In only seven years, the French asset management boutique Comgest has built up assets under management in Germany of EUR2.5bn, which is a good result considering that Comgest invests exclusively in equities, while Germans are particularly circumspect about this asset class, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The sales team led by Christoph Zitt is convincing because Comgest practices stock-picking for shares likely to be successful in the long term, without frequent modifications to the portfolio, and because there has been no change of fund managers for 25 years.In Düsseldorf, the five institutional sales staff at Comgest cover the German, Austrian, Swiss and Luxembourg markets.

Norbert Braems, chief economist at Sal. Oppenheim (Deutsche Bank group), has decided to leave his position on 1 July, while remaining as senior economic adviser to the private bank. His role will be held in the interim by Frank Hübner, head of the economics department.By January 2013 at the latest, his successor will be Martin Moryson, who has most recently been director of corporate advisory at HSH Nordbank, after serving as adviser to institutional investors at Feri Institutional Mangement, and as head of empirical research and econometric analysis for the German Council of the Wise.

In May, equity funds on sale in Sweden for the second consecutive month have recorded net outflows, totalling SEK9.7bn, or EUR1.09bn, according to the most recent statistics from Fondbolagens Förening, the Swedish investment fund association. Outflows form equities profited bond and money market funds, which posted net inflows of SEK4bn (EUR0.45bn) and SEK4.6bn (EUR0.52bn), respectively. Balanced funds, meanwhile, have seen inflows of SEK1.1bn (EUR0.12bn). These inflows, however, were not enough to compensate for overall redemptions, as funds on sale in Sweden saw outflows of SEK0.7bn (EUR0.08bn). As of the end of May, Swedish funds managed a total of SEK1.892trn (EUR213bn), of which SEK998bn (EUR112.4bn) were in equity funds.

About 10% of the total wealth of high net worth retail investors are held in the form of precious metals, according to a study published on 11 June in Geneva in the Barclays Wealth Insights series. This figure is 18% for high net worth invetors in the United Arab Emirates.In Brazil, China and Singapore, precious objects represent an average of one sixth of total wealth, while the percentage is lower in Switzerland (6%), the United Kingdom (7%) and India (3%). For its survey, the bank spoke to 2000 high net worth retail clients worldwide. One third of them have confirmed that they currently have a larger range of precious objects than five years ago.Despite growing public interest in collectible objects and record prices at auctions, the report finds that investors are more likely to buy assets for sentimental than financial reasons. 62% of precious objects owned by respondents worldwide were bought for pleasure, compared with 60% in Switzerland, as much as 79% in Monaco and 75% in the United Arab Emirates.Greg Davies, head of the department dedicated to behavioural finance at Barclays, remarks that “it is a good idea to be prudent before considering assets as a direct alternative to traditional asset classes, given that they carry numerous risks, ranging from insurance and maintenance costs to the subjective nature of markets.”

With Global Markets Intelligence (GMI), S&P Capital IQ has created an advisory operation which provides asset managers with risk-based, non-discretionary services for equity and fixed portfolio strategies, asset allocation and fund review. Currently, GMI advises assets totalling USD18bn. The new service is distributed by S&P Investment Advisory Services in the United States, and by McGraw Hill Research Europe Ltd in the United Kingdom and Western Europe, relying on the proprietary resources of S&P Captial IQ in data, analysis and research. The characteristic of GMI is that its methodologies integrate risk mitigation as a core element, and not as a separate overlay, a statement released on 11 June states.

The combined forces of disappointing employment data in the US and another week of no clear policy consensus in Europe, along with the fear that Chinese economic growth is slowing faster than previously thought, rattled global markets and encouraged investors to stay on course with the current bond buying spree while continuing to dump equities.In the week ending June 6 EPFR global tracked fixed income funds absorbed another USD3.4 billion of inflows, their 31st consecutive weekly inflow and extending YTD total inflows to about USD190 billion, a pace that is set to break the full year inflow record set in 2010.Investors were retreating from the perceived higher risk of equities as they made net withdrawals of USD7.6 billion from Equity Funds during the week, the second strongest weekly outflow this year.Meanwhile, money market Funds attracted nearly USD9 billion of net inflows, but it was only European based investors feeling the love for this cash equivalent and ultra-low yielding fund vehicle, pumping in nearly USD13 billion of net inflows while US domiciled Money Market Funds saw another week of substantial withdrawals. So far this year Europe domiciled funds have taken in about USD38 billion of net inflows while the US domiciled funds have seen USD107 billion of redemptions.

The Boston-based Putnam Investmnts (USD124bn in assets as of the end of April) has announced the opening of a representative office in Beijing, which will be directed by Michael Luo, formerly of Invesco Great Wall, where he helped to set up a fixed income team, has he had previously done at China Investment Corporation. Luo will report directly to Joseph T. Phoenix, head of global institutional management.The Beijing office will be in charge of establishing and managing relationships with government and private institutions in China. Luo will also be responsible for developing Putnam’s long-term strategy in the country.

The board of directors at the banking group Valartis has appointed Vincenzo Di Pierri as CEO of Valartis Bank AG Switzerland. He succeeds Daniel Reptsis, who took over the position for the interim following the departure of Stefan Holzer in May, according to a statement published on 11 June by Valartis. Reptsis will concentrate on his role as chief financial and risk officer for the finance & risk and banking operations units.Di Pierri worked from 2003 to 2011 at Privat Bank Finter, as CEO. Currently, he is head of the Italian chamber of commerce for Switzerland (CCIS).Valartis, formerly a simple brokerage firm, has recently refocused on wealth management. Its assets under management total about CHF6.8bn.

The Gonet private bank has appointed Alex Jagmetti as head of its activities in Asia. Following the opening of the Gonet Asia Pte Ltd company in Singapore in November last year, the group has strengthened its involvement in Asia and is now entering a new phase in its development. Jagmetti has 10 years of experience in Asia, where he has served as Managing Director at HSBC and then at UBS, before becoming head of Asia-Pacific at Falcon Private Bank.

The asset management affiliate of Rabobank, Robeco, appears to be generating some strong interest, Agefi reports. Since April, offers to acquire the firm have been flooding in. According to the Netherlands newspaper Het Financieele Tagblad, several dozen potential acquirers have expressed interest. Among these are private equity funds from outside the euro zone, including the British (widely international) funds CVC Capital Partners and Apax Partners, and the US firm Hellman & Friedman. Buyers in continental Europe are less interested, Agefi reports.

The US firm Franklin Templeton has transformed its division dedicated to real estate into a unit dedicated to real assets, Asian Investor reports. With this prospect in mind, Franklin Templeton is currently recruiting infrastructure specialists (energy, water, transportation, agriculture) and sources close to the firm indicate that Franklin Templeton is also preparing an infrastructure fund. Franklin Templeton had no commend on the reports. Assets under management in real assets, for the moment composed largely of real estate, total nearly USD5bn.

The alternative asset management firm SAC Capital, whose assets under management total about USD14bn, has recruited Louis Villa as a portfolio manager, Reuters reports. Villa previously worked at Edoma Partners, the fund founded by a former Goldman Sachs manager, Pierre-Henri Flamand, which has not performed terribly well since its launch in 2010. Villa left his position at Edoma in April. The event-driven hedge fund from Edoma, whose assets total about USD1.8bn, lost 0.85% in first quarter 2012, which puts its losses since launch at 3.1%. On average, event-driven strategies earned 4.62% in first quarter.

Pergam, an independent asset management firm founded in 2001 by Olivier Combastet, is now adding a third element to its activity, alongside mandates and private equity: Erik Alme, director of management and private clients, and Caroline Gaudry, partner and bond manager, have told Newsmanagers that the firm is now entering collective management, with the launch of a first fund on 13 June, entitled Pergam Obligations 2017. It is a target date fund (30 June 2017), which received a sales license from the AMF on 9 May.With Obligations 2017, Pergam is offering a French-registered fund which will allocate at least 80% of its portfolio to investment grade securities (currently 84%), while the remainder is divided between an “upper segment” of high yield and unrated assets. The portfolio (40 holdings) will initially contain no financial sector or automotive sector investments, nor securities from issuers whose headquarters are in Greece. The bonds selected are from issues of EUR500m or more, and have no currency risks. For the first fund, Pergam is aiming for performance higher than those the French govie OAT maturing on 25 April 2017, for a net return of nearly 4% under current conditions. The product offers weekly liquidity, and subscriptions will close on 31 October.The declared inflow objective is EUR50m. Management is outsourced to Aviva Investors, which has a credit research team with 40 analysts. The asset management firm currently has assets of about EUR800m, about half of which is in mandates (2/3 equities from outside Europe and 40% European bonds) and private equity (agricultural land, US real estate and rolling stock, among others). The objective, including the collective management unit, is to have a total of EUR1bn in assets under management in all three professions in three years, and EUR1.2bn in five years.CharacteristicsName: Pergam Obligations 2017ISIN codes:FR0011223106 (C share class)FR0011223114 (D share class)Front-end fee: noneManagement commission: 0.80%Withdrawal penalty:1% until 31 October 20120.5% from 1 November 2012 to 30 June 2014, inclusive; none thereafter

Edmond de Rothschild Investment Managers on 11 June announced the launch of a new target date bond fund which allows investors to benefit from current opportunities on credit markets: Edmond de Rothschild (EdR) Millésima 2018. Edmond de Rothschild (EdR) Millésima 2018 – Major characteristics End of sales period: 17 December 2012 ISIN codes: C share class (retail): FR0011252360 ; I share class (institutional): FR0011255207 Liquidity: Daily AMF classification: Bonds and other securities denominated in euros Currency: euro Benchmark: OAT maturing in October 2018 Recommended investment duration: until 31 October 2018 Financial management fees: C share class: maximum 0.95%; I share class: maximum 0.45% Performance commission: None

France has lost a decision before the European Court of Justice, and will be required to put French and foreign-registered mutual funds on an even footing. Currently, foreign mutual funds investing in French companies are subject to a 30% withholding tax on dividends earned. French-registered funds are exempt from the tax.The French government is planning to impose a withholding tax on all funds, a proposal which is not satisfactory to professionals in the sector. The French financial management association will visit Bercy (the Finance ministry) this afternoon for talks about the various options on the table.

Since 11 June, the XTF segment of the Xetra platform (Deutsche Börse) lists 986 ETFs, with the addition to trading of five new Irish-registered products from UBS Global Asset Management, four of which are baseed on the MSCI Canada and Japan indices (two each) and one on the FTSE 100. TER ranges from 0.28% to 0.50%.

The US firm Vanguard has received a sales license from BaFin to sell five ETFs in Germany (based on the FTSE 100, S&P 500, FTSE All World, FTSE Emerging Markets and gilts), which were admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in late May. It is not yet known, however, if the issuer will apply to list these products on Deutsche Börse, Handelsblatt reportts. Tim Huver, product manager, has not yet indicated how Vanguard is planning to market the products in Germany. For the moment, the US asset management firm has no representative office in the country. Its strategy on the German market will be defined in the next four weeks.

The Swiss private bankVontobel on 11 June announced the launch of a fund dedicated tocorporate bonds, the Vontobel Fund - High Yield Bond, which willallow investors to earn revenues comparable to those from equities,with lower risk and volatility.The new fund offersinvestors access to a wide range of high yield corporate bonds, withratings ranging form BB+ to CCC-. With a return objcctive of 5% to 9%per year (considered over a complete economic cycle), the fund isseeking to earn revenues comparable to those of equities, and thus ishoping to achieve protection against inflation, while presentinglower volatility and risk than shares which servei dividends.Additional returns compared with government bonds, which have highersolvency levels, are offset by credit risks.Name of fundVontobel Fund – High Yield Bond Benchmark indexCustomized Merrill Lynch High Yield, 50% EUR et50% USD hedgedCurrency of fundEURCountry of domicileLuxembourgEnd of financial yearAugustDate of launch11 June 2012Portfolio managerStefan ChappotISIN numberB: LU0571066462 I: LU0571066975(exclusively for institutional investors)Management commissions per year1.10% (B), 0.55% (I)

Si les rendements continuent à se tendre comme hier, le pays ne pourra éviter un sauvetage plus large

Si les rendements continuent à se tendre comme hier, le pays ne pourra éviter un sauvetage plus large

La société de multigestion alternative se positionne en lançant un véhicule dédié. Le fonds vise entre 100 et 150 millions d’euros d’ici septembre

Les investisseurs, institutionnels principalement, sont attirés par ces fonds cotés, plus liquides que le marché sous-jacent

Le fonds qui sera utilisé pour aider l'Espagne n'a pas encore été choisi. Contrairement au FESF, le MES rendrait la dette espagnole moins attrayante

La société, qui gère 800 millions d’euros, vise un milliard d’euros d’encours à horizon trois ans et 1,2 milliard d’euros d’ici cinq ans

La Commission européenne est chargée de définir les conditions du soutien au secteur bancaire espagnol sous la surveillance de la BCE et du FMI

Le quotidien souligne que l’AFG, Association française de la gestion financière, «est reçue cet après-midi à Bercy pour discuter des différentes options sur la table». En jeu, les règles d’imposition des dividendes perçus par les OPCVM. Condamné par la Cour de justice européenne pour inégalité de traitement des fonds français et étrangers, «le gouvernement ne peut pas se permettre d’attendre davantage» et envisage une retenue à la source généralisée.

Dans un entretien accordé au journal, le président de la Commission européenne prône un accord entre les pays européens sur la nécessité de solutions communes. «Il y a aujourd’hui une conscience plus aigue parmi les Etats membres européens du besoin d’avancer en termes d’intégration, particulièrement dans la zone euro. C’est une des leçons de la crise» indique-t-il.

Les sociétés de private equity Apax Partners et Bain Capital sont en course pour acquérir auprès d’Oak Hill Capital et de General Atlantic Partners une participation de 41% au capital de la société indienne de services technologiques, selon le quotidien. Carlyle aurait ainsi jeté l’éponge. L’offre des prétendants, qui pourrait solliciter des alliées, valoriserait la cible à quelque 3,4 milliards de dollars.

Selon la presse néerlandaise, l’établissement aurait reçu de nombreuses marques d’intérêt, dont un nombre important émanant hors d’Europe

L’industrie des hedge funds pourrait voir sa taille plus que doubler dans les cinq prochaines années, à plus de 5.000 milliards de dollars, selon le journal qui cite une étude réalisée par Citigroup. Les fonds nouveaux seraient notamment drainés par le biais des fonds de pension qui pourraient à eux seuls apporter 1.000 milliards, selon les investisseurs interrogés par la banque dans son enquête.