JPMorgan Chase a dégagé au deuxième trimestre un résultat net de 352 millions de dollars, en recul de 11% par rapport au deuxième trimestre 2008, en raison notamment d’une augmentation des provisions pour pertes sur crédits. On observe toutefois que par rapport au premier trimestre de l’année, le résultat trimestriel marque un gain de 128 millions de dollars ou 57%, en raison entre autres d’une hausse des commissions et de l’amélioration des conditions de marchés. Le bénéfice net trimestriel du groupe ressort à 2,72 milliards de dollars contre deux milliards un an auparavant. Toutefois le bénéfice par action recule à 28 cents contre 53 cents, conséquence d’une augmentation du flottant.Le produit net de la gestion d’actifs s’est inscrit à 1,98 milliards de dollars, en recul de 4% d’une année sur l’autre. Le produit net en Private Bank marque un recul de 10% à 640 millions de dollars. Le produit net du pôle institutionnel s’est accru de 3% à 487 millions de dollars alors que pour le pôle retail, le produit net accuse un repli de 16% à 411 millions de dollars. Le produit des activités de Private Wealth Management s’est lui replié de 6% à 334 millions de dollars.Les actifs sous gestion se sont établis à 1.200 milliards de dollars, en recul de 1% d’une année sur l’autre. Durant le trimestre sous revue, la collecte nette s’est élevée à 3 milliards de dollars et à 125 milliards de dollars sur la période de douze mois au 30 juin 2009. Le ROE s’est établi à 20% au deuxième trimestre contre 13% un trimestre plus tôt et 31% un an plus tôt.

Michael Myrtetus et Douglas Borthwick, deux anciens traders de Morgan Stanley, viennent de créer une boutique de gestion alternative, Cinneas Foreign Exchange, spécialisée dans le négoce des devises, selon Hedge Week."Nous pensons qu’un portefeuille diversifié géré activement peut s’adapter et se développer au gré des changements de marché. Notre approche mêle les analyses économique, fondamentale et technique pour identifier les opportunités de trading, avec l’objectif de produire des rendements non corrélés», explique Douglas Borthwick. L’investissement minimum a été fixé à 5.000 dollars sans période de lock-up. Les commissions de surperformance s'élèvent à 20% des bénéfices avec effet de cliquet et les frais de gestion ont été fixés à 2% sur une base mensuelle.

Selon les informations de l’Agefi, les équipes du broker Natixis Securities vont rejoindre le pôle actions de la banque de financement et d’investissement. Objectif : favoriser les ventes croisées, notamment sur les dérivés simples. Ce projet, précise le journal, qui serait opérationnel dès septembre, doit permettre de doubler le produit net bancaire des activités actions d’ici 2012, à 525 millions d’euros.

D’après la Tribune, l’enquête aux Caisses d’Epargne sur Boris Picano-Nacci, le trader tenu responsable de la perte de trading de 751 millions d’euros, et dont les motifs à largement dépasser ses limites restent encore inconnus, a débuté au mois de novembre dernier. L’instruction est à peu près à mi-parcours, précise le quotidien, et devrait se terminer vers la fin de l’année ou le début 2010.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management lance Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles, un fonds obligations convertibles internationales dont l’objectif est profiter du potentiel de rebond des marchés actions avec une volatilité inférieure. La gestion est indépendante des indices de référence. Le fonds investira au minimum 50% de son actif net sur des émissions de qualité « Investment Grade » et sera fortement diversifié géographiquement.La gestion se concentre sur des obligations convertibles mixtes, avec un delta cible compris entre 20% et 60% pour le fonds. A noter que l’exposition aux marchés émergents représentera 40% maximum de l’actif net. Enfin, Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles profitera d’une politique de couverture systématique du risque de change, avec un portefeuille couvert à hauteur de 80% minimum. Caractéristiques :Nom du fonds : Saint-Honoré Global ConvertiblesCodes ISIN :Part A : FR0010773036Part E : FR0010782367Part I : FR0010782391Part R : FR0010782417Commissions de souscription : 3% maximum Frais de gestion :- Fixes :Part A : 1,40 % max TTCPart E : 2,00% max TTCPart I : 0,85% max TTCPart R : 0,95% max TTC- Variables : Parts A, I et E : 15% de la performance au-delà de l’indice de référenceMinimum de souscription initiale : 500 000 euros pour les parts I et RUne part pour les parts A et E

Selon la Tribune, François Pierson, président-directeur général d’Axa France, s’attaque au management de l’entreprise afin d’insuffler « une nouvelle dynamique ». Il a annoncé hier la création d’une nouvelle strate de décision, via un comité exécutif. Ce dernier qui regroupera six cadres aux côtés du président à partir du 1er novembre prochain, se placera au-dessus de la structure existante, le comité de direction générale, qui réunit 12 membres. Le premier cercle, précise le quotidien, aura le rôle de décider et de piloter, le second celui de partager les idées et de les mettre en oeuvre dans l’entreprise. Le comité exécutif permettra notamment de centraliser des décisions et gagner en efficacité et cohérence.La nouvelle organisation est l’occasion d’annoncer une série de nominations, note la Tribune. Jean-Laurent Granier, est nommé directeur général de la région Méditerranée Amérique latine du groupe Axa, et rejoint son comité exécutif. Parmi les filiales d’Axa France, Serge Morelli est nommé directeur général d’Axa Assistance, Philippe Rocard directeur général d’Axa Corporate Solutions et Yves Masson, directeur général de Direct Assurance.

La Société Générale vient d’annoncer le lancement d’une nouvelle famille de Turbos, et complète ainsi sa palette de produits à levier destinés aux Day traders ou aux investisseurs actif en Bourse. Ces derniers ont le choix entre les Turbos, avec échéance et sans seuil de sécurité, pour un effet de levier jusqu’à 40 / 50 fois les mouvements de l’indice CAC 40, et les Turbos Infinis sans échéance et avec un seuil de sécurité, pour un effet levier / risque plus modéré.

One William Street Capital Management vient de nommer Kathleen Riorda au poste de managing director et responsable du développement, selon Hedge Week. Kathleen Riorda a une vingtaine d’années d’expérience dans la gestion alternative. Elle était dernièrement responsable mondiale client solutions chez JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management. One William Street Capital Management, qui est une société spécialiste de la titrisation, affiche un encours sous gestion de 1,25 milliard de dollars.

Pictet complète son offre de gestion actions américaines par le lancement du fonds Pictet US Equity Value Selection. Lancé en partenariat avec la société de gestion américaine Westwood, basée à Dallas, le fonds est géré en délégation par l'équipe de Susan Byrne. Le produit est spécialisé dans les sociétés sous-valorisées par le marché et présentant néanmoins des rendements des fonds propres en progression, des bilans en progression, une forte génération de free cash flow et des résultats pouvant faire mieux que les attentes du marché. Dénomination PF(LUX)-US Equity Value Selection Code ISIN LU 04 07 23 34 01 Droits d’entrée Max. 5% Frais de gestion 1,20 % pour les particuliers; 0,60 % pour les institutionnels Minimum de souscription Pour les particuliers : aucun Pour la part institutionnelle : 1 million de dollars

La société Southeastern Asset Management a annoncé à l’AMF détenir 6,02% du capital d’Accor et 5,13% des droits de vote, rapporte La Tribune. La société se présente comme «conseil en investissements», mais ne précise pas pour le compte de qui elle agit. Ces derniers jours, le fonds d’investissement Colony s’est aussi renforcé dans le capital d’Accor.

Selon The Wall Street Journal, l’américain KKR, allié au fonds souverain de Singapour (GSI) et à la banque d’investissement chinoise China International Corp, serait sur le point d’acquérir une participation minoritaire d’environ 30 % dans la société de leasing financier International Far Eastern Leasing Co, qui est contrôlée par le groupe nationalisé Sinochem Group. L’investissement pour KKR serait de 150-200 millions de dollars.

Invesco vient d’annoncer la nomination de Bernhard Langer au poste de Chief Investment officer d’Invesco Global Quantitative Equity. Il aura à ce titre la responsabilité au niveau mondial de la gestion quantitative pour toute la palette des produits actions. C’est une première pour Invesco qui n’avait jamais jusqu’ici installé une telle fonction au sein du groupe.Bernhard Langer travaille chez Invesco depuis 1994, d’abord en tant que gérant de portefeuille, ensuite en tant que chief investment officer pour les produits de gestion quantitative européens et non américains. La cinquantaine d’experts d’Invesco Global Quantitative Equity gèrent un patrimoine de plus de 32 milliards de dollars pour le compte d’investisseurs institutionnels et de clients privés.

The creators of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have published two documents to favour the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into the private equity investment process. The documents were composed by a consulting committee composed of major institutional investors, funds of funds and private equity firms. On the basis of a series of case studies (including Actis, Blue Wolf Capital Management, Doughty Hanson, KKR, Permira and Robeco), the authors demonstrate how improved management of ESG questions make it possible to earn higher returns.

Les Echos reports that Citi and Bank of America have signed secret agreements with their regulator, by which they agree to correct certain weaknesses in their governance or risk management, or else face penalties. The pacts, which the English-language financial media has begun to report, were kept secret in order not to set back financial institutions in their restructuring efforts. If the banks do not succeed in keeping their promises to the authorities, they may face financial penalties, or as an ultimate sanction, they may face cease and desist orders which would put an end to their activities.

Sir David Walker was appointed by the British government this February to revise the country’s corporate governance regulations in the wake of the financial crisis, particularly in the banking sector. In his recommendations, presented on 16 July, Walker proposes substantial modifications to the functioning of boards of directors, with a strengthened role for non-executive directors in the processes of risk control and of determining pay scales. “These proposals aim to improve the professionalism and diligence of boards of directors in banking, by strengthening the importance of challenge on the board. If this means that boards will function in a less collegial manner than in the past, this will be a modest price to pay for improved governance,” Walker says in a statement. Among the 39 recommendations set out in the report is the idea of giving more power to risk committees; the chairmanship of this committee should be assigned to a non-executive. The committee would be in charge of examining and, if necessary, blocking, major transactions planned by the firm. The prerogatives of the remunerations committee could also be enlarged: the committee could consider all remunerations at a business and also oversee pay scales for operational directors who are not board members. Bonuses paid to operational directors at the top of the pay scale would be required to include a “significant” variable component. Non-executive members of the board, whose powers would be extended, would also spend more time at work: Walker suggests that their work time should be increased by as much as 50%. the report also proposes that management firms should be more concretely involved in businesses they invest in, and that in particular, they should divulge their voting policies under a “comply or explain” principle. The publication of the report marks the beginning of a consultation period which will extend until 1 October. Walker, who hopes to be able to present his final report in November 2009, suggests that the recommendations be integrated into the “Combined Code on corporate Governance,” which is currently under revision.

L’Echo reports that the OECD on Thursday removed Belgium from its “grey list” of tax havens. The Belgian finance minister, Didier Reynders, has signed the twelfth convention for exchange of tax information between Belgium and other countries. Belgium has signed information-sharing protocols with Luxembourg and Singapore, and a double-taxation agreement with the Isle of Man.

As of 31 March, Bankinter became the seventh-largest Spanish management firm, overtaking Sabadell. As of 30 June, Bankinter had assets of EUR5.33bn, compared with EUR5.19bn for Sabadell, Funds People reports. Popular began the year in sixth place, only EUR1m behind Gesmadrid, and during first half it overtook its competitor, and now claims a lead of EUR35m, with EUR7.59bn, compared with EUR7.56bn. It is catching up with Ahorro Corporación, whose assets stand at EUR7.78bn. Ibercaja, in tenth place as of the beginning of the year, is in ninth place at the end of June, with assets EUR3m higher than those of Barclays, both of which have EUR4.31bn overall.At the top of the rankings, BBVA is increasing its lead, with EUR32.62bn, compared with EUR28.46bn for Santander. The market share for the leader has increased to 20.37%, compared with 19.80%, while the market share for the number two in the rankings has fallen to 17.77% from 19.65%.

Van der Moolen Holding on Friday announced it is expecting a EUR7-8 millions operative loss for the second quarter. Because of the disappointing results, Richard den Drijver has decided, in the interest of the company, to step down as chairman of the Executive Board of Van der Moolen. After his resignation Mr. Den Drijver will however remain involved with the company as an advisor.The Supervisory Board shall for the foreseeable future act as Executive Board of Van der Moolen. Their focus will be to secure financing in the short-term, to return to the core activities and to continue to reduce costs, the company said in a statement.

The newest ETF from x-trackers, which replicates the S&P US Carbon Efficient index, listed on the London Stock Exchange (see Newsmanagers of 15 July), carries a management commission of 0.50%. The product, registered in Luxembourg (LU0411076002), is based on an index which has a tracking error of 1.1% compared with the S&P 500, and which does not include the 100 companies of the S&P 500 that have the highest CO2 emissions relative to the size of the business. Db x-trackers also states that the benchmark index reproduces at least 50% of each sector of the S&P 500 index, and that the ETF invests in at least 375 companies of the S&P 500.

Les Echos reports that a Deloitte study has found that businesses of the FTSE 100 will need a combined total of GBP300bn to cover deficits at their pension funds. This is more than double the GBP130bn shortfall observed at the beginning of the year. The trustees who supervise these pension funds have asked businesses to pay enormous amounts to cover losses on investments.

HFM Week reports that the Partners II fund from the US-based fund of hedge fund management firm and incubator Weston Capital Management has provided the seed capital to start up Sagil Capital, a fund management firm based in London which employs arbitrage, relative value and directional strategies for long/short funds specialised in Latin America. The founders of Sagil Capital are Adrian Landgrebe, Bradford Jones and Mark Hendricks, all three of whom are former partners at Rand Merchant Bank.

Michael Myrtetus and Douglas Borthwich, two former Morgan Stanley traders, have founded an alternative management boutique, entitled Cinneas Foreign Exchange, specialised in currency trading, according to Hedge Week. “We think an actively-managed diversified portfolio may be adapted and developed as the market changes. Our approach combines economic, fundamental and technical analysis to identify trading opportunities, with the objective of producing non-correlated returns,” Borthwick explains. Minimal investment is set at USD5,000, with no lock-up period. Commissions on outperformance are set at 20% of profits with high watermark, and management fees are 2% on a monthly basis.

JPMorgan Chase has earned a net result of USD352m for second quarter, a decline of 11% compared with second quarter 2008, largely due to increased warnings of losses on credit. Compared with the first quarter of the year, results are up by USD128m or 57%, partly due to increased commissions and improved market conditions. Net quarterly profits for the group total USD2.72bn, compared with USD2bn one year previously. However, profits per share are down to 28 cents, from 53 cents previously, due to an increase in the number of shares on the market. Net revenues for asset management totalled USD1.98bn, down 4% year on year. Net revenues for the Private Bank are down 10%, to USD640m. Net revenues for the institutional division are up 3%, to USD487m, while for the retail unit, net revenues are down 6% to USD334m. Assets under management totalled USD1.2trn, a decline of 1% year on year. In the quarter under review, net inflows totalled USD3bn, and inflows total USD125bn for the 12-month period to 30 June 2009. ROE totalled 30% in second quarter, compared with 13% one quarter earlier, and 31% one year earlier.

Pictet is adding to its range of US equities management products, with the launch of the Pictet US Equity Value Selection fund. The management of the fund, launched in partnership with the American management firm Westwood, based in Dallas, is outsourced to a team led by Susan Byrne. The product is specialised in companies undervalued by the market which nonetheless present rising returns on owners’ equity, improving balance sheets, strong generation of free cash flow, and results that may exceed market expectations. Name PF(LUX)-US Equity Value Selection ISIN code LU 04 07 23 34 01 Front-end fee 5% maximum Management fees 1.20% for retail investors; 0.60% for institutionals Minimal subscription For the institutional share class: USD1m

Nordea Investment Funds has announced that the North American Growth Fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav, had USD160m in assets as of 1 July, on the first anniversary of its management being outsourced to Aletheia Research & Management Inc. As of 22 May, the fund had USD93.6m in assets (see Newsmanagers of 27 May).Year to date, the fund’s performance totals 27.66%, compared with 11.53% for the Russell 1000 Growth. Over the last 12 months, the fund has lost 20.02%, compared with 24.50% for the index.

Janus Capital Group has announced that it is planning a capital increase for USD150m, in the form of ordinary shares, and USD150m in the form of convertible senior notes which will mature in 2014.The proceeds of the operation will be used to pass off up to USD400m of the company’s debts.

Stefan Keitel, already global CIO for the multi asset class solutions segment, has been appointed CIO and chairman of the investment committee for the private banking division of Credit Suisse. The appointment, announced on Thursday, is effective immediately. “Stefan Keitel will provide investment opinions and guidelines for short, mid, and long-term asset allocation for all client segments,” says a statement.Keitel will report to Vayloyan, head of private banking investment services and products, and will continue to report to Daniel Brupbacher, head of asset management multi asset class solutions.Keitel has worked at Credit Suisse since 2001. In 2004, he was appointed CIO for Credit Suisse business in Germany, and in 2008 he became CIO for all divisions in central Europe. From 2006 to 2009, Keitel was manager of Credit Suisse Asset Management Kapitalanlagegesellschaft GmbH and head of MACS in Germany.

The performance of hedge funds and funds of hedge funds “evolved positively” in second quarter, according to the Swiss Fund Association (SFA). Though the association is predicting a slow recovery, “outlooks for hedge fund strategies are a cause for optimism for the rest of the year.” The SFA is convinced that the process of debt reduction begun in the first half of 2008 in the sector is now largely complete, while a “lack of liquidity which affected the branch at the end of last year has largely been reabsorbed.” In terms of clients, institutional investors are still cautious about investments in hedge funds, and funds of hedge funds are expected to take on a leading role in this area. Adaptations of products and business models are still expected, the SFA concludes.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram) is launching Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles, an international convertible bond fund whose objective is to profit from potential recovery on the equities markets, with lower volatility. The management of the fund is independent of benchmark indexes. The fund will invest at least 50% of its net assets in investment-grade issued, and will have a high level of geographical diversification.Management of the fund will concentrate on mixed convertible bonds, with a total target delta of 20% to 60% for the fund. Exposure to emerging markets will represent a maximum of 40% of net assets. Saint-Honoré Global Convertibles will also have a systematic currency hedging policy, and at least 80% of its portfolio will be hedged. Characteristics:Fund name: Saint-Honoré Global ConvertiblesISIN code:A share class: FR0010773036E share class: FR0010782367I share class: FR0010782391 R share class: FR0010782417 Front-end fees: 3% maximum Management fees:- Fixed:A share class: 1.40% max TTCE share class: 2.00% max TTCI share class: 0.85% max TTCR share class: 0.95% max TTC- Variable: A, I and E share classes: 15% of performance exceeding the benchmark indexMinimum initial subscription: EUR500,000 for I and R share classesOne share for A and E share classes

Invesco has announced the appointment of Bernhard Langer as Chief Investment Officer at Invesco Global Quantitative Equity. He will be responsible for quantitative management worldwide for the entire equities product range. This is a first for Invesco, which previously has never included such a position within the group. Langer has been at Invesco since 1994, first as a portfolio manager, then as chief investment officer for European and non-American quantitative management products. 50 experts at Invesco Global Quantitative Equity manage more than USD32bn in assets for institutional investors and private clients.