The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) on 22 May announced that it is continuing its initiative to create a label for covered bonds, which should be officially launched during fourth quarter 2012. The planned label would meet demand from participants, issuers, investors, and regulators, for improved standards and transparency on the market. The label, which defines a clear perimeter for the asset class, foregrounds the main characteristics of covered bonds, with the objective of improving their transparency and liquidity. The association is inviting issuers of covered bonds to participate in the project.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chez GL Events, les outils d'épargne salariale existent mais restent limités. En 2007, le groupe a signé avec ses partenaires sociaux un accord de participation (obligatoire dans les entreprises de plus de 50 salariés) portant sur l’ensemble des filiales françaises. Le calcul de la participation se fait selon la formule prévue par la loi comme étant le seuil minimum. Les salariés ont, par ailleurs, accès à un PEE comprenant une offre relativement simple : cinq FCPE multi-entreprises gérés par Amundi (un monétaire, un garanti, un obligataire, un diversifié, ainsi que le fonds solidaire, qui constitue une obligation légale dans tout PEE). GL Events n’a pas encore mis en place de Perco, mais la directrice des ressources humaines, Patricia Ardillier voit un certain intérêt dans ce dispositif. « Dans une entreprise de croissance comme la nôtre, la passerelle offerte entre le compte épargne temps et le Perco pourrait être très intéressante », estime Patricia Ardillier. Mais lorsqu’on se bat contre des concurrents plus gros et plus anciens, il faut savoir gérer ses priorités.

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.

La collecte du Livret A s’est élevée à 2,53 milliards d’euros au mois d’avril, portant la collecte nette sur ce livret d'épargne à 9,69 milliards sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année, selon la CDC. L’encours global du Livret A, dont le taux de rémunération est de 2,25%, se monte désormais à 226,6 milliards d’euros contre 216,9 milliards fin 2011 et 195,3 milliards fin 2010.

Le Japon a enregistré un déficit de son commerce extérieur de 520,3 milliards de yens au mois d’avril, contre 472,6 milliards anticipés. Les exportations ont progressé de 7,9% à 5.567 milliards et les importations de 8%, à 6.087 milliards. La BoJ a annoncé ce matin avoir maintenu le statu quo à la fois sur ses taux directeurs et sur le montant de son programme de rachats d’actifs.

Les enseignants espagnols se sont mis en grève hier contre les coupes menées dans le budget de l'éducation par le gouvernement face à la crise de la dette, qui entraîneraient 100.000 suppressions de postes, selon les syndicats. Madrid a demandé aux 17 communautés autonomes espagnoles de réduire de 3 milliards d’euros au total leurs budgets consacrés à l'éducation, dans le cadre d’un programme de réduction du déficit public à 5,3% du PIB.

Le Premier ministre italien, Mario Monti, a indiqué que l’Etat allait rembourser entre 20 et 30 milliards d’euros de factures non-réglées au secteur privé d’ici la fin de l’année. Un texte va permettre aux entreprises de réclamer le remboursement des impayés publics via un système de crédit d’impôts, mais également de solliciter les banques en utilisant les factures publiques comme garanties.

La couronne suédoise a reculé de près de 3% contre euro depuis fin février malgré des perspectives économiques et budgétaires plus favorables

KKR aurait déjà amassé 2 milliards de dollars pour son second véhicule dédié à la région. Carlyle et TPG ne ménagent pas non plus leurs efforts

L'adjudication qui a lieu ce matin n'offrira qu'une protection du capital. L'écart de taux avec le reste de la zone euro s'accentue

L’offre existe déjà en France mais elle est peu développée pour des raisons réglementaires, fiscales et culturelles

Amundi prend 17,5% du gérant, avec lequel est conclu un accord de distribution. CalPers et la direction réduisent leur participation à 12,5 et 70%

Alors que se tient ce soir le sommet informel des chefs d'Etat européens, l'organisation plaide pour un processus de rééquilibrage de la croissance

Alors que les chefs d’Etat européens se réunissent ce soir, l’organisation appelle à plus de mesures nationales et européennes pour assurer un retour de la croissance.

Les ministres réunis cette semaine à Downing Street sous l’égide du premier ministre David Cameron auraient accepté de recentrer leur stratégie vers la relance de la croissance plutôt que vers l’austérité, selon des propos de Nick Clegg, vice-premier ministre, cité par le journal. Le gouvernement pourrait ainsi utiliser la garantie de l’Etat pour réaliser d’importants projets d’infrastructures.

Un rapport du Congrès local du parti communiste chinois cité par le journal ferait état de l’intention des autorités de porter le PIB chinois par tête à 20.000 dollars dans les cinq prochaines années. La ville souhaite porter de 2,9% à 3,3% du PIB le budget consacré à la recherche-développement sur la période afin de stimuler l’innovation.

La croissance annuelle en Chine pourrait ressortir en-dessous de 7% si le gouvernement ne met pas en place d’autres mesures de soutien à l’économie, selon le journal américain qui cite Chen Donqi, vice-président de l’institut de recherche économique du développement national et de la réforme. Ceci passerait par une baisse des taux d’intérêt et du ratio de réserve obligatoire des banques, ajoute-t-il.

La Bourse de Londres réfléchit au lancement d’un marché obligataire à destination des investisseurs particuliers en France mais aussi en Allemagne. Ce service est encore peu développé dans l’Hexagone faute d’enthousiasme du côté des émetteurs et des distributeurs.