George Gosden, who spent eight years as a director in the international team at Insight Investment, has joined the Asian Equity desk at Threadneedle. He will be deputy head of the Asia ex Japan team, and will report to Vanessa Donegan, head of Asian Equities. Gosden will be in charge of management of pan-Asian institutional mandates; he will also be the technology specialist for the Asia ex Japan region.

In a private conference call held on Wednesday for investors, Roger Guy, the co-head of hedge fund operations at UK asset manager Gartmore, has hit out at the company’s “excessive” internal compliance rules which he blames for the suspension of his Partner Guillaume Rambourg this week, says the Financial TImes. The latter is alleged to have requested the company’s dealers place trades with particular brokers – prohibited by Gartmore’s regulations concerning best practice.“I didn’t agree with the rule when it was introduced,” Roger Guy said.

Veritas Asset Management has recruited Neil Cooper as a senior analyst for its international team. Cooper previously worked at Insight Investment, where he was an analyst covering the international financial sector.

According to Financial News Online, Fund managers at Schroders, Oddo Asset Management and Dexia Asset Management, along with Guillaume Rambourg at Gartmore, have been fined almost EUR1m by the Italian regulator Consob for market abuse.

On Wednesday, Universal Investment announced that it will be releasing a specialist currencies fund, with the objective of generating annual returns of 10%, with volatility of about 8%. The German-registered product (DE000A0YJF34), Premium Currencies UI, was launched on 15 February, and replicates the strategy which has been used since 2004 by the Zurich-based Prem1um Currency Advisors (CHF1bn in assets) and its CIO, Guiseppe Manieri. The strategy’s track record since 2004 shows a correlation of -0.16 with the S&P 500, - 0.12 with the HFRX Global HF Index, and -0.38 with the Barclay Currency index. The fund bets on the evolution of bilateral parity between the most liquid currencies of the G10, and may use long and short positions. The process uses chart-based technical analysis, trend monitoring and statistical resources, and a quantitative and discretionary trading method. Front-end fee and management commission are set at 5% and 0.35%, respectively, while advising commission is set at 2%, and performance commission is 20%, with high watermark.

Hedge Week reports that the British management firm RWC Partners has been granted permission to distribute its RWC US Absolute Alpha fund, which complies with the UCITS III directive, in Germany. The fund is a long/short US equity strategy, led by Mike Corcell, which was launched in October 2009, and has about USD350m in assets.

The Netherlands-based investment boutique Finles Capital Management has launched the first tracker fund dedicated exclusively to hedge funds in the Netherlands. Hedge Week reports that the initiative aims to attract more institutional investors to Dutch hedge funds, and to put the Netherlands on the map as an international centre in the hedge fund sector. The Dutch Hedge Fund Tracker is a fund of funds which will initially replicate the performance of at most 25 hedge fund managers in the Netherlands, on the basis of the new Dutch Hedge Fund Index. The index is derived from the Finles/IEX Dutch Hedge Fund Index, which started out with 17 hedge funds on 1 January 2009, and which included 27 funds as of January this year. In 2009, the performance of the index measured 11%.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on Tuesday announced that it has signed an agreement with Nuveen Investments, by the terms of which Nuveen will become sub-adviser to five municipal bond ETFs. Nuveen Asset Management will be responsible for management of assets under the supervision of SSgA Funds Management and the board of trustees for each fund, with total assets of nearly USD2bn. The agreement comes into effect on 1 April 2010. It covers the SPDR Barclays Capital Municipal Bond ETF (acronym TFI), Capital California Municipal Bond ETF (CXA); Capital New York Municipal Bond ETF (INY), Capital Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (SHM), and SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF (VRD). To ensure a smooth transition, Tim Ryan, lead portfolio manager for ETFs at SPDR, specialised in municipal bonds, will join Nuveen Asset Management as senior vice president.

Macquarie Capital has appointed Carsten Klante as head of its ECM (Equity Capital Markets) activities, which specialise in IPOs, for Germany and Austria, Fondsprofessionell reports. Klante previously held the same position at Sal. Oppenheim.

Handelsblatt reports that, according to rumours in financial circles, the management firm DWS (Deutsche Bank) is in talks with State Street to outsource its fund accounting, which would affect about 250 jobs. Currently, the activities concerned are provided by the Global Technology Operations (GTO) division of Deutsche Bank. DWS, Deutsche Bank and State Street all declined to comment.

The investor confidence index calculated by State Street Global Markets posted an increase in March of 5.4 points, to 108 points, compared with a corrected level of 102.6 for February. Institutional investors in Asia were the foremost cause of this movement, as the regional index gained 4.1 points to 100.8, compared with a corrected level of 96.7 points the previous month. Changes were more moderate elsewhere: investor confidence in North America increased slightly, from 110.1 (corrected level) to 110.4, while in Europe, confidence remains slightly lower, with the regional index down slightly, from 99.8 (corrected level) to 97.3 points in March. In addition to this significant increase in the confidence of institutional investors, “it is interesting to note that we are beginning to observe some divergence between the confidence of investors and consumers in the United States, as consumers are becoming less confident and investors are gaining confidence,” says Paul O’Connell, one of the two creators of the index. “It remains to be seen whether consumer sentiment will change this month, but in the meanwhile, institutional investors have been persistent in their acquisitions on many markets and in many sectors, with the exception of the economies on the periphery of Europe, and some specific sectors such as health.”

Inflows to funds in February totalled GBP1.9bn, the highest level ever recorded in the month of February, following a January which was also exceptional, according to statistics published on 31 March by the British investment management association (IMA) Assets under management in funds domiciled in the United Kingdom as of the end of February totalled a record GBP484.7bn, up 3% from January, and 42% up on february 2009. This development is related to growth in inflows as well as to positive market effects. Equities were the most popular asset class, with total sales of GBP703m, a 23% increase over January. February 2009 saw a net outflow from equities of GBP28m.

Standard & Poor’s on 31 March announced that it has revised its credit rating for AXA down from AA to AA-, with a stable outlook. The ratings agency says it is unlikely that the French group will succeed in the next 12 to 24 months in restoring its profitability and operational performance to the levels required to retain a AA rating. S&P also lowered its counterparty rating for the Axa holding company from A+ to A.

Jeffries on 31 March announced the appointment of Cyril Paillard as managing director of distribution for MBS/ABS products in Paris, where he will be in charge of institutional clients in France and Northern Europe. Paillard’s arrival marks a new stage in the development of the MBS/ABS international platform, which now includes 90 professionals in the United States, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. Paillard was previously at RBS, where he was in charge of distribution for structured products in the EMEA region.

The alternative management firm AM Investment Partners and BAM Capital on 30 March announced an agreement in principle for a merger “between equals” bringing the two firms together. The new firm, which will be known as AM Investment Partners, will be led by the co-founders of BAM Capital, Ross Berman and Hal Mintz, as well as the co-founders of AM Investment Partners, Mark Friedman and Adam Stern. Assets under management at the new firm will total about USD600m.

Crédit Agricole Assurances on 31 March announced that it has decided to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI). The firm becomes the first banking-insurance business to sign the PRI, Crédit Agricole says in a statement, making the step a sign of genuine progress in the consideration of extra-financial criteria in analysis and investment decisions. By joining the PRI, Crédit Agricole Assurances joins other entities of the Crédit Agricole which have already signed the PRI (Amundi, Chevreux, Crédit Agricole Private Equity), and confirms the desire of Crédit Agricole to bring its investment decisions into harmony with the needs of society.

Ivy Asset Management, which BNY Mellon Asset Management is closing, is under investigation for advice it allegedly gave related to investing with Bernard Madoff, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Vincent Strauss is stepping in as co-manager of Comgest’s Monde and Growth World funds, replacing Jean-François Canton who has begun delegating his responsibilities in anticipation of his forthcoming retirement, says Citywire. The latter will also be relinquishing his responsibility as the firm’s head of global equities but will remain on the company’s board of members.

Hedge Week reports that the financial services firm Fund.com has acquired Weston Capital Management, a firm specialised in developing and distributing hedge funds. Weston Capital, which is based in Florida, and also has offices in New York and London, has three activities: the origination and distribution of funds of funds, the origination and distribution of single-manager hedge funds, and raising capital to launch new hedge funds. Weston has recently entered into an alliance with Harcourt for manager research and fund financing. Harcourt, which is controlled by the Swiss firm Vontobel, is a hedge fund management firm (USD4.5bn in assets under management) which advises institutional investors on hedge fund investment opportunities.

Following the departure a few days ago of Patrick Giry from Carmignac Gestion, where he began in 2001 as head of distribution for France, and subsequently served from 2007 as CEO for the Luxembourg unit of the asset management firm and country head for Luxembourg, Carmignac is now in an active recruitment phase. Giry’s responsibilities have been divided into two positions, one for a director for southern Europe, including France, Spain, and Italy, and one for a co-manager in charge of northern Europe, which includes Benelux, Germany, and Switzerland. For the moment, the first of these positions has been entrusted to the asset management firm’s head for Italy, Davide Fregonese, but the second position has not yet been assigned. Eric Helderlé, CEO of Carmignac Gestion, confirms that the firm is seeking an applicant who is “perfectly bilingual, with serious pan-European experience.” In terms of inflows, the volume represented by each of the two zones has not been disclosed. The only sign is that the overall total for 2009 at the asset manager was EUR15bn.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US teachers’ pension fund TIAA-CREF has decided to increase commissions for its ten Life Funds, which invest in variable annuities, which aim to guarantee subscribers a supplement to their pension benefits, from 1 May. The price hikes range from 3 basis points (for the Stock Index Fund) to 44 basis points (for the Small-Cap Equity Fund). The increase in charges, which is the third such increase in five years is reported to have been motivated by an increase in regulatory burden as well as increased competition on the market for new management talent.

Le redressement du smile favorise la mise en place de stratégies directionnelles baissières

Le différentiel avec le taux des emprunts d'Etat américains pourrait devenir structurellement négatif

Le différentiel avec le taux des emprunts d'Etat américains pourrait devenir structurellement négatif

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La Grèce ne fera pas faillite, sans «bail-out» ni discipline budgétaire, puisque les mesures d’urgence prises la semaine dernière aboutissent à ce que la BCE et le FMI lui garantissent un financement en dernier ressort. Un double privilège, qui malheureusement révèle l’impasse dans laquelle la construction européenne se trouve.

ABN Amro Private Banking a nommé Arjan de Boer au poste de responsable de la banque privée à Hong Kong à la suite de la promotion, en septembre dernier, de son prédecesseur, Hans Diederen, à la tête des activités Asie, selon Asian Investor. Depuis 2006, Arjan de Boer était responsable des produits dédiés pour l’Asie chez ABN Amro Private Banking.

AXA a annoncé mardi 30 mars qu’AXA National Australia Bank Limited (« NAB ») et AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (« AXA APH ») étaient parvenus à un accord cadre. La transaction inclut un « scheme of arrangement » et un accord de vente, par lesquels NAB acquerrait 100% d’AXA APH, dont il conserverait les activités australiennes et néo-zélandaises et cèderait à AXA 100% des activités asiatiques. Le communiqué d’Axa détaille ensuite les conditions de la transaction qui reste soumise à certaines obligations et conditions usuelles, incluant notammentl’obtention d’autorisations de divers accords réglementaires par NAB et/ou AXA qui devrait intervenir dans le courant du deuxième trimestre 2010. En outre, les principales autorisations ou non objections devront être obtenues de l’autorité de la concurrence australienne (ACCC) et d’autres autorités réglementaires australiennes et néo-zélandaises (principalement APRA et le trésor fédéral), ainsi qu’asiatiques.Dans le détail, les actionnaires minoritaires d’AXA APH auront le choix entre la paiement de 6,43 dollars australiens en numéraire par action AXA APH et la détention de 0,1745 action NAB et 1,59 dollar australien en numéraire par action AXA APH.Les actionnaires d’AXA APH ont reçu le dividende 2009 final d’AXA APH d’un montant de 9,25 centimes par action.Les conséquences pour Axa ont ensuite été exposés : dans le cadre de la transaction, NAB achèterait les actions d’AXA dans AXA APH pour 7,2 milliards de dollars australiens en numéraire (1) et AXA acquerrait auprès de NAB 100% des activités asiatiques d’AXA APH pour 9,4 milliards de dollars australiens en numéraire.Dans cette opération avec NAB, AXA paierait un montant net en numéraire de 2,2 milliards de dollars australiens (soit 1,4 milliard d’euros), correspondant à la différence entre 100% de la valeur des activités asiatiques d’AXA APH et 54% de la valeur d’AXA APH. Dans le cadre de la transaction, AXA APH remboursera un prêt interne de 0,7 milliard de dollars australiens (soit environ 0,4 milliard d’euros) consenti par AXA et AXA souscrirait une dette senior de 0,6 milliard de dollars australiens (soit environ 0,4 milliard d’euros), émise par une filiale de NAB.Enfin, le communiqué précise que la transaction aurait les impacts suivants sur AXA :• Relutif en résultat par action en 2012 (2),• -1 pt sur le ratio solvabilité I, qui était de 171% au 31 décembre 2009,• +3 pts de ratio d’endettement (3), qui était de 26% au 31 décembre 2009,• + 0,7 milliard d’euros de plus value nette réalisée, comptabilisé en résultat net.AXA a reçu de AXA APH en 2010 un dividende au titre de l’année 2009 d’un montant de 103millions de dollars australiens (soit environ 70 millions d’euros). (1) Sur la base de 6,43 dollars australiens par action AXA APH(2) Ne prend pas en compte l’augmentation de capital réalisée par AXA le 4 décembre 2009(3) (Dettes de financement nettes +dette subordonnée perpétuelle) divisé par (fonds propres, hors juste valeurconstatée en fonds propres + dettes de financement nettes)

L’agence munichoise de notation ISR a annoncé mardi la signature d’un accord de coopération qui entre en vigueur le 1er avril avec l’Association allemande des fondations (Bundesverbandes Deutscher Stiftungen).Dans ce cadre, oekom research offrira aux plus de 3.400 fondations adhérentes un diagnostic unique et gratuit de leur portefeuille sous l’angle des critères de développement durable.Cela leur permettra d'éviter des bavures comme la controverse provoquée aux Pays-Bas par le fait que la Fondation de lutte contre le cancer (KWF Kankerbestrijding) avait investi une partie de ses actifs dans des entreprises du secteur du tabac.Sur une question de Newsmanagers, Rolf Häßler, directeur des produits et du développement d’oekom research, a précisé que l’agence pourrait ultérieurement percevoir des commissions si les fondations jugeaient utile de faire effectuer des «screenings» de suivi sur leur portefeuille ou si elles se décidaient à investir dans des fonds ISR utilisant la recherche d’oekom research.

Pour 2009, le prestataire allemand de services financiers AWD Holding a pesé sur les comptes de Swiss Life, puisqu’après charges de restructuration et charges exceptionnelles de 53,7 millions d’euros, son résultat avant impôt et charges financières (EBIT) a été négatif de 41,1 millions d’euros contre un bénéfice de 19,7 millions d’euros en 2008, pour un chiffre d’affaires en baisse de 16,5 % à 528,7 millions d’euros.Toutefois, Manfred Behrens, président du directoire, a indiqué mardi que le programme de restructuration, qui a permis notamment de réduire les charges fixes de 50 millions d’euros annuels, est désormais achevé, de sorte qu’il devrait être possible d’atteindre un EBIT positif de 40-50 millions d’euros pour cette année. Au premier trimestre, ce bénéfice aura été de plus de 9 millions d’euros, ce qui est supérieur aux attentes.