For Swiss banks, the requirements of MiFid II and the financial services law (LSFIN) do not represent an insurmountable obstacle to the continuation of their activities abroad. Swiss banks estimate that international activities will remain attractive for it, despite regulations now in preparation, particularly in Europe. They see particular potential for growth in wealth management mandates, a durvey by PwC published n 28 August entitled “Barometer Investor Protection Rules,” concerning the impact of investor protection on the Swiss financial market, states. Swiss financial service providers are continuing to bet on cross-border acivities, although a future requirement for Swiss banks located outside the European Union to have a branch inside the European Union governed by MiFID II, the Euorpean directive concerning financial instrument markets, has often been mentioned, the survey finds. Two thirds of investment banks and 44% of cantonal and regional banks intend to remain attractive to clients in the European Union, and to attract them. All participants in the survey say that they would like to grow in the wealth management mandate section as a priority, where margins are comfortable. In this sector, spending related to the introduction of new regulatory rules is “relatively low” and banks could realise significant economies of scale. Another lesson of the survey is that nearly three quarters of participants would like to restrict the current diversity of complex products offered to their clients. They are planning “a general reduction in the complexity of the number of investment products, followed immediately by a decline in volume for these products.” The survey covered 30 Swiss financial service providers with a banking license in Switzerland, or licensed there for securities trading. These are investment banks (foreign and Swiss private banks and wealth managers) and cantonal or regional banks.

The Bank of Thailand is planning to create a sovereign fund in order to use its excess currency reserves and increase the revenues of the central bank, the Bangkok Post reports. The government of the central bank has for years been calling for the creation of a sovereign fund. This time, the return of this project to the foreground is related to the delicate financial situation at the central bank, which has seen losses of THB531bn, or over EUR12bn, largely due to its intervention in the currency markets to stabilise the currency. The sovereign fund, which will be known as the New Opportunity Fund, will be managed as a separate entity or by the central bank itself. The size of the fund has not been specified yet. Currency reserves in Thailand total about USD172bn.

Pioneer Investments has recruited Nils Hemmer as head of sales for wholesale and third party distribution, covering insurers, banks, wealth managers, distribution networks and independent financial advisers, Investment Europe reports. He joins from Fidelity Worldwide Investments, where he was head of sales in charge of insurance companies since 2008. He will report to Oliver Bilal, head of distribution for Germany at Pioneer.

In January-June 2013, operating profits at BHF Bank, which is on the verge of being acquired by RHJ International from Deutsche Bank, totalled EUR6.8m, compared with EUR5.4m, confirming the success of the firm’s recovery plan.Meanwhile, the total assets have been reduced to EUR7.5bn, from EUR8.4bn one year earlier.Assets under management have remained stable at EUR37bn.

Economic profits (pre-tax profits according to IFRS accounting standards, plus the results of valuation of financial instruments) at Deka in first half were up 3.2%, to EUR323.8m, compared with EUR313.8m, and in particular, the central asset management firm for the German savings banks has posted net subscriptions in January-June of EUR4.768bn, compared with net redemptions of EUR1.876bn in the corresponding period of 2012.The net subscriptions to real estate funds totalled EUR1.2bn, compared with EUR1.1bn in the first half of last year, while assets as of 30 June totalled EUR26bn, compared with EUR25.2bn. At end-June, total AUM reached EUR177bn, vs 158,3bn six months earlier.

The investment company Eurazeo has returned to profitability in first half, announcing net profits of EUR328.8m, compared with a loss of EUR126.6m in the same period of last year. In the year 2012 as a whole, Eurazeo posted a net loss for the part of the group of EUR198.5m related to one-time charges. Consolidated net income totalled EUR1.1bn in second quarter, down 1.8% year on year. For the half, it is down 2.2% to EUR2.1bn, according to a statement from the group. The amount of proceeds from sales is EUR853m since the beginning of the year, a statement says. Re-evaluated net assets (RNA), which are considered the most relevant figure for investment companies to measure the value of its stakes as a whole, totalled EUR58 per share as of 30 June 2013, up 7.2% compared with the end of 2012. The firm has since the beginning of the year made four acquisitions for a total of EUR100m (IES, Idéal Résidences, Peters Surgical and Cap Vert Finance), two of which are in the key target strategic sectors of health and the environment.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) on 28 August launched a consultation on methodology to evaluate key attributes of resolution regimes for systemic financial institutions. The Council has laid out a draft methodology with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as normalisation organisms. The methodology proposes a series of evaluation criteria for each international standard, as well as examples and explanations to guide interpretation of the standards. This represents a significant step in settling the problem of institutions that are “too big to fail,” the Council says in a statement. On 12 August, the Council had previously submitted proposals for a financial resolution mechanisms aimed at systemic non-financial institutions.

A group of leading international investment institutions with USD 5.8tn of assets has urged tough new public disclosure rules for oil, gas and mining companies listed in Canada, even as it has warned against the US rolling back its own disclosure rules in this area, according to a press statement released on August 28.In separate letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the investors - among which Amundi, Allianz GI, Aviva Investors, ING IM and UBS GAM, have urged the adoption of a consistent global standard for all significant tax and royalty payments made by extractive companies across their global operations.The move reflects a growing global trend aimed at deterring corruption in resource-dependent countries, beginning with the passage in 2010 of tough extractive sector transparency provisions within the US Dodd Frank Act. This was followed by equivalent requirements in the EU’s Transparency and Accounting Directives in June 2013, following which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans at the G8 Summit in June to follow suit with similar regulations for Canadian-listed extractive companies.However, a July ruling in a US District Court on a suit filed by the American Petroleum Institute threatens to set back this effort by seeking to block the US regulation, and raises uncertainty for companies and investors operating internationally. Investors have therefore come together to highlight the importance of high standards of transparency as well as consistent global regulation.

Zurich Insurance Group on 29 August announced that the chairman of the board of directors, Josef Ackermann, has informed it of his decision to step down from all of his responsibilities as a member and chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately. Ackermann will be replaced as chairman of the board of directors by the vice-chairman, Tom de Swaan. The board says that it respects his decision, which it has accepted with “profound regret,” and thanks Ackermann for his contribution to the success of the group. Ackermann explains that his decision is due to the recent death of the CFO of Zurich, Pierre Wauthier. “The sudden decease of Pierre Wauthier has profoundly shocked me,” says Ackermann, cited in a statement.

The Zurich-based private bank Rothschild Bank is seeking to develop its international wealth management activities in Asia. To this end, Alois Müller has been recruited from early September as Managing Director, responsible for the Rothschild Wealth Management arm in Northern Asia, with headquarters in Hong Kong, a statement released on Wednesday states. Asia is a central axis in the growth strategy for wealth management, the bank notes. Müller joins from UBS, where he served in various management rols for 35 years, in Zurich, London, New York, and most recently, Hong Kong.

The Hedge Fund Association on August 28 announced that it has formed a new academic advisory board to empower and educate students and others about the hedge fund industry.The board will hold HFA symposiums on campuses featuring well-known hedge fund managers and investors as guest speakers, along with hosting online webinars to teach the next generation of professionals not only about the industry, but also finance and ethics.The Hedge Fund Association is an international not-for-profit organization made up of hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, financial advisors, service providers and students.

Switzerland and the United States will soon sign an agreement on a solution to settle the problem of Swiss banks. The Swiss Federal Council, which yesterday examined the solution proposed by the US government to regularise the past, has approved in principle the creation of a joint agreement, according to a brief statement released on 28 August. The Federal Council has made the Federal finance department responsible for “carrying out the necessary work.” Once the joint declaration with the United States is signed, the regulatory text will be released. The signature of the joint declaration will allow Swiss banks to settle the difference over taxation which has opposed them to the United States in the existing legal order, and which in the past has damaged relations between the two countries. The Swiss banking association (ASB) has welcomed the positive decision by the Federal Council on the programme by the US authorities to regularise the situation at Swiss banks. According to the organisation, the last step to find a solution has been taken, and the United States can now launch the programme. “The programme allows Swiss banks a rapid and final settlement of their past with the United States, and creates the necessary legal security,” the ASB writes in a statement.

Auditing companies will in the future be controlled by the Swiss federal revision surveillance authority (ASR), and no longer by the financial market surveillance authority (Finma). The Federal Council on 28 August submitted a proposal to this effect to Parliament. A part of the transfer of competence has already taken place. Since September 2012, the ASR has taken over surveillance of account auditing at banks, insurers and publicly-traded collective capital investments. The other competences of Finma will be transferred after the Federal parliament has granted its approval. Currently, the ASR oversees revision firms, and Finma oversees auditors, though these activities partially overlap. The need to regroup these competences was observed in light practical experience in the past five years, and the lessons drawn from the financial crisis. The restructuring will allow for some administrative redundancies to be eliminated, structures to be rationalised, expertise to be concentrated and the quality of surveillance to be maximised, the government states.

Baring Asset Management has hired James Ross to the newly created role of director of investment process. Alongside overseeing the investment process for existing products, this role has been created to develop, implement and regularly review the investment processes for the suite of new products.James Ross was previously at Alliance Bernstein since 2001. From 2009, he was head of senior portfolio managers, Global Growth; involved in the management of the firm’s global growth equity. He starts on 2 September and will report to Marino Valensise, chief investment officer and be based in London.

The British firm Legal & General Investments has launched an inflation-linked fund, the Global Inflation Linked Bond Index Fund, at the request of independent financial adivsers (IFA), Fund Web reports. The fund, which will charge 0.2% per year, will be based on the Barclays World Government ex UK Inflation Linked Bond fund, composed of inflation-linked bonds issued by governments not including the United Kingdom. The bonds included in the index must be rated at least A- for G7 countries and the euro zone, and AA- for other issuers.

M&G has been required to adjust the income paid to clients for the second consecutive month after accounting errors which led it to overpay investors in its High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (GBP1.3bn), Fund Web reports. About 32,000 subscribers received an excessive sum in May. In July, payments were reduced to take that error into account, but an M&G investigation has found that the firm had excessively reduced the payments. As a result, the next payments, on 31 August, will be more than normal.

The alternative asset management group Man Group has decided to close some products which had aimed to protect the capital of their clients against potential losses, which did not meet their performance objectives, Bloomberg reports. The Man Vision fund, whose assets under management total USD40m, and which aims for returns of over 10% per year, has been closed, according to a letter sent on 12 August to clients, which was obtained by Bloomberg. Man Group has also closed other similar products whose performance was related to that of AHL Diversified, the largest hedge fund from the firm, whose assets under management total about USD14bn, and which has been affected by the announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it is gradually phasing out its quantitative easing. Man Vision, whose assets under management totalled USD160m one year ago, has lost about 5.6% in first half 2013, according to statistics from Bloomberg. The fund also shows a loss of 12% since its launch in July 2008. Assets under management by the guaranteed products unit have fallen 64% in the past two yearsa, to a total of USD4.7bn.

Funds People reports that N mas1 AM in July registered the Spanish hedge fund QMCII Iberian Capital Fund with the CNMV, which aims to acquire large but not majority stakes (between 5% and 20%) in five to seven Spanish and Portuguese small caps (up to EUR1bn in market cap), and which uses the IBEX Small Cap as its benchmark index. The fund manager may also invest in convertible bonds in exceptional cases.The fund is available in four share classes, with fees of 1.35% for the A share class, 1.55% for the B share class, 1.75% for the C share class, and 0.95% for the D share class. All of these charge a performance commission, of 15% for A, B and C share classes, and 10.5% for the D share class. This commission will be charged only of internal returns for the subscriber exceed 7.5% p.a..

The investment office of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) would like to increase its exposure to Asia by a factor of seven in the next few years, Asian Investor reports. The Office currently has nine investment professionals in Hong Kong, and is already planning to increase its investment capacity in private equity and consequently to increase its personnel by at least 30% by the end of the year. The only problem is that it is currently difficult to find private equity specialists in the region, Asian Investor observes. Assets under management by the investment office of the CPP total about CAD189m.

MetLife Advisors has selected ClearBridge Investments, an affiliate of Legg Mason, to manage a growth fund, according to an SEC document cited by Mutual Fund Wire. The fund had previously been managed by Janus, and will thus be changing names, to become the ClearBridge Aggressive Growth Portfolio II.

Sweden’s East Capital, a specialist in emerging and frontier markets, will launch a master-feeder structure in line with the possibilities provided by the UCITS IV legislation.The asset manager’s five Swedish UCITS funds will be converted into feeder funds investing their assets in the corresponding master funds, under East Capital’s existing Luxembourg SICAV umbrella. Implementation is planned for October 1. The master funds are managed by East Capital’s dedicated management company in Luxembourg – East Capital Asset Management SA.“The master-feeder structure will enable East Capital to increase operational efficiency and enhance its distribution efforts internationally, while ensuring its investment approach remains consistent”, according to a press statement. The new structure will also enable investors in the Luxembourg SICAV funds to invest into three new funds; East Capital Baltic Fund, East Capital Balkan Fund and East Capital Turkey Fund.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners is planning to transfer all of its Eastern European management, including management from Paris, to its subsidiary Alfred Berg, based in Stockholm, Sweden, Realtid reports, citing an article in the Swedish daily business newspaper Dagens Industri. “We are going to become the centre for BNP Paribas IP for the management of assets in Eastern Europe, particularly for equities,” Thomas Scherp, CEO of Alfred Berg, has told Dagens Industri. So far, Alfred Berg has about SEK5bn in assets under management in a Russian fund in Stockholm. Dagens Industri esimates BNP Paribas IP’s Eastern European asset management at about USD2bn.

Assets under management at the LGT group, a specialist in private banking and asset management, as of the end of June totalled CHF108.7bn, up by about 7% compared with the end of December 2012, according to a statement released on 28 August. This development is largely due to a net inflows of CHF4.8bn in first half, down slightly compared with first half 2012 (CHF5.5bn), but which represents an annual growth rate of 9%, which it considers “encouraging.” Net profits, however, were down 33% in first half, to CHF86.3m, due to an increase in provisions to confront changed fiscal conditions, including a tax withholding agreement signed between Switzerland and the United Kingdom, a statement says.

The CAC 40 is calculated not including dividends, unlike the German DAX. The Paris stock exchange would now light to emphasize profitability on the index, which includes dividends, Les Echos reports. The various indices of the Paris stock exchange are price indices which do not take into account dividend payments to shareholders. The CAC 40 price index has risen 8.77% since the beginning of the year, while the profitability index, for its part, is up by 11.95%.

La banque centrale indonésienne (BI) a relevé de 50 points de base ses principaux taux directeurs jeudi pour tenter de défendre la roupie, l’une des monnaies les plus touchées ces derniers mois par le désengagement massif des capitaux étrangers des marchés émergents. Le taux de référence atteint ainsi 7% et le taux de rémunération des dépôts bancaires au jour le jour (FASBI) 5,25%.

Thierry Brevet, directeur du fonds de dotation du Louvre à la rédaction de www.institinvest.com : Nous disposons d’un volant de liquidités de l’ordre de 15 % du portefeuille, en attente d’investissement. Même si le monétaire ne rapporte rien, il reste pour nous une alternative valable à un investissement obligataire qui peut enregistrer une perte en capital significative (pour mémoire, le fonds de dotation du Louvre ne peut pas comptabiliser ses obligations au prix de revient amorti à l’instar de ce que font les assureurs ou les mutuelles). Nous souhaitons continuer notre montée en charge sur les actions. Les produits de crédit à taux variable sont une piste de diversification potentielle, mais la réglementation actuelle nous limite dans nos possibilités d’investissement. Une autre possibilité que nous étudions serait de mettre en place des mandats obligataires dits « absolute return » comportant une très grande latitude de gestion. Mais certains de ces fonds ont enregistré des performances décevantes malgré leur profil diversifié et leur pilotage souple de la duration. A titre de curiosité, si l’on compare la structure du portefeuille du fonds de dotation à celle des grandes fondations américaines, on constate la différence suivante. Le fonds de dotation n’est investi ni en « hedge funds », ni en « private equity », alors que le poids de ces deux classes d’actifs est respectivement de 23 % et de 7 % pour les « endowments funds » américains, qui, en contrepartie, sont nettement moins exposés aux obligations. Les fondations américaines retirent pas mal d’avantages de leurs placements alternatifs en termes de rendement ajusté du risque. Nous n’envisageons pas d’investir dans des « hedge funds » pour un certain nombre de raisons. En revanche, nous pourrions nous poser la question d’investir en « private equity », une catégorie de placements en adéquation avec la philosophie d’investisseur à long terme du fonds de dotation.

Le gouvernement italien est parvenu à un accord sur la réforme de la très impopulaire taxe d’habitation, l’IMU. Celle-ci sera abrogée à compter du début 2014, a déclaré le président du Conseil, Enrico Letta, et remplacée par un prélèvement appelé «taxe de service». Les deux acomptes de l’IMU dus en septembre et décembre 2013 seront supprimés.

Le Fonds européen de stabilité financière a placé 3 milliards d’euros d’obligations arrivant à maturité en 2034. Le spread ressort à mid-swap plus 37 points de base, ce qui donne pour les investisseurs un rendement de 3,04%. Barclays, Deutsche Bank et RBS ont piloté l’opération. Le FESF n’a réalisé que deux émissions impliquant une maturité égale ou supérieure à 20 ans depuis janvier 2011.

Contrairement à ce que nous indiquions hier, les placements privés dits US PP ne sont pas concernés par la réforme de la SEC. Celle-ci concerne deux types de placements privés de dette ou d’actions (Reg D et 144A). Par ailleurs, la levée de l’interdiction sur la sollicitation des investisseurs est déjà appliquée depuis le mois de juillet. Les autres mesures sont encore en consultation.

Les promesses de vente immobilière ont diminué de 1,3% en juillet, leur deuxième baisse consécutive, la remontée des taux des crédits immobiliers pesant sur la reprise du marché, selon les chiffres de l’Association nationale des agents immobiliers (NAR). L’indice des promesses de vente calculé par la NAR s’est établi à 109,5 en juillet, contre 110,9 pour le mois de mai.