Axa Investment Management has begun to unveil the names of businesses affected by its shareholder engagement policy, IPE.com reports. Votes by the asset management firm against proposals will also be retroactively disclosed.

John Eisinger, a specialist in US equities, has left Janus Capital, Investment Week reports. He had been manager of the Janus US All Cap Group fund since January 2008. He joined Janus in 2003 as an analyst.

Lyxor International asset management has confirmed a decision to withdraw five ETFs from the Milan stock exchange, due to a lack of interest from investors, Investment Europe reports. The funds are the Lyxor ETF wise quantitative strategy, Lyxor ETF Stoxx Europe 600 Automobiles and Parts Daily Short, Lyxor ETF Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Daily Short, Lyxor ETF Stoxx Europe 600 Basic Resources Daily Short and Lyxor ETF Stoxx Europe 600 Oil and Gas Daily Short. The withdrawal of the funds from trading will take place on 4 September. Some of the ETFs affected will also be withdrawn from Nyse Euronext Paris, Deutsche Boerse, NYSE Euronext Brussels and Six Swiss Exchange.

RBC Investor Services announced on August 8 the appointment of Martin Anderson as head of network management. He becomes a member of the Global Operations Leadership Team.In his new role, Martin Anderson, who has been with RBC Investor Services since July 2007, will be responsible for managing all relationships with RBC Investor Services’ network of sub-custodian banks, prime brokers and other key bank providers around the world. Based in Dublin, he will also be responsible for managing operations teams in London, Luxembourg, Toronto and Singapore.

Credit-oriented investment managers are expanding their assets under management (AUM) by acquiring bank-loan portfolios for their third-party clients, says Moody’s Investors Service in a new Special Comment published on 8 August (“Select Asset Managers Benefit from European Bank Deleveraging.”) These managers are also stepping in to lend third-party funds to corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have been traditionally served by European banks. Moody’s says that asset managers with the necessary credit-analysis experience are best placed to take advantage of this opportunity to engage in bank loan portfolio acquisitions and direct lending for their third-party clients. However, Moody’s notes that this opportunity is not without challenges as banks may face hurdles in selling these portfolios due to the challenges of agreeing on valuation; and several regulatory challenges will have to be overcome in order for managers to fully realise the opportunities left by deleveraging European banks. The number of jurisdictions and legal regimes within Europe requires a unique expertise to participate in both loan portfolio acquisitions and direct lending. According to the IMF’s April 2012 Global Financial Stability Report, European banks will need to reduce their assets by about EUR2trn over the course of 2011-2013.

The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 8 August announced that it is maintaining its long-term debt rating of AAA for Germany, with a stable outlook. The country’s credit rating is being maintained due to the “strength of tis debt and its robust economic performance in the past two years,” the financial ratings agency explains in a statement. “Despite a context of fragile global economic recovery and an intensification of the crisis in the euro zone, Germany has shown strong growth in GDP and a falling trend in unemployment, plartly thanks to previous structural reforms,” Fitch says. “Germany has all the ingredients to reduce public debt,” the agency estimates. “The ecnomy is growing, the public deficit is moderate, and nominal interest rates have reached all-time lows.”

The German financial services provider AWD, an affiliate of Swiss Life, is facing the defection of a partner, as Generali Switzerland has repudiated a contract it had signed associating with AWD until the end of this year, entitled «Neue Zürcher Zeitung» (NZZ). Generali Switzerland claims the collaboration is no longer in line with what was expected, and that activity volumes have been falling for several years, which, NZZ reports, is the grounds for the repudiation of the contract.

As a result of the euro zone debt crisis, German retail investors are regaining some appetite for investment in equities. According to the Deutsche Aktien Institut (DAI), which represents businesses and institutionals active in the German capital markets, about 10.2 million investors were invested either directly or indirectly in equities in first half, which represents an increase of 1.9 million investors compared with the corresponding period of 2011, and of 1.5 million over the end of December 2011. Of this 10.2 million total, equivalent to 15.7% of the population, 2.9 million (4.5% of the population) are direct shareholders, while 5.3 million (8.1% of the population) are shareholders who hold shares in equity funds, and 2 million (3.1% of the population) are both direct and indirect shareholders.

US prosecutors have agreed to an amnesty for several former employees of the Swiss bank UBS in exchange for their cooperation with an investigation into manipulation of the interest rates used to determine Libor, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agreement including a guarantee of indulgence from investigators was offered to two former employees who had served in relatively low positions at UBS, the financial newspaper reports. Only a few of the employees affected by the investigation still work at UBS, as the bank has laid off or dismissed about 20 traders and directors following a four-year internal investigation, a source familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal says.

The Shanghai stock exchange will now allow multiple ETF managers to replicate the same index, which will boost the growth of the market, AsianInvestor reports. ETF providers had previously had exclusive rights to indices. Shanghai and Shenzhen have 43 ETFs, representing assets of about USD19bn as of the end of June, the website notes.

GemShares, a financial firm based in Chicago, is seeking a patent in the United States to allow it to turn diamonds into publicly-traded shares, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm has created an index which could be used for an ETF. The problem with diamonds is that their price depends on the carat, the colour, the clarity and the cut of the stone, but also on the appreciation of those who buy and sell them.

Castle Alternative Invest (CAI), a Swiss firm specialised in investments in hedge funds, is predicting profits excluding minority stakes of USD4.2m for first half, and of USD2.1m after minority stakes. In first half 2011, the firm posted a loss, after minority stakes, of USD5.4m, it says in a statement released on 7 August. However, in light of profits before minority stakes of USD12.5m, and of USD6.86m after minority stakes in first quarter, this means that in second quarter the firm had losses of about USD8.3m before minority stakes and of about USD4.8m after minority stakes. Detailed quarterly figures will be released on 20 August, after market closing time, CAI says in a statement.

At a publication of its quarterly results, the Netherlands-based ING group on 8 August announced institutional outflows of EUR0.9bn in second quarter. Due to positive market effects of EUR0.5bn and a positive currency effect of EUR1.5bn, assets under management for institutional clients finished the quarter at EUR82.8bn, comapred with EUR81.8bn as of the end of March 2012. In retail, assets under management are down EUR72.2bn as of the end of June, a decline of EUR300m in the quarter, due to outflows of EUR0.8bn, combined with a negative market effect of EUR1.7bn and a positive forex effect of EUR2.2bn. Proprietary assets under management on the general account, for their part, have posted net inflows of EUR2.2bn, due to a positive market effect of EUR2.5bn and a positive forex effect of EUR4.2bn. Assets under management as of the end of June totalled EUR138.2bn, compared with EUR129.4bn three months earlier. Total assets under management as of the end of June totalled EUR293.2bn, compared with EUR293.2bn previously. The group has reported profits in second quarter down 22.3% in annual terms, to EUR1.17bn, Pre-tax profits for the banking unit are down 13.1%, to EUR995m, while the insurance unit, which includes asset management, is down 51.5% to EUR229m.

Several CDs containing banking information from Swiss firms are reported to have been bought up by the tax authorities of the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia, the German press reports. Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) claims there are two CDs, one of which concerns clients at the bank UBS, while the Süddeutsche Zeitung claims there are four CDs. The Bavarian newspaper cites an “expert connected with the case,” who says information on the CDs, concerning German citizens who have attempted to defraud German tax authorities with Swiss bank accounts, is “extremely interesting.” A source familiar with the matter tells FTD that the CD containing data stolen from UBS is “heavy,” as it contains evidence of the use of foundations to help German clients avoid taxes, and also includes “known names.” In addition to the data in the strict sense, the German authorities are also thought to have obtained internal training documents from UBS, which demonstrate that it actively helped its clients evade taxes.

The offices of Nordea Bank in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other Russian cities have begun offering funds from Deutsche UFG Capital Management in Russia, Investment Europe reports. The German asset management firm is the first to have its products distributed by the Scandinavian bank in Russia.

The British firm Schroders on 7 August announced that it has received approval to distribute a total return fund (ISIN code LU0748063764 A, EUR) in Germany and Austria. The fund is a low-volatility strategy dedicated to European equities, which offers investors a way to participate in low valuations on European equity markets while minimising risks related to current market volatility. The Schroder ISF European Total Return fund, launched in March this year, shows annualised volatility of 13.6%, compared with volatility of 20% for the MSCI Europe index. “Over the long term, European equities represent an attractive investment opportunity due to the low valuations related to problems in the euro zone,” manager Nicholette MacDonald-Brown says in a statement.

Simon Cowan, one of the regional sales managers at Old Mutual Asset Managers, will be leaving the firm, Fundweb.co.uk reports. He is one of 30 employees to be leaving the firm as part of its merger with Skandia Investment Group.

Stewart McAndiw, former head of sales at F&C, will be joining Axa Investment Managers in October, the French asset management firm has confirmed to Fundweb. McAndie will be in charge of relationships with global financial institutions in the United Kingdom, and will report to the head of sales for the United Kingdom, Rob Bailey. In this position he replaces James Wallace, who is moving to the United States.

Fort d’une très bonne année à ce jour pour ses fonds actions et obligations émergentes en monnaies locales, avec des performances YTD au 16 juillet respectivement de plus de 9% et de près de 14% pour un portefeuille global en progression nette de 7.73%, le fonds de dotation du Louvre diversifie son exposition à ces deux classes d’actifs en sélectionnant trois gérants actifs. Dimensional Fund Advisors ainsi qu’une société de gestion écossaise indépendante ont été retenus pour remplacer progressivement une partie de la gestion indicielle en actions émergentes. Stoneharbor a été référencée pour compléter les fonds de dettes souveraines émergentes gérés par Pictet et par Investec. Pour Thierry Brevet, directeur général : « détenir de manière structurelle une part d’actifs de croissance libellés dans d’autres devises que l’euro est un facteur de diversification des sources de performance indispensable pour un investisseur à long terme. C’est tout particulièrement crucial dans le contexte économique et financier actuel extrêmement complexe et incertain. Les marchés émergents répondent à ce besoin de diversification, à condition de bien lisser les points d’entrée et de disposer d’un horizon d’investissement suffisamment long pour pouvoir accepter un niveau de volatilité élevé à court terme. Il faut en effet avoir à l’esprit qu’une bonne part de la performance des classes d’actifs émergentes provient encore des flux d’entrée ou de sorties des investisseurs occidentaux qui tendent à amplifier les hausses ou les baisses de cours. Ces marchés, souvent assez jeunes, ne disposent pas encore de suffisamment d’investisseurs domestiques pour garantir une bonne liquidité et limiter l’incidence des flux externes. Ce phénomène se vérifie encore cette année. » Aujourd’hui exposé à hauteur de 36% en actions (actions monde et actions émergentes), le fonds de dotation du Louvre compte encore se renforcer dans ces classes d’actifs pour atteindre sa cible de 40% à terme. Cette augmentation, qui devrait porter principalement sur les petites capitalisations et sur les actions émergentes se fera toutefois très progressivement, le manque de visibilité sur la situation économique et politique en Europe ainsi que le ralentissement généralisé qui semble maintenant se dessiner constituant des facteurs de risque et de volatilité trop importants pour se précipiter. D’autre part, le fonds de dotation réfléchira, en 2013, à de nouvelles diversifications possible du portefeuille : dans des classes d’actifs un peu moins banalisées, mais aussi moins liquides, telles que les dettes corporates émergentes ou les actions des nouveaux pays émergents (Vietnam, certains pays du Golfe, d’Afrique ou encore d’Amérique Latine). Aussi dans les matières premières. A propos de cette dernière classe d’actifs, les ETFs pourraient être une voie possible « s’ils sont transparents et n’induisent pas un risque de contrepartie non désiré. La question de l’indice est également importante pour éviter les biais (trop de pétrole, par exemple) et, le cas échéant, certains marchés trop spéculatifs » précise Thierry Brevet.

Le pays d’Amérique centrale cherche à repousser le paiement de 544 millions de dollars. La banque centrale du pays dit disposer de trois scénarios dont elle compte discuter avec ses créanciers, dont la réduction des taux d’intérêts de 8,5% à 2%, en contrepartie d’un allongement de la maturité de 2029 à 2062. Le rendement de l’obligation concernée a augmenté de 5,22 points à 20,03% depuis un an.

Une mission de l’IGF (Inspection générale des finances) et du Conseil général des mines va se pencher sur la formation et la transparence des prix des carburants, a annoncé hier soir le ministre de l’Economie et des Finances, Pierre Moscovici. Mardi, il avait indiqué que le gouvernement n’excluait pas un blocage temporaire des prix des carburants s’ils continuaient à augmenter.

Le Chicago Mercantile Exchange, l’opérateur de marché à terme américain, aurait sondé l’intérêt des opérateurs de marché ces dernières semaines concernant l’éventuel lancement de contrats sur l’aluminium qui viendraient concurrencer ceux du London Metal Exchange, qui domine depuis plus de 30 ans ce marché de quelque 80 milliards de dollars, selon Reuters.

L’inflation brésilienne a progressé à 5,2% au mois de juillet après 4,92% en juin, mais reste dans la fourchette de cible de 2,5% à 6,5% de la banque centrale. Près de la moitié de la hausse mensuelle de 0,43% est imputable aux prix alimentaires. Les marchés anticipent des baisses de taux directeurs, à 8%, de 75 pb d’ici à la fin de l’année pour relancer la croissance, estimée à seulement 2% en 2012.

Le Premier ministre japonais, Yoshihiko Noda, est arrivé hier à un compromis de dernière minute avec les dirigeants de l’opposition pour sauver son projet phare de doublement de la TVA à 10% d’ici à 2015 et son projet de réforme de la Sécurité sociale, en échange de la promesse d'élections anticipées «une fois que ces réformes seront validées, (...) dans un avenir proche».

Les stocks américains de pétrole brut ont reculé de 3,73 millions à 369,86 millions de barils la semaine dernière, selon l’EIA. Un chiffre plus fort que prévu, le consensus tablant sur un recul de seulement 0,3 million de barils. Idem pour les stocks d’essence qui ont reculé de 1,8 million de barils à 206,07 millions, contre une hausse de 1,1 million de barils prévue par le consensus.

La productivité du secteur non agricole aux Etats-Unis a progressé à un taux annuel de 1,6% entre avril et juin, contre une hausse de 1,3% prévue par le consensus. La production a augmenté de 2% au deuxième trimestre, mais les heures travaillées de seulement 0,4%. Le coût unitaire du travail a progressé de 1,7%, contre une hausse de 0,6% anticipée par le consensus.

Fitch a confirmé hier le AAA accordé à la dette souveraine allemande et sa perspective stable, soulignant la forte résistance de son économie et son «track record» robuste au cours des deux dernières années en dépit du ralentissement économique mondial et de la crise de la zone euro. Et de mettre la forte croissance et le déclin du chômage au profit des réformes structurelles passées. Le Trésor allemand a placé hier 3,4 milliards d’euros de dette à 10 ans lors d’une adjudication qui a suscité une demande solide, les investisseurs continuant de voir dans le papier allemand un placement refuge sur fond de crise de la zone euro, même si le pays espérait initialement lever jusqu'à 4 milliards d’euros. Le rendement moyen a légèrement progressé à 1,42%, contre 1,31% le mois dernier, mais la demande a été plus forte avec un ratio de couverture de 1,8 fois l’offre, contre 1,5 fois le 11 juillet.

Selon la Banque de France, le produit intérieur brut pourrait reculer de 0,1% au troisième trimestre

Malgré la pause d'hier, l'Euro Stoxx 50 a gagné 13% en dix jours. D'autres actifs risqués, comme le pétrole, profitent aussi du regain de confiance