«Pour nous, le placement des actifs financiers s’inscrit dans une optique de liquidité sécuritaire et nous ne cherchons à en maximiser le rendement financier que sous le respect de cette contrainte importante», explique Virgile Bertola, vice président consolidation chez Nexans. Le groupe s’interdit ainsi la poche action et obligation et investit ses placements en priorité sur du monétaire. «Nous avons quelques instruments comme des dépôts à terme à neuf mois, d’autres instruments à 12 mois qui restent du monétaire avec des petites composantes optionnelles pour un rendement un peu poussé mais nous n’allons pas au-delàsauf exceptions très ponctuelles», poursuit Virgile Bertola. Le groupe peaufine ainsi une politique de sécurité car il n’est pas habitué à avoir du cash abondant et lorsque cela se produit c’est toujours à court terme, le temps de faire une acquisition ou de rembourser une dette. La logique de placement est ainsi sécuritaire. «Notre grille de placement impose que 80% de notre cash doit aller sur du monétaire pur et nous nous autorisons les 20% restants sur des placements un peu plus boosté mais qui gardent une composante monétaire très forte, souligne Virgile Bertola. Nous avons par exemple, un placement monétaire avec un CDS mais provenant d’une société comme le Crédit Agricole ou BNP Paribas, et on ne fait pas appel à des sociétés de gestion».

«Chez nous, c’est la règle d’or: notre trésorier ne peut placer nos liquidités que dans des Sicav monétaires même si elles ne rapportent que 0,5% ou du 0,8%», prévient Michel Ruguet, directeur des comptabilités du groupe Lagardère. Ainsi, la devise du groupe en matière d’investissement est de ne prendre aucun risque avec la trésorerie. Par conséquent, les placements actions, obligations et même Sicav dynamique y sont prohibés. «Dans un schéma idéal, nos placements devraient être à zéro», poursuit Michel Ruguet. Le groupe a en effet des dettes remboursables in fine et d’autres qu’il utilise par tirage c’est-à-dire que chaque mois, ce tirage est calibré en fonction des prévisions de consommation de cash. «Dans un monde parfait, on calibre les tirages sur les crédits bancaires de façon à avoir le moins de placements possible», explique le directeur des comptabilités. Cette gestion de la trésorerie n’est pas un virage prit en raison de la crise mais date de 1994. «Nous ne sommes pas une banque et la stratégie du groupe n’est pas de faire des produits financiers, termine Michel Ruguet. De plus, nous avons des covenants bancaires avec des ratios sur capitaux propres et la dette est prise pour la dette brute».

«Cette nouvelle norme constitue une ouverture», admet d’emblée, Sébastien Tranzeat, président de la commission normes comptables internationale de l’AFTE et directeur du contrôle financier du groupe Auchan. «IFRS9 permet une avancée au niveau de la liberté de traduire plus facilement par les états financiers, les modes de gestion des entreprises sur les opérations de couverture, de taux de change et de matière première», commenteSébastien Tranzeat. «En raison de l’IFRS 39, les entreprises ont été davantage vers des produits moins structurés mais IFRS 9 va laisser un peu plus de liberté en termes d’analyse des risques, observe Sébastien Tranzeat. D’ailleurs, les banques également concernées par cette ouverture, devraient s’engouffrer dans le desserrement des contraintes et proposer des produits d’investissements». «Je ne suis pas sûr que l’approche des entreprises sera modifiée par rapport à la nouvelle norme car les entreprises ont toujours le soucis de la couvertureet ne vont jamais vers des produits à caractère très spéculatifs ».

On 24 May, the CNMV issued a license for the fund Mutuafondo Bonos Tier 1 Seguros, launched by Mutuactivos on 9 May. The bond product, denominated in euros, will invest at least 50% of its assets in subordinated debt (lower tier 2 and tier 1) from insurers. It may also invest up to 30% of its assets in the same type of securities, issued by banks and other financial institutions of OECD countries. The indicative recommended investment duration is 4 years, and the benchmark index selected is the Iboxx Euro Tier 1. Liquidity will be daily.CharacteristicsName: Mutuafondo Bonos Tier 1 SegurosISIN code: ES0165113004Minimal investment: EUR10Management commission: 0.6%Depository banking commission: 0.02% for Spanish assets0.04% for foreign assetsFront-end fee: 3% (from 18 June 2011 to 30 June 2015)Withdrawal penalty: 3% (from 18 June 2011 until 30 June 2015)

Muriel Blanchier, one of the three convertibles managers at Oddo Asset Management, says that the French management firm is planning to register the Oddo Commodities Convertibles fund for sale in Spain, as soon as the UCITS IV directive is transposed into Spanish law, which is expected to take place in July, Funds People reports.The product was launched in September 2008. Currently, allocation is neutral to precious metals (10% of assets), positive to energy (31%), particularly coal, and industrial metals (31%), particularly copper, zinc and steel.

On 1 July, the Frankfurt-based firm Veritas Investment Trust is planning to launch a new ETF fund, Emerging Markets plus Money, the CEO and CIO of the firm, Markus Kaiser, has announced. The product will involve active management of market risk, with allocation to emerging markets equities funds which may vary from 100% in rising periods, and 0% if the markets fall steeply. The firm has also announced three departures: Marc Sattler, junior fund manager, who is leaving the firm on 30 June, and the managers Thorsten Winkler and Klaudius Sobczyck on 31 December.

Aberdeen Immobilien KAG has announced that it has managed to resell the Alder Castle office property in Noble Street in London to an institutional investor. The office building, with 8,620 square metres of area, was purchased in November 2003 for the DEGI International fund, whose redemptions have been frozen since November 2010, and whose assets as of the end of April totalled EUR1.59bn.The sale was made at GBP60m, against market value at the latest valuation of GBP60.9m. The transaction increases liquidity in the fund by 200 basis points. Aberdeen is planning to reopen the fund to redemptions on 16 November 2011 (see Newsmanagers of 8 November 2010), and in order to do that, it will have to sell several more properties from those remaining in the portfolio.Aberdeen states that the occupancy rate for properties in the DEGI International portfolio now stands at 96.1%.

Until 6 June, Pioneer Investments Germany is offering the Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fonds 2016 (ISIN: LU0551346850), which matures on 30 December 2016, Das Investment reports.The UCITS-compliant fund, denominated in euros, will invest up to 75% of its assets in high yield corporate bonds from emerging markets, while the remaining 25% will be invested in investment-grade corporate bonds.Minimal subscription will be EUR1,000.

The world’s largest provider of ETF funds, BlackRock iShares, has rejected proposals to create a professional organisation to reppresent the ETF sector, the Financial Times reports. Lyxor and db x-trackers were pushing for the creation of such an association, in order to respond to concerns expressed recently by regulators. iShares has stated that it opposes such an initiative. Joe Linhares, head of iShares EMEA, says that the European financial management association, EFAMA, is best positioned to maintain dialogue with regulators. EFAMA already has a working group dedicated to ETFs, which is providing excellent recommendations, Linhares says.

In Europe, assets under management totalled EUR13.8trn as of the end of 2010, compared with EUR12.4trn as of the end of 2009, and EUR10.9trn as of the end of 2008, the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA) states in its fourth annual report. This 13% increase over 2008 is related to economic recovery and positive market effects, as well as to increasing investor demand for long-term assets.The EFAMA report for the first time attempts to evaluate the weight of management firms as a part of short-term and long-term financing for governments, corporations, and banks. On the basis of statistics from the European Central Bank and estimates by EFAMA, European management firms hold 25% of total debt issued in the euro zone up to the end of 2009, and 52%, by value, df debt issued by euro zone businesses. These figures confirm “the essential contribution of European management firms to the overall development of the European economy,” says Peter De Proft, CEO of the professional association.The ratio of assets under management to GDP as of the end of 2010 stood at 103% for Europe, compared with 97% at the end of 2009, and 81% one year earlier. EFAMA points out that in France, the ratio stood at 148% as of the end of 2009, well above the European average, and one of the highest bounces since the financial crisis.The French market is the largest in Europe by the number of management firms, with a total of 600 firms as of the end of 2010. Six member companies of the French financial management association (AFG) have assets under management of over EUR100bn, while 277 firms have assets of under EUR1bn.As of the end of 2009, the United Kingdom, France and Germany represented 65% of total assets under management in Europe, equivalent to about EUR8.059trn. The United Kingdom is the leader in terms of discretionary mandates (EUR2.675trn as of the end of 2009), while France leads in terms of investment funds, with assets under management of EUR1.568trn as of the end of 2009.Institutional clients represent 68% of the European total, with a share of 77% in the United Kingdom, compared with 64% in France, 62% in Germany and 51% in Italy.The two major asset classes managed in Europe remain bonds and equities, with shares of 44% and 32% respectively as of the end of 2009.

The French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), on 30 May announced that returns on its performance assets, whose long-term objective is annualised performance of 6%, totalled 2.6% between 13 December 2010, when the new strategic allocation went into place, and 31 March 2011. On that date, annualised performance for the FRR’s portfolio after all fees totalled 3%.The new strategic allocation for the FRR is the result of legislative changes which now define the necessary passive liquidity level for the fund, following reforms to retirement laws, giving the FRR two precise objectives: secure payment of the FRR”s liabilities, on the one hand, and to seek added returns by 2024, on the other.With this in mind, the liability-driven investment allocation put into use involves a full coverage for liabilities by assets which are suited to this purpose (a coverage portfolio), and the dynamic management of a performance-oriented portfolio.As of 31 March 2011, the financing ratio, which measures the degree of safety of the fund’s liability payments (the proportion of the market value of net assets and the current value of liabilities) was 143%. The total net asset value stood at EUR37.4bn on that date, and the current value of liabilities was EUR26.1bn.As of 31 March 2011, the coverage allocation represented 59.1% of total assets, while the performance allocation accounted for 40.7%.

Asian Investor reports that Alan Landau, former president of Marco Polo Pure Asset Management, is launching a new business, Novel Asset Management, which will develop expertise in trading rare diamonds, in partnership with a diamond specialist, Novel Collection, which is present in all the major diamond centres in the world (New York, Anvers, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv). The new structure, Novel Asset Management, is hoping to raise about USD20m for its first fund, Novel Diamond Fund, which has already received commitments for USD10m. The objective is to launch a fund every six months, to have three to four funds in two years’ time. The objective for inflows is USD20m for the first two funds, and USD50m for the second two. The new vehicles will be aimed primarily at family offices and high net worth private clients.

DZ Bank is now including in its publications all of the sustainable development ratings issued by DZ Bank Research for all of the 334 shares of the Dax, Mdax, SDax and TecDax indices. The ratings are intended to facilitate the choice of investments for institutional investors, asset managers, and co-operative banks.DZ Bank Research adds an analysis of economic outlooks to the study of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and businesses whose shares are considered investable on the basis of financial and extra-financial criteria are designated in all DZ Bank Research publications with an appropriate quality label, Stefan Bielmeier, director of DZ Bank Research, says.The data on about 150 extra-financial criteria in ESG areas are provided by Sustainalytics, and then reworked by DZ Bank Research, which provides presentation and weighting of the data, and brings them into line with economic data. Ultimately, companies are divided between “sustainable” and “non-sustainable” groups, depending on sectoral and/or multi-disciplinary sustainability and/or exclusionary criteria.DZ Bank states that the sustainability ratings will be updated on a daily basis, as will the data.

UBS has launched an index of bubbles on the Swiss real estate market, which will be published every quarter by UBS Wealth Management Research. The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index for first quarter 2011 shows that the Swiss real estate market is “in a boom period, but does not yet have a bubble,” according to a statement published on 30 May.The USA Swiss Real Estate Bubble index may be at any of the following five levels, depending on its current value, in order of increasing risk: low, balanced, boom, risk, and bubble. As of first quarter 2011, the index is at 0.63, which corresponds to the boom level.At this level, there is not yet increased risk of correctino on a national level, UBS notes. The market is considered risky when the index level exceeds 1. The index would have hit a peak of 2.5 points, in the early 1990s, at the height of the last Swiss real estate bubble.UBS has also published a regional map of risk, directly related to the UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index. Currently, the Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne regions are showing some of the highest risk in Switzerland. Developments in Zug, Vevey and Nyon also present high risks, the statement adds.

Wealth management activities at Deutsche Bank are expected to balance out in 2011 to contribute to a total pre-tax profit of EUR100m to EUR150m from 2014, Josef Ackermann announced last week at a general shareholders’ meeting of Deutsche Bank.Wealth management will benefit this year from the acquisition in 2010 of Sal Oppenheim, Ackermann says. In first quarter 2011, the PCAM (private clients and asset management) division earned pre-tax profits of EUR978m, compared with profits of EUR184m one year earlier.

The auto-maker BMW on 30 May announced that BlackRock on 20 May notified it that it has increased its stake to 3.05%, which corresponds to 18,382,836 shares. The US asset management firm is at present the only institutional investor with a stake of over 3% in the German firm.

On 30 May, David Benmussa, who until recently was director of distribution to third parties for France and Monaco at Schroders Paris (since 2002), has joined the Paris staff of BlackRock, as head of commercial relations in France for iShares. He will report to Eric Wohleber, CEO of BlackRock for France.Following the recruitments of Gad Amar in September and David Disneur in early January, the sales team at BlackRock/iShares gains the addition of an experienced professional. Another recruitment may reinforce the addition in second half.

The UK mutual fund range from Standard Life for the first time has over GBP10bn in assets, whereas at the end of December 2010, it had assets of GBP9.3bn. As of 30 April, it had GBP10.4bn in assets, the British management firm says in a statement. Gross subscriptions in first quarter were up 150%, to GBP1.47bn, while net subscriptions totalled GBP808m in the period, up 260% year on year. The five funds with the largest gross subscriptions in first quarter were the Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund (GARS), UK Smaller Companies Fund, Global Index Linked Bond Fund (GILB), MyFolio Managed III Fund and the UK Equity Unconstrained Fund. As of the end of March, Standard Life Investments has GBP157.1bn in assets under management.

Agefi Switzerland reports that some are predicting that CHF100bn in assets under management are no longer enough to make a firm competitive internationally, and particularly not enough for a bank like Sarasin, which has a cost/earnings ratio of more than 70%. This fact makes a potential acquisition of the structure by Julius Baer Group appear all the more likely. Such an operation would give rise to a bank with over CHF270bn in assets under management. The obstacles to such a move are, however, considerable: rivalry between the business cultures of Zurich and Basel, and how to assign management positions in the new group are not least among them. Independance for Sarasin would rather go through a vote to approve a merger of its management with those of external investors. Rabobank, which controls 68.6% of voting rights and 46.1% of capital in Sarasin, says that it is not planning to divest anytime soon, even though private management is not a core profession for it.

Clariden Leu on 30 May announced that it is simplifying its organisational structure, regrouping activities in order to respond to the evolution of regulatory and political challenges in the area of private banking. The new organisational structure will also aim to increase operational efficiency and improve quality, the private bank says in a statement. The Swiss and continental European regions, as well as business with external wealth managers (EAM) have been combined in the “Switzerland & Europe” division, led by Urs Emmenegger, who is currently at Lloyds TSB in Geneva, and will join Clariden Leu on 1 August. The new “International Markets” division will be led by Erich Pfister, and will concentrate activities on the Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern, East European and all international markets in one place. The Senior Private Bankers division will have a single director, who has yet to be appointed. The “Investment Products” division, which will oversee the launch and operation of innovative investment products, will be led by CFO Roman Kurmann, until a new head can be appointed for the division. The new “Market & Wealth Management” division forms the interface and point of coordination between markets and investment products. It is the marketing strategy partner for market development, and offers initiatives which will aim to increase sales performance. “Market & Wealth Management” will be directed by Daniela Lohner, the first women to sit on the board of Clariden Leu. Lohner has spent 20 years in various senior positions at Credit Suisse. The Legal & Compliance, Finance, Risk Management and Operaitons divisions are combined with Human Resources in a “corporate center,” which will be directed by COO Roland Herrmann. Clariden Leu has also announced that as part of the reorganisation, Adrian Leuenberger, Adrian Nösberger and Stephan Peterhaus will be leaving the firm.

On 1 June, Pictet Asset Management will be launching an interactive service in Spain at the website http://www.pictetfunds.es/. The free product is a sales tool which includes a portion where independent financial advisers can find market research, documents related to investment strategy, information about products of the Pictet Asset Management range, and a way to sign up online for events held by the asset management firm in Spain. The website will be in Castilian Spanish.Retail clients will have access to public information as well as all the necessary data concerning funds from the firm which are licensed for sale in the country.Pictet is also planning to launch an added service in September, with added-value content, but to which access will require a password issued by the asset management firm. Those pages would be reserved for professionals licensed by the CNMV.

The UBS group has announced the appointment of Albert A. Momdijan as director of the Ultra High Net Worth Clients and Corporate Advisory business unit for the Middle East and Africa region. Momdijan, who will begin on 1 August 2011, will be based in Dubai. He previously worked for Crédit Agricole.

The real estate fund Columbus UK Real Estate Fund, advised by Columbus Capital Management, and Chester Properties have formed a joint venture to acquire a commercial park with 10 warehouse facilities and one restaurant, in Glasgow, Scotland. The sale price is GBP19.1m.

Lord Myners, the former Gartmore chairman who always pushed institutional investors to engage more with the boards of directors at companies, will be joining the largest activist fund in Europe, Cevian Capital, as UK chairman, the Financial Times reports. Lord Myners will help Cevian to identify investment targets, to work with the boards of directors at businesses, and to team up with other investors. Assets under management by the Swedish-based fund, which has been present in the UK since 2009, total about EUR3.5bn.

Professor Peter Wippermann, at the research institute Trendbüro Hamburg, claims that ETFs and certificates on indices will soon become the dominant investment vehicles, and predicts that in 10 years, there will be virtually no active asset managers any more, Handelsblatt reports.The transition to passive products will be inevitable for four reasons. Firstly, much quicker availability of data means that with high-frequency trading, the chances of outperformance for an active asset manager are eliminated. Then, ETFs and certificates are tradeable intra-day, which traditional funds rarely are. Thirdly, passive investments give investors a sense of security, because they have no added risks compared with the underlying market. Lastly, passive management allows to reduce personnel costs.

After ten other countries, including Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Mauritius, HSBX Holdings is now planning to offer its Australian clients financial products denominated in Chinese yuan, the Wall Street Journal reports. The yuan will be offered from Hong Kong, the major offshore trading centre for the Chinese currency.Paulo Maia, CEO of HSBC Bank Australia, also says that his firm is planning to offer Islamic finance products in Australia, as the government of the country is on an initiative to make Sydney a centre for finance, and is considering modifying its tax regulations to attract products of this type.

Le 24 mai, la CNMV a enregistré le fonds Mutuafondo Bonos Tier 1 Seguros lancé le 9 mai par Mutuactivos. Ce produit obligataire libellé en euros investira au minimum 50 % de ses encours dans de la dette subordonnée (lower tier 2 et tier 1) émise par des compagnies d’assurances. Il pourra aussi affecter jusqu'à 30 % de ses actifs à ce même type de titres mais émis par des banques et autres établissements financiers de la zone OCDE. La durée de détention indicative conseillée est de 4 ans et l’indice de référence choisi est l’Iboxx Euro Tier 1. La liquidité sera journalière.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Mutuafondo Bonos Tier 1 SegurosCode Isin : ES0165113004Souscription minimale : 10 eurosCommission de gestion : 0,6 %Commission de banque dépositaire :0,02 % pour les actifs espagnols0,04 % pour les actifs étrangersDroit d’entrée : 3 % (du 18 juin 2011 au 30 juin 2015)Pénalité de sortie : 3 % (du 18 juin 2011 au 30 juin 2015)

Muriel Blanchier, l’un des trois gérants convertibles d’Oddo Asset Management, a indiqué que le gestionnaire français a l’intention de faire enregistrer pour la vente en Espagne le fonds Oddo Commodities Convertibles dès que la directive OPCVM IV aura été transposée en Espagne, donc normalement à partir de juillet, rapporte Funds People.Ce produit a été lancé en septembre 2008. Actuellement, l’allocation est neutre sur les métaux précieux (10 % de l’encours), positive sur l'énergie (31 %), surtout pour le charbon, et les métaux industriels (31 %), notamment le cuivre, le zinc et l’acier.

Le 1er juin, Pictet Asset Management ouvre en Espagne un service interactif en ligne à l’adresse http://www.pictetfunds.es/. Ce produit gratuit d’aide à la distribution comportera une partie destinée aux conseillers financiers qui pourront y trouver des analyses de marchés, des documents relatifs à la stratégie d’investissement, des informations sur les produits de la gamme Pictet Asset Management et la possibilité de s’inscrire en ligne aux événements organisés par le gestionnaire en Espagne. Les contenus seront en castillan.Le grand public conservera l’accès aux informations publiques ainsi qu'à toutes les données nécessaires concernant les fonds de la société disposant d’un agrément de commercialisation dans le pays. Pictet AM envisage par ailleurs de lancer en septembre un service supplémentaire avec du contenu à valeur ajoutée, mais qui sera d’accès restreint avec un mot de passe attribué par le gestionnaire. Ces pages seront réservées aux professionnels assujettis à la tutelle de la CNMV.

Le 1er juillet, le francfortois Veritas Investment Trust compte lancer un nouveau fonds d’ETF, Emerging Markets plus Money, a annoncé le directeur général et CIO Markus Kaiser.Ce produit se caractérisera par un pilotage actif du risque de marché, avec une allocation aux fonds d’actions émergentes qui pourra varier entre 100 % en période de hausse et 0 % en cas de forte chute des marchés.La société annonce aussi trois départs : celui de Marc Sattler, gérant de fonds junior, au 30 juin, et ceux des gérants Thorsten Winkler et Klaudius Sobczyck au 31 décembre.