Société Générale, which released its annual results this Wednesday morning, has announced that it is combining its Corporate and Investment Banking and Private Banking, Global Investment Management and Services, as part of the second stage of the Ambition SG 2015 Plan. “This second stage consists in a project to simplify and refocus the organisational structure around the core businesses in order to increase revenue and cost synergies. This organisational structure would be based on three divisions,” a press statement says.Didier Valet will be in charge of the new division that will be the result of pooling the Corporate & Investment Banking and Private Banking, Global Investment Management Service activities. Jacques Ripoll, head of Global Investment Management and Services, has decided to pursue his career outside the Group. The two others divisions are : a French Retail Banking pillar, which covers the current scope (Societe Generale’s French Network, Crédit du Nord, Boursorama) and a new International Retail Banking and Financial Services pillar created by the combination of International Networks and Specialised Financial Services and Insurance, the aim of which is to improve synergies across countries and simplify the supervision. In 2012, the private banking, asset management and investor services unit saw its net contribution as a part of the group increase significantly, +21.6% compared with 2011 (not including the cost of the acquisition of TCW from Newedge), at EUR287m. Within the asset management profession, the contribution of Amundi, in which the bank controls a stake alongside Crédit Agricole, is EUR115m in 2012, compared with EUR98m in 2011. Assets under management at Lyxor, which is owned by the finance and investment banking unit, rose last year from EUR73.6bn to EUR75.4bn. For 2012 as a whole, net banking proceeds for Société Générale totalled EUR23.11bn, down 9.9% compared with published data, and 10.3% with constant data for last year, while its net profits fell 67%, to EUR774m.

The former head of alternative asset management in the financial institutions investment banking division of Barclays, Anthony Maniscalaco, is becoming managing director of the investment team at Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM), alongside Greg Hall, senior managing director.The mission for the team is to acquire stakes in hedge fund management firms. Currently, BAAM has about USD45bn in discretionary assets under management in numerous business units.J. Tomilson Hill, vice chairman of Blackstone and chairman & CEO of BAAM, says that BAAM is planning to significantly increase its personnel this year. In 2012, the number of partners doubled, with six appointments.

On 12 February, AllianceBernstein, “the operating company,” announced a net profit for the twelve months to 31 December of USD188.9m, compared with a loss of USD174.8m, while AllianceBernstein Holding, “the publicly-traded company,” posted net profits of USD51.08m, compared with losses of USD93.27m.

AllianceBernstein, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Legg Mason have all posted increases in assets in January 2013, totalling USD65bn overall.Franklin Templeton alone has seen an increase of USD28bn in one month, of which USD14.8bn went to equities, and USD8.8bn to bonds, for a total of USD809.8bn. Invesco, for its part, has posted an increase in its assets of USD24.9bn, to USD712.6bn, with USD14.6bn of this increase going to equity products.AUM at AllianceBernstein increased by USD7bn in January, to USD437bn, while at Legg Mason they totalled USD654.1bn as of 31 January, up 5.2bn since the end of December.

Assets under management at the Cantonal Bank of St-Gall as of the end of 2012 totalled CHF38.2bn, up 1.8% compared with the end of 2011, according to a statement released on 13 February. Positive market effects are the cause of this increase, as the bank saw a net outflow of CHF177m.

Assets under management at the Cantonal Bank of St-Gall as of the end of 2012 totalled CHF38.2bn, up 1.8% compared with the end of 2011, according to a statement released on 13 February. Positive market effects are the cause of this increase, as the bank saw a net outflow of CHF177m.

Investors in early February confirmed their confidence in the good outlooks for the global economy, while estimating that the current valuations of equities represent a supporting element following the recent rise of the market, according to the most recent survey, undertaken between 1 and 7 February by BofA Merrill Lynch, and covering 152 participants with cumulative assets under management of USD691bn. In the wake of the January figures, nearly 60% of investors are predicting the global economy to strengthen in the next 12 months. Expectations improve for profits, as 39% of respondents estimate that profits will increase in the next twelve months, compared with 29% in January. But 82% of respondents estimate that bonds are overvalued. Appetite for risk remains stable month on month, as investors overweight in cash declined from 8% in January to 2% in February, their lowest level since February 2011. “The persistence of a high level of optimism is a concern, and the markets may be vulnerable to bad news, but the support of valuations suggests that a possible correction would be brief and small in size, and our “large rotation” theme remains valid,” says Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. “Investors have found a balance between optimism about growth and prudence in their investment decisions. So far, investors have resisted the temptation to exuberanec,” says John Bilton, a specialist in European investment. Allocations to equities have remained at the high levels they reached in January, with 51% overweight in international equities. In the equity asset class, sectoral allocations are a sign of a slightly less desperate appetite for risk, as illustrated by a movement to defensive stocks. The percentage of investors overweight in pharmaceuticals was 27%, compared with 11% in January.

Andrea Calandra has been appointed as a salesperson for Italy at UBS ETF, in the team led by Simone Rosti Advisoronline reports. Calandra joined the UBS group in 2011. He had initially been responsible for investments for UBS Global Asset Management (Italia) SGR, and then served in the wealth management team, as a client adviser.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) on 12 February published a peer study of risk governance policies, both by national authorities and by financial companies. The document finds that progress has been made since the outbreak of the financial crisis, and remarks that improvements have been much more significant on the part of financial companies that national powers. The report claims, however, that there remains considerable progress yet to be made, both on the side of banks and of national authorities. At the heart of good risk management is effective risk appetite policy, and progress in this area remains partial, the FSB points out. Among its recommendations, the FSB sees a need to strengthen the status and independent authority of the chief risk officer (CRO). The risk committee should oversee the performance and objectives of the CRI, who, for his part, should have unfettered access to the board of directors and the risk committee. The CRO should also have regular meetings with directors, without operational heads of the firm being present. He or she should also be involved in activities and decisions which may affect the risk profile of the firm.

Currently, the Spanish asset management firm BBVA Asset Management is seeking a chief investment officer for Europe, to fill a position left vacant since the promotion of Eduardo García Hidalgo to global CIO last July, and a director of asset allocation. Funds People reports that the corresponding job announcements have been listed on the website eFinancial Careers.

AXA Investment Managers vient d’annoncer le lancement d’un fonds obligataire crédit global, le AXA WF Global SmartBeta Credit Bonds, qui vient compléter la gamme des fonds SmartBeta.Le fonds a été spécialement conçu pour les investisseurs institutionnels à la recherche d’une exposition crédit globale cherchant une exposition crédit globale à faibles coûts, sans les inconvénients des stratégies passives.Le fonds est co-géré par Damien Maisonniac à Paris et Lionel Pernias à Londres. Tous deux sont membres de l'équipe d’investissement crédit global, dirigée par Nicole Montoya.Le ticket d’entrée a été fixé à 5 millions d’euros, les frais de gestion pour la part institutionnelle «Z» étant de 15 points de base.

Between December 2012 and January 2013, the number of job listings in financial services in London rose 76%, to 2,331 positions, according to Morgan McKinley. But this seasonal rise cannot conceal a less favourable trend for jobs in the City. Year on year, job listings in financial services have fallen 18%. These figures come as confirmation of predictions by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Overall, the City is expected to lose 13,000 jobs in 2013, Funds Europe reports. Among the sectors which are continuing to recruit, compliance and IT departments will be active this year. These two types of profession will benefit from increased regulation, and a desire to combat financial crimes, which are driving businesses to acquire highly specialised leagal and IT teams.

Market Vectors ETF (Van Eck Global group), which has USD27.6bn in assets under management, on 12 February announced the launch of the Market Vectors BDC Income ETF, which the issuer says is the first ETF to be exposed exclusively to business development companies (BDCs), whose primary activity consists of lending capital or providing services to private companies or companies whose shares have low trading volume in the US.The acronym for the new fund, listed on NYSE Arca, is BIZD. The objective is to replicate the Market Vectors US Business Development Companies index, which covers firms whose capitalisation is over USD150m, for which the average trading volume is over USD1m, and monthly trades exceed 250,000 shares in the past six months.The TER is expected to be 0.40%.

iShares is planning to launch an actively-managed bond ETF, which would invest on government and corporate debt denominated in US dollars, IndexUniverse reports. The iShares Liquidity Income Fund would be similar to ETFs of the same type already available from Guggenheim, WisdomTree and FlexShares.

Deutsche Bank has taken the first steps to release a bond ETF dedicated to US long term municipal bonds, IndexUniverse reports. The db X-trackers Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Fund targets bonds issued by states, local municipalities and other issuers of tax-free bonds. The ETF will be particularly focused on bonds issues to finance infrastructure projects.

L’Italie a placé mercredi 1,43 milliard d’euros de certificats de crédit du Trésor, échéance juin 2017, au taux de rendement de 2,55%, en hausse par rapport à celui de 2,17% d’une adjudication du même type à la mi-janvier. La demande pour ces titres à taux variable a représenté 1,39 fois l’offre, contre 2,77 un mois auparavant.

La société japonaise de services financiers Orix a annoncé mercredi être en négociations en vue du rachat du gérant d’actifs néerlandais Robeco auprès de Rabobank, à la suite d’une information parue dans la presse locale selon laquelle les deux sociétés devaient prochainement conclure un accord.

La banque centrale de Suède n’a pas modifié son principal taux directeur mercredi et a ajouté qu’il ne devrait plus bouger de toute l’année. Son taux de refinancement demeure donc à 1%, alors que la plupart des économistes interrogés par Reuters anticipaient une baisse.

Le fonds souverain du Qatar, déjà premier actionnaire du joaillier américain Tiffany, a augmenté sa participation d’un point pour la porter à 8,7%, selon une notification aux autorités de marché. Cette monté au capital de la Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) s’est opérée fin décembre, précise le document. QIA avait annoncé en avril dernier détenir 5,2% du capital de Tiffany.

Les présidents des douze banques régionales de la Réserve fédérale américaine ont soutenu le principe d’une supervision renforcée de certains fonds monétaires, indiquant qu’une alternative consisterait à remplacer la règle du «1 dollar», montant fixe qu’est assuré de remporter l’investisseur, par une valeur de marché. Cet appel a été lancé dans le cadre d’une lettre ouverte au Conseil de surveillance de la stabilité financière(FSOC).

Fitch et S&P ont dégradé la note de la Jamaïque à respectivement C et SD, soit une situation de défaut sélectif. «La Jamaïque a annoncé un programme d’échange de sa dette qui débute officiellement aujourd’hui. Selon nos critères, nous le considérons comme un défaut» a expliqué S&P. Il s’agit de la deuxième restructuration de la dette du pays en trois ans, qui imposera 9,1 milliards de dollars d’échanges aux créanciers.

L’agence a abaissé d’un cran à A- la note de la dette de la Slovénie en raison de l’aggravation de l’endettement du pays sur fond de crise politique. La perspective est néanmoins désormais stable. Une décision qui reflète le poids plus important que prévu du poids de la dette en raison du soutien annoncé aux banques publiques dans un contexte d’incertitude sur la croissance, a expliqué S&P.

Le géant américain de la gestion d’actifs a nommé Gary Shedlin, ancien banquier chez Morgan Stanley et depuis longtemps conseiller financier de BlackRock, au poste de directeur financier, succédant ainsi à Ann Marie Petach.

Le CBI, l’association des industriels britanniques, a indiqué aujourd’hui qu’il révisait à la baisse sa prévision de croissance de l’économie britannique pour 2013 à 1,0%, contre 1,4% prévu en novembre dernier. Le Royaume-Uni réussirait en revanche à éviter une triple récession.

Les autorités de la concurrence ont débuté une consultation formelle concernant la demande de licence formulée par BATS Chi-X Europe qui lui permettrait de se développer dans les activités de trading sur produits dérivés et ainsi concurrencer le London Stock Exchange et ICAP Securities & Derivatives Exchange.

Dans son discours annuel sur l'état de l’Union, le président américain a eu des accents keynésiens en proposant de relever le salaire minimum aux Etats-Unis de plus de 20% d’ici fin 2015, d’investir 50 milliards de dollars dans la réfection de routes et de ponts et de consacrer 15 milliards de dollars à un plan de développement de l’emploi dans le secteur du bâtiment afin de soutenir la croissance économique du pays. Il propose également d’abaisser le taux d’imposition sur les sociétés et de manière plus marquée dans le secteur industriel, ainsi que de développer le crédit d’impôt recherche. En outre, Barack Obama souhaite resserrer ses liens avec le Vieux Continent en lançant des négociations sur un accord transatlantique global sur le commerce et l’investissement avec l’Union européenne. Les échanges commerciaux entre les deux partenaires ont très légèrement progressé en 2012 pour atteindre 645,9 milliards de dollars.

La Hongrie a émis 3,25 milliards de dollars à 5 ans et à 10 ans lors de sa première émission en obligations étrangères depuis 21 mois. Le pays a consenti des rendements supérieurs de 345 et 355 points de base au taux de référence mid swaps, avec BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank et Goldman Sachs comme syndicateurs de l’émission.

Les magistrats estiment que les actionnaires devraient se prononcer sur l'enveloppe accordée aux preneurs des établissements financiers

Dans leur rapport annuel, les sages de la Cour des comptes jugent l'objectif de réduction du déficit à 3% du PIB pour 2013 hors de portée

Les indices ont repris leur souffle après la hausse continue depuis mi-novembre de 12%, ce qui permet d'envisager un rebond après la saison des résultats