initiative to promote women at its academy, an entity which offers professionals with strong potential a means to train in financial advising and to work with St James’s.

JP Morgan will merge nine sub-funds as part of a reshuffle of its range of European funds, Citywire global reveals, with a list of the products concerned. Eight other funds, whose names are not yet known, will be merged in the next two months.

After several delays, the European Commission has decided to unveil its “roadmap” for regulation of the shadow banking sector on Wednesday. The initiative at present includes only one piece of legislation, concerning money market funds whose rists are underestimated in the opinion of the Commission. They will in the future be required to have a “liquidity cushion” equal to 3% of the net value of assets, according to a draft which is still subject to modifications. Managers will also be required to “cease to base themselves on external credit ratings,” which would provide a false promise of stability in the immediate sale value of securities, and instead develop an internal ratings system, the newspaper says. The European Commission is also focusing on the various forms of “credit financing transactions,” ranging from repo to securities lending, which have been developed since 2008 as collateral requirements have become more systematic.

UBS Global Asset Management (UBS GAM) has recruited Sammy Yip as head of ETF sales in Asia, a newly-created position, Asian Investor reports. Yip, who previously worked at Lippo Investment Management and SSgA, will be based in Hong Kong. UBS GAM has not yet listed any ETFs in Hong Kong or Singapore. Yip will thus initially be respnsible for sales of ETFs listed elsewhere in the world in Hong Kong and Singapore. ETFs from UBS have assets of USD13.1bn, listed in Australia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Korea, through a joint venture with UBS Hana Asset Management.

UBS Wealth Management has launched its first wealth management training programme for senior client advisers active in the region, The Asset reports. 22 senior advisers in Hong Kong and Singapore became the first to take the two-year training programme, which relies on experts from such big names as Harvard, Columbia, Princeton and the University of Zurich.

Before the long Labor Day weekend, Microsoft announced that it will be nominating a representative from ValueAct Capital Management as a director of the firm. This will be the first time that Microsoft has appointed a director that is not hand-picked.ValueAct, which considers itself a management-friendly activist investor, controls 0.80% of capital in Microsoft, which at current share prices is worth USD2.2bn; the asset management firm is said to have played a key role in the announced departure of Steve Ballmer from his position as CEO of Microsoft.It is expected that the CEO of Value Act, Mason Morfit, will hold regular meetings with a restricted number of Microsoft directors and managers. He may be elected as a director at the Microsoft general shareholders’ meeting in November.

In July 2013, European asset management firms posted inflows totalling EUR26.76bn in net subscriptions, after net redemptions of EUR35bn in June, while equity funds posted the strongest net inflows, with EUR10.2bn, and bond funds have their weakest inflows since May 2012, with EUR5.5bn, Morningstar reports.In the first seven months of the year, net subscriptions totalled EUR207.1bn, of which EUR72.09bn were for bond funds, EUR67.78bn for allocation funds, and EUR39.43bn for equity funds.In the January-July period, JPMorgan has posted the strongest net subscriptions, with EUR16.14bn, followed by BlackRock (EUR14.35bn) and Franklin Templeton (EUR12.65bn). In fourth place is Pimco, with EUR9.15bn, followed by DWS, with EUR5.73bn.In July, the title goes to BlackRock with net subscriptions of EUR2.17bn, followed by JPMorgan (EUR1.67bn) and DWS (EUR858m). Only three major firms posted net redemptions in the month under review: Pimco, with EUR1.35bn, BNP Paribas (EUR849m) and UBS (EUR337m).

In July, financial adviser networks in Italy posted net subscriptions of EUR1.3bn, according to statistics from Assoreti. Revenues from asset management in net brought in EUR1.7bn, an increase of 29% compared with June, while 64.9% of these inflows came via direct sales of shares in mutual funds, with net subscriptions of over EUR1.1bn.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has granted approval for plans to create a fund management firm which would be a joint venture of China Life (with a 51% stake) and the Australian firm AMP Capital (49%). The joint capital in the new joint venture will be CNY588m.Now that the permission of the CIRC has been granted, the two partners may seek a final license from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).The new asset management firm, which has already begun hiring, is expected to be launched by the end of the year, Z-Ben Advisors reports.

Stephan Keiser, head of private banking international since 2006 at Vontobel, where he had been head of Latin American markets, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Italy, will in January 2014 become head of private banking in Zurich at EFG Bank, the largest Swiss affiliate of EFG International. He will report to John Williamson, CEO of the group and CEO of EFG Bank.In his new role, Keiser will be responsible for overseeing the development of ETF Bank not only in Zurich but also in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Redemptions from emerging markets equity and bond funds hit nine week highs heading into September as the prospect of less accommodative US monetary policy pummeled equity indexes and currencies. Europe equity funds took in another USD1.3bn in the week ending August 28, but equity funds overall finished the week with net outflows of USD4.8bn, according to statistics from EPFR Global. Bond funds, for their part, saw redemptions totalling a net USD7.1bn. Net flows into money market funds were a modest USD1.7 billion as commitments to US funds were offset by redemptions from Europe and Japan money market funds.

Hedge funds which charge commissions of more than 20% from their clients are also the ones which bring the highest net returns over four to six years, according to a study by Preqin. These funds also post the highest risk-adjusted net returns, with a Sharpe ratio of 2.11 over a period of three years, compared with 1.18 for funds which charge a commission of 20%. Hedge funds which have a track record of at least three years and which have posted positive returns every month since their launch charge an average outperformance commission of 19.50%. However, funds which have posted positive returns over a period of less than one quarter of the months taken into account charge an average commission of 16.67%. However, investors are far from satisfied with the fee structured applied by the sector: 55% of them would like to see a reduction in management and performance commissions, although a majority of them feel that fee levels have improved, with 68% for management commissions and 58% for performance commissions. As a logical consequence of their dissatisfaction, 57% of investors would like to negotiate the terms of their contract, compared with 46% in 2012. Half of them would like to modify the terms of application for commissions, for example, extending them with the use of hurdle rates and clawbacks.

Assets in hedge funds investing in emerging markets in second quarter rose to a record USD154.9bn, according to the most recent edition of HFR for emerging markets. Inflows in second quarter totalled USD1.79bn, similar to the amount observed in first quarter (USD1.82bn). Over the past three quarters, inflows have totalled USD6.6bn. In second quarter, Equity Hedge strategies attracted USD1.5bn. In terms of regional flows, emerging Asia dominated, with inflows of USD734m. The HFRX Emerging Markets index earned returns of 1.3% in second quarter, and has earned 2.3% since the beginning of the year. The HFRX China index is up 7.5% since the beginning of the year.

The founders of hedge funds have a hard time planning for succession, the Financial Times finds in a long article on the subject. Most of them have decided that the matter is so complicated that they redeemed investors when they retired, or used their money to finance other firms. The reason is simple, the author of the study finds: the star hedge fund managers tend to be entrepreneus with egos and non-conformist opinions. That does not make them natural mentors or people who are likely to share power. The question of succession is important, since one third of assets in the hedge fund sector are managed by principal-founders who will be 60 years old in the next 10 years, a Deloitte survey finds. Some hedge funds, such as Highbridge Capital, are blazing a trail. Glenn Dubin, who founded the firm 23 years ago, recently handed over control to his “baby,” a former Goldman Sachs banker.

Allianz Global Investors has reduced its staff by 150 people, after launching a strategic reorganization, Financial Times fund management reports. This brings staff to 1,650. The German firm has announced that it has outsourced several positions in IT, middle and back office.

The most recent phase of a strategic transformation project at RHJ International (RHJI), which is becoming a specialist financial services firm after having served as a diversified holding company to manage a portfolio of industrial assets, will result in a change in the name of the firm to Kleinwort Benson Group, the firm has announced. It now expects a decision by BaFin by the end of Septembder concerning its planned acquisition of BHF Bank from Deutsche Bank.The activities of the business bank will be transferred into a new legal entity, in which RHJI will hold a 19% stake. The new entity will continue to operate under the name Kleinwort Benson Advisors LLC (KBA).Overall, in first half, consolidated losses groupwide totalled EUR52.1m, but operating losses for basic activity segments (financial services and holding) fell to EUR21.8m, compared with EUR22.2m in first half 2012.The semiannual report states that AUM at Kleinwort Benson Investors (KBI) were up 10%, to EUR4bn, and that assets managed by Kleinwort Benson Wealth Management increased 5% to GBP5.4bn (EUR6.3bn).

Le Comité de Bâle et l’Organisation internationale des superviseurs de marchés (Iosco) ont publié lundi la version définitive de leurs exigences pour les produits dérivés. Le texte fixe le niveaux des appels de marges exigés des banques et des opérateurs non-financiers systémiques pour échanger des dérivés qui ne font pas l’objet d’une compensation centralisée.

NYSE Euronext a lancé des mini-contrats d’options sur l’indice AEX et des mini-contrats à terme sur les indices AEX et CAC40. Les mini-dérivés sur indices sont exactement comme les dérivés sur indices standard à ceci près que la taille de ces contrats est 10 fois inférieure. Les particuliers peuvent ainsi négocier des dérivés sur les indices de référence européens avec un investissement moins élevé.

L’activité du secteur manufacturier chinois a renoué avec la croissance en août après trois mois de contraction grâce au rebond de la demande intérieure, montrent les résultats définitifs de l’enquête mensuelle Markit-HSBC auprès des directeurs d’achats. L’indice PMI du secteur est remonté à 50,1 contre 47,7 en juillet, confirmant la première estimation publiée la semaine dernière.

Les principaux mouvements de Natixis Assurances sur l’allocation d’actifs au cours de l’année 2012 : Renforcement progressif de la poche immobilière, le total de ces actifs passant de 14,1 % à 14,6 % en fin d’année. Processus de réduction de la poche actions engagé Augmentation des placements à court terme au 4ème trimestre pour s'établir à 13,5 % de l’actif Stabilité de la part des obligations à taux fixe jusqu'à fin septembre, puis réduction de manière significative jusqu'à 57 % en fin d’année. La part des obligations à taux variable s'établit à 12,5 % à fin 2011. En détail sur les principales poches : Actions : renforcement de l’exposition à des supports plutôt défensifs ou de style «value», investis sur la zone euro et qui ont surperformé leur indice de référence. Ce renforcement a été réalisé au détriment des positions détenues sur les zones émergentes, alors que l’exposition aux USA a été maintenue jusqu'à fin octobre, avant d'être allégée en fin d’année dans le but de concrétiser des plus-values. Au-delà de cessions ponctuelles de fonds, des positions «small caps» et «or» ont été cédées. Obligations : recherche d’optimisation du couple rendement / risque du portefeuille, parfois en allongeant la duration du portefeuille dans une optique d’adéquation actif-passif. Au cours du 1er semestre, la sélectivité a été de mise, avec des achats réalisés à un taux actuariel moyen supérieur à 4,0 % et portant sur des titres «senior» émis par des institutions financières de 1re qualité, des obligations sécu- risées notées AAA, des obligations émises par entreprises peu sensibles au cycle économique ou relevant du secteur des concessions. Des maturités supérieures à 10 ans ont été acquises au cours de l'été et jusqu’au début de l’automne sur des émetteurs souverains ou quasi-souverains «core» de la zone euro, à des taux allant de 3,5 % à 4,0 %. À l’inverse des arbitrages ont été réalisés sur des obligations d'émetteurs financiers dont l’exposition n'était plus jugée cohérente avec la qualité de crédit. De même, la politique de cession d'émetteurs souverains périphériques (Irlande, Espagne, Italie), engagée au cours de l'été, a été accélérée à compter de la fin du mois d’octobre, conduisant à la cession d’environ 4,5 milliards de nominal, complétée par la cession d’obligations souveraines grecques (232 M€ de prix de revient), d’obligations d'États «core» de la zone euro et d’obligations «corporate». Dans le cadre du réinvestissement de ces cessions, l'écart de rendement constaté entre l’OAT et le Bund de maturité 10 ans a atteint un niveau de 189 bp le 15 novembre, qui a incité à investir sur des obligations d'État français de durée supérieure à 10 ans, procurant des taux de rendement entre 3,81 % et 4,20 %. Quelques achats d’obligations à taux fixe, émises par des entreprises de type «utilities» et bénéficiant a minima d’une notation A-, ont été réalisé fin décembre, à des taux actuariels supérieurs à 3,70 %. À la suite de ces opérations, le portefeuille obligataire à taux fixe d’ABP Vie a vu sa duration réduite de l’ordre de 0,5 et son taux actuariel baisser d’environ 0,15 %.