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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Federal judge Burton Lifland, at a bankruptcy court in Manhattan, on Tuesday approved legal fees of USD34.6m for Irving Picard, the liquidator for the business operations of Bernard Madoff, and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler, the Wall Street Journal reports. The judge also approved a USD3m invoice for 10 other law firms in the United States and elsewhere.

CPR Asset Management and its parent company Amundi on Tuesday announced the launch of a new brand aimed at independent financial advisers,entitled “Le Comptoir par CPR”.CPR AM has assembled aneight-member sales and marketing team, some of whom come from Amundi,which will be wholly dedicated to this client segment, and will offerthem funds both from the provider’s own range, and from the Amundigroup, with a focus on emerging markets, diversified management, andreal estate.The wholly-owned subsidiary of Amundi CPR AM thusbecomes the single point of access for all asset classes and expertiseat the group for independent financial advisers, a class of client thatCrédit Agricole Asset Management and Société Générale Asset Managementdid not cover intensively.CPR AM, for its part, currentlymanages an amount “in the hundreds of millions of Euros” for theseclients, according to Jean-Eric Mercier, CEO of CPR AM, out of currenttotal assets of EUR19.6bn.The goal of Comptoir is to “become one of the top 3 management firm partners for IFAs by 2012, in terms of net inflows.” To be more precise, this means a market share of 10-15% interms of net sales, says Mercier.p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

An industry research report which will be published jointly on Wednesday by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice shows that there are significant tax complications in the new Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS IV) Directive that prevent the achievement of a harmonised European funds industry. The report identifies critical tax issues and numerous examples of discrimination and inefficiencies across the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. The report, entitled Analysis of the tax implications of UCITS IV, recognises that the UCITS IV Directive to be implemented by Member States by July 2011 offers considerable scope for re-structuring fund management operations in the EU. The directive introduces six efficiency measures, which could make the European fund industry more competitive and attractive to investors. However, the directive does not deal with critical tax reforms required to enable effective use of the efficiency measures of the directive. EFAMA and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice recommend the adoption of a tax Directive at EU level that would remove the tax barriers of UCITS IV being fully effective. In particular, it should provide for: tax neutrality of fund mergers; uniform rules governing the tax residency of funds and the place of incorporation and registration; tax neutrality on the flow of cash between master and feeder funds. In the meantime, in the absence of a directive, EFAMA and KPMG’s European Investment Management practice encourage each Member State to take the appropriate measures at national level in order to resolve the remaining tax obstacles.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of August, assets under management in ETFs worldwide totalled USD1.0644trn, compared with USD1.0952trn as of the end of July, and USD1.0259trn at the end of June. The total remains 2.7% higher than the USD1.036trn recorded at the end of 2009, iShares points out. The number of ETFs has increased 18.7% since the beginning of the year, with 401 new products and 38 products removed from trading. Of the 2.038 ETFs now available, the top 100 represent 63.3% of total assets. Currently, 944 new ETFs are planned. The top three providers of ETFs remain unchanged: iShares (453 ETFs, unchanged from the end of July) has assets of USD492.7bn, compared with USD506.8bn one month earlier, for an unchanged market share of 46.3%; State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is in second plave, with 110 products (unchanged) and USD139.6bn, or 13.1% of the market, while Vanguard (47 products, unchanged) is in third place, with USD113.3bn, compared with USD113.1bn, which represents 10.6% of the market, compared with 10.3% one month earlier.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Eaton Vance announced at the beginning of this week that it has appointed Scott P. Ruddick as head of institutional clients, in charge of development of business and relations with clients in the US and Canada. Before joining Eaton Vance, Ruddick spent 13 years at Mellon Capital Management, most recently as managing director in charge of North American distribution. Eaton Vance has also announced that it has extended the responsibilities of Matthew Witkos, who will now be in charge of distribution of all of the group’s products and services aimed at retail and institutional markets worldwide. Assets under management at Eaton Vance and its affiliates as of 31 July this year totalled USD173.3bn.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Between the end of July and the end of August, the number of ETFs in Europe increased from 969 to 985, with 3,140 product listings, up from 3,117, and total assets of USD230.9bn, up from USD236.8bn. The number of providers increased from 35 to 37, and the number of stock markets where ETFs are listed increased to 19 from 18, iShares reports. Assets as of the end of December 2009 totalled USD226.9bn, while the total eight months later is another 1.7% higher. iShares also states that net subscriptions to ETFs and ETPs domiciled in Europe totalled USD2.2bn in August (of which USD1.6bn went to ETFs, compared with USD2.4bn in July), while in the first eight months of the year, net inflows represented USD29.3bn (of which USD26bn went to ETFs, compared with USD24.2bn as of 31 July). iShares captured the majority of subscriptions in January-August, with USD6.6bn, followed by db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) with USD3.1bn, and Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale) with USD3bn. In terms of assets, iShares remains the top provider, with USD83.8bn, or 36.3% of the market (compared with 36.1% as of the end of July), followed by Lyxor (USD43.1bn and 18.7%) and db x-trackers (USD37.4bn and 16.2%).

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Deutsche Börse announced on 14 September that it has added five French-registered ETF funds from Amundi to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic trading platform, bringing the number of ETF products listed in Frankfurt to 702. The newly-added products are the Amundi ETF ex AAA Govt Bond EuroMTS, CAC 40, S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and EURO STOXX Small Cap. 63 Amundi ETF products are now listed in Frankfurt.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to the Global Wealth Report from Allianz, the financial crisis has caused an increase in aversion to risk. Since 2000, securities have lost 6 percentage points as a part of the composition of global investments, while bank savings accounts have gained 5 percent, and insurance policies have gained 1. Allianz also points out that the wealth of households plays an important role in softening the inevitable impact of demographic changes related to an ageing population. Nonetheless, currently, financial planning for old age is not one of the major motivations behind capital formation. An increase in the percentage of savings accounts as a proportion of financial assets reveals that aversion to risk is gaining ground over desire for long-term returns.

The Asset Management division of Credit Suisse has bought a minority stake in York Capital Management, an alternative management firm based in New York. York will continue to operate independently in the future, led by CEO and founder Jamie Dinan, and Dan Schwartz, chief investment officer, the Swiss group announced in a statement on 14 September. By the terms of the contract, Credit Suisse will pay an initial USD425m for a minority stake. Subsequent payments depending on the performance of the firm and the long-term engagement of the management will follow over the next five years. The acquisition involves a minority stake in the management firm, and not an investment in York’s funds, Credit Suisse says. The stake represents an important step in the Asset Management division’s growth strategy, and will allow the bank to assume a dominant position in the global alternative instrument sector, according to the division’s CEO Rob Shafir, cited in the statement. York Capital, founded in 1991, manages about USD14bn in assets.p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 10 September, the Swiss stock exchange (SIX) is listing shares in Swiss francs and US dollars in the UBS Index Solutions Platinum ETF, a Swiss-registered product which invests exclusively in physical platinum in the form of ingots of at least 1 kilo and at most 6 kilos, which will be stored in the UBS vaults in Switzerland. Management commission is 0.50% for A-class shares, and 0.35% for I-class shares. UBS Index Solutions has also listed A and I-class shares in the CMCI Oil ETF (CHF) SF, whose underlying is the CMCI WTI Crude Oil hedged CHF Total Return. Management commission is 0.45% for A-class and 0.26% for I-class shares.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 29 September and 13 October, RWC Partners will launch the RWC Income Opportunities fund, a primarily UK equities fund which will also invest in corporate bonds and cash, as well as the RWC Enhanced Income, which will use the selections of the Income Opportunities fund, with the addition of a covered calls programme, to achieve consistent returns of 7%. Management commission will be 1.5% for A-class shares, and 0.8% for B-class (institutional) shares. The funds will pay quarterly dividends, RWC announced on 14 September. The first of the two funds will be managed by Nick Purves and Ian Lance, who were recruited in August, and who previously managed the Schroder UK Equity Income Fund. John Teahan, who left Schroders in April 2009 and joined RWC in early September 2010, will be in charge of the second fund.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to an ICM survey undertaken for Barings Asset Management, 47% of active women in Great Britain (8.7 million) have no pension, compared with 40% in 2009 and 39% in 2008. In addition, the survey finds that 22% of those aged 55 to 64 have no pension. Meanwhile, the number of people aged 65 or over who are still working is over 1 million. Barings points out that about 40% of those aged 25-34 have no retirement savings plan, while the percentage is 32% for those aged 35-44.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The head of the global research team at UBS Global Asset Management, Russell Chaplin, is joining Aberdeen Asset Management as CIO Property, and will report to Andrew Smith, global head of property for the Aberdeen group. He will join the management board for the real estate sector, and will direct the global investment strategy team, with representatives in nine countries.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An affiliate of the US firm Prudential Financial, Bache Commodities Limited, based in London, announced on 14 September that it has obtained the status of “primary partipant” on the European carbon emissions quota trading market, centred in the United Kingdom. Bache becomes the first non-banking establishment to obtain such a license.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The private equity firm Permira is supporting a management buyout of the Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) company from a consortium of private equity firms led by CVC. The acquisition price is said to be above USD200m. Permira will acquire Kingsbridge, the holding company of ABS, from its current shareholders, including CVC and ADM Capital. Permira will then become the majority shareholder in ABS, while the ABS management will control a significant minority stake in the capital.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 14 September, Euronext Brussels has added 22 ETF funds from Lyxor Asset Mangement to its listings, 20 of them French and 2 Luxembourg-registered. The funds were launched between 22 January 2001 and 16 November 2009; the primary listing for 20 of them is on Euronext Paris, while 2 are on Euronext Amsterdam. With the 22 cross-listings, NYSE Euronext now has a total of 559 listings of 489 ETFs based on over 300 indices. As of the end of August, the total was 553 listings of 485 ETFs from 17 issuers. The 22 ETFs newly listed in Brussels are the EuroMTS AAA Government Bond, Leverage AEX, Leverage CAC 40, Leveraged Euro Stoxx 50, MSCI Emerging Markets, XBear Euro Stoxx 50, Dax, LevDax Brazil (Bovespa), XBear CAC 40, India, russia, MSCI World, Commodities CRB, MSCI Europe, EruoMTS 1-3 Y, China enterprise, EuroMTS 3-5Y, EuroMTS Global, Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Paperjam.lu, the Luxembourg-based consulting firm from NGR Consulting and Oddo Services control one third and two thirds, respectively, of the new Oddo Services Luxembourg (OSL), a joint venture which offers private banks an outsourcing solution for the back-office. The first client of OSL is Nord Europe Private Bank (NEPB), the Luxembourg affiliate of the French bank Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe and its asset management affiliate UFG-LFP. The structure is starting up with staff of 15, but the managing partner of NGR, Nordine Garrouche, envisions staff of 70 in the mid-term, if sales expectations are met.

SEB Enskilda has announced the launch of SEB Prime Solutions, a one stop shop offering for alternative investment managers’ UCITS funds. SEB Prime Solutions is an umbrella Sicav and Newcits platform, offering the necessary legal structure, risk management and administration services for a UCITS fund, says a press release. Two funds will be launched via SEB Prime Solutions and a further five are expected to be added by the end of 2010 with an anticipated size in excess of EUR100 million.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } By the end of first half 2011, the merger of private banking activities of the German DZ Bank (Frankfurt) and WGZ Bank (Düsseldorf) and the Swiss DZ Privatbank (Schweiz) in Luxembourg will be completed. The new DZ Privatbank SA will also include the private banking activities of WGZ Bank, the two central German co-operative banks announced on 14 September. The chairman of the board at DZ Privatbank SA will be Stefan Schwab, who is already head of DZ PB SA, the Luxembourg holding company for DZ Privatbank in Luxembourg. The new entity will have about 1,000 employees, over EUR12bn in assets, and locations in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Singapore, and Germany.

Lyxor Asset Management a inauguré sur la Bourse de Bruxelles la cotation de 22 ETF. La société de gestion a déjà un ETF coté à Bruxelles depuis 2002. Elle a choisi d’étendre sa gamme en fonction des ETF les plus traités chez les courtiers en ligne du pays. L’Echo rappelle que les 22 produits sont déjà cotés à Paris.

Depuis le 14 septembre, Euronext Bruxelles cote 22 ETF de Lyxor Asset Management, vingt de droit français et deux de droit luxembourgeois lancés entre le 22 janvier 2001 et le 16 novembre 2009, dont vingt ont pour marché de référence Euronext Paris deux celui d’Euronext Amsterdam.Avec ces 22 «cross-listings», NYSE Euronext traite 559 fois un total de 489 ETF sur plus de 300 indices. Fin août, le total ressortait à 533 cotations de 485 ETF lancés par 17 émetteurs.Les 22 Lyxor ETF nouvellement cotés à Bruxelles sont l’EuroMTS AAA Government Bond, Leverage AEX, Leverage CAC 40, Leveraged Euro Stoxx 50, MSCI Emerging Markets, XBear Euro Stoxx 50, Dax, LevDax Brazil (Bovespa), XBear CAC 40, India, russia, MSCI World, Commodities CRB, MSCI Europe, EruoMTS 1-3 Y, China enterprise, EuroMTS 3-5Y, EuroMTS Global, Euro Stoxx 50 et CAC 40.

Selon Asian Investor, UBS Wealth Management a nommé, avec effet immédiat, Alexander Kobler à la tête de l’entité produits et services d’investissement pour la zone Asie-Pacifique en remplacement de Michael Benz, qui a quitté la société pour rejoindre Bank of America Merrill Lynch.Jusqu’ici responsable du conseil et key account manager pour la gestion de fortune en Suisse, Alexander Kobler s’est installé à Hong Kong. L’entité produits et services d’investissement a été mise en place en janvier dernier dans le cadre d’une réorganisation structurelle. Le successeur d’Alexander Kobler en Suisse devrait être désigné prochainement.

Le groupe français Axa a indiqué le 14 septembre dans un communiqué avoir pris bonne note de la décision du groupe bancaire australien National Australia Bank (NAB) de mettre fin à l’accord entre NAB et Axa Asia Pacific Holdings (Axa APH) et entre NAB et Axa sur l’acquisition potentielle d’Axa APH par NAB et la cession des activités asiatiques d’Axa APH à Axa.Cette annonce fait suite à la décision de l’autorité de la concurrence australienne (ACCC) de s’opposer aux engagements fermes proposés par NAB et Axa APH. Axa confirme dans son communiqué son soutien à ses activités australiennes et néo-zélandaises et sa volonté de continuer à évaluer ses options dans le contexte de sa stratégie de croissance en Asie. Dans ce contexte, le groupe australien de gestion d’actifs AMP a indiqué, dans le sillage de la décision de NAB, qu’il restait intéressé par le rachat des actifs d’Axa APH en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande.

La société de capital invetissement Permira soutient une opération de management buyout sur l’opérateur asiatique de satellites Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) auprès d’un consortium de capital investisseurs piloté par CVC. Le montant de l’opération serait supérieur à 200 millions de dollars. Permira devrait racheter Kingsbridge, la holding d’ABS, à ses actionnaires actuels dont CVC et ADM Capital. Permira devrait ainsi devenir l’actionnaire majoritaire d’ABS, le management d’ABS détenant une participation minoritaire significative du capital.

Pour le troisième trimestre (au 31 juillet), le bénéfice net du capital-investisseur Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) est ressorti à 4 millions d’euros contre 12,1 millions pour la période correspondante de 2008-2009. Toutefois, pour les trois premiers trimestres de l’exercice au 31 octobre, il ressort à 21,7 millions d’euros contre une perte de 0,3 million pour la période correspondante de 2008-2009, a indiqué la société le 14 septembre.La DBAG dispose actuellement de plus de 150 millions d’euros de liquidités ainsi que de 240 millions mobilisables rapidement à partir de son fonds parallèle.Sous réserve que l’environnement ne se détériore pas sensiblement d’ici à fin octobre, le capital-investisseur compte terminer l’exercice avec un rendement des fonds propres supérieur au coût de ces fonds propres.

Par un avis boursier, le capital-investisseur Arques Industries a annoncé le 14 septembre son intention d’augmenter son capital de moitié par l'émission en numéraire de près de 13,22 millions d’actions au porteur sur la base de 1,10 euro par titre. En clôture sur Xetra, Arques cotait mardi 1,92 euro (- 5,42 %).

A fin août, les actifs gérés dans le monde part les ETF représentaient 1.064,4 milliards de dollars contre 1.095,2 milliards fin juillet et 1.025,9 milliards fin juin. Ce total, souligne iShares, reste supérieur de 2,7 % à 1.036 milliards de dollars de fin 2009.Le nombre d’ETF a augmenté de 18,7 % depuis le début de l’année, avec 401 nouveaux produits et 38 retraits de la cote. Sur les 2.038 ETF recensés, les 100 premiers représentent 63,3 % de l’encours total. Actuellement, 944 nouveaux ETF sont en projet.Le trio de tête des promoteurs demeure inchangé : iShares (453 ETF, inchangé ) affichait des actifs de 492,7 milliards de dollars contre 506,8 milliards un mois plus tôt pour une part de marché inchangée de 46,3 %. State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) arrive deuxième avec 110 produits (inchangé) et 139,6 milliards de dollars, soit 13,1 % du marché, tandis que Vanguard (47 produits, inchangé) se classe troisième avec 113,3 milliards de dollars contre 113,1 milliards, ce qui représente 10,6 % du marché, contre 10,3 % un mois plus tôt.

Selon l’Agefi, le directeur général de la société de gestion BlackRock a déclaré percevoir des afflux de capitaux beaucoup plus importants au troisième trimestre. Laurence Fink a ajouté que la tendance était similaire à celle du quatrième trimestre 2009, durant lequel la société a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 39,7 milliards de dollars.

BNP Paribas Securities Services a annoncé le 14 septembre sa décision de réorganiser son activité à l'échelle mondiale «dans le cadre de la politique d’expansion géographique de BNP Paribas». BNP Paribas Securities Services a ainsi choisi une organisation par métiers et par régions, afin de refléter l’internationalisation des besoins du groupe et de ses clients. Quatre métiers internationaux ont été créés :o Services actifs et fonds, sous la direction de Philippe Ricard, o Services compensation et conservation, sous la direction de Alain Pochet, o Services « corporate trust », sous la direction de Alain Pochet, o Services marchés et financement, sous la direction de Florence Bonnevay. Les directeurs des différents métiers seront rattachés directement à Patrick Colle, CEO de BNP Paribas Securities Services. « Notre nouvelle organisation va nous permettre de mieux répondre aux besoins d’internationalisation de nos clients, tout en renforçant l’efficacité et la performance de notre activité. De plus, elle devrait accroître notre réactivité et notre aptitude à créer et offrir des solutions innovantes. Nous sommes en train de devenir un acteur de dimension réellement international, et notre réorganisation va nous permettre d’aider nos clients à atteindre leurs objectifs tout en accélérant notre propre expansion dans le monde», estime Patrick Colle, cité dans le communiqué.De plus, BNP Paribas Securities Services crée une équipe de développement clientèle dont l’objectif sera de gérer l’activité par segment de clientèle et par région. Les six responsables des segments de clientèle et les huit responsables régionaux seront placés sous la responsabilité de Charles Cock, lui-même rattaché à Patrick Colle. Ils travailleront en étroite collaboration avec les métiers pour définir une stratégie de croissance et un mix produits pour les clients cibles, sur un ensemble varié de marchés.Les responsables des segments de clientèle :o Investisseurs alternatifs, sous la direction de Maria Cantillono Gérants d’actifs, sous la direction de Margaret Harwood-Joneso Propriétaires d’actifs, sous la direction de Dietmar Roesslero Banques, sous la direction de Nadia Diegoo Broker-dealers et banques d’investissement, sous la direction d’Alan Cameron o Émetteurs, sous la direction de Pascal PommierLes responsables régionauxo Asie pacifique, sous la direction de Lawrence Auo France et Belgique, sous la direction de Jean-Marc Pasqueto Allemagne, Europe du Nord, Europe centrale et orientale, sous la direction de Gerald Noltscho Italie, Suisse et bassin méditerranéen, sous la direction d’Alessandro Gioffreda o Luxembourg, Dublin et autres centres d’investissement, sous la direction de Frédéric Perardo Amérique du Nord, sous la direction de Christina Feichto Espagne, Portugal et Amérique latine, sous la direction d’Alvaro Camunaso Royaume-Uni, Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Sud, sous la direction de James McAleenan Au 31 juin 2010, BNP Paribas Securities Services affichait 5453 milliards de dollars d’actifs en conservation, plus de 920 milliards de dollars d’actifs administrés et plus de 6000 fonds administrés, ce qui en fait le premier fournisseur de services sur titres en Europe et le cinquième acteur mondial.