La Tribune reports that the short list of candidates to acquire KBL European Private Bankers (KBL EPB), the private banking activity of the Belgian financial group KBC, includes five firms. All of them have offered a price of over EUR1.5bn for the company, which manages EUR47bn in assets, the French newspaper notes. Two candidates from emerging countries are in the running: the Brazilian bank Safra and the Indian family investment firm Hinduja, the newspaper reports. In addition to these two, the Italian firm Agnelli, in collaboration with its holding company Exor, the US investment fund KKR in partnership with Luxempart, a holding company owned by the Luxembourg insurance company Le Foyer, and Julius Baer, the only Swiss private bank in the running, are also budding to acquire the business. So far, the five candidates are going over the books and meeting directors of KBL. They will be required to submit their final bids by 9 April.

As a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Aberdeen Global, the British management firm Aberdeen Asset Management is planning to launch a fund on 1 April 2010, which will come as an addition to its Emerging Markets Bond Fund. The product will be denominated in US dollars, and will invest in bonds from emerging countries denominated in local currencies, and will be entitled Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund. At least two thirds of assets will be invested in corporate or government bonds from emerging countries. Currently, according to portfolio manager Kevin Daly, the emerging markets team is overweight in Argentina, and is developing a strong preference for Mexico, Indonesia (“the Brazil of Asia,”) Poland, for its currency, and Hungary, for its interest rates. The Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund carries a front-end fee of 4.25%, and a management commission of 1.50%, while minimal subscription is set at USD1.500 or its equivalent.

L’Echo reports that a Belgian investor has taken the private bank Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (Dexia BIL) to court to seek a refund of all the money he lost in the Rafale Partners fund, which was invested in products from Bernard Madoff. He is seeking EUR660,000. The lawsuit comes after the investor refused a proposal from Dexia BIL to refund him more than 50% of his investment.

With the German-registered fund FT MultiAsset VolaTarget 9, Frankfurt Trust, the asset management firm from BHF-Bank, is launching its first fund of funds authorised to invest in equities, bonds, commodities, private equity, real estate, and cash, with the top priority of controlling risk. The two managers, Christoph Kind and Corinna Ament, will invest in various asset classes, whose weighting will be determined by a systematic quantitative selection process, and which will use either ETF or ETC (commodity) products. The risk level is set ex ante at about 9%. Characteristics Name: FT MultiAsset VolaTarget 9 ISIN: DE 000 A0Y CBJ 3 Front-end fee: 5 % Management commission: 1.5 % Depository banking commission (BHF Asset Servicing): 0.1% Minimal subscription: EUR2,500

Henderson Global Investors has obtained a license from the French regulator AMF to release the New Star Special Situations fund, managed by Richard Pease, former star manager from New Star, in France. The fund, launched on 1 October 2009, deploys “the well-known investment process of Richard Pease, based on the conviction that value management is a source of outperformance in the long term,” says Henderson, which acquired New Star last year. Henderson will limit assets in the New Star European Special Situations fund to about GBP500m, in order to retain a bias on the small and midcaps market. As of 4 March this year the fund had already received investments of GBP152.2m.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on Thursday launched the SPDR S&P Russia ETF, its eighth ETF to replicate the evolution of an emerging market. Assets in the fund as of 5 March totalled USD2.4bn.The new product, whose management commission totals 0.59%, tracks the S&P BMI Russia Capped index (72 positions), and is listed under the acronym RBL on the NYSE Arca platform.

The Chinese National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has announced that it made CNY84.9bn in 2009, which corresponds to returns of 16.1%, while assets allocated to foreign equities earned 53.26%. In 2008, the fund gained only 5.25%, due to losses of CNY39bn for its equities portfolio. Z-Ben Advisors states that in the past nine years, since its inception, the NSSF has earned annualised returns of 9.75%. Assets as of the end of December represented CNY776.5bn, 38% more than at the end of 2008. The objective is to reach CNY1trn by the end of this year.

Robert Michele, who since October 2008 has been director of fixed income management at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in London, is planning to double the firm’s exposure to emerging market corporate debt by the end of the year, according to Investment Week. Michele, manager of the Strategic Bond Fund (GBP52.4m), says that the current weighting of 10% could rise to 20% or 25%. The fund currently holds government debt from Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Israel, Turkey, and Egypt, but Michele would like to add corporate debt from Latin America and Asia.

Pressure was mounting for a compromise deal on Tuesday on the European Union’s draft rules on hedge funds and private equity which would reduce British opposition to the regulation, says the Financial Times.

As finance ministers of European Union countries meet this Tuesday to find a compromise on the planned AIFM directive, the British research centre Open Europe has issued a final warning over the dangers the text in its current form poses to the asset management industry as a whole, to investors and to the European economy. According to estimates already advanced by Open Europe, the hedge fund and private equity industries contribute EUR9.2bn per year to tax revenues to the European economy. This total could theoretically be reduced if the directive were retained in its current form. In addition, Open Europe notes, the bill has not been thoroughly amended, and may result in added costs of about EUR8.2bn to investment firms. This cost would largely be passed on to investors. To avoid these eventualities, Open Europe suggests that fewer restrictions should be placed on funds and non-European managers, and that more flexible rules be laid out for depositories. Open Europe also says that it is in favour of the idea that small asset management firms and closed funds (such as investment trusts, for example) be exempted from the directive.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank announced that it had closed its acquisition of Sal. Oppenheim (EUR137bn in assets as of the end of December). The acquisition price was paid in cash, and totalled EUR1bn, excluding BHF Asset Servicing, which was sold to BNY Mellon. The board of directors of Sal. Oppenheim will be enlarged with the arrival of two directors from Deutsche Bank, Jürgen Dobritzsch and Jürgen Fiedler, who will join the managing board, the former as chief financial officer (finance and management control), and the latter as chief risk officer. In addition, Pierre de Weck, a member of the executive committee at Deutsche Bank in charge of private wealth management, becomes chairman of the supervisory board at Sal. Oppenheim, which will remain a unit of the independent private bank, serving retail and institutional clients. Deutsche Bank states that the investment banking activities of Sal. Oppenheim will be abandoned by the end of the year, while BHF-Bank will continue to operate separately, as Deutsche Bank “studies several strategic options” for the firm.

Judge Belén Sánchez has ordered the real estate fund management firm from Santander to provide the names of all investors who requested redemptions of their shares in the Banif Inmobiliario fund at its last liquidity window in October 2008, Expansión reports. 400 clients have accused the bank of first organising exits for some subscribers, who held 16.9% of assets in the fund, at a time when the net asset value of the fund was at record levels, before causing panic which led investors to demand redemptions of 80% of shares in the fund.

Ignis Asset Management and its European equities boutique, Argonaut Capital, have announced the launch of the Ignis Argonaut European Enhanced Income Fund. The fund, due to launch at the beginning of April (subject to regulatory approval), will utilise a covered call strategy whereby the manager will sell call options against stocks in the fund to generate a higher level of yield. In its first year the fund will target an annual yield of approximately 7%, with the target adjusted annually within a range of 5% to 9% thereafter. All returns from the Ignis Argonaut Enhanced Income Fund will be hedged to sterling. Oliver Russ, who co-founded Argonaut Capital Partners with Barry Norris, will manage the Ignis Argonaut European Enhanced Income Fund. The new fund will complement the GBP460 million Ignis Argonaut European Income Fund Similar to the European Income Fund, the new portfolio will invest in 30 to 55 stocks, concentrating on three key areas: value stocks offering high dividends and the potential for capital appreciation; growth stocks with high earnings growth and a record of returning cash to shareholders; and special situations, where dividends are currently low but have considerable potential to increase as a result of restructuring or other corporate action.

Emmanuel Roulin, who opened the Paris office of Lombard Odier in 2001, and who until the end of last year was head of commercial activities and marketing for relations with institutional clients in Europe, has been appointed head of business development, Asia Pacific, in Hong Kong. In this newly-created position, Roulin will be responsible for development of activities assisting institutional clients in Asia-Pacific for both Lombard Odier Investment Managers and for Lombard Odier Funds. He will be assisted by a marketing and sales team which is in the process of recruitment. Lombard Odier has been providing wealth management services to high net worth investors and families in Hong Kong since 1997, in Tokyo since 1992, and in Singapore since 2007.

South Korean institutions are showing a growing interest in Islamic finance, which appears to be a way to distinguish its financial instruments from traditional products, according to BNY Mellon, which held a seminar on the subject a few days ago in Seoul. According to some estimates, most sukuk bond issues this year may come from the Asian region. Malaysia continues to dominate the Islamic bond market, with a market share of about 80%. But South Korea, a latecomer to this market, nonetheless hopes to do well with the establishment of a fiscal environment favourable to the issue of sukuks.

Thomson Reuters on 15 March announced the launch of 7,500 sector equities indices covering a wide range of regions and sectors (18 regions and 44 countries), including Emerging Market and Asia Pacific sector indices, and specific indices focused on sectors such as water, renewable energies and diversified media.

According to a Deutsche Bank AG survey, the majority of investors said they expect to see more than USD100 billion of net assets flow into hedge funds in 2010. That comes after two years of net outflows. The survey reflects the views of roughly 600 investors controlling about USD1.1 trillion in hedge-fund assets. They include funds-of-funds.

Though operating revenues were down to GBP325m from CHF328m, and EBITDA fell to CHF227m, from CHF240m, the Swiss asset management firm Partners Group posted a 20% increase in its profits for 2009 by IFRS accounting standards, at CHFR205m. Dividends will be increased to CHF4.50 per share, from CHF4.25 for the 2008 fiscal year. This corresponds to a dividend yield of 3.1% on the basis of the closing price of shares in the firm as of 12 March. Assets total about CHF25bn, and the directors of Partners Group confirm that they are expecting net subscriptions this year of CHF4-5bn.

The directors of several of the largest UK asset management firms (Aberdeen AM, Gartmore, F&C, and others) have put an end to hopes of consolidation in the asset management industry this year, Financial News reports. After speaking to several of them, the news source has found that they will prefer to focus on improving their balance sheets, rather than engaging in deals of this type.

Fondée sur des actifs diversifiés, la performance annualisée de son portefeuille à fin 2009 s’élève à 6,5 % par an sur 20 ans et à 8 % sur 30 ans

Après Pernod et Renault la semaine dernière, Rallye et Vestas ont émis hier respectivement 500 et 600 millions d'euros de dette

En janvier, ces institutions ont continué à réduire leurs positions sur les T-Bills et T-Bonds. La Chine participe largement au mouvement

Selon les milieux financiers, la division de banque d’investissement de la Royal Bank of Scotland aurait été chargée de gérer un appel d’offres pour les capacités de cogénération d’Iberdrola en Espagne, ce qui représentait 381 mégawatts l’an dernier, rapporte Expansión.KKR aurait proposé 400 millions d’euros et les autres candidats potentiels sont CVC Capital Partners, Carlyle/Riverstone, HG Capital ainsi que le groupe d'électricité britannique International Power.Du côté d’Iberdrola, on assure que les actifs de cogénération ne sont pas à vendre, mais un directeur financier estime qu’Iberdrola pourrait changer d’avis si on lui proposait plus de 500 millions d’euros.

En 2009, les huit fonds immobiliers espagnols ont supporté des charges de 211 millions d’euros tandis que leurs recettes de loyers représentaient 219 millions d’euros, constate Cinco Días. Cela s’explique par une chute importante des taux d’occupation, à par exemple 77,6 % pour le Santander Real Estate et 73,2 % pour le fonds d’Ahorro Corporación, alors que les charges d’exploitation demeurent inchangées.La valeur de l’actif des fonds a diminué de 12,7 % entre fin décembre 2008 et fin février 2010.Deux fonds ont suspendu leurs remboursements jusqu'à nouvel ordre : le Banif Inmobiliario et le Segurfondo Inversión, tandis que le BBVA a promis de reprendre les remboursements en novembre prochain.Depuis le début de l’année, seuls trois fonds immobiliers gagnent de l’argent : A. C. Patrimonio Inmobiliario, Sabadell BS Inmobiliario et Habitat Patrimonio.

LCL propose une nouvelle offre de Fonds Commun de Placement à capital garanti à destination des particuliers, LCL Sécurité 100 (Mars 2010), éligible au compte de dépôt et au Plan d’Epargne en Actions (PEA). LCL Sécurité 100 (Mars 2010) offre aux épargnants une garantie de 100% du capital net investi(1) à l’échéance de 6 ans et sécurise une partie des gains potentiels en cours de vie du fonds. En effet, grâce à l’effet cliquet, dès que le fonds réalise une performance de +15%, il atteint son 1er palier, et un gain de 5% est alors sécurisé et acté, même en cas de retournement ultérieur des marchés (la garantie à l’échéance passant alors de 100% à 105% du capital net investi). Puis, à chaque fois que la valeur liquidative du fonds augmente de 5%, un nouveau palier est franchi et le fonds sécurise un gain supplémentaire de 5% : c’est le bénéfice du cliquet de performance. L’objectif du fonds consiste à offrir à l’échéance des 6 ans (soit le 08/04/2016) : 100% du capital net investi, plus le meilleur entre le bénéfice d’un cliquet de performance (une partie des gains potentiels est sécurisée en cours de vie du fonds comme expliqué ci-dessus) et la performance finale du fonds. Principales caractéristiques du fonds Code Isin FR0010843029 Forme juridique Fonds Commun de Placement (FCP) de droit français Classification AMF Diversifié Société de gestion Amundi Commercialisateurs Agences LCL Pays de commercialisation France Valeur liquidative de la part à l’origine 100 euros Minimum de la première souscription 1 part Minimum des souscriptions ultérieures 1 millième de part Affectation des résultats Capitalisation Eligibilité fiscale Compte de dépôt, PEA Durée de placement minimum recommandée 6 ans Périodicité de la Valeur Liquidative Quotidienne Frais de fonctionnement et de gestion maximum frais directs : 1,50% TTC l’an maximum Commission de souscription maximum  2,50% max Commission de rachat  Néant pour les rachats effectués sur la base de la VL finale (établie le 08/04/2016)  1% (acquis au fonds) pour les rachats effectués sur la dernière valeur liquidative des mois de janvier, avril, juillet et octobre de chaque année  2% (dont 1% acquis au fonds) pour les rachats centralisés à d’autres dates (autres valeurs liquidatives)

Le 11 mars, rapporte la Tribune, le comité d’entreprise d’AGF Private Equity avec le soutien de l’unanimité des salariés s’est opposé à la cession à la société d’investissement cotée IDI et a mandaté son secrétaire pour engager toute action à l’encontre des différentes parties prenantes.

La Tribune rapporte que pour améliorer la sécurisation de sa salle de marché, Natixis vient de mettre en place un nouveau système biométrique qui identifie chaque opérateur de marché grâce à la circulation du sang dans les doigts et permet désormais d’autoriser ou d’interdire toutes sortes d’opérations pour chaque personne. La Société Générale opterait plutôt pour un modèle de cartes à puce, comme les autres banques françaises qui réfléchissent à mettre en place ce système d’identification dans leurs salles de marché. Moins sûr que la biométrie, le système de cartes à puce représente un investissement environ vingt fois moins cher que celui de la biométrie.

Managing director de SGAM AI Real Estate Investment Managers jusqu'à l’intégration de cette société dans Amundi Immobilier à fin 2009, Jean-Christophe Ginet lance Adremis Conseil, une société de conseil et d’ingénierie à destination des acteurs de l’investissement immobilier, investisseurs institutionnels, gestionnaires d’actifs et de fonds, opérateurs immobiliers et utilisateurs.A partir de l’expertise développée par son fondateur, Adremis Conseil offre deux types de prestations : • Conseil et assistance pour la mise en œuvre de projets de développement et de re-engineering, • Ingénierie et montage de structures d’investissement immobilier.

Après avoir récemment obtenu l’agrément de l’Autorité des marchés financiers pour la gestion d’OPCI RFA (Organisme de Placement Collectif en Immobilier à règles de fonctionnement allégées) destinés à des investisseurs qualifiés (Cf. Newsmanagers du 10/02/10), la société de gestion A Plus Finance espère commercialiser son premier produit de ce type avant l'été 2010. Logiquement, compte tenu de la clientèle à laquelle il s’adresse, l’OPCI en question sera un produit «pur», investi en immobilier de bureaux et commerces, sous la direction de Christophe Peyre, responsable de la gestion immobilière au sein de l’entreprise. La société de gestion spécialisé dans le non-coté n’en est pas à sa première diversification. Outre les FCPI (Fonds commun de placement dans l’innovation) et les FIP (Fonds d’investissement de proximité) qu’elle pilote – sans oublier son rôle d’allocataire dans une part consacrée à la multigestion au sein des portefeuilles de ces fonds – A Plus Finance a d’ores et déjà lancé deux Sofica (Sociétés de financement de l’industrie cinématographique et de l’audiovisuel). En tout état de cause, cette corde supplémentaire dont s’est dotée la société lui permet de «prévenir» les nuages qui s’amoncellent sur le «non coté». Via, notamment, les conséquences de l’amendement Arthuis qui réduit les durées d’investissement de 24 mois à 8 mois pour 50 % des capitaux collectés – une décision qui peut aller à l’encontre d’une gestion de qualité - ainsi que la volonté des pouvoirs publics de supprimer la pratique des rétrocessions des frais pour rémunérer le distributeur afin de faire baisser le coût des FCPI et FIP pour les investisseurs. Pour autant, la société insiste sur le fait que la diversification qu’elle opère via les OPCI s’inscrit dans la logique de son activité traditionnelle. «Nous restons sur nos métiers de base avec de la due diligence, explique Fabrice Imbault, directeur associé. Notre rôle consiste toujours à évaluer les hommes, évaluer les business plan, comme nous le faisons déjà pour nos fonds. Notre savoir-faire s’applique ici non pas dans le secteur du logiciel, des médias ou de l’e-business mais dans celui de l’immobilier.»

Natixis a annoncé le 12 mars que Napoléon Gourgaud rejoint 1818 Partenaires en qualité de directeur général délégué en charge du développement. A ce titre, il sera responsable de l’animation des équipes commerciales et assurera le développement de 1818 Partenaires sur le marché des professionnels indépendants du patrimoine.Napoléon Gourgaud était précédemment à la Financière de Champlain où il exerçait les fonctions de directeur de la distribution France.