In a new report, Fitch Ratings details its rating considerations for passive funds, as a complement to its Fund Quality Rating criteria (see «Fund Quality Ratings Criteria - Assessing Funds’ Investment Processes and Operational Attributes» at www.fitchratings.com).

The French financialregulatory bodies, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) andthe Autorité de contrôle prudentiel (ACP) on 22 May published anew, updated list, warning retail investors against proposedinvestments in the forex markets.The websites ofentities who have complied with French law have been removed from thelist, either because they have discontinued their activities onFrench territory, or because the proposed investments offered ontheir websites are now offered through intermediaries licensed toprovide investment services in France.The updated list is asfollows:www.bforex.com / BFOREX Limited http://www.gcitrading.com / GCI Financial Limited www.fxcast.com / Surplus Finance SA www.instaforex.com / InstaForex Companies Groupwww.finanzasforex.com / Evolution Market Group Incwww.ikkotrader.com / Ikko Investments.Ltdwww.trader369.com / IP International ServiceThe AMF and the ACP also describe some generalrisks related to forex products offered to retail investors(http://www.amf-france.org/documents/general/10067_1.pdf).

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. USD3.5 million for providing inaccurate mortgage performance information, supervisory failures and other violations in connection with subprime residential mortgage-backed securitizations (RMBS).Issuers of RMBS are required to disclose historical performance information for past securitizations that contain mortgage loans similar to those in the RMBS being offered to investors. Historical data on mortgage performance is material to investors in assessing the value of RMBS and in determining whether future returns may be disrupted by mortgage holders’ failures to make loan payments.

At a time when SEB Asset Management and Credit Suisse AM Immobilien have recently announced that they are throwing in the towel and liquidating the SEB ImmoInvest and CS Euroreal funds, real estate funds with assets of EUR6bn each, Deka Immobilien is making a show of its good health, with an announcement on 22 May that from 1 January to 15 April, its three open-ended real estate funds (Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and WestInvest InterSelect) have purchased four properties for EUR750m, and have sold seven for EUR640m.Deka Immobilien has also announced that it has invested EUR53.7m in the office property City Green Court in Prague, sold by the Swedish developer Skanska. The 17,300 square metre property, with platinum LEED certification, will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa. The transaction brings the percentage of Czech properties in the portfolio of the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund from 1.5% to 2.1%.

The German asset management firm Credit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien has announced that total redemption demands for shares in the open-ended real estate fund CS Euroreal (EUR6bn in assets) accumulated between 9 and 21 May totalled a volume of about EUR3bn, far higher than initial estimates, while available liquidity totalled only EUR1.6bn.This is the reason for the firm’s decision to liquidate the fund over five years, by 30 April 2017 (see Newsmanagers of 22 May), as the level of outflows would have obliged the management team to sell too many assets and thus to sacrifice the quality of the portfolio, a letter to shareholders says.

Sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année, la collecte du Livret A s'élève à près de 10 milliards d’euros (9,69 milliards), contre un peu moins de 9 milliards d’euros pour la période correspondante de 2011, selon les derniers chiffres de la Caisse des dépôts publiés le 22 mai. Au cours du seul mois d’avril, le Livret A a collecté 2,53 milliards d’euros contre 1,28 milliard un mois plus tôt et 1,86 milliard en avril 2011.

The current environment is causing concern among finance sector employee in Frances. 71% of them say that they are not prepared to leave their jobs for another position currrently, according to the findings of a recent survey published by the website dogfinance.com, undertaken between 7 and 21 May, of 9,231 current employees.In the asset management sector, “this percentage is even over 75%,” says Sébastien Guichard, cuauthor of the survey.The first reason cited for this paralysis is the current crisis, cited by 62% of employees. Only 21% of those in “efficiency mode” cite the state of affairs at their current company, with 13% expecting their company to grow.The most desirable sectors as potential destinations according to survey respondents (who had the ability to choose several) are financial analysis (295), controlling (26%), investment banking (23%), accounting (21%) and auditing/advisory (19%).

Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, has announced the recent launch of two new applications as part of the organization’s extensive Enterprise Collateral Management offering that automate the process of moving collateral between the custodian and Pershing Prime Services. Called PrimeConnect™, the system provides transparency and control of collateral selection and movements to hedge fund managers using BNY Mellon to hold unencumbered assets. PrimeConnect40™ also offers transparency and online collateral movement to ’40 Act fund managers using the tri-party structure to support alternative strategies.The current financial volatility has elevated the role of collateral management to a key risk management function, says a press release.

La France Mutualiste, a French national retirement savings entity, has announced the appointment of Anne Mazzanti to the position of deputy CEO, following the departure of Christian Oyarbide, whose position she will now be taking over. Mazzanti has previously served at a number of banking establishments, before joining the financial management of La France Mutualiste in 2003. In 2007, she was sppointed as CFO, and then in 2011 became Deputy CEO in charge of financial operations.

Results of the most recent Swisscanto survey of Swiss pension funds, published yesterday, find that performance requirements for the year 2011, sovered by the study, have not been satisfied. This has led to a further decline in coverage rates, although private retirement planning entities still average above 100% coverage. This year once again, the largest challenge for managers has been reaching the theoretically necessary objectives. Returns in 2011 largely ranges from -2.5% to +2.5%. Slightly less than half of participating pension funds (46%) managed a positive result. It has already been several years that unsatisfactory revenue has weighed down professional retirement planning. Average returns over 5 years for all participating entities is positive by only 0.2% per year, despite very good results in 2009. Due to retirement planning liabilities and higher interest rates, coverage rates have fallen sharply. For private pension funds, these rates have fallen from 106% to 103%, while for public funds total capitalisation has fallen from 98% to 95%.

The online financial services provider Swissquote is adding to its product range with the launch of the Swiss Derivatives OTC Trading System (Swiss DOTS). The new service is being offered in partnership with two banks: Goldman Sachs and UBS, Swissquote says in a statement released on 23 May. From today, on the Swissquote platform, several thousands of derivative products and warrants may be traded directly with issuing banks, the online bank announced in a statement on Wednesday. The range may grow to as many as 20,000 products by the end of the year, Swissquote says. The products, available exclusively on the Swissquote platform, will be available for trading directly with issuing partners Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 10 PM.

The Swedish alternative asset management firm Brummer & Partners is closing the Orvent fund, Dagens Industri reports. The equity fund represents 2.38% (SEK760m) of the multi-strategy fund from Brummer & Partners, which has a total of SEK32bn in assets. Orvent has seen losses of 7.28% in 2011, and since the beginning of the year is down another 2%. The fund has no investor other than the multi-strategy fund from Brummer.

BlackRock has announced the appointment of Justin Arter as country head of BlackRock Australia. He will commence in September. Until then, Michael McCorry, BlackRock Australia’s head of scientific investments, will be acting country head.Justin Arter will join BlackRock from Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) where he currently serves as chief executive officer. Prior to his appointment with VFMC, he had an 18 year career at Goldman Sachs JB.Justin Arter will focus on the development and growth of BlackRock Australia as it delivers investment, advisory and risk management solutions to its clients. He will report to Mark McCombe, BlackRock’s chairman, Asia Pacific, and become a member of BlackRock’s executive committee in Asia Pacific.BlackRock has also announced the appointment of Jane Leung as head of iShares Asia Pacific. She succeeds Nick Good who was appointed as BlackRock’s head of strategy and business development, Asia Pacific in February.Jane Leung has more than 10 years’ experience with BlackRock. She currently serves as the head of BlackRock’s Asia Pacific Index Equity team, responsible for the team’s portfolio management activities.In her new role, Jane Leung will be responsible for driving the regional growth strategy and business operations of iShares. She will become a member of BlackRock’s executive committee in Asia Pacific and the Global iShares executive committee. Jane Leung will also report to Mark McCombe and Mark Wiedman, global head of iShares.

The Frankfurt-based private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser (H&A) has announced that from 1 July 2012, Richard Pfingsten will become chief investment officer of its wealth management activities, for both retail and corporate clients. He will be based in Frankfurt, and will also be in charge of defining the investment strategy for the bank as a whole.Pfingsten will thus be leaving Sal. Oppenheim, where he had most recently been director of portfolio management in the private banking unit. According to Michael Schramm, CEO of H&A, the arrival of Pfingsten will allow for development of the bank’s offerings as an asset manager to family offices and other major clients such as foundations.Before joining Sal. Oppenheim in 2007, Pfingsten served in management positions at Commerzbank and DekaBank.

Investment professionals estimate that the issuance of joint euro-bonds could attenuate the euro zone crisis, on the condition that the bonds are associated with a series of structural reforms, fiscal integration, and a solid common governance structure, according to a survey undertaken by the CFA Institute of its European members, including Switzerland. Euro-bonds, which are thought of as a potential remedy for the current lack of liquidity that some euro zone countries are currently confronting, and as a way to strengthen the financial stability of the euro zone, raises number of interesting questions for investors and capital markets. The results of the survey, to which 798 members of the CFA Institute responded, have been sent to the European Commission, which is also a subject of concern for professional investors. Most businesses estimate that a joint issue of euro bones by euro zone member states could reduce the scale of the government debt crisis (55%), that it would strengthen the financial stability of the euro zone (52%), and that it would facilitate the transmission of monetary policy throughout the euro zone (56%). As to the structure of euro-bonds, 64% of members of the CFA Institute claim that a joint and solidaristic guarantee by participating governments would be the most effective. The survey also finds that 64% of members are in favour of this issue of euro bonds being only a partial substitute for national issues: part of the financing needs of member states would thus be covered by these euro-bonds, while the rest would be supplied through national bond issues. Moral hazards, meaning the dangers related to a lack of budgetary discipline in some member countries with limited implications for financign costs, are of huge concern to members of the CFA Institute. As a result, several points appear to be prior conditions which would be essential for the issue of euro-bonds. These include strengthened economic, financial and political integration of member countries (which is considered essential by 86% of members of the CFA Institute), and increased and intrusive monitoring of the development and deployment of national fiscal policy (which 88% of members consider essential). Lastly, 90% of respondents say they are in favour of limited access to euro-bonds for member states who to not respect the governance framework of the euro zone.

Henderson Global Investors is engaging with investors on the launch of two Real Estate Debt Funds for the institutional market. Both funds aim to capitalise on the broad retraction of European bank lending and will have a common focus on premium real estate with strong sponsorship.The Henderson High Income Real Estate Debt Fund will invest in both senior and defensive subordinated real estate secured debt. Investments will predominantly be newly originated and secured by high quality leased real estate in well established markets at leverage of up to 75% LTV. Over an up to seven year investment horizon, the fund will target a gross IRR of between 8% and 10% largely to be provided by coupon income.Meanwhile, the Henderson Senior Secured Real Estate Debt Fund will invest in senior ranking and conservatively structured real estate loans at leverage of up to 60% LTV. The loans will again be newly originated and secured by premium property in the most well established locations. Over an up to seven year investment horizon the fund will target a total gross return of between 5% and 6% per annum.

Societe Generale Securities Services in Italy has been appointed by Alceda Fund Management S.A. to act as its local Transfer Agent in Italy, providing it with paying agent and investor relations management services for its fund AC and its Sicav AC Quant.Based in Luxembourg, Alceda Fund Management S.A. is a wholly independent subsidiary of the Aquila Group. With over EUR 5.3 billion in assets under administration, Alceda is a leading provider of structured investment solutions to institutional investors, asset/fund managers, banks and family offices.

The financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 22 May announced that it is lowering its credit rating for Japan by 2 notches to A+. The ratings adjustment is for “a borrower which is considered solid but likely to be affected by changes in the economic situation.” The agency has also maintained its negative outlook on the Japanesee rating, which has been in place since 2011. «The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,» said Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch. Fitch points out that Japanese government debt is set to peak at “239% of GDP by end-2012, by far the highest for any Fitch-rated sovereign.” This percentage is much higher than those observed for euro zone countries in financial difficulty, such as Spain (80.9%, according to the most recent statistics from the European Commission), Italy (123.5%), and Greece (160.6%). In addition, debt levels are increasing rapidly, up 61 percentage points since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008-2009. This trend, which was aggravated by reconstruction needs following the devastating earthquake of 11 March 2011, is not likely to reverse itself, as the Japanese government is planning to finance more than half of its 2012-2013 budget through issues of new bonds.

The number of mediation requests in the UK for investment products fell 4% during the 2011-2012 financial year to 31 March, according to the most recent annual report on mediation. The number of requests related to investment products and pensions totalled 14,862, their lowest levels since 2008, when requests peaked at 26,565. Requests for portfolio management remained highly stable at 1,152, compared with 1,148 previously. Requests concerning pensions, however, rose 28%, to 3,454.

Selon nos informations, au cours du premier trimestre 2012, l’Institut Pasteur a procédé à la sélection d’un gérant actions euro large cap dans le cadre d’un fonds dédié de 60 millions d’euros. Les fonds patrimoniaux de l’Institut Pasteur sont gérés par plusieurs établissements financiers spécialisés, dans le cadre de conventions de gestion avec l’assistance d’un consultant, Amadeis. L’allocation d’actifs retenue, dans une perspective à long terme, correspond à un équilibre entre les actions et les obligations. Pour rappel, en 2011, il avait aussi été décidé d’investir 23 millions d’euros au travers d’un FCP dédié sur des actions de la zone euro ISR.

L’environnement actuel angoisse les salariés du secteur de la finance. Ils sont 71 % à déclarer ne pas être prêt à quitter leur entreprise pour un nouveau poste actuellement. C’est ce qui ressort d’un récent sondage publié par le site dogfinance.com, effectué entre le 7 et le 21 mai 2012 auprès de 9.231 personnes en poste. Dans le secteur de la gestion d’actifs, «cette proportion se situe même au dessus des 75 %», précise Sébastien Guichard, co-auteur du sondage. La première raison invoquée pour justifier cette paralysie est la crise actuelle, pour 62 % des salariés. Seuls 21 % des personnes «en veille» invoquent l'épanouissement dans leur entreprise actuelle, 13 % s’attendent à une évolution dans leur entreprise.Les secteurs en vogue, souhaités pour un éventuel changement par les sondés (qui ont pu indiquer plusieurs choix), sont principalement l’analyse financière (29 %), le contrôle de gestion (26%), la banque d’investissement (23), la comptabilité (21%) et l’audit/conseil (19%).

BlackRock vient de recruter Justin Arter en tant que responsable de l’Australie. Il prendra ses fonctions en septembre. En attendant, Michael McCorry, le responsable des investissements scientifiques de BlackRock Australie, assurera la responsabilité du continent pour la société de gestion.Justin Arter est actuellement CEO de Victorian Funds Management Corporation. Auparavant, il a passé 18 ans chez Goldman Sachs JB.Il va se concentrer sur le développement et la croissance de BlackRock Australia. Il est placé sous la direction de Mark McCombe, le chairman de BlackRock en Asie Pacifique, et devient membre du comité exécutif de BlackRock en Asie Pacifique.Par ailleurs, BlackRock a nommé Jane Leung en tant que responsable d’iShares pour l’Asie Pacifique. Elle succède à Nick Good, nommé responsable de la stratégie et du développement pour l’Asie Pacifique de BlackRock en février.Jane Leung a 10 ans d’expérience chez BlackRock. Elle est actuellement responsable de l’équipe Asia Pacific Index Equity. Elle sera elle aussi placée sous la responsabilité de Mark McCombe, ainsi que celle de Mark Wiedman, responsable mondial d’iShares. Elle devient également membre du comité exécutif de BlackRock en Asie Pacifique et du comité exécutif Global iShares.

La société de gestion alternative suédoise Brummer & Partners ferme le fonds Orvent, rapporte Dagens Industri. Ce fonds d’actions représente 2,38 % (soit 760 millions de couronnes) du fonds multistratégies de Brummer & Partners lequel pèse 32 milliards de couronnes. Orvent a accusé une perte de 7,29 % en 2011 et depuis le début de l’année, il recule de 2 %. Ce fonds n’a pas d’autre investisseur que le fonds multistratégies de Brummer.

Le francfortois Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers (H&A) a annoncé qu'à compter du 1er juillet 2012 Rheinhard Pfingsten deviendra le chief investment officer de ses activités de gestion de fortune tant pour les particuliers que pour les entreprises. Basé à Francfort, il sera également chargé de définir la stratégie d’investissement de la banque dans son ensemble.L’impétrant va ainsi quitter Sal. Oppenheim où il était en dernier lieu directeur de la gestion de portefeuille dans le pôle banque privée. Selon Michael Schramm, directeur général de H&A, l’arrivée de Reinhard Pfingsten permettra de développer les prestations de la banque en tant que gestionnaire d’actifs pour le compte de family offices et d’autres grands comptes comme des fondations.Avant de rejoindre Sal. Oppenheim en 2007, Reinhard Pfingsten avait exercé son activité dans des postes de direction à la Commerzbank et chez DekaBank.

L’allemand Credit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien a précisé mardi que le montant des demandes de remboursement des parts du fonds immobilier offert au public CS Euroreal (6 milliards d’euros d’encours) accumulées entre les 9 et 21 mai ont atteint un volume d’environ 3 milliards d’euros, donc très supérieur aux premières estimations, alors que les liquidités disponibles ne totalisaient que 1,6 milliard d’euros.Cela explique la décision prise de liquider le fonds sur cinq ans au 30 avril 2017 (lire Newsmanagers du 22 mai) car le montant des sorties aurait obligé l'équipe de gestion à vendre trop d’actifs et donc à sacrifier la qualité du portefeuille, indique une lettre aux porteurs.

Alors que SEB Asset Management et Credit Suisse AM Immobilien viennent de jeter l'éponger et d’annoncer la liquidation du SEB ImmoInvest et du CS Euroreal, des fonds immobiliers de 6 milliards d’euros chacun, Deka Immobilien étale sa bonne santé en indiquant le 22 mai que, du 1er janvier au 15 avril, ses trois fonds immobiliers offerts au public (Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, Deka-ImmobilienGlobal et WestInvest InterSelect) ont acheté quatre actifs pour 750 millions d’euros et en ont revendu sept pour environ 640 millions d’euros.Par ailleurs, Deka Immobilien indique avoir investi 53,7 millions d’euros dans l’immeuble de bureaux City Green Court de Prague, vendu par le développeur suédois Skanska. Cet actif de 17.300 mètres carrés, avec la certification LEED platine, est affecté au portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public Deka-ImmobilienEuropa. Cette transaction porte de 1,6 % à 2,1 % la part des actifs tchèques du Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

Société Générale Securities Services en Italie annonce avoir été mandaté par Alceda Fund Management pour agir en tant qu’agent de transfert local et fournir des services de gestion des relations investisseurs et d’agent payeur à son fonds AC et sa sicav AC Quant.Situé au Luxembourg, Alceda Fund Management est une filiale indépendante du Groupe Aquila. Avec plus de 5,3 milliards d’euros d’actifs administrés, Alceda est fournisseur de solutions d’investissements structurés aux investisseurs institutionnels, aux gestionnaires d’actifs et de fonds, aux banques et family offices.

Le groupe de private equity CVC a confirmé la vente d’une partie du capital du circuit de Formule 1. Waddell & Reed, Norges Bank et BlackRock ont versé 1,6 milliard de dollars en numéraire pour une participation de 21%. CVC, qui possédait 63,4% du circuit, restera l’actionnaire de référence. Le circuit de Formule 1 envisage d’entrer à la Bourse de Singapour le mois prochain

A la dernière assemblée générale de Telefónica, il y a huit jours, la réélection du président Césor Alierta n’a recueilli que 75 % des suffrages contre 99 % il y a quatre ans, rapporte El Confidencial, relayé par Cotizalia. Cela signifie concrètement que 50 % des investisseurs institutionnels se sont opposés à la reconduction du président.D’autre part, 40 % de ces investisseurs institutionnels ont voté contre les rémunérations élevées des membres du conseil d’administration.

SwissLife Banque Privée annonce le lancement d’un département dédié aux fondations et aux associations. Il sera piloté par Cécilia Montfort, qui rejoint la banque privée en tant que directrice grands investisseurs associations-fondations & institutions. Depuis 2007, elle occupait le poste de directeur du département associations et fondations au sein de la Banque Transatlantique (groupe CM-CIC). «La création de ce département Fondations et Associations s’inscrit dans le cadre de notre développement stratégique et répond à un double objectif : accompagner les fondations et les associations dans l’optimisation de leur gestion financière et conseiller nos clients privés dans leurs réflexions philanthropiques», commente Tanguy Polet, directeur général de SwissLife Banque Privée.