Shirish Godbole, qui travaillait chez Goldman Sachs depuis 2007, vient de rejoindre Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) pour prendre la tête des activités dans l’immobilier en Inde, rapporte Asian Investor.Il est directement rattaché à Hoke Slaughter, patron de l’Asie chez MSREI, qui gère quelque 175 milliards de dollars d’actifs dans le monde. Shirish Godbole a déjà travaillé pour Morgan Stanley entre 1994 et 2007.

NYSE Euronext a annoncé le 30 novembre avoir admis à la négociation sur sa plate-forme parisienne trois ETF obligataires de Lyxor Asset Management (groupe Société Générale). Ces produits de droit français répliquent les indices d’obligations d’Etat AAA EuroMTS sur des plages d'échéances différentes. Ils sont tous chargés à 0,165 %.Désormais, 596 ETF sont cotés 695 fois sur les plates-formes européennes du groupe NYSE Euronext. Depuis le début de l’année, 158 de ces fonds ont été admis à la négociation, dont 128 en cotation principale et 28 en cotation secondaire.CaractéristiquesLYXOR MA13 (FR0011146315) sous-jacent : EuroMTS AAA Government Index (1-3 years) LYXOR MA35 (FR0011146349) sous-jacent EuroMTS AAA Government Index (3-5 years)LYXOR MA57 (FR0011146356) sous-jacent EuroMTS AAA Government Index (5-7 years)

La société de gestion BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management a enregistré sur les onze premiers mois de l’année un volume de transactions de 522,9 millions d’euros pour le compte des fonds gérés, en forte progression par rapport aux onze premiers mois de 2010 où un volume de transaction de 299,8 millions d’euros avait été enregistré.Depuis le 1er janvier 2011, BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management a investi pour le compte de fonds réglementés, 452,1 millions d’euros (actes en main). Ce volume d’investissements, en forte croissance, représente une progression de près de 70 % par rapport aux investissements réalisés sur la même période au cours de l’année 2010 (266 millions d’euros). BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management a par ailleurs cédé des actifs pour un montant de 70,8 millions d’euros. Ce volume de ventes marque plus du doublement du volume de 33,8 millions d’euros de ventes constaté au cours des 11 premiers mois de l’année 2010.

Antonio Durán, analyste investissements chez Wealthsolutions EAFI depuis 2010 après avoir fait partie de l'équipe investment consulting d’Allfunds Bank, vient de rejoindre Ahorro Corporación Gestión comme responsable de la plate-forme de fonds internationaux, rapporte Funds People. Cette plate-forme propose plus de 3.500 fonds de gestionnaires internationaux.

Le 18 novembre, BBVA Asset Management a obtenu l’agrément de commercialisation en Espagne de son nouveau fonds BBVA Solidez XIV BP qui garantit à échéance (16 janvier 2015) 110,08 % de la valeur liquidative du 16 janvier 2012, ce qui correspond à un taux annualise de 3,25 %. La souscription minimale est fixée à 50.000 euros. Le portefeuille sera constitué d’obligations d’Etats de l’UE ou des communautés autonomes, de billets à ordre émis par des enterprises, des obligations d’entreprises libellees en euros, des titrisations hypothécaires et du cash.CaractéristiquesDénomination : BBVA Solidez XIV BP, FICode Isin : ES0110015007Droit d’entrée : 5 % à compter du 17 janvier 2012 ou quand l’encours aura attaint 250 millions d’eurosCommission de gestion : 0,40 % jusqu’au 16 janvier 2012, puis 0,85 %Pénalité de sortie anticipée : 1 %

Yahoo, dont la revue stratégique s’achève, a reçu d’un groupe d’investisseurs conduit par le fonds de capital-investissement Silver Lake une offre à 16,6 dollars par titre pour une prise de participation minoritaire comprise entre 10 et 15% du capital, selon des sources proches du dossier citées par L’Agefi. L’offre valoriserait Yahoo 20,6 milliards de dollars. Le fonds californien de capital-risque Andreessen Horowitz ferait partie de ce tour de table. TPG Capital aurait présenté une proposition plus élevée pour un niveau de participation similaire, KKR et Blackstone étant également intéressés.

John Paulson a présenté ses excuses aux investisseurs, indiquant que la performance de ses fonds cette années est la pire de l’histoire de la société qui a 17 ans, rapporte The Wall Street Journal, qui cite une lettre datée du 28 octobre. Dans cette lettre, John Paulson indique par ailleurs que Martin Feldstein, professeur de Harvard, rejoint le conseil consultatif de la société.

Le groupe bancaire suisse Syz & Co vient de lancer l’Oyster European Selection, un nouveau compartiment de sa sicav luxembourgeoise géré par Eric Bendahan. Ce dernier pilote déjà le Oyster European Opportunities, sur lequel la nouvelle stratégie est d’ailleurs basée. Par rapport au premier fonds, le nouveau compartiment bénéficie d’un horizon de placement supérieur, de plus de cinq ans, et sera à ce titre plutôt réservé aux investisseurs institutionnels."Cet horizon de placement augmenté permet à Eric Bendahan de se concentrer sur des thèmes d’investissement à plus long terme, ce qui entraîne une sélection plus rigoureuse des valeurs (Oyster European Selection compte 40 à 50 titres, contre 70 à 90 pour Oyster European Opportunities)», explique un communiqué de presse. Autre conséquence, «le taux de renouvellement des placements au sein d’Oyster European Selection devrait s’avérer inférieur à celui de la stratégie Oyster European Opportunities (50-60% contre80-130%)».Le gérant privilégie les entreprises liées aux économies florissantes des marchés émergents, les valeurs de croissance de grande qualité et les positions sous-évaluées. «Ces titres constituent aujourd’hui des points d’entrée attrayants pour les «stock pickers» orientés sur le long terme et devraient à terme être les grands bénéficiaires de l’évolution du marché», selon Syz & Co. Le fonds, au format Ucits, sera prochainement enregistré dans plusieurs pays européens et asiatiques.Caractéristiques : Structure juridique: SICAV luxembourgeoise, conforme à la directive sur les OPCVMGestionnaire: SYZ & CO Asset Management LLP1Liquidité: QuotidienneHorizon-temps recommandé: 5-7 ansInvestissement minimum: EUR/CHF 1 millionCodes ISIN:OYSTER European Selection I EUR : LU0688633170OYSTER European Selection I CHF-hedged : LU0688633337

The Swiss banking group Syz & Co has announced the launch of Oyster European Selection, a new sub-fund of its Oyster Luxembourg UCITS SICAV managed by Eric Bendahan, who also manages the Oyster European Opportunities fund. The new fund adopts the same essence and philosophy as that of the Oyster European Opportunities strategy but has a longer-term approach and is thus adapted to the needs of the institutional client base. «The focus of the strategy is on European stocks with strong growth potential over the next 5 years. This time horizonallows Eric Bendahan to focus on longer-term stories, hence leading to an increased selectivity in stocks (i.e. 40 – 50 stocks for Oyster European Selection vs 70 – 90 stocks in Oyster European Opportunities)», according to Syz & Co. The turnover of the new fund is also expected to be lower (50-60% vs 80-130%) than that of the Oyster European Opportunities strategy.Oyster European Selection’s investment positioning favours companies that are related to the thriving emerging market economies, quality growth stocks and undervalued positions. The fund will be registered shortly in several countries in Europe and Asia.Administrative information:Legal structure: UCITS compliant, Luxembourg SICAVFund manager: SYZ & CO Asset Management LLP1Liquidity: DailyRecommended investment horizon: 5-7 yearsMinimum investment: EUR/CHF 1 millionISIN Codes:OYSTER European Selection I EUR : LU0688633170OYSTER European Selection I CHF-hedged : LU0688633337

Dans un article paru dans Option Finance, Patrick Bertin, directeur financier de Léon Grosse, dont le siège social est situé à Aix-les-Bains: Même si notre niveau de trésorerie est confortable, avec 300 millions d’euros pour un chiffre d’affaires prévu de 660 millions, et aucune dette bancaire, le souci financier est constant. Avec la situation de crise qui se profile, nous sommes prudents dans nos placements en nous reportant sur des supports plus classiques sécurisés.

NYSE Euronext on 30 November announced that it has admitted three bond ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group) to trading on its Paris platform. The French-registered products replicate the AAA EuroMTS government bond indices of various maturities. All of the products charge 0.165%.596 ETF funds are now listed 695 times on the European platforms of the NYSE Euronext group. Since the beginning of the year, 158 of these funds have been admitted to trading, of which 128 are primary listings, and 28 are secondary listings.CharacteristicsLYXOR MA13 (FR0011146315) underlying: EuroMTS AAA Government Index (1-3 years) LYXOR MA35 (FR0011146349) underlying: EuroMTS AAA Government Index (3-5 years)LYXOR MA57 (FR0011146356) underlying: EuroMTS AAA Government Index (5-7 years)

The British Investment Management Association (IMA) has announced the creation of a sector dedicated to international equities, which will be in operation from 1 January 2012. The new sector will include all funds whose assets are at least 80% invested in international equities. The association is also considering the possibility of creating a segment dedicated to European equities, but considers the number of funds eligible to be included in the sector insufficient for the moment.

The financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has expressed concerns about the size of the M&G optimal income fund, whose assets under management total GBP5.5bn, Money Marketing reports. In the past twelve months, the fund has doubled in size, topping GBP5bn in July. In normal periods, such a size is not a problem, but the manager of the fund, Richard Woolnough, has said that it is difficult to modify more than 10% of the fund at a time, despite the support of a large team and the use of derivatives. S&P has maintained the fund’s AAA rating, however, due to the excellent reputation of Woolnough and the bond team at M&G.

The volatility of the markets is driving Danish pension funds to increase their exposure to real estate, the website IP Real Estate reports.Exposure of Danish funds to real estate typically hovers around 10%, but the current market turbulence is driving funds to increase their exposure to this asset class, largely due to its lower volatility compared with other asset classes.

Sovereign funds have invested as much as USD12.69bn in the past four quarters (only up to the end of November for fourth quarter), according to the SWF Institute database. In the financial sector, a significant proportion has been invested in emerging market financial institutions.In the same period, investments in the energy sector have totalled USD10.84bn, putting them ahead of investments in utilities and infrastructure. Another preferred target is real estate, though figures are not available for this segment.The regional distribution shows that the difficult situation in Europe has not dissuaded sovereign funds from making investments. France leads in the euro zone, with a total of USD11.6bn in the past four quarters, followed by the United Kingdom with USD9.4bn.

The US federal authorities suspect individuals at three major investment firms of insider trading, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. The investigators are targeting an analyst at Neuberger Berman Group and traders who worked for the hedge funds Diamondback Capital Management and Level Global Investors. These individuals will face charges in mid-December.

Geneva’s Pierre Lombard, who has been an independent manager for over 15 years, has returned to the banking business, as a manager and board member at Gonet & Cie, Agefi Switzerland reports. He will begin in his new position on 1 January.The change is reported to be largely due to the increasing burden of compliance for small structures, which will not be able to remain independent in the future, according to many observers.The asset management firm Pierre Lombard Finance has three employees and CHF150m in assets under management.

John Paulson has apologised to investors, stating that the performance of his funds this year have been the worst in the 17-year history of the firm, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a letter dated 28 October. In the letter, Paulson also states that Harvard professor Martin Feldstein is joining the board’s consulting committee.

Berkshire Hathaway will acquire the local newspaper read by Warren Buffett, though he has often said that the press industry is facing a difficult future, the Financial Times reports. The billionaire on Wednesday announced the acquisition of the Omaha World Herald Company, which owns several daily and weekly publications in Omaha and south-west Iowa. Berkshire will pay USD200m and will take on the firm’s debts.

The Austrian firm Signa Holding, where the former head of Porsche, Wendelin Wiedeking, has joined the supervisory board, on 24 November announced the recruitment of Michael Morgenroth, a board member at the German firm Gothaer Asset Management, from April 2012, as head of real estate and investments. Morgenroth, who will be a member of the board at Signa, joins the firm with virtually all of his team from Gothaer AM.Morgenroth is also chairman of the European association of investors in private real estate funds (INREV), and the real estate commission of the German insurers’ association GDV. At Signa, he will be responsible for institutional clients and the group’s activities in Germany.Signa, the group controlled by the controversial financier René Benko, has also recruited Patrick Züchner, head of real estate, Lars Armgart and Antje Bonnewitz from Gothaer AM. They will be in charge of the German affiliate SIGNA Real Estate Advisory AG (SIGNA READ), based in Düsseldorf.The first product from the newly-created team will be a real estate debt fund.At Gothaer AM, Morgenroth will not be replaced on the board, while Züchner will be replaced from 1 December by Ingo Bofinger as head of real estate.

Antonio Durán, an investment analyst at Wealthsolutions EAFI since 2010, after serving as a part of the investment consulting team at Allfunds Bank, has joined Ahorro Corporación Gestión as head of the international fund platform, Funds People reports. The platform offers over 3,500 funds from 14 international asset managers.

The Netherlands pension fund GBF (Grafische Bedrijsfonden), dedicated to the graphics industry, has changed names, the website IPE reports. The new name of the pension fund, Timeos, will be effective from 3 December, and aims to attract new clients. Assets under management by the fund total over EUR11bn.

Dow Jones Indexes and the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) have launched the first blue-chip index derived from Euro-Asian stock exchanges, the Dow Jones FEAS Titans 50 Equal Weighted Index.An equal-weighted measure of the 50 largest stocks traded on FEAS-member exchanges, the new gauge is designed to serve as the basis for financial products such as funds and structured products.The index universe is defined as all stocks in the Dow Jones FEAS Composite Index. Exchanges represented in the index are: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Almaty (Kazakhastan), Amman (Jordan), Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Belgrade (Serbia), Bucharest (Romania), Cairo (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey), Karachi (Pakistan), Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain), Muscat (Oman), Nablus (Palestine), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Skopje (Republic of Macedonia), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Zagreb (Croatia).Separately, Dow Jones Indexes has licensed the new Dow Jones Switzerland Select Dividend 15 Index to UBS to serve as the basis for a structured product, Open End PERLES, listed today on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

The Gonet Group on 30 November announced the opening of Gonet (Asia) Pte Ltd in Singapore, an Exempt Fund Manager (EFM). “This operation constitutes the first step in the development of the Gonet Group in serving Asian clients,” the group says in a statement. The new entity will practice asset management, and has confirmed the launch of its activity as an Exempt Fund Manager (EFM) governed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This status will allow the firm to serve a set number of qualified clients initially. The top objective for the new entity is to serve Asian clients. The firm, which since its inception has been composed of seven local professionals, is led by Viraj Somboon, CEO and partner at Gonet (Asia). The banker had previously been Managing Director of EFG Bank in Singapore.

Matthias Egger is joining Mirabaud Asset Management from 1 December 2011, Agefi Switzerland reports. He will manage the Mirabaud Equities – Swiss Small and Mid Caps fund and institutional mandates meeting similar criteria from 15 December 2011.

Philip J. Lofts, CEO UBS Group Americas, is returning to his former role as Group Chief Risk Officer at UBS. He previously held this position between November 2008 and December 2010, and was appointed CEO UBS Group Americas in January 2011. He joined UBS in 1984.Robert J. McCann, who joined UBS in 2009, will become CEO UBS Group Americas, in addition to his current role as CEO Wealth Management Americas, the bank continues.Ulrich Körner, who joined UBS in 2009, will become CEO UBS Group Europe, Middle East and Africa, in addition to his current role as Group Chief Operating Officer and CEO Corporate Center.In their new roles, Lofts, McCann and Körner will continue to be board members at the group, UBS states. Handelszeitung also reports on 1 December that UBS is planning to merge its activities in Europe, ending a period of separation between on- and offshore banking. Jakob Stott is reportedly going to be the new director of European operations. Stott has worked at UBS for one year, and spent a large part of his career at the US bank J.P. Morgan. He is very close to the new group CEO, Sergio Ermotti, the newspaper notes.

The alternative management firm Edgebell Capital, led by former bankers from Goldman Sachs and Mizuho, is planning to launch a global macro hedge fund in February, Bloomberg reports. The Edgebell Capital Global Macro Strategy fund, which will focus on stock and bond market trends as well as currency markets, will start up with at least JPY2bn, or about USD26m, raised from high net worth Japanese clients. The fund will also be available to outside investors via an offshore fund. The fund, which aims for total annual returns of 10% to 20%, will invest in stock market indices, including options and futures, worldwide, primarily in bond markets of G7 countries, currencies, and commodity ETFs.

The hedge fund sector suffered redemptions in October of USD10.8bn, or 0.7% of assets, compared with USD2.9bn in September, according to estimates by TrimTabs based on data gathered from 2,902 hedge funds. This would be the largest outflow observed since July 2009. The weak level of returns from hedge funds appears to be the reason for this disaffection.Total assets in the sector are estimated to total USD1.63trn in October, compared with USD1.73trn in September. Assets have thus returned to their lowest levels since January 2010, partly due to the evolution of returns. The Barclay Hedge Fund index gained 3.5% in October, following five consecutive months of declines.However, the sector has seen only six months of outflows in the 22 months since January 2010. They posted inflows of USD54.3bn in first half 2011, their highest levels since 2007. And since the beginning of 2010, inflows have totalled USD102.7bn.Funds of hedge funds, for their part, have seen outflows of USD2.7bn in October, and since January 2010, they have seen outflows of USD20.2bn.

With the Mapfre Puente Garantía 10, Mapfre Vida has launched its first fund which guarantees both capital and returns set at 16% at maturity (12 January 2016).The portfolio will be invested solely in bonds, mostly securities issued by Spanish public authorities.In addition, Mapfre Vida says, the subscriber will have access to liquidity at all times, under advantageous conditions, with an expected withdrawal penalty of only 1%.Subscriptions will be open until 27 December through all of the group’s 3,200 branches.

On 18 November, BBVA Asset Management obtained a sales license in Spain for its new fund BBVA Solidez XIV BP, which guarantees 110.08% of initial net asset value as of 16 January 2012, at maturity on 16 January 2015, corresponding to an annualised rate of return of 3.25%. Minimal subscription is EUR50,000. The portfolio will be composed of government bonds from EU states or autonomous communities, promissory notes from corporates, corporate bonds denominated in euros, mortgage-backed securities, and cash.CharacteristicsName: BBVA Solidez XIV BP, FIISIN code: ES0110015007Front-end fee: 5% from 17 January 2012, or when assets exceed EUR250mManagement commission: 0.40% until 16 January 2012, and 0.85% thereafterWithdrawal penalty: 1%