P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Guy Stern, who has been appointed as head of multi-asset & macro investing at Standard Life Investments (SLI) following the announcement of the departure of Euan Munro (who becomes CEO of Aviva Investors in January 2014), has announced that SLI plans to revise its incentivation policy in order to win the loyalty of fund managers.The Global Absolute Return Strategies, or GARS unit, with GBP18bn in assets, which Munro had been head of, already lost three managers in September 2012: David Miller, Dave Jubb and Richard Batty, who moved to Invesco Perpetual.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As the firm Johannes Führ Asset Management (JFAM) acquires three quarters of VCH (see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Institutional Money reports that JFAM on 23 July announced that its founder, Johannes Führ, has resigned from his position as chairman of the advisory board and left the busness. He no longer had any operational responsibilties, and no longer holds a stake in the firm.In early 2013, high net worth private clients who had held 50% of JFAM since 2010 acquired the remaining capital in the firm.The firm continues to be led by management composed of Karl-Heinz Pfarrer, chairman and CIO, assisted by Allan Ricardo Valentiner, head of fixed income, and Thomas Mûhlberger (portfolio management).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cotizalia reports that BlackRock, which has recently passed the 3% threshold in Ferrovial, has increased its stake in the Spanish firm Cie Automotive to 4.48%, buying the stake previously held by Portobello for USD29m on 12 July. At trading price on Monday (EUR6 per share in Cie Automotive), BlackRock’s stake is worth over EUR30m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cotizalia reports that BlackRock, which has recently passed the 3% threshold in Ferrovial, has increased its stake in the Spanish firm Cie Automotive to 4.48%, buying the stake previously held by Portobello for USD29m on 12 July. At trading price on Monday (EUR6 per share in Cie Automotive), BlackRock’s stake is worth over EUR30m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Nordea has reported net profits for second quarter 2013 of EUR800m, compared with EUR783m in first quarter. In first half, net profits total EUR1.58bn. Assets under management, at EUR219.2bn as of the end of June, are down by 1% compared with EUR223.3bn as of the end of first quarter. Negative market effects of EUR7bn were offset by inflows. In second quarter, net inflows totalled EUR2.9bn, compared with net redemptions of EUR400m the previous quarter. Operating revenues from asset management total EUR70m, compared with EUR55m in first quarter, and EUR32m one year previously. Operating profits from wealth management total EUR188m, compared with EUR172m in first quarter, and EUR131m in the corresponding period of last year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings yesterday confirmed that it sold its stake in Huaneng Renewables, a producer of renewable energy listed in Hong Kong, last week. The sale brought in HKD435.5m, according to Finance Asia, equivalent to USD56m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Anne Lui, head of marketing & communications at Value Partners Group in Hong Kong, after serving as head of business media relations for Asia ex Japan at Nomura (formerly Lehman Brothers), has been recruited by Baring Asset Management as head of marketing, Asia ex Japan. She continues to be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Claire Fraser head of marketing & communications, who is based in London, and who has recently been appointed to the position, replacing Ian Pascal (see Newsmanagers of 17 July).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Société Générale Private Banking has announced the appointment of Olivier Gérard as head of the portfolio management and strategy & expertise unit for private banking assets, replacing Stéphane Wathier.Gérard will be based in Luxembourg, and will aim to co-ordinate and promote portfolio management activities (discretionary management and management advising) serving the international private banking network, as well as services and recommendations provided by the unit he will lead.He will report directly to Bruno Lèbre, head of wealth management solutions. In addition to his new responsibilities, Gérard will retain his position as head of Prime Market Access.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } NYSE Euronext on 23 July announced that it had admitted a new EasyETF from BNP Paribas Investment Partners Luxembourg, the EPRA Euro, to trading on the Paris exchange. The European markets of NYSE Euronext now list 673 ETFs, of which 584 are primary listings.CharacteristicsName: EasyETF EPRA EuroIndex; FTSE EPRA EurozoneTotal expense ratio: 0.45%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Paris office of Muzinich & Co, which also covers Luxembourg, Belgium, Monaco, Geneva and Lausanne, has posted net subscriptions in firs half of USD840m, for assets of “over USD5bn,” Eric Pictet, CEO of the Paris office, has told Newsmanagers. The number of active clients is about 150, distributed between private banks, family offices, insurers, pension funds and funds of funds.The largest net subscriptions went to Americayield and ShortDurationHighYield, followed by Enhancedyield, Europeyield and the LongShortCreditYield, while the Transatlanticyield posted slight redemptions.Groupwide, assets as of the end of June totalled USD23.8bn, of which USD15.4bn are in UCITS-compliant funds, which attracted USD2.49bn in first half. Of this total, the ShortDurationHighYield accounted for more than half, followed by the Americayield and Enhancedyield funds, while the Europeyield and Transatlanticyield underwent slight net outflows. The LongShortCreditYield, the youngest fund, launched in June 2012, posted net inflows of nearly USD100m.Among plans for the future, Muzinich is preparing a UCITS-compliant mixed short duration emerging market debt fund (high yield, investment grade, govies and financials). The product will be a sub-fund of the Irish Sicav managed by a new team, the first members of which were recruited a few months ago.Muzinich is also at work on an absolute return bond fund, which is already on sale in the United States, and which may be released in a UCITS-compliant version in a few months.Two private placement funds are also in preparation, one of which will invest in Italian businesses with an EBITDA of EUR5m to EUR50m.Pictet also states that the two “loan” funds (bank credit securitisations), launched in 2006 and 2008, represent USD120m. It is an attractive asset class, but the products are naturally not UCITS-compliant.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss hedge fund management firm Gottex Fund Management holdings on 23 July announced that it plans to announce a “small” operating loss for first half.It has also stated that its fee-earning assets as of the end of June totalled USD5.94bn, counting GBP325m at the British firm Frontier Investment Management, which were only officially consolidated on 4 July, compared with USD6.36bn as of the end of March That represents a decline of 6.5% in April-June.For GPM in the strict sense, assets fell by 5.7% over the quarter to USD5.27bn, due to net redemptions of USD170m, currency effects and “technical factors” which siped out USD210m, and a capital loss of USD30m.For the division specialised in Luma GSS services, assets fell by USD100m between the beginning of April and the end of June, to USD0.67bn, due to net redemptions of USD130m, and gross susbscriptions of USD30m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The firm formerly known as EFG Financial Products, now Leonteq, on 23 July presented strongly improved results: pre-tax profits in first half 2013 rose 142% year on eyar, to CHF24.7m, while the cost-income ratio improved to 70% from 84% in January-June 2012, and net profits rose 124%, to CHF21.5m.Transaction volumes, for their part, increased 34%, to CHF7.8bn, and the number of clients in first half totalled 515, compared with 406 one year earlier. Operating profit margins per transaction totalled 105 basis points, which represents a decline of 4% compared with January-June 2012 (109 basis points), but an increase of 3% compared with July-December last year.Leonteq has also announced that it plans to close its Madrid office, opened in 2011, since it has not achieved critical size.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The managing board and the supervisory board at Altira AG on 30 August decided at a general shareholders’ meeting to remove shares in the Entry Standard company from the Frankfurt stock exchange. A takeover bid will be offered to minority shareholders.In order to focus on its profession of financing German SMEs (Mittelstand), Altira has also sold the 74.5% stake it had held via the wealth management firm VCH Vermögensverwaltung AG in VCH Asset Management for an undisclosed amount, to a firm controlled by Johannes Führ, who controls the asset management firm Johannes Führ Asset Management.VCH will become known as Führ Capital Partners Vermögensverwaltung AG, an affiliate of Führ Capital Partners Asset Management, while Johannes Führ will become chairman of the supervisory board. The remaining shares in VCH remain in the hands of Robert Depner, who continues to serve as a MD.

Ces discussions n'ont pas abouti dans les délais prévus incitant Dexia à dénoncer l'accord de cession tout en restant ouvert aux propositions.

Raphaël Dressler, Directeur de CCI Finance, un GIE créé en 2009 à l’initiative des Chambres de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris et de Nice et au service de la fonction finance, trésorerie et conseil des CCI en France à l’occasion d’une conférence organisée par Morningstar : Le recours à une société extérieure ne se fait pas toujours sans heurt... On a quelquefois l’impression d'être pieds et poings liés avec un conseil extérieur : si je vais jusqu’au bout de ma démarche, je perds du savoir. En termes de supports d’investissements et de classes d’actifs, les choix là aussi se sont complexifiés. J’observe une appétence pour le risque pour les non-sachants qui n’ont pas ajusté leurs objectifs et leurs benchmarks. On note ainsi des ruées vers des investissements que l’on préférerait ne pas travailler, comme l’alternatif. Il ne faut pas seulement écouter les sirènes des rendements élevés, mais également regarder les drawdowns maximum. D’où l’intérêt de trouver une solution extérieure et l’intérêt de l’approche solution. Pour rappel, CCI Finance travaille avec une quinzaine de sociétés de gestion.

La collecte nette du Livret A et du Livret de développement durable est restée faible en juin dans le sillage de celle de mai, selon la Caisse des dépôts. Celle du Livret A a atteint le mois dernier 0,27 milliard d’euros, portant l’encours à 265,2 milliards tandis que celle du LDD s’est élevée à 0,22 milliard d’euros pour un encours à 99,0 milliards. Sur le premier semestre, les collectes nettes atteignent selon la CDC respectivement 15,15 et 6,43 milliards d’euros.

Le gendarme des marchés outre-Atlantique a engagé des poursuites à l’encontre du fondateur de Bitcoin Savings and Trust, Trendon Shavers, soupçonné d’avoir mis en œuvre une pyramide de Ponzi basée sur la célèbre monnaie virtuelle. La SEC a mis en garde le public face aux arnaques que peuvent faire naître les monnaies virtuelles.

Reuters rapporte de sources bancaires que la société de private equity a obtenu des taux d’intérêt parmi les plus bas jamais observés pour un LBO dans le cadre de son rachat de Denver Gardner pour 3,9 milliards de dollars. KKR, qui n’a pas souhaité réagir, aurait emprunté 2,425 milliards en prêts et 575 millions en dette au taux combiné moyen de 4,8%.

Souscrit par six investisseurs institutionnels, dont Suravenir, le véhicule n’a pas atteint son objectif dans un marché désintermédié encore balbutiant

Les devises à rendement, comme le real brésilien, le dollar australien ou néo-zélandais ou encore la roupie indienne, se sont dépréciées par rapport au dollar en mai et juin après les annonces de la Fed sur le programme d’assouplissement quantitatif. Cependant, le calme retrouvé sur les marchés favorise le retour du carry trade.

Le redressement de la devise mexicaine et brésilienne face au dollar pourrait se poursuivre

Pour influencer les prix, le trader et la société incriminés passaient de multiples ordres avant de les annuler

Les volumes de prêts à l’habitat ont connu une croissance de 7% entre avril et juin, notamment grâce à des taux très faibles

Les rachats anticipés feront baisser les échéances de remboursement en 2014 et 2015. La France a déjà financé 80% de son programme 2013

Le gestionnaire a fédéré six institutionnels autour d’un fonds de titrisation de prêts aux collectivités distribués pour l’occasion par le Crédit Mutuel Arkéa. A 120 millions d’euros, l’encours est toutefois inférieur aux 400 millions espérés, du fait notamment de la concurrence bancaire sur le marché du secteur public local.

Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland annonce voir vendu à une filiale de Starwood Capital Group, pour un montant légèrement inférieur à la dernière valeur d’expertise le complexe The Park de douze immeubles de bureaux de 116.000 mètres carrés situé à Prague. Quatre des immeubles figuraient dans le portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public DEGI Europa (DE0009807800), sept dans celui du DEGI International (DE0008007998) et le dernier dans celui du DEGI Global Business (DE000A0ETSR6). Cette transaction, la plus importante jamais réalisée sur le marché pragois de l’immobilier de bureaux, selon Aberdeen Allemagne, permet aux fonds de DEGI, en liquidation, de se procurer du numéraire.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a 46-page memo to employees, the hedge fund management firm SAC Capital Advisors claims that its CEO, Steve A. Cohen, “did not even read” an email of August 2008 concnerning Dell, on which recent accusations on the part of the SEC (last Friday) are founded. The SEC claims that Cohen failed to take appropriate measures to prevent insider trading offences being committed. Lawyers for SAC Capital claim that the accusations by the SEC are baseless, and that Cohen receives more than 1,000 emails per day, the Wall Street Journal reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), exercising additional powers newly granted to it by Dodd-Frank legislation for the first time, has fined Panther Energy Trading LLC, a high-frequency trading operator, and its owner, Michael J. Coscia, USD1.4m, for disrupting the markets in 2011, by placing trades to incite other investors to sell and buy dutures contracts on corn, oil and other commodities at totally fictive prices («bogus price levels»), the Wall Street Journal reports. The CFTC is also requiring that Panther Energy reimburse USD1.4m in undue profits to the CFTC.The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for its part, has fined Michael J. Coscia USD903.176 for deliberate manipulation of commodity markets.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Index Industry Association (“IIA”), the global organisation for index providers and the index industry, has launched a set of standards which define Best Practices for index providers globally. The IIA Best Practices are designed to ensure the highest quality and integrity of indices administered, maintained, or calculated by index providers. The IIA also announced today that CRSP, Research Affiliates LLC and STOXX have all joined the Association, bringing the total number of index providers represented by the IIA to 10, including many of the largest in the industry.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland has announced that it has sold The Park, a complex of 12 office properties with a total of 116,000 square metres in Prague, to an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, for a total amount slightly below its most recent expert valuation.Four of the properties had belonged to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund DEGI Europa (DE0009807800), seven of them in the portfolio of DEGI International (DE0008007998), while the last one belonged to DEGI Global Business (DE000A0ETSR6). The transaction, the largest ever made on the Prague office real estate market, according to Aberdeen Germany, allows the DEGI funds, which are in the liquidation process, to procure cash.