P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The real estate investment division of the asset & wealth management unit Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) of Deutsche Bank on 31 July announced that it has sold one of its funds’ 70% stake in the department store chain Le Printemps to “private interests in Qatar.” The sale price has not been disclosed.< Le Printemps was acquired in October 2006 from Kering (formerly PPR), through a joint venture with Borletti Group SCA. Following the acquisition, DeAWM reorganized the business, initially composed of 12 stores which it owned and a distribution activity, selling seven stores to investors to lease back. DeAWM also set up a global strategic plan “which transformed Le Printemps from a traditional high-street retail chain into a luxury destination,” a statement says. The repositioning strategy “helped to improve earnings and the EBITDA margin for the firm.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For second quarter as for first half, the asset management unit at Lazard Ltd has posted record earnings of USD243m (+18% year on year) and USD483m (+16%), respectively.However, assets as of 30 June totalled USD163bn, which represents a decline of 5% compared with the end of March, due to a negative market effect and net outflows of USD4bn during the quarter, primarily due to global equity strategies and the loss of a local equity mandate. As of the end of June 2012, assets under management totalled USD148bn, meaning that total assets are up by USD15bn, or slightly over 10% year on year.Adjusted net profits for second quarter 2013 totalled USD60m, compared with USD33m in the corresponding period of last year, but according to GAAP accounting standards, they remain unchanged at USD31m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 June, assets at AllianceBernstein totalled USD434.6bn, which represents a decline of USD8.6bn compared with the end of March, and an increase of USD27.3bn compared with their level twelve months earlier. In second quarter 2013, the asset management firm has posted net subscriptions of USD0.2bn, due to institutional net inflows of USD4.7bn, offset by USD3.2bn in net redemptions to retail, and USD1.3bn in net redemptions to private clients.Net profits distributable to shareholders in AllianceBernstein LP (the operating partership) totalled USD120.7m for first quarter, compared with USd114.52m in January-March, and USD74.18m in the corresponding period of 2012.For AllianceBernstein Holding LP (the publicly-traded partnership), net profits total USD40.62m, compared with USD38.47m in first quarter, and USD21.34m in April-June 2012, respectively.AllianceBernstein Holding will on 29 August pay a dividend of 41 cents per share (compared with 38 cents in January-March and 21 cents for the second quarter of last year) to shareholders registered as of the close of trading on 12 August 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In second quarter, net subscriptions at Invesco Ltd fell to USD1.4bn, compared with USD18.7bn in first quarter, and a net outflow of USD8.5bn in the corresponding period of last year.Despite that, assets as of 30 June were down to USD705.6bn as of 30 June (see Newsmanagers of 15 July), compared with USD707.7bn as of the end of March. As of the end of June 2012, assets under management totalled USD627.6bn.Invesco explains in its quarterly report that the decline in assets as of the end of June is due to a negative market effect of USD1.3bn in April-June (though it was positive to the tune of USD30.5bn in January-March), and a decline of USD2.6bn due to currency effects (compared with USD8.9bn in first quarter). As to financial results, Invesco has declared net profits distributable to ordinary shareholders in second quarter down to USD223.7m, from USD225.5m in January-March. However, this total represents a 24.2% increase compared with USD180.1m recorded for the corresponding period of last year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The State Street Investor Confidence Index was up by 0.8 points in July 2013, to 107.6, compared with a corrected level of 106.8 for June. It was largely appetite for risk on the part of investors in Asia which was the cause of this increase, as the regional index rose from 89.3 points ot 100.8. To a lesser extent, the appetite for risk on the part of European investors also increased, form 98.2 to 105.7. However, investors in North America became slightly more conservative, resulting in a slight decline for the index from 114 to 113.7. “This month, North American investors were concerned about the rapid rise of equities and interest rates,” says Mr. Froot, co-author of the index. “The risk-on outlook of last month was betting on the fact that the rise in interest rates could not ibe interpreted as ndicating future inflation or growth – it would simply be a reduction in the distortion of the interest rate curve caused by the Fed’s QEIII programme. Investors have returned to a more realistic concern: with or without distortion, an increase in the normal or real interest rate would result in less credit being offered, less leverage, and slower growth. This was shown by the most recent quarterly results, which were mixed. This is also a sign that the previous predictions about growth are, so far, unverified.” Mr. O’Connell, another co-author of the index, says that “the most decisive bet in the scenario which has been playing out since the beginning of the month is what is happening with European and Asian investors. … We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with adjustments for Chinese growth, where they are acting gently, and taking the occasion to accelerate growth in order to balance their books. As a result, the range of repercussions of real economic growth is, in reality, more limited than it has been for a long time.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds People reports that as of 30 June, asset management assets at Santander totalled EUR156.5bn, 2% higher than at the end of December, and 14% higher than one year previously. Of this total, traditional management represents EUR15.7bn, of which EUR98.1bn were for Sicavs and pension plans. In Spain, assets under management totalled EUR54.5bn, compared with EUR43.6bn in Brazil, EUR24.3bn in Mexico, and EUR10.8bn in Mexico [sic]. Non-traditional management (real estate, hedge funds and private equity) had stable assets of USD3bn. Funds People also reports that net profits from asset management in the asset management/insurance unit (see Newsmanagers of 31 July) in first half totalled EUR57m, which represents an increase of 7.7% compared with January-June 2012, due to a rise in assets under administration and a decline in recovery costs.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss food and beverage group Nestlé has retained Pimco to manage an Irish-registered global credit fund, the Robusta Global Credit Bond fund, through a cooperation between Robusta Asset Management and the US asset management firm, Citywire reports. The fund has been in existence since December 2004, and the agreement took effect on 31 July. Robusta AM is responsible for the management of the pension fund and other liquidity for the Nestlé group, and its assets as of the end of 2012 totalled CHF8.8bn. In February 2012, Robusta awarded management of an emerging market fund to Schroders.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: «Times New Roman»,serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: «WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: «Lohit Hindi"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { } According to Agefi, A. R. Schmeidler & Co and Goelzer Investment Management will be required to pay a fine of USD1.5m for failing to apply best execution rules for the benefit of their clients. Goelzer states that it has created a full-time position for an independent head of compliance.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the British wealth management firm St. James’s Place as of the end of June totalled GBP39.9bn, up 29% since the beginning of the year, the firm announced in its interim report on 31 July. Net inflows in first half totalled GBP1.99bn, compared with GBP1.51bn in the same period of the previous year. The number of advisers rose 6.5% in the half, and 12% over one year.

Although Friends Life withdrew GBP6bn in bond assets as of the end of June, assets from “strategic partners” managed by F&C Asset Management fell by only GBP4.77bn in first half, to GBP53.71bn. Meanwhile, assets from “consumers and institutionals” increased over the six-month period to GBP1.85bn, to GBP38.6bn. The latter point is due to net subscriptions of GBP432m, a positive performance effect of GBP360m, and a positive currency effect of GBP1.06bn.Overall, assets under management by F&C as of the end of June represented GBP92.31bn, compared with GBP95.22bn six months previously.Richard Wilson, CEO, points out that F&C has perfectly maintained its savings plan, to save GBP48.8m by 2015.Pre-tax profits for the group in first half increased to GBP37.4m, compared with GBP51.9m in July-December 2012 and GBP22.1m in the corresponding period of last year.

IMA CEO Dan Godfrey on July 31st stated on his blog that the Association has just issued a public consultation on its “Statement of Recommended Practice” (SORP) for the Annual Report & Accounts of UK Authorised funds. This is supposed to represent a «significant milestone on the road to the provision of a simple, all-inclusive, pounds and pence number that will give investors a good sense of what the cost of holding units in a fund has been and which they can compare to their investment return to begin to get a sense of value». The SORP proposes that all Annual Report & Accounts should contain tables that set out, for a unit held throughout the course of the year, details of: ■The performance per unit ■The charges per unit for managing and operating the fund ■The amount per unit for all transaction costs incurred when the manager buys and sells holdings on the fund’s behalf. In combination, they produce a single pounds and pence figure that provides a clear view of the charges and costs of holding a unit and the value added to that unit throughout the accounting year. Customers will be able to dig deeper if they wish. The charges will be broken down to show the Annual Management Charge and all other charges for administration and operating the fund. Together these charges make up the ongoing charges figure. The transaction costs will be broken down into tax and dealing costs, with the dealing costs further sub-divided into execution and research costs. Dan Godfrey reports that the IMA has had «terrific support for this initiative» from its members and external stakeholders. He finally hopes that, if the details are agreed for the SORP by the end of the year, «we will start to see the data being introduced in the course of 2014".

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the south district court of New York have signed a non-prosecution agreement with the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB), by which the Liechtenstein bank agrees to pay USD23.8m as a fine under previously determined ad-hoc conditions.The agreement concludes several months of negotiations concerning an investigation by the US authorities into knowing whether LLB Vaduz clients violated US tax and/or market regulations, and if the bank itself may have been implicated in these deeds.By the agreement, the US authorities expressly foreswear any legal action and any subsequent fines.LLB states that it will now continue talks to obtain a settlement of the same type for LLB (Schweiz) AG, the Swiss affiliate, as well as for swisspartners Investment Network. These firms have already built up cash reserves to confront any administrative reviews of their accounts for first half 2013 and 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Asian Investor, Amundi is taking an increased interest in South-East Asian retail clients. The French asset management firm is currently working to register its equity and bond funds with various distribution platforms in Singapore. These efforts to serve retail clients are among Amundi’s projects which see in Asia strong potential for growth. Meanwhile, sales teams will be reinforced in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Monceau Assurances est en train de transférer ses fonds gérés jusqu'à présent par La Française AM pour les confier à de nouvelles sociétés de gestion. Ainsi, « Monceau Ethique » est désormais géré par la Financière Responsable, « Monceau Trésorerie », et « Monceau Sélection Internationale » par Financière de la Cité. Les derniers à avoir été transférés sont le fonds « Monceau Sélection France Europe » (200 millions d’euros d’encours) chez Métropole Gestion et le fonds « Monceau Convertibles » (70 millions d’euros d’encours) chez Financière de la Cité. Instit Invest avait fait part, dès le 22 avril dernier, de la dégradation des relation entre la mutuelle et le gérant (cf. rubrique Gouvernance, Article Une journée chez Monceau Assurances). A l'époque, Gilles Dupin nous avait déclaré : « Nous travaillons avec La Française AM mais nous n’en sommes plus actionnaires. Pour l’instant, nous continuons à leur confier la gestion de fonds actions mais nous trouvons que la société a perdu un peu son esprit entrepreneurial depuis son rapprochement avec le groupe UFG ».

Le nombre de demandeurs d’emploi dans la zone euro a baissé en juin pour la première fois depuis plus de deux ans. Selon Eurostat, le nombre de chômeurs inscrits s’est établi à 19,266 millions le mois dernier, en baisse de 24.000 par rapport à mai. Cette très modeste baisse n’a pas empêché le taux de chômage de s’inscrire au niveau record de 12,1% pour le quatrième mois consécutif.

L'économie belge a enregistré une croissance de 0,1% au deuxième trimestre par rapport au premier, selon les premières estimations de la banque centrale du pays. Sur un an, le produit intérieur brut a reculé de 0,1%. La Belgique est le premier pays du cœur de la zone euro à publier des indications sur son activité du deuxième trimestre.

Héritière de SGAM, Société Générale Gestion (S2G) a été condamnée par la commission des sanctions de l’AMF à une sanction de 280.000 euros pour avoir «méconnu des règles aussi importantes que celles relatives à la gestion des conflits d’intérêts, à la valorisation des actifs sous gestion et à l’information des porteurs». Le dossier, qui remonte à 2010, concerne des CDO logés dans un FCP.

Le président Barack Obama a décidé de nommer la gouverneure de la Fed Sarah Bloom Raskin au poste de sous-secrétaire d’Etat au Trésor. Si cette décision est confirmée par le Sénat, elle deviendra la première femme à obtenir un poste aussi élevé au sein du Trésor américain.

A.R. Schmeidler & Co et Goelzer Investment Management vont devoir s’acquitter d’une pénalité de 1,5 million de dollars faute d’avoir appliqué les règles de meilleure exécution au profit de leurs clients. Goelzer indique avoir mis en place un poste à plein temps de responsable indépendant de la conformité.

Après des sorties record au deuxième trimestre, BNPP IP vise 40 milliards d'euros de collecte nette sur des créneaux porteurs, d'ici à 2016

La banque a annoncé hier un plan d’action pour renouer avec la collecte de la gestion d’actifs, après des retraits records de 19 milliards d’euros au deuxième trimestre. Ses encours sont aussi à leur plus bas niveau depuis l’acquisition de Fortis en 2009.

Le Fonds chiffre à 11 milliards d'euros le déficit de financement pour 2014 et 2015. Il pourrait s'aggraver en cas de dégradation de l'économie

Une diminution des achats obligataires à compter de septembre reste une option

Une diminution des achats obligataires à compter de septembre reste une option

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of 30 June, total assets in collective investment organisms and special investment funds in Luxembourg came to EUR2.48658trn, which represents a decline of EUR97.51bn, or 3.77% compared with the end of May, the financial sector surveillance commission (CSSF) reports.The decline represents both net outflows of nearly EUR13.63bn, and a negative market effect of EUR83.89bn.Compared with June 2012 (EUR2.185bn), assets are up by nearly 11.8%.

Rustam Mursalimov a pris le 19 juillet un poste de gérant actions chez Gazprombank Asset Management, dont il devient également administrateur, rapporte CityWwire. L’intéressé était jusqu'à présent gérant action chez l’allemand Deka où il était responsable des investissements en Russie, Turquie et Europe de l’Est au sein de l'équipe Europe émergente.Gazprombank AM, filiale de gestion d’actifs du russe Gazprombank appartenant au géant du gaz Gazprom, est dirigée depuis mars par Aylin Suntay, qui a rejoint la société en septembre 2012 en provenance de Pictet AM où il était deputy CIO pour les actions.

Pour le trimestre à fin juin, la marge d’exploitation de Franklin Templeton a augmenté à 37 % contre 36,2 % pour janvier-mars et 36,1 % pour la période correspondante de l’année dernière. Cependant, le bénéfice net a diminué à 552,3 millions de dollars contre 572,8 millions pour le premier trimestre 2013, tout en affichant un bond en avant de 21 % sur avril-juin 2012 (455,3 millions).Comme annoncé (lire Newsmanagers du 15 juillet), l’encours au 30 juin ressortait à 815 milliards de dollars, diminuant ainsi de 1 % par rapport aux 823,7 milliards de fin mars, mais augmentant de 15 % sur le niveau atteint douze mois auparavant.Franklin Templeton précise que la baisse d’encours de 8,7 milliards de dollars observée pour avril-juin provient essentiellement d’un effet de marché négatif de 16,3 milliards qui n’a pu être compensé par des souscriptions nettes de 8,4 milliards de dollars. La hausse de 107,9 milliards de dollars par rapport au 30 juin 2012 s’explique à la fois par 73,8 milliards de dollars d’effet de marché positif et 29,9 milliards de souscriptions nettes.

Le capital-investisseur Fortress Investment Group a annoncé avoir bouclé au montant prévu de 1,1 milliard de dollars le tour de table de son fonds Fortress MSR Opportunities Fund II, qui succède au premier produit de ce type fermé en août 2012 à 608 millions de dollars d’engagements.Les fonds MSR Opportunities de Fortress sont focalisés sur des investissements dans des droits de service de dette hypothécaire résidentielle (residential mortgage servicing rights), les MSR étant le forfait mensuel payé en échange du service d’un prêt hypothécaire, net d’une commission de service de base.Fortress IG affichait fin mars des encours sous gestion de 56 milliards de dollars pour le compte d’environ 1.500 clients institutionnels et clients particuliers.

«GCS Capital n’ayant pas été en mesure de satisfaire à ses obligations de paiement contractuelles depuis la date de closing initialement prévue pour le 28 juin 2013, Dexia se voit contraint, comme annoncé le 24 juillet 2013, de mettre définitivement fin aux discussions avec GCS Capital et d’annoncer la résolution formelle de l’accord de cession des actions (de Dexia Asset Management) avec GCS Capital avec effet au 30 juillet 2013", précise un communiqué publié par Dexia le 30 juillet.Le groupe franco-belge rappelle que, pour sa part, il avait rempli depuis l’annonce du 12 décembre 2012 relative à l’accord de cession avec GCS Capital toutes les conditions nécessaires pour cette transaction, obtenant l’ensemble des autorisations réglementaires et l’accord des parties tiers requis. Il ajoute que toutes les conditions préalables à la cession ont été remplies dans les délais prévus.Cela posé, Dexia indique qu’il entend toujours mener à bien la vente de Dexia AM «dans l’intérêt des différentes parties concernées, notamment de ses clients et de ses collaborateurs». Des lors, les négociations reprendront «dans les meilleurs délais» avec d’autres partenaires qui ont pu exprimer un intérêt marqué pour l’acquisition de la filiale de gestion d’actifs.

Le gestionnaire américain Exchange Traded Concepts (ETC), qui a pour caractéristique d’aider d’autres sociétés de gestion à mettre leurs ETF sur le marché, a déposé auprès de la SEC une demande d’agrément pour le Hull Tactical US ETF qui sera un fonds d’ETF «tactique» détenant des positions longues et courtes dans des ETF à effet de levier et inversés sur l’indice S&P 500.Selon IndexUniverse, le fonds sera au maximum 200 % long et 100 % court. Pour l’instant aucun acronyme ni aucun taux de frais sur encours n’ont été communiqués.