The European parliament on 23 May approved a large majority of the proposed outlines of a tax on financial transactions, even as memner states remain divided over the principle. The tax of 0.1% on equities and bonds and 0.01% on derivative products aims to regulate markets while bringing revenues into government coffers. The European Commission on 28 September unveiled its tax proposals, from which currency markets are excluded, which it claims could bring in EUR55bn by 2014. “I think this tax should be an integral part of the European Union’s exit strategy from the crisis,” said Dutch social democrat MEP Anni Podimata, reporter for the Parliament’s proposal on the subject. The proposal, which is supported by France and Germany, is opposed by countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Malta and the Czech Republic. MEPs, who have only a consulting role in the matter, have supported the proposals by a vote of 487 in favour, 152 against, and 46 amendments, in a sign of consensus between the major left- and right-wing political groups. MEPs voted in favour of amendments which would exempt pension funds from the tax, but would extend the eligibility criteria to include other financial actors. Financial sector businesses in member states would be subject to the tax, as would be firms which participate in a transaction involving “a financial instrument issued by a legal entity incorporated in the Union.”

Lyxor Asset Management on 23 May launched three exchange-traded funds (ETF) on the SIX Swiss Exchange based on AAA-rated government bonds from the euro zone. The three ETF funds, LYXOR ETF EUROMTS AAA Macro Weighted Government 1-3Y, LYXOR ETF EUROMTS AAA Macro Weighted Gouvernement 3-5Y and LYXOR ETF EUROMTS AAA Macro Weighted Government 5-7Y, vary in their durations, a statement from Lyxor says. Lyxor now offers seven bond ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Bradley Katsuyama, the former head of electronic trading at RBC, has hired a bunch of its former colleagues as well as employees of high-frequency traders to set up IEX Group Inc with the purpose of launching in 2013 a transaction platform dedicated to funds managers and preventing high frequency traders to profit from their competitive advantage, The Wall Street Journal reports.The project is supported by RBC and Janus Capital. IEX Group won’t use the fee structure used by exchanges that pays firm to post buy and sell orders and is favored by high-frequency traders.

The Financial Times reports that US based manufacturer Southwire and hedge fund Red Kite have complained in a letter to the SEC against a plan by JPMorgan du launch a copper ETF which could «wreak havoc» in the US and global economy by artificially inflating prices of the metal. In its filiang to the SEC, JPMorgan suggests its ETF could hold 61,800 tons of copper, which would be 27% of the metal held in the global network of warehouses of the London Metal Exchange. And BlackRock also plans an iShares ETF which could hold 121,200 tons. The paper however underlines that ETFs holding physical copper and launched in Europe over the last 18 months by ETF Securities (ETFS) and Deutsche Bank have had limited success. The ETFS product, for instance, only holds 3,427 tons.

Assets under management at Swiss funds as of the end of April totalled CHF658.8bn, down CHF1.4bn compared with the previous month, according to statistics from the Swiss Funds Association (SFA). Net inflows to funds, which totalled CHF6.7bn during the month under review, were largely offset by negative market effects. Inflows were distributed over all categories of funds, with equity and bond funds seeing the largest inflows.

Crédit Agricole on 23 May announced the launch of new savings products aimed at retail investors. Sonance 5, an FCP-type investment fund, is guaranteed at maturity, are eligible for ordinary share accounts (CTO) and for equity savings plans (PEA), and Sonance Vie 5 is eligible for investment from life insurance products. Over an 8-year duration, the funds provide investors with a means to partially profit from the potential growth of the 25 largest European businesses, while also receiving a guarantee on initial invested capital at maturity. After the 8-year investment period, on 21 September 2020, savings investors will receive: All capital invested, regardless of the evolution of financial markets plus the potential performance of a basket of equities composed of the 25 largest caps of the Euro Stoxx 50 index; the performance of each equity in the basket is limited to 75% (an annual rate of return of a maximum of 7.24%).

The German asset management firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH has announced that on 21 May it sold the three logistical properties La Granada 1, II and III (60,000 square metres in total, near Barcelona) from its open-ended real estate fund Morgan Stanley P2 Value (DE000A0F6G89) to an affiliate of Prologis. The total sale price, which was not disclosed, is “slightly” below the most recent valuation of EUR27m, established by an independent expert. The net asset value of shares in the P2 Value fund are reduced with the sale by 7 cents, to EUR19.71. It is the fourth reduction since the beginning of this year.The P2 Value fund (EUR610.74m in assets) is to be liquidated by 30 September 2013. Its gross liquidity rate totals 30%, or EUR183.12m.

La Financière d’Uzès has launched the Uzès Grands Crus fund, a French-registered contractual FCP fund dedicated to fine wines.The fund, founded by the asset management firm Uzès Gestion, is open for subscriptions until 30 November 2012, and aims to earn a rate of return over 5 years higher than French bonds with the same maturity, due to active management of a portfolio of fine vintage wines (at last 75% of assets), a statement says. The portfolio will be at least 50% invested in major wines from Bordeaux and Bourgogne, while the remainder will be invested in high quality wines from the Rhône river valley or foreign countries (primarily Italy, Australia, Spain, and the United States).Although it is not strictly the objective of the fund, the Liv-Ex Fine 100, the benchmark index for the fine wine market, has gained 11.99% per year between July 2001 and July 2011. Even with the recent correction taken into account, the trend remains positive (+11.50% from April 2002 to April 2012), La Financière d’Uzès states.CharacteristicsLegal format: French-registered FCP fundType: Closed contractural OPCVM fund reserved for qualified investorsMaturity: 5 years, with a 12-month lock-in periodBenchmark: average monthly returns on 5-year OATsInitial net asset value per share: EUR5,000Minimal initial subscription: 6 shares, for qualified investorsSubcription period: 1 June to 30 November 2012Subscription commission: maximum 4% of net asset value not paid back into the fundManagement fee: maximum 3.5% of net assetsPerformance commission: 25% of returns exceeding benchmarkRedemption commission, not paid back into fund: 5% of net asset asset value in the first year, 4% in the second year, 3% in the 3rd year, 2% in the 4th year, 1% in the 5th year, 0% in subsequent yearsMaximal redemption: 20% of assets per yearDeposit: in a secured vault, certified ISO 9001 for wines and spirits, at ports Francs in Geneva

The complete process of examining and certifying client advisers at the Swiss banking group UBS is now externally certified, UBS announced on 23 May in a statement. The bank has put in place a complete certification process, which aims to guarantee a high level of knowledge and expertise on the part of its advisers in the area of retail banking, wealth management and business clients. Certificates issued by UBS to its client advisers have received official accreditation. Lukas Gähwiler, CEO of UBS Switzerland, says “with external recognition of its certifications, UBS has set a new standard which has no equal in the Swiss financial market. Clients may count on high quality advising in the future. Better yet, the certification process allows us to strengthen the position of UBS as a pioneer in banking training and to offer our employees motivating avenues to improve themselves.”

The Invesco Balanced-Risk Allocation Fund, launched in September 2009 in Europe, is occupying an increasingly important place in the product range from Invesco on offer to European investors. The product, managed by the Invesco Global Asset Allocation team based in Atlanta in the United States, relies on an investment process focused around risk management. As of 30 April, it has total assets of over EUR1.5bn, compared with EUR100m one year ago. The sales team dedicated to the fund will be strengthened over the course of the year, with the arrival of a product manager who this time will be based in Europe, between Frankfurt and London. The objective is to push sales of a product which “may function perfectly with up to USD30bn in assets,” the Invesco team claims. Since its launch, the Invesco Balanced-Risk Allocation Fund has earned cumulative returns of +37.70% (A share class, as of the end of March 2012), and of +11.65% for the year 2011.

In London, Pictet Asset Management on 23 May announced the launch of the Pictet-Emerging Markets High Dividend fund on 7 June, which will focus on businesses from emerging countries which pay high and sustainable dividends.The fund has a value bias, and is managed by Mark Boulton and Stephen Burrows, while Pictet has already been managing a similar fund for Japanese investors since 2007 (USD2.6bn as of the end of April). The fund will be a UCITS-compliant sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav Pictet Funds.

George Stairs, a former Fidelity manager based in the United States, has been barred from undertaking transactions in Hong Kong for two years, and will be required to pay a fine of HKD860,000, the Financial Times reports. He is accused of having issued a sell order for shares in Chaoda Modern Agriculture ahead of a capital increase which he had advance knowledge of.

As a whole, aggregate U.S. prime money market fund exposures to European banks declined marginally by 2% on a dollar basis since end-March, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report published on May 23. The decline in exposure to U.K. and Dutch banks was partially offset by increased exposure to German banks. Overall, euro zone exposure has held steady over the past three months, but remains 63% belowend-May 2011 levels. Exposure to banks in Australia, Canada, and Japan as a group was largely unchanged at 29% of MMF assets under management.Following reduced allocations to euro zone banks that took place during the second half of 2011, MMF holdings appear to be following a “wait andsee” approach until a clearer pattern emerges, comments Fitch.

Assets in solidarity-based savings continued to increase last year, to a total of EUR3.55bn as of 31 December 2011, up 15% compared with 2010, according to statistics from the solidarity-based finance barometer published by Finansol/La Croix, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year. Over 10 years, assets have been multiplied by a factor of 12. Assets in solidarity-based savings have been driven by soldiarity-based emlpoyee savings, which total EUR1.74bn. Currently, 500,000 employees place their employee savings in solidarity-based funds. The amounts invested in activities with high social and environmental utility totalled EUR897m as of the end of 2011 (+31% compared with 2010), and have been multiplied by a factor of 8 in 10 years. More than 200,000 jobs have been created or consolidated over the decade under review, and 82,700 businesses have been supported. Overall, nearly 800,000 savers currently choose to opt for a more humanistic type of finance, Financsol reports.

The French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), has appointed Salwa Boussokaya-Nasr as its CFO, replacing Philippe Aurain, who left his position at the end of April to join Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs as its CEO and head of management. Boussokaya-Nasr had previously been head of allocation management for the FRR. She joined the fund in 2006, after working at Ixis Asset Management.

The asset management unit of the Credit Suisse group is losing its head of alternative management, Ravi Singh, Financial News reports. Singh, who joined Credit Suisse in 2009 after serving as co-head of prime brokerage at Goldman Sachs, had been managing director and also a member of the Asset Management Committee. The pole which he led, Alternative Investments (private equity, hedge funds, commodities and structured products), represented about CHF140bn in assets.

Morgan Stanley has become the first customer of Inversis Bank Institutional in the field of hedge fund adminstration and custody. Funds People reports that the US bank will initially transfer USD250m in assets to the Spanish institution.

The new Spanish branch of the Andorran Andbank has already recruited 20 private bankers, and is planning to recruit 10 more tin the next few months, Funds People reports. In addition, the firm is building a network of independent private bankers and financial advisers.The new entity is led by Rafael Gascó, formerly of Banca March, and is aiming for EUR2bn in assets in 5 years. The break-evn point is expected to be reached in 2014.

Following the departure of Juan Fontán, Schroders has promoted Diego Cavero to the position of head of the representative office of Schroders & Co Bank AG in Spain, the private banking unit of the group. Funds People reports that the appointment has been effective since 1 April, and that Cavero joined Schroders in 2003 as a private banker and head of high net worth private clients.

The proportion of Spanish and Italian public debt held by non-resident investors continued to fall in the first quarter of 2012 as banks funded with cheap ECB money replaced international institutional investors, according to Fitch Ratings. The pace of the withdrawal by non-residents quickened in Spain, where the rating agency estimates that non-resident holdings of Spanish public debt, excluding ECB holdings under the Securities Markets Programme, dropped to 34% in Q112, from 40% at end-2011. It has been dropping steadily from over 60% in 2008. The drop in private-sector non-resident holdings of Italian debt has followed a different path. The total outflow in Italy has been less than in Spain, with non-residents only accounting for around 50% of bondholders in 2008 and the outflow did not start until Q311. Nevertheless non-resident holdings of Italian debt have dropped to 32% and, although the pace has slowed, continue to fall. Fitch expects this trend to continue in the coming quarters.

On a visit to Paris, Harald Sporleder a portfolio manager and specialist in European equities, has told Newsmanagers that Allianz Global Investors (AGI) has since August 2011 relaunched sales of its long/short equity fund Allianz RCM Discovery Europe Strategy, a fund registered in the Cayman Islands which was converted into a UCITS-compliant Luxembourg fund on 22 October 2009 (LU0384030010). The fund offers weekly liquidity. “Assets currently total EUR63bn. We did not actively begin promoting sales of the product until August 2011. In an initial stage, I am aiming for assets of EUR185m in six months. The capacity limit for the product is no more than EUR500m,” says Sporleder.The results are promising, and justify renewed active sales efforts for the fund, as “since June 2007, our fund shows returns 31.68% after fees as of 30 April, compared with losses of 26.24% for the MSCI Europe TR.” Sporleder adds: “We will be focusing on funds of hedge funds, funds of funds, family office funds and pension funds.”The manager states that the portfolio currently includes 100 holdings, and that maximal leverage is 1.7. Performance commission is 20% with high watermark, above a hurdle rate of the Eonia.As to the strategy, Sporleder says: “We cover all our bets in currencies. The fund is based on a fundamental approach and does not rely on quantitative methodologies. We make bets on sectors and countries, while remaining market neutral on sectors and currencies. In fact, we run largely against the grain of the consensus, since the consensus does not make money. And we work to spot the right moment to sell short, for a minimum of 0.5% and a maximum of 3.5% of the portfolio per holding.”

The amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds increased to EUR6,069 billion in March 2012, from EUR5,662 billion in December 2011, according to statistics released by the European Central Bank. Over the same period, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area money market funds decreased to EUR951 billion from EUR992 billion. These developments are partly explained by statistical reclassifications of a number of money market funds as bond funds in the first quarter of 2012, with the amount involved totalling about EUR70 billion.Transactions in shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds amounted to EUR95 billion in the first quarter of 2012, while transactions in shares/units issued by money market funds amounted to EUR32 billion.

Effective immediately, Dexia Asset mamagement and the German firm Johannes Führ Asset Management will be cooperating in the development of research products on the German market, with efforts largely focused on multi-asset class solutions that include risk management. The objective is to present a concept to the market in third quarter 2012, which would meet the needs of institutional as well as retail investors.For the project, Dexia AM is providing its expertise and resources as an asset management firm with global reach and large research capacity, as well as expertise in the areas of multi-asset class strategies, equities and risk management. For its part, Johannes Führ is contributing its knowledge of the German market and its expertise in the area of fixed income management focused on government and corporate bonds.The two asset management firms are very strongly embedded in the German institutional market. Johannes Führ AM is contributing to the joint effort with its strong tie to private clients, as the firm originates from the wealth management sector.

The British asset management firm Smith & Williamson Investment Management has introduced clean shares in three multi-management funds from the group, managed by James Burns, ahead of the introduction of RDR regulations next year, Investment Week reports.Annual management commissions on multi-management funds have been cut to 75 basis points. Core equities carry fees of 75 basis points per year, while specialised equity funds charge 90 basis points.Smith & Williamson joins several other firms – Investex, Guinness AM, Schroders, River & Mercantile and Royal London AM – who have revised their fee structures to adapt to the new regulatory environment.

The Italian banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo on Wednesday announced that they have sold their stakes in the British stock market group London Stock Exchange (LSE), owner of the London and Milan stock exchanges, representing about 11.5% of capital, for EUR370.1m. In two different statement, UniCredit has announced that it has sold its stake of about 6.1% for GBP159.5m, or EUR197.6m, according to the conversion given by the bank, while Intesa Sanpaolo has sold its stake of about 5.4% for GBP139.3m, or EUR172.5m. The sale was at a price of 960 pence per share. The two largest Italian banks have retained the US bank Morgan Stanley to handle the sale of their stakes to institutional investors, whose names have not been disclosed. The sale of their stakes in LSE will bring in capital gains for UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo of about EUR120m and EUR105m, respectively.

The US asset manager Vanguard Funds has listed its suite of Irish-domiciled exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the initial five ETFs admitted to trading on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange. Vanguard’s new ETFs have total expense ratios (TERs) between 0.09% and 0.45%, compared to an industry average TER in the UK of 0.53%, according to the asset manager. The Vanguard Group has GBP741 billion in index mutual fund assets and an additional GBP109 billion in ETF assets globally, and has until now ETFs listed on exchanges in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Australia. List of funds:Vanguard FTSE 100 ETF Vanguard S&P 500 ETFVanguard FTSE All-World ETFVanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETFVanguard UK Government Bond ETF

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has confirmed the names of the members of its global equities team who will be remaining with the company, Investment Week reports. They include: James Clunie, Andrew Paisley, Gregor MacDonald, Vicky Watson, Tony Foster, Johnny Russell, Nick Ford, Iain Fulton, Stephen Corr, Mark Phillips, James Kinghorn, Catie Wearmouth, Greig Bryson, Craig Bonthron and Karolina Noculak.

J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) has announced that it has been awarded a mandate by the Swedish asset management firm Söderberg & Partners to provide custody, accounting and transfer agency services for its newly-launched Luxembourg Sicav.

D’après nos informations, la Mutuelle Médicis vient de procéder à la sélection de ses partenaires sociétés de gestion dans le cadre de la remise à plat de sa gestion dédiée diversifiée. Avec l’aide de son consultant Insti 7, Mutuelle Médicis avait lancé une série d’appels d’offres restreints sur différents lots. Les principaux lauréats sont les suivants : Amundi et Ecofi sur la gestion Crédit Investment Grade avec échéance 2017 : deux fonds dédiés (65 millions d’euros + 130 millions d’euros) Rothschild & Cie pour les trois lots de gestion diversifiée flexible (50 à 60 millions d’euros chacun) avec un poids maximal des actions de 60% dont la majorité devra être investie en Europe et OCDE: indice de référence 50% MSCI EMU et 50% Ibox. Les FCP devront être investis en obligations OCDE, en euro. UBGI (UBP) pour un fonds dédié de 60 millions d’euros sur les obligations convertibles internationales La Française AM pour les actions small et mid cap Europe: un fonds dédié de 35 millions d’euros Rothschild & Cie pour la multigestion traditionnelle OCDE: 2 fonds dédiés de 18 millions d’euros chacun. Unigestion et Amundi pour deux fonds dédiés sur les actions internationales large cap (MSCI World couvert en euro) : 95 millions d’euros + 10 millions d’euros. Contactée à ce sujet, la Mutuelle Médicis ne souhaite pas commenter ces informations.

La Financière d’Uzès vient de lancer Uzès Grands Crus, un FCP contractuel de droit français dédié aux vins d’exception. Le fonds créé par la société Uzès Gestion peut être souscrit jusqu’au 30 novembre 2012, et a pour objectif de procurer, à l’horizon de 5 ans, un taux de rendement supérieur à celui de l’OAT de même maturité, grâce à la gestion active d’un portefeuille de flacons de grands crus (75 % minimum de l’actif), précise un communiqué. Ce portefeuille sera investi, pour au moins 50 %, dans des grands vins de Bordeaux et de Bourgogne, le solde dans des vins d’exception de la vallée du Rhône ou de domaines étrangers (principalement Italie, Australie, Espagne, Etats-Unis...).Bien que cela ne soit pas l’objectif du fonds, le Liv-Ex Fine 100, l’indice de référence du marché des grands vins, a progressé annuellement de 11,99 % entre juillet 2001 et juillet 2011. Même en intégrant la correction récente, sa tendance reste haussière (+ 11,50 % d’avril 2002 à avril 2012), précise-t-on à la Financière d’Uzès. Caractéristiques : Forme juridique : FCP de droit françaisType : OPCVM contractuel fermé réservé aux investisseurs autorisésMaturité : 5 ans avec une période de blocage de 12 moisIndicateur de référence : Taux moyen mensuel de l’OAT 5 ansValeur liquidative d’origine : 5 000 eurosMinimum de souscription initiale : 6 parts pour les investisseurs autorisésPériode de souscription du 1er juin au 30 novembre 2012Commission de souscription 4 % maximum de la valeur liquidative non acquise à l’OPCVMFrais de gestion : 3,5 % maximum de l’actif netCommission de surperformance : 25 % de la surperformance par rapport à son indicateur de référenceCommission de rachat acquise à l’OPCVM : 5 % de la valeur liquidative la 1ère année, 4 % la 2ème, 3 % la 3ème, 2 % la 4ème, 1 % la 5ème, 0 % les années suivantesSortie maximale : 20 % des actifs par anDépôt : dans une cave sécurisée, certifiée ISO 9001 vins et spiritueux, des Ports Francs de Genève