L’Union Financière de France (UFF) qui s’apprête à annoncer ses résultats semestriels jeudi prochain a confié à Newsmnanagers que sa collecte globale sur la période considérée est en hausse de 7 % par rapport à la même période l’an dernier. La banque conseil en gestion de patrimoine qualifie cette année de bonne tant pour son activité immobilère que pour l’assurance vie. Dans ce dernier cas, la collecte au 30 juin dernier est également en progression de 7 % par rapport au 1er semestre 2012. Elle a atteint 197 millions d’euros.Côté OPCVM, la collecte a atteint 53 millions d’euros, ce qui est un montant stable par rapport à 2012, d’après l’UFF. Dans son offre, FCPI UFF Innovation 15 a engrangé 18,5 millions d’euros - contre 11,5 millions d’euros pour le mandat Direct PME, l’autre offre «Private Equity» de l'établissement. En revanche, les SCPI de rendement ont marqué le pas. A ce titre, l’UFF compte lancer dans le courant du mois de septembre une SCPI «Duflot» qui doit être géré par La Française REIM. Autre projet en cours, une SCPI éligible à l’assurance vie. D’autres projets sont également dans les cartons, dont des OPCVM flexibles que la maison qualifie d’ores et déjà «d’originaux».

Pour le deuxième trimestre 2013, State Street Corporation a déclaré un bénéfice net distribuable aux porteurs d’actions ordinaires de 571 millions de dollars contre 443 millions pour janvier-mars et 494 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier.Les encours sous conservation et administration sont ressorti au 30 juin à 25.742 milliards de dollars contre 25.422 milliards fin mars et 22.423 milliards un an plus tôt tandis que les actifs sous gestion ont baissé au deuxième trimestre de 30 milliards de dollars (ou de 1,4 %) sur le niveau de fin mars pour revenir à 2.146 milliards, tout en marquant une hausse de 12,5 % en glissement annuel, le total du 30 juin 2012 ressortant à 1.908 milliards de dollars.Les recettes de commissions de gestion ont augmenté au deuxième trimestre de 5,3 % sur le premier pour ressortir à 277 millions de dollars, ce qui représente un gonflement de 12,6 % sur le niveau d’avril-juin 2012. Ces hausses résultent la fois de la performance des marchés d’actions et des souscriptions nettes.

Avec le iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor (acronyme QUAL), BlackRock vient de faire coter sur NYSE Arca un quatrième produit de sa gamme d’ETF Factor, après ceux sur le Momentume (MTUM), le Siz (SIZE) et le Value (VLUE). Le nouveau fonds est chargé comme les autres à 0,15 % et comporte 125 valeurs de moyennes et grandes capitalisations.Les iShares MSCI Factor ETF ont été conçus à la demande d’investisseurs institutionnels comme le fonds de pension Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) qui a fourni le capital d’amorçage des quatre produits.Pour le QUAL, il s’agit d’un ETF qui réplique un indice d’actions identifiées par trois variables fondamentales : le rendement élevé des fonds propres, la croissance persistante des bénéfices et un faible ratio dette/fonds propres. Il s’agit de valeurs de croissance et de qualité affichant les meilleurs résultats en fonction des trois variables.

La division Guggenheim Investments (150 milliards de dollars) de Guggenheim Partners a annoncé le 17 juillet le lancement de deux nouveaux ETF à horizon de sa gamme BulletShares, le Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 Corporate Bond ETF (acronyme sur NYSE Arca: BSCL) et le Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCM).La gamme BullettShares, dont l’encours a gonflé de 133 % en 2012, affichait au 30 juin un encours de 967 millions de dollars, soit 56 % de plus qu’un semestre auparavant. Elle compte désormais 16 produits, des ETF à échéance définie d’obligations d’entreprises et d’obligations à haut rendement d’entreprises. Chaque fonds réplique des indices comportant entre 70 et 190 valeurs dont les échéances correspondent à celles du fonds.Le BSCL et le BSCM sont chargés à 0,24 % en net.

L’Association Française des Conseils en Gestion de Patrimoine Certifiés (CGPC) a annoncé, vendredi 19 juillet, le lancement de trois certifications spécialisées afin de répondre à la demande des banques, des assurances, des professionnels de l’immobilier, des réseaux spécialisés en protection sociale et des mutuelles, indique un communiqué. Les trois certifications spécialisées sont :- Conseil Financier certifié CGPC- Conseil en Protection Sociale certifié CGPC- Conseil en Investissement Immobilier certifié CGPCLes Certifications seront obtenues à l’issue de la réussite à un examen qui comporte 2 épreuves écrites (un quizz et une étude de cas) et 1 épreuve orale, portant sur la conduite d’entretien et la méthodologie du Conseil, indique un communiqué.Après la réussite à l’Examen, la Certification spécialisée sera reconduite annuellement, sous réserve de remplir les obligations de formation continue, d’adhérer à un code d’éthique et de déontologie et de régler la cotisation à l’association.

3i Debt Management, filiale dédiée à la dette non cotée de 3i Group, souhaite monter ou racheter une équipe asiatique, rapporte Asian Investor. La première étape a été franchie avec le recrutement de Lisa Johnson au poste de directrice des investissements. Elle est basée à Singapour et vient de Parker Global, où elle était en charge de la levée de fonds et du marketing. Elle s’adressera aux clients institutionnels asiatiques pour développer l’activité dans la région. Elle vise principalement les fonds de pension, les assureurs et les fonds souverains.

BlackRock, l’un des principaux actionnaires du groupe de boissons non alcoolisées PepsiCo, a dit qu’il s’opposait à ce que ce dernier rachète Mondelez International, comme l’a suggéré Nelson Peltz, rapporte l’Agefi. Le patron de Trian Fund Management évoque une opération à 62 milliards de dollars.

Chris Fellingham, CIO de Ignis Asset Management, a selon Fundweb indiqué qu’il souhaite renforcer son offre de produits absolute return. Sont prévus le lancement, plus tard en 2013, d’une version hedge fund d’Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund et d’un fonds Absolute Return Emerging Market Debt. Egalement dans les cartons, un fonds d’allocation d’actifs tactique et un fonds de fonds absolute return. Ces deux derniers produits en sont encore au stade de projet.

Aviva a annoncé la nomination d’Euan Munro au poste de CEO d’Aviva Investors. Il prendra ses fonctions en janvier 2014 et intégrera le comité exécutif du groupe Aviva à ce moment là. L’intéressé rejoint Aviva Investors en provenance de Standard Life Investments où il était global head of multi-asset investing and fixed income.Euan Munro remplace à son nouveau poste John Misselbrook, désigné en juin CEO par intérim en remplacement de Paul Abberley, qui reprenait ses fonctions de head of investments. Alain Dromer avait quitté le poste de CEO en avril.Aviva Investors gère 274 milliards de livres au 31 décembre 2012.

A peine la nomination d’Euan Monro comme nouveau CEO d’Aviva Investors connue (lire par ailleurs), Standard Life Investments (SLI) a annoncé son remplacement comme head of multi-asset & macro investing par Guy Stern, qui était déjà dans la pratique le responsable de la gestion au jour le jour des fonds et mandats multiclasses d’actifs.Guy Stern a rejoint SLI en 2008, en provenance de Credit Suisse Asset Management où il était CIO for Multi-Asset Class Solutions au Royaume-Uni et aux Etats-Unis.

Julius Baer a déclaré le 22 juillet un encours de 217,7 milliards de francs suisses au 30 juin, ce qui représente un gonflement de 15 % par rapport à fin décembre. Ce total comporte les 24 milliards de francs de la gestion de fortune internationale de Merrill Lynch (International Wealth Management ou IWM), consolidée depuis février. Les souscriptions nettes ont représenté 3,4 milliards de francs. Après la fin juin 2013, 22 milliards de francs des actifs d’IWM ont encore été transférés à Julius Baer, portant le total des encours d’IWM transférés à 47 milliards de francs.Quant au bénéfice net ajusté du groupe suisse, il a opéré un bond en avant de 26 % à 261 millions de francs contre 208 millions pour la période correspondante de l’an dernier. Cependant, aux normes IFRS, le bénéfice net a chuté de 30 % à 114 millions de francs contre 162 millions, à cause de 99 millions de charges d’intégration et de restructuration d’IWM et d’une charge de 28 millions de francs (22 millions en net) liée à l’accord sur l’impôt à la source entre la Suisse et le Royaume-Uni.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday filed a civil-enforcement action against Steven A. Cohen, CEO of the hedge fund management firm SAC Capital. It is seeking a lifetime professional ban against him for ignoring clear evidence of insider trading at his business.The Wall Street Journal states that the SEC is using the least dangerous weapon in its arsenal, and that it is avoiding filing a criminal case, whose courtworthiness would have had to be reviewed by a jury in a Federal court.The accusation of failure to oversee his employees is not an accusation of insider trading or any other form of fraud under securities trading laws.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } By a majority, including the vote of chairwoman Mary Jo White, SEC commissioners rejected a planned out-of-court settlement which had been negotiationed between the regulator and the hedge fund management firm Harbinger Group, the Wall Street Journal reports.The members of the commission found that the terms were too soft. There had been discussion of a professional bar of two years for Philip Falcone, CEO of Harbinger, and a fine of USD18m.That would have allowed Falcone to continue to lead Harbinger, and the amount of the fine was low compared with the USD113.2m which, in a civil suit, the SEC accused Harbinger of causing damages to its clients by making a personal loan to its CEO in 2009 which allowed him to pay his taxes, at a time when subscribers were not allowed to withdraw their own money from the fund.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Korean asset management firm Korean Investment Management (KIM) is preparing to launch a first synthetic ETF in South Korea, in collaboration with db X-trackers (Deutsche Bank), Asian Investor reports. Sources predict that the product will be launched by the end of the year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Deutsche Bank has applied to the SEC for a license to sell 130/30 and plain long/short ETFs. It has also applied for a license to create its own indices for long/short funds and to use the master/feeder fund structure, IndexUniverse reports.Currently, Deutsche Bank manages 12 db x-trackers branded ETFs directly, with assets totalling USD421m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Guggenheim Investments division of Guggenheim Partners (USD150bn) on 17 July announced the launch of two new target-date ETFs in its BulletShares range, the Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 Corporate Bond ETF (acronym on NYSE Arca: BSCL) and the Gugenheim BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCM).The BulletShares range, whose assets rose by 133% in 2012, as of 30 June had total assets of USD967bn, 56% more than six months previously. It now includes 16 products, including target date ETFs of corporate bonds and high yield corporate bonds. Each fund replicates indices including 70 to 90 securities wich maturity dates corresponding to those of the funds.The MSCL and BSCM funds charge a net 0.24%.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } With the iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor (acronym QUAL), BlackRock has listed a fourth product of its ETF Factor range on NYSE Arca, along with the Momentum (MTUM), Size (SIZE) and Value (VLUE) funds. The new fund charges 0.15%, like the others, and includes 125 positions on mid- to large caps.The iSahres MSCI Factor ETF were designed for institutional investors such as the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), which provided the seed capital for the four products.The QUAL is an ETF which replicates an index of equities identified on the basis of three fundamental criteria: high returns on owners’ equity, persistent growth in profits, and a low debt to owners’ equity ratio. They are growth and value shares with the best results for these three variables.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } 3i Debt Management, an affiliate of the 3i Group dedicated to private debt, is planning to create or acquire an Asian team, Asian Investor reports. The first step has been taken with the recruitment of Lisa Johnson as chief investment officer. She is based in Singapore, and joins from Parker Global, where she had been responsible for fundraising and marketing. She will approach Asian institutional clients to develop activities in the region. She will primarily target pension funds, insurers and sovereign funds.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The Wall Street Journal reports that David Cote, CEO of Honeywell International, and Ellen Futter, chair of the US Museum of Natural History, have submitted their resignations to the directors of JPMorgan, which they had belonged to for 5 and 16 years, respectively.The two personalities, who had sat on the risk board, were elected to new terms by the general shareholders’ meeting in May with votes of 59% and 53% in favour, respectively, following the “whale of London” scandal, which cost the bank more than USD6bn. The newspaper says these are the most recent casualties from the scandal.The chairman of the risk committee, James Crown, received only 57% votes in favour, but plans to remain in place. He is expected to eventually be replaced by one of the new members of the committee, who will replace Cote and Futter.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } For second quarter 2013, State Street Corporatoin has declared a pre-tax net profit of USD571bn, compared with USD443bn in January-March and USD494m in the corresponding period of last year.Assets under custody and administration as of 30 June totalled USD25.472bn, compared with USD25.422bn as of the end of March, and USD22.423bn one year earlier, while assets under management in second quarter fell by USD30bn (or 1.4%) compared with their levels as of the end of March, to a total of USD2.146bn, up by 12.5% year on year, while the total as of 30 June was USD1.908trn.Revenues from management commissions in second quarter increased 5.3% compared with first quarter to a total of USD277bn, which represents an increase of 12.6% compared with their levels as of April-June 2012. These increases are the result both of the performance of equity markets and of net subscriptions.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } BlackRock, one of the largest shareholders in the soft beverage group PepsiCo, has announced that it opposes an acquisition of Mondelez International by the firm, as proposed by Nelson Peltz. The head of Trian Fund Management is touting a USD62bn deal.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Thomas E. Faust, chairman & CEO of Eaton Vance, will serve in the interim to replace Duncan W. Richardson, executive vice president and chief equity investment officer at Eaton Vance Management (USD260.6bn as of 30 June), until a full-time successor can be appointed.Richardon joined Eaton Vance in 1987, and has served as equity CIO since 2001. The equity unit of Eaton Vance Management has assets of USD37.8bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Julius Baer on 22 July declared assets of CHF217.7bn as of 30 June, which represents an increase of 15% compared with the end of December. This total includes CHF24bn at the International Wealth Management (IWL) arm of Merrill Lynch, which has been consolidated since February. Net subscriptions represented CHF3.4bn. Since the end of June 2013, CHF22bn more in IWM assetshave been transferred to Julius Baer, bringing total IWM assets transferred to CHF47bn.Adjusted net profits for the Swiss group were up 26% to CHF261m, compared with CHF208m in the corresponding period of last year. However, by IFRS accounting standards, net profits were down 30% to CHF114m, compared with CHF162m, due to CHF99m in integration and restructuring costs for IWM, and a charge of CHF28m (net CHF22m) related to a tax withholding agreement between Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Fundweb reports that Chris Fellingham, CEO of Ignis Asset Management, has announced that he would like to add to the firm’s range of absolute return products. In 2013 at the latest, the firm plans to release a hedge fund version of the Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund and an Absolute Return Emerging Market Debt fund. Also in the works is a tactical asset allocation fund and an absolute return fund of funds. The two latter products are still in the planning stages.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } The introduction of a financial transaction tax (FTT) would, despite all the assertions of political leaders, result in significant costs for businesses in the real economy and for households in Germany. According to an impact study for all of Germany carried out by the Deutsches Aktieninstitut (DAI) with the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, costs to businesses and households in Germany would total between EUR5bn and EUR7bn per year, at least on the basis of the current version of the proposed European Commission directive. The assertion that the tax burden would be limited to the financial sphere is illusory, as along with VAT, it defines the prices of financial products used by retail investors and the real economy, which would rise by the proportion of the FTT. In addition, Werner Baumann claims, in estimate of EUR5-7.5bn is prudent, and thus the impact could be considerably higher.The FTT would particularly severely affect all retail retirement savings profucts and the constitution of long-term savings in the form of equities, bonds, shares in investment funds and life and death insurance policies. For retail investors, the tax burden may increase by a total of EUR2.6bn to EUR3.6bn. For example, Finja Carolin Kütz, CEO of Olliver Wyman in Germany, says that over the full duration of a Riester type savings plan, the FTT would cost considerably more than the state subsidy. Thus, the FTT would be equivalent to a reduction in the resulting individual retirement savings.Business should expect an additional tax burden due to the FTT of EUR2.4bn to EUR3.7bn, while the low estimate already represents 15% of tax revenues from businesses in 2012. That primarily affects derivatives used by businesses to cover forex and fixed income risks, but the FTT would also affect corporate retirement savings schemes.Additionally, the DAI finds, the FTT would have an impact on the liquidity of capital markets and would increase the cost of securities trading, particularly for those who already have reduced liquidity, such as SME equities and corporate bonds. Lastly, it appears that the FTT would dry up the commercial paper market.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } At a time when Euan Monro has barely been appointed as the new CEO of Aviva Investors (see article elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced his replacement as head of muti-asset & macro investing by Guy Stern, who had already in practice been responsible for the day-to-day management of funds and multi-asset class mandates.Stern joined SLI in 2008, from Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he had been CIO for Multi-Asset Class Solutions in the United Kingdom and the United States.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Aviva has announced the appointment of Euan Munro as CEO of Aviva Investors. He will begin in January 2014, and will join the executive board at the Aviva group at that time. Munro joined Aviva Investors from Standard Life Investments, where he had been global head of multi-asset investing and fixed income. In his new role, Munro replaces John Misselbrook, who was appointed in June as interim CEO, replacing Paul Abberley, who took a position as head of investmentts. Aviva Investors had GBP274bn under management as of 31 December 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to a study undertaken by Sara Keller and Otto Beisheim at the Otto Beisheim School of Management, and Deborah Shanz of at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, the countries with the highest tax rates may nonetheless count among the most attractive from a taxation standpoint. The two researchers have develped an index of fiscal attractiveness composed of 16 factors such as the normal tax rate, the tax rate on dividends and capital gains, withholding taxes, the existence of tax regimes for groups, tax deductibility of losses, the network of treaties to avoid double taxation and the capital taxation rules and applicable regulations for foreign affiliates.This fiscal attractiveness index was created for 100 countries in the period 2005-2009. The most attrctive countries are unsuprisingly the Bahamas (0.812%), the Cayman Islands (0.7813) and the British Virgin Islands (0.7739).Among European countries, Luxembourg tops the list, with 0.7219, while Belgium and Austria score 0.6206 and 0.6178, and France does better than Germany, at 0.5320 and 0.5245 respectively, but less well than the United Kingdom (0.5913).Monaco scores 0.4330, well below Switzerland (0.5881) and Liechtenstein (0.5286).The United States scores 0.2432 and the bottom two countries in the rankings are South Korea (0.1505) and Venezuela (0.1301).

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } In the week to 17 July, equity funds monitored by EPFR Global attracted a net USD19.7bn, bringing their inflows since the beginning of the month of USD38bn, while bond funds posted redemptions of only USD670m, according to statistics from EPFR Global.Rumours of a “great rotation” are resurfacing, as bond funds have seen outflows of over USD100bn since the beginning of June.To explain these movements, EPFR Global advances the theory that investors are once again envisioning a cyclical recovery driven by the United States, as US central bankers continue to insist that an end to quantitative easing will be decided on the basis of hard facts and not a pre-established timeline.In the week under review, European equity funds posted their strongest net susbcriptions in five years, while the totals allocated to US high yield bond funds returned to levels not seen since October 2011.Hopes of a recovery supported by quantitative easing have not remained confined to US securities funds. Investors, particularly institutional investors, are continuing to buy securities related to the massive quantitative easing programme announced in Japan. Additionally, they feel that the worst may now be past for Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } According to a quarterly collective management balance sheet by Eurperformance, a SIX Company, assets of EUR743.7bn at the end of second quarter represent a contraction of 5.4%, or EUR4.27bn less than at the end of March. In the month of June alone, Europerformance recently indicated that the decline in assets under management was 5.5%, or a loss of EUR43.5bn.However, performance effects and net subscription effects did not have the same impact on the quarter as they had in June. In second quarter, performance effects explain only EUR2.6bn of the decline in assets compared with the end of March, compared with EUR14bn in June, while net outflows represented EUR38.7bn, compared with EUR29.3bn in June. But second quarter offers a very different outlook for French-registered mutual funds, compared with the first three quarters of the year: between January and March, EUR3.5bn in inflows were recorded.