Foto: NPS CC0. Investors Trust Opens Insurer in Puerto Rico
Investors Trust welcomes ITA International Insurer, the most recent member of its group. International Insurer is an insurance company in Puerto Rico, a jurisdiction that the firm considers ideal for insurers and reinsurers in Latin America, Europe and other international markets.
“As a United States Commonwealth, Puerto Rico’s free market economy is subject to both federal and state regulations designed to protect free market-competition; specifically, but not limited to, the insurance and banking industries. This position further stabilizes Puerto Rico as an attractive domicile for international insurance business and provides legal peace of mind for companies and individuals.” said the company in a statement.
Investors Trust has also established an International Financial Entity (IFE) in Puerto Rico to consolidate all banking and custody transactions for the group of insurance companies, ITA International Financial Services Corporation.
“The need for greater diversity and new jurisdictions has led Investors Trust to reposition itself as a multi-jurisdictional insurance group. With the establishment of ITA International Insurer in Puerto Rico, clients now have more options to choose a plan based on their specific needs and preferences.” said the company that anticipates further growth in 2019 to support their multijurisdictional structure.
En 2018 el patrimonio de las IICs en España se situó en 454.761 millones de euros, una 2% menos que en 2017. Además, el número de partícipes y de accionistas ha continuado incrementándose en el año y se situó a finales de 2018 en 13,9 millones, un 6,8% más que el año anterior.
La renta fija ha continuado reduciendo su peso en la cartera y ya supone menos de la mitad (47,8%). Por su parte, la posición en renta variable en cartera ha continuado incrementándose en el periodo y supone el 15,6% frente al 14,3% de 2017. “Vamos hacia una normalización desde la asignación a renta fija corto plazo a la renta variable, pero todavía estamos lejos de países como Reino Unido donde el 50% está en acciones”, ha argumentado Lázaro de Lázaro, presidente de la agrupación de IIC de Inverco, durante un encuentro con periodistas.
En cuanto a rentabilidades, la elevada volatilidad presente en los mercados financieros durante 2018 ha llevado a los fondos de inversión a registrar rendimientos negativos en el año, siendo la rentabilidad interanual para el conjunto de fondos del -4,81%.
Perspectivas para 2019
Inverco pronostica que la rentabilidad de las IIC (Instituciones de Inversión Colectiva) en 2019 se sitúe entre el 2% y el 2,5% y las suscripciones netas continúen con la tendencia positiva de los últimos años. La patronal espera, además, que los fondos de inversión incrementen su patrimonio en torno a 13.500 millones de euros, un 5,2% más, alcanzando a finales de este año los 271.000 millones de euros. Por su parte, las IIC extranjeras incrementarían su patrimonio hasta los 176.000 millones de euros, lo que supone un incremento del 4,8%.
En cuanto al volumen de los fondos de pensiones podría aumentar en 2019 en casi 3.000 millones de euros (un crecimiento del 2,8%), cerrando el año en un patrimonio de 110.000 millones de euros. Además, se espera que la rotación hacia activos de más riesgo se traduzca también en rentabilidades más altas en el medio y largo plazo. “Los fondos de pensiones mixtos han pasado de representar el 29% al 58% y esto en el largo plazo va a producir mayores rentabilidades. Hay un poquito más de apetito por el riesgo y eso se ve en los planes de pensiones”, explica Juan José Cotorruelo, director de Vida y Pensiones de Caser.
Una tendencia que también se observa en fondos de inversión. Mientras que en 2007 casi el 64% del patrimonio de los fondos de inversión pertenecía a vocaciones conservadoras (39% monetarios y renta fija a corto plazo y 25% garantizados), en diciembre de 2018 apenas el 31% del ahorro en fondos se canaliza a través de este tipo de instrumentos.
¿Quién invierte en fondos de inversión en España?
Como novedad este año Inverco ha analizado el tipo de inversor que adquiere fondos de inversión entre los distintos países europeos. Así, por ejemplo, mientras que en España el 62% del volumen de activos total de los fondos pertenece a los hogares, en países como Francia o Alemania este porcentaje es del 26%, donde la mayor parte del patrimonio de los fondos está en manos de inversores institucionales.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domainpadrinan. What Can Investors Expect From China in Year of the Pig?
This month China started the year of the pig. In the Asian tradition, this is an animal directly related to fortune because of its nobility and fertility. Will this lunar new year bring fortune to investors or succulent returns to the Chinese stock market?
In the opinion of Michael Bourke, manager of the M&G (Lux) Global Emerging Markets fund, after a difficult year for stocks in 2018, “investors expect the new lunar year to generate better prospects for the Chinese stock market. The new year may typically be a time for optimism, but there remains a great uncertainty about the outlook for China. The country’s trade dispute with the United States dominates the headlines and the fear that US tariffs on Chinese products will begin to have a negative impact on the world’s second largest economy are worrying investors. Recent economic data has been weak, factory activity and exports are slowing, and last year the economy grew at 6.4%, its slowest pace since 1990.”
Hernando Lacave, manager at DIF Broker has the same concern: “In the year of the pig we will continue to talk about deceleration in China, where growth for 2019 is expected to fall to 6%. However, this is still much better than the 2.5% expected for the United States or 1.6% of the EMU, so bad macro data should not blind us since China will continue to be the engine of growth of the world economy.”
Investment experts warn that the commercial war is beginning to weigh on China, and although the slowdown started years ago, there are signs that this war is not only affecting the foreign sector but increasingly its internal economy. “Given the size of China, it is logical that it should no longer be treated as an emerging economy and be required to play with the same intellectual property rules than the rest of developed countries. In addition to the positives that an agreement would bring, bad macro data could be the catalyst needed for the Chinese Central Bank to launch incentives to keep growth for a long time, and they have margin to do so,” clarifies Lacave.
For managers, the important thing is that China continues to reorient its economic model from one based on investment in fixed assets to one driven by the growth of consumption, especially in the services sector. This transformation is being led by private companies that aim to generate profits and tend to be less capital intensive, unlike what happened during the boom of fixed assets, when state banks granted huge amounts of credit to other state entities and Real estate developers financed by the State. At Newton, part of BNY Mellon, when investing, they prefer to avoid those sectors. “Now that fixed assets have less weight in the Chinese economy, it is very likely that GDP growth will suffer. However, the growth registered will be of higher quality. We can expect the GDP to grow more slowly during this period of rebalancing, a change that, in our opinion, should not be detrimental to the more consumer-oriented areas of the economy, since the employment component of GDP will increase. The latest measures by the Chinese authorities have been aimed at making the lending more flexible and at supporting the middle classes through tax cuts,” explains Rob Marshall-Lee, Head of Asian and Emerging Equity at Newton.
Finally, Neil Dwane, global strategist at Allianz Global Investors, notes that “China’s high levels of debt and slower growth are likely to last beyond the New Year celebrations, but we believe that the Chinese government has the right tools to solve them. With China’s economy set to become the world’s largest, we believe that investors should think of China as an asset class.”
National commercial real estate investment firm Black Salmon announced that Grant Peterson has joined the company as senior associate of acquisitions. In this new role, he will focus on asset allocation strategies, researching venture and investment opportunities, as well as asset management of the firm’s investment portfolio.
Peterson brings to Black Salmon nearly a decade of experience in institutional acquisitions and asset management. His addition is a strategic next step in the company’s expansion plan, falling on the heels of the firm’s $28 million purchase of Bentley Commons at Keene, a high-performing senior housing asset in Keene, New Hampshire, in December 2018.
“We are thrilled to welcome Grant Peterson to the Black Salmon team, as he will bring added value to our acquisition model,” said Jorge Escobar, CEO and Managing Partner of Black Salmon. “Equipped with an impressive background, Grant’s expertise complements the firm’s bullish portfolio growth, which encompasses approximately $600 million in existing and planned assets throughout the U.S.”
Peterson’s career most recently includes a tenure at Crocker Partners, a vertically-integrated real estate and management firm, where he was responsible for identifying, pursuing and executing investment grade opportunities throughout the southeast U.S. During this time, he worked with some of the world’s most sophisticated capital partners, accumulating a total transaction volume of more than $500 million and $5 billion in opportunities evaluated.
Prior to joining Crocker Partners, Peterson was involved in the asset management of LNR Partners’ southeastern portfolio, which consisted of Real Estate Owned (REO) properties valued in excess of $400 million. Additionally, he contributed to the underwriting of more than $1.6 billion in both performing and non-performing commercial real estate debt across all property types, deepening his knowledge and expertise in the industry.
Peterson is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he received a master’s degree in real estate and a bachelor’s degree in management.
Christine Todd, foto cedida. Amundi Pioneer contrata una nueva directora administrativa senior y líder de renta fija US
Amundi Pioneer has announced the appointment of Christine Todd as Senior Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income, US.
Christine was previously President of Neighborly Investments in Boston, a technology-driven impact investment manager focused on customized municipal bond portfolios for institutional and high net worth investors. Prior to Neighborly, Christine was President of Standish Mellon Asset Management in Boston, a leading fixed income asset management firm. She headed Standish Mellon’s Tax Sensitive and Insurance investment platforms and managed portfolio management, credit research, trading, and client relations. Prior to joining Standish Mellon in 1995, she was a portfolio manager, trader and analyst at Gannett Welch & Kotler, a Boston investment firm.
Christine has a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Boston University. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Courtesy photo. Alex Calvo and Morgan Stanley Advisor Launch Asset Management Firm through Bolton
Global fixed income fund manager Alex Calvo has teamed with Marco Oreamuno to set up a wealth management firm through Bolton Global. Prior to joining Bolton, Oreamuno was a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley where he managed client assets of 230 million dollars. The team will operate under the name StratEdge Quant Investors in providing asset management services to ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices and institutional investors primarily in Latin America.
Calvo was formerly the Director of Global Fixed Income at Franklin Templeton Investments, where he directed all global macroeconomic and fixed income research and investments, overseeing over 14 Billion dollars in assets. At Franklin Templeton, he was a member of the Global Economic Committee and the Asset Allocation Committee. In 2010, he established Calvo Funds and managed the StratEdge Multi-Currency Bond Fund, which utilized macroeconomic analysis and financial engineering as part of a global macro strategy. He also served as Chief Fixed Income Strategist for Biscayne Americas Advisors, a Miami based asset management firm.
Oreamuno began working in the US at Merrill Lynch in 2004 where he was a financial advisor for 6 years in New York City. In 2010, he joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in New York and then transferred to the firm’s Miami office in 2016. Before moving to the US, he was a financial adviser with BN Valores Puesto de Bolsa in Costa Rica for 12 years managing portfolios for large financial institutions and ultra-high net worth individuals. He has also worked as an attorney with the law firm of Facio y Canas.
In addition to managing a client book of over 200 million dollares, the team will provide customized fixed income portfolios for the clients of other financial advisors affiliated with Bolton. According to a press release, “By having direct access to the international fixed income asset management capabilities of the StratEdge team, Bolton is enhancing its capabilities to provide cost effective fixed income solutions to a global clientele.”
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. China to Join Bloomberg Barclays' Global Aggregate Index
Bloomberg has confirmed that Chinese RMB-denominated government and policy bank securities will be added to the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index starting April 2019 and phased in over a 20 month period. The inclusion is a result of the completion of several planned operational enhancements that were implemented by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration.
When fully accounted for in the Global Aggregate Index, local currency Chinese bonds will be the fourth largest currency component following the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen. Using data as of January 24, 2019 the index would include 363 Chinese securities and represent 6.03% of a $54.07 trillion index upon completion of the phase-in.
“Today’s announcement represents an important milestone on China’s path towards more open and transparent capital markets, and underscores Bloomberg’s long-term commitment to connecting investors to China,” said Bloomberg Chairman Peter T. Grauer. “With the upcoming inclusion of China in the Global Aggregate Index, China’s bond market presents a growing opportunity for global investors.”
The PBoC, Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration have completed a number of enhancements that were required for inclusion in the Global Aggregate Index in order to increase investor confidence and improve market accessibility. These include the implementation of delivery v. payment settlement, ability to allocate block trades across portfolios, and clarification on tax collection policies.
“It’s a pivotal time in the development of China’s markets and inclusion in our Global Aggregate Index is significant for facilitating Chinese market access for global investors,” said Steve Berkley, Global Head of Bloomberg Indices. “Our phased approach to inclusion is designed to give investors ample time to prepare for what we believe will be a positive impact on the investment community.”
In addition to the Global Aggregate Index, Chinese RMB-denominated debt will be eligible for inclusion in the Global Treasury and EM Local Currency Government Indices starting April 2019.
Bloomberg will create ex-China versions of the Global Aggregate, Global Treasury and EM Local Currency Government Indices for index users who wish to track benchmarks that exclude China. Bloomberg can also create customized versions of the indices as requested by investors.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Thomas Depenbusch. Has the China Collapse Finally Arrived?
China has been on the verge of a hard landing for many years, according to some analysts. Will they finally be right in 2019? In the latest issue of Sinology, Andy Rothman, Investment Strategist at Matthews Asia explains that in the fourth quarter of 2018, China’s economic deceleration was not significantly sharper than he expected, and several policy changes should lead to stronger activity and market sentiment in the second half of this year. In his opinion, a hard landing is still not on the horizon.
He believes that “everyone paying careful attention to China should have expected the year-on-year (YoY) growth rates of almost every aspect of the economy to slow a bit last year,but that it is still the world’s best consumer story… Services now account for 44.2% of household consumption, up 1.6 percentage points from a year ago.” Rothman also points out that manufacturing, excluding autos, is healthy, as well as property investment.
Considering that the degree of economic growth deceleration last year was largely within his expectations, Rothman points out four reasons why market sentiment in China abysmal:
Fear of a trade war with the U.S.
Concern that during the first three quarters of last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping voiced strong support for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), while expressing little love for the private firms
The unintended consequences of the government’s efforts to de-risk the financial system.
A cloud of regulatory uncertainty
However, he believes that sentiment is likely to improve in the second half of this year, given that he expects a 1H19 resolution to the short-term trade dispute between the U.S. and China. :Trump seems to believe that resolving this problem and lifting his tariffs on Chinese imports is important to his re-election prospects, and he has therefore adopted a more realistic negotiating strategy, dropping his irrational focus on the bilateral trade deficit as well as demands for Xi to make deep structural changes, such as eliminating his industrial policies and support for SOEs. I think Xi recognizes that Trump’s remaining demands, including better market access for American firms and stronger protection for intellectual property rights, will contribute to China’s economic progress, and Xi also wants to avoid a conflict that could escalate into a tech war, jeopardizing China’s access to US semiconductors. A Trump–Xi deal will not resolve the longer-term challenges in the bilateral relationship, but it will lift short-term fears of an escalating trade war.”
The second reason to expect better sentiment in China, according to Rothman is that Xi has already pivoted away from his rhetorical embrace of SOEs, with recent public statements expressing support to entrepreneurs. “His banking regulators have also announced a series of measures designed to boost lending to private firms. While it isn’t clear how effective those measures will be, the impact on entrepreneurial sentiment should be apparent in the coming quarters.”
He considers modest easing of monetary and fiscal policy is a third reason for optimism this year. “China’s banking regulators have indicated that they will take steps to mitigate the impact of the shadow banking crackdown, including increasing interbank liquidity, which will lower interbank rates. Mortgage rates have already begun to decline. This will be accompanied by modest fiscal policy easing, including further tax cuts and a small boost to infrastructure spending. Because the economy remains reasonably healthy, these policy fine-tuning measures will fall far short of a dramatic stimulus, and their objective is to boost sentiment and ensure the macro deceleration remains gradual, rather than to reaccelerate growth.”
Rothman also expects policy fine-tuning in the residential property sector with Chinese likely to buy another 12 million new homes this year, with a minimum of 30% cash down.
“Finally, although regulatory uncertainty will remain a fact of life in China for many years to come, investors are likely to see more clarity on some specific issues, including a relatively benign impact on company profits from more effective collection of social security taxes. All of these factors, along with relatively low valuations in the A-share market, are likely to result in better sentiment among domestic investors in the second half of this year.” He concludes.
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainRicardo Castillo, courtesy photo. Castillo, Pacheco Romero, Martin Cazenave and Pitre Méndez Join Credit Suisse IWM's LatAm Team
Credit Suisse IWM (International Wealth Management) is strengthening its LatAm operations. So far this year they have made five appointments that will be focused on the region.
According to a memo seen by Funds Society, which was written by Credit Suisse IWM’s LatAm Head, Jorge Fernández Amann: “The Latin American region is of key importance to IWM’s growth strategy. The future of IWM LatAm lies in the growth potential of our franchise across all our markets: Mexico, Cono Sur, Comunidad Andina, and LatAm-based External Asset Managers. Our clients look to us for our unique strength that combines best-in-class wealth management services, institutional capabilities, as well as UHNWI-specific solutions. This differentiation has driven growth in the region and is also attracting new talent. To grow our regional capabilities further we need to not only develop our internal talent pool but also attract external talent and I am excited to announce a number of appointments in IWM LatAm.”
In his opinion, in order to deliver best-in-class solutions to their clients, a robust Advisory & Sales organization is key, so they have hired, former JPMorgan Ricardo Castillo as Head of Advisory & Sales and member of the IWM LatAm Management Committee, effective immediately. “He will also lead the Investment Consulting team for ConoSur. Ricardo has a proven track record of more than 15 years in various investment roles: Investment advisory and sales, asset allocation across asset classes and tactical and/or thematic trading and hedging solutions. More recently he was Global Investment Specialist covering UHNWI, notably for Chile and Argentina. With Ricardo’s experience in international financial markets, I am confident that he will take our A&S offering to the next level. Ricardo will be located in Geneva.” Said the memo.
Also for the Geneva office, looking to serve both Cono Sur and Comunidad Andina clients, coordinated by Daniel Clavijo, are three more hires that report to Wenceslao Browne:
Marco Pacheco Romero joins as Senior Relationship Manager for ConoSur. He specifically covers Argentina, Chile and Peru and has a combined 20 years of experience in Private Banking, Lending, and Hedge funds. He also led credit teams in the past and will have an additional role to focus on growing our UHNWI-focused strategy as Head of Lending, where he will be part of our Management Committee.
Andrés Martin Cazenave joins as Senior Relationship Manager for ConoSur focusing on Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Colombia. Andrés has more than 25 years of wealth management and investment expertise across several institutions in Switzerland, the US, and Argentina. More recently he covered markets mainly from Cono Sur (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay) after being in charge of developing Comunidad Andina markets in the past (Colombia, Ecuador, Central America).
Rodrigo Pitre Méndez joins as Senior Relationship Manager for Cono Sur. Rodrigo has 20 years of private banking experience in Argentina, Bahamas, Uruguay, the US, and more recently Switzerland, where he has lived since 2013. In 2013 he moved from Miami, where he had spent 4 years developing an Argentine book to join another institution in Geneva. Since 2013 he has been in charge of developing a book for Cono Sur.
In January, the company hired Maria Vega Ibañez De La Cruz as Zurich-based deputy head of client management for ConoSur.
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainPhoto: KnutEgil1966 . Prodigy Network Surpasses 500 Million Dollars In Securitized Assets Through Flexfunds
Incorporating real estate assets as part of investment diversification is essential, which is why investors are increasingly analyzing alternatives that are not correlated with markets for stocks and bonds. Global platforms for investment and real estate asset development, such as Prodigy Network utilizing FlexFunds‘ asset securitization program, provide corporations, families and individuals access to institutional – quality investment opportunities in commercial real estate assets in the United States.
Prodigy Network has managed to raise funds in excess of US$ 690 million, connecting more than 6,500 investors from 42 countries and 27 states in the U.S. Its portfolio, with a projected value of US $1 billion, includes 6 buildings in Manhattan and 2 in Chicago, Illinois.
FlexFunds has securitized more than 25 assets and real estate projects for Prodigy Networks, surpassing US$ 500 million since their relationship began in 2013, becoming a flexible solution to enable real estate developers to access international capital markets. Both private and institutional investors can participate in these projects through their already existing private bank or brokerage accounts.
According to Lisandro Videla, Vice President for Distribution at Prodigy Network, “FlexFunds’ securitization program has transformed our business, offering a new distribution channel for our projects. Through Private Banking we have connected thousands of investors all over the world to investments of institutional quality to which they did not have access previously; this accounts for a substantial part of the success of our business model which has made us a byword in the real estate industry. In addition, FlexFunds has endowed the investment structure with a new level of auditing and control.”
FlexFunds CEO Mario Rivero had this to say: “As a leading service provider in asset securitization for third parties, FlexFunds gives access to capital markets globally. To securitize their assets with FlexFunds, our clients must comply with strict legal and operating requirements, so we congratulate Prodigy Networks for surpassing US$ 500 million in securitized real estate assets. This is one illustration of how suitable FlexFunds solutions can be for real estate developers.”
