Natixis Asset Management (NAM) is this morning unveiling Mirova, its new expert unit dedicated exclusively to socially responsible investment. The unit, which combines the socially responsible investment activities of the asset management firm, has EUR4bn in equity assets under management, EUR7.7bn in assets advised for ESG/SRI strategies other than equities, and EUR20.4bn in assets in voting and engagement as of 30 September 2012, out of total assets of EUR286.5bn. The activities are centered around 4 pillars: publicly-traded equities, infrastructure, impact investing, voting and engagement. The range includes 14 funds.The new unit, created as part of a reorganisation of NAM management announced in April this year, is led by Philippe Zaouati, deputy CEO, who is also chairman of the SRI committee of the French association for asset managers, and head of the responsible investment working group from EFAMA. Zaouati relies on 36 “multi-disciplinary experts.”

The asset management firm Pimco has decided to reduce its exposure to German and French government debt in favour of bonds from the Italian government, according to information which has appeared in the international press.The head of portfolio management for Germany at Pimco, Andrew Bosomworth, has announced that German bunds are not earning sufficient returns, ten-year debt is earning returns of under 1.5%, and that French government bonds are overpriced.However, Italian as well as Spanish debt are attractive investments.

The alternative asset management firm Brevan Howard Asset Management is continuing to recruit traders in New York, according to the news agency Bloomberg. After the financial crisis in 2008, Brevan Howard, whose assets under management total about USD40bn, was withdrawn from the US market. It has recently decided to return to the market. In June this year, the New York office of Brevan Howard had two members. Since then, it has recruited 14 people, who had previously worked at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

Investec AM is hoping to discourage investors from subscribing to its UK Smaller Companies small caps fund, managed by Phil Rodrigs. The management firm is aiming to protect the performance of the product, which has assets of GBP460m, up from GBP408m at the end of August, Investment Week states. The fund has not been closed to subscriptions, but the asset management firm has ceased to actively promote it.

The Italian team from M&G Investments has recruited Delia Pelosi as investment sales advisor, Bluerating reports. She previously worked at Pioneer as sales and distribution data manager, and at Intesa Sanpaolo Life as head of client communications. At M&G, Pelose joins a team of eight people, led by Matteo Astolfi, head of M&G Investments in Italy. So far, the British asset management firm has assets in Italy of EUR3.5bn, and has posted net inflows of EUR1.2bn since the beginning of the year.

The consulting firm Towers Watson has appointed Alessandra Pasquoni as head of the Investment sector in Italy, Bluerating reports. She had previously been head of the securities investment division of the Cassa Nazionale di Previdenza e Assistenza Dottori Commercialisti, the retirement planning scheme for accountants. She spent five years at Pioneer in Dublin as an asset allocation specialist.

Man Group has transferred EUR1.5bn from its flagship quantitative fund AHL to a new experimental portfolio, in order to boost performance, the Financial Times reports. The new vehicle, internally known as “evolution,” has earned 18% since the beginning of the year, and 16% in 2011, according to a source familiar with the matter. Evolution was specifically designed to help AHL, which has assets under management of USD16.3bn, to overcome the impact of quantitative easing and the euro zone crisis, which caused a lot of problems for momentum quantitative funds. Since the beginning of QE measures, AHL has lost 12%.

Sebastián Larraza, head of alternative management, will be responsible for the new fund of fund range AC Gestión Global launched by Ahorro Corporación Gestión, which will consist of four products, two absolute return funds and two directional funds, Funds People reports.The two absolute return funds of funds will be the AC Gestión Global Conservador VAR 3 and AC Gestión Global Moderado VAR 7, which are the existing VaR funds with new names.For the directional funds, Ahorro Corporación is launching the AC Gestión Global Renta Fija, a UCITS-compliant fund of 25 funds, which may include all fixed income segments with an ex ante volatility of less than 5%, and total performance on record of 4-6% per year. The product charges fees of 1%, with a performance commission of 9%.A similar product will soon be launched in an equity universe.

Ilya Mozgovoy, senior portfolio manager, was on 19 November promoted to deputy CEO and head of asset management at Allianz Investments in Russia. He will be responsible for asset management for retail clients, businesses and institutional investors, as well as for mutual funds. Assets at the affiliate of the German group total RUB30.8bn, or EUR770m as of the end of September.

According to various British media sources, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) on 21 November confirmed that it has merged its multi-management team with the long-only manager selection team from its parent company Lloyds Banking Group, led by Mark Harries, head of manager selection at SWIP.

After the DEGI Europa, the DEGI Global Business and the DEGI International, Aberdeen Immobilien KAG is once again having to liquidate a German open-ended real estate fund. It is the last of the range, the DEGI German Business (DE000A0J3TP7), for which the management mandate is being discontinued on 20 November 2015. The announced objective is, as always, “the best solution in the interests of fair treatment for all investors.”The redemption window for the fund, with EUR219m invested in 17 properties (as of 31 October) was closed on 29 November 2010. Currently, the liquidity ratio is 9.3%, which is by far not enough to satisfy redemption demands from several institutional invetors.The fund will pay off its creditors and make two semiannual payments per year from April 2013.Since the beginning of this year, the DEGI German Business fund has already sold four buildings, and two others are in the process of being sold.

In the most recent edition of its publication DWS active, the German asset management firm has announced that its range of target date bond products will now be centralised on the dedicated platform DWS Select Fixed Maturity Platform, and all funds concerned will carry the prefix DWS Select.DWS is planning to regularly launch at least two target date bond funds in the future, one of which will correspond to a conservative risk profile, while the other will invest more in high yield bonds.The next two will be the DWS Select EM Corporate Bonds 2017 (LU0825503302), which will carry a front-end fee of 3% and a TER of 0.90%, and the DWS Select High Yield Bonds 2017 (LU0825685570), which also has a front-end fee of 3%, but its TER is 0.95%.

The 44th ETF of the SPDR brand has been listed in Europe; it is a the same time the 15th in the range dedicated to fixed income: on 21 November it was listed on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform from Deutsche Börse. The SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets corporate Bond UCITS ETF from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) brings the XTF listings to 1,005 funds, while as of 25 October, another SPDR ETF had been the 1006th.It is an Irish fund which replicates the BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Diversified Corporate ex-144A Index. The index includes corporate bonds from emerging markets denominated in US dollars, investment grade or high yield issued with minimum assets of USD400m, and a remaining time to maturity of over one year.CharacteristicsName: SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Bond UCITS ETFISIN code: IE00B7LFXY77TER: 0.50%

DWS Investments has recently obtained a sales license for its DWS Invest Euro Corporate Bonds fund in France. The product, managed by Karsten Rosenkilde, invests at least 90% in investment grade rated corporate bonds. The manager may invest up to 10% in high yield bonds. The entire portfolio is invested in euros. Although up to 30% of the fund may be invested in bonds denominated in currencies other than the euro, hedging assures protection against currency risks. The fund, which was founded in 2007, now has EUR530m in assets. “Assets in the DWS Invest Euro Corporate Bonds fund have increased strongly this year, due to market effects, of course, as well as to net inflows of EUR300m,” says Torsten Harig, a product specialist at DWS Investments. The asset management firm has EUR30bn under management in investment grade bonds. Characteristics ISIN code: LU0300357638 (capitalisation) Subscription fees: 1.50% Management fees: 1.20% ISIN code: LU0441433728 (distribution) Subscription fees: 3% Management fees: 0.90%

The US firm Van Eck Global has submitted a license application to the SEC to launch a forthcoming ETF of the Market Vectors range which would be based on high yield corporate bonds, replicating an exclusive index covering US and international high yield securities denominated in US dollars, Index Universe reports. The Markets Vector High Yield/Treasury Bond ETF fund would be authorised to short-sell bonds and Treasury notes in order to protect itself against interest rate changes.

Tracker and hedge funds are expected to continue to post higher growth than traditional products, Agefi Switzerland reports. They also remain the primary vectors of growth in asset management, said Christian Soguel, a partner at Ernst & Young responsible for asset management, at a conference of the Swiss Funds Association (SFA) held Wednesday in Zurich. Although the sector remains highly fragmented, it does not appear to be suffering from excessive downward pressures on prices or margins due to the intensity of competition.

A significant increase in corporate debt issues since the beginning of the year is providing bond investors with better diversification opportunities in terms of issuers and sectors, according to a study published recently by Moody’s.Since the beginning of this year, bond issues in the industrial sector, utilities and the financial sector have topped USD2.8trn, up by more than 22% compared with the corresponding period of 2011. The number of corporate issuers has also increased by nearly 20% in the same period.

BlackRock and AllianceBernstein have asked Consob, the Italian financial market authority, to exempt them from the requirement to disclose stakes of 2% to 5% in the capital of businesses in their portfolios, Bluerating reports. The exemption is granted for asset management activities under the European Transparency directive.

Ten years after its creation, Vigeo, the ratings agency created by Nicole Notat, former secretary general of the CFDT, is launching a range of indices, Les Echos reports. The indices distinguish the best businesses in terms of social, environmental and societal responsibility. The British telephone operator BT has won the highest rating worldwide, followed by GlaxoSmithKline and Anglo American. In France, L’Oréal tops the top 20, followed closely by Danone and PSA, in a tie for second place. The indices will be likely to be listed on Nyse Euronext in the near future.

Das Investment cites an article in the Wall Street Journal which reports that the takeover of the German financial services provider AWD by Swiss Life has failed. There will need to be absorption, which will cost hundreds of millions of Swiss francs in asset depreciation. Swiss Life is then said to be planning to cut costs at AWD, with up to 500 back-office jobs cut.

The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 21 November announced that it has lowered its confederation rating for the Spanish savings banks (Ceca) by one notch to BBB-, just above speculative grade, and will now cease evaluations, and will instead monitor the banking structure CecaBank, which has received the same rating. The downgrade reflects the opinion of the agency that the volume of activities at the Spanish savings banks may fall further, with a concentration movement underway in the sector, a statement from Fitch explains. Fitch has also announced that it will no longer issue ratings for Ceca, due to a reorganisation of the entity, which on 12 November transferred the majority (89%) of its banking activities to a new structure entitled CecaBank. The latter firm has received the same rating of BBB-, one notch above speculative grade, with a negative outlook, meaning that Fitch may downgrade it in the mid-term.

BlackRock is planning to launch a fund platform domiciled in Hong Kong early next year, AsianInvestor reveals. The US asset management group had no comment on the reports. The initiative follows one by Franklin Templeton, which has launched a range of local products. Another house group, whose name was not obtained by AsianInvestor, is planning to do the same. Kong Kong has 2,000 licensed funds, of which only 150 are locally registered. Last year, 70% of all licensed funds were UCITS-compliant products.

Lyxor will Friday launch the Lyxor ETF Euro Stoxx Daily Short fund on the Milan stock exchange, an ETF which exposes the investor to the inverse performance of the Euro Stoxx 50, Bluerating reports. Its total expense ratio is 0.40%. Lyxor already offers seven other short ETF funds on the Milan stock exchange.

The head of Old Mutual Global Investors, Julian Ide, is planning to launch an Old Mutual fund of funds, Fundweb reports. “We already have a good track record in asset management of this type internally, and we are considering ways to sell this range with the wealth management team from Old Mutual,” Ide explains.

F&C on Wednesday announced the appointment of Ross Duncton as head of Direct to Consumer. He joins from Acromas Financial Services where he held the position of head of Product & Marketing.Ross Duncton will be based in F&C’s London office, reporting directly to Richard Wilson and will work closely with Mandy Mannix, head of client management and Tracy Fennell, head of marketing. Richard Wilson commented, “We believe the ‘direct to consumer’ channel has the potential to make a real contribution to future sales growth (…).”In its strategic review earlier this year F&C announced that the overall “strategy for Wholesale and Consumer businesses is to pursue profitable growth, responding to customer needs in the intermediary and self-directed channels and building on F&C’s strength in multi-manager products, direct marketing and its consumer brand awareness.” Integral to this commitment was a stated ambition to enhance F&C’s direct marketing infrastructure and capabilities – a move designed to ensure that, as a business, it is well placed to leverage its already extensive client base and is ideally positioned in a post Retail Distribution Review (RDR) environment.

Humanis figure parmi les tout premiers groupes de protection sociale, en retraite complémentaire, prévoyance, santé et épargne. Paritaire et mutualiste, Humanis est profondément ancré dans les valeurs de l'économie sociale. Le Groupe s’engage ainsi à apporter à ses clients (entreprises et particuliers) des solutions et services de qualité, en privilégiant la proximité, le conseil et l'écoute. Humanis met également à disposition de ses clients ses savoir-faire spécifiques à l’international (expatriés - impatriés - TOM) et en gestion pour compte de tiers. Engagé dans une démarche d’investisseur responsable depuis 2006, et profondément animé par le principe de responsabilité fiduciaire vis-à-vis de l’ensemble de ses parties prenantes (administrateurs, clients et partenaires), le Groupe Humanis a la volonté de pérenniser ses performances financières à long terme. Cette démarche s’est traduite en 2012, par des initiatives concrètes en matière d’investissement responsable parmi lesquelles : la signature des Principes de l’Investissement Responsable (PRI) de l’ONU, le renforcement de la politique de vote et du dialogue actionnarial dans les sociétés dont le Groupe Humanis détient des participations, la définition d’une charte financière fondée sur les valeurs d’engagement, de partage et d’ambition, des initiatives de financement de l'économie réelle, notamment dans des PME non côtées, la refonte et l’extension de la norme interne d’investissement responsable. En décernant ce prix, Amadeis et Natixis Asset Management affirment leurs convictions et leur engagement en matière d’investissement responsable sur un marché français qui reste en forte expansion avec plus de 69% de hausse des encours en un an estimés à 115,3 milliards d’euros à fin décembre 20112. Pour plus d’informations, consultez le site : http://www.leprixinvestisseurresponsable.com/

« Nous avons effectué, ces derniers mois, des ajustements pour réduire encore l’exposition de notre portefeuille au secteur financier, non par défiance envers ce secteur, mais parce qu’il constitue le risque-même que nous couvrons », déclare Thierry Dissaux, Président du Directoire du Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts. Ainsi, toutes les valeurs bancaires ont été sorties de la poche actions. De même, l’ensemble de la poche obligataire ne devrait plus contenir ce type de valeurs, ni de covered bonds, d’ici la fin de l’année. En revanche, ces deux poches peuvent toujours accueillir des titres appartenant au secteur de l’assurance. « Dans notre poche monétaire, nous souhaitons également réduire notre exposition au secteur financier en limitant sa part à 50% de la poche et à moins de 3 mois, contre 60% actuellement, ajoute Thierry Dissaux. Nous effectuerons ce changement dès que les conditions de marché seront favorables ». Le Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts a prévu par ailleurs de lancer un appel d’offres pour renouveler les mandats attribués pour la gestion de ses investissements obligataires (25% du portefeuille). Le calendrier de cette opération n’a pas encore été fixé car le Fonds reste en attente de la finalisation des discussions ouvertes sur les diverses directives européennes susceptibles de modifier le cadre d’exercice des systèmes de garantie des dépôts.

Mirova, c’est le nom que Natixis Asset Management a donné à son nouveau pôle d’expertise en investissement responsable, deux mois après le lancement de Seeyond, sa business unit dédiée à la gestion de volatilité et de produits structurés. Mirova comprend huit thématiques d’investissement à dominante développement durable : énergie, mobilité, bâtiments et villes, ressources, consommation, santé, technologies de l’information et de la communication, et enfin finance. La marque emploie une quarantaine d’experts en gestion thématique, des ingénieurs, des analystes financiers et ESG, des spécialistes de la finance solidaire et du financement de projets. Son offre comprend les actions cotées, les infrastructures, l’impact investing et le conseil aux investisseurs institutionnels sur le vote et l’engagement.

L’indice des indicateurs avancés américains a légèrement augmenté en octobre, suggérant une petite accélération de la croissance à court terme. Ce baromètre de l'évolution future de l’activité économique aux Etats-Unis, calculé par le Conference Board, a progressé de 0,2% à 96,0 après une hausse de 0,5% (révisée de +0,6%) en septembre, conformément aux attentes.

Les incertitudes autour de la situation fiscale et budgétaire ont entamé le sentiment des consommateurs américains dans la deuxième partie de novembre, montre l’indice Thomson Reuters/Université du Michigan. Dans sa version définitive, l’indice est ressorti à 82,7, à peine mieux qu’en octobre (82,6), alors qu’il avait été annoncé à 84,9 en version préliminaire le 9 novembre.