Das Investment reports that Dirk Tödte is leaving his job as director of sales at Amundi Germany, a position that he had held for only nine months, to join Allianz Global Investors. He will be in charge of distribution channels and initiatives throughout Europe.

Agefi reports that the ACP and the AMF have “invite[d] investors not to respond to solicitations that they may receive from the iForex company.” The Hungarian-registered company has had its license suspended by its local authority for six months from 7 July, for reception, transmission or execution of orders and management of portfolios for third parties.

Donald Longueuil, a former hedge fund manager at SAC Capital Advisors, was Friday sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison following an investigation into expert networks, which brought individuals with privileged information about businesses into contact with investors who paid them commissions. Longueuil pleaded guilty to insider trading charges he faced, the Wall Street Journal reports. He was secretly recorded while telling about how he had destroyed documents containing information obtained from well-informed sources.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the management firm operated by the convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff (Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities), has announced that he has reached an out-of-court settlement with Tremont Group, the second-largest feeder fund for the pyramid fraud scheme, an article in Les Echos reports. The 20 entities named in the suit, filed in December 2010, will pay over USD1bn.

Barack Obama announced on Sunday night that Democrats and Republicans leaders had reached an agreement on a plan to raise the US government’s borrowing limit, avoiding the danger of a US default, Reuters reports. The agreement, which still has to be passed by both houses of the US Congress, involves a cut of about USD1trn in public spending over ten years. A special joint Congressional committee will determine means to reduce the Federal deficit by at least USD1.5trn more.

Blackstone Group has announced that it will invest the equivalent of USD111m in the Indian energy provider VISA Power Limited.

Negotiations between the business bank Gruppo Banca Leonardo and the private equity fund TA Associates to sell a majority stake in the French asset management firm DNCA Finance, reported by Newsmanagers on 17 May, have now been finalised. TA Associates has acquired the majority stake in the Italian bank, for an undisclosed amount. Banca Leonardo retains a 10% stake in the capital of DNCA Finance. Meanwhile, the direction of the asset management boutique, which will continue to be led by executive chairman Joseph Chatel and CEO Jean-Charles Mériaux, will increase its own stake in the firm to 40%. Christopher Parkin, director of TA Associates, is joining the board of directors at DNCA Finance. The board will also gain Ajit Nedungadi, CEO of TA Associates in London. TA Associates has longstanding experience in investments in the capital of management firms. Over the past 15 years, the fund has invested in Affiliated Managers Group, AIM Management Group (Invesco), Evanston Capital Management, First Eagle Investment Management, Jupiter Fund Management, Conseillers K2, investisseurs Numérique, Money Management Stadion, and Thomson Advisory Group (Pimco).

According to an analysis for the Financial Times, North American pension funds have not managed to capture the good returns of hedge funds, though they have poured increasing amounts of money into them. Between 2000 and 2008, US pension funds earned only 1.9% per year on average, after fees, from their investments in hedge funds, a research by Yale and Maastricht universities finds. Canadian pension funds made only 0.6% from hedge funds, in a period when the Canadian stock market gained an average of 2.9% each year. In the same period, hedge funds have earned annualised returns of 5%.

Ronald Nagel is joining J.P. Morgan Asset Management as head of Netherlands institutional business on 1st July.Located in Amsterdam, Ronald Nagel will report functionally to Peter Schwicht, head of Central European institutional business, and locally to Benelux country head, Nicolas Deblauwe. Ronald Nagel joins J.P. Morgan Asset Management from AllianceBernstein where he was managing director – Benelux Institutions. As part of his responsibilities he will take over client relationships from Brian Strange, who will be retiring in 2012 after 7 years serving institutional clients in the Netherlands.

Slightly one year after the departure of Bruno Crastes, CEO of Amundi London, the leitmotif for his successor, Laurent Crosnier, is to enrich the product range, Agefi reports. Firstly, the value at risk (VaR) fund investment strategy, which the firm had been best known for, has been altered: stricter limits for concentrations of risk have been established, and the investment horizon has been shortened. But above all, «Amundi London’s vocation is to manage global portfolios over all asset classes. Some expertise which had driven the performance of absolute return products has been gradually extended to the whole product range,» says Crosnier, including currencies, international equities, emerging markets bonds, CTA, and international corporate bonds. The construction of a global high yield product range is under consideration: to date, management of high yield bonds at Amundi has been based in Paris, and limited to the euro zone.

La société de gestion britannique Schroders annonce le recrutement de Daniela Euchner au poste d’assistante commerciale pour la vente des fonds offerts au public en Allemagne. Elle soutiendra l'équipe de vente d’Allemagne du Sud, basée à Francfort, et sera sous la direction de Melanie Stahl, directrice commerciale de Schroder Investment GmbH en Allemagne. La nouvelle recrue était auparavant Key Account Manager chez Hartford Life Limited.

Selon das investment, Dirk Tödte quitte son poste de directeur des ventes chez Amundi Allemagne, poste qu’il occupait depuis neuf mois seulement, pour rejoindre Allianz Global Investors. Il y sera responsable des canaux et des initiatives de distribution au niveau européen.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management a nommé le 1er juillet Ronald Nagel en tant que responsable de l’activité institutionnelle aux Pays-Bas. Basé à Amsterdam, il est placé sous la responsabilité de Peter Schwicht, responsable de l’activité institutionnelle en Europe centrale et de Nicolas Deblauwe, le responsable du Benelux. Ronald Nagel vient d’AllianceBernstein où il était managing director, en charge des institutions au Benelux. Dans le cadre de ses fonctions, il reprendra les responsabilités de relations clients de Brian Strange qui prendra sa retraite en 2012.

Annoncées par NewsManagers le 17 mai, les négociations entre la banque d’affaires Gruppo Banca Leonardo et le fonds de private equity TA Associates pour la cession de la participation majoritaire dans la société de gestion française DNCA Finance ont abouti. TA Associates a ainsi racheté à la banque italienne, pour un montant non divulgué, la majorité de cette participation. Banca Leonardo conserve 10 % du capital de DNCA Finance. Parallèlement, le management de la société de gestion, qui sera toujours dirigée par le président exécutif Joseph Chatel et le directeur général et CIO Jean-Charles Mériaux, augmente sa position dans le capital de sa société, qui passe à 40 %. Christopher Parkin, directeur de TA Associates, rejoint le conseil d’administration de DNCA Finance. Ce conseil accueillera également Ajit Nedungadi, directeur général de TA Associates à Londres.La société TA Associates a une longue expérience dans la prise de positions au capital de sociétés de gestion d’actifs. Depuis une quinzaine d’années, le fonds a notamment investi dans Affiliated Managers Group, AIM Management Group (Invesco), Evanston Capital Management, First Eagle Investment Management, Jupiter Fund Management, Conseillers K2, les investisseurs Numérique, Money Management Stadion et Thomson Advisory Group (Pimco).

Nestor Investment Management a choisi le gérant Peter Dreide de TBF Global Asset Management pour assurer la gestion de son fonds Nestor Euro Tec. Peter Dreide remplace à partir du mois d’août Guido Marveggio de Julius Baer, qui assurait jusqu’ici le pilotage du fonds, précise das investment.

« Nous avons choisi cette formule du fonds de dotation car elle est plus souple que la fondation alors que l’association était trop légère et le fonds correspondait bien à l’idée que ces chefs d’entreprises avaient de la structure qui pourrait servir de support à leur engagement », explique Isabelle Duflos, chargée du mécénat au musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon. Créé en décembre 2009, ce fonds de dotation a aujourd’hui, 16 entreprises partenaires qui se sont engagées sur trois ans, à donner au musée, 50 000 euros par an. Ainsi, le fonds possède actuellement, 800 000 euros qui seront renouvelés cette année. La dotation du fonds passera ainsi, à 1,6 million d’euros. « Cet argent est destiné aux acquisitions du musée mais dans l’attente, nous avons de tous petits placements principalement sur livrets car cet argent doit rester disponible rapidement, souligne Isabelle Duflos. Par conséquent, nous n’avons pas des placements très intéressants qui doivent être à 2 ou 3% ». C’est la Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes qui est membre fondateur du fonds de dotation du musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon qui en assure la gestion. Cette stratégie permet quand même de faire fructifier l’argent du fonds dans l’attente d’une acquisition.

Nestor Investment Management has selected the manager Peter Dreide at TBF Global Asset Management to provide management of its Euro Tech fund. Dreide replaces Guido Marveggio of Julius Baer, who had previuosly managed the fund, from this August, Das Investment reports.

L’opérateur boursier a connu vendredi un nouveau «problème technique» qui a entraîné l’interruption du calcul des indices Euronext pendant plus d’une heure et demie. Le calcul des indices Euronext a été interrompu entre 15h24 et 17h08, l’opérateur précisant que leur calcul durant cette période ne serait pas rattrapé.

L’ACP et l’AMF ont indiqué «invite(r) les investisseurs à ne pas donner suite aux sollicitations éventuelles émanant de la société iForex», après que cette société de droit hongrois a vu son agrément suspendu pour six mois à compter du 7 juillet par son autorité locale pour ses services de réception, de transmission ou d’exécution d’ordres et de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers. Des services proposés en France notamment aux particuliers pour intervenir sur le marché des changes.

Sous la houlette de Laurent Crosnier, l’équipe britannique du gérant français impose son statut de centre de gestion des produits globaux

Le spread a atteint un niveau record à 22,6 dollars mi-juillet. Mais transférer l'exposition au WTI au profit du Brent serait onéreux pour un gérant

Selon les données DTCC, le volume échangé, en brut, des contrats italiens et espagnols a bondi ces 12 derniers mois de 32% et 61%

L’exécutif espagnol promet de nouvelles mesures d'économies le 4 août et a avancé les élections législatives de mars 2012 à novembre 2011. Une forme de réponse aux doutes du marché sur la capacité de l’Espagne à tenir ses objectifs de croissance et de réduction du déficit, alors que Moody’s envisage de dégrader d’un cran la note du pays.

En hausse de seulement 1,3% au deuxième trimestre, contre 1,8% attendu, la croissance du PIB américain a été révisée nettement à la baisse au premier trimestre de 1,9 à 0,4%. De quoi interpeller les autorités politiques et monétaires.

Le gouvernement promet de nouvelles mesures en août et avance les élections législatives au 20 novembre. Moody's menace de baisser la note du pays

De 1,3 % au deuxième trimestre 2011, contre 1,8 % attendu, la croissance du PIB américain a été révisée de 1,9 % à 0,4 % au premier trimestre

The Asset Management division of Credit Suisse earned pre-tax profits of CHF202m in second quarter 2011, an increase of CHF180m compared with second quarter 2010, and of Chf30m compared with first quarter 2011. All revenues based on commissions rose 9% compared with second quarter 2010, “despite a 12% decline in management commissions to CHF313m, reflecting the impact of currency conversions and spin-offs and sales of activities which are not part of base activities,” a statement says. Commissions on placements, transactions and other operations increased 30%, largely due to an increase in private equity placement commissions, which was partly offset by a decline in real estate transaction commissions. Performance commissions and incentives were up by CHF57m, due to considerably higher performance commissions for Hedging-Griffo and incentives on private equity gains realised. Earnings from equities investments increased 57%, reflecting primarily higher revenues from investments in single manager hedge funds and diversified strategies. Gains from investments totalled CHF156m, an increase of CHF113m compared with second quarter 2010, including gains both realised and not realised from private equity investments. The Asset Management division posted net subscriptions of CHF4bn, including CHF2.8bn in traditional investments, largely for multi-asset class solutions, and of CHF1.5bn for alternative investments, based on capital inflows to real estate, commodities, and exchange-traded funds (ETF). Compared with second quarter 2010, assets under management have remained stable, as “unfavourable movements related to currencies were mostly offset by inflows of new capital and positive performance of the markets,” Credit Suisse says. The Private Banking division generated a net inflow of CHF11.5bn. Wealth Management Clients has posted inflows from highly diverse sources, two thirds of them international, Credit Suisse notes. Compared with the end of second quarter 2010, assets under management are down 0.7% “while strong inflows of new capital and favourable movements on equities and bond markets were neutralised by unfavourable movements on currencies, largely due to the depreciation of the US dollar and the euro against the Swiss franc,” the statement says.

Banque Sarasin on Thursday, 28 July announced its results for first half. The Basel-based private bank has published net subscriptions of CHF3.9bn, compared with CHF7bn in second quarter 2010, and CHF6.4bn in the equivalent period of last year. Assets under management fell from CHF103.3bn to CHF101.5bn between 31 December 2010 and 30 June 2011. “Geopolitical tensions and tragic events in Japan were a cold bath for the markets, currency rates, and investor behaviour, along with the aggravation of the euro zone crisis, the collapse of the dollar, and concerns about the US budget deficit. The performance of the markets (-CHF1.8bn) and currency effects (-CHF3.9bn) both had a negative impact on the volume of assets managed by the Sarasin group,” a statement said.

For the first quarter of its 2011-2012 fiscal year, ending on 30 June, the US asset management firm Legg Mason has announced net profits of USD60m, compared with USD69m in the previous quarter, and Usd47.9m in the first quarter of its 2010 fiscal year Compared with the previous quarter, assets under management are down 2%, to USD662.5bn, compared with USD677.6bn as of the end of March. Net redemptions of investments account for USD3.7bn of this decline, and largely affected equities products (-Usd5.8bn). Year on year, assets are up 3% (USD645.4bn as of the end of June 2010).

Le Temps reports that the US authorities have announced that they are filing charges against UBS in connection with its role in the subprime crisis. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) accuses the US affiliates of the bank with supplying USD4.5bn in securities backed by poor quality real estate mortgages (subprime) to the para-public organisations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 2005 and 2007.