Philippe Farine, Group Treasurer de la Caisse de pension suisse Firmenich SA lors d’une table ronde organisée par amLeague et Newsmanagers : « Notre caisse est une caisse de pension privée et autonome. De fait, je ne donnerai pas notre encours global. Nous avons une tendance à être plutôt passifs. Nous sommes allés vers des mandats institutionnels qui nous ont permis de diminuer nos frais. Tout récemment, nous avons introduit une approche core-satellite et nous avons choisi d’introduire des gérants actifs. Sur 2 catégories : les obligations internationales et les actions internationales. Nous n’avons pas d’actions européennes car l’univers d’investissement est limité. Le benchmark de la plupart des caisses de pensions Suisse est le MSCI World. De fait on va, dans l’approche passive, privilégier le MSCI world et dans le choix des gestionnaires actifs, nous allons choisir des styles de gestion (value/growth). Mais majoritairement, passifs. Donc, nous avons fait le choix de l’actif et opté pour l’expérience des mandats balancés. Au départ, l’approche « intelligente » du banquier nous intéressait. Nous sommes industriels, et nous avons trouvé judicieux d’avoir un dialogue avec nos gérants pour nous aider à la conduite de nos affaires. Par la suite nous nous sommes rendus compte que nous perdions passablement de capacité à sélectionner de bons gérants. Donc le fait d’avoir sept mandats balancés avec le même benchmark n’avaient pas beaucoup d’intérêt pour les revenus de la caisse... Depuis trois ans, nous avons eu une démarche active. Et notre allocation d’actifs n’est pas très différente de celle qui a été présentée par ailleurs. Côté obligataire, nous sommes investis entre 40 et 50%. La part actions représente 22 %, répartis entre la Suisse, le monde, et les emerging markets. Nous avons également 10% de hedge funds, à peu près 2.5% de private equity, et 10 % d’immobilier en direct et 5% en indirect. A 80%, il s’agit de gestion passive et à 20% de gestion active, plutôt présente dans les hedge funds, car nous avons une approche un peu particulière dans le monde des caisses de pension Suisses. Nous achetons des hedge en direct. Cette caractéristique est assez rare, mais nous avons une vingtaine de hedge funds qui nos permettent d’approcher les différentes stratégies qu’on veut aborder. Ensuite les hedge funds viennent en complément dans la partie satellite. Nous avons une longue expérience dans la sélection des hedge funds en direct. Les premiers investissements faits ainsi ont été réalisés en 1994 mais pas forcément dans le cadre de la caisse de pension. Nous avons longtemps fait cavalier seul, mais en 1999 nous nous sommes attachés les services d’un conseiller pour nous aider à faire de la sélection de hedge funds. Au même titre qu’on a pris un conseiller externe pour sélectionner nos gérants actifs. Ceux-là même qui sont cantonnés dans les obligations internationales et les actions internationales. Comme nous avons très peu de gérants actifs, nous sommes plutôt tentés d'être assez dynamiques sur notre sélection de gérants actifs. Sachant qu’ils ne représentent que 20% de notre classe d’actifs, on peut se permettre d'être un peu plus exigeants sur leurs performances et puis, exigeants sur le conseiller qui va nous aider à sélectionner le bon style. Avec ces 20%, nous acceptons également d’avoir un peu plus de volatilité. Le grand risque, c’est l’hyper-diversification. Le nombre de produits qui nous sont proposés dans nos stratégies et les nouvelles classes d’actifs sont vraiment très nombreux. J’ai l’impression que l’on essaie vraiment de trouver tous les moyens pour parer au risque, parce que finalement on a plus de risque que d’espérance de rendement maintenant. Je crains que l’on se diversifie beaucoup trop. Et sur l’on ne capture plus de performance... » . Lorsque l’on détient 280 titres, 1800 titres, etc, quel est le capital humain que vous avez investi pour choisir l’action qui représente 0.0005% ? Et combien cela coûte pour le choisir ? ». Ce qui compte pour moi, ce sont les convictions, c’est l’approche value qui paie sur le long terme.

Le président de la BCE, Mario Draghi, a salué l’accord sur l’union bancaire qui, selon lui, contribuera à restaurer la confiance dans le secteur bancaire de la zone euro. Le mécanisme de supervision unique «contribuera à raviver les prêts interbancaires et les flux de crédit transfrontaliers, avec des effets tangibles sur l'économie réelle», a déclaré Mario Draghi lors d’une audition au Parlement européen.

L’activité manufacturière dans l’Etat de New York a ralenti à rythme plus marqué que prévu en décembre, pour le cinquième mois consécutif, notamment en raison d’une baisse des nouvelles commandes, a annoncé la Réserve fédérale de New York. L’indice dit «Empire State» s’est établi à -8,1 contre -5,2 en novembre. La composante des commandes nouvelles est de nouveau passée en territoire négatif, de 3,1 à -3,7.

Athènes a officiellement accepté l’ensemble du rachat de dette, pour un montant de 31,9 milliards d’euros, permettant de débloquer une nouvelle tranche d’aide internationale, a confirmé le ministère des Finances grec. La Grèce utilisera 11,29 milliards d’euros de financement pour racheter ses obligations au prix moyen de 33,8% de leur valeur faciale. Le règlement de l’opération de rachat interviendra demain.

Membre du conseil des gouverneurs de la Fed, Jeremy Stein a estimé lors d’un discours prononcé dans l’enceinte de la BCE que les lignes de swaps reliant les banques centrales à travers le monde aidaient les institutions bancaires à mieux affronter les périodes de stress financiers et protégeaient les ménages et les entreprises des contrecoups de tels épisodes.

Selon un document du Conseil d’orientation des retraites (COR) que l’AFP a pu consulter, le besoin de financement du système de retraite pourrait s’établir en 2020 entre 20,1 et 24,9 milliards d’euros, en fonction des hypothèses économiques retenues. Ce document détaille également des projections jusqu’en 2060.

The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) on 14 December published a disclosure framework and an evaluation methodology to establish new Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI) for financial market infrastructures (FMI). The disclosure framework and methodology were the subject of a consultation launched in April. The dislcosure frameowrk will be used by FMIs to explain their activities and practices in the area of risk management with full transparency. The methodology is aimed more at international external valuators, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and other national authorities.

The failure of the European Union and the United States to respect the deadline of 1 January 2013 to apply new banking solvency rules does not raise doubts about the Basel III agreement, regulators have announced.The Basel commission on 14 December announced, following a two-day meeting, that 11 countries are prepared to begin applying the new rules. “We are expecting regulations to be finalised in other jurisdictions during 2013, and they will join all other interim deadlines, under the initial agreement,” the chairman of the commission, Stefan Ingves, said in a statement. He says that this will be the case even if the parties concerned are not able to implement the rules in early 2013 as planned.“As a result, by the end of 2013, nearly all jurisdictions of the Basel commission will apply Basel III, in line with the calendar defined,” Ingves, who is also governor of the Swedish central bank, adds. “This is an absolutely crucial move to strengthen the global banking system.”

Net inflows to UCITS surged in October to EUR 41 billion, as all fund categories recorded net inflows. This compares to net outflows of EUR 10 billion recorded in September, according to statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). This is a sign that the crisis has begun to end, as uncertainties about the future of the euro zone fade. Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) jumped in October to EUR 34 billion, up from EUR 13 billion in September. Net inflows into bond funds amounted to EUR 25 billion, marking a significant increase compared to September (EUR 9 billion).Equity funds recorded net inflows of EUR 3 billion for the second successive month, while balanced funds enjoyed increased net sales in October of EUR 5 billion, up from EUR 2 billion in September. Net sales of money market funds returned to positive territory in October recording net inflows of EUR 6 billion, after registering net outflows in September of EUR 23 billion. Total net sales of non-UCITS increased in October to EUR 13 billion, up from EUR 4 billion in September. Special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) registered a jump in net sales to EUR 10 billion, compared to EUR 3 billion in September. Total net assets of UCITS increased 0.4% in October to EUR 6,249 billion, whilst non-UCITS net assets increased 0.3% in the month to stand at EUR 2,479 billion.

If it wants to continue to grow, the European ETF market will have to attract new investors, Delef Glow, head of Lipper EMEA Research, says in a report on the future of the industry published on Friday. From this point of view, “it is important that ETF promoters make a significant effort to educate clients to ensure they clearly understand how ETFs can be used to help them reach their individual investment targets,” the director writes. Among the new investors, Detlef Glow cites actively managed mutual funds, who may need ETFs for portfolio transitions or portfolio liquidity. Wealth management is another market in which ETF providers could gain market share. High net worth investors are increasingly aware of the costs of products in their portfolios. Lastly, retail investors are also a major target for ETF providers. With this in mind, ETF providers need to open to new distribution channels, such as fund platforms. Detlef Glow predicts that market growth may also be driven by supply. Between 30 September 2011 and 30 September 2012, assets in the European ETF sector increased by EUR46.64bn, or 21%, to EUR267bn.

The largest SRI (socially responsible investment) funds in the world are in France, according to a study by Vigeo and Morningstar reported by Il Sole – 24 Ore. They are the Bnp Paribas Mois (Bnp Paribas AM), Amundi Trèso ISR (Amundi AM) and Fonsicav (Natixis AM). France is also the largest SRI market, according to Vigeo, with 44% of SRI assets. These assets totalled EUR95bn in Europe in June 2012, an increase of 12% in 12 months. Italy is near the bottom of the rankings with EUR2bn in assets.

The Börsen-Zeitung reports that according to financial industry sources, Klaus Kaldemorgen is to step back from the management of two flagship funds from DWS, Vermögensbildungsfonds I (DE0008476524), with EUR5bn in assets, and DWS Akkumula Fonds (DE0008474024), with assets of EUR2.9bn. He will hand off to André Köttner, the star manager from Union Investment who had been responsible for the UniGlobal fund (DE0008491051) with EUR7.26bn in assets. Köttner left his former employer at the end of September (see Newsmanagers of 28 September), and was replaced by Gunther Krammert.

The European insurance and occupational pensions authority (EIOPA) has issued an alert about declining coverage levels for defined-benefit pension plans in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In its semiannual report on financial stability, EIOPA says that coverage rates in the United Kingdom are now under 80%. In this environment, “a clear and realistic timetable for the establishment of Solvency II would represent a significant contribution to financial stability efforts in Europe,” the Authority says in a statement.

The US asset management firm is acquiring 1.1% of capital in Amadeus, which brings its stake in the reservation website to 2.11% Cotizalia reports. At market value, the new acquisition is valued at EUR89m, and Fidelity’s total exposure is EUR175m. HSBC has recently sold a 2.7% stake in Amadeus, Fidelity is the seventh-largest shareholder in the Spanish firm, following Air France, the Singapore government, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Lufthansa, BlackRock and MFS Investment.

Due to a strong increase in its assets under management, the Swiss firm Mirabaud has recruited three experienced professionals for its wealth management team in Spain, Funds People reports. They are Remedios Parra, Jaime Medem Mac-Lellan and Marcelino Blanco Garnacho, who will also lead the wealth management advisory team at the firm.

The financial group for the Spanish savings banks, Ahorro Corporación, has increased the number of foreign asset management firms available on its Central de Compras fund platform to 16, with the addition of M&G Investments and Pioneer Investments, Funds People reports.The 14 asset management firms already present are Allianz, Amundi, BlackRock, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Carmignac, DWS Investments, Fidelity Worldwide Investments, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JPMorgan AM, Pictet, Pimco and Schroders.

The emerging markets specialist emerging market asset management firm Ashmore Investment Management is proposing to close its special situations fund, Ashmore Global Opportjnities Limited, which invests primarily in private equity and distressed debt, Financial News reports. The fund, which is listed in London, is trading about 31% below its net asset value.

The Liechtenstein-based firm LGT Capital Partners has announced that its affiliate, LGT Capital Partners Holding (USA) Inc., has acquired the New York firm Clerestory Capital Advisors, LLC (CCA), an investment and advising firm for real estate investment via funds, co-investments and secondary investments, for an undisclosed amount. The firm was founded by Joanne Douvas and Tommy brown in 2007, when the firm’s first fund of funds was laynched. CCA will now become known as LGT Clerestory.

BNY Mellon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gerald L. Hassell today announced several executive appointments designed to accelerate the company’s success as the global leader in investment management and investment services.The following appointments will be effective Jan. 1, 2013:Karen B. Peetz will become President of BNY Mellon. Peetz is currently Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Markets & Treasury Services. As President, Peetz will lead Global Client Management, Regional Management, Treasury Services and Human Resources.Timothy F. Keaney will be named Chief Executive Officer of Investment Services. He is currently Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of Aset ervicing, and will direct Asset Servicing, Corporate Trust, Depository Depositary Receipts, Global Markets, Global Collateral Services, Broker Dealer Services and Pershing. Brian T. Shea becomes President of Investment Services and head of the Global Operations and Technology group. He remains Chief Executive Officer of Pershing. Vice Chairman Curtis Y. Arledge remains Chief Executive Officer for Investment Management. Peetz, Keaney and Arledge will report to Gerald L. Hassell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon.

Fidelity Worldwide Investment will be soft-closing its FAT Europe strategies on 2 January, after assets reached EUR2.6bn as of the end of September, Investment Week reports. The fund, managed by Anas Chakra, can adopt long/short positions on European equities.

As the holidays near, investors have gained hopes of seeing the euro zone gradually recover from the crisis. In the week to 12 December, European bond and equity funds each took on more than a net USD1bn, according to estimates by EPFR Global. There has also been an increase in interest in China, as some predictions project growth of over 8% in 2013.Equity funds overall have posted net inflows of EUR8.9bn in the week to 12 December, more than half of which went to emerging market funds. Bond funds finished the week with net subscriptions totalling USD5.2bn, which brings inflows since the beginning of the year to over USD460bn. EPFR Global reports that Swedish bond funds attracted over USD1.5bn in net subscriptions in the past 12 weeks, a higher total than cumulative inflows in the past four years. Money market funds, for their part, have seen net outflows of USD3.5bn.

The investment firm East Capital Explorer, listed in Stockholm, will be liquidating the East Capital Power Utilities Fund, in which it had been invested, and from which it expects to recuperate EUR14.2m, as announced. The remaining assets will be distributed in early 2013. The participation of East Capital Explorer in the fund represented EUR25.4m, which corresponds to 9% of the firm’s net asset value. East Capital Power Utilities Fund aimed to benefit from concentration and liberalisation in the Russian utility sector. But the sector has not developed as expected, East Capital Explorer explains. Investment in the fund also resulted in annual pre-tax losses of 2.6% between December 2007 and 30 November 2012.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) on 14 December unveiled a draft directive which could toughen the prudential management requirements applicable to major foreign banks present in the United States. The plans primarily concern banks and non-banking financial establishments whose consolidated global assets total over USD50bn. They would require them to submit to the same stress tests as US banks. The central bank says that the move implements terms of the Wall Street reform law of 2010. According to the text of the bill made public by the Fed, the new standards would come into effect on 1 July 2015, in order to give the establishments concerned time to comply.

Federal authorities are investigating SAC Capital Advisors, the alternative asset management firm of Steven A. Cohen, The Wall Street Journal reports. They are seeking to establish whether or not insider trading was involved in a transaction on 14 February 2011, when SAC Capital purchased options on shares in Weight Watchers, which rose from USD44.08 to USD65.39 on 17 February after the publication of results which were far higher than expectations.As a result of this deal, SAC Capital probably made gains of USD8m, while its counterparty, Goldman Sachs, would have lost at least USD3m.

The Singapore-based firm Oclaner Asset Management, which assists family office and high net worth clients, has formed partnership with the Monaco-based private investment firm Codima, Asian Investor reports. Under the terms of the agreement, Oclaner will become the asset management arm of Codima, or the Compagnie d’Investissements Monaco-Asie. Meanwhile, Oclaner becomes the unit dedicated to direct investment of Codima, which will allow the Singapore firm to offer a wider range of private assets in Asia and Europe.

The Canadian pension fund Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has set up two new units in Asia, as part of a process to increase personnel in the region, Asian Investor reports. The pension fund has set up a private debt desk, which will invest directly in leveraged loans, high yield bonds and debt structures including mezzanine. It will participate in event-driven operations (acquisitions, refinancing, restructuring and recapitalisation). CPPIB Has recruited Nina Tao as head of the private debt desk in Hong Kong. The pension fund has also set up a public equity private investment activity in Hong Kong. Assets under management by the pension fund not total about CAD170bn, nearly CAD20bn of which is in the Asia-Pacific region.

The asset management firm Pall Mall Investment Management GmbH (PMIM), based in Hamburg, earlier this month opened a distribution office in Frankfurt, at the offices of Veritas Investment GmbH, an affiliate of the Augur group.Currently, assets total EUR2bn, exclusively for institutional invetors, although the firm has recently launched an open-ended multi-asset class fund which uses the Risk@Work process and is administered by LBB Invest, the PMIM-MultiAsset-LBB-InvesT (DE000A1CXYQ0).

Dirk Springer, head of bonds at Berenberg Bank, based in Hamburg, has left the firm, Citywire Global reports. The circumstances of his departure remain unknown, and it is not yet known if he will be joining another asset management firm.

According to reports in Citywire, Dirk Springer, CIO of Berenberg for bonds and manager of several funds at Berenberg, has left the firm.

Gregor Broschinski decided to quit on 31 December the board of Sal. Oppenheim (Deutsche Bank group), where he had been responsible for wealth management. On 1 January, 2013, he will be replaced by Nicolas von Loeper, who since 2009 has been head of the private wealth management operation of Deutsche Bank Cologne for the Cologne/Bonn/Aachen region.