La Banque de France a annoncé le 6 avril que le label Egalité, délivré par le groupe Afnor, lui a été remis le même jour par le ministre du Travail Eric Woerth. Créé en 2005 à l’initiative des pouvoirs publics avec les partenaires sociaux, le label Égalité distingue une organisation œuvrant efficacement et en permanence pour l’égalité et la mixité professionnelles, quels que soient son statut, son activité et sa taille. Démarche volontaire de la part de l’entreprise, la labellisation est délivrée pour une durée de trois ans renouvelable avec une évaluation intermédiaire à 12 ou 18 mois.Une cinquantaine d’organisations représentant près de 1 million de salariés devraient bientôt bénéficier du label Egalité. Les labellisés sont des grands groupes, associations, PME, adminsitrations et collectivités locales exerçant dans divers secteurs et aux effectifs très variables. Parmi les 38 entreprises (Banque de France y compris) ayant reçu le label Egalité figurent notamment Axa, BNP Personal Finance, Société Générale, Deloitte, EADS France, GIE BNP Paribas Assurances ou encore le Crédit Mutuel de Normandie.La demande de labellisation a été effectuée à ce jour par un nombre limité d’organisations, relève le communiqué de la Banque de France. Cette démarche présente en effet un risque d’image pour l’entreprise candidate, environ 25 % des dossiers étant rejetés au moment de leur instruction par Afnor Certification, filiale du Groupe Afnor.

Rothschild & Cie se dote d’un véhicule, Five Arrows Principal Investment, de 584 millions d’euros, pour des investissements directs en fonds propres (entre 20 et 60 millions d’euros) dans des sociétés de taille moyenne en Europe occidentale, rapporte l’Agefi. En termes de secteurs, l’établissement se dit généraliste, même si l’immobilier ou les secteurs technologiques très spécifiques sont exlus. L'équipe, composée de onze collaborateurs et devant accueillir, à terme, un douzième professionnel, est basée pour moitié à Londres et pour moitié à Paris.

A l’occasion de la présentation de ses résultats annuels 2009 de Saxo Banque, Saxo Asset Management qui s’est créée à partir de la consolidation de trois entités acquises en 2009 - Sirius, Capital Four et Global Evolution dont la société détient une participation de 51 % - a vu ses actifs sous gestion passer d’environ 1,34 milliard d’euros au moment de l’acquisition à plus de 2.7 milliards d’euros au 31 décembre 2009. Par ses trois acquisitions, Saxo Asset Management s’est spécialisée dans les obligations danoises, dans les actions nordiques et dans les obligations à haut rendement des marchés émergents. Le 1er avril 2010, le montant des actifs sous gestion s’élevait à 3.36 milliards d’euros (soit 25 % d’augmentation).

Rivoli Fund Management a annoncé mardi 6 avril le référencement de deux de ses fonds auprès de deux plateformes dédiées au marché des conseillers en gestion de patrimoine indépendants. Le fonds actions Rivoli Equity Fund (FR0010106336) qui met en oeuvre une gestion long/short actions avec une faible exposition nette au marché est désormais référencé par la plateforme d’assurance-vie Skandia et la plateforme bancaire Sélection R. Cette dernière plateforme a également référencé le fonds mixte international Rivoli Capital (Parts P : FR0010568709) dont la philosophie d’investissement repose sur la mise en oeuvre de stratégies court terme, long terme et d’arbitrages à partir d’un investissement portant sur trois classes d’actifs (actions, obligations et devises).

Après une bonne année 2009, Sigma Gestion veut poursuivre sur sa lancée en 2010 avec deux véhicules d’investissement complémentaires de sa nouvelle gamme ISF, un fonds commun de placement à risque (FCPR) et un fonds d’investissement de proximité (FIP). L’an dernier, Sigma Gestion a vu sa collecte progresser de 40% à 25 millions d’euros. Le FCPI lancé à l’automne et clotûré fin décembre a recueilli 15 millions d’euros. La société a recruté trois collaborateurs fin 2009 et compte désormais 12 personnes à temps plein.Le premier véhicule proposé, Rebond Pierre, s’inscrit dans une optique de sécurisation du capital. Il s’agit pour l’essentiel de repérer et d’investir dans des PME marchands de biens opérant sur de l’immobilier commercial. Sigma précise que 100% du montant des souscriptions seront consacrées à des prises de participation minoritaires (35% maximum) au capital de ces PME exerçant leurs activités en France. Chaque PME marchand de biens ne pourra représenter que 10% au maximum de l’actif de Rebond Pierre. L’autre véhicule, le FIP Sigma Gestion Fortuna 3, est un produit qui s’inscrit dans la lignée de l’offre de Sigma Gestion. Il s’agit d’investir 80% de l’actif dans les PME régionales en phase de développement en Ile-de-France, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine et Alsace, dont 20% auront moins de 5 ans. Les frais de gestion sont un peu moins élevés sur le FCPR, la réduction d’ISF étant de 50% sur le FCPR et de 40% sur le FIP. Sigma Gestion souhaite compléter son offre avec un troisième fonds en préparation, de type holding, dont l’investissement minimal se situerait autour de 30.000 euros.Caractéristiques FCPR Rebond Pierre Code ISIN : FR0010785717Valeur d’origine des parts A : 100 eurosSouscription minimale : 20 parts A, soit 2.000 eurosQuota des sociétés éligibles à la réduction ISF : 100%Valorisation : semestriellePériode de souscription : jusqu’au 31 décembre 2010-04-06 Durée de blocage des parts : jusqu’au 30 septembre 2015 minimum (et 31 mars 2016 maximum) FIP Sigma Gestion Fortuna 3 Code ISIN : FR0010863696Souscription minimale : 2.000 euros hors droits d’entréeValorisation : semestrielle/droit de sortie : 0%Durée de blocage : 8 ans prorogeable deux fois un anDate estimée d’entrée en liquidation : 30 septembre 2017Date maximum estimée de la hase d’uinvestissement : 5 ansDate minimum de blocage : 30 septembre 2018Date maximum de blocage : 30 septembre 2020

BNP Paribas a annoncé mardi 6 avril la nomination de Laurence Pessez au poste de déléguée à la Responsabilité sociale et environnementale (RSE). Elle aura notamment pour mission de piloter le déploiement d’une stratégie globale de RSE et d’élaborer une politique environnementale pour le groupe. Laurence Pessez qui a rejoint le groupe BNP Paribas en 2002 en tant que directeur de la communication de BNP Paribas Assurance, occupait depuis 2006 le poste de directeur de la communication et de la responsabilité sociale et environnementale de BNP Paribas Assurance. Elle rapporte directement à Jean Clamon, délégué général et membre du comité exécutif de BNP Paribas, précise le communiqué.

Dans un communiqué, BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNP Paribas IP) et Fortis Investment Management (Fortis IM) ont annoncé mardi avoir finalisé le rapprochement de leur holding respective le 1er avril 2010. L’entité combinée opère dorénavant sous une marque unique : BNP Paribas Investment Partners.En chiffres, l’intégration de Fortis Investments fait de BNP Paribas IP le cinquième gérant d’actifs européen et le 11ème à l’échelle mondiale avec 530 milliards d’euros d’actifs gérés et conseillés fin 2009. Dans le détail, BNP Paribas IP compte à présent 60 centres d’investissement, chacun responsable de la gestion d’une classe d’actifs ou d’un type de produit spécifique, et environ 1.200 professionnels de l’investissement, précise le communiqué.Compte tenu de son modèle multiboutique - alliant un gestionnaire d’actifs de grande envergure avec des partenaires spécialisés - BNPP IP étend sa couverture géographique sur différents marchés comme la Belgique, le Luxembourg et les Pays- Bas. Parallèlement, BNPP IP se renforce sur les marchés émergents, notamment en Asie que l'établissement place au coeur de sa stratégie de croissance, via une forte présence locale et une gamme de solutions d’investissement.

SEB Asset Management has announced that it has resold the Platinum office building (34,000 square metres) in Shanghai for about EUR200m to a realty firm listed in Hong Kong. The property belonged to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest (EUR6.3bn in assets). The sale was made at a price 30% higher than the price paid to buy the property in November 2007, and 7% above its market value. Recently, SEB AM announced that SEB ImmoInvest has acquired the Claude Bernard A2 office property under construction (11,200 square metres), which will be completed in May 2012, in the 19th district of Paris. The vendor is BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Development.

On Tuesday, Union Investment (German co-operative banks) launched the Luxembourg fund UniConvertibles, which will invest in convertible bonds worldwide. The product will be managed by Stefan Steinberger, a member of a seven-person specialised team which manages about EUR3bn for institutional clients. Characteristics Name: UniConvertibles AISIN: LU0489914670Front-end fee: 3% Management commission: 1.2 % (1.5% maximum)

According to statistics published on Tuesday by the German BVI association of asset management firms, investors in February placed a total of EUR9.7bn in the sector, of which EUR3.8bn were invested in open-ended funds, EUR3.3bn in institutional funds (Spezialfonds), and EUR2.6bn in mandates. Assets as of 28 February totalled EUR1.715trn, of which ERU650.2bn were in open-ended funds, EUR740.2bn in Spezialfonds, and EUR315.5bn in mandates. For open-ended securities funds, the top provider by far is the Deutsche Bank group (DWS, DB Advisers), with EUR141.2bn, followed by DekaBank (savings banks), with EUR103.8bn, Allianz Global Investors (AGI) with EUR84.6bn, Union Investment (co-operative banks, EUR84bn), and iShares ETFs from BlackRock issued in Germany (EUR19.1bn). For securities Spezialfonds, the champion is AGI, with EUR130bn, followed by Universal-Investment (EUR84bn), HSBC Trinkhaus & Burkhardt (EUR60.9bn), Helaba Invest (EUR56bn), and Union Investment (EUR48.1bn). For open-ended retail real estate funds, the top providers are Deka (EUR19.1bn), Union (EUR17.5bn), and Commerz Real (EUR12.5bn), while for institutional real estate funds, IVG Institutional Funds is far out ahead, with EUR7.5bn. For mandates, AGI is the top firm with EUR125.4bn, followed far behind by Generali Investments (EUR67.6bn), and DWS/DB Advisors/DB Group, with EUR53.2bn, Axa IM ranks fourth, with EUR28.2bn.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank announced that, following the completion of its acquisition of Sal. Oppenheim, it will be centralizing its private equity fund of fund activities within its asset management division. The new entity, DB Private Equity, will include the private equity group of the private wealth management (PWM) division, the secondary private equity team from the affiliate RREEF, and lastly, Sal. Oppenheim Private Equity Partners (SOPEP). Assets in the new entity will total about EUR6bn. The global head of DB Private Equity will be Chris Minter, managing director of Deutsche Bank, who will report to Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management and a member of the executive committee group at Deutsche Bank. Rolf Wickenkamp, who was until recently a partner at SOPEP, has been appointed vice chairman of DB Private Equity.

Four client advisors from Sal. Oppenheim, specialised in wealth management, will be joining Credit Suisse in Berlin, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Three of them joined the Swiss firm on 1 April, while the fourth will follow on 1 July. The Berlin office will then include 17 people, to serve as many as possible of the approximately 7,500 high net worth and ultra-high net worth private clients in the German capital. In total, Credit Suisse has about 500 people in 13 locations in Germany, including 150 client advisors.

Aviva Investors is continuing the redeployment of its development unit (see Newsmanagers of 6 April) with the appointment of two directors who will supervise the activities of all development teams in Europe in the strategic client segments (financial institutions, institutional investors, and Aviva). Gabriele Miodini, based in Italy, is appointed as a director and head of financial institutions for Europe. He will be largely responsible for forming relationships with the major financial and banking institutions and private banks, as well as with retail distribution platforms throughout Europe. Véronique Cherret, based in France, is appointed as a director and head of institutional investors for the United Kingdom and Europe. Her mission will be primarily to establish relations with pension funds, insurance companies, and retirement establishments.

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, this week made a fresh plea to European governments not to “discriminate” against US fund managers as they negotiate new rules for the hedge fund and private equity industries in an April 5 letter to Alistair Darling, Chancellor, that was obtained by the Financial Times. The letter was also sent to the finance ministers of Germany, France and Spain.

The German-registered asset management firm Maintrust KAG mbH (EUR1.8bn in assets as of the end of March), an affiliate of Nomura since 1991, has adopted the name Nomura Asset Management Deutschland KAG, or NAM Deutschland. The change will favour cross-selling and the opening of new distribution channels. Open-ended funds from the firm which use the prefix “MAT” will soon be changing names. Nomura (EUR173bn in assets as of the end of December), which relies on Maintrust’s expertise in the specialist bond fund segment and for custom solutions in Germany, is planning to extend the range of products available from its German affiliate into Asian products and other international funds.

Rothschild & Cie is creating a new vehicle, Five Arrows Principal Investment, with EUR584m in assets, for direct investment of owners’ equity (EUR20m to EUR60m) in mid-sized companies in Western Europe, Agefi reports. In sectoral terms, the firm claims to be generalist, although real estate and highly specialised sectors are excluded. The team, which will include 11 people, and which will eventually also feature a 12th, will be based half in Paris and half in London, the newspaper adds.

According to the annual survey by Credit Suisse of institutional investors with about USD1trn invested in hedge funds (Hedge Fund Investor Survey), assets in hedge funds may total USD1.97trn by the end of the year, up from USD1.64trn at the end of 2009. About 9 percentage points, or EUR148bn, of this 20% increase would come from new subscriptions, while the remaining 11% would result from positive market effects. These estimates are in line with those of hedge fund managers, whose estimates were surveyed last month in the Global Hedge Fund Manager Survey from Credit Suisse. In both surveys, two thirds of respondents predict that investors who agree to longer lock-ups of their investments would benefit from reduced commissions. The two favourite strategies of these investors are global macro (67% of respondents are planning to increase their allocation to these funds), and event-driven, with 62% of respondents planning to increase their exposure. Geographically, 61% of investors are planning to increase their allocations to Asia-Pacific funds. The two favourite formats of subscribers are managed accounts and UCITS III hedge funds, with 39% and 38% of respondents, respectively, planning to increase their allocations to these products. Lastly, Credit Suisse states that 94% of investors say they have benefited from a higher level of transparency in the past 18 months than in the past about positions in portfolios.

Some of the world’s biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, are fighting Lehman Brothers’ plan to spin off an asset management unit known as Legacy Asset Management, says Financial News Online.The banks say the proposal, which Lehman will use to repay creditors, is being rushed and appears to be unfair to certain Lehman creditors.

In a statement, BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNP Paribas IP) and Fortis Investment Management (Fortis IM) on Tuesday announced that they have finalised the merger of their respective holding companies as of 1 April 2010. The combined entity will now operate under a single brand name: BNP Paribas Investment Partners. On paper, the integration of Fortis Investments makes BNP Paribas IP the fifth-largest asset management firm in Europe, and 11th worldwide, with EUR530bn in assets under management and advised as of the end of 2009. In detail, BNP Paribas IP now has 60 investment centres, each of which is responsible for managing an asset class or a specific type of product, and about 1,200 investment professionals, a statement says. With this multi-boutique model, which allies a large-scale asset management provider with specialist partners, BNPP IP extending its geographical coverage into other markets, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, BNPP IP is strengthening its presence on emerging markets, particularly in Asia, which the firm places at the core of its growth strategy, through a strong local presence and a range of investment solutions.

BNP Paribas on 6 April announced the appointment of Laurence Pessez as deputy head for social and environmental responsibility (RSE). She will be largely responsible for overseeing deployment of a global RSE strategy and for elaborating an environmental policy for the group. Pessez, who joined the BNP Paribas group in 2002 as director of communications for BNP Paribas Assurance, has since 2006 served as director of communication and social and environmental responsibility at BNP Paribas Assurance. She will report directly to Jean Clamon, deputy CEO and member of the executive board at BNP Paribas, a statement says.

CB Richard Ellis Investors (CBRE) has announced the launch of the second Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) on the British market, Fund Strategy reports. The first fund of this type was offered a few weeks ago by Clavis Walden (Piccadilly UK Commercial Property Income Fund) PAIF funds are the open-ended equivalent of REITs. The target investors for the vehicle are pension funds, but retail investors will also have access, via a feeder fund of the same name, available on the major platforms.

Deutsche Börse on Tuesday announced that it has admitted three new Luxembourg-registered bond ETF funds from the German provider ComStage (Commerzbank) to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic platform, bringing the total number of products listed on XTF to 620. The total return funds charge fees of 0.17%, and replicate indices of the iBoxx € Germany Covered Capped range, with maturities in 3-5 years (ComStage ETF iBoxx € Germany Covered Capped 3-5 TR, LU0488317370), 5-7 years (ComStage ETF iBoxx € Germany Covered Capped 5-7 TR, LU0488317453), and 7-10 years (ComStage ETF iBoxx € Germany Covered Capped 7-10 TR, LU0488317537). The indices include covered bonds issued in Germany and denominated in Euros, with assets of at least EUR1bn.

According to the quarterly report from the CNMV, Spanish fund management firms last year posted net profits of EUR243m, compared with EUR503m in 2008, and revenues from commissiosn fell 26% to EUR1.7bn, even though assets remained virtually unchanged, compared with a decline of 27% in 2008. Management commissions fell to an average of 0.82%, compared with 1.1%. Meanwhile, the report states that 31 management firms (compared with 34 in 2008), out of a total of 108, lost money last year.

The coverage ratio for US pension funds improved further in March, to 88.1%, a gain of 2.8 percentage points, according to monthly statistics from BNY Mellon Asset Management.

In its report on the situation of the market, the CNMV estimates that real estate funds have the most unfavourable outlooks of all categories of investment funds, and that “it is unlikely” that their situation will improve substantially until the Spanish real estate sector begins to recover, Expansión reports. In 2009, assets in real estate funds fell 12.7%, while the number of subscribers contracted by 14.2%, to 83,583. The number of funds decreased by one, to eight. Assets under management as of the end of December totalled EUR6.46bn, of which 72.6% was in funds which were undergoing liquidation or which had frozen or delayed redemptions. Real estate funds lost an average of 9.3% last year.

Funds People reports that between 15 January and 26 March, the CNMV registered 26 new funds, compared with 23 in first quarter 2009, and 44 in the first three months of 2008. More than half of these new products (14) are guaranteed funds. The most active management firm was BBVA Asset Management, which launched five guaranteed funds, one bond fund, and one diversified fund. The CNMV says that it has registered three new Spanish-registered hedge funds: Altex Activist, Capitrade Systematic Global Futures, and Arcano Credit Fund.

Agefi Switzerland reports that nearly 1,000 employees of HSBC Private Bank will be moving in mid-June from the several various buildings that the bank occupied in Geneva into a single international business centre in Blandonnet, located immediately next to Cointrin airport. The front office will continue to be based on the banks of Lake Leman. Following the integration of HSBC Guyerzeller Bank AG and Guyerzeller Trust Company AG, the bank has 1,375 employees in Geneva, and a total of 1,774 in Switzerland (including 358 in Zurich and 41 in Lugano).

HSBC Global Asset Management is planning to launch an emerging markets absolute return fund toward the end of the month, Investment Week reports. The Luxembourg-domiciled fund, HSBC GIF GEM Equity Alpha Fund, will offer daily liquidity, and will have an annual performance objective of 10-15%, with volatility of 10% and limited market correlation. The new vehicle, which will comply with the UCITS III directive, joins the range of international investment funds from HSBC, which last month announced the launch of a European absolute return fund (see Newsmanagers of 19 March 2010).

HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Alex Letchfield as chief investment officer for UK private clients, Fund Strategy reports. Lethfield will succeed Jim Dunsford, who will concentrate on the management of the HSBC GIF Global Macro fund. Letchfield joined the group in 1993, and since late 2000 has been head of UK equities for British private clients.

Plans for Schroders’ development still revolve around organic growth, says the Financial Times Fund Management. The asset manager has more than GBP1bn of surplus capital in its war chest, triggering speculation that it would buy other fund management businesses. But so far the group has stayed away from acquisition. Separately, about 12 per cent of Schroders’ total assets under management are generated by the Americas, a figure Alan Brown, CIO, is keen to boost.