On 19 November, Nationwide Funds Group (USD44bn in assets as of the end of September) announced that shareholders in the UBS High Yield Fund and UBS Global Equity Fund have approved a merger and reorganisation of the funds into the Nationwide High Yield Bond Fund and the Nationwide Global Equity Fund, respectively. The merger will result in an increase in assets for Nationwide of about USD183m.UBS Global Asset Management retains the sub-advisor role for the funds, and Nationwide states that the minimal subscription for A-class shares in both funds remains USD2,000. However, the TER has been reduced to 1.10% from 1.20% for the High Yield fund, and to 1.30% from 1.50% for the Global Equity fund.

Amundi on 20 November announced the launch of a new Minimum Variance solution entitled Amundi Funds Equity Global Minimum Variance, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg SICAV Amundi Funds. The new sub-fund, which complies with European UCITS IV standards, aims to outperform the MSCI World index on a 5-year horizon, while working to maintain lower volatility than the index. Via an original approach, the sub-fund, at least two thirds of whose assets ae invesed in global equities, including the MSCI World, offers a solution which is appropriate for the needs of clients seeking to limit the global risk level for an equity portfolio. Technical characteristics: Amundi Funds Equity Global Minimum Variance Share class(ses) AU (All investors) IE (Institutionals) IU (Institutionals) SU1 (Distributors) Asset management firm Amundi Luxembourg S.A. Investment manager Amundi Depository bank CACEIS Bank Luxembourg S.A. Launch date 07/09/2012 Currency of sub-fund USD Currency of share class USD EUR USD USD Country of registration1 Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden Categories of share class Accumulation / Distribution Accumulation Minimal initial investment 5 years ISIN codes: A : LU0801842559 D: LU0801842716 A: LU0801841585 D: LU0801841668 A: LU0801841312 D: LU0801841403 A: LU0801842807 Minimal initial investment None Equivalent in EUR of USD500,000 USD500,000 None Period for calculation of net asset value Daily Operation deadlines Each business day at 2 PM, Luxembourg time Maximum subscription commission 4.50% 2.50% 2.50% 3.00% Maximum annual management commission 1.30% 0.50% 0.50% 1.70% Maximal annual administration commission 0.35% 0.25% 0.25% 0.35% Performance commission 20% of cumulative performance exceeding the benchmark index Maximal conversion commission 1.00% Maximal redemption commission None Risks No capital guarantee, no performance guarantee, due to the investment strategy, the sub-fund presents other risks, listed in the prospectus

The decision by db x-trackers to launch physical replication ETFs (see Newsmanagers of 19 November) is not only related to questions of flows, Asian Investor reveals. According to the head of db x-trackers for Asia, Marco Montanari, the decision also enacts a desire on the part of the firm to offer a wider range of products to clients. However, synthetic replication is a controversial technique due to the counterparty risks, which led the legislator to introduce stricter collateral rules in September 2011. Statistics on flows in Europe also speak volumes. Since the beginning of the year, suynthetic ETFs posted inflows of EUR477m, compared with subscriptions of EUR2.4bn for physical ETFs. For 2011 as a whole, synthetic ETFs saw outflows of EUR3.5bn, at a time when physical ETFs posted net inflows of EUR18.7bn. Physical ETFs now represent 63.3% of the European market. Synthetic ETFs from db x-trackers have also seen redemptions since the beginning of the year, totalling USD200m, after outflows of USD334m in 2011.

State Street has announced the appointment of Simone Vroegop to head of consultant relations for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). She will be based in London and will report to Tim Caverly, executive vice president and head of State Street’s Global Services sales and business development activities for EMEA and Wendy LaBonte, senior vice president and global head of consultant relations.Simone Vroegop was previously vice president and head of business development for State Street’s Global Services business in the Netherlands, Belgium and the Nordic region.

The ratings agency Moody’s on 21 November announced the launch of CreditAssessment, a new service to evaluate private companies in emerging markets. Moody’s is also planning to make a credit risk valuation tool for emerging market businesses which issue offshore and domestic debt available to investors. The new offering comes in response to demand on the part of investors who are seeking better visibility of investment opportunities in emerging markets, Moody’s says.

With Stone Harbor Investment Partners and Pictet Asset Management, Russell Investment has launched the Irish-registered product Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund. As its name indicates, it is a fund of emerging market debt denominated in local currencies, and the two managers use Russell manager research. The complementary styles of Stone Harbor and Pictet have been selected by Russell to generate high risk-adjusted returns.The benchmark index for the new fund, which has no sales license for France, is the JP Morgan GBI-EM Global Diversifeid Index; the management commission is set at 1%.

A survey undertaken on behalf of Aquila Capital by TNS Infratest, covering 255 institutional investors in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia has found that these professionals tend to prefer real assets and equities, at a time when investments in bonds are losing their allure.Aquila (EUR4.1bn in assets) reports that about 20% of European institutionals are planning to increase their exposure to these two asset classes, while one third are planning to increase allocation to corporate bonds. Meanwhile, 20% of specialists surveyed are planning to reduce their exposure to government bonds.The Hamburg-based asset manager claims that absolute return strategies are also expected to have good potential, though the allocation dedicated to them currently remains minor, at an average of 3.2% of portfolios.The survey also found significant divergence between allocations from one European country to another. 36% of Swiss institutional investors are planning to increase their exposure to real assets, compared with 4% of their Italian counterparts. 40% of Swiss and 36% of Scandinavian respondents are planning to increase their exposure to equities, while only 4% of Spanish and British respondents are planning to do so.

Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader accused of a massive fraud which cost the Swiss bank USd2.3bn, was found guilty on 20 November of fraud charges by a London court. The former trader was sentenced to seven years in prison. The accusation, which called Adoboli a rogue trader, accuses him of exceeding brokerage limits which had been set for him, by inventing fictional transactions and lying to superiors to increase his bonuses and career prospects. Though Adoboli had pleaded not guilty, he claimed during the trial that his superiors knew about his activities and encouraged him to extend them. The fraudulent actions of the trader began in 2008 and lasted until his arrest, on the night of 15 September 2011, at his City office.

Integrating the terms of the Solvency II directive into the revised IORP directive on professional pensions may cust nearly EUR500bn, or GBP400bn, to the British pension fund sector, according to an impact study published on 20 November by the British pensions regulator. The claims were calculated on the basis of an impact study undertaken by the European insurance and occupational pensions authority (EIOPA). The report finds, however, that many uncertainties persist, and that according to a more likely scenario, the lack to be made up would be smaller, but could be as much as GBP150bn.

In June, Bob Doll announced that he would be leaving his position as chief investment strategist at BlackRock (USD3.673trn in assets as of the end of September). Now, his successor has been appointed, and it is Russ Koesterich, who has already been global investment strategist at iShares since 2010, and retains that position.In his new position, Koesterich will report to Ken Kroner, global head of multi-asset strategies.

Henderson Global Investors has obtained permission to release its Henderson Horizon Euro High Yield bond fund on the French market. The fund is managed by Stephen Thariyan and Chris Bullock, the two managers of the Henderson Horizon Euro Corporate Bond. The Henderson Horizon Euro High Yield Bond, denominated in euros, is a sophisticated UCITS IV-compliant, Luxembourg-registered vehicle, which aims to outperform its benchmark index, the BofA Merrill Lynch European Currency Non-Financial High Yield 2% Constrained TR EUR (HPIC). The fund must invest at least 70% of its portfolio in high yield corporate bonds (BB or lower rating) denominated in euros or pounds sterling. A maximum of 30% of its investments may be made outside the benchmark index (cash, non-euro or sterling high yield bonds, investment grade bonds), and a maximum of 15% may be invested in the financial sector. The fund may use derivative products. All currency risks are hedged.

The years from 2010 to 2012 have been a structuring period for Amplégest, and 2013 and 2014 will be years of development, Arnaud de Langautier, chairman of the firm, explained to Newsmangers on Tuesday. The firm is now aiming for EUR600m by the end of 2013, up from EUR550m currently, of which EUR420-430m are for private management, and the remainder is in four collective management funds, says Xavier Gandrille, director of strategy and flexible management.Of the four funds, the flagship product Multicaps has EUR101m, and has posted inflows of EUR17m since the beginning of 2012; it will have EUR130m by 1 January due to a merger with a dedicated fund which will feed it.Assets under management have increased since the beginning of this year, with EUR32m in net inflows. Following Zavier d’Ornellas (formerly of CCR AM), recruited slightly over eight months ago as a manager in the flexible and dedicated fund unit (see Newsmanagers of 15 March), Amplégest has welcomed Alexandre Neuvy (formerly of Olympia) as an associate private manager (see Newsmanagers of 11 May). They were joined this summer by Olivier Lazar (also from Olympia), who is responsible for developing family office activities in France and abroad.

Several hedge funds reduced their exposure to Apple in third quarter, just in time to avoid a slide for the share which had been trading at record levels, according to a FactSet study cited by Forbes. The 50 largest hedge funds reduced their positions on Apple in third quarter by 1.8 million shares, representing a total of about USD1.2bn. The hedge funds appear to have had presentiments of the share’s drop, as it finished the quarter 5% below its 52-weak peak, and then fell by more than 20%. After flirting with a 500-dollar share price on Friday, the shares have since bounced back to finish at USD566.44 as of Monday night.

The CEO of Grupo Golden for Spain and Latin America, Raimundo Martín, has been recruited by the Swiss firm Mirabaud as head of the asset management unit for the Iberian and Latin American markets, Funds People reports. He will be responsible of sales of funds to institutional clients.Martín had previously been executive director of the investment management division of Lehman Brothers for the same regions, and previously served in management roles at Fidelity, Allianz Global Investors, Franklin Templeton and Openbank.

US prosecutors accuse a hedge fund affiliate of SAC Capital, CR Intrinsic Investors, its manager, Matthew Matroma, and Dr. Sidney Gilman of pocketing record profits of USD276m between 2006 and 2008 from insider trading, Les Echos reports. The trades are said to have been conducted on the basis of tests of medications to treat Alzheimer’s, which were not public at the time. The SAC Capital trader, who has since left the firm, used the information to speculate and make money on shares in Elan Corp and Wyeth LLC, with the complicity of doctor Gilman, an eminent neurologist who oversaw clinical trials of bapineuzumab, a treatment for the illness.

The private bank Sal. Oppenheim is kicking off a 15-month savings programme, which will result in the loss of a “significant number” of jobs, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, up to 500 jobs out of 930 could be lost. Sal. Oppenheim will work “to the greatest extent possible” to avoid involuntary layoffs.In the future, the Cologne-based firm will systematically use the infrastructure and services fo Deutsche Bank, its parent company, into which entire sectors of its activity will be incorporated. This is particularly true of open-ended, internally-managed funds, which will be taken over by DWS.

The Italian asset management industry has recorded net inflows in third quarter of EUR1.4bn, according to the most recent statistics from Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers. Inflows were concentrated on collective management, and particularly on open-ended funds, which posted inflows of EUR4bn. Bond and flexible products were the primary beneficiaries (with EUR8.4bn and EUR2.4bn, respectively). The good results for foreign-registered funds are also notable, with net subscriptions in third quarter of EUR5bn.Mandated management, however, finished the quarter with net redemptions of EUR2bn.As of the end of September, assets in the Italian asset management sector were close to EUR1trn (EUR992bn). They were evenly distributed between collective management (EUR496bn) and mandated management (EUR486bn).

Ashmore group has signed an agreement with the Scandinavian fund platform MFEX Mutual Fund Exchange, Citywire reports. This means that the asset management firm’s Sicav specialised in emerging markets will now be available to investors in Finland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

La caisse des règlements pécuniaires des avocats investit en direct, sur des fonds ouverts ou par le biais de fonds dédiés. « A ce titre, nous disposons de 3-4 fonds dédiés, gérés par des filiales de grandes banques ou compagnies d’assurance. Nous travaillons de manière bottom up. Les grandes banques nous proposent des produits, des axes d’investissements, dont nous discutons ensuite avec notre conseiller financier, qui est Forward Finance. Nous ne faisons pas d’appels d’offres publics mais il nous aide à sélectionner des fonds et à les gérer toujours sous le contrôle du comité financier de la Carpa. Le comité financier valide ensuite les choix en fonction de la durée des produits ainsi que du risque pris. Le directeur financier est en contact permanent avec ces différents intervenants. Même si le processus est bien huilé, nous nous sommes trompés par le passé, notamment sur les dossiers Dexia ou Lazard, précise Dominique Basdevant, secrétaire général de la Carpa de Paris.

La Caisse Réunionnaise de Retraites complémentaires gère, depuis 1977, le régime de retraite complémentaire ARRCO sur le territoire de La Réunion au bénéfice des salariés du secteur privé. Selon nos informations, pour faire face à une insuffisance du montant de ses réserves, au vue de préparer les appels de fonds de la fédération Agirc-Arrco, le groupe CRC a décidé de liquider certains fonds dédiés diversifiés gérés par Groupama AM pour un montant de 80-85 millions d’euros. Pour rappel, Philippe Goubeault indiquait à la rédaction de www.institinvest.com qu’une deuxième remontée annuelle de réserves portant sur 4 milliards d’euros a eu lieu le 24 octobre dernier.

Karine Leymarie, Gérante Senior Actions et Convertibles à la MAIF, revient pour Instit Invest sur l'évolution de la stratégie de gestion de l'assureur, présent sur les obligations convertibles depuis quinze ans. D'après elle, cette classe d'actifs fait preuve d'un comportement tout à fait satisfaisant sur le long terme, tant en absolu qu'en relatif à un investissement actions ou mixte crédit-actions, et ce, avec un niveau de volatilité nettement inférieur à celui des actions.

L'émission de nouvelles euro-obligations à trois ans par le FESF prévue aujourd’hui a été reportée après l’abaissement de la note de la France par Moody’s, a confirmé le FESF. «Le calendrier de l'émission d’euro-obligations à trois ans par le FESF est confronté à un problème technique lié à l’Acte de garantie», a expliqué le directeur général adjoint du FESF, Christophe Frankel.

L’Italie est prête à s’opposer à un accord sur le budget de l’Union européenne pour la période 2014-2020 lors du Conseil européen des 22 et 23 novembre, si celui-ci paraît contraire aux intérêts des contribuables italiens, a déclaré le ministre des affaires européennes Enzo Moavero. Cette position ajoute davantage d’incertitude sur la perspective qu’un accord soit trouvé cette semaine.

Selon les données du ministère du Commerce, les mises en chantier de logements ont augmenté de 3,6% au mois d’octobre, au taux annualisé de 894.000 unités en données corrigées des variations saisonnières. Il s’agit du plus haut niveau en plus de quatre ans pour cet indicateur volatil. Les permis de construire ont de leur côté reculé de 2,7% en octobre, au rythme annuel de 866.000 unités.

Les députés français ont adopté par 317 voix contre 217 le projet de loi de finances (PLF) pour 2013 que le Sénat examinera à son tour à partir de jeudi. A l’issue de cet examen par l’Assemblée, le déficit, qui était de 61,635 milliards d’euros dans le texte initial, s'établit à 61,237 milliards, soit une réduction de 398 millions d’euros.

L'Égypte et une mission du Fonds monétaire international (FMI) ont établi un accord préliminaire pour un prêt de 4,8 milliards de dollars (3,7 milliards d’euros), a déclaré un ministre égyptien cité par Reuters. L’accord doit être transmis au bureau du FMI pour être finalisé le 19 décembre, la première tranche du prêt devant être débloquée dans la foulée et la totalité versée dans les vingt-deux mois qui suivront.

Le Premier ministre grec Antonis Samaras se rendra au Qatar la semaine prochaine pour discuter des opportunités d’investissements en Grèce, a fait savoir le porte-parole de l’ambassade grecque à Doha. Antonis Samaras rencontrera l'émir du Qatar et le Premier ministre ainsi que des dirigeants de fonds souverains locaux pour discuter de ces opportunités.

La décision de Moody’s de priver à son tour la France de son «triple A» n’a qu’un impact très limité sur les marchés financiers. Dix mois après Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s a abaissé lundi soir d’un échelon la note souveraine de l’Etat français, de Aaa à Aa1, et elle maintient une perspective négative.Vers midi, l’indice CAC 40 cédait 0,1% après une hausse de près de 3% la veille, à comparer à une hausse de 0,04% de l’indice Stoxx50 des valeurs vedettes de la zone euro . Le rendement des obligations à 10 ans émises par Paris s’affichait à 2,11% contre 2,08% lundi, un niveau guère éloigné des plus bas historiques. Parallèlement, les CDS à 5 ans (credit default swaps) sur la dette française augmentaient de quatre points de base à 93 points alors qu’ils atteignaient 250 points il y a un an. Pierre Moscovici a déclaré : «Aux uns et aux autres, et je pense aussi aux investisseurs, je veux dire que le gouvernement est pleinement engagé dans un programme sans précédent de réformes.» «Nous voulons aller vite, fort, résolument», a-t-il ajouté. Pour la présidente du Medef , «Il est évident que cette dégradation, fait peser sur nous tous une pression particulière, plus forte encore que celle que nous avions déjà sur nos épaules». A la perspective négative maintenue par S&P et Moody’s s’ajoute le risque de voir Fitch abaisser à son tour sa note au cours des prochains mois, ce qui solderait pour de bon le «triple A».

Le Trésor espagnol a placé pour 4,94 milliards d’euros de bons à 12 et 18 mois, un montant supérieur à la fourchette annoncée qui avait été fixée entre 3,5 et 4,5 milliards d’euros. Pour le papier à 12 mois, Madrid a émis 4,22 milliards d’euros, le ratio de couverture ressortant à 2,1 contre 2,7 lors de l’adjudication d’octobre, avec un rendement légèrement inférieur, à 2,797% contre 2,823% le mois dernier. Le Trésor espagnol a également émis pour 710 millions d’euros de bons à 18 mois, avec un ratio de couverture de 5,7 contre 3 lors de l’adjudication du mois dernier et un rendement légèrement supérieur, à 3,034% contre 3,022%.

Gérard Rameix, le président de l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), s’apprête à nommer Benoît de Juvigny au poste de secrétaire général du gendarme de la Bourse, actuellement occupé par Thierry Francq, rapporte le site économique latribune.fr. Benoît de Juvigny, ancien directeur du Crédit Lyonnais entre 1992 et 1994, a intégré l’AMF en octobre 2004 au poste de chef du service des prestataires et des produits d'épargne. Il est actuellement secrétaire général adjoint de l’AMF.