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ESMA Sees no Obstacles for Giving the AIFMD Passport to Canada, Guernsey, Japan, Jersey and Switzerland

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Advice in relation to the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) passport to non-EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in twelve countries: Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Japan, Jersey, Isle of Man, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States.

Currently, non-EU AIFMs and AIFs must comply with each EU country’s national regime when they market funds in that country. ESMA’s Advice relates to the possible extension of the passport, which is presently only available to EU entities, to non-EU AIFMs and AIFs so that they could market and manage funds throughout the EU.

For each country, ESMA assessed whether there were significant obstacles regarding investor protection, competition, market disruption and the monitoring of systemic risk which would impede the application of the AIFMD passport.

According to ESMA’s advice:

There are no significant obstacles impeding the application of the AIFMD passport to Canada, Guernsey, Japan, Jersey and Switzerland;
If ESMA considers the assessment only in relation to AIFs, there are no significant obstacles impeding the application of the AIFMD passport to AIFs in Hong Kong and Singapore. However, ESMA notes that both Hong Kong and Singapore operate regimes that facilitate the access of UCITS from only certain EU Member States to retail investors in their territories.
There are no significant obstacles regarding market disruption and obstacles to competition impeding the application of the AIFMD passport to Australia, provided the Australian Securities and Investment Committee (ASIC) extends to all EU Member States the ‘class order relief’, currently available only to some EU Member States, from some requirements of the Australian regulatory framework;
There were no significant obstacles regarding investor protection and the monitoring of systemic risk which would impede the application of the AIFMD passport to the United States (US). With respect to the competition and market disruption criteria, ESMA considers there is no significant obstacle for funds marketed by managers to professional investors which do not involve any public offering. However, ESMA considers that in the case of funds marketed by managers to professional investors which do involve a public offering, a potential extension of the AIFMD passport to the US risks an un-level playing field between EU and non-EU AIFMs. The market access conditions which would apply to these US funds in the EU under an AIFMD passport would be different from, and potentially less onerous than, the market access conditions applicable to EU funds in the US and marketed by managers involving a public offering. ESMA suggests, therefore, that the EU institutions consider options to mitigate this risk;
For Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, ESMA cannot give definitive Advice with respect to the criteria on investor protection and effectiveness of enforcement since both countries are in the process of implementing new regulatory regimes and the assessment will need to take into account the final rules in place. For the Isle of Man ESMA finds that the absence of an AIFMD-like regime makes it difficult to assess whether the investor protection criterion is met.

This Advice, required under the AIFMD, will now be considered by the European Commission, Parliament and Council. You can download it in the following link.

ESG has Gone Mainstream in 2016

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¿Qué ha ocurrido en 2016 que ha impulsado la responsabilidad social corporativa? — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Moyan Brenn. ESG has Gone Mainstream in 2016

The adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into investment decision-making has gone mainstream in 2016. According to Investec, in a low-growth, low-yield and uncertain environment, investors are looking for new tools to drive long-term value creation. For institutions, increased attention has been placed on corporate behaviours and practices which are neither delivering shareholder value nor building sustainable businesses that will enable them to fulfil their fiduciary duty to their stakeholders.

So what has happened in 2016 that has galvanised ESG action?
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change in December 2015 has focused investors’ minds on the environment. This is the first global pledge to limit carbon emissions and is the fastest-ratified UN accord to date.

The speed with which the governments of over 175 countries signed the agreement – a little over four months – has added momentum to efforts to integrate environmental factors into investment processes. It has also spurred investors to look for new opportunities in industries to meet the objective of limiting the global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius (2°C) above pre-industrial levels.

While the focus has been on environmental issues, the UN Sustainable Development Goals also encouraged momentum behind the social aspects of ESG. Several new organisations, such as the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, have formed to plan practical steps to achieving these goals. Increasingly, major asset owners and investment managers are getting involved.

“Poor share price performance and mediocre company results have rallied shareholders into action. Investors have showed a renewed willingness to administer stinging rebukes over top management pay. In the UK, oil giant BP, miner Anglo American, engineering company Weir Group and Irish building materials group CRH all suffered major votes against pay policies. Even major US corporates have not been immune. In April, over a third of voting Citigroup shareholders cast their ballots against the bank’s pay package for top executives.” Investec points out.

The firm also notes that shareholder activism has not just been about executive pay. Investors are also looking more closely at the composition of company boards. There was some disquiet over Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Coca-Cola, as both of these US companies have three board directors that have served for over 15 years, which has contributed to a lack of board diversity and independent thinking. In Europe, auto manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) has been subject to intense scrutiny over its unusual governance structure in the wake of the emissions scandal. VW’s shareholders are beginning to ask whether, after three scandals in 20 years, the company’s supervisory board has the authority and independence to hold management to account. The company’s three largest shareholders, the Porsche-Piëch family, the German state of Lower Saxony and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, currently dominate the board. In June this year, Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund (the fourth-largest shareholder in VW) joined the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and around 800 other institutional investors in suing the company over the failure of oversight that led to the emissions scandal.

How will these trends evolve in the years to come? “We expect that shareholders will become increasingly frustrated with boards if performance continually fails to meet expectations. We believe that can only be a force for good. Investment in low-carbon and energy saving technologies will also become an important consideration in the portfolio construction process as governments strive to meet the 2°C target set out in Paris. Even in the oft-neglected social aspects of ESG, we believe there will be momentum as investors seek less-crowded, high-growth areas to drive future returns. Our appointment as manager of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a public-private partnership created to mobilise capital into private sector infrastructure projects across sub-Saharan Africa, is testament to our belief that social benefits are not incompatible with healthy long-term returns.” Investec oncludes.

MUFG Investor Services to Acquire Rydex Fund Services

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MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing group of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Guggenheim Investments, the global asset management and investment advisory business of Guggenheim Partners, have entered into an agreement in which MUFG Investor Services will acquire Guggenheim’s 1940-Act mutual fund administration business, Rydex Fund Services. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The terms of the deal are undisclosed.

When consummated the deal will complete MUFG Investor Services’ full service offering for investment managers, adding regulated 1940 Act mutual fund and exchange traded fund services expertise to a comprehensive service proposition, which spans single manager, fund of hedge fund, private equity and real estate funds, pension funds and traditional asset managers.

The acquisition when completed will add $52 billion to MUFG Investor Services’ assets under administration (AuA) bringing total AuA to $422 billion. The assets serviced by Rydex Fund Services primarily consist of Guggenheim and Rydex branded mutual funds, exchange-traded products and closed-end funds, for which Guggenheim Investments will continue to serve as investment advisor.

Junichi Okamoto, Group Head of Trust Assets Business Group, Deputy President, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation said: “The acquisition of Rydex Fund Services will strengthen our position as an industry-leading administrator and is an important part of our commitment to supporting the growth of new clients and extending our services to existing clients. This deal will add capabilities which will allow us to respond more dynamically to our clients’ changing needs, enabling them to fully realize new market opportunities and support their growth ambitions.”

John Sergides, Managing Director, Global Head, Business Development and Marketing, MUFG Investor Services, said: “Demand for liquid alternative strategies has risen significantly in recent years as retail investors recognize the return potential and diversification benefits relative to traditional asset classes. Alternative fund managers are increasingly establishing ‘40-Act fund structures to access this growing market. We recognize the challenging environment our clients face and continue to enhance our offering to support the strategies that managers must deliver, both now and in the future. Our complete offering will allow us to become the partner of choice for alternative fund managers of all sizes, strategies and structures.”

Nikolaos Bonos, Head of Rydex Fund Services, commented: “MUFG Investor Services will provide new opportunities for us to extend and enhance our ‘40-Act fund administration experience for the benefit of our current and future clients. Aligning our team within the MUFG Investor Services group will enable us to respond to rising demand for liquid alternatives with a comprehensive service proposition that supports the development of investment managers’ businesses.”

Upon completion, MUFG Investor Services will be acquiring all of Rydex Fund Services’ business and intends to provide a seamless transition for its employees and clients.

deVere USA Announces Further ‘Hub Office’ in Miami

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Miami is to become the second ‘hub office’ for deVere USA. The firm, part of deVere Group, has had a presence in the South Florida city since June 2011, but has now moved to larger premises in the main financial district to accommodate more advisers to meet demand.

Gareth Jones, the firm´s Area Manager in Miami, explains: “Whilst New York – which is, of course, the financial epicentre of America – remains our HQ and super hub office, skyrocketing client demand across the U.S. has driven the need for another hub office from which advisers can help our growing numbers of U.S.-based clients wherever they choose to live and work.”

He continues: “With this in mind, we have recently moved into larger premises on the prestigious Brickell Avenue, famed for having the largest concentration of international financial institutions in the U.S.

“This relocation is part of a strategic expansion that will allow us to take on more financial advisers and support staff to meet the continually increasing demand, not only in the Florida region, but in neighboring states and further beyond too.

“There are currently 11 of us in the Miami office and we are looking to at least double this number within the next 12 months.

“This operational development will allow us to further enhance deVere USA’s national position as the ‘go-to’ and most trusted advisory firm for international investors and expats.”

In 2013, as part of the “next phase of its global strategy for growth”, the firm announced it would not open pan-America offices as it had planned before, but instead would focus on a few key cities from which its consultants can serve their clients over a wider geographical area.

New York was the first ‘super hub office’, whilst Miami and San Francisco – the other deVere U.S. offices – remained more focused on their immediate surrounding areas. Now the Miami office is preparing to look further than it did previously, as it becomes more of a hub centre.

2015, the Worst Year for Asset Managers Since 2008

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The global growth of asset management stalled as the industry in 2015 recorded its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Growth in assets under management (AuM) stalled, and net new flows of assets, revenue growth, and revenue margins all dipped lower in 2015, according to Global Asset Management 2016: Doubling Down on Data. Asset managers’ future prosperity and competitive advantage will require them to shift from outdated product strategies and develop disruptive investment capabilities using leading-edge data and analytics, the report emphasizes.

BCG reports that the global value of AUM rose just 1% in 2015, to $71.4 trillion from $70.5 trillion in 2014, after growing 8% that year, and at an average annualized rate of 5% from 2008 through 2014.

BCG believes that the lack of overall growth was due largely to the generally negative and turbulent performance of global financial markets, which failed to buoy the value of invested assets as in prior years. Net new asset flows remained tepid. At the same time, the rising value of the US dollar reduced values of non-US assets in dollar terms.

Stuck in a Strategy of the Past
“Weak and turbulent global financial markets are today’s reality—one recent example being the market response to Britain’s ‘Brexit’ vote to leave the EU,” said Brent Beardsley, a BCG senior partner based in Chicago, the global leader of the firm’s wealth and asset management segment, and a coauthor of the report. “Asset managers that depend on financial-market performance to drive increases in asset values are stuck in a model from the past,” he said.

Overall profits remained relatively stable in 2015, but rose just 1% to reach $100 billion, the BCG report says. Profits as a percentage of revenues remained at a healthy 37% level, slightly below 2014, because of increased cost management by asset managers. Meanwhile, fee pressure on managers continued to rise.

The industry’s regional growth, as measured by AUM, reflected in large part the performance of capital markets by region in 2015. AUM decreased in North America and the Middle East but rose elsewhere. Growth was modest in Europe and strong in Latin America and Asia, excluding Japan and Australia. The 10% growth of AUM in Asia, excluding Japan and Australia, was relatively robust, but once again, it trailed the rapid expansion of the region’s private wealth.

Net new flows of assets—the lifeblood of the industry’s growth—also varied widely by region. Flows were tepid in the U.S. but more robust in much of Europe and Asia-Pacific, where they reached almost 2.5% and 3% of 2014 AUM, respectively. This performance marked a recovery of net flows in France, the Benelux countries, and Eastern Europe and continued positive momentum in Germany, Spain, and Italy. In Asia-Pacific, China and India were among the markets where net flows exceeded 10% of prior-year AUM.

While asset management continues to be highly profitable, the 2015 results underscore the continuing dependence of many managers on rising financial markets to boost asset values rather than on long-term competitive advantage to generate strong net new flows, the report says.

Advanced Data and Analytics “Will Define Competitive Advantage”
“The lack of market growth in 2015 reinforces the urgency faced by managers to pursue a step change in capabilities,” said Gary Shub, a Boston-based BCG partner, the global leader of the asset management topic, and lead author of the report. “Deep expertise, grounded in advanced data and analytics, will define competitive advantage and enable some managers to prevail,” he said.

Advanced and sometimes disruptive technologies—including machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural-language processing, and predictive reasoning—are on the verge of joining the mainstream asset managers, according to the report. Early-moving firms and financial-technology providers are beginning to model scenarios that push the boundaries of traditional analytics.

“As a result, today’s managers face a fundamental need to augment their investment processes by developing advanced capabilities in these digital technologies and practices,” said Hélène Donnadieu, a Paris-based BCG principal, the global manager of the firm’s asset and wealth management segment, and a report coauthor. “The alternative, for most firms, is to risk becoming irrelevant and trailing others in the ability to generate superior investment returns, or alpha,” she said.

Keeping up with the competition in that race to harness new technologies will require significant changes to almost all elements of a firm’s operating model, the report says. One example of these changes is how firms approach data, including its management, governance, and architecture. Crucial to that endeavor is the development of a target operating model, the blueprint of an asset manager’s ideal future state, to which the report devotes a full chapter.

The report also details the rising regulatory pressure on asset managers, noting that many players still need to develop a truly comprehensive risk management framework.

“Global regulators’ approaches to risk management in asset management are beginning to converge, giving firms a clearer view of appropriate risk investments,” said Zubin Mogul, a New York-based BCG partner and report coauthor.

The BOJ Hit Its Limit – A Summer Relief for Banks

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According to Tomoya Masanao, Head of Portfolio Management, Japan at PIMCO, it is clear that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) finally admitted that its current policy framework hit the limit. However, he believes that at least the BOJ’s decision on 29 July provides some relief for Japanese banks, insurance companies and pension funds.

In concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting, the BOJ “only” increased its equity ETF purchases and expanded its U.S. dollar-funding facility, both of which are “qualitative” parts of its so-called Quantitative and Qualitative Easing with a Negative Interest Rate Policy (QQE+NIRP). Neither additional QE (in the form of purchasing Japanese Government Bonds) nor further rate cuts from the current negative 10 basis points (bps) on the interest on excess reserves (IOER) were made.

Relief for Japanese financial institutions
The current policy framework is already neither effective nor sustainable and therefore needs to be altered Masanao notes. Since the surprise introduction of the BOJ’s NIRP on 29 January, the JGB curve has flattened massively. While the cut in the IOER was only 20 bps, the 40-year JGB yield fell by almost 100 bps to 0.06% earlier this month, evidence of how powerful the combination of QQE and NIRP has been in collapsing the yield curve. “The BOJ was (until now) operating with benign neglect regarding the costs to financial institutions of this dramatic move in the yield curve, emphasizing instead the intended economic stimulus impact of lowering long-term rates.” He states adding that “Extraordinarily low yields and flat yield curves are the least favorite recipe for banks and any other financial institution: Margins get squeezed as reinvestment yield declines while liability costs, or promised returns, cannot be lowered. The BOJ’s decision to keep the quantity (the JGB purchase amount) and the level of negative rates unchanged is a strong signal that the BOJ is finally admitting the large costs associated with its current policy framework.”

More welcome news for Japanese banks
The expansion of the BOJ’s U.S. dollar-funding facility should also be welcomed by Japanese banks and other financial institutions. They have been pushed to invest in “the outer circle” (e.g., U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds and loans) as alternatives to their own domestic bond market where yields have become unattractive. Although encouraging financial institutions to take more risk was in part an intended result of the BOJ’s policy, this has reached a limit in Masanao’s opinion. The cost of U.S dollar funding, specifically the currency hedging, has soared for Japanese investors as their demand for funding has increased dramatically while the supply has been decreasing amid the post-crisis balance-sheet constraints of Western banks and the effects of imminent money market fund reforms in the U.S.

According to the specialist, the good news for Japanese financial institutions is not limited to the BOJ’s decision on QE and interest rates. The BOJ also said in its statement that the bank would conduct a comprehensive assessment on the effectiveness of its current policy. There is hope that the bank will make a very objective assessment on benefits, costs and risks of its policy and make appropriate adjustments for effectiveness and sustainability.

BOJ success so far
“To be fair, the BOJ has made some good progress since Governor Haruhiko Kuroda took his position in March 2013: The jobless rate has decreased to an extremely low 3.1%. Inflation is still low, but at least deflation is behind us. However, the returns on the BOJ’s policy have clearly diminished as the long end of the JGB yield curve has declined to such an extraordinarily low level. Perhaps it is time for monetary policy to move to a back seat and let fiscal policy take the wheel. We shall see.” He concludes.

Donor-Advised Funds Donors Give More Than Others

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An analysis of the giving behavior of more than 132,000 Fidelity Charitable donors in the 2016 Fidelity Charitable Giving Report, recently released, reveals that Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) donors provide more support for more charities than their counterparts who do not use donor-advised funds.

The report also uncovered that relief efforts and social giving efforts were key in motivating donors to give last year. The fact that retirees who give with a donor-advised fund feel more assured that they will be able maintain or increase their giving in retirement is other of the findings, with 62% of retired Fidelity Charitable donors who feel confident compared to 52% of retirees surveyed who do not use DAFs. Finally, another conclusion is that compared to donors nationally, Fidelity Charitable donors are significantly more likely to contribute appreciated assets, which may be one key reason they are able to give more.

The report is the fourth annual produced by Fidelity Charitable, an independent public charity with one of the nation’s largest donor-advised fund programs, and the nation’s second largest grantmaker, with cumulative grants of more than $22 billion since its inception 25 years ago.

The report uncovered that DAF donors provide more support for more charities than their counterparts who do not use donor advised funds. Over 70% of Fidelity Charitable donors give more than $10,000 per year, while only 42% of similar donors who do not use DAFs give the same annual amount. Significantly, 85% of DAF donors support six or more charities, compared to 36% of donors surveyed who do not use DAFs.

Fidelity Charitable donors are also significantly more likely to involve other members of their households when making decisions on giving. Sixty-two percent of Fidelity Charitable Giving Accounts have multiple donors with advisory privileges, those permitted to recommend grants. In addition, 82% of DAF donors engage others in their households in their decision making process versus 53% of donors surveyed who do not use DAFs.

“Our finding that donors with donor-advised funds are having more conversations about giving within their households and, ultimately, giving more to charities than donors who do not use donor-advised funds, demonstrates that having dedicated funds for giving encourages a more planned, thoughtful approach to philanthropy,” says Amy Danforth, president of Fidelity Charitable. “Best of all, this results in donors who provide greater and more dependable support to charities.”

Relief efforts and social giving efforts, such as charity walks, were key in motivating donors to give last year. Spikes in support of specific charities on the list included those providing relief to victims of the earthquake in Nepal and the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Reflecting this trend, UNICEF and OXFAM saw 38% and 35% increases, respectively, in the number of donors giving to them.

Findings include:

85% of Fidelity Charitable donors support six or more charities, compared to 36% of affluent donors.
Two-thirds of donor contribution dollars to Fidelity Charitable were non-cash assets, an 18% increase from the previous year.
60% of donors contributed appreciated assets to Fidelity Charitable last year, compared to just 19% of affluent donors at any time in their giving history.
82% of Fidelity Charitable donors engage others in the decision-making process around their giving versus 53% of similar donors.
62% of retired Fidelity Charitable donors feel confident about ability to give in the future. In comparison, only 52% of similar retirees have the same confidence.
71% of Fidelity Charitable donors give more than $10,000 per year, while 42% of similar donors overall give the same amount.
Among retired donors, 70% of Fidelity Charitable donors give $10,000 or more vs. just 27% among similar retired donors.
92% of donations allocated to Giving Accounts at Fidelity Charitable are distributed to charities within 10 years of receipt by Fidelity Charitable.
The number of charities supported by Fidelity Charitable donors increased 100% in 10 years, from 53,076 to 106,250.

Social Media is a Missed Opportunity for 37% of Wealth Managers

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Over a third of wealth managers are not communicating with high net worth (HNW) clients via social media according to financial services research and insight firm Verdict Financial.

The company’s recent report, Social Media in Wealth Management: Reaching clients and prospects on social media, found that while the majority of investors are now active on social media daily, generating opportunities for wealth managers to promote their brands through social media platforms, not all wealth managers are taking the opportunity to reach them there.

Katri Tuomainen, Analyst for Wealth Management at Verdict Financial, states: “According to our 2015 Global Wealth Managers Survey, 37% of wealth managers do not use a social media channel to communicate with HNW clients, despite the fact that 78% of consumers with investments log into their social media profiles on a daily basis.”

According to the survey, the most often cited reason for shunning social media use is that company policy prevents it (51.3% of respondents), with concerns that it is too public also key (41.2%).

Tuomainen continues: “When wealth managers are active on social media, it is typically restricted to high-level marketing activity and thought leadership promotion. Indeed, many of the larger players that use social media do so under their general brands rather than via the wealth management division, which can limit the impact and reach of their social media activities in targeting wealth management clients.Besides raising brand awareness and promoting thought leadership, wealth management companies can use social media to target a younger audience, as well as servicing customers. Relationship managers can also individually leverage social media to find and reach out to prospective clients, nurturing client relationships, and building their personal brands.”

Verdict Financial believes that not having a presence on social media gives an inevitable edge to those wealth managers that do have social media embedded within their marketing and communications strategies, while companies with a policy prohibiting social media use stand to lose out in the long run.

You can access the report in the following link.

Paul Vosper Joins PIMCO as Executive Vice President and Real Estate Strategist

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PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, announced on Tuesday that Paul Vosper has joined the firm as an Executive Vice President and Real Estate Strategist. Vosper is based in the firm’s New York office and reports to Jennifer Bridwell, Managing Director and Global Head of PIMCO’s Alternative Products.

“With more than 24 years of experience as a real estate investment professional, Paul brings significant experience and knowledge to our business and will enhance our ability to provide investment opportunities for our clients,” said Bridwell.

Prior to joining PIMCO, Vosper held roles at Morgan Stanley as a Co-Head and Chief Operating Officer for Alternative Investment Partners (“AIP”) responsible for AIPs real estate investment strategies and developing real estate customized solutions for both institutional and private clients. At AIP, he also sat on the Investment Committee. During his career at Morgan Stanley, he worked on real estate transactions in Europe, Asia and the U.S., combining both public and private market experience. Previously, Paul served as Head of Client Relations EMEA for Deutsche Bank RREEF. He was also a Managing Director, Real Estate Investing at Alliance Bernstein. Vosper holds Juris Doctor and Master’s Degrees in Comparative & International law from Duke Law School. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Politics, Law and Organization from Georgetown University.

“PIMCO will continue to use its considerable resources to hire the best industry talent globally. Already this year, we have hired more than 140 new employees, including more than 30 investment professionals across many areas including alternatives, client analytics, mortgages, real estate and macroeconomics,” said Dan Ivascyn, Managing Director and PIMCO’s Group Chief Investment Officer.

Vosper joins PIMCO’s established real estate team of 49 investment professionals globally and his hiring is part of the continued expansion of the firm’s Alternatives investment platform.

Globally, PIMCO’s alternatives offerings span a range of strategies with more than 100 investment professionals overseeing hedge fund and opportunistic/distressed strategies, including global macro, credit relative value, multi-asset volatility and opportunistic real estate, mortgage and corporate credit strategies.

As of March 31, 2016, PIMCO managed approximately $25 billion in alternative strategies, including $9.2 billion in opportunistic real estate strategies worldwide.

AXA IM’s Nicolas Moreau Takes Over at Deutsche Asset Management

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Nicolas Moreau: nuevo responsable del negocio de gestión de activos de Deutsche Bank — Nicolas Moreau. AXA IM's Nicolas Moreau Takes Over at Deutsche Asset Management

Nicolas Moreau will join the Management Board of Deutsche Bank, effective October 1, where he will be responsible for Deutsche Asset Management. This decision was reached by the bank’s Supervisory Board at its meeting on Thursday. Moreau is joining from the French insurance company Axa, where the 51 year old has worked for 25 years in a variety of roles, including as Chief Executive Officer of Axa Investment Managers. Most recently he was in charge of the insurance company’s activities in France and served as a member of the Group Management Committee.

At Deutsche Bank Moreau will be based in London and will initially receive a three-year contract. He will succeed Quintin Price, who stepped down in June for health reasons. “Nicolas Moreau has a deep knowledge of the asset management industry, both from a supplier and a client perspective,” Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner said. “In addition he possesses a wealth of experience as a member of the management board of a complex, global financial institution, providing the ideal basis for further developing Deutsche Asset Management.”

The Supervisory Board also decided to appoint Kim Hammonds and Werner Steinmüller to the Management Board of Deutsche Bank with effect from August 1. Their terms will also initially be limited to three years.

As a result of the addition of Hammonds and Steinmüller, the Management Board of Deutsche Bank will comprise 11 members in future. “With Werner Steinmüller, we have entrusted a highly experienced and well-regarded banker with further expanding our business in Asia,” Supervisory Board Chairman Achleitner said. “He is a long-standing expert in this key growth region.” Achleitner said that Kim Hammonds has succeeded in getting fundamental changes to the bank’s IT systems off the ground in recent years. “She is responsible for a division that is essential for the transformation of Deutsche Bank.”

John Cryan, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank, welcomed the expansion of the Management Board: “Each of the three new members of the Management Board brings unique experience that strengthens us as a team. I’m pleased that Nicolas will add long-standing asset management experience to our board and that we are able to welcome Kim and Werner, who are both proven experts in their respective areas, to the board.”

Hammonds (49) has been employed by Deutsche Bank since November 2013. Under her leadership Deutsche Bank is executing a fundamental overhaul of its IT systems. Since the beginning of 2016, Hammonds has been responsible for the bank’s entire technology and operations, including digital transformation, information security, data management and corporate services. She will retain her role as Group Chief Operating Officer.

Steinmüller (62) joined Deutsche Bank in 1991. Since 2004, he has been in charge of transaction banking. He will be the first Management Board member in the history of Deutsche Bank to be based in the Asia-Pacific region. Steinmüller will manage business in this growth region from Hong Kong. He will remain in his role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Postbank.