La note «A+» de la Slovaquie pourrait être menacée si la situation politique complique la consolidation des finances publiques et retarde les réformes en cours, déclare une analyste de Standard & Poor’s, citée par un journal slovaque. Le gouvernement d’Iveta Radicova a été contraint à la démission mardi.

L’Europe a besoin d’un mécanisme de surveillance budgétaire plus efficace, qui pourrait être mis en place immédiatement, sans modifier les traités en vigueur, a estimé vendredi Jürgen Stark, membre du Conseil des gouverneurs de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE). Jürgen Stark, dont la démission est attendue d’ici la fin de l’année, propose de créer une nouvelle institution indépendante, qui pourrait être intitulée le «Bureau européen du Budget».

L’Agence France Trésor annonce l’adjudication, le jeudi 20 octobre, d’un montant compris entre 6,5 et 7,5 milliards d’euros de bons du Trésor à intérêts annuels (BTAN). Elle adjugera le même jour entre 1,2 et 1,8 milliard d’euros de titres indexés sur l’inflation française (BTANi ou OATi) et de titres indexées sur l’inflation de la zone euro (OATei). L’opération à taux fixe portera sur les lignes de BTAN 2 % septembre 2013, 3 % juillet 2014, 2% juillet 2015 et 2,50 juillet 2016. L’adjudication de titres indexés portera sur les lignes BTANi 0,45% juillet 2016, et OATei 1,10% juillet 2022 et 1,85% juillet 2027.

In September, the top four ETP issuers all suffered net outflows, totalling USD400m for iShares (BlackRock) and db x-trackers/db ETC (Deutsche Bank), USD1.2bn at Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), and USD300m for ETF Securities, according to statistics from BlackRock published on 1 October.However, as of the end of September, iShares had a market share of 33.2%, compared with 33% at the end of August, while db x-trackers stood at 14.7% compared with 15%, and Lyxor was down to 12.6% from 13%.Assets at iShares fell below USD100bn (USD99.8bn, compared with USD110.7bn one month earlier), while assets at db x-trackers/db ETC totalled USD44.3bn, compared with USD50.6bn, and assets at Lyxor contracted to USD37.8bn from USD43.9bn.Since the beginning of the year, iShares shows net subscriptions of USD15.5bn, putting it far ahead of db x-trackers/db ETC, with USD2.6bn, but Lyxor has seen net outflows of EUR6.5bn.Among the asset management firms to have posted significant net inflows in the first nine months of the year are UBS Global Asset Management, with USD5bn (USD10.4bn in assets as of the end of September), Amundi ETF, with USD2.5bn (and USD8.3bn in assets under management), and Source (with USD7.3bn in assets under management). Credit Suisse Asset Management, for its part, took on a net USD2.1bn, and its assets as of 30 September totalled USD15.8bn.

Retirement planning institutions in Switzerland have experienced a further deterioration in their financial situation in third quarter. Average coverage, weighted according to total assets in all pension funds, fell by 2.7 points to 94.7%, according to a statement published on 13 October by Swisscanto, which monitors the sector.Reserves at private pension funds fell by 2.3 percentage points, to a level of 100.3% as of 30 September 2011. Public funds still face a shortage, at 88.2%, down 3.8 points from the previous quarter.Returns have also deteriorated once again in third quarter due to currency effects and price declines. Pension funds surveyed have earned a return weighted by assets of -.2.1% since the beginning of the year.The percentage of under-funded pension funds has consequently increased further since the beginning of the year. At nearly 375, the percentage of private pension funds in a situation of under-coverage has virtually tripled as of 30 September 2011, while for public pension funds, the percentage, at about 79%, has increased only slightly.

The ratings agency Inrate, a specialist in sustainable development, has announced that it has participated in the launch of the Unigestion-Ethos environmental sustainability fund of funds, which completed its initial subscription period on 30 June, Agefi Switzerland reports.The collective investment vehicle will invest EUR60.5m in private equity funds focused on the environmental sustainability sector. Research undertaken by Inrate incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the analysis of private businesses present in the portfolios of managers.Unigestion recognises that there is a need for parallel research about underlying businesses, and about the behaviour of fund managers. To launch the fund, Unigestion called in Ethos as a strategy advisor, and Inrate to evaluate transparency at all investment levels.

The Frankfurt-based firm Universal-Investment on 13 October announced the launch of the German-registered fund Merit Capital Global Allocation UI, with the Antwerp-based firm Merit Capital (EUR1.3bn in assets). The fund aims to combine the avantages of an open-ended fund with those of an alternative investment with capital protection and a profit lock-in system.The recommended holding period is 6-8 years, says Stefan Duchateau (former head of KBC Asset Mangement), who is in charge of investment strategy. Flexible allocation extends to equities, bonds, and money market products, on the basis of a macroeconomic analysis that takes into account interest rates, rate spreads, risk premia, and a systematic risk indicator. The equities allocation is limited to 50%.The major characteristic of the fund is the lock-in mechanism developed by Duchateau, which is based on an improved CPPI technique, without the use of derivatives. Ex-ante volatility must be at least 50% lower than for the markets concerned.CharacteristicsName: Merit Capital Global Allocation UIISIN code: DE000A1JCWX9Front-end fee: maximum 3%Management commission: 1.90%

The British asset management firm F&C Investments has announced the first closing of a new private equity fund of funds, F&C Climate Opportunity Partners LP, with EUR30m from three institutional investors. The product is managed by the private equity team (GBP500m in three products), led by Hamish Mair and based in Edinburgh.For its new product, F&C is aiming for a portfolio of 12 to 15 funds licensed for direct co-investment (up to 30%). At least 70% of assets will be placed in private equity funds offering exposure to the theme of climate change, while allocation to renewable energies and funds related to sustainable development projects may represent up to 30% of investments.

The Globe Op Capital Movement Index of hedge funds for October 2011 comes out at 137.46 points, 0.31 points higher than in September. In the past 12 months, the index has gained 14.26 points. The 0.31 increase is the result of a 3.48% increase in assets under administration at GlobeOP clients for subscriptions, and an increase of 3.17% for redemptions. The index was last negative (by 0.02%) in Aspril 2010. It lost 3.76% in October 2009, and its largest decline was 15.21% in January 2009.

Banque Sarasin & Cie SA on 13 October confirmed in a statement that it will be maintaining its independent private banking strategy. The Basel-based bank was reacting to reports in the US press that Julius Bär was planning to take over Rabobank’s majority stake in Sarasin (see Newsmanagers of 13 October). Sarasin says in a statement that Rabobank will be retaining its majority stake for the time being (68.8% of voting rights), but that it is “leaving all options open.” The Basel-based bank will have no comment either on the names of potential buyers, or on talks which may be underway, the statement adds. In addition to Julius Bär, Raiffeisen Switzerland is also reportedly interested in acquiring Sarasin bank, the TagesAnzeiger reports on 13 October. The co-operative bank, based in Saint Gall, could neither confirm nor deny the reports. According to the TagesAnzeiger, it is possible that Raiffeisen may be planning to take over Rabobank’s majority stake in Sarasin solely in order to obtain optimal conditions in its partnership with Vontobel bank, in which it controls a 12.5% stake.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 13 October published an “opinion” statement on ways to operationalise the UCITS IV directive, which has been in force since 1 July this year, due to the fact that many European member countries have not yet transposed the directive into their national legislation.Independently of initiatives that the European Commission may take to confront these delays in the transposition of the directive, ESMA would like to consider the situation in operational terms, “in order to minimise, and address however possible, the impact on the sector and investors of this transposition deficit,” the Authority says.ESMA says that cross-border mergers which involve a mutual fund domiciled in a European member country which has not yet transposed the directive are not possible via a direct application of the directive, due to the complexity inherent in such an operation.The same goes for “master-feeder” structures, which would not be authorised if one of the two member countries in which the funds are domiciled has not transposed the directive.

The overall credit quality of European businesses has improved since defaults peaked in late 2009, and also since the end of 2010, according to a study published on 13 October by the financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (“European Corporate Credit Quality Provides Some Protection Against an Economic Slowdown.”)Since fourth quarter 2010, ratings upgrades have been more common than downgrades. Many businesses need to reduce their debt levels further, but they are generally in a better position than in 2008 in terms of generating cash and liquidity.In the investment category (investment grade), operational performance provides some room to manoeuvre in the context of an economic slowdown. Many businesses have improved their operational free cash flow, extended the maturity of their debt, and increased their liquidity positions.In the speculative category, the rapid growth of the high yield market has made it possible to refinance maturing debt. The record level of high yield issues in first half 2011 shows that these bonds now represent an alternative to bank financing. As of the end of July, total high yield bond issues, at EUR32.8bn, represented 74% of total issues observed in 2010 (EUR44.3bn).Meanwhile, LBO credit risk, which is mostly at small, unrated businesses, is high. The difficulty of renegotiating some clauses or getting access to credit may kick off a wave of defaults in the next few years.

The Whitehall real estate funds from Goldman Sachs and the private equity investor Cerberus on 13 October resold 8.2 million shares in the German residential real estate firm GSW for EUR166m. They took immediate advantage of the end of a six-month lock-up period to sell their shares at EUR20.25 each, where the initial public offering for the firm in April took place at EUR19 per share, Handelsblatt reports. In total, GSW has generated earnings for Whitehall and Cerberus of over EUR500m.

Five months after being found guilty of 14 counts of indictment, Raj Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, Les Echos reports.The severity of the sentence is a sign of a desire on the part of the US Justice department to crack down on insider trading, and to strengthen oversight of hedge funds.The chief prosecutor on the case, Preet Bharara, an ardent advocate of moral reforms on Wall Street, is thus rewarded for his three years of work on the case. But some observers raise questions about the more favourable treatment that bank heads at the time of the sub-prime crisis received.

The population of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 9.7% in 2010, to 3.3 million, for the first time giving the region more HNWI than Europe, and putting the region in second place after North America, according to the 2011 Asia-Pacific Wealth reports, published on 13 October by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini. The wealth of HNWI in the region increased by 12.1% last year, to USD10.8trn, compared with USD10.2trn for Europe.The top three countries in the region, Japan, China and Australia, represent 74.4% of the high net worth population, and 68.2% of wealth. Japan remains by far the largest HNWI market in the region, with 52.5% of the HNWI population, and 38.2% of the wealth. China is in second place in the region, and fourth worldwide, with 535,000 high net worth individuals, up 12% year on year.The two preferred asset classes for high net worth clients in the region, excluding Japan, are real estate and equities. The proportion of assets represented by real estate was 27% in 2010, compared with 26% the previous year. Most real estate investments were in residential properties. In China, the proportion of real estate assets going to residential properties was as high as 70%.Equities represented 26% of investments by high net worth clients in 2010, compared with 27% the previous year. Chinese high net worth clients are particularly exposed to equities, with a proportion of 42%, compared with 19% in Japan.In 2012, high net worth clients are expected to increase their exposure to equities and bonds, while also reducing assets in money markets. Exposure to real estate is expected to fall to about 20%, due to the rapid increase in values observed in the past few years on many markets, which suggest that a significant correction may be coming.

On a ten-year horizon, Asian institutional investors see their portfolios as more “global,” in equities as well as bonds, with a larger exposure to bonds and alternative assets. But, in the next two years, these investors are planning to reduce their investments in developed markets, in order to favour “regional” investments, in the form of Asian equities and bonds, as well as emerging markets equities.A survey by Pyramis Global Advisors (Fidelity Investments group) of 95 institutional investors in Japan, South Korea, taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China (USD1.1trn in total assets) finds that these agents are largely preoccupied by higher-than average volatility of the markets and the search for solutions that are better adapted to increase the performance of their investments. They are also planning to prefer decorrelated and less volatile asset classes in their management. In this context, Asian investors outside Japan are interested in liquid alternative investments (long/short equity, global macro), high yield, emerging markets equities, and currency hedging techniques, while Japanese specialists prefer to increase their investments in bonds and to adopt a liability-driven investment approach, while reducing the percentage of “domestic” investments in their portfolios.The study may be found at the following address: http://www.fidelity.com/inside-fidelity/institutional-investment-manage…

Intech Investment Management, part of Janus, has announced the launch of a suite of absolute-volatility equity strategies, offering institutional investors the potential for both equity-like and above-market returns, at lower volatility than is associated with capitalization-weighted equity indexes. These new strategies, Low Volatility and Managed Volatility, can be benchmarked to the Russell 1000 and MSCI World Indexes. Intech’s Low Volatility strategies seek to generate modest returns in excess of their respective cap-weighted benchmarks, over time, at significantly lower levels of absolute volatility and higher Sharpe Ratios. Intech’s Managed Volatility strategies seek to generate more-aggressive returns in excess of their respective cap-weighted benchmarks, over time, at lower levels of absolute volatility and substantially higher Sharpe Ratios. The main difference between Intech’s suite of absolute-volatility strategies and its other actively managed strategies is that the optimization process of the absolute-volatility strategies attempts to minimize the portfolios’ standard deviation rather than its tracking error. These strategies represent a natural evolution of Intech’s mathematical investment process.

In a context of limited growth and minimal visibility, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EdRAM) is preferring three major themes: high-dividend shares, mergers and acquisitions, and emerging market growth. In addition to profits and valuation multiples, “the dividend component will be stronger,” Philippe Lecoq, deputy director of EdRAM and co-head of European equity management, said on 13 October at a press conference. The priority sectors include health, telecom, and oil producers. According to EdRAM, high yields and share valuations may bring an average of 7% returns in dividends, and possibly as much as 9% for some shares in the telecom sector. The current merger and acquisition cycle, which began in June 2010, is currently in a slowdown phase due to a lack of long-term visibility. The sector, which leapt by 100% in six months, now shows only a 39% increase in value in the first nine months of 2010. “We are nonetheless highly confident about the theme of mergers and acquisitions,” says Olivier Huet, Euorpean equity manager at EdRAM, since all the factors favouring a rebound in the cycle are fully present. The third theme, emerging market growth, represents a major leverage point for European businesses. Emerging markets represent an increasing proportion of the activities of European businesses, with 28% of sales, 275 of operating profits, 50% of growth in revenues and 32% of the value of assets, according to estimates by Société Générale. And, says Huet, exposure to emerging markets via European businesses makes it possible to combine “quality governance with dynamic growth.”

In third quarter 2011, the asset management unit of the JP Morgan Chase group reported net profits of USD385m, down 8% year on year. Assets under management as of the end of September totalled USD1.3trn, down by USD3bn. The quarter ended with a net outflow of USD8bn, including USD10bn of redemptions from money market products, and USD2bn in subscriptions to long-term products. In the twelve months to the end of September, net inflows totalled USD11bn.

Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has called in European governments to inject up to USD2trn of public and private money into the European banking system, at the Financial News’ Awards for Excellence in European Asset Management. Fink says the lack of political will on both sides of the Atlantic is holding economies back from a return to growth, Financial News adds.

Lyxor launches SmartIX®, a new range of risk-weighted indices, with the SmartIX® ERC Equity Indices. To avoid the risk of overweighting the volatile large-cap stocks, the SmartIX® ERC Equity Indices apply Lyxor’s proprietary methodology to equalise the risk contribution of each largecap component in the underlying index. Because small and mid-cap stocks remain capweighted, the SmartIX® indices offer the same investment capacity as traditional indices.The Lyxor ERC model has been academically validated by its publication in the Journal of Portfolio Management and has been referenced in a large number of leading financial publications. It has also been extensively used by Lyxor in open-ended and dedicated mandates invested in Euro zone equities, Emerging Market equities, commodities and diversified portfolios. In all, as of 30 September 2011, Lyxor manages more than $800 million in assets using the ERC method.With five indices at launch, calculated by FTSE, the SmartIX® range already offers access to the world’s leading developed equity markets and will soon be extended.Lyxor SmartIX® index series - Bloomberg TickersLyxor SmartIX® ERC Euro Equity Index NR EUR - ERCEUNR IndexLyxor SmartIX® ERC Europe (DC) Equity Index NR EUR - ERCEPNR IndexLyxor SmartIX® ERC USA Equity Index NR USD - ERCUSNR IndexLyxor SmartIX® ERC Asia Pac (DC) Equity Index NR USD - ERCAPCNR IndexLyxor SmartIX® ERC World (DC) Equity Index NR USD ERCWDNR Index

For the fourth consecutive month since the beginning of the year (after May, June and August), assets under management in exchange-traded products (ETPs, including ETFs, ETCs and ETNs) worldwide fell in September, by USD147bn, to USD1.428trn, from USD1.575trn as of the end of August. Compared with the end of December 2010, assets have fallen by USD54bn, or 3.7%.According to BlackRock, the decline in assets observed since the beginning of the year is due to the fact that net subcriptions of USD112bn were more than offset by USD166bn in negative market and currency effects.USD112bn in net inflows compares with USD110bn in the corresponding period of last year, but the composition of flows has changed significantly. For example, emerging market funds, which took on a net total of USD27bn in January-September, have been transformed into net outflows of USD3bn this year.Of the leading three firms, iShares stands well out in the lead, with USD548bn as of the end of September, a contraction of USD59bn since the end of 2010. State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) comes in at USD244bn (-USD5bn), and Vanguard has USd152bn (+USD3bn).

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has recruited five managers for real estate. They are Elaine Hughes, who joins from DB Richard Ellis, Tom Elviss, formerly of DTZ, Veronica Gallo Alvarez, who had been at Invista Real Estate Investment Management, Oliver Lord, from F&C REIT Asset Management, and Nicola Campbell, who had worked at Hunter Property Fund Management.

In the United Kingdom, capital invested in open-ended green or ethical funds have reached a record GBP11.3bn, from 750,000 investors, according to statistics from the responsible investment research agency Eiris.In 2001, the amounts invested totalled GBP4bn, from 250,000 investors.The most recent Ipsos Mori survey undertaken for Eiris finds that 38% of Britons who hold investments in financial products are interested in ethical or green products, with women more likely to be interested than men (41% compared with 34%).

Net inflows at Hargreaves Lansdown totalled GBP680m in the first quarter of its 2011-2012 fiscal year, to 30 September, up 24% compared with the first quarter of its 2010 fiscal year, the British firm announced in a statement on 13 October.However, due to the weakness of the markets, assets under administration and management at Hargreaves as of 30 September totalled GBP22.3bn, down 9% compared with 30 June 2011 (GBP24.6bn).

Le britannique F&C Investments a annoncé le premier «closing» de son nouveau fonds de fonds de private equity, le F&C Climate Opportunity Partners LP, avec 30 millions d’euros apportés par trois investisseurs institutionels. Ce produit est géré par l'équipe de fonds de private equity (500 millions de livres dans trois produits) dirigée par Hamish Mair et basée à Edimbourg.F&C vise pour son nouveau support un portefeuille de 12 à 15 fonds, agrémentés de co-investissements directs (au maximum 30 %). Au moins 70 % des encours seront placés dans des fonds de private equity offrant une exposition à la thématique du changement climatique, tandis que l’allocation aux énergies renouveables et aux fonds liés à des projets de développement durable pourront représenter au maximum 30 % des investissements.

Elizabeth Allen est depuis le 4 octobre la nouvelle responsable de l'équipe de recherche d’Asie Pacific sur le crédit de HSBC Global Asset Management. L’intéressée sera basée à Hong Kong. Elle travaillait auparavant chez Moody’s Investors Service. Le poste d’Elizabeth Allen est une fonction nouvellement créée. Elle supervisera une équipe de quatre personnes.

Les fonds immobiliers Whitehall de Goldman Sachs et le capital-investisseur Cerberus ont vendu le 13 octobre 8,2 millions d’actions de la société d’immobilier résidentiel allemande GSW pour 166 millions d’euros. Ils ont donc profité immédiatement de la fin du lock-up de six mois et ont cédé leurs titres à 20,25 euros l’unité alors que l’introduction en Bourse s'était effectuée en avril à 19 euros, indique le Handelsblatt. Au total, GSW a déjà généré pour Whitehall et Cerberus des recettes de plus de 500 millions d’euros.

Le francfortois Universal-Investment a annoncé le 13 octobre le lancement avec l’anversois Merit Capital (1,3 milliard d’euros d’encours) du fonds de droit allemand Merit Capital Global Allocation UI qui est censé combiner les avantages d’un fonds offert au public avec ceux d’un investissement alternatif avec protection du capital et un système de cliquet des performances (profit lock-in). La durée de détention conseillée est de 6-8 ans, a indiqué Stefan Duchateau (ancien patron de KBC Asset Management), qui est responsable de la stratégie d’investissement. L’allocation flexible porte sur les actions, les obligations et les produits monétaires sur la base d’un système d’analyse macroéconomique intégrant le niveau des taux, les spreads de taux, les primes de risque et un indicateur systématique de risque. La poche actions est plafonnée à 50 %.La caractéristique principale est le mécanisme de protection développé par Stefan Duchateau et qui se fonde sur une technique améliorée du CPPI, et de plus sans recourir à des dérivés. La volatilité ex-ante devrait être de moitié inférieure à celle des marchés concernés.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Merit Capital Global Allocation UICode Isin : DE000A1JCWX9Droit d’entrée : 3 % maximumCommission de gestion : 1,90 %