Rolf R. Frehner, who for the past four years had been executive vice president for central and eastern Europe at Coutts Bank in Zurich, on 1 March began in his new position as a member of the general board at Bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Schweiz), in charge of private banking for eastern Europe.At Coutts, Frehner had been responsible for the markets of Russia and the CIS, after coorginating the entry of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank into the markets of eastern Europe. In 2007, he was also one of the founders and the president of the public association Swiss Russian Forum.

Jon Andrea von Planta has been appointed as co-head private clients at Rothschild Wealth Management in Zurich, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 march, and is co-head with Riccardo Petrachi of all private clients of the bank in Zurich. Von Planta spent 16 years at Morgan Stanley & Co International in London, where as project lead, he developed business with high net worth clients in continental Europe. After returning to Switzerland in 2008, Von Planta founded his own asset management consulting firm, in which he continued to manage the assets of high net worth clients as well as a private commodities fund.

The bank Sal. Oppenheim jr & Cie (Switzerland) has appointed Rolf Frehner as head of its private banking activities in eastern Europe, Agefi Switzerland reports. He began in his new role on 1 March 2012. Frehner also becomes a board member at the firm. Frehner spent four years at Coutts bank, as executive vice president for central and eastern Europe.

A planned merger of the Geneva-based private bank Cramer and the Zurich-based Hottinger, announced in November 2011, has fallen through, according to a joint statement from the two groups. The two firms and the Geneva-based investment firm Norinvest, owned by Cramer, have decided to call off plans to merge, “for reasons related to the future strategic development of their activities.” The decision was taken by common agreement, and “the two groups will continue their activities independently, each developing their existing strategy and optimising their structure in order to achieve ongoing and sustainable growth.” Hottinger is present in Switzerland (Zurich, Basel and Geneva), New York, and the Bahamas. Cramer is present in Switzerland, where the bank has 45 employees, and the Bahamas.

The resignation of Bernard Joei, who has chosen to leave the group, will lead to two promotions in the asset management unit at Zurich Financial Services (ZFS). The outgoing Joei is replaced from 1 March as head of alternative investments by Urban Angehm, currently head of investment strategy implementation. Angehm will be based in New York, and will report to Cecilia Reyes, CIO. Angehm came to ZFS in 2007 from Winterthur Asset Management, where he had been head of allocation & strategy.Thomas A. Rogers, regional investment manager for Americas, has been appointed as Angehm’s successor as head of investment strategy implementation in Zurich. He will also report to Reyes.

According to an exclusive report in Financial Times Deutschland, Deutsche Bank is said to be planning to integrate the ETF arm of its operation, db x-trackers (EUR30bn in assets), into its asset management firm DWS, which it plans to retain after the sale of the rest of its asset management operations. The bank has declined to comment on the reports. db x-trackers has hitherto been a part of the investment banking unit, led by the future co-CEO of the firm, Anshu Jain.

Convictions AM has announced the recruitment of Philippe Weller as head of international development for the French asset management firm. The German Weller, 41, had previously been head of international development at La Financière de Champlain, in charge of European, and then French clients, from 2007 to 2010.In his new role, he will be in charge of the commercial development of Convictions AM in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg. He joins Edoardo Chiozzi-Millelire, head of international development for the countries of southern Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, etc.), who joined the firm in 2010.“International markets currently represent 15% of our assets, and remain a strong area of development for Convictions AM. We have seen strong demand from private banks and family offices in European countries, particularly for our Convictions Premium fund,” says Hugues Riant, head of management mandates and communications at Convictions AM.

Henderson Global Investors on 1 March announced that its UCITS-compliant hedge fund Henderson Credit Alpha has been admitted to the UCITS Alternative Index Blue Chip, an index of 50 absolute return hedge funds calculated by the Swiss firm Alix Capital.The Henderson Credit Alpha fund, launched in 2007, is a long/short credit fund investing in CDS and corporate bonds. Its assets totaled EUR628.7m as of 31 January.

Stephen Schwarzmann, founder of Blackstone, was the highest-paid chief in the private equity industry last year. He made USD213.5m in salary, dividends and cash. That puts him in first place in the profession, and represents a 33% increase compared with his 2010 income. However, last year he made 50% less than he did in 2006, when Blackstone held its IPO.

Juan Carlos Ureta, CEO, has announced at a presentation of the bank’s 2011 results (see article in today’s Newsmanagers) that Renta4 is an ideal candidate to acquire asset management firms, both in Spain and in Latin America, Funds People reports. The manager says that he has already studied several potential acquisitions, including those of the Spanish savings banks’ arena. Renta 4 is hoping to be a player in the reorganisation of the asset management sector, an area which offers many opportunities because it is fragmented and many actors do not have the necessary critical mass.

To replace Oriol Dalmau, who has been appointed as a board member at the private bank but remains as chairman of the asset management firm, CatalunyaCaixa has appointed Xavier Pinzolas as CEO of CatalunyaCaixa Inversió (EUR2.4bn in assets), Funds People reports. Pinolas was CEO of Caixa Manresa Inversió from 2006 to 2010, before the asset management firm was absorbed by CatalanyaCaixa Inversió.

For 2011, Renta4 has declared a net profit of EUR4.6m, compared with EUR6m for the previous year. The decline is largely due to an exceptional charge of EUR1.5m related to the adoption of bank status by the business.Assets under management and administration as of the end of December totalled EUR5.57bn, compared with EUR5.2bn one year previously, while net inflows totalled EUR663m, compared with EUR278m in 2010.As of 31 December, assets under management in investment funds had increased 3.4% year on ear, to EUR817m, while assets in pension funds totalled EUR292m (+15%), and assets in Sicavs were down 2.8% to EUR481m.At a publication of its annual results, Renta4 announced that it has created an affiliate in Dublin, Renta4 Investment Funds plc, to facilitate international marketing of its funds and investment instruments. Agreements in the same vein have been concluded with distributors in France and Germany.In addition, the firm has opened an office in Santiago, Chile, with the objective of developing activities in Latin America.

On the basis of data communicated by the 16 major listed US businesses whose pension libilities exceed USD20bn, the performance of assets and the contribution of businesses was considerable in 2011, but that did not prevent liabilities from increasing more rapidly than assets, Russell Investments reports. The overall shortfall in financing for this group of funds as of 31 December came to USD173bn, compared with USD121bn one year earlier, which is largely due to a fall in the discount rate.The “USD20bn club” has overall pension liabilities of over USD750bn, and is thus representative of the developing situation for the entire sector. Although businesses have taken measures to reduce deficits for their pension funds, a decline in interest rates in 2011 led to a deterioration in the financial situation for all actors.In order to make up this deficit and comply with the requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, cash injections will need to be large not only in 2012 but also in subsequent years. According to Russell, businesses of the USD20bn club contributed USD114bn in the period from 2005 to 2011. Due to the deficit at the end of December last year, the total in the next seven years will probably have to be much closer to USD250bn.

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with EUR42 billion of assets under management as at December 2011, has announced the launch of the Caesar Fund, having raised EUR118 million from Italian institutional investors at first close. The fund is targeting a EUR200 million total equity raise with a fund size of up to EUR400 million, once fully invested. It will be managed by AXA Reim SGR in Italy. AXA IM Italia and AXA Real Estate will jointly work in the second phase of the placement for reaching this target.The Caesar Fund has a nine year life and seeks to achieve an average annual dividend of 5.5% on invested capital and an IRR of 9%. The fund is reserved for institutional investors and will target investment in core office properties in the euro zone and Great Britain.

Assets under management at Man Group as of the end of December totalled USD58.4bn, compared with USD64.5bn as of the end of September, and USD69.1bn as of the end of March 2011, the alternative asset management firm announced on 1 March at a presentation of its results for the quarter and the first nine months of its 2011-2012 fiscal year. The first nine months of the fiscal year brought net outflows of USD1.5bn. In the quarter to the end of December alone, outflows totalled USD2.5bn. Over nine months, negative market and currency effects totalled USD4bn and USD1.7bn, respectively. Man Group states, however, that as of the end of February, assets under management totalled USD59.5bn, largely due to good results at GLG and a more modest positive contribution from AHL. “Investor confidence improved compared with the last quarter of 2011, and the slowdown in redemptions led to a significant decline in net outflows,” Man Group explains, adding that confidence remains fragile and that it will take more time for inflows to pick up again. Man Group states that performance was positive from the beginning of the calendar year to 24 February for the major UCITS strategies from GLG, with 6% for European Equity Alternative, 4% for North American Equity Alternative, 5.2% for Alpha Select, 8.4% for Global Convertibles, 6.9% for Emerging Markets, 19.3% for Japan Core Alpha, and 11.3% for Global Equity. Only the Atlas Macro fund has seen negative performance of 0.4%. Pre-tax profits in the first nine months of the year totalled USD262m, compared with USD599m for the year to the end of March 2011. The board has confirmed that it will recommend a final dividend of 7 cents per share for the nine months to the end of December, which brings total dividends for the period to 16.5 cents per share. Dividends for the fiscal year may total 22 cents.

Prashant Kothari, vice president and senior investment manager at ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, is joining the emerging market equities team at Pictet Asset Management in London, where he will continue to focus on Indian equities.According to some sources, Kothari may become co-manager of an Indian equity fund with David Chaterjee, replacing Oliver Bell, who has become manager of the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) fund at T. Rowe Price.Pictet AM says that its assets in emerging market equities total about GBP4.3bn.

Credit Suisse decided to reduce its stake in Aberdeen from 19.9% to 9.9% at the end of last week, Financial News reports. A second block of 57 million shares was placed yesterday by the bank at 240 pence each.

The former CEO of cominvest Asset Management SA, Heinrich Echter, was recruited on 15 February as chief compliance officer at Alceda Fund Management, an affiliate of Aquila Capital. Since November 2011, he had been a strategic adviser at Alceda.

Prévifrance est une mutuelle Santé régie par le Code de la Mutualité. A l’occasion d’un appel d’offres restreint effectué en 2011 avec l’assistance du cabinet Alpha Institutionnels Conseil, Oréade Prévifrance a investi 3 millions d’euros dans un OPCVM ouvert sur les actions émergentes. Le gérant sélectionné est Franklin Templeton.

Olivier Hereil, directeur des investissements et des gestions d’actifs de BNP Paribas Cardif dans un article paru dans Option Finance numéro 1161: Pour les obligations, nous investissons très principalement dans la zone euro. La dégradation de la France n’a pas eu d’impact pour notre allocation. La part consacrée aux emprunts d’Etat de notre portefeuille est en constante diminution ces dernières années et représente actuellement 38% de notre allocation. Celle ci privilégie désormais les corporate. Mais nous avons toujours considéré qu’il fallait capter la valeur à long terme des obligations. Le rendement relatif, c’est à dire les spreads des corporate par rapport aux emprunts d’Etat, était au plus bas en 2005 et 2006, c’est pourquoi nous investissions peu dans ces titres. Depuis 2008, le monde change complètement, les spreads de crédit corporate progressent alors que les taux d’Etat baissent. Nous avons donc acheté beaucoup de papiers d’entreprises entre 2008 et 2010. Le stress sur les souverains a tout de même eu un impact sur le crédit corporate. Depuis les crises des Etats, nous sommes plus opportunistes. A certains moments, les spreads des grands corporate diminuent trop et nous n’hésitons pas à vendre. Nous gérons en direct les obligations de la zone euro. Nous travaillons ensuite essentiellement avec les équipes de BNP Paribas Investment Partners. BNP Paribas Cardif fait également appel à la délégation externe pour des expertises spécifiques. La délégation représente 20% de nos actifs et, sur ce chiffre, 70% sont confiés à BNP Paribas IP. Nous sélectionnons les gestionnaires extérieurs au groupe grâce à notre équipe d’analystes. De plus, nous ne fonctionnons pas sous forme d’appels d’offres, mais faisons très régulièrement appel à des gérants spécialisés. D’autre part, nous avons engagé depuis 2007 une démarche volontariste dans l’univers de l’ISR. Des critères extra financiers sont intégrés dans notre processus d’investissement. Nous le faisons sur tous nos actifs, que ce soit sur les obligations, les actions ou l’immobilier. Pour rappel, l’allocation d’actifs de BNP Paribas Cardif est la suivante: 79.9% d’obligations, 11.7% d’actions, 6.2% d’immobilier et 2.2% de divers (cash, gestion alternative. Les encours totaux s'élèvent à 150 milliards d’euros.

Le risque d’un brusque ralentissement économique mondial s’est estompé en raison des mesures prises par la zone euro pour résoudre sa crise de la dette, a estimé jeudi le Fonds monétaire international (FMI). L’institution a toutefois ajouté que les risques pesant sur la croissance mondiale restaient «clairement baissiers». La croissance économique mondiale devrait ralentir à 3,3% cette année contre 3,8% en 2011. Dans un rapport distribué aux ministres des Finances du G20 le week-end dernier à Mexico, mais publié seulement ce jeudi, le FMI souligne que la zone euro doit agir de manière décisive sur plusieurs fronts pour achever de résoudre sa crise de la dette. «Le risque principal réside dans la possibilité de voir les mesures prises ne pas orienter l’Europe vers un «bon équilibre (...)», relève le FMI, qui table pour la zone euro sur une contraction de l’économie de 0,5% en 2012.

Les revenus des ménages américains ont augmenté de 0,3% en janvier, mais l’inflation et la fiscalité ont effacé ces gains, ce qui fait que la consommation ajustée de la hausse des prix est resté inchangée, selon les chiffres publiés jeudi par le département du Commerce. Le taux d'épargne des ménages a atteint 4,6% contre 4,7% en décembre.

Le rythme de croissance du secteur manufacturier aux Etats-Unis a ralenti contre toute attente en février, selon l’indice des directeurs d’achats publié jeudi par l’Institute for Supply Management (ISM). L’ISM s’est établi à 52,4 contre 54,1 en janvier et 53,1 en décembre, alors que les économistes interrogés par Reuters l’anticipaient en hausse, à 54,5.

Les parlementaires français ont adopté définitivement jeudi la proposition de loi UMP dont l’objet est d’empêcher le détournement d’actifs d’une entreprise défaillante comme cela est reproché dans le cas de la raffinerie Petroplus. La proposition de loi vise à faire face «efficacement aux comportements abusifs de ces tiers en permettant l’adoption de toute mesure conservatoire utile à l'égard de leurs biens».

La plus petite des six anciennes républiques de Yougoslavie pourrait demander le soutien du FMI, vu la détérioration de la situation économique, a indiqué jeudi la banque centrale. Le Fonds, qui a débuté la semaine dernière une visite de 14 jours sur place, indique que les négociations pourraient débuter rapidement si les autorités monténégrines en expriment le souhait.

Brasilia a modifié une taxe de 6%, baptisée IOF, sur les prêts étrangers à court terme pour englober tous les prêts jusqu’à 3 ans afin de se défendre dans une «guerre des changes mondiale», selon le ministre des Finances,Guido Mantega. Une mesure qui n’a pas empêché le real de s’apprécier à 1,7112 hier. Il est en hausse de plus de 9% contre dollar depuis le début de l’année.

La Chine devrait étendre ses relations commerciales avec les autres pays émergents, en plus de ses liens traditionnels avec l’Europe, le Japon et les Etats-Unis, afin d’accélérer son rythme de croissance, selon le journal officiel qui cite un membre du parti, Zhong Jingwen. Le gouvernement aurait également intérêt à développer la consommation intérieure à travers une augmentation du pouvoir d’achat des ménages.

Le gouvernement chinois pourrait porter à 5 milliards de dollars le montant maximal de levée de capitaux autorisé par les autorités pour les sociétés d’investissement étrangères, selon le journal qui cite des sources proches du dossier. Le programme dit «QDLP» des investisseurs étrangers qualifiés pourrait être annoncé avant la fin du mois.

La Chambre de commerce britannique compte demander une subvention d’un milliard de livres (1,2 milliard d’euros) destiné à financer les PME et à compenser leurs plans de réduction des coûts, selon le quotidien qui cite des propos du directeur de la Chambre, Adam Marshall. Il compte également plaider auprès du gouvernement pour l’abandon du projet d’augmentation de 5,6% de la taxe sur les sociétés.

L'organisation aimerait s'assurer que les agences sont le plus transparentes et rigoureuses possible lorsqu'il s'agit d'évaluer les prix