Patrick Evershed et New Star ont passé un accord confidentiel hors des tribunaux pour mettre fin au procès intenté par le gérant pour licenciement abusif, rapporte Investment Week. Patrick Evershed réclamait 1 milliard de livres à son ancien employeur, New Star, maintenant détenu par Henderson, affirmant qu’il avait été brimé par le fondateur, John Duffield.

Selon nos informations, la société de gestion Ossiam a déposé une demande d’agrément auprès d’un régulateur étranger afin de lancer un ETF à réplication physique, alors que l’ensemble de sa gamme est composé jusqu’ici d’ETF à réplication synthétique.

La collecte des contrats d’assurance vie en unités de compte (UC) s’est élevé au mois d’octobre à 1,3 milliard d’euros, en légère progression par rapport au mois précédent (1,2 milliard d’euros, selon les statistiques communiquées par la FFSA (Fédération française des sociétés d’assurances) et le GEMA (Groupement des entreprises mutuelles d’assurances).Sur les dix premiers mois de l’année, la collecte cumulée en UC atteint 15,9 milliards d’euros, en recul de 5% sur un an. La performance des contrats UC redevient positive en octobre (+ 3,2 %), mais reste négative sur les dix premiers mois de l’année (- 5 %). Dans le même temps, le Cac 40 affiche respectivement une performance de + 8,7 % et - 14,8 %. La part des supports UC dans l’ensemble des cotisations d’assurance vie s’établit à 15 % sur les dix premiers mois de l’année 2011, soit un point de plus qu’en 2010.

Au cours d’une manifestation organisée par le Club Tocqueville, en partenariat avec Ossiam, traitant des ETF (1), Pierre Bollon, délégué général de l’Association Française de la gestion financière (AFG) a voulu voir dans le sujet du «différend» entre ETF à réplication synthétique et physique, un débat emblématique appelant une réflexion plus globale. Dans ce cadre, le responsable a identifié quatre risques. «Le premier risque serait celui de l’immobilisme», a-t-il indiqué, «le deuxième risque celui du passéisme que le responsable voit poindre de façon assez nette, reposant sur l’idée selon laquelle il y a trop d’innovation et qu’il serait bon de revenir en arrière. «L’industrie de la gestion française est très innovante et une telle attitude serait menaçante» a-t-il martelé.Le troisième risque, serait celui du «confusionnisme» issu du mélange souvent réalisé entre ETP, ETF ou ETN. «Il faut de la transparence a-t-il martelé mais également de la clarté. Or, aditionner les infos n’apporte pas toujours la clarté nécessaire.». En matière de transparence, le responsable a aussi noté que plus la tracking error d’un ETF était faible, mieux cela était. A ce jeu, les ETF synthétiques sont encore les mieux placés, a-t-il rappelé. Enfin, pour le responsable de l’AFG, le quatrième risque serait celui de l’angélisme. Et de fustiger le rôle des différents régulateurs dans le monde soucieux de défendre avant tout le système financier de leur pays... Cette dernière idée a été confortée par Patrick Artus, membre du Conseil d’Analyse Economique auprès du Premier ministre, qui a rappelé que Bâle III, par exemple, était une règle qui n’allait pas concerner les établissements bancaires américains et asiatiques par exemple. Sur l’intérêt des ETF, Patrick Artus a également insisté sur le fait que 50 % de l'épargne en Europe était investi dans des actifs liquides alors que 80 % des besoins de financement européen étaient dits de long terme, donc illiquides. «Dans ce contexte, qui peut faire de la transformation d'épargne» s’est interrogé l'économiste. Après avoir relevé que les OPCVM étaient en décollecte, que les hedge funds étaient de moins en moins des pourvoyeurs de liquidité, et que compte tenu de la désintermédiation, des petites et moyennes entreprises étaient désormais tentées de recourir aux émissions d’obligations «high yield»..."il reste les ETF» a conclu Patrick Artus qui s’est dit inquiet si une réglementation entendait brider ces produits. Egalement présent à la conférence, Bruno Poulin, le président d’Ossiam est revenu, pour sa part, sur le «conflit» entre pourvoyeurs d’ETF, adepte de la réplication synthétique ou de la réplication physique. «Certes le débat est positif; mais le mal est fait», a-t-il relevé en s’amusant de ce que l’on semble découvrir la présence de swaps dans d’autres produits que les ETF à réplication synthétique. Après avoir rappelé que sa maison avait épousé cette technique mais qu’elle utilisera également celle de la réplication – lire par ailleurs - le dirigeant de la société de gestion a aussi noté qu’il y avait déjà eu des problèmes de «recall» de titres prêtés aux USA et que ceux-ci n’avaient pas été mentionnés.Interrogé à son tour, Thierry Francq, le secrétaire général de l’AMF a enfoncé le clou en indiquant que sur le prêt/emprunt de titres, les règles en vigueur étaient très différentes d’un pays à l’autre, mais que ce problème n'était pas propre à ce procédé. «D’autres exemples existent, a-t-il indiqué. En France, le dépositaire est soumis à des règles dures, ce qui n’est pas le cas dans d’autres. Dans le monde anglo-saxon, la réglementation est plus favorable à l’intermdédiaire qu’en France, qui elle se soucie plus fortement de l’investisseur. "(1) " Les OPCVM coordonnés présentent-ils un risque pour le système financier et pour les épargnants ?»

Primonial REIM a acquis auprès d’un fonds géré par la société Acofi Gestion un immeuble de bureaux situé à Champagne-au-Mont-D’or (69) pour le compte d’une des structures qu’elle gère (SCPI). Il s’agit de la cinquième acquisition menée par Primonial REIM depuis cet été. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été dévoilé. La société Acofi Gestion est spécialisée dans la gestion de fonds immobiliers dans la zone euro et en immobilier direct - via des OPCI et des FCPR Immobiliers.

La DFCG - Association nationale des directeurs financiers et de contrôle de gestion - a élu, mercredi 6 décembre, Thierry Luthi au poste de président. Il prendra ses fonctions au 1er janvier 2012. Il succède à Daniel Bacqueroët.Agé de 49 ans, Thierry Luthi est membre de la DFCG depuis 2002. Il en était le président de la région Rhône Alpes Auvergne depuis 2007, puis vice-président chargé des régions depuis 2010. La DFCG est l’association française des dirigeants finances gestion. Implantée dans toutes les régions de France, elle regroupe 3 200 membres de tous les secteurs économiques du pays. Toutes les tailles d’entreprise sont représentées, de la PME aux groupes internationaux, précise un communiqué.

Philippe Picagne, responsable de la recherche assurance chez CreditSights, analyse dans un entretien à l’Agefi Hebdo l’exposition des assureurs aux dettes souveraines. «En absolu, leurs actifs reflètent leurs passifs. En d’autres termes, quand ils ont une filiale dans un pays, ils investissent dans les obligations de ce pays, notamment pour servir de bons rendements aux détenteurs d’assurance-vie. A cet égard, plusieurs acteurs sont manifestement exposés aux pays à risque de la zone euro, ce qui explique qu’ils souffrent. Toutefois, pour nuancer la situation, les assureurs résistent plutôt bien car ils n’ont pas d’exposition directe à l’activité économique de ces pays», souligne-t-il. L’assurance-vie en Europe connaît selon Philippe Picagne une situation très difficile (baisse de la demande pour les produits d’épargne, baisse de leurs fonds propres...). «On peut donc s’attendre à une dégradation des fonds propres et donc de la solvabilité. Seule bonne nouvelle, en assurance-dommages, on constate une nette amélioration du ratio combiné, portée par les hausses tarifaires et une moindre sinistralité sur le front des catastrophes naturelles. Cependant, les marges restent globalement faibles», ajoute-t-il.

Lars Machenil est nommé directeur financier du groupe BNP Paribas à compter du 1er mars 2012, a annoncé le groupe le 8 décembre. L’impétrant succède à Philippe Bordenave, devenu directeur général délégué du groupe le 2 décembre 2011.Lars Machenil, 42 ans, était directeur financier de BNP Paribas Fortis depuis mai 2009. Il a rejoint Fortis en 2000 et a occupé plusieurs postes au sein de la direction financière au Benelux, en Turquie et en Pologne. Ces postes couvraient des fonctions relatives à la comptabilité, au contrôle de gestion, aux fusions-acquisitions et à la structuration.Avant de rejoindre Fortis, Lars Machenil a travaillé pendant 3 ans chez McKinsey au Venezuela, en Italie et à Bruxelles. Lars Machenil est titulaire d’un doctorat en science nucléaire et d’un diplôme d’ingénieur en électrotechnique.

Valérie Deppe a été nommée directeur administratif et financier d’ACMN Vie, en charge des ressources humaines, de la comptabilité, du contrôle de gestion et des placements financiers ainsi que du pilotage de la performance et de l’ALM.Jusque là, Valérie Deppe était directeur de la gestion actif passif de BNP Paribas Cardif, en charge de l’allocation stratégique d’actifs des fonds généraux et du risque de marché corporate. Elle a notamment collaboré à des sujets comme la création de la direction des Risques, la mise en œuvre de Solvabilité 2, la modélisation et le suivi du risque de marché sur un périmètre mondial, précise un communiqué.Précédemment, Valérie Deppe a été responsable de la gestion d’actifs de Pacifica, groupe Crédit Agricole, et trésorière de la Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole de la Sarthe.

As of the end of November, assets managed worldwide in ETPs fell to USD1.543trn, compared with USD1.578trn as of the end of October, a decline of USD35bn in one month, though these assets have increased by USD61bn, or 4.1%, in the first eleven months of the year (USD1.482trn as of the end of December 2010).In the preliminary version of its ETF Landscape newsletter for November, BlackRock states that ETPs in November saw net outflows of USD0.6bn, following net subscriptions of USD26.5bn in October. In the first eleven months of the year, these products have posted net inflows of USD137.6bn, compared with USD145.5bn in the corresponding period of last year.However, the composition of flows by asset class have changed significantly: for example, ETPs specialised in emerging markets have seen net redemptions of USD0.5bn, compared with net subscriptions of USD39.9bn in January-November 2010. However, there was a very strong increase in net subscriptions to North American equity ETPs, to USD43.6bn, up from USD25bn. Gold ETPs have attracted USD12.1bn since the beginning of the year, while ETPs in all other commodities markets have seen net redemptions of USD1.7bn. Of the top ten actors in the ETP sector worldwide, only db x-trackers/db ETC and Lyxor Asset Management have seen a contraction in their total assets in the first eleven months of the year, of USD4.4bn (to USD45.8bn), and USD16.3bn (to USD37bn), respectively. The two big winners are Vanguard (+USD25.8bn, to USD174.3bn), and State Street Global Advisors (+USD19.3bn, to USD268.5bn). Ishares remains the uncontested leader, with assets of USD597.7bn as of the end of November, USD1bn more than at the end of December 2010.

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the asset management firm Ossiam has submitted a license application to a foreign regulator to get approval to launch a physical replication ETF, whereas until now its range has been composed entirely of synthetic replication ETFs.

The New York-based Global X Funds (USD1.4bn in assets as of the end of October) has announced the launch of an ETF fund based on the Nasdaq 500, where its acronym is QQQV, and a small caps product based on the Nasdaq 400, under the acronym QQQM. These are the first products to replicate the new indices of the Nasdaq market.The Global X NASDAQ 500 ETF (US37950E3909) charges 0.48%, as does the Global X NASDAQ 400 Mid Cap ETF (US37950E3826).

SEB Asset Management on 7 December announced that it has sold a 13,500 square metre office building in the centre of Hamburg, which was acquired in 2006 for EUR32.7m. The property had been in the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest (DE0009802306), which at last report had nearly EUR6.34bn in assets. The property has been sold to the Sarasin Sustainable Properties – European Cities fund, managed by Catella Real Estate AG.SEB AM also reports that negotiations are underway to sell a state in a complex located on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, and other properties. Counting the Hamburg property, the SEB InnoInvest has sold a total of 14 properties in Germany and abroad.By the end of this year, the liquidity in the fund (closed to redemptions since May 2010) will have returned to a level of 21%. The asset management firm is still intending to reopen redemptions at the end of 2011, and thus also before the deadline of May 2012.

Since Monday, the RBS Market Access CTA Index ETF – EUR Hedged fund has been available for trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform. It becomes the 899th ETF listed in Frankfurt.The Luxembourg fund replicates the composite RBS CTA index, with 50% each on the sub-indices RBS Systematic CTA Index and RBS Discretionary CTA Index. CTS means Commodity Trading Advisor.The manager of the fund may use futures or equity options, bonds, currencies and/or commodities for these strategies.The new fund (LU0712092450) charges fees of 0.75%.

The Bloomberg hedge fund index has lost 1% in November, to a total of 116.03, down from 117.22 in October, according to statistics from the agency. Since the beginning of the year, the benchmark index has lost 3.8%. The index is down 11% since its peak in July 2007.Multi-strategy funds lost 1% in November, and 1.8% over eleven months, while macro funds lost 1.5% on one month, and 4.8% since the beginning of the year, and long/short equity funds have lost 2.1% in one month, and 3.8% over eleven months.

Inflows to unit-linked life insurance policies in the month of October totalled EUR1.3bn, a slight increase compared with the previous month (EUR1.2bn, according to statistics from the French federation of insurance companies (FFSA, for Fédération française des sociétés d’assurances) and the group of mutual insurance businesses (GEMA, Groupement des entreprises mutuelles d’assurances).In the first ten months of the year, cumulative inflows to unit-linked policies totalled EUR15.9bn, down 5% year on year.The performance of unit-linked policies was positive once again in October (+3.2%), but remains negative for the first ten months of the year (-5%). In the same periods, the CAC 40 has earned returns of +8.7% and -14.8%, respectively.The percentage of total life insurance contributions directed to unit-linked policies came out to 15% for the first ten months of 2011, one percentage point more than in 2010.

The Massachusetts state pension fund, which manages about USD48bn in assets, has selected ten hedge fund managers for a series of mandates representing a total of USD245m in assets, Reuters reports.Among the managers selected are Jonathan Jacobson of Highfields Capital, William Ackman at Pershing Square Capital Management, and Yan Yuo at Capula Investment Management, who will each have an allocation of USD25m to manage. Also on the list are Brigade Capital, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Indus Capital Partners, Samlyn Capital and Winton Capital Management.Following the example of many pension funds, Massachusetts had previously relied on funds of funds to select managers and manage investments.In 2011, the state pension fund earned returns of 2%, with significant contributions from private equity and real estate. Investments in hedge funds made a loss of 2.18%.

According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, the asset management firm Ossiam has submitted a license application to a foreign regulator to be permitted to launch a physical replication ETF, whereas hitherto its range has been composed entirely of physical replication ETFs.

37 businesses listed in Paris, including EADS and STMicroelectronics, have no women on their boards of directors, eleven months after the passage of the Zimmermann-Copé law, which sets a quota of 40% on women on the governance bodies of listed companies, Les Echos reports. They have until mid-2012 to correct the shortfall. As a result, any appointment of male directors may be off the agenda.

The Wall Street Journal has established through an analysis of 154 quarterly filings to the SEC that since the beginning of this year, 50 money managers have been authorised not to declare the existence of stakes in companies, on the grounds that, in the regulator’s opinion, such a declaration might have caused “substantial harm” to their competitive position.The list of those with undeclared assets includes Warren Buffett (whose stake in IBM was declared in November, though the first purchases of shares began in March), and Deutsche Bank, as well as activist investors such as Carl Icahn and Nelson Peltz, and a number of hedge funds. The newspaper cites funds such as Relational Investors and HBK Investments.

At a presentation organised by the Club Tocqueville in partnership with Ossiam on ETFs, entitled “Do UCITS-compliant funds present a risk to the financial system and to savings investors?”, Pierre Bollon, director general of the French asset management association (AFG), sought to identify the element that differentiates synthetic and physical replication ETFs, an emblematic debate which calls for more global consideration.He identified several risks, including the risk of what he called “confusionism,” due to the common intermixing of ETP, ETF and ETN products. “We need transparency,” he claimed, “but also clarity. Adding information doesn’t always provide the necessary clarity.” In terms of transparency, the director also noted that the lower the tracking error on an ETF is, the better it is. From this point of view, synthetic ETFs are the best, he says. The AFG director says that a fourth risk is naïve optimism. Bollon was also critical of the role of various regulators worldwide, whose primary goal is to defend the financial systems in their respective countries.Patrick Artus, a member of the economic analysis council that reports to the French prime minister, picked up on this last ideas, pointing out that Basel III, for example, was a rule that would not affect US and Asian banking establishments, for example.Thierry Francq, secretary general of the AMF, gave the key another turn with the observation that for securities lending and borrowing, the rules currently in force were very different from one country to another, but that this problem is not unique to this topic. “There are other examples,” he says. In France, for example, depositories are subject to tough rules, but this is not the case in some other countries. In the Anglo-American countries, he said, regulations are more favourable to the intermediary than in France, which is more careful to protect the interests of the investor.

The banking group BSI, based in Ticino in Switzerland and owned by Generali, has been issued with a banking license by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Agefi Switzerland reports.The group will also be permitted to fully exercise private banking activities and to offer clients a full range of banking and investment products.The license is a major step in the expansion of BSI in Asia, where activities have strongly contributed to net inflows of CHF2.9bn for the bank in second half.

On a visit to Paris, Arnout van Rijn, CIO and Asia-Pacific equity fund manager at the Robeco Asia Investment Center, has presented its team of five people and its range of Asian products to Newsmanagers. These represent equity assets of over EUR1.5bn.The major funds from the Asian investment centre are the Asia-Pacific Equities fund, with EUR700m in assets, and the Chinese Equities fund, with EUR600m. “We started in March with the Asian Stars Equities (ex Japan), which as of the end of October had EUR10m. … To be thorough, we also have an Indian Equities fund (EUR15.26m), which is advised by Canara Robeco in Mumbai,” the CIO says. The head of Asian equity management at Robeco claims that “in fact, we are investors who have confidence in the quantitative rankings of shares produced by our headquarters in Rotterdam, while also relying on filters which include a ‘decent’ increase in returns on owners’ equity, the cost of capital, and cash flows. We are adherents to the value approach, unlike other managers, who tend to be ‘growth’ in Asia.”

The Towers Watson group has announced the recruitment of Danny Howell as head of the wealth management unit for Asia. Howell will be responsible for the development of advising activities serving high net worth clients in Asia.Before joining Towers Watson, Howell worked for Commonwealth Bank of Australia as general manager.

The Bank of Spain has auctioned off Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo (CAM) to Banco Sabadell. In the area of asset management, the merger will allow Sabadell Inversión to overtake Ibercaja Gestión, to become the seventh-largest Spanish actor, once it has absorbed Gestimed, the asset management affiliate of CAM, Cinco Días reports.As of the end of October, Bansabell Inversión had assets of EUR4.326bn, while assets under management at Gestimed totalled EUR483m. This adds up to a total of about EUR4.8bn, compared with EUR4.425bn for Ibercaja Gestión.

Patrick Evershed and New Star have reached a confidential settlement out of court to end legal proceedings filed by the fund manager for unfair dismissal, Investment Week reports. Evershed had been seeking GBP1bn from his former employer, New Star, which is now controlled by Henderson, on the grounds that he was bullied by the founder, John Duffield.

Unipension, a structure controlled by three Danish pension funds, has received approval from the local authorities to set up an asset management firm, Unipension Fondsmæglerselskab A/S, at the end of this year. The new entity will manage the assets of its owners, but will also work with third parties, in order to realise economies of scale. It now represents assets of DKK80bn, or about EUR10.8bn. Unipension Fondsmæglerselskab will be a unit of Unipension, which in turn is owned by the architects’ pension fund (AP), the pension fund for Danish MAs, MScs and PhDs (MP) and the pension fund for agricultural academics and veterinary surgeons (PJD)..

For an undisclosed amount, First Solar Inc has sold its Topaz solar power facility in San Luis Obispo county, California, to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway, the Wall Street Journal reports.The value of the asset is estimated by the two partners at “over USD2bn.”The transaction marks the first venture for the portfolio management firm controlled by Warren Buffett into the area of solar energy. The firm had previously only operated wind farms and traditional power plants.

“In 2012, two themes will dominate. On the one hand, preservation of capital, taking into account not only risks and returns, but also liquidity. On the other, the search for returns in an environment of low interest rates,” Pascal Blanqué, chief investment officer at the Amundi group, explained on Wednesday at an end-of-year strategy presentation.In the present situation, in which the «appeasement» scenario (65%) predicts that the euro zone crisis will ease, Amundi’s portfolios show relatively high caution. Overall, they are “long on cash and underweight in risk assets such as emerging markets, credit, and equities,” says Philippe Thurbide, director of research.Naturally, these points need to be more finely nuanced to apply to specific products. Romain Boscher, CIO for equity, plans to capture potential growth in emerging markets via businesses with strong exposure to these markets.It is also a time “to adopt assymetrical strategies in order to profit from market fluctuations off of a trend which is not necessarily an upward trend.” The manager is favouring minimum variance strategies, smart equities indices, and deep value. Portfolios are underweight in financials, and are confident in commodities, agriculture, and energy.Eric Brard, global head of fixed income, says that “the priority is to shelter assets, not to earn returns.” So far, Amundi has significantly reduced its portfolios of debt from peripheral European countries, and moved assets to AAA-rated euro zone debt; the asset management firm has also diverisified its portfolios into corporate credit, a process which will continue in 2012. Amundi is preferring investment-grade credit to government bonds, is diversifying internationally, and is taking an interest in convertibles.

The asset management firm Atria Capital Partenaires yesterday announced to its investors that it is merging with Naxicap Partners, an affiliate of Natixis, Agefi reports, after announcing the operation on its website yesterday.Altria CP has seen several departures recently, and earlier this year was publicly reprimanded over a case that was ultimately settled out of court, brought by the wealth management firm Massena Patners, one of its investors. Fundraising for the next vehicle would logically have been more difficult.According to a source familiar with the matter, five professionals will be joining Naxicap Partners, and will take over management of the investments of the three Atria funds.