p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Shareholders at US businesses proposed 360 resolutions at general shareholders’ meetings in spring 2011, according to the annual report from the As You Sow foundation. Of this total, nearly 290 proposals have yet to be voted on. More than one third of these resolutions (131) are related to environmental issues, or requests for information related to sustainable development. About one quarter of proposals (84, up from last year) are related to requests for information about political contributions by businesses. Managers of SRI funds are the largest source of proposals, contributing 24% of the total. Calvert Investments proposed 21 resolutions, Trillium AM 16, and Walden AM 14. Pension funds were also highly active, with 19% of the total. Then come religious institutional investors (15%), unions (13%), and retail investors (also 13%), who are increasingly active despite being unfamiliar with the regulatory process. Last year, nearly 20% of all investors supported initiatives to require US businesses to release more information, and concrete actions related to environmental issues.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The New York-based activist hedge fund Aurelius Capital Management (USD2.4bn in assets) has found a new target: it has filed a lawsuit against Energy Future Holdings Corp., formerly known as TXU, which was acquired for USD45bn by the private equity investors KKR and TPG in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reports.Aurelius states that the largest affiliate of EFH, Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Company, is technically in default on USD23bn in credit, and that it granted a loan of USD1.9bn to its parent company EFH at a rate of only 500 basis points above the Libor, which is far below the market rate.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Under a settlement reached on Friday evening, investors who lost money in the Madoff scandal due to investments in funds from Tremont Group Holdings, which funnelled money to Bernard Madoff, will share USD100m, the Wall Street Journal reports.The subscribers accuse Tremont of failing in their fiduciary duty, failure to undertake the necessary due diligence, and of deliberately ignoring warning signs.

Philippe Dutertre, at the helm of a largely captive entity overseen by two supervisory boards, with slightly over EUR13.7bn in assets under management, is pushing both for transparency in reporting and for an extension in the area of application of SRI.

From 1 April, Ignis Asset Management will be making its funds available to Italian retail investors, via advisers and platforms. The Scottish asset management firm is in registering its products with this in view, and has recruited a second person to handle the Italian market. Ignis AM has previously served only wholesale investors in Italy, as in the other markets of continental Europe that it serves (France, Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, and Spain, as well as Latin America).This move to serve retail clients in Italy is in response to the dynamism of the Italian market in 2010, and because the area has become one of the largest for Ignis AM in continental Europe. The asset management firm is planning to take advantage of the trend for Italians to move away from local management firms over to foreign firms. In 2010, more than EUR6bn were invested with non-Italian management firms. In continental Europe, Ignis AM remains concentrated on the development of wholesale clients.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } FinanceAsia reports that Goldman Sachs has reorganized its PIA (principal investment area) investment division in Asia, with the addition of India and Japan, which had previously been handled separately, and the appointment of Ankur Sahu and Andrew Wolff, as co-directors of the unit. Both men have worked at Goldman Sachs since 1998.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the first time in several months, Swedish savers in February pulled out of equities in favour of bond funds, Private Affarer reports, citing Nordnet. The move is due to turbulence on the markets related to events in North Africa and the Middle East.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The founder of the private equity firm Hopu Investment Mangaement, Richard Ong (ex-Goldman Sachs), has left the firm to create his own Asia fund, which will invest in financial establishments, consumer goods, natural resources, and foodstuffs. At the time of its inception in 2008, Hopu received an investment of USD1bn from the Singapore sovereign fund, Temasek, and launched an Asia fund with about USD2.5bn in assets. RRJ Capital, the new firm from Ong, will operate one of the largest funds dedicated to Asia. The fund is hoping to raise USD1.5bn by the end of March, with a second closing at USD2bn planned for early June.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS SA on 28 February announced in a statement that it has appointed Alexander Friedman as Chief Investment Officer (Cio) of UBS Wealth Management. Alexander Friedman will begin in his new role on 1 March 2011. The CIO will be responsible for stratgy and global investment policy in close collaboration with the other departments of Wealth Management, as well as with Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank, UBS states. Friedman, former CFO for the Bill & Melinds Gates Foundation, has long experience in finance. He will be joined by Mona Sutphen, former deputy secretary general for the political affairs office at the White House, who will undertake macroeconomic analysis, and Mark Haefele, a well-known hedge fund manager, who will handle investment analysis.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS has obtained initial authorisation to create its own bank in China. The bank is slated to begin operations in six months, David Li, head for China at the largest Swiss bank, has told the Reuters news agency. Banks are required to obtain authorisations in two phases in order to operate in China, in a long and complex administrative process. Li expects to receive final authorisation in six months’ time. The head of UBS is predicting continued growth in wealth management activities in China. The market for ultra-high net worth clients has been growing at 30% to 40% per year, he says. With its own bank in place as well as joint ventures, UBS is hoping to achieve a more highly effective deployment in China.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With reports in the media of the departure of the star manager Raphael Kassin, who had recently joined the Geneva-based management firm Reyl & Cie from Credit Suisse (see Newsmanagers of 9 April and 21 May 2010), the Swiss firm was under the media spotlight on Friday.In an interview with Newsmanagers, Thomas de Saint-Seine, a member of the board of directors at Reyl Asset Management, confirms the news, and puts it in perspective: “we are liquidating the Luxembourg fund Emerging Debt Opportunities, which was managed by Kassin. We have parted ways with the manager, on good terms. In fact, his entry into our business was not entirely optimal: our very strong in-house culture makes it particularly demanding in this area. With that said. The EUR86m in assets in the fund will be redeemed to subscribers beginning this Monday. Investors will not have done badly out of it, as the bond of emerging markets government bonds denominated in ‘strong’ currencies, which was managed with an absolute return approach, last year generated returns of over 7% in one year.”Reyl now has other goals in its sights. “We now have several projects, either alone or in partnership. The furthest along is a UCITS long/short equity fund, for which we are in the process of applying for a license from the Luxembourg CSSF,” de Saint-Seine says.When asked about the volumes under management, the manager states that “as of the end of February, assets in our 15 funds (six equities, four bond and five hedge funds) total about CHF1.8bn, and net subscriptions since the beginning of 2010 have totalled about CHF900m. Market effects averaged 15%, with returns as high as 30% for our emerging markets equities fund.”Currently, Reyl & Cie has about CHF4.1bn in assets under management, including CHF2.3bn in private banking (compared with CHF1.7bn as of the beginning of 2010). This activity developed “nicely” in 2010, not only in Switzerland, but also in France and Singapore.

Au second semestre 2010, les fonds immobiliers dédiés aux institutionnels, les OPCI RFA, ont affiché un rendement global de 8 % d’après les chiffres publiés par IPD et l’association professionnelle Aspim. Les 42 véhicules analysés présentent un actif net réévalué total de 4,5 milliards d’euros.

L’Autorité européenne de supervision des assureurs (Eiopa) a élu vendredi au poste de numéro deux l’Espagnol Carlos Montalvo. Ce dernier s’est imposé face à Klaus Löber, qui avait la faveur du commissaire européen aux Services financiers Michel Barnier. De sources bruxelloises, il faut y voir un nouveau signe de l’influence de Londres, après la désignation, la semaine dernière, au poste de directeur général de l’Autorité des marchés (Esma), de Verena Ross, issue de la FSA britannique. La Grande-Bretagne aurait en effet négocié son soutien à Carlos Montalvo en échange d’un appui à la candidature de Verena Ross, avec le relais bienveillant du Britannique Jonathan Faull, le propre directeur général des services de Michel Barnier… L’Autorité bancaire européenne (EBA) doit à son tour nommer cette semaine son numéro deux. Le Hongrois Adam Farkas part favori face au Néerlandais Arnoud Vossen, car les Pays-Bas ont déjà obtenu la présidence de l’Esma.

Le marché à terme ICE a fait vœu de bannir les ordres aberrants, tandis que l’intérêt des spéculateurs pour les matières agricoles devrait faiblir

Les incertitudes politiques au Moyen-Orient ne pèsent pas sur les prévisions. Les indices occidentaux sont attendus en hausse de 7 % dans un an

L'autorité monétaire a relevé vendredi, contre toute attente, son taux de refinancement de 7,75 % à 8 % à cause de l'inflation et de l'afflux de capitaux

Le poids des actions se maintient à 50 %, tandis que celui des obligations recule d’un point à 38 %

Plusieurs membres jouent un geste de 25 pb de la BCE et de 25 à 75 pb de la BoE d'ici à fin août

Les gestionnaires se positionnent surtout sur les obligations de courte maturité et notées moins de BBB

La société de gestion développe ses expertises dans le crédit, les marchés émergents et les gestions actions thématiques afin de relancer la collecte.

L'économie s'est finalement contractée de 0,6 % fin 2010. La publication des chiffres du premier trimestre le 27 avril n'en est que plus attendue

La société mise sur le crédit et la gestion actions de convictions pour satisfaire les nouvelles demandes des clients

Plusieurs membres jouent un geste de 25 pb de la BCE et de 25 à 75 pb de la BoE d'ici à fin août

La coalition sortante a essuyé une défaite cinglante. Le nouveau gouvernement va tenter d'adoucir la potion administrée par l'UE et le FMI

Discutant avec des internautes, le Premier ministre a estimé la croissance à 7% par an sur la période 2011-2015, contre 11,2% entre 2006 et 2010

La société d’investissement aurait accepté de racheter l’ensemble du portefeuille d’actifs de centres commerciaux détenus par Centro Properties Group pour un montant de 9,4 milliards de dollars (6,8 milliards d’euros), selon le quotidien qui cite des sources proches du dossier. La transaction comprendrait quelque 588 centres commerciaux et permettrait à la branche australienne de Centro Properties de devenir indépendante.

«Contre toute attente» avance le quotidien, Bel «fait partie des favoris» pour la reprise du numéro deux mondial du yaourt, «malgré un prix proposé assez bas». «Le groupe familial a le bon goût d’être français et en relative adéquation avec la culture de Sodiaal» indique le quotidien. «Seul hic et de taille: Bel n’a jamais fait de yaourt». Bain Capital et Lion Capital en tout cas semblent hors course.

Le potentiel de baisse supplémentaire sous les 4.090 points devrait être limité

La très large défaite vendredi du Fianna Fail lors d'élections législatives ouvre la voie à une renégociation des termes du plan d’aide à l’Irlande. Le Fine Gael et le Labour, qui devraient se retrouver au sein d’un gouvernement de coalition, ont en effet mené campagne sur ce thème.

Un nouveau fonds dédié aux technologies et géré par la banque américaine est en pourparlers pour acquérir une part significative du capital du site communautaire en ligne. Le quotidien avance que le fonds Digital Growth pourrait consacrer quelque 450 millions de dollars pour mettre la main sur 10% du capital de Twitter. La banque a indiqué vendredi avoir levé 1,22 milliard de dollars pour ce nouveau fonds. Le quotidien avance que le fonds envisage de récolter au total 1,3 milliard de dollars de la part de 480 investisseurs. Un autre tiers de l’actif pourrait être consacré à la société de jeux en ligne Zynga ou à celle de téléphonie en ligne Skype.