Insigneo is implementing an all-in-one platform that allows for the management, administration, and real-time portfolio analysis of Structured Products, developed by VIZIBILITY.
VIZIBILITY will facilitate the ability to monitor, research, and execute Structured Products while improving productivity and time efciency, according the company information.
With this step, Insigneo continues its path to becoming the first tech enabled US wealth management platform designed to service the needs of investors globally.
Aurelien Vicart, Managing Director of VIZIBILITY comment: We are excited to partner with Insigneo. This collaboration will provide them with a new technology ally. Our goal is to remove the traditional complexities around Structured Products and provide them a powerful platform to bring their business to the next level.
On the other hand, Vicente Martin, Head of Structured Products at Insigneo added: As part of the agreement, VIZIBILITY, a Swiss-based firm, will help Insigneo lead this wave of innovation with a platform that provides the best intelligence and insight to analyze, monitor, and execute Structured Products with confidence, in real-time.
About VIZIBILITY
VIZIBILITY provides a centralized workflow across all roles, including portfolio managers, advisors, private banks, custodians & private investors. The multi-issuer platform covers 99% of SP market needs and provide efective price comparisons, streamline operations, scalability, transparency, and powerful reporting. The firm is part of Capital Vision Group, an independent financial engineering company based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Jupiter Fund Management has announced the appointment of Matthew Beesley as the Company’s new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Andrew Formica.
Formica has informed the Company’s Board of Directors of his intention to retire from his role as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and a Director of the Company with effect from 1 October 2022.
Beesley, Group Chief Investment Officer, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer with effect from that time, subject to customary regulatory approvals. He will be appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors and promoted to Deputy Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Matthew will retain his global Chief Investment Officer responsibilities during the transition.
Formica has always made it clear to the Board that his long-term plans would involve relocating to his native Australia with his family. Having completed the initial phase of Jupiter’s business transformation, he believes that now is the right time to relinquish leadership of the business to enable the next phase to have consistent and strong leadership throughout that period, the press release said.
Following his departure as CEO and as a director of the business, Formica will relocate back to Australia, but will remain with the business until June 30, 2023 to ensure a smooth leadership transition and to assist with a number of strategic objectives, including supporting the Asian business and developing our offering in the Australian market. In addition, while he remains an employee of the Group, he will remain on the NZS Capital Board as a representative of the company, the firm says.
As part of the Board’s succession planning process, Matthew Beesley joined Jupiter in January 2022, as Chief Investment Officer. He has had a significant impact across the business since his appointment and the Board has been impressed with his strategic insights, leadership skills and unwavering focus on client outcomes, according to company information.
Prior to joining Jupiter, Beesley was chief investment officer of Artemis Investment Management. Prior to that, he served as Chief Investment Officer and Head of Equities at GAM Investments and Head of Global Equities at Henderson Global Investors. Prior to that, Matthew held various global equity portfolio manager positions.
Nichola Pease, Chairman of Jupiter, commented, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Andrew for his significant contribution over the past three years. Andrew has been an excellent leader during a very challenging period for the company, the industry and indeed the world; his experience and vision have strengthened our underlying business and driven progress towards our long-term strategic objectives. Andrew leaves with the best wishes of the Board and we are pleased that he will remain with the company to ensure a full CEO transition and move forward a number of important strategic initiatives.”
For his part, Andrew Formica stated, “Jupiter is a customer-led business and I am proud to have worked with such a fantastic and dedicated team as we navigated through an extremely difficult period for the business and markets. Despite these challenges, we have continued to deliver strong investment performance for our clients and our focus on high conviction active management. While it is always difficult to find the right time for handover, we have made significant progress against our strategic priorities, ensuring that Jupiter is now a more diversified and resilient business, which has improved its positions in critical areas such as sustainability and data science and has the right elements in place to support long-term growth. I am pleased to see the board appoint Matthew Beesley as my successor, and look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition.”
Janus Henderson announced the hiring of a four-person Emerging Market Debt (EMD) team into its global fixed income platform.
The team comprises long-standing and well-respected portfolio managers Bent Elvin Lystbaek, Jacob Ellinge Nielsen, Thomas Haugaard, and Sorin Pirău. The team joins from Danske Bank Asset Management, where they managed $6,31bn in hard currency EMD pooled vehicles and segregated accounts for both institutional and retail clients.
They will join Janus Henderson by 1st September 2022 and report to Jim Cielinski, Global Head of Fixed Income. The team will be based in Copenhagen, Denmark, further expanding the firm’s northern European footprint.
Mr. Cielinski says the EMD team acquisition emphasizes Janus Henderson’s focus on meeting clients’ needs for standalone emerging market debt strategies and enhancing Janus Henderson’s overall global fixed income franchise and ability to build multi-sector fixed income solutions.
“Emerging markets debt is a fast-growing segment of the market that many investors look to for higher income and risk-adjusted returns. We believe this is a critical component of a global fixed income platform that supports single-strategy and multi-sector portfolios,” he said.
“Adding this EMD hard currency capability to Janus Henderson’s global fixed income platform complements our existing strengths in Emerging Market corporate credit, global bonds, and Emerging Market equities. We are excited to welcome our new colleagues Bent, Jacob, Thomas, and Sorin to Janus Henderson and look forward to generating risk-adjusted returns for our clients,” Mr. Cielinski added.
The EMD team’s investment process has consistently delivered for clients since its inception in 2013. It seeks to generate alpha through country allocation and security selection, focusing on credit risk premia. The team integrates environmental, social, and governance factors into the research process and considers quantitative and qualitative factors to determine an internal, forward-looking score, the press release said.
Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer at Janus Henderson, commented: “Hiring a world-class EMD team demonstrates our commitment to responding to our clients’ needs and supporting the growth of our firm. We will continue to look for organic and inorganic ways to do this.”
iM Global Partner announced that it has launched a new fund managed by its Partner Scharf Investments, the iMGP Global Concentrated Equity fund.
The fund will have a concentrated portfolio of around 30 stocks, that seeks to deliver outstanding long-term risk-adjusted returns using a value-focused, fundamental and bottom-up approach.
The strategy was first launched in the US in 2014 as the Scharf Global Opportunity Fund (WRLDX) and was rated 5 stars by Morningstar as at 30 April 2022. Since inception the fund has consistently been ranked highly and is currently in the top 10% of the 40-act Global Large Stock Value sector (as of 31 May, 2022). The new fund will use this same time-tested approach.
Based in Los Gatos California, Scharf Investments has been a Partner since April 2019, when iM Global Partner acquired a 40% stake in the company. It already manages the iMGP US Value fund.
Eric Lynch, Managing Director of Scharf Investments, said: “In our experience managing our 25-year top performing US Value strategy, we found we were consistently adding alpha from non-US holdings. However, we were sometimes frustrated that allocation limits prevented us from investing in select global stocks for clients. So in 2014 we extended our investment process and success into a global strategy. Great investment ideas are not constrained by geography and now neither are we.”
Philippe Uzan, Deputy CEO, CIO Global Asset Management commented: “We are very pleased to launch this new fund with Scharf Investments, a recognized leader in value equity management. Their exceptional track record reflects their capacity to combine quality and valuation criteria in a disciplined and proven approach.
The firm focuses on medium-term capital protection through stock selection which clearly differentiates them from a traditional value approach. “We believe the fund’s approach, which combines both value and quality, is particularly adapted to a late cycle market environment”, the statement says.
Jamie Hammond, CEO UK and Head of International Distribution said: “2022 has seen a bit of a rotation from growth to value and we are getting a lot of demand for value-oriented investments, particularly in the global space. Concentrated portfolios are also of strong interest to clients looking for an active approach to global equities and, combined with compelling capture ratios in both up and down markets, the strategy should be attractive to clients”.
ProShares launched the first short bitcoin-linked ETF in the United States last Tuesday.
The ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSE Ticker: BITI) provides a way for investors to potentially profit from a decline in the price of bitcoin or hedge their cryptocurrency exposure with the convenience of an ETF.
BITI is designed to address the challenge of acquiring short exposure to bitcoin, which can be onerous and expensive for many investors.
“As recent times have shown, bitcoin can drop in value,” said ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir.
He added: “BITI affords investors who believe that the price of bitcoin will drop with an opportunity to potentially profit or to hedge their cryptocurrency holdings. BITI enables investors to conveniently obtain short exposure to bitcoin through buying an ETF in a traditional brokerage account.”
BITI is designed to deliver the inverse of the performance of the the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index. It seeks to achieve its objective on each investment day and for no other period. BITI seeks to obtain exposure through bitcoin futures contracts.
For investors who prefer a mutual fund, ProFunds, the affliated mutual fund company of ProShares, launched Short Bitcoin Strategy ProFund (BITIX). The BITIX mutual fund has the the same investment objective as BITI.
In October 2021, ProShares launched BITO, the first U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF, and attracted more than $1 billion in assets from the public in just two days. That made it the most successful launch in the history of the ETF industry. ProFunds launched the first bitcoin-linked mutual fund, BTCFX, in July 2021.
“With the additions of BITI and BITIX, ProShares and ProFunds will be the only fund families in the U.S. offering funds that allow investors to express their view on the direction of bitcoin—no matter whether they believe the price will go up or down,” Sapir added.
Raymond James Financial announced that Haig Ariyan, president of the firm’s Alex. Brown division and head of Global Wealth Solutions, has decided to pursue an opportunity outside of the firm, effective July 15.
“Haig has been instrumental in the successful integration and subsequent growth of the Alex. Brown business following the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in 2016, said Raymond James Financial Chair and CEO Paul Reilly. “He has been a distinguished leader, cultivating and developing strong management teams, which will help ensure smooth transitions. I have every confidence in the continued success of both Alex. Brown and our Global Wealth Solutions team, and wish Haig well in his future endeavors.”
Following Ariyan’s transition, Alex. Brown and Global Wealth Solutions Chief Operating Officer Michael Tormey, along with John Sutton and Brett Kellam, both Alex. Brown managing directors, will report to Raymond James & Associates President and CEO Tash Elwyn.
In line with the firm’s succession plans, Bill Seugling, managing director of the firm’s Investment Solutions group, has been appointed head of Global Wealth Solutions, reporting to Raymond James’ Private Client Group (PCG) President Scott Curtis.
Tormey joined Raymond James in the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was COO. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2004 and began his career at Bankers Trust Company in 1992.
Seugling joined Raymond James in the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was managing director. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2008 and began his career at Greenwich Associates in 1991.
Sutton joined Raymond James in the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was managing director. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2013 and began his career as a practicing attorney with Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine in 1993.
Kellam joined Raymond James in the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was managing director. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2009 and began his career at Paine Webber in 1981.
“Raymond James’ well-regarded culture allowed me and the Alex. Brown team to evolve our business through a combination of entrepreneurialism and focused attention on advisors and their clients’ individual wealth planning needs,” said Ariyan.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced the launch of the Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Ex-China Equity Portfolio.
For those investors that have accepted that the size, breadth and complexity of China’s equity market merits a standalone exposure, the launch of the Portfolio seeks to offer a complementary solution that can allow them to continue to build holistic emerging markets exposure, accessing the compelling investment opportunities that exist beyond China across the emerging market landscape.
There are over 1,000 companies in emerging markets ex-China with a market capitalization of more than $2bn each. The MSCI EM ex-China Index, which the Portfolio will be managed against, has a distinct sector composition compared with China’s equity markets, with diverse opportunities across technology, semiconductors and financial services.
The Portfolio will be managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s 80-person Fundamental Equity team, using a rigorous, bottom-up investment approach.
Luke Barrs, Managing Director in the Fundamental Equity team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “The continued growth and complexity of the Chinese equity market means more and more investors are seeking to build dedicated allocations. To complement this, we believe an emerging markets ex-China exposure can allow investors to access the compelling investment opportunities in EM beyond China, better reflect the diversity of this opportunity set in their portfolios and continue to construct sound overall emerging markets equity exposures. Our global investment teams continue to identify attractive companies across the emerging markets complex and we believe that through solid fundamental analysis, active stewardship and a disciplined investment process, we can generate strong returns for clients.”
The Portfolio is a new sub-fund of the UCITS-qualifying Luxembourg-domiciled Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV. The Portfolio is offered to both institutional and retail clients and is registered for sale across a range of European countries.
BNY Mellon’s Pershing (“Pershing”) announced the next generation of technology solutions for advisors and wealth management professionals at its flagship INSITE 2022 conference.
“We are launching our next generation professional platform, NetX360+,” said Tim Foley, Chief Technology Officer of BNY Mellon Pershing.
Expertise and efficiency are at the center of this latest round of upgrades with the introduction of the new NetX360®+ platform and enhancements to its NetXServices integration portal, according to company information.
Both have been optimized to deliver a more intuitive and seamless user experience, from the advisor experience to operations and business processing, the company added.
“It works with you as a personal digital partner, the more you engage with it, the more it provides a curated experience, including insights tailored just for you. We have an incredible amount of data that we use to make the experience smarter, more personalized and more intuitive. It’s extremely powerful, uncovering better ways to serve customers and specific opportunities to grow the business,” Foley added.
NetX360+ equips advisors with a more streamlined user interface and intuitive experience that includes hyper-personalization based on the user’s individual profile and usage patterns; machine learning-based search results for faster access to relevant data; new data based on customer behavior and market activity that highlights recommended best actions to proactively support customer needs and business growth opportunities; and integrated learning through a digital adoption platform to help users achieve faster mastery of new features and tools.
The NetXServices integration portal, Pershing’s next-generation integration source launched last year, has been enhanced on several fronts.
The portal now offers an easy way to access all integration capabilities, including one of the fastest account openings in the market.
Pershing’s integration hub offers real-time, bi-directional data synchronization with a growing network of integrated third-party vendors. A build once, deploy many framework significantly reduces the time required for customers to complete new integrations.
GAM Investments announced the appointment of Alejandro Moreno in the role of Director US International Clients joining GAM’s US team.
“This will further strengthen our distribution team responsible for serving both institutional and international wholesale clients in the Americas”, the firm said.
Moreno will be based in New York and reports to Juan Ramón Caridad, Head of Distribution Latin America, US International & Iberia at GAM.
Juan Ramón Caridad said: “We continue to attract talented and seasoned professionals to improve and grow our local presence and service in the region. Alejandro will also be a great ambassador to lead our GAM Investment Academy and Social Impact initiatives to build strategic partnerships with US International and Latin America clients.”
In his role, Alejandro will continue GAM’s more than 25 year local presence in the US to drive and grow business with international clients from Latin America and Asia, according the press release.
He will build a team with Bradley Silva, Client Executive, and Isabel Navalón, Client Support Executive, to provide a global value-added service in the region.
Moreno started his financial services career at Putnam Investments in 1996 and has more than 20 years of client relationship experience as a key account executive for Americas and as global head of distribution across a number of international businesses.
Jeremy Roberts, Global Head of Distribution at GAM, said: “The appointment of Alejandro further strengthens our distribution capabilities in North America. The US International market is growing significantly and I am delighted that Alejandro can use his 20 years of experience to provide an excellent level of service to our clients. Alejandro is joining at such an important time when clients are looking for new ideas from specialist active managers.
His most recent role was co-founder and managing partner at JAM Global Consulting LLC. He completed his college program at the School Centro Español de Nuevas Profesiones (CENP) in Madrid.
He also completed the Financial Planning Certificate Program (CFP) at Boston University and the Chicago Booth CIMA education program.
The board of Banco Santander has announced this friday that Héctor Blas Grisi Checa, currently CEO of Santander Mexico and head of North America, has been nominated to become Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a group director, effective 1 January 2023, subject to customary approvals.
Mr Grisi will report directly to the Board, in line with changes to the group’s management structure announced on 24 February 2022, with responsibility for managing all the group’s regions, countries and global businesses. The nomination has been made following a rigorous assessment process led by the Board Nominations Committee.
Mr Grisi will succeed José Antonio Álvarez who has been with the bank since 2002 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2004 then CEO in January 2015. Following the transition, Mr Álvarez will remain on the Board as non executive vice chair.
Lead Independent Director and chair of the Board Nomination Committee, Bruce Carnegie Brown, said, “The Nominations Committee has worked intensively to identify and assess a broad range of internal and external candidates for the CEO role, with the support of external advisors. Héctor Grisi is a seasoned expert who knows our business and is the right person to lead the bank with Ana. He brings a relentless focus on the customer, proven leadership in driving transformation and greater connectivity across the group, and a strong track record of delivering growth and profitability.”
Banco Santander executive chair, Ana Botín, said, “I am extremely grateful to José Antonio for the exceptional contribution he has made to the bank over the past 20 years. His leadership and dedication have been central to Santander’s growth and success. I value his insight and support hugely and am delighted that he will remain on the Board as non-executive vice-chair and will continue to support the bank as we build on the progress of recent years.”
She adds that “Héctor will be an outstanding successor to José Antonio. He brings decades of experience and a deep understanding of our markets and business, and a proven ability to lead in a collaborative way and create value for both customers and shareholders. His track record as CEO of Santander Mexico and head of North America speaks for itself and illustrates why we believe he is the right person to lead the bank in the next phase of our transformation and growth.”
Since Mr Álvarez was appointed CEO, the bank has increased its Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE) from 11% in 2014 to over 14% in the first quarter of 2022, while growing its CET1 FL capital from 8% to over 12%. Revenues increased by over 35% in constant euros over the same period, as the bank added nearly 40 million customers, taking the total number of people and businesses it serves to 155 million on 31 March 2022, according the firm.
Mr Grisi joined Santander in 2015 as CEO of Santander Mexico. Since then, he has completed a transformation of the bank’s business in the country, achieving an adjusted return on tangible equity of 31% as at 31 March 2022, growing the number of active customers by nearly 50% to close to 10 million and doubling the number of loyal customers, while establishing leading market position in SMEs, Mid-Market Corps, Mortgages and Project Finance.
In 2019, he was appointed head of the Santander group’s North America region, covering both Mexico and the US. In 2021, the US achieved a record year for profitability, generating $2.7 billion compared to $648 million in 2018, making the largest contribution to profit of any market in the group.
Mr Grisi’s professional career spans over 35 years. Before joining Santander, he spent 18 years at Credit Suisse, where he held a range of senior positions, including head of Investment Banking for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, then President & CEO of Credit Suisse Mexico. He was educated in Mexico and Canada and has a BA in Finance of Iberoamericana University.
