Dividend yields across Europe have plunged since the beginning of 2009, according to data published by S&P Indices. Between February 2009 and June 2010 the dividend yield on the S&P Europe 350 has fallen by 53%,to 3.88, while dividend cover, the measure of companies’ ability to pay dividends from current earnings, has increased by only 14.9% over the same period.

According to the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs is preparing to shut down its proprietary trading unit and move its traders to either an independent hedge fund or its asset management arm to comply with new US law and prevent an exodus of star employees.

As part of a reshuffle of management positions, Axa has announced that Nicolas Moreau, CEO of Axa UK, has been appointed CEO of Axa France. The former CEO of Axa Investment Managers, who subsequently became non-executive chairman, will now be returning to France. He will occupy the position left vacant by François Pierson, who will now dedicate himself to directing the new international damage insurance activities of the group. Paul Evans will become CEO of Axa UK, and will join the executive board of Axa. The appointments, which take effect form 1 October 2010, are part of the deployment of the new Axa Group organization unveiled in November 2009.

Stuart Bohart, who was co-head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, will join Fortress Investment Group as president of liquid markets and senior managing director--strategy. He will become a member of Fortress’s operating and management committees, and will have responsibility for all non-investment activities of the firm’s liquid markets business. It will allow Michael Novogratz and Adam Levinson, co-CIOs of Fortress’s Macro funds, and Bill Callanan, CIO of Commodities Funds, to focus exclusively on investments.

BNY Mellon has announced that Curtis Arledge will be joining BNY Mellon as vice chairman of the corporation and chief executive officer of BNY Mellon Asset Management. He was the chief investment officer for BlackRock’s fundamental fixed income portfolios. He has also served as co-head of U.S. Fixed Income at the firm. Mitchell Harris, who is serving as interim head of the asset management business, will continue in his role as chairman of BNY Mellon Asset Management’s Fixed Income, Cash and Currency Group after Arledge joins the firm and will report to him. Curtis Arledge will report to Robert P. Kelly, BNY Mellon’s chairman and chief executive officer. It is expected that he will join BNY Mellon in the fourth quarter of 2010. He will also have executive leadership responsibility for the company’s wealth management business.

The asset management unit at the Axa group, represented by AllianceBernstein and Axa Investment Managers, has seen net redemptions of EUR25bn in first half 2010. The outflows were primarily from the institutional client segment at both asset management firms, the insurance group states. At Axa IM, where redemptions totalled EUR17bn, Axa Rosenberg, which experienced a failure in its management process, was most severely affected. Favourable currency effects (+EUR78bn) nonetheless made it possible to increase assets in the asset management unit at Axa by EUR53bn in the first six months of the year, to EUR898bn, of which EUR524bn were for Axa IM, ad EUR364bn for AllianceBernstein. Average assets under management in the period, for their part, rose by 7% to EUR862bn, which allowed earnings to increaseby 10% to EUR1.67bn. Operating profits from asset management, however, are down 15% to EUR150m, largely due to a positive fiscal impact in first half 2009 not repeating itself this year, though this was partly offset by an increase in average assets under management. Excluding the non-recurring fiscal impact, operating profits are up 22%. In detail, operating profits at AXA Investment Managers are down 4% to EUR78m, while an increase in earnings (+4%) was more than cancelled out by a fall in carried interest and an increase in general costs. Operating profits at AllianceBernstein are down 25% to EUR71m, as an increase in earnings (+15%) was more than cancelled out by the non-recurring fiscal impact.

According to an analysis of performance undertaken by Royce & Associates, an affiliate of Legg Mason, shares in small US firms rebound better than large caps in a context of economic recovery. Whitney George, manager of the Legg Mason US Smaller Companies Fund, says: “History proves that shares in small companies outperform the market in recovery phases, and our analysis shows that this tendency is expected to be confirmed in the recent recovery. According to our research, this outperformance will continue for several years - it is thus not too late to take advantage of the strong potential of the small caps universe.” George estimates that finance, energy, road transportation and technologies will be the sectors with the strongest potential.

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has hired Rob Jones as head of its new European equities team, which will be based in London. He will take up the position on 1 November. Prior to joining UBP, Rob Jones managed pan-European equity funds at Threadneedle, where he spent a total of 14 years. Richard Wohanka, CEO of Asset Management at UBP, said: «An allocation to European equities forms the core of many of our clients’ portfolios, and the recruitment of a top-quality, in-house team to manage this asset class has long been part of our growth plans. Rob’s highconviction, bottom-up approach to equity investing fits in well with UBP Asset Management’s ethos and I am confident that he can replicate his past successes elsewhere at UBP.»

During the first half of the year, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) saw gross new business increase 49% to GBP21.2bn (H109: GBP14.2bn). The UK asset manager continues to expand its international reach with 15% of new business coming from non-UK based clients (H109: 8%). Net new business for the period was GBP8.3bn (H109: GBP7.9bn). «Following LGIM’s success growing business during the first half of 2010 within Europe, the US and the Gulf, we will continue to seek further growth opportunities in the international arena», says the fund manager. Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) delivered a 32% increase in IFRS operating profit during the first half of 2010. Profits amounting to GBP98m (H109: GBP74m) were driven by strong net inflows and growth in assets under management. Closing assets under management rose 2% to GBP320bn (31/12/09: GBP315bn) despite equity markets declining in recent months.

Skandia International has developed a product for the Spanish market specifically designed to meet the investment needs of expats living there. The Spanish Collective Investment Bond (CIB) is based on Skandia International’s globally suite of offshore investment products, but has been tailored to be precisely aligned with Spanish tax law. The new Dublin-based product gives expat investors access to a wide range of funds and bank deposits. At launch, there are over 450 available funds across more that 30 investment sectors. These funds are fully compliant with Spanish investment regulations and represent a selection from over 50 investment management companies. The Spanish CIB also allows investors to hold all or part of their portfolio in qualifying Euro deposit accounts and structured deposits. The Spanish CIB can be denominated in Euros, Sterling or US Dollars.

La normalisation sur les marchés et la diminution des facteurs de risque ont précipité la baisse de la volatilité

Au deuxième trimestre 2010, TCW, la filiale de gestion d’actifs basée aux Etats-Unis de Société Générale, enregistre des rachats nets de 2,7 milliards d’euros. Pour le groupe bancaire, qui publie ses résultats trimestriels ce mercredi matin, il s’agit d’un «net ralentissement» par rapport au premier trimestre de l’année, où les demandes de remboursement s’étaient élevées à 12,6 milliards d’euros, dans le sillage du départ de Jeffrey Gundlach et de plusieurs collaborateurs de la société de gestion américaine. SG précise que la décollecte du deuxième trimestre inclut 5 milliards d’euros liés à l’activité MBS, contre 10,8 milliards d’euros au T1. Les autres classes d’actifs enregistrent une collecte nette de +2,3 milliards d’euros en particulier sur les supports monétaires et actions, ajoute la banque.En tenant compte d’un effet de marché de -2,7 milliards d’euros, d’un effet change +8,1 milliards d’euros, ainsi que d’un effet périmètre de +0,9 milliard d’euros, les actifs sous gestion de l’activité Gestion d’Actifs, qui inclut TCW et une partie d’Amundi, s’établissent fin juin 2010 à 88,7 milliards d’euros contre 85,2 milliards d’euros à fin mars 2010. La conjugaison d’un ralentissement de la décollecte et d’une progression des commissions de performance perçues porte les revenus trimestriels de la ligne-métier à 135 millions d’euros. Sur le semestre, ces revenus s’élèvent à 218 millions d’euros. Par rapport au T2-09, le Produit Net Bancaire est en baisse de -20,1%. Les frais de gestion sont en net repli de -11,9% par rapport au T2-09. En conséquence, le Résultat Brut d’Exploitation ressort à 2 millions d’euros au T2-10 contre 18 millions d’euros au T2-09. Sur le semestre les frais de gestion reculent de -25,1% et le Résultat Brut d’Exploitation s’établit à -9 millions d’euros contre -21 millions d’euros au S1-09. Après prise en compte de la contribution d’Amundi (21 millions d’euros), le Résultat Net Part du Groupe s’établit à 20 millions d’euros au T2-10 (soit 39 millions d’euros au S1-10 contre -16 millions d’euros au S1-09). Les revenus trimestriels du pôle Banque Privée, Gestion d’Actifs et Services aux Investisseurs auquel appartient la gestion d’actifs sont de 592 millions d’euros, en baisse de -9,9% (-11,6% en données courantes) par rapport au T2-09. Le Résultat Brut d’Exploitation s’établit à 81 millions d’euros, en baisse de -13,2% (-25,0% en données courantes) et la contribution du pôle au Résultat Net Part du Groupe se situe à 74 millions d’euros, un niveau identique à celui du T2-09. Sur le semestre le Résultat brut d’exploitation est en retrait de -22,4% (-16,2% en données courantes) et le Résultat Net part du Groupe en baisse de -15,9% (+44,9% en donnéescourantes) par rapport au S1-09. A la fin du trimestre, les encours du pôle ressortaient à 171 milliards d’euros, hors Lyxor et Amundi, contre 333 milliards un an plus tôt, qui incluaient Amundi.

Selon plusieurs sources citées par Les Echos, quelques grandes banques européennes et certains assureurs sont intéressés par l’entrée dans le capital de la filiale de gestion d’actifs de l’italien UniCredit, Pioneer Investments. En France, Amundi, Natixis AM et BNP Paribas regarderaient le gestionnaire, valorisé entre 1,5 et 2,5 milliards d’euros.

Sur les 1.033 gérants d’actions mondiales étudiés par Citywire, seuls 323 ont battu l’indice MSCI Monde au premier semestre 2010 (+5,9 %). En tête de classement, on trouve deux gérants de Lombard Odier, Philippe Cornu et Daniel Lenhard, premiers ex æquo pour la performance du LO Funds – Selective Global Equity fund (+19,11 %). A la troisième place, ce sont Marc Girault et Paul Girault, de HMG Finance, qui s’illustrent, avec le fonds HMG Globetrotter (+17,65 %).

BNY Mellon a lancé une version dublinoise du fonds Newton Global Equity Higher Income fund, avec des parts libellées en livres sterling, en dollars et en euros, rapporte Investment Week. Cela donnera un accès à la stratégie de James Harries aux investisseurs ne souhaitant pas utiliser le fonds domicilié au Royaume-Uni libellé en sterling.

BNP Paribas Fortis a conclu un accord avec les employés de la société de gestion de fonds américaine Montag & Caldwell Funds, au terme duquel elle leur cède l’entièreté du capital de celle-ci, rapporte L’Echo. Le montant de la transaction n’a pas été dévoilé. La firme américaine dans les valeurs de croissance à grande capitalisation et dirigée par Bill Vogel, CEO, gère 14 milliards de dollars d’actifs et emploie 49 personnes.

Au deuxième trimestre, la société de gestion alternative Och-Ziff, cotée aux Etats-Unis, a vu ses encours progresser de 3 % à 25,5 milliards de dollars. Sur un an, ils augmentent de 16 %. Cette appréciation de 3,6 milliards de dollars sur 12 mois a été alimentée par les performances des investissements à hauteur de 2,4 milliards de dollars et par des souscriptions nettes de 1,2 milliard. Sur le deuxième trimestre, la hausse des encours de 647,2 millions de dollars provient uniquement des souscriptions (1 milliard de dollars).Le 1er août, les encours sous gestion d’Och-Ziff ressortaient à 25,9 milliards de dollars, après des souscriptions nettes de 300 millions d’euros. Sur les sept premiers mois de l’année, la société de gestion a enregistré une collecte nette d’environ 2,2 milliards de dollars. Le bénéfice distribuable d’Och-Ziff a augmenté à 57 millions de dollars sur les trois mois à fin juin, contre 12,6 millions sur la période correspondante de l’année passée. Coûts courants inclus, la société accuse une perte de 89,4 millions de dollars.

La société de gestion d’actifs immobiliers italienne Pirelli RE SGR vient de lancer deux nouveaux fonds immobiliers, Anastasia et Monteverdi, dont la valeur totale dépasse les 400 millions d’euros. Cela porte les encours de la société à 6,3 milliards d’euros. Ces deux fonds s’adressent aux investisseurs institutionnels désirant investir dans des bureaux en Italie.

L’allemand Deka Bank a lancé un nouveau fonds pour Thomas Meier, l’ancien gérant d’Union Investment. Le Deka-DividendenStrategie sera investi dans des actions de grandes entreprises ayant des dividendes durables, avec un biais défensif. Le gérant estime que nous allons vivre une période de dividendes élevés. Le fonds misera en priorité sur les secteurs des télécoms et des biens de consommation.Les frais de souscriptions du Deka-DividendenStrategie s'élèvent à 3,75 %, les frais de gestion annuels à 1,25 %.

Henderson Global Investors a lancé un fonds immobilier, le German Retail Income fund (GRIF), qui sera investi dans des ensembles de centres commerciaux et grands magasins en Allemagne, indique IPE. Le fonds sera destiné aux investisseurs institutionnels allemands et vise un premier closing après une levée entre 200 millions à 300 millions d’euros. L’objectif de performance est de 6 % par an.

En Allemagne, BNY Mellon a bouclé l’acquisition de BHF Asset Servicing GmbH à BHF-BANK Aktiengesellschaft et Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. S.C.A. La transaction, qui avait été annoncée pour la première fois le 8 mars, inclut également le rachat de la filiale d’administration de fonds de BHF Asset Servicing, Frankfurter Service Kapitalanlage-Gesellschaft mbH (FSKAG).Avec cette opération, l’activité allemande de BNY Mellon représente désormais 569 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous conservation et administration. Les volumes de «depotbanking» se montent à 122 milliards d’euros.

Selon Citywire, le gestionnaire de fortune basé à Hambourg Spudy & Co. a racheté plus de 50,1 % de la société munichoise Döttinger/Straubinger, dont les 49,9 % restants demeureront propriété des membres fondateurs. En échange, le créateur et CEO du gestionnaire, Werner Döttinger, obtient plus de 10% de Spudy & Co et rejoint son conseil de surveillance. Suite au rapprochement des deux entités, l'équipe comptera au total 80 collaborateurs, pour un encours de 4,5 milliards d’euros. Spudy & Co compte bénéficier de l’expérience de Döttinger/Straubinger auprès de la clientèle fortunée, notamment pour se développer davantage dans le Sud de l’Allemagne, commente Citywire.

Pirelli RE SGR has launched two new real estate funds, Anastasia and Monteverdi, with a total market value in excess of EUR400 million. They take its total assets of some EUR6.3 billion. The funds are dedicated to institutional investors, and specialized in properties primarily used as offices.

In second quarter 2010, TCW, the US-based asset management affiliate of Société Générale, posted net redemptions of USD2.7bn. For the banking group, which publishes its quarterly results this Wednesday morning, this represents a “net slowdown” compared with the first quarter of the year, when redemption demands totalled EUR12.6bn, in the wake of the departure of Jeffrey Gundlach and several other partners from the US management firm. SG states that outflows in second quarter include EUR5bn related to MBS activites, compared with EUR10.8bn in Q1. Other asset classes show net inflows of EUR2.3bn, particularly money market supports and equities, the bank adds. In light of market effects of -EUR2.7bn, currency effects of +EUR8.1bn, and perimeter effects of +EUR0.9bn, assets under management in the asset management activity of SG, which includes TCW and part of Amundi, totalled EUR88.7bn as of the end of June 2010, compared with EUR85.2bn as of the end of March 2010.

In second quarter, the alternative management firm Och-Ziff, publicly traded in the United States, has seen a 3% increase in its assets to USD25.5bn. Assets have increased 16% in one year. This increase of USD3.6bn in 12 months was driven by the performance of investments, which brought in USD2.4bn, and by net subscriptions of USD1.2bn. In second quarter, a USD647.2m increase in assets was due solely to subscriptions (USD1bn). As of 1 August, assets under management at Och-Ziff totalled USD25.9bn, after net subscriptions of EUR300m. In the first seven months of the year, the management firm posted net inflows of about USD2.2bn. Distributable profit at Och-Ziff incresed to USD57m in the three months to the end of June, compared with USD12.6m in the corresponding period of last year. Including ongoing costs, the firm shows a loss of USD89.4m.

China’s USD300 billion sovereign-wealth fund, China Investment Corp, is in advanced talks with Harvard University’s endowment to buy its stakes in half a dozen U.S.-focused real-estate funds for about USD500 million, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal. CIC has also made commitments to invest USD1 billion in funds managed by Brookfield Asset Management, headquartered in both Toronto and New York, and USD1 billion to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers.

According to multiple sources, several major European banks and some insurers are interested in acquiring a stake in the capital of the asset management affiliate of the Italian UniCredit group, Pioneer Investments, Les Echos reports. In France, the interested parties are said to include Amundi, Natixis AM and BNP Paribas. The value of the affiliate is estimated at EUR1.5bn to EUR2.5bn.

BNP Paribas Fortis has signed an agreement with the employees of the US fund management firm Montag & Caldwell Funds, at the conclusion of which it will sell them 100% of capital in the business, L’Echo reports. The transaction price has not been disclosed. The US firm, active in large cap growth equities and led by CEO Bill Vogel, manages USD14bn in assets and has 49 employees.

BNY Mellon has completed its acquisition of BHF Asset Servicing GmbH from BHF-BANK Aktiengesellschaft and Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. S.C.A in Germany. The transaction, first announced on March 8 2010, also includes the purchase of BHF Asset Servicing’s wholly-owned fund administration affiliate, Frankfurter Service Kapitalanlage-Gesellschaft mbH (FSKAG). The new combined German business has EUR569 billion in assets under custody and administration and a depotbanking volume of EUR122 billion.