Des perquisitions étaient menées mercredi au domicile parisien de la directrice générale du Fonds monétaire international (FMI), Christine Lagarde, dans l’affaire Tapie, a indiqué son avocat, Me Yves Repiquet. En déplacement jusqu'à mercredi matin à Francfort, la directrice générale du FMI devait regagner les Etats-Unis dans la journée.

La société américaine d’investissement immobilier American Realty Properties a promis de mettre «au moins» 5,7 milliards de dollars sur la table pour racheter Cole Credit Property Trust III. L’opération, qui serait financée en numéraire et en actions, permettrait de bâtir un nouveau géant coté dans la location commerciale aux Etats-Unis.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Royal London on 19 March announced that it is acquiring the asset management and insurance activities of The Co-operative Banking Group for a total of about GBP220m.Assets under management at The Co-operative Asset Management (TCAM) total over GBP19bn. Assets under management at Royal London Asset Management will total about GBP70bn after the merger of TCAM into Royal London AM.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of risk at F&C Asset Management, Eric Mackay, has left the firm to join TT International, an equity management firm, as head of compliance, according to reports in Financial News. His departure follows several others from F&C AM, at a time when the firm is cutting its costs.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Of 13 hedge fund strategies regularly monitored by the Edhec-Risk Institute, three (CTA global, global macro and dedicated short bias) have posted losses in February, of 0.97%, 0.19% and 0.28%, respectively. However, in the first two months of the year, only dedicated short bias shows losses, of -4.8%.The best returns in February were for distressed securities (0.66%) and bond arbitrage (0.62%). In January-February, equity long/short has gained an average of 3.5%, putting it ahead of distressed securities (2.9%) and event-driven, as well as relative value, which both gained 2.6%.Edhec also reports that since January 2001, the two best-performing strategies have been distressed securities and emerging markets, with average annual gains of 10.5% and 10.3%, respectively. However, dedicated short bias is the only strategy to show a loss, of 1.2% per year.Lastly, of 13 strategies, only one has a Sharpe ratio of over 1: distressed securities, at 1.06.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } RobecoSAM, which calculates the Dow Jones Sustainability indices (DISI) with S&P Dow Jones Indices, has announced that it will now ask publicly-traded businesses the same questions about climate change as those developed over the past decade by CDP, the provider of the only global environmental information system, and the annual Climate Disclosure and Climate Performance Leadership Indexes (CDLI & CPLI).The partnership will improve comparability of sustainable development data on the global market, while simplifying the job for businesses required to respond to multiple questionnaires requesting environmental information.

Last year, CalPERS (USD225bn in assets) reduced its investments in commodities by more than half. But in an interview with the Financial Times, Andrew Karsh, bond and commodity manager at the US pension fund, says that the pull back from commodities in favour of inflation-linked bonds will not last, and does not reflect a change in strategy. He says commodities serve as a hedge against inflation.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pension & Investment reports that Capital Group will be dropping the trade name Capital Guardian Trust Co, its institutional unit, Capital International, the name of its London-based institutional affiliate, and Capital Research & Management, the investment arm of American Funds. American Funds and Capital Group will by the firm’s only trade names in future.Capital Group is also reshuffling its active investment teams for equities. Two teams had previously selected stocks solely for American Funds, while the third worked only on institutional strategies. The three teams will now work on both retail and institutional segments.Capital Group will also be launching collective investment trusts for the defined-contribution retirement savings plan market, as well as segregated managed accounts for individual investors.Assets at Capital Group as of the end of December totalled USD1.1trn, USD400bn less than six years previously.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The board of directors at State Street Corporation has authorised the launch of a new ordinary share repurchase programme, for a maximum of USD2.1bn, by 31 March 2014.On 21 February, the firm announced that it is paying a dividend of 26 cents per ordinary share, payable on 12 April to shareholders registered on 1 April. This is higher than the dividend of 24 cents paid on 15 January.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Carmignac Gestion on Tuesday, 19 March announced the arrival of Ivan Monème as head of communication. Monème will report to Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO, and is also a member of the strategic development committee at the asset management firm.Monème previously spent 12 years at Fidelity Investment Managers, where he successively served as head of institutional communication for France, and executive director responsible for institutional communication for Central Europe and Marketing for France.

On a visit to Frankfurt on Tuesday, Zeno Staub, chairman of the board at the Swiss private bank Vontobel, announced that Germany is the only European market outside Switzerland where he can imagine making external growth operations, even though this is not a priority, Handelsblatt reports.Georg Schubinger, head of wealth management, for his part, says that Vontobel is taking advantage of the opportune moment as its competitors are weak, recruiting advisers and attracting their clients.At the end of 2012, Vontobel had CHF7bn in assets under management from Germany, while the group’s total stood at CHF98bn.Staub admits, however, that Vontobel is not profitable in Germany. Nonetheless, this does not concern the German market in the strict sense, as the group in fact serves German clients in Switzerland.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Austrian-German asset management firm C-Quadrat on 19 March announced that its Viennese affiliate Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH has signed a cooperation agreement with Lion Global Investors (LGI), itself an asset management affiliate of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). LGI had about USD25.5bn in assets under management as of the end of December.The agreement gives APM exclusive rights to distribution in continental Europe (excluding France) for LGI funds licensed for sale in Europe. The OCBC affiliate is particularly well-known for its Asian Dividends and Asian Credits funds.In reality, the new cooperation agreement is an extension of an existing collaboration, as LGI exclusively manages the APM Asian Quality Bond Fund. There are also plans to launch an Asian Quality Stocks fund in the near future.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investors are increasingly confident in the outlooks for the US dollar and US equities, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for March undertaken between 8 and 14 March. An overall total of 254 panelists with US$691 billion of assets under management participated in the survey from 8 March to 14 March.A net 72 percent of respondents now expect the U.S. currency to appreciate over the next year, a 30-point increase in a month. Bearishness on U.S. stocks has also reversed. A net 5 percent identify the U.S. as the regional market it most wishes to overweight, compared to January’s net 19 percent underweight. The U.S. also offers the best outlook of any region for corporate profits by far, investors believe.Against this background, investors remain positive on the global economy’s recovery and continue to increase exposure to equity markets. A net 61 percent expects macroeconomic performance around the world to strengthen over the next year, a slight increase on last month’s reading. A net 57 percent of asset allocators are now overweight equities, up from a net 51 percent in the two previous months.This positive stance offsets a gloomier view of China. Only a net 14 percent of regional investors now expect the Chinese economy to be stronger in a year’s time. This represents one of the sharpest falls in this reading in the survey’s history. Significantly increased fears of a hard landing in China are reflected in a shift out of emerging market equities and into developed markets (mainly the U.S. and Japan).“Relative U.S. economic outperformance on the back of the housing market’s ongoing improvement and the energy independence story will lead a secular uptrend in the dollar. U.S. equities’ leadership in the ‘Great Rotation’ suggests developed market equities are the likeliest winner in this scenario,” Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, said.

As part of a new area of activity in the monitoring of over 1,500 investment companies which have disclosed information to it under Dodd-Frank legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently focusing on “exotic” costs, such as travel, entertainment and consulting, which are charged to clients, the Wall Street Journal reports. The regulator is focusing on hedge fund and private equity managers in particular.

Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) on 19 March announced that it has admitted the Lyxor ETF MTS Spain Government Bond All Maturity index, an ETF based on Spanish government debt, which the Société Générale affiliate has had listed on Euronext Paris for the past month (see Newsmanagers of 19 February), to trading.The addition brings the number of ETFs listed in Spain to 70. Trading volume for the first two months of the year have totalled EUR563m in 9,881 transactions. This is equivalent to 70% and 86% more, respectively, than in the corresponding period of 2012.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management is launching a range of five funds of funds, which will be led by Tony Lanning, former director of multi-asset at Henderson, who is joining the firm in May. He will replace Jonathan Shelon. The new range will be known as Fusion, and will offer products whose names reflect various risk profiles (income, conservative, balanced, growth and growth plus), Fundweb states.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The former head of the Bank of China, Xiao Gang, has been appointed to take over at the helm of the Chinese market regulatory authority, the CSRC, following the departure of Guo Shuqing, who has been appointed to other duties. Asian Investor reports that Xiao is expected to continue reforms begun by his predecessor. In the few days preceding his departure, Guo published no less than nine documents, including consultations and new regulations. In other words, the new director of the CSRC will initially have to address a number of projects which are already well underway, before making his mark. Though his predecessor was viewed as a reformer, Xiao is considered more conservative. He is particularly critical of shadow banking in China, and last year published an article on the proceeds of wealth management, likening them to a vast Ponzi scheme. However, it appears that reforms will continue. A consultation opened until 13 April stipulates a liberalisation fo the programme for Chinese qualified institutional investors (QDII). This would offer new opportunities for growth on the Chinese market for foreign asset management firms.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 31 March, Andrew Kewek, the current CEO for Singapore at Deutsche Asset Management and director of sales for DWS Asia will be leaving his job. The departure follows the union of asset management activities into a new asset and wealth management (AWM) unit at Deutsche Bank, Asian Investor reports. Kewek will not be directly replaced, as the responsibilities of various positions will be redefined.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock has recruited Patrick O’Donnell from BNP Paribas Investment Partners as director of consultant relations for Asia ex-Japan. O’Donnell is based in Hong Kong. His role is to cultivate relationships with consultants in the region, and to ensure that the product range corresponds to the needs of institutionals, Asian Investor reports.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Net profits at the wealth management firm Partners Group totalled CHF266m, up 25% compared with the previous year. The board of directors is proposing to pay an increased dividend of CHF6.25 per share, compared with CHF5.50, according to a statement released on 19 March.The firm has also confirmed previously released figures concerning the evolution of assets under management. Inflows totalled CHF4.9bn, compared with CHF4.2bn in 2011, and assets under management as of the end of December totalled CHF28.6bn.The firm has also confirmed its inflow objectives, in a range of EUR4bn to EUR6bn.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds on sale in Norway have for the first time topped NOK600bn in assets under management (EUR80bn), according to statistics from the Norwegian fund association Verdipapirfondenes forening (VFF). The industry recorded net inflows of NOK8bn in February, of which NOK5.7bn went to bond funds, and NOK2.6bn to equity and balanced funds. Institutional investors were the most active, with net inflows of NOK6.3bn in February, of which NOK4.9bn went to bond funds. Retail investors contributed NOK1.1bn.

De passage à Francfort mardi, Zeno Staub, président du directoire de la banque privée suisse Vontobel, a indiqué que l’Allemagne est le seul marché d’Europe en dehors de la Suisse où il peut concevoir de réaliser des opérations de croissance externe, même si ce n’est pas la priorité, rapporte le Handelsblatt.Georg Schubiger, responsable de la gestion de fortune, souligne pour sa part que Vontobel profite en ce moment de la faiblesse de ses concurrents, en recrutant des conseillers et en attirant leurs clients.Fin 2012, Vontobel gérait en Allemagne 7 milliards de francs suisses, l’encours total du groupe ressortant à 98 milliards.Zeno Staub reconnaît cependant que Vontobel n’est pas bénéficiaire en Allemagne. Mais cela ne concerne que le marché allemand stricto sensu, parce qu’en fait le groupe dessert aussi des clients allemands en Suisse.

Le gestionnaire austro-allemand C-Quadrat a annoncé le 19 février que sa filiale viennoise Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH a conclu un accord de coopération avec Lion Global Investors (LGI), elle-même filiale de gestion d’actifs d’ Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). LGI gérait environ 25,5 milliards de dollars fin décembre.L’accord attribue à APM l’exclusivité de la distribution en Europe continentale (hors France) des fonds de LGI agréés à la vente en Europe. La filiale d’OCBC est particulièrement connue pour ses fonds Asian Dividends et Asian Credits.En réalité, le nouvel accord de coopération est un élargissement d’une collaboration existante puisque LGI gère de manière exclusive le APM Asian Quality Bond Fund. Il est prévu également le lancement prochain d’un Asian Quality Stocks.

Sur les treize stratégies de hedge funds régulièrement suivies par l’Edhec-Risk Institute, trois (CTA global, global macro et ventes à découvert) ont accusé des pertes en février, avec respectivement 0,97 %, 0,19 % et 0,28 %. Toutefois, sur les deux premiers mois de l’année, seules les ventes à découvert sont dans le rouge, avec – 4,8 %.Les meilleures performances de février ont été le distressed securites (0,66 %) et l’arbitrage obligataire (0,62 %). Pour janvier-février, le long.short equity gagne en moyenne 3,5 %, devançant les distressed securities (2,9 %) et l’événementiel ainsi que la valeur relative, qui progressent de 2,6 %.L’Edhec rapporte aussi que, depuis janvier 2001, les deux stratégies les plus performantes ont été les distressed securities et les marchés émergents, avec des gains annuels moyens de respectivement 10,5 % et 10,3 %. En revanche, les ventes à découvert sont les seules en perte, avec 1,2 % par an.Enfin, sur les treize stratégies, une seule affiche un ratio de Sharpe supérieur à 1 : les distressed securities, avec 1,06.

Le bénéfice net du gérant de fortune Partners Group s’est inscrit à 266 millions de francs suisses, en progression de 25% par rapport à l’année précédente. Le conseil d’administration propose le versement d’un dividende en hausse, à 6,25 francs suisses par action, contre 5,50 francs, selon un communiqué publié le 19 mars. La société confirme par ailleurs des chiffres déjà publiés sur l'évolution de la collecte et des actifs sous gestion. La collecte s’est élevée à 4,9 milliards de francs contre 4,2 milliards de francs en 2011 et les actifs sous gestion s'établissaient fin décembre à 28,6 milliards de francs. La société confirme en outre son objectif de collecte qui s'établit dans une fourchette de 4 à 6 milliards d’euros.

Le responsable des risques de F&C Asset Management, Eric Mackay, a quitté la société pour rejoindre TT International, une société de gestion actions, en tant que responsable de la conformité, selon les informations de Financial News.Son départ fait suite à plusieurs autres au sein de F&C AM, alors que la société réduit ses coûts.

JP Morgan Asset Management lance une gamme de cinq fonds de fonds qui sera pilotée par Tony Lanning, ancien directeur multi-asset de Henderson, qui rejoint la société en mai. Il remplacera Jonathan Shelon. La nouvelle gamme sera baptisée Fusion et proposera des produits dont les noms reflètent différents profils de risques (income, conservative, balanced, growth et growth plus), précise Fundweb.

Royal London a annoncé le 19 mars l’acquisition des activités de gestion et d’assurance de The Co-operative Banking Group pour un montant de quelque 220 millions de livres.Les actifs sous gestion de The Co-operative Asset Management (TCAM) s'élèvent à plus de 19 milliards de livres. Les actifs sous gestion de Royal London Asset Management vont ainsi totaliser quelque 70 milliards de livres après la fusion de TCAM dans Royal London AM.

BlackRock a recruté Patrick O’Donnell de BNP Paribas Investment Partners au poste de directeur des relations avec les consultants pour l’Asie hors Japon. L’intéressé est basé à Hong Kong. Son rôle est de cultiver les relations avec les consultants dans la région et de s’assurer que l’offre produits correspond aux besoins des institutionnels, indique Asian Investor.

Au 31 mars, Andrew Kwek, l’actuel CEO Singapour de Deutsche Asset Management et directeur commercial de DWS Asia, va quitter ses fonctions. Ce départ fait suite au rapprochement des activités de gestion dans un nouveau pôle de gestion d’actifs et de fortune AWM (asset & wealth management) de la Deutsche Bank, indique Asian Investor. Il ne sera pas directement remplacé puisque les missions des différents postes devraient être redéfinies.