The German fund administrator and manager Universal Investment (EUR130bn in assets under management) has appointed Johannes Höring as a member of the managing board at its Luxembourg affiliate, alongside Alain Nati and Stefan Rockel. He will be particularly responsible for taxation issues, legal affairs and risk management. He will also advise institutional clients on the conception and launch of investment solutions.Höring, a taxation specialist, had previously been executive director at JP Morgan Bank in Luxembourg, as head of legal affairs and regulation.

The Austrian asset management firm Raiffeisen Capital Management has launched the Raiffeisen-GlobalAllocation-StrategiesPlus fund, a balanced fund investing in equities, bonds, commodities and currencies, in France. The product is based on a risk allocation process based on asymmetrical management. Four sources of major risks are equallky weighted: equity risk, spread risk, interest rate risk and inflation risk. ISIN: AT0000A0SE25 – retail share class

From 24 January, six equity ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group), including three funds based on Russell indices and two based on MSCI indices, have been admitted to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse). The sixth product, focused on Thailand, replicates the SET50 Net TR index.Total expense ratios for the French-registered products range from 0.40% to 0.55%.The new funds bring the total number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 918.

Deutsche Börse on 23 January admitted 16 new ETC products from Commerzbank (Coba ETCs) to trading on its Xetra electronic platform. With the exception of one fund, based on copper, the products are all leveraged or inverse leveraged funds, ranging up to 4x. The ETCs invest in Brent, natural gas and copper, and are all German-registered products.Management commissions vary from 0.40% to 0.75%.The ETC segment of the Xetra platform now lists 234 instruments. Average trading volume on Xetra for ETCs is about EUR900m per month.

Although there have been a record number of ETF launches, these new products are increasingly not reaching sufficient asset levels, particularly for actively-managed ETFs, MutualFundWire reports. Ron Rowland, founder of the consulting firm Capital Cities Asset Management, says 368 ETF funds, or nearly 20%, are on the verge of death, as they have less than USD5m in assets or an average trading volume of USD100,000 over three months, with a six-month grace period. According to statistics from XTF, of 308 new ETF funds launched last year, 86% did not manage to capture at least USD30m in assets, and ETF Database reports that more than 200 ETFs have been liquidated since 2008.

Vigeo has announced that for the first time it is issuing ratings of the 40 largest businesses listed on the Casablanca stock exchange for social responsibility risks. The ratings will be distributed to over 100 investors and international asset manager clients of Vigeo. The businesses have been rated according to the Vigeo methodology on 38 criteria and more than 250 indicators, on the basis of their public information and statements provided in response to questions from the agency; this information is then cross-checked with information received from participants (unions, NGOs, press, etc.).

From 25 January, the XTF segment of the Xetra platform (Deutsche Börse) lists two new ETF funds from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank). One of these replicates the equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 index, while the other tracks the Austrian index of reference ATX. Frankfurt now lists 920 ETF products. db X-trackers S&P Equal Weight ETFISIN: LU0659579493TER: 0.30%Benchmark: S&P 500 Equal Weight Indexdb X-trackers ATX ETFISIN: LU0659579063TER: 0.25%Benchmark: ATX index

With the SEB Asian Property II and SEB Asia REI funds, the German firm SEB Asset Management has launched two Asian real estate funds aimed at institutional and high net worth retail investors. The funds will invest in pan-Asian real estate portfolios, relying on the expertise of a team of eight people based in Singapore.The Frankfurt-based asset management firm, which already had a Luxembourg-registered institutional fund in its range, the SEB Asian Property Fund, has already received investment commitments of EUR100m for the two new products.The SEB Asia REI fund targets a core/core plus universe, and aims for average returns of 8% per year, and an annual distribution of 5%. It is aimed in particular at investors who are subject to insurance supervision. SEB has set the minimal initial subscription at EUR20m.The SEB Asian Property II fund, for its part, will apply a core-plus/value add strategy. It will aim for an internal rate of return over eight years of 12% per year, and will be aimed at private banks, wealth managers, family offices, and foundations. Minimal initial subscription is set at EUR15m.

The Swiss asset management firm Swisscanto (Swiss cantonal banks, CHF51.7bn in assets) has announced that it has been retained as a social partner of the business DieSozialfirma AG, which aims to create jobs for persons with reduced employment capacity, in order to integrate them into the ordinary labour market.The new partnership “represents a major new stage in Swisscanto’s commitment to sustainable development,” Swisscanto says.

BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) has announced the roll-out of a major investment programme to expand its hedge fund and fund of hedge fund servicing capabilities for both UCITs and offshore funds. Placing transparency, market exposure, liquidity and control at the heart of its hedge fund servicing platform, the custodian bank’s programme tailors its service to more closely match the key requirements of both start-up and established funds.

Axa Real Estate Investment Managers, with over EUR40 billion of assets under management as at September 2011, has appointed Deborah Shire as global head of business development, a new position which carries overall responsibility for corporate finance, investor relations, marketing & communication and business development. She will report directly to CEO, Pierre Vaquier.Deborah Shire joins Axa Real Estate from her position as deputy head of structured finance at Axa Investment Managers, where she was in charge of strategy, finance, marketing, operations and product development.

Following the recruitment of Alain Zeitouni (ex Barclays Wealth) as director of multi-strategy investment (see Newsmanagers of 20 October), Russell Investments Paris has announced it has hired Cédric Denais as manager of client services. He will be in charge of overseeing relationships with Russell Clients and the analysis of their investments.Denais had previously spent six years in the reporting and performance measurement team at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram), where he had been in charge of international development, and established the GIPS standard at the structure.

Morgan Stanley Private Equity has formed a strategic partnership with Jesús Reyes-Heroles, the former director general of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), to pursue energy investments in Mexico and across Latin America. The goal of the partnership is to build a leading regional energy company involved in a broad base of investments and related activities across the energy sector. The partnership will focus on investments in energy companies to help enhance business growth, improve profitability and provide valuable strategic and financial guidance.

France’s Orelis group, which calls itself a wholesaler aimed at independent financial advisers, and more recently, life insurance brokers, is hitting the ground running in 2012. This follows a year in 2011 in which the firm exceeded its objectives, with a total of EUR118m in newly-insured capital, of which 80% are unit-linked savings, in contrast with the market, which took on 85% euro contracts, and 15% unit-linked. In order to meet demand from partners and also, potentially, to compete with rivals, the group is offering a range of secure solutions in 2012 for life insurance and retirement planning product ranges, and is launching a range of funds in euros and a real estate platform to provide access to a wide range of programmes, promoters and tax incentives.

The French affiliate of Pioneer Investments (12 people) has finished the year in 2011 with assets of about EUR1.5bn, and net subscriptions of about EUR100m, despite relatively heavy outflows in August and September, largely due to reorientations of asset allocations by some clients.Fabien Madar, CEO for France, says this overall evolution is highly satisfactory, and is largely due to European equity products, US equity funds (Pioneer concentrates on the best of these), and in bonds, to aggregate euro (government and corporate bonds), available in versions with or without sensitivity. The manager also underlines that Pioneer does not offer money market funds in France.

Among institutional investors, who is most engaged on the African continent? According to a study commissioned by the asset management firm Invest AD and undertaken by the research cell Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), covering 158 management professionals worldwide, 25% have an allocation of under 1% to Africa, and 20% have no allocation to the continent at all. But by 2016, all institutionals surveyed are planning to have exposure to Africa, with nearly one third of them planning to have an exposure of more than 5% to the region.51% of professionals surveyed say Africa will be the most attractive region for investment in the next decade. Two thirds of respondents put Africa at the top of their list of frontier markets, before Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and central and eastern Europe.Why invest in the region? Three major themes are cited: the emergence of a significant middle class (for 39% of respondents), strong economic growth (35%), and rising commodity prices (34%).Among the most highly-regarded destinations in the next three years, Nigeria tops the list (51%), followed by Kenya (48%), Zimbabwe (35%), Egypt (34%), Ghana (34%) and Libya (22%). This nascent enthusiasm for Africa does not blind investors to the difficulties they will need to confront there, however, including bribery and corruption (cited by 41% of respondents), weak institutions (40%), and limited liquidity of local capital markets (36%).

Following the departure of Frédéric Jolly, who resigned last July to found his own business, Johan Cras has been appointed as CEO of Russell Investments for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Cras joined Russell in 1996 to found the Amsterdam office, and since 2007 has been head of institutional EMEA activities at the US asset management firm.Pascal Duval, who has been at Russell for 14 years, has been appointed as executive managing director EMEA, a position in which he will report to Cras.Cras will be replaced for the interim as head institutional services EMEA by John Stannard, currently managing director, institutional investment services.

From one year to the next, the rankings of asset management firms in Europe by assets under management have shown little movement; this is particularly true for the large “cruise liners” among them. The five firms with the largest assets under management as of 31 December 2010 all retain their places twelve months later, in the same order. The evolution of net subscriptions, excluding market effects, at each asset management firm in 2011 was considerably different, a Morningstar study finds, however. The universe of the Morningstar study includes open-ended funds (excluding mandates, dedicated funds, etc.) domiciled in Europe. Morningstar also excludes funds of funds, FCPI-FIP, Master-Feeder and ETF products.) With EUR196bn in assets under management, JP Morgan tops the rankings, ahead of BNP Paribas (EUR162bn), UBS (EUR139bn), Amundi (EUR123bn), and BlackRock (EUR118bn). But JP Morgan has consolidated its leading position, with inflows of EUR11bn in 2011, while BNP Paribas and Amundi held onto their places despite outflows of EUR21bn and EUR17bn, respectively. By comparison, UBS has posted “relatively” limited net outflows (EUR3bn) and BlackRock inflows (EUR 5bn) .The Morningstar study finds that Franklin Templeton has posted the largest net inflows (EUR14bn). Among the heaviest outflows, meanwhile, BNP Paribas and Amundi top the list. But several other French asset management firms were not spared. Carmignac Gestion (-EUR7bn), Crédit Mutuel (-EUR6bn), Natixis (-EUR5bn), and Société Générale (-EUR4bn) are also among the biggest losers.

Le danois Sparinvest a annoncé que l’intégralité de sa gamme de 32 fonds danois et 15 fonds internationaux est désormais en conformité avec les Principes pour l’investissement responsable des Nations Unies. Les gérants de Sparinvest estiment que l’intégration des critères ESG ajoute d’ores et déjà de la valeur à leur process d’investissement. La société de gestion a intégré les risques ESG au process d’investissement de ses fonds activement gérés tant en actions qu’en obligations. La société de gestion a maintenant finalisé l’intégration des risques ESG dans la politique d’investissement de toute sa gamme de fonds de gestion quantitative, de gestion passive ainsi que de ses fonds danois en obligations hypothécaires et ses fonds immobiliers. « En tant qu’investisseurs « value » à long terme qui investissent dans des titres pendant quatre ans en moyenne, le succès de notre stratégie repose sur l’identification de tout risque susceptible d’affecter la solidité des bilans pendant la période de détention. Il ne fait aucun doute que le flux régulier d’informations sur les risques environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance que nous recevons de la part de nos fournisseurs d’analyse ESG contribue à améliorer l’analyse du risque au sein de notre process d’investissement, permettant à nos gérants d’intégrer les risques non financiers liés à leur prise de décisions», explique Jacob Nordby Christensen, le directeur de l’investissement responsable de Sparinvest. «Nous n’en sommes qu’au début, poursuit-il, et il est donc difficile de déterminer exactement dans quelle mesure l’intégration ESG nous a aidés à réduire le risque du portefeuille. Mais nous sommes convaincus que les preuves de ses effets bénéfiques apparaîtront au fil du temps. Nous avons fait d’énormes progrès en intégrant les facteurs ESG à tous nos process d’investissement et c’est quelque chose que nous continuerons d’affiner».

L’OCDE préconise un ratio de levier plus strict que les 5% imposés actuellement, et le FSB un cadre robuste de supervision avec des moyens suffisants

La banque centrale pourrait absorber sans peine les pertes liées à son éventuelle participation à la restructuration de la dette grecque

De passage à Paris, le directeur général de l'association a fait le point avec L'Agefi sur le dossier grec et les projets réglementaires européens

L’introduction de clauses d’action collective sur la dette grecque et leur exercice pourrait constituer un événement de crédit, mais les sommes en jeu sont limitées, a expliqué le patron de l’Isda à L’Agefi. Celui-ci défend aussi le mécanisme de prise de décision de l’association des dérivés.

En 2011, BNP Paribas et Amundi ont subi les plus fortes décollectes (-21 et -17 milliards d’euros) dans la gestion collective en Europe, selon Morningstar.

Dans un entretien accordé au journal, l’ancien président de la Réserve fédérale américaine indique que l’accroissement des inégalités de revenus, qui représente une «inquiétude légitime», est plus le fruit de la mondialisation et de l’innovation que du capitalisme. Concernant les mesures de régulation prises pour lutter contre la crise, Alan Greenspan indique être «très sceptique sur le fait que ces «améliorations» s’avéreront être des décisions sages rétrospectivement».

La banque centrale s'attend à maintenir le niveau actuel des taux jusqu'à fin 2014 au moins

La croissance a reculé fin 2011 et des membres du comité de politique monétaire redoutent que l'inflation passe en dessous de sa cible

Le directeur général délégué, sanctionné par l’AMF en décembre, quitte la société de gestion. La filiale de La Poste porte sa part de 75 à 90%

Nathalie Rykiel, présidente de la griffe de luxe, détaille au quotidien son projet. La dirigeante, fille de la fondatrice, est entrée en négociations exclusives avec la société d’investissement hongkongaise Fung Brands, afin de lui céder 80% de son capital. Le quotidien souligne que le groupe chinois prendrait ainsi le contrôle de l’une des dernières marques familiales françaises indépendantes.

Dublin a placé hier des titres d'échéance 2015 grâce à un échange de dette. Lisbonne reste à l'écart de l'embellie sur la périphérie de la zone euro