As of the end of 2010, gross financial savings of household worldwide increased 6.2%, to EUR95.624trn, which is higher than the all-time record set in 2007, according to the most recent edition of the Global Wealth Report from Allianz. In the past ten years, the average increase has been 4.1%, and only 3.2% per capita.The increase in gross financial savings in industrialised countries was lower than that registered worldwide, as the existing level of savings as of the end of 2010 was slightly lower than its pre-crisis levels. However, the gross financial savings in emerging countries of Asia, Latin America and eastern Europe has seen double-digit growth in the past decade, and the financial crisis didn’t even drive down financial savings in the first two of these regions. In poorer countries, financial savings per head now stands at a level more than 50% higher than before the crisis.In net terms, Allianz statistics reveal that the countries where financial savings per head is highest are Switzerland (EUR135,558), Japan (EUR84,267), and the United States (EUR79,165). The United Kingdom is in eighth place (EUR52,719). France is in eleventh place (EUR41,550), and Germany is in thirteenth place (EUR41,402). The full report may be found at https://www.allianz.com/static-resources/en/press/media/documents/v_131…

In response to a consultation held by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on measures proposed for the second level of the AIFM directive, the British Investment Management Association (IMA) has pointed out the diversity of the funds affected by the Commission’s proposed regulations, and has declared that there is a need to treat the various alternative investment vehicles equally. The trade body claims that the directive would apply to nearly 2,000 investment vehicles in the UK, which use a wide variety of strategies, invest in all asset classes and regions worldwide, and use various levels of leverage. “Many believe that the AIFM directive consists of regulations for hedge funds and private equity. This is not the case. This directive covers a wide variety of investment vehicles – 2,000 in the United Kingdom alone. The level 2 measures need to recognise this diversity and take it into account,” says Julie Patterson, director of the IMA, in a statement released on 14 September. The IMA claims that some proposals in the AIFM directive would not treat issues in a balanced an appropriate manner, particularly in terms of systemic risk.

The Financial Times reports that the British Treasury is planning to file a suit in the European Court of Justice against the European Central Bank. This summer, the ECB published a rule which requires chambers of compensation exposed to euros to be based in the euro zone. The City feels left out by the rule, and the Treasury claims that it obstructs the free circulation of capital in the Union.

UCITS-compliant funds posted a net outflow of EUR14bn in July, following outflows of EUR29bn in the previous month, according to the most recent statistics from the European financial and asset management association (EFAMA). This outflow was halved largely due to lower outflows from money market funds (EUR25bn, compared with EUR36bn in June), and an increase in net inflows to bond funds.Long-term UCITS funds, which means all funds excluding money market funds, saw a net inflow of EUR11bn in July, compared with EUR7bn in June, with net subscriptions of EUR6bn to bond funds (compared with an even balance in June), EUR3bn for diversified funds (compared with EUR6bn in June), and outflows of EUR1bn from equities funds (compared with EUR3bn previously).Dedicated funds, for their part, posted a net inflow of EUR6bn in July, after a similar level of subscriptions in June.

On 13 September, iShares (BlackRock) launched two Irish-registered products listed on the London Stock Exchange, entitled iShares Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond (IE00B44CGS96, acronym: SUAG) and iShares Markit iBoxx $ High Yield Capped Bond (IE00B4PY7Y77, SHYU). The sampling-based physical replication bond ETFs charge fees of 0.25% and 0.50%, respectively.The first of the two funds focuses on investment grade fixed-rate bonds denominated in US dollars, with a minimal residual time to maturity of one year, while the second fund replicates an index of corporate bonds with a sub-investment grade rating, with a minimal remaining time to maturity of 3 and a half years, and a maximum of 15 years for new issues, and three years for existing issues.

IPD, a firm specialised in performance measurement for real estate investment and operations, has announced the recruitment of Olivier Mège, who becomes deputy CEO of IPD France and Southern Europe. Mège will be in charge of the studies and research departments, development of services for real estate experts, and development of the Immostat-IPD partnership. He will also assist in fostering the growth of the business, alongside Stéphanie Galiègue, CEO.

Paul Touradji, a renowned commodities hedge fund manager, can expect 2011 to be the first year of losses for his flagship fund. The Wall Street Journal reports that the former protégé of Julian Robertson at Tiger Management is now planning to take some time off from the day-to-day management of the business, in order to direct the trading activities of Touradji Capital Management full-time, sources familiar with the matter say.As a part of the reorganisation, two other executives will be leaving the firm, while new recruitments are planned in order to develop the institutional client segment.

The arrival of Thomas Gerhardt (ex-DWS) on 1 September as head of emerging markets equities and commodities management (see Newsmanagers of 8 April) at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM) marks a new stage in the development of the activities of the French firm. The team, which currently manages USD2bn (compared with EUR2bn as of the end of first half), of which EUR500m are for its QFII mandate (Chinese A-class equities) and EUR285.3m for commodities, will be reinforced very soon with the addition of two people in Frankfurt and two more in Hong Kong. It will have 14 members (including two existing commodities managers, Emmanuel Painchault and Raphaël Dubois) by the end of the year, says Thomas Gerhardt, who adds that the recruitments are nearly completed.The extension comes in addition to the launch of an equity fund specialised in large Asian businesses which are leaders in their sectors, and one Latin American equity fund. Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management has not ruled out the eventual possibility of creating funds which would invest in specific regions, such as Africa or Eastern Europe.However, Gerhardt, who directly manages the EdR Global Emerging fund, currently has no plans to launch thematic funds focused, for example, on consumer goods or infrastructure in emerging markets, which in his opinion are the major growth themes for the next few years.As of 31 August 2011, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management had EUR13.9bn in assets under management in mandates, and 27 open-ended funds registered for sale in 15 countries.

Mirae Asset Global Investments has announced the appointment of Joon Kwun as president and CEO in charge of the US market. In this position he replaces Jay Jang, who will take on other responsibilities at the asset management firm specialised in emerging markets. Kwun previously worked at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, where he was head of the office in Seoul, South Korea.

At the end of 2010, according to the National Association of State Retirement Adminstrators, allocation by US state pension funds to hedge funds was 10%, compared with 3% in 2001. This is considerably lower than the exposure of university endowments, the Wall Street Journal adds.However, pension funds, which had an average of 50.9% of their assets invested in equities as of the end of December, may want to move their allocations to less volatile products, and that may work to the advantage of funds of hedge funds, ahead of direct investments in single hedge funds.Funds of hedge funds are the quickest way to change asset allocations, explains T.J. Carlson, CIO of the Kentucky Retirement System.

State Street Corporation has announced the opening of an office in Brunei. The group will provide client relationship services to local institutional investors. Nick Wright, head of the global services activity at State Street for southern Asia, based in Singapore, has announced that the Brunei office will further State Street’s goal of increasing the percentage of its earnings generated outside the United States.

Guangfa (GF) Securities has announced plans to invest CNY2bn in an investment affiliate, which may be known as Guangfa Alternative Investments, which would adopt positions on alternative assets which are ordinarily not allowed for traditional investors, and would focus on equities, inter-bank bonds, and over-the-counter financial products. Z-Ben Advisors reports that GF Securities will also invest CNY500m in Guangfa Futures, which will increase the amount dedicated to the affiliate to CNY1.1bn. The creation of the investment affiliate, which would be centred on trading, is probably part of plans to create a complete asset management firm, once the regulator allows this type of transformation.

The head of client relationships for Swiss institutional clients, as Client Director at Falcon Privatbank, Silvia Graeminger Theler, will be joining F&C as director of institutional distribution for Switzerland and Austria.

The Scottish asset management firm Martin Currie and the Singapore-based APS Asset Management on 14 September announced that they have signed a strategic partnership to create an independent asset management firm which will be a leader in the Chinese A-class equities market. The firm will rely on active management, and the deal will be completed by the end of September, pending the necessary permission from regulatory authorities.The partnership with APS will allow clients of Martin Currie to avail themselves of the renowned expertise of the China asset management team at APS, the only foreign asset management firm with research teams in three Chinese cities.For its part, APS will have access to the distribution platform and the client relationship abilities of Martin Currie; it will take charge of portfolio management for Martin Currie clients from 1 November 2011. Martin Currie will become the largest distributor of products for APS worldwide, via its network of offices in Europe, the United States and Asia.

The California pension fund CalPERS on 14 September announced a complete overhaul of its governance rules. The board of trustees at the pension fund have adopted ten measures which aim to increase governance responsibility, transparency and ethics at the institution.Among the measures adopted are a recognition by members of the board of trustees of their fiduciary duties, an examination of the performance of the board every two years by independent third parties, the definition of new functions and responsibilities for the chairman and vice-chairman fo the board, and for the chairs and vice-chairs of its various committees, and the adoption of a new confidentiality policy, which would apply to all members of the board.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) on 14 September announced a consultation on the practice known as “empty voting,” when voting rights in a business are acquired without assuming the economic risk.There are currently no European regulations specific to this practice. Two countries, however, Portugal and France, have already taken, or are planning to take measures to limit empty voting.The consultation will be open until 25 November.

Lyxor AM announced on Wednesday, 14 September that the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index posted a loss of 2.19% in the month of August 2011. As of 31 August, since the beginning of the year, the index shows a loss of 3.80%.In August, the alternative strategies which performed best were Lyxor L/S Equity Short Bias Index (+5.55%), Lyxor CTAs Short Term Index (+2.21%) and Lyxor Fixed Income Index (+0.26%).

Among the developments on the agenda at Pioneer Investments, Roger Yates, CEO, announced on Wednesday, 14 September, that it is creating an emerging markets unit, which will be based in London. “Currently, we are present in emerging markets, but we are not good enough,” says Yates. The team, which will be led by Mauro Ratto, currently head of asset management for Europe and Asia at Pioneer Investments, will combine the existing capacities of the group in this area, regardless of the asset classes and countries concerned, which are currently spread out over several locations. The size of the team is not yet known, as several recruitments are underway, but the unit is expected to manage assets of EUR6-7bn.The other major project described by Yates is expansion in the United States, where Pioneer is now planning to offer products from the firm which are managed in other countries, which is not currently the case. “In the United States, we manage USD50bn in mutual funds. But we have just begun to exploit our growth potential,” says Yates. The firm is also planning to increase its development serving independent financial advisers in the US. From a geographical standpoint, Asia is naturally another attractive area for growth in terms of product distribution.Although Pioneer Investments is planning to develop in some areas, the firm has, however, announced plans to pull out of some areas of activity or regions which are considered peripheral, including Australia and Russia. All of this is coming at a time which Yates describes as difficult for the asset management firm.

Paul Boughton, head of sales for continental Europe, is leaving Neptune Investment Management after three and a half years, to join Mirabaud Investment Management as co-director of sales and marketing. In this role he will report to Patrick Berton, director of sales, FundWeb reports.Meanwhile, Alistair Wilson, head of institutional business, is also leaving Neptune IM, after six years at the firm. He will join a bond management boutique to direct institutional activities.

The traditional asset management affiliate of LGT Group, LGT Capital Management (USD24bn in assets), has announced the opening of its first distribution structure in Asia, led by Marcel de Bruijckere, who had most recently been CEO for Singapore, head of institutional sales for south & southeast Asia and head of multi-asset solutions Asia Pacific at ABN Amro Asset Management.LGT CM will target institutional clients, wholesale distribution and sub-advisory with the local office. Several institutional investors based in Asia have already expressed interest in the services of the asset manager based in Pfäffikon, near Zurich, in the areas of custom multi-asset class solutions, long-term asset allocation, and inflation-linked bonds.Solutions and services available in the wholesale distribution area will be aimed not only at private banks, but also at insurers and independent brokers.Torsten de Santos, CEO of LGT CM, has announced that in addition to offering products under its own brand name, the management firm will also make efforts to create distribution partnerships with financial institutions in Asia, via a sub-advisory activity, or the provision of white label products. A presence in the region is a sine qua non for the creation of such strategic partnerships.

State Street Corporation annonce l’ouverture d’un bureau au Brunei. Le groupe y fournira des services de relations clients aux institutionnels locaux. Nick Wright, responsable de l’activité Global Services de State Street en Asie du sud, basé à Singapour, a déclaré que le bureau à Brunei s’inscrit dans le cadre des objectifs de State Street visant à augmenter la part de ses revenus générée hors des États-Unis.

La filiale de gestion d’actifs traditionnelle de LGT Group, LGT Capital Management (24 milliards de dollars d’encours), a annoncé l’ouverture de sa première structure de distribution en Asie sous la direction de Marcel de Bruijckere, qui était en dernier lieu CEO Singapore, Head of Institutional Sales South & Southeast Asia and Head of Multi Asset Solutions Asia Pacific chez ABN Amro Asset Management.LGT CM vise avec cette implantation la clientèle institutionnelle, la distribution wholesale et le subadvisory. Plusieurs investisseurs institutionnels basés en Asie ont déjà manifesté de l’intérêt pour les prestations de la maison basée à Pfäffikon (près de Zurich) dans les domaine des solutions multi-classes d’actifs sur mesure, de l’allocation d’actif sur le long terme, de l’obligataire (titres indexés sur l’inflation).Les solutions et services dispnibles dans le domaine de la distribution wholesale s’adressent non seulement aux banques privées mais aussi aux compangies d’assurances et aux courtiers indépendants.Torsten de Santos, CEO de LGT CM, a indiqué qu’en plus de commercialiser des produits sous sa propre marque, la maison va également s’efforcer de monter des partenariats de distribution avec des établissements financiers en Asie au travers d’une activité de sub-avisory ou la mise à disposition de produits blancs. Et une présence dans la région est une condition sine qua non pour monter de telles coopérations stratégiques.

Selon une information du Financial Times reprise par L’Agefi, le gouvernement italien envisagerait de céder à des intérêts chinois une partie du capital d’Eni et d’Enel pour contribuer à réduire l’endettement de l’Etat. Alors que plusieurs réunions ont déjà eu lieu, notamment avec le fonds souverain China Investment Corp (CIC), une rencontre pourrait se tenir à Rome d’ici à la fin du mois de septembre entre le ministre des Finances, Giulio Tremonti, et des officiels chinois. Le cours de l’action Eni a perdu 18% en un an, le rendement offert par le dividende frôle les 8% et le groupe capitalise à peine plus de 6 fois sa prévision de bénéfice net pour 2011, soit une décote de l’ordre de 30% par rapport à l’indice Oil&Gas Stoxx 600.Fin 2010, le fonds CIC gérait 409 milliards d’euros dont 135 milliards encore non investis. 13% de ses fonds sont placés dans des groupes d'énergie, son deuxième domaine de prédilection après la banque (17%), note le quotidien.

Mirae Asset Global Investments annonce la nomination de Joon Kwun au poste de président et CEO responsable du marché américain. Il remplace à ce poste Jay Jang, qui occupera d’autres responsabilités au sein de la société de gestion spécialisée sur les marchés émergents. Joon Kwun travaillait auparavant chez Goldman Sachs à Hong Kong où il dirigeait le bureau de Séoul en Corée du Sud.

Les mutual funds de long terme ont presque doublé leur décollecte nette aux Etats-Unis à environ 32,5 milliards de dollars au mois d’août, contre 17,1 milliards de dollars en juillet, selon les statistiques communiquées par Morningstar. Les mutual funds ont ainsi subi leur plus forte décollecte depuis novembre 2008.Malgré les turbulences boursières, les fonds d’actions américaines ont enregistré une décollecte nette de 15,5 milliards de dollars contre 22,9 milliards de dollars en juillet. Les fonds obligataires ont subi des rachats pour un montant de 12 milliards de dollars. Depuis le début de l’année, les fonds d’actions américaines accusent une décollecte de 28,8 milliards de dollars, les fonds obligataires affichant une collecte nette de 88,1 milliards de dollars. En revanche, les fonds monétaires ont enregistré une collecte nette de 74,8 milliards de dollars, un montant jamais vu depuis novembre 2009. Cela dit, les deux mois précédents s'étaient soldés par une décollecte cumulée de 150 milliards de dollars. Du côté de la gestion indicielle, les ETF d’actions américaines ont enregistré une collecte nette de 394 millions de dollars. Les ETF d’actions internationales ont en revanche subi une décollecte de quelque 5,5 milliards de dollars, la plus forte sur un mois au cours des trois dernières années. Sur huit mois, les ETF d’actions américaines affichent une collecte de 28,05 milliards de dollars, les ETF d’actions internationales marquant un solde positif de 7,84 milliards de dollars. Les ETF obligataires ont enregistré une collecte de 4,3 milliards de dollars en août et de 12,88 milliards sur huit mois alors que ETF de commodities subissient une décollecte de près de 2 milliards de dollars au mois d’août mais affichent une collecte de 560 millions de dollars sur huit mois.

Paul Touradji, un gérant très connu de hedge funds sur les matières premières, peut s’attendre à ce que 2011 soit le premier exercice déficitaire pour son fonds principal. Dès lors, rapporte The Wall Street Journal, cet ancien protégé de Julian Robertson chez Tiger Management a l’intention de prendre du recul par rapport à la direction de l’entreprise au jour le jour pour revenir diriger à plein temps les activités de négoce de Touradji Capital Management, d’après les proches du dossier.Dans le cadre de cette réorganisation, deux autres dirigeants vont quitter la société tandis que de nouvelles embauches sont prévues pour développer la clientèle institutionnelle.

Pour le troisième trimestre de l’exercice au 31 octobre, le capital-investisseur allemand Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) affiche une perte nette de 8 millions d’euros contre un bénéfice net de 4 millions pour la période correspondante de 2010.Sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année, le bénéfice net chute à 9,7 millions contre 21,8 millions, en grande partie à cause de la chute de 40 % du cours de la principale société du portefeuille, Homag.Si l’action Homag reste à son niveau actuel, DBAG affichera une perte sur l’ensemble de l’exercice, précise une lettre aux actionnaires.

State Street propose sept nouveaux ETF de la marque SPDR sur la plate-forme parisienne de Nyse Euronext. Il s’agit des ETF suivants : SPDR MSCI ACWI ETF (IE00B44Z5B48) chargé à 0,50%SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF (IE00B3YLTY66) chargé à 0,55%SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IE00B469F816) chargé à 0,65% SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap ETF (IE00B48X4842) chargé à 0,65%SPDR MSCI EM Asia ETF (IE00B466KX20) chargé à 0,65%SPDR MSCI EM Latin America ETF (IE00B454X613) chargé à 0,65%SPDR MSCI EM Europe ETF (IE00B431K857) chargé à 0,65%

Le Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) a annoncé le 14 septembre dans un communiqué sa décision d’accompagner le développement de Cellectis, l’un des leaders mondiaux de l’ingénierie du génome, en investissant 25 millions d’euros, aux côtés de Pierre Bastid qui investit le même montant. Cette levée de fonds d’un montant total de 50 millions d’euros a pour objectif d’accélérer les projets de croissance organique de Cellectis et de lui permettre de réaliser l’acquisition structurante de Cellartis, leader européen des cellules souches.«En souscrivant à cette levée de fonds, le Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) a vocation à devenir un actionnaire de référence et de long terme de Cellectis», souligne le Fonds dans son communiqué .

L’arrivée au 1er septembre de Thomas Gerhardt (ex-DWS) comme directeur de la gestion actions émergentes et matières premières (lire notre article du 8 avril) chez Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram) marque une nouvelle étape du développement de l’activité de la maison française. L'équipe, qui gère actuellement 2 milliards de dollars (contre 2 milliards d’euros à la fin du premier semestre), dont 500 millions dans le mandat QFII (actions chinoises A) et 285,3 millions d’euros en matières premières, va être très prochainement renforcée par deux adjonctions à Francfort et deux autres à Hong-Kong. Elle comptera 14 personnes (dont deux gérants matières premières, Emmanuel Painchault et Raphaël Dubois) avant la fin de l’année, a indiqué Thomas Gerhardt, précisant que ces embauches sont pratiquement bouclées.Cette extension s’accompagnera du lancement d’un fonds actions spécialiste des grandes entreprises asiatiques leaders dans leur secteur et d’un fonds Amérique latine. A terme, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management n’exclut pas de créer un fonds investis sur des zones spécifiques telles que l’Afrique ou encore l’Europe de l’Est.En revanche, Thomas Gerhardt, qui gère en direct le EdR Global Emerging, n’a pas prévu pour l’instant de lancer des fonds thématiques sur, par exemple, la consommation ou les infrastructures dans les pays émergents, qui sont pourtant à son avis les grands sujets pour les prochaines années.Au 31 août 2011, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management gérait 13,9 milliards d’euros au travers de mandats de gestion et de 27 fonds ouverts enregistrés à la commercialisation dans 15 pays.