Selon le site Business Immo, PointPark Properties (P3), le gestionnaire d’actifs et développeur spécialisé dans les entrepôts logistiques a recruté Patrick Rebel en tant qu’asset manager. Son poste est basé à Paris. Auparavant, le gérant a travaillé chez Constructa Asset Management, Deka Immobilien GmbH et Foncière Europe Logistique, groupe Foncière des Régions.

Le gestionnaire d’actifs Golden Tree Asset Management vient de recruter un ancien de Barclays, Brian Marshall, en tant que managing director, responsable du développement, notamment pour les produits structurés, rapporte l’agence Bloomberg.Les émissions de CLO ont fortement augmenté cette année, à 61 milliards de dollars, un niveau jamais vu depuis 2007. A fin décembre 2012, Golden Tree figurait au treizième rang parmi les gestionnaires de CLO avec un montant de 5,5 milliards de dollars, selon des statistiques de Standard & Poor’s.Les actifs sous gestion de Golden Tree s'élèvent à environ 18 milliards de dollars.

La société de gestion britannique Artemis Investment Management (15,6 milliards de livres d’encours au 31 juillet) vient de recruter Alan Gadd en tant que responsable du développement produits et distribution. Sous la direction de Dick Turpin, responsable de l’asset gathering, il aura pour mission d’identifier et de mettre en œuvre la manière dont Artemis IM peut répondre à la Retail Distribution Review et la façon d’élargir l’offre aux clients. Il étudiera aussi les opportunités de développement à l’étranger.Alan Gadd a travaillé pour Henderson Global Investors, HSBC Asset Management, Aviva Investors et Allfunds Bank.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management veut augmenter sa part d’encours fiduciaire à 10 % sur le total géré aux Etats-Unis et au Royaume-Uni à un horizon de deux à cinq ans, rapporte Financial Times fund management. Katie Koch, responsable de l’équipe international global portfolio solutions chez GSAM, qui gère 20 milliards de dollars d’actifs, précise que le Royaume-Uni est une région particulièrement importante pour la maison américaine.

La nomination de Sébastien Bazin à la fonction de président directeur général du groupe Accor mardi 27 août a conduit le fonds d’investissement qu’il a dirigé pendant seize ans à réorganiser sa tête en Europe. Jean-Romain Lhomme et Nadra Moussalem ont été nommés co-dirigeants du fonds en Europe. Le tandem sera en charge du pilotage des investissements existants pour le compte des fonds gérés par Colony Capital en Europe ainsi que de la poursuite des investissements sur cette zone, indique un communiqué.Principal de Colony Capital, Jean-Romain Lhomme a travaillé au sein de la Direction de la stratégie PPR avant de rejoindre Colony Capital en 2000. Egalement principal de Colony Capital, Nadra Moussalem a travaillé précédemment chez AXA au sein du département d’Ingénierie Financière avant de rejoindre Colony Capital en 2000. Les deux responsables ont réaffirmé leurs convictions sur l’Europe qu’ils considèrent comme une zone riche d’opportunités dans les mois à venir. A ce titre, le fonds a pour objectif d’investir deux milliard d’euros dans les prochains mois.

Le groupe suisse Valartis a enregistré au premier semestre une collecte nette de 125 millions de francs suisses contre 491 millions de francs au premier semestre 2012, selon un communiqué publié le 27 août.Après prise en compte d’un effet marché négatif de 26 millions de francs, les actifs sous gestion s’inscrivaient à 7,9 milliards de francs au 30 juin 2013, en progression de 1,3% par rapport à fin 2012. Le segment de la clientèle privée représentait 86% des encours à fin juin, contre 14% pour la clientèle institutionnelle.Le groupe souligne dans son communiqué sa déception au vu de l'évolution des activités de gestion de fortune de Valartis Bank qui gère un cinquième des actifs de la clientèle et qui est à l’origine d’environ 30% des coûts. En dépit de la réorganisation mise en oeuvre au premier semestre, la banque ne semble pas être en mesure d’atteindre la taille critique requise dans des délais acceptables. En conséquence, le groupe envisage dans les prochains mois une cession ou une fusion avec un autre établissement financier helvétique.

The asset management boutique Zeus Capital has launched its fourth fund, Zeus Capital Trend Fund, Citywire reports. It comes as an addition to three funds launched since the beginning of summer. The fund, which is domiciled in Luxembourg, aims to capture trends and opportunities created on the European equity market. It may also make use of derivatives to protect itself against losses.

The US asset management firm Columbus Circle Investors (CCI) has launched an equity strategy concentrated on Europe, which will be managed by Matt Goldsmith, who had previously worked at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers as a portfolio manager, Hedge Fund Intelligence reports. Goldsmith returns to a firm he knows well, having worked there previously between 1996 and 2002 as a senior analyst and portfolio manager. As of the end of June 2013, assets under management at CCI, whose clients are largely institutional, totalled nearly USD15bn.

The Swiss Valartis group has posted net inflows in first half of CHF125m, compared with CHF491m in first half 2012, according to a statement released on 27 August. After taking into account a negative market effect of CHF26m, assets under management totalled CHF7.9bn as of 30 June 2013, up 1.3% compared with the end of 2012. The private client segment represented 86% of assets as of the end of June, compared with 14% for institutional clients. The group emphasizes in a statement that it is disappointed with the development of wealth management activities at Valartis Bank, which has one fifth of all client assets under management, and which is responsible for 30% of costs. Despite a reshuffle initiated in first half, the bank does not appear to be in a position to achieve the critical size required within an acceptable time frame. As a result, the group is considering a sale or merger with another Swiss financial establishment within the next few months.

China has signed a multilateral agreement concerning mutual administrative assistance in matters of taxation, the OECD announced on 27 August “All countries of the G20 have now fully met the commitment they made at the Cannes G20 summit to sign the convention and to move towardsa automatic exchange of information as a new international standard,” the OECD says in a statement. Tax administration worldwide is gradually moving from bilateral to multilateral cooperation and from information on request to automatic exchange of information. The Convention defines the complete multilateral framework in which this cooperation should take place, and comes in addition to other initiatives, such as the standard form for automatic mutual exchange of information, which is being developed by the OECD and its G20 partners.

On the basis of a comparison and analysis of inflows and outflows to and from investment funds in over 35 countries, a research by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Globoal Finance Institute published on August 27 confirms that the growth of assets under management varies greatly from country to country. For example, the study finds that specific regulations favourable to investment funds in Luxembourg and Ireland largely explain growth in assets under management. However, other factors should be taken into account, including aversion to losses, according to a study led by professor Thorsten Hens at the University of Zurich, a specialist in behavioural finance. As a result, inflows and outflows from investmetn funds fluctuate much more in countries where investors tend to be wary of losses. “Declines in prices of 10 per cent lead to much more pronounced developments than increases of 10 per cent, a statement says, and countries with such an aversion to losses are largely in Asia: Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea. However, German investors follow a different behavioural model. According to the research, investors in Germany as well as Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland will be much more patient and will wait a long time before changing their behaviour. The study is available as an attachment.

Pioneer Investments would like to grow its Asian activities, Sam Wardwell, strategist and senior vice president, has told Asian Investor. “We consider Asia to be perhaps the most important region in the future, geographically speaking. When we have a strong presence in Asia, we will no longer be a company that is stronger on the Atlantic than the Pacific,” Wardwell said during a trip to Asia. Only 3% of assets at Pioneer, which total USD6.6bn, come from Asian clients.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is planning to increase the proportion of its fiduciary assets to 10% of total assets under managemetn in the United States and the United Kingdom in the next three to five years, Financial Times Fund Management reports. Katie Koch, head of the international global portfolio solutions team at GSAM, which has USD20bn in assets under management, says that the United Kingdom is a particularly important region for the US asset management firm.

Artemis Investment Management has hired Alan Gadd as head of product & distribution development.Reporting to the head of asset gathering, Dick Turpin, Alan Gadd will be responsible for identifying and developing how Artemis should respond to the Retail Distribution Review; and how to extend what Artemis offers to clients. He will also review opportunities overseas.Alan Gadd has worked for Henderson Global Investors, HSBC Asset Management, Aviva Investors & Allfunds Bank in similar roles.

The Global State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI) fell to 105.1 in August, down 2.6 points from July’s revised reading of 107.7. Although all regions saw a decrease in confidence, the fall was driven mainly by European and Asian investors. European confidence fell by 8.2 points to 97.1 while Asian confidence fell by 7.6 points to 93.0. North American investors also became somewhat more conservative, reporting a decline of 1.5 points to 112.5 from July’s revised reading of 114.0.

The US authorities are demanding JPMorgan Chase pay over USD6bn (EUR4.5bn) to settle allegations it mis-sold securities to government-backed mortgage companies, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times. The bank is resisting the payment, which it claims is excessive.

The world’s major banks will certainly be in compliance with the new proprietary capital requirements of Basel III well ahead of the deadline of the end of 2018, according to the opinion of the Basel Committee, laid out in a report for the G20 heads of state and government who will meet in Russia on 5 and 6 September. The Committee states that in a six-month period to the end of December 2012, the average ‘hard’ proprietary capital level at major global banks has risen from 8.5% to 9% of risk-weighted assets. Only two countries which are members of the Committee, Turkey and Indonesia, have not yet passed laws applying Basel III, which requires banks to have constituted a hard proprietary capital ratio of 7% by December 2018. This percentage represents three times the level prevailing at the time of the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The capital defecits at banks which are below the 7% threshold added up to about EUR200bn as of June 2012, but has since declined considerably, the Committee, says, without adding more details. “This is a positive development which will allow us to build a more resistant banking system and to improve the trust of the public in regulatory ratios,” Stefan Ingves, chairman of the Committee, says in a statement. He adds that the Committee is also studying means to reduce “excessive” variation due to the various methods for calculating risk used by banks to determine their capital levels.

The Liechtenstein banking group VP Bank has posted a net outflow in first half of CHF439m, according to a statement released on 27 August. This development is due to clients who are withdrawing assets to normalise their tax situation. However, due to a positive market effect of CHF0.8bn, assets under management have risen 1.1% compared with the end of 2012, to a total of CHF28.8bn. Profits at the group are down 17.4% to CHF28.3m in first half, but VP Bank adds in a statement that results in the first month of 2012 benefited from a one-time inflow of CHF22.8m. VP Bank also states that it is seeking new acquisitions, particularly in Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The asset management firm Golden Tree Asset Mangement has recruited a former Barclays employee, Brian Marshall, as managing director responsible for devlopment, particularly for structured products, the news agency Bloomberg reports. CLO issues have increased sharply his year, to USD61bn, a level not seen since 2007. As of the end of December 2012, Golden Tree had ranked in 13th place among CLO management firms, with a total of USD5.5bn under management, according to statistics from Standard & Poor’s. Assets under management at Golden Tree total about USD18bn.

The French asset management firm Seven Capital Management on Tuesday, 27 August announced that on 2 August it had been issued an AIMF license by the college of the French financial market regulator (AMF), and that on 13 August, the first European “management passport” will allow it to directly manage a Luxembourg-registered special investment fund (SIF) from France. In terms of sales, the license allows sales in France and throughout Europe of alternative investment funds (AIF) to retail and qualified investors. To that end, the asset management firm is planning to intensify its development in Europe and internationally, and will soon be launching new alternative investment products. In terms of management, the passport also allows Seven CM to “manage a range of international investment funds, including Luxembourg-registered funds, directly from France, without additional operating costs or risks for investors,” a statement says.

John O’Connor, who had been head of sales in North America at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has joined DDJ Capital Management as senior vice president, responsible for development and customer service. DDJ Capital is a US asset management firm based in Massachusetts, which is specialised in high yield, bank loans and special situations. It has USD6bn in assets under management O’Connor has also been responsible for institutional sales at Pioneer Investments. He has also serves in positions of responsibility at MFS Investment Management.

Lyxor is recruiting for its sales and marketing team for all of its activities, after a series of departures led to rumours of a sale of the Société Générale affiliate, Financial Times Fund Management reports, relaying a story in Ignites Europe. The firm is planning to recruit a total of 16 people this year, one third of whom will be for ETFs. Lyxor has already recruited eight sales professionals this year in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and the United States, all at high levels, and will recruit 8 more. The firm has ambitious growth objectives in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Andrew Abramsky, chief operating officer of the Eaton Vance subsidiary Parametric, will retire from the company as of August 31. Christine C. Smith, who joined Parametric on May 31, 2013 as chief administrative officer, will assume all of his responsibilities.Andrew Abramsky will remain at Parametric in a part time capacity for six months to continue to support this management transition.

The arbitrage fund led by activist investor Daniel Loeb has bought a stake of 5.7% in the capital of the US auction house Sotheby’s, according to a document submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This makes Third Point one of the largest shareholders in Sotheby’s along with Trian Partners (3%) and Marcato Capital (6.6%).

Half of European citizens aged 50 to 70 year old are uncertain if they can maintain their current standard of living in retirement, according to pan-European research conducted by Allianz in close co-operation with Allianz Global Investors. The younger respondents tended to have an altogether more pessimistic outlook. This group were particularly concerned about maintaining their standard of living due to the consequences of pension reforms and the impact of the financial crisis on their financial and pension wealth. Only 40% of 50-to-54-year-olds think they will have the same standard of living in retirement. In contrast, 53% of those aged 60-70 are optimistic or already enjoy a relatively comfortable standard of living.The study looked at retirement finance of 1,402 respondents, aged 50-70 years, living across seven European countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK). Inflation is cited as the biggest financial risk in retirement in all countries. In Germany and UK this is particularly apparent with 60% of Germans and 65% of Britain’s citing inflation as the greatest financial concern to potentially impact their pension. However, when tested on their understanding of the effects of inflation, respondents in the UK and the Netherlands tended to overestimate its impact. French, German and Swiss respondents were most realistic about the effects of inflation.Nearly two thirds of the respondents said they are satisfied with their retirement planning, only 8% said to be dissatisfied, Swiss respondents are the most satisfied at 81%, with only 2% “dissatisfied”). The overall level of satisfaction with retirement planning is significantly lower in France (46% “satisfied” and 11% “dissatisfied”) and Italy (54% “satisfied” and 14% “dissatisfied”).Half of Swiss respondents prefer life-long monthly or annual payments compared to only one quarter to one third in the other countries. Austrian and German prefer by far one-off lump sums (40% and 37% of the respective respondents) other the 50+ generation in other countries.Finally, UK respondents stand out when it comes to investment decision making. Nearly half of the respondents from the UK said that they make their own investment decisions without the assistance of an investment professional or advisor, Only Dutch respondents with 42% are nearly as self-directed in their decision making. In Switzerland the share of respondents not seeking external advice is lowest with 23%.

The index provider Stoxx on 27 August announced that twelve companies have joined the Stoxx Europe 600 index, including the Italian financial services group Azimut, the Czech firm Aomercni Banka and Sweden’s Intrum Justitia, according to a statement released after a quarterly review of the index. The firms leaving the index, meanwhile, include the French firms Maurel and Prom, the German Salzgitter, and the Netherlands-based Eurocommercial Properties. Results of this review are to be effective on September 23, 2013.

Le groupe bancaire du Lichtenstein VP Bank a enregistré au premier semestre une décollecte nette de 439 millions de francs, selon un communiqué publié le 27 août. Une évolution due aux retraits de clients qui régularisent leur situation fiscale, précise-t-on. Compte tenu toutefois d’un effet marché positif de 0,8 milliard de francs, les actifs sous gestion ont progressé de 1,1% par rapport à fin 2012 pour s'établir à 28,8 milliards de francs.Le bénéfice du groupe a reculé de 17,4% à 28,3 millions de francs au premier semestre mais VP Bank rappelle dans son communiqué que le résultat des premiers mois de 2012 avait bénéficié d’un apport exceptionnel de 22,8 millions de francs.VP Bank indique par ailleurs être à l’affût de nouvelles acquisitions, notamment au Luxembourg et en Suisse.

One of two former traders at JPMOrgan Chase who are wanted in the United States on suspicion of concealing losses of nearly USD6bn in the While of London scandal has been arrested in Madrid, the Spanish police announced on 27 August, AFP reports. The police arrested a Spanish citizen wanted by the United Staates for fraud and financial crimes in Madrid, the police said in a statement, adding that he will appear before a preliminary hearing. The suspect arrested was Javier Martin-Artajo Rueda, AFP has learned from a police source. On the authority of an international arrest warrant, the Spanish police were able to locate the person sought by the US police, and after talks with them, he agreed to voluntarily present himself at a police station, where he was arrested, the police have explained. The US authorities began proceedings on 14 August against Martin-Artajo, who had been head of brokerage strategy at an investment department of JPMorgan, and the Frenchman Julien Grout, one of his subordinates. They are accused of having conspired to falsify accounts at the largest US bank in order to conceal losses at their unit, which accumulated into the hundreds of millions of US dollars. Grout, a trader at the London office of the proprietary investments department (CIO) at JPMorgan Chase, aged 35, has been charged with the preparation of daily internal balance sheets of losses and profits in credit derivatives at his department, largely positions taken by his superior Bruno Iksil.

La croissance de la masse monétaire dans la zone euro a été de 2,2% et les prêts au secteur privé se sont contractés à un rythme plus rapide qu’en juin, selon des chiffres publiés mercredi par la Banque centrale européenne. En moyenne mobile, sa croissance ressort à 2,5% sur la période de mai à juillet contre 2,8% entre avril et juin. Les crédits au secteur privé ont baissé de 1,9% annuellement en juillet alors que les économistes prévoyaient en moyenne une diminution de 1,6%.

La Caisse de Retraite Paritaire de l’Artisanat du Bâtiment du Canton du Valais (CAPAV) qui gère 530 millions d’euros d’encours, a vendu la totalité de ses placements en hedge funds. La poche alternative, qui représente 6% du portefeuille de la CAPAV, est dorénavant composée d’investissements dans les matières premières et les infrastructures. La Caisse a également restructuré sa poche immobilière et prévoit d’augmenter sa poche obligations en devises étrangères, avec l’objectif d’y investir 8 à 10 millions d’euros cette année. Une étude ALM et une refonte de la stratégie sont prévues pour 2014. Jacques Raemy de Synopsis Asset Management et Jacques-André Monnier à Lausanne sont les consultants. Le portefeuille de la CAPAV est le suivant : 18% actions suisses 14 % actions internationales 18 % obligations en devises étrangères 14 % obligations en francs suisses 15 % immobilier direct 15% immobilier indirect 6 % de gestions alternatives La Banque Cantonale du Valais détient le mandat exclusif externe pour les actions suisses. La CAPAV a sélectionné Credit Suisse Asset Management, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, Pictet Asset Management et UBS Global Asset Management pour gérer, entre autres, les fonds d’actions. Les obligations sont gérées en interne.