Selon Les Echos, bfinance estimait à 650 milliards d’euros à fin juin le montant de la gestion déléguée en France, c’est-à-dire le montant que gèrent les sociétés de gestion pour le compte des institutionnels français, hors actifs captifs et assurance-vie. Le consultant se fonde sur les déclarations des sociétés de gestion. Sur un an (juin 2008-juin 2009), la gestion déléguée a stagné, mais elle a progressé de 11% au premier semestre. Les quatre premiers gérants (BNP Paribas IP, Crédit agricole AM, Natixis AM, et SG AM), trustent 46% du marché. Amundi, la nouvelle société formée entre Crédit Agricole AM et SG AM, gère autour de 130 milliards d’euros pour les institutionnels français. Ce qui en fait le numéro1, devant BNP IP (98 milliards d’euros) puis Natixis AM (77,4 milliards d’euros).

Le directoire du Fonds de réserve pour les retraites a indiqué le 26 octobre que la performance nette du FRR depuis le début de l’année 2009 s’inscrivait au 30 septembre, sur la base de données estimées et non auditées, à 12,8%, avec un recul de 6,5% pour le premier trimestre mais des augmentations de 10,5% pour le deuxième trimestre et de 9,2% au troisième trimestre. Sa performance annualisée, nette de tous frais de fonctionnement financiers et administratifs, depuis son démarrage opérationnel (juin 2004) est de + 2,6%. Cette performance résulte pour l’essentiel du fort rebond des marchés actions depuis la deuxième quinzaine du mois de mars 2009. Compte tenu de ces évolutions, le montant des actifs du FRR au 30 septembre s’élevait à 31,9 milliards d’euros (27,7 milliards au 31 décembre 2008). A cette même date, ils se répartissaient entre 49,5% d’actifs de performance (actions, immobilier et matières premières) et 50,5% d’actifs obligataires et d’actifs monétaires en attente d’investissement.

Deux démentis et un silence radio. C’est le bilan qui fait suite à l’article paru sur le site internet du journal le Monde lundi 26 octobre, révélant la volonté du Crédit Agricole de s’allier à la Société Générale avec l’aide de Groupama, un autre établissement mutualiste avec lequel la banque verte se serait rapproché dans un premier temps. Objectif pour René Carron et Georges Pauget, respectivement président et directeur général du Crédit Agricole : faire de l’ensemble constitué le numéro un en France dans la banque et l’assurance - et rattraper, entre autre, le temps perdu face à BNP Paribas.Dans un premier temps détaillait le quotidien, le Crédit Agricole aurait fait alliance avec Groupama pour mettre en commun leurs activités d’assurance. Ensuite, alors que Groupama détient déjà 4 % du capital de la banque au logo rouge et noir, les deux mutualistes seraient montés jusqu'à 30 % dans le capital de la Société Générale. Or, précisait le Monde dans son article, Jean Azéma, le responsable de Groupama «échaudé par un premier projet de mariage raté avec la Banque verte, il y a quelques années, qui a failli lui coûter son poste en raison de l’opposition des patrons de caisses régionales, serait lui-même le farouche défenseur de l’indépendance de son entreprise et serait de facto circonspect face à cette nouvelle proposition d’alliance.» Quant à Frédéric Oudéa à la tête de Société Générale, il s’est aussi montré opposé à cette perte d’indépendance de la banque. Au final, Crédit Agricole SA a indiqué peu après la sortie de l’article ne pas avoir «engagé de négociations avec les groupes Société Générale et Groupama et ne pas avoir envisagé de le faire». De son coté, la Société Générale a aussi démenti avoir été approché pour ce projet. Quant à Groupama, interrogé par Newsmanagers, l'établissement mutualiste, s’est contenté de s’abstenir de tout commentaire, tout en démentant l’information concernant Jean Azéma et les caisses régionales. Le projet de la banque verte n’a donc pas suscité l’enthousiasme espéré par les responsables de l’entreprise. En attendant, le Crédit agricole et la Société Générale ont déjà su s’entendre en ayant mis en commun plusieurs activités. Dernière en date : l’asset management, avec la naissance la semaine dernière d’Amundi Asset Management.

La valeur actuelle des engagements de retraite des sociétés du CAC s'élevait à fin 2008 à 170 milliards d’euros, soit 24% de la somme de leurs capitaux propres, selon l'étude annuelle réalisée par Mercer sur les engagements de retraite des sociétés du CAC 40. Ces engagements se sont traduits par une charge annuelle de 6,3 milliards d’euros. La valeur de marché des actifs de couverture des engagements est passée de 125 milliards d’euros fin 2007 à 105 milliards fin 2008, ce qui a ramené le taux de couverture de 72% à 62%.En ce qui concerne l'évolution temporelle de l’allocation des actifs, on observe une baisse significative de la part des actifs investis en actions, passée de 51% en 2005 à 33% en 2008. Outre l’impact mécanique de la très forte correction des marchés actions, cette évolution est aussi la conséquence de la volonté des entreprises de mettre en place une moindre exposition aux marchés actions. Corollaire de cette tendance, la hausse de la part des actifs investis en obligations (51% l’an dernier contre 47% en 2007) et surtout la hausse de la part des actifs investis dans la catégorie «autres», qui passe d’une année sur l’autre de 7% à 12%. Il semble que cette hausse recouvre la part des actifs investie dans des supports alternatifs (sociétés non cotées, hedge funds, fonds ayant des stratégies court terme). «Cette hausse traduit notamment une plus grande prise en compte par les sociétés des risques de marché et un véritable souhait de diversification des supports d’investissements».Le taux de financement moyen par société s'élevait l’an dernier à 54% alors qu’il était de 61% à fin 2007. Cette évolution, déjà prise en compte par certains pays comme les Etats-Unis ou le Royaume-Uni, va avoir un impact à la hausse sur le montant des cotisations futures versées aux fonds de retraite. Mercer déplore à ce stade que «les informations disponibles dans les annexes comptables à propos des cotisations futures ne sont pas suffisamment détaillées pour que cet impact puisse être analysé de manière précise». Seules 28 sociétés fournissent une estimation des cotisations prévues sur 2009, ce qui est requis par l’IAS 19, et rares sont celles qui fournissent de vrais détails sur les cotisations futures.Par ailleurs, l’enquête évoque la problématique du taux d’actualisation, l’une des hypothèses prépondérantes dans l'évaluation des engagements sociaux et qui selon la norme IAS 19 doit être déterminé par référence à un taux de marché. Mercer rappelle que la volatilité des indices ainsi que les écarts observés entre ces indices ont conduit l’AMF à émettre des recommandations concernant le choix de l’indice et sur la nécessité d’indiquer dans les états comptables quelle référence avait été utilisée, dans un souci de comparabilité des bilans des sociétés. Et là aussi Mercer déplore que la recommandation de l’AMF n’a été que relativement suivie. Sur les 40 sociétés, seules 13 ont indiqué «de manière précise» la référence de marché qu’elles ont utilisée pour fixer leurs hypothèses de taux d’actualisation.

Les grandes entreprises françaises continuent à proposer des plans à leurs salariés malgré la crise internationale. Selon une enquête récente de Towers Perrin menée auprès de 14 groupes du SBF120 entre mai et juillet 2009, pour les deux tiers des entreprises ayant déjà conduit des opérations d’actionnariat salarié, les opérations ont été maintenues, les autres ayant légèrement été repoussées dans le temps, sans pour autant être abandonnées. Les entreprises espèrent ainsi rassurer sur la solidité actuelle et future de leur activité (79%), et mettre en avant les avantages pour le souscripteur de la protection de l’investissement et du rendement garanti (64%). Et les entreprises insistent aussi sur le rôle fédérateur de l’actionnariat salarié, a fortiori en période de crise.Bien que satisfaites de la mise en œuvre de leurs plans, les entreprises, crise oblige, souhaitent réduire le coût de leurs opérations et optimiser les moyens employés.

EFG Asset Management France vient de lancer EFG Optimum, un FCP coordonné, à liquidité quotidienne et performance absolue, investi dans des fonds UCITS III. Pour réaliser la sélection d’OPCVM, EFG AM France a recours à la société de conseil en investissements Seeds Finance avant de gérer le fonds, réaliser l’allocation d’actifs dans le temps et les arbitrages. Caractéristiques : Code ISIN : FR0010804005 (part A) et FR0010813329 (part B) Objectif de performance : Eonia + 300 pb Nombre de stratégies : 10 environ (chacune d’entre elles ne pouvant excéder 15 % du portefeuille). Nombre de fonds sous-jacents : 20 environ Frais d’entrée : 2 % maximum Frais de gestion : 1,2 % (part A)/2,15 % (part B) Valeur de la part :100 euros Montant minimum à la souscription : 150 000 euros (part A)/ Sans minimum (part B)

Selon l’AFP, la Deutsche Bank devrait être assignée par la ville de Saint-Etienne devant le TGI de Paris. En cause un «emprunt toxique» de 20 millions d’euros dont la ville exige l’annulation. Dans le détail, la ville avait souscrit auprès de la première banque allemande un produit financier complexe - un swap adossé à la parité de la livre sterling sur le franc suisse - qui pourrait s’avérer ruineux, précise l’agence. Compte tenu de l’effondrement de la monnaie britannique, le taux d’intérêt va passer à partir d’avril 2010 à 24%, générant un surcoût de 3,7 millions d’euros par an.

The Spaniard Rodrigo Amandi, currently an equities research analyst and member of the SAM Sustainability Lab, was appointed on Monday as managing director and co-head of the Indexes and Sustainability Services division of SAM from 1 January 2010. He joined the firm in 2006 as an analyst specialised in chemical sector equities. His duties will include coordinating development activities with SAM’s partners in the area of indexes worldwide and defining strategy for the Indexes and Sustainability division.

The Paris office of the law firm Herbert Smith LLP Paris announced on 26 October that it is launching the first legal guide in French covering Islamic finance, which may be downloaded for free from its website, http://www.herbertsmith.com. “Jacques Bertran de Balanda, a partner in the Banking and Finance department of the law firm Herbert Smith, and Foued Bouabiat, his colleague, wanted to show the actors in this industry a concrete sign of their commitment to contribute to the integration of Islamic finance into the French legal system and to demonstrate the very numerous applications of this alternative source of finance,” Herbert Smith says in a statement.

AGEFI Switzerland reports that Rothschild Private Banking & Trust will continue to develop its activities in key markets, with the recruitment of five new partners, three of whom will be located in London and two in Switzerland. In Zurich, the two client advisors Joe Maersch and Jochen Vogler will leave Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank for Rothschild, which will allow Rothschild to further strengthen its presence in Switzerland. In the past twelve months, the number of client advisors in the Swiss team has risen from 12 to 16. In London, Penny Lovell, Rob Stewart and Hugo Capel-Cure will join Rothschild Private Banking & Trust. Lovell will become Client Director at Rothschild Private Banking & Trust. Stewart will become Head of Fixed Income, while Capel-Cure will become Senior Portfolio Manager.

US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who is in charge of the insider trading case against the founder of the hedge fund Galleon, Raj Rajaratnam, and his suspected accomplices, is requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prepare for a civil suit which may begin in five months’ time, the Wall Street Journal reports. The unusual demand may require the SEC to produce evidence of the defendants’ guilt even before their criminal trial.

The German airline Lufthansa is offering to buy out minority shareholders who still hold 4 million shares in AUA Austrian Airlines for 50 Euro cents per share. The hedge fund Exchange Investors, however, has offered EUR1.50 per share, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. It estimates that the Lufthansa offer is inexcusably low, as the takeover bid took place in early September at a price of EUR4.49 per share, and suggests that the low offer may be a sign of payment and liquidity problems at the German airline. Exchange Investors is clearly hoping to extract a more attractive price from the airline.

Will Switzerland really profit from the current wave of immigrant hedge fund managers arriving from London? Nothing could be less certain, according to AGEFI Switzerland. Managers are moving to Switzerland for reasons largely related to taxes, as they say themselves. Their contribution to the common weal will likely be marginal, due to the limited effect they will be likely to have on unemployment rates, the fact that they will probably base themselves in areas where tax pressures are minimal, and their zeal to manipulate international tax regulations in order to minimise their tax burden. The reputation of professionals in the hedge fund industry is not good. What Switzerland has gained in terms of transparency at the price of an international political battle to gain recognition for its good practices may be put at risk by these new arrivals.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has announced the appointment of Nicolas Beyaert as a financial advisor in its French wealth management team. He joins Arthur de Mortemart and Jérôme Sack, who were also appointed as financial advisors in the Wealth Management team a few months ago. “The three new recruits will join the Paris offices of the group, and will report to Gilles Dard, Director of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management for Western Europe,” says a statement. Beyaert, an expert in wealth management for entrepreneurs, was previously a private banker at the Lombard Odier banking group, where he spent six years. De Mortemart, for his part, joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management as a vice-president. He is specialised in advising families with large investment capacities, and previously worked at the Robeco group in Paris, where he was in charge of development for advised management. Sack previously spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch as director of capital markets in London and Paris.

The board of trustees of the French national pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), announced on 26 October that the net performance of the fund from the beginning of 2009 until 30 September, on the basis of estimated and unaudited figures, comes out at 12.8%, with a decline of 6.5% in first quarter, but gains of 10.5% in second quarter and 9.5% in third quarter. In annualised terms, excluding financial operating and administrative costs, since its operational launch (June 2004), the performance of the fund is +2.6%. This performance is mostly the result of a strong rebound on the equities markets since the second half of March 2009. As a result of these developments, total assets in the FRR as of 30 September totalled EUR31.9bn (EUR27.7bn as of 31 December 2008). On this date, these assets were distributed with 49.5% in performance assets (equities, real estate and commodities), and 50.5% in bonds and money markets awaiting investment.

UBS announced on Tuesday morning that it has appointed Robert J. McCann as CEO of UBS Wealth Management Americas (WMA) and as a member of the UBS managing board. McCann, 51, will take over immediately as head of the group’s local wealth management activities in the United States and Canada, including all international activities on the books in the United States. He will direct nearly 800 financial advisors in more than 320 branch locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, who manage total assets of CHF695bn. McCann, who spent his entire previous career (26 years) at Merrill Lynch, was, at the time of his departure from that firm in January 2009, president of the global wealth management division and vice president of Merrill Lynch Co.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) announced on 26 October that it has launched a new website, CalPERSREsponds.com, dedicated to training and informing its members, partners and collaborators about current issues, including the safety of pensions and reforms to the health system. “There is a lot of erroneous information and reports about CalPERS. We hope this site will help to separate fact from fiction,” said the director of external affairs at CalPERS, Patricia K. Macht.

Private equity investor Ares Capital Corp has announced plans to acquire its competitor Allied Capital Corp for USD648m in equities, the Wall Street Journal reports. Allied, a specialist in LBO operations, has suffered losses of more than USD1.6bn on its investments since the beginning of 2008. Allied’s owners have been offered 0.325 Ares shares for each Allied share, which values the shares at USD3.47 each, and represents a 27% premium over the closing share price on Friday.

Les Echos reports that bfinance has estimated the total amount in outsourced management in France, meaning the total amount that management firms manage on behalf of French institutional investors, excluding captive life insurance assets, at EUR650bn as of the end of June. The consulting firm has based its estimates on declarations from management firms. On one year (June 2008-June 2009), outsourced management has stagnated, but it has risen 11% in first half. The top four management firms (BNP Paribas IP, Crédit Agricole AM, Natixis AM, and SG AM), account for 46% of the market. Amundi, the new firm born of the merger of Crédit Agricole AM and SG AM, manages about EUR130bn for French institutional investors. This makes it the top management firm, ahead of BNP IP (EUR98bn) and Natixis AM (EUR77.4bn).

According to a statement from Sparinvest relayed by Fondsprofessionell, Eduardo Mollo Cunha has resigned from his position as head of institutional sales for the German-speaking countries due to differences over commercial policy at the Danish management firm.

According to the most recent edition of a survey conducted in the UK by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), the confidence of active investors has risen to its highest levels in three and a half years. The confidence of the general public is also recovering: though they remain more cautious, they have not been so positively disposed to the equities markets since 2004. 52% of active investors are planning to increase their exposure to the equities markets in the course of the next few months, compared with 33% in September 2008 and 33% in September 2007. Approximately 62% of active investors estimate that equities will perform better than real estate in the next twelve months. Appetite for risk is also on the rise, as 17% of active investors consider small firms to be attractive investment targets, twice as many as in February this year. Also, after six months of rallying equities markets, among the 9% of active investors who are reducing their exposure to equities, more than one quarter (27%) say they are taking their profits.

Aviva plc has appointed Patrick Regan to the position of CFO. Regan, currently CEO and CFO of the global insurance group Willis Group Holdings (“Willis”), and president of the firm Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, which he recently founded, will begin in his new position in February 2010, and will at the same time become a member of the board of directors at the Aviva plc group.

The British banking group Barclays announced on 26 October that it has acquired the banking activities of Standard Life for a total of GBP226m. With the acquisition, Barclays gains a savings portfolio of GBP5.5bn, and a mortgage portfolio of GBP8.8bn. Barclays UK Retail Banking and Standard Life have also signed an agreement to study potential areas of cooperation in long-term savings, with the development of a multi-channel simplified retirement product.

Das Investment reports that all ETF funds from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank) are now invested in a uniform portfolio of about 1,000 equities, corresponding roughly to the MSCI World index, which covers 1,700 equities. Only two of these products, the fund based on the Dax and the one based on the MSCI World index itself, remain to be brought into line with this policy, which will be achieved in the next few weeks. The move will prevent future events similar to Morningstar’s observation in late 2007 that the portfolio of a db x-trackers ETF replicating the Dax was solely exposed to Japanese equities plus a swap.

In a notice to the CNMV, Ahorro Corporación, the main management firm for the Spanish savings banks, has announced that it will absorb eleven bond funds, Ahorro Corporación Renta Fija Privada, AC Bonos Corporativos, Caja Badajoz Plazo 2, Fonvalor, AC Plazo Rentas 2, AC Rendimiento Garantizado, AC Cupón activo, AC Capital 4, AC Ibex Garantizado, Caja Supercupón and AC Eurostoxx Año I, into its AC Plazo Rentas fund. The merger of so many products in one fell swoop is unprecedented in Spain.

The British financial sector regulator (FSA) announced on 26 October that the major British banks had agreed to follow new rules governing the publication of financial information, in order to respond to concerns in the international financial community. The new rules are set out in a document which remains open for consultation until 30 April 2010. The FSA is hoping to significantly improve the quality and comparability of financial information provided by banks and other lenders. The new code will be applied tot he 2009 annual results. If these disclosures of results do not meet expectations, the regulatory body reserves the right to replace the code which is under consultation with stricter rules.

According to EPFR Global, equities funds specialised in emerging markets as of the end of September had record net subscriptions of USD52.6bn since the beginning of the year, which is close to the record of USD54.3bn for 2007 as a whole. On the basis of weekly figures since the beginning of October (USD5.5bn), the 2007 record has probably already been beaten. And this more than makes up for net redemptions of USD49.5bn in the year 2008 as a whole. By comparison, US equities funds have seen net outflows of USD71bn in the first nine months of the year. Emerging markets bond funds, meanwhile, have seen USD3.2bn in net subscriptions in January-September, with weekly inflows of USD83m in second quarter, USD280m in third quarter, and USD780m in each of the first two weeks of October.

EFG Asset Management France has launched EFG Optimum, a UCITS III-compliant FCP fund with daily liquidity reporting and an absolute returns approach, which will invest in UCITS III funds. To select the OPCVM funds the product will invest in, EFG AM France will employ the services of the investment advising firm Seeds Finance, before managing the fund with real-time asset allocation and trading. Characteristics: ISIN Code: FR0010804005 (A share class) and FR0010813329 (B class) Performance objective: Eonia +3% Number of strategies: about 10 (none to exceed 15% of the portfolio). Number of underlying funds: about 20 Front-end fee: Management fee: Value of one share: Minimal subscription:

The Irish boutique specialised in fund administration Apex Fund Services has launched its first range of services in China, according to Asian Investor. The firm already has four fund administration mandates in China, and is hoping to increase that number to six in the near future. The firm, which has had offices in Shanghai since 2008, where it currently has four employees, is planning to open an office in Australia. Apex has been present in Asia since January 2008. Its Hong Kong and Singapore offices have eight and 16 employees, respectively, and administer 60 funds.

On Monday, Commerzbank announced that its range of ETF funds bearing the ComStage brand (51 funds) has grown by 11 products, as licences have been issued for bond ETFs replicating Markit iBoxx indexes. The ComStage product range, which now includes 62 funds, covers equities, bonds, commodities and money markets. The new ComStaeg products are available for trading on the Stuttgart and Frankfurt stock markets as well as the Xetra electronic platform from Deutsche Börse. The new products were launched on the 5, 7, and 8 October. They are: ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 10-15 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 15+ TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 25+ TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Sovereigns Germany Capped 10+ TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Sovereigns Germany Capped 5-10 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Sovereigns Germany Capped 1-5 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified Overall TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 1-3 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 3-5 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 5-7 TR ComStage ETF iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified 7-10 TR